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CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Regular Meeting of the City Council
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
AGENDA
July 24, 2019 at 7:00 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER:
B. ROLL CALL: Vacant ___ LEEHY__X__ HARRIS____
MIAZGA _X__ GUSTAFSON_X__
STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH_X___
Mayor Gustafson
Add two items to the Policy Items. First, the Night to Night 2019 Proclamation and Second, consider
hiring an interim fire chief.
Council Member Leehy Moved, Approved 3-0
C. PRESENTATION
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. June 12, 2019 City Council Meeting Minutes
Approved 3-0
E. PUBLIC HEARINGS:
F. CONSENT AGENDA:
1. General Disbursements through: 7/11/19 $220,855.96
Payroll through: 6/30/19 $19,620.54
2. Resignation of Ned Mohan from the Environment Commission
3. Resignation of Hawa Samatar from the Planning Commission
Mayor Gustafson
I want to thank Ned Mohan and Hawa Samatar for their services and helping the city. We currently
have vacancies for Environment, Planning, and Parks Commission. I encourage citizens of Falcon
Heights who are interested in becoming more engaged in the community to consider applying and
serving on those commissions. It is open for students and adults.
Approved 3-0
G: POLICY ITEMS:
1. Cultivating a Caring Community: “Grey Area Thinking Engagement Agreement
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City Administrator Thongvanh
Ellen Krug will be the third guest speaker in the Cultivating a Caring Community discussions, and the
theme is Grey Area Thinking. The event will be on Monday, November 18. This event will replace the
Community Engagement Commission meeting. It is a free event, and Ellie will not charge the city for
booking her. As a free event, she provided an Engagement Agreement form. The form indicates that if
the city decides to cancel the event, we will compensate for her time.
This is a great opportunity for the residents of Falcon Heights to be more involved in the inclusion
efforts of cultivating a caring community.
Council Member Miazga Moved, Approved 3-0
2. Night to Night 2019 Proclamation
Mayor Gustafson
The proclamation is passed every year. The Minnesota Crime Prevention Association, along with the
American Automobile Association, Minnesota and local law enforcement agencies are sponsoring a
statewide program called Night to Night on August 6, 2019.
Mayor Gustafson Moved, Approved 3-0
3. Hire an Interim Fire Chief
City Administrator Thongvanh
Mayor Gustafson and I met with the Assistant Fire Chief, the four captains, and individual firefighters.
The majority stated that they need a leader to provide assistance. After looking at many different
opportunities, we decided to hire a professional service in the interim. It will not be a city employee but
a contractor. Mayor Gustafson and I met with two individuals and interviewed them. One was a
district chief for the St. Paul fire department and the other one was a former captain for St. Paul. We
want to make sure that we bring someone who has experience managing a professional fire department
and work with the needs of this council and the needs of the community. Motion to authorize the City
Administrator to hire an Interim Fire Chief.
Mayor Gustafson Moved, Approved 3-0
H. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Council Member Miazga
• Councilmember Leehy and I were at a reception for local council members and state
representatives and senators to welcome the new president of the University of Minnesota.
• Four metro suburbs recently adopted a local sales tax for five years. City of Excelsior officials
petitioned the state for permission to levy a local sales tax so they could capture some of the
dollars spent by out-of-towners at their lakeshore and Picture Us downtown. This past spring
the legislature gave the city of 2,400 the authority to enact a half-cent sales tax on general
purchases starting October 1. It will make Excelsior along with Rogers, West St Paul, and Elk
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River the first metro area suburbs to implement a local tax on top of the statewide general sales
sex of 6.875%. I will be talking with those cities and see how they did it.
• Environment Commission is continuing to do terrific work for the city.
Council Member Leehy
• The Restoration and Unity Day were fruitful times of people gathering and reflecting on July 6.
• Cultivating a Caring Community - Healing and Understanding event was very successful.
There were about 66 people, and they asked great questions. It was a meaningful event. On July
7, the Castile family did their annual family gathering and provided food and music
entertainment.
• I was selected to sit on the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJC) for Ramsey County. I
will be working with a council member from Lauderdale.
• The city was approved with the Good Neighbor grant and will begin having story time in the
fall. Story time will involve seniors and youths of all ages. More details to come in the next few
weeks.
Mayor Gustafson
• The Community Engagement Commission met on July 22. We discussed Human Rights Day
topics and what we want to focus on. CEC wants to host a Neighborhood Liaison event on
September 16 to thank our current liaisons and educate the community about the role. We
hope to recruit more in the future.
• Filing is open for city council seats on July 30 - August 13. You can apply at the Ramsey
County Elections office on Plato Boulevard in St. Paul.
• Tuesday, August 6 is Night to Unite. There are about 10-12 parties in Falcon Heights, and if
your block does not have one, feel free to join the closest one to you.
• Saturday, August 10, is the Falcon Heights Fire Department Recruitment Open House. If you
are interested in learning about firefighters and be part of a wonderful team, please attend the
event.
• State Fair is just around the corner. Please remember Falcon Heights city code and
regulations. No vendor stands are allowed in Falcon Heights, but lemonade stand is fine. No
parking on the lawn is allowed.
City Administrator Thongvanh
• I want to thank the community for coming to our Ice Cream Social and Hot dog with a
Deputy. It was a great event and we had about 250-270 people that attended.
• We are going through the budget process right now. At the July workshop, we talked about
debt service, special revenue, and enterprise funds. The next budget workshop will be in
August, and we will discuss general funds.
I. COMMUNITY FORUM:
J. ADJOURNMENT: 8:00 P.M.
________________________________
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Randy Gustafson, Mayor
Dated this 24th day of July, 2019
_________________________________
Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator