HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-27-18 WSCITY OF LAKEVILLE
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES
August 27, 2018
1. Mayor Anderson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Lake Marion Conference Room.
Members present: Mayor Anderson, Council Members Davis, Hellier, LaBeau, and Wheeler
Members absent: None
Staff present: Justin Miller, City Administrator; Allyn Kuennen, Assistant City Administrator;
David Olson, Community & Economic Development Director; Neil Normandin, Interim Public
Works Director; Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director; Ralph Vetter, Information Systems Manager;
Zach Johnson, City Engineer
Technology workgroup members present: Dr. John Ricketts, Distinguished Engineer with IBM
Corporate Strategy (Retired); Mike Reardon, Communications with City of St. Paul (Retired);
Josh Ruegg, IT Liaison Office of Information Technology with University of Minnesota; and
Ellen Kroehler, VP -Technology & Business Information Security Officer with Thomson Reuters
2. Citizen Comments: There were no citizen comments.
3. Technology Workgroup
The Lakeville Technology Workgroup was established in 2017 to identify opportunities and make
recommendations to improve City services through technology. The group is comprised of nine
community members with various backgrounds in information technology ranging from
strategy, leadership, implementation, management, and use; and includes two members from
Lakeville's local high schools.
Over the past year, the group has worked to identify long term priorities in the use and expansion
of technology, particularly looking at: City services and City information systems, the Dakota
County Broadband Network initiative, and future technology opportunities for the City's Youth.
Within each of these categories, the group performed a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats) to identify common themes, areas of opportunity, and weaknesses.
Mr. Vetter presented the report findings; some of the recommendations included: implementing
a technology review process as part of the City Strategic Plan, investing in Sharepoint,
minimizing manual processes, improving training, developing a City Task Force to explore how
much the City should invest in the C -Net, utilizing social media or developing a separate portal
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on the City's website with student directed content, as well as creating clubs/ organizations geared
to obtain feedback from students on their technology needs.
Michelle Volk, 16452 Kenosha Avenue West
Wondered if the City does an audit of the technology to ensure it is being used properly and in
the most cost-efficient way.
Joshua Lee, 20678 Kaiser Way
Wanted clarification on how the portal/website geared towards students could potentially work;
and gave the suggestion of a single site or app where residents could take care of all city fees.
The Council thanked the workgroup for the report, discussed the recommendations presented,
and identified some priorities such as: cyber -attacks, security assessments in city infrastructure
such as the Water Treatment Facility or pumping stations, the implementation of a separate
business -orientated taskforce, finding opportunities in which the city could be a pilot for a
particular technology, and integrating student focused posts into the current City's social media
platform. The workgroup plans to resume meeting in September 2018 through May 2019 to
review the priorities identified by the Council.
4. Transportation Update
Mr. Normandin provided a transportation update which included the following construction
projects: County Road 50, additional paving North of 192"d, County Road 50 reconstruction
from Dodd to Cedar Avenue, 2018 Miscellaneous roadway repairs, 2018 Street Reconstruction
project, Kenyon Avenue, Holyoke Avenue improvements, feasibility reports for the 2019 Street
Reconstruction/ Hamburg Avenue projects, and the Country Road 70 reconstruction.
5/6. 2019 Preliminary Budget and Levy; Equipment, Facilities, and Revised Transportation CIP
Ms. Erickson provided an overview of the proposed 2019 property tax levy, property tax
supported funds, revenue and expenditure changes in the General Fund, and the impact on the
median home and fund balance reserves. Ms. Erickson also outlined the remaining areas of the
CIP Preview which included environmental resources, facilities, equipment, and reviewed several
changes to transportation within the budget.
The 2019 property tax levy considers the City's growth, inflation, personnel needs, commodities,
replacement of vehicles, maintenance of facilities, and debt service; and is comprised of the
general fund, street reconstruction, pavement management, building, equipment, park and trail
improvements, and debt service funds. The proposed 2019 tax levy is an 8.0% increase over the
2018 tax levy which reflects an estimated tax capacity rate of 1.8% less than 2018, the lowest tax
rate since 2010. The significant increase in the 2019 debt service level was due to one-time funds
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utilized in 2018 that are no longer available in 2019, and the first levy coming due for City issued
bonds for the 2018 Street Reconstruction projects.
Joshua Lee, 20678 Kaiser Way
Wondered if there is a benefit to increasing the property tax levy above what is necessary in 2019
so there is not such a drastic jump in the levy in years forward. Also wanted clarification on
whether the City is ready for the necessary requirements associated with body cameras.
Bob Egan, 17601 Glasgow Way
Felt the finance committee report was very well put together and easy to understand but
expressed he does not feel the City should assume any costs associated with the maintenance of
county roads as they presently have no debt.
The Council discussed several concerns and questions including upcoming road construction
projects, necessary facility improvement, changes in the fees, personnel needs, how the
expansion/ construction of Antlers Park, East Community Park, and Avonlea impact the debt.
The Council expressed general apprehension with the 8.0% increase in the tax levy, but
preliminarily did not feel there were drastic ways to make cuts within the budget. The Council
decided to hold a special work session meeting on September 10 to further discuss the ability to
reallocate funds for the implementation of body cameras and replacement of squad cameras.
7. Committee/ City Administrator Updates
Mr. Miller indicated the September 24 work session meeting may be cancelled due to lack of
agenda items. The Parks & Recreation department is presently going through the master plan
process for Avonlea & East Community and they anticipate a resident survey going out within
the week to gain feedback and input on the project.
Council Member Davis indicated the next personnel meeting would be in September.
Council Member Wheeler indicated there are two new board members who have joined the
Arenas Board.
8. The meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
IVO I VVU
Tam Wallace, Deputy City Clerk Douglas P. Anderson, Mayor