HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-01-2013 Council Work Session Minutes CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION April 1 , 2013
APPROVED
1 CITY OF LINO LAKES
2 MINUTES
3
4 DATE April 1 , 2013
5 TIME STARTED S : 30 p . m .
6 TIME ENDED 6 : 30 p . m .
7 MEMBERS PRESENT Council Member Stoesz , O ' Donnell ,
8 Rafferty , Roeser and Mayor Reinert
9 MEMBERS ABSENT None
10
11 Staff members present : City Administrator Jeff Karlson ; Public Safety Director John
12 Swenson ; Finance Director Al Rolek ; Environmental Coordinator Marty Asleson ; Public
13 Services Director Rick DeGardner ; Economic Development Coordinator Mary Alice
14 Divine ; City Clerk Julie Bartell
15
16 1 . Anoka County Assessor — Board of Appeals process — Peggy Nordrum and Randy
17 DeJong , Anoka County appraisers , reviewed the process for the upcoming Board of
18 Appeals . Longtime County Assessor Linda Wiener , who handled the Lino Lakes area ,
19 has retired so other staff will be handling the process . The council will act as the Board
20 of Review and follow a review process that gives property owners the opportunity to
21 appeal their current valuation or classification . This year ' s board reviews assessments
22 payable in 2014 . The board may correct erroneous valuations if they so determine . The
23 county assessor ' s staff will provide a review of the assessment process , definition of
24 market value and how mass appraisals are conducted . Ms . Nordrum answered questions
25 about housing market trends in the area . The mayor suggested that it appears that values
26 are bottoming out .
27
28 3 . 401 Birch Street Property — Administrator Karlson updated the council on this
29 property ; neighbors had appeared at the last work session to express their concern that the
30 property is blighted . There is a purchase agreement on the property so that pretty much
31 ends the discussion about city or neighborhood purchase . Mayor Reinert indicated that he
32 spoke with the neighbor who attended the last work session (Mr . Stimson) and there is an
33 understanding that it ' s a wait and see situation now . He recommends that the city keep an
34 eye on the property .
35
36 4 . Off- Sale Liquor Licensing — City Clerk Bartell noted previous council discussions
37 about the possibility of instituting regulations on off- sale licenses within the city . The
38 council has received information on what other cities are doing in that area — generally
39 restrictions are related to either proximity of licenses or by population . The council
40 recently directed staff to prepare an ordinance reflecting a regulation limiting licenses to
41 within one - half mile radius . Mayor Reinert recalled that the council ' s most recent
42 discussion seems to have landed on the half- mile restriction but he recalls that there was
43 still concern about certain areas losing development due to restrictions .
44
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION April 1 , 2013
APPROVED
45 Council Member Roeser confirmed his concern about limiting future business
46 development . To him , competition is good and helps the residents also . This seems to be
47 a subject that comes up whenever a new license is proposed . He does see that there is a
48 district in the city where there are several licenses but trying to fix that by adding
49 limitations could backfire . Council Member Rafferty concurred that limitations could
50 close important avenues .
51
52 Mayor Reinert had spoken with an off- sale license holder who suggests this ordinance
53 could be in place and if new businesses are interested , they could buy out current
54 licensees . The mayor said he sees the area of I35E as particularly ripe for development
55 and perhaps that area could be exempted from the new regulations . He added that the
56 liquor industry is different to him because it is highly regulated by the state .
57
58 Council Member Roeser asked about the possibility of a moratorium on licenses until the
59 council sees the need for additional licenses . Council Member Rafferty is concerned that
60 a moratorium is too much of a moving target ; he hears the argument for regulations but
61 doesn ' t want to close the door on development . Council Member Stoesz recognizes that
62 a restriction would make current licenses more valuable .
63
64 Sergei Nazaranka of Eagle Liquors explained that a store with other options , such as G -
65 Will , just wants the traffic attracted by the liquor store for their other goods . They can
66 price the alcohol products way down because they have other items . He believes that
67 having regulations is not out of the ordinary ; neighboring cities have enacted them . Also
68 he doesn ' t believe that a large development would be stopped by regulations ; they can
69 work their way around them .
70
71 Adam LaMere , Lakes Liquor , told the council that there is obviously a problem and that
72 doing something is better than doing nothing . He doesn ' t feel it is fair for the council to
73 do nothing when there are business owners who have invested in this city .
74
75 Mayor Reinert said he ' d like staff to carve out a discussion for the council about where an
76 exemption area would make sense .
77
78 Barbara Bor , resident and Environmental Board Member , noted that the eastside of the
79 city includes an ALTAR district that is supposed to be reviewed regularly . She ' d like that
80 to be part of the discussion if the council is discussing development of the I3 5E area .
81
82 5 . Update on Peltier Lake Heron Rookery — Environmental Coordinator Asleson
83 introduced community volunteers on the rookery project — Wayne LeBlanc , Barbara Bor ,
84 Terry Averbeck . Other volunteers were not present but were noted . Historically , it was
85 discovered in 1999 that the heron rookery was failing ; a task force was established . There
86 were several hypotheses on why the rookery was failing and actions were taken to
87 mitigate many of those things . Since 2006 when there was essentially no nesting and
88 with flashings added to nesting trees , the nesting has been increasing . At this point , the
89 efforts seem to be working well . Mr . LeBlanc added that winter nesting counting is done
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION April 1 , 2013
APPROVED
90 regularly ( data on numbers distributed ) and the nests seem to be doubling each year . He
91 also believes that the no wake zone on the lake helps as does the signs that have been
92 posted .
93
94 Council Member Stoesz added that he is interested in seeing some solar powered cameras
95 installed so that many people can enjoy the heron environment without intrusion . The
96 feed could even be added to the city cable channel and maybe the web site .
97
98 2 . Utility Rate Discussion — Public Services Director DeGardner reshared information
99 comparing city water rates with other cities ( from the Springsted prepared rate study) .
100 This item remains on the agenda pending a council decision on rates . The council
101 discussed average water usage in the summer and winter as well as tiered rate structures .
102 Council Member Roeser urged staff to keep an eye on the funds in - house so things don ' t
103 get too far off course between official rate studies . Also Council Member Roeser would
104 like see incentives to use less water rather than just penalties for high use . Mr .
105 DeGardner said education has always been an important strategy along with other ways to
106 achieve savings .
107
108 Council Member Stoesz pointed out that people like consistency in their bills and that
109 makes him believe that planning for future needs through rates is a good idea .
110
111 Council Member Rafferty asked staff what they consider best practice in the area . Mr .
112 DeGardner replied that he believes education is the key element and he is also a strong
113 believer in the tiered billing structure (tied to water use ) .
114
115 Council Member Roeser urged creative thinking because the best result will come from
116 more than one approach to the situation . He also asked about a long term approach such
117 as utilizing a deeper aquifer so that fewer chemicals are needed for water treatment . Mr .
118 DeGardner explained that the aquifer question goes to the Department of Natural
119 Resources and they have in the past told him that such a change would be next to
120 impossible .
121
122 The mayor asked that council members work individually on the matter of utility rates
123 and at the next work session there will be light discussion followed hopefully by a
124 decision . It was clarified that the council will also need to review sewer rates but that
125 will be a separate upcoming discussion .
126
127 Administrator Karlson added that utility service is an area being considered for multi - city
128 collaboration . It appears that the Metropolitan Council will be providing grant funds for a
129 collaboration study .
130
131 6 . Five - Year Financial Forecast - Finance Director Rolek reviewed the budget gap
132 analysis information that he provided to the council . It attempts to outline decisions
133 made in previous years that impact future year considerations . The council and staff
134 discussed the analysis and the possibility of priority setting session in the future . It will
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135 be important to understand priorities before reductions are considered . The mayor said
136 that he ' d like to keep drilling down on all areas of the budget . A session to discuss
137 priorities will be scheduled .
138
139 7 . City Communications Plan — Police Chief Swenson introduced the proposed
140 Communication Plan and Social Media Policy that will ensure consistency and help to
141 establish and maintain appropriate social media use . The Plan is clear in establishing
142 types of communications and how they will be handled as well as instituting a " stoplight "
143 method that establishes the urgency of communications .
144
145 Council Member Stoesz asked if city council notices could be posted on Facebook and
146 Chief Swenson remarked that consideration of your audience is an important element of
147 any post . Mayor Reinert suggested that the council could have a role in this , perhaps in
148 getting the word out to encourage citizens to tell the city how they best receive
149 communications .
150
151 8 . Community Survey — Administrator Karlson noted that the idea of a community
152 survey was raised by the council recently . He has asked a company that specializes in
153 surveys , Decision Resources , for an informational estimate . He recalled that the city of
154 Coon Rapids did a sixty question survey at a cost of about $ 16 , 000 . If the city were to
155 contract for a survey , it would most likely be funded through the general fund
156 contingency .
157
158 The mayor wondered how surveys are done now since many people don ' t have home
159 phones . Mr . Karlson suggested that cell phone contact would be included as well as land
160 lines .
161
162 The council discussed timing . Council Member O ' Donnell remarked that it is still early
163 in this year so there is uncertainty about what else could be vying for the contingency
164 funding ; it may be best to discuss this type of service later in the year . Mayor Reinert
165 concurred and asked staff to return with this matter in a few months ; also the next
166 discussion should include information on how a survey could reach people without land
167 lines .
168
169 9 . Bald Eagle/Elmcrest Corridor — Council Member Roeser indicated that he requested
170 this discussion and he has included some information in the packet showing Bald Eagle
171 Boulevard . There are pictures of the roadway that is in really bad condition . He wants to
172 start a discussion about how the city could be involved in fixing the road . Perhaps
173 something like funding a paving project through the watershed district or shared costs
174 with another city , or even state Legacy funds . The council has heard about a WSB
175 service that helps look for grant funds ; maybe that ' s an avenue . The city administrator
if there ' s interest and have WSB put together a
176 could contact the City of Hugo and see
177 ball park figure for improvements that don ' t include sewer and water .
178
179 Review Regular Agenda of April 8 , 2013 — The council reviewed the meeting packet .
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION April 1 , 2013
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180
181 Item 3A — Administrator Karlson reviewed the staff report . He is requesting approval of
182 a compensation increase of 1 . 5 % for non represented employees . After confirming that
183 the process has included a performance element , the council concurred to raise the
184 increase to 2 percent ( still less than the total of 2 . 5 % most union employees received in
185 2012 and 2013 ) .
186
187 Item 4A — Chief Swenson explained that the Police Department has updated the city ' s
188 emergency management plan . The updates are not significant but do realign the policy to
189 the current situation . If the plan is approved by the council , it is his intent to develop a
190 training plan to reacquaint people . Mayor Reinert requested a " redlined " copy of the
191 Plan that indicates what is being changed . The plan was pulled from the council agenda
192 to allow additional time for council member review .
193
194 The meeting was adjourned at 9 : 22 p . m .
195
196 These minutes were considered , corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on
197 April 22 , 2013 .
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201
202 Julianne Bjtell , City Cl k Jeff einert , Mayor
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