City Council Work Session

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES Wednesday, July 05, 2023 at 5:50 PM Baxter City Hall, 13190 Memorywood Drive, Baxter, MN “A Growing Community” CALL TO ORDER Mayor Olson called the work session to order at 5:50 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor Darrel Olson and Council Members Connie Lyscio, Zach Tabatt, Jeff Phillips, and Mark Cross were present. City Administrator Brad Chapulis, Assistant City Administrator Kelly Steele, Community Development Director Josh Doty, Finance Director Jeremy Vacinek, and Public Works Director Trevor Walter were present. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Review Civil Attorney Services Draft RFP City Administrator Chapulis explained administration is looking for feedback from the council on the language contained in the draft attorney RFP. One item that administration is seeking feedback on is related to the attorney’s attendance at city meetings. The RFP indicates the attorney will need to be present for all 24 scheduled council meetings. For the past 12 months, administration has had the city attorney attend meetings only when the agenda required his attendance. Administration would like to know if the council would like to continue with this new practice, return to the former practice of attendance, or attempt something else. If the council wishes to proceed with the solicitation of an RFP, staff will request permission to advertise the RFP under the timeline outlined in the document. The council consensus was to indicate in the RFP that the attorney would be required to reserve the 24 annual council meetings on their calendar for possible attendance at a meeting. The council directed staff to proceed with advertising the RFP. 2. Code Enforcement Discussion Community Development Director Doty explained staff is seeking council direction on code enforcement, specifically code violations that relate to property and related improvements on property, condition of property, and the placement of structures or materials on property. The city’s informal practice has been to address code enforcement issues based on a complaint basis. Therefore, the city does not pro-actively seek violations on properties. Staff has been more aggressive with our enforcement of sanitary issues, such as garbage or nuisance issues than with other types of complaints. The city does have a specific process to address tall grass on properties. Although not always the case, complaints are often submitted to the city when a property has more than one violation and often when the condition of the property remains unchanged for a period of time or when more violations are added to the property. The city does not have code language to enforce all types of property conditions that some may find objectionable. 7/5/2023 City Council Work Session Minutes Page 2 The common practice to address conde violations is to call the property owner and request voluntary compliance. If voluntary compliance does not work, the next option is to send a letter to the property owner giving them reasonable time to correction the action. If the violation is not addressed, the next step is to bring the issue to the planning commission and then to the city council. If the volition is still not addressed, the city attorney would handle the violation through the court system. The process to address code violations is challenging due to the defined process and limited staff resources. To take a more active position on code enforcement, the city would need to add an FTE. Additionally, staff would recommend hiring a prosecuting attorney to accept code enforcement matters after staff completes due process with the property owner, thereby bypassing the planning commission and city council in this process for streamlining purposes. If the city takes a more active position on code enforcement, staff recommends efforts towards educating the public on city codes. Staff has identified three approaches for code enforcement, a baseline approach, mid-level approach, or an active approach. Staff will process tonight’s council feedback and will come forward with further discussion. 3. 2024 Budget Council Work Session Finance Director Vacinek kicked off the 2024 budget process by summarizing factors impacting the 2024 budget, property valuations, tax increment, and other economic indicators. Due to a change in the local government aid (LGA) formula for 2024, Baxter is now estimated to receive $201,480 in LGA. There was an expansion of the Homestead Market Value Exclusion with an extended phase-out to homes up to $517,000 from the current $413,800. There were several changes related to employee leave and the addition of Juneteenth as an official holiday. There will be revenue sharing for adult use cannabis tax receipts. The figures on the city’s new construction and change in estimated market value, along with other indicators will continue to be analyzed and more information will be provided when it become available. The next scheduled council meeting to review and discuss the 2024 governmental funds budget and property tax levy will be held on August 29th. ADJOURN MOTION by Council Member cross, seconded by Council Member Lyscio to adjourn at 6:55 p.m. Motion unanimously carried. 7/5/2023 City Council Work Session Minutes Page 3 Approved by: Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ Darrel Olson Kelly Steele Mayor Assistant City Administrator