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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 10-23 CCM Work SessionMINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEP[N AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA WORK SESSION OCTOBER 23, 2017 CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS Lelax. [Iii] 1 I] Dll The Brooklyn Center City Council/Economic Development Authority (EDA) met in Work Session called to order by Mayor/President Tim Willson at 7:52 p.m. II] RV'III Mayor/President Tim Willson and Councilmembers/Commissioners Marquita Butler, April Graves, Kris Lawrence-Anderson, and Dan Ryan. Also present were City Manager Curt Boganey, Communications Coordinator Angel Smith, Director of Business and Development Gary Eitel, City Attorney Troy Gilchrist, and Carla Wirth, TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. POLICY REGARDING COMMERCIAL FILMING WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS - (continued) Communications Coordinator Angel Smith concluded her presentation by stating staff wants a policy or application process in place relating to this topic because the City will be asked again. She asked for the City Council/EDA's direction in how staff should move pertaining to this issue. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan stated it is a sound suggestion to have a fee for services and fee structure as there may be hidden costs involved with these filming activities to assure the City recovers its costs. Councilmember/Commissioner Graves suggested staff draft some language and stated support for a scholarship program for local film makers so a fee does not get in the way, and to assure the film/photograph influence the City in a positive manner. She also suggested the purpose of said film be part of the vetting process to assure it does not do the opposite. Mayor/President Willson asked whether staff can arbitrarily decide whether or not a film/photograph is in the City's best interest. City Attorney Troy Gilchrist advised that once the City opens a forum, it needs to treat all equally even if the City doesn't agree with the theme of the film/photograph so that is a consideration. However, when issuing a permit impacts public safety or traffic interference, it may be appropriate to say no. Councilmember/Commissioner Graves stated she would also not want the City charged with censorship but recalled a video filmed at a high school that included gang signs and not the 10/23/17 -1- message the high school wanted so she would want to know the purpose of the project requesting a permit, to be intentional. Mayor/President Willson stated he has been part of videos made in the City and with those videos, the City had the ability to prescreen them. He asked whether that's an option. Mr. Gilchrist stated that would be difficult but his impression is the City would have the right to ask the applicant to describe in some detail what they are proposing to do so the scope of staff resources, impacts, and traffic is known. Councilmember/Commissioner Butler stated she would support moving forward with an ordinance and asked if the permits would be voted on by the City Council or administratively approved. City Manager Curt Boganey stated it would be at staffs discretion within the parameters established by the City Council. Mayor/President Willson requested a presentation of the policy, once drafted, before the City Council/EDA. Mr. Boganey addressed the comment made about establishing a fee for services and asked Dr. Smith to elaborate on the basis to suggest a fee for services as opposed to a permit fee. Dr. Smith stated staff looked at what eight communities had in place and found some had an application permit fee and others did not. Staff doesn't want to restrict people from doing this but to have something in place to address policy issues. Dr. Smith explained that having a fee for service instead of a permit fee structure was discussed and staff believed it was not necessary to have an application fee because at this point, the majority of individuals may need assistance from the Police Department. Instead, the City should establish the amount of time, number of employees, use of time, and provide that information so the permittee is charged accordingly. Mr. Boganey stated staff will establish hourly rates for personnel and use of certain types of equipment so a quote can be given to the permittee. He asked whether there will be a limit established on the amount that can be requested, in case it is beyond the City's ability to provide. He also asked whether there will be a provision to deny based on that type of circumstance. Dr. Smith stated staff will draft that type of provision to address whether the City has adequate resources to meet the request. Mayor/President Willson stated part of the application process is to capture data points on who they are, the company they represent, type of insurance, how the City would be held harmless, and all of those types of issues. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan stated with still photography, it may be very nonintrusive but with other activities, such as a major film, it may be more disruptive. Dr. Smith noted the drafted application asks for name, production manager's name, duration, type of film, type and level of staff assistance requested, closing streets, and those types of details so a lot of information is gained at the start. Mayor/President Willson noted that will also allow the ability to negotiate. 