Anoka City Council

March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 1 of 16 WORKSESSION OF THE ANOKA CITY COUNCIL ANOKA CITY HALL CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION ROOM MARCH 24, 2025 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Skogquist called the worksession meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present at roll call: Mayor Skogquist, Councilmembers Campbell, Rostad, Scott, and Weaver. Staff present: City Manager Greg Lee; Police Captain Andy Youngquist; Public Works Director Mark Anderson; Finance Director Brenda Springer; Assistant Finance Director Liz Douglas; HRA Executive Director Darin Berger; and Utility Director Del Vancura; City Attorney Scott Baumgartner Absent: None. Item 3.3 was heard at this point in the agenda. 3. COUNCIL BUSINESS and/or DISCUSSION ITEMS 3.1 Presentation; Water, Sewer and Storm Utility Rate Study. Finance Director Brenda Springer shared a background report stating in 2024, the City of Anoka hired Ehlers to conduct a Utility Rate Study. They looked at Water, Sewer and Storm Sewer’s current rate structure and analyzed the funds to make sure we had sufficient cash for capital projects, operations, replacement reserves and debt. With the recommended changes to the fixed charges, staff estimates the proposed rates and tiers will generate additional revenue in all three funds. Water recommendation is roughly equivalent to 9% increase – approximately $184,000 additional revenue per year. Sewer recommendation is roughly equivalent to 9.5% increase – approximately $292,000 additional revenue per year. Storm recommendation is roughly equivalent to 9% increase - approximately $77,000 additional revenue per year. She said staff is seeking direction from Council about whether to continue with current rates and structure or follow Ehlers recommendation for rates and rate structure. Ms. Springer said if Council does not want to make a change to the rate structure do they still want to do a rate increase for 2025. Kyle Sawyer, Ehlers and Associates, reviewed the City’s enterprise funds, fixed costs, purpose of the study, approach to the study, how the City currently bills, assumptions and other factors, including rate structure, user impacts, and March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 2 of 16 recommendations. He reviewed usage, conservation and equitability, how to maintain financial health of utility funds, inform capital planning, and estimate bill impacts for rate payers. He spoke about base/fixed fees, usage and revenue, and reviewed the current rate structure components. Audio error - temporarily stopped. Mayor Skogquist said he liked the transparency of the process for consumers as it could help control their costs and usage. Councilmember Scott said he liked that too then asked if we can share a sample of what rate costs would be for ratepayer comparisons. Electric Utility Director Del Vancura spoke about how that works for electric but was not sure how that could be done for water, but noted all will be changed. Megan Sandell, Ehlers and Associates, said that data will be able to be seen on the meters and will also be able to flag when there is a leak. Councilmember Campbell said the study suggests apartments not be billed on usage but on the number of units. Mr. Sawyer explained how apartments are now billed as commercial and would be billed as residential instead, which is consistent with tiered rates in Statute, then shared an example of a four-unit townhome and cubic feet rates and how a property would have to use 2,800 cubic feet before reaching Tier 2. Mayor Skogquist asked questions regarding actual user impacts and if they are all smaller and more in the 7% range. Mr. Sawyer said the 9% increase for water would be for the future impacts as a tier and not actually changing the rates. Public Works Director Mark Anderson asked how the rates would impact the golf course. Mr. Sawyer said it depends on how the City currently charges the course, as some municipalities don’t charge water rates for municipal golf courses. Councilmember Rostad said the purpose of the rate increase is to anticipate the costs of operating our utility and asked what happens if we don’t increase rates as proposed. Finance Director Brenda Springer said the result would be that we’d have to bond more as we wouldn’t have the cash needed for necessary projects and then would have the additional concern about meeting future debt payment needs. Mr. Sawyer said he has seen the results in other cities that haven’t increased rates over a period of years and the result is double-digit increases and a tax levy discussion, which is not the goal of an enterprise fund. City Manager Greg Lee said the right answer is to increase rates and charge those who are using the water and pay for the water usage that is occurring today. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 3 of 16 Mayor Skogquist commented about projects such as filtering plants and said he appreciated the balanced approach. Ms. Springer confirmed Council direction was to change both tiers and implement the proposed starting rates for 2025 as presented. 3.2 Discussion; Electric Rate Study. Assistant Finance Director Liz Douglas shared a background report stating at the November 18 Council meeting, Dave Berg presented the electric cost of service and rate design study. She said the study shows current rates as well as the proposed rate increase to electric consumption, demand, fixed charges and security light fees. At the October 28 work session and the November 18 Council meeting, there was an expressed desire to consider an additional 1% increase in 2025, with the revenue obtained from that increase transferred annually to the Park Capital fund. In order to change the electric rates, a date must be set for public hearing, advertised in the local paper, and a notice of proposed rate increase mailed to our electric customers. A proposed notice to customers was shared after the rate study. If Council approves 2025 increases, the earliest a notice can be mailed to customers will be with the utility statements dated April 8 and April 28. The public hearing would be scheduled for May 5, and a resolution would be brought to Council on May 19. Rate changes could be effective June 1, 2025. Projected electric revenue for 2025 for the rate increases proposed by Dave Berg, if put into effect June 1, would be $216,000. Projected revenue for an additional 1% dedicated for Park Capital would be $133,000. These amounts are based on 50% estimate of a full year. Park Capital transfers would be calculated and processed based on actual sales, in the same way that the franchise fee is processed. She said staff requests Council discuss the study and proposed changes. Staff is looking for direction on the following items: 1. Should the electric rates (consumption, fixed charges, and fees) be increased annually as proposed in the rate study, with a 1% increase in each year starting 2025 and ending 2028; 2. Should the electric rates (consumption) be increased 1% one time in 2025 with that revenue dedicated to Park Capital; 3. If Council approves electric rate increases as proposed by Dave Berg for 2025-2028, should staff make future rate increases effective as of June 1 in 2026-2028 or re-align with a calendar year by being effective January 1 of those years; and 4. If Council approves the additional 1% for 2025 for Park Capital, does Council wish to set a sunset date of that increase – either by specific date (example December 31, 2028) or by specific event (profitability in Liquor and/or Cannabis funds allowing for reinstatement of their Park transfers). Councilmember Weaver said park capital is critical and since we have less revenue in liquor, he was in favor of the 1% increase for park capital and suggested including a five-year sunset clause for Council to re-evaluate at that time. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 4 of 16 Councilmember Scott agreed with the review in five years or when proceeds of liquor and cannabis reach a certain threshold as well. Councilmember Campbell said since the increase was only 1% a year with utility rates, he suggested instead the increase be 2% with the current inflation rate. Councilmember Rostad said we should be intentional and not to borrow from this fund and use the proceeds for parks only. Councilmember Weaver agreed stating they have borrowed from the liquor fund before, and said this fund needs to be a dedicated funding source. Mayor Skogquist confirmed the increase will be 1% each year and not an additional 1% every year. Mr. Vancura summarized the Utility Advisory Board’s support of 1% per year but did not support using the 1% for park capital as they felt that should come off taxes where taxpayers can claim that fee then spoke about how solar as an industry standard has changed to cover grid charges as they are now monthly. Utility Advisory Boardmember Ed Evans said the original proposal was for two years and now it is five years, then commented on how new fees are never retracted once implemented. Mayor Skogquist said he was not supportive of utilizing electric for other things but said there is a need, and we will always need to discuss rates. An audience member spoke about the need to support this and instead about selling property and dumping 1% into parks and how we’re not getting this funding. She said $53,000 could go to a park improvement and that instead the Council is leaving it on the table for personal reasons. Ms. Springer said the intent when selling the property mentioned for $200,000 was that 50% would go to the Parks Capital Fund and 50% to go to a position. Councilmember Scott spoke about the impact if we raise the levy for this amount that would be 2-3 times higher. Park Boardmember Steve Nelson said we get what we pay for but said he didn’t want a bunch of projects put in the middle of a capital improvement plan but not funded. He stressed the need for an operation plan for trails, maintenance, and many other projects and said we can’t afford water projects needed for Castle Field. He said we don’t charge Anoka High School and the American Legion and said there are erosion issues with riverfront property and ice rinks that need to be addressed. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 5 of 16 Mr. Baumgartner suggested the Council consider a baseline amount instead of the 1% or until other revenue can be identified so they know when that amount has been reached. Ms. Springer shared that we do bill out all utilities and that Castle Field is billed back to the Water Department. Council consensus was to implement the 1% increase that would be dedicated to Park Capital to be reviewed in five years but reviewed annually too. Ms. Douglas said a public hearing for this increase will be held at the May 5 meeting and a resolution for a rate change would be scheduled for May 19. 3.3 Discussion; Sale of City Lot at River Avenue and Madison Street. Housing and Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Darin Berger shared a background report stating the Council gave staff direction to begin marketing the long-vacant City lot at the corner of River Avenue and Madison Street last fall. First reading of the ordinance accepting offers for the lot was held on November 18, 2024. The Council reviewed three offers but directed one potential buyer to make alterations to the renderings prior to second reading. Second reading was then held on December 16, 2024, where the two highest offers were reviewed. This resulted in a 3-2 vote but failed due to needing a 4/5 majority vote to sell property. Staff then brought this item back to the City Council at the January 27, 2025, work session. The Council discussed a fair and transparent process for selling the lot, emphasizing clear criteria and improvements over prior practices. Key points included setting a minimum bid of $200,000, approving renderings first to ensure the design aligns with council expectations before bids are revealed, considering sealed or blind bids to prevent conflicts and ensure fairness, notifying previous bidders and posting the process online for broader awareness, and including additional guidelines in the purchase agreement, like exterior materials and maximizing lot usage. Based on this worksession, the property was marketed on the City’s website, social media accounts and sent directly to the parties who had previously submitted offers. This process resulted in two offers, both of which would be presented tonight. After the proposed home design is reviewed, the Council will need to determine if both meet the design criteria given. The monetary offer for each will be presented to determine which offer the Council would like to consider at the first reading on April 7, followed by second reading at the April 21 meeting. Mayor Skogquist suggested first reviewing designs to see if they meet the criteria. Councilmember Scott confirmed the proposed garage would be facing River Avenue. Councilmember Weaver said he would be fine with either rendering as they both would be a great addition to the neighborhood. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 6 of 16 Councilmember Rostad confirmed the entry/garage for one proposal would be Madison Street. Mayor Skogquist spoke about the 2-3 stall garages and offsetting the living structure and not making it prominent as a front feature of the house. He said he felt the second design was too much garage and liked the first home design better. Councilmember Scott said both designs looked great and said Offer #2 with the garage out front would be good if it aligned more with the front door. Mr. Berger said the garage would be constructed out a little further than it shows. Grant Freeburg, bidder, presented a rendering that he felt would meet the criteria and fit in well with the neighborhood and understood the City didn’t want the garage to protrude farther than the porch and could change the front window and bring the porch out and include more finishes on the garage. Councilmember Rostad asked if the final rendering will be more like the top or bottom submission. Mr. Freeburg said he wanted the front of house facing the river so the top is the correct rendering but would include some elements of the bottom rendering to offset some of the white. Mayor Skogquist said this is a corner lot and the most prominent side is River Avenue and that he would like to see the garage tucked in more on the side street and felt the first submission met the criteria better. Councilmember Weaver said the style of the second rendering looks very similar to Councilmember Scott’s new home and said he was not sure how one can be acceptable and one wasn’t acceptable. Councilmember Scott agreed that they were two very similar homes and felt ultimately the design ideas with the garage not being too far out is important then spoke about the first rendering being a more period-style home. Councilmember Rostad confirmed Councilmember Scott’s home is a side entry with the garage in the rear. Councilmember Scott said he didn’t feel one was better than another and asked if a side entry garage was an option. Mr. Freeburg said he could sideload any design but just wasn’t aware that this was a requirement. Mayor Skogquist said it was corrupting the process by allowing changes and he wanted to judge the renderings on what was submitted originally and meets the criteria we, the Council, forwarded. Mr. Freeburg (inaudible) and noted he submitted his offer already. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 7 of 16 Former Councilmember Mark Freeburg said the homes presented met the criteria and should be considered but added a $700,000-valued home will be added to the neighborhood and that the highest bidder should receive the lot. Mayor Skogquist said price was one of several criteria and that the garage should not dominate the lot, adding ideally the garage would be even with the living portion or offset from the living portion of the structure and that this criteria was clear in the listing. Councilmembers Weaver and Campbell said they felt both renderings met the criteria. Mayor Skogquist, Councilmember Rostad, and Councilmember Scott said they believed the first rendering met the criteria. Mr. Berger outlined in detail Offer #1 of $250,000 and Offer #2 of $303,000. City Attorney Scott Baumgartner confirmed when the Council spoke about criteria one had a higher percentage of brick and stone on the front of the structure and one didn’t include brick or stone. Mayor Skogquist said the Council had already decided on the design and that they would not be changing that now. Councilmember Rostad agreed, stating this is more of a different design. Mr. Berger said staff will bring the item forward for the first rendering for first reading in April with second reading in May. Mayor Skogquist confirmed the voting requirements of 3/5 first reading and 4/5 second reading as there may be some members not in attendance. Mayor Skogquist said the Council will take public comment but that it will be limited to a few minutes as part of our open forum meeting guidelines and that he wouldn’t be allowing a lot of back-and-forth conversations. An audience member noted those guidelines were for regular Council meetings. Mayor Skogquist said the guidelines were for all meetings of Council. An audience member (inaudible) shared that it seemed that we were making petty decisions on this and topic and that decisions were being made in the benefit of others and not the citizens of Anoka. 3.4 Discussion; Code of Ethics Policy Mr. Lee shared a background report stating that at the meeting on January 6, 2025, the Council voted for staff to work with Councilmember Rostad on reviewing and possibly updating our current Code of Ethics Policy. The current policy has not been reviewed since August 2008. He said since that direction he March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 8 of 16 and Councilmember Rostad have met and communicated about recommended changes. Through Councilmember Rostad's experience and expertise in developing such policies, a draft of an updated Code of Ethics policy was developed. The draft policy has new language in red text and the black text is language that already exists in the current policy. The Council should discuss the draft policy and provide direction on whether the draft policy should be formalized and placed on a future agenda for adoption. Councilmember Rostad shared that she works in human resources for the State of Minnesota and does employee engagement and said she was very surprised during onboarding to learn about the professional, high-quality effort that goes on in the City, adding it is really a testament to Anoka. She said retention numbers at Anoka are high and part of the reason is the culture and commitment and valued employees. She said many other cities are looking at revising their code of ethics policies based on a recent newspaper article and felt Anoka should be proactive. She said she suggested some changes with staff and shared those changes which included understanding our roles and that execution belongs to staff. Mr. Lee said the changes are good and probably should have been addressed before but suggested added language that says “as defined by Anoka” needs to be reviewed to be consistent with Statute. Mayor Skogquist agreed, adding the draft also needs to be reviewed by either the City Attorney or Labor Attorney. An audience member spoke about trying to re-establish the roles and responsibilities of Councilmembers and asked who had attended the Newly Elected Officials event at the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC). Mayor Skogquist agreed these are important events to attend but said the policy is really just a clarification of roles and includes boards and commissions as well. The audience member spoke how the LMC handles situations like this from all over the State and how some proposed changes could have unintended consequences and encouraged the City to check with the LMC as well as portions are not congruent with each other. Councilmember Weaver said the policy is good to have but noted the topic came up as an Other Business item in January and that we didn’t follow procedure for adding items to our agenda. He said we need to accurately define family for the policy and asked if the City Attorney had been contacted about this policy change as well as LMC. He also asked about the consequences for those who may refuse to sign then shared concerns that the City Manager will have to be the point person on all complaints and if this can be done in a timely manner. He added we need to make room for common sense and not just give direction. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 9 of 16 Mr. Lee said there are not many issues with boards and commissions as there are liaisons who assist with those concern. Mayor Skogquist agreed that issues can be worked through the board or commission liaisons. Mr. Lee encouraged people to speak with him about concerns but copy the person who can best assist as well, adding in this way, he’s aware of the situation and it meets the intent of the City charter. Councilmember Weaver asked about consequences if someone accuses another of something without confirming the facts. He said he was recently accused of a conflict of interest and how the concern was reviewed with no conflict found. He asked when that happens, what’s the remedy. He said last fall accusations were also made that he invited the Anoka County Attorney to a jail task force meeting, which he never did but the public heard that accusation. He asked what’s the consequences for that action. Councilmember Scott agreed there should be some consequences. Councilmember Weaver agreed there should be no gotcha moments and that addressing these items will make everything operate more smoothly. Councilmember Scott said the policy needs to be a living document that is reviewed by the City Attorney and City Manager to see if it addresses the concerns of subjective versus objective and defines substantial value. He said this is a great first draft that will also need to meet Statute. Dr. Evans confirmed that Commissioners will have to sign the policy and shared concerns if so, the City will have difficulty getting people to volunteer on Commissions due to possible conflicts of interest in their daily employment. He said he understood this policy to be for elected officials and said we can’t attack people who work for the City. He objected to the rules of open forum and how he can’t donate his time to speak to another person. Mayor Skogquist reviewed the rules of open forum then said the code of ethics applies to all elected and appointed officials in Anoka. Borgie Bonthuis, Planning Commissioner, said she’s never seen a vision or mission statement included in a code of ethics and felt it didn’t belong there then asked if she has to call the City Manager first with concerns or if she can contact staff in Code Enforcement for example. She said the draft code of ethics speaks to when to abstain from voting but does not include declaring the conflict of interest and whether that has to be done orally. She wondered why was this policy was being revised by someone who is also going to have to sign it then asked if it should have been done by someone outside such as the City Attorney or LMC. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 10 of 16 Mayor Skogquist said the policy addresses disclosure of conflicts and is specific on how it needs to work. Mr. Baumgartner explained the importance of disclosing a potential conflict and by bringing it forward to the City Attorney to see if it’s a perceived or real conflict of interest. Councilmember Rostad noted this is a first draft to obtain feedback based on input from the City Manager and department heads, adding the mission and vision statements were included and the policy is relatively the same just rearranged. She said the policy-making is not about making a grand statement about ethics then noted others draft contracts for their signature such as teachers during contract negotiations. She said the policy recognizes the person in charge as the City Manager and acknowledges that they direct workflow and that there is no other ultimatum in the policy but just a tool to help us communicate and help all do our jobs well. Commissioner Bonthuis asked why there was an area included for signature for those who do not wish to sign the policy. Mr. Lee said the intent was to document that the policy has been received but it doesn’t mean the individual agrees with the content of the policy and said this type of acknowledgment signature is done with employees for human resources-related documents. An audience member said she’s contacted Council with certain things because they know who to contact but going forward will just send her concerns to the City Manager directly but added not being able to contact Council directly is how residents will lose their relationship with Council and provides no additional benefit. Mayor Skogquist explained how he reports a resident concern and how it was supposed to go to the City Manager but now as long as he’s included, that meets the City’s policy and Charter. Mr. Baumgartner clarified this policy is for communication between staff and City Council and is more of a code. John Kysylyczyn, Roseville, shared his background educating City officials on code of ethics policies. He shared his history and how he served as Mayor of Roseville and how they passed a similar policy in 1989 that was abolished many years later. He shared how in 1989, past Councilmembers used their policy to use taxpayer resources to attack others in the political minority and how it was done again a few years later against him as Mayor that resulted in a private investigator and how in the end, he won, but ultimately everyone lost including the taxpayers. He said how the incident resulted in the taxpayers paying for attorney bills and investigators and how some lost their jobs, then spoke about how they implemented mandates for payment of legal fees without legal limits and criminal March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 11 of 16 prosecution. He said how policies don’t always apply to elected officials and how Council has no authority to take an election certificate then spoke further about the First Amendment and how others can’t infringe upon a Councilmember’s right to speak then shared a recent ruling in a similar school district case and felt the only one who could write this policy was the City Attorney and how elected officials always have to answer to the voters. Councilmember Weaver reiterated his concerns to better define family in the definitions and the need to outline consequences for those who don’t sign the policy and for those who accuse others of conflicts of interest that are untrue. Mayor Skogquist suggested everyone forward changes to the Assistant City Manager for possible incorporation into the policy with appropriate legal review for further review by Council. Councilmember Scott agreed, stating it is important not to have any surprises with regard to definitions and that we need to define objective versus subjective. Councilmember Rostad said this is an interesting situation for elected officials but noted the policy is for the approximately 100 people who work at the City and is important as it channels communication to the City Manager for delegation. She said this came based on staff feedback and is a great way to monitor how often we contact someone and provides documentation of a process and data as well. Dr. Evans attempted to ask further questions regarding the policy and rules of open forum. Mayor Skogquist said he was not going to further recognize Dr. Evans and asked Chief Youngquist to escort Dr. Evans from the room. An audience member inaudible suggested instead of pushing this policy forward that the Council start over, adding she felt some of this policy was is AI-generated and should be written in the interest in protecting the citizens. She encouraged the City to attend the LMC events for further advice and guidance then place the policy in the hands of the City Attorney for revisions. Mr. Lee clarified that citizens are welcome to contact City Hall directly or anyone on staff with concerns they have. Councilmember Weaver said staff is smart and will say when it’s enough and to not contact them anymore. Mayor Skogquist disagreed, stating it is difficult for staff to tell someone that. 3.5 Discussion; NorthStar Commuter Rail Line. Community Development Director Doug Borglund shared a background report as you already may have heard, based on current activity happening during the 2025 State legislative session, it is very much a possibility that the NorthStar March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 12 of 16 Commuter Rail Line could be shuttered. He said it’s important that as City we start to think about what that means for the ramp, infrastructure, and what happens next. He reviewed a point-by-point history of how the Anoka Station came to be and a brief summary analysis of existing agreements then asked for Council input. He said the lease states if NorthStar comes to an end our lease ends with the Metropolitan Council, then noted the overpass and infrastructure is owned by the Met Council and there needs to be discussions about possibilities if closed such as replacement bus service such as a local circulator bus, possible reimbursement for the 4th and Johnson Street site, as well as reimbursement for the ramp itself outside of the grant funding. He spoke about possible options for the ramp such as a Borealis stop, using the ramps for additional parking, and other ideas. Mayor Skogquist commented on how quickly this may be moving but how there has been much discussion on North Metro Mayor Association’s (NMMA) legislative day and how many agreements exist as part of NorthStar that will require the federal government to participate. He said it will be hard to say what will be allowed, adding there is less and less bus service for our area but it is important to make our position known and direct staff to create a list of items that are lacking regarding transportation and what we’d like to see in its place and asked if we should fight to not have NorthStar go away. Councilmember Weaver said we should fight to see that NorthStar doesn’t go away, as it is a good concept but has been mismanaged since the beginning by not offering trips to St. Cloud, no evening trips, and crime concerns in Minneapolis. He said the special event trains are full, so people want to use the service but there are many inconsistencies with the Legislature, Met Council, and management plan in Minneapolis. He said people love to take the train from the north and enjoy the multitude of events available and that NorthStar has been an asset for our community and that he would hate to see it go away. Councilmember Campbell said the pandemic expedited NorthStar’s decline but agreed it could come back with the right management. Councilmember Rostad agreed that NorthStar has not been managed from the beginning and that she used to ride it all the time for her commute and was an incredible resource and if people return to work in person this will be a missed opportunity. She said Big Lake had the highest rate of ridership and it would be nice to keep that continuing. An audience member asked why sports teams’ ownership doesn’t put money into the NorthStar rail to help support the fan base. Councilmember Scott said if we are trying to suggest improvements to the NorthStar convenience will be key by offering alternate train times such as late runs. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 13 of 16 Councilmember Weaver said the reverse commuting to St. Cloud State University was also a missed opportunity as there were many that would have taken advantage of that. Mayor Skogquist explained they just changed the funding formula so it is not just the counties supporting NorthStar but the Met Council too, adding convenience and availability is key. He said he’s hearing a need to enhance the service and make it more user-friendly and that whatever transit option is offered it must be viable and ADA accessible. He said he appreciated the investments made over the last 20 years in all the stations and the surrounding development and that it will be important to honor those investments. Councilmember Weaver said he received a suggestion that we should conduct a community survey on what would interest people in riding the NorthStar more often. Council consensus was to share support for NorthStar remaining with legislators as they debate this topic and stress the need for some type of alternate transportation if not. An audience member said the discussions will change once people start return to work in person in Minneapolis. Mayor Skogquist said we need to understand the data behind this then spoke about the trolley concept considered in the City and how transportation correlates to retail areas but that it is difficult for Anoka to do. 3.6 Discussion; Proposed Housing Legislation. Mr. Borglund shared a background report stating that again, the 2025 State legislative session is presenting challenges for cities. He said housing industry groups have attacked cities' land use tools such as zoning and planned use developments. They claim incorrectly that these basic regulatory functions are prohibiting the building of more affordable housing stock. Legislatively, this started in 2021 and this year, proposed legislation seeks to broadly limit local decision-making authority on residential development by imposing a rigid state framework on all cities, regardless of their own unique needs and circumstances. These bills would eliminate low-density zoning (single-family neighborhoods) options, eliminate resident input before the City Council or Planning Commission on virtually all residential development, and strip reasonable local planning and zoning standards, which ensure development compatibility and scale. Additionally, these proposed bills create significant implementation challenges for cities, increasing costs for taxpayers, and complicating zoning and land-use planning, all without guaranteeing more affordable housing or increased development. Areas where it makes the most sense for our community, these bills would force cities to allow for higher density in all residential areas without regard for strategic planning. This removes the flexibility needed to accommodate March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 14 of 16 local housing needs. Conceptually, this means cities and their residents could no longer responsibly plan for growth, and instead, that responsibility would be shifted solely to private developers who would determine what gets built and where for maximum profit and return. Local government has responsibilities for a wide range of other issues that are not being thought about by the impact of these proposed bills, including fire and emergency services access, capacity and equipment, environmental review, infrastructure capacity, stormwater management, state wetland and shoreland regulations, non-conforming lots, blighted areas, potential nuisance situations, historic preservation, community character, direct impact on neighboring properties through watershed and solar access, and other issues just name a few. He spoke about land cost, material costs, labor costs, interest rates, which are out of the control of cities and how the City is working with a major home builder in the Twin Cities and their representative regarding Federal tariffs in place that will now affect lumber prices, increasing housing costs. He shared how this individual was stating that most of home construction lumber comes from Canada and how the tariffs could result in increasing the cost of housing not involving cities. Mr. Borglund said Anoka is a community with housing stock already near 50% rental and 80% already affordable. He spoke about Anoka’s having small lots already along with high density and asked if market rate rent can be considered affordable and if Anoka’s home values are affordable. Mr. Borglund spoke about how will the proposed legislative changes help the City and said this will only result in a loss of local control, community identity, and resident/taxpayer participation. Councilmember Rostad thanked staff for bringing this forward, adding Anoka already meets so many of the expectations, such as rent and lot size and that we need to advocate for City control. Mayor Skogquist said local control was an important item at the recent NMMA’s legislative event but that cities have different opinions, adding there is no funding from the Multi-Housing Finance Agency to help affordable housing. He spoke about the coalition members which was a unique group and how there will likely be more legislation this year with already several different bills being offered and that they hope to meet with legislators on this bill. Mr. Baumgartner suggested sharing that one size doesn’t fit all and that cities want to do their own work towards this goal and suggested the legislature not force all cities to do the same for a better result. Discussion was held on elements such as ADUs and how rent prices may have decreased because of these units and noted the need for more housing units that are not necessarily affordable because having enough units will result in lower rents overall and avoid unintended consequences. Councilmember Weaver disclosed that he owns apartment buildings and how government can be the public’s worst enemy with increased insurance, rental, and March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 15 of 16 electric costs, which impact each individual unit making apartments difficult to manage. He said it is not possible to keep rent controlled at 3% increases when taxes increase 8% and insurance increases 30% because of storms across the country. An audience member suggested the letter included in the Council packet be forwarded to the LMC. Mr. Borglund explained that the letter had already been sent but encouraged the community to send a similar letter to their legislators as well. Councilmember Weaver agreed that sending letters to all legislators is important. Mr. Borglund confirmed the letter was sent to the larger legislative delegation earlier today. 4. OTHER BUSINESS Chief Youngquist shared about a proposed real-time crime center project that will allow the monitoring of cameras in conjunction with the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office and able to access video when needed for public-facing cameras in the downtown area in real time. He said the City Attorney has reviewed the memorandum of understanding for this project and how this camera access will be part of a beta project to help address crime when it is actually occurring. An audience member asked if the City has ever considered using a software program that residents can sign up with to receive text messages regarding potential crime occurring in a specific neighborhood, adding the system could be used for other incidents such as watermain breaks for example. Chief Youngquist explained how the City already can access the County’s IPAWS system for area notifications for such incidents. Mr. Lee shared that Green Haven will be open on April 2, which will be the first time the course will be opened this early in 20 years. He said staff was suggesting a visioning session be held in late April or early May to gather Council input on what they’d like to see at Green Haven following the changes with new management, new operating systems, and new banquet style. An audience member asked if her husband could email staff with his ideas regarding Green Haven. Mr. Lee said the City would welcome his input to share with Council as part of that session. 5. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilmember Weaver, seconded by Councilmember Scott to adjourn the Worksession at 8:22 p.m. Motion carried. March 24, 2025 (Worksession) Page 16 of 16 Submitted by: Cathy Sorensen, TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. Approval Attestation: Amy T. Oehlers, City Clerk