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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 08/19/2003 - Workshop APPROVE MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCII,WORKSHOP/FORUM TUESDAY,AUGUST 19,2003 CITY CENTER 5:00- 6:25 PM,HERITAGE ROOM II 6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councihnembers Sherry Butcher,Ron Case, and Jan Mosman, and Philip Young CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Dan Carlson,Fire Chief George Esbensen,Public Works Director Eugene Dietz,Director of Parks and Recreation Bob Lambert,Management and Budget Director Don Uram, Finance Manager Sue Kotchevar, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters Heritage Room II I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Tyra-Lukens called the meeting to order at 5:25 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. 2004 BUDGET City Manager Scott Neal said staff faced a number of challenges in preparing the 2004 budget, including cuts in Homestead Market Value Credit and Local Government Aid. He said the State has imposed strict levy limits. Neal said the proposed budget being presented to Council tonight is the first phase of a multi-phased process. Finance Manager Sue Kotchevar said the preliminary levy will be certified September 2, the final budget will be completed in November, and a Truth-in-Taxation Hearing will be held December 1. Council will vote on certification of a final budget/levy at the December 16 meeting. The proposed General fund budget for 2004 totals $31.5 million, including a transfer of$500,000 to the Capital Improvement fund. The proposed budget is about 2 percent higher than the 2003 adjusted budget. Kotchevar noted that the State has indicated that levy limits will be removed and the market value homestead credit will be restored in 2005. Staff projects that 76 percent of the$31.5 million budget will be covered by property taxes. Other revenue sources will provide$7.4 million and the transfer from the utility fund will be increased from$60,000 to $200,000. City Council Workshop Minutes August 19,2003 Page 2 Expenditures are expected to increase by 3.8 percent. This includes increases in elections, fire and employee wages and benefits. For 2004, the median value home in Eden Prairie will be$287,800, a taxable value increase of 12 percent. The City's portion of the property tax for 2004 will be$928, an increase of 4.7%. The utility enterprise fund is projected to have sales of about$7.7 million, similar to 2003 sales. Overall,the utility enterprise fund is expected to have a net income of$530,280. No changes in the utility fee schedule are recommended for 2004. Staff forecasts an increase in liquor sales of about 1.8%, or a total of$8.4 million in liquor sales for 2004. A transfer of$747,930 to the CIP is budgeted for 2004. IV. OTHER TOPICS A. AFTER-HOURS FUELING AT PUBLIC GAS STATIONS Fire Chief George Esbensen presented a brief report on 24-hour fueling. Esbensen said the topic originally came up during the Public Hearing for the proposed Costco,which includes plans for 24-hour fueling. Esbensen said there are 15 public gas stations in Eden Prairie, six of which are open around the clock. Four stations currently allow after-hours fueling. All four of these stations limit the amount of fuel that can be pumped to either$50 or 32 gallons. Esbensen reported that all four after-hours stations meet fire code requirements for after- hours fueling. B. POWER OUTAGES IN FAIRFIELD Mayor Tyra-Lukens asked Public Works Director Dietz to contact Xcel Energy regarding two significant blackouts that occurred over the past few days in the Fairfield subdivision. Dietz said he was under the impression that there was an equipment problem in that area last summer,but that it had been resolved months ago. He said he would contact Xcel about the problem. C. CLEAN INDOOR AIR TASK FORCE Councilmember Young said he and Councilmember Case,who are ex-officio members of the Clean Indoor Air Taskforce,were asked to seek clarification from the Council on the task force's charter,particularly the phrase"voluntary guidelines." Young said some Task Force members were specifically wondering whether or not they could recommend financial incentives, such as a tax rebate or cut. Mayor Tyra-Lukens said her gut instinct is to say any incentives recommended should not be financial. She also wondered whether or not financial incentives would even be legal. City Council Workshop Minutes August 19,2003 Page 3 Councilmember Case explained that the Task Force had received information on a proposed program in St. Louis Park that would test air in restaurants to determine nicotine levels,then post and publish the results. He said the assumption is that if the test results indicate low quality air,the restaurant would be incentivized to improve it. Case said the Task Force found this type of program interesting,but they are confused about what direction the Council wants them to take. Butcher said the Council will need to be careful about how much money this type of program might cost. She said she would worry about putting much money toward a program that is still experimental. Councilmember Mosman said she recalls Council talking about publicizing which restaurants are smoke-free. Tyra-Lukens said she would be comfortable with listing smoke-free restaurants on the City's website and newsletter. Tyra-Lukens suggested that Case and Young direct the Task Force to go down the path of finding no-cost or low-cost ideas. Mosman pointed out that doing anything is going to cost something. Case said he is frustrated that it seems that not all the players are really at the table as far at the Task Force is concerned, since no restaurants have been represented thus far. Young noted that ex-officio member Gary Chanen,manager of the Outback Steakhouse, has been unable to attend meetings due to personal conflicts but Pat MulQueeny,president of the Chamber, attended that last meeting. Young said he doesn't think restaurants are worried about the issue because they know that anything the Task Force recommends will be voluntary. Young said the Task Force is in the process of researching why restaurants that have already gone smoke-free have chosen to do so. He said that information will be helpful to the Task Force in developing recommendations. He added that the type of testing proposed by St. Louis Park seems heavy-handed to him even if it is not strictly considered"legislative." Mosman said Mr. Q's went smoke-free about eighteen months ago, and the owner has told her he would love it if the City advertised which restaurants are smoke-free. Mosman said if the Task Force is interested in recommending testing they could come up with a proposal that would have the restaurants pay for the testing themselves in order to participate in a program. Neal said he would talk with the staff liaison for the Commission about the Council's comments. Council Chamber VI. OPEN FORUM(Scheduled participants, 6:30-7:00 p.m.) A. KATIE WALKER,HENNEPIN COUNTY,HCRRA STUDY RESULTS Walker presented results of the Hennepin County Rail Authority study. She said the main recommendations of the study are: City Council Workshop Minutes August 19, 2003 Page 4 • To continue study of the feasibility of light rail in the southwest metro area • Not to pursue the diesel multiple unit option in further studies • To drop the Lyndale Avenue Option Walker said the diesel multiple unit option was dropped because it would have required lease agreements with three separate rail companies and would require the use of private rail tracks up to 20 hours per day. She said the Lyndale Avenue option was dropped because of the negative impacts it might have on local businesses as well as aesthetic impacts in the Loring Park/Walker area. There are four routes currently under consideration for further study. Alternative 3A originally started at the Southwest Metro Station,but would not have served Opus or the Golden Triangle area. The group has recommended modifications to this option to include service to Eden Prairie Center, downtown Hopkins,the Golden Triangle, and Opus. Councilmember Case said he is opposed to the whole concept of mass transit. He said it seems to be an inefficient use of money. Of the options still under consideration,he said lA and 2A are the least attractive. Councilmember Butcher agreed that lA would probably meet with resistance from the community. She favors the model that starts from the Southwest Metro Station. Councilmember Mosman said she too questions ridership vs. expense costs,but that perhaps in the long run light rail transit may become a more desirable form of transportation. Councilmember Young said he is concerned with whether or not there is a solid base of ridership for light rail transit, especially since the southwest metro area already enjoys an excellent bus service that is underused. Young said that if people won't take the bus, they are unlikely to take a train. Mayor Tyra-Lukens said there is a PAC study that shows people who do not take the bus, might use light rail. She also pointed out that in larger cities like Chicago,trains are much preferred over buses by the public. VII. OPEN PODIUM (Unscheduled participants, 6:50-7:00 p.m.) Bob DuVurnois said he is the master brewer at Hopps Restaurant in Eden Prairie. He said the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild has worked hard to bring about the ability of brew pubs to sell"growlers"to the general public. He said 44 other states allow the sale of growlers, 64-oz. sealed bottles filled directly from the tap. DuVurnois said Hops is a relatively small brew pub,but they have found there are many individuals in Eden Prairie and surrounding communities who would like the opportunity to take home some of their fresh,micro-brewed beer. Mayor Tyra-Lukens noted that sale of growlers was an agenda item on the Council's agenda and asked DuVurnois if he could stay for that portion of the meeting to answer any questions the Council may have. He said he would be happy to stay for that discussion. VIII. ADJOURNMENT