HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEC Agenda 10.21.24 - AmendedCITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Community Engagement Commission
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
AGENDA - AMENDED
October 21, 2024 at 6:30 P.M.
A.CALL TO ORDER:
B. WELCOME:
C. ROLL CALL:
Karen Cooley-Kistler____ Julie Ebbesen____ Curt Stockford____ Mishy Wang___
Rebecca Leighton____ Denise King____
STAFF PRESENT:
Elke Johnson___
COUNCIL LIAISON:
Melanie Leehy____
D.APPROVAL OF AGENDA
E.INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENT
F.APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
G.AGENDA
•Unfinished business
1.Human Rights Day
2. Apartment Outreach
H. ADJOURNMENT:
Next Regular Meeting is on Monday, November 18 at 6:30 PM
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CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Community Engagement Commission
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
September 16, 2024 at 6:30 P.M.
A.CALL TO ORDER: 6:36 PM
B. WELCOME:
C. ROLL CALL:
Karen Cooley-Kistler_X___ Julie Ebbesen__X__ Curt Stockford__ Mishy Wang_X__
Rebecca Leighton__X__ Denise King___
STAFF PRESENT:
Elke Van der Werff_X__
COUNCIL LIAISON:
Melanie Leehy__X__
D.APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion to approve agenda – Motion to approve Ebbesen, seconded by Cooley-Kistler -
unanimously approved
E. Information/Announcements
•St Paul Art Crawl 10/4-6
F.APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1.June 17, 2024 Community Engagement Commission Meeting Minutes
Motion to approve – Ebbesen - unanimously approved
G.AGENDA
•Unfinished business
•CERT training discussion
o Van def Werff – suggests placing the conversation on hold until we know
the new policing agency
o Cooley-Kistler asks to clarify the timing, Van der Werff thinks the change
will be taking place in March or possibly April
o Van der Werff communicates that Ramsey County has CERT training
programs currently.
o Ebbesen asks if we should get everything in order to be ready to go when
the policing contract is finalized. Van der Werff believes there will be a
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“ramp up” period with additional officers needing to be recruited and the
staff will need to be trained.
o Leehy – suggests encouraging citizens to take the online introductory
course. May need to budget a little towards the training to take care of
binders and copies.
o Looking at possibly fall of 2025 to bring back discussions and/or training
programs.
o Leehy – could discuss with St. Paul Fire for support.
•Apartment Outreach
o King is absent but was going to reach out to apartment management to
discuss options for outreach events
o Leehy suggests possibly calling from city hall so caller ID shows that it
would be an “official” call.
o If e-mails are being sent Van der Werff and Leehy should be copied.
Leehy suggests including language in an e-mail that says we may follow
up with a phone call
o Van der Werff will follow up with an update when she is able to connect
with King.
o Leehy suggests starting with senior apartments/condos as they regularly
have social events.
•New Business
•Human Rights Day
o Van der Werff – We had Just Deeds in 2021 and looking to now move
forward with creating amendments internally starting next month. Staff
will be able to offer deed amendments during business hours.
o Leehy asks how many residents have reached out to request the
amendment.
o Ebbesen, Wang, Leighton, Leehy, Van der Werff all suggest that the city
has evening availability to run an evening opportunity to have residents
apply for the amendments.
o Van der Werff believes residents or attorneys need to complete the form.
The city is planning to contact residents that may have these covenants on
their property with examples and step-by-step instructions and let them
know when events are that they can come in and get assistance.
o Kistler suggests event hours from 4:30 to 8 on Tuesday, December 10.
J. ADJOURNMENT: 7:47 PM
Motion to adjourn Ebbssen – unanimously approved
Next Regular Meeting is on November, 18 at 6:30 PM
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ITEM FOR DISCUSSION
City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________
Item Human Rights Day
Description Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on
December, 10th. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General
Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Human Rights Day will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at Falcon Heights
City Hall. A time frame still needs to be secured. The theme will be removing racial
covenants.
On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, the Falcon Heights City Council took action to
support the work of the Just Deeds project. As a result, Falcon Heights residents
have the opportunity to acknowledge the historical discrimination caused by these
covenants and to discharge them from their property records. Because Just Deeds
relies on volunteer hours from attorneys and because a great number of
homeowners requested that a racial covenant be removed from their property, the
process has taken longer than anticipated.
The City of Falcon Heights has now determined that City Staff with guidance from
the Just Deeds Coalition can assist property owners wishing to remove a racial
covenant from their property during Human Rights Day.
Staff has drafted a letter to all homeowners that have a property with a racial
covenant on their deed, along with instructions.
Staff has been in contact with Mapping Prejudice, and Just Deeds, who have in turn
reached out to the Ramsey County Recorders Office. Mapping Prejudice will be
able to present at Human Rights Day. Just Deeds suggested having volunteer
attorneys present at the event to assist residents with completing form 40.10.1.
Budget
Impact
TBD
Meeting Date October 21, 2024
Agenda Item Human Rights Day
Attachment •Racial Covenant Letter for
Homeowners
•Form 40.10.1
•Instructions to complete form
10.10.1
Submitted By Elke Johnson, Administrative &
Communications Coordinator
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Attachment(s) •Form 40.10.1
•Racial Covenant Letter for Homeowners
•Instructions to complete form 10.10.1
Action(s)
Requested
Continue discussions about this year’s Human Rights Day Event.
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10/18/2024
Dear Falcon Heights Resident,
Your property has been identified as having a racial covenant on your property record. Racial covenants are restrictions placed on residential properties (deeds, titles) from the 1940’s to the
early 1960’s to prevent people who were not White from buying or occupying land. Most
homeowners do not realize these exist. Standardized forms used during that time in real estate transactions contained these provisions which were seldom overlooked as part of the purchasing/closing process. A Supreme Court ruling in 1948 (Shelley v. Kraemer) ruled them unenforceable and in 1953 the Minnesota Legislature prohibited their use. However, they remain
on the official records until they are legally removed – or discharged. While no longer
enforceable, they remain a permanent part of your legal property record.
Examples of Racial Covenants:
DATE - 1946-04-23
COVENANT: no person or persons other than of the Caucasian race shall be permitted to
occupy said premises or any part thereof
DATE - 1948-04-01
COVENANT: No lot, plot, or parcel shall be sold, leased, mortgaged, used or occupied, nor
any right thereto be granted, given, or permitted to any person, other than a member of the
Caucasian race, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by persons.
On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, the Falcon Heights City Council approved a resolution to join the
Just Deeds Coalition to help raise awareness and to assist property owners in discharging
discriminatory covenants at no charge. With guidance from the Just Deeds project, Falcon Heights homeowners can disavow and renounce the restrictive covenants on their property records. Completion and filing of form 40.10.1 will remove (discharge) them from the legal property record, should you wish to do so, and there is no fee to do so.
Because Just Deeds relies on volunteer hours from attorneys and because a great number of homeowners requested that a racial covenant be removed from their property, the process has taken longer than anticipated.
The City of Falcon Heights has now determined that City Staff with guidance from the Just
Deeds project can assist property owners wishing to remove a racial covenant from their property. On Tuesday, December 10, 2024 (INSERT TIME) the City will recognize Human Rights Day by administratively assisting residents to complete their form, notarize it, and submit
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it on your behalf to Ramsey County.
Whether or not you previously requested a racial covenant to be removed from your property or
if you would like to request to have one removed now, you are welcome to attend Human Rights Day on Tuesday, December 10th from (INSERT TIME).
Volunteers from Just Deeds, Mapping Prejudice, and staff from the Ramsey County Recorders
Office and the City of Falcon Heights will be present to assist.
Attached, you will find a copy of the Minnesota Uniform Conveyance Form 40.10.1 to fill out and bring with you to City Hall. You will also find an example of a completed 40.10.1 form and instructions to help you complete it.
Do NOT sign your names near the bottom of page two until you are in front of a notary at your appointment at City Hall.
Alternatively, you can complete the form and have it notarized elsewhere and then mail it on
your own to:
Ramsey County Recorder’s Officer Attn: Todd Uecker 90 Plato Blvd. W. Saint Paul, MN 55107
If you have questions, please feel free to contact City Hall at 651-792-7600.
Sincerely,
699
1010
1111
Instructions to complete a Minnesota Uniform Conveyance Form 40.10.01 (enclosed)
1.Visit the Mapping Prejudice map here: https://mappingprejudice.umn.edu.
2. Scroll down to about halfway and click on “See all Covenants.”
3. Scroll the cursor over your property
4. Click the mouse
5. A pop-up will appear that contains your legal description of your property (Addition, Lot,
Block Number)
6. This information goes on the first page where is asks for “The real property owned …., The date of the Covenant – fill that in the first blank of question 2 on page w.
7. The document number goes in the second blank
8.At the very bottom left-hand corner of the page, there is a place to insert name and addressafter: “THIS INSTRUMENT WAS DRAFTED BY”a.You write in your name and address there.
9. Be sure to sign the form in front of the notary; do NOT sign it before.
10. Make an appointment at City Hall. If you are unable to attend on December 10 (INSERTTIME) you may ask for an alternative time. City Hall is open Monday-Friday between 8:00
AM and 4:30 PM.
11. Either the City can mail your form on your behalf or you may mail it yourself to RamseyCounty at the below address.
Ramsey County Recorder’s Office
Attn: Todd Uecker
90 Plato Blvd W Saint Paul, MN 55107
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ITEM FOR DISCUSSION
City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________
Item Apartment Outreach Plan
Description Based on recent discussions, it has been identified by the Community Engagement
Commission there should be more outreach to apartment dwellers to cultivate a sense
of belonging in Falcon Heights.
CEC has started discussions around an apartment outreach plan. Commissioners have identified that they should write up a script that can be used to reach out to apartment
managers and owners. They started discussions around a timeline. They will need availability of 1 or 2 councilmembers.
Budget Impact N/A
Attachment(s) N/A
Action(s) Requested Staff suggest continuing the discussion for apartment outreach plan
Meeting Date October 21, 2024
Agenda Item Apartment Outreach
Attachment N/A
Submitted By Elke Johnson, Administrative &
Communications Coordinator
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