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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013/11/12 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session I/I St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA NOVEMBER 12,2013 The meeting convened at 6:32 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Julia Ross, Susan Sanger, and Sue Santa. Councilmembers absent: Steve Hallfin, Anne Mavity, and Jake Spano. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager/Director of Human Resources (Ms. Deno), Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman), Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Chief Information Officer (Mr. Pires), Director of Community Development (Mr. Locke), Director of Engineering (Ms. Heiser), Controller (Mr. Swanson), Finance Supervisor(Mr. Heintz), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—November 25,2013 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for November 25th. 2. Southwest LRT Update Mr. Harmening presented the staff report and the Scope of Work prepared by the SPO and released at the CMC meeting last week. He stated the Scope of Work will be used by the outside consultant to prepare a report on the freight rail reroute analysis as well as an analysis of the hydrology study in the Kenilworth corridor and an analysis of some additional landscaping in the Kenilworth corridor to mitigate impacts of collocating freight rail and light rail. He indicated the Met Council's goal is to hire a consultant by the end of November and to have the consultant's work completed four to six weeks thereafter. He pointed out that this Scope of Work is not intended to be a detailed engineering analysis but rather a high level analysis of the work already done. Ms. Sophia Gims from the SW LRT Project Office confirmed that Kimley-Horn was the project development consultant hired for the initial stage of the project and a new consultant will be hired to do the reanalysis directed by the Governor. Councilmember Ross asked if there was a possibility that the timeline for this project would be pushed out further if the consultants need additional time to complete their studies. Mr. Harmening stated it was his understanding that Met Council is assuming this new study will be done by January with the municipal consent process beginning shortly thereafter so that Met Council can meet its targets by the first part of 2014. Councilmember Sanger felt that the Scope of Work needed to include a statement of the criteria against which all of these routes will be evaluated and that indicates this same criteria will be used to evaluate all the potential,routes. She stated the Scope of Work also does not indicate whether any attention is being paid to impacts on the surrounding communities including impacts on nearby properties, whether properties need to be taken, noise and vibration impacts, traffic impacts, and impacts on schools and businesses, as well as the mitigation needed for any or all of these routes. She also questioned how the consultants are going to do the cost analysis for these routes and felt the City needs to have a way to compare the cost of the routes including mitigation costs. She stated the Scope of Work also needs to address the issue of transparency Study Session Minutes -2- November 12, 2013 and how all this information will be analyzed and presented to the public for comment prior to a decision being made. Mr. Locke explained that the Scope of Work addresses those items in more broad terms, adding it was important to recognize that this study is intended to address the viability issue from a freight rail perspective and does not include any new analysis. Councilmember Sanger requested further information about the potential meeting with Federal legislators in Washington, D.C., and attendees at that meeting. Mayor Jacobs suggested that the meeting with Federal legislators include Senators Klobuchar and Franken and that he attend this meeting along with Councilmembers Sanger and Spano. He stated the purpose of the meeting is to make sure nothing is going to happen that will jeopardize the Federal funding for this project and to reaffirm the Senators' commitment to this project. Mr. Harmening stated that staff will work on coordinating schedules for this meeting and will prepare an agenda and goals for the meeting for review by Council. 3. Long Range Financial Management Plan and 2014-2018 CIP Mr. Swanson presented the staff report and provided an overview of how the CIP fits into the City's long range financial management plan and budgeting process. Mr. Hoffman stated that one of the projects in the Buildings Department 2014 budget includes the second floor remodeling at City Hall budgeted at $420,000. He stated another project planned for 2014 is repair work on the police station concrete fascia to seal areas where there is water intrusion at the mortar joints to prevent any damage to the building and the project is estimated at $100,000. He indicated another project at the police station is the creation of an emergency operations center (EOC) in the roll call room and remodel of the break room for $240,000. He stated the technology is outdated and the break room will be enlarged with a different layout of the kitchen area. He advised that another project planned in 2014 will be done at the MSC to repair the first bay concrete floor with application of a new polymer coating technology to extend the life for 20 years. He stated another project being investigated at the MSC is a roof mounted 40 kilowatt solar panel system. He explained that the cost of these panels has significantly decreased and the City is able to install the system for $35,000 with a ten-year payback and the useful life of the panels is at least 50 years. He agreed to obtain further information about disposal of the panels and provide this information to Council. Councilmember Ross asked if staff considered having carports with plug-ins for the Police Department so that the squad cars do not have to be kept running all the time. Mr. Hoffman replied that currently there are plug-ins available with automatic releases for all the squads at the Police Department. He added that the City reviewed adding a roof over the carport but decided that it was not worth the cost and did not represent the best value for the money. Mr. Pires stated that the Technology Department 2014 budget includes the police/fire 800 MHz radio/console replacement project. He explained that the City plans to replace three complete work stations in 2014 at a cost of$20,000 each and in 2016, several hundred portable radios and mobile radios used by police and fire will be replaced at a cost of$600,000. He stated that the City's asset management software will be replaced in 2014 and indicated this software allows the Study Session Minutes -3- November 12, 2013 City to document and keep maintenance records on all street assets, park assets, fiber assets, etc., as a way to keep track of and know when a particular asset needs to be maintained and/or upgraded. He stated that other 2014 projects include the police/fire dispatch 800 MHz backup system and the new computer aided dispatch, records management, and mobiles system approved by Council in September. He stated that a couple of fiber projects are planned in 2014, including Highway 7/Louisiana to coincide with the construction of the new interchange as well as during the Highway 100 reconstruction project. He added that another project not listed in the report relates to the St. Louis Park library and explained that the City has been working with the County on connecting the St. Louis Park library to fiber. . The hope is that project is funded primarily by the County, with other benefits to the City. He also pointed out that in 2015 the Cable TV CIP shows $120,000 for van cameras representing one of the largest expenditures in the Cable TV CIP. He indicated the camera performance has been good and it may be possible to push this expenditure out to a later year. Councilmember Ross requested further information about the public kiosks. Mr. Pires stated that a self-service kiosk will be installed in the first floor lobby at City Hall and the kiosk will have commonly used functions that are easy to use, e.g., look for jobs, register for a program, or pay a bill, with the goal to expand the use of kiosks to other sites such as the Rec Center and to encourage people to do as much city business online as possible. Councilmember Ross requested an update on the use of cameras in the park restrooms. Ms. Walsh stated the buildings do not yet have fiber and the City is exploring a cheaper alternative with a DSL line. She indicated that Nelson and Browndale Park will be set up on a trial basis in the near future. Councilmember Sanger requested that Fernhill Park be included in the trial. Ms. Heiser stated the Engineering Department has reviewed the CIP to make sure the City takes advantage of opportunities to do more than one project at a time, e.g.,. if a street is being reconstructed and the water main needs to be replaced, the City will work to make sure the projects are done at the same time to save money and reduce inconvenience to the public. She stated the City will install fiber and do some water main and frontage road work during the Highway 100 reconstruction project. Councilmember Ross noted that the markings on the roadway over Highway 7 going north are difficult to see and drivers are having trouble noticing the lane shift and the fact that there are two lanes in this area and requested that staff take a look at this. Ms. Heiser agreed to have staff take a look at Highway 7. She advised that staff met with residents in the Wooddale and 36`h neighborhood to discuss concerns about traffic and safety. She noted that this area is on the CIP but has been pushed back because of SW LRT, however, the City's traffic engineer was able to develop a low cost, high benefit traffic signal improvement that will provide short-term benefits without a significant investment long term. She advised the City has eight pavement management areas, and the 2014 Pavement Management project is in area 2. She noted there are some sidewalks being installed in this area and the City has scheduled a meeting with residents next week to discuss the project. She stated another large initiative is the storm water improvements including the Bass Lake rehabilitation project with $6 Study Session Minutes -4- November 12, 2013 million programmed into the CIP for this project and the public involvement process will be kicked off next year. Councilmember Sanger asked if the Highway 100 project contemplates the reconstruction of Utica between 26th and north of Minnetonka Boulevard. Ms. Heiser stated it was her understanding that the reconstruction has been incorporated as part of the costs of the project and agreed to confirm that. Councilmember Santa requested further information about the street light project and whether the City has considered transitioning to LED. Ms. Walsh replied the City has LED lights on order for Cedar Lake Road and the intent is to change out all the City's streetlights with LED. She stated the City could realize up to a 40% savings on its operational costs with LED lighting. Ms. Walsh stated that the Parks & Recreation CIP includes Dakota Park field renovations in 2014 as well as new playground equipment at Dakota and Louisiana Oaks Parks. She noted that the CIP shows a parking lot addition to Louisiana Oaks in 2014 but this item is being moved to 2015 to coincide with the trail on Louisiana so that residents in the area are only disrupted once. She advised that a significant expenditure in 2016 involves the refrigeration changeover at the Rec Center as part of the mandate to eliminate use of Freon by 2020. Mr. Heintz presented the long range financial management plan and reviewed the Cable TV Fund with Council and pointed out that the Comcast franchise agreement expires at the end of 2020 and the Cable TV fund will need another revenue source after 2020. He also reviewed the Housing Rehabilitation Fund and stated the funding source is the City's 1/8 of 1% administrative fee, the majority of which will drop off in 2022. He reviewed the Park Improvement Fund and stated the City might bond for the refrigeration project at the Rec Center and if the community center project comes forward, the City could combine these projects to take advantage of cost savings. He then reviewed the Pavement Management Fund and pointed out this Fund includes the assumption that the City will have a franchise fee increase of$.50 per utility during odd years to continue the sustainability of this fund going forward. He also reviewed the Capital Replacement Fund and stated the City has additional monies going in this fund based on Council's adoption of the preliminary 2014 property tax levy; in addition, this fund includes LGA for the next two years. He noted this fund has short term funding challenges but the long- term sustainability of the fund looks good. Councilmember Sanger asked what assumptions are being made about changes in interest rates and inflation rates. Mr. Swanson replied the City has used a 3% inflationary factor and estimated interest rates are shown in the CIP. Mr. Heintz reviewed the HRA Levy Fund and stated this fund is used to pay for projects such as Highway 7/Louisiana and includes a $4 million internal loan from the Development Fund with resources tied up through 2019. Mr. Harmening stated that the City hopes that the HRA Levy Fund can pay for future improvements in the community around the light rail stations. Study Session Minutes -5- November 12, 2013 Mr. Heintz then reviewed the Development Fund and advised that this fund has a lot more resources than cash and the City is using those resources to generate more interest out in the market. Mr. Harmening stated that Council will need to address the long-term sustainability of this fund and indicated this fund is important to the community's future from an economic development perspective. Mr. Heintz reviewed the Storm Water Utility Fund and noted that the City's other utility funds are operating as planned based on the City's rate studies and analysis; however, the Storm Water Utility Fund has a significant capital outlay in the next five to seven years with the most significant project being the Bass Lake area. He indicated the City will have to issue bonds in two stages for these projects and pointed out there are several years where 10% rate increases are needed. Mr. Harmening stated that Council will only approve CIP projects for 2014 when it approves the 2014 budget next month and will not be asked to approve projects beyond 2014 at this time. 4. City Manager's 2013 Performance Evaluation Discussion Ms. Deno presented the staff report and advised that staff received three proposals from consultants to assist with the City Manager's annual performance evaluation. She recommended that Council use Lynae Steinhagen of BWR Organizational Consulting and suggested that Ms. Steinhagen contact Council directly to schedule face to face interviews followed by a meeting with the City Council and Mr. Harmening, with the goal of completing the process by December 16, 2013. It was the consensus of the City Council to proceed with the recommendations for conducting the City Manager's 2013 annual performance evaluation. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) None. The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 5. September 2013 Monthly Financial Report 6. Update on Environment and Sustainability Co 'ssion: Sustainable SLP Nancy Strotli, City Clerk Jeff J. obs, M, or