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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMIN_8_10_16A. 1l C. CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Regular Meeting of the City Council City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue MINUTES August 10, 2016 at 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: 7:OOpm ROLL CALL: LINDSTROM X HARRIS _X_ BROWN THUNDER X FISCHER X GUSTAFSON X STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH_X_ FREIHAMMER X PRESENTATIONS: D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 1. July 8, 2016 Special City Council Meeting Minutes Approved 2. July 13, 2016 City Council Meeting Minutes Approved E. PUBLIC HEARINGS: F. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. General Disbursements through: 8/04/16 $321,406.38 Payroll through: 7/31/16 $41,759.90 2. Approval of City License(s) Council Member Harris Moved, Approved 5-0 G: POLICY ITEMS: 1. Assistant Emergency Manager Compensation City Administrator Thongvanh stated that Dan Johnson Powers was appointed in 2005 as the Assistant Emergency Manager. The appointment and the personnel policy do not reference a salary for the position. Based on the understanding with the previous Administrator, he would be compensated at his regular rate since his current profession is as an Emergency Manager for the University of Minnesota and with a different company. The pay rate is reasonable since he brings in a lot of knowledge and expertise from having worked at his other jobs. He has spent more extensive hours working for the City with recent events. The current hours total to a payment of $2,500. Council Member Fischer Moved, Approved 5-0 11Page 2. Approve the Removal of Garden Ave from the 2017 PMP Feasibility Report City Engineer Freihammer stated that Garden Ave would be removed from the 2017 PMP and they would still complete the Grove area. The delay would allow time to continue to evaluate the geometrics of the roadway and have additional time to look into sidewalks. There would be no overall impact to future road improvements. The City would still propose a reclaim of the road even if it is delayed for a few years. The reschedule would happen for 2019. Based on road evaluation, it can be pushed back as far as four years before reconstruction would be necessary. Council Member Gustafson Moved, Approved 5-0 3. Acknowledge Withholding Funds for Alley Repairs on 2013 PMP City Engineer Freihammer stated that part of the 2013 PMP included repairing a concrete alley between Snelling Ave and Arona. As part of the project there were some issues with traffic driving on the alley a little early. The City spoke with the contractor and he suggested preforming a diamond grind to create a new surface to it and the City would withhold $5,000 until the work was completed. IT was determined by Administrator Thongvanh, Public Works Director Pittman and City Engineer Jesse Freihammer that it would be better to retain the $5,000 instead of diamond grind the concrete because it would cause more long term problems. The concrete is still structurally sound, but there are some surface defects. There may be some life lost out of the overall pavement, but City Engineer Freihammer states that it wouldn't be anything dramatic. Council Member Harris Moved, Approved 5-0 H. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS: Council Member Fischer: No updates. Council Member Harris: • She attended one of the MN Night to Unite block parties and enjoyed it a lot. The Mayor, Police, and Fire were all in attendance. Council Member Brown Thunder: • He also attended two MN Night to Unite block parties. There was a live music at the California Ave block party and the Pioneer Press covered it. Council Member Gustafson: • He attended four MN Night to Unite block parties. He really enjoyed attending the block party at 1530 and plans to go back for donuts. • Saturday, September 10 from 12-4pm CTV North Suburbs is holding their 25`s anniversary party in their parking lot off Arthur Street. • Falcon Heights Fire Department Open House and Chili Cook -off is on October 1. 2 l P a g e City Administrator Thonavanh: • The semi-annual newsletter will be coming out shortly. He wants to thank everyone for their feedback at the public forum, listening session, and those who have reached out to him via phone or email. Mayor Lindstrom: • He attended three or four parties MN Night to Unite block parties. He also thanks everyone for their feedback. He has found it to be very informative and helpful. He has had a chance to get his thoughts around the concept of a work group. He thinks the task force should look at where we're at right now, what training they're exposed to, what data we have on hand, and what are the policies and practices are around policing. We should also look at what we want as a community, what our cultures are, what our norms are, and what our values are around policing. What actions can we take to make sure what we have matches what we want? What can we learn from best practices that can be applied? I. COMMUNITY FORUM: Chuck Laszewski- 1713 St. Mary's St - He comes here as a member of a group that is calling themselves `we can do better Falcon Heights'. He thinks it's crucial that the Council know he supports them and wants to work on this together. He says it is time to have a conversation now instead of just listening. He is presenting a resolution to the Council that calls for creation of a Falcon Heights task force that delves into all aspects of police and community relations. They respectfully and strongly demand that the Council passes this resolution at the next Council meeting. The task force would be made up of a group of 8-11 members that are diverse Falcon Heights residents, business owners, and property owners. This task force would look into police departments tactics, procedures, and training. They request that the City Administrator solicit for letters of interest. The task force would present a draft of their findings to Council in December, have a final report put together in January, and decide in May how to incorporate their findings into policing of Falcon Heights and make it public. Sarah Chambers- 2170 Folwell Ave - She is in favor of this draft, and believes there is no need to wait for the ongoing investigation to be released. She believes it is all of our responsibility to work on this kind of review and to have some form of civilian oversight. The 21st Century Policing model recommends civilian oversight, and the Roseville League of Women Voters also recommended that periodically cities should be reviewing best practices. There is growing research literature on the advantages of the community style of policing as opposed to the `broken windows' approach. She believes that is important that we participate in a task force with the neighboring cities of St. Anthony and Lauderdale, but believes that it is important that Falcon Heights has their own task force as well. Tom Baldwin- 1716 Albert St -Former Mayor Outside of signing the initial contract for SAPD he has had zero contact with the police officers. He is upset with the style of policing we have hired. A significant number of the residents do not trust the SAPD to protect the Falcon Heights community. Events of distrust have happened long before July 6. There have been numerous residents reduced to tears and stating that they take 3 1 P a g e alternative routes because they fear traffic stops in Falcon Heights. Public employees have no right to expect that their work will go without public review, criticism, and input. This is the time when leadership needs to be an active verb. Have you heard enough to commit yourself to changing the manner in which the City of Falcon Heights is patrolled? He hopes the Council knows that we can't keep continuing in the same way. Reverend Dr. Charles Gill- St. Paul resident -President of the Black Ministerial Alliance He thanks the Mayor and appreciates his words. Discussion is important for clarity and for clarity alone; otherwise, discussion is used as a delay tactic. At the last meeting there were 26 residents of Falcon Heights that spoke and none of which spoke in a positive manner of the recent events. There needs to be not only oversight, but the contract needs to be severed. He encourages the Council to act on the recommendations of Tom Baldwin. Steven Carpenter- 1871 Laroenteur Ave - He hopes that the Council has had a chance to walk down the street and to spend time at the memorial. It's important that the memorial remain, and he also hopes the Council takes every effort to retain it during the fair. City Administrator Thonavanh- He spoke with representatives from Ramsey County and the State Fair. They have communicated that they plan to keep the memorial at that location during the fair. Tyrone Tanell- President of the African American Leadership Council- St Paul resident - He thanks the Falcon Heights residents for speaking up. The Council needs to listen to their constituents. No city in American has given us justice. The contract needs to end with SAPD. Isaac Mielke- 1868 Arona St - Last fall he voted for all of the Council Members that are in office. He is disappointed in the Council. The Council has not answered any of the questions. He believes no one is hoping that SAPD stays. He believes there are two groups of people in Falcon Heights, those who do not want a contract with SAPD and those who don't care about the situation. Jeff Martin- President of St. Paul NAACP and First Vice President of the MN Dakota State Conference -Prosecutor for the County Attorney's Office The Council stands on a great opportunity to show compassion and heart. SAPD is obviously not the best police department to patrol the community. Four weeks haven't put any space in the way the community feels. He has told his son not to take Larpenteur, because he will get stopped since he is an African American male. The current policing policy in this area is wrong, and what are you going to do about it? What are our standards going to be? We will support you when you take a stance that other cities should also be taking. Mayor Lindstrom - You have my commitment to keep working on this. This is our top priority. 41Page Hawa Samota- Safety is a number one priority. If you are not safe, you cannot be healthy. A neighbor moved out of Falcon Heights last year because he could not afford to live here. He said he has been stopped three times, and he can't afford to pay for traffic tickets. She says she knows Mayor Lindstrom can do things, because he has helped out at 1550. She is willing to put hours into helping the city. We need to move, and we do not need to wait any longer. Council Member Fischer - He fully supports the Mayor's call for a study group. We need to review the 2l't Century Policing Report in full detail. He believes we can always do better, and his eyes have been opened. J. ADJOURNMENT:7:57pm Dated this 10`h day of August, 2016 Sack Thongvanh 7City Administrator ft-eerrindstrom, Mayor 511' a 2c