Anoka City Council

August 23, 2021 (Worksession) Page 1 of 6 WORKSESSION OF THE ANOKA CITY COUNCIL ANOKA CITY HALL CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS AUGUST 23, 2021 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Pro Tem Barnett called the worksession meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present at roll call: Mayor Pro Tem Barnett, Councilmembers Weaver, Skogquist. Staff present: City Manager Greg Lee; City Planner Clark Palmer; Police Chief Eric Peterson; Fire Chief Ted Massicotte; Public Services Administrator Lisa LaCasse; Public Services Supervisor Jon Holmes; City Attorney Scott Baumgartner. Absent: Mayor Rice, Councilmember Wesp. 3. COUNCIL BUSINESS and/or DISCUSSION ITEMS 3.1 Discussion; Amendment to City Policy; Remote Meeting Attendance Policy and Procedures for City Council. City Planner Clark Palmer shared a staff report with background information stating in October 2019, the City adopted a new policy for City Council remote meeting attendance as authorized by Minnesota Statute Chapter 13D. The policy was approved shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, rules specific to remote meeting attendance under Minnesota Statute Chapter 13D were waived and remote meeting attendance and participation became commonplace for meetings of the City Council and other boards/commissions. He said moving forward it was expected that remote meeting attendance for public meetings will become more common and in anticipation during the pandemic Minnesota Statute Chapter 13D was amended. He said staff recommended amending the City’s policy in accordance with the updated Statute then shared highlights of the new policy which would apply to Council, boards, and commissions and criteria for public locations. He asked for direction on the proposed policy. Council discussed the importance of meeting in person to discuss meeting topics balanced against being able to participate remotely, especially when matters of health were involved. They discussed the difference between a member not being able to attend due to health versus a member who was not routinely attending and limitations to the number of meetings that could be missed. The Council discussed differences in having a Councilmember miss a meeting versus a August 23, 2021 (Worksession) Page 2 of 6 boardmember and how to limit that occurring through discretion of the chairperson. The Council held discussion on limiting the number of members who could participate remotely and concluded direction to follow State Statute that allowed all members to participate with the exception of one member. Discussion was held on the amount of notice to request remote participation as well as who to notify. Mayor Pro Tem Barnett noted Statute could appear to limit a member’s voice and asked about specificity of public location and description of audio or video technology and suggested concrete selections of interactive technology for consistency. Councilmember Skogquist suggested following the 48-hour notification was reasonable. Council consensus was to support the remote meeting procedures as proposed that would allow for a member to attend up to four meetings remotely per year with 48 hours advance notice to the staff liaison and include announcement of members participating remotely for inclusion in the minutes. 3.2 Discussion/Fire Board Joint Powers Agreement – Review and Discussion. City Manager Greg Lee shared a staff report with background information stating on August 20, 2020 the Anoka City Council held a joint meeting with the Champlin City Council to review possible bylaw changes to the Fire Board to include two elected officials from each City and a fifth at-large non-City member. On September 8, 2020, the Anoka City Council approved a resolution, removing from the City Manager from the Fire Board and appointed the Anoka Police Chief. On January 4, 2021, the Anoka City Council approved a resolution appointing Councilmember Wesp to the Fire Board and Councilmember Barnett to serve when the Joint Powers Agreement is amended to have two elected officials serve on the Board. He said related to the appointments to the Joint Fire Board, it is requested that the Council chooses one (1) elected official and the Police Chief to serve on the Board, with Wayne Anderson as the Alternate AND to also choose another elected official to begin serving when the Joint Fire Board amends their Bylaws. At this time, the Police Chief would be moved to the Alternate position along with Wayne Anderson and noted another section of the JPA to be discussed was Article III Contributions that included three metrics used to determine how each City contributed to the ACFD; total population, market valuation of property, and number of fire calls. Mr. Lee said recent conversations have included looking at the time and resource expenditure for each call and not just the number of calls. Staff requests review of the JPA and direction to staff to make appropriate amendments. He said amendments would be made, submitted to the Fire Board for review, then brought back for formal adoption. Fire Chief Massicotte shared comments about community events in Anoka versus Champlin and how calls for service referred to how many emergency calls were received. He said consideration had been given to determining allocation of hours August 23, 2021 (Worksession) Page 3 of 6 but the difficulty in doing that with training and mutual aid calls would be exempt from any such total. He said he was in the process of reviewing data to help get a better idea on types of calls for consideration. Councilmember Skogquist asked how the nature of calls differed from community to community and confirmed both police departments responded to calls in similar fashion. Councilmember Weaver said Anoka was a destination city then referred to the recent food truck event and other special events and how they were increasing and important to the public, especially children. Chief Massicotte noted Champlin was doing more events as well and how the department would work to balance community benefit and education when attending these events, adding any request for service along the river was a neutral call as far as calls for service. Mayor Pro Tem Barnett asked how other cities calculate coverage balanced against market value and population and if that was a relevant metric for Anoka. Chief Massicotte said most cities calculate costs based on calls for service and that he was currently evaluating resources and past practices to help determine if any changes were needed and agreed value-added topics should be calculated into the metrics. Mr. Lee noted another consideration for costs included valuation of fire inspections and plan reviews and added value, time and effort translated to calls and suggested a weighted percentage could be used. Chief Massicotte said it would be difficult to track that level of data but would follow-up further. He spoke about the split of equipment including the historic