HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-2021 Regular MeetingCITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Regular Meeting of the City Council
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
AGENDA
September 8, 2021 at 7:00 P.M.
A.CALL TO ORDER:
B.ROLL CALL: ANDREWS ___ GUSTAFSON____ LEEHY___
MIAZGA ___ WEHYEE___
STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH____
C.PRESENTATION
1.League of Women Voters – Equitable Representation on City Commissions
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1.August 25, 2021 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes
2.September 1, 2021 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes
E. PUBLIC HEARINGS:
F.CONSENT AGENDA:
1.General Disbursements through: 9/01/21 $15,339.27
Payroll through: 8/31/21 $20,435.91
G: POLICY ITEMS:
H.INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
I.COMMUNITY FORUM:Please limit comments to 3 minutes per person. Items brought before the Council will be referred forconsideration. Council may ask questions for clarification, but no council action or discussion will be held
on these items.
J.ADJOURNMENT:
BLANK PAGE
August 27, 2021
Dear Mayor Gustafson:
On behalf of the League of Women Voters of Roseville Area, I commend you and the other
Falcon Heights council members for continuing to work to make affordable housing at Snelling
and Larpenteur a reality.
As you may recall, our local league completed a study of affordable housing in our five cities
(Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Maplewood and Roseville) in 2017, and I've
attached our report. At that time, we presented the results to each of the five cities, including
Falcon Heights.
If our members, especially those of us who live in Falcon Heights, can help in any way, please
let us know.
Sincerely,
Barbara Barany, President League of Women Voters of Roseville Area
cc: Council Members Leehy, Miazga, Wehyee and Andrews; City Manager Thongvanh
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Study of Affordable Housing and its Availability in Falcon
Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Maplewood, Roseville
League of Women Voters Roseville Area, March 2017
by Judy Berglund, Rebecca Bormann, Mindy Greiling and Bonnie Koch
“I believe we’re headed into the greatest housing problem for poor people in our country since
the early 1900s. Not since 2008. Not since World War II, but since the early 1900s. I think the
convergence of market forces, social issues, policy and politics is going to present us with the
greatest problem we’ve seen for many, many decades, so we need to pass these kinds of bills
(capital investment) that didn’t get passed last year. We need to all pitch in and do our work.”
--Alan Arthur, president Aeon
October, 2016, at a celebration of new affordable housing built by his company
Fact: There are more low-income people in the suburbs than there are in the central cities,
and the need for affordable housing is as great. (Dr. Ed Goetz, CURA)
Fact: So far this decade, 28 communities in the Twin Cities have added 4,584 new
affordable rental units. That amounts to just one year’s worth of metro wide demand. More than
half of those units were built in Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to the Met Council, though
the two cities account for just one-fourth of the region’s population. (Star Tribune, Dec. 30,
2016)
Fact: Three in 5 households earning less than $50,000 experience housing cost burden.
(Minnesota Housing Partnership)
Fact: Homelessness is down statewide since 2012, but in Ramsey County, it increased 14
percent. (Wilder Foundation)
Fact: There are more homeless children in Minnesota today than there were homeless
people in all of the state in 1991. (Wilder Foundation)
Facts like these prompted the League of Women Voters of Roseville Area to take a
serious look at the housing crisis, which, one agency says, is a “tsunami that is broad, complex
and multifaceted.”
The League has a long history of advocating for equality of rights. Social policy
positions center on securing “equal rights and equal opportunity for all” and promoting “social
and economic justice.” The demographics of first-ring suburban cities in the League of Women
Voters Roseville Area, which includes Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Maplewood
and Roseville, are changing dramatically. The Minnesota Department of Education documents
that in the last 10 years there has been a 125 percent increase in the percentage of students in
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Roseville Area schools and 85 percent increase in the North Saint Paul/Maplewood school
district who are learning English. We have a sizable Karen community (Burma refugees).
Approximately fifty-seven percent of students in the Roseville schools are now students of color.
Homeless students are a part of our school population.
Study Goal
This study examines if fair housing and an adequate housing supply exist for all our community
members. It focuses on available units for families and individuals using Metropolitan Council
definitions. We chose Council definitions because they are the ones cities will use for updating
their comprehensive plans due to be filed with the Met Council next year. The League sought to
determine if our inner-ring suburbs are doing our share.
What is affordable housing?
Housing is affordable to a family or individual if costs are no more than 30 percent of
their income. For people who earn less than the median income this can be a challenge.
Government subsidizes housing to make it affordable in a variety of ways with the main
goal of preventing homelessness. Affordable housing is obtained by: building it publicly,
building it privately with public assistance or by giving rental vouchers to people who, on their
own, must find landlords who will accept them.
In addition to government-subsidized affordable housing, manufactured mobile homes,
older homes and apartment buildings provide affordable homes as well.
The Metropolitan Council’s new Housing Policy Plan, developed to assist cities, states,
“Having a variety of housing types, including housing affordable to very-low-income households
or those with special support needs, is part of a well-balanced, economically resilient community
and an economically competitive region.”
Gathering Background Information
A committee of League members questioned a variety of housing experts to
gather information for this report. Interviewees were: Barbara Dacy, Washington HRA; Dan
Hylton, Housing Link researcher; Paul Fate, recently retired CEO, Common Bond; Dr. Edward
Goetz, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA); Libby Starling and Beth Reetz.
Metropolitan Council; Commissioner Mary Tingerthal and Katie Topina, Minnesota Housing;
Cathy Bennett, Housing Initiative, Urban Land Institute Minnesota (ULI), Cathy ten Broeke,
Minnesota state director to Prevent Homelessness, and Dr. Craig Waldron, Hamline University.
Ellen Shelton, Wilder Foundation, addressed homelessness at the League’s November
meeting. We focused on affordable housing and homelessness at our meeting with local
policymakers in January. Dr. Goetz, (CURA) John Slade, Organizer for Ramsey and Washington
Counties, Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH) and State
Representative Alice Hausman, a legislative leader on expanding affordable housing units, were
speakers at our February meeting. City and county elected and appointed officials and staff
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involved in comprehensive planning were invited to this meeting. Many were in attendance.
History
The federal government began building subsidized housing as part of President
Roosevelt’s New Deal. No new federal public housing has been built since the 1970s, when
policy shifted to programs for private developers to create affordable housing. In Minnesota the
number of lower-cost units constructed peaked in 2001 and has since declined.
No publicly subsidized apartments have been built this decade in more than 80 suburbs
and exurbs around Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to an analysis by Dougherty Mortgage, a
firm that tracks the local apartment market.
In 1974 the Housing and Community Development Act created a Section 8 Voucher
Program for rental assistance to low income applicants. In the early eighties the federal
government decreased its funding for rental assistance vouchers from about $10 billion to about
$2 billion.
Metropolitan Council researchers report that the number of households paying more than
half their income for rent doubled between 2000 and 2013.
MICAH estimates that $1.06 billion is needed in Minnesota to fill an existing affordable
housing gap. Rep. Alice Hausman states that 41% of Minnesota renters are cost burdened,
meaning they pay more than 30% of their income for rent.
It’s become increasingly difficult for people of modest means to find housing.
Developers, catering to more affluent clients, are purchasing and upgrading large apartment
complexes, often forcing low-income renters to move.
Current Challenges
The major challenges for developing affordable housing in the five suburbs represented
by the League are building costs and the need to find subsidies, according to Goetz (CURA).
“We don’t have subsidies available; they aren’t funded adequately at the state or federal level,
though we have one of the better state finance agencies,” he said.
In addition to needing to secure scarce funding, it’s difficult to develop housing for a
city’s poorest residents because their potential neighbors worry that it will reduce property
values or damage quality of life. These people are called NIMBYs (Not in My BackYard).
MICAH states that NIMBYism is often rooted in racism. In Minnesota, 25% of renters are white
and 75% are people of color.
According to Paul Fate, immediate past president of CommonBond, the Met Council
hasn’t been as aggressive as they should be in promoting affordable housing. Dr. Ed Goetz says
the Met Council could use their levers more aggressively.
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On the other hand, Council housing experts say they are limited in what they can do. The
Council has four systems of responsibility determined by state statute - transportation, parks,
wastewater and aviation. If housing were one of the systems, the Council could insist
noncompliant cities modify their housing plans.
The Met Council does have an enforcement tool. Its Livable Community Program,
funded from the Council’s property tax levy, grants funds for expansion and preservation of
affordable housing to help cities meet housing goals. Local governments’ housing plans must
pass muster to receive monies. Of the 179 local units in the Metro Area, 95 participate in the
Livable Community Program. Of our five cities, only Little Canada does not.
The Metropolitan Council prioritizes funding requests by giving a performance score
based on how well communities are maintaining or expanding and promoting affordable housing
supplies and if transit is accessible. Scores are based on data from the Minnesota Housing
Finance Agency (MHFA) and range from 0 to 100. Below is a score comparison of our five
cities and neighboring communities.
City 2016 Housing
Performance Score
Maplewood 84
Roseville 82
Shoreview 81
Fridley 79
White Bear Lake 75
North St. Paul 70
Mounds View 69
New Brighton 69
Arden Hills 68
Falcon Heights 40
Lauderdale 34
Little Canada 25
Dr. Ed Goetz says that generally speaking we have enough affordable units at the 80%
level, but where we lack is for 50% AMI (Area Median Income) and 30% AMI. In that respect,
he said, we’re far behind. John Slade of MICAH says that the Met Council’s goal is based on
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given growth in population and jobs, not how much affordable housing is needed. They don’t
deal enough with current need.
Vouchers
Financial help for low income renters is available through Section 8 vouchers. The
Housing Choice Voucher Program, funded by the federal government and distributed through
Metro HRA, offers rental assistance. Eligible households pay 30% to 40% of their incomes for
rent, and Metro HRA pays the remainder. Families may rent any type of housing in the Metro
HRA service area where the landlord agrees to program participation and within HRA rent
guidelines.
Special vouchers are also available. Bridges, a state program, provides rental assistance
for households with one or more adults with mental illnesses. Veteran’s Affairs Supportive
Housing (VASH), a federal program, offers rental assistance for homeless veterans in connection
with supportive services provided through the Veteran’s Administration.
Low-income people in the Twin Cities wait years for a Section 8 housing voucher. The
Metropolitan Council, which oversees Anoka, Carver, and most of the suburbs in Hennepin and
Ramsey counties, opened its waiting list in February 2015 for the first time since 2007. The
agency received 35,000 applications in four days. Only 2,000 names were put in a lottery, and
those families face a wait of up to three years to actually get a voucher.
People who do manage to secure a voucher often have a hard time redeeming them since
few places accept them. According to Met Council data, less than two thirds of Section 8
voucher holders are able to use them. The success rate for people with mental illness who have
Bridges vouchers is one-third.
The Metropolitan Council data below shows voucher usage in our five cities. Numbers
fluctuate and may not be totally accurate in 2017.
Type of
Voucher
Falcon
Heights
Lauderdale Little Canada Maplewood Roseville
Housing
Choice
(Section 8)
39 6 135 380 262
Bridges 0 0 6 5 3
Developers
“Funding is the responsibility of the developer. He or she must pull the funding together
and make it work. If you are a developer and you have a vision, you would not proceed without
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making sure you have the underlying financing and subsidies in place,” said CommonBond’s
Paul Fate.
The tool that affects the largest expansion of affordable housing is the Low Income
Housing Tax Credit, (LIHTC) which gives developers tax incentives for including affordable
housing in their projects, generally up to 60% Area Median Income (AMI). (Minnesota Housing
prefers 50%.) Tax credits come through the Federal Government Treasury Department and are
administered by local housing authorities. Credits are only applicable if there is land available
for development or redevelopment and usually require givebacks from the city as well.
NIMBYs (Not in My BackYard) discourage developers because they lead to “slow nos,”
where the city doesn’t say no right way, but rejects a project later in the negotiations process.
Delay is costly for the developer who may be paying for an option on the land, own the land or
be paying a holding cost. Developers learn which cities do this and gravitate to other cities.
Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency distributes funds to cities through a
consolidated Request for Proposal (RFP) to facilitate one-stop shopping. It partners with the Met
Council, Section 8 vouchers, and Greater Metropolitan Housing to offer this funding, which
comes from state and federal sources.
Cities rarely apply for funding for a building entirely devoted to Section 8 renters because
the funding is hard to put together and make work. However, Minnesota Housing encourages
local housing authorities to allocate at least some units for Section 8 vouchers within workforce
housing projects. It’s valuable to do so in terms of Housing Performance Scores for state
funding, according to Commissioner Tingerthal.
Landlords
Section 8 voucher renters are not protected under Fair Housing regulation. Even when
receiving a housing voucher, they can’t easily find a landlord who will accept them. Section 8’s
reputation is negative. Landlords don’t want to deal with the extra inspections and paperwork
that are a part of the voucher program. In today’s current competitive housing market, they don’t
need to bother with the hassle or accept applicants who have bad credit ratings or misdemeanors,
which many low-income people and people with mental illness have.
The Minnesota Legislature is currently examining policies that would encourage
landlords to take a risk on the poorest and most vulnerable rental applicants. Legislators recently
allocated a small amount of money to provide a backstop to landlords renting to families who
have criminal backgrounds or mental illness, to compensate for damages beyond what insurance
covers. Current state policy discussions focus on how to prevent “three calls from police and
then you get evicted” policies if the calls are due to a mental health crisis.
Some housing non-profits are compiling data with the hope of giving landlords more
accurate screening processes to enable them to better determine who would be a good tenant.
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Housing Link maintains a website to assist people in finding apartments where vouchers
are accepted. Their research manager, Dan Hylton, recommends cities give rental licensees
information about Housing Link and urge them to list there if their units are affordable.
Minnesota Challenge
A particularly helpful study of practical things that can be done to increase the
willingness of local governments to build affordable housing is the Minnesota Challenge study
conducted in 2014. The goal is to give state and local communities additional options for
providing a full range of housing choices for low and moderate income residents. The study was
conducted by CURA, the Housing Justice Center and Becker Consulting and funded by
Minnesota Housing, the McKnight Foundation, ULI Minnesota and Enterprise Community
Partners.
The most important lesson from the research is that local policies that affect cost play an
important role in determining whether it is feasible to build affordable housing and in the amount
of affordable housing that can be built throughout the region.
The report identifies eleven areas where improvements can be made, such as:
● Supporting appropriate density. The single area with the largest impact on cost is the
failure of cities to support cost-effective density and scale of affordable housing projects.
Several cities have been successful in resisting this tendency.
● Finding and acquiring sites for new developments is one of the most difficult, time
consuming and expensive tasks developers undertake. A number of cities have been quite
proactive in easing these burdens, from identifying appropriate sites to zoning sufficient
land.
● Fee reductions and waivers. Local fees, which vary widely, can easily add $20,000 to
$30,000 in costs per unit.
● Supporting inclusionary housing, where market rate units must include a certain ratio of
affordable units.
Hope for the Future
Despite the complex challenges listed in this report, we are guardedly hopeful for the
future. The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, a nonprofit affordable housing lender, is
developing the nation’s first regional pool of money to help affordable housing stay that way.
The Fund will assist buyers who want to buy apartment complexes when they come up for sale
in the seven-county metropolitan area. The goal is to purchase 10 to 20 percent of the affordable
housing buildings that go on the market.
In our area, Aeon, a Twin Cities non-profit organization, recently purchased a pair of
apartment buildings that will provide much needed workforce housing. The first, Goldenstar, is
a 109-unit building in Maplewood. The other, Sun Place, is a 30-unit structure in Roseville.
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Recent research by the Urban Land Institute and the Regional Council of Mayors (RCM),
that ULI staffs, found:
● Cities that are more accepting and intentional in supporting affordable housing as part of
a full range of housing choices ensure their competitive ability by accommodating
income diversity in their communities.
● Communities are adopting housing policies and modifying zoning codes to support
mixed use, mixed income and walkable places.
● 51 percent of affordable housing units in suburban areas were built or preserved in
Regional Council of Mayors (RCM) cities participating in the Urban Land Institute’s
services from 2008-2014.
A Word of Caution
Though progress has been made in increasing affordable housing for Minnesota’s low
and moderate income families, the future remains uncertain, given an expected rise in interest
rates and a potential decline in public housing funding under President Donald Trump.
Minnesota’s Housing Fund is depleted pending Legislative action this year.
Analysis of Affordable Housing In Our Five Cities
On November 1st, 2016, The Roseville Area League of Women Voters Affordable
Housing Study Committee sent Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Maplewood and
Roseville City Managers a survey to determine the present affordable housing situation in their
cities. The cities had just begun to update their comprehensive plans. In some situations
answers were still unknown. City figures are accurate as of December 1, 2016.
The MN Housing Finance Agency defines affordability based on the Area Median
Income (AMI). The agency publishes the AMI adjusted by county and by individuals per
household. In Ramsey County the AMI is $60,100 for an individual, $85,800 for a family of
four. Need for assistance is broken into three categories: those with incomes up to 30% AMI,
incomes between 31 and 50% and incomes that are 51-80% of the AMI.
Survey questions were based on information members of the Study Committee gathered
in interviews with individuals with expertise in regional affordable housing. The survey was
organized into three areas based on the Metropolitan Council Housing Plan: Assessing Existing
Housing/Needs/Priorities; Implementing Housing Planning; Projecting Future Affordable
Housing Needs.
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Existing Housing
City Popula-
tion
#Units
0-30%
AMI**
#Units
31-50%
AMI**
#Units 51-
80%
AMI**
Apartments
(Units)
Mobile
Home
Parks/
Units
LIHTC
Financed
Units***
Falcon
Heights
5,571 25*
(25)
616*
(628)
1,156*
(752)
Unknown*
(963)
None None
Lauderdale 2,484 52*
(15)
480*
(590)
528*
(464)
536*
(648)
None None
Little
Canada
10,319 605*
(953)
825*
(1100)
850*
(1753)
1,580*
(2195)
3/573*
(450)
118
Maplewood 40,567 1,327*
(1218)
2,920*
(4059)
7,776*
(7454)
4,373*
(4373)
4/726*
(734)
31
Roseville 35,580 371 +
15
owned
by Met
Council
(1169)*
175*
(2517)
Unknown
(7268)*
Abt 5,000
(Includes single
family rentals)*
(6087)
1/105*
(112)
258
*Number reported in survey (Met Council assessment)
**AMI = Area Median Income. 0-31% includes homeless.
***LIHTC = Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH), homes that are available without
subsidies, are not specifically tracked by any of the cities, but are tracked in the aggregate by the
Met Council and included in their Performance Scores.
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Implementing Housing Planning
Acreage available for future development is minimal so our inner-ring communities are
more likely to focus on redevelopment and rehabilitation.
City Residential
Acreage
Available for
Development
Residential
Acreage
Available for
Re-development
# Developer
-initiated Request
for Affordable
Housing Builds:
5yrs/10yrs.
Approved/Denied
Falcon
Heights
1 Unknown 1/1 Approved
Lauderdale None None 0/0
Little
Canada
About 20
acres
Hard to Predict Unknown other than
senior housing/high
% of rental housing
available
Senior housing
approved
Maplewood Minimal City doesn’t
specify
2/Unknown Approved
Roseville None 58 acres for
high density
residential dev.
2/4 1 Pending/2
Approved/1 Denied
(hinged on
significant amt. of
subsidy)
City Programs To Encourage Affordable Housing
There are many ways in which cities can encourage or make it easier for affordable
housing to be developed in their communities. We asked if cities:
● Require a percentage of affordable units in high density development?
● Contribute local financial resources for low income housing?
● Reduce/waive building permit and municipal fees?
● Identify and acquire sites?
● Streamline the administrative process for project approval?
● Identify zoning regulations that allow for flexibility in affordable housing development
such as parking requirements, design requirements?
There are few allowances in place in our cities presently, aside from:
● Falcon Heights: Has flexibility in zoning/subdivision codes through a Planned Unit
Development (PUD).
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● Lauderdale: flexibility.
● Little Canada: Assisted in providing tax exempt financing with some building upgrades.
Contributed bond issuance fees to at least one complex to assist with improvement to a
fire suppression system. Provided financing to three existing condo developments that
met affordable guidelines using a statutory provision allowing for Housing Improvement
Areas (HIA).
● Roseville: Has considered and given subsidy to low income housing projects.
Most cities require licensing of rental units and oversee them through state and city
building codes. Maplewood does not have specific rental licensing standards. Falcon Heights
only requires licensing of structures with four or less units.
Cities, generally, are not participating in programs that link individuals and families with
affordable housing needs with availability in their communities.
Lauderdale and Roseville have participated in the Met Council’s Livable Communities
Program. Roseville has also worked with Corridors of Opportunity.
Projecting Affordable Housing Needs
The cities in the Roseville Area League are just beginning to update their comprehensive
plans as required by the Metropolitan Council in 2018. When surveyed, they frequently did not
have facts and figures readily available.
To assist communities in assessing their comprehensive plans, the Metropolitan Council
forecasts population and job growth. It also projects regional household growth and determines
each community’s share of the regional need for housing. The figures below are based on a total
regional need of 37,900 Affordable Housing units for the years 2021-2030. The numbers indicate
how many units the Met Council has determined each community needs to add.