10/23/17 -2- The majority consensus of the City Council/EDA was to direct staff to prepare a draft as discussed for presentation to the City Council/EDA at a future Work Session. Director of Business and Development Gary Eitel introduced the item and the City Council's/EDA's past consideration of the Shingle Creek Crossing Planned Unit Development (PUD) plans and final plat of Shingle Creek Crossing. He explained the original Midas Muffler Shop site was not part of the original Shingle Creek Crossing project so the EDA offered an incentive to include another site with the condition that it include a restaurant site. Mr. Eitel reviewed the surrounding uses and stated the HUM Furniture use will be considered in the next few weeks but they are not interested in developing the EDA parcel. Now, Told Development has a letter of intent to develop the site for a bank. Mr. Eitel asked whether the City Council/EDA believed the future development of a bank at the eastern entrance to the Shingle Creek Crossing PUD is in keeping with the vision for the redevelopment of this parcel and if it supports the addition of at least a 4,000-square foot bank to the minimum development parameters provisions of the purchase agreement for the conveyance of the EDA parcel. He stated if approved, the City will likely receive a development application before the end of the year. Mayor/President Willson stated the City Council/EDA had a list of uses they did not want to see on this site and if the local economy doesn't support a restaurant business, even with incentives, then he thinks the bank is an acceptable use on that corner. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan agreed and stated he would favor going forward with a bank as long as it does not hinder a future restaurant use. He asked about having a medical use adjacent to the HUM Furniture development. Mr. Eitel stated the plan shows they will maintain flexibility and continue to work for a 32,000 square foot medical building on that site so that is still the intention. He explained the developer is asking for flexibility on the uses as they have more parking than needed for HOM Furniture. Councilmember/Commissioner Butler stated she would love to have a restaurant but having a national bank will bring in customers to those businesses so she supports moving forward. The majority consensus of the City Council/EDA was to direct staff to amend the minimum development parameters of the Shingle Creek Crossing purchase agreement for the EDA parcel (former Boulevard Bar & Grill/Ground Round restaurant site) to include a 4,000-square foot bank. Mayor/President Willson noted many Sears stores are closing and asked about the Brooklyn Center location. Mr. Eitel stated he has heard nothing about the Brooklyn Center site and staff continues to reach out to them. 10/23/17 -3- PREVAILING WAGE - LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA CITIES POLICIES Mr. Boganey introduced the item and explained staff had reviewed the draft policies as presented by the League of Minnesota Cities and request of the City Council/EDA to review the Workforce Housing Policy as it relates to the revised language that states: 'The Legislature should scale the workforce housing grant program to account for the additional cost associated with the prevailing wage requirements or eliminate prevailing wage requirements within the workforce housing grant programs.' Mr. Boganey reported there were conversations indicating at least a few members have some concerns about this specific language and comments were made as to why it would be inappropriate. He stated he expects this policy will receive a lot of discussion at their next meeting. Mr. Boganey stated the Board has asked anyone or city with interest in this or other policy to submit those comments before the October 27, 2017, deadline. He stated those comments will be given full weight should the City Council/EDA want to go on the record. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan stated he had brought this issue forward at the October 9, 2017, Work Session because he felt this was of ultimate importance to Brooklyn Center. He noted the League of Minnesota Cities Policy Committee worked on this area in some detail but the bone of contention is the last three lines of the two pages of LE-31 Workforce Housing as read by Mr. Boganey as it results in recommending to the Legislature to overturn existing Minnesota State law that supports community's prevailing wage, which should be recognized in labor contracts for projects that are State funded. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan explained that communities seeking these projects built with assistance of State money are concerned with the level of subsidy needed for projects to go forward. It was suggested through this Policy Committee that this burden can be more easily overcome if wages for workers hired to build those projects could be lower. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan stated he believes this is an example of an attack on labor by political interests at the Legislature who feel more projects could be built if prevailing wage was not observed. He stated some may ask why this is of importance to Brooklyn Center, noting many labor people live in Brooklyn Center and this is only one of a whole range of policies promulgated to go after labor, the same as in Wisconsin. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan stated one of the City Council's/EDA's strategic goals deals with resident economic stability and that's supported by them being members of unions. He advocated for the City Council/EDA to take a position on improving the local economy by recommending an amendment to the Policy to delete language on Page 115, Lines 27, 28, and 29. Councilmember/Commissioner Graves asked what is meant by 'account for the additional costs associated with the prevailing wage' (Page 115, Lines 27 and 28). Mr. Boganey stated it could be the result of an attack on labor but the chairperson had explained that language was included because one of the speakers who addressed the committee represented a city that made application for grant funding for workforce housing. That city had submitted the grant, it was approved, and when the developer did their costs, they illustrated the prevailing wage requirements increased the project by 67%. It was that applicant's belief if the State was offering a grant, they needed to add to the grant an additional amount because otherwise, much of the benefit of the grant was lost. 10/23/17 -4- Councilmember/Commissioner Graves stated that is also how she read that language. She suggested not eliminating the entire sentence but instead to support their suggestion to the Legislature that they account for the additional cost. Instead she suggested deleting the words: 'or eliminate prevailing wage requirements' (Page 115, Lines 28 and 29). Mayor/President Willson noted that Page 114, Lines 14, 15, and 16 also tie into prevailing wage. He suggested those lines be removed as well as Page 115, Lines 27, 28, and 29. He supported the State paying prevailing wage or else people can't sustain a family or even afford to move into workforce housing. He stated he would lobby hard to pay workers a prevailing wage. Councilmember/Commjssjoner Ryan stated Page 114, Lines 14, 15, and 16, seems to still beg the question that if the grant isn't sufficient enough to meet prevailing wage, then the State is not living up to its own statutes and standards in terms of acceptable pay for workers hired to construct State funded projects. He noted if the language is eliminated from Page 115, Lines 27, 28, and 29, it leaves open and in place the established policy and the simplest way to address the concerns of labor. Mayor/President Willson suggested striking Page 115, Lines 27, 28, and 29 and to protest the language of Page 114, Lines 14, 15, and 16. Mayor/President Willson stated he would be happy to speak before the Board to represent the City Council's/EDA's position. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan stated he would be surprised at the general meeting if a policy language as specific as this was overturned by a vote of the body but that could happen. Mayor/President Willson stated the City Council/EDA has indicated support to give direction to Mr. Boganey to draft a letter, under the Mayor's signature, to express the City Council's/EDA's position. Mayor/President Willson stated he is pleased that Mr. Boganey serves on this Board as it provides the City Council/EDA with inside knowledge. Mr. Boganey clarified he was not appointed to the Board to represent the City of Brooklyn Center, but to represent member cities throughout the entire area and will base his vote on all of the information brought before the Board by weighing the pros and cons of each, which is his obligation to the League as he sits on the Board. Mr. Boganey stated when all of the comments are received, they will be part of his decision-making process and his sense is that some legitimate issues were raised so he thinks there will be a full vetting. Mayor/President Willson stated the City Council/EDA has every confidence Mr. Boganey will make the best decision, given the information provided, for the League of Minnesota Cities and he will do very well there. The majority consensus of the City Council/EDA was to ask Mr. Boganey to draft a letter for the Mayor/President's signature that cites the language on Page 114, Lines 14, 15, and 16, and Page 115, Lines 27, 28, and 29, indicating the City of Brooklyn Center does not support those statements in the LMC's policy and firmly believes that prevailing wage should be paid to our citizens. 10/23/17 -5- Mr. Boganey stated he will draft a letter for the Mayor/President's signature. ij IJDiUthIk1I DhI I Councilmember/Commjssjoner Graves moved and Councilmember/Commjssjoner Butler seconded adjournment of the City Council/Economic Development Authority Work Session at 8:40 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. 10/23/17 -6- STATE OF MINNESOTA) COUNTY OF HENNEPIN) ss. Certification of Minutes CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER) The undersigned, being the duly qualified and appointed City Clerk of the City of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, certifies: 1.That attached hereto is a full, true, and complete transcript of the minutes of a Work Session of the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Center held on October 23, 2017. 2.That said meeting was held pursuant to due call and notice thereof and was duly held at Brooklyn Center City Hall. 3. That the City Council adopted said minutes at its November 13, 2017, Regular Session. IWAM&N^- City Clerk Mayor 10/23/17 -7-