City Council Workshop

Blaine City Hall City of Blaine 10801 Town Sq Dr NE Blaine, MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes City Council Workshop Thursday, April 26, 2018 6:30 PM Council Chambers Special Meeting 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; and Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Bob Therres. Present: 5 - Councilmember Hovland, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember King, Councilmember Garvais, and Councilmember Swanson Absent: 2 - Councilmember Jeppson, and Mayor Ryan 3 New Business 3-1 Proposed Senior Center Discussion Councilmember Clark explained he discussed the plan for the Senior Center with Councilmember King and Councilmember Hovland and an idea that came forward was to have the dining area turned into an athletic court. He indicated this would create a broader cross-section who could use the Senior Center facility and would move the Council away from the kitchen-use issue. He noted he met with people from the basketball association on Sunday and suspected they would want to combine their efforts with the Senior Center. He reported they were very excited about the opportunity but anticipated there would be a concern when it came to the hours the basketball association wanted to use the facility. He stated he supported this project moving forward and noted this new court could be used for open gym but not programmed for leagues. Councilmember Swanson indicated the Senior Citizen Advisory Council voted to support the Senior Center with community access recognizing the kitchen would have to be shared. He said this group does not plan on being stubborn but rather City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes April 26, 2018 was going to let the Council work through this issue. He noted the Advisory Council did not support children using the building and explained they supported the addition of a butler-pantry type kitchen and recommended training be in place for use of the commercial kitchen. Councilmember Garvais stated he did not support the addition of sport courts in the Senior Center. He indicated the seniors do not want sporting events held in this facility and believed it would increase the cost substantially. He did not believe the commercial kitchen use concern was so contentious that it could not be worked through. He commented that after the last workshop meeting the Council was going to discuss a policy for the commercial kitchen use. He noted he met with Councilmember Jeppson and Councilmember Swanson to discuss a draft policy. Councilmember Clark requested further information on the draft policy. City Manager Arneson reported the draft policy would be discussed on Thursday, May 3 when Mayor Ryan was in attendance. Councilmember Garvais provided the Council with simple highlights on the draft policy. Councilmember Hovland said he appreciated the issues that were addressed within the draft policy however he still had concerns with public versus private use within the Senior Center. Councilmember Swanson commented that alcohol and weddings would not be allowed in the space. Councilmember Clark reported another option would be allow only 501c3s to use the commercial kitchen. Councilmember Hovland supported staff further working through the private versus public concerns. Councilmember Swanson stated the draft policy was not perfect but was a step in the right direction. He agreed that additional work was needed. Councilmember Garvais commented his main concern was to make this building open and available to the public and not just non-profit groups. In addition, he said he was not in favor of creating a requirement that a caterer had to be used in order to use the commercial kitchen. Councilmember Clark expressed concern with this facility taking business away from local businesses such as Broadway Pizza or Blaine Brook. City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes April 26, 2018 Councilmember Garvais stated another thing to consider was the majority of the groups using this space may not want to use the commercial kitchen but rather would like to have events catered. He noted this would not be allowed at the Senior Center. He anticipated that only benefits, anniversary celebrations, or fundraisers would be held at the Senior Center. Councilmember Swanson recommended the policy have a full ban on caterers. City Manager Arneson commented that some individuals may want to cater in an event such as a shower or anniversary party and noted this would benefit the private sector. Councilmember Clark stated he was prepared to approve a Senior Center with no outside groups however, he understood the Council did not have six votes to support this. He indicated he was willing to work through this matter in order to reach a compromise. Councilmember King asked what the price estimate was for this facility. Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Therres estimated the building would cost $3 million but noted this price would increase if a butler’s kitchen and several extra meeting rooms were added. He anticipated the cost would then be closer to $3.7 million. He provided further comment on the preliminary design and layout for the Senior Center. Councilmember Hovland stated he supported additional meeting rooms being planned for the Senior Center versus paying higher costs in the future. City Manager Arneson commented on how the needs of seniors were changing as they were becoming more active and living longer. He stated exercise and tech-friendly classes could be offered in the new space. Councilmember King was of the opinion the draft policy was in theory on the right track. He indicated he supported the use of several extra meeting rooms being added. Councilmember Hovland commented on how the Senior Center space would be impacted by having a sport court or wooden basketball surface. He stated he did not support the Council moving in this direction. Councilmember Clark recommended the extra meeting space having a separate entrance so as not to impact senior programming. He explained he would support a high level of separation between the senior space and the extra meeting rooms. Mr. Therres provided the Council with further information on the process that would have to be followed in order to approve the use of Capital Improvement City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes April 26, 2018 Funds. Council consensus was to direct staff to provide the Council with a better definition of public versus private and to forward the draft Senior Center policy for the Council to review prior to the May 3rd workshop meeting. Discussed; direction provided to staff. Other Business None. ADJOURN The Workshop was adjourned at 7:21 p.m. City of Blaine Page 4