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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Information Memorandum 04-30-19990 APRIL 30.) 1999 1. COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE.- NOTE: CHEDULE.NOTE: Ward 1 Councilmember Tim Bildsoe meets with residents and receives their comments in the Administration Library, beginning at 6:00 PM before each Regular Council meeting. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 7: 00 PM REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING, Council Chambers TUESDAY, MAY 11, 7: 00 PM BOARD OF REVIEW (RECONVENED) Council Chambers TUESDAY, MAY 11. IMMEDIATELY SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING FOLLOWING BOARD OF REVIEW Council Chambers 2. WEDNESDAY, MAY S, 7: 00 PM 3. WEDNESDAY, MAY S, 7: 00 PM 4. THURSDAY, MAY 6, 6: 00 AM S. THURSDAY, MAY 6, 7: 00 PM 6. FRIDAY, MAY 7, 9: 30 AM -3:00 PM CHARTER COMMISSION, Public Safety Training Room ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE, Medicine Lake Room PRAYER BREAKFAST, Vision of Glory Church, 13200 Highway 55 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, Medicine Lake Room Agenda is attached. (M -S) ARBOR DAY PLANTING, Birchview Elementary School, 425 Ranchview Lane CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION MEMO APRIL 30, 1999 Page 2 4k 7. MONDAY, MAY 10, 7: 00 PM YO UTH A D VISOR Y COUNCIL, Medicine Lake Room 8. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 11: 30 AM -1:45 PM CITY EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION LUNCH, City Offices will be closed 9. TUESDAY, MAY I1, 5: 30 PM PLYMOUTH CREEK CENTER GROUNDBREAKING 10. WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 7:00 PM PLANNING COMMISSION, Council Chambers 11. FRIDAY, MAY 14, 5:00 PM THROUGH PLYMOUTH FINE ARTS COUNCIL SATURDAY, MAY 15, 4: 00 PM PRIAM VERA EVENT, City Administration Building 12. SATURDAY, MAY 15, 9: 00 AM -3:30 PM PLYMOUTH CLEAN—UP DAY, 14900 23`d Avenue North 13. May, June and July calendars are attached. (M-13) 1. NEWS ARTICLES, RELEASES, PUBLICATIONS, ETC. a) Star Tribune news story regarding the Zachary Lane Elementary School Chess Team. Also attached is a letter from Mayor Tierney wishing the team well as it goes on to the national tournament. (I -]q) 2. STAFF REPORTS & MINUTES a) Letter to property owners in the Ferndale Road improvement project area, with a schedule for construction, and staff contacts during construction. (I -2a) b) Revised tobacco ordinance report. (1--2b) c) Report from Public Safety on a recognition program for businesses passing alcohol and tobacco compliance checks. (I -2c) d) Minutes from April 24, 1999 Plymouth Human Rights Commission(I-2d) e) Minutes from April 9, 1999 Wayzata -Plymouth Area Chemical Health Commission. (1--2e) CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION MEMO • APRIL 30, 1999 Page 3 f) Letter to property owners within 500 ft. regarding interim use permit for Moen Leuer Construction to move 70,000 cubic yards of material from the 10 acre Leuer Farm to the adjacent Cornerstone Commons residential development. (I --2j) 3. LEGISLATIVE REPORTS a) Association of Metropolitan Municipalities alert regarding the House Omnibus Tax Bill. (I -3a) b) League of Minnesota Cities action alert regarding the omnibus tax bill. (I -3b) c) League of Minnesota Cities Friday FAX. (I -3c) d) Association of Metropolitan Municipalities FAX News. (1--3d) 4. CORRESPONDENCE a) Letter from Judy Hanson, Chemical Health Coordinator for Wayzata Public Schools regarding a "mock crash" scheduled for May 11, 1 PM, on the grounds of the Wayzata High School as a way to graphically illustrate what is involved at a crash site and heighten awareness of the serious consequences of drinking and driving. Plymouth Emergency personnel will be participants in this event. (I -4a) k- -/ Plymouth Human Rights Commission May 6, 1999 7 p.m. 1. Call to Order. 2. Approve April 14 Minutes. 3. Approve Agenda. 4. Order of the Day: Andrea Brennan, Affordable Housing 5. Reports of Committees: A. Hate Crime/Bias Report (Mitzi) B. Other reports. 6. Old Business. A. Note from Park Center Human Relations Committee thanking HRC for the student workshop. 7. New Business. A. Discuss Revisions to Human Rights Commission Bylaws. B. Discuss and Report to City Council on days to avoid for Public Meetings (requested by the Plymouth City Council.) 8. Announcements and Articles. A. Hate Crimes and Bias Incident Conference attended by Patricia Izek, April 27. B. www. hate. comes, USA Weekend, March 26-28. C. Champlin School Confronts Race Issue, Star Tribune, April 6. 9. Adjourn. Next meeting: June 3, 7 p.m. Plymouth: A Neighborhood and Community for A# Plymouth Human Rights Commission JCIA CN 7-4 cd IE: i It e i a< u Go N N � > O ae F10 _wU u a zI v gun < Rep fT 3 a 1 3 51a goQ `gS� s F o ^ r E C aC ge E ^CJ ^ All N a b N y N O N U V -Z Z Z I E$ KWKW Uy ar is � N e gz �J (CJ1 i! en .n. r rl M m r� luN fA .fir N Nf (Vs ON � � g 0 » � f! \. CA -„ !- d.12 ., 5!2k\ 7 / §§ )|£ \� §§! /f w !§ w a r4 ON r4 en ■# §°x $§ §§¢ 00 44 C4 r4 z/ §� !2 !§ 00 � CN � CN wo � » � k � 2l)§}7f/ � C4 00 C4 e.�la 6 7 §!!. e,��;; ! ■| e �.�l;R ■# ■2 ! § • -.:;A ƒ !| B | fn ■ � /.■-; §�! §$ a � £ � 10,000 m - i www.expliecn ' oreminnesota com METRO 1. E6100 Published Monday, April 26, 1999 Zachary Lane Elementary captures share of chess team titles Zachary Lane Elementary School in Plymouth, a perennial force in scholastic chess competitions, added to its +) startrbwexorn reputation Sunday by capturing a share of two Minnesota scholastic chess team titles. Metro Zachary Lane was the outright winner of the statewide team competition for kindergarten through third grade. And it was a co -champion, along with Technology and Language Campus in Robbinsdale, in the fourth - through sixth -grade competition. The seven -round chess championship was conducted by the Minnesota School Chess Association and was held at Robbinsdale Cooper High School. It drew more than 400 players. The individual winner in the K-3 competition was Erik Fagerstrom, a third -grader at Neill Elementary School in Crystal. He was the only undefeated player among the 192 competitors. In the fourth -through sixth -grade competition, Nate Wong of the Technology and Language Campus and John Bartholemew of Dakota Hills Middle School in Eagan shared the state championship by each having six wins and one draw in seven games. That section had 214 players. — Dennis J McGrath o copyright 1,999 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. CITY OF PLYMOUTF+ - April 26, 1999 