"D Afternoon Everyone. Regular To The Regular Meeting Of The Business, Housing, And Zoning Committee For May 20, 2025. I'M Expwi'M Jamal Os Man. These Meetings Are Broadcast Live To Enable Greater Public Participation. They Include Real Time Captioning To Increase The Accessibility Of Our Proceedings To The Community. Therefore, All Speakers Need To Be Mindful To The Rate 77 Their Speech So Our Captioners Can Fully Transcribe All Comments To The Broadcast. We Ask All Speakers To Moderate The Speed And Clarity Of Their Means. We'Ll Be Using Speaker Management For This Meeting. Please Sign Up. At This Time, I'Ll Ask The Clerk To Call The Roll To Verify A Quorum. >> Councilmember Rain Ville. >> Present. >> Cashman. >> Present. >> Jenkins. >> Present. >> Chowdhury Is Absent. Vice Chair Ellison. >> Here. >> Chair Osman. >> Present. >> There Are Five Members Present. >> Let The Record Reflect We Have A Quorum. Councilmember Chowdhury Will Be Joining Soon. Before We Proceed To The Public Hearing On The Agenda, We'Ll Fist Take Up The Consent Agenda, Which Includes Items 6 Through 24. Six Is Approving Two Liquor Licenses. Seven Is Approving Five Liquor License Renewals. Eight Is Approving Two Gambling Licenses. Item Nine Is Approving A Gambling License Renewals. 10 Is A Passage Of Resolution Adopting An Updated Reorganization Of The Administration Fine Schedule. Item 11 Is Amending 2025 License Fee Related To The Pollution Control Fees. Item 12 Is Approving Minneapolis Work Force Department Board Seat 11 Appointments. Item 13 Is Approving Reduction Of The Inclusionary Zoning Requirements For The Silva River Housing Project. Item 14 Is Authorizing Change To The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Program. Item 15 Is Authorizing Change To 2026-2027 Housing Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan For Procedural Manual. Item 16 Is Authorizing An Additional Write Down Of Partners And Property For Commercial Land Trust For The Property Located On 19 East 26th STREET. 17 IS A PASSAGE Of Resolution Approving Hud Appropriation To Cped. 18 Is Approving A Second Amendment To The Purchase Agreement With The East Philips Neighborhood Institute. 19 Is Setting A Public Hearing For June 10, 2025, To Consider Authorizing A Host Approval To Multiple Minneapolis Projects. Item 20 Is Setting A Public Hearing For June 2025, To Consider The Sale Of Multiple Properties For Minneapolis Homes. Item 21 Is Setting A Public Hearing For June 20 -- I'M Sorry, June 10, 2025 To Consider City Planning Commission Appointments. Item 22 Is A Setting A Public Hearing For June 10, 2025 To Consider Ordinance Relating To The Regulating Sauna Establishment. Item 23 Is Setting A Public Hearing For June 24, 2025 To Consider Ordinance Remitted To The Prohibited Sale And Location Restriction For Licensed Tobacco Dealers. Finally, Item 24 Is Referring To Staff To The Subject Matter Ordinance By Adding A Newer Chapter Entitled Restrictive Covenants. Any Items To Be Pulled For Discussion? I Believe Councilmember Chowdhury? >> Thank You, Mr. Chair. I'D Like To Pull Item Number 11 For Discussion. >> Thank You. Councilmember Jenkins? >> I'D Like To Pull Item Number 18. >> So Item Number 18. Anyone Else? Seeing None. I Will Approve All Items Except 11 And Item 18 For Discussions. With That, All Those In Favor Say Aye. Opposed Say Nay. The Ayes Have It And The Motion Carries. All Right. I Will Give The Floor To Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Thank You, So Much, Mr. Chair. Colleagues, I Am Bringing Forward A Motion With Councilmember Chavez To Item Number 11 To Amend The 2025 License Fee Schedule And Adjust Licenses For The Sidewalk Street Cart Food Vendor. The Amendment Lowers The Cost Of Doing Business For A Single Sidewalk Food Cart Vendor. Currently It'S Set At $719 For A Single License. As Many Of You Know, As We'Ve Discussed, Sidewalk Food Cart Vending In Our City. Many Of Those Vendors Are Immigrants, Bipoc Residents, Small-Scale Entrepreneurs Trying To Sustain A Livelihood With Limited Capital. Through Ongoing Discussion With Our City Staff, Food Vendors, Across Council Offices, One Of The Biggest Barriers That We Have Seen Is This Initial License Cost. Right. Many Vendors Want To Do The Work To Come Into Compliance, Get The Certifications They Need. And In Order For Them To Start Their Journeys And Entrepreneur In Our City, A Part Of This Is Lowering The License Fee. And Creating A More Equitable System. We Landed On $63 Because That'S Presently The Cost Of A License Fee For Nonprofits For Sidewalk -- Not Sidewalk. Food Trucks For Nonprofits In The City Of Minneapolis. And There Was Agreement Across Our City Staff, Mayor'S Office, And Council Offices. So I Ask For Your Support Today. And Would Like To Move The Amendment. >> All Right. I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Rainville. >> Thank You. I Appreciate The $63 Explanation. That Was My Question. But I'M Wondering, We Usually Have Fees Cover The Cost Enforcement. Does This Drop The Fees Help Cover The Cost Of Enforcement? That'S A Big Drop. Is There A Staff That Can Answer That? >> Vice Manager, Welcome. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. Councilmember Rainville, The Fees -- There'S A Fee Study. All Felineses Are Set At A Cost Recovery Model. It'S The Ability Of The Council To Have A Policy To Lower The Fees, As Necessary. The $63 Will Not Necessarily Cover The Cost Of Enforcement. But It Has Been Brought Forth To Make This Fee Lower In Order To Be Able To Help People To Cover Compliance. That Will Not Cover. >> Okay. Thank You. If You Can Stay. I Have One Other Question. I Get A Lot Of Complaints About Vendors In The Medians. I'M Sure They Don'T Have A License Or A Cart. Do We Have Any Plans To Enforce That Issue? >> Through The Chair, Councilmember Rainville. This Is A Different Conversation Than The Sidewalk Vendors Themselves. So There Will Be No License In Order To Be Able To Vend In The Street. As It Is Unsafe. We'Ll Be Working With Them, As Well. But It Is Different. >> I Understand. They'Re Two Different Issues. So Thank You. But You Will Do Enforcement To Get Them Out Of The Streets? >> We'Ll Be Working With That Industry, As Well, Yes. >> Thank You. >> Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Thank You, Chair. I Wanted To Make Some Comments. One Of The Things That We Were Considering In Lowering The License Fee Is Understanding That This Could Open Up More Opportunities For Entrepreneurs As We Have, Also, Opened Up The Goods And Service Districts For Sidewalk Fruit Cart Vendors. So Essentially There Will Be More Individuals Paying License Fee, Which Will Come Into Revenue For The City. I Will Also Say, We Have Seen In Enforcement By Cition Thousand Dollars On Sidewalk Street Cart Vendors Who Are Out Of Compliance. That Is At Cost To The City. And Those Citations, The Individuals Simply Don'T Have The Means To Pay That Back. And That'S Why We Want To Pursue Reducing The Barriers For These Food Vendors So They Aren'T Vending In The Median. So They Are Paying A License Fee. So They'Re Getting Started. And I Just Want You To Think About A Vision Of What It Means For Someone To Get A License And To Be Able To Vend And Start Up Their Business As A Way Of Business Incubation. And Eventually Move On To Maybe Having A Food Truck Or A Restaurant Of Their Own In Our City. We Know That'S A Story Of Many Of The Rest Restauranteurs In The City Of Minneapolis. And I'Ll Note, We'Ve Looked Into Multiple Cities That Have Also Lowered Their License Fees. Not Limitedded To Chicago And Los Angeles. To Address The Very Issues We Also See In The City Of Minneapolis. >> Councilmember Jenkins. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. To Councilmember Chowdhury., I'M Sorry, To Staff. Can You Describe What Nonprofits Are Operating Food Trucks. >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Jenkins. There Are Only Just A Couple Currently Licensed. But Historically Sisters Fill In That Jurisdiction. There Was Another One 10 Years Ago Part Of A Church Organization And The Minneapolis Public Schools Has One. There'S Only Three. >> Thank You. , You Know, I Guess I Will Be Supporting This. This Motion. Today. I Do Want To Dispute. Even If More People Get Into The Thing. It'S Not Revenue To The City. It'S The Cost Of Trying To Manage The Process. So It'S Not Necessarily Revenue. And We Are Lowering It. So It'S Not Going To Cover The Cost Of Administering The Program. But, You Know, We Want To Create Opportunities For People To Have Microbusinesses. However, We -- It Seems As If -- Because I'M Just Seeing, Like, Many More People In The Streets Now. People Have Assumed That The Passage Of This Ordinance Means Now We Can Go And Sell In The Street. And I'M Not Sure If We'Re Doing Education Around That At All. >> Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Yeah. Thank You So Much, Councilmember Jenkins. I Totally Misspoke With Revenue. I'M Thinking In Terms Of Cost Recoup Ration. I'Ll Note, We Have Been In Communication With A Ro Lot Of These Food Vendors. And The Rfp For A Nonprofit To Support Education And Coming Into Compliance Is Now Public. And So Steps Are Being Taken There. There Was A Budgets Allocation That Was Done. And A Lot Of These Food Vendors, Are Communication With Us And Other Organizations. And Asking \"When Can We Start Taking Classes And Get Ready To Come Into Compliance.\" So Many Of The Folks That We Know Want To Come Into Compliance. Obviously, There'S Going To Be Some Individuals Who May Not Be Brought Into The Fold. But That'S The Intention Of This Work. And Hopefully We Can Use This Season And These Efforts To See How We'Re Shifting Things On The Ground. But Things Will Be Fluid And We'Ll Work With City Staff And The Community. So We Can Continue To Be Successful Each Warm Season In The City Of Minneapolis. When People Are Selling Food. >> Vice Chair Ellison. >> Yeah. I Wanted To Jump In And Just Thank Councilmember Chowdhury. But Also Thank Staff Who Have Worked On This. You Know, We Have Seen Folks Over The Years Increasingly Selling Food In The Median. You Know, Operating Out Of Compliance. Is It Because They Want To Break The Rules? No. Because They Want Top Make A Living. And So What I See From Staff And From Some Of The Councilmembers Who Have Worked On This, Is A Way To Support Folks Who Are Looking To Make A Living And Make Sure They Don'T Do It Out Of Compliance. Make Sure They Do Have Food Safety Knowledge. Some Of These Folks Just Don'T Know What The Rules Are. Right. And They Don'T Know Where They Can And Can'T Sell. Maybe They'Ve Come From Somewhere Where They Could Sell That Way. And So They Weren'T Bothered As They Did Sell That Way. And So I See This As A Pathway For Us To Get More People Into Compliance. I See It As A Way For Us To Avoid Criminalizing People Who Are Trying To, You Know, Earn A Dollar. , You Know, They'Re Not Doing -- They'Re Doing Something Out Of Compliance. But They'Re Not Necessarily Out There Breaking The Law, Causing Harm, Or Trying To. And So I Think That By, You Know, Pursuing A Solution As Opposed To Just Tighten The Vice Grip On These People. People Making A Living That Way Is -- That'S Good Governance. That'S Ethical Governance. I Think This Is The Correct Way To Go. There Are A Lot Of Things In The City When Folks Are Operating Out Of Compliance In Some Way, Instead Of Bringing The Hammer Down On Their Head, We Work With Them To Make Sure That They Understand What Are The Rules Are. If They Are Receptive And Get Into Compliance, They Get Rewarded For That. And Then If They Don'T, At Least We Can Distinguish Between The Folks Who Want To The Break The Rules And The Folks That Don'T. They Just Don'T Know What The Rules Are. So That'S Why I Think This Is Really Important. And, Really, Speaks To, I Think, Even Just How Much Some Of The Councilmembers Who Have Worked On This And The Staff Who Have Gotten Us From Point A To Point Bv B Logistically Have Their Ear To The Ground In Supporting People And Creating A Solution Here. I'Ll Be Supporting This. And Thank You, Councilmember Chowdhury, For Bringing Forward. >> Councilmember Cashman. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. Yes, I Will Be Supporting This. I Think It'S Great. , You Know, To Make It Legal And Make It Possible. But I Want To Ask About The Other Part Of Item Number 11, Which Is The Pcar Fee. I'M Wondering If You Wowed You'D Be Able To Explain What Is Being Proposed Here As The Change. I'M Having Trouble Just On Lims Seeing The Actual Number For The Co2 Equivalent. >> Absolutely. Chair Osman, Councilmember Cashman, Departmental Programs In The Minneapolis Health Department. What The Proposal That Is Coming Before You Is To Change The Car Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Fee For The Pollution Control Annual Regular Concentration From What Was Adopted At The End Of 2024 Of $452 To $44 For 2025. To Bring Us In Compliance With Cost Of Recovery For Known Costs For 2025 For The Co2Epcar Program. >> Okay. Thank You. And I'Ll Ask The Clerk After The Meeting To Show Me Where It Is On Lims So I Can Refer To It. Thank You So Much. >> All Right. Thank You. Seeing No One Else In Queue. With That, Councilmember Chowdhury'S Amendment -- I'M Sorry. The Motion To Approve This Item 11. All Those In Favor Say Aye. And Those Opposed Say Nay. The Ayes Have It. And The Motion Carries. Now We Are Going Back To Item 18. I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Jenkins. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. And I Just Wanted To Get Clarity On This Amendment. I'M Not Sure If It'S An Extension. If Staff Can Possibly Answer That. >> Director, Please. >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Jenkins. Eric Hansen, Cped Director. The Joy Of Bringing This Action To You. It Is Moving A Contingency Date Within The Approved Purchase Agreement Where We'Re Selling The Roof Depot Site To The Epni Group. That Date In Our Current AGREEMENT IS MAY 31st. THIS MOVES IT OUT TO JULY 1st. TO Allow For The Legislature To Complete Its Work. They'Re Going Into A Special Session. We Didn'T Anticipate It. The MAY 31st CONTINGENCY DATE WAS Expecting That The Legislatesture Would Finish Its Work On Time. As You Recall, The Epni Group Needs $5.7 Million From The Legislature In Order To Complete The Funding That It Needs For The Sale. And It Also Needs To Extend $Million. The Legislature Has Already Committed To This Project. Past JUNE 30th DEADLINE. THIS WILL Give Us Time To Work Out What Happens In The Legislature As They Figure Out How To Put Their Bills Together For Next Biannual Budget, Which Will Start On July 1st. THE DEADLINE TO CLOSE On The Purchase Of The Property Is Still Remaining The Same. In September. So That Date Has Not Changed. It'S Just Intermediate Date Of Showing Proof Of Funding For Us To Move Forwards The Closing Procedures. >> I Have More Questions But I Guess I'Ll Ask Offline. Thank You. >> Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Thank You. Yeah. I Just Wanted To Encourage Folks To Stay In Conversation With Me, Vice Chair Rainville, The Igr Committee, And Director Topenka. This Is One Of The Top Bonding Priorities For The City. And So Director Topenka And The Igr Team Is Doing A Good Job Of Tracking This Anded A Have H -- Advocating On Behalf Of The City. We'Re Hoping To Make A Win Out Of This Opportunity That Is This Very, Very Special, Special Session. >> Seeing No One Else, I'Ll Move Item 18 For Approval. All Those In Favor Say Aye. And Those Opposed Say Nay. T Ayes Have It And The Motion Carries. All Right. Now Proceed To The Public Hearing Portion Of Our Agenda. Item One Is A Public Hearing For 2025-2029 Hud Consolidated Action Plan. I'Ll Welcome Matt Bower. >> Good Afternoon. Matt Bower. We Have The 2025-29 Hud Consolidated Plan. That'S The City'S Application To Hud. The Housing And Urban Development Department At The Federal Government For The City'S Community Development Block Grant. Home Investment Partnerships, Emergency Solutions Grant, And Housing Opportunities For Persons With Aids Entitlement Grants. The Plan Describes For Both Hud And The Public The City'S Intention With The Funds. With The Strategies We Toward Housing, Community Development Objectives. Addressing The Needs And Concerns Of Low And Moderate Income Residents Of City And The Surrounding Community. There Are Five Goal Areas Expressed Through The Plan. The Provision Of Decent Affordable Housing, Provision In Development Of Housing And Services For The Homeless, Special Needs Housing Provision, Expanding Economic Opportunities, And Improving Neighborhood Conditions. Requirement Of Hud Before We Submit The Plan, Which We Anticipate Will Be The Week Of JUNE 9th TO HOLD A PUBLIC Hearing To Receive Comment On The Plan. We'Ve Had A 30-Day Open Public Comment Period, Which We'Re Currently About The Third Week In. On The Plan, And Any Comments Received During That Period In Written Form Or At This Hearing Today Will Be Included In The Plan That We Will Be Submitting To Hud. And We Are Also Asking For Staff Authorizations To Submit The Plan To Hud. And The Associated Resolutions To Allow Us To Do That. And With That, With I Would Open It Up For The Hearing. >> Thank You For The Present Take. I'Ll Proceed To Open The Public Hearing And See If There'S Anyone Who Would Like To Comment On The Item. Seeing None. I'Ll Close The Public Hearing And Move This Item For Approval. Any Questions? Seeing None. I'Ll Ask All Those In Favor Say Aye. 0 Pie 0 -- Opposed Say Nay. Ayes Have It And The Motion Carries. Thank You. All Right. Public Hearing Item Two. We Have A Public Hearing For Permanent Expansion Premises License For Barbette. Jim Tolzman. >> Good Afternoon. I'M With Community Planning And Economic Development. I Serve As A License Inspector Of Licenses And Consumer Services. I Am Presenting An Expansion Of Premises Permanent Application For Barbette. Owned By Mr. Suzy Llc. Located At 1600 Lake Street West. Requesting To Add A Dining Patio, Which Would Be Located In The Rear Parking Area. Asking An Expansion Of 28 Seats. The Proposed Expansion Was Previously Used During The Covid Pandemic. Exterior Hours Monday Through Sunday, 8:00 A.M.Through 10:00 P.M. Public Hearing Notices Were Sent To Residents And Property Owners Within 300 Feet Of The Premises. The East Aisle Neighborhood Organization, Uptown Business Association, And Councilmember Chughtai. We Have Received One Positive Response From The Community. There Are No Issues Concerning The Business Or Issuance Of This License. The License And Consumer Division Recommends Approval. This Concludes My Presentation At This Time. I Will Stand For Any Comments Or Questions. Thank You. >> Thank You So Much For That Presentation. I Will Proceed To Open The Public Hearing And See If There'S Anyone Who Would Like To Speak On This Item. I See Mary Beth From Uptown. Welcome. >> Hi. >> Mary Beth Mueller. Chief Of Staff For Place Maker Operate And We Operate At Barbette At 1600 West Lake Street. We'Re Excited To Put The Patio Back There And Capture The Short Season Of Minnesota Summer. 28 Colors May Seem Like A Small Amount But It'S Very, Very Big To Our Bottom Line. And The Current Restaurant Operating Climate. >> Thank You So Much. Anyone Would Like To Speak On The Item? Seeing None. I'Ll Close The Public Hearing. I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Cashman. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. I Have One Question. Maybe For Staff Or For You, Mary Beth. I'M Wondering If This Patio In The Parking Lot Will Remove The Parking That Is There. I Would Assume For The Summer Period. And Then, Secondly, Will It Be Covered? You Know, For Rain Or Will It Be Totally Open Air? >> No. It Is Totally Open. Just Like Our Regular Patio. And We Do Have A Lease With The Building Owner To Take Those Three Parking Spots For The Summer. >> Okay. Just Three Spots Will Be Removed. >> Yep. >> Okay. Great. I'Ll Move This Item For Approval And Wish You Well. >> Appreciate It. >> Thank You So Much. >> Seeing No One Else With Councilmember Cashman'S Motion To Approve. All Those In Favor Say Aye. And Those Opposed Say Nay. Ayes Have It And The Motion Carries. Next We Have A Public Hearing For On Sale Liquor License For Fro Yo Soul. I'Ll Recognize Amy Lingo To Give A Presentation. >> Thank You. Once Again, Manager Amy Lingo. And I Am Presenting An Amended Application For Fr Yo Soul Llc. Located At 110 Kenwood Parkway In Ward 7 For An Onsale Liquor, General Entertainment With Sunday Sales. On April 22, 2025, A Public Hearing Was Held For The Item Requesting An Onsale Wine With Strong Beer Entertainment License. However, After Discussion With The Minnesota Department Of Alcohol And Gambling Enforcement, It'S Been Deemed More Appropriate To Have An On Sale Liquor License. Nothing Is Changing In The Business Plan As Previously Presented. On May 9, An Updated Public Hearing Notice Was Sent To Property Owners Within 600 Feet Of The Premises. Notices Sent To The Our I Are Hill, The Luhring Park Business Association, And The Councilmember Katie Cashman. We Have Received No New Comments From The Community. There Are No Issues Concerning This Business With Licenses And Consumer Services Recommends Approval. This Concludes My Presentation. And I Stand For Any Comments Or Questions. >> All Right. Thank You So Much For That Presentation. I'M Going To Proceed To Open The Public Hearing And See If There'S Anyone Who Would Like To Speak. All Right. Seeing None. I'Ll Close The Public Hearing. Recognize Councilmember Cashman. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. Just A Question For You, Ms. Lingo. I See This Doesn'T Change Anything In Their Business Plan. Because They Were Already Planning On Just Doing Beer And Wine. Is That Correct? They'Re Not Planning To Switch To Full Open Bar Or A Full Liquor License Through The City? >> Chair Osman, Chair Cashman. That Is Correct. They Are Making No Changes To Their Business Plan. Including Their Menu. So This Is Just Allowing The Issuance Of The License. But They Still Plan On Serving Just Wine And Strong Beer. >> Thank You For Clarifying That. And Does It Change The Timeline On Opening For Them? >> Through The Chair, They Are Currently Open. Now Without The Alcohol, They Have The Ability, We'Re Hoping They'Ll Pull Temps, As Necessary, If They Need, For The Opening Like The Art Festival. Otherwise They Should Be Good To Go. >> Once This Is Approved, They'Ll Be Able To Add The Beer And Wine To The Menu. >> Correct. >> Thanks. I'Ll Move This For Approval, As Well. >> All Right. Thank You. Seeing No One Else With That Motion. All Those In Favor Say Aye. Opposed Say Nay. The Ives That Item Moves. All Right. The Last Public Hearing Is Ordinance Establishing The Tourism Improvement District. I Will Ask Director Jim Johnson To Present This Item. Welcome. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. And Committee Members. My Name Is Jeff Johnson. General Manager Of The Minneapolis Convention Center. I'M Here Today To Into Deuce To You And The Public To An Ordinance Creating A Tourism Improvement District For Minneapolis. Tourism Improvement District Is A Ag Geographic Area Where Hotels Come Together To Resources For Supplemental Funding For Specific Tourism Activities. Hotels Do This By Implementing Self-Imposed Fees On To Hotel Room Rates. These Supplemental Funds Are Used To Support New Tourism, Specific Activities That Benefit The Hotels. Resources Collected Through The Tid Enhance And Additional Public Investments And The Hotels' Own Individual Budgets. These Supplemental Resources Increase The Amount Of Business Not Only At The Hotels, But In Our Other Hospitality Businesses, Like Restaurants And Transportation Providers. Additional Sales And Use Taxes Are Also Collected For The Downtown Assets Fund Through Increased Business. Tids Are Common Throughout The Country. But Only Recently Were Allowed In The State Of Minnesota. Fees Are Typically Charged As A Percentage Of The Hotel Room Night. Or A Flat Fee P Night. And Average Charge Is Generally 2%. The Hotels Manage The Funds And Determine How They Are Used. Typical Uses Fall Into Categories Relating To Sales And Marketing. The Minneapolis Hotels Desire A Tid To Increase The Level Of Investment In Driving Tourism Business To Minneapolis. Hospitality Industry Has Not Fully Recovered From The Pandemic. Business Travel Is Once A Strong Driver Of Hotel Occupancy In Minneapolis. Business Travel, Though, Has Not Regained The Strength Which Puts More And More Pressure On Group And Event Business. Group Business Is Competitive And Minneapolis Needs To Increase Its Recognition To Our Potential Clients As A Destination For Events. The Hotels Also Have Consistent Need Periods Of Low Occupancy Around Hotel -- I'M Sorry. Holidays And During Winter Months. Increased Resources Will Be Used To Help Fill Those Need Times With Business. Additional Needs And Activations, Special Events, And Leisure Marketing Companies Will Supplement The Group Business WORK. ALSO,s THE HOSPITALITY Industry Recovers, We Know That Our Work Force Will Grow, And There'S A Need For Work Force Development Investments. So That We Can Have A Work Force That Meets The Needs Of The Industry. A Tid Will Allow The Hotels To Be A Partner In Investing For These Outcomes. Today We Bring Forth An Ordinance To Establish The Minneapolis Tourism Improvement District For A Public Hearing. As Mentioned Earlier, The State Of Minnesota Authorized The Creation Of A Tourism Improvement District To Fund New Tourism Items At Increased Levels Of Service For Our Community. All 48 Eligible Hotels Were Petitioned And 73% Approved Of The Creation Of The Tid. A Notice Of The Public Hearing Was E-Mailed To All 48 Eligible Hotels. And All Councilmembers. We Received One Letter In Response That Is Attached To The Lims File. And I Personally Received One Phone Call From A Hotel Just Asking Some Clarifying Questions. Both Of Those Interactions Were Positive. I Will Go Through A Quick Summary Of What Is In The Ordinance. First, The Fee Is Limited To Hotels And Of In The Entire City Of Minneapolis With 50 Or More Rooms. The Tid Will Be Managed By A Nine-Member Democrati Nine-Nine Member Committees. The Committee Members Will Create The Work Plan To Be Executed By Meet Minneapolis. A 2% Fee On Hotel Rooms Will Be Collected Under The Same Rules As The Lodging Tax. These Fees Are Anticipated To Bring In 6 To $7 Million Annually. Hotels Will Be Required To Recertify The Tourism Improvement Strict Every Five Years. Also, Each Year The Committee Will Present A Report Of Their Activities To The City Council Along With A Public Hearing To Follow. Meet Minneapolis Will Execute The Annual Plan Made By The Committee And Will Act As The Tourism Improvement District'S Fiscal Agent. The Funds Will Be Used For Marketing, Public Relations, Work Force Development, Activations, Special Projects, And Sales Activities. Resources Will Also Pay For Administration And Collections. And A Small Budget Reserve Will Be Kept Each Year. With That, I'Ll Stop For Questions. >> Thank You So Much For That Presentation. We'Ll Have The Questions Later. But, First, I Want To Open The Public Hearing. And See If We Have Signed Up. All Right. We Have A Few People Here. I Have Michael Clerk From Ward 2. Welcome, Sir. . >> Good Afternoon, Chair Osman And Committee Members. My Name Is Michael Clerk. I'M A Hotel Leader That Has Worked In The Hotel In The Strict District For More Than 25 Years Of My Career. I Volunteer As The President Of The Greater Minneapolis Hotel Association As A Member Of The Downtown Council, As A Board Member Of Meet Minneapolis, And As The Hotel Leader For The Minneapolis Tid Task Force. I Started My Career As A Dishwasher In A Bloomington Hotel, And Worked In Every Food And Beverage Position Within My Industry. Thank You For Taking The Time To Hear My Comments. And The Proposed Minneapolis Tourism Improvement District. The Lodging -- The Minnesota Lodging Community Worked For Years At A State Level On Enabling Legislation That Passed In 2023. Since Then, The Greater Minneapolis Hotel Association In Meet Minneapolis Have Joined Together To Create The Mdit Task Force, Which Has Been Meeting For About Three Years. It Took The Better Part Of A Year To Identify Each Hotel Stakeholder And Complete Our Outreach. Many Hotels In The Proposed District Experience Turnover In Their Leadership, Ownership, And/Or Their Management Company During The Pandemic. The Hotel Community Was Infrast Fractured Which Made This Work Time Consumer. Now The Minneapolis Downtown Stakeholder Have Shown Favorable Support Of Greater Than 70%. It'S The Best Practice And Hundreds Of Municipalities Nationwide To Drive Their Tourism Economies. It'S Time For Minneapolis To Start Thinking Big. Cities With Tids Have Consistently Demonstrated Increased Tourism, Hotel Occupancy, Local Sales Tax Revenue, Visitor Spending, And Greater Available Funding For Environmental And Work Force Programs. Mtid Endeavors In Support Of Meet Memberships Sales And Marketing Efforts Will Lead To Meaningful Results In Enhancing Our Reputation As A City And Driving Convention Center Sales. Special Projects Will Allow Us To Train Our Hospitality Work Force And Initiate New City-Wide Events Driving Tourism And Work Force Stability. Thank You. >> Thank You So Much For Your Testimony. Next Person Is Eric. Welcome. >> Good Afternoon, Chair Osman And Councilmembers. My Name Is Eric, The General Manager Of The Hilton Minneapolis. The Largest Hotel In Minnesota. I Believe Deeply In The Future Of This City. And I Urge You To Support The Creation Of The T Tourism Improvement District. Our Arts, Sports, Food, And Natural Beauty Bring People Here. We'Re Falling Find. Other Cities Are Investing Aggressively To Attract Visitors. And We Can'T Afford To Sit On The Sidelines Any Longer. The Tid Is Our Chance To Fight Back. To Compete. And The Best Part, It Doesn'T Cost Local Taxpayers Anything. This Is A Self-Assessment By Hotels. Those Who Directly Benefit From Tourism. And Those Dollars Will Be Reinvested In What Matters. Promoting Minneapolis, Bringing Back Major Events, Supporting Our Local Culture, And Creating Unforget Experiences That Drive Return Visits. We Currently Employ Over 300 Incredible Union-Backed Team Members. Before Covid, That Was Over 4 Pucks. We -- 400. We Want To The Bring Those Jobs Back. This Isn'T About Hotel Profits. It'S About Families. Jobs. It'S About Reigniting Downtown. And Reminding The World Of Everything Minneapolis Has To Offer. We Have A Choice. Act Boldly Or Fall Behind. Tourism Improvement District Is More Than S.M.A.R.T. Policy. It'S A Statement Of Belief In Our City'S Future. I Urge You To Vote Yes. Thank You. >> Thank You So Much For Your Testimony. Next Person Is Mark. >> Members Of The Democratic Committee. Mark L Lebovitz. I'Ve Been In Minneapolis Since The Early '90s. AND IT'S A PRIVILEGE TO Be Here. I Want To Thank You For The Opportunity To Participate In This Way. We Have An Opportunity To Work With A Proven Entity. You Know, Proven Expertise, Professionalism. It'S Going To Be Efficient Because We Couldn'T Do This As Efficiently Individually As We Can With Meet Minneapolis. It'Ll Help Our Hospitality Community Catch Up In The Recovery And Grow. And That Will Create Opportunities For Associates And Workers On Many Different Levels. Opportunities For Advancement, Additional Hours, And New Jobs, You Know, Over Time. And I Think It'S Also An Industry Recognition That We Have An Obligation To Self-Help Where We Can. We Couldn'T Do This Individually. We Can Do It Together. And Very Hopeful. Thank You For Considering It. Thank You. >> Thank You So Much. Next Person Is J.J. Haywood. Ward 7. >> Thank You. Good Afternoon, Council. My Name Is J.J. Haywood. And I'M The Ceo And One Of The Owner Of Pizza Lucha. We Have Three Restaurants? Minneapolis. Including Our Flagship Restaurant? Downtown. And Since Covid Has Happened, All Three Restaurants Are Down Dramatically In Sales Traffic. With Our Downtown Location Being Down About 20% In Traffic Compared To Precovid. So This Proposal Is Great. Tourism Is Extraordinarily Important. I Think To The City As A Whole. But Especially Downtown. The Shift To Remote Work, We All Know, We Work Down Here, It Has Hallowed Out Our Daytime Demand. And The Sharp Decline In Business Travel Has Only Made Things Worse. I'M Strongly In Favor Of The Tourism Improvement District. The Program Will Provide Dedicated And Sustainable Funding To Market Our City, Attract Events, And Support New Programming. Especially In Slower Months. It Will Reignite Energy And Vibrancy In Downtown By Bringing Back Visitors And Making Sure Our Sporting Events Are Full Of People. And Life! And It Will Help Replace Lost Traffic From Business Travelers And Office Workers. And The Investment And Workplace Development Is Super Important. So This Isn'T Just About Recovery. It'S About Revitalizing Our City. And I Urge You To Support The Tid Ordinance For The Good Of Our City'S Small Businesses And The Broader Community. >> Thank You So Much For Your Testimony. Next Person Is Melvin. Welcome. >> Good Afternoon, Chair Osman. Members Of The Committee. My Name Is Melvin And I Serve As The President And Ceo Of Meet Minneapolis. Which Is Your Long-Term Partner Working To Drive Meetings, Tourism, Conventions To Our City, As Well As Shape Our City'S Perception. That Is An Important Part Of The Work We Do. This Tid Effort Has Been Nearly Eight Years In Making. And With Support From Former City Leadership, We Navigated A Legal Path. A Very Difficult Legal Path To Get Here. Including Essential Legislative Changes. If You'Ll Allow Me For A Moment To Give A Special Recognition To Bill, A Member Of Our Team Who Recently Retired. He Was The Shepherd Oe 2017 When We First Did Our Initial Destination Master Plan. But He Has Been With Us Every Step Of The Way. The Minneapolis Delegation Members Got The Statewide Legislation Passed. The Late Senator Along With Representatives Jim, Frank, And Iisha Gomez Were Instrumental In Making This Possible. I Would Like To Recognize The Tremendous Work Of Our Partner At The Convention Center. Jeff Johnson. He'S Done Work To Help Us To Get To This Point. This Ordinance Represents A Powerful Partnership Between The City, Our Lodging Industry, And Meet Minneapolis. And It'S A Strategic Investment In Growing Our Visitor Economy. By Bringing More Meetings, Supporting Events, And Tourism That Will Benefit Businesses City Wide. And Boost Revenue. And Retain And Grow The Number Of Jobs. So With Your Help, Minneapolis Will Be The First Tourism Improvement District In The Entire State Of Minnesota. We Know That Several Other Cities Are Taking A Look At This And Hoping To Replicate What We Do Here Today. So We Urge You To Please Advance This Ordinance And Help Us Cease The Opportunity For Lasting Economic Empowerment. I Thank You For This Opportunity And For Your Support. >> Thank You, Sir, For Your Testimony. Next Person Is David McCLAIN. . >> Good Afternoon. Good Afternoon, Councilmembers. My NAME IS DAVID McCANN. I'M A Member Leader Of Unite Here Local 17. The Hospitality Worker Union. We Represent Workers From Minneapolis Hotels, Our Convention Center, Sports Arenas, Restaurants, Craft Brewing, And First Of Avenue. I Work At The Hotel I Ivy In Ward 7 And Live There, As Well. I Would Like To Thank Councilmembers Wonsley, Cashman, And Rainville For Bringing This Poem Forward. Being Able To Dedicate Resources To Our Hotel Industry Is Important. As Hosts To Numerous International Conventions, Sports Teams, And So Many Other Events, Our Hotel Workers Are Some Of The Most Important People When It Comes To The Impression That Minneapolis Leaves On Our Visitors. Organizationally Local 17 Believes That The Proposed Tourism Industry District Will Create Additional Opportunity It Is A Amplify Recovery Efforts Already Happening. But Particularly For The Hotel Industry. Thank You, Also, For Including The Ability To Create Training Lanes For More Workers And Our Hotel Industry. Doing Outreach, Recruiting, And Providing Assistance For Job Preparation Will Also Assist Hotels To Reprofessionallize Our Work Space And Make Those Jobs More Sustainable. In The Future, There Will Be Opportunities Coming From Rise Up Center. A Multi-Jurisdictional Training Facility, Also In Ward 7. That Will Train Those Workers In The Culinary Utility And Housekeeping Positions Need. This Ordinance Will Become A Real Tool And The Revitalization And Recovery And Rethinking Of Downtown. I Believe That Having A Lens On Local 17 Believes That Having A Lenses On Workers And Minneapolis Residents Will Be Key Figure To A Success And We Support This Proposal. Thank You For Your Consideration And Work Today. >> Thank You So Much For Your Testimony. Next Person Is James Tolzmann. >> Councilmember Osman, That Was The Speaker Of The Presentation. He Accidentally Signed Up. You Can Move On To The Next Name. The Next Person, I Can'T Read It. The Last Name Is .... >> Hi. Welcome.. >> Thank You, Chairman Osman And Council. I'Ll Echo What Many Of My Colleagues Have Said Prior. And I'Ll Keep It Short. In Addition To All The Great Marketing Efforts, And Priorities That This Tid. It'S Important To Recognize The Various Segments. It'S Not Just The Downtown Core. We Have University, We Have The Uptown, We Have Warehouse District. So I Think With This, The Way This Was Put Together And The Governance Committees Can Ensure All Aspects Of Minneapolis Will Be Represented. Priorities And Initiatives Will Not Only Benefit Directly Downtown, But Also The Outlying Areas, Which, You Know, It'S Important To Remember. So I Really Like The Way This Is Coming Together. It Ensures That Equal Representation Is Covered. So I Appreciate It. Thank You. >> Thank You So Much. Anyone Who Would Like To Speak On This Item? All Right. Seeing None. I'Ll Close The Public Hearing. And Recognize Councilmember Cashman. >> Okay. Thank