The Wyoming City Council tabled a decision on an agreement with BKV Group to complete a comprehensive plan to study all city facilities and anticipated long-range space utilization. The cost is not to exceed $9,700.
In June 2012, the firm completed a feasibility study that considered the existing space in the city hall and police department and the space configuration at the Riverbank building the city was considering for purchase. However, it did not include public works.
Managing architect Bruce Schwartzman explained the proposal is to include codes, accessibility and future staffing. The objective is to provide the city with a comprehensive feasibility study that will serve as a well-defined road map for the long-range planning of the city.
Even if no immediate building project is anticipated, the comprehensive plan will be in place as a reference for any renovation, expansion and location of any new construction. City Administrator Craig Mattson emphasized the long-range citywide planning.
Park renamed
Council members approved 4-1 the renaming of Neil Gatzow Park back to its original name of Railroad Park. The recommendation was made by the city’s park board. The park is located on the northwest corner of Viking Boulevard and Highway 61.
Linda Yeager, the lone no vote, observed that the same people who recommend a name change now want to change the name back. She said she believes that although name changes may be allowed, they are discouraged. Council Member Roger Elmore, the council liaison for the Park Board, said the board had not dealt with name changes before.
Other council news
The council authorized the first payment, $189,476, to Dresel Contracting Inc. for work on the in the Greenway Avenue improvement project.
The council scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, Sept. 16, to finale Phase II of the city’s well head protection plan. Engineer Mark Erichson said the 60-day comment period is completed.
Council members authorized the transfer of $12,000 from the ordinance fund to the city’s general fund for part-time wages in the police department. There have been some unexpected and unusual leave requests related to medical and family emergencies in the department. Only $1,388 remained in the department budget for part-time wages through the end of 2014. The transfer comes from the revenue from citations and the funds are undesignated.
The council also discussed the Wyoming Fire Department’ implementation of a duty crew system for medical responses, which began this month. On a rotating schedule, four-man on-call teams of responders began responding to medical emergencies. Scheduling ensures there are enough responders to a medical emergency while minimizing an over-response to the situation. A side benefit to the program is keeping costs down. Public Safety Director Paul Hoppe said the goal is to appropriately match the resource response to each call’s level of need.
Based on Hoppe’s recommendation, the City Council authorized the city to participate in a data sharing agreement with Chisago County and the North Branch Police Departments. In his report, Hoppe said law enforcement agencies in Chisago County want to expand records management reporting by adding N-Dex, an FBI data exchange server; Comprehensive Incident-Based Reporting Systems, which allows for exchange of information state-wide; and BAIR analytics, a public Web-based search engine.