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Home My WebLink About2018 08-27 CCM Work SessionMINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA WORK SESSION AUGUST 27, 2018 CITY HALL — COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center City Council/Economic Development Authority (EDA) met in Work Session called to order by Mayor/President Tim Willson at 7:31p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor/President Tim Willson and Councilmembers/Commissioners Marquita Butler, April Graves, and Dan Ryan were present. Councilmember/Commissioner Kris Lawrence -Anderson was absent and unexcused. Also present were City Manager Curt Boganey, Deputy City Manager Reggie Edwards, Community Development Director Meg Beekman, Police Chief Tim Gannon, City Attorney Troy Gilchrist, and Michaela Kujawa-Daniels, TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. T-21 ISSUE RESPONSE Deputy City Manager Reggie Edwards addressed the questions from the Council/EDA. Mayor/President Willson asked if underage people will be cited for attempting to make a purchase, will they also then cite the underage folks who are caught actually in possession of tobacco. Mr. Edwards stated that is something they can define as they move forward with amending the ordinance. City Attorney Troy Gilchrist stated there is current language that criminalizes possession and sale under state statutes so they will need to look at how to handle it if they move forward with this ordinance. He noted if other surrounding cities are selling tobacco items that Brooklyn Center decides to prohibit to people ages 18 and older, then it will be hard to regulate a possession citation. Mayor Willson asked if the ordinance was amended, what happens with the tobacco license by an existing business, if that business was sold. It was confirmed the license would stay with the property. Councilmember/Commissioner Graves stated she lilted the idea of partnering with schools and youth councils to address peer pressure and stress to help the kids so it addresses the root problems according to the youth council research for tobacco use among youth. She stated she is in favor of not allowing purchasing of vaping products in fruity or menthol flavors because those 08/27/18 -1- seem more popular with kids. She noted this is going to be more effective if the State as a whole goes to 21 and older. Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan stated he agrees to limiting flavors to tobacco only shops. He stated he would like to see this topic addressed with the schools as well. He stated he thinks the mini cigar prices should be raised and would like to see them not be able to use coupons for these items all together. City Attorney Gilchrist stated the cities have been trying to address this issue and have started by saying that after coupons or deals the minimum price they sell these items for cannot be less than the price the city sets. Recommendation #1 - Restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products to tobacco shops that restrict minors: has no consensus to move forward, the decision was unanimous. Councilmember/Commissioner Graves stated she sees limiting coupons for regular tobacco products as a way of making lower income people pay more for their addictions and she isn't in favor of that. Councilmember/Commissioner Butler stated she agrees and thinks that kids aren't using coupons anyhow for these products in most cases. Recommendation #2 - Increase the cost of tobacco products: had no majority consensus to move forward as Mayor/President Willson and Councilmember/Commissioner Ryan were in favor of moving forward with this item; however, Councilmembers/Commissioners Butler and Graves were not. Recommendation #3 — Restrict the proximity of new tobacco retailers to within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, community centers, and libraries: had no consensus to move forward, the decision was unanimous. Recommendation #4 — Reduce the number of tobacco retailers to 15 retail stores and #5 — Raise minimum legal sales age to 21: had consensus to move forward, the decision was unanimous. Councilmember/Commissioner Graves stated she would like to see some deterrents in place so they can keep youth out of the justice system. Mayor/President Willson stated once this comes back to the City Council/EDA, they can discuss the penalties at that time. City Attorney Gilchrist noted State laws are on the same page with Councilmember/ Commissioner Graves regarding minors and trying to keep them from getting a record, which is why currently it is a petty misdemeanor or a misdemeanor for that same reason. Recommendation #6 — (A) Partner with the schools in Brooklyn Center, Hennepin County and the Youth Council to develop and fund a program to address peer pressure and stress; (B) Establish continued city/local research and benchmarking for behavior trends and changes of behavior of the use of tobacco by youth; (C) Partnering with other cities to seek statewide 08/27/18 -2- legislation to raise age to limit of sell of tobacco products from 18 to 21: had consensus to move forward, the decision was unanimous. The City Council/EDA stated they would like to move forward with add-on Option A; and look into partnering with schools and counties to address the peer pressure issues youth face, to address the tobacco issue at the core. Mayor/President Willson stated before he agreed with that part of this option, he would want to see specifics on what a fund would look like and what the criteria would. Dr. Edwards stated they can look at that part when staff brings back more information to the City Council/EDA. Councilmember/Commissioner Graves stated both add-ons A and B could move forward together as a collaborative effort. Mayor/President Willson stated the only issue he has is the additional investment of staff time and would like to see more about that before agreeing to any investments with staff time. There was a consensus to move forward with add-on option C as well. Dr. Edwards stated he will draft something with all these items and points for the City Council/EDA to review as a work session item in the future. Emily Anderson, 4136 Columbus Avenue, addressed the City Council/EDA and stated the other 11 cities who have gone to T-21 have stricken the provision for anyone under age to get penalized for purchasing or possessing so they are not alone in wanting to make that change. Gretchen Garmin, Hennepin County Public Health, addressed the City Council/EDA and stated she wanted to thank the staff for their work and looking at the things they can do within the community. She stated there are many tobacco products aside from the e-cig and vaping products that have many flavors that appeal to kids so they should look into those as well. She introduced two of her colleagues from the law center who she stated would be happy to speak to the City Council/EDA at any point, noting she can talk to them about how to make that happen if they wished to have that discussion as well. ADJOURNMENT Councilmember/Commissioner Graves moved and Councilmember/Commissioner Butler seconded adjournment of the City Council/Economic Development Authority Work Session at 8:28 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. 08/27/18 -3- STATE OF MINNESOTA) COUNTY OF HENNEPIN) ss. Certification of Minutes CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER) The undersigned, being the duly qualified and appointed City Cleric of the City of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, certifies: 1. That attached hereto is a full, true, and complete transcript of the minutes of a Work Session of the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Center held on August 27, 2018. 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 10, 2018, Regular Session. City Clerk Mayor