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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 052620201 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY 2 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 3 MAY 26, 2020 4 5 CALL TO ORDER. 6 7 Mayor Stille called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 8 9 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 10 11 Mayor Stille invited the Council and audience to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance. 12 13 ROLL CALL. 14 15 Present: Mayor Stille, Councilmembers Jenson, Randle, Walker and Webster. 16 Absent: None 17 Also Present: City Manager Mark Casey, Assistant to the City Manager Charlie Yunker, City 18 Engineer Justin Messner. 19 Guests: None. 20 21 CONSIDERATION, DISCUSSION, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ALL OF THE FOLLOWING 22 ITEMS. 23 24 I. APPROVAL OF MAY 26, 2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA. 25 26 Motion by Councilmember Webster, seconded by Councilmember Jenson, to approve the City 27 Council Meeting Agenda of May 26, 2020. 28 29 Motion carried 5-0. 30 31 II. PROCLAMATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS — NONE. 32 33 III. CONSENT AGENDA. 34 35 A. Approve May 12, 2020, Council meeting minutes. 36 B. Licenses and permits. 37 C. Claims. 38 D. Resolution 20-049; a Resolution Approving a request to keep four (4) female chickens in 39 an R-1 zoning district at 2908 Townview Avenue. 40 E. Resolution 20-050; a Resolution Approving a request to keep four (4) female chickens in 41 an R-1 zoning district at 2816 Coolidge Street. 42 43 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Webster, to approve the 44 Consent Agenda items. 45 46 Motion carried 5-0. 47 48 IV. PUBLIC HEARING — NONE. 49 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 2 1 V. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF — NONE. 2 3 VI. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL. 4 5 A. Resolution 20-051-, a Resolution Amending of Community Center lease with the St. 6 Anthony -New Brighton School District for funds to be directed toward the Community 7 Stadium project and tiling of C2 & C3 ballfields. 8 9 City Manager Casey reviewed the resolution with the Council. 10 11 Superintendent Renee Corneille and Activities Director Troy Urdahl were at the meeting for 12 comments and questions. 13 14 Superintendent Corneille provided a PowerPoint presentation to the Council. 15 16 Director Urdahl explained the details of the stadium field turf. 17 18 Councilmember Jenson indicated the Council had their Worksession meeting with the School 19 Board and it was mentioned there was a specialist hired to help determine the type of turf to use 20 and he asked for more detail about that and how safe it is to use. 21 22 Director Urdahl reviewed the type of turf and the safety of it. 23 24 Councilmember Walker asked for more information on safety for the athletes and what the risks 25 are with turf and he wondered if the technology improved over the years. 26 27 Director Urdahl indicated the School District is toward the end of Metro Area School Districts to 28 consider turf and in many ways it is an advantage to them because they have had the benefit of 29 learning from other districts as they navigate this process. He indicated the turf technologies has 30 dramatically improved from the 1980's to today. There are studies that now show that for youth 31 participants the synthetic turf is safer for participants then a natural grass field. He noted they 32 have spent a lot of time researching the safety of the turf and are confident it is a safe surface for 33 the students and community. 34 35 Councilmember Walker asked Director Urdahl to specifically mention what the concerns are 36 such as ACL/ligament type of concerns that come up all of the time. 37 38 Director Urdahl stated in terms of difference between a natural grass field and a synthetic turf 39 field, the one he has heard most commonly is rug burn and some type of rug burn that might 40 occur from using some type of synthetic field and might be the most common safety concern. 41 42 Superintendent Corneille explained what they have been told regarding this is the concern for the 43 well being of the students, especially those engaging with the turf. She indicated Mr. Ed Croix is 44 the Council Chambers and is an expert and sits on nationwide councils in regard to turf. His 45 major role is ensuring the safety of some extremely well -paid athletes and their ability to not get 46 hurt. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 3 1 2 Mayor Stille explained Director Urdahl talked with the Council in their Worksession regarding 3 the history of the field and the drainage and he asked for Director Urdahl to address that again 4 because of the reason for doing this is to fix the drainage problem on the field. 5 6 Director Urdahl reviewed the history of the field and drainage problems due to sand and drain 7 tile issues. 