City Council - 06/15/2004 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM
TUESDAY,JUNE 15, 2004 CITY CENTER
5:00—6:25 PM,HERITAGE ROOM II
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL:
Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher,Ron Case, Jan Mosman, and
Philip Young
CITY STAFF:
City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Dan Carlson,Fire Chief George Esbensen,Public Works
Director Eugene Dietz,Parks and Recreation Director Bob Lambert, Community Development
Director Janet Jeremiah, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters
Heritage Room II
I. COUNCIL SALARIES
City Manager Scott Neal discussed a survey of elected officials pay for Eden Prairie and
11 other communities, which was compiled by Assistant to the City Manager Michael
Barone The survey group included the 11 cities that make up the Municipal Legislative
Commission as well as St. Louis Park. Since there are several different ways in which
compensation is earned and calculated, the report includes a summary comparison of
total compensation intended to provide an accurate picture of where Eden Prairie falls in
comparison to the other cities.
Currently Eden Prairie Councilmembers receive a$6,000 per year stipend, and the Mayor
receives $7,200. There is also a meeting pay program under which Councilmembers and
the Mayor receive$25 for attending any qualifying meeting of up to two hours, and$50
for meetings in excess of two hours,not to exceed$50 per day. Councilmembers also
receive a$60 per month technology stipend.
The summary comparison shows that over Eden Prairie ranks loth(out of 12 cities)in
total Council compensation per capita.
Neal said that the City likes to be slightly over the median for employee pay. He believes
it helps the City attract and retain highly skilled and motivated employees. Therefore,
Neal said he certainly believes there is room for Council pay to go up. He said the
Council pay rate could be increased without significantly affecting the overall budget;
however, he acknowledged that a pay increase could have political implications.
Councilmember Mosman, who noted she had requrested the Council pay discussion, said
that if regular City employees are paid above average, it would make sense for
Councilmembers to receive comparable compensation. She noted that the agenda packet
will soon be produced completely electronically,which should result in significant
savings in paper and labor costs. She said these savings alone will probably cover any
raise in Council salaries.
Mosman proposed raising the Mayor's salary by$2,500 and Council salaries by$1,500.
Neal pointed out that the City of Bloomington pays that much in health coverage alone
for Council members. Neal said that Council pay increases must be approved by Council
by Ordinance and would not go into effect until January 1.
Mosman said the current method of paying for meetings in time increments can be
problematic. She noted that Bloomington pays a flat rate for meeting attendance rather
than increments. Jan is in favor of converting to this type of system, and suggested$35
per meeting. Butcher agreed with this suggestion. She would also like to see health
coverage as an option, especially since several other communities in the comparison are
now offering that benefit to Councilmembers. Mayor Tyra-Lukens asked Neal to look
into the City's current policy for health care coverage for part-time employees. Tyra-
Lukens asked how Councilmember Young, as a newer Councilmember, felt about the
discussion. He said he has no problem with it.
Mosman said she will work with Neal to formalize a proposal for Council consideration.
II. PUBLIC HEARING PROCESS
Neal said Mayor Tyra-Lukens had requested the public hearing process be reviewed at a
Workshop. Neal noted that while most public hearings are perfunctory, they occasionally
become raucous or repetitive. He pointed out that the City is not required to hold most
public hearings at Council meetings;many could be done at the Planning Board level if
Council wishes. Neal said there are tools to help control the length of public hearings.
Mayor Tyra-Lukens said she doesn't feel there are currently problems with public
hearings;however, she is in favor of adopting ground rules that can be used in case a
particular hearing becomes repetitive or lengthy. Sherry also would like to have
guidelines, and suggested that they be posted in the Council Chamber. Tyra-Lukens also
pointed out that in addition to speaking at a public hearing, there are many other ways in
which residents can provide input (phone calls, letters, e-mails, etc.).
Tyra-Lukens said she likes the way Hennepin County uses a timer with a light that
changes color when the speaker's time is up. This makes the process impartial, and does
not require the meeting chair to cut off a speaker in mid-sentence.
Councilmember Young said he does not think Council has too many public hearings. He
likes to hear what the public has to say about issues. Sherry agreed,but said she would
like to see some guidelines instituted. Young said using a clock-timer tends to be
distracting to individuals who may already be uncomfortable speaking in public,but that
a light-time might work well.
Neal said staff will gather public hearing guidelines from other communities for Council
to use as a starting point.
