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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.b. Minutes of January 12, 2005 Work Sessionp- ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS i lam; CITY COUNCIL NVORK SESSION JANUARY 12, 2005 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof the City Council Work Session was held on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at 6 50 p m in the Council Chambers at City Hall Mayor Droste called the meeting to order with Council Members DeBettignies, Shoe Corrigan, Baxter, and Sterner present Also in attendance were City Administrator Verbrugge. Assistant Administrator Weitzel, Public Works Supennterident Cook. Police Chief Kalstabakken, Parks and Recreation Director Schultz, City Engineer Brotzler and Communication Coordinator Cox There were no changes to the agenda DISCUSSION Community Survey City Administrator Verbrugge presented a comparison of questions from 2003 to the proposed draft survey Some of the questions were developed to measure change from the last survey and so cannot be changed to a great extent or it could distort the results The estimated cost is $16,500 which leaves about $1,500 for additional questions It was agreed that the question on the need for a family restaurant could be removed since development has allowed that goal to be reached Council indicated that questions on communication, neighborhoods, transportation, green space and active recreational needs, community amenities, and downtown services would be retained Some words should have further definition, such as east side and cultural arts City Administrator Verbrugge noted that representatives of Decision Resources could not be present at this meeting due to a family emergency However, they did provide guidance by phone and will be able to proceed with the survey by early February The results will be prepared for the March Council Work Session The revised survey will be provided to Council before it is conducted Centex PUD Amendment Community Development Director Lindquist presented an amendment that would replace 33 townhouse units w ith 26 narrow single -family lots Staff agreed to the shift in housing which Will require a major amendment with a public hearing at the Planning Commission The City Council debated the narrow lots, affordable housing, the pipeline easement and the need to educate owners about it Council Member Siemer stated he did not feel this style of housing fit into the neighborhood However, the remaining council noted that if there is a market for this style of housing it could be allowed 2005 Legislative Policies State Representative Dennis Ozment and Senator Chris Gerlach were introduced They both congratulated newly elected Council Members Baxter and Sterner Each official gave background on themselves and a summary of the political topics at the legislative sessions Senator Gerlach reported that there is a $700 million deficit which has improved from last year's $4 5 billion deficit Gerlach serves on the Capitol Investment Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the Jobs, Economy Community Development Committee Gerlach explained that because he is the most junior Senator in the minority party he can't effect major change However, he held a positive attitude that he could impact many issues and work with the nuts and bolts of the process Representative Ozment serves as the Chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and the Impaired Water Committee Ozment is aware of 1 ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JANUARY 12, 2005 several issues that would restrict local government control and senses the need to leave that control with local government State Representative Ozment noted that this year there seems to be controversy about whether to allocate the funds to benefit the rural or the urban areas City Administrator Verbrugge presented a list of three levels of political priorities for the City of Rosemount The most important priority is the Air Cargo Regional Distribution Center which would provide economic benefits to both the State of Minnesota and to the local host community Senator Knutson was a co- author of last year's bill regarding that Rep Ozment has signed on as a co- author for 2005 Secondary items are park and library land tax breaks to encourage private landowners to sell property to public entities, TIF legislation, levy limits, reverse referendum, and support of the Minnesota Zoo Other topics of interest to Rosemount are the public utilities infrastructure impact fees, aggregate mining, eminent domain regulations, transportation funding and gas tax structure, and Highway 3 preservation status State Representative Ozment and Senator Gerlach updated Council and staff on the identified topics They said they value the Council's suggestions and plan to update the City of Rosemount as the session progresses Council Member Baxter remarked that Rosemount has used Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to improve the City of Rosemount successfully and hopes the regulations don't restrict future use of TIF Baxter pointed out that the Air Cargo Regional Distribution Center would provide jobs and economic improvement to benefit the State It would also become a prototype for state of the art security screening for manufacturing which would be a federal benefit Mayor Droste called for a ten minute break at 8 45 p m. County Road 38 City Engineer Brotzler reported on the public informational meeting held to discuss City Project 393 The proposed improvements to extend sewer and water service along CR 38 was reviewed It was noted that the residents along 132 Court did not express interest in having sewer and water service extended to their properties at this time Brotzler noted that the