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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 062320201 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY 2 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 3 JUNE 23, 2020 4 5 CALL TO ORDER. 6 7 Mayor Stille called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 8 9 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 10 11 Mayor Stille invited the Council and audience to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance. 12 13 ROLL CALL. 14 15 Present: Mayor Stille, Councilmembers Jenson, Randle, Walker and Webster. 16 Absent: None 17 Also Present: City Manager Mark Casey, Assistant to the City Manager Charlie Yunker 18 Guests: Keith Dahl (Ehlers & Associates) and Andy Hering (Redpath). 19 20 CONSIDERATION, DISCUSSION, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ALL OF THE FOLLOWING 21 ITEMS. 22 23 I. APPROVAL OF JUNE 23, 2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA. 24 25 Motion by Councilmember Webster, seconded by Councilmember Jenson, to approve the City 26 Council Meeting Agenda of June 23, 2020. 27 28 Motion carried 5-0. 29 30 II. PROCLAMATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS — NONE. 31 32 III. CONSENT AGENDA. 33 34 A. Approve June 9, 2020, Council meeting minutes. 35 B. Licenses and permits. 36 C. Claims. 37 38 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Walker, to approve the Consent 39 Agenda items. 40 41 Motion carried 5-0. 42 43 IV. PUBLIC HEARING — NONE. 44 45 V. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF — NONE. 46 47 VI. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL. 48 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes June 23, 2020 Page 2 1 A. Resolution 20-054: a Resolution Approving First Amendment to Contract for Private 2 Redevelopment between the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of St. Anthony, the 3 City of St. Anthony, and Doran SLV, LLC. 4 5 Mr. Keith Dahl, Ehlers & Associates made a presentation. 6 7 Councilmember Randle asked what guarantee the City has that Doran will follow through with 8 Phase II if this is pushed back with the TIF note all up front. He also wondered what securities 9 the City would have. Mr. Dahl explained the securities the City has is in the first amendment 10 and the TIF note will be reduced. The HRA is responsible for providing the assistance. The City 11 and the Antiquary are collecting the increment that is being generated from these properties and 12 paying ninety percent of the available tax increment that is collected to the developer. The 13 guarantee is that should Phase II not commence, the TIF note is going to be reduced by the 14 amount originally agreed to be provided to Phase II. It would be reduced by $1.35 million and 15 would revert back to the original agreed upon TIF note size for Phase I, which was $1.95 million. 16 There is that provision in the first amendment but then the City and HRA also retain the ability to 17 stop making payments should Phase II not commence. 18 19 Councilmember Webster indicated in part C there is verbiage that talks about the HRA would 20 allow the developer to sign the TIF note to an affiliate or Kelly J. Doran without approval and 21 she asked for an example of where that has happened in the past and what it might look like. Mr. 22 Dahl stated developers like to have several companies to hold on to a specific property. This is 23 pretty standard with most development projects across the Twin Cities. A developer will build it 24 under one name and then transfer it to a new entity under a different name but still affiliated all 25 with the same developer. This is done for tax purposes and liability sake. 26 27 Councilmember Jenson asked Mr. Dahl if he saw any risk in this proposal from a city standpoint. 28 Mr. Dahl indicated he did not because precautions were built in to ensure that Phase II will be 29 constructed and if it is not constructed it will be reverted back to the same agreed upon size of 30 the TIF note for Phase I. 31 32 City Manager Casey explained the City Attorney has also had the opportunity to review this and 33 they coincided with everything that Mr. Dahl and Ehlers has presented in regard to any risks the 34 City would have, and the securities provided. Also, for Phase II since there is both a contract 35 and an agreement, if there was any material change in what was presented for the Final PUD, 36 that would come back to the Council for any kind of approvals. What was presented is what 37 staff is anticipating being built. 