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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009/06/10 CCM - WS1 ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JUNE 10, 2009 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a regular work session of the Rosemount City Council was held on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 6:33 p.m. in the Conference Room at City Hall, 2875 145 Street West, Rosemount. Mayor Droste called the meeting to order with Council Members Bills, DeBettignies, Shoe Corrigan and Weisensel attending. Staff members present included City Administrator Johnson, City Clerk Domeier, IT Coordinator Solberg, Finance Director May, Assistant City Engineer Dawley and Community Development Director Lindquist. DISCUSSION 2.A. Responses to Auditor's "Report on Internal Controls" Finance Director May summarized the information provided in the staff report and explained more about the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) to the new Council Members. Ryan Englestad, from our audit firm, highlighted items included in the internal controls letter and the CAFR. Mr. May also summarized the responses to the internal control letter. Discussion was held regarding the City's fund balance policy; validating accounting procedures, internal controls and staffing with the finance department; validating new vendors for payment; IT concerns; changes in the auditing standards; the cost to fix all of the auditing concerns and the value that would be received; and other aspects of the auditing process and procedures. Mr. May stated that the official presentation of the CAFR will be at the June 16, 2009 regular meeting. 2.B. City Phone System IT Coordinator Solberg provided a brief presentation on the proposed City phone system. Discussion was held regarding the current system, analog lines along with the lines for SCADA systems and election equipment, the cost spreadsheet, T1 data costs and video integration. Mr. Solberg reviewed the features available with the different vendors. He explained that with CIT the hardware would still be owned by the City should we change vendors. The City Council favored owning the capital equipment. Finance Director May also stated that Frontier required up to a four year agreement where the other providers only required a one year agreement. A one year agreement would provide the City more flexibility in changing providers should the City find that the system did not meet our expectations. Mr. Solberg pointed out that no matter which vendor was chosen the City would still be tied to Frontier because of the control they have with the phone lines. Council Member Shoe Corrigan requested that the phone costs be reviewed annually. Mr. May pointed out that the IT Coordinator and other staff have spent time reviewing the Frontier bills in the past couple of years and found many errors in the charges. He stated that with an annual agreement staff would be reviewing the status of the system more frequently. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JUNE 10, 2009 The City Council preferred to move forward with CIT but did request that referrals be provided for CIT and Digital Planet. Mr. Solberg pointed out that Digital Planet did not have any local government clients. The City Council also directed that staff work on obtaining better deals for the services. Mr. May stated that staff will work with the chosen vendor to obtain more formalized agreements for the City Attorney to review. It was anticipated that City Council consideration on a new phone system would be requested in late in July or early August. 2.C. Water and Sewer Utility Rates Finance Director May summarized the information provided within the staff report. Discussion was held regarding the proposed change in the water rates and sewer rates with regards to consumptions, second water meters, and the minimums in quarterly usage. Mayor Droste did not favor forcing residents to spend the money on installing a second meter. Mr. May explained the installation of a second meter is strictly voluntary. Council Member Shoe Corrigan questioned how to change resident habits to make them more cognizant of their usage. She asked the City Council what goals they want to accomplish with the policies. Council Member Weisensel questioned how the consumption should be changed and getting the message out to residents on water usage. Mayor Droste stated that if residents are using the water reasonably the amount of wells that need to be built could be reduced. Council Member Shoe Corrigan suggested increasing the fees for residents going over 30,000 gallons. Council Member Bills suggested doubling the fees for residents using more than 100,000 gallons. He also questioned the usage at homes in relation to their household income. Mayor Droste stated that making a dramatic change would not be reasonable. Council Member Shoe Corrigan suggested having a goal in place to help determine where the City wants to be over the next three years. The City Council agreed to educating the public and moving towards a tiered system but shared concerns about the unintended consequences for the City budget and water conservation. Mayor Droste stated that a second meter would not decrease consumption. Mr. May stated that if the alternative was to eliminate the second meter and move towards a winter usage credit you still will take away the idea of promoting water conservation. He stated that a tiered system would help promote water conservation. Mr. May pointed out that a lot of communities at this time do not have a tiered system in place to use as a comparison. He added that after the City is in compliance there will be other scenarios and cities we can compare the City to and review the rates annually. City Administrator Johnson explained why the City needs to have a 5% revenue increase within the rates. Council Member Weisensel stated that the public needs to be aware of the reasons for changing the rates. Mr. May stated that most residents will not notice a change in their rates until the third quarter of 2010. He stated that staff will make an honest effort to educate and inform the residents about the changes to the water billing rates. Discussion was also held regarding the plan for the residents who have already purchased a second meter. 