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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993 03-15 CCM Special Work Session MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA SPECIAL WORK SESSION MARCH 15, 1993 CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center City Council met in special work session and was called to order by Mayor Todd Paulson at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor Todd Paulson, Councilmembers Celia Scott, Dave Rosene, Barb Kalligher, and Kristen Mann. Also present were City Manager Gerald Splinter, Director of Public Works Sy Knapp, Public Works Coordinator Diane Spector, and Council Secretary Nancy Berg. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS 1993 PROPOSED PROJECT SCHEDULE The City Manager presented the 1993 proposed capital improvements project schedule. The Director of Public Works reviewed the history of the Capital Improvements Program and explained it was developed in 1991 primarily by the Public Works Department. He further explained he would be reviewing three areas of the Capital Improvements Program: 1. Status report and discussion of projects scheduled for 1993. 2. Review of each of the studies and programs that were ongoing in the Public Works Department that will result in the future capital improvements needs. He explained this discussion would be on a very preliminary basis. 3. He also explained there would be more time and ability this year for everyone to be 'involved in the capital improvements process. The Director of Public Works reviewed the current projects starting with the 69th Avenue North project. He reported the fill section through Palmer Lake may not be ready for the new road this year and may require two additional lifts. He stated he would be able to provide a definite analysis in approximately one month. He also stated the City will be taking bids for the landscaping on March 31. 3/15/93 - 1 - The Director of Public Works reported Lift Station No. 2 was 99.9 percent complete. Councilmember Scott reported she had been told a number of times how nice the new lift station was. The Director of Public Works reported on the status of the stormwater pond at I -694 and Brooklyn Boulevard. He stated staff had received good input from the neighbors regarding the overall stormwater pond and the MTC Park & Ride facility. He also informed Council one resident was trying to organize a petition against the Park & Ride facility; however, the people in the immediate area were very receptive to a stormwater pond. He stated the City would need a Corps of Engineers permit to build the stormwater pond. He did not recommend purchasing the land until the permit was obtained. He reported the MTC had indicated it had an approved budget for the Park & Ride facility. Councilmember Rosene was concerned about the preservation of wetlands. The Director of Public Works assured him the wetlands would be preserved. He showed the Council three sketches illustrating alternative ways to incorporate the stormwater pond and the MTC Park & Ride facility. The Director of Public Works reviewed the following capital improvement projects with the Council: PROJECTS CURRENT STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS Water Utility Improvements - 69th Avenue Water Main Defer to 1994 or later - 2MG Reservoir & Pumping Station Deferred, with water restr. - Loop Water Main at Lawrence Circle Proceed in 1993 - Replace Water Main in Aldrich Court Proceed in 1993 - Routine Well Maintenance Proceed in 1993 - Cathodic Protection Develop RFP in 1993 Sanitary Sewer Utility Improvements - Lift #1 Rehabilitation, replace forcemain Defer to 1994 or 1995 - Sewer Replacement @ 69th Avenue to Lift Defer to 1994 or 1995 Station #1 - Storm Drainage Utility Improvements - Repair or Replace Defective Sections of Proceed in 1993 System - Stormwater pond - Brooklyn Boulevard/I -694 Acquire property in 1993 3/15/93 -2- Sidewalk & Trail Improvements Twin Lakes Trail System -- staff will provide Submit applications for a report to Council at the March 22, 1993, funding City Council meeting - Sidewalk - 73rd Avenue, Humboldt to T.H. Under discussion with 252 -- may require full street in 1994/94 Brooklyn Park improvement. Park Improvements Playground equipment replacement: two year Proceed on schedule Councilmember Rosene recommended adding playground equipment to Marlin Park. The City Manager reminded Council many area residents did not want playground equipment in the park in the first place and would probably not want to add more. He reported Northport and Freeway Park were scheduled for playground equipment this year. The Director of Public Works reported the Public Works Coordinator was working to develop a complete inventory of all park facilities, including buildings and equipment, at each of the parks. He said this study would include the condition of the buildings and the equipment. PROJECTS CURRENT STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS Public Building Improvements - City Hall Need direction - Community Center Need direction - Fire Stations Need direction - City Garage Need direction - ADA Compliance Need direction The Director of Public Works stated staff would need direction from Council, and staff would be providing Council with recommendations after the ADA Compliance and Air Quality study were complete. He stated it would be an expensive project just to meet minimum requirements. PROJECTS CURRENT STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS Street Improvements Sealcoating Proceed in 1993 Neighborhood Street Improvement Program Proceed in 1993 Landscaping Co. Rd. 10 Streetscape Defer to 1994 3/15/93 -3- CURRENT STUDIES AND PROGRAMS The Director of Public Works reviewed the following Current Studies and Programs: - ADA Compliance Program - Air Quality Study - Brookdale Stormwater Planning Study - Brooklyn Boulevard Study - Government Building Service Contract - Neighborhood Street Improvement Program - Park Building and Facility Inventory and Maintenance Program - Pavement Management Program - Mn/DOT Plans for TH 100 Improvements - Mn/DOT Plans for I -694 Improvements - Brooklyn Boulevard to I -94 - Transportation System Study wBrooklyn Park - Twin Lakes Trail Study - Local Water Management Plan Development The Director of Public Works stated the transportation study will show a reconstruction concept to improve the level of transportation service on Brooklyn Boulevard from a current level of E or F, to a level C or D. Mayor Paulson asked if Brooklyn Park's transportation study conflicted with Brooklyn Center's. The Director of Public Works answered he thought both cities could come up with a very good compromise between transportation needs and land use /redevelopment and enhancement concepts. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROCESS The City Manager presented the proposed capital improvement process for 1993. He explained the process starts during March/April and continues through September. Councilmember Kalligher asked if Council would receive a preliminary report after the third week of April. The Public Works Coordinator answered yes. Mayor Paulson recommended Council meet in the Spring at a work session to review capital improvement recommendations. Councilmember Kalligher stated the Council should meet only after the various commissions had reviewed the preliminary report and made their recommendations. The City Manager agreed the Council should meet at a work session after the recommendations are received from the commissions. Mayor Paulson suggested the matter be put on the City Council agenda in May to review the recommendations from the commissions. Mayor Paulson stated he would like the opportunity to make capital improvement recommendations during the preliminary stage. The City Manager agreed to prepare a preliminary list for Council's review and recommendations. Councilmember Rosene suggested staff prepare a map of the City with color highlights indicating what improvements are going on in the City. The Director of Public Works agreed to provide a current list of all projects. 3/15/93 -4- ORGANIZATION ANALYSISBENCHMARKING The City Manager asked Council what they expect to come out of the Financial Commission in terms of answering questions and addressing issues about which the Council had concerns. He offered the following list of questions and asked if these were the type of questions Council wanted the Financial Commission to address as part of the organization analysis: 1 in " Cutting costs (staff) b X amount of dollars this ma • g � � Y � Y have been addressed in the prioritization process). 2. Evaluate ratios of management and supervision to line personnel. 3. Evaluate levels of service. 4. Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivering of services. 5. Evaluate services. 6. Is the Council interested in additional services we currently do not provide? 7. Evaluate organizational structure in light of the need to meet the future issues or the accelerated pace of change. 8. Other. Mayor Paulson stated he did not think Council needed to think in terms of personnel cuts or additions. He stressed there were ways to use the resources the City already had and get more for the dollar. He stated the Council must use opportunities to promote the City's facilities such as the waterslide. The City Manager agreed and stated as part of this process staff will develop some of these opportunities. The Public Works Coordinator asked if the Council's desire was to look at the various departments as if from scratch with a zero -based budget. Mayor Paulson agreed this was what he was looking for. The Director of Public Works stated Council was really trying to define levels of service in terms of dollars and cents, and this was a really subjective approach. He reminded Council the new accounting system that was established last year would provide information on what each existing program is costing the City. Mayor Paulson stated there may be a gap between what the City is doing now and what it should be costing. The Public Works Coordinator explained her research on benchmarking. She stated there are basically two ways to benchmark. She said one way was time management which was very costly, and the other was to compare the City to other cities. Mayor Paulson stated he was concerned with the levels of management. He questioned whether there are too many supervisors. 3/15/93 -5- The Public Works Director explained a lot was learned from the prioritization process last year. He suggested working with the prioritization process with emphasis on coordination. He felt this was more productive than benchmarking and zero - balance budgeting. Mayor Paulson stated Council and Staff must look at how the City could be even better. He recommended empowering the employees to do their job as they know best. The Director of Public Works stated the Public Works Department had been decreasing its supervisory staff, not increasing. He stated spending a lot of money to get deeply into benchmarking would be counterproductive. Councilmember Scott recalled the Robbinsdale School District had conducted a time and motion study to see what each employee was doing. She reported production went down while the study was being conducted because the employees were not allowed to freely perform their job without being asked why they were doing it. She stated the district discovered it had wasted a lot of money. She explained the employees know best what needs to be done and how to do it. The Director of Public Works noted the Public Works Department has organized and operated quality circles during the past eight or nine years. He said by using quality circles, the employees are able to discuss their jobs with other employees to learn how to make everyone's job more efficient. The Public Works Coordinator reported the Data Processing Committee, consisting of a member from each department, had met to discuss how data moves around the City. She said the committee discovered better, more efficient ways to move the data through the various departments. Mayor Paulson agreed employees need to be challenged to do things better. The City Manager stated from the discussion he would develop a list of questions or preliminary report to give to Council for direction. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE The City Manager reported St. Paul was applying for a one -half cent city sales tax. He asked Council if the opportunity presents itself, would they want to tag onto the bill. Councilmember Kalligher asked what such a tax would be used for. The City Manager answered for commercial development such as Brooklyn Boulevard improvements, apartment buy out program, and the single - family home buy out program. The City Manager asked if the Council would prefer to have a referendum, or they could levy a franchise tax. He also offered to have the Financial Director look at just what the amount of gain would be. He also reported he was working with Representatives Luther and Carruthers to obtain a grant from the State for additional apartment buy outs. Councilmember Rosene offered to work with the City Manager on the one -half cent tax. The City Manager agreed to provide a copy of the bill, once it was available. He asked if 3/15/93 -6- the Council would support tagging onto the bill and offered to provide more information as soon as it is available. He recommended holding public hearings rather than a referendum. Mayor Paulson stated he would like a referendum. Councilmember Scott stated this would not be like the restaurant and motel tax. She explained this would be taxing the people who use the City's commercial centers which cause the City to provide extra services. Councilmember Rosene asked Councilmember Scott if she felt the citizens would approve. Councilmember Scott answered she would like to look into this bill further and would like to keep the City's options open. The City Manager recommended going without a referendum on this. He stated this should be up to the elected officials to make responsible decisions, and he did not want the State to dictate the City use a referendum. Councilmember Scott reminded Council the State had mandated so many programs to the cities, but it had not given the cities any way to fund these programs. She also stated this was the fairest kind of tax you can have because it spreads it out over the most people. Councilmember Rosene explained how the Star Tribune had solicited opinions on its comics, and asked if the City could possibly designate two phone lines for citizens to call and give their opinion on a one -half cent sales tax. The City Manager recommended a telephone survey as a better way to solicit citizen's opinions. ADJOURNMENT The Brooklyn Center City Council adjourned at 9:50 p.m. Deputy City Clerk Tod aulson, Mayor Recorded and transcribed by: Nan Berg g TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial 3/15/93 -7-