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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-08-26 WK ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING – AUGUST 26, 2025 MINUTES The Workshop Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Barthel, August 26, 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 Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator, Sarah Cotton Community Development Director, Joe Janish Director of Public Works/City Engineer, David Berkowitz Assistant City Engineer, Jason Law Recreational Facilities Manager, Erick Sutherland Finance Manager, Lee Brezinka Others CONTINUE SONSTEBY PROPERTY DONATION DISCUSSION Director of Public Works/City Engineer Berkowitz reviewed the Staff report regarding the Sonsteby property donation. Councilmember Godfrey asked about the City’s liability for protecting this land. Mr. Berkowitz explained the wetland is in very good shape, so little maintenance is needed in the short term. He noted that fire management of this property would be reactive. Mayor Barthel shared he supports accepting this property as a donation, as they have done. He added that acquiring this land would not be a huge expense for the city. Councilmember Shafto stated he sees it as an advantage for the City to control this land. He noted they do not know who the next owner of this land could be. Councilmember Engelhardt shared his support for accepting this donation. Councilmember Godfrey stated this is a very generous offer; however, she is concerned about community expectations on this property. She noted as long as the community understands that the site will remain as is, as a preserved wetland, she is supportive. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 2 Councilmember Schue agreed with Councilmember Godfrey. He said they must communicate appropriately with the public on what this wetland area can be used for. Ms. Sonsteby shared when they officially donate the property to the City, they can share that it is their wish as the former property owners that this property remain natural and use this as part of the communication to the residents. Council consensus supported accepting the donation of property from the Sonsteby’s. DISCUSS ROADWAY RECONSTRUCTION ASSESSMENT PROCESS Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the Staff report concerning the roadway reconstruction assessment process and his proposed changes. Mayor Barthel asked if this would save the residents money on their assessments. Mr. Berkowitz noted in some cases, they will accept a little more in assessments, and in others, they will accept a little less. He said this will fluctuate by project. Councilmember Godfrey asked if they were to make these proposed changes, if it would relieve some of the current pressures on Staff and delay the need to add new Staff. Assistant City Engineer Law shared this will help take out the big peaks and valleys in their staffing; however, their current workload and expected workload will only keep increasing. He said this will allow them to complete the street projects in time. He noted many different departments work on these assessments. Mr. Berkowitz shared they have in the budget to add additional Staff next year for succession planning and the increased workload due to City growth. He stated they are always trying to find ways to be more efficient and spread out the work to meet the deadlines. He explained if they do not assess these projects in November, then there are a lot of implications that would happen. He shared the way they currently operate for these assessments is not wrong; however, it is just the way they have always done it. He noted other cities assess the projects up front before the project starts. Councilmember Shafto noted that for most of this year’s projects, the bids came in higher than the actual costs. He asked if there was a method to reconcile these differences. Mayor Barthel shared when he looks at this for full-depth reclamations and reconstructions, the bid and actual project costs come in pretty close, and when they do not, they are within 2%; however, there is a large difference with mill and overlays. Councilmember Shafto asked at what point throughout the project they can continue to make changes to the assessment amounts. Mr. Law said they could continue to make changes until they hold the public hearing. He explained they could add this to the assessment amounts if they had a large change order in the middle of the project. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 3 Mr. Law reviewed the assessment amounts for projects completed since 2022 and the difference between the actual and bid cost assessments. He noted they have done around $15,000,000 worth of projects over the last three years. He noted if they had assessed based on bid prices, they would have collected an additional $161,000, which is an additional 1.1% based on what they collected from actual cost assessments. Councilmember Shafto said he has no issues with this when they look at the totals; however, he has concerns with the per-unit differences. He noted this difference is real money for the residents, and actual costs make more sense when they are charging individual property owners. He said he supports this new policy but wants to ensure it is fair to the taxpayers. Councilmember Godfrey added they need a standard for adjusting these assessments to handle each situation similarly. She asked if this change would mean that people will know their assessment amounts sooner than they currently do. Mr. Law said yes. Councilmember Godfrey said this would be a huge advantage as it would give the residents time to plan how to pay this amount. Mr. Berkowitz added there are also a lot of indirect costs that play into the project costs. Mr. Law noted many of these items are done up front, so they can have these amounts ahead of time. He explained how the feasibility study combines the direct and indirect costs for an estimated amount. Councilmember Schue said this is the exact approach they must take to start creatively looking at this process. He thanked the Staff for their work on this. Mayor Barthel shared if they can get the bid costs closer to the actual costs, he is okay with assessing 25% of the bid costs. He stated he cannot support this if it costs residents much more than the current process. He noted he would rather see them getting these numbers closer to what the residents can expect, rather than continuing to come in much higher up front and having a lower assessment amount. Mr. Berkowitz shared they get great bid prices because of their Staff in the City. He noted they cannot base this on the lowest bidder when they put a feasibility report together. Mayor Barthel asked if they could adjust their feasibility reports moving forward so they are closer to the actual costs. Mr. Berkowitz said this would be assuming that they will get great bid prices every time. Mr. Law added if they have a feasibility report that is lower than any of the bids received, they would have to start the entire public hearing process again, so it is better to be higher than lower with the feasibility report. Mr. Berkowitz shared they put in a 20% contingency. He noted this is common in the industry. Councilmember Godfrey noted there are times when it makes sense to do multiple projects Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 4 together as they are in proximity. She asked if this would also contribute to lower actual costs than the feasibility report. Mr. Berkowitz said yes. Council consensus was reached to direct staff to continue working on the street reconstruction assessment process changes. CONTINUE AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM DISCUSSION Recreational Facilities Manager Sutherland reviewed the Staff report regarding the after-school programming at the Community Center. Councilmember Godfrey asked if this would be open to all Andover residents, whether in high school or middle school. Mr. Sutherland said yes, and they would allow any student resident of Andover to register, or any student who may live in a different city but attend an Andover school. Councilmember Schue asked about what the fees for this program would look like. Mr. Sutherland said their initial thought was to charge an affordable rate. Still, they wanted people to consider whether their child would be best served by utilizing the facility before sending them to the Community Center. He stated they are thinking of charging $100 per school trimester. Councilmember Shafto asked if there would be an option to pay per day for this program. Mr. Sutherland said yes, but this would cause additional work for the Staff. Mr. Brezinka asked if they would be capping this at a certain number of students. Mr. Sutherland said they can consider this and look at the most manageable number of students per day they could allow. Mayor Barthel said requiring parents to register and pay for this kind of after-school program is huge. He stated this would also allow them to control the kids causing trouble better. Councilmember Shafto shared $100 per trimester seems high, which would be $300 a school year. City Administrator Cotton shared these students stay at the Community Center for a few hours a day, so if a student visited the Community Center every day after school and lasted for at least two hours, this would break down to a per-hour cost of $1. Mayor Barthel stated $100 is a reasonable price for this. Councilmember Schue said they intentionally set this higher to give parents some skin in the game when sending their kids to the Community Center after school. He shared they can always take another look at this cost down the road; however, they need to start somewhere, and this is a good starting point. Mayor Barthel asked if they are trying to get this program up and running for the start of the school year. Mr. Sutherland said yes. He explained they already have a lot of content prepared for this, Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 5 including a code of conduct, and will use the first week to educate students and their parents on this new program, and then offer a grace period for September to allow students time to register. Councilmember Godfrey said it would be very important for the parents and students to know there will be a code of conduct for this program. Mr. Sutherland shared they plan on making the code of conduct into posters to hang around the Community Center. He added they will also have the students sign the code of conduct themselves. Mr. Sutherland explained the software they will use for this program will have built-in alerts, so if there is a student who has been trespassed from the Community Center, when they try to sign in, an alert will pop up that says that they are not allowed to come back. He said they can make any alerts needed for student accounts. Councilmember Schue shared he is concerned that some residents may be unable to afford the $100 per trimester fee. He suggested they play this by ear and see what kind of feedback they get on this price. Mr. Sutherland added they have a scholarship program they use for other Community Center programs, and they could look into that for this as well. Councilmember Godfrey said she would like the Staff to come back and report on the success of this program after the first trimester. Mr. Sutherland shared they anticipate getting some pushback on this new program and asked that all Council and Staff be on the same page when handling any pushback or concerns from residents. Mayor Barthel noted they can tell residents who push back on this that the current structure of after-school time is unmanageable, and they either implement this program or no longer allow students to come to the Community Center after school. Mr. Sutherland added they are looking to either scale back or fully eliminate their open basketball time, as they have been having many issues and security concerns. He noted they have had a lot of students