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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 0