HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-05-2009 Council Minutes (2) CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 5,2009
DRAFT
CITY OF LINO LAKES
2 MINUTES
3 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
4
5 DATE : October 5,2009
6 TIME STARTED : 6:30 p.m.
7 TIME ENDED : 7:55 p.m.
8 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Members Gallup,O'Donnell,
9 Reinert,Stoltz and Mayor Bergeson
10 MEMBERS ABSENT : none
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13 Also Present:Acting City Administrator Dan Tesch;Director of Public Safety Dave Pecchia;
14 City Engineer Jim Studenski;City Finance Director Al Rolek;Economic Development
15 Coordinator Mary Alice Divine;City Clerk Julie Bartell
16
17 Review of Regular Council Meeting Agenda for meeting of October 12,2009—
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19 Item 6A and 6B regarding imposition of Lodging Tax and the new convention and
20 tourism group called Minnesota Metro North Tourism. Economic Development Coordinator
21 Mary Alice Divine noted that the council will be asked to consider second reading and approval
22 of an ordinance approving a lodging tax in the city that would be dedicated to the newly formed
�- 23 tourism bureau. Also on the agenda as related items are resolutions approving the bureau's by-
24 laws,articles of incorporation and the joint powers agreement relative to the city's participation.
25 She noted that the staff report includes letters of support from both of the city's hotels. She
26 introduced John Connelly,Director of Development of the National Sports Center,to talk about
27 the formation of the new tourism group.
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29 Mr.Connelly noted his background in the convention and visitors industry(25 plus years). The
30 impetus of this action setting up a new bureau is to begin to serve the area in a way that the Visit
31 Minneapolis North bureau did not Nine cities in Anoka and Ramsey County have gotten
32 together and worked with the lodging professionals in their respective cities to find a tourism
33 approach to meet the area needs. The new bureau will function with a board(each city council
34 will appoint members)and the board will oversee the work and funds of the organization. The
35 lodging industry will also have epiesentation on the board. The board will set a budget and
36 establish a marketing plan. The organization doesn't actually come into play until January 2010.
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38 The council discussed what type of individual would best be able to represent the city on the
39 board. Mr.Connelly suggested that leveraging the knowledge of someone in the city with an
40 understanding of the industry would be optimum. The council also received information on
41 what resources(intemet,sales)will be used for promotion and heard how important it is to use
42 all available resources to remain viable in the marketplace. It was pointed out that the National
43 Sports Center is a venue that brings a lot of people to the area and Lino Lakes is close enough
44 that its hotels should benefit from it Mr.Connelly added that the lodging tax is regulated to the
45 point that ninety-five percent of it must be used to directly promote tourism in the community the
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 5,2009
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46 system of imposing a tax to be used to promote visitors and tourism has been used very
47 effectively in other areas in the state.
48
49 Ms.Divine asked the council to think about who and how they will appoint a member to the
50 board.
51
52 The council discussed the advantage of bringing in expertise already present in the community
53 and recommended that the city set up a public process to reach out to the community for
54 interested and qualified candidates for this type of appointment(to this board and to others like
55 it). Ms.Divine noted that she will investigate whether or not the representative must be an
56 elected official and report back.
57
58 The remainder of the council agenda was reviewed briefly.
59
60 1. Centennial Fire District 2010 Budget -Centennial District Fire Chief Jerry Streich
61 reported. He first thanked Police Chief Pecchia and the Lino Lakes Police Department for their
62 work in dealing with the recent murder/suicide tragedy that involved a Centennial fire fighter.