City Allocation 0-
30% AMI
Allocation 31-
50% AMI
Allocation 51-
80% AMI
Total Units
Needed
Falcon Heights 0 0 0 0
Lauderdale 0 0 0 0
Little Canada 26 28 25 79
Maplewood 250 95 165 510
Roseville 72 50 20 142
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As first-ring suburbs with changing demographics, none has begun to consider examining
the relationship between employment in their cities and the need for housing for those employed.
Conclusion
At the time of the survey, all the cities indicated acreage available for new residential
development is minimal to non-existent, placing emphasis on future redevelopment of existing
land tracts and upgrades or rehabs of current properties.
In general, cities were not well informed about low-income affordable housing AMI
availability and present rental voucher usage. Nor were they making affordable housing more
development friendly through regulation flexibility. Connecting local individuals/families to
support organizations that help them find housing is minimal.
Reflecting the LWVMN position on housing, improvement needs to be encouraged in:
● Providing for a full range of affordable housing opportunities in each city.
● Preserving and improving current affordable housing.
● Promoting better awareness of rental housing subsidy usage and linking low- income
residents to support services.
● Supporting incentives that make development/rehabilitation more attractive to
developers.
● Maintaining and regulating rental properties.
● Considering inclusion of affordable housing when minimal land available is developed.
● When licensing landlords, urge or require them to list on HousingLink if their units are
affordable.
What’s Next?
This year’s study sought to educate League members, elected officials and the public
about the need for affordable housing and its availability in the five cities in which most of our
members reside. Many of the housing experts we interviewed told us that informed local
advocacy by the League of Women Voters, partnering with other organizations, including
churches, could be a key factor in garnering local interest to increase affordable housing options
in our cities.
Capstone Project
League members are working with a team of University of Minnesota Humphrey School
of Public Affairs graduate students working on a Master’s Degree Capstone Project. The goal of
the team is to analyze existing affordable housing in our five cities and build a framework of
successful practices to meet future needs of our changing cities. With the students, we will make
our study results and the framework they develop available to our cities to use as they update
required Metropolitan Council housing plans. We will also make the framework available to
other leagues representing first-ring suburbs who have many of the same needs as our cities.
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LWV Affordable Housing Study Committee
Thanks to committee co-chairs: Rebecca Bormann, Mindy Greiling, Bonnie Koch and
members: Judy Berglund, Emma Duren, Georgeann Hall, Claire Jordan, Kathy Juenemann, Kris
Nagy, Beth Salzl.
This study is dedicated to Ann Berry, a lifetime League member and passionate advocate for
affordable housing. Ann died in 2016.
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CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Regular Meeting of the City Council
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
August 25, 2021 at 7:00 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 PM
B. ROLL CALL: ANDREWS _X__ GUSTAFSON__X__ LEEHY__X_
MIAZGA _X__ WEHYEE___
STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH__X__
Administrator Thongvanh
The general disbursements and payroll have been amended. This accounts for a pass through for the
Amber Union project for bonding received from the State. There is also an additional item added to the
consent agenda, amending the 2021 City Fee Schedule.
Motion by Council Member Andrews to amend the agenda;
Approved, 4-0.
C. PRESENTATION
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. August 11, 2021 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes
Motion by Council Member Leehy to approve the minutes;
Approved, 4-0.
2. August 18, 2021 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes
Motion by Council Member Miazga to approve the minutes;
Approved, 4-0.
E. PUBLIC HEARINGS:
F. CONSENT AGENDA:
1. General Disbursements through: 817/21 $828,713.20
Payroll through: 8/15/21 $19,363.92
2. Amended North Suburban Communications Commission Joint and Cooperative Agreement
for the Administration of Cable Communications Franchises
3. 2021 City Fee Schedule
Motion by Council Member Leehy to approve the consent agenda;
Approved, 4-0.
G: POLICY ITEMS:
1. 2021 Pavement Management Project (PMP) Pay Estimate #5
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Jesse Freihammer, City Engineer
The majority of the work has been completed. We are retaining 5% to cover corrective work that still
needs to be completed. We recommend approval of pay estimate #5.
Motion by Council Member Andrews to approve Pay Estimate #5;
Approved, 4-0.
2. 2021 Pavement Management Project (MPM) Declare Costs to Be Assessed and Call for
Assessment Hearing
Jesse Freihammer, City Engineer
Since we know what the real costs of the project are, the next step is to set a public hearing. We
recommend scheduling the hearing for September 22. The overall project is under budget compared to
the feasibility report. The assessment cost is also lower than projected, and this is included in the
assessment rolls included in the packet. The proposed assessment rate is 4 percent over five years for
residents that do not prepay. The notice would probably go out right after Labor Day in anticipation of
the September 22 meeting.
Motion by Council Member Andrews to approve Resolution 21-35;
Approved, 4-0.
Jesse Freihammer, City Engineer
There is one change in the assessment rolls because of a correction in status we made to 1899 Larpenteur
from commercial to residential since we determined this address is homesteaded.
H. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
I. COMMUNITY FORUM:
J. ADJOURNMENT: 7:31 PM
________________________________
Randall C. Gustafson, Mayor
Dated this 25th day of August, 2021
_________________________________
Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator
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CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
City Council Workshop
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
September 1, 2021
6:30 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:40PM
B. ROLL CALL: ANDREWS ___ GUSTAFSON__X__ LEEHY__X_
MIAZGA _X__ WEHYEE_X__
STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH__X__ WALTER_X__
C. PRESENTATIONS:
D. POLICY ITEMS:
1. Proposed 2022 Levy and Budget
a. General Fund
b. Debt Services
c. Special Revenue Fund
d. Enterprise Fund
Administrator Thongvanh
In the park programming fund, the revenue and expenditures were less than in previous years.
Parks programs are not money makers. The park programs fund (201) receives $26,000 via
transfer-in from the General Fund.
The Charitable Gambling Fund (202) provides a small amount of revenue that must be donated
to a charitable cause. Council will need to decide how to allocate this amount in the future.
The Water Fund (204) shows a revenue source which is comprised of dollars earned from the
fee we charge on water use, which in the past has been used to fund fire hydrants or relocations
of hydrants.
The Recycling Fund (206) is funded through service fees. The expenditures include staff salary
for recycling-related work.
The Street Lighting Fund (209) could be used for replacement of the decorative lighting near
Larpenteur and Snelling that was done around 1991 or 1992. To replace the lighting and do the
electrical work that would be needed is about 250K. The City monuments will eventually need
to be updated, as they are beginning to rust.
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The Community Inclusion Fund (210) regularly shows a transfer-in and is used for staff training
or for various programs for the community.
The Sanitary Sewer Fund (601) is an enterprise fund. We are proposing a 3% increase on
sanitary sewer charges. This is a good fund to keep replenished because it can be used to fund a
variety of projects for the City, not tied to a specific purpose like the special revenue funds. The
Metro Sewer Charges is based on the usage of the sewer system and is a pass-through item.
There is a lag, so the costs to the City are lower in 2021 because the State Fair was not held in
2020. I’m looking at reducing the frequency of televising and jetting of sewer lines. We probably
have 3 or 4 miles left of the sewer lining project. The University Grove neighborhood used to be
owned by the University but they turned over the infrastructure to the City, and the City
maintains the sewer infrastructure and Saint Paul maintains the water infrastructure through
Saint Paul Regional Water Services. Some cities, including Roseville and Apple Valley don’t do
assessments for pavement projects and fund them with the General Fund.
The Storm Sewer Fund (602) was used to fund projects such as the Curtiss Field project and the
drainage ditch on Lindig.
The only lighting the City owns is the decorative lighting and the lighting in parks. The revenue
from the street light fee is used to pay the electric costs of the lighting.
The project on Cleveland will involve third-party agreements between the City, County, and
University. There will likely be maintenance agreements with Saint Paul to maintain lighting.
For the levy, we are anticipating a 5% increase this year. We’ll need to start thinking about
funding a different policing contract. The startup costs would be around $400,000. We will be
with Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office for 2022.
If we don’t keep the levy comparable to other cities, we would lose our fiscal disparity
allocation. And if we were to lose fiscal disparity, we would have to levy more to make up for
this. That would place a larger burden on homeowners.
E. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F. ADJOURNMENT: 8:20PM
________________________________
Randall C. Gustafson, Mayor
Dated this 1st day of September, 2021
_________________________________
Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator
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REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________
Item General Disbursements and Payroll
Description
General Disbursements through: 9/01/21 $15,339.27
Payroll through: 8/31/21 $20,435.91
Budget Impact The general disbursements and payroll are consistent with the budget.
Attachment(s) • General Disbursements and Payroll
Action(s)
Requested
Staff recommends that the Falcon Heights City Council approve general
disbursements and payroll.
Meeting Date September 8, 2021
Agenda Item Consent F1
Attachment General Disbursements and Payroll
Submitted By Roland Olson, Finance Director
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