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2022-03-08 CC Meeting MinutesMOUND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES March 8, 2022 The City Council of the City of Mound, Hennepin County, Minnesota, met in regular session on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers in the Centennial Building. Members present: Mayor Ray Salazar; Council members Phil Velsor, Paula Larson, Sherrie Pugh, and Jason Holt Members absent: None Others present: Acting City Manager/Administrative Services Director Catherine Pausche, City Clerk Kevin Kelly, Greg Neubert, Marc Doepner-Hove, Stacy Doepner-Hove, Doug Anderson, Peter Meyer, Jerry Jerome, Mary Davis, Joe Bruns, Anders Kemppainen. Consent agenda: All items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine in nature by the Council. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a Councilmember or citizen so requests, in which event it will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in normal sequence. 1. Open meeting Mayor Salazar called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Pledae of Alleaiance 3. Approve agenda MOTION by Velsor, seconded by Larson, to approve the agenda. All voted in favor. Motion carried. 4. Consent agenda MOTION by Velsor, seconded by Larson, to approve the consent agenda. Upon roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried. A. Approve payment of claims in the amount of $819,671.49. B. Approve minutes: 02-22-22 regular meeting 5. Comments and suggestions from citizens present on any item not on the agenda. Salazar read a notice regarding the Northland Mound development in which Brian Farrell has granted a 60-day extension to act on the Conditional Use Permit of the Major Subdivision Preliminary Plat setting the new deadline for the planning application as May 30, 2022. Salazar stated the Northland Mound proposal will not come before the Council until one of the two April meetings due to Council member absences expected for the March 22, 2022 meeting. Salazar read that the meeting notice will be posted with notices sent to properties within 350 feet of the property. No public comments were offered. 6. Orono Police Sergeant Tim Sonnek presenting the February Activity Report Mound City Council Minutes — March 8, 2022 No representative of the Orono Police Department (OPD) attended the meeting to give the February Activity Report. 7. Commissioner Kevin Anderson, Hennepin County District 7 Commissioner Anderson said he was elected in 2020 and came from a twenty-year career in IT. Anderson said he serves as chair of the Hennepin County Public Works Committee, Vice Chair of Health and Human Services and serves on the Audit Committee. Anderson stated the biggest item in his presentation is the 2022 Hennepin County (HC) budget and mentioned the following items: • The 2020 levy was flat • 2021 levy included a 3.5 % increase in part to fund programs adequately and to hire staff • Anderson proposed a 2.5% levy increase which wasn't adopted • Passed budget for Veteran's Monument to be place on county property to honor veterans • Passed an update to Public Works Capital Improvement Policy to take into consideration changes due to new development when County Roads reconstruction occurs Anderson said another major item was the distribution of $250Million of Federal ARPA funding focused on county priorities including economic recovery, rental assistance, stable housing for people experiencing homelessness, broadband expansion for HC communities, mental health services and for gun violence and crime prevention. Anderson listed specific items from the ARPA funding: • $120Million into affordable housing and housing support including housing homeless veterans • $10Million in Broadband expansion partnering with communities to fill in gaps of access • Launched permanent collaborative work centers and reduction of HC building and office space • $10Million for Gun Violence prevention for specific areas based on positive results • $20Million for Mental Health support for programs to help residents when they need it • Funded the North Metro safety training facility for the Sherriff's Department training • Embedded Social Worker Program expansion in public safety to reduce call volumes to respond to repeat users of public services which can be met in other ways other than Police Officers Salazar asked about gun violence and drug addiction and Anderson said criminal activity is certainly correlated to drug use and criminal activity can produce more gun violence. Anderson said there are certain areas with gang activity and drug activity being co -related and HC is working with community partners to intervene. Anderson said the program works with the people in at risk groups in order to get them out of their environments. Anderson said HC is working with Three Rivers Park District on this which has produced successful outcomes. Salazar said he recently attended the regional mayors conference and noted crime, including car jackings, are happening and five homes in Mound were recently broken into. Salazar said the issue isn't the police but it's the prosecutors and the judges who are to blame. Salazar said if someone gets arrested, they need to go to prison and then reform them afterward. Salazar said the new Minneapolis Chief said there have been kids arrested 24 times for carjacking and continue to be released. Velsor said he read in the Orono Police blotter a story of a guy who was arrested and released and arrested again and Anderson said the County doesn't have control over the courts or the District Attorney. Anderson said HC is focusing on rehabilitation and early intervention strategies and partnering with police departments. Mound City Council Minutes — March 8, 2022 Salazar and Anderson discussed addiction, crime and gun violence and Salazar said he doesn't want to see the $20million misused and the bad guys to get away. Salazar asked about affordable housing and said he hates, as a tax payer, that the $10Milllion in recovery funds are not to be put to good use. Anderson said HC is putting $10Million into supportive housing and additional mental health services and have opened up the building at 1800 Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis as a 24/7 facility for people in need as a place to go and not go back on the street. Anderson said these funds will primarily go to existing housing strategies with the County filling in gaps. Anderson said the County is funding a voucher style program, with income restrictions, to find or keep people in more affordable housing. Anderson said HC is also working to invest earlier on in housing development and single room occupancy as it is hard to find affordable housing in Minneapolis. Anderson said HC is converting underutilized hotels and converting them into single room occupancy/affordable housing. Salazar asked about the $10Million for broadband and said Mound's broadband is not good. Anderson said the agreements are between cities and providers and HC will work with providers to get better broadband services and/or better or new providers for cities. Anderson said HC is trying to make it easier to fill the gaps for broadband and make entry level broadband more affordable. Pugh asked about the housing gap in HC and how many housing units are we short and what is the percentage of market rate versus affordable housing. Anderson said he would get back to Pugh with those numbers. Holt asked what the procedure is if I fall into that 30% gap. Anderson said there is rental assistance if a person is making payments and you can apply on-line and receive help from navigators to assist residents through the system. Holt asked if there is a big need beyond Minnetrista for broadband. Anderson said there is enough need to be troubling and there is nearly 20% of households which are underserved by broadband. Anderson said this pertains to slow upload and download speeds or those that don't have any access or a subscription which may be income related due to cost. Holt said broadband is old school and said his property up north has Starlink for a cost comparable to what he pays Mediacom in Mound. Anderson said HC is exploring different technologies and options, noting HC is not a provider and funds are going to cities trying to fill those technology needs and to help subsidize where needed. Holt said he echoed the Mayor's gun violence discussion on $10Million in funding and he would like to hear success stories from these programs. Anderson said the success stories don't make the news. Holt applauded HC embracing remote work solutions of HC staff and reducing the HC footprint. Anderson said things are not going back to normal and some job classes will be on site and other staff will be in a flexible work environment in which they don't go into the office all five days of the week. Holt also said he supports the embedded Social Worker program. Salazar asked how the affordable housing vouchers work which Anderson said it generally is a HC subsidy of rent. Anderson said a portion of income goes to rent and HC pays the rest of the voucher. Mound City Council Minutes — March 8, 2022 Salazar asked if an apartment rent is $1500 and the person can only afford $750 a month does HC pay the landlord or the renter to which Anderson said HC generally pays the landlord and HC knows which landlords offer subsidized housing. Velsor asked about the possibility of the new library for Mound and bringing a service center to Mound a few days a week so citizens do not have to go to surrounding areas for services. Anderson said he has been advocating with the Human Services Dept to experiment with Libraries and creating kiosks for residents to get services in their area. Velsor said it would be great to offer services like passport photos and other things instead of needing to go to Wayzata or Ridgedale. Pugh asked if HC commission districts were going to change. Anderson said redistricting will be done after City precincts are done and then HC will draw its election maps. Pugh said she likes that Mound has two HC districts. 8. Administrative Services Director Catherine Pausche requesting discussion and action on the following resolutions: Pausche said after each US decennial census the state and the City have the opportunity to redraw districts, noting Staff forecasted the opportunity at the October City Council workshop. Pausche listed the reasons for the City to reduce the number of precincts from four to three: • To increase the number of experienced Election Judges and election equipment at each precinct • More judges per polling place allows for greater flexibility in handling peak times and other needs, including opening and closing the polls • Legislative changes allow for more access to and participation in early absentee voting • Technological enhancements have made polling places more efficient, including poll pads speeding up the check -in process Pausche listed the polling place considerations made redrawing precinct boundaries: • 18+ population needs to be balanced in each precinct • HC recommends precincts be less than 3000 18+ potential voters per polling place with larger cities having even larger precincts • Look for natural boundaries along major roads and having sections like the whole Island in one polling place • Bethel Church, one of the current polling places does not have air conditioning and the Centennial Building is no longer City Hall so it is more ideal to be a polling place • The Centennial Building is where election equipment is stored and where the precincts are checked in at the end of election night • Gillespie Center, Council Chambers and St. John's Church are close together making Election Admin supervision visits easier and less distance for voters who go to the wrong precinct on election day Pausch said the redistricting plan is to reduce the four precincts established in 2010 to three based on events which have taken place since the last redistricting. Those events are: • In 2014 no excuse