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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/02/2014 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE SHAKOPEE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP SESSION SHAKOPEE MINNESOTA SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 Present: Mayor Brad Tabke; Councilmember Matt Lehman; Councilmember Jay Whiting; Councilmember Kathi Mocol; Councilmember Mike Luce Staff City Administrator Mark McNeill; Assistant City Administrator Kris Wilson; Community Development Present: Director R. Michael Leek; Public Works Director/Engineer Bruce Loney; Parks,Recreation&Natural Resources Director Jamie Polley; Fire Chief Rick Coleman; Finance Director/City Clerk Julie A Linnihan; City Attorney Jim Thomson 1. Roll Call 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Approval of Agenda Moved by Councilmember Jay Whiting, Seconded by Councilmember Kathi Mocol to approve the agenda. Vote: 5 -0 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 removed will be considered following the public hearing portion of the agenda. Those items remaining on the consent agenda will otherwise not be individually discussed and will be enacted in one motion.) Cncl. Lehman asked to remove 4.D.,Authorization to Contract with WSB &Associates, Inc. for the Final Design, Specifications and Construction Services for the Development of Quarry Lake Park. Moved by Councilmember Matt Lehman, Seconded by Councilmember Mike Luce to approve the Consent Agenda as amended. Vote: 5 -0 A. Resolution No. 7476,A Resolution of the City of Shakopee,Minnesota Accepting the Donation of Light Fixtures from Valleyfair for the Southbridge Community Park Hockey Rink-Res.No. 7476 (D) Offered Resolution No. 7476,A Resolution of the City of Shakopee, Minnesota Accepting the Donation of Light Fixtures from Valleyfair for the Southbridge Community Park Hockey Rink. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) B. Authorization to Proceed with the Construction of the Open Air shelter at Huber Park(A) Moved to award a contract to R.W. O'Brien Contracting, LLC for the construction of the Huber Park open air shelter. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) C. Approval of Change Orders for Southbridge Community Park PR 2014-1 (A) Moved to approve the $21,805.00 change order for general project changes and the $29,058.05 project change order to realign the northern bituminous trail in favor of K.A. Witt Construction,Inc. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) D. Authorization to Contract with WSB &Associates, Inc. for the Final Design, Specifications and Construction Services for the Development of Quarry Lake Park(A,B) Item removed from the Consent Agenda. E. Appointment of Shakopee Representative and Alternate to the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) Board of Directors (D) Moved to approve a motion approving the appointment of City Councilor Mike Luce as its representative and Community Development Director Michael Leek as alternate representative to the MVTA Board of Directors. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) F. Receive the Feasibility Report and Call for a Public Hearing for the Hilldale Drive Improvements Project No. 2014-3, Res.No. 7478 (D) Offered Resolution No. 7478, a resolution receiving a report and calling for a public hearing on the Hilldale Drive Improvements Project No. 2014-3. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) G. Approve the Amendment to the Scott Joint Powers Association Joint Powers Agreement(D) Moved to approve the amendment to the Scott Joint Powers Association Joint Powers Agreement providing for the ability to contract with Scott County for prosecution services. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) H. Acceptance of Resignation of Todd Hallett from Planning Commission/BOAA (F) Moved to accept with regret the resignation of Todd Hallett from the Planning CommissionBOAA, effective July 11 th,2014. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) I. Approve Application to State Health Improvement Program(SHIP) Grant(A,D) Moved to authorize staff to submit a grant application to the State Health Improvement Program, in the amount of$15,000. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) J. City Bill List(F) Moved to approve the bills and electronic funds transfers in the amount of$959,549.57 payroll transfers in the amount of$504,884.42 for a total of$1,464,433.99. (Motion carried under the Consent Agenda) 5. RECOGNITION OF INVOLVED CITIZENS BY CITY COUNCIL(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 for the benefit of viewers and other attendees.) No one responded. 