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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK August 31, 2004 Ct~ct- CUU CITY o F lU~ q ~ J.-1-ö'1 NDOVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 . (763) 755·5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US Special City Council Workshop Miscellaneous Business Items Tuesday, August 3 I, 2004 Conference Room A & B 1. CalJ to Order - 6:00 pm 2. Council Review of Proposed 2005 City Operating Budget - Administration/Finance 3, Council Review of Proposed 2005-2009 Capital Improvement Plan - Administration/Finance 4. Larry Emmerich Comp Plan Amendment- Planning 5. Discuss Open Space Ordinance - Planning 6, Verbal Community Center Update - Administration 7. Other Business 8. Adjoumment -- . -. ... .. - - .~. - . - C I T Y o F NDOVE 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 . (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755·8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US ANDOVER SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP-AUGUST 31,2004 MINUTES The Special Workshop of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, August 31, 2004, 6:01p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. CounciImembers present: Don Jacobson, Mike Knight, Ken Orttel, Julie Trude Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator Jim Dickinson Community Development Director, Will Neumeister City Engineer, Dave Berkowitz Assistant Finance Director, Lee Brezinka City Clerk, Vicki Volk Public Works Superintendent, Frank Stone Fire Chief, Dan Winkel Building Official, Don Olson Others COUNCIL REVIEW OF PROPOSED 2005 CITY OPERATING BUDGET City Administrator Dickinson stated the City Departments have prepared a proposed 2005 Annual Operating Budget pursuant to guidelines established by the City Council on April 27, 2004, Mr. Dickinson discussed the Budget Development guidelines used by City Staff in preparing the operating budget. Mr. Dickinson stated the projected tax rate of 31.119 is an increase of around 8%, including the Community Center. If the Community Center was not involved, the tax rate would decrease by 5.1%. Councilmember Orttel stated at the last meeting, he thought the increase was going to be five percent including the Community Center. Mr. Dickinson stated the increase of five percent is for the salary adjustments. They are looking at a tax levy increase of about 8%. Councilmember OrtteI stated he did not understand how the tax capacity would increase by thirteen percent if the increase in taxes per household was miniscule. Mr, Dickinson stated four points on the tax rate equates to thirteen percent. Councilmember Orttel thought in the last couple years they were not getting growth under the plan, - - - - -- -- ,.- - Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes-August 31,2004 Page 2 Councilmember Trude stated last year they were not. Councilmember Orttel asked if the thirteen percent was new growth. Mr. Dickinson stated approximately five percent is for new construction. Councilmember Jacobson asked, other than the Community Center, where are all of the other expenses. Mr. Dickinson stated they would be put in the general fund levy. Councilmember Jacobson asked how they can separate them so they knew if they were doing a good job with the Community Center. Mr. Dickinson stated they will segregate one hundred percent from the City budget. He stated the Community Center will have to sustain on its own, similar to the water fund. The EDA's responsibility will be the debt service. Councilmember Knight asked if there was any room to either go up or down. Mr. Dickinson stated that is up to the Council. The different Departments over the last two years have taken dramatic cuts. The Departments are restraining on expenses in 2004 to accomplish the goals in the 2005 budget. Mr. Dickinson stated they will be holding the Departments to the estimate, not the budget. Councilmember Trude wondered if they were allowing the Departments to carry forward money for expenditures they have not made this year. Mr. Dickinson stated if they are under their budget, it will be allowed. Councilmember Trude thought this made sense. Fire Chief Dan Winkel stated last year was an unusual year with budget cuts in the middle of the year. Councilmember Trude wondered if they fund their employee benefits. Mr. Dickinson stated they deal with some of these because they are able to be covered within the current year budget because they have a cycle before they bring someone else in but if it needs to be offset, they use the risk management fund. Mr. Dickinson explained the computations of the adopted budget. He stated the largest increase will be coming from the Sheriff s Department. He explained the new proposed contract to the Council. Mr. Dickinson continued to discuss the budget changes. Councilmember Jacobson asked ifMr. Dickinson has heard anything from the School District on what they are going to do. Mr. Dickinson stated he has not heard anything and he thought the County will have a conservative budget also, Councilmember Orttel thought they were going to hire someone in the Accounting Department to take over Mr. Dickinson's position as Finance Director. Mr. Dickinson stated they have funding in the Department and will use the current employees at this time and see how this works. He stated they are also utilizing software differently. The Finance Director budget is still there if they need to hire someone. He noted that someone will be needed in that position eventually. - -~. - - -- Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 3 Mr. Dickinson stated the General Fund increase will be 5.53 percent. Councilmember Orttel noticed there was a line item for legal defense and in the memo it showed they had staff working again on that and he wondered if this is something that should be budgeted or do they do that retrospectively. Mr. Dickinson stated this is the amount that is set aside for the Woodland litigation. It is the on1y one that meets the criteria at this time. Mr. Dickinson discussed the new Staffmg Requests, Personnel Related Implications, Contractual Departments, Capital Projects Levy and Debt Service Levy with the Council. Councilmember Orttel thought the Planning Intern was already funded except for the benefits. Mr. Dickinson stated this was correct and that is what the increase is for. Councilmember Trude wondered if this would allow them the flexibility to pull back when planning comes and goes. Mr. Neumeister stated that if the rural reserve does not happen, then there could be a slow down but he did not see a slow down coming. Councilmember Trude was worried they may have a slow down if the rural reserve does not come in and they may not need to have a full time person. Councilmember Trude wondered ifY outh First and Community Ed are in the budget. Mr. Dickinson stated they are in the budget without increases. Mr. Dickinson stated they did not change the budget significantly to the enterprise budget. He stated they will be pulling back on the EDA budget because it absorbed a significant amount of costs of the Administrator and Finance Director and they did not feel that was appropriate so they are going to pull back on those amounts and eventually the EDA budget will move away from those types of allocations because long term the increment district management will not be there so they are going to be on a four to five year time frame and weed them off. The Council thought that was a good idea. Council consensus was the budget looked okay. Councilmember Knight wondered if they could do a survey of the cities around them to find out if their budget was comparable. Mr. Dickinson stated they could try but he did not think they would get answers. MODIFICATIONS TO NORTHERN NATURAL GAS FACILITYIPRAIRIE KNOLL PARK (SUPPLEMENTAL) Community Development Director Neumeister stated Northern Natural Gas will be adding above ground equipment at Prairie Knoll Park. Although it appeared that sufficient room existed within the pipeline easement for the proposed project, an adjustment to the easement in 1981 changed its Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 4 location from the original alignment established with the Barnes Rolling Oaks Plat. Councilmember Jacobson thought the landscaping should be evergreens because it will be seen year round. Councilmember Trude wondered if this will impact the playground. Northern Natural Gas representative stated the playground equipment would need to be removed temporarily. Councilmember Trude stated according to ADA requirements they would need to replace the equipment with equipment that is up to code if the current equipment was removed. The representative stated she would discuss with the engineers if they could work around the equipment. She stated they will try to work it out and try to keep the equipment there. Councilmember Knight asked how long ajob this will be. The representative stated it should be around a month. Councilmember Jacobson stated the actual work time may be a couple of days. Mr. Dickinson stated they are agreeable with time restrictions within reason. The representative stated they would try. Mr. Neumeister thought they might want the playground equipment fenced off during construction for safety. The representative stated they would definitely fence it in, Councilmember Jacobson stated they would need to use evergreen trees and if the playground equipment were moved, it would need to be replaced with ADA approved equipment. The representative stated the playground equipment is in the gas right of way and should not be there at all. Mr. Berkowitz stated that was correct and they are supposed to replace the playground equipment in 2006 and move it closer to the park area. Motion by Councilmember Jacobson, seconded by Councilmember Knight, to approve the Addendum to and Correction of Pipeline Easement and Temporary Work Space Easement subject to an agreed landscaping plan worked out with staff. Councilmember Trude wondered if they should include new playground equipment in the motion. Councilmember Orttel stated it would not be a concern to him if the kids were without playground equipment for a few days but he would not want the kids without the equipment for two years. Councilmember Jacobson thought staff could work with Northern Natural Gas to work out a compromise. Motion carried unanimously. COUNCIL REVIEW OF PROPOSED 2005-2009 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN City Administrator Dickinson explained the City Departments, after a number of meetings, have c_ - - - Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 5 prepared a proposed 2005-2009 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that outlines a number of projects and equipment purchases over the next five years. Mr. Dickinson discussed the proposed CIP with the City Council. Councilmember Orttel asked what the difference is between the 2005 projected plan this year and what they received last year. Mr. Dickinson stated they go back and use those as a baseline to move forward. Mr. Berkowitz stated they stay pretty committed to their projected plans. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the replacement of the heat pump units on the roofs is a changeover to gas or will they just install them on the roof, Mr. Stone stated they are looking at going with an alternate unit. They are going to either switch to gas or something else because in the long run, it will be more efficient. Councilmember Jacobson stated they will be spending a lot of money on this. Mr. Stone stated once installed, the costs will be the same. Mr. Olson noted they have had a lot of problems with the existing systems. Councilmember Jacobson wondered why they need to install a new garage for $50,000 to house a generator. Mr. Winkel stated he assumed the City Council would want the same type of materials used as the other building, which is more money. The generator is currently used for the Fire Station but they are looking at a permanent generator. Councilmember Jacobson stated he would not support this. Councilmember Trude concurred. Councilmember Knight asked why on page 28, it would cost $210,000 for facility maintenance. Mr, Stone stated he thought that amount would be cut in half. What they would be doing is adding the air makeup to other parts of the building and all of the walls that were up will come down to open it up and allow the air to move through the building. The metal around the top of the building is peeling and this will cover some outside maintenance and all of the indoor maintenance. Councilmember Trude asked what the goal will be when done. Mr. Stone stated the park equipment and street signs will be stored in there, He did not feel they need any offices in there. Councilmember Knight stated this seemed like it was a significant amount of money. Councilmember Trude stated this will be done to create appropriate storage space when the Fire Department vacates the building. Mr. Stone stated that was correct. Mr. Dickinson stated they are looking at 1500 square feet with a remodel cost a little over $100 per square foot and some added items. They are budgeting this at an outside contract cost but if they can do some work internally, they will try and do that. Councilmember Jacobson asked why the back up generator for the lift station is needed at his one sitè and not any of the others. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are working on a feasibility report that deals specifically with lift station four. He stated they have two options: either use a permanent or Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 6 portable generator and they are leaning towards the portable because it can be utilized at the other lift stations. Councilmember Jacobson stated if they went that way, he would not have a problem. Mr. Stone stated if the system goes down, he would not be able to get the portable generators to all of the stations. Council member Orttel wondered what a permanent generator would cost. Mr. Berkowitz stated it would cost $25,000 and a portable generator is $20,000. Councilmember Jacobson asked how big of a generator they would need. Mr. Berkowitz was not sure of the size. Councilmember Orttel thought they should look at this because if a permanent generator is $25,000 why don't they bid it in when they install it because it is a relatively small amount when they are building a project. Mr. Stone stated they were not looking at every lift station, just the major ones. Councilmember Jacobson assumed on the Wintergreen Street going into Country Oaks west they are paying for the standard street and the City is paying for the oversize of the road, Mr. Berkowitz stated that is true. They would collect the full amount through State Aid and then they take that money and put it into their road and bridge fund. So then they have options for that money to do other State Aid projects or do other increments. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the proposed trail project in 2005 goes across the swamp. Mr. Berkowitz stated they talked with the residents and they are overwhelming against this so now they are looking at wetland mitigation. Councilmember Jacobson thought this was a part of the plat and previously approved. Mr. Berkowitz stated there is currently a sewer line easement but no other easement. Mr. Dickinson stated they have had contact with four property owners and on1y one was interested, the others were against it. Councilmember Jacobson stated on page 104, the well, in 2005 the cost is $460,000, but in 2006, it jumps dramatically to four million. He thought they need to think about this thoroughly. Mr. Dickinson stated they are still working on issues with the water part of the crp. Mr. Berkowitz stated they will be able to use the wells and not deal with the radium issues because they will be used as temporary wells. They are looking to drill another well on the site they own on Andover Boulevard and Xeon Street and connecting that to the Water Treatment Plant. Councilmember Jacobson stated regarding painting the water towers, he thought they talked about getting rid of the water tower by County Market. Mr. Berkowitz stated they still continue to need the storage at this time and will not take it down in the near future, Councilmember Orttel stated the first pages had to deal with water and they assumed they will have resident approval or will they force them in because it did not sound like this was contingent on getting neighborhood approval on the l43'd Avenue watermain, Mr. Berkowitz stated they will move forward with this because they will be reconstructing the roadway. Councilmember Trude stated she did not want the City to pay for all the people who do not hook up Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 7 to water and they also get the benefit offrre hydrants without paying for anything. She did not think this was a fair allocation. Councilmember Trude wondered if they need to add all of this stuff in 2005 when they are having the Community Center go on1ine for the budget. Could they push some of this off to other years. Councilmember Orttel wondered if they could get the traffic off of Crooked Lake onto another street for lake access. Mr. Berkowitz stated he worked on the feasibility a few years ago and it is virtually impossible to work out. Councilmember Orttel stated they have a park already next to it. Mr. Berkowitz stated they are on the verge of receiving a grant to redo the entire boat landing and parking lot. Councilmember Orttel wondered why they would need a rescue boat for the Fire Department. Mayor Gamache stated on the WDE site for 2009, what if development moves forward, is it easily shifted to another year. Mr. Dickinson stated it could be. Councilmember Trude wondered why they are buying voting equipment after the election. Ms. V olk stated they needed to have new equipment by 2005. She stated this is on1y for the handicapped voters. Councilmember Trude wondered about the County road upgrade, She asked what they are hoping for. Mr. Berkowitz stated he talked with Mr. Doug Fischer and he is requesting a meeting to talk about Andover Boulevard and Hanson Boulevard. Councilmember Trude asked what the 1.2 million for 2005 is for on page 99. Mr. Berkowitz stated it is the full improvement for Hanson Boulevard in Andover but this may not happen now. What he has heard is they will install a temporary hanging light with right and left turn signal. Those are the committed improvements for the development of Sophie's' Manor, Miller's Woods and Clocktower Commons. Councilmember Trude wondered if there will be trails. Mr. Berkowitz stated if they want trails, it will come out of the trail fund. Mr. Berkowitz stated the County is going to make improvements on Bunker and Sycamore. He discussed the proposed improvements with the Council. DISCUSS TRAFFIC ISSUES/FAIRBANKS II PROPERTY (SUPPLEMENTAL) Mr. Berkowitz discussed the County letter with the Council requesting a traffic study be done. He stated in one of their early reviews, staff commented a traffic study should be done. They looked at that again and felt from a staff standpoint that this area had already been platted and designated as commercial. They have analyzed this area in depth over the past year related to the Community Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 8 Center and they all know what improvements are needed and by doing a traffic study, he does not know what it will accomplish. Councilmember Jacobson asked how they could do a traffic study if they do not have the businesses in there yet. Mr. Berkowitz stated they do a hypothetical study on this. Mr, Neumeister stated when the County asked for a traffic study, what comes out of the study becomes a requirement of the development. Mr. Berkowitz stated at this point they do not have a City policy on this. Regarding the Fairbanks property, they want to start building. Councilmember Trude asked if they would have a turn lane. Mr. Neumeister stated they cannot require anything on a County road or on their roads, Mr. Berkowitz stated they know what improvements need to be done. The question is if they require Mr. Fairbanks to do a traffic study. Councilmember Jacobson stated this could be precedence setting because they have a lot of infill developments coming in that would not be required to pay for any improvements. Mr. Dickinson stated they are looking for direction on setting a policy for the future, should they require a traffic study on this particular project knowing what the improvements are going to be and are the improvements going to be a requirement for the building permit. Mr. Berkowitz noted that if a contribution from Mr. Fairbanks would be required for the improvements, Mr. Fairbanks would like to have an idea of the amount. Mr, Berkowitz stated they did a traffic study as part of the tax abatement so a lot of the information has been collected and a traffic study would tell them what they already know. Councilmember Orttel stated the City should have a plan, He wondered what the County requirements for a road study are. The Council did not think a traffic study was necessary for this area at this time. Councilmember Orttel stated they should have a policy on this before they would start prefunding. Councilmember Jacobson thought Mr. Fairbanks should sign an agreement stating he would give his fair share when the road is improved. Mr. Fairbanks stated the problem he has with this is he does not know what his fair share would be. He explained that he is a business man but his funds are limited because he is not a large developer. Councilmember Orttel did not know how they would determine what amount Mr, Fairbanks would pay, Mr. Berkowitz thought they would be able to prove benefit to the area. Mr. Holasek stated because it was platted and they are not creating a new access onto a County road, Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 9 the County does not have any jurisdiction. He stated that if they were to just come in to develop, the County would still not allow them to access a County road. Councilmember Knight thought the fairest way of determining how many cars are coming in there is to find out how many cars access a site. Discussion continued in regard to calculating proportionate share of improvements. The Council decided to pass on this and discuss it further to impose a policy going forward, LARRY EMMERICH COMP PLAN AMENDMENT Community Development Director Neumeister stated this summer the Planning Commission and City Council approved a request from Larry Emmerich and his three neighbors (Swisher, Olmsheid, and Rischer) to expand the MUSA boundary to enable the City to extend City utilities to their property. It needed Metropolitan Council approval to put the amendment into effect. The Met Council staff has been reviewing this request to expand the MUSA boundary. They had issues they felt needed to be resolved. City staff met with the staff members of the Met Council and heard their concerns. Mr. Neumeister discussed with the City Council the options given to them by the Met Council regarding the Compo Plan Amendment. Councilmember Orttel wondered how the Met Council could disregard the City's goal average of23 net acres. Councilmember Knight stated he did not agree with this because they had an agreement. Mr. Neumeister stated he is trying to convince them that if85 units were allowed they could allow for sewer and water. He thought they needed to defer this for another week and hear what they are willing to negotiate. Council consensus was to not agree on what the Met Council proposed. DISCUSS OPEN SPACE ORDINANCE Community Development Director Neumeister explained the Open Space Zoning article is intended to be an introduction. The ideas contained in the article present an alternative approach to preserving rural areas, The Planning Commission generally thought it is a good concept that needs to be further explored. Councilmember Jacobson asked how they would do this because nothing is guaranteed unbuildable for ever. Mr, Neumeister stated they could do this through land trusts. Councilmember Trude stated usually open space is unbuildable land. Councilmember Jacobson -- .-- Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes-August 31,2004 Page 10 wondered how they can keep land open forever. Councilmember Jacobson stated if they cluster the homes they would need to go to a common septic system. Councilmember Knight wondered how they could run sewer and water to the homes across all of the open space. Mr. Dickinson stated this would need to be in non MUSA areas where they could have separate septics and wells. Mr. Neumeister stated it did not need to be a communal septic system; they could have septic systems bordering the development. Councilmember Knight wondered how this would not be considered urban sprawl. Mr, Neumeister stated this type of development has been developed allover the country. The Council thought this should be reviewed further and more information given. VERBAL COMMUNITY CENTER UPDATE Mr. Dickinson updated the City Council on the progress of the Community Center. Mr. Dickinson stated they are moving along on schedule. He stated they want to encourage their steel supplier to start delivering product so he was asking for approval of the payment but to break it out in three payments. Mr. Dickinson stated the total payment would be $434,720.00 but he would like to entice them with an early payment of $89,489.00 on Thursday to start delivering the steel and another check a week later with another delivery and the fmal delivery by the 7th with the final payment made after all of the steel was delivered to the site. Motion by Orttel, seconded by Knight, to approve the payment schedule for delivery of steel. Motion carried unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Dickinson stated he is dealing with the park issues. He updated the Council on what has been happening with the situation. Councilmember Knight stated he is continually getting calls regarding the trains and the late night noise coming from them. He would like to discuss this at a future meeting. Motion by Jacobson, Scconded by Orttel, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The mceting adjourned at 9:40 p.m. Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - August 31, 2004 Page 11 Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary -.