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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004/02/23 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CTY OFFICIAL MINUTES T. CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION RK February 23, 2004 The meeting convened at 7:00. Present at the meeting were Councilmembers Susan Sanger, Sue Santa, John Basill and Mayor Jeff Jacobs. Councilmember Phil Finklestein arrived at 7.20 p.m. Staff present: City Manager(Mr. Harmening), Housing Supervisor(Ms. Schnitker); Housing Program Coordinator(Ms. Larsen); TSS Director (Mr. Pires); Community TV Coordinator(Mr. McHugh); City TV Coordinator(Mr. Dunlap); Economic Development Coordinator(Mr. Hunt); Planning Supervisor(Ms. Jeremiah); City Clerk (Ms. Reichert) 1. Time Warner Cable Renewal City Manager Tom Harmening introduced Clint Pires, Technology& Support Services Director, Reg Dunlap and John McHugh of the City's Cable TV Office, who have been involved in the renewal meetings with Time Warner. Mr. Pires introduced Arlen Mattern from Time Warner. Mr. Dunlap presented a general background on the cable system and services currently available, and said Time Warner plans to introduce telephone service before the end of the year. Councilmember Sanger asked if there would be a fee returned to the City for providing 911 service, and Clint said we'd have to find that out when TWC introduces the service as legal requirements are continuously re-aligning with technology advances. John reviewed the timeline for Council action and the business points that are the basis for renewal talks. Councilmember Sanger said she's received complaints about the high price of TWC data service, and since DSL isn't available to all residents, it appears as though TWC is operating as a monopoly. Mr. Mattern replied that dial up service is an alternative that is also available to SLP customers. Councilmember Finkelstein asked about franchise term lengths in other cities, what triggered upgrades in these cities, and if upgrades would be citywide here. He asked for clarification on the term "upgrade". He said if an arbitration process was included in the franchise that he would be interested in where the arbitrators would come from and what their experience would be He also wondered about convergence of telecom services, and wanted to ensure that there was not a reclassification of revenues so that franchise fees would not be paid on all services. Councilmember Sanger suggested including franchise language to require TWC to pay into the 911 service fund, after Councilmember Finkelstein suggested language making it possible to collect such fees if later it becomes legal to do so. Study Session Minutes -2- February 23, 2004 Tom asked Clint to describe the economic development connection to telecom services, and Clint said it was important to make sure the underserved areas of the City had access to these services as the next frontier of economic development will include reliance on access to broadband telecommunications. Mayor Jeff Jacobs was concerned about customer privacy and that it was important to have the language in the franchise since the company officials may change and the company itself may be sold. Thus,without such language, there is no guarantee of current privacy practices over the life of the next franchise agreement. Councilmember Finkelstein asked about Senator Steve Kelley's bill, and Reg said it received little support last year and that nothing had been introduced yet this year. Councilmember Santa asked what specific actions TWC may want the city to take to recognize community programming Mr. McHugh responded that there had been no specific communication about this and more discussion would follow. Clint reminded everyone of the TAC annual presentation scheduled for March 22 and the Apnl 12th Council meeting on the renewal. 2. Update on Environmental Testing- Edgewood Area Properties Present for the discussion were Mr. Scott Tracy of Tetra Tech and Mr. Tom Maiello of Angel Environmental Management. Mr. Hunt gave an overview of the history of the site and past council actions. He explained that In July of 2002, council had learned that the site in question may have been used as a dumping site for a neighbonng lithium processing plant. At that time the MPCA and the EPA had received a privately prepared report which, in Mr. Miallow's opinion, was not based upon sound scientific testing procedures. After that discussion, council had decided that it would be in the city's best interest to conduct additional testing and provide more detailed information to the parties involved. The city and an adjacent property owner then entered into the MPCA's Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup Program (VIC). He further explained that the city was now prepared to move forward with the testing. Staff wished discuss how to best assure the public that even though environmental testing was taking place, all indications so far are that no dangerous matenals exist on the site. Councilmember Sanger asked what the procedures would "look like" in terms of heavy equipment, staking, or personnel present that may raise questions from the public Mr Maiello responded that the testing would not be a conspicuous procedures. There would be some personnel present and digging equipment. He felt it may be wise to proceed during a time when there would not be nearby activity at the school or in the park adjacent to the site. He explained that there would also be testing done on the school property and in the park, but it was not believed that any of the matenals from the processing plant would have been deposited on those sites. The testing would verify those beliefs. Study Session Minutes -3- February 23, 2004 Councilmember Basill agreed that it would not be in anyone's best interest to unduly alarm the public, especially when all indicators are that no danger is present. Council directed staff to move forward with the testing and agreed that the best approach would be to respond to questions from the public, but not to provide additional notification which may cause our residents to be alarmed. 