sanitary sewer and water lines would be stubbed from CR 38 to 132 Court to accommodate future extension of sewer and water service to these properties Brotzler reported that the North Central Sanitary Sewer Study noted that there are records of six sewer systems that have failed or don't meet code m the City Two of those systems are adjacent to Keegan Lake Mayor Droste noted that an outlet was constructed for Keegan Lake last year The construction of an outlet from Keegan Lake will prevent the flooding of adjacent properties in the future There was discussion about the proposed assessments Properties adjacent to CR 38 are proposed to be assessed $4,000 for street improvements and $9,800 for sanitary sewer and water service Council Member Shoe -Comgan noted that only one property is large enough to divide It was noted that any property that could be subdnided would have two or more services extended and would be assessed accordingly for sewer and water service Options were discussed for the assessment of project costs The first option is to assess project costs immediately A second option is to defer all or a portion of the project costs for sanitary sewer and water and collect in the future when property owners connect to City services Staff was directed to research options with legal counsel and report back to the Council at the next work 2 ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JANUARY 12, 2005 session. It was discussed that the City code currently requires property owners to connect to City services within two years from the date they are available Consideration may be given to extending this time period for property owners adjacent to the project. Hiring of Public Works Supervisors City Administrator Verbrugge presented two new public works supervisor positions for consideration by City Council He presented a review of the budget preparation process and previous discussions regarding the proposed supervisors to update the two new City Council members The new supervisors would provide more direct supervision in the field, evaluate field work for efficiencies, and free up the Public Works Superintendent to focus on strategic planning and proactive maintenance initiatives Mayor Droste had serious concerns about Rosemount's high property taxes and did not wish to have that increase Council Member DeBettignies stated the City should be able to show it would have a good return on its investment Mayor Droste said he would agree to one new supervisor Mayor Droste suggested a mechanism be put in place to measure the hours needed for labor and to consider a part-time manager for summer help Council Member Sterner suggested that all custodians work from the Parks and Recreation Department Sterner noted that with the purchase of St Joseph Church additional area will be needing attention Council Member Baxter suggested hiring one supervisor now and then prepare an evaluation in six months and determine if another supervisor maybe needed City Administrator Verbrugge agreed to begin the hiring process for one supervisor and to restructure the job description Commission Appointments City Clerk Jentink explained there are two commission vacancies due to the newly elected Council Members Sterner and Baxter The immediate openings are one on each of the Parks Recreation Commission and the Port Authority Commission Council Member Sterner volunteered to remain on the Parks and Recreation Commission until a replacement can be found or until the normal selection process occurs in March Council Member Shoe Comgan volunteered to return temporarily to the Port Authority until the normal selection process occurs There are six commissioner positions whose terms will expire March 31 Mayor Droste recommended proceeding with the Selection Policy with interviews in February Council Member Shoe-Corrigan indicated she will not be available on weekends in February for the interviews Staff was directed to proceed with advertising for the six positions Marketing /Communications Plan Dates Communications Coordinator Cox reviewed the progress of the Marketing Plan The communications tasks have been assigned target dates for completion Council Member Baxter suggested lower priorities for an exit survey, council web pages, and a computer in a public place The Marketing Plan is going well Mayor Droste thanked Communication Coordinator Cox and Assistant Administrator Weitzel for their hard work and greatjob UPDATES City Administrator Verbrugge was alerted to a Title Search irregularity on the St Joseph Church property City Attorney LeFevere determined that a narrow strip, 3 to 5 feet wide across the property was owned by a Mr Hubert Geraghty This did not show on the first search because it only showed as a line The closing is still scheduled for January 14, 2005 3 ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JANUARY 12, 2005 City Administrator Verbrugge reported that the Utilities Commission reviewed a proposed water /sewer rate increase for 2005 this year At this time, the Commission does not recommend a rate increase Mayor Droste reported that water billing revenue is up 46% in the past fNe years The rates have not been changed for five years A local water rate report showed Eagan lo-,N er than Rosemount and all other cities higher than Rosemount The consensus was to keep the water /sewer rates the same City Administrator Verbrugge arranged a City Council Retreat on Wednesday, January 26` at 6 00 p in Craig Rapp of Spnngsted, Inc will facilitate the discussion This will help the dynamics of the Council and staff to be as effective as possible The regular City Council Work Session was adjourned at 11 06 p in Respectfully submitted, Linda Jentink, City Clerk Recording Secretary The City Council's Agenda Packet is Clerk's File 2005 -03. 11