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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-07-22 WK ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING – JULY 22, 2025 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Barthel, July 22, 2025, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Rick Engelhardt, Karen Godfrey, Scott Schue, and Jonathan Shafto Councilmembers absent: None Also present: City Administrator, Sarah Cotton Community Center Facility Manager, Erick Sutherland Associate Planner, Aidan Breen Community Development Director, Joe Janish Fire Chief, Dennis Jones Director of Public Works/City Engineer, David Berkowitz Finance Manager, Lee Brezinka Others 2026 LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRACT City Administrator Cotton reviewed the Staff report in regard to the 2026 law enforcement contract with the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office. She introduced Commander Lenzmeier. Commander Lenzmeier reviewed their proposed contract with a 6.8% increase. He noted that 89% of their contract costs have to do with personnel or administrative services, and the other 11% is for equipment and vehicles. He shared they settled union contracts at 5% for this year. He stated that the overall cost that they will be charging the City for this contract will be $4,075,165. Councilmember Godfrey asked why Police State Aid is staying at 1.5% while everything else is increasing by around 5%. Mr. Lenzmeier said it is an estimate based on last year's numbers from the State. Councilmember Schue asked about the mental health support staff that they have added to the Sheriff’s Department. He asked how this would impact the Andover community. Mr. Lenzmeier said they will have this service provided to the City at no additional cost, as they have received a grant for the cost. Mayor Barthel asked if they are keeping the same number of deputies and vehicles this year as Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 2 they had last year. Mr. Lenzmeier said yes. Mayor Barthel asked if the School District is handling half of the SROs. Ms. Cotton said it is proposed that way. Ms. Cotton added these numbers were included in the proposed budget that will be discussed later this evening. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if this contract gives the Sheriff’s Office the ability to serve where needed, regardless of what that need is. Mr. Lenzmeier said yes. Mayor Barthel shared he is supportive of this contract due to the level of service provided by the Sheriff’s Office. Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to draft a formal contract to be approved at a future Council meeting. ELECTRIC-POWERED MOTORCYCLE DISCUSSION Ms. Cotton reviewed the Staff report concerning electric-powered motorcycles and their safety concerns. Mr. Lenzmeier said they are seeing an increase in these electric-powered motorcycles across the State. He noted there are currently no statutes that address these vehicles specifically, and they can currently be considered a standard motorcycle. He said they are seeing these vehicles on sidewalks, sometimes by children younger than those who should be permitted to ride these bikes, which is causing a number of safety concerns. He shared they posted an advisory warning on Friday, and they have gotten a lot of feedback from frustrated residents. Mayor Barthel added the City also made a post on Facebook about these vehicles, and they also received some frustrated feedback. Mr. Lenzmeier stated something is going to have to change statutorily for them to be able to address these vehicles. He said he would recommend only authorizing them on bike paths and not on City streets. He added these vehicles can be banned on private property as well. He noted the biggest part of this will be around the education of residents. Mayor Barthel said he is not sure if he wants to allow these vehicles on the bike paths either, as they have received feedback from residents that they are being run off the paths by these vehicles. Councilmember Engelhardt noted this will be hard to stop as the use of these vehicles keeps growing and will continue to. Mr. Lenzmeier noted unless there is a statute change, they have to uphold the statute as it is Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 3 currently written. He said this will come down to education for both the users of these vehicles and their parents, if they are under the legal driving age. Mayor Barthel said he would like them to continue to keep community awareness up about these vehicles and their legal uses. Councilmember Shafto stated this topic came up a lot at Fun Fest, and he spoke to some very upset residents who had been run off paths by these vehicles. He noted there seems to be little that they can do until statutes get updated. He asked how the Sheriff’s Office is currently responding to these calls when they get them. Mr. Lenzmeier said they look to locate the vehicle and stop them, then call their parents to come pick their child and the vehicle up from the scene. He noted the parents are typically frustrated as they see other people operating these vehicles on the roads. He added they also fill out reports for each incident, so if someone is caught a second time, they will be issued a citation. He stated they are trying to get the support of the parents through educating them on the dangers of these vehicles. Councilmember Shafto asked if they had ever put an article in the newsletter about this topic. Ms. Cotton said no, but they can in the future. Councilmember Shafto suggested asking schools to aid in the education piece of this by giving the kids a flyer or some information at school that they can bring home to their parents. Councilmember Engelhardt suggested hosting an informational session at the Community Center on this topic. Mayor Barthel added they could also just put some information on a board in the Community Center, so it is always available. He noted there is so much misinformation out there, and they need to take every opportunity to educate the public. Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to continue to educate the public on these electric- powered motorcycles and put some information in the upcoming newsletter. AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM DISCUSSION Community Center Facility Manager Sutherland reviewed the Staff report in regard to after- school programming and activities at the Community Center. Nicole Aurelius, the YMCA, discussed past programming that they have done through the YMCA. She said they are not able to run structured programming, as kids want to play freely. She shared their concerns with the safety of these children and noted they often have other children from outside of the City coming to the Community Center after school. Craig Grimes, the YMCA, added a lot of the children who come to the Community Center after school would not be interested in programming even if it were offered. He noted it is hard to Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 4 educate and set expectations with the child and their parents. He noted they had been working with Youth First, which was going to run some programming; however, this fell apart last minute. Ms. Aurelius noted the YMCA is for youth development; however, they do not have anything in their budget specifically to address this youth development. She stated it would likely cost around $200,000 to run a successful program. Mr. Grimes explained when they have been committing code of conduct violations, they are finding that these children have already been kicked out of other places, like McDonald's or Chipotle. Mr. Sutherland explained they would like to set up some kind of programming that will require some level of funding. He noted if they have a program that people have to sign up for, then any other child who comes to the Community Center who is not signed up for programming should not be in the building. Mr. Lenzmeier explained they have SROs at the Community Center to act as a deterrent for bad behavior. He said the SROs face the same challenges at the Community Center that they face in the schools, where they can only enforce State laws. He stated they currently have about one SRO per 200 kids, which makes it impossible for them to keep track of each of these kids. He added a lot of these kids are also not using the Community Center for what it was intended to be. He noted when there are other kids coming to the Community Center from different schools, it can be a recipe for disaster. He said the Council will need to consider whether they want the taxpayers to be paying for programming to keep an eye on the kids from outside the City using the Community Center. Ms. Aurelius added the YMCA would like to maintain a relationship with the City and Community Center and wants to do whatever it can to help with these kids. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if there was any engagement with any of the sports coaches or teachers at the school. Mr. Grimes said they have engaged with the hockey coaches since they are using the Community Center as their practice space. He said they have not reached out to any other organizations. Ms. Aurelius shared they have removed anything about youth programming from the YMCA website. She said the main issue is that they do not know who these kids are who are using the Community Center, and they do not want to provide their name or phone number when asked. Councilmember Shafto said he has concerns with them doing structured programming, as this could increase the volume of kids they have coming to the Community Center after school. He asked if it is just a small percentage of the kids who are causing the issues. Mr. Sutherland said yes, but they still have overall safety issues with the large number of kids that they see. Councilmember Shafto stated it seems like having programming may not even solve the problems Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 5 that they are seeing. He asked if they could implement a rule that says kids must be accompanied by a parent to use the Community Center during certain hours. Mayor Barthel shared he was under the impression that a majority of the kids coming to the Community Center after school were in middle school. He asked if they are also seeing a lot of high schoolers. Ms. Aurelius said yes. Mr. Sutherland shared they had an incident recently where they had to trespass two teenagers from the Community Center for causing so many issues. Councilmember Schue stated they need to assess this from a risk standpoint. He added he would also like to know how they will address this from a law enforcement standpoint. Mayor Barthel said he is not interested in just throwing money at this issue. He noted Andover residents are funding the Community Center, and he would hate to deny these residents’ kids a place to be however, he does not want the Community Center staff to have to babysit these kids. He asked if they could let Oak View Middle School know that there is no after-school programming at the Community Center. Mr. Sutherland said they have already let them know. Mr. Lenzmeier shared his concerns with the liability that the City would take on with some kind of programming. Mayor Barthel asked if the ice rinks are currently locked down. Mr. Sutherland said no, as the hockey teams practice there. Councilmember Engelhardt recommended including information on crossing Hanson Boulevard in the messaging that they sent out. Councilmember Shafto noted the main issue seems to be not enough Staff to keep up with the number of kids coming to the Community Center after school. Mr. Sutherland shared it has been a struggle to find part-time Staff for these busy hours. Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to bring this discussion back to the next Workshop with the City Attorney present to discuss liability. BASELINE ONLINE PERMITTING SOFTWARE Ms. Cotton reviewed the Staff report concerning the proposed Professional Services Agreement with Baseline Technologies for a new online permitting software solution. Mayor Barthel asked about the $10 surcharge fee. Ms. Cotton explained when an applicant goes online to pay for their permit, if the permit is $100, that would go to the City, and they would pay an additional $10 to go to Baseline as a convenience fee. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 6 Councilmember Godfrey asked if an applicant would still have to pay that surcharge if they paid directly to the City rather than making the payment online. Ms. Cotton said no. Ms. Cotton noted the fees may seem high; however, they are very reasonable when compared to other vendors. She added that building permit revenues would cover these fees. She shared any updates to the system are covered by their subscription fee. Councilmember Godfrey shared she appreciates the cap on the data import fee. Mayor Barthel asked if the price per year will always be $34,700. Ms. Cotton said yes. Councilmember Schue asked what other cities are doing for their permitting software. Ms. Cotton said some cities are looking to transition their whole enterprise suite, which Andover is not currently looking to do at this time, and Baseline Technologies would meet their current needs. Councilmember Shafto asked what would happen if the permitting software were to stop working. Ms. Cotton explained they would struggle to issue permits if the software were to stop working, and they would likely have to go back to issuing them on paper and figure out a way to track them and schedule inspections manually. She added they would likely lose access to all of their historical data as well. Councilmember Shafto said he is supportive of this proposal at this price. Councilmember Godfrey asked if this software will be able to be used for licenses as well. Ms. Cotton said yes. Councilmember Godfrey said the proposal states that Baseline will provide technical support during business hours. She asked about the turnaround time for technical support after hours. Ms. Cotton said she is not sure; however, the City Attorney has reviewed and negotiated this contract back and forth with Baseline, and he is comfortable with it. The Council consensus was reached to move forward with the proposal from Baseline Technologies for permitting software. RESIDENT FORUM CODE ENFORCEMENT ORDINANCE DISCUSSION Associate Planner Breen reviewed the Staff report in regard to recent feedback brought forward at the Resident Forum and potential changes to code enforcement ordinances for the number of sheds allowed on a property, the number of cars allowed to be parked on a property, and escalating penalties for repeat violators. Councilmember Schue noted this is coming about due to recent complaints from residents about a property in disarray with many sheds and outbuildings on it. He noted the change in ordinances states that any existing structures would be grandfathered in, so this would not address the issue Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 7 that the residents had. He asked if they had received any other complaints from other residents throughout the City about other properties that have multiple sheds on their property. Mr. Breen said he is not aware of any other complaints about the number of sheds on someone’s property. Councilmember Shafto stated this ordinance change would not make any difference, as they already have in code that no more than 25% of a property can have accessory structures on it. He said he is not supportive of this as it would not solve any problems, just create them. Councilmember Godfrey asked if code enforcement is currently handled on a complaint basis. Mr. Breen said yes. Councilmember Schue added this would also create a need for additional Staff, so he is not supportive of this change. Mayor Barthel shared that, in regard to the number of vehicles that can be parked on a property, he thinks it comes down to property rights, and people have a right to park as many vehicles as they would like on their property. He said he has never received complaints about this. Councilmember Shafto said it makes sense to explore the possibility of escalating penalties for repeated violations. Councilmember Godfrey agreed. Mayor Barthel said he would also be supportive of this to help cut down on repeat violators and the amount of time they create for Staff to address the property. Council consensus was reached to not move forward with the proposed code enforcement ordinance changes in regard to sheds and vehicles, and to direct Staff to work with the City Attorney to make changes to the code in regard to escalating penalties for repeat violators. ALTERNATIVE URBAN AREAWIDE REVIEW (AUAR) DISCUSSION Community Development Director Janish reviewed the Staff report concerning an AUAR for a proposed 800-acre development. Mayor Barthel shared he likes that the City will be directing the water and sewer study for this development. Councilmember Godfrey said the AUAR team seems to be well qualified, and she is comfortable moving forward with them. She added she appreciates that they will get to have the City’s consultants look at the traffic as well. Jake Walesch, Artemis Development LLC, explained with an AUAR, they always want to study more units than they think they will have. He noted they will not have to have a pond in this area, so they should be able to yield better density because of this. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 8 Councilmember Godfrey asked if they added 90 apartment units would they have to add another floor to the building. She asked how many acres they have for the apartment buildings. Mr. Janish said they have 10 acres. Mayor Barthel said he is okay with doing the study at 1,455 units; however, he wants the applicant to remember that they may not approve that many units. Jennifer Haskamp, Swanson Haskamp Consulting, shared in approving the AUAR, they are not approving the project. Mr. Janish explained this study is being driven by the applicant; however, there are still things that the City will have to incorporate and fund as a part of this, including covering sewer costs for the areas that the applicants are not going to be developing. He noted there is already money set aside in the CIP for this. He asked if the Council would like to make this a discussion item at the August th 4 Council meeting or put it on the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Godfrey said she thinks this needs to be a discussion item in fairness to the residents, as this would be a very large and important development. Councilmember Shafto agreed and said they should be as transparent as possible about every step of this project. Councilmember Engelhardt shared he heard comments at Fun Fest about this development. Councilmember Schue said the residents should have an opportunity to comment on this, as they may have genuine concerns that need to be heard. Mayor Barthel noted since the AUAR does not decide anything, it could easily be approved on the Consent Agenda; however, they owe it to the residents to make this a discussion item. th Ms. Haskamp explained the draft order will be what is on the agenda at the August 4 meeting. She added they will also have an EAW as a part of this, which can help answer some questions. She said what they will be voting on is the draft order to be published. She noted this will then go to a 30-day comment period, and after this, they will be able to adopt the final order, which would order the preparation of the AUAR. Mayor Barthel said he wants to make sure the residents are fully aware of this process and the comment periods for this project. Councilmember Godfrey suggested referring to this development as the proposed Fields of Andover, rather than the rural reserve. Ms. Haskamp noted it is not the best idea to have a project name associated with an AUAR, as it gives the appearance that they are approving a project, not just a study. She suggested referring to Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 9 this as scenarios rather than a project name. Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to bring the AUAR draft approval to Council at their th August 4 meeting as a discussion item. FIRE DEPARTMENT DISCUSSION - DATA AND FACILITIES RECOMMENDATION Fire Chief Jones reviewed the Staff report in regard to the Fire Department data and facilities recommendations identified through the fire services study. Councilmember Schue noted the tox alert system has been addressed. He asked if all of the firefighters knew that this has been addressed. Mr. Jones said they can formally announce changes to the firefighters moving forward. He added they could do another air study and share those results with the firefighters as well for peace of mind. Councilmember Godfrey asked if Mr. Jones could add an area to his reports to the Council about this system. Mr. Jones said he could report on a maintenance schedule. Councilmember Engelhardt also asked if Mr. Jones could add a status report on equipment to his reports to the Council. Mr. Jones said yes. Councilmember Godfrey asked if they could ask Fitch and Associates for the source of this concern. Ms. Cotton said yes. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if there are any other facility requirements that they are not currently meeting because of the system they are using. Mr. Jones said he is not sure, but they can look into this. Mr. Jones reviewed the data recommendations and shared they have spoken to two vendors who offer the kind of data services they are looking for. He noted either vendor will get them to meet all of the data recommendations identified in the study. Mayor Barthel asked Mr. Jones which vendor he would prefer. Mr. Jones said the differences between the products being offered are very small. He added that surrounding fire departments use either of these services. Councilmember Shafto noted there is a significant cost difference in the subscription fees for these services. He asked if there is added value for the more expensive product. Mr. Jones said one of the benefits of the more expensive product is that it gives access to the entire program, whereas the other product only allows access to leadership. He noted departments that have the cheaper product have not experienced any issues with leadership having to communicate the data with the rest of the department. Mayor Barthel shared the extra expense for the more involved product is not that much of an Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 10 expense, and he would be supportive of the more expensive product. He stated he trusts Mr. Jones to make the best decision. Councilmember Shafto agreed. He asked if both vendors have been in the space for a long time. Mr. Jones explained that both of these vendors created these products because they were in the fire service and knew that a good data practice product was missing from the market. Councilmember Schue said if the two products are comparable, then he would be more supportive of starting out using the cheaper option. He said he ultimately trusts Mr. Jones’ judgement when it comes to making the best decision for the department. Ms. Cotton asked Mr. Jones if he intends to move forward with this in 2025 or 2026. Mr. Jones said he would like to move forward as soon as possible so they can begin building data. He added it will also take some time to get this to be implemented for use. Councilmember Shafto noted one thing that often gets overlooked when implementing new software is that it is just expected that current Staff will be able to handle the implementation and start-up of the product. Ms. Cotton shared the vendor has a platform, and it will take the data that already exists in other platforms and transfer it over. She stated this will not be overly time- consuming for the Staff. The Council consensus was reached to move forward with the data and facilities recommendations for the Fire Department. CONTINUE PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT/PAVEMENT EVALUATION DISCUSSION Director of Public Works/City Engineer Berkowitz reviewed the Staff report concerning the pavement management and evaluation plan. Councilmember Schue asked if it would cost them more to start the evaluation process sooner. Mr. Berkowitz said no. Councilmember Godfrey asked if they had looked at other alternatives. Mr. Berkowitz said this company is unique with its offerings. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if this service is all-inclusive of all of the roads or if it is just starting with a few of the roads. Mr. Berkowitz explained this service will cover the entire road system, but the structural analysis will only be for 2027, 2028, and 2029. The Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to move forward with the pavement evaluation proposal. REVIEW 2026 PROPOSED BUDGET Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 11 Finance Manager Brezinka reviewed the Staff report in regard to the proposed 2026 budget. Ms. Cotton shared the proposed 2026 budget that is being presented does not include any staffing changes within the Fire Department. Councilmember Schue asked if the budget being proposed includes the Anoka Sheriff's Office contract. Mr. Brezinka said yes. Councilmember Godfrey asked what services are being provided for Andover residents through the donations and contributions the City makes to different organizations. She also asked how Andover’s contributions compare to those of other cities. Ms. Cotton said she can put together a summary of these services and bring this back to the Council for review. She explained the Andover Senior Center has very low attendance numbers, and the members do not wish to be a part of the group that meets at the YMCA, and because of this, she is not sure if their programming meets the public purpose requirements. Councilmember Schue said he would like to know why these organizations are being given donations from the City over other organizations. Mayor Barthel noted a lot of these organizations have received funding from the City because they help the Andover population. Mayor Barthel said he is not supportive of increasing the donation to the Andover Senior Center. Councilmember Schue said he wants to make sure that they are putting all organizations on an even playing field when it comes to who gets contributions from the City. Councilmember Engelhardt asked if these organizations are sharing the results of their benefit to the community to show why they need these contributions. Mr. Brezinka said they can request stats from the organizations around the number of Andover residents they serve with their organization. Councilmember Godfrey shared her appreciation for eliminating the issuance of debt for capital equipment to even out their spending and save the bonding fees. Councilmember Schue asked if the funding for new firefighters would be coming from the reserve funds. Mr. Brezinka said yes. Ms. Cotton cautioned against using only reserve funds for hiring firefighters, as these salaries would be ongoing operating costs, and they would be using savings to fund them. Mr. Brezinka said they are currently proposing a 4.15% levy. Mayor Barthel noted the Council had originally wanted to keep the levy increase around 3% and asked the Council if they were comfortable with a 4.15%. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 12 Councilmember Godfrey said they do not know yet what assessments will be and how many new homes will be added. Ms. Cotton explained they are working towards adopting a preliminary budget and levy in September, which will be on the higher end for the Council to potentially bring down. Mayor Barthel suggested looking at scenarios to use some of the fund balance to bring down the levy. Councilmember Godfrey asked for an explanation of the intercity labor allocations. Mr. Brezinka explained it is for positions like his that are spread across various departments. Councilmember Godfrey asked if the attorney fees are based on retainer, contract, or billable hours. Mr. Brezinka said they are based on the contract. Councilmember Godfrey noted there was no change in cost for elections and asked if there was a change in how elections are being managed. Mr. Brezinka said it is not changing and explained that the $103,000 covers election judges and Staff time. Mayor Barthel asked if the first Community Center bond will go to the road and bridge fund once it drops off. Mr. Brezinka said yes. Councilmember Godfrey asked if they were to decide to only have one pressurized water system rather than two and demolish a water tower to be replaced with a clear well, what this would do to the budget. Mr. Brezinka said they would probably issue bonds for the clear well, which would be paid for by the system users. Mr. Berkowitz explained when they start looking at the rural reserve, an area of focus will be on the water treatment plant and how they will handle this. He said it would be funded by the new development. Mayor Barthel noted on this document, the first Community Center bond falls off in 2032 and does not show as going to anything else. He asked if it would be up to the Council at that time to decide what they want to do with it. Mr. Brezinka explained a few years ago they had planned for it to move to the expansion of the Public Works facility, but it was more recently discussed to have it move to the road and bridge fund. He said it will ultimately be up to the Council at that time to make this decision. Mayor Barthel shared the Council is always able to reach out to Staff to ask questions when and if they arise. Councilmember Shafto shared his appreciation for Mr. Brezinka answering his questions when he had them up to this point. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – July 22, 2025 Page 13 Ms. Cotton explained if they wanted to bring the increase down to the 3% range, they would need to find additional revenue, use reserve funds, or make cuts to the budget. She added there has been a cut in Federal funding for programs that are put on by the County, and there will likely be an increase in the County levy to make up for this. Mr. Brezinka added that $51,000 in the levy is equivalent to .25%. Councilmember Godfrey asked about the line item in the budget for street signs as well as revenue from the sale of signs. Mr. Berkowitz explained when a developer comes in, they pay for the street signs, and the City gets this revenue. He added the developer is also given the option to go with a different contractor if they so choose. The Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to move forward with 2026 budget development. OTHER TOPICS None. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Shafto, Seconded by Schue, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The workshop meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ava Major, Recording Secretary