City Council Work Session

Mayor CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Amáda Márquez Simula Councilmembers Public Safety Bldg—Training Room, 825 41st Ave NE John Murzyn, Jr. Monday, June 07, 2021 Connie Buesgens 7:00 PM Nick Novitsky Kt Jacobs City Manager MINUTES Kelli Bourgeois CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Mayor Márquez Simula called the work session to order at 7:00 pm. Present: Mayor Márquez Simula, Councilmembers Buesgens, Jacobs, Murzyn, Jr., and Novitsky Also Present: Lenny Austin, Police Chief; Beth Barbosa, SACA Board Member; Kelli Bourgeois, City Manager; Aaron Chirpich, Community Development Director; Jessica Dowell, SACA Board Member; Kevin Hansen, Public Works Director/City Engineer; Brian Harper, SACA Board Treasurer; Ben Harris, SACA Board Member; Karen James, Lexipol; Kevin Kielb, Bolton & Menk; Matt Markham, Police Captain; Tim Olson, Bolton & Menk; Justin Pletcher, Police Sergeant; Dave Rudolph, SACA Co-Director, Sue Sjoselius, SACA Board Vice Chair; Steve Smith, SACA Board Chair; Nicole Tingley, City Clerk; Elaine Walker, SACA Co-Director WORK SESSION ITEMS 1. Lexipol Policy Services Discussion Karen James from Lexipol gave a presentation of their Law Enforcement Policy Management and Daily Training Solution. James stated the importance of up-to-date policies and accountability and training of them. She explained how Lexipol regularly sends updated policies to its users that are compliant with current laws and court decisions. She also provided an overview of their scenario based daily training on policies. James explained the steps of implementation the software and the pricing. Clarification was provided on the following:  Police Departments do get to keep the policies even if they no longer subscribe to Lexipol  Police Departments can post the policies online, but there is copyright of the policies so they cannot be shared with other departments. Police Captain Markham explained how police department policies are currently updated. Currently, the police department has an internal policy committee that meets every 2 years to go over all policies. This takes a significant amount of staff time and it requires continuous changes. At this time, the police department is understaffed so there is room in the 2021 police operational budget to pay for the implementation and first three years of subscription fees. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES June 07, 2021 City Council Work Session Page 2 The City Council provided positive feedback on the Lexipol policy management and training solution. Markham stated that approval of the contract will be on the next City Council agenda and if approved the goal would be to have it implemented by January 2022. 2. SACA Relocation Project Update Community Development Director Chirpich provided background on SACA’s place in the proposed Reuter Walton Affordable Apartment building development on 42 nd and Jackson. He shared that Reuter Walton is currently seeking land-use approvals and explained how the outcome of that impacts a future SACA building. Chirpich asked SACA representatives for a status update on the building plans, funding, and their timeline. Dave Rudolph, Executive Director of SACA, provided an overview of their fundraising campaign and how they plan to fund the project. He noted several public funding sources including the Minnesota State Legislature, United States Congress, Livable Communities Assistance, Community Development Block Grants, and the American Rescue Plan city funds. He shared that SACA has received $300,000 from the State, but the rest is pending or needs to be submitted. Rudolph indicated that gaps in funding would be covered with a Tax Exempt Bank Qualified draw loan which is low interest long term. This would also include time receiving granted funds. The board has approved securing a $3 million dollar loan, but the bank has not yet. SACA has approached Northeast Bank and had positive conversations. Rudolph additionally shared an overview of their community engagement plans as well as their anticipated timeline for design and land approvals. Buesgens inquired about foundation grants. SACA Board Member Ben Harris, SACA Board Member stated that they will be reaching out to foundations and that they also keep an eye on the grant cycle. Steve Smith, SACA Board President asked if the City would pay for a new appraisal of the land that the new SACA facility would sit on. There was a discussion regarding what the significance of a new appraisal would be and whether it was needed. The current appraisal was completed in 2018 prior to either project. Chirpich noted that Reuter Walton negotiated for their portion of the land and that between the SACA portion and the Reuter Walton portion the price per square foot is not equivalent. Chirpich also stated that the Reuter Walton purchase agreement was recently renewed. It was clarified that SACA was hoping that the differential between the value of their current building and the land would be larger. Chirpich explained that appraisal of their current building would likely be more if they also owned the land as the restrictive nature limits marketability. City of Columbia Heights MINUTES June 07, 2021 City Council Work Session Page 3 Councilmembers Buesgens and Novitsky expressed in regards to giving a portion of the City’s American Rescue Plan funds, the other cities served by SACA would have to commit in order to consider it. It was clarified that the other cities have not committed funds at this time nor have they been approached. 3. Police Department Recruitment and Retention Discussion Police Captain Markham stated that the police department is currently authorized to have 29 officers, but they are understaffed by 5 officers and 1 sergeant. He stated that it is a trend among the profession for officers to be leaving the field and less students coming through. He noted that they have had the most success recruiting through the CSO positions and will continue to do so, but recruiting needs to be a higher priority. City Manager Bourgeois shared her discovery of the Anoka County Youth jobs program. It is a program for students ages 14-24 that meet certain qualifications. The City can put them into part time positions in a variety of city roles at no cost to the City. Anoka County employees and pays them. She explained how the liquor store, library, and police department are having students start. She explained that she hopes to expand the program to all areas of the City as a rotation. Sergeant Pletcher explained that they police department has put together a recruitment team of officers. This group is going to be proactive in college outreach as well as create a proactive personal recruitment experience. In addition, they are making the recruitment process more modernized with the message and materials. Councilmember Buesgens suggested having “Coffee with a Cop” type event at sporting events. The City Council inquired about the current hiring process for officers. Chief Austin explained that they are in the process of backgrounding 5 officers and are focusing on starting the Anoka County program. The City Council provided positive feedback on the Anoka County Youth Jobs Program. 4. Report (Draft) for Sewer Modeling for Sanitary Sewer Collection District 1 Tim Olson from Bolton & Menk updated the City Council on the analysis of the Sanitary Sewer system for Collection District 1. Olson covered the following in his presentation:  Study Location  Existing System Analysis including known issues (capacity, pipe age and material, inflow and infiltration, and foundation drains) and methods for collecting data.  Potential Developments and their effect on current capacity issues City of Columbia Heights MINUTES June 07, 2021 City Council Work Session Page 4  Possible Solutions to fix capacity issues (Increase pipe size, pipe bypass, storage system) It was explained that costs for the possible solutions are still being determined. Furthermore, it was explained that outside sources seems to be what exacerbates the flow as the pipes were made for sufficient base flow. Public Works Director Hansen stated that it is anticipated that the final report with be complete by the end of June and will be presented to the City Council at the second City Council Meeting in June or the first City Council meeting and July. 5. 2021 Updates to Stormwater Plan Hansen provided an overview of the City’s stormwater plan, explained why the City has one, and stated what the new plan requirements are for the 2020 update. In regards to new plan requirements Hansen stated there are ordinance and policy changes required. WSB, who has consulted the City on the stormwater plan for 15 years, is guiding the City through what updates have to be made. Some main areas that need updating are increasing public education (outreach), more efforts for public participation in colored and disadvantaged communities, and illicit discharge ordinance changes that allow for more enforcement. Councilmember Jacobs inquired about the impact of dog parks. Hansen stated he could find out and added that additionally there needs to be changes to the pet waste ordinance to allow for more enforcement. Councilmember Buesgens suggested creating educational videos on stormwater topics such as dog waste. Mayor Márquez Simula asked if there was environmental funding available for more dog bag waste stations. Hansen responded that he did know that there is money for educational videos. Hansen noted that there are additionally more requirements in regards to construction activities. Specifically, monitoring best management practices (stormwater ponds, etc.) and what leaves those facilities and their effectiveness. Hansen stated that City staff would be providing ordinance and policy change recommendations to the City Council this fall. 6. East African Community Meeting Debrief Mayor Márquez Simula asked for feedback on the East African Community Meeting held on May 27th. Councilmember Jacobs stated that it seemed like a long meeting for a small amount of return noting that the introductions lasted over an hour. She would have liked more time City of Columbia Heights MINUTES June 07, 2021 City Council Work Session Page 5 to listen to the needs of the East African Community. She inquired if the Mayor has an outline planned for working with communities of diversity. Márquez Simula replied that she does not have an outline and is adapting as she sees what works. Councilmember Buesgens commented that the purpose of the meeting was an introduction and listening and that is what the community wanted. Márquez Simula added that introductions help provide a safe space. Councilmember Novitsky suggested that the introduction questions be distributed so they did not have to be repeated. He also would like for participants to have their video to be able to recognize them in the future. Márquez Simula stated it would be a good idea to get participant feedback on the length of introductions and timing. Jacobs commented that there needs to be a process for engaging with diverse communities. She mentioned examples of Cornell and the City of Golden Valley. She added that an individual community should not be singled out, but rather it needs to be an all- encompassing and include all communities even if they are met with individually. 7. Maintaining Affordable Rental Properties Councilmember Buesgens noted that Columbia Heights has affordable housing currently and wants to consider how the City can protect it. She stated in many cases affordable housing is bought, renovated, and the rent significantly increased. She noted examples of what some other cities are doing and considering in this area including requiring landlords to pay relocation costs for those who are displaced and caps in rent increase. She wanted the City Council to keep this issue on their radar. Additionally, Buesgens mentioned that Met Council has a grant program for landlords to make improvements if they do not increase rent. She also suggested in the future the City should incentivize landlords to make improvements. Councilmember Jacobs, Novitsky, and Murzyn, Jr. expressed concerns on what rent caps would mean for landlords. As buildings get older, they require improvements, and the landlords should not be expected to not have their rent amounts reflect improvements. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Márquez Simula adjourned the work session at 9:53 pm. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________________ Nicole Tingley, City Clerk/Council Secretary