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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/06/23 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session If/ St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST.LOUIS PARK,MINNESOTA JUNE 23,2014 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg, Anne Mavity, Susan Sanger, and Jake Spano. Councilmembers absent: None. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager/Director of Human Resources (Ms. Deno), City Attorney (Mr. Scott), Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Director of Engineering (Ms. Heiser), Director of Community Development (Mr. Locke), Planning and Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), Public Works Services Manager (Mr. Merkley), Environmental Specialist (Ms. Hansen), Controller (Mr. Swanson), Finance Supervisor (Mr. Heintz), Inspection Services Manager (Ms. Boettcher), Organizational Development Coordinator (Ms. Gothberg), Marketing & Communications Coordinator (Mr. Zwilling), Administrative Services Intern (Mr. Chang), and Recording Secretary(Ms. Hughes). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—July 14,2014 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for July 14, 2014. 2. Pop-Up Event/Health in the Park Mr. Harmening presented the staff report. Ms. Gothberg introduced Mr. Donovan Hart, Ms. Sara Maaske (St. Louis Park resident and Health in the Park Champion), and Mr. Bill Chang(Administrative Services Intern). Mr. Donovan Hart explained that a pop-up event has been proposed on the Dakota Avenue corridor, which has been designated a future bikeway in the Connect the Park plan and would serve as a platform for greater visibility of the Health in the Park project. Mr. Chang explained the proposed route of the pop-up event and stated the event provides an opportunity to experiment and bring attention to the area without interference of motor vehicles. Ms. Maaske stated the pop-up event is a non-traditional way of engaging people in an activity that has a strategic purpose and would serve to engage the neighborhood in future planning for this street. Ms. Gothberg stated that the next step is to contact the neighborhoods in order to answer their questions and discuss any concerns about the proposed pop-up event. Councilmember Sanger was supportive of the concept of holding a pop-up event but was concerned about inadvertently having a negative effect on any of the surrounding businesses. She urged staff to connect with the Bronx Park neighborhood association and to also communicate with the neighborhoods about the meaning and intended use of bikeways in the Connect the Park initiative. She noted that Dakota Avenue is the route to the dog park and suggested including some communication about the pop-up event to visitors of the dog park. Study Session Minutes -2- June 23, 2014 It was the consensus of the City Council to support the proposed pop-up event planned for Dakota Avenue and to direct staff to engage in further discussions with the neighborhoods, businesses, and schools along the route regarding the event. 3. Southwest LRT Update Mr. Locke presented the staff report and draft resolution of approval of municipal consent and draft Memorandum of Understanding. Councilmember Sanger suggested that the nineteenth "WHEREAS" clause of the resolution be revised to read "WHEREAS, the City of St. Louis Park identifies the following list of issues as outstanding and are needed to facilitate access to and operation of the SW LRT line, some of which may become Locally Requested Capital Investments ("LRCIs") requiring the identification of funding during the advanced design of the Project." Councilmember Brausen suggested that the nineteenth "WHEREAS" clause of the resolution be revised to read "WHEREAS, the City of St. Louis Park identifies the following list of issues as outstanding, which are essential to the design and building of a safe and successful multimodal transportation project, some of which may become Locally Requested Capital Investments ("LRCIs") requiring the identification of funding during the advanced design of the Project." Councilmember Mavity suggested that the fifth"WHEREAS"clause of the resolution be revised to read "WHEREAS, St. Louis Park and its citizens have dedicated enormous effort, time, and resources into visioning the SW LRT lino and tho city's station areas, including planning, engineering, analyzing, discussing, and gaining community input in anticipation of the line," and stated the intent of this statement is to indicate the City has created visions for the station areas in anticipation of the development that the SW LRT line offers. She also suggested that the sixteenth "WHEREAS" clause of the resolution be revised to read "WHEREAS, the Plans include continuing the routing of freight rail trains along the Bass Lake Spur in St. Louis Park into Minneapolis, and not rerouting them to the MNS line in St. Louis Park, which is consistent with the City of St. Louis Park's long-standing formal position on this matter." She also asked about the reference to the "RCSC" form in the last paragraph of the resolution and stated the term is not defined anywhere. Councilmember Sanger requested that the Memorandum of Understanding include an additional paragraph that reads "Council and City acknowledge there have been several professional and independent studies of the potential feasibility of relocating freight rail from the Kenilworth corridor in Minneapolis to the MN&S route in St. Louis Park and no such route has been identified that is safe, operationally effective, and acceptable to the City. Council and City staff will use their best efforts to publicly confirm that Council will not further study the potential feasibility of relocating freight rail traffic from the Kenilworth corridor to the MN&S route through St. Louis Park." Mayor Jacobs stated he wanted to make sure that including this type of statement is not construed as a denial of municipal consent. Councilmember Mavity did not believe that Met Council would agree to state publicly that the agency is not going to further study the issue and felt that including the statement would be a distraction from the other critical components, e.g., grade separation. Study Session Minutes -3- June 23, 2014 Councilmember Sanger noted that Chair Haigh indicated that Met Council could not provide this statement at this time but there would be project milestones in the future at which time Met Council might be able to address this issue. Councilmember Mavity noted that when the application for Federal funding is submitted this fall, the application will indicate the route they are proposing and that this route represents the final route chosen for Southwest LRT. Councilmember Spano stated he was okay with including this statement in the Memorandum of Understanding but he had no expectation that Met Council would affirmatively make a statement that this item is off the table. He reminded Council that Mr. Fuhrmann indicated that the project being put forward by Met Council is a statement to the FTA about Met Council's intent and will state that Met Council has looked at a reroute and decided it is not going to pursue a reroute. Councilmember Brausen stated he would support including a statement that indicates the City understands that the reroute issue has been fully studied and represents the basis for the City entering into municipal consent. The majority of the City Council expressed support for including Councilmember Brausen's suggested statement regarding the reroute issue. 4. 2015 Budget Discussion Mr. Harmening presented the staff report. Mr. Swanson advised there are no levy limits in place for 2015 and the City will receive $512,466 in LGA for 2015 and those dollars go into the Capital Replacement Fund. He stated that a wage adjustment of 2.5% in 2015 is being used to prepare the 2015 budget and an adjustment to the 2015 employer benefit contribution is likely. He stated that staff is targeting utility rate increases of $45 per year to meet the City's infrastructure needs and staff has also considered franchise fee adjustments to continue funding the Pavement Management Fund and recommends a$1 increase per utility in 2015, or$24 per year, that will generate $500,000 for the Pavement Management Fund. He discussed trends on valuations of commercial and residential properties and advised that residential valuations are moving up more quickly than commercial valuations resulting in a greater shift in the tax burden to residential properties with some increases of 4-6% from pay 2014 to proposed pay 2015. Councilmember Brausen asked if this shift in valuations to residential stock would result in a decrease in the City's fiscal disparities contribution. Mr. Swanson replied that information about the City's fiscal disparities contribution would be available in August or September but did not think the City would see a significant increase in its fiscal disparities contribution. He stated that for the last ten years, the City's tax levy increase averaged 4.61% and requested input from Council on the proposed property tax levy increase for 2015. He advised that the State recently changed the due date for submitting its preliminary property tax levy from September 15 to September 30 and this change will provide more time for the City to adopt its preliminary property tax levy and will mean that the City will have accurate information regarding fiscal disparities at the time it adopts the preliminary property tax levy. He then reviewed the preliminary budget schedule through final adoption of the 2015 budget on December 15, 2014. Study Session Minutes -4- June 23, 2014 Councilmember Spano requested information about the City's insurance program for water main repairs. He stated he continued to believe that the City should include the cost of these repairs as part of its operating costs instead of individually assessing a property owner for these repairs. Mr. Harmening agreed to provide Council with further information about the cost of providing this service to residents. Councilmember Sanger requested that staff perform some analysis on the cost of contracting for snow plowing services on the City's sidewalks or to hire seasonal staff to perform this work. She expressed concern about staff workloads, particularly in the Inspections and Community Development departments, and questioned whether the budget should include adding more staff in these departments. Councilmember Mavity stated she would like to explore whether opportunities exist for one-time infusions into affordable housing in order to actualize the City's affordable housing policy. Councilmember Brausen stated he would like to see whether resources could be designated to the retention and development of affordable housing in the City. He also expressed concern about the potential LRCIs associated with Southwest LRT and how those improvements will be funded and felt it would be in the City's best interest to set aside money for these improvements. He added that the 2015 budget would also need funds dedicated to multi family and business recycling as well as any repackaging initiatives that might be pursued. Councilmember Lindberg stated it was important to him that the City takes care of its staff and keeps its compensation competitive without overburdening staff with cost increases for benefits. Mr. Swanson presented several scenarios about the estimated City share of property taxes based on a 4.5% levy increase with and without debt service as well as a 7% levy increase with and without debt service and discussed the City's debt service policy. He advised that a 4.5% levy increase with debt service results in the estimated City share of property taxes for a median value home increasing from $932 to $1,048 or 12.5% and a 4.5% levy increase without debt service results in the estimated City share of property taxes for a median value home increasing from $931 to $1,029 or 10.4%. He stated that a 7% levy increase with debt service results in the estimated City share of property taxes for a median value home increasing from $932 to $1072 or 15% and a 7% levy increase without debt service results in the estimated City share of property taxes for a median value home increasing from $932 to $1,053 or 13%. He advised that the impact to a median value residential property owner with the proposed utility rate increases and franchise fee increases assuming a 4.5% levy increase is $185 for the entire year and the impact to a median value residential property owner with the utility rate and franchise fee increases assuming a 7% levy increase is $210. He added that a 7% levy increase would generate approximately$1.79 million in gross revenue. Ms. Deno advised that further budget information would be provided to Council in August. 5. Update on Solid Waste Program Mr. Merkley presented the staff report. Mr. Merkley reported that Ms. Hansen would be leaving the City on Friday and thanked her for her contributions to the City's solid waste program. He advised that effective January 1, 2016, a Study Session Minutes -5- June 23, 2014 new State law goes into effect requiring owners of businesses and multi-family buildings generating 4CY of garbage per week to provide containers for recyclable materials. He presented staff's recommendations for improving multi-family recycling, including some revisions to the current Ordinance. He reported that staff recently met with Councilmembers Brausen and Lindberg to discuss the Minneapolis Food Packaging Ordinance and indicated that the Executive Director of the Minnesota Restaurant Association recently sent a letter expressing support for the Minneapolis ban on non-recyclable foam packaging. Mayor Jacobs expressed support for the recommended options for increasing multi-family and business recycling and supported further exploring the possibility of restricting or banning Styrofoam packaging. Councilmember Lindberg expressed support for the recommended options for increasing multi- family and business recycling. He was also supportive of moving toward a ban on Styrofoam packaging and engaging residents in this conversation. Councilmember Mavity also supported the recommended options for increasing multi-family and business recycling and moving toward a ban on Styrofoam packaging. She also supported a ban on plastic bags. Ms. Hansen stated that no local communities have imposed a ban on plastic bags, adding that the Grand Rapids City Council considered the issue and expressed support for the use of reusable bags. Ms. Walsh stated the City might want to consider an educational component with respect to plastic bag use before imposing a ban on plastic bags. Councilmember Sanger supported the recommended options for increasing multi-family and business recycling and felt that recycling in multi-family buildings should not be limited to only three recyclable materials. She also felt that as part of the City's inspections, staff should require that building management produce a contract indicating that a recycler has been hired to collect the recyclable materials from the multi-family or commercial building. She felt that a ban on Styrofoam packaging was worth exploring but did not want to limit the ban to only foam packaging used by restaurants and should be expanded to include food products sold in convenience stores or grocery stores. She added that there are many non-food products that are packaged in foam, e.g., electronics, and questioned whether there are other sources of Styrofoam that Council should consider. She suggested having retailers charge its customers if they want a plastic bag to encourage people to bring their own reusable bag. Councilmember Spano agreed with the recommended options for increasing multi-family and business recycling. He was also supportive of the ban on Styrofoam packaging but felt that asking the business community to ban foam packaging at the same time as it is being required to comply with the new State law was too much for them to absorb at one time and felt it was appropriate to give businesses time to comply with the new requirements before instituting a foam packaging ban. Councilmember Hallfin agreed with the options for increasing multi-family and business recycling. He also was supportive of the ban on foam packaging and plastic bags and felt that the City could be a leader in this area by imposing these restrictions on the business community and multi-family property owners. Study Session Minutes -6- June 23, 2014 Councilmember Brausen supported a ban on foam packaging and plastic bags and felt that the City could approach the business and multi-family communities to see how the City can help them comply with the new state law. Mr. Harmening agreed to provide Council with recommendations regarding a foam packaging and plastic bag ban including timelines and suggested Ordinance changes. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Harmening stated that Rep. Keith Ellison recently contacted the City about setting up a meeting in the near future. He added that Rep. Ellison indicated his schedule makes it difficult to attend evening meetings and requested a daytime meeting. It was the consensus of the City Council to schedule a daytime meeting with Rep. Ellison and the City Council and to post the meeting day and time. Mr. Harmening advised that John Basill called him today about the upcoming Taste of Minnesota event and learned that the organizers need to find another site for the event due to the recent flooding and the organizers looked at the former Cavalia site as a possible site for the event. He stated that logistics for this type of event are significant and did not feel that the City should host the event. After further discussion, it was the consensus of the City Council that the City would not host the 2014 Taste of Minnesota event. The meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m. Written reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 6. May 2014 Monthly Financial Report 7. Wooddale Avenue and 36th Street Traffic Study/Improvements 8. Joint Cooperation Agreement Between St. L I ' 'ark a u s Hennepin County 9. West End Redevelopment Contract Update Nancy Stroth, C y Clerk Jeff Jac, yor