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Home My WebLink About2002-07-23 CC Packet 4ItPECIAL MEETING CITY OF STILLWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING NO. 02-15 Council Chambers, 216 North Fourth Street July 23,2002 4:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL OTHER BUSINESS 1. Approval of Gambling Permit for St. Croix Valley Life Care Center - October 10 2002 2. Workshop with Charter Commission to discuss Water Board Study ADJOURNMENT . . '~Lawiui~ LG228 -AppIkaIon fer Ex~-npt Permit '~.1nfOrmdOO . ~,~l 51' .Str.eet ~iof2 8tOO . Fee .. S25FeePeid Chec;k No. PiIMous~~,~ last: name e>e!- Typeof~'Organ~n ~ - Check 1bebox tmIt bestdescribesyour~: o FnQrnat D Reigious . o Veteran IE Other nonprofit ~ . ~ltebox tbatindk:afss.1hetype.of pmofyour ~ aftaefled to this' application: D lRS felter ~lQinoome tax exempt status . , 0 C&l~'of Good SfanOtng. from,~'fI4innesota ~'of Stafe's omce 1&]'Acharter showfrlg )00 ar&,an tiffifate de parent nonprofit organjZaOOn . o Proof pri!\liously$lbnlited,arnt on ftJe WUh the Gambiing, Control aoam . Premisea~ ,.Narns.cf.p.~f - 1S --~ ~,td.,be'~-(for'~,l$t'~ sire where Iut ~ WI! takePfacs} e Gr"t'M Ball C'LI/ J\ddress, {do not~po box} City S, M 57', S'f-;// waft?r Date($}'of~ (for. ~'~1be dale Qf~~) , ,~6'€!, It) ~ Cbeck I1e ,box or 00xe$1hat ildEate the tp: of ganJbing actM1y,yoyr ~ lIJilI_~ o~ f;xtaamesD'~ . O"~Tab& D~ ~..... ~ rtQ!It~<lhtailkod from a Ilcsnsed disfribufot. This form wjD be made, ~,in Your name and,JRt youiJlf98f~t$ , ' . of the ~~(ie.i2lJge.pJint,"8rde) nameandaddressw!lbe~~ Board whose wotk ~.requires u,ofHequlllsl 'ntejui.....6.n~. -Il ~ ,....~'b)'1ht:t8oatd. A1f1heofher fhatttHrlMv&~~fleirlfQrroatioo. ontis1brm{amfsnyaltaCl~*l.wifbe fnfOll)~1batyDtl~\ViIf..be~ 'fheMD."~NWof~ US6d by D1&. ~ Cooimt' Board dalaaboutyou untIb80altf issues your !~~Ia A~ ~eneral;the ~b~..)1U' to ~ WtKIn th& ~ isllues your _m---' eommission;:n , of b9:.~inial!iilt_ ,.1iU in penm, dCftha~ldtiun1hatyotl'haNe ~.~andRfMmue;fhe ~ Youmwellerighttorel~ifO ~ to the Boald in the pincesa of ~~A!dor.nafiQnalend supp!J"~~Ma'-~. ~-)D#"permitwillbe00m8pubfic. ~~'9~agenci9s; ifyw__to~'* WoUlISllol~ I'e if Ibe: Bead ,dOa not issue}QJ a permi. anyanepmmant fD ,court order; other ~ meyMt_"'>>~bJOUf ali1ha~J'l.lU~pmvidednihe indMduals~. ~ that am ~~tM__!IlU~may proceasof~ua,permit,~ ~~by~,Q\"~ refuab__)UUa~jf}Qi~ ~,wBh. ita ~ of your name ~ 10 have a&ceSS. ~ lba inIbnnaflon; the ~ ~,Ihe Soard,wiII anctyourOJ~~nameaM~ ~anrt.JClhforwhfch law or b&~fO~your8pf&)c6_ whichdnlimainpuilliG." . -, leQafm:fer~~useorshming PrNatedaifJ8DQut\OUare avaiIabla..-.'to- of~ __,Ihia NoIk:a,wa!O,gMln; . , ,,' , ....."7 and anyrma with}OUr consent StateJZip Code 'County /'JJIJ/ .ss-c7?;:z. VrJ4SJ"/1 ft:JrJ .. a.~"" &...",e~~-"-D~_ ~ H77fl ~~...-vi. BV. ~...,Jtm. ""'UD~ ~~ ~Name <(1-.I'r(J;:Jt. Vd.I/r?J-tU-f:e (4re f:e/lr.er ~Umt-of-Gomrmnenl_~mem ]1f.DJe.pmbfing~ is wmoo.CDvlimfts.,fbe. 'ti1e~fl!f~1sJOCate4fA..at...4lt),$f" 'hofh'. ~must.tis~. tfJe~and~mustSigRfts,~1Ion Onbehaffd1be~.lack~th.is'~~ 'Onbahafof1hecooniy..I.~gathis~. Page2d2 B{n.J) . ChecklheadiM"tiIat , blfdtyi\iiakilllJ.m.U!iSappUcaicn. O. The<iy_lhe~._OO .., . '. waling period, .. In=~~a,:,,~,.I'. permitafter30~(OO:daysfor.am.dass ..., cilyJ.' ., OThe.eily~the~ :ll--"~ Sh~~mr '{~.ofd.y~~~) iTme 1",",,---3---3_ 1 Check the actiofttMi I the~Jstakingonihfs'8ppl~1 lO ,~:ooun~approvesihe~wi!n no I '. ,waiting penod. I O,.The,"',CO,"',Unt.y,,'~, '" ,'" lhe~_a30da\!..1 waiting peOOd,atid aiows1heBoard'kHsslrea '.' . permit afterJO daya '. I o Tnerountyderriesh~. Printnameofcoonty (S~t)fcounty~~~) Tdle Date~l_------.-.-J__ ~ ,On'behalfoffhe~t~ihat the ~isspplyjng rotexemptedgambling'adhIlly wiihin1hetowr'.shipfimils...{Atownship.bMno siaIuIGly J authoritytoappit'1lle'OTdenylillJ~{UiM.-SfaL2eC.. 34Q.213~ subd.2}.l Printr.aml'rn:Jf~ . (~of'~oflicial'~~) TJUe . 'Oate__L-----'-/~ 'CMef~om~J)rBignature Tho --_ in lhis~ is """'l;:Bnd OOefJU:D-fo-1he beStOfmyknowledge. Ch!ef~~$si9lIi"Jtw@m~ =~~ ~. (j 1\iame{PIease. . . ~!. DatQ 7 1...L.KJ C1::J-: 'MaiI'~and.Atmdtments -Atleast45rlays;Pfiortu your ~UJaOactMtyd.~d: . ,',m~,~.. .a.oop-fof~proofofnonprofit~. and .. -a$25~-{mekeehedq!~tu~OflA~. ~'foosase_protated.reftmdable.or'~le. I SerJdkt: '~Cootrof.8oard ; 17t1_CaunIJ'ClloBdB,___ ~.-'55113 .It)OUr~basoot 'beefi"~by:tbe fooaIunl'Of~OJ has'been~. dom .senafhe~101he 'Ganbing~'eoam. . Memorandum '. TO: Member of the Stillwater City Council From: Members of the Stillwater Charter Commission (Summary written by Mary Ruch on behalf of the Charter Commission) RE: Water Board Study Date: June 25, 2002 Since January of2002, the Charter Commission has been studying the City's Water Board and its relationship to the administration of other City services. The study was undertaken at the recommendation of a new Charter Commission member, who felt that the issue had never been thoroughly studied. The study was basically conducted in four sessions, following the outline in the Commission's study guide (attached for your reference). We heard from Dave Magnuson (City legal counsel), . Jim O'Brien and Jim McKnight of the Water Board, and Clayton Eckles, City Public Works Director. Some of the facts we learned include: . 1. The Water Board has bonding authority according to the Charter, but any bonding for water improvements has been done by the City ($1.2MM currently outstanding). The City issues General Obligation bonds for this type of work, and it does not count against the City: s "net debt" since the work primarily gets assessed to homeowners & businesses. 2. In 2002, the Water Boards revenues were $1,361,000 ,and the expenditure Budget is $1,197,000. 3. The Water Board employs 2, non-union office staff and 4 unionized staff in maintenance and operations. 4. Jim McKnight, who manages the Water Board, has been in his position for 20 years and expects to retire in 5-6 years. 5. Stillwater's water rates are consistent with those of other municipalities. 6. The Water Board owns a nominal amount of equipment: 4 pickups, a 1 ton dump truck and a bobcat. 7. The Water Board maintains 11 properties: 7 pump stations, 1 tank and 3 buildings. 8. The Water Board uses KKE as an engineering consultant and has a close relationship with an individual who had a special expertise in water works. That individual will retire within 5 ~. years 9, There are only about 6 cities in Minnesota that have separate Water Boards. 10. By State Statute, cities cannot charge more for water than it costs to make it available. In other words, water rates cannot be used as a form of taxation, nor can revenues be put in the City's general fund. 4IIJ Observations and Impressions: 1. The Charter Commission Members felt that the Water Board is being very well run. It appears that it is operated like a small business, and that there is a lot of pride of ownership in the job. 2. City staff believes that they could achieve cost saving by combining the Water Board under the public works department. They also believe that staff could be cross-trained, so that use of time would be more efficient. However, the suggested savings could not be documented without a professional study (per staff) and staff did not indicate that the cost of water would be reduced if the departments were combined. 3. Although cost saving could not be documented, overall Charter Commission Members felt intuitively that this would be true. However, it is troubling that City staff did not think that projected saving would translate into lower water rates. (Perhaps they will have higher occupancy costs if they are housed in the new Public Works facility (?). In this case, water rates could potentially be raised as a result of moving the Water Board under the Council's jurisdiction). 4. The City staff would like to integrate the Water Board into the new Public Works building. It was suggested that better coordination of effort would occur if the departments were combined. (What are plans for the existing facilities? i.e. Lilly Lake) . 5. There was a concern about succession planning for the current manager of the Water Board staff. In addition to the technical skills and licensure required for running the water works, this individual was, essentially, running a small business: public relations, billing, accounting, budgeting, and producing & delivering the product of clean water. 6. Some members thought that the Council might wish to be able to better document the prospective cost savings suggested by City staff. Thiswould require an outside consulting firm (per City staff) and so the Council will have to decide if the cost is warranted. Finally, the Charter Commission took straw vote, to assess what the position of the members was. With all members present, the vote to combine the Water Board with the City's Public Works department was unanimous. The Charter Commission and staff both felt that any combination of the Departments should be phased in over time, with sensitivity to cross-training needs and retirement of key staff. At this time the Charter Commission Members would like to hear from the Council Members as to their feeling about combining the Water Board under the Public Works Department. I.