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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 06/16/2020 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2020 CITY CENTER 5:00 – 6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30 – 7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Brad Aho, Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, and PG Narayanan CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief Greg Weber, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Economic Development Manager David Lindahl, Housing and Community Services Manager Jonathan Stanley, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Katie O’Connor Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) I. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2021-2030 Mayor Case stated tonight’s meeting is socially distanced in both rooms. Getschow confirmed the set up. Case stated the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is a document the Council reviews biennially. Any major project will always come before the Council for approval. Getschow added the Council will hold a public hearing and take action on the CIP at the end of the year. Narayanan inquired what the dollar value is of a major project needing approval by Council. Kotchevar stated as part of the capital asset policy it is $25,000 or more. In the future she may recommend increasing the dollar value to $50,000. Most of the capital improvement projects are maintenance. Case inquired if the increase would be brought to Council for approval and if other cities have a similar threshold. Getschow noted annually in January the Council approves all of the City policies. Narayanan inquired about the length of depreciation of a building such as Staring Lake building. Kotchevar responded the building is on a 20 year term. Kotchevar presented an overview of the 2021-2030 CIP in order to provide an opportunity for feedback. The purpose is to provide consistent investment in City equipment, facilities, and infrastructure. The goal is to preserve and expand capital in a way that is sustainable and affordable for Eden Prairie citizens. The outcomes is to maintain City infrastructure. The City would continue a strong pay-as-you-go program, meaning paying cash when possible and minimizing debt. One-time revenue is used for one-time expenses such as the CIP. The City aims to keep debt levels stable and to maintain their bond rating. Kotchevar presented the dollar amount for proposed projects. The total dollar amount is similar to last year. One of the large road reconstruction projects under engineering happened City Council Workshop Minutes June 16, 2020 Page 2 last year and is no longer included. The storage reservoir is considered water utility. Sustainability is a new added department. Getschow noted funds were already being spent for sustainability, but the funding used to come from multiple department. Now it is more clearly identified. Kotchevar stated the pavement management fund includes franchise revenue, municipal state aid, and sometimes general fund money. The increase in balance is an assumption there will be an increase in franchise fees in the future. Majority of the funds are spent on pavement management as well as a few construction projects. Rue stated pavement management is based on how well roads perform. There are projections for depreciation, but sometimes those projections change. The City favors mill and overlay to prolong the life of pavement. The funds available from revenue are typically spent every year except years where additional savings need to be made for more significant projects. There are 227 centerline miles of streets with an average age of 32 years. Preventative maintenance can include crack seal, rejuvenator, seal coat, and fog seal. The rejuvenator was tried last year for the first time and is still being tested. Aho inquired what the results have been thus far. Rue responded last year the rejuvenator was applied to half a road and staff could see the difference this spring in the way the treated half dried more quickly. More expensive options for repair maintenance include mill and overlay and underseal. Even more costly are major rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads. There are multiple strategies to extend the life of a road. With only routine maintenance, a road would last about 20 to 25 years. With a few scheduled overlays, the life of the road could be extended to 40 or more years. Case inquired what the cost savings is to do the overlays versus reconstruction. Rue stated the most recent numbers on those cost savings are from 2017. It’s close to $9 per square foot for a reconstruction. It is about $3 to $4 per square foot for an overlay. Sealcoats are relatively inexpensive, but it is still undetermined how much benefit it provides. Aho inquired if there is a maximum number of mill and overlays before the road needs to be reconstructed. Rue replied they can continue to be done if the subgrade is still strong. Rue stated roads are evaluated every three years to determine the average pavement condition index (PCI). The City tries to stay in the range of very good to excellent for all roads. The program predicts the future PCI to stay in that range. The City spends about five million to six million dollars per year on road projects. Narayanan inquired if this includes sidewalks and trails. Rue responded those are done separately unless it is a major reconstruction. Lotthammer stated typically sidewalks and trails are separate projects requiring different equipment. Streets and sidewalks do not often fail at the same rate. Aho inquired if it makes sense to combine them for financial reasons. Rue stated road projects do include sidewalk curb cuts, and public works does American Disabilities Act (ADA) ramps. Kotchevar stated the facilities internal service fund is funded by user charges from each department within the City. The annual charge to departments is $619,000. This may need to increase during the next budget process. The CIP states the amount of money being invested into each building. The Cummin Phipps Grill House roof was replaced, and the City is being reimbursed by a grant. Aho noted the information is programmed in a database to show when City Council Workshop Minutes June 16, 2020 Page 3 the replacements need to take place. Narayanan inquired if the cost of building repairs should be viewed as a ratio of the budget. Kotchevar stated the City prepares a 10 year CIP and is investing $600,000 a year in maintenance. A lot of maintenance also is funded from the operating budget. CIP funds are reserved for projects over $25,000. Kotchevar stated the park improvement fund is allotted $5 million for projects over the next 10 years. Projects include the Nesbitt Park splash pad, Miller Park indoor court facility, Miller Park Shelter, and park amenity upgrades. The balance is based on cash park fees, so it can vary. Nelson added she is pleased to see the Nesbitt Park splash pad. Case asked for more information on the Miller Park indoor court facility. Lotthammer stated where the tennis courts currently sit, the proposal is to build an indoor facility. The Community Center gym is in high demand with pickleball use. The space would accommodate multiple courts with some type of cover. This would provide indoor, year-round tennis and pickleball. The concept would include cameras and a code to access the facilities. Courts would still have appeal in the summer on hot, rainy, or windy days. Case inquired how long this has been a discussion with the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission. Lotthammer replied the concept has been an ongoing discussion when considering taking some of the burden off the Community Center gym. Case stated the outdoor pickleball courts were a struggle to make happen, and he has some concerns about adding more courts. He inquired if a dome would be a better option. Lotthammer stated domes require a lot of maintenance and it is expensive for the amount of lifespan it provides. The City does not have indoor tennis facilities and neighboring cities with these facilities are very busy. Freiberg inquired if the facilities would be fee based and if there are models similar to it. Case added he would be curious to see how the ratio of revenue matches the money going into buildings. Lotthammer stated there is a balance of spending less money and replacing sooner. With a solid roof, solar can also be added on top and cameras around the building. The cost could be per person as well as per court. Narayanan stated the City potentially only needs to recuperate the cost over the time it depreciates. Kotchevar stated these are cash park fees and by law the money has to spent on parks. Often the fees are charged in order to cover the operating cost rather than recuperate capital. Narayanan stated depending on how large the facility is, it could be rented out for events and weddings. Case stated before the pickleball courts were built, trends, projections, usage, and demographics were reviewed. It would be beneficial to take those steps and provide data to the Council for this potential building and for all of the current amenities. Lotthammer added when the pickleball courts were built at Staring, there were discussions of more courts. An indoor facility would be more accessible than those provided at nearby gyms at a much higher cost. There have been discussions about trends with decreasing fields and decreased use of ice rinks for hockey. Nelson added she is in favor of an indoor facilities operating for throughout the year. People would likely like the option of having an indoor space, especially seniors. Kotchevar stated the economic development fund revenue is from the Eden Prairie Montessori school rent. Some of the funding includes the entry monument signs, town center station improvements, Dell Road bridge branding, City west entry monument art, and City Council Workshop Minutes June 16, 2020 Page 4 business retention. Narayanan inquired about business retention. Lindahl responded the funds exist to retain businesses who are considering moving. Case added it would be helpful to define how those funds would be used and if there is a need to set aside more funds. Neuville added there are State law limits on how much money can be given to a private business. Kotchevar stated there is $3,350,000 housing tax increment financing (TIF) dollars currently available and $1,800,000 more in the future. The purpose of the funds is to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH), to make transit oriented development (TOD) affordable, and for housing rehabilitation and first time home buyers. For information technology, there is $3,847,340 allotted for projects. This may need to be increased in the future. This includes internal and external network updates, fiber implementation, police mobile computer systems, police body cameras, police squad cameras, and electronic plan review system. Aho inquired about fiber implementation. Getschow replied the purpose is to create a redundant network. The City has leased fiber and has installed their own fiber in the past. Narayanan added it would be beneficial to check with the State. Getschow added Staff will look into it. Additionally there is one new connection being made between the Community Center and the Art Center. Freiberg inquired about police body cameras and if they will be provided to all staff. Weber replied yes. Aho asked if the price includes software to manage the data. Weber replied yes, the software is currently in place with the squad car cameras. Cameras would need to be replaced in five years. Case added there may be changes in legislation and he would like to see body cameras purchased this year unless there is potential to receive funding. Narayanan inquired about cyber security. Getschow replied security is built into some of the network updates. Kotchevar stated the capital maintenance and reinvestment fund is for projects without a funding source. The balance starts at seven million dollars and ends around four million dollars in 2030. The increase in revenue in 2021 is from special assessment interest. Revenue sources come from liquor operations, City Center rental income, antenna revenue, storm fund loan repayment, tax levy, Smith House, and other one-time revenues. Parks and Recreation totals $15,792,000. Projects include park maintenance, trails and sidewalks, and building reconstruction. Aho noted some trails are in desperate need of maintenance. Kotchevar stated Fire Department totals $4,884,000. Projects include radio and equipment replacement, cameras and services, station alerting, and rescue tools. Engineering totals $4,875,000. Projects include ADA ramp improvement, roadway maintenance, West 70th Street East, Creek Knoll Road bridge, and Willow Creek Road bridge. Police Department totals $1,309,000. Projects include mobile command center, night vision, riles, unmanned ariel system, and police squad cars. Sustainability totals $4,400,000. Projects include light conversion, electric vehicle charging stations, LED lighting, HVAC s ystem, and Rink 1 ice plant and flooring. The City’s current debt has remained stable and there will be some future debt incurred with fire engine replacement. The debt will continue to be moderate. Getschow added once debt is removed, the City has typically timed another project to occur so the debt levy is not increased. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) City Council Workshop Minutes June 16, 2020 Page 5 II. OPEN PODIUM A. ADAM BUENZ – ASSESSMENT Adam Buenz, 10100 Eden Prairie Road, stated they own a small farming business. He is being assessed for connection fees to septic and well installation. He has talked with Staff but would like options for other ways to proceed so they can afford to continue farming on their land. Case asked to provide Council with an email with further details. The assessment may be for the connection for multiple potential lots, whether or not they plan to develop. III. ADJOURNMENT