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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-04-2012 Council Work Session Minutes CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION June 4, 2012 APPROVED 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 2 MINUTES 3 4 DATE : June 4,2012 5 TIME STARTED : 5:30 p.m. 6 TIME ENDED : 9:00 p.m. 7 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Member Stoesz, O'Donnell, 8 Rafferty, and Roeser 9 MEMBERS ABSENT : Mayor Reinert 10 11 12 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Director of Public Safety John 13 Swenson; Director of Public Services Rick DeGardner; Utility Supervisor Tim 14 Hillesheim; Community Development Director Michael Grochala; City Clerk Julie 15 Bartell 16 17 In the absence of Mayor Reinert, Acting Mayor Stoesz was in the chair. Acting Mayor 18 Stoesz noted that the agenda for the meeting was being amended by adding the following 19 item after Item 2: Water Discussion. 20 21 2. Martha's Haven Retirement Development—Community Development Director 22 Grochala explained that John and Martha DeHaven are interested in discussing a possible 23 development for their 15 acre parcel in the city. The property is currently zoned as rural 24 and is guided in the Comprehensive Plan for development prior to 2015. Utility services 25 are available in the area. Mr. Grochala explained the city's process for consideration of a 26 development, including rezoning and subdivision of the property. If the DeHavens wish 27 to proceed with their proposal,they should submit a plan for development through the 28 city's process. 29 30 Martha DeHaven first noted how much the residents of Lino Lakes enjoy the city and that 31 the city council is doing a great job as stewards of the city. She then explained that she 32 has a dream about advocating for senior citizens and she sees that her land is way to 33 provide housing for seniors. She showed a hand drawn plan that she explained roughly 34 proposes where homes and green space could be located. The established green space 35 would be good recreation for the new residents. The housing itself would be single level 36 and friendly in many ways to senior living (i.e. large doorways,walk in baths, storage 37 areas, fenced yards for pets). 38 39 When Acting Mayor Stoesz asked how the housing could be designated for seniors only, 40 Mr. Grochala suggested that the developer could make such a stipulation. 41 42 The council heard from a realtor who was present with the DeHavens that senior housing 43 will absolutely be in demand in the coming years. 44 1 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION June 4,2012 APPROVED 45 The council discussed street access and emergency vehicle access; it may make more 46 sense to consider a through street rather than a cul-de-sac. 47 48 When Council Member O'Donnell asked about next steps, Mr. Grochala noted that the 49 staff report explains the city process. The developer would normally engage an engineer 50 for formal planning. If a development team were put together,he would suggest they 51 meet with city staff. Mr. DeHaven expressed concern about the escrow system and city 52 charges that are incurred through that process. 53 54 When Council Member Roeser asked if there may be some funding available on a 55 regional level for a development like this, Mr. Grochala explained that he wouldn't see 56 anything available for something on this scale. 57 58 Not relative to the housing development discussion, Public Services Director DeGardner 59 remarked that the garden club that includes Mrs. DeHaven has done a wonderful job with 60 the landscaping work outside of city hall. The council expressed their extreme 61 satisfaction with the result of the landscaping and noted that they will formally recognize 62 the volunteers at an upcoming council meeting. 63 64 Water System Discussion (added agenda item)—Public Services Director DeGardner 65 noted that a"Don't Drink the Water" advisory was issued for the City of Lino Lakes this 66 day and he introduced the city's Utility Supervisor Tim Hillesheim to further explain that 67 situation. 68 69 Mr. Hillesheim explained that this morning at about 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. the SCADA 70 computer system for the city's water system locked up during a routine data backup— 71 why that program locked has not yet been determined but is being studied. That means 72 that communication with the wells ceased and pressure started going down. This is 73 irrigation season so it went down pretty fast. There is a redundant dialing system that 74 then failed. He was notified by the Police Department at about 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. of the 75 pressure problem and that they were in the process of manually turning on the pumps. 76 Mr. Hillesheim arrived on the scene by 5:30 a.m. and can report that by 6:00 a.m. the 77 wells were fully pressurized. At no time did the wells run into a negative pressure 78 situation, which is what the Health Department worries about. The Health Department 79 felt that the potential did exist for that negative pressure and the result is that they issued 80 the advisory. They are testing the water in the system and he is very confident there will 81 be no problem. Additional steps that could be taken to avoid the problem in the future 82 would be to have Roseville (our IT partners)monitor our SCADA system at all hours of 83 the day (as they do for a couple of other cities), and/or to install pressure transducers as 84 another fail safe. 85 86 Council Member Roeser asked if the Health Department had known that there was never 87 a negative pressure,would they still have initiated the advisory? Mr. Hillesheim said no 88 and Mr. DeGardner added that there will be some follow up conversations with the 89 Health Department to ensure that proper protocol has been followed and to develop full 2 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION June 4, 2012 APPROVED 90 clarity on this situation. In the meantime,the city is fully cooperating and working with 91 the health officials. He added that staff wanted the council to have this full report on the 92 situation and he also wants to assure the council that he is confident there is no water 93 contamination. Council Member O'Donnell asked about the procedure if a contamination 94 did occur. Mr. DeGardner said that the city would mandate a water boiling situation and 95 would full clarify the water system within a couple of days. 96 97 The council noted that city hall as well as council members individually are receiving 98 many requests for information and since they would like everyone to receive the highest 99 level of information, they will refer those requests to the City Administrator. 100 101 Council Member Rafferty noted that he experienced the low pressure at his home early in 102 the morning and was glad that Mr. Hillesheim acted professionally in contacting each 103 council member at 7:00 a.m. to fully explain the situation. He feels that staff has done a 104 good job. 105 106 3. Revised Personnel Policy—Administrator Karlson noted that the council has 107 discussed this policy previously. He has been informed that there may be more questions 108 at this point and he is prepared to answer them. 109 110 Council Member Rafferty suggested that the conversation should probably occur when 111 the Mayor can be included. Mr. Rafferty noted that he continues to be concerned about 112 the language in the Tuition Reimbursement section and mainly relating to public vs. 113 private organizations utilizing their funds for this type of advancement. In a public entity, 114 resources must be used to the best interest of the taxpayers and he has come up with an 115 amendment for reimbursement at a little different level than the current proposal. 116 117 When a council member asked how many employees are taking advantage of the 118 program, Mr. Karlson said there are currently none because there is no money budgeted. 119 There has some participation in the past, mainly within the Police Department. He 120 believes that the tuition program is especially important to police officers seeking 121 promotional opportunities and that they will actually choose to work in a department 122 where that is offered. He also mentioned that employee turnover does come at a cost to 123 the organization. He'd like to get the policy moving forward as there are elements that 124 are important to get into place. He would like to know if there are other issues that 125 require further discussion so he can get the necessary information to move forward. He 126 will work with Council Member Rafferty on his specific concerns. 127 128 The policy will be included on the next work session agenda. 129 130 4. Electronic Council Packets - City Clerk Bartell recalled that the council has 131 previously discussed the cost benefit to implementing an electronic packet system for city 132 council information. Based on that discussion, staff has purchased and is working with 133 one iPad unit. Discussions have been occurring with the City's IT partner, City of 134 Roseville staff, about the best process to bring electronic information to council members. 3 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION June 4,2012 APPROVED 135 There are two elements that are being recommended: Laserfiche Weblink to bring the 136 packet to the council members and iAnnotate as a reader program to enhance electronic 137 use. She demonstrated on the iPad how the city council packet can be produced in 138 electronic form, linked to the Web using the Weblinks program, and opened on the iPad. 139 She noted that staff's recommendation to utilize the Laserfiche Weblinks element in part 140 is because Laserfiche is the tool that the city has chosen to utilize for the organization 141 wide document imaging program. Therefore using an element of Laserfiche for the 142 packets makes sense for compatibility and streamlining. She then demonstrated the 143 search capability of the program. 