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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - February 26, 2013C T Y O F N ® 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOIA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV City Council Workshop Tuesday, February 26, 2013 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order — 6:00 p.m. 2. WDE Update — MPCA - Planning 3. Joint Meeting with Open Space Advisory Commission - Planning 4. Update of Nightingale Reconstruction - Engineering 5. Discuss Utility Billing Service - Administration 0 6. Discuss 2012 -2013 City Council Goals and Values Progress Report - Administration 7. Pre -Audit Year End 2012 General Fund Budget Progress Report - Administration 8. January 2013 City Investments Review —Administration 9. Discuss 2014 Budget Development Guidelines - Administration 10. Other Topics 11. Adjournment L401 i 0 ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING — FEBRUARY 26, 2013 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, February 26, 2013, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 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, Dave Berkowitz Community Development Director, Dave Carlberg Others 0 WDE UPDATE - MPCA Mr. Carlberg explained the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) representatives provided an update to the City Council on recent activities at the Waste Disposal Engineering (WDE) landfill site. Mr. Carlberg introduced Jean Hanson, Ingrid Verhagen, and John Moeyer with the MPCA who made a presentation to the Council. Mr. Moeyer updated the Council on the history and background of the WDE site. Councilmember Trude wondered if any contaminated water is going to the wells for the residential homes in the area. Ms. Verhagen indicated it is not. Mr. Moeyer continued with the update for the Council. He noted GEO, Inc. is responsible for managing the vapor extraction project on this site, including removal of hazardous waste to a processing facility in Wisconsin. Councilmember Knight asked if certain parts of the hazardous waste pit are more volatile than others. Mr. Moeyer indicated they did not know at this point. Mr. Frank Kellogg asked what particular volume of PCB's was detected. Ms. Verhagen noted it was 1,242 parts per million. Mr. Moeyer stated they fired up the vapor extraction system for the hazardous waste pit in ® Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — February 26, 2013 Page 2 February 2013 and have 800 gallons of liquid already in the holding tank. The total cost for the system is $158,000 and does not include all the operating costs. Monthly operating cost is $21,338. Mr. Moeyer stated this is part of their effort to stabilize the hazardous waste pit; ultimately they would like to dig up the waste pit and remove the material present. They are currently trying to remove as much of the volatile product they can to make it a safe extraction for the material. Mr. Frank Kellogg summarized what the MPCA is trying to do and noted it was a standard practice that is done in the industry. Councilmember Knight asked what the life span of the waste pit will be before it is back to normal. Mr. Moeyer stated they want to stabilize the waste pit with this system and dig it up but was not sure how long it will take. Councilmember Howard asked what the timeline would be. Ms. Verhagen indicated the system would need to be run for five years and then the MPCA needs to estimate how many barrels are in there to figure out how long it will take to extract. Mr. Dickinson noted the only part that will be removed will be the hazardous waste pit, the rest of the WDE site will remain. Councilmember Trude asked if the City wanted to widen Hanson Boulevard could they widen towards the landfill. Ms. Verhagen indicated they could not, they would need to go east and Anoka County already knows that. The Council thanked the representatives from the MPCA for updating them on the WDE site. Council recessed at 6:53 p.m. Council reconvened at 7:00 p.m. JOINT MEETING WITH OPEN SPACE ADVISORY COMMISSION Mr. Carlberg explained the primary objectives of the City Council and the Open Space Advisory Commission meeting jointly is to discuss the goals of the Open Space program as well as recent property negotiation activities. Open Space Advisory Commission Chairperson Gretchen Sabel made a presentation to the Council. Councilmember Trude wondered if smaller land sites would be higher in points than some of the larger sites if just size was taken out of the equation. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — February 26, 2013 Page 3 1 Chairperson Sabel reviewed the Selmer and Aasness properties with the Council. Mr. Carlberg indicated he thought they could put a deal together for the Aasness land. Councilmember Trude stated she liked that the parcel would be connected to the Northwoods Preserve open space parcel. Councilmember Trude indicated Mr. Holasek's children wanted to look into a barn and some section of land being preserved on the Holasek land. She understood the family is also talking to developers. Councilmember Knight stated it concerned him to have hunting ground next to an open space area and he wondered how that would affect the Aasness parcel. Commissioner Kovich stated they could post the area during hunting season but noted there are other areas in the city that have hunting next to park land. The Council discussed with the Commission the different parcels and possibilities of each. Mayor Gamache thought that if they purchased the Aasness and Selmer property now they could connect them when Kuiken is ready to sell. The Selmer property could possibly be accessed through an easement. He thought the long term goal should not stop at the current bond, it should continue on with the thought they may need to bond for more money. Councilmember Howard indicated he is okay with trying to purchase the Selmer property even if there is no access because the land around it will eventually develop and the land will be preserved into the future. The Council felt they should keep the Selmer deal alive but to have the Open Space Advisory Commission focus on the Aasness parcel at this time. The Council recessed at 7:45 p.m. The Council reconvened at 7:55 p.m. UPDATE OF NIGHTINGALE RECONSTRUCTION Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to discuss the design layout for the proposed Nightingale Street NW Reconstruction, Project 12 -28. Mr. Berkowitz indicated the City needs to acquire an easement to the property next to the road at ® the intersection of Nightingale Street and Crosstown Boulevard in order to put in the by -pass lane and trail. The by -pass lane adds $25,000 to the total cost of the project. The Council felt a by -pass lane is needed. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — February 26, 2013 Page 4 Mr. Berkowitz noted it will cost the City $35,000 to extend the trail from 157th Lane to 158th Lane. The proposed trail from 158th Lane to 1591h Lane has a lot of major impacts and will need curb along the trail. To design the trail extention, it impacts the design of the road. Councilmember Howard wondered if a retaining wall could be built. Mr. Berkowitz stated a retaining wall would be very costly. Councilmember Knight asked if they could move the trail in that section to the other side of the street. Mr. Berkowitz stated it would likely be as costly. Mr. Berkowitz stated the one section from 158th Lane to 159th Lane for a trail and curb would be approximately $80,000. He explained how a retaining wall would be built and how expensive it would be. Mr. Berkowitz stated if the City were to wait until 161" Avenue was reconstructed to install a trail in the section from 1581h Lane to 159th Lane, it would be harder and more expensive to build in the future because the road would not be built low enough for a trail to be installed. ® Councilmember Howard did not think the trail should be built on the other side of the road. He felt it should remain on one side of the road. Mr. Berkowitz stated they could keep the trail in this section on the shoulder and not sign it as a trail and it would cost $24,000. He noted the trail is State Aid fundable. The Council consensus was to create the trail all the way up to 159th Lane. OTHER BUSINESS CROSSTOWNPROPERTIES Mr. Dickinson stated the two properties along Crosstown Boulevard next to the City owned property may be available for purchase by the City. He noted the cost of the land would likely range from $145,000 to $160,000 for the one acre parcel and is on the tax roles for $137,000. The two acre parcel would be in the range of $150,000 to $175,000 and is on the tax role for $157,000. He stated there is a cash flow problem, to purchase the parcels would be using funds previously thought to be used for the 40 acre park. He asked the Council which project would be a priority. He asked the Council to think about this when they start to discuss the City budget later in the evening. © Mr. Dickinson indicated one property owner would likely want to close within 60 days. The Council felt purchasing the adjoining land to the City land is priority number one. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — February 26, 2013 Page 5 SEWER STAGING ANALYSIS Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the sewer staging plans for the City. He noted staff will reanalyze the plans previously prepared over the years and bring the results to the City Council with the findings, this will allow the Council to help plan the area for sewer. Councilmember Knight wondered if staff should look at a transportation plan in the northern area of 16151 Avenue to figure out where roads could be added for access. Mayor Gamache asked if additional sewer connections could only go north. Mr. Berkowitz stated that is the logical area. Mr. Berkowitz thought this would be a step -by -step planning process. The Council recessed at 8:54 p.m. The Council reconvened at 9:00 p.m. © DISCUSS UTILITY BILLING SERVICE Mr. Dickinson explained Connexus Energy will no longer be providing utility billing services for the City of Andover effective July 2013. They have decided to focus solely on their core business, delivering electricity to the north metro. Connexus Energy has provided billing services for over 18 years and it has been a valuable partnership. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the two most feasible options staff came up with for utility billing going forward. Councilmember Knight stated he would be in favor of option 1, continuing with outsourcing, but they would need to add additional sales tax for the State. Council consensus was to continue with outsourcing. Mr. Dickinson stated the contract provider would be looking for at least a three year contract with the City. The Council felt that if the outsourcing option does not work out they can always look at other options in the future. DISCUSS 2012 — 2013 CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND VAL UES PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson updated the Council on the goals and values progress report. © Councilmember Bukkila asked if they could phase in the lighting in the ball field areas of the proposed 40 acre park. Mr. Dickinson stated that would be possible. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — February 26, 2013 Page 6 Councilmember Trude stated there is no way the City can afford to pay three million for the 40 acre park at this time so they need to decide if they want to raise taxes to have the levy to cover those costs. Councilmember Howard thought they needed to buy the two properties by the City campus and split the 40 acre park into multiple stages. Mr. Dickinson stated they could phase improvements in over a number of years and an internal loan is an option to assist with cash flowing the project. Mr. Dickinson continued to review the staff report with the Council. PRE AUDIT YEAR END 2012 GENERAL FUND BUDGET PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson explained the City of Andover 2012 General Fund Budget was approved with total revenues of $9,263,720 and total expenditures of $9,263,720. The 2012 expenditure budget was amended to $9,878,220 acknowledging $35,000 of 2011 budget carry forwards, a $600,000 transfer to the Park Improvement Fund less $20,500 of 2012 budget carry forwards. ® JANUARY2013 CITYINVESTMENTS REVIEW Mr. Dickinson presented the City January 2013 Investments to the Council. DISCUSS 2014 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES Mr. Dickinson explained City Administration is starting to focus on the 2014 Annual Operating Budget Development process and is looking to the City Council to establish the Council's guidelines for the preparation of the 2014 Annual Operating Budget. He will prepare guidelines for the Council to consider at a future Council meeting. OTHER TOPICS There were none. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Howard, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ® Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary