03-25-13 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSIO N March 4, 2013 DRAFT 5 Council Member Roes er added that th e city should force code compliance if the house is 180 that bad. The mayor remarked that if this is impacting a whole community, there may be 181 some grant money available to help, perhaps as seed money to assist the neighborhood in 182 dealing with it. When Counc il Member O’Donnell asked if the city could assess for an 183 acquisition like this, Community Development Director Grochala responded that there 184 would have to be a way to show benefit to those assessed. Mr. Stimson added that he 185 understands that the property is at a point where the owner (bank) will decide on what if 186 any improvements are necessary in order to move the property, so it is an important time 187 to move. The property has been left without improvements and that is a good indicator to 188 him that it isn’t an easy fix. The mayor suggested that this may be a good point for 189 negotiations then. 190 191 The council concurred that someone should gain information on where the property is in 192 the foreclosure process. The council will continue discussion at the next w ork session. 193 194 7. Gap Analysis Review for 5 -Year Financial Forecast – Finance Director Role k 195 reviewed the Five -Year General Fund Gap Analysis he had provided. He reviewed the 196 items that make up the gap, by revenue, expenditures and debt service in the to tal amount 197 of $845,760 . The council discussed the voter approved signal project levy in the amount 198 of $181,151 that will be included on tax statements but not as a line item. Administrator 199 Karlson suggested that the council has not budgeted for certain c apital expenditures as a 200 savings but that can’t be continued because equipment has to be replaced at some point. 201 The mayor remarked that the council, with the help of staff, has been creative in finding 202 ways to save or increase efficiency for recent budge ts; it is getting tougher to identify 203 savings . Mr. Rolek identified some options that could be forecasted differently, 204 depending on how the council wants to budget in the future. He distributed and reviewed 205 a more detailed gap analysis. The mayor remar ked that it is important to have this 206 discussion in March rather than waiting until budget discussions in September. The 207 council may schedule a special session to discuss priorities. 208 209 The council will continue discussion of the forecast at the April work session. Staff will 210 prepare another forecast with different assumptions. 211 212 Review Regular Council Agenda of 3 -11 -13 - Th e council reviewed the agenda as 213 follows: 214 215 Economic Development Authority Meeting – Community Development Director 216 Grochala explained t hat the purpose of the meeting is to hold a public hearing and 217 approve agreements associated with the Lino Lakes Assisted Living property purchase. 218 219 Item 6A, Civic Complex Lease Agreement - Administrator Karlson explained that the 220 city has negotiated a l ease agreement with Veritas School, a private school with a 221 business plan that would keep them in the space for several years. Staff has been working 222 with them on signage and other location items. Staff has also received a positive legal 223 opini on on the u se of the property by a private based school. One room of that wing wi ll 224