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2019-03-05 Council MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA Minutes of the Regular Meeting Held Tuesday, March 5, 2019 Pursuant to due call and notice, the regular meeting of the City Council, City of Mendota Heights, Minnesota was held at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Garlock called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilors Miller and Petschel were also present. Councilors Duggan and Paper were absent. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council, the audience, and staff recited the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA ADOPTION Mayor Garlock presented the agenda for adoption. Councilor Petschel moved adoption of the agenda with the exception of item 9a, which had been removed from the agenda. Councilor Miller seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Garlock presented the consent calendar and explained the procedure for discussion and approval. Councilor Petschel moved approval of the consent calendar as presented, pulling item c.) Accept Notice of Retirement from Cliff Kirchner and Authorize Filling of Public Works Maintenance Worker position. a. Approval of February 19, 2019 City Council Minutes b. Acknowledgment of the January 22, 2019 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes c. Accept Notice of Retirement from Cliff Kirchner and Authorize Filling of Public Works Maintenance Worker position d. Approve Solar Garden Subscription e. Approval of January 2019 Treasurer's Report f. Approval of Claims List Councilor Miller seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) PULLED CONSENT AGENDA ITEM C) ACCEPT NOTICE OF RETIREMENT FROM CLIFF KIRCHNER AND AUTHORIZE FILLING OF PUBLIC WORKS MAINTENANCE WORKER POSITION Councilor Miller expressed his appreciation for everything that Mr. Cliff Kirchner has done for the city during his tenure at Public Works. He will be missed and is wished the best during his retirement. Mayor Garlock noted that Mr. Kirchner could fix anything. He even taught himself how to fix the various changes to the squad cars for the Police Department. He is a very brilliant and talented man who will be missed greatly. Councilor Petschel said that there is probably not a piece of equipment within the city that has not been repaired by Mr. Kirchner. He has been a hardworking unsung contributor to the city. Councilor Petschel moved to accept Notice of Retirement from Cliff Kirchner and Authorize Filling of Public Works Maintenance Worker Position. Councilor Miller seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) PUBLIC COMMENTS Ms. Jill Smith, 625 Hampshire Drive, addressed the Council on being transparent with the community. One of the things that has come up is the cost overrun for the Fire Station. She stated that when this project was originally approved, it was represented to the community to be a certain dollar amount. That amount, due to market conditions, is exceeding that by $1.2M. In order to be transparent with the community, they need to be advised of this and have their input received. Mr. Thomas Smith, 625 Hampshire Drive, spoke regarding the intentions of how the Council proposes to handle the cost overrun for the Fire Station. It was his understanding that this would be paid for from the sale of city land on the northwest corner of The Village. He stated that the residents should be given a chance to weigh in on any additional costs for the fire station. March 5, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 2 of 9 PRESENTATIONS A) ROGERS LAKE WATER QUALITY REPORT BY SAINT THOMAS ACADEMY Mr. Tony Kinzley, Advanced Placement Environmental Sciences Instructor at Saint Thomas Academy, introduced his students who conducted the Rogers Lake Water Quality research to present their findings. There were approximately 100 students who participated in this study so they believe their data to be very accurate. Rogers Lake continues to be a very healthy lake in the Metro area. By all of the measurements they took, this appeared to be a record year. The key takeaways were that the water is overall clearer than past years. The nitrates and phosphates are down, indicative of less organic waste in the water. Most of the readings were considered acceptable; many of the readings are records. Areas to be of continued focus will be fecal coliform which was slightly worse this year than in years past. There was one measurement where the fecal coliform reading spiked, and all of the other times it measured 0. This brought up the average. There were some unusual Biochemical Oxygen Demand readings; however, given the combination of elevated readings with low to normal nitrate and phosphate readings, it was hypothesized that this could be caused by a mineral or other pollutant that the students do not test for (i.e. copper as an agent to fight algae). The class recommended that the city continue to use buffer zones to keep organic waste out of the water and to continue to stress to the residents to pick up pet waste to keep it from getting into the water. Yard waste should also be cleaned up to prevent it from entering the lake. A mineral they do not test for could be influencing the Biochemical Oxygen Demand and they recommended further monitoring on that. Councilor Miller noted that the presentation was extremely thorough and expressed his appreciation for the report and the work the students do. He asked if there was any correlation between the temperature increase and the lower dissolved H2O and lower turbidity. The response was that the major cause of the temperature change addressed earlier was due to their equipment malfunctioning earlier in the year, and turbidity would cause an increase in temperature; however, this year's turbidity was clearer and the students did not feel it had any cause on the temperature increase. Councilor Petschel also expressed her appreciation for the data and how it is trending. She attributed some of this to the Council's decision to install barrier curb on Wagon Wheel Trail. PUBLIC HEARING No items scheduled. Alarch 5, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 3 of 9 NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS A) RESOLUTION 2019-18 DENYING A LOT LINE ADJUSTMENT AND VARIANCE FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1840 HUNTER LANE (PLANNING CASE NO. 2019-03) This item was pulled from the agenda and would be brought back to the March 19, 2019 City Council meeting. B) RESOLUTION 2019-19 APPROVING A LOT SPLIT AND LOT COMBINATION FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 963 CHIPPEWA AVENUE (PLANNING CASE NO. 2019-04) Community Development Director Tim Benetti explained this request from Mark and Kris Morin to approve their Lot Split application to subdivide a residential parcel of land located at 963 Chippewa Avenue. The property is a corner lot and consists of two original platted lots. Upon completion of the lot split, the residential dwelling at 963 Chippewa Avenue will have a smaller parcel. The remaining parcel will be combined with the property at 530 Simard Street, which is located to the west. Mayor Garlock moved to adopt RESOLUTION 2019-19 APPROVING A LOT SPLIT FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 963 CHIPPEWA AVENUE (PLANNING CASE NO. 2019-04). Councilor Miller seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) D) AWARD OF CONTRACTS TO CONSTRUCT FIRE STATION PROJECT City Administrator Mark McNeill explained that the Fire Station project is at another milestone point. This would be to actually authorize the remodeling of the existing 1980's era building, which would more than double the size of the building. He said that this project started last year when CNH Architects were hired to do some preliminary design and cost estimations. The Council decided that a General Obligation Bond would be used to fund the project. The bond issuance was approved after a public hearing was held, as opposed to a referendum process. The preliminary budget was set at $6.125M; however, on the recommendation of the city's financial advisor the bond issuance was for $7.OM. In August 2018, after a required public hearing was held, CNH was directed to prepare construction documents. The city also hired a construction management company, which allowed some additional ability to keep costs down. As the design reached its conclusion, the Fire Station Building Committee (FSBC) made reductions wherever possible in an attempt to keep the project within budget. Fire Chief Dave Dreelan then explained that the committee realized that the construction market was even more inflated than originally anticipated. In November 2018, the committee tried to identify areas where additional funds could be saved. They eliminated $131,000 in design changes and $31,000 in scope reduction. March 5, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 4 of 9 In January 2019, the committee received news that the market was still climbing at a rate that was unprecedented. They went back and reduced another $155,000 in design changes related to the station, and another $25,000 in scope reductions. At that point they started entering into an area where it would not look quite as nice as the original design. Chief Dreelan noted that any additional changes to the building itself would dramatically change the functionality and the design, and it would then not meet the objectives that were laid out for the needs of the station and the community. Chief Dreelan stated that they are not done in their cost savings campaign. They have started conversations with the contractors and have identified additional areas where they think they could save some money. Mr. McNeill noted that the bids were opened February 21, 2019. When they added up all of the 21 different components, the bids came to approximately $6.8M; $1.2M over the budget. He said that the options for the Council to consider were to reject the bids and start over, or stay with the bids obtained and find a way to fund the increase. He said that if the project was to be rebid right now, the City would be competing for the same companies that have already indicated that they have enough work to do. It would therefore be unlikely there would be any savings. If the project was to wait to this fall and be rebid for the 2020 construction season, there would be an additional year of construction inflation. Funding options to address the overage include: 1. Call for a new public hearing to talk about increasing the bonds to cover the incremental difference of $1.2M. This would further increase property taxes. The hearing would be only for increasing the bonds sale; the public hearing was not for the overall project size. 2. Use existing capital funds. 3. Assign the proceeds of the sale of The Village lots towards this project. The estimated preliminary value of the lots is $800,000. He noted that the bids are only good for 30 days; making March 21, 2019 the deadline to make the decision to award. Staff recommended that Council authorize the execution of the 20 recommended contracts; adding up to approximately $6.8M. The one item that Construction Manager is not recommending moving forward is the fire suppression bid, as that was still being negotiated. This would be brought back to the Council at the March 19, 2019 meeting. Councilor Miller, in the interest of transparency, asked for confirmation from City Attorney Andrew Pratt that his position on the Council and voting on this, is not a conflict of interest due to his participation on the Fire Department. Attorney Pratt confirmed that Councilor Miller has no personal financial interest that he would be giving to the exclusion of others. He said that, as a result, there would be no conflict of interest on the part of Councilor Miller. Councilor Miller noted that one of the alternatives for the Council would be to hit the pause button and go back for community input and re -bond this project. The virtue of going back and having that public discourse is important; however, also important is the stewardship of tax dollars. If the pause button is hit, continued discussions occur on what has transpired and by the time this comes back to the Council this project could be up to $9.OM or $10.OM. He questioned if this would be true stewardship of our tax March 5, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 5 of 9 dollars. He did not believe it would be. He believed it to be important to try to balance the need for transparency with fiduciary responsibility in making this work. Councilor Miller stated that it is important for the public to understand that the sale of The Village lots is not something that came up for discussion after the realization of the over budget situation of the Fire Station. In early 2017, the sale of the lots was discussed by the Council. The Council also discussed putting out a Request for Proposals on the sale of The Village lots during the January 2019 goal setting sessions of the Council. He stated that the Council will continue to work to find the right fit for that land. Mayor Garlock stated that the city actually started working on the sale of these lots in 2017. The Council listened to the residents of the community regarding the size of the potential project indicating their objections. Taking that into consideration, the Council decided to scale down the project. The Council is not trying to sell these lots in a hurry to offset the overrun for the Fire Department. Mayor Garlock believes that the public safety of the community is paramount. There were some delays in the process, the costs have gone up, and it appears that delaying this any further would end up in additional costs. He would be in favor of moving this process forward. Councilor Petschel clarified that the RFP that was worked on for The Village lots was agreed to by all of the Councilmembers and contrary to what was stated earlier, does not commit them to any one plan. In fact, a number of plans have come forward that have significantly fewer units on it than the 100 -unit project mentioned earlier. The RFP gives a broad range; but no commitment has been made to any plan. She said that the Council is also in the process of getting an appraisal of that land, which will be important. Stewardship of land is extremely important. This land was returned to the city in a tax forfeiture and the residents have been waiting, from a financial standpoint, to reap some of the proceeds of the investment they made. Councilor Petschel noted that this fire station is needed for the continued public safety and also for the safety of the firefighters. The commitment made to the residents was in terms of what the levy would be; what the effect would be on an individual resident in terms of paying for this fire station. The Council made that promise and they need to abide by it. Councilor Miller stated that the station that was put together and proposed by the station committee, the architects, and the plan manager is a pragmatic station; it is not a gold standard, or top of the line quality station. Everybody worked diligently to make a station that addressed the safety needs of the firefighters and, most importantly, the safety needs of the community. Mr. McNeill stated that it is important for the Council to understand that if they decide to have a bond sale they need to talk about what the impact would be, especially with the new numbers. When this was first advertised, it was a $6.125M project — estimated impact on a $356,000 home was $91.00 - based on a 15 -year bond. Using the $7.OM bond amount, the impact on a $365,000 property would be $103.76 annually for a 15 -year bid; and $84.77 for a 20 -year bid. March 5, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 6 of 9 Councilor Petschel asked about the potential savings that could be made if the state legislature decides on the sales tax exclusion proposal. Chief Dreelan replied that they have started to look at that and they are hopeful that it could provide a savings of $100,000 to $150,000. Administrator McNeill noted that he has spoken with Representative Ruth Richardson; the bill has been introduced and has received one hearing. It has been referred to the House Tax Committee. He said that the Mendota Heights bill may be put into an Omnibus Bill, rather than considered individually. There are no assurances at this time. Mayor Garlock moved to authorize the execution of 20 contracts for the 2019 Mendota Heights Fire Station Remodeling and Addition project. Councilor Miller seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) City Administrator McNeill asked for discussion and a consensus on the repayment term of the bonds for the General Obligation bonds to be issued to fund the project. Councilor Petschel stated that she would like a consensus of the other two councilmembers who were not in attendance. Councilor Miller agreed. Attorney Pratt noted that the bond resolution would be on the next Council agenda and would basically authorize the selling of the bonds. A preliminary official statement would go out after that resolution is approved. He said that the terms are always fluid until the bonds are actually sold; which would be sometime in April so the proceeds would be received prior to the late May deadline. Administrator McNeill noted that they could have the bonds set up for both a 15 -year term and a 20 -year term, and that the Council could then decide. C) RESOLUTION 2019-17 APPROVING A VARIANCE TO BUILDING HEIGHT STANDARDS IN THE R-1 DISTRICT FOR FRIENDLY HILLS MIDDLE SCHOOL (ISD #197) — 701 MENDOTA HEIGHTS ROAD (PLANNING CASE NO. 2019-02) Community Development Director Tim Benetti explained that this was a request from ISD 197 to approve a variance to the building height standard for the Friendly Hills Middle School property located at 701 Mendota Heights Road. In 2018, the voters approved a $117M building bond to help with the district's improvements throughout their various school campuses. One of those improvements is to add a gymnasium addition on the backside of the existing gymnasium. City Code restricts buildings in the R-1 zoning district to a maximum of 25 feet in height. The school district is proposing to add an addition at the northwest corner of the school, next to the existing gymnasium facility, and match the height of the existing building, at 31 feet 5 inches. March 5, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 7 of 9 The school is proposing to close off one of the two entry points onto Mendota Heights Road to serve as a single access point for deliveries and buses. A secondary access point would be onto Huber. However, these proposals are not part of the variance request. The image of this proposed site plan was included to show the location of the proposed gymnasium addition. Mr. Benetti noted that one letter of objection was received and was included in the Council packet. Councilor Miller, referring to the diagrams provided, asked why the addition did not match the existing aesthetics of the building? Mr. Ryan Hoffman of ICS Consulting replied that the rendering was more of a representation to draw distinction to where it is. The structure will be a pre -cast structure, whereas the rest of the building is of brick. The intent will be to match the brick as closely as possible, but because it is two different building systems, there is going to be a difference in look. Councilor Petschel moved to adopt RESOLUTION 2019-17 APPROVING A VARIANCE TO THE BUILDING HEIGHT STANDARDS IN R-1 DISTRICT FOR FRIENDLY HILLS MIDDLE SCHOOL (ISD #197) — LOCATED AT 701 MENDOTA HEIGHTS ROAD (PLANNING CASE NO. 2019-02). Councilor Miller seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) Councilor Petschel moved, once the traffic study is completed on the proposed school property entrance adjustments, to have the proposed site plan and traffic study sent to the Planning Commission for review. Councilor Miller seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS City Administrator Mark McNeill announced that the on-line registration system for summer recreation programs opened on March 4, 2019. Employment applications for summer assistance in the recreation program are being taken. The Marie Park Ice Rink will be open through the weekend, weather permitting. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilor Petschel commended staff for the quality of the Heights Highlights as it was an extraordinary edition. There was so much information in there and this is mailed out to every resident. On the front page was the wonderful Los Almas group from Henry Sibley; who has helped the Council pass two important ordinances regarding the age of smoking and anti-vaping measures. March S, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 8 of 9 She was impressed with the quality of the presentation this evening by St. Thomas Academy, and recognized the importance of this information to the Council in terms of best practices. She has come to the conclusion that Mendota Heights is a very blessed community in the quality of the education and the wonderful working relationship between the schools, the city, and this Council. Councilor Miller, regarding transparency, stated that if people are feeling like the City Council has not been as transparent as they would like to see, then to please raise that issue. There is always room for improvement and the Council should continually be working on this goal. He also stated, in regards to the Fire Station project, the Council is trying to balance transparency and being diligent with their fiduciary responsibilities. Everyone has put a lot of time, energy, and effort into the project to get the best value for their money. If anyone has any questions or additional comments, he said that all of the Council members' doors are open. Mayor Garlock noted that he has mailed out information about the 5K to all previous participants, reminding them of the upcoming 5K event. Registration is also available through the city's website. Councilor Petschel moved to adjourn. Mayor Garlock seconded the motion. Ayes: 3 Nays: 0 Absent: 2 (Duggan, Paper) Mayor Garlock adjourned the meeting at 8:23 p.m. `y SZC"�J Neil Garlock Mayor ATTE Lorri Smith City Clerk March 5, 2019 Mendota Heights City Council minutes Page 9 of 9