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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 [10] Oct 03 October 3, 2016 Page 1 of 4 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the City Council for the City of Joseph met in regular session on Monday, October 3, 2016 at 5:00 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, Bob Loso, Renee Symanietz. City Administrator Judy Weyrens Citv Representatives Present: Police Chief Joel Klein, Finance Director Lori Bartlett, City Engineer Randy Sabart, Community Development Director Therese Haffner, Public Works Director Terry Thene. Others Present: Monte Eastvold, Frank Lee Approve Aqenda: Symanietz made a motion to approve the agenda with the addition of item 9(e) Government Center. The motion was seconded by Loso and passed unanimously. Consent Agenda: Loso made a motion to approve the consent agenda as follows; seconded by Killam and passed unanimously. a. Minutes—Approved the minutes of September 19, 2016. b. Bills Payable—Approved check numbers 051055-051125, Payroll EFT#001254-001259 and Accounts Payables EFT#001750. c. Liquor License Violations—Authorized the Mayor and Administrator to execute Resolution 2016- 049, Resolution 2016-050, Resolution 2016-051, and Resolution 2016-052, Adopting the Stipulations for recent liquor license violations. d. Field Street ROW—Authorized payment for the ROW acquisition and authorize the Mayor and Administrator to execute the required document for the acquisition. e. Government Center Draw No. 6—Approved payment for the contractors listed in draw#6 for the Government Center Project. f. TIF Assignment, Millstream Shops & Lofts—Authorized the Mayor and Administrator to execute Assignment Agreements for the Millstream Shops and Lofts TIF. g. TIF Assignment, Fortitude Housing—Authorized the Mayor and Administrator to execute Assignment Agreements for the Fortitude Housing TIF. Discussion: Schultz requested clarification on item (c) Liquor Violations. Chief Klein stated that a number of license holders failed the alcohol compliance check earlier this year and there was some confusion with the St. Cloud Attorney's Office as to who was responsible for the legal process. As St. Cloud serves the City as the prosecuting City Attorney, the enforcement would fall within their office. Public Hearinq— Delinquent Hearinq: Mayor Schultz called the hearing to order and stated the purpose of the hearing is to consider the final assessment roll for delinquent invoices. Weyrens clarified that annually the City prepares a list of outstanding invoices as an assessment roll. Debtors are provided a final demand for payment and given the opportunity to contest the charges. Weyrens stated that KJ Construction had submitted an email contesting their charges, and since then the differences have been resolved and they will be submitting payment as was agreed upon. As no one present wished to speak, the public hearing was closed. Wick made a motion authorizing the Mayor and Administrator to execute Resolution 2016-047 Adopting the final assessment roll for delinquent accounts, certifying all unpaid claims for attachment to real estate taxes for collection in 2017. The motion was seconded by Symanietz and passed unanimously. Citv Enpineer Reports—Field Street Bids: City Engineer Randy Sabart presented the Council with the bid tabulation for the proposed 2016 Field Street Improvement. The City received eight(8) bids and they were all below the engineer estimate of$ 2,000,000. The project is anticipated to start as soon as the contract documents are complete and will continue in 2017. Loso questioned how the bid results impact the MSA funds and if the City will still be borrowing ahead. Sabart stated that due to the favorable bids, October 3, 2016 Page 2 of 4 the City will have sufficient funds in the MSA account to cover the eligible expenses. The following is a summary of the bids received: C & L Excavating, Inc $ 1,527,731.94 Douglas-Kerr Underground, LLC $ 1,516,242.28 J.R. Ferche, Inc $ 1,725,455.67 Kuechle Underground, Inc $ 1,528,831.31 Larson Excavating, Inc $ 1,844,624.12 Northdale Construction Co., Inc $ 1,699,933.95 RL Larson Excavating, Inc. $ 1,548,779.17 Ryan Contracting Co. $ 1,696,977.05 Schultz made a motion authorizing the Mayor and Administrator to execute Resolution 2017-053 awarding the bid for the 2016 Field Street Improvement to Douglas-Kerr Underground, LLC in the amount of$ 1,516,242. The motion was seconded by Symanietz and passed unanimously. Bond Sale, 2016 Field Street: Monte Eastvold, Northland Securities presented the Council with the proposed bond sale for the Field Street Improvements. As a majority of the Improvement is financed using MSA funds, the bond issue proposed is in the amount of$ 740,000. Eastvold stated the final interest rates are between 1% and 3°/o. As is common in bond sales, some of the rates are issued at premium rates, a marketing feature to get investors to purchase portions of the bond issue. In this case, the years from 2025 and beyond a premium is paid by the issuer. Eastvold stated that the bond issue was rated by Standards and Poors and they affirmed the current rating of AA-. The rating agency was impressed with the activity and financial management of the City. The average interest rate for the issue is 2.18% and includes a declining schedule. Wick made a motion authorizing the Mayor and Administrator to execute Resolution 2016-048 Authorizing the issuance of$ 740,000 GO Bonds, entitled 2016B. The motion was seconded by Symanietz and passed unanimously. Eastvold presented the Council with a contract from Northland Securities who would purchase the bond from the City and sell them on the market. Second is the contract by which Northland would buy from the City and then go into the market to sell to interested investors and bring the proceeds back to the City. Wick made a motion authorizing the Mayor and Administrator to execute the contract with Northland Securities to purchase the bond issue and then sell the same on the market, bringing the proceeds back to the City. The motion was seconded by Symanietz and passed unanimously. Committee Reports EDA: Wick reported that the EDA met recently and discussed resurrecting the cartoon style map that was developed through the Chamber of Commerce a number of years ago. The EDA Board requested that staff meet with the Chamber and College to determine if there are any partnership opportunities. Park Board: Killam reported that the Park Board hosted a grand opening for the foot golf course inviting the sponsors and public to an open house. After the open house the Park Board met and discussed the following: request from members of the public to create some type of inemorial for Jacob Wetterling, potential playground development, East Park access, and the potential site for the dog park. Administrator Reports Water—Sewer Rates—Weyrens reminded the Council that when the 2016 rates were established for water and sewer, the Council agreed to a smaller increase and review the impact of development and usage in September. Finance Director Lori Bartlett reminded the Council of the independent report that was commissioned to review the water and sewer rates and develop a proposed rate structure. This study would provide the Council with an outside perspective. October 3, 2016 Page 3 of 4 Bartlett stated that the water fund has stabilized and is responding to the rate increases as projected; however, the sewer fund is still showing a deficit. While the City still has four months remaining in 2016 to add to the fund, there will still be a cash shortfall. Since the City cannot have negative fund balances at the end of the year, an intergovernmental fund transfer will need to be made in addition to raising the rates for the last billing cycle. Weyrens questioned Bartlett if the proposed increase includes the usage for 2017 or if a separate rate increase will be proposed. Bartlett stated that she anticipates another increase effective January 1. Wick questioned the ability to increase the rates without conducting a public hearing, giving the residents an opportunity to be heard. Weyrens stated that the hearing will be scheduled for the next meeting. Loso questioned if all the connections and WAC/SAC have been included in the rate review and Wick questioned if the need to increase the rates is related to the St. Cloud costs. Bartlett stated that she has included all the connection fees into the proposed rates. With regard to the St. Cloud costs, they are a major reason for the needed increase as St. Cloud has another project coming up. Schultz questioned what role the city staff has in establishing the budget or scheduling of improvements. Sabart stated that the area Cities meet monthly and do review the operation and budget; however, they are advisory. With regard to the expansion costs, the area Cities previously participated in the expansion. The 2008 collapse is what spawned the costs which resulted in the preparation of a plan identifying weaknesses ISD 742 Lease Expansion: Weyrens presented the Council with a second draft of the proposed lease extension for the use of a portion of Colts Academy. Since the last meeting Weyrens stated that the utilities will remain in the name of ISD 742 for the lease extension; therefore the City will not incur a cost for utilities and the City will not have to pay the $ 15,000 for maintenance and repairs. Weyrens clarified that if the City charges the District rent, the property would be subject to property tax and the City would pay that expense. Additionally, even though the District contributed 50% towards tax abatement, due to their taxing structure they will not receive a benefit from the remaining 50%. Weyrens stated that the District also freed two large spaces so that Little Saints Academy could continue to grow. Loso stated that he does not want to extend the lease. He stated two years ago the citizens wanted to buy the building and they do not have access to use the facility. The City should move forward and not extend the lease. Loso made a motion to not extend the lease. Motion failed for lack of second. Schultz provided the Council with an overview of discussions had over the last two years regarding the community center. He stated