City Council Worksession

Watertown City Council T Work Session Mayor Steve Washburn Lindsay Guetzkow F Adam Pawelk Michael Walters Dan Schuette A 7/12/2022 - Minutes 1. Call To Order And Roll Call Mayor Steve Washburn called the Watertown City Council work session to order at 5:30 p.m. on July 12, R 2022 in the council chambers of City Hall. Council Members Present: Steve Washburn, Dan Schuette, Adam Pawelk, Michael Walters, Lindsay Guetzkow, and Dan Schuette. Council Members Absent: None. D Staff Present: City Administrator Jake Foster, and Administrative Services Director Maggie Reisdorf. 2. New Business 2.I. CCSO Officing At Watertown-Mayer Public Schools Jake Foster introduced this item. He provided a summary of a joint work session that took place previously between the City Council and the Watertown-Mayer School Board. He informed that at the joint meeting, there was a request of the Watertown-Mayer School Board for the City Council of the City of Watertown to consider allowing the in-town deputy to have a presence of some sort off and on at the Watertown-Mayer High School. There was no conclusion made at that meeting. Foster stated that the idea is being brought back up for additional discussion and to provide some guidance to staff on how to move forward. He explained that since the previous meeting, additional ideas have included the school creating an office space at the high school in which the deputy could sit from time to time and do reporting. They also expressed interest in the deputy walking to halls of the school as well. Foster explained that the service levels of the city would not change and therefore the financial commitment would stay the same as well. Foster stated that if the city were to move forward with this, that a sub agreement between the school and the city would likely be needed. Pawelk referenced the joint meeting. He expressed concern about the school using hours and thus taking hours away from the community. He explained that the city has been carefully planning for the current level of coverage for years. He agreed that the school needs some sort of law enforcement  Foster stated that if the city were to move forward with this, that a sub agreement between the school and the city would likely be needed. Pawelk referenced the joint meeting. He expressed concern about the school using hours and thus taking hours away from the community. He explained that the city has been carefully planning for the current level of coverage for years. He agreed that the school needs some sort of law enforcement presence with some of the issues that the school Is experiencing. Pawelk stated that he thought the school should be budgeting for their own hours and personnel. Guetzkow agreed with Pawelk on the concern of taking hours away from the community. She highlighted that they are a large employer and a big asset to the community. She stated that if the city moved forward with sharing, that she would like the school to contribute financially toward the hours used. T Walters also expressed concern about the hours that the school will need. He agreed that the city strategically planned for the increase of police hours over the years. He agreed with the idea that the school should pay for hours used if the city decided to move forward with sharing hours. He said that he understood why the school would want an increased presence at the high school. F Schuette agrees with the presented concerns. Washburn explained that the deputies job description does not currently include what the school is asking. He agreed that if an agreement was determined that the school should pay for any time used. A Pawelk stated that he wasn’t sure that the school knew exactly what they wanted yet. Washburn explained that the city council supports these types of ideas but that the school needs to come up with and present a more data and financial plans for their request. R Foster shared that Hollywood Township recently started to inquire as well about sharing hours which would include “subleasing” hours from a nearby city. He said that the idea is very preliminary but is proposed to include a contract in which hours used and billed for per an agreement. Guetzkow agreed that more information is needed from the school board and the township. D Washburn agreed that the township would have to also put a proposal together, when ready, to present to the City Council. Washburn stated that these jurisdictions should also be talking directly with the Carver County Sheriff’s Office. He explained that if there is a demand for these services within these jurisdictions, that the Sheriff’s Office should be doing more for them as well. 2.II. Intermediate As-Built Survey City Administrator, Foster, introduced this item to the City Council. He mentioned that at the June 14 th , 2022 City Council workshop meeting, that the City Council reviewed that a City Code that was established in 2007 hadn’t been being enforced for over 10 years. Foster reviewed the City Code requirement that requires an inspection of the foundation for any new construction once poured. He said that right after the pouring, an inspection is supposed to be done via an as-built survey that is then reviewed by the City Engineer. The City Council requested that this item be brought back for continued discussion with additional information. Foster informed that since the previous meeting, he discussed the survey requirements in-depth with the city’s current building inspector; MNSPECT. He informed that while it is estimated that only 20% of surrounding cities do the inspection, MNSPECT still recommends keeping the city code the same and requiring this inspection to be part of the building process requirement. Foster stated that staff is looking for guidance on how to proceed forward. Pawelk stated that he was concerned about the city adding additional steps to the process that are beneficial. He expressed that he was torn because he did agree that the verification process that the survey provides is important. He expressed appreciation for the additional provided information.  Foster stated that staff is looking for guidance on how to proceed forward. Pawelk stated that he was concerned about the city adding additional steps to the process that are beneficial. He expressed that he was torn because he did agree that the verification process that the survey provides is important. He expressed appreciation for the additional provided information. Walters asked if the city code could be removed and made a recommendation instead. He explained that this leaves the decision up to the builder. He said that he isn’t in favor of keeping the city code requirement because of the added expense. He stated he didn’t believe that this was a big problem. Schuette explained that he believed that the requirement was beneficial in that it provided a quality control step. He said that has the city continues to grow with development, that these things need to be verified. He said that this step prevents future grading/drainage issues. He continued that it is a vital T piece of a properly planned community that should be enforced. Schuette stated that the requirement could reduce and avoid legal issues/lawsuits and should be done as a prevention measure. Foster explained that the City Planner recommended keeping it in the city code and the city enforcing F in with all future developments. Reisdorf provided some examples of drainage issues that occurred in previous cities that she worked for. She said that residents would connect with the city to understand the issues they were experiencing, and significant staff time would be involved to do a review process. A Foster explained that he had similar experiences with previous cities as well. Washburn asked that this be brought to a regular city council meeting to go through the decision- making process. R Foster explained that at that meeting, he will provide additional data on the added cost. 3. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 pm. D 309 Lewis Avenue South; P.O. Box 279, Watertown, MN 55388 __________________________________________________________ Washburn, Mayor ATTEST:__________________________________________ Steve Margaret Reisdorf, Admin. Services Director