Council Chamber
III. OPEN FORUM
A. John Schmelzle and Michael Rush—Ice Rinks
Mr. Rush said the Hockey Association has been trying to get additional ice rinks
built in Eden Prairie for 10 years. He thinks the Association has a plan that will
work for them and for the City. He said the Association will build the rinks. All
they need is land around Round Lake and the necessary variances from the City.
Rush requested to work with staff to formalize his proposal. He said the
Association is hoping to get a thumbs up or a thumbs down from Council within a
couple of weeks.
Mayor Tyra-Lukens asked why they want to locate the rinks at Round Lake Park
rather than at the Community Center, as was proposed during the recent
referendum. Rush said they really believe they need two rinks, and they will
work best on the Round Lake site. He said the Association would build and pay
for the rinks, then turn them over to the City for use during the rest of the year.
He said the rinks would be covered,but the structures would be concrete rather
than brick.
Tyra-Lukens thanked Rush and Schmelzle for the presentation. She said action to
direct staff to work on the proposal would need to be made during the regular
Council meeting.
B. Royer Person—Edenvale Outlot
Mr. Person said he does not agree with the City's conclusion that Edenvale Outlot
A should be turned over to the County for sale. He said a lot of the Edenvale
Outlots are in limbo, and it would not be appropriate to turn the lot over at this
time. He said this outlot was not listed on the memo the City issued a year and a
half ago. In addition,he does not believe that nearby property owners are aware
of the potential sale of this site. He believes the lot will be worth more if the
adjacent lot is developed before the outlot is sold. He said he agrees with the
City's analysis,but not with the solution.
Parks Manager Stu Fox noted that Hennepin County is responsible for disposing
of tax-forfeit property, and the City gains no value from the sale of the property.
Person responded that he does not believe the property should ever have been
considered as tax forfeit. He said the outlots were supposed to have been turned
over to the City when the Edenvale Homeowners Association was dissolved.
Councilmember Young asked why the property was being turned over to
Hennepin County now, and what are the implications if the property is not sold?
Fox said the County has been contacted by the adjacent property owner,who is
interested in purchasing the outlot. Fox noted that alone the lot is not viable,but
if combined with an adjacent lot, it could accommodate a single-family home.
Young said that would mean that the person who would benefit from the land
going tax forfeit would be the person who has the purchase agreement for the
adjacent lot.
Fox said adjacent property owners would be notified of the possible sale of the
land if and when Council approves the Resolution declaring it tax forfeit.
Resident Jeff Strate said the matter seems unclear, and asked that Council pull the
item from the agenda for this meeting. He further stated that it looks as if there
will be town homes built and that local homeowners are owed the time to be
notified about this since it is currently open space. Strate also asked that the City
Attorney be asked to research the dissolution of the Edenvale Association before
this sale is allowed to proceed.
C. Steve Wagner—Weed Control
Mr. Wagner asked Council to take a look at the City's process for weed control
enforcement. He said he requested an overgrown lot near his home be mowed by
the City. He said the Council is aware of the situation and that he has talked with
City Manager Scott Neal about it. Mayor Tyra-Lukens said Council and City
staff have heard a lot about weeds this year. She noted that it has been difficult to
keep up with mowing due to the amount of rainfall over the past month.
Parks and Recreation Director Bob Lambert explained why it takes up to 30 days,
and occasionally longer, to have a lot mowed. The process, which is dictated by
state statutes, includes an inspection,notification of the owner, time for the owner
to comply, and scheduling of the contractor who actually mows the lot. Lambert
said the contractor is currently behind schedule because of rain,but the lot will be
mowed tomorrow unless there is a heavy storm tonight. Lambert said the City
receives about 60 weed complaints per year, and only two or three complainants
per year indicate they are unhappy with the City's response. He said the City has
had ongoing issues with the Post Brothers,but there are limits to what the City
can do to resolve them.
Tyra-Lukens asked why the City uses contractors to mow these lots instead of
regular City staff. Lambert said staff is fully booked maintaining parks and ball
fields, and they too are behind due to the weather. He said the City would have to
hire additional staff just to deal with weed issues if they did not use contractors.
Tyra-Lukens and Butcher both would like to find a way to shorten the process
from the time a weed complaint is received until the lot is mowed. Tyra-Lukens
asked what recourse the City has in dealing with repeat offenders. Neal said the
current state statute does not provide a means of labeling and dealing with
habitual offenders.
IV. OPEN PODIUM
V. ADJOURNMENT