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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.b. Minutes of the July 1st Special Work Session ProceedingsROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JULY 1, 2014 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a special work session of the Rosemount City Council was held on Tuesday, July 1, 2014 beginning at 7:35 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, Weisensel and Demuth attending. Staff present included City Administrator Johnson, City Clerk Hadler, Community Development Director Lindquist, and City Attorney Vose. DISCUSSION 2.A. Charter Cable Franchise City Attorney Vose addressed issues in the cable industry and the renewal of the Charter Cable Franchise. Rosemount's 15 year franchise agreement with Charter is nearing its end. In reviewing Charter's compliance they have reviewed the franchise fees and whether Charter has been paying appropriately. The Auditor found Charter had underpaid City by $4800. Charter contests the number. A negotiated settlement has been created for approximately $3400. City Attorney Vose is comfortable with this amount. The other piece of the settlement will extend the contract through the end of the year to complete the negotiations. DeBettignes asks if the difference would go to mediation if not settled. Vose stated it wouldn't be worth the attorney's fees to go through that process. Weisensel asked if we are correcting the questionable items in the future agremeent. Vose stated the biggest item is the fact we collect both a franchise fee and a PEG fee. The City's view is that the current franchise doesn't say the revenues that the PEG fee generates should not be included in gross revenues and therefore should be included in the franchise fee calculations. Most cities are accepting the fact that this is not going to be included in the future contract. DeBettignes asked if our deal is contingent on the other cities agreeing on settlements of their own. City Attorney Vose stated it should not. The third issue with the new franchise agreement is that Charter wants to upgrade and make their channels all digital. In upgrading the rest (analog) of the channels, these analog channels will be changed. This would not be allowed in the existing contract, and thus must be approved by Council. These would be moved from the 10 -20 range to 160 -170s range. There would be a guarantee that these channels could be described on the listing similarly to commercial channels. In addition we would have opportunity to promote the move as commercials on the old channels. We could also choose a channel that could go to HD (3 channels for 3 cities). City Attorney Vose believes that this is a fair compromise. Another commitment will be that these channels will be included in the basic cable package. Mayor Droste asked about the next contract and how long it will be for and how long it will take. Vose stated the new contract will be for 10 years and that the company has taken 5 months to respond to an earlier communication. Mayor Droste suggested that we grow our production capabilities as we go forth to enrich the content that we present to the public. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JULY 1, 2014 Shoe - Corrigan asked how much notice we will be given with the channel changes. Charter claims that some notice has been given already. Vose stated that the agreement would be starting August 1 st. DeBettignes asks how important it is to get that we are over the time on the old agreement. Vose stated the risk is on the cable company, not on us. 2.13. Discussion of possible land acquisition to annex property in Nininger township Community Development Director Lindquist presented a summary of the annexation issue at hand. Furlong family would like to make changes to their land that would not be allowed by Nininger Township zoning codes and they feel township will not change their stance to allow for new uses. Current land is mainly a golf course. New development would include an RV park. Future uses may be a townhouse development of some kind. Nininger Township is located to the east of the current Rosemount city limits. Staff has not fully evaluated based on planning and zoning, yet, as would like to be advised as to Council's view on the subject before moving forward. No orderly annexation agreements are currently in place. The other option would be for Furlong's to petition for the annexation to occur and it would be presented before an Administrative Judge. Lindquist stated some reasons why it may be in the City's long -term interest to annex and staff will work more in -depth to determine costs, benefits and other issues. Furlong's currently pay approximately $75,000 in property taxes, of which City might receive $30,000 if annexed. Furlongs' attorney stated the RV park may be more like an interim use for the property until the services reached the property. Attorney has spoken with the attorney at Nininger township and are working out what the next steps may be. Discussion ensued about the surrounding lots and how the other residents in the area might feel about the annexation. Councilmember Weisensel asked about the small areas in the area outlined in orange on the map. Lindquist stated we don't want to annex those who don't want to be annexed, and suggests the Furlongs be the petitioners instead of the City. Staff has not yet talked with Nininger Township. State annexation laws changed a few years ago and the Administrative Law Judge would decide the financial issues, as well. It may be that City would have to pay Nininger Township for the loss of taxes for a certain number of years. Mayor Droste asked if Nininger is contracted with Hastings for services such as roads. An independent contractor provides road services. Fire service is provided by Hastings. Lindquist explained that annexation usually is triggered for a need to for services such as sewer and water. Current zoning code doesn't allow for an R/V park. Staff had talked about an interim use for an extended period. Some of the neighbors to the property were in attendance and voices concerns about increased traffic and other possible conflicts ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JULY 1, 2014 Attorney for Furlongs stated that in their discussion with police, the main concerns were at Furlong Circle. DeBettignes agreed that that street would need to be on board. If the City is open to discussion the Furlongs will begin more formal discussion with the township. Shoe - Corrigan stated concern about straying from current plans and Met Council requirements to build out and not leapfrog out to outer borders. There is also no precedent for the City to annex because the property is not in need of services. Lindquist stated that there may be a higher need for services such as police and fire, if not water and sewer. Another issue is the need for future residential developable land. The City is currently relying strongly on a single owner (Umore) to provide land for future residential development. Lindquist stated we need to have options for future development and not overly dependent on just a few landowners. There may be discussion when doing the 2040 Comprehensive Plan around this issue. DeBettignes stated he is not interested without inclusion of all the "islands" of land in and around Furlong property. Shoe - Corrigan sees the benefits long -term, but would like more information to determine whether it is in our best interest. Demuth stated her first choice would be for Nininger to work it out, but if that's not an opportunity, then she agrees with staff pursuing more information. Mayor Droste thinks R/V would be a good thing for the county, but also understands the rural perspective. Weisensel stated we should pursue, but doesn't think residents will support it when they see what will happen with their taxes. Lindquist will bring further information to Council later in the year. 2c. Council Future Meeting Schedule Discussion regarding future dates for City Council meetings and events was held. Police Chief interviews were scheduled for Tuesday, July 8th. Grand Opening for the Splash Pad was scheduled for July 21 st at 6 pm. UPDATES Lindquist stated that Stonebridge will have a couple of future council agenda items for contract work. We may start seeing movement on the property in August. City Administrator Johnson gave update on rail crossing along 145th Street. Said conversation went great with Union Pacific and awful with CP Rail. CP says we have to buy the sidewalk and the road easement even though the road has been in use for at least 80 years. Condemnation proceedings would be expensive.Mayor stated that he wants to contact someone further up the company ladder. Councilmembers Debettignes and Demuth gave updates on visits to RAAC events. Mayor Droste gave update on visit to LMC Conference in St. Cloud and voiced concerns about lack of participation at community events such as the Farmers Market because they were held during working hours instead of in the evening or on weekends when more of the commuter population was in town. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JULY 1, 2014 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 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Clarissa Hadler, City Clerk