01-04-00 WSWork Session Minutes
January 4, 2000
A City Council work session was held on Tuesday, January 4, 2000 in the Council
Chambers after the regular City Council meeting.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 8:22 p.m. All three Council
members were in attendance, as was City Manager Steve Mielke.
Council Interview Process
The first item of discussion was the Council interview process. City Manager Steve
Mielke handed out packets of applications from the 22 candidates for the City Council
position. After discussion, the City Council asked that a thank you letter be sent to
each applicant informing him or her of the process. Council determined that interviews
would be held on January 25 with an interview length of 20 minutes per applicant.
Council also asked that the previous questions that were handed out from Plymouth
and St. Louis Park be again distributed to the City Council.
The next discussion topic was an update on the Chief's position. City Manager Mielke
indicated that he would be visiting both applicants in their communities to further learn
of their qualifications, and hoped to have a decision made by January.
Police Department Customer Service
The next item was aquestion/comment from Council member Jensen who indicated
she had received a complaint from a resident regarding the customer service
techniques from an officer of the Hopkins Police Department. She asked that the
department be conscious of customer service techniques and that we be sure to train
officers in this area. Mielke stated that this was an issue that was part of the new
Police Chief's agenda and would be addressed by the new Police Chief.
Neighborhood Issue
Council member Johnson indicated that she had received a call from a Charles Rogers
concerning a neighborhood issue. Each of the Council members had indicated that
they also received phone calls. City Manager Mielke indicated that Mr. Rogers has
concerns about a neighboring home occupation that the staff has determined to be an
illegal home occupation. Staff has been addressing the issue and attempting to bring
charges against the neighbor.
V2K
Council member Hesch requested a recap of the Y2K issues. Mielke stated that a staff
report was being formulated and will be distributed to the Council concerning the
impacts of the Y2K events. He also stated that the Police Department compared it to a
very mild Friday night, and in fact, it was less active than most Friday nights. He also
stated that staff members were on hand from police, fire, and public works in case
issues arose, but that no Y2K events were detected.
SAC Charges, Ryland Homes
Council member Hesch asked for information concerning SAC and WAC charges and
the potential of lowering the SAC charges for the Ryland Homes project. Mielke
indicated that he would research this issue and provide an update to the Council.
Work session minutes 01/04/00
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Sales Tax Issue
Council member Jensen asked how to approach the local representatives regarding the
sales tax issue. Mielke stated that Council member direct calls to Representative
Folliard and Senator Kelley would be appropriate. He would also discuss the issue with
the City/School collaborative to see if a joint effort could be put in place to try to publicly
approach the issue and inform the residents that about 1 percent of their property tax
goes to pay for state general fund costs.
Council E-Mail
Mayor Maxwell indicated that he and City Manager Mielke had talked about the
possibility of creating an a-mail system for Council communications. Mielke stated that
he was working with staff on this issue and would bring suggestions to an upcoming
work session.
There being no other items Council member Hesch made a motion to close the work
session. The motion was seconded by Council member Johnson and was passed
unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:22 p.m.
ATTEST:
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Mayor