March 24, 2014 Work Session

Attendance: Sarah Reinhardt, Gary Hughes, Shirley Bren, Engineer Pearson, Attorney Beck, Administrator Tolsma, Clerk Lewin. Williamson excused.

1. BANNERS, HOLIDAY DECORATIONS, & FLAGS
a. See attached staff memo.
Reinhardt said there are some quotes and options from local installers. She said there is a schedule for putting up and taking down of banners. Sippel said he appreciates the investigating work but it isn’t what he was looking for. He said hourly rates don’t work. He wants an annual quote. Tolsma said that was pursued but nobody wants to bid it that way. Tolsma said there are variables involved but he doesn’t know the specifics. Sippel thinks this is predictable. Beck said the current installer should know what this entails. Tolsma said if the council wants to hire it out, it should go for RFP and the only option will be for the job, not by the hour. Reinhardt wonders what could possibly vary. Tolsma said it’s more than likely weather related. Winter and fall does take longer. Hughes would like to see more information in how they bill. He said he understands Dahlke sometimes is at the city working and he might not be charging the city until he’s actually installing or changing out. Tolsma said Dahlke has an informal style. He has older equipment and sometimes has trouble with it. Reinhardt asked about the equipment rental and whether it could be done by the city instead of hiring it out. Tolsma said Goman is pretty open to this as long as he has assistance. He is incapable of doing this on his own. Hughes said Goman has higher priorities that might pull him off the job. He is concerned about this and thinks his time could be better spent. Reinhardt wonders about a split direction, perhaps hiring out the Christmas decorations but renting something for the flags.

Reinhardt asked about the schedule and perhaps make changes. Sippel said when looking at the schedule, it is coordinated quite well. He thinks maybe MLK day could be eliminated in January. Sippel said ideally in invoicing, he wonders about running reports on hours and other comments. He would like to see a year-over-year comparison in order to get accurate timing. He thinks this could be used for snowplowing and grooming sidewalks and make notations about it being a six inch event or a four inch event. Hughes said there are more poles now so it would be good to track this. Hughes also said the snow plow contractor used at his church really breaks the job down in terms of hours, equipment, etc. Tolsma said perspective contractors should be informed about the numbers of flags, decorations, poles and banners in order to bid it better. Sippel wants a better set of benchmarks in order to compare this. Reinhardt asks for council direction. Sippel and Hughes aren’t in favor of Goman taking this on, they feel there are too many interruptions to make this work. Tolsma said invoices could be researched to see the breakdown or detail of the jobs. Hughes wonders what Dahlke gets paid in a year for his tree trimming and his installation. Tolsma said the city is Dahlke’s biggest client.

Tolsma said it wouldn’t hurt to send an RFP out for a fixed rate. Reinhardt said there is some time between now and the next flag install and come up with a per pole cost and a general idea of the number of hours and do an RFP for a fixed fee or try another contractor. Pearson wondered about an hourly rate but a “not to exceed” number. Tolsma said some events aren’t the same. He said with holiday decorations they’re taking down and putting up flags. Sippel said that’s why he thinks it should go as an annual rate. He said he would like to see at least a couple year’s history from Dahlke for these events to break it down. Bren said she knows Dahlke and thinks he’s honest, fair and good. Hughes agrees that Dahlke is conscientious about his work. Reinhardt said it’s hard to know if Dahlke is charging it right or not until we investigate it further. Tolsma wondered about a fixed price for putting up holiday decorations, fixed for banners and fixed for flags.

2. PRIVATE WELL
a. See attached staff memo.
Reinhardt said it’s been discovered that Norling has a private well. Apparently the issue for Norling is the chlorination in the city’s water. Tolsma said Norling was surprised by this and not necessarily opposed to it but he had been using a private well at his old location and the city knew about that. He said he didn’t think twice about a well at his new location. Tolsma said the chlorination is the problem with watering the nursery stock. Norling said if this was the only way, he would make it work but, if the scenario is to use municipal water, he wonders about the costs. Tolsma said it’s hard to determine as he doesn’t know how much water is being drawn from the private well. Sippel wondered about supplying pre-treated water and whether the water in the tower is treated. Tolsma said the water tower is the finished product so it’s treated. Tolsma said one option is the council can make an exception due to the landscaping and charge him accordingly.

Rienhardt is concerned about how this private well contributes to the city’s TCE problem. She is looking for a professional opinion as to whether this is affecting the contaminate plume or not. Hughes asked if Norling’s well could be tested for TCE. Reinhardt also feels that if we tell one business (Boomerang) they can’t have a well, then Norling can’t have one either. Bren said the argument that Norling had a well before shouldn’t fly because he’s now at a different location. Tolsma explained Boomerang’s discharge going into the lake is being metered and they are getting a deduction from their sewer bill because it’s not going to the sewer treatment plant. He said Boomerang is still asking about the water rate and their private well. Reinhardt asked if there is anything from the health department and Tolsma said nothing yet. Reinhardt said she would be open to modify the ordinance to irrigation if confirmation can come from the PCA or health department that this doesn’t impact the public water supply. Reinhardt wants to move this along as it’s lagged long enough. Sippel thinks it might be a good compromise if the city revisits industrial water rates and allow pre-treated water to be drawn from. Hughes wondered how many gallons Norling pumps because Goman said pumping numbers are up and the city might have to pay more.

3. SHARED NUISANCE ENFORCEMENT AGREEMENT
a. See attached staff memo.
Reinhardt said there is a draft agreement for nuisance inspections. Tolsma said he’s looking for direction from the council after meeting with Mound's City Administrator, Kandis Hanson, Mike Wocken and himself. He wonders if these are agreeable terms based upon the practical way forward. Tolsma said Mound had some things they wanted to do differently such as a two hour minimum. Tolsma said he didn’t like that component. Tolsma said Beck put this in a more formal format. Hughes asked about communicating this to the city and Tolsma said by newsletter. Sippel wonders if it’s necessary. Hughes thinks it is because it’s a marked squad and Mound uniform. Sippel wonders if this could turn around where the city is inundated with complaints about properties. Hughes said perhaps there can be some sort of paperwork that could be presented stating this is through the City of Spring Park. Reinhardt said she agrees that this could turn and this is really complaint based. Sippel thinks the priorities should be very clear given the limited budget. He wonders about derelict vehicles. Reinhardt said since it’s complaint based, it will be filtered through city hall whether it’s legitimate or not. Reinhardt thinks it might be okay to announce we are contracting with the City of Mound for some CSO services. Sippel likes the paperwork idea. Tolsma said they are going to create a lanyard for the CSO to wear when he comes into Spring Park so there will be identification. Hughes asked about the specific time and Tolsma said this is a pilot project for a year and, if it works out, there might be a three year contract drafted. Reinhardt said perhaps the draft be forwarded to Mound for their comments. Beck said there is also a termination with 30 days notice if this isn’t working out. Sippel said if there’s only $5K being allocated, a lot of that could be burned up in administering this. Beck said this shouldn’t be a problem and Tolsma said Wocken is used to keeping a log as he already has to account for job changes within his day.

4. LORD FLETCHER’S OKTOBERFEST PERMIT
a. See attached staff memo.
Reinhardt said the difference is this is a two day request. She said the music is from 2-7 pm. Reinhardt said even though it’s stated there weren’t any complaints, there actually were a few of them due to the noise. Reinhardt said one of the complainants used to complain about the summer music but has been happy with the changes made and hasn’t felt it to be a problem for many years. However, they felt last year's Oktoberfest was too loud. Hughes said this should fall under the same noise considerations as their other music. Reinhardt said there could be a different set of regulations as the music is in a tent and it’s out in the parking lot. Tolsma said the main focus is the neighboring property line and it’s 65 decibels. He said the complaint from Sunset Drive using a handheld device, it was registering 95. Reinhardt said it would be interesting to find out what the city of Mound does for the Fish Fry and the Spirit of the Lakes. She wonders how they are approved and if they get complaints. Reinhardt said she is okay with this except limit it to one day. Hughes said if it’s a popular band for an Oktoberfest event, would that band be better off going somewhere else where they can book for two days. Sippel doesn’t think this will be the same band for back-to-back days. Sippel said if this is approved, Manny should be there for testing. Sippel said even though there is a tent, the flaps are open and people are going in and out. He said there really wasn’t any buffer. He wonders about acoustical tiling or something that would contain the noise. Sippel said he attended last year and it was loud. Beck said she would be happy to speak with Emer and state more intent is needed regarding sound abatement as there were complaints received. Beck said one of the conditions could also be the applicant pays for the sound monitoring and allows complete discretion in order to keep the decibel limit according to the ordinance.

5. MISCELLANEOUS –
Hughes said between 16 and 17 fire stations responded to a house fire on Old Beach Road. Hughes said a command vehicle was brought in from St Louis Park. He said the fire was fought from 9 am to 4 pm. Hughes said when there is a large fire of this sort, many agencies respond. Confidential Material ***Tolsma said Farniok approached the city last week about a possible location for the SW Drug Task Force. Tolsma said they are interested in renting out the lower level of city hall. They would have some money to spend on the city hall. They need office space for about six offices. Tolsma said Farniok was told about the problems and Farniok is still interested. He said they like the privacy and the security of the building. He said they’d be in city from 10 am-5 pm. He said they would have parking in front. Beck recommends discussing what security measures could be put into place. Hughes thinks some questions should be asked regarding where they’ve been in the past, what’s worked, what hasn’t. Tolsma said he could invite Farniok to an Admin Committee meeting or maybe a work session and keep the minutes vague.

6. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
a. 2014 Assessment Summary (double sided)
Reinhardt said the open book meeting and sales data was included. She said the Open Book meeting will be April 16th and once the meeting is over the assessor will be invited to give an overview. Bren asked if the council needed to attend the Open Book and Reinhardt said no, only if they had a specific concern. Sippel asked what is MCAP. Reinhardt said this is new.

Meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.