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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/24/2007MINUTES OF THE LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2007 7:30 p.m. Lauderdale City Hall, 1891 Walnut Street Mayor Dains called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and asked Administrator Heck to take the roll. Members present: Council members Karen Gill -Gerbig, Denise Hawkinson, Karen Doherty, Clay Christensen, and Mayor Jeff Dains. Also present were staff members Jim Bownik, Assistant to the City Administrator and Heather Butkowski, Deputy Clerk. Mayor Dains asked if there were any additions or deletions to the agenda. Council member Christensen moved approval of the agenda as presented. Council member Hawkinson seconded the motion and it carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the April 10, 2007, City Council minutes. There being none, council member Gill -Gerbig moved approval. Council member Doherty seconded the motion and it carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any questions on the claims. Council member Hawkinson asked about payment to the Roseville Review and stated she didn't receive her paper the previous week. Heck said Mr. Fairbanks, editor of the Roseville Review, called and inquired if the City is having any events in the near future. Heck also said he contacted the Sun -Focus Ramsey County and they do not have delivery routes in Lauderdale. Council member Doherty asked if the coding for payment of employee benefits to Ramsey County Property Receipts and Revenues was correct. Butkowski stated this is where all payments for Ramsey County services are sent. Council member Christensen asked whether the billing for auditing services matches the amount specified in the request for proposals. Heck stated the amount claimed is the amount stated in the proposal documents and the only thing left to accomplish is the reporting to the Office of the State Auditor. There being no further questions or comments on the claims, Council member Gill - Gerbig moved to approve the claims as presented with the exception of payment to the Roseville Review, in the amount of $38,840.36. Council member Hawkinson seconded the motion and it carried. Mayor Dains asked if anyone present wished to address the Council on issues not on the agenda. There being none, Mayor Dains moved to the Consent Agenda. Mayor Dains asked if Council wished to remove anything from the consent agenda. Council member Christensen moved approval of the consent agenda authorizing Park Reservations and approving Findings of Fact for 1793 Pleasant Street and 1936 Walnut Street. Council member Doherty seconded the motion and it carried. Mayor Dains introduced and welcomed Representative Greiling and Senator Marty. - 1 - Representative Greiling began by outlining and updating the Council on the issues and discussions at the Capitol. She said for the first time since her election 15 years ago, her party is in the majority and there is a different feeling at the capitol. She reported she has several bills on education and she is chair of the K-12 Education committee. She commented on the bill Lauderdale asked be introduced regarding local road funding. She indicated introduction missed the deadline for committee assignment this year, but will be ready to go for next year. Senator Marty added to Representative Greiling's report and stated the Senate passed several initiatives, transportation being one of them, which will most likely end with a veto by the Governor. Both reported they have worked to address the property tax issue, and that in most cases, bills contain some increase in revenue through the addition of a fourth tier income tax rate. Senator Marty indicated reinstating this tier as well as other income tax cuts would generate over 2 billion in revenue. Representative Greiling and Senator Marty took questions from the Council and the Council thanked them for coming to the meeting and supporting Lauderdale and the residents. The Mayor called a recess at 8:25 p.m. The Council reconvened at 8:36 p.m. Bownik presented information on replacing the social room floor. He outlined three options: all carpet, all tile, and a combination of tile and carpet. Bownik recommended the installation of tile. He said tile will be easier to maintain and will last longer than carpet. He passed out some samples and told the council the tile color will be neutral. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved to obtain bids for the replacement of the social room floor with the per the recommendation of staff. Council member Hawkinson seconded the motion and it carried on a roll call vote with members Gill -Gerbig, Hawkinson, Doherty, Christensen, and Mayor Dains all voting yes. Bownik presented cost information on the purchase of new Lauderdale tee shirts and polo shirts. He said the low quote for a supply of 100 shirts came from Raider Grafix, the print shop at the Roseville Area High School. Bownik said the shirts will be light grey with blue lettering. The lettering on the tee shirts is silk screened and the polo shirts are embroidered. Council member Hawkinson moved the purchase of tee and polo shirts as recommended by staff from Raider Grafix. Council member Gill -Gerbig seconded the motion and it carried on a roll call vote with members Gill -Gerbig, Hawkinson, Doherty, Christensen, and Dains all voting yes. -2- Bownik then discussed the inventory of equipment at the Community Park. He stated the inventory revealed the need to make several minor improvements such as adding a handicapped parking spot at the parking lot by the warming house, replace worn signage and add some new signage, and add some waste containers. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved to authorize the improvements to the park as outlined and recommended by staff. Council member Christensen seconded the motion and it carried on a roll call vote with members Gill -Gerbig, Hawkinson, Doherty, Christensen and Dains all voting yes. The Council moved to the work session segment of the meeting. Heck presented ideas and recommendations for the 2008 budget. Heck told the Council he recommends combining some "budgets". Heck said the rational behind the recommendation is to make the General Fund easier to read and make it simpler to allocate expenses. He stated the current format has duplication of expenses and since there are not separate departments, there is not a reason to differentiate activities with separate budgets. Council member Doherty asked about the Public Safety budget proposal. She stated she would like to keep the police and fire activities separate. Heck said that these contracted services will be separate line items in the combined budget. Council member Doherty stated the police contract is the largest budget item for the city and she would like to see it on its own in the summary. Heck stated he can provide a line on the summary to show what costs make up the Public Safety expenses. After additional discussion, the Council directed staff to prepare the budget changes for the May 8 Council meeting. Council also asked staff to research legal considerations for making storm water utility an enterprise fund. Heck presented the draft 2007 Goals and General Financial condition of the City. Council member Gill -Gerbig asked about the inflow and infiltration program and suggested this item be added to the 2007 Goals. Heck stated he will add UI to the 2007 Goals. Heck outlined the key points in the Larpenteur Avenue and Eustis Street development issue. He provided some background and a brief update. Mayor Dains stated the City possesses substantial funds in the TIF Development fund and these funds need to be taken into consideration in this discussion. He said he wants to become more proactive in developing options for the area. Council member Christensen concurred and said the City needs to move forward with planning. -3- After additional discussion, the Council directed staff to meet with Dave Callister and Jessica Cook of Ehlers to discuss an agreement and scope of work for helping the Council develop a development plan, design standards, and general work plan for Larpenteur Avenue. The Council moved into closed session to discuss the Administrator's annual evaluation at 9:50 p.m. The Council returned to open session at 10:12 p.m. Council member Christensen encouraged all council members to read the article in the Minnesota Cities magazine written by Jim Miller. The meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m. on a motion by Gill -Gerbig and a second by Hawkinson.