This transcript has been formatted with speaker identifications based on the context of the North St. Paul city council meeting and the provided list of officials. **Note:** The raw transcript contains several phonetic errors (e.g., "Councilmember Cool" is likely Council Member McKenzie or Woods, and "Mayor Mangy" is Mayor Monge). I have corrected these names in the speaker tags for clarity. *** **[00:00:00] Mayor John Monge:** Call to order. Roll call please. **[00:00:03] City Staff:** Councilmember McKenzie? **[00:00:04] Council Member Dave McKenzie:** Here. **[00:00:05] City Staff:** Councilmember Schweer? **[00:00:06] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Here. **[00:00:07] City Staff:** Councilmember Wong? **[00:00:08] Council Member Wong:** Here. **[00:00:09] City Staff:** Councilmember Nordby? **[00:00:10] Council Member Jason Nordby:** [Indicates presence]. **[00:00:11] City Staff:** Mayor Monge? **[00:00:12] Mayor John Monge:** Here. **[00:00:13] Council Member Jason Nordby:** So moved, Your Honor. **[00:00:14] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. I thought maybe I missed a step again. **[00:00:16] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** No, I'll second. [Laughter] **[00:00:18] Mayor John Monge:** All right. All those in favor say aye. (Group: Aye). Thank you. All right, topics all yours. **[00:00:22] City Manager Brian Frandle:** Thank you, Mayor. First up on the agenda for the topics is North St. Paul Police Association. They're just here to give us a general overview of their foundation and maybe their mission statement. I don't know who's here to speak to that. **[00:00:35] Buddy Martin:** Gentleman. Hey bud, welcome. How are you? We’re gentle. [Laughter] It’s good, I’m soft. [Laughter] Um, I’m Buddy Martin, representing the North St. Paul Police Foundation. We're a group of community members that have organized to create the foundation... [Explains mission and introduces board members: Mario Gonzalez Mitchell, Angie Johnson, Cheryl Heiner, Terry Furlong, Karen Ibarra, Allison Schaber, Ed Lovell, and Brandon Bramsher]. **[00:03:00] Buddy Martin:** ...That ends my presentation. Short and sweet. I don't know if my other board members have anything they'd like to add or if you have any questions. **[00:03:10] Council Member Jason Nordby:** Do you have any fundraising ideas besides the car show at all that you might do for some kind of public? **[00:03:15] Buddy Martin:** We've tossed around a number of ideas. We don't have anything concrete as of yet... [Discusses coupon books and future liquor permits]. **[00:04:10] Mayor John Monge:** Really appreciate your efforts. Thank you very much. Look forward to seeing you at the car show. **[00:04:15] Council Member Wong:** Thanks for your presentation. I was just wondering if you had like a fundraising goal for this year? **[00:04:20] Buddy Martin:** We haven't set a dollar amount for this year because it's our year one... our goal is to fund the K9 program. **[00:04:45] Mayor John Monge:** I think you should let us know so we can put them on the website. **[00:04:50] Buddy Martin:** Of course, yes. We plan on being at the car show every Friday this year. **[00:04:55] Mayor John Monge:** All right. Thank you, Buddy. **[00:05:00] City Manager Brian Frandle:** So next up is McKnight Field use and fee discussion. I'll turn that over to Brandy. **[00:05:08] Brandy Howe (Community Development):** McKnight Field use and fee schedule discussion is back on the agenda again tonight at the request of the Mayor... [Explains history of fees and the $102 maintenance cost per field per day]. Staff is looking for direction from the Council on how to proceed. **[00:06:20] Mayor John Monge:** I’d like to thank Mike for showing up today, Mike Svenson. I had a meeting with him a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday... the biggest thing we talked about was practices. Mike, if you don’t mind, you want to come up to the microphone? **[00:07:35] Mike Svenson:** My name is Mike Svenson... I'm the founder and president of North St. Paul Youth Baseball Association. We started last February... we have about 150 kids. **[00:08:15] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Can you speak to maybe some of the barriers that you're facing as an organization? **[00:08:20] Mike Svenson:** Last year it cost some money to get it started. This winter I did fundraising with businesses... [Discusses how the $75 practice fee would raise costs for families significantly]. We really don't need field prep at all for practices. **[00:09:50] Mayor John Monge:** I appreciate your willingness... I think for us as a city and just for kids, it's good for them to be able to take ownership of their field. **[00:10:05] Director of Public Works Ron Ritchie:** Even if nobody played on them at all, we'd still have to do something with those fields weekly... but where the extra cost comes in is prepping the fields for the games and the chalk. **[00:10:45] Mike Svenson:** I have no problem with paying for weekend events or tournaments where you need employees and supplies. **[00:11:15] Council Member Wong:** Of the youth that are in your league, how many are from North St. Paul itself? **[00:11:20] Mike Svenson:** Most of them are North St. Paul; there are some from Maplewood. We're trying to feed North High School. **[00:12:00] Mayor John Monge:** [To Mike] Thank you so much. [To Council] Lisa and I are the only two that have been around... we changed the rules twice. I am certainly amenable to making the right decisions for North St. Paul sporting teams. Ron, what’s it really going to look like from Public Works' standpoint? **[00:13:20] Director of Public Works Ron Ritchie:** We have the capacity to do it. It's up to you guys to decide... I really don't have an overtime budget for parks. If we're scheduling a whole bunch of stuff on the weekends, that's where it costs us. **[00:16:30] Council Member Wong:** From my perspective, North St. Paul-based nonprofits should receive free field use during the week. **[00:17:30] Council Member Jason Nordby:** I'm against "free." Make it a very nominal amount, like five dollars, just so the nonprofits aren't scheduling the field as much as they can... put some thought into it. **[00:18:45] Mayor John Monge:** It sounds like a consensus. Let’s bring back a resolution. **[00:19:45] City Manager Brian Frandle:** All right, we're done with our workshop. I will move for a motion to adjourn. **[00:19:50] Mayor John Monge:** So moved. All in favor say aye. (Group: Aye). *** **[00:20:00] [The Regular Meeting Begins]** **[00:20:05] Mayor John Monge:** Roll call please. (Staff performs roll call). Motion to adopt the agenda? **[00:20:15] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** So moved. **[00:20:16] Council Member Jason Nordby:** Second. **[00:20:18] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor say aye. (Group: Aye). **[00:20:20] City Manager Brian Frandle:** We have a few presentations this evening. Starting with Century College 916 student-built home interior design. Tom Spen is here. **[00:20:30] Tom Spen:** This year's projects on Eldridge Avenue... I think this is our 12th home in the city. We hope to have completion toward the end of June. I'll turn it over to Catherine. **[00:21:10] Catherine Harrington (Century College):** Hello and thank you. I am the Century College instructor for this interior design course... [Introduces students: Amy Kaufman, Eileen Gorbanova, Janelle Kali, Jill Reagan Scully, and Liliana Rodriguez]. **[00:21:45] Janelle Kali (Student):** The 2,500 square foot home... our goal was to create an elevated look while being mindful of budget. [Students take turns presenting the "Modern Cottage" design, color palettes, and layouts]. **[00:30:15] Mayor John Monge:** Don't you just want to move in right now? Thank you all for your presentation. Next up is Ramsey County presentation on the HRA Levy. Welcome, Victoria. **[00:30:30] Victoria Reinhardt (Ramsey County Commissioner):** I'm here to introduce HRA Chair Commissioner Mai Chong Xiong. The idea with the HRA Levy was that half of it would be in the City of St. Paul and half in the suburbs. **[00:31:00] Mai Chong Xiong (Ramsey County Commissioner):** I ran on an affordable housing platform... Ramsey County has already invested in over 3,000 units. I’ll introduce Kari Collins to walk through the PowerPoint. **[00:32:30] Kari Collins (Ramsey County Director):** I'm a proud North St. Paul grad, go Polars. [Explains the HRA Levy, the 50/50 split between St. Paul and suburbs, and the 10% administrative cap]. **[00:36:15] Josh Wilson (Ramsey County Deputy Director):** Nearly 70% of funds were deployed into housing infrastructure... nearly half of Ramsey County jurisdictions participated. **[00:39:15] Kari Collins:** We also have down payment assistance. We had about 11 individuals from North St. Paul trying to gain access to the program in the last six months... if the City of North St. Paul wants to opt-in for 2024, you need to pass a resolution by July 1st. **[00:43:00] Council