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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-24-17CITY OF LAKEVILLE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES April 24, 2017 1. Council Member LaBeau called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Lake Marion Conference Room. Members present: Mayor Anderson (via video), Council Members Davis, LaBeau, Hellier, and Wheeler Members absent: None Staff present: Justin Miller, City Administrator; Allyn Kuennen, Assistant City Administrator; Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director; Dave Olson, Community & Economic Development Director; Daryl Morey, Planning Director; Chris Petree, Public Works Director; Brenda Visnovec, Liquor Operations Director; Tamara Wallace, Deputy City Clerk 2. Citizen Comments There were no citizen comments concerning non -agenda items. 3. Eureka Township Annexation Request Mr. Olson presented an application the City received from Progressive Resources, LLC for the annexation of a 21.80 acre parcel they own west of Airlake Airport, for the potential development of an industrial use building/ warehouse. It has not been a common practice of the City to consider or encourage annexation requests, having only approved a couple in the last 15 years; however, the parcel is less than 120 acres in size allowing it to be considered for annexation by City ordinance. Staff is concerned the acceptance of this application will set a precedent and expectation going forward. Council members clarified cost implications to the City to facilitate this development and why the applicant wants to build in Lakeville (versus Eureka Township). Mr. Duffy, attorney for Progressive Resources, LLC The applicant seeks to build the development in Lakeville to utilize local services/ resources, and to provide additional convenience for a client vendor they work with often. The cost of the infrastructure would primarily be shouldered by the developer, not the City. Lu Barfknecht, 24585 Iceland Path - Eureka Township City Council Work Session Minutes, April 24, 2017 Page 2 Present for informational purposes only as they are not aware of any discussions regarding the annexation of this development. Dan Rogers, 24403 Iceland Path - Eureka Township Clarified the only businesses allowed in Eureka Township are those that are agriculturally or horticulturally driven properties; there is no commercial or industrial zone within the township. The Council did not wish to advance this application forward at this time, and will look to possibly revisit it in the future as the Comprehensive Plan progresses. 4. Financial Advisory Committee Workplan Ms. Erickson presented potential topics of discussion for the 2017 Finance Committee meetings as part of a work plan to identify specific items that the Council would like feedback/ input on. These topics included: Debt service strategy, park dedication fees, sell/ lease back options, and utility rate study, and asked for Council direction on any other topics they would like to add. The Council thanked staff for their time in putting together a tentative workplan which will offer the Finance Committee a guide for future meetings. They agreed the equipment replacement schedule would be another topic to add to the workplan. Committee Vice -Chair Bruce Rydeen was in attendance to represent the committee and agreed the work plan was a good idea. 5. Advance Payable Authorization Under current procedure, the City Council receives a claims list of expenses/ invoices to review and authorize for payment. To comply with statutory obligations for when invoices are to be paid, and ultimately reduce postage and bank transaction fees as well as processing time, staff is working to improve payment procedures, noting some transactions have deadlines that are more time sensitive, and do not work within current payment timelines. Staff would like Council feedback on what level of payment authority they would like to delegate to the Finance Director. The Council discussed various items including whether the department still issued paper checks and the cost for doing so, delegating authority at a certain dollar amount or based on the specific transaction type, directing this item to the Finance Committee for their opinion, and finally reiterated the need to ensure the City is not paying invoices too quickly causing potential cash flow issues. The Council asked Staff to bring the revised policy back at the May work session meeting. 6. First Quarter and Preliminary Year -End Financial Review Ms. Erickson presented the first quarter 2017 financial report and a preliminary yearend 2016 financial report. The preliminary 2016 report shows the variances from the amended budget as City Council Work Session Minutes, April 24, 2017 Page 3 well as the budget estimate. Ms. Erickson provided a brief overview of the financial activities for the three- month period ended March 31, 2017. The estimated addition to the General Fund reserve at 12/31/2016 is $2.39 million. This results in a 55.9% fund balance ratio, which is higher than the 40-50% range established by City policy. Given an increase to the General Fund reserve was anticipated in 2016, Council previously approved a planned use of the reserves for one-time or long-term purchases as part of the 2017 budget. This eliminated the need to issue debt for equipment replacement, and could recalculate the fund balance ratio to be 50.3%. It is staff s position that the 2017 surplus in the budget will be utilized for one-time use in the 2018 budget to offset potential levy increases. The Council thanked staff for their work on preparing the financial analysis allowing the Council to see how these numbers impact the residents. 7. 2017 Bond Issuance Staff is looking at issuing debt for three projects: the 2017 Street Reconstruction which the City has awarded a contract on, the Holyoke Avenue Improvements as well as the 222°d Street and Utility Improvements (Launch Park) which each reflect preliminary numbers. Based on these preliminary numbers, staff is estimating about a $500,000 increase on the debt service tax levy for 2018; staff is also looking to issue debt for the water operating fund. Dave MacGillivray with Springsted outlined potential refunding opportunities available to the City for the 2007H Street Reconstruction, 2009 Tax GO Street Reconstruction, and 2007 Liquor Revenue Bonds. The Council clarified the City's current credit rating, what considerations Moody's Investors Service's uses to determine this rating, and how it could be potentially impacted by issuing debt or moving forward with refunding opportunities. The Council was in support of staff further exploring refunding options available. 8. Food Trucks At the February 27 work session meeting, staff was directed to draft options on how food trucks could come in to the City, and under what guidelines. Mr. Morey and Mr. Olson reviewed the allowance of food trucks in the Industrial, Commercial, Residential, C -CBD districts of the City, as well as City parks, and provided recommendations for each based on customer traffic, adjacent businesses, and current licensing, permitting, and regulatory requirements. Based on an evaluation of neighboring cities, staff presented potential ordinance adoption options for Council consideration including perimeters for hours of operation, application processing options, and fees. City Council Work Session Minutes, April 24, 2017 John Erickson - Owner, Angry Inch Brewery Page 4 Commented that the $500 proposed annual permit should be distinguished between the streets and the parks, and agrees food trucks should not be allowed right on Holyoke Avenue due to parking constraints. They would like consideration of the food trucks being allowed on Upper 20811 near the outdoor patio for ease of access to their customers. He is fine with an end time of 10:00 p.m., and is also fine with an April - October timeframe, but would like the ability to apply for one-time use in other months. Marty Ritchie, Owner Heavy Metal Grill In his opinion, food trucks should be reserved for the parks only. Food trucks in the middle of seven food businesses in downtown is unethical and they do not belong out of respect for the owners who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their brick and mortar businesses. The Council discussed several factors in bringing food trucks into the city including traffic and noise level concerns, potential hours of operation, fees, allowable locations, public safety and liability concerns, city parks, and initially how many events each vendor should be allowed to move forward cautiously allowing adjustments in procedure as needed. Staff was given direction to bring forward a specific outline of options for food trucks on public and private parking lots and in downtown only at the May 22 work session, to put this forward for Council vote at the June 5 meeting. 9. Kenrick Liquor Store Retail Expansion Options Mr. Kuennen and Ms. Visnovec presented a proposal from a national retailer interested in constructing an addition to the Kenrick Store on the south side of the building for their use. Staff has recently reviewed their proposal, evaluating site conditions, parking needs, traffic circulation, and the overall impact to the Kenrick store, and has determined there is enough space to expand the building for two additional retail spaces; one on the south as proposed, and another on the north. The Liquor Committee recently reviewed the proposal and recommended to either enter into a sale/ leaseback arrangement for the entire property, or to retain the liquor store portion of the site and sell the north and south ends of the property to an investor. The Council briefly discussed impact to the store during construction, and thanked staff for their creativity in thinking outside the box on the potential for this project. The Council would like to go out for Request for Proposal (RFP) on both options and make a determination at that time. 10. Holyoke Streetscape Update After completion of the feasibility report for the Holyoke Avenue Improvement Project, the City Staff and DLBA subcommittee have reviewed the concept plans with WSB & Associates and HKGI, and have chosen a final concept. Mr. Petree presented the updated cost estimates, which include moving the Holyoke Avenue north of CSAH 50 to 2019, coinciding with future scheduled City Council Work Session Minutes, April 24, 2017 Page 5 improvements. Staff is looking at a tentative timeline to advertise for bids on May 5 with a bid opening on June 2, declare the costs at the June 19 Council Meeting, and set the assessment hearing date/ contract award on July 17. The City Council discussed what the City's maintenance commitment would be for the project, and discussed which lights to purchase with the $440,000 proposed budget - the current acorn high pressure sodium lights or a switch to LED which offers a longer lifespan. Nancy Smith, 19127 Orchard Trail Primarily concerned with consistency of the lighting fixtures on Holyoke for the overall look. The Council chose to move forward with LED lights for the future cost savings to the City. The Council also reviewed how the $250,000 streetscape grant awarded by the Dakota County CDA could be used towards the downtown area; ultimately determining it would first be allocated to anticipated overages in the street light cost, and the remainder would go to benefit taxpayers as a whole and reducing the front foot assessment to Holyoke business owners. 11. Committee/ City Administrator Updates Mr. Miller reported that the Watershed Clean-up Day on Saturday, May 6 was very successful - Mr. Petree added there were 1500 volunteers and over 900 attending the Earth Day event. Currently to date the city has sold approximately 300 trees/ shrubs. The first meeting of the indoor athletic facility taskforce was held a few weeks ago and was well attended with great input; staff is in the process of scheduling the second meeting. Mr. Kuennen provided an update on the technology taskforce; still looking for additional applicants for residential or the development community, as well as just Lakeville residents. 12. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m. Deputy City Clerk Douglas P. Anderson, Mayor