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
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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
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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
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ROSEMOUNT CITY PROCEEDINGS
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
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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.
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