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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/12/14 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY OF ITY OFFICIAL MINUTES ST. Lou% CCOUNCIL STUDY SESSION PARK December 14, 1998 The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Chris Nelson, Ron Latz, Sue Sanger, Jim Brimeyer and Mayor Gail Dorfman. Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Meyer), Deputy City Manager(Mr Pires); Director of Community Development (Mr Hannening); Economic Development Coordinator(Mr. Anderson), Finance Director(Ms. McBride); Planning Coordinator(Ms Erickson); Community Outreach Coordinator(Ms. McDonell); and City Clerk (Ms. Larsen) 1. Vision St. Louis Park At their meeting of October 26, 1998 Council had asked for an opportunity to revisit the Outcomes and Leading Indicators for measuring progress and performance of Vision St. Louis Park. Staff indicated to Council that they now wished to discuss changes that had been incorporated and how the design of the document could provide direction to City staff and work programs Mr Pires presented an example of how the outcomes and indicators could be applied in reality to City programs Mr Meyer said that staff had struggled with the original 319 recommendations and said that he felt the current document presented more reasonable and measurable goals that could be communicated to staff and the public He felt that the committee had done an excellent job in developing a tool to communicate mission, goals and community vision to community, Council and staff Councilmember Sanger stated that she did not endorse the indicators chosen by the Outcomes Committee Councilmember Brimeyer said that we needed a tool for measurement and the absence of such a tool was the primary reason for failure of documents like"Vision St Louis Park". Mayor Dorfman cautioned Councilmembers against narrowing options by making more specific indicators Mr. Meyer said that this was intended to be a tool to measure changing expectations Councilmember Nelson asked that the data gathering process be sensitive to staff resources and did not want data which did not exist to be included. Councilmember Brimeyer said that many cities have not been successful in linking vision with performance measurements. He felt this was a document and process very much in the creation stage and applauded the efforts of the Outcomes Committee for presenting such a fine product. Councilmember Sanger asked how the indicators were selected Mr. Meyer said that they were careful to not include too many indicators and also to choose indicators which clearly move toward outcomes After Council endorsement the next step will be to go to staff to determine if the data requested is indeed available Councilmember Sanger asked where Livable Community principles were included. Mr. Meyer said that lots of items were not addressed in the outcomes and indicators because they were not addressed by Vision St Louis Park Mr Pires said that the Vision Outcomes Committee was ready to move on to the next steps and that the item would be brought back for a resolution of Council approval at the meeting of January 4th. 2. EDA Proposed Budget Overview Staff met with Council to discuss final steps in the compilation of the revised 1998 and proposed 1999 budget numbers for the EDA Ms McBride presented summaries by each district or fund along with appropriation totals by programs within each district Mayor Dorfman asked what the long term outlook for the EDA budget was. Mr. Harmening said that though staff was working on those projections, more work needed to be done with the developer before a more accurate long term financial picture could be ascertained. Ms. McBride informed Council that she was meeting with the State Auditor later that week. Councilmember Brimeyer said that he wanted to be sure that the final EDA budget was clear enough to be explainable to the general public Following discussion Council asked staff to provide a narrative summary highlighting the activity and projects planned for the Excelsior Boulevard District and, the Park Commons project, in particular Staff agreed to present that at the next meeting of the EDA 3. Trail and Sidewalk Update Staff, Bob Close and Bruce Jacobson of Close Landscape Architecture and Barry Warner of SRF met with Council to provide an update concerning the progress of the Sidewalk and Trail Study. The Consultants presented a quick review of baseline information discussed with the Task Force including existing conditions, City policy questions, planned growth areas and the Decision Resources phone survey. They then presented some key issues and opportunities which had emerged from their work such as photo boards, maps, a composite plan and other schematic diagrams. They reviewed input received from Public Works, and the Parks and Recreation and Planning Commissions, and presented an implementation strategy diagram. They also indicated that next steps would be to refine the implementation plan and priorities, prepare design guidelines, identify key policy issues and prepare the budget and cost estimates for the proposed improvements. Councilmember Sanger asked if the Task Force had discussed funding. Mr. Close responded that they had, but only in terms of the phone survey results Mayor Dorfman asked if the Task Force process had been a positive one Mr Close said that this Task Force had been engaged and cooperative Mr. Jacobson said that the Task Force work had been invaluable in his work on the project Mr Warner then gave an update on progress of the Regional Trail. He said that they were expecting a June 1st project completion date Councilmember Nelson asked if ISTEA funding requirements had been met. Mr Warner said that the project was on track to receive those funds Mr. Harmening informed Council that there was one portion of land yet to be acquired in the industrial area northeast of Victoria ponds. He said that eminent domain proceedings may be necessary 4. Communications Councilmember Brimeyer said that he had noticed a recent Council meeting was presented very poorly on cable tv and asked staff to look into ways to improve the broadcast He also asked that someone look into sample ordinances relating to funding of public art projects. Mayor Dorfman asked that the Friends of the Arts be asked to do that research as part of their strategic planning. Mr Meyer asked Council for their input on what they feel would work as regional park improvements in the inner ring suburbs Cindy Walsh is currently working with other park districts and Hennepin Parks on this issue The meeting adjourne-/dam//aft 8 55 p m V C ty Clerk Mayor