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2023-11-28 CC Meeting MinutesMOUND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 28, 2023 The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in regular session on Tuesday, November 28, 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, and Kevin Castellano. Members absent: Kathy McEnaney Others present: City Manager Eric Hoversten, Deputy City Manager Maggie Reisdorf, City Clerk Kevin Kelly, City Attorney Scott Landman, Assistant City Planner Rita Trapp, Colin Charlson, Stacy Kromenhoek, Ben Kromenhoek, Kate Kromenhoek, Brian Denn, Sophia Denn, Joel Koepp, Leanna Koepp, Addison Koepp and Owen Koepp. 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 he had two amendments to the agenda; the resolution honoring Bob Polston which is page 2567.1 and the letter to accompany item 12, request for City to be placed on to the Governor's 2024 Capital Improvement Priorities list, pages 2587.1 through 2587.6 MOTION by Larson, seconded by Pugh, to approve the amended agenda. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 4. Consent agenda MOTION by Pugh, seconded by Larson, to approve the consent agenda. Upon roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried. A. Approve payment of claims in the amount of $342,735.29. B. Approve minutes: 11-14-23 Regular Meeting C. Approve Docks and Commons Commission Reappointments D. Approve Official Dock Map Addendum E. NW Tonka Lions Temporary Liquor License F. Approve miscellaneous pay item in the amount of $4,809.00 to Create Construction for work related to the 2023 lift station backup power upgrade at the Scherven station PW 23-03 Mound City Council Minutes — November 28, 2023 G. Approve Pay Request #2 in the amount of $377,887.82 to Minger Construction for the 2023 Liftstation Improvements Project, PW 23-03 5. Comments and suggestions from citizens present on any item not on the agenda. None one came forward. 6. Mayor for the Day Essay — Top Five Recipients of 6tn Grade Grandview Middle School Students: Holt introduced the students who will be presenting their essays to the Council. Holt said one of the recipients, Nellie Sewell, was not available. Sophia Denn — Denn said as Mayor she would answer people's questions, build a public swimming pool, add a homeless shelter in Mound, and be loyal, kind, with good ideas that she can put into action. Denn said she would make Mound a better, safer place. Thomas Gombola — Gombola said as Mayor he would fix problems he has noticed. Gombola said he would rehabilitate the WRA baseball fields, add more stop signs on County Road 44 for bike safety and make more parks and homeless shelters and work on a goal to end homelessness. Addison Koepp — Koepp said a Mayor should help improve citizen's lives and listen and communicate with the people. Koepp said her ideas are to add small businesses, athletic facilities and arenas, and add green spaces around town. Koepp said the green spaces could include planting trees and starting community gardens. Kate Kromenhoek — Kromenhoek said she would like to increase the amount of green space, more areas to picnic, dog parks and playgrounds for kids to play in. Kromenhoek said she would repave the roads and fix dozens of cracks and potholes especially around Mound Marketplace. Kromenhoek would add more garbage bins around Mound Marketplace to take care of all the trash and to decrease the amount of litter. 7. Westonka Student Senate Treasurer Emma Carlson providing Westonka Schools Activities Update Emma Carlson said she is a junior at MWHS. Carlson said she has been serving on the student senate for the past three years and is currently treasurer of the student senate. Activities - • Staff Appreciation Week, November 13-17 • WeCAN Drive — December 6-13 to benefit families in Westonka • Junior Prom planning has begun • NHS Blood Drive with 39 units donated • DECA, Letters of Love, Rotary and Math League • Link Crew helps transition of students to High School • Eli Hart Foundation Chapter working with the EHF five event fundraisers in 2023 • EHF Winter Wonderland Event on January 21 Athletics - • Fall Sports Wrap Up • Winter Sports have started or are starting this week Mound City Council Minutes — November 28, 2023 Arts — • Grandview Middle School Middle School Theatre musical ended recently • Westonka Community Theatre show this weekend • MWHS Theater auditions next week • Wind Ensemble and Concert Choir traveled to New Orleans Academics — Two National Merit Scholars Two National Merit Semifinalists 41 AP Scholars at MWHS 4 students with College Board honors Westonka testing scores were fourth highest Building Teachers of the Year were named Westonka Voting — Two Levy's approved by voters Carlson said Westonka Community Education is celebrating 45 years of service. Carlson added that the Westonka School District was listed as one of the best K-8 school districts in rankings by US News. 8. Approve Resolution Recognizing Contributions of Former Mayor Bob Polston Holt said former two-time Mayor and Council Member Bob Polston passed away on November 14cr Holt read the resolution from the City which will be presented to his family. Larson said she and Polston joined together in a lawsuit 22 years ago and Polston was a dedicated Mound resident and a great guy. MOTION by Holt, seconded by Pugh, to approve the following resolution. All voted in favor. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 23-97: RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING COTRIBUTIONS OF FORMER MAYOR BOB POLSTON 9. City Council Introduction of concept plan from Colin Charlson for building remodel project at 5581 Shoreline Drive and Outlot B, Mound Harbor Rita Trapp, City planning consultant, said the City Council directed Colin Charlson to come back to the City with a proposal for the Outlot B property which the City owns. Trapp said the City intended Outlot B to be combined with adjacent property for development. Trapp said that Outlot B is currently dedicated open space and the applicant wants to improve the structure on the 5518 Old Shoreline Drive. Trapp said the applicant would like to add a sidewalk and ramp to the parking lot in the back of the 5518 Shoreline building. Trapp said the addition of Outlot B would support the amendments to the outside of the 5518 Shoreline building. Trapp said staff did notice the proposed land purchase to neighboring property owners. Colin Charlson, 5749 Sunnybrook Lane, Minnetrista, said his insurance business is currently in Mound. Charlson added he started his business with two employees and now the business has 13 employees. Charlson said his current office building is now too small and he was looking to move his business location and found there aren't many options for commercial office space in Mound. Charlson said he did consider moving out of town due to the lack of office space. Charlson said most of his employees are residents of the area. Mound City Council Minutes — November 28, 2023 Charlson said he was approached to be a potential buyer of the 5518 Shoreline building which was built in the 1930's. Charlson said he wants to preserve the 90-year-old building and use the ground floor as the space for his insurance and financial services practice with the upstairs to be rented to another tenant. Charlson showed the Council a design sketch and said he will improve the building including the front with a new entrance fagade and parking access to the back of the building. Charlson said adding the Outlot B property will be beneficial as it will add ADA access to the building. Pugh said she is excited about something happening with the building. Pugh said she is concerned about how the property fits together with the Artessa development and the future proposed park to the east. Pugh said the Council should think about how to put this all together. Pugh said the design plan looks great. Holt said the old building is an eye -sore and he said he echoes Pugh that the plan looks great. Hoversten said after this discussion and the property owner must decide whether to go forward with his plan. Hoversten said this was an unsolicited purchase offer. Hoversten said this proposal would go to the Planning Commission (PC) for platting and Comprehensive Plan review. Charlson said he would go forward with making a decision on the application process. Hoversten said there is an unsolicited purchase offer for the property. Hoversten said to move forward there would need to be plat action to join with the lot Charlson owns. Hoversten said there will also be PC Planning review application for Comprehensive Plan compliance. Pugh asked about parking to which Charlson said there are 11 spots in back and the diagonal parking in front of the building on the street. Castellano said the design is cool and makes sense, but that he is not interested in the business sign and the green space. Pugh said this building would bring vitality to the old downtown of Mound. Pugh said can the City ask Charlson to do something on the remaining green space if a building can't be sited on the lot. Charlson said he doesn't want public activity and recreating on his private property. Charlson said Outlot B is a difficultly shaped lot. Holt said there isn't a lot of space in Outlot B to build On. Hoversten said this is an opportunity for the Council to weigh in on the proposed project as this process replaces the previous development committee. Castellano said the green space matches the park on the other side of the Harbor area. Castellano said the green space can be used for something else. Castellano said if the PC does their homework, then the PC will vet the planning proposal. Charlson said he needs the property in that without Outlot B it is not possible to renovate to include the necessary ADA access and there is more hardcover than is allowed by the Watershed District. Hoversten said that Outlot B probably can't be used for anything else other than being combined with an adjacent property. Hoversten said there are two choices which include a lower intensity development like Charlson's proposal and one of higher intensity which would be more building activity on Outlot B. Mound City Council Minutes — November 28, 2023 10. City Council discussion/action on purchase agreement offer from Colin Charlson of 4 C's Equity LLC to buy City property known as Outlot B, Mound Harbor Landsman said Council Member Larson will recuse herself from this discussion due to conflict of interest as she has expressed an interest in purchasing the property. Larson recused herself from Council discussion on this matter. Hoversten said there are three options for the Council to consider; remand discussion to PC for formal review, reject the purchase agreement, or table the agreement for further discussion. Hoversten said the City attorney has not reviewed the agreement at this time in the process. Hoversten said this is the only offer on the table though there has been another expression of interest in purchase of the property. Hoversten said there can be a claw -back clause if the purchaser doesn't do what they proposed. Hoversten said this process is a change from past practices based on the Council wanting to vet public property proposals before they went to the PC. Castellano said the project is great. Castellano said the Council can decide the number for the purchase later. Hoversten said if the Council doesn't like Charlson's plan than reject it at this time rather than forwarding it on to the PC. Landsman said the idea is, if the City is interested in the proposal, the proposal should get a recommendation from PC as far as compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. Landsman said staff can start to negotiate a purchase price. Landsman added the Council is not bound to the agreement until there is closed session to work through terms and conditions and then final attorney review. Charlson said the process is frustrating and he expressed interest in the property and is the person carrying the bill waiting for a decision. Charlson said the only people who can develop Outlot B are himself and Larson who are the adjacent property owners. Hoversten said the Council doesn't want to go to a sealed bid because a third party could purchase and hold the land and it may not be developed. MOTION by Holt, seconded by Pugh, to approve 4 C's Equity, LLC proposal for review by the Planning Commission for consistency with the City Comprehensive Plan. Holt, Pugh and Castellano voted in favor. Motion carried. 11. Fee Schedule Amendment as it pertains to Dock Program Fees Landsman said item 11 relates to an increase in dock program fees and Castellano is the only Council Member who participates in the Dock Program. Landsman said any decision to adjust the fees will have a direct financial impact on Castellano and recommends Castellano be recused. Landsman said this creates a conflict of interest and there is case law which establishes a balance to direct impacts the Council and to maintain a functioning government. Landsman said Castellano is the only member who is directly impacted and his recusal doesn't sway the quorum. Landsman said he reached out to the Castellano about this conflict of interest. Holt said that he is on the wait list but is not in the dock program but the Council is deciding whether to raise his wait list fee. Landsman said if Holt joins the Dock Program those decisions affecting Dock Program Fees would be taken case by case. Castellano said he is going by the advice of the City Attorney and is recused from the Council discussion and action. Kelly said the Docks and Commons Commission (DCC) considered the Council approval of Ehlers LLC Option 1 for Dock Program fee changes and felt the fee increases in Option 1 weren't equitable. Kelly said the DCC thought the Dock and Slip license holders should pay the same amount of increased Mound City Council Minutes — November 28, 2023 fees. Kelly said the DCC also voted that they would like to be more aggressive with fees to pay for increase costs to the Dock Fund from the increase in tree removal and future slip installation and removal. Hoversten said the fee decision by the Council is whether to be more aggressive on the front end or less aggressive and follow the capital planning formula created by Ehlers. Hoversten said Ehlers created a capital plan graph for the DCC suggested Option 2 with future adjustment of dock fees which are more aggressive on the front end and more modest increases in the future. Holt said the DCC met on Thursday and disagreed with the Council approved Option 1 and voted unanimously. Kelly said yes it was a 6-0 vote of the DCC to be more aggressive with fees. Kelly added that Dock license fees have not kept up with inflation over the last 15 years. Kelly said there have been $100 increases in dock program fees in previous years. Holt said the Council had a good reason to go forward with Option 1. Pugh said she is in favor to go ahead with the DCC opinion and therefore the presented Option 2. Larson said she has not changed her view from the last Council meeting. Holt asked Pugh why she liked Option 2 over Option 1. Pugh said if the DCC is more willing to be more aggressive the Council should follow their preference. Pugh said the DCC are individuals who use the program and the Council wanted to take a gentler approach to fee increases. Pugh said the market for docks on the lake show that the dock fees are undervalued. Holt said it was good that the DCC voted on a higher increase. Holt said four out of the five Council members voted for Option 1 from Ehlers and he felt comfortable with that. Hoversten said the Council should also consider all of the other increases in cost to residents and to minimize the totality of the increases and not to raise costs to residents more aggressively. Pugh said she would vote for Option 1 to move this item forward. MOTION by Holt, seconded by Pugh, to approve the following resolution and Ehlers Option 1. Pugh and Holt voted in favor. Larson voted no. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 23-97: RESOLUTION AMENDING CITY OF MOUND RESOLUTION NO. 22-108 AS IT PERTAINS TO WATERWAYS FEES 12. Approve memo to Governor's Office regarding 2024 Capital Improvement Priorities and Funding for the Mound Water Treatment Project Holt presented the Governor's request letter memo to the Council. Holt asked the Council if they had any objections or changes to the memo. Council members did not have any comment on the letter regarding the Governor's memo. Holt said Kelly Morrison's staff informed him that the Mound water treatment plant has been added to the bonding list for state projects. Hoversten said the Minnesota Department of Health has changed its point value for projects and is going to raise the point value for this cycle which is favorable to the City proposal. MOTION by Pugh, seconded by Castellano, to approve the letter to Governor Walz regarding support for the 2024 Capital Improvement priorities and funding for the Mound Water Treatment Plant. X. Comments/Reports from Council Members: Mound City Council Minutes — November 28, 2023 Council Member Pugh — Pugh said she attended the Christmas Tree Lighting event with lots of people in attendance and gave out the buy local campaign material. Pugh added the Gillespie Center Christmas Boutique was held which was suspended due to the Covid crisis. Council Member Larson — Larson said she attended the Fire Commission Meeting with a tour of Fire Department and the new fire truck. Larson added the Star Tribune had an article about the new Hennepin County Library. Council Member McEnaney — Not present Council Member Castellano — Castellano asked about the timeline for interviews of the City Manager candidates. Holt said to meet in Chambers at 6:00 with interviews starting at 6:15. Mayor Holt — Holt said he did the DARE graduation recently for the 6th grade class at Grandview Middle School. Holt attended the Hot Spot Ribbon Cutting and said the owners of the shop are Mound residents. Holt said the Communication Committee met to plan on communication including the City newsletter and a City Facebook page. Holt said he would like to change the name of the City newsletter which is City Contact. Y. Information/Miscellaneous A. Comments/reports from Council members/City Manager: • City Manager candidate interviews on November 29 • December 12 is the last meeting of the year and it will be a full agenda • December 22 - City Hall closed for Christmas Eve • December 25 - City Hall closed for Christmas • December 29 - City Hall closed for New Year's Eve • January 1 - City Hall closed for New Year's Day • Polar Plunge scheduled for January 27, 2024 Reisdorf said the City Facebook is temporarily disabled by Facebook to make sure the account is managed by a real person. B. Reports: Fire Department — October 2023 Mediacom 11/10/2023 Rate Adjustment letter Metropolitan Council 11/3/2023 Letter, Completeness of Comprehensive Plan Amendment C. Minutes: September 21, 2023 Docks and Commons Commission D. Correspondence: Z. Adjourn MOTION by Larson, seconded by Pugh, to adjourn at 8:46 p.m. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 4.-'Kevin Kelly, Jerk Mayor Jason R. Holt MOUND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES November 29, 2023 The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in a special session on Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at 6:00 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: Assistant City Manager Maggie Reisdorf, City Clerk Kevin Kelly and Pat Melvin, D DA. 1. Open meeting Mayor Holt called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. 2. Approve agenda MOTION by McEnaney, seconded by Castellano, to approve the agenda. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 3. Interview of City Manager candidates Pat Melvin of DDA introduced the two candidates to be interviewed by the Council. Melvin said both candidates met the Mayor and staff prior to the interviews. Scott Hildebrand was the first candidate to be interviewed by the City Council. The City Council completed the first interview and went into recess at 7:15. The City Council returned from recess at 7:45. Jesse Dickson was the second and final candidate to be interviewed by the City Council. The City Council completed the second interview and went into recess until 8:46. 4. Discussion and action on the City Manager candidate selection Melvin guided the Council discussion on the City Manager candidate selection. Melvin said he will work with the Personnel Committee to create a tentative employment agreement and bring the agreement back to the City Council for approval. Melvin said he will contact the candidates of their status regarding the Council decision on the City Manager position. MOTION by Holt, seconded by McEnaney, to approve an offer of the selection of the City Manager position to Jesse Dickson by the personnel committee with the understanding the MN Statute Section 412.641 requires the City Council's selection of a City Manager to be solely on the basis of training, experience and administrative qualifications. The evaluation of all candidates for the City Manager position has been based solely on these statutory qualifications. In making the decision to make the offer for the City Manager position the City Council has determined that Jesse Dickson best meets the statutory qualifications. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mound City Council Minutes — November 29, 2023 5. Adjourn ACTION by Castellano, seconded by Pugh, to adjourn at 9:56 p.m. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mayor Jason R. Holt Attest: Kevin Kelly, Clerk