City Council - 09/04/1986 APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL
THURSDAY , SEPTEMBER 4, 1986 7 :30 PM, SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.
ROOM 205
COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Gary Peterson, Richard Anderson,
George Bentley, Patricia Pidcock, and
Paul Redpath
CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J . Jullie , Assistant
to the City Manager Craig Dawson, and
Recording Secretary Jan Nelson
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL: Councilmember Anderson arrived at 7 : 45 PWv
I . APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS
MOTION: Pidcock moved , seconded by Redpath , to approve the
Agenda and Other Items of Business as amended and published.
Motion carried unanimously.
II . MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD THURSDAY , -AUGUST_21 ` 1986 fi
MOTION: Bentley moved . seconded by Redpath , to continue the
Minutes of the City Council meeting held Thursday. August 21 ,
1986 to the next meeting. Motion carried unanimously .
III . CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF CITY HALL OPTIONS
Peterson suggested that the proceedings begin with a discussion
of the committee process. He said that , if the committee pro-
cess is approved , he would suggest the Councilmembers give him
names of two or three people who might serve either on an execu-
tive uuliu►ii tt ee or con tt*y ul
f11 co-m-mittee A ure w171.6 then se-
lect a Chairman and three others .n f1
ers to serve on an Executive Com-
mittee . He said he thought those four should then. select 12
others and advertise in the Eden Prairie News for more nominees
from the community, subject to the Executive Committee select-
ing eight more committee members from those responding, and
then submitting the full roster of the committee for Council
approval .
Bentley said he would like to delete Item 8 regarding implemen-
tation in accordance with committee recommendations . He sug-
gested that we proceed with the appointment of the committee
and that we narrow the scope of what the committee would be
dealing with . Peterson said he thought that any areas in
which we might limit the latitude of the committee should be
done prior to committee selection.
City Council Minutes -2- September 4, 1986
COUNCILMEMBER ANDERSON ARRIVED AT 7:45 PM.
Bentley said he would like to make the charge to the commit-
tee somewhat more specific than what is outlined in the pro-
cess, such as whether site selection would be part of the
process and if so, will we limit the sites to be considered ,
or whether the committee will deal with leasing as well as
building. He said he hoped we would arrive tonight at some
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way of dealing with the immediate space problem for the short
term and that the committee ' s job would then be to find a
long-term alternative that would probably include site review,
size of building and a decision as to a referendum or not .
Pidcock said she was opposed to removing Item 8 since she be-
lieved that if we have a committee we should go with their
decision . She said she thought the committee should have very
definite paramters under which they would operate .
Peterson asked if we should charge the committee to explore
both long-term lease options as well as building, or should
we say to explore building only . Pidcock said she thought it
was not economically feasible to lease for the long term, al-
though it would be proper to lease for the short term . Bentley
said that leasing always remains an option for the Council if
need be . A discussion of the definition of "long term" fol-
lowed and the consensus was that it meant more than three years.
Redpath said it may take more than three years for the commit-
tee process and planning and construction of a building.
Anderson said he thought the committee should be asked to tell
us what they think we need as far as a City Hall is concerned
with their recommendations as to type of site but not necessari-
ly the exact site , the size of the building for so many em-
ployees and the projection of how long that building would meet
our needs .
MOTION: Bentley moved , seconded by Pidcock , that the committee
not be charged with exploring leasing options .
Anderson asked if that would exclude a short-term lease con-
sideration. Peterson said he thought short-term leasing does
not solve the primary charge which is to recommend a final
solution to the needs of City Hall .
VOTE ON THE MOTION: Motion carried unanimously.
Peterson suggested discussing site selection next . Bentley
said in that regard do we want the committee to explore any
sites other than City-owned sites and , if so, do we want to
specify which sites they should explore as possibilities .
City Council Minutes -3- September 4, 1986
Peterson said he would not be in favor of restricting them to
only City-owned sites . Redpath said he thought we should let
them have a full choice as to sites to be considered .
Anderson asked how they will find out what sites are avail-
able as Staff did that before and we have said we do not want
Staff and Council involved in the process. Peterson said he
thought that we meant no committee membership by the Staff
but that the committee would be asked to consult with Staff
whenever necessary .
Peterson said we might want to encourage the committee to
explore a site in the major center area in order to narrow
down the possibilities . Pidcock said she thought we were
told by the citizens that they wanted City Hall to be cost
effective and she thought we should enumerate the sites we
have in mind to help the committee focus their efforts . Red-
path said that he didn't think we got a clear-cut directive
from the community, since 86% of the residents didn't choose
to vote on the referendum.
Bentley said he was reticent for the committee to be turned
loose on the site selection process again, but that if we get
too exclusive on site selection, we are equally open to criti-
cism. He said one option might be to charge the committee that
the Council prefers a major center site but recognizes the po-
tential desire of the community for a. site that is City-owned .
Redpath said if the sites are narrowed to City-owned only, he
thought we should go ahead and make the decision ourselves .
Peterson said perhaps- we should suggest that first and most
serious consideration be given to the major center area but
that consideration is not restricted to that area, thus show-
ing them that the On»nni 1 nrPfPrg that area .
Anderson said he thought we are now going through the whole
process again and may end up with approximately the same site
as last time after we had decided at previous meetings to ex-
plore building on the Mitchell Road site .
Peterson said one of the charges to the committee is to come
to us with a plan and program that is feasible . one that they
believe is the best and the most obtainable recommendation.
Pidcock said that, as a point of clarification. some Council
members may be in favor of a major center site while others
may not . She said that in the previous site selection we had
a choice of two sites and her preference was not included in
the two choices
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City Council Minutes -4- September 4, 1986
Bentley suggested that the Councilmembers state their prefer-
ence in turn as to what the committee should be charged with .
Peterson said he thought we should encourage the committee to
give first and most serious attention to a major center site
but that consideration not be restricted to that area.
Bentley said while his personal preference remains the major 4
center site, his political instincts say that we should restrict
the committee to either the Mitchell Road site or County Road 4
site .
Pidcock said she thought the Mitchell Road site makes the most
sense from good management but that the County Road 4 site
should also be considered .
Anderson said he didn' t think we should mention the major
center site because that tells them we have a preference and
that we should ask them to find the very best site possible
with the conditions in the City at this time .
Redpath said our reasons for the previous site selection, were
valid and reasonable but that he would prefer to go with Mr .
Anderson' s suggestion and not restrict the committee as to
site considerations .
MOTION: Anderson moved , seconded by Redpath , that the commit-
tee be given no restrictions as to site selection.
Pidcock said she thought we have to define parameters for the
committee as to what type of site we are looking for . Peter-
son said we might consider agreeing upon a set of criteria to
be used for site selection .
VOTE ON 1 F= 1140T IC)N: ivlot ion carried unanimously . �
Bentley asked if we want them to make a determination as to the
size of the proposed facility . Assistant to the City Manager
Craig Dawson said that Staff has done extensive studies as to
what size will eventually be needed and that the Council might
like to look at phasing as an alternative .
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Anderson, to include in
the charge to the committee the building size , building cost
and referendum or no referendum and to direct Staff to provide
a complete long-term comparative cost analysis for each alter-
native . Motion carried unanimously.
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Redpath, to direct the
City Manager to recommend a Staff liaison person who would be
City Council Minutes -5- September 4, 1986
involved in the committee process from beginning to end to
track the process and provide the Staff support required to
get the job done . Motion carried unanimously .
Bentley said he thought we don't want to restrict their timing
and so he thought the dates should be more open. Pidcock said
she thought there should be some sort of deadline for formu-
lating a program/schedule for implementation ( Item 3 .f . )
Peterson said Items 4-7 accomplish that .
Anderson asked for clarification of "good" press coverage
in Item 4 . Peterson said he thought the intent was "thorough"
press coverage . Anderson said he thought it would be wise not
to involve Staff in the press coverage and have one of the
committee members take that responsibility. Redpath said tie
agreed that Staff should be kept out of it . Bentley said he
thought the committee should direct the Staff to put out the
press releases .
Anderson said he thought some money should be budgeted to the
com.-nittee so that someone independent from our City Hall can be
hired to keep minutes and do press releases. Peterson sugges-
ted that one person who is a communications specialist might
be asked to serve on the committee .
ry.
City Manager Jullie suggested that after the committee is
formed they can have a session to determine their needs and
come back with a budget request . Anderson said he thought
that should be put in as part of their responsibility . A
discussion followed regarding the press release and budgetary
issues .
Anderson said he thought a member of the committee should not r
have to serve as the secretary since that would limit that in k
dividual ` s participation in the committee .
A
MOTION: Pidcock moved , seconded by Anderson, is dlreci, w,ic
committee to determine their needs for part-time help for press
coverage and secretarial help and to bring a bud get request for
that help back to the Council . Motion carried unanimously .
Bentley said he thought we should ask Mr. Jullie to come back
to us with some suggested dates rather than trying to nail
down specific dates tonight . He also said that he was still
opposed to Item 8 .
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Anderson, to delete Item 8
from the process . Motion carried with Pidcock opposing.
Peterson asked that Councilmembers provide names of nominees
prior to the next Council meeting so that we can select four to
serve as an Executive Committee.
City Council Minutes -6- September 4. 1986
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Red path, to approve the
committee process as amended . Motion carried unanimously.
City Manager Jullie referred to the report of Steve Kellogg.
dated September 3, 1986, that described three alternatives
for City Hall space needs .
Steve Kellogg, representing Welsh Companies , Inc . , reviewed
the costs for each of the three alternatives .
Jullie noted that under Alternative 2 they would propose
relocating the following departments : Administration, Finance ,
Community Services and Assessing. Kellogg said there would be
some cost duplication under this alternative for such items
as travel , phone lines, receptionist , and others .
Kellogg noted that, regarding Alternative 3 , he would probab-
ly be able tc go back to the projects listed and negotiate a
better rate . Jullie noted there would be space for Council
chambers included in this alternative .
Jullie said that Staff has a lot of concern about Alternative 2
and that they would generally prefer to tough' it out with what
exists now rather than move out part of the staff. :
Red path commented that , if the Gelco unit alternative is chosen,
the space needs would appear to be solved , and if Staff stays
in the current conditions for two years , then where is the
space crunch we 've talked about .
Jullie said he was suggesting either take no action and let the
committee process take its course , or lease the entire amount
of space required .
Anderson said that as a Councilmember with a responsibility to
the employees, he couldn' t agree with taking no action because
it was unreasonable to ask people to put up with such an intol-
erable situation. He said he was concerned about losing good
employees due to the situation becoming unbearable and then
incurring the expense of training in new employees .
Peterson said that he was in favor of Alternative 2 as it would
give us the additional information on how the split-staff situa-
tion would work .
Anderson asked if there had been any investigation into in-
terest in leasing the City Hall . Jullie replied that the School
District staff expressed a very strong interest in the building
and that they are discussing it this evening at their meeting.
City Council Minutes -7- September 4, 1986
Jullie said that discussions have occurred about its use by
other City groups such as the Seniors, the Community Theater
or Community Band , Historical and Cultural Commission or the
Fine Arts Center.
z
MOTION: Redpath moved, seconded by Bentley, to approve Alter-
native 2 involving the use of the existing building and par-
tial staff relocation to solve the short-term space needs for
City Hall , subject to a review in six months to assess the
efficiency of operating with a split staff .
P
Pidcock said she questioned why we hired a City Manager, asked
for his professional opinion and then chose the one alternative
he said was the least desirable .
Anderson said that we haven' t really considered Alternative 3 .
Peterson said he thought we would be looking at Alternative 3
in six months and that an option on additional space should be
taken wherever the space is rented for Alternative 2 . Peter-
son said if there was a need shown for the full staff to be
together we can then exercise the option and , in addition, we
will probably have the results of the committee process by
then .
Bentley said he thought Alternative 2 solves the space problem
but not necessarily the employee problems, and that he doesn't
like the temporary building option. He said he thought Alterna-
tive 2 becomes the "lesser of three evils" by avoiding the
longer commitment of Alternative 3 until we can obtain the re-
sults of the committee process .
Redpath asked if it would be possible to get an option on addi-
tional space in any of the projects . Kellogg said he thought
that if we leased only 8,000 square feet we could probably not
get an option for more than 30 days . Pidc ock noted she thought
There is a lot of office space available in Li1C cii'IE!aa . "Kel..a.ogg
said that all of the five projects are newer ones and that new
buildings fill up faster.
Bentley asked about the possibility of a six-month lease .
Kellogg said he didn ' t think that would be possible .
a
Anderson said he thought the consensus was that Alternative 1
is out and that Alternative 2 has ,some problems as he was con-
cerned how well the Staff would function split between two i
buildings . He said that he was, therefore , reluctantly in favor
of Alternative 3 .
i
Bentley asked what the minimum time period was for renting the
Gelco portables . Kellogg said it was two years . Bentley then
{ City Council Minutes -8- September 4, 1986
suggested getting only two or three of the portables on the
shortest possible Lease period, placing them in a visible loca-
tion and awaiting the committee 's recommendations. Anderson
said he thought if we did that we should move all the parking s
to the rear.
a
Redpath noted that the portable units are not connected and
thus the Staff would not be together under either Alternative
1 or 2 . {
Jullie noted that the cost for Alternati--re 3 amounts to only y
$44, 000 per year more than Alternative: 2 and the whole staff
could be together. Anderson also noted that figure doesn't
include leasing the present building.
Kellogg said that he might be able to negotiate a better rate
for the projects under Alternative 3 .
MOTION WAS WITHDRAWN BY REDPATH WITH BENTLEY' S CONSENT .
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MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Anderson, to continue '
this item to the next regularly scheduled Council meeting
pending the results of discussion with the School District
or others in regard to leasing of the present facility in order
to make a better decision. Motion carried unanimously.
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Peterson asked if we could give Mr. Kellogg any further direc-
tion as to more specifics on one or more of the projects.
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Redpath said he would like to see project #S explored very
well because of its good location. A discussion followed as
to which locations should be pursued further. ;
MOTION: Redpath moved , seconded by Anderson, to instruct a
RR Tl , , t U r . .,.
...�,,. . �.e�sogg 4o cortduc AurLhez- vesearcn on projects ffw and f'S
(Southwest Crossing and Edenvale Executive Center) . Motion ?
carried unanimously.
B
IV . NEW BUSINESS
There was none .
V . ADJOURNMENT �
MOTION: Redpath moved, seconded by Bentley, to adjourn the
meeting at 9145 PM . Motion carried unanimously . i
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