##VIDEO ID:Q2q-UUwbhA0## good evening ladies and gentlemen I'm going to call together this um meeting of the Richfield city council it is Tuesday January 28th at 7 p.m. thank you all for being here if you are able please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you thank you next we'll be moving on to the open forum and if you participants in the open Forum may share their comments in person by voicemail or email or may also request to participate virtually um if you notify us ahead of time by I believe it's 1 pm on the day of the meeting if you want to participate virtually for more information on submitting comments you can refer to the city agenda and minutes web page on Bridgefield mn.gov city council so thank you all for attending tonight's meeting and participating in open Forum at the moment I have five cards so if anybody else wishes to sign up that hasn't there's a black rolling card in the back that you can sign up on and the procedure for the people that are here in person is you can sign in and state your name and address and I'll begin timing after that and you'll have three minutes and keep in mind since there are a bunch of people here this evening to please respect that time limit so everybody has a chance to have their opinions heard the council will be listening and taking notes but will not be responding to the comments this open form is designed to hear from you and not be a debate thank you and there's one other thing before we start um I believe later on the agenda and item seven there will be some hearings for alcohol compliance and if you're for the alcohol compliance um uh hearings you'll get a chance to speak then so you don't need to sign up for open Forum so you'll have a chance to do that when you get to item seven thank you um did anybody email or send anything in or is it just the five people that are here in person okay so thank you so much and first up is Scott dolquist good evening am I coming through yes we can oh there we go go uh good evening my name is Scott doist I have been a Richfield resident since 1991 and a member and am a member of wood Lake Lutheran Church which is across the street from the former Crossroad Department building now known as concierge the transformation of this property into its current form was difficult to watch the property has become an asset to the community and a home to those who can afford it but at the cost of displacing many who were clearly not welcome anymore in the end I concluded that what what was done was legal but I will not call it just our current state of urban homelessness is the product of many factors some within individual control and many not stable housing is the foundation of a successful life without it it is difficult to address the many problems of Life which befall all of us in one way or another now the ability to own property and maximize its use is also one of the foundations of our economic system which is provided all of us with many benefits but which also produces many inequalities this is a system system in which we have all played a part individually and collectively by things we have done and left undone I therefore urge this Council to approve a memorandum of understanding supporting request for financial assistance and 4D tax status from hle Real Estate for the acquisition and preservation of three identified affordable rental communities I believe this action will help to ensure the presence of naturally occurring affordable housing within our community thank you thank you and if anyone is just arriving if you wish to speak there's cards on the rolling cart in the back all right next we will go on to Kathleen Balaban e good evening my name is Kathleen Balaban and I live on 65th in Stevens and I left my other notes back behind welcome to my two new council members Mr Burke and Miss uh Coleman Woods one of the things that our citizens may not know is that you two are also sitting Commissioners to our Charter commission and that is saying one big woa I really appreciate that that is truly going to be a wonderful opportunity for our city because the Commissioners don't only don't report to our city you report to the district judge and only the district judge you were appointed not selected or elected that's saying something and thank you for joining this council with that said I am going to be requesting that the city council and the charter members coll collaborate to review and update their respective roles and responsibilities set forth within the code and Charter for the future livability within Ridgefield Ridgefield council is a excuse me RF operates under a council mayor home rulle city with a city Charter Commission of 15 members as I mentioned before appointed not selected or elected and the purpose is to work with the city to set goals governmental procedures bylaws through the charter and our city code so with that said I attended the charter commission annual meeting earlier this month and was completely surprised at what I had witnessed in terms of agenda and time spent I voiced it to me it was unconscionable that it would only take 15 minutes for an annual meeting I then looked at the minutes later going back to 2012 do you know in 2012 the meeting only lasted three minutes literally I found this to be more I found this to be the normal process for this specific commission the duration for most of them were less than 15 minutes we had something that went on with some Amendment changes in 22 it took a little longer but for all practical purposes that was pretty much it it's in the bylaws for last updated in April of 22 and prior to that was May of 1980 42 years before the bylaws were updated now when I go and look at the city of Richfield because keeping in mind we're now the elected and selected people in our commissions and stuff what it has in its ordinances within the code that is created and amended from time to time when looking at ridgefield's chapter three the administrative code the council May notice that most of these codes haven't been reviewed and or updated in decades either now 30 years 40 years come on you guys technology you know so I'm asking that you guys collaborate and get together to create documentation in a government that is transparent and we can see it based on our current code and what we need change thank you very much thank you and welcome new members all right next we have rod sather and I apologize if I mispronounced your last name hi I'm Rod sather I live at 6321 Thomas Avenue South in Richfield I just want to say that I came up out of the uh work session that was held here starting at 6 o' this evening and I want to compliment uh City staff the city council and the mayor the way they work together the questions that were raised the information that was presented um I think I just need to say thank you for what you're doing and I encourage the public uh if they have any concerns about issues look at the agenda especially for the work session and uh come and attend the work session so I want to say thank you thank you next we have Melissa Melnick Gonzalez uh good evening uh mayor Supple and members of the city council my name is Melissa Melnick Gonzalez I'm pastor of tapestry we are a Community of Faith uh part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America we're housed at Oak Grove Lutheran Church here in Richfield I've been a pastor for 10 years now just celebrated 10 years in um 2024 along with the ministry in 20 2014 we started at Wood Lake Lutheran church and we we had as our Outreach area what what is now coner apartments at the time cross Crossroads apartment buildings and so as a brand new pastor uh all of a sudden I was called in to do some work with housing when 2,000 plus people were displaced from their homes due to a sale of the property and a 30-day notice to vacate it was a time when people's lives were impacted we saw the heartache we saw students being taken out of the Richfield School District we saw many people from protected classes who lost affordable housing and so I come today to talk in support of the resolution supporting Ford tax classification for hemple Real Estate um which is number six under the resolutions I'm not the financial person I came here last week and and that is clear but I do know the uh many of the residents of Richfield I work with them on a daily basis I also work with a lot of people who can't afford to live in Richfield or who can't find housing here and there are a lot of barriers to that one being affordability and and then other um reasons I hope that Richfield will continue its work that's happened since Crossroads happened in 2014 to to maintain affordable housing that is accessible for People based on income and and other reasons so um it's really important we were displaced along with the people of Crossroads as that was the area that we were in Ministry with strong communities depend on strong housing and I hope that Richfield continues to do its work to be a community that is open to many people and to keep the people who are already here thank you thank you next we have David Snider good evening Miss mayor and council members it's great to be with you tonight I'm Dave Snider I live at 513 West 70th Street uh for the last seven years or so with my wife and two teens two dogs two cats and we're right across from Richfield High School um and from Uh Wood Lake which is delightful I'm here to speak in support of um negotiating granting 4D tax status to the properties uh to work with hle real estate uh to preserve their affordability I'm also not as much a numbers person um but I have I have faith in the council in the HRA um I'll speak briefly as long as I've lived in Richfield um I have made the trip to various apartment buildings uh not just to register voters or do National nightout activities though I've done those many times too but to pick up or drop off friends of my kids from school uh football practice volleyball practice concerts um I do a lot of driving back and forth and um if there is a dividing line of difference or indifference between homeowners and renters here or anywhere it's just in our heads really we all live here together uh and if because of our economic system if it's going to cost maybe a couple of bucks uh a year to make sure that we preserve the affordable rental housing of nearly 500 neighbors so they aren't displaced out of their homes and pretty likely out of Richfield um it's worth it because Richfield is worth it so I want to thank thank you all for working on this and thank the staff for working on this hemple and the Greater Minnesota housing fund which I believe is is in on this too um so let's figure this out thanks very much thank you next we have Margaret Perez um we also have Leonardo peris Shields who's my son I at 7228 Gerard Avenue South and it's nice to meet you Walter we that like block on the other side of um of 35W by Wood Lake that um is in your District so um nice to see the new members and those that I haven't met um and I'll Echo the thanks of others for your service to the city um I'm here with my 12-year-old son I also live with my um six-year-old daughter and my husband Ricardo Perez Gonzalez and um we've lived here since 2017 um we are um grateful enthusiastic residents of Richfield and one of the reasons why we chose to um well we're excited about finding our home here in Richfield was is um not only just the great proximity and the walkability and the green spaces um but the close Community fi um and um the affordability it was it was an affordable accessible Community for us to get into um one of the challenges that we've experienced while living here um is the turnover of families especially um families with um young kids that um uh that are really struggling to find affordable in in our economy um and um when they leave our school system it um isn't just a loss for those families it's a loss for families like ours because my kids Lose Friends um and they lose um stability in their lives so um these aren't just housing units these aren't just statistics these are real people um and people that um love our community just as much as me um as much as my kids and um so I'm incredibly supportive of um leveraging um 40 tax status to um support what is it hemple um in uh in coming in as a preservation buyer for these properties um and I will just say since I have a little bit of a soap box that not only do we need to be preserving um affordable housing because it's so much easier to preserve affordable housing than it is to build new housing especially in sort of a land um already prettyy built out city like Richfield um but we do need to figure out Creative Solutions to continue building more affordable housing and really housing of any um any income level because the more housing that we can build the more that we're helping to contribute to our regions um incredible deficit of um of housing which is really driving up the housing costs um in our um in our community uh so let's be part of you know proactively part of that solution uh to continue building our housing stock and um and then making sure that the housing that we have is wellmaintained yes um uh and um um and that it's around for the Long Haul so uh I told Le that he didn't have to say anything if he didn't want to but I'm gonna offer the floor to him in case he does want to add anything I don't well thank you for joining us here agrees with me though yeah thank you so is there anyone else that wishes to speak for open Forum anyone else for open Forum last call here all right then we will close the open forum and move on in our agenda to approval of the minutes of the city council's special meeting from January 7th 2025 this city council work session meeting from January 7th 2025 the city council work session meeting from January 14 2025 and the reg city council regular meeting from January 14th 2025 so moved second all right it's been moved and seconded to approve all sets of minutes is there any discussion hearing none all in favor of approving the four sets of minutes please say I I I all opposed and we have approved those four sets of minutes next we'll move on to offering a warm welcome to congresswoman Omar who's come out to give us a briefing while she's in Minnesota so welcome congresswoman and there's a little button there so if the green lights on we'll be able to hear you so we're very pleased to have you join us and the floor is yours thank you um and hello everyone uh really happy to be in Richfield tonight thank you mayor Saul and city council members for the invitation as many of you know we pride ourselves in coverance because we believe it's a core value of our office and it shapes the work that we do every single day I want to start by congratulating um Congress council member um Coleman woods and council member Burke on your elections it is a challenging time to come into office so I uh really am personally thankful that you all are stepping up to serve our communities next I want to share um some of the few activities that we uh participated in in Richfield last year uh we were here to re for a renaming ceremony of the Richfield Post Office and and we were delighted to be joined by mayor Saul uh we named the postal office after Charles Lindberg a longtime Richfield resident and a veteran who was part of the first group to raise the US flag at uima we visited the Richfield college experience program uh we were able to host one of our monthly Town Halls at the Wood Lake Nature Center uh which I was proud to secure $3 million for a couple years ago last last year I was also excited to include richfield's newest um Pro Community Project funding proposal at at as one of our 15 um selections this project would reconstruct the existing non-ada compliant pedestrian bridge over i35w at um 73rd Street and create new Trail Connection in the vicinity last year this project was included in the first draft of the Appropriations bill for the amount of $850,000 at the end of last year Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the government until March so we will continue fighting to make sure those dollars do come to Richfield I wanted to um give a little update on um Congress reorganizing itself at the beginning of each Congress um there is a process that members go through uh to figure out what committees they're going to be in um I am proud to report that I'll be going back on the education and Workforce committee uh with a new leadership role as the ranking member of the workforce protection subcommittee as a ranking member I will be the lead Democrat the lead on the Democratic side on the subcommittee and it is an honor to be elected by my colleagues on the committee to self to serve in this role I will also be going back on the budget committee this Congress having served as the Feist ranking member last Congress I've seen firsthand how crucial this committee is and as we get into the budget fights ahead of us all will originate and end in the budget committee so I'm excited um to add our voice and our values into that conversation um I will also be serving as the deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive caucus as the co-chair of the defense spending reduction caucus uh um and as the co-chair of the Cannabis caucus um I'm looking forward to uh making sure that we are able um to work with you all uh to lift things that are important to us um last week I introduce the neighbors not enemies act uh which will repeal the outdated and cobic alien enemies Act of 19 of 1798 uh the last time the alien enemies Act was invoked it was used to detain uh and Deport Japanese German and Italian immigrants during World War II this was one of the most sh shameful chapters in American history uh so much so that we had to um apologize and and pay the victims uh that that suffered during that time uh right now uh president Trump um and uh his staff are preparing to invoke uh this this bill um because they are saying their their plan is to Target cartels and transnational criminals but that's not what it does it's supposed to Target people on their nationality and not of any of their behavior so by repealing and at least drawing some attention to the alien enemies act we allow people to understand how unconstitutional this is uh and and illegal um and and help our colleagues work with us to repeal so that the president does not uh utilize it to Target communities last week and the week before we also voted on three pieces of legislation um two on uh immigration and one uh on anti-abortion um we also we also voted on um fix our forests act which undermines um foundational environmental laws such as The Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act um these were pieces of legislation that I um voted on uh the Riley act which is an immigra immigration legislation targets people who are on DCA um or have temporary protected status um and it's of accusation of a crime like shoplifting uh that can get rid of these statuses that people have um to be to remain documented and productive uh members of of our communities I know you all are absorbing the slew of executive orders we are still sniffing through um all of them I know today it was announced uh that there would be a halting of um funding uh Federal funding um a court has upheld and made sure that the federal funding continues until Monday we'll report back and keep you all informed on how if it does go into effect how it will impact Municipal funding and and all of the other programs that members of our communities take advantage of uh we know that uh deportations we've heard of some some cases here in in Richfield and others that have been impacted by the executive uh order that he signed on on deportation and we are um providing people with know your rights uh trainings we have um know your rights uh portion of our um official website uh we can send all of you the links um so you all have access uh to making sure people understand what their their rights are even if they are undocumented they are constitutionally protected um we are really disheartened about the the withdrawal from the World Health Organization uh and and what that would mean um for for healthcare for vaccines uh and all of the important work um that they they do to inform research um and lastly I will end with um the F the fact that as the member of Congress for um Richfield and Minnesota's FS congressional district we serve as the liaison to any F any and every Federal agency uh and so I want to make sure people understand that we are able to do case work um on on their behalf uh some of the things that we can help with is immigration um work visas uh humanitarian emergency and parole um Expediting passport applications for for people who forget that their passport is expiring and have a vacation coming up um we facilitate uh reviews of benefits of denial for Social Security Medicare and and all the other benefits we can check on the status of pending forms or requests um for your tax return for VA requests Social Security payments medical enrollments and so much more we might not be able to solve every problem but we like to give it a try uh so please utilize our our office um and and make sure that you're coming to us so that we can uh expedite those requests for you and with that if you have any questions I can answer all right thank you so much and I did want to add you helped us with the um United States Postal Service when with the road construction there was a delay in getting the drive up boxes back and so thank you help for helping us to get those back before the holidays so that was much appreciated so it's also a federal agency that Federal agency yes one that I actually specialize in since I used to work for the Post Office all right well thank you now are there people that have any additional questions on the council um council member heyer ly uh thank you for being here congresswoman of course um I just wanted to say I do really appreciate your presence in Richfield you listing off some those items you've been very responsive the last few years especially and I really appreciate that and I hope we can continue doing that and then just in general to say thank you for fighting a good fight um we're very alarmed about what's happening well I'm very alarmed I think many others are very alarmed about what's happening and particularly as a city council member this threat to Federal funding that our residents that all Americans have paid into and did not receive that benefit in their communities is is so alarming so absolutely anything you can do to help help get the money that cities are owed um you know we appreciate it of course and it would also be helpful when you guys do hear um negative impacts that can result from uh the loss of resources to share with us because it is going to be really important for us to humanize um the the kind of impacts that that will take place so it's not just a number but there is a story and a human face with it thank you I will encourage staff to do that we will as well so I see we have council member Coleman woods and I believe council member Burke so go ahead council member Coleman Woods thank you uh again congresswoman Omar I really appreciate your attendance here um I work for an organization in my full-time job called connections to Independence hous out of Sabbath Andy Community Center and one of our partners is the center for torture uh for victims of torture and they lost their funding yet today and had to close their doors um we are hopeful for what may happen uh and that their funding continues um that work is so important and those victims of torture and any of the the relationships that we have in their our community I think need to be maintain uh need to be maintained um I could go on so I will shorten it and say thank you for your support and continue to fight for us hope hopefully the um the injunction will will continue and we will continue to have those resources so nobody has to shut down uh their their doors and they can continue to serve our communities thank you council member Burke want to Echo a lot of the thanks but in particular I want to thank you for your support for veterans both locally and nationally I want to make sure that you get more recognition for that thank you again yeah thank you the the hiring freeze actually was one that hit the fa really hard and we'll continue um to do that then the number of calls that we've gotten from um uh people who um had um jobs they were going to start um crucial jobs they were going to start that would um support the VA that was already struggling um with hiring freezes is is Unthinkable and and we know um that that the impact will will be fully seen uh in the coming months and and we we're trying to do everything that we can um whether it's through litigation or advocacy uh to reverse some of these things thank you for that right any other comments um I would like to again say thank you for being with us I really appreciate it I was going to ask you about how your office could help people that live in the Fifth District but you listed off a lot of the constituent services so thank you for that and I know there's been a lot of advocacy to help people even things for like how to fill out their tax forms and things like that that you don't think about because that's a federal thing and so I appreciate all the help that you've been giving the Conti and the people of Richfield so thank you so much and and please come again thank you all for having me next we'll move on to the approval of the agenda I move approval of the agenda second it's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda are there any additions Corrections changes all in favor of approving the agenda please say I I I all opposed and we have approved the agenda moving along we are now on the consent calendar and I'm going to turn it over to city manager Rodriguez thank you mayor Supple uh the consent candidate contains several separate items which are acted upon by the city council in one motion once the consent calendar has been approved the individual items and recommended actions have also been approved no further Council action on these items is necessary on tonight's consent calendar item a consider the approval of a first reading of an ordinance Amendment pertaining to city code section 925. public mes subdivision 2 Item B consider authorizing the purchase of two Olympia Millennium e ice reservers for 250,000 in budget year 20259 626 in budget year 2026 totaling 339,000 without further city council consideration item C consider authorizing the purchase of a pierce enforcer V fire pumper for 400,000 in budget year 2025 29567 in budget years 2026 2027 and 2028 totaling 1 Milli 36,28915 th000 without further city council consideration and I submit these items for your consideration as part of the consent calendar is there a motion to approve the consent so moved second it's been moved and seconded to approve the consent calendar are there any comments questions or discussion I did want to point out that I was astounded at how long it would take to get things like the zambonis for the ice arena and the fire trucks and some of that and so I do want to say thank you to staff for thinking ahead just we have order stuff if my math was correct it was like four or five years in advance and to build it into the budget so that there's that longterm plan there so it's amazing to me that it's taking that long to get something like a fire truck or a Zamboni so if anybody's out there listening and you read through the staff report kind of is jolting to see how long it takes on the supply chain so is there any other discussion all in favor of approving the Calendar please say I I all opposed and we have approved the consent calendar next we'll be moving on to item number five and so I'm going to turn that over to council member Burke so this is item number five this is consider a second reading and summary publication of an ordinance Amendment regarding drive-through signs B of foods applant proposes to replace their existing menu board sign at Taco Bell 774 Second Avenue South with a dynamic display zoning code currently does not address Dynamic display drive-through signs the sign code permits only one Dynamic sign damic display sign for property and limits the area of the dynamic display to no more than 35% of the sign area in practice these regulations can make it difficult for existing drive-through uses to their uses to convert their existing drive-through signs to digital displays the applicant has thus requested an ordinance am amendment that would establish regulations specifically for dynamic drive-through signs currently the zoning code only addresses drivethru signs within the conditional uses section of the mixed use District order boards are limited to 40 s ft and 8 ft in height and they must be located within 60 ft of the business they serve although drive up uses are also allowed conditionally in the C2 district