May 26, 2015, Work Session
Those present: Williamson, Hughes, Bren, Horton, Pavot, Tolsma, Lewin, Nybeck of the LMCD .
1. Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Budget Update
a. LMCD Executive Greg Nybeck will be at the meeting to discuss the 2016 draft budget. Attached is a copy. –
• Nybeck said the LMCD acts similar to cities in that they have a board of 14, they have planning and zoning and the Water Patrol is their police department. He said they receive support from the 14 member cities along with Save the Lake fund contributions.
• Nybeck talked about the boater safety course being offered and said there are two classes in June. He said there is online work and there are quizzes that have to be taken in order to move on to the next section. Nybeck said a parent attends along with the student. He said it takes a lot of volunteer hours and Jay Soule of Al and Almas is the leader.
• Nybeck said there was a movement for unification on the lake and in 1967 a state statute defined roles, responsibilities and budgeting . He said they look at total taxable market value and they have a maximum levy percentage. He said it’s allocated according to net tax capacity. He said the City of Minnetonka has about 50% of the market value and the other 50% is divvied up among the other cities. He said the budget has to be certified by July 1st.
• Hughes asks Nybeck to talk about equipment. Nybeck said they have three harvesters. He said in the past they have used subcontractors but it’s been debatable about which is the best way to go. He said they have spent up to $200K and now they are down to about $85K. Nybeck said they are tweaking how to operate in order to figure out how to keep up with the milfoil harvesting. He said they do channel cuts and parallel cutting along the shore.
• Williamson wonders about safety factors. Nybeck said safety is coming on stronger and additional seasonal deputies are on the lake from May through August to assist with the demand. Hughes said the use of the lake has changed in the last five years. It’s given way to kayakers, paddle boarders and canoeists. Pavot asked if there is marketable value to milfoil in order to turn it into a saleable item.
• Williamson wonders why the city has a role in their budget. Nybeck said they don’t have the ability to tax so they have to go through the member cities. Nybeck explains the timeline for the budget approval. He said there is a 10.4% decrease for the city of Spring Park. He said they’ve had a decrease in expenditures due to lower spending. Nybeck said they have a really great building lease with the City of Mound and are saving money. He said they have a ten year lease with minimal increases. Nybeck said harvesting equipment replacement has been reduced. He said this can be somewhat contentious and they’ll have to work through that. Nybeck said the AIS prevention and management is coming from different places. Hughes asked about the monitoring stations. Nybeck said they’re targeted for Harrison, Cook’s Bay, Carson and Wayzata Bays. He said the DNR focuses on Grays, Maxwell, North Arm and Spring Park. Pavot wonders how the effectiveness is measured. Nybeck said he doesn’t know if he can answer that. He said it’s only as good as the access covered, the inspector and un-inspectable components in watercraft. Hughes proposes to keep the budget as exactly as it was based on new things to be implemented. Williamson said he thinks they need funding for unknowns. He also added that new things are coming along all the time and he thinks they should be able to respond to those. Pavot would like to see more go towards the milfoil than the AIS.
2. Dock Licenses – Action May Be Taken
a. Included for review are the corrected dock licenses for multi-unit facilities.
Williamson said this upcoming action was announced at the council meeting. Williamson suggests separating out Bayview Apartments due to Pavot’s conflict of interest. Williamson wonders about the number of boat slips and paying the same amount for a dock license. Williamson moves approval of all dock licenses other than Bayview. Hughes seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries. Williamson moves approval of the dock license for Bayview Apartments and Hughes seconds. Pavot abstains from the vote, all other votes ayes. Motion carries.
3. Fee Schedule
a. Included is the most recently adopted fee schedule for the city. As part of the process of converting the schedule from resolution to ordinance form, the council should also discuss if there are any changes they would like to make at the time of conversion. Once the fee schedule is in ordinance form it will be more complex to make changes as public hearings and publication of any changes will be required.
