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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-06-2022 City Council Work Session MinutesCITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Public Safety Bldg —Training Room, 825 41st Ave NE Tuesday, September 06, 2022 6:00 PM MINUTES Mayor Amada Marquez Simula Councilmembers John Murzyn, Jr. Connie Buesgens Nick Novitsky Kt Jacobs City Manager Kelli Bourgeois The following are the minutes for the Work Session Meeting of the City Council held at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, in City Council Chambers, 590 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Mayor Marquez Simula called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Present: Mayor Marquez Simula; Councilmember Buesgens; Councilmember Jacobs; Councilmember Murzyn, Jr; Councilmember Novitsky Also Present: Kelli Bourgeois, City Manager; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director; Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary; Joe Kloiber, Finance Director. Ud,191.1 M*3.1[0 ON11191u1.1 1. Project Budget Updates: 53rd Avenue Trail, Sidewalk and Street Rehabilitation and 37th Avenue Reconstruction. Public Works Director Kevin Hansen lead the review of the information related to the design work that is underway for both the pavement rehabilitation, trail, and sidewalk of 53rd Avenue from Central to University Avenues and the reconstruction of 37th Avenue from Central Avenue to Stinson Boulevard. Director Hansen stated that there are a couple of items to note regarding easements and updates related to the 37th Avenue Project. The city has been able to acquire all updates and easements. There was an open house six weeks ago and we are now entering into the final design phase. We need to have final designs in place and submitted by the end of September. The 53rd Avenue work is submitted as two separate projects. There are State and Federal components. There are four access points / easements. The trail project will go all the way over to Central Avenue and will likely be bid in February or March. The estimates have been updated and information included in the packet. The easements are completed as well as half of the surveys. There is grant funding, and there is state funding as well. Overall, there is a shortage of funds of 1.5 million, there is a need for bonding to complete the projects. Once we go through bonding we will know where we are regarding the inflationary increases. Councilmember Buesgens inquired about the consideration of 40th being included in the bonding and projects. Her concern is that if we are bonding for 37th and 53rd we should also City of Columbia Heights City Council Work Session be looking at 40tn MINUTES September 06, 2022 Page 2 Director Hansen stated that the County did have mill and overlay included in the budget for this year but the city asked for the County to hold off. The city has asked for planning grant money for the Safe Streets for All Program for this project. The SS4A is a 5-year program, but we are not in a place to consider bonding for 40tn at this time. Councilmember Buesgens inquired if we are still going to be completing the alley programs. Director Hansen stated that yes, we are still completing the alley programs. Councilmember Buesgens inquired if there is still a $50,000 for budget related to Parks Capital Fund for repairs. She would like to see incremental increases to this account so that there are more funds available for repairs that are needed for the maintenance of our parks. Overall, she would like to see a potential tax increase of a half a cent to increase the balance of the funds for the upkeep of the parks. She does not want to be locked into something now and not be able to make a change later. Director Kloiber clarified that this money comes from the LGA funds. He clarified that all the LGA from 2023 is going to the City Hall capital fund. There is however some TIF funds that are going to the Park Capital Funds. Councilmember Novitsky clarified that there are funds related to TIF District that closed and the $100,000 from that closure went into the Parks Capital fund. Director Kloiber confirmed this. Director Hansen clarified that he would like to review the park maintenance information in more detail during the budget presentation. Director Kloiber stated that this information would be reviewed related to the Tax Levy that will be voted on at the September 26, 2022, City Council Meeting. Councilmember Buesgens is concerned about voting on that Levy at the end of September and being locked in at that rate. She would like to view the presentation and have the discussion. 2. Overview of Proposed 2023 Budget. Director Kloiber presented a power point of the 2023 Proposed Budget. Included in the information is a tax -supported operating expense increase of 7%. To fund the increase of costs the City proposed property tax levy is 12.7% due to a reduction in fiscal disparity share of the tax levy of 4.9%. Director Kloiber reviewed several of the upcoming large projects that will need bond financing in 2023. He then reviewed the next steps in the City of Columbia Heights MINUTES September 06, 2022 City Council Work Session Page 3 budget process. The power point can be found on the city website. Director Kloiber then reviewed the updated Truth in Taxation Notice that Anoka County will be using. There is an additional disclosure that the legislature has dictated be added. He reviewed the administrative change that would be added in the resolution related to special assessments. We would add the dollar amounts related to fund 415 instead. Councilmember Buesgens clarified how the information was formatted by the County. Director Kloiber confirmed that the information would be formatted and labeled by the County as a whole. City Manager Bourgeois clarified how the information is being reported to the State. She hopes that the Legislature continues to refine the process. Director Kloiber recommended to approve the resolution related to the informational reporting of the Truth in Taxation Levy. Director Kloiber moved on to the next item that was also not covered in the video related to fund balance transfer to fund 431. There is a need to replenish the capital funds related to the purchase of fire trucks. The resolution for this will be in the packet for Monday's meetings. He recommend making the transfer now because it simplifies the bond rating process. There will also be two other transfers in the resolution as well. There will be a transfer related to the funds for public safety fence as well as the funds from the EDA for the City Hall budget. Director Kloiber also stated that we also a need to keep the Public Works Building repair and replacement top of mind. We need to keep this as a part of the 2024 / 2025 /2026 budget. This statement is not to scare anyone, it is just to make sure that we are planning for this in the budget. Councilmember Buesgens stated that previous Councilmembers did not take care of properties the way they should have and now we need to take care of the issues. Councilmember Jacobs stated that this is concerning, and we need to make this palatable to people who may not want to hear it. Councilmember Novitsky stated that we need to take care of needs before wants. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she wants to see an incrementation increase of $2500 (.46 of a penny tax) built into the park maintenance fund. She feels we are not City of Columbia Heights MINUTES September 06, 2022 City Council Work Session Page 4 taking care of the things we have now. She wants this to be a new tax increase for the next several years. Councilmember Novitsky clarified that she would like this to be a new line item. He stated that we have increased park funding. Councilmember Jacobs clarified what the funds are for. Director Kloiber stated that we put things in funds for a reason. In the general funds there is a department for parks upkeep. That budget is just over a million dollars and can be found on page 83 of the budget. There is a parks capital improvement fund (412) that has "major parks reconstruction" that has $100,000 from when the TIF district decertified. Councilmember Jacobs asked how much of the funds are being completely used from these two accounts. Director Kloiber stated that he would have to check and see what the balance of the account is, because currently public works plan is to work towards a planning study / plan to construct new plans for capital improvements. City Manager Bourgeois stated that there is an increase planned for the 5200 budget, and this does include an increase for staffing. What we are also planning to bring back to council is how do we implement a parks capital improvement plan. How much money do we put into a park when it will be improved / replaced in the future. Councilmember Murzyn inquired as to where are the funds going at the end of the year. Why can't it go back into the same fund? Director Kloiber stated operating budgets expire at the end of the year and go back into the general fund. Overall, the funds usually cannot be kept in the same bucket unless they are specifically allocated for items that are to be purchased. He will confer with the Public Works Director for the increase related to the operating budget related to Councilmember Buesgens specific concern. Councilmembers can also offer amendments to the budget resolution as well. Overview of Declaration and Bylaws Documents. City Manager Bourgeois led a discussion about the declaration and bylaw documents that were approved at the last Council meeting. In the packet there are the final plat documents that have been submitted for recording to the County Surveyor. The declaration is the text document of the plat. We are now at a place where we have negotiated the insurance, bylaws, and conditions of the City Hall condo. This has been a very complex negotiation City of Columbia Heights MINUTES September 06, 2022 City Council Work Session Page 5 process, and we now have one seat on the association board. We need to decide if we will have an elected official, or a member of staff sit on the board. Councilmember Buesgens felt it would be best for Staff to be on the board, as did Councilmember Jacobs. Mayor Marquez Simula clarified what would be in the space next to City Hall. City Manager Bourgeois stated that we were still hoping for a coffee shop. We are now meeting with the Doran weekly for construction updates. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Marquez Simula adjourned the meeting at 7:45 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary