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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/07/2010 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 CITY CENTER 5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOM II 6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Phil Young, Council Members Brad Aho, Ron Case, Jon Duckstad, and Kathy Nelson CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Rob Reynolds, Fire Chief George Esbensen, Public Works Director Eugene Dietz, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters Heritage Room H Mayor Young was absent. I. SURVEY OF COUNCIL MEMBER WAGES City Manager Scott Neal handed out a comparison of compensation for elected officials of MLC member cities. Neal said for any changes in Council compensation to go into effect in 2011, the City Council would need to approve the changes before the November 2 election. City Attorney Ric Rosow said changes would have to be made by amending the City Code. Council Member Jon Duckstad said he is in favor of leaving salaries at their current level. He noted that only four cities pay per diems for extra meetings attended by Council Members. He said he is in favor of eliminating Eden Prairie's per diem. He said he believes Council Members act in the spirit of public service, not for the pay. Council Member Kathy Nelson said she does not see the purpose of meeting pay. She said the meeting pay system is not working well at the moment. She noted she has not submitted for meeting attendance reimbursement for a long time. She said she is in favor of the City covering conference registration fees for Council Members. Council Member Aho said the National League of Cities Conference is one function Council Members may travel out-of- state for. Rosow reviewed the types of meetings for which Council Members can apply for payment: • At meetings of boards, committees, commissions, or other entities of the City, or of which the City is a member, and which do not compensate attendees; • For appearances related to litigation; • For appearances to testify at the proceedings of other units of government; • For out-of-town travel directly related to City business; • For Council assignments to participate in scheduled meetings in support of City business. City Council Workshop Minutes September 7,2010 Page 2 In addition to the $35 per day for meeting attendance, Council Members can be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred while attending to business of the City. Neal said he did not survey other cities to determine their policies on expense reimbursement; however, he would recommend that Eden Prairie continue to offer reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses such as mileage reimbursement. Duckstad agreed that out-of-pocket expenses should reimbursed. Council Member Case said he inherited the current system of meeting pay and expense reimbursement when he was first elected to the City Council in the early 90s. He said the issue back then was that some Council Members were taking on the majority of extra meetings and it was felt that it would be fair for them to be compensated for that. Case said simplification of the system makes sense at this point. He said there is a bit of confusion surrounding meeting pay and it would be best to eliminate it. Case said he takes some exception to the notion that individuals should be willing to serve without any compensation. He said no one does this job to get rich. He said compensation should be set at a point where people will be willing to be of service. He suggested getting rid of meeting pay and raising Council Member salaries to match the average of comparable cities. Duckstad said that in light of the current economy,he does not favor raising Council Member salaries. Case urged the Council to look out to 2015 and determine what action is ethical and responsible to attract people to serve. Case said sliding meeting pay into Council salaries is not raising salaries, per se. Aho said the meeting pay model is problematic and it should be eliminated; however,he said now is not the time to raise Council salaries. Nelson said since employees are not receiving raises this year, it would be difficult to increase Council salaries. She favors getting rid of meeting pay and keeping salaries where they are for now. She suggested the Council reexamine the issue in two years. Aho said he agrees that compensation should not be so low that people don't want to get involved, and the issue can be looked at again in a year. Neal said staff will prepare a draft ordinance that incorporates the changes discussed by the Council. II. FLYING CLOUD FIELDS EXPANSION PROJECT Neal said the Flying Cloud Fields project has been in the works since before the 2002 Memorandum of Understanding between the City and Metropolitan Airports Commission. He said some of the decisions on the project were made by previous Councils. Staff would like to review the history and rationale of the project because the Flying Cloud Field Expansion leases are on the City Council agenda for consideration tonight. Neal said the Flying Cloud Airport Final Agreement included provisions for expansion of the Flying Cloud Fields, and the 2005 parks referendum included money for this project. Neal said City staff has corresponded with MAC about this project regularly over the years. Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer presented a PowerPoint on the Flying Cloud Fields Expansion Project. He said prior to 2005 the athletic associations that use the fields and the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission participated in the use and needs analyses. In 2005, the referendum included $1.2 million for the project. Lotthammer reviewed the current site plan. The plan calls for creation of additional large fields that can be City Council Workshop Minutes September 7,2010 Page 3 used by older players. Lotthammer noted that these fields can converted to smaller fields in the future if needs change. If the City Council approves the leases tonight, staff will complete plans and specifications by December 2010, and the project will likely be bid in January 2011. Construction could begin in spring 2011 with fields being ready for play in 2013. Duckstad asked if the soccer association has offered to put any money toward the project, similar to what the hockey association did with the third sheet of ice at the community center. Lotthammer said the soccer association has not been asked to provide additional funds for the Flying Cloud Fields Expansion. Duckstad said he is concerned that the Flying Cloud Fields lease provision states that the lease can be cancelled by MAC. Duckstad said MAC is interested in doing a commercial development on part of the land. He said he assumes MAC will have to negotiate a lease for this parcel and that it probably will not have a one-year cancellation provision. Duckstad said he would like the City of Eden Prairie to negotiate the same type of lease with MAC as the developer of the commercial site. Lotthammer said that is what staff has attempted to negotiate; however, MAC says the commercial land will be treated differently because they will get market rate for the lease. Case noted that the City will not be paying market rate for the fields, and that the provision is similar to the lease the City has for other portions of MAC land. Case said the City does not have opportunities to locate these types of fields elsewhere in the City. He said he does not think MAC would cancel the City's lease because it would have negative political consequences. Rosow said it is not unusual for a lease to contain a"most favored nation" clause. The City could ask for such a provision; however, MAC would have the options of asking the City to pay market rate for the fields. Nelson asked what MAC's rationale is for the one-year provision. Neal said the land was acquired by MAC with federal money for use as an airport. Any other uses are considered temporary in nature. Rosow said MAC would have the authority to take a different lease term to the FAA for approval. Case said he is worried that if the City pushes back on MAC they will simply push back and say forget it to the City. Lotthammer said that the City of Blaine is probably paying 10 times what Eden Prairie is being offered in our lease. Aho said he believes the City should inform the public that there is some level of risk associated with these leases,but he feels it is worth the risk if we can negotiate terms similar to the other fields. Duckstad said he feels citizens would demand the same terms as a commercial tenant. Rosow said the City can propose that to MAC,but there is no guarantee they would approve such a lease. Nelson said that MAC has shown good faith in relation to the current ball fields leases. Council Chamber II. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT