052609 CC WS MinCITY O SHO WOOD
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
MONDAY, MAY 26, 2009
MINUTES
CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
6:00 I.M.
Mayor Liz6e called the meeting to order at 6:01 P.M.
A. Roll Call
Present. Mayor Liz6e; Councihnembers Bailey, Turgeon, Woodruff and Zerby; Administrator
Heck; Finance Director Burton; Planning Director Nielsen; Director of Public Works
Brown; and Engineer Landini
Absent: None
B. Review Agenda
Turgeon moved, Woodruff seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 5/0.
2. 2010 Goals
Administrator Heck stated this year Council is going to establish broad goals rather than wait until the
first quarter of the next year to identify, what in reality would be, a work plan for Staff. The goal setting
process will be done in concert with the 2010 budget process. Once the goals have been established, Staff
will identify objectives and tasks for the goals. He commented that per Councilmember Turgeon's
request he prepared and distributed a project progress report on 2009 second quarter results.
Heck suggested Council first review the City's Mission Statement which was adopted by the City
Council on October 23, 2006. The City's Mission Statement is "The City's mission is to provide a value
in municipal services, to assure compliance with community laws and standards, and to keep residents
informed of those services, laws, and standards." He explained goals should tie directly to the City's
mission / vision; therefore, Council needs to first determine if the current Mission Statement reflects
Council's mission / vision for the City. If it does not, Council needs to first define the mission / vision for
the City. Goals can be identified once there is an agreed upon mission statement.
Mayor Liz6e asked the Councihnembers if they wanted to change the current Mission Statement.
Councilmember Turgeon stated she was comfortable with the wording of the current Mission Statement.
Mayor Liz6e stated the August 2008 issue of the Minnesota Cities magazine contains an article on
collaborating and maximizing resources and working together with different entities. She then stated the
Scott County Association for Leadership and Efficiency (SCALE) was formed to encourage greater
efficiencies and leadership in cities, townships and other public entities in Scott County through
collaboration of services, sharing of resources, etc. She suggested the current Mission Statement be
expanded to say "The City's mission is to encourage greater efficiencies and leadership in public service
through enhanced communication, collaboration of services and sharing of resources; to assume
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compliance with community laws and standard; and to keep residents informed of those services, laws,
and standards." Adding those few words to the beginning of the Mission Statement shows the City is
looking to collaborate with other entities and looking at innovative ways of providing services.
Councilmember Woodruff stated he thought Mayor Liz6e's comments were useful. He explained that he
randomly went to a number of cities' websites to view their mission statements. He found a wide array of
statements and sometimes cities didn't have, or at least did not include, its mission statement on its
website. He commented that some cities also had a vision statement. He read the City of Eagan's mission
statement which is "The City of Eagan exists to serve the needs and interests of its present and future
citizens by providing quality public services, personal and property protection, a healthy environment, a
stable tax base, attractive amenities, a sense of community and ethical representation. The City will
endeavor to reflect community values in an effective, responsible, efficient and visionary manner." He
thought Eagan's mission statement contained some good things, and components of it and Mayor Liz6e's
suggestions about collaboration and efficiencies could be included in a revised City Mission Statement.
Woodruff then stated in early 2007 the City Council started to discuss the City's mission statement and at
that time he did not think it necessary to do so. He does think it's appropriate to revisit the City's Mission
Statement now because of Council's quest to identify broad goals for 2010 and the goals are tied to the
Mission Statement.
Woodruff explained the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD) has recently been identifying
its goals and objectives as part of its strategic planning initiative. The LMCD has a vision statement in
addition to a mission statement, noting the vision statement is at a higher level then the mission
statement. He paraphrased the LMCD's vision statement which is "to protect and preserve Lake
Minnetonka". The LMCD's mission statement is: "The LMCD provides leadership to protecting,
improving and managing Lake Minnetonka. This is accomplished through administration and regulation;
promoting cooperation and partnerships; through innovation, education, sound leadership; and effective
stewardship of public and private funds."
Councilmember Zerby agreed that the current Mission Statement should be expanded to include some of
Mayor Liz6e's and Councilmember Woodruff's comments. Councilmember Woodruff agreed, but
suggested it still be succinct.
Councilmember Woodruff suggested sometime down the road Council consider defining a vision
statement for the City. Woodruff read the City of Arden Hills vision statement which is "A strong
community that values our unique environment, our fiscal soundness, and our tradition as a desirable
city in which to live, work, and play."
Councilmember Turgeon stated in 2006 Council considered defining a vision statement, but chose to
focus on a mission statement instead. She questioned how someone would be able to explain how
personal and property protection would be accomplished, as stated in Eagan's mission statement. She
suggested the mission statement should only contain things which the City will be able to explain how
they can be accomplished. Administrator Heck explained the "how" will be determined through
identification of objectives and tasks. In Turgeon's example of personal and property protection it would
be accomplished by having an effective and efficient police department; that is achieved through things
such as training, retention, patrol standards, etc. The specific measures are identified as part of the
specific task.
There was Council consensus to have Administrator Heck and Staff to revise the City's Mission
Statement as discussed above.
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Mayor Lizee suggested Council now discuss broad goals. Administrator Heck stated when doing so
Council should consider its earlier discussion about mission; the goals should tie back to the City's
mission. He stated there will be costs associated with accomplishing the objectives and tasks; therefore,
the objectives and tasks will have to be prioritized as part of the budget process.
Councilmember Woodruff suggested Council identify goals for each department. For example, for Parks
the goal could be to maintain and improve the City's park system. How and when it will be achieved will
be identified in the future. He commented some goals will take more than one year to achieve.
Administrator Heck commented that some goals will be multi-year goals.
Councilmember Woodruff suggested one goal could be to increase communication to the community.
Administrator Heck suggested the department heads should determine how that should be accomplished.
Councilmember Zerby stated he would like to have an environmental goal; one where the City reduces its
impact on the environment. Mayor Lizee suggested maybe the goal could be to build a comprehensive
green strategy.
Councilmember Turgeon expressed concern that items on the 2009 work plan could get forgotten in this
process. She wanted to be assured that those items that will not be completed in 2009 be carried forward
to 2010; and if it's determined they should not be carried forward then she requested Council be provided
with an explanation for why they aren't. Councilmember Zerby stated those items are more like tasks;
Council was discussing broad goals at this time. Mayor Lizee stated that although she appreciated
Turgeon's concern, this discussion was about broad goals not objectives and tasks.
In response to a comment from Councilmember Turgeon, Administrator Heck stated during previous
discussions Council stated it was not interested in having the City assess for roadway improvements and
stated it would consider discussing bonding for those types of improvements.
Councilmember Turgeon suggested there be a broad category in which to place things such as Federal
and State mandates.
Administrator Heck stated there were a number of items that could fall under the goal of reducing the
environmental impact. For example, it could include clean and safe drinking water, protection of the
City's ground water, control of sanitary sewer including inflow and infiltration, and a program to manage
solid waste to reduce the impact on land fill.
Mayor Lizee stated another goal could be to pursue collaboration and partnership opportunities to
provide cost effective, energy efficient and innovative services to the public. This lends itself to working
with the City's sister cities, the Watershed Districts, the LMCD, and other groups in the area to come up
good ideas. In response to a question from Administrator Heck, Lizee stated this goal would also include
the management and mitigation of aquatic invasive species.
Councilmember Bailey suggested taking a silo approach and identify goals by department to make this
easier, and he recommended Council start with the easiest department.
There was ensuing discussion about how to improve this discussion process, noting the need for either a
white board or flip charts to write ideas down for viewing. Administrator Heck suggested Staff enhance
the City's Mission Statement based on discussions this evening and identify other goals in addition to
those Council identified. Staff could then put the results in a matrix format for Council to discuss; the
matrix would include components of the Mission Statement across the top and goals listed underneath
them. There would be some method to record ideas for viewing during the next discussion of this topic.
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He stated he would make sure that items on the 2009 work plan would not get lost in this process, and if
they were not to be included as a task for 2010 then there would be an explanation for why that is.
Councihnember Woodruff suggested Staff review other cities' goals and objectives.
There was consensus to schedule a one-hour work session on June 8, 2009, to continue this discussion.
3. ADJOURN
Woodruff moved, Zerby seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of May 26,
2009, at 6:41 P.M. Motion passed 5/0.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
Christine Freeman, Recorder
0' -A
Christine Lizee, Mayor
ATTEST:
an H y Administrator/Clerk