City Council Workshop

Blaine City Hall City of Blaine 10801 Town Sq Dr NE Blaine, MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes - Final City Council Workshop Thursday, August 11, 2016 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 6:30 p.m. 2 Roll Call All Councilmembers present; quorum present. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Clark Arneson; City Attorney Patrick Sweeney; Public Services Manager Bob Therres; Finance Director Joe Huss; Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Chris Olson; Budget/Fiscal Analyst Ward Brown; Communications Technician Roark Haver; Senior Engineering Technician Al Thorp; City Clerk Catherine Sorensen; and Recording Secretary Linda Dahlquist. Present: 5 - Councilmember Hovland, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember Bourke, Councilmember Herbst, and Councilmember King 3 New Business 3-1 WS 16-46 HARLEY DAVIDSON STORE RELOCATION City Manager Arneson stated a group out of Tulsa is purchasing the Harley Davidson store in Blaine and would like to build a new generation Harley Davidson showroom, sales and maintenance facility along Highway 65 between Super America and U-Haul. He stated the building would be 40,000 square feet with showroom, lounge, Thunder Tower, retail store and maintenance department. He noted the project will be a $10 million dollar investment and employ 110 staff. He stated the site is zoned PBD (Planned Business District) and the City would need to initiate a code amendment to add Motorcycle Dealership Showroom and Maintenance Facility in order to allow this use. He stated construction is planned for the spring of 2017. Councilmember Swanson asked if there will be motorcycles parked outside. City Manager Arneson replied no. Council consensus to move forward with the proposed code amendment to City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final August 11, 2016 add Motorcycle Dealership Showroom and Maintenance Facility in order to allow this use. Councilmember Clark asked if the Harley Davidson store will continue to hold outdoor events and the reasons for the proposed 20,000-square foot minimum requirement with the 65 overlay. Council discussion was held on the 65 overlay district standards and City Manager Arneson said the square footage requirement was just proposed and could be discussed. Councilmember Clark asked how consistent the proposed 20,000-square foot minimum requirement would be for other uses such as a car dealership or if the minimum being proposed would only apply to motorcycle sales, stating he does not want to see a requirement that would be anti-competitive for other uses. Councilmember Swanson said the Highway 65 overlay district was created so there would not be a lot of outside sales along Highway 65. Councilmember Clark stated he did not think the Highway 65 overlay district included a minimum square footage requirement and if that is the case why are we proposing a minimum for a motorcycle sales use. He said he does not want to see the 20,000-square foot requirement go through without be thoroughly evaluated. City Manager Arneson said staff will review the minimum square footages and uses as part of the Planning Commission review process. Discussed 3-2 WS 16-47 DRAFT BALLOT QUESTION FOR COMMUNITY CENTER REFERENDUM Public Services Manager Therres stated the Community Center Task Force has been working for the last two years to bring forward a proposal to construct a community center in Blaine. He stated the task force is recommending a ballot question that asks the voters to allow the City to issue bonds for the construction and betterment of a community center and senior center. He stated the task force is recommending that the senior center be built as a separate facility to replace the existing facility in Aquatore Park. Public Services Manager Therres stated discussions were held with Council about including language in the ballot question regarding operating and tax costs on an average home and that the bond counsel strongly advised that these not be included in the actual question but shared through educational materials. He noted the ballot question is regulated by Statute on layout and language and that types of statements like these can lead to claims of being misleading and inaccurate and could damage the legitimacy of the bond question. City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final August 11, 2016 Public Services Manager Therres stated approval of the ballot language will be on the Council’s August 18, 2016 agenda. He stated by State Statute the bond question needs to be forwarded to Anoka County 74 days before the election which is August 26, 2016 to be placed on the November ballot. Councilmember Hovland stated if the ballot is one question and fails, both the community center and senior center would fail and suggested have a Question 1 and Question 2 instead. Public Services Manager Therres replied the task force did consider two questions but felt if the two are split there would be a winner and loser. Councilmember Herbst commented the YMCA partnership is not finalized so the question should include the operating costs. Councilmember King commented the Council has always wanted to have the operational cost on the ballot. Finance Director Huss replied the educational materials would include operating costs just not on the ballot as operational costs have not been determined. Councilmember King asked if the cost would be lumped in with the City’s taxes or listed as a separate line item. Finance Director Huss replied it would be lumped in with the City’s tax as a debt service. Councilmember Bourke stated if the ballot question passes, the residents will expect that a community center and senior center to be constructed and that the Council endorses it. He asked if the property is held in EDA. Finance Director Huss stated the Council decides on how the question is written on the ballot. Council consensus to include extra language in the ballot question to include operating costs. Councilmember Clark stated the question could be voted down by the Council or postponed for another year. He stated there is a risk the tax payers will have to pay operational costs if a partnership falls through. Councilmember Swanson commented the ballot should include language that states there will potentially be additional operating costs that would affect property taxes. Councilmember King commented good voter turnout is expected and the ballot verbiage needs to include operating costs. Councilmember Clark commented if the ballot fails, the Council could seek other financing options. City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final August 11, 2016 Councilmember Herbst stated the operational costs would be based on an average home value of $200,000 and there will be ongoing operational costs that are not included in the figure. Finance Director Huss stated the estimated first year cost for a Blaine home valued at $200,000 is $61.00 per year and that Statute requires language stating that by voting yes there may be an impact on property taxes. Councilmember Clark suggested including wording that any operating expenses not covered by the operating revenue will be paid for by Blaine taxpayers. Councilmember Clark commented the communication from the task force should not assume a breakeven. Councilmember King asked about the proposed building size not being large enough. Public Services Manager Therres replied not listing a building size gives the City flexibility. Discussed 3-3 WS 16-48 2017 REQUESTED GENERAL FUND BUDGET - SAFETY SERVICES; PUBLIC SERVICES Finance Director Huss gave an overview of the 2017 budget status. He stated the department heads have completed their 2017 General Fund Budget requests and Finance has reviewed and passed the requested budget on to the City Manager for review and recommendation. He noted currently the departmental requests exceed the estimated revenue, but the budget will be balanced with a safe margin of revenue over expenditures. Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Olson gave an overview of the Safety Services which includes administration, patrol, community services, investigations, professional standards and police support services. He stated Safety Services budget includes new positions which are one sworn Officer; two Traffic Enforcement officers; two part-time Community Service Officers (CSO); one Crime Analyst; and one Records Technician Councilmember Bourke asked if the CSOs will go back to school in the fall. Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Olson replied yes. Councilmember Clark asked for the average timeframe per case. Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Olson replied 86% of cases are closed within 30 days. Mayor Ryan asked if the CSOs are contracted each year. Safety Services City of Blaine Page 4 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final August 11, 2016 Manager/Police Chief Olson replied yes. Councilmember Clark asked about officer training. Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Olson replied 61 sworn officers have 4,000 hours annually of training that is done internally and externally. Councilmember Herbst requested a workshop with the prosecuting attorney to discuss providing officer training. Councilmember Hovland requested a report on crimes in Ward 2. Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Olson gave an overview of Community Standards that includes fire inspections, neighborhood services, and housing services. Councilmember Bourke commented two rental property owner in his Ward have complained about the inspection cost when there have been no complaints. Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Olson gave an overview of future challenges that includes city growth, technology, demographics, increased drug crimes, office recruitment and retention, and supervision and training. He shared statistical charts and gave an overview of Calls-for-Service; Authorized Sworn Strength; and Authorized Sworn Strength vs Available Sworn Strength. He noted the Police Department moved to a new dispatching system. Councilmember Hovland asked about the calls received and if they are routed from other cities. Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Olson replied all calls come through dispatch for a squad to respond. Council consensus was to postpone review of the Public Services budget until a future workshop. Discussed Other Business Councilmember Bourke requested an inspection of the playground equipment in North Oaks Park. Direction to staff. ADJOURN The Workshop adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Adjourned. City of Blaine Page 5