You, Chair Osman. I Want To Thank Everybody For Coming Out To The Public Hearing Today. It'S Important To Hear From Hotel Owners, Managers, Workers, Of Course, Small Business Community That Also Depends So Much On The Tourism Industry. And From Our Meet Minneapolis Staff. Thank You Everybody Who Came To Speak On This And Advocate For This. I'M Proud To Be Authoring This Order Anyone Else. I Kn -- Ordinance. I Know How Important This Is. Especially As We Shift From The 9:00 To 5:00 Clientele To 24/7. Attracting People To The Hotels Is Important For That. I'M Grateful For The Work That Has Gone Into This. I Think It'S A Great Product. I'M Excited To See What Ideas Come Out Of The Committee For Sales And Marketing. Especially Attracting People To Minneapolis In The Winter Months. Mr. Johnson, I Had A Couple Of Questions For You That Have Come Up In Community Meetings. As I'Ve Been Talking About This Recently. So I Just Wanted To Ask If We Do Have Any Hotels With Less Than 50 Rooms That Are, You Know, Going To Be Exempt From This Fee. >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Cashman. There Are Hotels With Less Than A Rooms In The City Of Minneapolis. The Number Of Them I'M Not Exactly Sure. Two. Okay. Thank You, Councilmember Rainville. >> I'M Wondering, For Example, If There'S A Building That Has 50 Air B And B Rooms. Would This Apply To Them? >> Councilmember Cashman, As Far As Saunders Goes, I Believe They Are As Hotels. 50 Rooms Or More, They Would Be In Place. As Far As Air Bnb, I Don'T Believe We Have Any That Are That Large. >> Okay. That Awe Were, Would They Have To Pay The Fee? >> Councilmember Cashman, I Don'T Know For Sure. I'M Looking At Bill. I Don'T -- I Don'T Know That We Know That Answer, At This Point. >> Okay. No Problem. I'Ll Follow Up With You After. To See If We Can Figure That Out. And Then Who Is Going To Be On The Governance Committee. And How Will It Be Structured? And, You Know, At What Point Upon Passage Of This Ordinance Will It Be Formed?. >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Cashman. Once This Is Through And Through The 45-Day Waiting Period, The Hotels Then Will Come Together And There Will Be A Process Where They'Ll Select The Nine People That Will Sit. >> Okay. Thank You. Will There Be Any Public Representative On The Democrati Committee? >> Thank You. How Quickly Will We Begin To Collect And Distribute This Revenue? >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Cashman. We Believe That We Will Be Able To Start Collecting In September. And Then, Obviously, From That, We Believe $6 To $7 Million Per Year Will Be Collected. >> Okay. I Imagine It Will Be Distributed More Than Yearly. It'Ll Be Monthly Or Quarterly? >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Cashman. Yes. It'Ll Be Distributed As Things Come Up And As The Committee Finds Activities They Want To Be Involved In. Obviously, There Will Be A Lag Time From September. But They'Ll Get Collections In Before They Can Start Spending Any Money. So I Would Assume That Things Will Start Happening More In 2026. As We Get Going. >> Okay. Thanks. And Then My Last Question Is About Spending The Money. And What It'S Going To Be Spent On. I Think There'S A Delineation Of 35% For Sales. 35% For Marketing. And A Couple Of Other Categories. So Can You Just Give Me A Sense Of, You Know, The Difference Between Sales Activities, Marketing Activities, And What You Think Those Activities Will Look Like, As An Example. >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Cashman. Again, The Group Of Nine Will Make These Decisions Marketing Is About Getting The Word Out. Right. It'S Going To Different Clientele. And Marketing To Them. It'S Going Across The Country And Marketing Minneapolis As A Destination For Tour Re Tourists. Which We Have Not Done Very Much Of In The Past. It'S Generally Been Done On A Statewide Level. From A Sales Standpoint, It Can Be Many Different Things. As An Example, Right Now At The Convention Center, There Is A Group Here Called D25. They Have A Group Of Third-Party Meeting Planners That Are In Town On A Diversity And Inclusion Conference. Learning About Minneapolis. And So Funding That Could Come Out Of, In The Future, A Tid. Or Things Like That. We'Re Bringing Clients In . Showing Them Minneapolis. What We Have Found Is When We Get A Client To Come To Minneapolis, We Generally Can Sell Them On Minneapolis. It'S Just Sometimes It'S Difficult To Get A Client To Think About Us As An Option. >> Uh-Huh. Well Minneapolis Is A Great Option. So I'M Happy There Are Many Others Who Think The Same About Our City ! And Thanks For Answering My Questions Today. I'Ll Move This Ordinance For Approval. >> Thank You, Councilmember Cashman. I Think Tid Is Really S.M.A.R.T. Decision. Thank You For Those That Have Worked On This. I Think It'S Obvious That Since Covid And Everything That Happened, Everything Went Down. And Now Being Creative And Trying To Get Tourism Back In Downtown Or Our City Is Smart. Our City Is Beautiful. Our Sports Teams Are Doing Well. I'M Excited To Support This. I Will Say The Folks That Came Here To Speak, The Hotels, Union, Everyone Wants This To Happen. So Super Excited. And Someone Who Actually Represents Part Of Downtown I'Ll Ask If I Can Be A Coauthor. >> Absolutely. >> All Right. Thank You. And Thank You, Director Jeff. And Thank You, Melvin, And Meet Minneapolis And Shout Out To You, Bill. Thank You For Your Service For Our City. And, Yes, I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Rainville. >> Thank You. I'M Pleased To Be An Author On This. I'M Glad You Jumped In, Too, Councilmember Osman. Director Johnson, Wonderful Presentation. I Know You'Ve Done A Lot Of Work On This. And The Presentation Was Excellent. I Can'T Wait To Put That In My Newsletter On Friday To Tell Everybody What A Great Thing We Have To Look Forward To. And Mr. Clark, I Appreciate You Bringing Down All The General Managers Today. And I Didn'T Realize That You And I Have Dish Washing As Our First Job In Common. So Perhaps We Should Form The Alumni Club Of Dishwashers Or Something Like That. That'S Great To Learn That About You! And Mr. Deef, I Complimented You Several Years Ago About Your Eight-Year Effort On This. Thank You So Much For That. And, J.J., Where Are You? I Can'T See You. You Still There? Okay. Just Looking At You, Reminds Me I Didn'T Have Lunch Today. I'M Going To Run Down To Total Applic To Grab Some Pizza. >> Thank You. I Want To Start Off By Thanking All Of The Authors. Councilmember Cashman, Councilmember Rainville, Councilmember Wonsley. And Now Councilmember Osman. And Thank Our City Staff For All Their Hard Work On This. And Thank Michael Clark. I Know I Heard From My Policy Aids. You'Ve Spent A Significant Amount Of Time In Your Career Working On This Yourself And Advocating For It. As Well As Everyone On The Meet Minneapolis Team. I Was Really Excited When This Passed Through The State Legislature. And It'S Great To See It Come To Fruition. I Am A Pretty Frequent Flier Of Downtown, Obviously, I Work Here. But I'M Oftentimes There At Least One Day Each Weekend. Councilmember Rainville Knows That Because I'Ll Send Him A Text Message. I Should Start Doing That Again To Let You Know When I'M Around Your Neighborhood. So It'S Just Exciting To See That We'Re Really Focusing In On Recovery From All Different Angles. Right. Increasing The Number Of Residents Who Actually Live In Downtown. Encouraging A Vision Of Our Seniors Getting To Age With Dignity There. People Getting To Raise Their Families. But, Also, Really Getting To Invite More People Into The City Of Minneapolis. I Think We All Know That The City Of Minneapolis Is Very Unique And Special And A Wonderful City That Is Evolving Into Her Identity. And, Yes, Her! Ha-Ha. I Think It'S Important As We Take This Step Forward To Continue To Message That Out. And, Also, This Is Great News To Share Out. I Know We Have To Wait 45 Days Until It Goes Into Effect. I Wish It Would Be Around The Same Time That We Have The Championship Game Going On. Fingers Crossed. One Question I Quick Had. And I, Of Course, Will Be Supporting This Today. I Know That The Expiration For This Is Set After Five Years. And There'S A Renewal Process. I Know That'S Set By State Statute. But I'M Not Familiar With It. So In Five Years Time, What Is Our Procedure To Renew The Tourism Improvement District? >> Chair Osman, Councilmember Chowdhury. Very Similar To This Time Around. We Will Have Another Petition To The 48, Hopefully More, Hotels, At That Time, In Five Years. But A Petition To The Hotels With 50 Or More Rooms. And Then They Have To Get At Least 51% Approval In Order To Maintain And Go Forward. And Each Year We'Ll Be Coming Back And The Committee Will Be Presenting To, I'M Assuming This Committee, And There Will Be A Another Public Hearing Every Year To Get Feedback On This. >> Great. And A Follow Up Question. It'S Clarifying It Has To Go Through The Petition Process Again. It Should -- Should The Number Of Hotels Who Are Petitioned Grow, Which Is The Hope, Will There Been An Increase Number Of Seats That Will Be A Part Of The Tid? Cxsgcaptionperiod. >> >>: Cxsgcaptionperiod. >> >>: I Don'T Think It'S Been Addressed At That Point. I Think It Would Have To Be The Committee Themselves. Thank You So Much. Those Are My Questions. >> Thank You Chair Osman. I Want To Ask Councilmember Rainville, Can I Join The Dishwasher Club? I Was In Bloomington For My First Two Years In College. I Think I Qualify To Join The Club. Also, I Want Top Ask The Authors If I Can Be Included As A Coauthor. And A Long-Term Member Of The Meet Minneapolis Board Member. And So I Would Love To Support This. I Know Meet Minneapolis Has Been Working On This Project For Many, Many Years. Dim Ge -- Diligently Trying To Ensure We Bring More Resources To Our Downtown Community And The City As A Whole. I Want Top Congratulate The Whole Team. And, Again, Of Course, Bill In Particular For His Service To The City. But Dedication To This Initiative. Really Appreciate It. And Hopefully I Can Be Signed On As A Coauthor. >> Absolutely., Councilmember. >> All Right Seeing No Other Members On Queue. With Councilmember Cashman'S Motion, To Approve This. All Those In Favor -- Councilmember Were You Going To -- >> Yes, Please. Go Ahead. >> Thank You. Councilmember Jenkins, When We Form Our Governance Committee For The Dishwashers Association, I'M Going To Nominate You To Be President. [ Laughter ] >> Wonderful. All Right, That Motion All Those In Favor Say Aye. Opposed Say Nay. The Ayes Have It And The Motion Carries. Thank You So Much. [ Applause ] Great. All Right. The Last Public Hearing Passage -- Oh. We Don'T Have A Public Hearing. Our Next Item Is Quasi Judicial. We Have A Hearing For A License For Pimento Jamaican Kitchen. I'Ll Ask The City Attorney If You Have Any Updates On This. Disbr Thank You, Chair. Staff Has Been In Contact And They Are In Contact With State About A Payment Plan For Their Taxes. >> Okay. Is The License Holder Here? They'Re Working On It So Councilmember Cashman. >> I'Ll Move This Item Forward Without Recommendation To The Full Council To Give Them The Most Possible Amount Of Time To Get Their Taxes Paid. It'S Important That They Do Get That Paid. So We Don'T Have To Revoke The License. It'S A Beloved Restaurant With A Location On The Lake And Another One On E Street In Ward 10. It Would Be Great To The -- And I'Ll Personally Reach Out To The Owner To Make Sure They Do Everything They Can To Get The Taxes In. >> Thank You. I Think That'S A S.M. Smart Decision. >> Public Hearing. >> Yep. I Was Going To Do It Next. Required To Have A Public Hearing. If The License Holder Is Not Here. I'M Open To The Public Hearing For Anyone Who Would Like To Speak On This Item. Seeing No One Else. I'Ll Close The Public Hearing. Recognize Councilmember Jenkins. I Know Councilmember Cashman Brought A Motion. Councilmember Jenkins. >> Thank You, Chair Osman. I Certainly Support Councilmember Cashman'S Motion. I Just Know That Our Consent Agenda There Was A Pimento Item. Is It Two Different Locations? Okay. I Wanted To Get Clarity On That. The One On The Consent Agenda Is For The Lake? >> Correct. >> All Right. So They Have License For That. They Have A Liquor License For That. But Not Caught Up On Taxes. >> One On Nicollet. >> All Right. Thank You. >> With The Motion From Councilmember Cashman, All Those In Far Favor Say Aye. Opposed Say Nay. Ayes Have It And The Motion Carries. Now We Will Be Into Our Final Item, Which Is Receive And File From Realtor Services In Response To A Legislative Directive About Proactive Ractive Renter Inspections. >> April Bogart. Today I'Ll Be Presenting In Response To The Proactive Rental Inspections Legislative Directive. This Asked Regular Will Tire Services To Speak To Three Primary Topics. An Overview Of The City'S Current Rental Inspections Program. Feasibility Analysis, Covering Resource And Budgetary Considerations For More Pro Active Inspections. And An Analysis Of Potential Approaches For More Pro Active Rental Inspections. The Best Way To Explain Our Current Program Is To Share The Fundamentals Of Our Approach. First, Unlike My Jurisdictions, Minneapolis Property Owners Must Have A License To Rent. Or Licensing Program Involves Registering The Unit Or Property With The City. But Includes Pro Active And Regular Inspections. Secondly, We Have The Largest Proactive Rental Inspection Program In The State. We Conduct Planned Inspections At Every Rental Property, Either Annually Or Every Five To Eight Years, Depending On Their Tier Status. I'Ll Explain In More Detail What That Tier Status Meanses S In A Bit. It Helps Us Discover Potential Issues At A Property Without Relying On A Renter To File A Complaint Or Expecting The Property Owner To Know The Ins And Outs Of The State Fire Codes. Another Core Component Of Our Approach Is Being Responsive To Renters' Complaints. We Don'T Wait Until The Scheduled Inspection To Address An Issue. And, Lastly, It'S Always Our Goal To Provide Compassionate And Guiding Enforcement. Each Enforcement Case Is Different. When We Work To Gain Compliance, We'Re Looking For The Right Enforcement Strategy That Minimizes Renter Displacement And Prioritizes Education And Accountability. So With That, As Our Foundation, I Want To Dig In A Little Bit On What It Looks Like On A Day-To-Day Basis. There Are Several Steps Involved In Rental Licensing And Inspections. And This Process Extends Throughout The Entire Year. It Starts With Licensing Properties. We Mail License Renewals In January Of Each Year. With A March Renewal Date. Usually There Are Multiple E-Mails And Reminders To Property Owners To Renew Those Licenses. And Once They'Re Renewed, We Inspect The Properties And Write Any Necessary Orders To Correct For Violations That Were Found During The Inspections. Typically Those Violations Have A Due Date Of Three Days To 30 Days. Depending On The Severity And The Risk To The Renter. Then We'Re Conducting Reinvestigations After The Due Date To Ensure Compliance. Hopefully By Then, The Issues Have Been Corrected. But If They'Re Not, We May Be Able To Grant An Extension, If The Property Owners Has Encountered Legitimate Barriers To Meeting The Deadlines. Or Take Enforcement Measures. If They Show No Progress Toward Completing The Work. And Then In The Fall Of Each Year, We Begin The Tiering Process All Over Again. We Do A Two-Year Lookback At The Properties To See What Has Been Happening Over The Past Two Years And Adjust Their Ste Status, If Needed. Every Step In The Process Does Revolve Around Our Tiering Structure. So As I Mentioned, We'Re Assigning A Tier Status To Every Rental Property As An Indicator Of How Well Maintained The Property Is. We Are Also Using This To Help Prioritize Our Inspections And To Set Our License Fees. The Best Tier Is Tier 1. These Are Properties That Are Well Maintained And We'Re Inspecting Them At Least Once Every Eight Years. Next Comes The Tier Two Properties. Inspected At Least Once Every Five Years. And Then Our Tier Three Properties We'Re Keeping A Much Closer Eye On Them. They'Re Generally Not As Well Maintained And Multiple Documented Issues And Inspecting These Annually. The Second Part Of This Legislative Directive Asked Us To Report On Feasibility Of Conducting Even More Pro Active Rental Inspections Than We Already Do. So In Response To Council, Department Staff Conducted A Robust Feasibility A Analysis Of More Pro Active Inspections. This Legislative Directive Is A Follow Up To Councilmember Chavez'S Notice Of Intent To Amend Title 12, Chapter 244, Which Proposed Annual Inspections. For Each Property. So We Studied What It Would Take To Inspect Every One Of Our More Than 111,000 Rental Units Annually. As You Can See, It'S A Pretty Big Number. Our Comprehensive Analysis Involved Multiple Teams To Ensure Accuracy, And We Learned That In The First Year Of Such A Program, We Would Over $73 Million In Funding. This Includes One-Time Costs Like Vehicles, Office Space, Computers, Et. Cetera, For New Staff. For Comparison, Our 2024 Inspection Services Budget Was About $.4 Million. Starting The Second Year And Moving On, Annual Inspections For All Units In The City Would Cost Over $56 Million Annually. Inspecting Every Y Unit Would Require More Than Doubling Our Regulatory Services Staffing Levels With An Additional Of 295 Staff Members. Obviously, This Would Require A Significant Increase In Funds And Would Lead To An Increase In Rental Licensing Fees. You Can See In The Chart Before You How Much Annual License Fees For Each Tier Would Need To Increase. So, For Example, If We Look At A Tier 1 Single Family Rental Property, Keep In Mind Tier 1 Are The Considered The Best Properties. We'Re Currently Inspecting Them At Least Once Every Eight Years. The Current License Fee Of 1 $126 Increase To Over $1,000 Per Year. If You Look At The Percent Increases For Each Tier. You'Ll Notice Good Property Maintenance Would No Longer Be Financially Incentivized And Essentially Eliminate Our Tiering Structure. So We Know That $56 Million A Year Is An Impossible Lift. And We'Re Also Concerned That Annual Inspections Might Lead To Over Enforcement Or Push Some Rental Property Owners To Duounder The Radar. So While Many People Look To Minneapolis As A Leader In Rental Licenses And Inspections. We Acknowledge There Is Room For Some Growth. And A Few Potential Approaches For More Pro Active Inspections Include Right Sizing Our Rental License Fees. We Have The Largest Pro Active Rental Inspection Program Locally. We Have The Lowest Fees In The Metro Area. Currently We'Re Collecting Only 58% Of Our Program Costs. Historically, We Relied On Vacancy Savings From Multiple Divisions To Cover That Gap. We No Longer Have The Savings, As We Are Nearly Fully Staffed. So Shoring Up The Rental License Fees To Protect Our Pro Active Approach Seems Like Something We Need To Be Considering. Secondly, We'Ve Already Started Exploring How We May Need To Revise Our Current Tiering Structure. We Want To Make Sure That Properties With More Problems And Complaints Are Properly Categorized As Tier 2 And 3 Properties. And Then Inspected More Frequently. We Were Just In The Early Stages Of This Process. So We Don'T Know Exactly What Needs To Be Adjusted Until We Complete That Analysis. But For The Purposes Of This Legislative Directive, We Did A Hypothetical Scenario Where We Analyzed Adjusting Our Inspections Timelines. So We Look At 1, 2, And 5-Year Timeline Instead Of 1, 2, And 8 Year Timeline. This Would Lead To Increase Costs. We Would Need To Increase The License Fees To Recover 90% Of Our Costs. And It Would Require An Annual General Fund Contribution Of An Estimated $1.5 Million. And $.6 Million In One-Time Costs. This Would Require An Additional 42 Staff For Us To Adjust The Timeline. We Took A More Heavy-Handed Approach To Enforcement With The Goal Of Keeping Renters Safe. An Unintended Consequence Is Renter Displacement Because Of The Enforcement Actions. Once That Pattern Became Clear, The Department Shifted Its Approach To Lessen Displacement. And Like Our City Is Always Changing, We Are Always Changing To Try To Find The Right Balance When It Comes To Enforcement. We Don'T Want To Overenforce. We Don'T Want To Underenforce. We Think That We Have An Opportunity To Revisit How And When We Use Our Existing Tools, Such As Tenant Remedy Actions To Gain Quicker Compliance. That Concludes My Presentation. Thank You. >> Thank You So Much For That Presentation. See If There Is Anyone Signed Up. Councilmember Ellison. >> Thank You For The Presentation. And I Wanted To Speak. I'M On The Verge Of, Like, Maybe Sounding Scolding Which Is Not My Intent. This Is Both A Great Presentation From Staff. Diligent And Thorough. Thank You Very Much. And, Also, Feels Like Maybe Not The Correct Space For Us To Be Getting This Information At Committee. This Feels Like Something That Councilmembers Can Get From Department Staff In A Conference Room Without Summoning Staff Up Here To Give Us A 10-Minute Presentation. It'S Not A Reflection Of The Work You Did. It'S Fee Noomal. Phenomenal. It'S Me Realizing Some Of The Curiosities That We Have About How The City Is Functioning, They Don'T Have To Be Hashed Out Up Here. The Job Can Happen In Other Places Other Than Just Up Here On The Dais. So I Just Wanted To Encourage That. I'M Happy To Get The Receive And File. When We See Numbers Like We'Ve Seen, Right, $60 Million, $75 Million To Execute The Program In Way Councilmembers Are Asking About. That'S Something That Staff Could Have Told Us Not Up Here On The Dais. I Want To Encourage My Colleagues. I Know I'Ve Been Lamenting Government Structure And Some Of The Ways In Which It Seems Like It Has Eroded In Formal Communication Between Council And Staff. I'Ll Get Back On That Boat And Say, Like You Know, I Hope That We Can Continue To Encourage That. Because, You Know, I'Ve Asked This Question Before As A New Councilmember. Hey, Can We Do This Every Year? As A New Councilmember, It Feels Like More Thorough. But Then You Get To Know A Little Bit About How The Program Works And The Rationale Behind The Program, And You Realize That Maybe It'S Not Needed. Or Maybe Something Is Needed But Not What You Thought. We Can Hash That Out Other Places. It'S More To My Colleagues Than Staff. Thank You For The Presentation. It'S Great Info For Us To Know. And I Hope We Can Get This Kind Of Information, You Know, In One-On-One Conversations Or Prove Briefings As Opposed To Receive And Files. >> All Right. I Second That. Anyone Else. Seeing None. Thank You So Much For That Presentation. I'Ll Ask The Clerk To Receive And File On That. Seeing No Further Business Before Us, With No Objection, I'Ll Declare This Meeting Adjourned. Thanks, Everyone."