Zachary Lane Elementary School Chess Club c/o Coach Russell Erickson 4350 Zachary Lane N. Plymouth, MN 55442-2802 Dear Tournament Participants: On behalf of the Plymouth City Council, I wish you good luck in the National Chess tournament, Plymouth is proud to be the site of such a dedicated and enthusiastic school organization. It is a pleasure to see so many outstanding young players from our community enter this excellent competition. Again, good luck in the competition. Please let us know the results of your efforts when you return. Sincerely, Joy Tierney Mayor PLYMOUTH A Beautiful Place ?n Line 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447-1482 • TELEPHONE (612) 509-5000 Ovl—•,...:.. www.ci.pl;•rllcut!7.nui.u:; Ja-�"/ April 26, 1999 CITVOF PUMOUTR «Property_ID» «Owner» «Address» «City», «State» «Zip» SUBJECT: FERNDALE ROAD IMPROVEMENTS COUNTY ROAD 6 TO TRUNK HIGHWAY 12 CITY PROJECT NO. 6007 Dear Resident: On April 6, the Plymouth City Council awarded a contract for the reconstruction of Ferndale Road from County Road 6 to Trunk Highway 12 to S.M. Hentges & Sons, Inc. On April 20, a preconstruction conference was held with the contractor, City representatives, and the utility companies to coordinate the construction activity including any necessary utility relocation. Work is scheduled to begin the week of May 3, 1999. Construction will commence with minor clearing and grubbing of trees that will need to be removed within the construction limits of the project. Storm sewer installation will then begin near the Trunk Highway 12 bridge and proceed northerly. Street excavation, base preparation, curb and gutter, paving, trail construction and restoration will follow. The scheduled completion date for the project is September 15, 1999, depending on "normal" weather conditions. During construction of the street and storm sewer, there will be traffic delays. The contractor intends to reconstruct the east and west halves of the roadway independently of each other. This will allow for a single through lane for vehicles past the construction on a limited basis as construction traffic will also be using this lane. Depending on the extent and location of the construction activity, local traffic will be routed either north to County Road 6 or south to Wayzata Boulevard during the construction day. While the roadway will be signed "No Through Traffic" it will have two lanes available for local traffic at the end of each construction day. If you have any questions, please contact either myself at 509-5520, Dan Campbell at 509-5522, or the onsite City Inspector, Leo Pawelsky at (651) 604-4804. Also, please use extreme caution while traveling on Ferndale Road while construction activity is underway and if you have children, please direct them to stay away from the construction area. Sincerely, 49�014;4,c� Daniel L. Faulkner, P.E. City Engineer cc: Fred G. Moore, Director of Public Works Ronald S. Quanbeck, Assistant City Engineer Daniel K. Campbell, Sr. Engineering Technician PLYMOUTH ABeautiful-PlageZoLive 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD •PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447C- Q- ®�•^•^^�^ www.ci.plymoulh.mn.us DATE: April 26, 1999 TO: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager FROM: Craig C. Gerdes, Director of Public Safety SUBJECT: REVISED TOBACCO ORDINANCE At the April 13' Study Session, the City Council requested staff prepare revisions to the alcohol and tobacco ordinances to include the new presumptive penalties they decided on for the upcoming May 4' City Council Meeting. In preparing the tobacco ordinance, staff discovered there is a State Statute on the issue. Section 461.19 states, "A governing body shall give notice of its intention to consider adoption or substantial amendment of any local ordinance required under section 461.12 or permitted under this section. The governing body shall take reasonable steps to send notice by mail at least 30 days prior to the meeting to the last known address of each licensee or person required to hold a license under section 461.12. The notice shall state the time, place, and date of the meeting and the subject matter of the proposed ordinance." We have prepared the attached agenda item, but according to State Statute will need to send a mailing to all license holders at least 30 days before the meeting where Council will consider. We will mail copies of the agenda item and proposed ordinance to all license holders with a cover letter this week. This does mean, however, that the earliest the Council can.consider this issue is their June 1, 1999 meeting. Agenda Number: TO: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager FROM: Craig C. Gerdes, Director of Public Safety SUBJECT: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 11 OF THE CITY CODE PERTAINING TO PRESUMPTIVE PENALTIES FOR TOBACCO VIOLATIONS DATE: April 26, 1999 for June 1, 1999 City Council Meeting 1. ACTION REQUESTED: The City Council adopt this ordinance amending Chapter XI of the Plymouth City Code regarding presumptive penalties for tobacco violations. 2. BACKGROUND: The City Council recently completed several first and second violation administrative hearings resulting from the 1998 rounds of alcohol compliance checks conducted by the police department. The City Council scheduled a discussion of the presumptive penalties for both alcohol and tobacco for its April study session. 3. ALTERNATIVES: The alternative would be to leave the presumptive penalties as they are. 4. DISCUSSION: The City Council discussed the issue of presumptive penalties at its April 13, 1999 study session. At that time, a new presumptive penalties grid was proposed and staff was directed to prepare a new ordinance with this information for this Council meeting. It was also determined the ordinance should be changed to match State Statute language to compute second and third violations over a two year period instead of one year. The ordinance revision was also reviewed by the City Attorney. 5. BUDGET IMPACT: There would be no significant impact on the budget to this ordinance. 6. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the City Council adopt the ordinance amending Chapter XI of the City Code regarding presumptive penalties for tobacco violations. City of Plymouth Hennepin County, Minnesota ORDINANCE NO. 99 - AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER XI OF THE PLYMOUTH CITY CODE REGARDING PRESUMPTIVE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS RESULTING FROM THE SALE OF TOBACCO AND RELATED PRODUCTS THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLYMOUTH ORDAINS: Sec. 1. The Plymouth City Code Section 1150.10 Violations, subdivisions (b) Administrative Civil Penalties; Individuals and (c) Administrative Civil Penalties; Licensee are amended as follows: (b) Administrative Civil Penalties; Individuals. Any person who sells any Tobacco Product to a person under the age of 18 years is subject to an administrative penalty; and any person under the age of 18 who attempts to purchase a Tobacco Product is subject to an administrative penalty. The City Council may impose administrative penalties as follows: First violation. The City Council may impose a civil fine not to exceed $500. Second violation within 4Z 24 months. The City Council may impose a civil fine not to exceed $750. Third violation within 43 24 months. The City Council may impose a civil fine not to exceed $1,000. (c) Administrative Civil Penalties; Licensee. IF a licensee or an employee of a license is found to have sold tobacco to a person under the age of 18 years, the licensee shall be subject to an administrative penalty as follows: Offense Minimum (State) Presumptive Penal Ci Maximum Ci /State V violation $75 and/or 0 days sins $500 fine and 5 -day susp $2,000 and/or 60 da s sus 2 nd violation (within 24 mos) $200 and/or 0 days $750 fine and 15 -day sus p $2,000 and/or 60- days susp su—s 3 violation (within 24 mos) $250 and/or 0 days $1,000 fine and 25 -day susp $2,000 and/or 60 days susp sins 4 violation (within 24 mos) None listed Revocation Revocation First violations would be handled by an administrative hearins with the Director of Public Safe with the presumptive penalty given to license holders. License holders have the right to request a hearing before the City Council if not in agreement with the presumptive penalty. The Director of Public Safety also has the right to request a hearing before the Council if he/she believes there exists substantial reason making it more appropriate to deviate from the presumptive penalty. If the Public Safety Director and licensee agree on the presumptive penalty, these will be reported to the City Council in a staff report. Sec. 2. This ordinance is effective upon its passage in accordance with Section 110.11. Mayor City Clerk (New language is underlined, language to be deleted is stu�sk thm-,.) TO: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager FROM: 1 'Craig C. Gerdes, Director of Public Safety SUBJECT: RECOGNITION PROGRAM FOR PASSING COMPLIANCE CHECKS DATE: April 26, 1999 for City Council Information Memo 1. BACKGROUND: At its April 13, 1999 Study Session, the City Council discussed presumptive penalties for both alcohol and tobacco. They came to a determination on the presumptive penalties and asked that staff prepare new ordinances with these penalties for the May 4, 1999 Council Meeting. These ordinances have been prepared and will be on the agenda for the May 4 h meeting. The Council also stated they would like staff to develop some type of program to issue certificates for license holders that pass compliance checks that they could post within their establishment. 2. DISCUSSION: Staff reviewed and discussed this issue. The Public Safety Department had been sending letters to establishments at the end of the year letting them know the results of the year's compliance checks and congratulating their employees if they passed. These were intended for file and were not really for posting. Staff had some concerns however as we have already had some problem with establishments posting these letters and leaving them up even after they failed. Staff is proposing a certificate similar to the one attached which is suitable for posting by the establishment that clearly lists the year as well as whether the certificate is for alcohol or tobacco sales. Establishments can then post several years or if they do not pass all checks, they would not have the current year certificate. Staff also proposes establishments must pass all compliance checks during the year to receive a certificate. If an establishment only passes two out of three checks, they would not receive one. It would in essence be a "perfect record only" certification for each year. 3. BUDGET IMPACT: Certificates can be produced in house on the computer, so costs would be minimal and could be handled within the department's present budget. 4. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the City adopt the proposed recognition policy for licensed establishments who pass yearly compliance checks for tobacco and alcohol sales to minors. 0 J a IUL0 LJ H Z W 2W W V a LL 0 W H LL a v w v W r1i .•L ca 2 0 0 U 0 O U) N U C N cu Y N U U C cnO C p .E 2.2 'Fu cn CON cu CL O .a) O O O N O CL N O N cm " 0 Plymouth Human Rights Commission April 14,1999 Minutes Commissioners Present Excused Absent Jennifer Butler Claudelle Carruthers %00 Manik Chhabra Rajit Chakravarty Sara Frailich Jackie Fraedrich Mitzi Heath Lisa Hunter V Patricia Izek Joan Jensen Art Johnson %0 Rebecca Malinsky Perssis Meshkat %0 Ruth Ruffin WO Becky Wheeler Also present: Saundra Spigner, Council Coordinating Representative; Laurie Ahrens, City Clerk. Call to Order Rebecca Malinsky called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Minutes Motion was made by Joan Jensen, seconded by Lisa Hunter, to approve the minutes of March 4. The motion was adopted by unanimous vote. Report on Student Workshop Sara Frailich, Manik Chhabra, Rajit Chakravarty, Becky Malinsky, and Perssis Meshkat reported on the student workshop held on April 7 at Plymouth City Hall. There were guest speakers from District 202, entertainment by the Armstrong Steppers, and small group discussions. Becky Malinsky showed the quilt collage which was made by attendees at the workshop. The workshop was well received and there were attendees from Park Center, Armstrong, and Wayzata High Schools. Notes for next year's workshop: start mailing earlier, hold same time of the year but check school calendars to avoid special events, breaks, and finals, have the program available with the mailing, and consider the new Activity Center for location. Minutes April 14, 1999 Page 2 Report on Survey Laurie Ahrens reported that the City Council has included a Citizen Survey in its 1999- 2000 Goals and Priorities. Joan Jensen reported on questions that have been submitted to staff for inclusion in the survey. The Commission added several question areas which will be discussed with the consultant on the project. Hate and Bias Crime Report Mitzi Heath and Ruth Ruffin reported on an incident that occurred at Wayzata High School involving an African American woman who feels she was subjected to racial discrimination at the school. The woman is facing court action on charges of verbal assault and disorderly conduct. Mitzi and Ruth have met with Police Chief Gerdes to generally discuss issues relating to the incident and what can be done in similar situations. Jackie Fraedrich suggested that the HRC should collect the non- discrimination policies and multi -cultural education plans from each school district in order to understand the policies and the procedures for filing discrimination complaints and how the human rights commission may be involved. Jackie will get the documents from District 281; Rajit and Perssis will obtain the materials from District 284. Lisa Hunter may be able to obtain the materials from District 279. Mitzi Heath will also set up a meeting with the Wayzata High School Principal to discuss the issues involved. Manik Chhabra left the meeting. HRC Regional Meeting Laurie Ahrens reported on the Regional Human Rights Commissions meeting she attended in Crystal on March 23. Joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting on Comprehensive Plan Laurie Ahrens reported on the joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting on the Comprehensive Plan held on March 31. No Human Rights Commissioners attended the meeting. Jackie Fraedrich left the meeting. Approve Article for Submission to Plymouth Sailor Motion was made by Mitzi Heath, seconded by Ruth Ruffin, to approve an article by Claudelle Carruthers for submission to the Plymouth Sailor as a guest column. Motion carried on unanimous vote. Calendar/Days to Avoid for Public Meetings Laurie Ahrens presented the list of Jewish and Christian holidays. The City Council has requested that the Human Rights Commission review this issue and recommend days that should be avoided for public meetings. The Commission felt that a full calendar of Minutes April 14, 1999 Page 3 holidays should be prepared. Commissioners will continue to collect additions to the calendar. Human Rights Commission ByLaws The Commission directed that the HRC Bylaws be the primary agenda item at the next meeting. Motion was made by Raj it Chakravarty, seconded by Ruth Ruffin, to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m. The motion passed by unanimous vote. Next meeting: Thursday, May 6,1999 7:00 p.m. % -c V Wa zata-PI mouth Area Chemical Health Commission Minutes April 9. 1999 Members Present: Donna Marget, Lydia Kihm, Barbara Hickok, Martha Anderson, Mandy Little, Judy Hanson, Jeyn Hofacker, Craig Gerdes, Judy Hoover, Kevin Ringhofer Approve/Amend Minutes: Minutes accepted. Treasurer's Report: Mandy reported there is a balance of $2254.90. Will be giving Bill with Lions a check for $50.00 for breakfast. July 7 - After Five located at the Depot in Wayzata at 7:00 p.m. Police report: City Council had its last hearing on alcohol compliance violations. The ordinance is being studied and smoothed out. Placing significant penalties on violators: 10 day Suspension w/ $1000 fine or 5 day w/ $500. The business itself is being looked at prior to setting a fine. They look at the impact of business. For example: 5 day w/ $500.00 fine for off sale establishment, 10 day w/ $1000.00 fine for supermarket because sales are lower. Only suspend alcohol sales. Creating a matrix of presumptive penalties. The council heard 23 cases. Most establishment are being compliant and coming in for training sessions. Italiannis alcohol sales were shut down for 12 days. Applebees' alcohol was also shut down. Smaller restaurants were also affected. Grocery stores like Rainbow foods as well as gas stations. Compliance checks are done on every business with an alcohol license. The total numbers: 114 checks with 23 failures (1998). Goal for 1999 is to get it down to 10 —15 percent. One establishment had a juvenile serve a minor. It was a violation to make sale and another one for having a juvenile sell/serve. Council took seriously and handed out a 60 day w/ $2000 fine. Star Tribune major article in mid May. Positive article - people need to do something — everyone does their own part. Brown bag forum April 27th at Roseville Community Center — youth access to alcohol. LCTS dollars: First round of applications came in. 4 grants applied and all 4 were approved. The grants were: EMSNMCA activity room for youth as an afterschool program. Asset building workshop In home behavioral therapy for students (elementary ages). CONECT program continue working with housing/community. They were all funded with modifications. 2"d round of applications are due June 1st. First money allocated was $85,000 to date LCTS has spent $60,000. Anticipate receiving $85,000 more in June. Safe and Drug Free Schools = money flows to the school district. Next year the funds are being cut 18%. Mock Crash will be May 11th at 1:OOp.m. It will be located at the west side of student parking lot by the athletic department at the -High School. Most feedback from others that have done a mock crash is that it does have an impact. Next meeting will be May 7th. CITY OF April 30, 1999 PLYMOUTR SUBJECT: INTERIM USE PERMIT FOR MOEN LEUER CONSTRUCTION (99035) Dear Property Owner: Pursuant to the provisions of the Plymouth Zoning Ordinance, this is to inform you of a request by Moen Leuer Construction for an interim use permit to move approximately 70,000 cubic yards of material from the 10 -acre Leuer Farm site located at 17430 Medina Road to the adjacent Cornerstone Commons residential development. The material would allow the developers of the Cornerstone site to continue preparation of the site for development. Hennepin County records indicate your property is within 500 feet of the site of this proposal. You are hereby notified of, and cordially invited to attend a Public Hearing to be held by the Plymouth Planning Commission at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, May 12, 1999, in the Council Chambers at the Plymouth City Center, 3400 Plymouth Boulevard. The public will be invited to offer questions and comments concerning this application at that time, or feel free to call the City Planning Department at 509-5450 for more information. INFORMATION relating to this request may be examined at the Community Development Information Counter (lower level), on Mondays and Wednesday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., except holidays. Sincerely, A*YVtA & yvw� Barbara G. Senness Planning Supervisor 99035propnotice PLYMOUTH A 2eauti/IdPlacc To Live 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447-1482 • TELEPHONE (612) 509-5000 www.d.plymouth.mn.us nW Ihol PJyrrwmPaxbff U.Qdft Req�aoproval d an ��ILPPJ) � P.S. r� -• " U41, U+InYNa�1 ="�=; atyorll"MMpp°M: Piy,mw% Rl P�OSmi R OAataenl vw PLYMOUTH A 2eauti/IdPlacc To Live 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD • PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447-1482 • TELEPHONE (612) 509-5000 www.d.plymouth.mn.us i 4" Association of Metropolitan Municipalities DATE: April 23, 1999 TO: Legislative Contacts City Administrators/Managers Board of Directors FROM: AMM Staff CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES! (1-3a) BULLETIN The House Omnibus Tax Bill will be introduced Monday, April 26 and be on the floor Tuesday or Wednesday. It contains two troublesome issues you may wish to discuss with your representatives: REVERSE REFERENDUM This provision as amended in committee allows for a reverse referendum petition signed by 10 percent of the registered voters in a county or city with a population of more than 2,500 if the adopted levy increase exceeds the Implicit Price Deflator (IPD) plus household percentage in- creases of the previous levy. General obligation bond levy is excluded. An election would only impact the excess levy amount. The reverse referendum trigger amount in nearly all cities will be less than the allowable levy limits, especially if previous levies have been less than limits, if LGA does not increase at inflation, and in cities that receive no LGA but do receive HACA at its frozen level. Reverse referendum creates new lower levy limits and could be costly. Truth -in -Taxation, local policies and other public disclosure of tax rates are adequate public protection at the local level. LEVY LIMITS EXTENSIONIREDUCTION The bill extends levy limits for two more years and eliminates the growth factor for new C/I construction. Past justification for levy limits has been property tax reform. This bill does provide some rate compression and some increased education homestead credit and base reduction in the first year but nothing in year two. 145 University Avenue West Saint Paul, Minnesota 55103-2044 Telephone: (651) 215.4000 Fax: (651) 281-1299 E-mail.-amm@amm145.org LMC LIAyW a`Minaaraia Qw 064AF promoting Awdlpaea 145 Univerjoity Avenue West, Si. Paul, MN 55 103 -2044 Phone; (651) 281-1200 a (800) 925-1122 Fax: (651) 28.1-1299 • TDD (651) 281-1290 April 27, 1999 ACTION ALERT CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE The full House will be considering the omnibus talc bill possibly Wednesday but most likely Thursday of this week. The bill includes an extension of levy limits and a new reverse referenda requirement for all counties and cities over 2,500 population. The reverse referendum would be a marked deviation from the current system, which allows local elected officials to establish local budgets. In addition, the reverse referendum if triggered by voters would occur very late in the local budget process. The election would occur on the fourth Tuesday in January, fully one month into the city's fiscal year. The levy limit provision is included despite the .fact that fully two-thirds of the cities covered by levy limits did not levy to their limit for 1999. The levy limits are even more restrictive than the limits in effect for 1999. The bill does not include the commercial and industrial growth factor that was included in last year's omnibus tax bill. The Senate tax bill currently allows levy limits to sunset and does not include any reverse referendum requirement. Contact your representative and communicate your concerns about these provisions. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Gary Carlson at 651-281-1255. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNRY/AFFIRMATIVC ACTION EMPLOYER I ' d _ S3I l I3 NW d0 3n5U33 t4d2S :20 66, L2 bdti ^��_ FRIDAYFAx Number 16 A weekly legislative update from the League Of Minnesota Cities April 23, 1999 Governor's second veto impacts local government Governor vetoes competitive bid threshold bill Gov. Ventura vetoed a bill that would have raised the competi- tive bid threshold for local units of government to $50,000. In his veto message, the governor stressed that the threshold increase would amount to a significant increase for smaller cities and counties. According to the governor's veto message, "1 veto this bill today because I believe that doubling the thresh- old amount to $50,000 goes too far and increases the risk of unethical conduct." The full text of the governor's veto message, is available on the "Legislative Issues" page of the LMC Web site (www.lmnc.org). The veto was a shock based on the strong, bipartisan House and Senate support. The bill was unanimously approved twice by the Senate and passed by the House on a 110-17 vote. The League is uncertain whether the House author Bill Kuisle (R - Rochester) and the Senate author, Steve Kelley (DFL - Hopkins) will attempt a veto override. Tax Committee changes reverse referenda provision The House Tax Committee completed work on their omnibus tax bill on Thursday in a four-hour hearing that included more than 30 amendments. The bill will be introduced on Monday as a committee bill, and will be re- ferred to the Ways and Means Committee before the bill is debated on the House floor, possibly as early as next Wednesday. In an author's amendment, the reverse referenda require- ment that could impact cities over 2,500 population and counties was modified. Under the original language, a number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of those registered to vote in the last general election could peti- tion for a referendum if the levy increase exceeded the greater of 2 percent or the consumer price index. Under the revised require- ments, the reverse referenda could be triggered if the city proposes a levy increase in excess of the greater of 2 per- cent or the percentage increase in the implicit price deflator for government goods and services (IPD) inflation adjustment plus the percentage increase in households. Over the past 15 years, the IPD has been slightly less than the consumer price index. However, the adjustment for household growth may more than offset the difference, especially in rapidly growing communities. There are at least two rea- sons the referendum trigger threshold could be lower than a city's actual levy limitation. First, if a city did not levy to the limit for 1999, the unused levy authority is carried forward for the 2000 levy. Secondly, the levy limit calcula- tion is based on the certified levy plus LGA and HACA. Therefore, the percentage increase in the levy limit is greater than the same percentage applied only to the levy under the reverse referen- dum requirements. The reverse referendum provision was also amended so that an unsuccessful referen- dum vote would reduce the levy only to the amount of the trigger percentage, rather than to the amount of the previous year's levy. In other words, if the trig- ger percentage for a city was 3 percent and the city proposed a 4 percent levy increase, an unsuccessful referendum vote would only reduce the levy to a 3 percent increase. The amendment also ex- cludes general obligation debt levies from the reverse referen- dum requirement. This was done to address concerns raised by the public finance community that For more information on city legislative issues, contact any member of the r __ .._.. _r fVo .. ►..farenwrnmonlal. Relations team. FRIDAYFAx APRIL 23, 1999 — Nar 2 general obligation debt was not truly a general obligation if the voters could deny a levy neces- sary to cover the debt service. Pension aid reduction provision deleted A provision of the House state government finance bill, which would have redirected a portion of state pension aids to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA), was deleted from the bill last night. An amendment offered by Rep. Dennis Ozment (R -Rosemount) and 28 other representatives to remove the provision was adopted by a 114-15 vote. The money, approximately $350,000 a year, was intended to cover the costs the OSA incurs in preparing a mandated investment disclosure report on local pen- sion plans. Current law requires the auditor to pay for the report out of the general OSA budget. The Ozment amendment repeals the report. On the floor Rep. Ozment stated that the provision violated the agreement made at the time the report was established by shifting the cost of the report from the state to local pension plans. Rep. Ozment and Rep. Harry Mares (R -White Bear Lake), chair of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement, expressed concern that the provision was added to the bill late in the State Govern- ment Finance Committee without going through the Pension Com- mission for policy discussion. The Senate state government finance bill does not repeal the report, nor does it redirect state pension aids to the OSA. The two bills have significant differ- ences to be worked out by a conference committee. Senate unveils property tax provisions of tax bill On Wednesday, the Senate Property Tax and Local Govern- ment Budget Division released the property tax provisions of the Senate omnibus tax bill. The bill includes minor class rate com- pression, an increase in the education homestead credit, significant farm property tax relief, a $5 million increase in LGA for many small cities, and increases in the property tax refund program. The bill includes general authority for cities to establish sidewalk utilities. The bill also repeals Local Perfor- mance Aid, with the 1999 LPA distribution being folded into cities' LGA and counties' HACA. An amendment offered by Sen. Doug Johnson (DFL - Tower) would cap market value increases for homes, nonhome- stead residential property, and cabins to the greater of 5 percent or the CPI for tax purposes. The amendment was defeated on a 6-5 vote. Johnson stated he would offer the limited market value amendment again in full tax committee next week. The income, sales, and other portions of the omnibus tax bill will be revealed this afternoon. We will summarize those provi- sions early next week. Watershed management organization membership limited Some ideas never die—not even due to the legislative committee deadlines. A bill that would exclude appointed city officials from serving on watershed management organizations, which did not meet committee deadline in the Senate, is alive and well, buried in H.F. 2388— the House omnibus environment and natural resources bill. The provision states that after Dec. 31, 1999, staff of local units of government who are members of the watershed management organization are not eligible to be appointed to the board. The Senate companion bill does not include the provision. Even if the bill is approved by the full House, a conference commit- tee will likely consider this and other inconsistent provisions, The League will be working to kill this reincarnation. For snare information on city legislative issues, contact any member of the League of Minnesota Cities Intergovernmental Relations tease. AMM FAX NEWS up Association of Metropolitan Municipalities April 26-30, 1999 (page 1 of 2) New Met Council begins its work Thferecently appointed members othe Metropolitan Council officially took office on Thursday April 22, 1999. The new Council includes five members who have been either a city councilmember or mayor and many who have had experience working with local governments. At its first meeting, Met Council Chair Ted Mondale outlined his vision for the Council. Mr. Mondale urged the members to view them- selves as regionalists and to work with and attempt to direct local governments. Being aware of the chair's vision and the potential impact of its policies upon cities, you are encouraged to contact your Met Council member. You may want to invite the member(s) to a city council meeting to discuss how the council and city could exchange communications and discuss policies. AMM Fax News is faxed periodically to all ADfhl city managers and administrators. The information is in- tended to be shared with mayors, councilmentbers and staff in order to keep officials abreast of important metro city issues Cc�Copyright 1999 AMM 14.5 University Avenue West St. Paul, MN 55103-2044 Phone: (651) 215-4000 Fax: (651) 281-1299 E-mail: ammoaamml45.org House and Senate TIF financing bills differ The House and the Senate Omnibus Tax bills contain differing articles relating to economic development and Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The House bill (HF 2420) was formally introduced on April 26, while the Senate bill will not be formally introduced until later this week. The Senate TIF article was heard in the Local Government Tax division April 26 The following analysis compares the House TIF section with the Senate section as passed by the Property Tax division: Housing District -Local Match House: The local match for housing districts for which the request for certification is made after June 30, 1999 is changed from 10 percent to 5 percent. Senate: Qualified housing districts are defined to include a housing development in which at least 50 percent of the housing is receiving assistance from district revenues, and in the case of rental housing the housing is affordable to persons and families having incomes at or below 50 percent of the median income. For owner -occupied housing the maximum income threshold is 80 percent. The provision is effective for districts that requested certification on or after Sept. 2, 1998. General Government Use Prohibited House: The section is effective for new and existing districts. The section does not affect expenditures that were made or committed by binding contract before July 1, 1999. The amendment would prohibit the TIF Bills ♦ See Page 2 April 26-30, 1999 ♦ AMM Fax News ♦ Page 2 of 2 TIF Bil ISI House bill features 8 special laws; Senate 17 Continued from Page 1 expenditure of TIF for a commons area used as a public park or a facility used for social recreational or conference purposes after July 1, 1999. TIF may also not be used for expenditures outside the district for public improvements, equipment or other items if the expenditures serve primarily as a decorative or aesthetic purpose or serve a functional purpose, but their cost is increased by 100 percent as a result of the design, selection of materials or type as compared with more commonly used designs, materials or types for similar improvements, equipment or items. Senate: Districts certified or ex- panded (geographic area) after July 1, 1999 are prohibited to expend TIF for a public park or social and recreational facilities. Pooling for Deficits House: Municipalities are permitted to transfer increment from one district to another to eliminate deficits caused by changes in the property tax class rates authorized by the 1997 and 1998 Tax bills. The municipality may transfer increments between districts even if different development authorities established them. The pooling permit- ted under the bill applies notwithstand- ing the pooling limits of other law An additional $1.0 million is appropriated to the TIF grant program which is also extended to the year 2002. Senate: The Senate bill is similar to the House but contains an additional statutory reference and defines preexisting obligations to include refunding bonds and expenditures made before June 2, 1997. 1979 to 1982 Pooling Rules House: The use of increment to pay for activities outside districts estab- lished between 1979 and 1982 is ratified. The bill also defines preexisting in -district and outside -district obliga- tions to be contractual obligations by May 1, 1999 and bonds issued by April 1, 1999. Senate: Pooled expenditures are also ratified but the date for issuance of bonds is May 1, 1999 and for binding contracts is Sept. 30, 1999. The dates only refer to expenditures outside the district. The district is not required to be decertified after the preexisting expenditures are paid. Enforcement House: If the county attorney does not take action on a non-compliance issue within 12 months the matter is referred to the Minnesota Department of Revenue for resolution. The Com- missioner of Revenue can suspend the ability of the authority or municipality to establish TIF districts for up to five years. Senate: There is no similar provi- sion. Wage Goals House: No provision. Senate: The local match requirement or aid penalty can be reduced by 50 percent if a district has resulted in an increase in jobs that pay at least 125 percent of the federal poverty wage. The job increase must be certified by the Commissioner of Trade and Economic Development (DTED) and is effective for the years following the certification. To qualify, at least 40 jobs must be created in districts located in the metro area. In Greater Minnesota, the minimum number of jobs is 10 in a city of less than 5,000 population and 20 for larger cities. Special Laws House: There are eight special law TIF provisions. Metro cities included are Fridley, Chanhassen and St. Paul. Senate: There 17 special law provisions. All but one relates to TIF. The city of Woodbury is authorized to levy a property tax for a highway interchange. Of the 15 TIF bills, six are for metro cities (St. Paul, Fridley, Inver Grove Heights, Columbia Heights, Brooklyn Center and the airport impact area). The area includes Richfield, Minneapolis, Eagan and Bloomington. Effective Date Change House: No provision is included. Senate: The effective date for the 1998 amendment to the TIF law regarding green acres is changed from April 30, 1998 to August 1, 1996. AMM to celebrate its 25th Anniversary at the May Annual Meeting ark your calendars -- the AMM will celebrate its 25th Anniversary at the Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 20, 1999 at the Maplewood Community Center. A social hour will begin the evening at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the business meeting at 7:30 p.m. Former AMM Executive Director Vern Peterson and AMM's first presi- dent Elliott Perovich will share some stories of the early days and the Lynn Deichert Music ensemble will provide some Dixieland entertainment. All AMM members are invited and past presidents are also encouraged to attend. The cost to attend will be $30. Invitations and agendas will be mailed out later this week. Everyone will be asked to make a reservation by calling the AMM no later than Friday, May 14. Stay tuned for more details! 3 4955 PEONY LANE April 27, 1999 i PLYMOUTH,, MINNESOTA 55446-1600 City Council of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Blvd. Plymouth, MN 55447 Dear Council Members: � S High School indent School District 284 9 Phone 612-745-6600 • Fax 612-745-6691 City Council of Wayzata 600 E. Rice St. Wayzata, MN 55391 As Chemical Health Coordinator for the Wayzata Public Schools, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of a very important prevention activity that our Trojan Leadership Council is preparing for. On May 11, 1 PM, on the grounds of the Wayzata High School, we will be presenting a "mock crash" to our student body. As we approach prom season, banquets, parties and graduations, we wanted to use this activity as a way to heighten awareness of the serious consequences of drinking and driving. A "mock crash" graphically illustrates what is involved at a crash site. Emergency and medical personnel from our communities will be participants in this event. As well as inviting you to this event, we wanted you to be aware of the "activity" that will be occurring at that time as it will no doubt be chaotic. We will run a story in the local newspapers so that nearby neighborhoods will be aware of what is actually happening. We are very grateful for the local participation we have received in this event. This has been a remarkable partnership between school and community. Should you have any questions, please call me at 745-6988. Sincerely, 'Jfidy Han on, Chemical Health Coordinator Wayzata Public Schools APR 30 '99 02:20PM LEAGUE OF MN CITIES P.1 Sp 4;k o Pew ��� tsditlo� -- R/ DA Y AX Number 17 A weekly legislative update from the League of Minnesota Cities April 30, 1999 House completes tax bill; Senate nearly done After 21 amendments and nearly eight hours of floor debate, the House of Repre- sentatives completed work on their omnibus tax bill. Although few of the amendments were added to the bill, several would have had significant impact on local units of government. Rep. Al Juhnke (DFL - Willmar) offered an amendment that would have repealed the sales tax on local government purchases. Even though most of the DFLers voted against the same amendment last year because it created an $80 million hole in the budget, their votes turned green this year. The Republican green votes of last year turned red this year because it created an $80 million hole in their budget. The amendment ultimately failed on a 61 to 67 vote. Rep. Bob Milbert (DFL - South St. Paul) offered an amendment that would have established a more stringent limited market value system. Under the bill's original lan- guage, assessor's annual market value increases could not exceed 7 percent, unless the limited value fell behind the assessor's estimate by more than 53 percent. The original bill provision would have only applied to those classes of property currently covered by limited market value—residen- tial homesteads and non - homesteads, agricultural home- steads or non -homesteads and cabins. The Milbert amendment would have applied a value increase limit based on the lesser of the consumer price index or 5 percent. In addition, the limit would have applied to all classes of property. The Milbert amendment failed on a 46 to 81 vote. Rep. Dan Larson (DFL - Bloomington) offered a 29 -page amendment to freeze property taxes for one year. During the debate on the freeze amend- ment, Rep. Osskopp managed to simultaneously support our position opposing a state freeze on local tax authority and offend some local government officials: "Representative Larson you asked the question, your voters in your district said in face of all these tax cuts how come our prop- erty taxes keep going up? You know, one of the rea- sons they voted for Gov. Ventura is because he will tell it to them straight." 'What you need to do is not come up with all kinds of systems here in St. Paul to address the problem, what you need to is just be honest with your taxpayers and say your city govern- ment, your county govern- ment and school boards spend like drunken sailors. That's why your property taxes are going up. If you want your property taxes to go down, throw the bums out of the city, throw the bums out in the county, throw the bums out in the school board and your taxes go down. We tried it in Wabasha County and it worked" Later during the debate, Rep. Rest responded to a number of anti -local government comments: "9'm becoming increasingly dismayed by the attacks that are made on local governments in the course of this legislative session and not just in the discus- sion of this bill" For more information on city legislative issues, contact any member of the I - - - - of Jf"Wa. A.Y-f; w #-- APR 30 '99 02:21PM LEAGUE OF MN CITIES FRIDAYFAx APRx 30, 1999— PAGF2 "I had hoped that this Rep. Tom Osthoff (DFL -St. session that the local Paul) offered an amendment to governments—school prohibit local units of govern - districts, counties, cities— ment from engaging a lobbyist could be partners --part- with revenues derived from ners with the legislators taxes. Associations such as the and governor for that League of Minnesota Cities matter in looking at prop- were not prohibited under the erty tax relief, looking at amendment. The Speaker ruled local government aid the amended out of order structures instead of con- because it was not a tax- tinuing a very, very frustrat- related item. ing level of conflict with one The final amendment that another. " affected local units of govern - "And I hope that as we ment was a proposal offered by go forward, whether its Rep. Ted Winter (DFL -Fulda) talking about limited market that would have removed the value or whether its talking reverse referendum provision about reverse referendum included in the bill. After a or levy limits, both of which lengthy debate, the amendment I do not support, that we failed on a 61 to 68 vote. How - realize and recognize that ever, unlike many of the other the very same people that amendments that failed earlier elected the representatives in the debate, the vote for the from Bloomington or the repeal included 12 Republicans representatives from Moor- and 49 Democrats. head or the representa- After completing work in tives from Minneapolis also the amendments, the bill was elected their city council approved on a 95 to 35 vote. members." The bill has been sent to the 'They didn't suddenly Senate where they are now in get stupid when they were the process of completing floor voting on the city council work on their tax bill. ballot and then suddenly The Senate omnibus tax get wise when they voted bill was substantially modified for you." shortly before committee action on Thursday. Senate leadership The Larson amendment stripped out almost all minor tax ultimately failed on a 57 to 71 provisions and rolled the sav- vote. ings into increased income tax P.2 cuts. We will fully summarize the final Senate bill in next week's Cities Bulletin. We expect a conference committee to be appointed sometime early next week --less than two weeks before the scheduled adjournment for the Legislature. Minnesota Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies Spring 1999 Meeting May 6 --Bloomington The Minnesota Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (MALHFA) will hold its 1999 Spring Lun- cheon Meeting next Thurs- day, May 6, at Noon at the Holiday Inn International, Bloomington. The luncheon program features a presen- tation by Warren Hansen, president of the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, and Tom Fulton, president of the Family Housing Fund. The cost of the lunch and program is $25 for MALHFA members; $35 for non- members. Call (651) 635- 0306 to make reservations. For more information on city legislative issues, contact any ,member of the League of Minnesota Cities Intergovernmental Reiallons team.