1 1 1 ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JUNE 10, 2009 Mayor Droste stated that the City needs to consider the addition of a water treatment plant. Mr. Johnson explained that with the proposed rate structure and pay off of current bonds it was anticipated the facility would not be constructed until 2017. The majority of Council Members favored ending the use of the second meter. Council Members talked about emails they received from residents who currently utilize a second meter. If the City would go away from second meters communication of the prorated reimbursement will be needed. Council Member DeBettignies stated that the residents need to know that rates have not been increased for over 10 years. Communications strategies were discussed along with possible dates in August for a town hall meeting. The City Council will contact Mr. Johnson with their availability in August. 2.D. Dakota County 2010 -2014 Draft C1P Assistant City Engineer Dawley summarized the modifications and requests included in the draft letter to Dakota County. Mayor Droste stated that Rosemount is very unique to the entire County and shared his frustrations with unfairness issues with the current maintenance policies related to the County Road 42 corridor. Council Member Shoe Corrigan questioned if the City is being reimbursed from the County for the maintenance provided by the City on CSAH 42. Mr. Dawley said no, and added that it becomes a question of the level of service the City desires. Mr. Dawley stated that staff has asked the County to review their policies, which they indicated they would discuss as part of their 2009 -2010 Transportation Plan update. The City Council supported the draft letter as presented. Mayor Droste added that if the City receives a firm commitment on Akron Avenue additional discussion should be held. 2.E. City Council Rules of Procedure City Administrator Johnson stated that the item before the City Council was to consider adopting abbreviated rules or moving forward with adopting the full Roberts Rules. City Clerk Domeier explained that while the proposed rules included many of the practices currently used by the City Council it would be beneficial to have a simple set of rules for the City Council to follow and to adopt a book of parliamentary procedure to serve as a back -up for issues that may arise that are not covered within the draft council procedures. Council Member DeBettignies requested that item 2 under Process Regular and Special City Council Meetings should be modified to include that discussion is open to any member before or after a motion and second is made to concur with item 4. The City Council favored adopting the proposed rules and agreed to review other parliamentary code books available in -lieu of adopting Robert's Rules as the official parliamentary code book. Staff will provide the City Council with up to three possible books to adopt for review at a later meeting. The abbreviated rules will be brought to the City Council for formal adoption once a parliamentary code book has been selected. 1 ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JUNE 10, 2009 UPDATES 3.A. Dakota County Library Art Update Council Member Shoe Corrigan provided information on the background of the project and the proposed art features. With the acquisition of the campus and recognizing the area as a public place it was a good opportunity to provide art features to the community. Council Member Weisensel believed the $60,000 allocation was too high and questioned struggling with the County versus just adding art features at the St. Joseph's church area. Council Member Shoe Corrigan stated that the site allows for an art feature and provided history on the proposed locations discussed. She added that water was stubbed to the location to provide for a water feature. 3.B. FTTH /Rudder City Administrator Johnson stated that Rudder has been unresponsive. The City Attorney, Bob Vose, has not received responses from Rudder nor has Jim Hickel, the Velocity representative who has requested financial information. Mr. Johnson provided an update on the meetings staff had with Mr. Hickel. He suggested meeting again in the next couple of months to discuss revoking the franchise. The City Council requested an update next month. 3.C. Updates by City Council /Staff Community Development Director Lindquist provided an update on conversations with the City Attorney regarding the home occupation at the Piekarski residence. She stated that the resident is operating a commercial business. She provided the process moving forward with court proceedings. Community Development Director Lindquist provided an update on phone calls received from a resident who is advocating for handicap signs to be installed at the correct height. She explained the approach staff will take moving forward. Community Development Director Lindquist stated that Lennar has requested an amendment to their PUD in the Glendalough development. She stated that at the June 16 meeting staff will be recommending approving two of the housing elevations proposed. She also provided background on the number of times Lennar has asked for an amendment. Council Member Shoe Corrigan shared her concerns with the Lennar not remaining true to the original intent and spirit of the PUD. Mayor Droste provided an update of the June 9 Chamber meeting that was held at Ace Hardware. Community Development Director Lindquist stated that a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Cub Liquors would be held on June 15 at 8 a.m. She also stated that a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Waterford building would be held on July 15 at 5 p.m. Discussion was held regarding the food drive during Leprechaun Days. 1 1 ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JUNE 10, 2009 Mayor Droste directed staff to prepare a proclamation recognizing John Loch's retirement. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Council and upon a motion by Droste, second by DeBettignies, the meeting was adjourned at 10:46 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Amy Domeier, City Clerk