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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK August 26, 2008 0 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. . ANDOVER. MINNESOTA 55304 . (763) 755-5100 FAX (763) 755-8923 . WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order - 6:00 p.m. 2. Presentation - Northern Lights Express High Speed Rail- Anoka County 3. Anoka County Sheriffs Budget Discussion 4. 2009-2013 CIP Development Progress Report 5. 2009 Budget Development Progress Report 0 6. 2007-2008 Council Goals Progress Report and Review of2008-2009 Council Goals 7. Other Business 0 C.I.T Y o F NDOVE 0 ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP - AUGUST 26,2008 MINUTES The Andover City Council Workshop was called to order by Acting Mayor Ken Orttel, August 26, 2008, 6:09 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Mike Knight, Ken Orttel, Julie Trude and Mayor Mike Gamache Councilmember absent: Don Jacobson Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Others PRESENTATION-NORTHERN LIGHTS EXPRESS mGH SPEED RAIL -ANOKA COUNTY Ms. Jill Brown made a presentation to the Council regarding the Northern Lights Express High Speed RaiL 0 Mayor Gamache arrived at 6: 13 p.m. Councilmember Knight asked what they based the numbers on. Ms. Brown stated a group named TEMS was hired by Anoka County to look at the data to determine what kind of ridership they might have in the future. Councilmember Knight stated when they have towns that fifteen miles apart, how are they going to get to that kind of mileage without injuring someone. Ms. Brown stated the faster the train goes, the more safety features they have. Commissioner Erhart reviewed the proposed plans with the CounciL Commissioner Erhart explained that the rail will be a limited express run with only one stop in Anoka County. They are looking at commuter rail running from Duluth to Hinkley into Anoka County and finally Minneapolis. Councilmember Trude asked if the TEMS study was a federal study. Commissioner Erhart stated they were hired by the Joint Powers Group to do the study. Councilmember Trude thought they will get more information once the environmental study is 0 done. Commissioner Erhart thought the anticipated speed will be in the 79 mph area from Hinkley to the cities. Councilmember Orttel thought BNSF would be in support for this since they are going to get their rail beds built up and a lot of the tracks are overdue. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Minutes - August 26, 2008 Page 2 Mr. Holasek stated they are going to have more problems with the high speed travel and heavy freight using the same track. He did not see how BNSF would be able to coordinate this. With the high fuel costs many of the companies are switching from truck to rail to transport products. Commissioner Erhart stated BNSF has talked about making the commuter rail the priority and hauling freight at night. With the kind of money they are talking about, the people involved and the interest in doing it, they might see a lot more trackage on that line. He stated they are expecting some sort of subsidy for this line. He stated this is fmanced out of FRA. Part of the sales tax increase is for the commuter rail system in the seven county metro. Councilmember Orttel stated what concerns him is the study indicates that 2/3 of the trips is predicated on the casino in Hinkley and if they get something closer to the cities it may not work. Commissioner Erhart stated they do not have a lot of information at this time but would like to come back in the future with more information for the Council. 0 ANOKA COUNTY SHERIFFS BUDGET DISCUSSION Anoka County Sheriff Bruce Andersohn reviewed the 2009 Sheriffs contract with the Council. He noted the proposed budget is based on the 2007 service load average. Sheriff Andersohn explained they are going to recommend no service level change in the contract for 2009. Councilmember Knight asked if they were seeing any change in the types of crime from years past. Sheriff Andersohn stated there is starting to be an upswing in violent crime. Captain Wells stated they are seeing a change in crime because of theft of mail, computer crimes and crimes of opportunity. Councilmember Knight asked if they are looking at any changes because of the late night bar closing times. Sheriff Andersohn stated they did not have a real increase but he knew some of the cities were looking at going back to an earlier close time. Sheriff Andersohn recommended maintaining their current level of service for 2009. Councilmember Trude asked if they should help to get Ham Lake to increase their hours so officers from Andover contract would not be potentially over utilized. 0 Mayor Gamache felt the contract works well for Andover and has done a great job for the City. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Minutes - August 26, 2008 Page 3 2009 - 2013 CIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson reviewed the CIP with the Council. He noted the plan was ready to take to a public hearing. Councilmember Trude indicated the sound issue in the chambers is going to be done through QCTV. She thought the chairs were in bad shape and should be replaced. Mr. Dickinson stated the chairs are around five years old and the chambers is utilized extensively by the public. Councilmember Trude thought they should have some type of rule on food and beverages or keep some chairs set aside for presenters. Mr. Dickinson stated they could fit new chairs in the overall operations budget but it would not fit into the CIP. He stated he could find a use for the chairs in the Council Chambers immediately. Councilmember Knight thought they should look at using hard surface chairs if they appear nice. Mayor Gamache asked on the mill and overlay projects. They are looking at a few rural areas again 0 in 2009 and future years. They have always had issues when they get to the rural and he wanted to make sure everything was in order. Mayor Gamache asked on the trail machine/snow removal equipment if this was a replacement. Mr. Dickinson stated the issue is they like to get the sidewalks cleared efficiently and the snow removal equipment they currently have is not that efficient. Councilmember Trude wondered if they should have more insight in the $50,000 that the Parks Department spends each year. Mr. Dickinson stated it is the Council's ultimate decision on what the funds are used for but City staff actually allocates the funds for different park projects throughout the City. Councilmember Orttel wondered if they want to abandon some of the parks for certain uses until there is a resurgence of use in them. Mr. Dickinson stated he will have the Park Commission put together a list of items for him and he will bring it forward to the Council. The Council thought this item looked good and should move forward to a public hearing. CITIZEN REQUEST Mr. Rod Pakonen, 13890 Holly Street, asked the Council to seriously consider doing some kind of 0 ordinance to control the use of garbage cans in front of houses. He noticed in his neighborhood that the amount of garbage cans in the front of the homes has significantly increased. He thought there was an impact to home sales. He thought by having an ordinance restricting these from the front of homes would dress up the neighborhoods. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Minutes - August 26, 2008 Page 4 Councilmember Trude thought the garbage cans stand out more in the newer neighborhoods because of the color and design of the homes. Mr. Pakonen did not think an ordinance would impact the way people feel but it would make the neighborhoods look nice. Mayor Gamache thought staff should look at what other cities ordinance have, how they were worded and bring it back for Council review. 2009 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS REPORT Mr. Dickinson reviewed the budget progress report with the CounciL Department budgets are fairly consistent or have been lowered from previous years. The increase in the Council budget is from a 2.9 percent increase in memberships. Public Works budget is running at status quo or below budget and he did not feel they could lower that budget anymore. Mr. Dickinson felt they should be eliminating the contingency fund because the unexpected are dealt 0 within the department budgets. Mr. Dickinson noted for 2009 there will be 3.6 percent general fund expenditure increase. Mr. Dickinson discussed with the Council the Charitable Gambling Special Revenue Fund and the donating money to charities which request funds from the City. The Council discussed Youth First. Council indicated they would like to give $2,500 to Central Center for Family Resources and another $1,000 to Alexandra House. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the fiscal goal of 3 7 percent working capital fund balance with the CounciL He felt 2010 will be a tough budget year. Councilmember Trude thought they should increase the Council's salaries since there has not been an increase since 2001. Mayor Gamache thought the numbers he received from Mr. Dickinson indicated they were still sitting pretty well as far as what they are paid. Mr. Dickinson stated this is a decision that only the Council can make. Mayor Gamache thought with the 2010 budget coming up they should wait on an increase. Councilmember Orttel did not think an increase was warranted compared to other cities. Mayor Gamache stated looking at the organizations they do belong to they need to continue working with each of them. The Council looked at the organizations they are involved with and the reasons 0 for each membership. Councilmember Orttel stated part of the problem they have with abandoning memberships is they are forcing other communities to pay for the services they receive. Councilmember Knight thought they need to stay with what they have. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Minutes - August 26, 2008 Page 5 Mr. Dickinson indicated the tax levy proposed is set at the state allowed max, The Council recessed at 8:55 p.m. The Council reconvened at 9:00 p.m. 2007 - 2008 COUNCIL GOALS PROGRESS REPORT AND REVIEW OF 2008- 2009 COUNCIL GOALS Mr. Dickinson reviewed the 2008 and 2009 council goals with the Council. Councilmember Knight strongly suggested they look at both solar and wind energy as alternate energy sources. He suggested they look at the WDE site to put solar panels on since it is elevated and cannot be seen from the street. He thought the only obstacle would be if the MPCA and the 0 EDA will let them do it. He also suggested the Community Center or any new flat top buildings. Mr. Dickinson stated there could be issues with the load capacity on the roof of the Community Center. Councilmember Knight suggested they set up some type of committee to see where this would go. Mayor Gamache thought they may need to look at changing their ordinances to accommodate these solutions. Mr. Dickinson suggested they look further at starting bus service within the city for commuters to either the Coon Rapids or Anoka Northstar Stations. Mayor Gamache thought cities further north might look at this as a possibility for their communities. Councilmember Orttel thought they should run this by Kottke's bus service to see if they were thinking of doing this. Mr. Dickinson stated they have had a lot of requests from the public for online purchases of permits using debit or credit cards. The obstacle to this is the credit card fees of close to three percent. Councilmember Orttel thought that was covered by the State under the bond. He also thought they should check and see how many requests are out there for that. Mr. Dickinson indicated they would need something like this in order to do online permits. Councilmember Trude thought they should do this as a convenience to homeowners and a good customer service. Councilmember Orttel thought they should do a three month survey to see how many requests they get. 0 Mayor Gamache thought they should look into getting a Rotary Club started. Councilmember Orttel indicated they do not have enough businesses in the city to have one. The Council discussed what was usually needed in order to have a Rotary Club. 0 Andover City Council Workshop Minutes - August 26, 2008 Page 6 OTHER BUSINESS . CSAH 58 - Ham Lake will support the CSAH 58 designation. They are upset because a road that was turned back did not get improved by the County and they are holding out to see if the County will improve it. He stated Ham Lake is willing to do the designation but would like the County to improve the road before that. Mr. Dickinson stated they could pressure them to a point. . Putnam Property - there will be a request coming forward from Minks Custom Homes. They would like the ability to pay the fees on a per unit basis. He explained the process with the Council and stated his only concern was if the property is taken down what kind of security would they have that the property will be developed and they will get their fees. . City View Farms - they called the letter of credit and the financing company did not honor it. They met with their representative onsite. They can hold them to pulling the weeds out of 0 the area, remove the trees along with straightening the fence and clean the storm sewers. After that they will have to work through their abatement process for lawn mowing. They have lowered the pricing on the units. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Orttel, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary 0