Council Minutes

Minutes/Committee of the Whole
Monday, July 26, 2004 - 7:00 p.m.

The city council met as the Committee of the Whole on Monday, July 26, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. in the council chambers in City Hall with Mayor Brown presiding. Present at roll call were: Council Member Brooks, Hamerlik, Gershman (teleconference), Christensen, Kerian; absent: Council Member Glassheim - 1. Council Member Kreun arrived during meeting.

Mayor Brown announced that when addressing the committee to please come forward to use the microphone for the record, and advised that the meeting is being televised live and taped for later broadcast.

Mayor Brown commented on various events held during the past week and upcoming events:
That this Saturday he was privileged to welcome back the 131st Quartermaster Detach-ment to Grand Forks along with General Haugen of the National Guard and Ken Towers, representing the employers of this community who have supported the Guard during their deployment.
He thanked the Grand Forks County Historical Society for the General Army of the Republic exhibit that was in the display window in City Hall in the main lobby, these artifacts are being incorporated into a larger Civil War display at the Myra Museum; the entry way window now features a photo display of unusual architecture from around the city put together by the Grand Forks Historical Preservation Commission.
This Thursday Job Service North Dakota will be a special job fair for SEI Informational Technology, one of our newest downtown neighbors, they are expanding and hiring; Job Service is sponsoring the job fair for recruiters to meet job seekers in the region with strong customer service and good background in computing skills - Thursday, July 29 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
That this afternoon he was privileged to be in Fargo with Mayor Furness and Governor Hoeven - Microsoft gave a grant to our Housing Authority for over $30,000 to teach computer skills in Grand Forks.
That this weekend is Catfish Days, site of the chili cook-off and he has a secret recipe for his bronco bustin' westside chili, they have bolstered the team with the addition of finance director, John Schmisek. He invited everyone to come to the East Grand Forks banks of the Red River on Saturday afternoon; looks forward to competition from Mayor Stauss and his team.

COUNCIL MEMBER KREUN REPORTED PRESENT

PRESENTATION RE. SPECIAL EVENTS PROGRAM

Kevin Dean, Public Info Officer, reported that there has never been one central location for people to start at for special events; that they don't give out permits but deal with those agencies and put out the information to those that may have to do permits, planning routes, etc. and get that information back to the Public Information Center to get out the proper permits that they have, that they have check list and balance system to make sure that all of that is taken care of in a timely manner - more convenience for people.

Sharyl Simione, Info Center, gave a brief explanation of how the program works, that she helped create a first stop check list with the help of Sherry Laudermilt, IS, who created data base for the program. Ms. Simione stated when an event planner comes into the office, fills out a special event permit application, and information is e-mailed to various departments who might be involved. She noted they have created a special events internal system and that the system has been working very well.
Council Member Kerian stated the CVB is the primary source of community information and asked if they take advantage of that. Ms. Simeone stated that they work together and take lead from the Community Visitors Bureau calendar as well. Mr. Dean stated they met with number of groups including CVB, that this is a big project, lot of work to keep track of and that was problem that there was no way to keep track of things and if checking with the appropriate agencies to get everything cleared, takes a lot of work off shoulders of police, fire departments, CVB, etc.

Council Member Hamerlik stated they indicated they are handing out permit applications but permit given by some other agency, and asked why permit application to the Info Center, that it is not "one stop service" but advising them where to go. Ms. Simeone stated they created the special events application to gather information to see what types of permits they need, and getting that information to the various departments, they are not taking over the place of other departments but trying to streamline it and to get answers in one spot.

2.1 Credit Card Policy and Procedures.
Council Member Gershman stated that perhaps the City should look into getting the
business credit cards that would allow the City to gather points on Northwest Airlines called the "World Perks Visa" card, that he talked to Mr. Schmisek this morning and called World Perks Visa to see if any restrictions for municipalities using a business credit card for utilities, advertising, gas, restaurants, travel, hotels, etc. and only restriction is that on each credit card is that department's name would have to be on the credit and City of Grand Forks under that. He stated that we spend close to half million on travel and only airlines is Northwest Airlines plus we travel mid-week because that is when meetings are and always highest price ticket, and the mileage that gathers up on one credit card can be transferred to someone else once they hit the 20-25,000 miles for a ticket, and requested that staff look into this and he would make himself available to work with staff on that and bring back a report.

Council Member Brooks stated looking at this for a number of other purchases and with $130 million budget and that we need to establish a purchasing function where look at volume discounts, some control and oversight on purchasing, which will more than pay for itself.

Council Member Hamerlik stated about four years ago had a committee, that credit cards have changed since that time - one of the things was that they were trying to centralize for cost reduction, one travel agency and as worked through that the matter of whether or not the individual or City were to get frequent flyer miles, that the committee made up of staff and he was only council member, did not go in with intention of trying to get the frequent flyer miles to the City, one of the obstacles he found was that a Saturday night stay is where get reduction and staff would stay over Saturday night to bring cost savings to the City and if don't give them the frequent flyer miles they would come home on a Friday after the meeting and would cost more in the long run - but have a point that it needs to be looked at again; and not available for that committee because he went through that before.

Council Member Kerian questioned item of the agreement which states they are responsible for any and all charges against the card -- but should be considered responsible to assure that any and all charges against the card are following the Grand Forks Credit Card Policies and Procedures, but not financially responsible for that - and asked that be looked at. Mayor Brown referred this to the Finance/Development Standby Committee.

2.2 Lease agreement with North Dakota Highway Patrol for period July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005.
Council Member Brooks questioned item 6 - termination of lease, outlines how
Highway Patrol can terminate it but can we terminate it? Another question was raised as to
whether rental payment the same as last year. Those items will be reviewed and brought back to
council.

2.3 Lease agreement with Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau for period July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2009
Council Member Brooks stated they had done some work to try to combine forces in terms of what doing with the Alerus and CVB marketing and rolling staff together and asked if any discussion and consideration given with moving CVB staff and equipment into the Alerus where they could work more closely together. The city auditor stated they would have to address that with the CVB, that the City sold bonds to build building for CVB which is being paid for by a 1% hotel/motel tax, is State statute that authorizes that and if took them out of that building, might be in violation of bond covenants and usage of the building - and would have to look at that. It is paid for in 2009.

Council Member Hamerlik that about two years ago some consideration given to combining some of those functions - CVB and the Alerus and CVB had hired Compass who was involved with the Alerus, there was discussion about moving them or using the building in some other way and some concern if any advantage then given to the Alerus over some other buildings in the city, be it the Ralph Engelstad Arena , but nothing in detail and never before the council - getting closer to having that paid off.

Council Member Christensen stated they had some conversations - the issue was if we combined forces, CVB, Alerus and The Ralph - haven't got to the combining of forces but much better than it was two years ago - the issue will be if we do something else with the building 5 years from now - things are moving, information changing, relationship and have the Canad Inns - that discussed it but time not right to move them out of the building

2.4 Amendment No. 1 to Webster, Foster & Weston for construction phase engineering services, Pump Station 42 and Forcemain, Project 5676.
There were no comments.

2.5 Consideration of bids for Project No. 5402, North End Boat Ramp.
There were no comments.
2.6 Contract Amendment 1 for construction administration with CPS, Ltd. for Project Nos. 5677 and 5678, Sanitary Sewer and Watermain along Adams Drive.
There were no comments.

2.7 Budget amendment - Fire Department.
There were no comments.

2.8 Budget amendment - Fire Department
There were no comments.

2.9 Consideration of bids for MDC's (mobile data computers) for police vehicles.
Roxanne Fiala, IS, stated two bids received and total amount available for the grant was
$180,000 and wanted the same model that was already in.

2.10 Appointment - Grand Forks Public Library Board.
Council Member Brooks stated in reading material that the Stated does limit the number
of terms that people can have on some of these committees. Council Member Christensen stated as get other board vacancies need to have lead time so the mayor/council can make sure that the public has 30 to 45 days notice so if interest and comment period, might get some new blood.

2.11 Appointment - Pension and Insurance Committee.
There were no comments.

2.12 Request for proposals for the sale and rehabilitation of historic homes.
Kathleen Kyper stated she was here on behalf of herself and her fiancé for giving them the opportunity, they submitted proposal and were selected for purchase of house at 521 S. 6th Street; that their contractor was present if they had any structural questions; and thanked city council and office of urban development for that opportunity.

Jacob Nesvig, 438 Greenwood Drive, SE, East Grand Forks, MN, stated he and his wife submitted proposal for house at 1119 Almonte Avenue, and after being reviewed by the committee received score of 92, that competition received score of 94, and was here to dispute one section of the scoring process - and presented handout to the council. He stated he had talked with Meredith Richards, special projects coordinator for the City, and she explained the system; that he disputed section 4, financial capability, that the proposal form suggests the financing is to describe how you suggest to pay for the bid amount and the estimated rehab. costs and must provide proof that sufficient funds are available to you, that their proposal included that Alerus Finance had approved purchase and restoration costs for property but that competition had a specific number on their pre-approval sheet - but disputing the specific number that was not included on his pre-approval was the reason they would not get this house. He submitted pre-approval document from Alerus Financial that rather than stating they were approved for mortgage on this property, that approved for mortgage for up to $165,000 - that when comes to financial capability it should be yes or no and not grading scale - and requested that council take these factors into consideration when voting on the property and make a different consideration than made by the original committee. He stated if had clear layout of what the point system was, this may have been different situation.

Council Member Kerian that right in coming to make presentation to explain your position; and that have people who reviewed this proposals and gave the best information they could; that they had questions about process on earlier proposal and asked to give us something that identifies what basis they made their selection - that matter of choosing between good applicants and some basis for making selection.

2.13 2005 Community Development Block Grant Program
Council Member Christensen stated this was first time he was aware that department heads contemplating going beyond what had been doing in the past and would like this referred back to finance committee to see if this is the process they would like to engage in - that he asked Mr. Lund for a summary of all the CDBG monies that are coming to the City as result of flood protection projects because we will be getting a substantial sum of money over next 5 to 7 years - he stated that because as part of the mayor's state of the city address and as part of representation some council members made when running for office, concerned about revitalization of the near north side and concerned about completing housing in the downtown; a report of the downtown development committee will be made soon. Discussion items were housing and utilization of CDBG monies for additional projects in the downtown area and doesn't want to be in position to tie our hands as council by not considering how we integrate this CDBG monies into larger housing projects, esp. in the downtown area which is a LMI area, and appreciate having this back to their committee to study in greater detail.
Council Member Kreun stated he would concur but add that we have a lot of infrastructure in our areas that we can utilize some of these funds which will reduce our general tax dollars - would like to regenerate some of those dollars and put into areas that will make us some money but we can direct 15 or 20% towards our infrastructure and that helps all citizens of the community and would like to look at this before making that change.

Council Member Brooks stated when it comes to this process, he sat on the CAC for many years and thinks they should get back to it, annually get somewhere near $400,000 less administration, and now dealing with program income dollars coming from flood recovery dollars which drives that amount up to 3 times that much, and something they need to work with - but wants to get back to the Citizens Advisory Committee.

CITIZEN REQUESTS

Lila and Melvin Pedersen, 2423 University Avenue, stated they are plagued with noise by cars with loud stereos, and have registered complaints, and presented information to the council, excerpts from the City Code re. sections dealing with noise. She stated she had received call from Lt. Farder of Community Service Bureau and he explained that ordinances exist but difficulties lie in technology of detecting moving noise violation and in enforcing the existing ordinances, and that the city prosecuting attorney has been asked to draft a new noise ordinance to present to the city council, and attorney would be consulting with the city health department - that she looks forward to the introduction of the proposed ordinance and discussion and development.

Mr. Pedersen stated it was difficult to appreciate what has been happening in the technology world and presented excerpts from book, Environmental Noise, relating to types of noise: continuous noise, intermittent noise, impulsive noise, low frequency noise, infrasound.

Mayor Brown stated the health department, police department and city attorney are working on that and when have task force, recommend that he be on that.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS

There were no comments by council members and Mayor Brown noted that Council Member Gershman had left the meeting (not sure when he left meeting)

ADJOURN

It was moved by Council Member Hamerlik and seconded by Council Member Christensen that we adjourn. Carried 5 votes affirmative.

Respectfully submitted,



John M. Schmisek
City Auditor