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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-24-08 WSMinutes City of Lakeville • City Council Work Session Monday, March 24, 2008 @ 5:3o p.m. City Council Chambers, Lakeville City Hall In attendance: Acting Mayor Mark Bellows and Council Members Wendy Wulff, Laurie Rieb, and Kerrin Swecker. Also in attendance: City Administrator Steve Mielke, Assistant to City Administrator Brian Anderson, Community and Economic Development Director Dave Olson, Police Chief Thomas Vonhof, Sergeant Tim Knutson, Officer Andy Hentges, and Operations. and Maintenance Director Don Volk. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. 1. Water Conservation Plan/Program Mr. Volk reviewed a plan to contract consulting services from Barr Engineering. to develop a Comprehensive Water Conservation Plan, which would be a first of its kind plan for the state of Minnesota. It is a document that Lakeville would be .able to use to guide, plan and implement .programs, strategies and new ordinances that will help encourage and provide incentives to conserve water. One of the reasons for doing this • now is the DNR has changed its focus i8o degrees from years past, with the current focus being on conservation, not just growth. Council Member Bellows raised concerns about the cost of the study and whether the City could implement strategies without hiring a consultant. Mr. Mielke asked Mr. Volk to have Barr Engineering itemize the hours in their proposal to justify the $75,000. Additional research will also be done for possible sources to supplement the cost. Councilmember Wulff stated. that with the City just starting the third tier for the rates and without having a chance to see how that will play out in terms of usage, waiting for a year before starting the plan should be considered. City Council agreed and directed staff to hold off on the study and bring it back after a year. 2. Eureka Annexation Update Mr. Olson reviewed the annexation request sent to Eureka Township. He stated that if it is the desire of the City Council to keep this annexation request moving forward in a timely manner, it is the recommendation of staff to notify the Township that if a response to the. proposed annexation is not received by the City by Tuesday, April 15th (approximately go days from when notice of the requested annexation was provided) that the City Council will initiate an annexation by ordinance process for the Hat Trick Investment property. Mr. Mielke stated that he spoke to another property owner south of the border who would like to attach his property to the city of Lakeville. He suggested that if there were an interest in attaching greater segments of lands to the city of Lakeville it is done in a more comprehensive approach, not one property at a time. City Council agreed with Mr. Olson and Mr. Mielke's proposals regarding both properties. Council Work Session Minutes March 24,2008 Page 2 • g. Patio Endorsement Ordinance Mr. Anderson stated that the Minnesota Legislature. adopted S.F. No. 238, the Freedom to Breathe Act, in May 200. The Freedom to Breathe Act prohibits smoking in places of employment, public places, and public transportation. It specifically sites bars and restaurants as being a place of employment as well as a public place by which smoking is prohibited indoors. However, it goes on to read that smoking is permitted outside of .restaurants, bars, and bingo halls... Some Lakeville restaurant owners have contacted the City with requests or inquiries in regard to creating and/or designating an outdoor patio as a permitted place to be able to smoke as well as sere food and alcohol. The ordinance is drafted in such a way that most of the current establishments with patios would comply with the ordinance, with a few minor exceptions involving possible minor code issues. The main elements of the ordinance address: patio location, hours of operation, fencing, ingress and egress, along with several other items. The proposed ordinance also includes additional restrictions for licensed establishments with patios that are or would be located. within i5o feet of residential. properties. There are seven restaurants that are affected by this. Mr. Anderson reviewed the proposed ordinance. Councilmember Swecker requested that the ordinance be clarified by adding language that indicates that parking • requirements must be met. City Council directed staff to bring forth the proposed patio ordinance at an upcoming City Council meeting for consideration of approval. 4. Liquor License Best Practices Police Chief Vonhof stated that the idea of a Best Practices Program is to encourage our license holders to take an active role to train their employees at the point of sale. He introduced Officer Andy Hentges who does TIPS training and Sergeant Tim Knutson who talked about the tobacco ordinance which already has a Best Practices element to it. Best Practices is a voluntary program offered to liquor establishments in the city.. The program would. offer incentives to the licensees to undertake certain practices believed to be helpful in avoiding sales to minors. The first benefit is the availability of training offered by specially trained officers to the establishment. The second benefit is a reduction in penalties if a violation occurs. There are four requirements of the program and an additional nine electives the license holder can choose from. A draft proposal has been completed that takes the information gathered and combines it with local expectations, as well as efforts that are already in place in the City of Lakeville. After discussion, it was agreed by Council that staff would revise the TIPS program and then receive feedback from the local businesses prior to bring it before the City Council for consideration of approval. Council Work Session Minutes March 24, 2008 Page g • 5. County. Road Cost Share Formula Mr. Mielke stated in an effort to gain knowledge about Dakota County's roadway cost sharing formula policy vs. other counties in the metro area, staff researched other counties policies and attempted to test those policies against areal-world project. Staff chose the County Road ~o / I-35 project, since it is a project which encompasses almost every possible type of improvement; from trails to bridges. Staff has learned that all county policies are different from each other and that .stated [policies are not always followed as the actual funding is often-times negotiated between the city and the county, based on available funds. In other words, while the county policy may provide a low participation in certain areas by cities, the reality is a shortage of revenues causes the county to negotiate a higher participation by the cities anyway. So it's very difficult to look at this data and draw firm conclusions as to the real costs assigned to cities. Dakota County tends not to negotiate the percentages, but simply chooses not to do the projects. However, the City has seen projects like County Road 50, where the .County decided they did not wish to do the project and the City chose to proceed anyway. Thus, the city received a lower participation by the county. Mr. Mielke stated that he would discuss this information with his counterparts in the neighboring cities to see if there's common ground that can be reached between the cities that can then be used to leverage the county to change their funding formula. As it appears, there is no clear answer in getting the county to change their. formula without the assistance from other cities. City Council agreed with Mr. Mielke's strategy. 6. Updates a) Transit Update Mr. Mielke discussed with the City Council the latest attempts by the State Legislature to force Lakeville and Farmington into the .Transit Taxing District. Mr. Mielke then suggested that the City send Met Council a proposal of considerations under which Lakeville would voluntarily join the Transit Taxing District. After further discussion, the City Council agreed. b) Operations Director Hiring Process Mr. Mielke stated that position has been advertised and twenty-four applications have been received. There will be 8-io applicants interviewed to narrow the list down to a more manageable second interview list. Mr. Mielke asked for the Council's input on the level of involvement they desire in selecting an Operations and Maintenance Director. Council Members stated that they would like Mr. Mielke to make a recommendation. Respectfully submitted, Brian J. Anderson Assistant to City Administrator