Everything is difficult. Yep. Mhm. All right. Hello everyone and welcome to our city council meeting for tonight which is Tuesday, May 27th um because we were not here yesterday for Memorial Day. Um to start our meeting though, I would like to say welcome to everyone here in the council chambers and anyone watching this on the recording. Thank you for being a part of your local government. The first thing we'll do is have our roll call with our city clerk. Council member Spriggs here. Council member Denine here. Council member James here. Council member Biskins here. Mayor Marquez Similar here. Thank you. And next then um I will read our mission statement. Columbia Heights is a vibrant, healthy, and connected city. We are here to actively support the community, deliver equitable services, build and strengthen connections, improve upon our past, and uphold our successes. We strive to be better and ensure Columbia Heights is a great place for everyone for today and in the future. Our first um action will be to accept our city council and staff norms. Um do we Madame Mayor um they were accepted at a previous meeting. We've just simply added them to the agenda for reference. Okay. So they'll be there as a placeholder and they'll sit behind the last page of the agenda. um moving forward and I I believe it was at the last council meeting by resolution that that we did accept them. Thank you. Thank you. Um and so in short, while we are accountable to each other for these norms, the mayor and city manager will help us adhere to them with respectful reminders and reinforcement as needed. And now, if you're able to please stand and join me in saying the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the standy. Thank you. Next, we have our approval of the agenda. Um, would the council like to change anything or add anything? All right, hearing none, then I have a motion to approve the agenda as presented. So moved. Second. Second. I have a motion by council member Denine and a second by council member Sprigs to approve the agenda. Any questions? Seeing hearing none, then all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. Next we have our proclamations. Um, and today we have a proclamation for foster care awareness and reading this proclamation will be council member Laurel Denine. Thank you, mayor. Foster care awareness month May 2025. Foster care awareness month raises visibility about the experiences of children and youth in foster care while honoring the individuals who support them. Foster and biological families, child welfare professionals, mentors, policy makers, and community members. Each plays a vital role in helping young people find safety, stability, and connection. Foster care provides a safe, temporary home for children and teens who cannot remain with their families due to abuse, neglect, or other serious challenges. Whenever possible, the goal is reunification with their biological families. When it's not, the focus becomes finding stable permanent home through adoption or guardianship. Behind every placement is a story of hardship and hope. As of 2025, nearly 390,000 children are in foster care in the United States. Each one enters the system through no fault of their own, often carrying the weight of trauma, loss, and uncertainty, but also the potential for healing and success when given the proper support. The need for foster families has only grown since the pandemic. Foster parents come from all lives, all walks of life, single, married, with or without children, grandparents or individuals hoping to adopt. What matters most is being at least 21, completing the lensure process and having a safe space and open heart and the willingness to walk with child through their healing journey. Successful foster parents support a child's well-being, invest in their future, accept their past, and work as part of a team. This month, we express deep gratitude to foster families who open their hearts and homes, to biological parents striving for reunification, and to the professionals and volunteers who walk beside foster youth every day. Most of all, we honor the incredible strength and resilience of the children and youth in foster care whose courage inspires us all. I, Amada Marcus Simila, Mayor of Columbia Heights, proclaim May 2025 as foster care awareness month in Columbia Heights and encourage all residents to support and stand in solidarity with foster youth, their families, and those who care for them. [Applause] And here this evening, we have Michaela Madson, Stacy Sakorski, and Taylor Wolf to receive the proclamation. And then they're going to give us a presentation as well. But first, we um ask you to join us up in front. We'll do a photo. I know you. Well, thank you all again. We really appreciate um you guys inviting us and for us to be able to share about the importance of foster care and adoption. If we could go to the next slide, please. So again, my name is Michaela Madson. I'm one of the supervisors at Nexus Kindred. And I wanted to start out by sharing about my friend Zaden. Zayen is a youth that was on my case load a few years ago. Um, he came into care at the age of 16 and like many of the kids that come into care, they come with a lifetime full of experiences in trauma. Zayen had a lot of different feelings and emotions and voices that he felt like were telling him that he should not have any hope. Um, that he is worthless. He is not worthy of having a loving home or a good life. Um, Zaden struggled in school. He wasn't doing very well. He struggled to make good friendships and healthy choices overall. When Zayen first came into one of our foster homes, they provided him with everything that he needed. And that included safety, stability, consistency, love, and care. They looked at Zaden a lot of the time and said, "I believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself, and I know that you can do good." Um, Zaden gave us permission, of course, to share his story, and he actually wrote something in his own words that I'd like to share for you all today. I just need to grab it. Okay. Zaden wrote, "Since aging out of the foster care system at age 18, I've worked hard to build an independent life. I'm now 19, living on my own and currently doing an internship in boiler operations. I've earned my special boilers license and am working towards my 2A license, which requires about 2,000 hours of experience. I'm also pursuing an associates degree and plan to earn a refrigeration license. Along the way, I've picked up some basic plumbing and electrical skills, which helped me take care of small repairs around the house. On top of that, I've started investing in stocks in crypto and have been able to purchase two cars since moving out. These experiences have taught me a lot about responsibility, hard work, and staying focused on my goals. the foster family that Zaden had um also wanted to add that he has a sizable savings account and that one of his cars is a Mercedes. Um Zayen stayed in this home even though it was rocky a lot of the times. They looked at him and said, "We're not giving up on you." And because of that, I truly believe that Zayen is where he is today because of those foster parents and those positive supports in his life. Um, he now mentors the other foster youth in the home and stays very involved with the family. I love Zaden's story. It's one of many that we have the privilege of being a part of. Um, not every story ends, as you can imagine, the way that Zadens has, but I think our goal in foster care is just to um provide a safe, loving, and caring home um the best that we can. Um and um we are a part of Nexus Kindred Family Healing and there are slides that are attached but given time I just want to just kind of give an overview but um Nexus Family Healing is our parent company. They are based out of Plymouth and um we um as an as an entity serve um we have 12 different agencies in five different states and Nexus Kindred which is foster care and adoption is one of those uh 12. Uh we've been in existence for over 50 years. Our mission hasn't changed um in the sense of um we provide loving and caring homes to kids. um like uh was said in the proclamation, they didn't ask to be in this situation. And so we want to um find families that are willing to serve the kids in Columbia Heights, the kids around the state of Minnesota. We do uh serve the entire state of Minnesota. Um and so we have um workers all the way up to the Canadian border all the way down to Iowa. Um and um anybody that is 21 and older and meets certain criteria are um is able to um become licensed to be a foster parent. You don't actually need to have parenting experience. Um we will provide um you with uh lots of training and assistance. We have um wonderful staff that that are willing to um serve alongside of you as you care for these kids. Um, like your pro proclamation said, there's a lot of kids in care. Um, our goal is always for them to return to their families until it no longer is an option. And at that point, we will assist to try to find um, permanency. So, if any of you know of people who are wanting to be um foster parents or adopt through the foster care system here in Minnesota, our agency also is one of the five agencies um here in Minnesota that do provide adoptions through foster care. And um uh so if you know someone who wants to do foster care or those that might be watching or watch it later, I would love um to uh talk with anyone about um about foster care. Our agency serves over 300 kids. We have um a little we have over a hundred families. Um and we literally get countless asks every day to place kids um that we have to um deny because we don't have enough homes. So, it is definitely a need. and we just really really feel honored that you would do the proclamation today and um recognize the work that our agency does as well as the many agencies in every single county um across uh the state of Minnesota. So, thanks so much for your time today. Thank you so much for coming in and you know, we never know who's going to see this as this message ripples out. So, I really want to thank you again for coming in this evening and again thanks to our council member Laurel Denine. this was her idea that we do this proclamation and we do have a lot of community members who watch our meetings um and your information will be in our meeting notes as well the minutes so um people can reach out but you never know who will hear this and we'll feel like it touches their heart and it's the right time in their life so thank you again thank you for all your work you do [Applause] thank you and our Next proclamation will be our menstrual hygiene day proclamation. In reading this will be Council Member Spriggs. Menstrual hygiene day, May 28th, 2025. Menstrual hygiene day was established in 2014 as a global day of action on period poverty and stigma. Menstrual hygiene day is a day where citizens can come together and recognize the effect of period poverty in our community and the impact of menstrual inequalities on those who experience a period while living in poverty. The continued support of local, regional, and national levels is helping break the silence and build awareness about the fundamental role that good menstrual hygiene management plays in the lives of people who menrate. During this challenging time and every day, let us aim to be conscious of the needs of others, promote open dialogue to help counter taboos surrounding periods, learn new and creative ways to manage menstrual health issues, and promote equitable access to hygiene needs and products. The mayor and city The mayor and city of Columbia Heights support organizations of and individuals committed to raising awareness about the needs of the community through education and support to ensure the health and well-being of our communities are improved. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Amada Marcus Simila, Mayor of Columbia Heights, do hereby proclaim May 28th, 2025 to be menstrual hygiene day in the city of Columbia Heights, County of Anoka, state of Minnesota, USA. And I will also mention as that this is, as Council Member Sprig said, a global day of action. So this is something that is talked about across the world. um for people who you know are think that this isn't a big deal there are many many parts of the world where this um is a big celebration and just talking about it is a big deal and I very much appreciate our male uh council member being totally cool with reading this proclamation because it's just healthcare it's just health right so thank you thank you very much next our proclamation is for gun violence awareness um gun violence awareness day which is upcoming on June 6th. The city of Columbia Heights is dedicated to ensuring the safety, justice, and well-being of its residents, fostering an environment where everyone can thrive. Gun violence remains a grave concern affecting communities across our nation, inflicting measur immeasurable pain, loss, and trauma on individuals, families, and society as a whole. It is our collective responsibility to raise awareness about the profound impact of gun violence, to foster dialogue, and to unite in efforts to prevent further tragedies. Gun Violence Awareness Day observed on June 6th offers a significant opportunity for individuals, organizations, and government entities to come together, honor the victims of gun violence, support survivors, and take proactive steps toward finding lasting solutions. The city of Columbia Heights recognizes the urgent need to address the issue of gun violence, to engage in meaningful discussions, and to promote education, advocacy, and initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence and cultivating a culture of peace and understanding. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Amada Marcus Simila, mayor of Columbia Heights, to hereby proclaim June 6, 2025, to be gun violence awareness day in the city of Columbia Heights, County of Anoka, state of Minnesota, USA. This day serves as a solemn reminder of the lives lost and underscores the urgent need for collective action. Thank you very much. Next we have our community forum and I will ask if there's anyone virtually attending the meeting. There is not. There is not. All right. And there is no one in the C council chambers tonight. So we don't have anyone here who will be asking to speak at the community forum. Then we go to our next item on our agenda which is our consent agenda. And does the council have any questions or items they'd like removed? Seeing no. Oh, I would just like to have a little more member James. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. I would like to have a little more information on item seven about um I saw in the letter about the funding with the different layers of federal and city and what part we're approving. Thank you. Thank you. All right. And I'll have our our city manager, Erin Chirpik, will take us through this. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. First item on consent this evening is approval of the April 28th, 2025 uh board of appeal and equalization meeting minutes. Item two is the April 22nd and May 8th uh 2025 strategic planning special work session meeting minutes. Item three is uh approval of the May 5th, 2025 council work session meeting minutes. Item four is approval of the May 12th, 2025 city council meeting minutes. Item five is second reading of ordinance 1713 which um clarifies uh alcohol usage in city parks for city sponsored events allowing it and also removing uh restrictions on um 32 and allowing uh different types of alcohol to be consumed in city parks for city sponsored events. Item six is a professional service and construction surveying and staking contract for the 2025 uh concrete alley construction project. This is with Bolton and Mink uh consulting engineering firm and the cost of that contract is $38,16. Item seven is approving plans and ordering advertisement for bids for the 40th Avenue sanitary sewer and water main project. And this is um replacement of brick manholes and full replacement of the water man on 40th Avenue between uh from Main Street to University. That project is expected to take place in 2026. Um water mane and manholes are quite old on this stretch dating back to 1916. Um the funding is coming from grant funds received from the federal government for the sewer uh sanitary sewer and manhole portion of the project and then the water main replacement um would be funded with city funds. I don't have a breakdown of those costs, but we could get that for the council um to to understand, you know, the the project cost between grant funds and and the city's utility funds. I can follow up with an email on that if that's sufficient. Is that okay? Thank you, council member. I'll just say I think that I mean that doesn't impact whether I think the work needs to go ahead. I'm just wanting to know that information. I think this is a great for people in that section because I know that that water needs needs work. So, and I'll just if I could just add to that um yes, not to ask not to have a question about it, but um to add to the fact that it doesn't just isn't just 40th, of course, it goes to other parts of the city. And I would appreciate a follow-up email to see especially with all the federal cuts to make sure that we're able to say thank you for when we received this um in the past. So, I'm glad we're getting to use this now. Thank you. Um if no further questions on seven then item eight uh is presentation of the 2025 body one camera audit uh for the city council's review and just a little bit of additional information. So each year according to state statute the city's um practices for how we collect, classify, retain, use and release all of the data that's collected through the body warn cameras used by the police department is audited. Um and then those findings are presented to the council and the 2025 audit is compliant. No issues um no discrepancies or no negative findings. Item eight or excuse me item nine are the rental occupancy licenses for approval. Item 10 is the uh routine business licenses for approval. And finally, item 11 um are the bills for this period and the total is [Music] 1,288,5602. Madame Mayor, thank you. Any questions or comments? All right. Then hearing none, then I have a motion then to approve the consent agenda as presented. So moved. Second. I have a motion by council member James and a second by council member Bisgens to approve the consent agenda. Any discussion? Seeing none, then all in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. We have no public hearings this evening. So this takes us to items for consideration under ordinances and resolutions number 12. Item number 12, first reading of ordinance 1714 amending the city's res the city's rental density cap and taking us through this item is our community development director Mitch Forny. Madame Mayor, members of the council, um as stated before use is the first reading of ordinance 1714. As you are fully aware, at the April 7th city work session, staff brought forward some discussion on how the rental density cap review exemption review process should go in the future. This ordinance takes into effect all the items that staff had presented to the council and just solidifies that an ordinance also attached to your packet is in internal policy. This is just to give staff more clarification on how to handle this, you know, with um staff changes or just if somebody is out that way every um exemption request is handled in the same way and then it is clear to anybody that asks how we handle all the rental exemption processes. So, in general, this process um makes it so that we have less of these exemption requests coming to the city council, especially those that are already approved or easily approvable by city staff. So, city staff will take care of those internally and give those exemptions out. Um there are still an appeal process for those that feel that they do not um that do not meet the initial ordinance requirements but that they still you know want to go forward with requesting that of the city council as part of the policy and not as part of the ordinance. Staff will then kind of delineate which ones are have been approved in the past and can be put on consent agenda which would be a recommended for or those that have not would be um recommended against and then would have to still come up. But this will remove um the majority of the requests from having to bring their public their life into the public sphere and go before the city council. Another edit is that they're extending to a maximum of five years. Staff can give those temporary regist or exemptions. Say someone's leaving for two years, staff can give that two-year exemption but with a maximum of five years which sets up well for um as we had talked about in the meeting that um you know you have the if you're deployed with the military your job has to hold the position for five years. So um and then any other life circumstances that would fall within that as well. Um with that staff are open to answer any questions um and recommend approval. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Council member James. Thank you so much, Mayor, and thank you um to the community development staff. I'm really excited to see this come forward. Question about on page 128, it's saying that they must submit an annual application. Would that be an ownorous amount of paperwork if they do have it five years or is that is that within the workflow? That's within the workflow. It's just a simple um they would have to also do their renewal with fire. So, it' be less than their renewal, just a simple onepage application. Thank you. That's great to hear. Yeah. Any other comments from council or questions? All right. Well, thank you so much for doing this. We've had quite the evolution of when we first brought up a rental density cap and through the moratorum and then kind of seeing how everything would flow and um so I appreciate all the work going into this and and how we've just are evolving this um this structure. So, thank you very much. We're ready for the next level, I think. All right. Well, then if there's I'm seeing people nod along, so if there's no other questions, then I have a motion to wave the reading. Move to wave the reading of ordinance number 1714. There being an ample copies available to the public. Second. Have a motion by council member Biskins and a second by council member Denine to wave the reading. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? The motion passes. And next we have a motion then to set the second reading. Move to set the second reading ordinance number 1714 be an ordinance amending chapter 5A article 4 of the Columbia Heights city code to amend the regulation of rental density for detached single family rental dwellings for June 9th 2025. Second. I have a motion by council member Biskins and a second and a second by council member Denine to set the second reading. Any discussion hearing? None. Then all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. Next we have item number 13, consideration of a rental density cap exemption for 2308 Maiden Lane. And taking over this item again will be community development director Mitch Forny. Madam Mayor, members of the council, in front of you is a rental density exemption request from the owner of 2308 Maiden Lane. Community Development staff received the attached application and request from the owner on May 14th, 2025. Um, this house is located on a block uh 184 with seven single family rentals out of the 50 total single family units with a lotment of five single family rentals allowed. So, some of the rentals were, you know, already established prior to the the cap being put in place. the owner does not own any other properties within Columbia Heights, but those reside within the city. Um, and then the applicant's narrative is also attached um with their application within the city council's packet. Um, as just a review of kind of what we've just talked about and how this application would be handled in the future, um, this this scenario itself would staff would not allow this as a kind of the initial line. and it would not pass initial approval by staff. And then if the owner would like to appeal, then this would still come to the city council if they um believe they have um a case and staff would recommend against that and let the owner know that they would be recommending against the process and that you know it would be more difficult I guess you could say for them to re receive an exemption. With that being said, this is 100%formational. Staff have no recommendation this evening. um this, you know, the items we've talked about earlier this evening do not go into effect. So, I just wanted to kind of give the council an idea of how this would be handled in the future, but staff are open for anything and can answer any questions. Applicant was notified of the meeting this evening. Um but they have they are not available at this time. Thank you. Thank you. Um Mitch, thank you. Uh, any questions or comments for our community development director? No. I guess I'm sorry, Council Member James. Thank you. I This is a little bit off to the side, but I'm noticing is this a new format where um keeping the name and details of the owner um not public? And I'm for that because I do think it helps us to make unbiased decisions, but I don't remember that in past presentations. Madame Mayor, members of the council, that's a great question. Yep. Staff were trying to eliminate all kind of regulation other than the property address. Of course, you could look up the property and find the owner's name, but just to keep email addresses, phone numbers, everything like that out of the public record as best we can. Yep. And owner name unless they put it on their their items. their narrative. So to follow up, the owner's name is not on the letter because because staff have taken that off. Correct. Yep. We've blacked it out on the application. Um I don't see that they put it on the letter themselves. So if they would put it on the letter, then we would leave it on there just for the record. But if out of the application, we try and redact that information. All right. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate um keeping having people have some uh privacy until their uh business is public matter, I guess. Um and if someone does need to know the information, of course, they could ask staff for that if um as a public data, but right here in this meeting, it doesn't have to be discussed. So, thank you for that. All right, then. Well, if we have no other comments or questions, then may I have a motion then to wave the reading? Move to wave the reading of resolution 2025-42. There being ample copies available to the public. Second. I have a motion by council member Sprigs and a second by Council Member James to wave the reading. Um, any discussion? Seeing and hearing none, then all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. And next, then may I have a motion to approve the single family rental exemption? Move to approve resolution 2025-42, a resolution approving the single family rental exemption request for the rental application at 2308 Maiden Lane, Columbia Heights, Minnesota 55421. All right, I have a motion by council member Spriggs. Second, and a second by Council Member Biskins. Any discussion? Seeing hearing none, then all in favor say I. And all oppose say nay. Nay. And the motion does not pass. Thank you. And next we are we will go to our city council and administrative reports. So we will start our city council report with council member James. Thank you. Um it's been a really fun and busy month. In May, we had our sustainability commission meeting where we welcomed new members and we worked toward our goals um for this year. I was able to attend and volunteer at cheers for beers and it was wonderful and uh let others who worked hard share their share all the results. Uh I visited Artawir in Northeast Minneapolis and I kept thinking about how could that be a part of Columbia Heights in the future. So I know I just wanted to share that. um met with the mayor's rapid response team and then on May 20th they had an expressions art show for all three elementary schools, the middle school and the high school and it was at Silverwood Park along with some music and that was wonderful to see all of our artists and their great awards. I stopped by the city staff celebration that day as well and it was wonderful to see um just people connecting and gathering. Uh we did our books and bruise event for May 20th for the League of Women Voters. I came to the presentation at the library for the Medronic site proposal and there was a lot of great neighbors out with good questions and I want to thank everybody for your questions in person as we're moving forward to consider that plan. And then also I signed on to a letter for elected officials who are standing with the mayor of New York, New Jersey and against authoritarian attacks. And finally, I did a five-day League of Minnesota cities challenge on welcoming and engaged cities. So, there was um five seminars that we went through to think about ways we could work through our city. And that's it for me. Thank you. Thank you, Council Biscans. Hello, everyone. It's been a while since I've been here. I apologize for missing the last council meeting as my father-in-law had passed that afternoon. So appreciate everyone's care and concern on that. Um attended uh Mindot had a training group here in Columbia Heights at Merion Hall for people taking complete streets training and they invited me to uh attend their meeting at uh Central Fix. They walked down 40th and then along Central and it was about 20 people, two groups. So total of 30 or 40 people I think somewhere around there. Anyway, um it was quite an interesting discussion and they asked me a lot of questions and one of the questions I asked them is uh how did it feel to walk along Central Avenue and uh they were like vulnerable. It's really loud. I don't feel safe. So, it was really an eye openener for them to see what our streets like and I look forward to some of the changes coming in the next four years, four or five years. So anyway, it was really interesting and then um I also was attended. I did a panel for them too the day before um where they also were asking questions and we could give a short presentation of our perspective of the projects that we're doing here. So it was really cool experience. Um I continue to volunteer at the Blooming Sunshine Garden. In fact, I just came from there. My nails are dirty. Um MDOT, let's see, Fire Department awards dinner was a really fun event to attend and and see. It's always interesting to hear the stories. It's so touching sometimes what our firemen do and how they um have done really special things in our city and helping people and saving folks from uh tragedy. Um I attended the St. Matthews musical Hunchback of Notream that has become a gem in our community. The musicians or the actors and the musicians, they had a almost a a small full orchestra this time in the middle and the music and the singers was just phenomenal. every year it gets better and better and it's just h a really nice evening. So I encourage people to attend that next year. Um I attended Tim Len's retirement party and so sorry to see him go but I'm sure this next chapter of his life will be wonderful and he's done great service for our city for so many years. He'll be missed. Um attended with the rest of the council and and city directors, staff directors and strategic planning and um for our goals in the next two years. um attended the MWM board meeting and uh it's really cool what they're doing. They're creating they're focusing more now on district plans instead of individual. They still do individual but they're focusing more in building more district and Marshall Street south of Lowry is going to be redone. So they've created the whole district around that area and a new word I learned pipe sheds. Not just waterheds but pipe sheds. So they're figuring out where all the water is going. So over the years as they plan it, they know, you know, and can budget and figure out strategically where the water is coming, what needs to be cleaned and all that stuff before it goes into the Mississippi. So it's pretty exciting to see some of the things they're doing. Um I attended the Cheers for Beers. Folks looked like they were having a great time. Lots of smiles and conversation going on. Um I attended, this is just something for folks, um the Minneapolis Open Doors. I've always wanted to go to their courthouse in Minneapolis. It's all marble in the foyer. It's just gorgeous building and unexpectedly they had a tour of the mayor's space up on the third floor. So, we got to see Mayor Frey's meeting room for his department heads and then his office and he gave a spiel about some of the things they're doing in their city. Um, attended the Heights Next planning meeting for all the people that are in charge of the different events that Heights Next does. And attended the wellness dinner. It was very good. It was fun to hang out with staff and get to know them more. And uh yeah, that's it. That's it. And then tonight I was at the garden. I'm going back to the garden after this. So anyway, if it's not boring. So thank you. Thank you. And next, Council Member Denine. Thank you. I also missed the last meeting. I apologize. I had a work trip I could not get out of. So I do have a few to catch up on, but I'll try to go through them quickly. Um I attended the annual fire department awards ceremony on the 30th. That was great. It was great to see all of our firefighters out there and hear the stories of things that have happened in the last year. It's super exciting and congratulations again to all the award winners. Um I attended the energy action plan draft feedback session on May 1st where we discussed the first draft of the energy action plan resulting from the partners in energy initiative. Um I volunteered with every meal at Valley View Elementary School, handing out meals on the second. Stopped by coffee with a cop on the second as well at uh I think it was community grounds. Yes. Um then I attended the work session ADA meeting on the 5th. Attended the second night of our strategic planning on the 7th. Volunteered at Cheers for Beers on the 16th. It was a great fundraiser to support local events through Heights Next. It was well attended. It was fun. On a selfish note, I got to watch my husband MC the whole thing and he had a lot of fun. So that was also fun. Um, I attended the meeting on the Metronic redevelopment at the Columbia Heights Library on the 21st. Attended the fire relief committee meeting as a standin for council member Biskkins on the 21st. And then I attended the city's Memorial Day celebration on Houston Park on Monday. And that was also great to see our community come out and celebrate that and enjoy our our memorial. So that's it for me. Thank you. Well, missing a meeting. You were pretty busy though. Um, and you too, Council Visgans. Um, Council Member Spriggs. Yeah, thank you. Um, as usual, a lot of overlap here. I also attended the strategic planning session with the rest of the council and city staff, and that's always a great exercise to kind of come together and reevaluate our goals for the next couple of years. I also attended the Mindot Complete Streets workshop with council member Biskkins. to sit on the um the panel for that and it was really interesting to hear from the the different engineers and whatnot their perspective on Central Avenue and kind of the very unique challenges that it um um you know faces and some of them were quite kind of you know trying to figure out exactly what the best solution would be and kind of have been seeing what we've been debating over the past few months of there's pros and cons to everything we're doing but it was really interesting to hear their perspectives and then also hear their questions of us of how was the best way to work with city leaders and um city officials kind of when they're going through this redesign process. So, that was really good. Um as council member James said, excuse me, I I also took part in the League of Minnesota's 5-day um seminar. Um and just to kind of highlight the five different topics that they covered, the first was collecting and using data. The second was language access, the third was emergency management, the fourth was community engagement, and the last one was youth engagement. and it was really interesting to kind of see the the different things that they were offering as resources and then also see what other cities are doing as well. So I think um we can definitely review those and see if there's things we can improve on in that aspect. And then lastly, I attended the MAC meeting um as well as really well attended and it was nice to hear from some of our new officers and then also hear from the chief about how increasing the staffing levels are going to allow them to focus a lot more on the community policing aspect that they are so good at and that our community loves. Um they're always working on that, but just with the the increased staffing that just provides them more resources to do that. Thank you, Council Member Spriggs. Um I have similarly done many things that we all get to go do in our city. Some of those would be the city wellness employee dinner that was catered by Dango and that was really yummy. Um attended our heights next planning meeting. So we're kind of going through the year of what's all happening. Um, and the next event would be the garden tour in August. Um, I also volunteered at the Cheers for Beers event and it was such a fun event. We had um 27 breweries I believe and there was also um sparkling beverages and Top Value was just such a great partner as usual. Um, their staff are there to help with making sure it's a 21 plus event and there were a couple food trucks as well. So, it was a great community event. Um, just lots of fun music and everything. Attended a couple Rotary meetings. Um, and working on the peace breakfast. Um, and I have a little flyer here. Um, the peace breakfast, it is on Tuesday, June 10th at from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at Merion Hall. And tickets are $20 a person, $160 for a table for eight people. And the proceeds go to Missions Inc., which is a program to help people get on their feet and there is a location in Columbia Heights. So there's volunteers from different faith communities are helping put that together. Um so that's something we're working on. I also signed on to the letter supporting the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Um along with council member James um and and then we had a wonderful Memorial Day event yesterday um in the at West Park. I just really want to thank staff and especially our Boy Scout troop. Um, one of our police officers who um, performed taps for us and just all the community members who came out. Um, someone actually just came up to me afterwards and said, "I've lived in the city for a couple decades and I missed that we used to do this and I'm glad that you're bringing it back." So, I just really want to thank everyone who was a part of it. Um it was really a very special day and a good day for remembering those who served and have died during in their duty. Um, and then another thing I would just want to mention is that, and I know it's on everyone's mind here at the city, um, the five-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder and, um, just how far that we've come since having this happen during the pandemic that, um, here in the city, you know, we've hired on two full-time social workers. We now have a therapy dog. We are really working hard to support our police um and their mental health health and awareness for their families, all of our public service um people and just our I know speaking on behalf of the council that we always need to do better. We want to do better and um but it's just been uh that weekend, Memorial Day weekend will always be a part of that is remembering what had happened five years ago. Um, and just I'm very thankful for the police we have here in Columbia Heights. They do a lot of work, a very hard job and do well with connecting with our community. And um, something to council member Den or Bisgens had said about the firefighters and all of our public safety team works really hard to have the training they need um, to do the work they can do. So, thank you. Um, and then after I'll hand it over to our city manager. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. A few routine updates and then some prepared responses to questions that were raised at the last community forum. So, uh, McKenna Park waiting pool. Just an announcement that due to a tree damaging the fence around the waiting pool, that pool is going to be closed until further notice till that can be cleaned up. Could you repeat what park was that? McKenna Park waiting pool. A yeah, thank you. Uh the citywide garage sale registration deadline. So the deadline to register for the garage sale is Saturday, May 31st. Um the citywide garage sale is scheduled for June 6th through the 8th. And please visit the city's website for more information. We have our first music in the park event coming up. Um, the 2025 uh series is sponsored by Northeast North, excuse me, Northeast Bank and starts on Wednesday, June 4th with Ecuador MA. Music in the park takes place from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Huet Park East. And again, uh, visit the website for full schedule details. Uh, an update on the intersection of 40th Avenue and Fifth Street. Public works crews are currently working on repairing the road at that intersection due to a water main break that happened uh this winter. It's a pretty extensive repair um and county roadway some additional uh type of regulation and traffic control. So um we expect that that repair will be complete by the end of the week. And I did receive an update from city engineer while we were in the meeting about the EPA grant previously referenced in the consent agenda. So, it's a max grant of $400,000 from the federal government. It's an 8020 split and this is only for the sanitary sewer portion. So, the city would have to expend a minimum of $480,000 to be eligible for the full reimbursement. So, we don't know what the total project costs are until we fully bid it. Uh it's estimated to be upwards of a million. So, we'll see how much grant funding we can access. Uh there certainly was some urgency in moving this project forward as actually applied for in 2023 and with the nature of the uncertainty of federal funds. Um we're hopeful that we can get this done and and get those funds uh allocated to the city. And then um let me just grab my file here for responses to questions raised at the last community forum. There's a lot of questions around uh Gould Avenue Peters Place Parking. So, I'll start there. Uh one of the questions was, "Does the city of Columbia Heights have a six-hour parking rule?" Yes, the city does. It's code section 7.205A, which states, "No person shall park a vehicle in his We still have some gender pronouns. to see um custody or control in anyone placed upon any street or roadway for a continuous period longer than 6 hours. So this regulation staff find in many ways is impractical from an enforcement perspective and would like to look into it you know and maybe some suggest some changes in the future. It's really there at at current or at present to take care of nuisance, you know, vehicles that they've remained for a long period of time and the city has to have something to enforce. Um, but it's it's not a perfectly applied um ordinance to the situation on Golden Peters. Um, and and there's room for improvement. Question, is there a law that says some people don't have to register and pay for tabs for their vehicles? So motor vehicle registration and taxation are regulated by Minnesota state chapter 168. Um per the department of public safety driver and vehicle services. Minnesota requires all motor vehicles to be registered annually. Uh the state does allow reciprocity agreements with some other states and territories. A new Minnesota resident uh has a certain window of time in which they could register their vehicle. Uh if residents observe parked cars with expired