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07-08-24 CC Reg Mtg MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MONDAY, JULY 8, 2024 MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 7:00 P.M. Mayor Labadie called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. A. Pledge of Allegiance B. Roll Call Present. Mayor Labadie; Councilmembers Callies, Maddy, Sanschagrin, and Zerby; City Attorney Shepherd; City Administrator Nevinski; Planning Director Darling; Director of Public Works Morreim; Park and Recreation Manager Czech; and, SLMPD Chief Tholen Absent: None C. Review Agenda Sanschagrin moved, Maddy seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed. 2. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Labadie reviewed the items on the Consent Agenda. She noted that she wanted to point out that for item A., the Council had met in a Closed Session in order to review the performance of the City Administrator. She stated that the Council concluded that they were pleased with his performance, felt he was approachable, active in the community, and provides solid leadership to the organization. She stated that the Council had asked City Administrator Nevinski to prioritize enhancing communications, engaging with the community, and improving organizational processes. Zerby moved, Maddy seconded, Approving the Motions Contained on the Consent Agenda and Adopting the Resolutions Therein. A. City Council Work Session Minutes of June 24, 2024 B. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of June 24, 2024 C. Approval of the Verified Claims List D. Approve Water Efficiency Rebate Grant Agreement, Adopting RESOLUTION NO. 24-054, "A Resolution Approving 2024-2026 Water Efficiency Rebate Grant Program Funds from Metropolitan Council Environmental Services." CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 2 of 10 E. Approve Cooperative Agreement Regarding Hwy 7 Safe Road Zone Grant Projects F. Approve WAC Assessment Agreement 6090 Apple Road, Adopting RESOLUTION NO. 24-055, "A Resolution Approving and Adopting a Special Assessment." Motion passed. 3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR John Hasselbach 26350 Peach Circle noted they live adjacent to the cut that was put in from Strawberry Lane to the stormwater retention ponds. He stated that he had addressed the Council last fall and had asked for some resolution to stop people from coming through there with something like a fence. He stated that the fence has been installed and looks fantastic so he wanted to thank the Council and City Engineer Budde for participating in helping them resolve this issue. Lee Nill 5885 Eureka Road indicated that he had spoken to a few people at the City about speeding on Eureka and various streets throughout the City. He stated that what he had handed out to the Council may be premature, but the State has made speed monitors that would legally send out a ticket. He stated that his request to the City and the SLMPD is to keep an eye on that situation. He explained that his understanding is that Minneapolis and Mendota Heights were experimenting with this new speed monitor and noted that he felt it may be useful to the City in the future. Mayor Labadie thanked Mr. Nill for the information and asked for his permission to distribute it to other mayors at the Police Coordinating Committee meeting later in the week. Mr. Nill stated that he did not mind if she submitted the information to other individuals. Barry Brown, 6050 Burlwood Court, stated that he was confused because there appeared to be some inconsistencies in public communications versus actual actions by the City. He explained that in last weeks Strawberry Lane publication from Bolton and Menk, there was a bold bulletin item regarding herbicides that stated, "BeeSafe community guidelines do not allow contractors working on City projects to apply herbicides for weed control." He stated that this is inconsistent and requires some explanation for the residents because recently, the Council had approved six herbicide applications by Greener Blade, for the soccer fields in Freeman Park. He stated that on February 13, 2024 City Administrator Nevinski sent an e-mail to himself, City Engineer Budde, and Councilmember Zerby regarding the easement grading failure between Burlwood Court and Maple Leaf Circle during the Smithtown Ponds project which had a statement that said, "The area was surveyed and found to be about one foot higher than prior to the project. The contractor will correct this and will also regrade the area up to the gravel trail." He stated that on June 24, 2024, following the Council meeting, the City Engineer had informed him that the contractor will not be regrading the area up to the gravel trail. He explained that his question for the Council was who was in charge. He stated that City Engineer Budde had also informed City Administrator Nevinski and himself that the wooded area of Freeman Park was declared a wetland by the State and the City would never be able to get permission to re -stone the paths in the woods. He noted that the very next day, Public Works employees were placing stone on the trails which also makes him wonder. He stated that if it was true that the City would never be able to get permission from the CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 3 of 10 State, he questioned how the trails that run along the ponds and the trails south of Smithtown Ponds got raised and repaved with limestone. He questioned, as a wetland, whether the City thought that the State or the DNR would allow the City to spray harmful chemicals over the entire area, multiple times, in an attempt to eliminate the buckthorn. He asked the Council when `never' actually meant never or if it was just a convenient message or excuse. He stated that he hoped that the Council could appreciate the frustrations from the residents regarding their communication versus their actions. He asked the Council not to forget that they work for the residents of the City. He stated that he has been told that Freeman Park's wooded area is the responsibility of the Park and Recreation Director, but when reviewing the Park Tour maintenance items to be discussed at the upcoming Park Commission meeting, there was no mention of the buckthorn eradication and asked if it had been removed as a priority for the City. He stated that there does not seem to be any devotion to the parks natural areas and he feels that should be fixed. 4. REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS A. South Lake Minnetonka Police Department 2025 Budget SLMPD Chief Tholen gave an overview on the proposed 2025 budget for the SLMPD which includes an increase of nine point three percent. He reviewed details included in the budget for increases in salary, health insurance, PERA, disability benefits, repairs/maintenance, and capital plans/vehicle lease. He reviewed the positions proposed to be added to the department. He explained that the City had received Public Safety Aid Funds in 2023, and he was asking for a portion of those funds to be used for body worn cameras for the officers and also squad computers. He reviewed some of the reasons for increases and decreases shown within the proposed budget and outlined some of the choices he had made to attempt to offset the budget increases as much as possible. He outlined some of the hiring challenges they have had and noted that he did not believe that they would be fully staffed in 2025. He reviewed the contractual increases that they are expecting related to salaries; PERA; health insurance; disability benefits; liability/casualty insurance; software, radio fees; training and tuition reimbursement; and vehicle leases. He explained that the contractual increases equate to an overall increase of eleven point size percent, but noted that these increases account for an eighty-seven point six percent in the budget and the remainder of the increases can be attributed to their operational increases. He gave details behind the desire and benefits of adding a fourth Sergeant and a part-time Administrative Assistant. He outlined the requested contribution from the member cities of the Public Safety Aid Funds that were received for the body worn cameras and the squad computers. He explained that the City's contribution would be fifty thousand, seven hundred seven dollars and eighty-seven cents. He reviewed the grants that the SLMPD had applied for and awarded to the SLMPD since 2022. Councilmember Zerby asked if there were reserve funds that could be used to help offset the budget increase. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that there were not reserve funds available for that use and explained that fund was getting depleted. He stated that he wanted to make sure that they would be able to build it back up and noted that in past years they have not been fully staffed and they always had extra money because of that. He noted that recently they have been at one hundred percent with their salaries and reiterated that the reserve fund needed to be built back up. He explained that he had pulled twenty -thousand dollars out of it in order to offset this year's budget. CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 4 of 10 Councilmember Zerby stated that he knows that, in the past, they had talked about using some of the so-called `Covid money' for some of the equipment and asked if other equipment had already been purchased with those funds. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that was before his time, but from what he has been told, the SLMPD received nothing from any of the member cities of the `Covid money'. City Administrator Nevinski noted that SLMPD Chief Tholen had mentioned the Public Safety Aid dollars that the legislature had authorized in 2023. He stated that the proposal is to use those funds to pay for the body cameras and the squad computers. He noted that there are lots of different pots of money out there and he just wanted to try to clarify that point. He explained that all of the member cities can decide how they want to apply their Public Safety Aid funds and the City has talked about taking a portion of theirs and applying it to this particular capital expense outlined by SLMPD Chief Tholen. He stated that the City would still have Public Safety Aid dollars available and depending on how the City's budget numbers come in, they may decide they want to use some of those to help offset some of the operations. Councilmember Zerby noted that the budget presented by SLMPD Chief Tholen seemed to reinforce that they are building a strong and solid police department, but does not appear to expand its scope at all. He stated that the number one thing that has been heard from Shorewood residents is related to speeding and patrolling and asked if that would change by adding the additional sergeant. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that he believes it would change and noted that they are retaining officers and would be adding an officer to the street. He noted that they currently have an open application and have interviewed four individuals, but explained that he would rather run short staffed than hire someone who would not be a quality officer. He stated that this budget would allow them to continue their progression forward that they have had, but just more slowly. He noted that the budget adds more equipment that will help the officers be more efficient. Councilmember Zerby noted that they have doubled their DWIs since last year. He stated that in the past, DWIs were usually processed by the County which required an officer to go into Minneapolis in order to get them processed, which would also take them off the street for a considerable amount of time. He asked if that was still how the DWIs were processed. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that they process all of the DWIs at the Department now and the majority are released. He noted that they have a system that allows the reserve officers or CSOs to transport them to Minneapolis booking, which is what they do, if the individual is cooperative. He reiterated that all of the DWIs are processed at the Department so they are not running to Minneapolis as often as they used to. Councilmember Zerby asked if the SLMPD was using the holding facility. SLMPD Chief Tholen confirmed that they were using the holding facility as much as they can, up to four hours. He explained that they can release those drivers to a sober adult which many of them are because they are not mandatory court. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked if the part-time Administrative Assistant would help to increase officer capacity by removing some of the paperwork duties. CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 5 of 10 SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that the officers really do not touch the type of paperwork that this individual would be handling. He noted that this position may take some of the responsibilities off of the detectives, but not the officers in the street. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked if there was anything the City could do to make policing more efficient for the Department. He gave examples of inconsistencies in codes among the cities, e- bike issues, speeding, or mental health issues. He noted that this may not be something that can happen at this meeting but suggested that Chief Tholen consider having a dialogue with the cities about what they can look at to help the officers do their job. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that he can touch on two of the things listed off by Councilmember Sanschagrin. He stated that related to e-bikes, the State was not helpful for them this year in passing something enforceable. He noted that the City of Excelsior and the City of Greenwood have added an ordinance that would require riders under eighteen years of age to have helmets and no riders. He noted that the no passenger rule is actually a State statute, so adding some enforcement action and safety for the e-bikes would be helpful for the Department. He stated that he would also say `yes' to the consistency with ordinances because all four cities have different ordinances and they end up looking and borders to try to determine which ordinance they can enforce. He stated that those two things would really help efficiency. He stated that things like mental wellness are on a call by call basis and having the social worker embedded with them has really been helpful. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked if Chief Tholen looked at traffic visibility at all. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that would be more Public Works but noted that they do look at speed and have a similar system to what the City uses to monitor speeds. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked if he had any other concerns with safety. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that speed is obviously one concern and noted that he wished he could put officers on Eureka or Smithtown every day. He explained that they have really concentrated on the beginning of the school year to kind of set the tone. He stated that he was also concerned about a -bikes and has been surprised that they have not had a major injury or accident. Councilmember Sanschagrin stated that he and Chief Tholen had talked a bit about his opinion that the speed monitoring systems were pretty effective in getting traffic to slow down and asked if he had further recommendations about them. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that he believes in them and stated that the signs are also helpful, even for him, because sometimes he does not know he is going thirty-five miles per hour. He reviewed the locations that the City has these systems and reiterated that they do help because in his experience, most people are not aware that they are speeding. Councilmember Callies noted that she had not realized the number of vehicle leases the Department had and asked if the Department owns any of the squad cars or if they were all leased. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that he believes they own one or two vehicles and have been slowly selling them once they get to a certain age and replacing them with leases. He noted that he CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 6 of 10 believes it is a five year lease with Enterprise and explained that they are looking at something different since there have been pricing increases. He stated that there was a vehicle shortage a few years ago and Enterprise has some good buying power so they were not having to do what other police departments were having to do such as, drive to Texas and then drive a car back up. He stated that Fire Chief Mackey was kind of head of that program, but reiterated that he thinks they will look at doing something different because it is getting expensive. He stated that they own one or two of the thirteen vehicles in their fleet and are using one of their forfeited vehicles for the Drug Task Force that they got through Hennepin County. Councilmember Callies stated that she heard somewhere that if somebody is going to be away from their home that they can call the Police Department and an officer will drive by or check on the house. She asked how often that was being used by residents. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that it was being used, confirmed that the officers do house checks, and noted that he wished more people would use this service. Mayor Labadie stated that she has sat in on numerous meetings with the Coordinating Committee which consists of the four mayors of the member cities and noted that City Administrator Nevinski had also sat in on numerous budgetary meetings. She stated that Chief Tholen was correct that the original proposal was over twelve point five percent, so it has been pared down. She stated that after sitting in on these meetings she feels like the City cannot go lower than the proposed increase of nine point three percent without losing services, losing personnel, jeopardizing necessary safety equipment purchases, or the possibility of not luring new candidates to the open positions. She clarified that no action was required by the Council at this time, but the Coordinating Committee is meeting later this week and under the terms of the JPA they need to look in the budget by September 1, 2024. She stated that this matter will be called for a vote on July 10, 2024 and would like the Council to provide her with the direction that they feel the City should go so she can vote appropriately and suggested that the Council approve the proposed budget, as presented. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked what had been eliminated in order to get to the proposed increase down to nine point three percent. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that he believes the majority of the difference in where they began to the current proposal is the one officer position, removal of some computers, and some delayed some building maintenance. Councilmember Callies asked if the Coordinating Committee would vote on this later in the week if Mayor Labadie would then come back to the full Council and recommend approval. Mayor Labadie noted that it would come back to the Council. City Administrator Nevinski stated that there have been significant increases in Public Safety for fire and police and believes that the reasons for those have been well documented. He stated that he was hopeful that there will be consensus at their meeting later this week so they can bring back a final version of the budget to all of the member cities. Councilmember Zerby stated that he was fine with the budget, as is, and believes it has been well thought out. He explained that his concern is that he wants their community to be safe and there are some places within the City that he felt could have more policing. He stated that there have CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 7 of 10 been some issues lately with vandalism in the parks and frequent comments related to speeding and lack of visibility on the streets which he would like to see addressed. He stated that if there is some point where the budget incorporates some of those kinds of changes for the future, he would wholeheartedly like to see that. Councilmember Maddy stated that whenever he hears about deferred maintenance it makes him cringe a bit because they will have to pay for it sooner or later. He stated that he gets a bit concerned about some of the stuff they are doing to keep the increase under ten percent. He explained that he had worked very closely with the police department in a different city and watched the bottom fall out and is happy that they are mostly fully staffed and still have good response times. He stated that the proposed budget was also fine with him. Councilmember Callies stated that she agreed and was in support of the proposed budget. Mayor Labadie asked if Shorewood was the last City to receive Chief Tholen's presentation. SLMPD Chief Tholen stated that Shorewood is actually the first City he has presented to, but anticipated that he would go to all member cities with this presentation. Councilmember Sanschagrin stated that one thing he thought may be helpful to include in the presentation was some comparative data on how the Department compares with other cities, such as information related to costs per call or cost per household, because he thinks that may help the conversation. SLMPD Chief Tholen thanked the Council for their support and giving him guidance and feedback. 5. PARKS 6. PLANNING 7. ENGINEERING/PUBLIC WORKS 8. GENERAL/NEW BUSINESS A. Approve Planner Job Description City Administrator Nevinski gave an overview of the conversations and process surrounding the proposal to modify the staffing model in the Planning .Department and make a change from Planning Technician to Planner. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked how many years of experiencing the City would be targeting for the Planner position. City Administrator Nevinski stated that they are looking at somewhere in the three to five year range. Councilmember Callies stated that is not much experience and asked if staff had a sense for the market for this kind of position. CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 8 of 10 Planning Director Darling stated that she has heard, anecdotally, that other cities are just generally having trouble filling entry level of mid -level planning positions. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked if the City moves forward with more of a junior planner, what that would mean for having this position take on more of the consulting for things like the code write-up. Planning Director Darling stated that they have asked for a few years of experience that would give them enough experience to have at least gone through the code revision process and they can be split up into priorities as well. She gave the example of situations where just a few small changes needed to be made to a specific area of code could be something this individual takes on and then she could work with the more complicated portions. City Administrator Nevinski noted that the current Planning Technician position is, in many ways, very administrative and is not very heavy on things like reviewing simple land use applications. He stated that the City had added a part-time administrative person at the beginning of the year who has done a fantastic job of really doing a lot of those administrative type tasks. He explained that had kind of doubled up on duties with the Planning Technician and now the City has the opportunity to relieve some of the simple, straight forward tasks that Planning Director Darling ends up doing so she will be able to devote more time to more complex issues and noted that he believed that in many respects, they will end up having better customer service. He stated that he thinks it kind of spreads out the work load in a more equitable fashion and puts tasks in the right talent bucket or right experience bucket. Councilmember Sanschagrin noted that he had reviewed the knowledge, skills, and abilities section of the description and fully agreed that writing skills and verbal communication skills are very important. He asked about the plans for assessing those skills in the interview process. Planning Director Darling explained that she had asked for writing samples along with their applications. She stated that she thinks that verbal communications skills should become apparent during the interview process. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked if they would also be asking for references. Planning Director Darling noted that asking for references was common within the application. City Administrator Nevinski stated that generally they will ask for references but noted that sometimes it can be a bit hit or miss in the information that they can gather. Councilmember Zerby stated that he likes the new job description and thinks it is the right position to help the Planning Department. Councilmember Callies asked about the timing of filling the position if it was posted this week. City Administrator Nevinski stated that, generally, they will post it for roughly three weeks and explained that the general timeline from the time of posting to a hire is usually around three months. Zerby moved, Callies seconded, Approving the Proposed Planner position description, classification, and recruitment, as presented. CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 9 of 10 Motion passed. 9. STAFF AND COUNCIL REPORTS A. Staff Park and Recreation Manager Czech reminded the Council that it is National Parks and Recreation month and gave a shout out to the City's Recreational Specialist, Stephany Vasser, who has been fabulous during his brief time with the City. He stated that the Park/Rec Bingo was live and encouraged everyone to get out and do a challenge. He noted that he also wanted to give a shout out to Public Works Director Morreim and his team for being the ones out making sure the City's parks are usable and looking good. He stated that the Concert in the Park will be July 11, 2024 at Freeman Park and encouraged everyone to stop by. Public Works Director Morreim stated that their water meter replacement project started back up last week and noted that City staff is planning to go door to door to help communicate with residents. He stated that there are still about one -hundred and sixty people that need to schedule their replacements. He noted that a majority of the Public Works staff was either patching pot holes, trimming trees, cutting up trees, maintaining drainage, or cutting grass. Councilmember Zerby stated that he had been watching See, Click, Fix and wanted to thank Public Works Director Morreim for his responses. He stated that the number of issues that were brought forward and resolved in a timely manner has been incredible. He thanked Public Works Director Morreim for his leadership and the Public Works staff for their work. He asked if all six City wells were working. Public Works Director Morreim stated that they are all working, but they do not always run every day, especially when people are not irrigating as much. Planning Director Darling noted that City has received an `after the fact' variance application for a family on Ridge Road. City Administrator Nevinski stated that the City is talking with a few internet providers that are looking to deploy in the City. B. Mayor and City Council Councilmember Zerby stated that he wanted to report that he and his wife had the pleasure of walking through the Smithtown Ponds project at the `golden hour' which was lovely. He stated that felt that the plantings that they have done there are doing well and liked that the trail system meandered through the area so they were able to see ducks on one of the ponds. He stated that seeing this while other cities are flooding or having dams burst made him proud that Shorewood has built a system that is working during what he thinks is a real trial with the amount of rain they have had this year. He stated that he really thinks it is a nice extension of the park and encouraged others to go take a look at it. Councilmember Maddy stated that he attended the League of Minnesota Cities Annual Conference last week and noted that he was thankful to part of that organization. CITY OF SHOREWOOD REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JULY 8, 2024 Page 10 of 10 Councilmember Callies stated that since it is Park and Recreation Month, she wanted to say what a good job she thought Park and Recreation Manager Czech did with the Park Tours, especially being new on the scene. Mayor Labadie stated that she also wanted to give a shout out to Park and Recreation Manager Czech because she believes he has done a really good job at fielding difficult questions and educating the public and the Council, considering the short timeframe he has been with the City. She stated that she would also like to give a shout to Tiffany King, Director of the Chamber of Commerce in Excelsior, who made the very difficult decision to move the fireworks a day earlier than planned. She stated that she felt that SLMPD, Excelsior Fire District, and the County Sheriff's did a great job that night. She stated that she had also attended the League of Minnesota Cities conference last week and would echo the comments made by Councilmember Maddy. 10. ADJOURN Sanschagrin moved, Zerby seconded, Adjourning the City Council Regular Meeting of July 8, 2024, at 8:22 P.M.