Member Jason Nordby:** If we opt-in, do we have to stay in? **[00:43:10] Kari Collins:** You can pass a resolution opting out by July 1st of the next taxable year. **[00:44:00] Mayor John Monge:** All right. Next for our presentations is Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Dan Wick is here to speak to that. **[00:44:15] Dan Wick:** TIF is simple from a concept... "But for" the assistance of a tax increment district, a development wouldn't occur. [Explains the eight active TIF districts in North St. Paul and recommends developing a formal TIF policy]. **[00:50:00] City Manager Brian Frandle:** Next is the Consent Agenda... [Lists items A through I, including crosswalk signage and COVID-19 policy termination]. **[00:51:15] Mayor John Monge:** Motion to adopt? (Moved and Seconded). Next is the meeting open to the public. Sue Springborn. **[00:51:30] Sue Springborn:** I'm Sue Springborn, President of the North St. Paul Historical Society. We no longer have a newspaper, so I want to encourage anyone with a COVID story to send it to me... also, we have our meeting Tuesday, April 25th, and you're all invited. **[00:53:15] John Schmall:** John Schmall, 2750 Chisholm Avenue. Subject is notifications on the email of the meetings... the software updates the original file so you never know what the change was. That’s bad software. **[00:54:20] City Manager Brian Frandle:** Next is the request for two School Resource Officers (SROs). We have Chief Baebenroth here. **[00:54:35] Police Chief Phil Baebenroth:** I have with me Officer Joel Allen and Sergeant DeCory. [Presents data on school safety, thwarted plots, and the specific incidents at North High involving firearms]. We are not comparable to other districts in funding or SRO staffing. We have 14 schools and only 2 SROs between the three cities. **[01:00:20] Officer Joel Allen:** I'm a graduate of North High, class of 99. A lot of times I activate my body camera but never pull a case number because I'm de-escalating a kid in crisis or a mental health situation. [Shares stories of stopping assaults and building trust]. **[01:04:15] Sergeant Amber DeCory:** I was an SRO for five or six years at North High... I knew that the relationships were important. The majority of the times that we took loaded handguns off of children was because a child told us. It is an exhausting, demanding job. **[01:14:15] Council Member Wong:** What are the school district's wants? Are they asking for an SRO as well? **[01:14:30] Police Chief Phil Baebenroth:** The school has absolutely not asked me, "Can I get another SRO?"... the conversation is ongoing. **[01:21:40] Mayor John Monge:** Would it bring you peace of mind to have another officer in there? **[01:21:50] Officer Joel Allen:** It would make me feel a heck of a lot better. If something happens with a female student, Sergeant DeCory might connect better. If I have to leave for an elementary school, someone is still at the high school. **[01:27:00] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** I move to table it because I have concerns about the school not wanting this. **[01:28:45] Mayor John Monge:** All those in favor of the motion to postpone? (Two Ayes). Those against? (Three Nays). Motion fails. **[01:29:00] Council Member Jason Nordby:** I move to approve the resolution. **[01:29:10] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Second. **[01:29:15] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor? (Four Ayes). Those against? (One Nay). Motion carries. **[01:29:40] City Manager Brian Frandle:** Next is the Hausen Park court reconstruction project... bids came back $75,000 over. We are asking Council to reject all bids and rebid in 2024. (Motion moved and approved). **[01:30:30] Electric Director John Wick:** [Presents the Electric Department report]. We have 6,637 meters... upcoming projects include Lily Redevelopment and Seventh Avenue lighting. Supply chain is a major concern; transformers are about two years out for delivery. **[01:38:00] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** What capacity does the new infrastructure downtown have for EV chargers? **[01:38:15] Electric Director John Wick:** We're planning for ones behind KJ's and Newman's... we have extra conduit throughout downtown. **[01:43:00] Mayor John Monge:** [Council reports and closing business]. Anything else? **[01:46:00] Council Member Troy Woods:** I move to adjourn. **[01:46:10] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor? (Group: Aye). We are adjourned. Thank you.