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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-25-2008 Council Work Session Minutes Orono City Council Committee of the Whole November 25, 2008, 6:15 p.m. Orono City Council Chambers Present: Council Members Cynthia Bremer, Lili McMillan, Jim Murphy; Council Member- Elect Doug Franchot; City Administrator Bill Wells, Finance Director Ron Olson, Assistant City Administrator for Long-Term Strategy Mike Gaffron, City Clerk Lin Vee, City Attorney Soren Mattick, City Engineer Tom Kellogg 1. Long Lake Fire Department Update—James Van Eyll, Fire Chief, and D.J. Goman, Assistant Chief of Operations a. Handouts were distributed to reflect the following: i) Statistics and breakdown of calls for 2007 and January 1 to September 30, 2008 (1) Call volume is down for 2008 ii) Budget allocation iii) Budget revisions (1) Part-time administrative position eliminated b. Council agreed that the position of full-time Fire Chief has been a positive addition. c. The recent practice fire on ivy Place went well. These types of burns provide an excellent training tool. d. Chief Van Eyll commented that he approves of not requiring a permit for recreational fires as long as rules are published and well-known. The phone system at the Fire Department has a designated line for calls related to burning permits. 2. Presentation— Senior Housing at 875 Wayzata Boulevard West a. Charlie Thomas, property owner, Brian Winges and Rufino Lorenzo, Comforts of Home, provided information about a conceptual proposal for a senior assisted living and memory care facility. i) This would be a low impact, 44-bed facility where no one drives. Low traffic is generated with only family, visitors and 3-10 employees who drive to the facility. ii) Their facilities specialize in memory care/Alzheimer's and high acuity-24 hour care. iii) They have no request for TIF or special considerations for tax reductions. iv) They are typically located along main thoroughfares. Some locations include Champlin, Blaine, Maplewood, White Bear Lake, and North Branch. The units usually fill up in 3 months and stay full. v) The company was started 10 years ago in Wisconsin. These types of facilities are financed in several different ways. vi) Rates are affordable with rental and care packages. Resident assessments are repeated every 60 days to ensure they are placed at the appropriate care level. vii) Rooms are simply designed so staff can easily monitor residents. Residents are encouraged to be outside their rooms. There are large common areas to facilitate group activities where families can also participate. viii) Medical transport is minimal; some in-house medical resources and services are included. ix) Building materials would probably include stone and Hardy siding with flexibility in colors. *Indicates Staff Action Item Page 1 b. Gaffron distributed a memo regarding the position of Met Council. i) Timing— If the City receives a Comp Plan amendment application by December 17, the application would go to the January PC meeting and the City could include in the 2030 Comp Plan amendment update to Met Council. c. Utilities for sewer and water would work on this site and could potentially be included with a Myrtlewood project. d. Council agreed this would be good site for this type of use. 3. Attorney Contract a. Contract Services and Rates i) In January of 2006 the rate was established for general work at $130/hour with the original contract. Discussion took place regarding rate increases in 2007 and 2008; however, the rates have not changed since 2006. The City has received a proposed contract with a rate at $145/hour. Historically the company adjusts rates in even years and honors for 2 years. ii) The City's budget process can be used to help determine how much time is needed and the funds available for attorney work. The City has the option to cut back on use of the attorney to address recession factors. Staff generally has sophisticated legal questions. b. Discuss Xcel Franchise Agreement and Casco Point Underground Utilities i) Basically two options exist for financing the underground utilities. (1) Special assessment procedure through the City. Although the underground utilities were not part of the original bond, the City could probably work this out with the bond company. The City would act as the bank, front the costs, and collect payments from Casco Point residents through a special assessment. Various methods could be used to determine the assessment for each individual property. (2) Negotiate cost as part of the Xcel Franchise Agreement. (a) Franchise agreements were originally used to monitor what went into right-of- ways and for maintenance of those utilities. The agreements were in ordinance format so they could be enforced with an expiration clause, often 20 years or more. Many communities are renegotiating these agreements or establishing their own right-of-way agreements. (b) The proposed agreement is another 20 year agreement and is basically a glorified right-of-way ordinance only for city streets. It governs location of new utilities, but not reconstructed or existing utilities. The City has been unable to come to agreement with Xcel. One of the terms the City wants included is to have Xcel utilities removed from the City right-of-way if they are abandoned. Xcel doesn't want to remove them for economic reasons. (c) City could refuse to sign the franchise agreement and pass its own right-of- way ordinance. The City could require Xcel to underground utilities with any new development or major reconstruction road project and require Xcel to allow other utilities to use the power poles. A potential downside is that Xcel would go to the Public Utilities Commission and ask for a rate adjustment that would affect the whole city. ii) Council has learned that undergrounding utilities only reduces the number of power outages on Casco Point by 10-15%. iii) Undergrounding utilities at this point is basically an aesthetic improvement. *Indicates Staff Action Item Page 2 iv) Check with Minnetonka Beach to see if they are making any progress in their efforts to underground utilities. v) Council determined that a neighborhood meeting should be scheduled on December lOt" at the Freshwater Center. Tom Kellogg and Soren will work on a letter with details about undergrounding utilities. Xcel representatives will be invited to attend to respond to resident questions. 4. Engineer's Report a. Contract Services and Rate i) Rates are proposed to increase by an average of 2.5%with no service changes. For 2008 there is an additional retainer rate that allowed for office hours. Tom and Bill will work together to develop a plan for something in addition to standard rates for 2009. ii) Council commented that working with the engineer during the City Administrator transition has worked well. City staff and Council have a strong working relationship with Tom Kellogg. iii) As with the City Attorney, the City has the option to cut back on use of the engineering services to address recession factors. b. Casco Point Draft Feasibility Report i) Brief discussion was held regarding the Feasibility Report. Council will review more closely and direct comments to Lin, lvee a,ci.orono.mn.us, to compile in the next week to 10 days. ii) The report can be brought to the next Council meeting for adoption with discussion about specific topics at the next work session. iii) The costs for street replacement in the feasibility report are similar to the original costs from Pavement Management Plan and are very close to the bond documents. As the street project was discussed, it made sense to look at replacing existing utilities under the street at same time. These costs were included in the report and increases the total costs. Currently there are not enough funds in sewer, water and stormwater funds to adequately cover the entire cost of sewer, water and stormwater improvements. iv) Replacement of sewer and water lines that are under the road and directly related to the street project could be included with work done as part of the bond funds. Sewer and water funds could then pay back costs to the debt service fund. v) Stormwater costs address issues of 35 —36 properties with problems. The stormwater fund would be depleted if all issues were addressed. Many of the stormwater issues could be scheduled for improvement at a later date. vi) Finance will work on options and a recommendation for financing additional costs for sewer, water and stormwater improvements. vii)The mill and overlay and street seal coat projects for 2008 costs were less than budgeted. An adjustment will be made to the Pavement Management Plan. 5. TNT Preparation by Finance a. Presentation for the Truth in Taxation Hearing includes the following main points: i) General fund increase of 2.95% ii) Flat revenues iii) Positions not filled— 3 iv) One of the lowest tax rates in the State *Indicates Staff Action Item Page 3 v) 50% of budget is related to police and fire vi) Include pie charts of expenditures and revenues vii) Property tax formula viii) Tax capacity rates b. Mayor White will lead the meeting. Ron Olson will use presentation materials as needed to address questions from the residents. 6. Review of Citizen Survey—Final Documents a. Summary and conclusions have been provided to Council. A full report will be copied and distributed to Council. b. Results of the study will be used by City departments. c. Employee survey results also need to be reviewed. 7. Finalize Work Session Dates for 2009 a. There is some benefit to work sessions on alternate weeks to help prepare for the next Council meeting. It is sometimes difficult for staff to prepare for two meetings in the same week. b. Council decided to continue with work sessions on the 2°d and 4�" Tuesdays of the month and will consider other options in 2009. The calendar will be amended if work sessions are rescheduled. *Indicates Staff Action Item Page 4