tabs, they're welcome to call the non-emergency uh Columbia Heights dispatch line, police dis dispatch line. Um some additional information. So Minnesota law requires motans renew their their registration by the last day of the expiration month and display the new tabs by the 10th day uh following the expiration. Um unless a vehicle meets one of the immediate towing exceptions. In this case on gold, we have signage for areas that are for emergency vehicles only and and any vehicle can be towed from that section. It can't be towed if its tabs are expired for less than 90 days. So there's there's some nuance. Uh vehicles with tabs that are expired over 90 days can be impounded. And um the police chief has worked with his staff that are patrolling this area as part of this effort to understand this law in in greater context and we expect you know enforcement of this rule uh moving forward. Question doesn't the ratio building have sufficient parking for residents? So the ratio city hall and wings building uh includes an interior parking garage during the design phase of the project. um the city, the project team, the planning department determined how much residential parking to be provided using calculations based on unit count and type and number of bedrooms. Um and and cal parking was calibrated to meet those standards during the planning approval process. Um residents ratio residents who wish to use the indoor garage are required to pay a monthly fee in addition to their rent. Um, question. Could the city develop an agreement with Ratio building owners to provide cheaper parking for building residents? At this time, the city can't require Ratio to reduce their parking lease rates. Um, the income from parking is essential to the overall financial health of their project, and it's actually used, you know, for underwriting purposes with the lenders that, you know, have financed the project. Um the city has been able to craft development agreements for subsequent projects that require parking to be included in the base rent of apartments um and not at a separate optional cost. So kind of a lessons learned you know evolution of the city's approach to development agreements um after some projects had you know concerns like what we're experiencing at ratio. It's worth noting that residents that wish to avoid paying for parking on site have been offered free overnight parking at the city's municipal parking ramp across the street. Um, and also worth noting that ratio management has changed management of parking space leasing to require 12-month minimums or at least uh a lease for parking that coincides with their parking lease term if they're choosing to to rent a space. that was in response to some seasonal renting of spaces that took place early on. So, at the initial lease up, you know, people would lease a space during the winter when it was more um convenient to have indoor parking and then um you know, terminate the parking lease for the summer months. So, that's no longer taking place. So, there's improvement there. Question, did the city complete an assessment of the effects of the new parking regulations? So, yes, city staff began assessing the impacts immediately following implementation on January 2nd of this year and continued to do so through April. Um, there was seemingly some miscommunication about the process when residents asked about the results of the assessment during an April 14th council meeting. Staff had not yet reported back and that report took place at the May 5th council work session and then staff presented a full um assessment of those results at the work session. question. Why wasn't winter parking data included in the included in the work session assessment report? So staff did not include winter parking data in the report to the council because the elimination of the full lane along the north side of Gould. So that that was a significant change and the number of citations in the neighborhood during the winter season would certainly decrease in comparison to last year. So, we don't have a full year of data to really say this is what it was in 24 versus, you know, the three months that we've um had those regulations in place and would recommend a longer time horizon to kind of get a better understanding of of how citations are working. We just didn't want that to be misleading um to residents. And even if we we look at this one year from now, we still have a baseline for because we've changed it so significantly um you know to compare apples to apples. But we can certainly report on levels of citations and towing um as we move through this question. Why isn't the police department towing vehicles when issuing tickets? So CHPD is towing vehicles when allowed by state statute. Not all ticketable parking violations are towable. So, um, anything that's parked in the no parking emergency vehicle only, that's towable. Um, just outright the 6-h hour rule, for example, referenced earlier, that's a ticketable offense. Um, to complicate matters further, during a snow emergency, during our designated snow emergencies, um, that we enact each year, those are towable violations. So, there's there's a lot of nuance to ticketing and towing um, within the cities right away. and and what is taking place on public streets. Question, why haven't residents received any information from the city about parking updates or changes? Um, in leadup to the implementation, staff used multiple methods of communication to ensure air residents were informed and prepared of the new regulations. Uh the weekend before implementation, community development staff mailed flyers to each property with a frontage on Peters Place or Gold Avenue, as well as Reservoir Boulevard properties that share the alley between Gold and Peters. On Friday, December 27th, communication staff sent a code red neighborhood alert about the upcoming changes by phone, text, and email. On Tuesday, December 31st, communication staff sent a second code red. And then finally, uh, communications and community development collaborated to create a website specifically for this effort um, and also include citywide parking information. And that can be found um, on the city's website. Question, why did the city propose different solutions instead of permit parking? So, there's several reasons. Um, first, permit parking can regulate who parks in a certain area, but not where. uh for example in front of driveways, mailboxes, trash cans. So it didn't necessarily drive at the the congestion issue that was really important um from staff's perspective and from a resident perspective. Permit parking can't resolve concerns about in insufficient drive lane width reducing parking to one side of the street can do that. Permit parking is typically a way to regulate between different uses and not densities. um most common when there's lots that you're regulating rather than streets or rightway. It it it's more challenging. Um just generally speaking, a street or alley is not a private property. A public street in front of a house isn't the property of that house owner. And regulating on street parking through permit wouldn't perfectly guarantee, for example, that that spot in front of my house would be available. it might be available to someone else someone else. Also, there were legal considerations that were con you know um looked at and uh discriminating verse between residential so residents here and residents on the street and it's typical that we saw regulation between against again uses and not the same use. Um and there was a legal concern that that there would be exposure um to make that differentiation. Fin or not finally but um during that same group of questions there was a fan noise question raised um by one of the individuals also speaking on uh the parking. So the fan noise mitigation project was started on May 19th and substantially complete on May 23rd. The initial work included moving the fan deeper into the garage and away from the exterior wall. And the fan was reoriented or aimed in a different direction to not aim at the exterior wall closest to it. There's still electrical work that remains um that's going to calibrate the fan speed to the temperature of the room that's being cooled. So the whole issue is these large fans are used to extract air out of the the HVAC room that overheats. So the the cooler that room is because of the outside air temperature, the lower this fan speed needs to be. So there's another adjustment that's in process that's going to try to moderate um the issue even further. So work is substantially complete and underway. Um there was also a gentleman um that spoke representing an NOA County election integrity team and had concerns related to the city's you should usage of poll pads. So a little bit of background on poll pads themselves. A poll pad is used used in place of paper poll books to check voters to see whether a voter has received an absentee ballot or has v voted absentee. Addition additionally, the pads help direct a voter to the correct polling place if they're at the incorrect location. Poll pads um use a secure internet connection to update voter information in real time with a state voter registration system. Um if there were to be a reason that the poll pads are not able to be utilized, there's a paper backup that is deployed um by the city. So, some just trying to consolidate some of the questions or concerns that were raised by um this individual. There was a mention that the city's poll pads were used one day out of the year. That's incorrect. Last year, they were prepared and deployed for three elections. Uh the sole purpose again is so that count the county can do real-time updates to reflect what's happening on election day. It's a huge benefit um with the influx of absentee voters especially uh the day prior to election um and there was a question or concern poll agreements came out in 2018 and the individual felt that the county and city did not properly vote on it. In 2018 the county board voted unanimously to purchase and use pole pads. The county then sent all required notification to the state to inform them of that decision. There was no formal vote required by the county or city. There was concern that there's liability and suggested that the city's lawyers look at the agreement. Um, two main things that municipalities are liable for if the product is misused or damaged while in the city's possession. Um, the county doesn't own or control the data system. So, since the county doesn't own or control the cell tower, uh the app, the servers, or the company, in this case, E-Pulse, there isn't a way for the city or excuse me, the county to warranty the device itself. It's really all, you know, staff have in response to that presentation. If the council wanted staff to consider a conversation at a work session in in the future, we certainly could. Um there was an individual just uh referenced by her first name, Faith. She she uh approached the council about concerns related to volleyball games taking place at uh neighboring property. Um staff from community development did inspect that property following the meeting and found some minor code violations related to the netting um that was installed to um keep the balls from, you know, leaving the area. It it's not that it can't be used, but it can't be permanent. It would have to come up and down uh during the volleyball matches and enforcement on that piece is underway. And it's worth noting that police have responded to several complaints at the location uh to investigate, you know, concerns related to the volleyball and and they'll continue to respond um and and would issue citations if warranted, but that has not uh happened to date. Um, I believe that's it. Those are the responses. Mayor, thank you so much. I really appreciate you um repeating all of the questions that have been asked and not summarizing them into one statement um from city staff's um not perspective but just like the data. I think it really shows a great um care of transparency and really making sure that the community's voices, the people who spoke up get to have their direct question answered. Um, also I can just tell all of the research that has gone into every answer. Um, these answers are not necessarily a surprise to me or probably the council because we have discussed for instance the gold parking at multiple different work sessions, but I know in our council meetings, not everyone is able to, you know, in those meetings hear all of the dialogue that we've had. So, I really appreciate all of the factchecking and data that you and staff have gathered to present this this evening. I also really appreciate the update on the fan noise and just learning. So, that was this month, this last week that that's been being worked on. Fantastic. I know it's been very loud and it's been a very big sore spot for for this wonderful building to have that happening. So, I appreciate um all the connection between city staff and ratio to get that taken care of. Um and then I wanted to make a comment to one of the questions and answers you mentioned about winter parking. Um one and I like how you said that, you know, we didn't have enough data um because we didn't really have a full winter for us to um answer those questions of what the changes were like on gold, but we also really didn't have a lot of snow. So, we didn't have a lot of snow emergencies. We didn't have a lot of actual snow issues with the trucks trying to get through and make those corners and such. So, we really didn't have enough data besides the timeline to really say why winter parking uh was part of that discussion because there just really wasn't much uh snow this year. Um and then also to the comment on volleyball, I just really want to say how the people can play volleyball in our city. Um but we have different things like we have noise ordinances and we have if there's other concerns um and those are things that as you said the police have had a couple calls. Um, so at any time if someone has a concern about there's, you know, too much hap, there's too many people parking, there's a hundred cars or whatever, like if it's literally blocking the street, definitely call about things like that. Um, but we need the community to let us know if anything's happening that could be dangerous in our community. Um, you volleyball in itself is not, but if there's too much noise that we definitely need to call then. Um, but thank you so much for for all the questions being answered. That was really really nice to hear. All right. Well, if there is nothing else then this evening, then could I get a motion to adjourn our meeting? So moved. Second. I have a motion by council member Biskins and a second by council member Denine to adjourn the meeting. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. Thank you very much.