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Council Information Memorandum 03-10-1994
MARCH 10, 1994 UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS .... 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE FOR MARCH: MARCH 14 5:30 P.M. COUNCIL STUDY SESSION PROPOSED TOPICS: Joint Mtg School Board 284 City Attorney Public Safety Conference Rm MARCH 21 5:30 P.M. COUNCIL STUDY SESSION PROPOSED TOPICS: Capital Improvements Program County Road 9 Expansion Plans Labor Agreements Council Conference Room 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MARCH 28 COUNCIL STUDY SESSION PROPOSED TOPICS: Tax Exempt Bonds (West Health) Springsted Seminar Therapeutic Massage Ordinance Labor Agreements Public Safety Conference Room CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION MEMO March 3, 1994 Page 2 2. PLYMOUTH ADVISORY COMMITEE ON TRANSIT -- WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 7:00 P.M., MTC Council Chambers. Attached is a memorandum from John Sweeney, inviting Councilmembers to attend the March 16 meeting to be held in the MTC Council Chambers. The MTC has arranged to provide bus transportation to its facilities for a tour before the meeting. Councilmembers interested in attending should contact John at extension 5072. (M-2) 3. HRA -- THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 7:00 P.M.; City Council Chambers. Agenda attached. (M-3) 4. INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS & DEVELOPER'S FORUM ON WETLANDS ORDINANCE -- Community Development staff will hold two informational meetings for resident comments on Tuesday, March 15 at Parker's Lake Pavilion, and Wednesday, March 16 at Zachary Lane Elementary School. Both meetings start at 7 p.m. In addition, two developer's forums will be held Tuesday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m., and Thursday, March 17 at 7:30 a.m. in the Council Chambers. Notices on the meetings are attached. (M-4) 5. SENSIBLE LAND USE COALITION -- The Sensible Land Use Coalition will host a luncheon presentation on the Metropolitan Council's Regional Blueprint for the Twin Cities metro area on Wednesday, March 23 at the Brooklyn Park City Hall. Metro Council Chair Dottie Rietow and staff will be making the presentation. A copy of the meeting notice is attached. Please contact Laurie by Monday, March 21 if you would like to be registered. (M-5) b. METRO MEETINGS -- The weekly calendar of meetings for the Metropolitan Council and its advisory commission is attached. (M-6) 7. MEETING CALENDARS - City Council and City Center calendars are attached. (M-7) 1. MINUTES & AGENDAS: a. Plymouth Human Rights Commission, March 3, 1994. (I -la) b. Planning Commission, February 23, 1994. (I -lb) c. School District 281, Board Meeting, February 7, 1994. (I -lc) 2. CITIES BULLETIN.-- A copy of the March 4 issue is attached. (I-2) 3. NEWSLETTERS & PUBLICATIONS a. Northwest Images, Northwest Community Television. (I -3a) b. The Communicator, District 279 newsletter, March, 1994. (I -3b) c. Metro Voice, Metropolitan Council, February, 1994. (I -3c) CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION MEMO March 3, 1994 Page 3 d. Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners, March, 1994. (I -3d) e. Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council - 1993 Highlights. (I -3e) 4. MEMOS & CORRESPONDENCE: a. Mayor Tierney's testimony before the Senate Metro and Local Government Committee on March 10 supporting Senate File 2070 on the charter/statute issue. Also attached is a letter sent to Plymouth Charter Commissioners on the proposed legislation. (I -4a) b. Memo from City Manager regarding insurance coverage for Open Meetings law violations. (I -4b) c. Letter to LaDonna Hoy, Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners, from Mayor Tierney, regarding a manager/resident/community council partnership for Harbor Lane apartments. (I -4c) d. Letter of appreciation from LaDonna Hoy for the City's 1994 human service funding grant. (I -4d) e. Letter to Bill Schrieber, Director of Office of Intragovernment Policy, MnDOT, from Mayor Tierney, regarding Trunk Highway 169. (I -4e) f. Letter from Matthew Ellis, 2425 W. Medicine Lake Drive, to Eric Blank, concerning West Medicine Lake Park traffic and speed concerns. (I -4f) g. Letter from David and Loni Gradick, 11730 27th Avenue North, to Eric Blank, regarding West Medicine Lake Park. (I -4g) h. City file correspondence regarding Plymouth's expenditure of Community Development Block Grant Funds. i. Letter from Bob Donley, 11740 38th Avenue North, to City Council and staff, regarding future park needs. (I -4i) j. Letter from Bill Leonard, Medicine Lake Councilmember, to City Manager, regarding the South Shore Drive and Highway 55 intersection. (I -4j) k. Letter to Lynda Voge, Metropolitan Council, from Anne Hurlburt, submitting the Land Use Guide Plan Minor Amendment to reguide for the proposed Sam's Club. (I - 4k) 1. Letters and petitions received from Plymouth businesses supporting a fast food restaurant at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6. (I-41) m. Memo from John Sweeney providing an legislative update for Opt Out transit. (I - 4m) n. Letter from Nancy Senn, Project Coordinator, Home Free, conveying the 1993 report on the Domestic Assault Intervention Project. (I -4n) CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION MEMO March 3, 1994 Page 4 o. Letter of appreciation from Marleen Gustafson, to Mayor and City Council, on receiving a home improvement grant. (I -4o) Dwight D. Johnson City Manager DATE: March 10, 1994 TO: Dwight Johnson, City Manager FROM: John Sweeney, Assistant City Engineer/Transit Administrator SUBJECT: PACT MEETING SCHEDULE FOR MARCH 16, 1994 The next regularly scheduled PACT meeting will be held Wednesday, March 16, 1994. This meeting is to include a tour of the MTC operational facilities. The MTC will provide a bus to transport committee members and guests from the City Center to the F. T.Haywood garage in Minneapolis. The bus will arrive at the City Center at 6:30 p.m., March 16. The agenda for the meeting will not be finalized until Friday, March 11, however, I do know that in addition to the tour, our regularly scheduled PACT meeting will be held in the MTC council chambers. At the meeting, Tom Sather, MTC Director, will address the committee. I would like to extend an invitation to you, Kathy, and members of the City Council to attend this meeting and tour on March 16. If you are able to work it into your schedules, I believe it will be an interesting and worthwhile evening. I anticipate that refreshments will be provided by the MTC. I will provide you with a copy of the agenda as soon as it is finalized. I ask that if you concur that this idea has merit, you contact Councilmembers as soon as possible and provide me with a count of those able to attend the meeting. cc: Fred G. Moore, Director of Public Works Dan Faulkner, City Engineer M-3 AGENDA PLYMOUTH HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MARCH 17, 1994 AT 7.00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1. Call to Order 2. Introduction of New HRA Commissioner 3. Approval of February 15, 1994 Minutes 4. Public Hearing for FY 1994 CDBG Program a. Expenditure Rate b. Work-out Plan C. Public Service Issue d. Staff Recommendations 5. Plymouth Housing Alliance Request 6. Senior Housing Project Update 7. Information Items a. Grantee Performance Report b. First Time Homebuyer Program C. Section 8 Program d. Newspaper Article on Met Council and Public Housing Issue e. Family Self -Sufficiency Progress Report 8. Other Business 9. Adjournment (hra0317) m -A NOTICE DEVELOPER'S FORUM PROPOSED WETLAND REGULATIONS IN PLYMOUTH TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1994 3:30-5:00 PM THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1994 7:30-9:00 AM PLYMOUTH CITY HALL 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD. The City of Plymouth is in the process of developing a wetlands ordinance to 1) incorportate the requirements of the 1991 State Wetlands Act in the City's codes and 2) add a wetland buffer to current rear yard setbacks for all new developments in the City. You will receive background material on the proposed ordinance in a separate mailing prior to the forums. If you have any questions about the forums, call the City's Community Development Department at 550-5050. M -%-k CITY OF PLYMOUTR For Immediate Release For More Information: March 4, 1994 Barb Senness, 550-5052 Plymouth to Hold Informational Meetings on Wetlands Ordinance As part of the process of developing a wetlands ordinance, the City of Plymouth Community Development staff will hold two informational meetings to get comments from residents. The meetings are slated for: Tues., March 15, 7 p.m., at Parkers Lake Pavilion, Co. Rd. 6 and Niagara Ln.; and Wed., March 16, 7 p.m., at Zachary Lane Elementary School, 4350 Zachary Ln. The City is developing a wetlands ordinance to: 1) incorporate the requirements of the 1991 State Wetlands Act in the City's codes; and 2) add a wetland buffer to current rear setbacks for all new developments in Plymouth. If you have questions about the informational meetings, call the Community Development Department at 550-5050. We Listen • We Solve • We Care 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE (612) 550-5000 SENSIBLE LAND USE COALITION Be among the fipst to hear about the Metpopolitan Council's plans fop changes in regional policies, including the MUSA line. Got a copy of the new fieg/a�s�l. B!ueprint'MT NF U EPAMES! Luncheon Presentation FROM MDIF TO REGO Changes for Better or Worse? M-� iAL BLVE-PRID Metropolitan Council Chair Dottie Rietow and staff will present the Council's Regional Blueprint, the NEW growth and development plan replacing the Council's Metropolitan Development and Investment Framework (MDIF) for the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The Regional Blueprint is different from the MDIF in that it moves away from the historical emphasis on coordination of development with regional systems and oversight of metropolitan agencies. Instead, it proposes a flexible approach to land use planning, revitalization of distressed areas, strengthening of the regional economy, and extensive use of partnerships and incentives to achieve its objectives. While the blueprint still includes the Council's policies for land use and growth management within the region, it moves beyond the Council's traditional areas of concern to address challenges facing the regional economy and problems of poverty and economic decline. Don't miss this chance to present your views to the Metropolitan Council staff in this open forum. Date.- Wednesday, March 23,1994 Sign up at Time: 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 P.M. (luncheon served 1L45 a.m.) meeting for pending Location: Brooklyn Park Cit Hall y y Rea! Ectate Continuing 5200 85th Avenue North (493-8000) Education Credit. Cost: $25.00/Members and $35.00/Nonmembers (MEMBERS! Bring a guest and they pay the member rats) Reservation fora MDIF / REGIONAL BLUEPRINT • Mapch 23 Name.- Company/Agency. 6eser, tions Nonrefundable reservations due by noon: Monday, March 21 node azul not honored will be billed unless Mail to.. Sensible Land Use Coalition arr reai'w PO Box 284, Excelsior, MN 55331-9998 36lours in aduvicr. For more information calk (612) 474-3302 ❑ Vegetarian Meal Preferred Phone.. ❑ Member/$25.00. ❑ Guest/$25.00 ❑ Nonmember/$35.00 TOTAL ENCLOSED m -(r METRO MEETINGS A weekly calendar of meetings and agenda items for the Metropolitan Council, its advisory and standing committees, and six regional commissions: Metropolitan Airports Commission, Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, Metropolitan Transit Commission, Metropolitan Waste Control Commission and Regional Transit Board. Meeting times and agendas are occasionally changed. Questions about meetings should be directed to the appropriate organization. 4,..4°'' DATE: March 4, 1994` WEEKS OF: Feb. 28 - Mar. 11, 1994 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL' Metropolitan Waste Management Advisory Committee - Tuesday, Mar. 8,2:30 p.m., tubers:; committee will consider a review a draft report on Comparative Economic Analysis of4egi©n' MSW and Recyclables Collections Strategies; an update on abatement grant activities; and other business. Committee of the Whole - Tuesday, Mar. 8, 4 p.m., Room 2A. The committee will review and approve the complete Regional Blueprint draft document and the public outreach activities for the public hearing. Chair's Informal Meeting with Council Members - Thursday, Mar. 10, 3 p.m., Chair's Office. Metropolitan Council - Thursday, Mar. 10, 4 p.m., Chambers. The Council will consider. approval of the Regional Blueprint public hearing draft and hearing schedule; adoption of debt management policies; and other business. Committee of the Whole - Thursday, Mar. 10, immediately following the Council meeting, Chambers. The committee will consider. an amendment to the Affirmative Action Plan; personnel report for February 1994; adoption of public hearing findings and Regional Recreation Open Space 1994-2000 Capital Improvement Program; and other business. The committee will also be briefed on solid waste designation. Legislative Coordinating Group - Friday, Mar. 11, Noon, Room 1A. TENTATIVE MEETINGS THE WEEK OF MAR. 14 - 18 Chair's Informal Breakfast Meeting with Council Members - Tuesday, Mar. 15., location to be determined. Transportation Advisory Board - Wednesday, Mar. 16, 2 p.m., Chambers. Chair's Advisory Committee - Wednesday, Mar. 16, 7 p.m., Chambers. Chair's Informal Breakfast Meeting with Council Members - Thursday, Mar. 17, 3 p.m., Chair's office,. Metropolitan Council - Thursday, Mar. 17, 4 p.m., Chambers. Committee of the Whole - Thursday, Mar. 17, immediately following the Council meeting, Chambers. M-- �,P, Legislative Coordinating Group - Friday, Mar. 18, Noon, Room 1A. The Metropolitan Council is located at Mears Park Centre, 230 R Fifth St., St. Paul. Meeting times and agenda are subject to change. For more information or confirmation of meetings, call 291-6447, (TDD 291-0904). REGIONAL TRANSIT BOARD Board Meeting - Monday, Mar. 7, 4 p.m., Chambers. The Board will consider NBA update and other business. Providers Advisory Committee - Thursday, Mar. 10, 1030 a.m., Room 2A. The committee will discuss the Five -Year Transit Plan and other business. Meetings are subject to change; please call to confirm. The Regional Transit Board offices is located at on the seventh floor of Mears Park Centre, 230 R Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55101. For more information or confirmation of the meetings, call the RTB office at 292-8789. METROPOLITAN WASTE CONTROL COMTMSSION Prebudget Breakfast Meeting - Tuesday, Mar. 8, 7:30 a.m., Ramada Inn, I-94 @ White Bear Ave., St. Paul. Ad Hoc Committee for Personnel Policy Analysis and Review - Tuesday, Mar. 8, 10 a.m., Room 2A Prebudget Breakfast Meeting - Wednesday, Mar. 9, 7:30 a.m., Nicollet Island Inn, 95 Merriam St., Minneapolis. Prebudget Breakfast Meeting - Thursday, Mar. 10, 730 a.m., Drover's Inn, 701 S. Concord St., South St. Paul. The Metropolitan Waste Control Commission is located at Mears Park Centre, 230 R Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55101. For more information, call 222-8423. METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMUSSION Planning and Environment Committee - Tuesday, Mar. 8, 1 p.m., Room 301, West Mezzanine, Lindbergh Terminal, Wold -Chamberlain Field. The committee will consider. March ADNE levels; final payments on contracts for Lindbergh Terminal tug drive ventilation, 19921andside electrical, ground transportation control system and shuttle bus turnaround; semi-final payment on Glycol storage facilities; change order on equipment maintenance building side improvements contract; bids received for inbound roadway signage; asbestos abatement for sound insulation program; February bid cycle for sound insulation program; acceptance of NFT/RA grant for MSP; and review of April bids. Management and Operations Committee - Wednesday, Mar. 9, 1 p.m., Room 301, West Mezzanine, Lindbergh Terminal, Wold -Chamberlain Field. The committee will consider. legislative update; Maintenance department presentation; charitable gambling; Heads Up; Budget Task Force meeting and other business. The committee will also discuss contracting selection policy, consultant selection policy and code of ethics. Budget Task Force - Friday, Mar. 11, l p.m., General Office Boardroom. The task force will consider the 1995 budget targets. Metropolitan Airports Commission offices are located at 6040 28th Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55450. - For more information, call Lynn Sorenson at 726-8186. METROPOLITAN SPORTS FACILITIES COMMISSION Intergovernmental Relations Committee - Wednesday, Mar. 9, 8 a.m., offices of O'Neil, Burke et al, 800 Norwest Center, 55 lw 5th St., St. Paul. The committee will receive an update on legislative issues. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission office is located at 900 South 5th St., Minneapolis, MN 55415. Meeting times and agendas occasionally must be changed. To verify meeting schedules and agenda items, please call Tamra Sharp, 335-3310. M - ('O A digest of the activities of the Metropolitan Council, Metropolitan Airports Commission, Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, Metropolitan Transit Commission, Metropolitan Waste Control Commission, and Regional Transit Board for the month of February. Call the commission concerned with any inquiries. Mar. 4, 1994 Meropoame c4ww l The Metropolitan Council is located at Mears Park Centre, 230 E Fifth St., St. Paul, MN, 5510L For more information about Council items, call 291-6359 (TDD: 2914)904). Metropolitan Council Councraadivitiesin February. • Maintain quality housing stock Council proposes strategies to Council proposes legislation on strengthen region's core housing, radio system A Council report to the legislature Keeping Me Nin Cities Yual, proposed strategies for combatting urban decline. The report describes conditions in the seven -county region's fully developed area, which includes Minneapolis, St. Paul, and 22 contiguous suburbs that were at least 85 percent developed by the end of 1984. The report documents trends in population and household composition, job growth, development, migration, poverty and a variety of social indicators, including crime. Although the Twin Cities area compares favorably overall to other metro areas in the U.S., there are disturbing trends here in the concentration of poverty, high poverty and unemployment rates for people of color, and a shortage of affordable housing. The Council's regional strategies address economic revitalization, matching the work force to available jobs, maintaining quality communities and renewing neighborhoods and stess the need for partnerships and joint action. Strategies include: • Put polluted sites back into productive use. • Improve funding tools for redevelopment. • Increase people's skills to match job needs. • Provide wider opportunity of housing choice throughout the region. The Council approved legislative position papers on housing, 800 megahertz radio planning and the property tax levy. • On housing, proposed legislation would authorize the Council to use its Triple A credit rating and a $3 million reserve to back local HRAs when they issue bonds to finance affordable housing. Proposed legislation would also allow the use of $20 million to enhance the credit of local HRAs when issuing housing bonds. A second proposal asks for a change in the law governing the replacement of low-cost housing. It would require that one-to-one replacement of lower-cost housing be made in areas outside concentrations of poverty. A third proposal would amend tax increment financing lending terms from 12 to 15 years and aid the development of affordable housing. • On radio communications, proposed legislation would continue the process of creating a regional emergency radio system on 800 megahertz channels. The legislature will be asked to extend the current moratorium on applications for such systems by individual jurisdictions. Approval of the governance and financing of the system is planned for 1995. Besides offering the advantages of an integrated regional system fn _ �e drof METRO DIGEST 9 instead of separate and incompatible local systems, it could save the region's taxpayers up to $25 million. • On property tax levies, proposed legislation would retain the yield from those levies for Council operations, contrary to a Senate bill that would reduce levies by 25 percent, or about $2 million. With many of the problems in the Twin Cities Area being regional in nature, the funds are needed for regional planning and solutions. • A fourth legislative position gives Council support to a program that would issue permits to operate feedlots. Proposed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the program requests $5 million from the state to assist farmers in managing their feedlots, especially the control of cattle wastes. The Council's support is based on its responsibility to reduce nonpoint water pollution in the metropolitan part of the Minnesota River basin. In other actions, the Council: • Authorized staff to submit a grant application to the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources to fund studies on behalf of the Mississippi River Defense Network. The project is designed to prevent chemical spills in the Mississippi and to respond effectively to spills that do occur. • Decided not to enter the Farmington/ Empire Township annexation proceedings at the Minnesota Municipal Board • Adopted a legislative position on changes planned for Interstate Hwy. 35W. 0 Reconfirmed approval of its grant for the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board. Council members had been concerned that the counties constituting the Board could resign from it and thereby jeopardize the objectives of landfill abatement and reduction of toxic wastes. It was explained that arbitration procedures could ensure that commitments are carried out even if a county withdraws from the Board • Appointed Mikki Murray as chair of the Council's Minority Issues Advisory Committee. • Appointed and assigned a staff team to improve the inclusion of communities of color in Council deliberations. • Confirmed the appointments of Tracy Swanson of Carver County, Robert Jensen of Dakota County and Myra Peterson of Washington County to the Transportation Advisory Board. • Deferred approval of a runway extension at Minneapolis/St. Paul International (MSP) until an environmental impact statement is completed • Deferred approval of a runway extension at Flying Cloud airport until airport plans are completed. • Approved 1994 noise mitigation projects at MSP that included buyouts of homes in the New Ford Town and Rich Acres areas in Richfield at a cost of $23 million. It also approved home insulation projects for noise mitigation at a cost of $11.4 million. • Recommended approval of a Section 8 operating reserve equal to 10 percent of the annual Metro HRA operating budget and that $495,000 be made available for investment in housing programs for low- income households. • Authorized the Council's executive director to enter into agreements for the Metro HRA to administer the Guild Hall Supportive Housing program in Ramsey County. • Approved a comprehensive plan amendment for Apple Valley that removes multi -family housing designation from the 94- acre 4acre Centex -Fisher site. • Approved a 17 -acre expansion of the metropolitan urban service area (MUSA) in Chaska to build 31 single-family housing units. To comply with Council policies, Chaska will deduct 15 acres from other land within the MUSA. The council also advised Chaska to protect the river bluffs within the MUSA expansion from soil erosion. • Approved a loan agreement for $345,000 for acquisition of property for realignment of Hwy. 212 in Chaska. logo • , �i • Rescinded its policy of requiring information about a firm's investments in South Africa before entering into contracts with them. The action follows changes in the apartheid policy of that nation. • Authorized bids to perform a study of the need for an intermodal rail/truck freight terminal. • Commented on a draft environmental impact statement and report that compares the effects of four transit options in the corridor between the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The report analyzes the various impacts of the busway and light rail transit (LRT) alignments. The Council is expected to approve a preferred alternative later this spring. 0 Approved a supplement to the biennial Metropolitan Agencies Consolidated Financial Report. The report shows the most significant fiscal trend facing metropolitan agencies is the projected increase in annual debt -service payments. A major part of the increase stems from a financing package for Northwest Airlines. e Approved an expansion of the BFI, Inc. solid waste facility in Inver Grove Heights. The facility is located next to the Pine Bend landfill. • Approved renewal of a solid waste permit to North Hennepin Recycling and Transfer, Inc. subject to certification that any waste transferred to a landfill is unprocessible according to statutory definitions. • Approved the funding for the addition of 8.4 acres to Long Lake Regional Park. • Adopted the 1993 Major Airport Planning Activities Report and the 1993 Contingency Assessment Major Airport Strategy for transmittal to the legislature. • Authorized Council participation of the Metro HRA in the Metro Partnership for Affordable Housing. New Publications Council publications are available from the Council's Data Center. For a free and complete list of publications, write the Metropolitan Council Data Center, 230 E Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55101, or call 291- 8140. There is a charge for some publications. These publications can also be read at major public libraries in the Metro Area. A list of recent Council publications is available in the Metro Voice. If you wish to receive a monthly copy of the Metro Voice, you can be placed on the mailing list by calling Carol Berens at 291-6447. The Voice provides background articles and columns on regional issues and Council programs. Metropolitan Commission Activities Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission The Commission: • Recommended that the Metropolitan Council reimburse Dakota County $128,333 for construction of a campground building at Lake Byllesby Regional Park. The building will house an office, restrooms and showers. • Recommended that the Council reimburse Dakota County $28,690 for acquiring land in Lake Byllesby Regional Park. • Recommended that the Council set aside $73,000 for purchasing private property in Lebanon Hills Regional Park The parks commission offices are located at Mears Park Centre, 230 E Fifth St., St. Paul, 55101. For more information, call 291-6602. Regional Transit Board The Board. • Approved the 1994 MTC operating subsidy of $66.4 million. It is to be apportioned as follows: - $65,224,463 to operate regular service. - $650,000 to fund Minnesota Rideshare. - $525,537 to fund the Jobseekers program. A projected shortfall of $1.2 million will be funded from MTC's operating budget, but the RTB will include the $1.2 million in its appropriation request to the Minnesota legislature. • Approved the 1994 MTC capital budget of $61.7 million. • Approved the MTC debt-seivioe budget of $l.7 million. • Supported the MTC legislative request of $19 million of legislative bonding authority in the 1995 session for 1995 and 1996 capital projects. • Supported the MTC legislative request for $3.9 million for quality improvements with the stipulation that the $3.9 million be appropriated to the RTB after the legislature approves the RTB request of $5.6 million for its "Vision for Transit." This would allow the RTB to review use of the $3.9 million in light of the Vision strategy. • Authorized the executive director to enter an agreement with the Southwest Metro Transit Commission (SWMT) to purchase 22 buses at a cost of no more than $3 million. • Heard an update on the restructuring of Metro Mobility . The executive director met with the plaintiffs in a class action suit who were seeking an injunction to get the system in operation. Negotiations are continuing. • Directed staff to schedule three public hearings on the Americans with Disabilities Act eligibility certification. The RIB is located on the seventh floor of Mears Park Centre, 230 E. Fifth St., St. Paul, MN, 55101. For more information, call 292- 8789 Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission The Commission took no formal actions in February. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission office is located at 900 South 5th St., Minneapolis, MN 55415. For more cel-k"O information, call 332-0386. Metropolitan Airports Commission The Commission: • Adopted a resolution to submit a second application to the Federal Aviation Administration for a passenger facility fee at Minneapolis -St. Paul International. • Directed staff to assess the impact of aircraft noise on school classrooms. Preliminary information in the study indicates less impact than previously thought. A final report of the study is being prepared. • Authorized staff to set aside a concession for at least one disadvantaged -business - enterprise firm as the Commission opens its bid process to award six auto rental concessions. • Accepted a report from staff showing a saving of $292,077 as a result of an Airport Improvement Bond sale. • Authorized the sponsorship of several airport receptions during Japan Week (May 28 through June 4, 1994). Metropolitan Airports Commission offices are located at 6040 28th Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55450. For more information, call Lynn Sorensen at 726-8186. Metropolitan Waste Control Commission The Commission. • Earned certificates of commendation from the Minneapolis Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for all ten wastewater treatment plants. The commendations recognize compliance during 1993 with the conditions of the operating permits for the Anoka, Bayport, Blue Lake, Chaska, Cottage Grove, Empire, Hastings, Metro, Rosemount and Stillwater treatment plants. • Began a series of pre -budget meetings to gather community comments on the agency's proposed 1995 budget. Five more meetings are scheduled for March 2, 4, 8, 9 and 10. Please call the MWCC for more information.. e Authorized payment to the University of Minnesota for completion of work on the N- Viro sod demonstration projects. The project uses the byproducts of sewage sludge as fertilizer at several rural sites. The commission offices are located at Mears Park Centre, 230 E. Fifth St., St. Paul, 55101. For more information call 222-8423. Metropolitan Transit Commission The Commission: e Authorized the awarding of contracts for the purchase of 266 buses, four vans and four automobiles. e Authorized an application for federal funds to construct and maintain transit facilities along Interstate -394. e Authorized an application for federal funds for a construction project at the Snelling Avenue bus facility in St. Paul. e Executed an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation on the Dinkytown Bypass busway in response to planned road work on I-94 in 1995 and 1996. The temporary busway will route I-94 buses onto a former railroad bridge while the I-94 bridge over the Mississippi River undergoes repair. e Authorized the awarding of a contract for an addition to the Heywood office building and a contract for renovation of the Heywood office. The MTC offices are located at 560 Sixth Av. N., Minneapolis, MN 55411. For more information call 349-7400. *REVISED MEETING ** NEW MEETING 3/10/94 3 9)- CITY CENTER MEETINGS April 1994 3 4 5 6 7 8 Daylight Savings --set ahead 1 5:30 PM COUNCIL 7:00 PM WATER QUAL- 7:00 PM HUMAN hour STUDY SESSION ITY COMMITTEE RIGHTS Easter 7:00 PM COUNCIL COMMISSION MEETING 2 0 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 5:30 PM COUNCIL 7:00 PM BOARD OF 4:00 PAI FINANCIAL 7:00 PM PRAC STUDY SESSION ZONING ADVISORY (Public Safety'"Conf. Rm COMMITTEE 7:00 PM BOARD OF REVIEW 7:00 PAI PLANNING COMMISSION 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 5:30 PM COUNCIL 7:00 PM HRA 7:00 PAI PACT STUDY SESSION, 7:00 PM COUNCIL_ 24 25 26 5:30 PM COUNCIL STUDY SESSION abHe Ssfetr Conf. Rm 7:00 PM BOARD OF REVIEW (Reconvene)/ STUDY SESSION 27 28 29 30 7:00 PM PLANNING COMMISSION 'REVISED MEETING " NEW MEETING 3/10/94 J� r1) _ City Council Weekly Planner ri March 13 — April 23, 1994 Sunday...y March 13 March 14 5:30 PM COUN-:1, CILSTUDY ; .; SESSION (Public Safety Conf:'Rm) Tuesday March 15 Wednesday.. March 16 March 17 ..Saturday March 18 March 19 7:00 PM PACT (MTC offices) 7:00 PM "HRA March 20 Spring begins March 21 5:30 PM COUN- CIL STUDY SESSION March 22 March 23 11:30 AM Sensible Land Use Coalition Brklyn Park City Hall 7:00 PM PLAN- NING COMMISSION March 24 LMC Legislative Conference - St. Paul Radisson March 25 March 26 7:00 PM COUN- CILMEETING " March 27 March 28 5:30 PM COUN- CIL STUDY SESSION (Public Safety Conf. Rm March 29 March 30 March 31 April I April 2 7:00 PM —CHARTER COMMISSION April Daylight Savings—set ahead 1 hour Easter April Aprils April April? 