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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 06.cMinutes Lakeville City Council Work Session Monday, March 28, 2011 In attendance: Mayor Mark Bellows Council Member Laurie Rieb Council Member Kerrin Swecker Council Member Matt Little Council Member Colleen Staff: Steve Mielke, Cit'`°dmin City Clerk C current City streamline t consistency establishment public hearings residency req Council Mem decision on I update on ea other violation with this informd ar Friedges provided an.i ade regarding liquor lit ®.ministrative process innesot. acute •i e City . onge r uir .. = nts b nd M uir ye Dennis Feller, Fina Char Friedges, City Brenda Visnovec, Li Judi Hawkins, Deputy The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm. ITEM #1 - Liquor Ordinance Amendment ITEM #2 - Comprehensive Liquor Store Analysis ns Director d language in the sine sugbsed�fanguage that would sifiec languuoge w also provide proved cus ekervice to the Attorney are recommending that on enewal applic• "¥ and that or license holders. els in order to continue to make an informed its it is important that Council be provided with an e dblishment regarding failed compliance checks and hout the year. The City Clerk will provide an annual report Council directed staff to place the item on the April 4, 2011 agenda for consideration. The Liquor Committee met recently and discussed the possibility of conducting an analysis of the City's off -sale liquor operations. The cost of an analysis is City Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page -2- unknown and will not be actually determined until proposals have been received. Council Member LaBeau asked that wages for City liquor employees be compared with similar jobs in the private sector. Steve Mielke referred to Section 2 where that information will be covered. LaBeau also requested the results include utilizing the liquor store assets to pay down the City's debt and how many years of debt that might cover. Council Member Swecker asked how the field o down to these five companies. Brendasnovec consulting companies which are being experience and background in the liquo Council Member Little pointed to the challe predicting the impact of future legislation o without municipal liquor additional time an should also be assumed. Mr. Mielke concurred factors. Council members were in agreement timeline for the project. City Council directed staff to procee the five consulting firms listed in the professipat services for completing municip uor operations. ITEM #3 In order to c community, system. Th, who haveI the past t develope realtors an conducting Bellows felt it ants had been narrowed 'd that the five professional erviews all have tant would face in s. He stated that cnt by the police are A al unknown oposed anticipated ,est for Proposals to hating he City's vement in serving the de ment opo obtain feedback regarding " e current d includemailing a survey to a wide range of customers uilding permit or processed a planning application in rs including: commercial, industrial, and residential ss owners; contractors; builders; engineers; architects; and tate brokers. The survey would ask about experiences in s with the City and ask for suggestions for improvement. portant to do a comparison and analysis of development fees in other cities, especially growth cities. He added that some fees are structured differently from city to city and so they are somewhat difficult to compare and evaluate. Survey respondents would have the option of identifying themselves or remaining anonymous. Council members requested that the survey ask specific questions as to their experiences and how Lakeville compares in both positive and City Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page -3- negative ways to other cities. Results of the survey would lay the groundwork for a forum event which would be led by a moderator who is knowledgeable in development. The purpose of the forum would be to foster constructive discussions about Lakeville's development procedures. Staff and advisory committees would review the information for possible policy recommendations to Council. Developer Joe Miller was in attendance and addresse e Council. He feels the City is not user friendly when it comes to who pay y p y � streets in a development. He believes the streets are not just o- e neighborhood but for the whole community and the cost shoes be shar.NHe wants to make sure that the survey is given to the right peo Mayor Bellows feels a forum would make development community that the City of user friendly as possible. ITEM #4 - Merchant Services - on -line credit car Finance Director Dennis Feller had provided the outline regarding the City accepting payments, and issues to be consider if the otton was available, it is estim their utd% harges with a credit car eing wish to oehis service for residents,, o, should pay the For VISA c convenien recommends currently c as inspect to apply ent to the o be as helpful and with a comprehensive y bills and other r. Feller stated that ents would pay r if they he customer e allowed to char flat rate r any non face-to-face tr ctions. Staff is 75 per on -line transaction. T City does not nienc for other on -line financial transactions such park programs. Council is also being asked if they wish ee to those transactions. Council M aBeau believes the added charges