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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.a. Minutes of the January 10, 2007 Work Session ProceedingsROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 10, 2007 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a work session of the Rosemount City Council was duly held on Wednesday, January 10, 2007, at 6:43 p.m. in the Conference Room at City Hall, 2875 145 Street West. Mayor Droste called the meeting to order with Council Members Baxter, DeBettignies, Shoe Corrigan and Sterner attending. Staff members present were City Admuustrator Verbrugge, Assistant City Administrator Foster, City Engineer Brotzler, Police Chief Kalstabakken, Director of Parks and Recreation Schultz and City Clerk Domeier. Andi Moffit and Phil Belfion of WSB Associates were also present Finance Director May entered the meeting at a later time. CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA City Administrator Verbrugge stated that the update on the Pandemic Flu Mini -Grant would be moved to the beginning of the Agenda. UPDATE 3.B. Pandemic Flu Mini -Grant Chief of Police Kalstabakken stated the mini -grant for $12,000 was approved. He stated the overall goals of the mint -grant initiatives. He added that Merle Lohse was hired as a consultant for the project. Mr. Lohse will work to meet the grant requirements and developing educational materials. Staff will conduct community meetings and the distribution of educational information. DISCUSSION 2.A. Alternative Stormwater Management Techniques City Engineer Brotzler provided background on the different approaches to stormwater management that have been considered or implemented with projects in the City. He added that the City is very advanced with the alternative stormwater management techniques based on the required development of infiltration basins in newly developing areas Andi Moffatt and Phil Belfion of WSB Associates were present to introduce the Fact Sheets provided to City Council and to respond to any questions. Mr. Belifion discussed the benefits and potential drawbacks of NURP Ponds, Infiltration Basins, Rain Gardens, RESTORE Ponds, and Dry Ponds Ms. Moffit discussed the benefits and potential drawbacks of Sand Filters, Underground Storage /Infiltration Systems, Vegetated Swales and Filter Strips, In -line Treatment Structures, Rural Street Curb Sections, Pavers and Green Parking Lots, Porus Pavements, Rain Barrels, Green Roofs. Ms. Moffit further explained Land Use Management and the Buying and Selling of Pollution Load Credits. Ms. Moffit also noted a summary of the techniques was provided with the fact sheets. Mr. Brotzler requested direction from the City Council in moving forward. Discussion was held regarding the draft requirements for the commercial development at CSAH 42 and Akron Avenue. Mayor Droste suggested working with the horticulture class at the University of Minnesota to do some planning and prairie restoration for existing developed parks and green areas within the city. City Administrator Verbrugge added that based upon ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 10, 2007 what Council Members have seen at conferences that the City should look at the different components of sustamability m moving forward with planning and park construction. He added the City should do it in bite size pieces so that in a year or two we would have a broad picture and a comfort level m incorporating the different standards into a policy. Council Member Shoe Corrigan stated she preferred to see more work on RESTORE ponds incorporated into plan in less than two years. Council Member Baxter added he felt adding RESTORE ponds is a good goal. Council Member Sterner stated he would prefer to see more trees downtown as part of vegetation and providing more green areas. The City Council was interested in moving along with the alternate techniques. Mr. Verbrugge cautioned to take private sector into consideration to avoid a chilling effect on development. He added the City should bounce ideas of the development community in moving forward and obtain some feedback before jumping in. 2.B Lebanon HiIIsNRWMO Memo City Engineer Brotzler questioned if the City could receive money from the Vermillion River Watershed if the Council Members would consider contributing some of the money to the Lebanon Hills project. Council Member Sterner was not interested in that option. Mayor Droste was interested and stated this option would not require new money from the taxpayers. Council Member DeBettignies questioned if the City is eligible to receive the money from the watershed. Mr. Brotzler provided further background. City Administrator Verbrugge stated that the City of Rosemount is not legally obhgated to participate in solving the Lebanon Hills problem. Council Members shared their concerns with paying the price for someone else's mistakes. Mr. Verbrugge did suggest that participating for pohtical reasons and to continue ongoing relationships with neighboring cities may have some benefit. Council Member Shoe Corrigan stated she understood that the park is an amenity but questioned if the other cities are thinking of political fairness. Council Member Baxter added the City will need the county if the Air Cargo facility and UMore Park plans move forward. Council Member Shoe Corrigan stated her desire to protect the residents and questioned what a fair amount is to contribute and what happens to the money paid into the watershed. Mr. Brotzler stated should the City reach an agreement with the watershed for the reallocation of watershed tax revenue to Rosemount. That agreement will likely stipulate that the City financially participate in the LHRP project. Mr. Brotzler outlined the three options in moving forward as proposed in the draft letter. Mr. Verbrugge stated a special taxing district could be set up. He added that taxes are deductible but the utility charges would not be. Mr. Verbrugge stated if the City Council is taking the position of not participating, the City needs to address it to the board at the Vermillion River Watershed meeting. Mayor Droste stated it would be hugely detrimental to the citizens if the City did not participate Council Member Shoe Corrigan stated it would be a lot of money to for citizen at an approximate $70 -75 per household. Council Member ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 10, 2007 DeBettignies stated his frustration that no one has admitted fault and taken responsibility for the issue at hand. Mr. Verbrugge questioned if the City Council was comfortable with the letter as proposed. The City Council was in agreement but Council Member Shoe Corrigan stated the City Council needs to protect the residents. Mayor Droste stated that money from the watershed would not be an additional cost to the taxpayer. Council Member Sterner stated he was not sure of the County's position and stated this issue is an injustice to Rosemount. He questioned what made using acreage fairer than the usage of the park. Council Member Shoe Corrigan questioned the thoughts of the Commissioner. She also questioned what the recourse would be if the City decided not to participate. Council Member DeBettignies stated the City Council needs to be confident of its decision and stating the reasoning to the residents. 2.C. CSAH 42 /Shannon Parkway Intersection Improvements, City Project #412 City Engineer Brotzler requested City Council consideration to authorize the preparation of plans and specifications and Dakota County preparation of a joint powers agreement. City Council directed staff to move forward and requested that the pedestrian crossings at the intersection be evaluated. Mr. Brotzler stated the project would be a New Business item at the January 16 regular meeting. City Administrator Verbrugge noted this item is an example of where public comment was brought forward and therefore a decision was made by the City Council to move ahead in addressing pubhc concerns. UPDATES 3.A. HR Issues Assistant City Administrator Foster presented four human resource issues to the City Council for discussion. Social Security Extended to DCP- Covered Elected Officials Ms. Foster provided an update on the legislative changes and stated the Council Members could decide whether to contribute to both Social Security and DCP. If the Council Members would decide to contribute to both, a resolution would need to be adopted. Council Members Sterner and Baxter voted to contribute to both. Council Member DeBettigmes desired to make PERA an elective choice. Ms. Foster stated that if a new resolution is adopted Council Member would be required to contribute to both options. The Council Members decided not to make any changes to their contributions at this time. However, they requested information on their current deferred compensation plans. HIPAA Requirements Ms. Foster distributed the proposed resolution approving the HIPAA policy and designating the Assistant City Adnnistrator as the Privacy Officer. She provided further background on the policy and the purpose of the proposed resolution. City Administrator Verbrugge added the City had been practicing the policy but would be formally engaged in the policy by ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 10, 2007 adopting a resolution. The City Council directed staff to bring the item to the City Council for approval when the City Attorney's office has reviewed the program 2007 Pay Equity Implementation Report for 2006 Compliance Ms Foster stated the pay equity report is due to the Department of Employee Relations every three years. Mr. Verbrugge provided background on the purpose of the report and noted the report is a tool to make adjustments to the compensation plan Council Member DeBettignies questioned why the years of service were not plugged into the report. Ms. Foster responded that years of service are not required but stated that longevity is plugged into the report. The City Council directed staff to bring the report to the January 16, 2007 meeting for approval. VEBA Grant Administration Mr. Verbrugge provided background on the VEBA Grant Administration and the intent to level the playing field for all employees. Council Member Baxter questioned why the cutoff was for 2004 employees. Finance Director May stated in 2004 employees experienced the change in insurance coverage. The Council Members were in agreement with the grant match as proposed and directed staff to bang the item to the January 16, 2007 meeting for approval. 3.C. Others OSA Letter: City Administrator Verbrugge stated the City received a letter from the previous State Auditor regarding the arena operating at a deficit. City staff contacted Spingsted and our auditor regarding the Arena Enterprise Fund operations. Mr. Verbrugge distributed a draft response letter to the Auditor's office and added the enterprise fund allows the City to account for depreciation and fund the arena through user charges. The City Council was in agreement with the draft response and directed staff to send the letter. Legislative initiatives: City Administrator Verbrugge stated that at this time the City does not have any legislative initiatives that are City related. Mayor Droste stated the legislative committee for the Minnesota Zoo is asking for an unknown amount of money m the bonding bill. Council Member Sterner expressed his interest in the State funding to the City. Mr. Verbrugge explained the market value homestead credit from the State to reduce the City's liability. Discussion also ensued regarding the Robert Street area. Mr. Verbrugge stated it was part of last year's bonding bill and a study is being done this year to figure out how it fits into the region wide network. He added the movement this session is to do a regional sales tax on transportation to encompass larger projects. He reminded City Council that Larry Laukka was appointed to be the Rosemount member to serve on the steering committee. DCC Board: Mayor Droste will continue to serve on the board with Council Member DeBettignies as an alternate. City Administrator Verbrugge will bring the appointments to the City Council on January 16. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS JANUARY 10, 2007 Library: City Administrator Verbrugge shared that the Joint Power Agreement for the library would be on the January 16 agenda for approval. He added the name selection for the library is "Robert Trail Library Technology Task Force: City Administrator Verbrugge requested City Council patience in moving forward with the technology issue. He stated he would hke to talk about the technology issues at the goal setting session and design a process in moving forward. He added that technology issues both internally and externally would need to be evaluated. Goal Setting Session: The Goal Session for 2007 was tentatively scheduled for January 26 from Noon to 4:30 p.m. and January 27 from 8:00 a.m. to Noon. It was decided that only the Council Members and City kdministrator Verbrugge would attend the Friday session and senior management would attend the Saturday session. Mr. Verbrugge added he would suggest holding another session in April to discuss the results of the City survey. Additional State Auditor Update: Finance Director May provided background information on the fund balances figured out by the City and those figured out by the State. He stated that with the City's special revenue funds it shows that the City has a 107.4 percent balance He further explained the fund balance policy. ADDITIONAL UPDATES Mayor Droste requested that new monuments to the City would be on the agenda this year for discussion. ADJOURNMENT There being no further information to come before the City Council and upon motion by Mayor Droste, the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Amy Domeier, City Clerk