Working Session

Mayor and City Council Work Session
February 22, 2006 – 5:00 p.m.
A101

Present: Bob Brooks, Eliot Glassheim (joined meeting in progress), Hal Gershman, Gerald Hamerlik, Curt Kreun, Mayor Brown (joined meeting in progress).
Absent: None.
Others Present: John Schmisek, Rick Duquette, Pete O’Neill, Daryl Hovland, John Packett, Al Morken, Don Shields, Bev Collings, Al Grasser, Pete Haga, Roxanne Fiala, Todd Feland.

Gershman called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

1) Advisory Study of Local Governance.

Schmisek stated that there is a state statute that requires the City to conduct a study every 5 years on local governance, or if they do not wish to conduct a study, the option of placing on the ballot a measure for the public to vote on conducting a study. He stated that this item is here for Council information as to whether they wish to go ahead and establish a study committee or if they prefer to place this matter on the ballot. Schmisek added that this was not necessary 5 years ago, as at that time we voted to downsize the Council and that satisfied the requirement as listed in the statute. Christensen inquired who serves on the study committee and by what date does a decision need to be made. Schmisek explained that Council can appoint anyone they desire to the committee and that the latest date to adopt ballot language if they choose to place this matter on the ballot, they would need to take action by April 13, 2006. Kerian commented that she was asked to serve on the County’s committee, but that she had not yet attended a meeting. Gershman commented that it seems better to form a committee and that this may be a good time to look at combined services and maybe that could be our focus.

Schmisek stated that he will place this item on an upcoming COW agenda for Council Action. Consensus was to move forward with forming a committee and to also discuss at the COW meeting what the committee’s focus would be.

2) AC Remarks.

Hamerlik stated that he had asked that this item be placed on the agenda. He explained that he thought that the title “Administrative Coordinator” needed to be discussed to determine if that was the best title for the position, given the way that it functions. He pointed out that the title itself is very nondescript and many other places that we have contact with do not know what the position is and maybe it would be appropriate to change the title to “City Administrator” as that is really what the position is. He continued that the intent of this is not to make any changes in the salary or duties of the position, but rather to clarify the position.

Brooks commented that he has not reviewed the job description in detail, but has reviewed the organizational chart and that he agrees the position seems to be that of city administrator. Christensen asked Duquette to comment on the title. Duquette stated that he also feels that City Administrator is more appropriate and explained that most of the time when he is at professional meetings he needs to spend time explaining his title to those he is meeting with and those that have the same duties all have the title city administrator. Kerian inquired what position his is compared with in wage studies. Duquette responded that the comparative position is City Administrator. Brooks and Kerian both agreed that it would be much more fitting to change to city administrator.

Kreun inquired what steps needed to be taken to make the change. Hamerlik stated that it would need action of the Council. Hovland stated that he will bring forward the name change on a staff summary change as part of the salary plan.

3) Other.

Christensen stated that he was reading through the staff reports and inquired whether the architect fees for the Police, Fire, Mosquito joint building were in the budget. Packett stated that they are in the 2006 CIP and that recently the Police & Fire Department and Mosquito Control met with Finance to discuss the way to proceed on this project. Christensen inquired where Homeland Security was at. Packett responded that GSA is still pending. Christensen requested that a report be sent out on where the dollars are in the budget. O’Neill responded that they have talked with JLG and one other architect regarding working to develop something that could be brought to Council for review.

(Mayor Brown joins meeting.)

Christensen inquired about regional training opportunities. O’Neill responded that just this week he had personnel with their burn simulator in Bismarck to conduct a training session and they generated $6,200 which was enough to cover the costs of the travel to Bismarck and offset our officers training costs. Christensen stated that we need to keep in mind as we proceed with this that once it’s built the maintenance costs will be ongoing and make sure that we have that budgeted. O’Neill responded that with the three departments joining together there is a chance to share the utilities that otherwise would have been spent on three separate facilities and that there is a possibility that this site could also serve as a future fire station location. Duquette commented that at a future meeting this could be put on as an update for the group. O’Neill stated that they are hoping to be able to work with an architect and be able to generate a concept that can be used for discussion. Brooks commented that at that time we could also talk about regional opportunities for training.

Packett stated that bringing in Mosquito Control is a great idea to share the main building costs as well as the garage. Shields stated that they have been looking for a permanent home for the Mosquito Control Program for a few years and that by sharing a space with other departments they can eliminate some duplicate costs but that to get more information back from the architects will probably need at least 6-8 weeks and preparing a presentation for after they have that information would best be able to answer some of the questions of the Council. The group also learned that Hoover had made a trip and presentation to assist with potential federal funding opportunities as well. Packett also reported that the GSA locating any site at this time is still on hold so has no update on that.

Kreun stated that in looking for a revenue stream to help support this project maybe we also need to look at whether it would be something to look at contracting with others for us to do spraying for them. Shields responded that we have built a strong program that is working very well to protect our community and that he would not want to take any steps that may cause us to not be able to continue to protect our own community because of our commitment to others and that in looking to East Grand Forks and Minnesota there are some issues with licensing and some chemicals that are allowed and that he would more see us working with training and education for our neighbors instead of contracting to do the work.

(Glassheim joined the meeting.)

Brooks reported that Warren’s mosquito control personnel have been in contact with Hanson and that when we are able to help the smaller communities in the region it is a great rapport builder. Shields agreed and said that they are open to consulting and that helps develop good working relationships with other communities. O’Neill stated that once we have more ideas about what the facility would be then it would be easier to see what our opportunities might be.

Christensen inquired on the matter of the Budget Amendment that was approved for the new government channel equipment and asked if there are more costs for this. Schmisek stated that this was a one time expenditure for the necessary equipment and that there is no change in operational costs at this time.

Christensen inquired on the residential rental license ordinance and commented that some aspects of it seem to have upset some in the community and that perhaps it may be appropriate to make some amendment to the ordinance or that maybe we need to look at other ideas to keep the houses from becoming duplexes. Duquette asked for clarification. Christensen responded that perhaps on conversion maybe could require them to be licensed, but as long as they stay as a single family home they would not require a license. He continued that he also was thinking that some of these changes would be restricted to the area that was zoned R1 but Swanson has informed them that they must be city-wide ordinances and that while he is not committed to a change, maybe we need to think about if anything needs to be taken out.

(Mayor departed the meeting.)

Kerian commented that the concerns that were expressed are not only an R1 issue and that during the discussions there were several Council Members that are not in the area that was changed to R1 that got calls from people in their wards with some of the same concerns and issues going on in their neighborhood. Kreun added that the main question he keeps getting is why only these types of units have to have a license and larger buildings don’t need to be licensed. He continued that the reason for this was that the larger buildings were designed and built for the purpose that they are being used, whereas the homes that have been converted to multiple unit apartments were not designed for that use and there are things that need to be monitored due to the increased number of people that it brings. Gershman commented that the same could be said of some tri- and duplex units as they could have the same number of units. Kreun responded that still the issue is that the original dwelling was not designed to handle the use of the number of users that it now has so it is different than with buildings built for that use initially.

Duquettee stated that he would recommend that we just let the policy go as passed for now and see how it works and then after a few months if we find there are some concerns with the way it’s working then we could do some tweaking.

4) Adjournment.


Meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m.


Respectfully Submitted,

Sherie Lundmark
Admin Specialist Sr.