DEEPHAVEN CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2007

MINUTES

 

 

1.                  CALL MEETING TO ORDER:  Mayor Skrede called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

 

PRESENT:      Mayor Paul Skrede, Councilmembers John Wheaton, Kim Crockett and Keith Kask

 

ABSENT:       Councilmember Steve Adams

 

STAFF:           Police Chief Cory Johnson, Zoning Coordinator Gus Karpas and City Administrator

                        Dana Young

 

2.                  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

The Council recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

3.                  APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA

 

Motion by Councilmember Crockett to approve the Consent Agenda, consisting of the following items:

 

A.    Minutes of July 16, 2007

B.     August Verifieds

C.     Approval of a Temporary Non-Intoxicating Malt Liquor License for St. Therese Church for October 6, 2007

 

Seconded by Councilmember Kask.  Motion carried 4-0.

 

4.                  MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR

 

Pat Florance, 3920 Walden Shores Road, was present to state her appreciation to the Council for their decision to establish ten-year lease limits on new dock permits.

 

5.                  PLANNING & ZONING REQUEST

 

A.          Variance – David & Ruth Duffy, 18605 Northome Boulevard (R-3, 20,000).  A request to

Demolish an existing entry ramp and construct a new front entryway addition within the required front yard setback.  The requested variance is to encroach fifteen feet, four inches into the required thirty-five foot front yard setback.

 

Zoning Coordinator Karpas reviewed his staff report.  He said the request is to demolish an existing entrance ramp and construct a new front entry onto the existing home, which would encroach fifteen feet, four inches into the required front yard setback.  As part of the project, the applicants would reconfigure the roofline on the front of the home to tie in the new entryway.  The proposed entryway will change the egress from the east side of the home to the front of the home.

 

The applicant has submitted a survey including the structures on either side of their home showing that the proposed entryway would not be located closer to the street than the adjacent structures.

 

Karpas said he recommended approval of the request saying that any structural alteration on the front portion of the home would require a variance, that the request was reasonable, that the circumstances causing the need for the variance were not created by the homeowners and that the proposed alteration would not change the essential character of the neighborhood.

 

He said the Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the request.

 

Mayor Skrede opened the request for public comment, hearing none; the public hearing was closed.

 

Councilmember Crockett moved to approve the variance request to encroach fifteen feet, four inches into the required thirty-five foot front yard setback for the proposed front entryway, as presented, at 18605 Northome Boulevard, in accordance with the recommendations of the Planning Commission and City Staff. A hardship exists in the condition of the current entrance ramp, the placement of the structure on the lot and that the request would not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.  Seconded by Councilmember Wheaton.  Motion carried ­­­4-0.

 

6.                  NEW BUSINESS

 

A.                Review Request for 2008 Funding from Senior Community Services

 

Administrator Young stated that Senior Community Services and the Friends of the SouthShore Center are requesting interim funding in the amount of $42,602.00 from the five participating cities of Deephaven, Tonka Bay, Shorewood, Greenwood and Excelsior for 2008.  Each city would contribute its share according to their ownership percentage in the SouthShore Center, which would total $9,564.15 for the City of Deephaven in 2008.

 

He stated that discussions regarding SouthShore funding first began a couple of years ago with Ben Withhart, Executive Director of SCS, who was interested in having the five participating cities fund a greater portion of SCS’s operating costs at the SouthShore Center.  The cities have typically provided  funding of about $16,500.00 per year to SCS with the remainder of their costs subsidized through funding SCS received from the Met Council for their “Dial-a-Ride” program.

 

He stated that ongoing funding discussions with both SCS and Friends began in earnest this year and  intensified after SCS learned that the Met Council awarded their Lake Minnetonka Area “Dial-a-Ride” program to a competitor.  With that loss in revenue, the SCS Board has agreed to authorize the use of agency reserve funds until October 31, 2007 to continue their operations at the Center to provide time for a local funding plan to be developed.  The Interim Funding Proposal for 2008 has been submitted by SCS and the Friends to provide “bridge funding” through 2008 until the cities can develop a proposal for long term funding beyond 2008. 

 

Mayor Skrede stated that there have been 7 or 9 meetings with SCS, the Friends and city representatives until a funding proposal was finally submitted for review.  He stated that the Friends are obligated to raise $25,000.00 as part of the interim funding proposal.  He stated that one of his several concerns over this proposal is that SCS has not made a funding commitment for 2008 and he was uncertain as to what SCS’s position would be if the Friends were only able to raise $10,000.00 instead of $25,000.00 next year.  He stated that the entire contributions from the cities in 2008 would go to the Friends for the maintenance of the building and noted that the 1996 Cooperative Agreement between the cities would have to be amended to reflect the substantial change in the Friends role.

 

Mayor Skrede stated that included within tonight’s Council packet is a proposal from MCE that outlined their proposed use of the Senior Center for a combination of senior and community activities.

He stated that he had met with Tim Litfin, Director of Minnetonka Community Education, to see if MCE had any interest in expanding activities for the senior population.  He stated that he thought it might be a good fit for the cities, the seniors and for MCE but the Friends informed Mr. Litfin that they preferred to remain with SCS for 2008.  He added that there are a lot of details that still need to be resolved regarding the interim funding proposal and the Council can choose to either commit to the funding proposal for 2008 now or wait until all the details have been finalized.

 

Councilmember Crockett stated that she believes the City should protect our investment in the asset, which is the SouthShore Center.  She stated that one of her main goals of the senior center is to encourage seniors to keep their homes as long as possible.  Mayor Skrede stated that there is a HOME Program offered at the Minnetonka Senior Center but not at the SouthShore Center.  He stated that SCS provides the current array of services at the Center and periodically adds new programming for the seniors.

 

Councilmember Kask stated that these year to year discussions regarding the SouthShore Center never seem to get resolved.  He stated that he doesn’t want to get into programming at the Senior Center and would be supportive of the interim funding proposal for another year to help to maintain the Center.  He agreed that there needs to be a long term funding solution.

 

Administrator Young suggested that the City Council could make their approval of the 2008 interim funding proposal contingent on resolving several of the outstanding issues discussed this evening.

 

Motion by Mayor Skrede to support the request from SCS and Friends of the SouthShore Center subject to:

1.      A written commitment from the SCS Board to cover any financial shortfall incurred in operating the Center during 2008 or expenses exceed the funds available from the Friends Board.

2.      Written clarification of SCS’s position on the provision of services through 2008 upon the cities approval of the interim funding proposal.

3.      All of the contributions from the cities in 2008 must go towards maintenance of the building or to a maintenance reserve fund.

4.      The interim funding proposal must be approved by all five cities.

5.      The additional fundraising effort of the Friends must be net revenue over and above their existing fundraising results which will then be “matched” by the five cities up to a maximum of $25,000.00.

6.      Appropriate amendments are made to the 1996 Cooperative Agreement, including the defining the Friends Board role regarding managing staffing, salaries and benefits.

7.      The Shorewood purchase provision in the cooperative agreement must address future value/equity of the building and timely payment to the five cities in the event of a sale.

   

Seconded by Councilmember Crockett.  Motion carried 4-0.

 

 

 

 

 

B.                 Approve 2008 Fire District Operating Budget

 

Councilmember Crockett stated that the District Operating Budget has increased from a $600,000 budget in 2006, to a $650,000 budget in 2007 and now is proposed to increase 11.5% to $725,000 in 2008. 

 

Mayor Skrede agreed that the budget has increased 10-12% per year the last few years and asked if the Fire Board had a sense of where the budget was going in the future.

 

Councilmember Crockett stated that the Fire Chief has made it clear that the budget would continue to increase until the Fire District become more fully funded in several critical areas.  She stated that she has asked the Chief to develop specific costs on future projections.  She stated that past budgets have not been accurate and have resulted in the budget being constantly under funded.  She stated that Chief Gerber has developed a proposed 2008 Operating Budget that should be much more accurate in estimating actual expenses.  She added that she is also concerned about the City’s ability to fund the District on an on-going basis but that a prior Council has made a deal to establish the District and it is a deal we have to live with.

 

Councilmember Kask stated that the costs of the District are naturally higher due to the replacement of the former fire station.  He stated that the days of paying $50,000.00 per year for fire services are over.  He stated that in his review of the 2008 budget he couldn’t see any major savings in the budget that would lower the budget in any meaningful way.

 

Councilmember Crockett stated that the budget we are reviewing this evening primarily includes two changes from what was presented to the Council earlier.  She stated that $35,000.00 in technology funding has been eliminated from the 2008 Capital Equipment Plan in exchange for adding approximately $18,500.00 in technology upgrades to the 2008 Operating Budget.  The second change was the inclusion of a fiscal agent back into the budget and a reduction in the amount of staffing costs.

 

Mayor Skrede stated that he is amazed by the inability of the five cities to set a fixed increase in the Fire District budget.  He noted that he could easily remove $30,000.00 from the 2008 Operating Budget by eliminating the $10,000.00 donation to the Fire Relief Association, which he felt was not necessary, eliminating annual increases in Fire Officer salaries, and further decreases in the technology sector.

 

Councilmember Crockett stated that it should certainly be the goal of the cities and the Fire Board to set hard goals for the budget in the future and inquired if the Council would like to act on the proposed 2008 Operating Budget as presented.  

 

Motion by Councilmember Kask to approve the 2008 District Operating Budget as presented in the amount of $1,471,871.00.  Seconded by Councilmember Wheaton.  Mayor Skrede opposed.  Motion carried 3-1.

 

Mayor Skrede recessed the meeting at 8:55 p.m. to enable the LMCC technician to insert a new tape in the recorder.  The meeting reconvened at 8:57 p.m.

 

 

 

 

C.                Authorize Hiring Two Employees for the Public Works Maintenance Position

 

Administrator Young stated that the Public Works Committee has recommended that the City Council authorize hiring two new employees in the Public Works Department to replace both Owen Fuglseth, who retired on June 29, 2007 and Doug Lawver, who intends to retire on January 7, 2008.  The Committee believes that hiring a second employee now would eliminate the necessity of having to conduct a second hiring process in October and it would provide a valuable opportunity for additional employee training.  He stated that hiring a second Public Works employee now rather than waiting until the beginning of December would cost an additional $13,300 in salary and benefits. 

 

Mayor Skrede noted that this additional expense would be partially offset by $12,300.00 in unanticipated revenue that the City received recently from the sale of the tax-exempt bonds to Excelsior Covenant Church.

 

Motion by Councilmember Wheaton to authorize hiring two employees for the Public Works Department to replace Owen Fuglseth, who retired on June 29, 2007, and Doug Lawver, who intends to retire in January 2008.  Seconded by Councilmember Kask.  Motion carried 4-0.

 

The Council requested that Administrator Young obtain a letter of resignation from Doug Lawver prior to hiring the second employee.

 

D.        Other

 

Councilmember Wheaton stated that the Park Committee has recently reviewed a landscaping proposal for Paddle Park and is looking for direction from the City Council regarding parking spaces at the proposed park.  He stated that the Committee has initially recommended that there be approximately 10-15 parking spaces that would not require permit parking and that would not accommodate trailer parking.

 

Councilmember Kask stated his concern that the development of Paddle Park might hinder future public work activities or use as the area as a staging area for seal coating, a disposal site following a storm or for the parking of large public works vehicles.  He stated that he would hate to give up the flexibility that this site affords our public works department.

 

The Council requested that the Public Works Committee review the Paddle Park proposal and submit  their recommendations on the future space needs the public works department might have for this site by the August 20th Council meeting.

 

7.                  DEPARTMENT REPORTS

 

A.                Police Department

 

Police Chief Cory Johnson provided an update on the “National Night Out”, which will be held tomorrow evening.

 

B.                 Excelsior Fire District

 

There was nothing new to report concerning the Excelsior Fire District.

 

C.                Public Works

 

Administrator Young provided an update on recent and upcoming public works activities.

 

D.                Administration

 

Administrator Young provided an update on the following items:

 

·         The annual goose survey has been conducted by The Canada Goose Program and do not show the need for a more active goose control program for this year.

·         A final budget meeting will be held at a Special Council Worksession on August 20th.

·         Woodland Contract is under consideration by the Woodland City Council on August 13th.

·         The three-year garbage & recycling contract with Waste Management expires at the end of this year.

·         Applications for the public works position.

·         Boat slide measurements.

·         Groundbreaking Ceremony to recognize the construction of the new office building at the former site of the old Woody’s Mobil at Chowen’s Corner.

 

8.                  ADJOURNMENT

 

Motion to adjourn by Councilmember Wheaton, seconded by Councilmember Kask.  Motion carried 4-0.  The meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Dana H. Young

City Administrator