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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999/10/18 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Regular CITY OF OFFICIAL MINUTES ST LOUIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING PARK ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA October 18, 1999 1. Call to Order Mayor Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7 45 p m ` 2. Presentations a. Recognize Roger Israel Fire Civil Service Commission - Mayor Jacobs presented a plaque to Roger Israel in recognition of his excellent and dedicated service to the City of St Louis Park 3. Roll Call The following Councilmembers were present at roll call Jim Brimeyer, Ron Latz, Chris Nelson, Sue Sanger, Sue Santa, Robert Young, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Also present were the City Manager(Mr Meyer), City Attorney (Mr Scott), Community Development Director (Mr Harmening), Economic Development Coordinator(Mr Kleve), Human Resource Director(Ms Gohman) and Recording Secretary (Ms Olson) 4. Approval of Minutes 4a. City Council Meeting of October 4, 1999 With a minor change to Item 8c the minutes were approved as presented Page 9, Paragraph 6, change to "Mayor Jacobs supported the project because the risks of this program were minimal compared to the risk of the City not doing anything" 4b. City Council Study Session of September 27, 1999 With a minor change to Item 8c the minutes were approved as presented Page 13, Paragraph 4, change to add "Councilmember Sanger also expressed the same point of view as Councilmember Latz" Page 13, add"Councilmember Nelson indicated that Paragon has been a good neighbor to the corporate citizen and further discussion of Item 1 was warranted" Page 13, Paragraph 2, add to first sentence " current problems with reception would be alleviated and also address Paragon's failure to provide high speed Internet assess" Page 16, Item 8, Paragraph 1, change "3212 Coolidge Avenue South to 4312 Coolidge Avenue South" Council Meeting Minutes -2- October 18, 1999 5. Approval of Agendas a. Consent Agenda. It was moved by Councilmember Brimeyer, seconded by Councilmember Young, to approve the consent agenda The motion passed 7-0 b. Agenda It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to approve the agenda with addition of Item 11 d The motion passed 7-0 c. Resolutions and Ordinances By consent, Council waived reading of resolutions and ordinances 6. Public Hearings 6a. Business Subsidy Policy Mr Harmening, Community Development Director presented a brief staff report and recommended adoption of the policy Councilmember Nelson briefly commented on the policy and noted that the overall goal of the City to use the primary tool of tax increment to finance development was to increase the tax base He believed that forcing the City to make up a policy that has job and wage goals that can be and often are irrelevant to increasing our tax base was going to far, but if the change was not going to interfere with using tax increment then he didn't have a problem with adopting the policy Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing subject to the nght of the Council to reopen it at a future date It was moved by Councilmember Brimeyer, seconded by Councilmember Young, to adopt a Business Subsidy Policy for the City of St Louis Park The motion passed 7-0 6b. Park Commons Phase I Tax Increment Financing District Mr Kleve, Economic Development Coordinator presented a staff report and asked that a letter from Hennepin County be entered into the official record Mayor Jacobs closed the public hearing subject to the right of the Council to reopen it at a future date It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Brimeyer, to continue action on the resolution modifying Redevelopment Project No 1 and establishing the Park Commons Phase 1 Tax Increment Financing District until such time as a development agreement with Avalon Bay is presented to the City Council/EDA for approval The motion passed 7-0 Council Meeting Minutes -3- October 18, 1999 7. Petitions, Requests, Communications - None 8. Resolutions and Ordinances 8a. Establishing employer contributions fro employer-provider cafeteria style benefit programs for 2000 covering non-union positions. Resolution # 99-117 Nancy Gohman, Human Resources Manager presented a staff report Councilmember Sanger stated that she felt this was a positive move toward contributing to move equitable and attractive benefit for employees and to attract future employees Councilmember Nelson stated that"equalization of benefits was not my goal and even if it was, this was not what we were doing here in my opinion I have noted in the past that we can purchase insurance for our younger employees at a cheaper rate or we could divide our employees into two groups Why not have the younger employers in the less expensive group and the more elderly employees in the more expensive group What we are doing by putting them all in one pool is the younger are subsidizing the older The same applies for men verses women I don't buy that we are truly equalizing things by this plan He believed that benefits are not salary and if they were they would be taxable To say that we are trying to give everyone the same thing because we want to pay people the same amount, equal pay for equal work, does not hold true Benefits should be something that we give our employees for peace of mind and security that they can feel good about working for the City of St Louis Park When you equalize benefits, you deprive people with families of an important benefit and peace of mind You essentially give them a pay cut and force them to contribute to the family benefits That is not a good goal and puts pressure on families that is unnecessary Are some private employers going that way yes, but other are not I pointed out at the study session that I saw a number of ads for the United Nations who provide higher family benefits than they do for single people There is not reason why we have to do this legally I don't think it makes us more attractive as an employer, at least to those people who have families I anticipate that the market will swing back on this I don't see the reason to do this, I understand it may be easier to administer I applaud giving the employees more choices as to their benefit levels, but I don't agree with this and I this is not my goal" Councilmember Young was opposed to this plan He stated that"I initially was very excited and a strong advocate for raising the single to the family level, especially for medical coverage, but much to my dismay what I found what was being done was instead of making that a gradual move that equalized in both direction, to my horror we basically jumped everybody up to the family level which is a huge increase percentage wise in our cost It was the easy way out It would have been my desire to see the City work it gradually over a few years" Councilmember Brimeyer believed that some of the increase included the increase in basic cost and was part of the market place Mayor Jacobs stated he was in support of the plan because he believed the City should be going in the direction of equalizing the benefits It was moved by Councilmember Sanger, seconded by Councilmember Santa, to adopt resolution establishing city contribution toward employees' cafeteria benefits plan for non-union, supervisory, and non-supervisory employees for 2000 The motion passed 5-2 Councilmember Nelson and Councilmember Young were opposed Council Meeting Minutes -4- October 18, 1999 8b. Compensation - 2000. Resolution # 99-118 Nancy Gohman, Human Resources Manager presented a staff report It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Sanger, to adopt the resolution confirming the City Manager's decision to set the general increase for non-union salaries for 2000 The motion passed 7-0 8c. Resolution designating the Office of Finance Director to be City Treasurer. Resolution # 99-119 Mr Meyer, City Manager briefly commented on the requirements of the City Charter The Council briefly discussed the provisions for and duties of the City Treasurer as outlined in the City Charter It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Santa, to adopt a resolution designating the Office of Director of Finance as City Treasurer The motion passed 7-0 8d. Minnesota Department of Transportation Noise Wall Along the East Side of Trunk Highway 100. Resolution # 99-120 Councilmember Nelson briefly commented on the noise conditions and funds available to remediate the noise problems in the area, and indicated that the neighborhood was unanimous in their support It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Councilmember Brimeyer, to adopt the attached resolution approving Mn/DOT's proposal to construct a noise wall along the east side of Trunk Highway 100 from W 41st Street to W 44th Street The motion passed 7-0 8e. Traffic Study No. 546: 3300 On the Park Condominiums Request for Parking Restrictions on Oak Leaf Court at its southerly Driveway Exit/entrance. Resolution # 99-121 By consent, Council adopted the resolution authorizing the change in parking restrictions on Oak Leaf Court to no parking within 10 feet on the east and west sides of 3300 On The Park Condominiums southerly exit/entrance 8f. City Land Sale at Southwest Corner of Highway 7 and Louisiana Avenue By consent, Council moved to continue second reading of an ordinance authorizing the sale of City owned property located at the southwest corner of Highway 7 and Louisiana Avenue to the St Louis Park Economic Development Authority until such item title and legal description issues related to the parcel have been resolved 9. Reports from Officers, Boards, Committees a. Cable Television Commission minutes of August 12, 1999 By consent, Council accepted report for filing Council Meeting Minutes -5- October 18, 1999 b. Housing Authority Minutes of September 8, 1999 By consent, Council accepted report for filing c. Housing Authority minutes of September 22, 1999 By consent, Council accepted report for filing d. Planning Commission minutes of September 15, 1999 By consent, Council accepted report for filing e. Fire Civil Service minutes of February 5, 1999 By consent, Council accepted report for filing f. Fire Civil Service minutes of May 20, 1999 By consent, Council accepted report for filing g. Vendor Claim Report By consent, Council accepted report for filing 10. Unfinished Business a. Board and Commission Appointment(s) - None 11. New Business 11a. Compensation of the City's Prosecuting Attorney. Resolution #99-122 By consent, Council adopted a resolution increasing the hourly fee paid to the City's prosecuting attorney from $67 50 to $75 00 11b. Bid Tabulation: One(1) Street Flusher Truck By consent, Council rejected all bids and authorized staff to re-advertise for this equipment 11c. School District #283 request for funding from Cable TV franchise fees By consent, Council authorized payment to the School District of an operating grant of$25,000 for 1999 11d. Amendment to the financial assurance provisions of the Consent Decree in the case of U.S. and State of Minnesota v. Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp Council Meeting Minutes -6- October 18, 1999 It was moved by Commissioner Brimeyer, seconded by Commissioner Nelson, to authorize the City Council to execute the stipulation amending the financial assurance provisions of the Consent Decree in the case of U S and State of Minnesota v Reilly Tar& Chemical Corp , et al to reflect the financial assurance provisions established by Federal Regulation after the date of the Consent Decree The motion passed 7-0 12. Miscellaneous - None 13. Claims, Appropriation, Contract Payments - None 14. Communications From the Mayor-None From the City Manager - Mr Meyer commented on the following items A Mobile City Hall tour of some of the sidewalk and trail areas was set for Monday, October 25th from 530pm - 730pm The Public Hearing related to the issue of dogs in parks has been moved to the City Council Meeting on November 15th 15. Adjournment It was moved by Councilmember Nelson, seconded by Coun—lmember Sanger, to adjourn the meeting at 8 23 p m The motion passed 7-0 / Ci Clerk May t,rj OF