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Home My WebLink About03-24-2021 Regular Meeting CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS Regular Meeting of the City Council City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue AGENDA March 24, 2021 at 7:00 P.M. NOTE: THIS MEETING WILL BE HELD BY WEB CONFERENCE* A. CALL TO ORDER: B. ROLL CALL: ANDREWS ___ GUSTAFSON____ LEEHY___ MIAZGA ___ WEHYEE___ STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH____ C. PRESENTATION D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 1. March 17, 2021 City Council Workshop Minutes E. PUBLIC HEARINGS: F. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. General Disbursements through: 3/17/21 $241,680.88 Payroll through: 3/15/21 $17,959.72 2. Charitable/Lawful Gambling License for Falcon Heights Elementary PTA G: POLICY ITEMS: 1. Amber Union Agreement for Tax Base Revitalization Account Grant – Metropolitan Council 2. Police Services Update H. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS: I. COMMUNITY FORUM: Please limit comments to 3 minutes per person. Items brought before the Council will be referred for consideration. Council may ask questions for clarification, but no council action or discussion will be held on these items. J. ADJOURNMENT: *You can participate in the meeting by clicking the following Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81446634622 Toll Free Number: 1-833-548-0276 1-833-548-0282 1-877-853-5247 1-888-788-0099 Webinar ID: 814 4663 4622 BLANK PAGE 1 | Page CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS City Council Workshop City Hall 2077 West Larpenteur Avenue MINUTES March 17, 2021 6:30 P.M. NOTE: THIS MEETING WAS HELD BY WEB CONFERENCE A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:36pm B. ROLL CALL: ANDREWS __X_ GUSTAFSON__X__ LEEHY_X__ MIAZGA _X__ WEHYEE__X_ STAFF PRESENT: THONGVANH__X__ WALTER_X__ C. PRESENTATIONS: D. POLICY ITEMS: 1. Police Services Update Administrator Thongvanh We’re still in the process of liquidating our assets from the fire department. I’m in the process of getting appraisals on all 3 vehicles. St. Paul is interested in a variety of our equipment. Once I have a list of the items they’re interested in, I’ll bring that to Council. We received a number of positive comments from agencies in the area regarding our police services. One agency is very interested in providing some numbers to us, that is the City of Saint Paul. The Mayor and Police Chief are interested, but they would like a formal letter from the City requesting a quote. I am looking at authority from the council to draft a letter to the City of Saint Paul requesting that they submit a proposal. Our deadline is March 31 to notify Ramsey County that we are interested in other agencies. Sheriff Fletcher said he would send a letter notifying us that the cost would increase, but I have not yet received the letter. Per the contract, Ramsey County can increase the City’s cost at any time during the contract. I am hopeful that we would have a contract in place by April or May. We do need to send a letter to Ramsey County to notify them that we are considering a contract with another entity. Council Member Miazga If we are to send the letter to St. Paul, is there anything that would prevent us from returning to the contract with Ramsey County? 2 | Page Administrator Thongvanh I’m not sure, I would need to speak with our legal department. Council Member Wehyee You said that other agencies are not currently interested. I’m wondering if we contract with St. Paul, how would that affect the feasibility of contracting with them in the future? Administrator Thongvanh I would think not. I would look for at least a 3-year contract so that we can realize our investment in terms of the start-up costs. These start-up costs would include training of new recruits and capital costs. I would also look for a term in the contract that an officer be stationed in Falcon Heights 24/7. Once the council directs me to draft a formal letter to request services from Saint Paul, we will wait for the response and that will trigger a special meeting to discuss. Council Member Wehyee If we decide to go down this route, how long can they serve our community before we can begin working with St. Paul? Mayor Gustafson Once we give notice, the contract ends December 31, 2021. Beginning January 1, 2022, we would be under a new contract with St. Paul. Given that St. Paul will need to increase staffing, we would likely have to pay overtime rates for approximately 5 months while they increase their department size. Administrator Thongvanh I just need authority to write the letter, it can be informal. The council members provided authorization. Administrator Thongvanh I’ll move forward on drafting a letter. E. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS: F. ADJOURNMENT: 7:27 PM ________________________________ Randall C. Gustafson, Mayor Dated this 17th day of March, 2021 _________________________________ Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ Item General Disbursements and Payroll Description General Disbursements through: 3/17/21 $241,680.88 Payroll through: 3/15/21 $17,959.72 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 March 24, 2021 Agenda Item Consent F1 Attachment General Disbursements and Payroll Submitted By Roland Olson, Finance Director BLANK PAGE REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ Item Approval of City License(s) Description The following individual/entities have applied for a Charitable Gambling License for 2021. Staff have received the necessary document for licensure. 1. Falcon Heights PTA Budget Impact N/A Attachment(s) N/A Action(s) Requested Staff recommends approval of the City license application Meeting Date March 24, 2021 Agenda Item Consent F2 Attachment N/A Submitted By Vandara Thammavongsa Assistant to the City Administrator BLANK PAGE REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ Item Motion to accept the award from the Metropolitan Council’s Tax Base Revitalization Account for Affordable Housing and grant authority to the City Administrator to sign all documents related to accepting the grant. Description The City of Falcon Heights and Buhl GTA, LLC have received a grant from the Metropolitan Council’s Tax Base Revitalization Account for the Amber Union project at 1667 Snelling Avenue. City Council approved Resolution 20-45 on October 14, 2020 which allowed staff to apply for the grant. The City of Falcon Heights applied for the application in shortly thereafter. The City and Buhl GTA, LLC (the developer of the Amber Union project) prepared a grant application for environmental cleanup at the Amber Union property (1667 Snelling Ave). These grant funds are meant to remediate asbestos and other contamination associated with seventy-plus years of use at the site. The City received notice of approval of the grant award in February of 2021 after approval by the Metropolitan Council at their January 13, 2020 meeting. Budget Impact The grant is in the amount of $962,200. This grant and related activity is not forecasted to have direct impact on the budget. Attachment(s) • Amber Union Agreement for Tax Base Revitalization Account Grant Action(s) Requested Staff recommends a motion to accept the award from the Metropolitan Council’s Tax Base Revitalization Account for Affordable Housing and grant authority to the City Administrator to sign all documents related to accepting the grant. Meeting Date March 24, 2021 Agenda Item Gx Attachment Grant Agreement from the Metropolitan Council Submitted By Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator BLANK PAGE REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ Item Police Services Update Description An update will be provided to the Council when we receive a response to our letter of interest for police services from the City of Saint Paul. The Mayor and I have a scheduled meeting with Mayor Carter of Saint Paul next week. Budget Impact Attachment(s) • Request for Police Services Action(s) Requested A formal action will be required by the Council to change or modify the agreement with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. Meeting Date March 24, 2021 Agenda Item Policy G2 Attachment Request Letter Submitted By Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator BLANK PAGE March 18, 2021 Dear Mayor Carter, I have been authorized by the Falcon Heights City Council and Mayor to send this formal letter to request police services from the City of Saint Paul, via a professional services contract agreement with police service coverage to the City of Falcon Heights beginning on January 1, 2022. We recognize that many details will need to be finalized to make this request a reality in a mutually agreeable manner for both of our Cities in the coming months. What the City of Falcon Heights is currently seeking is an acknowledgement from your Office that the City of Saint Paul is willing to provide police services via contract to Falcon Heights and will work to help make it happen. The Falcon Heights City Council is operating with a very small timing window because we are required to give a nine month notice to our current agency providing police services, of our intent to acquire police services from another agency. We would appreciate if you can provide a response by March 23rd. I look forward to your quick response. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by email at sack.thongvanh@falconheights.org or by phone at 651-792-7611. Best Regards, Sack Thongvanh, City Administrator