Loading...
07-12-05 WSJuly 12, 2005 Page 1 MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -July 12, 2005 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 6:35 p.m. on July 12, 2005, at the City Hall. Council members Johnson, Rowan and Thompson were present. City personnel present were City Manager Rick Getschow; Economic Development Director Jim Kerrigan; City Attorney Bob Deike; Facilities Director Jay Strachota; Pavilion Manager Don Olson; Public Works Director Steve Stadler; Chief Craig Reid, Captain James Liddy and Connie Kurtz of the Police Department; Assistant City Manager Jim Genellie; and Finance Director Chris Harkess. Also present were Bob Lindall of Kennedy & Graven and Sid Inman of Ehlers & Associates. In the audience were Steve Flanagan of GPS Development; Brad Gunn, attorney for Hopkins Park Plaza; and Maria Hjelle of Coldwell Banker Realty. Block 64 Economic Development Director Kerrigan said at the June 21 public hearing on the establishment of TIF District 1-3 Spider Development presented the city with a proposal for part of Block 64. They have a purchase agreement for part of the property and said they plan to have 10,000 sq. ft. of retail space, 97 senior condos and 77 assisted living apartments, 14 of which would be for Alzheimer patients. Through Attorney Lindall, the city requested additional information, with a deadline of July 8. In response to Attorney Gunn's request, the deadline was extended to July 12 at noon. This was not met, but Attorney Lindall was informed he would receive some information later in the day. This information was not received until just prior to the start of the work session. He reminded the Council that the GPS proposal is for 6,800 sq. ft. • of retail space and 220 senior condo units; it has been reviewed by the Zoning and Planning Commission, and the developers have held neighborhood meetings. Assisted living has not been discussed by the city for a project in the downtown. Hopkins already has three elderly housing buildings; St. Therese has just added a building for 25 Alzheimer patients. The police department has expressed concern about the increased demand for medical calls the assisted living units would create; they had 1,390 medical calls last year, most from the current elderly facilities. The Council rescheduled a public hearing for July 19, when public comment will be taken. This will then be continued to July 26 for a special Council and HRA meeting. By then the development agreement with GPS should be ready. They have agreed to the schedule. Answering Mayor Maxwell, Mr. Kerrigan said the Alzheimer's units could require a zoning change; at the least it would require a PUD. No neighborhood meetings have been held to discuss the Spider project. Mr. Thompson asked why no purchase agreement was available to Council; Attorney Lindall said he left his office at 3:10 p.m. and at that time none had been received. Attorney Gunn said his office e-mailed one this afternoon. Mr. Thompson commented the $94/sq. ft. construction cost is very unrealistic and wanted further backup for the numbers. Mr. Kerrigan said the architect said he can build without public assistance, adding he was told the condos don't make the project work, but the assisted living does. The condos would be owner-occupied. Ms. Johnson asked what the process would be if the Council is not interested. Mr. Kerrigan said he felt the issue of fairness to Spider Development is the reason the proposal is being presented to the Council for discussion, but his department will proceed to work with GPS _ unless the Council says otherwise. The Council has to decide whether the new proposal is • something they would want to do. Mayor Maxwell said the TIF district has to be set up in any July 12, 2005 Page 2 case as there are two developments in the area -Cornerstone and GPS. Attorney Lindall said there is a need to investigate Spider Development's claim of no need for public assistance; Mr. Inman looked at the information provided and stated that it was not sufficient to make a determination. Mayor Maxwell questioned whether assisted living is what the city wants on Mainstreet. Attorney Lindall commented that when he drafts the findings the appropriateness will be covered. As yet he has not even had a chance to look at any new information. He pointed out that in Attorney Gunn's reply letter the times the city asked if they could re-inspect the property were not used, and the permission is conditional on their inspector being able to inspect the eight other buildings in the area. Since the city has no control over some of them, the re-inspection may not occur. He will be preparing documents for the Council on financials, use, municipal issues, legal issues and a review of findings of fact as to adoption on the TIF district. He will continue to keep Spider advised of scheduling, etc. If the hearing is continued to July 26, the Council will need to make it clear whether public comment will be received. He suggested the public comment portion be closed on July 19, as there will have been two public hearings, and that the July 26 meeting be reserved for staff and consultants' comments. Mr. Kerrigan commented that even if there is no re-inspection, staff was and is comfortable with LHB's inspection report Mr. Kerrigan summarized the schedule: On the July 19 there will be a public hearing on TIF District 1-3 and a special HRA meeting, the latter to set a special HRA meeting on July 26. On July 26 there will be no further public comment, but staff and consultants will comment. The development agreement will be brought forward. School Pavilion Mezzanine Improvement Project • Facilities Director Strachota said the school district is expanding its use of the Pavilion to full-time. As a result, there is a need for space modifications. These would include a folding panel room divider wall, a wall to form a private office for the Program Director and secure storage of records, cabinets above the current counter. Additional furniture and equipment, including an under counter refrigerator and food warmer, will be purchased. The school district has agreed to amend their lease to offset the cost; the funds would come from, and be repaid to, the Equipment Replacement Fund. A cap of $70,000 would limit costs; furniture would not be purchased until construction is done to ensure this cap would not be exceeded. He would like to bring the amended lease and construction agreement to the next Council meeting. Ms. Harkess noted that while the lease calls for even payments, the school plans to use accelerated payments; they have commitments ending in 2006 and 2007 and would use the extra money here. Mr. Olson noted there will be no modification of the elevator. Sheet rock will be used for the storage walls for the folding panels, which can be slid in or out of position in minutes. He thinks rentals may go up as more options will be available. Ms. Johnson asked if the school board had approved the idea. Mr. Strachota said if school board approval is needed, the school will obtain a-mail approval as they don't meet in June. Chief Reid said there are no police concerns. Mr. Strachota said city staff hopes to get the ceiling track for the panels installed and the office done before school starts. General consensus was to put this on the consent agenda at the next meeting. ERP First Review Finance Director Harkess said a 3% inflation factor is built into the ERP. ERP charges •~ represent approximately 3% of the total general fund expenditures. Changes from last year she July 12, 2005 Page 3 e highlighted included: Fire Dept. Emergency preparedness sirens ($27,000) -this replaces two as one was replaced last year; Police. Logging recorder ($30,000) from 2006 to 2007 as recently' overhauled; parking enforcement vehicle ($18,700) due to high maintenance costs; City Hall main copy machine up $2000 as a new lease may be needed; finance computer system software due to present problems; Parks/Forestry three trucksters moved back to 2012 and 2019; one riding mower replacement added (next in 2009); log truck for 2007; Streets/Traffic 4x4 to 4x2 dump truck (from 2008 to 2006, reduced cost $10,100); traffic boom truck from 2007 to 2009; two dump trucks from 2009 to 2012; Refuse, Sewer, Storm Sewer, Water billing software from 2007 to 2006 due to current software issues. Mayor Maxwell questioned the need for 3 duty chief vehicles when the three jobs will be combined. Mr. Getschow and Ms. Harkess will follow up on that. Chief Reid noted he has tried to get figures for a future radio system, but there are no hard ones available. Ms. Johnson asked if vehicle life has been lengthened for Public Works now that they have inside storage; Mr. Stadler said yes, citing the dump trucks being extended this year. Mayor Maxwell asked about the aerial truck replacement. Mr. Getschow said $300,000 had been planned for refurbishment in 2008; a grant is being applied for this year, using that money to leverage a grant for the truck and is being reflected in budget projections as spending $900,000 now with $600,000 income from a grant. Police Pre-Budget Chief Reid said he first wanted to update Council on two matters. First, he had asked for a meth ordinance a month ago. Recently his department has picked up 2 Asian gang members, 2 Hispanic gang members and 3 other buyers for selling meth, seemingly produced in Mexico, in Hopkins. He noted an ounce is worth $1100 and a quarter pound, $4000. This is a present problem. Secondly, the Chemical Health Commission has only two members, which is not even a quorum. There is no outside interest. His department is working closely with Reduce the Use in schools; the school district expects an $8 million grant. Michael wants to change the parent organization to quarterly meetings, and on the other months meet alternately with the school and with city officials. Chemical Health is being duplicated. He suggests the Commission be disbanded and the two present members become the city delegates. At present Kathy is going. Mayor Maxwell commented his idea made sense. Answering Mr. Brausen, Chief Reid said the program focuses on changing adult behavior as the means to change youth behavior. Ms. Kurtz commented liquor rules are currently drafted mostly by the police; those could even go to the community representatives. Mayor Maxwell noted liquor enforcement is largely covered now under Best Practices. Ms. Johnson felt the timing is right. Mayor Maxwell asked about the process to disband the Commission. Mr. Getschow said staff will look into it; first they wanted to see what the Council thought. He added the Council may not want to eliminate it, but just not do appointments, in case they wish to resurrect it later. Mayor Maxwell asked if a Best Practices program could be initiated on tobacco. Ms. Kurtz said tobacco penalties are set by the state so Hopkins could not do much for a program. Chief Reid said dispatch is becoming a severe problem to cover. FLSA rules mandate they can work only 40 hours without overtime; they are no longer "emergency personnel." Overtime costs have exceeded the budgeted $20,000 by $9827; leaves have had to be denied; the lead dispatcher has no time for other duties. By APCO staffing formula the department should have 8.49 dispatchers; he has 5. Salary would be $35,963 plus benefits. Mayor Maxwell said he July 12, 2005 Page 4 does not want to add staff till he is sure more funding is available. Mr. Rowan asked if a new dispatcher would eliminate the extra overtime; Chief Reid felt the overrun would be. It would be a "tough hire." He added by contract he can train PSO's to work dispatch; the drawback is in two years they graduate and disappear. Equipment requests include computer forensic equipment, which Ray could operate ($3600); portable VARDA (radio remote burglar system) as the old one is not compatible with the 800 MHz radio system ($3500); 2 more TASERs as the present two are not enough ($1800); and intelligence database software ($3000). He commented the latter would not be public information as it is criminal intelligence. Community Services Pre-budget Assistant City Manager Genellie said that his areas are all going well and he expects no major changes that would affect the coming year's budget. However, he did have two issues to bring before Council. The first is the rising cost of employee health insurance; between 1997 and the present the cost has doubled for the city. He thinks costs will rise 8-10% next year. Strategies other cities and businesses are using include higher deductibles and co-pays, and policies that pay 80°Io rather than 100°Io. He expects health insurance to be a huge issue in labor negotiations this fall. A closely related problem is that of health insurance unti165 as part of the early retirement incentive program. This was put in place in 1985, the cost being offset by lower salaries for new employees. It ended for any employee hired after 1993. The current annual cost is $73,500. AARP is now considering action based on the assertion that cutting the health insurance off at age 65 is age discrimination. This raises dire possibilities. 40 employees are currently eligible. If all applied, and the program was to age 65 with no cap it would cost the city $2,100,000 to $4,000,000 until 2033 (the last year of eligibility). If there was no maximum age or cap, it would be $8,000,000 - $25,000,000. The city basically has the following options: eliminate the program; put a cap on the monthly benefit, such as $400 a month (which would result in a $2.1 million cost to 2033); establish health savings accounts for eligible employees (he is not sure if that would work for Hopkins and has no figures as it would a set amount/month). He said no decision needs to be made now, but the Council needs to be aware of the situation. Mr. Rowan noted if AARP is successful; it would encourage cities and businesses to eliminate such programs. He asked if there are any arguments for continuing the program. Mr. Genellie said several times the program did encourage retirements that saved the city money. If there was a cap at $400 per month, it still could cash flow. He will keep following the situation. His second issue is the cable TV fund. In 2012 the franchise will expire. Money from that fund currently pays for the newsletter, the web site, broadcasts and supplies $85,000 per year for the Art Center. These costs are not sustainable in the long run, and regulations may change by 2012. Again, he did not expect Council to act now, but to be aware of future possible problems. Other Mr. Rowan asked if Hopkins would get anything from the reinstatement of LGA by the state. Mr. Getschow said he thinks not; the additional monies will mainly be distributed to cities out-state and those with populations under 5,000. Final figures will be released in the next few days. On the other hand, the legislature did not set levy limits or approve the taxpayer satisfaction survey. July 12, 2005 Page 5 Mr. Thompson reminded members of the Bolten & Menk open house Thursday from 4:00-7:00. He asked if there had been feedback from neighbors on the 3rd St. vacation. Mr. Getschow stated that any feedback received to date would be placed in the next update. Ms. Johnson suggested information on the elections be put on the front page of the web site. Mr. Getschow said that was planned to happen in 10 days. She asked about the new state requirement that the top three salaried officials must be published. Mr. Getschow said this can be done on the web site. She asked if the state shutdown had affected our half-year payment. Mr. Getschow started that it did not. She commented on the letter about the Historical Society in the paper; Mr. Getschow will follow up with the society. Mayor Maxwell reminded members of the Raspberry Festival coronation Thursday. He 'asked-about the Farmers' Market complaint; Mr. Getschow said Nancy had talked to the parties. Mayor Maxwell said there will be awalk-through at Hopkins Honda at 11 a.m. tomorrow Mr. Getschow noted the city had received a Senior Community Services donation request. If Council has feedback, let him know. Ms. Johnson moved adjournment. Mr. Thompson seconded. On a 4-0 vote the meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Kasey Kester, Secretary ATTEST: r Eugene a~vell, Mayor COUNCIL MEMBERS: