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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 05/03/2005 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2005 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, Ron Case, and Philip Young CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Parks & Recreation Director Bob Lambert, Public Works Director Eugene Dietz, City Planner Michael Franzen, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, City Attorney Ric Rosow and Council Recorder Deb Sweeney I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Tyra-Lukens called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. City Manager Scott Neal was absent. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DR. JEAN L. HARRIS YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS Mayor Tyra-Lukens introduced Larry Piumbroeck, Chair of the Human Rights and Diversity Commission. Piumbroeck stated there were many applications for the awards, especially for the youth recipients, all of them inspiring in their accomplishments and energy. He noted there were no applications from the business community and said the Commission would work on that next year. Tyra-Lukens read the award citation for the 2004 Human Rights Award—Non-Profit Organization Recipient, awarded to the Eden Prairie School District for its "Elder Wisdom, Children's Song"project. Nanette Missaghi, Coordinator of the Integration Program for Eden Prairie Schools, and Larry Long of the Children's Project for Peace, accepted the award. Tyra-Lukens explained the project grew from informal sharing of experiences at immigrant gatherings. The project received rave reviews from participants and touched many people. She praised the district for bringing these stories to a wider audience. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 2 Tyra-Lukens read the award citation for 2004 Human Rights Award—Individual Recipient, given to longtime resident George Schell. Schell arranged a speaker on diversity for his Lions Club and has been very active in the community. Piumbroeck explained the youth scholarship awards are named for former Mayor Dr. Jean L. Harris in honor of her lifelong commitment to human rights and diversity. Each recipient receives a one-time scholarship of$1000. Tyra-Lukens read the citations for the two 2004-2005 Dr. Jean L. Harris Youth Scholarship Award recipients, Anna Affias and Christopher En. She congratulated all the winners and thanked them and the Human Rights and Diversity Commission for their efforts to appreciate the City's diversity. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Case added an additional update on cable franchising and an update on Southwest Metro Transit to Reports of Councilmembers. Aho added an item on potential Hennepin County stadium funding under Reports of Councilmembers. Young added an item on getting input on City financial policy from citizens to Reports of Councilmembers. MOTION: Young moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY,APRIL 26, 2005 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Young, to approve the Council Workshop minutes as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY,APRIL 26, 2005 Young said he had abstained on the motions under VIIIB and VIIIC. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Case, to approve the City Council minutes as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. THE RIDGE AT RILEY CREEK by EPIC Development. Second Reading for Planned Unit Development District Review with waivers, and Zoning District Change from Rural to R1-13.5 on 42.22 acres. Location: North and west of the Sky Lane, south and east of Riley Creek. (Ordinance No. 8-2005-PUD-4-2005 for PUD District Review and Zoning District Change) B. APPROVAL OF DEVELOPER AGREEMENT FOR HENNEPIN VILLAGE- EDEN BLUFFS HOLDINGS, LLC. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 3 C. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2005-66 RECEIVING FEASIBILTY REPORT AND SETTING PUBLIC HEARING FOR TECHNOLOGY DRIVE AND MITCHELL ROAD IMPROVEMENTS, I.C. 00-5508 D. AWARD CONTRACT FOR REPAIRS AT CUMMINS GRILL AND RILEY JACQUES HOMES E. AWARD CONTRACT FOR FLOWER MAINTENANCE TO LYNN'S FLOWERS DESIGN F. AWARD CONTRACT FOR IRRIGATION MAINTENANCE TO ABSOLUTE RAIN G. AWARD CONTRACT FOR LAWN MAINTENANCE FOR CITY HALL AND FIRE STATION 1 TO AP LAWN H. AWARD CONTRACT FOR LAWN MAINTENANCE FOR DEN ROAD, FIRE STATION 2 & 3 & BUILDING 51 TO BENIEK PROPERTY SERVICES I. APPROVE RELEASE OF LAND FROM SPECIAL ASSESSMENT AGREEMENT FOR LOT 1. BLOCK 2, FOUNTAIN PLACE J. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2005-67 CONSENTING TO ASSIGNMENT OF KMC TELECOM AGREEMENT MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Case, to approve Items A-J on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS IX. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Young moved, seconded by Aho, to approve Payment of Claims as submitted. The motion was approved on a roll call vote with Aho, Butcher, Case, Young, and Tyra-Lukens voting "aye." X. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS XI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. EDEN PRAIRIE READS —JAN MOSMAN Tyra-Lukens shared information on Eden Prairie Reads at Mosman's request. She said Eden Prairie Reads is designed to promote reading, discussion, and community. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 4 It is collaboration between the schools, Barnes and Noble, community groups, and grassroots organizers. Over 2000 residents read the first selection,Neither Wolf Nor Dog. Events included speakers, discussions, and an author event. The 2005 selection, Ordinary People, was also written by a local author. Its theme of how tragedy affects an ordinary family should spark a lot of discussion. XII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS OF OFFICERS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. City Manager's Performance Review—Mayor Tyra-Lukens Tyra-Lukens reported the Council had met in closed session to discuss the City Manager's performance review. Using a similar process to past reviews, City employees, department heads, and four members of the Council all gave input. Areas reviewed included significant accomplishments, items not accomplished, things done well, things the Manager could do more or less, opportunities seen for the next 12 months, and comments. Tyra-Lukens noted the evaluator commented on the high quality of the evaluation, stating that employees seemed to be searching for areas to improve. More direct contact from Neal was Staff's only suggestion. Neal was seen as positive and enthusiastic, with strengths in the areas of open communication and representing the city positively. He was also commended for his reorganization of City departments. Tyra-Lukens stated Neal had done an exemplary job and his leadership is an asset to the City. The Council has raised Neal's salary to the state cap, which represents a modest increase. Tyra-Lukens noted the cap precluded any merit payment for Neal, but said the Council is looking for other options that would be allowable under state law. 2. Cable Franchising—Councilmember Case Councilmember Case discussed a letter drafted by the Southwest Suburban Cable Commission for cities to send to legislators regarding cable franchising. The main issue is that voice, video, and data providers are merging. Traditionally, voice/telephone lines were overseen by the State, data was overseen by the federal government, and video was overseen by local government. Now the lines between these different types of providers are blurring. There are both state and federal bills to dissolve the concept of franchise fees. While an overhaul of the current system might seem logical, eliminating franchise fees would cost the City CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 5 $350,000 in general funds. In addition, cable providers would no longer need to provide public access channels. Case said the City needs to preserve its rights-of-way. Young agreed the City should maintain its ability to regulate. He said telephone companies are trying to use the City's rights-of-way without paying. Aho agreed this was a fairness issue. Tyra-Lukens directed Staff to send the letter. 2. Time Warner/Comcast Swap— Councilmember Case Case said Time Warner would be swapping the Twin Cities market over to Comcast as part of an industry consolidation. Some people had asked if this would make cable even more of a monopoly,but it already is a monopoly. The only competition is non-cable providers like Direct TV. Case noted the City has encouraged other cable providers but conditions in the industry have caused those efforts to fall through. Case said the market swap would come before the City for written consent,but the City is not allowed to withhold consent if Comcast upholds its end of the franchise agreement. He said the biggest change for residents would probably be a change in Roadrunner email addresses to Comcast email addresses. 3. Southwest Metro Transit— Councilmember Case Case updated the Council on current issues with Southwest Metro Transit. He noted Southwest Metro Transit has a large budget, about$275,000. Funding comes from motor vehicle sales taxes, which varies from year to year. As a result, Southwest Metro budgets at 88 percent of projected revenues and maintains significant reserves. Only 24 percent of the budget comes from fares. The rest is government subsidized. Case noted roads and LRT are similarly government funded and to a greater level. Case explained the original 1986 joint powers agreement between Eden Prairie, Chaska, and Chanhassen was drawn up when Southwest Metro Transit was funded through property taxes. With the current funding structure, it is harder to determine each city's share. Discussions have also arisen regarding division of assets and liabilities should the Legislature decide to dissolve Southwest Metro Transit, which they could at any time. Case said the assets are basically zero,but liabilities could amount to $5 to $6 million,particularly if the new parking deck is not paid off. Case noted that with prior notice and planning, the cities could plan to avoid that liability, but nevertheless the potential liability needs to be divided. The new agreement, calculated on property taxes and population, assigns 60 percent of the liability to Eden Prairie, 23 percent to Chanhassen, and 17 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 6 percent to Chaska. Case noted this might seem unfair since Eden Prairie only has 33 percent of the vote on the Commission,but that was what was agreed to. Case praised Southwest Metro as a well-managed,high-quality, award-winning bus service, noted its commitment to environmental excellence, and urged everyone to ride. 4. Stadium Input for Hennepin County Commissioners— Councilmember Aho Aho noted Plymouth had passed a resolution to share with the Hennepin County Commissioners that the City might want to consider copying. The resolution stated that if funding from Hennepin County for a stadium is pursued, it should be put to a public referendum. It would be unfair to put this tax burden on County residents without a vote. Tyra-Lukens requested Aho draft a resolution for the Council's consideration. 5. Community Input on Budget—Councilmember Young Young said he wanted to revisit the issue of getting input on the City's budget from the community through a task force of citizens expert in finance. Getting input on financial questions, such as whether the level fund balance is adequate, or how the City distinguishes capital and operating expenses, or projecting cash needs would be valuable. Young said the task force would have a very narrow scope—not looking at the City's scope of offerings, but examining financial and accounting options only. These issues are complex and getting more input would be useful. Young noted he had found a town in Massachusetts where senior business executives assess the state of the town's cash reserves, debt levels, and capital and operating expenses. Tyra-Lukens asked whether the Massachusetts task force was permanent or ad hoc. Young said it was not a standing committee,but met for two or three months every two years during the budget cycle. Young said this would be a valuable tool. Aho concurred. He said the intention was not to disrespect Staff,but merely to conduct prudent due diligence and perhaps get some creative ideas. It would lend credence to the budget to have an independent group agree with it. Butcher expressed reservations. Expert feedback is needed, and Staff are best equipped to provide it. She was concerned that Staff had found very few citizen budget committees in Minnesota. Butcher also said it must be clear that financial authority rests with the Council. Case also expressed reservations. He said if the group did not agree with the City, the City's credibility could be unfairly weakened. Government CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 7 and business are very different. He noted the City has a stellar AAA bond rating that validates its financial policy. Case said he trusted Staff's expertise and their willingness to seek outside expertise when needed, as they did regarding the airport. Case said the task force felt like a solution in search of a problem. Young said it is hard for Council members to evaluate financial issues, such as the adequacy of the City's cash reserve,because they are not financial experts. He said he didn't fear business leaders on the task force would change the nature of the City. They would assist and give input. Young cited the 95 percent policy as an example of a policy that hung around for years as the fund balances grew, and should perhaps be reexamined. Young said he had spent time researching this issue, but someone with a financial background could do so more effectively and efficiently. Butcher reiterated the Council is elected to create and review financial policy. Taxpayer hearings and the State Auditor provide checks and balances. As an alternative, Butcher suggested educating the community on the budget process through the website and meetings, and including a statement of the City's financial policies in the annual report. Case questioned the idea that Councilmembers are not up to the task of evaluating the City's financial policy. He asked who was better suited to the task. The Council should educate itself if it needs more information on the budget process. He favored getting business perspectives informally. Case said the Council uses the lens of municipal government, which is very different from a business view. If a business task force criticized the City's policy, unfair damage could result. Aho said the task force would be due diligence. He compared it to having an expert inspector check a home for safety before purchasing it. Because the Councilmembers are not financial professionals, evaluating the budget is hard even with training. Aho said there is a wealth of financial expertise that could be used in a time-limited way, not to change the City's policy necessarily,but just to gauge it. Tyra-Lukens challenged the home inspector analogy. She said having business executives evaluate the City budget would be like having an airplane inspector evaluate a house. City budgets and business budgets are entirely different. She did not see the benefit. It would be far more valuable to direct Staff to work with other cities' staff to critique each others' budgets, and to send City finance staff to national training. She asked Young to draft a memo of his proposal. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 8 B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Update on Senior Issues Task Force Parks & Recreation Director Bob Lambert gave the update on Neal's behalf, reading the charter statement. He reviewed the timeline for the project, which would run from June 2005 to January 2006. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the charter statement and recommendations in the City Manager's memorandum. Motion carried 5-0. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 1. Authorization to Develop an Agreement with the City of Minnetonka to Administer CDBG Funds (Resolution No. 2005-68) Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah explained the City is party to a joint cooperative agreement with Hennepin County to administer Community Development Block Grant(CDBG) funds. Up to now, the County has administered them for free. Starting in 2006, however, the County plans to charge entitlement cities (cities that can opt out) a 13% fee. Since the City receives approximately $300,000 in CDBG funds, this translates to a $36,000 fee. City Staff contacted Minnetonka, which is in a similar position, and found that Minnetonka city staff have developed expertise to self-administer the funds. City Staff are confident the City would save money by entering into a joint powers agreement with Minnetonka to administer the funds. Jeremiah reviewed the actions needed to pursue this route: withdraw from the Hennepin County CDBG program, execute a joint powers agreement with Minnetonka, and execute a joint powers agreement with Hennepin County to remain in the HOME Consortium. This arrangement would not affect the City's ability to hold its own public hearings or make its own policies. Jeremiah said City staff would be trained in administering the CDBG funds, in case the collaboration with Minnetonka didn't work out. Case asked if the County would care if Eden Prairie withdrew. Jeremiah said the plan had been presented to the County Commissioners without negative comment. She noted it seems fair for the county to charge, since they have charged non-entitlement cities for years. It's purely a financial matter of how to minimize the City's administration costs. Aho asked if there were any risks in taking this action. Jeremiah said the exact amount Minnetonka would charge is not known,but based on comparisons with Bloomington and Plymouth, even the worst-case scenario would generate savings. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 9 MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher, to adopt Resolution No. 2005-68 authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to execute such letters, agreements and other documents necessary to discontinue participation in the Urban Hennepin County CDBG Program; execute a Joint Cooperation Agreement between Hennepin County and Eden Prairie to allow Eden Prairie to participate in the Hennepin County Housing Consortium, and thereby remain eligible to participate in the HOME consortium program; and execute a Joint Powers Agreement between the cities of Minnetonka and Eden Prairie to collaboratively administer federal CDBG funds. Motion carried 5-0. D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Community Theater Feasibility Study Lambert updated the Council on the possible development of a community theater space at Eden Prairie Center. Additional discussion with General Growth has made it obvious that the plan is unworkable without a major partner like AMC, since General Growth is basically quoting a market rate. AMC would want their own architects involved, which could drive up the costs of developing a plan. Staff was therefore no longer asking for any funds to explore the community theater option. Lambert asked the Council to authorize Staff to continue discussions with General Growth and AMC to see if a reasonable plan could be developed. Case added that right now, the plan looked very annually expensive,but it was worth talking to see if the plan had truly hit a dead end. Aho shared citizen input that partnering with Hennepin Technical College and materials providers like Home Depot might bring down costs, if discussion got to that stage. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to authorize Staff to initiate a feasibility study to evaluate the construction and operating costs of a community theater using the space available at the Eden Prairie Center and furthermore to evaluate the possibilities of operating this space in partnership AMC or another viable partner. Motion carried 5-0. E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY CITY COUNCIL MINUTES May 3, 2005 Page 10 XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0.