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04-14-2009 WS April 14, 2009 Page 1 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Mayor Maxwell called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm. Present were Mayor Maxwell and Council members Halverson, Brausen, Rowan, Y ouakim and City Manager Rick Getschow; Public Works Director Steve Stadler, Consultant with Hennepin County Tom Dobbs, Hennepin County Planning Carolyn Anderson, Finance Director Christine Harkess, Hennepin County Assessors, Mike Smerdon (Residential), Jason Massmann (Commercial) Rob Winge (Supervisor), Director of Planning and Economic Development Kersten Elverum and Community Development Coordinator Tara Beard. Southwest Transitwav Proiect Uudate: Background The planning work thus far has included an alternatives Analysis completed in 2006, selection of a consultant for the Draft Environmental Impact Staten1ent work (HDR, Inc.) and completion of the DEIS scoping report. The DEIS work began with the scoping process - this was completed in December 2008. This scoping process included significant public outreach and outside agency input and resulted in hundreds of comments on the proposed LRT alternatives. The scoping report was published and a copy is available at City Hall. In addition to the many project impact concerns, the scoping process also resulted in anew alternative LRT route into downtown Minneapolis - alt 3C (11th/lih St Sub-alternative). So, there are now four LRT route alternatives; lA, 3A, 3C and 3C with 11 th/lih Streets sub-alternative. Current Status Currently, the project team is involved in an evaluation of the four alternatives with the goal of selecting a locally preferred alternative (LP A) by this summer/fall. The LP A selection is done so that the bulk of the DEIS work can be focused on a single route, saving substantial cost. The screening of alternatives will include considering the impacts of changes since the AA was completed in 2006, i.e. Twins stadium, Nicollet Mall opening to traffic, Untied Health development in Eden Prairie, Cargill campus development, new ridership forecasts from Met Council based on Comprehensive Plan updates. The selection of the LP A will be a process wherein each alternative will be assessed using criteria and measures within four basic categories: planning, compatibility, performance, environment and other factors. The alternatives will be scored based on several criteria and measures within each category. The highest ranked alternative will be recommended as the LP A. The SWLRT Technical Advisory Committee will work with the County Project manager and the consultant to complete the analysis and then make a recommendation to the Policy Advisory Committee. The PAC will consider and discuss all the information and forward their recommendation the HCRRA. Upon HCRRA approval, the Metropolitan Council will then hold a public hearing to add the LP A to the region's Transportation Policy Plan. Public Outreach A short article to update residents on the proj ect status is planned for the May Hopkins Highlights and subsequent issues as the LP A selection process unfolds. Funding The project received $534,000 in the FY 2009 Federal Appropriations Bill. There is FY201 0 request for $9M for preliminary engineering + a State Senate Bonding Bill request for $5M. The preliminary engineering cost is estimated at $35M - there is a 50% Federal reimbursement. April 14, 2009 Page 2 Discussion: Public Works Director Steve Stadler stated that the scoping report is upstairs at City Hall and it is two volumes. Out of this process came a fourth LR T alternative to get into the downtown Minneapolis area which is called the alternative 3C 11 th/1ih Street sub alternatives. Alternative 3C dead ended and didn't interline with the Hiawatha line. The fourth alternative does have some real promise. Mr. Stadler stated that right now they are working on a preferred alternative. The process has to be accepted by the Federal Transit Administration. After going through the scoring process the plan that scored highest would then go to the Policy Advisory Committee for further consideration and then their recommendation would go to the Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority (HCRA). When the HCRA approves it then it will go to the Met Council who will hold a public hearing to add it to the 2030 regional transportation policy plan. Mr. Stadler stated that he is hoping to publish the draft and environmental statement by the end of this calendar year. The next process would start the preliminary engineering. The estimated cost of preliminary engineering is $35M. There is a 50% federal reimbursement for that. We did receive a little more than a half million dollars in the federal year 2009 appropriations bill. Congressman Ellison was a big part in securing that money for us. Mayor Maxwell asked if the regional railroad has the final say. Mr. Stadler responded that it will be the County in conjunction with Met Council. Mr. Stadler stated that the City of Minneapolis will have feedback about each route. That feedback will be listened to as well as they need to listen to Hopkins. Mr. Stadler stated that it still goes through the scoring process. Mayor Maxwell asked how much input Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and other cities has and how much of that input going to have an effect. Mr. Stadler stated they can't change a decision that the FDA approved based on something outside of the mythology. Director of Planning & Economic Development Kersten Elverum asked about the time line and Mr. Stadler stated that it is probably going to happen in Mayor June. Mr. Stadler stated that the scoring will be looked at on their meeting of April 30th. Mayor Maxwell asked Council member Rowan if he is on the committee and he stated he is. He said last week at the meeting they discussed scheduling. The State Historical Protection office is going to be getting involved soon. The next meeting will be in May. Hennepin County Planning Carolyn Anderson stated that whenever Federal dollars are involved in a process you have to go through what is called a 106 review which looks at all properties that over 50 years of age. They look at if there is burial grounds, what else is unique to that property, architecture, does the building still have integrity. It is a long process. It