This transcript has been updated with speaker names based on the context of the Oakdale City Council. Note: In the transcript, Council Member Kari Moore is referred to phonetically as "Ingerson" or "Engle Bren" (her former name is Kari Inglebretson), and Community Development Director Andrew Gitzlaff is referred to as "Mr. gsav." *** [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: All right everybody, we're going to go ahead and call to order the first meeting of the year of the Oakdale City Council, January 9th, 2024. Sarah, will you take the roll? [00:00] **Sarah (City Clerk)**: Council Member Wrich? [00:00] **Council Member Katie Wrich**: Here. [00:00] **Sarah (City Clerk)**: Council Member Moore? [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Here. [00:00] **Sarah (City Clerk)**: Council Member Morcomb? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Here. [00:00] **Sarah (City Clerk)**: Council Member Severson? [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: Here. [00:00] **Sarah (City Clerk)**: Mayor Zabel? [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Here. Uh, joining us this morning is Scouts Troop 580 to present the colors. Please stand if you are able. Color Guard attention. Color Guard advance. Hand over heart. Scout hand salute if in uniform. Abby, will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? [00:00] **Abby Wesson (Scout)**: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Two. Color Guard please post the colors. Color Guard return to rank. First things first, Council Members, tonight approval of the agenda. Uh, no changes tonight. Love that. Council Members, can I get a motion? [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: So moved. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Opposed? The agenda is adopted. Next up, two sets of meeting minutes for approval. First up, Workshop, December 12th, 2023. Council Members, any changes or corrections? I'll look for a motion. [00:00] **Council Member Katie Wrich**: Moved. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Opposed? And those minutes are approved. Next up, we have regular meeting minutes from December 12th, 2023. Any changes or corrections? I'll look for a motion. [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: So moved. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a second. Any comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Opposed? And those minutes are approved as well. Uh, next up, we have an added section on here, introductions. We want to give our Scouts joining us tonight for the presentation of colors and the pledge to take an opportunity and introduce yourself to our community if you like, and then we'll take a picture as a group. It'd be great. So if I could... [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Mayor? [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Yes. [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Just Scouts, if you want to say your name and your rank, that'd be great. [00:00] **Scout Roi**: Hi, I'm M. Roi. I am currently Second Class. [00:00] **Becca Lee (Scout)**: Hello, my name is Becca Lee and I am currently a Tenderfoot. [00:00] **Abby Wesson (Scout)**: Hello, my name is Abby Wesson Offer and I'm currently in Second Class. [00:00] **Sophia Beak (Scout)**: Hi, I'm Sophia Beak and I am currently Second Class. [00:00] **Becca Kelor (Scout)**: I am Becca Kelor and I am in Tenderfoot. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Wonderful. Council Members, let's head down, say hello, let's go take a group photo. [Pause for photo] Count of three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One more. One, two, three. Thank you. All right, nothing tonight under public hearing, so let's just speed right into Open Forum. This is an opportunity for anybody in the audience who would like to step up to the podium, share anything on their mind, please feel free to do so. Seeing none, we're going to keep things rolling, move into consensus motions. Council Members, we have A through J tonight. Are there any that Council Members would like to pull for individual consideration? Seeing none, I'll look for a motion. [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Make a motion to approve consensus motions A through J as presented. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Oppose? And those motions are approved. Next is an opportunity to check in with the Advisory Boards and Commissions. It looks like the only one that met was Planning Commission last Thursday. Council Member Moore? [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Um, we had Twin Cities Towing in regarding their CUP and also a presentation on the new city of Oakdale Public Works facility. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Fantastic. They are going to be a very busy group this year. There's a lot of development happening. Nothing under award of bid. So let's go on to staff reports. Community Development, we have a city project. Who wants to take it? Mr. Gitzlaff? [00:00] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Community Development Director)**: Yes. Uh, good evening, Mayor, Council. Um, there was a presentation included in your packet. A little bit of technical difficulties, but since it's there already, I'll just give a verbal overview. Oh, look at that. Kyle with the save. Yeah, little teamwork in Oakdale. Power... no pressure. We were going for the shortest meeting record, but yeah, already like five minutes over that. Okay, we'll get started here. The item before you is the approval of Project 2023-04, the Willowbrook Commons Park. That's approval of the project plans and specs and authorization to advertise and for the collection of bids. There's a background map showing the location of the overall Willowbrook neighborhood on here. It's part of our master plan unit development agreement. The city is responsible for the construction of the parks within the Willowbrook neighborhood. Common Park is centrally located and the largest of the three parks and will be the first one to be built. And just as a note, there is a naming contest that will go out to residents to help identify the name of that park, and that's a couple weeks out yet. Overall, there's more details in the packet of how the budget breaks down. This project has been included in the adopted 2024 to 2028 project. It's actually a 2023 start and 2024 for the completion. In 2023, we did a lot of using competitive bid contracts to purchase some of the bigger elements for the project such as the playground equipment, the restroom shelter, the picnic shelter, and the gathering shelter. So that's where a lot of these costs lie. The total budget that was set back in December last year is $2,939,000, and estimated project cost right now with contingencies all added is $2,918,629. So within budget. The actual bid package is estimated to be about 1.27 million of that overall cost. There were three alternative bid items included in the package. One is for misters. This is really a late addition, one of the reasons why we're highlighting it here—an ability to prolong use at the park, especially on warm days. It also hits at a big public input piece about having some sort of water feature incorporated into our parks. So we included that as a bid alternate, thinking that if we're under and we have contingencies and we get a good price on it, that might be something worth adding. So we included that. And the other two bid alternates are related to topsoil. This is really about our Master Development agreement with the developer. We need good topsoil to plant grass and plant prairies, and it's not out there yet. So we want to make sure that if it isn't out there by the developer, we will have our contractor do it and just bill it back by accessing the letter of credit. So it's kind of a safety valve with that one. Here's an example of the concept plan. This should be familiar territory for the Council after various meetings to get there. Generally, the park elements are focused on the east side of it. The gathering shelter is on the northern portion of the site. Southern portion of the site has the park facility with the 2-to-5 and 5-to-12 playground, the challenge course, and some fitness equipment. And then centrally located is the restroom facility. When we go to the overall layout plan, really the only difference from when we met mid-last year is there are some additional storm water management requirements because we are adding more impervious surface with the play area and the structures. The area just to the north of that shelter, which is kind of an unprogrammed space already, would be where that storm water facility would be included within the plan. Schedule next steps: If Council approves here tonight, we'll get those bids out, packaged up by January 16th. We've locked in our date of a February 6th bid opening, and then we would bring that back for bid award to Council on February 27th. Anticipate getting started as soon as, or close thereafter to, winter road restrictions being lifted in April. And then project completion—this is a one-season construction—so project completion by October of this year. Action request is, as noted below, would be to approve plans and specifications and authorize advertisements for and collection of bids. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council Members, any questions for Andy? All righty, let's get cracking. Can I get a motion? [00:00] **Council Member Katie Wrich**: Make a motion to wave reading and adopt Resolution 2024-001 approving plans and specifications for City Project No. P2023-04 Willowbrook Commons Park and authorizing the advertisement for and collections of bids. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion on a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Oppose? And that is approved. Thank you, Andy. [00:00] **Andrew Gitzlaff (Community Development Director)**: Thank you. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: City Attorney, let's check in with Mr. Thompson. [00:00] **Jim Thompson (City Attorney)**: Yes, Mayor and the Council. Nothing specific, but happy to answer questions. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Anybody have questions for Jim? All right, and turn to your right. City Administrator Volkers, you have a few items tonight. [00:00] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: Yes, Mayor and Council, thank you. I do have three items to briefly talk about. The first one is consideration of the legal service agreement between us and Kennedy and Graven for attorney services. We use them for everything except labor attorney services. They haven't had an increase since 2018. That is six years without an increase. So they're offering a minimal increase: $5 per hour increase, which is less than 1% for the first year. Another $5 per hour increase in 2025 over 2024, which is less than 3% increase. And then another $5 per hour in 2026, which is a 2.7% increase over the prior year. So being they haven't had an increase in six years, nor have they even requested one, I think that's a very nominal and fair increase and I'd suggest consideration for approval. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council Members, questions for Chris? I got one. Does the increased amount fit within the 2024 budget? [00:00] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: Yes, it does, Mr. Mayor. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council Members, what do we think? Do we want to keep Jim around? [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Yeah. Are we iffy on this? No. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Nobody... question is, does Jim want to stay around? [00:00] **Jim Thompson (City Attorney)**: Yeah. Does Jim want to keep Jim around? Thank you, I enjoy it very much too. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council Members, can I get a motion? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: I'll make a motion to authorize the Mayor and City Administrator to sign the amendment to contract for Legal Services between the city of Oakdale and Kennedy and Graven Chartered. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Katie Wrich**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Oppose? And that is approved. City Admin Volkers? [00:00] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: Thank you. The next item on the agenda is to approve the 2024 city of Oakdale legislative priorities. A couple years ago we started this where we do a formal priority list for the city of Oakdale. It went to workshop and has been considered by each of you and we've categorized the priorities this year into three areas: Oakdale Focus priorities: we've got the 40th Street bridge and the 694 noise wall; that's for the public that we will focus on. East Metro Focus priorities: State Highway 36 and 120 (Geneva Century Avenue) corridor needs—that interchange needs to be upgraded, shall we say—and water quality and sustainability, specifically in the East Metro. So those are the two items under that category. The last category is a bigger category with Statewide priorities that we support in Oakdale, such as a local option sales tax. A little more clarification: if we ever need it again, we need some clarification. They don't allow for inflation without going back to the voters, and that makes no sense given our current economy. School Resource Officer: that whole subject needs some more clarification; we'd like to support that. Law enforcement recruiting and retention: it's starting to hit Oakdale, frankly. It is hard to get officers; there's very few students in the schools right now and that's becoming a big priority. Mental Health Services: the Council has made that a very high priority and we will continue to focus on legislation to accommodate that. Sales tax on local government purchases: currently we pay sales tax except for very few certain things. It makes no sense for us to charge our residents sales tax and then turn it over to the state. It's just... it makes no sense. So we're going to keep working on that. Ambulance services with Medicare: we do not get even... we don't cover the cost of running an ambulance service. That ambulance service is very important to our residents. It's a great service that we provide, but the cost is very burdensome on the city of Oakdale and some federal legislation needs to be had to fix that. MSA (Municipal State Aid): finance funding for our roads, state roads. It's very important that we get our share and the upkeep of the roads are maintained. Local Government Aid: that's a supplemental, very complicated formula. It went to practically zero—it went to zero, actually—and now it's up to 262,000 per year and we're hoping it keeps increasing. Or last year was 262,000. Restrictions on local government budgets: there's always local... that's a local control subject that we should be able to make our own decisions about what's best for our residents, and you meaning the city council elected officials. And local government last one is Minnesota Cities—if there's initiatives that come up throughout the sessions, which it does like the SRO, we want the ability to be able to speak to that as needed. So that gives us a little bit of leeway on that. So with that, that's a summary of our legislative priorities and I'd ask for consideration for approval. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Thank you, Chris. Council Members, any questions for Chris? All right, I'll look for a motion. [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: Make a motion to approve the city of Oakdale 2024 legislative priorities as outlined in the attached document. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and second. Final comments? The only comment I would make is a tremendous thank you to staff for pulling that information together. This is a very important change that the city made a few years ago in taking positions on public policy that affects our residents every single day. So if anybody in the public is interested in more detail on those items, I know we have this document on the city website. We will be walking our state legislators through it and, you know, legislators come back I think second week of February, so that's coming up quick. But it's all on our website, so you can go check it out there if you'd like to see it. Motion, second, comments... any final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Opposed? And the legislative agenda is adopted. Final item, Chris. [00:00] **Christina Volkers (City Administrator)**: Okay, final item. Mayor and Council, Chapter Two of the city code of Oakdale Code of Ordinances, Article Three talks about the City Council. There are several clean-up changes needed in that article. We also addressed the order of the agenda. We need clarification—it has been many, many years since that section has been updated. We've been operating a little bit differently; we wanted to get it documented. The last thing is the City Council pay. There's a proposal in there to increase the pay in 2025. It will have been 18 years when that goes into effect since the last pay increase. And there isn't another job in government where there's 18 years with no cost of living and no increase in pay. So staff has presented—this was not a Council initiative, this was a City Staff initiative—we've brought it up for a few years. The Council considered it and it is in the current proposal, and I offer consideration of recommendation for those changes in Chapter Two, Article Three. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Council Members, any questions for Chris? Okay, two items here: the ordinance itself and then title and summary. Let's take the ordinance first. [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: I'll make a motion to wave reading and adopt Ordinance Number 921 amending the city code of ordinances for the city of Oakdale, Chapter Two, Article Three, City Council. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Opposed? And that ordinance change is approved. Next? [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: I'll make a motion to wave reading and adopt Resolution 2024-11 authorizing publication of Ordinance Number 921 by title and summary. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Katie Wrich**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Oppose? And that is approved as well. Council presentations. Before we get up to the individual ones, our annual tradition: we have to do our commission appointments or assignments and the acting mayor designation. We talked about this at our December 12th workshop, so I think we're all on the same page for that. I'm looking around, seeing lots of nods. Can I get a motion? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: I'll make a motion to affirm the 2024 appointments for the boards and commission and the designated council member, and designate Council Member Moore as acting mayor for 2024 as noted in the attachment. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Opposed? And those are approved. All right, let's circle back for Council presentations. Anybody have anything tonight? None from me. Nothing down here. How about down here? Nothing tonight. I got a few from staff that they'd like me to cover. First, as I mentioned at the start of the meeting, this is our first meeting in 2024, so on behalf of the City, I want to wish all of our residents and businesses happiness, success, and prosperity in the New Year. As always, if you need anything throughout the year, please reach out to any of the elected officials up here or our tremendous City staff. We are here to help, so please don't be shy, come talk to us. Next is a very important piece of recognition: today, January 9th, is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. I hope all residents will join me in thanking the tremendous men and women of the Oakdale Police Department for everything they do in our community every single day. Chief Newton, they have a tremendous leader over there. Please share our deep appreciation with your entire department. We know their job is not easy; they take it with such professionalism, grace, and bravery every single day. So thank you for everything you and your department do. We have a couple indoor markets coming up too this month: Saturday, January 13th and Saturday, January 27th, both 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Discovery Center. Lots of great local vendors up there, so stop by for a unique variety of items including baked goods, artisan foods, jewelry, and more. Again, January 13th and January 27th at the Discovery Center. Oh boy, we have an update for Metro Transit. Starting next week, January 15th—we really want our residents to know this—the 4th Street bridge over I-694 will close between Hale Avenue and Hayward Avenue. The bridge will remain closed for the 2024 construction season as crews demolish it and reconstruct it. Please follow the posted detour from Hadley Avenue to 10th Street over to Helmo Avenue. This information will be posted to the city social media and website, or you can visit metrotransit.org/goldlineconstruction. This will be a headache, and we completely understand our residents—this is a big inconvenience—but this has been a big project that Oakdale has advocated for for a long time. The current bridge is dangerous; there is no dedicated pedestrian space on that bridge, and there are visibility issues if you're driving on that bridge. So getting that bridge replaced is a tremendous benefit to our community. And so we are at that point. We wish we had more notice, but it is what it is, you know. So we hope our residents will take the approved detour, and we will be very excited to see that bridge get back opened yet this year, right? It will be. So please bear with us, but we promise it is for the better. Next, another important event coming up: the public is invited to an open house on Thursday, January 25th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. here at Oakdale City Hall. The topic is the construction of the new Public Works facility. Our city staff will be available to discuss the project scope, the project schedule, and final plans including architectural renderings. This was one of the two projects that was funded through, or will be funded through, the local option sales tax that the voters approved in November 2020. So as that project is moving forward, we definitely want to have an opportunity for our residents to come in, ask questions, become more familiar with the project, and January 25th is a great opportunity to do that. So please join us here at City Hall. Another note about Public Works: they are still disposing of natural Christmas trees for residents through January 31st. It's $3 per tree. Drop off hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Public Works campus, 1900 Hadley Avenue North. When you get there, just pop into the office, you can pay the fee then, and Public Works staff will direct you where to go to drop off that tree. Finally, just a quick reminder: city offices and facilities will be closed on Monday, January 15th, in observance of Martin Luther King Day. So that includes City Hall as well as the Discovery Center. So please keep that in mind as well. Lot of announcements. We got some bills to pay, so two sets of claims—one from last year and one for now, essentially. Council Members, any questions on claims? All right, let's take that first one. [00:00] **Council Member Katie Wrich**: I make a motion to approve claims for the period December 13th, 2023 to December 26th, 2023 in the amount of $1,436,725.30. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Oppose? Those bills are paid. How about the second set? Can I get a motion? [00:00] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: Make a motion to approve claims for the period of December 27th, 2023 to January 9th, 2024 in the amount of $4,751,337.31. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: A lot of bills, jeez. There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Kari Moore**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Oppose? And those bills are paid as well. Can I get a motion to adjourn? [00:00] **Council Member Gary Severson**: So moved. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: There's a motion. Is there a second? [00:00] **Council Member Katie Wrich**: Second. [00:00] **Mayor Kevin Zabel**: Motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. [00:00] **Council Members**: Aye.