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Home My WebLink About11/12/2024LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 1 of 4 November 12, 2024 Ca11 to Order Mayor Gaasch called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Roll Call Councilors present: Evan Sayre, Jeff Dains, Sharon Kelly, Duane Pulford, and Mayor Mary Gaasch. Councilors absent: None. Staff present: Heather Butkowski, City Administrator; Jim Bownik, Assistant to the City Administrator; and Miles Cline, Deputy City Clerk. Approvals Mayor Gaasch asked if there were any additions to the meeting agenda. There being none, Councilor Dains moved and seconded by Councilor Kelly to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Gaasch asked if there were corrections to the minutes of the October 22, 2024, City Council meeting. There being none, Councilor Pulford moved and seconded by Councilor Sayre to approve the October 22, 2024, City Council meeting minutes. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Gaasch asked if there were any questions on the claims. There being none, Councilor Kelly moved and seconded by Councilor Sayre to approve the claims totaling $163,908.71. Motion carried unanimously. Consent Councilor Kelly moved and seconded by Councilor Pulford to approve the Consent Agenda thereby approving the Abdo Financial Solutions Proposal for Audit Preparation Services; sale of the Ford F- 350 to Boyer Trucks; the Larpenteur Avenue Snow Removal Contract with 8th Day Landscaping; and the joint powers agreement for recycling funding with Ramsey County. Discussion/Action Item A. Resolution No. 111224A — Certifying the Election Returns of the November 5, 2024, General Municipal Election Per Minnesota Statutes section 205.185, the governing body of a city acts as the canvassing board, canvasses the election returns, and declares the results of the election within three to ten days after a general election. Ramsey County elections staff prepared the abstract and resolution. Councilor Kelly made a motion to adopt Resolution No. 111224A A Resolution Certifying the Election Returns of the November 5, 2024, General Municipal Election. This was seconded by Councilor Sayre and carried unanimously. LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 2 of 4 November 12, 2024 B. 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Staff drafted the CIP to include the typical items we keep on the radar along with the anticipated costs of repaving the City streets in the next one to three years. Council members expressed interest in budging for park and City Hall improvements. Based on the discussion staff allocated $10,000 in the CIP to engage an architect to discuss accessibility improvements and $10,000 for incidental park improvements. C. 2025 Sanitary Sewer, Storm Sewer, and Recycling Utility Rate Study Annually, the City Council discusses the sewer and recycling funds and whether rate increases are necessary. Staff recommended increasing the sanitary sewer rates by 6.7% or $16.74 per household annually in anticipation of the manhole casting repair project prior to the mill and overlay project. Staff recommended increasing the storm sewer rates by 13.6% or $11.64 per household annually also in anticipation of the future mill and overlay project. Staff recommended increasing the recycling rates by 7.5% or $9.00 per household annually in response to the new recycling contract and the need to replenish cash reserves. A resolution adopting these rates will be brought to the next meeting. D. 2025 Special Revenue, Capital, and Enterprise Fund Budgets Included in the packet were the 2025 Special Revenue, Capital, and Enterprise Fund budgets. The budgets included the various CIP expenditures already planned for and the utility rate revenue already presented. Staff will bring final drafts to the next meeting for the Truth -in - Taxation public hearing. Adoption is expected on December 10. E. Eustis Street Cost Share with Ramsey County Previously, the City Council sent letters to the Ramsey County Commissioners regarding the anticipated cost share for Eustis Street. Public Works staff responded with an updated proposal reducing the cost share items the City was expected to contribute to. City staff asked that they calculate the actual cost. John Mazzitello, Deputy Director of Ramsey County Public Works, responded with an estimate of $183,789 or a flat amount of $185,000. As the City owns one leg of the Eustis Street/Larpenteur Avenue intersection, the City's cost share for the intersection is $140,000. The new proposal asks the City to cover $45,000 toward sidewalk improvements and engineering costs. If the Council agrees to the flat rate, the burden of cost overruns will be paid by Ramsey County. Staff noted that this was a significant reduction from the County's cost share policy which put the cost share over $600,000. If the Council agreed, the City would pay the $185,000 from Fund 403 - Street Improvements. The current balance of that fund is $567,000. The Council expressed frustration with the negation process but determined the $185,000 was agreeable. LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 3 of 4 November 12, 2024 The on -going goal of the Council is to get county and state officials to support changing municipal state aid laws so that cities under 5,000 in population, like Lauderdale, receive a proportional allocation. People who live in cities under 5,000 population should not carry a greater burden for transportation improvements. F. Resolution No. 111224B — Levying Special Assessments Each year, the City must submit a resolution to Ramsey County certifying special assessments for the year. This year, the City has special assessment that were negotiated via petition and waiver agreements. The resolution is a formality as the petition and waiver agreements eliminate the need for a public hearing and the owners have forgone the right to appeal. Councilor Sayre made a motion to adopt Resolution No. 111224B A Resolution Levying Special Assessments. This was seconded by Councilor Pulford and carried unanimously. G. Sanitary Sewer Cleaning and Televising Quotes Sanitary sewer cleanings are on a three-year schedule. This is scheduled for 2024 and 2025. The City is split into two halves for the work. The 2024 cleaning may end up carrying over into 2025. The 2025 cleaning will be in the fall. City staff worked with the city engineer to produce specs and quote the work. Six sewer cleaning and televising companies responded with quotes. The pricing varied significantly between contractors. The best pricing was provided by Visu- Sewer. The sewer televising/cleaning cost was $65,332.25 without the cost to adjust a buried manhole compared to $66,886.25 provided by Pipe Services. If the missing manhole needs to be raised, Visu-Sewer provided the best price for that as well. Visu-Sewer completed the last round of televising and cleaning when they did the sewer lining for the City. Councilor Kelly made a motion to approve the Contract between the City of Lauderdale and Visu-Sewer, Inc. This was seconded by Councilor Sayre and carried unanimously. Set Agenda for Next Meeting Butkowski stated that the November 26 Council meeting might include the 2025 Capital and Enterprise Fund Budgets, a Resolution Establishing 2025 Utility Rates, the Catholic Eldercare Conduit Bond Project, a Truth -in -Taxation Public Hearing, a Draft of Cannabis Regulations, and the City Administrator Performance Review. Work Session A. Community Development Update Butkowski stated that she had nothing further to add. B. Opportunity for the Public to Address the City Council Mayor Gaasch opened the floor to those in attendance interested in addressing the Council. There LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 4 of 4 November 12, 2024 being nobody interested in speaking, Mayor Gaasch closed the floor. Adjournment Councilor Kelly moved and seconded by Councilor Dains to adjourn the meeting at 8:41 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, 411;1a tai44 Miles Cline Deputy City Clerk