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08/26/1996 - City Council Special a.Op 30,!\ 003 • MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAGAN CITY COUNCIL EAGAN, MINNESOTA August 26, 1996 A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Monday, August 26, 1996 at 5:00 p.m., at the Eagan Municipal Center Building. Present were Mayor Egan and City Councilmembers Awada, Hunter, Masin and Wachter. Also present were Director of Finance VanOverbeke, Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa, Assistant to the City Administrator Hohenstein, Assistant to the City Administrator Duffy, Chief of Police Geagan, Assistant Finance Director Pepper and City Administrator Hedges. VISITORS TO BE HEARD There were no visitors to be heard. REVIEW DRAFT 1997 GENERAL FUND OPERATING BUDGET City Administrator Hedges reviewed the Draft 1997 General Fund Operating Budget document. His review covered the budget formulation process and, specifically, an increase in the contingency budget from $199,100 in 1996 to $424,100 in 1997, to allow an allocation for software and hardware to begin the transition from paper filing toward a paperless office environment and records management system, an amount set aside to complete the state mandated comp guide update and an allocation for implementation of a basic winter trail maintenance trail program. Director of Finance VanOverbeke provided a general review of the revenue estimates, specifically, the change in each of the revenue categories. The City Administrator provided further review of the budget, summarizing expenditure appropriations such as the proposed new personnel that includes a new data processing MIS technical assistant, three sworn police officers, two half-time clerical technicians for the Police Department, a half- time clerical technician for Engineering and a half-time maintenance position for building maintenance. Staff was directed to remove the half-time clerical technician for Engineering from the 1997 budget. The City Administrator further stated that it might be appropriate to recognize members of the Fire Relief Association who were present to discuss a proposed pension increase for 1997 through 1999. Mark Sportelli, Pat Diloia, Tim Denman and Fire Chief Jensen appeared to present the proposed 1997 pension changes. Mr. Sportelli stated that the proposal is to change the monthly pension from $28/month per year of service to $35/month per year of service. He further stated that the optional lump sum benefit would change from $4,000 per year of service to $5,200 per year of service. Mr. Sportelli further stated that the new rates would apply to any firefighters retiring during 1997 through 1999. Mayor Egan asked whether the City will lose firefighters without a pension increase. Mr. Sportelli stated that for the hours and service the volunteer firefighters give to the community, as stated in the report, the pension is an incentive to keep experienced firefighters. City Councilmembers discussed the pros and cons of whether the legislature should continue setting a cap for the amount cities can appropriate for firefighter pensions or whether legislation should be pursued allowing cities the right to set firefighter pension amounts without any cap or restriction by the state. Relief Association President Sportelli stated that a group of communities are proposing legislation through an organization that would remove the pension cap and allow cities to determine their own monthly and annual lump sum pension benefits. Mayor Egan stated that a uniform bench mark would be beneficial to attracting firefighters. City Councilmember Wachter stated that he is in support of pursuing legislation that would allow cities to determine their own cap for firefighter • pensions. City Councilmember Hunter suggested that the City Administrator work with the Fire Pension Committee to pursue legislation through the AMM and LMC that would remove caps for firefighter pension Special City Council Meeting Minutes j "' `°'`L • August 26, 1996/Page 2 amounts. City Councilmember Hunter further stated that if this legislation is not successful it would be beneficial for several communities to present one monthly and lump sum pension number to present to the legislature on the unified basis. After further discussion, Mayor Egan summarized the firefighter pension matter by stating that there is a City Council consensus that the Fire Relief Association work with other communities to pursue legislation that would remove the caps and that if this is not successful, a new monthly benefit and lump sum would be pursued through joint legislation with other communities. Mayor Egan thanked the volunteer firefighters for their participation. Consensus was reached that the proposed dollar increase in the budget of$39,500 should be moved from the Fire Department to the contingency account. The City Administrator continued on with presentation of the operating budget. A question was raised regarding the training budget for 1997, including how much is related to MIS activities. General discussion regarding the proposed dedicated contingency account of$225,000 followed. An expectation was expressed that expenditure increases in areas of technology should be followed by reductions in personal services costs. Technology enhancements usually result in a change in the ratio of clerical to other staff. It was determined that no 1997 funds should be set aside for the records management/paperless office project. Preliminary work is to be completed during 1997,with a new request for funding to be considered in a later budget. Staff was directed to reduce the dedicated contingency account by $150,000 from $225,000 to $75,000. The $75,000 is available for consideration of the Sate mandated Comp Guide update and the basic winter trail maintenance program. Direction was given to reduce the City's Administrator's budget for Herman Miller furniture improvements by one-half,from$65,900 • to $33,000. The total program is to be phased in over a two year period. Questions were raised about the capital equipment being proposed in the Cable TV department budget. City Administrator Hedges suggested staff would provide a memo for the City Council with additional explanation regarding the budget proposal. Further budget consideration was continued to the special meeting scheduled for September 3, 1996. WESCOTT SQUARE HOUSING UNIT Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa provided background on the acquisition of the Wescott Square Housing Unit that would be utilized for special programs in the Wescott Square Development. Mr. Vraa provided three scenarios for acquisition of the property that were prepared by the HRA. He stated that the City can use a part of their CDBG appropriation by reallocating monies from the Mortgage Reduction Program. City Councilmember Awada stated that the requirement to rehab the units is very expensive and would support continued rental of the unit. Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa stated that the building is on the market and could be sold which would eliminate use of the existing unit which is an excellent location for the youth programming. After a brief discussion, City Councilmembers concurred that the City should not purchase a unit but continue renting a unit for the youth programming activities. The City Administrator stated that staff will forward this direction to the HRA. 06Z4,PLi Special City Council Meeting Minutes • August 26, 1996/Page 3 COMMUNITY SURVEY RESULTS/WALLACE GROUP City Administrator Hedges stated that the Wallace Group was retained as a communications consultant during 1996 for several reasons that included preparation of a community survey. He stated that the preliminary work in preparing the survey began in the late spring with a positioning exercise in which the City Council and staff viewed other Minnesota cities in comparison to the City of Eagan, a method to develop a community image. He further stated that following that exercise and dialog between the Wallace Group, staff and City Council, the purpose of a community survey and drafting of questions that were reviewed by the City Council and staff occurred during the month of July. Roy and Sheri Wallace of the Wallace Group were both in attendance. Mr. Wallace presented the report entitled "Report on Survey of Residents Attitudes and Opinions" that was submitted to the City Council dated August 26, 1996. Mr. Wallace introduced the survey results by stating that residents of Eagan believe strongly in their community and in each other. He further stated that the survey shows that people of Eagan believe the City's on the right course, that the development of the City has been based:upon sound policies and that the services provided to its residents are of high quality. Mr. Wallace explained how the survey was conducted, stating that sufficient calls were made during the daytime and evening hours to develop a respondent base of 250. He further stated that this provides a statistically reliable sample to assess overall resident attitudes, but has limits on the conclusions that could be drawn regarding the views of subgroups, such as men and women, particular • age brackets, and the like. Mr. Wallace further stated that about 50 questions were included in the survey and several were open ended or have subquestions related to them. He further stated that the objective was to survey opinions and attitudes of residents to determine how they felt about their City, what they found attractive or unattractive for the community and their hopes for the future. Mr. Wallace then spent approximately 45 minutes reviewing the survey in detail which included such things as attitudes toward City streets, law enforcement, development, bussing and many other examples of service delivery. A copy of the survey is a matter of official record entitled "Report on the Survey of Residents Attitudes and Opinions, August 1996"and filed in the office of City Clerk and the City Administrator. City Councilmembers expressed their excitement about the favorable results and thanked the Wallace Group for an excellent survey. After further discussion and general conversation about the survey, Mayor Egan stated that the survey will appear the September 3 City Council agenda for a brief presentation by the Wallace Group. City Administrator Hedges stated that their will be press releases to the area newspapers as well as an article appearing in the upcoming City-wide newsletter. WESTERN DAKOTA COUNTY FOUR-PLEX ICE CENTER PROPOSAL City Administrator Hedges provided background on a proposal for a Western Dakota County four-plex ice center that is being given consideration by area hockey associations and a Lakeville/ Burnsville business person Kirk Detlefsen. He stated that as chairperson of the Dakota County Managers Group, that organization has had two presentations to better understand how each community is meeting their needs for ice center demands and whether there is an interest by four communities to collaborate together and pursue funding for a four-plex ice center. He further stated that a Mighty Ducks contribution would be pursued. The total project cost is approximately $9.5 million which is based on a comparative Special City Council Meeting Minutes August 26, 1996/Page 4 cost of$2.8 million if cities were to build a single sheet of ice. The City Administrator also stated that the proposal is based on an annual guarantee of 2,600 hours of ice time. The terms of financing would be a 25 year revenue bond backed by general obligation and issued by the Dakota County HRA. Director of Parks and Recreation Vraa stated that the$2.8 million seems high for a single sheet of ice, since the City's architect who is designing the second sheet of ice for the existing civic arena is estimating the cost to be approximately $2 million. City Councilmember Wachter stated that he is concerned about the need for the four-plex and, if the City of Eagan is to invest community resources in a second sheet of ice, it should stay in the community as a shared facility with the existing civic arena. City Councilmember Masin stated that the four- plex ice facility concept would have been an excellent idea approximately six years ago before communities such as Eagan built their civic arenas. Mayor Egan stated that he has had recent conversations with the Burnsville Mayor and shares her concern that there are the correct number of arenas provided in the area, stating further that if there is an overbuild in civic arenas, there could be some financial strain on existing civic arenas causing unnecessary general government subsidies. After further discussion, there was general consensus by the City Council that the City of Eagan not participate as a member of the Western Dakota County four-plex ice center concept given the present circumstances of an existing civic arena and the desire to add a second sheet of ice adjacent to that facility. OTHER BUSINESS • There being no Other Business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. August 26, 1996 ! TLH .. Dated City Clerk