This transcript has been formatted with the correct speaker names based on the context provided for the July 11, 2023, Oakdale City Council meeting. **[0:00] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Good to go. All right, let's go ahead and call to order the meeting of the Oakdale City Council for July 11, 2023. Sarah, will you do the roll? **[0:09] Sarah (City Staff):** Council Member Severson? **[0:11] Council Member Gary Severson:** Here. **[0:12] Sarah (City Staff):** Council Member Morcomb? **[0:13] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Here. **[0:14] Sarah (City Staff):** Council Member Wrich? **[0:15] Council Member Katie Wrich:** Here. **[0:17] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Mayor Zabel, here. Please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. [Music] Next upon our agenda is the approval of the agenda. Council members, the version in front of us there are no changes, so I will look for a motion. **[0:39] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Motion to approve the agenda as presented. **[0:41] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[0:42] Council Member Katie Wrich:** Second. **[0:43] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. **[0:46] Council Members:** Aye. **[0:48] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Opposed? And the agenda is adopted. Next up, we have approval of minutes. Two sets tonight. First, the workshop minutes from June 27, 2023. Any changes or corrections? I'll look for a motion. **[1:01] Council Member Gary Severson:** Motion. **[1:02] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[1:03] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Second. **[1:04] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. **[1:07] Council Members:** Aye. **[1:08] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Opposed? And those minutes are adopted. Next up, we have regular meeting minutes from June 27, 2023. Any changes or corrections? Look for a motion. **[1:13] Council Member Katie Wrich:** So moved. **[1:14] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[1:15] Council Member Gary Severson:** Second. **[1:16] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Motion, second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. **[1:19] Council Members:** Aye. **[1:20] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Opposed? And those minutes are approved as well. Public hearing—we don't have one too—sorry, excuse me. **[1:27] City Administrator Christina Volkers:** Mr. Mayor? **[1:28] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Yes. **[1:29] City Administrator Christina Volkers:** And when we did the roll call, we should have called Council Member Inga-britson and stated absent. **[1:33] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** He is absent for tonight. Get that for the record. Thank you. No public hearing tonight. Next up on the agenda, we have Open Forum. This is an opportunity for anybody to step on up to the podium and share anything that's on their mind. Before we get to that, I have a proclamation recognizing Park and Recreation Month as well as Park and Recreation Professionals Day. Whereas, Recreation programs and events promote physical, emotional, and mental health—let me try that again. Recreation programs and events promote physical, emotional, and mental health and wellness through organized and self-directed fitness, play, and activities. And whereas, Recreation programs and events build healthy, active communities that aid in the prevention of chronic disease, provide therapeutic recreation services for those who are mentally or physically challenged, improve the mental and emotional health of all residents, and are fundamental to the environmental well-being of our community. And whereas, Recreation programs and events support safe, vibrant, attractive, progressive communities that make life better through positive alternatives offered in their recreation opportunities. And whereas, parks and other natural recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of communities and provide a place for all to connect with nature and to recreate outdoors. And whereas, the City of Oakdale supports the skilled work of its recreation professionals in strengthening community cohesion and resiliency, connecting people with nature and each other, and providing opportunities for healthful living. Therefore, I, Kevin Zabel, Mayor of Oakdale, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim July as Park and Recreation Month and specifically July 21st, 2023, as Park and Recreation Professionals Day in the city of Oakdale. Anybody that has interacted with our Parks and Rec Department knows that they are some of the finest men and women around—from Julie [Williams] and her team at the Discovery Center to Jeff Koesling and his team within Public Works. They just do phenomenal, phenomenal work in every corner of the city, rain or shine, around the clock and around the calendar. So a big thank you to them for everything they contribute to our community. Open Forum: so if there's anybody that would like to share anything, please feel free to step on up. All we ask is you state your name and address for the record. We typically ask comments be limited to three minutes or so, but feel free to share whatever's on your mind. **[3:01] Michelle (Resident):** Good evening. This is my first time ever coming to a council meeting and I have lived here in Oakdale for 21 years. Absolutely love the community. Follow Kevin on Facebook. First, I’m sure many people come here either to ask for something or to complain, and I'm no different, but I'm going to start with a compliment. I have always been impressed with how quickly our road crews clean our streets when we get snow. For many years I had to travel down to Saint Paul and I could get out of my driveway and get out of Oakdale, and as soon as I hit St. Paul or Maplewood, the roads were crap. So kudos to the city works people that actually keep our streets clean. I know this past year was a challenge for them and by being on Facebook I know you heard a lot of complaints, but I for one still think they did an awesome job this year considering what we all had to deal with. So thank you. And then I'm here because Lauren Coates suggested I come visit with all of you. I live at 3748 Gershwin Avenue North in a townhome that backs up to Goose Pond which backs up to Goose Park, if you know where it is—it's Gershwin and 40th. There's two holding ponds there and I have an abundance of wildlife that I can see outside my door. Two does dropped their fawns this year right there in our backyard on that pond area. We have squirrels, rabbits, wood ducks—lots of wood ducks—lots of mallards, and an abundance of geese. This, the geese population, has been getting larger and larger. This year, on that section of land between the two holding ponds, there were ten goose nests. I counted 64 goslings in my yard one day when they were first hatched with about nine pair of geese, I think. And those goslings are now almost full grown and they spend most of their day in my yard. I can't use my yard or have my grandchildren over because there is too much goose poop in my yard on a daily basis. I can shoo these geese away and they're back 10 minutes later. I can't put up a fence because I live in a townhome. And I've done my homework. I went out and I pulled up Oakdale's goose policy and I've read it. I understand the geese are my problem in my lawn. Does that mean I can get a taser? And I don't think so. I called the DNR; the gentleman in Forest Lake was very kind and spoke to me about options. He told me what "egg addling" was—never heard of it. Do you know what egg addling is? You go out and you pour corn oil on the eggs, because if you just go out and break them, they'll lay more eggs. But if you put corn oil on them, they'll still nest on them and they just will never hatch, and it'll be too late for them to then lay more eggs. If there are 10 nests out there this season, can you imagine how many are going to be out there next season? Because they come back to where they were hatched to lay their own eggs. The population's getting worse and worse. I know that the city of Oakdale when we first moved here did something about the goose population; they were out on that pond gathering up geese one summer. The DNR says it's not their responsibility to do it; it's the city's responsibility, but that the city has to get a permit from the DNR to do anything. I'm just wondering if you've noticed a larger population of geese. I'm wondering if there's any possibility that egg addling could be done this coming spring. I know there's not much that can be done this season. And if the city doesn't have the funds, could they get the permit and let volunteers go do the egg addling? I've even researched how you do it off the DNR website because I'd like to be able to use my lawn and I'd like to be able to have my grandchildren play with me in my backyard. So if there's anything that could be done, I would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. **[6:00] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Thank you, Michelle. Is there anybody else in the audience that would like to speak on Open Forum? Otherwise, I do have one. Some residents may not know this, but you can actually go to our city website and submit comments and ask that they be read into the Open Forum on the website so you don't even have to come down to City Hall. So you may want—[Laughter/Music]—but we did receive one, and so I will go ahead and read this into the record. The submission came from Cody Balinski located at 3816 Hallmark Avenue North and the subject is "Vehicle Noise." The comments read: "It seems like there is an ever-increasing number of extremely loud vehicles and motorcycles disturbing the peace and quiet of the area. California is implementing an automated camera system that can detect the loud vehicles and then send tickets to the owners. This is a link to a news site discussing the program (link provided). I'm sure it is highly unlikely Oakdale would ever adopt such a thing, but it would be awesome and hopefully deter the loud vehicles." So, like all comments made during Open Forum, we will refer this to city staff to dig into it and, if necessary, come back to a City Council workshop for follow-up. So could you pass that down to Chris [Volkers]? Next up, Council Members, we have consensus motions. In front of us tonight, we have A through G. Are there any on there that Council Members would like to pull for individual consideration? Seeing none, can I have a motion? **[7:38] Council Member Katie Wrich:** I will make a motion to approve consensus motions A through G as presented. **[7:42] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[7:43] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Second. **[7:44] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Motion, second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. **[7:47] Council Members:** Aye. **[7:48] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Opposed? And A through G are approved. Next up, we're going to check in with our advisory boards and commissions. It looks like the only meeting was Council with the Planning Commission, of which Council Member Inga-britson is liaison and he's not here tonight, so we will check in with him and our next City Council meeting to see if he has an update. No Award of Bids tonight. Staff reports: let's go ahead and check in with Community Development. They have one item related to Willowbrook PUD. Mr. Gitzlaff, welcome. **[8:13] Community Development Director Andrew Gitzlaff:** Thank you, Mayor. Thank you Council Members. Yes, the one item tonight is an amendment to the Willowbrook Planned Unit Development to allow accessory dwelling units. This is a request by Lennar Corporation to allow their Next-Gen model on certain single-family lots within Willowbrook. Lennar is seeking this request in order to offer their home-buying customers an option for multi-generational living arrangements. This application was first heard by the Planning Commission at their June 1st meeting, and they did recommend approval of the request. The request then was at City Council on June 14th; a public hearing was opened, there were no public comments given, and then closed at the June 14th meeting. This item was then held over to tonight's meeting to allow staff to research some of the concerns that Council expressed about these properties becoming rental. Staff has since worked with our City Attorney to come up with some language within the ordinance that better clarifies that rental restriction. To summarize, the restriction would restrict these ADUs from being rental units while also allowing qualified residents or guests, such as nannies or exchange students, to occupy them. In addition, staff recommends that the ADUs must clearly be subordinate and attached to the single-family dwelling units and all detached units, and the ADUs must be less than 50% of the floor area of the primary dwelling. So those are the changes made, and the action for you is "wave reading and adopt ordinance 902." **[9:37] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Council Members, any questions for Mr. Gitzlaff? **[9:38] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Yeah, I had one and it's just a confirmation. So this restriction for not using it as rental property—that stays in place even if the property is sold in the future, is that correct? **[9:48] Andrew Gitzlaff:** That is correct. The PUD is for the overall development, so any of these Next-Gen homes within Willowbrook, that would apply to. **[9:55] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Perfect. Thank you very much. **[9:57] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Council Members, any other questions? All right, I'll look for a motion. **[10:01] Council Member Katie Wrich:** I'll make a motion to wave reading and adopt Ordinance 902, approving an amendment to the Willowbrook PUD to allow accessory dwelling units as accessory uses on certain single-family residential lots. **[10:11] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[10:13] Council Member Gary Severson:** Second. **[10:14] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion and a second. Final comments? I'll just make one comment on this. I'm going to be voting no, and it just really goes back to a concern that I had during the workshop. I'm fully supportive of accessory dwelling units and the role that they play in the housing ecosystem; my objection to this is just creating a different standard at how we treat them in terms of the rental licensure ordinance from the other ADUs we have in the city. So personally, I don't support creating a different standard here; I think everything should be similar city-wide. But otherwise it's fine, but for that reason, I'll be voting no. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. **[10:48] Council Members:** Aye. **[10:49] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Opposed? **[10:50] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** No. And that ordinance is adopted three to one. **[10:54] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Mayor, for the record, the applicant is here present tonight, too. **[10:56] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Thank you, Andy. Engineering up next. Jesse, come on down. We have a petition for a turn lane improvement and changing some money. Welcome. **[11:06] City Engineer Jesse Farrell:** Thank you, Mayor and Council. So the item before you is responding to a petition from the property owner for a turn lane. This is a turn lane that would get constructed on High Point Drive. This request was anticipated, so this turn lane is already included in our construction plans and contract. What we were waiting on was the petition from the developer, which gave them time to presumably go through more of the development process with the Forefront Commercial Development that this turn lane would serve. In order to do this, we need to amend the assessment roll. The additional cost for this turn lane is $58,000 and that's being borne 100% by the property owner that's requesting the improvement. We also need to amend the 2023 budget. In this case, we're accepting more assessment revenue, which will decrease the amount of funds that we use from our bond proceeds. If there are any questions associated with this, that's what I'm here for; otherwise, this is going to be constructed in the next few weeks. It's coming up fast. **[12:00] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Council Members, any questions for Jesse? All right, let's get to a motion. **[12:05] Council Member Katie Wrich:** I'll make a motion to wave reading and adopt Resolution 2023-69, accepting the petition to include the turn lane improvements, amending the assessment to parcel 170-292-142003 Lot 4 Block 1 of the Oakdale Farm Third Edition from 110,104 to 168,104, and amending the 2023 budget to include the additional assessment. **[12:25] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** It's a mouthful. **[12:26] Council Member Katie Wrich:** Yeah. **[12:27] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[12:28] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Second. **[12:29] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. **[12:32] Council Members:** Aye. **[12:33] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Oppose? And that resolution is adopted. Thank you. **[12:36] Jesse Farrell:** Thank you. **[12:37] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Time to check in with our City Attorney, Jim Thompson. Welcome, Jim. **[12:41] City Attorney Jim Thompson:** Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. Nothing specific to report but happy to answer any questions. **[12:46] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Council Members, any questions for our favorite attorney? Always keep the lawyer happy. Flattery gets you everywhere. Let's turn down the other way and check in with our City Administrator, Ms. Volkers. Anything from you tonight? **[13:00] City Administrator Christina Volkers:** No Mayor and Council, I don't have anything to report tonight. **[13:04] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Anything for Chris? Nope. All right. Council presentations? Anybody got anything tonight for me? This week? All right. How about down here? **[13:14] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** None for me. **[13:15] Council Member Katie Wrich:** None for me as well. **[13:16] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Alrighty. I just have a few. First and foremost, I want to say a big thank you to everybody that helped with Summerfest this year. This was a transitional year for our cornerstone city event. Mother Nature threw a few curveballs at us with some rain and thunderstorms, but in the end, it all worked out very well. But on behalf of everybody at the city, we want to say a tremendous thank you to the Oakdale Summerfest Community organization, the all-volunteer group that's taking over this event going forward. They did a phenomenal job with putting everything together. A big thank you to our city staff that helped provide technical assistance throughout the planning process, all of the sponsors and food vendors, and visitors and residents who came out. All in all, it was a great event. So a big thank you to them once again. We have a new event this year—Thursday—yeah, today's Tuesday. On Thursday night, July 13th, from 5:30 to 8 PM at the North Fire Station, called "Ladders and Squads." So this is a fun opportunity to see, explore, and learn about the cool vehicles and equipment used by our Oakdale firefighters and police officers. So we encourage everybody to come down, check out our cool ladder trucks and squad cars and everything in between. This event is just open to the public; pop on down anytime from 5:30 to 8 PM. The Farmer's Market continues in the City Hall parking lot again this Wednesday, or tomorrow night, from 2:00 to 6:00 PM. I think I saw on Facebook that their carrots are coming now and—well, yep, I mean a lot of produce. I was down there last week and the vendors are definitely filling up with their treats and produce, so please stop on by. 2:00 to 6:00 PM, City Hall parking lot; always a good time. Our Summer Concert Series is going on at the Walton Park Band Shell. We have one coming up Wednesday, July 19th, at 7:00 PM. The Capri Big Band will be there, so please pop on down for that free concert. You can't go wrong—bring your chair, bring some snacks, and just hang out and pray for good weather. I'm going to look to Chris on this one—if there is a cancellation due to weather, the city will have all those details on our website and social media page as that happens. So keep an eye out just in case. Also next week, Friday, July 21st, we have our first "Movie in the Park" kicking off this year with *Puss in Boots: The Last Wish*. So pop on down to the Walton Park Band Shell around dusk if you want to watch a free movie. So grab the family, lawn chairs, and blankets for a free movie under the stars. This event is sponsored by Oakdale Recreation and the Police Department, so that's always a fun event as well. Finally, another event—it's a busy summer—"Night to Unite." Hard to believe it is just three weeks away, taking place on August 1st, Tuesday, August 1st. So if any residents or neighborhoods are interested in hosting a party, we ask that you please register with the city by Friday, July 21st. There's a form on our city website, oakdalemn.gov, where you can request if you want the Police Department or the Fire Department or your favorite City Council member to pop by and say hi. But it's all, you know, more so just a good opportunity to get out and interact with your neighbors and build that strong sense of community. So that's always a good time. But yeah, if you want to get registered, oakdalemn.gov, you can find the form on there. We just ask to do that by Friday, July 21st. Let's pay the bills. In front of us we have a claims roster for June 28th through July 11th—just under a million bucks. Who would like to make that motion? **[15:53] Council Member Katie Wrich:** I would like to move to approve the claims for the period June 28, 2023, to July 11, 2023, in the amount of $945,956.02. **[16:04] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[16:05] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Second. **[16:06] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Motion and a second. Final comments? All those in favor say aye. **[16:10] Council Members:** Aye. **[16:11] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** All those opposed? Bills are paid. Can I get a motion to adjourn? **[16:15] Council Member Andy Morcomb:** Motion. **[16:16] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** There's a motion. Is there a second? **[16:17] Council Member Gary Severson:** Second. **[16:18] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. **[16:21] Council Members:** Aye. **[16:22] Mayor Kevin Zabel:** Opposed? And we are adjourned. Thank you and good night. [Music]