144 145 Council Member Stoesz summarized that Laserfiche is the recommended tool because it 146 is the overall program being used by the city for its documents. It is easily integrated and 147 is similar in function to the current Web. The idea of all council members using an iPad 148 is to give a uniform look and, for use, so that everyone has pretty much the same access 149 and tools. He asked how members would be notified of changes to the packet 150 (SharePoint has a notification ability)? It would be nice to receive an automatic message 151 whenever the document is updated(rather than having to email every time). Clerk Bartell 152 noted that she will specifically discuss the communication element with the IT group. 153 She added that staff's goal is to keep improving the process—a scanned PDF is not the 154 ultimate goal. 155 156 Stoesz noted that he's discussed with staff the installation of extra wireless nodes to 157 assure dedicated bandwidth for council meetings, in case there is ever a lack of necessary 158 bandwidth during a meeting. Also it would have to be an expectation that council 159 members will have their device charged and ready for the meeting. City Clerk Bartell 160 said she envisions a clear plan of instruction of use and training as necessary, dealing with 161 all the details. Staff will also be looking into how to handle Apple accounts for the 162 purchase of applications. Stoesz recommended that staff also look at utilizing the iPad 163 as a recording device. 164 165 City Administrator Karlson noted that if the council wants to move forward with the 166 program,the remaining question then would be funding. There are different options— 167 monthly stipends, city purchase, or what Roseville is doing—giving $500 up front to each 168 person authorized. Roseville has gone with the less expensive iPad 2 (at$400) because it 169 is fine for this purpose. The extra funds allows for the purchase of applications. He 170 clarified that if the unit is purchased by stipend,the individual would own it. 171 172 The council discussed the implications of having a public device and how they can keep 173 public data separate from personal. O'Donnell's preference is that the city purchases the 174 unit as well as the software; when a council member leaves service it is returned. 175 Rafferty suggested his preference would probably be toward the stipend. 176 177 City Clerk Bartell suggested that the rollout would most likely include use at a work 178 session first prior to use at a council meeting. Administrator Karlson suggested that 179 initially the council could have a paper backup next to the iPad. 4 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION June 4, 2012 APPROVED 180 181 Stoesz suggested that the fact that he has the unit will probably lead to some personal use 182 and so it makes sense to him to have it owned by the individual. Also then he can decide 183 if he wants to invest more in getting an iPad 3. 184 185 The stipend would normally concur with the term of office—every four years. 186 187 Administrator Karlson suggested coming back next work session with options for 188 purchase. It would be additional compensation(if a stipend is used) as a onetime 189 appropriation. 190 191 Council Member Stoesz volunteered to utilize the city iPad for the next council meeting. 192 193 City Clerk Bartell noted that since the Laserfiche Weblink is being utilized for this 194 council function, staff will be moving more and more toward that as the Web access for 195 city documents. 196 197 Review Regular Council Agenda of June 11, 2012. 198 199 Item 4B—Renewal of Liquor,Beer,Wine and Dance Licenses—City Clerk Bartell 200 reviewed the list of applicants for renewal, noting that requirements for renewal have 201 been met. 202 203 Item 6A and 6B—Overlay and Sealcoat Projects—Community Development Director 204 Grochala noted that both bids came in under the engineer's estimate. He noted the 205 successful bidders and that the city engineer will be reviewing the bid documents for final 206 approval. 207 208 Council Member Stoesz added that he attended the Police Department volunteer picnic 209 the previous week. Some individuals were recognized for their years of volunteer 210 service. The volunteerism is impressive in this city and the council may want to consider 211 a recognition effort also for these volunteer. 212 213 The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. 214 215 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on 216 June 25, 2012. 217 218 ' 219 221 Ju 'anne Bartell, City erk Je ' i e r, Mayor 222 5