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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - March 26, 2013A C T Y O F © 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARU N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESUTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV City Council Workshop Tuesday, March 26, 2013 Station #1, 13875 Crosstown Blvd 1. Call to Order— 6:00 p.m. 2. Update on Coon Creek Watershed District Activities — Engineering 3. Update on Andover Area Traffic Analysis /12 -37 —Engineering 4. Introdl A. B. C. E. zction to Workshop Agenda Items Review 2012 Annual Fire Department Report Review Draft Firefighters Handbook Discuss 2012 I.S.O. Fire Department Survey Discuss Fire Department Staffing — Verbal Update on Emergency Management Items — Tabletop drill with Constance Free Church Staff - Verbal 5. 2014 -2018 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Discussion - Administration 6. Discuss 2014 Budget Development Guidelines - Administration 7. 2013 Budget Implementation General Fund Progress Report — February 2013 - Administration 8. February 2013 Investment Report - Administration 9. Other Topics 10. Adjournment 0 ANL6 6 W A ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING —MARCH 26, 2013 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, March 26, 2013, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover Fire Station #1, 13875 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mike Knight, Sheri Bukkila, Julie Trude and Tony Howard Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Public Works Director /City Engineer, David Berkowitz City Attorney, Scott Baumgartner Others UPDATE ON COON CREEK WATERSHED DISTRICT ACTIVITIES Mr. Tim Kelly, District Administrator for the Coon Creek Watershed District, updated the Council on Watershed District Activities. Mr. Byron Westlund, Coon Creek Watershed District President of the Board, and Scott Bromley, Member at Large, were also at the meeting. Councilmember Trude asked if on the north side of Crooked Lake, is the water table changing and are they expecting it to dry up. Mr. Kelly stated the water tables are changing and the water levels throughout the County are dropping. He stated when the water starts to recede the whole northern part of the lake will be exposed. The concentration of milfoil and curly pond weed will shift in Crooked Lake from where it is. One of the reasons for treating the western part is because it gets more wind. He stated Crooked Lake is impaired with mercury; Coon Creek is impaired with Biota. Mr. Kelly reviewed with the Council how the Watershed District is working on correcting the impairments. Councilmember Knight asked what Lyle Bradley's situation was. Mr. Berkowitz stated he is concerned with the discharge from the County Road and through the ditch system. He is concerned about the impact to the wildlife and ecological system. He is outside of the Coon Creek Watershed District. Mr. Berkowitz stated city staff stay consistent with the maintaining of ponds and protect against encroachment by not allowing residents to build within the drainage and utility easements. Mr. Kelly continued with his presentation on the Coon Creek Watershed activities. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —March 26, 2013 Page 2 Mr. Westlund stated the impact of Atlas 14 is going to be big on the District and will likely change some land development issues in the future. Mr. Berkowitz stated this is in its infant stage of discussion. They have talked about design criteria, the storm sewer system and there is going to be an impact and they need to look at the risk and future design standards. He felt Andover has a very safe storm sewer system and the system has performed very well with even large rain events. Mr. Kelly noted Anoka County is currently in a drought. Mayor Gamache asked in the recent development, Hickory Meadows, are they requiring rain gardens. Mr. Berkowitz stated he indicated at the City Council meeting that the Watershed District required the rain gardens but the intent of the rain gardens is to meet the infiltration rate, it is not required. He noted the City worked with the developer on ways to alleviate the pooling of the water on the lots and installing the rain garden was a way they could maintain water control and it was the most economical. He noted that he preferred not to have the rain gardens in the development. Mayor Gamache indicated he liked the idea of placing rain gardens in the City. Councilmember Knight stated they do add beauty to the area. Mr. Berkowitz stated the only concern is future maintenance on them and how can they go in to maintain them if they are not taken care of and then assess the property owners that did not maintain them. RECESS The Council recessed at 6:55 p.m. The Council reconvened at 7:00 p.m. UPDATE ONANDOVER AREA TRAFFICANALYSIS 112 -37 Mr. Berkowitz introduced the Traffic Analysis study to the Council. He noted the City hired Bolton & Menk, Inc. to prepare the study. Many scenarios were looked at, even some we knew wouldn't work. Mr. Kevin Kielb, Brian Nemeth, and Dan Lonnes reviewed with the Council the traffic options found while they analyzed the data collected. They looked at existing conditions, long term plans and short term solutions. Existing conditions shows that AM peak with school traffic is the biggest concern. Evening or PM peak is not as bad since school lets out in early afternoon. Existing conditions show problems south bound in the AM and north bound in the PM on Hanson Boulevard. The intersection at Crosstown Boulevard and Andover Boulevard has problems in the AM. West bound Andover Boulevard at Hanson Boulevard shows problems in the AM. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — March 26, 2013 Page 3 Long term solutions to meet current and future capacity would require Hanson Boulevard to be expanded to a four lane divided highway, improvements to the intersection at Hanson Boulevard and Andover Boulevard, Andover Boulevard expanded to a four lane road, Crosstown Boulevard expanded to a four lane road to Hanson Boulevard and Andover Boulevard be completed from Crosstown Boulevard to Round Lake Boulevard. Short term solutions to relieve congestion would be to extend right turn lane south bound on Crosstown Boulevard at Andover Boulevard and construct a free right turn onto Andover Boulevard. Access to the High School was discussed from 149th Avenue and Raven Street. This was deemed not a good solution, traffic backs up the same way on Crosstown Boulevard. Pedestrian crossing at 149th Avenue would still cause traffic backups. Mayor Gamache thought they needed to talk with the School District regarding the issues at the Crosstown Boulevard entrances going into the High School. Mr. Kielb stated a traffic signal at Crosstown Boulevard and Nightingale Street intersection would not be recommended because of the sight lines and it would be confusing. A bypass lane on Nightingale Street at 150th Avenue is recommended. Mr. Berkowitz stated the bypass lane is incorporated into the current Nightingale plan. Councilmember Howard asked about straightening out the Crosstown Boulevard and Nightingale Street intersection. Bolton & Menk replied the intersection is working properly under current conditions because traffic is moving slow through the area due to backups. This intersection should be reevaluated after recommended improvements are made at Crosstown Boulevard and Andover Boulevard. Mayor Gamache asked if the intersection warrants a traffic signal. Bolton & Menk indicated Anoka County ran a study and it does meet the guidelines for a traffic signal. Mr. Kielb presented right turn lane options to the Council. He indicated this would be the first improvement that should be done. Once constructed, evaluate the other intersections again. Councilmember Trude indicated the school should participate in the cost of the right turn lane improvement. She also questioned if the school should make some internal site improvements. Mr. Kielb thought the school's internal system functioned quite well and indicated that would be an area to evaluate once a right turn lane improvement was operational. Mayor Gamache asked how much the traffic has to be slowed to allow a round -a -bout at © Crosstown Boulevard and Nightingale Street. Mr. Kielb stated it would need to be reduced to 10 to 15 mph and then speed up outside of the area. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —March 26, 2013 Page 4 Mayor Gamache thought if they had a round -a -bout at Crosstown Boulevard and Nightingale Street and still had backups at Andover Boulevard, the improvements would not work. Mr. Kielb indicated that is correct. Councilmember Knight asked what the cost of a round -about is. Mr. Lonnes indicated it could be anywhere between $350,000- $800,000. Mayor Gamache asked if there was any indication that the School District is not going to change to a later start time. Mr. Berkowitz stated he would ask the School District about this option. Mayor Gamache thought they should find that out before doing the actual improvements. Bolton & Menk presented the 2 options that would work for short term. The first option is the $300,000 option 3A. The turn lane on Crosstown Boulevard would be extended to 1080 feet and a free right onto Andover Boulevard would be constructed. The west bound leg at the signal would be reduced to 2 lanes. Bolton & Menk presented the preferred option that can be used into the future which is option 3B. This option is estimated at $530,000 and would include extending the right turn lane on ® Crosstown Boulevard to 1080 feet, free right onto Andover Boulevard and widening the north side of Andover Boulevard to the High School entrance to construct an auxiliary lane. There would be no lane reduction at the intersection. Councilmember Trude asked what options the School District preferred. Mr. Berkowitz indicated options 3A and 3B. Councilmember Trude stated the School District can levy money for safety. Mr. Berkowitz recommended approaching Anoka County also. Chief Winkel asked what size of a round -about could be placed at Crosstown Boulevard and Nightingale Street. Mr. Nemeth indicated it would be about 80 feet. Chief Winkel stated the Fire Department would like to have larger round -a -bouts for the large fire trucks. Mr. Kielb indicated that a round -a -bout has low aprons that a fire track could drive over. Mr. Berkowitz indicated this is the final document and staff is looking for direction from the Council. Would Council like to see this project in the CIP next year? Councilmember Trude asked about the Hanson Boulevard and Andover Boulevard intersection. Bolton & Menk indicated the County would take the lead on that project and would apply for federal funding. © Mayor Gamache thanked the representatives from Bolton & Menk for the good information and stated this would help them make their decision. Council directed staff to pursue funding options with the school district and Anoka County Highway and include option 3B in the 2014 Capital Improvement Plan. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —March 26, 2013 Page 5 RECESS Council recessed at 8:03 p.m. Council reconvened at 8:08 p.m. INTRODUCTION TO WORKSHOP AGENDA ITEMS A. REVIEW 2012 ANNUAL FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT Chief Winkel noted most of the calls were first responder (EMS) calls. Mayor Gamache wondered if the Duty Officer role was successful. Chief Winkel thought it was very successful and saves time with having additional firefighters responding. Councilmember Knight asked if they are seeing more drug related incidences. Chief Winkel stated they are seeing more heroin and marijuana incidences and overdoses than © previously seen. He noted the heroin in Minnesota is stronger than other states and people do not realize that. Mayor Gamache asked when there are medical calls, how many vehicles are sent out. Chief Winkel stated they usually send 3 -5 vehicles with 6 -8 firefighters on site. Councilmember Trude wondered if they have thought about going around to the schools to talk to kids about fire safety and what not to do that causes fires in the home. Chief Winkel indicated he would like to do something like that but they do not have the staffing for it. Councilmember Trude thought maybe volunteers could do that. Councilmember Knight suggested Chief Winkel put an article periodically in the newsletter regarding fire safety. B. REVIEW DRAFT FIREFIGHTERS HANDBOOK Chief Winkel noted the document is a draft and they have been working on this to help clarify what is expected of the firefighters. Chief Winkel reviewed the "draft" firefighters' handbook with the Council. Chief Winkel noted they do not have a light duty work policy because of too many issues © related to it. The Council discussed with Chief Winkel looking into supplemental disability insurance for the firefighters. There was also discussion regarding performance reviews. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — March 26, 2013 Page 6 Councilmember Bukkila asked how the Fire Department handles taking pictures on site. Chief Winkel indicated that is not allowed. He noted they have to document scenes and they have ways to do that but firefighters are not allowed to take photos. Councilmember Bukkila asked if the City has guidelines for duty officers while in the possession of a vehicle. Chief Winkel indicated they do have guidelines and they can only use the vehicle for responding to an emergency. It cannot be used for off duty use. Councilmember Bukkila thought the duty officer should not be allowed to bring the vehicle outside of the City but she thought it would be an inconvenience for the duty officer to have to go back home to get the duty vehicle before going to a call. She would like to see more flexibility. Chief Winkel stated he would look into the flexibility. C. DISCUSS 2012 I.S.O. FIRE DEPARTMENT SURVEY Chief Winkel stated Andover has a split rating in 2013. They are going to a 4/7, 4 in the Urban area and 7 in the Rural area. He noted they can reduce their rural rating from a 7 to a 6. He reviewed with the Council how this can be done. He stated he was not advocating changing the way they do their job for an I.S.O. rating. QChief Winkel stated the increase in insurance premiums could go up to 5% in the rural area; it will be minimal in the urban area. He noted this is only really affecting the industrial park. Mr. Dickinson wondered if they should chase the I.S.O. rating. The Council did not think they should. Chief Winkel suggested they take the information from I.S.O. into factor and start working on improving their rating for a future rating. D. DISCUSS FIRE DEPARTMENT STAFFING Chief Winkel stated they are currently at 50 paid on call firefighters and he is recommending going to 55 paid on call firefighters which would allow them to staff all their stations adequately. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is concerned with the turnover in the next five years because of firefighters retiring and she did not want new firefighters to be hired all at once, she preferred a gradual turnover. Chief Winkel stated because of a new training grant, the new firefighter training would be free so he is recommending the hiring of additional firefighters at this time. The Council agreed and authorized Chief Winkel to start the process. © Chief Winkel noted he will also be looking at two full -time fire technicians in the next two years budget development to fill the gaps. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — March 26, 2013 Page 7 E. UPDATE ON EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ITEMS — TABLETOP DRILL WITH CONSTANCE FREE CHURCH STAFF There was no discussion on this topic. 2014 -2018 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (CIP) DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson reviewed the staff report with the Council. Mr. Dickinson noted the following are items on the list of potential improvements at the Community Center, the YMCA would like: multipurpose space, field house space, splash pad, rework the kids' area, office space and meeting room space. The dialogue he heard from Erick was on the City side he would like to have more storage area, dry floor training facility, teen center and more office and meeting space. The YMCA is currently evaluating all the Twin City YMCA locations and that is to be presented before a decision can be made and then they will need to run a capital campaign. Based on how successful the capital campaign is, will determine what they will do. He noted that the YMCA is not excited about borrowing money for an expansion. Mr. Dickinson stated they would want to bring in two or three architectural firms to start the planning of an expansion. The YMCA suggested a few firms who they worked with before. The Council indicated they would prefer who designed the Community Center. Mr. Dickinson stated they could have the needs analysis done by late summer /early fall, but they would not be ready to do the expansion until they know what the YMCA is able to do unless the City wants to do the expansion alone. Mr. Dickinson wondered if the speed of the proposed plan is ok with the Council. Mayor Gamache stated the City does not even know what the speed is of the YMCA because they do not want to pay for anything until they have the money. Mr. Dickinson stated from the city side they could do the project but the debt service analysis would be important. His preference for bringing new debt service online is 2017. Mayor Gamache wondered what they need to do in order to find out how much money will be needed. Mr. Dickinson stated he would like to bring in some architects with plans. He listed some architects he would like to look at. Mayor Gamache stated if the YMCA is ok with the original designer; why not bring them in again. The Council agreed. DISCUSS 2014 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES 0 Mr. Dickinson reviewed the staff report with the Council. 2013 BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION GENERAL FUND PROGRESS REPORT — FEBR UARY 2013 Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —March 26, 2013 Page 8 Mr. Dickinson reviewed the staff report with the Council. FEBRUARY2013 INVESTMENT REPORT Mr. Dickinson reviewed the staff report with the Council. OTHER TOPICS Chief Winkel suggested looking into constructing an emergency operations center with an expansion in case of an emergency because the Fire Station is not an adequate place for this and they do not have the equipment needed to service an emergency situation. Councilmember Trude wondered if a basement could be put under the Community Center in an expansion if needed. Mr. Dickinson stated that could be a possibility. Councilmember Bukkila wondered if a facility was constructed, could it be used for something other than an emergency operations center. Chief Winkel noted that it could not because it would have sensitive information stored there that would be needed if there was an emergency. © Councilmember Bukkila was not sure a city the size of Andover needed one. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Knight, Seconded by Bukkila, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:56 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary Cam]