Anoka pieces that would stay with Anoka. Mayor Pro Tem Barnett referred to the bylaws and attendance requirement by Fire Boardmembers and suggested amending the requirement for members missing a meeting for no specific reason change from 50% to 75% instead to encourage meeting attendance. Chief Massicotte referred to other minor housekeeping items regarding things like the specific wording in the adoption of the fire code, etc. and requested Council direction. Mr. Lee spoke about rotation of human resources duties as it was inefficient to keep switching and suggested changing after this next 10-year cycle concludes then spoke about the importance of bylaws with voting members and control. Mayor Pro Tem Barnett said she was in favor but challenged the Board to create ways to separate these duties within the agreement so there would be no more transitions going forward. August 23, 2021 (Worksession) Page 4 of 6 Mr. Baumgartner cautioned against which body revises the JPA and bylaws so there was no inherent conflict. Chief Massicotte explained the differences that addressed that concern. Councilmember Skogquist asked about the history of appointment of the Fire Chief/advisor process and approval of both member cities. Fire Massicotte noted the recommendation is that position be terminated at some point in the future. Mayor Pro Tem Barnett referred to firefighter definition and appointment and discipline and removal and agreed the Chief should be subject to the Fire Board but not the remaining members. Discussion was held on the governing differences between the two cities and the importance of department management by the Chief and not both city councils. Mr. Lee said the Board’s first meeting in January would include official appointments for ease of governing. Discussion was held on updating language to designate appointment of the Board’s secretary. Council consensus was to support the bylaw changes as proposed. The Council thanked Chief Massicotte for the work he does on behalf of Anoka. 3.3 Discussion; Deer Management and Hunting Opportunities – Sunny Acres Area. Public Services Administrator Lisa LaCasse shared a staff report with background information stating staff has had inquiries from several participants in the archery deer management program about the possibility of hunting at Sunny Acres. This item was discussed at the regular meeting of the Park and Recreation Advisory Board on July 20, 2021. Park Board asked for clarification on the number of deer at Federal Premium being fed, plans to cull the heard, car/deer accidents on Highway 10 in the area, distances to nearest properties, and number of deer in the area. Staff gathered the answers to the questions raised and brought the information back to the Park Board for discussion at their regular meeting on August 17, 2021. At that meeting the Park Board unanimously approved allowing a trial hunting period at Sunny Acres. Staff will hand select the hunters for 2021 from a small group of participants that expressed interest in hunting the location. At the end of 2021, staff will share the results with the Park Board to discuss how to include Sunny Acres as a regular management hunt location for future seasons. Ms. LaCasse shared that staff will be conducting a goose management hunt at Green Haven on September 14. The hunt will be conducted by experienced waterfowl guides, volunteers, police and fire department members. Hunters will be set up on Frank Lake, shooting toward the north. The golf course is closed for greens maintenance so the goose cull will not interrupt operations. The management hunt has been authorized by the DNR Conservation Officer. August 23, 2021 (Worksession) Page 5 of 6 Councilmember Weaver asked questions regarding deer management zones as designated by the DNR, how Federal Cartridge would be implementing their own deer management program, then referred to chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer. He thanked the Park Board for considering this area as a possible solution then asked if safety certificates would be required. Ms. LaCasse confirmed no certificates would be required as it was not a state requirement then said the season was based on the number of applicants at King’s Island. Councilmember Weaver thanked staff for their work on this program and suggested allowing no more than one person to hunt at any given time for safety. Councilmember Skogquist asked if notices were sent to residents along Grant and Cleveland, noting parks have multiple functions and shared safety concerns. Ms. LaCasse said staff wanted to gain support first prior to notification of neighborhoods, adding this was a reason the Park Board wanted a trial season and would include signage and whether further hunts should occur. Mayor Pro Tem Barnett asked questions regarding the area’s trail system and if there have ever been issues. Ms. LaCasse outlined the area and noted there had been discussions about creating a dog park but the idea was not continued. She noted staff has experience no issues with the exception of the year nonresidents were allowed to participate. Mr. Lee said Councilmember Wesp had offered support but suggested setting up a specific season with dates. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Lee referred to an email from Bill Boyum requesting the ability to allow food trucks in the City to offset the lack of serving staff available. He referred to the City’s ordinance requiring 35% of revenue come from food sales and that given the circumstances resulting from the pandemic would the Council be open to changing that requirement at least in the short term. He commented Billy’s was closed Sundays and Mondays due to lack of staff as well as other locations and suggested this topic be included on a future worksession agenda. Councilmember Skogquist said he was sympathetic to the concern but was unsure if food trucks were the solution and did not want to deviate from the State’s threshold. He noted the difficulty in staff was also coming from how some no longer wanted to work in the restaurant industry due to long hours. Councilmember Weaver said he was not opposed to changing the food requirement and suggested surveying all bar owners for their input but did not support food trucks supplementing food service as it would take away from the annual food truck festival. He said outside dining was going away in the future August 23, 2021 (Worksession) Page 6 of 6 and while a portion of it may return with parklets there was a need to adjust during this time while bar owners waited for more staff to become available. Mr. Lee suggested the survey include how the City could help and possibly schedule a meeting with owners as well. 4. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilmember Skogquist, seconded by Councilmember Weaver to adjourn the Worksession at 6:58 p.m. Motion carried. Submitted by: Cathy Sorensen, TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. Approval Attestation: Amy T. Oehlers, City Clerk