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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026.02.09 CCM STUDY02/09/26 -1- MINUTES 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 FEBRUARY 9, 2026 CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center City Council met in Study Session called to order by Mayor April Graves at 6:04 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor April Graves and Councilmembers Dan Jerzak and Teneshia Kragness. Also present were Interim City Manager Daren Nyquist, Interim Community Development Director Jason Aarsvold, City Clerk Shannon Pettit, and City Attorney Siobhan Tolar. Councilmembers Kris Lawrence-Anderson was absent, and Laurie Ann Moore was absent and excused. CITY COUNCIL MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS There were no items the Council wished to address. CITY MANAGER MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS HOTEL UPDATE DISCUSSION Mr. Nyquist introduced Fire Chief Todd Berg to give an update on an evolving situation with the Travelodge. Mayor Graves asked if there was information in the Council’s packet regarding this situation. Mr. Nyquist responded that there was no information in their packets, as this would be a conversation. Chief Berg noted that the initial site visit to the Travelodge was on January 29 with the Deputy Fire Marshal to confirm that a frozen sprinkler pipe had been repaired. During this visit, it was noticed that the pipe was repaired and the sprinkler system was fully operational, but hotel staff were using a space heater to heat the unit, along with many other items of concern, including fire doors that would not shut all the way and heaters that did not work in common areas. Chief Berg said that when he asked hotel staff whether there were any heaters in occupied rooms that did not work, the hotel staff responded that six or seven rooms had non-functioning heaters, but they were unoccupied. 02/09/26 -2- Chief Berg continued that while touring the building, a lot of cleaning issues were noticed such as dirty floors, dried vomit and blood splatter on walls in the stairwell, clothing scattered inside and outside of the property, empty food containers and trash inside and outside the building, loose stair treads, missing ceiling tiles, and all exterior doors on the building do not close and lock. He added that two of the exterior doors do not fully close either. Chief Berg said that during his visit, he watched hotel management remove three unregistered guests. He explained to hotel management the importance of exterior doors that lock and getting them fixed. He said hotel management informed him that they have fixed the doors, and within days, hotel guests will damage the doors again to allow access to others and bypass the front desk. He added that Police Officers were present on this visit for reasons other than the inspection. Chief Berg said he contacted a few people within City Staff to discuss his concerns about the building, and brought in Hennepin County Environmental Inspectors to do a walkthrough the next day. He said Hennepin County Environmental handles the food and lodging license for the hotel and can address more environmental concerns than the Fire Department can, which is why he called them. He noted that, again, Police Officers were on site during that visit for reasons other than the inspection. Chief Berg stated that the Fire Department inspects every hotel each year, and Travelodge agreed to the Inspection on February 5. He noted that he did another tour of the hotel on that date, that some ceiling tiles were repaired, and that a large dumpster had been ordered to clean up trash. He said he had more conversations with hotel management, asked whether anyone was living in the hotel, and management confirmed that four rooms were being used as permanent residences for hotel staff. He added that again during this visit, hotel management had to remove unregistered guests. Chief Berg explained that hotel management showed him proof of purchase for 10 new heating units that should arrive this week. Chief Berg stated that during the February 4 inspection, the Deputy Fire Marshall and a Police Sergeant were also present, and again, additional Police Officers were on site due to reasons other than the Fire Inspection. Chief Berg noted that after the February 4 inspection, he brought in additional City Staff and Hennepin County staff to collaborate on next steps for the Travelodge. He said he would share the concerns of all four groups involved in the Travelodge inspections. He noted that the Fire Department has been called to the hotel nine times in the last 30 days, and was on site daily from January 28 to February 3. The calls to the Fire Department included one possible heart attack, four CPR calls, one gas odor call, one broken fire sprinkler, three times for inspections, and to come back to check on progress. Chief Berg said the Police Department's calls for service to the Travelodge from January 9 through February 6 totaled 102, the highest four-week total since 2015. He noted that of those calls to the Police Department, seven were drug overdoses, and two of them were fatal. The suspect of a Brooklyn Center carjacking on January 28 was also arrested later on February 5 at the Travelodge. In that four-week time period, the Police also cited 13 people in that building for trespassing. 02/09/26 -3- Chief Berg continued that Hennepin County staff’s concerns include a lack of a guest registry, employee trafficking training, overall cleaning and sanitation, and a lack of exterior door control. Chief Berg noted that Community Development and Code Enforcement currently have an open Code Enforcement case for junk, trash, debris, and inoperable vehicles out of the property. He added that this is an ongoing case as property conditions vary from week to week. He stated that there will be a delayed follow-up inspection, since a hotel licensing inspection has been scheduled. He added that on February 4, the Community Development Staff delivered the lodging license inspection notice to the property manager, which is scheduled for February 24 at 9:00 a.m. Community Development Staff also explained to hotel management that the inspection will focus on the items listed in a checklist and that notice must be given to all occupants, as the inspection will be conducted in every room and common area. He added that the Fire Department inspects the common areas, but the state inspects rooms for fire code violations. Chief Berg said there are no immediate life and safety issues that would require the Fire Department to immediately shut down the hotel, as they have in other instances over the years at other hotels. He added that work has been done over the last few weeks to clean up around the property, but there is high concern from City Staff that the property will fall back into the state it was in a few weeks ago, after the annual inspections are complete. Chief Berg said Hennepin County will be on site at the hotel in the next day or so to perform a follow-up inspection and is prepared to issue a summary of suspension for the hotel's food and lodging license until all codes and issues in that summary are brought into compliance. He noted that if that happens, all guests would need to be immediately removed from the property, and the Police and Fire will have additional Staff available to assist, and the Hennepin County Housing Stabilization has been notified in order to assist with guest removal. He said it is very likely that many of the guests will relocate to the Super 8 hotel, which has similar issues, and the same guests bounce back and forth between there and the Travelodge through side doors, bypassing the front lobby. He added that the Super 8 hotel is scheduled for their inspection by the Fire Department, Community Development, and Hennepin County, all later this month, and all Departments will go to that property together. Chief Berg asked the Council if they had any concerns, comments, or questions. Mayor Graves thanked Chief Berg for his presentation and asked if the Council had any questions. Councilmember Kragness thanked Chief Berg for his presentation and said the issues that he brought up are very concerning to her, and she appreciated the detail and information so that the Council is aware of what is going on. Councilmember Kragness added that she received a text from Councilmember Lawrence- Anderson that she had a family emergency and would not be able to attend the meeting. Councilmember Jerzak stated he had inspected that hotel many times and wrote up 400 violations for the Travelodge. He stated that the owner of the hotel needs to be contacted. He noted that the 02/09/26 -4- last time he was there, hotel staff were exchanging their duties for lodging, and that is problematic. He added that if Hennepin County revokes its license because of life, health, and safety issues, he encouraged Staff to investigate the immediacy of that due to four individuals still living in the hotel. He stated that the City has done an abatement to correct immediate violations before at other properties, but with four guests living at the property without being paying guests, this could cause significant problems. He added that the property was up for sale at one point, but the sale fell through. Councilmember Jerzak continued that under the current Ordinance, there are some remedies that the City could use, and he encouraged Staff to revisit that for immediacy. He added that City Staff are trying to write an Ordinance to change human behavior, and that is very difficult, but there needs to be some guardrails put up to ensure the safety of the people that are staying there and address their needs. He stated that regarding the overdose calls, if the City does not address the underlying addictions and mental health aspects, they are going to continue to occur, and those individuals still need a physical place to stay and be safe, but there has to be some workaround for that. Mayor Graves said it sounds like the hotel would not be able to meet the different expectations of the inspection, and asked if they did pass this inspection when the next required inspection would be, or if Hennepin County had a shorter-term requirement for inspections. Chief Berg said he could not speak on behalf of Hennepin County. He added that there is a potential that everything will pass at the next inspection, and last year the hotel passed its annual inspection. Chief Berg explained that inspections are only done annually at the property, and the only way he and other Staff can get back into the building is for calls for service, or if Staff notice something, or if a complaint about the property comes in. He noted that there are negative comments left online about the hotel, and the Fire Department could probably go to the hotel every day based on those comments alone, but they have to have a legitimate reason to get back into the building. Mayor Graves said if the hotel meets all the expectations, and there is no legitimate reason to go back unless there is a call for the next year, she stated that this cannot be the only hotel where there are these kinds of issues. She asked if the county has done anything to provide additional services to the residents of the hotel. Mr. Nyquist said in the last ten months, the City has developed a better partnership with the county, and in a call to the county staff, he noted that county staff were very concerned with the level of violations at the hotel they were seeing. He added that the county was interested in working with the City to clean up the hotel as best they could. Mayor Graves said it may be worth deepening that partnership with the county to see what resources they might be able to provide, so that next year the hotel is not in the same place when it undergoes its inspection. Councilmember Jerzak asked if there would be a discussion about the new hotel Ordinance. Mr. Nyquist said the hotel Ordinance is on the regular session agenda. 02/09/26 -5- Councilmember Jerzak added that if the county issues compliance orders to the hotel, there is a deadline given for compliance, and extensions are often granted, unless it is a life, health, or safety issue. He added that the Council should adjust their expectations, and while he agrees the county is cooperative, they are still limited in their ability to do things unless they pull the hotel's license, and the county takes on the responsibility to ensure that the hotel is not rented out to anyone else. Mayor Graves said they could move on to the EDA/Work Session item and discuss that now. EDA MEETING CHANGES AND ADDITIONS Mr. Nyquist introduced Interim Community Development Director Jason Aarsvold to discuss possible changes to EDA meetings to ensure more efficient use of time. He added that this was a great opportunity to introduce Mr. Aarsvold as well to the Council and have an open discussion. Mayor Graves welcomed Mr. Aarsvold. Mr. Aarsvold said the goals for the EDA meeting changes were not earth-shattering; it was mainly to provide greater focus and communication around EDA activities, to make the most efficient use of Councilmembers and EDA Commissioners' time at regularly scheduled meetings. He added that he would like to set expectations around meeting timing for the business and development community and conduct EDA-related business at regularly scheduled EDA meetings rather than as a City Council item. He said there are times when he has seen an EDA-related item on the Council agenda, which should stay an EDA item and use the EDA for its intended purpose, and get used to having that as a regular course of action. Mr. Aarsvold said proposed changes include holding one meeting per month on the fourth Monday following the regular City Council meeting, which coincides with the timing for regular Planning Commission actions and may have a corresponding EDA component that can all be handled in one night. He added that the agenda may include both consent items and regular business, and each meeting will include a written and verbal development update with project updates as necessary. He asked if the Council had any questions regarding the proposed changes. Councilmember Jerzak said he appreciated these efforts, as the Council has been asked about projects in the past and they did not know anything about them, so having regular updates would be really helpful. Councilmember Kragness said she was in agreement, and having regular updates would be helpful so the Council is at the forefront of things and knows what is going on progress-wise. Mayor Graves said she is not particularly excited about having another meeting on the calendar, but she does think having an EDA meeting would be really helpful. She added that after having conversations with other Mayors, there are ways that the Council could be using the EDA that they have not been. She said if these changes were implemented, it would be helpful to ground the Council and determine what the Council's authority is with the EDA. She said that the Council 02/09/26 -6- should also explore what they have done with the EDA in the past, and what the Council could try to do differently, and allow those meetings to be a space where the Council and the EDA can all be on the same page. She said the Economic Development of the City affects everything else that the Council does, so she is open to the changes. She said she would reach out to the absent Councilmembers and hopefully they would be amenable to the idea. Councilmember Jerzak suggested that on nights the EDA meeting is scheduled, the Council agenda should not be expanded to allow for extra time for discussion during the EDA meeting. He said the EDA meetings would be a great place to discuss the City’s bond requests through the legislature and see what opportunities could be explored, especially as the legislative session is about to begin and the City has two bonding requests submitted. Mayor Graves thanked Mr. Aarsvold for his time and for stepping in as the Interim Community Development Director. She added that they could take a 25-minute break before starting the Regular Session, after adjourning the Study Session. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Graves moved, and Councilmember Jerzak seconded to adjourn the Study Session at 6:25 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.