City Council - 09/13/1983 - Special Meeting APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
' TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1983 7:30 p.m. , School Board Room
Administration Bldg.
COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Wolfgang H. Penzel , Richard Anderson, George
Bentley, Paul Redpath and George Tangen
CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J. Jullie, Finance Director Joh
D. Frane, and Recording Secretary Karen Michael
I . ROLL CALL
Councilman George Tangen was absent.
II . CALL MEETING TO ORDER
The meeting was called to 9rder by Mayor Wolfgang H. Penzel .
III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Redpath, to approve the Agenda as
published. Motion carried unanimously.
IV. DISCUSSION OF THE 1984 CITY BULGET
City Manager Jullie addressed his memorandum of September 9, 1983, in which
he outlined the significant aspects of the proposed 1984 City Budget and in
which he highlighted major changes from the 1983 budget.
f
Penzel asked the Council how it wished to proceed with the discussion. It
was determined to review the Budget on a page by page basis.
Redpath asked what effect there would be on the Budget if no more increments
were captured into the tax increment financing district. Finance Director
Frane said there is a balloon payment built into the financing which would
result in heavy levies if the tax increments were not captured. Frane said y
the City will only capture the values until there is enough to cover the
debt which has been incurred.
z
Bentley asked how much one mill means in tax dollars. Frane said a mill
is equal to approximately $224,000. Bentley said this represents the amount
which the City will lose to fiscal disparities; the tax payers in the City
should direct their concerns to the Legislature so this can be corrected.
i(
1
'-J
Special City Council Meeting -2- September 13, 1983
Penzel noted that the quality of management in the City of Eden Prairie
is outstanding; had normal economics prevailed, the City Council would
' be looking at a budget 3 - 5 mills higher.
It was suggested the engineering and administration permits and fees
(page 2) be transferred routinely rather than on a year-end basis.
There was discussion (page 4) regarding the additional employees in the
Building Department. The discussion centered around the advantages and
disadvantages of hiring part-time/seasonal employees vs. hiring a speci-
alist (i .e. consultant-type) to do a particular job. a
Penzel questioned the deletion of the administrative assistant which had
been recommended by the Council and the k clerical position (page 6) .
Bentley asked if there was any way of measuring whether or not that posi-
tion would be of value. Redpath said he felt the position would be needed
if the City is to parsue the Star Cities Program. Bentley said it appeared
to him that the City could actually reap benefits over and above the per-
son' s salary. Penzel said he felt the Council should take measures to see
that this is done; the press of business now does not allow the Manager to
step away from the position for any amount of time. Bentley noted the City
is growing and the Manager' s Staff has not increased in a number of years.
Anderson concurred. The concensus was to leave the position of administra-
tive assistant in the budget.
Penzel questioned the "incremental creep" in the salary figures for Depart-
ment Heads/Supervisors. Frane explained this reflected an additional 8
working hours in 1984 and salary increases which had become effective during
.. 1983.
Page 8: The recommended salary for the Assessor will be looked at further
since the present City Assessor will be retiring effective March 1984.
There was discussion on the cost efficiency of using old police cars by
other City departments. Anderson noted the type of cars which are used
by the Public Safety Department are not fuel efficient. He asked if it
would not be more efficient to get rid of the police cars and buy cars
which would be more fuel efficient for use by City Hall employees. Bentley
asked that more information be provided by Jack Hacking as to the specifi-
cations for police vehicles .
Page 11: • Additional information was requested regarding the part time personal
services request, repair & maintenance supplies, building repairs , and construc-
tion materials categories. Anderson asked if consideration might be given to
charging user fees in the City parks.
Bentley suggested using zero based budgeting for the 1985 City Budget. He
noted he had received a number of inquiries from residents regarding the
stationery which is being used by the Community Services Department.
Page 12: Additional information was requested regarding attendance figures
for the various programs offered; are increases in budget figures justified
by increased attendance figures . Anderson suggested programs be looked at
for what they do and not only at what they cost.
Special City Council Meeting -3- September 13, 1983
Page 14: Additional information was requested regarding the Community Event,
�y
Printing & Postage, Supplies, and Revenue items.
Page 15: Additional information was requested on the Other, Storefront,
and Equipment Repair items.
Page 19: Additional information was requested regarding the Part Time
Personal Services item.
Page 20: Additional information was requested on the Art & Music and the
Admission Fees items.
Page 21: Additional information was requested on the Fees item.
Page 22: Anderson asked if the City was involved in the treatment of white
oaks. It was recommended that Stu Fox, City Forester, look at the treatment
of white oaks, perhaps making Arbotect available at cost to homeowners.
Page 23: The concensus was to delete the Chairs and Movie Projector items
from the Community Center budget. There was discussion that the movie pro-
jector which was recently purchased for the Water Department could be used
at the Community Center. It was also suggested that a movie projector at the
Community Center could be rented out to those groups/organizations using
the meeting rooms thereby paying for itself over a period of time.
Discussion on the Budget ended after Page 24.
I MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Bentley, to continue discussion of
the 1984 Budget to a Special Meeting of the City Council to be held on
Tuesday, September 27, 1983, at 7:30 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
V. NEW BUSINESS
There was disucssion on the number of items to be on the Agenda for the
City Council meeting to be held on Tuesday, September 20, 1983. The con-
sensus was to move review of the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area Plan to
the September 27, 1983, meeting.
MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Bentley, to review the Purgatory Creek
Recreation Area Plan at the Special Meeting of the City Council to be held
on Tuesday, September 27, 1983, at 7:30 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
VI . ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: Redpath moved, seconded by Bentley, to adjourn the meeting at
10: 50 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
r
MkL
sd