The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About03-03-25 - Council Work Session MinutesLino Lakes City Council Work Session Minutes DATE: March 3, 2025 TIME STARTED: 6:01 P.M. TIME ENDED: 8:01 P.M. LOCATION: Community Room MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Rafferty Councilmembers Cavegn, Lyden, Stoesz and Ruhland MEMBERS ABSENT: None Staff Members Present: Interim City Administrator Dave Pecchia, City Clerk Roberta Colotti, Community Development Director Michael Grochala, City Planner Katie Larsen, City Engineer Diane Hankee, Human Resources & Communications Manager Meg Sawyer, Interim Public Safety Director Curt Boehme, and Interim Fire Chief Dan L'Allier. 1. Call to Order and Roll Call Mayor Rafferty called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Setting the Agenda: Addition or Deletion of Agenda Items The agenda was adopted as presented. 3. Administration Update The City Administrator presented the following updates: • The DDA City Administrator Executive Search process is moving forward, and the Human Resources and Communications Manager will present a more detailed report this evening. • Anoka County hosted a Sunset Avenue reconstruction project meeting at the Rookery last month, which was well attended by Lino Lakes residents. • Staff has recently completed training on the CivicClerk by CivicPlus agenda management software and will be testing the system with the March 24th agenda and developing the systems full capabilities going forward. • The Utility Billing division reviewed the Lino Lake Assisted Living account, and the bills are delinquent. Delinquent bills are annually certified to Anoka County for recovery through property taxes. • The City has received multiple data requests. The recent large data request was assisted by a temporary employee and the current requests are being processed by regular staff. Page 1 of 5 • The outgoing Community Development Department Administrative Assistant and Payroll Clerk were recognized for their contributions to the organization. • The Communications Department is working on a revised notification process for events such as watermain breaks. • The Public Services/Parks & Recreation Director reported that rentals and membership revenue is increasing at the Rookery. • The Community Development Department is reviewing bonding options for the water system. • The Building Inspector role, filling current vacancies and opportunities for contracted services have been under review. • The City received a response from the City Attorney regarding odd/even year elections. This topic will be scheduled for a future City Council meeting. • The Police Department is working on policies for new hires and promotions. Costs will be assigned to the proposed organizational options for future consideration of the City Council. • The list of organization and project priorities to hand off to the new City Administrator is being refined in coordination with the Department Managers, Councilmember Stoesz, as the City Representative to the North Metro Telecommunications Committee, requested staff discuss the new CivicClerk agenda management software with North Metro TV as there may be options to integrate this with the broadcast agenda materials. Councilmember Lyden requested that Rookery activities and membership be included with the upcoming Updates. Councilmember Stoesz, as the Alternate Representative to the Twin Cities Gateway organization, suggested that the City work with Twin City Gateway on promoting Lino Lakes during the 3M Open Golf Tournament, being held in Blaine, July 24 - 27, 2025. Councilmember Ruhland suggested, if possible, the City host a booth at the event. The City Administrator stated that the Public Services/Parks & Recreation Director and Administrative Assistant would be working with Twin City Gateway. Page 2 of 5 Councilmember Ruhland asked if the City's communications platforms included an App for resident notifications. The Human Resources & Communications Manager stated that the City uses an e- notification application within CivicPlus. Residents need to sign up for the notification as the City can not send out an e-notice without having them sign up first. 4. City Administrator Executive Search The Human Resources & Communications Manager presented the timeline and next steps in the recruitment process. March 24th the Council will be asked to select the finalists to be interviewed. The interviews are planned for April 151h. The consultant, DDA, will be conducting a background check and work personality tests for all finalists invited to interview. Councilmember Lyden requested that the consultant provide the Council with the name of the work personality test that was to be used in the process. Mayor Rafferty commented that there have been significant advances, under the leadership of the Interim City Administrator, and that he hoped the time required for the onboarding of the new administrator would not slow that progress. The Council discussed the notice period to be negotiated with the new City Administrator. Councilmember Stoesz confirmed with the Human Resource & Communications Manager that the Pay Equity Report was current. Mayor Rafferty commended the Interim City Administrator and Human Resources & Communications Manager on their work on the hiring process. 5. Burque Estates PUD Concept Plan The City Planner provided an overview of the Burque Estates PUD Concept Plan. The applicant, Lino Lakes Partners, LLC, is proposing a residential development south of North Pointe, east of CSAH 54 (201h avenue) and west of I-35E. The development contains three (3) parcels totaling approximately 59 gross acres and 58 housing units. The City Planner reviewed the discussions with the Anoka County Highway Department regarding access from this development. Noting that further discussions are necessary with Anoka County on this development. The Interim Fire Chief stated that he has not reviewed the plans, but between a roundabout as proposed and a traffic light, he would prefer a traffic light that they can preempt. He is concerned with traffic backing up at this location. Page 3 of 5 The Community Development Director stated that it is very difficult to meet the traffic count required for a traffic light. The City Council provided feedback for the City Planner and developer regarding the proposed plan. 6. Public Works Facility, Construction Manager RFQ/RFP The Community Development Director stated that staff is proposing to use the construction manager as agent process as part of the public works facility design and construction. He reviewed the process under this type of agreement. Council Consensus It was the consensus of the City Council to utilize a construction manager as agent fnr the public works facility design and to direct staff to solicit quotes for services. Backup Building Inspection & Plan Review Services The Community Development Director reported that the City entered into a Professional Services contract with MnSpect, LLC in 2020 to provide supplementary building inspection services during periods of peak demand. MnSpect currently provides, on an as needed basis, an inspector with a Limited Building Official certification. This person can complete inspections on one and two-family dwellings. To provide additional redundancy to our Building Department services, staff is proposing to expand the services provided by MnSpect to include: Certified Building Official providing inspections on commercial properties. Designated Building Official, for periods when the city doesn't have an internal designee. • Commercial Plan Review services. The Community Development Director stated that these are intended to be supplementary and/or emergency services used as needed to maintain service levels. Staff is still proposing to fill the vacant Building Inspector position. The 2025 building department budget includes $36,720 for contracted inspection services. Council Consensus It was the Council Consensus to direct staff to bring forward a professional service agreement amendment as presented, for consideration at a future meeting. 8. Public Safety Department Q4 The Interim Public Safety Director stated that he appreciated the opportunity this evening to work with the City Council to structure the quarterly report so that it meets the interest of the Council. He presented a sample report and optional categories for the consideration of the Council. Page 4 of 5 The Interim Fire Chief presented proposed updates to the fire department quarterly report. Mayor Rafferty stated that he appreciated the option of new categories for the quarterly report. The City Council provided feedback regarding categories, timelines and historic data to be included in future quarterly reports. 9. Adjournment Mayor Rafferty adjourned the meeting at 8:01 p.m. These minutes were approved at the regular Council Meeting on March 24, 2025. �� . �'� Roberta Colotti, CIVIC ob fferty, City Clerk Mayor Page 5 of 5