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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - November 24, 2015CCIIDTY OF • 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVAHU N.W. • ANUUUVVt� NESUTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • W W W.ANDOVERMN.GOV City Council Workshop Tuesday, November 24, 2015 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order— 6:00 p.m. 2. Discuss Emerald Ash Borer Management /15 -28 - Engineering 3. Final 2016 Budget Development Discussion — Administration 4. October 2015 General Fund Budget Progress Reports — Administration 5. October 2015 City Investments Review - Administration 6. Other Business • Closed Session 7. City Administrator Performance Appraisal 8. Adjournment • 1 , ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING— NOVEMBER 24, 2015 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Julie Trude, November 24, 2015, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mike Knight, Sheri Bukkila, Valerie Holthus and James Goodrich Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Natural Resource Technician, Kameron Kytonen Human Resources Manager, Dana Makinen Others DISCUSS EMERALD ASH BORER MANAGEMENT— 15-28 Mr. Kytonen explained the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is a devastating insect that attacks all species of ash trees. The City has an EAB Management Plan that has primarily been on standby for the last few years but now EAB has been found in Ham Lake so it's necessary to plan for the eventual appearance in Andover. The City Council is requested to discuss the EAB Management Plan. Mr. Kytonen reviewed the staff report with the Council. Councilmember Goodrich referenced page 17 of the policy, the bottom paragraph, and asked if anyone had an issue with it. He wondered if this gave too much power to change language there. He is concerned that anything significant should come to the Council for approval. Mr. Kytonen stated that is in regard to simple language changes. Mayor Trude agreed with Councilmember Goodrich and thought it would be simple to have Mr. Kytonen come to a Council meeting with possible changes. Councilmember Goodrich stated anything significant he would want the City Council to approve. Mr. Dickinson stated it could be reworded to say "...Significant changes as determined by staff with final approval by the City Council." Councilmember Knight asked what percentage of trees are ash. Mr. Kytonen stated they are currently inventorying those. Mayor Trade thought maybe they should look at the ordinance because she would want some of these things approved this year. Councilmember Goodrich indicated he did not have anything else that he was concerned with relative to the plan. Mr. Kytonen indicated the rest of the ordinance had minor wording changes. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - November 14, 2015 -Page 2 -.... - _......_. -- - Councihnember Knight asked what this would do with the firewood situation. Mr. Kytonen indicated that no hardwood trees are to be moved outside of the County to any non - quarantined County without a compliance agreement with the Department of Agriculture because they want to prevent Emerald Ash Borer from moving outside of the County. Councihnember Knight stated with the Oak Wilt there is a tremendous amount of wood that can be cut up for firewood and the County is saying it cannot be burned or moved outside of the County. Mr. Kytonen stated it can be burned but cannot be moved to a county that does not have a quarantine. The Council discussed with Mr. Kytonen the moving of hardwood within the State. Mr. Kytonen stated he did add wording to Ordinance Section 4 -3 -12. He reviewed the changes with the Council. Mayor Trade stated she did not like item J in section 4 -3 -6 because it is not clear on what types of tree species are diseased. She thought it was too vague. Mr. Dickinson stated they could take the sentence out or they could add "subject to City Council approval'. He stated if item J is removed there will need to be an ordinance amendment. • Mr. Kytonen indicated if they remove that item then they should remove "other tree diseases" in section 4 -3 -5. Mayor Trude stated that wording is fine because that is not a directive. Mayor Trude stated there were some wordsmithing items that needed to be made in the following pages but other than that everything else looked ok. She appreciated Mr. Kytonen contacting residents and she would like to make sure all correspondence has email and phone numbers attached to the bottom of them. Staff reviewed with the Council on how residents can remove the diseased trees from their property and what the City will do. Mr. Kytonen reviewed the City Management Plan with the Council. He noted the County has private facilities but they have not indicated whether residents could bring the dead trees to those sites or not. Councilmember Goodrich asked if the City is planning to open any facilities for tree removal. Mr. Dickinson stated the question would be where they would put one. Mr. Kytonen stated it would be an undertaking to get one set up, it could be a lot of money. Mr. Dickinson stated they previously used a company to grind up the wood into chips when they had a large storm. The City ended up paying a substantial sum to have that done. . Mayor Trade thought they might want to put some money into the Capital Improvement Plan to set aside for equipment to use for this type of thing. Mr. Dickinson stated a tub grinder is pretty expensive and they already have a wood chipper. He noted they would not be able to process a lot of trees in a day with a wood chipper. Mayor Trude thought they should do some research on • Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —November 24, 2015 the cost of equipment so if they need to purchase equipment in the future they will know what it would cost. Councilmember Holthus thought they should try to work with other agencies on the marshalling yard item. Councilmember Knight asked how active the County is. Mr. Kytonen indicated they are ready but it has not been a big issue within the County yet. Mr. Dickinson stated they have decided not to actively go out and remove oak or ash trees. He thought the cities are more active on this topic than the County because the cities have to enforce. Mayor Trade thought the newsletter articles Mr. Kytonen have been doing has been helpful for residents. Mr. Kytonen stated bullet point two of the staff report is asking if the City should require the removal and proper treatment of infected ash trees. Councilmember Goodrich stated at this time he did not think the City should do this. Mayor Trade thought the hazardous tree situation should be brought back because that is a public safety issue. Mr. Kytonen stated trees in the right -of -way that are a hazard the City takes down but they do not enforce it if on private property. Mayor Trude thought the hazard tree enforcement made sense but should be brought • back to the Council for further review. Mr. Kytonen stated there might be more in regard to this subject in the coming months and he may have to draft this up because it may be detailed. Mr. Dickinson stated that review could be brought back to a future workshop meeting. Mr. Kytonen discussed with the Council what should be required for diseased trees. The Council felt if a tree becomes a hazard then it should be taken down. Mr. Kytonen stated a diseased tree can either be taken down or treated. Councilmember Knight asked what the treatment involved. Mr. Kytonen reviewed different treatment methods for diseased trees. Councilmember Goodrich asked how effective the treatment is. Mr. Kytonen stated it is very effective but if the tree is over 15 inches in diameter the tree would need to be professionally injected for treatment. Councilmember Goodrich stated he did not want to get overly aggressive in the enforcement process. Councilmember Knight agreed. Mr. Kytonen reviewed bullet point three of the staff report with the Council regarding the City providing financial assistance to residents for chemical treatments. He stated if they do not get any grants would the City just contribute. The Council thought they should start allocating some money to an EAB fund. Mr. Kytonen indicated bullet point four of the staff report has been covered. He reviewed bullet point five with the Council. Mayor Tmde stated she liked the idea of chemical treatments and • thought they could work with a tree Service to get a contract price for the City. Mr. Dickinson stated they could get a citywide contract and if a resident did not want to go with that they could get a quote on their own. . Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — November 24, 2015 Page 4 _ ---.. Councilmember Goodrich wondered if there would be concern with pollinator species such as bees. Mr. Kytonen stated that is something to think about. What he has heard is that most pollinators do not visit ash trees very much. They are generally not desirable for pollinators. Mr. Dickinson asked what should they do with City properties. Mr. Kytonen stated they need to look at only the high value trees on public land. Councilmember Goodrich stated he wanted to be consistent and if the City is making the residents treat or take down their trees then the City should also do it. Mr. Dickinson stated they will add some budget dollars to the EAB fund in 2016. Councilmember Knight asked how effective is the State in supervising this for the City. Mr. Kytonen stated the Department of Agriculture is very active and if the EAB were to be found in Andover they would come to them directing which trees should be taken down. Mayor Trade stated Blaine stated in an email that not all infected trees will be required to be removed, only trees that have the potential to become hazardous will be required to be removed on private and public property. Most infested trees in your typical neighborhood will need to be • removed because it will likely be a threat to the adjacent property. She stated they have a lot of rural lots, which is where Andover is going to be different. Mr. Dickinson stated staff will draft up the changes discussed and bring them back in January for further review. Mayor Trade asked for an update on wasps. Mr. Kytonen stated the smoky winged beetle bandit wasps do not sting and they eat the emerald ash borer. They are being studied, but have not been a recommended solution yet. FINAL 2016 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson reviewed the City Council's past consideration of the 2016 Budget and indicated a lot of the information has not changed. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the staff report with the Council. He stated the City is paying the employees competitively and are still in negotiations on the Union contract. They do have some dollars that will be used for pay equity compliance if needed. They are market competitive but according to the State guidelines for pay equity compliance, they might have some exporsure. Mayor Trade asked when they do the COLA's are they messing with the pay equity because they have mostly men at the management level. Human Resource Manager Dana Makinen stated the • COLA is based on a percent of salary and she is comparing equal classes with each other. She reviewed with the Council a possible pay equity issue that could happen. Mr. Dickinson continued to review the 2016 budget with the Council. He referred to a class rate • Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - November 14, 2015 -- -Page 5.. _ - - - -- - - - -. - --_— __ — table from the League of Minnesota Cities in order to explain how the valuations and tax capacity values are determined. OCTOBER 2015 GENERAL FUND BUDGET PROCESS REPORTS Mr. Dickinson stated the 2015 General Fund budget contains total revenues of $9,876,575 and total expenditures of $10,364,730. This includes a $26,000 2014 budget carry forward so a decrease in fund balance is planned. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the staff report with the Council. Mayor Trade asked how the Community Center fund balance is doing. Mr. Dickinson stated they are actually doing well this year, 2014 was a difficult year relative to utility expenses. OCTOBER 2015 CITYINVESTMENT REVIEW Mr. Dickinson reviewed the October 2015 City htvestments with the Council, noting there were no significant changes and maturities are matched to City cash flow needs. ' OTHER TOPICS There was none. RECESS Mayor Trude recessed the City Council Workshop meeting at 8:10 p.m. to a Closed Session of the City Council for the City Administrator Performance Appraisal. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Holthus, to recess to the closed session. Motion carried unanimously. RECONVENE The City Council reconvened at 8:42 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Goodrich, Seconded by Holthus, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary