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07-10-23 CC Reg Mtg MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONDAY, JULY 10, 2023 7:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Mayor Pro-Tem Callies called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. City Administrator Nevinski administered the Oath of Office to incoming Council Member, Scott Zerby. A. Pledge of Allegiance B. Roll Call Present. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies, Councilmembers Maddy, Sanschagrin, and Zerby; City Administrator Nevinski; City Clerk/HR Director Thone; Finance Director Rigdon; Planning Director Darling; Director of Public Works Morreim; Park and Recreation Director Crossfield; and, City Engineer Budde Absent: Mayor Labadie C. Review Agenda Maddy moved, Zerby seconded, approving the agenda as presented. All in favor, motion passed 4-0. 2. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Pro-Tem Callies reviewed the items on the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Maddy noted that, within the June 26, 2023 minutes, his name was listed as both the representative and the alternate for the Excelsior Fire Board and clarified that Councilmember Sanschagrin should be listed as the alternate. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked to make another small tweak to the minutes on page seven, second paragraph related to the bond sale and asked to add the words "cost of into a sentence. Zerby moved, Sanschagrin seconded, Approving the Motions Contained on the Consent Agenda, with the changes, as noted to the minutes, and Adopting the Resolutions Therein. A. City Council Work Session Minutes of June 26, 2023 B. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of June 26, 2023 C. Approval of the Verified Claims List D. Approve Permanent Appointment of Public Works Director CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 10, 2023 Page 2 of 6 E. Approve WAC Assessment Agreement 6050 Cajed Lane, Adopting RESOLUTION NO. 23-069, "A Resolution Approving and Adopting a Special Assessment." F. Approve WAC Assessment Agreement 25700 Birch Bluff Road, Adopting RESOLUTION NO. 23-070, "A Resolution Approving and Adopting a Special Assessment." Motion passed, 4-0. 3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR George Greenfield, 24715 Yellowstone Trail stated that he felt it was time for a conclusion on the matter at 24835 Yellowstone Trail and stated that he feels the neighborhood has been irreparably defaced and polluted. He stated that there are two conflicting accounts of what happened but feels one account can be confirmed and the other cannot. He referenced the incorrect date that was published within the Shore Report regarding the variance discussion for that property which precluded giving the citizens an opportunity to contest it. He stated that there is also a question of whether the neighborhood property owners were informed, in writing, by the City about the variance request and the date when the Planning Commission would consider this matter. He stated that the City has repeatedly said that they had informed the citizens but he had spoken with both adjacent parties and was told that they had not received a call from anyone on the Council nor did they receive anything in writing. He stated that it feels as though there is a relentless push to turn Shorewood into a miniature Eden Prairie or Maple Grove and cautioned other residents that it will be coming to their streets in the near future. 4. REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS 5. PARKS 6. PLANNING 7. ENGINEERING/PUBLIC WORKS 8. GENERAL/NEW BUSINESS A. Discuss SLMPD Joint Powers Agreement Term City Administrator Nevinski noted that the Council had approved the SLMPD Joint Powers Agreement at their June 26, 2023 meeting. He noted that the Excelsior City Council met during a work session that same evening to discuss the agreement and explained that his understanding was that they are in agreement with the terms of the agreement, with the exception of the twenty year term and are instead proposing a ten year term. He stated that Excelsior's thought process is that that policing is changing, and will continue to change in the future and they want to ensure that there is the opportunity to review the JPA and felt that a twenty year term was too long. He noted that they would actually prefer a shorter period than ten years, but have offered that as a compromise. He explained that the Coordinating Committee for the SLMPD will meet on Wednesday evening and noted that it would be helpful if they had some input from the Council on how they felt about the ten year term for the JPA. He stated that no action was needed on this CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 10, 2023 Page 3 of 6 item, but were looking for some direction from the Council to take back to the Coordinating Committee. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies stated that the Council had discussed that at their last meeting. She explained that she felt the twenty year term was appropriate in order to have adequate planning for a successful police department. Councilmember Sanschagrin stated that he would completely agree and stated that during the meeting there was agreement from all the cities, except Excelsior, to have no limit and to leave the JPA in place unless someone brought up an issue. He noted that Chief Tholen gave a great explanation about the value of having a longer agreement. He stated that he has asked Chief Tholen how he felt about the proposed ten year term and while it was not his preference, he told him he would encourage the other cities to support it, in the interest of having a working JPA. Councilmember Zerby asked how long the original JPA term had been. City Administrator Nevinski stated that he believes that they were on the fourth or fifth version of the JPA and stated that it began in 2003 and ran through the term of the bonds for the Public Safety building which are being paid off this year. He explained that this meant that by the end of the year, the current JPA will cease. Councilmember Zerby stated that this JPA had essentially been in place for twenty years. He asked about the status of the current approvals that have been voted on by the member cities. City Administrator Nevinski stated that he was not sure about the exact status, but noted that there had been support from the working group for the JPA that was included in the packet. Councilmember Zerby confirmed that Excelsior was asking all of the member cities to consider a ten year term for the JPA rather than a twenty year term. He stated that he would agree with the point shared by Councilmember Sanschagrin that it is very helpful to keep the police force strong which is difficult when there is a shorter term for the JPA. He stated that he would not be in favor of changing the terms to ten years and would like to keep it at twenty. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies stated that she agreed and questioned what Excelsior's motivation was in this situation. She stated that even if policing does change, there will still be a police force in place. She stated that she feels the SLMPD has been a good department and feels that a shorter term may cause problems with retention of officers who may believe they will be out of a job in ten years at the end of the term. Councilmember Maddy noted that Excelsior pays for about a quarter of the Department's expenses and Shorewood pays for a little over one-half. He noted that Excelsior generates about 34% of incident calls and asked how much negotiation power the City of Excelsior actually had in this situation. He asked if there was a way to get a quote from Hennepin County Sheriff's Office to see how much they would charge to take over policing in Excelsior and compare it to what they are paying for being part of the SLMPD. He stated that he did not believe that Excelsior would have the capacity to leave the JPA without having a substantial increase in their costs. City Administrator Nevinski stated that they can look into getting that information but noted that he believed that Hennepin County was also stretched for officers and may not even have the capacity to take on that extra coverage. He explained that he did not believe that there was a CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 10, 2023 Page 4 of 6 desire by Excelsior to leave the JPA, but explained that they do appear to be fairly adamant about the desire for a ten year term, which they view as a compromise. Councilmember Maddy stated that it appears as though Excelsior's only argument is that `policing is changing' and the JPA may not reflect what policing will look like in twenty years. He stated that he is skeptical of their mindset because the member cities can renegotiate their contract any time they would like so he did not understand how they felt their hands would be tied with a twenty year term rather than a ten year term. Councilmember Sanschagrin stated that he believed that Excelsior feels that if there is a term it creates an automatic inertia to negotiate the agreement. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies stated that the member cities had agreed to shorten the look back terms for the financials. She stated that they are saying that they do not want to leave the JPA, but are taking a strong position on the term length, which feels like a contradiction to her. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked how much time they had to conclude the agreement and what would happen if an agreement was not reached. City Administrator Nevinski stated that he was not entirely sure but would think it would have back on the table for additional discussions and reflection on how important the terms are to the member cities. He stated that, in general, it may re -open the contract and the more that happens, the more complicated it will get. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies noted that the existing JPA is valid through the end of the year so there is still a bit of time. Councilmember Sanschagrin reiterated his question about what would happen if there is no agreement by the end of the JPA. City Administrator Nevinski stated that technically there would not be an agreement so there may be the possibility, for example, of continuing under the same agreement terms and work towards a resolution over a period of six months. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies suggested that, rather than speculating on what could happen if an agreement is not reached, they communicate the position of the Council to stick with a twenty year term. Councilmember Maddy suggested that Excelsior be asked to provide a better argument, if they had one, besides what they have already presented about policing changing. Councilmember Zerby stated that it appears as though this was thoroughly discussed already by the Coordinating Committee and noted that they also recommended the twenty year term. 9. STAFF AND COUNCIL REPORTS A. Staff Parks and Recreation Director Crossfield reminded the Council that Concert it the Park was coming up later in the month. She noted that in August there will be Safety Camp as well as CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 10, 2023 Page 5 of 6 Movie in the Park and noted that additional information on those events could be found on the City's website and their Facebook page. She stated that Oktoberfest sponsorship forms will be available on City's website later this evening. Public Works Director Morreim noted that there was some additional work yet to be completed on Timber Lane due to the voids. He noted that both traffic lanes are reopened and the roadway is safe and the voids have been taken care of but they still have some work to do on the shoreline to find a permanent solution so this does not happen again. He stated that there had also been graffiti at Cathcart over the Fourth of July holiday which has been covered up thanks to a generous donation of time by M Carlson Painting. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked if they understood what had caused the voids. Public Works Director Morreim explained that there are some critters that live along the lake that they have witnessed who basically `set up shop' there and went a significant distance into the road. He stated that they had first noticed it because they literally came up through the pavement. He stated that he expects final restoration to happen sometime next year. Councilmember Zerby noted that he had seen a recent news story about a city who was dealing with graffiti and one of their solutions was to bring art to the projects and suggested that the City consider that type of approach. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies noted that she believed that approach had already been suggested by Park and Recreation Director Crossfield. Planning Director Darling stated that she had been working with the Met Council on their population estimates for the City and gave an overview of what they were planning to do to more accurately reflect the cities growth/population. She stated that the City did not receive the outdoor recreation grant for Freeman Park trail project and will need to be funded with park dedication funds. She noted that the bid opening is scheduled for Wednesday and staff will bring that information to the Council at their next meeting. Mayor Pro-Tem Callies asked about the reasons accurate census information was important to the City. Planning Director Darling explained that there are a number of funding mechanisms that kick in when certain population points are reached so accuracy was important. B. Mayor and City Council Councilmember Sanschagrin stated that he and Councilmember Maddy will be at a Veteran's event on July 11, 2023 at Howard's Point Marina at noon and invited anyone interested to join them. Councilmember Maddy noted that one thing that had been included on the Consent Agenda that he wanted to draw attention was that Public Works Director Morreim has been with the City for six months and has done such a good job that the City wanted to keep him around. CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 10, 2023 Page 6 of 6 Mayor Pro -Tern Callies stated that she had been biking on a Hennepin County trail this past weekend and rode past the Smithtown Pond area. She noted that she thought it looked great and felt that it will be a nice amenity for the City when it is completed. 10. ADJOURN Maddy moved, Sanschagrin seconded, Adjourning the City Council Regular Meeting of July 10, 2023, at 7:37 P.M. Motion passed. t ATTEST: NMI, L iu� J nifer Labadie, Mayor Sandie Thone, City Clerk