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Home My WebLink About04-01-1996 CMW COUNCIL/MANAGER WORKSHOP OF THE " CITY OF MAPLEWOOD 5:00 p.m., Monday, April 1, 1996 Maplewood Room, City Hall MINUTES A. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Acting Mayor Allenspach at 5:03 a.m. = B. ROLL CALL Mayor Gary Bastian Present (arrived at 5:27 pm.) Councilmember Sheny Allenspach Present Councilmember Dale Carlson. Present Councilmember Marvin Koppen Present Councilmember George Rossbach Present Others Present: City Manager Michael McGuire Assistant City Manager Craig Dawson City Attorney Patrick Kelly Director of Public Works Ken Haider Public Safety Director Ken Collins Fire Chief Joel Hewitt C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA City Manager McGuire requested that the following item be added: (Il) City Manager's Report. Councilmember Carlson moved approval of the agenda as amended. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Koppen and approved. _ Ayes: All April 1, 1996 Council/Manager Workshop Page Two D. OPEN SPACE 1. Kustich Property (north of Keller Parkway, west of Forest Street): Assistant City Manager Dawson briefed the Council on the status of this acquisition. A purchase agreement had been drafted and forwarded to the Kusliches for their review. Negotiations on the sale of the property have taken neazly a year as the final boundazies of the land to be purchased by the City were fixed. The City would acquire 13.39 acres for $254,795. The land would adjoin 17 acres of open space on the west which has already been acquired by the City. Council action on the proposed purchase agreement was scheduled for the April 8 Council meeting. Closing would occur within a month. 2. Stielow Property (1285 South Sterling Street): Dawson briefed the Council on the status of negotiations on this property. It adjoins 13.3 acres of land at 2413 East Carver Avenue that the City acquired in January 1996. Ms. Stielow would likely sell approximately 10 acres of her property and retain two acres azound her homestead. Ms. Stielow would like to see her property remain as open space, but she believes she would receive more money if she were to sell it for development. 3. AallerBonsell Proposal (east of South Sterling Street, south of I-494): Dawson reviewed a proposal by the Haller estate to se1135 + acres to the City for $425,000 and other considerations. The estate would retain five acres for the family homestead: The property rated highly among properties recommended by the Open Space Committee for acquisition. An appraisal commissioned by the City indicated a value of $350,000 for the property as of July 1994. After discussion, the Council directed that a letter be written to executors of the estate indicating that the City would not respond to the offer at this time, but would still like to keep it under consideration. 4. Other Parcels immediately west of Roselawn Park: Councilmember Rossbach had requested that staff check on the ownership of the wooded land west of Roselawn Park (north of St. Jerome's Church on Roselawn Avenue). There aze two vacant properties, each about an acre in size, which comprise the wooded area. Council directed that the property owners be contacted to inquire of their interest in selling their land. McShane Property (north of County Road C, east of Munger Trail (4.7 acres]): Councilmember Rossbach noted that the land was for sale and asked that staff contact the real estate agent for the property. April 1, 1996 Council/Manager Workshop Page Three E. SPECIAL ASSESSMENT POLICIES Mayor Bastian arrived. at 5:27 p.m. Director of Public Works Haider reviewed the City's past approaches to determining special assessments, and noted that there were patterns of inconsistency. As there were several projects in process which would have special assessments, the Council should provide guidance on the development of policies which could be consistently applied. In issuing bonds for public improvements without referenda, at least 20 percent of the costs of projects must be specially assessed. For utility improvements, existing practices are working well. Amounts for water and sewer assessments could remain the same. The assessments for stormwater improvements should be increased (to $750-$1000/unit) so that the " 20-percent test" can be met. Street assessment practices have varied. For streets on the Municipal State Aid System (MSAS), the City has levied $35± per front foot. On the Walter Street Project (No. 90-07), the City levied $1100 per residential lot. Currently, plans are being drawn for improvements in the Gervais Street neighborhood; with installation of concrete curb and gutter as requested by residents, the costs for all improvements will be between $12,000 and $15,000 per lot. At neighborhood meetings, residents have suggested that assessments of 30 percent ofcosts--$4,000-$5,000 per lot would seem fair. For street projects, should residential assessments be on a per-lot basis or a percentage of project cost basis. Should there be a common percentage of projects that are assessed, with the remainder of costs to be covered by general revenue sources? Longer-term, should the City assess for overlays on non-MSAS streets? Councilmembers agreed that assessments should differentiate on the amount of service (e.g., traffic volumes). F. FIRE DEPARTMENT MERGER/CONSOLIDATION McGuire and Fire Chief Hewitt reviewed the progress of meetings to merge the three fire departments into the Maplewood Fire Department. The chiefs had identified eight major issues that needed resolution in order to make the merger process smoother. One of the issues--capital needs--is being addressed by a committee of firefighters and by Chief Hewitt. Their work - suggests $3.5 million in capital expenses through 2001.... The major issue appeazs to be improvements in the pension benefit. Staff reviewed the current defined benefit plan and a proposed defined contribution approach. Council strongly preferred a defined contribution proposal. Council indicated it was not interested in negotiating contracts for service for 1997 with any of the fire departments. Further discussion will be included on the agenda for the May 6 Council/Manager workshop. April 1, 1996 CounciUManager Workshop _ Page Four G. UPDATE ON COUNCIL/STAFF RETREAT McGuire reviewed the agenda being developed for the retreat. The first session for the Council will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 18, at the Riverwood Conference Center in Monticello, MN. H. UPDATE ON CURRENT CITY COURT CASES At 6:45 p.m., the City Council recessed to executive session for attorney/client discussion. All councilmembers were present, as were the city manager, assistant city manager, and city attorney. The purpose of the executive session was to review litigation involving the City. At 7:05 p.m., the Council returned to discuss regulaz business. I. OTHER BUSINESS 1. City Manager's Report: McGuire noted that the City had issued a press release regarding the request for ISD 622 to begin the process of naming the new high school. He also noted that the Pazkside Fire Department was holding its annual dinner soon, and if three or more of the councilmembers planned to attend that a notice of a special meeting of the Council would need to be posted. The Phalen Chain of Lakes Watershed District had requested to meet with the City Council: Council requested that all four watershed districts be invited to meet with the Council during one upcoming Workshop. J. FUTURE TOPICS The list of future topics was noted. K. ADJOURNMENT At 7:12 p.m., Mayor Bastian moved that the Workshop be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Koppen and approved. Ayes: All