City Council

REGULAR ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL MEETING – APRIL 16, 2024 MINUTES The Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Bukkila, April 16, 2024 at 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Jamie Barthel, Ted Butler, Rick Engelhardt, and Randy Nelson Councilmember absent: None Also present: City Administrator, Jim Dickinson City Attorney Scott Baumgartner Others PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE RESIDENT FORUM No one came forward to address the Council. AGENDA APPROVAL Motion by Nelson, Seconded by Barthel, to approve the Agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES March 26, 2024 Workshop Meeting: Correct as written. April 2, 2024 Regular Meeting: Correct as written. April 8, 2024 Board of Review Meeting: Correct as written. Motion by Barthel, Seconded by Nelson, to approve the March 26, 2024 Workshop meeting, April 2, 2024 Regular meeting, and April 8, 2024 Board of Review meeting minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously. CONSENT ITEMS Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes – April 16, 2024 Page 2 Item 2 Approve Payment of Claims Item 3 Approve Plans & Specs/Order Ad for Bids/24-20/Water Treatment Plant Radon Mitigation (See Resolution R046-24) Item 4 Approve Pine Hills North Building/23-41 Item 5 Approve Massage Therapist License Item 6 Adopt Resolution Setting Annual Income Level for Senior Citizen and Disabled Individuals for Deferral of Assessments and Reduced Sanitary Sewer Rates (See Resolution R047- 24) Item 7 Approve Park Exclusive Use Permit/Andover Lions Club Item 8 Receive March 2024 City Investment Reports Item 9 Receive March 2024 General Fund Budget Progress Report Item 10 Declare Surplus Equipment Item 11 Authorize Initiating 2025 Well #9 Backup Generator Motion by Nelson, Seconded by Butler, to approve of the Consent Agenda as read. Motion carried unanimously. ANOKA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE MONTHLY REPORT Commander Paul Lenzmeier provided a monthly report for March including 950 calls for service, with a year-to-date total of 2,886 calls for service. He shared there were two burglaries reported, including one at Andover Optical. He noted they have not seen business related burglaries in a long time. He shared there were 15 thefts reported for the month, seven of which were reported from Walmart. He added there were four felony arrests, four gross misdemeanor arrests, 12 misdemeanor arrests, and seven DWI arrests. He said three of these DWIs occurred at 133rd and Round Lake Boulevard where deputies often work traffic enforcement on Round Lake Boulevard. He noted all of these arrests resulted from the individuals being pulled over for speeding. He said there were 294 traffic stops for the month and 83 citations were issued. He noted significant events including when officers were called to Walmart because of some juveniles acting disorderly and assaulting one of the staff members. He shared two of these individuals were cited for disorderly conduct. He added they also reported to a call-in regard to two structure fires within the same neighborhood within hours of each other. He noted they investigated this to determine if the fires were started intentionally and they discovered that one of the fires was sparked by a cigarette butt, and the other was unrelated. He shared there was also an incident where a teenager from Anoka was riding in the passenger seat of a car and shooting other vehicles with a BB gun. He said March was a very busy month for the Sheriff’s Office. Councilmember Nelson asked about the DWI arrests on Round Lake Boulevard and how fast the fastest car was going. Commander Lenzmeier said one car was driving 72 MPH in a 45 MPH zone. Councilmember Nelson asked if this individual was intoxicated. Commander Lenzmeier said yes. He explained this individual refused to test after he was pulled over. Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes – April 16, 2024 Page 3 Councilmember Nelson asked if driving over 20 MPH over the speeding limit is considered endangerment where someone could lose their license. Commander Lenzmeier said it depends on the driving conduct. City Attorney Baumgartner added it also depends on how the deputies charge it. He said if the deputy checks the box for ‘endangerment’ then it is handled differently. He added the deputies do a good job to make sure the right boxes are checked. Mr. Baumgartner shared they are seeing a lot higher readings for DWIs, with an average of 1.4 and 1.5 blood alcohol content. He said they are also seeing these DWIs at all times of the day. PRESENTATION - QCTV ANNUAL REPORT The City Council is requested to receive a presentation from Executive Director Karen George and Communications Coordinator Seamus Burke regarding QCTV updated from the past year as well as future initiatives. Councilmember Barthel, the QCTV Commission Chair introduced Executive Director Karen George and Communications Coordinator Seamus Burke from QCTV. Ms. George gave the annual update on QCTV. She gave a background of QCTV and reviewed their Strategic Plan. Mr. Burke reviewed the different communication channels used by QCTV, including their programs The Post, Live and Local, City Matters, and their bulletin boards. He discussed Andover’s presence on the QCTV website. He reviewed the website traffic versus the YouTube views. He reviewed their social media statistics. He shared the top stories of 2023 for Andover were Andover Football, the Live and Local programs, the Andover High School Graduation, the Mrs. Taco salsa contest, and the profile on the Eveland Family Farm. He added QCTV won 15 national awards in 2023. Ms. George presented the full and part-time staff at QCTV and shared they have a very stable staff with little-to-no turnover. She shared there are some legislative efforts they have been following at the legislature, including the Equal Access to Broadband Act. She noted this bill was removed from the House bill last night as there was more work to be done on it and they plan to bring it back in 2025. She thanked the City for its continued support of QCTV. Councilmember Barthel encouraged residents to visit the QCTV website. He said there are many items on the website that feature Andover. Councilmember Nelson thanked Ms. George and Mr. Burke for their presentation. He shared Coon Rapids CTN just signed a two year contract with the St. Paul Saints broadcasting their home games. He suggested this could be a creative way to bring in more revenue. He asked if they have thought of any other creative way of bringing in more revenue. Ms. George said the Board of Directors has asked QCTV to look into this. She shared they conducted a study a few years ago that outlines various options that they could consider when it comes to augmenting their revenue sources. She Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes – April 16, 2024 Page 4 said they have completed negotiations for the Anoka Ramsey Community College graduation, which will be a paid production. She added they have also rented out their study to an individual sports producer who does individual player profiles. She explained they have also explored the idea of sponsorships. Councilmember Nelson noted with the increase in streaming services there are a lot of people who cancel their cable services. He asked who covers the Anoka Ramsey Community College sports games. Ms. George said she is not aware of any contracts for sports coverage with the Community College. Ms. George explained whenever they have a contract with a paid production, they always look at how this balances out with their Strategic Plan and being able to provide their services to their communities first before any outside productions. She said they look very closely at the return on investment for these productions. Mayor Bukkila said the thing to focus on is that QCTV is net neutral so there is no cost to the City. She thanked QCTV for their partnership. City Administrator Dickinson explained one of the major initiatives of QCTV is to ensure that they have their own financial going concern and can control their own destiny. Mayor Bukkila thanked QCTV for coming out into the community for events, including the Christmas tree lighting. She noted it was wonderful to be able to watch this event back after the fact. Councilmember Butler thanked QCTV and its staff for all of their work producing high quality programming. Councilmember Engelhardt asked for the best way to contact QCTV if a resident has an interesting story idea or an event they would like covered. Ms. George said residents can email ContactUs@QCTV.org with story ideas or GreatJob@QCTV.org for feedback or their phone number is 763-427-1411. She added they can also be contacted over any form of social media. ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT City Staff updated the Council on the administration and city department activities, legislative updates, updates on development/CIP projects, and meeting reminders/community events. (Administrative Staff Report) Mr. Dickinson reviewed the Administrative Staff report. He shared in Administration and Finance they are working on the audit and will have the field team out starting tomorrow. He added they are also in the process of working on the 2025 budget and the Capital Improvement Plan. He said he is gathering information for some upcoming workshop meetings with the Council. He shared the Second Annual Puzzle Exchange and puzzles are being collected until April 26th and the exchange will take place on April 27th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes – April 16, 2024 Page 5 p.m. at City Hall. He noted this event was quite successful last year. (Public Works/Engineering Department Report) On behalf of Mr. Berkowitz, Mr. Dickinson reviewed the Public Works and Engineering Department report. He shared the preconstruction meeting for the 2024 street reconstruction project took place on April 10th and the construction will begin on April 29th. He shared the preconstruction meeting for the 2024 street reclamation project will take place on April 18th and they do not have a start date at this time. He added the preconstruction meeting for the mill and overlay project will be held on April 18th as well. He noted the preconstruction meeting for the Red Oaks groundwater mitigation project has already been held and they started construction on April 15th. He shared they have broken this project into two phases which should give them the ability to start connecting homes sooner than they originally anticipated. He explained they are also working on the contract with Rice Lake Contracting who is the construction company that will be doing all of the connections from the main to the homes and within the homes. He said they have received around 98% of the agreements granting access into the homes. He shared they are also doing some trail work along Andover Boulevard where there will be some significant tree trimming and meetings with the residents will be taking place. (Community Development Department Report) On behalf of Mr. Janish, Mr. Dickinson reviewed the Community Development Department report. He also shared within the sports complex at the Community Center, turf is currently in. He noted 34 new home permits have been issued this year and there are eight still under review. He said they have already hired all of their seasonal workers and all intern positions are filled as well. MAYOR/COUNCIL INPUT None. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Barthel, Seconded by Nelson, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ava Major, Recording Secretary Regular Andover City Council Meeting Minutes – April 16, 2024 Page 6 REGULAR ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES – APRIL 16, 2024 TABLE OF CONTENTS TOC \h \u \z \t "Heading 1,1,Heading 2,2,Heading 3,3," RESIDENT FORUM ..................................................................................................................1 AGENDA APPROVAL ............................................................................................................. 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES ...................................................................................................... 1 CONSENT ITEMS .....................................................................................................................1 Item 2 Approve Payment of Claims .....................................................................................1 Item 3 Approve Plans & Specs/Order Ad for Bids/24-20/Water Treatment Plant Radon Mitigation (R046-24) .................................................................................................................1 Item 4 Approve Pine Hills North Building/23-41 ................................................................2 Item 5 Approve Massage Therapist License ........................................................................2 Item 6 Adopt Resolution Setting Annual Income Level for Senior Citizen and Disabled Individuals for Deferral of Assessments and Reduced Sanitary Sewer Rates (R047-24) ......... 2 Item 7 Approve Park Exclusive Use Permit/Andover Lions Club ...................................... 2 Item 8 Receive March 2024 City Investment Reports ......................................................... 2 Item 9 Receive March 2024 General Fund Budget Progress Report ................................... 2 Item 10 Declare Surplus Equipment ...................................................................................... 2 Item 11 Authorize Initiating 2025 Well #9 Backup Generator ..............................................2 ANOKA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE MONTHLY REPORT ............................................2 PRESENTATION - QCTV ANNUAL REPORT ...................................................................... 3 ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT ............................................................................................... 4 MAYOR/COUNCIL INPUT ......................................................................................................5 ADJOURNMENT ...................................................................................................................... 5