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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-03-2025 City Council Work Session Minutes CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula Councilmembers Connie Buesgens Rachel James Justice Spriggs Laurel Deneen City Manager Aaron Chirpich City Hall—Shared Vision Room, 3989 Central Ave NE Monday, March 03, 2025 6:00 PM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Mayor Márquez Simula at 6:05pm. Present: Mayor Márquez Simula, Councilmember Buesgens, Councilmember Deneen, Councilmember Spriggs. Also Present: Aaron Chirpich, City Manager; Mitch Forney, Community Development Director; Sara Ion, City Clerk; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director; Erik Johnston, Deputy Police Chief; Joe Kloiber, Finance Director; Matt Markham, Police Chief; Jackie Urbaniak, Police Sgt; Councilmember Rachel James (attending virtually as a resident). WORK SESSION ITEMS 1. Green Corps Member / Host Site Discussion. Community Development Director Mitch Forney gave an introduction for the Council regarding the Green Corps program and the work that has been completed by City Planner Andrew Boucher to move forward with the idea that was also brought thru the Sustainability Commission to become a host site for Green Corps. Overall, this program will be very beneficial to the residents of the City of Columbia Heights. Currently Staff do not need any additional guidance on moving forward with the process of becoming a host site. The Community Development Department will be submitting an application and overseeing the position if the City is chosen for the program. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she is glad that we are moving forward with the position. She also would like a follow-up email on the City’s status in becoming a Green Step 3 City, as we are currently at Step 2. She stated that her goal would be to see the City at Step 5 by the time her current term has been concluded. 2. Update from the Police Department on 2024 Calls for Service and Use of Force Statistics. Chief Markham introduced Deputy Chief Johnston to give a presentation on the updates on calls for service and use of force statistics. Deputy Chief Johnston stated that the department is using a new performance management system, and it has greatly expanded the data that can be collected and analyzed. Generally the data shows, there is an increase in calls for service, and there is not a specific day of the week with more calls. Low priority calls are animal and parking complaints, and high priority calls are crimes in progress. The use of force data indicates that the overall number of calls where force was used is down. Adults continue to be the largest segment of use of force calls. Most use of force City of Columbia Heights MINUTES March 03, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 2 cases had no injury sustained. Additionally, there were minimal officer injuries during use of force calls. Councilmember Buesgens inquired about further data on day of the week/call type. Deputy Chief Johnston will provide that follow-up information. Mayor Márquez Simula stated her concerns with businesses overserving patrons and that this data will help get better information for DWI enforcement within the City. 3. Review Enforcement Plan for Non-compliant Water Meters. Finance Director Kloiber introduced the topic to the Council and clarified the status within the City regarding the replacement of water meters. The City has made good progress in the replacement of the meters and assessing other concerns related to the pipes leading into residents homes. There are approximately 15% of homes that have not completed the water meter replacement and there is not a distinguishable pattern to the non-responders. Director Kloiber additionally clarified that outreach correspondence has been in all three languages, and currently there is a door knocking process to reach individual homes that are still not in compliance. The recommendation to gain compliance would be a minor refundable surcharge that will be applied to residents’ utility bills. Thie surcharge is proposed in a way that it would not be add to a late fee or special assessment charge. This is only to bring compliance and not generate fees. We are a long way away from needing to threaten to shut off the water, but there are a few residents who will not respond and do not respond to quarterly billing. Councilmember Buesgens would like further information on renter vs. owned home compliance with meter change outs. Public Works Director Hansen indicated that there has been considerable progress on the project. He also noted that the installation company was given both the landlord mailing and property address information. Most properties the contractor/city have made five attempts to contact and schedule the replacement. In advance of starting this project the City purchased the required number of meters, there was a slight shortage of an extender/end piece that is needed to tie in the new meter but that has been resolved. Councilmember Deneen inquired what the next steps would be for informing the residents of the issue. Director Kloiber confirmed the language that would be used is “may” not “will” related to the surcharge, and there would be emails and mailings to those who need to be contacted. Mayor Márquez Simula asked how the delay in a homeowner replacing their meter impacts the contractor and city in an increase in project costs. Director Kloiber informed council that the cost for replacing these meters to the residents/taxpayers will increase as the project winds down because the Public Works City of Columbia Heights MINUTES March 03, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 3 Department will need to transition into completing water meter replacements internally, as well as the maintenance and additional work that is required to use two systems for meter reads. He also stated, the accuracy will increase regarding the meter reading so there will be some residents concerned about their increased use of water on their upcoming bills. 4. Engineering / Public Works Reorganization. Public Works Director / City Engineer Kevin Hansen introduced the need for bifurcating the position he currently holds. Additionally, he shared the challenges in recruiting / hiring engineer technicians. With the departure of the Assistant City Engineer, it would be best to hire a City Engineer into a director’s level position to build the engineering department back to the staffing level that is needed. He has completed the job description and will begin advertising in two to three weeks. This will allow for on the job training prior to his retirement for the incoming City Engineer. City Manager Chirpich mentioned that there could be a hybrid option moving forward that could be considered related to there being contracted engineering services if there are still staffing concerns. Councilmember Buesgens stated that she is going to greatly miss Director Hansen. She also clarified that we currently need to hire three additional members to the Engineering team. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she will be sad to see Director Hansen retire, but grateful for the work he has done to move the department forward. Councilmember Spriggs and Councilmember Deneen also reiterated these thoughts. Consensus of the Council was to move forward with the proposed plans that were laid out in the council letter to bifurcate his position. 5. Rainbow Site and Medtronic Site Redevelopment Updates. City Manager Chirpich reviewed the updated information regarding the council requested revisions for the Medtronic Site. The developers have been advancing the plans based on the information they received at the February work session. Staff feel that the developers have progressed to a point where they will be able to bring a more fully developed plan to the Council for the April work session. Community Development Director Forney addressed some of the additional concerns that Council was concerned about related to the parking requirements for the project. Phase 1 and Phase 2 would meet the requirements needed to have 1.5 parking spaces per unit. The townhome code specifies two covered parking spaces, and this would be addressed by the developer working on that project. Councilmember Buesgens inquired about the progress in the developer’s partnership related to the market rate housing. Additionally, she hopes that they will be able to configure rain gardens/ storm water management in their plans. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES March 03, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 4 The council consensus was that Staff should move forward with Lincoln Avenue Properties towards the objective of getting this project moving. There will be lots of refinement that is needed, but overall things are trending in the right direction. City Manager Chirpich additionally provided information on the status of the former Rainbow Site. Currently the developer is looking to move forward with Phase One of the project, and the biggest impact has been funding for the project and interest rates. Alatus has been looking for partners and has creative options for working with a new group that has been operating in the Twin Cities metro area. The first impact would be that Phase One would likely be workforce rate housing. It is too early in the process to know what we can focus on related to the type of housing, however all the retailers except for the grocer are still lined up to move into the property when built. City Manager Chirpich stated that the City will need to drive commercial development to this site, as we need the tax base as well as the retail space to meet the standards of the city’s comp. plan. Additionally, the funding for Phase One is impacted by the parking structure that needs to be factored in. The site will still be developed, but there are some changes that maybe need to be made to adapt to the current financial environment. City Manager Chirpich stated that the City has bonded for this project, and the bonds will come due in February 2026. There is added pressure to move the project forward because of the bonds coming due. If Alatus defaults on the bonds the City will be liable. We have already refinanced the bonds once. There could be a small stop gap option, to issue general fund bonds. There is an upcoming meeting with Ehlers to discuss this option. City Manager Chirpich is hoping to bring another update to the Council at the April work session. Mayor Márquez Simula feels raised concerns about not have the underground parking at the site. Councilmember Spriggs would like to know if scaling back the underground car park would help get the project off the ground. Overall, the council consensus was to analyses the parking needs for the property and be flexible with the parking that would be part of Phase One. 6. Council Corner. Mayor Márquez Simula gave a recap of the BOWMAC training that occurred at the end of January 2025 and how impressed she and the City Manager were regarding the effort of the Public Safety team. The Council reviewed upcoming important events and confirmed Board and Commission Interviews on March 13 and March 14th. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES March 03, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 5 The Council reviewed upcoming proclamations for March and April. The Mayor Márquez Simula would like to make sure that a Ramadan and Tibet proclamation are added for the March 10th meeting. Councilmember Buesgens discussed her concerns related to Central Avenue development, and recent concerns related to federal funding. Councilmember Deneen discussed that she would like to move to City wide assessments instead of property specific assessments. She would like to have more information from staff related to a base analysis at an upcoming work session. Mayor Márquez Simula and Councilmember Spriggs indicate that they want to make sure that we continue to implement the tools learned at the Spano Leadership Workshop. City Manager Chirpich confirmed that the are steps in place to continue the work, and that Staff is prepared to move forward with the action points laid out as soon as the full recap is received from Mr. Spano. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Márquez Simula adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:25 pm. Respectfully Submitted, ______________________________________ Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary .