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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-03-1997 CMW COUNCIL/MANAGER WORKSHOP OF THE CITY OF MAPLEWOOD 5:00 p.m. Monday, February 3, 1997 Maplewood Room, City Hall MINUTES A. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Acting Mayor Koppen at 5:03 p.m: B. ROLL CALL Mayor Gary Bastian Present (arrived at 5:46 p.m.) Councilmember Sherry Allenspach Present Councilmember Dale Carlson Absent Councilmember Marvin Koppen Present Councilmember George Rossbach Present Others Present: City Manger Michael McGuire Assistant City Manager Craig Dawson Finance Director Dan Faust Community-oriented Services Coordinator Colleen Dirkswager C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilmember Rossbach requested that item (I1) be added: Prosecuting Attorney. Mayor Bastian had requested the following item be added: (I2) Communication with Saint Paul Board of Realtors. Acting Mayor Koppen asked that the following item be added: (I3) Suburban Area Chamber of Commerce Communications re: Maplewood Sign Ordinance Revisions.- Councilmember Rossbach moved approval of the agenda as amended. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Allenspach and approved. Ayes: All February 3, 1997 Council/Manager Workshop Page Two D. REVISION OF PROCEDURES FOR CANCELLATION OF AMBULANCE BILLS City Manager McGuire related that Councilmember Carlson had wanted to develop a consistent policy for the cancellation of ambulance bills. The criteria he had suggested included requests for more information about income and assets. Finance Director Faust reviewed the new information which could be reported in the proposed application form. Councilmembers expressed some concern about the formula to be used to determine ' cancellability. Staff will do more research on what was requested in model documents used to develop Maplewood's revised application. Staff will present this information at a future Council meeting. E. OFFER FOR OPEN SPACE ACQUISITION--HALLERBONSELL PROPERTY Assistant City Manager Dawson reviewed an offer made by the Haller Estate to sell approximately 33 acres of land east of South Sterling Street in southernmost Maplewood. The property had been rated highly by the Open Space Committee, and had been offered to the City at higher prices over the past few years. If acquisition of land west of the Priory open space property were to occur, the asking price for the Haller property would nearly exhaust the Open Space Acquisition Bond Fund. After discussion, the Council noted that there was a 26-acre tract of open space land one- halfmile north of the Haller property, and Carver Park in Woodbury was also nearby. Given the proximity of open land to the Haller property and the relatively low balance in the Open Space Acquisition Bond Fund, the Council decided that it wished to focus acquisition activities in other areas of the City. F. COUNCIL/STAFF RETREAT City Manager McGuire briefed the Council on the retreat to be held later in the week at the Riverwood Conference Center in Monticello, MN. The session would include general discussion among the Council, focused discussion on community-oriented services among the Council, a general discussion with Council and staff, a group exercise, and some additional focused discussion among the Council and staff. John Vinton, director of the public administration program at Hamline University, will be the facilitator for the retreat. - February 3, 1997 Council/Manager Workshop Page Three G. COMMUNITY-ORIENTED SERVICES City Manager McGuire and Community-oriented Services Coordinator Dirkswager provided the Council with a progress report. Dirkswager had met with Maplewood councilmembers and department heads, and had visited St. Louis Park staff to learn about its program. Other communities had cautioned that they had tried to do too much too soon, and suggested that Maplewood not repeat this experience. She suggested that there be a neighborhood focus, but noted that the neighborhoods need to be more clearly defined. McGuire said the City should be careful that it is in more of a facilitative mode in the COS initiative. Mayor Bastian arrived at 5:46 p.m. _ There was discussion about whether there should be a community committee or task force for COS, and how representation on it should be established. This and other matters (including a new name for community-oriented services) could be explored more fully at the Council/Staff retreat. H. ITEMS FORMERLY LISTED AS "FUTURE TOPICS" i. Maplewood 2020: While the Council thought this concept was worth further . exploration, it decided that efforts should be delayed for awhile. Maplewood 2020 may tie into the community-oriented services initiative. 2. Code of Ethics: Mayor Bastian reviewed the history of this topic among past Maplewood City Councils. He believed personally that the Maplewood councilmembers should consider voluntarily providing a statement of economic interest; this disclosure is statutorily required of councilmembers in cities with populations greater than 50,000. If the Council were to adopt such a policy, it should be done so unanimously. The city manager will report back to the Council about practices and forms in use in other cities. 3. Total Quality Management Follow-up: TQM was a popular management concept a _ few years back. Its underlying value of continuous improvement is one which already prevails in the City organization. There may be some elements in establishing teams and having them function effectively that could be considered in COS initiatives. The Council decided that no further action or discussion would be necessary. 4. Local Government Summit: While the Council believed it was ready to participate in a summit, it did not believe that many other local governments in the area were ready to do so. The Council decided that no further action or discussion would be necessary. February 3, 1997 Council/Manager Workshop Page Four 5. Business Retention: This item will be discussed more fully at the Council/staff retreat. It will be decided at that time the extent to which it should be revisited at Council/Manager workshops. 6. Community Fund: A Community Fund would provide a vehicle for organizations and individuals to make special contributions for special community (not necessarily City) projects. This item should be retained on the list of future topics and revisited when it is timely to do so. I. OTHER BUSINESS 1. Prosecuting Attornev: Councilmember Rossbach questioned why the prosecuting attorney would have sent a separate bill for the Nelson case. Mayor Bastian noted that the case was handled at the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and the retainer for prosecution services applies only to cases handled at the District Court. 2. Communication to Saint Paul Board of Realtors: Mayor Bastian noted that the February 1 Mayor's Forum featured a presentation on property valuation practices by the Ramsey County Assessor's Office. He requested that staff prepare a letter to the Saint Paul Board of Realtors to solicit the interest of realtors to do a free market analysis for residents who want to contest the values assigned to their properties by the County Assessor. The services should be provided at no obligation to residents requesting such assistance. 3. Suburban Area Chamber of Commerce Communications re: Maplewood Sign Ordinance Revisions: Councilmember Koppen summarized the Chamber's proposal as requesting regulations that more nearly resemble those adopted by North Saint Paul and Oakdale (the latter of which adopted a new ordinance on January 27, 1997). The Council engaged in a general discussion about the advantages and drawbacks of regulating signage. The second reading of Maplewood's proposed ordinance was scheduled for consideration at the February 10, 1997 Council meeting. J. FUTURE TOPICS The list of future topics was noted. K. ADJOURNMENT At 6:50 p.m., Mayor Bastian moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Allenspach seconded and the motion was approved. There was no further discussion. Ayes: All