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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-22-07 WS! .~~ ~ x_u ...~' ~... . ~ ~.., .~ - n~~. .:~. Minutes .~ City of Lakeville .City Council Work Session Monday, October 22, 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, Community. and Economic Development Director David Olson, Park & Recreation Director Steve Michaud, Feller, City Engineer Keith Nelson, Economic Development Specialist Adam Kienberger, Himle Horner Consultant Todd Rapp, Dakota County Transportation Representative's Mr. Christine Elwood and Mr. Dan Krom, SEH representative Mr. Scott McBride, and United Brotherhood of Carpenters Representative's Ken Martin and Jim Brown. i. Joint .Council/EDC Meeting EDC Members Present: Comms. Matasosky, Emond, Erickson, Schubert, Tushie, Gehrke, Pogatchnik, Brantly, Ex-officio member City Administrator Steve Mielke, Ex-officio member Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Todd Bornhauser. Todd Rapp facilitated the discussion with the City Council and EDC to gather input on the proposed strategic work areas and goals for- the 20o8-2oio Strategic Plan for .Economic Development. Mr. Rapp reviewed each strategic work area and goal with the City Council and suggested revisions to the document were noted. Based upon the discussion between the EDC and City Council, the strategic work areas and goals will be revised and can be found in the EDC Minutes dated October 22, 200. The EDC was dismissed from the City Council work session at 6:0o p.m. to conduct their regular meeting. 2. Prevailing Wage Ordinance Mr. Martin and Mr. Brown stated that prevailing wage laws encourage the development of the economy along ahigh-skill path and that high skill levels lead to more productive and cost- effective production. As a result of this, workers can get paid higher wages while not significantly increasing the cost of public construction. Moreover, "Little Davis-Bacon Acts" increase the likelihood that public construction projects will be built by local contractors, thus keeping the money in the community. As a result, the money spent on public construction projects will have a higher multiplier and more significantly boost local economies and thus the tax base. By taking wages out of competition, you force contractors to compete on the basis of efficiency. Those contractors will in turn hire the most skilled. workers available, thereby Council Work Session Minutes October 22, 200 Page 2 • reducing the likelihood of cost over-runs and poor quality and increasing the level of safety and professionalism on the job. Mr. Anderson informed the City Council that the Federal Davis-Bacon Act imposes prevailing wage requirements on any project that is funded by federal dollars. State and county laws requires that prevailing wages be paid to laborers working on street and building construction projects financed in whole or in part by the state or county. As with many cities, the .City of Lakeville currently does not have a prevailing wage ordinance. The City currently receives the low bid for City funded projects and is confident with this process as both union and non-union contractors can bid on projects at whatever wage rates they pay their employees. Minnesota's law, like those elsewhere, has been controversial in determining if the prevailing wage law benefits the state or local economies due to the complex variables involved in the research. Some studies .have found that prevailing wage laws result in a modest improvement in the wages of construction workers throughout the industry and a more significant increase in their fringe benefits. But research fails to provide a clear answer about the impact of prevailing wage laws on public construction costs. Studies of the impact on construction costs have produced. mixed results. While some studies have found a small impact on costs, more comprehensive studies have not found that the impact is statistically significant. Studies have also claimed that prevailing wage laws increase state tax. collections more than public construction costs, but these studies fail to consider the impacts of higher wages and benefits on the costs of private sector construction projects. There is also little evidence from existing studies on the impact of prevailing wage laws and the quality of construction. The City Council thanked Mr. Martin and Mr. Brown for coming and speaking before the City Council and directed staff to bring the issue back at a future work session for discussion. g. Dakota County Cedar Project Ms. Elwood and Mr. Krom of the Dakota County Transportation Department along with Mr. McBride of SEH presented the City Council with power point presentation on the Cedar Avenue Corridor Transitway Project. The group stated that Cedar Avenue is expected to reach the threshold of congestion by about 2oii and that orderly access planning through the currently undeveloped area of Lakeville and BRT is part of the solution. They summarized that public support includes transit improvements the need for sufficient park and ride capacity, a plan for the future now, and to address congestion associated with NB 3rd land drop at 138th St. Due to the amount of public input received thus far, it has slowed down the process and has caused them to develop variations on the original concepts, develop new concepts, and refine and change former concepts. Mr. McBride distributed and explained to the City Council three exhibits outlining the three remaining alternatives and their costs. The three remaining concepts are: Alternative i - no build; Alternative z -suburban highway with 2oi5 and 203o improvements; and Alternative 3 - dual facility with local/expressway in a trench through CR 46. The City Council stated that it is unfortunate the freeway concept through Apple Valley provided was rejected by the public being it provided the highest level of long term service. Mr. McBride stated that the local community was concerned about the restricted access on and off Cedar, even though Cedar will have the traffic levels that many other busy freeways have in the metro. The City Council expressed their concerns for developing concept plans that don't alleviate more congestion than Council Work Session Minutes October 22, 200 Page 3 r the alternatives currently provided. They stated Dakota County has an opportunity to fix the congestion problem now and for the future and should support a solution that improves traffic for everyone. Mr. McBride then walked the Council through the alternatives and how the intersections would be affected in Lakeville under each alternative. City Council then inquired if an alternative has discussed that would allow the BRT to cut across on 185th or CSAH 46 to I-35 to help alleviate traffic from Cedar Avenue through Apple Valley. Mr. McBride stated that he was not aware of any alternative that outlined such a plan. After more discussion City Council stated they preferred an alternative that would turn Cedar Avenue into a freeway. 4. Pan-O-Prog Fireworks Mr. Michaud informed the City Council that Pan O Prog events have centered on and included the 4th of July fireworks as an integral part of the summer festival. As the day of the 4th of July changes year to year, the Pan O Prog board is required to adjust the days of the festival each year. This makes Pan O Prog festivities a moving target and impacts both resident participation and the cost of City services. For 2008, the Pan O Prog board has decided to establish a Pan O Prog calendar that is consistent from year to year. The days chosen are Wednesday through Saturday of the week immediately following the 4th of July. This will allow participants and residents to plan for and attend the events and allow the City to better plan staffing and event services. After some discussion, City Council directed staff to inform the Pan O Prog board that fireworks will be held on the 4th of July every year as they have traditionally been in years past. 5. UPA/T~ansit Services Update Mr. Mielke informed the City Council that MnDOT and the Met Council have successfully applied for a grant from the US Department of Transportation to make improvements in both transit and highways along the I-35 and Cedar Avenue corridors. MnDOT initially applied for $24o million in funding, but through a series of meetings and discussions, the US Department of Transportation eventually awarded a maximum of $133 million. Of particular interest is the. fact that the UPA includes improvements in the City of Lakeville. The UPA includes funds for the construction of park and ride facilities along both corridors along with the purchase of additional buses to provide service along those corridors. Since the grant is for capital improvements, .operating dollars will need to be allocated by the State and Met Council to operate these transit services. Mr. Mielke outlined a number transportation. alternatives being discussed along both corridors such as a results orientated program promoted by Best Buy, price dynamic shoulders, HOV and hot lanes, along with new traffic controlling devices and techniques. A number of issues that need to be resolved before the UPA becomes a reality include a local match of about $5o million that the Legislature and Governor will need to fund and a completion date of September 2oog for all projects. The Cedar corridor has allocated funds for the purchase of a future transit station in the City of Lakeville. Dakota County is currently studying, with the City of Lakeville, the most appropriate location to purchase land and place this future transit station. Mr. Mielke then explained to the City Council that if a transit station is constructed in Lakeville on I-35 or Cedar Avenue, the Met Council will be asking .for Lakeville to join the transit taxing district. However, the Met Council has not stated the level of service they would provide if Council Work Session Minutes October 22, 200 Page 4 Lakeville joined the district. After much discussion, the City Council expressed they would like to see attention directed towards developing a transit station along the I-35 corridor being MnDOT currently owns the land and it would alleviate pressure from both the Burnsville and Apple Valley transit stations. In addition, highway improvements on I-35 should be discussed to make transit more efficient. 6. Update Items a) Council/Staff Retreat Follow-up Mr. Mielke stated that he has been working with Himle Horner's Todd Rap and will bring back a draft of the goals and outcomes as discussed at the first Strategic Plan session. Once the draft is complete, a second meeting date will then be set to review the draft and complete the 2008-2oio Strategic Plan. b) Downtown Market Park Project • Mr. Olson informed the City Council that the City has received a preliminary commitment from the Dakota County CDA for up to $350,000 in tax increment financing (TIF) assistance from an existing CDA Housing TIF District. This assistance will be available to finance the acquisition of property and the construction of proposed public improvements including a public parking lot, and adjacent streetscape improvements. The CDA has also recently announced that they will be making available a second round of redevelopment grants. totaling $i,3oo,000. Staff will be recommending that the City submit. an applicatoon for funding under this program to fund the portion of the project costs. not covered by the CDA TIF assistance. The deadline for applications is December 3, 200. Presenting from his exhibit, Mr. Olson stated that the preliminary cost estimate .for the property acquisition and public improvement cost for the proposed Market Park project is approximately $525,000. It is staffs goal to secure non-property tax funding sources for the entire project. -One property required for this project is currently not owned. by the developer or the City but is in the process of being acquired by the developer. If this project proceeds, the City would need to acquire this property from the developer. City Council inquired when the project would begin. Mr. Olson stated that if funding becomes available as scheduled, then construction could. begin in 2008. The City Council. approved the concept site plan and funding. sources and directed staff to proceed with the project. The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Brian J. Anderson Assistant to City Administrator