I'll explain what's going thank you I'm going to call to order this March 11th meeting of the Richfield city council it is 7:05 and I appre apprciate your patience our our uh work session right before this ran overtime so thank you all for your
patience as we get started five minutes late if you are able please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance I next we have the open forum and participants can share their comments in
person by voicemail or email or may also request to participate virtually for information on submitting comments in the future refer to the council agenda and minutes page on Richfield mn.gov city council I have two comment cards
tonight so we'll call people up one at a time and you can sign in when I call you and then you'll have three minutes to address the councel the council will be listening and taking notes but it's not set up to be like a question and answer period so if there is a question that
comes up it'll the staff will follow up at the next meeting with the answers so we'll just all be taking notes on what you have to say so first of all um I have I'm having trouble reading so I
think it says um levely asmer so if if the on short-term rentals so you can come up and introduce yourself thank you and speak from yes okay tell us tell us your
name and address yeah sorry about the handwriting um I know it's check and scratch uh my name is l asaru and I'm here to speak on behalf of short-term rental hosts okay all
right so to get started uh I'd like to um share a little bit of my history here with Richfield um I've lived here for a little over four years um I owned a home here uh in 2018 to
2019 uh I currently um have long-term rentals here in Richfield uh and an Airbnb in another city so I'm here because I have a vested interest in um demonstrating that uh airbnbs are
essentially a net positive for the communities that they are in um and I'm concerned about some of the proposals for new rules that are essentially uh blanket rules that would apply to everyone um and affect people's ability
to um essentially run uh Airbnb or another form of short-term rental um and I want to say that I understand the issues that our communities are facing today due to short-term rentals and that those should be addressed it's just that I am not in favor of the rules that are
being uh proposed uh as part of that solution um so I I'd also like to reiterate uh the benefits of having short-term rentals in our community I don't think that those are um often
communicated or shared as the one % situations are more what are known community-wise uh and publicly right um for example in my instance I've had um my neighbor like literally direct neighbor uh next to me um hosting their
friends and family for the event of their um daughter's wedding um I've had uh people in the neighborhood come and uh stay at my place for their father having passed um having extra guests and family members are staying uh either
next door or a few doors down has been of tremendous help to them both financially and um just the ability to be able to be close and not have to commute so far for the events as they're going through those trials and tribulations um we've also had uh Church
groups that have brought you know uh atrisk youth on trips here out to Minnesota from different areas and have been able to stay in airbnbs that makes it more cost affordable as well um just to go on from uh not just the
you know nice occasions to have an Airbnb available but actual business reasons to have available um available airbnbs and how they benefit the community I'd also like to share that there have been traveling nurses traveling construction workers during covid when we didn't have Staffing
available coming and staying at airbnbs um the reason I point these things out is because uh again the community benefits from these events because businesses that rent places that look for uh affordable means to host their
staff are also saving on costs which plays a role in whether or not they're going to affect effectively uh inflate prices for their end consumers right um all of that being said uh I think again I'll reiterate that airbnbs are
net positive for the community I think that there are some concerns within certain communities that definitely need to be addressed and should have rules that protect the people within that Community as well um I believe that there should be a basis for having uh
track record of repeat violations for individual airbnbs and that those individual airbnbs should have um their rights to be a host removed if they do not themselves address the concerns of the community all right thank you L thank
you and next we have Sarah Mar Mars again hello um and I have uh bought our first home here in Richfield and we have lived our first 12 years of our marriage here in Richfield first on Portland Avenue right
here and then on Thomas we currently live in Minneapolis just over 62 and we care very much about Richfield we are short-term rental owners and we have one property here in Richfield and we maintain a high standard of cleanliness
Property Maintenance and management of strict management of our properties we watch over our properties and we screen our applicants we can and have canceled our guests because of reviews that were not favorable to the community we have
cameras outside our properties and address issues before they become problems we specifically list on our house rules that there are no events or parties and to be respectful of the neighborhood we also currently personally have a three- night minimum
and we have found that helps eliminate those that come to party because we do not want to be a party house uh we have met our neighbors and given them our personal cell phone numbers so if they have any issues that we asked that they would contact us
directly that we can um be responsible Neighbors most of our guests that we have had in our F past 5 years of being host have been kind respectful and understanding that they are staying within a neighborhood and they are pleased to
have a quiet and comfortable place to be respectful of those neighbors um I believe that short-term rentals provide a service to the community staying in Richfield can offer great experiences of what it means to live in Richfield and the urban hometown
uh they can experience local restaurants and shopping and they can visit family within the area and honestly some of the hotels in this area I would not have my children or my grandchildren stay in uh there has been discussed of putting a week or more minimum on
short-term rentals and that would be um essentially eliminating the ability to for us to to operate a short-term rental within the community we do the three- night minimum uh we also uh respectfully consider
grandfathering um any of the current owners uh the city of Mound did this in 2018 or putting a cap on the percentage of short-term rentals versus um single family homes within the community
they're currently um 72 self-reporting and 0.7% of the total stock of homes that's what it represents um we already have rental licenses and inspections that are required by the city and if there is a non
um uh if there could be a a requirement for those who are non-owner occupy to self-identify that maybe we could U mitigate any losses uh for the um the rentals for any nuisance properties we do understand that the
solutions need to be easy for the staff to um and Implement and how we can be a benefit to the community and work on this together thank you thank you Sarah is there anyone else who wishes to speak for open
Forum all right thank you to both of our commenters we appreciate your input next we're going to move on to approval of the minutes of the city council work session meeting from February 25th 2025 and the city council
regular meeting from February 25th 2025 I move approval of both sets of minutes second it's been moved and second and is there any discussion or any corrections hearing none all in favor of approving those minutes please say I I I
all opposed we have approved the minutes next we'll move on to a presentation and I'm going to turn it over to Police Chief Jay henthorne and we have a commendation for some community members thank you
thank you uh Madame mayor and council members it is my privilege to be here tonight to honor two outstanding members of the community for going above and beyond to help save someone from Serious injury or death we have always believed that it takes the community to help us with the jobs that we do on a daily
basis from dealing with crime individual safety and the quality of life for our community members these two community members Aubrey Drew and Chase Simpson exemplify the mission of helping others and helping us they are here tonight to
be presented with the Department accommodations for the actions they took on an extremely cold night on Sunday February 16th 20125 before I present accommodations I would like to read the letter that accompanies
them on behalf of the Richfield police department I I want to extend my deepest apprec appreciation and heartfelt gratitude to both of you for your Swift and compassionate action in calling 911 to report a man lying in the street during the recent extreme cold
weather your decision to promptly alert authorities made all the difference in a life and death situation thanks to your call our officers were able to respond quickly and provide immediate assistance to the individual ultimately saving his life the conditions that night were
dangerously cold and without your quick thinking there is no doubt that the outcome could have been far worse your actions exemplify the kind of community spirit that we deeply value in our community members it is people like you who make our neighborhoods safer and
stronger and we incredibly we are incredibly grateful for your willingness to get involved when it mattered the most you not only demonstrate exceptional awareness of a potential emergency but you also showed great compass Passion by taking the time to
ensure that help was on the way please know that your efforts have made a lasting impact on our department you have helped Save a Life and we will always be thankful for your dedication to the well-being of others once again thank you for your quick thinking and
kindness you are a true hero in our community so I'd like to welcome up Aubrey Carlson and Shane Simpson Chase I'm sorry so Chase here's your department
accommodation congratulations [Applause]
thank you so much congatulations thankk you so much congratulations Chief henthorne did you get pictures or did you want pictures I don't know go ahead I think it's important to have pictures you should go down to it yeah
[Applause] thank you so much next we'll move on to approval of the agenda I move to approve the agenda I'll second it's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda is there any
discussion all in favor please say I I I all opposed and we have approved the agenda moving on to the consent calendar I'm going to turn it over to city manager Rodriguez thank you mayor the consent calendar 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 uh consider approval of part one
of the West Metro multi-community Wellhead protection plan and Adoption of a resolution authorizing participation in the development of part two of the West Metro multi- Community Wellhead protection plan Item B consider approval of a temporary on sale intoxicating
liquor license for the Richfield foundation's a toaster Richfield event to take place on Thursday May 1st 2025 in the atrium area Wood Lake Center located at 6601 Lindale Avenue South item C consider the approval of an
agreement allowing Richfield Department of Public Safety to accept Grant monies from the US Department of Justice Office of Justice programs the Edward burn Memorial Justice assistance grant program and I submit these items for your consideration as part of the
consent calendar thank you so is there a motion to approve the consent calendar so moved second it's been moved and seconded to approve the consent calendar any discussion all in favor please say I I I
all opposed and we've approved the consent calendar I'll turn it over now for item number five to council member fi thank you uh this item is a public hearing and consideration of the ratification of previously approved ordinance amendments to city code
section 550 FL flood plane management regulations previously adopted by the city council on January 14th 2025 uh the first section public hearing and ratification background on January 14th 2025 the Richfield city council conducted the second reading and
approved amendments to city code section 550 about flood plane management regulations on announc to staff at the time the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources desired that a public hearing be held prior to the adoption of the revised ordinance after Consulting with the city attorney staff has determined
that the best course of action is for the city council to hold a public hearing consider consider any objections or concerns to the previously approved ordinance amendments and then vote to ratify the previously approved ordinance amendments the city council may also choose not to ratify the previously
approved ordinance amendments and direct staff to repeal or further revise the ordinance based upon comments heard at the public hearing and then background on the ordinance amendments themselves in April 2024 the mcwd adopted new rules applicable to flood plane management the
previously approved revisions align city ordinances with the new District requirements while maintaining established requirements concerning the FEMA designated flood flood plane the previously approved amendments also clarify administration of the ordinance by designating the Water Resources
engineer as the official responsible for administ during the ordinance um does staff have anything to add at this time uh council member Hy you know we do okay pretty straightforward and I I it is not particularly decied but it will
complement staff on this wonderful public hearing uh checklist which is going to make it really easy right now um okay um we will have a public hearing for this item uh any Resident wishing to participate in the public hearing please proceed to the Podi podium one at a time provide your name and address prior to
your comment Council will hear your comment if you would like staff to follow up please include your name and phone number or email on the signin document located in the podium to ensure everyone has time to speak each comment will be limited to three minutes in length as a reminder to Residents the
public hearing is a time for Council to listen to but listen but not respond questions are asked they may be addressed as part of the council discussion on the issue or staff will follow up after the meeting so the public hearing for uh considering ratification of the previously approved
ordinance amendments about section 550 flood plane management regulations is now open is there anyone who wishes to speak at the public hearing I'm not seeing anyone approaching the podium so I'll ask one more time is there anyone wishing to
speak at the public hearing then a motion would be in order to close the public hearing I move that we close the public hearing I second it's been moved and seconded to close the public hearing is there any discussion all in favor please say I I I
all opposed and we have closed the public hearing all right I move that we uh ratify the previously approved ordinance amendments to city code section 550 flood plate management regulations previously adopted by the city council on January 14 2025 I'll second
that it's been moved in seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say I I I all opposed and we have ratified the previously approved ordinance thank
you our next item will go on to item number six and I'll turn that over to council member um Christensen thank you mayor uh this is to consider the approval of the second reading of an ordinance updating requirements for maintenance of fowl
authorized a resolution to add the permit application fee to to the existing fee schedule and authorize a summary ordinance publication via resolution section 90 5.37 of Richfield city code pertains to regulations around
owning fowl chickens Ducks Etc sustainability Commissioners and residents wanted to increase the number of fowl allowed to be kept to be more in line with average flock size sizes and what neighboring cities allow these proposed revisions also include detailed
requirements for uh Coupee space and other reasonable conditions nuisance language and requiring a permit application in fee to be submitted all right now we had put a notice of a public hearing for this into the newspaper but we don't legally we
aren't legally required to have one however in the interest interest of transparency we will allow public comment so is there anyone here present that wishes to comment on the F ordinance I know we did have one person that sent something in is there anyone
here that would like to comment then I'll turn it over to the city clerk Friedrich to please read the comment that we received thank you mayor and councel we did receive one comment regarding the file ordinance and it is it was emailed by Kathy B and it it indicates keeping
chickens has caused the number of mice to increase to the point that pest control companies are seen in our area like never before we have trapped at least a dozen around our house neighbors behind us have a coupe no one is regulating the number of chickens that
are kept neighbor knows of the three chicken rule but they had four or more before they all died from something House on 69th and 18th had numerous chickens plus a rooster that would crow in the backyard chickens were known to run around Cedar Avenue a house
on 76s has a yard full of free range chickens that seem to reside in the garage Richfield needs to license or regulate these home C coups thank you for everything thank you did staff have anything they wanted to
add all right I make the motion to approve the second reading of the ordinance updating requirements for maintenance of fowl and authorize a resolution to add the permit application fee to the existing fee schedule and authorize a summary ordinance publication via
resolution did have questions it's if we'll second it and then we'll take questions second okay it's been moved in seconded we're open for discussion and questions council member Burke I was looking at a subdivision
five y subdivision five G 5G talks about the annual permits for each of the first three years and then towards the end of that section it talks about following the initial permit period the permittee must still comply with all provisions and the city may still revoke
permits for violations of the subdivision in such conditions U if someone has their license revoked do they have to go back to another three-year period of applications or do they automatically somehow get it revoked without having to go through
that three-year period council member Burke thank you for the question uh I can start to address that and then we also have uh Jennifer Anderson who might have a better answer as it Rel to to licensing and how we deal with uh similar situations like nuisance dogs and things
like that um the intention of the code and the application process is of course if you get through the three-year period and you have an issue um a nuisance report or you know an issue with your fowl um then yes you would have to start
the process again you know prove that there is uh the issue has been rectified is not a problem anymore staff would monitor um you know the said property and and make sure that's in compliance um and you know obviously fowl can be removed from the property as well and
that's addressed in the code um I'm not sure the legal language or the logistics as it relates to permitting Jennifer if you have anything to add awesome so I I guess so unless is there somewhere else in the ordinances where it makes it clear the procedures that for someone to after their license
is revoked to get their license again or would it be useful to make it clear that if someone is liced is revoked they would have to start all over council member Burks that's a great question I'm not sure if that's addressed in other sections of code uh related to similar situations um or if we would have to go
back and and make sure that it is properly I don't have the code in front of me either um to figure that out but uh mental note and uh we will follow up I I think it would be useful just to make it clear to the public that if there license is revoked we're going to have to start all I'm sure we'll get
questions eventually yeah and and as as uh say manager arri has just mentioned I was thinking as well um there will be language all language that's pertinent to this will be on the application as well um so we'll figure out what's the right spot for that if it is in code if
it's in the application if it's both Etc thank you yep thank you other comments or questions I did have a question I know that in the first reading we had questions about the permit meting and so we've changed that so can you go over
the things that have changed from the first reading to the second reading so that the public is clear on that yes excuse me thank you uh Madame mayor um so we went back originally in the first reading it was discussed to be a one-time uh fee onetime permit uh valid
indefinitely unless there are issues as we have mentioned um we went back and uh staff talked amongst um ourselves and figured out a compromise that would not require an annual in perpetuity um but would require a significant uh time
period to display that uh a resident in a household does not have issues uh with their flock um and this is important because you know obviously issues can arise especially with folks who don't have experience um raising uh chickens or geese or ducks or you know fowl um
and that's also why the education requirements in there as well make sure that people are aware of what they're getting into um and have the proper tools and experience um um and so three years was uh landed on um as as the compromise for that and additionally A
reduced permit fee um so that the annual permit fee totaled after three years is roughly the same as other cities who do have a one-time permit fee because the goal of this is not to price residents out of you know owning chickens
cultivating you know all of all of that um the fowl uh we really wanted to make sure that while the city was able to monitor where flocks are especially for cases of um Aven flu and other reasons that it's also done in a way that covers
staff time and doesn't penalize residents from pursuing this in their you know homes and backyards um so those were a few things that we discussed um and changed that was the the biggest change thank you and I I think that's fair to to have a lower fee over three
years so we have time to implement this um with regards of the public comment that we had about things like rodents or flock sizes that exceed as part of the permitting process and the education would some of that be addressed yes thank you mayor um it definitely would I think you know I've
never taken a chicken raising or foul raising course so I can't necessarily speak to those details but it does cover um and our code covers you know Coupe regulations you know where it has to be what what it's made out of you know like sizing all that kind of stuff um how far
away from lot lines so that you are not ideally bothering neighbors um things like that courses talk about um you know pest prevention you know how to raise chickens diseases uh uh all sorts of aspects of of fowl um raising and then I
think that you know I I don't own chickens personally so I can't necessarily speak to you know whether something is a common practice uh or not but obviously our code enforcement staff or environmental uh health staff are very focused on on public health and
Public Safety and so they will um also be learning the the requirements and things so we can Citywide have a better idea of what is happening who who has how many chickens how can we best promote these Public Health practices all at the same time that many people are looking into this as a potential you
know way to get cheaper eggs or you know things like that so we we recognize the appeal in the community and we want to make sure that it's being done well and safely thank you other question questions one um City attorney tein I
can I can give my comment after council is done with discussion oh okay um one question I had asked um because it says you no person shall sell or breed any chicken stuck geese pigeons or fall within the city of Richfield so I'm
understanding we don't want to have like a commercial farming operation but then I did have the question later when it talked about rescue groups and so I want to clarify the answer I got back from staff is that if somebody decides they don't want their flock anymore they would have to then give it away to
someone else you couldn't just sell it yeah so rehoming fowl is a topic that came up actually right when this first came up in the sustainability commission one of our commissioners does own fowl and has had to help other folks rehome uh fowl before and so it was a very much
a topic of conversation the intent behind that language is yes to make sure that we don't have uh folks who are reading raising and and selling as like a commercial entity um but yes if if there is a situation where uh a someone decides they don't want their flock
anymore or something happens and they can't um maintain that those file would have to be rehomed there are existing resources um to do so and also by increasing the limit of fowl allowed to be owned in Richfield that does provide
a buffer for some folks to who might want to take in more fowl so this kind of also helps create some capacity legally um in the city as well and then the other um topic that came up in the public comment was about roosters and I'm assuming do we allow roosters I
didn't think we did so we also had this conversation in staff uh uh so roosters are um covered under I believe the the noise uh section of our nuisance code um and so technically that if they are being a nuisance that is covered there
and and will be dealt with um we didn't call it out specifically in here um we had not received this public comment uh ahead of time or anything like that um so if it is an issue we can always come back and amend but uh they are covered in code all right thank you and I was
glad to hear that you said that part of the education is how to deal with pest control and those types of things so that helps with that comment as well any other discussion council member hey for L um I didn't have a question until the by the last the last response um so do does it
need to be like like other nuisances where you have to have complaints from multiple Neighbors at once and like it's a multi-month process it's not just a clear violation if you have a rooster I would have to defer to Jennifer for that I do want to clarify uh thank you council member Hereford o um on roosters being a nuisance we have heard uh from
situations in other cities of people who do own roosters that don't Crow or they keep them inside during the crowing hour whatever the situation is and they aren't a nuisance so there might be you know not not all roosters might present as a
nuisance one of the issues with roosters is often times when people establish flocks they start with chicks and you can't it's hard to sex a chick because you don't know what it's going to be until it gets older so you might end up with a rooster um we have not had complaints
about roosters in the city if we do have them however if they do become a nuisance and they can be very loud we can cover that by the public health nuisance ordinance um um there would have to be complaints um but as Rachel
said that wasn't directly written into the code because it's it can be hard to tell in the beginning what they've got for a flock so um I think this could be kind of a we have to wait and see how this rolls out and certainly if we need to amend the ordinance we can do that
but to date you know in in the the comment that was the comment card that was read earlier um is a prime example of that and and those are the things that we need to know about um to in order to address those within the neighborhood so um that's how we'll
handle that to clarify have there been any nuisance type complaints based on our existing allowance of chickens okay okay I guess I would just say in in as informal direction if that if we do get complaints about that it would be great to know that rather than just dealing with them one at a time because I probably would want to
prohibit it if it's a frequent issue right any other comments or discussion this makes me second think getting chickens for real any other comments questions I did have one other question can you explain
how you're going to roll it out since there are a number of people with um flocks already to know that there's new rules yeah thank you um mayor that's a great question so I think it'll be a little bit you know here and there with with communication as in we'll use existing channels the city's Facebook
page the city's uh newsletters the sustainability newsletter I do know that there is a Facebook group for chicken and fowl owners in Richfield and I bet that that is going to be heavily utilized um the commissioner that initially brought this up has a lot of
context so I think we'll also uh staff will ask him for if there are any other spots in the community that we're missing um to get the word out and to make sure that folks are aware of the permit that's required um you know it will take some time uh since there's
currently no permit required and there's no exist existing database of of where fowl exists in the city um but staff have already started thinking about the different communication channels all right thank you any other questions I think this is a good example
of something that came organically from a commission so thank you to the sustainability Commission Now um City attorney tachin you had something to add I did thank you mayor I just wanted to go back to council member Burke's point about the starting the three-year period
over I if um staff's an agreement that that was the intent here what I would maybe suggest that if that's a consensus on the council I know there's a motion on the table but if there is a consensus in order to avoid having to bring this back
to council again there could be a separate motion directing staff to work with the city attorney to um insert something clarifying that in the ordinance which I think would be a pretty easy fix and we could do that and then um you could vote on that motion
and then go back to your original motion uh that's just a suggestion if the council's in agreement with that and if staff doesn't disagree so we have the original motion Bas on the T or on the floor and it's been seconded so if somebody wishes to
amend at this point they could I'll make the motion to amend I'll second the motion to amend okay and to clarify you want to can you state what your um city council I suggest to um to allow staff to amend the uh proposal
section subdivision 5G to make it clear that what happens if someone's loses their per if their permits revoked um what they're required to do in order to get their license back that's the all right so staff is
clear on what the amendment is all right any other discussion on the amendment so we're just voting on the amendment all in favor of the Amendment please say I I I all opposed okay we've
adopted the amendment so now we're voting on the main motion as amended is there any further discussion all right all in favor please say I I I all opposed and we have approved the main motion as amended
thank you next we'll move on to the city manager report rep thank you mayor at our last meeting uh Kathleen Balaban expressed concerns about how many items that the city
manager placed on the consent calendar uh just as a reminder the consent calendar is for uh passing routine business um often those contracts and the spending that's approved in the in the consent calendar has already been
reviewed and approved by the council through the budgeting process um also just to let the public know that there are multiple steps in putting together an agenda so um we put together a draft agenda the mayor reviews that
agenda and at that time can pull anything from the consent calendar and put it to be considered individually then the council gets to review the agenda and also can pull anything before the agenda is finalized once the agenda is finalized and posted we have a very
clear process during the council meeting that uh a council member can move to pull something from the consent calendar and then it's considered individually and we've done that a number of times um uh tonight I also wanted to talk about a
legislative uh item a bill that is um gaining momentum at the legislature as you know you've been getting um well you can read the newspapers the legislative uh session is heating up and uh while we feel like the legislative platform gives us a lot of
guidance on how we as a city can Advocate um we did want to bring this particular Bill forward and get some more clarification on what we can do as a city in terms of advocacy uh the bill would allow multif family housing in any commercial
District uh except if it was Heavy industrial uh staff continue to feel like this will be detrimental to the city and uh we we'd like to again request some more clarification uh I have asked community development director Melissa palman to
provide more details um and as she comes up I do uh I do want to um just Briefly summarize what's changed since the last time we discussed this when we were passing the platform um as I mentioned before the bill has
gained momentum in the legislature uh we also have two new council members who were not there when we reviewed this provision and passed the platform um and again I know this is is an annual process but the legislature
isn't on our timetable and so this could be passed to this session and then we would have our we wouldn't have a chance as a city to to Advocate one way or another um we also recently learned more about the 4D impacts on Richfield taxpayers as part of considering the hle
proposal um we also know that both The Pen Station development and the beacon developments are um are making progress and they will be eligible for 4D and just as a reminder um when these developments get 4D they're taxed at a
lower um percentage so they're paying less taxes which that shifts that burden on to other Richfield property taxpayers um and then finally both the financial and the stability Outlook at both the federal and state level has
changed um and worsen since the we first discovered this I'm sorry discussed it um and that means that that we may have more Reliance on the property tax um and that is all very uncertain but it is a
consideration as we consider it now um and I will turn it over to community development director Melissa pman thank you Katie members of the council I don't have a lot to add to that um I provided some bullet points um to you or Katie provided some bu bullet
points to ahead of this meeting um you know staff generally has um I would say two major concerns about this type of bill um the F the first is just the lack of flexibility that we will have um in
particular I will bring up the 494 Corridor uh that is our most valuable commercial land in the community um the council has adopted a strategic plan that asks us to diversify the tax base to increase the commercial percentage of
the tax base um allowing housing in our primary commer commercial Corridor would make that more difficult and that's it's already a difficult Prospect um getting more difficult with the um local and federal situation additionally there are
environmental justice and Equity issues that we see along the 494 Corridor as we've continued and um Studies have continued to come out from the um from the EPA from the American Medical Association that talk about the long-term Health impacts of living near
these busy roads one of the I one of the things that we will consider as we look at our comprehensive plan this next um update which will kick off this fall um is if we should be promoting any additional housing along Interstate
494 um if that's really a safe place for people to be living especially when Richfield is able to provide enough um land guided for and enough land that we support financially through our hre and Eda to meet um Metropolitan Housing um
guidelines and guidance for promoting housing um and for building housing in our community so we feel like a bill like this ties our hands um and and we think that the council should reconsider um whether or
not we could oppose this particular portion of this bill city manager Rodriguez yes thank you um just one other thing I wanted to add I we have been told and I do believe that this is true is that Richfield has
a very good reputation for supporting affordable housing projects so we bring that to this discussion we we are not seen as Bad actors on this we are seen as trying to do what we can to to build affordable housing in Richfield and so
we we bring that that trust to the conversation so we believe that we can be a very effective voice in these discussions so I had a a procedural question you are you just asking for feedback or do we have to bring this back to a future meeting to actually take a vote on it or
can we do it informally here during this conversation uh good question we believe that the guiding principles that are in the platform are consistent with us asking to oppose this and we would not bring the platform back we have because
the because the legislative session evolves so quickly and we can't anticip IP ate in detail every issue that is going to arise if it's covered in that broad platform we're seeking Clarity to be able to take a position on that and that's what we're doing
tonight all right now is there any comments or questions I know I probably precipitated this because I started um peppering staff with a lot of questions about this when it was coming up because I wanted to understand it better so I appreciate that all the information that
you provided that helped clarify it for me um I think that it would be I would be in support of taking this position because then we could um offer some compromises of ways that the legislation could be amended so that it could get at
the purpose that was intended without harming cities like Richfield that already have a lot of um low um affordable housing but don't have very much commercial we have a low percentage
of commercial so I think I want to be able to help the broader problem without penalizing the people that have a lot already have a lot of commitment to Affordable accessible housing but I want to hear what other council members have to say about it so um council member hay
l so just to give some background since especially council members Burke and Coleman Woods were not in the previous discussion we did discuss exactly this type of bill um when we updated our legislative platform on the annual schedule the time there was a direction for the majority of the council to not take a position on this bill and it was
not added to the legislative platform I object somewhat on principal to revisiting it so close after that decision because we do have this annual process and I don't think it's procedurally helpful to revisit those discussions when although there have been some changes they're fairly minor changes in
context um that said we're here uh this this bill is is um being considered and has a possibility and I'm I'm open to it somewhat but just as contact for why this bill even exists there's a lot of cities um you know far beyond Richfield that do Reserve large areas of the
community for commercial that refuse to allow affordable housing refuse to allow Apartments altogether in large areas of the community and this opens up that land to be available for housing in communities that don't have a lot of it so of course our duty is to Richfield first and foremost um but I guess I want
to be clear like why the legislature is even pursuing this this makes a big difference on the state level of making more land available for affordable hous housing um I I respectfully disagree with staff's environmental justice rationale in that we we have long allowed housing along 494 we currently
allow housing intermixed with uh commercial and 494 and if we wish to have better options with better Environmental Quality we should do so by designating more land further from freeways for multif family not Banning more areas from building housing which is what we would be talking about with
that um I do think our our situation of having limited commercial is somewhat unique and I would strongly prefer that we Advocate on that specific issue staff did bring an example of a position for example exempting cities that have a
very low percentage um of how of land that is dedicated to commercial I think that would better represent richfield's interest I think it would maintain the good faith uh reputation that Council or excuse me uh manager Rodriguez mentioned that we have by showing we support this
principle we support more housing in Minnesota we support more affordability and we recognize that not every City's uh playing ball in the way that we have however we have this very specific problem of needing to have some land dedicated to commercial I would prefer we take a position like that limited to our issue rather than blanket opposition
of this Bill thank you other thoughts or uh I would have to agree with uh council member L on this one um just based on our own specific need here for to maintain some commercial space and
and to and to not just um give it a blanket opposition so you would be okay with with the compromise thing of saying that those cities that have less than 20% yes I would shouldn't be required that's
correct all right thank you council member Burke and I would I would second that opinion it's clear that uh Richfield does have minimal amount of of development commercial space and industrial space so doesn't seem like
this immediately applies to us but definitely we are part of a larger Community called the state and we should be recognized and support of of the efforts to increase affordable housing throughout the state so I would agree with council member ha or's
position council member Christensen yes I also uh throw a vote in for agreement with with uh Council member here for L um there needs obviously there needs to be a a healthy mix of commercial
versus uh affordable housing but given the size of where we are at and the location of the area it I would say that affordable housing at this point would be more prudent for the city than uh the mixture of uh
retail so I I think the I looked up what the tax rates were for various things and I believe the commercial tax rate is like 2% and if we go to housing it's 1.25
unless it's 4D then it drops to 0.25 and I know I've heard from community members concerns about that we have to make sure we can afford the services like for the fire and the police and all the other things so we do have to have one of our strategic goals
is is to have a diverse tax base and so I think in our case it would be harmful if we give away all of our commercial tax base because then we don't have any way to provide the fire and the service um the P public safety the public works
and all of the other things so I do think that the compromise of saying if you have a commercial tax base of less than 20% you should be Exempted from this I understand the overall broader thing in a lot of cities that are struggling to get enough affordable
housing but we really have gone forward trying to get affordable housing so I I think we need to talk about let's make an exemption here because it's not one size fits all for the entire state so I think that's what I'm hearing as
consensus that we think that that would be a reasonable way to move forward um do staff need any further clarification okay so then just since I'm going to be going over to speak with our Representatives C am I allowed to say
that that's what we discussed and that's what the what the council is moving forward on just want to clarify and make sure we're transparent here all right thank you that was helpful uh mayor uh in this case I'm not asking the city to change positions but
simply because we are talking about legislative uh I did just want to mention two items that I'm personally involved in one that has gone to City staff um specifically about the possibility of cities uh having the ability to use different design manuals for streets um that is not something that staff want to take a position on
they provided uh feedback to me that I've shared with the author of the bill but I will be appearing just to share as an individual the experience that we had with the variance process for a street so happy to discuss that with anyone um and then I will also be speaking in favor of a state uh ban on cities having
parking minimum that's something I took a position on last year um it is deliberate that Richfield does not have a position on that bill and I will be very clear about that but I just wanted everyone to be aware that that's happening thank you I appreciate that transparency any other comments
questions city manager Rodriguez do you have anything else to add I do not thank you mayor and thank you for all of the answering all the questions I know we've been sending a lot your way moving on we'll go to claims and P payroll I move approval of claims and
payroll second moved and seced to approve claims and payroll is there any discussion all in favor please say I I all opposed we've approved the claims and payroll next we'll move on to the
hats off to Hometown hits and we'll try and mix it up a little bit here so let's start off with council member Burke no unfortunately I have nothing today um council member hey lri um I just wanted to share we Richfield hosted the mindat active Transportation Summit
last week uh so rich public work staff gave a great presentation about how we've integrated and active Transportation just means bicycling walking uh things outside of a car um they gave a great presentation um about what Richfield does uh it was a winter theme and that we worked out really well
that we planned that storm you know the night of so we got to see how the clearing operations go the second day I helped lead a walking tour with Chris link our Deputy uh director of Public Works who is of course also in charge of the snowplowing cruise and he got to talk about how the design of the street and the sidewalk you know affect the ability to plow them well and all of
that and another close Richfield connection our former Richfield School safe for USA School director um our coordinator uh will wislow was the mot staff member who was organizing that so that was just very exciting uh glad to be a part of it and thanks to public works for doing that I will also give
another plug to be sure to vote Richfield uh by Thursday uh on the strongest toown contest at strongest town.com and thank you everyone for promoting that thank you council member Christensen yes uh this past several weeks and the next few weeks to come
I've been involved in the uh Citizen Police Academy that's held here on Thursday evenings and it's been a very great uh learning experience for the many many citizens that are coming out to learn all about how the police department works and uh what the
community does to keep everybody safe in the community that I believe I've heard this is the largest group that they've had in several years thank you council member Coleman Woods thank you uh mayor I definitely want to recognize those Athena award
finalists at Richfield High School um some of them are kids that I've known since they were little little um Little Athletes um and so uh shout out to annia Johnson Zary renie Desiree Chapelle uh Mandy Maddie
men excuse me Audrey Olsen and Emma gavet they are um and I I think ultimately Audrey olssen was the finalist and uh I've probably known Audrey olon since she was before she was
in kindergarten so I think I'm um I'm proud to see that those ladies have really come into their own and and Tak Athletics and their student leadership and uh really raise the bar so thank you
and congratulations thank you I wanted to do a um hats off to community development director palman and to the youth youth Frontiers program so we were invited to um participate in a a women's leadership
conference for high school young women in high school and it was put on by at um visitation High School by youth Frontiers and they invited people from around the metro and there were people there I believe from Holy Angels so anyway I walked in and there was
community development director palman that volunteered and gave her time to work on that and it was really really inspiring um talking to all these young women it was like a whole um gymnasium full of just enthusiastic young women from all over the Metro that were really
excited and there were some great discussions so hats off to all the young women and youth Frontiers and to community development director palman for donating her time for that and I'll also do a hats off to our Public Works crew because that was really heavy snow so thank you everybody for plowing us
out and helping us get back up and running functioning well and and BJ skoo who lives here in Richfield was the one that invited us all to be participate in it so so that's so awesome so thank you next we're going to move on to a
closed session and at this point the council is moving into a closed session meeting pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 13d .05 subdivision
3B for an attorney client privilege discussion regarding pending litigation Michael P kundi versus the city of rich field at all US District Court District of Minnesota so can I get a motion to recess the regular meeting and move into
a closed session meeting so moved second it's been moved by council member Burke and seconded by council member um Coleman woods so all in favor please say I I I all opposed and then we'll move into Clos
session so we're going to be going to the conference room and then we'll come back after the Clos session thank you e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e does not compromise okay so we need to are everybody's back okay the council will now reconvene the
regular meeting following the closed session meeting so looking at the agenda we have completed everything on the agenda so I would entertain a motion to adjourn the
meeting so moved second second it's been moved in second and to adjourn the meeting all in favor please say I I all opposed We Stand adjourned