City Council - 01/13/1988 - Special Meeting APPROVED MINUTES
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Wednesday, January 13, 1988 7:00 PM, CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
7600 Executive Drive
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Gary Peterson, Richard Anderson,
George Bentley, Jean Harris, and
Patricia Pidcock
CITY STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Carl J. Jullie and
Assistant to the City Manager Craig
W. Dawson
ROLL CALL: All Councilmembers were present.
I . APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Councilmember Bentley moved and Councilmember Pidcock seconded to
approve the agenda. Motion passed 5 - 0.
II . DISCUSS'ON OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF CITIZENS REPORT ON NEW CITY HALL
Mayor Peterson acknowledged the presence of eight persons in the
audience who were members of the Residents Advisory Committee on City
Administrative Offices.
City Manager Jullie introduced the subject.
Bentley wished to discuss first the issue of having a City Hall built
? with bonds approved by referendum or by establishment of a building fund
as recommended by the Committee. He was not totally convinced that the
concept for a referendum should be abandoned yet. Longer-term bonds
approved by referendum would spread out payments in smaller annual
amounts. He also said it would be difficult to convince residents that
a building fund was proper after previously offering a referendum. He t
wished to have one more opportunity for a referendum.
Peterson said that based on the survey of residents, the community
realized that a City Hall was needed. Issues important on the
referendum were location and the perception of a grandiose building.
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Councilmember Harris thought that a proactive approach was necessary. A
forward-looking, dedicated fund would be well-received. She supported
this concept. Councilmember Pidcock agreed with Harris. She believed
that the Council would be derelict in its duties if it did not provide
adequate space for governing the City.
Peterson believed that having space for city administration is required
of a city government. Such things as ballfields and enclosed sheets of
ice are not required and thus more appropriate for referenda.
Counciimember Anderson stated that the crisis situation about space is
over. Now the Council needs to start planning for 1993. Acquiring a
site is extremely important because land is not getting cheaper.
Bentley said that because there is a public perception that a City Hall
is needed, then having a successful referendum should not be difficult.
City Council Minutes - Z - Wed. ,January 13 , 1988
Harris said that residents responded negatively because they were having
many referenda put in front of them in a short period of time. She
suggested that smaller incremental sums could be accumulated and a
smaller bond authorization needed from a referendum. Anderson said that
either financing alternative is acceptable to him. He wished that the
site be secured this year.
Peterson mentioned that there have been several conversations in the
past few months about a special downtown in Eden Prairie, and that
several persons had mentioned that a City Hall might fit within it.
This idea was not available to the Committee during its deliberations.
He asked if the Committee should be reconvened to look at this idea.
Bentley mentioned the possibility of a lease-purchase of a building in
the downtown. This is another alternative which may diminish the
capital cost to the City because the City may not have to own the land.
Peterson wondered how long it would be before the Council knew if a
downtown would happen. He did not wish to delay Council action on the
City Hall matter if the downtown were to remain a speculative
possibility for a long period of time.
Anderson asked how large the City' s general fund reserve was and how
much of it could be used for land purchase. The City Manager responded
that the balance was $1 .8 million, and he would recommend that not much
of the reserve be used (primarily for purposes of maintaining the City' s
bond rating) . A land purchase could be accomplished over five years.
Harris said that City Halls tend to define downtown. The sites
recommended by the Committee are centrally located; that is, near
downtown or the center of the City that the Council is trying to
identify. The old City Hall site should be a fallback site only - it is
too far from the center. Bentley believed that an appropriate site t
would be along the southwest quadrant of Prairie Center Drive and would
be a cornerstone for any downtown development. Pidcock said that a r
decision to locate downtown would let the City know how quickly the
downtown development concept would fall into place. She noted that the
three sites recommended are close to other City facilities, and from her
view point this was important for administrative efficiency. Anderson
did not want a site perceived to be on a swamp or marsh if there were a }
referendum involved. Any site needed to have salability. The Council
had more flexibility with a non-referendum approach.
Bentley asked the Committee members if they would reconvene and look at
including a downtown site evaluation. Committee Co-Chair Marty Jessen
explained the site evaluation and scoring process used on the sites the
Committee had reviewed. While cost was an important consideration, the
idea of the value of a City Hall site was also discussed. Committee
members were sensitive to a loss of tax base by having a public site on
a choice piece of property. However, a City Hall might also be a spur s
to development which would result in overall tax base gain. He did not
believe that the Committee needed to do the analysis. Rather, the City
should look at the costs and multiplier effects involved with a downtown
location. Peterson believed that the community would be well-served if
the Committee could review the proposal and report to the Council .
Jessen believed that the Committee could do this in a short period of
time.
City Council Minutes - 3 - Wed. ,January 33, 1988
Committee Co-Chair Rich Anderson related that the Committee did consider
the downtown area before there was an idea of the downtown. He
underscored the importance of acquiring the property soon. Based on the
residents survey, cost was identified as the most important factor and
this criterian led to the three sites the Committee recommended.
Bentley said that having the City Hall as a spur to development (a "lass
leader") could result in a lower price for the City. Assistant to the
City Manager Dawson said that the Committee had evaluated all sites
without speculating about the deal that the City could get through
negotiations for different pieces of property.
MOTION: Harris moved and Pidcock seconded to request that the Committee
look at sites in the nearly-defined downtown and report to the Council
by mid-March, 1988. Motion passed 5 - O.
Anderson asked that the Committee look at the issue such that if a
downtown were developed, should a City Hall be there.
Peterson asked that the Finance Director run a variety of financing
alternatives. Bentley said that public/private partnerships should not
be totally ignored. He was concerned about dipping into the reserve
fund for the purchase of land. He said that the reserve fund could be
used to secure an option on property in 1988, and that major payments
could begin in 1989 or some later year. He wanted to save the reserve
funds for "true emergencies".
MOTION: Bentley moved and Anderson seconded that Staff prepare
financing alternatives for site acquisition and building construction. 2
Motion passed 5 - 0.
Jessen suggested that the City consider an inter-fund loan in order to
take advantage of an attractive cash deal.
` MOTION: Bentley moved and Harris seconded to adopt recommendation No. 4
from the Committee with the exception of the two-story site and
construction cost figures. Motion passed 5 - 0.
MOTION : Bentley moved and Anderson seconded that the March 1993 date
for occupancy be adopted as the Councils goal . Motion passed 5 - 0. i
Pidcock thanked the Committee for its thorough work.
Committee member Jim Rannow thought there might be difficulty in
defining a City Hall as a "keystone" for a downtown. The Committee did
not believe that this was important. Peterson thought that the keystone
concept was not a necessary one.
III . OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
IV. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION : Harris moved and Pidcock seconded to adjourn the meeting at
8:22 PM. Motion passed 5 - 0.
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