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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/01/27 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MINNESOTA ST. LOUIS PARK,MINNESOTA JANUARY 27,2014 The meeting convened at 6:36 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg, Anne Mavity, and Jake Spano. Councilmembers absent: Susan Sanger. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman), Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Fire Chief (Mr. Koering), Organizational Development Coordinator (Ms. Gothberg), Rec Center Manager (Mr. Eisold), Communications Coordinator(Mr. Zwilling), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). Guests: Met Council Representative Jim Brimeyer, Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman, Senator Ron Latz, Representative Steve Simon, Emily Tranter (Lockridge, Grindal, and Nauen), Vic Moore (Franzen & Associates), Rachel Harris (Chair, Environment and Sustainability: Sustainable SLP Advisory Commission), Terry Gips, Mark Eilers, and Judy Voigt (Members of the Environment and Sustainability: Sustainable SLP Advisory Commission), Steve Rosen (President, St. Louis Park Hockey Association), and John Basill (St. Louis Park Hockey Association Member). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—February 3 & 10,2014 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed special study session agenda for February 3rd and the proposed study session agenda for February 10`h 2. 2014 Legislative Issues and Priorities Mr. Harmening presented the staff report and extended thanks to the City's legislators and representatives for meeting with Council and City staff. He pointed out the City's support for Southwest LRT and transportation funding in general, adding that the City supports the implementation of a transit sales tax. Hennepin County Commissioner Dorfman stated it was important to stress that the only way to get a comprehensive transit system is to implement a metro wide sales tax. Councilmember Mavity requested further information about the amount of the sales tax, intended use of the sales tax, and proposed duration. Senator Latz indicated the details have not yet been sorted out and hoped that the duration of any sales tax would be in perpetuity because the State probably needs 20-25 years to build out the system and needs an ongoing funding source for operations. He advised that the third party analyst's report regarding Southwest LRT would be available on January 30th, followed by another round of public meetings. Hennepin County Commissioner Dorfman felt that the Southwest LRT project would get the support of the Minneapolis City Council if the environmental study proves that a shallow tunnel can be built without adverse environmental impacts or with adequate mitigation. Study Session Minutes -2- January 27, 2014 Council discussed funding options for Southwest LRT. Councilmember Hallfin requested further information about Federal funding and the deadline for obtaining matching funding. He expressed concern about the project losing its place in line for Federal funding if matching funds are not secured in a timely fashion. Hennepin County Commissioner Dorfman indicated the FTA has not set a deadline, adding that the Southwest LRT project is in line with six other projects and is ranked lower than some of the other projects. Mr. Harmening advised that he received an email from Mr. Mark Fuhrman of the Southwest LRT Project Office inviting technical staff from Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, and Hennepin County to the Met Council office on Thursday, January 30th, at 10:30 a.m. in order to receive an overview of the results of the study and this meeting would be followed by a meeting with the Governor at 1:00 p.m. Councilmember Brausen requested that the City's elected officials support the City's position related to TIF District statutory modifications and state funding for DEED Transit Improvement Areas, adding that these are tools the City can use in order to leverage public investment in Southwest LRT. Hennepin County Commissioner Dorfman distributed a handout of legislative priorities proposed by Hennepin County. In regard to the statute concerning the multijurisdictional program, she stated that she was concerned about allowing multi-family developments to be included within Special Service Distncts because of the potential impact on affordable housing projects. Senator Latz advised there has been some movement to change the law regarding license plate readers, adding that he would prefer to see a destruction timeline of 90 days. He requested that the City provide him with examples of criminal investigations that benefited from data retention and the amount of time needed to access that data. Councilmember Mavity indicated that one of the City's top mitigation/betterment requests for Southwest LRT is the grade separation at Beltline, adding that this item is not currently in the base budget and if Met Council is looking at opportunities to draw additional funding into St. Louis Park,particularly in a co-location scenario, the grade separation becomes very important. Councilmember Hallfin requested comment regarding the fiscal disparities issue and whether any changes to the formula are likely to occur. He stated that the City's net contribution to the fiscal disparities pool has increased substantially and it would appear the City is being penalized for being so successful. Representative Simon stated that this is a significant issue and it is unlikely that anything will be done during this year's session given the compressed schedule. Councilmember Hallfin acknowledged that the fiscal disparities issue is significant but asked that the elected officials again raise the issue and lay the groundwork for change. Senator Latz stated there will be discussion during this year's session about the projected budget surplus and what to do with it and there will likely be some movement on the business to business taxes. He added he would support putting as much of the surplus as possible into reserves. Study Session Minutes -3- January 27, 2014 Councilmember Mavity requested comment about the recent spate of accidents involving trains carrying flammable materials and Senator Klobuchar's push to get something done about this. Mr. Koering advised that he attended a listening session with the Commissioner of Public Safety that discussed the ramifications of trains carrying hazardous materials and stated the biggest focus in the short term is the structural integrity of the vessels to ensure they are worthy of carrying these materials. He stated there have been discussions about having a placard recognition system in place that scans trains as they come through an area that descnbes the type and quantity of materials being transported. He added that the Commissioner of Public Safety is very engaged in this process and there are a lot of people actively discussing the topic. Hennepin County Commissioner Dorfman stated she has represented St. Louis Park for many years and has been honored to serve the City. She advised that the special election for her County Board seat would be held on May 13, 2014. Mayor Jacobs expressed the City Council's thanks and appreciation to the elected officials for their efforts on behalf of the City. 3. Environment and Sustainability: Sustainable SLP Advisory Commission 2014 Work Plan Ms. Walsh presented the staff report and introduced Ms. Rachel Harris, 2014 Chair of the Environment and Sustainability: Sustainable SLP Advisory Commission. Ms. Harris presented the 2014 Work Plan and stated the Commission used a ranking methodology to select the areas it should focus on during 2014, including creating a Sustainable Community Vision. She advised they are considering using Natural Step, a nationwide practice to assess their strategic sustainability vision. She stated their meetings are open to the public and they welcome interactive input from citizens. She indicated the Commission is also interested in continuing to focus on education as well as studying various initiatives using an evaluation matrix. She stated the Commission intends to form work groups that will study a variety of topics including the Green Step Cities program, reducing carbon emissions, and energy; in addition, the Commission is interested in having the work groups establish a Sustainable SLP brand as a way to capture broader interest within the community. Councilmember Spano requested further information about the topics that were not included in the list of items to be considered by the work groups. Ms. Harris replied the Commission had a number of conversations about what the City is working on and how the Commission could support the City in those efforts; in addition, the Commission discussed what they, as individual citizens, were interested in. She stated that other topics included water quality and biking and walking trails, and after several rounds of vote taking, the Commission determined these items would not be a priority this year, adding that water can broadly fit under the energy category. Councilmember Mavity urged the Commission to find a way to have a central location where people can find general information and to exchange ideas and information. Councilmember Brausen complimented the City Council for selecting a Commission that includes people with diverse skill sets and a high level of expertise and urged Council to utilize the Commissioner's knowledge and expertise to the fullest extent possible. He also requested Study Session Minutes -4- January 27, 2014 that the City publicize the Commission's vision meetings and encouraged Council to consider being part of the Natural Step process. Councilmember Hallfin suggested that the Commission contact PLACE regarding their proposed redevelopment of the McGarvey site. Councilmember Lindberg agreed that Council should commit to be part of the Natural Step process and urged Council to consider what it can do to further engage the community. It was the consensus of the City Council to approve the 2014 Work Plan of the Environment and Sustainability: Sustainable SLP Advisory Commission. 4. Use of St. Louis Park Hockey Association Donation Ms. Walsh presented the staff report and introduced Mr. John Basill and Mr. Steve Rosen. She stated the Hockey Association is interested in undertaking a feasibility study for an outdoor rink on the west side of the Rec Center, adding that the feasibility study would require no funding commitment from the City. Mayor Jacobs stated he was okay with the feasibility study and requested information about where the skate park might be relocated, adding that the new location should be visible and easily accessible. Ms. Walsh replied the skate park could be moved to another park area and agreed the skate park needs to be in an open area. She noted there is funding in the CIP for replacement of some of the skate park equipment and ideally this could happen when the skate park is moved. Councilmember Hallfin stated he was okay with the feasibility study. He requested comment about the Hockey Association's efforts to make hockey accessible to all kids. Mr. Rosen stated the Hockey Association's goal is to grow the association; at the same time, ice is a premium and is always a concern and the City's ice rinks represent a significant asset because the players do not have to go elsewhere to practice. He stated their registration fees have changed very little in the last five years and the Hockey Association Board is diligent about how it spends its money. Councilmember Spano requested information about responsibility for operations and maintenance of a new ice rink and whether the Hockey Association would contribute to any of those costs. He stated he wanted to make sure the Hockey Association would be able to use the new rink, but to also make sure that kids who want to go out and skate have opportunities to use the rink as well. He also asked if the Hockey Association was confident that a new ice rink would be booked and not sit idle. Ms. Walsh stated that responsibility for operations and maintenance would need to be worked out prior to requesting approval for building a new ice rink. Mr. Rosen stated they are confident that a new ice rink would be used and indicated they currently purchase 150-175 hours of ice time at Hat Trick. He stated they currently have thirteen traveling teams and intend to add two to four more traveling teams. He added they also have seven high school teams that use ice time during the season. Study Session Minutes -5- January 27, 2014 Mayor Jacobs requested that the feasibility study consider whether it would be possible to dome the ice rink. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to work with the Hockey Association on a feasibility study for the possibility of an outdoor refrigerated ice rink, with the understanding that a portion of the Hockey Association's donation would be used for the feasibility study. Ms. Walsh agreed to provide an update to Council in approximately four months. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Harmening distributed a pamphlet entitled "Up the Pace: Facts to Spur Action on Equitable Policies" from the State of the Region event. He stated that Chair Haigh discussed equity in the metro area from a housing and socio economic perspective, noting that Minnesota ranks worst in the region from a socio economic perspective. Councilmember Brausen commended staff for the December 2013 financial results. He also requested that Council meet with the various Boards and Commissions to review their annual reports and work plans. Councilmember Spano suggested that the Commissions focus on one or two items from their annual reports and work plans to discuss with Council. Councilmember Mavity requested that the City's website include a listing of the various Boards and Commissions, including membership, meeting schedule, and minutes. The meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m. Wntten Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 5. 2013 December Financial Report 6. Fourth Quarter Investment Report(October—December 2013) 7. Ownership and Replacement of Private Improvements in the Public Right of Way 8. Human Rights Commission Annual Report an I Work Plan 9. Police Advisory Commission (PAC) 2013 • .i nual ' • .04i d 2014 Work Plan Nancy S�City Clerk Jeff/co. ., or