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Home My WebLink About03-21-15 WSCITY OF LAKEVILLE CITY COUNCIL RETREAT MINUTES March 21, 2015 Mayor Little called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. in the Marion Conference Room at City Hall. Members Present: Mayor Little, Council Members Anderson, Davis, Swecker, and LaBeau. Staff present: Justin Miller, City Administrator; Allyn Kuennen, Assistant City Administrator; Brett Altergott, Parks and Recreation Director 1. Envision Lakeville Discussion The council discussed the Envision Lakeville process and ways to keep it up to date and incorporate it into city activities. The council then discussed each "Key Initiative" individually: Increase Economic Sustainability • LaBeau suggested that follow-up meetings be held with groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, seniors, etc. and to re-engage the taskforce. • Anderson wants to integrate the plan and make it "business as usual' and to have reports made to the council, possibly twice per year. • LaBeau would like to see a review of development fees, and Anderson suggested they be looked at in concert with current rates to establish a "total cost of ownership" comparison. • Davis agreed with reviewing development fees and suggested that this would be a good task for the Economic Development Commission. • Little agreed that fee waivers could be a useful tool but would want to see long term impact of such incentives. • LaBeau suggested having a banker included on the fee review discussion to provide input on start-up financing issues. Support Quality Education • Anderson inquired about how we can better communicate with all school districts in the city and stated that school boundaries will be an important issue to monitor. • LaBeau suggested adding the school district to the Business Bullets mailing list and also encouraged the district to re-evaluate their two-mile bus policy. • Swecker stated that we need to be proactive in developing lists of industries and businesses that we would like to attract and encourage job fairs. • LaBeau noted the lack of available workforce in certain trades. • Little suggested working with local businesses to establish a used equipment program, where tools no longer needed could be provided to the schools for training. He also stated this could be a topic for the yet to be established technology taskforce. City Council Retreat March 21, 2015 Develop a Community of Choice Page -2 - • LaBeau noted that we have been successful in attracting senior apartments, but we possibly need to look at senior ownership options, such as condos. • Anderson noted the demographic statistics in the parks master plan and the impacts of the community aging. • Little suggested that a discussion on height restrictions/zoning be looked at with the planning and economic development commissions. • Swecker noted that we have been flexible in the past in regards to high density options. Cultivate a Sense of Community • Little noted the need to attract people to live downtown. • Anderson noted the need to improve transportation system in the downtown area. • Davis suggested that we revisit the downtown development standards previously established. • Swecker suggested looking at the possibility of allowing downtown residents to convert their properties to retail uses. • LaBeau noted that many in the northern part of the city do not come south to the downtown area. • Anderson noted the need to create a collective vision of what the downtown area's long term vision is. Provide Services That Add Value • Davis encouraged the continued use of benchmarks in budgeting and other areas of city operations. • Swecker also added that there is a continued need for succession planning within city departments. 2. Parks, Trails, and Open Space Master Plan Discussion Staff and the city council discussed the revised draft of the 2015 Parks, Trails, and Open Space Master Plan. After staff identified changes from the previous version, council had the following comments: • Anderson stated he felt better about this plan and also suggested that a broader conversation about the city's sidewalk/trail/streetlight policy be held, as well as a look at how to use the demographic information specifically relating to our aging community. • LaBeau stated that there is a need to educate the public on the budgeting needs for long- term maintenance of parks and playgrounds. • Little suggested that we distinguish between "parks" and "open space". • Anderson suggested that letting certain areas return to a more natural state (less maintained) be tried to see how parks areas are used. He also noted the need to identify the City Council Retreat March 21, 2015 Page -3 - need for safe roadway crossings and connections and to produce a chart that identifies number of fields by type (both public and private). • Davis stated his desire to continue to see progress on the business plan for the recreation side of the department and to look at a corridor management strategy. • Anderson echoed the need to place an importance on those areas that welcome visitors into our community. • LaBeau suggested the city reach out to groups who adopt roadways and inquire if they could perform more frequent pick-ups. • Little noted the need for a back-up plan if groups can't pick-up trash due to weather issues. • LaBeau asked about the trail plowing policy and Anderson noted the need to better communicate the policy to the public. 3. Economic Development Strategy The council began by noting the 2014-16 EDC Economic Development Strategic Plan and the progress made to date. • Little stated that the city is playing catch-up in regards to broadband/fiber deployment and transportation. • Anderson suggested that an aggressive push to expand County Road 70 from I-35 to Farmington could be a significant economic development tool. • Swecker noted the need to identify a master plan for the Fairfield Business Park. • Little suggested partnering with Farmington to push for an expanded CR 70. • Davis noted the heavy student traffic on CR 70, especially during peak school times. • Swecker suggested installing conduit with all projects to minimize future installation expenses. • Little suggested the creation of an outreach team that could quickly respond to potential leads, advocate for transit options from the Kenrick Park and Ride to the industrial park, and to support housing in the industrial park area. • LaBeau suggested asking employers to let the city know where their employees are commuting from. • Anderson stated his desire to place more pressure on Dakota County for an expanded County Road 70 and invite our county commissioner to a meeting. • Davis suggested that the EDC provide an update on their Key Outcome Indicators during their annual report. 4. Other Items of Interest With formal items being finished, the council began to discuss other areas of interest. The first topic brought up was the 2016 budget: • Davis asked to start thinking about the budget process and inquired about Administrator Miller's preferred process. City Council Retreat March 21, 2015 Page -4 - • Swecker encouraged staff continuing to utilize technology to improve efficiencies. • Davis asked that there be a focus on return on investment and outcomes. • Anderson asked that staff look at things differently and to incorporate the Envision Lakeville process. • Little thought the overall tone of budgets in the future will most likely be one of "slow growth". • Davis suggested tasking the Finance Committee with a duty of "how to explain your property tax bill". • LaBeau asked that the council keep in mind what the school district does in regards to their levy and asked about the interest of the council in regards to a parks referendum. • It was consensus that discussion of a parks referendum was premature without identifying parks system needs. Other items of interest included: • Anderson asked for a calendar of important dates, especially as related to the budget and more consistent financial reports. • LaBeau also asked for more consistent reports, and Davis asked that good and bad information be shared. • LaBeau inquired about the council's thoughts on changing the term of Lakeville's mayor from a two to a four year term. All agreed to further discuss the topic. • The council also agreed to further review the council's expense accounts to address the growing number of meetings, dinners, etc. that they are attending. 15. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Justin Miller, City Adm'nistrato Matt Little, Mayor