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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020/08/24 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Official minutes City council study session St. Louis Park, Minnesota Aug. 24, 2020 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Rachel Harris, Larry Kraft, Nadia Mohamed, and Margaret Rog Councilmembers absent: Anne Mavity Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), CIO (Mr. Pires), Fire Chief Koering, Deputy Fire Chief Wolff, Engineering Director (Ms. Heiser), Transportation Engineer (Mr. Manibog), Senior Management Analyst (Ms. Solano), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Pappas) Guests: None 1. Citywide speed limit evaluation Mr. Manibog presented the report. Councilmember Harris thanked staff for the thorough report and asked if there is a correlation between pedestrians and bikers feeling safer on trail roads, when traffic is at 20 or 25 mph. Mr. Manibog stated he did not know but would look to see if there is data that supports that. Councilmember Brausen stated the report was very thorough, with great data . He continued the city’s prioritization of walking and biking over cars is reflected here, and the data also supports the Dakota Bridge as a safe north-south link in the community. Councilmember Brausen stated his biggest concern in the report was Cedar Lake Road, one of the major east west streets in St. Louis Park, which seems to work well at 35 mph. However, he added, there is a need for more data as it is a major road through the 4th Ward and very well used. He added the city’s system is well-designed but agreed there is a need to lower speed limits more, pointing out that early on during Covid, residents were driving slower through neighborhoods. He stated public outreach will need to happen related to this, as well as public listening sessions before any changes are made. Councilmember Kraft thanked staff for the great report as well. He stated 21 serious injuries in 3 years seems very good or okay, but he wants to see it relative to national trends or to other cities similar in size to St. Louis Park. He noted there are more crashes on higher traffic streets, with fatalities or injuries 3 times higher than when speed limits are 20 mph, adding this surprised him. He stated if the city says pedestrians and bikes should be prioritized, why does the report show that road type determines speed limits vs. the number of pedestrians and bikes traveling on a road. Mr. Manibog explained the reason is that citywide, there are speed and vehicle traffic data to refer to, but no data DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -2- August 24, 2020 for pedestrians and bikes and therefore, there is more vehicle data present in the analysis. Councilmember Kraft asked if the city should have more pedestrian and bike data . Ms. Heiser stated staff has been looking at this but noted we have been a car-centered society for over 100 years, so the data we have is about vehicles and traffic, not about pedestrians and bikes as a trend. She added there is still a need for vehicles to move goods and services, while buses must be considered as well for transit, noting also that buses are on a timeframe. She stated there must be a balance, so when staff recommends 20 mph on low traffic roads, it must also consider fire, police, garbage trucks, as well as pedestrians and bikes. Councilmember Kraft stated he would like staff to provide more data on pedestrians and bikes over time, especially if the city claims the priority to be pedestrians, bikes, and then cars. Councilmember Kraft noted the NACTO recommendations of streets with high activity and high density have 20 mph limits. He asked what this means relative to roads in St. Louis Park, such as Minnetonka Boulevard and Cedar Lake Road. Mr. Manibog stated Minnetonka Boulevard and Excelsior Boulevard are both county roads. Therefore, state statute will not allow the city to make any changes. He then stated that Cedar lake Road is a city road, so the city can make changes to it. He added NACTO looks at the same criteria St. Louis Park looks at related to pedestrians and intersections, which can be due to land use such as commercial or residential. He added by looking at this, the city then takes it into consideration and tries to be contextual. Ms. Heiser added the city does use NACTO guidance, and then applies it within the context of St. Louis Park. Councilmember Kraft asked how race equity is impacted by these decisions. Mr. Manibog stated it is looked at a couple ways – by working with police to understand how speed is enforced and looking at demographic data to ensure communities of color benefit, so certain folks are not favored over others. He added staff also works on these issues with Mx. Sojourner, adding staff can show more progress on this at a future meeting. Councilmember Kraft stated the speed study is all very much tied to Connect the Park, and the recommendations make sense. He noted if bike lanes are added to more city roads, then they need to be as safe as can be and adding a separated bike lane would be needed to ensure safety. Councilmember Rog asked how Connect the Park integrates with this study. She added this is an opportunity to think about share-the-road options for bikes or separate bike lanes, and related speeds accordingly. Councilmember Rog also asked why the east frontage road in front of Benilde is 35 mph . Mr. Manibog stated right now, the current limit there is 40 mph. Current guidance does DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -3- August 24, 2020 not recommend speed limits over 35 mph in urban contexts. Because of factors like the level of traffic and pedestrian access, staff recommends a speed limit of 35 mph. Councilmember Rog stated she wants more conversations on that area in terms of Connect the Park and to be more intentional in that area. She asked why there is no pedestrian access there and noted she would like to study the map better related to questions she has in Ward 1. Ms. Heiser stated this is the first report on this to the council and there will be more discussion in the future related to questions within specific wards. Councilmember Rog asked for an explanation on the 25 mph vs. 20 mph and that it’s a half mile segment. Mr. Manibog explained the half mile length noted comes from national standards. He stated speeds should not change every other block. Councilmember Rog asked if council can also look at intersections in the city that are dangerous, and speeds there, especially at spots where cars are failing to yield . Ms. Heiser stated staff will bring this back to council for review in a few months and take a city-wide look at different intersections, and the way they are set up, and safety issues. Councilmember Rog asked if these intersections are an opportunity for automated enforcement and technology to change behavior, adding it also addresses racial equity issues and there are ways to implement it to save money on policing. Mr. Manibog stated this method of enforcement was deemed unconstitutional in MN. Councilmember Rog stated she will discuss this with staff offline. Councilmember Rog stated she is supportive of this, adding it’s what the community wants, and there may also be some environmental assistance around emissions. She stated it will be important how it is rolled out. Councilmember Mohamed stated she is generally in support and agreed with the recommendation by staff to do this street by street vs. a city-wide speed limit. She stated she looks forward to the racial equity information and enforcement information as well. Mayor Spano asked staff the speeds of delivery vehicles in neighborhoods as they seem to be very high lately, on residential streets, such as his. He noted this might be a topic of future discussion. He added the assumption here is that staff feels there is no way to improve safety on roads that does not involve lowering speeds. He asked if any other options were looked at. Ms. Heiser stated staff is recommending lowering speed limits as a safe systems approach. She stated as staff reviewed national studies, decreased speeds on roads make a difference to safety. She added speed bumps, stop signs and sidewalks for pedestrians on higher volume roads are all helpful as well, but are all more expensive too. Mr. Manibog noted the new statue statute also gave staff a new tool to use, so this is staff’s reaction and recommendation. DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -4- August 24, 2020 Mayor Spano asked if lowering speeds as per staff recommendations allows for other traffic calming measures. Ms. Heiser stated lowering speeds is the first step to making other items in the toolbox more applicable. She noted staff can provide more information to council on traffic management and use of speed bumps, turnabouts and traffic circles, each which have a cause and effect. Mayor Spano stated he is interested in how the budget will develop and wants to be sure to ask the questions that need to be asked. Councilmember Harris stated she has concerns about speeds at the transit stations. She asked staff to look at this further and consider lowering speeds at light rail stations and at access points to regional bike trails. She also asked about equalization to all neighborhoods for speed limits, adding the proposal today is an improvement over what has existed, and she appreciates this. 2. Fire department staffing structure Fire Chief Koering and Deputy Fire Chief Wolff presented the report. Councilmember Rog stated she appreciates the work of the Fire Chief and staff to build community pride and serve the community. She asked who else in the area also uses the career model with their fire service. Chief Koering answered Richfield, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Edina – which has a few part-time staff only. He noted 85% of cities in the state were a combination of career and volunteer in the past, and now almost every major city has moved away from this model. Councilmember Rog asked if there are any potential negatives to have an all career force in St. Louis Park. Chief Koering stated he could not think of any, adding they looked at both pros and cons, and could not find any negative issues. Councilmember Rog asked the demographics of the career force and of the part-time group. Chief Koering stated the career force is 1 female of 27, and the new model would provide 3 females. He added currently there are no people of color in the career group but noted there is 1 Asian male and 1 Bangladesh male on the part-time staff, and 1 woman who recently resigned. Councilmember Rog asked if the training costs that saved $15,000 came out of public funds, or out of the budget each time someone is trained. Deputy Chief Wolff stated part of those costs are reimbursed, but it varies by year. Councilmember Rog asked when the last time someone was onboarded. Deputy Chief Wolff stated 2018-2019, adding it is a year-long process. Councilmember Rog stated she is concerned about diversity and opportunities for people to serve the community. She questioned how many career firefighters are residents of St. Louis Park. Chief Koering answered three people. DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -5- August 24, 2020 Councilmember Rog stated she has a concern about opportunities for community members to serve and community pride and having firefighters who live in the community. She added if cost effectiveness and savings are the only goals, the city could move to all contract firefighters. Councilmember Rog added removing part-time fire fighters is a big change to an important component of the city’s services. She stated she has heard from several people that are so proud to serve as part-time fire fighters. She asked if a public forum could be set up to hear from these folks, let them talk about what they value, and their suggestions for going forward. She added this would be respectful. Councilmember Rog stated related to the city’s race equity and climate action goals, having fire fighters who drive in from Hugo takes the city farther from these goals. She added if we decide to go with the career program, she would like to look at doing the Pathways program. Mr. Harmening stated a change to the structure of the program will make it easier to diversify the fire department. He added he has been incredibly forceful on the need to diversify the fire department, adding there will be much more opportunity to do this vs. having a paid on-call system. Councilmember Rog asked about the opportunity to hear from part-time fire fighters. Chief Koering stated there will be a follow up to this discussion with part-time staff on September 1, and ways to honor their service. He stated he appreciates their contributions over the years, and the fire staff will let them know how their contributions made a difference. Councilmember Brausen thanked Chief Koering for looking at the stru cture and how it can work better. He stated he presumes the Chief and staff are not taking this step lightly and he is impressed that they are studying and embracing change. He asked if this proposed reorganization will have any impact on the CERT program. Chief Koering stated no it will not, adding it may present opportunities to increase membership of the CERT program. Councilmember Brausen stated he is totally supportive of this, adding it seems to be a superior delivery model, and will enhance staffing. He noted his colleagues have been more concerned about COVID expenditures than he has at times, so this restructuring to create a cost savings is helpful. Councilmember Harris noted she did a ride along with the fire department and it was a great experience. She suggested the other councilmembers do a ride along as well. Councilmember Harris asked about COVID costs and what added costs or constraints are on the department now. She also asked also if PPE or physical distancing has also driven up department costs. Chief Koering stated COVID hasn’t been a driver of costs related to staffing. While PPE has been a concern, the CAREs funding and reimbursement will take DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -6- August 24, 2020 care of that. He did, however, state that the city’s overall budget is affected by COVID, so the fire department looked at this structure change to be an efficient and effective cost savings model. He added the entire community could benefit from cost savings and funds can be moved into other areas. Councilmember Harris asked how the career force will improve diversity on the team. Deputy Chief Wolff explained the plan will improve diversity, adding the written test was removed for Bipoc communities to eliminate bias, and anyone that applied received an interview. However, the success rate was not that good. He added since 2015, the staff has hired 29 part-time fire fighters, including 3 women and 6 diverse people. Councilmember Rog stated retention is as much an issue in diversity as is hiring. She asked if the staff does exit interviews and if there is any data on why people left. Chief Koering stated they do offer exit interviews, but not with part-time people. Mr. Harmening added that HR administers and conduct the exit interviews. Chief Koering stated if anyone leaves, he makes a point to connect with them and talk through the process, noting in many cases the reasons for leaving were out of the employee’s control. Councilmember Harris asked if different languages are spoken by fire fighters, how valuable it is to have people who speak different languages on staff, and how many career and part-time fire staff speak other languages. Chief Koering stated there are a couple part-time fire staff who speak other languages, adding he is not sure about career staff. He stated this is not a requirement, but could become so around community health, or using social work students who speak different languages, an d have them do internships on community health. Councilmember Harris asked if the city moves to the career model, could there be a requirement for fire fighters to live in our city. Mr. Harmening stated the city is not able to require that under state law; however, the city has an incentive program on “live where you work.” Councilmember Brausen left the meeting at 9:15 p.m. Councilmember Harris stated part-time staff want their questions answered, and she is glad the fire department will host the Sept. 1 conversation. She stated she is generally supportive but wants to think about it more. Chief Koering noted the city works with fire chiefs in adjoining communities who could use more part-timers in their current models, so there is an opportunity for St. Louis Park part-time fire fighters. He stated the city’s fire department has tried to find a way to help support part-timers’ desire to be a fire fighter, adding later these part-timers can come back and serve on the career program in the future, if they desire. Councilmember Kraft asked about retention percentages for full -time fire fighters. Deputy Chief Wolff stated for full-time fire fighters, there was a 90% retention rate. DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -7- August 24, 2020 Councilmember Kraft asked how many part-time fire fighters get into full-time positions. Deputy Chief Wolff stated of 104, approximately 30 moved to career. Councilmember Kraft asked who can work overtime now. Deputy Chief Wolff stated career staff perform overtime, and it cannot be offered to part time staff. He added overtime is part of expectation, but it’s a burden for many. Chief Koering added when staffing drops below 6 on a shift, there will need to be more hires as the department cannot operate with less on a shift. Councilmember Kraft asked how many fighters the department needs, and how does the city know the service level the fire department is providing. Fire Chief Koering stated to meet safety measures the target is 90%. He added by hiring additional staff, there is extra unit availability to respond to the next call on the line, 24/7. Councilmember Kraft asked what benefits the fire department expects. Chief Koering stated part-time was an opportunity to allow community members to help, but they did not have the opportunity to perform as a firefighter for which they were trained. They were relegated to a role of clean up and putting trucks back in service, which is unpredictable with no control over who is working. He added after the public safety study was conducted, it showed we needed to integrate more part-time into the career staff model to serve the community need. Councilmember Kraft asked about cost saving, and if at some point will it cost more with the approach being presented. Deputy Chief Wolff stated they did not build the cost of adding 6-8 part time staff into the model to maintain levels, so it would have to be built into the hiring process model and on average that’s about $50,000 additional, and to include adding in a class each year. Councilmember Kraft stated from the diversity perspective, he understands the effort, and what he heard is that the fire department did not do well on diversity with the full- time model because they were focusing on the part-time effort. He asked how we will know the words are translating into progress sooner rather than later, adding he would like to see metrics. Councilmember Mohamed stated she is seeing a lot of what the fire department is going to do vs. what they currently are doing related to racial equity. She stated retention is culture and asked for an explanation of the culture in the fire department, how they are actively promoting a racial equitable culture, and what the metrics are. Chief Koering stated they have been actively involved developing culture and noted all captains have served as race equity liaisons for the city and carried messages back to the department to make sure all we do goes through the race equity lens first. He stated there is always room to improve and they are open to change, adding they serve all members of the community. Chief Koering explained they involve the racial equity lens with interview panels and recruiting tools, and they run items by Mx. Sojourner as well. He noted the challenge in fire service is the Bipoc community do not see fire fighting as a DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -8- August 24, 2020 future for them, so there has been a lot of education to show there are openings available to them, and that is why the Pathways program is also so important . Chief Koering added culturally the fire department believes in looking like the community that they serve. Councilmember Mohamed stated the Bipoc community does not mean they come from different countries, adding they can live here for a long time. She noted on the PowerPoint presentation, the Chief referred to “diverse.” She noted this is very bothering, and he should go back to Mx. Sojourner on that. She added Deputy Chief Wolff’s comment “low man on the totem pole” is also problematic. Councilmember Mohamed asked if it is the department’s responsibility to track data on race equity initiatives. Mr. Harmening stated Mx. Sojourner tracks that data. Councilmember Mohamed asked what has been tried with the Bipoc community that was unsuccessful. Deputy Chief Wolff stated after removing the written test, there was a huge benefit, and 3 women and 6 members of the Bipoc community were hired. He stated they ran into behavior issues and law enforcement related issues after these folks were on staff. He stated due to privacy, he could not share any further information, but stated this was a challenge for the department. Deputy Chief Wolff stated the department thought they had made progress, but then they had to start over, and later stopped recruiting in 2019. Councilmember Mohamed asked if the department has continued to build the relationship with Bipoc communities, adding if they are only reaching out to them for recruiting purposes -- that is a form of tokenism. Chief Koering stated they do outreach in neighborhoods, answering questions, talking to folks, and providing an EMS bike patrol in parks, along with the school supply program. He stated they work in the underserved neighborhoods all the time, noting neighbors want to learn more and ride on fire trucks and get a badge. He added, however, they are not effectively recruiting for fire fighters, but are open and inclusive. Councilmember Mohamed stated this doesn’t sound like we are building social capital in those neighborhoods. Chief Koering stated they were working on the community health initiative, but then COVID hit. He continued, explaining that today we are working with Hennepin County public health to build social capital on the EMS community health side. Councilmember Mohamed asked where the savings are going related to the restructuring. Mr. Harmening stated the savings lower the bottom line for operating costs and impacts the property tax levy. Councilmember Mohamed stated the numbers of diversity are not looking good , we are not hearing much about culture, and as a Bipoc person, culture is so important . She added we can recruit, but if we are not retaining these folks and building culture, including them as part of the team, all the work goes out the door as well as the costs of onboarding. She stated she would like to see data on racial equity and more focus on DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -9- August 24, 2020 culture as well. She added she agrees with the current proposal, but stressed the department utilize Mx. Sojourner as much as possible. Mayor Spano asked if full-time fire fighters will respond to call backs if current staff on duty cannot handle the volume. Chief Koering stated yes. Mayor Spano stated if they are not able to be there quickly, what impact would that have on our mutual aid agreements. Chief Koering stated there is no impact because we have a culture of calling early, so it is not an issue. Mayor Spano noted there will be hiring of 4 career staff, 1 fire prevention staffer, and 1 technology person, and asked what are the other 3. Chief Koering stated 3 licensed fire fighters to work the A, B, C shifts. Mayor Spano asked how changes with fire service will impact community health and health delivery aspects. Chief Koering stated it is not as much about fire now, as it is about prevention and community health, along with risk reduction and EMS. He added community health will focus more on social work and community health workers. He stated this path will allow us to be more focused on prevention and the public safety side. Mayor Spano stated he wants a better understanding of this, related to fewer staff working more shifts and less overtime costs. He added it seems the paid on-call program is a perfect place to use the Pathways model. Mayor Spano stated if we want to deliver fire prevention to the community in a cost - effective way that diversifies our department, a paid on-call program takes a ton of time to manage. He asked if this would be fair to say. Chief Koering answered yes. Mayor Spano stated he wanted to echo Councilmember Mohamed’s comments and focus on this. He stated it is difficult, but it also must happen. Councilmember Rog stated she appreciated the opportunity to discuss this issue, and like all of us, the fire department has room to grow. She added related to the policy question, she does not feel she has enough information and is interested in a budget breakdown on overtime and other items. Councilmember Rog added caution related to the part time model, and to be very careful about not generalizing that part-time fire fighters are a burden. She said she has talked to many who are hurt about how they are being talked about. She added it is important to lay the groundwork before speaking generally about how the part-time model is not working and she looks forward to more dialogue on this . 3. Future study session agenda planning and prioritization DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A Study session minutes -10- August 24, 2020 Mr. Harmening stated Councilmember Brausen would like to discuss climate change in times of COVID at the Sept. 14, 2020 meeting and wants to elevate the conversation on home energy audits. Councilmember Rog stated she appreciates the report on menthol and wants to watch what happens in Edina on this issue. She stated it will be important to be a leader on that, if possible. The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only: 4 Menthol, mint, and wintergreen flavored tobacco products 5. July 2020 monthly financial report 6. West End Office Park minor amendment to special permit 7. Notice of eviction 8. Request to vacate portions of unused utility easements at 8200 Minnetonka Blvd. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Jake Spano, mayor DocuSign Envelope ID: F1FE787C-CA74-4F8F-B2E3-4C1409CA954A