11/22/1988 - City Council Special II/
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
EAGAN CITY COUNCIL
Eagan, Minnesota
November 22, 1988
A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Tuesday, November
22, 1988, at 6:30 p.m. at the Eagan Municipal Center Building. Present were Mayor
Ellison and City Councilmembers Egan, Gustafson, McCrea and Wachter. Also present
were Director of Public Works Colbert, Director of Finance VanOverbeke,
Administrative Assistant Hohenstein and City Administrator Hedges.
MINNESOTA VALLEY HUMANE SOCIETY OF DAKOTA COUNTY
Mr. Roger Gehrke and Joan Wetterling, board members of the Minnesota Valley
Humane Society of Dakota County, appeared and presented their organization's
objective which is the proposed construction and operation of a full-service
animal shelter facility within Dakota County. Mr. Gehrke stated that the
Minnesota Valley Humane Society of Dakota County was incorporated during April of
1981 for the purpose of securing enforcement of the laws for the prevention of
wrongs to animals and to promote the education of the public regarding animal
welfare and help alleviate the sufferings of all animal life. He further stated
that their organization has six main goals and they are as follows:
• 1. To build and operate a Dakota County Animal Shelter.
2. To educate the public regarding proper animal care.
3. To encourage the proper identification and vaccination of all animals.
4. To promote the spaying and neutering of animals.
5. To conduct cruelty and abuse investigations.
6. To provide adoption of lost and found services.
Mr. Gehrke reviewed the status of donations including operational expenses
for a shelter and the proposed revenue sources for operational costs. City
Councilmember Gustafson suggested that the City consider taking over the
collection of license fees to the Humane Society as a revenue source for a part of
their operating costs. Mayor Ellison asked if a site had been selected for the
proposed humane society shelter. Mr. Gehrke stated that the Zoological Gardens
property is a possible site and further that a donation of land meeting their
required five to six acres may be received for a site at Dodd Road and 120th
Street in Apple Valley.
Mayor Ellison thanked representatives of the Humane Society for the
presentation and suggested that they present a budget request and other pertinent
information regarding the proposal to build and operate an animal shelter to the
City Administrator in mid-1989 for incorporation into the 1990 budget process.
AIRPORT ADEQUACY STUDY UPDATE
City Administrator Hedges introduced Chauncey Case, a staff member of the
• Metropolitan Council, to present and discuss the results of the recent Airport
Adequacy Study that was coordinated by the Met Council. In addition to Mr. Case,
there were several members of the Airport Relations Committee in attendance
including the Chairperson Dustin Mirick and Joe Harrison.
• Mr. Case reviewed the report, "Twin Cities Air Travel: A Strategy for
Growth," that was prepared by Metropolitan Council staff persons as an overview to
action taken by the Airport Adequacy Task Force. His presentation included an
examination of six options that were identified by the Task Force to handle
projected growth and aviation in the Twin Cities area. Those options include
demand management, base case; no major additions to MSP, north/south runway,
maximum development of MSP, new airport and expand MSP capacity, bank land now for
new airport when needed. Mr. Case stated that capacity of airport operations is
identified as both the present and future problem. Mr. Case reviewed the most
recent forecast of flights into MSP and stated that economic benefits increase if
capacity is increased and delays are reduced. He further reviewed the community
noise stress levels around MSP that are projected out to the year 2008.
There were a number of questions asked by both members of the City Council
and Airport Relations Committee regarding the accuracy of forecast data, possible
reduction of certain users such as military. Why not consider the north/south
runway, will new technology reduce the necessity for an additional airport and
other related discussion. After Mr. Case responded to the various questions, City
Councilmember Gustafson, the City of Eagan's representative on the Metropolitan
Council's Airport Adequacy Task Force, provided a number of comments about the
Task Force Study and the reason the City of Eagan abstained when the initial study
was presented in early October.
Following further discussion, Mayor Ellison thanked both Mr. Case and
members of the Airport Relations Committee for their comments and suggested that
• the City endorse the Metropolitan Council Task Force to track approach which would
permit consideration of expansion of capacity at the current airport while
property is identified and banked for a potential future airport. Administrative
Assistant Hohenstein stated that the Airport Relations Committee is planning to
meet immediately following the meeting to make its recommendations to the City
Council for formal ratification at the December 6 City Council meeting.
1989 PUBLIC ENTERPRISE BUDGET
City Administrator Hedges reviewed the proposed 1989 public enterprise
budget stating that this budget, unlike the general fund, is a self-supporting
fund with total revenues generated by user charges. He stated that the proposed
budget for 1989, including water and sewer utilities and street lighting is
$4,828,040.
The City Administrator reviewed new personnel recommending two new
maintenance employees and the addition of two new temporary employees to be
distributed equally in the water and sewer departments. He further commented that
operational expenses are increasing due to the volume of water that is produced
and treated and the increase in treatment costs by the MWCC at the Seneca Plant
reflect the increased volume of sewage. The City Administrator reviewed a number
of new programs such as the Gopher State 1 call that was mandated by the
legislature, the acquisition of land for the expansion of the Maintenance Garage
Facility, a 1,000 square foot administrative office addition and other capital and
equipment such as dehumidification for the water treatment plant, and truck
mounted sewer jetter and back haul for two pieces of sewer department equipment.
•
City Councilmember Wachter suggested that the Director of Public Works consider
the purchase of video equipment to televise sewer lines given the size of the
utility system. Director of Public Works Colbert stated that he would review the
cost effectiveness of owning equipment versus contracting for services as a part
of budget considerations for 1990.
Mayor Ellison stated that the public enterprise budget is well documented
and asked if members of the City Council had any questions for the Director of
Finance regarding the revenue projections. Following no questions or further
discussion, the City Administrator was directed to finalize the public enterprise
budget for its final ratification at the December 20, 1988 City Council meeting.
PUBLIC/PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
City Administrator Hedges stated that the City Council position regarding
the financing of public improvements would be helpful prior to meetings with the
Developers Task Force. He stated that as a part of the 1989 budget consideration,
it was recommended by the staff that private construction of public improvement
projects be eliminated giving the City control over its own franchise of
infrastructure and transportation. The City Administrator reviewed the number of
reasons why the staff is recommending that all public improvement projects be
financed through the sale of public improvement bonds. Director of Public Works
Colbert reviewed additional reasons why the control of public improvement projects
is necessary as it relates to quality of utility and street installation and long
term maintenance. The Public Works Director stated that the City loses a great
deal of control over the construction of utility infrastructure if private
developers are hiring the contractor to install both utilities and streets that
will later be owned, operated and maintained by the City. He further stated that
• many delays are common when utilities and streets are installed by private
developers due to the fact that often utilities and streets are not designed or
installed to meet the City of Eagan's engineering specifications which can cause
hard feelings between various developers and the City's engineering staff if
changes are required.
City Councilmember McCrea expressed her concern about eliminating the
option for developers installing utilities and streets privately for fear that
companies may no longer choose to develop in the City of Eagan. She suggested
that tighter administrative controls be developed to alleviate the kind of
problems that the Public Works Department is experiencing with the private
installation of certain infrastructure. City Councilmembers Gustafson expressed a
concern about the cost that could be imposed on developers if the City is
selecting one or two engineering firms to design all projects and further
questioned whether the public improvement bid process is as cost effective as the
developer negotiating a private installation. City Councilmember Egan stated that
he is in support of financing all public improvement projects through the City of
Eagan. He stated that as explained by the City Administrator and Director of
Public Works it was necessary for the City Council to allow private installation
several years ago when the City did not have in-house personnel and only one
consulting engineering firm to manage the public improvement projects. Director
of Public Works Colbert stated that with the use of three consulting firms and the
design engineer to be hired in 1989, the City can manage the volume of anticipated
public improvements. After further discussion on the item, Mayor Ellison stated
that he concurs with the need to change the policy requiring public infrastructure
facilities to be installed under City contract and asked that the City
• Administrator hold a Developers Task Force meeting to work out details of a policy
change.
1J
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
TLH
November 22, 1988 ?
Date City Clerk
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