City Council Workshop

AGENDA City Council Workshop July 14, 2020 Council Chambers 5 PM Visit to Acorn Award Winning Properties (Councilors: Please plan to meet at both locations at the designated times). 5 PM Residential Property Winner: Lori Krause, 2671 Gresham Avenue 5:10 PM Travel Time to 6944 Hudson Boulevard 5:15 PM Public Category Winner: Apostolic Bible Institute and Church 6944 Hudson Boulevard 5:25 PM Travel Time to City Hall 5:30 PM Mobile Food Vendors License Fees 5:40 PM Farmers Market Time Change Options 5:50 PM Live Streaming Meetings 6:10 PM IT Services Proposal for Quotes 6:30 PM Council Topics 6:45 PM Recess for Regular Meeting  COUNCIL MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Chelsea Petersen, Administrative Services Director Date: July 14, 2020 Subject: Mobile Food Vendors – Fees; Other License Fees At its June 9 meeting, the City Council directed staff to waive fees for all mobile food vendor licenses through September 30, 2020. Staff was also asked to review mobile food vendor fees of other communities. Staff received fee information from the following communities: CITY NOTES FEE Cottage Grove Vendors only allowed at private events in residential areas or at special N/A events in retail areas, so the city does not issue licenses solely for food truck operations. Lake Elmo City does not issue licenses. Vendor needs to possess food service license 0 from Washington County in order to operate within the City. Mahtomedi City does not currently issue licenses, but this process is under review. 0 Currently, all vendors need to possess food service license from MN department of health. Maplewood Fee for selling perishable food: $181 Annual Fee for selling non-perishable food: $146 Annual If operating at a single location for more than 21 days, city approval is required; if more than four months, conditional use permit is required. Newport Food trucks are only permitted at events. $50 per event North Saint Paul Fees are only charged to only non-residents and businesses based outside $80 Annual of the city. Oakdale Fee for one day: $100 Fee for annual: $300 Fire Department inspection required for both. Shoreview City does not issue licenses. Vendor needs to possess food service license 0 from MN department of health. Stillwater Only allowed on private property, with Planning Department approval. Fire $250 first time Department inspection required. $25 renewal White Bear Lake City issues a Merchants Permit similar to that issued for garden centers. $50 per month Vendor needs to possess food service license from County/State. Woodbury Licenses issued for events and tournaments only. $35 Annual Oakdale’s current process involves reviewing the application, confirming receipt of the associated materials, reviewing the location for appropriate placement and approval, conducting a background investigation, and conducting a visual inspection by the Oakdale Fire Marshal. Staff is working on a comprehensive review of other licensing application requirements, fees, and codes, and will bring forth recommendations to the City Council later this year.  COUNCIL MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Christina M. Volkers, City Administrator Date: July 14, 2020 Subject: Farmers Market Time Change Options At the request of a council member to keep the farmer’s market open later than 6 PM, staff reached out to vendors to share their thoughts. Options discussed were the potential of the market hours being modified from 2 to 6 PM to 2:30 to 6:30 PM for the remainder of 2020. Although a few less vendors participated in the July 9 market due to the recent holiday, those that were present were not supportive of changing the hours. They shared that their day is typically long as many participate in other markets during the day and begin the day harvesting and preparing the food for sale. As such, they appreciate being able to close up at 6 PM and head home. Vendors also commented on the drain of being in the heat and humidity throughout the day. Vendors noted that they were pleased when the market hours were changed from 3 to 7 PM to 2 to 6 PM in 2014. Recreation Superintendent Williams will be available at the July 14 meeting to answer questions from the City Council.  COUNCIL MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Alyssa MacLeod, Communications Specialist Date: July 14, 2020 Subject: Livestreaming council meetings At the June 23rd Council work session, City Council requested more information regarding the possibility of livestreaming City Council meetings on Facebook. The City has been livestreaming meetings via Suburban Community Channels (SCC) on the city website, however, the function has been inoperable since March 2020 and it is unknown when functionality will be restored. Streaming the council meetings on an alternative platform would allow the City of Oakdale to continue to provide access to a broader audience including non-cable subscribers. Platform comparison The two most viable and accessible livestreaming options for the City of Oakdale are Facebook and YouTube. Below is a comparison of the relevant features of both platforms. Facebook YouTube Format Better suited for short form video Better suited for long form video Access Need an account to view Accessible without having an account Comments Comments cannot be turned off Comments can be turned off Sharing Native video only Cross-sharing compatibility Considerations Overall, YouTube is a more favorable streaming option as the platform is specifically designed for video and has capabilities to reach a broader audience due to not requiring having an account in order to view content. YouTube also provides cross-sharing capabilities so that videos can be shared on other platforms if needed, including the city website. Using Facebook as a livestreaming platform limits reach solely to Facebook users. Staff believes that it is also better to livestream on a platform that allows for comments to be turned off. Comments can be turned off on YouTube but not on Facebook. While resident input is highly valued, the goal of livestreaming meetings is to increase reach and transparency, not to engage with the public. In a traditional council meeting, public comments are generally only accepted during portions of the meeting, such as open forum, a public hearing, or on a specific agenda item. The City Council does not engage with the public throughout the duration of the meeting. Social media platforms like Facebook are designed to engage in two-way communication, so users are conditioned to receiving responses to their questions. Having a comment feature throughout a livestreamed meeting may set unrealistic and confusing expectations with viewers. Allowing comments also opens the door for non-productive engagement. When researching the experience of other municipalities that livestream meetings through social media platforms with comments, many have cited receiving a high level of “trolling” behavior – with users not looking to meaningfully engage, but only to incite controversy. Recommendation Due to the loss of our previous livestreaming capabilities through SCC, selecting an alternative livestream platform will achieve the goals of restoring increased transparency through broader reach of council meeting broadcasts. YouTube is the recommended platform to achieve those goals most effectively.  COUNCIL MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Christina M. Volkers, City Administrator Date: July 9, 2020 Subject: IT review – proposal for seeking quotes At the June 9 council meeting an agenda item titled “Approve Proposal for Independent IT Services Review” was tabled to allow for further discussion and review. See attached for the applicable documentation by way of background. In prior conversations, Council expressed a desire to have an independent entity complete a full review of IT services. The proposal was to hire a consultant to review options and investigate alternatives. Currently, the city uses the City of Roseville’s Metro I-Net collaborative which is moving to an independent JPA in 2021. Before signing onto that new JPA as our future partner, it is important that we do a thorough review and analysis to consider all our needs and options for future IT services. As a thriving city in the metro area, we are at a point where some long-term decisions would be appropriate in how we provide IT services throughout the City of Oakdale. To that end, I recommend the following: 1. We seek multiple quotes from consultants to research and recommend all options for providing IT services, compare quotes, and secure a consultant. 2. The consultant will work closely with the City Administrator, Administrative Services Director, and other appropriate city staff to define current and future IT needs for the City of Oakdale. 3. The consultant will then research and consider options including those outlined in the original June 9 proposal to council, as well as other possible alternatives such as providing some or all IT services internally. 4. Finally, the consultant will provide a report with options and cost estimates, and the City Administrator will work closely with appropriate city staff to prepare a recommendation to City Council. If Council is in agreement with this suggested course of action, the City Administrator will secure comparable quotes and prepare a recommendation for consultant hire to the Council for approval.