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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-03-2023 City Council Work Session MinutesCITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula Councilmembers Connie Buesgens KT Jacobs Rachel James Justice Spriggs City Manager Kelli Bourgeois Public Safety Bldg—Training Room, 825 41st Ave NE Tuesday, January 03, 2023 6:00 PM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Mayor Márquez Simula called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Present: Mayor Márquez Simula; Councilmember Buesgens (via zoom); Councilmember Jacobs; Councilmember Spriggs; Councilmember James Also Present: Lenny Austin, Chief of Police; Kelli Bourgeois, City Manager; Aaron Chirpich, Community Development Director; Kevin Hanson, Public Works Director; Sara Ion, City Clerk; Joe Kloiber, Finance Director; Dan O’ Brien, Assistant Fire Chief; Charlie Thompson, Fire Chief; Ben Sandell, Communications Coordinator WORK SESSION ITEMS 1.Hilltop Fire and EMS Contract. Fire Chief Thompson gave an update on the status of the contract with Hilltop for Fire and EMS Services. The contract has been approved by Hilltop and is a continuation of the existing contract. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she was thankful that we are integrating the services, codes, and standards for the community of Hilltop. Councilmember Jacobs inquired about Hilltop following the rental moratorium. Assistant Fire Chief O’Brien clarified that there are not many rental properties in Hilltop due to many of the properties being mobile homes. The land is rented but the mobile homes are owned. Property maintenance code still applies to the property, a mobile home is licensed more like a vehicle. Councilmember Buesgens inquired about the enforcement of the property maintenance code and enforcement of not renting mobile homes. Assistant Fire Chief O’Brien stated that there are procedures in place for this. 2.Update on 4224 2nd St NE Public Nuisance. Assistant Fire Chief Dan O’Brien presented this item for the Council. There are numerous items that are in violation of City Code at this property and the property has been declared a nuisance. There has not been construction completed on the garage at this time, and the permits have expired. The drainage pipe concern has been corrected as well as the fence City of Columbia Heights MINUTES January 03, 2023 City Council Work Session Page 2 concern. There are landscaping concerns in the city right away. Currently the property owner wishes to install a rain garden in the area that currently has a moat. He has been put in contact with the Mississippi Water Shed District to apply for a grant and has not followed through. Public Works has plans to act in the spring on the property if this has not been followed through on. Public Works Director Hansen stated that they have directed the homeowner away from making modifications to the property that would further jeopardize the right of way. They will prepare an agreement to proceed with the project in the spring. Mayor Márquez Simula clarified what the timeline was for completion of the project. Assistant Chief O’Brien indicated that if this project was not completed by June 1st the City would initiate planting the area. Councilmember Jacobs clarified with Mayor Marquez Simula the issue with neighbors and that there is a need for safety in the neighborhood. Director Hansen clarified that the property is over excavated. He indicated that the property owner will be having fill materials brought in with the planting bed material. As a reference he gave a comparison to the rain gardens at Prestemon Park. Councilmember Buesgens feels that this property has had issues for over 6 years. She clarified what the property owner has corrected some but not all the issues. Assistant Chief O’Brien stated that a quite a few things have been completed but things are contingent on planting the rain garden and that there will be more developments in the spring. 3. SACA Project Update. Community Development Director Chirpich gave an update and overview of the status of the SACA Project. SACA currently occupies a leased property of the City of Columbia Heights. There was not space for them to expand in the current space, and there was a partnership to develop space behind the public safety building at the affordable housing community. SACA has now come to the City with concerns that they are unable to raise the funds to move forward with the new space that was planned and zoned for their operations with the assistance of an LDA grant that was obtained. SACA has recently approached the city to indicate that they are not perusing a new industrial location. The new location that they are looking to purchase presents concerns related to zoning, there would need to be a change to the zoning code and return of funds from the LDA grant money. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES January 03, 2023 City Council Work Session Page 3 Councilmember Jacobs inquired the impact of returning the LDA Grant. She also inquired about the cost for SACA to lease the land. Director Chirpich stated that it is never a good thing to need to return grant money. There is not explicitly a penalty, but this could influence the way Columbia Heights Projects are seen. Director Chirpich stated that SACA has leased the property at no cost. Councilmember James stated that SACA is valuable service to the community, and she is concerned about the new location in terms of accessibility and wants to work together to find a resolution to this. Councilmember Spriggs agreed with what Councilmember James stated and was curious as to what the current budget shortfall is. Director Chirpich stated that he has heard that there was a million-dollar grant from the Federal Government, but he is not aware of the full funding picture at this time. Councilmember Buesgens asked if the SACA members were in attendance to speak to th e Council. She would like to know the process of returning the grant money. She would like to know if there is a purchase agreement signed, she wants to know the specifics about why they would want to use this property in an industrial area. We have gone out of our way to assist them, and she is not happy about the negative impact that this could have on future grants. Director Chirpich stated that the grant money has not been used, and they money would be returned. City Manager Bourgeois stated that SACA members are not in attendance to respond to questions. Mayor Márquez Simula Stated that she is concerned about how we move forward with the plans for this site if this is what is being done by SACA. 4. Consider Options for Required Refuse and Recycling Rate Increases. Finance Director Kloiber led the presentation on five-year utility fund planning. He gave an overview of the process for a 5-year rate plan. Overall, an effective date of 3/1/23 would use $150,000 of the Refuse Fund balance. We could also go with a 2/1/23 effective date but this does not allow for a 5-year rate projection. Having the March implementation would allow for a gradual implementation, with the mid-rate implementation step. Councilmember Buesgens asked what the increase was for the new hauler. Finance director Kloiber clarified that the average cost per item would go up approximately 38%. The cost for 2023 will be approximately $70 for a ninety-gallon container. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES January 03, 2023 City Council Work Session Page 4 Councilmember James would like to know what is occurring with Waste Management related to refunds. She appreciates the process that the city is using moving into the new rate increase. City Manager Bourgeois asked that residents continue to submit their notifications requesting refunds for completely missed pickups. Councilmember Jacobs is glad that Walters and Haulstar is being proactive with communication. 5. Board/Commission Appointments for 2023. City Manager Bourgeois went over the prospective Board and Commission appointments that she and the Mayor drafted for 2023. Chief Thompson also gave information about the Fire Protection Council and the Fire Relief Association. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she would like the assignments to switch after a year , except for the JLEC appointment. Councilmember Buesgens would like to make a record keeping statement that it was Councilmember Novitsky that was the School Board Liaison in 2022. She likes to rotate appointments and it’s fun to join a new commission or board. City Manager Bourgeois clarified that there will be more information to follow at Council Orientation related to expectations at meetings of Boards and Commissions. The Board and Commission appointments will be approved by resolution at the next Council meeting. 6. Youth Commission Membership Termination. Communications Coordinator Ben Sandell led the presentation about the removal of Youth Commission Members Alayna Novitsky. She has not responded to any reminders or requests to attend meetings since the initial meeting of the commission in 2022. The Youth Commission voted on December 14th for her removal and asked that the Council approve the removal of this member of the Youth Commission at the next Council meeting. Councilmember Jacobs clarified that this will be on the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she was sad to see any members go. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that the commission had a good discussion about how to handle the situation. 7. Visioning/Goal Setting Session. City Manager Bourgeois spoke about the last visioning and goal setting session that was held. She would like to start from square one with this council, and conduct a paper survey City of Columbia Heights MINUTES January 03, 2023 City Council Work Session Page 5 and two sessions with Phil. She would like to conduct the sessions as soon as possible. She would like to set the dates in February from 2-5pm. Council confirmed unanimously that they would like to participate in the process. City Manager Bourgeois will sign the contract for $3100 and confirm the dates of February 9th and 16th. 8. Native American Land Acknowledgement on Council Agenda. Mayor Márquez Simula led the discussion about adding a Native American Land Acknowledgement to the Council Agenda. She would like to reference this at the beginning of the City Council meetings similar to what the Ramsey County does. She would like this printed on the agenda. Councilmember James is very in favor of this and likes that it would be front and center with the pledge and mission statement. Councilmember Jacobs asked if this is something that is done by Anoka County. She would feel more comfortable if this was done by the County. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she spoke with a member of the Native American Community. She thought that something that would be more meaningful would be to get involved in the project at the school. She feels that it would be better to read this statement on special occasions and we should not be reading this just to make ourselves feel better rather than to truly address the issue. Mayor Márquez Simula would like to make sure that we participate with the school district on this matter. Councilmember Spriggs stated that he would like to see some additional outreach to the Native American Community. He thinks that we could be leaders in Anoka County on this issue. City Manager Bourgeois clarified that the Mayor Márquez Simula will be bringing a draft statement back to the Council during a work session. 9. Council Agenda Community Forum Discussion. City Manager Bourgeois led the discussion of updating the language relating to introducing the Community Forum. What she is most concerned about is clarifying addressing items that have already been addressed on the agenda , she is especially concerned about when there is a public hearing on an item and there is a legal record created related to that item. She believes this concern is manageable with clarifying that addressing an item that has already occurred on the agenda, it just cannot be related to a public hearing. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES January 03, 2023 City Council Work Session Page 6 Mayor Márquez Simula stated that as a community member she is concerned about making sure everyone’s voices are heard. City Manager Bourgeois clarified the need for a legal record related to land use decisions, license revocations, public hearings, and procedural due process. Councilmember Jacobs stated that she wants consistency. She wants participation at public hearings. She would prefer to keep the language as is, because it is hard to stop someone from commenting about a previous public hearing. Councilmember James would like to see changes made in the language. She would like people to be able to make comments as they see fit. She would also like to see the instructions tailored down so people focus on the salient instructions. She is also ok with community members addressing a councilmember directly if they do not like / or do like how a Councilmember has voted. City Manager Bourgeois stated that she would like to make sure we keep this at a council body level for safety reasons. She believes that the word respectful still needs to stay in the statement. She will work on updating the language to “items that have not had a public hearing.” Mayor Márquez Simula asked if she needed to read the entire statement. She inquired about rewording the statement and making it easier to read. She would also like to have it clarified in the agenda that this is the time to address the Council on this specific agenda item related to the Public Hearing. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she would like to have some of the wording updated. She feels that the word respect needs to remain because people do need to be reminded. Councilmember Spriggs also inquired about wording related to additional comments to closing the public hearing. 10. Council Attendance at Conferences. City Manager Bourgeois gave the Council information about attending upcoming conferences. She stated that the city included two councilmembers attending the national conferences in the 2023 budget. There is information in the City Council Handbook for the process for attending these meetings, and the City Clerk can assist. Councilmember Jacobs clarified her upcoming attendance at LMC events. Councilmember Buesgens would like to budget for the entire Council to attend the National Conference in the future. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES January 03, 2023 City Council Work Session Page 7 11. Council Corner / January Schedule. City Manager Bourgeois stated that there has been a request for a Council Corner concept for information discussions of books, articles and informal topics of discussion and to make sure that we are honoring open meeting laws we want to make sure that we are posting the time and location for these meetings. Mayor Márquez Simula clarified that the work sessions are driven by what the Council needs to discuss with Staff, and she would like to have an opportunity to discuss informal informational topics with the group. The meeting will be held on the fourth Wednesday of the month in the Conference room at City Hall. The meeting will be posted for the public, and there will be times when Staff will be invited to attend on a potential topic. Councilmember Buesgens asked if public input would be allowed. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that it would be conditional. Councilmember Jacobs stated that she is worried about discussing topics informally. She is not comfortable with this. She was also concerned that she was not approached previously about this idea if the other Councilmembers were asked if they wanted this. City Manager Bourgeois stated that she plans on attending the meetings as well and will assist in coordinating ideas at Work Sessions for Staff input as well if needed. Councilmember Buesgens clarified that the items for discussion should be sent to the City Manager. Clerk Ion clarified if Zoom would be offered for the meeting. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she would like to have the option with the least amount of staff work possible. Councilmember Spriggs would like to have the ability of community members to speak. Councilmember James stated that she wants to be mindful of the standa rd that is set. City Manager Bourgeois also reviewed the Comprehensive Schedule that she created for the Council that will be available on H Net. She will also keep everyone updated on her vacation dates as well as Department Head vacation dates. Clerk Ion also confirmed with the Council that there is a January 10th Public Improvement Meeting and January 23rd Council Photos prior to the start of the meeting. 12. Designation of Legal Newspaper for 2023. Clerk Ion presented the minor price increases in legal publishing for 2023 with Life City of Columbia Heights MINUTES January 03, 2023 City Council Work Session Page 8 Newspaper. Mayor Márquez Simula inquired if there was a bid submitted from the Northeaster. Clerk Ion stated that there was not, but that she could get one. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that it was not needed. Council confirmed that they were comfortable moving forward with the price increase and having the item on the upcoming agenda. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 9:18 pm. Respectfully Submitted, ______________________________________ Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary