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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK May 23, 2006 o o o 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304. (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Tuesday, May 23,2006 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order - 6:00 p.m. 2. Presentation - Northern Natural Gas 3. Continued Discussion - Special Assessment Policy - Engineering 4. Discuss Park Dedication Study 5. Discuss Expansion of City Hall Garage - Engineering 6. Discuss 2006 - 2007 Council Goals 7. Update on 2007 Budget 8. Other Business 9. Adjournment o o o ~~~ LUU 4-e-n G -~ /o(p CITY OF NDOVE ANDOVER SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP- MAY 23,2006 MINUTES The Special Workshop of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, May 23,2006,6:05 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Councilmember absent: Also present: Don Jacobson, Mike Knight, Ken Orttel, Julie Trude None City Administrator Jim Dickinson Community Development Director Will Neumeister City Engineer Dave Berkowitz Others PRESENTATION - NORTHERN NATURAL GAS Ms. Liz Babcock, Northern Natural Gas, was present at the meeting to give an overview ofthe plans for extending the gas line from Andover into Minneapolis. She noted this project will not be started until 2008. Councilmember Jacobson asked if their project is going to be part of the public hearing and PUC process. Ms. Babcock indicated this will be a separate project. Councilmember Trude wondered if the entire area would be fenced in. Ms. Babcock indicated they would only fence in the 1 OOx 1 00 area but would be willing to take the entire area and compensate the public with the City being the holder of the park funds. Councilmember Jacobson stated it is dedicated park property. He did not know if the City purchased it or ifit was given to them and if they could do anything else with it. Ms. Babcock stated it was dedicated to the City through the plat and would need to be condemned in order to work with this. She indicated they are federally regulated. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if they will need to have a separate public hearing. Ms. Babcock indicated they would not. She indicated there are rules they need to follow through the Federal Government. She noted the Federal Government does tell them how they need to construct this. Councilmember Jacobson indicated because this is a large building he thought the City could require screening. Ms. Babcock stated they would work with the City to a point but the emergency responders may not want it to be hidden. o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 2 Councilmember Jacobson wondered if the current lines will be able to handle the additional gas or would they need to pump up the pressure on the existing pipes. Ms. Babcock thought they had enough supply with what they currently have but may need to increase the pressure. Councilmember Orttel wondered when the design of the building will be done. Ms. Babcock thought they would start on the design in July but wanted to get the major project done. Councilmember Orttel wondered how high above the ground the pipes will be. Ms. Babcock stated they will be the same height as what is there now. Mayor Gamache wondered how close it is to Prairie Road. Mr. Berkowitz thought it is at least 100 feet from the road. He noted it is outside ofthe right-of-way. Councilmember Orttel stated he would like it screened in some fashion but would prefer a natural screening such as a berm with pine trees. Ms. Babcock stated trees have root structures that interfere with the pipes and they also need visibility for fly-bys. She stated bushes would be different. o City Administrator Dickinson indicated CenterPoint will odorize the line. Councilmember Trude asked if they could build some other type of structure besides a pole type of building. She asked if they need to follow the City guidelines or do they do what they want to do. Ms. Babcock stated they try to work with the City but a brick structure can be cost prohibitive. Mayor Gamache thought if Mr. Berkowitz could make sure the trees are planted further away from where the building will go, even on City property, to help with screening, would be helpful. Councilmember Jacobson thought even if they used shrubs, it would look better with a brick building and would meet the City standards. Councilmember Trude wondered iftaking the extra land is for future expansion. Ms. Babcock stated that is not the reason but she thought there was no other use for the land. Mr. Berkowitz stated Centerpoint Energy will need that for an access. Councilmember Jacobson asked ifthis will be large enough for added capacity in the future. Ms. Babcock stated she would not anticipate this. o Councilmember Trude asked staff to think about using the extra land for parking instead of letting Northern Natural Gas take the extra land for cash. She thought they could use the extra parking. She noted that she reluctantly gives up any land. Ms. Babcock indicated she will bring back the requests of the Council to their engineers. o o o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 3 Councilmember Jacobson asked if all the telecommunications will be underground. Ms. Babcock indicated she did not know. Councilmember Trude thought this was another request to make because they do not have anything above ground. Councilmember Trude asked if this will happen during sporting events. She requested this start after all the teams are done. Ms. Babcock stated they need to be there before Centerpoint is there. Spring would be the best time to do this. Councilmember Orttel wondered what the relationship is between them and Centerpoint. Ms. Babcock indicated Centerpoint is the customer and they supply them gas. CONTINUED DISCUSSION - SPECIAL ASSESSMENT POLICY Mr. Berkowitz stated the City Council has directed staff to evaluate the City's current road assessment policy as it pertains to reconstruction (City's Mill and Overlay) projects. The City Council is requested to review information provided, discuss issues and direct staff on how to proceed with the road assessment policy. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the rating criteria of roads with the Council. The Council discussed the survey results of the assessment question. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if their rating system is the proper one and what their policy is. Mr. Berkowitz stated road deterioration is based on traffic and time. Councilmember Knight asked what the rating criteria is. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the different criteria with the Council in determining when a road needs replacement. Mr. Dickinson stated with the new program they are concentrating on the twenty plus year roads. Councilmember Orttel stated to wait until the last possible moment before they have to replace the entire road. Mr. Dickinson stated areas that are rated in the 70's, need to be looked at in the five year plan. Councilmember Orttel wondered what the increase in bituminous will be and how much will it set them back. Mr. Berkowitz stated right now they are being charged $45 a ton for a base and $55 a ton for wear. Councilmember Orttel stated they either need to increase the percent or cut back on the maintenance. Councilmember Jacobson did not think there would be enough money no matter what is done unless they raise taxes. Councilmember Orttel did not think bituminous was temporary so they would need to raise the amounts. o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 4 Councilmember Knight stated the dilemma is how one neighborhood compares to another and traffic in one neighborhood versus traffic in another neighborhood. Mr. Berkowitz stated it is important to keep the CIP a fluid document and focus on the next couple of years. Councilmember Trude thought they need to ask the question if it is worth building roads that are 32 feet wide. They could go to roads with parking only on one side. Councilmember Jacobson thought they need roughly a million dollars a year to do the roads. He thought they still need to have assessments to meet the costs. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if it would be enough ifthey were to assess 22 percent a year for improvements. Mr. Berkowitz reviewed the 2007 - 2011 CIP with the Council. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if there is any mechanism of combining this with something o else. Mr. Dickinson stated they could if there was something else to connect it to. Councilmember Orttel stated in the Eighties they changed the road standards which will probably make them last longer even though they are getting up in age. Councilmember Jacobson asked when they go from one to two percent in the levy, what will that mean to the taxpayer. Mr. Dickinson indicated it will roughly be $20 a household per year depending on the value of the home. Councilmember Jacobson did not think it is reasonable after twenty years, the resident would expect the City to redo the road for free. He thought everyone should be paying for the cost of the road reconstruction. He indicated they need to figure out the percentage. Mayor Gamache thought in the rural areas with large 2.5 acre lots, do they want to continue with concrete curbs. Councilmember Trude thought once the asphalt curb is there, they need to replace it with concrete but if the roads did not have curb to begin with, she did not think they need to add concrete because it would drain into the yards. o Mr. Berkowitz stated they are not ditching roads anymore. He thought they would get more out of the road if they put concrete curb in. He noted it is cheaper in the long run when they need to reconstruct the roads. Councilmember Jacobson thought it is reasonable that everyone should pay the same amount within the development instead of some paying and some not paying. o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 5 Mr. Berkowitz stated the areas with concrete curb will cost less to reconstruct in the future. Councilmember Knight asked what the least painful way is to spread out the cost within the City. Mr. Dickinson indicated what they are trying to target is getting the policy put together. They need to find out what the target would be for the tax levy. Councilmember Trude stated in the survey 64 percent oppose changing the assessment policy, so do they ignore the survey? Mr. Berkowitz indicated ifthey followed the survey, they would get behind in funds and nothing would get done. Councilmember Jacobson stated even if they went the extra two percent a year, would they have enough each year. Mr. Berkowitz stated even with the two percent increase and thirty percent increase in assessments, it would still be tough. o Mr. Berkowitz stated the argument is going to be a resident is not getting concrete curb and the neighbor is but they are getting the same assessment. Councilmember Orttel stated that is where the policy comes in. Mayor Gamache stated they need to look at the neighborhood as a whole and not as individual homes. A resident at the meeting indicated he would be willing to pay more in property taxes to avoid the assessment for street improvements and it would actually save him a lot of money. Councilmember Trude stated the increase is from one percent to two percent so they will be paying more in taxes. The resident stated it is easier to budget $50 a year rather than a $5,000 assessment. He would rather have all of the money come from taxes. The resident stated by putting the increase into the tax base is actually cheaper to the residents than to assess the improvements out. The Council discussed different ways they could assess the residents and how other cities assess for their road reconstruction. Councilmember Jacobson asked staff to look into raising the tax base from one to two percent and from one to three percent and what would it cost each home. Mr. Dickinson stated they can make up a chart for the Council to review. Mr. Berkowitz stated the lower they go, the less improvements they will be able to do. He would have looked at increasing the assessment to fifty percent and the tax base by two percent. o Another resident thought the one or two percent increase would work well for everyone in the City. Councilmember Trude stated even if they increase the tax base, they will still not have enough money to do all of the improvements. o o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 6 DISCUSS PARK DEDICATION STUDY Mr. Neumeister stated the Council is asked to review information contained in the report and determine whether staff should begin to update the park dedication study and examine other factors that determine the park dedication fees. Mr. Neumeister reviewed the report with the Council. Councilmember Orttel did not think the price ofland matters anymore; he thought it was the nexus of build out. Mr. Dickinson stated there is confusion in the ordinance that needs to be cleared up. He wondered if the Council wanted to be at ten percent or where they are at now, around seven or eight percent. Mr. Neumeister thought it might be better to get an appraisal on the parcel of property and then determine the park dedication fee. Councilmember Jacobson indicated he did not have a problem with staff reworking the study but he wondered if they should do this internally or externally. He thought it might look like a conflict of interest if staff were to do this. Councilmember Orttel thought they need to get the surrounding communities' information for comparison. . The Council discussed what would be needed for the updated survey. Mayor Gamache wondered how it worked having the development build their own parks and what effect did that have. Councilmember Orttel stated he thought that was a good idea. Mayor Gamache stated that takes care of the problem when they run out of money for new parks. Councilmember Trude wondered how they can have so many children and not a lot of public play fields. Mr. Dickinson stated they try to keep them within close proximity to each other because it is less maintenance. A resident wondered ifthey can have a resident in the area of a tot lot maintain them. Mr. Dickinson stated there would be liability issues. Councilmember Orttel thought when they have tot lots they need to have a conversion process for the growing age group. o DISCUSS EXPANSION OF CITY HALL GARAGE Mr. Berkowitz stated the City Council is requested to discuss the expansion of the City Hall garage that is located west of the City Hall. o o o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 7 Councilmember Trude stated they want attractiveness and not have the building be built cheaply. Mr. Dickinson stated they could come in at $25,000 if they use City staff for the expansion. Mr. Berkowitz stated this is also replacing the roof on the original garage. Councilmember Trude indicated the garage is also insulated and heated. Mr. Dickinson thought the excavation was also part of the cost. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if the roof on the garage is so bad that it need to be replaced. Mr. Dickinson stated they have been patching the roof since he has been with the City. The shingles are in bad shape. He stated there is significant cost in the footings because of where it is located. Mr. Berkowitz stated the concrete slab is also costly and would need to be contracted out anyways. Councilmember Trude stated they are building this out into the pond and they will need a retaining wall. Councilmember Orttel stated he would prefer them to go in-house for the construction of the garage. Mr. Dickinson indicated they would work on the numbers to get the costs down to the $20,000 original budget. Councilmember Trude thought the back of the garage will need landscaping to screen it from the driveway to the community center. DISCUSS 2006-2007 COUNCIL GOALS City Administrator Dickinson stated after reviewing the remaining 2005-2006 goal progress, the Council will be requested to discuss and provide specific goals for the coming year. The goals will be used by respective departments to formulate work plans and budgets. Councilmember Jacobson thought discussion item 1, transportation options, should be added to the goals. Councilmember Jacobson stated item 19 did not go well in the survey. He wondered if this is still a viable goal. Councilmember Orttel thought they need to keep this because it will be needed in the future. Councilmember Jacobson stated in the Comprehensive Plan, it shows a train station for future train service to Cambridge and he wondered if they need to reserve property fot that. Councilmember Orttel thought they should review prospective locations for mass transit sites. Councilmember Jacobson thought they needed to add this to the list. Councilmember Trude thought they need to look at the train switching operation and whistles within the City. Mr. Berkowitz stated they discussed this with the Railroad and ifthe City is willing to pay o o o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 8 for this, the railroad will do this. Councilmember Trude thought this would help with the trains blocking the major crossings. Councilmember Jacobson wondered ifthey could remove item 6 from their goals. Mr. Dickinson indicated they could. Councilmember Trude stated they need to focus on getting the trails around the Community Center and water treatment plant. Mr. Berkowitz stated the trail needs to be twenty-two feet from the travel lane in a rural section and that may be a challenge. Mr. Dickinson thought one area that sticks out in the survey is police patrol. The Council did not think that was an issue. Councilmember Knight thought they need to remove item 15 from the goals because he did not think one day would work. Mayor Gamache stated they just increased to five garbage haulers. One day will not work until they tell them they are going to pick one hauler; then they will pick up on one day. Councilmember Trude wondered if they could have a clean up day because there is a lot of trash in the rights-of-ways. Councilmember Knight stated item 14 came out looking good in the survey. The Council discussed how they could determine open space in the City. They also thought a referendum would answer the question if it should remain a goal and if a committee should be formed for this. A resident thought the City could work on charitable trusts and she did not think it would cost a lot to maintain an open space. Councilmember Trude stated on item 18, Eric is working on recreational programming at the Community Center. She thought they should have continued promotion of the Community Center. Councilmember Trude thought they should look at continued research of wireless internet or something comparable to it. Mr. Dickinson wondered if the Council wants staff to pursue more in housing stock programs to upgrade existing homes. Councilmember Orttel thought it would be nice to encourage improvement in neighborhoods. Councilmember Knight wondered on item 7, where the Fire Chief is at on daytime help. Mr. Dickinson stated the Chief is continuing to look at grants. Councilmember Trude stated she would like to continue with the wholesale tree program. An environmental issue is how they can preserve their wetland once people move in. She thought they may need an educational program for homeowners. o o o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 9 Councilmember Trude stated thirty feet is not far enough for backyard setbacks along the busy thoroughfares. Councilmember Orttel thought it was extended to forty feet. He wondered if they need to have stricter rules. Councilmember Trude wondered if they need to have the developer berm the area and then if the homeowner puts up a fence, they will not be seen. UPDATE ON 2007 BUDGET City Administrator Dickinson stated City Departments have started the process of preparing a proposed 2007 Annual Operating Budget pursuant to guidelines established by the City Council on May 2, 2006. . Councilmember Jacobson wondered how much it would cost to add an additional deputy and what type of duties would that deputy have. Mr. Dickinson did not think they would need to add another car for another deputy. He thought they were looking at a $100,000 increase for an additional deputy. He thought they may not want to have another eight hour shift. Councilmember Trude thought they may want to add staffing to help Laura Landes with her work. Councilmember Jacobson thought staff should look at considering a 1-3 percent increase forroad improvements and look at funding for recreation programs at the Community Center. Councilmember Orttel thought the Committee wanted to have the recreation department at the Community Center to schedule everything in the City. Mayor Gamache stated they have separate associations for all the Community Ed programs where some ofthe cities in the Twin Cities do not have that. Mr. Dickinson stated he may be able to have a schedule for the Council next year based on staff consolidations. Mr. Dickinson reviewed a couple of items that could help with the 2007 budget with the Council. Councilmember Trude stated her concern is if they do not increase wages appropriately, they may be losing some senior staff to other cities. Mr. Dickinson indicated what he has done regarding this. Mr. Dickinson reviewed staffing with the Council. OTHER BUSINESS Councilmember Trude thought it would be helpful to have a meeting with Coon Rapids regarding the Hanson upgrade. Mr. Dickinson stated they have talked to the school and they would like to name the Community Center as the Adaptive Program Center. He stated the school would work their program around the Q Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 10 Community Center. The school would work with the City on providing two gyms when needed. He did not see a downside for the Community Center. Councilmember Trude stated the after school program has dropped off because ofthe time change. Councilmember Orttel wondered if this would work out all year long. Mr. Dickinson stated the biggest problem they have is with scheduling in the spring so there would not be a big problem in the winter. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if they should sign a contract that is most advantageous to them. Councilmember Trude indicated she trusts Eric's judgment. Councilmember Orttel thought they could rotate days for the different age groups. Mr. Dickinson stated the Slyzuk farm road has been shut down and in the meantime he has been utilizing the street. He stated the property owner shut down the road because there is an easement on the property owner's land and the property owner shut it down. o Mr. Dickinson stated another item that is starting to become a common item is Homeowner Associations. They have received calls with issues. Some ofthe issues are rights granted to the City of Andover. The section that has come into question is leasing or rental of units. He wondered what level of involvement did the Council want the City to take regarding this. Councilmember Trude stated they do not want rental neighborhoods. Councilmember Jacobson thought the City had a binding agreement with the Association and they need to uphold it. Mr. Dickinson stated he discussed this with City Attorney Sullivan and he indicated the City could enforce the covenants. Ifthe development does not sell all the units and they are not rented out, they may become tax forfeit. Councilmember Orttel stated they cannot prohibit renting out homes but an association can enforce it. Councilmember Knight stated if there is not any enforcement in an association, why have them. Councilmember Jacobson thought they could enforce something if they have a separate document indicating this. Councilmember Jacobson stated if they start to get involved in one issue, they will be pulled into all of the issues and will be spending money on legal issues. He thought they should listen to what the City Attorney says. o ADJOURNMENT Motion by Jacobson, Seconded by Knight, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m. o o o Special Andover City Council Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2006 Page 11 Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary