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CC SUM 2021 06 14CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES JUNE 14, 2021 Mayor Ryan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Ryan, Councilwoman Rehm, Councilwoman Schubert, and Councilman McDonald. COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Councilman Campion. STAFF PRESENT: Laurie Hokkanen, City Manager; Jake Foster, Assistant City M anager; and Charlie Howley, Public Works Director/City Engineer. Mayor Ryan asked the City Council if there were any modifications or additions to the agenda. There were no changes to the published agenda. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: None. CONSENT AGENDA: Councilman McDonald moved, Councilman Schubert seconded, that the City Council approve the following Consent Agenda items pursuant to the City Manager’s recommendations: 1. Approve City Council Minutes dated May 24, 2021 2. Receive Planning Commission Minutes dated May 18, 2021 3. Receive Park & Recreation Commission Minutes dated April 27, 2021 4. Receive Senior Commission Minutes dated April 23, 2021 5. Approve Claims Paid 06-14-2021 6. Approve Consultant Contract Amendment for the Highway 101 Improvements (Pioneer Trail to Flying Cloud Drive) 7. Resolution 2021-27: Authorize Participation in State Performance Measures Program 8. Approve 2021 Stormwater Pond Management Project Contract Amendment 9. Approve 2021 4th of July Memorandum of Understanding with Rotary Club of Chanhassen All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS. 1. Senator David Osmek City Council Minutes – June 14, 2021 2 Senator Osmek is glad to be with the City Council in person and said after 12-14 months of Zoom, legislators are getting tired. He noted it has made legislating more difficult, although more convenient. He said they just opened the first special session and will complete 14 bills before July 1, 2021 for the funding of the State that were not completed in the regular session. Senator Osmek has some new legislative assignments; he is still on Transportation, is part of State Government, the sub-committee for Technology, and is the Chair of the sub-committee on Metropolitan Governance. He has previously talked about how he has tried to impress upon the State legislators that they need to have accountability for Met Council representatives. One of his proposals was a referendum that before Met Council appointments can be ratified by the Senate, they would have to get letters of support from at least 50% of the City Councils that they would be representing. Senator Osmek updated the Council on the omnibus bills coming up, including a Transportation bill and Senate file 519 which helps those coming out of incarceration and back into society. He noted many times those in prison lose track of where their social security card is, their driver’s license has expired, and they do not have documentation needed to get a job. This bill is a checklist for the Department of Corrections so these people can be prepared and do not go back into custody. Senator Osmek’s goal is to make all of these people taxpayers and productive citizens helping everyone in Minnesota. Councilman McDonald thanked Senator Osmek for his service and noted they had a Suburban Transit Authority (STA) meeting earlier in the day and Mr. Osmek’s name came up; he actually put a bill together to put Met Council’s feet to the fire regarding the allocation of the federal funds. The Met Council has not really embraced any of this, but have agreed they will follow those formulas and now the problem is getting the money out of them. He appreciates Senator Osmek’s work on it as the suburban transit entities would never have seen any of this phase 2 and 3 federal money. Councilwoman Rehm knows people who ride on Metro Mobility and the system is so outdated, there is inability to quickly call and get a ride, and then it takes a long time to be picked up. She heard rumors that they were going to cut funding to Metro Mobility and asked if that is true and if there is a plan to replace it for those who are unable to drive. Senator Osmek replied there has been a lot of federal funding that has sloshed into the State for recovery money, and Met Council already has a lot of money invested in Metro Mobility in the short term. He believes there is a reduction being proposed on State funds because they have enough money to maintain it. One thing to remember regarding Metro Mobility is that it is a federally required service that must be provided. In reducing the money in the omnibus bill coming forward it is not because they are reducing services but because there are fully funded pots of money to use in the short term for Metro Mobility. In the long term there will also have to be additional money put in. Senator Osmek said if there are people who are having issues with Metro Mobility, they should be directed to their State Senator, and in Chanhassen that would be either himself or Senator Coleman. In Shorewood, Excelsior, and those areas, that is also Senator Osmek. Legislators should be contacted because that type of feedback is important to Met Council to know that there may be an issue someplace in their transportation system. He clarified City Council Minutes – June 14, 2021 3 for legislators, emails are the best way to get in touch with them as his come right to his cell phone. Mayor Ryan seconded the appreciation for Senator Osmek’s service, and thanked him for his constant communication during COVID-19. She asked regarding the Minnetonka Middle School West (MMW) roundabout, how do they get that to stick? Senator Osmek noted there is not much they can do right now as from the Senate side the only way it does not stay within the transportation budget is if they take all of the member projects out, in which case it would go into the bonding bill in the following year which is more traditionally where they have these. He stated that because they have a lot of federal money, they are trying to use some cash to do some of the member request projects faster than using the bonding bill. Mayor Ryan said obviously it has already been money spent by the City so it would be nice to see the follow through on the back end. From a technology standpoint, Mayor Ryan asked what issues Senator Osmek is specifically addressing. Senator Osmek replied the Technology Committee was more focused on technology and innovation at the State level, not necessarily specific to the local level. From a broadband infrastructure perspective, they continue to invest in border-to-border broadband; unfortunately, Chanhassen tends to be one of the overlooked communities as they may have some service but they are trying to focus on the “unserved” areas. Especially with COVID happening and distance learning they found out in painful ways that there is not much connectivity out into the rural areas. Mayor Ryan stated that Governor Walz’s emergency powers were extended again earlier that day. She knows there are a lot of reasons and asked if there is a specific negotiation taking place? She is curious on Senator Osmek’s perspective and what is the ultimate goal so the legislature starts working together again. Senator Osmek’s hope is that the Governor is going to rescind those powers; he is down to a few active orders underneath the emergency order powers right now. Today, Senator Osmek signed a bill similar to Senate File 4 which was changing the way the emergency powers work and that passed the Senate floor in March. He explained right now for the emergency powers to extend it takes a vote from the House and the Senate to rescind them; his bill flips it and says in order for them to extend it, they must be actual participants and vote to allow them to extend the emergency powers beyond the first 30 days. Therefore, it changes from being passive to being active and brings in the co-equal branches of government working together. He explained that they all agreed during the first two months of the emergency orders but after that the emergency – in Senator Osmek’s opinion – became less an emergency and more a power grab from the Executive Branch. He believes emergency powers are at times necessary but need to be constrained. City Council Minutes – June 14, 2021 4 Councilwoman Rehm said with things getting back to normal, does Senator Osmek anticipate a Town Hall any time soon? Senator Osmek found that Town Halls are not terribly effective as it turns into a large group of the opposite political persuasion coming in and turning it into chaos. He did Town Halls in 2013 and now does City Hall meetings, such as he is doing today, and makes himself available to the cities in that way. He takes questions from the cities, from those in the audience, and afterwards talks to people about issues they might have. He noted Town Halls have become far too partisan to be valuable. A Mr. Titus approached the podium and stated he thinks Mr. McDonald and Ms. Ryan were on the City Council in March 2018 when he submitted a questionnaire for use for the Senior Committee. The intent is for the Senior Committee to establish a dialogue with its market. For three years it has been ignored and Mr. Titus is very disappointed; he stated he will leave a copy with the City Council. Second, he will leave a letter he wrote to Todd Gerhardt dated May 12, 2020 which says an article in the Chanhassen paper notes that Council has approved the density of a property adjacent to Lake Ann Park and about two miles from Mr. Titus’ home from low to high to accommodate new construction of a memory care facility (Moments of Chanhassen). He does not know the status for that project now but he wants to find out more about whether the design for this facility would include for isolating people. He noted they were in the midst of the pandemic then and it was an important topic. NEW BUSINESS Ordinance 672: Approve an Amendment to Chapter 20, Zoning, Concerning Mobile Food Vending (Food Trucks) City Manager Hokkanen shared her screen and said the idea to take another look at the mobile vending ordinance originated through a Citizen Action Request Form by the owners of the Chanhassen Brewery. They stated that the current ordinance would be too restrictive to allow them to do what they hope in supporting their business through the use of food trucks. Staff began the process of reviewing current City Code and took a two-pronged approach being reviewed by both the Economic Development Commission (EDC) and the Planning Commission. They heard from the very beginning that Council and Staff wanted to be sure they specifically heard from local restaurants and the local business community. They hand-delivered a flyer to all Chanhassen restaurants and took out an ad in the Chanhassen Villager letting people know that they could provide public comment at the May 11 EDC meeting. The proposal before the Council tonight looks at how they can make what the community is interested in happen and how do they become more of a “yes, we’re open to that idea.” The ordinance tonight eliminates the need for a special event permit in order to have a food truck, so there would be no limits on the number of food trucks that a business or neighborhood could host over the course of a year. Considerations included parking, licensing, regulations through the State, and Staff is proposing that there would not be a fee paid to the City of Chanhassen in order to have a food truck. It City Council Minutes – June 14, 2021 5 would require the approval of the private property owner and food trucks would only be allowed on City streets or City parks through the issuance of a special event permit. Generalizing the public feedback from the EDC, Ms. Hokkanen said the majority of people are very much in favor of this change, but there were business concerns about the impacts of COVID and there were still concerns about the impact on brick and mortar businesses within Chanhassen. Councilman McDonald noted two issues that bother him. In general, he is all for the food trucks and thinks that would be great. The first issue is there are no time limits as previously they could have so many special events and he does not want this every weekend. He believes a food truck operates at a much higher advantage that a brick and mortar store can operate at. Second, he noted they are not charging for a permit. They charge permits for businesses in town and he thinks everyone should be operating on as close to a level playing field as possible. Councilwoman Schubert agrees with Councilman McDonald in that their brick and mortars do need a little more time to recover, yet food truck season is upon them. She is still a little torn as she does love going to food trucks and many times people go to breweries because they follow a certain food truck. That will bring people into Chanhassen, as well. Mayor Ryan asked regarding fees or permits, does she understand it is split in other communities in terms of who is requiring and who is not. She asked, is it a fee for businesses or will a resident hosting a graduation party need to have a permit fee? Ms. Hokkanen said Staff found that cities have fees that range from $0-$150 per year; there are also per-occasion fees. She noted they considered the idea of having a fee but there were a couple things considered before ultimately recommending that they do not have a fee. First is the communication with food trucks as some are booked directly by private residents and others are booked by businesses: would there be a uniform application of the fee that would not cost more in Staff time to inform and regulate that it would to actually collect. Second, they were approaching this as something that had been requested by a business and in other cities with fewer food truck restrictions; they generally heard a very positive experience. Food trucks are generally in a location for a low volume of time such as 3-6 hours. Ms. Hokkanen noted they can make changes and put it on the radar for evaluation. Mayor Ryan is very excited about food trucks, it has been brought forward multiple times and has not had a lot of movement. It ultimately made progress because it was brought forward by a business owner through the Community Action Request Form. It went through both Commissions and was supported there with unanimous vote and in outreach they had the majority support of businesses. With the recent strategic planning where they talked about being open to making some movement as a Council and a City on some new ideas, she does not think the streets will be lined with food trucks but rather will be one-offs with some businesses here or there. Mayor Ryan’s understanding is that it would be more for special events and she noted the City can encourage more people to come in to town if they host food trucks at, for example, the City Council Minutes – June 14, 2021 6 Summer Concert Series. She likes the idea of a review at the end of the year to see what feedback has been. Councilwoman Rehm is generally in favor of this, although at the beginning she was a bit concerned because she does want to support local businesses and restaurants and did not want them to be hurt by adding food trucks. It has been argued that adding more opportunities and food options for people coming into the City will actually bring more business to the restaurants in the area. When she goes out with family or friends, they look for areas where they can find a variety of food because often, they go out to more than one restaurant. She is generally in favor of this and they may want to tweak it a bit now or try it out this year and look at it next year. Ultimately, she thinks this will be good for the City as it will bring more people into Chanhassen. She noted it seemed like most of the restaurants in the City were generally in favor. Councilwoman Schubert moved, Councilwoman Rehm seconded, that the City Council adopt the Mobile Food Vending Food Truck Ordinance. Mayor Ryan would like to make a note before the vote to do a review at the end of the year. The motion carried with a vote of 3 to 1. Councilman McDonald voted nay. COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS. Mayor Ryan shared that over the past couple of weeks she and Ms. Hokkanen have been doing a “road tour” with the strategic plan. They have visited all of the Commissions except for the Senior Commission and they will meet with them in July. It has been great to share the strategic plan and receive questions and they have had great conversations and engagement. Mayor Ryan also thanked Ms. Hokkanen for conducting Insights Discovery with Staff to learn about one another’s personalities and habits. She congratulated graduating students and noted it has been a challenging school year and thanked teachers and administrators. ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATIONS. Ms. Hokkanen updated the City Council on the MetroNet Franchise agreement and said they are still working on it but do not have a date yet. She shared a picture of the Insight Discovery workshop and noted it is a great team-building and culture-building exercise that gives people a common language and gives communicating a common shorthand. CORRESPONDENCE DISCUSSION. 1. Letter from Metropolitan Council dated May 27, 2021 2. 2021 Building Permit Activity May Year-To-Date City Council Minutes – June 14, 2021 7 ADJOURNMENT. Councilwoman Schubert moved, Councilman McDonald seconded, to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0. The City Council meeting was adjourned at 7:59 p.m. Submitted by Laurie Hokkanen City Manager Prepared by Kim Meuwissen