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01-22-02 WSJanuary 22, 2002 Page 1 MINUTES CITY C®IJl~1CIL ~V®I2I~ SESSI®N - .IAI~JAIZY 22, 2002 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was held at 6:30 p.m. on January 22, 2002, at the City Hall. Council members present were Mayor Maxwell and Council members Brausen, Jensen, and Rowan. Ms. Jensen was absent for two short periods. City personnel present were City Manager Mielke, Public Works Director Stadler, Economic Development Coordinator Hartshorn and Finance Director Yager. Also present were State Senator Steve Kelley; State Representative Betty Folliard; Gary Young and Craig Piernot of Outdoor Promotions, Inc.; and John Cooley of HBCA Approval of Charitable Gambling Premises Permit City Manager Mielke said the application needed immediate action as the Elks need to have it to the state by the end of the month to be able to continue as usual. Such action has been taken before. Mr. Rowan moved that the Hopkins City Council adopt Resolutions 2002-05, approving the charitable gambling premises permit for the Hopkins Elks Lodge 2221, located at 30 8"' Ave S. Ms. Jensen seconded. Passed 4-0. Legislative Preview Rep. Folliard said she was present to hear Council concerns. She has talked with Chief Reid. Sen. Kelley agreed he, too, wanted to get feedback from the Council. He said he knows there will be spending cuts, and that some will hurt cities as all agree education K-12 and nursing homes cannot be cut. Both said choosing between cities and education is a difficult decision as both have been strong advocates of education. City Manager Mielke said this year Hopkins will lose $305,000, 4 % of the approved budget, and faces a $444,000 loss next year. He feels city governments have no advocate in the legislature. In response to his concerns about fund balances, Sen. Kelley said the state government did not use fund balances as the basis for allocation and he feels the government-will not "dig into that." Rep. Foiliard agreed; she added what the state may look at is the levy increases. Ms. Yager said after subtracting the HACA/LGA loss Hopkins' levy increase would have been 7 %, but she hopes the Council can go to the limit next year. Her fear is the state government won't let them "levy back." Just the additional loss in aids will mean another 5 % increase, so next year will mean a minimum of a 10 % increase in levy. Sen. Kelley said he would advocate loosening or eliminating levy limits. Mr. Mielke said if Hopkins could get at least half the cut, the city could cope. He added Hopkins cannot raise the money for the railroad, so the legislators should not waste effort on it. Answering Mr. Mielke, Sen. Kelley said he has told the cable commission he is not proposing to take franchise fees. He would like to reform how they are done as the new open video systems have caused problems, but the state is not going to grab the franchise fee. Mayor Maxwell commented the new sales tax was difficult for retailers to understand and could cause problems. Sen. Kelley said the motive is to meet the "streamlined sales tax," which over 30 states have now put in place. Once enough states pass it, it would allow Minnesota to receive $200 January 22, 2002 Page 2 million per year in remote sales tax. Answering Mayor Maxwell, both Sen. Kelley and Rep. Folliard agreed casino bills would not pass. Sen. Kelley said a stadium bill might allow a sports lottery. Mayor Maxwell asked about the $50,000 annual grant to replace the food and beverage tax Hopkins asked for. Both agreed that if the grant were lost, they would support Hopkins getting the tax as asked. Sen. Kelley said it would help the legislators if cities would band together on certain issues. His staff would be willing to "open doors" if needed. Bus Shelters Public Works Director Stadler said he was approached by Outdoor Promotions, Inc. (OPI), and he arranged for them to present their program to the Council. Mr. Young said their program allows cities to get bus transit shelters built and maintained at no cost to them. They have been working with Metro Transit a couple years, and MTC favors their program. They put in concrete pads, bolt in shelters, access power from streetlights, and have trash receptacles. They pay for the electricity and maintenance. The program pays for the $10-12,000 cost for each shelter and the maintenance by advertising income from 20 sq. ft. panels on each shelter. Metro Transit does not have funding for any more shelters and their maintenance is not good. This would allow Hopkins to have well-kept shelters. Part of the advertising income is shared with the city. They do not allow liquor, tobacco or "adult" advertising. City issues would be that the shelters are built in the right-of--way and possible changes in ordinances to allow shelter advertising. Mr. Piernot said Metro Transit told him that if outer areas want shelters, they will cooperate. Answering Council members, Mr. Young and Mr. Piernot added the following information: Metro Transit recommends a stop carry at least 25 passengers to support a shelter; they find that once a shelter is built and kept clean, ridership increases. They do the snow xemoval. Shelters are cleaned weekly; any graffiti, broken windows, etc. are taken care of within 48 hours