there is no mention of order boards within the listed conditions in that district for consistency and Clarity staff proposes moving order board regulations to the sign section of the code and reclassifying them as drive-through signs this would be in keeping the cities in the metro area such as Bloomington Golden Valley and white be Lake that Define drive through or board signs and have separate regulations and or exemptions for them in regard to Dynamic display regulations staff is proposing certain exemptions for drive-through signs as described in the policy section below with new advances in technology that often make it difficult to tell the difference between static and digital menu boards there is Merit in updating and modernizing the zoning the zoning code to allow drive-through uses to convert their existing Drive signs to digital the Planning Commission held a public hearing on December 9th the commission recommended approval of the ordinance Amendment as proposed the first reading was approved by the Council on January 14th with an amendment limiting Dynamic signs to either a single free sanding sign or drivethru signs this change has been incorporated into the proposed ordinance so I move by motion to approve a second reading an amendment regarding drivethru signs and approve a resolution authorizing summary publication of said second it's been moved in seconded did staff want to add any information thank you mayor Supple no I think there was a good discussion last time um and I believe that the ordinance that we've proposed um uh makes all of the changes that were requested by the council I'm happy to stand for any questions all right are there any questions questions discussions okay council member hey for um thank you just for staff for director palman uh if we could just sort of talk through the concern and raised over email for the benefit of the whole Council so just in my my amateur read of the ordinance um I was generally happy with where it landed I felt like it reflected our discussion my only concern was a lack of clarity over if you have a menu board signed and You' later come to add um a freestanding sign um would that be clearly um and I just want to speak that sure sure I think it was a good question um and the ordinance that's that that is attached to your packet is only showing you certain sections of the code so the clearest way to really read this ordinance is to go out to the the code section in its entirety um I believe the way that it written it will offer an exemption for more than one sign if there is a drive-thru however if um if a location like Taco Bell has already installed uh Dynamic drive-through signs and then would come in to apply for um a let's say their pylon sign to convert that to a dynamic sign what we would do is reference that letter B in the ordinance which says that one Dynamic display sign is allowed the drive-through signs are already in they would not be allowed to use another one I think that procedurally you know staff is is administering these codes and will be letting people know if they come in for a change to their drive-through signs that this these then will be your allowance these will take care of your allowance for dynamic signs on your property Choose Wisely um you know I think that we'll tell people that upfront just as a just as good customer service and to make sure it's clear okay um thank you and so there is an an option you you provided for language if we chose to make that any clearer but just for my purposes do people are you the first point of contact when people want to make an update if if Taco Bell had a new manager in five years and they wanted to change their sign or do they like go to a sign company and the Sign Company looks at the zoning code and has to figure it out themselves uh generally they will approach a sign company and the sign company will hopefully give the city a call rather than try to interpret the the um code itself either way a permit is required sign contractors do know that permits are required so that's coming in for our review before a permit is issued before anything can be installed so um while there are occasions where signs are installed without a permit um a good sign contractor is going to know to check with us first okay thank you um yeah I'm I'm satisfied that my concern is addressed then so I'm I'm happy to support this as written is there any other discussion any other questions okay the motion has been made and seconded all in favor please say I I I all opposed all right we've approved the second reading and authorize the summary publication thank you next we'll be moving on to item number six and I'll turn that over to council member Coleman Woods thank you um so the item up for consideration on item number six is consideration of a resolution supporting a 4D tax classification for hemple Real Estate relating to acquisition and preservation of three affordable rental communities uh the executive summary reads as three Richfield Department communities New Orleans Court Richland Court and winon House properties were recently listed for sale the properties containing a total of 236 units current estimate of 477 plus residents are located along 77th Street at Wentworth and on 14th and Cedar Avenues uh C attached map the properties built in the the 1960s are considered naturally occurring affordable housing or Noah properties the buildings contain a mix of one two and three bedroom units and Rental levels are considered affordable to households earning between 50% and 60% of the area median income the properties are currently home to 43 housing Choice voucher or Section 8 uh hcv households 73 residents and five kids at home um excuse EXC me kids at home program families which equals 23 residents hemple real estate is seeking to purchase the properties and maintain their affordability hemple is a local real estate firm that has Acquired and preserved several Noah communities over the past few years hemple would utilize Equity from the Greater Minnesota housing funds Noah impact fund which contributes Equity to Noah Acquisitions in exchange for preserving affordability affordability for 15 years hle is requesting assistance from the city's Housing and Redevelopment Authority HRA to be able to ensure affordability limit rent increases and undertake Rehabilitation work of 2578 million and hemple is seeking up to 1.77 million in financial assistance from the HRA in exchange for limiting rents and camping in Resident income levels which would enable the properties to qualify for 4D tax status point oh sorry 0.25% compared to non-affordability in the tax rate provides to the property owner on January 21st 2025 the HRA approved a a memorandum of understanding that lays out hemple and the H's commitment to exploring H financial assistance for the project that includes providing a 1.57 million 15-year forgivable loan from the affordable housing trust fund uh trust fund is um excuse me 200,000 remodeling loan rent and income limits at 60% of the Ami for one and two bedroom units and 70% of the Ami for three bedroom units acceptance of rental assistance and meeting with property management and City staff three members of the community testified and supported the action during the HRA open forum and with the proposed financial assistance and assistance and restrictions the property will qualify for the 4D Tax St classification which provides its benefit to the property owner but shifts the tax tax burden to other taxpayers if 40 is approved for the properties all taxing jurisdictions will have their tax capacity reduced by $278,400 to maintain the current Levy amount taxes will need to be raised on other properties for example the city taxes paid by the owner of the median valued income home would increase by an estimated $99.97 annually the cost of the shift in the tax burden will however be offset by new tax capacity that will be added to the city's tax base in 2026 upon the decertification of two tax increment financing districts or tiffs because of the cost burden for the 40 tax certification excuse me for the 4D tax classification reduces the city's tax capacity the city council is being asked to approve the use of the classification supporting the purchase of the properties by a preservation oriented bu guarantees continued affordability for the properties and a offers many benefits to the residents and the community including the following housing stability for the 477 plus residents including no displacement of current residents preservation of the affordable affordability of larger apartment units including 24 three-bedroom and 132 two-bedroom apartments preservation of housing for 43 hcv and five kids at home households and continued Partnerships with a preservation oriented owner to provide more deeply affordable housing opportunities for rental assistance clients the majority of whom earn less than 30% of the Ami 80% of the current hcv residents in the properties earn less than 30% of the Ami an investment of up to up to 2.5 million in physical improvements to the Aging buildings including Safety and Security building Mechanicals roofs and windows energy efficient measures Energy Efficiency measures amenity improvements paint flooring lighting and kitchen kitchen upgrades and local home ownership within house Property Management Services offering opportunities to partner for the benefit of the residents failure to support a preservation oriented buyer could result in the properties being purchased by a market rate buyer who would who could raise rents displace residents or displace and or displace res rental assistance residents according to the sellers broker there were three other offers in the best and final round for the purchase of the properties all of which were from groups seeking to flip renovate and resell the properties the broker stated that one of these offers could would be accepted if hemple is unable to move forward the recommendation action is and I of motion to adopt a resolution approving the use of the 4D tax classification to support the preservation of affordability and and reability itation of three Noah properties New Orleans Court Richland Court and wion House are there any is there any discussion from staff mayor Supple members of the council I would just add that two weeks ago at the work session you had several questions and requests for additional information and we have provided that either in the executive summary or also in the basis of recommendation and in the attached map but if you have additional questions I'm happy to answer thank you so we have a motion on the floor but we don't have a second is there a second all right it's been moved and seconded does anyone have any questions for staff Beyond what's in the report here does anyone wish to discuss the motion or talk about anything right council member Heyford L um I think my thinking of of this with my Council had is similar to my H hat thinking which is um there there's tradeoffs particular in the decision before us tonight that we are shifting we are shifting tax burden in a in a small way but a real way uh to other property owners including other actually naturally occurring affordable housing that is not receiving the subsidy so that is that is tough for me but the immediate benefit is worth it of preserving these properties particularly the unique two and three bedroom units um I think given the options we have available I think this is the right way to do it and I think ultimately we we do all benefit on some level by maintaining the affordable housing even if you're not going to live there like the you go to a gas station that pays a certain wage that people need to live somewhere you go to the Mall of America and those people need to live somewhere the reality is all of our Lives benefit from people working jobs that can't afford full market rate units and it is appropriate to some extent for us to pay for that so I I support this tonight are there other council members that would like to weigh in council member Burke again I thank the staff for the Thor of the answering some questions that I have to me it's Imagining the people who would be displaced having them in this room and having a citizen come in here and asking that citizen on average would you pay 10 bucks to keep these people to be quite honest that's as simple as that and I understand the concerns that have been mentioned but to me that's the core of this issue for that reason I would be in favor is there anyone else that wishes to weigh in all right go ahead um I absolutely agree with um the other council members that that it's difficult to determine how um how this may affect other residents or who are homeowners that a $9 increase in our tax um our tax burden may you know it may very well seem small to some but I think it it is a big deal for for us who are on fixed incomes so I do also take into consideration that there is a large amount of people that would be displaced if there were another property owner that were to come in and um and purchase this property to flip it or to renovate and and not to keep those uh affordable Properties or those affordable rentals um so I've definitely cons taken this into consideration but I do still uh support this um and the hle purchase thank you council member Christenson yes uh I also support this affordable uh housing situation because with the loss of affordable housing in the city you not only lose uh residents but you also lose the school district is affected if families go away you know there's there's a ramification of families this community was built on that you know in postwar housing and it was affordable at that time and if we start picking and choosing who we want to have live here you know not to keep it affordable it doesn't really do the city a lot of good with the school district and the businesses and the small businesses that are here that are people that are trying to um have a decent safe place to live thank you um I'm also supportive of this resolution and I talked about it at the h meeting and since there are people here that weren't there I'm going to repeat some of that um I believe the benefits to the community outweigh the try tradeoffs and I we will be preserving a good deal of the affordable housing with many two and three-bedroom units which has been an issue that we have when we try and make new housing people don't want to build two and three bedroom unit is expensive and we have a shortage of that it also helps to make sure there are options for our rental assistant Pro assistance programs I believe there's a significant risk of gentrification and displacements of a lot of our community members and this option mitigates that risk in my opinion I also think it's important to be clear that this is not setting a precedent for future policy and we need to study this whole 4D issue more and I I do think that we need to talk to our legislators as well because there are the concerns about that tradeoff but these are unique circumstances I believe it's best for the city to move forward on this particular proposal and these three complexes since they do have as I mentioned a lot of our two and three-bedroom affordable units they accept housing vouchers and are home to 66 schoolage children we are already struggling to find affordable housing for those residents whose income is at 30% of the area Med area medium median income or lower and I don't want to lose the housing we already have for them another unique circumstance is that the two Tiff districts are decertifying which will greatly offset the impact of the other taxpayers although not entirely so this is like I said it's not setting a precedent and we have an opportunity because of those two TI districts decertifying to offset it but we do need to talk about long-term policy I'm okay with transferring funds in the at the H we're going to you transfer some of our housing funds and I'm okay with that because that's the purpose that they were put there the amount of subsidy per unit is similar to other projects that we've approved um there was an idea at the h meeting in the open Forum that came from a resident to look into non-monetary things like um saying can the developer put in place uh res and meet with them and one of the requirements we have is that the property management meets with the city staff to discuss ways to best Ser residents and that's a good start but I do would really encourage the developers if this goes through to set up those residence councils because that would be helpful um I was pleased to see the investment of the 2.5 million in renovating the the actual physical buildings to make them better and again overall the benefits seem to outweigh the tradeoffs and so I believe this is a good use of our housing money and I will be in support is are there any other questions discussions all right then we will bring this motion before us so we have a motion and a second all in favor please say I I all opposed and we have passed can staff tell us the next steps now that this is passed what would be the next steps in the process yes mayor council members uh it will now go back to the HRA with a formal agreement now that we um have your approval for 4D um the uh buyer is in the hemple is in the process of doing their due diligence which includes inspecting the property so that they'll get a a more firm idea of the amount of money needed um for upgrading and Rehabilitation and so once they have that number then we can take that to the H so it'll likely be in in at the February meeting thank you and so for those of you that are anybody that's listening that's another opportunity for the public to wait so we want to make sure that everybody is part of this process with that we will move on to item number seven and I'm G to turn it over to council member Hayer Larry thank you uh this is a violation hearing um in consideration of resolutions regarding civil enforcement for establishments that recently underwent alcohol compliance checks conducted by richill Public Safety staff and failed by selling alcohol to under 21 so just to be clear if you're here representing a restaurant I will read the summary of the staff report um and then I will individually call in each restaurant if they want to send a representative up so the staff report uh tells us alcohol compliance checks were conducted by Rich of Public Safety staff on November 14th 2024 compliance checks are done to determine the availability of alcohol to people under 21 and meet State statutes there are currently 25 establishments in Richfield that hold licenses to sell alcohol three of the 25 establishments checked sold alcohol to an underage person the action being taken today uh is for civil enforcement and penalties against these establishments it is a firsttime offense uh for Joyce pay Tha restaurant llc at 7545 Lindale Avenue South and the following two um restaurants will be treated as a first offense because it has been more than a year since their offense but um deonis which previously failed on December 15 2022 more than a year ago and my bger uh which failed on November 3rd 2021 but again more than a year so will be treated with the first offense penalties establishments have been give will be given an opportunity tonight to admit they made an unlawful sale to an underage person and agree to the penalties imposed by the city council or they may deny the allegations and request a contested case hearing the council will adopt a resolution imposing the penalties for establishments that admit to the violation if the allegation is denied and a contested case hearing is requested the city council will refer the matter to an independent hearing examiner establishments will be notified at the hearing date and given the opportunity to present evidence and rebut the city's evidence at the hearing and for the first time offense the public safety recommendation and the guidelines that we previously followed set forth in resolution number 9511 are to suspend the license purchase alcohol for 5 days pay a $1,000 civil fine meet with the director of Public Safety to present written action plan to ensure future compliance and required that a manager attend an alcohol compliance train training and awareness presentation with cost paid by The Establishment the training must be conducted by a private firm and approved by Public Safety so again if we have a um a representative up we'll have joy Pai first if we have a representative um from Joy tonight okay um excuse me for a second can we clarify with the City attorney if there's not a representative here what the procedure is um mayor and Council I guess I would ask staff ver if they've heard from The Establishment as to whether they are admitting or denying the allegations thank you for the question mayor um all three establishments were contacted and and um told that they should have a representative here tonight I'm unclear why there isn't somebody here from Joy Paya they have been in communication with staff so we can reach out to them tomorrow um they were not contesting the sale I know that so we'll have to follow up with them tomorrow and mayor I would recommend that you just adopt the the uh resolution tonight okay thank you um do we have a representative from Devan here okay um please come up to the lecturn um and you're certainly free to give us additional context if you want that the main thing we need to know is do you admit guilt and accept the penalties or do you wish to request that hearing okay that's all we need thank you and do we have a representative from my burger if you could just state your name and title too Joe Spencer I'm a district manager and we don't have any okay thank you all right so I will move um the City attorney has suggested that we vote on these separately so I will move the resolution suspending the liquor license for Joy Paya Thai restaurant LLC doing business with joy Paya Thai and opposing a civil penalty for firsttime alcohol compliance failure second yes go ahead we need any kind of need anything from Jo to make it clear that they do accept guilt or that they're waving the contested heing do we need anything before we proce them um mayor and councel I I understood maybe um M Anderson could correct me if I'm wrong that that they were not contesting been confirmed thank you is there any other discussion then we'll vote on the motion before us all in favor please say I I all opposed continuing on I move a resolution suspending the liquor license for Divan Inc doing business as devan's pizza and hot hogies 6345 pen Avenue South and imposing a simple penalty for first time alcohol compliance failure second it's been moved in seconded is there any discussion all in favor please say I I I all opposed that resolution is also passed all right and I move a resolution suspending the liquor license for myber operations LLC doing business at mybg as mybg 6555 Lindale Avenue South and opposing the Civil penalty for first time alcohol compliance failure second it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion all in favor please say I I I all opposed and we have also passed that resolution thank you thanks to the business folks for coming tonight yes we appreciate you coming to the hearing next we'll move on to item number eight council member Christensen thank you mayor this is to consider appointment to fill a vacancy on the sub sustainability commission terms of several City Advisory Board and commission members expire on January 31 2025 terms for Advisory Board and commissions are for three years the city council directs the city man office to conduct an annual recruitment seeking applicants to fill the vacancies this recruitment includes a press release and information on the city's website and social media platforms applicants were interviewed at a work session held on November 16 20124 the sustainability commission had an unexpected resignation after all positions were filled during the recruitment process Council designated alternative alternate candidates as there were enough positions for all applicants the alternate applicant was reviewed and approved by Council by motion we are asking to approve the appointment of Alexa rosak as sustainability commissioner commencing on January 28th 2025 and expiring January 31 2026 right we'll second that motion it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion for those of you that were new to the council we were for forunate this year that we had a plethora of applicants for the commissions and far more than we had spots for so we adopted the policy of putting alternates in place and this is the second time I believe that we're using that and I do remember um Alexa's interview and she was I think will be a really great commissioner is there anyone else that wishes to speak all right it's been moved and seconded believe you you moved a second okay thank you it's getting late here all right if there's no further discussion all in favor please say I I I all opposed and we have approved the new commissioner thank you and thank you to Alexa if she's listening to this for um applying to be on the commission next we'll move on to the city manager's report city manager Rodriguez thank you mayor um as congresswoman Omar mentioned we are also trying to find more details about the recent order from the Trump Administration cusing grants and Loans uh in the interim uh staff are pulling together the potential Federal funding that could be threatened or delayed and then we will continue to track the impacts of that we just just it just happened so we're just starting that work but we'll keep are there any questions for the city manager okay I look for forward to those updates because I know the first thing that popped into my mind was the $3 million that we were getting for Wood Lake so it'll be good to find out um next we'll move on to claims and payroll I move approval of claims and payroll second it's been moved and second to um approve claims and payroll is there any discussion all in favor please say I I I allose and we' have approved claims and payroll so now next is hats off to Hometown hits and so start with counc member Coleman Woods I don't have anything at this time thank you council member Christensen yes I'd like to do a hats off to Hometown hits for the uh Woodlake Nature Center uh with its being under construction very shortly that uh they are going to be keeping up with having different camps in the city at various locations and I'm encouraging all of the families still to um uh sign up their kids it'll be a great time at different locations and with the uh new building coming in it will be a fabulous place for uh all the residents to uh to uh visit thank you council member Heyford lry um I just wanted to I guess share information with my council members and and thank residents uh L side Condos for uh meeting with me just to give preliminary feedback on a proposal uh for the site south of their building behind Lake winds so I appreciate their collaboration and their their eager involvement in this process thank you council member Burke nothing to that thank you thank you um I'm gonna um add on to what council member Christensen said about the wood Lake Nature Center I wasn't able to attend but this Sunday there was a farewell where a lot of the um former volunteers and staff and other people who had been involved in Wood Lake for the last 50 years got together and from what I understand it was very well attended and a lot of stories were told and I found out you know there's a big mural in there with um a lot of wingspans and stuff and I never thought knew that one of our residents and her daughters painted that so I found out later on it was a former student of mine and her mother that painted it so that was kind of you know another little fact that I didn't know so Wood Lake was a very special place and I'm glad everybody was able to get together and work on that um and then I want to do um another hats off there is a a woman who's been organizing people's donations from Ridgefield her name is sha Smith and so she reaches out to the community and she ask for donations and so she organizes all of this um it's it's things to help the people that are in the um homeless encampments so to help out the people that are unsheltered Richfield residents have been donating blankets and warm clothing during the Cold Snap and then um Teka Smith is the person that then also Cooks meals and things on things like Thanksgiving or different times and so she organizes all this and Cooks all of these things and so I just want to say thank you because she's done so much for our community and I think she deserves a hats off all right so is there anything else that anyone would like to bring up so if not I would entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting move adjournment I'll second it's been moved and seconded to adjourn the meeting all in favor please say I I all opposed we stand a turn