that a group of interested residents participated in a community center study to discuss how other cities managed their community centers and what types activities were included. A second group was gathered to discuss city facilities in general. Members from the first committee were incorporated into the second group. The second group that was formed discussed activities for a community center and they were similar to the first discussion. Information was collected from area cities and members from Council of Aging provided information on a survey they conducted from the senior perspective. HMA did a pro bona layout of what the proposal would look like, before the purchase of Colts Academy. After the City purchased Colts, a larger group gathered to include some from the Task force and Community Center members. An open house was conducted with little turnout. The group has not done anything as they need assistance from an Architect to make sure that what is planned is feasible. The last time they met was about 5 months ago. Killam questioned the connection of the two facilities. Schultz stated that the Government Center will be able to connect to the community center through a corridor. It is anticipated that a new entrance to the Community Center will be created from Callaway. Wick questioned the ability for the City to use the facility during the lease extension. Weyrens stated that the District did free a number of Saturdays and evenings would be available as well. Wick stated that he would like to see staff develop a fee schedule and availability schedule. The 2016 and 2017 budget does include some staff time for a recreation employee. October 3, 2016 Page 4 of 4 Schultz and Wick stated that they would like to see a schedule put in place whereby residents are notified of when open gym is available. The Council briefly discussed charging for open gym. Schultz stated that staff should determine what type of equipment needs to be purchased and review the coordination of opening the gym with District 742 as they keep play equipment in a portion of the gym. Wick made a motion to authorize the Mayor and Administrator to execute the Lease Amendment, extending the use of District 742 through June 2018; or when the new Early Childhood Center is completed, whichever comes first. The motion was seconded by Symanietz. Ayes: Schultz, Wick, Killam, Symanietz Nays: Loso Motion Carried 4:1:0 Sales Tax Update: Weyrens presented the Council with a historical summary of the collection and use of sales tax. The information included the projects that have been funded through sales tax, the amount projected and collected and a list of projects that have been discussed as possible funding opportunities. The 2006 Legislation anticipates collection of 3M and increased sales have increased that to 4M. The 2018 Legislation is anticipated to generate 11 M. Setting aside the Colts Academy purchase, the City has enough remaining funds, with a surplus to fund all dedicated projects. In addition, the City has an annual debt payment of approximately $ 160,000 for the Colts purchase. Killam stated that the Park Board has been discussing the need to fund current projects and anticipates utilizing sales tax funding for portions of those projects. One of the items the Park Board would like to move forward is the Dog Park. They are currently looking for seed money to start the project as they have residents that are willing to donate to the project. Wick questioned the location of the proposed dog park, to which Killam stated near the soccer field in Millstream Park. Public Works Director 7erry Thene stated that he would mark the areas so Councilors could identify the area. The Park Board is also looking to construct a new shelter at Millstream Park in 2017. Killam stated that the Park Board would also like to develop an access to the canoe area at the new acquired park area. Schultz questioned the need to expend funds for that project as people already access the area. Further, he questioned developing access to an undeveloped area. Schultz stated that Stearns County should be involved with the east park as it will function as a regional park. Government Center: Weyrens stated that she has reviewed the proposal for technology for the Government Center as it relates to the Council Chamber and Multipurpose room. She questioned the Council as to how they see the facility used and what type of technology should be included. The Council generally agreed that the Council Chambers should have the required technology and the multipurpose room could be in phases if need be. Mayor Reports: Schultz stated that is has been busy lately and the following events have recently occured: Community meeting for integrating Muslims and Christians; Alzheimer Fundraiser; Jaycees 5K Run, Millstream Arts Festival, Wetterling Memorial, and he hosted a Mayor meet and greet. Schultz thanked the Police Department for all the coordination and efforts with the recent events that have taken place in the City. Adiourn: Killam made a motion to adjourn at 7:26 PM; seconded by Wick and passed unanimously. \ �� ����� ud Wey�Fens dm nistrator