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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-19-07 WSMinutes City of Lakeville City Council Work Session Monday, November i9, 200 @ 5:3o p.m. Marion Conference Room, Lakeville City Hall In attendance: Mayor Holly Dahl and Council Members Wendy Wulff, Laurie Rieb, Mark Bellows and Kerrin Swecker. Also in attendance: City Administrator Steve Mielke, Assistant to City Administrator Brian Anderson, Police Chief Tom Vonhof, and Finance Director Dennis Feller. The meeting was called to order at 9:i6 p.m. 1. Water Use Ordinance Amendment This item was not discussed and will be brought back at a future date. 2. Police Chaplain Program Chief Vonhof addressed the City Council and stated that due to the growth of the Lakeville community, the need for police chaplaincy services has expanded beyond the scope of services that have been historically provided through the Lakeville. volunteer police chaplaincy program. To address this need, the Police Department is proposing to modify its current volunteer police chaplaincy program. The new program will utilize a new service model of entering into a contractual agreement with anon-profit 5oi(C3) organization, headed by Council Member Bellows. This organization will provide no- cost, secular police chaplaincy services to our citizens and public safety staff. Staff requests the City Council to consider the concept of changing the chaplaincy program from a volunteer to contractual structure. The police chaplain is most often called out in cases of accidental or sudden deaths, motor vehicle fatalities or incident of suicides to assist officers and the family members of victims in these tragic events. The police chaplain is able to spend long periods of time with the family members, which often frees up officers to work on the investigation of the case or other duties. Another important function of the police chaplain is to assist the officers in making death notifications to family members. Chaplain Mark Bellows has provided these secular chaplaincy services on a "voluntary on-call" basis over the years. Council Work Session Minutes NoUemberY9, 200 Page 2 The primary advantage of this proposal would be that the police chaplain would be able to devote more time (an estimated io to i5 hours per week) to providing chaplaincy services to the families of victims, police and emergency services staff as well as the community at large. The Police Chaplain would also be responsible for coordinating the other volunteer, Associate Police Chaplains while also acting as a resource and liaison to our local faith communities and other social services resources. There would be no cost to the City for these enhanced chaplaincy services. City Council inquired if this proposal would cause a conflict of interest between the City and Council Member Bellows. Mr. Knutson stated that Council Member Bellows would have to set up the non-profit organization and that Council Member Bellows would have to recuse himself from discussions and voting on issues involving the non-profit organization or the chaplaincy program and can not accept payment from the City for .chaplain services. Mr. Knutson reassured the City Council that similar situations have occurred in other cities and can be done in Lakeville. The City Council inquired if the non-profit organization would have a board and who would serve on the board. Chief Vonhof stated that a board would. be formed but members have yet to be identified. The City Council then had some discussion regarding the relationship between Chief Vonhof and Council Member Bellows being Council Member Bellows would be .reporting directly to Chief Vonhof. Council Member Bellows stated that he already reports to Chief Vonhof when acting as Police Chaplin and hasn't been an issue. Mr. Mielke stated that a contract between the non-profit organization and the City of Lakeville would have to outline the scope of work, termination clause, and other contractual obligations. The City Council directed staff to proceed with contractual framework. g. Charitable Gambling Licenses Mr. Mielke said that recently, the Apple Valley Hockey Association submitted a Charitable Gambling License application to allow charitable gambling at Carbone's restaurant in Lakeville. Following a police review and after placing the item on the City Council agenda for consideration, a request was sent to the City Attorney's office for clarification as to whether or not the applicant organization was eligible for a gambling permit based up on Chapter 4, Section 3-4-4 of the City Code. This chapter of the code identifies eligible organizations and the City Attorney responded with an opinion that the Apple Valley Hockey Association did not qualify for the license. However, it should be pointed out that the Lakeville Hockey Association already has permitted gambling sites in Lakeville. Therefore, staff recommended that this section of the City .Code be revised so that community organizations meeting certain conditions can receive a Charitable Gambling License from the City of Lakeville to do business in the City. After a brief discussion, the City Council directed the staff and City Attorney to draft ordinance language that would clarify the ability of organizations such as AVHA to operate within Lakeville and directed staff to bring the language forth at an upcoming Council Meeting. Council Work Session Minutes November 19, 2007 Page g 4. 2008 Budget (Final Tax Review) Mr. Feller stated that since .the adoption of the preliminary budget in September, a number of conditions have changed which warrant consideration with respect to the 2008 budget as outlined in the packet memo. The largest has been degradation in the residential housing construction which is resulting in a decrease in residential building permits revenues. As such, staff has revised its estimates for residential building permits. The net result of the changes is a $239,980 decrease in the fund balance for 2008. The General Fund balance would therefore have a $io.6i million ending fund balance. The General Fund budget includes. a $i5o,ooo contingency for unanticipated events; the contingency is less than 1% of the total expenditures. Mr. Feller also outlined other salient pieces to the 2008 budget and stated that Lakeville's Truth in Taxation Hearing is scheduled for Monday December 1o at ~:oo p.m. Lakeville's taxpayers have received truth in taxation notices which- compare the 200 taxes with the proposed 2008 taxes. The City Council directed staff to proceed with the 2008 Budget schedule as presented. 5. Legislative Policy Review This item was not discussed and will be brought back at a future date. 6. Update Items Mr. Mielke stated that the City of Lakeville established a Hunting Subcommittee several years ago for the purpose of monitoring hunting activities within the City limits. Because the available safe hunting areas have been greatly reduced over the past few years, the subcommittee members are proposing to disband the committee. They feel that the Lakeville Police Department and the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Committee are .capable and qualified to make future hunting area and map recommendation to Council. City Council agreed and directed staff to assist in the disbandment of the Hunting Subcommittee. The meeting was adjourned at 8:4'7 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Brian J. Anderson Assistant to City Administrator