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08-08-06 WSAugust 8, 2006 Page 1 MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION -August 8, 2006 A work session of the Hopkins City Council was called to order by Mayor Gene Maxwell at 6:30 p.m. on August 8, 2006, at the Hopkins City Hall. Council members Kristi Halverson, Bruce Rowan, Jay Thompson and Cheryl Youakim were present. City personnel present were City Manager Rick Getschow, Housing Coordinator Kersten Elverum, Fire Chief Dale Specken, Police Chief Craig Reid, Police Administration Services Director Connie Kurtz, and Finance Director Christine Harkess. Also present were Tom Bullington of City Images, and Susan Hanna-Bibus and President Wayne Olson of the HCA Board. HCA Board Ms. Hanna-Bibus said HCA is going in the right direction, but slower than hoped. They still have $20,000 of past debt and some debts from this year to clear up, but she feels confident that will happen. She noted it was good to come to the Council without having to ask for postponements or other help. Positive signs are that already season tickets have sold so well HCA is short only 30 from last year's whole total. One group from Mississippi has ordered a block of tickets for the Four Freshmen. On April 18 the Board had a retreat on how to build an identity. They need to build a real presence in the Center for the Arts building. Mr. Olson said he feels tremendous progress has been made financially this year. Board recruitment has become a key need; they would appreciate any suggestions from the Council for possible members. If there is some way the city and the Board could work together on branding, it would be wonderful. He added ticket sales are within 64% of the goal for the year, only one month into ticket sales. Answering Mr. Rowan, he said the Board ideally would have 12-15 members. There are 8 at present. Members with marketing, fund raising or connections with corporations are really needed. A few members were lost this year because of the stress of all the fundraising. Answering Ms. Youakim, he said people who do not want to commit to being a Board member but who have needed skills would be welcome to belong to just an appropriate committee. Answering Mr. Rowan, Ms. Hanna-Bibus said the Board is seriously considering a name change that is more different from the building name. Ms. Youakim suggested it would be a nice gesture for HBCA to have gift bags for the group from Mississippi. Answering Mayor Maxwell, Ms. Hanna-Bibus said sponsorship starts at $500 and goes to $10,000. Last year there were 4 for $500, a couple for $2000 and one $6,000. This year's drive has just started. The Edge events have been dropped; the Board is not sure what to replace those with to appeal to teenagers. Business memberships are up to $500, but $100 is the most common donation. Answering Ms. Youakim, she said the Board is hiring a grant writer in order to increase that income. Answering Mayor Maxwell, Mr. Olson said getting mailing lists from other theaters is not possible. However, someone from the Orpheum did speak to them about marketing. The lecture series is under Jay Strachota's department; they may share advertising. Answering Mr. Getschow, Ms. Hanna-Bibus said national name shows are August 8, 2006 Page 2 cost prohibitive as they cannot take part in "block bookings" as the Center is usually already booked for other events and they cannot pay full travel and housing. Marketing and Branding Effort Ms. Elverum said City Images has been doing research and is reporting on that. Mr. Bullington said they are about 80% done with interviewing and have talked to 85-90 people. Common themes that recur in the interviews are Hopkins' uniqueness - it is a small town in a metro area; its safety and is being family-friendly; antique shopping; arts (HCA and Stages are often mentioned); the literary series; being able to walk to everything; great schools; recent economic development (Excelsior Blvd and Excelsior Crossings come up frequently). The only concerns expressed so far have been the entryways into the city (need for signage and appeal as one enters town), and these were not frequent. City Images will be done with the research soon; the project will be done September 30. They will have themes, slogans, artwork, and a marketing plan for the next couple years for the Council. Ms. Youakim suggested pushing Pen Pals with raffles, etc. Mr. Olson thought that a great idea. Mr. Getschow agreed working with HCA could be a way to get people into the city. Mr. Bullington noted focus also has to be on potential business/developers. Mr. Olson added when 750 are coming to Hopkins for a show, the businesses need to recognize that. Mr. Bullington asked for feedback on some questions. He asked what Council members use for their "elevator speech." Mayor Maxwell said, "Hopkins is 41/2 square miles that has everything from large employers to an art center." Mr. Rowan said, "A small town in the middle of a big city." Ms. Halverson said, "A suburb with a real Main Street." Ms. Youakim said, "A small town feel with big town conveniences." Mr. Thompson said, "Old neighborhood feel, homey." Mr. Bullington noted that a real estate agent told him Hopkins is unusual that its daytime population is the same as its nighttime population. Asked what they heard about Hopkins in other towns, Ms. Youakim said in Rochester she was told Hopkins has done a great job of economic development. Mayor Maxwell noted that people who have moved away have commented how far Hopkins has come in the past few years. Asked what they considered Hopkins' "icon," Ms. Youakim, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Rowan all said Mainstreet. Mr. Rowan added HCA and Raspberry festival. Asked for what they felt was the most negative thing about Hopkins, Ms. Youakim noted the lack of a "nature nook," adding she hopes the redevelopment of Nine Mile Creek may solve that. Mr. Thompson said the "68% rental, lack of commitment by renters." Mr. Getschow agreed that was an issue, but not awide-spread perception except perhaps in the immediate school district area. Mayor Maxwell said Hopkins is seen as an "old people's town," even though the median age is younger than most cities' . Mr. Bullington said he has heard few negative comments; Hopkins does not have a bad image to overcome. Mr. Bullington noted he has four pages of taglines already. Ms. Elverum said that is the hard part -Hopkins has so many good things that could be emphasized. Asked why people should come to Hopkins, Mayor Maxwell said jobs, especially now with August 8, 2006 Page 3 Excelsior Crossings in the future. Mr. Bullington noted Hopkins has mostly individual stores, not chain stores. Mr. Thompson said he would like an opportunity to see all of the material gathered and taglines considered. Answering Ms. Youakim, Mr. Bullington said he feels the research is a good representation of the population. He interviews store clerks as well as business owners, new employees as well as long-term residents. 2007 City Budget (Police and Fire Dept.) Mr. Getschow noted this is preparatory work for setting the preliminary levy September 5. The final levy will be decided in December and can be lower than the preliminary levy, but not higher. This past year, the levy was set it at about 6% and then eventually resulted in a 4% increase at the end of the year- one of the lowest in the area. The plan is similar for this year. Problems faced this year besides the inflation jump are the higher costs of fuel and utilities. Ms. Harkess said Hennepin County does not publish the fiscal disparities until September and that is a major component for figuring the final budget. Mr. Getschow noted Hopkins is the one of the only inner ring suburbs that contributes more into the fiscal disparity pool than it receives. (Every city contributes 40% of its commercial and industrial economic growth, and then the money is split out.) Answering Ms. Youakim he said that Hennepin County doing our assessments is not a factor. Mr. Rowan asked if Hopkins would still get the $50,000 LGA special allotment; Mr. Getschow stated those dollars are allocated for 2007 and should be available into the future. Answering Ms. Youakim, Ms. Harkess said the capital levy is set up on a timetable to increase as part of the CIP. Fire Department Fire Chief Specken said his department formerly had 41 men; presently it has 36. He would like to go to 40. Costs would be lessened by using spare gear for them and by making completed training part of the requirements for application. His department is doing medical standby 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., which are the peak hours. He would like to be able to continue that. Side benefits are those on duty take care of the janitorial work and help with fire inspections. They could help with school education. We are getting trucks out faster during those hours. Answering Mr. Rowan, Ms. Harkess said putting all the requests in would raise the department budget 16.7%. Police Chief Reid said there will be cost savings long term, but the most important thing is it could save lives. Having a truck ready to go makes a big difference. Chief Specken added that anyone who shows up on a medical call has to be paid; the new system would save that money. Mayor Maxwell said he would like the figure for those call payments last year. Chief Reid noted most medical calls come in the morning on weekdays, and after 6:00 p.m. on week-ends. Chief Specken noted firemen have signed up for medical call duty on weekends through October. He feels there is a good existing pool of trained people Police Police Chief Reid said if a dispatcher wants a day off, there is often no one who can cover for that person so time off has to be denied. $15,000 has already been spent on overtime this year, leaving only $5,000 so vacations have to be denied. One PSO has had August 8, 2006 Page 4 to be returned to dispatch use, so regular officers have heavier loads. Connie looked at the situation; the department now has only one part-time parking enforcement officer; creative time management is making this work well. This salary could be applied to the dispatcher. APCO formulas say a town the size of Hopkins should have 8.5 dispatchers; we have 5. Dispatchers also work as jail wardens (saving paying Hennepin County) and night typists. It takes 3-4 months to train a dispatcher as there are 7 computer systems to learn. Ms. Kurtz noted recruitment from other cities is hard as employees would lose seniority. Temporary help is impossible as they are not trained. The department does background checks, but it is impossible to test for multi-tasking ability. Mr. Getschow noted that with this creative shift with the parking position, the entire police budget for 2007 is currently proposed to still be under a 5% increase. Other Mr. Thompson said he enjoyed the "slug and mug" report of the police department. He appreciates the work going into the budget. Mr. Rowan will be gone next week. There was a brief discussion on a work session next week. It was decided to discuss Marketplace and Main at 6:30 before the regular Council meeting. Mr. Getschow said he will have sewer back-up insurance as a topic in September He announced the 2008 U.S. Women's Open has officially requested total use of Interlachen Park all of June 2008. There will need to be neighborhood meetings. People from the Open will be present at an October work session. On motion by Ms. Halverson and second by Ms. Youakim, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. on a vote of 5-0. Kasey Kester, Secretary ATTE T: ~~ Eugene . M well, Mayor COUNCIL MEMBERS: