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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 12/13/2005 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 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, Finance Director Sue Kotchevar 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. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. RECOGNITION OF JODY CARLIN FOR RESCUE AT STARING LAKE This item was placed after the pledge of allegiance and prior to the HRA at 7:01 p.m. Neal recognized the quick thinking of City Staff Jody Carlin. At 6:30 a.m. on December 4, 2005, Carlin was removing snow in Staring Lake Park when she heard a dog barking frantically. She followed the dog to Gadel, who had fallen through the ice, and called for help. Tyra-Lukens presented Carlin with a certificate of recognition. Gadel thanked the Mayor and Council for the recognition and presented a card to Carlin with his heartfelt thanks for her quick thinking, which he said undoubtedly saved his life. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2005 Young corrected p. 14, third paragraph to add omitted information: "Young said the budget should be the number one issue before considering the levy, and Aho concurred." Young deleted this inaccurate record from his comments, p. 5, paragraph 5: The fire engine should not be delayed and police and fire should be capped not cut. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 2 MOTION: Young moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the Council Budget Workshop minutes as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK'S LICENSE LIST B. APPROVE CHANGE ORDER 3 FOR CHARLSON AREA PHASE IV IMPROVEMENTS, I.C. 02-5566 C. AWARD CONTRACTS FOR 2006 MAINTENANCE MATERIALS AND WATER TREATMENT CHEMICALS FOR 2006, I.C. 06-5661 D. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2005-144 RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 2005-131 CALLING FOR PUBLIC HEARING ON APPROVAL OF PLAN FOR REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA NO. 6 (UNITED PROPERTIES REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT) AND ON APPROVAL OF TAX INCREMENT FINANCING PLAN FOR TAX INCREMENT FINANCING (REDEVELOPMENT) DIST. NO. 20 E. APPROVE LEASE AGREEMENT WITH HENNEPIN COUNTY FOR HAVA-REQUIRED ASSISTED VOTING EQUIPMENT F. APPROVE FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR 2006 AND 2007 G. APPROVE CONTRACT TO PURCHASE SOFTWARE FOR FAMILINK FROM THE EDINA SCHOOL DISTRICT MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Young, approve Items A-G on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS/MEETINGS A. FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE FEE SCHEDULE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF OFFICIAL CONTROLS Neal explained this Ordinance establishes a fee schedule for the City's costs in administering Official Controls pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 462.353, Subd. 4. This item sets all fees for various regulatory controls throughout the year. There were no comments from the public. Rosow noted the words "Revising the Title Page of Chapter 25" should be stricken from the ordinance as this action has already been addressed. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 3 MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Aho, to close the Public Hearing; and approve 1St Reading of an Ordinance amending the Fee Schedule for Administration of Official Controls. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Young, to approve Payment of Claims as submitted. The motion carried on a roll call vote with Aho, Butcher, Case, Young, and Tyra-Lukens voting "aye." X. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 24-2005 AMENDING THE FEE SCHEDULE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF OFFICIAL CONTROLS AND ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2005-145 APPROVING SUMMARY ORDINANCE Neal noted the First Reading of the Ordinance appears in the Public Hearings of this agenda. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve 2nd Reading of the Amended Ordinance No. 24-2005 updating the Fee Schedule for Administration of Official Controls, and adopt Resolution No. 2005-145 approving Summary Ordinance for publication, including the change noted during the public hearing. Motion carried 5-0. B. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 25-2005 ESTABLISHING THE FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION AND ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2005-146 APPROVING SUMMARY ORDINANCE Neal noted the first reading of the ordinance was approved by the City Council on December 5, 2005. Subdivision 2.A. was modified to revise the language regarding classification of the airport to read: "including: the classification of the airport under federal and state law; rules and reizulations of federal and state aiZencies iZovemin�Z the operation of the Airport;" In addition, the phrase "and such other matters as the City Council may direct from time to time" was added at the end of this section. Finally, the provision regarding the setting of meetings was removed since this is covered in the general provisions covering all Boards and Commissions. Pursuant to this general section the Council determines the regular meeting schedule and Boards are allowed to call special meetings. Neal said he had presented the ordinance to the Metropolitan Airports Commission for their review regarding cost participation. The MAC requested two changes to the language. Instead of assuming 50% of the financial costs, the MAC would agree to assume 50% of the costs of administration and staffing. This would exclude responsibility for"operation," which could include more expensive items such as studies. Rosow said the words "and other duties" were removed for similar reasons. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 4 Case said the revisions seemed reasonable. Aho asked about the cost to run the commission. Jeremiah said the Commission used 400 hours of a senior planner's time plus some additional administrative costs. Aho said that is a pretty significant effort. He asked if Council would control the makeup of the Commission and reject appointments if the makeup were not suitable. Tyra-Lukens said yes, except for the MAC representative. Case questioned the 400-hour figure, noting the City was in a legal battle the last time the Commission was active. Staff time would probably be closer to 50-70 hours, as it is for other commissions that meet bimonthly. Neal noted the City is starting recruitment for Commissions early since there are two new commissions to fill. Council is welcome to encourage specific people to apply. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve 2nd Reading of Ordinance No. 25-2005 amending City Code Chapter 2 by Adding Section 2.27 Establishing the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission and Adopting by Reference City Code Chapter 1 and Section 2.99 which, among other things, contain Penalty Provisions; and adopt Resolution No. 2005-146 approving Summary Ordinance for publication. Motion carried 5-0. XI. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS OF OFFICERS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. 2006 Property Tax Levy, 2006 General Fund Budget, and 2006 HRA Tax Levy (Resolution No. 2005-147) Neal reviewed that on September 6, 2005, the Eden Prairie City Council adopted a resolution certifying the proposed 2006 City property tax levy. Calculations for the City showed the certified levy to be $28,978,845. Since the preliminary levy was adopted the following changes have been made to the tax levy: Reduction of Expenditures $ (200,000) Use of Budget Stabilization Fund (215,000) Reduce CIP Levy (252,709) Reduce Debt Levy for Fire Station#4 (290,000) Increase Levy for Park Referendum 1,076,724 Total Change $ 119,015 This changes the total levy to $29,097,860. The City considers its total net levy to be the amount further reduced by the Fiscal Disparities distribution CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 5 of($1,284,921). Accordingly, the City's resolution shows a net levy of $27,812,939. According to state statute, the final levy amount must be certified to the county auditor by December 28, 2005. City Council adoption of the final levy and budget will complete this process. Neal referred Councilmembers to the Truth in Taxation public hearing documents for a summary of those numbers. Case asked for clarification on the current levy increase is it 3.7%, or 4.8%? Neal said the current proposal is still 4.8%. The 3.69% number was generated from Case's former proposal to transfer$500,000 in budget stabilization funds, as opposed to $215,000 reflected here. Tyra-Lukens believed the original proposal called for an 8.6% increase in the levy and an 8.4% increase in the budget. Neal confirmed this. The 4.8% levy proposal above is the budget Staff is recommending at this time. Tyra-Lukens noted Council has a wide range of desires regarding the budget and levy and invited discussion or a motion. She directed attention to Neal's recent memo regarding additional cuts and a utility fund transfer. Neal said his memo of that morning outlined $5,000 in travel and training reductions, $25,000 in motor fuel reductions, and an additional$70,000 transfer from the utility fund to cover overhead cost for a total impact of $100,000. Kotchevar said this would reduce the levy increase from 4.8% to 4.4% and the budget increase from 6.2% to 6.1%, pre-referendum. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to incorporate the additional $100,000 in cuts and adopt Resolution No. 2005-147 certifying the 2006 Property Tax levy to be $28,997,860; approve the 2006 Budget of$36,868,552 as reviewed by the Council; and consent and approve the HRA tax levy of$200,000. Aho expressed appreciation for Staff's work on the budget, characterizing them as excellent, competent and reliable. His job, however, is to reflect the concerns of residents, some of which are justified. Aho said he had campaigned on fiscal responsibility and thought this message resonated with voters. It is both justified and appropriate for Council to question the budget. Staff is best qualified to find ways to save money,but policy decisions and guidance are tasks for the Council to make decisions about service levels and philosophy. However, not all cuts affect level of service. Aho noted he had asked staff to present budgets at levels of increase he regarded as acceptable: 4%, 5%, and 3%. He expressed disappointment that the lowest budgets presented were at 4.7% and 5.2%. Aho said he also had specifically asked the budgets not cherry-pick police, and fire, and other critical services. However, the budgets presented had substantial impacts in critical services, which did not need to be cut in order to achieve savings. Except for$200,000 in budget reductions and an additional $100,000 included tonight, the current budget is very similar to CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 6 the original proposal. The other adjustments are deferred spending. In addition, the City is now adding $200,000 in HRA levy. Aho said the City's budget would double by 2015 if it continues to grow at a 7% rate. It is very important to realize the cumulative effect of such an increase. Aho said he received more input on the City's budget than on any other issue. Seniors worry they will be driven out of Eden Prairie if property taxes continue to rise. He supported using budget stabilization funds to lessen the impact. Aho said the budget is too high in these economic conditions, and that none of his requests was incorporated into the budget. Butcher appreciated Aho's perspective. She noted everyone had worked hard on this budget. This is the 12"'meeting. Butcher said she supported the proposed budget, which is a 6.13% increase over last year. The levy increase of 4.4% is less than the rate of inflation. Butcher listed what this budget accomplishes: maintaining current service levels for basics like snowplows, public safety, and parks; providing competitive wages and benefits to retain the City's excellent staff, funding expected increases in utility and fuel costs, and maintaining facilities to preserve the City's investment. Butcher said this is the best possible budget and is in keeping with public support. She noted just as many people spoke in favor of the budget at the Truth in Taxation hearing as spoke against it. This budget will help maintain the City's strong financial position and AAA bond rating. The data presented at tonight's workshop indicate the business community is looking for high quality of life for their employees, and that the business community sees good value for their tax dollars. Council truly weighed the budget. The City is always prudent and has one of the lowest levies in the metro area. The budget will sustain this great City and help it thrive, not just survive. Young echoed Butcher and Aho's compliments to staff and praised them and the business community for their contributions to Eden Prairie's quality of life. He continued to express dissatisfaction with the budget. Young said he first addressed the issue of budget discipline in September. His feeling was the budget should be capped at no more than a 5% increase in true general fund operating expenses, before any transfers. The real cost of government is the issue. Tapping the budget stabilization fund is fine—it has more cash than it needs--but the budget is still the main issue. Young said he didn't support the current budget because the operating budget increase exceeds 5%. Young said the current discussion is just one step in a longer process. Next year, there should be more citizen input and new avenues for them to give it. The budget timeline was four to six weeks ahead of schedule this year,but needs to be even earlier for Staff to realistically respond to CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 7 Council's requests for data. There also need to be some kind of checks and balances in the budget process to promote efficiency. Competition ensures efficiency in the private sector,but since the City has a monopoly, some other check needs to be created. A budget task force could be a means to promote maximum efficiency. Young reiterated his support for a 5% maximum budget increase. Case said Councilmembers have more points of agreement on the budget than disagreement. All agree this year's property tax increase, including all the different levies, is unbearably high. All agree the City's property tax levy is reasonably low this year, lower than in prior years and lower than many other cities'. All agree not to cut police, fire, or wages and benefits. Case shared he heard at a recent conference that cutting staff wages and training demoralizes staff and quickly erases any savings gained. Case stated that Young wants a 5% maximum increase, Aho wants a 4-5% increase, and Tyra-Lukens, Case, and Butcher are comfortable with the current budget with a strong desire not to cut programs and services. Case proposed a compromise. Case said he had talked to Young at length over the weekend and believed he heard two main issues: bringing prosecution services in-house, and developing a mechanism to review specific areas in the budget. Regarding prosecution, Case noted Neal did not endorse the idea of bringing it in-house because few cities do so, and the few who do spend more. Case said he was nevertheless willing to do a two-year trial. Assuming the new arrangement could be up and running between March and June of 2006, the City would actualize about$100,000 in savings this year if Young's estimates were correct. Case thought this might be on the high side,but the City could go back to outsourcing with the same firm or a different one if bringing prosecution in-house did not work out. The current prosecution contract is month-to-month so there is no cost to terminate it. Regarding budget oversight, Case said it never hurts to have more information. He was open to a budget task force with a specific charge. Case believed the City would get a lot of affirmation for its financial and budget practices,but for one or two years, a budget task force could make sense. Case reiterated his commitment to avoid cuts that impact real people. He noted the popularity of the Cummins-Grill house holiday event. Community building is important, whether you judge its impact based on participation or dollars. Case objected to the idea of raising some programs as expendable while regarding others as sacred. Different programs appeal to different sectors and the Council has to remember that. For example, the community specialist position serves up to 2,000 Somali residents. Cuts need to be in areas of efficiencies not programs. Case restated his compromise proposal: organize a budget task force to be involved early in the process (in the summer), and reduce the budget an CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 8 additional $100,000 by bringing prosecution in-house. Together with Neal's cuts adopted earlier in the meeting, the budget increase would be into the 5's and the levy into the 3's. Case said he would also be willing to take more from the budget stabilization fund. He said this could be a proposal the whole Council could support to offer both a sense of unanimity and responsiveness to outside tax impacts, desired services, and staff preferences. Tyra-Lukens said each Councilmember would have to compromise on this proposal,but it could be workable. She asked what the impact on the budget and levy would be. Kotchevar said the budget increase would drop from 6.2% to 5.8% under Case's proposal. The levy would drop from 4.8% to 4.1%. Butcher asked to hear from Staff. Neal said legal services are a complex topic. In theory, it seems the in-house model ought to work,but he wondered why he was not able to find it in operation anywhere. Trying it involves some risk. Neal noted the City doesn't just prosecute jaywalkers and speeders—there are serious crimes like domestic violence. The legal services area has been under study for the past two years. Neal said it would be difficult for the City to generate that level of savings. Young said he was glad to hear Case was open to a budget task force. He reemphasized the need to look at cost of government, exclusive of transfers. Young stated the 6.2% increase is closer to 7% in reality because it includes a $215,000 transfer. In a perfect world, Council would have charged Staff to present budgets with 3%, 4%, and 5% increases in the beginning. As things stand, Council is left trying to pigeonhole. Young said efficiencies are the first priority,but since the budget it not set up that way,he looked for services municipalities don't traditionally provide. For example, changing the Comprehensive Plan with consultants is expensive. Aho asked Kotchevar to recalculate the budget increase without the $215,000 budget stabilization fund transfer and the $75,000 utility transfer. Kotchever explained these transfers do not impact the budget increase,but only the levy. The true budget increase is 6.2% regardless of transfers. Case said discounting transfers is like saying fees don't count when they are 25% of City revenue. Reducing savings to sustain unreasonable expenses is not good,but the budget stabilization fund was gathered in the City's development phase to fund budget crunches as the City becomes fully developed. Regarding the cost of government, Case said it is hard to get an objective tool in a subjective environment,but there are some possibilities. One was a tool discussed at a seminar he and Aho recently attended. Presenters suggested using a ratio of average personal income data vs. the price of government to track the City's performance over time. There is no ideal ratio,but if the ratio stays fairly consistent over time, the city will be in a sustainable position to maintain its services and infrastructure. Another tool suggested at the conference was the city's CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 9 taxes over the past ten years,based on the idea the elections and referendums indicate voter support for those levels. Case asserted the City would probably do well under either measure, and that the cost of government is stable. The outpouring of negativity is more due to increases by sister governmental units. The task force might be able to come up with some objective tools. Right now, there is not even a way to tell if the Eden Prairie economy grew. Northwest has a bad year,but the region as a whole is up. Case noted voters chose to raise their own taxes by voting for the referendum. The message was not to cut everything else to pay for it. That doesn't mean the City should run up expenses,but it does indicate voters want quality of life. Tyra-Lukens noted the budget increase is 6.2% and the implicit price deflator is 5.1%. The budget is barely higher than inflation, and that doesn't even account for population growth. There are more parks, more streets, and more assessments as the city grows. Rather than being flat, the budget is if anything taking a step backward. The budget has probably doubled over the previous ten years and may again. When levy limits were in place, the increase considered reasonable equaled the population growth plus inflation. This year, that figure is about 9%, and even the original budget proposal came in below that. The budget is not ramping up by any means. Aho said using a ratio of personal income and city budget was a flawed premise. Lower personal incomes would require more government spending. In terms of the budget, the increase has been below 7% in past years. Growth is now slowing with less development and less money needs to be put into infrastructure. Areas like the replacement of park signs at $180,000 could be ways to save. Aho said his 3-5% range is based on his business experience and what people are telling him. Some are worried about having to move out of town if property taxes continue to rise. Tyra-Lukens said although the City is mostly built out, there is now more to maintain in parks and facilities. The CIP has dedicated $50 million to roads because the City's roads are wearing out. Tyra-Lukens clarified the income-budget ratio is not designed to be constant between different cities,but constant over time to indicate the City is maintaining its investment in the community. Case said the idea was to get some kind of objective measurement, not necessarily that particular ratio. The levy limit formula was one tool to measure the cost of government and citizens seemed to accept that. Butcher noted taxes are going up in all municipalities. The State balanced its budget through reductions in local government aid and also took away the market value tax credit. Butcher said a state representative told her as much: "we balanced our budget and passed it on to you." Given the CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 10 changes and the fiscal disparities payment, the City is doing remarkably well. Young said he felt like he was buying a new car, where the buyer wants to talk about the price of the car and all the dealer wants to discuss is the monthly payment. There are many ways to look at the budget and levy. A Young said a 5% increase felt right on a gut level and he still felt that way. Tyra-Lukens noted the budget increase has already been reduced from 8.4% to a possible 5.8%. Was Young not willing to sacrifice the 0.8%? Young said the general fund increase is still 7.3%, and the focus should be there. The debt levy and deferred spending got it to 6.2%. That number is not relevant. Tyra-Lukens asked why reducing the CIP is not a real reduction. Young said the general fund equals the cost of government. Case asked why 5% is a magic number. When a 4% increase means $3.00/month, a 3% increase means $2.30/month, and 0% increase $0 per month, the increase does not have a huge impact on people. However, the specific cuts proposed do impact people. Case said all Councilmembers had rejected a number of the items from the Taxpayers Alliance $1 million list. It is a copout to tell staff to find the cuts. Cutting down to a 4% increase would be irresponsible. Case said he compromised to try to get unanimity, but if an arbitrary line is drawn the discussion is done and that's unfortunate. Young said 5% is not arbitrary and noted his ideas for cuts were thrown out. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Tyra-Lukens, to amend the motion to try bringing legal prosecution services in-house and reduce the budget and levy by $100,000. The revised Resolution No. 2005-147 would certify the 2006 Property Tax levy to be $29,897,860; approve the 2006 Budget of$36,768,552 as reviewed by the Council; and consent and approve the HRA tax levy of$200,000. Kotchevar confirmed this change would yield a 5.8% increase in the budget and a 4.1% increase in the levy. Case noted the budget vote would likely be split regardless and asked if Councilmembers really wanted to support this amendment. Aho said savings are unknown,probably $140,000 to $100,000,but the trial is low- risk. Tyra-Lukens agreed but was concerned the measure ties Staff's hands. If savings are not realized, the budget has still been decreased $100,000. Case said there needs to be action ASAP to actualize savings. There also needs to be an escape hatch if efforts to implement in-house legal services are not cost-effective. Aho said if there truly were no savings they would revert to the current contract. Case noted Council could vote to pull from the budget stabilization fund. Neal said he could also cut elsewhere as he would with any unanticipated expense. Butcher expressed substantial reservations regarding the lack of due process and CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 11 consideration of the issue but said she would vote for the amendment in the spirit of passing a budget. The amendment carried 5-0. The motion carried as amended 3-2 with Butcher, Case, and Tyra- Lukens voting aye, and Aho and Young voting nay. Case suggested a plan to look at a budget task force, though it was not part of the motion. It could be affirming, not adversarial, and could have a sunset on it. There is incredible expertise in the community that could be tapped. Tyra-Lukens said she had talked to Neal about having a workshop on the whole budget process as soon as possible—possibly at a retreat. Neal said this would be scheduled, probably for January. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR 1. Prioritizing Parcels for Acquisition Lambert said the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission wished to be involved in prioritizing acquisition of parkland and getting prices. The Commission believes it is prudent to attempt to acquire any highly ranked parcel at the time the parcel is for sale instead of when they are not for sale. Two parcels are currently on the market: the Picha property in Birch Island Woods and the 9291 Riley Lake property. The latter was rejected by the City when it was for sale last year and is back on the market now. Aho asked if this was the old Shuldheiss property, and Lambert conformed this. Aho asked why the City would want to look at it again so soon. Lambert said he still strongly recommended the parcel be acquired. There are two parcels left, including 1500 feet of lakeshore that are surrounded by parkland. The property eventually sold for$195,000 less than the original asking price and $30,000 less than the price discussed with the City. The City will regret not acquiring the parcels if they are not in the system. There is currently no water and sewer to the parcels,preventing expansion,but they could be added in the next year or two. The parcel could then be combined and a large home built there, making the property much more expensive. There is also the potential for great conflict with the park, with the park on one side and public beach on the other. The last parcels for sale in a park are always the most expensive. Young asked how much money is set aside for parks acquisition. Lambert said there is not enough money in the referendum to acquire both parcels. The City could acquire one, or acquire part of the Picha property, or use park dedication fees and eliminate something else. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 12 Case said he had opposed the previous Riley Lake acquisition but was now more favorable. Though the current owner is a great steward of the park, the property site could lead to enormous grief for the City if a million-dollar house were built there. He supported finding out the sale price and said it could only go up. Tyra-Lukens said the motion is only to negotiate so she felt comfortable with it. MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Case, to authorize City staff to prepare a memorandum listing the parcels projected to be eventually acquired by the City for the park and open space system, listing the status of these parcels for the purpose of prioritizing parcels for acquisition; and authorize staff to negotiate with the property owners at 9291 Riley Lake Road and the Picha property to determine the lowest possible price for those parcels at this time. Motion carried 5-0. 2. Park Sisn Desisns Lambert said the City began talking about a new logo about five years ago. All park sign replacements were put on hold at that time. As a result, there is a backlog of 25 to 30-year-old signs that need replacing. Lambert recommended replacing the signs this year with park dedication fees. Rather than hiring consultants, Staff went to four major sign companies to get designs. Two companies provided designs and two provided designs with the caveat they would be paid for design services if they did not receive the contract. The Arts and Culture Commission reviewed the submitted sign designs and have recommended sign design J. The Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission reviewed the sign designs and recommended sign design F. The Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission requested the background behind the facility location letters be a dark green, and the words "Live • Work• Dream" be included under the words Eden Prairie. It was also suggested that if sign design J was selected that the Eden Prairie logo fill in the entire space in the lower one-third of the sign. Tyra-Lukens asked about sign composition. Lambert said they would be painted metal similar to the City Center sign on Mitchell Road. The signs would be vertical to rise above banked snow with reflective letters,park names and addresses, and the logo. The signs at Staring Lake and the Community Center would likely have event slots. Lambert showed the design options and asked Council to choose one so the project could be bid out. If approved, the signs would be replaced over the summer in the same locations they are now. Tyra-Lukens asked if the different designs had any impact on the cost. Lambert said no. The size, materials and paint cost are the drivers. Aho asked if the signs were lit inside. Lambert confirmed they would not be, though some have spotlights. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 13, 2005 Page 13 Case favored design J. The park name is prominent and the address is big. Widening the logo would be fine. The sign is readable. Butcher concurred. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve park sign design J, including a possible widening of the logo, to replace existing park signs throughout the City. 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 1. Court Dismissed Advantage Media vs. City of Eden Prairie Lawsuit Rosow reported the U.S. District Court dismissed Advantage Media vs. the City of Eden Prairie. The City's ordinance was sustained in every portion. As of February 2004, no portion of the ordinance was unconstitutional or invalid. Rosow said the brief reflected a good decision for the City and other cities, especially Hopkins, which had a similar case thrown out and is appealing. Rosow praised the League of Cities for its good defense of the City of Eden Prairie and commended staff for their due diligence in explaining why the project in question didn't meet code. XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Case, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:03 p.m.