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8.g) Admin ReportJ SCAlVDIA Date of Meeting: June 16, 2015 To: City Council From: Kristina Handt, City Administrator Re: Administrator's Report EDA: Has spent time reviewing the sign ordinance and sections of Scandia's Architectural Guidelines related to signage after signage was identified as one of the issues in last year's Business Retention and Expansion Survey. The EDA will be recommending to the Planning Commission and Council changes to allow more community event signage and increasing the time they can be displayed, deleting the prohibition on banners and pennants in the guidelines, allowing portable signs (even those not attached to a building or the ground) up to 32 square feet, not requiring a permit for temporary signs that are allowed for 135 sign days in a year, lighting standards should remain as in the ordinance but the guidelines should be amended to delete all prohibitions expect for flashing, blinking lights and raceway lights (both on storefronts and in general), or raceway lights could have time limits imposed to prevent quick flashing of messages. The EDA will not be requesting a tax levy for the 2016 budget. Attended the Chamber Breakfast on June 9th. Got share information about Scandia EDA and made new contact with business rep in Scandia. Capital Improvement Committee: The Capital Improvement Committee finalized their recommendations for the 2016-2020 CIP at their meeting on June 3, 2015. Brad Borg, committee chair, will present the recommendations to the Council on August 11, 2015. Bio Retention Pond at Lilleskogen: The bio retention pond at Lilleskogen was completed by MCC volunteers coordinated through the Washington Conservation District on May 26th. Once all billings are received staff will submit for grant reimbursement dollars from Car mar Watershed. Grant up to $3,186. The funds would go back in to the Park Capital Improvement Fund. Minnesota GreenStep Cities Recognition at LMC Conference: Once again this year, Scandia will be recognized for its efforts to date in the GreenStep Cities program at the annual League of MN Cities Conference in Duluth on Friday, June 26th. The breakfast will be from 8- 9:30am. Any council members wishing to attend should let me know so I can RSVP for you. Made In Minnesota Incentive: As was mentioned at the last Council meeting, Scandia received a Made in MN incentive from the Dept. of Commerce to install solar panels on the Fire Hall. I have been working with City Attorney Vivian to review a Power Purchase Agreement with Novel Energy Solutions. Construction must be completed by the end of the year unless a 6 month extension is approved. Scandia Mine Inspection: Per the Annual Operating Permit approved in February by the Council, myself and Jed Chesnut reviewed wetland issues at the former Dresel Mine site (currently owned by Tiller) and screening along 218th St. Tiller representatives will look into increasing the height of the berm running along the mine access road. Per City Code, berms should not be less than 6 feet in height. Additional plantings will also occur along 218' St to fill in some of the gaps between existing trees. With respect to the wetland issue, staff is continuing to do research on permits from the county for the site and how they are to be implemented by the City. Union Negotiations: The City's last offer was sent to the union on May 15th. We have not received a response. 201 Wastewater Improvements: The pole has been installed at the A/E drainfield. Two staff members have received training on the new SCADA system. We are waiting for manuals and plans before making final payment to Automatic Systems. Washington County Administrators Meeting: At the May 27, 2015 meeting, we received an update from the Sheriff's Office regarding 911 dispatch operations. It is expected the TriTech-Tiburon CAD system will go live in September. We also received information on PowerPhone, a call handling system and software protocols for answering all types of emergency and non -emergency calls. This is the system the dispatcher use to help determine what level the medical calls are, for example. Washington County in preparing for Next Generation 9-1-1 in which equipment would accept 9-1-1 texts. We also received draft copies of County policies related to Tax Increment Financing and Tax Abatement. Once the County Board adopts them, the EDA may review. Water Summit Meeting -Hugo: The next meeting of the water group will be on July 16th at 7pm at the Hugo City Hall. A BBQ dinner will be provided so RSVPs are requested. Citizen Complaints/Contacts/Misc.: ➢ Numerous calls about the Wayne Erickson Ballfield. We have been mowing it once a week, consistent with past practice. All of the rain earlier this month and the end of May, brought additional challenges. ➢ Complaint about mowing at the Annex not being done. The Mayor and I visited it the day of the complaint and didn't think it was much higher than other private properties in the Village Center. The limiting staffing hours due to rain and vacancies in the public works dept. resulted in prioritizing public fields and community center grounds that are more used by the public. The fact that Miesters uses the annex area for their car show did not make us reprioritize this area. ➢ The easement off of Oxboro was also mowed the week of June 8th. ➢ Complaint about insufficient building inspections on new home built in 2012. Follow up call from resident was an apology for misinformation. ➢ Complaint about lack of calcium chloride application on Oakgreen Ave. Chemicals were applied on June 3`d. Follow up by Administrator and Engineer. ➢ Multiple planning related contacts about subdivisions, lot line adjustments, building in shoreland and new structures. ➢ Complaint about stumps on Pilar after tree removal was done this spring. Staff plans to bid out ditching work to be completed this fall that would include the removal of the stumps. This will be on the July agenda. ➢ Multiple complaints about Old Marine Trail near Hay Lake Park. This road is scheduled for reconstruction in 2018. Concerns were shared with the Capital Improvement Committee and they felt 236 -237 -Novak loop was in worse condition (scheduled for 2016 reconstruction) and we have also gotten multiple complaints on this section of road in the past. Engineer looked at it and with all of the alligator cracking, it would not be wise to do any patching or overlays before reconstruction. Staff will pot hole the area as best as possible over the next couple years. ➢ Complaint about a cottonwood tree on Oren shedding all over neighboring property. Public works will review in the fall when determining trees to be cut for the winter consistent with the Tree Trimming Policy. ➢ Complaint about neighbor granting easement across their property for someone to access Big Marine Lake. ➢ Complaint about siding work being done without a permit. The building official issued a stop work order. Property owners weren't aware they needed a permit and have since applied. ➢ Code violation (shoreland alteration) in Bliss ➢ Canadian National code violation (lack of erosion protection) at bridge crossing in Copas.