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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK - August 22, 2017?CN66V9^_ 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 • WWW.ANDOVERMN.GOV City Council Workshop Tuesday, August 22, 2017 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order— 6:00 p.m. 2. Hanson Boulevard NW Reconstruction Update/City Project 15-16 -Engineering 3. 2017 CIP Progress Update & 2018-2022 CIP Discussions -Administration 4. 2018 Budget Development Discussions —Administration 5. Preview 2018 Preliminary Tax Levy —Administration 6. 2017 Budget Progress Reports - Administration 7. 2017 City Investments Review - Administration 8. Other Business 9. Adjournment E ANDOVER CITYCOUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING —AUGUST22,2017 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Julie Trude, August 22, 2017, 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 Community Development Director, Joe Janish Public Works Director/City Engineer, David Berkowitz Others HANSON BOULEVARD NW RECONSTRUCTION UPDATE/CITY PROJECT 15-16 QMr. Berkowitz explained Anoka County Highway staff, Joe McPherson, Assistant County Engineer, Nick Dobda, Design Engineer and Jason Orrcut, Design Supervisor were at the meeting to update the Council on the proposed construction plans for the 2019 reconstruction of Hanson Boulevard NW from Jay Street NW to Bluebird Street NW. Mr. Jason Orrcut made a presentation to the Council regarding the design phase from Jay Street north. Councilmember Bukkila asked if there is any issue with depth of the pond because the creek does have some contaminates in it. Mr. Dickinson stated there are trace contaminates. Mr. Dobda stated the element of trace contaminates are minimal. He stated if the land is given to the County the MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) then believes they give up the right to monitor the site and if in the future something were to go wrong they would not be able to go in and repair the problem. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is ok with the pond being on the east side of Hanson Boulevard but wondered if any contaminated water will seep into the ponds. Mr. Berkowitz stated there are many monitoring wells in that area and there was no concern for the developments to the north by the MPCA. Mr. Berkowitz stated there is a requirement for the approvals for use of the city park land for the ponds on the east side of Hanson Boulevard. 10 Mr. Orrcut reviewed the area north of the Coon Creek through Andover Boulevard. Mayor Trude asked if there will be turn lanes each way at the Andover Boulevard intersection. She © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes — August 22, 2017 Page 2 would like to see additional length to the turn lanes for stacking to free up congestion. Mr. Orrcut reviewed the intersection at Crosstown Boulevard. He stated there will be a slip lane with an island and there will be improved site lines. There was discussion between Anoka County Highway staff and the City Council regarding the proposed pedestrian island with the slip lane at Crosstown Boulevard. The Council had concern with the pedestrians needing to cross to the island before they get the crossing signal. It was thought to be dangerous. Mr. Orrcut stated to the Council that pedestrians will be safer than the current condition because the vehicles turning will not be doing high speed and will need to yield to the pedestrians before turning. He noted the sight line for both pedestrians and vehicles in that location will be very good and they use this type of crossing at freeway entrances frequently without issue. Mr. Orrcut reviewed with the Council the feasibility of sound walls along Hanson Boulevard. He indicated they have determined noise barriers are likely not feasible due to the high power lines. Mayor Trude asked if there is any alternative to sound walls. Mr. Orrcut stated natural plantings ® cannot be planted unless they are low. Mr. McPherson stated the electric company has the right to remove anything below the power lines, including playsets, chicken coops, dog houses, which they have done in the past without notification. Mayor Trude thought people were expecting the sound walls. Mr. Orrcut didn't think people would want sound walls within a few feet of their patios. Mr. Orrcut is not sure if the Coon Creek bridge could be widened as well because of the power lines and the uncertainty of reconstruction in that area. The Council thanked the Anoka County Highway Department for the discussion. 2017 CIP PROGRESS UPDATED & 2018-2022 CIP DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson explained throughout the summer a significant amount of time has been spent on evaluating utility infrastructure, transportation improvements, building maintenance, equipment and park and recreation needs. Mr. Dickinson stated at this time, the Staff would like the Council to review the draft CIP to confirm that the Council's priorities are being met. It is anticipated that an interactive review can be done at the workshop, but the focus to start is on outstanding questions on 2018 proposed projects where staff needs Council direction. The current schedule indicates the 2018-2021 CIP is to be adopted by the Council in October. © Mr. Berkowitz stated he would like to review the area of Crosstown Boulevard east of Hanson Boulevard. He reviewed the project with the Council and indicated this is currently proposed as © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —August 22, 2017 Page 3 a straight overlay. He noted there has been discussion about adding turn lanes and evaluating crossings and what impacts that type of work that would entail. Mr. Berkowitz stated we need to determine if they were going to stay with a simple overlay project or to go forward with evaluating for some turn lanes along Crosstown Boulevard. Mayor Trude stated more people will use Crosstown Boulevard to get to Prairie Road and Bunker Lake Boulevard when Hanson Boulevard is closed for reconstruction. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the Holasek property along Crosstown Boulevard and Hanson Boulevard. Councilmember Bukkila stated she did not understand why they are looking at this, she wondered what the needs are and understood they are looking towards the future but what is the obligation to plan this property out not knowing what will be developed in the area. Mr. Berkowitz stated if they do a simple overlay and put the money into it they will lock the road up for the next twenty years because once an overlay is put on the road it will not need to be reconstructed for twenty years. They need to plan ahead for future development so investment dollars are not wasted. © Mayor Trude wondered if they could go to Anoka County when they are doing the recon to secure better access for the Holasek parcel. Mr. Berkowitz stated they will not do that because that property is in the middle of a right turn lane. The lane is too long to provide access. Mayor Trude stated there is more development happening along Crosstown Boulevard and will need more capacity in the future. Councilmember Goodrich stated he would like to see more information on cost and future development before making a final decision. Councilmember Bukkila stated she did not see the pressure to do anything now. Mayor Trude stated she has heard complaints for years about developments in this area not having turn lanes for access. Councilmember Bukkila stated they are having trouble trying to keep up with roads that aren't holding together and now they want to take a perfectly good road and tear it up because the residents want something better. Mayor Trude stated she was looking to serve the residents in the City with access onto a major road in the City. Councilmember Bukkila stated she understood that but if they are going to put the money in the project before other projects that need it sooner they need to justify why. Mayor Trude stated they have responsibilities to maintain State Aid routes. Mr. Berkowitz stated there is another option, particularly if they are not talking as much about the Bluebird Street intersection as they are about Yellow Pine Street and Avocet Street, there is a © potential for a right turn lane because they do have right-of-way and they could add a by-pass without acquiring additional right-of-way. This would be an interim improvement. The Bluebird Street intersection would then be development driven. ® Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —August 22, 2017 Page 4 Councilmember Holthus asked if they do not do the overlay now how much will it cost in the future to do this. Mr. Berkowitz thought they had a two to three-year time frame to overlay it without the cost going up significantly. He stated they are looking at a $450,000 to $500,000 for an overlay. This is currently in the CIP to overlay in 2018 and they are ready to do it. Now if we are looking at adding some turn lanes because of all of the traffic that will be added during the Hanson Boulevard reconstruction the cost will go up. Mayor Trude stated they have been adding turn lanes on State Aid roads as they do overlays and reconstructions and she did not think the Council is doing its job if they do not plan for increased capacity on a road. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is not against planning but was not in favor of making a decision on anything without more information. Mayor Trude stated Mr. Berkowitz is asking if they should fund planning and she is supporting funding planning. Councilmember Bukkila stated she is fine with planning but part of the planning is making justifications. Mr. Berkowitz stated he could probably get more information for the Council in two to three weeks. Mr. Dickinson thought they could present additional information at the September workshop. Mayor Trude stated they have spent money on the Nightingale Street/Crosstown Boulevard study and this area is showing growth. If they are going to do the overlay she thought they should be able to get some turn lanes in. She also thought it was time they look at adding shoulders to the road. ® Mayor Trude thought in a few years the trail for the road will be needed so she wondered if this will be looked at as well. Mr. Berkowitz stated the intent was they were not going to do any intersection improvements past Bluebird Street, they were just going to overlay the rest of this. Mayor Trude thought it was be economically feasible to look at the trail while they are looking at the overlay. Mr. Berkowitz stated they could survey this area but he does not think we have the money to build a trail at this time. Mr. Dickinson stated they could look at the easements that might be necessary for the trail as they move forward, so a future trail project could be done. Mayor Trude agreed. Mr. Berkowitz asked if the Council was in favor of moving forward with the turn lane study and hiring a consultant and coming back at the September workshop with the results. He wondered if they should look at Bluebird Street at this time as well. Councilmember Bukkila indicated she is not in favor of that. Mr. Berkowitz asked if the study would look at Yellow Pine Street and Avocet Street and the pedestrian crossing. The Council agreed to that. Mr. Dickinson reviewed Building Department projects with the Council. He also reviewed Fire Department projects. He stated he was proposing to increase the budget by $10,000 for park equipment replacement from $90,000 to $100,000. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the Park and Recreation CIP with the Council and the sanitary sewer and storm sewer items. Councilmember Holthus stated in regard to Pine Hills North, she thought she saw a parking lot in the CIP. Mr. Dickinson stated they are targeting to have money for that in 2020. © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —,4 ugust 22, 2017 Page 5 Councilmember Holthus stated the CIP shows $120,000 but the detail shows $400,000. She referred to page 66 of the document. Mr. Berkowitz stated this shows up under Park dedication funds as the $120,000 and under Capital Equipment Reserves as $280,000. Mr. Dickinson stated that is because it is not officially a park so park dedication money is not assigned to the non -park parcel that property can be repurposed at some point in the fixture if necessary. Mr. Dickinson further stated Pine Hills North is divided into two parcels, to the west, which is likely never potentially going to develop, the area to the east is being used as ballfields and has some potential development ability in the future. Councilmember Holthus asked what the $400,000 is for in expenditures. Mr. Dickinson stated that is the complete budget for all parking lots at Pine Hills North. Mr. Dickinson stated they are forecasting a rate hike of approximately 3.5 percent for the water system on consumption. He stated some of the reasons for this hike is the gallon use is going down and the costs keep going up so they try to offset this a little bit with the rate. He stated there is no increase for the sanitary sewer rate. Mayor Trude asked if Mr. Dickinson has received any calls for a senior rate. Mr. Dickinson stated rarely do they get calls on the rate. What most of the calls are on is the storm water utility © fee. 2018 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson explained City Administration/Finance along with the Department Heads continue to work on the 2018 Annual Operating Budget Development process and are looking to update the City Council on progress and seek direction as the preparation of the 2018 Annual operating budget proceeds. In addition, Administration is providing for the Council's reference a General Fund line item budget. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the tax capacity rate with the Council and noted they see a taxable market value increase of 12.36 percent. Some of that is new construction but most of the increase is based on what the existing tax base was. He stated out of the 12.36 percent only one to two percent is related to new growth. Mr. Dickinson noted in regard to the debt levy, they made a big change in 2017 where they migrated over to a straight capital levy and the debt levy went down significantly. This will be continued for another year. Mr. Dickinson stated he has received a request from the Fire Department in regard to staffing. He has been asked to expand the duty crew model they are currently under. The Fire Chief would like it to be expanded to cover weekends as well as week days. There was also request for ® some administrative support to focus on reporting needs and community education. Mr. Dickinson stated he is pretty well sold on the duty crew because he has been monitoring the ® Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —August 22, 2017 Page 6 calls for six months and there has been a number of times Chief Streich has had to respond to calls on the weekend because no one is available. He stated weekends are just as bad as week days and he felt this is needed. He stated in regard to administrative support they are evaluating all options as well. He thought City staff may be able to help out with some of the work, evaluation continues. Mr. Dickinson stated in regard to the law enforcement contract, the negotiation for status quo shows a 3.07 percent increase with $90,000 over the 2017 contract. The primary driver of that is the new union contract for the deputies. He had a tough time arguing that increase at this time because he knows the Anoka County Deputies are some of the lowest paid in the Twin City Metro Area. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the Charitable Gambling fund with the Council. He also reviewed the Capital Project Levy with the Council. He noted under the Road and Bridge Fund they are proposing a 4.74 percent increase over 2017. He stated he wanted to increase the pedestrian trail maintenance levy from $63,000 to $100,000. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the General Fund balance with the Council. Mayor Trude stated she would like to see money going towards the Community Center, the road to that, Public Works and the entire Master Plan for the City Campus. The City Council was supportive of the recommendation of the transfer of funds to the Equipment Reserve Fund and to the Trail Fund. Mr. Dickinson stated on the levy sheet there is a proposed increase in the Park Equipment Replacement by $10,000. He recommended the preliminary levy be set at a 4 percent increase. Councilmember Bukkila indicated she did not like this. Mr. Dickinson noted this would be a 6.5 percent reduction in the tax rate. He stated on average most residential properties taxable market value will go up by ten percent. The Majority of the Council were comfortable with the preliminary levy increase. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would like to see the percentage go down by December. PREVIEW 2018 PRELIMINARY TAX LEVY 2017 BUDGET PROGRESS REPORTS 2017 CITY INVESTMENTS REVIEW These items were identified by Mr. Dickinson as informational and no formal presentation was made to the Council. OTHER TOPICS Mr. Dickinson stated the City of Anoka has had some problems with pan handling and they put © Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes —August 22, 2017 Page 7 in place an ordinance prohibiting pan handling in their city. He stated he has gotten reports from the Sheriff s Department of pan handling around Round Lake Boulevard. He wondered if the City Council would like staff to pursue an ordinance like Anoka's. The Council indicated they would like to see an ordinance proposed. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Bukkila, Seconded by Holthus, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:47 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. P J H