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Home My WebLink About2022/10/17 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Official minutes City council study session St. Louis Park, Minnesota Oct. 17, 2022 The meeting convened at 7:43 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Sue Budd, Lynette Dumalag, Larry Kraft, and Margaret Rog Councilmembers absent: Nadia Mohamed Staff present: City Manager (Ms. Keller), Deputy City Manager (Ms. Walsh), City Attorney (Mr. Mattick), Community Development Director (Ms. Barton), Communications and Technology Director (Ms. Smith), Elections and Civic Engagement Coordinator (Mr. Sund), Planning Manager (Mr. Walther) 1. 2023 Draft legislative priorities Mr. Sund presented the discussion. The policy question is: Does the council agree with the proposed additions and amendments to the 2023 legislative priorities? New legislative priorities that were added this year include  Adult use cannabis  Increased aircraft noise  Open meeting law  State and local cybersecurity grant program  Emergency housing assistance Councilmember Brausen appreciated the additional priorities and the improvements made including to the open meeting law policy position that now includes remote participation. He added he would like to see the op en meeting law applied to state budget discussions in the same way it is to other governments, and he is very supportive of this. Councilmember Budd thanked staff for their work, noting she was happy to see the additions as well. Mayor Spano stated the city is part of an organization that works on airplane noise issues, adding they are trying to get some action going using this document as well. Councilmember Dumalag stated she is happy to see the inclusion of urban forest management funding. Councilmember Rog stated these get better each year and she was happy to see the national popular vote interstate compact, the Minnesota health plan, and the open meeting law requests. Councilmember Kraft stated he has been involved in the Minnesota climate caucus for years and St. Louis Park does this process of weighing in very well because of our priorities. He stated this document is helpful. DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F759556-A1EA-4846-BFA7-C557E476401A Study session minutes -2- Oct. 17, 2022 Councilmember Kraft stated he would also like to see an addition of urban forest and asking the legislature for funds to manage urban forest renewal in general. He asked if the city makes it clear that we want the legislature to unlock matching funds from the IRA and IIJA. Ms. Keller stated this could be talked about with legislat ors on what is needed, versus that being a priority. Councilmember Kraft stated he appreciates the aircraft noise being included . He noted fuel economy could be mentioned as well in this regard. He added regulation of herbicides and pesticides noting a policy proposal giving cities the ability to regulate them from a list that is controlled at the state level, noting he would like to see this added to the priorities. Ms. Keller stated if there are changes, council can decide, and staff can take that back to make changes. These include the urban forest, fuel economy concerns, and regulation and local control of chemicals used by homeowners on their lawns. It was the consensus of the council to include these three additional items. Mayor Spano noted he has heard from residents that are feeling disconnected from local government. He stated the open meeting law changes being looked at bring the city in line with technology. He added city records retention will be kept in perpetuity, but the amount of time staff spends managing this is not reasonable any longer. 2. Housing and neighborhood-oriented development system introduction Ms. Barton presented the staff report. Councilmember Rog asked how these conversations will be linked in a systems approach and who will keep council on track with the systems. Ms. Barton stated this all ties under the housing and neighborhood development priorities, and any policy decisions will be reflected in the staff report and tie the discussions to the overall system. Councilmember Rog stated she was asked by several residents about these discussions around housing and neighborhood development. Ms. Keller stated staff can develop something to send to residents in advance of all systems discussions. Councilmember Kraft agreed and stated that is an interesting idea and communicating that to folks is a good thing to do. Mayor Spano stated these discussions have in the past been included in social media . Ms. Keller stated she will bring this information to the communications department. Councilmember Rog noted tree canopy and tree preservation and asked if they would be part of these systems discussions. Ms. Barton stated that is not part if this discussion, but it could be a discussion as a part of another system. DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F759556-A1EA-4846-BFA7-C557E476401A Study session minutes -3- Oct. 17, 2022 Councilmember Brausen stated he is fine with the systems discussion and is interested in tree canopy discussion as well, along with listening sessions with the public. He stated this will need to be communicated to homeowners, and perhaps it will be a stand-alone project. Councilmember Dumalag added she agrees, and perhaps public arts requirements could also be included in systems discussions, as well as green space. Ms. Barton stated that public art will be discussed as part of this system. Councilmember Budd noted the 30% AMI goals for Met Council and asked when that might be discussed. Ms. Barton stated it would come up in the inclusionary housing policy discussions, as well as during the TIF discussion. Councilmember Rog noted the Nov. 14 discussion and asked what zoning changes are being referred to. Ms. Barton stated it will include brick on buildings, set back requirements with wine and beer sales, and other issues that have come up over the last 6-9 months. Councilmember Rog noted inclusionary zoning within th e comp plan and asked if this will be part of the conversation. Ms. Barton stated that is a conversation within the planning commission, and how to implement those land use changes. Mr. Walther stated the planning commission will discuss this in 2022 and 2023, looking at studies related to zoning code changes. He noted they are on track, but behind schedule from last year. Councilmember Rog referenced walkable neighborhoods related to zoning and asked what changes might be discussed in these policy discussions, related to businesses in residential neighborhoods. Ms. Barton stated the neighborhood livability discussion will be a first step and then we will get actionable items from that discussion. Councilmember Kraft stated he is excited for this conversation but is disappointed it will not include single family zoning. Mayor Spano added he is also excited about these discussions. He stated housing is typically always on our agenda for discussion and he looks forward to more. Councilmember Kraft noted the written reports housing budget overview. He asked about the projection of a $2.75 million balance in the affordable housing trust fund at the end of 2022, and the budget requested for 2023 is $3.08 million. He noted there is a gap here that needs to be met. Ms. Barton stated this is correct, but there has not been discussion yet on what is coming into the trust fund in 2023. Councilmember Kraft noted the recommended fund balances from Ehlers on the housing rehab fund and the affordable housing trust fund. He stated he does not understand having a $5 million balance unused on an ongoing basis. He added having these fund balances were not clear with prior discussions and having that much sitting in affordable housing trust funds. DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F759556-A1EA-4846-BFA7-C557E476401A Study session minutes -4- Oct. 17, 2022 Ms. Barton stated some of these funds would be used for projects such as NOAH multifamily landtrust project, which requires a large balance for matching funds. And having a healthy fund balance allows the city to take advantage of unplanned opportunities as they arise, such as strategic acquisitions. She added other projects run out of the rehab fund cannot be funded out of the affordable housing trust fund. Councilmember Budd asked if there was a NOAH project in the works. Ms. Barton stated they are looking at properties currently, but nothing has come before council yet. Councilmember Kraft stated he understands this but to have this fund balance in there always does not feel correct. Councilmember Brausen stated he disagrees and takes the advice of Ehlers, adding this helps the city have funding for other infrastructure projects as needed . He noted this is a recommendation at this point, but he is willing to discuss it further in the future. Communications/meeting check-in (verbal) The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Written Reports 3. 2023 housing budget overview 4. Future Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) implementation of NextGen program at the Minneapolis St. Paul International airport (MSP) ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Jake Spano, mayor DocuSign Envelope ID: 1F759556-A1EA-4846-BFA7-C557E476401A