63 He offered his thoughts and prayers to the survivors.
64
65 Chief Streich then presented the proposed 2010 budget for his department noting that the budget
66 has first been reviewed by the Centennial Fire District Steering Committee. Under the joint
67 powers agreement each of the three cities the district serves(and who contribute to the budget)
68 have until November 30,2009 to approve the proposed budget including fee charges. He
69 reminded the council that the funding formula is based on market value,population and a five
70 year average of calls. He has had the opportunity to compare the department's budget to others
71 in the area and can report that it is generally lower than in department's with comparable
72 services. He noted that charitable gambling revenue that had contributed somewhat to the budget
73 recently disappeared. There was originally a$27,000 increase proposed for the 2010 budget but
74 he has worked that down by looking at additional fees for services. When he looked at calls,he
75 saw that many calls could be handled by one individual so he has created a fire district duty
76 officer who responds to low priority calls rather than sending eight or more. He reviewed the
77 new required expenditures that were pushing the budget increase and explained how he is
78 covering them with fees that will actually decrease the Lino Lakes'contribution. Mr.Streich
79 noted the capital funds that are included in the budget each year and that are allowed to build up
80 for equipment purchases. He has reviewed that program and is confident that the appropriate
81 amount of capital is being contributed yearly to meet future purchase needs without requiring
82 bonding. Information on the department's response time is included in the staff report and was
83 pointed out by Mr.Streich.
84
85 2. Anoka County-Blaine Airport Advisory Commission—Acting Administrator Tesch
86 noted that the by-laws for the organization were recently changed to include a representative of
87 the City of Lino Lakes;the representative could be an elected or appointed person.
88
89 The council authorized staff to begin a community oriented process seeking interested
90 individuals.
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 5,2009
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91
92 3. City Code Project—City Clerk Bartell reported that she is prepared to request council
93 approval of the final updated city code. The current city code is comprised only of a three-ring
94 book into which staff loosely inserts new ordinances. The update process brings all approved
95 ordinances(since the last update in 1993)into the code,brings statutory references up to date and
96 institutes changes recommended by the code attorney,the League of Minnesota Cities and the
97 city attorney. As well,the code would be placed on-line for increased availability to the public.
98 The review process to this point has involved several council work session reviews of proposed
99 changes as well as an expectation of independent review of non-substantive changes by council
100 members. Ms.Bartell noted that she is seeking the council's direction to bring the updated code
101 forward for public hearing and final approval. The proposed approval process is defined in the
102 staff report;the council directed the city clerk to proceed with the process outlined.
103
104 Televising of city meetings—At a special council meeting immediately preceding the work
105 session,the council had considered a proposal to amend the city charter to require televising of
106 city council meetings. The amendment was not approved but the council added discussion of the
107 topic of televising city meetings to the work session agenda. A council member noted that the
108 city attorney has already recommended language that could potentially be used in the city code
109 (distributed). The questions for the council(as framed by one council member)are:a) should
110 there be a requirement that all council meetings be televised;b)should city meetings that aren't
111 currently televised(EDAC and Charter Commission)be added;and c)should the`open mike"
112 portion be televised inclusively? The council agreed with all those items but some members
113 expressed concern that questions remain about costs and logistics. There would obviously be
114 different requirements for live televising versus taping and playback. A council member asked
115 about the option of someone bringing equipment to the community room and taping;
116 Administrator Tesch indicated he would check on that possibility. Mr.Tench said he will do
117 some more research so that the council can discuss this again in a month. The council
118 recognized that there are clearly questions remaining on how this can work. Would the council
119 chambers be used exclusively,or would the community room be retrofitted for taping or live
120 production? Would Park Board meetings have to be rescheduled? A council member suggested
121 that the discussion has primarily been focused on the general concept of televising and the
122 benefit of transparency to the public but the discussion needs to include how the process can be
123 done well—more discussion is needed in that light. There was a suggestion that the council
124 could attempt a process in the council chambers without a big investment as a pilot and see how
125 it works out.
126
127 The council concurred to direct the city attorney to bring forward an ordinance that encompasses
128 all boards and the charter commission. A council member pointed out that the council doesn't
129 have the authority over the charter commission—the attorney should opine on that.There is an
130 expectation that the council will have that information at the next work session and also that it
131 will be a discussion item at the joint council and charter commission meeting that is pending.
132
133 The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 5,2009
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135 These minutes were considered and approved at the regular Council meeting held on October 26,
136 2009.
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140 40
141 Julianne Bartell,City C erk John Bergeson,Mayor
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