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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 12/01/2008 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Phil Young, Council Members Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, Jon Duckstad and Kathy Nelson CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Parks & Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Public Works Director Eugene Dietz, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, City Attorney Ric Rosow and Council Recorder Jan Curielli I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Young called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. All Council Members were present. II. COLOR GUARD/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Young thanked the Eden Prairie Police Reserve Color Guard for presenting the colors tonight. III. COUNCIL FORUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Neal said he had two additions under Item XIV.B. Aho said he thought the Council should have some discussion under Item XIV.A about the options Mr. Neal brought forward regarding the budget. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the minutes of the Council Workshop held Tuesday, November 18, 2008, as published. Motion carried 5-0. B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008 MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Duckstad, to approve the minutes of the City Council Meeting held Tuesday, November 18, 2008, as amended. Motion carried 5-0. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 1, 2008 Page 2 VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. ADOPT THE LOCAL WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN AND APPROVE SUBMITTAL OF THE PLAN WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE PLAN UPDATE MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Aho, to approve Item A on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS /MEETINGS A. FIRST READING OF THE ORDINANCE UPDATING THE FEE SCHEDULE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF OFFICIAL CONTROLS Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the November 20, 2008, Eden Prairie News. This ordinance establishes a fee schedule for the City's costs in administering official controls pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 462.353, Subd. 4. Minnesota statute allows a municipality to prescribe fees sufficient to defray the costs incurred by it in reviewing, investigating, and administering an application for an amendment to an official control or other approval required under an official control. Minnesota statute defines an "Official Control" as ordinances or regulations which control the physical development of a city and implement the general objectives of the comprehensive plan. Official controls may include ordinances establishing zoning, subdivision controls, site plan regulations, sanitary codes, building codes and official maps. Neal noted there are two ways in which we change fees, either by ordinance or resolution, and the fees for our building and development operations require an ordinance. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to close the public hearing and to approve 1st Reading of the Ordinance updating the fee schedule for administration of official controls. Motion carried 5-0. B. 2009 FEE RESOLUTION 2008-109 Neal said official notice of this public hearing was published in the November 20, 2008, Eden Prairie News. This resolution establishes a fee schedule for the City's services not covered by the preceding ordinance. He noted that up until this year we were doing this without a public hearing,but the Council has requested we now hold a public hearing for the fee resolution. There were no comments from the audience. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to close the Public Hearing and to adopt the 2009 Fee Resolution 2008-109. Motion carried 5-0. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 1, 2008 Page 3 Rosow noted the appropriate action by the Council is to "resolve to adopt the fee resolution", and the wording of the resolution will be changed to reflect that. X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the Payment of Claims as submitted. The motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Aho, Butcher, Duckstad, Nelson and Young voting "aye." XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE SECTION 10.02 RELATING TO INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS Neal said the amendments as proposed to City Code Section 10.02 Individual Sewage Treatment Systems (ISTS) standards are required to bring the City Code into compliance with current Minnesota Pollution Control Agency rules, County regulations, and a Met Council submission requirement for the 2008 Guide Plan update. He noted this ordinance is also on tonight's agenda for second reading if the Council approves first reading. Kevin Schmieg, Building Official, said individual sewage treatment systems are septic systems. There are currently 237 residential septic systems in Eden Prairie, a number that is reduced each year through attrition and when utilities become available in the area. He noted there will be some areas of the City that may never have utilities available. This ordinance amends the existing ordinance to be compliant with MPCA guidelines for the Guide Plan update. It is primarily a housekeeping item, and the only change is regarding the requirements of maintaining the systems. Nelson asked if this means that people are now going to have to keep their septic systems under maintenance so they don't actually get old and start to leak. Schmieg replied this requires that maintenance be done on septic systems, and they must be pumped every three years. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Butcher, to approve first reading of an ordinance amending City Code Section 10.02. relating to individual sewage treatment systems. Motion carried 5-0. B. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE 24-2008 AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER 3 RELATING TO REGULATION OF DISCHARGE FROM SUMP PUMPS AND OTHER SOURCES INTO THE SEWER SYSTEM AND RESOLUTION 2008-110 APPROVING SUMMARY ORDINANCE Neal said this is the second reading of the ordinance prohibiting disposal of clear water into the sanitary sewer system. The first reading for the ordinance was held on October 21, 2008. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 1, 2008 Page 4 MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve second reading of Ordinance 23-2008 amending City Code Chapter 3 relating to regulation of inflow and infiltration (clear water) into the sanitary sewer system and to adopt Resolution 2008-110 approving Summary Ordinance for publication. Motion carried 5-0. XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCILMEMBERS 1. Aho—Budget Options Aho said he thought this was a good time to discuss the different budget options we are looking at in terms of the 2009 budget. He said Mr. Neal put together a couple of alternatives with options in his summary memo. The Budget Advisory Commission (BAC) made a recommendation to look at a zero increase of budget in the 2009 budget numbers. Mr. Neal put together two alternatives in his memo: a zero levy increase and a zero budget increase. The zero levy increase alternative would reduce the total levy increase of$1,030,359 by using one of three options: use the funds to replace the amount of the decrease;reduce expenses; and a mixture of using funds and reducing expenses. Aho said the second alternative in Mr. Neal's memo was to look at what it would mean to do a zero budget increase, which would mean a 4.8% reduction of the budget or about$2,000,000. Mr. Neal said that could potentially reduce the head count by 12-15 employees. Aho thought there are quite a few options on the table. He personally liked the zero levy increase using the balanced approach of taking some existing fund money along with some reductions. He thought there should be some Council discussion on this. Butcher said she would like to consider the staff recommendation to keep the budget for 2009 as proposed because staff believes we still have the same demand for services. She thought there is an overarching idea to keep in place some of the funds that we would have to tap into with the zero levy increase. Our overall philosophy has been that we do incremental changes, and we always do more with less. Another important policy we have always had is to not use one-time money for operations, so she was concerned about using the Budget Stabilization fund and the Economic Development fund as suggested. Butcher said she thought we need to keep apprised of what our peer cities are doing. We had the lowest tax levy of any of our peers last year, and that may be an indication we are not putting as much into investment in the City as are other nearby cities. She was concerned about having a low tax levy two years in a row, and about the possible impact of that on our AAA bond CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 1, 2008 Page 5 rating. That bond rating means we are fiscally responsible and very stable, and she would like to see the City maintain that stability as we go into the 2009 budget. Young said staff has put together a single budget ready for the Council to pass or not at the next meeting. He wanted to find out if there are additional things the Council wants staff to do without opening the door to debate on philosophy. He said Mr. Aho has requested staff put together an alternative budget along the lines of what Mr. Neal proposed, and Ms Butcher does not support that. Nelson said she would like to see a fourth option where we would look at some reductions. We made assumptions that gas prices would go much higher, and there may be other things that could be looked at. She would not want to see an option that would cause a huge increase in next year's budget. She would like a fourth option that would make some reasonable reductions without cutting staff and that also would make a smaller offset. She thought we could look at what happens over the next two or three years with the option. Young asked what dollar or percentage she would suggest for the new option. Nelson said perhaps something halfway between the current budget and the third option as a possible target, and it should be something that would not cause a huge increase the following year. Duckstad said he was leaning in favor of Mr. Aho's suggestion. He commended the City Manager for taking the time to put together the information outlining the various options. We made this budget in December of 2007, and a lot of changes have taken place in the meantime. He would be inclined to be in favor of a zero levy increase, but also would be in favor of making cuts as well as taking money from the funds. He didn't want it all to be taken out of funds. At the present time the City is in good financial condition,but he thought we are obligated to consider the economy, the real estate market, the credit crunch, the fall in the stock market and job cuts. We are really in a serious situation, and we are obligated to consider our taxpayers. He was not in favor of the City having to let go any employees. He thought we should look at the zero levy increase and look at attaining that goal by using some available funds such as the windfall on the Presbyterian Homes development that went into the Economic Development fund. Nelson asked if we could consider letting the taxes go for the budget,but then giving a rebate from the windfall. Neal replied that cities don't have statutory authority to use public money in that way. In summary, Young said we will have before us at the next meeting the budget as discussed at the Truth-in-Taxation hearing this evening, an alternative for Mr. Aho's proposal and one for Ms Nelson's proposal. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 1, 2008 Page 6 Aho said he would be willing to sit down and discuss options with staff. He liked the option of a balanced approach of reductions in the budget and some use of funds. Duckstad said he would like to reserve the option to present a possible amendment to the proposed budget. Young said it is always his privilege to do that,but asked him to give staff enough time to produce the options. Neal said he will touch base with all Council Members prior to the next meeting so they can come prepared for the discussion. B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER 1. Update on the Community Center Project Neal said Council Member Duckstad asked for an update on the Community Center project at the last meeting. That update is being prepared and will be given at the next meeting. 2. Miscellaneous Update Neal said the next workshop is a joint meeting with the Chamber and asked Council Members to let him know of any items for the agenda. He announced Rod Rue will be the new City Engineer now that Al Gray has retired. He said Council Members are invited to attend the employee holiday luncheon on Friday, December 12 at 11:30 AM and at 8:00 PM. 3. Police and Fire All-in-One Solution Contract Neal said this has been quite an effort for the staff involved in this project. They have been working on the project since September of 2007 as they worked to create a new system that integrates the records management system, the CAD system and the Mobile system. He said they received a lot of input from staff members during the process. Police Chief Reynolds and Fire Chief Esbensen gave a slide presentation that reviewed the system goals and the project milestones. A lot of time was spent in planning the system, and it was presented to the City Council at a couple of different workshops. They spent a lot of time creating an RFP for the all-encompassing project. They selected New World Systems as the vendor because they had a fully integrated system and were able to work with staff and integrate our computer intelligence system into their system. They have a proven track record and also have user groups to develop and enhance their products in response to customer needs. They use the latest in technology and tools, and they are a large company with a large customer base. Esbensen reviewed what the new system will provide that we can't do today. He said it will be a multi-phase project with Phase 1 costing about CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 1, 2008 Page 7 $1,000,000 and Phase 2 $500,000. The total for the project is about $1,880,000 and that number was budgeted in the CIP. Aho asked about the expected life cycle of a system like this which involves investing in putting this together and integrating it into the current system. Esbenson said this is on the cutting edge of their new technology and represents the latest version of their product. He thought there may be things on the technology horizon that will change everything,but that isn't the case now. Aho asked if the maintenance agreement includes all software and product updates. Esbensen said the cost of developments that come out of the user groups will be shared by those who want the new development components. Duckstad asked if we have any legal obligation to go out for bid on this in light of the money we are spending. Rosow said we look at the public bidding requirements every time a contract is considered, and because of the nature of this contract, it qualifies as not requiring a formal public bidding process. They did go through the RFP process to evaluate the proposals and bids from a variety of vendors. Neal said at our last meeting there was an issue between the City and the vendor about a contract provision,but we were able to compromise and resolve that issue. MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Butcher, to award the contract for Police and Fire All-in-One Solution to New World Systems and to authorize the Mayor and the City Manager to execute the contract with New World Systems. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Police and Fire Ticket Writer Software Contract Neal said this was originally included as part of the overall agreement just approved,but we decided to remove it from that because we could get a better price for the ticket writer software contract as a stand-alone and will save a little over$10,000 this way. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Butcher, to award the contract for the Police and Fire All-in-One Solution Ticket Writer software to APS (Advanced Public Safety, Inc.) and to authorize the Mayor and City Manager to execute the contract with APS. Motion carried 5-0. C. REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 1, 2008 Page 8 F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF 1. Second Reading of Ordinance 25-2008 Amending City Code Section 10.02 Relating to Individual Sewage Treatment Systems and Resolution 2008-111 Approving Summary Ordinance Speaking on behalf of the Fire Chief, Neal said this is second reading of the ordinance on the individual sewage treatment systems that was passed earlier this evening. Because it is being acted on at the same meeting as first reading, this item will require a unanimous vote of the City Council to pass second reading. MOTION: Duckstad moved, seconded by Aho, to approve second reading of Ordinance 25-2008 amending City Code Section 10.02 and to adopt Resolution 2008-111 approving Summary Ordinance for publication. Motion carried 5-0. H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Butcher moved, seconded by Nelson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Young adjourned the meeting at 8:20 PM.