Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packets - 2011/07/05 CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA MOUNDS VIEW CITY HALL TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Flaherty, Stigney, Hull, Mueller, Gunn PUBLIC COMMENT Citizens may speak to issues not on tonight’s agenda. Before speaking, please give your full name and address for the minutes. Also, please limit your comments to three minutes. Agenda Items Discussed by Consensus 1. Review Draft 2012 General Fund Budget 2. Review Proposal to Lease Space at the Mounds View Community Center 3. Continued Council Discussion about Services Provided by the City Next Work Session: Monday, August 1, 2011, at 7pm Next City Council Meeting: Monday, July 11, 2011, at 7pm Item No: 2 Meeting Date: July 5, 2011 Type of Business: Work Session City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Review Lease Proposal for the Former Chamber Space at the Mounds View Community Center Introduction: As the Council was briefed last Monday night, June 27, 2011, the City has received a proposal from “Redeemed Life Church International” to lease the former chamber space at the Community Center at the lease rate of $10 per square foot. At the Council meeting, staff expressed some reservation with the entity possibly not being an appropriate “fit” and raised the question of the entity’s ability to comfortably carry the lease payments. The Council suggested the issue be added to the July work session so there could be some objective discussion about what types of uses the Council generally wanted to see in the space and to consider the proposal from the church. Discussion: One of the issues brought up at the June 27th meeting regarding the lease proposal was the issue of “church and state” separation. Staff has reaffirmed with the City Attorney that the Council is within its rights to lease to whichever entity it chooses and, conversely, it is under no obligation to accept a lease proposal just because the entity offers the requested lease rate. The Council retains full discretion regarding the mix of tenants at the Community Center. Another issue that was discussed was the partnering with New Horizons. Staff originally did not have the correct understanding of the New Horizons partnership—we had presumed the church had partnered with the well-known international “New Horizons” computer learning center organization. (New Horizons is also a name well known in child care circles.) Reverend Collins clarified this week that New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) is a non-profit entity in no way affiliated with New Horizons. He states: “New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) was established by a few working professionals including myself and we immediately incorporated with the state of Minnesota on December 3, 2009, and has been a member of the Minnesota Council of Non-profits for over a year now. NHRG has Employer Identification Number (EIN) and Minnesota Sale Tax Exempt number to legally operate in the state of Minnesota. We did our first fund raiser Dinner in 2010 at the Mounds View Community Center. Our second project was a "Lift Liberia 2010 Personal Empowerment (Leadership) Conference conducted in Liberia, West Africa with Kakata City government.” The full text of Reverend Collins’ email is attached for your reference. Lease Proposal at MVCC July 5, 2011 Page 2 During the meeting on June 27th, staff brought up two concerns for the council to consider regarding the proposal—credit history and whether the use would be a good fit for the City’s Community Center. Regarding the former, the City does not have established criteria to assess whether a proposed tenant has the financial means to pay the rent for the duration of the lease and whether the proposed tenant has a positive rental history. Because the City so infrequently is in a position to review such leases, perhaps formal criteria are unnecessary, however in this case, should the Council determine that the use would not be inconsistent with the intended purpose of the facility, we would request suitable financial reporting from the church to confirm their ability to pay. Regarding whether the use would be a good fit for the Community Center, staff continues to feel uncomfortable with the proposal. While the Reverend has reminded the Council that a church has leased space at the Community Center previously, it should be noted that the City did not enter into a lease agreement with that entity—the City inherited the tenant when it resumed management operations of the banquet center. In addition, there were multiple use conflicts and disruptions reported as a result of that entity which perhaps biases staff’s present opinion of whether the City should lease to a religious entity. Staff is certain that Redeemed Life Church and New Horizons Resource Group are wonderful entities serving the community and the greater public good, however it may not be the best fit for our space. The following examples were provided to the Council on June 27 and are repeated herein for reference and possible discussion should the Council not support the Redeemed Life Church / New Horizons Resource Group proposal: - School type uses (e.g., adult education, classrooms, administrative functions) - Quasi-governmental entities (e.g., RCWD, conservation districts, DNR, Census, etc.) - Social Service entities (e.g., food shelf, care crew, housing assistance, legal aid, etc) - Professional office uses (e.g., lawyer, accountant, mediator, dispute resolution, etc.) - Tourism and marketing bureaus, travel agent, insurance, financial planning, etc. Recommendation: Staff seeks direction from the Council as to whether we need to prepare a suitable lease agreement with Redeemed Life International / New Horizons resource Group for Council consideration. Respectfully submitted, ________________________ James Ericson City Administrator Dear Mr. Erickson, Again, thanks for the email. In our first proposal to the City dated May 15, 2011 (see copy attached) we stated that Redeemed Life Church will partner with New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG)--a professional work-skills development organization. Not New Horizons. There is no connection between New Horizons and New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) and I am very sure our proposal did not state that and neither was it stated in our discussions last night. Furthermore NHRG designed economic development job training program is more comprehensive than just computer training--it's that and beyond. New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) was established by a few working professionals including myself and we immediately incorporated with the state of Minnesota on December 3, 2009, and has been a member of the Minnesota Council of Non-profits for over a year now--see Mncn.org—member list--under letter N. NHRG has Employer Identification Number (EIN) and Minnesota Sale Tax Exempt number to legally operate in the state of Minnesota. We did our first fund raiser Dinner in 2010 at the Mounds View Community Center. Our second project was a "Lift Liberia 2010 Personal Empowerment (Leadership) Conference conducted in Liberia, West Africa with Kakata City government. At the end of 2010 our lawyer informed us that for NHRG to do a comprehensive economic development through job training and placement, financial coaching and personal leadership development in the United States in general and Minnesota in particular, we needed to seek the Federal Government's approval by applying to the IRS for 501 (c)3 status that will make the organization eligible for grants to start a full scale operation. In March 2011 we submitted our paper work to the IRS seeking a 501 (c)3 status. The approval process takes about 3-6 months. I referred to this paper during my meeting when I said I called IRS to inquire about our IRS status. I think the confusion came about when I talked about we will be opening the Minnesota African Workforce Development Center in Brooklyn Park. This Division of New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG) will focus on people of African descent and it has already been registered with state of MN. It will carter to the Immigrant population in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal and New Hope areas. In Mounds View, NHRG will focus exclusively on Job training and placement, financial coaching, and personal leadership development for the diverse Mounds View Community. We will start operation once we get our IRS status and start to apply for grants. NHRG currently banks with US Bank. So as you see, NHRG has been in existence for a while. It's an innovative workforce solution, social entrepreneur non- profit organization that has been around for over a year. I realized that I gave great consideration to the three minutes time limit and spoke just little fast last night, and as a result I might have not full represented our church by giving the Council the information needed to make this important decision. Whatever the case is, we look forward to the Council's decision. And, if we need to meet the Council again, we will be glad to do so. As a point of correction, some of our members live in Mounds View, including one of our associate pastors that attended the meeting last night. I live in Brooklyn Park, not Mounds View. Mr. Erickson, we really appreciate your help. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you need any information that will be helpful to this process. Grace and Peace, Rev. Alexander Collins, Redeemed Life Church, Mounds View, MN May 15, 2011 The Mounds View City Council 2401 County Road 10 Mounds View, MN 55112 Dear Council Members: I am Rev. Alexander Collins, Lead Pastor at Redeemed Life Church International—7687 Long Lake Road, Mounds View, MN. Our church is discussing with Ms. Heidi Steinmetz the possibility of renting the 1300 square foot space current available at the Community Center. As a follow-up to the discussion, this letter is intended to introduce our church to you, to make an offer for the available space and to give the background, education, and training of our pastor. Redeemed Life Church is an authentic small (40-50) community of believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The church is community oriented, built on the centrality of Scripture, the necessity of the new birth (new life in Jesus Christ), and the ongoing empowering work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. Our mission is to lead more people find true life in Jesus Christ—John 10:10; Jeremiah 1:5, Matthew 28: 16-20, and our vision is to become a multi-cultural, multi-racial life-giving church steadfastly grounded on the prevailing Word of God and leading more people find true life in Jesus Christ to fulfill their God-given purpose—Luke 19:10; Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 60:1-3. Our Values--Christ-Centered --reflected in our character, family oriented, and community focused. We go into the world with faithful hearts, listening ears, and bold spirits; we engage our spheres of influence and beyond, welcoming all people to know Christ and his kingdom, and we serve human needs within our local communities and the world—Psalm 103: 1-7 Our Offer for Space Rental--The 1300 square foot space will be used for office space, weekly Bible studies, prayer meetings and for our community gathering on Sundays 10:00am-1:00pm. We would like to offer the City $5.00 per square foot for the first two years and thereafter renegotiate the per square foot rate. Our church in partnership with New Horizons Resource Group (NHRG)—a professional works-kills development organization intends to use some of the space for a community computer lab and job skills development training. My Background, Education and Training—I am a father of three children, a husband to Rebecca Collins for over eleven (11) years. I am an ordained pastor for over thirteen (13) years and a MN State licensed pastor for over ten (10) years. I hold a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Acts College, Currently a Master of Divinity graduating senior at Acts College. I have a Mini-MBA Professional Certificate in Nonprofit Management from St. Thomas University, and a student at the Wilder H. Foundation-- James P Shannon Community and Non-profit leadership Institute. I am an accredited Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) a Certified Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) with the MN Department of Corrections and the National Institute of Corrections. I am also a certified Personal Leadership (Empowerment) Facilitator (CEF) and have worked in the Workforce Development Industry for over six (6) years teaching Financial Literacy, work-skills Communication, Customer Service, Empowered Thinking and a host of Employment Readiness classes. Outside of my pastoral duties, I work as a work/life-skills Coach and Instructor and I definitely look forward to putting my skills to work within the Mounds View community. Council Members, if I or our church council can be of further help to this process, please do not hesitate to contact me or the Church Council. My cell phone number is 763-742-6906 and the church phone number is 763-780-5433. We are excited about the prospect of renting a space at the Community Center and we look forward to your fruitful response. If at all possible, we would like to start using the space by the middle of June 2011. Grace and peace, Rev. Alexander Collins Item No: 3 Meeting Date: July 5, 2011 Type of Business: Work Session City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Continued Council Discussion about Services Provided by the City Introduction: At the Council / Staff retreat held at Random Park on February 15, the City Council expressed a desire to review and examine the many services performed / provided by City departments as a first step toward delineation of those services considered to be essential, or “core” to the City’s mission and purpose. At the March work session, Staff presented the Council with a list of general service delivery areas as well as a more detailed list of services provided by department. The majority of the Council members agreed to review the detailed list and determine which of the identified services were essential, somewhat essential or non-essential. The Council reviewed the resulting matrix of ranked services, requesting additional information from staff regarding which of the services were supported by fees and which were required by mandate of the City Charter, county, state, federal or other jurisdictional requirements. The attached matrix of ranked services has been updated to indicate whether the service is fee supported and/or mandated. Discussion: The services are grouped by department. For each service area identified, there are numerous administrative and support functions such as answering phones, communication or responding to residents’ questions which are not identified. The list is intended to be a comprehensive representation of all services provided, however it may be the case that a service was inadvertently left off. The only services that were not ranked are those that were added prior to the April work session, which are as follows: * Operation of the Community Center * Recreation Programming * Summer Parks Program * Fitness Center * Event Center and meeting room rentals It should be noted again that while all services are identified, not all services are supported by the General Fund. Many services (water, sanitary, cable related, to name a few) are outside of the general fund and thus somewhat immune from the consequences and impacts of budget cuts, reduced intergovernmental aid, levy limits or levy freezes, etc. Some other services, while within the general fund, may receive funding or reimbursement from outside sources or agencies, and these are also included undifferentiated from all other City services. The addition of the “supported by fees” column to the matrix will help distinguish these service types. City Services Discussion July 5, 2011 Page 2 Analysis: Of all the services listed, only three were identified as potentially being non-essential by more than one Council member. These services are the DARE Program, Home and Garden Show, and being a liaison to the Festival in the Park Committee. The remainder of the services were considered either essential or somewhat essential by a majority of the Council. It would be helpful if the Council would take the time to “rank” the newly listed community center related service items prior to the work session, at which time the all of rankings would be reevaluated. Recommendation: Review the tabulated spreadsheet which lists the previously identified detailed services provided by the City departments and discuss what the next step(s) should be in terms of ascertaining the City’s core, essential services and their corresponding level of service, and how that may relate to budget management. Respectfully submitted, ________________________ James Ericson City Administrator