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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-04-2025 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, August 04, 2025 6:00 PM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Mayor Márquez Simula at 6:04pm. Present: Mayor Márquez Simula, Councilmember Buesgens, Councilmember Deneen, Councilmember James, Councilmember Spriggs. Also Present: Aaron Chirpich, City Manager; Mitch Forney, Community Development Director; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director; Jesse Hauf, IT Director; Sara Ion, City Clerk; Joe Kloiber, Finance Director; Matt Markham, Police Chief; Andy Splinter, Assistant Finance Director; Rochelle Widmer, City Engineer; Emilie Voight, Community Development Coordinator; Rebecca Petersen, Managing Director, Redpath; Emily Anderson and Molly Schmidtke of Association for Nonsmokers Minnesota. WORK SESSION ITEMS 1. Group Ice Breaker. Mayor Márquez Simula led an ice breaker, asking the group what they looked forward to doing prior to the end of summer. 2. Presentation by Independent Auditor, Regarding Audit of the 2024 Financial Statements. Finance Director Joe Kloiber introduced the topic as well as Independent Auditor Rebecca Petersen of Redpath who was in attendance to present audit results. Ms. Petersen gave an overview of the audit process, and informed the council there was a clean and unmodified audit result for 2024. The council had no questions for Ms. Petersen and thanked her for the presentation. 3. Tobacco Ordinance Update Discussion and Presentation by ANSR-MN. Community Development Coordinator Emilie Voight introduced the item as well as Emily Anderson and Molly Schmidtke of the MN Association for Nonsmokers (ANSR-MN) to give a presentation regarding concerns related to tobacco use in the community. At the conclusion of the presentation staff surveyed council about what if any city code updates they would like to see regarding tobacco sales based on the information provided by ANSR-MN. The consensus of the council was that they would like to proceed with amendments to city code and directed staff to work with ANSR-MN related to setting minimum prices as well as restrictions to the sale of flavored tobacco and coupon use. The ANSR-MN representatives City of Columbia Heights MINUTES August 04, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 2 noted that they had prepared information recently for the City of Minneapolis and St. Anthony about minimum prices being approximately $15 per pack of cigarettes and $25 per vape. Additionally, the council indicated that they would like ANSR and staff to reach out to the City of Hilltop regarding proposed restrictions as the Columbia Heights Police Department assists with enforcement. Coordinator Voight informed council that the process for the updates to the ordinance will occur per their direction and there would be notification to all tobacco retailers in the city about the changes thirty days prior to the first reading of the ordinance. 4. Street Rehabilitation Program: Cost Participation Policy. Public Works Director Kevin Hansen introduced the topic in partnership with Finance Director Kloiber and gave some background on the history of how the street rehab process was initiated to complete needed repairs in the city on a rotating 7-year basis. Additionally, adding information that currently the city / property owner share the cost of the repairs via an assessment process for the portion owed by the property owner. This process was implemented by developing an ongoing maintenance plan for the streets within the City with further supplementation by State of Minnesota funds for repair to the main state aid routes. During recent assessment hearings council has indicated to staff that several metro cities are moving away from this model and they would like information about no longer utilizing an assessment process for street rehabilitation. Finance Director Kloiber gave some preliminary information related to what the 2026 levy would look like based on the funding that is needed to implement a new strategy moving away from assessments. He also informed the council about what the impact would be if utilizing the revolving fund balance to supplement larger projects when needed. He suggested keeping an eye on when a project year may be out of the norm and require additional increases to the levy. Councilmember Buesgens confirmed that we are paying the contractor upfront for all work completed. Additionally, she clarified that the proposed tax increases do not cover paying for new sidewalks and trails. Additionally, she confirmed that alleys have always been assessment projects and will continue to be completed via this model. The Council consensus was to move forward with staff further developing this new program for the Council’s final review prior to implementation. The Council also indicated that they would like to have nontaxable properties contributing to the overall funds for these projects. They would also like talking points related to the median property tax increases that will occur so they can better explain the change to residents. Staff recommend that the 2026 budget be drafted with the proposed increased levy that would be used for the Truth in Taxation Statement that is mailed to properties prior to the public hearing where the tax increase occurs. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES August 04, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 3 5. Update re Regulations for Residency of Predatory Offenders. Police Chief Matt Markham introduced the topic and Deputy Chief Erik Johnston gave a review of the current mapping for where predatory offenders can reside. The current ordinance allows predatory offenders to reside outside of a 2000ft area from schools, daycares, parks, etc. The Police Department consulted with the City Attorney, and for enforceability of the ordinance the City Attorney recommended reducing the range from 2000ft to 1500ft. This change impacts very little on the map of where a predatory offender can reside but will allow the City to have a more enforceable ordinance. Councilmember Deneen inquired if current predatory offenders would be grandfathered in with the refocused enforcement of this ordinance. Councilmember James inquired if there have been issues with registered offenders in the community. Chief Markham indicated that overall, there are 75 to 80 offenders in Columbia Heights at any given time, but a very small number of these offenders are level three predatory offenders. The predatory offenders are closely monitored by law enforcement at a state, county and city level. The current level three offenders will be allowed to stay at their locations that are monitored by law enforcement, but the Department of Corrections has been advised that there will be enforcement of the existing ordinance to reduce other predatory offenders from living in the community. Consensus from the council was to move forward with amending the current ordinance to reflect a change from 2000ft to 1500ft of where children congregate to create a more legally robust ordinance for the Police Department to enforce. 6. Cannabis Business Licensing Update. Community Development Director Mitch Forney gave a brief overview of the status of cannabis licensing in the State of Minnesota as well as Columbia Heights. Based on the current process that has been implemented by the State of MN the Community Development team has concluded that the best time to address City level licensing is when State of MN Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is completing their portion of the licensing process. This would mean that the OCM is reaching out to the City to confirm that the licensee follows the city process prior to final approval. Director Forney stated that staff can sympathize with the issues that local businesses are facing related to licensing and understand that potentially moving to a lottery system in the future may be a potential way to further City-based licensing. However, there are businesses that are close to being able to complete the process and ultimately changing to a lottery system for City licensing would not allow for those currently following the Cities registration process to be guaranteed a continued pathway forward. If at some point in the next several months staff can determine that this process is not attainable for anyone, then policy could shift focus to a lottery system for granting licenses. Director Forney further clarified that dispensaries are going to be very few and far between because the micro and mezo cannabis businesses are going to be getting the licenses first. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES August 04, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 4 Council consensus was to maintain the licensing process as it is, and in the future potentially move to implementing a lottery system. Additionally, the council wants to make sure that signage and marketing related to cannabis retailers is reviewed by the Planning Commission prior to business implementation and that these businesses are adult focused with their advertising. 7. August Council Corner Items. The council reviewed the August calendar, notified each other of upcoming events and discussed proclamations for upcoming meetings. Charter Commission Requested Changes. Mayor Márquez Simula introduced the topic of changes to the City Charter that she would like to propose to the Charter Commission. She would like the council’s support for the commission to review and potentially amend the City Charter specific to the office of the mayor in two ways: moving from a 2-year term to a 4 year term after 2028, as well as removing oversight of the police department. She added that she finds it important that the office of the mayor would still have a direct line of communication to the police chief, but not direct oversight. Additionally, she would like to make sure that the process of hiring a police chief for the city is a process with community input. She has spoken with the Charter Commission President about bringing the item to the commission to review after they complete their work on sections of the charter related to the power of recalls of elected officials and vacancies on the council. Council consensus was that they wanted to move forward with bringing the topic to the charter commission. Additionally, they would like to have a joint session of the council and charter commission to review updates related to the language in the charter that is out of date. Municipal Grocery Store Concept. Mayor Márquez Simula introduced the idea to the council about having staff prepare information related to a municipal grocery store. The consensus of the council was that this was something they would like more information on long term, but there were concerns related to profitability as well as potentially leasing space to a grocer instead of being owned by the municipality. Cultural Placemaking. Mayor Márquez Simula introduced the idea of cultural placemaking related to development projects occurring in the City. She would like to see the City engaging the people who are invested in the upcoming Sullivan Lake and Central Avenue development projects. The consensus of the council was to move forward with staff preparing more information on this type of engagement when there are funds set aside in the development project for City of Columbia Heights MINUTES August 04, 2025 City Council Work Session Page 5 this type of engagement work, and when there are clear guidelines related to what was within the scope of oversight / control by the City. At the conclusion of the Council Corner portion of the meeting, IT Director Jesse Hauf provided an update on action items that the council can take to increase data security given the recent cyber- attacks that have occurred in nearby communities. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Márquez Simula adjourned the meeting at approximately 9:55pm Respectfully Submitted, ______________________________________ Sara Ion, City Clerk/Council Secretary