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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020.08.03 CC Minutes Meeting held remotely pursuant to MN Statute Sec. 13D.021. ZOOM Meeting ID # 845 8658 9285 Mayor Weidt called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. COUNCIL PRESENT REMOTELY: Haas, Klein, Miron, Petryk, Weidt COUNCIL ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT REMOTELY: City Attorney Dave Snyder, City Engineer Mark Erichson, Finance Director Ron Otkin, Finance Coordinator Anna Wobse, PRESENT AT CITY HALL: City Administrator Bryan Bear, City Clerk Michele Lindau Approval of Minutes for the July 20, 2020 City Council Meeting Miron made motion, Haas seconded, to approve the minutes for the City Council meeting held on July 20, 2020, as presented. Roll call vote – all ayes. Motion carried. Approval of Agenda Weidt made motion, Haas seconded, to approve the agenda as presented. Roll call vote – all ayes. Motion carried. Update on COVID-19 City Response City Administrator Bryan Bear talked about the most recent Executive Order 20-81 regarding the mask mandate. Face Coverings are required to enter City buildings; however there were some exceptions, and the City had updated its COVID-19 plan. He explained that business was occurring as normally as possible with the exception that there were no peddlers permits allowed. Meetings are virtual, and the City was working on upgrades to allow for hybrid meeting. Permits and plan submissions were now available. He talked about Executive Order 20-82 regarding schools which contained three models- in class, distance learning, and a hybrid model based on COVID cases. The Forest Lake School District planned on in-person in the elementary schools and a hybrid model for middle school and high school. Stillwater schools would be starting one week late. White Bear and Mahtomedi School Districts were still working on their plan, but it was expected to be a hybrid model. Adjustments would occur during the school year as the numbers changed Finance Coordinator Anna Wobse presented information on the CARES Funding Budget. Last month the City received $1.1 million dollars to help offset the financial impact of the COVID outbreak. She provide background on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) which was created by the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) which allocated $150 Minutes HUGO CITY COUNCIL MEETING REMOTE MEETING MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 – 7 P.M. Hugo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 3, 2020 Page 2 of 6 billion for direct assistance to state governments based on their populations. On June 25, 2020, Governor Watz distributed $841 million dollars of that money to county, cities, and townships for Corona related virus expenses. Cities with a population of 200 or more were allowed to receive $75.43 per capita. On June 29, 2020, the City submitted the certification form to the Department of Revenue certifying the City’s intent to comply with the eligible use parameters outlined in the CARES Act and requesting distributions of the City’s portion. On July 7, 2020, the City received $1,148,713 from the MN Department of Revenue and has until November 15, 2020 to spend the funds on eligible expenses. After that the unspent funds needed to be sent to the County. She provided details on the eligible purposes for CFR payments. The Finance Department had prepared a proposed supplemental budget that met the criteria set forth by the US Treasury Department. Included in the proposed budget were expenses for personal protection, telework, audio visual and permitting upgrades. Reimbursement of cost will also occur for employees pulled away from their regular duties to respond to the virus and for public safety employees whose work was dedicated to addressing the public health emergency. Wobse explained the budget was broken down between hard and soft costs, and staff had not budgeted funds for small business grants because of the amount of support coming from other layers of government, including Washington County who had allocated $10 million of their funds to assist small businesses. St. Johns Hospital had submitted a request for $32,000 of the City’s funds to cover non-reimbursable costs related to the virus. Wobse asked that Council discuss donations to local hospitals and businesses and to provide details about a grant program and establish dollar amounts. Staff would then adjust the draft budget. She asked that Council then approve the resolution adopting the CARES Act Funding Budget. Haas said it would be a huge mistake to only fund City expenses already covered by the tax levy and not leave any funds available for small business that have had tremendous hardships. Miron responded that businesses could participate in multi-layers of grant programs from the federal, state, and county government. He asked how the process worked in terms of quantifying expenses and if it would only apply to additional expenses beyond what businesses have already received funding for. Bear responded that it was all federal money to be used for expenses related to the corona virus. Expenses would need to be documented and shown they had not already been reimbursed. If the City implemented a program, the City would need to make sure they were not already covered by another program. Miron said he was in favor of allocating resources for a grant program if the process was simple. He asked if staff was working with business on existing grant programs, and if the resolution was modified tonight to allocate money for small business grants and the City found there were not enough applications to use it, could another resolution passed to reallocate back to the proposed budget. Bear responded that the business community had not been reaching out to the City. Businesses had been successful in receiving other resources that were made available. Bear suggested if the City created its own program, it should be vetted by the EDA and should be easy to administer Hugo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 3, 2020 Page 3 of 6 and applied for. If the City did not receive enough applications for the available funding, there was enough flexibility in the resolution to adjust it back. Haas said had contacted some of the small businesses, and few of the businesses are hurting financially and didn’t have the resources to apply for the funding. Any program the City created would have to be simple. Weidt said he felt it was worth taking the time to have the EDA discuss it and find out what needs are out there. He added that the City had until November 15, 2020, to use the funds, and needed to find the best way to spend them. Weidt made motion, Klein seconded, to table and direct staff to have a discussion with the EDA, have staff for come up with ideas on a grant program for local business, determine what the need is and how the City can meet that need for local businesses, local food shelf, etc., and bring this information back to Council. Roll call vote – all ayes. Motion carried. Consent Agenda Petryk made motion, Klein seconded, to approve the following consent agenda: Roll call vote – all ayes. Motion carried. Approve Claims Roster Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the Claims Roster as presented Approve Annual Performance Review for Public Works Mechanic Dave Greeder Dave Greeder was hired by the City of Hugo as the mechanic in the Public Works Department on August 8, 2005. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the annual performance review for Public Works Mechanic Dave Greeder. Approve Annual Performance Review for Public Works Director Scott Anderson Scott Anderson was hired by the City of Hugo on August 11, 2003 as a Senior Engineering Technician, and on August 5, 2008, Scott was promoted as the City’s Public Works Director. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the annual performance review for Public Works Director Scott Anderson. Approve Annual Performance Review for Public Works Lead Worker Mike Loeffler Mike Loeffler was hired as a Maintenance Worker for the City of Hugo’s Public Works Department on August 5, 2002. On October 17, 2011, Mike was promoted to be the Public Hugo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 3, 2020 Page 4 of 6 Works Lead Worker. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the annual performance review for Public Works Lead Worker Mike Loeffler. Approve Automatic Aid/Mutual Aid Agreement with Lino Lakes The Hugo Fire Department requested approval from Council to enter into an Automatic Aid Agreement with Lino Lakes for use of fire personnel and equipment. This agreement would authorize the joint and cooperative exercise of powers between the fire departments. Adoption of the Consent Agenda approved the Automatic Aid/Mutual Aid Agreement between the cities of Hugo and Lino Lakes for the dispatch and use of fire personnel and equipment. Approve Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan Kendra Fallon, WSB Water Resources Engineer, explained the Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan (CSMP) describes and tracks a system of regional volume reduction projects (primarily runoff reuse for irrigation) that generate volume reduction credits. The City of Hugo intends to use these credits in lieu of stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) on select roadway and redevelopment projects. RCWD rules allow stormwater management projects to be implemented off-site of a development or road improvement project, as long as they are in the same Resources of Concern drainage area. The City of Hugo can develop and implement regional projects and apply the water quality credits generated by the projects to future roadway improvements or land development activities. Projects that have already been implemented are included in this document. These generated credits will offset the initial capital cost of these water reuse projects by decreasing the stormwater management costs of future roadway improvement projects. The City can also sell these credits to a developer where onsite stormwater Best Management Practices have difficulty being met onsite. Staff had been working with RCWD on this plan and will bring it to their Board workshop on August 10, and to the meeting on August 12, 2020, for approval. Miron commented that it was a good creative approach to what the City had been trying to implement. Water conservation was the main focus of what the City was trying to do, and this was a great way to add value. Fallon shared with Council that so far there were 100 credits generated at approximately $18,000 per credit. Weidt stated it was a good by-product of what the City was trying to do. The City took on water conservation efforts as a way to be in front of using the resource properly and conserving it when possible. The City was able to stay within bounds and not use water for unnecessary items. The City found a way to reuse rainwater for irrigation and had saved nearly 20 million gallons and will continue to do that. This would allow the City to grow and be prudent with water usage and resources. Haas commented on the strategic value of it. The national wetland surveys showed almost half of Hugo was underwater. If the City didn’t take valuable upland areas for business uses but instead used stormwater ponding because of the credit system and plan, there was tremendous value and opportunities on the limited land available to them. Hugo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 3, 2020 Page 5 of 6 Klein asked if the credits accumulated over time. If the City uses them year after year, could they be replace in the future. Kendra explained there was a onetime allotment of credits for each of the systems. If the City did additional monitoring on the system for three years and showed they were getting more irrigation out of the irrigation systems than what was originally permitted, additional credits could be created. Miron asked if the RCWD was only considering the systems the City had on-line now, and would the RCWD automatically credit the City for additional systems built. Fallon replied that they would, and the City would be given an annual update. Mark added that the City intended to utilize these credits but could sell to developments that can’t meet the requirements. The City’s road projects were challenging, and the City could reduce the cost of road projects by using these credits. He also pointed out that if credits were generated in one area, they needed to be utilized in the same area. Weidt made motion, Petryk seconded, to approve RESOLUTION 2020-36 APPROVING THE CITY OF HUGO COMPREHENSIVE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN. Roll call vote – all ayes. Motion carried. Update on Yellow Ribbon Network Council Member Chuck Haas and Phil Klein reported to Council on the Yellow Ribbon Network activities held recently. Five hundred pounds of care package items were sent to Africa, which brings the total items shipped since 2012 to over 60,000 pounds. On Sunday, the YRN would be hosting a deployment event with the Stillwater YRN for approximately 150 soldiers, and Haas thanked the donators and volunteers. Members of the National Guard would be deployed over the next week, and they looked forward to hosting them. The YRN partnered with the St. Paul YRN to provide a plumber for repairs, and members of Wild Wings were donating pheasants to soldiers in St. Cloud. Reschedule the September 7, 2020 City Council Meeting to Tuesday, September 8, 2020 Each year, the Hugo City Council has to reschedule its first meeting in September due to the Labor Day Federal Holiday. City Administrator Bryan Bear recommended Council reschedule their regular Council meeting on Monday, September 7th to Tuesday, September 8th due to the Labor Day Holiday. Miron made motion, Klein seconded, to reschedule the first meeting in September to Tuesday, September 8, 2020. Roll call vote – all ayes. Motion carried. Hugo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 3, 2020 Page 6 of 6 Adjournment Klein made motion, Haas seconded, to adjourn at 7:55 p.m. Roll call vote – all ayes. Motion carried. Respectfully Submitted, Michele Lindau City Clerk