3. Grant Year Community Development Block Grant Funds and 2003 Housing Rehab Activity Michele Schnitker and Kathy Larsen met with council to discuss the proposed CDBG allocations and housing rehabilitation activity. Ms. Schnitker explained that staff was again proposing a "sticks and bricks" allocation which would dedicate funds to programs and services directly related to city-related housing maintenance and availability Ms. Larsen informed council that though Perspectives had recently received a grant from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, that grant money was specifically targeted to after school programs and could not be used to meet needs specific to housing for Perspective program participants. Councilmember Santa suggested the city receive information in wnting regarding the grant to provide others requesting CDBG funds with the facts regarding the grant. Councilmember Sanger asked for clarification on the Social Services Coordinator/Family self- sufficiency program contained in the proposed allocations. Ms. Schnitker responded that both programs were city-sponsored and directly relate to the availability of housing for current housing program participants. Councilmember Sanger was concerned that the allocations remain focused on"sticks and bricks" projects and not be used to fund social programs. She felt the responsibility for providing social services funding should fall pnmanly on Hennepin County. She was sensitive to the needs of the programs and did not feel the city should immediately withhold funding for the programs, but suggested they be phased out of the CDBG allocation as other funding sources become available. Councilmembers Finklestein and Santa both expressed their support for the programs which they felt were well-run and cost efficient. Councilmember Santa felt she could justify use of CDBG funds for Hamilton House programs as the city is the administrator for those programs She felt it important to offer services to our residents as we were essentially the landlords of the property. Mr. Harmemng stated that he understood council's perspective, but that the city staff is not trained as social workers. Funding these programs would take the pressure off staff to manage our city-owned housing programs He suggested that both programs in question be funded this year, and that staff work to identify alternative funding sources for future years. Ms. Larsen outlined reallocation plans for previous years' grants and stated that the public heanng to consider the allocations was scheduled for March 1st Study Session Minutes -4- February 23, 2004 4. Availability of Property Near Hwy 7 and Wooddale Avenue Mr. Hunt and Ms. Jeremiah presented a brief history of the property ownership and interests in development by past and present owners They felt that the property's location warranted consideration of a city purchase to ensure that the area would be available for future development of the area's transportation infrastructure. Mayor Jacobs agreed that it was in the city's best interest to control the property, but was concerned about the purchase cost. Councilmember Sanger questioned the property's environmental condition Mr. Hunt stated that the condition of the property was unknown at this time, but that the city would do due diligence as part of the purchasing process Mayor Jacobs asked council to consider this purchase in light of the situation that occurred with the Hutchinson Spur purchase. The original price of that property had been approximately $250,000 which the council at the time believed to be too high. Because council did not act at that time, the purchase ended up costing the city nearly$1.7 million dollars. He would not like to be in a position where the city needed to purchase the property in the future. He feels that was a distinct possibility and would not like hindsight to show that the purchase should have been made now. Councilmember asked if the property would be valuable in the future if the city did purchase and then found there was no public use for the property. Ms Jeremiah responded that the property had significant potential for a private developer and she believed the purchase would be a good public investment. Councilmember Basil' agreed that the land would only increase in value. Councilmember Santa stated that she wanted to be sure that if the city did purchase the land, the existing building would be put to good use and not be left to deteriorate. Mr. Hunt responded that there are already tenants interested in occupying the building temporanly. Councilmember Finklestein asked how the purchase would be funded Mr. Harmening responded that the Excelsior Blvd TIF District would provide the funding. Mayor Jacobs and the council requested that Mr. Harmening direct staff to continue negotiations for purchase of the property and to keep council appnsed of progress made. 5. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9.45 p.m. City Clerk Ma1yor