This transcript features **Mayor Kevin Zabel** presiding over the meeting, with participation from the City Council and various department directors. *Note: There is a discrepancy between the provided context list and the names recorded in the transcript (e.g., Council Members Her, Ingebrigtsen, and Willingbring are present in the dialogue). The transcription below uses the names as they were spoken and identified during the meeting.* *** [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: We'll get it figured out. We're going to go ahead and call to order the regular meeting of the Oakdale City Council, March 12th, 2024. Sarah, will you take the role? [00:10] **Sarah (Staff)**: Council Member Her? [00:11] **Council Member Susan Her**: Here. [00:12] **Sarah (Staff)**: Council Member Ingebrigtsen? [00:13] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Here. [00:14] **Sarah (Staff)**: Council Member Morcomb? [00:15] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Here. [00:16] **Sarah (Staff)**: Council Member Willingbring? [00:17] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Here. [00:18] **Sarah (Staff)**: Mayor Zabel? [00:19] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Here. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. [All: Pledge of Allegiance]. All right, council members, in front of us we have a slightly amended agenda. We're dropping one of the consensus items. Question for City Administrator Volkers: Does the item under—which one am I looking for—Twin Cities Towing, does that include the—does that reflect the updated language? [00:50] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: It does not. That motion will have to be made during that time. [00:55] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Okay. Where is that on here even? Oh, there we go. Community Development. Okay. So council members, we'll just deal with the amended agenda. Can I get a motion? [01:05] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: So moved. [01:06] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [01:07] **Council Member Susan Her**: Second. [01:08] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Opposed? And the agenda is adopted. Next up we have approval of the minutes, three sets in front of us tonight. First up, meeting minutes from the Workshop, February 13th, 2024. Council members, are there any changes or corrections? I’ll look for a motion. [01:25] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: So moved. [01:26] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [01:27] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Second. [01:28] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Opposed? And those minutes are adopted. Next up we have regular meeting minutes, February 13th, 2024. Council members, any changes or corrections? I'll look for a motion. [01:40] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Move. [01:41] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [01:42] **Council Member Susan Her**: Second. [01:43] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Opposed? And those minutes are approved as well. Next up we have Workshop meeting minutes from February 27th, 2024. Council members, any changes or corrections? I'll look for a motion. [01:55] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: So moved. [01:56] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [01:57] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Second. [01:58] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? And those minutes are approved as well. Next up on our agenda is public hearings. We don't have any scheduled for tonight, so we'll keep things rolling right into open forum. Open forum is an opportunity for anybody in the audience to step up to the podium and share whatever is on your mind. House rules for open forum—whoops, I'm sorry—I ask you to keep your comments roughly to 3 minutes. It's also typically not an interactive conversation with the Council. If Council feels like there's something that warrants followup, we will direct it to our City Administrator. But anybody, please feel free to step up. Start with your name and address for the record. [02:40] **Dan Zimlet (Resident)**: Good evening. My name is Dan Zimlet. I'm with 7532 31st Street in Inwood Grove. Last time I was here we talked about how mad Inwood Grove was about that apartment being built behind us without no one telling us, because originally it was for business. A lot of us are disgusted seeing an apartment behind us. I have a solution that might make a lot of people happy temporarily. Right on the other side of the road, there's a nice beautiful pond that's for wildlife. How about we plant a row of nice beautiful pines? Make it green, you know, keep Oakdale beautiful and kind of keep that eyesore away from our neighborhood. I mean, and there was a question last time brought: do we use that area Target? I couldn't believe how much we use Target. My kids actually use McDonald's, I actually been to Speedway for gas tickets. I can't believe twice—not even a month—I had to go to AutoZone. The kids use Kohl's and LA Fitness. So people are using that area. We want you to develop it as a business. We would like to have a restaurant or some more stores. It's nicer just to take a left, no street lights going into that area. It's convenient, it's close. So let's keep the area beautiful and let's somehow—let's start with the trees and kind of make a lot of neighbors happy at Inwood Grove. Thank you. [03:55] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: You're welcome. Is there anybody else that would like to make comments under open forum tonight? [04:00] **John Grindeland (Twin Cities Towing)**: Hello. John Grindeland with Twin Cities Towing, 2741 Geneva Avenue North. [04:05] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: You're welcome to extend or lift that microphone. Yeah, perfect, thanks. [04:10] **John Grindeland (Twin Cities Towing)**: So I just wanted to, one, say thank you for the process. It's been a learning process on my end on this one. In general, I just wanted to follow up with the Planning Commission. I had walked up because one of the questions from our neighbors was who is going to follow up with the resolution items. So one of the items was like a 10-foot wooden opaque fence. I had walked up and said that would be me calling the contractor either that night or the next day once the city would approve it. So anything else on this list, my contact would be the one. I would literally be there making sure if there was a problem, I would be the one trying to resolve whatever it is. So mainly just want to use an opportunity to say thank you for letting me say that, and if anything else, I’m here for questions. [05:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to make comments under open forum tonight? Name and address for the record. [05:10] **Gabe Morham (Resident)**: For sure. My name is Gabe Morham. I'm at 7833 31st Street North, Oakdale. I wanted to voice on behalf of actually my son, who is a minor who wasn't able to be here tonight, wanting to know what the protocol is in regards to being able to put up volleyball nets. Staking signs that are posted out there talk about making sure that you have a permit to stake, and when they came in today to try to get that permit, that was not an option for them, they were told. And so when they went to go play in the park, they were actually asked to leave. And so trying to find a way for youth who are playing volleyball—which is actually really popular here in Oakdale and in our communities—ways that they can, again, stay out of trouble, doing beautiful things, playing and being athletic. How do we make that work for them? That's something that we worry about. That's all I got. [06:05] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thank you. Can I ask—just questions? We're just going to refer that to the City Administrator to work with the Park Superintendent to identify spaces where it is allowed and wouldn't damage infrastructure like sprinklers. I think we can do that. [06:20] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: Yep. [06:21] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Is there anybody else under open forum? All right, we're going to move on to consensus motions tonight. We have A through H. Council members, are there any that you would like to pull for individual consideration? [06:35] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: I'd like to pull G. [06:37] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Actually, aside from that, are there any that council members would like to pull? Can I get a motion to approve consensus motions A through F and H as presented? [06:45] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: So moved. [06:46] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [06:47] **Council Member Susan Her**: Second. [06:48] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Any comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Opposed? And those are approved. Item G is liquor license renewals. Chief Newton, can I borrow you for a moment? Step on up. I have a few questions. In the memo, there were a handful of violations identified, ranging in a couple years—I see 2022, 2023. Can you talk a little bit about that process? Not necessarily the process of compliance checks, but at what point does the Police Department change their recommendation to the City Council for renewal? How many compliance issues do you need? Is it within a certain time frame? It looks like some of these have had a few issues over two-plus years. Can you talk to that a little bit? [07:40] **Nick Newton (Police Chief)**: Yes. So, you know, we can—the Police Department considers a number of factors. I’d say one of the biggest weighing factors for consideration is the business's response to that violation. If they are responsive to training their employees and want to improve by being compliant. However, as a police department, there are certain violations—whether it's the substance of that violation or if it's a number where it's continuing to happen and they're showing no improvement—those are times where we make a recommendation for consideration for denial of that license. [08:15] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Okay. And I assume since they're on the list, the Police Department feels like these infractions are manageable and they've taken steps to correct them? [08:25] **Nick Newton (Police Chief)**: Yes, we do. You know, some of these businesses—for example, the Olive Garden or Red Lobster—some of them are chain businesses with some violations that have occurred, and our police department has reached out and spoke to management at those places to ensure that they're doing things right and being in compliance. However, future violations may lead to that recommendation of denial. [08:50] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thank you. Council members, do you have any other questions or any questions for Chief Newton? Okay. I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve consensus motion G as presented. [09:00] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Second. [09:01] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Any conversation? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Opposed? And that is approved. Thank you, Chief. Next is an opportunity to check in with our advisory boards and commissions. In front of us, let me see... first one that met was Planning Commission. Council Member Ingebrigtsen is Liaison. [09:20] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: I'm actually going to defer back to you. At the meeting, Mayor Zabel did cover for me, so I don't remember what they worked on. [09:25] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: No, I take that back. They had a conditional use permit for a garage, they had one other item... [09:30] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Home-based business? [09:31] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Yes, yep. And both of those were forwarded on with the Planning Commission's recommendations, so I assume those will be on our next agenda. Parks and Rec met February 20th. Council Member Morcomb? [09:45] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: They did. I actually reported on this at the 27th meeting, but... [09:50] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Have a 27th meeting? Remember that was the precinct caucuses? [09:53] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: That's right. Well, there you go. Report again. Geez, yeah, you cancel a meeting, it's amazing what it does. But yeah, we had our dinner. But yeah, it was good talking about upcoming projects for the parks. And something that's very exciting is right now we're going through an update of our strategic plan for the parks. We've got some consultants coming in and actually just a few days ago a survey was released for all the residents that I've been sharing myself, but City staff, Facebook page, and all of Parks and Rec are encouraging everyone in the city to provide feedback on our parks. What do you like? What don't you like? What do you want to see? So that we can make sure we're thinking about the next 30, 40 years of what we want to have in our parks and accommodate the kids in these communities and the adults as well. So those are the focuses that we're working on and developing a work plan for the year. [10:45] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: That area is busy, that's for sure. Lots going on in the parks. That was it, so let's move on to Award of Bids. We have one tonight: Willowbrook Commons Park. Look at that, the name's perfect on there. Nailed it. [11:00] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Community Development Director)**: Thank you, Mayor, council members. I do have a presentation here. I’m Andrew Gitzlaff, Community Development Director. The award for Willowbrook Commons—Oakdale's newest park, which has recently decided upon a name—is on the agenda for tonight. Quickly on the background: there is a master development agreement with the developers that calls for the construction of three parks in Willowbrook by the city to coincide with development. Willowbrook Commons is the first of those parks. After a very long design engagement process, the city council did approve the final plans and specifications and advertisements for bids on January 9th. Those bids were open from January 16th to February 6th, and we had the bid opening on February 6th. That bid advertisement included a base bid for the project and three alternative add-ons. One would be to include some water features in the form of misters, concrete pad, and supply line. And the other two bids were for topsoil within the park area—right now it is lacking the appropriate topsoil—and topsoil around the wetland complex, which is also lacking. Those were developer obligations to complete. We're very happy that we got such great competition on this project. We had eight contractors submit bids. Veit & Company was the lowest bidder for both the base contract and the total contract amount. Veit & Company's low base bid of $1,214,000 and change is underneath the engineer's estimate of $1,271,000. Adding alternative one (misters) would keep this within project budget. Adding alternatives two and three would be completed by the general contractor but, like I said, invoiced to Lennar Homes. We would need a budget amendment for accounting purposes to add alternatives two and three, and that budget amendment would essentially increase the amount allocated in the CIP from $2,939,000 by approximately $81,000 to $3,020,000. When you add everything up for the park, when we were at the final design stage, we were about 10% overall contingency. Right now, heading into construction, we're at 6% contingency, which is a very healthy amount and in line with industry standards for the start. With that, it is requested that Council wave reading and adopt resolution 2024-24, awarding the bid for city project P223-04 Willowbrook Commons to Veit & Company in an amount not exceeding $1,311,654.45, also amending the project budget and authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to sign and execute the contract. And with that, Mayor and Council, I would be happy to answer any questions. [13:50] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, any questions for our Community Development Director? Jake, did you have something? Oh, you opened your lips there, I thought you were gonna say something. [13:55] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: I'm just ready to—he's ready to pounce on that resolution. Let's do it. Make a motion to wave reading and adopt resolution 2024-24 awarding the bid for city project P223-04 Willowbrook Commons Park to Veit & Company in the amount of $1,311,654.45, amending the project budget and authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to sign and execute the contract with Veit & Company. [14:20] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [14:21] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Second. [14:22] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? And that bid is awarded. Thanks, Andy. Are you going to take us through Community Development items? [14:35] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Community Development Director)**: I’ll start you off. All right. The next item in front of us is the Willowbrook Open Space contract award for city project 2023-06. This project again is a requirement of the master plan unit development agreement where the city is responsible for establishment of prairies within the open space. The city initiated a request for proposal process in summer of 2023 and recommended selection of RES Great Lakes for phase one of that work. In September of last year, Council approved the contract with RES for an amount not to exceed $98,240. As part of that contract, RES is responsible for the design, installation, and maintenance for three growing seasons, which is really the most intensive part of establishing a prairie. That would include 7.7 acres of open space and Outlots G, B, and C. The acres did not include any of the wetland or pond areas. So once we started the contract and RES became more familiar and us as City staff became more familiar with the restoration process, we're now recommending that we do pursue some wetland restoration in Outlot G. This would be an additional 3.2 acres of wetland that was not in the original contract. Wetland in Outlot G is the outlot that surrounds the Willowbrook Commons, so one of the more high-profile spots to do the restoration. Currently, the wetland is pretty low quality, low diversity; it's dominated by reed canary grass and dogbane. As Willowbrook continues to build out, the conditions will get wetter as more homes drain into the area and the environment will be conducive to dense stands of invasive cattails. It is recommended that the enhancement and management work for those wetlands occurs now before those cattails can get established, and this will also make the prep work easier than postponing that into a later date. So with that, the amendment would increase RES's scope of work by $33,224 to $131,464 total. There is money within the 2024 Capital Improvement plan to accommodate that increase in spending, so no budget adjustment is recommended at this time. We're looking for approval to enter into the contract. I'd be happy to answer any questions on this one as well. [17:20] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, any questions for Mr. Gitzlaff? All right, let's jump right into the recommendation. [17:25] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Make a motion to authorize the Mayor and City Administrator to execute the contract amendment between the City of Oakdale and RES Great Lakes LLC for project P223-06 for an amount not to exceed $33,224. [17:40] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [17:41] **Council Member Susan Her**: Second. [17:42] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Opposed? And that contract amendment is approved. Thanks, Andy. [17:50] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Community Development Director)**: Thank you. [17:51] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Next up we have a conditional use permit amendment. City Planner Luke McClanahan, welcome. [17:56] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: Thank you, Mayor and Council. Yes, recall that the Twin Cities Towing conditional use permit amendment request—and this is for property at 2741 Geneva Avenue—they are seeking to bring their business into compliance with zoning due to violations of their original special use permit from back in 1985. Just a summary of some of the issues here: back in 2012, there was an expansion of the site without obtaining Council approval. About a year ago, they also replaced their wooden fence with a chain link fence; the original special use permit required that a wooden fence be installed and maintained along their property. One other concern was that they have been exceeding their 30-car limit from their original special use permit. So the business is requesting to amend their permit in order to bring all those issues into compliance. When the Planning Commission reviewed this request, they recommended approval back on January 4th of this year. And recall from the Workshop discussion on February 13th, the request was brought to you again and further discussion was had. Based on that Workshop discussion, staff amended the resolution that's in your package to reflect concerns that were raised by the Council. Staff recommends approval of this request subject to the conditions in the resolution. Going to resolution 2024-15, I'll read through the six conditions of approval here. First: a 10-foot in height, 100% opaque wooden fence be installed and maintained along the entire southern boundary of the site where vehicles are stored. The applicant must obtain a fence permit through the city. Number two: expansion of the building, property, outdoor vehicle storage area, or use shall require approval of a site plan and conditional use permit amendment. Number three: no more than 75 vehicles shall be stored outdoors at any given time. The number of vehicles may be temporarily exceeded if the vehicles are impounded during a city snow emergency or other emergency event upon approval by the City Administrator or designee. Number four: a clear fire lane of at least 20 feet in width shall be maintained at all times around the building for the use. Number five: vehicles with leaking fluids or other hazardous substances shall be pumped of hazardous substances or be removed totally from the site. The City of Oakdale reserves the right to conduct periodic inspections of the site for leaking fluids and hazardous substances associated with vehicle storage. Finally, number six: that the north entrance be utilized exclusively to enter and exit the business and nighttime operations be limited to the northern half of the site whenever possible during the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Just to be clear on the proposed conditions here: they would essentially approve the resolution, rescind the previous special use permit and those conditions, and replace them with the conditions that I just listed. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have. [21:10] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, any questions for Luke? I have one regarding the fence. From what I've seen, they're not using the entire property to store cars right now; they're only going a certain amount back. If they want to put cars further back on their property, the CUP would require them to extend the fence as well, correct? [21:25] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: That's correct, Council member. In addition to that, the property owner would also have to go through a formal site plan and another conditional use permit amendment request. [21:35] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Mr. Mayor, mind if I ask Luke a question? Luke, what was the process by which you came to the resolutions here? How did you come down to the 75 vehicles? Did you do a study and determine that 75 is the appropriate amount—not too much, not too little? Can you talk through that process a little bit? [21:55] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: Yes, Council member. So 75—the number that staff landed on—we analyzed the site and found that while maintaining a drive lane and a fire lane around the building, the site could easily accommodate well over 100 cars. 75 feels like a compromise in terms of the original use permit being only for 30 vehicles, and of course the business had expanded to include acreage to the north. So that 75 is a bit of a compromise between what they could max out the property at and what they were originally approved for. [22:30] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Just have one question about the fuel tank coming into compliance. I understand there was not a permit for it; is there one now? [22:38] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: Good question, Council member. The property owner removed that 500-gallon fuel tank, and the Fire Marshal did confirm that that was removed back in February. [22:50] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Excellent. Thank you. [22:51] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, any other questions? In terms of process, I think there's possibly one amendment to one of the conditions. So I'm proposing we take the resolution as included in our packet—we'll do that in a second—and then we'll take the amendment after that if that works for everybody. Okay. So can I get a motion on this conditional use permit? [23:15] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: So I'll make a motion to wave reading and adopt resolution 2024-15 approving the conditional use permit amendment for Twin Cities Towing at 2741 and 2751 Geneva Ave North, subject to the conditions in the attached resolution and the amendment that would be proposed. [23:35] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [23:37] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Second. [23:38] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. I think we have one amendment. I'm actually going to propose two. The first one is under condition number six regarding the use of the entrance on the North End between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. I would like to eliminate the words "whenever possible." So that new condition, if the amendment is adopted, would read: "the north entrance be utilized exclusively to enter and exit the business and nighttime operations be limited to the northern half of the site during the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m." There's an amendment. Is there a second? [24:15] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Second. And then we'll do one at a time? [24:16] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Yep. There's an amendment, is there a second? [24:17] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: I’ll second if nobody else will. [24:20] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Discussion? [24:22] **Council Member Susan Her**: You know, I would like to raise the question and ask Luke: if we were to remove that phrase, how would it go about policing that? What kind of guarantees could we ask for from the business owner to make sure that doesn't get violated? And could there be instances where there's a mistake in understanding of what the CUP would clarify? Let's say a neighbor wrongfully makes an accusation against a business saying, "Hey, they did use it," but in fact they didn't. How would we go about rectifying that and addressing having such definitive language in there? [25:00] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: Council member, in terms of enforceability of this proposed condition, we're complaint-based. That's how we operate as staff; we respond to individual complaints and investigate to make sure that it's a legitimate complaint. In terms of how the business owner would ensure that this is enforced—I don't know that we as a city would want to get into too many specifics, but previously they had mentioned training other employees in terms of utilizing that north access as one way. I don't know that I could speak to other provisions that the business might take. [25:35] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council Member Her, I would add—as Luke said—we're complaint-based. Into the situation of a single infraction, obviously it would have to be a chronic reoccurrence where staff could document a recurring issue before the process would move forward. A single occurrence really would exist outside of that. I do think Council Member Ingebrigtsen's amendment is a good one because I do see some contradictory language in this condition when we use words like "exclusively" but then in the next line saying "whenever possible." Those have very different meanings for me. I think this clarifies it to say we hear the concerns of adjacent residential property owners with being close to the residential properties late at night. For clarity's sake, if we have to pick one, I would argue that "exclusively" is more appropriate. And to piggyback off you a little bit about us being complaint-based—City Administrator Volkers, maybe you know more about this than me, but we're going to be rolling out an app very soon for our residents where literally you can just go on your phone and immediately lodge a complaint and it tracks how the city responds? [26:50] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: Council Member Ingebrigtsen, if I can do an infomercial for a second about that, I’d be glad to. Yes, in April we're rolling it out to residents; it's called "SeeClickFix" as an app on your phone. You can report anything you see or questions that you have. It will submit it to the proper department and you can watch the tracking, and you will receive follow-up status communications through the app on what is going on with your complaints. So it's a much, much, much improved system over what we have. That would be a great way—unless it’s an urgent matter, you don’t want to use it for police matters that are urgent—but that is a great way to report things and to track what happens. [27:35] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thank you. Council members, we still have an amendment and a second on the floor. Is there any final comments? Okay, call the vote. All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? [27:50] **Council Member Susan Her**: Nay. [27:51] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Sounds like 4 to 1. The amendment is adopted. Council Member Ingebrigtsen, did you have another amendment? [27:58] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Yeah, I would like to impose—I see a time limit imposed on when the fence is brought up to compliance with the CUP. And I guess I'm open to maybe a little discussion and debate as far as what that time period is. You know, you want to be reasonable, give them time, but we also don't want to see them kick the can down the road too far. [28:15] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: You have a time frame in mind? [28:16] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: I thought by the end of the year would be more than enough. I wasn't going to say 30 days, but—no, I mean, get—yeah, it takes time and you don't know how far the company is backed up. [28:30] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: So let's do this: let's take the motion, I'll offer you a second, and then we'll go into conversation. Because my question for staff is: what would a typical timeline under code enforcement look like? I don't want to deviate too much from our standard process. In terms of compliance with CUP conditions, what is the planning department and code enforcement's expectation for compliance? [28:55] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: Mr. Mayor, in terms of bringing or working with a business to be in compliance—for example, this situation, how long would we give them? It depends, right, is kind of the answer. A number of factors... depending on the time of the year, obviously we have a pretty mild winter right now, so it might be possible for the business to act on it pretty quick. If they're showing a good faith effort that they're working towards progress, we can be flexible, we can extend the time. Usually something like this where it involves some type of construction, it could be June 1st or July 1st—that is usually when we give those dates out. [29:40] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Well, I gave you your second and I would still probably vote no on it simply because I think we're lacking in an enforcement mechanism. If we do apply a time frame, I mean, I would throw—I would just say the entire CUP is revoked automatically... I don't know, can we add that as a condition or does it have to go through the process? I'm going to look at the Attorney. [30:00] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: And that's why I'm open to giving them plenty of time to make sure that it gets done. But what I want to avoid here is getting a call from a resident—and one that's probably in the audience here—nine months from now saying, "Yeah, they still haven't done anything with the fence." In full disclosure, I visited both couples that were here and stood out on their decks. To call the fence they have now "opaque" is—I mean, it's a chain link fence with some cover on it, but it's not working to stop any type of light or noise. [30:40] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Knowing that staff's timeline would be faster than your proposed timeline, are you comfortable leaving it in operations to work through? [30:48] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Sure. I'll withdraw it, that's fine. [30:52] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, are there any other amendments? I'm going to offer one: amending condition three, striking the number 75 and inserting the number 60. I think the original CUP being for 30—more than doubling it—the impact on the adjacent residential neighborhood is more than excessive and too big of an ask for our residential neighbors to accept. I don't think it's right to just more than double the impact of this business on their residential properties, and so I think we should temper that. So I would offer the amendment changing it to 60. Is there a second? All right, amendment fails. We're back to the resolution as amended, 2024-15. Are there any other amendments? All right, final comments? Seeing none, all those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? [31:50] **Council Member Susan Her**: No. [31:51] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: And that conditional use permit is approved 4 to 1. Willowbrook 10th edition—who wants to take that one? Luke, yes, keep it rolling. [32:00] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: Yes, this is the latest phase of the Willowbrook build-out. This particular phase is located on the north side of 40th Street. It further builds out the Willowbrook neighborhood with more single-family lots. The plat is proposing 85 single-family lots and 12 outlots for wetland, stormwater, open space, a future park, and a future development set-aside. In total, this plat would subdivide 70 acres. Because the property is abutting Ideal Avenue (which is County Highway), Washington County did review the plat; there were no comments from the county on this one. Staff finds that the plat is in compliance with the preliminary plat of Willowbrook, the subdivision regulations of the city's ordinance, and the Willowbrook planned unit development. I will run through just a handful of conditions here for the final plat resolution 2024-16. Condition one: execution of a development agreement between the developer and the city. Number two: approval of the public improvement construction plans by the City Engineer. Number three: permits and approvals must be obtained from outside agencies and proof of approvals must be provided to the city. Number four: satisfaction of park dedication requirements in accordance with the Willowbrook Master Plan PUD agreement and a fee of $35,908. Number five: the final plat must be revised as necessary to meet all requirements of the City Attorney's plat opinion. Finally, number six: Outlots A through K shall be dedicated to the city. I'd be happy to answer any questions about this plat. [34:10] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, any questions for Luke? It's hard to believe we're up to the 10th edition. That was my only question—is this the last planned edition? [34:20] **Luke McClanahan (Planning Manager)**: No, Council member. Within this plat, there's one outlot that is being set aside for approximately 37 more single-family lots. So we'll see at least one more phase of the single-family development, and then there's the parcel that's north of the Roehr site which is designated for multi-family. So at least two more phases yet to come. [34:45] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: We're getting there. Last call for questions? I'll look for a motion. [34:50] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Make a motion to wave reading and adopt resolution 2024-16 approving the final plat for Willowbrook 10th edition with conditions included in the attached resolution. [35:05] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [35:06] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Second. [35:07] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? And that is platted. Thanks, Luke. Next up, check in with Engineering. Jesse, come on down. [35:20] **Jesse Farrell (City Engineer)**: Thank you, Mayor and Council. So tonight is the next step in the long process for our 2024 Street Improvement project. Tonight also includes our Oakdale Park Trail project in the Nature Preserve and a standalone fire station parking lot reconstruction at our North Fire Station. Pursuant to prior Council authorization, plans and specifications have been completed for these projects. Brad Swanson, representing SEH (our design consultant), is here tonight. It’s requested that the Council consider approving these plans and authorizing the advertisement for bids on these projects. The plans were prepared in accordance with the improvements discussed at the public improvement hearing and reflected in the feasibility report. At a high level, it involves reconstruction of pavements, trail improvements, street lighting, utility repairs, drain improvements, and then parking lot improvements at the North Fire Station. The street project generally is Hadley between 40th and 50th Street and some of the local streets off of Hadley in that area. And then with the trail project in the Nature Preserve and the fire department just off of 50th Street, it's one nice contiguous project area. These are being combined into one contract that, if approved tonight, will be advertised, which will set this project up for a very favorable bidding timeline of April, which would keep the project at or ahead of schedule for construction to start in May. All these improvements were reflected in the adopted 2024-2028 CIP and discussed at previous workshops. My request is that the Council wave the reading and adopt the resolution approving the plans and specifications. [37:45] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, are there any questions for Jesse? [37:48] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Just real quick—this has been brought up before, but I know they're going to be redoing 50th Street there with the County, and there's been conversations about some better lighting at that intersection due to a number of traffic incidents. With this project going at the same time, I assume you've been in conversations with Washington County about the timing of these projects? [38:10] **Jesse Farrell (City Engineer)**: Mayor and Council, the County project doesn't include lighting improvements. We do have street lighting on 50th Street; it's just the old style. This would have been an opportune time, but it would have been a considerable expense to the city, so that isn't something that we've partnered with the County on. But most of these light poles—we have existing foundations, those are collector style. So if you drive up and down Hadley and then onto 50th Street, it is right now a smorgasbord of old styles mixed in with the new. As we're reconstructing, we've upgraded ours, but we didn't take that opportunity with the County's project. [39:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Okay, thank you. [39:01] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council members, any other questions? I'll look for a motion. [39:05] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Make a motion to wave reading and adopt resolution 2024-17 approving plans and specifications for city project R2024-01, city project R2024-03 Oakdale Park Trail improvements, city project B224-02 North fire station parking lot improvements, and authorizing the advertisement for and collection of bids. [39:35] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [39:37] **Council Member Susan Her**: Second. [39:38] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? And those plans and specifications are approved. Thank you, Jesse. [39:48] **Jesse Farrell (City Engineer)**: Thank you. [39:49] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Next, let's check in with our City Attorney joining us tonight. Rachel, welcome. [39:55] **Rachel (City Attorney)**: I'm just here to say good evening and I hope you had a lovely day. [40:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thank you. Any questions for Rachel? All right, let's turn the other way and check in with our City Administrator, Miss Volkers. [40:10] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: Thank you, Mayor and Council. I just have one thing. It is our Public Works manager's last meeting—Jim Romanak, who’s in the back here. We have a going-away party for him tomorrow; his last day will be Monday the 18th. I just want to take a second to acknowledge his many, many years of work for this city and all his contributions. He's been here 38 years. His first three years were as a seasonal employee in the parks and the street maintenance area. In 1998 he was hired full-time permanent. He worked as a crew member for many years and he was then promoted to Street and Fleet Superintendent where he had great success. He did that for 18 years, and in January of '22 I asked him if he would like to be the Public Works manager. We had a vacancy—the long-term Public Works director retired—and he agreed to take on that role. He has done great things for the city over the years. He has been our informal leader in Public Works; whether he was in a leadership position or not, everybody saw Jim and respected Jim as one of the leaders. Then when he did end up holding that top post, it was such an easy transition. I just wanted to show recognition and appreciation. Today is his last meeting and he will be greatly missed when he retires on Monday the 18th. [42:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thanks, Chris. And Jim—everybody on Council—we share in Chris's comments. It is never easy for any City seeing such a breadth of knowledge and experience walking out the door, but we're all so excited for you. It's hard to believe—38 years, just how this community has changed and how you've been an integral part in all of it. We say thank you for your contributions, but more importantly, we say thank you for building such a wonderful team at Public Works. We wish you well in retirement. If you ever want to come back and visit, the door is always open. And Jim, just to let you know, I was in first grade when you started at City Hall. [42:45] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: I wasn't even alive. [42:47] **Council Member Susan Her**: I was not alive. [42:48] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: If I could say something too—being on the council, I just finished my first year—but the amount of pride that goes into how you take care of our city and the staff that are a part of it. You go a few miles over the roads, you’re in East St. Paul—where I lived for a number of years—and I don't envy that public works department and the infrastructure they've got to maintain. But the second you cross over into Oakdale, you can see the difference. That's what you've created here and it's something that we're proud of as a council. It's not an easy thing to accomplish, so thank you. [43:30] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thank you. Let's move into Council presentations. Council members, I have a few tonight, but is there anybody that would like to go first? Anything down here? How about down here? All right, let's just dive right in. Council Member Morcomb alluded to this earlier: In January, Oakdale kicked off a Park System Plan update. It is off and running now, and we are ready to start layering in feedback on our city parks. We encourage everybody to take a few minutes and fill out the short online survey. You can find that survey and a really cool GIS map on our City website, OakdaleMN.gov. We’ll keep that survey open until April 5th. Our final—that can't be right—our final indoor market already? Wow. Final indoor market of the season will be held Saturday, March 23rd from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Discovery Center. A great opportunity to shop local. I went last weekend, got some smoked pork chops, some strudels, some salsa, and some delicious caramels. Definitely join us on March 23rd up at the Discovery Center. The city's business retention, expansion, and attraction program—also known as BREA—is back for 2024. Recently, the city had two great visits, one with Home Furniture and another with All Family Dental. Through this program, City officials, staff, and chamber reps visit local businesses to learn more about how the city can support them. This is the second year of that program; it’s been a huge success. We appreciate the partnership with the Oakdale Area Chamber of Commerce and the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. Finally, the City is hiring. It's time to start hiring some seasonal positions. We are looking for seasonal outdoor maintenance workers. Applicants must be 18 years or older, and the salary starts at $16 per hour. We're also hiring summer recreation program instructors; those applicants must be 16 or older and the salary is $16 per hour. You can find these and all of our open positions on our city website. We got to pay some bills. We have two claims rosters in front of us. First up is February 14th through February 27th in the amount of 1.8 million and change. Can I get a motion? [46:10] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Make a motion to approve claims as presented. [46:13] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [46:14] **Council Member Susan Her**: Second. [46:15] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Opposed? And those are paid. Next up we have a claims roster, February 28th through March 12th, in the amount of 1.3 million and change. Can I get a motion? [46:30] **Council Member Kelly Willingbring**: Make a motion to approve those claims as presented. [46:33] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [46:34] **Council Member Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Second. [46:35] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion on a second. All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? And those bills are paid as well. Next—this is where our agenda is going to get a little choppy—we have one more item on our regular council meeting agenda: it's a closed session with our City Administrator for an annual performance review. Performance reviews is one reason, talking legal strategy is another. We don't do it very often, but sometimes there are times when Council needs to discuss things privately. So we will be tackling that before we get to that, we're going to tackle some other things, such as we have a meeting of our Economic Development Authority. So we're going to go ahead and recess this meeting, we'll tackle the EDA stuff, and then we'll go into closed session. Council members, I'll look for a motion to recess the city council meeting in order to convene a meeting of the Oakdale Economic Development Authority. [47:45] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: I'll make a motion to recess the city council meeting in order to convene a meeting of the EDA. [47:50] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [47:51] **Council Member Susan Her**: Second. [47:52] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. All those in favor say Aye. [Council: Aye]. Oppose? And the Oakdale City Council meeting is recessed. We're going to go ahead and call to order a regular meeting of March 12th, 2024 of the Oakdale Economic Development Authority. Sarah, will you take the role? [48:10] **Sarah (Staff)**: Commissioner Her? [48:11] **Commissioner Susan Her**: Here. [48:12] **Sarah (Staff)**: Commissioner Ingebrigtsen? [48:13] **Commissioner Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Here. [48:14] **Sarah (Staff)**: Commissioner Morcomb? [48:15] **Commissioner Andy Morcomb**: Here. [48:16] **Sarah (Staff)**: Commissioner Willingbring? [48:17] **Commissioner Kelly Willingbring**: Here. [48:18] **Sarah (Staff)**: President Zabel? [48:19] **President Kevin Zabel**: Here. First up on our agenda is the approval of the agenda. Council members, no changes in front of us, so can I get a motion? [48:25] **Commissioner Andy Morcomb**: Make a motion to approve the agenda as presented. [48:28] **President Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [48:30] **Commissioner Susan Her**: Second. [48:31] **President Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. All those in favor say Aye. [Commission: Aye]. Opposed? And the agenda is adopted. We have one set of minutes in front of us from our last meeting, dated August 22nd, 2023. Council members, any changes or corrections? Can I get a motion? [48:45] **Commissioner Kelly Willingbring**: I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of the August 22nd, 2023 meeting. [48:50] **President Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [48:51] **Commissioner Andy Morcomb**: Second. [48:52] **President Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. All those in favor say Aye. [Commission: Aye]. Opposed? And those minutes are approved. We have one business matter in front of us: it's the annual election of officers. Under the bylaws of the EDA, the role of President is automatically filled by the Mayor of Oakdale, but we do need officers or commissioners appointed for the roles of Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Commissioner. Council members, does anybody want to change or do we want to just keep the roster the same as 2023? [49:15] **Commissioner Jake Ingebrigtsen**: Keep the same. [49:17] **President Kevin Zabel**: Same? Will somebody make a motion extending the roles of 2023 through 2024? [49:22] **Commissioner Kelly Willingbring**: I'll make a motion to extend the roles of the 2023 Oakdale Economic Development Authority roster officers into 2024. [49:30] **President Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Was there a second? [49:32] **Commissioner Susan Her**: Second. [49:33] **President Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Any conversation? All those in favor say Aye. [Commission: Aye]. Opposed? And congrats on all those appointments. Okay, I got to go to my script here. Got to make sure I don't mess this up, Chris is going to get really mad at me. So at this point, we're going to go ahead and go into a closed session of the Oakdale Economic Development Authority. Pursuant to Minnesota State Statute Section 13D.05, subdivision 3(c)(3), the meeting will be closed to discuss offers and counter-offers for the purchase or sale of real property with PIN IDs 3102-921-3259, PIN 3102-921-32060, and PIN number 3102-921-3261 in the city of Oakdale, Minnesota. I made that motion, can I get a second? [50:15] **Commissioner Andy Morcomb**: Second. [50:16] **President Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion and a second. All those in favor say Aye. [Commission: Aye]. Opposed? And the Oakdale Economic Development Authority is going into closed session. We're going to go...