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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_96Jan10CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING 2 MINUTES OF JANUARY 10, 1996 Prior to the meeting, Carla Asleson administered the Oath of Office to incoming Mayor Sue Gehrz. Mayor Gehrz then swore in Councilmembers Jan Gibson Talbot and Sam Jacobs. Mayor Gehrz convened the meeting at 7:06 p.m. PRESENT Gehrz, Gibson Talbot, Jacobs, and Hustad. Also present were Hoyt and Asleson. COMMUNITY FORUM There was no one wishing to take advantage of the community forum. MINUTES OF DECEMBER 20, 1995 Minutes were approved by unanimous consent. CONSENT AGENDA APPROVED Item C - 9 was added to the consent agenda by unanimous consent of the council. Motion was then made by Councilmember Gibson Talbot to approve the consent agenda. Motion passed unanimously. 1. Disbursements 2. Licenses 3. Approval of Resolution 96-01 designating official depositories for 1996 4. Designation of Focus News as the city's official newspaper for 1996 5. Review and approval of city council standing rules 6. Approval of commission appointments, reappointments, and resignations 7. Renewal of the lawful gambling registration for Celebrity Bowl Charities, Inc. 8. Acknowledgement of the City Administrator's participation on the League Minnesota Cities board 9. Approval of minor change to final agreement between Falcon Heights Lauderdale for fire service POLICY AGENDA of and DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENT PROCESS FOR COUNCIL VACANCY The council discussed in detail the process to be used to fill the vacancy created by Mayor Gehrz leaving that seat to become mayor. The process and time line to be used are: 1) notification of the vacancy via local media; 2) applications and information packet sent to interested parties; 3) applications due February 9, 1996 at 5:00 p.m.; 4) applicant names forwarded to council on February 14,1 996; 5) applicant presentations given to council on February 21 and 22 (if a second day is necessary) on the topic "Why I should be selected to serve on the Falcon Heights City Council"; presentations will be shown on cable television; 6) at the conclusion of the presentations, council will determine which City Council Minutes January 10, 1996 Page 2 f'e a.~ candidates to invite for personal interviews; 7) after their regular meeting on February 28, the council will recess into workshop to determine interview questions; 8) on March 6th, council will conduct interviews of approximately 30 minutes; 9) on March 13th, the council will appoint a candidate; and 101 on March 27th, the selected candidate will be sworn in as a councilmember. Motion was made by councilmember Jacobs to approve the appointment process as described above. Motion passed unanimously. DISCUSSION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION SCHEDULE Administrator Hoyt noted that with the expiration of some Human Rights Commissioners' terms and the resignation of another, there are few active commission members remaining. It is critical that the city have a Human Rights Commission. However, it may be time to review the meeting schedule and focus of the commission in order to encourage recruitment of new commissioners. councilmember Gibson Talbot, the commission's council liaison, noted that the Human Rights Commission has branched into two groups: those who are interested in "hard core" human rights issues and those who want to take a broader, training-type focus. She also suggested that the structure of the commission's meetings be changed to a quarterly or semi-annual basis, with the caveat that more meetings could be called if necessary. Mayor Gehrz suggested that a future activity for the commission could be to develop a response plan for "hate crimes", similar to the plan the city has for emergency evacuations. There was some discussion among the councilmembers about possibly appointing as few as three people to be "core" commissioners with remaining commissioners being appointed as particular issues or concerns are addressed. This approach might allow the city to draw on the talents of those whose schedules are too committed to allow them to be appointed for a three year term. Administrator Hoyt will review the written policies on the Human Rights Commission and bring back the suggested changes for review at a future council meeting. REQUEST FOR A LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR A GRANT APPLICATION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ALCOHOL COMPLIANCE PROJECT Administrator Hoyt explained that the University of Minnesota is applying for a grant to study youth access to alcohol. This research project would involve a number of cities and would involve both research and the training of merchants about alcohol compliance techniques. Hoyt noted that the city's police provider would be asked to conduct compliance checks on all of the city's liquor licensees. Since this is more time consuming than tobacco compliance checks, the police's costs would be passed on the city at a cost of up to 51350. Hoyt stressed that while alcohol compliance is very desirable for the 1 City Council Minutes January 10, 1996 Page 3 2~ community, the council needs to consider these costs prior to endorsing the grant. She also noted that the police department will do alcohol compliance checks at no additional cost on an occasional basis if there is a need perceived by the city or by the police. Mayor Gehrz reported that she had spoken to a University representative about the grant project. Her two concerns were the police costs and also whether the city would be committed to the project by sending a letter of support. Gehrz reported that a letter of support would not be binding on the city and that the University now plans to build the police costs into the grant. Motion was made by Councilmember Hustad to direct staff to write a letter of support to the University of Minnesota regarding this grant project. Motion passed unanimously. CITY INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Jacobs asked when the new city recycling calendar would be distributed. He was told it would be included in the next city newsletter. Councilmember Gibson Talbot thanked the voters of the last city election and expressed that she was looking forward to serving the city for another four years. Mayor Gehrz congratulated Administrator Hoyt on her appointment to the League of Minnesota Cities board. She also announced the January 17th farewell reception to honor former Mayor Tom Baldwin. Administrator Hoyt made several announcements about city activities and reminded the viewing audience about the city's snow emergency procedures. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m. V '~ Carla Asleson Recording Secretary Susan L. Gehrz, Mayor ,~