Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003/10/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY OF ST. LOUIS OFFICIAL MINUTES PARK CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION October 13,2003 The meeting convened at 7:02 p.m. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers John Basill,Jim Brimeyer, Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, Sally Velick, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Meyer), Community Development Director(Mr. Harmening); Human Resources Director(Ms. Gohman); Finance Director(Ms. McGann); Inspections Director(Mr. Hoffman); Public Works Director(Mr. Rardin); TSS Director(Mr. Pires); Accountant (Ms. Rinta); and City Clerk(Ms. Reichert). 1. Executive Compensation Councilmember Brimeyer outlined a proposed plan designed to by-pass the salary cap for city manager salaries contained in state statute. His purpose in proposing the plan is to enhance the city's ability to remain competitive in the job market for both city managers and other executive level positions. After hearing Mr. Brimeyer's proposal Roger Knutsen, of Campbell and Knutsen(City Attorney) stated that he did not believe the plan as presented would achieve the results desired by council. Council agreed that it was in the best interest of the city to pursue other options and staff and the city attorney will continue to work toward that end. 2. Proposed 2004 Fees Ms. Reichert'spoke bnefly about the fee setting process and informed Council about a change that would need to be made to the ordinance. Ms. McGann then presented information about how a study of fees had been conducted by staff which led to the ordinance being considered by the council. She also indicated that fees would be studied each year to ensure that the city was charging appropriate fees for services and programs. Councilmember Sanger asked why the city did not, in every case, fully recoup costs through fees. Ms. McGann responded that in some cases, the fees were set to recoup costs. In other cases the city also needed to consider the political climate and market we operate in. Mayor Jacobs believed staff was on the right track in setting the fees and felt that we should whenever possible, keep fees reasonable, yet attempt to cover as much city cost as possible. Councilmember Sanger questioned the amount of the variance fee and asked if it was true that many of the variances being requested are so residents can construct 2-car garages on their property. She suggested that perhaps the regulations regarding garages should be considered so not as many variances were being requested. Study Session Minutes - 2 - October 13, 2003 Mr. Harmening responded that during a recent study of garage requirements, the council had specifically stated that they did not wish to change setback requirements for garages and instead directed staff to recommend homeowners go through the variance process. Councilmember Sanger also requested that the surcharge for restaurants that wished to allow smoking be removed from the fee ordinance. She believed that if a fee was not collected, the city would not be able to run the program as adopted, which she had opposed. Councilmember Santa asked that the fee remain as presented as the program had been approved and the fee was merely the mechanism for running a council-approved program. Councilmembers Velick, Basill and Jacobs agreed stating that they wished the fee to remain in the ordinance as presented. 3. 2004-05 Capital Improvement Program Ms. McGann introduced the program and spoke about the goals of the CIP program. She also explained how the GO debt will be used as a funding mechanism for projects in the CIP Council asked about Technology replacement. Ms. McGann explained that the Police and Fire pension funds that had been returned tot he city would help to fund technology replacement as much of the cost would be directly incurred by the Police and Fire Departments. Council briefly discussed the Park Improvement and Municipal Building funds and following that discussion commended staff on a job well done. 4. Ornamental Features Mr. Greg Ingraham gave an overview of the Planning Commission's recommendations for changes to the city's ordinance regarding ornamental features. He presented drawings which illustrated how structures which meet the proposed ordinance requirements would look in a _ typical St. Louis Park home. In addition to discussion regarding the technical aspects of the ordinance, Council discussed enforcement issues and whether the city should enforce only upon complaint. Ms. Jeremiah pointed out that the city of Mpls routinely directs residents to mediation as their first step in responsing to complaints of this nature. Mr. Hoffman spoke about enforcement of property maintenance issues and gave an overview of the process used to require compliance. He felt that if the council were to pass this ordinance, they should expect that there would need to be enforcement efforts made by staff. Council directed staff to return their comments and suggestions to the Planning Commission for their consideration and inclusion in the ordinance. The ordinance would then come back for council approval following Planning Commission action. , Study Session Minutes - 3 - October 13, 2003 5. Snow Parking Permit Fees Council discussed the $100 fee for snow permit parking and questioned whether it should remain at $100, be raised to $125 or be reduced. After discussion regarding the intent of charging the fee , council directed staff to keep the fee at $100 for the 2003-04 snow season and to raise the fee to $125 for the 2004-05 snow season. 6. Clarification of Council Direction Ms. Reichert asked council for clarification regarding motions made at the October 7,2003 council meeting so that she could proceed with completing the minutes from that meeting. Council and staff also held discussion regarding use of the consent agenda. It was decided that communication was key to effectively using this tool. It was agreed that councilmembers and staff would attempt to keep each other better informed about issues that may or may not be appropriate for placement on the consent agenda. 7. Public Art Councilmember Brimeyer had asked that council discuss how to increase commitment to public art by developers and others in the city. He shared an attorney's opinion which outlined restrictions against requiring that developers pay directly for art. Council discussed how a requirement for public art could otherwise be included in development proposals. Councilmember Santa asked that council consider whether all public art needed to be outdoors. Could art within buildings also be considered public art, and what about architecture? Could that also meet requirements for public art? Mr. Harmening stated that staff would consider options for increasing commitment to public art in the future. 8. Communication With the resignation of Charlie Meyer, council felt they should begin the process for recruitment of a new city manager. Councilmember Sanger suggested that criteria be developed for skills and attributes council wants in a successor to Charlie. Councilmember Brimeyer offered to work with HR department staff in developing the criteria and once that is completed council would determine the scope of their search. 9. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:18 p.m. City Clerk Ma or