08-13-09 WSITEM 3_1
CITY OF OTSEGO
LONG RANGE PLANNING WORKSHOP
August 13, 2009
5:30 p.m.
Roll Call: Otsego City Council: Mayor Jessica
Stockamp, Councilmembers Tom Darkenwald, Dan Scharber, Mark
Thorsted and Vern Heidner.
Absent: None.
Otsego Staff: City Administrator Michael Robertson, Finance
Director Gary Groen, Public Works Supervisor Brad Belair,
City Clerk Tami Loff, Building Official Harold Leonard, City
Planner Dan Licht, City Engineer Ron Wagner and Sewer/Water
Supervisor Kurt Niedermeier.
Rusty Fifield and Paul Donna of Northland Securities, the
City's financial advisor, were present to help facilitate the
workshop.
Council and staff discussed the following items.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Finance Director Groen will revise the debt service
information to include equipment replacement as well.
GRAVEL STREETS
Staff was directed to provide a list prioritizing which
gravel streets currently get enough traffic that they should
be paved, which gravel streets are expected to be paved as
part of future development and which are expected to be
gravel for a long time.
KADLER INTERCHANGE
Council confirmed that the current policy of working toward
the official mapping of the intersection was sufficient.
PARKS
Council and staff discussed the need to establish a park
equipment replacement fund.
WATER/SEWER FINANCING
Gary reviewed the debt service for the water and sewer
system. There are currently three years of bond payments in
the reserves, even if there were absolutely no new homes or
businesses built. This reserve was created in part by past
growth and by the Council paying off one set of bonds early.
Currently growth is slightly ahead of last year when 80 new
housing units were built. Paul Donna of Northland Securities
said that in terms of refinancing that interest rates were
likely at a low point and were expected to increase in the
future. After discussion the Council asked Northland and
staff to prepare several scenarios for possible refinancing
to discuss at a future meeting.
FIRE SERVICES
Council reviewed many options for providing fire services.
The consensus was that Otsego would not likely have its own
department but would be part of a larger regional fire
department. There was discussion of how to finance the
necessary fire stations, equipment, training and personnel,
and how to go from the current situation to the future.
POLICE SERVICES
Council confirmed that the current system of contracting with
Wright County for police service is working well. There was
discussion of whether when some population size is reached it
might make sense to establish our own police department.
After discussion consensus was that such a time is well off
in the future.
Staff will prepare an updated spreadsheet combining all
scheduled debt and equipment replacement costs.
With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 8:15
p.m.
Michael Robertson
City Administrator