City of Becker City Council Regular Meeting of June 5 th, 2018

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1 City of Becker City Council Regular Meeting of June 5 th, 2018 The Becker City Council met in regular session at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19 th, 2018 at Sherburne Ave., Becker. Present: Mayor Tracy Bertram, Council Members Rick Hendrickson, Lori Keller, Mike Doering and Todd Hanrahan. Guests were in attendance. 1. Mayor Tracy Bertram called the Council Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Minutes from the June 5 th, 2018 City Council and Executive Session Meetings were reviewed. Hanrahan / Keller motioned to approve the minutes as presented. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 4. With no additions to the agenda, Hendrickson / Hanrahan motioned to approve the agenda for. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 5. Mayor Bertram read the Becker Freedom Days Proclamation. 6. Mayor Bertram stated she had received several calls from concerned citizens regarding the City of Becker restructure. Many of the questions were the same so she felt it was important to read those common questions and answers during the meeting. What is the City Administrators job? What is he doing and why shouldn t his job be eliminated? Council had tasked the City Administrator with economic growth to replace the tax revenue that would be lost with the shutdown of Sherco I & II. Many hours of work had already been completed to accomplish this task. Results of that work included the new gas plant bill signed by Governor Dayton, the relocation of Northern Metals and $3.3 million in grant funding for a frontage road in the Industrial Park. Additional projects included utility taxation reform, tax and rail impact studies, Mississippi river crossing studies and an additional water supply for the City. All this resulted in little time for daily operations. Council also tasked the City Administrator with restructuring the organization. Shore Dynamics was hired to guide this process to the end to provide an unbiased outside view. Four service oriented departments required additional support; water / wastewater, public works, community center and golf course. These were all rolled under the Public Services Director in the new structure. Two positions were created, one to oversee recreation and leisure and one to oversee public works and parks. These three vacant positions would be hired for. The Management Assistant, created to fill the vacant Assistant City Administrator position left open Page 1 of 7

2 when Mr. Pruszinske became City Administrator, would not be filled at the current time. Additionally, the former Public Works director position was also eliminated and never filled. The City Clerk position was then addressed as to why they wouldn t need to reapply. When positions were reclassified a few years back, this position was not included. The position had assumed the duties of human resources, safety and risk analysis. It seemed appropriate to reclassify it as part of the restructure. The restructure was shared with Department Heads prior to implementation. If discussions were not followed from the start it could appear that decisions were vindictive and cold hearted rather than being made with compassion. 7. Mayor Bertram invited guests to speak during the Guests and Open Forum. Dennis Rzeszotarski questioned the need for the consultant and five other hires to do the job of the City Administrator. He requested the resignation of the City Administrator and of Council due to his lack of confidence in them and his belief in their lack of ability to do their jobs. Karen Pauly stated she operated the food and beverage service at Pebble Creek for nine seasons from 1998 to Following her departure, there were four other operators prior to the Director of Golf, Troy Malo, taking over. She stated Mr. Malo and his management staff and employees had made significant improvements. She expressed her concern over the restructure and the elimination of Mr. Malo s position. Food and Beverage operations were on the upswing and she would hate to see that disrupted. She asked that the current success be considered when making future staffing decisions. Troy Cox questioned why three employees, set to lose their jobs, needed to reapply for their positions while the City Administrator and City Clerk were just restructured into it. He questioned why the City was paying $200 an hour for a consultant and wondered what their qualifications were in regard to City government. He questioned whether the City Administrator would take a pay cut and questioned the steps to remove the City Administrator from their position. If the City was going to restructure he suggested starting at the top and doing all the departments, rather than picking just three people out of all the employees at the City. Jason Hammerback, from Darter Plastics, questioned how much tax revenue the City would lose between the shutdown of the coal plant and the opening of the natural gas plant. It was stated those tax dollars were negotiated at the state, not with the City, and staff would have to get back to him. Steve Warren expressed his concern as to what was happening in the City. He expressed his appreciation for the work completed by the City Administrator, but commented it was in the past. Having worked in city government, he suggested the easiest way to move forward was to allow Page 2 of 7

3 department heads to run their departments. To remove three employees and add five would increase expenses for PERA and he suggested letting it run the way it was. It was clarified the work of the City Administrator was ongoing and not just in the past. 8. Brad Falteysek, from Abdo, Eich and Meyers, presented the 2017 audited financials. They gave the City an unmodified clean opinion, stating everything was presented in acceptable accounting principles with no internal control issues and no instances of noncompliance with state auditor controls. In other matters, the lag time between collections and deposits at the golf course were identified, however it appeared to be corrected in Second, additional policies and procedures were needed at the golf course surrounding daily processes, internal controls, cash deposits and inventory counting and management. Three accounting estimates were identified as being significant including capital asset depreciation, allocations of gross wages and payroll benefits and pension liabilities. The City s fund balance policy required an unrestricted fund balance of 40 percent or higher to be maintained; this had been done for the last three years. Total revenues were $288,000 over what was budgeted in 2017 and total expenditures were $275,000 under what was budgeted, therefore $500,000 was transferred out of the General Fund into other funds resulting in a $64,000 increase to the General Fund with an ending balance of $1.6 million. Permits and licenses and small cities aid accounted for most of the overage in budgeted amounts. Expenditures were under budget primarily due to personnel related costs. Revenues increased by 13 percent between 2016 and 2017 primarily due to taxes while total expenditures increased 7.1 percent. The City spent approximately $600 per resident as compared to $561 in other similarly sized communities. The City had three special revenue funds; Community Center, Fire Department and Economic Development which all had positive fund balances. There were two outstanding debt service bonds. For the next two years there would be a payment of $350,000; thereafter it would drop to $150,000 through Enterprise Funds, including water, sewer and golf, were then reviewed. Water and sewer had sufficient funds to cover expenses, however cash receipts for the golf course were below what was recommended. Cash balances did hold steady at the golf course due to the transfer of funds. The presentation was completed with a comparison of peer group ratios in various categories. Page 3 of 7

4 When questioned, he confirmed there were no findings regarding segregation of duties, which meant staff had done a good job with internal controls relating to cash. Additionally, he confirmed the other matters identified were of no significant risk to the City. Keller / Hendrickson motioned to accept the 2017 audit. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 9. Council reviewed Committee Meetings. Budget and Finance reviewed the audit report and provided feedback regarding the Liberty Paper bonding so it was properly reflected. The Transportation Workshop discussed the realignments of County Road 8 and 52 and State Highway 25. Becker Clean-Up Day went well with over 400 people. Thanks was given to everyone who helped and the Public Works Department congratulated for a job well done. Fire Board prepped for budget discussions. Parks and Recreation reported all cardio equipment was in place and the gym divider was delivered and installed. The mural in the swimming pool area had been completed and would have its official unveiling during the Open Streets event on Monday as part of Freedom Day s week, June 11 th -16 th. Security cameras were installed and the County State Aid Highway 24 Trail should be completed by early August. Planning Commission discussed the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the ice cream and coffee shop on the agenda. Joint Planning Board discussed three issues; moving a parcel to reflect a home, expanding a home site to five acres and combining two parcels to form 5 acres. The City, Northern Metal and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency participated in the Northern Metal Open House. Sherburne County, State Representatives and Xcel Energy also attended. The open house evolved into a presentation with questions and answers. Golf Management discussed food and beverage operations which were tracking good with several events scheduled. Golf operations were tracking good for May after a slow start. The course was getting into shape with staff able to repair the sprinkler system. The Men s Club memorial donation was hung and waiting for names. Short, Elliott, Hendrickson (SEH) would do a bid assist for the HVAC system when it came time to replace it in the fall. Police Management discussed the new part time hires and June Hubbard s replacement; all were working well. The number of calls were down and the department in conjunction, with Sherburne County, had more of a presence in the schools. They discussed the predatory offender ordinance and the squad care cameras both of which were on the agenda. Legislative Updates included Governor Dayton signing the omnibus bill which included $3.3 million of grant funds for a frontage road in the Industrial Park. Regarding the restructure, it was stated much Page 4 of 7

5 time was spent testifying at the legislature to get the $3.3 million dollars. The City Administrator was directed by Council to do this, which took time away from other duties. 10. Community Development Director, Marie Pflipsen, presented Resolution regarding a re-branding contract. In February, requests for proposals for a rebranding were sent out. EDA reviewed 7 proposals and interviewed two candidates. The rebranding was budgeted for with EDA recommending Replace, Inc. out of Minneapolis. Keller / Hendrickson motioned to approve Resolution 18-39, a Resolution allowing staff to enter into an agreement with Replace, Inc. to complete a rebranding project. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 11. Community Development Director, Marie Pflipsen, presented Resolution regarding a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for Hancock Street SE. The use was a condition in the T-Town Zoning District. Zoning was unique in T-Town with zero-foot setbacks; the building was the property with no green space surrounding it. Parking, traffic and garbage mitigation were the items discussed at the public hearing. Conditions were written in to the CUP including no deliveries on Hancock Street (#6), no parking on private property unless a written agreement was in place with property owners (#7) and the disposal of trash with three options (#14). Snow removal was not required as there was no green space owned. Hendrickson / Doering motioned to approve Resolution 18-43, a Resolution granting a Conditional Use Permit to allow an Ice Cream / Coffee Shop located at Hancock Street SE. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 12. Chief of Police, Brent Baloun, presented Resolution regarding insquad camera purchases. Cameras were budgeted for in 2018 in the amount of $25,000. They would be purchased off on the state contract through AXON and would integrate well with the body cameras. AXON just released the Fleet 2 system which was pricing out at $31, The purchase was discussed with the Police Committee with it recommended the difference in cost come from the revolving capital account. The cameras would likely be installed at the end of July or beginning of August. It was commented the cradle points in each car could be reused and offered a cost savings of approximately $5,000. The old cameras were not anticipated to have a trade in value. Hanrahan / Hendrickson motioned to approve Resolution 18-42, a Resolution approving the purchase of insquad video camera systems from the State of Minnesota Contract. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 13. Council Member Mike Doering presented Resolution regarding committee assignments. He had a conflict when Parks and Recreation and Planning Commission met on the same night as he was unable to attend them both. Following discussion by Council, it was decided Mayor Bertram or Council Member Hanrahan would attend the Parks and Page 5 of 7

6 Recreation meetings in his place following the conclusion of Fire Board which met at the same time. Council Member Doering would advise when these conflicts occurred. No action was taken on Resolution as committee assignments were not revised. 14. City Clerk, Julie Blesi, presented Resolution regarding the appointment of election judges. As per state statute, election judges must be appointed by the governing body of the municipality. The early appointment allowed for ample time to train the judges. Two new judges, who registered during the caucuses, were added to the appointments. Keller / Hendrickson motioned to approve Resolution 18-41, a Resolution appointing election judges for the 2018 Primary and General Elections. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 15. City Administrator, Greg Pruszinske, presented Resolution regarding the reclassification of Pebble Creek Golf Club from an Enterprise Fund to a Special Revenue Fund. This had been an ongoing conversation which he was asked to bring forward to Council. If approved Pebble Creek would be accounted for in the same way as the Community Center. There were many comments. It was stated with the restructure this was an ideal time to complete the change and it would balance the field with other entities in the City. The expectations of a positive cash flow would not change. Although there would be positives in removing the depreciation piece, there was concerned expressed in the attitude towards the fund and how residents would feel. This discussion began a year ago with input from both the auditors and legal with clarification given on what an enterprise fund was. When the course was profitable it made sense to have it as an enterprise fund; however, if funds were required to support it then it became more of an asset to the community that should be cared for. It was noted the way the facility was run would not change, but it would move the course forward in the budgeting process and make it more transparent. Doering / Keller motioned to approve Resolution 18-40, a Resolution directing staff to reclassify Pebble Creek Golf Course to a Special Revenue Fund. Mayor Bertram and Council Members Keller, Doering and Hanrahan voted in favor of the motion. Council Member Hendrickson voted against the motion. The motion carried. 16. City Administrator, Greg Pruszinske, presented the Consent Agenda, consisting of hiring and termination reports for Pebble Creek Golf Club, Public Works and the Becker Community Center, an extension to the Professional Services Contract with Shore Dynamics, Ordinance nd Series and Ordinance nd Series Summary regarding a predatory offender ordinance, job description approvals for the Recreation and Leisure Services Assistant, Public Works and Parks Assistant, City Clerk / HR / Safety and Risk Manager, Event Services Manager, Golf Service Manager and Recreation Services Manager, construction material testing contract with Braun Intertec for the County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 24 Trail Project and an SEH supplemental letter agreement for a Sprint TriBand project. It was clarified the Braun Intertec testing was for the CSAH 24 project and required as part of the state funding received. Job Page 6 of 7

7 descriptions were written by Paul Ness and corresponded to the restructure plan approved on May 15 th, Hendrickson / Doering motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 17. Hendrickson / Hanrahan motioned to pay the bills including Checks through and Checks through All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 18. Mayor Bertram announced the anniversaries. Joe Danielson, Street Superintendent, 34 years Hunter Breidenbach, Wastewater Operator, 2 years 19. Hendrickson / Hanrahan motioned to adjourn the Regular City Council Meeting at 7:21 p.m. All Council Members present voted in favor of the motion. The motion carried. 20. The meeting was adjourned at 7:21 p.m. Julie Blesi, City Clerk Page 7 of 7