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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMIN_02-22-17CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Regular Meeting of the City Council City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue MINUTES February 22, 2017 at 7:00 P.M. A. CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 pm B. ROLL CALL: LINDSTROM _X_ HARRIS _X_ BROWN THUNDER _X_ FISCHER _X_ GUSTAFSON_X_ STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH_X_ C. PRESENTATIONS: 1. Northeast Youth & Family Services -Jerry Hromatka Executive Director, Jerry Hromatka, presented on the programs and services that NYFS provides. They are in their 40th year of operations. They serve 15 municipalities and four school districts. Feedback on their organization was that it works to have the partnerships that they do, they emphasize respect and a solution -oriented approach, and they're innovative. They serve all ages, primarily ages 5-21, and they serve about 4,000 youth, adults, and families. Their programs consist of mental health services, community services, and day treatment. They secure their funds through contracts, fees, grants, and contributions. 2. Citizenship Award - Melanie Leehy Melanie Leehy recommended establishing an annual Citizen of the Year Award. This award would be to recognize individuals who have given back to the community or have been an avid volunteer. This award would be for a Falcon Heights residing adult who has displayed noteworthy service. This individual would be nominated and would have to fit the set criteria of what it means to be a Citizen of the Year. The awardee would be recognized by the Council, and their selection could be coordinated with the annual Ice Cream Social for the awardee to receive recognition. She also recommends naming the award the Philando Castile Falcon Heights Citizen of the Year Award. The Community Engagement Commission had some discussions on a Citizen of the Year Award in general and got stuck on some of the logistics. They also expressed more of an interest at the time in discussing an event that acknowledges all volunteers in Falcon Heights. D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 1. January 25, 2017 City Council Meeting Minutes Approved E. PUBLIC HEARINGS: F. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. General Disbursements through: 2/16/17 $233,749.62 Payroll through: 2/15/17 $38,661.76 2. Recreation Agreement with the City of Lauderdale 3. SafeAssure Training Agreement 4. City Hall Rooftop Unit Replacement 5. Appointment of Georgiana May to the Community Engagement Commission 6. Appointment of Martin McCleery to the Environment Commission 1�Pagc 7. Application for U of MN Good Neighbor Fund -Piano in the Park City Administrator Thongvanh stated that the Pianos would be in the park for 30-60 days. After the 60 days, it goes back to the company it was purchased from to be recycled or repurposed. The intent is to encourage arts in the parks. Council Member Gustafson Moved, Approved 5-0 G: POLICY ITEMS: H. INFORMATION/ ANNOUNCEMENTS: Council Member Fischer: The Community Engagement Commission is still looking to appoint one or two Commissioners. City Administrator Thongyanh: The Community Engagement Commission has two openings and currently four applicants. The other Commissions are full. Council Member Harris: The Tri -City Work Group has meet twice recently. The City of Burnsville has been a pioneer for body -worn cameras. The next meeting is in Falcon Heights on March 15. She also serves on the Land Use Advisory Committee for the Metropolitan Council. They are working hard to try to help cities prepare their comprehensive plans that are due in 2018. Council Member Brown Thunder: The NYFS Leadership Luncheon is Wednesday, May 311:30am-lpm, and there are a lot of community leaders that attend. Council Member Gustafson: • Summer programing is coming together and will be available the second week of March, and registration will be available shortly after. The search and hiring process for summer programing will start mid-March with the hope of to have positions filled by early May. Anyone interested should be watching the city website. Summer and fall city events are in the process of being planned. • The Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force has held three meetings and one Community Conversation since the last Council Meeting. There is a series of five Community Conversations which are designed to seek input from residents and guests that visit the community. The first Community Conversation focused on community values, and the summary of discussions can be found on the Falcon Heights website. Community Conversation two will be on Thursday, March 2 at Falcon Heights United Church from 6:30-8:30pm. From these Community Conversations, the Task Force will begin developing a draft of recommendations to present at Community Conversation three for feedback. A report of recommendations will be presented to the City Council at the May 3 workshop. The final Community Conversation will be after the Council has acted on the recommendations. City Administrator Thon vg anh: • AARP tax services did not have enough support staff assigned to City