Ways and Means Committee

-UNAPPROVED- MINUTES WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE MEETING May 21, 2024 @ 12:45 PM 344 West Main Street On Main MEMBERS PRESENT: Amanda Schroeder, Steve Meister, See Moua-Leske STAFF PRESENT: Steven Anderson, City Clerk; Karla Drown, Finance Director; E.J. Moberg, Director of Administrative Services; Jason Anderson, Director of Public Works; Preston Stensrud, Park & Recreation Superintendent; Sharon Hanson, City Administrator; Ilya Gutman, Plans Examiner OTHERS PRESENT: The meeting was called to order by Chairman Meister at 12:45 pm. Two additions to the agenda if time is available. 7. Airport hangar lease and 8. THC registration fee. MOTION BY Moua-Leske, SECONDED BY Schoeder. All voted in favor. Meister asked for approval of the February 27, 2024, minutes of the Ways and Means committee Meeting. MOTION BY Schroeder SECONDED BY Moua-Leske to approve the February 27, 2024, minutes of the Ways and Means committee Meeting. All voted in favor. Chairman Meister asked for discussion on Fire Department Scholarship. City Clerk Anderson provided background. Received two applicants. Total expendable funds currently are $1,458. The committee requested additional information of the transcripts on both applicants to better assist in decision of amounts to awarded. MOTION to award $300 to the applicant that has previously received an award in the past and $400 to the first-time applicant. MOTION BY Moua-Leske, SECONDED BY Schroeder to approve. All voted in favor. Chairman Meister asked for discussion on the Administrative Citation Fines. Gutman, Plans Examiner provided background on the fine recommended. These are for zoning violations and can range from $50 - $200 and are able to be charged daily. Staff are recommending $100 and will only charge based on staff action required. (i.e., letter sent) Anderson, Director of Public Works also provided information and additional information and examples. Such as these are violations that are on private property that are visual from public space. MOTION to add $100 Administrative Citation Fee. MOTION BY Moua-Leske, SECOND BY Schroeder to approve. All voted in favor. Chairman Meister asked for discussion on the City Event/Public Property Use Fees. Anderson, City Clerk explained, currently there is no charge for the use of the City’s electrical grid by vendors, (food trucks) in city parks and public rights-of-way. Staff are requesting a fee to re-coup electricity costs seen by the city. Anderson, Director of Public Ways further provided examples of vendors that use electricity for such events as Thursdays on Third. This would offset long-term maintenance costs. Stensrud, Parks and Recreation Superintendent stated that by not collecting for events such as Sounds of Summer, as this a Community Festival. The city is gradually adding electricity to each park. These fees will help offset some of those costs. Hason, City Administrator added that the city should ensure that all vendors are paying sales tax as required. This is accomplished by requiring all vendors that meet the requirements of paying sales tax to provide a ST19 form. MOTION to add $100/day/vendor for private events at all city parks and public right-of-way for electrical hookup. MOTION BY Schroeder SECOND BY Moua-Leske to approve. All voted in favor. Chairman Meister asked for discussion on Mobile Food Unit License Fees. Anderson, City Clerk explained raising this fee would hopefully curtail number of food trucks. Currently there are 10 licensed food trucks this year, which is up from 3 last year. The investigation fee that other communities have is when the police department verifies a valid driver's license and vehicle licensing of the food truck vendor. It was determined that the investigation fee would not be sought after at this time. A spreadsheet of other comparable communities’ fees was provided. MOTION to set Mobile Food Unit License to $50 daily and $300 annually. MOTION BY Moua-Leske SECOND BY Schroeder to approve. All voted in favor. Chairman Meister asked for discussion on Liquor License Fees. Anderson, City Clerk provided background on the history of these fees. The last time these were addressed was in 2022 and then there was an internal transition. This caused this item to fall through the cracks. Fees related to beer, wine or intoxicating liquor when increasing, require a public hearing some of the other items do not require a public hearing. A spreadsheet of comparable cities as well as surrounding communities was provided with their fees as it relates to the licensing. This spreadsheet also included an average of comparable cities to better relate to where the City of Marshall licensing fees are currently at in relation. Moberg, Director of Administrative Services shared that since 2018, there has been a 41% levy increase. Moberg’s recommendation to this committee is to bring the licensing fees back to the average in a way to try and find other revenue sources rather than raising taxes. MOTION to increase Liquor License to $3,500; Beer Off-Sale to $150; Beer On-Sale to $300; and Temp On-Sale to $75. A public hearing to be held for all those that require such. MOTION BY Moua-Leske SECONDED BY Schroeder to approve. All voted in favor. Chairman Meister asked for discussion on Airport Hangar Leases. Hanson, City Administrator shared that Schwans has requested to extend their agreements by 20 years prior to the end of their current agreement. There have been no adjustments to related costs and the FAA regulates fees at the airports. This has all been worked through with legal counsel as well as with Schwans. There are other parties currently located at the airport that this will impact as those lease agreements come due. With that in mind, the staff are recommending adding a fee structure to the current Fee Schedule for the city. Private; $12/sq. foot as it relates to the Arrival/Departure building, Commercial; $0.35/sq. foot for ground rent, and $6/sq. foot for the lobby space. MOTION BY Schroeder SECONDED BY Moua-Leske to approve. All voted in favor. Chairman Meister asked for discussion on THC Registration Fee. Anderson, City Clerk stated that this item will be skipped at this time and brought back to the next Ways & Means Committee Meeting. MOTION BY Moua-Leske SECONDED BY Schroeder to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 1:40 pm. All voted in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Karla Drown Finance Director