HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/6/2014 � �
OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE SHAKOPEE CITY COLTNCIL
WORKSHOP SESSION SHAKOPEE MINNESOTA May 6, 2014
Present: Mayor Brad Tabke; Councilmember Matt Lehman; Councilmember Jay Whiting;Councilmember
Kathi Mocol; Councilmember Mike Luce
Staff Mark McNeill,City Administrator;R. Michael Leek,Community Development Director;Bruce Loney,
Present: Public Works Director/Engineer; Jamie Polley,Parks,Recreation&Natural Resources Director;Julie
A Linnihan,Finance Director/Ciry Clerk
Attendees: John Crooks, Shakopee Public Utilities Manager; Bryan McGowan, SPUC Commission Member; Joe
Helkamp, SPUC Commission Member;Bill Mars, SPUC Commission Member; Terry Joos, SPUC
Commission Member; Jordan Olson, SPUC Commission Member
1. Roll Call
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approval of Agenda
Moved by Matt Lehman, seconded by Kathi Mocol
Vote: 5 -0 Carried
4. Consent Business(All items listed in this section are anticipated to be routine. After a discussion by
the Mayor there will be an opportunity for members of the City Council to remove items from the
consent agenda for individual discussion. Those items remaining on the consent agenda will
otherwise not be individually discussed and will be enacted in one motion.)
Moved by Matt Lehman, seconded by Mike Luce
Vote: 5 -0 Carried
A. Offered Resolution 7445, a Resolution Amending the Personnel Handbook far Employees of the City
of Shakopee, and move its adoption. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda)
B. Offered Resolution No.7444,which accepts the bids and awards a contract for the 2014 Street
Reconstruction,Project No. 2014-1 to Wm. Mueller& Sons, Inc. and approve a 5%contingency
amount on this project for use by the City Engineer in authorizing change orders or quantity
adjustments on this project. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda)
C. Moved to approve the bills in the amount of$ 590,404.84 and electronic transfers in the amount of
$542,473.65 for a total of$1,132,878.49.(Motion carried under the Consent Agenda)
D. Offered Resolution No. 7447,A Resolution of the City of Shakopee,Minnesota
Accepting the Donation of Safety Fence at Tahpah Park from the Shakopee Men's Softball. (Motion
carried under the Consent Agenda)
E. Moved to appoint Mike Luce as City Council representative,and Economic Development
Coordinator Samantha DiMaggio as the two City representatives on the Main Street Shakopee
Steering Committee. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda)
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F. Offer Resolution No. 7446,a Resolution Amending the Pay Plan for Part-Time,Temporary and
Seasonal Employees, and move its adoption. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda)
5. RECOGNITION OF INVOLVED CITIZENS BY CITY COiJNCIL(Limited to five minutes per
person/subject. Longer presentations must be scheduled through the City Clerk.AS this meeting is
cablecast, speakers must approach the microphone at the podium far the benefit of viewers and other
attendees.)
No one responded.
6. Business removed from the Consent Agenda will be discussed at this time.
Nothing removed.
7. Joint Meeting with Shakopee Public Utilities
A. Power Outage Notification Options.
Council members discussed with the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission(SPUC)the need for
public notification of power outages. SPUC Utility Manager,John Crooks, explained the current
procedures for notifications. SPUC members said there is a safety concern for notifications of all
power outages. Council suggested a general message regarding a power outage and an approximate
time the power will be out. Council asked staff to look into linking the City Facebook page and
Police social media sites to advise of power outage information in the City.
B. Frozen Water and Sewer Lines-Proper Roles
Mr. McNeill said that Council discussed at a previous meeting the responsibility of frozen pipes and
who is responsible for these incidents. Mr. McNeill said the line running from the house to the main
is the property owners responsibility but the question is what should SPUC or the City be responsible
for in terms of who should be out maintaining those lines,making them operable again.
Mr. Crooks said that the past winter was very cold and that the frost was down so deep that the
service lines themselves froze. Most lines are buried 7.5 feet in the ground. Mr. Crooks said that of
the 11,000 customers with SPUC only 19 service lines froze. SPUC had the homeowner take care of
contracting with someone to thaw out their lines. The costs to thaw was the responsibility of the
homeowner. SPUC will be sending letters to the homeowners who had the frozen lines at the
beginning of the next winter season reminding them of the problems they had with frozen pipes. Mr.
Crooks said that if we have another below avenge winter, SPUC will be handling the problems the
same way they did last year. Mr. Crooks said state code is to have the lines buried at 7 feet and
SPUC's policy is that they must bury the lines at 7.5 feet.
Mayor Tabke stressed the need for the City and SPUC to improve communications with residents by
working mare closely with each entities communications staf£ All were in agreement that a flyer
could go out with SPUC bills letting residents know what their responsibility is and who they should
contact. They also agreed that incidents of frozen water service lines rests on the property owner.
SPUC and the City also agreed of the need to re look at the policy regarding who is responsible for
the line from the main,in the middle of the street,to the curb stop.
C. Long Term Infrastructure Investments for Future Extension of Water, Electric and Sewer Utilities to
Areas in Soutbwest Shakopee
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Mr. McNeill said that there is a lack of plat activity in Shakopee. The City would like to have a
discussion with SPUC regarding long-term water, electrical and other services, specifically to areas to
the south and west, including Louisville and Jackson townships. Mr. McNeill said that not all of the
areas around the 169/69 intersection are in the SPUC service boundary areas.
Mr. Crooks stated that Shakopee has seen an influx of development and SPUC has been well
positioned to address the utility needs of that growth. Mr. Crooks provided formation regarding
SPUC's 5 year CIP schedule and a map of three different water pressure zones to serve Shakopee. On
the electrical side,Mr. Crooks again discussed the five year CIP schedule and provided maps of
current substation locations and electrical service territories. The long term plan is in place to address
potential annexation of Jackson Township with regard to water and electricity.
With regard to water connection charges, SPUC feels it is important to keep utility rates low for all
users and connection charges to explain the water system. They believe they are a business enterprise
and do not want to deal with the political issues. They suggested the possibility of a donation to an
Economic Development Fund. SPUC indicated that it has the ability to spread water connection
charges over a three year time frame.
Council would like to see SPUC to be more responsive and to recognize a community-wide economic
development need.
D. Long Term Groundwater Sustainability for Shakopee
Mr. McNeill discussed the SCALE meeting in Apri1 in which a representative from the Metropolitan
Council talked about water availability. The Met. Council representative expressed some concerns
about long-term water availability for the southwest metro area. Mr. McNeill asked Mr. Crooks to
discuss with Council what has been done locally in terms of water availability.
Mr. Crooks said that water supply has been an issue of concern for many years. With the dramatic
increases in growth in Shakopee that have taken place over the years, SPUC has been able to
effectively serve the electric and water needs of Shakopee and surrounding areas.
In 2004 the SPUC wanted to create a region specific groundwater model that would simulate
continued growth while also addressing potential future annexation by the City and the potential sale
of up to 3 million gallons a day to the City of Savage. Mr. Crooks presented the executive summary
of the report from the groundwater modeL He also said the Met Council and DNR's model has some
inaccuracies.
E. Water Connection Charges and Economic Development
Mr. McNeill discussed Sewer Availability Charges(SAC)and Water Availability Charges (WAC).
Mayor Tabke said on the downtown corridor the water connection charges are a huge hurdle for
getting restaurants and other small businesses in this area. Mayor Tabke asked if there was an
opporlunity for SPUC to defer water connection charges over a few years for new business. He also
asked for Mr. Crooks to provide an overview of where water connection charges come from and how
they are determined.
Mr. Crooks said the water system is set up and to be funded by three charges; commodity water rate,
which funds the operations of the system;trunk water charges,which is typically paid by a developers
and that is to provide for a future grid system; and water connection charges which are paid as water
services connecting to the system that funds the production,the storage and the treatment of the water
system. Mr. Crooks also explained water connection charges are based on SAC units which is what
the Met. Council determines to be what a typical residential home would use on that charge.
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The current SPUC policy states that the determination of SAC units for that property is determined by
the Metropolitan Council the number of the water connection units. Presently the water connection
charge is $4,738 per SAC unit, in 2014.
Mayor Tabke discussed the problem with large WAC and SAC charges with regard to small business
starting up. He's asking if there is a way to spread those charges out over time.
F. Franchise Agreements with Other Utilities �
Mr. Crooks said that there are no franchise fees for electric utilities serving Shakopee. Power is
provided by three different electric companies. In 2001 SPUC established a basis for the payment of
an amount to the City which would be equivalent to a franchise fee on its electric services revenues,
utilizing some of the factors under consideration by the City at that time.
The City made the decision to not impose the proposed franchise fees with the other electric utilities,
but SPUC continues to provide contribution to Shakopee. Mr. Crooks provided the history of the
yearly contributions and the value of the fee services provided to Shakopee since 2000. Mr. Crooks is
suggesting that the City reconsider imposing franchise fees. Mayor Tabke stated that he would like to
add franchise fees to a future workshop.
G. Utility Rates for Electric and Water
Commissioner Mars stated that SPUC's water rates are some of the lowest among neighboring
communities. He also said that the electric rates are somewhat more complicated than a simple
comparative analysis. He discussed SPUC's rates in comparison to Xcel Energy rates are
significantly lower. Another comparison is SPUCs rates within Minnesota Municipal Power
Agency. SPUC rates are competitively even with having the same wholesale company.
Moved by Kathi Mocol and seconded by Matt Lehman to recess for a break.
