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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.b. Minutes of the March 11, 2014 Work Session Proceedings ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS MARCH 11, 2014 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a regular work session of the Rosemount City Council was th held on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room at City Hall, 2875 145 Street West, Rosemount. Mayor Droste called the meeting to order with Council Members DeBettignies, Shoe-Corrigan and Demuth attending. Council Member Weisensel participated in the meeting via interactive television starting at 7:55 p.m. Staff present included City Administrator Johnson, City Clerk Domeier, Director of Parks and Recreation Schultz, Community Development Director Lindquist, Finance Director May, Chief of Police Werner and Fire Chief Schroeder. DISCUSSION 2.A. RAHA – Second Sheet of Ice Director of Parks and Recreation Schultz provided a summary of the staff report. Craig Nelson, President of RAHA, highlighted the information that was provided in the packet. Council Member DeBettignies talked about a potential expansion at The Pond. Shawn Nelson of RAHA talked about the issues with the expansion. Craig Nelson stated there was an opportunity for a second sheet of ice at The Pond. Discussion was held about the uses at The Pond. Council Member Shoe-Corrigan questioned if RAHA has pursued doing a second sheet of ice with Farmington. She encouraged looking at a partnership. Shawn Nelson talked about RAHA fundraising efforts. Discussion was held about the potential costs of adding a second sheet of ice. Craig Nelson talked about other uses that could be accommodated at the proposed facility. Craig Nelson requested assistance from the City in developing a business plan. He assumed the City could use the splash pad demographic data to assist in projecting for future sports programming. Discussion was held about using outdoor ice. Council Member Demuth questioned if RAHA would support a facility similar to the Farmington proposal. Craig Nelson supported doing a simpler plan to start with locker rooms and minimal seating for tournaments. John DeBettignies supported the same initiative noting nothing special would be required. Mayor Droste spoke of the 2007 residential survey results related to the second sheet of ice. Finance Director May talked about past concerns about the operations and expenses with a second sheet of ice. Mayor Droste stated it was a good time to gauge support of the residents, options for a facility and to strategize for a goal. Shawn Nelson requested that the resident survey include a multi- use facility component. John DeBettignies stated that the association can guarantee hours to purchase each year and was concerned about the facility being privately owned. Craig Nelson requested help in figuring out the demographics and business plan. He also questioned that if a private investor was interested if the City would be willing to support the initiative through zoning or financial promises. The programs are still developing kids and trying to build a stronger team. Council Member Shoe-Corrigan questioned the cost of a business plan and operations. Mr. Schultz stated the costs would change based upon whether or not a consultant is hired. He did note that the construction costs may be harder to estimate. Mr. Schultz added that staff may be able to provide some of the numbers RAHA is requesting. He suggested the first step would be to develop a ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS MARCH 11, 2014 business plan. Discussion was held about potential partnerships. City Council supported staff working with RAHA on a business plan. It was noted that RAHA should not expect a facility built in the next couple of years. 2.B. Resident Survey City Administrator Johnson provided a summary of the proposed questions for the 2014 Resident Survey. The City Council reviewed the 2007 survey and determined the following changes:  Remove questions 33, 34, 42-45, 83 (related to the donation of 57 acres), 84-89, 91, 104-105, 114-115 and 119-122.  Add/modify questions about the following: Question 24 – affordable housing number should be updated. o Question 36 –the progress of development in the Downtown in recent years o Question 46 – include statement about City share of taxes o Questions 47-52 – add “athletic field maintenance” o Questions 54-60 – add “snow plowing of trails” o Question 63 – add “internet crime”, “identity theft” and “domestic violence” o Questions 65-70 – add “does your family have an emergency preparedness plan?” o and “should the city help organize neighborhoods to establish neighborhood emergency plans?” Questions 75-78 – add “do you use City Parks?” and “what facilities do you want to o see in parks?” Add questions about the “use of community gardens and should more community o garden plots be added” and “support of construction of a multi-use facility” Question 95 – reword question to ask if you or your family would use a dial-a-ride o bus service for seniors/low income if offered? Add additional questions about MVTA. Add questions about experiences at City Hall and the use of the City’s website. o Question 109 – note that Rosemount newspapers have changed names since 2007. o Question 132 – revise precinct numbers o If possible ask about the race of the person taking the survey. o Ask about retirement in Rosemount. o Ask about the City being open to diverse population. o Ask about fire prevention outreach. o Ask if resident has a home occupation. o The City Council will send any additional modifications to Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson will bring the survey contract to the City Council in final form at the March 18 meeting. UPDATES 3.A. FTTH Franchise Transfer City Administrator Johnson provided an update on the FTTH Franchise transfer. He stated a special meeting may be required to consider the transfer before the end of the month. Community Development Director Lindquist added that she signed an agreement to allow for fiber installation in the business park. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS MARCH 11, 2014 3.B. Buxton Proposal City Administrator Johnson requested feedback on the proposal. Mayor Droste stated the City needed to do something. Council Member Demuth questioned if we have staff time to follow through on the initiatives. Ms. Lindquist explained that staff would spend about 10 hours a week on average. Council Member Weisensel was concerned about staff having the skill set to develop these clients. Further discussion was held about the staff work load related to Star Communities, Resilient Communities and the Buxton proposal. Council Member Demuth suggested that staff contact the Green Corp for interns. Mayor Droste questioned the funding for the proposal. Mr. Johnson suggested using Port Authority reserves, general funds and utility fund reserves. Council Member Weisensel suggested using funds from the existing budget but did not support using utility funds. Staff will gather more data on financing the proposal, implementation requirements and additional information on how credit card spending is tracked. 3.C. 2014 Fleet Vehicle Purchases Chief of Police Werner provided a summary of the staff report. Council Member Weisensel requested that the Police vehicles be include in the Public Works evaluation matrix. Discussion was held about the difference in purchasing Police and Public Works vehicles. Council Member Weisensel requested that staff share the maintenance and purchasing schedules. A majority of the City Council supported moving forward with the current vehicle purchases. DISCUSSION 4.A. Fire Relief Association Mayor Droste provided his understanding of past pay raises and pension benefit levels. City Administrator Johnson clarified that the pay per call rate was raised by staff to be comparable to other cities and to retain firefighters. He also provided information on the new proposal and the changes to the City levy. Board Secretary Engleman provided more in depth history on the board pension and shared goals the Board has for working with the City Council. He explained the proposed benefit level increase would come from funds already in the account. He noted that the whole $170,000 would not need to be levied by the City. City Administrator Johnson questioned if the benefit level goal was still $7,500. Board President Ganfield replied yes but questioned if a new goal was necessary. Board Treasurer Voelker explained that the wages have been put into the pension for the past several years. Council Member Shoe- Corrigan inquired what the City was saving by not paying firefighters hourly. She questioned if those hours should be tracked. Fire staff was willing to put together an estimation of hours. Mayor Droste suggested moving some of the $170,000 budget for the pension to the wages. Further discussion was held about the projections moving forward. Fire staff will work with Mr. Johnson and Finance Director May to develop a 5-year projection and fit in some variables moving forward. The projections will be presented to the City Council at the May work session. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS MARCH 11, 2014 3.D. Updates from City Council and Staff City Administrator Johnson provided an update on the DARTS proposal. City Council requested that at DARTS representative provide more information at an upcoming meeting. Council Member Demuth provided an update on the recent Flint Hills CAC meeting. Council Member DeBettignies provided an update on the RAAA annual meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Council and upon a motion by Droste, second by DeBettignies, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 10:26 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Amy Domeier, City Clerk