Hall, so they closed the site and relocated volunteers to locations in Roseville. They are hoping to reopen the site next year. 211'agc • Reminder with the upcoming snowfall to remember to move cars off the street when there is two inches or greater of snowfall. • MnDOT will be doing an open house for the Hwy 51/Snelling Ave project on Monday, March 13 from 5-7pm at City Hall. They are still working on some of the questions that the Council posed to them. • Staff has been working on Laserfiche, which is the city database, to make documents more accessible. • I was also recently asked what demographic data SAPD is collecting. As of October 1, 2016 SAPD has been collecting race demographics on all stops. • Updated the notice on the website of potential quorum of Council Members at the Community Conversations. I. COMMUNITY FORUM: Farook Meah-1597 Hollywood Ct: He has applied to the Commissions, and he has been rejected many times. He sent a letter but has not received a response. The last time he received a response, staff indicated that there were no longer any openings and on occasion a posting will still be up as position is being filled since the city retains those applications. Mayor Lindstrom: The process for Commission openings is that they are posted, staff and Commission Chairs interview all of the applicants that apply, staff forwards the information to the Mayor, and the Mayor tries to get in contact with the applicant. His criteria that he looks for before passing names on to the Council are passion for the issue, new people having an interest in becoming involved with the Commissions, and geographic diversity of Commission Members. City Administrator Thongvanh: Staff take in multiple applications. He tries to attend the interviews as best as possible, but currently he has been occupied with other tasks that the Council has assigned him. Along with staff, they try to have the Commission Chair involved in the interview as well. After the interviews, staff provide some highlights of the applicants. Then Mayor Lindstrom makes the recommendation on who to appoint. Farook Meah-1597 Hollywood Ct: He was told he would be interviewed, but he had to contact City Hall. He was told he would be interviewed by the City Administrator, Staff, and the Environment Chair, but only staff was present. He also applied for the Council and was eliminated in the first round of interviews. Tom Baldwin -1716 Albert St: He wanted to follow up on a couple of things. He asked about the reluctance to put the opt out clause on the agenda. The reply before was that if it's tabled and not voted on at the next meeting, ifs considered accepted. If you're operating under Roberts Rules, you'd be tabling a motion, not an item. His question still remains. He's criticizing the action of the Council and their lack of concern. The only way to show that you're prioritizing this issue is through the policy agenda. Tyrone Tarrell- 270 Kent St. St. Paul: He wants to speak strongly against naming the city volunteer award after Philando. He didn't live in Falcon Heights. He was murdered here, so show some sensitivity to that. Akil Foluke 31Pago He's concerned by how everything he's seen relates to how people are being treated. He wants to see action and not so much push back. Paula Mielke-1869 Arona: Hawa applied for the Planning Commission and was told the city already had three applications so there was no need to apply. Did anyone get back to her about the flooding over at the Sherman apartments? Also, as she's stated before, end the contract. Mayor Lindstrom: The Sherman apartments have been brought to their attention prior to the Council meeting, and they will look into it. City Administrator Thongyanh: The city was in contact with Hawa about applying, but by the time she had applied there were already multiple applications in the works. There are certain things that the city can do in regards to the Sherman apartments. He is hearing for the first time about them pulling out insulation. He will be in contact with the building inspector about that. The thing they were currently trying to address with Sherman is the safety hazard of the retention pond. Their snow removal contractors were piling snow up near it and kids were using it as a sledding hill. He informed the complex and contractor to push the snow elsewhere. That is difficult to regulate as it is private property. Council Member Harris: What caused the flooding? City Administrator Thongyanh: He'll have to talk to staff to find out more information about the flooding. Mary Pat McGinnis -1841 Arona St: She wants to reiterate the concerns that have already been expressed. Nothing has changed, which means this situation can happen again. Mayor Lindstrom: He could have brought forward his ideas on police reform, and he is learning new ideas every day about ways to improve. He has opted not to bring those ideas forward, because he wants to route that through the Task Force. He wants greater feedback from the community and guests and is committed to the greatest citizen engagement process that this city has ever gone through. J. ADJOURNMENT: 8:33 pm A Reter Lindstrom, Mayor Dated this 22"d day of February, 2017 Sack Thongvanh, ity Administrator 41Ptjgc