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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_04Apr28CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS COUNCIL MINUTES April 28, 2004 Mayor Gehrz called the regular Council meeting to order. PRESENT: Mayor Sue Gehrz, Council members Laura Kuettel, Robert Lamb, Peter Lindstrom and Richard Talbot Also present: City Administrator Heather Worthington, City Attorney Roger Knutson, City Engineer Terry Maurer, Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy, Ramsey County Commissioner Janice Rettman, Kenneth Haider, Director and County Engineer, Ramsey County Public Works, and Tim Mayasich, Senior Transportation Planner, Ramsey County Public Works COMMUNITY FORUM: There was no commentary from the audience. PRESENTATION: Annual Report from the Saint Anthony Police Department – Lt. Jeff Scholl Mayor Gehrz said that each year, the Saint Anthony Police Department makes a presentation to the Falcon Heights City Council about the previous year’s crime statistics, enforcement, and other calls and incidents. Lt. Jeff Scholl, Saint Anthony Police Department, introduced himself and said he is a patrol lieutenant with over 20 years of law enforcement experience. Their department has 20 licensed police officers: 18 males and 2 females. There is a Chief, a captain, two patrol lieutenants, a full-time investigator, a sergeant and two office managers. The average age is 36, with the age range being 27-64. They have ten reserve officers who do parking patrol, house checks and prison transports. A part-time community service officer assists on minor calls. Lt. Scholl gave a brief, oral review of the written report that had been provided earlier. He reviewed patrol statistics, investigations, crime prevention activities, domestic terrorism, police officer education and training, the reserve officer program and 2003 accomplishments. He said the Department couldn’t do its job without the help of the citizens of Falcon Heights. The City’s numbers are low because of the citizens of Falcon Heights. Mayor Gehrz asked for comments and questions from the Council and the audience. Council member Talbot asked if resident usage of 911 is increasing or decreasing. Lt. Scholl said that 911 is still underutilized. He encouraged residents to report anything they observe or are concerned about. Residents can also contact Ramsey County Dispatch at 651-484-3366. Council member Talbot asked what a terroristic threat is. Lt. Scholl said that would be if someone contacted you and told you they were coming over to kill you tonight FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -2- April 28, 2004 Annual Report from the Saint Anthony Police Department – Lt. Jeff Scholl (continued) Council member Lindstrom asked if other cities are using something that he would like to see Falcon Heights use. Lt. Scholl said he would like to see a bike patrol implemented on certain nights, particularly at State Fair time. Also, the officers need to get to know the buildings being constructed at the SE Corner and will have to familiarize themselves with that site. The City is above average. The City Administrator is highly trained in emergency response and preparedness, and mutual aid meetings are held every month with the participating communities. Council member Lindstrom asked if the 2003 statistics include the State Fair and the University, and Lt. Scholl said no. Council member Kuettel mentioned the City’s newsletter and suggested that the Police Department have a page in the newsletter. Council member Lamb asked if there are increased incidents of crime in the community during the State Fair and Lt. Scholl said no. In response to a question from Council member Lamb about locating calls from cellular phones, Lt. Scholl said that cell phone calls can be traced to the closest cell phone tower. He is aware that Hennepin County will be upgrading in this area but he is not sure about Ramsey County. There are increasing numbers of calls from cell phones. Mayor Gehrz asked how the City can implement a bike patrol. Lt. Scholl said he isn’t sure if there is a financial aspect. He would like to see an increase in the number of officers who participate. They do bike rodeos, which are quite educational, and the parents and kids like them. Mayor Gehrz thanked Lt. Scholl and all of the officers for another great year of law enforcement services. She continuously hears good things about the Saint Anthony Police Department and its officers. She appreciates that when the City has needed extra help, the extra help has been available. She said she was glad to see reductions in the traffic accident numbers. Council member Kuettel asked that the volunteer reserve officers also be thanked. In response to a question about how to become a volunteer reserve officer, Lt. Scholl said that information about the application process can be obtained by contacting Ramsey County Dispatch at 651-484-3366. The applicant must meet a minimum age requirement of 18 and have a good driving record. Medical training is helpful. They must be able to commit about 150 hours a year. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Council minutes dated April 14, 2004 were unanimously approved as submitted. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None Scheduled FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -3- April 28, 2004 CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Gehrz said there would be an addition to the Consent Agenda: Item G6: Consider approval of the amended and restated development agreement between the City and the Falcon Heights Town Square Limited Partnership; an amendment to the development agreement between the City and the Town Square Senior Apartments LLC; and an amendment to the development agreement between the City and Townhomes at Town Square LLC. Attorney Knutson said the property wasn’t platted when the original development agreements were signed. These amended documents now have the correct legal descriptions. Also, the percentage distributions of TIF will be between the three projects. The initial runs were off just a little bit. The developer won’t receive any more money, but each phase will get a certain percent of the total amount. Each phase will balance out. Kuettel moved approval of the Consent Agenda, as outlined below. The motion was unanimously approved. General Disbursements through April 22, 2004: $ 96,995.69 Payroll (04/01/04-04/15/04): $ 11,710.85 Approval of the Police Services Contract with the City of Saint Anthony Village for 2005 and 2006 Replacement of cable equipment: Four bids, outlined below, were received for replacement of the scan converter, video amplifier and scan converter with overlay. The low bid from Alpha Video was accepted: Alpha Video: $ 947.00 Roscor: $1,085.00 AVI: $1,092.00 B&H Photo-Video: $1,242.00 4. Approval of agreement between the City of Falcon Heights and the Minnesota Department of Transportation for payment to the City for the construction to be performed at Curtiss Field pond and Resolution 04-09 authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to execute that agreement Authorize the purchase of a John Deere 1445 commercial tractor from Scharber and Sons, Inc., at a total cost of $23,223: Tractor and attachments $19,582 Leaf Vacuum System $ 2,224 State sales tax $ 1,417 6. Consider approval of an amended and restated development agreement between the City and the Falcon Heights Town Square Limited Partnership; an amendment to the development agreement between the City and the Town Square Senior Apartments LLC; and an amendment to the development agreement between the City and Townhomes at Town Square LLC FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -4- April 28, 2004 POLICY AGENDA: Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County Administrator Worthington utilized the LCD projector to describe the turn back of Hamline, Roselawn and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County to the City, and the current conditions of those streets. A summary of her presentation is outlined below. She said that in late 2003, the City, represented by her and Parks and Public Works Director Maertz, began meeting with staff from Roseville, Saint Paul, and Ramsey County to negotiate the turn back of Roselawn, Hamline and Hoyt Avenues. These discussions extended into 2004, and the parties reached an agreement in March, 2004 regarding the funding of the turn back, repair of existing County road included in the turn backs, and agreements between Falcon Heights and the two cities, as well as the County. Because all of the roads included in this turn back are border roads, the turn backs negotiated include two cities—either Falcon Heights and Roseville, or Falcon Heights and Saint Paul. She said the State of Minnesota Street Aid (MSA) account filing deadline for turn backs is May 1, 2004. In order to have these roadways placed on our system for MSA in 2005, the turn backs must be recorded by that date. These roadways represent a significant addition for funding to our MSA account, which helps to fund street projects and other street-related projects such as the recent Curtiss Field reconstruction project. The County and City staff negotiated a turn back agreement that included major repair work, as well as cash payments for the turn back of certain portions of Roselawn and Hamline Avenues. The value of this work, or cash payment, is listed below: Roselawn (Snelling to Hamline) turn back: $175,000 total (cash payment shared by Roseville and FH).  County repair of all deteriorated catch basin on Roselawn from Cleveland to Hamline;  Mill and overlay of Roselawn from Cleveland to Fairview; Crack seal of Roselawn from Fairview to Snelling:  $117,600 Hamline Avenue reconstruct (Falcon Heights only):  $53,000 Roselawn, Fulham to Cleveland, repair structures and mill and overlay:  $184,774 Seal coat Hoyt from Snelling to Hamline:  $4,000   Total:  $534,374 (both direct payments and value of improvements prior to turn back) to the cities of Roseville and Falcon Heights. There are four resolutions for the turn backs. Resolutions 2004-10 and 2004-10A are for the turn back of Hamline Avenue, from Hoyt to Larpenteur, and Roselawn, from Cleveland to Hamline. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -5 April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Administrator Worthington said that Resolutions 2004-11 and 2004-11A are for the turn back of County State Aid Highways (CSAH), Hoyt Avenue, from Snelling to Hamline, and Roselawn Avenue, from Fulham to Cleveland. Two resolutions are needed because two sections of the turn backs are County State Aid Highways (CSAH) and require a different resolution from the County Road (CR) turn backs. She said that Attorney Knutson prepared the joint City/County resolutions (2004-10A and 2004-11A) to provide added protection for the City. Engineer Maurer said the City has about $173,000 available in MSA funds. The City will be taking a little out for Curtiss Field. The City will get about $127,000 in 2004, and at the end of 2005 will have about $175,000 to spend. Cities can also take out interest free loans, up to three times their annual allotment, or up to $380,000. In the past the City has allocated 35% of its MSA funds to maintenance. He reviewed the numbers with Administrator Worthington and is confident there is sufficient funding available. If the roads are turned back, the ones that currently don’t have State aid will get a little bit of an increase because the system is complete and well built. Administrator Worthington said the City’s maintenance schedule calls for seal coating and crack sealing every five years. The City could decrease its maintenance program for several years, to increase the reconstruction allocation, without affecting any of the maintenance programs, and still have a healthy balance in the maintenance category. Mayor Gehrz asked Engineer Maurer if he would review how MSA is determined. Engineer Maurer said that MSA funds are gas tax funds. 62% goes to the State highway system, 29% to the counties, and 9% goes to the 110-112 cities that are eligible. A community’s population and the State’s determination of need (what it takes to build the system to State aid standards in any given year) are factors in how the 9% is shared. Council member Lamb asked Engineer Maurer to speculate a little bit. Over the last few years we have seen HACA cut and eliminated to make the State budget. We have seen State aid to cities cut and eliminated to make the State budget. We have seen State aid to schools eliminated all to make the State budget. Do you see anything on the horizon that puts MSA in jeopardy or is this a sacred cow? Engineer Maurer said that there hasn’t been a gas tax increase in 20 years. There is always a concern from the City side about the equation because the Legislature may decide cities aren’t spending all of their money and don’t have as much of a need as the County and State systems. He thinks that concern is real. The city side of the State aid system has done some things like offering the no interest loan program so the pile of money isn’t as large as it used to be. This has been a concern for as long as he has worked with the system, but thus far, it hasn’t been tinkered with. Council member Lamb said that the last few years, we have seen the Legislature divert funds to other areas. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -6- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Council member Lamb said that as we look at this and our spending account, we have to factor in what’s the future of MSA. Recent history suggests to him that those accounts are in more jeopardy now than five years ago. Engineer Maurer said he believes the MSA distribution formula is statutory. He doesn’t think the gas tax itself is in jeopardy but he does think that the Legislature could tinker with the division percentages between State, County and city. Council member Lamb said that the point he wants to make is that one of the anchors of this proposal is that the MSA account exists and we have to be very careful that we don’t automatically assume that it always will or that it always will at the level that it currently is. Mr. Kenneth Haider, Director and County Engineer, Ramsey County Public Works, said that he wanted to make a few comments about the State aid system. The 62, 29, 9 split is a constitutional split that is sacred. The question is, how much money goes into the big pot of money that is separated out? There are some general fund revenues that the State puts in and that certainly is always under discussion. That is where the problem lies, the smaller portion of money that goes into the big system. The gas tax revenue is about $626,000,000. License fees, which he believes are also dedicated funds, are about $488,000,000. When you look at the general fund reimbursement for some of the tab fees and other things that are taken out of the system, you have about $100,000,000. The sacred money is in the $1,114,000,000 range. The unsacred money is in the $100,000,000 range. The turn back program was started in the late 1980’s. The Legislature passed legislation that said Ramsey County should do a study and look at the jurisdiction of roadways as it relates to State, County and local. Ramsey County is now in the thirteenth year of a ten year program. There has been a lot of discussion and negotiation, but the turn backs are progressing. There are similar things happening with virtually every city in Ramsey County. Ramsey County is in the process of accepting a lot of State street roadways. Council member Kuettel asked how many cities have not accepted turn back proposals. Mr. Haider said that an agreement could not be worked out between the County, Lauderdale and Falcon Heights regarding Fulham Street, so the County is rebuilding it and it will remain on their system. Mayor Gehrz asked what criteria are used to determine which streets stay with the County system and which ones go. Mr. Haider said the County’s responsibility is to create a system with roads that connect one to the other. County roads tend to be higher traffic, multi-lane. What doesn’t fit into the County system is looked at as a turn back to the city. The State looks at its system for a lot of trunk highways. Ramsey County will be accepting roadways like Highway 96 and Rice Street. In response to a question from Council member Talbot, Mr. Haider said that Ramsey County’s system has been increased by 15 miles and the traffic numbers have gone up substantially. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -7- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Mr. Haider said that Ramsey County, as the most urban County in the State, suffers because of the system used to distribute the money. Urban counties compete poorly for the monies that are available. The formula that is used was determined in 1958 and is as follows: 10%-equalization; 10%-motor vehicle registration; 30%-lane miles; 50%-needs. Mayor Gehrz asked what would happen to Roselawn if Falcon Heights refused to take it back. Mr. Haider said it would stay under County jurisdiction. Every two years it would be studied and ranked in the County’s system. When roadways start to deteriorate the County fixes them. Roselawn would get some attention in the not too distant future. The County would certainly do some pavement activity. Mayor Gehrz asked if it would still be to a rural standard rather than urban standard and Mr. Haider said yes. Council member Talbot asked about cost distribution and sharing between Saint Paul and Roseville. Administrator Worthington described the various improvements and the cost sharing that has been negotiated with Saint Paul for Hamline Avenue and Hoyt Avenue, and Roseville for Roselawn Avenue. In response to a question from Council member Lindstrom about the MSA monies, Administrator Worthington said there is a penalty if a City doesn’t spend their allocation down. Council member Lamb asked if, in the recent past, Falcon Heights has ever suffered the negative effect and Engineer Maurer said there were some minor penalties. Council member Kuettel asked what the total mileage will be and Administrator Worthington said it will be between 3.5 to 4 miles. Council member Kuettel asked what effect this will have on annual snowplowing costs. Administrator Worthington said the abutting cities will share in the cost of plowing and plowing contracts will be negotiated based upon the cost. Snow plowing ran about $600/mile this last year, which was atypical because of the snow quantities. Council member Lindstrom said that he realizes the roads are County roads but are no longer County thoroughfares. No one takes Roselawn from one end of the county to the other. The principle of local control factors into this for him. The City can set the schedule. When he first moved to Falcon Heights he lived five houses away from Hamline and since the day he got on the City Council he has been asking when Hamline is going to be redone. There is a hill that slopes down near Hoyt and it’s completely degraded with potholes. It’s patched a bit now but is still very rough. It floods. Administrator Worthington has been knocking at St. Paul’s door for a long time saying let’s work on this. Let’s go. Now, if we turn this back, we can set the schedule as to what we want to do with these roads in our neighborhoods. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -8- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Council member Kuettel said we can do that up to a point because we share these roads with other cities. Fortunately, St. Paul is saying 2005. Administrator Worthington said that St. Paul has a residential street vitality program. It is a 15-20 year capital project plan that shifts and moves around a little, depending upon the wards. This section of Hamline can be rebuilt in 2005 when St. Paul rebuilds Como Park. We came to this conclusion in a meeting with them regarding Godfrey Pit and the Capitol Region Watershed. St. Paul agrees that this will be the best time to do this since they will be in that area. There is a significant amount of storm drainage work that needs to be done on Hamline and our city will be responsible for. It will be about $27,000 in cost. The whole street will be dug up and water main replacement will be done at the same time. It took a lot of negotiating and discussion to get St. Paul to agree to this. Mayor Gehrz said that with regard to Roselawn and the current storm water situation on that street, what effect is the ongoing runoff having on the life of the new roads? The City spent a lot of money rebuilding those roads. Engineer Maurer said it shouldn’t have a lasting negative effect because the water drains off. The concern is when water sits on a street, seeps through cracks and saturates the base. RESOLUTIONS 2004-10, 2004-10A, 2004-11 and 2004-11A Lindstrom moved adoption of Resolutions 2004-10 and 2004-10A authorizing acceptance of the turn back of Hamline Avenue (County Road 132), from Hoyt Avenue to Larpenteur Avenue, and Roselawn Avenue (County Road 114), from Cleveland Avenue to Hamline Avenue, located in the City of Falcon Heights; and adoption of Resolutions 2004-11 and 2004-11A authorizing acceptance of the turn back of Hoyt Avenue (County State Aid Highway 56) from Snelling Avenue to Hamline Avenue, and Roselawn Avenue (County State Aid Highway 26), from Fulham Street to Cleveland Avenue, located in the City of Falcon Heights. Council member Lamb said he was not sure where to start. He thinks there has been a process and discussion breakdown. Here we are, two days before the deadline, and this is the first opportunity the Council has had to discuss this. This represents a major shift of responsibility from the County to the City. As such, we have an obligation to examine the impact this will have on our tax policy, assessment policy, reserve policy, capital budget, and we also have an obligation to look at what effect this will have on affordable housing. We have talked many times about the affordable housing crisis. There is no doubt, when you look at that presentation these roads need to be repaired. That is not the question. The question is, why should this be transferred to the 2,000 Falcon Heights taxpayers from the 100,000 Ramsey County taxpayers. We need to look at this thing as a broader issue. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -9- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Council member Lamb said that recently we have developed a trend where levels of government are passing off responsibilities and costs to lower levels of government. That is how they are meeting their budgets. Earlier in the day, while taking a break from sanding a floor, he sat down and tried to remember, over the past few months, what bugs him about this. He put together a list, outlined below, that he wanted to read to the Council and the viewing audience. Federal government – passes “No Child Left Behind”. Doesn’t fund it. Passes it on to School Districts and the cost ends up on the property tax bill. Federal government – mandates a ground water cleanup program. Doesn’t fund it. Passes it on to the State, who doesn’t fund it, and the cost ends up on the property tax bill. Federal government – passes Title I. Doesn’t fund it. The cost ends up on the property tax bill. Federal government – homeland security. Partially funds it. Passes the rest of the cost on to the counties and cities. The cost ends up on the property tax bill. State of Minnesota – Assumes more responsibility during the Big Ventura budget fix for primary and secondary education. The administration changes. Doesn’t fund it. The cost ends up back on the homeowner’s property tax bill. State of Minnesota – Reduces its commitment to mental health and medical coverage for the poor. Passes the responsibility to the counties. The cost ends up on the property tax bill. State of Minnesota – Fails in its responsibilities to screen repeat sex offenders. Passes that responsibility to the counties. The cost ends up on the local property tax bill. State of Minnesota – Reduces aid to cities under Governor Pawlenty’s budget fix. Passes the costs to the school districts, counties and the cities. The cost ends up on the property tax bill. State of Minnesota – Governor Pawlenty insists upon, and the Legislature supports, levy limits, which severely inhibits local government’s ability to manage local revenues. Effectively and ultimately, if this keeps going on, this will cause cities to choose between funding essential services, such as fire and police, or funding mandates. State of Minnesota – Over the last two years the State has changed the property tax classification system, lowering the taxes on business and commercial, and raising it on the homeowner’s property tax bill. State of Minnesota – limits levies, shifts the cost to the homeowners and then confiscates 6.5% of the property tax revenue collected by the cities, counties and school districts when the property tax dollar is spent on hard goods. The trend of shifting costs to the City homeowner has worked so well at the Federal level, now he is thinking that the County is thinking about this. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -10- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Council member Lamb said that property tax is the most regressive of all taxes and this is going to cost us property tax dollars. People who are retired and on a fixed income are under more and more pressure because of property taxes. We talk about affordable housing all the time and all tax does is push up the cost of housing, making it more expensive to live. We really need to back up off of this thing and start thinking about, in a broad picture, what we are going to do to stop this shift of responsibility from higher government to lower government, and stop the shift of cost from higher government to lower government, because we are the lower government. The only opportunity we have to raise revenues is through the property tax which, in his opinion, is the worst of all taxes, and then they come and limit our ability to even manage the local revenues. The question here is not whether Hamline or Roselawn are in bad shape. That is obvious. We have 2,000 taxpayers. Ramsey County has about 100,000. We need, in a comprehensive way, to sit down with the County, other cities, and ultimately the State of Minnesota, to figure out how to stop this shift of responsibility from the higher levels of government to the lower, and essentially to stop the cost shift from other types of revenue raising things to the property tax revenue. So, I am voting against this. Even if you are inclined to support this, what I would ask you to do is to think about why we are asked here, two days before the deadline, with no real consideration of our budget, no real consideration of the policies we have worked on regarding taxes and reserves, no real consideration of what it does to the cost of affordable housing. We have two days in order to apply for MSA for 2005. I think we ought to vote no and take the time to really assess what this question is going to do to us and ask ourselves, as the representatives of the 2,000 taxpayers in this city, if we really want to assume the long term liability for these streets on our taxpayers. Mayor Gehrz said that she agreed with most of what Council member Lamb said, in terms of shifts that have been happening, but one thing that she really wants to say is that she is not sure this is the way to do it. The issue of transfer of streets of all types between State and County, County and City, has been going on for a long time. This isn’t something that just happened this year. In fact, in our budget considerations, when we looked at our 10 year plan that staff prepared for us, we did have Roselawn and Hamline in those figures. So, we have seen this before. This isn’t something that has just come up two days before. Council member Lamb said that the whole issue has not been discussed in any great depth. He agrees that there are some numbers in that budget that cover some eventualities. The fact is that every dollar that we spend to assume this responsibility that we are being asked to pick up is a dollar less than we have to maintain the City that we have today. We can talk about the different sources of funding that are available. That is just the old government tax shell game. We have a responsibility to maintain this City. The County has the responsibility to maintain the County roads. And, before we take on any of what is the County’s responsibility today, we may need more than an hour and fifteen minutes of discussion two days before the MSA filing. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -11- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Council member Lindstrom said that he completely understands Council member Lamb’s passion regarding unfunded mandates. He pledged to work with him, using whatever means possible, to work with the State and Federal governments to address that issue. He doesn’t think the Council should draw a line in the sand on this turn back tonight. Let’s move forward on this right now. It doesn’t do anyone any good, especially those folks on Roselawn who have to put up cement barricades to keep the water out of their homes. Criticism of the process is unwarranted. He reiterated the comments that he made earlier about Hamline Avenue. The issue of turn back came up years ago and as the Council was working on this year’s budget. Council member Lamb said the County has stated that those roads will be repaired by the County, maybe not to the City’s standards, but we can’t lose sight of the fact that they will be repaired by the County. Council member Lindstrom asked if they will have curbs and Council member Lamb said he didn’t believe so. Council member Lindstrom said that water will still run into the yards. Council member Lamb said the Council has an obligation to look out for the taxpayers of the City. The property tax system is under incredible pressure today. The City has made a commitment to work on affordable housing in this City. Property tax is a secondary component of the costs involved in affordable housing. Mayor Gehrz said that these issues have been around for quite some time. This may seem new but it isn’t new. Council member Lamb said that if we are responsible to our taxpayers, we ought to really assess what this means to them before we approve it. Council member Kuettel said she thought the Council should have had a workshop or two on this. She would have appreciated that. Council member Talbot said that he agreed with Council member Lamb in principle. He would have liked a workshop to discuss this. Mayor Gehrz said that even if the County continues to be responsible for these roads, don’t think that these roads will be put at a higher priority than other roads in their long range plan. Three Council members have indicated they would vote but would like more time. Even if we do not vote on this tonight, what happens to the whole process of potential agreements? What will be the consequences? FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -12- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Administrator Worthington said the City will not have any agreements if we don’t vote by May 1 that the turn backs go on the MSA system. We will go back to the drawing board at that point. This process has been negotiated over a two year period. It has been brought up in multiple budget workshops and she has given periodic updates on the process. In the past, the turn backs have been negotiated by the City Administrator and brought to the City Council for approval. She followed the identical process that has been in place for more than fifteen years in the City. She would be happy to change that process in the future. Mayor Gehrz, said that Administrator Worthington commented that if we don’t vote on this tonight, we go back to the drawing board. In the negotiations the County agreed to a considerable sum of money. Administrator Worthington said that on Roselawn alone, between Hamline and Snelling, the County doubled the amount of money they were prepared to give because of the City’s negotiations. Council member Lamb said the turn backs have the greatest effect on us. It is more important to us. Our risk is the highest. Mayor Gehrz said that she would vote in support of the turn backs. Who benefits? The roads are used primarily by people who live in the community. Taxpayers and residents are being adversely affected. She doesn’t have any confidence there will be improvements. The Council has an obligation to the people. Staff has negotiated very favorable agreements. Council member Talbot said that he feels torn. He agrees with both. Both are making good practical points. This is not something we can back out of. These roads become ours. Council member Lindstrom said that the cost of redoing the roads doesn’t get cheaper. Mayor Gehrz said that with regard to levy limits, she had an opportunity to be at something this past weekend where House Majority Sviggum was in attendance. He was asked about levy limits and if municipalities were out of the woods for now. He said they are. Council member Lamb said the Council has a responsibility to 2,000 taxpayers. This has some very big implications. If the Council votes to do this, it will be forever. If the Council delays, the Council can assess passing the responsibility and passing the costs. We’re at the end of the trail and we don’t have anyone to pass it to. We spent a lot of time on the Reserve Policy. The Council needs to think this through and they have not done that. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -13- April 28, 2004 Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 regarding turn back of Hamline, Roselawn, and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Council member Kuettel said what’s the picture for the turn back situation? What does it mean? Mayor Gehrz said that she is not confident this can be delayed a year. These are complicated planning processes. Council member Lindstrom said these are City roads. They are not County level roads anymore. You can’t get from Hamline to University Avenue. We should be the ones making the decisions about these neighborhood roads. Council member Lamb said that he doesn’t disagree that the nature of the roads has changed. We have 2,000 taxpayers. Consider all of the things that come from this. We are the low person on the totem pole. The County and State can say they don’t like unfunded mandates. We don’t have anyone to hand off to. It is our responsibility to work through this and represent the taxpayer. Council member Talbot said that he was enormously proud of how the Council handled the LGA loss. This has been discussed. It was in the 10 year plan. We did talk about the worst case scenario. Administrator Worthington said that future maintenance will be very minimal. Once they are reconstructed they will have a 20-25 year life. All of that was taken into consideration. Council member Lamb said the City still assumes the long term liability, even if they were in pristine condition. Administrator Worthington said that areas of Roselawn Avenue have less than 2” of base. It will get worse because the drainage won’t be corrected. The motion was approved with Gehrz, Lindstrom and Talbot voting in favor; Lamb and Kuettel opposed. REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: Council member Lamb said the Solid Waste Commission met with the refuse haulers. It was a very fruitful meeting and there will be a follow-up meeting with them to discuss trucks and environmental issues. His second item was that at the public hearing on March 24, there was very good attendance and about two dozen speakers. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -14- April 28, 2004 REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS (continued) Council member Lamb said there were three areas of factual disputes: 1. Discussion about whether or not the NRG is at capacity: The fact is it isn’t at capacity. It has the capacity to take more garbage. 2. Do all of the haulers licensed to operate in Falcon Heights take the refuse collected to Newport? 3. Can the City achieve most of its goals through the licensing process? The City doesn’t have the licensing power to mandate where refuse is hauled. The City has no licensing authority to regulate cost or regulate the number of trucks used. The attorney for the haulers, Doug Carnival, has offered to set up a tour of a landfill. Information about the new refuse hauling trucks is being gathered. Progress is being made. Council member Kuettel reminded the viewing audience that Curtiss Field will be closed while it is being renovated this year. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Council member Talbot thanked the Saint Anthony Police Department for the excellent service they provide the community. He reminded the cable audience that if anyone is interested in becoming a reserve officer, they can contact Ramsey County Dispatch at 651-484-3366 to obtain more information and/or an application. Residents are not using 911 as well as they could. Make use of 911. Mayor Gehrz said it is her understanding the Legislature will not be putting levy limits in place and this is a good thing. The effect of levy limits is that instead of holding down property taxes at the local level, taxes are driven up. She reminded the viewing audience that the Council meeting dates for May have been changed. The Council will be meeting on the first and third Wednesday evenings in May: May 5 and May 19. This information is on the web site and on cable. The regular City Council meeting was adjourned at 9:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, Mary Shea Kodluboy Deputy Clerk