09/13/1988 - City Council SpecialMINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
EAGAN CITY COUNCIL
September 13, 1988
CRAY RESEARCH PRESENTATION
1989 PROPOSED BUDGET
Subject to Approval
A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Tuesday, September
13, 1988, at 7:00 p.m. at the Eagan Municipal Center building in the office of the
City Administrator. Present were Mayor Ellison and City Councilmembers Egan,
Gustafson, McCrea and Wachter. Also present were City Administrator Hedges,
Administrative Assistant Hohenstein and City Planner Dale Runkle who appeared
during the Cray Research and Rahncliff items.
Several representatives, including consultants and corporate representa-
tives appeared on behalf of the Cray Research project for the purpose of
providing a status update on their building program to the City Council. Mr. Dale
Beckman, an engineer with BRW and Associates, represented Cray Research presenting
development plans relative to a revised phasing of the Cray Research campus
development proposal. He stated that three buildings are initially planned
including 1) software training, 2) corporate computing and network and 3) a
commons facility. John Lackens, representing Cray Research, presented a
projected time schedule stating that the initial project will be phased over two
years. He further stated that each of the initial buildings are able to expand by
50% with adequate parking expansion planned according to City Code requirements.
Mr. Lackens informed the City Council that the total square footage and number of
employees at build -out in 1995, is 562,000 square feet and 1,310 employees
respectively. He also stated that given their land area and their ability to
expand buildings, an ultimate build -out is 1,199,000 square feet with a labor
force estimated at 3,440 employees.
After questions and comments regarding the revised phasing by the City
Council, Mayor Ellison welcomed Cray Research and expressed a strong appreciation
on behalf of the City Council for their corporate relocation and expansion plans
in the City of Eagan.
The City Administrator presented the budget revisions that were discussed
at the August 30 special budget workshop session. City Councilmembers reviewed
all the budget changes, discussing in detail manpower requests for each
department. The City Administrator was directed to pursue a change in designation
from park foreman to park maintenance employee with the title of Crew Leader for a
new position that is proposed in 1989 in that department. It was also suggested
that an amount be budgeted for increased janitorial services, however, the issue
of contractual or permanent part -time would not be addressed until after the
community center referendum. City Councilmember Gustafson suggested that the
communications /projects coordinator position that was eliminated in the last
budget session should be given additional consideration. He stated that public
relations and the community response to various issues is important to the
constituency. He suggested that the City Administrator pursue options for
considering a project's coordinator to handle the solid waste abatement by
utilizing the services of a semi - retired public relations person or possibly an
intern. Councilmember Wachter suggested that some type of reward be given to the
Street Department such as an additional allocation for equipment to recognize the
manpower savings that was realized by the elimination of a wing operator in each
snow plowing operation. City Councilmembers stated that a concept of rewarding
employees or employees' suggestions is a good idea and should be further pursued
by the City Administrator. City Councilmember McCrea expressed a desire to
analyze the potential of user fees for both active and passive park land services.
She expressed a concern about the liability and cost of lawsuits and the increased
general fund expense for providing certain park services that are not used by all
residents of the community. City Councilmember Egan readdressed the equipment
certificate proposed at $400,000 for 1989 and asked that the City Administrator
caution his management team that there not be a reliance placed on this method of
raising capital in future years for the purchase of equipment. There was also a
discussion regarding a suitable contingency amount for the proposed budget. After
discussion, Mayor Ellison summarized the budget as proposed for 1989 stating that
the total budgetary amount is estimated at $10,495,780 for the general fund which
includes a contingency of approximately $65,000. The City Administrator was
directed to prepare documents for the budget hearing scheduled for October 19, at
a regular City Council meeting, based on Council direction at the workshop
sessions.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR UPDATE
City Administrator Hedges provided an update and timetable for the
selection of a Community Development Director. He stated that all applications
have been screened by his office and the initial screening of applicants is
scheduled for October 4. He further stated that the time schedule for final
interviews and selection by the City Council is tentatively set for October 11.
BOND CREDIT RATING
City Administrator Hedges reported on a recent credit rating trip to New
York for meetings with Standard and Poors and Moodys in which City Councilmember
Egan, Director of Finance VanOverbeke and the City Administrator attended along
with a representative from Springsted. He stated that the City has been notified
by Moody's of a rating increase from A to Al, which is excellent news for the City
considering the amount of debt proposed for the upcoming issuance.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
Dated City Clerk
TL.H