Jane McWilliams, LWV Observer
Council Kris Vohs was absent.
The council had before it a plan for selecting city legal assistance. The city contracts with three firms for legal services. Local attorneys Maren Swanson and Tim Morisette of the Lampe Law Group, serve as City Attorney and City Prosecuting Attorney, respectively. Other contracted legal services are for Bond Counsel, Tax Increment Financing and for labor relations and employment law. While it is anticipated that the city will continue to use the three outside legal services for specialized areas, the staff had designed a process for hiring a city attorney and city prosecuting attorney. (Both Swanson and Morisette have served since 1988. The city has solicited proposal for legal services three times since 1995.)
Staff asked for council approval of a Request for Proposal, which will be advertised on June 18. The recommended timeline included: interviews scheduled for July 20-24, with selection and contract award on August 17. The new contract will begin on January 1, 2010. Staff recommended approval of Mayor Mary Rossing to serve on the interview panel, which also includes the city administrator, city clerk, police chief and other staff members to be determined. City Administrator Joel Walinski said preference will be given to submittals demonstrating experience in civil legal services, criminal prosecutorial services or both. These are not staff positions, but contracted, and a three-year contract with two one-year renewal options are recommended.
During public comments, Victor Summa said he wasn’t opposed to the process, but stressed that this is a sensitive part of city government. He wondered whether it is on a too fast tract. The public needs to be sure it is getting the best service from the attorney for the good of the community, and this can only be done with an open process. Councilors had questions about the interview panel and public involvement. Walinski said the council will be informed about how the scoring process is being done, the basis for the decision-making process. City Clerk Deb Little explained that this process does not qualify for closed meeting consideration. City Finance Director Kathleen McBride noted that in her experience, this is an internal process, with the elected representatives giving final approval. The council approved the recommendations. (To see the 14-page Request for Proposal, go to: http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/a/approve-rfp-for-city-attorney-services-motion-attachment.pdf )
The final draft of a new special assessment ordinance, replacing current language in the code, received lengthy discussion. This policy is designed to provide the funds for public improvements and includes a new method for calculating the cost to property owners for the improvements. Instead of a maximum assessment amount per single lot owner, the new policy uses a method that determines the special benefits for each property owner individually and the assessment is based on that figure. Administrator Walinski said that the result of this method is very close to other assessments, but that it provides more flexibility. A trial run was done on the 5th Street project.
Councilor Rhonda Pownell asked whether staff had heard from citizens, and said she was surprised that people weren’t here to comment on it. Councilor Erica Zweifel said she’d like to “see an assessment of the assessment. I have heard from 1st Street residents” who will be affected by this, owing to the infrastructure work being done this summer. Speaking as a citizen, Jane McWilliams urged the council to communicate clearly to the affected property owners about this new system, so as to avoid problems created by people’s fears of a new process they don’t understand. Councilor Pownell suggested that the city newsletter would be a good medium for educating the public. The anticipated effective date is August 10. Once the ordinance is effective, the following schedule for both the 5th and the 1st Street improvements is planned:
August 17, 2009 – Assessment hearing
September 14, 2009 – Adoption of Assessments
Prepayment of Assessments
November 15, 2009 – Assessments certified to the county.
The first reading was approved unanimously.
The council forwarded to Rice County a resolution recommending a complete change out to 800MHz in order to improve the radio communications network. The timeline for expenditures and implementation is estimated to be in the years 2011 and 2012 and the city’s cost is estimated to be $304,800.
Councilor Pownell asked that the approval of interfund loans be removed from the Consent Agenda for consideration in the Regular Agenda. In order to cover deficit in two funds (Hiley-Neff Tax Increment Debt Service Fund and the Insurance Fund), the council approved a loan from other several other funds. In all cases, repayment will be made as funds become available in the two receiving the loans. Money from the Park Fund was designated for pool-related costs as of December 2008.
Administrator Walinski reported that because Governor Pawlenty was making an announcement tomorrow about state funding, the meeting with the finance commissioner on Thursday had been cancelled. In preparation for the 2010 budget, Walinski is talking with the city’s unions about changes in the anticipated 2010 pay agreement, including no salary increases, possible salary decreases, furloughs, shorter work weeks, and early retirement. “We want to protect jobs,” Walinski said. Another place the city spends money is subsidizing the Northfield Community Resource Center, a portion of which is buying back capital the partners contributed. A possible saving would be the Senior Center leasing space from the city, which would reduce $30-40,000 from the base rate.
At Councilor Pownell’s suggestion, the council will send a letter to the Malt-O-Meal Company expressing that if there were anything the city can do to retain the jobs the firm plans to send to another location, the council would like to talk with them. Administrator Walinski reported that the staff would like to apply for a grant from the Recovery Program, to implement some of the transportation plans already in place. The city would have to spend $50,000 to prepare an RFP for a feasibility study. It would have to be done quickly as there is a short time line. Some councilors were concerned about community involvement, staff resources and use of current information. Walinski stressed that this is an opportunity, and if we can get the right consultant, we do have the background. He suggested a special session for next week’s work session to explore this further.
The final portion of the meeting consisted of individual councilor reports on their activities, including attendance at ward meetings, boards and commissions, and in the case of Mayor Rossing, a planning session for a “Mayors’ Ride” to view public art during ArtSwirl in mid August. Councilor Jon Denison said he had decided not to hold a ward meeting this month because things have quieted down, people are on vacations, and he would need at least 30 days to plan it.
The meeting adjourned at 9:29 p.m.