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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - June 27, 2016C I T Y O F p NDOVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNLSOIA 55304 • (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV City Council Workshop Monday, June 27, 2016 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order— 7:00 p.m. 2. Joint Meeting with Park & Recreation Commission A. Discuss 2017-2021 Park CIP -- Engineering B. Discuss Park Advertisement Policy Amendments —Engineering 3. Other Business © 4. Adjournment Ai �rl ANLb 6W^� ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING —JUNE 27, 2016 MINUTES The Joint Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Julie Trude, June 27, 2016, 7:00 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 Park & Recreation Commissioners present: Chair Shane Stenzel, Vice Chair Jim Lindahl, Commissioners Ted Butler, Angela Marinello, and Mark Miskowiec Commissioners absent: Commissioners Sarah Elstrom and Alisa Lewnau Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Public Works Director/City Engineer, David Berkowitz Assistant Public Works Director, Todd Haas 10 Parks Maintenance Supervisor, Jason Grode Others JOINT MEETING WITH THE PARK & RECREATION COMMISSION Mayor Trude welcomed everyone to the joint workshop meeting of the City Council and Park & Recreation Commission. A. Discuss 2017-2021 Park CIP — Engineering Chair Stenzel reviewed the Park CIP information with the Council. In 2017, it includes some small irrigation projects, construction of a storage building at Pine Hills North that would be funded through donations, leaving that project budget neutral. Site improvements including grading, irrigation, and a new well estimated at $457,300 are planned for Fox Meadows Park. He noted this is the last big park to be irrigated, which will eliminate the sand burs so athletic associations will be more interested in using the park. In addition, it will spread out field use and allow other fields rest time. He stated John Hopko, a turf expert, has recommended not using athletic fields for soccer, lacrosse, and then football. Chair Stenzel stated a multi -use regulation field plus a smaller field for younger users or for practice can also fit at Fox Meadows Park. Mayor Trude noted the deep well at Fox Meadows takes up most of the budget. Chair Stenzel stated Fox Meadows Park is being mowed now to encourage some use. He reviewed an aerial photograph of Fox Meadows Park and pointed out the location of the parking lot and proposed fields. It was noted a meeting with residents was held and they supported © Andover City Council Joint Workshop Meeting Minutes —dune 27, 2016 Page 2 athletic fields for youth games. Currently, this park is mostly idle except for kids playing on the structure and the basketball court. Chair Stenzel stated there was discussion about locating a cell tower in this park but nothing much else has been discussed. He stated another hockey rink is needed in the community but there is more need for athletic fields. Councilmember Knight noted the residence abutting the park. Mr. Dickinson used the photograph to point out the location of residential homes and a fence at the southern border. Mr. Berkowitz stated the fence is approximately 30 feet from the property line. Councilmember Knight asked about the impact when the commercial site is sold. Mr. Dickinson pointed out that location. He stated it is zoned Neighborhood Business and he thinks the existing building will be removed, the zoning should protect park activities and compatibility. Mayor Trude stated she has heard that North Metro Soccer numbers are lower for Andover players. She asked if the City is meeting the needs of other sports or just focusing on soccer. Chair Stenzel stated the number of Andover athletes served is about the same as with other sports such as football and lacrosse. He stated football may be using Pine Hills and Fox Meadows Parks and he has found that the soccer association does well to work scheduling things out. Mayor Trude stated the Council understood the Pine Hills North Park building would be used by all athletic associations, not just North Metro Soccer. Councilmember Knight asked if it is reasonable to think that $100,000 in donations will be received for the Pine Hills North building. Mayor Trude answered in the affirmative, noting it is a very large association. She felt it was more of a placeholder with the assumption it will be a voluntary project. Mr. Dickinson stated it also focuses on what is a reasonable sized structure for the location. Councilmember Bukkila stated the Council built Pine Hills North with the intent for multi -use but is being told it is better for maintenance to do single use. Chair Stenzel stated football has not asked to use that field so he encouraged them to make the request, multi -use is welcomed at Pine Hills North. Mayor Trude suggested staff mediate park use and field scheduling. Councilmember Bukkila agreed, noting another challenge is volunteer boards that change membership and leadership. Chair Stenzel stated the fields need to rest as they are not artificial turf so fields at Fox Meadows could handle some soccer games to balance field use. Mayor Trude reviewed the use of parks and suggested the park description include other sports so residents understand they are multi- use. Commissioner Butler explained that North Metro Soccer plays a larger percentage of games © outside of Andover than in Andover and rents fields from churches and other school districts to accommodate their needs. He wanted to emphasize that Andover is not subsidizing field use for soccer but, rather, it is finally reaching an equilibrium for providing soccer facilities. Chair © Andover City Council Joint Workshop Meeting Minutes —June 27, 2016 Page 3 Stenzel stated soccer is also a longer season when compared to other sports, so they have more visibility. Councilmember Holthus stated her children have played soccer and baseball and with baseball, they never played a game in Andover. Councilmember Bukkila stated the Council needs to see the number of Andover athletes served and the number of games played to determine whether the City is favoring one organization or sport over another. Mayor Trude suggested that the math be looked at. Mr. Haas explained the City has asked associations to work together to work out a schedule and they have always done that. He offered to provide copies of the applications that show how many players are from Andover. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would also like to see how many games are played outside of Andover because until that information is brought forward in her opinion, the City should not build additional fields. Chair Stenzel stated the associations can be asked to provide that information. Mayor Trude noted sometimes there is a conflict between sports teams at the park in who has been approved for allocation of the field. © Councilmember Bukkila stated if an organization has 50% Andover athletes, then 50% of the games should have the opportunity to be played in Andover. She asked whether the City has adequate fields to host that many games, noting that has to be considered with the other sports as well. Councilmember Bukkila stated the associations can be required to provide that information when requesting to reserve a field. Mr. Haas stated with football and lacrosse, about 100% of the players are from Andover. He noted the league sets the game schedules. Mr. Berkowitz stated staff will look at actual field use because sometimes they reserve a field and then it is not used. Mr. Haas stated another issue is that sometimes a field is out of use for repairs so having an addition field will be important. Chair Stenzel completed review of the 2017 CIP projects: Nordeen's Park for a new basketball court at $7,500 which was petitioned by the neighborhood; and, $15,000 in annual miscellaneous projects. In both 2018 and 2019, there are small irrigation projects at $20,000 and annual miscellaneous projects at $15,000. In 2020, the CIP has $120,000 for the Pine Hills North parking lot and curb plus $42,500 to install irrigation and water service at Wild Iris Park. In 2021, there is $15,000 for annual miscellaneous projects. No other projects have been identified for that year. Mr. Dickinson reviewed cash flows and described the City's pilot project to encourage development activity by delaying payment of city fees such as park dedication and trail fees to building permit time, rather than at time of final plat. If those fees are not paid within two years © of final plat, the fee is assessed to the lots over a five-year period. Mr. Dickinson stated a substantial number of lots are now coming due, and will be assessed over 5 years. In 2016, there are 44 lots that don't have building permits pulled but the fees are due to be paid totaling © Andover City Council Joint Workshop Meeting Minutes —June 27, 2016 Page 4 $226,000. If not paid, the fee will then be assessed and collected over a five-year period. Mr. Dickinson explained staff is proposing to use Water Trunk funds to front the money for scheduled CIP park improvements and then direct the future assessment payments to the Water Trunk fund, along with the interest, over the next five years. He stated if the Council supports that method of funding, then the ending balance of the park improvement fund would be positive based on the scheduled projects. Mr. Dickinson stated later this year, he will again propose to the City Council to end the pilot program for park and trail dedication fees. He reviewed the timing of when the developer will receive a bill for the park dedication fees that if not paid, would be assessed. Mayor Trude stated this is a lot of new information and suggested this funding option be discussed again. Mr. Dickinson stated it will also be introduced with the CIP workshop discussion. Councilmember Bukkila asked why the park development isn't delayed until the City has the money. Councilmember Holthus proposed another option to fund a pared down list of improvements at © Fox Meadows Park with existing revenues. Councilmember Bukkila stated that option would complete the fields and phase the rest of the improvements. Councilmember Holthus concurred, noting the fund would still be at a negative $42,410 so something would need to be transferred from another fund. Councilmember Bukkila supported doing the projects that can be funded with existing money and finishing the rest of the projects when the bulk of the park dedication fees are received in 2018. Chair Stenzel pointed out that if the well is put off, the price will go up. Councilmember Bukkila supported doing the well and irrigation in the first phase and suggested staff look at phasing the remaining projects. Chair Stenzel stated if the bigger projects are not done, it will be difficult to get caught up. He felt with staff's funding proposal, it would catchup the projects. Councilmember Holthus stated the primary goal is to create fields but the shelter and parking lot and trails can be delayed. Mr. Berkowitz noted that once the fields are built, parking needs to be accommodated. He stated it could be delayed one year but if longer, it will cause a parking problem. In addition, the grading price is better if the entire project can be done at one time. Mr. Berkowitz explained that the paving price is only for the driveway, not the entire parking lot. Councilmember Goodrich stated with staffs funding suggestion, it does not look like a bad precedence and he likes Mr. Dickinson's proposal to get projects done. Mayor Trude asked if it creates a bad position for future years. Mr. Dickinson stated staff has © forecasted for future growth in the cash flow but he would not change the first two years. When the first two years are over and if the developer elects to assess the fees, he would suggest the utility fund pay that off and then receive the payments and interest. Mr. Dickinson noted under © Andover City Council Joint Workshop Meeting Minutes —June 27, 2016 Page 5 the old process, the park and trails fees would have been paid prior to construction of the homes with the assessment process Mr. Dickinson indicated he did not see a risk for the City. Commissioner Miskowiec stated if the well had been done five to ten years ago, it would have cost only $100,000 to $125,000. It was pushed off and now the cost is double at $250,000. He stated in another five years, the cost could be really high. He supported installing the Fox Meadows Park well and fields in 2017. Commissioner Marinello explained the Commission wants to complete Fox Meadows Park and knock out a big project. She stated all say the fields need to be irrigated so it makes sense to get the well done. Commissioner Marinello noted it also saves money if all the grading is done at the same time instead of piecemealing out the projects. She stated having additional fields at Fox Meadows Park will allow other fields to rest and residents to enjoy this park. Mayor Trude noted that in future years, the CIP indicates there are not any large costly projects. Councilmember Knight asked about the rate of inflation for construction projects. Mr. Dickinson stated they have seen 3-5% increases in construction costs each year. Mayor Trude stated it is also supported by staff to complete the entire project rather than piecemealing it out. Mr. Berkowitz noted the assessment interest would go back to the Water Trunk fund, which is © not a bad thing for that fund. Commissioner Butler addressed the concern of straining the fund balance. He noted that in 2008, a project was being financed on future park dedication. However, when the housing market crashed, it put the fund in a deficit so the EDA stabilized that situation. Commissioner Butler pointed out that staffs funding proposal does not carry the same level of risk as these development projects are already approved and platted so the fees will be paid whether by invoice or by five-year assessments. Mr. Dickinson agreed and stated contractual agreements are in place. Commissioner Butler stated he also considered an incremental project but what happens in Andover, is that delayed projects don't get finished because priorities change. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would change her position and support the Commission's recommendation. Councilmember Goodrich stated he doesn't support the argument of doing something now because it will cost more later but is comfortable with staff s funding proposal as there is no risk. Mr. Dickinson stated Fox Meadows neighborhood residents have seen the layout and responded by asking the City to shift the field a little. Mr. Dickinson stated the residents do not oppose developing the park but want the fence to remain, trees preserved, the main field moved to the west and north, and to not have a sliding hill. Mr. Dickinson stated by shifting the field away from the neighboring properties the fields are closer to the parking lot and by removing the © sliding hill the fields will be visible from the parking lot which is favored by parents. He also stated this would provide a better situation for the neighboring properties if ball field lights are ultimately installed. Mr. Berkowitz concurred and indicated all those comments will be taken Andover City Council Joint Workshop Meeting Minutes—June 27, 2016 Page 6 into consideration for the next drawing. Mayor Trude noted the SW Land projects will also bring in more park dedication fees. Mr. Dickinson stated that is correct and reviewed the fees collected and anticipated in 2016, noting the projections are conservative. He felt this was a reasonable plan for the next five years. Mayor Trude asked staff to balance out the projects with Pine Hills North and Prairie Knoll Parks. Mr. Haas explained the Pine Hills North project included city funds beyond park improvement funds. Mayor Trude stated there is Council consensus to support staffs funding proposal of advancing park dedication fees being collected through the pilot project and the Park and Recreation Commission's recommendation for the 2017 CIP. B. Discuss Park Advertisement Policy Amendments — Engineering Mr. Haas reviewed the Park Advertising Policy and Agreement and explained the most significant change to the agreement is the fee the City would receive from 10% of the proceeds to $250 per sign per year. It was noted that $200 of the fee collected would be used to fund local © pork improvements and the remaining $50 would be an administrative fee. Since the start of the policy in 2009, the City has received total proceeds of approximately $1,100. Mayor Trude asked if the wording on Hawk Ridge Park should be changed to indicate: `fencing of athletic fields' instead of indicating: `fencing of baseball and softball fields.' Mr. Haas explained the intent and stated staff will tweak that language. Commissioner Marinello suggested it state, '...only allowed on the fencing of athletic fields.' Councilmember Bukkila stated concern that the fee may be considered to be gouging. Mr. Haas suggested a $250 fee for two years. Councilmember Knight suggested the sign be a hard surface so the ball can be played off the sign. Mr. Haas stated the signs are vinyl with wind flaps and tied down. Councilmember Knight asked who does sign maintenance. Mr. Haas explained the City's Public Works Department maintains the fence and if a sign is damaged, the sponsor is called. The Council and Park and Recreation Commission discussed the fees collected by Andover baseball and impact on the association if the fee is increased. Mr. Haas stated there is staff time in putting signs up and taking them down so those administrative costs should be covered. Mr. Berkowitz stated the cost of staff time is not covered at this point. Councilmembers Bukkila and Goodrich stated support to cover the cost for staff time but not Qcharging the associations beyond that. The Council supported allowing the association that negotiates the sign to benefit from the sign Andover City Council Joint Workshop Meeting Minutes —June 27, 2016 Page 7 fees and asked staff to determine the City's actual costs for the administrative fee. Mr. Dickinson stated staff will quantify the administrative costs and present it to the Park and Recreation Commission along with the associations so they can provide comment and recommendation to the Council. OTHER BUSINESS Mayor Trude thanked the Park and Recreation Commissioners for all of their time. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Holthus, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:11 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Carla Wirth, Recording Secretary H Lal