08-26-2008 WSAugust 26, 2008
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MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Mayor Maxwell called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm at the L.A. Fitness property in Hopkins. The
City Council received a tour of the L.A. Fitness property.
Present were Mayor Maxwell and Council members Halverson, Brausen, Youakim and Rowan.
City personnel present were City Manager Riclc Getschow, Fire Chief Dale Specken, Finance
Director Christine Harlcess and Ron Mehl, Bill Beard and the Beard Group.
The meeting resumed at City Hall at 6:50 p.m.
Marketplace and Main Project:
Ron Mehl and Bill Beard of the Beard Group provided an update on the Marketplace and Main
project. Their reservations are holding around 12 or 13, however, when talking to their lenders the
previous 50% pre-sale commitment may have risen to 80%. This is an indication of their lenders
being reluctant to fund mixed use condominium projects at this time. However, if they due reach
50% pre-sales they may go to other lenders or press their lenders on beginning construction on this
project. The Council then discussed the development agreement with the Beard Group which had
several deadlines occurring in August and into the fall. Council and staff felt that there needed to be
some flexibility in these deadlines and the development agreement may need to come back for
revision extending some of the deadlines and providing some flexibility to the developer. Some of
that flexibility includes potentially starting on Phase II, which was the townhome portion before
Phase I, which was the mixed use condominium development. The Beard Group discussed
potentially starting the townhomes first before building the main condominium/retail buildings.
Council and staff felt that this would be a positive step and would show progress in the project on
Mainstreet. There was also discussion about the grants that are part of this project. Extensions may
be needed on the grants for this project to occur, however, if there is work done on the townhouse
project and demolition occurs on the condo site, the grants could be utilized yet in 2008. The Beard
Group discussed their increased marketing efforts and potential changes that may be made to the
plan based on the market demand for the types of units that people may want to purchase. Council
consensus was for staff to work with the Beard Group on revising the redevelopment agreement to
come back to an HRA meeting at a later date.
Equipment Replacement Plan:
The Council discussed the Equipment Replacement Plan which is scheduled for approval at the
September 2nd City Council Meeting. Fire Chief, Dale Specken attended the meeting to answer
questions in the Equipment Replacement Plan related to the Fire Department. There are three issues
involved:
1. Duty Chief Vehicle
2. Replacement of other equipment
3. Fitness Center equipment replacement
August 26, 2008
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Specken answered Council question and the staff will move ahead for ERP approval on September
2"d meeting.
2009 Budget:
Finance Director Harlcess provided the Council with information about the levy, the budget itself,
savings and efficiences that the staff and Council have worked on to lower the budget and also
unfunded mandates that the City must work under. The staff will provide education to the
community on the savings and efficiencies
and unfunded mandates portion of the budget. The staff is proposed to move ahead to the
September 2nd City Council meeting with a preliminary tax levy of 3.9%. The Finance Director has
spent a lot of time with City staff working to trim the budget to get to 3.9% tax levy. She discussed
all of the factors that led to an increase in the general fund budget for 2009, which include payroll,
health insurance benefits and the cost of fuel. Council consensus was to move ahead with the 3.9%
preliminary levy increase and to set atruth-in-taxation hearing for Monday, December 8. Council
also discussed the need to educate the community on the factors on the budget increase and the levy
increase. The Finance Director stated that based on the current information that she has on tax
capacity, a 3.9% levy increase equates to a 1.9% tax rate increase. Therefore, with a small
exception of a few properties, this means that property with lower values will see lower taxes and a
higher property valuation would mean an increase in taxes. Council also discussed the need going
forward in these tough economic times to evaluate all City services/programs moving forward if the
budget situation gets to be more difficult in future years.
Other:
• City Manager Getschow provided an update on the Blake Rd. corridor meeting that had
occurred Monday evening regarding the creation of the small area plan and the LRT
station proposed for that area.
Council member Rowan stated that there seems to be a lot of train switching activity in his
neighborhood.
• City Manager Getschow discussed the Excelsior Crossing Project. The second and third
building will be constructed at the same time from now into 2009. Opus and Cargill has
approached the City stating that this creates problems with the first building employees
having proper access to their building from Excelsior Boulevard. They would like to talk
with staff and the Council about a proper plan for employees to get to the current building
that is constructed in the midst of all the construction.
August 26, 2008
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There being no further business, a motion was made by Brausen, seconded by Youakim to
adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 pm.
Rick Getschow, Secretary
ATTEST:
,r
Euge . M well, Mayor
CITY COUNCIL