absentee voting allowed voting 46 days before the election • In 2016 direct balloting/absentee voting was implemented seven days before election day • The proposed precincts better follow natural boundaries and include entire census blocks as required Mound City Council Minutes — March 8, 2022 • Absentee voting will continue the trend to reduced voting on election day by an estimated 25 — 33% Pausche ran through the numbers of voters from 2016, the last presidential/pre-Covid election, and what the numbers would look like in three -precincts vs four, noting the difference is negligible. Pausche said three precincts will allow for more election judges to be working during peak voting hours and reduce pressure on our election judges. Pausche said there was an average hourly number of 28 judges in the four precincts in 2016 with the majority of judges working a %2 day shift. Pausche said the average number of seven judges per polling place includes the Head Judge who is generally not supposed to be doing a specific election judge task but rather overseeing the polling place and taking care of issues that arise, but because of the lean numbers, often has to do the specific duties. Pausche said three polling places will allow for more judges to be staffed per precinct which will allow for the more efficient check in of voters and more flexibility for scheduling. Pausche demonstrated that in 2016 and 2018 there was an increased amount of absentee voting than in past elections due to the changes in statute and people getting more familiar with it, noting it was 60% in 2020 due to the pandemic. Pausche said the proposed changes are not about sacrificing quality as election technology has improved and early absentee voting has changed voter behavior in Mound. Pausche asked the Council to consider the two resolutions proposed for the redistricting of Mound. Holt asked about absentee ballots which he said he did in a different town and the election staff just put it in a box. Holt said the next time he voted he made sure he voted at a polling place. Holt asked if voters who voted absentee in 2020 could put their ballots in the machine. Pausche said yes that is called direct balloting in which voters feed their own ballots into the ballot counter during the seven days before election day. Pausche explained that prior to direct balloting staff handle the ballots which are sealed in an envelope and then are sent out by courier to Hennepin County Elections who have major equipment to handle the volumes. Holt asked about the absentee voting process and Holt and Pausche discussed that absentee voting begins many days before the election. Pausche and Holt discussed how a voter could mail their absentee ballot to HC, vote at City Hall either by sealing their ballot in an envelope to be sent on to the County or during the final seven days before election day in which voters can feed their own ballot into the ballot counter at City Hall, noting the voter needs to have the ballot issued and filled out in the same visit if direct balloting. Holt asked about the election judge application and about election judges being required to declare a political party and sign it and return it to staff on April 15t". Holt asked about the party makeup of poll workers in Mound. Pausche said staff are required to have major party balance of election judges at the polling place. Holt said he has gotten calls from residents about being an election judge who volunteered at the caucus and have not heard back. Pausche said the caucus information is taken by party volunteers who send the information to the County who sends it the City, noting it is still early in the process. Mound City Council Minutes — March 8, 2022 Holt asked if the judges get paid and Pausche said yes and employers are required to give election judges the time off. Pausche said the City has great volunteers but the recommendation is not to spread out the election judges and instead create strength in numbers. Velsor said he could go either way on this but that he likes the ease of the new map in figuring out which polling place to vote at compared to the old one. Velsor had a question about the Grandview Apartments area. Pausche said the redistricting guidelines from HC required the maps keep census blocks whole. Kelly said census takers would do their reporting in blocks which are sectioned off areas of the city and the redistricting map needs to maintain a complete block in a precinct as well as trying to preserve balance among the 18+ population between precincts. Salazar said does this in any way reduce the City to one County commissioner. Pausche said there could be one to three County Commissioners with 3 precincts and there are no guarantees as County redistricting is done after the City completes redistricting. Larson said this is something we will have until 2030 and two presidential elections. Velsor asked if there was going to be a public hearing and Salazar said it wasn't required. Larson said this was voted on by the Council and was slipped through in the consent agenda at a previous meeting and it was pulled from consent. Larson said it was staff trying to manipulate the number of precincts, noting at one time the City had five precincts. Pugh said there were six in the past. Pausche said this was before 2010 when the technology wasn't like it is now. Larson said she is frustrated that this keeps coming up and is totally against reducing to three precincts after what she witnessed in 2020. Larson said it was disappointing that voters who had come to vote during their lunch break couldn't vote at that time because the lines were too long. Larson said the number of voters per hour per precinct would be lower with four precincts. Larson asked if the City was still going to have 28 election judges in 2022. Pausche said we don't know how may election judges will volunteer during a normal election but the analysis was from 2016 and not 2020 because of COVID. Pausche said the City had seven election judges per shift in 2016 and the election judges were spread thin. Pausche said if there are three precincts there will be more judges to staff peak voting hours and to make covering breaks easier. Pausche said the things which were done in 2020 to protect voters such as the six feet of separation slowed things down at the polling places and that experience should not be used to evaluate the proposed change. Larson claimed that during the 2020 election staff didn't hire all the residents who applied to be election judges. Larson said it is wrong if one person can't vote because they are standing in line too long in November, noting the debacle in the parking lot in 2020 was unreal. Pausche said this is standard procedure for redistricting to occur and for staff to try to adapt to changes in voting. Pausche said this is her duty as a professional who has worked elections in Mound since 2014. Pausche said there is an excitement during election day and she hopes there could be agreement that 2020 was not a typical election year. Mound City Council Minutes — March 8, 2022 Pugh said she agrees with Larson about the numbers and also agrees with staff. Pugh said she found it challenging during the last school board election where the polls weren't very crowded and there weren't enough volunteers to help you and to accommodate people with disabilities like herself. Pugh said during curbside voting and when election judges help the sight impaired you need extra election judges and during the school board election there were not enough people to do it. Pugh said it does slow down the process if there is a lesser number of judges to help people. Pugh said it doesn't matter how many precincts there will be if there aren't enough judges and she hopes the interest in being judges will help. Pugh said during a high turnout election in the past she got to the polls early in the morning, noting turnout is going to vary election to election. Pugh said it gets down to the number of volunteers and it is good the Island is all together but said the Island is 50% of the city population. Pugh asked her fellow Council member if they would make a commitment to recruit five election judges. Pausche said in either the three or four precinct scenario the 18+ population per polling place is well below the HC recommended number of 3000. Holt said he was 100% against three precincts at the Council workshop in October and agreed it is bad if you turn away even one voter and the City should be going to five precincts. Holt said there are people interested in being an election judge including his wife. Pausche said five precincts isn't warranted even if we had enough election judges to staff the polls. Holt said he appreciates the work that went into the redistricting proposal and he was against it before but doesn't think we need to change and should stay with four and campaign for more people. Salazar asked Larson why she was concerned about the ten years and Larson said what if the population increases and this precinct idea has been before us before and the staff keeps poking at this until we do as the staff wants. Larson said if Holt wants to go back to five and based on her experience she would agree. Larson said Minnesota Lakes Bank operated from a trailer with an ADA ramp and that could be used for a precinct polling place. Pausche said the number of buildings isn't a problem. Larson said the Bethel comment about air conditioning was just an excuse and the Council has talked about it for three years and it is wrong in her opinion what Staff is trying to do. Larson said her colleagues can have their own opinion. Salazar allowed public comment from Greg Neubert, 5852 Idlewood Road, who said if it is personnel that is the problem and he hears a lot of numbers in regards to four polls versus three and if you take Mr. Holt's suggestion and ran a campaign, a simple outreach through social media, you will get plenty of people. Pausche said in her professional opinion and after working many elections over the years the City only needs three precincts. Pausche added that being a professional means you respond to an environment with new technology and increased early voting. Holt said don't disenfranchise people and Velsor said none of us are doing that. Holt said if one person walks away because they have to wait an hour there is no reason to change it. Mound City Council Minutes — March 8, 2022 MOTION by Velsor, seconded by Pugh, to approve the following resolution. Velsor voted in favor. Larson, Holt and Salazar voted no. Pugh abstained. Motion did not pass. a. A resolution reestablishing precincts and polling places Velsor said after the vote that there are election judges here who didn't get up to speak because we didn't allow them but Velsor said he knows they are feeling frustrated with this decision. Velsor said this isn't a haha we squashed this. Velsor added this is a bunch of hooey that it is being dismissed and it is frustrating. Velsor said he was sorry and apologized to the election judges attending the meeting. b. A resolution amending Resolution No. 21-121: Resolution Designating Polling Places No action required due to item (a) not passing. 9. Information/Miscellaneous A. Comments/reports from Council members/City Manager: Salazar said the Orono Police Department Mound Activity report will be heard at the next Council Meeting. Pausche said the following: April 19th is the Departmental Workshop meeting at 6:30 p.m. Westonka School District Spring break is from March 2511 through April 1st - There will be two Council Members absent at the March 22nd meeting. B. Reports: Fire Department — January 2022 Finance Department —January 2022 Liquor Store — February 2022 C. Minutes: Parks & Open Spaces Commission — January 13, 2022 D. Correspondence: Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Updates 10. Adjourn ACTION by Larson, seconded by Holt, to adjourn at 8:41 p.m. All voted in favor. Motion carried. e S Attest' - Kevin Kelly, Clerk Mayor Raymond J. Salazar