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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMin_05Mar23 CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS MINUTES March 23, 2005 Neal Kwong Youth Citizenship Award Presentation for 2004 Mayor Gehrz said the United States is a country at war, with many countrymen and women making enormous sacrifices on foreign soil. Our hearts go out to them, to their families and friends. We honor their service to this country. The unselfish service to others and to community by some of our youngest community members is what we are recognizing tonight. The City of Falcon Heights has a long tradition of encouraging meaningful volunteer service by the youth of this community. We provide a variety of ways that young people can contribute their time and talents to making this a great place to live. In March, which is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, we select a person who has made outstanding contributions and present him or her with the Neal Kwong Youth Citizenship Award. She introduced Alan Kwong, who explained the background of the award, and Laura Kwong, who announced the recipients for 2004. Alan Kwong said that Neal was very active as a volunteer. He was 15 years old when he died while volunteering with the Boy Scouts of America. Sue Gehrz contacted the Kwong family and suggested setting up an award in Neal’s memory. This year, it was decided that the award will be given to individuals in two age categories: 12-15 and 16-19. Laura Kwong introduced the two winners of the Neal Kwong Award for 2004: Rachel Pike, in the 12-15 year old category; and Karl Mueller, in the 16-19 year old category, and gave a synopsis of their volunteer activities. Mayor Gehrz said the City is very proud of Rachel and Karl and values their service. This would not have happened without the inspiration and support of their families and she is glad they are in attendance this evening to be recognized. They have been wonderful role models for Rachel and Karl, who are already great role models for other young people in this community. Karl Mueller spoke briefly, saying the Neal Kwong Award was a cool thing to get. It is a neat incentive for young people. Training people when they are young, as children, is the best way to develop good citizens for our society. Mayor Gehrz introduced the three volunteer CERT trainers who had nominated Rachel and Karl for the Neal Kwong award: Kris Grangaard, Dan Johnson-Powers and Gretel Keene. Mayor Gehrz convened the regular City Council meeting. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -2- March 23, 2005 PRESENT: Mayor Sue Gehrz, Council members Robert Lamb, Peter Lindstrom and Richard Talbot Also present: Parks and Public Works Director Greg Hoag and Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy Absent: City Council member Laura Kuettel and City Administrator Heather Worthington COMMUNITY FORUM: Mayor Gehrz explained, for the benefit of the audience, that during the Community Forum portion of each Council meeting, anyone may speak for up to three minutes on a subject that is not on the Council agenda. Mr. Bryan Olson, 1592 Roselawn Avenue, said he had a number of items, the first one being a flyer that was sent out by Aspen Garbage Services. It says they are now offering residential service with 100% of the garbage they pick up going to the burner--two free months if you sign up with them. Apparently this occurred on or around January 1 when they applied for their license renewal for 2005. What he finds most interesting is at the second Council meeting in January no one mentioned Aspen was going residential. He thought the purpose of the Solid Waste Commission, and the whole garbage issue last year, was to reduce the number of haulers and the truck traffic. Now the opposite has happened. There is a seventh residential hauler in the City. This was slipped under the wire and no one has said boo about it. He finds that very mysterious and has theories as to what is really happening but didn’t think he had time to get into that. The second item: A violation of open meeting laws occurred here prior to the March 2 work session of the City Council. The day before, the posting wasn’t on the bulletin board. Posting is supposed to be 72 hours before the meeting. So, here again, we have another case of what he calls a secret meeting. These meetings are not televised. He came with a camera, recorded it himself, and put it on Channel 14. The third item: Last night he happened to turn on Channel 16 around 11:00 PM. The Bulletin Board was on but the audio was on an FM radio station. He doesn’t know which radio station it was, but the content of the program was a night time talk show, an advice program talking about people’s sex lives and things like that. The person calling in was a prostitute and, needless to say, it was a very raunchy conversation. He doesn’t think it is appropriate to have this kind of programming on our government channel. He strongly suggests that if a radio station has to be played during the Bulletin Board periods, that some other station be chosen, preferably a non-commercial station without offensive programming. Mayor Gehrz said that normally on Community Forum, because an item is not on the agenda the City Council does not deal with it. But, Bryan has raised one issue here. He has alleged there was a violation of the open meetings law and she thinks it is unfair to let that allegation go unchallenged. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -3- March 23, 2005 COMMUNITY FORUM (continued) Mayor Gehrz said the open meetings law does not require that meetings be televised. Also, according to the City Attorney and State law, there is no requirement to post regular meetings. The City Council meetings and City Council work sessions are considered regular meetings. She advised Bryan that if he wants to challenge that, he do so in writing and the matter will be referred to the City Attorney. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes dated March 9, 2005 were unanimously approved as submitted. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None Scheduled CONSENT AGENDA: Lamb moved approval of the Consent Agenda, as outlined below. The motion was unanimously approved. General Disbursements through March 16, 2005: $ 154,755.37 Payroll (3/01/05 – 3/15/05) $ 12,346.59 2. Approve hiring of Lisa Anderson as Parks and Recreation Supervisor/ Administrative Assistant POLICY AGENDA: None REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Gehrz explained that the Chairs of the City’s volunteer commissions, and many of the commissioners, were in attendance this evening to give updates about their accomplishments in 2004. They will also be participating in a workshop with the City Council at the end of tonight’s Council meeting Parks Commission Chuck Long, Chair, Parks Commission, said the Curtiss Field renovation is completed. A lot of time and energy went into this project. The Parks Commission is very pleased with the way the project turned out and how it looks. He invited everyone to check out all that Curtiss Field has to offer. He thanked the Falcon Heights/Lauderdale Lions for their donation that helped pay for the installation of new playground equipment, complete with a big sailing ship, at Community Park. Skating rinks were installed at the Falcon Heights Elementary School last fall and got a lot of use. Positive feedback was received from the people in the area and from the school. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -4- March 23, 2005 REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS (continued) Mr. Long said new signage will be installed in the City parks to provide a uniform look and identity. The two annual City events, the Dead of Winter and Ice Cream Social, were well attended. The summer and fall recreation programs had 357 participants. The 2005 recreation program brochures are out and registration will begin April 1. He reminded people about the Friends of the Parks Fund, which allows individuals and businesses to make tax deductible donations. In 2005-06, the Parks Commission will be stepping back and looking at internal procedures—use of the fields and fees. They will be looking at revenue streaming and working with the Falcon Heights Elementary School regarding improvements to their playground. The Parks Commission meets the second Monday of every month, 7 PM, at City Hall. The Parks Commissioners are: Chuck Long, Pat Dolan, Jim Evans, Kimberly Kuhens and Denise Deen, who completed her second term and retired from the Commission in December, 2004. Parks Commissioner Kimberly Kuhens, a high school student, invited other young people to join her on the Parks Commission. Neighborhood Commission Kris Grangaard, Co-Chair of the Neighborhood Commission with Robert Thompson, said the members of the Neighborhood Commission are: Sue Majerus, Lavone Johnson, Bill Downing, Lieutenant Dominic Cotroneo, Tom Brace, Linda Fite, Dan Johnson-Powers and Joe Letourneau. She said there are many different ways that neighborhoods are supported by cities. The Neighborhood Commission was created in 2002 to be City liaisons with neighborhoods. During the first year the Commission concentrated on recruiting and training liaisons and block captains. During the second year they focused more on the CERT Program. Fifty people who live or work in Falcon Heights graduated from that program and are asking for more continuing education. A fourth CERT class will begin the first week of May and will continue for eight weeks. Last fall, at an emergency management training, they found that communication is crucial. Russ Hobbie, a Falcon Heights resident and CERT graduate, is recruiting ham radio operators to attend the CERT class and CERTS will be encouraged to learn about ham radio. The Neighborhood Commission was energized by the report done by Jenna Washnieski, a survey she conducted in Falcon Heights as a part of her master’s thesis and presented to the City Council. It confirmed the importance of recruiting and supporting the neighborhood liaisons because residents who live in neighborhoods with liaisons indicated they felt more connected to the community. Sue Majerus is contacting apartment building owners regarding increasing communication with apartment dwellers and finding ways to get the monthly flyers into the apartment buildings to help them feel more connected to the community. Ms. Grangaard said that MarySue Hanson, Executive Director of the Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative, gave Falcon Heights a Recognition Award because of the wonderful response from the Neighborhood Commission, liaisons and CERTS to a request for box springs, mattresses and blankets for at risk children. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -5- March 23, 2005 REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS (continued) Ms. Grangaard said that last fall, the City Administrator and the Police Department wanted to get a crime alert out to every household in the City within two to three days. The Neighborhood Commission, liaisons and CERTS turned out in force and the City was blanketed. Last year and again this year the Neighborhood Commission, liaisons, CERTS and several Falcon Heights businesses will be participating in next week’s community-wide food drive. The Neighborhood Commission, liaisons and CERTS will serve as drop off sites, with the Lions and the Rotary Club picking up the donated food items, dry goods and money on Saturday, April 2, between 8 AM and noon, for transport to Keystone Community Services. The Neighborhood Commission, liaisons and CERTS held their annual meeting in January and ideas began to jell around environmental issues and neighborhood sustainability. That is what will be discussed in the workshop following tonight’s Council meeting. Mayor Gehrz said the Neighborhood Commission is a high energy, high action commission. If you like to roll up your sleeves and do stuff, this is the commission for you. They are very energetic. The community is so much stronger and safer because of the existence of this group. On informal levels, they help to foster caring about neighbors and one another. Human Rights Commission Mayor Gehrz said that Kay Andrews and Dan Detzner are members of the Human Rights Commission. They meet very infrequently and are activated if there is a complaint or a hate crime. They are ready, willing and able to help if the need arises. Planning Commission Pamela Harris, Chair of the Commission in 2004, said the Planning Commission met eight out of twelve months in 2004. The Commission works on projects that are presented to them. Their staff liaison is Deb Jones, who does a fabulous job. In 2004, the Commission reviewed and approved two variance applications. TIES applied for an ordinance amendment that would have allowed them to rent space for vehicle storage. The Planning Commission did not recommend approval of their proposal. The Commission discussed two recommendations related to parking: Restricting the parking of “for sale” vehicles on City streets, and permit parking on Lindig Street. The Commission looked at bus benches and bench signs. They looked at Chapter 9 and revision of the City code. The City will be hiring an expert to assist with that. The members of the Planning Commission are: Pat Ryan, Chair for 2005, Jim DeLeo, Pamela Harris, Barbara Heideman, Tom Lageson, Barbara Lukermann, Michael Tracy and Ann Ziebarth. Mayor Gehrz said that when you think about zoning, land use and property, that is the bailiwick of the Planning Commission. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -6- March 23, 2005 REPORTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS (continued) Council member Lindstrom, Council Liaison to the Planning Commission, said that in 2004, the Planning Commission covered a lot of items and then the Council took them up. He thanked the Planning Commission members for their active involvement and contributions to the City. Solid Waste Commission Michael Barany, a member of the Solid Waste Commission, said that in 2004 the Commission was especially busy with the study of organized waste collection. It was a very successful and productive process. The final Memorandum of Understanding was the result of a lot of discussion and negotiation. In 2005, the Commission will be looking at the recycling contract and at tree recycling. The members of the Solid Waste Commission are: Susan Harding, James Kielsmeier, Frank Meah and Lois Millett. Council member Lamb, Council Liaison to the Solid Waste Commission, said they are a great group of people, work hard and are unafraid to take on the hard issues. In 2005, the Commission will be reviewing the recycling contract. He would like to see the charter of this commission expanded to include environmental issues. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Council member Talbot reminded the viewing audience that each year the North Suburban Communications Commission and Comcast give scholarships to students majoring in communications and who live in one of the ten cities serviced by the Commission. Applicants must have completed at least one year of college or vocational training. Applications are available at city halls, high school counseling and college financial aid offices, libraries in the 10-city area; at the NSCC website: www.nsccmn.org, or by calling the NSCC office at Completed applications must be returned no later than 4:00 PM, April 15, to the NSCC office. Council member Lamb said the City is co-sponsoring a food drive, over the next two weeks, for food items, paper products and/or money that will be given to Keystone Community Services. He read aloud the names/addresses of the Falcon Heights businesses and residents volunteering to serve as collection points. On Saturday, April 2, between 8 AM-12 noon, everything will be picked up from the collection points by the Falcon Heights/Lauderdale Lions and the Rotary Club and taken to Keystone Community Services. For every $1.00 donated to Keystone, they can purchase $7.00 worth of food stuffs or paper products. He asked people to be as generous as they can. Mayor Gehrz said the Saint Anthony Police Department, on behalf of the City, conducts periodic compliance checks of the licensed businesses in Falcon Heights that sell alcohol. FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -7- March 23, 2005 INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS (continued) Mayor Gehrz said she wanted the community to know that the three businesses that sell alcohol in Falcon Heights passed the compliance checks with flying colors and should be recognized: Chianti Grill, J’s Liquor and Dino’s Gyros. The regular City Council meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM for a workshop with the City Council and members of the City’s volunteer commissions. Respectfully submitted, Mary Shea Kodluboy Deputy Clerk