11-28-00 WSMINUTES
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -NOVEMBER 2~, 2000
A work session of the Hopkins City Council was held at 6:00 p.m. on November 28,
2000, at the City Hall. Present were Mayor Maxwell and Council members Brausen, Hesch,
Jensen and Jr~i~n~snn, Inning and Plar,~r~r g (~nrr~isgir~n memljerc present were Rr~gc Ba_rt~~
Maura Swenson, John Szuba, Eric Randolph, Maureen Allen, Jay Thompson and Bruce
Rowan. City personnel present were City Manager Mielke, Finance Director Wager, Public
Works Director Stadler, City Attorney Jerre Miller, Building official Rick Davidson, City
Planner Nancy Anderson, Housing inspector Elizabeth Page and Community Development
Director Kerrigan. Also present were Gary Brown of RLK and his associates.
Joint Council/Z&P Meeting: Vehicle/storage Ordinance
Nancy Anderson showed photos of various sites, noting that at present all sites were in
compliance with ordinances. The definition of "junk vehicle" was discussed. Maura Swenson
and Ross Bartz said community appearance was important. Fran Hesch said she hoped a
balance could be found between cleaning up bad sites due to negligence without penalizing
people who have multiple vehicles, etc. Karen Jensen said she was worried about defining
"nuisance. " She later noted she had received a number of calls from concerned RV owners
after the Highlights article. Rick Brausen said he felt an extended public information program
would help, adding limiting numbers of cars, etc. could cause people to not want to live in
Hopkins. Diane Johnson suggested the photos shown be sent to those parties, asking what they
would do if the suggested ordinance changes were enacted. Steve Mielke suggested Z&P
could take one topic per month at their meetings, spreading the whole process over 6 months,
starting in January. Discussion centered on order of topics. Jay Thompson suggested starting
with number of vehicles; Mayor Maxwell agreed. Fran Hesch thought easier topics should
start; Bruce Rowan agreed. Maura Swenson suggested number of cars might be connected to
ground cover area. Maureen Allen suggested apartment managers be contacted for input;
Diane Johnson concurred. Mayor Maxwell noted the inspection people need to be involved
throughout the process so they can feel comfortable with enforcement. Jim Kerrigan noted that
Z&P does not need to create ordinance measures for every topic; the staff suggestions are just
that, suggestions, not mandates.
Mr. Mielke explained the concept of the City Court to the Commission members,
noting the officers were appointed a week ago.
General Consensus: The fourth item in the "junk vehicle" definition should be
omitted. The Commission would like to take one topic per meeting, working over a period of
time; no consensus was reached on order of topics at this time. Contacting people whose
property was photographed, apartment managers, etc. should be done as their topics come up.
Mr. Mielke will provide Commission members with information on City Court.
Parking Lot 500/600 and Avenue Feasibility Report
Director Stadler said the goal was to get a project business owners and property owners
would accept. He noted cost figures ($245,000 for 10"' and 11"' Avenues and $224,000 for
Lots 500 and 600) were "worst scenario" figures. A meeting with business people is
scheduled for December 6, after which the proposal will be redrafted. Then it will be brought
back to Council.
Mr. Brown of RLK stressed he feels roof drainage improvements are very important as
the present drainage causes dangerous icy conditions. He recommends installing conduit
during the street improvement so future ornamental lighting could be done much more easily
and cheaply. "Blind parking" on 10`h is hazardous; only everyone's awareness and caution has
prevented accidents; 33 feet is needed from the back of parked vehicles to the other side of the
street for safety. The business community was very mach against closing off 10~'; parallel
parking on both sides is acceptable. Pedestrian traffic is heavy on 11``', but very little comes
from Tate's. He recommends no parking between the two entrances to lot 500 for safety
reasons. Diagonal parking near the hardware store will probably stay. He then explained the
possible assessment methods, noting a special district would have to be asked for by the
business community. The 70/30 split cap would require the city to pay an extra $20 per
running foot; later he noted the cap was originally to protect single-family dwelling owners and
the Council could choose to not implement it. Mr. Mielke stressed that whatever formula is
adopted will, in effect, set the formula for the future. The one shown is based on the
assumption that parking lot assessments should be figured the same as street assessments.
Discussion raised some issues: how many employees of US Bank will change to the
bank lot; will the moving of the library entrance have an effect on pedestrian patterns [Diane
Johnson]; could parking between lot 500 entrances be "compact only" [Fran Hesch]; could
buses be stacked in the alley for the theatre [Karen Jensen]; other funding sources.
General Consensus: Figures on US Bank parking should be obtained if possible.
Parking on 11"' requires more analysis. Computation of "per year cost" should be done for the
business community, with copies to the Council. The economic development funds would be
better spent on East End redevelopment. Council should be informed about the results of the
December 6 meeting with the business community.
Budget Discussion
Finance Director Yager said the required publication will show taxes as 7.3 % instead of
the actual 6% because state law requires excluding state funds. There was discussion of
having an ad showing actual figures.
There were no changes in the budget from previous work sessions. Ms. Yager pointed
out the layout for the finance department, saying she will be finalizing the budget with that
detail for all departments as she is entering the budget for consideration of an award. Mr.
Mielke noted the only organization that has expressed displeasure about their funding is the
Senior Community Services who want their counseling services funded; the person responsible
for that budget feels the money is better spent elsewhere. The budget hearing will be
December 11; if a Council member has a question, it should be given to Ms. Yager by the 7"'.
There was general discussion of the Depot finances.
General Consensus: No ad will be run for actual figures. $1500 shall be fronted to
get grant writing started for the Depot. Mr. Mielke shall immediately send out a letter to the
partners asking for a meeting on December 11 or 12, stressing that in January Anthony will
have to be let go if something is not done about funding immediately.
Visioning Process
City Manager Mielke brought up three issues: mission statement; vision statement;
action plaruung. There was general discussion.
General Consensus: The mission statement needs only one change: "citizens" should
be changed to "community" so the central phrase reads "Partnering with Community to
Enhance the Quality of Life. Everyone liked the idea of getting the logo form made more
aesthetically attractive. Further details to be decided are how to get the new form created
[Diane Johnson suggested a contest; Mr. Mielke suggested involving Susan and Bobbie] and
deciding how the new logo will be used. The vision statement should be changed to "Vision
for the Community of Hopkins: Creating the spirit of unity." Copies should be sent out for
comu~nent. Both of these should core •,zp for adoption in January.
As to action planning, the Council would like to see Blame's resolution on goals.
Retreat planning should go forward. It should start with a celebration involving all the staff;
topics at the retreat should include staff and Council roles; mutual respect; how attitudes to
approaching the work for mutual goals differ/agree between staff and Council; the largest
segment of time should be spent on working on the action plan. A prime question to be
worked on is "What do we need from each other to reach our visioning goal?" Each
department needs to see themselves involved in the action plan, and it needs to be changed
accordingly. Getting feedback after the retreat is a necessity for the Council.
®ther
Ms. Jensen asked if the clock in the tower could be fixed.
Ms. Hesch passed on information about the Park Nicollet celebration for life planned
for ®ctober 20, 2001.
Ms. Johnson reported on the school referendum meetings, noting she does not think
they will be ready for the next election.
Mr. Mielke reported on Medica. Mr. Mondale conversed with him about money
available for planning mixed use "smart growth" that could probably come to Hopkins for the
Medica/Excelsior redevelopment. It must incorporate business [Excelsior Blvd.], housing
[Town Terrace was suggested by Mayor Maxwell], and industrial [Alliant Tech]. Hopkins is a
prime candidate since it will be a hub for the southwest corridor of the high-speed bus system.
Diane Johnson moved adjournment; Gene Maxwell seconded. Meeting adjourned at
10:35 p.rri.
Kasey Kester, Secretary
ATTEST:
l~
Eu ene J. axwell, Mayor