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03-30-04 WSMarch 30, 2004 Page 1 MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -March 30, 2004 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 6:30 p.m. on March 30, 2004, at the City Hall. Council members Brausen, Johnson, Rowan and Thompson were present. City personnel present were: Assistant City Manager Jim Genellie, Facilities Director Jay Strachota, Pavilion Manager Don Olson, Fire Chief Don Beckering, and Fire Marshal George Magdal. Ted Sauer from the Hopkins School District, and Jim Strampe and Greg Clark from the Hopkins High School Boys Booster Club were also present. Pavilion Locker Raoms Mr. Strampe explained the need for new locker rooms. The current locker rooms are small by modern standards. The rooms are used by 65 high school players and over 450 youth hockey participants. The current locker rooms are shared by varsity players, junior varsity players, and visiting teams. Mr. Clark explained the construction process. The Hopkins Youth Hockey Association (HYHA) will be contracting with Mortenson Construction to construct the addition containing the locker rooms. The locker rooms will be ready to use when the construction process is completed. Finish work will be done by HYHA. Mr. Strampe said that HYHA would be willing to consider an escrow account to ensure that their work is completed. The schedule envisions the work being essentially completed by September 2004. Council approval would be needed within the next 30 days. Mayor Maxwell pointed out that the plan would have to be reviewed by the Zoning and Planning Commission. The earliest that the Council could consider the plan would be May 4. Issues that the Council would like looked at included: • the number of showers • providing natural light to the locker rooms • doing some work on the old locker rooms • screening the mechanicals on the roof • possible soil problems on the site Jay Strachota explained the funding for the project. Mortenson agreed that the project cost would not exceed $300,000. This money is proposed to raised by: • a $250,000 loan from the City for ten years at 2% interest. • a contribution from the City of between $25,000 and $50,000. The loan would be paid back through fund raising from HYHA, the Hockey Boosters, and an increase in the hourly rate for ice time to the school district. The City contribution is proposed to come from the Park Dedication Fund. There was considerable discussion regarding funding. The Council preferred to keep the direct contribution to a minimum. Other ways to fund the project include: • additional fund raising by the hockey groups • waiving the permit and SAC fees for the project • reducing the contingency amount in the project • new leases in the off season that would be possible because of the new locker space March 30, 2004 Page 2 General Consensus was that the Council all supported the project. The City would receive a valuable addition to one of its facilities at very little cost to the City. The Council wanted more information about the Park Dedication Fund in order to determine how much money was available to contribute to the project. They also wanted to get some more information from the Finance department about the loan but agreed that this was a viable option. Pavilion Acoustics Mr. Olson explained the background of this project. The plan had been for the cost of the acoustic improvements to be paid for by increased rentals, primarily Jaycee sponsored concerts. The Jaycees have decided that they are not interested in having their concerts indoors at this time. General Consensus was to take no action on acoustic improvements at this time but to continue to look for possible funding. Fire Department Maintenance Inspections Chief Beckering and Fire Marshal George Magdal presented information about an inspection program for commercial buildings. The goals of the programs are to improve safety for the public and Hopkins' firefighters as well as to protect property. The properties that are the highest priority for inspections include: • places of assembly and schools, i.e. "high occupancies" rooms where more than 50 people can sit down; • buildings considered hazardous because of the presence of chemicals; and • buildings with zero lot lines. These high priority properties make up about one-third of the commercial occupancies in the City. A schedule for inspecting the high priority occupancies as well as other commercial properties was presented to the Council. Chief Beckering also cautioned the City Council that there would likely be some complaints from some business owners initially because of either added costs or changes in business practices that would be necessary to come into compliance with the code. General Consensus was this was a necessary program. The Council asked the Fire Department to develop a publicity plan to inform businesses that this program was starting up and what the most common problems were. Transient Merchant License Staff noted some current problems with the ordinance that regulates transient merchants. Staff recommended that the Council either eliminate transient merchants from the ordinance or change the way that they are regulated. If the City continues to regulate transient merchants, the City may choose to license vendors of the City Festivals under the umbrella of the festival license or permit process. March 30, 2004 Page 3 General Consensus was to put a moratorium in place on the issuance of new transient merchant licenses while the various options are explored. Gambling Fund Mr. Genellie presented information about the options available to the City in the establishment of a "gambling fund. " Such a fund would be generated through a percentage of the net profits from lawful gambling and could be used for any lawful purpose, with the highest priority being the support of the Raspberry Festival. General discussion followed. Issues that were raised included: • how much money should be raised; • what was an appropriate percentage; • should there be a cap on the contributions; • what would be done with any excess funds if the Festival did not need all the money in any particular year; General Consensus: The Raspberry Festival will be contacted to determine whether there is a need for financial assistance. Should there be a need for fmancial assistance, another meeting will be held with the organizations that conduct lawful gambling to seek their input on whether a "gambling fund" is a good idea, and if so how it should be funded. Other Council members received an e-mail from a 14 year old asking why there were no recycling containers on Mainstreet. This will be referred to public works. Council member Johnson wanted to know if a change in occupancy could trigger new accessibility requirements even if there was no remodeling. This would be referred to the Building Official, Rick Davidson. Council member Thompson had questions about the Hitching Post addition. What was the estimated cost for construction? How did it get under $150,000? and How are project costs estimated to determine permit fees? Several Council Members had questions about how Town and Country Dodge is unloading cars and where they are parking their trucks. Council member Rowan would like the City to look at the possibility of putting directional signs in the alleys in his neighborhood. He has noticed cars driving off the pavement. Mr. Genellie asked the Council about changing the manner in which Administrative Citations are sent out. Individuals are either refusing the certified mail or simply refusing to pick it up from the post office. The Council said that it would prefer to continue to use certified mail and that it would consider this method to be sufficient notice even if the mail was not picked up. March 30, 2004 Page 4 Mr. Brausen moved adjournment. Ms. Johnson seconded. Meeting adjourned at 10:10 p.m. Jim Genellie, Assistant City Manager ATTEST: Euge a J. axwell, Mayor COUNCIL MEMBERS: