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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/06/200633 iWINUTES OF THE LA UDERDALE CITY CO UNCIL IVEDNESDA Y, SEPTEW ER 6, 2006 6:00 p.m. Lauderdale Citv Hall, 1891 Walnut Street Mayor Dains called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and asked administrator Heck to call the roll. Council members present: Karen Gill -Gerbig, Denise Hawkinson, Karen Doherty, Clay Christensen and Mayor Jeff Dains. Also present for the meeting: Brian B. Heck, City Administrator and Heather Butkowski, Deputy City Clerk. Councilmember Karen Gill -Gerbig moved to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by councilmember Denise Hawkinson and carried. Mayor Dains requested the council move to the work session and come back to the other items on the agenda. Councilmember Karen Gill -Gerbig moved and councilmember Denise Hawkinson seconded moving into the council work session. Motion carried. The council began the work session by introducing Police Chief John Ohl from the St. Anthony Police Department. Mayor Dains mentioned to Chief Ohl the recent occurrences of burglaries in the area and the issue of visibility and public awareness. Mayor Dains wanted the Chief to also address the pros and cons of 24 hour police service. Chief Ohl began by discussing the history of Lauderdale's police contract service. He indicated that initially service was provided by St. Paul and, due to inadequate service and response, the city, along with Falcon Heights, entered an agreement with Roseville. Again there were questions about service and response time so the two cities chose to bid and selected St. Anthony as the service provider. Falcon Heights at the time committed to 24 hour service whereas Lauderdale chose to stay with 16 hours of service per day. Chief Ohl said that the 16 hour per day patrol works very well for his operation as this schedule provides the department with maximum flexibility in assigning officers. It also provides for a variation as to when officers will be in the area. He said this also works to keep costs down because additional officers are not required to meet the contract terms. Mayor Dains then asked if information on the burglaries and other activities is getting out to the block captains and crime watch individuals. Chief Ohl stated there is a question of when to provide information and how much to provide. He said an informational flyer was not issued in the case of the burglaries but one was issued following a robbery at Eustis and Larpenteur. Chief Ohl went on to describe some of the tools St. Anthony is using to provide information and awareness to residents. They are using a list serve feature to notify subscribers of information about the city as well as police information. He also said the web site and city newsletter are good tools to use to inform the citizens. After some additional discussion on communications and the nature of crime seeming to be on the increase in the city, Mayor Dains asked Chief Ohl to address the issue of 24 hour police patrol in the city. Chief Ohl stated the major drawback to 24 hour coverage is the cost. He said the department would need to hire two new officers to ensure coverage and therefore moving to 24 hour coverage is not a decision to be made lightly and not one the city can do for a year and then go back to 16 hours. On the positive side, Chief Ohl stated his officers would welcome a 24 hour service contract. He said response times would improve and there would be much more visibility. After additional discussion, the council thanked Chief Ohl for his input and comments. The Council convened in regular session at 7:40 p.m. Mayor Dains asked if there were any comments or changes to the council meeting minutes of August 22, 2006. There were none. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved and council member Hawkinson seconded approval of the August 22 meeting minutes. The motion carried. Mayor Dains asked if there were any questions on the claims. There were none. Council member Hawkinson moved approval of the claims in the amount of $28,716.13. Council member Christensen seconded the motion and it carried. The mayor stated now is the time established for members of the public to address the council with issues not present on the agenda. There being no one present, the mayor moved on to the discussion of the 2007 Budget and Levy. The council examined all the various options to the city budget and the impacts on the residents. There was significant discussion regarding the city increasing the police contract from 16 hours of patrol per day to 24 hour patrol. Discussion also focused on how to deal with the park projects. All council members voiced support for increasing patrol hours from 16 to 24. Administrator Heck stated there is the potential to close the water utility fund and transfer the balance to the park improvement fund. This action provides adequate funding to complete the tennis court project approved by the council and to keep a healthy balance 6n the fund. 55 Council member Doherty indicated this would be desirable; however, she expressed concern over the city's ability to use the water utility fiends in this way. After more discussion on the issue, the council decided to adopt two levy resolutions each contingent on the outcome of research by the Administrator regarding use of the water utility funds. Council member Christensen moved Resolution 090606-A setting the City draft levy at $625,900 including estimated $77,900 in fiscal disparity aide. The levy is established at this rate with the understanding that the Nater Improvement Fund (409) balance is not available to reduce the levy. Motion on the resolution was seconded by Council member Doherty and carried with council member's Gill - Gerbig, Hawkinson, Doherty, Christensen and Mayor Dains all voting yes. Council member Christensen moved Resolution 090606-B setting the City draft levy at $550,900 including estimated $77,900 in fiscal disparity aide. The levy is established at this rate with the understanding that the Water Improvement Fund (409) balance is available to reduce the levy. Motion on the resolution was seconded by Council member Doherty and carried with council member's Gill -Gerbig, Hawkinson, Doherty, Christensen and Mayor Dains all voting yes. The council agreed to lay over the item on the University of Minnesota Vegetation study for the next meeting. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved and Council member Hawkinson seconded cancelling the meeting of September 12, 2006. Motion carried with all members voting yes. Council member Doherty wanted to take a few minutes to address the issue of the Administrator's performance. She stated that over the past couple of weeks, things have improved. She commented on the work done with her on the budget and improved attention to detail. Council member Hawkinson stated she is scheduled to meet with the Administrator Tuesday, September 19 and is also encouraged by the improvements. Council member Gill -Gerbig moved and Hawkinson seconded a motion to adjourn. Motion carried with all members voting yes. The meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m.