City
Council Meeting Minutes
August 26, 2013
1. Roll Call
Mayor Roe called to order the Roseville City Council regular
meeting at approximately 6:00 pm, welcomed everyone, and made introductions.
Voting and Seating Order as called by Interim City Manager Trudgeon: McGehee;
Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe. City Attorney Mark Gaughan was also
present.
2. Approve Agenda
Councilmember Willmus requested removal of Consent Item 7.a
entitled, “Approve Payments” for a separate vote.
Councilmember McGehee requested removal of Consent Item 7.d
entitled, “Receive 2013 Second Quarter Financial Report” for a question or
comment.
McGehee moved, Laliberte seconded, approval of the agenda as
amended.
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.
3. Public Comment
Mayor Roe called for public comment by members of the
audience on any non-agenda items. No one appeared to speak.
4. Council Communications, Reports and
Announcements
Councilmember Laliberte briefly reported on her attendance
at the latest Snelling Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) community meeting, at
which feedback was reviewed from previous community open houses held, most of
them held further south on the intended line. Councilmember Laliberte advised
that there was some interest of those attending in receiving feedback specific
to the Cities of Roseville and Falcon Heights, hosted at one of those cities;
however, she noted that a hosting site and logistics remained pending at this
time. Councilmember Laliberte noted that some of the options, receiving
numerous and varied opinions, included determining criteria for location of
stops, as well as a dis-cussion of northbound stops at Snelling and University,
with combined feedback from the communities involved and policy makers.
Councilmember Laliberte advised that the next meeting would focus on branding
for future bus stops.
At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Councilmember
Laliberte advised that it had been determined that it would cost more to
redesign buses to use hybrid fuel, making them not cost-effective; and that streetcar
interests were being discussed closer to St. Paul proper with those discussions
being held at the Rondo Library this week. For those interested, Councilmember
Laliberte referred them to the City of St. Paul’s website for additional
meeting information.
5. Recognitions, Donations, Communications
6. Approve Minutes
Comments and corrections to draft minutes had been
submitted by the City Council prior to tonight’s meeting and those revisions
were incorporated into the draft presented in the Council packet.
a. Approve Minutes of August 19, 2013 Meeting
Laliberte moved, McGehee seconded, approval of the August
19, 2013 Meeting Minutes as amended.
Corrections:
• Page 5, Line 7 (Willmus)
Correct to read: “… Councilmember Willmus opined that the
applicant was well in excess of that…”
• Pages 11 & 12 (McGehee)
Councilmember McGehee stated that she continued to be in
disagreement with the CIP discussion and its sustainability; and advised
that she had there-fore asked Finance Director Miller to include that issue
during future budget discussions.
Mayor Roe clarified that Councilmember McGehee’s ongoing
concerns were duly noted, but were not part of determining whether or not the
meeting minutes stood as presented.
• Page 15, Line 7 (Laliberte)
Correct to read: “…community could not handle additional
[increases in fees.”
• Page 28, Line 15 (Etten)
Remove the word “infrastructure.”
• Page 29, Line 2 (Laliberte)
Change to read: “… the end of December or January when the
City Manager search [may resume] kicked off, allowing…”
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.
7. Approve Consent Agenda
There were no additional changes to the Consent Agenda than
those previously noted. At the request of Mayor Roe, Interim City Manager
Patrick Trudgeon briefly reviewed those items being considered under the
Consent Agenda.
b. Approve Business & Other Licenses &
Permits
Etten moved, Willmus seconded, approval of business license
applications for the period of one (1) year, for the following applicants:
|
Applicant/Location
|
Type of License
|
|
Jolene Wiese, Massage Envy
2480 Fairview Avenue, Suite 120
|
Massage Therapist
|
|
Elements Therapeutic Massage
2100 Snelling Avenue N, 66B Har
Mar Mall
|
Massage Therapy Establishment
|
|
Optimal Wellness Solutions, LLC
2233 N Hamline Avenue
|
Massage Therapy Establishment
|
|
Walgreens #15560; 2700 Lincoln
Drive
|
Cigarette / Tobacco Products
|
Roll
Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus;
and Roe.
Nays: None.
c. Adopt a Resolution to Accept the Work
Completed, Authorize Final Payment and Commence the One-Year Warranty
Period on the Twin Lakes In-frastructure Improvements – Phase II
Etten moved, Willmus seconded, adoption of Resolution No.
_11088__ (Attach-ment A) entitled, “Final Contract Acceptance – Twin Lakes
Infrastructure Im-provements – Phase II.”
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.
e. Adopt a Resolution to Accept the Work
Completed, Authorize Final Payment and Commence the One-Year Warranty
Period for the Josephine Lift Station Reconstruction Project
Etten moved, Willmus seconded, adoption of Resolution No.
_11089__ (Attach-ment A) entitled, “Final Contract Acceptance – Josephine Lift
Station Recon-struction Project (SS-11-18).”
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.
8. Consider Items Removed from Consent
a. Approve Payments
Councilmember Willmus advised that he had requested removal
of the list of payments, as there was a payment related to property his father
owned on Ham-line Avenue, and he wanted to recuse himself from voting on that
particular item to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.
Etten moved, McGehee seconded, approval of the following
claims and payments as presented.
|
Check Series #
|
Amount
|
|
ACH Payments
|
$41,819.32
|
|
71102 – 71155
|
328,570.04
|
|
Total
|
$370,389.36
|
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; and Roe.
Nays: None.
Abstentions: Willmus.
d. Receive 2013 Second Quarter Financial Report
At the request of Mayor Roe, Interim City Manager Trudgeon
briefly summarized the Request for Council Action (RCA) dated August 26, 2013.
A revised page 2 of 13 of the Citywide Financial Summary had
been provided by staff as a bench handout at the meeting,
Councilmember McGehee noted that on the Water Fund Summary
(page 10 of 13), with recently increased base rates among the highest in the
metropolitan area, the Fund continued to operate at a considerable deficit,
with no recommendations in place to repay the internal operational loan.
Councilmember McGehee advised that her removal of this item was intended to
bring to the City Council’s consider-ation the possibility of a future bond
issue to address that deficit, with water ser-vices were becoming an undue
burden to Roseville homeowners.
For the benefit of the listening audience, Mayor Roe
clarified that the changes made to the base rate had been recognized as not solving
the problems with the fund in years 1 or 2; but going forward, the deficit
should be resolved with only inflationary increases in the CIP specific to this
fund; with the internal loan paid off through adjustments to user rates, with
those plans in place.
Councilmember McGehee suggested that Mayor Roe was
unnecessarily defen-sive of the CIP recommendations made by a task force of the
previous Council. She requested that in the future he try to consider that
others may have different opinions and respect those opinions.
Mayor Roe expressed appreciation for Councilmember McGehee’s
comments; however, he stated that he felt it was important to share the
additional information with the public as he had chosen to do.
Councilmember McGehee stated that she wanted to make sure
all of the issues were in mind in November during final budget discussions.
Etten moved, Laliberte seconded, receipt of the Second
Quarter 2013 Financial Report as amended.
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.
9. General Ordinances for Adoption
10. Presentations
11. Public Hearings
12. Budget Items
13. Business Items (Action Items)
a. Authorize Staff to Negotiate a Five-Year
Recycling Services Contract
Public Works Director Duane Schwartz summarized the three
(3) responses to Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) as detailed in the RCA dated
August 26, 2013; with the review committee recommending Eureka Recycling to the
City Council as the vendor of choice for single-stream collection in wheeled
carts with collec-tion occurring every other week, and expansion of those
materials to be collected, all based on their analysis through the Best Value
Proposal. Mr. Schwartz briefly referenced the Foth Study funded by Ramsey
County for conducting a cost analysis on ownership of the carts by the City or
by the vendor.
Mr. Schwartz reviewed the results of the Eureka proposal as
detailed on page 2 of the RCA. Mr. Schwartz advised that initial analysis by
Finance Director Miller pointed to a significant decrease for residential
customers in the 2014 recycling fee, whether through a three (3) or five (5)
year contract. Mr. Schwartz advised that a more refined cost savings analysis
by Mr. Miller would be provided later this fall as the fee schedule was
reviewed and developed.
Mr. Schwartz advised that, even with a 2% escalator included
by Eureka for sub-sequent years on the contract beyond 2014, costs would be
significantly below average Ramsey County recycling costs. Mr. Schwartz
further advised that staff felt strongly that a five (5) year contract provided
residents and the City with the best overall value going forward. Mr. Schwartz
noted that itemized costs for the other two (2) proposers were included in RCA
materials.
If approved by the City Council, as staff would then
negotiate the actual contract, with most of the provisions included as part of
the RFP, Mr. Schwartz advised that staff was recommending vendor-owned carts,
opining that given the bid and cost of carts, there appeared to be no reason
for the City to take on the risk of cart ownership. If the City chose to
purchase the carts, Mr. Schwartz advised that they would be depreciated over
ten (10) years. However, Mr. Schwartz advised that staff had found no proposal
with a vendor depreciating the cart cost over a long period resulting in good
bids; and therefore indicating that there would be no advantage for the City to
own the carts.
Councilmember McGehee thanked Mr. Schwartz for bringing the
proposals for-ward in the format provided, expressing appreciation for
including the criteria, and outside review by a Ramsey County contractor.
Councilmember McGehee concurred with the analysis in having the vendor owning
carts based on earlier discussions about storage, replacement, and other
factors creating an unnecessary burden for the City to take on cart management.
Councilmember Etten noted one other piece of the picture is
preparing for aligning with the Ramsey County mandate for collection of organics
in 2016, noting staff’s request for City Council discussion and direction on
that. Given that man-date, Councilmember Etten asked if it was the intent of
Eureka to purchase split body trucks at this time, or in two (2) years as that
mandate got closer.
Mr. Schwartz advised that representatives of Eureka and Foth
Environmental were in the audience to respond to questions of the City
Council. From his recol-lection, Mr. Schwartz advised that Eureka wanted to
determine how interested the City was early on to include those factors in
their purchasing decision. Mr. Schwartz clarified that Eureka was not
considering those new trucks immediately for pick-ups beginning on January 1,
2014 under the new contract, but to be ready for 2016.
At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Mr. Schwartz
advised that three (3) different cart sizes would be available for residents,
based on their usage; with the standard cart size 65 gallons, and choices of
smaller (32-35 gallon) or larger (96 gallon); with the cart size having no
impact on the cost to the household.
At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Mr. Schwartz
confirmed that staff had discussions with Eureka and they advised that they
would be fully automated and ready for pick-up by January 1, 2014, including
distribution of wheeled carts to customers.
At the request of Mayor Roe, Mr. Schwartz reviewed RFP
criteria and options for weekly or bi-weekly pick-up, with none of the vendors
responding to the weekly option.
At the prompting of Councilmember McGehee, Mr. Schwartz
asked for City Council directive if they wished for staff to hold subsequent
discussions with Eu-reka on collection of organics; with no specific timeframe
developed by either party at this point until that directive was clearer.
Councilmember Laliberte noted that, with Ramsey County
mandating collection of organics, it was obvious that the discussion needed to
occur, allowing Eureka to be first in those discussions.
Mayor Roe clarified that, even though Ramsey County was
mandating collection of organics by 2016, the City didn’t need to commit at
this time, as outlined in the RCA.
Mayor Roe invited comments from the Eureka representative
who declined com-ment, standing with staff comments and perspectives.
Mayor Roe invited public comment at this time.
Public Comment
Liane Gale, 2862 Oxford Street N
As a Roseville resident since 2004, Ms. Gale spoke in
support of Eureka as a non-profit organization, expressing her satisfaction
with their service over the years, as well as their company’s mission,
educational materials, and the various ways they reached out to the community
to encourage waste reduction in general. Ms. Gale further supported Eureka’s
encouragement of curbside composting, and urged the City of Roseville to
initiate that service soon rather than waiting for the Ramsey County mandate;
opining that there were no compelling reasons to delay offering this service to
the community. Ms. Gale reiterated her support of Eureka Recycling as the
vendor, and encouraged the City of Roseville to partner with this organization
for providing curbside recycling collection services.
Eric Gilbertson, 1788 Skillman Avenue W
Mr. Gilbertson seconded the comments of Ms. Gale, opining
that such a decision made environmental sense, especially the organizations’
support of zero waste efforts, putting Roseville in a proactive position.
Mayor Roe thanked Ms. Gale and Mr. Gilbertson for their
testimony.
Councilmember Willmus suggested a discussion on the merits
of a three (3) versus five (5) year contract. Councilmember Willmus spoke in
support of a three (3) year contract. Since this is a new direction for
Eureka, Councilmember Willmus advised that he would like to be the position of
a shorter tenure if the agreement needed to change down the road rather than
being tied to a five (5) year term. Councilmember Willmus opined that a
shorter term contract would also allow future City Councils to weigh in on some
of these things, an overriding factor for his consideration.
Mayor Roe noted that a five (5) year contract would in
effect provide the potential for three (3) City Council changes.
Councilmember Laliberte opined that the contract term was an
area of considerable change, as experienced with previous contracts versus this
most recent RFP; including not being aware of future changes on the horizon
beyond organic col-lection.
Councilmember Etten questioned if there would be added costs
in moving for-ward with curbside organics collection that would require
renegotiation of the contract.
In response, Mr. Schwartz advised that renegotiations and a
contract amendment would be necessary, but would not affect the base recycling
fees; with it being ul-timately up to the City Council whether or not to accept
those renegotiations.
Under that scenario, Councilmember Etten spoke in support of
a three (3) year contract as well to avoid having a longer term contract should
those renegotiations not prove favorable for the City leaving Eureka as its
only option.
At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Mr. Schwartz
advised that there would be minimal impact to households with either a three
(3) year versus a five (5) year contract, as detailed in the RCA (page 2 of 5,
lines 27 - 28).
Councilmember McGehee opined that, no matter the term of the
contract, the City and its residents would be saving money. Councilmember
McGehee stated that she felt strongly about the values of the Eureka
organization for this service, not-ing that they were moving forward with the
purchase of new equipment. While supportive of a five (5) year contract,
opining that it provided a better deal for res-idents as well as the Eureka
firm, Councilmember McGehee recognized that she seemed to be in the minority in
supporting staff’s recommendation for a five (5) year contract, and therefore
could support a shorter term contract based on majori-ty preference.
Mayor Roe sought clarification from Councilmembers if there
was any objection for vendor owned carts; with no comment received.
Willmus moved, Laliberte seconded, authorization for staff
to negotiate a three (3) year recycling services contract with Eureka Recycling
with vendor-owned carts; with the final agreement to come before the City
Council for action.
Mayor Roe stated that a three (3) year contract seemed
logical, but he would have also been fine with a longer term, with any risk
associated with those additional two (2) years having been addressed in the
contract. However, with the potential cost for curbside organics collection,
Mayor Roe opined that this allowed some protection for the City.
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.
With Mayor Roe suggesting that discussions begin in 2015 for
the organics collect, Councilmember McGehee opined that those discussions
should begin before then. Since the City would essentially be in partnership
with Eureka, Councilmember McGehee suggested that they provide a presentation
on those options to facilitate a future discussion, opining that she preferred
something other than every other week pick-up for organics.
Councilmember Laliberte thanked members of the Review
Committee, as well as members of the Public Works, Environment and
Transportation Commission for their work on this issue.
Councilmember Willmus expressed his appreciation to Eureka
staff for going the single sort direction as well as automation, opining that
it was something that had come up often in his conversations with residents,
and expressed his personal and residents’ collective appreciation in them making
this transition.
Councilmember Etten also expressed appreciation to Eureka
for expanding collection of more plastics, noting that it had also come up
often during his conversations with residents; opining that it was a great addition
to curbside collection services.
b. Authorize Administration Department
Reorganization
Interim City Manager Patrick Trudgeon briefly summarized the
proposed implementation for reorganization of the Administration Department as
detailed in the RCA dated August 26, 2013; and as previously discussed with
Councilmembers. Mr. Trudgeon clarified that this was only intended as an
interim step to improve services based on current resources and the need to
revamp priorities for enhanced communication efforts. Mr. Trudgeon advised
that, as detailed, shuffling duties and providing some additional support for
the Human Resources function, the proposed reorganization should work for
2014. Mr. Trudgeon cautioned that the future City Manager would need to return
with a more long-term proposal for future administrative needs and alternative
options, including voucher management, centralized purchasing and other needs
down the road. Mr. Trudgeon advised that his priorities at this time would
include finishing job descriptions, advertising for positions as applicable,
authorization for the Senior Office Assistant to move from part- to full-time;
and assist Human Resources Manager Eldona Bacon in completion of implementation
of the HRIS.
Councilmember McGehee stated that she definitely agreed with
Interim City Manager Trudgeon; however, she opined that that this was only a
patchwork job, and didn’t provide a full view of what was needed long-term or a
good administrative department. Councilmember McGehee further opined that Mr.
Trudgeon had done an excellent job of aligning jobs with current resources and
budget, but that it was not sustainable. Councilmember McGehee advised that
she would support a full-time Office Assistant and advertising for a
Communications Manager. However, Councilmember McGehee opined that she did not
like the Senior Office Assistant being responsible to two (2) bosses: the
Assistant to the City Manager/City Clerk and the Human Resources Manager,
further opining that she had heard that a full-time assistant was needed for
the Human Resources function. Councilmember McGehee noted that the additional
staff needed for the Human Resources and Administrative functions would also be
tasked as the primary greeter in the office, and with numerous interruptions
during the day, it would severely limit the work of that person. Councilmember
McGehee stated that she pointed out these issues, noting that the Interim City
Manager was well aware of these fundamental issues, and opined that she would
add to the list of his goals to provide his ultimate review of the
Administration Department and unbiased recommendations to get the department to
a level of efficiency and work proportioned for the most effective operation.
Councilmember McGehee stated that the City Council had heard repeatedly that people
were working in excess of seventy (70) hours per week, and opined that this was
an unreasonable expectation as a daily work load; prompting her request for an
ultimate overview to achieve optimum circumstances.
Councilmember Laliberte agreed that the chain of command
graphics showing direct reports for the Senior Office Assistant to two apparent
supervisors proved problematic for her, even while understanding that both of
those positions needed help. However, Councilmember Laliberte expressed her preference
that some differentiation is provided to show a clear reporting structure.
Mr. Trudgeon clarified that the graphics were simply
representative that the position worked for both, with both Human Resources and
Administration providing work flow to that person, while all parties clearly
understood the reporting structure.
Mayor Roe concurred with concerns that only one person
provide feedback, direction and employee evaluations for the Senior Office
Assistant position.
Specific to the Assistant to the City Manager/City Clerk
position and development of the job description, Councilmember Laliberte opined
that there needed to be enough flexibility to adjust it as indicated, opining
that the listed duties were too much for one person to do in a normal day, week
or month, and requiring refinement. Councilmember Laliberte recognized that,
once Human Resources no longer needed as much assistance, with the HRIS was
fully implemented and reducing some of the current workload, the position
should be evaluated once again.
Recognizing that the Communications Manager position would
be receiving funding support from the Housing & Redevelopment Authority
(HRA), Councilmember Etten questioned if there would be a net gain realized for
that position and completion of objectives while sharing duties among HRA and
Administrative needs; and also meeting the goal of breaking down silos and
absorbing some of the extra work from other departments.
Mr. Trudgeon advised that the current structure allowed for
1.5 FTE and the new structure would provide for 2.0 FTE, with the expectation
that a higher level employee could more fluidly cross departments and make
strategic sense of how to accomplish the goals, and directly report that
process to the City Manager and Department Heads. While he didn’t expect the
position to be at the same level as Department Heads, Mr. Trudgeon advised that
he did envision them being involved in the same discussions; anticipating that
the barriers could be broken down and provide a better and more consistent end
product.
At the request of Councilmember Etten, Mr. Trudgeon
clarified that the intent was that the overall branding would be similar to the
level and quality of today’s HRA marketing efforts. Mr. Trudgeon advised that
the HRA was interested in being part of versus separate from a unified
city-wide branding; suggesting that the joint efforts will prove beneficial to
all parties within the City organization.
Specific to the City Clerk position taking on best value
contract efforts, Councilmember Willmus questioned how that position could
address ongoing functions in that incredibly time-consuming role.
Councilmember Trudgeon advised that the position had
performed that function with the recent recycling contract; and clarified that
the intent was only for administrative and City Council contracts, not
city-wide, which would prove few and far between. However, if needed, Mr.
Trudgeon advised that the function could be evaluated and revisited if
indicated to be problematic.
Specific to the Communications Manager and Specialist areas,
Councilmember Laliberte recognized some apprehension by some departments to
truly turn over this function; and expressed her hope that a good hire will
inspire confidence and free up employees in those departments to perform other
work, with one go-to person servicing the entire City. Councilmember Laliberte
expressed her appreciation in Mr. Trudgeon’s attempts to make that happen.
Councilmember McGehee concurred with that comment; and
recognized the considerable effort and funding made by the HRA for their
branding, opining that it was now very well established. From her personal
perspective, Councilmember McGehee suggested that their brand or a portion of
it could be carried over, since it seemed to be a good brand with
effectiveness; opining that she could think of no department in the City that
wouldn’t fit with that HRA brand. Regarding the City Clerk position
functioning in best value contracting during elections, as an example,
Councilmember McGehee concurred that it could prove overwhelming for one
person. Recognizing the proposed reorganization as a good interim step,
Councilmember McGehee reiterated her preference for Mr. Trudgeon to provide an
ultimate overview of the entire operation.
Mayor Roe opined that there was no question in his mind that
this proposed reorganization would provide an opportunity to make the current
arrangement better. Mayor Roe suggested that baby steps may be necessary
before finding the best final step.
Etten moved, McGehee seconded, authorizing the Interim City
Manager to implement the Administration Department reorganization as presented
(Attachment A) that includes the creation of the Communications Manager
position; the retention of one (1) Communications Specialist position; the
conversion of the Executive Assistant position to an Assistant to the City
Manager/City Clerk position; and making the Senior Office Assistant position
full-time.
At the request of Councilmember Laliberte, Mr. Trudgeon advised
that he anticipated the outside window for implementation as January 1, 2014;
however, ad-vised that his first step was to rework the job descriptions to
determine where those positions fit in the overall compensation picture. Mr.
Trudgeon advised that he would like to have those solid job descriptions
completed by the end of September to achieve that start date of January 1,
2014, but if opportunities arose to fill them sooner, he would pursue that
option. Mr. Trudgeon reiterated that his main thrust would be to make sure
everything was in place to finalize the job descriptions; and if needed sooner,
he would bring that information forward to the City Council for funding through
the Communications Fund, but did not see any impact to levy funded areas.
Mayor Roe echoed the comments of other Councilmembers,
concurring that the Senior Office Assistant position needed immediate
implementation from part- to full-time, better sooner than later. Mayor Roe
also noted that the Communication Manager position was also a high priority,
since it had been a year since discussions for redevelopment of the City’s
website, with that still on hold. Mayor Roe recognized that there was a
process involved; but offered his support of the motion.
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.
14. Business Items – Presentations/Discussions
15. City Manager Future Agenda Review
16. Councilmember Initiated Items for Future
Meetings
17. Adjourn
Laliberte moved, Etten seconded, adjournment of the meeting
at approximately 7:08 pm.
Roll Call
Ayes: McGehee; Laliberte; Etten; Willmus; and Roe.
Nays: None.