of notification. They handle all contact for advertising so are able to reject ads they consider inappropriate; if anyone objects to any advertising they will handle the issue so the city is not involved, but they will respect city wishes. Various sizes and styles of shelters are available (usual size is 13 ft. long); city staff can choose one or vary them. They contemplate 20-25. City share of advertising income would probably be about $400-500 per shelter. This can be paid in cash or used for amenities without advertising -additional shelters, benches, etc. Hopkins might want a pavilion (non-advertising shelter) on a trail, for example. Benches from other companies and their shelters can co-exist. They try to place advertising so present business signage is not blocked. That is why they favor bus stops after an intersection instead of on the "leading" side as is usual with Metro Transit. The latter is willing to work with them on the placement issue. Some shelters should be in place in the metro area this spring. Asked for the downside by Ms. Jensen, Mr. Stadler said there would be the issue of advertising in the right-of--way and that the maintenance contractors are unknown at this time. General Consensus: The idea should be further explored by staff, including the city attorney, and Zozung and Planning Commission. January 22, 2002 Page 3 F`acacle Grant Contest I3iscussion Economic Development Coordinator Hartshorn said the loan program has not been used for two years. He feels a contest would build interest in the Commercial Rehabilitation Loan program. Staff and HBCA would choose a winner each spring and fall, with the winner receiving a $2,000 cash prize, which would need to be matched by the contestant putting up $3,000. Later, answering Mr. Rowan, he added if there are no excellent submissions, there would be no winner. In addition, winners could apply for a loan from the program and use part of that as the matching money. Before the award is given, the work would need to be done and invoices presented. As the money comes from Economic Development funds, it would not affect the general fund, although it might impact other development programs to some extent. Mr. Mielke suggested that criteria for ranking be published so that contestants could not accuse judges of favoritism. Mayor Maxwell suggested building owners must sign approval. Mr. Mielke said that to allow community refuse areas, the word "building" should be changed to "property." Mr. Cooley said while the city would provide the funding, HBCA would do the actual work involved. City approval would be required before mailings, etc. General Consensus: Mr. Hartshorn should have marketing ready for review at the March HRA meeting. It is understood that HBCA is the initiator of the contest, but the city is the economic leader. railroad Switching Agreement City Manager Mielke said that moving blocking operations to Glencoe will not happen. CP would like to sell; perhaps in the future the state could be convinced to buy the property. Another complicating factor is TC&W has a grant to upgrade from Young America to the south, which will increase the number of trains through Hopkins. The only other alternative, legal action, is not likely to succeed as both the Minnetonka and Hopkins city attorneys say the city has no right to enforce zoning ordinances on railroads. Right now Hopkins is probably best off trying to keep things as they are. He recommends continuing the agreement as it is. General Consensus: Deep the agreement in effect as it shows Hopkins is not happy with the situation, but is willing to keep looking for long-term solutions. Other Mayor Maxwell said staff needs to give Councilman Rowan transit numbers. There will be a Feb. 12 work session. State of the City will be given February 21. Mr. Brausen will be gone. County Road 73 and 5 Intersection Improvements The task force meets Jan. 23 at 8:00 a.m. There are still 3 items they are not happy about: the light poles, the northeast corner and median landscaping. During discussion it was noted that the loss of an access to the northeast corner would inconvenience only customers, not the residents themselves. General comments supported moving ahead with the project. January 22, 2002 Page 4 Budget Mr. Mielke said department heads have come up with the idea of limiting nonessential purchases and are also looking at the option of no out-of--state travel, unless necessary for licenses or certificates. There are two alternatives: no out-of--state unless essential for licensing/ certification ($60-75,000 savings); no travel, even in state, except for essential training ($100,000 savings). General Consensus: Although all agreed the travel is good education, Council supports the idea of no out-of--state travel. This should be tried for one year. Responding to Mr. Brausen, Mr. Mielke said freezing pay is not a likely option as unions have always said they would rather see lay-offs than no pay raises. He further noted that Hopkins is looking at a 20-25 % levy increase next year just to maintain present services and build the facility for public works/fire/police. Mr. Brausen moved adjournment; Mr. Rowan seconded. Meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Fasey Fester, Secretary ATTEST: i~~ Eu e J. - axwell, Mayor