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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021 09-13 CCM Study SessionMINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA STUDY SESSION SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 VIA ZOOM The Brooklyn Center City Council met in Study Session called to order by Mayor Mike Elliott at 5400 P.M. Mayor Mike Elliott and Councilmembers Marquita Butler, April Graves, Kris Lawrence - Anderson, and Dan Ryan. Also present were City Manager Reggie Edwards, City Attorney Troy Gilchrist, and City Clerk Barb Suciu. CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS AND QUESTIONS Councilmember Ryan requested a revision to move Regular Session Consent Agenda Item 6.f. Resolution Accepting the Pohlad Family foundation Racial Justice Grant in the Amount of $550,000, to Council Consideration Iteml O.c. Mayor Elliott asked Councilmember Ryan what is his rationale for making this revision. Councilmember Ryan stated he has concerns, as may other Council Members, and it is a point of privilege by any Member of the City Council to remove a Consent Agenda Item and place it under consideration. Councilmember Lawrence -Anderson stated she has no objection and does have a few questions as well so she concurs with this request to revise the agenda. Mayor Elliott asked City Clerk Suciu to make this agenda revision. MISCELLANEOUS SPECIAL WORKSESSION SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 City Manager Reggie Edwards asked the City Council to consider scheduling a Special Work Session on Monday, September 27, 2021, at 5 p.m. He noted that almost a year ago, there were conversations about the Opportunity Site as it relates to a water park and entertainment area development within that site. There have also been discussions around the building of a new Community Center or an expansion. One possibility to fund such projects is consideration of a sales tax, whether one -quarter percent, one-half percent, or one percent. That would involve a process including City Council approval, a legislative approval, and then a referendum within 09/13/21 -1- Brooklyn Center. Staff would like to make a presentation at a Work Session on potential project costs and process if the City Council is inclined to consider a sales tax. Mayor Elliott stated that time works for him. He polled the Council Members on availability for a September 27, 2021 meeting date. Councilmembers Butler, Graves, Ryan, and Lawrence - Anderson indicated they are available. City Council consensus was reached to direct staff to schedule a Special Work Session on Monday, September 27, 2021, at 5 p.m., to discuss whether to pursue sales tax legislation to fund Community Center improvements and a water park. DISCUSSION OF WORK SESSION AGENDA ITEMS AS TIME PERMITS YOUTH ON BOARDS PROGRAM DISCUSSION Dr. Edwards noted this is an item the City Council identified and considered as it relates to the growth and empowerment of young people, which is part of the multiple strategy approach around empowering and strengthening youth engagement in ownership and decision making within the City of Brooklyn Center. It was identified in last year's budget for $10,000 to help in the process of creating opportunity for young people to serve on our Commissions and Boards. This involves working and coordinating with young people and also working with our Commissions and Boards as we prepare to receive young people and share power and decision making in a way that we demonstrate good competency in the context of intergenerational competency. He invited Community Development Director Beekman to make the staff presentation. Community Development Director Meg Beekman explained that Julie from Brool�lyn Bridge Alliance for Youth had intended to share in making this presentation; however, since it is being considered during the Study Session, Julie may not yet be on the call. Ms. Beekman stated elevating youth's voice has been a goal of the City Council and as part of the 2021 budget and identifying those priorities, $10,000 was identified within the recreation budget to further this goal. Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth has been working in partnership with Youthprise to develop a program that would accomplish this goal with the function of placing youth at decision making and recommending tables among Brooklyn Bridge Alliance partners. They have been working with Hennepin County and Brooklyn Park to pilot this project and would like to include a pilot program within Brooklyn Center. Ms. Beekman underscored that the way this program is designed focuses on a pilot. The idea would be, if the City Council is amenable, staff would work with Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth and staff liaisons, identify one to three advisory Boards or Commissions that would be a good fit for the program, work with the City Attorney to figure out logistics of what it would take to place young people at these tables, and return to the City Council with an implementation plan. Ms. Beekman explained the purpose of this program is to create intentional pathways for emerging leaders that allows them to fully participate at decision making tables. Staff believes that by placing young people in these environments, it creates a more inclusive environment for everyone. 