2008-12-17 CC Minutes Joint St. Mic St. Michael City Council Minutes
Special Joint City Council Meeting with Albertville
December 17, 2008
Call to Order Roll Call 7:00 P.M.
Pursuant to due call and notice a special joint meeting of the St. Michael and Albertville City
Councils was held on Wednesday, December 17, 2008, in the Council Chambers of St. Michael
City Hall, at 3150 Lander Avenue NE, St. Michael, at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Albertville Mayor Ron Klecker; Council members Tom Fay, LeRoy Berning, Dan
Wagner, John Vetsch, and Council -elect Larry Sorensen; Albertville City Administrator Larry
Kruse; St. Michael Mayor Jerry Zachman; Council members Joe Hagerty, Dean Eggert, Joe Marx,
and Kevin Kasel; St. Michael City Administrator Robert Derus, Community Development Director
Marc Weigle, and City Engineer Steve Bot.
Call to Order
St. Michael Mayor Jerry Zachman called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m., declaring a quorum
present.
Set Agenda
Moved by Eggert, seconded by Kasel, to set the agenda as presented with the addition of an update
on Ice Arena. Motion carried unanimously.
Update on FYCC
Bob Derus updated the Councils on the recent meeting with the FYCC Board and explained why we
were working together to try to obtain liability insurance for FYCC. Derus also pointed out other
challenges facing FYCC, such as declining numbers of Board of Director Membership; reduction in
funding, they have struggled to establish a permanent location and the School District seems to be
moving away from FYCC. Derus also explained that he, Larry Kruse, Sandy Greninger, and
Marcia Ziegler will meet to discuss /consider options regarding FYCC restructuring and/or
partnering opportunities. Other items discussed:
➢ Council members are generally looking for more specific budget information, greater
accountability, and more specifics about FYCC.
➢ Albertville is more interested in funding basic Park and Recreation activities and less
interested in funding the more family and youth activities, although they also expressed
some support for the other, non -parks and recreation FYCC activities.
➢ The group discussed the specific park and recreation scheduling that Sandy and Tammy do.
And there is interest in getting more specifics on exactly who schedules what; what are the
specific programs, etc.
➢ Discussed possibly charging fees for youth baseball and soccer.
➢ Discussed possible partnership opportunities with Arena Board and Community Education.
The next step is for Larry, Sandy, Marcia and Bob will meet to discuss /consider options regarding
FYCC restructuring and/or partnering opportunities.
New Library Planning
Marc Weigle updated the City Councils on Library planning.
Grant Award
Weigle explained that the City had recently been awarded a $400,000 grant for a new library. Marc
went over some of the details about the grant, timing of it, etc.
Special Joint Council Meeting Cities of Albertville and St. Michael — December 17, 2008 — Page 2
Plans
Marc also went over some general designs and costs. It will be approximately 12,800 square feet
and cost approximately $3,000,000, not including the land which St. Michael owns. The group
discussed the cost sharing formula between the two cities. Also discussed were economic
uncertainties, advantages of moving forward soon, since construction costs are down, interest rates
will likely be low, etc. Albertville said they would like to get more specific details on costs, and
they would likely make an annual payment, rather than an upfront lump sum payment.
Senior Center
New Facility Planning
Bob Derus went over a brief history of the planning for a Senior Center /Community Center/Fitness
Center. Flagship Fitness is the current proponent, but St. Michael is unsure whether they will move
forward on it or not, with financing a potential roadblock. The Councils discussed what would
happen to the new Senior Center plans if the fitness center does not work out. The plan would
likely be that the Senior Center be constructed with the Library and City Hall. St. Michael thought
that we would know in the not too distant future whether the fitness center is a go or not.
Budget Correction
Derus informed the group that Senior Community Services had informed him after levies were set
that they had not been charging enough. St. Michael agreed to split the difference with Senior
Services, but that amount was not in Albertville's fee for 2009. However the full increased price
will be charged in 2010.
Ice Arena
Larry Kruse updated the group on the Ice Arena expansion plans to add an additional sheet of ice.
It will be approximately $6.6 million, and will have seating for 1,200. The group discussed the
following related items:
➢ There is no specific date for the expansion at this time, and funding is a concern.
➢ Whether some of the Hockey Association volunteers can raise significant funds or not
➢ Whether the School District should participate or not, since one of the purposes is for it to be
sized adequately for high school hockey games.
Fire Contract
Derus explained the background that has led the City of St. Michael to inform both the Cities of
Albertville and Hanover that we would be ending the fire contracts with the Cities. The group also
discussed establishing a fire district, which was met with some openness and some caution;
openness for trying to save money; and caution because our Fire Departments have to buy into it
and support it if it is to be successful. A few comments related to this concept:
➢ We have to move forward carefully, taking "baby steps."
➢ At a minimum, continue to coordinate training and sharing of equipment and be looking for
opportunities to make equipment compatible with each others.
The Fire Departments have to support whatever we do or it won't work.
➢ It will take time, maybe as much as 10 or 20 years.
Special Joint Council Meeting Cities of Albertville and St. Michael — December 17, 2008 — Page 3
➢ Look at what other joint Fire Districts do. Larry Kruse and Bob Derus will try to get an
expert from one of the successfully functioning joint Fire Districts in the area to come and
speak to a joint session in about three months
As far as ending the current fire contracts, St. Michael will likely implement the change beginning
in July, but no later than the start of 2010.
A comment was made that there is a perception that St. Michael and Albertville do not always
cooperate that well. However, the facts are that there is an extraordinary amount of cooperation
with such things as; a Joint Water System, Joint Parks and Recreation, Joint Ice Arena, Same
School District, Regular Joint Meetings, Joint Public Works and Safety Training, Share Senior
Center; Share Library, NW Transportation Plan, etc. Could it be that occasional friction and
differences of opinion is a natural outcome of the extraordinary amount of interaction and
cooperation and difficult decision making that is happening as a result of it?
Adjourn
Mayor Zachman adjourned the meeting at 9:46 P.M.
Attest:
City Administrator Mayor