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Home My WebLink About02-05-2024 City Council Work Session Minutes CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula Councilmembers Connie Buesgens Kt Jacobs Rachel James Justice Spriggs Interim City Manager Kevin Hansen City Hall—Shared Vision Room, 3989 Central Ave NE Monday, February 05, 2024 6:00 PM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The following are the minutes for the Work Session Meeting of the City Council held at 6:00 pm on Monday, February 5, 2024, in the Shared Vision Room, City Hall, 3989 Central Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm. Present: Mayor Márquez Simula; Councilmember Buesgens; Councilmember Jacobs; Councilmember James, Councilmember Spriggs Also Present: Lenny Austin, Chief of Police; Andrew Bouche, City Planner; Aaron Chirpich, Assistant City Manager / Community Development Director; Mitch Forney, Community Development Coordinator; Kevin Hansen, Interim City Manager; Joseph Kloiber, Finance Director; Sara Ion, City Clerk; Jerry Auge, Anoka County; Jack Forslund Anoka County; Brian Nemeth , Bolton and Menk; Dirk Schmitz, Resident; Laurel Deneen, Resident; Jeffrey Alvarez Berger, Resident: Antonia Alvarez, Resident; Jack Israelson, Resident (via Teams); Ed Higgins, Resident (via Teams). WORK SESSION ITEMS 1. Updates From Anoka County on 40th Avenue: Central to Main. Goals of the project were reviewed by the Consultant from Bolton and Menk Brian Nemeth who was tasked with conducting the study. He reviewed the overall scope of the research project and the volume of vehicles traveling in the areas studied. Several concepts were presented related to feedback given during the first informational meeting. Four different concepts based on community feedback were reviewed with the council. Overall the council was in support of presenting three concepts to the residents for review at the second feedback meeting in March Councilmember Spriggs stated that he has a preference for accommodating pedestrians in the area, and feels that the destination should be developed to encourage people to walk to the businesses. Additionally, he would like to see the speed limit reduced. Councilmember Jacobs stated that the City needs to think about parking for the business corridor and making this a destination. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES February 05, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 2 Councilmember Buesgens would like to see a focus on making this a “main street” feel. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she likes that there is continuity of traffic calming all the way to Main Street where the community food garden is, and where SACA is located because people will need to walk from University Avenue to the location. Interim City Manager Hansen highlighted that the lanes cannot be narrowed too far, because we hope that this project will be eligible for state funding. He additionally clarified that it would be best to do this project in the stages starting in 2025 and concluding in 2027. He asked that any additional feedback from the council is given to him promptly as the next public meeting is scheduled for March 7, 2024 2. Liquor Store 3 Redesign Process as Impacted by Potential Cannabis Dispensary. Finance Director Kloiber stated that he wanted to advise the council of potential roadblocks related to having a municipal dispensary in the City. He advised that there will be some regulatory hurdles related to the updated State Statutes on this topic. The main point of concern is preference and priority being given to social equity applicants. A municipality does not qualify for many of the prerequisites. The cannabis management board does not want anything to undermine the ability for social equity applicants in their pursuit of a license. Mayor Márquez Simula inquired if there could be a mix of municipal and private dispensaries located in the City. Director Kloiber confirmed that this was the case. Councilmember Buesgens also raised concerns related to the banking aspect, and who we would utilize for processing sales. Director Kloiber reviewed options related to renting the renovated space to an equity licensed individual. He elaborated that a joint venture can be a very cloudy partnership between a municipality and a private venture. If needed there could be very favorable terms on the lease to recover the cost of the build out in the terms of the lease. He also discussed an alternate option that allows for a municipal dispensary alongside other dispensaries with zoning conditions that would be in line with tobacco, and other adult use items. These things would need to be discussed with the Community Development Department for further clarification. Councilmember Jacobs stated that she attended the virtual presentation that was given by the State, and it helped her understand who has priority to have licensing. She stated that she is not in favor of a municipal dispensary. She does not want to impede the improvements to the liquor store but would be more in favor of having this space available to a priority applicant to lease. Director Kloiber noted that a further layer of concern for a municipal dispensary is that that the Cities insurance provider LMC will not provide insurance coverage on a municipal dispensary due to the federal laws, and because there are concerns with the style of co op City of Columbia Heights MINUTES February 05, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 3 insurance that is provided. He also reviewed that banking and credit card processing is an additional hurdle. Assistant City Manager / Community Development Director Chirpich stated that new banking options are expected to develop. Mayor Márquez Simula inquired about what direction Director Kloiber would like to have from the Council. Director Kloiber stated that he wanted to discuss the current environment that we are in. He would like to know if there should be a fourth or fifth drawing from the architect regarding splitting the space into two uses. Councilmember Buesgens wanted to know the safety of the areas with dispensaries. She is very concerned about safety and is concerned that there is bias in the requirements. She also inquired about how MN laws align with CO and CA. She further clarified that her concerns about the safety of nearby businesses and residents that are near the business are related to the high volume of cash transactions. Councilmember James acknowledged that there will likely be two licenses in the City. She would like to move forward with the separate space being designed. Mayor Márquez Simula requested that the space be left as a blank slate. Overall, the council consensus was to move forward with an additional design from the architect. 3. Affordable Housing Sales Tax Discussion. Community Development Director / Assistant City Manager Chirpich gave an overview of the program and clarified that during the 2023 legislative session the Minnesota legislature passed an omnibus housing finance bill (HF2335/SF 2566). The bill earmarked millions of dollars for a variety of agencies and programs dedicated to promoting housing development and preservation. Article 5 of the bill established the metropolitan region sales and use tax. This tax required the Metropolitan Council to impose a metro wide sales tax of 0.25% on sales made in the metropolitan counties or to a destination in the metropolitan counties. Funds received from the tax are distributed in the following manner: 25% to the state’s rental assistance program, 25% to the metropolitan city aid account, and 50% to the metropolitan county aid account. The metropolitan city account disburses local affordable housing aid to cities via distribution factors. Calculations made as of June 30th, 2023, expect Columbia Heights to receive $260,089 annually from the new tax. This estimate is preliminary, and the City will not know how much to expect until the funds are released in June or July. These funds must be used for affordable housing initiatives or projects and must qualify under the law. “Article 5, section 3, subd. 4 defines qualifying projects to include emergency rental assistance for households earning less than 80% of area median income, financial support to nonprofit housing City of Columbia Heights MINUTES February 05, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 4 providers, construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, permanent financing, interest rate reduction, refinancing, and gap financing of housing. Homeownership projects are limited to units affordable to those at 115% of greater of state or area median income and 80% of greater area of greater of state or area median income for rental housing projects.” (LMC 2023 Legislative Session Summary) State law also establishes that all funds must be spent on qualifying projects by December 31 of the third year after the aid was received. This requirement can be bypassed if the City can prove that by no fault of its own it could not expend all the funds, and the City places the received funds into a housing trust fund. Funds placed in trust can then be used on qualified projects after the three-year term limit. In speaking with other cities and our public finance consultants at Ehlers, all agree that the first step in responding to the new law is to establish a housing trust fund. The council consensus was to move forward with establishing a fund via ordinance. Chirpich also clarified that Community Development Staff have been working with the staff from CEE to act as a default partner because staff is not prepared to administer grant programs. He would like the Council’s opinion on the type of loans that should be offered. A requirement for anything that the City does will have income restrictions. Chirpich would like recommendations on three programs that council would like staff to focus on. Councilmember Buesgens would like a focus on fourplexes and duplexes to be grant eligible with restrictions. She would also like to see there be a land trust in addition to a program for Senior Citizen Co Op. Community Development Coordinator Mitch Forney clarified that a land trust and Senior Citizen Co Op would be something that would not be managed at a City level. There are covenants that can be built in, and scheduled compliance checks. He clarified that there is a matching component from the State for money placed in this fund. Councilmember James would not like to focus on down payment assistance, and for more of a focus on owner occupied rehabilitations. Councilmember Jacobs would like to see the focus on owner occupied rehabilitations. Mayor Márquez Simula would like to see a focus on grants available to repairs that are required due to inspections or emergency repairs for individual homeowners. Chirpich stated that he will work on getting the fund established and come to the council with ideas for the grant programs. 4. Updates On SS4A and SRTS. Interim City Manager Hansen led an overview of some of the updates to the SS4A program. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES February 05, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 5 He would like to get feedback from the Council related to items that are of particular concern. He stated that in the effort of time management tonight, he will need to have follow-up priorities from the council by the end of the week. Staff is 95% complete with the RFP and want specific details from council to complete the document. Councilmember Spriggs asked about the component of public feedback. Hansen discussed that there will be community feedback that is mandated, and they will work on a full survey to engage the community not just at a single meeting. 5. Update on 2023 Strategic Planning / Goal Setting Report. Interim City Manager Hansen reviewed the goals that were established in 2023, and how the goals are being communicated to residents. He would propose that we update the information on the Council section of the website to show the community how we are achieving our goals. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she would like to see the branding changed for the Liquor Store to reflect that it is a City Owned business. She wants to communicate that this is an important part of the city’s tax base. Additionally, she would like an update on DEI. Councilmember James inquired about the status of the Art Commission. She understands that there are many focuses at the moment. Hansen stated that he would like to explore some overall funding opportunities. He also clarified that in August 2023 he and Chirpich gave an update on these goals that were focused on DEI. Councilmember Spriggs is concerned that the council will not like the eventual outcome of the PEL Study. Additionally there was an overall conversation about using the electronic newsletter to be a continued focus of communicating with residents. Overall, the Council was impressed with the achievements that staff has made, and that there is a lot of other achievements that are also not celebrated / reviewed in this recap. 6. University Service Drive: ROW and Municipal Boundary. Director Hansen inquired about where the municipal line could / should be move to the related to university at 45th. Addressing these boundaries with Fridley would allow for the City to apply for grants to help update the service road. Overall Councils preference was to update the boundary in the same way that the shared boundaries at 37th and 59th are addressed. 7. 2024 Board and Commission Application Period and Interviews for Openings. The council confirmed that they would like to procced with interviews for the Board and City of Columbia Heights MINUTES February 05, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 6 Commission applicants on March 8th and 11th. Council also confirmed that they would like to utilize the application and questions that were analyzed in 2023 for the 2024 application cycle. 8. Old Business. Interim City Manager Hansen updated the Council on items needing further resolution from the January Work Session: the parking area at City Hall has been cleaned and will be maintained accordingly and all the EV Chargers are in service. He also stated that he would ideally like to keep the Community Forum updates in the CM report. He would like to see department and staff achievements featured in the electronic newsletter. Additionally, Hansen discussed that the current plan is for Scott Lepak of BGS to continue in the capacity of City Attorney. 9. Council Corner. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she was concerned with a report from a resident about activity at McKenna Park. Additionally, she brought up concerns that recreation is not renting park pavilions to the public. The interim City Manager Hansen clarified that overall he is glad that the parks are being used and it is hard to address specific issues that are occurring if they are not reported immediately to the police department. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she would like explore an adopt a pavilion program to keep the park spaces clean. Councilmember James stated that at the next meeting she would like the Council to discuss the home line information that was sent to Council in January. The council agreed to discuss the items at the next work session meeting. Councilmember Spriggs gave a brief update on meetings for the Legends Residents. Mayor Márquez Simula passed around the photo roll call of the police department members. She thanked Captain Austin for creating the document. Mayor Márquez Simula proposed a resolution to the council along with draft resolution language that was given to the council members for review. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she wanted to prepare the resolution for a cease fire for the upcoming February 12th meeting. She requested that the council prepare the resolution by meeting in small groups until it was refined enough for Monday, February 12 th. Councilmember Jacobs does not want to stand in favor of one side and be seen as not supporting the other. She feels that working with community groups is the best way to connect with residents. She stated her concern that the fallout related to this issue could be greater than what the Council is dealing with now. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES February 05, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 7 Councilmember Buesgens stated that she was conflicted on the topic. Councilmember Spriggs and James stated that they were in favor of the resolution. Additionally, Mayor Márquez Simula mentioned that she is working with a consultant from Baker Tilly on the Police Chief search, as he has given his resignation. She stated that this will be an internal candidate focus. There will be outreach to council, members of the MAC and faith community related to the interview process. Additionally, there will be anonymity in the process so there is no preference given to any candidate. She stated that the cost for the contract will be approximately $10,000 and the goal is to have the decision made one week prior to the announcement of the new Police Chief on April 29th. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Márquez Simula adjourned the meeting at 9:37pm. Respectfully Submitted, ______________________________________ Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary CSAH 2 Corridor Study City Council Workshop Monday February 5, 2024 6 PM Study Goals •Understand traffic demands and capacity needs •Identify transportation and safety improvements •Develop a preferred concept for the corridor and intersections •Leverage potential funding for implementation •Review turnback potential •Develop a plan for implementation Daily Traffic Volumes and Forecasts •Reviewed historical counts and daily trends (blue dots) •Collected counts in 2023 (orange dot) •Developed forecast for 2040 (red dot) Crash Summary Intersection Safety Analysis Total Crash Rate Total Crashes (5 Years) Traffic ControlIntersection Critical Index Critical Rate Statewide AverageObserved 0.231.030.270.261AWSCMain Street 0.540.770.510.4122SignalUniversity Avenue 0.400.450.130.192TWSC4th Street NE 0.200.450.130.091TWSC5th Street NE 0.750.710.270.536AWSCJefferson Street 0.140.740.270.101AWSCJackson Street 0.210.470.130.101TWSCVan Buren Street 0.520.770.510.4022SignalCentral Avenue Segment Safety Analysis Total Crash Rate Total Crashes (5 Years) Segment Length (Mi.) Segment Critical Index Critical Rate Statewide AverageObserved 0.422.530.381.0610.22Main Street to University Avenue 3.701.310.374.85180.37University Avenue to Jefferson Street 1.991.290.372.57100.36Jefferson Street to Central Avenue Purpose and Need •Primary Needs •Vehicle Safety •Corridor operating outside of the normal range •Infrastructure Conditions •Bituminous surface deterioration •Walkability/Bikeability •Numerous destinations including parks, school, churches, daycare center, community center, businesses •40th Street – part of the Primary City Loop Trail Purpose and Need •Secondary Need •Vehicle Mobility •Corridor operations/capacity •Major collector (Main to University) – 2,400 vpd •Capacity (~11,000 vpd) •Minor arterial (University to Central) – 5,800 vpd •Capacity (~20,000 vpd) •Intersection operations •No issues or concerns on corridor Warrant Analysis MnMUTCD warrant analysis – Existing All-way Stop Controlled (AWSC) intersections in the study area. •CSAH 2/Main Street •CSAH 2/Jefferson St •CSAH 2/Jackson Street AWSC is not warranted at any of the above intersections. •Major and minor approach volumes are both too low at Main Street •Minor approach volumes are too low at Jefferson St and at Jackson St Open House #1 •Held November 2, 2023 •Presentation •Boards: •Goals •Existing data •Potential cross-sections •2, 3, or 4 lane roadway section •4 lane is existing, corridor stays as it is, no changes •All lane options include sidewalk on north side •2 and 3 lane options consider trail or bikeway with sidewalk on south side, 4 lane keeps sidewalk only •2 and 3 lane options consider bike lanes Corridor Cross-Section Options Corridor Cross-Section Options Engagement Response to Cross-Sections BikeWalkTrailBikewayParkingLanesTallyOption Lanesboth sidesboth sidesone-side432 191919191 292929292 111113 272727274 55555 222226 000007 191919198 141414149 1111110 42235607443195741117Total XXXPrimary XXXSecondary Roundabout Potential •Mini-roundabouts most appropriate given: •Right-of-way constraints •Low daily and peak hour volume •Low turning truck volume •Safety potential •LOS A expected with roundabouts where AWSC exists today Concept Layout Summary Main Street to University (Hwy 47) University (Hwy 47) to 6th Street Bike 2 3 4 none one-side both sides Lanes 1 X 3rd to University X 12.5 ft.X 2 X 3rd to University X 11 ft., 17 ft.X 3 X 3rd to University X 11 ft., 12 ft.X 4 X X 10 ft.X Concept Layout Lanes Bikeway Trail Parking Blvd Width Bike 2 3 4 none one-side both sides Lanes 1 X University to 4th X 7 ft.X 2 X University to 4th X 9 ft.X 3 X University to 4th X 8 ft.X 4 X University to 4th X 6 ft., 8 ft.X X Concept Layout Lanes Parking Bikeway Trail Blvd Width Concept Layout Summary 6th Street to Monroe Street Monroe Street to Central (Hwy 65) Bike 2 3 4 none one-side both sides Lanes 1 X X 7 ft.X 2 X X 12 ft.X 3 X X 8 ft.X 4 X X 6 ft.X X Concept Layouts 1-4: Roundabout at Jefferson Street Concept Layout Lanes Parking Bikeway Trail Blvd Width Bike 2 3 4 none one-side both sides Lanes 1 X Van Buren to Hwy 65 X 7 ft.X 2 X Jackson to 65 Van Buren to Hwy 65 X 9 ft.X 3 X Van Buren to Hwy 65 Jackson to Van Buren X 8 ft.X 4 X Van Buren to Hwy 65 X 4 ft. paved X X Concept Layout 2: Roundabout at Jackson Street Concept Layout Lanes Parking Blvd Width Bikeway Trail Upcoming Schedule •Alternatives Evaluation – November/December 2023 •Concept Layout Development – December 2023 •Refine Concepts – January 2023 •Determine Final Concept – February 2024 •Open House #2 – March 2024 •Final Concept Refinement – March/April 2024 •Final Concept Approved – April 2024