10-09-01October 9, 2001
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MINUTES
CITY C®UNCII., W®IIK SESSI®N - ®CT®BER 9, 2001
A work session of the Hopkins City Council was held at 6:30 p.m. on October 9, 2001, at the City
Hall. Council members present were Mayor Maxwell and Council members Brausen, Hesch, Jensen and
Johnson. City personnel present were City Manager Mielke, Finance Director Yager, Police Chief Reid,
Captain James Liddy, City Manager Assistant Stahmer, Publications Director Hartfiel, Housing
Coordinator Elverum, Economic Director Kerrigan, and City Attorney Deike. Also present were Sid
Inman of Ehlers & Associates, Jim Vos of CRESA, and Medica Director Steve Elison.
Medica Project Update
Mr. Elison of Medica said the Hatch investigation and the forced split of Medica and Allina has
turned things "upside down," and the new Board of Directors has decided they need more time to consider
building. The October closing date has been moved to February 2002. The Board also directed him to
shop around for other options; SuperValu agreed on the condition they can look for another buyer. They
must make some decision by October 31 or lose the escrow of $350,000. RSP and RLK have been put on
hold. Mr. Vos noted that in reality Medica is starting up a new business and feels the Board directive was
reasonable. Mr. Elison said Medica staff is still behind the plan. Mr. Mielke told Mr. Vos the AUAR plan
would not stay with the land. He told the Council the TIF for the SuperValu distribution center is enough
to redo the intersection, which should be done even if Medica doesn't build. Ms Hartfiel was told an
announcement is planned for October 25 as to the Board's decision, and Medica would notify the
neighborhoods.
East CBD Development Agreement
Director Kerrigan explained this is a preliminary document, not everything needs to be covered in it.
Ms. Elverum briefly summarized the document. She said the Locomen family seems to be cooperative.
Lommens will meet with the developer to work out how much property they would want involved in the
project. Then the Council can look at their proposal. If the developer decides to use all of the property,
the City is not committed to paying for more than their original idea of the parking lot. Ms. Jensen said she
felt this was not explicit enough in the agreement. Mr. Kerrigan said a deal has been worked out with the
Luthers, and a draft is done and should be executed next week. Mr. Deike told Ms. Hesch the Council has
the right to approve the marketing study company and its scope. Cornerstone has recommended a company;
their main business is residential, but the person that would do the study has a heavy background in retail.
Mr. Kerrigan said he feels this firm is the best available in the area. Mr. Inman said the retail rental is
easy, but sale difficult. He noted Section 3 Paragraph 4 has a blank so the Council could define what type
of restaurant they want. Mr. Kerrigan said 3-5,000 sq. ft. is a good-sized restaurant. Staff recommends a
70/30 retail/service ratio. Ms. Jensen said her main concern is that businesses put in don't compete with
present Mainstreet businesses. She suggested art supplies or a ballet shop. Ms. Hesch mentioned Great
Harvest Bakery.
General Consensus: Attorney Deike will clarify the city commitment for the Locomen property.
Information on the ratio of bar/restaurant for liquor license shall be provided by staff to the Council. The
restaurant should be "white tablecloth, wait staff, printed menus." If a franchise restaurant, it should be
similar in style to Sidney's. The Council would prefer a 80/20 retail/service ratio if possible. There were
no major problems with the agreement.
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2002 Budget -Economic Development
Mr. Kerrigan said the big changes in TIF and Section 8 were due to the fact that 2 programs have
been moved to the Economic Development Fund. The 89 % decrease in revenue for this part is because
LGA is no longer received. Three TIF's will have shortfalls due to the new legislation. 1-1 will be
decertified in 2004 if there are no shortfalls. 2-9 may have shortfalls short term due to the legislation, but
by the end it should have an excess. Ms. Yager noted that TIF's will probably decrease 30% overall. Mr.
Kerrigan said the Economic Development Fund is up due to moving some accounts from the general fund.
East CBD program will be under this now. $50,000 of income has been lost due to lower interest rates.
The $100,000 HRA levy would be put here. The grant to Para-Transit has been increased to $100,000 due
to increased usage. Met Council tentatively has agreed to fund $85,000. Ms. Yager noted the Housing
Rehabilitation program is using up its funds and will need to be watched closely. CDBG is totally federally
funded so not part of the budget. Mr. Kerrigan said Hopkins is one of the finalists for the Met Council
grant, and asked for $800,000; but there are more applicants than money. They meet with the Met Council
on October 19 to answer questions.
2002 Budget -Police Department
Chief Reid said prisoner costs are down. Captain Liddy has decreased cell phone costs $1500 and
dues by $1200. The department already has $150,000 in grants and hopes to reach $250,000 by December
due to Katherine Magdal's work. The Secret Service is asking for one of Hopkins' policemen, but will pay
for a replacement. He is asking for a permanent IT position as the department runs several separate
computer systems. He has hired someone temporary, who is a network specialist and has 20 years law
background. He desperately needs a lead dispatch person; overtime is extremely high. He has one
dispatcher who has worked 7 day weeks since July because they are so short of help. He noted each
Hopkins policeman answered 457 calls last year; Minneapolis policemen answered 343; Minnetonka police
answered 99. His best "secret weapon" now is the Crime Free Multi-Housing in dealing with the many
domestic calls. The government recommendation for gas masks is unrealistic -with training, testing,
required physicals, etc. the cost for each is actually over $1000, not counting yearly maintenance. He
needs a $55,000 software CAD; now dispatch needs to use 16-17 screens to record incidents; with it there
would be only one screen. The radio system blew last week. The public works and police duplex, the
dispatch console were damaged. The receiver site is "fried." Motorola is bench making needed parts. In
the meantime they are renting special phones that work like amini-radio system.
Mr. Mielke noted that the two new positions asked for are in the present budget. The need for two
more police officers is not. This would add $100,000 for salaries and benefits.
General Consensus: All Council members are disturbed at the overload being put on the police
personnel.
Other
Miscellaneous
Council agreed a letter should be sent under the signature of Mayor Maxwell to Medica Chairman
Ted Deikel offering the assistance of Hopkins staff in any way.
Mr. Brausen said he was impressed at the bowling alley open house.
Mayor Maxwell said Mr. Waldeck called. He checked the wall and thinks it look nice.
HCA Issues
Mr. Mielke said there are major issues that need to be prioritized and scheduled. He listed seven:
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HCA debt; lack of use; leases; subsidy; methods of dealing with operating subsidy; community use; MRAC
grant.
The debt can be eliminated 4 ways: split among funds (but taking from water and sewer funds might
raise questions), write-off from the general fund (which could affect the bond rating), write off from the
Economic Development fund (which could make money run short for other projects), or the staff-
recommended one, take $35,000 from the Economic Development fund yearly till paid off. Ms. Yager also
recommends this be made a special revenue fund.
He has asked Jay to analyze the usage and hopes to have it the 23`d. Council comments generally
said there seems to be no urgency to get usage as they know they'll get subsidized; and that there is a "lack
of creativity and feel of activity." Ms. Jensen said they waste a lot of money on glossy promotions, her
house receives 3 regularly as the data base is so poorly kept; she was also offended they used the vision
process in their grant. Ms. Hesch said she felt the $92,000 Hopkins puts in should become a challenge
grant -match it or don't get it. Mr. Mielke noted the $92,000 includes the LGA allocation of $50,000. He
added that of all the special accounts -skate park, activity center, HCA, Depot, etc., the only one showing
a profit is the Pavilion. The newly-formed "Facilities" was to have joint fund raising, and has not done so.
Mr. Brausen said Ms. Hesch would be a good consultant if one is needed.
General Consensus: The way to handle this is as follows: From 6:00-7:30 before the next Council
meeting the Council will discuss what they feel their goals/mission for HCA are. Jay will meet with them
on the 23`d. The "how" will be worked on at the October 30 work session.
Ms. Johnson moved adjournment; Ms. Hesch seconded. Meeting adjourned at 11:00 p.m.
Kasey Kester, Secretary