6. Business removed from the Consent Agenda will be discussed at this time Cncl. Lehman asked for the removal of 4.D.,Authorization with WSB &Associates, Inc. for the Final Design, Specifications and Construction for the Development of Quarry Lake Park because of the holiday weekend he couldn't contact staff to answer his questions. He asked Ms. Polley about funding the project and when it would be developed. Ms. Polley stated that the project would be done in phases. The Park Improvement Fund balance is approximately$2 million at this time. Moved by Councilmember Jay Whiting, Seconded by Councilmember Kathi Mocol to authorize the appropriate staff to enter into an agreement with WSB &Associates, Inc. for the preparation of the final design, specifications, and bidding documents as well as the services including the bidding procedures and construction administration for the development of Quarry Lake Park in the amount not to exceed$212,700.00. Vote: 5 -0 7. Workshop Discussion A. Presentation Regarding the Chamber Public Policy Committee's Sign Regulations (B) Angie Whitcomb, President of the Shakopee Chamber of Commerce said in 2012 the Chamber's policy committee (COCPCC)made several recommendations to the City Council,Planning Commission, and Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) for changes to the City of Shakopee's sign regulations. Over the following 12 months and several joint meetings with the Planning Commission and EDAC, staff drafted a revised version of proposed regulations. In September of 2013, copies of the resulting draft regulations were provided to the Committee for review before it would be moved forward in the City review process. At a meeting on July 15, 2014, the Committee presented city staff with a new set of recommendations that would do away with the previous draft regulations and start over. The goal is to simplify and modify the existing sign ordinance. At that time they suggested developing a graphic presentation such as a table with basic requirements and regulations as well as suggesting that it be written for business owners. Ms. Whitcomb presented a framework for the ordinance that they believe will be user friendly model. Ms. Whitcomb presented the framework and format with a simplified sign ordinance table that staff would need to fill out,business district map, and sample code language from the City of Arden Hills. Mayor Tabke asked if the current revision of the sign ordinance could be modified to include what has been presented. Ms. Whitcomb said the information in the current ordinance would need to be populated in the table to make it easier to navigate. Mr. Leek spoke to Council about the current ordinance. He also discussed his questions and concerns with the chart and maps that Ms. Whitcomb presented. After further discussion Council agreed to have staff populate the chart and bring it back to discuss how to address the unknowns for variances and size. Council would also like to better identify overlay map boundaries. They want original code language used. Staff was also asked to meet with COCPCC and bring back to the October 7, 2014 workshop meeting. B. City-wide Survey Discussion Mr. McNeill said one of the directives that was given to the City Administrator for 2014 was to "establish and monitor measurable goals for each City department." To establish an overall residents' perception of municipal service levels, it is recommended that a City-wide survey be undertaken. From a performance measurement standpoint, it would establish a "baseline" to improve the view of the levels of service from the City. The Morris Leatherman Company(M-L) is well-known in the Twin Cities area for performing statistically-valid telephone surveys on behalf of city governments and school districts. Mr. McNeill provided a sample of some of the questions which are typically asked of a city's residents. He said that the survey instrument would be tailored for our particular situation. M-L would meet first with stakeholders, including elected officials, staff, and other community representatives, to establish the topics for which inquiries would be made. Beginning to end, it is estimated that 90 days'time would be needed. Therefore,the base results could be received before the end of the year. Overall, the cost would range from a low of$13,000 to $22,000 which would be charged to the City Council budget. Council feels a 30-40 minute survey may be to long and suggested shortening the survey. They also asked staff to contact the Shakopee School District on a possible joint facility questions. Council agreed to move forward with the survey. Staff said they will bring back information to the October 7, 2014 meeting. Moved by Councilmember Matt Lehman, Seconded by Councilmember Kathi Mocol to recess for a break. Vote: 5 -0 C. FY15 Budget Followup Discussion 1. Preliminary 2015 Budget and Property Tax Levy(C) Ms. Linnihan said that following several recent Council session discussions, the City Council is asked to provide preliminary approval to the 2015 preliminary property tax levies, to be submitted to Scott County by September 30th, 2014. Council will be asked to formally adopt the preliminary property tax levy on September 16th, 2014. These preliminary levies will include the General fund tax levy, as well as levies for the debt service. As reviewed in the previous work session discussions,the preliminary levy is the maximum levy that can be established by City Council action. This levy cannot be increased before submittal of the final levy in December, 2014 for property tax year 2015. Ms. Linnihan provided Council with the "what if'tax analysis that are generated by Scott County, specific to each City. The work sheets are adjusted from the prior year for changes in TIF,Fiscal Disparities, as well as the details at the bottom half of the forms (Residential impacts) that indicate the changes in Estimated Market Value. The residential impact chart reflects the increase in the market values as well as the impact to proposed taxes. The charts list the proposed