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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-04-2024 City Council Work Session CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula Councilmembers Connie Buesgens Kt Jacobs Rachel James Justice Spriggs City Manager Aaron Chirpich City Hall—Shared Vision Room, 3989 Central Ave NE Monday, November 04, 2024 6:00 PM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Mayor Márquez Simula at approximately 6:30 pm. Present: Mayor Márquez Simula; Councilmember Buesgens; Councilmember Jacobs; Councilmember Spriggs Absent: Councilmember James Also Present: Aaron Chirpich, City Manager; David Cullen; Street and Park Superintendent; Mitchell Forney, Community Development Director; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director; Sulmaan Khan, Assistant City Engineer; Joe Kloiber, Finance Director WORK SESSION ITEMS 1. 2025 Budget Presentations by Division. Community Development Community Development Director Forney led the presentation on the Community Development Department Budget. The information will be available online on the Finance page on the City website. Mayor Márquez Simula asked why there was a jump in downtown parking expenses from 2023 to 2024. City Manager Chirpich replied it was due to a contract cleaning service that had a contractor who did not show up. Community Development Director Forney added that snow removal was not included since there was not a harsh winter. Mayor Márquez Simula noted that businesses have requested directional signage in the parking ramp and asked if it would be something the City could look into. She added that there are some bushes by the ramp that needs “sprucing up”. Finance Director Kloiber provided more information regarding the increase in expenses for downtown parking. He mentioned that contracted maintenance went down in 2023. Mayor Márquez Simula asked if the downtown parking budget would be consistent throughout the years. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES November 04, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 2 Finance Director Kloiber replied that it should be and that it is annual operating costs. Public Works Public Works Director Hansen led the presentation on the Public Works Department Budget with the assistance of Assistant City Engineer Khan and Street and Park Superintendent Cullen. The information will be available online on the Finance page on the City website. Mayor Márquez Simula noted she prefers the street light tone to be consistent. Public Works Director Hansen replied that Xcel changed most of the street lights to LED in the City. Mayor Márquez Simula mentioned there was a street sign that was deteriorating on Central Avenue and asked if the City would need to replace it. Public Works Director Hansen replied that the City would be responsible but suggested waiting until the Central Avenue reconstruction. He noted that the current signs are florescent and would need to be replaced with LED which can be expensive. Councilmember Buesgens asked if the Urban Forester position was salaried or hourly. Public Works Director Hansen replied that he was hourly. Councilmember Buesgens mentioned that there is a different increase from the previous year due to water usage, sewer increase, and the amount of garbage that is getting picked up. She asked why there was an increase in water flow for the sewer. Public Works Director Hansen replied it is due to inflation, and an increase in the measure of the flow in the system. He added that he could find the Met Council letter to get a full understanding of why there is an increase. Councilmember Buesgens asked if the anticipated increase for the Refuse collection is where it is now. Public Works Director Hansen replied that he would be coming back to the Council during the second meeting in November to review the utility rates. Councilmember Buesgens asked if the City would be affected by Walters having concerns expanding their temporary disposal site. Public Works Director Hansen replied that they had not been notified by Walters that it would affect the City and should not affect the ability to serve Columbia Heights. Mayor Márquez Simula asked if there was a dumpster on-site at the Public Works building. Street and Park Superintendent Cullen replied that there was. Councilmember Buesgens noted that the City will be adding machinery throughout the years and will need to be mindful of making sure there will be enough space at the new Public Works building. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES November 04, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 3 Councilmember Buesgens asked if the Public Works Department would begin budgeting for the bonding for the first phase of the new Public Works building for the next budget in April. City Manager Chirpich replied that if the City is unsuccessful, then the City would need to consider alternative phase options. Councilmember Buesgens asked if the new Public Works building construction would be broken into phases. Public Works Director Hansen replied that it depends on the cost of building, and if the City receives the funding. Councilmember Buesgens explained that she thinks the City should continue moving forward regardless of if the funding from the State comes through, and break up the project in phases. Mayor Márquez Simula mentioned she noticed some piles of rock-like material in the library parking lot and asked what it was. Assistant City Engineer Khan replied that it was material that the contractor used for the lot. Mayor Márquez Simula asked if the contractors were storing the material in the parking lot. Assistant City Engineer Khan replied they were. Mayor Márquez Simula asked Assistant City Engineer Khan if the parking lot would still have the hill. Assistant City Engineer Khan replied that the entrance to the lot would be on the south end. The hills going into the existing parking lot will still be there. Mayor Márquez Simula asked if there would be more landscaping on the hill. Assistant City Engineer Khan replied that there would be a rain garden installed on the north side of the lot. Councilmember Buesgens wondered if the City could still bond for the projects in the same year as receiving the $12 million bond. She asked if the Council would need to discuss the matter by April. City Manager Chirpich agreed. Councilmember Spriggs asked if the City could request more than the $12.5 million since the City may not receive the full amount. Public Works Director Hansen replied that the City has received guidance from the lobbyist to limit the ask to half of the project costs because it will be better received. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES November 04, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 4 Mayor Márquez Simula stated she would like to have the budget presentations available in order to follow along during the presentation and process after. Finance / General Government / Liquor Finance Director Kloiber led the presentation regarding the Finance Division 2025 Proposed Budget. He noted that there are four separate divisions which include the Finance Department, the General Government, Utility Billing, and Municipal Liquor. The information will be available online on the Finance page on the City website. Mayor Márquez Simula mentioned that she likes that the Finance Department will be allocating IT funds to each department in order for there to be more transparency and accuracy. She asked if the goal was to start the process during the next budget year. Finance Director Kloiber replied that it was the goal. Councilmember Jacobs asked if the old City Hall building would be maintained so that Public Works employees could work there during the construction of the new Public Works building. Finance Director Kloiber replied that it would be maintained. HVAC, electricity, and alarms are on in the building. City Manager Chirpich added that the boxing gym is occupying the building. The Public Works Department may be able to rely on the old City Hall because of the acquisition of the JBS lot that has now allowed the existing building to remain in place. Finance Director Kloiber reviewed the debt service payments. Councilmember Buesgens asked if money would be taken out of other accounts since the residential water meters were being funded internally. Finance Director Kloiber replied that the utility funds would be able to cover the project and no money would be moved between accounts. Councilmember Buesgens asked if the bond was paid out of the liquor service. Finance Director Kloiber agreed and noted it was about $475,000. Mayor Márquez Simula noted that only $10,000 from the municipal liquor services went towards the Police Community Program and added she thought it would be higher. Finance Director Kloiber explained that the origin of the $10,000 towards the Police Community Program was originally to get the DARE program restarted. He added that the figure should be reviewed in the future. Councilmember Buesgens mentioned there needs to be a balance between the percentage of the debt and the value of the City. Finance Director Kloiber pointed out that there is a statutory limit. Councilmember Buesgens asked what the limit was. Finance Director Kloiber replied that the State and City of Columbia Heights MINUTES November 04, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 5 Charter language does not count all of the debt against the limit. If there is a dedicated revenue source to pay for it is excluded from the calculation of the debt limit. He mentioned that the audited financial statement is on the City’s website. He showed the Council the Legal Debt Margin Calculation for Fiscal Year 2023 from the audited financial statement. Councilmember Buesgens inquired about the unemployment rate during 2020 in the audited financial statement. Finance Director Kloiber replied that he would follow up with Councilmember Buesgens. Finance Director Kloiber stated that there is a possibility that a liquor store will be included in the redevelopment of 43rd Avenue and Central Avenue. He reviewed the 2028 reconstruction of the Central Avenue project, and store 3. Councilmember Jacobs asked if there was a way to make the liquor store with store 3 more unique from the other liquor stores in the area. Finance Director Kloiber added that during the Central Avenue construction, there could potentially be a warehouse sale arrangement since an additional staff person would be available. Councilmember Buesgens mentioned that a cannabis dispensary would add a unique value to liquor store 3. The Council discussed whether or not the City relies on a surge of customers from store one in 2028 due to the construction on Central Avenue, or making liquor store 3 a dispensary. Administration City Manager Chirpich led the presentation regarding the Administration Department 2025 proposed Budget. The information will be available online on the Finance page on the City website. Councilmember Buesgens mentioned negotiations with other cities for employees and asked if there would be an increase beyond 3%. City Manager Chirpich replied that he could not disclose the information at the time. Finance Director Kloiber explained this was the last scheduled budget work session before the public hearing on December 9th when the 2025 budget would be adopted. Staff do not have any changes to make to the preliminary budget. He asked that the Council provide City Manager Chirpich, the City Clerk, or Finance Director Kloiber with any proposed amendments to the budget before the Resolution is brought to the Council on December 9th. 2. Council Corner. (15 Minutes) City of Columbia Heights MINUTES November 04, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 6 Councilmember Buesgens stated she would not be able to attend the December Council work session. Councilmember Buesgens reminded the Council about Chris Bower’s meeting with residents on Thursday at 4:00 pm in the community room at City Hall. Councilmember Buesgens shared that she asked Chris about the two-way round-a-bouts and was able to observe at 66th Avenue and Portland Avenue during rush hour and noted that it flowed well. Mayor Márquez Simula mentioned that the Parks and Recreation Commission asked about ordering books. She asked for a status update from City Manager Chirpich. City Manager Chirpich replied that he had not heard an update, but he left his card with one of the commissioners. Councilmember Jacobs asked what the Council would consider in the future aging in place. Other communities have grant programs that revamp bathrooms for accessory use, and various projects around Columbia Heights focuses on affordable housing, and young people moving to the community. An aging-in-place program could benefit the community. Many older people are not able to afford to move to a place like the Legends, so having a program could help people remain in their homes. 3. Old Business. There was no old business to discuss. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Márquez Simula adjourned the meeting at approximately 9:55 pm. Respectfully Submitted, ______________________________________ Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary