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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-28 CC MIN Budget Workshop(494ateir TOE IIATO ►LACE OF YIOXE10TA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES August 28, 2012 REGULAR MEETING Mayor Harycki called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. 4:30 P.M. Present: Councilmembers Cook, Menikheim, Polehna, Roush and Mayor Harycki Staff present: City Administrator Hansen City Attorney Magnuson Community Development Director Turnblad Finance Director Harrison Police Chief Gannaway Public Works Director Sanders Assistant Public Works Superintendent Tim Moore Library Director Lynne Bertalmio Other: Library Board President Ned Gordon, Library Board Member Mike Keliher Library Board Member Kathy Stark BUDGET WORKSHOP Engineering /Streets/Parks /Sanitary Sewer /Storm Sewer /Signs & Lighting Engineering: Public Works Director Sanders explained the major change for 2013 is that with the departure of Torry Kraftson, the Assistant City Engineer position is not being filled. Next summer he would like to hire an engineering intern to help with projects. This is in the budget under part time salaries. He also budgeted for a consulting engineer in case staff needs assistance. Councilmember Polehna asked about possible cost sharing opportunities, for instance asking MnDOT to help in the Engineering Department, and Mr. Sanders indicated that he will check into it. Streets: Mr. Sanders reported that part time salaries are increasing $24,000 because last year, $48,000 in part time salaries was budgeted for the Parks Department; he has divided it evenly for 2013. Everything else in streets is unchanged except for an additional $15,000 for sealcoating /patching. Mayor Harycki pointed out this year, the City did just under its goal of four miles, and asked what is anticipated for next year? City Council Special Meeting August 28, 2012 Mr. Sanders stated the City has a little over $1 million in its state aid account, so will focus on state aid streets: Pine, Churchill, and Greeley. Councilmember Polehna suggested checking into whether outside funding might be obtained for Pine Street as it will be a detour for bridge construction. Parks: Mr. Sanders stated there are no new projects in the parks budget, but the budget includes repair of some playground equipment at Teddy Bear Park. Mr. Moore stated the turf at Teddy Bear Park is holding up well but is past its expected lifespan. Replacement will probably cost around $35,000 in the future. Mayor Harycki reminded the Council that the original agreement with the donor of the park requires the City to maintain it. Sanitary Sewer: Mr. Sanders stated electricity costs have increased, and funds are budgeted for lift station repairs. Other line items remained the same. Storm Sewer: Mr. Sanders reported no major changes. Signs & Lighting: Mr. Sanders stated electricity costs keep increasing; otherwise there are no major changes. Councilmember Menikheim asked how close the Department is to the minimum service level. Mr. Sanders responded there is no excess in the budget. Mayor Harycki commented the streets are far improved over where they were a few years ago. He commended the Department. Community Development/Building Inspections/Parkina Ramp Community Development: Community Development Director Turnblad reported "other professional services" of $33,000 includes the first payment set aside for consultants to update the downtown chapter of the comprehensive plan, which will be done over the next three years. Most of the services will be for traffic engineering, which can't be done in- house. Building Inspections: Mr. Turnblad stated the City had previously contracted with a private party for plan reviews - a new person who charges less and does a better job has been found. Parking Ramp: Mr. Turnblad informed the Council that by the end of 2012 the City will probably have fallen short of projected income because the equipment malfunctions regularly. Staff had hoped to hire a ramp attendant this summer but was too busy to write a proposal. The goal is to hire for next season. Mr. Turnblad also stated the parking commission has been looking at the overall parking situation downtown, including considering charging for on street parking and providing residents with a free parking pass. A recommendation will go to the City Council sometime this winter. Mayor & Council City Administrator Hansen explained because there may be two new Councilmembers, he has budgeted for their medical coverage. Page 2 of 6 City Council Special Meeting August 28, 2012 Mayor Harycki stated he would like to see security enhancements on the Council dais; he suggested contacting the school board about sharing costs. Mr. Hansen stated he is obtaining quotes. He anticipates around $30,000. Mayor Harycki stated he would like to see some funding dedicated to lobbying efforts in regard to permits for the St. Croix River Crossing project and completion of the bike trail. Mr. Hansen stated he had a meeting last week with the DNR Trails staff who were very optimistic about completing the project, with only a $200,000 shortfall at this point. Mayor Harycki suggested allocating $15,000 toward lobbying for the project. He would like to request DNR come to a workshop to clarify the issue. Administration/Plant City Hall/Unallocated /Special Events/Washington County Recycling Grant/Elections/Downtown Beautification Administration: Mr. Hansen cautioned the assessing cost went up $4,200. Plant City Hall: Mr. Hansen stated there are no changes, but the building repair amount of $7,500 may be a low estimate. Unallocated: Mr. Hansen explained that unallocated means everything that doesn't fit in another category. Medical and hospital retirees' insurance went up $82,800 because there were more eligible employees retiring and not many coming off the insurance. The Community Thread and Youth Service Bureau funding was left at what was given to those organizations last year. Special Events: Mr. Hansen stated that the only expense anticipated is the fireworks which he left at $36,000. He hopes the City will raise more donations in 2013. Washington County Recycling Grant: Mr. Hansen explained the City receives a grant from the county and spends that same amount for items like supplies distributed at schools. Elections: This funding pays for a maintenance agreement, per Mr. Hansen. Downtown Beautification: Mr. Hansen retained the $15,000 agreed to a few years ago to pay for flowers and flowerpots. Finance: Finance Director Sharon Harrison reported finances are in good shape. There are no changes in the budget. Mr. Hansen commended newly hired staff. Police /Civil Defense /Parking/DARE Police: Chief John Gannaway stated there are no new programs; the only big change is requesting two new squad cars. The City still has its two motorcycles but only one officer trained for motorcycle patrol - the dog is working well and has been involved in some apprehensions. DARE: Chief Gannaway reported the program is currently in two schools, St. Croix Catholic and New Heights. Chief Gannaway added that the Department is currently in the process of receiving architectural bids for the fire station. Page 3 of 6 City Council Special Meeting August 28, 2012 Mayor Harycki suggested planning for a future possible video command center in the new station to monitor video feeds coming in from various locations. Councilmember Polehna asked about the possibility of having police officers also trained as paramedics. Mr. Gannaway noted there are scheduling and overtime issues with such an arrangement. Mayor Harycki asked about getting AEDs in squad cars, and Chief Gannaway responded that stated there currently are none. Councilmember Polehna and Mayor Harycki asked Mr. Gannaway to check into grant funding for the equipment and meet with Fire Department and EMS staff. Library: Ned Gordon, Library Board President, and Library Director Lynne Bertalmio explained that the past year has been busy. The Summer Reading Program attendance is up, the coffee shop is being utilized, and the "Light a Spark" Fourth of July event was the best ever in terms of participation and revenues which go to the Library Foundation. The Foundation, which started in 2007, does not have an endowment yet. It is spending most of what it takes in through gifts to the library for materials and programming. The Library also receives money from Friends of the Stillwater Library book sales, meetings and rental space, though rentals of the Margaret Rivers Room for meetings is down due to the economy. Mr. Gordon explained how the Library is attempting to maximize alternative funding sources. The event coordinator's contract for $20,000 is paid for by the Foundation. Volunteers provide 3,000 hours per year. The Foundation is seeking funding for a volunteer coordinator which will enable the Library to attract additional volunteers. The Council also discussed the possibility of opening the north door to the public for early morning coffee shop use, with input from neighbors. For the 2013 budget, Mr. Gordon stated the Board weighed opening on Sundays versus increasing the materials budget. Excluding capital, the expenditures budget for 2013 is $1.179 million, an increase of $37,327 over last year. It was decided to focus on the materials portion of the budget. Eighty percent of the increase comes from things the Board can't control. The materials budget has been short- changed for the past several years. Councilmember Roush commented he loves the library, but doesn't feel the residents of Stillwater, who are funding the library, are reaping the full benefit as books are circulated all over the county. He questioned why the materials budget can't be flat. Ms. Bertalmio explained it is fairly equal, as Stillwater residents receive books from other libraries in the county. Mr. Gordon presented statistics indicating that the Library provides $7.7 million of value to the community. Of that $7.7 million, materials account for $6.7 million. Kathy Stark remarked that the materials budget was cut in 2008 and has remained flat, but meanwhile, the prices go up, the Library is required to have many different types of media, as the public is requesting more ways to access the collection. Page 4 of 6 City Council Special Meeting August 28, 2012 Ms. Bertalmio added that the Library is getting complaints about materials never being available and long waiting lists for certain popular items. Regarding the capital budget, Mr. Gordon stated $125,000 is being requested to replace the existing Smart Check Terminal which does the work of 1.5 people. The system would pay for itself in two years. Ms. Bertalmio added that it won't be replaced while it is still working, but that 3M, which donated the equipment, has stopped writing software for it. She added that she understands why Mr. Hansen cut the $125,000 out of the proposed budget, but wants the Council to be aware it could need replacement at any time. Councilmember Polehna asked about geographic usage. He would like to receive more money from the county to offset costs. Ms. Bertalmio stated if a Wisconsin resident or a Lake Elmo resident uses the library, they pay $60 per year for their card because these entities are not under agreement with the Washington County Library System. Mr. Gordon reminded the Council that Stillwater Township contributes $5,000 every year. Councilmember Roush recognized that the Library is 10% of the City budget, so the Council really has to scrutinize the numbers. Councilmember Cook pointed out almost 80% of the Library budget is personnel. She has seen examples of libraries all over the country that use more technology and more volunteers for staffing. Ms. Bertalmio stated the percentage is fairly normal. Currently there are 14.5 FTEs. Four people have to be staffing the desks. The Library would like to reduce pressure on staff through use of more volunteers. For example, demand for story time is intense, and trained volunteers could assist with this. Mayor Harycki commented that libraries are required to do more now, there is more pressure on reference librarians to do many things and assist with more new technologies. Also, with a bigger facility, more security is needed. Councilmember Menikheim stated the City as a whole is undermanned and underfunded. He is open to the Library's needs but feels there are other ways to meet the budget such as looking at more ways to increase revenues. Ms. Bertalmio responded that the Library has lost positions in the past years; also there are required step increases for staff. Mr. Gordon stated the Board knew the 2013 request would be difficult but felt it would be remiss if it didn't present the City Council the true situation. Since 2007 it has had to cut some essential parts of its work. Councilmember Menikheim reiterated the concern he doesn't see anything in the budget about how to increase revenues. Mayor Harycki stated out of a $10 million budget, $7,790 is not a big increase. Maybe the Council could agree to half the requested materials budget and expect the Library Board to raise the remainder. Page 5 of 6 City Council Special Meeting August 28, 2012 Councilmember Roush stated he would be OK with this. He clarified that if the material cost budget is up, it's going into the county pool and it feels like Stillwater is giving that money away to the county. Mr. Gordon invited any Council members to attend Library Board meetings which are the second Tuesday of every month. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilmember Menikheim, seconded by Councilmember Polehna, adjourn at 8:12 p.m. All in favor. ATTEST: -- � ", i-,, Larry D. HansJI1,Acting City Clerk Ken Hary&, Mayor Page 6 of 6