38 39 Mayor Stille indicated the TIF Note amount is not changing by any means and the term of the 40 notes are also not changing but being consolidated into one. Mr. Dahl indicated that was correct. 41 42 Mayor Stille noted in the marketplace they have seen a lot of changes to contracts such as this, 43 not only cities but banks. In this case he really thought that the developers and the City's 44 interests are mutually aligned. 45 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes June 23, 2020 Page 3 1 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Randle, to approve Resolution 2 20-054; a Resolution Approving First Amendment to Contract for Private Redevelopment 3 between the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of St. Anthony, the City of St. Anthony, and 4 Doran SLV, LLC. 5 6 Motion carried 5-0. 7 8 B. Presentation of 2019 Audit 9 10 Mr. Andy Hering, Redpath made a presentation to the City Council on the 2019 City Audit. 11 12 Councilmember Jenson complimented Shelly Rueckert in the Finance Department with the 13 integrity they have in compiling and performing all of the financial transactions for the City. As 14 a resident he really appreciated the effort that her team puts forth to serve the residents. He also 15 thanked Redpath for performing such a thorough audit. 16 17 Mayor Stille explained Redpath is working for the Council and it is their charge to make sure 18 that these books are in order. The Council cannot do that alone in their role so Redpath reports 19 to the Council and the reason why some of the language looks the way it does. The fact that 20 there are no findings is outstanding and the Council is glad that there are none. He thought that 21 is a testimony to Shelly Rueckert and the Council has a lot of confidence in her. 22 23 Mayor Stille indicated he also wanted to talk about the state of affairs in the City. He considers 24 the audit as one component, but the audit just tells them that things are operating nicely, and the 25 numbers add up. He stated this is a two -prong approach because the City has a bond rating that 26 also occurs every time there is a bond issue and that rating has been an AA for many years which 27 tells them of the City's financial health. Between these two he thought the community could get 28 a good sense of the financial soundness of the City and where its money goes. 29 30 Mayor Stille stated on the working capital slide the City has a minimum of thirty percent of the 31 budget and after adjustments that amounts to two million dollars. The City has close to $2.5 32 million and the measurements for that is done at December 31St of every year but what needs to 33 be realized is that the City only gets paid in July and December so the measurement is taken at 34 its high point and the City has to rely on that cash to pay bills between January through June. 35 That is the reason why the City needs to be steadfast and make sure it has enough cash to pay the 36 bills. 37 38 Mayor Stille reviewed the water and sewer fund and noted the graph is showing the City is 39 collecting enough funds to pay for all of the expenses. He noted the water fund is not covering 40 all of its expenses and the City is trying to get people to use less water so in some ways the graph 41 can be looked at as sustainability where the City is doing a good job but will need to find ways to 42 make this fund balance and possibly raise fees to cover the expenses. 43 44 Mayor Stille indicated the City does a street project every year with bond financing which are 45 rated, and that debt accumulates. In 2011 the debt was close to $36 million and that was spread 46 out over 15 years and amortize it, so the City is then able to pay for its street projects and keep City Council Regular Meeting Minutes June 23, 2020 Page 4 1 the infrastructure vibrant. In 2019 the debt was $29 million or nineteen percent lower than 2011 2 for a difference of $6.7 million and he thought that will bode well in the next bond rating. 3 4 Councilmember Randle thought it was important to let the residents know where the money 5 comes from that the City gets twice a year. Mayor Stille explained the money comes from the 6 County. The County collects the property taxes and then disburses it to the cities twice a year. 7 8 Motion by Councilmember Webster, seconded by Councilmember Jenson, to accept the 2019 9 City Audit as presented. 10 11 Motion carried 5-0. 12 13 C. Resolution 20-055; a Resolution Adopting Reduced Speed Limit of 25 mph on 14 Residential Roadways under City Jurisdiction. 15 16 City Manager Casey reviewed the resolution with the Council. 17 18 Motion by Councilmember Walker, seconded by Councilmember Webster, to approve third 19 reading and approve Resolution 20-055; a Resolution Adopting Reduced Speed Limit of 25 mph 20 on Residential Roadways under City Jurisdiction. 21 22 Motion carried 5-0. 23 24 D. Resolution 20-056; a Resolution Adopting the COVID-19 Preparedness plan for the City 25 of St. Anthony. 26 27 City Manager Casey reviewed the resolution with the Council. 28 29 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Randle, to approve Resolution 30 20-056; a Resolution Adopting the COVID-19 Preparedness Plan for the City of St. Anthony. 31 32 Councilmember Walker stated he had a question in terms of the language. Some of the language 33 seems a little vague in some sense. He was reading through it and there are pieces that states 34 "staff would be advised or encourage to do a certain thing in virtue of the protocol that is 35 recommended by Minnesota Department of Health" and it seems a little vague and up to the 36 discretion of individuals rather than it being more specific and mandated by management so that 37 there is a consistency among what the protocol would look like among all staff. Mr. Casey 38 stated in crafting this document staff looked at it from the approach of following within MDH 39 and CDC's guidelines and regarding the implementation of it as long as staff is making sure 40 these are filled within the intent of those guidelines. He has confidence in staffs ability to make 41 sure that they are applied to the fullest extent beyond adding any additional language. 42 43 Motion carried 5-0. 44 45 VII. REPORTS FROM CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. 46 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes June 23, 2020 Page 5 1 City Manager Casey reported that Village Notes should be going out to residents' mailboxes 2 soon and is also available electronically. He stated at the last Council meeting he introduced the 3 idea to the City Council about the possibility of creating a Public Safety Commission. As stated 4 two weeks ago, this would be a forum for residents to voice their opinions regarding public 5 safety within the community. He also stated that he envisioned the Commission to be advisory 6 to the City Council. He wanted to be very clear that in this recommendation he would not 7 recommend the creation of any form of a Police Oversight Board. 8 9 Councilmember Jenson stated on June 15th he attended two work sessions. The first one they 10 reviewed a TIF request from Development 65 for 125-unit senior housing project along Stinson 11 Parkway within the Union Grove Property and no decision was made on that. The other session 12 was a tour of the City and discussed 34 potential Capital projects with no final decisions made. 13 On June 18th he attended Metro Cities Executive Board meeting where the Fiscal year 2021 14 Budget was discussed and approved. There was also discussion about Policy Development 15 Process which includes four standing policy committees. The first is Municipal Revenue, 16 Transportation and General Government and Housing and Economic Development in 17 Metropolitan Agencies. Discussion went into a regular revised policy guidelines to be compiled 18 and developed through a very significant equity line and that subcommittee is starting to meet in 19 the next month before it is rolled out to the policy committees which begin at the end of July 20 through August. 21 22 Councilmember Randle stated he attended two work sessions. 23 24 Councilmember Webster stated Village Fest will not be held in person. A final decision was 25 made last week, and they are continuing to look at other ways that the community can come 26 together virtually or support local businesses that same weekend. This Saturday, June 27th, St. 27 Anthony Kiwanis is hosting a zoom auction. 28 29 Mayor Stille stated he attended the June 15th Work sessions as well. He highlighted the tour that 30 was taken throughout the City. 31 32 VIII. COMMUNITY FORUM. 33 34 Mayor Stille invited residents to come forward at this time and address the Council on items that 35 are not on the regular agenda. 36 37 City Manager Casey read an email he received from Kate Martin, 2513 30 Avenue. 38 39 Hearing no one else, Mayor Stille moved forward with the agenda. 40 41 IX. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. 42 43 None. 44 45 46 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes June 23, 2020 Page 6 1 X. ADJOURNMENT. 3 4 5 Respectfully submitted, 6 Sue Osbeck 7 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 8 10 ATTEST: ar— 11 City lerk Mayor Stille adjourned the meeting at 7:56 p.m.