7:00 PM HUMAN RIGHTS COMMIS - SION April April 5:30 PM COUN- CIL STUDY SESSION ' 7:00 PM COUN- CIL MEETING 7:00 PM WATER QUALITY COMMITTEE April 10 April 11 April 12 April 13 April 14 April 15 April 16 5:30 PM COUN- CIL STUDY- ', SESSION (Public Safety Conf. Rm) 7:00 PM BOARD OF ZONING 4:00 PM FINAN- CIAL ADVI- SORY COMMITTEE 7:00 PM PRAC 7:00 PM BOARD OF REVIEW 7:00 PM PLAN- NING COMMISSION April 17 April 18 April 19 April 20 April 21 April 22 April 23 5:30 PM COUN- CIL STUDY :. SESSION 7:00 PM HRA 7:00 PM PACT 7:00 PM COUN- CIL MEETING 'Revised Meeting "New Meeting 3/10/94 ,� \ CN--" Minutes of the Plymouth Human Rights Commission March 3, 1994 Commission Members Attending: Earl Peterson, John Kane, Claudelle Carruthers, Harvey Guttmann, Laurie Levi, Rebecca Ribich, Lisa Membrr (District 270), Laura Booth (District 284), Jackie Fraedrich (District 281), Bill Dix (District 279) Also Attending: Councilmember Sheryl Morrison, Assistant City Manager Lueckert, and Administration Intern Jim Elmquist Assistant City Manager Lueckert called the meeting to order at 7:35. She explained the purpose and intent of the Plymouth Human Rights Commission, which is public education on human rights issues and administration of the No Fault Grievance Process. Assistant Manager Lueckert also described the role of staff in support of the Commission. The Human Rights Commission members introduced themselves, explaining a little about their backgrounds and interest in serving on the Human Rights Commission, and some of their hopes for what the Commission can accomplish. Assistant Manager..Lueckert described the information in the packets distributed to Commissioners, and talked about the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The Commission expressed an interest in becoming a member of the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions. The Commission decided to postpone electing a chairman and vice-chairman until members get to know one another better. The Commission expressed interest in establishing by-laws, and agreed to look at examples of by-laws from other local commissions. The regular meeting time of the Human Rights Commission will be the first Thursday of each month, at 7:30 PM in City Center. The Commission then discussed various ideas for next steps. The Commission requested that staff obtain summaries from other local commissions on their activities, and compile a list of resources and people to talk to about Human Rights issues. Publicizing the existence of the Commission is a key priority, as is getting training on the No -Fault Grievance process. Other issues for the future include hearing about the human rights activities of the school districts, and some discussion about the school desegregation plan. The Commission also wants to form a Crisis Team, which would be available as a resource in the event of an incident involving an infringement of human rights. Assistant Manager Lueckert described the process to fill the Ward 3 vacancy. For its meeting on April 7, the Commission wants to meet with representatives of the League of Human Rights Commissions and begin the training process for No Fault Grievances. On April 14, those who are able will attend a League sponsored work shop in Golden Valley on preventing and responding to hate crimes. The Commission adjourned at 8:35 PM. -: \. b CITY OF PLYMOUTH PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES FEBRUARY 23, 1994 The regular meeting of the Plymouth Planning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Mike Stulberg. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Mike Stulberg, Commissioners Barb Stimson, Ed Albro, Jack Hill, Linda Oja, and Allen Ribbe MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Virginia Black STAFF PRESENT: Director Anne Hurlburt, Planning Supervisor Barbara Senness, Associate Planner John Keho, and Planning Secretary Jackie Watson i kyj I jj [ M3 Chairman Stulberg stated that a correction in the minutes should be made to his comment on page 7. last paragraph, stating that "Chairman Stulberg stated that the reason the Planning Commission denied the request for reguiding of the site at a previous meeting was because the reguiding to CR -2 would result in an inappropriate transition between the large retail center and an existing residential neighborhood. " MOTION by Commissioner Stimson, seconded by Commissioner Albro to approve the Planning Commission minutes of January 26, 1994, along with the change made by Chairman Stulberg. Roll Call Vote. 3 Ayes, Commissioners Hill, Oja and Ribbe abstained. Motion carried. OPUS CORPORATION (94011) Chairman Stulberg introduced the request by OPUS Corporation for a MPUD Preliminary Plan Amendment and Final Site Plan for Bass Creek Business Center Phase 2 to construct a 99,500 square foot multi -tenant office/warehouse located north of Nathan Lane and east of Trenton Lane. Associate Planner Keho reviewed the February 14, 1994 staff report. Commissioner Albro asked what the parking setbacks were in the office district. Associate Planner Keho stated that parking setbacks are normally 25 feet, but the approval for this site set the parking setbacks at 50 feet. Planning Commission Minutes February 23, 1994 Page 18 Commissioner Ribbe asked why a 50 foot setback had been required. Associate Planner Keho stated that the larger setback was required to provide a more spatial design on the site. Chairman Stulberg introduced Ms. Michelle Foster, representing the petitioner. Ms. Foster stated that the philosophy for this building was similar to the previously approved building that was before the Commission several months ago, located in the northern part of the Business Park. She said that the previous building had been leased and they were out of space for new tenants. She stated that they want to be able to continue to market this business park, thus the request for another building. She said that what was considered to be the front yard of this building would actually be the side yard of the building, and the variance would minimize the amount of a variance on that portion of the site that would be very visible within the park. Chairman Stulberg opened and closed the public hearing as there was no one was present to speak on the issue. MOTION by Chairman Stulberg, seconded by Commissioner Stimson, to recommend approval of the request by OPUS Corporation for a MPUD Preliminary Plan Amendment and Final Site Plan for Bass Creek Business Center Phase 2 to construct a 99,500 square foot multi -tenant office/warehouse located north of Nathan Lane and east of Trenton Lane. Commissioner Albro stated that there were no environmental concerns relating to this site and he was in favor of this request. Roll Call Vote. 6 Ayes. Motion carried on an unanimous vote. ELECTION OF OFFICERS MOTION by Commissioner Stimson, seconded by Commission Albro, to nominate Mike Stulberg as Chairman of the Planning Commission for Year 1994. Roll Call Vote. 5 Ayes. Motion carried. MOTION by Commissioner Albro, seconded by Commissioner Hill, to nominate Commissioner Barb Stimson as Vice Chairman. Roll Call Vote. 5 Ayes. Motion carried. ,\b Planning Commission Minutes February 23, 1994 Page 19 REPRESENTATIVES TO CONBUTTEES Commissioner Oja volunteered to be the Planning Committee representative to the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC). Commissioner Albro stated that he was willing to continue on as the representative to the Board of Zoning Adjustments and Appeals (BOZA). Commissioner Ribbe volunteered to be the Planning Commission representative on the Open Space committee. Chairman Stulberg asked if the City Council was going to acknowledge the past service of previous Commission members. Director Hurlburt stated that the City Council discussed inviting past Board members to a future Council meeting to be presented with a plaque for their service. Director Hurlburt stated that after the meeting adjourned the members would meet for a study session. Commissioner Ribbe recognized two students in the audience and asked them if they had any questions for the Commission. They asked several questions and Chairman Stulberg responded. The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 281, ROBBINSDALE AREA SCHOOLS REGULAR BOARD MEETING, 4148 WINNETKA AVENUE NORTH February 7, 1994 The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Keith Moberg, chairperson. ROLL CALL Present: Paula Beugen, John Luzaich, Keith Moberg, Mary Moreira, Beverly O'Connor, Meredythe Rossi and Neil Stein, directors, and James Dahle, superintendent. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Rossi moved approval of the agenda with two additions under Board Rapport. The motion was seconded by O'Connor and carried unanimously. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Paul Vyhanek, New Hope, chairperson of the Robbinsdale Council for Gifted and Talented, expressed concern over the level of resources devoted to education of gifted/talented children - in his view the most at -risk students in the district. He asked the board and administration to put greater emphasis on education of gifted children and informed the board of an open letter they would be receiving from the gifted and talented council outlining their concerns. John Schreiner, Golden Valley, concluded his series of comments on "enhancing the effectiveness of school principals," and said he is moving to the topic of the lower half of the district's clientele - students who struggle socially, academically and economically - and what life is like for those students. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA Stein moved approval of the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by O'Connor and carried unanimously. Dahle commented on a new section that has been added to the consent agenda which lists contracts with outside vendors. This section is being added to comply with the auditor's recommendation. Dahle announced the appointment of Jerry Davis as director of vocational education. Davis will replace Cliff Helling who will retire on June 30, 1994. Davis will also continue to School board minutes - February 7, 1994 Page 2 coordinate vocational education curriculum. Dahle also acknowledged the retirement of Roger "Whitey" Johnson, coordinator of athletics and physical education. Moberg acknowledged Helling and his contributions to District 281. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS Rossi moved approval of the minutes of the January 24, 1994, board meeting with one clarification. The motion was seconded by Moberg and carried unanimously. PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS The following communications were received: a letter dated January 21, 1994, from Rick and Claudia Lindberg, regarding boundary changes and questions pertaining to the superintendent's contract; a letter dated January 24, 1994, from Kathy Bikers regarding her desire for fifth grade to remain a part of the Technology Learning Campus; a letter dated January 31, 1994, from W. Ebert regarding an article in the Vital Link about high school graduation criteria; an invitation to the annual Indian Education public hearing and dinner on February 8, 1994, at Robbinsdale Cooper High School; and an invitation to the annual District 281 Vocal/Orchestra Festival concert on February 24, 1994, at Robbinsdale Cooper High School. CLERK'S REPORT Luzaich, clerk of the board, read the schedules of board meetings, other meetings and superintendent's advisory council. REPORTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT Instruction and Information Information Superintendent's Achievement Award The superintendent presented a Superintendent's Achievement Award to Joyce Kohnen, Administration Building confidential secretary. Kohnen was nominated by Gwen Martinson, director of special education and student assistance programs, for excellent job performance 1992-93 Audit Report William Lauer, representing Malloy, Karnowski, Radosevich and Company, and John Heinrich, supervisor of financial services, presented the 1992-93 audit report. Lauer reviewed the S.: \ C_, School board minutes - February 7, 1994 Page 3 management, financial and extracurricular activity accounts' financial reports and answered questions from the board. Lauer reported that the district was hit hard by tax abatements this year and by a jump in tax delinquencies from'1992 to 1993 of $1.2 million. The result was $2.7 million less in revenue than anticipated. Transportation Report Gary Dechaine, supervisor of transportation, presented a comparison of walking distance policies for metro districts and two cost estimates, one for eliminating all walking limits and busing all district students and one for reducing walking limits. The board will deliberate this issue at a board meeting in April or May. Board members will also submit alternative walking distance policies to Dechaine for cost estimates. Action 1994-95 District Goals Beugen moved approval of the following district goals for the balance of the 1993-94 school year and for the 1994-95 school year; the motion was seconded by Moreira and carried unanimously: • Student achievement • Respect and responsibility for ourselves and others • Outcome -based education • Multicultural, gender -fair, disability -aware education • Parent and community involvement and collaboration Beugen encouraged the board to look at result -oriented goals with measures of achievement for the future. Luzaich moved approval of the following grant award and four grant proposals. The motion was seconded by Rossi and carried unanimously. Grant Award A grant award in the amount of $5,000 from the Minnesota Department of Education for a school improvement incentive grant for Meadow Lake Elementary School. Grant Proposals A grant application in the amount of $200,000 to the Minnesota School board minutes - February 7, 1994 Page 4 Department of Education for the Even Start family literacy program. The purpose of the grant is to continue the work of the Even Start program in providing service to low-income families selected from Chapter 1 elementary attendance areas. A grant application in the amount of $31,000 to the General Mills Foundation on behalf of the Plymouth Drop-in Center. The purpose of the grant is to increase the involvement of adults with young people who need help in the development of self-worth and personal esteem. A continuation grant application in the amount of $32,259 to the United States Department of Education, Office of Indian Education, on behalf of the Indian education program. The purpose of the grant is to provide academic assistance to Indian students to assist them to remain in school and have access to cultural activities. A continuation grant application in the amount of $45,590 to the Minnesota Department of Education on behalf of the Indian education program. The purpose of the grant is to fund the program, with the Red Wing Prairie Island Sioux Cooperative, that helps American Indian students take advantage of higher education planning and opportunities. Business 1994-95 Capital Expenditure Budget Dahle presented information on the preliminary 1994-95 capital expenditure budget and asked for board approval in order to begin the process of bidding on major projects and planning at all levels. Stein moved approval of the preliminary 1994-95 capital expenditure budget. The motion was seconded by Moreira and carried unanimously. BOARD RAPPORT Dahle presented a fact sheet containing general fund expenditures per student in each district building and information on revenue generated by the district's lease and rental policy. This fact sheet is in response to issues raised at the January 31, 1994, public hearing on board issues. Dahle asked for board input and stated that the fact sheet will be distributed at the February 15, 1994, public hearing. Board members suggested that a list of expenses used to arrive at the total expenditures per student be added to the fact sheet and that the district clarify issues the public is being asked to consider. Dahle stated that the community education department will make a presentation at the February 15, 1994, public hearing to attempt to clarify those issues. kc.- School G School board minutes - February 7, 1994 Page 5 Moreira spoke about the perceived building inequity issue raised at the public hearing. She stated that some parent organizations are able to raise more money than others. Dahle suggested that the board discuss a policy addressing school fundraising. Rossi suggested publicizing future school board agenda topics. The following avenues were suggested: the Vital Link, cable and building newsletters. Dahle will present the idea to the citizen advisory committee and the interschool council. Rossi asked about the policy for responding to letters to the board. Dahle stated that he is open to direction from the board and that he currently responds to communication requesting a response. Rossi stated she would like to have every communication acknowledged. Moberg discussed the need for standardized high school violence reports. Stein suggested a presentation by high school police liaison officers. Dahle discussed a criticism that too much money is spent on noninstructional items. He stated that funds to provide security personnel do take away from instructional funds. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, John Luzaich, clerk f the board Approved February 22, 1994 v Keitti Moberg, chairp son ��_ Z-2-1 League of Minnesota Cities - r' Cities u Number 5 44 March I House committee favors towns on annexation, floor action likely on Monday, March 7 Joel Jamnik The House Local and Metropoli- tan Government Committee consid- ered and passed out of committee H.F.228 (Brown, DFL -Appleton) the Minnesota Township Association's annexation bill. The bill would repeal pro -city amendments made to the state's annexation statutes in 1992. On a roll call vote called by committee chair Representative Chuck Brown, the committee voted 15 to three with one abstention for the bill. Those voting in favor were: Represen- tatives Brown, Delmont, Cooper, Finseth, Johnson, Kelley, Klinzing, Krinke, Macklin, Mahon, Mariani, Molnau, Orenstein, Tompkins, and Wejcman. Those voting against were: St. Cloud Planning Director Patti Gartland, a representative of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, testified against H.F. 228, the township association's annexation bill. A House committee passed the bill on a I5-3 vote. Page 3 - State budget forecast Page 5 - Policeffire retirement While the general fund forecast is The authority to set maximum hiring favorable, the trust fund will still see and mandatory retirement ages for a shortfall. police and fire expired. Representatives Dorn, Nelson, and Swenson. Abstaining from the vote was Representative Orfield, chief author of a statewide growth manage- ment and planning proposal. The bill went directly to the House floor where it has received its introductory readings and might be acted on for final passage on Monday, March 7. Because a delay in voting might push the bill back later in the week, there is still time for city officials to call their legislators and voice their opposition to H.F.228. Please urge your legislators not to take this step backward without a compre- hensive review, reexamination, and reform of the state's existing annex- atii 1 and planning statutes. Much of the committee hearing was devoted to a discussion of the 60 - acre provision. This provision allows cities to annex, by ordinance, parcels of property up to 60 acres in size upon a property owner's petition (regardless of any objection by the township). Many representatives indicated they were uncomfortable with the current 60 -acre provision because it: • Allows unilateral city and prop- erty owner action even if an existing orderly annexation See Annexation, page 5 Route to: Contents House committee favors towns on annexation, floor action likely on Monday, March 7 ......................................... 1 State budget forecast: General fund sees increase; trust fund woes continue........................................................ 3 Governor proposes supplemental budget .................................. 3 Removing lead paint from water tanks to be subjectto rules........................................................................ 4 Wetlands regulation training available ...................................... 4 New building code rules proposed ............................................ 4 Police and fire retirement exemption ended December31, 1993................................................................ 5 DOT rules require drug and alcohol testing .............................. 5 Billsummaries........................................................................... 6 Legislative conference agenda/registration ............................... 7 Municipalads............................................................................ 8 The Cities Bulletin is a publication of the League of Minnesota Cities and includes an update of state legislative, administrative, and congressional actions that affect cities. It also includes reviews of metropolitan area issues by the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities. The Cities Bulletin lists authors of bill summaries and some articles by their initials. Joel Jamnik—JJ League legislative staff members are available to answer your questions concerning Icgislation relating to cities. EAtttltive DinYtor FAitors Typesetting and design Jim Miller lean Melde Goad Gayle nnxh Tim liusu Laurie Audew League of Minnesota Cities, 3490 Lexington Avenue North, St. Paul, MN 55126 Phone: (612) 490-5600; Fax: (612) 490-0072; TDD: (612) 490-9030; 1-800-925-1122, plus your city code. Page 2 1994 top issues The League of Minnesota Cities has eight priority issues for the 1994 legislative session. We will include this list every week with a page number after the issue if we include a story. State Aid to Cities - Preserve 1994 level and seek additional funding for future years for LGA and HACA. Local Government Trust Fund - Stabilize the LGTF and resolve the current shortfall. / page 3 Open Meeting Law - Clarify require- ments and permit defense of alleged violations. Annexation - Preserve 1992 annex- ation amendments, expand cities ability to annex urban or urbanizing areas, and control growth in nonurban areas. / page 1 Landfill Cleanup - Establish new program separate from Superfund to clean up closed municipal landfills. Public Employment Labor Rela- tions Act - Reform PELRA's interest arbitration provisions to balance the bargaining power of essential and nonessential public employees. Development/Redevelopment - Remove the aid penalties on TIF for manufacturing and redevelopment districts; obtain additional funding for pollution clean-up. Transportation Systems Funding - Increase funding for roads and transit by extending the sales tax to gasoline; or increase the gas tax and establish dedicated revenue for transit. 10 Printed on recycled paper LMC Cities Bulletin J State budget forecast: General fund sees increase; trust fund woes continue GrIl • Carlson The March I state budget forecast projects that the state's general fund balance by the end of this biennium will grow by an additional $193 million to $623 million. The forecast for the local government trust fund (LGTF) improved somewhat from a shortfall of $44.3 million to $29.5 million. Most of the LGTF forecast improvement is due to a slight increase in the sales tax and motor vehicle excise tax revenues for the remainder of the biennium. However, this forecast improvement is clouded by a notable decline in the actual year-to- date sales tax collections. For the first seven months of the biennium, actual total state sales tax collections are more than $16.8 million behind the more pessimistic November projections. This translates into LGTF revenues that are $5.2 million behind the November projections. Although the forecast presumably considered this situation, it could indicate softer future sales tax collections that would have a negative bearing on the trust fund. All major general fund tax sources showed improvement since the November forecast. Most of the general fund improvement is the result of stronger individual income tax collections. In total, state revenue estimates have actually increased by $235 million since the November forecast. The increased revenue projections are offset by a $42 million net increase in expenditure estimates for the remainder of the biennium. Education aid estimates have increased by slightly more than $56 million, while interest expenditure costs have decreased by nearly $20 million. Effects on the trust fund -_ If the current projected LGTF shortfall occurs, the state will auto- matically reduce 1994 local govern - March 4, 1994 ment aid (LGA) and homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA). The Department of Revenue has estimated that cities and townships would get $13.3 million less in LGA; and city, county, township and special taxing districts would get about $16.2 million less in HACA. Although the 1994 Legislature will use the March estimates when making decisions this session, the next budget forecast in November will likely serve as the official benchmark the state will use to make any necessary reductions. The November forecast will include revised revenue estimates and esti- mates of the impact of legislative actions on the LGTF shortfall. Although slower growth in LGTF revenue contributed to the current shortfall, most of the deficit is due to 1992 and 1993 legislative actions that added programs to the LGTF. The League has opposed these changes and we are currently working on legisla- tion to address the current shortfall, avoid any cuts in 1994 aid payments, and preserve the basic structure of the LGTF. The League's draft proposal would address any cuts in LGTF programs caused by legislative changes to the composition of the LGTF. We will keep you informed about any actions during the 1994 session that will affect the trust fund. The LGTF outlook for the FY 1996-97 biennium remains bleak. Despite estimated sales tax growth of nearly $107 million over 1995 levels, having the $100 million renters' refund come out of the LGTF beginning in FY 1997 will cause a deficit of slightly more than $30 million. Although this projected deficit for is more than three years into the future, it will influence legislative debate on appropriation increases for 1995 LGA which comes out of next biennium's revenues. 0 Governor proposes supplemental budget Gary Carlson Governor Arne Carlson released his supplemental budget recommenda- tions for the remainder of the current biennium. Based on his comments after the November forecast, we expected the governor to rebate a large portion of the surplus to income taxpayers. On Tuesday, however, he suggested that the 1994 Legislature conserve the surplus by expanding the budget reserve by $140 million to $500 million and by creating a new school aid reserve with $180 million of the projected surplus. Other surplus revenues would be earmarked for the governor's crime control initiatives, prison expansion, flood relief, and previously unfunded transit projects. The governor would increase the LGTF shortfall by another $6.2 million by fully funding the property tax targeting program which gets money from the trust fund. The targeting program is a state -paid refund available to homeowners and farmers who experience large property tax increases. The governor's supplemental recom- mendations would also increase the LGTF shortfall by another $21 million in 1996-97 by beginning the phase-out of the sales tax on certain capital equipment purchases. The governor's supplemental recommendations are at odds with legislative interests to use a portion of the surplus for property tax relief. This could set the stage for a contentious session, with the distinct possibility of gubernatorial vetoes of bills that would use the surplus for legislative initiatives. 0 Page 3 Removing lead paint from water tanks to be subject to rules Joel Jamnik The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPGA) is considering enacting rules on how to remove lead paint from steel structures, including water and fuel tanks. The MPGA believes that removal of exterior lead paint from steel structures has caused significant contamination, most commonly as a result of abrasive blasting. Agency staff estimate that the average amount of lead removed each year from exterior steel surfaces in Minnesota is between 130,000 and 180,000 pounds. In 1990, most cities received information from MPCA regarding sandblasting of lead painted bridges and water tanks. The notice included recommendations for testing and containment during removal. Copies of the proposed rule are available from Gordon Anderson (612) 296-7667 or Lisa Thorvig (612) 296- 7331. You may also contact the League for additional information at (612)490-5600 or 1-800-925-1122 plus your city code. 0 Wetlands regulation training available Joel Jamnik The permanent program for wetland protection under the 1991 state law has raised many questions. All cities are affected by this law, even if another local government in the area will serve as the local government unit (LGU) responsible for program administration. LGU determination (turf battle) is one question the law raises. Others are fee limitations (statutory mandates), and the process cities must follow. In determining intergovernmental conflicts for instance, the rules generally support having LGU responsibility rest with the govern- mental body exercising zoning authority for the affected property. In a recent letter, the Board of Water and Soil Resources (B WSR) indicated that cities will generally be able to determine how the act will be administered within their borders. Consequently, with this power comes the responsibility to decide whether the city, county, or a water manage- ment orA!anir.;ition will he file I.G11. li+ yell+, llwslt has scheduled training sessions from 4) a.m. to 3 p.m. at the following sites. Alexandria Park Inn (612) 763-6577 April 8, 1994 Duluth Holiday Inn (800) 477-7089 April 18, 1994 Marshall Best Western (800) 422-0897 April 4, 1994 Brainerd Holiday Inn (218) 829-1441 March 25, 1994 Mankato Holiday Inn (507)345-1234 March 28, 1994 Bemidji Holiday Inn (218) 751-9515 April 11, 1994 Kahler Hotel, Rochester (507) 282-2581 March 31, 1994 Thunderbird -Bloomington (612) 854-3411 April 15, 1994 Roseville Holiday Inn (612) 636-4567 March 29, 1994 To register, please call LeAnn Buck at (612) 090-9028. The cost of the session is $25. 0 New building code rules proposed Joel Jamnik The Building Codes and Standards Division is proposing a new rule on building official certification. The division will adopt the rule without a public hearing unless 25 or more people request (in writing) a hearing by March 30, 1994. The proposed rules would add two new classifications of certification: Certified Building Official—Limited; and Accessibility Specialist. The rule would allow statewide enforcement of the accessibility requirements of the Americans with disabilities act, even if the local jurisdiction does not other- wise enforce the state building code. A public hearing, if held, would occur on April 6, 1994, in the Building Codes and Standards Division confer- ence room, 408 Metro Square Build- ing, 121 Seventh Place East, St. Paul, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Call Peggi White (612) 296-4626 after March 30 to determine whether the division will hold a hearing. Further information regarding the rule and administrative procedures is available from the League at (612) 490-5600 or 1_800-925-1122 plus your city code. 0 1994 Directory of Minnesota City Officials The League of Minnesota Cities 1994 Directory of Minnesota City Officials is now a ailable. If you would like to order a copy contact the League at (612) 490-5600. Page 4 LMC Cities Bulletin Police and fire retirement exemption ended December 31, 1993 Joel Jantnik An exemption from the age discrimination and employment act (ADEA) allowing cities to impose mandatory retirement age require- ments for police and fire personnel expired on December 31, 1993. As of January 1, 1994, any maximum hiring age or mandatory retirement age violates the ADEA. The exemption had authorized the use of maximum hiring ages and mandatory retirement ages for police and firefighters if those restrictions were in place as of March 31, 1983. Congress approved the exemption in 1986 at the request of state end local Officials. including the National Annexation 9 n,nun*ued ko,,, agreement between the city and the township would specify that the annexation would be inappro- priate, • Does not allow for any external review or appeal to determine whether the annexation is consis- tent with the established stated Policies regarding annexation, and • Does not necessarily have to be consistent with established local comprehensive plans. City representatives argued that most orderly annexation agreements are not drafted with specific parcels of Property in mind nor are they kept up- to-date sufficiently to allow quick reaction to urban development Proposals by property owners. Also, city representatives pointed out that the property owner's request will generally result in higher taxes and more services. So, the property owner, in effect, is making a finding that the March 4, 1994 League of cities. If your city had a mandatory hiring or retirement age Provision for police and fire, we suggest you remove it from your personnel policies. While mechanisms still exist for ensuring the competency of police and fire personnel, none offer the clear brightline test provided by the age exemption. Several national groups, including the National League of Cities, are currently advocating the reinsertion of this exemption into federal law. The League is interested in hearing from any city official who has opinions regarding this matter. 0 Property is urbanizing or urban in character. Such a finding is consistent with the policy established in Minnesota's Statutes Chapter 414 dealing with annexation and boundary adjustments. Finally, city representatives pointed out that the ability of cities to effectively plan in the fringe areas is extremely limited by ambiguous state statutes allowing for extraterritorial extension of zoning and subdivision regulations and/or joint planning boards. Unfortunately, these argu- ments did not persuade many legisla- tors to vote against the bill. Supporters of the township bill outnumbered city representatives in the hearing room by about a three or four to one margin. The Senate companion of the township's bill, S.F.138 (Vickerman. DFL -Tracy) is presently in subcom- mittee and has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. We urge you to discuss this matter with your senators.0 = DOT rules require drug and alcohol testing Joel Jamnik In rules published February 4 by the U.S. Department of Transportation, local units of government will have to do drug and alcohol testing of mass - transit employees and all drivers with commercial drivers licenses effective January 1, 1995. USDOT is treating the rules as an extension of the omnibus transportation employee testing act of 1991. The rules will impact Minnesota cities that require public works and other city employees to have commer- cial drivers licenses. The rules as drafted require pre-employment, post- accident, and "reasonable suspicion" testing for drugs and alcohol through the use of breathalizers and urine samples. Further, the first year of testing requires 25 percent of employees to be tested randomly for alcohol use and 50 percent for drug use. After the first year, the percentages would change based on the number of employees who tested positive and who refused to be tested. These final rules cannot be modified or changed except by congressional action and currently no major initiative is under way. A copy of the rules was published in the Federal Register of February 15, 1994; Volume 49, Number 31, pages 7302-7625. The League is in the process of obtaining copies of the complete rule. We will provide members with further information as it becomes available. 0 Page 5 Bill summaries E� Environment Unprocessed solid waste disposal: Delay in prohibition H.F.1834 (Tunheim) (Environment & Natural Resources) would delay or postpone until 1998, currently July 1, 1995, the prohibition of disposal of unprocessed mixed municipal solid waste at substandard disposal facilities under certain circumstances. JJ General Government Oakdale annexation authority H.F.1828 (Perlt, C. Brown, Bergson, Delmont, Mahon) (Local Government & Metropolitan Affairs) would authorize Oakdale to petition for the concurrent detachment and annex- ation of land which would affect the cities of Oakdale and Lake Elmo. JJ Firearm background checks: Release of information H.F 1848 (Perlt, Delmont, Beard, Holsten, Macklin) (Judiciary) would authorize any public or private mental health and chemical dependency treatment facility to release information to law enforcement agencies conduct- ing firearms background checks prior to the issuance of carry permits, transferee permits, or other firearm permits issued by chiefs of police or sheriffs. JJ State contractor bonds for public works projects H.F.1882 (Macklin, Pugh, C. Brown) (Local Government & Metro- politan Affairs) would make substantial modifications to the state statutes (Minn. Stat. 574.26 in particular) that require contractors to provide perfor- mance and payment bonds on public works projects. Under the bill, if the Mate or other public body fails to get and approve a valid payment bond or securities in place of a payment bond, it would be liable to all persons furnish- ing labor and materials under the contract. The bill would also amend the claims procedure on the perfor- mance for payment bonds and create a new statute of limitations on these claims. Proposed effective date: August 1, 1994, to apply to contracts of public work awarded after July 31, 1994. JJ Housing Manufactured home parks: Shelters H.F.1832 (K. Brown, Evans, Luther) (Housing) would require that by January 1, 1997, all storm shelters in manufactured home parks of 25 or more homes must meet the require- ments of the state building code for storm shelters. Beginning August 1, 1994, the commissioner of administra- tion would need to certify shelters that meet the state's construction standards. The bill would allow the valuation of any shelter to be deducted from the market value of a manufactured home park for tax purposes. The bill would establish a financial assistance program and other processes to ensure that manufactured home park residents have adequate storm shelters available. JJ Manufactured home parks: Emergency weather H.F.1884 (Evans, A. Johnson, Sekhon) (Housing) would require the commissioner of health and other state agencies to study emergency weather procedures and facilities in manufac- tured home parks. The study would develop and implement a method to assess current evacuation plans to protect the safety of park residents and the public in times of severe weather. The report would be due to the Legisla- ture by February 15, 1995. JJ Personnel State residency requirement H.F.1865 (Simoneau, Jefferson, Morrison) (Governmental Operations & Gambling) would require newly hired state employees to be residents of the State of Minnesota. Since the law does not specify an effective date, it probably would go into effect August 1, 1994, and affect only people hired after that effective date. JJ Public Safety Destruction of forfeited weapons H.F.1820 (Delmont, Skoglund) (Judiciary) would require that all law enforcement agencies that acquire weapons, ammunition, or firearm accessories through the state's criminal forfeiture statutes to destroy any of those items that the agency decides not to use for law enforcement purposes. Consequently, the agencies would be prohibited from selling these items to any public or private person. JJ Blue lights on law enforcement vehicles H.F.1823 (Perlt, Mahon, Skoglund, Wenzel, Sarna) (Transportation & Transit) would extend the authorization to use blue lights for road maintenance equipment to also allow blue lights on law enforcement vehicles. The use of the blue lights would be limited to situations when the vehicle is also equipped with a forward -facing red light for each blue light displayed. JJ Handgun permit background checks: Cost reimbursement H.F.1898 (Orenstein) (Economic Development, Infrastructure & Regula- tion Finance) would appropriate funds to the commissioner of public safety to reimburse local law enforcement agencies for a portion of the cost they incur in conducting background checks in issuing handgun permits. JJ Page 6 LMC Cities Bulletin J D = oZ Legislative Conference 11 Tentative Program League of Minnesota Cities 9:15a.m. President's Message 9:30a.m. Local Government Aid: What's Up—What's Down; The Real Story Thursday, March 24 10:30a.m. Legislative Leaders Panel Radisson St. Paul Hotel Legislators will respond to questions from a panel of city officials 11 East Kellogg Boulevard 11:30a.m. Lunch g9 Representative Iry Anderson St. Paul, MN 55101 1:00P.m. What's Hot! League staff will brief you on the three most important issues to discuss with your legislators 2:00p.m. Meet with your legislator at the State Capitol (transportation furnished) Schedule time with your legislator in advance to discuss issues affecting your city 4:00p.m. Forum on Term Limits (All legislators invited) Legislators and organizations which support or oppose term limits will state their positions and respond to questions. The League opposes term limits forcity officials, but what do you think? 5:00P.m. Reception (All legislators invited) Meet your legislators to discuss the Issues 0 Join elected and appointed officials from throughout the state for briefings by League staff and legislative leaders on key issues impacting all Minnesota Cities and officials. • Meet with yourlegislators and discuss the issues. • Invite your legislators to join you and other city officials at a reception in their honor. • The registration fee has been greatly reduced from pdoryears to encourage your participation. 1994 Legislative Conference Registration Form City (Please print or type) Name Title Name Title Name Title Registration fee: $45 advance $50 on-site Fee includes conference registration, luncheon, and evening reception with legislators invited. Make check payable and mall to League of Minnesota Cities Advance Registration 3490 Lexington Avenue North Deadline—March 16, 1994 St. Paul, MN 55126 ------------------------------------- 1994 Legislative Conference Housing Form Organization League of Minnesota Cities Function 1994 Legislative Conference Dates March 23-24, 1994 All requests for the above group must be received by March 4. 1994 Name Last irst Compan (Please print or type) Address City State Zip Sharing room with No. of persons Signature Phone Number Month I Da Year Month I Da Year Arrival Date Arrival Tins Dsperlure Date Check in time 3:00 P.M. Check out time 12:00 p.m. Accommodations will not be confirmed without a check for the first night's deposit or use your Amex or Diners Club credit card number to guarantee your reservation. You will be charged for the first night if reservations are not canceled 48 hours prior to arrival. Creditcard N O Amex O Visa O Mastercard Expiration date (Pwse chew one) March 4,1994 Special Reduced Rates for Members Only =69 Single t69 Double (2 people) Make check payable and mail to the Radisson Hotel SL Paul 11 East Kellogg Blvd. SL Paul, MN 55101 Page 7 Municipal ads Municipal ads are printed at no charge to member cities.Ads run in one issue only unless notice is received to run a second time. The Cities Bulletin Is published weekly during the legislative session and once a month during the Interim, the time between sessions. Municipal ads will appear in the next available Cities Bulletin. Cities have the right to reject any or all bids on equipment or proposals, and to waive any Informalities therein. Minnesota cities are equal opportunity employers. Positions ASSESSOR, BUILDING/ZONING OFFICIAL. Two Harbors is accepting applications for a position that will provide assessing/property appraisal, building inspection, and zoning administration. Reports to the administrator. Requires certifications as assessor and building inspector. Two Harbors offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits. Position description and additional information are available from the Office of the Administra- tor, City Hall 522 1st Avenue,'Irvo Harbors, MN 55616, (218) 834-5631. Applications accepted until 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 1, 1994. EOE. ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/ PERSONNEL COORDINATOR. Immedi- ate opening.for FT assistant city manager/ personnel coordinator with•City of Brooklyn Center. Responsible managerial position encompassing a variety of Minnesota Cities 1994 Photo Contest Photo award categories • Minnesota city architecture (buildings, houses, city halls, etc.) • Minnesota city activities --events, celebrations, etc. • Minnesota cityscapeslnature in the cities • Minnesota cities -the people - Minnesota cities -the four seasons Rules • Size: 5 x 7 photo - Type: Blade and white or color prints (no slides) • Number: You can enter one photo in each category Awards • Cash prizes for each category • Grand prize award - Display of photos at the 1994 LMC Annual Conference • Publication of your winning photo in the Minnesota Cities magazine. Information we need Please fill out the form below and include the following for each photo: • Your name • Your address (including the city where you live) • City where you took the photo • Caption • The category your photo fits into • Your age (ONLY IF YOU ARE UNDER 18) Send entries to • League of Minnesota Cities 3490 Lexington Avenue North St. Paul, MN 55126-8044 For more information • Laurie Audette (612) 490.5600 Deadline for entries • May 2,1994 rEntry form for League of Minnesota 1994 photo contest Name I jAddress I City/State/Zip j Minnesota city where you took the photo Signature i I agree to let the League publish my photo/s in League publications with i proper credit i If you are under 18, please give us your age. _ years. Mail this form along with your photo to: I League of Minnesota Cities 3490 Lexington Avenue North LSt_PauI,MN55126-8044 ________________� Page 8 administrative functions including: coordinating human resources activities; supervising support staff; serving as staff liaison to commissions/committees; overseeing city's public information activities; performing research activities and policy development; overseeing departmental budgets. Requires bachelor's degree in human resources management, public administration, business administra- tion, or urban studies (prefer master's degree) and 3 years municipal administra- tion or human resources management experience. Monthly salary range is $3,891 to $4,736 plus benefits. All applicants must submit a city of Brooklyn Center applica- tion for employment obtained from the personnel coordinator's office. Pick up an application and job description at city hall 6301 Shingle Creek Parkway, Brooklyn Center, MN, or call for one at (612) 569- 3300. Applications must be received or postmarked by 4:30 p.m. on March 18, 1994. An AA/EO employer. BUILDING INSPECTOR. Saint Peter will be accepting applications for the position of building inspector. Under the supervision of the community development director, the building inspector is respon- sible for all plan reviews, inspects construc- tion, alterations, and repairs of all building activities within the city, and inspects rental properties. Requires any combination of education and experience equivalent to a high school degree, possession of a valid State of Minnesota Class 11 Building Official Certification, and possession of a valid Minnesota Class C Drivers License. Salary range $26,000 - $29,000. Applica- tions and complete job description can be obtained by calling (507) 931-4840. Resumes and applications are due by March 28, 1994. CIVIL ENGINEER. Mendota Heights is seeking a full-time civil engineer. Requirements include bachelor's degree in civil engineering, status as registered civil engineer and 5-7 years of progressively responsible engineering experience. Municipal experience preferred. Strong verbal and written skills desired. Position reports to public works director. Salary range is $36-44K DOQ. Application and resume must be submitted by 4:30 p.m.. March 25, 1994. Applications may he obtained at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve. Mendota Heights, 55118. AA/EO em- ployer. LMC Cities Bulletin f] Municipal ads continued COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR. Faribault, MN (population 18,000), 30 miles south of Twin Cities, Community Development Director starting salary $47,500 to $51,700. Reports to City Administrator, works with Council, EDA, HRA, responsible for housing, redevelop- ment, economic development, and grant writing. Department has a $700,000 budget with special projects of up to $3 million. Significant related experience and educa- tion required. Contact City Hall, 208 First Avenue NW, Faribault, MN 55021, (507) 334-2222, for an application, fax (507) 334-1024. Applications are required and arc due by March 31, 1994. FIRE CHIEF. Coon Rapids, a suburban community (population 58,000), seeks individual for highly responsible management position in directing the fire prevention and firefighting activities of the fire department. Reports to city manager. Department budget $1.8 M; 25 full-time, 20 volunteer firefighters. Duties include: Planning, organizing and directing fire prevention, suppression, investigation and emergency medical service. Desire strong experience in personnel, budgeting, labor rclations,.and community relations. Proven leadership, communication skills, and technical knowledge are essential. Success- ful candidate will possess upper midwest cold weather firefighting experience and will have a combination of education and experience in supervision, administration, training, and fire operations in a similar size department. Salary range: $47,457 - $72,687. Expected hiring range: $47,457 - $60,069, DOQ. Submit resume and city application form to: Personnel Office, City of Coon Rapids, 1313 Coon Rapids Blvd., Coon Rapids, MN 55433 (612) 780-6456 no later than Friday, April 29, 1994. EOE/ AA/ADA. FORESTRY TECHNICIAN. Crystal has an immediate opening for a full-time, experienced, forestry technician to work in our public works department. Position is responsible for all forestry programs, weed inspection, contractor licensing, and Tree City USA. Also assists with engineering and public works projects. Successful applicants must be familiar with urban forestry programs with an emphasis in inspection, compliance, tree management, record keeping, computers, codes and ordinances; have the ability to deal with a wide variety of demands, priorities, and simultaneous projects including resolving issues and conflicts. Excellent verbal and written communication skills with an emphasis on customer service essential. Minimum Requirements: Degree in forestry or related field, (may substitute 7 years work experience in forestry for degree), valid drivers license and computer experience. Salary: $27,000 - $32,000. City of Crystal application and supplemen- tal application must be received by March 14, 1994 and may be obtained at the City of Crystal, 4141 Douglas Drive, Crystal, MN 55422 or call 531-1175, TDD: 537-1008. EOEIAA. LINEMAN - ELECTRICIAN. Gilbert is hiring a master electrician. Must have two years experience with 4160 hot line. Additional requirements: provide small hand tools, manual pole climbing ability, knowledge of switch gear and trans. hook- up procedures. Information and job description available at City Clerk's office or Public Utilities office. Please contact City of Gilbert for application forms. City of Gilbert, Box 548, Gilbert, MN 55741. (218) 741-9443. Applications will be accepted until March 15, 1994. EOE. MANAGER. North St. Paul (popula- tion 12,500). Starting salary range $50- 65,000 DOQ. Position reports to a 4 - member council and mayor. Qualified candidate should have a degree (masters preferred) in public administration or related field. Responsibilities include supervising all departments of city government. Position requires knowledge of municipal finances, human resources and public relations, knowledge or experience managing a municipal electric utility desirable. Resumes should be submitted by April 4, 1994 to City Clerk, City of North St. Paul, 2526 E. 7th Avenue, North St. Paul, MN 55109. EOE. For Sale HOCKEY SCOREBOARD. Albert Lea parks and recreation department has a four-sided hockey scoreboard that we are willing to give away to anyone willing to haul it away. It was made by the Fairplay Company which is still in business. Anyone interested in the scoreboard may contact George Kessel, at the Albert Lea City Arena, (507) 377-4374. MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT. Chisago City will be holding a public viewing of equipment that it has for sale on Monday, March 14 by appointment. Bids for the following equipment will be accepted beginning Monday, March 7 until =' a_ Friday, March 18 at 10:00 a.m., at which time the bids will be opened. The equip- ment for sale consists of. 1991 Steiner Riding lawn mower, 180 hours, 50 inch cut, minimum bid of $6,000. 1990 Wheel horse riding mower, 350 hours, 50 inch cut, minimum bid of $3,800. 1947 Ford 8N Tractor with wood mower deck, 72 inch cut, just overhauled, best offer. 1973 Wayne sweeper, 945 Model Truck mount, working order, best offer. Onan Generator, 45 KW, best offer. All bids must be clearly marked on outside of envelope the equipment for which the bid relates to. The city reserves the right to waive any irregularities in any of the proposals submitted and/or to reject any or all proposals. 29246 Old Towne Road, Chisago City, MN 55013. (612) 257-6578, metro: (612) 462-7030. SANITARY SEWER RODDER. Arden Hills has for sale one Flexible Pipe Mode/SRS-248 Sewer Rodder mounted on a 1965 Chevrolet one -ton chassis. The rodder is equipped with an auxiliary, Wisconsin air-cooled engine, approximately 500 feet of rod, and miscellaneous cutters. An operating guide and parts book is also included. The chassis has approximately 64,250 miles and is in good operating condition. Sealed bids must be received by 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 15, 1994. All bids must be delivered to Arden Hills City Hall at 1450 W. Highway 96, Arden Hills, MN 55112. For more information contact Public Works Superintendent Dan Winkel at (612) 633-4443. WALK-IN COOLER. Lexington has for sale a 20 -door walk-in cooler, 15.50 feet deep, 60 feet long, 9 feet high. Sealed bids must be received by 11:00 a.m., Thursday, March 17, 1994. All bids must be delivered to Lexington City Hall, 4175 Lovell Road, Suite 140, Lexington, Minnesota 55014. For more information contact Jack Borgen, Liquor Store Manager, (612) 786-7580. ZAMBONI. Hoyt Lakes is accepting bids for one gasoline powered 1981 Zamboni 500 (No. 2981). Machine will be available in November 1994. Machine is being sold in an as is condition with no warranty. Sealed bids will be accepted until June 1, 1994 and should be sent to City of Hoyt Lakes, 206 Kennedy Memorial Drive, Hoyt Lakes, MN 55750. Inspection of the machine can be made by contacting Tom Ferris, Hoyt Lakes Arena (218) 225-2226. Minimum bid $17,000. NORTHWEST The Local COMMUNITY Station TELVISS10 r �+ V1' Channels 32 through 37 A Supplement to Your Local Newspaper or City Newsletter Volume 12, Issue 1 Getting the news about your community is as easy as turning to Channel 35 It once was that you would wait a week or more to get a recap of the stories that were making news in your community. Then came cable television and that all changed. You no longer need to wait. Turn to cable's communi- ty news channel, Channel 35, and you'll see how easy it is to get the news from right here in the northwest suburbs. The news never stops on Channel 35. The unique format of this channel features the daily community news program "News 35 Northwest" and the once a week city government informa- tion program "North- west Cities" showing within the same thirty minute period. This convenient combina- tion shows Northwest Community Television's commitment to serving you. In any half hour period, anytime, you can catch up on the lat- est news and get valu- able information from your city government. ft's the only channel on your cable TV service that can do that for you. Nine cities and six school districts are included in the news you'll see on Channel 35. The communities covered include Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale. Inside this issue of "Northwest Images" you'll get a detailed description of what's on Channel 35. You'll meet the dedicated, profes- sional staff, and see where we're turning to make Channel 35 an even greater resource for you. "News 35 Northwest" news team includes: Kristin Everett, John Jacobson, Rolanda Taylor and Jay Wilcox. 3o,... 35 ''s .............. The Daily Community News. To say that getting the community news on cable television is convenient may just be an under- statement. Every weekday at Noon, "News 35 Northwest" is transmitted into nearly 52,000 cable households. The program is then repeated every thirty minutes at the top and bottom of the hour on Channel 35. If you remember this basic information then you'll be on your way to getting up to date with the lat- est news from your community. The stories you'll see Maple Grove Brooklyn Park The battle for Mielke Field in Crystal, Brooklyn Center's controversial tobacco advertising ban, and housing development issues in Maple Grove Brooky are examples of the types of stories we cover. Our primary focus is on sto- Bente ries from your city, your schools and the people who live right here in the NewHoff �'' northwest suburbs. Robbinsda Plymouth Golden The people who bring you the news LValley The strength of "News 35 Northwest" is in the people who deliver the newscast. Rolanda Taylor brings the professionalism of a national news anchor to the community news desk. Taylor's work his- tory includes stints with KARE Television and the VH -1 :90 Second News Update. News reporter Kristin Everett previously worked at the Washington D.C. bureau for a national television news ser- vice. Reporters John Anderson and Tony Burbeck joined the "News 35" team in February. Both of them have experience working for broadcast news operations locally in the Twin Cities. John Anderson Tony Burbeck The sports team is led by Crystal native and Robbinsdale :49 High School graduate John Jacobson. Sports reporters Jay Wilcox, Chris Slater, and Randy Matthes all combine an exten- sive knowledge of high school sports and the experience to communicate that knowledge to an audience. The future of community news "News 35 Northwest" is always looking to improve its service. We are expanding our coverage of city council and school board meetings so we can bring you next day coverage of the decisions and how they affect you. m r Through April 15th we are adding a ",Tax Tips from the IRS" segment to our newscast. And we are looking for opportunities to incorporate more news about the business community here in the northwest area. Northwest Cities Not your ordinary city government information show When is the last time you had a chance to hear about how the streets are maintained in your city or go inside a class- room where the D.A.R.E. pro- gram is being taught. Each week the "Northwest Cities" cameras take you to places like these and show you first hand how your tax dollars are working. The goal of "Northwest Cities" is to give you a compre- hensive report on the services your city provides. That may Maureen Morrissey seem difficult given that the show is just 11 minutes long. However, instead of covering information from all nine cities, each show pro- vides a detailed report on topics from two different area cities. In the reports you will meet the people and learn more about the ser- vices provided by both your city and the surrounding communities. "News 35 Northwest" is The Looking toward the future, "Northwest Cities" plans to produce Daily Community News. Give it more programs where all eleven minutes can be devoted to a spe- a try and see what s news in the cific topic. Examples of upcoming specials include an explanation northwest area today.Just flip of the Mutual Aids to Cities Program and environmental issues over anytime to Channel 35. over to spring lawn maintenance. Join host Maureen Morrissey once a week for an entertaining and informational look behind the scenes at city government in N action. Just turn to Channel 35 at :19 and :49 minutes past the hour. Minn W/CJ ^,, M �' _ Watch for a new "Northwest Cities" each Monday. NEws35 The NORTHWEST 1vEws35 Local COMMUNITY Station d9 Jlin C11JQ Channels 32 TELEVISION l �7 through 37 Channel Line-up 3 2 NWCT Program Guide/Local Weather • Preview upcoming shows. • Commercial free weather forecast provided by the National Weather Service. • Time and date. 33 Community Programming Talk shows, concerts, and a full range of public access shows. 34Community Programming Programs from area churches, community events and sports. 35 News end Information Channel "News 35 Northwest" at the top and bottom of the hour, "Northwest Cities" at :19 and :49 past the hour. 36Sports and Events Programming High School and college sports events, school concerts, parades and other community events. 37Municipal Programming City Council Meetings, videotext informational messages and other municipal programming. HEY SPORTS FANS! NWCT Sports gives you the best seat in the house for the High School playoffs. The road to state begins on NWCT Northwest Community Television is an independent non-profit organization pro- viding public access to cable television and local programming to residents in the cities of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale. Fasr FACTS Weather Without the Wait It's.the national weather service forecast and it's yours 24 hours a day on Channel 32. You'll never wait for a commercial and it only takes a minute to get the com- plete, reliable forecast from the authority in weather forecasting information. The Council is on Cable Watch your city's plans for 1994 unfold on cable TV. Council meetings from Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, - Golden Valley, New Hope, Plymouth, and Robbinsdale are shown live and then repeated on Channel 37. The "Maple Grove City Council Report" gives a con- cise review of council activity for resi- dents of that city. NWCT Speakers Bureau and Tours Available Northwest Community Television is eager to spread the word about our operations. We will visit your business, community group or other organization that would like to learn more about community tele- vision. We can even arrange a tour of our studios if you like. Call us at 533-8196 to arrange a presentation. NORTHWEST COMMUNITY TELEVISION The Local Station Channels 32 through 37 533-8196 NWCT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jeanne Andre, Terry Busch, Jim Commers, Dan Donahue, Jerry Dulgar, Jon Elam, Fran Hagen, Mike Holtz, Jack Irving, Helen LaFave, Duane Orn, Tony Sgarlatti, Ray Stockman, Carolyn Thompson, Sharon White. OD Printed on Recycled Paper PC39 `z, 310 The Communicator Volume 10, Issue 3 Newsletter for District 279 KEY COMMUNICATORS MARCH, 1994 Our last Key Communicator asked your opinions about boundary changes, and believe it or not, most of you agreed on the process. You said that all boundaries (elementary, junior and senior high) should be done at once, and that we should try to keep the same kids together from elementary through junior and senior high. We'll comment on this and other ideas expressed in just a moment. But first, let us summarize the time lines apd what will take place. Design work on the new Maple Grove Senior High is now completed and the construction contracts will be let this spring. There was little design work for Basswood and Rush Creek Elementary Schools since they will be the fifth and sixth schools on the design we now call the Fernbrook Plan. Their construction contracts will also be bid this spring. The elementary schools will be ready for the 1995 term, the senior high for the 1996 term. Basswood Elementary will be located west of Quantico Lane and south of Bass Lake Road in southwestern Maple Grove; Rush Creek will be in far west central Maple Grove at 89th Avenue and Hwy. 101. The Maple Grove Senior High will be at about 99th and Fernbrook Lane and bounded on the east by Elm Creek. Before we get into some of your responses and questions, let's summarize the task that lies before a boundary committee. While this round of changes promises to offer the most stability and satisfactory outcome ever, there are still issues that will make someone unhappy. The four elementary schools south of the freeway contain space critical to the housing of our elementary school population. The population south of the freeway furnishes only 40% of the capacity of these buildings. The committee will continue to bring children from northern sections of the district to these schools. It will continue to be impossible to bring children to some district schools without bringing them past a closer building. ►A 1985 GOLDEN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER SCHOOL 0 BELL � 9��� Merit Award Winner 1�i.�►7� 1993 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE IN WRITING District lc�a2791 OSSEO RHEA SCHOOLS TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.... -4 Some population from north of 85th Avenue in Brooklyn Park will eventually have to move to schools south of 85th Avenue. —� The population of Winnetka and Sunny Hollow will not move in totality to the new schools. The fit wouldn't work, and such a move would make the improvement of other boundaries difficult. Not all Maple Grove high schoolers will go to the new senior high. Osseo Senior High will continue to be populated predominately by Maple Grove students. —� The number of students at Maple Grove Junior High will need to be reduced. It is the only junior high that has too many students. -� As much as every committee would like to, they cannot keep whole elementary school populations together through junior high and senior high. They do their best, but the size variables just don't work out. They do, however, for the most part, keep large neighborhoods together. File the above statements and come back about a year from now and see if there's any accuracy to today's "forecast." OTHER ISSUES YOU RAISED everal urged that we keep -the populations of Winnetka and Sunny Hollow together. While this is an issue for the committee to consider, there will be problems of geography, size of building and transportation routes to consider. The district, in planning for the staffing of new buildings, has not assumed that the population of the old buildings will be transferred en masse to the new buildings. Another of you asked about the effective date of the new boundaries. They will coincide with the opening of the new buildings. In the case of the junior high, the new boundaries will become effective in the Fall of 1995. FIRST PRONG: "Can't we be a little more creative and offer different programs at our new schools -4 i.e. Language Immersion, Tech School (Robbinsdale, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, etc.); follow examples in other districts... St. Cloud - offer more choices, not the same old boundary mess." SECOND PRONG: "Comment on "near riot" --have district personnel, school board be honest about 'ideas' they have in place already." I. It takes money to do those special programs to which the writer refers. We have investigated the possibilities and sought ways to initiate new programs, but always run short on the money side (we're still the lowest funded school district in Hennepin County). In Minneapolis and St. Paul these programs are a result of court-ordered desegregation. In the other districts they are choices, but not solutions to the boundary problem. On the other hand, a total magnet district (like Minneapolis) would eliminate boundaries as we know them, but raise a whole new set of problems such as quotas, second choices and waiting lists. Personally, I don't believe many of our people would opt for a magnet school unless it is was very close to home. Remember, the City of Minneapolis is 59 square miles, we are 66 square miles. II. This prong implies that the "near riot" of boundary change in this district is caused by a conspiracy on the part of school board and administration. Keepers of this conspiracy theory hold that we have a secret plan for boundaries, and all we need to do is dupe the rest of you, including 40 presumably intelligent committee members, who in the end, like mindless clones, will vote unanimously for "our plan." Some citizens, of course, see through our treachery, become very angry, and thus the near riots. IIjust don't know how to respond to this accusation DISPERSE THE DIVERSE? "I know the process for boundary change has always included the public, but I think it's time to give the task back to district officials. The racial and socioeconomic differences in the west vs. the east are unlawful not to mention, unfair. The parents and staff at some east schools are burned out dealing with day-to-day major problems associated with high percentages of low-income students. Give us a break over here -help our teachers and our staff. Disperse some of this throughout the district. Let some of the west schools "celebrate diversity." Some of them have none! The public cannot decide anymore - let the district do it, before the attorneys do!" Let's first answer the questions raised by our writer; then we will make some comments about the tone of this letter. ♦ Since we asked for your suggestions, the school board has decided once more to use a committee of representative parents for the boundary changes. ♦ The goal of the district is to provide challenging and productive learning opportunities for every student regardless of status or neighborhood. ♦ The legal implications are not clear at this time. Both the desegregation rule, and regulations about low and moderate -income housing opportunities are being studied now at the state level. ♦ District 279 recognizes high need circumstances referred to by the writer and is now attempting to generate more revenue from the state to provide special services to high need schools in our district. Those things having been said, I don't read this letter as a ringing endorsement of diversity or the presence of poor in our district. When I was a kid, we were constantly warned about "bad companions." When I got older, I wondered what it must be like to be branded a "bad companion" when you're in the third grade. I see a similarity between the "bad companion" mentality and the tone of this letter. Now must we avoid those who are poor and different from us? Let me pose several questions. The position advocated by our writer is very common and must eventually be confronted even beyond the confines of District 279. ♦ Might the poor and children of color have some feeling about this "dispersal?" Or don't they have feelings, and dreams, for that matter? ♦ Does this writer tend to paint a single picture, and ignore the accomplishments of thousands of our children who get As, Bs, Cs and Ds, learn to read, sing, write, act in plays, go to parties, win scholarships and academic competitions, and hope for better times? If so, is this what stereotyping is? ♦ If the attitude expressed in this letter is prevalent in our schools, how could there possibly be high expectations for these learners? And if we don't maintain high expectations for all our children, what is our hope? These are questions that this district, our metropolitan area, and our nation must answer. Without effective answers, and soon, we stand in danger of losing a large segment of the next generation. While the writer is correct about the potential legal implications of segregation, the law is also clear that desegregation is not to be solved at the expense of the minority population. Several advocated that the district would be/should be split. The likelihood of this happening is slight, given current Minnesota law about the constitution of school districts. Do we make progress as a democratic society by building walls, or tearing them down'? Let's leave this subject with this writer's thought, "All schools need to work on a welcoming atmosphere. Volunteers can make a difference in how the school 'feels,' but staff and kids need to be aware that people learn better in a friendly environment and strive to build a happy environment." t .310 MORE ON OSSEO SENIOR'S SCHEDULE To the writer who wondered why students would be out of school for 25% of the time. The committee that decided on this schedule chose this solution over split shifts which would have scheduled two school days each 24 hours. They felt is was better for a lot of reasons. The space is needed to house over -enrollment prior to the opening of a new high school in 1996. Another writer asked about transportation for students to attend North Hennepin Community College. Through the College Options Program, students in our district already attend college for both college and high school credit. This program is not for everybody, and the numbers may be maximized already. Another writer noted the challenge to keep the district together as we go through boundary changes. "It could one day lead to a petition to separate out of District 279 and merge into Wayzata. There will be a high challenge to keep together." Voluntary metropolitan merger is highly unlikely. And why would anyone want to merge with Wayzata, with all the problems they have? WEIGHTED GRADING To the writer with the observation about our high schools' weighted grading system being the "worst of both worlds." You may be right, especially if colleges are changing the way they ask applicants about weighted grading. This is, an item to be discussed at the local high school level. MORE ON STUDENT BEHAVIOR IN THE COMMUNITY "The behavior of children ir, ONLY owned by them and their parents. Not the schools and not the community. Let's start accepting responsibility for our own actions." This comment is apparently in reaction to a statement I made in the last Key about noon open campus behavior. While I do not disagree with the personal responsibility part of the statement, I do believe our loss is not just a personal one, but a community one also. We do not live in isolation or raise kids in a vacuum. We live in a community and to the extent that we have lost that community, we all suffer. A successful community takes responsibility for what goes on in that community. "None of my business," or "I just didn't want to get involved," or " I just want to be left alone, have a little peace and quiet," has gotten us nowhere. Published by ISD 279 (Osseo Area Schools), Educational Service Center, Educational Service Center �� (j 4 �k�r .n•;, ry t;>�' nprofd Org. ISD 279 - Osseo Area Schools <` 0 11200 93rd Ave. N., Maple Grove, MN 11200 93rd Avenue North S. Postage 55369-6605. Bill Dix, Editor, Kathy Maple Grove, MN 55369-6605 PAID Permit No. 3 Elert, Editorial Secretary. S• sseo, Minnesota BOARD OF EDUCATION Clair W. Coughlin, Chairperson JOHNSON D W Patience H. Gall, Vice Chairperson Lynda Forbes, Clerk CITY OF PL Y M OU T C I u R Ron Christensen, Treasurer 3 4 0 0 PLYMOUTH M O U T H L v o 8 Russ Funk, Director PLYMOUTH, M N Rich Krambeer, Director 55447 Dr. Marl Ramsey Superintendent of Schools metro VO A Metropolitan Council Publication on Twin Cities Area Issues February 1994 Keeping thNeTwin Cities vital The Twin Cities area— _Compares favorably among 25 largest metro areas _.Has low poverty rates overall, but high rates in central cities -.Central cities contain half region's people in pove -whites have one chance in 20 of living in poverty; people of color have on chance in three.. Proposed strategies: . Economic revitalization - Matching work force to jobs > - Maintaining quality 1 communities - Renewing t neighborhoods Partnerships among neighborhood groups,, government, businesses education sector The Metropolitan Couna is proposing regional strategies as part of a comprehensive approach to solve problems of urban decline in parts of Minneapo s, St Paul and older suburbs. Ther Council presented a report, Keeping the Twin Cities Vital, to e � legislature and others this month.�t spells out regional issues and possible actions for economic revitalization, matching the work force to jobs, maintaining quality communities and renewing neighborhoods. "We're in a good position to turn disturbing trends around," said Council the `fully developed area, conGvns Minae St Paul and 22 suburbs, from north'Eo soil Spring Lake Park Fridley, Brooklyn Center, New Brighton, Hilltop, Crystal, Columbla; 2 Metropolitan Council Advocating regional economic, societal and environmental issues and solutions 3 lartnerships to shape solutions ,o v -ed A,.mpw, EY FINDINGS: The Twin Cities region (the nation's 16th4argest) compares very favorably among the 25 largest U.S. metro areas. Despite the region's low poverty rate overall, high poverty rates are concen- trated in the central cities, particularly In the core area (see graphic this page). While only a quarter of the region's population lives in Minneapolis and St. Paul, they have more than half the region's population living in poverty. The Twin Cities area has a relatively small population of racial minorities, but this population is disproportion- ately in poverty. The region will grow at a slower rate in the future, thus greater efforts should be made to encourage economic growth. However, economic develop- ment should not be viewed as the sole answer to Issues of poverty. • People living In poverty, specifically people in the region's core, lack job skills and access to new jobs in the developing suburbs. REGIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES The entire region must play a part in shaping solutions, Including public and private sectors, the education community, and civic and nonprofit organizations. Regional strategies for change focus on reducing barriers to economic growth and reinvesting in older parts of the region. Regional Strategies include'. Economic revitalization Put polluted and vacant sites back into productive commercial and industrial use. • Cities and their development agencies -lousing, radio communication, )arks top Council legislative agenda The Metropolitan Council legislative genda this year focuses on the need for ffordable housing expanded public safety adio communication region -wide, and egional parks. Housing. Council housing proposals eek to reduce concentrations of low. lcome housing in the region's older areas nd provide financial tools to expand ffordable housing region -wide. In ddition to legislative activities, the Council iib work to provide increased housing hoice to families with low and moderate ,comes. The Council wig: Support legislation requiring that replacement of lower-cost housing occur in areas outside concentrations of poverty. This would help reduce concentrations of low-cost housing Sponsor legislation to allow the Council to back city and county housing bonds with the Council's triple-A bond rating Support legislation to change tax - increment financing by extending the time frame for tax interest rate reduction from 12 years to 15 years. This would conform to other lending terms and keep rents affordable for low-income families. Metro -wide radio network The Council proposes establishing a shared, two-way radio communication system for the region's police, fire, emergency medical and public works services. The system, which would share 90 new 800 Megahertz channels available from the federal government, would alleviate crowded channels and allow for growth. The region -wide system would initiate with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and phase in Minneapolis, Hennepin County and other jurisdictions as they phase out old equipment. The Council and its Metropolitan Radio Systems Planning Committee call for extending the time frame, reserving the new channels for the shared system through June 1995. For the rest of this year, the Council -supported committee would oversee the design of the system and develop a governance and financing plan. The plan would go to the legislature for action in 1995. Parks. The Council win ask for $14.8 million in state bond authority for acquisi. tion and development of regional parks. Jim Martin Poverty spreading in region's core Tosedw, Minneapolis and X Paul tattle 17th uno" central ddes M the nation's 25 Largest metre area in a at/ pweny rate. Party ha been spreadirhg N de tevlon's cora ewedaly N the lav decade. N de 19804 ere land area in de central d d" with inert dun 23 percent of people below P— rty mon dun doubled, born 12 in 2S aquae m3e4 1W map of the core —a shows how poverty ha spread n cM11ia tra44 6ha 1970 (dark shaded areal sen 1980 (95hter shaded area), artd Be 1990 (swiped ikwsl starred area nd.* tracu where the parry rate ha'teased,dmppinv below 2s puxsht once 1980. an.,. MP4B. ST.PAUL ®Rabat ❑Sae• Ir iwtno teen wM . � ❑ws•rowy ❑* �iu tea» should play a stronger role in preparing sites for commercial and industrial development. • Create or Improve public financing tools for redevelopment. Monitor local redevelopment efforts in creating new jobs. Matching work force to Jobs Improve job skills to match job market needs. Improve transit and transportation opportunities so workers living in the central cities and older suburbs have better access to jobs in the developing suburbs. • Provide more housing choices across the region. Maintaining quality communities • Make communities safer by reducing crime in the central cities and older suhunca • Maintain hig"uanty housing stock core communities. • Ensure quality of city schools. Renewing neighborhoods • Provide incentives to encourage affordable housing to be built throughout the region, not just concentrated in the fully developed area. • Link economic development with community development in target neighborhoods. • Develop public, private and neighbor- hood alliances to improve schools and neighborhoods. To compete in the global economy, the entire region must be healthy, particularly the core, the report says. Studies show that metro areas with a declining core do not compete as effectively in the global marketplace as urban areas with t stable and healthy core. The Council points out sizeable financial and human investments in the fully developed area and the need to preserve them through efforts of the entire region. Regional economic growth must occur in two areas: new development In outlying suburbs, and investment and redevelopment in older parts of the region. Minnesota River in trouble Pollution in the Minnesota River and Its tributaries has affected Its scenic beauty and reduced the dvefs potential for recreation, fish and wildlife. A four-yeat study of the river by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency concludes the problems are caused largely by activities on land. The Minnesota River, the largest single source of pollution to the Mississippi River, has four major pollutants. One is high levels of fecal coliform bacteria, The following publications have been published recently by the Metropolitan Council. To order, write the Metropolitan Council Data Center, 230 E. Fifth St, St. Paul, MN 55101. For a free and complete list of Council publications, write the Data Center or call 291.8140. These publications also are available at major public libraries In the metropolitan area. Note. Customers must now add sales to to the price of documents: St. Paul residents and organizations add 7%; all others, 65% Metropolitan Council 1993 Annual Report. No. 14.94-001; no charge. Keeping the Twin Cities Vitab Regional Strategies for Change in the Fully Developed Arca. (See story page 1.) No. 78-94-022; $3.50. A Study of the Water Quality of 43 Metropolitan Arca Lakes. No. 32.94012; $8.50. 1993 Metropontan Agricultural Preserves Status Report No. 640.93.100, 51.00. Regional Recreation Open Space Revised Capital Improvement Program, Fiscal Years 1994-2000, public hearing draft No. 32.94008; no charge. making the water unsafe for swimming and other bodily contact. Bacteria comes from faulty septic systems, sewage treatment plants and feedlots. Second, large amounts of sediment from farms and cities turns the water brown and stifles fish and the small organisms they eat. Third, nutrients -mainly nitrogen and phosphorus -enter the river mostly in runoff from cropland, streets and lawns. The nutrients stimulate excessive growth of algae, which robs the water of oxygen needed by aquatic life. Fourth, toxics such as mercury and PCBs accumulate in fish, prompting consumption advisories for anglers and their families. While most pollution comes from farms beyond the seven -county region, the region is also contributing to the problem. Since 1987, the Metropolitan Council and the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission have spent $135 million to Improve two sewage treatment plants in the metro portion of the river, Blue Lake in Shakopee and Seneca in Eagan. The plants, which are meeting strict standards, are not the main problem. Most pollution comes from thousands of sources in the river basin. In addition, the two agencies are: 1) monitoring tributaries to establish a basis for improvement; 2) developing pollution -reduction targets in four watersheds above Shakopee, and assessing their costs; 3) monitoring efforts by watershed organizations and cities to limit pollutants in runoff, and 4) providing 510 million in grants over five years to assist pollution -reduction projects, including technical improvements and education initiatives for industry and the general public Gov. Carlson proposes spending more than $700 million in the next six years on loans and technical help for efforts to dean the river and reduce pollution. fins Martin Metropolitan Council members and their districts Dottie Bletow, dui; Rover Sdharar, l; Ba sdatber. k ,try K Smith S; kale C Smith 4: Sondra snnroer, S; Martha M Head, 6: Barbra Bums W4an4 7; card A. Kummer, 8: DavMHrdry,9: PaakkcLinins, 10; Eider Newcone. 11; E Gait/ Mom, 12; Diane L (D -O-) Wolfson, 17: Stephen 8. Wevnglo,Jr. 14; KevnHows. 15; Tent Flows, 16. H w r 4 Project to train men of color for skilled job' magine the opportunity for hundreds of under -employed and unemployed men of color each year to leave poverty and train for skilled jobs that offer liveable wages. That's the goal of Twin Cities RISEI, a jobs -preparation project being designed for the Twin Cities area. Steve Rothschild,'�i chair of Project RISE, is a former executive Vice president at General Mills, where he worked for 23 years. Active on nonprofit and for-profit boards, he is an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business. The brainchild of Steve Rothschild, Twin Cities R1SE1 will focus primarily on men of color. Rothschild says a major goal is to strengthen families. "For a family to succeed, more emphasis is needed to support a male breadwinner's ability to earn a riving wage," he said. Plans call for 1,000 adults (p(marily men) to enter the project annually by 1998. Participants would spend one to three years in training, with 500 graduating each year into skilled jobs paying $20,000 or more a year. A pilot project will be launched this year. Training will focus on "foundation" skills needed for long-term success in skilled jobs, such as interpersonal skills, problem -solving, working in teams, dealing with conflict and reading for information. The project will contract with existing service providers in education, technical work, housing and child care to provide the training. Rothschild said skilled jobs could include hospital inhalation therapist, heating and air-conditioning installer, legal secretary and computer technician. "Employers are our primary customers," he said, adding that the project will be asking businesses what their current and future job needs are. The project will rely heavily on minority community support networks, including mentors, to strengthen community connections. Rothschild estimates investment per participant to be $25,000 per year, far more than what's typically spent on training programs. Total investment per graduate would be $74,000, he said. Graduates would earn at least $10 per hour, an increase of $8,000 per year over unskilled jobs paying $6 per hour. He said the return on this investment over a 40 -year working career is 10.5 percent. "It's the same investment as sending a kid to college. It's good public policy," he said. If successful, the project would yield additional savings in welfare, criminal justice and other social programs, he added. Rothschild, who has secured some planning funds already, is exploring ways for participating employers to fund a share of the project, partly through tax credits and deductions. Remaining funds would come from governments, nonprofit foundations, corporate philanthropy and private gifts. He said the Metropolitan Council's 1992 Trouble at the Core report was a major reason he started the project. The report detailed how poverty in parts of Minneapolis, St. Paul and inner -ring suburbs grew in the 1980s, with unemployment among ethnic and racial minorities in the core area "extraordinarily high." "1 moved here 25 years ago in part because of this region's quality of life," he said. "1 felt free and safe, without need to lock myself in. This has been our great advantage. But that's beginning to change. If we lose it, we lose an important advantage in attracting people and economic growth." Jim Martin A Publication of the Metropolitan Council Metropolitan Council Bulk Rate February 1994 Mears Park Centre U.S. Postage The Metro Voice reports monthly on activities of 230 East Fifth Street PAID the Metropolitan Council and issues of regional St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-1634 n MpIs., MN interest For more information, call the Data�Pe .. nn No. 1610 Centerat (612) 2918140, or 291-0904 (TDD). ,•f The Council conducts longrange planning and (Address Correction Requested) r_a V research for the Twin Cities metro area, coordi `.' rs .. ,-- :::!'n nates regional planning among local govern ments and metro agencies, and collaborates with the public and private sectors in solving MANAGER 23464 F-7 A.I) �N 0 4 IS,4 critical regional problems. CITY OF PLYMOUTH Metropolitan Counal, Mears Park Centre, 230 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD E. Fifth St, SLPaul, MN55101.Telephone (612) 291-6359, or 291-0904 (TDD , PLYMOUTH MN 55447-1448 Executive Director, Richard Johnson; Director of Communications, Judy Hohmann; Editor, Jim Martin; Graphic Designer, Cliff Burns ® The Voice is printed with vegetab"ased ink on recycled paper containing at least 100/6 postconsumer paper fibers. r. v N -L.4 INTERFAITH OUTREACH & COMMUNITYPARTNERS ...people uniting to help people since 19 110 Grand Ave S. Wayzata, MN 5539 '36 March 1994 From the Executive Director The March Minnesota Foodshare Campaign provides an opportunity for our community to shore up the IOCP foodshelf over lean spring days. A concerted effort by all sectors of our com- munity will ensure that we reach (and per- haps exceed) this year's goal --20,000 lbs— approximately the amount distributed each month. Barrelsand otherreceptacles, and recyclable IOCP bags for food collection are available at the IOCP office. Posters and other cam- paignpromotion materials are also available. The most critical piece of a successful cam- paign, however, is the individual decision to take responsibility. Recently, a young father told me that each time he takes his kids to the grocery store he sends them off to find two grocery items that kids their age would like. On Sunday they drop off these items at church for the IOCP foodshelf. It's great fun for them, he said, and has helped his family develop a new habit of the heart. Wouldn't it be great if all families would develop this marvelous habit, and all places where people work or worship or do business would provide friendly reminders and help- ful ways to encourage it?" We consider ourselves successful not only when we reach our goal but especially when the reason we do is because each of us has contributed --according to his or her gifts— and from the heart. Thank you. The Clothing Shelf Gets a New " Clothes T MAP, 8 19c4 t:r. Vo U There is always something new at the clothing shelf--ne��nwnew ways to try to serve our clients better. Now our volunteers have cew ideas - starting with a new name. It will now be known as "Clothes To You" --a much more interesting name than "clothing shelf." But that is only the beginning of the changes. For starters, March 15 is the day winter ends at "Clothes To You"; after that we can take only spring and summerclothing (of course clean and in good condition). Space does not allow us to hold over winter things. On May 1 we will start a new schedule for donating clothing. Rather than receiving donations on the days the shelf is open for clients, we will be taking clothing on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 to 4, and on the fust Saturday morning of each month, from 9 to 12. This schedule will enable the volunteers to better help both clients and donors with less confusion in our limited space. With an average of over 900 client visits per month, space is an important commodity. Kathy Anderson and Nadine Storms coordinate the program and the some 40 volunteers who handle the never-ending job of sorting and putting out clothing, helping clients, and keeping the crowded space in a semblance of order. Three volunteers are on the job during open hours, and on "off days" volunteers come in to sort, stock shelves and clean up. In addition to good; clean used clothing, "Clothes To You" takes bed and bath linens, curtains, dishes, pots and pans, small appliances in*good working order, working TVs, baby equipment (in good shape) and toys. Clients may come once a week, and each time may take up to three grocery bags of clothes. (For some limited items special vouchers are given to make sure of fair distribution.) Clarifying these limits while remaining friendly and welcoming to the clients sometimes requires tact, diplomacy and patience that would challenge a world statesman, but these dedicated volunteers handle it with skill, and return week after week, seeing that your donations serve a valuable second life. When the IOCP space is full, the surplus is sent to inner city clothing shelves, or other areas where the need is great. Vacuum Needed "Clothes To You" has great need for a heavy- duty vacuum cleaner in good condition. Can you imagine trying to keep the place clean without a good vacuum? If you know of one, it would be greatly appreciated. Yes, it's March again --the month when Minnesotans join together to restock the state's foodshelves, depleted since the holiday food drives. It doesn't seem long ago that the shelves were filled to overflowing --but think about how many groceries you have brought into your home since Christmas. The need never ceases --in January the foodshelf gave out 17,031 pounds of food; at that rate those shelves empty out fast. the New Market and Supervalue food stores in our area are joining in our fight against hunger by providing space for collection barrels and posters, offering a reminder where it is most effective—at the point where we are thinking food. When you do your grocery shopping this month, remember to pick up some extras for the food shelf --drop them in the barrel, take them to your church collection, or bring them directly to Interfaith. And don't forget those items essential to running a household that can't be purchased with food stamps --laundry and hand soap, any cleaning products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, paper products --toilet tissue, diapers, feminine sanitary supplies. All of the usual non-perishable foods are needed --canned fruits and vegetables, cereals, powdered milk, pastas, spaghetti sauces, canned or boxed main dishes, sugar, flour, coffee, tea, hot chocolate --watch for ideas as you go through the grocery aisles. * * * * * * * * * * IOCP is conducting an extensive study during the month of March to learn more about food shelf use. A professionally prepared questionnaire will be given to each client coming for food to determine the patterns of food shelf use, what foods are most needed and which are less used, the degree of satisfaction with the food shelf, and how we can better serve the community's needs. IOCP VISION We want to build a community where everyone counts where children are cherished and protected where family life is supported by all institutions where churches inspire and challenge where schools educate hearts as well as heads where the marketplace accommodates and rewards hard work as well as smart work where government serves and does justice where housing and health care are the vigilantly guarded rights of all where media tell the story of our life together with integrity where people ... of all ages and races and backgrounds look out for people...of all ages and races and backgrounds January 1994 Usage Report Assists $ Spent Food 534 1,155 Housing 37 12,344 Utilities 19 1,521 Transportation 57 2,159 Medical 9 547 Clothing 7 146 Other/Mise 32 1,112 Advocacy/Referral 50 NA Clothing Shelf 925 NA Rides Given 247 NA Total 18,837 Lbs. Food 17,031 New Clients 26 Volunteer Hours 1.856 Interfaith Outreach, Easter Rabbit Collaborate Please help the Easter Bunny help Interfaith Outreach youngsters by donating complete (basket, grass, goodies!) Easter baskets. You can deliver your baskets to IOCP. 110 Grand Ave., Wayzata, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. March 17, 18, 21 and 22. This is a great service project for youth groups, Sunday School classes, Bible study groups, families, as. well as individuals. Call 473-2436 for more information. twin West Chamber Program Brings Students to IOCP 0 to r) StephanieStewart,Hopkins, Erin Kandik, Wayzata,and Michelle Kimmons, Armstrong, visited TOCP during Career Day Career Exploration 1994, sponsored by the Twin West Chamber of Commerce Business -Education Partnership, brought three high school students to IOCP on Feb. 8 for an in-depth look at the organization and how it works, and discussion with the IOCP staff members about social service as a career. Thre students asked serious, thoughtful questions --and the staff enjoyed a fresh look at what they do all day every day. Greenwood Students Put Hearts Into Valentine's Day Greenwood Elementary kids care about their community in a big way. Sixth grade student Jill Victor's idea for selling Valentine's Day heart -o -grams grew from a concept to a $220 fundraising project for IOCP, with support from Principal Ginny Clark and a hard -selling committee of 19 41h, 5th and 6th grade entrepaneurs. Students purchased (10cents/11 50c/6, $1/12) and wrote personal messages on the heart -o -grams, which were delivered by committee members. "The only rule," according to Victor, "was that the messages had to be nice." The project made Valentine's Day truly a holiday with a heart at Greenwood FOR YOUR INFORMATION Beginning January 1, 1994, individuals who claim a deduction totaling $250 and over to a charity must include with their 1040 tax return for 1994 a written acknowledgement from the charity. A cancelled check will no longer be accepted. We are aware of this rule and all contributors who fall in this category will receive such an acknowledgement, either immediately or at the end of the year for those contributors whose cumulative contributions total $250 or more for the year. - 3� A Donor Bill of Rights The tradition of giving and sharing is pri- mary to the quality of life in the community. to assure that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations they support, the following "Bill of Rights" has been developed by a group of fund raising groups. IOCP strongly supports and acts on these donor rights: I. To be informed of the organization's mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their in- tended purpose. II. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the' organization's governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship respon- sibilities. III. To have access to the organization's most recent financial statements. IV. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given. V. To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition. VI. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law. VII. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature. VIII. To be informed whether those seek- ing donations are volunteers, employees of the organization, or hired solicitors. [X. To have the opportunity for their names :o be deleted from mailing lists that an orga- iization may intend to share. (IOCP does not .hare mailing lists.) X. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers. Notice of a Special Meeting of the Membership of Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners Thursday, March 17,1994 6:30 p.m. Colonnade Room, Wayzata Community Church 125 East Wayzata Blvd. Wayzata MN To consider and vote on a revision of the bylaws of the organization I0C7s 1993 workplan included the appointment of a task force to review the organization's bylaws and prepare recommendations concerning needed changes. This has been completed. Proposed revisions will be considered and voted on by the general membership at the meeting called for this purpose at Wayzata Community Church at 6:30 p.m. March 17. 1994. Invited to attend are all member church delegates (2 perchurch), delegates of businesses, agencies, community and civic organizations, and individuals who have contributed to the work of IOCP, as they are members entitled to vote. Whilethere are anumberof small word orphrase changes proposed, there are five more significant changes that address: - Definition of member --the definition has been modified to comply with the Articles of Incorporation and has been clarified - Direct Service Board --the name has been changed to Church Council to reflect its role. The Council will be a standing Board committee and its role has been clarified. - Nominating committee --the committee has been expanded to include additional Board and community representatives. The nominating committee will nominate candidates forthe Board who will be elected by the IOCP membership, and also nominate candidates for the officers' positions who will be elected by the Board. - Term of Board office --Board members will be limited to two, two-year terms rather than the present three, two-year terms. - Board officers --terms of office have been limited to two, one-year terms rather than the present two, two- year terms. • Board turnover --provisions have been made to restrict Board turnover not to exceed one-third in any given . year. Complete copies of the current and proposed bylaws are available for any members who may wish to review them in advance of the meeting, by requesting them at the IOCP office. Members of the task force are Mary Kay Burfeind, Marcia Hanson, LaDonna Hoy, Gail See, and Newell Weed. Speak to one of the above if you have any questions regarding the meeting or the content of the proposals. The regular Manch meeting of the Board of Directors will be held immediately after the membership meeting. Minnesota -Fkood hare Spring Community Prayer Breakfast April 6,1994 7:00 a.m. Save this date. Tickets will be on sale soon. The committee, under co-chairs Mary Victor and Chris Larson, is hard at work developing the program and making arrangements. Watch for further announcements. Q NORTHWEST HENNEPIN HUMAN SERVICES COUNCIL 1993 HIGHLIGHTS These are some of the highlights resulting from the activities of Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council during 1993. Not all activities or programs, nor specific research or consultations are included. Overall: 0 The role of Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council as the regional human services planning, research and coordinating agency has continued to grow and be recognized by the community. Services to member municipalities has continued to increase. The overall visibility and positive image of the organization has been established and enhanced through the services provided and the success of projects. Collaborations: 0 Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council's collaborative ventures: Success By 60Northwest, CO-OP Northwest, Point NW, the Northwest Community Law Enforcement Project, the Cultural Diversity project, the Enhanced Housing Initiative, have been successful in creating; new approaches to meeting community needs in challenging areas. Financial• 0 The agency budget was increased, fund balance increased, project funding secured, and overall funding based diversified in accordance with agency financial goals. RESEARCH/PLANNING 0 Initiated our tri -annual comprehensive community wide needs assessment to determine trends in attitudes and needs related to human services in the northwest Hennepin area. This particular needs assessment is being implemented in three states: each stage focusing on a different group of cities in the northwest area (inner -ring, developing, rural). Questions are on various human service topics such as: the greatest unmet need of different age gruops, where people get human service information from, accessibility of public buildings, and people's willingness to pay higher taxes for certain services. 0 Conducted series of focus groups related to poverty. 0 Conducted year long citizen participation process to look at the priority of human service needs in the northwest Hennepin area. 0 Community Resource Center (CRC) needs assessment to determine the awareness of the CRC, and the type of services and programs desired by the community, which included: analysis of intake cards, door-to-door survey of apartment complexes, and recommendations for program improvements, marketing, accessibility and training of existing staff. � 3e� 0 Demographic research to find out population sizes of specific areas in New Hope. 0 Conducted focus groups to further explore the needs and wants of the people living at Ridgebrook. (Enhanced Housing Initiative). 0 Surveyed manufactured home park residents to determine needs and planning efforts. CONSULTATIONS: Consultations were provided to many entities during 1994 to provide assistance• in planning and development of human services throughout Northwest Hennepin County. Among these consultations were the following: 0 Northridge 0 Maxfield Research 0 Osseo regarding Housing 0 Citizen's League 0 District 281 -overall planning; community education 0 Hamlin University graduate program 0 Humphrey Institute 0 St. Catherines 0 Come Home to the Park 0 Lord of Life Church 0 North Hennepin Community College 0 Annex Teen Clinic NEW PROJECTS: 0 Initiated the Enhanced Housing Initiative focused on creating a sense of community and organizing lower income residents at a pilot project site. 0 Fully implemented the Northwest Community Law Enforcement Project to identify, recruit, and support cadets with diverse backgrounds to become law enforcement officers through tuition payment, stipends, and wages for on-the-job experience in participating police departments. 0 Human Services Enterprize Zone, a pilot project to look at the delivery of services within a targeted area and how to create a viable community that meets the needs of families and children. 0 The Family Services Collaborative, focusing on school/human services redesign, and the Shared Services Cooperative Planning Grant were developed in 1993 for implementation in 1994. 0 The CO-OP Northwest Community Revitalization Corporation, a 501(c)3 Community Housing Development Organization was developed to address the availability of affordable housing for low and moderate income people in targeted areas of Northwest Hennepin. (New Funds Raised) $274,000 for housing development; $50,000 Human Services Enterprise Zone; $10,000 Cash - Island Communities Project; $120,000 NW Community Law Enforcement Project; $137,000/2 years Community Resource Center; 53,000/3 years Mcknight. $90,000 for family services collaborative; $50,000 for cooperative planning grant; $27,795 match from the County under Community Planning; $29,100 new dollars for the Point NW; $24,610 Homelessness Prevention. EVENTS/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: 0 Policy Makers Briefing to cover demographic information, policy issues, and local initiatives to help inform policy makers of area's needs. 0 Northern D'Lights cosponsored fund-raiser with Brooklyn Center Chamber, North Hennepin Chamber and the Point NW for runaway youth, and Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council. The event included entertainment from a number of musicians, artwork for sale, food from a number of restaurants and a silent auction that raised money for the Point NW. 0 Birthday Party through Success By 619 Northwest with over 2,000 kids in attendance celebrating the importance of kids to our community with the Teddy Bear Band, McGruff and Bernie and many information booths covering topics related to daycare, early childhood programs, medical, health, and safety information. Up with People assisted the event. 0 Held Benefit Concert with Peter Himmelman and Jeff Arundel at the Historic State Theatre to raise funds for Point NW. 0 Northwest Corridor Transit Summit sponsored by MTC, and RTB with support from the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council's Success By 6 Northwest's Transportation Committee. 0 Fourth Annual Transportation Research Conference presentation made by Transportation Committee of Success By 6 Northwest. 0 Testimony before Legislative Committees regarding suburban needs and changing demographics. 0 Worked on Inter -agency Collaboration Workshop: "Has anyone seen our community lately?" with Don Coyhis. 0 Open House sponsored by the NW Mental Health Advisory Committee at the NW Community Support Program featuring Julie Tallard Johnson and Associates talking about the "Eight Stages of Healing Programs." 0 Domestic Violence Forum - participated in the planning of a community forum on domestic spear -headed by Home Free Shelter. 0 Participated in Thorson Family Resource Center Open House which provides an opportunity for the community to view the programs and services of the center. 0 Participated at the Prudential Child Wellness Fair disseminating drawing books, health and parent tip cards, and gifts provided by the Junior League. 0 Co-sponsored and participated in the Grand Opening of new bus routes held at Brookdale Mall for Route 82C. 0 Worked with and participated at the Heritage Festival held at Park Center High School to celebrate the diversity in the Community. Event initiated and coordinated by the Brooklyn Center Chamber of Commerce. 0 Forum on Depression , "Just the Blues?" was sponsored by the Northwest Hennepin Mental Health Advisory Committee and the NW YMCA. The Forum featured Dr. Paula Johnson who talked about the different causes, types and treatments of depression. 0 Invest Northwest Awards provided to outstanding people in the community. Christy Bateman, active volunteer with the Robbinsdale School District; Melvin Gagner, who provides volunteer transportation for people to the Community Support Program drop in center; Irene Meier, an active senior volunteer who sews and quilts and donates goods for charitable causes as well as volunteers times at agencies and the VFW; Bruce McFadden and Rosie Smith Pilgram who co-chaired the Transportation Committee of Success by 6@Northwest which produced a report that helped to impact route changes and increase awareness; and Senior Services of District 281 who won an organizational award for innovative and comprehensive programs for seniors. 0 Community Law Enforcement Project Open House involving participants, city staff, County Commissioners, and members of the media. 0 Coordinated 2 cultural diversity training sessions for department heads and assistant department heads. =- 3c PROGRAMS: 0 Emergency Services Program received FEMA monies and Homelessness Prevention dollars to augment the Hennepin County emergency funds. 0 Surplus Commodities served 3,263 households in Northwest Hennepin area. In addition to provision of commodities, the distribution times were utilized to disseminate information on resources, recipes, and child safety bags. 0 Point NW added .75FTE staff to address homelessness prevention and kids of color and served over 300 kids in 1993, and secured an increase of $30,000. 0 Council staff participated in other organizations in order to bring information on suburban needs to other groups and bring resources to the Northwest suburban communities. Some of these groups include: the Community Prevention Coalition, North Hennepin Leadership Academy, (Partnership Minnesota Award), United Way Vision Councils, and Chambers of Commerce. PUBLIC RELATIONS/PUBLIC EDUCATION: 0 Presentation on the Changing Demographics in the Northwest Suburbs for 281 community education. "Children and Families at Risk Where we Live... Why You Should Care" cable casted. "Who are our Neighbors, an up to date look at First Tier Suburbs" by Patricia Wilder with Dale Blyth, Search Institute on defining children at risk how can we help them, Mayor Don Fraser on legislating solutions for families at risk, " Can Government do it All? 0 Articles in the local sunpost, star and tribune, and many cable shows. 0 Work on family resource centers, grandparent needs, transportation report brought about increased public awareness of these issues. 0 Distributed thousands of resources developed by the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council including resource cards, human service directories, parent tip cards, drawing/coloring books on self-esteem, health tip cards, CSSA - citizen priority reports, and studies and research requested by the public. 3 e.-, NETWORKS: 0 The Senior Leadership Committee heard from Metropolitan Council and the Regional Transit Board, MnDot on volunteer drivers and liability, held a Senior Forum with over 200 people in attendance, Senior Law Project, (Legal Aid),; Response to Seniors - NW Transportation programs hear about Met Council's Generation Project. Heard about Social Security policies from Social Security Administration. Deb Vevea spoke about nutrition from North Memorial - Medicare issues from Blue Cross/Blue Shield Medicare Education Department. 0 Senior Services Committee heard from Gary Kelsey on the National Eldercare Program, Elsa Batika from Minneapolis YWCA on "Helping Seniors Accept Cultural Diversity." 0 The Family and Child Abuse Network hear from the Minnesota Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse, and worked on the Domestic Violence Forum. 0 The Northwest Mental Health Committee received training on how to conduct support groups and initiated these throughout the community with funding through NWHHSC, heard from speakers such as Joan Unger of People inc. regarding a new grant to provide short term individual and family counseling to people with mental illness and their families, sponsored a legislative breakfast at the Capital, held a round table with County Commissioners, Childrens' Mental Health program at the department of human services (Carol Kilcullen). Speaker from RISE on different employment programs for people with mental illness , viewed police training film about dealing with people affected by mental illness. Sponsored an open house at the NW Community Support featuring Julie Tallard Johnson and Associates, and co-sponsored forum on "Depression:Just the Blues" featuring Dr. Paula Johnson. COMMUNITY ORGANIZING: 0 The Island Community Projects worked on development of a ballfield in Dayton, a city park in Corcoran, succeeded in working on issues of water quality and water pressure, brought a counselor from the Point NW to the park to work with youth, brought resident issues before City Councils and held numerous meetings with park management to discuss issues of mutual concern such as lighting and bus stops. Also distributed resource packet information throughout parks. 0 The Enhanced Housing Initiative, or Ridgebrook Community Partnership has been successful in beginning to develop a sense of community in this particular apartment complex. An informational event was held for Ridgebrook parents at Zanewood School, a Renters Rights and Responsibilities Forum was held, programs such as "Our Kids" and an outreach effort from the YMCA were included, and progress was made on a tutoring program on site. = 3CJ CULTURAL DIVERSITY: 0 Cultural Diversity, worked with Robbinsdale School District 281 regarding the anti- Semitic activities and helped in the formulation of a response, worked with New Hope in the development of a Human Rights Commission, participating in a Dist 281 workshop for Volunteers regarding diversity sensitivity, provided training to department heads and assistant department heads, second workshop, held a bias response plan meeting, presented the results of the focus group to a number of local human rights commissions and League of Women Voters. Can't We Just All Get Along was sponsored by District 281, with panel moderated by Patricia Wilder; Kim Aasland was on the planning committee encourage people to start discussion groups. A Cx Testimony of Mayor Joy Tierney, on behalf of SB 2070, before the Senate Metro and Local Government Committee on March 10, 1994 Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Joy Tierney, and I serve as mayor of Plymouth. I also am a member of the Plymouth Charter Commission. I am before you this afternoon to encourage you to support Senate Bill 2070. This bill specifies that should a city's charter be silent on a particular issue, the appropriate state statutes would then apply to the charter city. I'd like to give you a little history and background on how this issue became important to Plymouth. Plymouth's City Charter was passed by the voters in November 1992, and became effective on January 1, 1993. The Charter itself is a short, concise document, as you can see. The Charter Commission specifically wanted the Charter to be a model of brevity, and crafted it based on the assumption that if the Charter did not speak directly to an issue or question, the City could fall back on state statutes to find guidance. Under this assumption, the Charter Commission did not have to create a huge document that would address every conceivable question or problem. We faced a test of this assumption earlier this year. When I was elected mayor, I resigned my council seat. The City Council then began the process of filling the council vacancy. A question arose as to what was the proper course of action should the Council become deadlocked on the selection of the individual to fill the vacancy --would the mayor make the selection? Our charter did not speak to this issue, and we assumed that we could fall back on state statutes --which indicated to us that the mayor could appoint in the case of a deadlock. However, an opinion from the Attorney General opined that the City could not rely on state statutes in this instance. The opinion argued that no authority in state statutes existed to support this assumption. This of course raises significant questions in our minds about how difficult governing Plymouth could be if the assumption made by the Charter Commission is invalid. Making decisions will be very difficult if we cannot rely on the statutes to provide guidance when the Charter is silent. Should the proposed legislation fail, the Plymouth Charter Commission likely will propose an amendment to the Charter and place the issue before the voters in November. However, this problem has implications which may reach beyond Plymouth and impact other charter cities, both those who have charters and those who are considering charters. I urge you to support this legislation. As drafted, the legislation states very clearly that should a city's charter be silent on an issue, the appropriate state laws would become operable. The legislation clarifies this issue not only for Plymouth, but also for other charter cities as well. Thank you very much. I'd be happy to answer any questions. I've also brought with me copies of the Attorney General's opinion. MAR -08-1994 15:51 FROM 02/28/94 TO 95505050 (REVISOR ) RJS/JC 94-4744 Senators Robertson, McGowan and Olson introduced-- S.F. No. 2070 Referred to the Committee on Metropolitan and Local Government P.02 LAC,-. 1 A bill for an act 2 relating to cities; allowing home rule charter cities 3 to apply law applicable to statutory cities in 4 instances in which the charter is silent, with certain 5 restrictions; proposing coding for new law in 6 Minnesota Statutes, chapter 410. 7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 8 Section 1. (410.33) (SAVINGS CLAUSE.) 9 If a city charter is silent on a matter that is addressed 10 for statutory cities by chapter 412 or other general law and 11 general law does not prohibit a city charter from addressing the 12 matter or expressly provide that a city charter prevails over 13 General law on the matter, then the city may apply the general 14 law on the matter. 1 TOTAL P.02 March 9, 1994 Todd S. Wirth 10755 - 54th Avenue North Plymouth, MN 55442 Dear Mr. Wirth: At its meeting with area legislators on February 14, the City Council mentioned the issue of whether or not state statutes apply when a city charter is silent, and suggested that legislation clarifying this issue might be helpful. Senators McGowan, Robertson, and Olson did indeed introduce legislation to clarify the charter/statute issue. This legislation is attached; it is Senate Bill 2070. The legislation will be before the Metro and Local Government Committee on Thursday, March 10. Mayor Tierney will be present to testify in favor of the legislation. Since we just learned of the committee meeting late yesterday afternoon, neither Virgil Schneider nor William Pribble can attend on behalf of the Charter Commission. However, we wanted to get a copy of the legislation out to you as soon as possible. Please call me on 550-5013 should you have questions. Sincerely yours, Kathy Lueckert Assistant City Manager Attachment We Listen • We Solve , We Care 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE (612) 550-5000 DATE: March 11, 1994 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Dwight Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: Insurance Coverage for Open Meetings Law Violations Councilmember Granath sent me the attached article about a ruling from the Court of Appeals on a Open Meetings Law violation which occurred in Washington County. The Court of Appeals ruled that the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) must pay for legal costs associated with litigation against councilmembers for alleged violations of the Open Meeting Law. Councihnember Granath also inquired whether or not the Plymouth City Council has coverage for similar lawsuits. Given the ruling by the Court of Appeals, the City would have coverage from LMCIT. Yet it is possible that the appellate ruling will be overturned by the Supreme Court. Currently the City does not have a separate policy to cover Open Meetings law violations and potential lawsuits. However, the City has asked for a price quotation for this type of policy, and the Finance Department will make an April recommendation coincident with rate renewals for all of the various types of insurance the City carries. Please call with any questions. ='LAt3 W 1j ki- 3011n NS a A/t c k Gv a Lt a � "\, 1,04n./City.-GO-Oh-bil members win appeal t' 1 •eosu lncutred by throe Atlf.ity CaunC(1 member con." 'anel that, althoughviola. ons o the Open MeetinIew Acted of violating;the state's Open . Meetinj Law must be, by are not criminal, ry that cit- h paid Minnesota League of Cities incur• a!nal Cta s or ' v t"�vlolartinm attce trust, the Minnesota Court of innncnm% chau Appeals has ruled in' a derision to be filed today. : • a umn- tenuon 1 ,Afton Mayor Jon Kroschel and City Council Membcrs Suzanne FUnsch The City Council members' viola - acid Nicholas Mucclacciaro Were tions amounted to "an unfortunate misstep — a stumble — while the sued by a disgruntled citizen for the Open Meeting Latw in appellants went about the pe or_ 1991 they mance of legitimate public ser. when discussed the repair 'vices," of a city well in private: the court said. Dbring$ the court process, the throe ' dity'offcials'ran up thousands of Because the coverage under the Minnesota League of Cities insur- dollars in legal expenses and sought ante trust parallels the city's au - thority to reimburse for legal de- to.have the city pay tbom, fense, It must pay the costs, the court ruled. AWashington County district judge; however, 'denied their re- Jon Kinggaated, an attorney repro. quest for an order requiring the city senting Kroschel, said "We'reverynk or the insurance trust to reimburse pleased with the dccis�on. We thi them for their (cgsl coats, we've finally received some justice out a three jrtudge Cou4f AnrrAts in this matter." Cdntpiled fmm staff and Assoclatsd Press reports. jie-P T t c a l -1d � O Coo tic(, Me)) C oh 1QY V,_, Co Qvlci ( daAPS kcaVt tt_ C; x\10 CITY OF March 4. 1994 PLYMOUTH+ LaDonna Hoy Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners 110 Grand Avenue South Wayzata, MN 55391 Dear LaDonna, After our last Community Collaboration Council meeting we talked a bit about Harbor Lane apartments and what possibilities there may be for a type of manager/resident/community council to address some of the issues of concern there. Last week at the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council's annual meeting, we had included in our packet this flier on just such a plan getting started at the Ridgebrook apartment complex in Brooklyn Park. Apparently there are costs involved and this group is using grant money. However, this looks to be a excellent model to look into. I would like to talk with you more about this. The brief conversation I had with Patty Wilder led me to believe that, while such a plan has evolved slowly and is still evolving, there may be some aspects of it that could be duplicated elsewhere. I though I'd bring this to your attention should you not be aware of -it. I look forward to talking to you about this. I would be most interested in helping in any way. Sincerely, Joy Tierney Mayor of Plymouth 473-1681 We Listen • We Solve • We Care 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE (612) 550-5000 NORTHWEST HENNEPIN��C' \ HUMAN SERVICES COUNCIL Planning, Research, and Coordination of Human Seruice ENHANCED HOUSING INITIATIVE RIDGEBROOK COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP The Enhanced Housing Initiative, administered by Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council, at the Ridgebrook apartment complex strives to build a more supportive community for residents in its first year *of existence as the Ridgebrook Community Partnership. The Ridgebrook Community Partnership is just that, a partnership involving residents, Steven Scott Management, Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council, CEAP, the City of Brooklyn Park, and School District 279. Community organizers have worked with residents and social service providers to identify and address common needs and concerns. The Ridgebrook Community Partnership has helped people see the value of working together to address common livability and social services issues. Due to efforts at Ridgebrook, residents are articulating concerns, creating strategies for solutions, and getting to know their neighbors. The efforts of the project's first year have made progress towards the goals of neighbor building, self advocacy, and long- term residency. 1993 HIGHLIGHTS o Resident issues have been identified: unsupervised children, maintenance concerns and cleanliness, vandalism, and safety issues. o The community organizers have developed relationships with residents, building trust, gathering input, and encouraging resident participation. o A Renters Rights and Responsibilities forum was held to provide residents with information on a variety of topics related to renting. o A kickoff party at Zanewood Elementary school linked Ridgebrook residents to the school and allowed them to discuss common concerns. o The Ridgebrook Community Partnership secured programming for youth through the YMCA and the OUR KIDS project. A tutoring project will begin soon as well. o Steven Scott Management donated an apartment as a resource room for resident meetings and activities. BROOKLYN CENTER CORCORAN GOLDEN VALLEY MAPLE GROVE PLYMOUTH BROOKLYN PARK CRYSTAL HANOVER 'NEW HOPE ROBBINSDALE CHAMPLIN DAYTON HASSAN OSSEO ROGERS 7601 Kentucky Avenue N. * Brooklyn Park, MN 55428 (612) 493-2802 P&MUS&M INTERFAITH OUTREACH & COMMUNITY PARTNERS "People Uniting to Help People" March 2, 1994 Dwight Johnson City Manager City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, Minnesota 55447 Dear Dwight: We can't thank you enough for the grant of $10,000 from the City of Plymouth toward our general operating budget for fiscal 1994. Coming at the front-end of our 1994 fundraising campaign it provides a marvelous jump start for our first quarter. We look forward to continued collaboration with the City of Plymouth in serving this community and consider it a privilege to work with you. Sine.erely, 1 n LaDonna Hoy, Executive Director INTERFAITH OUTREACH & COMMUNITY PARTNERS lh/res 110 Grand Avenue South, Wayzata, Minnesota 55391-1872 473-2436 Mr. Bill Schreiber Director of Office of Intra Government Policy MN DEPT. OF TRANSP. 408 Transportation Building St. Paul, MN 55155 SUBJECT: TRUNK HIGHWAY. 