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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/08/24 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Iff St. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA AUGUST 24, 2015 The meeting convened at 6:35 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Pro Tem Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Anne Mavity, Susan Sanger, and Jake Spano. Councilmembers absent: Mayor Jeff Jacobs and Councilmember Gregg Lindberg. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Deputy City Manager/Director of Human Resources (Ms. Deno), Controller (Mr. Swanson), Finance Supervisor (Mr. Heintz), Communications and Marketing Manager(Ms. Larson), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Hughes). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—September 8 and September 28, 2015 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed special study session agenda for September 8th and the proposed study session agenda for September 28th. He reminded Council that the September 8th meeting is on Tuesday due to Labor Day and that no meeting is scheduled on September 14th due to Rosh Hashanah. Councilmember Sanger requested a future study session discussion regarding tree preservation and to consider an Ordinance similar to Edina's Ordinance that states when a parcel is being redeveloped, a property owner is permitted to cut down trees in the footprint of the new construction and a 10' perimeter around the building but is not permitted to clear cut the rest of the trees on the property. 2. 2016 Budget, CIP and Utility Rates Mr. Harmening introduced the topic. Mr Swanson presented the staff report and advised there are no levy limits in place for 2016 and the City will receive $539,000 in LGA in 2016 and these dollars go into the Capital Replacement Fund He stated that wage and benefit adjustments are proposed for 2016 and the 2016 budget includes staffing requests as summarized in the staff report Councilmember Spano asked about the revenue generated from the Park Nicollet pilot program. Mr. Swanson replied that approximately $10,000 from the Park Nicollet pilot program has been reflected in the budget Councilmember Spano asked about the role of the solid waste intern and whether the position would include promotion of the City's organics recycling program and felt this person or someone else should be focused on that program, especially given the fact that food/organic waste constitutes approximately 30% of the waste stream He requested a study session discussion regarding possible changes to the organics recycling program, e.g., moving to the Minneapolis model or offering three months of organics recycling on a ward by ward basis as a way to incent participation in the program. Councilmember Sanger stated she was surprised by the number of new staffing requests and asked how this compares with previous years. Study Session Minutes -2- August 24, 2015 Ms. Deno agreed to provide Council with historical data regarding staffing requests Councilmember Hallfin stated it would be helpful to know if the staff requests are wants versus needs. Mr Harmening stated he felt there was merit in all of the staffing positions requested and pointed out that the staffing requests do not represent his final recommendations and Council will receive more specific recommendations from him regarding staffing after Council makes a decision on the 2016 preliminary tax levy. Councilmember Sanger stated she has always been skeptical that the Fire Department could perform its duties under the Park Nicollet post discharge program without hiring any new firefighters and questioned the benefit to the City of continuing that program if it only generates $10,000 in revenue when the City has to hire additional firefighters. She requested an update on the Park Nicollet pilot program at a future study session and also requested further information about the staffing request for the Police Department. Mr. Harmemng stated the Police Department recently moved to five districts and the 5th district's "B" shift is currently being staffed by overtime and other means but there is no consistency in staffing for this district, which continues to see significant redevelopment He agreed to provide Council with an update on the Park Nicollet post discharge program at a future study session and noted that the request for one or more firefighters is driven by an increase in calls for service, primarily medicals, and staff anticipates those calls for service will continue to increase given the City's aging population He advised that Chief Koering has formed duty crews with the paid on call staff where the firefighters now sign up for specific shifts so that they are complementing the work of the firefighters and filling shifts where there is a need. Mayor Pro Tem Brausen spoke in favor of option 2 related to the Fire Department staffing request. Mr. Swanson reviewed significant expenditures in the 2016 budget and stated that the Solid Waste Fund includes increased funding due to the organics recycling efforts He stated that the Operations and Recreation revenue decline of approximately $230,000 is related to the ice rinks being redone and is being offset by one-time funding from the General Fund. Mr. Harmening advised that pavement management in the Sorensen neighborhood was scheduled in 2016 and the City is considering holding off on the pavement management in this neighborhood until 2017 and moving the planned 2017 pavement management project to 2016. He stated this was discussed with representatives of the Sorensen neighborhood who have agreed with this schedule change in light of all the traffic disruptions with the Highway 100 project. He stated that Engineering and Operations staff have been reviewing the condition of the City's infrastructure and if the City wants to maintain the street system at a road condition index of 70 as is the City's policy, the City is going to have to invest more in infrastructure replacement. Mr Swanson stated that the City's housing values are beginning to rebound, specifically related to apartments, condos and townhomes. He stated the City's contribution to the fiscal disparities pool decreased by $711,000 or approximately 18% and explained that the City's valuations declined less than other communities in previous years and now those communities are seeing a significant increase in their commercial sector resulting in a decrease in the City's tax rate He stated that staff has proposed a preliminary property tax levy increase of 6 5%, which would Study Session Minutes -3- August 24, 2015 allow the City to make some staffing adjustments and to put additional resources into funds such as the Capital Replacement Fund to ensure the long-term sustainability of those funds He distributed information regarding a 4.56% property tax levy increase that shows a median value home valued at $226,600 would see a decline in the City's share of property taxes of approximately $1.50, a 5.5% property tax levy increase would result in an increase of approximately $7.00 in the City's share of property taxes, and a 6.5% property tax levy increase would result in an increase of approximately $16.00 in the City's share of property taxes He stated the increase in the City's property values means that if everything stayed the same throughout the City, a person's property taxes would have gone up approximately 10% but because of the growth in the City's tax base, the residential properties are seeing much less of an increase and in some cases will see a decrease in the City's share of their property taxes. He reviewed the Utility Funds and stated that staff is recommending increases in all utility rates except Solid Waste. He also discussed the impact of the rate increases and stated that a typical homeowner would see an increase of approximately $50-$60 per year, adding that staff continues to review the Utility Funds and will provide Council with specific recommendations in September. Councilmember Sanger felt the most important thing was the quality of services provided to the community and stated she was okay with a 6.5% preliminary property tax levy increase. Councilmember Spano pointed out that Council has always told staff that if additional staff is needed, they need to inform Council, which they have done and stated he was okay with a 6.5% preliminary property tax levy increase. Councilmember Mavity stated she was okay with a 6.5% preliminary property tax levy increase and urged staff to educate residents about the growth in the City's tax base and reminding residents that the impact of the property tax levy increase on the average homeowner was minimal. Councilmember Hallfin requested information about planned property tax increases from the County and other taxing jurisdictions. He stated he was okay with a 6.5% preliminary property tax levy increase. Mayor Pro Tern Brausen stated he was okay with a 6.5%preliminary property tax levy increase It was the consensus of the City Council to certify a preliminary property tax levy increase of 6.5% and to certify the maximum HRA levy amount for 2016 It was also the consensus of the City Council to support the proposed utility rate adjustments for 2016. It was also the consensus of the City Council that a special study session was not needed on September 8th unless Mayor Jacobs and/or Councilmember Lindberg request an opportunity to further discuss the 2016 budget and preliminary property tax levy increase on September 8th 3. Mayor, City Council and Economic Development Authority Compensation Ms. Deno presented the staff report and stated the staff report provides historical salary information and a summary of salaries for comparable cities and noted that the average of all cities does not include compensation that a City Council might receive for a benefit such as health insurance. Study Session Minutes -4- August 24, 2015 Councilmember Mavity stated she was in favor of tying any increase in compensation to the same increase received by City staff and felt that represented a defensible and rational policy. Councilmember Sanger agreed and felt that was a good benchmark to use. She asked why the EDA salaries are separate from the City Council salaries and felt that having one salary amount might be cleaner in terms of transparency and for comparison purposes. She added that she did not want to own the iPad or have the iPad be part of the compensation package Councilmember Mavity felt that the iPads should be part of the compensation package with a buyout price for the iPad when a Councilmember's term is completed. Councilmember Hallfin expressed concern that it might be perceived the City Council gave themselves a$4,000 raise if the EDA salary is moved over to the City Council salary. Mayor Pro Tem Brausen supported the idea of allowing the City Council to keep their City- issued iPads as part of their compensation package and stated that the value to the City in reclaiming the iPads after four years is nominal given the rapid changes in technology. Councilmember Spano stated that Council agendas were previously delivered by a CSO and the use of iPads has saved the City money and he did not have a problem with allowing Councilmembers to take their iPad with them when they leave office He stated that the City Council salaries are above the average of other peer cities and continued to believe there was no need to increase the City Council salaries Councilmember Hallfin disagreed with Councilmember Spano and felt that Council's pay should be commensurate with the amount of work being done and he was okay with increasing Council salaries equal with the salary increases of City staff Mayor Pro Tem Brausen spoke in favor of a cost of living increase for Council. Councilmember Mavity suggested a 2.5% salary increase for Council and the EDA this year and a 2.5% salary increase next year Mayor Pro Tem Brausen stated if staff received a 2% increase last year and a 2.5% increase in 2015, a 4.5% increase in Council pay would be reflective of what City staff has received. Councilmembers Hallfin and Sanger agreed. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to follow-up with the City Attorney regarding a 2 5% salary increase in 2016 and a 2.5% salary increase in 2017 and provide further information to Council regarding ownership of the iPads Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Harmening referred to his weekly email and the request from the Environment and Sustainability Commission to participate in a training session by the University of Minnesota on storm water management. Study Session Minutes -5- August 24, 2015 Councilmember Spano felt that the Environment and Sustainability Commission should attend the training session and bring any recommendations to the City Council and that the training session should be an opt-in for Councilmembers to attend if their schedule permits. Mr Harmening referenced the commentary in Sunday's Star Tribune by the FairSkies Coalition that discussed the impact of the 2030 airport plan and stated that he contacted Commissioner Lisa Peilen and will be meeting with her. He stated that an informational meeting regarding the MSP long-term comprehensive plan is scheduled on Thursday, August 27`h, followed by a comment period and the City might work with the City of Edina on submitting its comments. Councilmember Spano stated he spoke with a representative from FairSkies who asked about making a presentation to the City Council and they agreed to contact City staff. Councilmember Sanger suggesting having a representative from the Metropolitan Airports Commission attend any presentation from FairSkies. Councilmember Mavity stated that the Southwest LRT budget reductions included landscaping, public art, and other significant items and any available contingency funds cannot be used for these items and requested that Council further discuss this and the impact on St. Louis Park. Councilmember Sanger requested that staff provide Council with a list of the Southwest LRT items that have been removed from St. Louis Park and the approximate cost. Mayor Pro Tern Brausen adjourned the meeting at 8 42 p.m. Written reports provided and documented for recording purposes only. 4. Cable TV and Franchise Fee Trends 5. July 2015 Monthly Financial Report 6. 2015 Semi-Annual Housing Programs Activity Report 7. Homes Within Reach: City Funded Revolving Line of Credit to Assist w/ Acquisition and Rehab Costs of Affordable Homeownership Units 8. Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Future SWLRT Joint Development 9. The Shoreham PUD Amendment 10. Westwood Hills Nature Center Master Plan Update 11. Extension of Franchise Agreements with CenterPoint Energy and Xcel Energy //- Melissa Kennedy, City Clerk Tim Brausen, M or Pro Tern