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02/04/1997 - City Council Special 00034 MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAGAN CITY COUNCIL Eagan, Minnesota February 4,1997 A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Tuesday, February 4, 1997, at the Eagan Municipal Center Community Room at 5:00 p.m. Those present were Mayor Egan and City Councilmembers Blomquist and Wachter. City Councilmember Masin arrived at approximately 5:15 p.m. and City Councilmember Awada at approximately 5:20 p.m. Also present were City Administrator Hedges, Assistant to the City Administrator Duffy, Recycling/Communications Coordinator Foote and Communications Consultants Roy and Sherie Wallace. VISITORS TO BE HEARD John Young, representing the Eagan Small Business Association, presented five suggestions regarding communications efforts. These included notifying interested individuals about certain agendas prior to Advisory Planning Commission and City Council workshop sessions, including maps in legal notices, creating a development feedback survey, establishing an agenda hotline, and televising City Council workshop sessions. Mayor Egan stated that the suggestions would be discussed when all five Councilmembers were present. City Administrator Hedges indicated he would check with the Advisory Planning Commission regarding the items which were related to that body. City Councilmember Wachter requested that cost factors for the suggestions be researched. PRESENTATION OF 1997 COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVESIWALLACE GROUP City Administrator Hedges presented a brief history of the City's communications efforts and introduced Roy and Sherie Wallace of the Wallace Group and Communications Coordinator Foote. He explained that Roy Wallace and Communications Coordinator Foote would make a brief presentation regarding each potential communications objective and then it would be appropriate for the Councilmembers to discuss and prioritize the potential objectives, both from a budget and an implementation viewpoint. Communications Coordinator Foote explained that the City newsletter and cable productions of Council meetings have budgets separate from the $26,000 1997 communications budget and would not be included in the presentation. She said that tonight they would describe what is currently being done in the communications' program and various possibilities for expansion. However, she said, new projects to be done by in-house staff would be in addition to the current workload, so the Council would need to prioritize what should be done by staff and what should be outsourced to the Wallace Group. Mr. Wallace summarized the 1996 activities of the Wallace Group in conjunction with the City which included imaging, a community-wide survey, the production of several feature stories, part one of media training for staff, ongoing communication consultation and other communication-related activities. He stated that he saw as 1997 communications objectives improving communications with the business community, improving understanding of city policies and media relations. Communications Coordinator Foote then described the current annual report as a lengthy document which is available for the general public but is used more as an internal resource. She recommended a summary document which would be visually attractive, easily readable and which would contain the highlights of the year for residents. City Councilmember Wachter asked what the printing cost would be. Communications Coordinator Foote indicated it could be anywhere up to $9,000 depending upon printing options such as type of paper, use of color, photos, etc. City Council member Masin asked how many requests the City receives for the annual report. City Administrator Hedges said the City does not receive many requests for the annual report but does receive a great many requests for various types of information about the City and its operations. City Council member Blomquist asked about the cost of a newsletters, how they were distributed and whether it would be possible to incorporate the annual report information into a newsletter or newsletters. Communications Coordinator Foote stated that that was one option. City Councilmember Blomquist stated she 00035 Eagan Special City Council MinuteslFebruary 4, 1997 Page 2 would support the annual report if it was included in the newsletter but not as a separate document. Communications Coordinator Foote then presented information about a proposed Business Newsletter. She suggested a four-page newsletter which would be distributed quarterly to businesses. She indicated that the EDC and Chamber of Commerce had each budgeted $4,000 for this item and indicated that the letter could be produced by in-house staff or by the Wallace Group for an additional fee. The next item to be presented was a continuation of the business outreach meetings which would involve little or no expenditures on the part of the City. Mayor Egan stated that he felt these meetings and their results had been excellent and should be continued, especially considering the small amount of budget required. Communications Coordinator Foote then described a possible expansion of this program to include "neighborhood" outreach meetings in various neighborhoods throughout the City with little or no expenditures experienced by the City unless the Council wanted more specialized notification options. City Council members were favorable toward this expansion. The next items to be presented were the Economic Development Commission and Volunteer Bus Tours. Mayor Egan stated that the bus tours had been a high priority for him and asked if it were possible that the cost for the buses could be underwritten either by the Chamber of Commerce or other businesses. Sherie Wallace, who is chairperson of the Chamber, stated that the Chamber has investigated the possibility and it is a viable option. Mr. Wallace presented the next item which was a continuation of Media Training for Council and selected staff members and explained that participants would actually have a chance to practice various situations during the training. Communications Coordinator Foote then described the upgraded equipment which would allow staff to run items on the Cable Bulletin Board from the Municipal Center instead of having to contact the cable company to do so. She explained that more attractive and expanded visuals would be possible. City Councilmember Awada asked if it would be possible to broadcast the City Council agendas in advance of the meetings. Communications Coordinator Foote assured her it would be possible and that pictures and maps concerning items on the agendas could also be broadcast. However, she said, as more information which is included on the bulletin board, more staff or contractual time will be necessary for upkeep. Mr. Wallace then spoke to the next item which was a Crisis Communications Plan. He stated he understood that the City did have a basic Crisis Communications Plan as a part of its Emergency Preparedness Plan. He thought it was important the City had such a communication plan and stated the Wallace Group could help expand and upgrade the plan if the Council desired. Mayor Egan said the expansion was not a high priority to him although he would be willing to consider a minimum expenditure for outside assistance from the Wallace Group to assist staff. Mr. Wallace then presented the concept of a Community Development Brochure which could be 'anything from a small information sheet in-house to a more elaborate brochure which would have some sort of distribution. City Council member Wachter said that he felt this project would duplicate other projects already presented. Communications Coordinator Foote then asked the Council for direction regarding their priority for cable programming beyond the basic public meeting coverage. Mayor Egan suggested that we contact Channel 15 and ask them for their help in producing additional programming. Mr. Wallace then described the ongoing counseling and production offeature stories which the Wallace Group had performed in 1996 and suggested the continuation of these programs for 1997. Communications Coordinator Foote then mentioned the final item which was $300 for the purchase 00036 Eagan Special City Council MinuteslFebruary 4, 1997 Page 3 of software for the design of the City's web page. City Councilmember Awada said it was her understanding that we would be using Eagan High School students to develop our web page. Communications Coordinator Foote said that the City had already started the development of the web page using the assistance of the students but that the software was needed in order to program and run the web from the City itself. City Council member Masin said she felt that the City should be taking pictures during Council meetings, especially when presentations are made to residents and business owners. She asked if it was possible to get pictures off the video tape of the meeting. Communications Coordinator Foote said it was possible but the quality of the pictures would not be very good. She said the City of Burnsville had purchased new equipment which she understood has improved the quality of the pictures and she would check with them to see how it was working. Communications Coordinator Foote then passed out prioritization sheets to the Mayor and City Council members. City Administrator Hedges asked the Council how they wanted to address each item. He suggested that the Council give input to him regarding prioritization and budget and then he could bring a proposed plan and budget back to the Council which would address their priorities. City Council member Awada noted that there were four items which would have little or no additional cost to the City. These included additional cable, the business and neighborhood outreach meetings and the bus tours. City Council member Wachter said he thought the annual report was important and that it should be sent out with an insert for Parks and Recreation programming instead of one of the regular newsletters. City Councilmembers Blomquist and Awada agreed. City Administrator Hedges said he would bring budget figures back to the Council. Mayor Egan said that the neighborhood outreach meetings were a high priority for him. However, he said, they would not need to be professionalized and could be accomplished in-house. City Council member Blomquist suggested using local newspapers for announcements of the meetings. City Councilmember Masin suggested also using inserts in church bulletins. Mayor Egan said the crisis communications plan was not a high priority and could be accomplished in-house. City Councilmember Wachter suggested using money for the business newsletter instead of giving it to the Dakota County Partnership. City Councilmember Blomquist said she did not see budgeting the media training or media stories. City Administrator Hedges suggested that the Council address all items in order and each Council member indicate his or her priority (high, medium or low) for both work priority and budget priority. Regarding the annual report, Mayor Egan said high for work priority and medium for budget priority. City Councilmember Awada gave a high priority to both. City Councilmember Masin gave a medium priority to both. City Councilmember Blomquist gave a high for work priority and low for budget priority. City Council member Wachter gave a high for work priority and medium for budget priority. Regarding the business newsletter, City Councilmember Masin gave a high priority to both. Mayor Egan gave a medium priority to both and suggested approaching the Chamber and businesses for budget assistance. City Council member Wachter gave a high for work priority and a low for budget priority and agreed , with the Mayor concerning outside assistance. City Councilmember Blomquist agreed with City Councilmember Wachter's assessment. City Council member Awada gave a high for work priority and a medium for budget priority . All members gave a high priority to the business and neighborhood outreach meetings with the provision that they be handled by in-house staff. Regarding the bus tours, City Councilmember Awada proposed a total of $1 ,000 should be allotted for both tours and the Mayor agreed. Regarding media training, City Councilmember Awada said she thought it was important that the Mayor and City Administrator receive the training and also some staff members so they did not make a mistake. 00037 Eagan Special City Council MinuteslFebruary 4, 1997 Page 4 Mayor Egan gave the training a medium to high rating. City Councilmember Blomquist thought that the Mayor, City Administrator and Police Chief should receive the training. City Councilmember Wachter suggested that the cost and extent of the training be scaled back. The City Council members generally agreed that they should not participate in the training. Regarding the cable bulletin board, the Council agreed that it was important and would help meet the Eagan Small Business Association's notification and description objectives. Regarding the Crisis Communication Plan, the Council agreed it was a low priority. City Councilmember Wachter said he thought it should be done by in-house staff. Regarding the community development brochure, the Council consensus was that it be incorporated into other documents and communications. Regarding the ongoing counseling and media stories, City Councilmembers Awada and Masin gave both high priorities. City Councilmember Blomquist rated both as a low priority because she thought the Council was leaving themselves open to be criticized by constituents for using tax dollars for this. Mayor Egan said he thought these services were essential; however, he suggested these services be used on an as needed basis. City Councilmember Awada addressed the suggestions from the Eagan Small Business Association as submitted at the beginning of the meeting. She suggested that money be allotted in the budget for expanding legal notices. City Administrator Hedges said he would pass that suggestion on to the Advisory Planning Commission for their consideration. He also said the agenda hotline suggestion would be researched. He informed the Council that the Economic Development Commission is currently considering the development survey as proposed by the ESBA. He also informed the Council that Department Heads are currently developing a customer service survey to cover all City services. Regarding the request that interested parties be directly notified of workshop sessions, he stated he thought the City has been doing this. However, he will check to ensure that this continues in future. He said he would also check into the feasibility of televising workshop sessions. OTHER BUSINESS City Councilmember Wachter said he wanted to discuss whether or not the City should participate in the Dakota County Partnership. Mayor Egan replied that the Council had decided to participate at the January 28, 1997 Special City Council meeting. He stated that the decision had been made because $5,400 of the total $6,400 membership is for GIS services and would be spent for that whether or not the City was a Partnership member. City Council member Blomquist said she was not excited about membership in the Partnership and had thought, as liaison to that group, she was supposed to attend a meeting and evaluate the cost benefit to the City and report back to the Council. City Administrator Hedges summarized the direction to him at the last meeting which was that the City would be a full member of the Dakota County Economic Development Partnership for 1997 with the understanding that $5,400 of the $6,400 membership dues would be for GIS J services and that City Councilmember Blomquist would attend the meetings and provide an evaluation of the cost benefit when the 1998 budget is discussed. The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:30 p.m. February 4, 1997 Date ~{\*- HND