This transcript features the Bayport City Council meeting from December 2, 2019. Based on the context provided and the dialogue, I have assigned the speakers as follows: * **Mayor Michele Hanson** (The chair/presiding officer) * **Matt Kline, City Administrator** (Referred to in the transcript as "Adam" due to phonetic transcription error; handles roll call, budget, and administrative items) * **Sara Taylor, City Planner** (Presents the Short-Term Rental ordinance) * **Jay Jackson, Police Chief** (Provides input on enforcement and parking) * **Councilmembers** (Mapped to the provided list: **Carl Bliss** is "John," **Katie Hill** is "Connie/Michelle," and **Ethan Gilmore** and **Orin Kipp** fill the remaining roles based on the roll call). *** [0:02] [Applause] [0:25] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** [Applause] I'd like to call to order the December 2nd 2019 Bayport City Council meeting please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. [0:45] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** ...the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God. Matt, please call the roll. [0:55] **Matt Kline:** Mayor Hanson? Here. Councilmember Gilmore? Present. Councilmember Hill? Here. Councilmember Bliss? Here. Councilmember Kipp? Here. All present. [1:10] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you. That takes us to the approval of tonight's agenda. Does anyone have any questions, comments or changes? If not, would someone like to make a motion to approve? [1:20] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** I'll make a motion approving tonight's agenda. [1:23] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Carl. Is there a second? [1:25] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Second. [1:27] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thanks, Katie. Thank you. [1:30] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Takes us to our proclamations, commendations, petitions and announcements. And the November recycling award recipient is Thomas Darrow at 902 Inspiration Parkway North, who will be awarded for his recycling efforts with funding made possible with a grant from Washington County. So thank you very much Mr. Darrow for your efforts. Takes us to our open forum portion of the meeting, and that's where we set aside 15 minutes to address the council on topics not on tonight's agenda. Does anyone want to come forward and address the council? If you should want to do so, you would come forward and state your name and address for the record and address the topic with us. But we are very pleased to have so many visitors with us this evening. No takers on open forum? Okay, then we will move on to our consent agenda. We will consider a resolution adopting items 1 through 14... [Mayor reads items 1-14 including fire hall polling place]. Does anyone have any questions, comments, or changes to tonight's consent agenda? [3:59] **Matt Kline:** Madam Mayor, staff would like to request one change to the description on item 11 regarding the application execution of an OSHA grant. We received a grant to install a safety guard rail on the roof of City Hall; we'd like to add the old fire hall and library to that as it covers all three public facilities, just so there's no lack of clarification on the grant application. [4:30] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you very much. Any other changes there or questions? If not, would someone like to make a motion? [4:37] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Make a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda. [4:40] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** Second. [4:42] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Katie. Thank you, Carl. Matt? [4:45] **Matt Kline:** Thank you Madam Mayor. Councilmember Kipp? Aye. Councilmember Bliss? Aye. Councilmember Hill? Aye. Councilmember Gilmore? Aye. Mayor Hanson? Aye. [5:12] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Okay, that takes us toward the public hearing portion, which is the certification of past-due waste collection bills to be added to property taxes. Matt? [5:25] **Matt Kline:** Thank you Madam Mayor. This is an annual exercise and task the city completes regarding the delinquent trash fees that get certified to the county and added to the property taxes. There's one other correction that staff would like to make in the memo: it's actually pursuant to Chapter 443, I apologize for the error of missing state statutes. The list is as of the end of September per our city code and per state statute. It's provided to us from the city's trash hauler, and the city then sends out public hearing notices to the property owners. If there are any here this evening, they can provide feedback on that. Council will then be asked at the end of the hearing to approve the certification. [6:12] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Okay, so at this time then I would open the public hearing. Do we have anyone that would like to come forward? Okay, does not look like we have anyone that's coming forward to address us. So I think we could have a motion to close the public hearing. [6:45] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I'll move to close the public hearing. [6:47] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** Second. [6:50] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Katie. Thank you, Carl. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Public hearing has been closed. [7:02] **Councilmember Orin Kipp:** Is there a comment—not for the public hearing—but from the City Council regarding the fee schedule? Sara handed over a revised portion for this. She mentioned the 10% as the max. [7:15] **Matt Kline:** The state statute that allows a city the penalty charge is 10%. It's a 10% charge on top of whatever the delinquent fee is. I'd also like to thank Finance Officer Schilling and Mary Goulette for their work; they really do most of the work here. We have negotiated with our hauler to not have us collect anything for certifying any charges less than $50. But it is time-consuming. [8:35] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** It's a state statute that it is just 10%? [8:55] **Matt Kline:** Yes, we were charging more prior but we are at the 10% now. [9:05] **Councilmember Orin Kipp:** Is this a pretty typical year? As a relatively new councilmember, I'm wondering if this fluctuated? [9:22] **Matt Kline:** The list has fluctuated. Last year was almost fifty people, and we got it down this year to about twenty-three. We try to reduce the list before we actually certify it. Even if approved tonight, if they are paid off prior to the end of the month, they will be removed from the taxes. [10:15] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Any other questions? If not, would someone like to make a motion? [10:20] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** I'll move to approve the certification of past-due waste collection bills to property taxes as presented. [10:25] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Second. [10:30] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Carl. Is there a second? Seconded by Katie. We'll do a roll call. [Matt Kline calls roll; all ayes]. [10:56] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** That takes us to unfinished business, which we do not have any items this evening. So we'll move right to our first item under new business: to consider amending Appendix B, Zoning, related to the regulation of residential short-term rental use. [11:05] **Sara Taylor:** Madam Mayor, members of the Council. I'm going to present from up here this evening. The short-term rental ordinance has been through several iterations. [Sara provides history from Nov 2017 to Dec 2019, covering the Planning Commission's 4-1 recommendation]. [14:15] **Sara Taylor:** Regarding the eligibility for short-term rentals, there are two options. One would be to issue all licenses purely administratively. The other would be to issue notices to surrounding properties within 350 feet, and if there was opposition, a hearing would be held. The Planning Commission was not comfortable being the arbiter of whether to issue the license; they wanted to see the Administrator issue the license but have the Council be the appellate body. [17:35] **Sara Taylor:** Moving on to the fee: the initial application fee recommended is $400, with an annual renewal of $200. Inspections will include an initial site inspection for health, safety, building, and fire code compliance. Enforcement will be on a complaint basis. The suggested fee for violations starts at $250, progressing to $500 for the second and $750 for the third. If there are three substantiated complaints in a 12-month period, the license will be revoked. [22:27] **Sara Taylor:** Regarding density, staff recommends a total of 15 licenses. This was determined by looking at the areas of the city where this would be allowed, excluding Inspiration and Waterford due to their HOAs. I also proposed a "block face" density limit of 12.5%, allowing at least one license per block face. [29:00] **Sara Taylor:** On parking, the current proposal prohibits any on-street parking for guests. This is a difficult one to enforce, but it is the number one complaint in other cities. [34:10] **Sara Taylor:** Maximum occupancy is limited to 2 per bedroom plus one, with a total maximum of 10. We also require liability insurance with a minimum of $300,000. [36:00] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Sara. I think it makes sense that we address this in the same manner the Planning Commission did. Let's start at the beginning of the ordinance. Any questions regarding the definitions? [38:15] **Councilmember Orin Kipp:** Under the current proposal, even with the 12.5% block face rule, could someone still be surrounded by rentals? [39:03] **Sara Taylor:** That is the tough part. Some cities use a distance requirement, like 500 feet. The 12.5% was a middle-ground compromise. [42:15] **Councilmember Orin Kipp:** I'm just looking at the worst-case scenario where a homeowner is surrounded. I don't want to have a neighbor on the south, the one next to him, the one across the street—you're surrounded. It isn't fair to the homeowner that's been there for years. [44:30] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I actually think we might be overestimating how many of these we will have in town. We have rules these people have to follow, and we can shut them down if they are difficult. I feel like we should just leave it at a total limit of 15 or 10. [47:00] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Regarding the parking stickers—how would the police know if it's my car or a renter's car? Perhaps providing stickers that identify them as guests of a specific home? [48:00] **Jay Jackson:** [Nodding] It's a possibility. It helps with enforcement to know whose vehicles are there. [51:12] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** We are representing the greater good of the community. We don't want to become a summer rental city. I'd like to stay a little more restrictive to start. [53:20] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** What if we say you can't have an adjacent property be a short-term rental? That solves the situation of being surrounded. [1:01:26] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Okay, so for density, let's start with a cap of 10 for the whole city. How do you feel about that? [1:02:13] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** On the notice requirement—I have no problem with people being notified, but I don't think neighbors should have a veto. [1:15:15] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Chief, what are your thoughts on what is most important to be able to enforce? [1:15:20] **Jay Jackson:** It's complaint-driven. We'll look into whether they have prior complaints. If they are already a noisy family, I'll tell the Administrator they aren't a good fit for a license. [1:20:50] **Councilmember Orin Kipp:** Looking at the inspection report—some of these egress and guardrail requirements might be tough for 60-year-old houses. [1:22:54] **Matt Kline:** We aren't looking to make people completely redo their homes, but we want to address life-safety issues for tenants who aren't familiar with the property. [1:33:25] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Moving to page 6, occupancy. [1:36:37] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I saw online that the Beach House Marina sleeps 12. If we limit it to 10, will that be a problem for them? [1:38:10] **Sara Taylor:** The 10 limit was to avoid large parties. We can change it to 12 if the council prefers. [1:40:30] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** I would propose that we drop the guest parking restriction since we limited the density. [1:45:20] **Matt Kline:** We can ask to see an example of proposed parking signage with the application. [2:00:42] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Page 9, Section 7. The wording "assure" doesn't work; it should be "ensure." And I feel like holding the owner responsible for a tenant's criminal behavior, like drug use, is heavy-handed. [2:06:59] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** How am I as the owner supposed to prevent a renter from committing a crime? Do I need to hire security? [2:08:45] **Matt Kline:** The philosophy is that the city is granting a special privilege to this property. If the owner doesn't manage it well and bad actors come in, the recourse is the loss of that privilege. It's a basis for revocation, which is appealable to the Council. [2:25:47] **Sara Taylor:** We could use the language "reasonable effort" to make sure tenants do not engage in disorderly conduct. [2:29:12] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** I am personally not comfortable with the person that has this privilege not being held accountable to a higher degree. They are introducing a commercial business into a residential district. [2:32:40] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** I'll move to adopt the amendments to City Ordinances Section 748 to allow residential short-term rental use along with the amendments discussed. [2:33:15] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Second. [2:33:27] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Roll call. [Matt Kline calls roll: Hill-Aye, Bliss-Aye, Gilmore-Aye, Kipp-Aye, Hanson-Aye]. [2:34:20] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** I move to adopt an amendment to Appendix B to repeal reference to lodging and boarding and establish short-term rental as a permitted accessory use. [2:34:40] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Second. [Roll call: all ayes]. [2:35:05] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** I move to adopt the ordinance summary for publication. [Councilmember Hill seconds; all ayes]. [2:35:58] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Item number 3 under new business: to consider amending Appendix G, the fee schedule. [2:36:00] **Matt Kline:** Thank you Madam Mayor. [Matt outlines changes to park fees, short-term rental fees, safety camp, and cemetery charges]. We have reverted the picnic shelter fee to $35 for residents. We are also adding a service charge for certifying delinquent trash charges. [2:43:53] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I'll make a motion to adopt the amendments to the Appendix B fee schedule. [2:44:10] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** Second. [Roll call: all ayes]. [2:44:41] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Item number 3: Consider a resolution setting a public improvement hearing for the MnDOT 2020 Highway 95 project. [2:44:45] **Matt Kline:** This is the first step in the assessment process. We already held one, but the statute has a six-month limitation. We need to reset the date because the state didn't let the project until November 22nd. [2:48:37] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I'll move to adopt a resolution setting a public improvement hearing date for the 2020 Highway 95 improvement project. [2:48:50] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Second. [Roll call: all ayes]. [2:49:31] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Now we have our public input Truth in Taxation on the 2020 city budget and levy. Matt? [2:50:04] **Matt Kline:** [Presents budget slideshow]. The 2020 budget is $3,329,873, a 4.23% increase. Property values in Bayport increased 12.5% overall, which has allowed us to keep the tax rate down. The city tax rate is actually decreasing by 6.9%. Significant impacts include the Highway 95 project and equipment upgrades for Lakeside Park. [3:05:15] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Matt. Very comprehensive. Any questions? If not, motions. [3:05:40] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I'll make a motion to adopt the resolution establishing the levy for 2020. [3:05:55] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** Second. [Roll call: all ayes]. [3:06:15] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** I move to adopt the resolution establishing the budget for 2020. [Councilmember Hill seconds; all ayes]. [3:06:40] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I move to adopt the resolution establishing the capital improvement plan for 2020. [Councilmember Bliss seconds; all ayes]. [3:07:00] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Liaison reports? Michelle? [3:07:05] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Lighting of the Green is Wednesday night, 6:00 to 8:00 PM. [3:07:48] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** Library Board met. Colleen Robinson is the new member. There will be a story stroll outside at the Lighting of the Green. [3:08:39] **Councilmember Orin Kipp:** Middle St. Croix Watershed met. We are allocating more money for testing in Perro Creek. [3:10:11] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** I attended the Andersen Corporation ceremony; they are now a Yellow Ribbon organization. Congratulations to them. [3:11:30] **Jay Jackson:** Just a rumor, but I hear Santa might be coming to town. [3:12:18] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** I want to thank the Planning Commission for their hard work on the rental ordinance. One last reminder: please clear your sidewalks of snow and ice. Motion to adjourn? [3:13:51] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Motion to adjourn. [3:13:55] **Councilmember Carl Bliss:** Second. [Meeting Adjourned].