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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-27-2021CITY OF LAKEVILLE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES September 27, 2021 1. Mayor Anderson called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Members present: Mayor Anderson, Council Members Hellier, Bermel, Lee, and Volk Members absent: None. Staff present: Justin Miller, City Administrator; Allyn Kuennen, Assistant City Administrator; Dave Olson, Community & Economic Development Director; Kati Bachmayer, Economic Development Coordinator; Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director; Daryl Morey, Planning Director; Julie Werner, Assistant Finance Director EDC members present: Bob Gillen, Don Seiler, Jack Matasosky, Jessica Christiansen, Jim Emond, Lowell Collman Planning Commission members present: Patty Zuzek, Jeff Witte, Christine Zimmer, Karl Drotning, Jason Swenson, Pat Kaluza 2. Strategic Plan for Economic Development Discussion (Submitted by Kati Bachmayer) Community & Economic Development Director David Olson explained the purpose of the Strategic Plan for Economic Development Discussion. The City Council, Economic Development Commission (EDC) and Planning Commission were brought together to review the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan for Economic Development, which was adopted in March 2020 weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the significant impact of the pandemic on Lakeville businesses and the local economy, it was determined that the City should revisit the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan to ensure that it accurately reflected the City's goals in a post -pandemic economic environment. Craig Rapp with Rapp Consulting Group was introduced to facilitate the discussion. Mr. Rapp reviewed the Envision Lakeville Community Values (Diversified Economic Development, Design That Connects the Community and A Home for All Ages and Stages of Life) and the Envision Lakeville Strategic Priorities (Increase Economic Sustainability and Development a Community of Choice) that were most pertinent to the evening's conversation. Horizon issues and key takeaways from the Envision Lakeville discussion were reviewed and then a brief overview by City staff of the current Strategic Plan priorities and economic development activity that occurred in the City in 2020 and so far in 2021 was presented. The four strategic priorities in the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan for Economic Development are Business Retention, Expansion and Diversification; Maximize and Market Our Competitive Edge; Housing to Support Our Economic Goals; and City Council Work Session Minutes, September 27, 2021 Page 2 Workforce Availability and Utilization. The bulk of the discussion revolved around multi -family housing and its availability to support workforce needs. Attendees also reflected on their roles as "deciders" or "advisors" and where/how those roles align. Mr. Rapp concluded the meeting stating that 1) the Economic Development Commission will take this feedback and revisit the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan for Economic Development, 2) the groups (City Council, Economic Development Commission and Planning Commission) will engage in increased exchange of ideas and/or feedback to promote understanding related to decision-making and 3) pro -active work will be done by staff to help the groups understand the existing conditions/constraints and how they align with our community's future goals. Regular Work Session meeting agenda begins at 6.26 p.m. 3. Moment of Silence and Flag Pledge 4. Citizen Comments None. 5. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Update Ms. Erickson provided an update on the Enterprise Resource Planning System following approval by the Council in May 2021 to hire Berry Dunn McNeil & Parker, LLC (BerryDunn) to perform a Needs Assessment of the City's current software system and business procedures. As part of the process, department staff were asked to participate in a Needs Assessment web survey focused on "identifying, defining, evaluating, and planning for replacement strategies and alternatives related to the current ERP, Utility Billing, and Community Development systems." The results of that Needs Assessment were compiled into a 62 -page report; included in the Council's packet was an executive summary/ overview of those findings. Following the Needs Assessment, BerryDunn issued an RFI to solicit information from sixty-six vendors that included the project background, scope of work, completion timelines, and costs. Not all companies were software vendors - some were implementation specialists while others only provided a portion of the software functionality needed; however, the RFI was intended for planning and budgeting purposes to determine what is available in the market and to obtain estimated costs. There were some vendors who did not submit information because it was not a full RFP. Staff also included background on how much the City currently pays for these services with LOGIS and is seeking Council feedback on whether to implement a new ERP system using a consultant, or to continue working within the LOGIS consortium. Matt Tremblay, with BerryDunn, was online to answer Council questions. City Council Work Session Minutes, September 27, 2021 Page 3 The Council clarified whether LOGIS solicits to the same vendors as the City, specifically what functions/ software LOGIS currently provides, capability to City -host some of these services, functional areas proposed, prioritization within the Needs Assessment, the potential for vendors to integrate together to encompass the City's needs, maintenance cost schedule for both City - hosted and SaaS deployment, and reviewed several tables included in the RFI Summary Memo. Staff also outlined which services would continue to be administered through LOGIS apart from the ERP process, advantages/ disadvantages to the LOGIS consortium, and provided an overview of the remaining RFP process should the City choose to proceed in that direction. The Council directed staff/ BerryDunn to move forward with the RFP, and in the interim asked staff to research what software systems/ solutions other comparative cities are using nation-wide for reference. 6. Utility Rate Structure Study Ms. Erickson provided brief background on the Utility Rate Structure Study which was proposed following Council discussion last fall on the City's Fee Schedule update. At that time the Council reviewed the utility rates and approved different increases for the various levels based on water consumption tiers; there was also discussion on the City's Senior Discount Program. In May 2021, the Council approved Northland Securities conducting another Utility Rate Study that would examine conservation/ environmental goals and review historical consumption data to develop a water rate structure consistent with the City's policies/ revenue. Tammy Omdal and Jessica Green from Northland Securities provided preliminary results of the study which included: the current rate structure volumes/ customers, proposed rate structure volumes/ customers, impact of proposed rate structure on customers, current rate structure subsidies, and comparison of water services with other cities. Ms. Omdal and Ms. Green also included a breakdown of the pros/ cons to a utility rate change which would see benefits such as promoting water conservation through equitable rate charges, but also variances in who would pay less or the same, versus more. The proposed rate structure does not include subsidies based on age. To allow sufficient time to communicate the proposed changes to customers, Northland Securities and City staff recommend delaying the rate structure implementation until 2023. Implementation could also be impacted by how much time it would take LOGIS to incorporate the rate structure changes in the system, any needed testing, as well as the ERP timing/ software completion. The Council reviewed the proposed rate structure changes and confirmed the water usage rates & tiers, communication/ education ideas for resident's to forecast what their utility bills would be based on consumption under the new structure, method in which comparable cities charge for water usage, conservation resources that can be offered to residents, how the "essential level" of water consumption was determined, and what best practices were factored into the tier levels. City Council Work Session Minutes, September 27, 2021 Page 4 The Council also discussed upfront SAC and WAC new development fees, irrigation systems - specifically within commercial/ industrial/ institutional, separate irrigation meter requirements, and talked extensively about the senior discount program as well as the importance to incentivize water conservation with higher consumption users. Ms. Omdal outlined the proposed next steps in the Utility Rate Structure Study process: • October 25, 2021 - preliminary draft report and recommendations presented at Council Work Session • November 1, 2021 - final draft report and recommendations presented at Council Meeting • Spring/ Summer 2022 - City will communicate to customers proposed rate/ structure changes for water and sanitary sewer services • December 2022 - City Council will adopt rate/ structure for implementation beginning First Quarter 2023 Preliminarily the Council expressed an interest in further exploring the proposed rate structure. Staff will bring this item back to the October Work Session meeting to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the rate tiers, examining water and sewer separately, and over a quarterly period (versus annual). 7. Items for Future Discussion None. 8. Committee/ City Administrator Updates Council Member Lee attended the Personnel Committee where they talked about union contract negotiations, non-union compensation plan increases, rising health insurance rates, and COVID- 19 leave/ vaccination incentive policies. He also attended the 1-35W Solutions committee meeting that reviewed the legislative priorities they have accomplished and next steps with respect to the next legislative session. Finally, the Fire Relief Board proposed contracting a third - party entity to review their investment account, increasing pension benefits provided to firefighters, and discussed equipment replacement needs. Council Member Bermel indicated there is a proposal by the Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC) to create an Airlake Airport Advisory Commission comprised of representatives from the airport, Lakeville, Farmington, Eureka Township, and Dakota County. City Administrator Miller provided an update on the "Cultivate a Sense of Community" taskforce who is presently working on a meeting schedule - the next meeting will be held at City Hall on Tuesday, October 5, 2021. City Council Work Session Minutes, September 27, 2021 Page 5 Assistant City Administrator Kuennen reported that MetroNet is interested in moving forward with a franchise agreement with the City and provided an update on agreement negotiations with both Charter and Frontier Communications. Mr. Kuennen also indicated that all three companies have previously expressed concerns with the City's current requirement to bury telecommunications lines 36 inches in the right-of-way. City Engineer Zach Johnson researched comparative cities and determined the standard is 24 inches - staff will bring forward an ordinance amendment to change this requirement to a future City Council meeting. Mayor Anderson indicated the MLC is presently beginning work on their legislative session agenda and priorities. 9. The meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, allace, Deputy City Clerk Douglas P. Anderson, Mayor