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2008-03-25MOUND CITY COUNCIL MEETING March 25, 2008 The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in regular session on Tuesday, March 25, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers of city hall. Members present: Mayor Mark Hanus; Councilmembers David Osmek, John Beise and Greg Skinner. Members absent: Councilmember Mike Specht Others present: City Attorney John Dean, City Manager Kandis Hanson, Community Development Director Sarah Smith, Parks Superintendent Jim Fackler, Police Chief Jim Kurtz, Fire Chief Greg Pederson, Catherine Pausche, Jodi Rahn, Kathy Weist, Vicki Weber, Philip Jensen, Jon Klockziem, Collette Roberts, Ron Faust, Ray Hanson, Sue Schwalbe, Shirley Hawks, Jack Kimball, Bob Mellett, Joyce Nelson, Tom, Patti and Logan Kurak Consent agenda: All items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine in nature by the Council and will be enacted by a roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a Councilmember or citizen so requests, in which event will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in normal sequence. 1. Open meeting Mayor Hanus called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Approve agenda Kandis Hanson requested to pull Item 4E to provide more information and put on a future agenda. Hanus requested the addition of an Item 5A, potential resolution setting a policy to deal with perceived conflicts of interest. Hanson also requested the removal of Item 11, Amendment to Administrative Code so there can be a full Council present to consider this amendment. Osmek stated that he has a problem with removing Item 11 because he will probably miss the next meeting. Beise asked if this could wait until the second meeting in April and Hanus stated that he proposed this item and wanted it considered in March, and in addition to that he has concern that this be dealt with as soon as possible because of union contracts currently being discussed. He'd like it settled before anything happens with that. It's already been in front of the Administrative Code committee twice. Hanson stated that there has been no meeting between the Employee Administrative Code Committee and the Council Personnel Committee. Hanus stated there have been enough meetings on this thing and it needs to be put to rest. MOTION by Beise, seconded by Hanus to remove Item 4E and Item 11, and add Item 5A as noted above. The following voted in favor: Beise and Skinner. The following voted against: Osmek and Hanus. Motion failed. Hanus asked that those in favor of removing Item 4E signify by saying aye. All voted in favor. Hanus stated that Item 4E is removed. Mound City Council Minutes -March 25, 2008 Hanus asked that those in favor of adding Item 5A signify by saying aye. Osmek, Hanus and Beise voted aye. Skinner voted nay. Hanus stated that Item 5A is added. Hanus asked that those in favor of removing Item 11 from the agenda signify by saying aye. Beise and Skinner voted aye. Osmek and Hanus voted nay. Hanus stated that does not pass, thus Item 11 remains on the agenda. John Dean stated that there is a discrepancy in the City Code dealing with the vote required for additions to the agenda, that would result in Item 5A not being added to the agenda. MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Hanus to approve the balance of the agenda. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 4. Consent agenda Beise requested the removal of Item 4F from the agenda and Skinner requested the removal of 4D. MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Beise to approve the consent agenda as amended. Upon roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried. A. Approve minutes of March 11, 2008 B. Approve payment of claims in the amount of $408,601.80. C. Approve fill for Philbrook Park, as recommended by the Parks, Open Space and Docks Commission D. (removed) E. (removed for future agenda) F. (removed) G. Approve a 60-day extension for temporary sign permit (banner) at 5205 Shoreline Boulevard to offer building for lease, subject to condition that the banner be removed in the event it becomes worn out or in a dilapidated condition. H. ORDINANCE NO. 04-2008: ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 906 OF THE MOUND CITY CODE AS IT RELATES TO SALE, POSSESSION, AND USE OF FIREWORKS I. RESOLUTION NO. 08-31: RESOLUTION APPROVING JOINT AND COOPERATIVE AGEREMENT FOR LEASING AND USE OF SELF- CONTAINED BREATHING APPARATUS (SCBA) 4D. Public lands permit for 4665 Island View Drive Skinner stated that the issue of possible damage to the city easement should be included in the resolution and John Dean stated that Item 3 will be added to the resolution that the applicant releases the City for any claim of damages to the improvement based upon any work by the City in the easement area. MOTION by Beise, seconded by Osmek to adopt the following resolution as amended. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mound City Council Minutes -March 25, 2008 RESOLUTION NO. 08-32: RESOLUTION TO APPROVE A PUBLIC LANDS PERMIT FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4665 ISLAND VIEW DRIVE 4F. Waiver of Platting and Subdivision for 5300 Shoreline Drive Beise stated that when the City originally talked about Metro Storage leasing that lot, the question was brought up about what would happen if a major industrial company that comes in and leases the space, what do they do for parking. At that time it was stated that the lease could be cancelled to provide the needed parking. He is concerned that when this parcel is sold off we are hampering a very large industrial building with not enough parking if they least out the entire building. Carol Lansing, representing Balboa, stated that the parking issue was not mentioned in the negotiations of converting the lease into a sale. Beise would like to table this to give staff time to determine if there is enough parking for that building, and if the owner is comfortable with this concern. John Dean suggested that if it be approved based on staff verification that the proposed and remainder use both meet the parking requirements of the City Code, and Lansing agreed with this. MOTION by Beise, seconded by Skinner to adopt the following resolution subject to staff review and confirming that there is adequate parking according to the City Code, for both the proposed and remainder use. All voted in favor. Motion carried. RESOLUTION NO. 08-33: RESOLUTION APPROVING A WAIVER OF PLATTING AND SUBDIVISION EXEMPTION FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 5300 SHORELINE BOULEVARD 5. Comments and suggestions from citizens present on any item not on the agenda. None were offered. 6. Executive Session for the purpose of discussing Labor Negotiations as then relate to the Police Department Supervisors' Unit John Dean indicated that he had discussions earlier on this matter and it is his conclusion that Councilmember Skinner could have a conflict of interest on this matter to the extent that the closed session will consider strategies for labor negotiations including efforts to review and formulate those strategies. Skinner's salary, as an employee of the city, is affected by the settlement of union contracts. Due to this conflict, he should not vote on any matter that comes before the Council at the closed meeting or afterward, nor should he participate in the discussion on any item that comes to the Council at the closed session on that matter. Dean also stated that he feels that it is also appropriate that Skinner excuse himself from discussions even though there is no written policy by the City as to how this matter should be addressed, and no real legal mandate that would require him to absence himself from this session. Dean indicated to Skinner that the League of Minnesota Cities recommendation that he not be present in the room where the discussion is occurring, is a reasonable recommendation and encouraged him to consider that recommendation. MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Beise to move into executive session for the purpose of discussing labor negotiations. Upon roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried. Mound City Council Minutes -March 25, 2008 Councilmember Skinner did not attend the executive session, but joined the Council upon completion of such. 7. Presentation by Lake Minnetonka Association, requesting approval for aquatic species control for Phelps Bay Mike Mason gave a presentation to the Council about a proposed program for control of milfoil. The proposed program would start with Phelps Bay, at an estimated cost of $71,000 for 2008, and depreciating costs for subsequent years. Osmek asked how much the cities of Minnetrista and Shorewood contributing out of their city funds, and was informed that they have not committed to an amount as of yet. Osmek stated that his support of $10,000 from the general fund is contingent upon the fact that Minnetrista and Shorewood also contribute their fair shares. He also stated that for long term budgeting purposes they need to know that everyone is on board with this and have a long term approach to the problem. Hanus stated that expansion of the program will also have to be considered in the future. Beise stated that the other cities' contributions should be based on how much Lakeshore the cities own versus private citizens. Hanus is more concerned with how much shoreline is in each city, rather than the amount of shoreline owned by the city. Beise agrees with the $10,000 from the general fund, but also suggests cone-time $5,000 from the special project dock fund, to make sure that this first year happens to allow the association to fully get the program pulled together for next year. MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Hanus to contribute $10,000 out of the general fund balance for this year for aquatic species control for Phelps Bay, contingent on the cities of Minnetrista and Shorewood contributing a minimum of $12,000 combined, in matching funds from their cities' budgets. After discussion, Osmek made a friendly amendment to his own motion, increasing the $10,000 contribution from Mound to $12,000, and Hanus accepted this amendment. All voted in favor. Motion carried 8. Action on Public Gathering Permit application by Hilltop Primary School for adult triathlon to be held August 23, 208, with request to waive fees MOTION by Beise, seconded by Osmek to approve the Public Gathering Permit and to waive the fees as requested. Osmek stated that fees have been waived before for public oriented events. Hanus stated that this is a fund raiser, which would qualify for waiving the fee. He asked Fackler about his memo stating costs by the City for added trash removal, asking if the applicant could be required to remove their garbage after the event and Fackler stated that with 300 people, city staff is needed to clean up after the event. Hanus' point is to minimize City cost as much as possible. Hanus addressed Kurtz regarding using reserves instead of paid officers. Kurtz stated that you can't guarantee reserve officers and the only way to assure that traffic control is in place is to have paid officers on site. Again, Hanus asked that the costs be kept at a minimum. Osmek suggested keeping track of city staff costs and if it is substantial the applicant will have to be told that next year there may be fees imposed to cover the city's costs. Vote on above motion: All voted in favor. Motion carried. Mound City Council Minutes -March 25, 2008 9. Approve expansion of Jennins~s Cove multiple dock complex, as recommended by the POSDC MOTION by Beise, seconded by Osmek to approve the request of $9,000 to expand the multiple slip dock on Jennings Cove as recommended. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 10. County Assessor Phil Jensen with 2007 Assessment Report Phil Jensen recapped the 2008 assessment of 833 parcels in the City of Mound. There are 4559 taxable parcels in the City. Overall the total estimated market value of the City went up .3%, compared to past figures of 10%-20%. The assessment is a one-time snapshot, using sales from October of 2006 through September of 2007 (timeframe set by Minnesota Department of Revenue) to determine values. Hennepin County will host the open book meeting at City Hall on April 30, 2008. 11. Discussion/action on proposal for amendment to the Administrative Code as it relates to setting the pav for those emplovees not in a barpaininq unit John Dean stated he discussed with Skinner, and agree that this matter is an official conflict of interest because of the fact that the policy does have a direct relationship as to how his pay is determined, and as a result he should neither vote nor participate in the discussion on this matter as it comes before the Council. Skinner stepped down from his position on the Council. Hanus explained that the Administrative Code is for non-union employees, and one of the provisions states that non-union employees cost of living adjustment will be equal to the highest of the three unions settled in Mound. He is proposing to change that to where it says that the non-union employees cost of living adjustment be equal to the average of the three union settlement amounts. The reason for this is because if unions settle their COLA amounts unevenly, i.e., if Union A settles for 3%, Union B at 2% and Union C at 1 %, non-union employees would enjoy a 3% COLA. The next time around if Union A is at the bottom end and Union C is at the top end, the unions average out, but the non-union employees don't average out, but leap frog from union settlements. Hanus stated that this has bothered him and the change in language makes sense and results in everyone being treated the same. Historically this change doesn't really affect anybody's pay from what they've received in the past, but looks forward and tries to make sure that in the future it is fairly administered amongst everyone. Beise states that the code seems to have functioned pretty well in the past and doesn't feel it should be changed. He stated that Councilmember Specht contacted him earlier and requested that this item be tabled until he could be present, but that didn't happen. Vicki Weber, Jim Fackler and Collette Roberts, city employees and members of the Administrative Code Committee, each addressed the Council expressing concern over making a decision on this without allowing the employees' committee to meet with the Council Personnel Committee, as has been the practice in the past. They each requested that this item be tabled until after the committee could meet, and when there is a full Council present to vote on the item. Hanus stated that the full requirement of the code has taken place as far as committee meetings. Mound City Council Minutes -March 25, 2008 City employee Sue Schwalbe read a letter from another employee, Shelly Quass, asking that the Council not amend the Administrative Code. City employee Shirley Hawks asked that the City Council leave the verbiage of the City Code as it is now, or table action on this item until the Council Personnel Committee representative is present to vote on the matter, as that representative has requested. Hanus wanted to make it clear that there are two members of the Council on the Personnel Committee, and one is present tonight. City employee Kathy Weist also requested that the Council table this item. Osmek stated that this issue needs to be acted upon because once the unions start settling the code needs to be in place. Waiting two weeks can have an impact on this. His preference is to have the average. Hanus stated this is getting blown way out of proportion. All this does is ensure that what has been done and settled in the past will continue to be settled at the rate that it has in the past. All the fear that people have built up in their minds is unfounded. Any group of employees that some how latch on to the COLA of three different bargaining units and every year get to take the highest one, is not fair to all the labor groups. Beise stated he wants to formalize his comment earlier with a motion to table this item. He feels the full Personnel Committee should be here. Hanus asked if the tabling motion is about changing the vote or to pass the information, and Beise stated that the tabling motion is about having the opportunity to have the full membership of the Personnel Committee here to hear what his thoughts are. His concern is that he doesn't know the absent member's position and that's why his motion is what it is. Osmek stated he will very likely be absent from the meeting two weeks from now, which means this will be four weeks down the road. Once the first labor contract comes in dealing with this becomes absolutely unfair for two years, and doesn't think you can do this mid-stream. Hanus asked or any other discussion. MOTION by Hanus, seconded by Osmek to amend Section 2.1 of the Mound Administrative Code as follows: 2.1 RESPONSIBILITY. The City Manager is directly responsible to the City Council for the coordination and administration of the salary program. All salary adjustments for employees shall be based upon the City's Pay Equity Plan accepted by the City Council in December 1999. . Annual cost of living adiustments for all non- union employees shall be equal to the average adjustment negotiated between the City and all union contracts for that year. Anv awards or changes to union contracts mandated by sources outside of the Citv, such as but not limited to legislation and arbitrators. do not apply to the average calculation. The following voted in favor of the motion: Osmek and Hanus. The following voted against: Beise. Skinner abstained from voting. Motion carried. Mound City Council Minutes -March 25, 2008 Fackler stated he is very disappointed that they didn't meet as a full committee. In the past it was a pleasure to negotiate and talk in a reasonable manner. They always came to an understanding and it always worked out. He is sad that this type of tension has been created. The opportunity to discuss with the full committee is all they were asking. Councilmember Skinner returned to his seat with the Council. 12. Discussion on personnel needs as they relate to the 2009 Budget Kandis gave the history of the recent addition of personnel to the Finance Department. Recently Gino Businaro retired and Catherine Pausche has taken over the position of Finance Director, leaving the position of Senior Accountant vacant. With the added workload, she requested that the Council budget for the Senior Accountant position for 2009 and onward. Gino Businaro was present and addressed the Council in support of the Senior Accountant position. Catherine Pausche also gave her justification for keeping the position of Senior Accountant in the Finance Department, due to workload. Hanus asked how the City can accomplish the tasks that need to be done without filling the position of Senior Accountant. He suggested adding duties to the other finance positions, or contracting out a portion of the workload. Pausche answered she was worked a lot with outsourcing, and is not afraid to downsize, but feels that with the present workload this full time position needs to be filled. Beise stated he supported the position two years ago and still supports it. Skinner also agreed that this position is needed and supports it. Osmek stated he wasn't wild about this two years ago and still isn't. At this point he wouldn't support it. His biggest concern is that there are no time values assigned to duties described, and if he had that it would help justify the position. He would be willing to revisit this item at the beginning of the 2009 budget process if this data were available then. Hanus believes that the Council should be skeptical because government always has a tendency to grow. He agreed with Osmek as to having time values attached to duties so that it can be better measured. Kandis Hanson stated there is a very detailed job description for the Senior Accountant but questioned if designating time values to each duty would be a good use of time, since they don't have the time to spare. Hanus stated that just estimates are asked for, not a time audit. Hanson stated that they would have material ready for the next meeting, for further consideration. 1 Mound City Council Minutes -March 25, 2008 13. Miscellaneous/Correspondence A. Comments/reports from Councilmembers -Hanus received consensus to direct staff to prepare a resolution dealing with Councilmember involvement on issues of potential or perceived conflicts of interest, to be placed on the next agenda. B. Reports: Finance Department -Feb 2008 C. Minutes: City Council/PC Workshop -March 10, 2008 POSDC - 3/13/08 D. Correspondence: TC Red Cross Cert of Achievement 14. Adjourn MOTION by Osmek, seconded by Beise to adjourn. All voted in favor. Motion carried. Attest: Bonnie Ritter, City Clerk Mayor Mark Hanus 1 1 1