from outside of Andover, which is causing issues. He said they had to trespass three different students this summer. He asked the Council if they would like to see the 15 resident passes given to all registered residents continue. Councilmember Godfrey asked how many of these passes are used by residents. Mr. Sutherland said they can pull some reports and return information to the Council. Mr. Sutherland shared they are exploring requesting an additional full-time Staff member at the Community Center. He noted they have funding sources that could cover this and would work in Public Works over the summer, so that this role would be a job share. He shared they have struggled to find quality part-time Staff and would like to consider an additional full-time employee. Mayor Barthel shared he supports eliminating the open basketball time; however, it would be nice Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 6 to have some time just for Andover residents. Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to implement the discussed after-school programming at the Community Center. ALTERNATIVE URBAN AREAWIDE REVIEW (AUAR) DISCUSSION Community Development Director Janish reviewed the Staff report concerning the draft AUAR. He asked if they want to expand the City sewer and water service area beyond what is currently in the AUAR area. Mayor Barthel asked the Council if they supported running the City sewer and water to area B. The Council was not supportive of this. Councilmember Godfrey asked about the Hughes Industrial Park. She noted the IUPs are conditioned on this area not having City utilities. She asked if these conditions would change if they ran water and sewer to this area. Mr. Janish explained if City water and sewer became available in this area, all of the IUPs and CUPs would go away, and the property owners would need to bring their property up to compliance. Councilmember Godfrey asked if water and sewer could be extended to area A without requiring an additional connection by these property owners. Mr. Janish said this would be up to the Council. Mayor Barthel asked how much more valuable the City's sewer and water make a property. Mr. Janish said from a building standpoint, having City water helps with fire suppression. He added this would also open up opportunities for other commercial users. Councilmember Godfrey said she would favor extending sewer and water to area A, given its potential for the future; however, she would not like them to act on requirements to eliminate any IUPs or CUPs at this time. Councilmember Shafto agreed. He asked if the current owner of one of these properties with an IUP is to sell the property, and if the new owner would be required to hook up to the City sewer and water. Mr. Janish said they still have plenty of time to nail this down. He explained it is a part of their 2050 Comprehensive Plan that the rest of the rural reserve would be included in the sewer and water plan. He said they will review this in the coming years and can discuss this scenario then. Councilmember Shafto asked if the added value would outweigh the cost of extending the water and sewer line. Mr. Janish said the value comes in from being able to provide water to these property owners. He stated they have heard from some of the property owners in the area that the lack of City utilities is keeping them stagnant. Councilmember Shafto shared he generally favors extending City utilities to area A; however, Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 7 there is a cost component that makes him hesitant. Councilmember Schue agreed and said he would like to know the costs of running sewer and water to this area. Mr. Berkowitz said they can run different numbers and bring this back to the Council. Councilmember Godfrey said extending these lines farther into this area makes sense. She noted this industrial park is very limited in terms of the kind of businesses that would work there. Mr. Janish discussed the sewer capacity. He asked the Council what they would envision the land use for area A to be. Councilmember Godfrey noted commercial and multi-family residential use would make sense in this area. Mayor Barthel shared this area is used for commercial and industrial use, with no residential use. He noted they currently have very little commercial area in the City. Councilmember Engelhardt agreed and shared residents often ask him when they get more commercial businesses in the City. Councilmember Shafto shared he is also leaning towards this area, which is just for commercial use. Councilmember Schue agreed with Councilmember Godfrey. Mr. Janish discussed the area in blue on the map in front of the Council. He shared they had talked to a property owner in this area who wants to see commercial, industrial, and high-density housing there. st Councilmember Godfrey said it makes a lot of sense to have both sides of 161 Avenue be similar to have this whole area developed similarly. The rest of the Council agreed. Mr. Janish discussed the other outliers in the rural reserve area. The Council supported running numbers to get City utilities to these areas. Mr. Janish reviewed the city sewer and water costs in these areas. He shared they can bring more information to an upcoming Council meeting and ask for a sanitary sewer study and a water treatment study. The Council was supportive of this proposal. Council consensus was not in favor of extending City sewer and water to area B, and to direct Staff to bring back more information on the value of bringing City sewer and water to area A. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 8 2026 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS-MEMBERSHIPS/CONTRIBUTIONS Finance Manager Brezinka reviewed the Staff report regarding the 2026 budget development progress and the memberships and contributions that the City makes throughout the year. Councilmember Godfrey asked if they have a policy that applies to whom they make charitable donations to. Mr. Brezinka said no. He said they have guidelines for what lawful gambling contributions can be used for. Ms. Cotton shared since she is new in her role, she does not know when these donations began. She noted typically organizations request a donation, and she assumes that is how most of these donations started. She added the organizations often report back to the City on their year and how many residents they could serve. Councilmember Godfrey said she would like to see them develop a policy for guidance, especially when they are disbursing funds collected from taxpayers. She added she would like to make it a requirement that any organization the city contributes to provide them with an annual report. She shared she is concerned with a few of the organizations they contribute to, and one of them has had a lot of bad publicity regarding their fiscal responsibility. She suggested they make another requirement to receive donations by requiring that the organization is a registered 501(c)(3) and falls under the charitable gambling guidelines. Mayor Barthel asked if all these organizations send a request to the City yearly for donations. Mr. Brezinka said no and noted they typically make the same donations to the organizations annually. Mayor Barthel asked Councilmember Godfrey if she is more concerned about the donations that are coming out of the general fund versus the charitable gambling fund, or if she is concerned about them in general. Councilmember Godfrey said she has equal concerns about both. Mayor Barthel suggested the Council review each organization individually to determine whether there is a consensus to continue the donation. The Council supported continuing the donation for the North Metro Mayors Association. The Council was supportive of continuing the donation for Metro Cities. Mayor Barthel asked where Mediation Services is based. Ms. Cotton said it is based out of Blaine. Councilmember Godfrey asked if they are duplicating or supplementing what Anoka County contributes to Mediation Services. Mr. Brezinka explained they have used this organization for union contract negotiations. Ms. Cotton added in 2024, Mediation Services served 25 Andover residents. She noted the Sheriff’s Office often refers people to this organization. She said she has seen this organization Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 9 positively impact the community. The Council was supportive of continuing the donation for Mediation Services. The Council supported continuing the donation for the YMCA - Water Safety Program. Mayor Barthel asked if the Alexandria House sends a yearly letter requesting donations. Mr. Brezinka said yes. The Council was supportive of continuing the donation for the Alexandria House. Councilmember Godfrey suggested they change the language on the purpose of the Teen Center Funding at the YMCA to say ‘activities’ rather than ‘program’ per the Council’s earlier discussion. The Council supported continuing the donation for the Teen Center Funding at the YMCA. The Council was supportive of continuing the donation for Family of Promise. Mr. Brezinka shared over the last 12 to 24 months, the Lee Carlson Center has seen 26 Andover residents. Councilmember Godfrey asked if the Lee Carlson Center qualifies for charitable gambling funds. Mr. Brezinka said it likely does, and they can look into changing the funding source for this donation. The Council was supportive of continuing the donation for the Lee Carlson Center. Councilmember Shafto asked if the Senior High parties make an annual request for donations. Mr. Brezinka said yes and explained that it is based on the number of graduates. Councilmember Godfrey shared she usually does not favor supporting parties; however, this is a way to create a safe environment for these parties. The Council was supportive of continuing the donation for the Senior High parties. Councilmember Godfrey asked about the fiscal responsibility of Stepping Stones. She noted the director's income increased by 44% in one year, with no public explanation. She added she also questions this organization, as its home office is in California. Councilmember Schue noted he would not be supportive of continuing the donation without any additional information on this organization. Councilmember Shafto suggested they ask Stepping Stones to reapply and make a new case regarding why they need these funds. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 10 Councilmember Godfrey shared three charitable organizations in Andover are operating under the name Stepping Stones. The Council was not supportive of continuing the donation for Stepping Stones and requested that they reapply for donations and give the Council a background on their organization and how they impact the community. The Council was supportive of continuing the donation for Hope for Youth. Councilmember Godfrey shared she has investigated all of the senior programming around the area, and the Andover Senior Club provides the fewest services of any of the surrounding clubs. She added she does not think this fits the profile of what they can spend charitable gambling funds on. Mayor Barthel asked if they received a request from the Andover Senior Club for donations this year. Ms. Cotton said yes and shared they also requested increased funding. She noted she met with this group shortly after starting in her role, and she was given a list of the members of this club, and only about half of the 26 members were Andover residents. She added these funds would be mainly used for meals. Councilmember Godfrey said the Andover Senior Club has a long history in Andover; however, she does not think this is something the City should be supporting. The Council was not supportive of continuing the donation for the Andover Senior Club and requested that they provide the City with a more well-defined purpose statement. Councilmember Godfrey asked how much is in the charitable gambling fund and if they should be looking for other ways to use these funds. Mr. Brezinka said the Teen Center Funding will use many available funds. He shared at the end of 2024, they had $352,000 in the charitable gambling fund. Councilmember Godfrey shared she was reviewing the permitted uses for these funds and thought it would be very helpful if they could pay for trail maintenance or trail maintenance equipment out of this fund. She noted the trail fund has been diminishing, which would be very beneficial. Mr. Brezinka shared he believes these funds can only be used for DNR trails, and they do not have any of them throughout the City. Councilmember Godfrey added they could also use these funds for law enforcement contracts and suggested they use some of these funds for the new K-9 units. Mayor Barthel asked Mr. Brezinka to return to the Council with other areas where they can spend charitable gambling funds. Council consensus was reached on which memberships and contributions should continue for Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 11 2026. PREVIEW PROPOSED 2026-2030 DRAFT CIP DISTRIBUTION/DISCUSSION Mr. Brezinka reviewed the Staff report and the 2026-2030 draft CIP. Mayor Barthel asked the Council if they think an electronic sign outside City Hall is necessary. He noted an electronic sign is already at the corner of Crosstown Boulevard and Bunker Lake Boulevard. Councilmember Shafto said if they are going to have an electronic sign, it would make the most sense to have it in front of City Hall. He noted he sees value in a sign like this, and it can serve as a reminder to the residents about meetings that are going on. Councilmember Godfrey agreed. Councilmember Schue asked what kind of feedback they have gotten from the residents on this. Councilmember Shafto said he does not think they will get any feedback on this until they remove the sign. He shared when he first moved to Andover, he often looked at this sign for updates on the City. Councilmember Schue suggested turning the sign off for a while and seeing what feedback they get from residents. He asked if they are currently displaying anything on this sign. Ms. Cotton said they display meeting times and other activities. Mayor Barthel said he is not a fan of electronic signs. He shared he struggles with putting up a sign at City Hall, as almost half of the population lives south of City Hall and does not often drive by City Hall. Councilmember Shafto noted there are so few ways that they can communicate things to the public. He said he would hesitate to take away one of these forms of communication. Mayor Barthel suggested they shut off the sign for a few weeks to see if they heard anything from the residents. Mr. Berkowitz shared if they turn the sign off but leave the structure, then residents will likely just assume that it is not working at this time and will be back up soon. Ms. Cotton asked if they would like to leave the funds in the CIP to replace this sign. Mayor Barthel said yes. Mr. Brezinka discussed other requests in the CIP. Councilmember Godfrey noted a comment in the Staff packet that the long-term plan is to replace Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 12 all three rescue vehicles with combination rescue and grass utility vehicles. She said if this is the plan, she would favor advancing this plan and not replacing the existing grass utility vehicle. Mayor Barthel said he hopes the Fire Department knows that the Council fully supports them and that they want to support all of their wants and needs; however, he agrees with Councilmember Godfrey. He noted the current grass utility vehicle is 21 years old and has 166 hours on it. Councilmember Schue suggested pulling this request entirely from the CIP. Councilmember Godfrey asked what standard they follow when paving a gravel road. Mr. Berkowitz explained this is outlined in their assessment policy. He shared it requires a petition from all residents who live on the gravel road or an initiative from the Council. Councilmember Godfrey asked why they are scheduled to replace the air conditioning and the heating for the Water Treatment Plant in 2027. Mr. Berkowitz shared if they can move one of these out to 2028, they will do that to spread these out. Mayor Barthel shared when they approve this CIP, the only things set in stone are the items scheduled for 2026, and they can continue to adjust the items scheduled for future years. Councilmember Godfrey asked about the funds dedicated to Rose Park. Mr. Brezinka explained they have a leasing agreement for the antennas on the tower in this park. He noted that 50% of this revenue has to be used in the park. Mayor Barthel thanked Mr. Brezinka for his hard work putting together these budgetary items. Council consensus was reached to direct Staff to move forward with the proposed 2026-2030 CIP, with the removal of the grass utility vehicle. PREVIEW PROPOSED 2026 PRELIMINARY LEVY Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the Staff report and the 2026 preliminary levy. He shared the proposed increase of 4.15%. Ms. Cotton shared she recently attended an Anoka County taxing authority meeting and reviewed the preliminary levies for all other cities in the County. She noted that Andover is the lowest within the County. Mayor Barthel stated Andover has always been very conservative with its increases and thanked the Staff for their work to get the levy to a manageable rate. Council consensus was reached in support of the proposed 2026 preliminary levy. Andover City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes – August 26, 2025 Page 13 OTHER TOPICS Mr. Berkowitz gave an update on the roundabout projects. He shared the median work will not be complete by the time school starts back up, but the rest of the construction will be complete, and the roundabouts will be open on Thursday of this week. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Shafto, Seconded by Schue, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The workshop meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ava Major, Recording Secretary