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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/09/08 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session felSt. Louis Park OFFICIAL MINUTES MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 The meeting convened at 6:30 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), Deputy City Manager/Director of Human Resources (Ms. Deno), City Attorney (Mr. Mattick), Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Controller (Mr. Swanson), Public Works Services Manager (Mr. Merkley), Solid Waste Program Coordinator (Ms. Fisher), Communications and Marketing Manager (Ms. Larson), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Hughes). 1. 2016 Budget, CIP and Utility Rates Mr. Harmening presented the staff report and stated this discussion is intended to provide additional time for discussion of the 2016 budget prior to setting the 2016 preliminary property tax levy on September 21, 2015 Councilmember Lindberg stated he had hoped the City would have been able to set the 2016 preliminary property tax levy below the ten-year average and acknowledged that the impact of a 6.5% levy increase to the average property owner was minimal, however, he continued to be concerned about whether this type of increase was sustainable long term. He stated he would like to better understand how Council measures its effectiveness in terms of meeting its goals and objectives and tying that to what residents are being asked to invest in the City Councilmember Mavity stated the resident survey provides helpful information about resident satisfaction with City services and how well the City is functioning. She stated that St. Louis Park is one of the few cities with a AAA bond rating and has sufficient reserves that put the City in a strong financial position and felt this needs to be part of the message to residents Councilmember Lindberg felt it was important to inform residents about the goals set by Council and explain how Council is going to measure its results based on those goals. Councilmember Brausen stated that a lot of this is articulated in the basic assumptions used when preparing the budget, e.g , maintaining high quality service delivery, holding expenditures flat where possible, providing funding for wage and benefit increases, utility rate increases to support the City's aggressive infrastructure program, and continued long range financial planning. He pointed out that very few residents attend Council meetings to talk to Council about the budget or property tax levy. Councilmember Mavity felt the "State of the City" event should be used to talk about the limited impact of a 6.5% levy increase and to talk about how much money is invested in St Louis Park compared to other cities It was the consensus of the City Council to set a 2016 Preliminary Property Tax Levy increase of 6.5% on September 21, 2015. Special Study Session Minutes -2- September 8, 2015 Mayor, City Council and Economic Development Authority Compensation Ms Deno advised that working with the attorney, we are able to put together a program as recommended by Council at the last Study Session, whereby the Mayor, City Council and EDA salaries can be adjusted by 2.5% as of January 1, 2016, and after each election year, salaries can be adjusted to reflect increases in line with non-represented employees after each election year. She added that ownership of the iPads will be allowed under EDA if one member wants to retain ownership. 2. Draft Zero Waste Packaging Ordinance Ms. Fisher presented the staff report and draft ordinance on polystyrene food and beverage containers and stated the draft ordinance is modeled after the City of Minneapolis' Green To Go ordinance with specific changes based on Council's previous discussions, including no exemption for nursing homes and hospitals Councilmember Brausen spoke in favor of the draft ordinance and asked why the draft ordinance exempts foods pre-packaged by the manufacturer, producer or distributor. Ms. Fisher stated this language focuses on food packaging and to-go packaging that is manufactured off site and for sale at a licensed business and it would be difficult to prohibit this type of packaging. Councilmember Brausen stated he would like the ordinance to apply to everybody and questioned why the City would allow someone from another facility to ship their product to be sold in St. Louis Park when local businesses are prohibited from using this type of packaging. Mr. Harmening noted that the City Attorney previously discussed this prohibition and raised an issue about interstate trade Mr. Mattick stated the ordinance controls the packaging allowed within the City's boundaries and extending those controls beyond the City means the City is controlling what businesses can purchase elsewhere and this could create commerce clause issues. Councilmember Spano stated he did not think it was Council's intention to include packaging that was manufactured elsewhere in this ordinance. Councilmember Hallfin agreed with Councilmember Brausen and felt that Council should further explore whether to prohibit packaging manufactured elsewhere, adding that the goal is to get polystyrene out of the waste stream as much as possible. Councilmember Spano questioned how the City would enforce this type of prohibition. Councilmember Mavity stated the goal is minimization and to remove as much of these products as possible, adding that she agreed with the sentiment of getting rid of everything but this is a first step and does not prevent the City from expanding the prohibition in the future if the program is successful. Councilmember Brausen stated he was okay with the proposed language in Section 12.122(a). He asked if the term "robust" should be defined in Section 12.122(b)(2) that references robust recycling markets Special Study Session Minutes -3- September 8, 2015 Mr. Mattick felt that no further clarification was needed Councilmember Brausen requested further information about Section 12.123(b)(1)(a) and stated this does not include anything about front of house collection efforts. Ms Fisher explained that this section refers to recycling and organics recycling and contains language stating that the customer has an opportunity to recycle in front of house receptacles. Ms. Walsh suggested that Council combine the listening session with its regularly scheduled study session on Monday, October 12`h It was the consensus of the City Council to schedule the listening session on Monday, October 12, 2015. It was also the consensus of the City Council to approve the draft ordinance and to make it available for review prior to the listening session Mayor Jacobs adjourned the meeting at 7:20 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only. 3. Update on Connect the Park! —2015 Bikeways 4. Arlington Row Apartments West Update 5. SWLRT Update 6. The Shoreham Alley Vacation ,_11144.1:1 O.J (-- .4/ Melissa Kenned , City Clerk Jeff Jai ob•, ifyor d