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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-05-2013 Council Work Session MinutesCITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 5, 2013 APPRO VED 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 1 MINUTES 2 3 DATE : August 5, 2013 4 TIME STARTED : 5:30 p.m. 5 TIME ENDED : 8:20 p.m. 6 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council M ember Stoesz , O’Donnell, 7 Rafferty , and Mayor Reinert 8 MEMBERS ABSENT : Council Member Roeser 9 10 11 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Finance Director Al Rolek; 12 Community Development Director Michael Grochala; City Planner Katie Larsen; Finance 13 Director Al Rolek; Public Safety Director John Swenson; City Engineer Jason Wedel; 14 Public Services Director Rick DeGardner; Police Sergeant Kyle Leibel ; City Clerk Julie 15 Bartell 16 17 1. Deer Management – Public Safety Director Swenson and Sergeant Lei bel presented 18 the Lino Lakes Whitetail Deer Management Review, 2013 Update. The report includes 19 information on vehicle/deer collisions over the past decade, Anoka County Parks 20 Department hunt , and considerations for city deer management. Options for the city are 21 opening up areas where hunting is c urrently banned and/or provide for a free group to do 22 controlled hunting on city controlled property. When the Mayor asked if it is a Police 23 Department goal to reduce the number of deer accidents in the city, Ch ief Swenson said 24 that a reduction has occurred already to a certain extent showing that what is taking place 25 is working. The question is if the city wants to do more; he feels the biggest impact will 26 always be what Anoka County plans to do in the regional park area. Sergeant Leibel 27 pointed out , in regard to vehicle co llisions, the roadways with lower speed limit s don’t 28 necessar il y have a problem because people have time to stop. Also the wildcard is that 29 the city does allow bow hunting already and so th e number of deer taken that way is hard 30 to account for. 31 32 A representative of the Metro Bowhunters Resource Base (MBRB) was present. When 33 asked about their services, he offered that the organization does about twenty managed 34 hunts per year. The organiza tion is run very professionally and only qualified archers are 35 allowed to participate. Regarding safety questions, all hunts are planned and then 36 documented. 37 38 Chief Swenson explained that if the city were to go with the MBRB plan, the council 39 would have to authorize hunting on that land where it is currently banned (by ordinance) 40 and the police department would do a communication effort, He recommends that city 41 residents be allowed to hunt in those areas also. Council Member Rafferty asked about 42 the d ista nce that an arrow can travel and the MBRB representative explained that shots 43 are not allowed past 20 yards. Council Member Roeser noted that the city’s regulations 44 on feeding deer should be strictly enforced – that would help with the deer popu latio n as 45 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 5, 2013 APPRO VED 2 well. Sergeant Leibel indicated that he has spoken with some residents in the areas that 46 would be impacted by a change and he feels that there isn’t a lot of opposition but also 47 there is no guarantee that the increased hunting will reduce accidents. 48 49 Mayor Reinert announced that it seems like a change is appropriate as he’s not sure that 50 archery was ever intended to be banned. Why not allow what’s allowed in the rest of the 51 city? The police will prepare an ordinance amendment for council considera tion. 52 53 5. 7309 Lake Drive – Code Enforcement – Community Development Dire ctor 54 Grochala recalled previous discussions about the code violation at this site. Opportunity 55 has been given to the property owner to evaluate their business plan for the site and 56 determine if any changes could bring them into compliance. To date the city hasn’t 57 received any information on how they intend to modify the use for compliance. Mayor 58 Reinert suggested that the council seems to be leaning toward not making a change to the 59 city’s regulations. He suggests that message be given to the property owner. 60 61 6. Pavement Management Report – Community Development Director Grochala 62 recalled that the City’s Pavement Management Plan was produced in 2004 to provide data 63 regarding th e condition of the c ity’s roadways and to guide pavement management work. 64 The council authorized WSB Engineering to prepare an update t o that 2004 plan. That 65 update is before the council and includes new information on roadway conditions. City 66 Engineer Wedel reviewed the report. In conclusion Mr. Grochala noted that with the 67 ratings included in the update and continuation of the policy of inspecting 25% of the city 68 r oadways each year, the city should continue with its maintenance program i n 2014. 69 H owever he believes the city must look at reconstruction also. Ther e fore he is requesting 70 that the city council hold a work shop in the fall where they can discuss the matter with 71 staff and experts and look at some options for moving forward. Mr .Wedel i ndicated that 72 the map included in the update is a good citywide view. Council Member O’Donnell 73 noted some recent patch work done on Black Duck Drive and suggested it was not 74 effective in improving the roadway. Council Member Stoesz suggested that WSB sh o uld 75 add some map layers to create an interface map and that would be helpful. Mr. Grochala 76 indicated that the map will go to the City website. Mr. Wedel concluded that the 77 recommendation is really to maintain the current street maintenance budget (incre ased a 78 little each year) and add $2 million yearly for reconstruction. Mr. Grochala added that a 79 review and decision about the best way to finance improvements will be a part of the 80 overall discussion. The council concurred that a workshop will be hel d. 81 82 7. Subsurface Sewer Treatment Systems (Septic) Code Update – Community 83 Development Director Grochala reported that staff has prepared an ordinance amendment 84 to the City Code that brings the city into compliance with new state law regarding on -site 85 sep tic systems. State law was changed in 2011 to allow for new technology and to 86 change the inspection process requirements. The city’s existing ordinance requires each 87 system to be inspected and pumped every two years. State law now requires inspection 88 e very three years and pumping only if needed. Staff is seeking council direction to come 89 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 5, 2013 APPRO VED 3 forward with an ordinance to change the city code to concur with state law. The council 90 directed staff to put the ordinance on the next council agenda. 