City Council Workshop

WORKSHOP OAKDALE CITY COUNCIL July 27, 2021 The City Council held a workshop on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at Oakdale City Hall, 1584 Hadley Avenue North, Oakdale, Minnesota. The meeting began at 5:02 PM. Present: Mayor Paul Reinke Council Members: Jake Ingebrigtson Susan Olson Colleen Swedberg Kevin Zabel Also Present: Christina Volkers, City Administrator Brian Bachmeier, Public Works Director/City Engineer Susan Barry, City Clerk Alyssa MacLeod, Communications Specialist Nick Newton, Police Captain Chelsea Petersen, Administrative Services Director Kevin Wold, Fire Chief Jason Zimmerman, Finance Director EDC INTERVIEW: BATES Council Member Swedberg recused herself from the interview. The City Council interviewed Jeff Bates to consider his appointment to the Economic Development Commission. The City Council supported his appointment. MIDAMERICA CONSULTING – NEW PUBLIC WORKS FACILITY Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier reviewed a scope of work and proposed budget from environmental consultant MidAmerica Consulting relating to the new Public Works facility to be constructed at 32nd Street and Granada Avenue that had been a 3M dump site. He explained that MidAmerica would review the mitigation plans developed by 3M’s consultant, Braun Engineering, and also submit Brownfield application, inspect construction operations, and provide monitoring after construction. Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier added that the work by MidAmerica would help address concerns of Public Works staff. In response to a question from Council Member Ingebrigtson, Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier indicated that he had no concerns with the plans for cleaning up the site. Mayor Reinke asked that applications to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to be submitted by 3M rather than the city. WORKSHOP July 27, 2021 Page Two Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier stated that 3M would retain environmental responsibility for the site even after ownership of the site is transferred to the city. Council Member Zabel expressed concerns how a Brownfield site might adversely affect the success of the city’s Local Option Sales Tax ballot question and suggested waiting until after the election before finalizing the site. Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier indicated that the site will need to be cleaned up regardless of what is built in that location. In response to a comment from Council Member Swedberg, Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier explained that the Public Works staff has confidence in MidAmerica and their review of the /3M Braun report. Council Member Olson commented on the persisting distrust of 3M, especially by long-time residents and that the MidAmerica report would be helpful. Council Member Zabel noted that no amount of testing would change the minds of some and, as such, it was not a worthwhile expense. City Administrator Volkers indicated that the work by MidAmerica Consulting was important to Public Works staff and the staff has a comfort level with MidAmerica that would give them peace of mind. She suggested waiting to take action until she and the Public Works Director/City Engineer discussed the matter again with the Public Works staff. Council Member Olson supported spending money on the environmental review and oversight for the safety of the Public Works staff and people living in the area. The matter to be brought back to the August 10 workshop. STILLWATER BOULEVARD TURNBACK TO CITY Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier reviewed a proposal from Washington County to turn back Stillwater Boulevard (CSAH 6), from TH 120 to Ideal Avenue, to the city. He reviewed four options offered by the county, one of which would provide the city with $2 million to be used for other purposes for the roadway to be turned back “as is”. Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier reviewed the advantage and disadvantages of the turn back and noted that one of the options would be for the county to turn back the roadway after it had been reconstructed. He estimated reconstruction costs to be $1.8 million using the cost per foot similar to that of a collector street. WORKSHOP July 27, 2021 Page Three In response to a question from Mayor Reinke, Public Works Director/City Engineer explained that the county’s rationale for the turnback is that municipalities can add Municipal State Aid (MSA) roads but the county cannot. City Administrator Volkers shared that County Commissioner Karwoski noted that a decision was not needed on this matter at this time. No further discussion ensued, On a separate matter, Council Member Zabel asked about the status of the agreement with City of Lake Elmo on Oakdale providing a sanitary sewer connection. City Administrator Volkers indicated that the agreement would be coming to the August 10 meeting for approval. Council Member Zabel stated that the City Council had not yet made a decision on the connection and asked staff to review past discussions. 2022 BUDGET Finance Director Zimmerman reviewed a memo that included transitioning to a career fire department, Interfund transfer request, vehicle and equipment requests, general fund, SAFER grant, debt service, ambulance fund, communications and broadcasting fund, community and economic development fund (SEED fund), recreation fund, and the levy. In response to a comment from the City Council, City Administrator Volkers indicated that the CARES Act funds the city received would be transferred into the SEED fund to reimburse loans that were issued to businesses in the community affected by the pandemic. Finance Director Zimmerman added that he would provide a report when the loans would be or were repaid. In response to a comment from Council Member Zabel, Finance Director Zimmerman indicated that he would report back on the status of conducting the Glenbrook Small Area Study. City Administrator Volkers noted that the Recreation Special Fund would be made part of the Recreation General Fund. Finance Director Zimmerman reviewed three options for the 2022 levy. In discussing the Public Building Fund, Council Member Zabel explained that the plan was to begin with an annual allocation of $100,000 and then incrementally increasing the amount to eventually fund the police department expansion. He added that the fund would cover the first year of debt service on the project. WORKSHOP July 27, 2021 Page Four Mayor Reinke added that architectural services relating to the Police Department project came of the fund. City Administrator Volkers noted that the Public Building Fund could be used for design costs for the new Public Works facility should the city’s Local Option Sales Tax be approved. She estimated that the fund contained $830,000. In response to a question, Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier indicated that the Capital Fund could be utilized to cover furniture and equipment costs for the Public Works facility. Council Member Zabel suggested not transferring $440,000 from the general levy for 2022 into the building fund. City Administrator Volkers indicated that staff would be analyzing requests being made for 2022. Fire Chief Wold noted that the fire truck purchase could be spread over two years. Finance Director Zimmerman commented on the need to have adequate funds for facility needs and emergency needs. In response to a suggestion from Council Member Zabel to eliminate special reserve funds and put all expenditures into the general fund, City Administrator Volkers noted that staff was working on a few things that would work toward that end. The meeting recessed at 6:54 PM. The meeting reconvened at 7:50 PM. CHAPTER 9 – MOBILE FOOD VENDOR LICENSES Staff reviewed a request to amend Article 15 – Mobile Food Vendors of Chapter 9 – Licenses and Business Regulations. Substantive changes included grammatical, removing one-day licenses, adding that Oakdale residents and businesses are exempt from fee, modifying license term, and removing background investigation requirement. Council Member Zabel supported having no fee attached to Mobile Food Vendor licenses. Fire Chief Wold noted that per fire code and as part of the city’s licensing process, he inspects all mobile food vehicles thus there is staff time and resources associated with mobile food vendor licensing. Mayor Reinke asked the City Council to note whether they support removing the license fee. WORKSHOP July 27, 2021 Page Five Zabel Yes Olson Yes Swedberg No, due to fire inspection component Ingebrigtson Yes Reinke Yes Consensus was to have no fee associated with Mobile Food Vendor licenses. COUNCIL TOPICS Traffic Speed on Helmo Avenue Council Member Ingebrigtson expressed concern with the speed traveled by vehicles on Helmo Avenue, particularly in the vicinity of Eastside Park, and asked that the posted speed limit be reduced. Police Captain Newton indicated that traffic speed is a concern throughout the city and that the Police Department addresses it with local enforcement and use of the speed trailer, which collects data from vehicles. He noted that it is common to think that speeds are being exceeded but the data usually shows otherwise. Captain Newton also commented on the difficulty of collecting data on curved roads, such as Helmo. Council Member Zabel recollected that it is a long process to conduct a speed limit study and it could result in the speed limit being raised. Staff was requested to place the speed trailer on Helmo Avenue and for Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier to provide the City Council with details on the process to request a change in the speed limit. Walton Park Police Calls Council Member Ingebrigtson inquired whether there had been an uptick in fights and injuries at Walton Park, as had been reported on social media. Captain Newton replied that he would review reports and provide data to City Administrator Volkers. Ballfields Council Member Ingebrigtson shared that the Oakdale Athletic Association has expressed concerns with the conditions of the some parks and ballfields. Also, that electrical repair was needed for fields 5 to 8 at the Walton Park ballfield complex. WORKSHOP July 27, 2021 Page Six City Administrator Volkers noted that she would ask Public Works Director/City Engineer Bachmeier would to get estimates on repairing the electrical service. In response to a question from Council Member Zabel, City Administrator Volkers explained that the Oakdale Athletic Association (OAA) operates the youth sports programs for the city and, as such, are not charged for field use/other. She also noted that the city receives a portion of the proceeds from the Oakdale Adult Softball Association’s (OASA) concessions operation at the Walton Park ballfield complex. Watering Ban In response to a question from Council Member Zabel, City Administrator Volkers noted that there had been no issues relating to the city’s more restrictive watering regulations, put in place due to the drought. Council Member Olson suggested posting signs throughout the community about the new watering regulations. Summerfest Council Member Olson suggested moving the annual Summerfest celebration and the associated fireworks from June to July 4. Council Member Zabel commented on the need for Summerfest to be transformed. The City Council discussed having the city’s fireworks show return to Tanners Park. Tanners Lake Council Member Ingebrigtson suggested closing the Tanners Lake Beach due to lack of use. ADJOURNMENT The workshop adjourned at 8:20 PM. Respectfully submitted, Susan Barry, City Clerk