City Council Workshop

10801 Town Square Drive City of Blaine Blaine MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes - Final City Council Workshop *While this is a public meeting where interested persons are welcome to attend, it is a work session for Council and staff to discuss issues before them. It is not for the purpose of receiving public input. Thursday, April 16, 2015 6:30 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING 1 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ryan at 6:31 p.m. 2 Roll Call Quorum Present. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Clark Arneson; Planning and Community Development Director Bryan Schafer; Finance Director Joe Huss; Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Chris Olson; Community Standards Director Robert Fiske; City Clerk Catherine Sorensen; and Recording Secretary Denise Bosch. Present: 7 - Mayor Ryan, Councilmember Hovland, Councilmember Swanson, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember Bourke, Councilmember Herbst, and Councilmember King 3 New Business The Council agreed to first consider Item 3.3, and then consider Items 3.2 and 3.1. 3-3 WS 15-17 INFINITE CAMPUS EXPANSION Planning and Community Development Director Schafer stated that Infinite Campus plans to double the size of its corporate headquarters in Blaine to increase its high tech workforce from 400 to well over 800 employees. He stated that the reason this expansion issue is coming before the Council tonight is that there will be some involvement on the part of the EDA. The EDA is willing to commit $800,000, which is about four percent of the parking ramp project cost. He stated that Infinite Campus has submitted an application for zoning approval that will come before the Board at its June meeting. He introduced Charlie Kratsch, Infinite Campus Founder, to fill in the details. City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final April 16, 2015 Mr. Kratsch stated that last fall they began to look at expansion of their 110,000 square foot facility. The building was originally designed for 450 employees and they are growing. They looked at the original proposal done eight years ago and decided that it wasn’t going to satisfy their needs over the next 5-10 years. They looked at their available space and determined that a tower was the way to go. The tower will be eight stories high. Office space and the basement are above grade and they are expanding the data center. The connector between the two buildings will allow meeting space for about 900 employees. The issue is the inadequate surface parking space. The decision was made to put the parking ramp on the south side of the campus and put a deck above it. However, the majority of employees work on the north side of the campus so the interior of the building is being redone to accommodate this issue. He stated that it is a large structure and they are working with landscaping architects and the City’s Park Board to make sure it exists harmoniously with the adjacent park. City Manager Arneson stated that there would be potential for coordinated improvements to the park. Councilmember Bourke inquired about the need for wetland permits. Planning and Community Development Director Shaffer replied there would be none and the parking ramp will be under construction in July. Mr. Kratsch stated they will get the ramp in and that will allow staging for construction. Councilmember Swanson asked if there had been issues with the height of the tower. Mr. Kratsch replied that there had not been any issues with the height. Planning and Community Development Director Schafer stated that they may need a construction permit for the crane to address how it is being flagged and lit at night. Councilmember Hovland asked how large the parking ramp was going to be. Mr. Kratsch replied that it would be 1 deck and approximately 280 spaces. Councilmember Hovland asked if building the ramp would reduce surface parking. Mr. Kratsch stated that they had looked at other designs but that would affect the utilities. He stated that the utilities cannot be out of commission because they cannot compromise their data storage. Councilmember Herbst stated this was a good plan and good for Blaine and asked how the City would be helping with financing. Planning and Community Development Director Shafer stated they are looking at both pooled TIF and EDA funds to finance the project. Current dollars would be used. City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final April 16, 2015 Discussion took place regarding the City’s financial commitment to other projects. Community Development Director Schafer stated that information on financing will be provided when formal action is brought to the EDA. Mr. Kratsch stated that Infinite Campus has had a great partnership with the community and many people comment on their facilities and the surrounding area. He stated his company brings high pay and high tech jobs to the City and workers find great homes and migrate to the area. Council consensus was to go forward with consideration of the ramp funding. Discussed 3-2 WS 15-16 ACCAP REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL (UNIVERSITY AVENUE AND 109th AVENUE) Planning and Community Development Director Schafer stated this project has been brought before the Council several times and the EDA has committed $450,000 to it. He stated that the two houses are still there and they are waiting for the funding to take them out. He stated that ACCAP went through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to get construction financing, which is a competitive process because as the demand has gone up the funding has decreased. One of the triggers is how much local support there is. ACCAP did not receive enough points so they needed to change the size of units and provide more local funding to get to the next round. They initially asked to set it up as a TIF district but the City is not recommending that because the $2 million coming out of the sale of two senior housing buildings is restricted money and has to be used for similar projects. The City is suggesting an additional $450,000 for a maximum of $900,000. Councilmember Swanson asked what kind of tax revenue there would be. Planning and Community Development Director Schafer replied that it would be full revenue. Councilmember Bourke asked what the restricted money can be used for. Planning Community Development Director Schafer replied that the fee has to meet the requirements of TIF. Councilmember Hovland stated we are talking about committing funds that we haven’t gotten yet and considering a sizable chunk of funding for this project. He stated this is a perfect pool of money to set aside for redevelopment issues. Councilmember Swanson stated this project is redevelopment. City Manager Arneson indicated it is questionable whether or not the project will happen. City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final April 16, 2015 Finance Manager Huss stated the City currently has about $1.4 million in pooled TIF that is restricted housing so that $2 million would be in addition to the $1.4-$1.5 million the City currently has. Councilmember Swanson asked if the money could be used for the K-Mart site. Planning and Community Development Director Shafer answered affirmatively if there was housing built on the site. Councilmember Bourke asked if the City would get any of the money back. Planning and Community Development Director Shafer stated if the project is not funded, the City gets the land back. He pointed out to Councilmembers the land and homes the City would get back and stated that additional money that EDA would put into this would be given to the project when it gets funding. Councilmember Clark asked about the status of Oak Park Plaza. City Manager Arneson stated the City is continuing to have conversations with them. Councilmember Clark asked how far apart the numbers are. Community Development Director Shafer stated he thinks they are close on the numbers. City Manager Arneson stated the project is ‘alive and well’ and Oak Park Plaza would like to have a site plan discussion but have not yet landed on a number. Councilmember Clark stated the importance of this project. Councilmember Hovland stated knowing that there is other TIF money available for housing is helpful. Councilmember Bourke stated that he wants to make sure current projects happen. Discussion took place between Councilmember Herbst and Planning and Community Development Director Shaffer regarding the scope of the project land. Councilmember Bourke stated if the project doesn’t get funded, the City can do something with the land. Councilmember Swanson asked what is happening with the K-Mart site. Planning and Community Development Director Shaffer stated the City has not heard anything but K-Mart is having conversations and the City has not been involved. Councilmember Clark would like to make sure that pavement on University Avenue from 109th Avenue down to about 105th Avenue is addressed. He City of Blaine Page 4 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final April 16, 2015 was hoping this project would address this, but it does not. Councilmember Bourke asked if we have heard anything on the closed service station site. Community Development Director Shaffer stated the City has not heard anything. Council consensus was to go forward with the proposal. Discussed 3-1 WS 15-15 COMMUNITY STANDARDS RENTAL INSPECTION STAFFING PLAN Community Standards Director Fiske stated that last fall Council directed Staff to increase rental fees and to look at how to implement additional inspections. The City currently inspects all apartment buildings, both interior and exterior, annually with individual units being inspected every three years. Currently single-family homes, detached and attached, are inspected every three years. The new plan would allow for all properties to be inspected annually, once every three years they will get a complete inside and outside inspection and on the off years, there will be a complete exterior inspection. Community Standards Director Fiske explained that staff has determined the best option would be to create a Rental License Technician position to process 1500 rental licenses; input data for all renewals received and processing payments; print and mail current rental licenses; monitor non-payments; conduct follow-up investigations; and, process collection letters. A key responsibility for this position would be to investigate if properties are being rented. This position would also be responsible for receiving phone calls and complaints, starting case records and assigning inspectors; entering inspection data and sending letters for inspectors; and maintaining the rental license database. This position would allow inspectors to spend more time in the field and to conduct the additional inspections requested by the Council. A side benefit would be freeing up the Community Standards Secretary to assist Neighborhood Services and Fire Inspectors. He stated that there would be cost savings to the City and the increased inspection goal would be met with lower salary expense, no City vehicle, and no additional safety equipment needed. Councilmember Bourke asked who follows up if there is a violation. Community Standards Director Fiske stated that an inspector would follow up on a violation. Councilmember Hovland asked if the City has any idea of the number of rental homes in the City and if the City can plot rental locations and correlate them with the Police Department. Community Standards Director Fiske replied affirmatively to both questions. City of Blaine Page 5 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final April 16, 2015 Councilmember Hovland stated it would be nice to track non-licensed homes so the data could be used when talking about redevelopment. Mayor Ryan and Staff discussed about the City’s home improvement loans. Councilmember King asked how apartment building units are processed. Community Standards Director Fiske replied the City licenses the building and not the individual units. Apartment building owners would get one letter and the City would document which units they had been in. Councilmember Swanson asked if the City can make sure townhome owner’s association dues are current before issuing them a rental license. Councilmember Clark asked if that would be a private matter between the homeowner and association and not a City transaction. Community Standards Director Fiske stated the only issue the City can enforce is payment of taxes before issuing a rental license and this issue may need an ordinance change. Councilmember Swanson asked if this issue could be researched. Councilmember King asked about the grade level of the technician position and how much of the salary the increased rental fees covered. Finance Director Huss replied that the rental fees would cover the Grade 6 position at a salary of approximately $50,000. Discussion took place between Councilmember Clark and Finance Director Huss regarding rental license fees covering the cost of the position. Finance Director Huss indicated that the City would be close to breaking even. Councilmember Herbst stated if costs are not covered, then the fee could be adjusted upward. Finance Director Huss stated the City would be covering the costs and would not be over collecting. Councilmember Herbst stated that we need to make sure the City’s costs are covered and that the City is not on the high end but more of the middle with regard to rental license fees. Councilmember Clark stated the goal is not to take away a person’s right to rent their home. Councilmember Bourke asked about townhouses. Community Standards Director Fiske stated that townhomes are easier to maintain the maintenance code because they are part of an association. Duplexes and twin homes that are not part of an association are more of a problem. Councilmember Clark stated that once the rental program is up and running, it should be promoted. Councilmember Herbst stated that the third district does not see as much of a City of Blaine Page 6 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final April 16, 2015 problem with the housing maintenance code. He felt the extra staff person helping behind the scenes should be able to stay on top of it and commended Staff for their work on this plan, Council consensus was to go forward with the staffing plan. Discussed OTHER BUSINESS None. ADJOURN The Workshop was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Adjourned City of Blaine Page 7