HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 13, 2026 City Council Workshop Meeting MinutesC
CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
City Council Workshop
City Hall
207 7 rN est Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
Wednesday, May 13,2026
6:00 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:00 PM
B. ROLLCALL:GUSTAFSON-X- MAY-X-
MIELKE X MOGEN X WASSENBERG X
STAFF PRESENT: LINEHAN X
POLICY ITEMS:
1. Discuss Potential of Council Liaison to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC)
(6:00 P.M.)
May believes a Council Liaison is needed, and could function much like Council
Liaisons to other commissions.
Mogen wonders what the Council Liaison would be reporting back to the Council?
May believes the CAC will have intense, ongoing work, and that is the reason for
keeping the Council informed.
Wassenberg has one concerry and that there are already going to be quite a few people
in the room. He adds a comment that Linehan will already be in attendance and can
sewe as the conduit of information.
Mielke says that she served on State Fair Task Force in a similar capacity and that
Linehan was also in attendance. However, Mielke believes there may be additional
council members already in the audience at the CAC meetings.
Mogen reminds them that council did not support adding an additional CAC member at
a previous Council meeting, and that this idea was not shared then. Mogen adds that
two City staff members will be present with Linehan and Myhren.
Gustafson feels that the CAC is supposed to be guided by the community and if we have
too much staff involvement or Council direction, it might defeat the purpose of the
community advisory part.
May does not envision it as the Council Liaison as guiding or participating, but as
setting bounds or providing information.
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Mielke recommends waiting until the CAC has met and re-evaluating later, if they
indicate that is desired.
Linehan shares that there will be three check-ins with Council and that those can be joint
meetings; there will be opportunities for all to work with the CAC.
2. Ramsey County EDA Implementation Next Steps (6:25 P.M.)
Linehan says that staff are seeking guidance. He provides an overview and says that
last year, Ramsey County requested legislation to expand their powers under the HRA
(Housing Redevelopment Authority). Outside of St. Paul and North St. Paul, all other
cities in Ramsey County defer to the county as their HRA. The county cannot use levy
funds for economic purposes currently, so this creates more opporfunities for small
business grants, and each city can opt in or opt out. Council is asked to provide
direction so this could come before Council for a vote on May 27,before the June L
deadline.
Wassenberg clarifies that if we opt out, we are not eligible for those economic funds. He
asks what we stand to lose by opting in.
Linehan does not believe they stand to lose anything by opting in. The only hesitation
that Linehan has heard of is perhaps losing a bit of autonomy if you are applying for
these grants, that you may have to mold to what the county wants. Linehan shares that
the city has received prior beneficial grant funding through HRA.
Mogen confirms that our citizens would be taxed the exact same amount if we don't do
opt in; we just wouldn t be eligible for any of these grants.
May asks if the county decides what the grant opportunities would look like. And, if
these HRA and EDA funds could help prevent the conversion of naturally occurring
affordable housing into for-profit privately-owned and run rentals.
Gustafson confirms that there is consensus to opt in. The item will be brought forward
during the May 27 City Council Meeting.
3. Administrative Citations for Parking Violations (6:35 P.M.)
Linehan asked the City Attorney to advise whether the city could issue low punishment
moving violations and the city already has a section of code called "Administrative
Citations," which was adopted in 2018. The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office did use this,
but St. Anthony Police does not. So, the City Attorney advised how this could be done
for parking enforcement. The State Fair Parking ambassadors could issue the ticket,
which would then spell out how to contest the fine or pay it. We could schedule a date
of September 15, for example, to hold a one-day administrative hearing for those who
want to contest a fine received during the twelve days of the Minnesota State Fair. The
primary benefit to the city is that it would relieve the police department to focus on
traffic instead. Staff seeks direction as to whether the general idea is supported so that
work could be done to move it forward prior to the fair.
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Mogen asks if it could be expanded to citations outside of the fair.
Mielke asks Mogen if he's recommending Public Works, for example, ticketing during a
snow storm.
Mogen responds that multiple ideas come to mind, such as parking too close to a stop
sign, or blocking a driveway, as examples.
Linehan says that one thing to look into, is whether it is a state law. To his
understanding, if it is in Chapter 46 of City Code, then it could be done.
Mielke expresses interest in following the same process during events such as Back to
the'50s and other times.
Linehan says that from a staffing perspective, the primary focus right now is during the
state fair.
Wassenberg asks whether Parking Ambassadors would need to be trained and gather
evidence.
Linehan confirms they would and adds that staff are also exploring software through
ParkMobile to photograph license plates. Previously, if 600 parking citations were
writtery that was the court's problem. This would now be the responsibility of the city's
and add work.
Mielke would like to know pricing of things such as license plate readers, software, etc.
before deciding.
Linehan adds that they would fure a part-time person for summer to oversee this and
that we would need to hire an independent, third-party judge.
Gustafson asks if civil penalties beyond the state fair could be considered in the future.
Linehan understands it, as currently written, that we could not.
May appreciates the discussiory but that more consideration can be done at its
implementation, where complete cost accounting should be shared.
Mogen asks if another entity, such as a nearby university, uses this company/plate
readers, and if we could explore sharing the devices or tagging onto their system for 12-
days, covering their costs for that month. Mogen adds that he does not view fines as a
fundraising tool, but that the fines are to prevent the police department from having to
do the enforcement.
Wassenberg prefers to focus on the parking aspect of administrative citations for now,
and this could easily be expanded in the future.
Mogen acknowledges Wassenberg's sentiments and just adds that he would want the
Council to think ahead, only so we don't pursue parking-only software if we have plans
to expand in the future.
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Linehan adds that tickets issued currently appear on your criminal history/driving
record. So, a benefit here is that these would not show up on your record.
Councilmembers then discuss having greater penalties for greater infractions.
Council supports focusing only on parking citations for now and bringing this forward
for a public hearing on June 10.
4. State Fair Task Force 3.0 Guidance (6:50 P.M.)
Mielke says that the five items that remain on the list for Council to consider are not
things that residents need to discuss or that would attract applicants for SFTF 3.0; they
were not things that the previous task force felt they could help with.
Combining the Administrative Manual into City Code, for example, is not something
Mielke feels they can assist with, and that SFTF 3.0 is not needed.
Linehan agrees that some tasks are longstanding and will remain on the "to do" list for
years, with or without a task force.
Wassenberg suggests bringing the remaining task list to upcoming workshops so that
Council can prioritize it.
Linehan clarifies that the action items were pulled from the State Fair Task Force's final
report, and these are ongoing tasks. Staff are working on things on the backend. This
item was brought based on the final task force report and to see whether the council
wanted or needed an advisory body.
D. ADIOURNMENT: 6:59 PM
Mogen motions to adjourn the meeting;
Approved 5-0
Randall C.Mayor
Dated tlis2Th day of May,2026
ty Administrator
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