169 Dear Bill: Last week the Plymouth City Council had a meeting with our State Legislative Representatives for Plymouth. We had a stimulating discussion about the issues of the upcoming Legislative session and we also had an opportunity to talk about issues specific to Plymouth. One of the items which was discussed was existing Trunk Highway 169 and one of the Legislators suggested we contact you concerning the State's program on this highway. Highway 169 which runs along the eastern Plymouth boundary is a four lane freeway and part of the Metropolitan Highway System. In accordance with the criteria of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Metropolitan Council the highway from 36th Avenue southerly to our south city limits and beyond is defined as "congested." Plymouth has a local collector street, Zachary Lane, which is located one mile west and runs parallel with Highway 169. Because of the existing congestion on Highway 169, traffic is using this local collector street to bypass a portion of the congested area. Zachary Lane is within a residential area and its function is not to serve as an alternate bypass for a State transportation facility. Zachary Lane is currently in need of improvements since the construction was last undertaken approximately 25 years ago. There is a great deal of concern by the residents living within the area that any reconstruction and upgrading of Zachary Lane will only promote additional traffic diverting from Highway 169. It was with great interest that we read news articles about the additional 95 million dollars in funding available to MnDOT over the next three year period because of cost cutting efforts and increased revenue projections. The Plymouth City Council and I are very interested in any program proposed by MnDOT to alleviate the congestion on Highway 169. We Listen . We Solve • We Care "00 PLYt-eiOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE (612) 550-5000 Mr. Bill Schreiber March 2, 1994 Page Two The City of Plymouth is willing to work with MnDOT officials on addressing this concern. Please let us know how we might cooperate to solve problems of congestion on Highway 169. Thank you. Sincerely yours, Joy Tierney Mayor cc: James N. Denn, Commissioner Department, of Transportation 408 Transportation Building St. Paul, MN 55155 Plymouth City Council Mayor of New Hope Mayor of Golden Valley -'Ae. March 3, 1994 Mr. Eric I Blank Director of Parks and Recreation 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, Minnesota 55447 Dear Mr. Blank: After attending your meeting of March 2, 1994 concerning West Medicine Lake Public Park, I would like to express my discontent with the lack of concern regarding the traffic and speed limitations outlined. I have been a resident of West Medicine Lake Drive for several years and am in full support of the Park Project. I am however, disappointed in the traffic specifications outlined for West Medicine Lake Drive. Under the present proposal you quoted the speed limit will stay at 30 MPH throughout the park boulevards. This is completely unacceptable to assure the safety of pedestrian and vehicle traffic in this area: I personally counted 10 households voicing concerns on the speed limits/tral`fic volume for West Medicine Lake Drive which you seemed to completely ignore. You dismissed this subject by passing responsibility to the State of Minnesota Highway regulations. As a concerned citizen, I strongly suggest that you look into this traffic problem prior to the Park Legislation being approved, in order to avoid further ramifications at a later date. Sincerely, Matthew Ellis 2425 W. Medicine Lake Drive Plymouth, Minnesota 55441 cc: City Manager Director of Traffic ''t 4 11730 27th Ave, North Plymouth, MN 55441 February 25, 1994 Eric J. Blank, Director Plymouth Parks and Recreation Plymouth City Center Dear Mr. Blank: Thank you for your hard work and good leadership on the West Medicine Lake Park project. We would appreciate your forwarding our views to the appropriate City decisionmakers for their consideration. We live about three blocks from the site of the proposed park. The plans are very exciting, for us and our two children. We would expect to use the park in all seasons. We are especially happy that the proposal includes tennis courts and also ice skating on the lake. We have driven to Parkers Lake Park so many times; it will be wonderful to be able to walk. We are thrilled as well with the community building. Our part of Plymouth has lacked such facilities. It will be well used. Our reaction is that the park has been planned carefully, both to help the community as much as possible and to preserve the area. We hope and expect that the Plymouth city leadership will choose to support the West Medicine Lake Park. Loni Gra ick David Gradick ,o U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development * * •� Minneapolis-St. Paul Office, Region V 220 Second Street, South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401-21951 DEC 7 1993 Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager Plymouth City Hall 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, Minnesota 55447 Dear Mr. Johnson: SUBJECT: Timely Expenditure of CDBG Funds This letter will discuss the issue of timely expenditure of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds. Each year HUD reviews the performance of entitlement recipients to determine whether each is carrying out its CDBG assisted activities in a timely manner. Congress and HUD believe that it is very important that CDBG funds are expended in a timely manner. We have completed this review for the City of Plymouth and have found that the City has not made adequate progress in carrying out its program. Let us explain our methodology, which is elaborated at 24 C.F.R. 570.902 (a) (1). The review is to be completed 60 days prior to the end of the recipient's program year. Plymouth's CDBG Program Year will begin on January 1, 1994. Thus, it is appropriate for us to have completed our review at this time. HUD will consider an entitlement recipient to be carrying out its program in a timely manner if it meets two criteria. The first criteria requires that: (i) The amount of entitlement grant funds available to the recipient under grant agreements but undisbursed by the U.S. Treasury is less than 1.5 times the entitlement grant for its current program year; ... Plymouth has not met this criteria. According to our calculations, Plymouth does not meet this criteria. As of November 1, 1993, there were $557,926.06 in the City's Line of Credit. This translates into 2.05 years'of grant funds. The second criteria requires that: (2 ) The amount of grant funds disbursed by the U.S. Treasury to the recipient during the previous twelve month period is equal to or greater than one-half of the entitlement grant amount for its current year. Plymouth has met this criteria. During this twelve month period $361,054.09 has been drawn from its Line of Credit. This translates to 133% of the most recent grant. Z- 'AYN 2 At this time we are asking that the City of Plymouth provide us with any information about the causes of the slow progress, including.any extenuating circumstances. Finally you may supply any information that might challenge the validity of our financial data. We are aware that during 1993 the City received over $360,000 from Hennepin County as part of its former participation in Urban Hennepin County program. However, this receipt was expected and should have been planned for. Unless the City is able to provide evidence that the slow progress results from factors beyond its control, such as a lawsuit, or that the problem is temporary and is likely to be resolved within the next year, our Office must make a finding of non compliance based upon the failure to meet the performance criteria in 24 C.F.R. 570.902 (a) (1). If that happens then we will ask the City to develop and submit a work-out plan. The plan should attempt to ensure that the City is able to meet the performance standards by November 1, 1994. We certainly are available to work with your staff on efforts that may need to be taken to remedy this deficiency. We look forward to working with the City to resolve this matter in the near future. If you have any questions on this matter, please contact John Swanson at 370-3022. Very sincerely yours, Thomas T. Feeney Manager cc: Milt Dale, Housing Specialist December 13, 1993 'v CITY OF PLYMOUTH - Thomas Feeney, Managdr U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development 220 South Second Street Minneapolis, MN 55401-2195 SUBJECT: PLYMOUTH'S EXPENDITURE OF CDBG FUNDS Dear Mr. Feeney: Thank you for your letter of December 7, 1993 on the subject of more timely expenditure of our CDBG funds. We believe this to be a temporary situation due in part to the return of $237,000 of CDBG money upon sale of the site designated for senior citizen housing in 1992. Our goal is to move promptly to remedy this situation. First, we will soon be requesting reimbursement for $140,000 for park improvements at South Shore Park. This request, which has been pending for over a year, has been delayed by the need for specific 1990 Census data not available until recently. Also, the unforeseen resignation of our previous Community Development Director, requiring the need to shift responsibilities to other personnel during the interim until a new director was hired, has contributed to the delay in submitting HUD required documentation for this project. Second, we have recently reallocated $38,200 from our 1993 First Time Homebuyer Program to The Community Home Program. These funds will be expended promptly (within three months) and, along with the South Shore Park project, would reduce our line of credit from $557,926 to $379,726 or 1.4 years of grant funds. Finally, we believe our expenditure rate will continue strong in 1994 based on our 133 percent expenditure rate for the last 12 months, the recent addition of staff, and a growing demand for the services planned for 1994. Should you have any questions, please contact Anne Hurlburt, Community Development Director (550-5059), or Milt Dale, Housing Specialist (550-5056). Sincerely, Dwight Johnson, City Manager We Listen • We Solve - We Care 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD - PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE (612) 550-5000 soh oE�0rEwr4yg U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development a* • `F Minneapolis -St. Paul Office, Region V �ul�ll 220 Second Street, South `9�4r pE�E Minneapolis. Minnesota 55401-2195 JAN 2 1 1994 ASO �pN 28 Mr. Milt Dale Director of Community Development City of Plymouth' 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 Dear Mr. Dale: SUBJECT: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Fiscal Year 1994 Entitlement Amounts We are please to provide you with the enclosed list of the new CDBG allocations for FY194 for the State of Minnesota. Every Minnesota recipient's grant award increased this year primarily due to the increase in appropriations by Congress. The City of Duluth has deferred its Entitlement status for 3 years and is now part of St. Louis County. This increase in CDBG funds may trigger the necessity to do a formal program amendment of your FY194 Final Statement. This is particularly true for recipients who submitted their Final Statement on December 31, 1993. Each CDBG recipient is required to have.a definition of what constitutes a substantial change in activities for which all pre -submission requirements have been satisfied. The requirement for an amendment would be triggered if a change in an activity is considered substantial. In a situation where a grantee has submitted its 1994 final statement for a grant amount that differs from the grant amount in the final CDBG allocation, the following instructions apply: (A) When the amount in the grantee's final statement exceeds the amount in the final CDBG allocation: _If the difference is less than 10 percent, HUD will issue a grant agreement only for the assigned amount and advise the grantee that it may need to amend its final statement in order to adjust the activities to fit the amount awarded. _If the difference equals or exceeds 10 percent, HUD will return the final statement to the grantee and advise the grantee that it must repeat the pre -submission requirements and submit a new final statement reflecting the actual amount allocated for 1994 to the grantee. 2 (B) When the amount in the final statement is less than the amount in the final CDBG allocation: _If the difference is less than 10 percent, HUD will issue the grant agreement for the amount in the final allocation and advise the grantee that it may need to amend its final statement to adjust its activities to the amount actually allocated to the grantee for 1994. _If the difference equals or exceeds 10 percent, HUD will issue the grant agreement only in the amount contained in final statement and advise the grantee that it will need to follow the pre -submission requirements for the balance of and to prepare and submit a final statement to HUD for the difference. Upon receipt of that final statement, HUD will amend the grant agreement to include the full amount assigned for the grantee. Other grantees are expected to use their final entitlement allocations when preparing their final statements. If you have any questions concerning amendments or any other CDBG requirement, please contact John Swanson, at 370-3022. Very sincerely yours, Thomas T ey Manager Enclosures January 28, 1994 Thomas T. Feeney, Manager Minneapolis -St. Paul Office 220 South Second Street Minneapolis, MN 55401-2195 CITY OF PLYMOUTFF SUBJECT: CERTIFICATIONS REQUIRED UNDER THE CDBG FISCAL YEAR 1994 PROGRAM Dear Mr. Feeney: Thank you for informing us of our increased 1994 allocation. You will find enclosed a signed copy of our certifications for the Community Development Block Grant Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 1994. These certifications are signed by our City Manager, Dwight Johnson. Other enclosures also relate to our FY '94 CDBG program and are listed below. In October, 1993, the City Council established a Human Rights Commission, while a portion of FY 1994 CDBG funding will go to assist Community Action Suburban Hennepin to establish a Fair Housing center. A copy of a Notice of a Public Meeting to Discuss Programs to Assist Low and Very Low Income Households in the City of Plymouth is provided and satisfies one requirement of our Citizen Participation Plan. Should you have any questions about the certifications, please contact Milt Dale at 550-5056 or myself at 550-5059. Sincerely, Anne Hurlburt, AICP Community Development Director Enclosures 1. Standard Form 424 2. Required Certifications, pgs. 1-6 3. Police Department Procedural Directive, pgs. 114-119 4. City Council Resolution 93-761 5. CDBG Project Summary Sheets (7) 6. Copy of a Notice of a Public Meeting Held June 15, 1993 ( We Listen • We Soive . We Care &%4LYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE (612) 550-5000 A o' r� �oLSFpt,�°1s°N alb°A° o L o c AL ° ,�oLT°� C,r�j �r �L099 T sT oT sT A�GL��R � �Tlo� 99 qN 'Z 69 y1yC ?>p oo j `ALO .� lF °�`4 C°� �T�° 8909�C??,°°pp3 �TZo o N Ct�'lS, B 9 C'?,�ppps99j'S6? 0 •Q,e,, 9 Fy 11' (o :k C?gyp op6 q)?o 0 00 Lo� ? S Co1V�,r�•1l'�- > 0p 11' 00 96 ' 0°0 S`�.9 ° 0 j C°Lj6 669 C, *1 ?9 S ' op00 . O°O TL S 99 C`? op ? 9p �c. 699 oc?°0 OS 1000 ol �C?> 09j ? 09Se O°o S ? j6. - 00 69 j 6" p o j, S9?6 0000 000 ,0°O j j6000 >�� 0� °0 100 00 000 p o .i ?9, 969 ' 000 j, 000 , 000 'o , 000 j� 0 . -109 00 000 ? 000 j 0 °0 j 3 � 0°0 ' 000 ? °00 S 000 3 i•• ) b•• 3 ••`) 1•• _I•G )•• i 104 )•• l: �i: -=--1-kh )AR 0 2 1984 ..__ _ w-1194 Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager Plymouth City Hall 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 554.47 SUBJECT: Timely Expenditure of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds Plymouth, Minnesota B -94 -MC -27-0009 As you are aware, we will imminently be awarding Plymouth its 1994 CDBG Award. Therefore, we believe it is an appropriate time to revisit with the City the issue about expending CDBG funds in a timely manner. On December 7, 1993 we wrote you regarding this same issue. The letter discussed the CDBG requirements for the timely expenditure of funds, and it noted our concern that Plymouth had not met one of the benchmark measures of this. Later you responded to our concern. You explained what you believed were the extenuating circumstances and you related those steps that the City was implementing to ensure that the appropriate benchmark measures would be met in 1994. Approximately four months ago, on November 1, 1993, we calculated the benchmark measures of progress. Since that time the City has drawn $ 51,987.55 CDBG Line.of Credit. Assuming that the 1994 funds were placed in Plymouth's LOC tomorrow, then the City's balance in its LOC would be $802,939.08. As stated in the previous letter, the City will need to have no more than $ 445,500 (1.5 years of grant funds) in its LOC by November 1, 1994. Thus, Plymouth will need to draw $ 357,439.08 from its LOC within approximately eight months. We are aware that the city will shortly be drawing $ 140,000 for the South Shore Park project. That will still leave $ 217,439.08 that must be drawn by November 1, 1994. We are not confident that this rate of expenditure is achievable without the city taking some specific additional steps. Therefore, we must find that Plymouth is in non compliance with the performance criteria of 24 C.F.R. 570.902 (a)(1). To resolve this issue, we ask that the City develop and submit to us by March 15, a work out plan. This plan would describe those steps which the city believes will ensure that., the expenditure benchmarks will be met, and identifies which individual(s) are responsible for those steps to be taken. The plan should also include a monthly drawdown schedule, against which we can measure ,=•-A h 2 the City's progress. To be most useful, this plan would include schedules for each on-going CDBG activity. There are a few items that we suggest you consider when this schedule is developed. First, our recent February 17, 1994, letter to you suggests that the city will need to rebudget one or more of its projected 1994 public service activities. A delay in this rebudgeting and implementation of activities will make it more difficult to achieve the benchmarks. Secondly, we suggest that the city examine the number of staff currently assigned to administer the CDBG program. From our perspective and experience, the number is insufficient given the size and the complexity of the program. Finally, your schedule may include a request for technical assistance in specific areas. We would work very hard to provide any training or technical assistance that you may request. Of course, how you implement the program is ultimately your decision. However, we thought we would offer these suggestions for your consideration. A failure to meet the benchmark requirements by November 1, 1994, may result in a contract condition on the 1995 CDBG award. This condition would likely require the timely expenditure of funds during the 1995 program year. If the requirements of such a condition were not met, the CDBG funds in the LOC would be reduced by the amount of funds that were in excess of the benchmarks. We are hopeful that the City will be able to take steps this year to avoid such a contract condition. If you have any questions on this matter, please contact John Swanson at 370-3022. Very sincerely ours, �, Thomas T. Feeney Manager cc: Milt Dale, Housing Specialist p�MENT� U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Minneapolis -St. Paul Office, Region V 220 Second Street, South -` G9..M LEVE /� Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401-2195 VIC Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager Plymouth City Hall 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 SUBJECT: Timely Expenditure of Community Development% ock_.Grant,.,-,,. (CDBG) Funds Plymouth, Minnesota B -94 -MC -27-0009 As you are aware, we will imminently be awarding Plymouth its 1994 CDBG Award. Therefore, we believe it is an appropriate time to revisit with the City the issue about expending CDBG funds in a timely manner. On December 7, 1993 we wrote you regarding this same issue. The letter discussed the CDBG requirements for the timely expenditure of,funds, and it noted our concern that Plymouth had not met one of the benchmark measures of this. Later you responded to our concern. You explained what you believed were the extenuating circumstances and you related those steps that the City was implementing to ensure that the appropriate benchmark measures would be met in 1994. Approximately four months ago, on November 1, 1993, we calculated the benchmark measures of progress. Since that time the City has drawn $ 51,987.55 CDBG Line of Credit. Assuming that the 1994 funds were placed in Plymouth's LOC tomorrow, then the City's balance in its LOC would be $802,939.08. As stated in the previous letter, the City will need to have no more than $ 445,500 (1.5 years of grant funds) in its LOC by November 1, 1994. Thus, Plymouth will need to draw $ 357,439.08 from its LOC within approximately eight months. We are aware that the city W4 shortly be drawing $ 140,000 for the South Shore Park project. That will still leave $ 217,439.08 that must be drawn by November 1, 1994. We are not confident that this rate of expenditure is achievable without the city taking some specific additional steps. Therefore, we must find that Plymouth is in non compliance with the performance criteria of 24 C.F.R. 570.902 (a)(1). To resolve this issue, we ask that the City develop and submit to us by March 15, a work out plan. This plan would describe those steps which the city believes will ensure that the expenditure benchmarks will be met, and identifies which individual(s) are responsible for those steps to be taken. The plan should also include a monthly drawdown schedule, against which we can measure 2 the City's progress. To be most useful, this plan would include schedules for each on-going CDBG activity. There are a few items that we suggest you consider when this schedule is developed. First, our recent February 17, 1994, letter to you suggests that the city will need to rebudget one or more of its projected 1994 public service activities. A delay in this rebudgeting and implementation of activities will make it more difficult to achieve the benchmarks. Secondly, we suggest that the city examine the number of staff currently assigned to administer the CDBG program. From our perspective and experience, the number is insufficient given the size and the complexity of the program. Finally, your schedule may include a request for technical assistance in specific areas. We would work very hard to provide any training or technical assistance that you may request. Of course, how you implement the program is ultimately your decision. However, we thought we would offer these suggestions for your consideration. A failure to meet the benchmark requirements by November 1, 1994, may result in a contract condition on the 1995 CDBG award. This condition would likely require the timely expenditure of funds during the 1995 program year. If the requirements of such a condition were not met, the CDBG funds in the LOC would be reduced by the amount of funds that were in excess of the benchmarks. We are hopeful that the City will be able to take steps this year to avoid such a contract condition. If you have any questions on this matter, please contact John Swanson at 370-3022. Very sincerely yours, _AaA_P� L , Oa., Thomas T. Feeney Manager cc: Milt Dale, Housing Specialist March 3,1994 Plymouth City Council Dwight Johnson, City Manager Eric Blank, Director Park & Rec. Dear Councilmembers and Staff, I have a serious concern with the Council's logic on park location and size and in the Council's perceived double standard on purchasing land for parks and open space. I attended the Council's work session on Monday, Feb. 28th and I listened to reasons why the city is proposing to buy 80 acres in western Plymouth for a park and why the city, in 1993, abandoned an opportunity to buy 14 acres in eastern Plymouth, next to Zachary Park. From this discussion it was very clear to me that price is too much of a determining factor in which land to purchase for park or open space needs. Decisions on park size and location should be based more on need than on price. It must be understood that land prices in eastern Plymouth will be more expensive than in western Plymouth. Generally, land prices will be about $10,000 more per acre on the east side of town than on the west side. I suggest that this price difference should not be a significant factor when considering park location. There is clearly a current need for parks and open space on the east side because of the population and this should be a determining factor in deciding where to locate new parks or open spaces. At the meeting, Eric Blank stated that there is a shortage of ball fields in eastern Plymouth and that Zachary Park is a heavily used park. I also heard that the city decided not to purchase 14 acres next to Zachary Park because it was thought to be too expensive. Where is the logic in this decision? Is there other land available in eastern Plymouth where recreation facilities can be expanded or built? It is difficult to understand why the city will easily accept the concept of purchasing 80 acres on the westerly edge of Plymouth for a "Mega Park", which (as stated by Council member Edson) could be as much as 50 acres more than what is needed for a park and why the city gave up the opportunity to purchase 14 acres next to a Zachary Park, a heavily used park. "w Iles '' .. Z• -,A -k-1 From the Council discussion, it was mentioned that the 80 acre mega park is larger than what was approved last year. Is this correct? If so, how much larger and why are excessive funds now being directed to the west side when there are areas on the east side that need funding? I realize that some of the current City Council is newly elected and did not participate in last years action to not buy the land next to Zachary Park but there is a lesson that should be learned here - "it is good to plan for the future but lets not forget about the present". The issue of a perceived double standard is also very disturbing. It is very clear that the northerly 30 acres of the proposed 80 acre mega park will be purchased and preserved as open space. Why then is this 30 acres, which will cost about $250,000 (30 x $17.50), not going to fall under the evaluation of the open space committee as the Council directed the staff to consider the French Park property? Is there not a double standard here? In addition, Eric Blank stated that the 80 acres could be purchased within the CIP budget. I would like to know if the open space funds of $250,000 in the 1994 CIP budget will be used for the purchase of the 80 acre mega park. It would be inappropriate $250,000 before the open open space needs. Sincerely, Bob Donley 11740 38th Ave. No. Plymouth, Minnesota 55441 553-1344 (home) to use the 1994 CIP open space funds of space committee has evaluated Plymouth's City of Medicine Lake 10609 South Shore Drive • Medicine Lake, Minnesota 55441 • (612) 542-9701 Mr. Dwight Johnson City Manager City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Blvd. Plymouth, Minnesota 55447 Dear Mr. Johnson, I am writing to request help from the City of Plymouth in patrolling the Highway 55 and South Shore Drive intersection. I contacted Dan Faulkner, Plymouth City Engineer, last December regarding a concern the City of Medicine Lake had about the number of accidents at the Highway 55 and South Shore Drive. There had been two accidents in the prior 60 days that included injuries and a fatality. The intersection is a concern since it is the primary intersection used by our residents to enter and exit the City of Medicine Lake. Dan suggested we contact the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDot). Their investigation confirmed a high number of accidents. They determined the primary problem was red indication violations. The timing of the signal has been changed to encourage compliance, however, the engineer noted the changes also required prosecution of violators. Enclosed is the letter sent by MnDot to the Minnesota State Highway Patrol requesting prosecution of violators by the State Patrol and local police agencies. We would appreciate the support of the City of Plymouth police department to help improve the safety of the intersection for residents of both our cities. Respectfully, '0 r Bill Leonard, Councilman cc: Dan Faulkner, Plymouth City Engineer January 31, 1994 Minnesota Department of Transportation Captain Steve Menglekoch Minnesota State Highway Patrol 2005 N. Lilac Drive Golden Valley, Minnesota 55422 Dear Sir: Metropolitan Division Oakdale Office 3485 Hadley Avenue North Oakdale, Minnesota 55128 SUBJECT: C.S. 2,723 T.H. 55 at South Shore Drive City of Medicine Lake Golden Valley Office 591-4606 The Traffic Office of the Metro Division of the Minnesota Department of Transportation has been asked by the City of Medicine Lake to investigate the cause of the unusually high number of accidents at the intersection of T.H. 55 and South Shore Drive. In the course of our investigation, we discovered that although the signal in question does have the proper timing, the number of accidents is surprisingly high. By studying the accident reports and from a field review of the intersection, we determined that the primary cause behind many of the accidents is red indication violations. We, in fact, observed several vehicles going through the intersection during the all red time. The violators were travelling on both directions of the mainline and the cross street. In an effort to try to solve this problem, the traffic office has already implemented the following signal timing changes: first, increase the all red time for through traffic on both the mainline and the cross street. Second, increase'the green time for the cross street traffic. We believe, however, that these changes will not deter some drivers from violating the traffic signal indications. We feel that the only solution is for the State Patrol and the local police agency to increase its presence in the area to catch and prosecute violators. An Equal Opportunity Employer =�,AJ Captain Steve Menglekoch Page 2 January 31, 1994 Let me assure you and the City that we are prepared to take any appropriate and viable action that will help eliminate this problem. We do, however, need your help. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 591-4606 or 779-5047. Sincerely, Amr K. Jabr Division Signal Operations Engineer cc: Julie Diette - City of Medicine Lake Bill Leonard - City of Medicine Lake March 7, 1994 Ms. Lynda Voge, Referals Coordinator Metropolitan Council Mears Park Centre 230 East 5th Street St. Paul, MN 55101 SUBJECT: LAND USE GUIDE PLAN MINOR AMENDMENT TO THE CITY OF PLYMOUTH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN --TO REGUIDE A 22.66 ACRE SITE FROM IP (PLANNED INDUSTRIAL) TO CR -2 (RETAIL SHOPPING) FOR A PROPOSED SAM'S CLUB TO BE LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF I-494 AND CARLSON PARKWAY (93117) Dear Lynda: Herewith, please find the described forms and supporting documentation for the captioned action approved by the City Council for the City of Plymouth subject to approval of the Metropolitan Council. The amendment is to amend the Land Use Guide Plan for a 22.66 acre site from IP (Planned Industrial) to CR -2 (Retail Shopping) for property located at the southeast corner of I-494 and Carlson Parkway. We sincerely appreciate the cooperation of your staff in processing this minor amendments. Questions regarding this may be directed to myself at 550-5059. Sincerely, C"M__� Anne W. Hurlburt Community Development Director cc: Roger Scherer Dwight Johnson, City Manager We Listen • We Solve • We Care 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE (612) 550-5000 GRIDOR CONSTR., INC. 1886 BERKSHIRE LANE P. O. BOX 41246 PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55441 March 7, 1994 Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 Attn: Ms. Ann Hurlburt Community Development Director City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners and Council Members: 612.559-3734 We at Gridor Constr., disapprove of any gas station, Super America, or fast-food restaurant at the I-94 and County Road 6 location in Plymouth. There is no need for a gas station on every corner. We have been in this area for 14 years and have only found the restaurants busy between 12 PM and 12:40 PM. We are all capable of changing our eating habits it is not required that we all eat lunch at 12 noon. The proposed type of businesses will only cause more congestion on County Road 6 and in the area. We encourage your disapproval on this development. Sincerely, Gridor Constr., Inc. hold Theisen President Employee Signatures►ze��•�,--i EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Eh1PLOYER Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at thLN corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will pr needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. great idea and long overdue. Company Name: Address: lq )i>') Emplo ee Signature: 1.O ►, 16. <— /: 4 2. 17. 3. `� ' 18. 4. 9. 5. . G� '-r 20. 21. `l,' 30. March 3, 1994 Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth MN 55447 Attn: Ms. Ann Hubert Community Development Director City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners and Council Members: COMPREHENSIVE IHSS MANAGEMENT, INC. High Quality Safety & Health Communications As a corporate citizen of the City of Plymouth, we would like to express our support for the fast-food restaurant proposed along with the Super America at the Southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, Minnesota. This store will provide our employees with a convenient alternative for quick meals. Limited commercial uses such as this are critical to our planned industrial area. We encourage your approval of this request in conjunction with the development of the proposed Super America at this location. Sincerely, Paul P. Glynn Vice President - Finance & Administration 15800 32nd Ave. N., #106, Minneapolis, MN 55447 (612) 551-1022 1 800 533-2767 Fax 612-551-1030 �- -'A -�— Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will provide a much needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. I think it is a great idea and long overdue. Company Name: CoMf e'4 ery s: j -e /-os Address: / Roo ant WW A)'e A f/vsyrov�h � �✓ Employee Signature: 2 3 0 6. 7. 8. 9. 22. 23. 5.(( � ���� Jy( �f "� 20. 21. 4. ;5. ,6. 7. 29. KATE - LOQ Tile, Marble, and Granite From Around the World. 701 Berkshire Lane North Plymouth, Minnesota 55441 612/545-5455 March 4 1994 FAX: 612/542-9830 s Planning Commission & City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447` I' Attn: Ms. Ann Hurlburt Community Development Director City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners & Council Members: As a corporate citizen of the City of Plymouth, we would like to express our support for the fast-food restaurant proposed along with the Super America at the Southeast corner of 1-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, Minnesota. This store will provide our employees with a convenient alternative for quick meals. Limited commercial uses such as this are critical to our planned industrial area. We encourage your approval of this request in conjunction with the development of the proposed Super America at this location. Sincerely, ZzwAy—q - Sww-e-, Timothy J. Beaupre Senior Vice President jmw Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will provide a much needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. I think it is a great idea and long overdue. Company Name: Address: 15. =. _51 .�_ 13630 Watertower Circle - Minneapolis, MN 55441-3785 - (612) 559-3266 • (800) 888-3342 • FAX (612) 559-0945 1703 Crosspoint • Houston, TX 77054-3707 • (713) 796-9743 • FAX (713) 796-1530 March 2, 1994 Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 t Attn: Ms. Ann Hurlburt 's> Community Development Director City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners and Council Members: . As a corporate citizen of the City of Plymouth, we would like to express our support for the fast-food restaurant proposed along with the Super America at the Southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, Minnesota. This store will provide our employees with a convenient alternative for quick meals. Limited commercial uses such as this are critical to our planned industrial area. We encourage your approval of this request in conjunction with the development of the proposed Super America at this location. Sincerely, FQAIVI ENT RP . TC. Mike nol Financial Manager =- 2 �. Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will provide a much needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. I think it is a great idea and long overdue. Company Name: FDA %A Address: I3 6 3o c r�vz caw�c 'C,�et_c APL-" WOV Employee Signa jure, 16. 2. 17. 3. 18. 4. i` S ``�� 19. 6. 21 13. 28. 14. 29. 15. 30. WAIF STERLING AUTOMATION March 4, 1994 Z -A 319__ 1 Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth �In 3400 Plymouth Boulevard 3 Plymouth, MN 55447.: Attn: Ms. Ann Hurlburt Community Development Director -•--- City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners and Council Members: As a corporate citizen of the City of Plymouth, we would like to express out support for the fast-food restaurant proposed along with the Super America at the Southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, Minnesota. This store will provide our employees with a convenient alternative for quick meals. Limited commercial uses such as this are critical to our planned industrial area. We encourage your approval of this request in conjuction with the development of the proposed Super America at this location. Sincerely, Michael T. Berg President 14505 - 21st Avenue Notch - Suite 212 • Minneapolis, MN 55447-5602 o Phone: 612/476-2700 • Fax: 612/476-8007 )LA -L- Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will provide a much needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. I think it is a great idea and long overdue. Sterling Automation Inc. 14505 -21st. Ave. North- Suite 212 Company Name: Ag�WW" Minneapolis, MN 55447-5602 Address: Phone: 612/476-2700 STERLING AUTOMATION Fax: 612/476-8007 Employee Signature: Integrated Systems with the Future in Mind 1. 16. 2. 17. 3. 18. 4. 19. 5. 20. 6. y - 21. 7. 22. 8. 23. 9. 24. 10. 25. 11. 26. 12. 27. 13. 14. 29. 15. 30. L. S. PLACK AND ASSOCIATES, INC. S '�-�- PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES March 3, 1994 Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 Attn: Ms. Ann Hurlburt Community Development Director City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners and Council Members: As a corporate citizen of the City of Plymouth, we would like to express our support for the fast-food restaurant proposed along with the Super America at the southeast corner of 1-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth. This store will provide our employees with a convenient alternative for quick meals. Limited commercial uses such as this are critical to our planned industrial area. We encourage your approval of this request in conjunction with the development of the proposed Super America at this location. Sincerely, S_ Lawrence S. Plack President attachment is P.O. BOX 46171 • MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55446-0171 0 (612) 550-9470 • FAX (612) 550-1684 = IA Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will provide a much needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. I think it is a great idea and long overdue. Company Name: L . S PZ,,q c i A•txO J.0 Address: v1 �� o i�t'/:.vh a_� �� Com. �' I -r r 3C. Employee Signature: 1. k, — ) - 16. 2.u-- Y &146 aL— . 17. 3. 18. 4. 19. 5. 20. 6. 21. 7. 22. 8. 23. 9. 24. 10. 25. 11. 26. 12. 27 13. 28 14. 29. 15. 30. _='1A -S)- US LAWN PRODUCTS, INC. 3.110 RANCHVIEW LANE • MINNEAPOLIS. MINNESOTA 55447 • (612) 559.1092 3 MARCH 4, 1994 Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 Attn: Ms. Ann Hurlburt Community Development Director City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners and Council Members: As a corporate citizen of the City of Plymouth, we would like to express our support for the fast-food restaurant proposed along with the Super America at the Southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, Minnesota. This store will provide our employees with a convenient alternative for quick meals. Limited commercial uses such as this are critical to our planned industrial area. We encourage your approval of this request in conjunction with the development of the proposed Super America at this location. Sincerely, l s- Lk 9- Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will provide a much needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. I think it is a great idea and lo_ & overdue. - r � Company Name: -- Address: %�O ✓1 C! i�c// i r�, C? rt/, Y ��` r j� , y zi, /:'�/ ytJ/ rT 2. Cv �/Rke ('3e 17. 3. n 4. it/-',�: Oc-c = 9. 7. 61 22. 8. rl7lt %%jD; —23. 24. 9. 10. At^z 25. 11. 26. 12. 27. 13. 28. 14. 29. 15. 30. Thermo -Dyne Inc. MANUFACTURERS REPRESENTATIVES • AIR CONDITIONING • REFRIGERATION March 7, 1994 • HEATING • VENTILATION Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 Attn: Ms. Ann Hurlburt Community Development Director City of Plymouth Dear Commissioners and Council Members: ---'A _�)_ 14149 - 21st Avenue North PLYMOUTH, MN 55447 TELEPHONE: (612) 557-4900 FAX: (612) 557-4916 .v f - As a corporate citizen of the City of Plymouth, we would like to express our support for the fast-food restaurant proposed along with the Super America at the Southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, Minnesota. This store will provide our employees with a convenient alternative for quick meals. Limited commercial uses such as this are critical to our planned industrial area. We encourage your approval of this request in conjunction with the development of the proposed Super America at this location. Since y, radley C. Johnson == Planning Commission and City Council City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55477 I would like to show my support for the Fast Food Restaurant proposed at the southeast corner of I-494 and County Road 6 in Plymouth, MN. The Restaurant will provide a much needed eating alternative to myself and other employees of our industrial park. I think it is a great idea and long overdue. , Company Name: Thermo -Dyne, Inc. Address: 14149 21st Avenue North Plymouth, Employee Signature: 1 2 3 4 5.- 6.- 7.- 8.- 9.- 10. .6.7.8.9.10. 11. 12. 13. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Z1. Z2. D. !4. 25. 26. Z7. Z8. 14. 29. 15. 30. `-�- v N -Y\ DATE: March 10, 1994 TO: Dwight Johnson, City Manager FROM: John R. Sweeney, Assistant City Engineer/Transit Administrator SUBJECT: 1994 OPT OUT TRANSIT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Attached is the recent legislative update for OPT -OUT Transit prepared by George C. Bentely, Legislative Liaison for Plymouth Metrolink and all other OPT -OUT communities. The following issues are address in detail in this legislative update: • OPT -OUT LEGISLATION • TRANSIT GOVERNANCE • TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT FUNDING George has indicated that he will be providing all transit administrators a bill tracking document in the near future which will allow easy identification of the status of various bills as they proceed through the legislative process. I will provide you with that information as soon as it available. attachment cc: Fred G. Moore Daniel L. Faulkner Kathy Lueckert March 5, 1994 L.SGI SI.ATIVS IJ V DtA9JM FOR OPT -OUT TRANSIT By Georges Bentley -S: A rr, , The pace at the Legislature is furious, with a huge load of bills awaiting hearings and a very short period in which bills will be heard to meet the schedule of this abbreviated legislative session. There are numerous major issues yet to be worked on, including the nuclear storage request by NSP, crime bills, education issues, metropolitan governance reform, and all funding matters and bonding requests. Some of these issues will not succeed, and some will pass out of the Legislature in dramatically altered form. Still others will face vetoes from the Governor. OPT -AUT LEGISLATION The bill introduced on behalf of opt -out transit which would expand the use of regional transit bonding authority, and would allow continued use of bond proceeds by opt -out transit systems for private vehicle capital contract reimbursement, is awaiting hearings in both the Senate and the House Transportation and Transit Committees. This legislation, HF 1917 (Kelso) and SF 1736 (Belanger), will probably be heard in the Senate Committee on Transportation and Public Transit the week of March 14th. In the House it will probably first be heard in the Transportation Committee's Sub -Committee on Transit, chaired by Rep. Betty McCollum (DFL -North St. Paul), but no date has been set. The first committee deadline is March 25. By that date a bill must clear all policy committees in its house of origin. This means that the opt -out bill must be heard by all policy committees in at least one house by this date. The second committee deadline is March 31. By this date a bill must be heard by all policy committees in both houses prior to 5:00 PM to be further considered. The third committee deadline is April 8. All bills with a financial impact must clear the policy committees in one house by this date to receive further consideration. A bill which does not meet these committee deadlines can be amended to another bill that bears some similarity to the amendment in committee or on the floor of either house. For example, the opt -out bill could be amended to a transportation funding bill, but not to a bill regarding education. Legislative Update - Page 2 At this time the opt -out bill is not receiving any identified opposition, and I am guardedly optimistic we will make the first committee deadline, at least in the Senate. The bill which would create an elected Metropolitan Council and would abolish the Regional Transit Board, the Metropolitan Transit Commission and the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission, rolling their duties and employees into the Metropolitan Council, has been introduced in both houses and is quickly proceeding toward its first committee vote in the Senate. SF 2015, authored by Sen. Carol Flynn (DFL-Mpls.), and HF 2276, authored by Rep. Myron Orfield (DFL-Mpls.), will be heard in the Senate Committee on Local Government and Metropolitan Affairs on Monday, March 7th, where it is expected to pass by a very narrow margin. It is not known at this time where this bill would be sent after this vote. No hearings have been scheduled in the House at this time. The metro counties are opposing this bill, but would support it if the elected Metropolitan Council language was removed. The AMM is opposing the bill because of the increased powers this bill would give the Metropolitan Council, but it does support an elected Met Council. The Governor has not made any public statements regarding this bill yet, but in discussions with people close to the Governor it would appear he will have a hard time supporting the bill if it contains language creating an elected Met Council, but he would likely sign it if this language was removed. Support for the continued existence of the RTB and the MTC as independent agencies seems to be rapidly eroding in both houses, and in both caucuses. It would appear that if the language creating an elected regional body survives, the bill will probably not become law, and transit governance will remain unchanged for now. However, if the elected Met Council language is striped from the bill in committee, it is likely the RTB and the MTC will cease to exist as of June 1, 1994. The only effects on opt -out transit through this bill is who the funding agency for operations and capital will be, and who will have responsibility for regional transit policy, the RTB or the Metropolitan Council. If this bill is successful, opt -out transit systems will be the only independent public transit systems in the metropolitan area. TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT FUNDING Transportation and transit funding requests are starting to be introduced and discussed, at least on a preliminary basis, in committees. The RTB is requesting $11.35 million in supplemental funding to maintain existing services for fiscal year 1995, which begins July 1, 1994. They are also requesting $5.6 million for Vision for Transit services. .=-JAS Legislative Update - Page 3 MnWT, which operates transit in Greater Minnesota, is requesting $3.6 million in supplemental funding for FY 1995. This request would be reduced to $2.1 million if they are allowed to carry over $1.5 million in unused funds from FY 1994. The MTC is pursuing an additional $2.9 million in supplemental funding, above the RTB request which includes $6.3 million for the MTC, to implement quality improvements in transit operations services for FY 1995. They are also requesting $84.5 million in increased regional bonding authority for 1995 and 1996. These funds would go for MTC fleet replacement and improvements, facilities improvements (i.e., replace the Snelling garage facility), and MTC computerization. The Governor's FY 1995 budget has provided supplemental funding of $10 million for regional transit, and $2.1 million for Greater Minnesota transit, allowing a transfer of $1.5 million from FY 1994 to the Greater Minnesota transit fund. No other transit funds are provided in the Governor's budget, and no increase in regional bonding for transit is provided in his capital budget. High Speed Bus (HSB) has introduced its legislation in the House, and a Senate companion bill is expected shortly. The bill, HF 2266 introduced by Rep. Mark Mahon (DFL -Bloomington), calls for the creation of a High Speed Bus pilot project within the southwest suburban area. It requests $3.25 million in general fund appropriations to the RTB for HSE operations costs, $8.7 million in increased regional transit bonding for HSB vehicles, transit facilities and capital improvements (mostly related to park and ride lots), and $2.6 million in state bonding authority for capital improvements to highways as part of the pilot program. HSB, which is joint effort between numerous cities, Dakota County, the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority and the Southwest Metro Transit Commission, is intended to improve express bus service to and from the downtown areas and between suburbs, improve circulators within communities, and increase reverse commute services. There is broad support for this concept at the Legislature, but the primary concern will be from where the funding will come. The bonding requests are arriving very late in the game and will face a difficult road. A lot of interest in this proposal exists in the opt -out transit communities, and I will be following its progress through the Legislature very closely. Sen. Keith Langseth (DFL-Glyndon) has introduced two bills which call for changes in transportation and transit funding. SF 2097 would increase funding for statewide transit by legislatively dedicating amounts equal to an unspecified percentage of Motor Vehicle Bxcise Tax (MM) collections to the Transit Assistance Fund. At this time it appears he will be calling for an amount between 26 and 30 percent of MET for transit. This bill would also index the gasoline tax, retroactive to 1988, resulting in an estimated 4.1 cent per gallon increase immediately, and regular increases each year based upon a formula. -'A vv . Legislative Update - Page 4 The other bill introduced by Sen. Langseth, SF 2098, contains the same transit funding language as does SF 2097, increases the gas tax by 5 cents per gallon, and indexes the gas tax effective April 1, 1995, with no retroactivity. Sen. Terry Johnston (IR -Prior Lake) has introduced SF 2055, which would index the gasoline tax retroactively to 1988, and would transfer 17 percent of MM to the Transit Assistance Blind. None of these broader funding bills have yet been scheduled for committee hearings, but it is certain they will be heard. If they do survive Senate and House committee and floor debates, it is very likely the Governor will veto them because of his "No new taxes" pledge. I will be providing the administrators of the opt -out transit systems a bill tracking document very shortly which will allow easy identification of the status of various bills as they proceed through the Legislature. If anyone is interested in this document you should check with the administrator in your system, or give me a call at 937-3502 (office) or 949-2681 (home). Thank you. Home Free Domestic Assault 3409 Kilmer Lane N. Intervention Project Plymouth, MN 55441 March 2, 1994 Plyymouth Police Department 3400 Plymouth Blvd. Plymouth, MN 55447 Attn: Craig Gerdes, Director of Public Safety Dear Chief Gerdes, Z -'A N Telephone It is this time of the new year that we look back to 1993, to review and assess our work with the many victims of domestic abuse that came to us for services. I am enclosing the Annual Report for the Intervention Project and with that I must thank you for your support of the project. As we look back at 1993, we are forced to take note of the numbers of women, children, and other family members that died as a result of this violence. Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women recently provided the following statistics: Battering escalates in severity and the community's response in the early stages of domestic violence is critical. This is apparent by the number of tragic murders of women in Minnesota (29 killed in 93), additionally, 11 children were killed by domestic violence and 5 other family members. So with the loss of 45 people, and I'm sure there could be more, we continue to dedicate ourselves to raising community awareness, inviting the community to join us by volunteering, and working hard to give support and information to victims of domestic abuse while encouraging police, courts, counselors, and others to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. Again our thanks for your continued support. Sincerely Nancy Senn, Project Coordinator cc: Cindi Cook, Assistant Director Dwight Johnson, City Manager Ted Larson, Liaison Officer John Boyle, City Prosecutor L\ *'j HOME FREE/PLYMOUTH DOMESTIC ASSAULT INTERVENTION PROJECT FOURTH QUARTER 1993 1. LAW ENFORCEMENT 11. INTERVENTION PROJECT SERVICES QTR YTD ARREST QTR YTD Fifth Degree Assault 9 57 Fifth Degree Assault/Disorderly 1 2 GM Fifth Degree Assault/DOC 1 5 OFP Violation 3 10 Felony 0 1 Other 1 4 Totals 15 79 DOUBLE ARRESTS <0> <2> COMPLAINTS Fifth Degree Assault 2 14 Fifth Degree Assault/Disorderly 0 2 OFP Violation, 3 6 Other 0 1 Totals 5 23 ALLEGED ASSAULT/CHGS PENDING 9 - DOMESTIC OFFENSE REPORTS 29 152 11. INTERVENTION PROJECT SERVICES VICTIM SERVICES QTR YTD Arrest Response Home Visits 2 9 Phone Contact 9 47 Face to Face Contact 3 11 Unable to reach victim/letter 1 12 TOTALS is 79 Civil Court Advocacy-OFP Filing/Hearing 9 44 Other Advocacy 6 41 Domestic Offense Reports --Follow-up Phone Notification 16 66 Letter Notification 13 86 TOTALS 29 152 -'- 'A Q IL INTERVENTION PROJECT SERVICES (CONT.) 111. CRIMINAL COURT ADVOCACY AND MONITORING DISPOSITION QTR YTD PERPETRATOR CONTACTS Prior QTR QTR YTD Jail Visit 0 4 11 No Contact 15 75 6 Bailed Out <0> <10> 2 Taken to Hennepin County Jai) <11> <45> Dismissed/Rechg. as Felony Not Notified <2> <9> 2 Other (Taken to court, hosp.) <2> <11> 2 TOTALS 15 79 0 OTHER SERVICES # Persons Served -- Service Contacts TR YTD 0 OTR YTD Support Groups 40 -- 20 143 543 Child Care 16 - 62 260 Telephone Service -I & R 14 81 14 81 Totals 70 219 884 111. CRIMINAL COURT ADVOCACY AND MONITORING DISPOSITION Assault Occurred Current QTR Prior QTR QTR YTD Guilty Plea 6 5 11 51 Guilty Plea -Amended Chg. 0 6 6 25 Continued for Dismissal 2 4 6 28 Dismissed/Rechg. as Felony 1 0 1 2 Dismissed 1 1 2 11 No Disposition -Case Open 8 0 8 -- Juvenile Assailants 2 0 2 2 TOTALS 20 16 36 119 SENTENCING Year to date, 119- cases were resolved in criminal court. During the fourth quarter defendants received one or more of the following conditions: _61 %_ Ordered to attend domestic abuse counseling _04%_ Ordered to have a chemical dependency evaluation or counseling _08%_ Served jail time _1 5%_ Received stayed jail time _61%_ Paid a fine _04%_ Had the fine stayed _04%_ Ordered to have a psychiatric evaluation 2 Volunteer Program: Intervention Project volunteers are on call nights and weekends providing outreach services to both victims and assailants. 46 community women and men volunteered over 12.727 hours of service to the Intervention Project in 1993 through evening and weekend on call crisis response, phone contact, home visits, jail visits, accompaniment to Hennepin County Family Court, distribution of brochures and fliers, public speaking and providing transportation and childcare for the educational/support groups. New volunteers attended a weekend joint - program training and receive Intervention Project training by Project staff and on-the-job training with an experienced volunteer. All volunteers receive ongoing training at monthly volunteer meetings. Volunteers learn the historical perspectives and dynamics of battering; they become acquainted with laws pertaining to domestic assault; they examine how racism, classism, sexism, ageism and homophobia relate to violence in our society; and they learn non-judgemental, supportive responses to individuals in crisis. Community Outreach: Home Free Domestic Assault Intervention Project staff and /or volunteers participated in the following community events. • Battered Women's Action Day at the State Capitol on March 17. • Turn Off The Violence Committee and Turn Off The Violence Day on October 14th - advocates provided information and brochures to increase awareness of domestic abuse and services available in the community. • Domestic Violence Forum for the Northwest Hennepin area on October 19, 1993. Staff and volunteers worked on the planning, promotion and presentation of this event. • Organized and facilitated monthly speakers throughout 1993 to provide continuing education and support to Home Free's community/shelter volunteers. • Member of North Memorial Domestic Abuse Hospital Program Task Force. • Home Free Domestic Assault Intervention Project continues to provide brochures and information to area businesses, doctor's offices, community centers, and hospitals. Community Education presentations were made at the following Plymouth locations: Mammoth Honeywell United Hardware Distributing Co. Christian Women's Fellowship Systems Advocacx: The Intervention Project staff participated in a committee working to design a model Domestic Assault Arrest Policy. The Model Arrest Policy was completed and mailed to law enforcement agencies statewide. 3 -moo �.�z,y�� � �-r- - . � �^� Tum �I Per Council Request... 3j s L TENNANT BA',') LAY.t-. Rpgp Fe_(Co. RO. NO. 1 3 � n U �� •_ . Gln _y,.,,....nn, ,w ��_ `` _— �.';^ ,� I� \ I /— �� y - ACS ' / \ ,T I •�!ca...�J4 'F nAVQ. N. v mi CE ITY � p9• '"r c u � �° moi' `� I I i' �i�t' I+ •I€ }�� Z c � � t t ►� .t v L s m s lf{1t={-ifs jj-i r j�is.(t� =jInj i Pit C * El ji s{t`it t..ii'ttl � v Q _ t}i�t!i�Etttil�l t��� 1 _ . t`f • _ �\ _'.�fE Vii, ;' ('}' J'If! IS _ t98E3P1aK March 8, 1994 Vice Chair Marilyn Carlson Nelson Carlson Companies - Inc. Carlson Parkway P.O. Box 59159 Minneapolis, MN 55459 Dear Ms. Nelson, I am sending you a copy of an article that appeared two weeks ago in our local newspaper. Though I presume you were not informed about Carlson's development team using this tactic of influence on Plymouth's new City Council, I believe you should be made aware of it. I believe you should also know that there is not a member on the Plymouth City Council who did not find this type of publicity extremely offensive. It is my understanding that the City of Plymouth and Carlson Companies have had a good working relationship in the past. When I read threatening comments by a Carlson employee in a newspaper ad masquerading as an article, however, I feel less certain about our future. I hope you see as I do the importance of not undermining the confidence we must have in our ability to work together. I would welcome any suggestions you may have on how we are to proceed. Sincerely, Joy Tierney Mayor of Plymouth 17915 - 20th Avenue North Plymouth, MN 55447 473-1 681 cc: Dwight Johnson, City Manager Plymouth City Councilmembers We Listen • We Solve • We Care 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 • TELEPHONE 1612) 550-5060 1� 1 CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447 DATE: March 10, 1994 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Dwight Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: Summary of Events this Week The Preliminary Plat application for Sam's Club was approved by the Planning Commission Wednesday night unanimously and with no public comment. This will appear on the March 21 st Council agenda. The Carlson application for a fast food and a SuperAmerica at the southeast corner of County Road 6 and I-494 was also approved with a number of conditions. One of the chief conditions was that a right turn only traffic flow for exiting traffic is required unless a safety condition is identified, in which case Carlson will pay for the appropriate signal with a left turn arrow at County Road 6. Staff is asking our consultant to do further work to determine what safety problems may exist, if any. Therefore, this item will appear on the April 4 agenda, not the March 21 agenda. Carlson Companies have scheduled a meeting with staff next Monday morning to discuss a possible refinancing of their Tax Increment bond. Apparently, the refinancing provisions approved by the City in 1992 require a mandatory repurchasing of the bonds by Carlson Companies. They will do this, but then want permission to reissue bonds to effectively extend the debt at a lower rate. Daniel Development has submitted a new drawing showing street connections from 55th Avenue to County 10 to the north, but via a rather indirect, circuitous route to discourage through traffic from Zachary Lane or County 10. The drawing shows no connection to Nathan Lane to the east. Although the current thoroughfare guide plans shows a minor collector extending to Nathan Lane, staff is evaluating the option and the implications for all properties in the area if the road does not go through to Nathan Lane. 03-07-1994 16:31 612 339 5897 BEST3:FLANAGAN P.02 ROBERT L.CRoaBY LEONARD M.ADDIXOTUN ROBE1tF R. BARTH N. WALTER GRAPY ALLEx D.BARNARn RICHARD A.PETERRON ROBERT ,I. CBRISTIANSON,JR. FRANK J. WALz FRAM: VooL MARIN Upp W. VAN PUTTER, JR. DAVID B.MORRE JOHN A.BDRToa,JR - JAHES C.DIRAI.LEE ROBERT L.MELLER,JR. JUDITH &.ROooaXEEEt BEST & FI.ANAGAN ATTORNEYS AT LAW SOOTT D. ELLER CHARLES C. BERQOI AT (iROROE Q. 1.VDC1KE Iy E. JOREPH'LAFAVE (IRR007I�' . SOTILE LATHY E OORLIN PATRICK B.IJENNESSY TINOTHY A. SULLIVAN BRIAN F. RICE DANIEL R. W. NELSON TRACY J.VAN STEIN MIROH DAVID •.1. ZUDKE STEVEN R.KRUotR JAMES R MICHELS PAUL E.ICANINSIII 4000 FIRST BANK PLACE (301 SECOND AVENUE SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS, .NTN n0.400- 41301 TELEPHONE (OIIa) noo-T181 TELEC:aPIER tO112) 330-6AOT Direct Dial: 349-5648 March 7, 1994 BY FACSIMILE Ms. Laurie Rauenhorst City Clerk City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55447 RE: New Agenda Items at Council Meetings Dear Laurie: CINDY J. LARaoN JOHN P. BOYLK ROAN C FORHELL CARTN SC<HERR GLOVER MARY E.SHEAREN CATHERINE J.COURTNLY KEITH J. NELBEN BAR13ARA M.ROSS TRAOY F. KocmzNDowrxw IEANNIox M.REDrrNo SARAH CRIPPEN MADINON RODERT D. MAxan DAVID H.JOHNBON WILLIAM J. MORRIS MICHAEL L.Dioos MICHAEL H.PINR OF COUABFI. JOHN R.CARROLL JAMER D. Oib ON ROBERT M.SKARE AHOHIOALD Spswurit WARD B.LEwiA JAitES 1. BEST 1000-1089 ROBERT J. FLA14AGAN I000 - 1074 You have requested that this office issue an opinion regarding the ability of a councilperson to add an agenda item at either a regular or special city council meeting. It is the city's current policy to allow discussion of added agenda items but not to allow a vote on the added item. The City Charter in Section 3.03 makes it clear that the Council determines its own rules and order of business in conducting the Council meetings. There is no further language in the charter giving any direction on this topic. City Code Section 200.05, Subd. 2 notes that the agenda for a meeting is closed to new "material" at noon on the. Wednesday preceding the regular or special council meeting. However, that Section goes on to note that the Council may waive this rule in its discretion. Effectively, at the time the Council votes to approve the agenda for any given meeting, it is waiving the prohibition of new "material" that might have been added to that agenda. We see nothing in the City Charter, City Coda or the Policy Manual which would prohibit the addition of a new agenda item at a meeting, so long as the Council approvep that addition. The State statute dealing with the open Meeting Law does apply in this situation. Minnesota statute S 471.705 (1)(c)(a) requires the City to keep a list of the regularly scheduled Council meetings on file. In this way, the general public will 03-07-1994 16:32 612 339 5897 BESTO-:FLANAGAN P.03 Ms. Rauenhorst March 7, 1994 Page 2 have advance notice of the City's intent to conduct business on those regularly scheduled dates. Nothing in this section requires the filing of an agenda for the regularly scheduled meeting. In essence, the public has been given notice that the council will be meeting on those regular dates to conduct any business within its power. Minnesota statute § 471.705 (1)(c)(b) requires that, with a special meeting, there is a necessity to post written notice of the date, time, place and purpose of the meeting. Here the notice requirement is more onerous in that the purpose needs to be included. We conclude that at a regularly scheduled Council meeting, the Council has the right to not only discuss but to vote on matters which are added to the agenda that day. However, at special meetings the Council should avoid discussing any item which is not included on the notice given of the special meeting. The League of Minnesota Cities agrees with this interpretation. Although there is nothing in city or state law which will prohibit the City Council from discussing and voting on matters added to the agenda at the meeting, it may well be that the City, as a matter of policy, wishes to prohibit such a practice. Certainly, such a prohibition would be keeping with the spirit of the Open Meeting Law to give the public as much possible notice regarding the place, time and content of meetings. In so, the City could adopt a policy that the City will not vote on any matter added to the agenda on the day of a meeting. In fact, the League of Minnesota Cities has opined that if the City's policy has been to prohibit voting on newly added agenda items, it should continue to follow that policy until such time as the public is given notice that that policy is being dropped or amended. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss this matter further. v t u y yours ert L. Meller, Jr. city Attorney PEK:kjd cc Dwight Johnson, City Manager PEK\Agenda.ltr i. A ROBERT L. CROSBY LEONARD M.ADDINGTON ROBERT R.BARTH N.WALTER GRAFF ALLEN D.BARNARD RICHARD A.PETERSON ROBERT J. CHRISTIANSON, JR FRANK J. WALz FRANK VOGL MARINUS W. VAN PUTTEN, JR DAVID B. MORSE JOHN A. BURTON, JR. JAMES C. DIRACLES ROBERT L.MELLER, JR. JUDITH A.ROGOsHESKE BEST & FEANAGAN ATTORNEYS AT LAw SCOTT D. ELLER CHARLES C. BERQUIST GEORGE O.LUDCEE E. JOSEPH LAFAVE GREGORY D. SOULE CATHY E.GORLIN PATRICK B.HENNESSY TIMOTHY A. SULLIVAN BRIAN F. RICE DANIEL R.W. NELSON TRACY J.VAN STEENBUROH DAVID J. ZUBHE STEVEN R.KRUGER JAMES P. MICHELS PAUL E.KAMINSKI 4000 FIRST BANK PLACE 601 SECOND AVENUE SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55402-4331 TELEPHONE (612) 339-7121 TELECOPIER (612) 339-5897 Writer's Direct Dial No. (612) 341-9715 March 10, 1994 Mr. Dwight Johnson City Manager City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Boulevard Plymouth, Minnesota 55447 RE: City Attorney Contract Dear Dwight: CINDY J. LARSON OF COUNSEL JOHN P. BOYLE JOHN R.CARROLL ROSS C.FORMELL JAMES D. OLSON CARYN SCHERB GLOVER ROBERT M.SKARE MARY E.SHEAREN ARCHIBALD SPENCER CATHERINE J. COURTNEY WARD B.LEWIS KEITH J. NELSEN BARBARA M.Ross TRACY F. KOCHENDORYER JEANNICE M.REDING SARAH CRIPPEN MADISON JAMES 1. BEST ROBERT D. MAHER 1602-1688 DAVID H. JOHNSON ROBERT J. FLANAGAN WILLIAM J. MORRIS 1898-1674 MICHAEL L.DlGos MICHAEL H. PINE A friend of mine who owns a specialty manufacturing business has taught me that the only way to have long term relationships with clients is to provide them the best possible service at the lowest possible price. We have been reviewing all categories of our work for the City of Plymouth in an effort to do just that. We are committed to the City of Plymouth and hope that we can continue as its legal counsel. Our review has lead us to conclude that there are some things we can do that will permit us to comply with the axiom of the best possible service for the lowest possible price. They are discussed in the paragraphs below. 1. Prosecution. We have concluded that there are some changes we can make in our prosecution operation to continue providing you with excellent service, but reduce your overall costs. a. We believe that the category billed as Prosecution Office Time (which has often been the largest category of prosecution costs) can be decreased by reducing the number of phone calls we take from complaining parties, etc. and shifting some of them directly to the Police Department. This will take coordination with the Police Department. w Mr. Dwight Johnson March 10, 1994 Page 2 b. We believe we can reduce your costs by making some structural changes at Best & Flanagan which would include who undertakes prosecution and how we internally coordinate it. This would include designating fewer people as prosecutors and, possibly, dedicating them solely to this work. C. Since vehicle forfeitures have become a large part of our prosecution office work and are in the nature of a discretionary civil case rather than a criminal prosecution, we believe that this work should be segregated from our regular prosecution work. Then appropriate city officials can be vested with authority to determine on a case by case basis whether we should spend time on specific vehicle forfeitures. A description of the vehicle forfeiture program which was effective January 1, 1993 is contained on the attached memorandum. We believe that with the above changes, including segregating vehicle forfeiture work from regular prosecution work, that we can realize substantial savings for the City. We are prepared to undertake all of the prosecution work, excluding vehicle forfeitures, for an amount not to exceed $150,000 for the next year. This $150,000 proposal can be compared to the average prosecution cost of approximately $214,000 in each of the last two years. A review of our billings for January time has lead us to conclude that the prosecution office time should be reduced. We have obtained approval from the firm's management committee to reduce the fees charged for prosecution office time on Invoice No. 201705, dated February 18, 1994 by $6,000 to a total fee billing of $5,887 (the costs of $1,206.04 increase the total to $7,093.04). 2. General Civil Work. Applying the axiom of best possible service for lowest possible price, we have concluded that we should substitute Allen Barnard for Bob Meller as lead attorney handling City affairs. Allen is our most senior governmental affairs/municipal lawyer. He has been practicing with Best & Flanagan in the field of governmental affairs/municipal law for 26 years. Until the last few months he was not available to devote time to Plymouth matters, but he is now available and willing to undertake the role of lead Best & Flanagan attorney for Plymouth matters. As many of you may know, Allen has served as City attorney and Housing and Redevelopment Authority attorney for the City of Golden Valley for a number of years. At present there are no Mr. Dwight Johnson March 10, 1994 Page 3 conflicts with meeting times, etc. that would pose any problem for him. The other members of the firm that routinely work on Plymouth matters would continue in place and the work would continue to be produced as it has in the past. Paul Kaminski would continue to work with staff and be responsible for many of the research and writing projects that come up from time to time. Other members of the firm would be utilized when their expertise is necessary. We think one of the great benefits of retaining a full service law firm, such as Best & Flanagan, over inhouse legal counsel is the breadth of expertise that Plymouth has available to handle any problem that can arise. As we mentioned earlier, we are committed to the City of Plymouth and hope that we can continue as its legal counsel. We are making this proposal in the hope that Plymouth will value our relationship and permit us to continue. We stand ready to put these proposals into place at any time. Please advise us of your wishes. BEST & FLANAGA!J By DiI!rnard�� !-Meller, B, Paul E. Kami ki ADB:rys G:\USERS\ADB\PtyAtty.ltr MEMORANDUM TO: ADB FROM: JPB DATE: March 9, 1994 RE: City of Plymouth Vehicle Forfeitures Pursuant to a new law that went into effect on January 1, 1993, under certain circumstances a police department may seize the vehicle of a repeat DUI offender. After procedural requirements are met, the vehicles may become the property of the city. Since the new law was initiated, the Plymouth police have seized approximately 40 vehicles for possible forfeiture. In approximately 25 cases where formal forfeiture proceedings have been pursued, the City Attorney has filed a civil summons and complaint against the vehicle. Of the forfeitures the City has pursued, several vehicle owners have agreed to sign over title to the vehicles to the City of Plymouth. Currently some vehicles are being held to be auctioned. In three cases to date, we have obtained court orders transferring ownership to the City. In several instances, where a bank holds a large lien on the vehicle, we have agreed to release the vehicle to the lender for repossession upon reimbursement to the City for storage and administrative costs. Currently, there are sixteen (16) pending forfeitures which we are processing. The forfeited vehicles may be used by the City for law enforcement purposes or sold, with the proceeds going to DUI enforcement. Several thousand dollars in income for the City have already been generated from this activity. Some of the proceeds have been used by the Police Department to purchase a new Intoxilyzer breath testing device. Plymouth was one of the first cities in the state to actively pursue vehicle forfeitures and has been a leader in this regard. Our office has received several inquiries from other city attorneys and from the State Attorney General's office asking for information on our procedures and copies of our court pleadings. The contact person at the Plymouth Police Department with whom we have coordinated the forfeiture actions is Lt. Thomas Saba. Jpb\plym.mem JOINT MEETING PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL & WAYZATA SCHOOL BOARD MONDAY, MARCH 14,5:30 P.M. PUBLIC SAFETY CONFERENCE ROOM PURPOSE: The purpose of the meeting is to review the latest information with regards to the proposed high school/playfield and review a draft joint powers agreement between the Wayzata School District and the City of Plymouth. INTRODUCTIONS - EAT DINNER 5 MIN. VIDEO - Eric Blank, Director of Parks & Recreation 10 MIN. LAND ACQUISITION STATUS - David Landswerk, Dist. 284 Superintendant 10 MIN. SITE PLANNING - Eric Blank, Director of Parks & Recreation 10 MIN. ROADS - BRIDGES - UTILITIES - Fred Moore, Public Works Director 15 MIN. JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT - Dwight Johnson, City Manager 10 MIN. SCHOOL TIMETABLE - David Landswerk, Superentendant CITY PLANNING STEPS - Ann Hurlburt, Director of Planning QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ADJOURN - 7:00 P.M. FROM BEST & FLANAGAN FROM BE'=IT FLANAGAN A7 1A IQ -41 1C:- I- inti A3,11:1,1'a'a4 1`:44 N �. I- , Lt-_t6tis CtMVt', Qcnmunit3r uYmnaSimm or other sports faoiliticlr, may hP nsnd by the parties on a sharPrl hasis ("Shared Facilities") and the parties will determine whether each such Shared Facility shall be owned by the City, the District or some other entity. in any event, title shall be subject to an easement or shared use agreement. In addition, the parties may from time to time agree upon a lease or shared use arrangemonts for rooms or spaces within e1G11cL Na, l -Y Luilainye Or aito faailifii.cs d. Environmental. The parties will jointly select a consultant for the preparation of the environmental assessment worksheet, and will share the cost equally. e. Governmental Fees. Special assessments and park dedication fees will be borne by the parties in proportion to the respective areas of the School Parcel and the Park Parcel, except that, to the extent a special assessment includes uLilities which arc cited in excess of what they otherwise would be because of the anticipated load of the school facility, that portion of such special assessment which fairly represents the cost of the excess sizing will be borne by the District. Sewer and water area and connection charges assessed to the school facility or the park facility will be borne, respectively, by the District or the city, and such charges assessed to Shared Facilities will be shared equally. f. Development. The city and the District will develop the Site including without limitation, grading, installation of utilities and construction of roadways and driveways, dividing the costs on an equitable basis to be decided between the parties. Each party will be responsible for any soil compaction or correction necessary to support its own structures. g. Construction of Facilities. District will at its own cost, design and construct its school facilities and City will at its own cost, design and construct any facilities for its exclusive use. The parties will jointly design and construct any Shared Facilities, dividing the costs on an equitable basis to be decided between the parties. h. operations. Each of the parties will, at its respective cost, maintain and repair its own facilities and parcel, subject only to such express agreements as the parties may later determine with respect to Shared Facilities whether located on an individual parcel or on a jointly --owned parcel. The principle of cost ag30 FROM BEST '-': FLAHAGAH 0 1A,1'a'a4 1`:44 l�ii,'Lr P. 4 sharing for all costs of maintenance and operation of Shared Facilities shall be a reasonable approximation of the relative burden and deterioration each party's use places upon each such Shared Facility. The parties express their intent to look for opportunities to make joint agreements with providers, to pool efforts and to barter services between them in order to increase efficiency or performance or minimize costs. 1. VLdLlC �GNalaLca �iv��.►.i-t. 7'llc Z.t.Lt:1�"J G�:��S'.'�l1Ga�G thCl� a grade separated crossing in the form of a road bridge will be needed over the CP Rail crossing of Peony Lane because of the traffic generated by these new facilities and the safety of that traffic. The City will pay for the design and construc ion of the bridge structure and its supporting abutments and piers, but all other costs of such installation, including the approaches to the abutments, will be shared according_ to the street assessment policies of the City. j. Cost Advances. If, for the convenience of District, City advances some of the acquisition costs to be shat tea, Lha District's shaga will be reimburoed to tho City at an agreed upon date, but in no event later than December 31, 1994, together with interest equal to the average investment pool income then received by City. k. Liability and Insurance. During the development of the Site, but before any of the facilities are in operation, one or the other of the parties, by agreement, will add the Site to its general liability coverage, naming the other party as an additional insured. Such coverage will be in addition to all liability, builder's risk and workers compensation coverage which will be required of contractors working on tho Qito . nnra t•hc Si fQ ii 1 pa 1 1 y nPparnte.d into two parcels, one owned by each of the parties, but before operations begin in any of the buildings or site facilities, each party will be responsible for liability coverage of its own parcel, provided however, that the parties will negotiate and formalize an agreement reasonably allocating liability insurance costs, responsibility for liability claims, and indemnifications with respect to the use of shared facilities, and the use of facilities on one parcel by the owner of the other parcel. The specific provisions of this Program set forth in this NU�� �iugk mk&ll govorn any appiirontly innnn5i ntt.nt 13ngMuAcge contained elsewhere in this Agreement. -4- FROM BE'=,T .. FLANAGPN 071.1►:�,1'a'a4 15:45 Ilii, fir' F,, 3. Arnitration. Whenever there is a failure between the parties to agree on a material issue for more than 30 days, the parties shall attempt to agree on a single arbitrator to resolve the issue, failing which either party may apply to the District Court in Hennepin County for appointment of one or more arbitrators under Minnesota Statute Chapter 572, and the disagreement shall thereupon be arbitrated in accordance with said Chapter 572. 4. Termination. This Agreement may be terminated by joint action of the governing bodies of both parties. The termination shall be effective six (6) months after such action of both parties. In the event of termination, all real and personal property and cash held jointly or in a joint entity or held by one party for joint purposes shall be divided between the parties by unanimous consent. If such consent cannot be achieved, parties shall apply to the District Court of Hennepin County asking for a determination of an equitable division of property so held, based upon contributions made by the parties, or otherwise as nearly equal as possible between the parties. The Court may appoint, at its discretion, an appraiser, the cost of which shall be borne by the parties equally. 5. Severability. In the event that any portion of this Agreement is deemed to be illegal and unenforceable, it shall not affect the enforceability of the other provisions contained herein. 6. Effective Date. This Agreement shall take effect upon approval by the governing bodies of both parties. -5- FRA1-1 BE':,T FLA1-1AGA1.1 THIS INSTRUMENT DRAFTED BY: N. Walter Graff Best & Flanagan 4000 First Bank Place 601 Second Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 Telephone: (612) 339-7121 NUG\Plymouth\JtPouers_Agr ►e1',1►:�, l:a:a4 1`,4c 1.1ii, b F', 6 CITY OF PLYMOUTH By: Mayor By: City Manager INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 284 By: Chairman By: Superintendent CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447 DATE: March 9, 1994 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: City Attorney Services Background: Attached our several reports from the last year relating to City Attorney services. One year ago, this month, I outlined a number of pros and cons to having one or more in-house attorneys. Later, the City Council and staff jointly evaluated our City Attorney services with the summary results attached. Then, during our budget study sessions, I outlined the possible costs for various City Attorney options for the future. Discussion: After reviewing all of the reports and discussions during the last month as well as the last year, the following comments are intended to focus our discussion. 1. Consensus for change? The consensus of the City Manager and at least most of the City Council seems to be that the City could benefit from a change in our legal services. Some of us may arrive at this conclusion differently than others, but there appears to be a consensus that performance relating to accurate, consistent, and timely advice to the City Council is a significant issue. 2. No precipitous change. I hope we can agree that even if we make some change in legal services soon, any actual changeover should not be precipitous. It appears that when the City last changed City Attorneys in early 1992, considerable inefficiency and expense occurred because the City chose to make the change actually effective almost immediately. 3. In-house vs. contract not an either or choice. The choice between in- house attorneys) or a contract with a new law firm is not an either/or decision. The alternatives are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I doubt that I could recommend to you that we go with all in-house attorneys at any time in the near future. There are a number of possibilities incorporating both concepts. For example, we could have a single in-house "managing" attorney who would take care of most retainer items and manage one or more legal contracts for additional services such as prosecution, bond counsel, and special or complicated cases. Or, we could contract with a law firm who would provide an attorney to work on our site several days a week. Also, the final structure of our legal services need not be decided immediately. For example, if we hired a single managing attorney, we could then rely on that attorney's knowledge and advice to help us decide future questions such as whether or not to do our prosecution in-house. 4. Major unknown: what quality of attorney applicants would we have? The biggest problem in deciding how to structure our legal services in the future is a lack of information. In particular, a major problem is that we do not know what quality of candidates might be available to us as an in-house attorney. During the past year, I have been able to set high standards for the recruitment of new staff members. I certainly do not plan to lower those standards for the City Attorney position. It would be better to go in some other direction than to hire a mediocre City Attorney on staff. But none of us really knows what might be available in the market this year for in-house attorney work. 5. Test the market place to find out. If lack of information is our biggest problem, a reasonable course of action seems to be to follow a two -track course: advertise for a well-qualified in-house City Attorney and advertise for a well-qualified law firm to provide City Attorney services. This two track approach could be either simultaneous or sequential. The simultaneous scenario would mean that we would advertise and interview both law firms and individuals at the same time. In the sequential scenario, we would seek a well-qualified in-house attorney first. If one is not available, then we could advertise for a law firm. 6. Council role in appointment. When I have hired department directors in the past, I have kept the Council informed of my progress and arranged for the Council to meet the final candidates at an informal event such as a luncheon. However, the Council has not been involved in a major way, which is appropriate under our laws and charter. The situation with the City Attorney is different. The charter provides that both the Manager and the Council are legally involved in the selection. The Manager must appoint and the Council must confirm. It only makes sense to approach this matter as a team. Whether we seek an in-house attorney or a new law firm, I definitely plan to have council members involved in a major way with interviews and any other procedure we might use. I would intend to involve staff members in a significant way also, as I have done for all other major appointments. Conclusion: While this discussion does not provide all of the answers, it is hoped that it will lead us to a process which will help us find the right answers together. A brief summary of some of the pros and cons of in-house vs. contract attorney services is attached. IN-HOUSE CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES Advantages of in-house attorney: More accessible to staff. Much less telephone tag. Integral part of management team. Understands council and staff goals first hand. No questions about billings or hours. Better preventative law. May see problems developing in time to solve them. Much easier to establish work priorities for an in-house attorney. As an trained, educated professional, the attorney could occasionally help with other municipal issues that are not strictly legal from time to time. We may be more likely to get a specialist in municipal law; a field which is probably becoming more of a recognized specialty of its own. Disadvantages of an in-house attorney: Backup for the attorney is more difficult. Costs of a law library, extra furniture, etc. would have to be absorbed. Would also have to find office space. One or two attorneys may not know that many specialties. CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447 DATE: March 10, 1993 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: City Attorney services 1. BACKGROUND: A study session has been scheduled for Monday, March 15th, at 5:00 p.m.to discuss various aspects of our City Attorney services. We have contracted with Robert Meller of Best and Flanagan for just over one year. I have been able to identify the following issues for discussion: 1. Council evaluation of the performance of the City Attorney 2. Staff evaluation of the performance of the City Attorney 3. Should the billing system be changed to a retainer? 4. Access to the City Attorney 5.. Does the Attorney need to attend all council meetings? 6. Should we consider in-house attorneys, regardless of items 1,2,and 3? 2. DISCUSSION: An evaluation by both staff and council would help me come to a more informed opinion about our future legal services. I believe that I can then help you arrive at the best long-term solution. Staff will be undertaking a simple evaluation process on Thursday afternoon at our regular staff meeting. A copy of our proposed evaluation form is enclosed. I would suggest that the Council consider completing the same form at the beginning of the meeting Monday. Staff could then tabulate the results and forward them to you within the next week or two. A subsequent meeting will probably be needed to review the results and examine solutions to any problems presented. I do not propose that Mr. Meller be asked to be present at this meeting or to answer any concerns that may arise until he has had a chance to hear or read them. With respect to billings, Acting Manager Frank Boyles requested a proposal from the City Attorney for billing most of his costs through a retainer fee. Mr. Boyles wrote to Mr. Meller on December 23, 1992 and February 18, 1993 with this request. I also encouraged this alternative to be presented when I met with Mr. Meller on March 1, CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES Page 2 1993. I suggested that if this is a problem for him or his firm, he might consider separating out costs for prosecution and civil litigation since the volume of work in these areas can be variable. We have not received any proposals for a retainer at this writing. Mr. Meller does not believe that access to himself or his firm is a problem. Staff members are asked to begin with new subjects or new problems with Mr. Meller. After he identifies the nature of the problem, he will often refer the matter to one of his fellow attorneys in the firm. The staff member then pursues future communications on that subject with that individual. The other attorneys at Best and Flanagan are asked to copy Mr. Meller on all opinions and correspondence to the City so that he can monitor all actions relating to the City. After reading the minutes of the last year, some issues were evidently raised about whether or not council members should have individual access to the attorney. Neither Mr. Meller nor I see any inherent problems with individual council members having access to the attorney (or any department head for that matter). The contact by individuals should not engage a great many hours of the attorney's time without some notification to the City Manager and/or City Council as a whole. Thus, major subjects requiring extensive review or research should be sanctioned by the Council or Manager, depending on the item in question. If a retainer system is implemented, concern about running up excessive bills by any one individual could be alleviated. Another question that has been raised with me is whether or not it is worth the expense to have the Attorney attend all council meetings. Different cities give their attorneys different roles to play. Having worked with about 4-5 different city attorneys in my career, I have found that it is normally a good idea to have an attorney present. I believe that I have seen many occasions where the attorney entered into the conversation to make sure that the resolutions or findings of fact were sufficient to hold up under challenge. You can reasonably expect your attorney to give you on -the -spot advice most of the time, especially on procedural questions. Finally, as you may know, I have been thinking about the pros and cons of having our own in-house attorneys in the future. I have worked under both systems in my career and there is no right answer for every community. Some of the pros and cons I have thought about include: Contract attorneys can specialize in various aspects of municipal law more and the City would have all of the resources of a medium or larger firm to draw upon. On the other hand, in-house attorneys could handle the large majority of work and difficult questions could still be contracted out from time to time. CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES Page 3 In-house attorneys would be more a part of the City team and would have a better understanding of the City's goals as well as the background of various issues. In-house attorneys might be of more assistance with preventive law -keeping us out of court except when necessary, since they would be in a position to see problems developing earlier. In-house attorneys would require some one-time expenses such as a law library to get started. We would also need to find some office space. Council members would need to feel that an in-house attorney was their attorney as well, even if he or she is a staff member. This comfort level may be easier to achieve with a contracted attorney. Based upon a quick survey of Minnetonka and Coon Rapids this week, it is still too soon to say how much money, if any , could be saved with an in-house attorney. Both cities are approximately our size. Minnetonka spent about $262,000 for its own needs last year. Coon Rapids has a mixed system of in- house attorneys and contract attorneys and spent $426,015, with about half of this amount being for outside attorneys. Plymouth has spent $413,883 from March ,1992 through February, 1993. 3. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the Council engage in an evaluation process of the City Attorney, review a similar staff evaluation, and discuss and provide direction where appropriate on the issues of billings, access, attendance at meetings and any further inquiry into the possibility of in-house attorneys. CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447 DATE: May 11, 1993 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: Evaluation of City Attorney Services Attached is a copy of the results of the Council -Staff evaluation of City Attorney services. I have had the opportunity to share this with Bob Meller of Best and Flanagan. Mr. Meller requests that these documents be considered confidential under the Data Privacy laws, since any comments that could be construed as negative could possibly hurt the City in a future law suit. He believes that this document qualifies for confidential treatment under the law. I do not anticipate any further action on this item. If you have any questions, please let me know. CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447 DATE: May 11, 1993 TO: Robert Meller, City Attorney FROM: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: Evaluation Earlier this year, I asked both council members and department heads to complete an evaluation form on our City Attorney services. The form was created by me and consists of questions of both a general nature as well as some more specific areas. Attached is an aggregated summary of the results, combining both council and staff evaluations. Several responders split their vote on some questions which will be discussed more at the end. Although I did not fill out an evaluation form, my comments follow the explanation of the results below. Results of the evaluation form. The greatest strength is found in the results for question one which rates the overall quality of the advice and work. Seven of the ten found this category to be good while one said it needs improvement. Two responders indicated "don't know." The other result that was rated relatively highly pertained to question five, the rating of the overall satisfaction with the communications with the City Attorney, although the vote here was more polarized than in question 1. . Questions showing the most need for improvement were questions 3, 4, and 6. Question 3 related to helping to avoid preventable law suits. Question 4, which related to the performance during official council meetings, showed the lowest overall response from the group. Question six related to the billings. Questions 2 and 7, relating to the timeliness of the work and the overall ethics and integrity, were rated good or fair by the majority of responders, but both questions showed some polarization of the results. City Manager's comments. First, there is a fairly broad view that you and your fellow attorneys are knowledgeable and usually provide good advice to the City. However, the difficult issues pertaining to the former City Manager during 1992 may be factors in some of the evaluation results.. Two members of the council believe that information on this matter was not equally shared with all council members. It is important to be sure that all council members receive the same information. The Public Safety Department made specific mention of its favorable relationship with the prosecutor, John Boyle. The results indicate that a billing system based largely upon a retainer should help with the overall satisfaction about the fairness of the billings. I encourage you to pursue this as soon as possible. Following a council meeting on April 19th, I asked you to begin spending more time reviewing the resolutions and ordinances in the council packets prior to the meetings. You have agreed to do this. Staff members would encourage and appreciate comments or changes on any matter in the packet prior to the council meeting. Accordingly, you should continue to make review of the packet a priority. This should assist you in being more involved in council deliberations and should help you identify moments when a word from you might help the City make stronger or better reasoned motions or might prevent us from making a mistake from a legal point of view. We have had the opportunity to meet on May 4th and review the results of this evaluation. We appreciate the things that are going well and your willingness to openly consider changes that might improve the City's working relationship with you. If you have any questions, please call me. rkrififfums CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447 DATE: November 4, 1993 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Dwight Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: City Attorney Costs/Options One of the principal barriers to reaching a full consensus on the proposed 1994 budget appears to be the proposed budget for the City Attorney. The September draft budget showed a projected cost of $388,400 for 1994. This number was simply a three percent increase over the projected cost for 1993, which was a straight line projection based upon past monthly expenses. After discussion with Best and Flanagan, it was determined that the estimated cost for prosecution could be reduced, bringing the new projected expenses for 1994 to $380,200. At a Council Study Session on March 15, 1993, staff was invited to present budget options for City Attorney services during the budget process. A copy of the minutes of that meeting is attached. The following represent a number of options which the staff feels generally comfortable recommending. We believe that all of these options, except possibly option 4, are practical, responsible, and achievable. We understand that any significant changes in our City Attorney service may need to wait for the new Council to be seated, but the options might serve to bracket the budget figure we should anticipate for next year. All figures are General Fund costs. We have expenses charged to developers, debt service funds, utility funds, capital project funds, and other non -General Fund areas from time to time. Option 1: Maintain the existing contract and services with Best and Flanagan. The new retainer agreement and several more months of cost experience now cause us to project that the expenses for 1994 under this arrangement will be $350,000. This is a reduction of just over $30,000 from the previous estimate. Option 2: Continue prosecution and specialized legal services with Best and Flanagan, but hire an in-house attorney to do the retainer -type work, development work, HRA work, capital projects work and most civil litigation. Salaries, benefits, and expenses 110,000 (1 attorney, 1 legal secr.) Law Books, Periodicals 5,000 Office Supplies 3,000 Contributions to Reserve Funds 10,000 Contract Services 25,000 Contract Prosecution 216,000 Credit from other funds (30,000) TOTAL COST $339,000 One time start up costs: Comment: This option is about a break even financially, but would provide staff with easier accessibility to the City Attorney. Option 3: Do most attorney work in-house, including prosecution, except for very specialized cases. Salaries, benefits, & expenses Computers Law Books, Periodicals Office Supplies Contributions to Reserve Funds Contract Services Credit from other funds TOTAL COST $235,000 (3 attorneys, 2 support) 25,000 10,000 5,000 15,000 20,000 (30,000) $270,000 Comment: This option would provide a significant savings potential, apparently due to the addition of in-house prosecution. Ready accessibility to all attorney services should help staff efficiency, promote teamwork on important issues with legal ramifications, and may help improve the City's efforts at preventing unnecessary litigation. Option 4: Keep Best and Flanagan for all work except prosecution, which would be done in house. Salaries, benefits, & expenses Computers Law Books, Periodicals Office Supplies Contribution to Reserve Funds Contract Services Credit from other funds TOTAL COST $110,000 (2 attorneys, 1 support) 10,000 5,000 3,000 10,000 165,000 (10, 000) 293,000 Comment: It appears that our actual need is for 1.5 prosecutors at this time. We could get some credit from other funds by doing the HRA work, but matching attorneys to the work in this option is still not completely efficient. This option also raises the difficult question of who supervises the prosecutor. If we later add a City Attorney in house, we would be introducing a new and different boss for the prosecutor. Even if we eventually choose Option 3, the most promising cost option, we cannot assume the full measure of savings in the first year. We would have start up expenses for furniture, computers and law library materials that would probably add $25,000 to $50,000 to the initial cost. Also, we cannot assume that we could implement this option before about May 1 at the earliest, even if a decision is made in January, due to the time it takes to recruit professional employees. Therefore, at best we could save two thirds of the $80,000 savings compared to Option 1, the existing arrangement. Then we should add the initial start up costs back in. The savings of $53,000 would therefore be nearly offset by up to $50,000 of start up costs. While I believe Option 3 is the most promising option for the City in the long term, I do not believe we should realistically reduce the 1994 budget for legal services below the $350,000 listed in Option 1, even if we believe Option 3 should be implemented. Staff does not believe that entertaining proposals for another attorney firm is cost effective at this time because we doubt that another firm can significantly lower the costs below our new retainer arrangement and because of the large transition costs associated with changing firms. It is my hope that these options and this analysis will help us reach a consensus on the overall 1994 budget, even if we cannot yet make a final decision on how we should spend the money.