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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMinutes_2005_03_22 341 Brookings City Council Tuesday, March 22, 2005 The Brookings City Council held an action meeting on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 5:30 p.m., at City Hall with the following members present: Mayor Scott Munsterman, Council Members Tom Bezdichek,Tom Bozied, Tim Reed, Julie Whaley, Doris Roden, and Mike McClemans. City Manager Alan Lanning, City Attorney Steve Britzman, and City Clerk Shari Thornes were also present.Note that the Planning Session scheduled for 3:00 p.m. earlier in the day was cancelled. Consent Agenda. Appointment of Ron Waltz to the Mayor's Council on Community Wellness was added to the consent agenda. A motion was made by Bozied, seconded by McClemans,to approve the consent agenda which included: 1. Adoption of the agenda as amended; 2. Minutes. Approval of minutes: Feb. 22, March 1, and March 8 (2 meetings); 3. Action on Resolution No. 24-05, appointing Election Workers for the April 12�' Election; RESOLUTION NO.24-OS APPOINTMENT OF ELECTION JUDGES WHEREAS,a City of Brookings Municipal Election will be held on April 12,2005 for the positions of three Council members;and WHEREAS,as required by SDCL 9-13-16.1,the City Council must appoint Election Superintendents and Deputies and set their rate of compensation;and WHEREAS,the following superintendents and deputies are hereby appointed at a rate of$8.50 per hour for superintendents,$8.00 per hour for deputies,and a flat fee of$15.00 for the April 11, . 2005 Election School: = � Precinct 1: Precinct 4• Madelyn Francis,Superintendent Sue Knutzen,Superintendent Maureen Westbrook Marlys Schutt Connie Englund Sharon Anderegg Roxanne Wicks-alternate Marilyn Foerster-altemate Precinct 2: Precinct 5• HaZel Hauff, Superintendent Carolyn Hieb,Superintendent Neva Jean Corlett Ramona Helwig Signe Anderson Carleen Dixon Darlene Wilaby-alternate Chaz Honkomp-alternate Precinct 3: Precinct 6: Verle Barg,Superintendent Connie Burdick,Superintendent Barb Woolworth Barb Erickson Linda Santema Candy Osvog Carol Dusharm-alternate Saila Gandhi-alternate 4. Abatement. Action to approve an Abatement for Hyland Investments Inc., Lot 6, Block l, Lot 6, Block 2, of the Sarah Renee Addition in the amount of$688.92 for Block 2 and $695.92 for Block 1; 5. Action on Resolution No. 22-05, a Bridge Re-inspection Program with SDDOT; RESOLUTION NO.22-OS BRIDGE REINSPECTION PROGRAM WITH SDDOT Whereas,Title 23,Section 151,United States Code and Title 23,Part 650,Subpart C,Code of Federal Regulations,requires initial inspection of all bridges and reinspection at intervals not to exceed two years. Therefore,the City of Brookings is desirous of participating in the Bridge Inspection Program using Bridge Replacement funds. The City of Brookings requests SDDOT to hire Banner Associates,Inc.(Consulting Engineers) ' for the inspection work. SDDOT will secure federal approvals,make payments to the Consulting Engineer for inspection services rendered,and bill the City for 20%of the cost. The City of Brookings will be responsible for the required 20%matching funds. There are a total of four(4)bridges in the City of Brookings,South Dakota. 6. Action on Resolution No. 21-05, a Resolution approving Right to Occupy Easement. 342 RESOLUTION NO.21-OS RESOLUTION APPROVING RIGHT TO OCCUPY EASEMENT Whereas,the City of Brookings has designated alley property for public access;and Whereas,the City of Brookings maintains all public alleys;and Whereas,the City of Brookings has been requested to allow First Bank&Trust the Right To Occupy the West Twenty Five Feet(W 25')of the East Two Hundred Feet(E 200')of the alley located between 5`"Street and 6`�Street,from 5�'Avenue to 6�`Avenue for the sole purpose of constructing underground utility s�rvice lines; Now,Therefore,Be It Resolved that the Right To Occupy Easement be approved as shown on Attachment A. 7. Anpointment. Action to appoint Ron Waltz to the Mayor's Council on Community Wellness. State of the Citv Messa�e. Mayor Scott Munsterman presented his 2005 "State of the City Message"to the public and City Council. State of the City 2005 Mayor Scott Munsterman The City of Brookings is committed to providing a high quality of life for its citizens, and fostering a diverse economic base,through innovative thinking, strategic planning, and proactive, fiscally responsible municipal management Robert Kennedy once said"only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly". There is nothing like a vision to create the future. Back in November of 2003, I shared with the council a presentation of the importance of`Establishing a Vision for Brookings' (located on www.cityofbrookings.org). Your city leaders have taken many bold steps since that time and have made an uncommon commitment towards establishing a vibrant vision for the future of Brookings. So what is this `Vision for Brookings'? A high quality of life, characterized by: • Higher paying jobs • Affordable homes • Efficient,well-defined city services • More places to shop • Great place to retire • People participating in local decisions • Events and activities • Visual growth in region • Working together as a team for development of our community • Healthy place to live • A place known for people taking care of people Over the course of the last 12 months the council's planning and action towards this vision has crystallized a comprehensive illustration I would like to describe for you in the following statements: . 1. The Brookings Region will be the third largest in the state. The effects of our new regional economic partnership in conjunction with the research park will grow our opportunities over the next 20 years. One only needs to look south to Sioux Falls and their relationship with communities in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties,to see the impact of a regional plan. Lincoln County gained national recognition recently when it achieved the highest housing starts in the nation—adding over 5000 people to their county within the last five years. It can be done. 2. Brookings will have the highest per capita income in the state and have an average per capita income nationally. Our research park will be the catalyst for higher wage jobs over the next 20 years. 3. Brookings will have the healthiest people in the state. Our new Mayor's Council on Community Wellness will design ways for our community to stay healthy and prevent disease. 343 4. Our region's health system will provide First Class inpatient hospital care as well as available specialty care and diagnostic services. 5. Brookings will become known as a great place to retire. Senior-years living consists of a variety of housing options depending upon the need of the couple or individua.l, within our community's public and private modern facilities. More seniors will retire to Brookings to take advantage not only of the exceptional health system available,but also Congregate Housing,Assisted Living facilities, and modern nursing homes. 6. State of the art telecommunications technology continues to be provided by BMLJ through Swiftel Communications. BMLJ continues their long history of implementing up-to-date technology for their customers,the citizens of Brookings, and providing these services with two objectives in mind: 1) a Iower price than the private sector; and 2) a return to the owners of BMU,that is all Brookings citizens,through a transfer to the City General Fund. 7. City services continue to be professionally delivered by competent city staff and appointed volunteers. Public service means putting others before yourself and holding to the Three C's of Public Service: Character, Commitment and Caring. 8. Brookings will care for the less fortunate. As Brookings continues to grow,we will be more likely to have people `fall through the cracks' in our society. Brookings' future depends upon people of all income levels living a life whereby they will have opportunities to improve themselves and their family's lifestyle. Hubert Humphrey once said"The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life,the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life—the sick, the needy and the handicapped."The City of Brookings has the responsibility to address this moral test. 9. A good working relationship with our neighboring communities provides a solid foundation for sharing growth together. 10. An aggressive community promotional program will bring our venues such as the Swiftel Center, Ice Center, Soccer complex and the Performing Art Center to a capacity level of events filled with visitors. In addition,partnering with SDSU to maximize their activity level with their students and alumni will be an important part of the plan. 11. An aggressive retail and commercial expansion will bring more options for shopping in Brookings - substantially improving our sales tax dollars by keeping more money in town. Studies indicate Brookings only keeps 59% of its money in town; the state average for a community is 69%. If we can just get to the state average of 69%of our money staying in Brookings,hundreds of thousands of dollars more each yeaz in sales tax will stay home. More sales tax means better city services,building and vehicle improvements, and an improved quality of life. 12. Citizen government is open and active. City Council provides regularly scheduled forurns for citizens of our community to participate in the pla.nning for their future (such as town hall meetings). By using roundtable discussions of issues, working together,we find solutions. We need to understand the future is not a gift, it is an achievement. I am proud to see what has been accomplished by many generations of people in this community over the last 125 years— they have made Brookings what it is today. It is our job to make Brookings what it will be tomorrow. With hope for the future,there will be power in the present to have the courage and ambition to achieve this great vision with passion. Now, I would like to share with you what has been accomplished this past year. 1. City budget: In light of declining utility revenue transfers,the City Council and the City Staff successfully balanced the budget without spending reserve funds. Our city manager is committed to holding our city expenditures to a 2.5%revenue increase per year. T'his 344 plan will allow our city to control the growth of government expenditures,yet allow for the extra money from sale tax over and above to be used to pay for our badly needed capital improvements,today totally over$5 million. Our 2004 Sales Tax Revenue saw an increase of approximately 10%. Sales tax increases in the double digits will be essential to make up for the loss of income from Brookings Municipal Utility. By holding to controlled expenses and by continuing to stimulate our economy to generate double digit sales tax increases, our city budget will improve on a yearly basis. This net increase can be utilized to make necessary capital improvements and future quality of life improvements. This is the plan the council is committed to see through. 2. The Research Park: The city council has strongly supported the research park venture with SDSU. The majority of the council supported a partnership with SDSU,the SDSU foundation,the private sector, local legislators and Brookings County. Each entity has contributed financially. In addition, I have recently received word from the Governor he will be supporting our project with a financial contribution of$100,000 towards the design phase. This project is off the ground. Land has been secured on a long-term lease with the Board of Regents and consultants have been hired to provide a complete design and business plan for the park. This design phase should be complete before fall and construction by either this fall or the Spring of 2006 is expected. 3. Regional Revitalization: The City Council took the leadership role in pursuing a plan for regional economic development. This plan was developed from the discussions stemming from the Mayoral Summits: a series of ineetings held by the Mayors of 10 communities within the region. These mayors reached a consensus - regional development and cooperation is essential for growth. Your City Council took action to form the Mayor's Ad Hoc Economic Committee. This group researched 11 different community economic development programs to arrive at a recommendation for the Brookings region. A time table was established by the council (Resolution No. 83-04) outlining the necessary steps to be taken by local economic development and promotional entities over the first ten months of this year. This in turn lead to the awesome work of our local economic development leaders who had the foresight to broaden the scope of our local economic development corporation to include the communities within our region as well as establish a first ever public and private partnership for Brookings. Vision Brookings Coalition was also developed at the council's request to provide private fundraising for economic development and investment in the Brookings area;through the successful joint efforts of the Chamber of Commerce, Convention Visitors Bureau, the Regional Economic Development Corporation and Downtown Brookings Incorporated. The regional partnership includes an `out of the box' twist: Technical Service Agreements (designed by our city manager) outlining a specific levei of municipal services made available through the new economic model to enhance smaller communities' level of service and ultimately their citizen's quality of life. The TSA's make available a specified level of services from Brookings or other surrounding cities. By offering assistance to neighboring communities who do not have the resources, revitalization of smaller communities and the region can occur. It is truly a `good neighbor approach' to partnering and sharing—leading to successful development of our entire region. Economic development in Brookings continued to bring many new jobs to the area. 520 jobs were added in 2004 to the economy. I recently contacted Phil George with the State of SD about where our job growth is occurring: whether it is with new employers or existing employers. I was surprised by his response: "It appears that most of the jobs are being created with new establishments. The comparison is for a two-year period. Existing companies lost jobs during that time frame..."This is but one example of the reason we are dedicating resources towards a business retention program,helping existing businesses grow and prosper. 4. Promotion: The council took aggressive action towards studying and planning for the promotion of Brookings. Thanks to the special efforts of our ad hoc committee members who participated, including the SDSU student body, Brookings will be able to successfully use the 3`d B funding to develop and carry out a comprehensive promotional plan for the community of Brookings—a plan that will include all the current promotional activity occurring in Brookings; as well as identifying and making recommendations for additional areas of attention. A comprehensive plan will bring all 345 promotional entities together, and will facilitate better relationships as well as more efficiency in the process. Our promotional plan needs to bring something to all who pay the tax—and it will. The council also invested in air conditioning for the Swiftel Center, thereby increasing its capacity to hold events 12 months out of the year rather than 6-7 months out of the year. The current Swiftel Center plan forecasts the city subsidy will gradually decrease over the next five years as events and visitor attendance increase. 5. Retail and Commercial Development: Locations for retail and commercial expansion is at a critical low, and we must develop areas with caution to help allow for the expansion of more buying options for consumers. With this in mind,the council has met with the planning commission and will set into motion an aggressive plan to make available more commercial land use options for new or expanding businesses,keeping in mind the preservation of our quality of life. In our new economic model,the city is responsible for large retail attraction and other business organizations have been delegated the responsibility for retail retention and expansion. This plan, aggressively pursued, wi11 effectively allow more spending to occur in our community, thereby increasing our effective buying income in the region. With this increase in effective buying income being retained in our community, a tremendous amount more sales tax dollars will be gained and be able to be used for our quality of life. 6. Quality of Life Improvements: a. SDSU Student Off Campus Housing: The planning process is beginning as we look at a long-range student housing policy for Brookings for the next 20 years. Considering the current and future growth of SDSU and their move to Division I, student housing will be an important accommodation to make in our community and a solid plan for development will be critical to a sustained, sensible growth pattern. Members of the city council have met with SDSU administration and a report will be forthcoming at our next city council planning session outlining the landscape of SDSU's future enrollment - as well as a historical look at where we have come. The council will use this information as a starting point to begin public discussions on how we can fulfill the vision of creating a win-win situation with our SDSU student neighbors in off campus housing. This win—win situation is characterized by: 1. Improving the student population density ratio with Brookings family resident neighborhoods through policy making. 2. Providing an environment conducive to educational learning and valued neighborhood relationships between our family residents and off campus students. b. Brookings Activity Center is off the ground and has accommodated to their new surroundings in the old Elks Club.New levels of participation and growth have resulted. c. Family Aquatic Center will become a reality due to the generosity of the Da1e Larson and Don Endres families. Approximately$3.3 million of improvements, including water slides and family aquatics featuring leisure zero depth pool. Future plans could include a Lazy River addition. d. Boys and Girls Club experienced a major surge in growth of their services to the youth of this community. The city has taken action to lease property to the organization to plan for their growth. We look forward to the success of their fundraising efforts for this very worthwhile project for Brookings' number one resource—our children. e. The Mayor's Council on Community Wellness: The city council, in a joint venture with the South Dakota Department of Health,have established a wellness council with the mission of creating a community plan developed to proactively help our city implement strategic programs designed to prevent disease and improve health and quality of life. The wellness council will be presenting their recommendations at our upcoming May planning session. I have recently received notice from the Department of Health-they are awarding the City of Brookings with a$10,000 grant for our work on this pilot project. They have also invited me to s�peak at the Healthy South Dakota Summit sponsored by the Governor on April8t to share about the council's vision for this project and how it is progressing. Also speaking at this event is Dr. Julie Gerberding,the director of the Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Gerberding is a native of Brookings and it will be especially gratifying to showcase our work in this area with her present. 'I. Town Hall Meeting: In the City Council's attempt to provide for a more open and participatory government, approximately 52 Brookings area residents attended a Town � 4 � Hall Meeting, sponsored by the City Council, held at the Swiftel Center in Brookings in September 2004. Most residents who attended participated in one of ten round tables to discuss issues raised by respondents to a Quality of Life survey conducted by the Rural Sociology Department of South Dakota State University in May, 2004. The round table discussions were moderated by graduate and undergraduate students from SDSU. Donna Hess and Diane Kayongo-Male, instructors, were also in attendance. The following topics . were discussed in a solution oriented manner: ■ Too few retail stores and restaurants (two tables) ■ Need for employment opportunities (two tables, later combined into one) ■ School funding ■ Community planning and development(two tables) ■ Taxes and budget management ■ Regionalization ■ Health care and childlsocial welfare ■ Railroad use/expansion • The city council has planned for discussion each of these topics, considering this citizen input at our upcoming planning sessions over the next few months. It is our hope we will be able to sort through these issues and apply pertinent policy and council action where necessary. Town Hall meetings are excellent forums to facilitate discussion and set priorities and will prove to be an effective method of keeping the people of this community in touch with the issues facing the mission of our city. This will provide the council with clear direction from the input obtained directly from you—the people we serve. Where do we go from here? In order to achieve our future,we must maintain our commitment to the path we have outlined. We must continue our efforts in our regional economic development and research park endeavors, facilitate discussion and action on a promotional structure that promotes efficiency and good cooperation and communication, discuss the SDSU student off campus housing and develop policy as needed,aggressively pursue freeing up space for retail and commercial development, and develop a capital improvement plan for our city to address the back log of vehicle and equipment replacement we have been unable to address up to this point due to our revenue situation. An aggressive workforce development and attraction program with an affordable homeownership component will be necessary for our regional economic plan, considering the 1.4%unemployment rate in our region. Brookings will need to attract families to our region to work and live. More families equate to larger school enrollments. And as we continue to grow,we will need to monitor our need for more city services,taking the lead on the large development process. In addition to addressing the town hall meeting issues,the council will discuss other key areas of direction during periodic strategic pla.nning sessions. As always, I urge our city council members and the public to bring new ideas and concerns to the forefront. I am pleased with the leadership this council has provided—their time and commitment to this city and the citizens is awesome. You have had to make tough choices during unpopular circumstances and you have had the courage to make necessary changes when it came to moving forward. I am proud to say you have kept the best interests of this community in your decision making process. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our city manager. I appreciate his strong leadership and his willingness to always be available. Alan Lanning has a passion to help Brookings grow and prosper and has worked well with this council. I would also like to thank the people involved in the work of all of our boards and commissions. Their efforts are admired, appreciated and have been successful. I look forward to chairing more joint council meetings with these boards as we get everyone on the same page and continue to build our team for Brookings' future. And finally, a special thank you to the staff at city hall and our city employees for a j ob well done. • Closing Comment: Winston Churchill once said"I am easily satisfied with the best". What he meant by that s#atement is he not only expected the best from himself as a leader,but he also expected the best out of everyone else in his organization—his government, his army; his team. When I took office as mayor, I promised only one thing,that one thing was to do my best for the people of this community. My best is what you have seen and my best I will continue to provide. But not only do I expect the best from myself, I also expect that same level of commitment from our city council, our city staff and volunteers—including our city boards, our community service 347 organizations, our volunteer fire department and our economic development and promotional organizations. The people we serve together in this community deserve our best. Doing our best produces an uncommon commitment. And uncommon commitment produces uncommon results. As a matter of fact it produces extraordinary results. And your mayor and city council have demonstrated over the past two years they will settle for nothing less; as `We are easily satisfied with the best' for Brookings. Financial Reuorts. The Council was provided with the City's fourth quarter financial � statements for review. No action was taken. Preliminarv Plat. A public hearing was held on a revised preliminary plat Lots 1-7, Block 3 and Lots 1-7, Block 4, Esther Heights Addition. All present were given an opportunity to be heard. A motion was made by Whaley, seconded by Reed,to approve the plat. All present voted yes; motion carried. Ordinance No. 08-OS—Conditional Uses. A motion was made by Reed, seconded by McClemans,to approve first reading of Ordinance No. 08-05, an Ordinance pertaining to amendments to the zoning Ordinance relating to Conditional Uses in the Industrial I-1 and I-2 Districts. All present voted yes; motion carried. Public hearing is scheduled for April 19�'. Ordinance No. 06-OS-IBC. A motion was made by Bozied, seconded by Whaley,to approve Ordinance No. 06-05, an Ordinance amending the 2003 International Building Code, Chapter 9. All present voted yes;motion carried. Ordinance No. 04-OS-Rezonin�. Public heazing was held on Ordinance No. 04-05,an Ordinance rezoning Outlot D in the S '/z,N '/2 , SE '/4 of Section 22-T110N-RSOW from a Residence R-lA District to a Residence R-3A and Business B-3 District(930 W. Highway 14 Diagonal). All present were given an opportunity to be heard. A motion was made by McClemans, seconded by Whaley,to approve Ordinance No. 04-05. All present voted yes; motion carried. Ordinance No. 07-OS—Rezonin�. Public hearing was held on Ordinance No. 07-05, an Ordinance to rezone the E210 feet of Lot 1, Block 1,Avery's Addition and Lots 1-4, Block l, Gentle's Addition from a Business B-2A District and B-4 District to a Residence R-2 District (Hillcrest Aquatic Center). All present were given an opportunity to be heard. A motion was made by Roden, seconded by Reed, to approve Ordinance No. 07-05. All present voted yes; motion carried. Convention Visitor's Bureau Contract. A motion was made by Bozied, seconded by Whaley, to award a five year contract to the Chamber of Commerce and Convention Bureau for Convention Visitor's Bureau services. All present voted yes; motion carried. Off-Sale Oneratin�Agreement. A motion was made by Reed, seconded by Whaley,to approve the format for an Off-Sale Liquor Operating Agreement. All present voted yes; except Bezdichek and Roden voted no; motion carried. � Adiourn. A motion was made by Reed, seconded by Whaley,to adjourn. All present voted yes; motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:08 p.m. TY OF O o°'j9»•�tilro .�,�,'"' �a•.,� �21 °oq.m a, r9 0;0 � os �; ;:° Sc D. M terman, Mayor �naG�Oq pjR � �/�/V i !. Sl�ari Thornes, Brookings C' y Clerk