09-27-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION DRAFT 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 1 MINUTES 2 3 DATE : September 7, 2021 4 TIME STARTED : 6:00 p.m. 5 TIME ENDED : 8:03 p.m. 6 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Member Stoesz, Lyden, Ruhland, 7 Cavegn and Mayor Rafferty 8 MEMBERS ABSENT : None 9 Staff members present: City Administrator Sarah Cotton; Finance Director Hannah 10 Lynch; Human Resources and Communications Manager Meg Sawyer; Community 11 Development Director Michael Grochala; City Planner Katie Larsen; Public Services 12 Director Rick DeGardner; Director of Public Safety John Swenson; City Clerk Julie 13 Bartell 14 15 1. Alexandra House Presentation – Public Safety Director Swenson recalled 16 council discussion at a budget meeting and a council direction to hear from Alexandra 17 House. 18 19 Connie Moore, Executive Director, explained that Alexandra House is an emergency 20 shelter with a housing service element. Within the shelter program they provide services 21 depending on needs, including referrals, employment assistance, counseling, legal 22 advocacy, hospital response, volunteer program and more. They have been in Anoka 23 County for almost 45 years, starting as a helpline. They have increased capacity over the 24 years and also utilize hotel and motels. They are the only shelter of their type in Anoka 25 County. Officials contact them when domestic violence occurs. There is nothing they 26 do that isn’t in partnership with the community. They provide services virtually as 27 necessary and that may be a permanent change in some cases. They also offer an elder 28 abuse program. They also provide community education. This past year they saw an 29 increase in the volume of services needed. Most program participants are from Anoka 30 County. There has been a huge increase in the last five years for Anoka families using 31 the emergency shelter. 32 33 Councilmember Ruhland asked about staff size and if they are able to meet all the 34 demands. Ms. Moore talked more about their services and how they are keeping up, 35 noting that Allina Health chose the organization to do a pilot project for hospital 36 assistance (volunteers are key). Court hearings are not happening in person right now. 37 Ms. Moore explained how they are generally called into situations – law enforcement 38 does an assessment and if information is gathered indicating the need, they provide 39 services. Ms. Moore noted the number of domestic violence homicides the past year and 40 current this year. 41 42 Councilmember Lyden noted that service models are always changing and this year has 43