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, February 7, 2019 6:00 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING 1 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ryan at 6:00 p.m. 2 Roll Call Quorum Present. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Clark Arneson; Planning and Community Development Director Bryan Schafer; Public Works Director Jon Haukaas; Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Brian Podany; Finance Director Joe Huss; Economic Development Coordinator Erik Thorvig; Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Bob Therres; City Engineer Dan Schluender; City Attorney Patrick Sweeney; Senior Engineering Technician Al Thorp; Water Resources Manager Rebecca Haug; Communications Technician Roark Haver; CSO Supervisor Joey Zuehlke; Communications Coordinator Ben Hayle; Recreation Manager Nate Monahan; and City Clerk Catherine Sorensen. Present: 4 - Councilmember Jeppson, Mayor Ryan, Councilmember Robertson, and Councilmember Paul Absent: 2 - Councilmember Garvais, and Councilmember Swanson 3 New Business 3-1 PARKS MASTER PLAN UPDATE Attachments: 011586-000 Aquatore Master Plan 011586-000 Happy Acres Master Plan 011586-000 Blaine Park System- Trail Map Recreation Manager Monahan stated WSB and Associates were hired in 2018 to conduct the City of Blaine’s first Parks Master Plan. This will give the City a 10-15-year vision plan for the 66 City parks currently in our system. Staff has also reviewed the Aquatore Park plan with our main stakeholders including Fogerty Arena staff, Senior Center staff, Park Board, and the Blaine Festival. Once staff receives all feedback WSB will start creating a phasing plan for each park along City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes February 7, 2019 with dollar figures for each improvement to Aquatore and Happy Acres Park. WSB will have the final Parks Master Plan for the City Council by April. Bob Slipka, WSB, provided the Council with an update on the Parks Master Plan. In addition, he reviewed the Aquatore and Happy Acres Park concept plans. He reported he spoke with the Blaine Festival Committee, Senior Center staff in addition to the Fogerty Arena staff. Councilmember Jeppson questioned why concessions were not added to the bathroom building in Aquatore Park. Mr. Slipka stated this was an open topic and could be considered. Councilmember Robertson asked if a new warming house would be added to Happy Acres Park. Mr. Slipka reported a small warming house would be added. Councilmember Robertson inquired what the long-term costs were to maintain an outdoor refrigerated rink. Mr. Slipka commented on the expense to maintain that would be required for this rink. He discussed how a refrigerated rink would lengthen the hockey season. Mayor Ryan commented the proposed park plan would utilize 10 years of the City’s park funds. He commented on how Aquatore Park was serving as overflow parking for Fogerty Arena. Further discussion ensued regarding the heavy use of Aquatore Park by families for picnics. Councilmember Hovland supported additional City park programming being offered in Happy Acres Park as he believed there needed to be more park events on this side of town. Mr. Slipka commented on how the use of ballfields is on the decline given how youth sports are changing. Mayor Ryan thanked Mr. Slipka for the thorough report. Informational: no action required 3-2 PRICE OF WETLAND CREDITS FOR SITE 7 Water Resources Manager Rebecca Haug stated at the November 8, 2018 Council workshop, staff requested guidance on pricing for the wetland credits the City would have available from the Blaine Wetland Sanctuary Site 7 wetland restoration project. During the meeting, the Council decided to charge $2.50/sq. ft. regardless of the amount of credits being purchased. Staff has since received inquiries about purchasing credits and potential buyers are not willing to pay $2.50/sq. ft. The sale of wetland credits is market driven ranging from $2.00/sq. ft. - $2.50/sq. ft. The prices vary depending on a number of variables such as location of the project, size of the project and type of credits needed for replacement. The City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes February 7, 2019 State and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have requirements for where wetlands can be replaced. Wetland impacts in Rice Creek Watershed District must be replaced in Rice Creek Watershed District. Because of these variables, staff is requesting Council to reconsider the pricing and allow staff to be able to negotiate with potential buyers and begin recouping some of its costs for the restoration of Site 7. Mayor Ryan said he did not support the City ever going below $2/sq. ft. for the wetland credits. Councilmember Jeppson agreed but stated she supported staff negotiating a rate for the wetland credits somewhere between $2.25 and $2.50. Councilmember Hovland asked how the City used the wetland credit proceeds. City Manager Arneson reported these funds were used to assist with wetland restoration expenses. Councilmember Hovland commented he would like the Council to further discuss how the City was using these funds at the upcoming Council retreat. Councilmember Paul questioned why the rate was so critical. Ms. Haug commented if the rate was too high, the buyer would go to another community to purchase wetland credits. Council consensus was to direct staff to negotiate as needed. 3-3 POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS DOG ORDINANCE Attachments: Proposed Ordinance Language PowerPoint Safety Services Manager/Police Chief Podany stated although “dangerous dog” language was added to City ordinance several years ago, “potentially dangerous dog” language was not. By not having this language included the Police Department is limited in how they can track dogs that have been declared potentially dangerous and what requirements must be met for the registration. Most cities have registration requirements in their ordinances. The proposed language was reviewed with the Council. CSO Supervisor Joey Zuehlke stated in 2008 the State drafted language to hold dog owners more accountable if their dog were to bite or attack an individual. She discussed the difference between the dangerous dog and potentially dangerous dog designations. She explained the goal would be for the City to provide pet owners the option to address a concern prior to a dog being declared dangerous. She provided further comment on the State language that was being proposed to be City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes February 7, 2019 added to the City’s ordinance and stated without this language in place it was difficult for staff to regulate these dogs. She indicated the new language would also assist the Police Department with tracking potentially dangerous dogs that move into and out of the community. Mayor Ryan commented he did not like hearing from residents who are jumped on or barked at when walking on City trails and supported the City making residents safer with this proposed language. Councilmember Hovland indicated it appears there are many gray areas with respect to designating dangerous dogs and potentially dangerous dogs. Ms. Zuehlke agreed and provided further comment on how she conducted her investigations in the City. Councilmember Hovland questioned what happened to dogs that were declared dangerous. Ms. Zuehlke discussed how dangerous dogs were tracked by the City and other communities if the dog owner were to move. She reported dangerous dogs were not required to be euthanized immediately and she has only had to order one dog euthanized in her career. Councilmember Robertson stated she believed it was a two-way street for pet owners and noted they had to be responsible for their dogs. She explained she also believed the ordinance language had too many gray areas that should be better clarified. Ms. Zuehlke said she understood there were a large number of variables and commented she did her best in keeping an open mind when completing her investigations to understand each situation and reported scenario. She noted she has been conducting dangerous dog investigations for over 20 years and that an independent appeal process was available to dog owners who disagreed with the City’s designation. Councilmember Jeppson explained her child had been bit by a family member’s dog and noted that most dog owners believed their pets were safe and that this was not always the case. She indicated she supported the proposed language for the ordinance amendment. Mayor Ryan stated he was comfortable with staff revising the ordinance language as proposed in order to protect Blaine residents as he had been bit three times by dogs and recognized the need. Further discussion ensued regarding the process that was followed by the Police Department when fining and declaring dogs dangerous. Councilmember Hovland questioned if the proposed ordinance would be defensible in court. City Attorney Pat Sweeney advised he had worked with staff on the City of Blaine Page 4 City Council Workshop Minutes February 7, 2019 proposed ordinance language and explained how law enforcement used discretion whenever issuing citations to the public. He reported the City has had very few challenges with respect to dangerous dog designations. Council consensus was to direct staff to bring forward proposed ordinance language for consideration at an upcoming Council meeting. 3-4 REVIEW STAFF ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM Finance Director Huss stated in January Council requested staff to seek proposals to conduct an executive search process to fill the City Manager position. Staff developed a Request for Proposals (RFP) and solicited proposals through a process that included both direct contact of firms and an advertisement in the League of Minnesota Cities Bulletin. In total, seven (7) proposals were received. Of the seven, two firms, Strategic Government Resources (SGR) and Springsted/Waters (SW) stood out as being eminently qualified and staff conducted interviews with those two firms. The two firms were evaluated in the following eight categories: * Price * Client Base/References * Recruitment Process * Subject Matter Expertise * Local Recruiting Presence * National Recruiting Presence * Proximity to Blaine * Staff Involvement Mr. Huss reported of the eight categories listed above, SGR was considered superior in four (Client Base/References; Recruitment Process; Subject Matter Expertise; and National Recruiting Presence) while SW was considered superior in three (Price; Local Recruiting Presence; and Proximity to Blaine). Neither firm was considered to have an advantage in the Staff Involvement category. He provided further comment on the scores for the two firms and commented the weighted scores resulted in SGR receiving a score of 55 and SW a score of 45. Using these scores and evaluation methods, staff is recommending that the Council approve a motion at this evening’s Council Meeting authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to enter into an agreement with SGR to conduct an executive search for the next City Manager of Blaine. Councilmember Jeppson asked if SGR had worked with the City in the past. Mr. Huss reported the City had worked successfully with SGR in the past. Informational: no action required 2019-2020 PMP Update Public Works Director Haukaas provided the Council with an update on the 2019/2020 PMP. He explained after receiving feasibility studies and seeing that City of Blaine Page 5 City Council Workshop Minutes February 7, 2019 construction costs were on the rise, the City may have to split some of the proposed projects. He commented on how the projects would be divided between 2019 and 2020. Councilmember Jeppson stated she fully supported the City amending its plans for 2019 and 2020 with the understanding further consideration may have to be made depending on costs. Informational; no action required. ADJOURN The Workshop was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Adjourned City of Blaine Page 6