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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWK- April 28, 2009 V � - r 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. *ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CI.ANDOVER.MN.US City Council Workshop Tuesday, April 28, 2009 Conference Rooms A & B 1. Call to Order — 6:00 p.m. 2. Discuss Proposed Legislation for Parks Funding \City of Ham Lake Initiative 3. Discuss Open Space Land Purchase 4. Discuss 2009 Transit Survey 5. Continued Discussion Single Family Residential Market Value Preservation © 6. Progress Report — Hanson Boulevard Sustainable Landscape Pilot Project 7. 2010 Budget Development Discussion 8. 2010 -2014 Capital Improvement Plan Discussion 9. Other Discussion 10. Adjournment i© Y A. I T 7 1 T 0 '- : b, ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP —APRIL 28, 2009 MINUTES The Andover City Council Workshop was called to order by Mayor Mike Gamache, April 28, 2009, 6:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Sheri Bukkila, Don Jacobson, Mike Knight, Julie Trude Councilmember absent: None Also present: Director of Public Works /City Engineer, Dave Berkowitz City Administrator, Jim Dickinson Community Development Director /Will Neumeister Others DISCUSS OPEN SPACE LAND PURCHASE Mr. Dickinson explained an appraisal of the Luedtke property was completed and grant applications have been submitted. The DNR appears interested in the site as they have scheduled a site visit for May 5 As it stands, the appraised value of the properly is $836,000. The Luedtke Family is requesting $1.1 million. Staff is hopeful that half of the appraised value can be funded by grants. However, the DNR reports that a decision will not be made until the end of summer. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the family had an appraisal done. Mr. Dickinson stated they did not, the City hired an independent appraiser. The family is still looking for $1.1 million dollars. Mr. Dickinson stated the grant would be around $420,000. Councilmember Jacobson asked what the County has assessed the property at. Mr. Dickinson did not recall the county assessed value. In regard to the Russell property, staff prepared an offer for the seven acre concept proposed by the property owner. Staff is waiting to hear back from them so that the numbers can be discussed. The offer is based on the estimated market value of the property and recent city and Anoka County Parks Department appraisal information. This information produced a range from $9,410 - $14,911 per acre. The high end of the range is based on the recent appraisals which included both developable and floodplain property. As the seven acre area is entirely within the floodplain, the land cannot be valued at the high end of the range. The property is considered to be more valuable than the $10,000 per acre base used by Anoka County to value tillable floodplain acreage because of its location along the river. The offer is $12,161 per acre or the midpoint between the estimated market value ($9,410) and somewhat comparable land sales ($14,911). This totals $85,127 for seven acres. © Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 2 Councilmember Knight asked if there is buildable land on the property. Mr. Dickinson stated there is some but the prime land they are looking at is not necessarily developable land. Councilmember Jacobson asked when the grants are normally approved. Mr. Dickinson thought it was usually in August. Councilmember Knight asked what would be the money situation, what would they spend, assuming both properties went ahead with the sale. Mr. Dickinson stated they have the authorization to bond $2 million and it all depends, it there are two parcels on the line he would recommend issuing the entire $2 million to save on fees. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the City could go ahead and use their own funds and then reimburse themselves with the bonds. Mr. Dickinson stated that would not be a problem, the only thing they are cash flowing now is the appraisal which was about $2,000. Councilmember Knight asked what they would do with the money that is left over. Mr. Dickinson explained the process they would need to go through with excess money. 2010 -2014 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANDISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson reviewed with the Council the preliminary projections of available fund balances. Councilmember Trude asked what is going on with the Park Budget since it looks like they are obligated for six more years for Andover Station North. Mr. Dickinson stated they are looking at 2015 for final payoff but if they were to get additional commercial park dedication fees they will pay it off as early as possible. Councilmember Trude wondered why this is taking so long, is it because of Bruggeman. Mr. Dickinson stated it is land sales in general. There have not been any recent park dedication funds that have come in and if the funds are not there from park dedication or the payment exceeds the $50,000 annual levy they will have to supplement with additional tax levy. He stated it is not eligible for TIF funding. Staff and the Council reviewed Park Dedication Funding and how the City has been helping to supplement the park system. Councilmember Trude stated the public is hearing that the City is not spending anything on parks since it is not in the park budget but the maintenance is coming from the general fund and should be made more public. Park Chairman Butler thought one of the things he has been inquiring about is with the Andover Station North cell phone tower that part of the funds would be available for Andover Station North debt reduction. Mr. Dickinson stated the funds are being used at Andover Station North for operations of that facility. Even with concessions it will not cover the costs to operate the © Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 3 Andover Station North facility. Councilmember Trude stated even if they do not cover the $130,000 they would be using the general funds to cover that. Mr. Dickinson stated they could increase the annual levy for that but starting out it was to be done by park dedication funds and that would need to be changed by the Council. Mr. Dickinson stated if they add Hawkridge back into the maintenance and reconstruction program and they do not see contributions by the different associations and volunteerism this will impact the operational budget. If a well is added to irrigate the park, the City will experience an additional mowing expense. Councilmember Knight asked if the soccer association has committed yet. Mr. Dickinson stated they have not made any commitments yet. Mr. Dickinson indicated that according to the most recent parks study the City is ahead of the current build out of parks versus city growth build out. Park Chairman Butler agreed with the idea of them being on track but he thought they all have to recognize that once the City is all built up they will still have to do park maintenance over the longer term and what the City is putting into the park system is not going to be efficient in the long run. Councilmember Knight stated they have a twenty year cycle on the parks as far as age. Park Chairman Butler stated schools and parks are the reason why people move to cities so they need to maintain them. Mayor Gamache stated on the $770,000 for the ballfields how much was for the building and lights. Mr. Dickinson stated none of this was for the building. Park Chairman Butler stated his concern is that they are using funds from one area of the City to fund other parts of the City and some of the parks are not getting improved. Mr. Dickinson indicated that the City has been focusing on regional parks. DISCUSS 2009 TRANSIT SURVEY Mr. Neumeister stated this item is intended to summarize resident response to the transit survey that was advertised in the previous newsletter and offered on the City web site over the last two ® months. Councilmember Jacobson stated he did not see the volume that would handle transit in Andover. Mr. Neumeister stated there is not enough response to build a transit hub or bring a bus into the City. © Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 4 Mayor Gamache wondered if they should push this out to the Funfest event to get more advertisement out there for the survey. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should wait and see the response when the NorthStar service starts and then see what people want. DISCUSS PROPOSED LEGISLATION FOR PARKS FUNDING /CITY OF HAM LAKE INITIATIVE Mr. Mel Aanerud and Park Chairman Ted Butler explained the proposed legislation for parks funding. Councilmember Jacobson stated instead of going through all this they have the ability to levy for it every year. Mr. Aanerud stated they could do this but what this does is it gives the public the opportunity to look at what they are planning on doing. Mr. Dickinson stated it puts it outside of the levy limits. Park Chairman Butler stated the Park Commission decided to pass this onto Council without a recommendation since there was a split decision. He stated they did have some concerns regarding the County being able to levy the cities for their projects even if the prof ect was not done in Andover. He stated some people like to go to referendum instead of levy. He indicated he personally liked that it allows them to pay for significant projects without paying interest, it is transparent to taxpayers and at a time where cities are losing funding the State ought to be providing more flexibility to the cities and this would allow the city to do funding. Park Chairman Butler stated one way to look at this is to look at the five year capital improvement plan for the City and propose the amount to the residents for assessment over five years to be built in five years. Councilmember Knight stated he would be surprised if this would pass by vote and there was eminent domain in the proposed bill. Councilmember Jacobson stated he is concerned about "government entity" because a sports facility could be constructed inside or outside of Anoka County and the residents would have to pay for it. Councilmember Bukkila stated she would not want this proposed legislation to provide for parks over police and fire because they currently choose not to go outside of the levy limits to help pay for police and fire. They are here to save and protect lives. Councilmember Trude stated this could take ® pressure off the levy to provide a way for more trails which are typically paid for by new housing. Councilmember Jacobson thought this was written too broad and if narrowed down he would feel better about it. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 5 Councilmember Jacobson stated in subdivision five there is a flaw because of the way it is written and he would want it corrected before he agreed to support this. Councilmember Trude stated she liked this because it gives them the option to plan for park improvements but she is concerned about the wording regarding the County and thought there should be a joint powers agreement. Mayor Gamache thought this could be useful for funding of trails in the City. Mr. Aanerud indicated he would make note of the comments and see about rewording some of the items the Council discussed. CONTINUED DISCUSSION SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL MARKET VALUE PRESERVATION Mr. Neumeister stated this was last discussed by the Council on March 24, 2009. Since that meeting, staff has drafted an ordinance amendment to Title 9, Chapter 8, Rental Housing Dwellings to incorporate single family rental licenses into the ordinance. Staff has also included definitions to explain the differences between the licenses; provisional, regular, and single family rental licenses. Staff has also revised drafts for the following attachments: Single family rental dwelling license application, frequently asked questions pertaining to the single family rental housing program, and a home and yard checklist. These materials would be dispersed upon request of an application and made available at city hall and on the website. Mr. Neumeister reviewed with the Council the City Attorney's comments regarding this matter. Councilmember Jacobson thought this was overly complex. Mr. Neumeister stated they tried to keep the rental ordinance and blend in the single family rentals so they would not need to make up a whole new ordinance. Councilmember Trude stated they are taking the rental ordinance and adding a few paragraphs. She is concerned about the provisional rental license and thought they should just do some references back. Councilmember Bukkila stated on page 8, letter D, notice of violation, the first offense, said "The City shall give notice to licensee of the violation and direct the licensee to take steps to prevent further violation". She wondered if that is really doable. Mr. Neumeister stated in the multi - family units it has helped to notify the owner because otherwise they would not know they had a violation at © all. Mr. Dickinson stated the owner likes the City notifying them because then they can blame the City for telling the renter to stop what they were doing. ® Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 6 Councilmember Bukkila stated on page 10, section C, juvenile status crimes, she did not think this should be included because it is one step too far into the household. She thought this should be handled in families and not City wide. She did not want public hearings for code violations of juveniles. Mayor Gamache asked if they took this out what would they lose. Councilmember Bukkila stated they would lose the ability to abate a property based on juvenile issues and would include underage drinking which would be a truancy offense. Councilmember Knight stated it gives the parent a lever to make the juvenile behave. Councilmember Bukkila stated a juvenile is protected in the court but would not be at the City level. Mr. Dickinson stated rarely do they get to the provisional level because at that point the landlord is telling the renter they need to find a new place to rent. Mayor Gamache stated his issue is tying the new piece into the old piece and trying to make it work. The Council discussed some changes they would like to change in the ordinance. Councilmember Bukkila liked the idea that the City is not forced into going down only one road and the Council can decide what to pursue. This will give the landlord notification so they can decide what they want to do. Councilmember Knight asked if they would have liability if they do not check the interior of the home for safety items. Mr. Dickinson stated they did not have any liability, based on how the application is presented. Councilmember Jacobson stated on page 6, under License Terms and Renewals, Section A should have a line indicating that the license starts on the application date. Mr. Dickinson stated they will prorate this. Councilmember Jacobson stated it should read "...or on the commencement date." Councilmember Jacobson stated on page 7, item D it should indicate "10 business days ". Councilmember Jacobson stated on page 12, "...conducted.", delete the rest of the sentence. Under Section A "inspections may be conducted on the property which could include and exterio ." Under Section B, he would scratch the entire thing. Mr. Neumeister stated he would not want to get rid of the entire item B because it will give them the ability for abatement. The Council discussed with staff rental house inspections and what it meant in the ordinance. © Mayor Gamache stated the City is trying to keep the cost of licensing low and if the inspection of the property gets to be extensive the fee will need to go up in order to pay for the extra inspection services. Mr. Neumeister noted this is also not meant to be intrusive on the property owners and are trying to make this easy to enforce and keep in compliance. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 7 Mr. Dickinson stated part of the inspection will be to drive up, use a checklist and take photos if necessary. If the Council is looking for something substantially more they will need to get someone with more knowledge to do the inspection. The Council continued to discuss with staff what an inspection should include and what they should charge for a fee. Mr. Peterson thought this was just a bunch of bureaucracy. He thought the City should inspect everyone's homes and not just rentals. Mayor Gamache stated when they first started to talk about this it was not about in -depth inspections; it was to notify the owner of problems. Councilmember Trude stated she is ok with the way the words are written, it is the way staff is interpreting them. Councilmember Jacobson thought they should bring this forward to the Planning and Zoning Commission for their input. Mr. Peterson stated he rents places and the neighbors are the ones that look after his homes and alert him to any problems. Mayor Gamache stated their goal is to find a way to do this for a cheap way and give the landlord information regarding their home. The Council discussed the reason why they are looking at this added ordinance for single family rental homes. Councilmember Jacobson stated on page 17, frequently asked questions, section 9 regarding making sure the real estate taxes are paid, he could understand if the city sewer and water is up to date but why would they care if the property tax is paid. Mr. Dickinson thought that could be deleted since it will still go to the owner of the property. Councilmember Jacobson stated on page 18 under item 13, the first dot says "inspections may be conducted on the property, including interior." He thought that should be removed and then under violations this is what they have been talking about. Councilmember Trude thought there was too much information and should be condensed. Mr. Dickinson stated this is meant to be an informational document for the owner of the rental property. Councilmember Bukkila thought normally when they are doing a code ordinance and are looking at it from an enforcement aspect to enter on a property would be a risky situation, when you are providing a service for a fee it is more of a customer basis and not adversarial basis. She thought the risk is minimal in comparison. Mr. Dickinson stated they will find a way to provide a more comprehensive inspection of the property. The Council recessed at 8:25 p.m. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 8 The Council reconvened at 8:30 p.m. PROGRESS REPORT — IIANSON BOULEVARD SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE PILOT PROJECT Mr. Neumeister reviewed the landscape pilot project with the Council. The Council felt the project area looked really nice. Councilmember Knight thought they should write a letter to the school thanking them for all the kids helping out. 2010 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION Mr. Dickinson stated City Departments will soon be starting the 2010 Annual Operating Budget Development process and is looking to the City Council to establish the Council's guidelines for the preparation of the 2010 Annual Operating Budget. Mr. Dickinson stated he needed to know if the Council wanted to use the City Tax Capacity Rate to meet the needs of the organization and position the City for long -term competitiveness through the use of sustainable revenue sources and operational efficiencies because he felt the rate will be going up significantly or they could use just tax levy instead. The Council consensus was to use tax levy instead of tax rate. Councilmember Jacobson asked if the School District is going to do anything. Councilmember Trude stated they are going to have on the school ballot to renew an operating levy. She did not know at this point if they will increase it or not. Mr. Dickinson stated on Item 3 regarding a fiscal goal is reasonable and not less than thirty-five percent, they would prefer to stay at thirty -seven and get it through 2010 if they do not need to use it because they will likely need it for 2011. Mr. Dickinson stated they will maintain their emergency fund balances and would also be formally adopting their ninety -five percent limitation of the 2009 general fund expenditures. Mr. Dickinson reviewed the general fund operational costs and investment securities with the Council. Mr. Dickinson stated City Staff will only be purchasing equipment that is needed or worn out. The Council discussed the merits of employee salary step increases and cost -of- living increases for the 2010 budget. �. Andover City Council Workshop Minutes —April 28, 2009 Page 9 Councilmember Jacobson asked if they were getting their monies worth for the community education contributor. Councilmember Trude explained what the City was receiving for the money. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Dickinson reviewed the Road and Bridge Levy with the Council. Mr. Dickinson stated at the next Council meeting the Council will hold an Andover HRA meeting in order to approve minutes from 2003, swear in Councilmember Bukkila, appoint officers and to show activity from the HRA for the current year to indicate to the County that they have an HRA and intend to utilize it. Councilmember Jacobson wondered if they are going to fix the sign in front of City Hall. Mr. Dickinson stated it would cost around $25,000 to fix. Motion by Knight, Seconded by Jacobson, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Osbeck, Recording Secretary