So, we on the ear sign isn't on yet. Do we have to wait for that? Oh, there we go. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order this regular meeting of the Richfield City Council. It is May 13th at 700 PM. If you're able, please
rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Thank you. Um, without objection, I'd like to make a slight change to the order of the agenda so that we can have the STEM school choir perform right away and also have the annual food service awards right away and then we'll go on
to open forum after that. So, if there are no objections and I'm hearing no objections, I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Miles from the STEM school to introduce the choir. Thank you. Thank you so much. That was amazing.
Thank you all. And I'm hoping that she'll come back again next year. We started the same year. music forever as far as I can remember. It's amazing talent. Yeah. All right. Um, next we're going to go on to the
annual food safety awards that we added to the agenda. So, I'm going to um call forward um I believe it is um support services supervisor Jennifer Anderson. And I
think we are still kind of doing a changing of the guard here. So, so thank you again to the STEM school choir. We really appreciated everything that they did. And I'm going to call forward support services supervisor Jennifer Anderson
for the food safety awards. Thank you so much. Good evening. We're moving quickly. Uh good evening, mayor and council members. Uh my name is Jennifer Anderson. and the support services manager. And um we yearly at the city council meeting um recognize our um food
safety um award winners. And so we're doing that tonight. Um for those that are new on the council, um the annual awards are to acknowledge excellence in food safety and service. And it it really focuses on the good work that restaurants do rather than sometimes a
bad inspection that they might have. Um the advisory board of health recommended starting a program in Richfield similar to what Bloomington was doing um and our program began in 2006. So the health inspectors who are staff from Bloomington Environmental Health that we
contract with um nominate three to four candidates in two different um categories based on food collaborative interviews and the actual food inspection results. Um the categories
for um the awards are full service restaurant. So um I believe and there was a question asked last year, what's the difference between a full service restaurant and a fast food pizza carry out cafeteria service? And it has to do with the number of seats available in
the restaurant. So the full service um is a category and then like I said fast food, pizza carry out. Um there's a team of interviewers that visits each site to conduct interviews. Um they are members of the Richfield Bloomington Food Collaborative. They are food managers,
restaurant owners, health inspectors, public health staff. Um and that food collaborative meets quarterly um throughout the year. So the nominees are judged on how they manage risk factors on a daily basis in the restaurant. Um how the establishment
encourages workers to be motivated about serving safe food. um protocol around if employees show up sick to work, all these policies are documented, information and data is kept, and if um if they're keeping up with all that. And
there's there's several other criteria. Um that's all a part of um getting to um an actual um winning the award. So after these interviews, the results are provided to the Richfield Advisory Board of Health and
they kind of approve the winners and we call the winners, let them know. We bring them uh up in front of the council to um provide them their award um giving them some um some exposure. Um and then we also have those who were nominated
but did not win. Um and I typically handd deliver those certificates to the managers and owners after this presentation. So this evening we have two winners. The um food safety award for
full service restaurant goes to Broadway Pizza. And if John Sturbeck is here, come on up. Yeah. [Applause] Awesome. Thank you. Okay. And the uh
winner for um fast food pizza cafeteria service. It's everybody's favorite Dairy Queen on [Music] E66. Vicky Nielsen and her husband. Um and then those who were nominated um but did not win were
Gordanos, Taco Bell, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and Mikohana Tasty at 66th the Nicollet. So, they'll be getting their certificates of um recognition for being nominated until next year. Thank
you. Thank you to all the winners and to all of the nominees. We really appreciate all you do for our community. Next, we're going to move on to our open forum. Um, for those of you that are watching online, if you want to participate in the future, you can share
your comments in person by voicemail or email, and you may request to participate virtually. For more information on submitting comments, refer to the council agenda minutes page on richfieldm.gov/city council. And the way
that this works is we'll start out with the in-person comments and you can tell your your name and your address and you have three minutes to address the group and then after that we also have a number of comments that were submitted. So right now I have one person with um
that's signed up for an inperson you can join us up here and since I have your card you don't have to sign in or anything. So you just um introduce yourself. So I'm going to call up Mr. civil and you can have the floor.
Thank you. Um, council members, thank you for giving me the opportunity to to say what I want to say. Um, so my name is Puh Civ. We own the property at 6226 Fth Avenue South. Um, a few years ago, my in-laws, they bought this house in
2000 where my wife grew up. Um, they've since retired and moved to a senior living facility about a mile away from their their house, and we've used that home as a as a short-term rental since for additional income to support their daily living and medical expenses. Um, I
just a little background, I've got 27 years as a commercial banker. I'm also 16 years as a licensed realtor. Own several small businesses including restaurants, construction, assisted living, as well as short-term rentals. We have short-term rentals here in Richfield, here throughout the metro, up
in some rural areas, Scottsdale, things like that. So, we have a really good understanding of how it works. What we learned is number one, you have to respect your neighbors. Uh, and number two, you want to make sure it's safe for whoever is visiting the place. So, I understand there are some issues, but I
think those issues are more isolated as opposed to a general broad issue. Uh, for example, if one house is throwing a party, they should be fined because those are not allowed. I know the city of Chanhassen, they have three violations within a year, then you lose
your rental license for that year. So, if I get a complaint from my neighbors, I make sure I address that right away. And if I don't, then that's where I get fined. So, again, I feel I believe those that don't understand shorts may be against it. But I think uh there was an
article I emailed to the city this morning. New York had a one-year ban. After one year of banning uh limiting to 30 days, they've learned that number one, it did not improve housing or afford affordable housing, let alone increase rents because the people that relied on that short-term income had to
increase their rents for long-term. Hotel prices went up because there were less options available. So therefore, there was less tourists into those cities, meaning that less businesses were coming into the small town. So, I just want to suggest that to council members, voting members, because understanding what I know about
short-term rentals, having it, it can work and there's a way around it, but just by penalizing everyone else that's following the rules, it just doesn't make sense. One last thing I want to add that I'm also a planning commissioner for the city of Eden Prairie. One thing I learned is that I should not restrict
property owners from doing what they want to do with their property, just as long as they're not causing harm to the citizens or endangering one, but that they follow the rules properly. So that's all I had to say. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else here that
wishes to speak that's here in person? All right. Um if you Yeah, you can come up and um if you didn't fill out a card, there's a sheet up there that you can put your name and address down and then you can go ahead and introduce yourself and give
your address and all that good stuff. Pass this over. Sorry, I didn't know the didn't know how it worked. Um, thank you for having the open forum for the mayor and the council members. Uh, my name is Lance Bondis. I own um Ministay,
which is a a property management company which is headquartered here in Ridgefield um at 7108 Chicago Avenue. Uh we currently employ about 24 staff for maintenance, reservations, housekeepers, some of them
are Rich Ridgefield residents. Um I've been dealing with this uh regulation thing for many years. I we formed the Minnesota Vacation Rental Alliance. We have about 200 members. Um, I worked with the city of Minneapolis when they did their regulations. I
worked with the city of Mound, uh, St. Paul and Stillwater. Um, and it's a constant thing and I and I see it happening over and over again. And I hope to work with others to work on a statewide thing to to allow the
activity. One thing I think a lot of cities uh I think miss is we've had over 10,000 reservations since we've started the business in 2017. Minnesota is a place where it's friends and family coming to visit
friends and family. By regulating this activity, you're regulating and and not allowing people to come and visit their their friends and their families that live in your city. Um, it's expensive if if you're a family of four or five or six to get three
hotel rooms to get four and to not be able to cook in your rooms. That's what these these accommodations allow for out of those 10,000 reservations or more. I think we've had four parties. I mean, it's very minimal. Um, there's ways to mitigate that with noise monitoring
equipment that we have in our homes. Um, we get selfie IDs with a selfie with every person that that comes. Um uh the you know the you can you can we pay taxes on a monthly basis to all
different counties and cities um that have different taxes. Minneapolis has a 3% lodging tax. St. Paul's got a lodging tax. Burnsville has a lodging tax. They're all regulated and they're they're done through the um department department of revenue and large
platforms like Airbnb and VBO. can actually get them to pay it on on host's behalf. Um, we pay it because we're the merchant of record on a lot of our our our properties. We currently manage two homes here in Ridgefield for owners. Um, I don't know if if I didn't see it in
the in the roll call thing, but I know one of the owners um sent in a letter and you know, and I'll just read a little bit of what she said just because it I think it it's part of the other reason it really hits home for for this is that um although we don't live live
there full-time, we stay we stay several times a year visiting friends, cheering on the links, and simply enjoying the backyard with family. We bought this home because it's less than a mile away from our parents and we love who love the Richfield community. So, some of this isn't just a matter of of trying to
ban a situation that I don't really see as being an issue. I don't know how many complaints there's been, but if it's noise there, you have an ordinance for noise. You have an ordinance for garbage. You have an ordinance for parking and just about everything else. So, you're approaching the end of your
time limit. So, if you could just finish Okay. your thought. Thank you. Sure. Um, yeah, I just think, uh, I hope you can keep the visiting dollars here in Richfield. Um, protecting, uh, uh, property owners rights. Um, you
know, grandfathering, if you're not going to do that, at least grandfather responsible hosts. Um, and require an annual licensing. Um, I hope you'll take the time to to step back from your ordinance that you have planned and uh reconvene and meet with people that uh can help
you draft a better uh ordinance. Thanks. All right. Thank you. Is there anyone else that's here in person that wishes to speak? All right. And if since you didn't fill out a card, make sure that you um um sign in and remember to give us your
name and your address. Then you have three minutes to speak once you start. All right. Uh my name is John Lucas Ericson. Uh I'm a short-term rental operator at 7014 Elliot. Uh, I'll be brief because most of what I had to say has already been said.
Um, couple points to add. A lot of host calendars book out pretty far in advance. In my case, it's 18 months, and I have quite a bit of reservations throughout next summer and fall. So, whatever you guys end up deciding, uh,
as far as new changes to the duration, uh, if the effective date could keep that in mind, I think we'd really appreciate that. Other than that, um, yeah, just about everything that I had has already been said, so I won't waste your time by
repeating it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Is there anyone else that is here in person that wishes to speak? So, we have a number of open forum comments that have been um sent in. I don't know if it's via email or
voicemail, but um city clerk Friedrich, I believe you and city manager Rodriguez have several of them to share with us. And I'll go ahead and do the timing with those as well, so they get the same three minutes as the people in person. Wonderful. We did have some uh comments that we received where the speakers
actually spoke in person today, so we won't reiterate those again. Okay. The first one we have is from Tong Bang Lee. I'd like to thank thank for the efforts that the city is working on to make Richfield a better place for us and I
totally understand that. However, the STR ban restriction is unnecessary for some reasons. For example, it makes sense to avoid bookings under 5 days because these segments may be likely to have parties or something to that sort. I myself have a rental property here and
I have no issue with tenants over 5 days as I restrict all bookings must be over 5 days. It'd be tough if the restriction bar is 30 days, which makes the business become harder in the long run. Rather than that, I would suggest the city should have a regulation about requiring
ID verification before accepting the bookings, which I am currently doing that for my tenants to ensure the safety of the house as well as the neighborhood. I hope that it'll be a reasonable decision making for both sides and city and business owners. Please kindly hear me out and let me know if you have any further questions
or concerns. Thank you for your time. And the second one for tonight is from No Koakun. Good evening. Our names are Noi Kioakum and Maurice Mitchell, owners of
7432 Elliot Avenue South Richfield, Minnesota. We live in Denver, Colorado for a majority of the year. And while we don't live in Richfield full-time, we stay here several times a year, visiting family, cheering on the links, and enjoying the community we love. Our home is less than a mile from my parents, and
short-term renting helps us keep it in the family by covering taxes and maintenance. We take this responsibility seriously. Our professional manager, Minsay, screens every guest, enforces quiet hours, and lives nearby. In the past 5 years, they have had zero noise
complaints because good neighbors matter to them and us. Short-term guests also support local businesses. They eat at local restaurants, shop in town, and bring dollars that would otherwise go to hotels elsewhere. A simple 3% lodging tax, already common in Minnesota, could
even help fund city services without raising property taxes. Please don't ban short-term rentals. Instead, set clear, fair rules like licensing, safety inspections, and lodging tax. and allow responsible owners like us to continue. We love this home and this city. Let's
find a path forward that works for everyone. Thank you. No, Komaam Aun and Maurice Mitchell. I have uh one on short-term rentals and one on uh the pump and munch
uh agenda item. So, the first one is, I would like to voice my concern about restrictions about restricting short-term rentals. I am not in favor of imposing a minimum of 30 days. This is for legal reasons because of the difference between a guest and a tenant. I grew up in Richfield and purchased my
parents house when they needed to move on. My husband and I enjoy hosting guests in the house and have never had any complaints from the neighbor at this location. Most of our guests do decide to stay 30 days or more, but even for stays longer than 30 days, we prefer to
write the lease for a shorter period and renew it as needed. We have only had one bad experience at a different location outside of Richfield, but it taught us the danger of leases longer than 30 days. The renters had a domestic problem
which resulted in a fight and screaming that disrupted the neighbors. With a short-term lease, less than 30 days lease, we could have removed them promptly. However, because they got a longer lease, the state of Minnesota considered them tenants, not short-term guests, and we had to go through a
lengthy eviction process to remove them from the premises. This meant that neighbors had to put up with the numerous disruptive disruptions involving police calls for months, and we suffered property damage. We learned that the experience to limit
leases to a shorter duration which can be renewed for good renters to protect both of us and the neighbors in the event of a problem. We have hosted guests in Richfield for a variety of stays. Some of the most recent have been grandparents coming to spend time near
family. A young man from Duth who had several weeks of medical tests and needed a home where he could prepare specialized meals. a professor with a week-long teaching assignment and our current guest, a doctor and nurse who just moved to the area from out of state to start new jobs but needed a place to
stay until they could get their permanent home. We are proud to provide a service that is needed in the community after enjoying their stay at our house. Both the doctor and nurse couple and the grandparents are considering purchasing homes in
Richfield. So, we are happy to be ambassadors for the city. As you consider restricting stays to 30 days or more, please consult with an attorney and provide guidance to landlords on how to avoid the tenant situation for temporary guests if you are forcing
longer stays. Thank you for your consideration, Nancy Stoddard. And then I have a comment that was uh submitted anonymously. Uh, dear Richfield leaders, thank you for taking action to shut down pump and munch alcohol and tobacco sales
to minors. It is widely known among the community as being a place where minors can procure alcohol and tobacco products as a minor. I especially want to thank the local police for their for taking action. These vape products are highly destructive and can have long-term
health consequences for our children. To the owner of Pump and Munch, you are praying on our youth. The parents of the surrounding area will continue to endeavor to expose losers like you. I hope the loss of your tobacco license causes you great distress distress.
Further, I hope that Richfield police keep a close eye on you now that you have been outed as a threat to our community. And it's signed an anonymous parent who is still watching you. And that's all I have tonight. I believe there was also um city attorney Teen, you had another
document. Is that part of the open forum or Um, mayor and council, we can address that when we get to the public hearing item on the agenda. Okay. So, we'll save that for the public hearing. Thank you. All right. And is that all are those all
of the comments that were submitted that way? Is there anyone else that's here in person that wishes to speak? All right. So, what's going to happen is we do have a public hearing later in um the agenda that deals with
the issue of the tobacco license. So, um people will have a chance to speak at that point as well. So, with that, we're going to close the open forum and move on to approval of the minutes of the city council work session meeting from
April 22nd, 2025 and the city council regular meeting from April 22nd, 2025. And I should add thank you to everyone who spoke at open forum and everyone who submitted comments. So, I appreciate that. Now, moving on to the minutes. I
move approval of both sets of minutes. I'll second that. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. All opposed. We've approved both sets of minutes. Next, we'll move on to our
presentations. And the first is a proclamation celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month. And I'm going to be joined by um school board member Ken Liss who is uh the liaison to the human human rights
commission in Richfield. So if you can meet me up at the podium that would be great. So, thank you for joining us schoolboard member list and this is a proclamation of the city of Richfield. Whereas Jewish American Heritage Month celebrates the
culture, heritage and traditions of Jewish Americans and all their achievements and contributions to Richfield, Minnesota, the United States, and the world. And whereas 2025 marks the 45th annual celebration of
achievements and contributions by Jewish Americans starting with the establishment of Jewish American Heritage Week in 1980 and expanded upon in 2026 when President George W. Bush and Congress ordered that the country observe an annual Jewish American
Heritage Month each May. And whereas over 7.5 million Jewish Americans have contributed to the many aspects of American society, including arts, education, sports, law, medicine, and
public service, and more. And whereas Jewish Americans have fought honorably, a number earning the Medal of Honor to ensure our freedom by serving in colonial militias in the American Revolution and all American military conflict since the establishment of the
United States. And whereas Richfield is home to important Jewish cemeteries including the Minneapolis Jewish Cemetery founded in 1890, the United Hebrew Brothers Cemetery, Gemilisk Hessed Cemetery, and the Benet Amet
Cemetery. And whereas we celebrate the rich heritage of the Jewish American community, we recognize tireless work to strengthen the promise of religious freedom and civil rights by joining together with all faiths to reject ignorance and intolerance, teach empathy
and compassion, and root out hatred wherever it exists. And whereas the city of Richfield is proud of the people, community, and businesses of Jewish Americans, we look forward to the continuing success of Jewish Americans in our community. And whereas the
Richfield Human Rights Commission supported a proclamation celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month in its April 1st, 2025 meeting. Now therefore, I, Mary Supple, mayor of Richfield, on behalf of the Richfield City Council, do
hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 as Jewish American Heritage Month in the city of Richfield and call on the people of Richfield to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies, and continue to honor the contributions of Jewish Americans
throughout the year. Proclaim this 13th day of May, 2025. All right. Thank you very much. And did you want to [Applause] Okay, first putting on my hat hat as a school board member. Wasn't it great to
see one of our great elementary schools um sing for today? That was great. I'll have to make sure the rest of the board knows they were here. Um, on behalf of the Jewish community of Richfield, um, I want to thank you for recognizing
Jewish American His heritage month. It's it's a big deal. Um, my family came over to Minnesota from Bellarus and Ukraine back in 1913. And while they didn't, you know, they didn't live in Richfield proper, many of my family now live in
the cemeteries that we um that are here in Richfield. So, it's still an important part of our heritage and that, you know, the Jewish American um community has done a lot for this for this um state and city and all that. So,
without much ado, thank you very much for recognizing our people. [Applause] Thank you. So, next I would like to invite forward
Chief Jay Henthornne of the Richville Police Department. And I don't know if you want any other officers to join you or how you want to do this or not. Are they they're being shy? Is this They're shy. All right. This is a proclamation of the city of Richfield.
Whereas the people of this community wished to join the entire nation in recognizing the valor, bravery, and dedication to duty of our law enforcement officers. And whereas President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15th
as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as police week and declared that all flags of the United States be flown at half staff on that date. And whereas 345 new names will be added to the national monument in
2025. And whereas this city of Richfield recognizes that our law enforcement officers who day by day, hour by hour, serve not only as law enforcement agents of this city to protect life and property, but are indeed friend, neighbor, and guardian. Now therefore,
I, Mary Supple, mayor of the city of Richfield, do hereby proclaim May 11th through the 17, 2025 as National Police Week and May 15, 2025 as Peace Officers Memorial Day in the city of Richfield and call upon every citizen to honor and
memorialize the those law enforcement officers in this country and city who have lost their lives in the defense of our homes, families, or property. and to join with our law enforcement officers in acknowledging our thanks for their service, valor, and dedication to duty
and our pledge of continued support for their unending war on crime and promotion of safety through enforcement in the year ahead. Proclaimed this 13th day of May, 2025. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you, Madame Mayor and Council Member. First and foremost, I want to
thank the community for all the support. Uh I've been here for 35 years and I think it's the best community in the state of Minnesota. I also want to thank my staff um who go out every day unwavering and provide uh great service to the community. Um I also want to
basically from go out from the police department, our hearts and prayers to the Minnesota departments that are out in DC this week um having their loved ones etched in the marble um as they gave the ultimate sacrifice. And those departments are Burnsville officers Lstrand and Rugie Minneapolis and their
police officer Mitchell, Red Lake Tribal Police, Officer Branch. As the incoming president of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, I had the opportunity to meet with these families at our annual conference in Rochester in April. Um, meeting with them and hearing
the sacrifices and the hurt, but also the pride in their voices was something that I've never experienced. Um, I was very honored and privileged to present their families with the Police Cross and the Medal of Honor um for the ultimate sacrifice these officers made. So, thank
you very much. [Applause] Thank you and thank you for your service. Next, we will 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 changes? All in favor of approving the agenda, please say I. I. Okay. All opposed. And we will move on. The agenda has been
approved. Our next item of business is the consent calendar. And I'll 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, consider approval of an annual request for a temporary onsale intoxicating liquor license for the Academy of Holy
Angels located at 6600 Nicollet Avenue South for their annual Holy Angels Rock the Lawn event taking place Friday, June 13, 2025. Item B, consider approval to set a public hearing to be held on May 27th to
consider the issuance of a new on sale wine and 3.2% 2% malt liquor license for Mc Richfield LLC doing business as DragonPP located at 96966 Street East. Item C, consider
consideration of the approval of the cannabis and substance abuse prevention services agreement with Bloomington Public Health. Item D, consider the approval of an agreement with the city of Bloomington for the provision of food, pools, lodging, therapeutic
massage, and body art establishment inspection services for the city of Richfield for 2026. Item E, consider approval of the bid tabulation and authorize the mayor and city manager to execute a contract with New Look Contracting, Inc. for the
70th Street Safe Routes to School project in the amount of $624,672.75 and authorize the city manager to approve contract changes up to 175,000 without further city council consideration. Item F, consider adoption of a
resolution accepting a safe routes to school infrastructure grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation for intersection improvements along 64th Street and Russell Avenue in the area of Sheridan Hills Elementary. Item G, consider approval of
a maintenance agreement with 9M Creek WHED district that defines ownership and maintenance responsibilities for certain storm water infrastructure in and surrounding Adams Hill Pond. Item H, consider approval of an agreement with Laughler Construction LLC to perform
construction management services for improvements to Veterans Memorial Park, including the Richfield Public Pool and Ice Arena. And item I, Richfield 4th of Commi, Richfield 4th of July committee celebration licenses application. And I
submit all of these for your approval as part of the consent calendar. Thank you. Oh, I move to approve the consent calendar as I'll second it. It's been moved and seconded to approve the consent calendar. Is there any discussion?
Hearing none. All in favor of approving the consent calendar, please say I. I. I. All opposed. And we have approved the consent calendar. Our next order of business is a public hearing. and I'm going to turn it over to council member Hayford Deliri. Thank you. Thank you,
mayor. Mayor, uh, this item is to consider approval of a resolution authorizing the 90-day suspension of a tobacco license issued to Lindale Pump and Munch located at 6300 Lindale Avenue South for egregious flavored product and underage sales violations. The
recommended suspension dates are May 13, 2025 through August 11th, 2025. Along with the suspension of the tobacco license, any additional violations of city code or state law relating to the operation of the business or the sale of tobacco products before February 12th, 2028 will result
in immediate revocation of the license. From the executive summary, uh, with the implementation of the flavored product prohibition that went into effect January 1st, 2024, the city has seen a steady increase in complaints for not only the illegal sale of flavored tobacco products, flavored products, but
also sale to underage youth by several licensed tobacco retailers. Complaints have come from multiple sources and have led the city to recommend a more severe penalty. The attached resolution outlines the actions and events involving the Lindale pump and munch over the past 13 months. staff feel the recommended suspension sends a message
that this type of disregard for city policy and the protections put in place to keep youth from the harms of tobacco use will not be tolerated in Richfield. The city will continue to enforce, investigate, and hold accountable all tobacco retailers who violate local and state laws. Um, in just a second, I'm
going to have staff add some additional things. We're not going to read the resolution. Of course, it is a public document, but I will just note the some of the reasons why staff described this as egregious. There are many tips related to under underage sales. They refused regulators access to do it where regulators, state regulators could get
access, they determined there were violations and executing a search warrant, they found 2,412 inventory items that were in violation of city code. Um, I believe staff have some additional things to add for context.
Um, mayor and council, if I might just um have some prelim preliminary comments and staff may have more to add. This is addressed in the council uh memo, but I wanted to highlight for the council that staff's uh original recommendation on
this was a revocation of the license and lency through their legal council had reached out to us um wondering if the city would consider um uh a lesser penalty in the form of a suspension
rather than revocation. After much discussion um with uh staff and with the lency and their legal counsel um staff did um agree to a recommendation for a lengthy suspension and I wanted the
council to just know and this again this in the council memo but to highlight that the lency has agreed essentially consented to the 90-day suspension. Um and so staff felt comfortable with that. um after much discussion again given the
circumstances believe the resolution kind of speaks for itself with the factual um background uh and the circumstances surrounding this I I know that the lency is here with their attorney tonight and would like to address the council but I wanted you just just to highlight that information
for the council tonight. Uh does staff have anything else to add before the public hearing? Sounds like no. Okay. Um, so we'll have a public hearing in just a second. Uh, any resident wishing to participate in the public hearing, you'll proceed to
the podium one at a time. After I open the public hearing, you'll provide your name and address prior to your comment. Council will hear your comment. If you'd like staff to sign up, please include your name and phone number or email on the sign-in document located at 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 but not respond. If questions are asked, they may be discussed as part of the council discussion uh on the issue or staff will follow up after the meeting. Um so the
public hearing for the suspension of the license for pump and munch is now open. So you can and this would be an opportunity for the business owner or any member of the public to come forward and uh speak to us. name is Mitchell Hadler. I'm an attorney
and I uh represent uh the Lindale Pump and Munch uh store. It's a gas station and with a convenience store. It's been located uh and operated at that location under the owner, Mr. Muhammad Salah,
who's also here present with me today. He's owned the the store for since 2011, 14 years. Uh I don't know if many of you have uh noticed the store. It's right off of uh 62 in Lindale and they have
the least expensive gas in in the city of Richfield. They also have a convenience store and uh many customers have come by and uh do support the uh the store and its continued uh existence and continued
operation including the sale of tobacco. Um, so members of this, uh, city council and city attorney, mayor, representatives of the department of public safety, um, I thank you for the opportunity to
speak today on behalf of my client, which is Lindel Pump and Munch and the owner, Mr. Celeb, licensed, authorized to sell tobacco products in the city of Richfield, along with other convenience items for consumers.
uh my client and I and uh Mr. Silah recognize the serious nature of the violations that have occurred and appreciate uh the city's willingness to uh have me approach the city uh city attorney and
consider a path forward short of license reification. and we understand it was a serious event or several events and um I'm thankful to the city attorney for uh hearing me out and giving me this opportunity also with the city council
here. First and foremost, my client lency Mr. and Lindel Pump and Munch take full responsible full and unequivocal responsibility for the violations of the Richville ordinances that occurred under
the license. While day-to-day operations of the store are uh delegated to managers and employees, uh the owner understands that ultimate accountability lies with him. uh and he deeply regrets the violations
and impact on the on the community and are fully committed to restoring trust and ensuring full compliance moving forward. To that end, we respectfully request the council to consider the following commitments and corrective actions that are planned for
prompt implementation and hopefully with the input of any uh city officials of our our doors and our ears and our phones are are ready to receive. Uh there will be enhanced o owner oversight of the employees at the uh at the uh
store. uh that the license will now maintain active and direct oversight uh more oversight of the business and regular on-site inspections. There will be employee meetings that will occur to ensure compliance with all city and
state regulations regarding the sale of tobacco and related products. There will be employee training. And so I was going to say you're over the three minutes, but since you're the applicant, we'll allow you to continue even though we're past the three minutes. So go ahead. I'll try to
read faster. Okay. Um the employee training and policy compliance. All managers employees will undergo some sort of uh renewed training on the Richfield ordinances including specific prohibitions on flavored tobacco underage sales and proper
recordkeeping. These trainings will be documented recurring and include uh compliance testing. We'll look for protocols to set these things up. Uh there will be improved ID verification protocols and that would be to combat underage sales and address prior
complaints. Uh there's in process the purchase of u an ID machine uh that will be connected with a database hopefully that can read these licenses and make sure they're valid and and make sure that that the owner's proper age or the
person presenting the identification is of proper age. uh uh they will look at maintaining and share information if if necessary with the log of refused sales and questionable IDs to assist uh in
pattern tracking. Uh we will uh the owner will cooperate with the uh department of public safety and uh we welcome any input and support of the department of public safety to pro to propose u uh various
collaborative uh initiatives uh that would include uh scheduled check-ins with the city inspectors, compliance audits and voluntary walkthroughs. Uh there will be clarification regarding cash handling and I know that might be a subject here that might there might be
some questions on but uh there is an ATM machine at at the at the u at the store and uh that has been uh uh operating for several months now. And uh what happens is as cash comes in, the cash is called,
the $20 bills are called from the register and then various other uh bills are exchanged at the bank. So the ATM machine can be loaded and that's actually enhances their margins because
every time you a commercial uh operation deposits an item in the bank they get charged a service charge even if it's just cash or checks or those those are all um charged every item is charged. So with uh using the ATM machine they can
avoid and reduce those charges. Um there was initial state action involving a lack of receipts that occurred due to a store tenants inability to access a secured storage area. Um we've gone through stacks of um
uh receipts and look for all those items that were uh seized and forfeited. Um and we're looking we do have a receipt for everything that's on that list. We just have to find it. Um and we will uh
develop a new protocol ensuring that all employees on duty can verify inventory sources and provide uh uh contemporary documentation. Finally, my client is committed to full cooperation with the city departments, including uh public safety and
implementing any procedural uh changes that uh will help align with city codes uh and work with oversight and implement uh uh any other programs to uh prevent a
recurrence of the violations. Uh my client recognized that this is not a a good look what happened and we do not minimize the seriousness of the findings. Uh and we ask for the opportunity to prove that this lency is capable of
correcting the course that correcting course becoming compliant and responsible member of the business community in Richfield. Uh the Lency has agreed uh with the work of the city attorney to a 90-day suspension followed by three years of
strict probation and we believe the structured approach rather than a revocation will result in a safer more accountable operation without removing a local business from the community. I'd like to thank the mayor of the city
council council department of public safety for consideration oversight and respectfully request that you allow the lency to demonstrate their renew renewed commitments uh to compliance in the community and to develop community
trust. Thank you. Would anybody else like to address the council at this time? All right, seeing nobody, I will move that we close the public hearing. There was um so testimony was submitted earlier. So before we close the public
hearing, I believe that needs to be read. Uh thank you, mayor. I uh for that reminder, I I just wanted to acknowledge the um the lency through their attorneys submitted a uh document, several pages
um with signatures um in the form of sort of a petition uh in support of the business as um a good neighbor in the city of Richfield. And so I I will submit this to the city clerk for inclusion in the in the in the
record. Okay. Um, again, I will move that we close the public hearing. Second. It's been moved and seconded to close the public hearing. Any discussion? All in favor of closing the public hearing, please say
I. I. All opposed. The public hearing is closed. All right. Um, I certainly welcome discussion on the item, but just to follow our procedure, I will move the recommended action first. Um, I re I move that we approve a resolution authorizing the 90-day suspension of a
tobacco license issued to Lindale Pump and Munch, 6300 Lindale Avenue South, along with the suspension of the tobacco license, any additional violations of city code or state law relating to the operation of the business or the sale of tobacco products before February 12th, 2028 will result in immediate revocation
of the license. So, I move that resolution. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. We are now open for discussion. Is there anything that anyone wishes to say? Go ahead. All right. Go ahead. Um,
Council Member Burke, thank you. Um, I am glad that the city attorney was able to find some resolution in this matter. Um, I did learn from staff that this is the fourth violation since this owner has had this
business. And what especially concerns me is the THC element. It's an allegation at this time, but that is a great concern to me. And I hope that with this renewed opportunity that you can show that it's
appropriate for you to have lure in this city. Hopefully over the three years you can demonstrate that. But as I said, this is the fourth violation since you own the property and hopefully it's not going to be a backsliding into past habits.
Good luck with it. Council member Coleman Woods. Thank you, Mayor. I am I'm alarmed that the parents reached out to us uh that parents in the community are concerned about what's being sold at the at your store. I have
two children of my own and uh to hear that other cities around us know that your your facility may be allegedly easy to get products from that concerns me. Um so I hope that you can tighten it up and that you can get compliant and that
you can continue to do business here. Any other further discussion? Council member Hayer Liri. Um, just for context, I wonder if staff could share uh it's it's been a while since their last official violation, but I know with alcohol compliance checks, the city has requirements that the
business undergo certain training uh in those previous compliance checks where they failed, I assume, underage sales or improper products. Did they undergo some sort of required training at that time or would they have? At any time there's a tobacco uh compliance failure, there is a fine that
is implemented based on um whether it's the first, second, third or fourth failure. Um and there is um a suspension there. Unlike to unlike um liquor which is required to do an online sales
training, there is not tobacco training in place. When we meet with the owners and bring them in, we talk about what an adult license looks like and what an under 21 license looks like. And Minnesota's made that very easy. An
under 21 license is a vertical. An adult license is a horizontal. There should be no mistake in selling to anybody under 21. Um to date, that's that's what's
happened uh when we've met with owners of tobacco stores. Um Okay. Thank you. So, I'm hearing that you you provide some coaching, but it's less comprehensive than what we require for the alcohol violations. Yeah. And I I will say a lot of these problems have come
forth after the flavored prohibition went into effect January of 2024. Never have we had something like this. Um a compliance failure. You know, we might have an underage sale. We might have a store that sold, you know, a
package of of flavored tobacco that was floating in, you know, under the the counters that didn't get removed. Um but this was um this was something on a whole different level. Um and so this is you know it's kind of
a first um for the city to consider this. It's kind of egregious sale. Okay. Thank you. Um I will say I I will vote for this resolution if it feels like that's where the consensus is at. I will also say I think staff's initial
recommendation of revocation was more fitting of the violation. Um what troubles me more than anything, you know, we have like once a year we we assess violations for underage sales of alcohol and it very often feels like an honest mistake when that's enforceable,
but it's it's an employee that didn't get adequate training. They get the training. This is very clearly a pattern of behavior. You know, you're breaking the law and you're doing it over and over and over again. And that really troubles me. Um, I support this only because staff feel it's sort of easier
and more practical to administer. Um, given that there's agreement between staff and the license holder, but we we should be taking away your license. Uh, this is way way beyond the veil. Um, I hope that I am pleasantly surprised that you don't have another violation in the
next three years. Any other comments? Then I will add um that this was extremely troubling when I started reading through all of the documentation and all of the allegations and all of
the things that were going on. Um it's really important to remember that there's a reason that we have local and state laws. They're not just suggestions. There are things that are thought through. There was a great deal of discussion of what we could do to
keep our community safe and what we thought were the standards in our community and it seems to me that there were egregious violations of those standards. So, it is the law. They are the rules and it's not just something
you can willy-nilly decide whether or not you're going to do. So, I would hope that you would follow the laws strictly from here on out. And I'm disappointed that we have had this situation. This is not okay and we do not want this kind of
behavior in our city. Is there any other discussion? All right. The motion before us is for the 90-day suspension of a tobacco license. All in favor, please say I. I.
All opposed. And we'll note for the record that it was unanimous. Thank you. Moving on, we'll go to item eight, a proposed ordinance, and I'll turn it over to Council Member Burke. So, the item for cons council
consideration is to consider a first reading of an ordinance restricting short-term rentals. The executive summary, the city's current policy of regulating short-term rentals, STRs, as rental housing, allows operators to avoid many of the
regulations placed on other similar businesses, as outlined in the policy section below. Given this research, staff recommends that STRs of less than one month be allowed only in cases in which the rental license holder lives on site. This recommendation allows continuation
of the use but with closer oversight and more consistency with other policies and requirements. Also, this recommendation is consistent with the strategic plan goal calling for preservation of Richfield as an affordable place to live or housing availability.
The recommendation avoids the sizable difficulty that would be involved with permitting, managing, and enforcing STRs as a lodging establishment, which would require substantial operational changes in multiple departments as well as external agencies such as the
Bloomington Environmental Health. For example, STRs provide short-term lodgings like hotels, motel, but operate in non-commercial areas and therefore pay lower taxes, do not require a lodging license or business license, do
not require the same accessibility requirements, and typically do not pay the tourism tax collected on an honorbased system. STRs operate in residential districts like home occupations and bed and breakfasts, yet do not require an
on-site resident operator or require a conditional use permit. Finally, the economic benefits of STRs to the Richfield community are unclear. STR guests seem less likely than hotel guests to visit local restaurants given that kitchen
facilities are available and owners tend to live outside of Richfield. So the wealth that either home ownership or business ownership brings is not being captured within our borders, within our boundaries. In light of all this, staff
finds that a one-mon limitation is the best approach when a license holder is not also living on site. Staff, is there any additional information? Council member Burke, members of the council, thank you. Um, I'll just remind everyone that we are here because this
came up um after two cycles of the council's policy requests. So, this staff was initially asked to look into this issue as part of the investor ownership concerns um in 2023 and then specifically look at um short-term
rentals as part of a policy request in 2024. Um and our understanding is that the concerns there were related uh not only to property maintenance but also to housing stock, housing availability um and those sorts of things. Um to to
summarize what Council Member Burke just nicely presented, um you know, short-term rentals at this point are getting uh favorable treatment in terms of taxes, in terms of location of commercial businesses, um and in in terms of some of the regulations that
apply to other lodging establishments but don't apply to short-term rentals. Um and then one of the strategic priorities of the strategic plan is to maintain Richfield as an affordable place to live. Uh the latest estimate that we have and this is an estimate
although each est estimate that we get the number goes up. Right now the estimate is that we have um 100 uh short-term rentals. Uh total we have about 700ish single family rentals in the community. And those those single
family rentals as we've talked about many times are a really important part of our um rental ecosystem here in Richfield. they provide larger units for families, but also 100 100 um single family homes would that are used for
short-term rentals are things that could be used for long-term residents. So given um the fact that we've this has come up twice for us in terms of complaints and you've asked us to look at it um when we've reviewed the regulations for consistency with other
uh businesses that we regulate in the community and uh the affordability, you know, it's a housing affordability crisis and a housing crisis. It's not, as far as I know, a lodging crisis. Um, we are recommending limiting uh short-term rentals to sites where an
owner um or a license holder is on site. And I'm happy to answer any questions. Are there any questions? Um, Council Member Hayford, just for context, uh, you said 100 of 700 of the rental single family homes.
How many total single family homes are there in Mitchfield? about I don't know that number off the top of my head. Okay. I'm sorry. Do you have any like ballpark of like what percentage surgery mentals would be or anything like that? I Okay. I do not. Okay. Thanks.
Other questions? All right. So, would you like to make the motion then? Is there um So, I move to approve um the recommended action to approve a first reading of an
ordinance restricting short-term rentals to no less than one month unless the rental license holder resides on site. Is there a second? I'll second that. Now, we are open for discussion. Is there anyone who wishes to discuss the
matter? Council member Hay for Liry. was reflecting today on how this first came before us. Um, and it was I think it was a a neighbor I know one of the first folks was here today and has been very steadfast in this issue. A neighbor of a sing or a short-term rental who was
troubled by quick turnover. And I thought it was interesting, you know, hearing from him and hearing from other folks who live next to short-term rentals. Um, a lot of the violations aren't necessarily the types of things that the owners talked about. It's it's not always a party noise complaint that,
you know, is a quick thing to address. A lot of it can just be the reality of very quick turnover of properties, and I recognize that. So, that might mean people using outdoor amenities um very intensely in a way that long-term residents don't. It might mean simply having several cars uh turning over late
at night and that being disturbing to neighboring properties. And I'm sympathetic to those to those arguments. That is a sort of disturbance that we don't contemplate and is very difficult to regulate in other ways. But I also feel like the the concerns that were brought to us that led us down this path were really
limited to the very quick turnover, the one or two night stays where people are maximizing that fire pit or that hot tub where people are coming and going at 10 p.m. because they just got home from the airport. And I think that those can be addressed
in a much shorter uh time period as a minimum. Um and I will make a motion shortly that we consider um amending that to one week rather than one month. The reason I think that one week is more appropriate, I think it's still responsive to the concerns that we heard. Um it's still addressing this
very quick turnover. It allows the novelty of the yard to wear off, but it's much more realistic to the way that these are used. I can't think of the last time I took a vacation that was 30 days plus somewhere. If I have a family member and I do a family members visit from Montana and I'm not able to have
them in my house, um I would have to tell them to to stay in Minneapolis. Um I can't I can't do anything to have them in the city that I live in and that I represent. And I think we're only hurting visitors and residents by doing that. I don't think we're protecting residents by going beyond one week. Um I
think that would address again the initial concerns that we have but still keep this open regarding the concerns about housing affordability. I I am sympathetic to that too. Um however I think um although we don't have the number handy of the total number of
single family homes. I will say one one owner has claimed it's half a percent of all of our homes. I don't know if that's accurate but I do know from our garbage process I think it was in the neighborhood of 10,000 total homes. So, a 100 homes we're talking about, whatever that total number um is, is is
pretty small. In addition, were we to go forward with a oneweek restriction, some owners will drop off. That is going to be too restrictive for many. And owners who are considering buying an affordable single family house and turning it into a short-term rental are going to be discouraged because Minneapolis does have a looser regulation and it would be
a a better city to start your business in. By doing one week, we will likely slightly reduce the number of these homes. We will still provide opportunities for family who are visiting or folks who want to use this and we won't be completely shutting out the business owners who who have invested and I think particularly the
ones that have taken the care to reach out are really trying to run a decent business here. I think it's an amenity to our residents. I think it addresses the concerns um and I would ask for your support in that amendment. U I don't know if there's a desire for general conversation. I think
I'll just make the motion for that and then we can discuss. So, I move that we direct staff to change it to a oneweek minimum rather than a one-mon minimum. Is there a second for that amendment? Second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. So, now we're discussing the
amendment of whether we should go from 30 days to one week. Is there a comment? Council member Burke. Thank you. Um, you know, the staff did a, I think, a great job in doing some research and finding numbers and information, looking
at the law. Um, I'm concerned with the idea that Richfield will allow short-term rentals of a week and that somehow Richfield will somehow ignore the fact that if you
make it a week that those facilities have to be ADA compliant. They have to be accessible to people with disabilities. There al there's additional um enforcement that'll have to be taken upon by the city and
contracted I assume to um to uh Bloomington perhaps or and it just seems the added cost, the added effort um ensuring that these places are ADA compliant, it just
doesn't seem that um that a week is appropriate. I think the 30 days is fine. Um, considering that we have neighboring communities that don't allow them at all and I know for people who already own properties that seems quite
restrictive. Um, but I think the 30 days would be appropriate. I I I would say hearing some testimony today that um instead of uh you know perhaps lengthening the time period
um for when enforcement would would occur. I know right now it's considered seven months um and I don't know if that requires a separate motion. It probably does, but uh you know I would consider lengthening it to a year um from
enactment to give u those property owners a full year in order that they can go about you know making changes and making some tough decisions. But um so that's where I stand on the issue. All right, other comments on the
amendment. Um Council Member Christensen. Yes, I I echo the sentiments of um both council members. Uh but I tend to want to agree with uh council member uh if on this that um I
agree when talking with people that even people that go wintering like in Arizona or Florida or whatever to stay a month at a minimum somewhere is is pretty difficult to do. Uh, I think with the one week that would
be acceptable because that would possibly cut down on um supposedly whatever you would call party houses type of thing. And it also provides the um amenity for families coming in
because hotels are expensive. They're they're very expensive to stay in if you have a large group of people. And even though they may not be going to uh restaurants or shopping or whatever because they have a place to stay and to cook and everything that um that
wouldn't preclude them from trying new places out in the in the community and and also if you keep it at the one month you're looking at people who own these homes and if you have a one month minimum um they're basically a small business and if we are interested in
keeping small businesses and to support small businesses of any type. You know, this would be one of them. Uh and possibly in the future there would be might need more um regulations for licensing, for enforcement if possible,
for inspections, and for ADA compliant type of thing, and to give these homeowners a chance to at a certain point give them a certain amount of time to adhere to some of these things. So, I would I would definitely uh
except the one week minimum. Other comments, questions? Yes. Um I would have to I am actually in support of uh Council Member Olri's amendment to this motion or the amendment um to
support a one like a one week stay uh for a minimum of five days. I think that this is going to um it's going to help keep keep uh and help us meet these business owners halfway, these homeowners halfway. We're
we're not completely banning it and we're not um we we I don't think we should um accept a status quo or to just keep it the same because I think there are people that are regulating it more. I think the 3% lodging tax could be
something that is going to help benefit our local tax base here and take the burden off of some of our um homeowners here. Um in that way doesn't seem like it's so burdensome. Um but yeah, I I would agree
with council member Hayford also thinking that um that change should take place within um within a reasonable amount of time. I don't think I would agree with 18 months, but uh within a year.
Right. Thank you. Other further comments? Um Council Member Hay Fer, I want to say I really appreciate the council sharing their thoughts and the support I'm hearing for it. Um I I do want to recognize Council Member Burke's concern. Of course, I would love to see more accessible housing. I think it's a
very valid concern. I don't know that the staff is asserting that they're currently in violation or if they're simply saying that hotels are held to a higher standard, which is true. But the the primary reason that doesn't guide me away from from wanting to allow shorter term rentals is because it does not nothing to benefit people with
disabilities to take this away. It only removes an option and frankly, as as one of the testifiers said, creates more competition for hotel rooms ever so slightly given how small of a number we're talking about. Um, I would certainly encourage short-term rental owners whenever possible to um do they everything they can to make their
properties accessible and certainly if there are violations of the law, they would they would be responsible for that if they are found to be discriminating against people with disabilities. But for me, preserving this small option is very important. I think one week addresses the concerns. Um, it doesn't cause this to be an
explosive issue that's going to take over the city. Um, and then just one clarifying comment. It was my intent to have seven days be the minimum. Uh, council member Coleman was you did say five days. Are you comfortable with seven or were you advocating for five? Um, I would be comfortable with five. Okay. Are you not comfortable with
seven? Oh, no. I just either way. Okay. But just to clarify, my intended motion was seven days. Okay. Okay. All right. Um, so I also I want to clarify something that was said earlier about the nature of the complaints. I did hear
from people that where there were egregious party houses and two families have moved out of Richfield because of the party houses next door to them and where people were um doing things like
urinating and um vomiting in public and on their neighbors yards and things like that. So to I think it's fair to say that there were some egregious party houses. it wasn't just people using things in a way. So I think
that we do need to take this seriously. My second thing is that from what I heard from a lot of the owners of short-term rentals is that they were saying that if you do a week, you might
as well do 30 days for some of them. But I've heard other people that now tonight said the opposite. So, I think there's different opinions on that. I would tend to go with the 30-day as the preferred option, but um I I do think either way
we need to deal with the party houses and make sure that we are not forcing people to, you know, residents to be disturbed all of the time because it's a res zoned residential. It's not a commercial district. So, you're not expecting to have your piece disturbed
all the time. So, is there any further discussion or we're going to vote on just the amendment? So, the amendment before us is to change it to a um one week instead of 30
days. So, all in favor, please say I. I. All opposed? Opposed? Opposed. So, we have three people um in in favor and two against. That means the motion passes. So now the main motion that is on the um
floor is that would be restricting the short-term rentals to rentals to no less than one week instead of one month unless the rental license holder resides on site. So is there any further discussion or questions on that?
Council member Hayford Deliri. Um, I will just say it it thankfully hasn't been an area of dispute, but I I am glad and I would have been glad even had we wanted to do the longer restriction with the exception for the single family or the owner that lives on site. Um, we're trying to get more duplexes, more edus in Richfield and I think that is an
option. And given that those short-term stays can be those very short-term, less than a week stays can be the most problematic. Having that added level of supervision, having the neighbor that somebody knows can go talk to, I think is very important. And I'm grateful that both staff and council have generally supported that exception when the owner is on site. Um there were comments
earlier and I would certainly welcome anybody else to make an amendment on the effective date. I was planning on making that amendment uh had the previous one not passed, but I do not feel as strongly given that we would still be keeping a lot of these still available. But if another council member wanted to extend that to like a year from today or
like June 1st, 2026, I would certainly support that. But I don't feel strongly enough to make the motion. Um, community development director Palman. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh, council members, uh, in terms of an effective date, the way that we, uh, rent issue rental licenses,
which short-term rentals are required to have, is that those are issued annually, we do not prorrate those licenses. So um while you could certainly make the effective date of this um you know May 27th when this is second reading of uh
2026 we will not prorate those license fees and folks will um be required to get a full year rental license at the beginning of the year even if they will decide only to operate until the middle of next year. So, could you clarify clarify how much money
that is or I'm sorry, I do not know. I could look it up while you're discussing, but I don't know off the top of my head what a rental license if it's thousands and thousands of dollars that that's a big deal for me. If it's a relatively minor fee, I'm less worried personally. 100.
Okay. So, at least two two owners say that it is between 100 and 200. But so does anybody want to extend it or are we comfortable with this being effective January 1st of next year?
Um, Council Member Coleman Woods. Sorry, that was a long long um and I would say that's I would have to say that January 1st of 26 would be
my I am fine with that and I think also the fact that some people are dealing with difficult houses. I recognize the burden on the on the business owners but this also provides sooner relief to those who are troubled by these very short turnovers. Um, Director Baleman, council member or I'm sorry, u, Mayor Seel, council
members, uh, you could also amend the effective date next time. We could bring you more information on what the Renzo license fee is and how that would actually work in practice for us. Um, one a oneweek minimum is going to be difficult for us to enforce anyway. If we were also then trying to revoke
licenses midyear, that might be tough. But let me talk to the rental licensing staff and bring additional information to the second reading. Okay. Okay, that makes sense. Um, I had another request. It was troubling to me when I was listening to the testimony what it made
it sound like people thought we didn't have a lodging tax because we do have a lodging tax. And while there's an honor system to pay it, it is something that should be have been paid all along. And I'm wondering if there's something we need to do to publicize that more or how
we can enforce that more. Yes. Thank you, mayor. So, um, yes, we've had allowing tax for a long time, and our three hotels have paid it monthly for years. Um, we recently started to get some short-term rentals.
We currently have three that remit checks regularly. um we can do our best to contact them and let them know that they need to be paying this, but um as we've stated at the work sessions, it's it's it is going to be tough to enforce this and the one
week. There's just not a lot of information. So, you don't get addresses when you go to the software platforms. You know, I think that that's tough to to talk about because um I've had a number of my local neighbors get uh
letters about their dog licenses and it has become a point of contention between my neighbors and I. Um if we can figure out who's got a dog, I think we can figure out who's renting out their properties. Um, I think that
that's worth worth it to spend our efforts on collecting a larger tax amount than maybe a $40 dog license. But, um, it's, uh, I would I would agree that this is probably the the length of time
before we implement a, um, what do you call it? a limit on the or the the license and um enforcing that. I think that if it's going to take more time because staff
needs more time to to make it happen, I think that's uh reasonable. I think that's within reason to like extend it out if we aren't able to to do those permits quick enough or update the website for instance.
I would agree that it's troubling that we have not been having people people haven't been paying this. I mean, there have been more than three people commenting and you're saying only three people have been submitting that. So, I think that needs to be part of the information process if we end up, you
know, voting for this ordinance change or even if we don't, we need to let people know what the deal is. So, um, Council Member Burke, and so that I'll I'll just go back to the concern I've already expressed, but it seems like it's even more um salient
is that you would think enforcing money is pretty straightforward, but it's even more difficult to enforce ADA compliance. And that's the law. It's required. And the fact that it's not going to be enforced, that's a real
concern. And you know, mayor's already expressed concerns about party houses and so on. Um, that's also a concern, but shortening it to a week brings on a whole host of state and federal laws because these are going to be
considered, you know, hotels or motel by definition. And what I'm hearing from staff is that it's going to be quite a challenge to check on a 100 units to make sure that taxes are being paid, that they're ADA
compliant, that they're all fire standards are being met. Um, it's great to see that the responsible people are here. That's really great. Um, but then who's going to make sure that everyone else is playing by the same rules? So, um, and also just a
procedural question, we will be having a second reading so people can um, send information to the council and make comments now because we're not having a public hearing at this time. But just if there's information that you want to get to us, that's the purpose of having a second reading so we can air what the
issues are and if there's things that people need to talk about, they can. Um, Director Palman, I believe you wanted to add something. Thank you, Mayor Sele. And to address um some of your comments, Council Member Burke, um if we if the council goes ahead and adopts a oneweek minimum, I just want to be clear, we
will not we will not be attempting to enforce ADA requirements on um on these units. There isn't um there isn't a mechanism in place to do that. ADA requirements kick in when you make improvements to the house um or I'm
sorry, make improvements to a business. um there there just is not the infrastructure at the state level, at the city level. Um no one's doing those inspections in in any community that I'm aware of. So I just want to be clear, we will not be changing our
inspection procedures to look for that because we can't. So again, could we just publicize the importance that those things need to be considered and as well as the lodging tax and we've got an audience here and hopefully the network will that
information will get out to people. Yes, we will certainly look at ways to publish um the tourism tax information more broadly um and and work with finance on that. Um, and then,
um, you know, we can we can do our best to encourage everyone to make accessibility improvements, but I don't know that we have a direct route to to encourage these folks. Yes. I have a procedural question about just rental licenses in general. Do you do they have
to pass um, fire safety inspections for any type of rental license? A rental license uh does check for things like smoke detectors um and things like that, but it isn't a it isn't a fire inspection like you would get at a hotel
or a motel. They're not looking for exiting and exit signs and um things that you're going to require in a commercial business. Um things that you generally require in a lodging facility because people are not familiar with the facility. So, you want to make sure they
know how to exit. Those types of things are not looked for in a in a rental um a rental inspection. The assumption is that people live there and they know how to exit. I have another procedural
question. Um is it uh I guess this would be for some of our owners in the room. uh is it get does it give you a fivestar rating if you have ADA compliance or if you are uh better
equipped to host more people or does it is it does it look better for you if you you have smoke detectors and fire detection systems does Verbbo or Airbnb require that you have some of this stuff in in place? So we we can't have um
people answer it directly, but if you could submit that information to the council, that'd be great. That would be awesome. So we have that before the second reading. Um council member Hayford Deliri, I guess I would just ask for the second reading if staff can
clarify. My read on your report is that you were comparing the requirements that apply to hotels versus the requirements that apply to short-term rentals and long-term rentals. Not that you were asserting that these things are required of short-term rentals. So I guess it would be helpful for the next meeting just to understand to what extent they should be following the ADA and to what
extent the city has a legal obligation to ensure that any license holder is doing that. Can you repeat that question? Sure. Um I want clarification. Do they are they in violation currently by not being ADA compliant or are they simply exempt from this rules because of the nature of it?
And if they are in violation, is the city legally obligated to that or is that a matter between a potential person who who was denied access um and the owner? Thank you. Are there other comments, questions, clarifications?
I'm wondering if we can publicize how uh how rigid we'd like to be on their uh if you are to obtain a short-term rental license that you make sure you're ADA compliant and so that
we're not having to regulate it as or have enforce it. Um just you know some rigid language in our city code that sounds like tough if there's any of that available for when people do purchase
properties and then all of a sudden want to turn it into an Airbnb. Here's the rules and regulations. Um just as an example, Daytona Beach has this very code in their like a uh their associate like a what is it? HOA for manufactured
homes in that area that you have to be 55 and older and you have to be you cannot Airbnb the the like manufactured home out. So they don't allow it in their HOAs technically. I don't want to be an HOA but maybe that's some language that
we can include. Okay, we'll go to Director Palman to respond and then I believe Council Member Hay Folder also wants to add something. Thank you. I I believe what I'm hearing, Council Member Coleman Woods, is that you're asking us to establish a more robust program to
regulate short-term rentals. Um, you know, my department does not have the capacity to do that. I can certainly discuss it with other departments. Um, but we do not have the capacity to um train our rental
inspectors in um accessibility. and then enforce that requirement on uh short-term rentals. I don't know that we could, you know, we'd have to talk it over with a city attorney teaching if we would legally be able to do that, but we
do not have the capacity for that. Okay. But if you write the tougher language, maybe it wouldn't be so I don't just ask. Well, we would be the enforcement arm of that and um we we do we do not have the capacity to enforce that.
Understood. Okay. Any other questions before we go on to council member Hford Liry? All right. Council member Hayford Liry. I just wanted to share I am very frustrated hearing several owners suggesting we come up with a lodging tax when there is already one that apparently some of them in this room are
not paying. Um that said, I I do want us to like see the forest for the trees here. Again, currently this is about 100 properties. It will probably be even less with this restriction in place. Um these owners should be on notice that if they're violating the rules, they may be enforced. But I also want us to set realistic expectations of staff that I
they they have many things to deal with and we can't ask them to like hunt down all these details and spend a ton of time on this. In fact, I I would suspect part of the basis of the recommendation for nearly a total ban was just the administrative simplicity of it. We are asking a bit more of them by keeping more of these in the community. I think
that's worth doing and I think it would be reasonable to ask for educational things to be included, but I don't want us to set the expectation that we're going to be able to enforce so much better because we just we just don't have people to do it. All right. So, the motion before us is to approve a first reading of an
ordinance restricting short-term rentals to no less than one week unless the rental license holder resides on site. And is there any further discussion on
that? So, um, a yes vote would be to restrict this and a no vote would be to continue our current policy. Is that correct? I understand that right attorney teaching. All right. So, is everybody clear on what they're voting
on? No. One more thing. Okay. So, right now, this would be an ordinance change to restrict it to no less than one week. So if you vote yes, you want to restrict it to no less than one week. If you vote no, we don't change the ordinance and the current rules stand the way they are
where there's no restriction on time. So So does everybody understand what the vote is at this point? All right. All in favor, please say I. I. All opposed. All right. We have passed
the first reading and to restrict the short-term rentals to no less than one week unless the rental license holder resides on site. Thank you to everybody that testified and for all of the community input. We will have a second reading at our next meeting and so there
is still opportunity if people want to weigh in on the on the matter or give more information. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to the city manager's report. Nothing to report tonight. Thank you.
Thank you. And claims and payroll. Motion to approve claims and payroll. Second. It's been moved and seconded to approve claims and payroll. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. All opposed. And we've approved the
claims and payroll. Next, we'll go to hats off to Hometown Hits, and we'll start with Council Member Coleman Woods. Awesome. Thank you, Mayor. I am uh I'd like to give a hats off to
Hometown Hits to our local Ridgefield High School baseball team because they're in a 100ing tournament fundraiser and it's been ongoing since Saturday morning. and they I hope they're done uh by tonight, but that was continued on into today. They've raised
over $15,000 for the Richfield High School baseball program. Um for those that don't know, the our sports programs only get about $1,500 per program to uh operate. So, all of our high school
fundraisers are for good reason. Um $1,500 doesn't go very far in a baseball program. So, uh, thank you to everyone who supported the program. Uh, I have about 10 family members who who got letters from my son who graciously, uh,
were able to support in any way, shape, or form. So, thank you to all those who have supported the kids around here. Thank you, Council Member Christensen. Yes. uh on behalf of the uh arts commission and the uh local community
center that's hosting this coming up this Thursday is uh the annual uh senior high school Richfield senior high school art exhibit and the uh art I believe the art is up right now at this community
center and they will have a um openhouse type of thing if you want to call it that uh from 4 to 5:00 pm on this Thursday. All right. Thank you, Council Member Hayford Deliri. Um, I was just
going to say a hats off on our concrete project. We in our last budget allocated more money for ADA upgrades to our sidewalks. And a particularly frustrating me even uh thing to me even though I'm not a wheelchair user uh was the 73rd Street crossing of the railroad. Um, and that is now much
improved. It is much more usable and it can finally be used by a wheelchair. So, it's just great to see those little accessibility improvements happening and I'm glad um for both council and staff for supporting that and putting money towards it. Thank you, Council Member Burke. Uh nothing. Thank you. All right. Thank
you. So, um I wanted to do a hats off to Council Member Hayford who is now part our District 5 representative to the Met Council Regional Land Use Advisory Committee. So, thank you for taking that on and for doing that. I also wanted to
do a hats off to one of our residents, Monica Byron, who has been a teacher in Ridgefield, I believe, for 24 years, was recently elected to be the president of Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, and she'll start her duties on
July 1. She's currently the vice president. So, hats off to um Monica Byron. So, we're very proud of one of Richfield's own for being elected to the president presidency of education Minnesota. And then my last hats off is
just prompted by today watching um the public works people marking all the lines because I know there have been um there's been a big project going in across the city where um I think it's US internet is going into the rightway. And so it was amazing watching the workers
marking all the lines so that can be done safely. And I know as they're moving across the city that creates a lot of work for the city staff to do that and I appreciate the fact that they're marking everything. So with that, if there is nothing else, I would entertain a motion to adjourn the
meeting. Motion to adjurnn. Seconded. It's been moved and seconded to adjourn the meeting. All in favor, please say I. I. I. All opposed. And the meeting stands adjourned. Thank you.