City of Blue Earth s10

1 CITY OF BLUE EARTH 2 MINUTES 3 CITY COUNCIL MEETING 4 Monday, March 6, 2017 5:00 P.M. 5 6 CALL TO ORDER 7 8Mayor Scholtes called the meeting to order at 5:00 P.M. 9 10 ROLL CALL 11 12Councilmembers Gaylord, Huisman, Erichsrud, Warner, Cassem, Cole 13and Mayor Scholtes were present. Staff members present: City 14Administrator Timothy Ibisch, Assistant City Attorney Chris Ubben 15and Assistant City Engineer Matt Cole. 16 17 DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM 18 19Quorum present. 20 21 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 22 23Mayor Scholtes led the pledge of allegiance. 24 25 MEETING OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 26 27Public Present: FCDC Director Tim Clawson, EDA Board Member Ann 28Hanna, Brent Legred, and Rick Goodemann 29 30Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership. 31 32 At this time Mayor Scholtes addressed Rick Goodemann from 33Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership. The SWNHP is a private, 34non-profit corporation created in 1992. Working with local 35governments to create innovative solutions that lead communities 36to develop their full potential. Especially communities that 37understands what they want to do, the market dynamics, and vision 38of what they want to achieve. SWMHP provides community planning, 39technical assistance, homeownership assistance, housing 40rehabilitation, land development, single family housing 41developments, multifamily developments, and supportive housing 42assistance. Works with local vendors to provide affordable 43mortgage products. Currently own and operate 1,615 ground units 44across Southern Minnesota. SMWHP has developed about 5,800 units 45since 1992. SWMHP tends to work off a third-party housing 46analysis, look at the community’s needs, different markets, rent

1 1 1levels, and income demographics. SMWHP works with employers to 2build workforce housing with single family houses or rental 3complexes. 4 5 Currently the corporation is working with 40 communities 6across Southern Minnesota. Working on their three subdivision in 7St. Peters, 42-unit project in Jackson, 40 multiunit structure in 8Worthington, and couple duplexes in Trimont. Councilmember 9Huisman inquired about other regions in Minnesota. Goodemann 10mentioned there are a few in other regions: Central Minnesota 11Housing Partnership, and different organizations that provide 12similar housing assistance. Southwestern Minnesota Housing 13Partnership provides more products and services than the others. 14 15 City Administrator Timothy Ibisch inquired about the process 16for their projects. Goodemann stated completing a market study 17to obtaining an understanding of the market dynamics is first. 18The market study would provide information on the resources 19available: financing, land available, cost of the land, and 20income restrictions. Ibisch questioned the contractors SWMHP 21usually works with. Goodemann commented SWMHP prefers to work 22with smaller scale building contractors in the community on 23single family homes. The larger multi-family structure depends 24on the bonding requirements or financing involved. Usually using 25larger general contractors for the multi-family housing and 26rental complexes. 27 28 Councilmember Cassem questioned the party responsible for 29financing the projects. Goodemann commented the financing 30depends on the type of project. If SWMHP owns the project they 31mainly use private financing or some public subsidies are 32involved. Some of the townhouse developments they built were 33owned by the local government, EDA, or HRA. Other financing can 34come from tax exempt bonds and funds from the legislature. 35 36 Huisman mentioned the community survey completed in 2016, 37housing was a concern for the residents. Inquiring about the next 38steps the City needs to take to work with SWMHP. Goodemann 39mentioned having the land available, estimated cost of the lots, 40and whether the City could be in tax increment financing to make 41the lots more affordable. Then look at low interest construction 42loans and types of gap financing. Gap financing is where they 43look at the cost of the house and the buying power of the family 44based on their income. 30% of a family’s income should be 45available for housing debt, this would establish the highest 46amount of funds they could borrow on the private market.

1 2 1Consider the products the family would qualify for and try to 2find the lowest interest rate. At that point you would have what 3they can afford to pay and then fill the gap with 0% deferred 4loans. This is usually based on a maximum amount of about 5$25,000. If the amount is lower than $25,000 then the family 6cannot afford the house. SWMHP has counselors to work with the 7families to make them ready for buying a house, by looking at the 8barriers they would and to complete a debt-income ratio. 9 10 Scholtes commented that if the City develops the land by the 11highway, there would be 35 lots available. The City would be 12interested in single and multi-family homes. In turn SWMHP would 13be able to help someone acquire a home. Goodemann mentioned in 14St. Peter’s development, the SWMHP is constructing five houses 15and the City’s EDA is constructing five houses. Working with 16local realtors to sell the house or families receive assistance 17directly to SWMHP. Ibisch inquired about the cost of an average 18home. Goodemann mentioned they struggle to keep the houses below 19$200,000. Scholtes questioned if the City lowers the lot price 20would it be easier to have homes under the $200,000 mark. 21Goodemann confirmed the lower the lot cost the easier it is to 22achieve a smaller total cost. 23 24 SWMHP contracts out for the marketing studies. The City 25needs to complete a marketing study, to understand where the 26City needs to be and figure out gap financing. Scholtes believes 27if the developed gets started then other lots will sell. Huisman 28questioned the task force committee that was set-up. FCDC 29Director Tim Clawson mentioned the task force was used as a 30sounding board, but could still be used for this project. 31Goodemann confirmed the next step for the proposed housing 32development would be to complete a market study and then a 33feasibility analysis. Ibisch mentioned the City get the 2014 34survey updated. Scholtes would like to partner with SWMHP to get 35some starter home in the development. The Council agrees this is 36a good direction for the proposed housing development and 37appreciates Goodemann’s input. 38 39 40 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 41 42Motion by Gaylord, second by Warner to approve the minutes from 43the Work Session and Council Meeting of Tuesday, February 21, 442017. The motion was approved unanimously. 45 46

1 3 1 LICENSES AND PERMITS 2 3 Ibisch discussed the two licenses being presented to the 4Council. The first is a merchant licenses for the P-Pod. They 5are a food truck that parks at the Blue Earth Locker during the 6summer months. Their insurance is on file and the City recommends 7the approval. Also, the yearly license for the city were 8presented all together. Licenses included are for clubs, beer, 9liquor, wine, tobacco, Sunday liquor, Sunday off sale growlers, 10garbage/recycling, brewer’s intoxicating malt liquor growlers, 11and brewer’s on-sale intoxicating malt liquor at retail. There 12was only one change for the last year, Double Play did not apply 13for a Sunday Liquor licenses. The City recommends approval for 14all the 2017 licenses. 15 16Motion by Gaylord, second by Erichsrud to approve the 2017 17merchant license for the P-Pod. The motion was approved 18unanimously. 19 20Motion by Gaylord, second by Huisman to approve the licenses with 21the City of Blue Earth from April 15, 2017 to April 15, 2018. The 22motion was approved unanimously. 23 24 25 CORRESPONDENCE 26 27Midwest IT Monthly Report.

29Water Plan Task Force. 30 31Home Improvement Program. 32 33 Ibisch highlighted the home improvement program, flyers were 34send in last week’s utility bills. There has be a good response 35from residents. This program has two parts, the housing rehab 36and house demolition. 37 38 PUBLIC HEARINGS 39 40None. 41 42 REPORTS FROM STAFF 43 44 At this time Mayor Scholtes addressed Assistant City 45Attorney Chris Ubben. Ordinance 17-01 was presented to the 46Council for approval to sell property to Todd and Stacey

1 4 1Schmidtke. Ubben explained there was a paperwork issue on current 2ownership of the lot. Ibisch commented this ordinance was verbal 3approved at the last Council meeting. The lot was found to be 4owned by the City. The property in question is located at Ninth 5and Galbraith Street. The Schmidtke’s are purchasing the lot in 6addition to the home in the next lot. 7 8Motion by Huisman, second by Erichsrud to approve Ordinance 17-01 9for the conveyance of real property owned by the City of Blue 10Earth. 11 12Roll call vote was taken: 13 14Councilmember Gaylord Aye 15Councilmember Huisman Aye 16Councilmember Erichsrud Aye 17Councilmember Warner Aye 18Councilmember Cassem Aye 19Councilmember Cole Aye 20Mayor Scholtes Aye 21The motion passed unanimously. 22 23 24 Ibisch inquired about the order abate for 428 South 25Nicollet. Ubben confirmed he was not briefed by David Frundt. 26 27 At this time Mayor Scholtes addressed Assistant City 28Engineer Matt Cole. The plans for the WWTP have been submitted. 29STRS is looking positive for the 2018-2021 ATIP Transportation 30Alternatives Program. Blue Earth scored number one ranking 31against eight other applications. The program recommended three 32application for full funding, but there have been no official 33results. Scholtes mentioned the funds would not be available 34till 2021 if the application is approved. Cole confirmed there 35is a wait time, but we can complete the project the project early 36and apply for reimbursement. Cole walked around Main Street 37checking the condition of the sidewalks per to the meeting. 38Noticed a few cracks, but everything looks good. 39 40 Ibisch commented on the warranty on the street work done in 41the Royal Acres area. Cole visited the area with Holland and 42mentioned the curb has settled. One wing of the driveway was 43higher, but the middle was settled about 2.5”. The wing was only 44about 1” to 1.5” above the curb of the driveway. The water main 45runs under the curb at that spot. Cole is Unsure of where the 46sewer line runs, may need to do further investigation. The City

1 5 1did not do work at the driveway during the street project, just 2did overlay. Holland was going to speak with the resident about 3the issue. 4 5 Warner questioned the riser level on the steps in front of 6City Hall. The bottom riser is a different size then the others, 7believes there is a code stating riser heights need to be equal. 8Cole mentioned the bottom riser is different due to the hill. 9The rest of the risers are the same size. 10 11Liquor Report 12 13 January 2017 liquor sales were $100,015. January 2016 14liquor sales were $100,792 giving a loss of $777. 15 16 February 2017 liquor sales were $104,335. February 2016 17liquor sales were $104,559 giving a loss of $224. 18 19 Scholtes mentioned the House and Senate approving Sunday 20liquor store sales, would this affect the City’s store. Ibisch 21has spoken to Blue Earth Wine and Spirits manager Craig Wells 22about opening on Sundays. Wells is doing a customer survey, 23asking his current customers if they would shop on Sundays. 24Ibisch mentioned the City might lose money, but it depends on the 25what the surrounding towns decide to do. If Fairmont is open on 26Sundays, then Blue Earth probably will too. Scholtes questioned 27if the current staff would be adequate for opening another day. 28Ibisch comment scheduling is another issue due to the union 29contracts. The City might have to made some alternations to the 30contracts, which state 40 hours between Monday - Saturday. There 31is no requirement for the liquor store to be open on Sundays, it 32is the decision of the City. Gaylord believes we will not know 33if we lose money, unless we do a trial run. Ibisch mentioned 34altering the hours to fit certain times of the year, for example, 35Super Bowl Sunday. July 1st is when the laws will take effect. 36 37 The main issues with opening on Sundays will be 38staffing. Normally only full-time employees are the openers. 39Part-time employees are not in charge of starting the register 40during opening. Plus, there may be a safety issue with only one 41employee in the store. Huisman commented on if the City could 42research the business flow at Walmart on Sundays, due to people 43coming into town for groceries and supplies. Gaylord suggested 44the City should try a trial run for six months, to see how this 45change will affect income. Gaylord says the liquor store was 46built to make money and if there is an opportunity to be open

1 6 1more the City should consider it. Scholtes mentioned discussion 2will continue until the laws takes effect on July 1, 2017. 3 4 5 REPORTS FROM BOARDS AND COMMISSION 6 7Meeting for the Library board is scheduled for 3/13/17. 8 9Meeting for the Economic Development Authority is scheduled for 103/9/17. 11 12Meeting for the Housing and Redevelopment Authority is scheduled 13for 3/13/17. 14 15Meeting for the Senior Center Board is scheduled for 3/14/17. 16 17Meeting for the Board of Review is scheduled for 5/1/17. 18 19 20 REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE COUNCIL 21 22Meeting for the Parks & Recreation Subcommittee is scheduled for 233/9/17. 24 25Motion by Gaylord, second by Huisman to accept the reports of the 26Boards and Commissions as presented. The motion was approved 27unanimously. 28 29 30 CONSENT AGENDA 31 32None. 33 34 OLD BUSINESS 35 36Fairground Restroom Options 37 38 Ibisch reviewed the restroom options for the Fairgrounds 39(see attachment “A”). The Baseball Association presented the 40options of the stand-alone bathroom quoted $37,273 or the 41grandstand bathrooms quoted $25,400. Ibisch researched buying a 42bathroom trailer. This option could be used for both ballfields, 43street dancing, or fall festivals. Ibisch found a 2007 ADA Plus 449 Restroom Trailer for $33,700. The trailer has a 1,000-gallon 45waste tank. There is an ADA unit that lowers down to the ground 46from wheelchair accessibility. The City owns equipment needed to

1 7 1move the trailer. Gaylord has concern about the 1,000 gallon 2waste tank being enough for weekend tournaments. Scholtes agrees 3with the concern of the waste tank capacity. Also, supplying the 4water and emptying the tank are other concerns. 5 6 Ibisch mentioned the two quotes from the Baseball 7Association do not include the cost installing electricity. The 8quotes from Huffcutt Concrete stated the total structure would be 9estimated $63,486 or $83,395. The Council can decide to build a 10restroom at the Fairgrounds, but the realistic price will 11probably be closer to $60,000. 12 13 The Council asked Brent Legred’s opinion on the discussion. 14Legred commented any support the City can provide will be 15appreciated. In regards to electricity, the structure is not 16going to be complex, so he feels amount of electric needed will 17be minimal. Legred has concerns with the trailer restrooms, due 18to events being held at both ballfield locations on the same 19weekend. Deciding which ballfield gets the nicer restrooms. 20Legred believes eventually there will have to be restrooms built 21at both ballfield locations. 22 23 Huisman mentioned the City needs for figure out which field 24is the higher priority and do one this year. Due to the 25tournaments scheduled, the Fairgrounds should be the first 26location. There is money available in the liquor fund and Huisman 27believes the City should do the grandstand bathrooms. 28 29 Ibisch commented the stand-alone would be a better option. 30This would eliminate getting an easement to go across the 31Fairground property. Scholtes questioned if the City constructs a 32stand-alone building would the price of the grandstand reduce due 33to the bathrooms not being under the bleachers. Legred mentioned 34the Association is still constructing the grandstand, but the 35money saved will be put back into other resources for the kids. 36Scholtes agrees the stand-alone structure is the best option and 37the project will cost more than the estimate from the 38Association. 39 40 Legred feel the best location for the restrooms is to the 41east side of the entrance gate. Gaylord would like put out for a 42couple more bids. Legred would gladly help to get more bids for 43the restrooms. Scholtes mentioned the Association to get the 44bids for the project but the City pays for the construction. The 45Association may be able to receive better estimates than the 46City. The City will be able to own and maintain the restroom.

1 8 1The Council and Legred agree to this plan. Ibisch mentioned a 2contract can be drafted to allow the Baseball Association use of 3the restrooms during the season. Legred, Public Works staff and 4Ibisch will work together to get at least two quotes for a stand- 5alone ADA compliant restroom for the fairgrounds. 6 7 8 9 10 NEW BUSINESS 11None. 12 13Next Work Session. 14 15 There are no items on the agenda for the next work session. 16 17 BILLS AND INVESTMENTS 18 19Motion by Erichsrud, second by Cassem to pay the bills and the 20receipt of the financials. The motion was approved unanimously. 21 22 23 24 REPORT OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR 25Payroll Summary. 26 27 City Administrator Timothy Ibisch (see attachment “B”). 28Ibisch accompanied Chamber Director Cindy Lyon to testify to the 29Legacy Committee at the Capitol. The presentation for the Green 30Giant Museum project went well and hopefully will be considered 31for the $300,000 grant. If approved Chamber will be able to move 32forward with groundbreaking in the fall of 2017. 33 34 Ibisch highlighted the tax-exemption for City purchases of 35Road Maintenance Vehicles. The City currently pay 6.875% sales 36tax on all maintenance vehicles. This will be a great money saver 37when the bill is passed. 38 39 The Park and Recreation subcommittee is meeting March 9th. 40Gaylord is the council chair for the subcommittee. Any issues 41for the subcommittee can be presented to Gaylord or Ibisch. 42 43 In the council packet Ibisch including information on 44competitive bidding requirements in cities, Administrative policy 45for fund balances, and Statewide analysis of gaps in affordable

1 9 1rental housing. This material would be a refresher for the 2Councilmembers. 3 4 Ibisch mentioned the meeting with the Joint Fire Board. 5Erichsrud presented a recommendation to change the fee for false 6alarm calls. Fire Chief Roger Davis researched the fee for false 7alarm calls in other Southern Minnesota cities. Blue Earth 8currently does the first three false calls at no charge, but 9after three the fee is $100. Wells Fire charges $1,000 after 10three false alarms. Jackson charges for every call, the price 11varies from $500 to $1,000 if there are two or more trucks 12involved. Saint James charges $15 per person responding after 13three false alarms. Fairmont charges $500 after three false 14alarms. In 2016, the Blue Earth Fire Department responded to 24 15false alarm calls and carbon monoxide calls. The Joint fire board 16recommends changing the fee to $1,000 after three false alarm 17calls. 18 19 Carbon monoxide calls are not billed, but considered a 20courtesy call. This way people are not discouraged to call for 21carbon monoxide alarms. The response for a carbon monoxide call 22starts with an officers’ page, up to four officers. Once the 23carbon monoxide call is proven to be true, another page is sent 24out for the whole department. 25 26 27Motion by Erichsrud, second by Gaylord to approve the amendment 28to the false alarm charge to $1,000 after three free calls. 29 30 Scholtes questioned if this charge is for all the area the 31Fire Department covers or only Blue Earth. Ibisch confirmed this 32charge would be for any false alarm call. 33 34The motion was approved unanimously. 35 36 Ibisch highlighted the housing bond repayment summary. 37 38 39 OTHER BUSINESS 40 41None. 42 ADJOURNMENT 43 44Motion by Gaylord, second by Huisman to adjourn the meeting. 45Mayor Scholtes adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting at 6:15 46P.M.