Vote : Motion carried 5-0.
8. Workshop Discussion
A. Revisions to City Code Section 11.60, Subdivision 9,Tree Managment Regulations-Ord.No. 883
(A,B)(Tabled from April 15, 2014).
Jacob Busiahn,Natural Resources Technician stated at the April 15th meeting, several members of
the City Council indicated that their main concern regarding the proposed text amendment was how
it pertained to commercial/industrial properties. The original tree management ordinance was
established to manage the woodlands within in the City as development happened. This included
both residential and commercial/industriaL It was also established to make sure developers would
consider the nahiral areas of the sites when developing. When reviewing the applicability of the
ordinance to commercial/industrial two questions should be considered: 1)far commercial/industrial
zoning, is some woodland preservation in the best interest of the city,and 2)what is the proper role of
the City in managing the community's natural resources?
The Council also had questions regarding the financial security, and the requirement for a tree
inventory.
The purpose of the financial security is to give the City some recourse if a developer or builder does
not replace trees after clearing them as required by ordinance. A portion of the financial security is
typically kept for two years to assure the required plantings are kept in good health during the
establishment period.
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The purpose of the tree inventory is to determine what species and size of trees exist on the site, and
if possible,to develop a site plan which works around some high priority areas.
Exempt commercial/industrial from the Tree Management Regulations and increase landscaping
required in Section 11.60 Subdivision 8.
•Does not require an inventory or financial security(financial security would be required as part
of the landscape requirements).
.Leaves the City with no recourse when woodlands are cleared and a developer sells the site
(which is why the moratorium was put in place in March 2013).
.A builder will not have an opportunity to save trees if the developer decides to clear the land
while platting.
.Could create sites with all of the landscaping is in one area of the site, instead of screening
roads and buildings or evenly dispersed through out site.
.City is not informed when or how woodlands are being cleared.
.Does not stop clear cutting of sites without replacement.
Mr. Busiahn provided a general overview of the proposed ordinance,as well as the proposed
ordinance in its entirety with more clarification has been added to the tree inventory requirements in
the proposed ordinance since the April 15th meeting.
Council also asked staff to bring back two choices: 1. Exempt commercial/industrially-zoned
properties from the provisions of the tree management ordinance. 2 Exempt
commercial/industrially-zoned properties from the provisions of the tree management ordinance but
exempt commercial/industrial to a certain point. Bring back options for Council to consider,
including if the developer wants to save trees, those would be applied to the end-users landscaping
plan as credit. Also consider changing the percentage of trees which are permitted to remain,and
address changes in quality of trees.
Moved by Matt Lehman, seconded by Kathi Mocol Tabled to May 20, 2014.
Vote: 5 -0 Carried
B. Revisions to City Code Section 11.60, Subdivision 8,Landscaping Requirements-Ord.No. 884
(A,B) (Tabled from April 15,2014).
Mr. Busiahn said on March 20,2014, a joint meeting was held between the Economic Development
Advisory Committee(EDAC)and the Planning Commission to consider proposed revisions to the
Landscape Requirements. The Planning Commission reviewed the revisions again on April3rd.
He discussed the current landscaping requirements and the proposed amendments as recommended
by the Planning Commission.
Moved by Matt Lehman, seconded by Kathi Mocol to table to May 20,2014.
Vote: 5 - 0 Carried
C. Natural Resources Corridar Design Criteria Amendment-Res.No. 7442 (Tabled from April 15,
2014).
Mr. Busiahn said that in order to make the Natural Resources Corridor Design Criteria(NRCDC)
consistent with the proposed amended,Tree Preservation Requirements(Sec.11.60 Subd. 9) sections
1 and 4 of the NRCDC must be updated with amendments to the definitions,tree replacement
requirements, allowable tree removal,and requirements to the tree preservation plan.
Moved by Matt Lehman, seconded by Kathi Mocol to table to May 20,2014.
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Vote: 5 - 0 Carried
D. Presentation of City Staff Six Month Special Projects and Initiative Plan.
Mr. McNeill said at the Apri129th Workshop meeting,Council passed motion directing Staff to bring
in a one-page six month wark plan for all departments.
He said that rather than a work plan, stafftitled this "Special Projects and Initiatives". What staff
understood Council wanting to do was to see what"other" items are anticipated over the next six
months. For that reason, staff looked at what special projects, and additional work might be
performed during that time. Mr. McNeill provided council with a copy of the special projects.
Moved by Kathi Mocol,seconded by Jay Whiting moved to adopt the Special Projects and Initiatives
document for June-December 2014.
Vote: 5 -0 Carried
9. Adjourn to May 20,2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Moved by Kathi Mocol,seconded by Mike Luce
Vote: 5 -0 Carried
Julie A Linnihan �
Finance Director/City CJ�rk �
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I�im Weckman
Recording Secretary