91 92 8. Ordinance – Utility Fees for Vacant Propertie s (City Council Agenda Item 2A ) – 93 Finance Director Rolek recalled that the council received a request from a property 94 owner to review the city’s billing system for vacant property since the city was charging a 95 utility r ate they felt was not fair. Staff has review ed what other cities are doing and has 96 found that a minimum base charge is more appropriate. The ordinance before the council 97 would make that change in the city’s fee schedule. The policy would put the onus on the 98 property owner to inform the city of a vacant status. The property owner of the former 99 Bobby & Steve’s Auto World who brought this matter forward will also receive a 100 reduction in charges retroactive to the time when their building became vacant. Th e 101 council confirmed that property owners should be charged the base rate back to the time 102 their property is vacated. The council also confirmed that this type of base charge will 103 only apply to business properties. 104 105 10. 2014 Budget – Director of Finance R olek explained th at the first draft of the 2014 106 b udget is before the council. T his is a budget proposal, not discussion of a budget gap. 107 The budget presented is a 1.2 percent increase from the 2013 adopted budget, it maintains 108 service levels, maintains street maintenance efforts, includes funding for a t wo percent 109 wage increase , adjustment s for the sales tax exemption, maintains personnel at the 2013 110 level (with the exception of the Economic Development Coordinator position), presumes 111 increases in fuel a nd utility costs and no new initiatives. It does include use of general 112 fund reserve (not i n excess of the city’s reserve policy) and includes funding of a police 113 officer position wit h one -time forfeiture funds , and a slight increase in debt services. For 114 the first time, the voter approved levy for the two intersection projects is included. 115 Property values reflected in this budget decreased by under one percent , an improvement 116 over the past few years. There is an increase in levy amount due to the ad dition of the 117 voter approved projects. Mayor Reinert confirmed that without that voter approved levy, 118 the proposed budget is under last year’s. Mr. Rolek disc ussed a state levy limit projected 119 for the year and that the budget proposal falls under the lim it. He reviewed the estimated 120 levy chart, net tax capacity calculations, e stimated general fund revenues (building permit 121 revenue is expected to rise) and general fund expenditures. Mayor Reinert remarked that 122 an upgrade in cable equipment would be appro priate soon since some of that equipment is 123 literally failing during council broadcasts. Council Member Stoesz requested that line 124 items Fleet Management and Government Buildings under Public Services also be broken 125 down by department to allow a closer lo ok; Public Services Director DeGardner indicated 126 that he can do a f leet summary by month or year . May or Reinert asked for Council 127 Members Rafferty and Stoesz to review a new finance report showing the budget broken 128 down with Fleet Management and Governme nt Buildings under each appropriate 129 subheading showing the cost of Fleet Management and Government Buildings in each 130 individual budget heading. Once reviewed to be shown to the council for review. 131 132 Council Member Rafferty suggested that he remains interest ed in cost reductions t hat 133 could be accomplished without personnel reduction. The council will take some time to 134 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION August 5, 2013 APPRO VED 4 review the budget and look for further economies. There will be a wo rk session 135 scheduled for that purpose before the next council meeting. 136 137 F inance Director Rolek noted finally that the proposed budget includes about $50,000 to 138 fund an economic development intern position, keeps the street maintenance budget 139 constant, and includes a contingency of $100,000 for the unforeseen. Further he noted 140 that capital equipment replacement is not budgeted and would remain debt financed. 141 142 9. Police Staffing – Police Chief Swenson noted that this council has reviewed the 143 Police Department’s staffing situation previously. There is a vacancy in the departmen t 144 at the sergeant level and staff has proposed to use forfeiture funds on a one year only 145 basis to fund one officer position. Administrator Karlson noted that he supports the 146 police department recommendation. 147 148 11. Monthly Progress Report – Administrato r Karlson reviewed the written report. 149 150 12. Charter Amendments by Ordinance – City Clerk Bartell reviewed the written 151 report outlining two amendments to the City Charter that have been forwarded by the 152 Charter Commission. The amendments were originally recommended by staff and the 153 council as changes that would simply serve to update Charter language to make state and 154 county election deadlines workable for both filing periods and public improvement 155 questions to the ballot. The process to consider passage of a charter amendment without 156 ballot consideration involves a public hearing, two readings of the amendment as an 157 ordinance and a final affirmative vote of all members of the council. The council 158 directed staff to proceed with a schedule following stat e statute that would allow for a 159 vote on the amendments at a special meeting before the council work session on October 160 7, 2013. 161 162 Review Regular Council Agenda - The council reviewed items on the August 12 City 163 Council agenda. 164 165 The meeting was adjourned a t 8:20 p.m. 166 167 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on 168 August 26, 2013. 169 170 171 172 173 Julianne Bartell, City Clerk Jeff Reinert , Mayor 174 175