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Home My WebLink About04-27-09 WS~ . • ~6 Minutes City of Lakeville Council Work Session Monday, April 2'], 2009 In attendance: Mayor Holly Dahl Council Member Laurie Rieb Council Member Mark Bellows Council Member Kerrin Swecker Staff: Steve Mielke, City Administrator Brian Anderson, Assistant to City Administrator Scott Nelson, Fire Chief Dennis Feller, Finance Director Dave Olson, Community & Economic Development Director The meeting was called to order at 5:3o p.m. Item 1. Planning Commission Interview Mr. John Barry was interviewed for a possible appointment to the Planning Commission. • Item 2. Fire Department Future Site Analysis Chief Nelson stated that staff has been directed to research the feasibility of the Fairfield water tower site for future construction of a fire station. Currently, there are two parcels earmarked for a future fire station in the Fairfield Business Campus. One site is located on the same parcel as the Fairfield water tower; the other is directly north across Kenrick Avenue, north of the water tower: Chief Nelson stated funding for building Fire Station #5 is delayed until economic conditions and development indicate there is a need. In 2oii, a space needs study is planned for the future build out of fire department facilities. This study should forecast a more specific timeframe for construction of Fire Station #5. Chief Nelson stated that either site is suitable for a fire station and that locating in the water tower site would allow the other parcel to be sold and developed for business use. City Council concurred that constructing the future fire station on the same parcel as the Fairfield water tower would be in the best interest of the City being there are no issues and it allows the City the option to sell the adjacent parcel. Item g. Sale of Excess Property -Fairfield Business Park Mr. Olson informed the Council that the City received a letter from ImageTrend a number of months ago regarding the possible sale of a City-owned property adjacent to ImageTrend's current building located at 20855 Kensington Blvd. ImageTrend is a software development company that started in Lakeville in ig98 with two employees and currently has over ioo fulltime salaried employees in their 33,000 square foot building. ImageTrend is continuing to grow its business to create jobs at their facility in Lakeville and anticipates the need for additional space to house these employees in the future. • The Cityhas not previously marketed this property for development as it was designated as a future fire station site. Based on the feasibility of a fire station being able to be located on this property, .staff feels that the City owned parcel adjacent to ImageTrend can be made available for development. Staff outlined potential terms and conditions of the possible sale. City Council concurred with staff and directed them to continue negotiations and bring forth a proposed sale agreement at an upcoming Council Meeting for consideration of approval. Item 4. FD Budget Options Review Chief Nelson informed the City Council that the fire department is dispatched to emergency medical calls according to the severity of the call. Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) classifies all calls fro "A" through "E", with "A" Alpha calls being the least severe and "E" echo calls being the most severe. We currently respond to medical calls that are classified as "D" Delta and "E" Echo. The proposed reduction in service would be to eliminate initial fire department response to Delta medicals. Currently the ambulance, police department and fire department are dispatched at the same time. Police and ambulance personnel typically arrive on scene first as they are already on-duty in-the city. Firefighters, on the other hand, respond from their homes and need to assemble at the station. after being paged. There have been times the fire department has been cancelled by police or Allina or not put to use at number of Delta calls.. • However, if the ambulance would be delayed, or if it was determined the fire department was needed to help (i.e. with patient care during transport to the hospital, or to move the patient from a difficult location, or to assist with CPR) the option to page the fire department, after evaluation by other emergency responders, would still be available. City Council directed staff to implement their recommendation but provide Council with an annual status report regarding its effectiveness. Chief Nelson stated that in 2003, the Minnesota State Legislature passed legislation giving cities authority to impose fees for emergency services, including fire protection. According to the League, many cities have passed ordinances charging fire fees and many more are considering this option. Inspection services primarily include fire safety inspections of commercial business properties. During inspections, fire inspectors walk through the businesses and advise the owner of any apparent fire safety issues. Focus is on life safety issues; those that may impact a person's survivability in the event of a fire. Priorities include making .sure exits are not blocked, ensuring fire detection and suppression systems are in working order, and the elimination of ignition sources such as frayed wiring and combustibles located too closet o a heat source. The Fire Department currently does not charge a fee for providing commercial fire inspections. This service is currently absorbed in the fire department budget which is funded through property taxes. There are approximately 875 businesses in Lakeville. Staff recommends charging a nominal fee for commercial fire inspections to help offset the cost of providing this important service to our business community. This fee would range from. • $50 - $i5o annually, depending on square footage and would be paid on a quarterly basis. The fire inspection fee could be added to the utility bills. The fire department would, at a • minimum, perform a fire safety inspection once every two years. Letters would be sent to businesses explaining the fee, the benefits of the inspection and implementation details. City Council directed staff to discuss this with the business community to see if they view this service as being valuable and if they would be willing to pay for the service. Item 5. Fire Relief Funding Update Mr. Feller stated that the precipitous degradation in the financial markets has had devastating effects on pension funds. If the current Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the Relief Association were to be executed for the coming year, benefit levels would need to be reduced by io-i5%. The prospect of reduced pension levels for a prolonged period of time is disconcerting to many firefighters. The Memorandum of Understanding is a moral obligation -not a binding contract. In order to reduce the benefit levels to satisfy the terms and conditions of the Memorandum, both the .City and the Fire Relief Association would need to approve the changes. As such there is a high probability that both parties will need to meet and confer on how to reestablish a framework for establishing benefit levels. There are many different possible financial scenarios depending on where financial markets will trend in the coming years. The solutions are therefore also variable depending on the financial structures selected. City Council stated the City should be open to negotiations and directed staff to allow the fire fighters to initiate the negotiations with the City. • Item 6.Other: a. Council Vacancy Appointment Process The Council briefly discussed the process for the vacant Council position as outlined in the packet. b. Council Board and Committee Appointments The Council briefly discussed the committee appointments and decided to hold off on several until the vacant Council position has been filled. c. Inter-agency Committee/Board Reports None d. Omnibus Tax Bill -Lodging Tax Option The Lakeville Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) have requested a formal position by the City Council in opposition to a proposal at the State legislature allowing cities to divert the current lodging taxes to the City. Additionally, the CVB has requested a proclamation for Tourism week. It was discussed that the proposed legislation in diverting revenues has been dropped and action by the Council is not needed. The Council agreed to the proclamation. e. DCC Presentation at Council Meeting After a brief discussion, Council decided that annual DCC presentations would be appropriate at future Council meetings. • Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, _. rian J. Anderson istant to City Administrator • •