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07-13-04 WSJuly 13, 2004 . Page 1 MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -July 13, 2004 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 6:30 p.m. on July 13, 2004, at the City Hall. Council members Brausen, Johnson, Rowan and Thompson were present. City personnel present were: Acting City Manager Jim Genellie; Recreation Director David Johnson; Economic Development Director Jim Kerrigan; and Finance Director Lori Yager. Pre-Budget Recreation: Mr. Johnson said the joint recreation services are funded 33 % by Hopkins and 67 % by Minnetonka. The partnership works well as Hopkins has better fields and Minnetonka has better indoor facilities. These programs serve 34,000 annually. Scholarships are available to those who cannot afford the programs from a fund with a present balance of $12,000. This fund has worked well, and has not been abused by participants. Mayor Maxwell suggested that the bylaws be amended so that this fund cannot be used for any other purpose. Mr. Johnson said there is a meeting this week and he will suggest that. Mr. Johnson said the Hopkins direct services are non- revenue producing except for charges for field trips. This includes the summer playground • program and outdoor skating rinks. His proposed total budget is $204,900, of which $149,500 is for joint recreation. This is a 3.45 % increase from last year and is almost totally due to salaries and benefits which went up about 9%. The Hopkins direct services cost is basically the same. Answering questions, he said Public Works puts up the rinks. Having them open 4 days last year worked well. Shady Oak income basically covers its operating costs. About $4,000 is budgeted each year for capital projects. Economic Development Mr. Kerrigan said the loss of 1 full-time person and an upcoming maternity leave are putting an extra load on his personnel. Soon there will be only Nancy and himself to run all the programs for several months. A new city manager, finance director and assistant engineer impact his department as they depend on information from these people on a regular basis. This is made more difficult by the upcoming projects, etc. Section 8 has increased to 400 units. Shannon Smith is working 8-10 hours per week, which is paid by that program. The city will need to look closely at the recommended upgrading of public housing on 20~' Avenue as the needs assessment he just received is $895,000 for the 10 units. There was a brief general discussion about looking into options such as demolishing these units and spreading 10 units throughout Hopkins. This would need to be worked out with HUD. Dow Towers, now that it is no longer only for the elderly, is problematic. Much of his department's budget is covered by federal funding and special funds, so the impact on the general fund is not large. Answering Mr. Brausen, he said Shannon's job description is not a problem at present; if she keeps doing Section 8 that may need to be changed. The large increase in Section 8 units is because Hopkins has affordable rent compared to other areas. Answering Mayor Maxwell he said he had not heard about sending proposed letters to Ramstad about Vail Place. St. Faul and some other cities are getting cutbacks in Section 8 funds; Hopkins' funds are funneled through the Met Council and have not been affected so far. Responding to Ms. Johnson, he noted Minnesota Finance had a good article on the Hopkins _ July 13, 2004 Page 2 House project. That project should be before the Council in August. Redevelopment projects underway or projected include North Annex, Luther's projects, East End, identified multi-family properties and Shady Oak Road. He feels there will be redevelopment in the last area after road work is completed. He announced that Super Valu and Opus will appear before Council at the July 27 work session with a proposal for the North Annex property. It would be for a phased development, starting at 110,000 sq. ft. office space; the proposed user has 4-5 operations outside Hopkins and wants to consolidate them. They are proposing 550 parking spaces. Community Services Mr. Genellie said assessing was transferred to Hennepin County in 2004 and seems to be working well; this eliminated 2 positions. The only problem occurs when the assessment clerk is gone so cross training is taking place with the inspections secretary and receptionist. Inspections is largely self-funded. The state is making an issue of large incomes from inspections; this is a concern as the income varies greatly depending if development is being done or not. He mentioned the Tree Trust is overseeing a program where recipients of welfare are being required to work a minimum of hours; this is being looked into as a source of free labor for the city for such things as records management. ERP and CIP Final Review • ERP Finance Director Yager said the ERP is the same as that presented at the last work session. The 4 % increase impacts the levy minimally. She will ask the Police Department about the tracker. She noted that if the city found it absolutely necessary to reduce a levy, it would be able to use notes to fund this plan, but she recommends not doing so if at all possible. CIP She noted some changes in this plan. Mr. Stadler has moved some road projects back. Lift Station #1 has been moved to 2006 to allow time to see if a linkage with Minnetonka lines might eliminate this item. Historical Society roof replacement and City Hall work and outside landscaping stayed the same. Deadline for changes is August 6 because of the levy limit deadline. Discussion followed. General Consensus was that the work on City Hall and outside landscaping should be pushed back to 2006 to allow more study. The safety issue repairs on the railings, etc. should be financed through maintenance monies. The park issues for Burnes, Valley and Oakes Parks were discussed. General Consensus was that the playground equipment for Burnes Park should be kept in the current budget. The major items relating to hockey rinks and parking issues should be pushed back to 2006 to allow time for more study. The $65,000 for Valley Park could be put back in 2005 in the Park Board can justify it as it is all Park Dedication funds. In relation to road work, Ms. Yager reminded them there is still a $4-6 million bill coming up from the County for Excelsior Blvd. work. Mr. Thompson was concerned that some of the concrete alley work would result in double assessments for some residents and asked this be looked at. Ms. Johnson noted the residential street jobs for 2007 should have Monroe Ave. North (not South). Ms. Yager feels a bond is not needed for road work until 2007 or 2008. She recommended that the CIP should be built up with excess funds from the general fund. She said that even though TIF 1-1 was decertified, the levy needs to be raised to cover the July 13, 2004 • Page 3 new facilities. Mr. Thompson asked that Council be provided with figures as to what the levy increase would have had to be if the decertification had not happened. Mr. Brausen asked if Park funds could be used for the Hopkins Center for the Arts for carpet replacement. Mayor Maxwell asked how Hopkins House would help the Park fund. Ms. Yager said if there are 24 units, it would be $12,000. Ms. Yager then spoke about the new facilities. Because of the way the bonds were issued there will be at least $500,000 extra in the fire/public works bond. This would be available to make the 2005 payment on the bond issues. Otherwise, there would need to be a levy for that payment. However, the police facility is running over budget. She recommends a levy for capital improvements for the police department, which would be offset by not needing to levy for the debt payment. Thus each would offset the other. This is the year to accomplish this as there are no levy limits this year. She reminded the Council the levy limit must be set by September 5. Steve Stadler should get hard figures before then so that Council can be sure what extra will be left in the fire/public works contingency fund to figure this levy situation out. The extra contingency and the overage of the police building should be even. The franchise fee seems to be working well. She received no complaints. Mr. Brausen mentioned he did get one. Ms. Young believes there was no sunset clause in setting this up, but she will double-check. • She briefly summarized rate increases for utilities and refuse. There was a question as to why the city pays the same for refuse if poundage is down. She will check on that. Answering Mayor Maxwell she said if the new commercial meters result in higher fees, then the raise in 2009 would not be needed or could be adjusted. Mr. Stadler will be discussing this at the next meeting. She noted the proposed rate increases for water and refuse need to be approved either October or November to allow proper notice. Mr. Thompson asked what amount should be kept on hand to keep the city in good financial shape. She recommends a reserve of 50 % of the annual budget. Anything under 40 really affects bonding. Mr. Genellie asked if the extra general fund money could be used for the police facility. She said it could, which would keep the levy down. Search Consultants Mr. Genellie said the search consultants would appear at 5:30 p.m. August 4. He has told them they have 15 minutes each. The appointment must be made at the August 4 meeting. If Council members have questions before then, he will try to get answers for them. Mayor Maxwell asked that Mr. Genellie make a comparison of costs for the Council. There was brief discussion about the staff survey the Council had done. General Consensus was each Council member should have copies of that before the meeting and that further discussion should take place at the next two meetings. Other Ms. Johnson noted she needs her packet for the 27`~ by 5:00 p.m. on the 23rd. She added Raspberry Festival events are proceeding well. Mr. Brausen said Pat Sanders called. Mr. Genellie said Nancy has talked to Attorney July 13, 2004 Page 4 Steiner. There is no reason to deny the deck permit due to the RV situation. Ms. Sanders said she was waiting for callbacks from council members and that she doesn't know where the property lines are. She has a deadline of the end of the month on the RV issue. Mr. Brausen noted that the Minneapolis Metro West paper had a good article on combined police of Excelsior, Orono and Long Lake which would have good points to make if that issue comes up for Hopkins. He noted the recycle containers are going into place. He asked about the situation of someone resigning in the police department. Mr. Genellie said he is preparing an update on that. Elizabeth White is the PSO in line to be the next police officer, which will be a problem as she also works in dispatch. Mayor Maxwell asked about a letter received on water meters and there was brief discussion. Mr. Brausen moved adjournment. Mr. Thompson seconded. On a 5-0 vote, the meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. Kasey Kester, Secretary ATTEST: Eugene . M well, Mayor COUNCIL MEMBERS: