City Council Workshop

WORKSHOP OAKDALE CITY COUNCIL February 8, 2022 The City Council held a workshop on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at Oakdale City Hall, 1584 Hadley Avenue North, Oakdale, Minnesota. The meeting began at 5:01 PM. Present: Mayor Paul Reinke Council Members: Jake Ingebrigtson Susan Olson Colleen Swedberg Kevin Zabel Also Present: Christina Volkers, City Administrator Kathy Laur, City Clerk Nick Newton, Police Chief Jason Zimmerman, Finance Director Jim Romanik, Public Works Manager Andrew Gitzlaff, Community Development Director Shannon Reidlinger, Sr. Community Development Specialist Will Bucheger, Administrative Intern John Shardlow, Stantec COMPREHENSIVE PLAN BACKGROUND AND LAND USE CHAPTER SUMMARY Community Development Director Gitzlaff presented the first of a few walk throughs of the Oakdale 2040 Comprehensive Plan including why it is needed, how it is developed and what type of public and stakeholder engagement was done. Director Gitzlaff reviewed the land use goals and policies and facilitated a discussion with Council. Council Member Olson asked if conformity with the Metropolitan Council regional plan was a legal requirement. John Shardlow responded that it is a legal requirement to not be in conflict with the regional plan. Council Member Ingebrigtson asked if the 1974 Comprehensive Plan is available. Staff will try to track down a copy. Council Member Zabel asked about the process for amending the Comprehensive Plan and if a public hearing is always required. John confirmed that a public hearing is part of the minimum requirements for the amendment Council Member Olson asked how detailed the discussions were at the comprehensive plan engagement events. Director Gitzlaff responded that generally input sought is high level but they can get deeper into subject areas depending on the participants. The role of the planner is to summarize input received which informs the development of the goals and policies. WORKSHOP MINUTES February 8, 2022 Page Two Council Member Zabel asked about the preciseness of some of the polices resulting from the Comprehensive Plan included establishing an annual EDA levy and developing specific redevelopment plans for parcels and if this was normal. Director Gitzlaff noted that the goals are generic and aspirational but polices do get into specific actions. Although just because a policy statement is in the Comprehensive Plan it does not require the Council to implement it and if there is a policy that needs to be changed Council has the authority to change it. For example, maybe it should say “consider an annual EDA levy”. Council Member Swedberg said that words are important. Director Gitzlaff also noted that the Comprehensive Plan is not the last word. It provides overall guidance but the City Council can direct staff to conduct additional study and craft more specific policies and programs to better define and interpret the current Council’s position. Administrator Volkers asked Council Members to review the land use chapter and submit any questions or concerns regarding language to Director Gitzlaff prior to the next workshop. Council expressed a preference to finish discussion on the land use chapter first before moving on to the other chapters. PROPOSED CITY CODE AMENDMENT: TEMPORARY OUTDOOR PATIOS/2022 DEMONSTRATION The concept of temporary outdoor patios came out of a need for restaurants to stay open during the COVID pandemic specifically in 2020 and 2021. Council previously discussed the proposed ordinance at their June 22, 2021 meeting and requested that it be brought back for consideration in 2022 if there is still a need. Director Gitzlaff stated that at least one restaurant within the city has shown continued interest to utilize a temporary outdoor patio for their business in 2022. Mr. Gitzlaff suggested that the Council consider implementing temporary outdoor patios on a demonstration basis for 2022 and recommended that a $400 fee be paid. Council Member Zabel said he doesn’t support the extension of outdoor patios because of potential noise to nearby neighbors and other factors. His preference would be to examine the parking code minimums so that businesses could construct a permanent outdoor patio. Council Member Zabel asked staff to look into whether a business’s existing liquor license would cover the outdoor area or if that would need to be amended as well. He also asked that if pursued that the design of the fencing and enclosure be evaluated as part of the license process. Council Member Swedberg doesn’t support the $400 outdoor patio fee and that she would rather see the restaurant have a permanent outdoor patio but does support the temporary draft ordinance with a lower fee. Council Member Olson said she was inclined to give it a shot however; she doesn’t like the $400 fee either. Council Member Ingebrigtson agreed. WORKSHOP MINUTES February 8, 2022 Page Three Chief Newton stated that the police department gets the most complaints due to noise at outdoor patios. Mayor Reinke said he wants to support the temporary outdoor patio, but is concerned about noise, the design standards of the patios and doesn’t agree with the fee cost. The majority of the council indicated that they would like to pursue the temporary outdoor patio ordinance. Director Gitzlaff noted that Administrative Intern Bucheger, will look into what other cities charge for a fee and will come back with a recommendation for a reduced price. Director Gitzlaff said that staff will update the ordnance and license application to address compliance with the noise ordinance, materials for the fencing and the enclosure and compliance with liquor license. Administrator Volkers noted that this item would go back to the Planning Commission for input and then to March 8th workshop for further review. PURCHASING CARD POLICY Finance Director Zimmerman stated that the city did $100,000 in credit card purchasing in 2021. He manages the credit card program. The Purchasing Card Policy has been updated to reflect the need for a Purchasing Card Request Form, Purchasing Card User Agreement and a Lost Receipt Affidavit for anyone authorized to have a city credit card. Council Member Olson would like to see section 8.1 of the policy be stronger. This section is in regard to fraud or intentional misuse for personal benefit. City Administrator Volkers stated this section would result in the loss of privileges and discipline up to and including termination. The language for section 8.1 will be updated to reflect that. REVISED INVESTMENT POLICY Finance Director Zimmerman noted that the current policy is so outdated that he doesn’t know when it was last approved. He estimated that it’s at least 26 years old. Rather than trying to amend it he completely rewrote it and proposes the attached policy. The intention of the policy is to improve the quality of decisions and demonstrate a commitment to the fiduciary care of public funds. Having this policy signals to rating agencies, the capital market, and the public that Oakdale is well managed and earning appropriate interest. The updated policy will be brought back at the February 22, 2022 City Council meeting for approval. WORKSHOP MINUTES February 8, 2022 Page Four CODE OF CONDUCT In fourth quarter 2021, a draft Code of Conduct based off the city of Edina was discussed. It was then requested to be brought back for further discussion along with other cities code of conduct for examples. Council Member Ingebrigtson is not in favor of it and finds it unnecessary. Council Member Olson said she thought it was fine and found it symbolic. She liked Edina’s code of conduct. Council Member Swedberg didn’t realize the codes were so different depending on the city. She liked the example City Administrator Volkers sent out late last week with a much simpler version. Council Member Zabel approved of the Edina code. Mayor Reinke stated he was ok doing a code of conduct if the general consensus of the council is to go with one. After further discussion, it was requested that Ms. Volkers draft a shortened version (similar to sample) for Oakdale and bring back to a future workshop for discussion. COUNCIL TOPICS Council Member Ingebrigtson had nothing to report. Council Member Olson asked about the Gateway Trail lighting. City Administrator Volkers said she would resend an estimate of the cost to the council. Council Member Olson stated that the number one responsibility is public safety. Council Member Olson also stated that the city has all kinds of arrests of people who have committed crimes. She wants to know if they are being prosecuted. Between Chief Newton and Administrator Volkers, they would look into how many cases are not brought forward for prosecution and numbers of those that are prosecuted and if any are reduced in severity by prosecution. Council Member Swedberg had nothing to report. Council Member Zabel had nothing to report. Mayor Reinke announced that the Valley Branch Watershed District won watershed district of the year. Interim City Planner Erin Perdu was instrumental in working with Bethesda in getting a Metropolitan Council grant for $650,000. He also stated that he will not be running for reelection when his term is up at the end of the year. WORKSHOP MINUTES February 8, 2022 Page Five ADJOURNMENT The workshop was adjourned for the Regular City Council meeting at 6:55 Respectfully submitted, Kathy Laur, City Clerk