09/13/21 -2- The goal is to utilize and capitalize on a wider range of voices, experiences, needs, and ideas at these decision and advisory tables. Ms. Beeltman stated the scope of the pilot project would include a comprehensive plan for recruitment implementation, and on -boarding, which is the important component of this project. The youth would need to be mentored and guided throughout the process so they are building capacity to be leaders and have successful outcomes, as well as ongoing communication and support so there is a feedback group as part of the process. Ms. Beekman presented steps to identify the advisory Commissions or Committees where decisions are made that may impact young people; to match young adults 14 to 25 years of age From within the community with these leadership opportunities; provide inclusive training for the adults already on Commissions and Committees to build capacity at both ends so they are prepared to receive and include these young people; and, assist with on -going maintenance to keep up with the needs in each Commission and continual onboarding. Ms. Beekman explained that because this is a pilot program, the idea would be to begin with a Fairly narrow scope in terms of which Boards and Commissions would be the most appropriate and work the best. That has not yet been identified but staff has talked with recreation about the Parks and Rec Committee, with the Housing Commission and Planning Commission, but if this is going to move forward, staff will need to take more time to make sure it makes sense and also understanding how it might affect the current by-laws and logistics of those Boards. Once identified, staff will evaluate what that legal and logistical implication for youth participation. Ms. Beekman stated staff will then need to initiate any modifications to those procedures and processes in order to facilitate youth participation. That may require coming back to the City Council, particularly if there is a resolution or adopted by-laws that dictate the makeup of the Commissions. The last step is to identify the youth matches and begin the implementation process. Ms. Beekman stated this would be led by the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth in partnership with Youthprise. They received a grant to begin this work so they are not asking for any funding at this time from the City to initiate the program, but to allow us to test it out. She explained that other staff will be involved, depending on which Boards and Commissions are selected. That will also need to be part of the process as we move forward. Ms. Beekman stated at this point, staff is looking for feedback from the City Council whether they see value in this program to include youth at advisory and decision -malting tables within the City, if there are additional questions or concerns related to the program or next steps, what direction the City Council supports, and whether or not this is a program they are interested in implementing and exploring. Mayor Elliott stated when he first became Mayor, Youthprise had requested a meeting with him to tallt about what this would look like in Brooklyn Center. He thinks this is a good program and it is important to have youth on our various Commissions so he is excited to explore it. Mayor Elliott stated during the meeting, Youthprise, through their executive director, shared that this was a model based on the work Northfield has done. He would like to talk with the Mayor of Northfield 09/13/21 -3- to learn about what worked well and what hasn't worked well, in their program. Mayor Elliott stated another model he has looked at is having a youth commission, as other cities have where, instead of spreading them out to various committees, the youth commission is a city commission, they get the same things as other commissions, and provide feedback on those various issues. Mayor Elliott stated he does not know whether one is better than the other at this point. He has looked at San Francisco's and programs with smaller cities but overall, he thinks this is something the City should pursue. Mayor Elliott stated he thinks about some of the other non -profits and people of color organizations that are in Brooklyn Center that could also be doing this work that the City could partner with in order to support the youth in our City from a cultural perspective. He noted KEC (Knowledge, Education, Creativity) Academy does a lot of good work with young people and has a leadership and college training program. Mayor Elliott stated he also thinks about the African American woman who is working diligently to build a variety of youth programs including Youth in Tech and the other resources in our community and what that might bring to this work, how we can be intentional about doing this so we make sure it works very well for our youth and community. Mayor Elliott stated the topic of youth in government and in general in our City is one that is incredibly important to him and every member of the City Council so he looks forward to moving this forward and exploring ways to make sure this works best for our City. Councilmember Lawrence -Anderson stated she thinks this is a marvelous idea, one she loves, and the Mayor's idea of a youth commission is worthy but she would like to first see this pilot program and how it works out. She stated her only concern relates to young youth, 14 to 16 years of age, as transportation would be a component for live meetings but hopefully that can be mediated. Councilmember Lawrence -Anderson stated the City Council may want to consider, when Ms. Beekman reviews bylaws for the various commissions, that the City may want to look at increasing the number of members on Commissions to allow for youth and Commissioners who are new to the process as well as legacy historical long-term Commissioners to continue to serve so there is balance between youth, new ideas, as well as people who provide the historical component. Councilmember Lawrence -Anderson stated she does not have the bylaws for each of the Commissions right now to know what the membership numbers are but does know that sometimes it is difficult to get a quorum with some of the Commissions. She stated if we are diligent with our selection, hopefully, that situation can be remedied. She stated again she thinks this is a great pilot program and is excited to see how it works. Councilmember Graves stated she also agrees this is a great idea and has long wanted youth to be involved with some of the decision -making processes within the City. She is also not opposed to having some other kind of youth advisory board, although she feels in a way the City could utilize the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance more in that respect than we are currently. She stated she read through the document and it sounds like there would be some level of mentorship and people left 09/13/21 -4- on the Commissions who have been there for a while as new people come on so she was not particularly concerned about that. Councilmember Graves stated she was thinking about which Commissions could use youth voice the most to start with. Right away she thought of the Parand Rec Commission, especi Parkas the City is expanding programming at the Community Center and focusing more on health and wellness. That would be a great table to have them at and there are some openings on that Commission. Councilmember Graves stated the Community Center, Rec Center provides youth programing but having some teenagers on that Commission could do a lot towards giving us new ideas that speak to young people's interests that we may not have had in the past. Councilmember Graves stated if we have not gotten people to be part of our Public Safety Commission, that would be a great place to have youth present. She noted that may not be a Commission the City Council was particularly thinking about but she definitely thinks having their voice at that table would be important. Councilmember Graves stated she also thought about the Crime Prevention Commission, specifically as she asked questions at a past meeting about some of the different potential programs that could come out of that Commission that are a little more far reaching into the community and culturally relevant whether talking about age, racial, or ethnic demographics. Councilmember Graves stated those are the Commissions that came to her mind right away although she thinks opportunities on the Financial Commission would give them a chance to understand the City budget and have a voice in how we spend in the City and also be beneficial. Councilmember Butler stated she definitely agrees with all of the comments made, noting she served on the School Board as a student rep for four years while in high school so she definitely was able to carry a lot of that up until now. She thinks it is definitely a valuable experience and she learned a lot while on the School Board. Councilmember Butler stated it gives the adults a different perspective even though they don't get to vote in that particular instance but can provide perspectives of someone who is in the classroom and involved directly in school. Councilmember Butler stated she thinks it would be definitely value added to have their voice on the different Commissions. Councilmember Butler stated she works at the Young Women's Christian Association (YW(A) in girls programming and they are partnering with Brooklyn Center. This fall, if there are enough girls interested in participating, they will be doing a Girls in Action Advocacy Council. One thing she wanted them to have is exposure to the City Council in some way. That program is in the building process right now but definitely thinks along similar lines of having youth engaged in decision making and being heard, noting that based on our conversation with youth in the spring, there is definitely a want to be more involved. She stated she is excited about this and looks forward to hearing more. 09/13/21 -5- Councilmember Ryan expressed his appreciation for the comments previously made by Mayor Elliott and other Members, and asked what better way to prepare the next generation of leaders. He noted our future is our youth and it is great to have something we all can agree on. It was the consensus of the City Council to support proceeding with the Youth on Boards Program as outlined by staff. SNOW REMOVAL ORDINANCE REVIEW Mayor Elliott introduced the item, stated the City Council has discussed this ordinance, and during the winter last year the City Council took action to prevent towing. He thought a much better way to do this is for the City Council to consider an ordinance provision on towing of vehicles and collectively deciding what we want to do. Mayor Elliott opened the floor for an open discussion by the City Council and asked for the Council Member's thoughts on the towing provision. Councilmember Graves stated she has always wanted to have a deeper discussion about this provision. She noted that before Mayor Elliott was on the City Council, they received a report from the Police Chief who pointed out specific equity issues related to multigenerational families living in a single-family home with driveways not capable of housing all of their vehicles without being parked on the street. There was also some conversation around specific apartment buildings that don't have the required number of parking spaces. Councilmember Graves explained the point is that often times, those fiom lower -income and marginalized communities are the ones bearing the brunt of ticketing and towing of vehicles. She stated she does not know who tows in Brooklyn Center but wonders about other incentives the towing company might have to preclude being incentivized to target specific areas at specific times. Councilmember Graves stated when she and Councilmember Ryan were part of the racial equity group through the League of Minnesota Cities, they talked out a case study specific to towing. She thinks a more nuanced approach would be helpful but is not necessarily in favor of completely getting rid of the ordinance all together. In accommodating people who, through no fault of their own, are being penalized, she thinks the City Council should take action to improve on that situation. Councilmember Ryan stated his appreciation for the comments of Councilmember Graves. He noted we all recognize it is an imperative that promptly clearing snow and ice, curb to curb on a residential streets, is just common sense. He stated if we look at winter storms recently, and while there are climate change deniers, there has definitely been a change that he has observed in this region. Councilmember Ryan stated we never used to get the frequent type of winter storms where it starts out as rain precipitation, goes to sleet, turns to snow, and then the temperatures drop. He stated getting streets cleared faster is imperative because of the icing conditions. Councilmember Ryan stated he recognizes that certain Council Members feel that towing is an example of a policy that fails the economic equity test. He explained he would rather not look at the towing issue as either-or, either there is towing that fails an equity test or there is no 09/13/21 -6- enforcement where traffic and pedestrian safety are compromised. Councilmember Ryan stated he would like to explore alternatives. Councilmember Ryan suggested one alternative to offer motorists who don't have their own off- street parking is to plow parking lots at City parks, which are located to be within reasonable walking distance in our neighborhoods. Then, during snow emergencies people who must park on the street could drive to their neighborhood park, and leave their cars a short time until their street is plowed. He stated there are also church parking lots that could afford temporary off-street parking for residents who must park on the street. Councilmember Ryan stated the churches he is Familiar with are interested in economic equity. He asked if the City can partner with the churches in Brooklyn Center that have ample space available for short-term parking during- snow emergencies. Councilmember Ryan stated he strongly feels we should not strike Subsection 2 from the ordinance. He also feels strongly there is a need for the City to have the authority to tow cars during snow events because without that enforcement tool, violators could simply ignore the existing 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. ban, which they do currently without getting ticketed. Councilmember Ryan stated Brooklyn Park is like Brooklyn Center, focused on equity issues, and they tow cars because they recognize the need from a public safety standpoint for efficient and safe traffic operations, traffic safety, and pedestrian safety that the streets are clear. Councilmember Butler stated this is one that is conflicting for her. She appreciates wanting to have streets plowed curb to curb and remembers when we had a presentation from the former Police Chief about the need to have parking. He, at no time, put in his presentation anything about emergency vehicles having to get through or ever having any issues getting through and yet, at the time, the City Council's focus was on the fact that emergency vehicles may not be able to get through. Councilmember Butler stated an issue she has, since that was not part of the presentation, nor did the former Police Chief ever indicate that as being a reason but the majority of the City Council, at that time, focused on why it needed to be passed. She stated without that type of information where it has been a problem, she does not continue to stand by this ordinance. She noted there are a lot of apartment buildings, when they were built, that fit into the parking requirements but as time has progressed and the needs of families changed, those people in apartments have two cars if not more, and if there are multi -generations in one apartment, a lot of our apartments are simply not accommodating the current needs for families and parking. Councilmember Butler stated for her it is concerning that a lot of our residents who don't have a place a park, are being towed during this time so she would love to get rid of the towing. She stated she is fine with ticketing and does not agree with getting rid of the parking ordinance in general because it would not be a good look for cars to be parked on the street at all times. But when it comes to snow emergencies, she does not agree with towing. Mayor Elliott asked whether the City Council wants to discuss this more at a Worl, Session. 09/13/21 -7- Councilmember Graves stated she is open to that and thinks it would be helpful if staff took feedback tonight and return with some ideas to discuss. Mayor Elliott stated he worked with the City Attorney to amend the ordinance so he will work with staff and come back with ideas. He also he spoke with neighboring cities and does not know if the information on how they deal with their ordinance is public, but knows one city that shares a border said they are not enforcing their towing ordinance and it is similar to Brooklyn Center's ordinance, because there are issues around what part of the city they start in. Mayor Elliott noted if always starting in one part of the City, it always results in disproportionally towing in that part A the City and not the other. Mayor Elliott stated one thing he has been thinking about, and Councilmember Butler made this point, is whether ticketing is enough of a consequence and reminder for folks to not park as opposed to towing their vehicle. He met with a resident this week who talked about her car being towed from a parking lot and she still has not gotten that car back after three weeks because she has to borrow from friends and family and pay extra gas, extra costs, more than she would otherwise be paying, or taking Uber to work which is more costs than if she had her vehicle. Her vehicle was towed not because of snow but because it was at an apartment but the outcome is still the same, three weeks with costs she is probably not financially able to afford to get her car back any more. Mayor Elliott stated that balanced with the rationale of policy in the first place, he would ask is this a solution after problem or is this really addressing a problem that exists in our community and creating additional economic hardships. He stated these are all questions Council Members have raised and additional information and options need to be considered. Councilmember Lawrence -Anderson asked for a point of clarification and whether the City Council will have a follow-up Work Session. Mayor Elliott answered in the affirmative. Councilmember Lawrence -Anderson stated she asked because Mayor Elliott said he was redrafting a resolution. Mayor Elliott stated the timeline is to do something before there is a snow event so there is time to schedule another Work Session. Dr. Edwards asked for clarification related to direction for staff, noting Mayor Elliott has mentioned another Work Session and Councilmember Graves asked staff to present on what they have heard and come back with information. Mayor Elliott stated that is the direction and he will also be involved since he brought this forward and has been working with the City Attorney to redraft the ordinance. He stated staff needs to return with more information and clarity on the discussion held this evening. Dr. Edwards asked if staff is being asked to report on the resolution or ordinance. Mayor Elliott stated the topic is towing and the City Council wants to look at the various options available and what the consequences might be. He stated again he will work with staff on this and has been talking with other local cities that have an ordinance similar to Brooklyn Center's ordinance. 09/13/21 -8- Councilmember Ryan stated he would be interested in hearing from staff about the suggestions he made relating to offering options to people who have to park on the street. He stated it is his observation that there is an issue if cars are allowed to park on both sides of the street, especially during winter conditions, as many are 30 feet to 32 feet wide so there would be clearance for two- way traffic and sometimes one-way traffic. Councilmember Ryan stated that cannot be ignored but he looks forward to all of us working together on resolving this. 1:�17�1i1��1► i �1►`Y 1 Mayor Elliott adjourned the Study Session at 6:51 p.m. STATE OF MINNESOTA) COUNTY OF HENNEPIN) ss. Certification of Minutes CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER) The undersigned, being the duly qualified and appointed City Clerlc of the City of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, certifies: 1. That attached hereto is a full, true, and complete transcript of the minutes of a Study Session of the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Center held on September 13, 2021. 2. That said meeting was held pursuant to due call and notice thereof and was duly held at Brooklyn Center City Hall. 3. That the City Council adopted said minutes at its September 27, 2021 Regular Session. City Clerk 09/13/21 -9-