8 9 City Manager Casey read the following emails to the City Council: 10 11 Ms. Karen Weibert, 3409 36`h Ave NE: "I would like to speak to the track/football project at the 12 high school/Central Park. I would like to see the track brought up to a competitive standard, and 13 be available for residents, and students to access. I believe this is a good investment, especially if 14 students are being transported to Spring Lake Park. I would like to know how many and how 15 often. I do not believe the 10-million-dollar investment in AstroTurf for the football field is a 16 good investment. I think a minimum number of students / residents will actually benefit from its 17 installation. I would like to see a schedule of how that field would be used, as well as where the 18 numbers of participants come from. 19 The argument of being short of land for a new school is invalid. We are not planning a new 20 school, are we? .The entire community do not support this as they do not even know about it. As 21 I talk with neighbors and friends, people who do not have children in sports, they are very 22 surprised to hear about it. Will there be a similar investments in other extra- curricular activities? 23 There is little explanation on the District website. In this time of pandemic and unknown costs, I 24 would like to have more detail, and get more community input. With the size of our community, 25 this is a major investment for a few, especially if fences reduce the availability for everyday 26 use." 27 28 Director Urdahl indicated they were extremely excited about the expanded use and availability 29 for the project. He indicated the use and accessibility will be improved with this project and in 30 the future this will be an open facility where in the past it was locked. He believed there may 31 have been a ten -million -dollar number associated with this and the actual cost of the synthetic 32 turf would be about a tenth of that. He indicated a new school is not in the plans. 33 34 Ms. Lona Doolan, 3511 Harding St NE: "I will not be able to attend tonight's meeting, and 35 would like to submit the following: 36 37 Regarding the Stadium Turf funding under consideration by City Council, I have a few questions 38 and comments: 39 40 1) I would like to know more about how the proposed reduction in leasing revenue fits into the 41 annual city budget and what expense(s) you are looking at to offset the loss in revenue? 42 43 2) How do we know this is a priority for most residents? What outreach has the city done to 44 confirm this is a priority worth cutting other services or raising taxes for? 45 46 3) Has an environmental impact been done? I have read that turf surface can get too hot to play City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 4 1 on and needs to be watered to cool it. What chemicals and particles will be running off the field? 2 How much will the watershed increase with the large change in impermeable area? Is the holding 3 pond able to handle the increase in runoff? How will nearby neighbors be impacted by the smell 4 of chemicals radiating from the field? Nativity Child and Family Center initially used a crumb 5 rubber mulch for one of their play areas and the chemical smell was strong enough that I would 6 get headaches when working nearby. They ended up replacing it with a natural product. Who 7 will be accountable for environmental issues that may arise from turf in Central Park? Will 8 taxpayers have to share accountability if the city is funding a portion of the expense? 9 10 4) There will be a significant amount of waste produced when replacement is required in 10 11 years. Whose responsibility will it be to fund the replacement and disposal of a football field 12 amount of waste? 13 14 5) Given the number of residents who are currently out of work and the unknowns of what 15 returning to school looks like this fall, I think it is worth asking the question if this can be 16 deferred until we are back to functioning within normal parameters. What happens if future 17 capital investment is needed to make facility adjustments for safe return to school and the school 18 has drawn down their levy source?" 19 20 Mayor Stille indicated the first question was for the City regarding proposed lost revenue, 21 $32,000 a year of proposed lost revenue that the City was anticipating coming because the City 22 was going to be increasing the amount of payments that the School District was going to be 23 making on their lease for the community center. The Council has not discussed that yet and 24 $32,000 is something that can and will be addressed but that will not be addressed until the 20/21 25 budget and will not affect the City at all until 2022. There was also a question in regard to what 26 happens at the end and if the City is obligated to contribute to get rid of the turf or other 27 maintenance items and the City is not making any recommendations, commitments or promises 28 to funding the disposal of the turf or dealing with anything such as maintenance. The City is just 29 helping with the lease payments on it. 30 31 Superintendent Corneille explained they try to surround themselves with experts and the 32 consultant was highly recommended. In regard to the waste product she knew that when they go 33 to replace just the turf this would be something that is built into the replacement with the 34 potential for recycling the material. She also knew there were concerns in regard to what is 35 going on today with COVID-19 and what school will look like in the future. She indicated this 36 is something they have spent a lot of time as a School Board talking through about timing in 37 regard to the use of the funds. What she understood is the funding sources being used is for this 38 type of activity. The money being used for this is money that is committed to that type of 39 updates and grades to schools, very similar to using the newest product on the windows. 40 41 Mr. Matt Able: "I would like to offer my support to and encourage the upgrade to the high 42 school stadium field to artificial turf as a whole community project. I feel that especially now 43 that the high school has its own soccer teams and that there is a lot of pressure being placed on 44 the grass fields that soccer and football teams utilize, that if the stadium field is upgraded to 45 artificial turf then the stadium could be utilized more with less damage, especially if the weather 46 has been bad for an extended period of time. Also, if the stadium is upgraded, it will greatly City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 5 1 benefit the booster soccer programs, along with the Kicks Soccer Program. Having turf on a 2 stadium field would mean that potentially all summer home soccer games could be played in St. 3 Anthony instead of having to utilize fields in places like Blaine for older players. If we have 4 more games on turf field it will help reduce the strain placed on grass fields that need to be used 5 by more then one program at a time." 6 7 Mr. Dan Sprigs indicated he is an old ball coach and does not understand all of the politics but 8 what he did understand is that he has been teaching and coaching for twenty-five years and 9 volunteering for high school for fourteen years and for eleven years he was involved with the 10 booster program. He indicated he does not have any children in the district and as lived in St. 11 Anthony for twenty-three years. He stated what St. Anthony is known for is excellence. They 12 expect excellence in the children and have done a nice job of the children showing that but for 13 that to happen they have to show excellence towards the students. He quoted Aristotle. He 14 stated if we expect excellence from the children of St. Anthony then they need to show them 15 excellence and give them the best opportunity. When looking across the Districts and other 16 School Districts, those Districts have shown excellence towards their students and he felt that St. 17 Anthony should stand in the shadow of no other School District because of what we have here. 18 There is excellence in education and excellence in community support and in almost everything 19 that is done there is excellence. For this to go forward would just be validating what they have 20 already done for years and years and he thought this is a really great time for the students. He 21 also asked to get some sort of drainage because of all the bugs that are there and insufferable for 22 the children to have to participate with the standing water. 23 24 Mr. Chris Revendahl indicated he was a thirty-year resident of St. Anthony and employee of the 25 school district. He stated he has raised four kids in the community and has worked with so many 26 family's kids. He has lived as a parent through tons of sporting events and schedules and getting 27 them scheduled and rescheduled, postponed, that it is easy without kids in those programs to feel 28 like perhaps that is a little bit of a myth or overstated. It is real and all the more so with kids 29 losing out on activities that need to move the lack of organized activities this summer with the 30 COVID-19 crisis, that need is all the more real. The need for available space is huge and has not 31 gone away. It has only increased as the number of activities and opportunities have increased. If 32 this can significantly increase the availability of space, the lack of need to reschedule, he thought 33 that was a huge plus for kids and in the end that is a huge plus for the community. 34 35 Mr. Jesse Kimmel stated he energetically supported this proposal along with many colleagues 36 and friends. 37 38 Mr. Ed Kriggs stated he moved into St. Anthony in 2016 with his family. He explained this is a 39 big deal to him and a supporter of sports and athletes in general and also what it does for the 40 community. He stated he wanted to comment on Councilmember Walker's question a little bit 41 when he talked about the technological upgrades of turf and the Metro dome turf was the old, 42 what was considered Generation One Turf That turf was solely developed to bring sports 43 indoors to be as safe as possible. That surf served its purpose but today turf is on Generation 44 Four. The current research actually shows that a lot of the safety issues has always stemmed 45 back to shoes. In the last three to four years the construction of shoes has changed dramatically, 46 from aesthetics to developing into player safety. The science and testing has shown that the City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 6 1 younger the athletes are the less of a safety risk there is. He reviewed how old turf gets recycled 2 and what it gets recycled into. He noted his one concern is with the temperature and will be very 3 few days that there will be excessive heat to limit its use. Watering the field will limit the heat in 4 the short term but for Minnesota it is a very nominal effect so the safety with the athletes will not 5 be an issue at all. He indicated he has not seen any adverse health affects with this turf. He 6 stated he believed in this project and has volunteered his services and is not asking for anything 7 in return. He just wants to do better for the community. 8 9 Mr. Scott Bentz stated he is the helmet program director for the St. Anthony Football Booster 10 Program, and he was representing the Football Booster Board. The St. Anthony Football 11 Boosters support this project and would like to see it go forward. Their program would benefit l 2 from this greatly like many other programs in St. Anthony would. He stated this would not only 13 enhance the infrastructure and would build environmental responsibility as well. 14 15 Mr. Paul White, 3201 32nd Avenue NE: "I've been doing my best to understand the factors 16 related to the proposal to install artificial turf at the school facilities at central park. I've gathered 17 information in a very short amount of time, and am sharing my notes for your consideration. I 18 very much want to support this proposal but have not been able to find a comprehensive 19 evaluation of the alternatives under consideration. I list some conclusions at the bottom below. 20 21 Notes on School District/City consideration of artificial turf to enhance usage of school facilities 22 at central park: The issue at hand is the inadequacy of the football field and running track as they 23 are currently maintained. The information that I've seen from the city and school district appears 24 to focus on the "feasibility" of installing artificial turf, and does not appear to evaluate the pros & 25 cons of artificial turf vs. alternatives available to SAV (such as installing drainage, enhanced 26 natural turf options/other). I expect that there was thoughtful work along those lines, but I've not 27 been able to find it. 28 29 Dr. Troy Urdahl was very helpful, and sent me a download of information which I have reviewed 30 and much appreciate. Notable: 31 • Particularly helpful was the EPA study report for Part I of their evaluation of crumb rubber and 32 bacteria. 33 • It seems that the Part 2 report from that study has not come out yet, and could be very helpful 34 to inform decision makers 35 I've also looked for additional information and had conversations with a Parks & Rec director in 36 Baltimore, MD and had a serendipitous conversation with a football player from Saint Anthony 37 who has experience competing on both natural and artificial turf. I've done my best to try to stick 38 to unbiased sources of information. 39 The benefit of artificial turf appears to be that it may improve school & community access & 40 enjoyment to the football field and running track. The potential negatives appear to be in the 41 areas of community safety, environmental impact, and taxpayer cost as noted below: 42 1. SAFETY 43 a. MOMS TEAM article "Turf Wars: Pros and Cons of Artificial Turf': 44 https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/turf-wars-pros-and-cons-of-artificial-turf 45 i. Pros: 46 1. Easier maintenance City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 7 1 2. Less pesticides 2 3. Increased playability 3 4. Fewer injuries 4 5. Saves Water 5 ii. Cons: 6 1. Heat Island/Hazard—need to alter schedules to avoid summer afternoon use 7 2. Hazardous elements/chemicals (players & water runoff)* 8 3. Increased turf burns & bacterial infections* 9 4. Asthmatic impact 10 5. Lose option for natural turf permanently 11 *There is an EPA study "part 2" coming out in the future that will help define some of these 12 risks. 13 14 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 15 a. Water quality impacts/benefits? 16 b. Crumb rubber —used tires looking for a home 17 c. How does artificial turf fit with SAV's commitment to the GREEN STEP program? 18 d. Fairwarning article: https://www.fairwarning.org/2019/12/fields-of-waste-artificial-turf-mess/: 19 i. "Despite frequent claims by turf manufacturers that synthetic -turf fields are recyclable and 20 environmentally friendly, FairWarning found that worn-out playing fields and playgrounds have 21 limited second lives..." [goes on to describe how they remain a nuisance to dispose of without 22 viable recycling available] 23 24 3. COST 25 a. Taxpayer $'s at stake, though it appears to "fit" in the budget 26 i. As I understand, the school district has found a way to insert the costs into the budget in a way 27 that won't show up as a cost increase due to other costs expiring (other than a $15-50/year city 28 levy on each homeowner depending on home value). 29 ii. I don't know what the school board's budget looks like, but must assume that $1-2.5 million is 30 significant. It would be helpful if the city and school district could present the various alternative 31 solutions to the public so that it can understand directly if artificial turf will be the highest and 32 best use for the taxpayer funds. 33 Conclusion: 34 Best I can tell, there has been a good effort by staff to explore options to expand use of these 35 facilities. It seems that there has not been any sort of documentation of the process that squarely 36 evaluates all options against one another --pros & cons. Considering the open questions about 37 safety, environmental impact, and the potentially irreversible and dramatic change that will result 38 at central park (some good, some not good), it seems prudent that an effort be made to preserve 39 the opportunity and bring the community along on this big decision: 40 1. Request extension of Hennepin County grant in light of pandemic and potential economic 41 impact on budgets 42 2. Attempt to lock in an option on the School District -City funding to give time for due diligence 43 3. Have a 3rd party consultant present a complete evaluation to the community of the issue, 44 potential solutions, costs and risks. 45 4. If moving forward, include in the vendor contract full indemnification of SAV against future 46 potential health/enviro issues, including (but not limited to) cost of reverting to natural turf if City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 8 1 recommended 2 5. If moving forward, require 3rd party certification that all materials are actually recycled. 3 Thank you for the opportunity to comment." 4 5 Mayor Stille stated if this project does not move forward and the School District decides to move 6 forward the amendment of the City lease will not happen. 7 8 Mr. Brian Jones stated he has a unique perspective on all of this. He indicated he is a long-term 9 resident of St. Anthony. He was born and grew up in St. Anthony. He stated he played on the 10 fields for High School Football and has coached kids in all levels of sports on those fields and he 11 cannot speak strongly enough that he was in support of this investment and sees this as a value to 12 the community. He sees it as an opportunity that they have at this time to widen the base of 13 people that can use this facility. The fields are important, and the space is needed. He stated it 14 is important for him as a parent to have good facilities for his boys. He thought it was important 15 for the City to maintain its level of excellence to maintain the facilities and he thought it was a 16 great next step. He noted this proposal has his full support. 17 18 Director Urdahl indicated the School District has not entertained bids for a project yet as they 19 continue. The feasibility study that would be a next step and estimated project start dates would 20 be contingent on the contractor and their desires and it could be fall or spring, depending on a 21 contractor's schedule. It is part of the bid flexibility. 22 23 Ms. Erin Jordahl Redlin, 3012 Armour Terrace, asked when the feasibility study be complete and 24 when the public get a chance to see it. She also wondered if the City would want to wait to see 25 the feasibility study and she also hoped that part of the study will include looking to alternatives 26 to crown rubber. She stated there are alternatives and hoped that would be part of the feasibility 27 study. 28 29 Ms. Shelby Ewing stated she was in favor of this proposal. She indicated she is the president of 30 the St. Anthony Soccer Boosters as well as also being one of the girls High School Soccer 31 coaches. She has watched and has a chance to coach many teams on that field during the 32 summer as a grass field and it was the Taj Mahal of everyone that came and played on it. Sadly, 33 as the years have gone on and the demand for the field has increased, so has the wear and tear of 34 the grass field and the school maintenance staff and Troy have done a great job of trying to 35 maintain it as much as possible but over the last few years it has shown its age and is showing 36 wear and tear. She believed turf fields would be the answer. It would be even better if there 37 were not any fences up. She thought this brings a whole sense of community. The Soccer 38 Booster is in favor of this. 39 40 Mayor Stille closed public comment. 41 42 Motion by Councilmember Randle, seconded by Councilmember Jenson, to approve Resolution 43 20-051; a Resolution Amending of Community Center Lease with the St. Anthony -New 44 Brighton School District for funds to be directed toward the Community Stadium project and 45 tiling of C2 & C3 ballfields. 46 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 9 1 Mr. Matt Able stated he was the president of the St. Anthony Kicks Soccer reiterated that the 2 fields have taken a lot of use and they have to search elsewhere for field space for the older kids 3 because the fields are being utilized so heavily. The entire older kids' programs rent space in 4 other communities for practice and for games and some of those fields are not all good either. 5 6 Mayor Stille asked for Council discussion. 7 8 Councilmember Jenson stated from 1986 to 2000 he was on the Sports Boosters Commission 9 dealing with baseball groups and all of those years there would be discussion about the lack of 10 fields capacity and that time it was always an issue of not enough time for practices, not enough 11 time for scheduling home games for all the sports and he was definitely in favor of taking this 12 next step and felt it was long overdue. 13 14 Councilmember Randle stated as a parent with a son who plays ball you really start to see where 15 they are lacking as a competitive edge and actually what is lacking for facilities. He also thinks 16 this upgraded is needed because they are not close to where they need to be as a facility. He 17 would gladly pay extra as a homeowner and taxpayer to do what they need to do. 18 19 Councilmember Walker appreciated the comments made tonight. He stated there are pros and 20 cons about artificial turf and it comes down to basically a cost benefit analysis in terms of a 21 decision that needs to be made. There are pros and cons and the issue is how big are the pros and 22 how big are the cons and he thought that is the key issue in making a decision about whether this 23 should go forward or not. 24 25 Mayor Stille indicated he learned a lot about this item tonight and it was certainly eye opening. 26 He was looking at this from a different approach and believed the School District will make the 27 right decision with regard to this as they move forward. He wondered if this is an appropriate 28 thing for the City to do and be involved. The City's vision statement talks about being a thriving 29 community and he thought this is going to help immensely to help this community thrive even 30 more. When it comes to this, participating in a community asset like this, he thought it was an 31 exceptionally good thing. Then the question is how much, it is not fifty percent, this is primarily 32 a School District asset but thought nine percent is appropriate and he thought it would be 33 inappropriate for it to be zero. He would like where the City has landed on this. He stated he 34 was excited to be a part of this project and was supportive of this. 35 36 Motion carried 4 ayes-0 nays-1 abstain (Webster). 37 38 B. Reducing Speed Limit of City Street to 25 mph 39 40 City Engineer Messner reviewed the staff report with the Council. 41 42 Motion by Councilmember Randle, seconded by Councilmember Webster, to approve the first 43 reading of Reducing Speed Limits of City Streets to 25 mph. 44 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 10 1 Councilmember Webster asked what speed Minneapolis and St. Paul reduced their speed limit 2 to. Mr. Messner explained both cities reduced their speed limits to 20 miles per hour on 3 residential roads in May 2019 when the State Statute was revised. 4 5 Motion carried 5-0. 6 7 C. Resolution 20-052; a Resolution in Support of the Protecting Community Television Act. 8 9 City Manager Casey reviewed the resolution with the Council. 10 11 Mayor Stille understood that if this does not get changed back it could be an impact to the City 12 budget of some unknown amount. Mr. Casey indicated that was correct. 13 14 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Walker, to approve Resolution 15 20-052, a Resolution in Support of the Protecting Community Television Act. 16 17 Motion carried 5-0. 18 19 VII. REPORTS FROM CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. 20 21 Councilmember Webster stated the Village Fest Committee is scheduled to meet next week to 22 talk about the fate of Village fest going forward. 23 24 Councilmember Jenson stated on behalf of Metro Cities that he is a board member on. Metro 25 Cities has sent out three separate surveys in the last few weeks to the City Managers, Community 26 Development Staff and Housing and Public Works to gather information on City level expenses 27 and concerns related to COVID-19. He talked with Mr. Casey and was told information was 28 seen in announcements from Metro Cities. He reviewed the surveys with the Commission. He 29 noted on May 20th he sat through a Zoom seminar with Economic Development Association of 30 Minnesota and there was discussion about multi -family housing and the level of building that is 3 I going to be going forward and basically what was said is that it is too early to tell what in fact 32 COVID-19 pandemic is going to have going forward other then the fact that it might slow down 33 somewhat. 34 35 Councilmember Walker stated the North Suburban Access Cooperation had a meeting last 36 Friday. 37 38 VIII. COMMUNITY FORUM. 39 40 Mayor Stille invited residents to come forward at this time and address the Council on items that 41 are not on the regular agenda. 42 43 Hearing none, Mayor Stille moved forward with the agenda. 44 45 IX. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. 46 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 26, 2020 Page 11 1 Mayor Stille stated a lot of communities are doing what they can to promote their own 2 businesses and St. Anthony should be doing that as well. He noted there is an executive order 3 that is coming June 1s` that will be allowing outdoor dining. The City Manager has put the 4 restaurant finder on the website. The thing he wanted to impress upon is that staff is very much 5 open to discussions about how to expand seating for the restaurants in the City. He encouraged 6 restaurants to consider that and staff will do their best to work with them. He stated Hickory 7 Hog and Fat Nat's have already been approved for some expansion of their outdoor dining 8 facilities. He encouraged people to support the local businesses. 9 I 0 Mayor Stille stated he received an email from Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative that are 1 1 seeking volunteers to sew gowns. He also asked people to wear their masks in public and be 12 respectful of people. 13 14 X. ADJOURNMENT. 15 16 17 18 19 Respectfully submitted, 20 Sue Osbeck 21 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 22 24 ATTEST: 25 City lerk Mayor Stille adjourned the meeting at 9:03 p.m.