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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-15-12 WSCITY OF LAKEVILLE COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES October 15, 2012 Mayor Bellows called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. in the Marion Conference Room of Lakeville City Hall. Council Members Present: Mayor Mark Bellows, Laurie Rieb, Kerrin Swecker, Matt Little, Colleen LaBeau Staff Present: Steve Mielke, City Administrator; Dennis Feller, Finance Director, Allyn Kuennen, Associate Planner; Chris Petree, Public Works Director; John Hennen, Interim Parks and Recreation Director; Judi Hawkins, Deputy Clerk 2. Citizen comments There were no citizen comments. 3. Vision Consultant Recommendation Associate Planner Allyn Kuennen stated that respondents to a visioning planning process RFP sent out in August felt the project could not be completed within the stated budget of $30,000. Since the visioning planning project is within the guidelines of allowed uses for CDBG funds, an additional $30,000 of CDBG funding was added to the allowed budget and a revised RFP was sent out in September. Three proposals were received and analyzed: StanTec Consulting's proposal was $59,714; Northland Securities' was $60,000 or less; and Craig Rapp Consulting's proposed cost was $58,950. Rapp suggests the plan be done in three phases which would include forming a visioning task force, conducting a community survey, holding town hall meetings, offering an educational series, and using specialized sub - consultant resources. Staff believes Rapp's proposal fulfills the RFP requirements and is the most comprehensive. References have been checked with other communities that have contracted similar projects with Mr. Rapp and they all had positive comments regarding his work. Staff is recommending a contract with Craig Rapp be brought back to Council for consideration at a November meeting. A kickoff meeting with Council could also be scheduled in November. Following a contract, a task force could be assembled with the first meeting in January or February. Council Member Swecker stated that she has worked with Craig Rapp previously as a member of the Dakota County HiPP group. As a consultant to HiPP Mr. Rapp was very thorough and did a good job. Council Member Little asked if the national citizen survey (NCS) was a tool that had been used by Lakeville before so that results can be compared. Mr. Mielke stated that the NCS results can be used to compare Lakeville with other cities across the state City Council Work Session October 15, 2012 Page -2- and across the nation. The survey system was set up in conjunction with this company and has some standardized questions regarding quality and effectiveness of services. The task force can customize the survey to the project and the type of information they expect to collect. Lakeville has used Decision Resources for community surveys in the past. Little asked what the cost was of just the survey. Kuennen stated the cost is $10,300 based on the number of questions that will be asked. The mailed survey will go to 1,200 residences which will then get a follow -up phone call. Little asked if any of this could be done by City staff. Mielke stated that there are benefits to having someone unknown to the community conduct the survey. Mielke added that staff time is not readily available to work on the survey. Staff will be involved in providing a "then & now" perspective. Council Member LaBeau believes there will be a good deal of staff time utilized in providing information to the consultant. Mielke stated that Craig Rapp's personnel are specifically trained for this. Little is concerned because of the low turnout for the budget open houses that it will be difficult to engage residents to be involved. He believes it would be beneficial to offer additional social media outlets. Mielke stated that use of social media by the City has been discussed for some time and this might be a good reason to move forward. Staff is currently working on policy criteria for social media. Council Member Rieb believes that residents are content with insignificant increases in taxes and are not motivated to attend budget meetings; however, this might be something in which they would like to be involved. Swecker feels that if people are invited, they might get involved for the first time. Swecker and LaBeau both stated they had positive experiences when they were involved on community task forces in the 1990s projecting growth and prioritizing community needs and wants. Little is concerned with costs and believes the results of the survey could be skewed if opinions of younger residents are not included. He hopes to have recipients receive the survey in a manner in which they typically receive data, such as social media, and would like to include this in the task force discussions. Kuennen stated that the consultant will be including participation in the schools. Mayor Bellows asked what will happen to the project with a potential change in the Council; in order to stay on the proposed timeline it is important to move forward with contract approval. Mielke suggested informing council candidates of the project and delaying task force recruitment until potential new council members take office so they will have involvement. A list of potentially interested task force members could begin to be compiled now. Council directed staff to place the contract with Craig Rapp on the November 19, 2012 regular agenda and to invite any council -elect to the presentation by Mr. Rapp prior to that meeting. City Council Work Session October 15, 2012 Page -3- 4. Continue 2013 -2014 Department Budget Review Dennis Feller provided a summary of items that were not discussed at the September 10 budget work session. Mayor and Council: Council Member LaBeau asked for clarification and if there were any guidelines for how the Mayor and Council were to use their $750 expense account, i.e., if the expense needed to be City related. Mielke stated there is no formal policy other than it needs to be a legal expenditure. It is at each Council member's discretion to use for expenses they feel are appropriate, including registration fees, dues, mileage, etc. Swecker stated that an unwritten guideline is that an expense associated with a Council member representing the City is acceptable. Staff will include this item on the January work session agenda for further discussion. Committee and Commissions: Budget is increasing by $15,752 due to the method of recording overtime and expenses for Pan -O -Prog. LaBeau suggested businesses be asked to contribute to Pan -O -Prog. Mielke stated that businesses already are big supporters of the events and it becomes difficult to maintain the current levels. Babe's and the VFW reimburse the City for additional police overtime. City Administration: An Assistant City Administrator position is requested in the budget. This would be a supervisory position as opposed to a project -based position and is being discussed further with the Personnel Committee. City Clerk: Reduction reflects the absence of election judge expenses in 2013. Capital Outlay is for new voting equipment. Planning: The largest increase is for personnel services and reflects the return of the part-time Assistant to the City Administrator to a fulltime Planner. Community and Economic Development: There is a decrease under Other Charges due to the marketing strategies being reduced. This is reimbursed by the Communications Fund. Little asked Olson about the Economic Development Fund from the 1990s. Olson stated that there are funds which were retained from a State Economic Development loan received on behalf of New Morning Windows. Olson provided a background of the various funds and allowable options for disbursement. Inspections: Inspections Dept. unemployment obligations will be completed by the end of 2012. Electrical inspections are now contracted. Capital outlay is for replacement of vehicles. General Government Facilities: This will be a budget amendment following sale of the former senior center. Snowplowing and maintenance at the Heritage Library is included. Swecker asked what the former public works facility is used for. Feller stated that the 25,000 sq. ft. building is used for storage of out of season and DWI confiscated vehicles, and is at capacity. City Council Work Session October 15, 2012 Page -4- Finance: Changes are the result of COLA. The DCC contract with Motorola is being voided. A consultant will be hired to assist with the RFP process for a replacement. Information Systems: Swecker asked for clarification on Laserfiche. Danny Barth stated that the proposed system would improve the work flow for Police reports. This is a one -time expense with an annual maintenance cost. Human Resources: Increases are for COLA for three existing employees, software for employment applications; schools and conferences; and additional organization -wide trainings. The Personnel Committee will receive the study of the private sector wages when it is completed. Insurance: Swecker asked for a breakdown of overall LOGIS expenses. Mielke stated that there are many areas where LOGIS pertains in addition to software support. General Fund Revenues: 2012 building permit revenues will be approximately double the original estimate. The Finance Committee reviewed investment policies earlier in 2012 and made suggestions to staff. General Fund Balances: For 2013 it is estimated the general fund balance will be $9,500,000 or 44.8 %; in 2014 the estimate is $9,425,000, or 43.6 %. Both are within the Fund Balance policy range of 40 -50 %. Swecker asked for a 10 -year breakdown of fund balance ratios. Communications Fund: Capital Outlays includes Phase I upgrade to the Water Treatment Facility meeting room. Swecker asked whether the HD signal in the budget was the responsibility of the City or Charter. Staff will check on this in the agreement. Capital Improvement Fund: Includes street reconstruction and the 50/60 roundabout. LaBeau asked whether the Holyoke /Highview project has been taken out of the 2013 budget. Mielke stated that Council approved putting this in the preliminary budget. Bypass and turn lanes are interim improvements for control dust and safety. Council asked to have further discussions regarding this project. Building Fund: Includes irrigation systems at the Heritage Center and Arts Center Capital Improvement Projects: Major expense is the ABLE fire training facility Utility Funds: Lakeville continues to have one of the lowest water rates in the Metro area. Staff is not recommending any increase in water or sewer rates in 2013, but possibly in 2014. Revenues have increased with the use of the tiered water rates. 2013 charges for Street Lights are going up by $.15 per residential unit per quarter to pass along the increased for electrical costs. Internal Service Funds: A change in LMC insurance rate structure will likely increase the City's premiums next year. LMC has not yet notified the cities of their new rates. City Council Work Session October 15, 2012 Page -5- 5. Review responses to September 20 budget work session Initiatives related to reducing the 2013 budget and related tax levy were outlined in the memo from the Finance Department. 6. Budget Options / Debt Council members were asked to consider options for funding major 2013 projects, including 190 Street improvements, equipment fund, and major maintenance. Previous philosophy has been to create stability in tax levies so there are not major fluctuations, and to mitigate the use of debt if possible so as not to result in future levy increases. The 2013 tax levy increase of 2.7% and the 2014 increase of 3% as shown in the preliminary budget would be relatively stable. The 2013 tax levy would be reduced if debt is issued and cash on hand is used to pay for the projects. However, the increased debt would result in a spike in the 2014 tax levy since it would also include interest costs. These options were discussed by the Finance Committee and the members were divided on the issue. Council Members Swecker and Rieb are in favor of a pay -as- you -go policy, even though the City would benefit from the current favorable interest rates. They do not support transferring liability to the future and increasing interest costs. These options will be discussed further at a future work session. 7. Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jud Hawkins, Deputy City Clerk -0f 'C &,- Mark Bellows, Mayor