for building permits would be detrime k. Feller stated that the fee would not be imposed for permits where the a p ' p ion and a set of plans needs to be dropped off at the counter, since a check would accompany the application, but only for the minor permits such as roofing, plumbing, and electrical permits that can be applied for on -line. Council directed staff to add this item to the April 4, 2011 agenda for Council to consider implementing credit card services for utility billing with a $3.75 convenience fee; to add a $2.50 convenience fee for on -line inspection permit City Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page -4- credit card payments, and to allow credit card payments with no convenience fees for parks, recreation, and arts center programs. ITEM #5 - Finance Task Force Council is being asked to provide direction to staff on a proposed Finance Task Force. Council Member Swecker has researched cities and school districts in nizelQroups and has In one form groups are h might include advising udget reviews, and a be advisory only, with er form is a decision- Minnesota and other states which have similar o determined that groups generally take one of tw project -based and are charged with specific task Council on such things as spending pries, quay budget document. In this scenario the x. decision - making ability staying with the C making group which actually prepares they A discussion was held regarding membership an Council members indicated that it was not ne «= , on the task force, however they felt it would beuab meetings. Mr. Mielke suggested formatting an a skills, and other preferred appointment cnria. received via email from an EDC me Mayor e stated that the Lakevi commit e in 2009 has been; City finaryGe ask force to also feel th narrow fa s of projects ld be engage tzmmunit� zs `, hol Council Me agreement o should be everyone there. Council M involved anc avenues to d5 creaton o non ecisior5 uu�? ebefi • ;being heard. Swecker sta t finent process. , ouncil member o kee i inutes of the he types of experience, istributed materials she finance policy mportant for the ,, ,,,,agrees that a cat it is essential to uncil members to confirm a•t they are in riancial Task Force. She feets'e task force king, with an application process open to oup should start with a one -year trial and evolve from jttle feels it is important to continue to keep the residents faded. He stated that residents and business owners have many Council and staff on an ongoing basis with questions and comments. He`Stated that community members have expertise in a variety of specific skills or areas and it might be advantageous to have a pool of possible task force members to choose from when various issues arise. Steve Mielke stated that the public has recently focused most of their attention on spending and revenue policies. Spending decisions are generally policy -level decisions, which is different from analysis of options for financing that spending. City Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Marc Bourdeax, 20116 Homefire Way, doesn't understand why the task force's ideas should be the same as the elected officials. He believes that each Council member and department director looks out for their own special interests and not what's best for the city. Sheila Longie, 20709 Hampshire Circle, is an EDC member and on the Chamber executive board and had understood this would be a Elaboration with the EDC and the Chamber budget advisory committee. Council Member Little sees the mission ,,he g rou the citizens are already doing on their o� The enhance what is already being done. C values and priorities and need to make de elected. The task force should be narrowly research and fact finding. The group could budget document format coming up. Lynn Theraldson, 20028 Kenwood Trail, believes economy and with not feeling like they arhea Little stated that the purpose of the to Council and to take some of the Swecke reel that the Council ne Steve Mi goals on making wilt, residents to directly. Council d force fra 'tressed th- 4mporta sing the Cj rqk inue to that t ITEM #6 F Donation Policy ummarize results of this meeting and prepare a task discussion at the next work session. uld be to go beyond what ce should improve and Is are elected on their n how they were objectives of wing the audit and frustrated with the Page -5- recommendations n other projects. g the task forte clear directions and ber Rieb reitei d th at the decision Council Member e8eau wants shes to continue to heart residents Throughout t "fir several thousand pounds of non - perishable food items are collected at various city- sponsored events for the benefit of the local food shelf. There are currently two official food shelf operations in Lakeville and staff is looking for Council direction on where to donate food items that are collected at city programs and activities. By definition, a food shelf must be a 501c3 non - profit organization, which qualifies both 360 Communities and the Lakeville Resource Center to receive the donations. Council Member Little stated that between the City Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page -6- two organizations, there is five -day per week food service in the community for those in need. Council directed staff to distribute food collections as equally as possible to the Lakeville Resource Center and 360 Communities. ITEM #7 — Other A. City Website: Email Communications wi Staff is requesting direction from the Cou a group email system on the w for each Council member as ha Currently, Council's contact infor group, with those messages being department. Mr. Mielke has done some res3 found that some cities have i dye group contact like Lak his personal email list t� hen there s a request rs throu mai ell tse multiprnsez o «igi t to a s B. Stat Th w th b m e Ad e or to Council Member Swecker is concerne exclusively she would be unable to resp not know if their message was received receive some assurance. a ello e website. ation that is se will not be PBellows will resp resolution. fell whether to continue with individual email addresses d by a Council member. ebsite is provided as a the administration ,pt to her ptly aimpeople would s to have the sender mmunities and Lion while other te in favor of s concerned ducted to council in order to he email or ommerce will host the State of the City Address on 27'h at Crystal Lake Golf Club. Mayor Bellows stated f other cities often deliver the annual address and he ends a positive message of unity to the public. Council ere supportive of the Mayor presenting the State of the City C. Cable Board Update Staff is proposing the Telecommunications Commission be restructured as a Cable Board for the purpose of providing advice to the Council in three areas: franchise renewal, customer complaints, and right of way issues. The proposed restructured board would consist of five members and would meet at least quarterly. Three of the former. Telecommunications Commission members have expressed an interest in continuing on the City Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 Page -7- new board. Staff will prepare a resolution reestablishing the Cable Board for Council consideration. D. Rules of Procedure Council Member La Beau asked if the council could be briefed on the Rules of Procedure so everyone understands the protocol of the meetings. Mr. Mielke will set a time with the Citytttorney to review this document with the Council aisczt E. Police Station Discussion: Council Member La Beau asked out th citizens are planning to do, and aw Jo goc fundraising following that survey. it Z , 7,,; i 4a conduct fundraising activities, it gi\"': plan is already approved. Council s •er change of heart about the former n stall that there needs to be a timeline of Air* fo on options and then re-consider putting Mr. Mielke stated that Council ha and the Historical Society to prise determine the costs and pot been instructed to raise fund lved. The operation an fir Lc> ft* \ v tntil Council decides ot --4i, t< . i f r t v e v t asked iv %ma 4 .. L. the seniors th ' _ ere was no .,. , gut,. 0 ee of th74 ik tibuileing, even if they p t the appraisal. She • ',CI if the) a;disc -ged a timeline to raise fund do the work in opt- e able to use the building. ..-„„ th the bigititg. Mi ke add hat the seniors have been fold this is still ed they have not been given an y assurances C ciI ethber Little stated that the fundraising is part of the process, but tle core issue. The most important thing is to determine what the best &the building is and guarantee it's done right. He does not wish to pCNIM the market at this time but would like to see staff focus their resourCetan this project and bring the issue to a conclusion. Swecker said she would not be opposed to testing the market for selling the building. LaBeau stated that her original intent in making the motion was to get some dialog started and let people know that something was being done. F. City Administrator Review — e survey that the senior ill have to conduct their e4the senior citizens k-i once that the proposed r said she has had a ling and believes e : rgt . iation-gathering % ng °Rim market. to work with the seniors ation that will help to seniors have not -swe itssuwil.hat need to be he 1 mains with the City Council Work Session Minutes March 28, 2011 ITEM #8 - The meeting Judi Hawkins This will be taken care of at the Personnel Committee level, along with related topics. G. Council Committee and Inter - agency Reports • HiPP - The Steering Committee has agreed on the top six priorities; a report is being prepared which will be distributed in the next couple of weeks. The list includes a firearms range, a fi training facility, sharing of technical expertise, and administrates cam options. • Cedar Corridor Improvement Group - in Lakeville on the Cedar Ayr BRT. Unfinished business: Regarding the Police Records Tech t asked if there was software availabl would also like to review the electric message to the community that Cou additional budget cuts. Council Memb tter spent working on the 2012 budge direction of council, research is +a ..... be discussed for the 2012 bu implementing any changes plete. The timeline for session agenda. dis stre c0Ur lash a in Respectfully submitted, rned at 8:45 p.m. Crward rather has ar Irebeen decided. vercrmajor items and issues. d the Police Records Tech Page -8- uction will begin April 4th cil Member LaBeau ese duties. She o On This would send inuin Rsearch for Is that time would be stated that, at the ne so these issues can e ve the option of m ien the analysis is be on the April continuing #f i s currently fated that the ition for the 1 budge On the next agenda Council will consider tion of a portion of a council member's salary with the oward the position.