increases to the base tax levy, as follows: 9 Values as presented in 2014, with levy remaining flat .Increase for Fire Building debt levy from $175,000 to $200,000 .Increases in the proposed levies, at 5%, 8% and 10%over the 2014 base (3 separate impact sheets) The 2015 budget discussions have included the following: .Market value of residential properties will experience growth, estimated at approximately 13%,according to Scott County .The 2015 Proposed Levy Certification forms provides for a 10%increase Ms. Linnihan outlined the departmental budgets that reflect material changes from their prior year operational budgets. She also outlined the Highway 101 corridor work plan as follows: .A follow-up plan will be developed specific to the Downtown/101 Corridor project to more clearly define a multi-year improvement plan. As discussed, these funds are not a part of the transfer of$1M to the CIP. This transfer as proposed will be to a new program, Downtown Capital Project. .The first component of this project will be to develop a plan for the corridor, following the initial study,which is estimated to be $100,000 .The estimated improvements related to this plan in 2015 are in a range from $100,000 - $200,000 for parking lots, alleys, drainage improvements, access to Huber Park, sidewalks and downtown amenities, etc. .Property acquisition has also been discussed in many of the recent Council discussions. The smaller parcels in the downtown district may require planning for the purchase of multiple parcels in a larger economic development plan. As the Council considers the proposed funding for acquisition, the funding requirement is requested at$100,000 .In total,the request for the Downtown capital plan proposal for 2015 are estimated at $300,000 to $500,000 She discussed position requests made by staff. The additional position requests for the 2015 budget are presented on the attached work paper, listing the 2015 estimates per position, as presented at the last City Council meeting. Moved by Councilmember Matt Lehman, Seconded by Councilmember Mike Luce to increase the levy by 5%. Vote: 2 -3 Opposed: Mayor Brad Tabke Councilmember Jay Whiting Councilmember Kathi Mocol Moved by Councilmember Kathi Mocol, Seconded by Councilmember Jay Whiting to increase the levy by 10%with the condition that the levy can be reduced by December. Vote: 3 -2 Opposed: Councilmember Matt Lehman Councilmember Mike Luce 2. IT Staffing and Structure for 2014 &Beyond(B) Ms. Wilson said the City's current IT structure consists of two full-time IT professionals—an IT Coordinator and an IT Specialist. They are part of the Administration Department and both report to the Assistant City Administrator. The IT Coordinator position is currently vacant due to staff turnover and we are having difficulty filling the position. Council is asked to take a broader look at the City's IT staffing and structure, in the context of our current vacancy,the 2015 budget and beyond. She said keeping up with the City's IT needs while having a two-person IT staff has been a challenge for the past several years and seems to have reached a breaking point in the past year. The Council has numerous goals and objectives, as do each of our individual Departments,which cannot be met without taking a markedly new approach to IT. Technology related projects need to be completed both faster and better if the City is going to keep up in the areas of customer service and service delivery. Ms. Wilson is recommending that Council consider the creation of a separate IT Department,with a department director reporting directly to the City Administrator. The proposed new department would consist of five full-time employees. She provided Council with an outline of the department structure and proposed costs. The City's Internal Service Fund is traditionally used to pay for IT hardware and software,but not personnel costs. However, the Fund currently has a healthy cash position that would allow the City to temporarily deviate from past practice and utilize funds on hand to make the bold move to an IT Department. Ms. Wilson said the Finance Director recommends that 50% of the funds needed to implement this transition be included within the 2015 levy and the other 50%be paid for out of the cash position of the IT Fund. This will not be sustainable indefinitely,but will allow for the costs of a full IT Department to be gradually added to the tax levy over two or three years. After discussion, the consensus of Council is to create an I.T. Department. They also asked staff to bring back information of how to phase in three additional employees in 2015. 3. Position Request- Assistant Fire chief(F) Ms. Wilson provided a fully-developed position request that Chief Coleman submitted which is more detailed than the previous position request given to Council at the last meeting. She and Chief Coleman answered questions from Council regarding the new position request. The consensus of the Council was to include the Assistant Fire Chief position in the preliminary budget,but investigate sharing opportunities with other fire departments. 8. Adjourn to September 16, 2014 at 7:00 pm Moved by Councilmember Kathi Mocol, Seconded by Councilmember Matt Lehman to adjourn to Tuesday, September 16,2014. Meeting ended at 9:16 p.m. Vote: 5 -0 Julie A Linnihan Finance Director/City Clerk Kim Weckman Recording Secretary