HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCWkspMin 11-1-171 | P a g e
Falcon Heights City Council Workshop
City Hall
2077 W Larpenteur Ave
6:30 P.M.
MINUTES
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
ROLL CALL: LINDSTROM _X__ HARRIS __X__ BROWN THUNDER _X__
FISCHER _X__ GUSTAFSON_X__
STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH__X__
Call to order: 6:30 pm
1. MN Department of Natural Resources- Emerald Ash Borer Grant
The grant work started in 2012. To date, there is still a remaining balance of $13,564.23 to be reimbursed.
To receive the final reimbursement, the DNR requires that the planting, maintenance and removal
ordinance be modified. There is also long-term issues to be resolved with the ordinance that would be
ideal to address at the same time since it requires a public hearing. The ordinance has to dictate that there
needs to be approval of certain decisions by the City Administrator or their designee. The tentative
timeline is to get this on a Council Agenda in December, but there isn’t a deadline in place for the
reimbursement.
2. Media Room Equipment Assessment and Replacement
The outdated media room equipment has come to a point where there are no longer any replacements
available for the version. The model’s production started in the early 1980s. The total cost for entire
replacement is about $62,000. There will need to be an approved transfer out of the sanitary sewer fund
for this in the amount of $80,000-100,000. In other communities, they utilize their franchise fees for
capital purchases for media and technology. In the past, franchise fees have gone towards reducing the
levy for the general fund. It would be good to consider replacing the funds that are being drawn out of the
capital funds for this purchase.
3. The Hendrickson Senior Housing Project
The developers are looking at closing on November 14 on the property. There will be a meeting between
the City Administrator and staff next Friday, and they want to talk about timelines, standards, Planning
Commission meetings, and public hearings. They will need to present their design to the Council for
approval. There isn’t a design standard specified in code, but many of the standards in the past have
focused on green space and types of greenery. They are looking at building next spring.
4. Community Engagement Commission- Task Force Recommendations
2 | P a g e
Staff are in process of writing the grant proposal for the Bush Foundation multi-year grant. Council would
like to see the grant prior to submission.
The Community Engagement Commission should move forward to put numbers and research to the task
force recommendation immediate focuses. Specifically, the Science Museum hosts trainings on race to
help people have these conversations. There is also a contact with Ellen Krueg on “Grey Area Thinking”
that has offered up services for a two hour training for up to 100 people. On the website we will show
what we have done and where we want to go.
Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office will try to have a representative at Community Engagement Commission
meetings. There is a quarterly block club meeting on November 14th that will have been sent via email to
the Neighborhood Liaisons and Council.
5. Proposed 2018 Levy and Budget
a. Capital
In the future, it would be beneficial to consider moving certain line item capital costs back into the
general fund. For the general capital fund, there is an estimated $104,000 fund balance. Part of this fund
balance is for the fiber installation.
The Parks capital fund has items such as landscaping and signs which should be in the general fund.
There is also a pending purchase when a dump truck is available from the county. This is a needed
replacement in order to get the job done, especially in regards to snow plowing.
b. Enterprise
Right now these fees are not being increased: lighting, storm, and sanitary sewer. Most of the time,
franchise fees are dedicated to a fund, and most often that is towards infrastructure. The Capital
Improvement Plan will be revisited with the Engineer to see what upcoming street projects are determined
a need.
Adjourn: 8:21 pm
_____________________________
Peter Lindstrom, Mayor
Dated this 1st day of November, 2017
__________________________________
Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator