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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_04Oct26CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES October 26, 2004 Mayor Gehrz called the special Council meeting to order. PRESENT: Mayor Sue Gehrz, Council members Laura Kuettel, Robert Lamb, Peter Lindstrom Also present: City Administrator Heather Worthington, Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy, Public Works Director Greg Hoag, Recreation Director Ann Davy, Finance Director Roland Olson, Public Works Maintenance Workers Dave Tretsven and Colin Callahan Absent: Council member Richard Talbot Mayor Gehrz welcomed the students and teachers from Falcon Heights Elementary School and thanked the Roseville Rotary Club for paying for their bus transportation. She told the audience you are never too young to help make your communities better places to live, visit and go to school. Agenda packet materials were distributed and Mayor Gehrz said the students would be learning about issues affecting recreation, public safety and local government. POLICY AGENDA: Falcon Heights Elementary School Site Planning and Joint-Use Agreement Administrator Worthington said that in the early 1990’s, the city and the school district partnered a joint-use agreement for the Falcon Heights Elementary School playground and playing fields. This agreement formalized the city’s permission to utilize the school grounds and playground for recreational use on behalf of our residents, and also created a financial partnership among the two entities for installation of new playground equipment. That agreement sunset in 1999; however, the two entities have voluntarily honored the agreement since then with regard to maintenance of that playground equipment and the use of the playing fields. Early in 2004, the school’s PTSA group approached the city and asked if we would consider helping them fund new playground equipment to replace an old wooden playground structure. In the 2005 budget, the City Council allocated $15,000 for replacement of this structure, which represents approximately 1/3 of the total cost of the playground equipment. The new agreement, which has been drafted by the city attorney, would formalize this cost participation, and add new provisions for the installation of a seasonal hockey rink on the school grounds, as well as the continuing seasonal installation of a pleasure rink for skating. The agreement is being reviewed by the ISD 623 School District, Roseville Area Schools. The plan was reviewed by the neighborhood, and there was consensus amongst those residents that a hockey rink was a favorable addition to the neighborhood. Staff is currently working on issues related to the placement of the rink, possible lighting in the future, and ratification of this agreement with the school district. The demographics for the area around the school indicate there are 423 children under five years of age and within the City there are 1,693 youth under the age of 19. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -2- October 26, 2004 Falcon Heights Elementary School Site Planning and Joint-Use Agreement (continued) The meeting was opened to the audience for questions and commentary. Shawn said that he loves to play hockey. The outdoor teachers won’t let them go into the streets if they lose a puck. Council member Kuettel said the boards should keep most of the pucks within the hockey rink. If necessary, the playground supervisor will go and get the puck. Laura asked if the rink boards are going to be kept up year round. She doesn’t want them up all the time because she wants to be able to run around. Council member Kuettel said that most of the parents indicated they don’t want the hockey boards up year round. Public Works Director Hoag said the plan is to make it a temporary rink. The boards will be going up in the next three weeks and will be taken down in early spring, as soon as conditions permit removal. Melissa asked about putting up and taking down the hockey boards. Public Works Director Hoag said that is done with all of the City’s rinks. The City doesn’t have a lot of acreage at each of its parks. The City does the same thing with the equipment for the other seasonal sports, such as soccer. It puts them up and takes them down. Emily asked why temporary boards aren’t placed around the whole rink. Public Works Director Hoag said it is much easier to have open ice with no boards. The rinks are maintained at the same quality. The question and commentary period was closed. A brief Council discussion followed. Kuettel moved that staff be authorized to negotiate the agreement, and bring the finalized agreement back to the City Council at first November meeting for ratification. The motion was unanimously approved. 800 MHz Radio Plan Administrator Worthington said that the Ramsey County’s Public Safety Communication System Project is exploring ways to improve communication among local, regional, state and federal law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, emergency services and other public safety agencies. Currently these agencies have different radio systems that are not linked together. Coordination is difficult in emergencies, especially when timing is most important. Ramsey County is working with cities to enhance public safety countywide by supporting reliable, timely communications and avoiding unnecessary duplication. She introduced Captain John Ohl, from the Saint Anthony Police Department, the police department the City of Falcon Heights contracts with for police services. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -3- October 26, 2004 800 MHz Radio Plan Captain Ohl said he was most pleased to be at the special meeting and that it was a great opportunity for the local youngsters. He said the Federal government informed everyone they could no longer use a VHF radio system. The new 800 MHz technology will allow police, fire, and public works employees from any community in Ramsey County to talk with their counterparts in other cities, the County, and even the State of Minnesota. With current VHF and UHF technology, cities cannot talk to each other, unless they are on a statewide channel. They are also limited in the number of channels they can utilize, which can create communication problems in an emergency situation. He showed his radio to the audience and said they are more like a small computer and have a large capacity for numbers. He is looking forward to Ramsey County having the 800 MHz radio system because it will help increase public safety and interoperability. The meeting was opened to the audience for questions and commentary. Grace asked why the radios aren’t more like a cell phone. Captain Ohl said they are similar to a Nextel phone, but the radios need much larger capacity. Council member Lamb said there is a radio spectrum and you don’t want interference between private calls and police and fire calls. Jason asked how many people can talk at once. Captain Ohl described the system and said that, in some instances, one individual can talk and a lot of people can hear. Gretel asked if they couldn’t make it a little laptop. Captain Ohl said there are laptops in all of the police cars right now. Haley asked why police officers use walkie talkies. Captain Ohl said there are radios in the cars and the officers also carry radios with them. Emergency calls go to dispatch and dispatch uses the car radios to contact the police department. When the officers get out of their cars they carry a radio so they can communicate. The question and commentary period was closed. Mayor Gehrz said the City is determining how much money it will need to cover the cost of the radios. The new equipment for this conversion to 800 MHz will be covered in part by a grant from Ramsey County, in addition to financial resources from each community. Staff will present final cost estimates sometime in November. Local Government Structure Discussion Administrator Worthington explained that Falcon Heights is a city of the fourth class—cities under 10,000 in population. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -4- October 26, 2004 Local Government Structure Discussion (continued) Administrator Worthington explained that Falcon Heights is a statutory city—that is, it operates under Chapter 412 of the Minnesota Statutes, commonly known as the statutory city code, and under a number of other statutes that apply to all cities. Falcon Heights is a statutory city, Plan A, with a “weak mayor-council plan” and a city administrator who acts as the city’s manager of day-to-day operations. The mayor’s powers in weak mayor-council communities are no greater than those of any other member of the council, with the exception of the mayor’s role as presiding officer at council meetings and several minor duties. No individual council member holds specific administrative powers. Many statutory Standard Plan and Plan A cities create a city administrator position by resolution or ordinance and specify the responsibilities of the position. City administrators are appointed because of their professional qualifications; this is not a political appointment. In Falcon Heights, the council members and mayor serve a staggered four-year term. Elections are held in odd-years. The City Council meets every second and fourth Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. Meetings cannot go past 10:00 p.m. unless a majority of the Council votes to extend the meeting past that time. The city hires professional staff people to carry out the programs and projects that the City Council decides to fund each year. The City Administrator manages the personnel of the city, the day-to-day functions of the city, and carries out the policies developed by the City Council. The city has a Deputy Clerk, Public Works Director, Finance Director, Planning and Zoning Coordinator, Recreation Director, Maintenance Workers, Part-time Secretary, Seasonal Forester, and Part-time Fire Marshal. The city contracts with the City of St. Anthony for police services. The City also has a paid-on-call fire department, which is staffed by volunteers from the community. These people are highly trained, and drill each week on their firefighting skills. She utilized the LCD projector to present the League of Minnesota Cities’ overview of local government in Minnesota. The meeting was opened to the audience for questions and commentary. Lucas asked how many mayors there are in Minnesota. Mayor Gehrz said there are 873 cities in Minnesota and 873 mayors. Anna asked how many times the City Council has held meetings with different schools. Council member Lindstrom said this is the very first time the Falcon Heights City Council has done this. He has never heard of any other city in the state doing this. Atara asked how many governors there are in the United States and he was told 50. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -5- October 26, 2004 Local Government Structure Discussion (continued) John asked how old you have to be to be on the City Council and he was told 18 years of age. Council member Lindstrom said that he was 28 years old when he was elected. Zach asked how many mayors there are in the United States. Mayor Gehrz said there are over 17,000 cities in the United States and they each have a mayor. Marissa asked Council member Lindstrom how many houses he has door knocked on. Council member Lindstrom said that in 1999, when he was elected for the first time, and 2003, when he was re-elected, he went to every house in the city at least twice during each election period. There are about 2,200 homes in Falcon Heights. Council member Lamb suggested there be some discussion about the various commissions that the city has. The age requirement to be a Commission member is different than for a Council member. Administrator Worthington described the city’s commissions: Parks and Recreation, Planning, Neighborhood, Solid Waste and Human Rights. You have to be at least 12 years of age to be on a city commission. It is very important to have kids participate because they are definitely a part of the community and their opinions matter. Parks and Recreation and the Solid Waste Commission each have a youth Commission member at this time. Elections Overview Deputy Clerk Kodluboy gave a brief overview of the upcoming general election on Tuesday, November 2, to elect a president for the next four years. Falcon Heights has two polling locations: Precinct 1 – City Hall, 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue Precinct 2 – Falcon Heights Elementary School, 1393 Garden Avenue There are 1,811 registered voters in Precinct 1 (addresses west of Snelling Avenue) and 1,442 registered voters in Precinct 2 (addresses east of Snelling Avenue), or 3,253 registered voters. What are the criteria for becoming a registered voter? 18 years of age on election day Citizen of the United States Have resided in Minnesota for 20 days immediately preceding election day Maintain residence at the address you give on the voter registration form Not be under court ordered guardianship Not have been found by a court to be legally incompetent to vote Not have been convicted of a felony without having your civil rights restored FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -6- October 26, 2004 Elections Overview (continued) The meeting was opened to the audience for questions and commentary. Tammy asked why you have to be at least 18 years of age to vote. Administrator Worthington said that you used to have to be 21. Some of it has to do with things that you do when you become an adult. It hasn’t always been 18. Back in history you could only vote if you were a man. The question and commentary period was closed. Mayor Gehrz thanked the students and their teachers for coming and said the City Council and City Administrator would be happy to go to the classes and make presentations. The special Council meeting was adjourned at 10:30 AM. Respectfully submitted, Mary Shea Kodluboy Deputy Clerk