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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 10/06/1998 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP POLICY AND PHILOSOPHY OF FEE ORDINANCE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1998 5:00 - 6:30 PM, CITY CENTER Heritage Room IV 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Jean Harris, Sherry Butcher-Younghans, Ronald Case, Ross Thorfinnson, Jr., and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY STAFF: City Manager Chris Enger, Public Safety Services Director Jim Clark, Parks & Recreation Services Director Bob Lambert, Public Works Services Director Eugene Dietz, Community Development and Financial Services Director Don Uram, Management Services Director Natalie Swaggert, Manager of Inspections Kevin Schmeig, Manager of Facilities Barb Cross, Manager of Recreation Services Laurie Helling, Manager of Parks & Natural Resources Stu Fox, Community Center Manager Lyndell Frey, City Attorney Roger Pauly, and Recorder Barb Anderson I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 5:04 P.M. H. OVERVIEW A. RELATIONSHIP OF FEES TO GENERAL FUND BUDGET Enger discussed the policies and philosophy behind the Fee Ordinance and gave an overview of the relationship of fees to the General Fund Budget. B. TYPES OF FEES Enger described the types of fees used to generate operating revenues and illustrated the increase in those revenues from 1993 through 1999. III. PRESENTATION OF FEES, WITHIN SERVICE AREA Presentations on fees were given according to the City's five service areas. Each service area director presented on the philosophy/basis for the fee,who pays the fee,use of the revenue, and 1999 recommendations. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES October 6, 1998 Page 2 Clark noted revenues from court fines have stayed relatively level. These revenues go into the General Fund, and he noted there may be some slight increase in fines for 1999 due to increased enforcement. Harris asked about the chronic false alarm costs, and Clark responded these increase based on the number of false alarms received. The first three false alarms in a year incur no fines and after that the fine is $75 per false alarm. Harris noted the fine amounts should be reviewed.as well as the collection procedures. Discussion ensued regarding verification of alarms before Police respond and other ways the City could change the method of operation. Schmeig reviewed the revenues generated from building permits and SAC/WAC charges, and noted these were based on the Uniform Building Code fee schedule. Cross reviewed the background of the building and the rates which were charged for City Center facilities. The process was streamlined in 1996 to be more effective without increasing operating costs. The hours of use have increased dramatically since the building opened in 1994 without any advertising. Revenues have dropped slightly due to the increase in use by the City and non-profit groups that reserve rooms in the City Center. Discussion ensued regarding ways to increase revenues for all the spaces. Thorfinnson commented increasing fees for civic groups was not something he would like to see because they do a lot of work for the City that would otherwise not be done. Harris commented this issue should be discussed at some point in time and the City needs to decide what the purpose of the rooms in the City Center should be. Swaggert commented the revenue from these rooms is not offsetting the costs of renting them out. Costs were discussed, and Uram noted a line-item basis is used to keep track of this information and it could be broken out for Council review. Dietz reviewed the Public Works revenues and fees, and noted that special assessment searches were free to residential homesteaded properties. Case raised a question regarding special fees for utilities being in public right-of-way as is being done in other states. Dietz responded in Minnesota we only have the authority to impose fees that are specifically authorized by statute. There may be an opportunity to explore this further with the Telecommunications Task Force. Uram reviewed the Community Development fee schedule and noted that our fees are comparable with those charged by neighboring communities. He explained the fees are established to cover the costs of staff time spent reviewing projects and noted the City recovers only a portion of the costs we incur reviewing large development proposals. Tyra-Lukens asked how much the increased fee schedule would increase revenues from large projects and Uram responded the fees would double. Enger noted this fee was implemented to get developers serious about using staff time. Uram noted the fees have not increased since 1992 and the change would increase the fee comparable to the private sector. He reviewed the fees collected in 1997 and compared them with what the costs were. He noted that similar things were happening in the other departments. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES October 6, 1998 Page 3 Lambert discussed the recreation program fees and noted they were comparable with neighboring communities. He reviewed the fees for Park and Recreation programs and noted that staff has made some recommendations as to how these fees should be changed or the programs will be changed. When subsidies are reduced or dropped some programs are also eliminated. Staff evaluates all the City programs annually. Other communities are surveyed annually to ensure that our fees are in line with other cities. He discussed the rate changes for specific facilities within Eden Prairie. He discussed the Oak Point pool and the bill from the School District, and noted that the School District is reviewing the formula they have used to devise a more equitable method of charging the City, and when that is agreed upon, the bill will be paid. He noted this issue will also be referred to the City School Facility Use Advisory Commission to be resolved and he recommended a change in the joint powers agreement. Case asked at what point they would want to discuss the option of withdrawing City support from the Oak Point pool, and Lambert responded that the Oak Point pool was not designed to be efficient and it takes seven people to operate it because of the slide and the separate pools. The City will be cutting back on the amount of open swim time because it is too expensive to pay seven people to watch eight kids in the pool. We need to revise the formula and reduce the costs involved with this pool. Frey noted that the City does need the extra space for lessons. Lambert stated that regarding the Cash Park Fee schedule, Eden Prairie is in the top three cities in the state. We are not close to the costs of the land value with the Cash Park Fees because land is so expensive in Eden Prairie. If we wanted to charge the full amount allowed under the statutes we could do that but it would require a change in the Ordinance. It would also restrict the type of development in Eden Prairie because the cost would be very high. We need to look at alternatives to subsidize low income housing projects, such as tax increment financing. Thorfinnson asked if there was a way to put together a list on the total additional cost to a developer, and Enger responded staff could put it together for the Council to review. Tyra-Lukens commented that residents are asking the City to finish the parks and reduce the amount of development and raising the cash park fees may be a way to get this accomplished. IV. DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION A. CITY COUNCIL & MANAGEMENT STAFF Enger stated staff will report back to the Council on the impact of the fees on future development in Eden Prairie. Lambert noted Chanhassen and Lakeville have added a trails fee which is charged to developers. Harris commented there are areas where the City can charge fees but have not done so in the past. Dietz noted that street light fees can be charged but the City has not CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES October 6, 1998 Page 4 used that. Fees can also be implemented in areas of telecommunications, roadway maintenance and space rental. Enger asked if the Council would like to have a workshop to discuss the use of City Center rooms and it was agreed to schedule a workshop in the future. V. OTHER BUSINESS Harris noted that next week was Strategic Planning Week, and the next Council workshop will be held on October 28, 1998. VI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.