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07-22-03 WSJuly 22, 2003 Page 1 MINUTES CITY COiJNCIL WORK SESSION -July 22, 2003 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 6:30 p.m. an July 22, 2003, at the City Hall. Council members Brausen, Jensen, Johnson and Rowan were present. City personnel present were: City Manager Steve Mielke, Assistant City Manager Jim Genellie, Public Works Director Steve Stadler, Finance Director Lori Yager, Utilities Superintendant Mike Lauseng, Police Chief Craig Reid, Police Captain James Liddy, Facilities Director Jay Strachota and Assistant City Attorney Wynn Curtiss. Also present were Mary Perkins, Paul Dean, John Anderson and Bob Lindee. Gambling Policy Discussion Mr. Genellie said the current moratorium on new premises permits expires on Sept. 2. Staff had studied the issues Council wanted information on and had recommendations on four sections of the current policy. Mayor Maxwell suggested Section 2.02 should be further amended to require annual updating of the official address. Mr. Rowan suggested Section 2.03 should say " rimar activities." There was general discussion concerning the term "trade area" (which Hopkins has never used) and the ramifications of the five years condition and if it could or should be applied to Section 2.02. Mr. Genellie will check with other cities to see how they addressed this issue. There was discussion on Section 2.07. Ms. Jensen felt it should be retained; others wanted it deleted or did not have strong opinions. Mr. Genellie will draft alternate language for further discussion. After discussion on Section 2.10, Council members agreed with the proposed change accepting a quorum of general membership approving the motion to authorize gambling activities, provided notice had been given. Discussion on a letter from Raspberry Festival led to the suggestion from Mayor Maxwell that organizations provide a copy of their lease just for purposes of showing they have a valid lease. Mayor Maxwell invited continent from attendees. Mr. Dean said bars would like to be able have more than one charitable organization use their facilities as it would mean two fees. He noted "different games" can mean two kinds of pull tabs, it does not mean necessarily two totally different forms of games. Each organization has to have its own booth for sale of games. Mr. Lindee said Section 2.07 started because Jaycees had been late with their license application so two schools used their premises for temporary licensed games. Mr. Genellie said he did not think it was passed for that reason but that it was used for that. Mr. Anderson had the 10% fund clarified. Mr. Brausen asked that temporary licenses be studied by staff. Mayor Maxwell asked staff to find out if permits would need to go to the whole trade area if that became the criterion. Mr. Genellie noted he believes organizations submit new permit applications in October. General Consensus was staff would research the issues raised in discussion. Mr. Genellie will bring the policy back to the second August work session., when it could be passed as it is not an ordinance change. Replacement of Commercial Water Meters July 22, 2003 Page 2 Ms. Yager said a check showed that commercial water usage may be double what is showing on the meters. She suggested that the city offer to pay for the radio read devices for businesses that replace their meters. The 400 meters would cost up to $80,000.00 but additional revenue should repay that in a couple years. General feeling was against the free radio read devices due to the tight budget constraints. The present ordinance allows them to repair their old meters rather than replace. Mr, Lauseng said new meters would often be able to be smaller and should last much longer. Mayor Maxwell said if meters are checked and shown defective, it would be cheaper to put in a new one than to repair; he later suggested the plumber's permit fee could be waived. Mr. Lauseng said staff can replace the 1" meters; others require a licensed plumber. He noted reading a commercial meter can take more than 25 minutes while reading 3000 residential meters by radio read took only a day and a half. Mr. Brausen said he felt the ordinance should be changed to require radio read meters; if a business keeps its old meter, it should be charged for manual reading. Ms. Johnson asked if staff would have time to change all the meters; Mr. Stadler said he had not expected that issue and would need to look into it. Ms. Yager said the large expensive meters could perhaps be paid for over several years if the city acts as middleman. She said installing is about $185-275, the same cost as the checking fee. General Consensus was that the city would not pay for the radio read scanners. Staff will check how Wayzata and other cities are handling the buying of meters. The changeover should be mandatory. Mayor Maxwell offered his business as a testing place for the changeover with the city then to bill him accordingly. Suggested ordinance changes shall be brought back in a month. Gun Policy at HCA Discussion covered all public facilities, centering on HCA, Depot, and Pavilion. Ms. Jensen noted she had heard on the news that the state would sue cities who ban guns on their premises. Attorney Curtiss said the state pre-empted the cities' ability to do anything about non- school public buildings; they can only prevent employees from. carrying guns. Areas with no public access, he feels, could be posted as "no access" to prevent guns; the fire department could be posted as "no public access." Any areas leased by schools need only to be posted as school property; this includes areas under their "temporary control." This should cover the Depot all the time and the Pavilion during the school year. Another option is that such posting could be incorporated as a term in any leases the City gives. Mr. Mielke noted that Stages and the school have HCA 85 % of the time and HCA, Inc. has the gallery. Mr. Curtiss said dual usage, as when Rotary meets there, may raise issues of who has responsibility/authority. Chief Reid clarified the prerequisites for enforcement: signage, warning, refusal. If his police are called in, they would use full police procedure. Mr. Curtiss noted someone such as a restaurant owner can tell someone they must leave and if they refuse call the police for trespassing. Mr. Curtiss said his opinion is that staff does not need to meet every person at the door with a verbal warning, that the warning requirement is for individuals suspected of carrying guns; he admitted there could be attorneys who would plead otherwise. Mr. Strachota said Stages is indecisive whether they want to post. He has concerns whether his staff would stay on the job if they felt they had to give the warning. Mr. Curtiss~said they could give agent status. Chief Reid says he has suggested giving training about greeting people. Mr. Rowan suggested HCA have July 22, 2003 Page 3 signs where the responsible group could be inserted. Answering Ms. Johnson, Mr. Curtiss said if the school was at HCA they would have responsibility and be in control; if the school was not present, then Stages would have control. He noted the MN League says cities can also require vendors and contractors to post as part of their contracts. General Consensus: Council asked they be given copies of the statute. All agreed the issue needs to be explored further. The Pavilion and Depot should be posted. Mr. Strachota will talk to HCA tenants. Other Mr. Mielke said the police department opens bids August 6; he can report informally shortly thereafter. All agreed to take action August 12, provided they have the information ahead. Mr. Mielke said staff is preparing a flyer for National Night Out. Mr. Mielke said Bob Wilson will be leaving. He will contact other cities to see if they are interested in contracting for Hopkins' assessing. He will also re-check with Hennepin County. He feels there should be no imrnediate replacement due to the budget restraints. He added 4 are leaving from Public Works with early retirement in September. Ms. Jensen asked if Starbucks was coming in. Mr. Mielke said they may be. Mayor Maxwell noted the police will be down one man again. Ms. Jensen moved adjournment. Mr. Brausen seconded. Meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m. Kasey Kester, Secretary ATTEST: Eugene axwell, ayor COUNCIL MEMBERS: