2017-05-23 CC Meeting MinutesMOUND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
May 23, 2017
The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in regular session on
Tuesday, May 23, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Centennial Building.
Members present: Mayor Mark Wegscheid, Council Members Ray Salazar, Jeff Bergquist,
Jennifer Peterson, and Kelli Gillispie
Members absent: none
Others present: City Manager and Director of Public Works Eric Hoversten, Director of Finance
and Administrative Services Catherine Pausche, Community Development Director Sarah
Smith, Administrative Assistant Mary Mackres, Field Officer Stewart Simon, Roger Fink, Quinn
Pausche, Clinton and Emily Suisse, and Nicole Brodzik
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 Council
Member or citizen so requests, in which event it will be removed from the Consent Agenda and
considered in normal sequence.
1. Open meeting
Mayor Wegscheid called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Wegscheid recognized students in the audience and asked one to come forward as a
representative. Quinn Pausche introduced himself and stated he was a student of Mr. Moss
at Holy Family Catholic High School in AP Government.
3. Approve agenda
MOTION by Salazar, seconded by Gillispie, to approve the agenda. All voted in favor.
Motion carried.
4. Consent agenda
MOTION by Salazar, seconded by Gillispie, to approve the consent agenda.
Upon roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried.
A. Approve payment of claims in the amount of $460,798.80
B. Approve Minutes: 05-09-17 Regular Meeting
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E. RESOLUTION NO. 17-73: RESOLUTION APPROVING MUSICAL CONCERT
PERMIT APPLICATION FOR PRIVATE EVENT ON JUNE 9,2017 AT 2015 LAKESID-�
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Mound City Council Minutes — May 23, 2017
5. Comments and suggestions from citizens present on any item not on the agenda.
None offered
6. Public Hearing - Review of Modification to the Redevelopment Plan for the Mound
Harbor Project Area and the Establishment of the Harrison Bay Senior Housing TIF
District
Requested Actions
a. Action on resolution approving the modification to the Mound Harbor Project Area
and establishment of the Harrison Bay Senior Housing TIF District
James Lehnhoff, Ehlers and Associates, addressed the Council with two items which will be
handled separately. Lehnhoff said the first part expands the existing Mound Harbor project
to the north to include three parcels that aren't currently in that project area. Lehnhoff added
that the resolution also creates a new housing TIF district with a maximum term of up to 26
years and includes an affordability requirement. Lehnhoff said this means that 20% of the
apartments must be affordable to households with incomes at or below 50% of area median
income.
Lehnhoff stated that the Planning Commission reviewed the proposal on May 2 and
recommended approval and the City has completed all notification requirements under state
statutes. Lehnhoff also noted that Ehlers and the City's legal counsel have reviewed and
found the plan to be in conformance with state statutes. Lehnhoff said the actual amount of
assistance expected to be provided to the developer is up to $930,000 over a 10 year
period.
MOTION by Salazar, seconded by Gillispie approving resolution. All voted in favor.
Motion carried.
RESOLUTION NO. 17-74: RESOLUTION ADOPTING A MODIFICATION TO THE
REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE MOUND HARBOR PROJECT AREA; AND
ESTABLISHING THE HARRISON BAY SENIOR HOUSING TAX INCREMENT
FINANCING DISTRICT THEREIN AND ADOPTING A TAX INCREMENT FINANCING
PLAN THEREFOR
b. Action on a resolution authorizing an interfund loan for advance of certain costs
in connection with Harrison Bay Senior Housing TIF District
James Lehnhoff presented the second action for consideration which is authorizing the
interfund loan as part of the creation of the TIF District and it is expected that the
developer will reimburse the City for the cost of creating that district. Lehnhoff stated
that if any costs are incurred between now and when increments start to be received, or
there are unexpected costs related to administrative items, this resolution allows the City
to be reimbursed for those costs up to $10,000 at an interest rate of 4%.
Mayor Wegscheid opened the public hearing at 7:07 p.m. for both items 5 and 6 of the
agenda. With no comments or discussion, hearing was closed at 7:08 p.m.
Mound City Council Minutes — May 23, 2017
MOTION by Salazar, seconded by Gillispie approving resolution. All voted in favor.
Motion carried.
Roger Fink, Trident Development, developer of the project, thanked all for supporting the
project. Fink says he is excited about bringing the project to the City of Mound. Mayor
Wegscheid acknowledged that Trident did a great job of persevering to get the project
approved.
7. Community Development Director Sarah Smith discussing an HKGI Staff
Memorandum - 2040 Mound Comprehensive Plan Prosect Spring 2017 Community
Engagement Summary
Sarah Smith presented a summary from HKGI of the social engagement survey which was
recently completed by residents and other interested parties. Smith said the survey was
online and available to the community and allowed people to share information about what
they liked and where improvements could be made to the City. Smith added the website
was up for one month and the City received 277 comments and 55 survey responses.
Smith said these findings were grouped into a couple of general areas outlined in the packet
tonight with more complete details coming to an upcoming meeting in June or July. Smith
stated some of the highlights of the survey appear to capture what the community would like
the City to be in 2040 though there did not appear to be a clear consensus on where Mound
should be from a destination standpoint.
Smith said that some of the things people who took the survey really liked about the City
were lake access, affordability, schools, the docks program, the library, the trail system, and
the small-town feel and the overall appearance of the community raised some concerns with
some people. Smith says these are all things that staff will continue to evaluate. Smith
added that investment and redevelopment in the downtown area, as well as in the
Commerce and Shoreline areas, is supported by the respondents and Smith feels that those
areas should be the focus of the Comprehensive Plan. Smith said there were a lot of
comments about the age and infrastructure of our parks and there were concerns expressed
about traffic safety in and around downtown at trail crossings and major intersections.
Smith summarized that the responses are key findings which will inform the City
Comprehensive Plan which the City can work to address. Smith said there will be more
details forthcoming with City staff and HKGI compiling data for public review and preliminary
information will be presented on the City website.
8. Action to approve $80,000 budget amendments for Swenson Park tennis court
replacement
Hoversten said that the City has received feedback from residents about the condition of
Swenson Park. Hoversten stated that Swenson Park is being used for the Met Council's
sewer lift station project which is a multi-year project to build four pumping station projects in
the City and the project will continue through the end of 2017, and with winter work, into
2018. He added that final restoration would be in the spring of 2018.
Mound City Council Minutes — May 23, 2017
Hoversten says that Swenson Park is a staging and equipment area for Bradford, the
contractor, and other related intercept projects. He said the contractor encountered
unanticipated situations last fall including one of which was a large amount of buried debris.
Hoversten said the debris was used as base fill for build-up of lowlands back in the '60's and
this debris caused the trench width to grow substantially. Hoversten says this green space
has been impacted significantly and consequentially there will be substantial rehab of this
park after the completion of the project.
Hoversten relayed to the Council the status of Swenson Park which includes two tennis
courts which are unplayable and the basketball court which was removed for excavation
work related to the project. Hoversten brought forward a proposal to work with the Met
Council and Bradford during the rehabilitation of Swenson Park which is an opportunity to
bring City funding to the project to enhance or replace amenities with a single multi -use
court for tennis, basketball, and pickle ball. Hoversten added the proposal would reduce the
tennis courts from two unplayable courts to one usable court.
Hoversten said City staff have looked at the other amenities at the park which include a play
structure which is in good condition and the batting cage, backstop, and infield which are
also all in good condition. Hoversten said the wood chips at this park are also in great
condition but the area needs field lime added though this is a routine task which should
occur every three years.
Hoversten says the key to the proposal is to figure out how to partner with the Met Council
to improve the overall function of this park. Hoversten said this could be an opportunity to
open up an open play field for an under -12 year-old soccer field which would give soccer
players an alternative field to Philbrook and give the City the ability to improve turf
maintenance.
Hoversten reviewed proposed changes to the tennis courts which would be reduced from
two -court to a single court play area. Hoversten said it is difficult to measure the demand for
the courts' use and if demand does increase there is room to extend the court in the future.
He added a typical tennis court costs around $130,000 and some of the costs could be
incorporated into the existing pay items with the Met Council. Hoversten said the City would
get about $50,000 in value of improvements if the City could come up with the rest of the
cost for the tennis court.
Hoversten says that staff is asking for a budget amendment to the 2017 budget to include a
$20,000 capital line item in the Parks budget. Hoversten said this item was going to be
paired with grants expected for the Three Points tennis courts but those grants have not
materialized due to the criteria behind a number of the grants. Hoversten added that this
amendment request would reallocate $20,000 in the budget originally for Three Points Park
to be used at Swenson Park instead. Hoversten said staff is asking for $60,000 more in the
budget for the tennis court refurbishment and says there are a couple of options of how to
recoup that money in the long term; one would have the City incorporate the dollars in the
bond request to restore the budget reserves and the other could come from the 2017 street
projects which came in with favorable bids and substantial savings.
Hoversten says the City could also seek a small withdrawal of funds from budget reserves in
the 2018 budget as the City is currently neutral or slightly positive in the budget reserves.
Mound City Council Minutes — May 23, 2017
Hoversten stated he wanted to let the community know City staff recognizes the challenges
that are impacting the park and at a minimum, the Met Council is required to restore
anything that was disturbed during the construction and get it back to a better condition.
Hoversten says the City would like to provide this opportunity to refurbish the tennis courts
at a fairly substantial cost savings than if the City went in and did the tennis courts on our
own. He added that if the City opted to put back dual tennis courts, the amount of money
requested would be doubled and the Met Council would ask its contractor to provide funding
for demolition and excavation and building of the sub -base to the play surface.
Bergquist asked what happened to the basketball court. Hoversten said that when the
sewer line was put in, Met Council had to dig a hole to launch the tunneling equipment.
Bergquist asked if there is a need for more soccer space. Yes, according to Wegscheid and
Peterson. Hoversten has been asked by a lacrosse association for space in the City to play.
Wegscheid mentioned that the Westonka Girls' Soccer Club has donated money to the
Parks Dept. Peterson asked what will go where the basketball court was. Hoversten said it
would just give the space for the play field. Hoversten also said it would cost twice as much
to make the tennis court a doubles court and the proposed multi -use court would only allow
for someone to play basketball or tennis at one time, not both at the same time.
Bergquist and Peterson expressed concern about going to one single multi -use court.
Hoversten informed Salazar, who questioned where the $20,000 was coming from, that this
money would come from unmaterialized grants that were expected for Three Points Park.
Salazar said the tennis courts at Swenson Park are used a lot and people want them.
Salazar wanted to include a practice backboard at the courts and Hoversten confirmed that
this would be included. Salazar then asked what the consensus was from the neighbors
about going from a doubles court to one singles court. Hoversten said there was no public
outreach done. Per Hoversten, at this point, there isn't time for public outreach. Hoversten
said that the Met Council is getting pressure from the community to restore parts of the park
and discussion needs to begin with Met Council on the plan for the park rehab. Hoversten
will meet with Met Council towards the end of June.
Salazar was disappointed to find out that the tennis court discussion occurred in December
of last year at the Park Commission meeting and that no public input was solicited on this
topic. Wegscheid said he has had a large amount of people asking about tennis and pickle
ball. Peterson says the park needs a separate basketball court.
Wegscheid asked about the timeline to reevaluate. Hoversten said the constraint is getting
to Met Council before the contractor starts working on the park. Hoversten added if two
courts are needed, the budget amendment becomes $140,000 not $60,000. Hoversten
says the difficulty is determining what the actual usage will be at Swenson Park and
Hoversten added the City can go back later and put in another court if needed.
Salazar asked if there would be lights at the courts. Hoversten said there would not be
lights as there are none there now. Gillispie asked if there would be any cost savings if
construction of two courts was done now. Wegscheid said that if a second court was put in
later, there would be the cost of the second mobilization. Peterson asked about reserves for
each park. Hoversten said that capital improvements come from park dedication fees from
subdivisions and developments and as there is not a lot of open space left in the City for
development, that money for park dedication fees will end soon. Hoversten says that the
other source of income for parks is from the general obligation fund. Hoversten says that
Mound City Council Minutes — May 23, 2017
the City has been focusing on street improvements and had not included parks in the
general obligation fund and now that the City is nearing the end of the street improvement
projects some of that money can go into parks.
Peterson asked why the grants didn't come through. Hoversten explained that there are two
large sources for grants that are available. One is from the Hennepin County Youth Sports
Initiative. As the City does not have a youth sports facility related to tennis courts, this grant
through USTA is not available to the City. Another source of grants is the US Bank Safe
Places to Play initiative. Hoversten said those grants have to be obtained by a non -
municipal, non-profit organization such as hockey or lacrosse groups and if they receive
those grants they will want those dollars to relate to the sport that they sponsor, not tennis.
Wegscheid suggested that the Council direct staff to use a $150,000 budget increase to
place a double tennis court in Swenson Park, noting that anything over that would have to
be revisited by the Council. Council agreed that same and similar is how the City should
handle this park refurbishment.
Wegscheid says the residents just want to see something nice out their window not the
construction and it is difficult for people to understand the size of these projects. Wegscheid
reminded everyone that the project has been a mess and long and difficult but that nothing
worthwhile is easy. Wegscheid asks for patience from everyone.
Hoversten thanked the Council for giving more money to replace the tennis courts at
Swenson Park. His obligation as City Manager was to come in and be fiscally responsible
and ask for the least amount of money. Hoversten agrees that same and similar park
refurbishment is the way to go.
Gillispie expressed her concern for taking space away from the open play field to fit in the
basketball court. Hoversten said that the court would be put into the back corner and it
would not take away play field space.
MOTION by Salazar, seconded by Bergquist to approve budget amendments to realign
$20,000 from the 2017 Parks capital budget from Three Points Park to Swenson Park and to
add $140,000 from budget reserves in the general obligation funds to complete replacement
of the tennis courts at Swenson Park concurrent with the Met Council sewer work at this
location. All voted in favor. Motion carried.
9. Emergency Operations Coordinator Stewart Simon presenting discussion on
migration from current GovDelivery notification system to CodeRED.
Stewart Simon, City Field Officer, presented CodeRED information. Simon says that the
City is currently using GovDelivery system to provide notification to residents of road
closures, etc. The GovDelivery contract is at the end of its term and Simon has looked at
different providers. Simon says that CodeRED is a good fit for the City and the current
GovDelivery system only allows for emails and texts to be sent. Simon said CodeRED not
only is able to send emails and texts but can also add the ability to have phone calls sent
out in emergency situations which Simon termed a true reverse 911 system. Simon added
the CodeRED system can load all land lines in the City and maintain that data for the City
and also has an app for smart phones and tablets in which users get alerts. Simon says the
City will primarily use the email and mobile app.
Mound City Council Minutes — May 23, 2017
Simon says the City will test the system over the next few weeks and current GovDelivery
subscribers will receive a message informing them of the switchover. Simon anticipates the
system going live on June 13 and he will add this information will be on the City's website
soon.
Gillispie asked what the cost is for this. Simon says the cost is based on the population.
GovDelivery's cost for the year for just text and email is $2,783. CodeRED is $4,646 for the
year, but with that, there is twice the capability and a larger range for targeting and ability to
send messages from the field. Gillispie asked about the type of contract that would be
required. Simon says that the contract is a one-year contract which when the subscription
price of CodeRED is broken down based on Mound's population of 9,270, the cost comes
out to $0.50 per person.
Salazar asked if anyone else provides the same service for less money. Simon says that
there are only a few players in this market that provide the same service with CodeRED
being used by many municipalities and counties. Simon noted GovDelivery has not made
any enhancements since 2014. Salazar asked what system Orono used. Simon says that
he believes Orono only uses Facebook for notification to their residents. Simon noted West
Hennepin uses CodeRED for Maple Plain and Independence.
Simon said the plan is to go live on June 13th.
10. Information/Miscellaneous
A. Comments/reports from Council Members
Hoversten reminded all of the following upcoming events:
May 27 - Mound Farmers' Market and More starts. Was scheduled to start May 20 but was
rained out
June 3 - Mound Fire Dept Fish Fry
June 15 - Music in Park begins
July 21-22 - Spirit of the Lakes Festival
Gillispie informed all of the upcoming Westonka Community and Commerce after hours
gathering on June 8 to be held at Back Channel Brewery.
C. Minutes: April 13, 2017 Parks and Open Spaces Commission
April 4, 2017 Planning Commission
D. Correspondence:
11. Adjourn
MOTION by Gillispie, seconded by Salazar, to adjourn at 8:20 p.m. All voted in favor.
Motion carried.
M f P.Vall
Mayor Mark Wegscheid
Attest: Catherine Pausche, Clerk