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2023-08-08 CC Meeting MinutesMOUND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 8, 2023 The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in regular session on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the Centennial Building. Members present: Mayor Jason Holt, Council Members Sherrie Pugh, Paula Larson, Kathy McEnaney and Kevin Castellano. Members absent: None Others present: City Manager Eric Hoversten, City Clerk Kevin Kelly, Assistant City Engineer Matt Bauman, City Attorney Scott Landsman, Joe Bruns, Marge Beard, Orono Police Officer Jane Szczepanik. Consent agenda: All items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine in nature by the Council. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a Councilmember or citizen so requests, in which event it will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in normal sequence. 1. Open meeting Mayor Holt called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Approve agenda Hoversten said there is an amendment to the consent agenda, Item 4D, City Hall Network Upgrade Proposal; replacement pages 1654.1 to 1654.3. MOTION by Castellano, seconded by Pugh, to approve the amended agenda. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 4. Consent agenda McEnaney said she would like item 4D pulled from the consent agenda. MOTION by Larson, seconded by Pugh, to approve the amended consent agenda. Upon roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried. A. Approve payment of claims in the amount of $600,916.40. B. Approve minutes: 07-25-23 Regular Meeting 07-25-23 Special EOC Workshop Meeting C. Approve Pay Request #4 in the amount of $23,933.07 to Valley Paving for the 2022 Surfside Park Depot Area Improvements Project, PW 22-09 D. Added: Pulled 4D. City Hall Network Upgrade Proposal McEnaney said she didn't get enough information from the memo to grant the bid to Five Technology. McEnaney said this item feels rushed especially considering Windows 12 has Mound City Council Minutes — August 8, 2023 been known to become obsolete since 2018. McEnaney said at the very least a presentation should have been made to the Council to answer questions. McEnaney added that with the top two staff leaving the City this is an opportunity for long-term planning rather than rushing to make a fix. McEnaney said this is a crucial investment and proposes to put this out for bid to generate forward thinking and have the newly hired Deputy City Manager take over this process. Castellano and Hoversten discussed the proposed use of $23K for the server upgrade and at what dollar amount threshold ($175K) must staff put the request out to bid. Hoversten said Five Technology is the existing IT support for the City and manages the total IT systems. Hoversten said staff felt it prudent to continue with Five Technology to maintain continuity as it is the City IT consultant. McEnaney asked why Five Technology didn't approach the City earlier with the need for a new server. Larson said she sent out the IT proposal to bid herself and was told the items in the memo aren't specific enough for Larson's contacts to provide a bid. Larson said the City needs to catch our breath and get some bids. McEnaney said it might be interesting to change providers because she learns so much when she has switched to different IT support in the past. McEnaney said the City staff may prefer Five Technology but wouldn't it be nice to talk about a new IT system with the new Deputy City Manager and to let her run with it. Pugh said it is warranted to take a step back as we move into new technology including how people will participate in City meetings remotely as this should be considered as well. Hoversten said this proposal is for the base server for the City IT system. McEnaney said this is the right time to review what we are doing and understand going forward if there is anything we are missing. Holt said he agrees with McEnaney, as the Council has just seen this in the last 24/48 hours though he understands the urgency of the proposal. McEnaney said there are companies which can overlap the end of Windows 2012. Hoversten said if the intent of the Council is to not enter into a contract with Five Technology as proposed this will signal staff to do an RFP and bring results back to a future meeting. MOTION by McEnaney, to table Item 4D to instruct staff to reevaluate IT server options by seeking RFP's, seconded by Larson. Motion approved unanimously. 5. Comments and suggestions from citizens present on any item not on the agenda. Joe Bruns, 2630 Settler Circle, addressed the Council and provided a document to the Council regarding traffic at Lynwood Blvd. and Commerce Blvd. Bruns said now that Auditors Road is closing and the school created traffic going to Grandview Middle school there should be a right lane only turn lane on northbound Commerce at the intersection. Hoversten said he has spoken to Hennepin County (HC) about the pinch point on Commerce Blvd. in the area of the Wells Fargo bank and other areas in this commercial area. Hoversten said the HC traffic engineer is set to address traffic proposals and the lane and trail crossing improvements. Hoversten said he made a formal request on Monday to HC to address the traffic issues in this area. Hoversten said there is a balance which is needed to be worked out regarding pedestrian and vehicle Mound City Council Minutes — August 8, 2023 traffic. Hoversten said the reallocation of lanes in the general area of County Roads 110 and 15 needs to be addressed. Bruns said the City Population Sign at Westedge Blvd. and Halstead Lane has been stolen. Bruns said the City should get Windows Server 2022 from Microsoft. 6. State Representative Andrew Myers providing Constituent Update Andrew Myers, addressed the Council with City specific legislative updates. Myers said the City will be receiving one-time funding for public safety in the amount of $411 K and an additional $423K in local transportation funding which will be available in October. Myers said the legislature passed a $250 Million lead line abatement bill which funds the removal of lead in residential water lines. Myers said the legislature passed the $2.3Billion bonding bill of which $10.3Milllion is funding for water treatment for the City. Myers said there are several corrections which need to be made to bills before the funds are released. Myers said there was a number of bills before the legislature which the applicable State Agencies need to make technical corrections on which may need to have accompanying legislation. Myers said these legislative corrections may have to be done in February 2024. Myers said he has reached out to Governor Walz regarding the City water treatment needs. Myers said Paid Family Leave was passed and may have an impact on City budgets. Myers said cities will be required to add a Climate Action Plan into City Comprehensive Plans. Myers said small cities are asking for HC support with planning and sharing costs. Myers said there is more tax collection at the State level and will be distributed down to cities as there is a local tax moratorium in place for the next two years. Myers said the recreational marijuana bill has passed and cities are working to address this new reality. Myers said Mound has a commercial retail district so Mound will be impacted. McEnaney thanked Myers for his work on behalf of the City. Holt said the legislature was a roller coaster ride and the water treatment bill legislation passed. Myers said there will most likely be a bonding bill next session and the legislature may have more funding available for water treatment. 7. Three Rivers Park District District 1 Representative Marge Beard providing Park District Update Marge Beard presented the Three Rivers Park District (TRPD) Update. Beard said she represents District 1 on the Park Board which is most of western Hennepin County. Beard said the mission of TRPD is Environmental Stewardship and everything the TRPD does is natural resource based. Beard said the TRPD Board consists of seven Representatives of which five are elected and two are appointed by the Hennepin County Board. Beard said the TRPD represents all of HC with the Mound City Council Minutes — August 8, 2023 exception of Minneapolis and has a partnership with Scott County and other partnerships which manage certain facilities. Beard added the following statistics of the TRPD which consists of: 25 parks 27,000 acres of land 175 miles of regional trails outside of parks 300 miles of trail within TRPD Parks 15 million visits per year Beard listed the following outreach programs to underrepresented communities: • Ice Fishing Introduction • Camping 101 at Baker Park Reserve Recreation: • Summer Beaches, boating, kayaking, Monarch mountain bike trail, baker golf course • Cross country skiing • Hyland Hills alpine skiing and snowtubing Education • Seven locations dedicated to outdoor recreation • Natural resources • Restored prairie at Crow Hassan Park • Water Quality — over 100 AIS inspectors Moving Forward • Trail Crossing in Mound Beard also listed Mound fun facts: • The most visited amenity in the area is the Dakota Trail • Second is Gale Woods Farm • Third is the Baker Park Reserve o 3700 visits from Mound residents with 1,000 Mound campers at Baker Park Reserve Other areas of interest/use by Mound Residents o Swim Ponds o Dog Off Leash o Cross Country Skiing 0 70 group reservations from Mound school groups Castellano said the Monarch Mountain Bike Trail is becoming one of the best trail loops in the state. Holt said the Baker National is one of the best golf courses around. Beard said the golf course is an Audubon Certified Bird Habitat. Holt said he appreciates the TRPD's support on the County Road 15 Dakota Trail crossing project. 8. Orono Police Department with Monthly Activity Report for May, June & July 2023 Officer Jane Szczepanik said she is filling in for her Sergeant with this report. Szczepanik said there was a one vehicle accident on July 10t" which was a motorcycle crash. Szczepanik said the rider survived and is now out of ICU and in rehab thanks to quick emergency response to the accident. Mound City Council Minutes — August 8, 2023 Szczepanik said the Orono Police Department attended many Night to Unite gatherings and loved it and it is her favorite night of the year. Szczepanik said there has been a trend in Wayzata and Orono of theft and urged residents to not leave keys in cars even when parked in your garage. Szczepanik said this situation hasn't come out to Mound yet. Szczepanik gave a report on a Speed Study of traffic on Three Points Blvd. during July 13-27t". Holt asked about speeding. Szczepanik said there were not too many vehicles speeding and the 13 speeding vehicles could be an anomaly. Szczepanik said the 13 vehicles were timed going over 35mph out of over 1600 vehicles, which is 97.5% compliance with speed limits. Szczepanik said there is also a speed trailer which shows the actual speed of vehicles on Commerce near Grandview Middle School. 9. Lauren Royce and Jen Withrow providing an introduction and activity summary for the Orono Police Department Embedded Social Worker Program Lauren Royce introduced herself as a Social Work Unit supervisor of the HC Embedded Social Worker (SW) Program. Royce said the program started in 2019 with four SW's and there are now 45 with one in almost every city. Royce said there is a SW in the dispatch center to help officers with information when on a call. Royce said she supervises Brooklyn Park which has four embedded SW's and an alternative response team pilot which has been running since December. Royce said the alternative response team is a SW and a community paramedic who respond together to 911 calls and is an option on calls related to mental health, welfare checks, and substance use. Royce said another project is to have a SW respond with an officer from 2:00 to 10:30 p.m. Royce said the City of Hopkins has added a second SW who is focused on youth and Richfield has a SW working in congregate settings as youth and other congregate settings have frequent police calls. Jen Withrow said she is a Clinical Social Worker, who for the past 1 '/2 years has supervised SW's within seven Police Departments that provide services to 15 cities. Withrow said her office is at the South Lake Police Department and she receives referrals from a liaison with each department. Withrow said she responds to 911 calls from frequent 911 callers who experience chemical dependency, dementia issues or are experiencing homelessness in the community. Withrow said she reaches out these individuals if there is a second referral for services and will do a door knock to offer services which they may be in need of. Withrow said this is a voluntary program. Withrow said the Embedded SW system is a good program and is good for everybody involved. Withrow said suburban HC is experiencing similar issues as the inner City. Pugh said what started the interest in the program was the high number of health and wellness calls and the repeated need for assistance. There was discussion that there were 73 calls responded to by a SW in the first two quarters of 2023. 10. Approve Award of Bid for the Waterbury Retaining Wall Project Contract, PW-23-02 Bauman presented the bids for the Waterbury Retaining Wall Project. Bauman said this retaining wall supports a road. Bauman recommends award of the bid to Boulder Creations which was the low bidder. Mound City Council Minutes — August 8, 2023 Hoversten said the retaining wall sits in the front yard of a private residence and staff have worked with the resident on design features. Hoversten said the City needs to create an easement as the retaining wall encroaches into the private property. Castellano asked if the replacement of the retaining walls static to which Bauman said these replacements are done on an "as -needed" basis. Hoversten said the major City retaining wall improvement projects have been addressed in the past few years. Hoversten said the walls which are built from timber are at risk and the response is based on the consequences of a wall failure. Hoversten said some of the $75K retaining wall budget partially goes to fixing stone walls which need to be restacked and realigned. Hoversten said other portions of the $75K meets the annual needs including repairing the rotting, wooden walls. MOTION by Larson, seconded by Castellano, to approve the following resolution. All voted in favor. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 23-74: RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT FOR 5129 WATERBURY RETAINING WALL PROJECT CITY PROJECT NO. PW-23-02 11. Approve Award of Bid for 2023 Manhole Rehabilitation Contract, PW-23-04 Bauman said this item is a rebid of the Manhole Rehabilitation contract. Bauman said during the first bid in May prices were high. Bauman said the rebid received three quotes and he is recommending the base bid go to Thul Specialty Contracting. MOTION by Castellano, seconded by Larson, to approve the following resolution. All voted in favor. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 23-75: RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT FOR 2023 MANHOLE REHABILITATION PROJECT REBID (PW-23-04) 12. City Manager Eric Hoversten requesting discussion and possible action on proposals received for Executive Search Services Hoversten said the Council instructed staff to put out an RFP after Personnel Committee input. Hoversten said the City received seven bids from players in the market. Hoversten said the bidders have a great amount of experience in the market with focus on different areas of the state and nation. Hoversten sent out the request for inquiries and staff compiled a data table of the vendors bids. Hoversten said staff will need the Council to approve the contract if there is a chosen vendor. Castellano said he would like to land on a vendor tonight. McEnaney said she has studied all of the vendors and called references and came up with her top three. McEnaney said she had her vendors ranked as the following: o David Drown and Associates (DDA) first, o South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) was her second choice and, o Gov HR (GHR) her third choice, Pugh's rankings were: 1. DDA 2. Baker Tilly 3. GHR Mound City Council Minutes — August 8, 2023 Larson's rankings: 1. DDA 2. Baker Tilly 3. Larson said she didn't have a third choice. Larson added she didn't like Gov HR because they emphasized they are a women led search firm. Larson said this was discrimination and said she doesn't like discrimination in any form. Castellano's rankings: 1. Baker Tilly 2. DDA 3. GHR Holt's rankings: 1. DDA- They have done executive searches in areas such as Maple Plain. Holt said he talked to the Mayor of Maple Plain. Landsman said Maple Plain used Baker Tilly two years ago and is now using DDA. Holt said there were 10 candidates at Maple Plain and he likes the two-year guarantee. 2. Baker Tilly - Holt said they were his second choice and he didn't prefer the other vendors. Holt said there were four number one votes to DDA and one second place vote to DDA. MOTION by Holt, seconded by McEnaney to instruct Hoversten to enter into contract with DDA to provide Executive Search Services to hire a new City Manager. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 13. Comments/Reports from Council Members: Council Member Pugh — Tour De Tonka bike ride greeting. Council Member Larson — Attended Police Commission and Fire Commission Meetings which emphasized their 2024 budgets. Surfside Park for the filming of a cooking program at the Park. Council Member McEnaney — Attended the Met Council bee friendly landscaping discussion at a lift station and discussed grooming the area next to the street at Westedge Blvd. Council Member Castellano — Nothing Mayor Holt — Highlights: • Fiscal Year 2024 Federal Funding providing $959,752.00 to the City out of requested $4Million • Mound Lift Station #38 bee -friendly area at Westedge Blvd. Met Council will mow at six inches of growth along the edge of the landscaping. Hoversten said it takes three years for full growth. • Attended the Police Commission Meeting. He said the Cadet Program Reserve, CSO and Police Officer get $2500 a year for school. OPD - 100% compliant on body worn cameras during 50 random events over the past two years • Fire Commission Meeting - $411 K available for Public Safety one-time funds which the Fire Commission will determine use at its budget meeting. Chief Pederson recommends the possible use of funds for radios with $130K used for fire department related items. Hoversten said this can be used for buying forward to reduce future and current expenses. Holt said funds can help buffer budgeted expenses to replace levied dollars. Holt said these funds can be used to replace items and work on relieving budget pressure. • The Finance Committee meets next week and will take recommendations to CC and Fire Commission. The recommendations include Fire Fighter equipment and vehicle exhaust monitoring in the FD Vehicle Bay which is in need of replacing. Hoversten said another item is Mound City Council Minutes — August 8, 2023 to jump start replacement of Fire Fighter turnout gear to keep the equipment at high quality. Hoversten said three new Fire Fighters don't have a second set of turnout gear. There is a need for 30 sets as there are backup sets which are too old to continue to be used. Hoversten said the FD needs to purchase 10 or 11 sets of new turnout gear each budget cycle to keep up. • National Night Out with Officer Sturm and Chief Pederson and went to 4 or 5 events • Westonka Library Preliminary Sketch on HC website • Holt said he is happy with the Newsletter redesign • Eli Hart Foundation Wine event - August 12 • Dog Days - August 12 • Urged residents to sign up for RAVE notifications • Buy local Mound logo in next newsletter. Pugh said local businesses give back to the community in jobs and donations. 14. Information/Miscellaneous A. Comments/reports from Council members/City Manager: August 10th — last Movie in The Park for 2023 August 12th - Dog Days Event B. Reports: Engineering — 2nd Quarter 2023 Liquor Store — July 2023 C. Minutes: D. Correspondence: 15. Adjourn ACTION by Castellano, seconded by McEnaney, to adjourn at 9:00 p.m. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mayor Jason R. Holt Attest: vin Kelly, Cler