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05-25-04 WSMay 25, 2004 Page 1 -., MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -May 25, 2004 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 6:30 p.m. on May 25, 2004, at the City Hall. Council members Brausen, Johnson, Rowan and Thompson were present. City personnel present were: City Manager Steve Mielke, Assistant City Manager Jim Genellie, Fire Chief Don Beckering, Economic Development Director Jim Kerrigan, Police Chief Craig Reid, Public Works Director Steve Stadler and Finance Director Lori Yager. 2004-5 Goals and Objectives Mr. Mielke said staff had worked to put the goals into action steps. Consensus was for everyone to rank the goals and actions A, B or C, with A having highest priority. He stressed other goals and actions may be added later. Answering Mr. Brausen, he said the difference between goals 2 and 5 was that of growth in terms of individuals and group as contrasted to relationships. Both might go together in implementation. Goal 1: Improve Communications and Marketing Efforts to Residents, Developers and Businesses. Newsletter Ms. Yager noted the newsletter has been going out with utility bills since January; Mr. Genellie added staff feels it is working although there has not been a lot of feedback. Ms. Elverum has gotten some apartment owners to distribute it to their tenants. Some have asked if it could be put in the Highlights, but that would be tricky. Resident survey Mr. Mielke said mailings don't get a reliable return. Chief Reid noted he sends a survey to each person the force deals with and gets only 'h of 1 % back. Mr. Genellie said a phone survey would cost $15-25,000; a Web site survey would let one person respond multiple times. Mr. Kerrigan felt the questions should be decided before the method; Mayor Maxwell agreed. Ms. Johnson suggested having a group such as the Jaycees do it for $1,000. Mr. Mielke noted that firms train telephone surveyors so they do not influence answers. Marketing Ms. Johnson said keeping the Web site updated is important; Mr. Rowan agreed. Mayor Maxwell asked about HBCA; Mr. Mielke said his understanding is they want participation but not direction from the city. Mr. Kerrigan noted they don't have money for a marketing program; Mayor Maxwell said after developing such a program, they could approach the city for help. Ms. Johnson said she felt publicizing HCA was more important than reestablishing the marketing committee. Mr. Mielke asked everyone to rank the four subcategories as well as the general goal. Educating about development benefits Mr. Mielke noted the decertification of TIF-1 is a good example of this need. Mr. Thompson asked about pamphlets as a means; some felt this would not be effective. Mr. Kerrigan suggested using the State of the City as a means. Ms. Yager and Mayor Maxwell brought up the Sailor, All America Festival Ms. Johnson said that is a certainty. A contact in the city needs to be put in place. Celebrate Accomplishments Ms. Yager said this was really a step for Educating. Mr. Brausen said celebrating accomplishments needs to become part of the city's culture, and cited promoting new police officers as not getting the attention it should have. Mr. Mielke agreed that even when there was a communication coordinator this was not effectively done. Chief Reid noted when the police department has the paper do anything; they supply both the photos and the copy. Ms. Yager suggested checking with area schools about interns. Mayor Maxwell said each department should designate someone to "be in charge of the camera." Mr. Genellie said he would put this on the department head agenda regularly. Citizen Academy Mr. Mielke said this could be set up like last May 25, 2004 Page 2 time or else with one department highlighted for a year or other length of time. Some department heads had felt they could not do a good job last time because of lack of time. Cost had been $10,000. Ms. Johnson asked about taping for cable; Mr. Mielke said "talking heads" do not show well and he does not know how "field stuff" could be done. Mayor Maxwell said perhaps some departments need a whole night. Chief Reid said in Ames he had small groups (15 or so) who came multiple weeks; he feels he has 8 nights' worth of material. He sees the teaching as leadership training for his force. Mr. Brausen said he felt one should be able to go to any department and ask for a presentation. Mr. Mielke suggested doing "introduction evenings" with participants able to sign up for further sessions with particular departments. Chief Reid said perhaps one year could have the multiple department format, the next the police department, then multiple, then fire department, etc. Chief Beckering said that would be a good way for the fire department to get volunteers, and live demos could be done for small groups. Mr. Brausen said he felt there was room for both generalist and specialist groups. Mr. Kerrigan noted Bobbie had spent a lot of time coordinating the Academy and she is no longer here. Ms. Johnson noted this ties in with the Employees Academy in Goal V, and could replicate the Citizens Academy during the daytime. She and Mr. Rowan noted Citizens Academy also interests people in being on Boards and Commissions. Mayor Maxwell asked that staff check with Minnetonka, etc. as to how they are doing theirs. General Consensus: The newsletter is doing its job and should continue as is. Any decision on the survey should wait until questions are decided upon. All America Festival is a way to get good publicity and the city will help with past videos, etc. Celebrating accomplishments needs emphasis. Names of Board and Commission members should go on the Web site. The Academy is valuable. Goa12. More Gatherings of Council and Staff. No discussion as all agreed. Goal 3. Improve the Budget Process Pre-budget meetings Mr. Mielke noted pre-budget presentations are in process. Police will be discussed June 8. The 4pre-budgets should be finished in July. Mr. Thompson said he felt information should go to the public during the process. General discussion followed. Mr. Brausen feared the public would misunderstand or information would be misconstrued; Mr. Genellie agreed that is possible, but it would elicit public feedback. 2- year budget Mr. Rowan thinks this needs no deadline. Provide better understanding of the numbers Mr. Mielke said this includes public as well as council. Mr. Brausen added board and commission members need this. Mr. Rowan said an understanding between the kinds of funds is really important. Explore new funding sources Mr. Rowan asked if a department finds funds, does that change their budget. Ms. Yager said it depends on the type of funds; grants might, fees would not. Mr. Genellie added if most of their budget comes from the general fund, it would insulate them more from budget cuts. Mr. Mielke said if it were for an old program, it would not; if it were a grant for a new program it would increase their budget money. General Consensus was to add III E "publish results of pre-budget discussions" Goa14. Improve Quality of Life Develop senior housing Mr. Mielke noted Mayor Maxwell had suggested using a task force. Target blight Mr. Mielke said "blight" could have a legal definition and a community test meaning. Mayor Maxwell noted getting rid of blight could lead to development of senior housing. Partner with faith community Mr. Rowan asked if this would bring up church/state concerns. Mr. Mielke said this would depend on action steps, but should not be a problem with issues like housing for the homeless, etc. Review liquor store operations Mr. Mielke noted this is in progress. Improve bicycle and pedestrian safety Mr. Stadler said he wanted May 25, 2004 Page 3 to add a new action: "Touch base with school district at least once a year, like before start of school term, to find problem areas." Reduce traffic congestion, cut-through traffic Mr. Thompson said that the public needs to see studies that show their fears are not realized, the city needs to better communicate good results. Mr. Stadler said follow-up articles in the newsletter could be one method. Mayor Maxwell suggested having the information at hand for complaints would help, and gave fire response time after the new building as an example. Ms. Johnson felt an overview of projects after a year would be a good thing for both the Council and Z&P; Mr. Genellie added this would be helpful even if it did not get in the paper. Mr. Mielke suggested that putting a review a few months after completion of a project into the road policy might be good. Mr. Brausen said he got good feedback that the last resolution had a review after a year clause; people felt their concerns had been heard. General Consensus was to add IV G "Review and evaluate city projects." Goal V. Growth of Employees, Supervisors and Council. Leadership Development Chief Beckering said he patterned the action steps after the State of Minnesota. Employee Academy means several departments go to a training program together. Review of Supervisory Employees Ms. Johnson asked how trust and accountability could be put in there. Mr. Brausen said this goes with Council/staff communication, Goal II. He feels trust and accountability are the main reason this project started. Both "took a beating" this past year and he hears a lot of employee gripes. He tries to get them to go back to the supervisors, but after 4 years he hears the same complaints. A way needs to be found for the employee to feel comfortable going to the supervisor. Mr. Mielke said there are multiple outlets for employees. Maybe afollow-up system is needed. Perhaps an education program for the employees would help. Ms. Yager agreed some problems arise because the employee feels the supervisor will not help, but sometimes it is they feel the supervisor cannot help. Mr. Mielke said peer mediation might be a tool. General Consensus was to add V E "Frovide employees with information and resources to resolve issues." Goal VI. Citizen Growth. Ms. Johnson said the communication with minorities might need to be different. Mr. Thompson suggested churches. General Consensus was to add "Locate and use appropriate venues to contact minorities" as an action step. Goal VII. Meet with Groups. Mr. Mielke clarified this meant group meetings. Mr. Mielke will compile the rankings and report back. He added results might impact budget decisions. Mr. Genellie said he had enjoyed this process and feels some problems have been resolved by it. Other Resolution Mr. Mielke said the county has passed this resolution. Ms. Hesch is asking Hopkins Council to also do so as they are trying to get a grant. Mr. Thompson moved to adopt the Resolution for Support of MN Out-of-School Time Partnership. Mr. Rowan seconded. Passed 5- 0. Fire Inspection System Mr. Mielke handed out copies of the proposed notification. City Manager Resignation May 25, 2004 Page 4 Mr. Mielke said finding a new city manager is a high priority. Council needs to appoint an Acting City Manager. While Mr. Genellie does not want the City Manager position, he is willing to work as an interim City Manager until a new one is hired. An appointment needs to be made by mid-June. If Mr. Genellie is chosen, he should be given extra compensation. Answering Mayor Maxwell, he said that could be done per month or per pay scale or by negotiation. General Consensus was to have aclosed-door meeting to discuss personnel options after the June 1 Council meeting. Mr. Mielke asked what tasks Council considers priority for him to work on in his remaining time. Mr. Brausen said personnel, as a new manager won't know the past history. Mr. Mielke said the Council could conduct aclosed-door exit interview with him. Ms. Johnson said implementing Goal V E "Provide employees with information and resources to resolve issues." Ms. Johnson asked what he felt was important. Mr. Mielke listed Knox/Cornerstone; Hopkins House, noting he has tried to steer them toward senior housing; replacement process for City Manager; HCA agreement; Stages. Mr. Mielke noted it is required to post his position 5 days internally. He handed out literature on the hiring process. He strongly suggested the Council use a consulting firm as there are open meeting law issues if they do it alone. Ms. Johnson had several items. Hopkins Honda needs to be reminded they said they would do something about the sports building. She asked about progress on "slow down signs" -Mayor Maxwell got a price of $400 for 100. Parking violation citations are not being done fairly - employees in timed lots are being ticketed if they are late, but recently cars left all night in "no night parking" areas were not ticketed yet at 6 a.m. Is August 12 a good date for Volunteer Recognition? General Consensus was yes. She will not be at the June 22 work session. Mr. Thompson asked about North Annex marketing information. Mr. Mielke said Mr. Kerrigan is working on that. Mr. Thompson is interested in redeveloping a certain property and asked what issues might be raised. Mr. Mielke suggested he talk to Attorney Steiner. Mr. Brausen said there could be a "smell test" issue - a past city officer had done nothing illegal in a similar situation but had problems with bad press. Mayor Maxwell reminded everyone about the park bench dedication. Mr. Thompson moved adjournment. Ms. Johnson seconded. On a 5-0 vote, the meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Kasey Kester, Secretary May 25, 2004 Page 5 ATTEST: • d`~~' Euge a J. axwell, Mayor