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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 022520251 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 25, 2025 I. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Wendy Webster called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. H. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Mayor Wendy Webster invited the Council and audience to join her in the Pledge of Allegiance. III. ROLL CALL. Present: Mayor Webster, Councilmembers Doolan, Elnagdy, Jenson and Randle. Absent: None. Also Present: City Manager Charlie Yunker, Assistant City Manager Ashley Morello, Park and Environmental Commission Chair Lily Fee, Police Chief Jeff Spiess, and Liquor Operations Manager Mike Larson. CONSIDERATION, DISCUSSION, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS. IV. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 25, 2025 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA. Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Doolan, to approve the City Council Meeting Agenda of February 25, 2025 as presented. Motion carried 5-0. V. PROCLAMATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS. A. Water Conservation Poster Winners. Park and Environmental Commission Chair Lily Fee presented the seven winners of the Water Conservation Poster Contest. The posters were on display in the atrium. There were 41 posters submitted. The top 4 posters were selected as winners. 4th Place — Avery Latourelle and Cora Carlson Yd Place — Greyson Dunkley and Savannah Foreman 2nd Place — Annie and Dylan lst Place — Sam Holt Photographs were taken of the winners and the Mayor. B. Swearing in of Police Officers. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Page 2 2 Police Chief Jeff Spiess provided background on both officers and administered the Oath of 3 Office for Police Officer Leah Gulbranson and Police Officer James Devaney. 4 5 Mayor Webster and all Councilmembers congratulated and welcomed the new officers. 6 7 VI. CONSENT AGENDA. 8 9 A. Ay rove February 11. 2025 Council Meeting Minutes. 10 B. License and Permits. 11 C. Claims. 12 D. Resolution 25-019 Establishing a Special Revenue Fund 13 14 Motion by Councilmember Elnagdy, seconded by Councilmember Doolan, to approve the 15 Consent Agenda items. 16 17 Motion carried 5-0. 18 19 VII. PUBLIC HEARING - NONE. 20 21 VIII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF - NONE. 22 23 IX. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL. 24 25 A. Resolution 25-020 — Authorizing City Staff to Proceed with a Public Safety Facili 26 Exploration. 27 28 City Manager Yunker reviewed throughout much of 2024 extensive discussion took place on the 29 functionality of the current Police Department facility during the process of considering a 30 renewal of the policing partnership with the City of Falcon Heights. While it was known that the 31 facility was not adequate to fit current needs, the renewed partnership has brought the issue to 32 the top of the priority list of City facilities needing attention to better fit current and future needs. 33 34 As part of the renewed partnership decision, a commitment was made to explore the options for 35 renovating and expanding the Police Department facility. One option to expand and renovate the 36 current facility, and preliminary work has been completed on a scope should that be the 37 necessary option. Also, Staff is working on completing minor renovations in 2025 to 38 accommodate new staff and make the space more usable either for the Police Department or 39 another user should the department move to a different location. 40 41 The other option is to add -on to the existing Fire Station and join the Police and Fire 42 Departments into a joint Public Safety Facility. This would address space issues in both the Fire 43 and Police Departments and allow for a better long-term solution for the needs of both 44 departments. 45 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Page 3 1 This Public Safety Facility option is dependent on two primary factors: (1) the feasibility of 2 constructing an expanded facility adjacent to the existing fire station, and (2) the ability of the 3 City to secure as much outside funding as possible, and supplement with city bonding at an 4 amount that will not put additional, undue pressure on the annual tax levy. As reflected in the 5 City's 2025 Strategic Plan, efforts will be made this year to determine if a Public Safety Facility 6 approach is feasible both logistically and financially. 7 8 To determine the answer on both of those factors, third -party expertise is needed. Staff has been 9 working on preliminary steps to secure the expertise, and proposals are included for Council's 10 review and approval of the approach proposed. 11 12 The City worked with Oertel Architects in 2024 to discuss the Police Department facility while 13 the Falcon Heights partnership renewal discussions were taking place to assess the impact and 14 options at the Community Center facility. Subsequent discussions have focused on the concept of 15 the Public Safety Facility and the plan to seek outside funding. 16 17 In order to determine if outside funding will be available, the City needs to get the facility 18 concept to a "predesign" status which is enough design to demonstrate the project has legitimate 19 support and is achievable, while leaving many details and specifics to be determined at a 20 subsequent phase, once adequacy of funding is determined. 21 22 Those deliverables are described in the proposal from Oertel Architects and consist of four 23 primary elements: 24 • Spreadsheet showing space needs and relation to existing spaces. 25 • Test fits showing remodel and addition options. 26 • Early phase opinion of cost. 27 • Presentation graphics as needed. 28 29 The proposed cost for this predesign phase is $15,150. 30 31 The City does not have the financial resources to fund a new facility exclusively through its 32 annual tax levy, and outside support will be required. The City has a long history of seeking 33 grant funding, but does not have an extensive history in seeking and securing this particular type 34 and scope of funding, and third -party expertise will be needed in order to fully explore the 35 options and craft a compelling case for financial support. 36 37 Staff has met with Fox Advancement on two occasions to discuss this project and craft a scope 38 of work to assist. Fox Advancement has provided a proposal to assist that covers four primary 39 objectives with additional details in their proposal: 40 • Identify and Prioritize Public Grant Opportunities. 41 • Develop a Strategic Grant Application Plan. 42 • Explore Public -Private Partnerships and Philanthropic Funding. 43 • Final Report and Recommendations. 44 45 The proposed cost for this work is proposed at hourly rates detailed in the proposal, with an 46 overall scope expected to be approximately $8,000 - $9,000. 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Page 4 Staff recommends approval of both proposals to continue efforts on the exploration of a Public Safety Facility. Also provided for Council consideration were Oertel Architects Proposal, Fox Advancement Proposal authorizing Resolution. Councilmember Randle noted there may be grants coming from the DOJ which he heard from another elected official in another community. Councilmember Jenson asked how old the current police department is and Mr. Yunker stated it was completed in 1996. A 30 year old facility in today's world is different that what it would be currently. He is glad to see the consultant will assist in obtaining grants. Councilmember Doolan stated this is an important step forward. She noted the feasibility study will show what is needed for Police and Fire facility needs. Fox sounds like a great company. Councilmember Elnagdy stated she is excited about the grants that are available to the City. Mayor Webster stated this was one of the goals for the year is to look at the feasibility of a new facility. She supports both proposals. Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Randle, to approve Resolution 25-020 — Authorizing City Staff to Proceed with a Public Safety Facility Exploration. Motion carried 5-0. B. Administration Annual Report. City Manager Yunker and Assistant City Manager Morello reviewed a Power Point of the Administration Annual Report for 2024 including City Council Members, 2024 Meetings Held, 2024 Actions, 2024 Strategic Plan, Administration Staff, Administration Department, 2024 Significant Events, Planning & Permits Accomplishments, Cannabis Business Regulation, Informed & Engaged, Ways to Connect and Engage, Human Resources, Spirit of St. Anthony Award 2024, Sustainability, Community Affiliations, Grants & Cooperative Ventures, and Planning for 2025. The complete Annual Report can be found at savmn.com/annual reports. Mayor Webster thanked Charlie and Ashley for a tremendous overview. Administration is the bones of the City. Councilmember Jenson stated he has been here many years and seen a number of Administrative Annual Reports. This was the best report. Very good people have been hired to work for the City. Councilmember Elnagdy stated she has enjoyed working with City Staff in her short term on the Council. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Page 5 2 Councilmember Doolan stated she appreciates the support staff has given her. She acknowledged 3 the hard work with managing the amount of turnover and wanted to acknowledge the awesome 4 work in Sustainability and quantifying the outcomes. 5 6 C. Liquor Operations Annual Report. 7 8 Liquor Operations Manager Mike Larson introduced two staff members, Assistant Operations 9 Manager Bill Haugen and Store Clerk Holly Quarry. Mr. Larson reviewed a Power Point of the 10 St. Anthony Village Liquor Operations Annual Report for 2024 including Convenient Locations, 11 Mission Statement, Vision Statement, The Value of Municipal Liquor Operations, The Value of 12 St. Anthony Village Wine and Spirits, Sales and Profit Comparison 2024-2023, 5 Year Profit 13 History, 10 Year Profit History, Benchmarks and Comparisons, 2024 Accomplishments, Current 14 Conditions, Looking Ahead for 2025, Online Information Available on SAVMN.COM. The 15 Spring Sampling Event will be held April 5h 2-5pm at the Marketplace location. 16 17 Councilmember Jenson thanked Mr. Larson for his comprehensive report. He asked how 18 inventory turns compare to other stores. Mr. Larson stated some stores have quicker turns. 19 Delivery problems are present. Currently they have 5 inventory turns a year. 20 21 Councilmember Elnagdy stated at a conference she attended municipal liquor and cannabis. 22 They were astounded at the profits of the St. Anthony liquor stores. She has just started shopping 23 at the liquor stores and won't go anywhere else. 24 25 Councilmember Doolan stated Mr. Larson does an amazing job. She noticed in 2024 the profit 26 turned was great in inflationary periods. She is confident in Mr. Larson's skills in making profit. 27 28 Mayor Webster thanked Mr. Larson for the comprehensive overview. 385,000 transactions is an 29 average of 1000 transactions a day. These are many opportunities for the liquor store staff to 30 connect with residents. She referred to a Star Tribune article about Mr. Larson and the liquor 31 stores. She thanked the liquor store staff for their work. 32 33 X. REPORTS FROM CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. 34 35 City Manager Yunker had no report. 36 37 Councilmember Randle had no report. 38 39 Councilmember Doolan stated on February 12, she attended the last MWMO Meeting. On 40 February 21-22 she attended the Elected Leaders Institute. 41 42 Councilmember Jenson stated on February 12, he attended the Northeast Youth and Family 43 Services Finance Committee meeting. Later on February 12, he received his Individual 44 Intercultural Development Assessment. On February 13 he attended the Ramsey County Local 45 League of Governments meeting. 46 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Page 6 Councilmember Elnagdy stated she attended the Elected Leaders Institute on February 21-22. Mayor Webster stated on February 20 she attended the NineNorth Board Meeting. She also attended the Elected Leaders Institute on February 21-22. On February 23 she attended the Puzzle Showdown at Silverwood Park. On February 24 she met with Barb the City's Communication Coordinator. XI. COMMUNITY FORUM - NONE. No one appeared to address the City Council. XII. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. A. Future Agenda Items. The next Work Session Meeting and Regular Council Meeting will be held on March 11, 2025. Councilmember Doolan announced that Friday is the last day for nominations for Villager and Business of the Year. The Connect with Council sessions will start next week at multi -family buildings. XIII. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Councilmember Elnagdy, seconded by Councilmember Jenson to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Wolfe TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. ATTEST: A Ci Clerk Motion carried 5-0.