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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - November 26, 2013A C I T Y O F OVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULtVARD N.W. • ANUUVLR, MINNESUTA 553U4 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV City Council Workshop Tuesday, November 26, 2013 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order — 6:00 p.m. 2. Discuss Amendments to Lower Rum River WMO Joint Powers Agreement 3. Discuss Trail Stop Signs & Way Finding Signs - Engineering 4. Discuss Proposed Overlay Program - Engineering 5. Review /Discuss Potential Community Survey Questions - Administration © 6. 2014 Budget/Levy Discussion & Preview Budget Hearing Presentation - Administration 7. 2013 General Fund Budget Progress Report- Administration 8. October 2013 City Investments Review= Administration 9. Other Business Closed Session 10. Discuss City Administrator Performance 11. Adjourmnent C ANLb Wg^ ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING —NOVEMBER 26, 2013 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, November 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, David Berkowitz Assistant Public Works Director, Todd Haas HR Manager, Dana Makinen Others DISCUSS AMENDMENTS TO LOWER RUM RIVER WMO JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT Mr. Haas explained the City Council is requested to discuss two items relating to the Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization (LRRWMO). Mr. Haas reviewed the items with the Council. Councilmember Trude thought Andover was just as concerned as Ramsey because Anoka wants to spend more than they do. Mr. Haas stated he discussed this with Anoka and Anoka will be putting together some wording regarding reconstruction of the dam. He stated Mr. Dickinson wrote a memo feeling the reconstruction of the dam was already written into the agreement and he did not feel there was a concern. Ramsey felt because they are forty -nine percent, they should have two votes. Councilmember Knight wondered what is happening with the Asian carp issue. Mr. Haas stated that is being addressed in the Capital Improvement Plan and will be discussed at another time. Councilmember Trude stated her concern is if the wording is not properly reflected in the plan, the entire City could end up paying for improvements instead of just the areas in the watershed district. Councilmember Trude thought they should have Mr. Dickinson keep negotiating and leave it as it is. The other Councilmembers agreed. ® Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 26, 2013 Page 2 Mr. Haas will bring this to the LRRWMO board indicating the City Council does not support a weighted vote. DISCUSS TRAIL STOP SIGNS & WAY FINDING SIGNS Mr. Berkowitz explained the City Council is requested to discuss trail stop signs, way finding signs and exercise stations. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the staff report. Councilmember Trade stated a concern is sightlines for entry onto a major roadway. Mr. Berkowitz indicated along Bunker Lake Boulevard and Goldenrod Street they will leave the existing signs until the road is reconstructed. Mr. Berkowitz stated he heard the exercise stations are not being used. Councilmember Bukkila stated they are not being used on the trails but they are being used in the parks. Mr. Berkowitz stated they have $35,000 to use on the way finding signs and exercise stations and wondered if they should put the exercise station into a park and see how it is used. The Council thought this was a good idea. If they used $10,000 on one exercise station, the rest of the money could be used on way finding signs. The Council also thought staff should look into putting up mile markers on the trails along with the map of trails. Mr. Berkowitz wondered if the Council wanted to have the City Hall area in the mapping down to the Tom Anderson trail. He asked if they wanted to show the loop connections. The Council supported that idea. Councilmember Howard wondered if there could be a larger display at Sunshine Park showing all of the different loops. Mr. Berkowitz stated they could do that. Mr. Haas stated they can work backwards and see how many signs they can get for the budget they have. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are thinking of doing the higher density areas first and then tying in other areas over time when funds permit. He noted a lot of the trails are on county roads so they will need to get permission from the County to put signs up. Mr. Berkowitz stated they will bring a schematic back to the Council for review along with © pricing. Councilmember Trade thought they could do some signagc by CVS in order to indicate how people can get to the library from there. Mr. Haas thought they could do a sign indicating where © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 26, 2013 Page 3 the library is located with the distance instead of a map, which would save some money because that type of sign can be made in- house. Councilmember Knight wondered why they did not have many trails by Round Lake Boulevard and 1615` Avenue. Councilmember Trude noted that the trail fees have mostly come from the dense areas of housing developed near City Hall in the past decade. Mr. Berkowitz indicated that when reconstruction of major roads occur, the trails shown on the Comprehensive Plan are constructed, such as the trail built this summer along Nightingale Street. Mr. Haas stated the Council has always indicated to put trails in where there is density. Mr. Berkowitz indicated it is in the Comprehensive Trail Plan. DISCUSS PROPOSED OVERLAY PROGRAM Mr. Berkowitz stated the City Council is requested to discuss the proposed overlay program process and review potential assessments for such improvements. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the information with the Council. The CIP identifies in 2015 an overlay program for residential streets. Every 3 to 4 years overlays will replace the street reconstruction for that year. This will prolong the city's street infrastructure. Potential assessment costs for residential developments were presented that range from $600 to $1,800 depending on the type of development (urban/rural). This cost range is based on 25% of the project cost. Other cities' policies adjacent to Andover were discussed. The City of Blaine currently assesses a flat rate per lot of $535.05 per residential lot. Anoka and Coon Rapids have not been doing overlays in the past several years. Mr. Berkowitz stated they want to continue the seal coating and crack filling for preventative maintenance on the roads. They also have done a lot of pothole patches this past year so they are hoping that helps the roads last longer. Mr. Berkowitz stated that an overlay for Prairie Road is scheduled for 2014, which will hopefully extend the road for another 15 to 20 years. If the overlay is not done, there is a concern that the entire road will need to be reconstructed within the next 5 to 10 years. Mr. Berkowitz asked the Council if the City should assess the residents along Prairie Road for the overlay improvements. The Council discussed various assessment levels and what the amounts might be for rural and urban lots. Councilmember Bukkila stated if they are going to do something that will impact residents, she would like to prepare those residents before it happens. She thought if this is done gradually over the year, it will soften the impact. The Council discussed ways to publicize the program and inform residents, the advantages it offered residents, the costs, who would be affected with the planned projects for 2013, and offering a multi -year payment plan. Councilmember Trude suggested adopting the program, and © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 26, 2013 Page 4 then begin holding neighborhood information meetings. Mayor Gamache asked how they have budgeted the project. Mr. Dickinson indicated in 2014, it is currently proposed that State Aid funding would be used for Prairie Road and Station Parkway. Councilmember Trude thought they did need to spread the assessment out over a number of years for residents to pay it off. The other Councilmembers concurred. Councilmember Trude thought they would only do an overlay if it is going to save the road for ten years. Mr. Berkowitz stated it could save the road for over fifteen years. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is fine with assessing the overlay but wanted to have at least a six month notification period for residents. Councilmember Knight agreed. Councilmember Trude suggested that since overlays cost so much less than reconstruction projects that the Council consider a 30% rate to generate slightly more funds to support the program into the future. Councilmember Bukkila is not in favor of this. Mayor Gamache stated © if an overlay prolongs the life of a road, he is fine with assessing 25% of the total cost. The Council agreed not to assess the overlay projects for 2014 but begin assessing 25% of the total fees for projects in 2015 with a six -month review period for residents. In the meantime the City Council directed staff to educate and inform the public through newsletter articles and revise the assessment policy in the middle to late 2014. The Council recessed at 7:26 p.m. to take a short break and then hold a closed session to discuss the City Administrator's Performance Review. The Council reconvened at 8:08 p.m. to continue the Workshop Meeting. REVIEW/DISCUSSPOTENTIAL COMMUNITYSUR VEY QUESTIONS Mr. Dickinson explained an Andover City Council 2013 -2014 Goal is to "pursue a community survey to determine resident support for current city services and programs." At the October City Council Workshop, Council direction was given to start this process to assist the Council on gauging public opinion of current services and support for future capital projects. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the questions with the Council. Mr. Dickinson asked if there were things from the previous survey the Council would like to see © or not see in the new survey. Councilmember Trude did not think they were ready to ask the question about more open space money because they still have open space money available to use. She stated on the park, they © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 26, 2013 Page 5 have money coming in and she did not know if they wanted to ask the question about bonding for it. Mayor Gamache thought the question should be broader, for all parks in the City rather than one park in particular. Councilmember Bukkila thought they needed to ask a couple of questions to find out if residents would be willing to spend money on parks. Councilmember Trude wondered if they should throw out a couple of referendum questions or what kind of questions should they include. Councilmember Bukkila stated if they are going to ask a question about the community center expansion they need to explain the reason why they need to expand. She thought if the scope was narrowed down to specific items, it might help people to answer the question. Mayor Gamache thought they should ask the park questions and leave the community center out of the survey. © Councilmember Trude thought they might want to do a short survey in a few years before the community center expansion is proposed. Councilmember Knight thought maybe a question to ask is if the City should be involved in providing a place for teens to get together. Mr. Dickinson stated on the last survey they asked about assessment of streets and found residents opposed changing the assessment. Councilmember Bukkila thought this should be left off the survey. Mr. Dickinson stated they can remove any reference to wifi and internet access because it is no longer a valid question. Councilmember Trude thought they could add some community characteristics questions and update some of the questions because some are dated. She wondered if they wanted to talk about some of the community standards. Councilmember Bukkila did not think those questions were needed. Mr. Dickinson asked if the Council wanted the question regarding putting a bridge over the railroad tracks on Bunker Lake Boulevard left in. The Council thought it would be interesting to find out what the public thinks about that matter. © Mr. Dickinson recapped with the Council that code enforcement questions will be kept in the survey and open space referendum questions will be swapped with park questions. He also noted questions 64 -66 should be left in. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 26, 2013 Page 6 The Council discussed adding questions to the survey about how best to inform the public in a timely manner, including questions about the newsletter and city website. The Council discussed whether other methods of informing the public were advisable to consider such as short, one- topic, online emails in place of newsletters, and their interest in adding another electronic message sign. There was discussion about what community groups should be allowed to post information on the City signs and it was determined that city sponsored non - profits and government agencies should be allowed but for profit businesses should be left off. 2014 BUDGET /LEVY DISCUSSIONS & PREVIEW BUDGET HEARING PRESENTATION Mr. Dickinson explained City departments have submitted their proposed 2014 Annual Operating Budgets. Department budgets are continually being reviewed by Administration/Finance for adherence to the Council's 2014 Budget Development Guidelines. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the 2014 Budget with the Council. Councilmember Trude wondered if the budget was balanced. Mr. Dickinson stated the deficit was at $427,233, but technically balanced with the fund balance. © Councilmember Trude stated she would rather have the budget balanced and less in reserves. Mr. Dickinson explained that the revenues are conservatively estimated and past years budget management has yielded positive revenue and expense variances. Mr. Dickinson indicated that he has provided the City's budgeting philosophy to the rating agencies and they have been supportive because of the strong oversight on the budget throughout the year. 2013 GENERAL FUND B UDGET PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson explained the City of Andover 2013 General Fund Budget contains total revenues of $9,356,581 and total expenditures of $9,640,429 (includes $20,500 of 2012 budget carry forwards), a decrease in fund balance is planned. Monthly reporting of the City budget progress to the governing body is a recommended financial practice and often viewed positively by rating agencies. OCTOBER 2013 CITYINVESTMENTS REVIEW Mr. Dickinson presented the Council with the Investment report. OTHER TOPICS Councilmember Trude informed the Council that the QCTV organization was going to undergo a © reorganization in 2014 and she asked whether Councilmembers had any comments to share about some of the broadcasts, such as whether they had opinions about the sports highlights show and also the Council updates. Mayor Gamache stated he liked having a moderator for the Council Update. The others concurred. There was a brief discussion about the broadcast of Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 26, 2013 Page 7 programs originating in Coon Rapids as some areas of Andover have students attending Coon Rapids High School but the broadcasting of their sports is covered by CTN, outside of QCTV's coverage. Councilmember Trude noted that the potential extension of utilities to the area north of 161st Avenue had involved discussions with landowners and a proposed master plan. Now that utilities may be extended beyond the area they were originally planned for, she recommends the Council discuss updating the master plan to ensure the road connections are going to be built to relieve traffic on Wintergreen Street before developments are built north of Country Oaks West. She has been contacted by residents who were specifically concerned about how the city will ensure a road west to Hanson Boulevard will be built to accommodate the traffic the new developments will generate. If the Council has a master plan in place, she thinks the resident's fears will be reduced. She noted that because she was not at the meeting when this discussion occurred, she wanted to understand the position of the other Councilmembers. The Councilmembers discussed their understanding of the proposals for development north of Country Oaks West and concurred that a road connection to the west, to Hanson Boulevard, should occur as part of the developments being planned, to alleviate traffic on the current Wintergreen Street north/south route. © Mr. Dickinson explained that staff has been urging the developers and landowners planning development north of Country Oaks West to make adequate provision and plans to include an east /west road connection with their developments as was shown by the developer when he displayed these proposed road connections at the meeting when the Comprehensive Plan amendment was discussed and approved by the Council. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Knight, Seconded by Bukkila, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary H