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09-25-17 CC WS MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, SEPTEMER 25, 2017 MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 6:19 P.M. A. Roll Call 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6:00 P.M. Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Johnson, Labadie and Sundberg; City Administrator Lerud; and Planning Director Darling Absent: Councilmember Siakel B. Review Agenda Sundberg moved, Johnson seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 4/0. 2. Representative Cindy Pugh Mayor Zerby welcomed Minnesota Representative Cindy Pugh District 33B who was present to give an update on legislative activities. Representative Pugh shared her views on the last legislative session process. She then shared her perspective on the litigation between Governor Dayton and the republican State Legislature, Representative Pugh stated her legislative assistant told her Council would like to discuss aquatic invasive species (AIS) and the State's role in helping to mitigate it, and State Highway 7. She provided Council with a copy of the draft Metro District 10 -Year Capital Investment Plan (2018 — 2027) noting there is nothing specific to Shorewood in the Plan. She noted that now, between legislative sessions, would be a good opportunity to discuss any legislation on any subject matter that she could be working on for her constituents. She also noted that she could not find any legislation specific to Highway 7 in her legislative area. She explained that she has had the issue of public safety on Highway 7 on her radar for some time because of the death of a Minnetonka High School student. For the past 6 to 8 weeks she has been in touch with a GOP staff researcher about the pedestrian trail over Highway 62 at /near the Gleason Road exit. She would like something similar for over Highway 7 but she does not think that would address any of the traffic issues generated by the High School. She noted she was amazed to learn how many parents provide their children with a car for their 16`x' birthday and how many students drive to school. In response to a comment from Mayor Zerby, Representative Pugh stated this last session was the fifth legislative session she was involved in and she is in her third term. She now knows how to navigate the legislature and how to get things done. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES September 25, 2017 Page 2of6 Mayor Zerby asked what the City can ask of Representative Pugh and where she has influence. He stated Highway 7 comes to mind because it is a state highway. He commented that he is not sure how the Minnesota Department of Transportation's (MnDOT's) budget process works and if the Legislature has any influence on MnDOT projects. Representative Pugh explained during the five years she has served on the Legislature she has never served on the transportation or education committees, noting there is nothing more important to the District she represents than education. Her district is one of the highest tax districts in the State. Taxation is also a big issue for her constituents. She is currently working on legislation that will be heard in committees that she does not serve on. Her influence does not depend on which committees she serves on. If Shorewood wants something and if she supports it the two should work together as soon as possible to allow her the time to build coalitions of support because chances are if Shorewood wants something there are likely other suburbs and legislators that want the same thing. She commented that Shorewood abuts the City of Minnetonka and Minnetonka is represented by someone from the other major political party. Mayor Zerby explained Shorewood is basically seven miles long and one mile wide. It is served by two school districts the Minnetonka Public School District and the Westonka Public School District. Shorewood had formerly been part of Excelsior Township and it shares the Excelsior zip code. From his perspective Shorewood has an "invisibility cloak" over it. Representative Pugh noted Shorewood is either the second or third largest city of those she represents and she represents 10 cities. Mayor Zerby stated Shorewood is somewhat divided into three parts. The east side has been more recently developed and it has curb and gutter, sidewalks in various places, and various park systems. The west side was more rural and is now is becoming more built up. For example, the Minnetonka Country Club development is planned to have 142 single- family homes in it. At lot of the roadways do not have any safe pedestrian access. The number one issue the City hears from residents is about traffic and speed. Zerby then stated people want to be able to safely walk their dogs and they find themselves competing with vehicles. There is no safe shoulder or sidewalk for them to walk on. The desire is to construct and connect sidewalks. There are two senior housing projects being built. The one in Shorewood is located on the south side of Highway 7 along Chaska Road. There is no safe way to walk from there into Excelsior. Representative Pugh stated that presents a perfect opportunity to work on legislation. Mayor Zerby stated City representatives have spoken with MnDOT and Hennepin County representatives about the need for safe pedestrian access along Highway 7 and along County Road 19. There is a trail that that goes down to Target in the City of Chanhassen but it stops at the Shorewood border. There has been discussion about constructing a trail segment in Shorewood from Chanhassen border to the Excelsior border. Shorewood decided not to move forward with that because Excelsior was not on board with constructing its segment. There is a need to have some regional authority to help bring multi -city projects to fruition. Representative Pugh noted she agreed that the cities should be working collaboratively but she does not know how to make that happen. Mayor Zerby stated there are joint powers organizations that provide police and fire services to four and five of the South Lake cities. Four of the five cities have their own public works departments. It has not been easy to get the cities to agree to share in providing those services and eliminate redundancies. He CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES September 25, 2017 Page 3 of 6 had pushed forward the idea to do a joint snow plowing effort with Excelsior. The then Excelsior Public Works Director did not think the Shorewood Public Works Department would know how to plow Excelsior's streets, sidewalks and parking lots. Representative Pugh stated during the first legislative session she was involved with she pushed forward a bill that would award joint powers entities a tax exempt status. She asked if the Three River Park District (TRPD) could be part of a joint powers entity with some of the cities. The TRPD has a lot of engineering and planning resources and it is financially sound. Could that type of joint powers entity help drive collaboration when it comes to extending and connecting trail segments along County Road 19? Councilmember Sundberg stated part of the Lake Minnetonka LRT Regional Trail goes through Tonka Bay on its way to Excelsior. During the winter Tonka Bay does not keep its segment plowed. Representative Pugh stated if the TRPD were to be part of a joint powers entity with other South Lake cities then maybe the legislature could fund that entity Mayor Zerby noted that Shorewood has a good relationship with the TRPD. Representative Pugh stated she has met with lobbyist Margaret Vesel and she offered to orchestrate a meeting about the Commons in Excelsior. She stated if the Commons could be annexed by the TRPD the TRPD could use its resources to enhance that property. Councilmember Sundberg stated she thought having Representative Pugh coordinate that meeting would be a good way to get that discussion going. Mayor Zerby stated it is his understanding that Excelsior has extensively discussed the Commons with TRPD representatives. Representative Pugh stated a few years ago she spoke with Excelsior Mayor Gaylord about TRPD involvement with the Commons and Gaylord did not express much interest in that. She does not know how he currently stands on that. She noted she will contact TRPD representatives and find out when it would be possible to schedule a meeting. Councilmember Labadie stated it's important to remember that the TRPD spans an area much greater than just Excelsior, Shorewood and Tonka Bay. She then stated the TRPD would be a great powerful entity to get on board. She thought she would be interested in having Representative Pugh contact TRPD representatives to find out what they have to say. In response to a comment from Councilmember Sundberg, Representative Pugh stated she is the Vice - Chair of the Government Operations and Elections Policy Committee. Representative Pugh stated she had spoken with TRPD representatives about the joint powers entity opportunity and the TRPD representatives asked how the TRPD could be of assistance. She then stated that maybe the TRPD could contribute its infrastructure resource pro bono. Councilmember Labadie asked if the TRPD was focusing on the smaller cities for joint powers entity opportunities. Representative Pugh clarified she had only reached out to the TRPD with regard to the Commons because of the unique challenges the Commons has. Mayor Zerby stated Excelsior had formed a citizens' committee to come up with recommendations for the Commons. He then stated he does not want the focus to be on the Commons. He explained Shorewood CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES September 25, 2017 Page 4 of 6 bares the cost for its parks and basically all of the ball fields in the area. Excelsior residents use Shorewood's parks and beaches noting that is fine because parks are public. Each city bares the cost of having recreational land. He noted that the City of Deephaven issues special permits to its residents for parking at a majority of Deephaven's city beaches. He stated when it comes to helping fund improvements to the Commons he used his phrase "if we don't have any say we don't want to pay"; a phrase he has used for other things. Representative Pugh noted she understands and respects that position. Zerby noted that Excelsior is really the hub of the South Lake area and for the most part it is referred to as the area's downtown. Shorewood does not really have a downtown. He explained that Excelsior is approximately one square mile in size and it has issued 30 liquor licenses with four of them being for off - sale liquor stores. Those have been issued without any consideration for the impact on the surrounding area. There are repercussions to public safety because of all of the establishments that serve alcohol. Excelsior's demands on public safety have continued to increase along with it increasing its size of its entertainment district. He stated he thought it would be beneficial to have common oversite of the small South Lake communities rather than having them all be standalone entities. He noted that Shorewood has three off -sale liquor stores in the entire City. Councilmember Labadie asked how many on -sale liquor establishments there are in Shorewood. Mayor Zerby stated there is one (the American Legion) and it is a club to which you have to be a member. Labadie noted it closes early. Labadie stated the police Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) bases funding in part on the member cities' populations. Shorewood has the largest population but not the largest number of police calls. Councilmember Johnson stated the vast majority of the police calls are related to DUIs (driving under the influence). Representative Pugh stated during her first legislative session she served on the Judiciary Committee. During that time she learned there were more BWI (boating under the influence) incidents than DWIs in the area she represents. She asked what influence Shorewood has been able to have in ensuring Shorewood is only incurring its fair share of the South Lake public safety expenses. Councilmember Sundberg stated the funding is very lopsided. She then stated Excelsior needs more public safety services but that does not mean Shorewood should be paying for it. Councilmember Labadie commented that Shorewood does not have land that could be developed and used by liquor establishments. Representative Pugh stated that Shorewood incurring costs for public safety services that amount to more than its fair share is at the expense of using its tax resources for other things. She asked if there is anything she could do to be of assistance with that. Labadie stated she thought Shorewood was locked into the existing funding formula until the police JPA comes up for renewal. Mayor Zerby asked when the bonded debt for the public safety facilities will be paid off. Administrator Lerud responded in 2023. Zerby noted it takes a unanimous vote to change the JPA and to date the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department (SLMPD) Coordinating Committee has not reached a consensus that it should be changed. Most of the SLMPD member cities think Shorewood should pay more if the SLMPD district is viewed strictly by ad valorem and then Shorewood would pay 60 percent of the funding. That topic went to arbitration a number of years ago and the cap was set at basically 50 percent. Shorewood had an argument that if it paid more than 50 percent of the funding then it wanted a majority say in operations. He noted the SLMPD funding formula is based on population, tax capacity (ad valorem) and initial complaint reports (ICRs) and commented that Shorewood's tax base is going to go up. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES September 25, 2017 Page 5 of 6 Administrator Lerud stated during a Council work session about one month ago there was some discussion about setting up a lake improvement district to find the mitigation of aquatic invasive species (AIS) in Lake Minnetonka. There was question if only the owners of properties that front the lake should be responsible for paying for that. That same question applies to all lakes in the State. Council's perspective is that discussion needs to start at the State level with the Minnesota Department of Natural resources (DNR). Councilmember Labadie stated that perhaps a fee could be part of the boat license tab fees. Lake shore owners may or may not have a boat that is taken in and out of a lake and then taken to other lakes. Representative Pugh stated the State has spent significant resources on AIS. For example, it has put a lot of funding into the University of Minnesota AIS Center to try and find solutions. The funding for that has not been increased or decreased. The funding has been given to counties and it is up to Hennepin County to determine how it is going to use those resources. She expressed concern about the cost lake front property owners have to incur for lakes that are public amenities. She clarified she does not have a solution and offered to find what, if anything, could be done in future years while noting the budget is set for the next two years. Mayor Zerby stated people view Lake Minnetonka as a regional park and dealing with AIS is somewhat of a regional issue. Lake Minnetonka is a marquee lake in Minnesota and it is used by people from all over the State. That is why the City is looking to the State and Hennepin County to help fund efforts to address the AIS issue. That funding should not just the responsibility of those who own property that fronts the Lake. Representative Pugh stated she thought the committee would say the resources that had been allocated to Hennepin County were proportional to the amount of lake shore. Funds were allocated to all of the 87 counties in the State. Mayor Zerby noted that Lake Minnetonka is the 14t" largest lake in Minnesota. Representative Pugh stated she will check into what might be done. Representative Pugh then stated she had checked into how much Municipal State Aid (MSA) funding Shorewood received. Shorewood received $347,000 in 2017. The transportation bill afforded Shorewood an increase of $14,000 in 2018; $15,000 in 2019; and $35,000 in both 2019 and 2020. She asked how Shorewood allocates those MSA funds. Administrator Lerud noted they are used for State Aid roadways. Representative Pugh stated she would like to meet with staff to gain a better understanding of the use of and amount of MSA funding and what the needs are. Councilmember Labadie stated there are a number of stoplights along Highway 5 east of Highway 41. From the intersection of Smithtown Road /Rolling Acres and Highway 7 to the intersection of Highway 7 /Highway 41 there are no stoplights. Those on Highway 5 are in a very commercial area. The area along Highway 7 is very residential. She stated she would like to discuss the lack of stop lights with Representative Pugh in the future. Labadie then stated the City Ordinances do not include anything about pan handling, begging, soliciting and so forth. There are people doing that who stand in the County /State Highway right -of -way near the intersection of Highway 7 and Highway 41. Shorewood cannot do anything about that because they are not standing in Shorewood. The City of Chanhassen cannot do anything either because they are not standing in Chanhassen. She frequently hears complaints about them when she shops at CUB Foods. A group of those individuals are dropped off and picked up by someone driving a Mercedes Benz. She noted she would like to discuss that with Representative Pugh in the future. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES September 25, 2017 Page 6 of 6 2. ADJOURN Labadie moved, Johnson seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of September 25, 2017, at 7:02 P.M. Motion passed 410. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder ATTEST: T" jkL� Sandie Thone, City Clerk