Williamson said Beck has found that fee schedules need to be adopted by ordinance rather than resolution. He said this change is in the process of being transitioned and now is the time to tweak this or think about making changes. Williamson said most of the amounts have already been assigned from past history or according to what we are being charged (i.e. building inspections). He said cities are not allowed to use fees as a profit-making effort. It has to be based upon actual costs to process. Williamson wonders about dock permitting and perhaps fairness and equity needs to be considered. Hughes wonders about photocopies plus labor costs. He wonders about driveway permits and recycling carts. Hughes also wonders about dock permits depending upon zoning districts. Hughes said he’ll check with the LMCD with regard to multiple dock license compared to a commercial license. Williamson said hours, noise, trash and parking are the key elements for the City to focus on.
4. MISCELLANEOUS – Hughes referred to a letter sent regarding upcoming sessions on water quality in July, one in September, one in October, all on different subjects. Hughes wonders about the playground stuff. Bren wants to comment on how Thor Thompson Park looks so nice with the new picnic tables. Bren thinks the grills should be removed as they are never used.
5. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS – Williamson wants to emphasize according to the March financials it shows the city has about five million and previously it was three million but it’s due to the bond purchase. He said the numbers should be carefully analyzed and future payouts to contractors. He thinks they’ll be spending about a million dollars. He thinks the CIP needs to be updated and expects the work needed to be done could take about four months. Horton asks about Discover Bank and the CD maturing and she wonders if this will be reinvested. Williamson said they used to roll it over but interest rates are so low so the money was put in money market so it was more liquid.
a. March Financial Report
b. April Financial Report
c. LMCC Updated By Laws – Williamson said he’s not sure this even has to come to the City but the LMCC wants two-thirds to respond. He said it’s been decided to follow Roberts Rules of Order for quorum. He said they’ve changed the board meetings to quarterly instead of monthly. He said this will be coming forward at the next council meeting.
d. Metropolitan Council Population Estimate – Williamson said he is concerned that this number may come to bear in the future if there are dollars available and the numbers aren’t correct. He thinks the estimate is wrong and there are more residences than are recognized. Williamson would like to involve Brixius in this to evaluate whether these numbers are accurate or not.
e. June Channel 8 & 20 Schedules
Adjourned 9:27 p.m.
1. Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Budget Update
a. LMCD Executive Greg Nybeck will be at the meeting to discuss the 2016 draft budget. Attached is a copy. –
• Nybeck said the LMCD acts similar to cities in that they have a board of 14, they have planning and zoning and the Water Patrol is their police department. He said they receive support from the 14 member cities along with Save the Lake fund contributions.
• Nybeck talked about the boater safety course being offered and said there are two classes in June. He said there is online work and there are quizzes that have to be taken in order to move on to the next section. Nybeck said a parent attends along with the student. He said it takes a lot of volunteer hours and Jay Soule of Al and Almas is the leader.
• Nybeck said there was a movement for unification on the lake and in 1967 a state statute defined roles, responsibilities and budgeting . He said they look at total taxable market value and they have a maximum levy percentage. He said it’s allocated according to net tax capacity. He said the City of Minnetonka has about 50% of the market value and the other 50% is divvied up among the other cities. He said the budget has to be certified by July 1st.
• Hughes asks Nybeck to talk about equipment. Nybeck said they have three harvesters. He said in the past they have used subcontractors but it’s been debatable about which is the best way to go. He said they have spent up to $200K and now they are down to about $85K. Nybeck said they are tweaking how to operate in order to figure out how to keep up with the milfoil harvesting. He said they do channel cuts and parallel cutting along the shore.
• Williamson wonders about safety factors. Nybeck said safety is coming on stronger and additional seasonal deputies are on the lake from May through August to assist with the demand. Hughes said the use of the lake has changed in the last five years. It’s given way to kayakers, paddle boarders and canoeists. Pavot asked if there is marketable value to milfoil in order to turn it into a saleable item.
• Williamson wonders why the city has a role in their budget. Nybeck said they don’t have the ability to tax so they have to go through the member cities. Nybeck explains the timeline for the budget approval. He said there is a 10.4% decrease for the city of Spring Park. He said they’ve had a decrease in expenditures due to lower spending. Nybeck said they have a really great building lease with the City of Mound and are saving money. He said they have a ten year lease with minimal increases. Nybeck said harvesting equipment replacement has been reduced. He said this can be somewhat contentious and they’ll have to work through that. Nybeck said the AIS prevention and management is coming from different places. Hughes asked about the monitoring stations. Nybeck said they’re targeted for Harrison, Cook’s Bay, Carson and Wayzata Bays. He said the DNR focuses on Grays, Maxwell, North Arm and Spring Park. Pavot wonders how the effectiveness is measured. Nybeck said he doesn’t know if he can answer that. He said it’s only as good as the access covered, the inspector and un-inspectable components in watercraft. Hughes proposes to keep the budget as exactly as it was based on new things to be implemented. Williamson said he thinks they need funding for unknowns. He also added that new things are coming along all the time and he thinks they should be able to respond to those. Pavot would like to see more go towards the milfoil than the AIS.
2. Dock Licenses – Action May Be Taken
a. Included for review are the corrected dock licenses for multi-unit facilities.
Williamson said this upcoming action was announced at the council meeting. Williamson suggests separating out Bayview Apartments due to Pavot’s conflict of interest. Williamson wonders about the number of boat slips and paying the same amount for a dock license. Williamson moves approval of all dock licenses other than Bayview. Hughes seconds. All votes ayes, motion carries. Williamson moves approval of the dock license for Bayview Apartments and Hughes seconds. Pavot abstains from the vote, all other votes ayes. Motion carries.
3. Fee Schedule
a. Included is the most recently adopted fee schedule for the city. As part of the process of converting the schedule from resolution to ordinance form, the council should also discuss if there are any changes they would like to make at the time of conversion. Once the fee schedule is in ordinance form it will be more complex to make changes as public hearings and publication of any changes will be required.
Williamson said Beck has found that fee schedules need to be adopted by ordinance rather than resolution. He said this change is in the process of being transitioned and now is the time to tweak this or think about making changes. Williamson said most of the amounts have already been assigned from past history or according to what we are being charged (i.e. building inspections). He said cities are not allowed to use fees as a profit-making effort. It has to be based upon actual costs to process. Williamson wonders about dock permitting and perhaps fairness and equity needs to be considered. Hughes wonders about photocopies plus labor costs. He wonders about driveway permits and recycling carts. Hughes also wonders about dock permits depending upon zoning districts. Hughes said he’ll check with the LMCD with regard to multiple dock license compared to a commercial license. Williamson said hours, noise, trash and parking are the key elements for the City to focus on.
4. MISCELLANEOUS – Hughes referred to a letter sent regarding upcoming sessions on water quality in July, one in September, one in October, all on different subjects. Hughes wonders about the playground stuff. Bren wants to comment on how Thor Thompson Park looks so nice with the new picnic tables. Bren thinks the grills should be removed as they are never used.
5. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS – Williamson wants to emphasize according to the March financials it shows the city has about five million and previously it was three million but it’s due to the bond purchase. He said the numbers should be carefully analyzed and future payouts to contractors. He thinks they’ll be spending about a million dollars. He thinks the CIP needs to be updated and expects the work needed to be done could take about four months. Horton asks about Discover Bank and the CD maturing and she wonders if this will be reinvested. Williamson said they used to roll it over but interest rates are so low so the money was put in money market so it was more liquid.
a. March Financial Report
b. April Financial Report
c. LMCC Updated By Laws – Williamson said he’s not sure this even has to come to the City but the LMCC wants two-thirds to respond. He said it’s been decided to follow Roberts Rules of Order for quorum. He said they’ve changed the board meetings to quarterly instead of monthly. He said this will be coming forward at the next council meeting.
d. Metropolitan Council Population Estimate – Williamson said he is concerned that this number may come to bear in the future if there are dollars available and the numbers aren’t correct. He thinks the estimate is wrong and there are more residences than are recognized. Williamson would like to involve Brixius in this to evaluate whether these numbers are accurate or not.
e. June Channel 8 & 20 Schedules
Adjourned 9:27 p.m.