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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024/09/16 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study SessionOfficial minutes City council special study session St. Louis Park, Minnesota Sept. 16, 2024 The meeting convened at 8:04 p.m. Council members present: Mayor Nadia Mohamed, Paul Baudhuin, Tim Brausen, Sue Budd, Yolanda Farris, Lynette Dumalag, Margaret Rog Council members absent: none Staff present: City manager (Ms. Keller), deputy city manager (Ms. Walsh), administrative services director (Ms. Brodeen), community engagement coordinator (Mr. Coleman), police advisory commission representative (Mr. Eugene), police lieutenant/PAC staff liaison (Mr. Garland), parks and recreation advisory commission representative (Ms. Rippe), community technology advisory commission representative (Mr. Siegler), communications and technology director/CTAC staff liaison (Ms. Smith), human rights commission representative (Ms. Lawler- Turnbull), parks and recreation director/P & R staff liaison (Mr. West), sustainability manager/ESC staff liaison (Ms. Ziring), environment and sustainability commission representative (Mr. Zweber) Discussion items 1. Advisory boards and commissions annual meeting preparation discussion Mr. Coleman introduced and moderated the meeting. The representatives of each board and commission presented a report of their group’s work to the council. Police Advisory Commission/PAC – Mr. Eugene presented the commission’s report. Council Member Rog asked what is done with data on crime trends. Mr. Eugene stated that the commission has discussion on community impacts and gives perspectives as neighborhood residents. He noted the most common act of violence in St. Louis Park is domestic violence. Following participation in a group discussion between the PAC and police officers about police training and community safety, the commission made a recommendation for police training related to domestic violence. Council Member Brausen stated resources and organizations need to be offered as support for families that suffer from these incidents. Mayor Mohamed asked about the 2024 incident in Burnsville and how St. Louis Park assisted. Mr. Eugene stated that support was offered to their police and community. Human Rights Commission/HRC – Ms. Lawler-Turnbull presented the commission’s report. Docusign Envelope ID: A632B403-A090-4124-85C4-152C913282E4 Study session minutes -2- Sept. 16, 2024 Council Member Brausen observed that for the piece of the presentation regarding legislation, the commission can speak with Senator Latz. He added related to the September 2024 incident at Park Tavern, council members have reached out to the victims. He stated the human rights award and summer reading festival both sound like good ideas, as all education and engagement that can be done in the community is helpful. Council Member Baudhuin thanked the commission for their work. He added he wanted to be sure the commission understands how to work with the council during study sessions. Council Member Rog asked why the commission is reduced by four members. Mr. Lawler- Turnbull stated one person was not able to stay on the commission. She shared they were waiting to see what the commission revisioning project results would recommend. Council Member Baudhuin recalled that there was a time when applications were frozen. Council Member Rog thanked the commission for elevating grants and stated she is in favor of making resources available. She noted response times and challenges around communication and added it is helpful for residents to get communication from the city when applicable. Council Member Rog stated she wants to know more about Community Connections from staff. She added the HRC awards are great, and she has a nomination. She referenced the September 2024 incident at Park Tavern and noted the services folks need. She stated there is so much the HRC can do, and the bigger challenge is defining their focus and scope of work. Environment and Sustainability Commission/ESC – Mr. Zweber presented the commission’s report. Council member Brausen thanked the group for their efforts and their plans to work with new commission members. He shared his opinion that the commission will not be facing significant vacancies for long, and he appreciated their comments. Communications and Technology/CTAC – Mr. Siegler presented the commission’s report. Council Member Budd asked about the status of their projects. Mr. Siegler stated all has been shut down; previous leadership was working on multiple angles to close the digital divide including and up to installing the city’s infrastructure. He stated at that point, CTAC realized that was not their charter, and the idea of external consultants was shut down. CTAC looked at their priorities and worked to make known the city’s existing infrastructure and advocate for that awareness. Council Member Rog asked about community outreach. Mr. Siegler stated their intent to do more than newsletters and is looking for more involvement and volunteers. He stated they are working with folks to learn how to sign up online and take advantage of available programs. Council Member Baudhuin asked if CTAC will give input on the city website redesign. Ms. Smith stated not yet as the 2025 budget for this item has not officially been approved, but CTAC has been asked to give input on other projects. Docusign Envelope ID: A632B403-A090-4124-85C4-152C913282E4 Study session minutes -3- Sept. 16, 2024 Park and Recreation Advisory Commission - Ms. Rippe presented the commission’s report. Council Member Brausen thanked the commission for their efforts and expertise. He shared that he is happy about the youth coach’s association. Council Member Rog stated she is learning so much and looks forward to continuing the conversation over time. Council Member Budd asked about youth association meetings. Ms. Rippe stated all presidents for each sport group are invited to join, along with the school district, to keep communication open and to get folks to work together. What it means to be an advisory board or commission Mr. Zweber stated that he would like regular communication with the council in more sessions like this one, where the ESC can advise council and discuss common issues. He noted the ESC would like a response to any memos sent to the council, and also would like to present any ESC advisory memos or research to council in person. Related to engagement with the council, he would like to have a co-creation session with the council at the ESC annual retreat. He stated that the ESC does quite a bit of community engagement, and hearing about particular values the council would like presented while the commission is out tabling would also be helpful. Ms. Rippe stated the parks and recreation commission would like regular communication from council on any immediate topics they are interested in pursuing. They would also like more visibility of council members serving as volunteers at their events and showing support of staff to the community as a whole. Ms. Lawler-Turnbull stated the HRC would appreciate more frequent communication from council, so they are making sure to prioritize the concerns of the council. She added the HRC is so broad, sometimes they spin their wheels as there are so many things they want to address. She added any focus or a quarterly check-in with council would be appreciated. Mr. Siegler noted CTAC would like a mandate from the council; assignments and priorities of the council. He stated that input would be helpful. Mr. Eugene stated the PAC would like more communication with the council and would be interested in having a council member liaison attend a meeting quarterly to increase awareness of the PAC’s current work. Integrating commissions into the work council does so they can alleviate them of work would have great value, along with more interaction. He added the recommendation of PAC being part of conversations before legislation becomes enacted would allow the commission to function as an advisory group to the council. Council Comments Council Member Farris stated she appreciates all the work the commissions do. It is her opinion that it would be nice to engage everyone and find ways to work together, making those avenues accessible to everyone. Docusign Envelope ID: A632B403-A090-4124-85C4-152C913282E4 Study session minutes -4- Sept. 16, 2024 Council Member Dumalag added she was concerned about coordinating efforts. She hopes to have more conversations like this in the future. She offered working on communication to make sure boards and commission members understand that the council is the entity that the public calls, so they need to be informed by boards and commissions in advance. She added that boards and commissions need to understand their role and know what they are legally allowed to say and not to say. Council Member Baudhuin thanked staff for their work; he is hopeful the council and boards and commissions will get to a better place. He liked the comment about being in front of legislation and not behind it. He shared his opinion that the HRC should have been working with council all along related to the 30-day eviction notice. Hopefully there will be more intentional communication in the future, adding there is lots of work towards improvement and all parties are wanting this. Council Member Rog stated there is a lot of opportunity here and she is excited about it. In order to get input from boards and commissions, there may be a change in timing of when issues come before the council. She stated this opportunity will change business as usual and over time, this will result in bigger changes as well. She recalled having spoken with the revisioning process consultant. Their remark was that the boards and commissions structure in St. Louis Park was rare and unique and something to be utilized and elevated. Council Member Rog agrees and is excited to move to full utilization of all these people who care so much about the community and bring their expertise and skills. Council Member Budd agreed and stated she has been visiting various commissions over the last six months. One thing that stood out to her was that there are few members on some of the commissions who are doing a lot of work. It was refreshing to see the plans in the report and she is happy to know how everyone has maintained the course. She is also happy to see there are 80 applicants for 46 positions, so the community has a hunger to be active and that is a blessing. She stated she appreciates the innovative thoughts and comments from everyone. Council Member Brausen stated council will work on their part of the communication process. He stated the relationship between the council and boards and commissions is constantly changing. He noted when he served on the HRC, they never talked with the council and only communicated by written reports. He shared that it is a challenge to be available as much as the community needs while fulfilling the official functions of the council as well. Mayor Mohamed added this meeting has been a long time in the making. She noted her thanks to Ms. Brodeen and Mr. Coleman and staff for all their work. She agreed it is difficult to be present in all of the commissions, but understands they want – and need - to be in ongoing communication with the council. She invited the boards and commissions to invite her to their meetings and she will make time. She wants to get this right and make sure the roles and responsibilities are correct out of respect to commission members’ time. The council wants to make sure they utilize people’s talents as much as possible as well. Mr. Coleman stated that the information arising from this discussion will be utilized when the council sets priorities at the end of this year, along with information from the October 2024 meeting with the statutory boards as well. Docusign Envelope ID: A632B403-A090-4124-85C4-152C913282E4 Study session minutes -5- Sept. 16, 2024 Written Reports 2. MnDOT I-394 and Louisiana Avenue Improvements project – next steps – Ward 4 3. Cannabis zoning ordinance Council Member Rog referenced the cannabis zoning ordinance report and asked if this will be discussed and a decision made at the next meeting. Ms. Keller stated there will be a study session next, and questions can be submitted before the meeting. Council Member Brausen stated he has concerns about the small number of licenses total for cannabis sales and having only four licenses. Ms. Keller stated licenses would be based on state statutes and not based on first come, first served. She stated there will be ample time for more conversation before the Oct. 7, 2024 meeting regarding this topic. Communications/meeting check-in (verbal) The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Nadia Mohamed, mayor Docusign Envelope ID: A632B403-A090-4124-85C4-152C913282E4