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HomeMy WebLinkAbout[04a] December 21 Minutes December 21, 2015 Page 1 of 4 Closed Meeting: Wick made a motion to go into closed session pursuant to MN Statute 13D.03 to discuss labor strategy. The motion was seconded by Schultz and passed unanimously. The Council came out of the closed meeting at 5:55 PM and went into the regular Council meeting without taking action. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of St. Joseph met in regular session on Monday, December 21, 2015 at 6:00 PM in the St. Joseph City Hall, opening the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Rick Schultz, Councilors: Dale Wick, Matt Killam, Renee Symanietz, Bob Loso. Administrator Judy Weyrens. City Representatives: City Engineer Randy Sabart, Finance Director Lori Bartlett, Public Works Director Terry Thene, Police Chief Joel Klein. Others Present: Amy O'Hare, Tom Klein Public Comments Amy O'Hare, 1419— 17th Ave SE: O'Hare approached the Council regarding the neighborhood meeting scheduled for December 22nd for the proposed development of the former Delwin site. O'Hare stated the timing of the hearing is bad and not many people are going to be able to make it. O'Hare stated the property has been vacant for the eight years that she has resided in the City. O'Hare added it would be nice to have something on that parcel. The main concern of residents is rezoning the property from business to residential. Residents question what type of facilities will be constructed. Will they be townhomes, apartments and will the construction affect the value of her home. O'Hare stated she lived in Cold Spring, near apartment facilities and the apartments were well maintained. Additionally, O'Hare noted the amount of noise and light that comes from the local businesses near the residential neighborhood. Early in the morning is when the most sound is heard and O'Hare wonders how those conditions would be for families residing in the proposed development. Schultz stated the property owners' goal is to find out the opinions of the neighborhood. Schultz added that the owner may not decide to develop it if the majority of the residents do not want it. The owner has tried to sell it and has had no luck in doing so. No conclusion has been reached at this point. Weyrens presented the images of what the townhomes, twinhomes, and apartment would possibly look like. They are similar to those built in Sauk Rapids along HWY 10. The occupants would be market-rate type families. Agenda Approval: Loso made a motion to approve the agenda adding a donation to item 4e, a donation of sand from the EI Paso valued at$1,500 and addition of 7c Insurance Waiver.; seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. Consent Agenda: Symanietz made a motion to approve the consent agenda with date change to December 3rminutes and addition of Bob Loso to the December 3rd meeting. The motion was seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. a. Minutes- approved the minutes of December 3, & December 7 b. Bills Payable - approved payment of check numbers 049986-050030, Payroll EFT #001137-001141. C. Application for Payment—approved application for Payment No. 5 to Knife River Corporation in the amount of$17,945.77 for the 2015 Bituminous Street Improvement. d. LGA Resolution —authorized the Mayor and Administrator to execute Resolution 2015- 038 Supporting of Increasing Local Government Aid in the 2016 Legislative Session. December 21, 2015 Page 2 of 4 e. Donations—accepted the following donations: Anonymous $4.00 Archery Range; St. Joseph Lion's $1,000.00 FD Equipment; St. Joseph Lion's $2,000.00 Warming House; EI Paso sand from volleyball courts valued at$1,500.00. City Engineer Reports Field Street: Sabart presented a proposal from SEH regarding the right-of-way acquisition services for the Field Street Improvements. The proposed Field Street project will require the acquisition of some additional right of way. The process for negotiating ROW starts with an appraisal, followed by the formulation and presentation of offers to the affected property owners. SEH has staff that specializes in the process and will work with the City Attorney to secure the needed ROW. The estimated cost for acquisition is not to exceed $ 50,000. Weyrens reported the City Attorney contacted two appraisers, Ron Zitzow and Bill Waytas. Bill Waytas can complete the project by January 25th if he has all the information no later than January 1 with an estimated cost of$ 700 to $1,000 per parcel. There are between 4-5 parcels that need to be appraised. Sabart recommended keeping the appraisal piece under the engineering scope for now. He further clarified that the ROW costs will be included in the MSA reimbursement. Loso made a motion authorizing the hiring of Bill Waytas to complete appraisals on the needed property for the extension of Field Street and authorize the Mayor to execute the supplemental agreement for SEH for ROW assistance. The motion was seconded by Symanietz and passed unanimously. Discussion: Loso asked if all the property owners are on board. Sabart stated the City is not at the step of making offers to the property owners as the appraisals will need to be done first. 2016 Proposed Utility Rates: Finance Director Bartlett presented the Council with a revised utility rate schedule. Since that last Council meeting she has contact Carl Brown Consulting to review reducing the impact to the consumer. One of the methods to reduce the impact is to lower the projected reserve from the proposed 35% to 25%. For the past couple of years, debt levies have been issued to pay for some water debts and the goal is to have those self-funding to allow for cash payment for some of the improvements that the City has been issuing debt. The 2016 budget included a levy for a portion of the water debt and that is proposed to stay in the budget. Bartlett stated that when the City's auditors have addressed depreciation. The goal is to get depreciation to 100%. In the 2014 audit, overall depreciation coverage was at 92%with sewer at 52%. The updated report in the packet contains three analysis scenarios in addition to rate comparisons for St. Joseph and the surrounding cities using 2015 rates. The operating reserve was reduced from 35% to 25% for the first ten years with a goal of reaching 35% in year 15. Using scenario#2 from the supplemental analysis, the effect of the rate increases are $4 per month for a low user senior citizen, $22 per month for an average single family use, and $174 per month for a high user commercial accounts. The effects to each household will vary based the amount of usage. Bartlett stated staff prepared a summary of what the proposed rates would be over the next nine years based on the three scenarios. As the analysis indicates, lower increases in the early years require large increases in future years. In scenario 3, the rates collected in sewer will not be enough to cover operation and debt. The sewer fund will be borrowing from the reserves that will be building up to cover costs. Once the initial increases have passed, the future increases will start self-funding the sewer fund, slowly building a reserve. The large increases are caused by numerous things including: debts issued before the great recession, unanticipated sewer main collapse in St. Cloud, and delaying projects which drives up construction and maintenance costs. Bartlett stated that levies and fund transfers are one-time fixes, and are not sustainable for the long-term. The comparison of St. Joseph to area cities shows that St. Joseph's rates will be higher overall in any of the three scenarios presented. Weyrens questioned the amount a transfer would need to be in order for the utility rates to go down 1%. Bartlett stated it would need to be at least$100,000 and not having reserves for the next few years. Wick December 21, 2015 Page 3 of 4 questioned what the rates were going to be for 2016 prior to receiving the utility study numbers. Bartlett stated she does not have the numbers as nothing had been approved. Schultz questioned what would happen that would warrant a 35% reserve balance. Bartlett stated that the old water facility will need repair down the line and there is clay piping that will need to be replaced. Schultz questioned whether the hook-up rates have been taken into account. Bartlett stated they have and the anticipation is much lower than what it was when the water treatment facility was built. Schultz noted that St. Cloud's sewer rates are significantly lower than other cities mainly due to the amount of growth they have been experiencing. Wick questioned why the increases need to happen up front rather than being spread out equally. Bartlett stated the increases will allow the funds to be self- funding. Bartlett added that growth is built into the numbers. Wick questioned what will happen if the City continues with the 4% increase for 2016 rather than incorporating the presented numbers. Wick added there has to be other options. Bartlett stated that the increase will not get the City close to covering the deficit in the cash flow. Schultz agreed with Wick that more time is needed to decide what increases are needed. Weyrens stated that the Council has about a month to decide. Schultz stated he would like to see a list of the assets on the depreciation scale, anticipated hook-ups and future projects with associated costs. Weyrens stated the second scheduled meeting in January is a holiday and suggested Council have a special session in place of that meeting. General consensus was to table discussion on the utility rates until January. 2016 Rental License Fees: Bartlett stated that it was noticed that the fee table approved by the City Council on December 7 did not included the increased rates for the rental licenses. The Council had discussed increasing the rental rates in November and they were mentioned in the request for Council action for the December 7 hearing, but failed to be illustrated on the table. Therefore she is requesting the Council approve the increased rental licenses that were proposed. Wick made a motion adopting the proposed 2016 rental fees beginning January 1, 2016. The motion; seconded by Schultz, motion carried. Discussion: Loso questioned the driver behind the rate increases. Weyrens stated rentals are becoming more complex and require more time from staff. Additional inspections are needed and additional time is needed when complaints are filed. Loso stated he has a rental and the inspection process does not seem onerous. Loso questioned why he should have to pay more for those people that do not follow the process. Ayes: Schultz,Wick, Killam Motion Carried 3:2 Nays: Symanietz, Loso Administrator Reports AFSCME Labor Agreement: Weyrens reported the City had come to an agreement with the AFSCME Labor group and the contract has the same terms as LELS in addition to a one-time payment of 3/% of the salary of one of the union members. Loso made a motion authorizing the Mayor and Administrator to execute the Labor Agreement between the City of St. Joseph and AFSCME for the contract years 2016-2017. The motion was seconded by Symanietz and passed unanimously. Project Updates Sunshare: Weyrens updated the Council regarding the solar garden proposal from Sunshare. Staff had indicated that the City was more interested in pursuing a solar garden owed by the City, receiving rent and credits, rather than the pure credits. In talking to consultants and area cities there is risk to entering into a 25 year agreed for purchasing solar credits. When talking to Sunshare they are more interested in selling the subscriptions that pursing a land option for a solar garden. At this time the staff has informed December 21, 2015 Page 4 of 4 Sunshare that St. Joseph is not interested in purchasing credits but would like to continue the discussion on building a solar garden in in St. Joseph. Neighborhood Meeting: Weyrens stated Kevin Johnson had approached staff regarding development of the former Del Win property. Currently, the Comprehensive Plan illustrates the property as both Commercial and R2 Residential. Johnson is proposing to develop the property R3, Multiple Family with a combination of housing styles. The neighborhood meeting is December 22nd with a potential hearing scheduled before the Planning Commission in January. Insurance Waiver: Weyrens stated every year the Council must determine if the City waives the tort limits for liability insurance. Waiving the tort limits would allow a party to sue the City for an amount larger than the limits. Loso made a motion authorizing the Administrator to execute the LMCIT Liability Coverage Waiver Form, verifying the City does not waive the monetary limits on tort liability. The motion was seconded by Schultz and passed unanimously. Mayor Reports Joint Planning Board: Loso reported the Board met regarding the River Ridge Estates development. The item was tabled for 30 days at which time the development will be revisited. Loso added that each time it comes before the board, the submission is not complete. Schultz added that the Board is not moving forward until all required submittals are received. Senate Bonding: Weyrens stated the Senate Bonding Committee at which she presented the CR75 overpass. One of the recommendations was to slow the traffic to 35 mph. Weyrens added she expressed the safety concerns with crossing 75 that members of the Senate were not aware of. APO: Schultz reported the APO held an open house Government Center: Symanietz reported the committee met and looked at layouts for the previously designed center on the school site without changing the layout of the building. Another meeting will take place this week and should be before the council in January. Loso asked if there is a purchase agreement for the current City Hall. Weyrens stated she has met with the interested party and they have exchanged information. Adjourn: Wick made a motion to adjourn at 7:02 PM; seconded by Killam and passed unanimously by those present. Judy Weyrens Administrator