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1. 1998 Budget Presentations: Public Safety, Planning Safety and Administration.This page was left blank intentionally Community Development Mission and Current Services Community Development includes the activities associated with Planning, Environmental Services and Water Resources Management. These activities provide staff support to the City Council, Planning Commission, Board of Adjustments and Appeals, Environmental Commission, Senior Commission, and Southwest Metro Transit. Services include administration of the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance, Comprehensive Plan, forestry services, lake management, Storm Water Management Plan, Community Development Block Grant, and environmental services including composting, recycling, and hazardous waste. Budget Highlights The proposed budget has no increase except for cost of living. Water Resources will have an intern for the summer, but the Planning Department will not have one this year. Vision /Achievements Achievements for 1997 include: • Bluff Creek Overlay District • Start of the Comprehensive Plan Update • Senior Dinning • BWSR wetland banking project • Comprehensive Wetland Management Plan (wetland management is not subject to review by BWSR) • RALF for Lakeview Hills • Participation in the Chaska /Chanhassen Chamber Business and Retention Program Proposed projects for 1998 include: • Completion of Comprehensive Plan • Update Zoning Ordinances to reflect changes in Comprehensive Plan • Lake Ann Park Water quality improvement (parking lot improvements, ponds) • Lake Susan Restoration (improve water quality for fishing, swimming) • Green Star Award Program from the Environmental Commission given to programs or individuals that have a positive impact on the environment Future Trends As the city continues to grow, complaints and code enforcement increases. Staff is spending an increasing amount of time on this issue. The increase of enforcement and the unwillingness to get compliance may increase the demand on legal services. Building permit activity is slow for traditional single family lots in the $275,000 price range. The city has approved projects that have non - traditional housing types and these should keep building permit activity at around the 200 permits a year. With the opening of the senior dining later this year, there may be a need for future senior dining space. The current senior center has seating for 40 persons. Senior programming has continued to grow as does the senior population. The Senior Commission will be looking at ultimate needs as a part of the yearly goals. Because Bandimere Park will be developed this year, the city has lost its compost site. Recycling and composting is still available in Chaska, although staff is concerned that illegal dumping will occur. Carver County Environmental Services will assist the city in providing a match grant to create a recycling center. Staff would like to explore partnering with the Park and Recreation Department or Public Works Department to find a permanent location. Services Level Issues/Unmet Needs The work of the department involves a lot of public contact, especially when there is a controversial planning item. With the ability to use interns, the department is able to meet the greatest demand on our resources during the spring and summer months. CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET 101 General Fund 1997 1997 1998 1CCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET 530 Community Development 151 Planning Commission Materials & Supplies 200 100 200 Contractual Services 5,550 4,150 5,550 * TOTAL PLANNING COMMISSION 5,750 4,250 5,750 152 Planning Administration Personal Services 192,000 192,000 193,000 Materials & Supplies 2,400 2,350 2,400 Contractual Services 36,000 23,200 36,000 Capital Outlay 1,000 1,000 - Miscellaneous (48,200) (48,200) (46,280) * TOTAL PLANNING ADMINISTRATION 183,200 170,350 185,120 153 Senior Facility Commission Personal Services 19,000 19,000 19,100 Materials & Supplies 1,050 325 300 Contractual Services 2,200 1,400 2,100 * TOTAL SR. FACILITY COMMISSION 22,250 20,725 21,500 **TOTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 211,200 195,325 212,370 CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1997 BUDGET re- estimate COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Expenditures by Function Sr. Comm. Plan. Comm 10.6% 2.2% Admin 87.2% Misc 16.5% oral 72.3% Expenditures by Type Contractual Capital 0.3% Materials 9.9% 1.0% Personal Materials & Contractual Capital Services Supplies Services Outlay Misc. Total 151 Planning Commission - 100 4,150 - - 4,250 152 Planning Administration 192,000 2,350 23,200 1,000 (48,200) 170,350 153 Senior Facility Commission 19,000 325 1,400 - - 20,725 * TOTAL 211,000 2,775 28,750 1,000 (48,200) 195,325 Expenditures by Function Sr. Comm. Plan. Comm 10.6% 2.2% Admin 87.2% Misc 16.5% oral 72.3% Expenditures by Type Contractual Capital 0.3% Materials 9.9% 1.0% CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 151 Planning Commission 152 Planning Administration 153 Senior Facility Commission TOTAL 212,100 by Function Plan. Comm 2.7% Personal Materials & Contractual Capital Services Supplies Services Outlay Misc. Total 200 5,550 - - 5,750 193,000 2,400 36,000 - (46,280) 185,120 19,100 300 2,100 - - 21,500 212100 2,900 43,650 - (46,280) 212,370 Sr. Comm. Admin 87.2% Misc 15.2% onal 69.6% Expenditures by Type Capital Contractual 0.0% Materials 14.3% 1.0% CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET ENTERPRISE FUNDS 720 Surface Water Mgmt Utility Fnd 1997 1997 1998 ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET REVENUE INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVENUE * TOTAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL 100,000 - - CHARGES FOR CURRENT SERVICES TOTAL CURRENT SERVICES 303,000 303,000 303,500 OTHER REVENUE * TOTAL OTHER REVENUE 12,000 12,000 14,000 ** TOTAL REVENUE 415,000 315,000 317,500 CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET ENTERPRISE FUNDS 720 Surface Water Mgmt Utility Fnd ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION 1997 BUDGET 1997 RE- ES TIMATE 1995 BUDGET EXPENDITURES 174,756 143,197 174,756 ` PERSONAL SERVICES * TOTAL PERSONAL SERVICES 75,700 75,700 85,600 MATERIALS & SUPPLIES * TOTAL MATERIALS & SUPPLIES 22,500 2,000 9,000 CONTRACTUAL SERVICES * TOTAL CONTRACTUAL SERVICES 270,300 327,000 321,300 CAPITAL OUTLAY * TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY 70,000 70,000 70,000 ** TOTAL EXPENDITURES 438,500 474,700 485,900 REVENUE OVER /(UNDER) EXPENDITURES FUND BALANCE FORWARD LESS REQUIRED RESERVE TOTAL RESOURCES OVER /(UNDER) LIABILITIES (23,500) (159,700) (168,400) 166,697 334,456 174,756 143,197 174,756 ` .6,356 CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 211 Environmental Protection Fund 1997 1997 1995 ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET REVENUE GENERAL PROPERTY TAX * TOTAL GENERAL PROPERTY TAX 80,000 80,000 80,000 INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVENUE * TOTAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL REV 15,000 15,000 15,000 CHARGES FOR CURRENT SERVICES 4,500 2,000 * TOTAL CURRENT SERVICES 2,000 OTHER REVENUE * TOTAL OTHER REVENUE 21,000 21,000 24,000 ** TOTAL REVENUE 118,000 120,500 121,000 REVENUE OVER /(UNDER) EXPENDITURES (5,150) 19,445 (1,030) FUND BALANCE FORWARD 524,148 561,527 580,972 LESS REQUIRED RESERVE 518,998 580,972 579,942 TOTAL RESOURCES OVER /(UNDER) LIABILITIES - - - CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET 211 Environmental Protection Fund 231 Recycling 1997 1997 1998 ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET * TOTAL PERSONAL SERVICES 29,600 29,600 29,200 * TOTAL MATERIALS & SUPPLIES 5,150 2,855 5,150 * TOTAL CONTRACTUAL SERVICES 9,400 8,550 9,430 ** TOTAL RECYCLING 44,150 41,005 43,780 I CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET 211 Environmental Protection Fund 235 Lake Management 1997 1997 1998 ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET TOTAL MATERIALS & SUPPLIES TOTAL CONTRACTUAL SERVICES ** TOTAL LAKE MANAGEMENT 8,000 5,300 8,000 27,000 16,325 25,750 35,000 21,625 33,750 11 CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET 211 Environmental Protection Fund 236 Reforestation 1997 1997 1998 ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET * TOTAL PERSONAL SERVICES 17,100 17,100 18,400 * TOTAL MATERIALS & SUPPLIES 1,150 750 2,350 * TOTAL CONTRACTUAL SERVICES 25,750 20,575 23,750 ** TOTAL REFORESTATION 44,000 38,425 44,500 NOTES NOTES PUBLIC SAFETY BUDGET REQUESTS September 29, 1997 This page was left blank intentionally CITY OF CHANHASSEN 690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317 (612) 937 -1900 • FAX (612) 937 -5739 MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor & City Council Don Ashworth, City Manager FROM: Scott Harr, Public Safety Director,J� DATE: September 12, 1997 SUBJ: 1998 Public Safety Department Budget Request Attached please find the Public Safety Department budget for the following divisions: ♦ POLICE (121) ♦ FIRE & RESCUE (122) ♦ PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION (123) ♦ CODE ENFORCEMENT (125) ♦ ANIMAL CONTROL /CSO (126) While striving to keep increases to a minimum, most changes reflect the comparison to this year's actual expenses, together with projected needs. Some of these appear to be large percentages, but when, for example, a $100 line item increased by $20 it reflects a 20% increase. Larger increases are identified in the commentary portion. The most significant changes are as follows: Outdoor warning sirens I am again requesting that we purchase and install outdoor warning sirens to cover all of the city. I believe residents expect this component of our public safety delivery system, and that we have a duty to provide it. Vehicles Two Building Inspection vehicles need to be replaced because they are in excess of their eight year old replacement schedule, with high mileage, as is the case with the old Fire Inspection vehicle. Because of increased use, we are requesting an additional squad car that would be used, among other things, for our emphasis on traffic enforcement and recreational enforcement (parks, etc.). Personnel For a number of years the Fire Department has been requesting secretarial assistance. We presently have 3.5 secretarial support staff positions for the Public Safety Mayor & City Council Don Ashworth September 12, 1997 Page 2 Department, and I am seeking an additional 20 hours that would be devoted to Fire Department/Fire Inspections support. I have also recommended to the City Manager that Kerri Nolden's duties be expanded to assist with park patrol, water patrol, etc. Therefore, the only additional time would be 20 hour per week secretarial. Computers: This year department heads were instructed to include computer needs in our budget, rather than having a separate computer budget for all of city hall. Hardware needs for all Public Safety are $21,000, and this has been divided among the Public Safety division. (All are in the 4705 [other equipment] lines of each division.) Other than the outdoor warning sirens, the most significant overall budget item is the police contract. I am pleased to have recommended that we remain at the same number of hours per day that we have had in the past 4 years, with a .0413% increase in the hourly cost. Admittedly, there are some extraordinary costs that are included in this budget that do increase it. I look forward to discussing this with the City Council, and would appreciate any comments or questions you might have. ahead of time. Thank you. SH:cd gAsafety \sh \98budget CITY OF CHANHASSEN 690 COULTER DRIVE 0 P.O. BOX 147 • CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317 (612) 937 -1900 • FAX (612) 937 -5739 MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor & City Council 1 Don Ashworth, City Manager FROM: Scott Harr, Public Safety Director DATE: September 24, 1997 SUBJ: OUTDOOR WARNING SIRENS Umm, how do I explain a 13,100% line item budget increase for -121 -4705 (police administration /other equipment)...? I must admit, this is a budgetary challenge of epic proportions, the likes of which I have not dealt with before! Actually, this figure represents the $125,000 I have included in this line item for outdoor warning sirens. Needless to say, I feel very strongly about providing this level of protection to our community. Permit me to, once again, make my pitch. We do not have only the one siren atop the main fire station on Laredo because of any negligence or lack of foresight. When that siren was installed, FEMA had siren money available for communities to put sirens where they were needed. At the time, that was the only siren needed. When I arrived here ten years ago, the warning system was immediately looked at. A meeting was held with the Minnesota Department of Emergency Management to review the status of new technology that would, or so it was thought, make outdoor sirens far less important, if not obsolete. The thinking was that with more homes being built as tightly as they are and with air conditioning, that outdoor sirens just did not play the role they once did. Therefore, the technology that would permit us to turn off people's televisions and radios at any time of the day or night to scroll warnings, or the technology that would make smoke detectors, for example, weather alert radios seemed to be just on the horizon. The Public Safety Commission strongly urged the state to use Chanhassen as a test site, and the result was positive. In the interim, we launched a major effort to encourage all homes, businesses, schools, churches and organizations to obtain weather alert radios. We entered into a unique agreement with a retailer to provide top of the line weather alert radios at greatly discounted prices. We launched an aggressive advertising campaign, and we were dismayed that we only sold about 300. We have since learned that while weather alert radios do provide a source of warning, for various reasons they often times get turned Mayor & City Council Don Ashworth September 24, 1997 Page 2 off and left off. While we still encourage people to have and use their weather alert radios, radios have not provided a satisfactory or dependable method for warning residents. Our experience clearly shows that outdoor warning sirens continue to be relied upon. Not only do I receive calls from people after storms wondering why they were not alerted by sirens, but I also hear from people after the first Wednesday of the month test, asking why their siren did not go off (when in actuality they have no siren). I cannot tell you that the number of callers are extreme, but the calls do tell me people still expect to be warned by sirens, and indeed do listen for them when severe weather approaches. I cannot help but tell you a personal experience I had this summer. During one of our unusually high number of storms, I was awakened at 2:21 a.m. (I remember the time because I bolted upright and looked at the clock) when, with my four year old house closed up and air conditioner running, I was alerted of a severe storm by the siren in Edina, which allowed me to awaken my family and take cover. So much for the idea that outdoor warning sirens cannot be heard indoors. While outdoor warning sirens play only one part of the overall warning delivery system, they do continue to play an important role. I must pose the question: If one life was saved by this $125,000 investment, would it be worth it? I am sure, however, that when a storm comes through Chanhassen again of a magnitude that would hurt or kill, we would most certainly be talking about more than one life. I have met with all of the jurisdictions that surround Chanhassen to see if we can split any costs. This is not an option available to us now, because they all have sirens. We do, however, benefit from some of their sirens being heard in Chanhassen, which allows us to locate future sirens further into our city. There are two other possible approaches to consider. First, we could schedule the acquisition and installation of sirens over a more protracted period than one year. Whether this is over two years, four years or more, the sirens will not be any cheaper, and while I would rather see all of Chanhassen covered immediately, even if the money had to be borrowed or the equipment acquired on a lease /purchase plan, scheduling over a number of years is a possibility. Another option is to include sirens in development plans in the future, including the possible installation of cellular towers, water towers, etc. The concern I have here is that there is no guarantee, or even the likelihood, that where future water towers or other towers are built, they would be desirable locations for sirens. Again, we would be looking toward the future for this sort of thing to happen. A possibility here would be to make up the cost by requiring future developers of property in Chanhassen to pay a siren fee. I am attaching the minutes from the July 11, 1996, public meeting regarding outdoor warning sirens, which I encourage you to review. I think the consensus of the meeting, and the unanimous vote by the Public Safety Commission supports the acquisition and installation of sirens in our city. In conclusion, I fully realize that there is no topic more vehemently asserted by your constituents than to hold the line on taxes. Government does have a responsibility, and the community has an expectation of certain basic services being provided. Alerting to severe weather (as well as other dangers such as hazardous materials incidents, etc.) is one of these services. Admittedly, we prepare and train for some catastrophic events that we hope may never happen, and may well not. Severe weather, however, will Mayor & City Council Don Ashworth September 24, 1997 Page 3 occur — the only question is, is our entire plan, including the warning system, sufficient to respond when this will become necessary? I can assure you the rest of the emergency management plan is up for the task. The outdoor warning component is not. I would ask that you review the attached minutes from the public hearing on the subject, and consider this life saving expense in the 1998 budget SH:cd .Asafety\sMoutdoorsiren This page was left blank intentionally PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JULY 11, 1996 PRESENT: Steve Labatt, Don Chmiel, Greg Weber, Brian Beniek, Bill Bernhjlem ABSENT: Jim Sloss, Eldon Berkland STAFF PRESENT: Scott Harr, Public Safety Director; Beth Hoiseth, Crime Prevention Specialist; Bob Moore, 1st Assistant Fire Chief; Richard Wing, 2nd Assistant Fire Chief, Colleen Dockendorf, City Council; Mark Senn, City Council GUESTS PRESENT: Craig Edwards, National Weather Service; Harold Strabola, State of MN, Dept of Emergency Management; Molly Koivumaki, Eden Prairie Emergency Management Director; Scott Gerber, Carver County Emergency Management Director; Allen Anderson, Temple of Ek; Kathy Nelson, The Villager; Steven & Polly Gammon; Chad Junker Chairperson Weber opened the meeting at 7:10 p.m. Weather Alert Sirens: see attached Crime Prevention:/ Crime Prevention Specialist Hoiseth gave the Commission an update of her activities and programs. The bicycle helmet sale was very successful with sales over 1000 helmets. Officers will be handing out citations for a free hamburger at McDonald's to children wearing their helmets while bike riding. CPS Hoiseth is meeting with area apartment managers to coordinate a multi- housing crime prevention program. Neighborhood Watch will be incorporated into the upcoming National Night Out event. Fire Marshal Littfin and CPS Hosieth will be participating in the Summer Discovery Playground Program being held next week through the Chanhassen Park & Recreation Dept. Director Harr reported on the very successful Public Safety Open House held on June 13. Over 700 hot dogs were served to the large crowd. The next Open House will be in June of 1998. Agenda items of Old Business: Snowmobile Regulations, Satellite Fire Station, and Skateboarding Issues were tabled due to length of discussion regarding weather sirens. City Audit: The City's audit staff recommended the City consider appropriate administrative support to the Fire Department to aid in the increasing demands on the current chiefs. Discussion followed. It was suggested that the Public Safety Commission meet with the chiefs to consider appropriate measures. A work session will be set up with the Fire Board, Mayor, PS Commission, Director Harr and Consultant Bill Bruan, on Friday, July 19, 8:00 a.m., in the City Council Chambers. Shooting Boun Issue: A Chanhassen resident requested the Public Safety Commission prohibit shooting/hunting in his neighbor's property. Discussion followed. Director Harr will instruct the homeowner to access 911 when shooting violations occur. He will also meet with the DNR Conservation Officer, and Chanhassen deputies to inform them of the homeowner's concerns. Commissioner Bemhjelm suggested a handout be given to all hunting/shooting applicants informing them of existing statutes and ordinances, which actually is now being done. Commissioner Bernhjelm motioned, Commissioner Beniek seconded, to approve the April 11, 1996, minutes. Everyone voted in favor, and the motion passed. Commissioner Labatt motioned, Commissioner Weber seconded to adjourn the meeting. ;j :i ZAsafety\ss \psc7.1 l PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING JULY 11, 1996 WEATHER ALERT SYSTEMS Scott Harr: Greg, thank you. This is somewhat a formal Commission meeting because the issue at hand is multi- faceted that I wanted to take an opportunity to provide information on the record to the Public Safety Commission, and in turn the City Council, about the issue of weather alert sirens and alternatives in the City of Chanhassen. I supplied the Commission and Council with information about the history of sirens in Chanhassen, and the status of alert systems, but for the record, and for guests present, I would like to briefly review this material. Chanhassen presently has one siren, and that's not an inverting mistake, it's not an accident. It was the one siren purchased to cover the populated when FEMA had siren money available decades ago. Chanhassen had acquired the one siren that was needed. As the population continued to increase, the City had continued to look at what systems are available to alert people to weather emergencies. The City has not purchased more sirens to this point for several reasons. First of all, historically sirens were, as many of us grew up calling them, air raid sirens. They were developed to warn the populous of an impending enemy attack. As the threats from the cold war subsided, FEMA and other jurisdictional units took an all- hazards approach to emergency management, and said let's use the system we devised for civil defense for the multitude of problems that might arise including weather emergencies, and the sirens seemed to be an appropriate way to warn people of problems. They began to take on the term of tornado sirens. Whatever they been called, they've been developed and intended to be outdoor warning systems. When sirens were first developed, people were outside, or if they were inside, few people had air- conditioning; windows and doors were open. They were certainly an effective means to let people outdoors know of an impending emergency, but they were fairly effective for indoors as well. A lot has changed with construction; homes were closed up, they are built extremely tight, especially the tornado -type weather were it is hot and muggy. People have air - conditioning units on. Outdoor warning really became less and less practical to warn people indoors. Ten years ago when Chanhassen took a look at weather warning, the question was - was it worth buying additional sirens when they were not serving as well as they might have been, because of the reasons that I stated. At that time, we really saw weather alert alternatives on the horizon. Technology that might turn radios and televisions on, technology that would possibly work with smoke detectors to provide an alternative warning to tell people to turn on radios and televisions; working with cable television networks to scroll information on TVs, lots of things were possibilities, and development looked soon to come. At that time, we met with Jim Franklin, Director of Emergency Management and representatives from our Public Safety Commission, and told him we would like Chanhassen to be the test site for these alternative alert systems. We cited growth forecasts, population increases, etc., as reasons we thought Chanhassen would be the perfect spot for testing these units. It sounded like a good idea to everybody. Fact of the matter is, we have not seen this technology develop as July 11, 1996 Page 2 rapidly as we anticipated. We will be discussing the status of these warning systems tonight. We still were not sure that sirens were going to fill the bill. Alternate warning devices were not coming to be as quickly as we had hoped, and so the system that seemed the most appropriate were weather alert radios. Chanhassen embarked, on what I think, one of the most creative approaches to providing people with weather alert technology; we established a system a number of years ago, our relationship with a retailer and their wholesaler to provide top of the line alert radios at cost on a one time basis. We spent a significant amount of time, effort and finances advertising these radios. While we sold 250, our goal was to provide radios to every business, home and institution in the city. Of course, 250 was a far cry from the numbers that could be used in town. We started following up with people that had the radios, and learned some things that concerned us. Radios were being turned off and let off, even during storm conditions because people would get frustrated listening as a storm moved across say the northern suburbs. They would just get tired of hearing alert after alert that didn't really affect them, especially in the middle of the night. They got turned off, left off, and forgotten. People wouldn't want to be disturbed even though we had conditions that might produce storms in our areas. Still state of the art technology in a sense, but during the last two storms, we received more calls than ever - "where's our sirens in town. We just moved to town, and we don't hear the sirens." Our sirens aren't working and we've explained to people this whole series of thoughts, but we've learned that people still expect sirens. When I say we have had a lot of calls, we've had 12 to 15, but that's a significantly greater number than we've ever received, because of the two major storm systems we've experienced this year. In talking with people, they are telling us that they still are used to sirens, even if they can't hear it inside, they'll go out and listen when they hear the rain pounded on the windows. They'll go out and open up the door or window, because that's what they expect. Here we are wWndering where to go from here. As the Public Safety Director, my responsibility is to make sure the city is protected as well as we can be. We are sort of in a weather alert corner right now., Sirens are still being sold. I submitted quotes on sirens to the Commission and Council. Weather alert radios are still available. Howard Strabola from the State Department of Emergency Management is going to talk a bit about technology on the horizon, and I think a decision needs to be reached by the Commission and Council - what is our plan. There is a number of alternatives - sirens, educating people about weather alert radios, waiting for the technology or combination. With that introduction, that's what we are here to do, is to make some sort of a formal decision. I have been working with Federal Warning Systems, who is a primary supplier of warning sirens throughout the country, and particularly in Minnesota. I met with them several months ago, and sat down and said - here's what we are thinking about. I need some general quotes. I said there is two alternatives I would like to look. I would like to get a quote on what it would take to cover the entire city with sirens. It would be about 11 to 14 sirens, depending on some specific research they are doing. I said as an alternative, why don't we look at the possibility of just doing the parks. If we acknowledge that sirens are meant for being an outdoor warning system. We emphasize parks so strongly in Chanhassen, maybe it would be less expensive to simply put sirens in parks. I was surprised when I got the quotes back that putting sirens in parks was twice as expensive as covering the entire city, because the large units that would be used to cover the July 11, 1996 Page 3 city, again, we could do 11 to 14 sirens, but we have about 33 parks, and to put sirens in each park, well, you're basically doubling installation costs. So far as sirens go, it's actually cheaper to cover all of the city. I did meet again on Tuesday with Federal Warning Systems and their installer. They are going to provide a more exact quote. The one that you have is based on looking at the map, but there are issues that affect siren placement in numbers including terrain, wooded areas and anything else that would affect hearing distances for the sirens. Chanhassen is certainly is unique in both of those areas. They have been working this week, and I'm hoping to have an exact number of sirens that they would recommend within two more weeks. They are also looking where the best place is to mount those, water towers, whether they need to be on their own standards, etc., and also taking a look at the communities around us, so that we could benefit from overlap in that area. We are still looking at probably in the area of $130,000.00 - $140,000.00 if we were to say let's cover the city with state of the art radio controlled, battery backup sirens. That would include replacing the unit on the fire stations which is going on two decades old. It would be appropriate to just update it as well. We did advertise this meeting through several articles in the newspaper. Everyone that has called Chanhassen with siren concerns this year received an invitation. I appreciate the people that attended. I would like to just briefly introduce our special guests tonight, in addition to the Public Safety Commission on which the Mayor sits. Howard Strabola from the State of Minnesota, Department of Emergency Management is here, and I appreciate you joining us, Howard. Craig Edwards from the National Weather Service was kind of enough to join us tonight, and certainly it's good to have him here. We continue to appreciate having the Weather Service in Chanhassen. Scott Gerber is the Emergency Management Coordinator for Carver County, and he and I work closely together on emergency management issues, and he does this basically for therest of Carver County. Molly Koivumaki, the Emergency Management Director for the City of Eden Prairie. We have talked about sirens and so we have some real good people here to provide input, and for those of you that don't know the Public Safety Commissioners, Steve Labatt is the deputy with Hennepin County. Greg Weber is with the Eden Prairie Police Department. Brian Beniek is on our Fire Department and so is Greg. Brian also works with the Plymouth Police Department. Bill Bernhjelm is the Chief of Police with Edina. We do have several Commissioners that had prior commitments, and were unable to be here tonight. I appreciate Councilwoman Colleen Dockendorf joining us tonight. Fire Chiefs Richard Wing and Bob Moore, and Beth Hoiseth, our Crime Prevention Specialist, and back personing the audio controls is Carol Dunsmore, who helps us with emergency management as well. So thank you to those of you that came as well, and I would like to ask, well Scott, I think we'll start with you to talk a little bit about what's going on elsewhere in the county as far as warnings and where sirens fit in Carver County. Scott Gerber: Sounds good. Thank you. I think that one of first, most important things to talk about is what Scott stressed the importance of sirens being one piece or one tool of the system. I do think that county wide, the sirens have to and will continue to be a piece or a puzzle of the system. It's important to not lose sight that we need to continue educate people that truly is that Scott touched on a real important piece. Technology is such that the way houses and businesses and commercial buildings are being built, they're not meant to penetrate inside buildings July 11, 1996 Page 4 anymore. We continue to get calls, not only as Scott pointed out from the City of Chanhassen, but throughout the county of people saying we didn't hear the sirens inside the house. Why didn't the sirens go off? Well, they did go off and you didn't hear them because they are not meant to penetrate, they're not meant to be an indoor piece. So that's a key piece, as continue to move ahead with technology, that we develop both an indoor and outdoor warning piece. We have tried to change in the county communication center where they activate this siren, to not, and when they do the test on a monthly basis on the first Wednesday of month. Instead of calling it the civil defense siren, we've tried to make it be an outdoor warning siren. And so we are calling it truly what it is. That's what it's meant to be. So, hopefully, that can be a piece to continue educate as well. We're continuing, I think, county-wide, we continue to push both outdoor and indoor warnings. I'm been trying to really emphasize the indoor piece. An indoor piece with the weather radios as Scott touched on, and, Craig, are you going to touch on a little bit about the piece coming down, I know there are changes down the road. Scott talked about one of the frustrations being that you hear that all over the place. I know there's future technology, I believe to make that specific to a geographical location, such as Carver county or a region. It wouldn't go off for everybody. That's a piece of change. We also have a system in the county that the Communications Center can activate called the in -county warning system which we have placed in the hospitals, clinics, many of the business, nursing homes throughout the county that operates directly from Carver county. It is a Carver county specific system. It's activated on a two tone sequential system, similar to a fire pager system that goes off in these locations. It turns on the radio, then gets the, information that Carver county is under a watch or warning whatever that system or condition may be. It's simply like thg other pieces of the system. It says pay attention to a media device and find out what is going on, and then monitor those things as they continue to take place. At this pofnt, that's kinda the overview as a whole. I can tell you the City of Chanhassen isn't the only city that goes through some of these questions. They are many other cities throughout the county that are currently updating their system as Scott has mentioned. One of the processes of updating the county activation system from the Communications Center is they'll activate the sirens which has caused all the cities to really look at what it is that effects how that works. Scott: Ok. Thank you. And I ask that if people have questions as we hear from some of our guests that you feel free to ask as we go on, so we don't get too far beyond and risk forgetting. If anyone in the audience or other staff members have questions, feel free to pose them, but we would ask that you step up the podium so we can be sure to get it on tape. Howard, maybe we could go to you next. Again, Howard is with the State of Minnesota, Department of Emergency Management, and Howard, you and I have not had a great deal of opportunity to prepare for tonight as far as what I would like you to address. Much of that is because I would like you to bring us up to date from the State's perspective where you see sirens or alternate warning systems fitting into the entire all hazards plan. July 11, 1996 Page 5 Howard Strabola: Scott said something rather important there. This is a part of a system. Sirens of course are a part of a warning system and it depends upon I guess the money and so forth available as to what kind of system that each community or city or county is going to have. It's kind of like sewer systems. You can build a sewer system to take all the water if you want to spend a zillion dollars on it but you're apt to buy a sewer system just enough to take care of your normal... so this is the way it is. You can have everybody, buy everybody a box in their house and ... but that's out of the question. But anyway, right now there are new systems of technology coming down and it will be in effect, I was just telling Scott here right before me met, a thing called EAS. Emergency Alert Systems, which is a system that is coming down and it will be effective as of 1 January of next year, which is '97. Which the broadcasters will have in effect, the radio stations, the TV stations will have encoders and decoders where they will be able to get warnings from any county directly to all the stations in the area so they can broadcast. Now the EBS system, which we have now. Everybody's heard of this. The Emergency Broadcast System, was kind of a tiered thing. If the Weather Service went to the one station and the other station's would have to monitor that station in order to get their warnings out so it was kind of a tiered thing. But this new system would go to all of the broadcasters at once. Now with this system the counties will be able also, whenever they get this thing going which is about 2 or 3 years from now. And be able to turn on people's TV sets. Turn on their smoke detectors so the counties will have this new technology but the technology will not be in these TV sets or smoke detectors for probably 10 years. In other words, if you're going to buy a new TV set in 1998, you'll probably have it but not everybody's going to buy a TV set in 1998. In fact a lot of people won't buy it for 10 -15 years so you're still where you are until you get the new one. The smoke detectors will be coming on with very likely this sort of thing in probably 5 to. 6 years. Again, that's down the line quite a long ways that everybody has these things in their homes. So they will be coming but again those are the indoor systems and not the outdoor systems. And the system will turn on and off, by the way. That was one of the things they had about 5 years ago that would turd things on and they found out people were on vacation and their TV sets were on forever. So they finally got this system now where they will be able to turn on and off the TV sets, radiot. Almost anything in your house that can be bought. So that's coming down the line but it will be, I'd say 10 years or maybe even 15 -20 years before everybody in the neighborhood can get this and it will be, I think the law is going to require the places of TV and radio makers to do this in 1998 I believe. So when they start there, then people will start buying them. So that's where we're at right now. Again, outdoor warning systems are important, there's no question. Yes sir. Commissioner: Who will control how these TV's get activated? Howard Strabola: It can be done by the Weather Service can do it...EBS system. The county will be able to do it within their County. Commission: Okay, so you can do it regionally. We won't run into this same problem with weather alert radios where people are listening to other areas that don't affect them. Howard Strabola: ...Mr. Edwards will be able to talk about that. No, this will be a local thing which is very, very good. If Chanhassen needs something, or wants something on the radio, they July 11, 1996 Page 6 just call there ... and warn the people of Chanhassen. In fact I think probably within the county, you can probably warn the city as opposed to whole counties. Scott Gerber: Scott if I could interject. Just to kind of add to the EAS system. One of the things that we have a portion of right now. That new EAS system will be able to activate not only the major network channels. The 4, 5, 9 and 11 but it will also hit the cable channels, which is a significant improvement from where we are now because if people are watching the cable channels, we're going to be able to hit those folks. The other thing that that will allow us to do is, right now in Carver County alone we have five different cable companies that we're working with. To try and get all of them, one of the things that we tried to do a year or so ago was see if we could get a system in place with all of those different cable companies so if we wanted to turn it on, for not only a weather related incident, but maybe a hazardous materials incident or some other type of emergency event within the county or community, we could activate it through that system and hit another percentage of the population. We found that not to be successful trying to deal with five different vendors. But with this new EAS system, it becomes a system that we would be able to do that. Howard Strabola: And they will be required to have that in by 1 July. The cable companies must have their's in by 1 July of next year. Scott Harr: Other questions up to this point? Okay, Craig Edwards from the National Weather Service. If you could just pick up on what's been said before and carry on. Craig Edwards: Well our fundamental mission is to get information as quickly as possible to as many people as'possible. There's 20 people in this room. Right now Howard Strabola and I are the only ones �at know that there's a tornado watch out for this area. Howard just got it on his pager and in atfew minutes we'll probably hear it on an all weather radio. So how would we reach the gther 90% of the public to get them this information? People are outdoors. They watched the news. They're enjoying the evening. We've come so far with forecasting that we have alerted the people earlier today that there is potential for severe storms. Even without a severe weather watch we were telling people there was potential for severe storms. Every station that I watched last night at 10:00 p.m. news said that there was potential for severe weather and our station will carry the warnings first. I don't know how everybody's going to be first but I'm sure they'll do that. Regardless, what I keep hearing after 24 years of doing'this, when the media goes out and talks to people, warnings could have been out for 10 -15 minutes. They will find people that said we had no warning. It seems to me the real issue for this... If the siren didn't go off, they had no warning. That's almost what I've been hearing for 20 years in this business. Like you say, the sky could be black. Lightning, thunder, high winds. Very visual warning to most people with common sense that something is about ready to take place. And yet if the sirens didn't go off, they had no warning. No weather radio. They listened to the warning as it comes across Scott County and then it gets to Carver County and unfortunately the first person we tell on an all weather radio in the metro area is Carver County because we don't go further west than that with what we do for the Twin Cities. We do warn all the way to Pierce County, Wisconsin though and that's where people turn it off. People use weather radios with common sense. Says okay, the warnings are going on for areas north of us, and if you're not concerned n July 11, 1996 Page 7 about what's happening, turn it off. I've had the same complaints that says well it goes off all night. Turn it off. Use your own judgment so. We get to the point where you almost have to lead some people by the hand and you've got to say how far are we going to go with this program. Are we going to try to please right down to the people that need a knock on the door. Personalized phone call to say they've got a warning or are we just going to try to hit as many people as we can with good judgment and say that we've warned the best we could. The information is out there to warn people. People who are looking for a warning, are going to get a warning. People who are not looking for a warning, are not going to get one. So I guess I would be in the business of endorsing siren systems as part of the warning program. It will get people to have a sense that they do have a system out there unique to their community. An all weather radio is already at our end put in the encoders that we will be able to site specific for individual counties. Press a tone and activate those radios only for those counties. Unfortunately at the other end there's nobody selling decoders yet. So we can do that. We can warn just Carver County or warn just Hennepin County but as far as we know that there's not a lot of market yet for individual decoders and what Howard showed me was a pager. His pager went off and it also gave the LED readout that said the tornado watch is in effect for the southern half of Minnesota. So these decoders will also be able to give you a little bit of a hard text. We pretty much knew as much information as we need to know at that time. Now we can go and turn on color radars. So this is technology that will be implemented over the course of 5 to 10 years. In the meantime I think siren systems will serve a good purpose for warning people as far as how many times you'd activate those during a season, I would say that half a dozen times the sirens would be activated for severe weather. In a particular locality. During a given year. Now if that's economically feasible to the taxpayers to say that we would like sirens. It's going to cost this much. You're only going to use it half a dozen times for severe weather, that would be a decision that the Council would take under advisement but I support it as a part of the warning program until the next century when we do have the economics of equipment and technology that can provide infornfation.to people. Exclusive just to weather information. I find over the years people will pay a price for something if it does something more than what, just giving the weather information. Now this is a good piece of technology for giving weather information but they like to buy things that gives them multiple... I think the weather radio you have, which is an excellent initiative, even did have a radio receiver separate from that. Sometimes people hear things on a weather radio and like to tune to WCCO to see if they're getting the same information. So that's where we're at. We want to make sure that when the boardcast media comes in after the event, that they have the hardest time finding somebody who says they didn't get a warning. Because we believe we have the technology now to get information out to people. TO give them the advance warning. Scott Harr; Any questions of Craig at this point? I think from my perspective Craig brings up, reinforces what we've talked about. About components of the warning system, and also the fact that people rely on others telling them that there's a problem and in doing some more personal follow -up since we sold the weather alert radios, is people have told us, I don't care about buying radios and this and that because this is something I expect the City or the County or the State to take care of for me. I expect to be warned and when they hear the tests on AM/FM radio. See the monthly tests on the television. When they see on the news, as I did with the hurricane this evening. Fire trucks and police cars being driven throughout communities with people on a PA July 11, 1996 Page 8 system saying take cover. Take cover. This is really something that people have an expectation that government will do for them and the calls that everyone has received, and I'm sure in all jurisdictions, I didn't hear the siren. I expect you to do this. People do look to the government to do something for them as far as warning. And I think the options are to provide equipment. To make equipment available. To educate, or stress a combination. Next I'd like to have Molly Koivumaki from Eden Prairie comment on their experiences to the east of us. Eden Prairie has a number of sirens, including battery back -up sirens and to talk a little bit about keeping up with the growth of that community and what their experience has been with lots of sirens in that city. Molly Koivumaki: Thanks Scott. I brought along a handout that shows where all of our sirens located. Would you all like to see that? And it's not ... that Greg and I, we work together, both of our pag bread. This is an interesting thing that just went off and I doubt that your's is your wife asking to bring home a loaf of just happened. It plays right into it. We both received on our pagers 4444 and what that is telling us that there is severe weather. That a watch or warning has been issued. This is a piece of technology we've implemented throughout our police department and it gives us a little bit of a heads up. I think it's a really good use of technology. All it says to me, 4444. Look outside. Turn on the radio. Do something. Be advised. That's all it's telling me. And that works out real well. We have 11 sirens in Eden Prairie and the black dots that you see on your map represent where those sirens are. Our siren program started probably about the same time your's did Scott. I think the first one was implemented in 1974, and it's still there. It's still there. So they do last a long time I think for the most part but. The last siren we put in, we put in at Miller Park which is probably the closest to, one of the closest to Chanhassen so you can see a little bit of the overlap coverage there. Sirens are difficult because, as Scott pointed out, there is an expectation by the public that you have a siren system. There is an expectation ' there. There's also an expectation that those sirens will be maintained and that those sirens wjf, work so once implemented, that's only one piece of it but having a maintenance program and then taking care of that is very, very important and it's not a small matter. The sirens don't, they don't blast forever. They're up there in all kinds of weather conditions and through the coldest months of the year and they get cranked once a month and it's very hard and drawing on the systems themselves so a lot of problems... I tell that to the commission and to the members here because you need to be aware of that too. That simply purchasing them is not, is the first step and there is a maintenance program that is inherent. That has to be followed. The last siren that we put in, as I mentioned in Miller Park, we went around and did a neighborhood canvas shortly after, before it went on line to let people know. An outdoor warning system has been placed in your neighborhood and when it would activate and we went door to door. We didn't leave door hangers. We actually went door to door to tell people and we got a range of responses. We had some residents says, and you are probably real familiar with some of these responses but we had some residents that were very mad because they said "I moved to Eden Prairie to get away from this." I don't know what they were thinking they were getting away from. Weather is, we don't stop it at the Chanhassen border. We are going to get bad weather so they saw it as an intrusion. So we also had, and that wasn't the majority of the response but we did people who were annoyed that they paid these incredible amounts of taxes and put all this into a home and there is a siren that's going to be activating yards away from their home. We had also people respond that they were very happy and others that just simply did not care, and that was probably the majority. People that just kind of gave a polite nod and July 11, 1996 Page 9 be on your way. What you hear from people on the first Wednesday of every month at 1:00. It is without a doubt, for the five years that I've been doing emergency preparedness, we have heard from people who did not hear their siren, and that's okay. At first it used to kind of bother me but I think it's okay because I want people to be cognizant and feel like they can call in. It's also I take an opportunity to make it an educational experience. Talk with people about how you are not going to hear your siren and so forth. We have, in May of this year we had the big system come through town and I'm sure some of you were involved in that. It was, I think it was that particular system that the news got a hold of Eden Prairie saying they didn't have battery back -up for their sirens and the power went out and they didn't have battery back -up. Well, that just makes a fun news story. It's without factual base. We do have battery back -up on four of our sirens. Battery back -up is certainly and option but it made for a fun story. We had people who live very close to sirens that did activate but because of the high winds which create a lot of noise and that severe downpour of rain which creates a lot of noise, you simply can't hear the sirens. You simply cannot hear it and it could be activating. Throughout tonight everybody has talked about the need for public education. About warning systems and that just has to be the A number 1 idea that goes into the planning of your warning system. Not just the purchase, nuts and bolts and how we're going to buy it and if it's a wood pole or a metal pole or how you're going to do it, but how you are going to communicate this to the people. You know if I asked everybody in here to stand up and do the hokey pokey, I bet you all could. I bet you would know exactly what you should do. You put right foot in, you put your right foot out. Howard, you would know how to do that. You go from town to town across the country, you do to ... you go to parties and you hear, people hear that music for the hokey pokey and everybody gets up and they all know how to do it. What does that have to do with warning sirens. It has to do with this. If we can't have the same kind of learning process or thought process with warning so that when a warning or watch is issued, people know exactly what to do. Just like they know what to do with the hokey pok y. They know exactly what to do. We turn on the TV. We turn on the radio. We do whatever it that we have to do but we convey to them that they have some personal responsibility. And it is not dependent upon the City of Chanhassen taking them by the hand down to rrfy shelter. I have an idea of what it is I'm supposed to do. We have a very competitive, I believe a very competitive commercial television environment in our community. All the weather channels. And so that goes to our benefit. It can be to our detriment if they want to pick a little story, you know like we experienced in Eden Prairie, but that's just a little minor irritation. We can use that to our benefit because they're beating themselves to the door to try to get the story. To get out there and to get the pictures and to get the information and that was only a benefit to us as I see it so if we can simply get people in our community, when they hear the warnings, if they see bad weather, this is what you need to do. We are not without resources as far as radio and television weather stations and so, and there's a lot of ways that that has to be done and it can be incorporated into schools and all the safety programs that Chanhassen currently does as well as civic groups and businesses and so forth. I get teased a lot in Eden Prairie because I talk about this kind of stuff quite a bit but that's alright because I take every chance I can to say, this is what the warning is for. This is what it's all about and you know what, I do think it has a little bit of, in fact I think, it could be coincidental but it seems to me a few years ago when the sirens would go off, our 911 center, and those of you that have been in one when the sirens activate, it's call after call. Why are the sirens going off? Why are the sirens going off? Well that is not what we want to have happen. The sirens go off. It's not time July 11, 1996 Page 10 to call 911 and ask why they're going off. Unless you see, you know a big twister coming through. Then probably that's okay to do that. But I think we've seen a decrease in that where people feel, hopefully through a bombardment of information where they're feeling maybe a little bit more comfortable, about that. If you have any questions about our siren placement and I also, I believe you all have a copy too of our diagram of actually how sirens get activated. There's a big public misconception about that as well, and I'm sorry that you don't have that. Scott's passing that out right now. It's part of the public education process. People think that you at the police department have that. That button that you press that sets off all the sirens and there is no reason they shouldn't think that. They should think that unless we tell them otherwise about the siren process, and we have had people that have called and say, I see the twister. Set off the sirens. Well we don't have that capability but we have access to that so I think that's an important point too in the education process is how that gets communicated and how those things get activated. I would have to say for all the complaints that we've gotten over the years about sirens, people would be up in arms if we did not have the siren program that we have right now. I would have to say that we would be remiss if we took out any single one of these sirens. And you know, we don't have any plans right now of adding any. We want to wait and see where Chanhassen's going to put theirs. Commissioner: Molly, can you touch a little bit on the maintenance. I mean the costs associated with maintaining them for years. Is it a private vendor? Is it public works? Molly Koivumaki: Yes sir. We have a contract with a group called Embedded System. There are two groups that have been made it's contracts available and we selected this one based on price and availability and so forth. And I brought the price along. They charge $29.50 per unit, per month and we have 11. I'll do the math for you. That means every month we pay $324.50, for a maintenance contract. And that adds up to $3,894.00 a year for our sirens. For 11 sirens. Maintenance ©n sirens has to generally do with radio activation. That's one piece because sirens are radio activated so there's that type of equipment. And then there's also the electo- mechanicdl nuts and bolts types of things too, and the batteries and so forth. They're not extremely complicated but they're somewhat specialized so we in Eden Prairie are very fortunate that we have a public works person, and I would hope that you in Chanhassen have one as well, who really has taken an interest in working on sirens and it's helped us greatly because when we have a malfunction, we don't necessarily have to get our contract out with this person right away because it could be something that is not included in the contract that we're going to have to pay for but we do have a public works person who will test, who will do whatever he has to do. Re- set. Maybe put a fuse in. What it has to do and he'll do some major stuff, or minor things like that And it's helped significantly. It isn't just a little thing but it's helped a lot to have him there. We've had sirens that misfire because sometimes as the battery goes low, it causes the siren to go off. That can be a point consternation in a neighborhood if there's nothing going on and a siren is going off and off and off. Somebody's got to get out there and turn it off and if your officers don't know how, it's good to have that public works person in there to shut it off. The other points are the cost to run it. The electricity costs. I don't have the breakdown but that is there. The other point is painting. They are up there year round and they do get ugly and I'm sure you are as cognizant of looks here in town because you don't want your sirens looking pretty bad so there's a maintenance cost there and that's paint every few years. That's really �,� July 11, 1996 Page 11 about it. They're subject to lightning strikes. That's probably one of the biggest things that takes our sirens out. Lightning strikes that happen. You electrical malfunctions. We had a transformer blow right next to a siren here just before I came out here so I'm sure that it probably took power away from our siren. That particular one for a little while but they do need maintenance. Scott Gerber: Greg, if I could comment. This won't necessarily take away the maintenance cost. One of the things, as our metro region we did this year, when we had such a cold, that cold snap, if you recall when that came through. That was during when it was time to do a Wednesday test and one of the things that we did as a metro region was to talk amongst a lot of the counties and I think all the counties decided not to do the test. Just Molly talked about the cold weather being, that's grease and oil and they're trying to turn bearings and it just doesn't make sense to do that for a test so we opted not to do that, that one. So that will certainly be a piece of helping to preserve costs. Scott Harr: Anything else Molly? Molly Koivumaki: No. Unless there are any questions, and I certainly have gone quickly over our program. Once up and running it actually does a pretty good job but the key things are good maintenance contract, with a company that you can trust. When you go out to work on a siren, it's a wise idea to shut it off so it doesn't automatically go off while you're there because it could be discomforting, to say the least. What we had happen was, people would forget to turn it back on when they left. Now that's not just something that just happened in Eden Prairie but other cities have told us that too and that is a maintenance. That's sloppy maintenance contracting. That is where it takes someone who is managing the contract to figure these things out. Why isn't it going off? Well maybe it's simply not turned on and how do you figure those things out. 1 Scott Harr: Could I just ask you, inconvenience you to step up here so we've got your question on the rec6rd too, and if you could just state your name. Chad Junker: Yeah, my name's Chad Junker. Why are they even testing them like that? Nobody's hears them. You're not going to put a siren on... I mean I don't understand. Why don't you just start testing it in March? Molly Koivumaki: Well they're tested in the winter time to make sure that they're working. To make sure that there isn't a problem so that when March comes along and severe weather does start, so you don't find out at that point that your siren isn't working. In the extreme cold weather, sustained cold weather for several weeks, we did this year, as Scott mentioned, not test them because of that. I would want to still test mine every year. Or every month. The sirens are tested silently and I don't know if you talk. The siren is tested silently four times a day I believe or something like that, and that's done through radio transmissions. The siren is tested. It doesn't go off. It's a silent test and they can tell if it's working or not. They can tell if it's receiving the radio transmission. They can't tell if it's activating. Okay. So that silent test is fine for radio transmission but the other piece of it is physically activating. That's why we have to have the siren test. I should mention one other piece that we've done. We actually, we have (Ivy July 11, 1996 Page 12 I I sirens and we ask cooperation from our public works people to staff a siren in the area that they will be working so that on siren test day, they're actually able to be a distance from it but actually able to see it rotate and hear it because sirens can activate without rotating and you really want them to rotate or you lose a lot of your coverage. And that again is using our public works people to the best of their, it's really maximizing the use of the public works people and it gives us an opportunity to know that that siren actually did go off. Other communities have used neighborhood watch people. Or have used businesses. You know to just say, you are our designated siren person. Will you look and listen on siren test day and let us know if it went off. Scott Harr: Thanks Chad. Good question. Chief Wing. Richard Wing: Just repeat this question. You just described... are you using the... electronics or using the old... Will you just describe what sirens you've got in place. Scott Harr: The question was about electronic versus mechanical sirens basically and what's available. Scott, would you like to talk a bit about that? Richard Wing: ...Eden Prairie. Scott Harr: Oh okay. Scott Gerber: Well do you want to comment on what you're using first and then I'll. Molly Koivumaki: Yeah. We are not using the electric ones that are talked about in here. We're simply not. Richard Wing! Just an old mechanical. Scott Gerber: The activation system that the County's currently switching over to is the Whalen Activation System. So instead of the two tone sequential, sequence to turn on, for the radio to turn on the siren, it will be something that you won't hear on the radio anymore. It's a long series of digital display. Digital activation that will turn it on. We found that to be more effective to be able to turn this as well. Richard Wing: Are the old horn types even available anymore? Molly Koivumaki: Sure. Scott Gerber: But there's two different, you're talking two different pieces now. There's the siren on the top that's the horn. That goes around, and yet they're available. And that's still, the electrical, mechanical siren. And that still is probably one of the most effective and I'll give you pros and cons of both electric and electric and mechanical sirens. But the other piece is the activation piece and the activation piece is what triggers then to turn them on. When you look at pros and cons with both mechanical and electrical sirens, I think certainly the City has to kind of weigh the options that are here but the electrical mechanical sirens like you see in the quotes that I C July 11, 1996 Page 13 you have in front of you, can be activated either by a AC or a DC. Either with a battery or directly connected in. The electronic sirens can be both primarily are battery, or DC operated. The one piece that the electrical mechanical or electronic siren has is a PA system so you could theoretically go directly into the PA system and talk about something else that you wanted to talk about. There's one caution I think with that. If you use a PA for something, like weather related things, is that you're going to have people coming outside to look at things or hear what is being said instead of going inside to listen to a media device and perhaps take some shelter so I think there's some concern with that. Or if it's the evacuation piece that you're using. People are going outside and you want them to shelter in place or you want them to leave. Those are pieces with that. I think there, an electro mechanical siren does not have that PA capability. The electronic sirens I know a higher expense when you initially purchase them. Because of all the electronics that are there, it's my impression or my understanding that they're going to be harder to maintain as well. Again, it's all electronic components. The electromechanical sirens are going to be more motor driven so it's the electronics that are going to turn it on but it's the motor that's going to turn it around to make it function and that's the grease and the bearings and the pieces that Molly talked about that can be serviced, perhaps a little bit easier than what the modular part to the electronics are. Both certainly are functional. The City of Chaska does have some of both. They have one electronic siren within their city and the rest of them are electromechanical sirens. But both sirens can be activated by this new technology that we're looking to put in place to help activate. Commissioner: When I was growing up as a kid they had different types of sirens to listen to, and I realize the Cold War threat is now over but do they still test sirens different? There's different sounds they make and one was supposedly for an enemy attack. One was for bad weather. Is that Molly Koivurrfaki: There are two different sounds. One is for weather and the other is more of a maybe for a...for something other than weather. Just two that I'm aware of. Howard, maybe there are different ones out state or whatever. Howard Strabola: Just two. Yeah, they had the attack warning which is one. It's a wavering sound. The other is a steady tone which the alert siren. There's not a requirement any more. Is that pretty good, that... (There was a tape change at this point in the discussion.) Scott Gerber: ...The new system is going to have turn it on, turn it off. Because the public as a whole, in our expectation, doesn't know the difference between what's the attack, what's the alert so we've made it an alert and a cancel. So it's one tone throughout the county with all the different cities. And that's a change as we implement this new system. One of the reasons why we chose to do that along with understanding and educating the public doesn't really know the difference between the two is we're not putting the activation system directly in our console so that they can sequence and set all the sirens off. So you can turn them all off and then them all on within a geographic area and it just made it a more user friendly and a better system I think to be able to use. �b July 11, 1996 Page 14 Brian Beniek: Is there going to be an all clear? You said there's two tones so there's still the, it's coming and it's over. Scott Gerber: No. And good question, and thanks for bringing it up Brian. But there is not an all clear and there is not an all clear that's issued. And that's something that we experienced the last storm that came through. We had another kind of series of systems that came through the County, part way through after we had already set off the sirens for a portion of things. We chose to activate the sirens again because of some activity we were getting from spotters. I don't know that we would do that again and the reason is because we did get calls into our 911 center saying, does this mean that we have an all clear. So the sirens are not issued again for an all clear. The on and off is, so that the dispatch center can cancel it so it doesn't have to run it's full cycle. Otherwise it will shut itself off. But the cancel button has the ability to cancel it. Bill Bernhjelm: I have one question for Howard. You know we talk about public education and it seems like, and you always see, they always tell you about pull over when you hear the siren on the right side of the road. You always see advertising on public service announcements but I never see anything to educate the public on outdoor warnings. I mean most the stuff I read about are either the newspaper about the sirens or the fact that I live across the street from the fire station and hear it all the time. Is the State going to do some public service announcements to? I mean I think that would be a good way to get the word out because there is a -lot of this all clear thing. We no longer have this two warning system. Howard Strabola: Well we can't do that. Excuse me. We can't do the two warning because there might be,� me counties that want to do that. In other words, we're not going to say that. We have a Tornado Awareness Week during April usually where we do push all this stuff out to the people. I think they've been doing a little better job, don't you Molly, recently in getting the information out. But some of the papers like pick one, Star Tribune. Unless you pay them, they don't put Anything in there. It's really tough to get something in there. In the paper. And the radio stations and TV stations, usually the TV stations are very good about it. Particularly the weather people. During that week, typically they really saturate that. In talking about the sirens again, we expect those people to turn on their news media, is what the sirens are all about. I think we've talked about that and that's why we don't have an all clear. Just to get away from this thing with two sirens going off twice. Because I know St. Paul does this several times. If there's something going through they'll do it again and that's not an all clear. We have never said that we'd ever give an all clear so that's the reason we do it. So if you talk to the media or look to the media so they will know, they will tell you when the thing is through. You know, this sort of thing. Bill Bernhjelm: It almost seems to me that these counties should all get together and come up with one specific, I mean I might be here but I go to Ramsey County and their siren might be, it seems like we all should get on the same page. I don't know if that's possible but. Howard Strabola: We tried, the first Wednesday of the month is when we test them but these are your sirens. They are Scott County's or Carver County's, or whatever, their sirens. But Dakota July 11, 1996 Page 15 County sounds their's in a severe thunder storm no matter what. Their's goes off in Burnsville, Lakeville, all the time. And they're kind of, what do you call them? Scott Gerber: ... the maverick. Howard Strabola: The maverick over there. Scott Gerber: They do their own thing. Howard Strabola: They do their own thing so we really have no control over those sirens. We suggest this but it is up to the individual community or county... We have no control over those things at all. Greg Gerber: Howard, if I can comment though, I think in general, in the metro area we are all on the same page and we all do activate the sirens for a tornado warning that comes from the Weather Service for your specific jurisdiction, and/or spotter information that comes from the locality and I think there's a number of organizations, one in particular that I know Scott and Molly and myself and others, Craig and Howard are a part of that's a Metropolitan Emergency Managers Association that covers a large area that gets everybody to talk and do the same thing. And I think that week in April, when it is the severe weather awareness week, is a big thing and I think it's got people, the schools and there are a number of pieces that have been. It's certainly not the end all or the cure all but I think it has gotten better, at least in the years that I've been a part of this. We do have a member of our local media here and I know our local press has also been an active part to be able to with that. as well and that will only continue to help us to get that information outo people. Scott Harr: I'A also like to invite any guests or others here to feel free to step up and ask questions. , I also appreciate that we've got several more people who have joined us, including Councilmdn Mark Senn. Any other questions from either the commission? Chad go ahead, and I can just repeat it if you want to stay put. Chad Junker: Okay. I want to make a comment too that with that last storm. We do not, everybody does not have access to the other types of media when a stone is happening. You know I'm a teacher and if you're in an enclosed room, the first thing you heard was the siren and you knew that something was happening. And we went down to the locker room for an hour and a half. It seemed like years with 200 kids down there ... but I just wondered, I agree with what you're saying but the same way with a department store. Anything that's an enclosed room, you don't know what's going on outside. And about the tight construction. We might be weird at our household but when there's a stone we open up the windows so we can see and hear if there's anything going on and I think we only had the air conditioner on twice this year so far. So there's people who do have those things, and the air condition units not on and the windows are open so you do hear... Scott Harr: And as a part of our process, and I think those were all accurate comments and good comments. As a part of our weather radio purchase program we specifically contacted the July 11, 1996 Page 16 schools and churches and businesses because we understand that the people inside, especially in these large block buildings don't know and it's critical that someone at the front office be aware of what's happening. And Beth from our department is the primary contact in Chanhassen. Scott Gerber is elsewhere in the county and when they go out to do surveys for homes, businesses or institutions, with regards to weather emergencies, I know they make it very clear that there has to be someone that's there all the time that there's people in the building that have access to a weather alert radio and Beth and I did a building survey within several blocks of this building not too long ago where they run shifts 24 hours a day, during the daytime hours. There's people in the front office but at night there isn't so they actually set up several warning radios throughout so that people wouldn't be left literally in the dark not knowing. Other questions. Brian Beniek: I just had one other thing. In regards to the deal down in Lakeville or Eagan was it in May. Just so I understand this. They had sufficient or they had enough sirens there but it was their decision not to sound them. It wasn't that there was a malfunction or what turned out to be the problem that they got so much media attention about sirens there? Howard Strabola: Actually they had a warning down there. Somewhat. A siren did go off. But again, these things developed, and you can talk to Craig here but if I'm not mistaken, that sucker developed right over them. Commissioner: Which one are we talking about now? Howard Strabola: The 19 of May wasn't it? Brian Beniek , believe it was, yes. Scott Gerber: No, that was where two storms went by and one went by about 10:30. I think there was tome large hail or something over in this area. And then I was getting home and the TV weathercaster was one carrying complete radar coverage and I knew that there was another storm coming through, and that developed right here in Chanhassen. Howard Strabola: Yeah, I think that just kind of went right over the top so. Scott Gerber: But there was a tornado warning out for Sibley County and it was changed to a severe, or I think it might have been a tornado warning for Chanhassen too at that time. But the one, there was one a couple weeks ago, a Saturday, I think it was June 19` No, June 29` 1 . Howard Strabola: Hastings? Scott Gerber: Yeah, that was the Hastings thing. That developed in Scott County, near ... and moved through Lakeville and we really weren't getting reports of what was going on with that thing until it got to about Farmington. 6-1-1) July 11, 1996 Page 17 Brian Beniek: But the one on May 19` if I remember correctly, there was a lot of attention . about people saying that the sirens weren't activated or they didn't hear them. What was the true cause down there? Was it they weren't activated? There weren't enough? People were inside and not hearing them? Do we know what the true cause of their complaint was? Howard Strabola: I was there the next day. I went down there the next day. As far as I know, they were activated. Brian Beniek: Okay. And they have enough throughout the community to sufficiently ... Okay. Scott Gerber: See one of the questions and the concerns is the siren systems are fine when we're all up and awake and expecting things but this storm hit at 12:00 at night. So how good is sirens going to be at 12:00? You'd have somebody sound asleep and then a reporter comes up and says, did you hear the sirens and they say no. We were caught off guard. Howard Strabola: Yeah, that was true so, if I'm not mistaken, they were all... I can't say that absolutely for sure but we discussed that and I think we were told it was. I can get that information. In fact I can tomorrow, I'll get the information for you. But again it was midnight or something. Scott Harr: Other questions? Comments? Well if I may very briefly recap the discussion. From what I've heard here tonight, and as a member of a number of emergency management organizations as well, emergency management involves an all hazards approach to prepare for emergencies and disasters. An alert and warning component is one aspect of this planning. Similarly sirens/remain one aspect of the siren, or of the warning process. And my recommendation as the Public Safety Director for the City of Chanhassen is that you as the Public Safety commission make a motion to recommend to the City Council that outdoor warning sirens be purchased and installed to cover all the city of Chanhassen as one component of alerting'the public and that the Public Safety Director be directed to work with the Council, should they wish to acquire sirens, through the 1997 budget process to implement this recommendation. Brian Beniek: I guess I'd just like to make one more comment, and correct me if I'm wrong but what you're telling me is that this technology that's on the horizon, we can have all the technology in the world but these devices are outdoor warnings and all the technology in the world inside the home is not going to do any good to people who are outside. Howard Strabola: Not the sirens will not. Basically no. Brian Beniek: But I guess I'm talking about this television or this broadcast media technology can be going you know great guns inside the home but if people are outside, without the sirens they're not going to know. Howard Strabola: Unless there's some thing, or pagers. This sort of thing. That's right. Yeah, people out on boats and so forth like that. On lakes and so forth, yeah. (" 770) July 11, 1996 Page 18 Craig Edwards: And I will go on record to say, there will still be storms that will strike that the sirens didn't go on. We haven't come that far with our skill yet to hit 100% so if we get that on the table and just make it clear that this is the best we can do, we'd always like to be perfect but in the real world there will be some things that will sneak up on us. Again the siren systems are your's. The Weather Service does not control, push a button. We do recommend when you can activate those, or should activate it but if somebody reports something and you have control over those sirens, you by all means can activate them. We set up a policy last year where a community in Hennepin County activated the tornado sirens based on somebody's report of a funnel cloud and we chose not to put a tornado warning out. It got very confusing because the public heard the sirens going off and there was no warning from the Weather Service so we have a policy in effect that if a community activates a sirens, and the Weather Service hasn't issued a warning, we will activate the weather radio to tell people why they've activated the sirens. Even if we do not issue a tornado warning. We didn't want to get the point that the tail was wagging the dog. That you pushed the siren button. Now let's stand back and see if the Weather Service issues a warning so we again are out there to provide information to people on what is being reported and what is being spotted. Get them to take precautions. Bill Bernhjelm: Well I'll make a motion that we recommend to the City Council the purchase of the siren and whatever Scott said. Greg Weber: Second? Commissioner: I'll second it. Greg Weber: ny further discussion? Bill Bernhjelm: I just want to say a couple of things Greg. It seems to me that we're never going to get everybody, and it's kind of unfortunate I think that we have to take the handle approach to some folks that will be vocal and maybe have unreasonable expectations of what the government should or could provide for them. But I think in this particular community, the amount of outdoor activity is encouraged and the outdoor facilities that are available, the lakes and the beaches and so on and so forth, that we have, it's probably an important part of what we should be providing people. I would support that. Greg Weber: Anybody else? Scott Harr. Greg, just before the vote. If I could comment, and I don't see this recommendation as an all or nothing vote to the Council. Having worked with this Council throughout Mayor Chmiel's 8 years and getting to know Council members that have come on since that time, taxes area primary concern of the City Council and that's certainly something that's going to be examined closely and should the Council wish to proceed with sirens, they may want to look at a phased approach of acquisition and installation. I know that the one supplier that I've spoken with has a lease to own program or with the amount of businesses continuing to come into town CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET 101 General Fund 1997 1997 1998 ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET 520 Public Safety 155,325 170,968 176,000 121 Police Administration 39,140 39,500 39,844 Personal Services 201,700 201,700 237,100 Materials & Supplies 9,900 10,042 10,890 Contractual Services 519,488 519,352 535,944 Capital Outlay 1,000 1,000 132,000 Miscellaneous 37,614 (37,614) (45,501) * TOTAL POLICE ADMINISTRATION 694,474 694,480 870,433 122 Fire Prevention Administration Personal Services 155,325 170,968 176,000 Materials & Supplies 39,140 39,500 39,844 Contractual Services 88,250 88,600 98,720 Capital Outlay 12,409 12,409 14,300 Miscellaneous (15,689) (15,689) (16,443) * TOTAL FIRE PREVENTION ADMIN 279,435 295,788 312,421 123 Public Safety Commission Personal Services - - - Materials & Supplies 700 700 1,700 Contractual Services 1,675 1,675 1,775 * TOTAL PUBLIC SAFETY COMM. 2,375 2,375 3,475 125 Code Enforcement 123,550 127,336 118,975 Personal Services 624,580 630,580 679,080 Materials & Supplies 19,850 19,850 22,138 Contractual Services 26,420 27,300 27,570 Capital Outlay 5,000 5,000 17,500 * TOTAL CODE ENFORCEMENT 675,850 682,730 746,288 126 Animal Control Personal Services 89,700 89,700 85,560 Materials & Supplies 11,400 11,668 11,865 Contractual Services 20,450 23,968 14,550 Capital Outlay 2,000 2,000 7,000 * TOTAL ANIMAL CONTROL 123,550 127,336 118,975 **TOTAL PUBLIC SAFETY 1,775,684 1,802,709 2,051,592 CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1997 BUDGET re- estimate PUBLIC SAFETY i Code Enfrc 32.9% Contractu, 34.6% Expenditures by Function Animal Cntl 6.2% Expenditures by Type Capital 1.1% ; i i Personal 57.2% i j P/S Comm Fire 0.2% 18.6% MaiciiaJQ 4.3% Misc 2.8% Personal Materials & Contractual Capital Services Supplies Services Outlay Misc. Total 121 Police Administration 201,700 10,042 519,352 88,600 1,000 12,409 (37,614) (15,689) 694,480 295,788 122 Fire Prevention Administration 170,968 39,500 - 2,375 123 Public Safety Commission - 630,580 700 19,850 1,675 27,300 - 5,000 - 682,730 125 126 Code Enforcement Animal Control 89,700 11,668 23,968 2,000 - 127,336 TOTAL 1,092,948 81,760 660,895 20,409 (53,303) 1,802,709 i Code Enfrc 32.9% Contractu, 34.6% Expenditures by Function Animal Cntl 6.2% Expenditures by Type Capital 1.1% ; i i Personal 57.2% i j P/S Comm Fire 0.2% 18.6% MaiciiaJQ 4.3% Misc 2.8% CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET PUBLIC SAFETY Expenditures by Function Animal Cntl 6.2% Code Enfrc 32.9% Expenditures by Type Capital 7.9% Contractual 31.2% Police 42.1% i Personal 54.1% P/S Comm Fire 0.2% 18.6% Materials 4.0% Misc 2.8% Personal Materials & Contractual Capital Services Supplies Services Outlay Misc. Total 121 Police Administration 237,100 10,890 535,944 132,000 (45,501) 870,433 122 Fire Prevention Administration 176,000 39,844 98,720 14,300 (16,443) 312,421 123 Public Safety Commission - 1,700 1,775 - - 3,475 125 Code Enforcement 679,080 22,138 27,570 17,500 - 746,288 126 Animal Control 85,560 11,865 14,550 7,000 - 118,975 TOTAL 1,177,740 86,437 678,559 170,800 (61,944) 2,051,592 Expenditures by Function Animal Cntl 6.2% Code Enfrc 32.9% Expenditures by Type Capital 7.9% Contractual 31.2% Police 42.1% i Personal 54.1% P/S Comm Fire 0.2% 18.6% Materials 4.0% Misc 2.8% NOTES NOTES ADMINISTRATION BUDGET REQUESTS September 29, 1997 LEGISLATIVE III Mission and Current Services The city council, comprised of the Chanhassen is at-large sttutory Plan B c ty (council/manager it /manager form legislative body of city government. of government). The council is responsible for formulating city policy and enacting legislation for maintaining and promoting the peace, good government, and welfare of the city. The city council also has authority over the financial affairs of the city, including appropriating money through the annual adoption of the city budget and levying local assessments and property taxes. City council members also constitute the Board of Equalization and the Economic Development Authority and appoint members to various advisory boards and commissions. Budget Highlights The revised 1997 budget reflects an increase of $3,175 (2.1 %) primarily due to higher than anticipated costs for travel and training for city council meetings and work sessions. The 1998 proposed budget reflects an adjustment of $2,500 (5% increase) in travel and training based on current year experience. The Council's compensation has remained unchanged since 1995. Vision Chanhassen Achievements The city council continues to provide leadership for the City of Chanhassen. Council members serve with representatives of the Community Leaders Group and convenes various committees deemed appropriate to ensure the area's vision, action plans, and desired outcomes are achieved. Future Trends The council continues to pursue excellence in building community and enhancing citizen participation through neighborhoods, various public forums, and other methods. The council has also initiated the development of an appropriate resource allocation process in light of local government financial trends. ADMINISTRATION 112 Mission and Current Services The city manager is the chief administrative officer of the city and directs the administration of city affairs. It is the city manager's responsibility to enforce the City Code and resolutions of the city. The city manager's office provides general administrative services for the city to ensure all council policies and directives are carried out. Duties also include keeping the council fully advised of the financial condition and the needs of the city, preparing and submitting the annual budget to the council, and recommending measures to the council deemed necessary and/or desirable for the welfare of the people and the efficient administration of the city's affairs. The city manager's office also provides liaison between the council, advisory boards and commissions, staff, other levels of government, the media, and the public. Budget Highlights The revised 1998 budget reflects a cost of living adjustment in most categories. In 1997, we underestimated the new postal meter system, thus the $1,334 adjustment. For 1998 we are planning on replacing two (2) micro cassette players and one (1) transcriber. Personal Services: Salaries for this function have been distributed in the budget based on hours spent in that function. For the current budget, the distribution is as follows: 4010 Salaries, Regular: City Manager Asst. City Manager Office Manager (2) Part-time Receptionists (1) Full -time Receptionist Intern 1997 1998 60% 60% 35% 35% 70% 70% 100% 100% 100% 100% 0% 4110 General supplies — paper, pencils, etc. 4330 Postage for general mailing. 4360 International City Management Association Minnesota City Management Association Metro Area Management Association League of Minnesota Cities 4410 Copier(s), postage meter (owned by the U.S. Postal Dept.), folder /inserter machine. 4530 Service calls for computers and typewriters. 4703 Transcribers (1), microcassette player (2). 4984 , Attributable to construction/development is being charged 20% of the total costs of this function. Vision Chanhassen Achievements Administration is overseeing the overall city goals and the city council's recommendations in the areas of responsive government, safe community, lifelong learning, housing, business, and community connections in collaboration with the school district, chamber of commerce, and other community organizations. Administration is also overseeing the preparation of the city's "News Alley." LEGAL 114 Mission and Current Services This office is responsible for advising the city on questions of law; reviewing all ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and other legal documents of the city; and representing the city in court actions including the prosecution of cases in District Court. The city has contracted with Campbell Knutson Associates to handle civil and criminal matters. The city also periodically uses separate law firms for various specialized legal matters (e.g. personnel /labor, bond counsel, EDA). The city uses consultative attorney services with general service costs paid on a fixed fee basis. Budget Highlights The 1998 budget reflects only a cost of living adjustment. ASSESSING DIVISION 115 Mission and Current Services The Assessing Division, through the Carver County Assessor's Office, is responsible for the valuation of 6,600 parcels of residential and commercial real estate and personal property for the purpose of taxation by the city, school districts, Carver County, and special taxing jurisdictions. Budget Highlights 4300 The City is required, under state law, to reimburse the county for assessing 1994 5,500 parcels @ $7.50 = 41,250 1995 5,700 parcels @ $7.50 = 42,750 1996 6,000 parcels @ $7.50 = 45,000 1997 6,300 parcels @ $7.50 = 47,250 1998 6,400 parcels @ $7.50 = 49,500 Hennepin County bills us $600 annually. Truth in Taxation: 1994 5,500 parcels @ $4.00 = 22,000 1995 5,700 parcels @ $4.00 = 22,800 1996 6,000 parcels @ $4.00 = 24,000 1997 6,300 parcels @ $4.00 = 25,200 1998 6,600 parcels @ $4.00 = 26,400 Change in Ownership data: 1,000 4340 Truth in Taxation Hearing advertisements. Future Trends The years of 1996 and 1997 have seen dramatic price escalation in most sectors of the real estate market. While there are many factors that have impacted this trend, the low rate of inflation, low interest rates and the current prosperity of the national economy have all contributed to this healthy real estate market. The city council has also discussed bring the function in- house, however, the economics have not lent itself a viable option. Based on the county service contract, start up costs and space needs at city hall. Residential property prices have been extremely strong. At the present time there doesn't appear to be any cloud on the real estate horizon that would dampen the current trends. It is helpful to keep in mind that real estate markets are cyclic and that it was 6 years ago that the commercial real estate market was depressed. MUNICIPAL BUILDING FUND 117 Mission and Current Services The municipal building fund exists to fund improvements to city owned buildings and structures other than parks and recreation facilities. Improvement projects are very diverse and range from replacement of elements that have reached the end of their service life expectancy (i.e. roofs, HVAC equipment) to improvements made to facilitate service delivery and staff productivity or improvements related to and mandated by current building codes and directives. Budget Highlights The 1998 budget shows an increase $21,333, an 10.6% increase over the 1997 revised budget. The increase consists of adding a part-time maintenance worker to assist with maintenance projects and snow removal for city hall, fire stations, and old village hall plaza. The fees for service account will be reduced by 12.3% to reflect the hiring of a part-time employee. Two other areas that reflect major increases are utilities and cleaning and waste removal. Both of these fund increases are due to the senior congregate dining /kitchen. The remaining budget reflects a cost of living. Expenditures include: 4140 Parts and supplies needed for City cars 4150 Cleaning supplies 4170 Gas and oil for City cars 4300 Telephone maintenance agreement, plant maintenance 4310 All telephones in City Hall building, including library. 4320 Gas & electricity for City Hall, including library. (21% increase due to senior center kitchen expansion) 4350 Garbage pick -up service and contract for major cleaning tasks such as carpet cleaning, window washing (adding kitchen /additional cleaning for senior center based on congregate dining usage). 4483 Liability and fire insurance for all general fund activities 4520 Repairs and maintenance on all administration vehicles 4530 Repairs and maintenance on equipment in City Hall 4531 Radio maintenance contract on all administration radios ELECTIONS 118 Mission and Current Services The city manager's office is responsible for the administration of the city's elections and official records. The office is responsible for voter registration, redistricting and conducting local, state, and national elections. Many of the functions performed by the election staff are required by state and federal laws governing elections and data practices. Our mission is to provide these mandated services efficiently and accurately and to act as an effective communications link between government and citizens by providing public access to government information, records and processes. We feel that excellent customer service is key to citizen satisfaction with government and can increase positive interaction and positive connections within our community. Budget Highlights Costs for this function occur in even numbered years representing primary and general election costs for federal, state, and local elections. Recent state legislation has tightened control and established considerably more rigid guidelines for municipalities. Costs for 1998 are for the general election. 4300 Optical scan voting equipment maintenance fee and election support costs. Vision Chanhassen Achievements In accordance with direction from city council, greater emphasis has been placed on customer service in all areas of the City of Chanhassen. Additional training has been provided to staff who regularly deal with the public and greater focus on customer satisfaction has been identified as an ongoing mission. In 1998, staff will be working to improve communications with election judge staff and will be updating procedures, training manuals, and instituting an evaluation process to better identify needed areas of improvement. Future Trends The city's election process is largely governed by the State of Minnesota and Carver County. The city (as well as other cities in Carver County), has taken the lead in updating our election process by purchasing optical scan voting equipment. This reduces the amount of time spent by election judges to canvas results by more than 50 %. Service Level Issues/Unmet Needs The election staff is committed to improving service levels, and is developing a work plan that emphasizes increased utilization of technology. It is our intent to meet future challenges through the professional development of our existing staff and better use of available tools. CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET 101 General Fund 1997 1997 1998 ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION BUDGET RE- ESTIMATE BUDGET 511 General Government 111 Legislative Personal Services 28,500 27,400 27,400 Materials &Supplies 900 120,175 1,020 121,135 1,045 124,285 Contractual Services * TOTAL LEGISLATIVE 149,575 149,555 152,730 112 Administration Personal Services 217,300 217,300 226,500 Materials &Supplies 23,350 5 4,230 24,106 53,730 24,800 54,130 Contractual Services 5,800 7,134 1,000 Capital Outlay (61,556) (61,556) (61,286) Miscellaneous * TOTAL ADMINISTRATION 239,124 240,714 245,144 113 Finance Personal Services 11 9,300 119,300 128,400 Materials &Supplies 5,330 5 1,600 5,330 49,500 5,330 51,800 Contractual Services 6,800 6,800 - Capita Outlay Capital (40,226) (40,226) (37,106) Miscellaneous * TOTAL FINANCE 142,804 140,704 148,424 114 Legal Contractual Services 83,000 83,000 85,500 8,500 5 * TOTAL LEGAL 83,000 83,000 115 Property Assessment 74,050 58,000 64,300 Contractual Services * TOTAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENT 74,050 58, 000 64,300 116 M.I.S. Personal Services _ Contractual Services * TOTAL M.I.S. " 117 City Hall _ 10,000 Personal Services Materials &Supplies 12,900 14,300 14,650 Contractual Services 182,950 186,567 197,550 500 Capital Outlay * TOTAL CITY HALL 500 196,350 500 201,367 222,700 118 Elections Personal Services P 5,400 5,400 21,600 Materials &Supplies 700 1,650 700 1,500 3,000 16,500 Contractual Services - - 7,000 Capital Outlay * TOTAL ELECTIONS 7,750 7,600 48,100 **TOTAL GENERAL GOVERNMENT 892,653 880,940 966,898 Note: 1998 Budget for Dept.116, MIS, will be presented at work session on October 6th. CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1997 BUDGET re- estimate GENERAL GOVERNMENT Personal Materials & Contractual Capital Outlay Misc. Total - - 149,555 Services Supplies Services 111 Legislative 27,400 1,020 121,135 112 Administration 217,300 24,106 53,730 113 Finance 119,300 5,330 49,500 114 Legal - - 83,000 115 Property Assessment - - 58,000 116 M.I.S. - - - 117 City Hall - 14,300 186,567 118 Elections 5,400 700 1,500 TOTAL 369,400 45,456 553,432 Capital Outlay Misc. Total - - 149,555 7,134 (61,556) 240,714 6,800 (40,226) 140,704 - - 83,000 - - 58,000 500 - 201,367 - - 7,600 14,434 (101,782) 880,940 Personal 34% Contr_ 52% ials 4% Note: 1998 Budget for Dept.116, MIS, will be presented at work session on October 6th. Expenditures by Type Misc Capital 9% 1% CITY OF CHANHASSEN 1998 BUDGET GENERAL GOVERNMENT 111 Legislative 112 Administration 113 Finance 114 Legal 115 Property Assessment 116 M.I.S. 117 City Hall 118 Elections - TOTAL Personal Materials & Contractual Capital Services Supplies Services Outlay Misc. Total 27,400 1,045 124,285 - - 152,730 226,500 24,800 54,130 1,000 (61,286) 245,144 128,400 5,330 51,800 - (37,106) 148,424 - - 85,500 - - 85,500 - - 64,300 - - 64,300 10,000 14,650 197,550 500 - 222,700 21,600 3,000 16,500 7,000 - 48,100 413,900 48,825 594,065 8,500 (98,392) 966,898 Expenditures by Function r , ihi uan Note: 1998 Budget for Dept.116, MIS, will be presented at work session on October 6th. Elections Legislative 5% 16%