City Council Work Session

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 6:15 PM Baxter City Hall, 13190 Memorywood Drive, Baxter, MN “A Growing Community” CALL TO ORDER Mayor Olson called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor Darrel Olson and Council Members Connie Lyscio, Zach Tabatt, and Mark Cross were present. Council Member John Ward was absent. City Administrator Brad Chapulis, Assistant City Administrator Kelly Steele, Community Development Director Josh Doty, Finance Director Jeremy Vacinek, Public Works Director Trevor Walter, and Police Chief Jim Exsted were present. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Quiet Zone Assessment Presentation Bryan Remer, SEH, presented the findings on the Quite Zone Assessment. Mr. Remer explained the city has been working toward the goal of implementing a railroad quite zone within the city for multiple years. The process takes close coordination with BNSF. The city has hired SEH to assist with the study. The project tasks included gathering data, field assessments, and group site meetings with officials from SEH, the city, BNSF, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), MnDOT, and Crow Wing County officials. The study looked at the following at grade crossings: Timberwood Drive, Highland Scenic Road, Knollwood Drive, Inglewood Drive, Elder Drive, MN Highway 371, and Cypress Drive. The assessment concludes that improvements are necessary at the seven at grade crossing to qualify the city for quire zone designation. The trail crossing improvements at Timberwood Drive are not required to meet the quite zone requirements but are recommended to remain consistent with other trail crossings within the city limits. The crossings are assigned a quite zone risk score from the FRA web based calculator. The calculations take into account the train and vehicle traffic, warning devices, supplementary safety measures and other information to create a standardized score. Since the quite zone risk index for the existing conditions isn’t less than the Nationwide Significant Risk Threshold (NSRT), then the city doesn’t qualify for the automatic quite zone. The proposed improvements will be required to meet the quite zone requirements. Mr. Remer summarized proposed improvements for each crossing. The estimated project cost was developed assuming the costs for Inglewood Drive and Knollwood Drive would be covered under the project construction in 2022. The remaining work needed to develop the quite zone will be completed under a separate project or completed by BNSF in 2023. There will be a significant coordination effort with MnDOT, BNSF, and Crow Wing County as the city will need permits from each organization. The estimated project cost is $700,000. 8/16/2022 City Council Work Session Minutes Page 2 The proposed improvements at the seven at grade crossings should qualify the city for quite zone designation. FRA updates with quite zone calculations and thresholds frequently and SEH cannot guarantee crossings that meet the requirements today will continue to meet the requirements long term. Removing Timberwood Drive from the quite zone study would increase the average score but is still less than the NSRT so the remaining at grade crossings would qualify for quite zone designation. The consensus of the council was to continue moving forward with the quite zone process as a lot has been invested in the process and many residents have expressed support. 2. Lakes Area Habitat For Humanity Request City Administrator Chapulis explained in 2018 the city entered into an agreement with Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity (HFH) to preserve the single-family homes that were acquired by the city in conjunction with the 2018 Cypress Drive Improvement Project. The agreement called for the city to sell the five homes to HFH and provide the organization with a forgivable loan for the acquisition of real estate and related soft costs for the relocation of three homes and the construction of two additional ones within the city. The city utilized tax increment financing (TIF) funds dedicated to affordable housing to make the forgivable loan. HFH successfully completed the terms of the agreement in 2021. HFH is currently considering the purchase of four tax-forfeited lots in the city for future home builds. HFH has requested the city consider entering into a similar agreement as the one executed in 2018 to financially cover or reduce the outstanding assessments on the tax-forfeited lots. In return for the city’s financial participation, HFH would commit to building four new homes in the next two years. The outstanding assessments on the four lots is approximately $46,000. Depending upon a favorable opinion form the city’s public finance attorney on its use, tax increment proceeds from the city’s TIF housing districts would be a proposed funding source should the council favorably consider the request. Should the council support the request, staff would also be seeking the directive to commence the administrative and legal work necessary to finalize details of an agreement, which would be brought forward for council consideration at a future meeting. The consensus of the council was to support the request and direct staff to finalize details of an agreement for future council consideration. ADJOURN MOTION by Council Member Cross, seconded by Council Member Lyscio to adjourn at 6:54 p.m. Motion unanimously carried. Approved by: Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ Darrel Olson Kelly Steele 8/16/2022 City Council Work Session Minutes Page 3 Mayor Assistant City Administrator