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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1971 10-04 CCM Regular Session Minutes of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Center In the County of Hennepin and State of Minnesota October 4, 1971 The City Council met in regular session and was called to order by Mayor Cohen at 6:40 P. M. Roll Call: Mayor Cohen, Councilmen Leary, Ausen, Heck and Willard. Also present were: City Manager Donald Poss, Director of Finance Paul Holmlund, Director of Public Works James Merila, City Attorney Richard Schieffer, Chief of ' Police Thomas O'Hehir, Administrative Assistants Tom Loucks and Blair Tremere. Reverend Amos Levang of Brooklyn Center Assemblies of God Church offered the invocation. Motion by Councilman Heck and seconded by Councilman Leary to t reconvene the 1972 budget hearings. Voting .n favor were: Mayor Cohen,, g Yo he . Councilmen Leary, Ausen, Heck and Willard. Voting against: none. Motion carried unanimously. The City Manager proceeded with a review of the recommended appro- priations for the Park and Recreation Department. It was suggested that the matter of purchasing a piano for the Community Center social hall, which had been earlier deleted from the budget, might be reconsidered. After a brief discussion of the need and costs of a new piano it was the consensus of the Council that the proposed purchase of a piano in the amount of $900 should remain in the budget. The City Manager responded to various inquiries regarding the Park and Recreation Department budget and recommended the addition of $2,040.00 to the Capital Outlay Account No. 475 -53 to purchase seventeen trash containers for the City parks thereby enabling commercial trash collection at a savings of an estimated 768 elan hours of park employee time. Relative thereto the Council concluded to delete the recommended 3/4 ton pickup truck and a mobile radio from the budget. The meeting recessed at 8 :10 P.M. and resumed at 8:30 P.M. The City Manager stated that the 1972 budget proposal for the independent audit reflected the anticipated cost of the audit activity during the ear involving tY g year,, g all accounts except '&,a Fire Relief Association and the Public Utilities. He commented that the anticipated expenditures for legal services remains at the approximate level of the 1971 appropriations and that the recommended $1500 for the Charter Commission was required by statute, i The City Manager stated that the government buildings account has been greatly influenced by the recent capital projects program to the extent that it reflects the custodial costs of maintaining the new facilities and the Increased utility costs for electricity and heating. l A brief discussion ensued with regard to various items concerning the maintenance of the new buildings. The City Manager next reviewed the police protection portion of the proposed budget. He noted that the proposal comprehends no additional full -time positions. He further stated that it was intended to deploy present manpower in such a manner that an additional squad will be assigned patrol duties during the middle watch and the dogwatch shifts. He explained that in order to accom- plish this it is recommended an additional black and white squad car be acquired and outfitted. This would result in five squad cars being on duty during the two shifts during the majority of the work year. _1_ The City Manager commented that because the 1971 police squad cars were late in arriving and thus would not be in service for a complete year prior to the County bids for 1972 models, it was intended to experiment by running the cars an extended period of time through 1972. As a consequence approximately $800 per car had been recommended as in incremental increase in the Street Department vehicle maintenance and repair budget. With regard to proposed manpower requirements the City Manager recommended the establishment of another juvenile officer assignee position and noted the deletion of a lieutenancy. A general discuss ion ensued regarding various aspects of the Police Department operation and training program and regarding various items of capital outlay. The City Manager next reviewed the fire protection portion of the budget. He noted the 1972 proposal recommends no change in the manpower complement except for some station duty expansion on Saturday watches. He commented that certain items of specialized fire fighting equipment are recommended in the proposal thereby contributing to the department's reputation as being one of the finest equipped fire departments in the suburban area. He said that in addition to the operating appropriations, the sum of $34,,496 was included for 1972 actuarial funding of the Fire Relief Association Pension Fund. Mayor Cohen left the Council Chamber at 9:50 P. M. and handed the gavel to Mayor Pro -tem Howard Heck. A brief discussion ensued concerning emergency response time of the Brooklyn Center Fire Department, it being suggested that with the use of the proposed radio and telephone recording equipment the actual response time could be included in the regular Fire Chief s report to the Council, Mayor Cohen returned to the meeting at 10:00 P.M. Following a review of the recommended appropriations for Protective Inspection, a discussion ensued concerning the recently passed state law regarding a state building code and the ramifications for inspection activities at the local level. Motion by Councilman Leary and seconded by Councilman Heck to adjourn the budget hearing. Voting in favor were: Mayor Cohen, Councilmen Leary, Ausen, Heck and Willard. Voting against: none. Motion carried unanimously. The next item on the agenda was a continuation of deliberations regarding the proposed ice facility. The City MVianager presented a resolution previously requested by the Council which would put the matter of a ice arena bond issue before the voters on November 2nd. A discussion ensued relative to uses of such a facility other than ice skating as well as the various cost factors of a multi -use facility. Councilman Heck suggested the Council should consider further study of the matter, thus not having the bond referendum put before the voters on November 2nd. The Mayor recognized Mr. Ron Giddings, the President of the Brooklyn Center Hockey Association, and asked Mr. Giddings to comment. Mr. Giddings said that the Hockey Association had recently considered the possibility of postponing a final decision on the ice facility issue for approximately thirty days to permit further study. He stated that the Hockey Association realizes the validity of a proposed multi -use facility as well as the possible need for further public hearings on the proposal. A lengthy discussion ensued concerning various design possibilities and related cost differentials, and further discussion was generated relative to whether an ice facility would be used for six months or would feature a multi -use capability for 12 month utilization, Mayor Cohen stated that a substantial amount of data was already available to the Council and he questioned whether delaying the decision on the bond issue for purposes of further study would produce new data and soiutica s. He commented that if the decision, and thus the referendum, were delayed, the Council should set a specific date for a special election, such as December 7, 1971, and assure that deliberations were completed and a decision made within thirty days so that the referendum could in fact be held on that date. Mayor Cohen recognized Mr. Leon Binger and Mir. Tony Kuefler who reiterated their position that there was a substantial cost differentiation between a six month ice facility and a twelve month multi -use facility and thus, further study was merited to determine which of those should be proposed to the voters, Mrs. Delores Hastings, President of the League of Women. Voters in Brooklyn Center, said she had talked with many residents who had opposed a City operated ice hockey facility. She stated that there was a need for thorough discussion of several alternative facilities to avoid the impression that the Council had made a hasty decision with regard to one particular type of facility. The City Manager noted that if the Council were going to consider additional alternatives they would have to assure that they were considering viable alternatives. He stated that this, in effect, would require that an entire new program proposal be developed during the suggested thirty day postponement period. A brief discussion ensued concerning the procedure which could be + following to develop new alternatives. Notion by Councilman Leary and seconded by Councilman Willard to table consideration of the proposed ice arena until the October 18, 1971 Council meeting. Voting in favor were: Councilmen Leary, Heck, Ausen and Willard. Voting against: Mayor Cohen. Motion carried. Councilman Leary moved to reconvene the 1972 budget hearings. The motion failed for lack of a second. Notion by Councilman Willard and seconded by Councilman Heck to adjourn n the meeting until October 5, 1971 at 800 P. M. .Voting in favor were: Mayor Cohen, Counc ±lmen Leary, Ausen, Heck and Willard. Voting against: none, IV otion carried unanimously, The Council meeting adjourned at 1 :00 A. M. ClerkiUlayor 3 i -3-