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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022/12/12 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Official minutes City council study session St. Louis Park, Minnesota Dec. 12, 2022 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Sue Budd, Lynette Dumalag, Larry Kraft, Nadia Mohamed, and Margaret Rog Councilmembers absent: none Staff present: City Manager (Ms. Keller), Deputy City Manager (Ms. Walsh), Engineering Director (Ms. Heiser), Finance Director (Ms. Schmitt), Building and Energy Director (Mr. Hoffman), Redevelopment Administrator (Ms. Monson), Director of Community Development (Ms. Barton), Race, Equity, and Inclusion Director (Ms. Guess) Communications and Technology Director (Ms. Smith) Guests: none. 1. REI system introduction Ms. Guess presented to the council. Councilmember Rog asked about strategic priorities mentioned here, how new tools will be incorporated, and if this will be staff or council. Ms. Guess stated it will be staff, but council can also be involved. She added there are opportunities to imbed REI into strategic priorities . Ms. Keller added there has not been metrics imbedded her e in the past, and she is interested in seeing this. Mayor Spano noted training opportunities for councilmembers will need to be included as part of next steps. He added he is curious about the metrics and interested in actionable, achievable steps. Councilmember Rog asked how this work will be communicated to the broader community. Ms. Guess stated she is not sure yet, but quarterly accountability meetings with staff could be an opportunity to showcase as well as staff updates to council. She added she is open to more ideas as well. Ms. Keller noted that getting communications out to residents related to strategic topic study sessions will be a priority, and as the work is completed, that information will go out , and showing the work. Councilmember Rog stated it’s been difficult to quantify anything with many fits and starts on REI, so this will be important work in getting information out to the community . She asked if there is a plan to collaborate with the school district on this work. Ms. Guess stated she hopes for many collaborations with the school district and noted a community event is being planned for January 16 – that National Day of Racial Healing. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -2- Dec. 12, 2022 Councilmember Rog noted a decision to reorient REI staff away from direct service and more toward internal capacity building. She is curious about this process and how the decision was made on future work with neighborhood associations. Ms. Keller stated the pivot happened when Racially Conscious Collaboration came in to help look at structure and roles of the REI team. She added it was learned that city staff was relying only on three people to do all the work. Now there are three people to train the broader staff to do this work, within their areas . She added staff is looking at how to engage neighborhoods and build on what exists . Councilmember Mohamed stated she appreciates the thoughts that went into this, adding the internal work the REI staff does with staff and council and the trainings are helpful and she likes the holistic approach here. Ms. Guess stated she will also be part of the council retreat and will work some trainings into that meeting. Councilmember Kraft stated he likes how the presentation was laid out and appreciates the focus on capacity building, to make change, and hit the metrics needed. He asked how we know we are making progress, and in what way can staff and council be held accountable. Ms. Guess stated she likes this, adding the metrics will help staff understand what is needed and how to support that. Councilmember Mohamed stated when we have asked for data on REI work in the past, we haven’t gotten it. She added looking for measurable data can sometimes limit us in our work, and she wants to be sure this doesn’t happen. Ms. Guess agreed, but noted she needs the data to see where REI is excelling and where they are failing. Ms. Guess stated she was hearing climate and environment , the sense of belonging, and how to measure that. Councilmember Mohamed stated she doesn’t want to focus too much on the quantitative data only. Councilmember Brausen added he is glad the city is back to doing this work and sooner things can be operationalized the better. Ms. Guess added in the coming weeks staff will come to the council to present about how REI looks in their work within the city. Councilmember Dumalag added she appreciates coming back to this again and likes the idea of real-time learning. She appreciates doing the systems work together, noting that data can be used to weaponize, so there are cautions here to watch for. Ms. Guess added meeting people where they are at will be important – depending on experience. She stated they will work to meet staff where they are at, noting they asked for feedback from staff in designing the curriculum. Councilmember Budd stated she is encouraged about the efforts with the school board, and the impact this can have on students and families. She was also encouraged about the article regarding REI in St. Louis Park in the Star Tribune. She asked about the staff of three and how that compares to the past. Ms. Keller stated until 2022 budget there were 2.5 staff, so there are two vacancies being filled now. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -3- Dec. 12, 2022 Councilmember Budd asked if the neighborhood work could still fit into the capacity work. Ms. Keller stated they found it’s a lot of logistics and paperwork, so th is change will allow the REI staff to do the higher-level capacity building and training. Councilmember Rog asked in the performance measures and indicators and tools, how will it be decided what to measure. Ms. Guess stated she will be leaning on the directors, who will lean on their staff, and then they will all lean on one another to determine priorities. She added each department will have a different outcome, goal, and a different way of meeting goals. She added their outcomes and timelines will be different. Councilmember Rog noted in the past she was frustrated when more quantitative data was being looked at. She asked for more detail on this and how this will reflect what the community values are. Ms. Guess stated building and energy will have a goal, and how they meet and approach it will be different than engineering. She added community engagement and asking them what success looks like will be important here as well and supporting that. Councilmember Brausen stated it’s important for council to do this work, as well as staff, and the community, and he looks forward to doing that work. Ms. Guess thanked him for that and added this is heart work. Mayor Spano stated data that was generated in the last visioning process was eye-opening with the black population feeling isolated in 43% of the cases. He stated it will be important to follow up on this in the next visioning process and he looks forward to this work . He asked when this will be back to council for further conversation. Ms. Keller st ated in January a new council member will be joining, so we will have to be thoughtful on that, adding that there will be more work conducted in February. Councilmember Rog asked about person of culture versus person of color. Ms. Guess stated there are new concepts that talk about this, adding that bodies of culture experienced systemic racism, so this is the terminology that captures all, not just BIPOC, but brings in Indigenous and Asian Pacific Islanders as well and other demographic realities. She added this terminology is being used around the country now. 2. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy in Development Projects Ms. Monson presented the report. She noted the policy are goals only, not requirements, and are not enforceable. Councilmember Mohamed asked why they are only goals and not requirements. Ms. Monson stated some of the goals are very difficult to meet, such as BIPOC or AAPI owned businesses. Ms. Barton added to make them requirements, the city would have to prove that there a problem the city is trying to solve, and then would have to do a multi -year study to prove disparities exist, and the studies need to continue. With goals, this moves the city forward legally and provides the first work, should the city decide to enact requirements. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -4- Dec. 12, 2022 Mayor Spano asked why the city didn’t need to do a multi-year study related to affordable housing but would need to do one related to DEI and development. Ms. Barton stated one relates to people and discrimination and the other talks about buildings, adding she would need to discuss with the city attorney for more clarity. Councilmember Brausen stated he is happy the input from the developers was received. He noted the Met Council employment practices and goals related to the construction of the Southwest light rail are difficult to reach as they are not able to find the workers that are trained to do the work that needs to be done. Councilmember Rog agreed it is difficult to find people of color to do these jobs and noted also through her work at Dunwoody she saw that many women quit technical careers because of the harassment. She noted it is a cultural problem as well. Councilmember Rog asked if developers would increase their TIF ask if costs increase. Ms. Monson stated this goes into their total pro forma, and any extraordinary costs of doing business in St. Louis Park. Councilmember Rog asked what happens if they don’t meet their goals. Ms. Monson stated these are goals and we can look at the reasons they are not being met . She added this will give the city the ability to track data and see where we could go into the future . Ms. Barton added it is the expectation that they do meet the goals though, and we will look at any obstacles they have to reach them. She added if developers don’t work with the city to strive to meet these goals, then the city will not work with them in the future. Ms. Barton added all the pro forma information goes into the development project and all the numbers are factored into the project, including any assistance from the city. Councilmember Kraft asked if this is a unique policy. Ms. Monson stated no, other cities have DEI policies, but there are provisions that are unique to St. Louis Park such as peripheral business requirements and construction workers hours. Councilmember Kraft stated he is not sure he would approve of being asked to pay more in order for a developer to do the right thing. He added we will want those developers that want to do this, and then other cities will follow. He stated this should be built into what developers are already doing. Councilmember Kraft stated the developer should come back in after receiving the TIF and do a public presentation about their project. He added maybe the funding should be used to address the problem. Ms. Monson stated no one has asked the city for more money in their pro forma in order to do this, but they have said that in order to meet these goals, they will need more money to pay for staffing to track these goals. Ms. Barton stated staff is hearing this from both for and non-profit organizations. Councilmember Dumalag stated she is familiar with this work, and she appreciates that the city is talking to them about goals. She agreed we should be looking at these as targeted goals with DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -5- Dec. 12, 2022 the expectation council will be asking these questions in person potentially in front of a developer when a project is complete. She added there is a lot that goes into this, and she appreciates the tracking. She stated this will take time and effort, but we have to start somewhere. Mayor Spano stated to get behind this, we will need to discuss this with developers and create some sort of accounting on this, and then create a framework that others can use. Councilmember Brausen added the city has required a green building policy and developers do follow this. He stated we should not demand but get them to comply with the policy. Councilmember Rog stated she is supportive of having developers come to council and report back their learnings, and to spotlight these issues. She understands the complexities and some developers will bring on women and people of color for low-level short-term jobs to check the box, but not provide the advancement opportunities. She asked if there is a way to monitor this. Ms. Barton stated this is why we have the periphery part included in the policy to try to get to the higher wage jobs. Mayor Spano stated he is fine with written information from developers, and it does not necessarily need to be a presentation. He stated we are trying to point out this is a problem, there needs to be some sort of transparency in the process, and in the asking for money to do this. Ms. Monson stated much of this can go into the policy guide and make changes to the policy as things go along. The council directed staff they want to move forward with the policy. Councilmember Brausen added he would like to meet with developers at some point to learn about TIF projects and policies the city has adopted and what has been easy and harder to comply with. Written Reports Councilmember Kraft noted on the housing report related to TIF and affordable housing and how much the city is investing. He stated the HRA levy and any TIF money that goes toward affordable housing, and the numbers from 2018 -2023 go from $1.4 million to $3.5 million and next year, to $4.2 million. He added that doesn’t include other investments like Sherman, Bigos, and Texa-tonka. He stated the portion of the TIF request would be lower if not for the affordability portion. He noted taxpayers are investing in affordable housing, there is a limit on what we can ask taxpayers to invest for this, and we are hearing this is a problem for many residents. Councilmember Rog appreciated Councilmember Kraft’s comments and being as thoughtful as we can be is helpful, but the tax burden on many residents is significant and likely to grow with new developments. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -6- Dec. 12, 2022 Councilmember Kraft stated he will share his research on this. Mayor Spano stated that is a very singular view on how residents’ taxes are impacted. He stated it is a much more complex issue and he cautioned a causal relationship here . Councilmember Kraft stated the city’s affordable housing policy has been wonderful but asked is this the most effective way to invest -- through TIF. He added the TIF investment is sound, but asked if investing additional money for affordability, is the best way to do this. Councilmember Mohamed stated she would like to hear more about this, but noted this feels like a slippery slope, with no solutions and she has concerns. Councilmember Kraft stated he has a sense that the city may be able to reduce the HRA levy this year and not affect the city’s affordable housing goals. Councilmember Rog asked about the MnDOT report, which is of interest to residents. She asked for the rationale on doing a closed meeting related to the parcels . Ms. Barton stated MnDOT has asked for this because of potential negotiations for the city to purchase it. Councilmember Kraft noted the Comp Plan update was overwhelming. He stated the sustainability and micro grids information was interesting and the budget of $183,000 seems like a high reasonable, but we haven’t yet gotten the community engaged here. Otherwise, there would be an ask for more money. Councilmember Brausen agreed adding encouraging residents and businesses on solar and electrification is key. Mayor Spano asked for an update on Texa-tonka Liquor. Ms. Barton stated as of today the plan submitted has been approved, with an ask for a bit more detail on the metal and artwork . Mayor Spano added it looks like Texa-tonka is full now, and the area is fully up and running, which is positive news. Communications/meeting check-in (verbal) Ms. Keller noted the Holiday Train will go through the city on Tues., Dec. 13, at 6 p.m., with festivities beginning at 4:30 p.m. Ms. Keller noted at the meeting on Dec. 19, council and staff will say goodbye to Councilmember Kraft and outgoing Police Chief Harcey, while also swearing in new police Chief Kruelle. The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Written Reports 3. Housing and neighborhood-oriented development systems discussion wrap-up 4. 2023 sustainability division programs and budget 5. 2040 comprehensive plan implementation update DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -7- Dec. 12, 2022 6. 2023 pavement management project – Lenox, Oak Hill, Texatonka and Eliot View 7. MNDOT excess land update – Toledo and 28th Avenues 8. Title VI Plan framework ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Jake Spano, mayor DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236