Loading...
06-14-05 WSJune 14, 2005 Page 1 • MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -June 14, 2005 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 7:10 p.m. on June 14, 2005, at the City Hall. Council members Brausen and Rowan were present. City personnel present were City Manager Rick Getschow, Housing Coordinator Kersten Elverum, Economic Development Director Jim Kerrigan, Fire Chief Don Beckering, Assistant Chief Dale Specken, Public Works Director Steve Stadler, and Finance Director Chris Harkess. Also present were Heidi Kurtze and Wayne Olson of Cornerstone and Scott England of DJR. Discussion of Cornerstone Project, Luther Property Ms. Elverum said the purpose of coming to the Council was simply to give an update on the Marketplace and Main project, not to solve any issues. Ms. Kurtze of Cornerstone said there have not been any changes in the site plan, although changes have been made in unit design and pricing. There has been a very strong market; Hopkins is definitely a place people want to live in. Over 250 people have signed the interest list. Construction costs have come in higher than anticipated, but progress is being made in making savings. There have been two bad surprises in the past 60 days. Mr. Olson said the first is that the second phase of the environmental work has shown that a grain silo used to be located between 6th and 7th. When it was torn down, fly ash, a hazardous material, was used as fill. Cleanup will cost about $350,000. Secondly, the engineering firm has found out that there is a utility easement in the alley which contains fiber optic cable. Qwest is indicating a 6-month time frame and a cost of $221,000 to move the cable. Construction cannot proceed until it is moved as it runs through the middle of the proposed building. Mr. Kerrigan said that he and Mr. Stadler are trying to contact Qwest to see if the time frame can be moved up so this project can start this year, adding this project would bring them a lot of new customers. Mr. England said discussions are taking place now as to where the cable would be moved, and added there is no record of any underground easement although there is cable buried also. The moving of the cable may require additional shoring on the north side, which is not in the present plat design. Ms. Kurtze said she has talked- to David Bruce, who represents Luther Properties. They had not known of either problem and seem to be willing to try to help. There is some discussion of them carrying at least part of the clean-up cost and cable moving cost by reducing the land price. She hopes to hear back by the end of the week. David Bruce told them other deals have fallen through because Qwest would not move cables and he was relieved they are already discussing moving them. Ms. Kurtze said these are not the only problems facing Cornerstone. They will need assistance of some sort. Mayor Maxwell said the city would help see if environmental grants are available to help with the clean-up issue. Hopkins is committed to the project. Mr. Kerrigan said staff wants to go ahead with the development agreement and make this a 2005 project. General Consensus was that staff and Council will work with Luther and push Qwest to shorten their time frame. Staff should proceed to work on the development agreement. s June 14, 2005 Page 2 Ms. Kurtze said she was disturbed by comments at the Block 64 open house that • they "were working with the city to remove the over 55 age requirement." If that happens, 280 units would hit the market at the same time. The materials put out for the open house did not mention it was a project for those over 55. Mr. Kerrigan said that is the way it was planned and the city has not been approached. Mayor Maxwell said the city does not want either project jeopardized. Mr. Brausen commented Cornerstone had brought Hopkins a "step up" project, improving Hopkins' image. Fire Chief/fire marshaUfire emergency position City Manager Getschow said last year Council had received a reorganization proposal for the fire department as so many key personnel would be retiring. The immediate issue is to match the dollars spent presently on these positions to a full-time fire chief position. Chief Beckering said he, George and Dave are all leaving, so three positions will be void. The three feel it would be in Hopkins' best interest to combine all their positions into one for the present. The new fire chief would need to meet education requirements (hopefully a bachelor's degree in the future, although not recommended right now), have experience, and have 3 licenses or certifications -sprinkler plan review license (a revenue generator now covered by George), emergency manager certification, inspector certification. The steps in the process include writing the job description (a draft was in the Council packet); review by the fire department trustees and fire department staff; Council approval; hiring activities -posting, resume review, interviews, hiring. He hopes Council will approve the job description and the hiring of the employee in June so • a hire can take place by the end of July when George leaves. Answering questions, he said there is no one in inspections who has a sprinkler plan review license. The job would be posted internally; the search would go outside only if no one meets the requirements internally. Fire Pre-budget Chief Beckering said that while the immediate priority is to combine the 3 present positions into one full-time one, the long-range plans he and the others have developed would be that another full-time person would be hired in a second phase. The emergency director responsibilities will keep increasing due to Homeland Security requirements. A key piece will be to get grants for that second position. The major services the fire department provides are fire suppression; emergency medical services; fire prevention (he noted George has done a wonderful job and even goes to other schools for presentations); emergency preparedness (this will keep getting bigger and taking more time). Issues impacting the budget include recruitment and retention; manufacturing changes in safety compliances; low daytime responders; increasing time demands on the part-time chiefs. The reduction from 41 to 36 members has been a factor in increasing response time and has put more strain on the firefighters. He would like to be able to go back to 41; budget impacts would be minor. The ERP will be hit hard because of Ladder Truck 9. Ten years ago the chassis was refurbished, with the plan the ladder would be refurbished in 2007. This January they found out the aerial construction guidelines were changed and the ladder cannot be refurbished. Replacement will be $900,000; he has moved the cost to 2008. He has not June 14, 2005 Page 3 had time to look into other options yet. Another upcoming cost is for a new thermal • imaging camera at $15,000 which is in the 2007 budget. He recommends adding a firefighter/fire inspector the second year and afirefighter/CSO/maintenance position the third year. The police are willing to help on the CSO in return for medical emergency help. Another major ERP expense will be siren replacement. They are 33 years old, parts are no longer available; two failed the'annual test this year. It will cost $27,000 to replace those two. Mr. Getschow noted the only thing Council is really looking at tonight is the Chief ~osition hire. The ERP expenses will be looked at in July. The recommended 2"a and 3r positions would not be considered until 2007 or later. Mayor Maxwell noted he was glad to see the long-range planning. Chief Beckering noted those added positions would be more "daytime bodies" for fire response. Mayor Maxwell asked if firefighters from other cities who work in Hopkins could be used. Chief Beckering says this has been discussed among fire chiefs. While they are willing to let requirements be counted for both cities, the roadblock has been pension monies, especially as they do not want state pensions. Mr. Brausen asked about recruitment. Asst. Chief Specken said 3 years ago they went door to door and got only 5 who were interested. He is concerned as the department could be down 10 people by the end of the year. Mayor Maxwell asked if a new truck could be financed through grants. Chief Beckering says they are applying, but there is stiff competition. Mr. Specken added the grant writer says becauue Hopkins provided a high match, chances are much better. Mr. Getschow said $300,000 was moved ahead one year in the ERP to match the grant. Mr. Specken added Kathy Magdal in the police department and 2 captains are always looking for fire department grants. General Consensus was for the City Manager to moved ahead with the hire for the Chief position. Also, through the 2006 Budget process ,they will explore increasing the force from 36 to 41 positions. CIP Review Finance Director Harkess said staff has had several meetings and done a lot of work on the CIP. The general fund is in good shape; good financial planning needs a reserve to cover 6 months expenditures because of the way tax revenues are disbursed and Hopkins has that. The PIR fund is used for projects that are assessed back to homeowners, mainly street projects. She feels bonds will not need to be issued unti12007. The Municipal State Aid Fund is basically money received from the state. Balances can be carried forward from year to year. With both Excelsior Blvd. streetscape and County Road 3 coming up, Hopkins may need to get an advance. Advances on allotments are not available now; but a second option is bonding against future allotments, which is limited to 50% of the allotment amount but the state makes the payments to the bondholders. Mayor Maxwell asked about Representative Steve Simon's statement. Mr. Getschow said Mr. Simons said if the transportation bill had not beeen vetoed by the Governor, it would have given us more money for MSA funding. A $25,000 levy was established for the CIP in 2005, with annual increases planned. Moneys are also transferred from the general fund. The Park Improvement Fund is totally dependent on development fees, which will be largely used up by 2007 unless more developments start. Mr. Getschow noted the June 14, 2005 Page 4 budget sheet shows very conservative figures for this fund, and that the Interlachen land sale money is being held and has not been allocated yet. The other funds -water fund, sanitary sewer fund, refuse fund, storm sewer fund and tax increment financing funds are all enterprise funds. Specifically looking at the 2006 CIP, Ms. Harkess mentioned Jay Strachota has notified her the lobby carpet in the Art Center is really worn; replacement would be $18,000. Mr. Stadler said he supported the idea. Mr. Brausen commented it looks tattered. Mr. Getschow said staff is confident the proposed plan will fit with the budget numbers. He feels Council will not need to cut projects in the CIP. The ERP will be a different story and require some tough decisions. Answering Mayor Maxwell, he said one can't transfer money from the CIP fund to the ERP. Mr. Stadler noted the process used to be different, more projects were done by levy through the general fund. Mr. Getschow suggested not looking at the numbers further until the next work session when everyone could be present and Council could study the numbers in the meantime. 2005-6 Goals and Objectives Mr. Getschow said these would be discussed at the next work session,. What he needed right away was Council feedback on the Citizens Academy. It has been suggested to do 2 departments each year. Would Council want that? Mr. Brausen said that would allow a department more time. Every six months a department could do a presentation, which could be kept as a format for other uses, such as presentations to groups like Rotary or Senior Citizens. Mayor Maxwell preferred the old system, but said he could go along with the new way, noting many departments now have more to show. Mr. Rowan • was not concerned about format, but felt it was important to continue. Mayor Maxwell noted the Pavilion could be a new location for a presentation. Mr. Rowan suggested each meeting be at a different site. General Consensus was for staff to continue to work on Citizens Academy, with the format up to them. Other Mr. Brausen expressed concern about the comments about Qwest. He thinks Hopkins needs to take a very proactive stance with them. Mr. Getschow said the issue had come up less than a week ago. If necessary, he will have Qwest meet with the Council. Mr. Rowan said he was concerned about the comment that Block 64 staff was saying they were working with the city to change the plan. Mr. Getschow said no one has approached the city. Mr. Brausen said he was told about that comment by someone who heard it. Mr. Getschow said the marketing material for the weekend open house did not mention it was housing for people over 55. Mayor Maxwell said he had a great bike ride with the Sierra Club. They stopped at the Depot, Marketplace Lofts, Art Center, fire station, Shady Oak pond and the bandshell. Mr. Getschow said Oakridge Country Club will have a ribbon cutting at 4:00 on Thursday. He has scheduled the review of the city attorney after the July 5 Council meeting. June 14, 2005 Page 5 Mr. Rowan moved adjournment. Mayor Maxwell seconded. On a 3-0 vote the • meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Kasey Kester, Secretary ATTEST: Eug J. axwell, Mayor • •