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Home My WebLink About09-08-98 CCMMINUTES APPROVED: October 6, 1998 LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP SEPTEMBER 8, 1998 Mayor John called the budget workshop to order at 5:30 p.m. in the Council chambers. PRESENT: Hunt, Dunn, John, Johnston (arrived at 5:45 p.m.), DeLapp (arrived at 5:45 p.m.), City Planner Dillerud and Finance Director Banister. M/S/P Hunt/Dunn — to approve the August 31, 1998 Budget Workshop minutes, as presented. (Motion passed 3-0 Council members DeLapp and Johnston were not in attendance for the vote.) Finance Director Banister informed the Council that she had made the recommended changes from the August 31 budget workshop and provided a balanced budget for Council review. In answer to the question on the $213,000 from the sale of the landfill, Banister reported the money was received in 1996 and used to purchase the Berschen property at a cost of $8,500 an acre (16.555) _ $140,717.50 TKDA expense (design for new building) 20,503.70 Money to present Public Works building 19,482.20 TOTAL $180,703.40 The $32,296.60 remaining is in the Fund Balance of the Public Works building fund. (See page 11) Fire Department: Crown Victoria Car: Fire Chief Dick Sachs, asked that the name of "Used Command Car" be changed because it is used for other uses than just for calls. The Council suggested "Car #3190" Telesuuirt: The Chief asked that "renovation" be changed to "rehab". It is a 19-year-old vehicle and would sell for over $129,000. Right now replacement value is over $300,000: The Department is looking at getting another 10 years out of the vehicle and asked that $100,000 be inserted to cover the rehab in the CIP, but Sachs estimates the cost to be between $50,000 and $85,000. The vehicle will be out of action for one month. Firefighters: The reasons for adding permanent firefighters because there is more than enough work for a full-time person. We are not doing any preplanning or fire code inspections of City facilities. Sachs made the Council aware of the light daytime response and thought it nice of Joe Rogers, Lake Elmo Hardwood Lumber, to permit up to five employees to leave for a call. Residents building $200,000 - $600,000 homes are not interested in holding a fire hose, spending time away from the family on weekends and holidays and attending three drills a month. Five out of the 25 firefighters are living in Cimarron. In some Cities, the maintenance employees are on the Fire Dept. and can respond to calls during the day. Public Works Supervisor, Dan Olinger, responded that the two men he has could not make all the required training. One man has his own business which requires working nights and weekends. Councilor Dunn was not ready to put $50,000 for permanent firefighters in the Budget. Councilor Hunt did not think it was a good idea adding the money. He suggested having a workshop to look over total staffing needs when Baytown Township comes in. Maintenance Department: Maintenance Supervisor, Dan Olinger, responded to questions previously raised by the Council. Street Sweeping: Purchased street sweeper in 1991 for $10,000 as a pilot program to try to see if sweeping can be done cheaper and as needed year around. The program has gone very well. It costs approximately $1,700 to $2,200 a year for the City to do their own sweeping compared to contracting it out at $8,750 for one sweeping in the Spring. The 1980 gas unit is worn out. Maintenance and MAC are trying to locate a refurbished street sweeper at a cost of $55,000 versus purchasing new at $109,000. If the Maintenance crew sweeps a specific area because of a new house, the City keeps the road deposit. Woodchipping: The woodchipping program is running great. Dan will look into having woodchips available at the Sunfish Lake Park parking lot. Grading/Striving: No stripping has been done yet this year. Waiting until the sealcoating project and 309' Street is completed. Washington County is very slow on sending grading bills. The County grades every other Monday except for holidays. The City had a grader up until 1984 when it purchased a front-end loader. The City added 2 more roads this year to be graded. A suggestion was made for the City to look into policy of having road under City control, making assessments affordable and fair. The City needs grading agreement with Oak Park Heights on 700' gravel strip up through the cul-de-sac of East half of 55d' Street that has been annexed into Lake Elmo. Councilor DeLapp understood that this road was given in its entirety to OPH. The Council asked that the City Administrator and Dan Olinger negotiate an agreement with OPH for grading and snowplowing this portion of the road. Olinger pointed out since he started working with the City in 1985, the City has added 22 new developments. In 1985, there were 3 employees and one contract plower. No employees have been added. If the City wants to keep the level of service it has been providing, we need to increase our fleet. Now, they are plowing the entire City with four units, two of them are plows with no sanders on them. Therefore, half of the City goes 5 to 6 hours without being sanded after a snowstorm. There is a need for farm equipment to plow narrow roads in the new developments because the dump truck cannot make the loops in the Fields and Tamarack. He, wanted to make Council aware of the need of a person to snowplow in winter. This person could be shared with the Parks Department because two more parks have been added. It may be better to look into contracting services for this year. We need to budget for backup person for crew to take vacations or if one gets hurt. This could be added to Personal Services. Olinger asked if the City has to maintain the trails in the winter along. 30'h Street or in Stonegate. If this is correct, the City needs a Policy before winter and the proper equipment to keep the trails clean. What about the legal issue —when is a sidewalk a sidewalk and when is the trail a sidewalk? M/S/P Hunt/Johnston — to direct the staff to place on the next agenda policy discussion for trails and plowing for this coming winter. (Motion passed 5-0). Capital Outlay -Miscellaneous: The question was asked why is there a jump from $12,000 to $30,000? Dan explained if we want to keep the 1986 truck, an improvement is needed. He estimates $15,000 for chipper box, sanding and hauling gravel and $12,000 major repairs for front-end loader. The Council recommended adding $15,000 for renovation of 1986 truck in the CIP and $15,000 in Miscellaneous. Street Lights: Councilor DeLapp brought up billing residents responsible for streetlights midblock in private neighborhoods. He wasn't talking about the Old Village area. The residents in the Fields pay for their own streetlights. If you took a City map with streetlights designated, the lights would not be located in priority areas. The Finance Director stated the lights on 32"d Street have been in place since 1944. The City does not have a billing system to bill residents for streetlights. We would have to pay the County so much money for them to bill each resident. M/S/P DeLapp/Hunt— to add Street Lights - pay and locations to OLD BUSINESS on the Council agenda. (Motion passed 5-0). M/S/P Hunt/Johnston - to adopt Resolution No, 98-51, A Resolution approving the proposed 1998 Tax Levy, Collectible in 1999, and setting date for public hearing for proposed budget. (Motion passed 5-0). The Council adjourned the workshop at 6:50 p.m. --------------------------- Respectfully submitted by Sharon Lumby, Deputy Clerk Resolution No. 98-51 Approving the proposed 1998 Tax Levy, Collective in 1999 and set date for budget public hearing