HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 02-11-1998 SpecialADOPTED MINUTES
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
FEBRUARY 11, 1998
A special meeting of the Plymouth City Council was called to order by Mayor Tierney at
7:00 PM in the Public Safety Training Room, 3400 Plymouth Blvd., on February 11,
1998. This special meeting was a study session called by the City Council.
COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Tierney; Councilmembers Johnson, Black, and Bildsoe.
Councilmember Preus arrived at 7:15 PM. Councilmember Spigner arrived at 8:00 PM.
ABSENT: Councilmember Wold.
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Johnson, Assistant Manager Lueckert, Public Works
Director Moore, Water Resources Engineer Missaghi, Community Development Director
Hurlburt, Public Safety Director Gerdes, Finance Director Hahn, Financial Analyst Kohn,
Park and Recreation Director Blank, and Deputy City Clerk Hoffman.
Financial Funds Analysis
Finance Director Hahn presented three scenarios to offset projected deficits in the Park
Replacement and Public Facilities Funds over the next ten years. He said the large
increases for the Park Replacement Fund may be 10% of the fund, but do not represent
big dollars. He said Councilmember Bildsoe has also proposed taking excess moneys
from the General Fund while there are surpluses in it. Councilmember Bildsoe said that in
his scenarios no account was taken for different interest rates, or for the added expenses
of development.
Councilmember Preus arrived at 7:15 PM.
Finance Director Hahn stated that some expenses may be delayed, but that other expenses
may show up over time. Park Director Blank said that surpluses in other funds may be
applied to the Park Replacement fund as well, in an effort to delay using the reserve for as
long as possible. He said staff would take it on a year by year basis, doing only what
absolutely needed to be done for replacement.
Finance Director Hahn said that in years where no surplus occurs, money may be taken
from other program accounts. He said money may be transferred from the Risk
Management Fund. He said some fiscal peaks and valleys could also be leveled, if, for
instance, a building use could be extended by several more years.
Councilmember Bildsoe expressed gratitude to the Finance Department staff for their
work, and said the Council was fortunate to be able to address this issue and discuss
potential problems. He recommended general fund surpluses be applied to potential
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February 11, 1998
Page 2
deficits in other funds, and said he would favor scenarios where $100,000 to $200,000 be
applied to the accounts with a 19% increase to each fund each year until 2008.
Councilmembers discussed the options of direct funding versus financing projects with
bond issues.
Councilmember Preus said he would lean toward support of 100% funding. Manager
Johnson said that would only be done if it did not mean a big tax increase in a given year.
Councilmember Black said she is hesitant to build up a large surplus, and she supports
full funding.
Councilmember Bildsoe stated that the City has received a AAA bond rating because of
its fund building plans.
Councilmember Johnson asked whether funds might be dedicated to handle debt
reduction. Manager Johnson said the effort would be to make fund dedication as much a
part of official policy as possible.
Finance Director Hahn presented the scenarios for supporting the public facilities fund.
He said the goal is to get the annual rate of fund increases down to 5%, or roughly what
can be raised by tax revenues.
Councilmember Johnson said she would like the City to put some money aside in a
conservative manner, but said it should be done while the City has a surplus coming in.
Councilmember Preus said he believed the City should look towards contributing
200,000 to the public facilities fund initially, with a 7.5 to 8% increase in subsequent
years.
Councilmembers directed staff to prepare a report on the plans for presentation in March.
Water Quality Plan
Public Works Director Moore explained the goals and policies of the plan from the
Environmental Quality Committee. He introduced Consultant Mark Lobermeier of the
environmental consulting group Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. Mr. Lobermeier outlined
the history of the plan, from the state mandate to form the advisory groups and through
adoption by agencies of the plans. He presented an overview of the Plan process and its
goals. He said their effort was to update a 1980 plan, to address water quality concerns,
and to meet the regulations of the watershed management organizations and the
Metropolitan Council.
Director Moore pointed out where the new plan differed from previous City goals and
efforts. He said there will be a new effort to include the use of pre-treatment of water, to
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February 11, 1998
Page 3
reduce the rate going to a basin. He said there will also be encouragement of the use of
alternative techniques and materials, to move away from the use of sod toward the use of
natural landscaping. He said that NURP standards will be applied for use in development
under one acre as well.
Director Moore said when the policy development work is done, staff will move into
setting criteria for standards. He said there will probably be different standards for
different lakes and types of water bodies.
Manager Johnson said that the City's Environmental Quality Committee has approved the
work thus far, but they feel more work is needed.
Councilmember Spigner arrived at 8:00 PM.
Director Moore said guidelines could possibly differ in application toward undeveloped
areas in northwest Plymouth. He said since most lakes in the city are already in developed
areas, the guidelines would be applied when areas are redeveloped. He said the plan
would probably not impact wetland areas, but as they are developed, if pollutants or water
quality come into play, a wetland may need further treatment. He said financing that sort
of project will be a major question.
Public Works Director Moore explained the rankings of the lakes in Plymouth. He said
that not only is water quality factored in, but also the potential for development around
the lake and the impact of that on the public.
Public Works Director Moore said criteria for taking on projects will have to be addressed
on all levels. He said some projects will not require a high cost, some things will be done
on a city—wide basis because it may be easiest to accomplish that way. He said that
Medicine Lake and Parkers Lake will probably receive projects simply because more data
has been gathered on those two lakes, by both water management organizations and
citizen monitoring.
Manager Johnson said that financing for most projects will probably be locally based.
Budgets will reflect costs for ongoing things, but also capital improvement projects will
be developed for work on lakes, NURP ponds, or monitoring programs.
Director Moore said that funding for water management organizations comes from the
participating cities, and so water management organizations will provide some funding on
the basis of percentage of water input into a watershed.
Director Moore said funding of the programs will be an ongoing implementation, and the
source of money will determine the timeline. Manager Johnson said some cities are
adding a water quality component to their utility bills. He said there could also be a
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February 11, 1998
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referendum for a project. He said these would be revenue bonds rather than general
obligation bonds.
Director Moore said that a surface water utility fee would be applied to businesses,
including golf courses, which may be major source of contribution to a water quality
fund. He said they don't pay taxes but do contribute to run-off.
Manager Johnson said the Capital Improvements Program includes this for the first time.
He said that while funding sources are as yet unknown, cost estimates should be available
within six months, and ready in time for the autumn budget planning sessions.
Public Works Director Moore said a draft of the plan is being prepared, and should be
ready within two months.
Councilmember Black stated that resident Marsha Videen was very adamant about getting
funding in place as soon as possible. She said Ms. Videen wanted to see quicker action to
improve water conditions in Parkers Lake.
Mayor Tierney thanked residents in attendance and asked them for comments on the plan.
Bridget Jodell, 10100 South Shore Drive, said the plan was a long time in coming. She
said any implementation for improving the watershed is a welcome step. She said she
would pay a recycling fee that could be applied to helping finance water quality
improvement in the City.
Mayor Tierney called five minute recess at 9:00 PM. Councilmember Preus left the
meeting.
1997-1998 Council Goals and Priorities
Manager Johnson highlighted the top goals and objectives, and gave updates on their
status.
Community Development Director Hurlburt said that an open meeting has been set
during the April 16 regular Planning Commission meeting for a discussion on northwest
Plymouth development plans. She said invitational letters will go out to all names on the
northwest Plymouth interest list. She said there will also be a March 10 workshop to
discuss phasing options for northwest Plymouth, with a draft report to be readied for
presentation at the April 16 Planning Commission meeting.
Councilmember Bildsoe stated that a Plymouth Business Council will meet as an adjunct
of the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce, similar to groups in other cities. He said that no
formal long—term involvement is expected yet from the Council. He agreed to pass on
meeting schedules and other pertinent information.
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February 11, 1998
Page 5
Councilmember Johnson said that at end of February, a group representing School
District 281 will attend a conference to help develop an educational video about
participation in local government. She said a League of Women Voters is sponsoring a
February 28 panel discussion on involving youth in local government. She said that
representatives from District 281 have expressed an interest in contributing to input on
the proposed activity center as well as other issues. She said 281 officials were also
interested in discussing sidewalk placement issues along Vh Avenue.
Councilmembers asked staff to consider the idea of having one meeting with
representatives from all four school districts in Plymouth, rather than trying to separately
schedule a meeting with representatives from each school district. Manager Johnson
asked that Councilmembers provide staff with suggested topics for this meeting.
Staff reported that updates would be forthcoming on transit ridership, the activity center,
and the streetscape project.
Councilmembers discussed scheduling for ward meetings, and agreed that on-going
notification of projects has turned out to be sufficient communication with residents at
this time. Councilmember Bildsoe said that he wants to use his ward meeting as a forum
for people to ask questions, and for him to learn what their interests are. He said that
Congressman Jim Ramstad will talk about what is happening in Congress this session.
Councilmember Bildsoe said he would like to move Ferndale Road up to a higher level
priority. Public Works Director Moore said the project will move forward, and at this
point the City is waiting for the project engineering report. He said citizen comment is
leaning toward a 28 -foot wide street. He said the City of Wayzata is not interested in
extending the trail into their city limits, while the Orono City Council is not interested in
meeting with the Plymouth Council about the project. He said a public information
meeting will be scheduled when the reports are available. Councilmembers asked Mayor
Tierney to work with the Orono Mayor in scheduling a meeting between offices from the
two cities on the Ferndale Road project.
Assistant Manager Lueckert reported that some goals will show up in the forthcoming
Capital Improvements Program, and that some goals are moving toward achievement.
Community Development Director Hurlburt said it is important for staff to have priorities
to know where to put staff effort. In response to a question from Councilmember Spigner
regarding setting the noise ordinance at a higher priority, Director Hurlburt said staff is
waiting for information from attorneys, and should have some recommendations in the
spring.
Councilmember Johnson complimented staff on how many things have progressed in one
year.
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February 11, 1998
Page 6
Councilmember Bildsoe said the biggest project the city has ever done is planning for the
development of Northwest Plymouth. He said the City is at a stage where so much time is
spent on development issues, it may feel that other important issues are not moving
forward.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 PM.
Deputy City d/elk