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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20180403 - Minutes of the April 3, 2018, Work Session ProceedingsROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS April 3, 2018 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof a work session meeting of the Rosemount City Council was held on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. at Rosemount City Hall, 2875 145th Street West, Rosemount. Acting Mayor Freske called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm with Councilmembers Nelson and Weisensel attending. Mayor Droste and Councilmember DeBettignies were absent. Staff present included the following; o City Administrator Martin o Chief of Police Scott o Community Development Director Lindquist o Parks & Recreation Director Schultz o Public Works Coordinator Watson DISCUSSION 2.a. Severe Weather Sirens Chief of Police Scott addressed the council on his concern for public safety in the area of Rosemount recreational fields where citizens outdoors may not be able to hear the current storm sirens. Chief Scott showed a map of current siren placement and suggested that the Flint Hills Recreation complex would be an optimum location for the installation of a new pole and siren based on the development of area around Akron Ave and Bonaire Path. Chief Scott has contacted a company for figures on the installation of a pole and siren, ranging in price from $61,000 to $116,000 based on a number of factors like type of pole material and wireless vs. basic hook-up. Public Works Coordinator Watson added to the conversation detailing the ability to create revenue based on leasing the proposed tower and ground space to mobile phone providers’ antennas. A new tower could likely hold 2-3 antennas. Currently, the City receives approximately $154,000 in revenue through leasing tower space. There is a fee schedule that provides information on leasing fees. Antenna leases typically are long term revenue streams and can be 20-30 years in length. Council Member Nelson asked if a security camera attached to the tower would be something worth considering based on an example of damage to the fields previously. Chief Scott stated that this could occur based on the need. Council Member Weisensel added that there should be a whole approach that considers the needs of cameras in Rosemount as a whole and how many. Chief Scott is recommending that staff move forward in pursuing the tower and siren installation project and council agreed to move forward. 2.b. Mobile and Portable Radios Chief Scott explained to the council about the current state of radios in the police department. The radios were originally purchased in 2007 and are outmoded. Currently, parts are no longer made or offered for repairs, but more importantly is the ability for frequencies to be monitored outside the department which is a safety issue not only for the public but for officers. Most police departments have begun the move to encrypted systems for safety and consistency. Currently, Chief Scott would like to start changing out the mobiles first. The models currently being used can be sold back for $450 each to be destroyed. The state handles the requests for proposals and the bidding and pricing is reflected the 6.b. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS April 3, 2018 same for all agencies. Chief Scott would like to change the handhelds next year. Acting Mayor Freske asked how many years of insurance are available for units and Chief Scott stated each has a three-year warranty. Council Member Weisensel asked about communication with the public works department and currently their communication systems are not encrypted. The council may want to consider the communication with the public works department for future upgrades. Council is in favor of taking the next steps to upgrade the equipment. STAFF & COUNCIL UPDATES Administrator Martin explained Mayor Droste’s absence and discussed Acting Mayor Freske making a public announcement at City Council meeting. Community Development Director Lindquist was asked by Dakota County to help pay for the east-west study that staff is currently working on. This item will be put on the next council agenda. Lindquist provided an update regarding her recent conversation with Warren Isrealson regarding building a hotel in Rosemount. Parks & Recreation Director Schultz discussed plans to develop a request for proposal to find a recreational facilities consultant to work with and to gauge interest and feasibility of an indoor recreational facility. There are several companies across the country as well as a few more regional consultant firms. There was discussion among all the councilmembers about how broad or narrow the scope should be how they would use the demographic results, and how to pick an appropriate consultant. Council Member Nelson was interested in a more regional based consultant as Nelson believes those consultants may understand local sports preferences/culture better than an out of state consultant. Martin discussed his call with National Resident Survey (NRS). The previous city resident survey was conducted by phone. Another option that Martin would like to discuss is a paper survey that would be mailed to Rosemount residents. Martin mentioned that there are 2 caveats to consider. The first being the timing due to the upcoming election, and the second being the paper survey could result in an 8-10% reduction in response positivity because of the anonymity of answering to paper instead of to a human. It will be difficult to compare results to previous benchmarks collected by phone, but easier going forward with the standardized paper survey. Council Member Weisensel asked how phone numbers were collected previously; Martin said the survey company didn’t adequately answer. Martin mentioned that paper surveys will infiltrate multi-family housing units, like apartments and care facilities, more effectively than phone calls. Martin described the survey as five pages in length with the ability to answer online too. The consensus was to move forward with the NRS Survey. Council Member Weisensel mentioned upcoming development trips for Councilmembers, such as the National League of Cities’ “Leadership Forum” in Little Rock in June; The City Summit in Los Angeles in November and the state program in St. Cloud in June. ROSEMOUNT CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PROCEEDINGS April 3, 2018 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Council, with a motion from Freske, second by Nelson the meeting was adjourned at 6:42 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Leah Armstrong Recording Secretary