08-08-06 WSAugust 8, 2006
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MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -August 8, 2006
A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene
Maxwell at 6:30 p.m. on August 8, 2006, at the Hopkins City Hall. Council members
Kristi Halverson, Bruce Rowan, Jay Thompson and Cheryl Youakim were present. City
personnel present were City Manager Rick Getschow, Housing Coordinator Kersten
Elverum, Fire Chief Dale Specken, Police Chief Craig Reid, Police Administration
Services Director Connie Kurtz, and Finance Director Christine Harkess. Also present
were Tom Bullington of City Images, and Susan Hanna-Bibus and President Wayne
Olson of the HCA Board.
HCA Board
Ms. Hanna-Bibus said HCA is going in the right direction, but slower than hoped.
They still have $20,000 of past debt and some debts from this year to clear up, but she
feels confident that will happen. She noted it was good to come to the Council without
having to ask for postponements or other help.
Positive signs are that already season tickets have sold so well HCA is short only
30 from last year's whole total. One group from Mississippi has ordered a block of
tickets for the Four Freshmen.
On April 18 the Board had a retreat on how to build an identity. They need to
build a real presence in the Center for the Arts building.
Mr. Olson said he feels tremendous progress has been made financially this year.
Board recruitment has become a key need; they would appreciate any suggestions from
the Council for possible members. If there is some way the city and the Board could
work together on branding, it would be wonderful. He added ticket sales are within 64%
of the goal for the year, only one month into ticket sales.
Answering Mr. Rowan, he said the Board ideally would have 12-15 members.
There are 8 at present. Members with marketing, fund raising or connections with
corporations are really needed. A few members were lost this year because of the stress
of all the fundraising. Answering Ms. Youakim, he said people who do not want to
commit to being a Board member but who have needed skills would be welcome to
belong to just an appropriate committee. Answering Mr. Rowan, Ms. Hanna-Bibus said
the Board is seriously considering a name change that is more different from the building
name. Ms. Youakim suggested it would be a nice gesture for HBCA to have gift bags for
the group from Mississippi. Answering Mayor Maxwell, Ms. Hanna-Bibus said
sponsorship starts at $500 and goes to $10,000. Last year there were 4 for $500, a couple
for $2000 and one $6,000. This year's drive has just started. The Edge events have been
dropped; the Board is not sure what to replace those with to appeal to teenagers.
Business memberships are up to $500, but $100 is the most common donation.
Answering Ms. Youakim, she said the Board is hiring a grant writer in order to increase
that income. Answering Mayor Maxwell, Mr. Olson said getting mailing lists from other
theaters is not possible. However, someone from the Orpheum did speak to them about
marketing. The lecture series is under Jay Strachota's department; they may share
advertising. Answering Mr. Getschow, Ms. Hanna-Bibus said national name shows are
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cost prohibitive as they cannot take part in "block bookings" as the Center is usually
already booked for other events and they cannot pay full travel and housing.
Marketing and Branding Effort
Ms. Elverum said City Images has been doing research and is reporting on that.
Mr. Bullington said they are about 80% done with interviewing and have talked to 85-90
people. Common themes that recur in the interviews are Hopkins' uniqueness - it is a
small town in a metro area; its safety and is being family-friendly; antique shopping; arts
(HCA and Stages are often mentioned); the literary series; being able to walk to
everything; great schools; recent economic development (Excelsior Blvd and Excelsior
Crossings come up frequently). The only concerns expressed so far have been the
entryways into the city (need for signage and appeal as one enters town), and these were
not frequent. City Images will be done with the research soon; the project will be done
September 30. They will have themes, slogans, artwork, and a marketing plan for the
next couple years for the Council.
Ms. Youakim suggested pushing Pen Pals with raffles, etc. Mr. Olson thought
that a great idea. Mr. Getschow agreed working with HCA could be a way to get people
into the city. Mr. Bullington noted focus also has to be on potential business/developers.
Mr. Olson added when 750 are coming to Hopkins for a show, the businesses need to
recognize that.
Mr. Bullington asked for feedback on some questions. He asked what Council
members use for their "elevator speech." Mayor Maxwell said, "Hopkins is 41/2 square
miles that has everything from large employers to an art center." Mr. Rowan said, "A
small town in the middle of a big city." Ms. Halverson said, "A suburb with a real Main
Street." Ms. Youakim said, "A small town feel with big town conveniences." Mr.
Thompson said, "Old neighborhood feel, homey." Mr. Bullington noted that a real estate
agent told him Hopkins is unusual that its daytime population is the same as its nighttime
population.
Asked what they heard about Hopkins in other towns, Ms. Youakim said in
Rochester she was told Hopkins has done a great job of economic development. Mayor
Maxwell noted that people who have moved away have commented how far Hopkins has
come in the past few years.
Asked what they considered Hopkins' "icon," Ms. Youakim, Mr. Thompson, and
Mr. Rowan all said Mainstreet. Mr. Rowan added HCA and Raspberry festival.
Asked for what they felt was the most negative thing about Hopkins, Ms.
Youakim noted the lack of a "nature nook," adding she hopes the redevelopment of Nine
Mile Creek may solve that. Mr. Thompson said the "68% rental, lack of commitment by
renters." Mr. Getschow agreed that was an issue, but not awide-spread perception
except perhaps in the immediate school district area. Mayor Maxwell said Hopkins is
seen as an "old people's town," even though the median age is younger than most cities' .
Mr. Bullington said he has heard few negative comments; Hopkins does not have a bad
image to overcome.
Mr. Bullington noted he has four pages of taglines already. Ms. Elverum said that
is the hard part -Hopkins has so many good things that could be emphasized. Asked
why people should come to Hopkins, Mayor Maxwell said jobs, especially now with
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Excelsior Crossings in the future. Mr. Bullington noted Hopkins has mostly individual
stores, not chain stores.
Mr. Thompson said he would like an opportunity to see all of the material
gathered and taglines considered. Answering Ms. Youakim, Mr. Bullington said he feels
the research is a good representation of the population. He interviews store clerks as well
as business owners, new employees as well as long-term residents.
2007 City Budget (Police and Fire Dept.)
Mr. Getschow noted this is preparatory work for setting the preliminary levy
September 5. The final levy will be decided in December and can be lower than the
preliminary levy, but not higher. This past year, the levy was set it at about 6% and then
eventually resulted in a 4% increase at the end of the year- one of the lowest in the area.
The plan is similar for this year. Problems faced this year besides the inflation jump are
the higher costs of fuel and utilities.
Ms. Harkess said Hennepin County does not publish the fiscal disparities until
September and that is a major component for figuring the final budget. Mr. Getschow
noted Hopkins is the one of the only inner ring suburbs that contributes more into the
fiscal disparity pool than it receives. (Every city contributes 40% of its commercial and
industrial economic growth, and then the money is split out.) Answering Ms. Youakim
he said that Hennepin County doing our assessments is not a factor. Mr. Rowan asked if
Hopkins would still get the $50,000 LGA special allotment; Mr. Getschow stated those
dollars are allocated for 2007 and should be available into the future. Answering Ms.
Youakim, Ms. Harkess said the capital levy is set up on a timetable to increase as part of
the CIP.
Fire Department
Fire Chief Specken said his department formerly had 41 men; presently it has 36.
He would like to go to 40. Costs would be lessened by using spare gear for them and by
making completed training part of the requirements for application. His department is
doing medical standby 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., which are the
peak hours. He would like to be able to continue that. Side benefits are those on duty
take care of the janitorial work and help with fire inspections. They could help with
school education. We are getting trucks out faster during those hours. Answering Mr.
Rowan, Ms. Harkess said putting all the requests in would raise the department budget
16.7%.
Police Chief Reid said there will be cost savings long term, but the most
important thing is it could save lives. Having a truck ready to go makes a big difference.
Chief Specken added that anyone who shows up on a medical call has to be paid; the new
system would save that money. Mayor Maxwell said he would like the figure for those
call payments last year. Chief Reid noted most medical calls come in the morning on
weekdays, and after 6:00 p.m. on week-ends. Chief Specken noted firemen have signed
up for medical call duty on weekends through October. He feels there is a good existing
pool of trained people
Police
Police Chief Reid said if a dispatcher wants a day off, there is often no one who
can cover for that person so time off has to be denied. $15,000 has already been spent on
overtime this year, leaving only $5,000 so vacations have to be denied. One PSO has had
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to be returned to dispatch use, so regular officers have heavier loads. Connie looked at
the situation; the department now has only one part-time parking enforcement officer;
creative time management is making this work well. This salary could be applied to the
dispatcher. APCO formulas say a town the size of Hopkins should have 8.5 dispatchers;
we have 5. Dispatchers also work as jail wardens (saving paying Hennepin County) and
night typists. It takes 3-4 months to train a dispatcher as there are 7 computer systems to
learn. Ms. Kurtz noted recruitment from other cities is hard as employees would lose
seniority. Temporary help is impossible as they are not trained. The department does
background checks, but it is impossible to test for multi-tasking ability. Mr. Getschow
noted that with this creative shift with the parking position, the entire police budget for
2007 is currently proposed to still be under a 5% increase.
Other
Mr. Thompson said he enjoyed the "slug and mug" report of the police
department. He appreciates the work going into the budget.
Mr. Rowan will be gone next week.
There was a brief discussion on a work session next week. It was decided to
discuss Marketplace and Main at 6:30 before the regular Council meeting.
Mr. Getschow said he will have sewer back-up insurance as a topic in September
He announced the 2008 U.S. Women's Open has officially requested total use of
Interlachen Park all of June 2008. There will need to be neighborhood meetings. People
from the Open will be present at an October work session.
On motion by Ms. Halverson and second by Ms. Youakim, the meeting adjourned
at 9:15 p.m. on a vote of 5-0.
Kasey Kester, Secretary
ATTE T:
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Eugene . M well, Mayor
COUNCIL MEMBERS: