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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 12112001 Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIIIIIII 106206 Box: 36 Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 2001 Document: CC MINUTES 12112001 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY • CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES December 11, 2001 I. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Hodson called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Mayor Hodson invited the Council and the audience to join in the Pledge of Allegiance. III. ROLL CALL. Councilmembers present: Mayor Hodson; Councilmembers Sparks, Thuesen, Horst and Faust. Councilmembers absent: None. Also present: City Manager Mike Momson. IV. APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 11,2001 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA. Motion by Councilmember Thuesen to approve the December 11, 2001 City Council Regular Meeting Agenda. • Motion carried unanimously. V. PROCLAMATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS. None. VI. COMMUNITY FORUM. Mayor Hodson invited residents in the audience to speak to the Council on items that are not on the regular agenda. Hearing none, Mayor Hodson moved forward with the agenda. VII. CONSENT AGENDA. Morrison referred to the appointment of Parks and Planning Commission candidates, as they are part of the Consent Agenda for tonight. He indicated that, prior to tonight, s meeting,the Council held a work session and interviewed candidates for the Parks and Planning Commissions. Morrison reviewed the results: Parks Commission: Doug Koehntop and Carol Jindra will be re-appointed to three-year terms Three openings for the Planning Commission: Randy Stille, and Todd Hanson will be re- appointed for three-year terms, and James Hoska will serve a one-year term • Motion by Councilmember Sparks to approve the Consent Agenda. Said Consent Agenda consisted of: City Council Regular Meeting Minutes • December 11, 2001 Page 2 1. Council Regular Meeting Minutes B November 27, 2001; and 2. Licenses/Permits, and 3. Claims, and 4. Resolution 01-092, re: Approve Ramsey County Grant application and Program; and 5. Resolution 01-093, re: Approve Cleaning Service Contract for City Hall/Community Center Building: and 6. Ordinance 2001-004, re: Wireless Telecommunication Towers and Facilities (2nd reading); and 7. Appoint Parks and Planning Commissioners from those persons interviewed earlier this evening. Motion carried unanimously. VIII. Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar will attend the meeting to give a presentation and answer questions. Mayor Hodson introduced Amy Klobuchar. She indicated that the City of St. Anthony was the last of the City Council' s that she was scheduled to address. Klobuchar stated that she was there to inform the Council of how their office handles cases, and to • inform them that they have assigned a Police Liaison to each Police Department in Hennepin County. The Police Liaison to St. Anthony is Therese Galatowitz. Klobuchar indicated that Galatowitz was a very seasoned prosecutor who has handled a number of major murder cases, and someone who works very well with the community. She added that Galatowitz could not be present this evening, but she invited anyone to call her at her office at anytime regarding any questions about any on-going cases in St. Anthony. Klobuchar indicated that one thing that she did when she came into office was compile a one hundred- day goal and a year-end goal. She added that they have continued to compile those goals every year. Klobuchar indicated that their main focus was on gun prosecution. She added that their goal was to increase the percentage of the cases that they charged that the police bring to them by twenty-five percent. She indicated that they met that goal, and over three years, they have increased that percentage by fifty percent, to a five-year mandatory minimum. Klobuchar indicated that another area that they worked hard in was the area of property crimes. She indicated that the community brought this area to her attention. She stated that they have two thousand felony property crimes that come into Hennepin County a year. Klobuchar added that they now have a special team of seven lawyers for felony property crimes, two of which focus solely on repeat offenders. Klobuchar reviewed the process with the Council, stating that they are trying to get longer sentences for the career offenders. • Klobuchar indicated that in the juvenile area, the spectrum is long and wide, from stealing candy bars to murder. She indicated that, upon reviewing past records of serious offenders, juveniles really started getting into trouble when they started missing school. She added that fifty-three percent of students in City Council Regular Meeting Minutes December 11, 2001 • Page 3 the Minneapolis schools were legally truant last year, meaning that they missed seven or more unexcused days of school. Klobuchar turned her attention to the Council for any questions. Councilmember Sparks asked Klobuchar to expound upon they ways that they are handling juvenile crime. Klobuchar indicated that it is their goal to make certain that there is appropriate punishment for kids. She indicated that they are using more and more community service for punishments. She stated that national statistics show that sixty percent of children who get in trouble once, do not get in trouble again. Klobuchar added that they do not want to over-react when children first act out. She added that she was a big believer in community service where they are at least fixing up the neighborhood where they have committed their crime. Councilmember Thuesen thanked Klobuchar for her continuous information. Mayor Hodson thanked Klobuchar for her presentation. • IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS. 1. Resolution 01-094,re: Proposed 2002 Cily Budget and Property Taxes. Mayor Hodson opened the public hearing at 7:15 p.m. Mornson indicated that Roger Larson was also present to review a few overheads with the Council. He added that there has been a drastic relationship change between local and state governments. Mornson stated that the General Fund accounts for resources devoted to financing general services which include: General Government, Police, Fire, Public Works and Parks. He added that it is the largest budget and is the main operating fund of the city. Mornson reviewed the levies and budgets for 2001 and 2002. He stated that state legislature eliminated HACA aid to cities with the expectation that Cities would levy to recover their loss in revenue. Mornson added that this change created a significant increase in the Levy and Tax Rate. Mornson stated that the levy for 2002 could basically be attributed to the loss in state revenue that they are receiving based on the property tax reform. Mornson added that expenditures for 2002 were largely the same as 2001, and that sixty- five percent of expenditures were made up of basic services (police, fire and public • works). He added that there was no new staff in the budget, but that there were about $475,000 worth of capital expenditures. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes December 11, 2001 • Page 4 Mornson indicated that the plan for the money that the City collects from commercial tax statements was intended to go to the schools. Mornson shared the average decrease in property taxes in various cities, few cities have a small increase. He added that the higher the value of the residential property in the community,the larger the percent increase received in tax reduction. Mornson indicate that they were not required to hold a public hearing this year, but stated that they chose to in order to educate the residents. Mayor Hodson stated that he continues to be asked if the City is eliminating services with this budget. Mornson indicated that they are not eliminating services at this point, but that may happen to some extent in 2003. Mayor Hodson asked about the announcement of significant deficit within the state and whether they would experience those ramifications through the League of Minnesota Cities. Mornson indicated that,normally, when a budget is approved, all capital expenditures are also approved. He added that they will ask department heads to not automatically assume that all capital expenditures are approved, and that he and Larson • will request a checks and balances in order to have something to fall back on in case they take a mid-year cut from the state. Mayor Hodson asked if they needed to have some indication of potential cutbacks before the Council heads into their annual goal setting in January. Mornson stated that they may have that information by then, but not to be too concerned about it. Mayor Hodson closed the public hearing at 7:30 p.m. Motion by Councilmember Faust to adopt Resolution 01-094, re: Proposed 2002 City Budget and Property Taxes. Motion carried unanimously. X. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF. None. XI. GENERAL POLICY BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL. None. XII. REPORTS FROM CITY MANAGER AND COUNCILMEMBERS. • Morrison reviewed the handout that he distributed containing his updates. Mornson indicated that it is going to be a busy year for them early on, as the League of Minnesota Cities Legislative Conference is on February 1, 2002. He also noted the League of Minnesota Cities Leadership and Elective Officials Conference was to be held on February 15-16 in St. Louis Park. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes December 11, 2001 • Page 5 Mornson reviewed the TIF memo. He indicated that, back in November,they approved a motion to call for a public hearing on January 8, 2002 to amend the City of St. Anthony' s TIF budget. He added that it is the money from the Chandler tax increment district. Mornson stated that new items were added to the plan that provided them the authority to purchase new property for redevelopment. Mornson continued that possible land purchases could include: Purchase and Removal of Hardee' s Property to prepare for redevelopment Purchase and Removal of Exhaust Pro Property to prepare for redevelopment Removal of Phillip=s 66 Gas Station to prepare for redevelopment Councilmember Faust encouraged Councilmembers to attend the League of Minnesota Cities Conference. Mornson concurred. Councilmember Thuesen also agreed that attendance to the League of Minnesota Cities Conference was important and valuable. Councilmember Horst indicated that an audit had been done by the school board of the services provided by community services. He added that the audit revealed that there is some significant shortfall in some programs putting them into budget crisis. He added that there was a lot of discussion • of what they could/should cut. He concluded that these were issues that he would like to bring up at another meeting with the Council,and asked the Council to keep an open mind regarding these issues in relation to goal-setting. Mayor Hodson reviewed the letter that he had distributed to the Council, Planning Commission, and Northwest Quadrant Steering Committee regarding a Developer Open House for the Northwest Quadrant to be held on January 24,2002 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the St. Anthony City Hall and Community Center. He urged all residents to take the opportunity to come in and view some of the options. Mayor Hodson referred to a memo he had received from Santa Claus. Santa indicated that he would be riding on the fire truck through the City of St. Anthony on December 100, ITh, and 19`''. He stated he would also be collecting toys for Toys for Tots while he rides through town. Mayor Hodson reviewed the Urban Currents Program where he will be present to discuss Smart Growth. Mayor Hodson referred to a meeting with State of the Region on Wednesday, December 12, 2001 which he and Mornson will attend and bring the information back to the Council at the next meeting. XIII. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. None. XIV. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Councilmember Sparks to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes December 11, 2001 Page 6 • XIV. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Councilmember Sparks to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Courtney Seesz TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk • •