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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-02-2024 City Council Work Session Minutes CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula Councilmembers Connie Buesgens Kt Jacobs Rachel James Justice Spriggs City Manager Aaron Chirpich City Hall—Shared Vision Room, 3989 Central Ave NE Monday, December 02, 2024 6:00 PM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Mayor Márquez Simula at 6:10pm. Present: Mayor Márquez Simula; Councilmember Jacobs (left the meeting at approximately 8:15pm); Councilmember James, Absent: Councilmember Buesgens, Councilmember Spriggs Also Present: Andrew Bouche, City Planner; Aaron Chirpich, City Manager; Mitch Forney, Community Development Director; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director; Jesse Hauf, IT Director; Sara Ion, Sulmaan Khan, Assistant City Engineer, Ryan Smith, Building Official, Emille Voight, Community Development Coordinator; Jared Ackmann, Rueter Walton Development; Paul; Nick Turner, Alliant Engineering; Dale Gade, MNDOT WORK SESSION ITEMS 1. Updated Presentation from Reuter Walton on Their Proposed University Ave Project. Community Development Director Mitch Forney gave a brief introduction to the project that will come before the council for approval of bonding on Monday, December 9th. Jared Ackmann with Rueter Walton went over the high-level feedback that was received from the EDA Commission related to the proposed project. Based on the feedback they have changed the pitch of the roof as well as increased the playground area. Reuter Walton evaluated the parking available at the site and did not want to deviate from the amount currently available at The Col. Ackerman added that there will be some balconies added to the structure as well as solar panels. Additionally, as the project continues, they will want feedback from the City on the colors for building materials. After the bond resolution is approved, they will apply for the permits needed to start the project in July. Councilmember James commented that she was glad that there was a trail being added to the bus stop and appreciated that the presentation today included updates encompassed the updates the council asked for. Mayor Márquez Simula also indicated that she liked all the included updates. She would like the playground to be oriented towards smaller children and would also like to see the dog park concept added if the space is available. Community Development Director Forney added that there would be continued opportunities for input as the project moves forward. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES December 02, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 2 2. Presentation from MnDOT Consultant Regarding University Avenue Redesign. Assistant City Engineer Sulmaan Khan introduced Nick Turner and Dale Gade to lead the presentation on the updates that have been made to the University Avenue project based on the feedback from the Pel Study that recently concluded. He also confirmed that there will be two open houses in the next week related to the conceptual designs and getting feedback from the community. Mr. Turner noted that there has been a lot of feedback related to cars speeding on University as well as pedestrians not having enough time to cross at intersections. He further clarified that the statistics related to accidents also support these concerns, and that the number of fatal accidents that are occurring on University have a disproportionate impact on cyclists and pedestrians. Mr. Turner also noted that MNDOT is aware of the project that is occurring on Central Avenue, and that it would likely be best to wait to see what Hwy 65 / Central Avenue looks like as that project is completed and to see if traffic will shift to University Avenue. Councilmember Jacobs inquired about the potential for a roundabout related to the frontage road and how that would impact the businesses. Mayor Márquez Simula inquired about where the direct business access would be as well. Mr. Turner confirmed that this would be a difficult concern to address and that MNDOT has been speaking with the local businesses and actively listening to their feedback on the best way to handle access. Councilmember James inquired what the options are to cross University at street level instead of relying on a pedestrian bridge. Mr. Turner stated that there would be a lot of review needed to see if a pedestrian bridge is needed, but that there would always be options to cross at street level. He indicated that he was looking forward to continuing conversations with residents, council and city staff to move the project forward. 3. Time of Sale Program Update. Community Development Director Forney introduced Building Official Ryan Smith to give a recap of the program progress since it was initiated by Council several months ago. Smith stated that overall, the program is going well and that he expects to fine tune the inspection process with feedback from residents and observations from staff. Additionally, he added that Inspector Annette is doing an exceptional job with the program and has really hit the ground running. City Manager Chirpich stated that once there is a full year of data for the program, we will be better able to assess the impact on the affordability of properties in the City as well as increasing the quality of the housing stock. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES December 02, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 3 Councilmember James inquired what was happening with homes that were failing at the time of sale inspections. Building Official Smith indicated that the owner must complete all the repairs, and there are complaints filed with the Department of Labor if there are illegal components of “flipping” the home that have occurred. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she has heard a lot of good feedback about the program and about Annette. She looks forward to getting another update as the program progresses. 4. Discussion on Complete Streets Policy. City Planner Andrew Bouche introduced the item and said that he has been working on the Complete Streets Policy with the Sustainability Commission to create and refine the document before bringing it to the Council for review at a work session. Assistant City Engineer Khan addressed how the process has evolved and will continue to evolve as the policy is put into practice. City Planner Bouche explained that this policy would need funding to accomplish the goals and projects it has called out. He clarified that the policy is a good starting point for collaboration and focusing on the initiatives residents and staff can move forward. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she would like to see city wide assessments and not property specific assessments. Additionally, she would like to see us achieve step three on the Green Step City program. Assistant City Engineer Khan also elaborated on the potential for grant funding or assessments. He wants to be transparent about how things will be paid for, and there would be costs shared by both the City and residents. City Manager Chirpich stated that a lot of these principles have been addressed in the recent construction projects that have come before the council for approval. This policy would allow the city to be consistent in the continued execution of these pillars. 5. Gould Ave NE and Peters Place Parking Solutions. Community Development Coordinator Emilee Voight introduced the work that the Community Development Department has done to pull together the proposed plan that she is presenting to the Council regarding a tiered response to the Gould Avenue / Peters Place parking concerns. Coordinator Voight reviewed the staggered plan and the items that could be put into place prior to making a permit restricted parking district. Councilmember James inquired about when this would be implemented. Councilmember Jacobs instructed the residents in attendance at the work session who are impacted by these parking solutions to contact the City and Police when there are City of Columbia Heights MINUTES December 02, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 4 violations occurring in their neighborhood. Additionally, she inquired about the process for towing related to permitting. She wanted to know how soon the plan could be put into place and stated that “it better be taken care of by the first of January”. Coordinator Voight stated that the Council can implement this plan at the December 9th Council meeting and there would be signage and communication regarding the updates (flyers, door knocking, social media) that would follow council action to inform residents. She clarified that to create a permit parking zone there would need to be continued discussions related to an ordinance as there is a process that must be followed related to administrative procedure. Several residents asked to address the Council, they were given five minutes by Mayor Márquez Simula. Councilmember Jacobs left the meeting. Councilmember James and Mayor Márquez Simula stated that they would like to procced with the plan as outlined by the Community Development team. 6. Information on NineNorth Productions. IT Director Jesse Hauf stated that he has been working with the Communications Cordinator Will Rottler to bring this item to the Council for review. He gave an overview of the past and present status of the production of council meetings. He proposed terminating the services provided by Swag It as they were not meeting the standards needed by the city and moving to using Nine North Production. Director Hauf stated that the city is currently paying $38,000 for the services with Swag It, and we could reduce the costs for increased services by using NineNorth. Mayor Márquez Simula asked if NineNorth can also assist with the production value and if they can help residents use the microphone better in Council Chambers. Director Hauf confirmed that there is a lot of good things that are offered by NineNorth, including addressing these concerns. City Manager Chirpich thanked Director Hauf and Coordinator Rottler for all the work that they have done to bring this item to the Council. He further confirmed that there is enough money in the cable fund budget to cover the expenditure of the equipment that is needed, and also the potential savings can be used to increase the production of other meetings. 7. Discussion on Racial Covenants and Just Deeds. City Planner Boucher introduced the topic to the council, and detailed the resources that are available to help remove racial covenants from properties in Columbia Heights. Mayor Márquez Simula asked if we could address this as a mandatory requirement for selling a property. She also wanted to see if the county would waive the fee or if the city could assist with the payment and accessibility to the printed forms. Additionally, she City of Columbia Heights MINUTES December 02, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 5 would like to see staff collaborate with the City of Mounds View for recommendations for implementing the plan. Councilmember James would prefer to pass a resolution and that the language included removing racial covenants as mandatory. She also inquired about how we can partner with Hilltop to encourage / influence them to update their covenants as well. Boucher clarified that he would suggest the Council pass a resolution to encourage the process to occur, and potentially have it connected to the time of sale program that is already in place. Director Forney stated that he would partner with Mound View going forward and would investigate how to budget the approximately $9,000 needed to fund this project as a city. 8. Leadership Workshop and 2025 Strategic Planning. City Manager Chirpich presented this item to the council and highlighted what he hopes to accomplish in 2025 in partnership with the Council and City Leadership team. He would like to proceed with the Leadership Workshop for Council and Key Staff as well as an abbreviated vision / goal setting workshop to build on the initiatives that were established in 2023. Councilmember James stated that she is excited to move forward with the proposal. She expects to be away from January 23rd to January 26th but is otherwise available. Mayor Márquez Simula is looking forward to using this time to strengthen the city and improve services for residents. She is thankful that the incoming Councilmember Deneen onboarding is being facilitated by the City Manager. 9. Review Meeting Dates and Important Dates for 2025. City Manager Chirpich presented this item to the council and asked for feedback regarding any concerns or changes that were needed to the meeting schedule for 2025. Mayor Márquez Simula stated that she would like the council meeting that would fall on October 13 to be moved to October 14th, because of the Indigenous Peoples Day Holiday. 10. Council Corner. Updates from the council regarding schedules, information sharing and priorities for continued education. Councilmember James is looking forward to attending the National League of Cities meeting March 10 -12. Mayor Márquez Simula will be away on vacation at that time. Mayor Márquez Simula would like to propose that new councilmembers do not attend the national level conventions but rather local ones, or ones hosted by the MN League of Cities. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES December 02, 2024 City Council Work Session Page 6 11. Old Business. No old business. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 9:25pm Respectfully Submitted, ______________________________________ Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary