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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2022-06-15MaCottage Grove here Pride and?rOsperity Meet MINUTES COTTAGE GROVE CITY COUNCIL COUNCIL CHAMBER 12800 RAVINE PARKWAY SOUTH REGULAR MEETING - 7:00 P.M COUNCIL CHAMBER CALL TO ORDER June 15, 2022 The City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, Washington County, Minnesota, held a regular meeting on June 15, 2022, at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Parkway. Mayor Bailey called the meeting to order at 7.00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The audience, staff, and City Council Members stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL City Clerk Tammy Anderson called the roll: Mayor Bailey - Here; Council Member Dennis - Here; Council Member Khambata - Here; Council Member Olsen - Here; Council Member Thiede - Here. Also present: Jennifer Levitt, City Administrator; Korine Land, City Attorney-LeVander, Gillen & Miller, PA; Tammy Anderson, City Clerk; Christine Costello, Director of Community Development; Pete Koerner, Public Safety Director; Brenda Malinowski, Finance Director; Amanda Meyer, Assistant City Engineer; Mike Mrosla, Senior Planner. 4. OPEN FORUM Mayor Bailey opened the Open Forum. As no one wished to address the Council, Mayor Bailey closed the Open Forum. 5. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Council Member Dennis made a motion to adopt the agenda; second by Council Member Thiede. Motion carried: 5-0. 6. PRESENTATIONS CITY OF COTTAGE GROVE . 12800 Ravine Parkway . Cottage Grove, Minnesota 55016 www.cottagegrovemn.gov.651-458-2800. Fax 651-458-2897. Equal Opportunity Employer City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 2 A. Award Craig Woolery Scholarships Staff Recommendation: Accept presentation awarding the Craig Woolery Scholarships. Mayor Bailey asked the Council Members, former Chief Craig Woolery, and members of the Public Safety Board to step in front of the dais for the presentations. Julie Rice, President of the Public Safety Board, stated when Chief Woolery retired from the Police Department, Council Member Olsen and his wife, Kim, began a scholarship program in honor of Chief Woolery. The Public Safety Board received donations for the scholarship fund from individuals and the Lions Club. Because of COVID, this is the first year we've been able to award the scholarship, so we decided to give two scholarships this year. The recipients need to have interest in a career in law enforcement, EMS, or fire, and they also need to live in Cottage Grove. Shay Cleary stated the scholarship award recipients were Tia Rossow and Joe Roeser. Tia is a senior at Park High School. She became interested in law enforcement because her dad is a reserve officer, and she also unfortunately lost a friend to drunk driving. She's interested in becoming a police officer and is also a sergeant within our award -winning Youth Explorers Program, which fosters interest in law enforcement. He stated this award to Tia is very well deserved, and the Public Safety Board is proud to award this scholarship to her to help further her education. Julie presented Tia with her scholarship award, and photos were taken. Shay introduced Joe Roeser, who grew up in Cottage Grove; he's currently a student at Minnesota State University, in Mankato, exploring law enforcement. He first became interested in law enforcement when attending the Cottage Grove Strawberry Fest parade and seeing the fire trucks and the police cars. When he graduates, he's specifically interested in becoming a K9 officer, and wants to work for a public safety department just outside the metro area. He congratulated Joe, Julie presented Joe with his scholarship award, and photos were taken. Mayor Bailey thanked Council Member Olsen and his wife, Kim, for getting this program up and running in the City of Cottage Grove. The scholarship award will obviously offer great opportunities for two of our youth who will be pursuing public safety careers. Who knows, we might see them coming back here to work as police officers. B. 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Staff Recommendation: Accept Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the year ended December 31, 2021. Brenda Malinowski, Finance Director, stated the 2021 Financial Audit has been completed for the City; in addition, with the help of our auditors, we've prepared our Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which is available on the City website. Matt Mayer with our auditing firm, BerganKDV, will do a short presentation tonight of our 2021 financial highlights, and he will be happy to answer any questions that Council might have. Mr. Mayer stated their role as the City's auditors is to come in at the end of the year to test, examine, and give an opinion on the financial statements that were prepared by City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 3 the City's Finance Department. We provide an opinion on those financial statements for an independent auditor's report; this year, as in years past, we're giving you an Unmodified Opinion, which is the best that we can give you. It means that the numbers that we're going to be looking at are a true and accurate picture of the City's financial position at the end of the 2021 fiscal year and a true record of the transactions for that year end. He stated there were numerous other reports completed, including: • A Minnesota Legal Compliance Audit, with no findings. • A Federal Audit of Compliance (ARPA Funding), with no findings. • Internal Control, one finding, which is described in the materials provided. Mr. Mayer stated he'd review the numbers; he knows the Finance Department does a great job of keeping Council up to speed, but sometimes there's value in a third party coming in and giving Council some perspective. He spoke about the General Fund and each of the City's Enterprise Funds to give insight on the City's financial health for the 2021 fiscal year. General Fund Basically, everything that runs the City is in the General Fund. Council probably interacts with this fund the most; the best way to look at the General Fund is in the context of the budget. Through the Council, the citizens direct the administration on how the City should be run for the year. Staff and Council put a budget together that sets spending parameters and the revenue stream through the levy, which is the main revenue generator for the City. The final amended budget for the 2021 fiscal year called for a surplus of about $611,000 at year end; that meant if the budget was executed, your financial position would increase by that amount. Revenue: Budget: $20.3 million. Actual: $20.9 million, about $600,000 better than anticipated. It was a very good year development wise in the City, so licenses and permits and charges for service that are associated with development were better than anticipated. Expenses: Over budget by about $147,000, but on a $20 million budget, that's less than 1 %; each of the department heads did a fine job of staying within the established parameters. Two departments, Community Development and Parks and Recreation, were over budget, and both made sense: There are costs with development, you hired in that department to make sure you could service all development needs. Park and Recreation was over budget because of some storm cleanup costs. Mr. Mayer displayed a chart of revenues, expenditures, and the fund balance from 2017 through 2021; he noted in that time the fund balance had increased from $10.8 million to $13.1 million. Within that $13.1 million, there's $1 million set aside to cover severance pay, another $600,000 available to assist with next year's budget, and there's about another $11.5 million that we call unassigned; that's the score card to determine the City's financial health. As a Council, you have a policy that says you want that number to be no less than 55% of next year's budget; currently you're at 55.2%. Again, the fund is very well managed; your Finance Department is doing a great job with the leadership of Director Malinowski and her predecessor, Director Roland. Financially, in fiscal year 2021, you landed where you wanted to land in the General Fund. Mr. Mayer reviewed how the City got there: City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 4 Revenue in the General Fund was up about 7% year over year, with most increases in licenses and permits, about $700,000 higher than the year before; charges for services were about $500,000 higher than the year before. Again, those were development related. Expenses for 2021 were up, and it looks a little bit odd that the 2020 expenditures went down; however, the City used its Federal CARES Act funds for COVID relief in 2020 for Public Safety. So, many Public Safety expenditures that normally would have been in the General Fund in 2020 were actually paid out of other funds. Now that you're back to normal operations, there's a disproportionate spike with Public Safety costs because Public Safety salaries are no longer paid by CARES Act funds. Park and Recreation costs were down again in 2020 because that department was relatively dormant during COVID, but they were back in business in 2021. Enterprise Funds Mr. Mayer spoke in detail about each of the Enterprise Funds, which are fee -for -service funds, and whether the charges for services are adequate to cover the cost of doing business. Important notes are in Italics: Streetlight Fund: Expenses have increased over each of the last five years, but revenue has only increased over the last couple of years; right now, revenue is not quite pacing the increased expenses. With operating losses over the last couple of years, the fund balance has declined, although it's leveled off; so, maybe the fee structure must be reviewed. This is the one fund he'd look at as you have $450,000 in reserves on a fund that's spending about $1.2 million: That's about three months worth of expenses. EMS Fund: Had a record year; after a break-even year in 2020, during COVID, the calls and revenue were up significantly in 2021. The expenses were up modestly, but you were able to post fairly significant operating income in this fund for 2021. As a result, the financial health of this fund increased, with about a $1.2 million fund balance to end the 2021 fiscal year. Water Fund: There had previously been significant operating losses in this fund until the rate structure was changed. You sold a lot of water in 2021, which was a fairly dry year, and actually posted operating income without depreciation for the first time in 2021. The fund balance is again growing and ended the year with about $8 million. This fund is a bit different; if you have capital needs, they'll come from this fund. While $8 million sounds like a lot, if there's a watermain break or a major project, $8 million will probably not go very far. He encouraged Council to work with the Finance team on this. You should look at the $8 million as partially operations cash flow and partially part of your CIP/CEP Plan; make sure that those are integrated, so Council understands what is completely in that $8 million going forward. Sewer Fund: Revenue increased about 5%, expenses increased about 2.5%; this fund posted operating income with depreciation factored out, but with it factored in, a small operating loss for the year. Over the course of the last five years, we've had modest increases in the financial position of this fund, and it seems to be performing well, so you again added a little bit to the fund balance. The year end fund balance was a little over $6 million, but this was one of the banker funds that helped build City Hall; about $3 million of that is actually an IOU to yourself from other resources. So, the actual City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 5 liquid resources available for use in this fund are only about $3 million. As that loan gets repaid, that will turn into full cash, but it's not there right now to use. Mr. Mayer compared Cottage Grove to some state-wide averages on a per capita basis for revenue and expenses: Revenue: Cottage Grove is collecting about $100 less per person than a typical city your size when it comes to property taxes. There are some offsets to that, as Cottage Grove is in significant development mode: You're collecting more when it comes to licenses and permits, special assessments, and charges for services; that's something to be aware of. Intergovernmental revenue has also been higher the last few years, as you draw on the Municipal State Aid (MSA) for your roads. Expenses: Cottage Grove is spending about $50 less per capita for operations; that's the everyday cost of doing business. For capital, you're spending more than a typical city; again, that's development related. With debt service cost, Cottage Grove is significantly less, about $30 less per capita; that means that you're still in development mode, but a lot of that is on a pay-as-you-go basis, and you're not incurring significant debt. The debt load that you have is about 75% of a typical city your size. Mr. Mayer stated he'd be happy to take any questions from the Council before they accept the audit. Council Member Olsen stated the good news is that living in Cottage Grove is a tremendous value to the residents compared to other cities of similar size, with property taxes, debt service, and general government expense; so, that's about $180 savings per capita versus the averages of other cities. As a city in development mode, Mr. Mayer could see that we're spending when it comes to growth, but we're doing pay-as- you-go. He asked if that was typical, compared to other communities, or is that maybe unique in some way, either good or bad, that we're in such high -growth mode, but yet we continue to be able to charge our residents less? Mr. Mayer stated it makes sense when it comes to capital. Obviously, with building new roads and the development activity associated with that, an inner -ring city suburb with a similar population isn't going to have that level of development and that level of capital outlay. So, it's very clear that your $729 in 2020 versus a typical city of $300 makes sense because just look at what's been going on in Cottage Grove over that time. The revenue stream associated with that also makes sense; special assessments are usually exchange related, there's some value that's provided to the homeowner, and that's the reason that you go that route. Also, licenses, permit revenue, charges for services, cost of inspections, cost of all that engineering come into play, so all of that makes sense to him. When it comes to operating expenses, going forward, that's one that he would keep an eye on. With your high growth, you can grow quicker than the infrastructure that you can build underneath. We're dividing this on a per capita basis; so, as your population grows, if you have static staffing levels, static budgets, that's getting spread out a lot more. So, when the City starts to grow, you also want to be conscious of what is it going to take to support that; when you're below average on the operation side, that can be good, it can be the value that you're getting, but it also could mean that you've got some catching up to do as far as operation services go. He didn't City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 6 know what the answer was to that, but he's just giving some perspective on it to look at it from both sides. Council Member Olsen told Mr. Mayer he appreciated him sharing that, and he shared his concern. It's definitely important that we keep up with not only existing infrastructure, but also the new infrastructure that we're laying down at a rapid rate. Sometimes that takes an investment in personnel, materials, or something else. All in all, it sounds like we're on a really healthy path; he's certainly glad that what Mr. Mayer brought forward tonight is exactly what we're heard in the past. Living in Cottage Grove is a tremendous value, and we're very careful about our spending; even in high -growth mode, we're still in a position where we are charging our residents less than the average community of a similar size. He found that to be very reassuring. Council Member Dennis thanked Mr. Mayer for speaking about the last point because we're in a growth mode, but we're putting a tremendous amount of time and planning into understanding how the future will unfold, what the needs are going to be. So, as we plan, in order to maintain the high level of quality and service that people have come to expect from us, we need to do it in a way that makes sense financially and will provide a great return of value to the community. He's very confident that the Council will work together with our staff on that to do a good job; in his opinion, he thinks we're heading in the right direction. Mayor Bailey thanked Director Malinowski for finishing up the work after Director Roland retired; he also thanked the staff for putting the report together. He stated that it's very impressive to see that we continue to manage the budget very tightly, and we're very careful with the local tax dollars. Motion by Council Member Olsen to accept the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the year ended December 31, 2021; second by Council Member Thiede. Motion carried: 5-0. 7. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve the City Council Regular Meeting Minutes from June 1, 2022. B. Appoint Kelsey Moyer to the unexpired term on the Public Services Commission beginning on July 18, 2022 and ending February 28, 2023. C. Appoint Rene Bade, Gretchen Larson, and Druscilla Nute to fill the vacant seats on the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors. D. Approve the purchase of a new spreader attachment from Niebur Tractor and Equipment not to exceed $4,000. E. Approve the issuance of rental licenses to the properties listed in the attached table. F. Approve participation as a vendor in the Minnesota Water Assistance Program. G. Adopt Resolution 2022-102 appointing Election Judges for the August 9, 2022 Primary Election and November 8, 2022 General Election. City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 7 H. Approve the Consent to Improvements with Xcel Energy for Glacial Valley Park. I. Approve the service agreement with Northern States Power Company for Peak Control Services at the City Hall building and terminate the agreement from 2017. J. Approve the Permanent Easement for Sanitary Sewer, Storm Sewer, and Watermain purposes as part of the Glacial Valley Park project. K. Approve the single occasion Gambling Permit application for the Park High School Football Boosters. L. Approve Mobile Food Licenses listed in the memo through December 31, 2022. Council Member Olsen wished to pull Item B, Public Services Commission Appointment, and Council Member Dennis wished to pull Item C, Convention and Visitors Bureau Member Appointments, on the Consent Agenda for further comment and/or discussion. Council Member Olsen stated Item B will appoint Kelsey Moyer to the unexpired term on the Public Services Commission, which begins July 18, 2022, and ends on February 28, 2023. He stated that he, Public Safety Captain Greg Rinzel, Public Works Director Ryan Burfeind, and Steve Ingram, the Chair of the Public Services Commission, had the opportunity to speak with Kelsey about her interest in getting involved with the City. On her application, she had several areas of interest, but we were grateful that she decided to interview for this commission. We were impressed; she has a lot of energy and enthusiasm, definitely wants to contribute to the City in a positive way, and he thanked her for her willingness to serve. He asked his Council colleagues to please reaffirm this recommendation that Kelsey be appointed to this unexpired term on the Public Services Commission. Council Member Dennis thanked former Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Roshan Patel for his service; he was one of the ground -floor members of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, also referred to as Discover Cottage Grove. He's a fantastic guy, very positive, and was instrumental in helping us, as he owned the Country Inn and Suites here in Cottage Grove. We thank him for his contributions. He's resigned from his position, which created an open seat on an unexpired term ending February 28, 2023. As required by the rules of our operation, we must have at least one person from the hotel or lodging industry on the Board. Mr. Patel was kind enough to ask his General Manager, Renee Bade, if she would be interested in joining, and she was interested in doing that. So, we'll continue to have a great resource and excellent perspective with Renee; he asked for approval from the Council to allow her to fulfill that unexpired term. Council Member Dennis stated that on our staff position team for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, we were very fortunate to have Christine Costello, the Economic Development Director at that time, work with us from the onset of the program; she contributed a tremendous amount to the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Christine now City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 8 works as the Community Development Director, so we're asking that Gretchen Larson, Economic Development Director, fill Director Costello's staff position on the Convention and Visitors Bureau. We'll be in really good hands with Director Larson, as she does a really good job for the City. Council Member Dennis stated the third person, Druscilla Nute, will be a brand-new appointment. He and Julie Prior -Miller, Marketing and Communications Specialist, had the opportunity to meet with her at the River Oaks Golf Course; she's well qualified, has a desire to serve, and wants to join up with us. With the Convention and Visitors Bureau, we seek people who have a business background; she is a multi -unit manager for H&R Block, including the Cottage Grove location. He felt she'd be an excellent asset for us. He asked the Council to support appointing all these peoples. This is about putting Cottage Grove on the map, so it's a great thing to be involved with, and we've got a good team. Motion by Council Member Khambata to approve the Consent Agenda; second by Council Member Thiede. Motion carried: 5-0. 8. APPROVE DISBURSEMENTS A. Approve payments for the period of 5/27/2022-6/09/2022 in the amount of $953,278.39. Motion by Council Member Dennis to approve disbursements; second by Council Member Olsen. Motion carried: 5-0. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Special Event Permit Staff Recommendation: Authorize issuance of a Special Event permit to Monique Garza, contingent upon conditions outlined in the memo from Public Safety Director Koerner and Community Development Director Costello dated June 9, 2022, and all applicable state and local statutes. Pete Koerner, Public Safety Director, spoke about "Movies in the Park." A local resident and realtor, Monique Garza, contacted Molly Pietruszewski, our Recreation Services Manager, and wanted to reserve Highlands Park for "Movies in the Park." She's said she's gone to those in other communities, and we've previously had them, too. They're a lot of work, which she discovered; she was initially anticipating about 200 people, but Manager Pietruszewski told her there could be more, as people are really enjoying getting out, and this is a perfect event. Director Costello, Clerk Anderson, and I have met with Ms. Garza to help her out; this is a volunteer group of residents and business owners who are donating to make this happen. She applied for the Special Event permit, we're not anticipating a lot of special services will be needed, but after the first month, if this is successful, then Public Safety will have more involvement, especially with parking. City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 9 Director Koerner stated they're reserving the park for three different Wednesdays, and Highlands Park is really the only park that worked for them. They'll have activities starting at 7.30, and the movie will start at dusk. The activities might change each month, but they're flexible and we'll work with them. The viewing area will be on the baseball field, so people can bring chairs and blankets. The screen will be out in the field, not pointed toward residences. The parking lot will have some vendor parking and tables set up; South Suburban Rental is donating the popcorn and mini donut machines to have on tables by the pavilion. There will absolutely be no parking allowed on 70th Street, and officers will ensure that doesn't occur. Highlands Park has three parking lots, and we're going to encourage people to be north of 70th Street. We don't believe that noise will be an issue due to the placement of the screen. Director Koerner stated the possibility of severe weather was discussed with them; we'll have a sergeant on duty who will keep them up to speed on any incoming weather. We've already advised the food vendors that they need to contact Washington County for food sales. For first aid, our duty crew will probably be there anyway. For signage, they'll put up some sponsorship signs in the parking lot; the movie screen is a 20-foot inflatable screen. They'll make sure there's a proper amount of waste collection there. Director Koerner stated that Ms. Garza is doing this all on her own and getting people involved. He asked if there were any questions. Council Member Olsen stated he was glad Director Koerner addressed the 70th Street issue, as that had him a bit concerned, not only with parking but also pedestrians trying to cross 70th Street. He asked if 70th Street would be lined with temporary No Parking signage or if that would be necessary. Director Koerner replied more than likely we'll use our message board that just says no parking, so we'll already have that done; if we need to put some cones out, our reserve officers will probably be coming out for this, so if they need to help, they can do so. We want this to be a safe event. Mayor Bailey opened the public hearing. As no one wished to speak on this item, Mayor Bailey closed the public hearing. Motion by Council Member Khambata to authorize issuance of a Special Event permit to Monique Garza, contingent upon conditions outlined in the memo from Public Safety Director Koerner and Community Development Director Costello dated June 9, 2022, and all applicable state and local statutes; second by Council Member Dennis. Motion carried: 5-0. 10. BID AWARDS A. South District Trunk Storm Sewer Project - Bid Award Staff Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2022-103 approving the South District Trunk Storm Sewer Project to Minger Construction Company, Inc. in a total base bid amount of $2,675,247.00. Amanda Meyer, Assistant City Engineer, stated the scope of this project is to run a trunk storm sewer to service our South District area, south of 100th Street. The alignment of City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 10 this pipe will follow a similar line as our South District Sanitary Sewer that was recently completed. We opened bids last Thursday, with the low bid being Minger Construction Company at $2,675,247. There were two engineer estimates listed; the reason for that is one was presented to you at the time that plans, and specifications were approved in May. Since that time, our staff and consultant team did some value engineering; we looked at pipe vetting, class of materials, looked at some pipe specifications, and determined that some of our runs of pipe could have the class material changed. Therefore, we saw a savings of about $290,000 in our estimate. Something we also thought would provide for favorable bids was the schedule of the project. Rather than having the completion date being this fall, it's spring of 2023; that allowed a little more flexibility for the contractors. Typically, when bidding a project at this time of year, most contractors are busy through year end; so, normally, you'd see higher prices with a completion date of this fall. We think the schedule helped get these favorable bids. Assistant Engineer Meyer stated it's worth noting that the City has previously worked with Minger on a watermain relocation a few years ago, next to the CP Railway. We had a good experience with them, so we're comfortable with them as a contractor. Our project team reached out to Minger after the bid opening, just to walk through their bid and the project schedule, to make sure everyone was still comfortable with the numbers presented. She stated she'd be happy to answer any questions. Council Member Thiede stated in looking at the bids, the Minger bid was substantially less than the next lowest bid, by almost $500,000. He wondered if perhaps they left something out, the reason for that significant difference, or if maybe they just really wanted to do some more work in Cottage Grove. Assistant Engineer Meyer replied staff had reached out to Minger because of the significantly lower bid. They were very comfortable with the price that they had bid. This project goes through open farm fields, without a lot of traffic or property owner impact; it's a straightforward project. Motion by Council Member Olsen to Adopt Resolution 2022-103 approving the South District Trunk Sewer Project to Minger Construction Company, Inc. in a total base bid amount of $2,675,247.00-1 second by Council Member Thiede. Motion carried: 5-0. 11. REGULAR AGENDA - None. 12. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Council Member Khambata stated that he's very impressed with the level of community engagement that we've had and the level of feedback that we've been getting. We still have the online survey and wondered how much longer staff was going to keep that open before we start tabulating data. He's excited to see what the community feedback will be on our parks. On Monday, he was able to tour with the Parks Commission all our City parks. Parks and Recreation Director Zac Dockter was a wealth of knowledge on the history of some of those parks and how they were named; more importantly, you can't go more than half a mile without seeing a community park, which he thought was City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 11 great. Other communities don't value the development of parks as much as we do. He hopes that we get to see more people out enjoying those amenities, and he looks forward to hearing community feedback on some upcoming parks. Council Member Dennis spoke about the Cottage Grove Night at the St. Paul Saints game last Saturday evening. He and every member of the Council were there, as were several of our staff members, to assist in helping put Cottage Grove on the map. We were in a very good position on the concourse area, where there were a multitude of people walking by. We interfaced with folks, answered questions, and shared our Visitors Guide and other materials with them. It was just a beautiful evening to be out there, and it was a fun experience to take part in. He thought everybody felt good about the interaction we had with people; he thanked everyone who helped with that event. Council Member Dennis mentioned that all of us will be in the Strawberry Fest parade. Council Member Olsen and I will pull double duty because we're going to do the Council part first, and then we're going to go back and walk with our friends from Beyond the Yellow Ribbon. We're very proud of the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon group, and we find tremendous value in the work that they do. It's very humble work; it's making a difference in the lives of veterans, current service members, and their family members in times of need. It's really a fantastic organization to be a part of. We'll be toward the end of the parade, so he asked people to keep an eye out for us. We don't have a large group, but it's a nice group of people who are very, very dedicated. If there's anyone who feels strongly, like we do, about Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, they might want to connect with us for a volunteer opportunity. Or, if they're interested in possibly donating to the organization, we could really use that; we would make sure that money and the funding is put to great use to make a difference. Council Member Thiede stated it's here, Strawberry Fest 2022! It's going to be a fantastic time. Everything is ready, we've got the event schedule out there, so go to cottagegrovestrawberryfest.com. If you like food, if you like events, if you like rides, if you like wrestling, it's all there. Everybody is just excited to get out there again and have fun. So, don't be left out; mark it on your calendar and get on out there! Mayor Bailey stated Strawberry Fest is 100% volunteer; for the many years that all of us have been involved, they keep trying to make it bigger every year. It's going to be awesome because we haven't had the opportunity for the past years to have it. On Thursday, June 16, beginning at 3.30 p.m., Twin Cities Live is going to be at Kingston Park. So, if you want to get on TV, come out and check it out. They'll be doing a variety of events and pie -eating contests; they'll be promoting Cottage Grove and our Strawberry Fest, so that's amazing. Tomorrow evening, Council Member Olsen and I will be part of the judging panel for the talent show, Minnesota Sings, which starts at 7.00 p.m. The carnival will also be up and running, as well as a lot of food booths. It is set up a little differently this year, too, due to some construction at the elementary school; he encouraged people to come check it out, as he personally likes it the way it is now. He spoke with Samantha Crabtree, who said there are over 100 vendors this year City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 12 in the Strawberry Fields marketplace, which is pretty amazing. The Discover Cottage Grove booth is also going to be a part of that, so if you want to learn a little bit more about Cottage Grove, that's your opportunity to do so. He wanted to make that plug about Twin Cities Live tomorrow, so just have some fun and cheer on the great community of Cottage Grove. Mayor Bailey gave a shout out to the Park High School boys baseball team; they were in the State tournament again this year, so it's been two years in a row. Last year, they got beat by Farmington in the championship game. Yesterday, they went into the playoffs, but unfortunately Farmington won by one run. He's very proud of the boys, the team, and the coach for really putting on a great show and putting Cottage Grove on the map. Council Member Olsen noted that Park won the consolation championship game today. They had one loss in the tournament to Farmington, but Park dominated in the consolation round and are the consolation champs this year in the State of Minnesota; so, they did a great job. Mayor Bailey stated that was awesome and congratulated them and Park High School. Mayor Bailey stated that due to the Fourth of July holiday, there will not be another City Council Meeting until July 20. He reminded the public that on the Fourth of July, at Kingston Park, there will once again be a very large Fourth of July fireworks display. The Lions Club will be having activities there, they put on the family fun time program at the park. He gave a plug to the major sponsors, as we received $5,000 donations from 3M, Renewal by Andersen, Tennis Sanitation, NorthPoint Development, and Hy-Vee. There were other businesses, too, including Northwoods Smokehouse, who put in some extra money. We raised over $25,000 for the fireworks this year, so it will be an amazing display. Mayor Bailey stated regarding "Movies in the Park," one of the neat things he really loves about Cottage Grove is when somebody has an idea, our staff and our Council work with them to try to make that idea a reality. The Bike Park, the Dog Park, the Inclusive Playground, and more, were all volunteer driven. He happened to bump into a woman at Hy-Vee one day, who made a comment about how she'd really love to do "Movies in the Park." So, voila, now we're going to have that on multiple Wednesdays in our community; all driven by one individual's vision of what she would like to see in one of our parks. We're asking questions of the public on the survey and will be handing out some flyers at Strawberry Fest because we want to hear what people are interested in and what they want out of their parks. The idea, though, is when you dream, you can come to Cottage Grove, and we'll work with you on making that dream become a reality. Mayor Bailey stated after our last Council Meeting, we did a performance review check - in with our City Administrator, Jennifer Levitt; since that was a closed workshop session, he informed everyone that the performance review was a very good one. Administrator Levitt is doing a fantastic job; frankly, she's also part of this whole process, as she likes City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 13 these check -ins, to make sure that we're aligned as a Council and staff. We appreciate everything that Administrator Levitt is doing, and we look forward to those check -ins every so often. Mayor Bailey stated that we'd recess the meeting now, and would adjourn the meeting from the Workshop, Open to the Public. He told everyone to have a great time at Strawberry Fest. 13. WORKSHOPS - OPEN TO PUBLIC A. Glacial Valley Park Building Design Workshop Staff Recommendation: Receive information and give feedback on the Glacial Valley Park building design, project schedule, and budget. Director Dockter stated Council and staff had discussed in February this notion of an enhanced building at our next community park, Glacial Valley; that project is already underway. We talked about the need for a larger, more professional multipurpose room to hold dinner events, business meetings, training opportunities, upscale parties. We also discussed more large classrooms for more youth and senior programming, and educational nature -based programming; we could also rent out that space. We wanted lots of easily accessible storage space; we'd be more diligent in the way we store things because we have storage issues with all the equipment we have for our services. We wanted a unique design element that takes into consideration the connection between indoor and outdoor space in this park, but also the history and character of Cottage Grove. You'll see some of that as we go through the design options. We're working hard to get the pulse of the community on recreation opportunities; we know that people love their parks and recreation in Cottage Grove, it's a point of pride, and people vocalize what they like and sometimes what they don't like. We already know: 1) Facility user requests are growing at an incredible rate; we literally had to shut down June rentals of all our facilities because we just could not service the facilities the way we need to. If there's a double rental, we don't have the staff to get out there and clean the facilities before the next rental. Now we're starting to back off on the July and August rentals because we just can't keep up. It's a good problem to have, but it's not any fun when you must tell people no. 2) The desire for the indoor -outdoor connection is real. We see it growing in appreciation for parks and public spaces; as soon as we pave a trail, people are on it. As soon as we put up a building, people want to use it. If we build it, they will come. They find our new recreational opportunities, they fill our programs quickly, and they let others know about their experience. Director Dockter stated he didn't want to over or undersell this project; it's the Council's discretion on where we go with this, and he'll respect their decision as he knows we must balance both the budget and service delivery. These legacy -type decisions are very difficult, but it's our job to bring the design back to you. We have a team of architects here from Wold; they did a nice job of putting together a program on the City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 14 building, why it was designed the way it was, and how it will function. Our staff team is here, as they'll be using it, renting it, and operating it every day, and will be happy to answer any questions from the Council. He asked John McNamara from Wold to speak further on Glacial Valley Park. Mr. McNamara introduced Tom Clark, the design architect on this project. They've been working diligently on this since the last Council workshop to dig into the detail of what this building could be; we've been working with City staff to make sure we're getting the most that we can out of this building and the park itself. He stated he'd talk through some of the amenities of the building, the overall design concept, and how we tried to incorporate some of the ideas into the building to form the design. The solutions that we come up with will be unique to this particular location. We have renderings of the inside and outside of the building, and we've been working on a more -refined budget on which to receive feedback from the Council today. We'll talk about the potential schedule for it, as there are currently things going on in the market, so we want to make sure we touch on that. Main Lobby: There was much discussion related to how we wanted everybody to engage in the building. We started with where the front door of the building would be, the main lobby, what it would be used for, and if it could serve multiple purposes. The lobby is now labeled lobby and warming because we want to have a warming component to the park; during ice-skating season, we're looking at having a skate - friendly mat in this area so the public can access the lobby and use it as a warming house. Other times, it will just serve as a breakout space/lobby space for visitors at the park. Classroom and Program Space: It's the first big room in the building; we spoke about flooring and flexibility in that space, so will do a little bit harder flooring, sealed concrete, in that area. Storage was a big discussion related to that, so we have some built-in storage in the room, but through the little kitchenette area, we'll also have access to the park storage area that's designed on the north side. That park storage area also has a large, overhead door to get larger stuff in and out of that space. Not only will it serve the classroom and program space, but it will also serve the park and the park functions. We have mechanical and electrical spaces to fill out the utility area. Restrooms: Three individual restrooms have been designed: Two off the main lobby, but one specifically off the north vestibule; that gives flexibility to be able to lock down the building but still allow access to a restroom for the public. The concept is that you could leave that north vestibule unlocked, lock the inner door, and then people can access the restroom in that location. We also have the option to lock the entire building down by locking the exterior doors. Multipurpose Space: We spent a lot of time on this space; we tried using different types of tables and chairs that could be used for an event, like a wedding, or just eating, but also for more formal training. That space is a little bit smaller than the space here at City Hall, but it has much of the same functionality. It's a more professional type of space so will have a carpeted floor, but the materials we're choosing were designed for that indoor -outdoor possibility. City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 15 North Side: This is the very open side; we're currently budgeting for and planning for operable doors on that location. Those doors are called NanaWall, kind of bi-folding doors; each 12-foot opening has a pair of doors that would slide open to engage a park in that area. There is a concrete patio in that area with the ability to have a gas firepit there, for the connection of indoor -outdoor space. There is a serving kitchenette there, so we had much discussion about what that space could be used for; it can serve as a catering kitchen for an event, but there's also the ability to support a business meeting that might also want to serve snacks. The kitchen in here is a little bit bigger scale so it will support a larger group. There's the ever-present need for storage for tables and chairs to really allow that space to be used for multiple things. The north vestibule just leads out to the rest of the park area. Design: As we looked at this area, we really wanted to tie this facility into what this park was all about. Glacial Valley Park is an area of the city that's experienced some change over time; so, we wanted to look back at what had happened many years ago to what the park area looks like now. We started organizing our thoughts around what we could bring to the facility and into the concept. There'd been a lot of layering and movement in that area, so it really suggested that our design solution could take on some of the landform characteristics as they'd previously existed in that area and what they look like today. We looked at moving our design solution away from just the simple 5,500 square -foot box; we asked how we could start to push and pull these pieces apart to not only create form for the building, but also took on the concept of this as a glacial area, with movement and fault lines. We started to push and pull the design together; we wanted to articulate the roof shapes and move them and be able to check the north and south entries. The design team really looked at how we could form the building solution with some of the things that were important for this particular area of the city. When you see some of the layering and inspiration that you'll see in the final design solution, you can see some of the natural forms and some of the glacier type pieces that we have here with slopes, layering, the nice fields, and some of the natural materials. We looked at how we could incorporate those into the actual building solution. Materials: We chose materials that were long lasting, durable, and would work with the natural prairie in the park setting. Exterior solutions for the building include thermally - modified wood up high, over our canopies and our sloped areas. The locally -quarried Rivard limestone is the same as what's been used on all of the recent City facilities; our design idea is to use the honed limestone, like that on the outside of City Hall, the HERO Center, and the Central Fire Station, but will use it in a way that gives that layering effect. We'll be using a polished -concrete floor not only for its durability, but also to give some more natural finish. We wanted a fairly -durable material in the warming house block area, so there's nice, warm burnished block there. There's also cast stone for use on the base of the building, especially around where sidewalks interact with the building; we'll have a more -durable material at the base, which is a way to protect that area. Some of these materials are in action on the building: The upper lip that you see on there is the thermally -modified wood that slopes up and away from the building; it really anchors not only this corner of the building, but also our other prominent design feature with the large multipurpose room. The base of the building is that precast material. On the lower, more -rectangular masses, we're proposing to use City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 16 the nice limestone finish on the building. It will be a very nice, natural look to the building with the thermally -modified wood and the Rivard limestone; they will work very well with the park setting. As we continue around the building, you see all of the glazing and light that will be in the classroom space. They provide some shading and protection of the glass, not only on the south side, but also on the north side. We're extending the roof out over the walkway to get into the main entrance, which also gives us an opportunity to put a base over by the entry of the building where we can put some signage and celebrate the park building at that location. When you think about the different seasons, one of the things with the roof is in summertime with the sun being higher in the sky, the roof itself will provide more shading to that glass; during the wintertime, as the sun angle is lower, it will provide with more natural light and heat into those spaces. Moving around to the north side of the building is that large multipurpose space, similar design aesthetic as the south side of the building, but here we have those large operable doors, which gives us the connection from inside space to outside space; you can really engage the park on the north side. Moving into the building, we brought some of those materials from the outside to the inside. This is a view of the main public lobby of the building with the wood coming in on the ceiling, the limestone coming in on the piers, and then some of that burnished block in some of the other areas; there's also the sealed concrete floor in that space. The large multipurpose room has a nice view through those large doors to the outside. We're looking at using heavy -tempered construction for much of the building, and we talked about that a little bit as we talked through the budget. We're currently proposing large Glulam beams for the roof support and for the commons along both window walls of the multipurpose room and the education classroom; so, both of those will have a similar aesthetic to them. Budget: Construction costs are tough to figure out these days, but we have engaged with Kraus -Anderson to talk through where they think this building is at, from the initial concept design that Director Dockter had previously presented to where we think we are today. Building construction costs right now are at about $3.2 million. With our building project costs for fees, testing, contingencies, and any furniture that might be in the building at about $300,000, that gives us a total project cost of $3.5 million. That's pretty conservative right now; there are several things that are in flux in the design that we're working on with Kraus -Anderson that will likely help drive down that cost. Potential Cost -Reduction Strategies: • Interior Changes: We could move away from the heavy timber construction and go to a more conventional steel construction for the roof and for some of the columns in the building. • Large operable windows on the north side, a great way to connect the inside space with the outside space, come at a cost. Large bifold doors are fairly expensive to do, so we could go to more of a conventional glass system there vs. the operable doors. • Some structural changes could be made to the building to help reduce costs even more. Soft costs are a little bit undefined right now, like the amount of furniture needed; at this stage, it's just a percentage of construction costs. As we determine what's needed at the facility or what can come from other locations, those soft costs are where we could also potentially save some money. City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 17 Mr. McCarthy stated in conversations with the construction manager, we could conservatively save approximately $200,000 if we made some design changes; we wanted to bring that conversation back to the Council to see if there are some things that we have in the design that are things we really want to keep. That would help give us a way to look at those. Kraus -Anderson will be continuing to do some cost analysis as we move into the next phase. We're not really very far off from the original budget that Director Dockter had presented, but we wanted to come back with some ideas on how we might be able to break down some costs on the project if that's the direction that we want to go. There are certainly some easy things that we could bid as alternates to help protect the budget; we could come back to Council with some ideas related to that so as we open bids, we can make some decisions at that time. Mr. McCarthy stated that some of this is obviously contingent upon the schedule. Right now, Kraus -Anderson is estimating breaking ground in spring of 2023 and will do a lot of that construction. We could use the rest of the summer, into the fall, to finish up the design and bid documents. They've got a couple of months for bidding and procurement. One of the big things out there is the lead time on things; so, we're trying to take into consideration if we can buy out the job now. That would give us time to be able to acquire some of those longer lead-time items, including windows, aluminum, some precast products, and structural products. As soon as the project gets awarded, we can start some pre -purchasing of materials and have everything ready for the start of construction in the spring. If most of the materials are already procured, we think that the construction timeline could be four -to -five months. So, we'd be looking at a mid- summer 2023 opening of the building if we continue our current schedule. Mr. McCarthy stated he'd answer any questions from the Council: Council Member Dennis asked him to explain thermally -modified wood so that we can understand what it is, what advantages it might have over other things, how it will weather over time and stand up to the elements that we have. Mr. McCarthy stated that he'd have Mr. Clark help him with this, but it's a product that's been produced in a way that it's structurally stable, so it won't move around. It will change color over time; it will weather, too. It will start with your traditional wood color and change to a nice, warm gray color. It can be sealed if you prefer the more original wood color, but it's specifically designed to weather and hold up over time. Mr. Clark added that it's a very sustainable material. Brazilian, or tropical hard woods, that lead to deforestation in rain forests, tend to be very hard woods, very durable long term. Thermally -modified wood takes readily available and rapidly -renewable woods, soft woods like pine, and they're heat treated, similar to how you would heat strengthen glass, so it becomes very dimensionally stable. It becomes a bit more UV stable, but it becomes significantly more resistant to rot and decay. So, a product like this, compared to a natural wood like cedar like you might see used in a region like this, could come with upwards of a 20-year product warranty from the manufacturer. You will see the weathering over time, but the long-term durability and resistance to rot and decay is City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 18 what makes it a really special and unique product. Also, it's a product that's manufactured regionally in Minnesota, so it has a local source, which is also nice. Council Member Dennis asked how that compared financially to more traditional materials. Mr. Clark stated western red cedar is kind of its equal, because red cedar is still quite readily available. He stated it's probably a 50% markup on what that material would be; so, it's not a significant cost impact because it's wood and it's readily cost effective. Council Member Dennis stated in our HERO Center we have some wood treatments on the walls that were burned. He knows when you burn wood in that fashion, it acts as a natural protector. So, he confirmed that this is nothing like that; this is a different type of chemical process or heat process that's used. Mr. Clark stated yes, it's just a heat process, and there are other similar products that use chemicals to treat the wood in a similar way; this is just to heat the wood to a very high level before it would combust, and that's done for a certain amount of time. That changes the wood's inside chemical makeup; therefore, it makes it more stable over time. The black -charred wood that Council Member Dennis referenced at the HERO Center is locally manufactured by the same company that does this product out of Duluth. Mayor Bailey asked if the wood product that they're showing here is also what they're proposing on the inside; Mr. McCarthy replied he believed so, yes. Council Member Olsen stated he appreciated Council Member Dennis asking the question about the wood and thanked them for the helpful explanation. Whenever we do an out of the ordinary for a construction project, we like to tell the residents for the amount of money that we're spending, they'll get a certain number of years of useful life; we usually hope for 40 to 50 years. Based on the building materials and information he just shared, he asked Mr. McCarthy if that expectation was realistic. Mr. McCarthy replied yes, he believed so. As with any building, it's going to be the investment in maintenance and keeping water out. Obviously, there are systems in buildings that need to be repaired over time; replacement of major systems is usually 30-to-40 years for mechanical systems. Building products are designed to last for as long as you need them to, based on maintenance, so a 40-to-50-year life cycle is not out of the question. Council Member Olsen stated Mr. McCarthy had spoken about some design standards that were put in place and asked that we could either bid out some things separately or we could maybe make some changes. Speaking for himself, Council Member Olsen really liked the look of what was shown so far, but he also thinks there might be some value in comparing what might look good and the materials that will be used. Continuing to maintain some high design standards, but maybe using some more traditional materials just to see if the cost differential is enough of a gap where we need to consider that difference. If the cost isn't going to be much cheaper, then the current design looks great; if there's a way to save $200,000 and still have a nice end -product by using a more traditional product that will last just as long, he'd certainly like to see City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 19 that. The polished concrete is a sealed concrete, and Mayor Bailey and I deal with that in our stores all the time; that's something that requires maintenance. If the building gets used a lot, we're going to have to reseal it regularly; he asked if there was any thought on ways in which we might be able to elongate the time between needing to maintain the polished concrete. Perhaps there's another type of sealer, but resealing is a project that costs money. Mr. McCarthy stated the simple answer is there are several different products that you can bring to the table; each has different criteria, and we can bring back some more detail on that. We're probably a little early to make any final decisions on it, but if you'd like us to investigate that, we can do that. Council Member Olsen asked if the idea behind the sealed concrete was that it would have longer wear. Mr. McCarthy stated it's a dust proofer as well on it, so one of the things about polished concrete is it densifies the top layer on it and helps with that particular aspect of the floor. There are also chemical products out there that will go deeper into concrete and crystalize the upper layer on it. So, there are a variety of things that we could look at with different maintenance characteristics and bring those back to you. Council Member Olsen noted it's going to have to deal with wet and cold and hot and people spilling things on it, too. In our experience, the polished concrete looks great when it's new, but it gets worn down quickly. Mr. McCarthy noted it can also stain if you're not careful with it. Director Dockter mentioned that in the classroom and in the warming room, it gives us multiuse options with the warming room; as mentioned, we could lay down rubber tiles over it. We debated about the flooring type that we'd want in that programming space, but Recreation Manager Molly Pietruszewski liked the flexibility of being able to take half the room and lay it out as a carpeted section if you wanted to. Just to be clear, the multipurpose room is carpeted. Council Member Olsen asked about LVP or something similar; he asked if that wasn't equipped to handle this kind of use. Mr. McCarthy stated LVP is better than vinyl tile, but it tends to scratch and wear more; so, it will require more maintenance than just a polished -concrete floor. Council Member Thiede stated he agreed with Council Member Olsen that it looks nice. We'd love to have more aesthetics, but at the same time he didn't know if we need to have it be fancy; his view was it being functional was more important, especially if we'd save a little bit of money. Council Member Olsen stated it's our first time trying something like this, but we might want to duplicate it moving forward. He thought just being able to compare the cost factors on the materials we choose would be important. Mr. McCarthy stated they're in deep conversations with Kraus -Anderson right now on some of those things. They're working some design options and estimates but wanted to give you an idea of the direction that we're going; that was great feedback related to some of these budgetary things. In a future presentation, we can certainly bring back to the Council different budget scenarios. We're hoping that we're heading in a direction that you're comfortable with and we can continue to progress with the design solution. City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 20 If there are things that need to be relooked at and changed, we would want to take a step back and look at that and bring it back to you again. He thanked the Council for their feedback. Council Member Khambata asked with the multipurpose aspect of some of the spaces, in terms of longevity, do we have a contingency plan if polished concrete doesn't hold up; is there a carpeted option or what's our long-term maintenance plan as far as some of those solutions. As Council Member Olsen stated, this is our first attempt at a space like this; so, if the rubber floor doesn't work or the people don't like it, are we designing it in such a way that it's not so difficult to make a change. Director Dockter replied yes, he thought that's what they'd decided; with the multipurpose, we'd clearly want that carpeted experience. With the other two rooms, if you start with concrete, you can always put something else on top of it; rather than tearing down, it's better to build on top. Council Member Khambata stated he agreed; if executed properly, he thought a polished -concrete floor can look really nice, but seniors are a bit more sensitive to types of flooring than younger people. Depending on who our target audience is, he wants to make sure that we have a contingency for the kind of feedback we might get. Mayor Bailey stated when he saw pictures of the wood on the inside, he was glad the weathering had been brought up. He knows it's a totally different material, but he thought about the Ice Arena and the wood that's in there; he would not want that ceiling to look like the Ice Arena ceiling eventually looked; he's referring to when you first go in the entryway at the Ice Arena. He's not as sold on the idea that we must have a wood ceiling; however, to do this right, he'd want to see the bifold doors that they're talking about. He thought that was unique where you could open up the spaces. That's kind of what's out there, and he didn't think that was going away. Council Member Olsen asked if those doors weren't sometimes mechanically difficult. Director Dockter stated that the ones that we're getting specs on are designed to work in this climate, so they're hung from a large structural beam up above, and then there's just a track down in the floor. So, they're very easy to use. Mayor Bailey stated especially if we're going to be using this for wedding venues and parties, he liked the look of being able to open it up onto the patio. If the wood on the outside can hold up to the test of time, all the limestone you'll be using on the outside is perfect; it blends very well with what we're doing with Glacial Valley. Mayor Bailey stated he's not against the wood on the inside but doesn't want to spend money to do that; if they came up with something else for the ceiling and could save $100,000, he'd probably say do that and save the money. In his opinion, if it's the wood ceiling or the doors, he'd rather do the bifold doors. Mayor Bailey stated out in the patio area, they're looking at doing some type of fire pit; he liked that idea because everybody is doing those now. He asked if they did something like that if there would be one or two of them; he asked if the controller would in the building so the public can't flip a switch. He assumed they were looking at all of that. City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 21 Mr. McCarthy replied that it must be detailed; we need to figure out the next stages, where the gas shutoff is for that. We'd recommend gas, rather than a wood fire, so it can be controlled. Right now, we have one situated a little bit away from the building, in the corner of that area. So, there's coordination to finalize the construction work that's just beginning. We're progressing the design of this in a way that we can work with that crew to make sure that whatever needs to be out there can be put in. Mayor Bailey stated we don't have that at any of our other parks, so it would be unique to this park. He thought that would be a nice addition. Council Member Thiede stated when he first looked at the layout, he thought the amount of storage in the building seemed a little bit high. He asked what percentage of the storage space is intended for things used in this building. Director Dockter stated there are two storage rooms, which might be throwing it off. One storage space is purely big enough to store all the tables that would be in the multipurpose room and some IT equipment. We based that square footage on how we would get all the round tables and the IT equipment in there. Administrator Levitt noted that's one of the shortcomings in this room we're in now; when we hold events, we have to store all of the tables in Public Safety and in the hallways because we don't have a large enough storage area to hold the tables. So, depending on how the room is set up, if you want it fully open or to store tables, she'd say we need more storage because we don't have that capacity here at City Hall. Manager Pietruszewski stated we all toured the HERO Center, as we're hosting our blood drive there; we had to push all tables out into the big bay because there wasn't any other place to put everything. If we're going to host a large event, we're going to want the space to be able to move everything out. Director Dockter stated that this space looks big, but by the time you add the door to the electrical, we'll be filling these walls up with vertical storage; we want to leave the middle open so we can actually put equipment in there, whatever it might be in the future. It also has a floor drain, so we're allowed to store equipment in there. Council Member Thiede asked if its primary intended use was for things at Glacial Valley, not for things brought from somewhere else to store there. Director Dockter replied that there will be some recreational program equipment there, but mostly it's going to be the things we need at Glacial Valley. Mayor Bailey felt it was funny that staff was saying we need more storage because we built City Hall with no storage, or not enough storage; then we built the new HERO Center, and we don't have enough storage there. So, he's glad we're getting it right this time. Administrator Levitt noted River Oaks was the same way, so we had to add onto that. Mayor Bailey told Council Member Thiede that was a great question because he'd thought the same thing about the amount of storage. When they explained it was for putting all the tables in there or switching them out, it made total sense. Manager Pietruszewski stated they'd discussed the need for tables like this during the day or needing round tables at River Oaks at night; we need to make sure chairs can double dip between two different events. Some of our tables flip up nicely at River Oaks, some don't; some at the HERO Center do, so we put the pieces together to get City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 22 them to fit. Mayor Bailey told Manager Pietruszewski that was a good point; seniors need this opportunity available, and they can't play cards on a table like this, so they're going to have to do something different, whether it's round tables or typical card tables. Council Member Olsen asked if it would be silly to think about a basement; Council Member Khambata stated he thought that would drive the cost up considerably. Administrator Levitt stated the only thing that would caution against a basement is what happened at River Oaks: We had workers' compensation issues with tables and chairs going up and down, so we've now brought them onto the same level. Since we just met with the League on our claims, she would advise against it. Council Member Olsen stated he understood but was just thinking about severe weather and if there was a safe place where people could shelter. Council Member Olsen asked Director Dockter if he'd thought at all about security for the building. Director Dockter replied yes, they'd thought a lot about it. We worked with IT on programmable locks, etc., which will be labeled. We're confident with the way we operate our parks, which we need open during the day; so, when Mr. McCarthy said we can lock down the whole building, that's what we do. If Woodridge Park has a stream of vandalism, we'll lock it down for a handful of days, let the problem go away, and then open it back up. So, we're giving ourselves those options. In fact, it started with this toilet to the outside; through conversations related to being able to lock down the park, we moved it inside there, and we've got electric locks on all the doors so it can be programmed through the security system. Manager Pietruszewski noted where the restroom is on the back vestibule, the two little circles shown are the drinking fountain and water bottle filler; so, those are still accessible when that outside door is open for families to use. Administrator Levitt stated we're engaging with the cable commission for the AV needs, so they're also aware of it. Council Member Dennis stated regarding the front facade, he liked the design elements that were brought in with the angles replicating maybe some of the ice shelf, relative to a glacier. He recently drove 4,400 miles throughout the south and southwest, and he came through several areas, like Santa Fe and Albuquerque, who really celebrate things that are special about their area. On bridges, they put various designs that look nice. He thought we had an opportunity here if we follow the philosophy of the designer trying to bring things in that are meaningful to the area; there might be some artwork we could do or some artistic elements to this that could even involve the public. We have artists and previously had an Arts Commission here, so we could find additional meaningful things to put into this, so it's not just a plain billboard of the wooden slats that go across. There's an opportunity there. If we didn't want to do the wood ceiling on the inside, when you think about it, looking at the other slide that was shown, you can see the nice blue color, especially of old ice. A lot of times with glaciers you're going to get melt and runoff water, so if you look at the other picture, you can see the sediments of earth material that were left behind right after the melting took place. You could conceivably have a white or somewhat textured kind of ceiling with maybe a mosaic that City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 23 would run through and that blue color, or it could be a mural that was painted by a local artist; that would add something unique to it that would tie in more of the significant features and history of the area. Those were just a couple of ideas. Mr. McCarthy stated that certainly would be a way to take some of the historical components of what that area is and incorporate them into the lobby in some fashion. Council Member Dennis stated when we talked about this a few months ago, we viewed this as a unique opportunity. We were willing to kind of step out of the normal box that we stay in and do something special and unique with this, and we've got one shot to do it. Looking at how people in the community feel about the parks, he thought there were many people who wanted the Community Center; maybe there's an opportunity here where we can do some cool things with this facility, maybe scratch a little bit of that itch. Mayor Bailey asked if they'd gotten the information that they needed. Director Dockter replied they'd like some feedback on the budget and the schedule. Mayor Bailey stated his standpoint on the budget was we'd kind of laid it out what the numbers would be; he hasn't heard anybody say slash the budget. He appreciated hearing there were ways to cut a little bit here and there, but he doesn't want us to start nickel and diming it down to where suddenly you pull out a sidewalk that should have been heated. He wanted to do it right the first time. He liked the look and the design. If they wanted to dream a little bit about what the interior could look like, he's seen wood ceilings before; to him, he'd like it if they could create something more unique for the ceiling on the inside. He liked Council Member Dennis' idea about a tighter connection with the glacier. As far as the timetable, he thought they were on it; he thought we were all hoping that by the end of next summer, we could celebrate this amazing building and that park. Director Dockter stated so no major adjustments, but he heard clearly there were at least five -or -six things that we should look at to at least bring back for discussion. Mayor Bailey made a comment on the NanaWall, liking that feature because it was unique; he asked if anybody felt that had to go or if it had to stay. Structurally, that's a big item; staff is in love with it, but we want to make sure that it's okay in the budget. Council Member Olsen stated his only concern was whether that was something that would last; his view is jaded because he has bifold doors at one of his stores, and the motor blew up this morning, so he's probably feeling a little grumpy about that. All in all, he thinks it looks good. Council Member Dennis asked what green elements we're putting into the building, if there's anything sustainable, like solar panels or things along those lines. Mr. McCarthy replied they'd love to go down that road as far as Council would like to go. We are very much in alignment with trying out sustainable strategies that help reduce our carbon footprint; so, you heard Mr. Clark talk very passionately about the wood products. We're looking into the potential of maybe something like a ground source geothermal for it; there's some money in the budget to look at that. We've done solar on other buildings, so that's certainly something to consider. It would be City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 24 something where we would design it to allow for that, because Cottage Grove has a co- op that you'd use for solar. We will make sure that the building can accommodate that, and we'd encourage that. There's certainly a laundry list of things that you could take out of the building that would align with some sustainable outcomes that you want. We haven't really gotten very far into anything like rainwater capturing or something similar, but we could certainly put a list together for your consideration. Council Member Olsen stated we did that when we built this City Hall. You gave us the menu, and he recalled there were different certification levels; each one depended upon the menu of options that we chose. He asked if they could still do that. Mr. McCarthy replied that they can; there are a couple of different metrics out there. The State of Minnesota also has their own version of that called Buildings Benchmarks and Beyond, B3, which is right now looking at being 80% more efficient than what's required by Code. So, the State has a strong commitment to sustainable strategies related to buildings. Any money funded by the State of Minnesota requires that level of sustainability built into it. We have some of that already in the discussions related to this building, and he'd be happy to bring back what we're thinking about with the building and how that fits with the budget. Mayor Bailey stated he liked that idea; so, with Glacier Park, the sustainability piece makes total sense, whatever that might be. Council Member Dennis stated even if we just can't do solar, he's been reading about various options online, and there are several designers now creating buildings with white -colored roofs, to prevent heat from sinking in. Council Member Olsen stated there are gardens, too; Council Member Dennis agreed that there are a lot of cool things that could be done. Mr. Clark noted that part of the internal discussions we had about the overall roof forms, the butterfly roof shape of the building, was to allow a large roof area that had a solar orientation already in place. So, even if you didn't want to do PV at the start of the project, we would consider designing the building and structure to support PV in the future; it has an orientation now facing roughly 30 degrees from the azimuth to the south where you could install PV as it becomes more economical to do so, so that's one strategy. Another thing Director Dockter touched on with the solar orientation of the south -facing glass in the classroom and the use of the polished concrete floor is that concrete is very absorptive to solar energy. So, in the winter, you've got the sunlight coming into that space, heating that floor; at night, when the facility is not being used, that heat is radiated off the concrete floor to provide some basically free energy to heat the building. We love the idea of even pursuing something that would be like a net -zero building design for a facility like this; there's an opportunity to do so, and it'd save a significant amount of money on energy over the life of this building, too. As Mr. McCarthy mentioned, we have been exploring geothermal as a potential option; if you couple that with other passive strategies, PV, there could be a real opportunity to do something significantly sustainable. Mayor Bailey, Council Member Olsen, Council Member Khambata all stated they liked that idea, and we should have that conversation. Council Member Khambata asked if they'd given much thought to the long-term turf plan and irrigation. In his industry, he knows we're trying to encourage people to go to a no City Council Meeting Minutes June 15, 2022 Page 25 mow or a low mow grass seed or letting things go back to prairie; so, circling back and trying to bring in some of the natural elements of the area in terms of pollinator -friendly turf in terms of less mowing, less watering. In the long term, that will save CO2 emissions and water from a grid perspective. Director Dockter stated that's one nice thing about this park; we put all the active spaces in that small area, and the rest is natural. Mostly, you'll see non -irrigated areas. Mayor Bailey told Council Member Thiede that he was so good about going after funding options, he wondered if there were any; Council Member Thiede replied yes, there are funding options, and stated he was thinking with the green options there certainly might be. Director Dockter interjected that they're not as prevalent as they used to be, but it's certainly worth checking into. Mr. McCarthy stated they got the feedback that they needed; he really appreciated everybody's participation and feedback tonight. He'll work with Director Dockter on the next phase of implementation and start working towards answers to some of the questions. He encouraged maybe a mid -final design review with the Council just to hit on some of these topics that we discussed tonight, so we don't get to the end and have lots of questions on it. He'd rather have that engagement sooner than later, so they'll look to that later this summer. 14. WORKSHOPS — CLOSED TO PUBLIC - None. 15. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Council Member Olsen, second by Council Member Thiede, to adjourn the meeting at 9.37 p.m. Motion carried: 5-0. Minutes prepared by Judy Graf and reviewed by Tamara Anderson, City Clerk.