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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.a. Minutes of the December 12, 2007 City Council Work Session Proceedings ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS DECEMBER 12, 2007 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a regular work session of the Rosemount City Council was duly held on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, at 6:37 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 2875 145 Street West. Acting Mayor Baxter called the meeting to order with Council Members DeBettignies, Shoe Corrigan and Sterner attending. Mayor Droste arrived at 7:02 p.m. Staff members present were City Administrator Verbrugge, Assistant City Administrator Foster, Senior Planner Zweber, Communications Coordinator Cox, City Attorney Vose and City Clerk Domeier. 2.E. Entrance Monuments City Administrator Verbrugge asked for feedback on the entrance monuments that were included in the packet. Council Member Sterner wanted the full City logo included on the monuments. Council Member DeBettignies mentioned that some churches did not like the words "Spirit of Pride and Progress" used within the same sentence. Council Member Baxter stated that including the tag line could date the sign. The City Council agreed that monument two was the best choice and not to include the whole City logo. 2.D. Greening Initiatives City Administrator Verbrugge stated the primary issue for discussion was consideration of supporting the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. He provided background on the internal evaluation of the City's operation and facilities. He also provided information about promoting the Dakota County HiPP initiative he was active in and the "cool college presidents" agreement that was signed by Dr. Thomas. Mr. Verbrugge noted Mayor Droste supported moving forward but did not want to independent of the City Council He added that the City would strive to achieve the items listed on the backside of the cover memo. The items would become a blue print of the City's greening initiatives. The City Council directed Mr. Verbrugge to move forward with a resolution for support at the January 2, 2007 City Council meeting. It was decided that Communication Coordinator Cox would do a press release once the agreement was signed. 2.B. Frontier Wireless Proposal City Administrator Verbrugge stated that Mike Flynn had been t'lking to Mayor Droste about the Dakota Future economic development. Mr. Verbrugge stated that last month he, Mayor Droste and Mr. Flynn got together to discuss Frontier's interest in deploying a wireless network in Rosemount. He added that last week they met again with Maggie Quinn and Council Member Sterner to talk about the details of Frontier's proposal. He stated the deployment would include the commercial area of Rosemount. Ms. Quinn provided a power point presentation on Frontier Wireless data services. She spoke of capital monies available for 2007 if deployment would begin before year end. She added that Frontier was a leader in telecommunications industry. Mr. Flynn showed a piece of the equipment. He also explained the predictive wireless protocol and that it would have automatic configuration and would be self healing. He ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS DECEMBER 12, 2007 stated the next step was to work with the City to create a network. Frontier was looking for support from the community. He stated it was a capital project for Frontier to undertake for their current customers and others in the City. Council Member DeBettignies questioned the cost to sign on. Ms. Quinn replied that if a resident had existing high speed internet it would be an additional $9.99 per month. There would be mobile access anywhere there is service. Mayor Droste questioned if they intended to stay south of the river. Ms. Quinn replied that they had not met with Lakeville but were in discussions with Apple Valley. Council Member Shoe Corrigan questioned if a new product was developed would the City receive an automatic upgrade. Ms. Quinn responded that if the standards change they would upgrade their equipment to support the standards. Council Member Shoe Corrigan then questioned if that language would be in the contract. Mr. Flynn stated that was not in the agreement and that most changes are software related. Mr. Verbrugge talked about the issues raised by staff. He questioned what level of commitment was necessary to receive the fund available. Ms. Quinn suggested working toward a resolution of the pole agreement before doing a letter of intent. City Attorney Vose stated the document was labeled a permit but described as a pole attachment agreement. He thought of it as a lease situation. Ms. Quinn stated she wanted to look at it as simply as possible. Mr. Verbrugge questioned the proposed attachment fee and how the fee compared with what Frontier may compensate private providers. Ms. Quinn stated that in Burnsville they used private places and didn't pay anything. Mr. Verbrugge questioned the plan, design path and how many City facilities were included. Ms. Quinn replied that Frontier was researching the area to see what spots made the most sense to use. Mr. Vose questioned Frontier's intent to be leasing the space for a particular kind of facility. He was concerned about the size, weight and color of the devices going on City property. He questioned if Frontier would be open to the City limiting what could be put on City facilities. Mr. Flynn stated that typically Frontier mounts an antenna on a 14 pound white box. Ms. Quinn added that the device brought to the meeting was the average sized box. Mr. Vose questioned if Frontier would just be using poles located within the right -of -way and public places such as City Hall. He was concerned about public policy from using light poles to everything the City owns within Rosemount. Mr. Flynn stated that the City would dictate where Frontier could be located. If Frontier was not allowed to locate in a specific spot they would pick a different location. Ms. Quinn added that Frontier would present the City with a network plan. The City would review the plan and pick what locations were allowed. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS DECEMBER 12, 2007 Council Member Shoe Corrigan questioned how long it would take a new hotel to become a hot spot. Ms. Quinn stated that Frontier just provides the infrastructure to get the project started. Mayor Droste questioned the market data and if having fiber or wifi in front of a home would add value to the home. Mr. Flynn stated that fiber could add up to $4,000 in value. He stated that wifi was different noting there was an economic consideration for residents and business potentials. Mr. Verbrugge questioned Frontier's commitment and at what point would they be comfortable building out for the full coverage area. He was concerned about the benefit if it was only limited to the commercial area. He wanted consideration for adding a free hot spot at Central Park, the high school football field or Ericson Park. Ms. Quinn stated that Frontier would be willing to invest in additional equipment to have Central Park covered. It would be an extension off the network. She envisioned that the use would be casual and noted that some cities have sponsored a hot spot and paid a certain fee each month. The community build out would be considered but that Frontier would want to make sure it would make sense for Frontier to take on the project. She stated a lot of Frontier services are offered a la carte. Mr. Flynn stated the intent was to deliver the service in a way no other provider currently offered. Council Member DeBettignies questioned the footprint of the commercial area. Mr. Flynn replied it included County Road 42, Highway 3 and perhaps some other areas. Ms. Quinn added that Frontier was also looking to add DCTC. Mr. Verbrugge questioned if Frontier would provide the City with user rates and numbers so the City could gauge if the residents found the service important. He questioned using a confidentiality agreement. Ms. Quinn stated she would check into that question. Mr. Verbrugge questioned the City Council's comfort level. He suggested doing a letter of understanding. Mr. Vose stated concern about the $15 per pole fee. Mayor Droste stated he would be mad to find out that Apple Valley got a different rate and same equity within reason. Ms. Quinn stated she was not part of the Apple Valley negotiations. The City Council agreed to move forward with a letter of intent. Ms. Quinn would check into Frontier's acceptance of the letter. Frontier wanted to have an agreement in place by Christmas and the City Council agreed to have the item on the December 18 agenda. 2.C. Transfer of Cable Franchise to Rudder Capital Corporation City Administrator Verbrugge provided background on the project and summarized the staff report. He stated that a First Reading of the Ordinance would be held on December 18 with the Second Reading following on January 2. He explained the different phases of the project build out. He added that Rudder was very interested in deploying a wireless service along with their fiber connection. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS DECEMBER 12, 2007 City Attorney Vose questioned if the City Council believed Rudder was qualified to be the owner of the company. He noted that the City did not have amend the franchise but that Rudder was making a business case for doing it. He added that legally the City can approve the amendment but cautioned the potential legal argument that Charter could make. Commissioner Sterner questioned the penalty phase. Mr. Verbrugge explained that when the penalty fee was imposed the City collected $34,000 in fees. He stated that money was used to fund the technology study. The City has stopped collecting penalty fees from Rudder. The City Council was comfortable moving forward with the transfer starting with a First Reading on December 18. 2.A. Robert Street Transit Corridor Dan Krom, Dakota County Transit Manager, presented an update on the Robert Street Corridor feasibility study. He provided a slide show presentation on the transit corridor. He provided the City council with the comments he received and the public meetings. Discussion ensued between Mr. Krom, the City Council and staff regarding transportation. Mr. Krom asked the City Council to email any comments to him. He added they could also share their comments with Senior Planner Zweber. UPDATES 3.A. City Organizational Meeting City Administrator Verbrugge stated that appointments were needed for the DCC Board. It was decided amongst the City Council that Council Member Baxter would serve as the City's representative and Council Member Sterner as the alternate. Changes were made to the 2008 City Council meeting calendar. The goal session would be held on January 25 and 26. A special work session would be held on January 2 to discuss the Outdoor Recreation Complex. Additional changes included the meeting scheduled for August 5 will be held on August 4 so that Council Members may attend National Night Out. In addition, the schedule change included a start time of 8:00 p.m. on November 4 due to Election Day statutes. Discussion was held regarding the designation of the official newspaper. After reviewing the circulation, amount of Rosemount news included in each newspaper, publication fees and deadlines it was decided that the City would continue using Rosemount Town Pages. ADDITIONAL UPDATES City Administrator Verbrugge stated that his evaluation was soon due. He questioned the idea of using a "coach" and having a third party who facilitates the process. Mayor Droste suggested holding out one election year. Council Member Shoe Corrigan favored doing an evaluation every six months. She asked Mr. Verbrugge to bring goals to the goal session so the City Council could provide feedback. Council Member Baxter questioned using a different evaluation form and though the City Council could do the evaluation without outside help. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS DECEMBER 12, 2007 Council Member Sterner explained setup of the Northwoods Minor League Baseball team. He thought that the team would be able to use a field at the Outdoor Recreation Complex. Mayor Droste stated that local terms should be the ones using the fields. City Administrator Verbrugge asked Council Member Sterner to find out the team's scheduling. Council Member DeBettignies added that the team should contact Dan Schultz. Council Member Sterner did not support bulldozing the homes on Cameo Avenue. Instead he would support a program that would look into moving the homes by the railroad tracks. Council Member DeBettignies stated that if someone can use the house that is great but stated the moving costs would be high. Council Member Shoe Corrigan cautioned that by doing a subsidy it would be giving away tax dollars. City Administrator Verbrugge stated he would check with legal counsel. He added that staff discussed using the homes as shelter homes in coordination with the CAC. Council Member Sterner suggested a commode replacement program that would encourage residents to use a 1.6. gallon toilet as a way to conserve water. It was decided that a public education piece around greening initiatives, including a commode section, would be inserted in a future utility billing. Council Member Baxter stated that he and City Administrator Verbrugge attended the Dakota County Regional Luncheon. He added that the Chamber was upbeat about the agreement reached with Dr. Hansen and moving forward with Downtown Redevelopment Mayor Droste stated the City received the full grant amount from the LCA. He added that starting June 8 the MVTA will be adding an express service out of Rosemount. Mayor Droste will be meeting Roger Rehbling on December 20 to discuss the senior issues. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Droste moved a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:55 p.m. Second by Sterner. Respectfully Submitted, Amy Domeier City Clerk