doesn't mean that you can't move the building it just might have to go through a mitigation process. Mayor Maxwell asked if there are churches with cemeteries. Ms. Anderson stated that she has never had a project with a church involved. Mayor asked if the T AC will come back and show why they choose the route that they did. Mr. Stadler stated that the T AC should easily show why they chose the recommendations. He stated it is based on a matrix system based on all criteria and measures. Mr. Stadler stated that he would be able to explain the process and he could bring Katie Walker to help explain it. Mr. Stadler stated that the final draft will be done at the end of the year. Mr. Stadler stated that he received an e-mail from Katie Walker from HDR consultant that had a map showing the different soils along the different alternatives and which ones are most easily transmitting vibrations from April 14, 2009 Page 3 the trains. Mr. Stadler stated that they also have to go though analysis of park lands. Mr. Stadler stated during the scoping process they have submitted some comments and concerns. At some point in time they will give a response or answer to those during the process. Mayor Maxwell asked when they went through Hiawatha did they go through the same process? Mr. Stadler stated it was not the same but it is similar. Community Development Coordinator Tara Beard stated that the City staff has been working with Hennepin County and consultant Tom Dobbs on a year-long station area master plan process for the proposed Southwest LRT line that will go through St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie. Three of the twelve stations proposed for the Southwest Line are in Hopkins; Bake Rd, 8th Ave/Downtown, and Shady Oak Rd. The planning process began in the summer of 2008 with data collection, including extensive review of previous efforts planning for the transitway. In October of2008 the first of two invitation-only stakeholder visioning sessions were held that included property and business owners close to the station areas and other interested parties. These preliminary efforts lead to a draft concept plan that was presented to City staff in February and at a second stakeholder meeting in March 2009. Mr. Dobbs is now presenting that concept plan to the Hopkins City Council for input before the first of two public meetings is held on April 21, 2009. Mr. Dobbs showed some slides of conceptual land use plans, movement diagram and site development plans for each of the three stations. Mr. Dobbs stated that the process is about a 12 month process and we are about 3;4 of the way through that process. Mr. Dobbs stated that there has been two visioning sessions in each community and were held with the stakeholders, staff and some elected officials and some planning commissioners in that community participated as well. The outcome of those has set the direction for overall land use and conceptual plans for each station area. Mr. Dobbs stated that they are scheduling public meeting number one which will happen within the next month. It will be like the presentation today but also to educate the general public. The public will have general questions like, when can I ride it? When can I sell my building? When can I start seeing things happening? It will be an open house format and a presentation format of where we are to date. Mr. Dobbs stated that the use must be complimentary to the use of downtown. The plan is to introduce a moderate amount of parking approximately 200 spaces initially with the option of building up for more parking spaces of approximately 600. Mayor Maxwell asked how many spaces Louisiana has and Mr. Dobbs stated it has 200 spaces for vehicles. If you look at Eden Prairie they have 800 at Mitchell Rd. and 800 additional at Southwest. Mayor Maxwell stated that we don't want to make Hopkins the end point of the commute line. Mr. Dobbs stated that Shady Oak is one of the most exciting stations that we are looking at. It can connect to so much. Park and ride there would be about 350. City Assessor Uudate: Mike Smerdon talked about the residential assessments. There were 69 sales for the assessments this year versus 105 from last year. Values only dropped 3.3%. Right now there are fewer houses for sale because of the economy. Condos sold this year were 22 and 55 last year and we dropped the values 5.6%. Town homes had 18 sales this year and 35 last year and we dropped the values 5.3%. Double and triple's had 2 good sales this year and we dropped the value there 9.9%. Good sales are open market, arms, transactions (relocation etc). Foreclosures are not on the good sales. April 14, 2009 Page 4 Council member Y ouakim asked what style house went up or down this year. Mr. Smerdon stated that the ramblers dropped more and the 1 12 did not drop as much. Mr. Winge stated that the limited market value has sunsetted, so they no longer have that protection. If the residents were protected from that in the past years now they are at 100 % of the market value. Mayor Maxwell asked if land values plays into the location. Mr. Smerdon stated that they do, and that if you go out to the greater Minnesota the land is cheaper there. Mayor Maxwell asked how Hopkins is comparing to the other cities. Mr. Winge stated that Golden Valley, Edina and St. Louis Park are comparable to Hopkins. Minnetonka was down about 4 - 4.5%. Crystal is down 7 - 8 % because they have the more entry level homes. Council member Brausen asked about the calls that Mr. Smerdon has been getting. Mr. Smerdon stated that there seem to be a lot less this year. The value notices went out April 3rd. This year there have been about 33 calls so far versus two years ago there were 28 calls on the first day alone. City Manager Getschow stated that Assessing 101 is on the website to help residents and others better understand the process that the Assessors use. Council member Y ouakim asked if there is anything on the website about foreclosures. Mr. Winge stated that what the county has to stick with is the guidelines for the sales. October 1 st of 2007 to the end September of 2008 is the county timeline. Anything happening right now is going to be used for the 2010 assessment. People tend to want the county to use the sales right now but it is always a year behind. City Manager Getschow stated that the value you establish in January of2009 was based on sales in 2008 for the taxes that they will pay in 2010. City Manager Getschow stated that Mr. Smerdon will meet with anyone at any time and go to their home when they disagree with the values. Council member Brausen stated that if there is anything the Council can do to help- please let them know. Jason Massmann talked about Commercial assessments and stated that industrials went up 5.7%. The majority of the values stay flat with a few that needed to be looked at and there was one sale. Mr. Massmann stated that in regards to the apartments- they did go up. There were two sales that showed that the county was low on those and the consensus on that was there was a lot of speculation on light rail. Mr. Massmann stated that Hopkins is pretty insulated. The apartments went up 4.9%. Mr. Massmann stated that he has had 4 commercial industrial reduced so far because the tenants are not seeing the spending. Mr. Massmann also stated that he has had a total of 21 reviews, 10 of them he is working on and the other 11 have been settled, 7 of those are through one apartment owner. 2009/2010 Budeet: City Manager Getschow stated that we are going to talk about the current budget and then set the table for 20 I 0 as we start looking at our budget for 2010 and beyond. There are four terms that are commonly used: 1. Fiscal Crunch - defined as short term and not high intensity. 2. Fiscal Crisis - defined as short period of time and high intensity. 3. Fiscal Squeeze - defined as a longer term budget issue but not high intensity. 4. Fiscal Crush - defined as a long term financial problem that has high intensity. April 14, 2009 Page 5 City Manager G~tschow stated that he would say that we are in a Fiscal Crunch. Weare dealing with short term, can be two or three years with not high intensity. Not high intensity but a fiscal problem is a $200 - $250 thousand dollar problem out ofa $9.5M to $10M budget. This issue in 2009 is 2 - 212 % of the general fund budget, that is why we have to talk to employees about tightening our belt. City Manager Getschow stated that if values continue to go down or stay flat we could be in a fiscal squeeze which then poses the question can we still provide the services that we do at the cost that we do. City Manager Getschow stated that this is just to set the table. While the 2009 potential loss of a quarter million dollars is not easy we can manage - but a plan has been created. The majority of the spending reduction plan involves the reduction of some capital spending, a reduction in the training/conferences budgets, and leaving certain vacant positions unfilled in the City. If tax capacity falls further, we will need to look at further reductions. City Manager Getschow stated you have to look long term. The Mayor and Council concurred. Finance Director Harkess stated that the good news is that we do know what the maximum increase is in our health insurance will be because this is the last year of a guaranteed maximum rate increase. Ms. Harkess stated that it will be interested to see how our claims paid ratio this year which is what goes into determining what goes into how they determine the next year. City Manager Getschow then discussed the 2010 Budget. Based on the presentation regarding property values that was just given, the numbers for 2010 look to be more stable than anticipated. There still may be a slight reduction in tax capacity - thus an increased city tax rate if the levy increases, but this could be managed more easily than if there was a 3-5% capacity reduction. Creating the 2010 Budget will be an uphill battle and will require freezing spending in many areas, but major service cuts do not appear to be a part of that discussion at this time. Other: Council member Brausen asked about the spring clean sweeps conducted by the Inspections Department. City Manager Getschow will check into the time line for that. Mayor Maxwell stated today there were awards ceremony at the Cargill building For LEED certification and for a safety award. . There will be an Earth Day event on Wednesday, April 22 at 4:30pm at the Plaza Apartments - the site of our rental engagement project.. City of Hopkins Park Superintendent Ray V ogtman will give a short presentation on the parks and trails in the city that are available for everyone to enjoy. Also, Super Valu is having a big Earth Day event for their employees. Our green committee found out about it and they invited members of our green committee there. Then we will plan a bigger event for next year. The Green Committee will be put on the work session agenda this summer. . Getschow provided Tara Beard's memo to the Council about the CDBG program guidelines. Based on the meeting earlier this year, there was discussion on changing the guidelines that are outlined in the memo. This item would be on the May 5 agenda. City Manager Getschow stated that he has had conversations with The Mayor and others about how the City can provide support to the business community and our retail community. One of the first things we could do was provide a Mayor and Council letter to the editor that could also be used on connections and on the website. Consensus was this was a good idea to pursue. April 14, 2009 Page 6 · Park Board meeting is next Monday- they are inviting the Interlachen neighborhood to the meeting to discuss the park improvements. · The development update covered the bike racks. They are quoting a price of $600.00 a bike rack- less than what was presented by Marketing Committee. This 2010 marketing and public art project will begin soon. Red Cross is honoring 8 people at their annual heroes breakfast next Tuesday morning and one of them is a Hopkins resident that we gave the Fire Life Saving award to. His name is Christopher Norum. City Manager Getschow will make sure that someone from the Fire Department is there. TPT Channel 2 is going to do a series of shows called "Getting There" aimed at the fifty plus crowd. One of the topics is civic engagement - and City Manager Getschow was asked to to be on the show to discuss our Citizen's Academy. Also, the League of Minnesota Cities will be highlighting the Academy in their next monthly magazine. With no further business, a motion was made by Y ouakim, seconded by Brausen to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm. Debbie Sperling, Secretary ATTEST: ~