[00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: We're on the air. Are we ready to go? We all set. All right. Good evening, everyone. I'm going to call to order this regular meeting of the Richfield City Council. It is April 22nd and it is 7:02 p.m. If you're able, please rise for the pledge of 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. All right. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to open forum. Is there anyone here who wishes to speak to the open forum? Did anyone send any comments in ahead of time? [00:00] City Clerk Michelle Friedrich: We have not received any comments. Mayor, thank you. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: If you are listening um in the future, you can share your comments in person by voicemail or email. And you may also request to participate virtually. For more information on submitting comments to the open form, refer to the council agenda and minutes page on richfieldmn.gov/citycouncil. Next, we'll move on to the approval of the minutes of the city council work session meeting from April 8th, 2025 and the city council regular meeting from April 8th 2025. [00:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary: I move approval of both sets of minutes. [00:00] Council Member Walter Burk: Second. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or corrections? Go ahead, Council Member Hayford. [00:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary: Um I I do not have any corrections, but I just wanted to give a special thank you to city clerk Friedrich who spent a lot of time going through the work session over and over again to get more complete minutes. So just thank you for that work. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All right. Thank you. Any other discussion, comments, or questions? All in favor of approving those two sets of minutes, please say I. [00:00] Council Members (Collective): I. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All opposed. And we have approved the minutes. Next, we'll be moving on to presentations. and we'll start out with the Arbor Day presentation. So, I believe city manager Rodriguez is going to be accepting this one. So, I will meet you at the front. This is a proclamation of the city of Richfield. Whereas Arbor Day will be celebrated nationwide on Friday, April 25th and will provide people across the nation an opportunity to celebrate the importance of trees and forests to our economy, culture, history, and future. And whereas Arbor Month is celebrated in Minnesota during the month of May to promote the value and planting of trees. And whereas Arbor Day 2025 marks the 153rd anniversary of the original United States Arbor Day celebration held on April 10th, 1872 in Nebraska City, Nebraska. And whereas trees are of great value as they provide clean air and water, shade and energy savings, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, wood products and jobs while reducing storm water runoff and capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere, thereby offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. And whereas properly planting and caring for a diverse mix of trees makes community forests more resilient by minimizing the impacts of diseases, insects, and other stressors such as climate change and providing long-term community and environmental benefits. And whereas thoughtfully choosing, planting, and caring for a diverse mix of trees now supports resilient communities into the future. And whereas Arbor Day was celebrated in conjunction with Earth Day by the city of Richfield through park cleanup events at Veterans Park on April 22nd. Now therefore, I, Mary Supple, mayor of the city of Richfield, do hereby proclaim April 25th, 2025 as Arbor Day in the city of Richfield as a way to promote tree stewardship and mindful choices to help preserve and enhance our urban forest. Proclaim this 22nd day of April, 2025. Thank you. So, and did you want to say something or? [00:00] City Manager Katie Rodriguez: Uh, sure. Uh, I just want to thank our forester Joe Clark who leads all of our preservation efforts and also the public works workers um that are doing the work on the trees. And so, thank you for this. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Thank you. Thank you. Um our next um proclamation is going to be about the role of therapy animals. So we're going to allow Dan Meha and Barney to come join us. [00:00] Dan Meha: Okay, bud. Let's stand over here where they can see you. There you go. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: and and I think some some of your other colleagues have joined us too. So for anyone who's watching on TV, if you can't see, Barney is a therapy animal. Oh, it looks like they're now zooming out so you can see Barney. There you go. All right. Thank you. Whereas the city of Richfield recognizes the vital role of therapy animals and their handlers play in improving human health and well-being through the human animal bond. And whereas communities across the United States have designated April 30th, 2025 as the National Therapy Animal Day. And whereas therapy animal teams work to improve the lives of individuals in the city of Richfield and the surrounding community by providing comfort, joy, and companionship to people of all ages in schools, nursing homes and hospitals. And whereas therapy animal programs rely on dedicated volunteers who train their animals to meet certification standards and generously give their time to support those in need. And whereas these programs strengthen the community bonds and promote a spirit of compassion and civic pride throughout the city of Richfield. Now therefore, I, Mary Supple, mayor of the city of Richfield, on behalf of the city council, hereby proclaim April 30th, 2025 as National Therapy Animal Day in the city of Richfield and encourage all residents to recognize and celebrate the important work of therapy animals and their dedicated handlers. proclaimed this 22nd day of April, 2025. So, thank you all. And if any of you'd like to say anything, thank you. [00:00] Dan Meha: Uh thank you so much. Uh we appreciate the uh acknowledgement and thanks to us uh city staff because I know it takes a little time to put these um things together, but it was fun working with Mark and the folks over at city hall um getting the information and the stuff back to us. Uh Barney and I have been doing therapy work for a couple of years. my my colleagues here have been at this longer than we have and generally we are I guess under the radar. People don't see us, don't know about us um as well unless you've put in the request to have the therapy animals come in. But given the world situation with stress going everywhere, we're getting more and more and more requests for animals to come in, hospitals, schools, businesses. So, um we're hoping this will kind of maybe raise our profile a little bit. And a shout out to anybody who might think they've got a animal at home, would like to do this kind of volunteer work. We're always out there recruiting for uh more teams. We can't accommodate all the requests that we get. And I know that we also have a uh I think city staff had indicated that they're planning on doing a wellness day um for the city later this spring or in the in the summer so that folks here in the fire station, the police can come over and interact with the Barney is well known to the EMTs at the fire station next door. There's a jar on their counter that says Barney. Um, and we are frequent visitors over over there. So, thank you again, Madame Mayor. It's nice to see you again. And we won't take up any more of your time. There's that. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Well, I think they she wants a picture here. Oh, perfect. Does the rest of the council want to be up here? Good job. [00:00] Dan Meha: Okay. Not sure how we're going to do this, but Okay. I I'll tell you what. Somebody if you want to hold this I'll get down with him and then height requirement here I can see everybody accident of birth in the Yeah that's right blame that one should have said. Barney for cute. [00:00] Therapy Animal Handler (Guest): Can I just say one quick thing? [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Sure. Go ahead. [00:00] Therapy Animal Handler (Guest): Um, so I just wanted to say that, you know, being a resident of Richfield, this is very, very important to me. Um, you've been doing therapy work for four years and whenever something comes up in the city of Richfield, I always try to jump on it because it is my home city. Um we've done numerous things over at South Education when um all that happened a few years ago. So um just thank you guys for this proclamation. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Thank you. Thank you. [00:00] Council Member Walter Burk: I did have one one comment is uh Go ahead. I want to thank you for what you do because I I work with veterans and I got to tell you uh you go to the VA and you see the difference. um someone who can't sit still or can't calm down and they get a therapy dog near him, it makes a tremendous difference. So, thank you for what you do. [00:00] Therapy Animal Handler (Guest): Thank you. Thank you so much. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All right. And our final proclamation, I'm going to invite up Tim Garvey, the commissioner from the Human Rights Commission. So this is the proclamation for Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month. Whereas Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month from May 1st through May 31st, pays tribute to Asian and Pacific Americans, the fastest growing ethnic minority group in the United States of America for their contributions to the United States of America and to celebrate the diverse culture and rich history they bring to our community. And whereas May was designated as Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month because of the first documented arrival of Japanese immigrants to the United States on May 7th, 1843 and the completion of the first transcontinental railroad on May 10th, 1869, which was completed mostly by Chinese immigrant laborers. And whereas the first documented arrivals of an Asian or Pacific Islander to Minnesota occurred in Duluth, Minnesota in 1875. And whereas Minnesota was has provided asylum and relocation for many Asian refugees from the Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, and Hmong in the 1970s and the 1980s and the Tibetans and the Karen peoples during the 1990s. while other Asian and Pacific Islanders have immigrated to Minnesota in their pursuit of opportunities and freedoms. And whereas at least 6.2% of the population of Richfield is of Asian or Pacific Islander origin according to the 2024 estimates by the US Census Bureau. And whereas Asian and Pacific Americans have been subjected to discriminatory treatment throughout their time in the United States, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, which unethically prohibited Chinese immigration and naturalization to the United States from 1882 to 1943, the immoral internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a result of an executive order declared illegal by the passing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which included reparations and a presidential apology. The systematic housing discrimination in Richfield as a result of racial covenants from the early 1900s until the passing of the Fair Housing Act in 1968 and recent irrational and unsubstantiated blame for COVID-19. And whereas Asian and Pacific Americans have made the United States better through initiative, creativity, hard work, and the sharing of their cultural heritage and deserve to be recognized for their achievements and participation in Richfield civic life. And whereas the Richfield Human Rights Commission supported a proclamation celebrating Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month at its April 1st, 2025 meeting. Now therefore, I, Mary Supple, mayor of Richfield, on behalf of the Richfield City Council, do proclaim the month of May as Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month in the city of Richfield and call on the people of Richfield to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies and continue to honor the contributions of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans throughout the year proclaimed this 22nd day of April, 2025. Thank you. Commissioner Garvey, did you want to say anything? [00:00] Tim Garvey: only very briefly. Um I just wanted to thank you, mayor, and the city council for your continued support of both the human rights commission and the human rights of all residents of Richfield, no matter their um race, origin, color, religion, or any other protected status. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Thank you. Thank you. Oh, I guess we Thank you. Our next item of business is the approval of the agenda. [00:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary: I move approval of the agenda. [00:00] Council Member Sharon Christensen: Seconded. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: It's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. Is there any discussion? All in favor of approving the agenda, please say I. [00:00] Council Members (Collective): I. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All opposed. We have approved the agenda. We'll next move on to the consent calendar of city manager Rodriguez. [00:00] City Manager Katie Rodriguez: Thank you, Mayor. The consent calendar contains several separate items which are acted upon by the city council in one motion. Once the consent calendar has been approved, the individual items and recommended actions have also been approved. No further council action on these items is necessary. On tonight's consent calendar, item A, consider a resolution accepting a grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture in the amount of 75,000 to provide urban agricultural programs. Item B, consider the acceptance of the quotation from Midwest Playscapes for $26,852.50 for the construction of a natural playground at Woodlake Nature Center and authorized the recreation services director to proceed with the project. Item C. Consideration of a resolution authorizing submittal of a taxbase revitalization program grant application for environmental investigation on the American Legion property 6501 Portland Avenue. Item D, consider adoption of a resolution rescinding a special assessment for disease tree removal in the amount of $5,268.73 incorrectly levied against 6414 12th Avenue South. I'm not sure if I need to read the PID number, but I will. uh 26-028-24-24-000030 in 2024. Item E, consider adoption of a resolution of support for Richfield's community project funding grant application in the amount of 4,200,000 for the Richfield Emergency Water Interconnect Project. And finally, item F, consider a resolution authorizing this mayor and city manager to execute an agreement with MnDOT agreement number 1051546 for for the I-494 phase 1 maintenance agreement and I submit these items for your consideration as part of the consent calendar. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Is there a motion? [00:00] Council Member Rori A. Coleman-Woods: So moved. [00:00] Council Member Sharon Christensen: Second. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: It's been moved and seconded to approve the consent calendar. Is there any discussion? Um, go ahead, Council Member Burk. [00:00] Council Member Walter Burk: Just one quick comment uh to assure the public that I have read all the details, lengthy details about all these different um items on the consent calendar. If I thought that there was a concern with any of them, I would have taken them off the consent calendar. and I don't see no concerns at this time and I don't want to speak for anybody else but I would assume all all council members have done the same. That's it. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Thank you. Any other comments? I did want to also thank all the people that did all the background work in all of this. I know it's been years putting together all of the maintenance agreements for the 494 project. Um, I know that we've been working with um, Congresswoman Omar's office on um, the plan for the water interconnect and there was a lot of planning before that even got to this point because you have to be ready to go to put in the grant application and I know there's been a number of other things like the community services commission has worked on the playground plans and so there's been a lot of background and work sessions and time put into all of this and I think we just need to make sure we say thank you for all the people that put the time in for that and so I do appreciate that. Any other comments or questions? Okay, we've had a motion and a second to um approve all the items on the consent calendar. All in favor, please say I. [00:00] Council Members (Collective): I. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All opposed. All right. And we have approved those. Next, we'll move on to the city manager report. City manager Rodriguez. [00:00] City Manager Katie Rodriguez: Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Um at our last meeting we had two speakers at open forum. Uh the first speaker was Kathleen Baliban and she was pleased to see that we were updating the procedures and decorum document that guides um our our meetings and processes around those meetings. She wanted us to review it for a longer period and actually attorney Tietjen is going to take a longer period to review it. It should be presented back to you for approval at one of the May meetings. Um, also Blue DeLuquante, and I'm sorry if I'm saying that name wrong. Um, she had emailed a message advocating for more affordable housing. Uh, neither of the speakers asked a specific question, so I don't have follow-up information. And that's all. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Oops. Thank you. Any questions for the city manager? Then we'll move on to claims and payroll. [00:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary: I move approval of claims and payroll. [00:00] Council Member Sharon Christensen: Second. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: It's been moved and seconded to approve claims and payroll. Are there any questions or discussion? All in favor, please say I. [00:00] Council Members (Collective): I. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All opposed. And we have approved the claims and payroll. Next, we'll go to hats off to Hometown Hits. Um, Council Member Christensen. [00:00] Council Member Sharon Christensen: Yes. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to give a shout out to the uh city employees who came out to Veterans Park today to work on um cleanup of the various items that we found throughout the park and through the pathways and down near the swamp type ponds area or whatever. And um it a lot of unusual things we found, but pretty common things that we found also. So it was it was a good time to uh to come out and um on a personal note I would like to thank three of my colleagues who shall remain nameless but who knows who they are uh when I accidentally uh got too close to the pond and I decided to uh take a dip into the mud in the mud that was there and uh they were very gracious about it and it it was fine. So, it was we continued on with picking up trash and uh it was a very delightful afternoon. So, thank you. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Thank you, Council Member Coleman Woods. [00:00] Council Member Rori A. Coleman-Woods: Uh you know what, this might be a shameless plug, but um May is National Foster Care Month. Um, and organization that I work for full-time is actually having their annual fundraiser surrounding the Kentucky Derby May 3rd at the Mosaic Venue for all those that would like to attend. Uh, tickets are available at www.c2youth.org. Um this is a um organization that has been in operation for 15 years helping kids in Hennepin County who are aging out um with helping them with independent living skills um personal wellness, health and um um sorry personal finance as well and their education and employment. So I think that this is a huge um accomplishment for them to have been um in operation for this many years. It's 15 years and it is a good it'll be a good time and a great birthday celebration. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: Thank you, Council Member Hayford Oleary. [00:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary: Um, I just wanted to say that I'm excited for a Toast to Richfield by the Richfield Foundation in a week. Apologize if I took anybody else's item on that one. Um, but tickets are still available. I did just double check that. Um, I've got I got my tickets and I look forward to seeing many folks there next week. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All right, Council Member Burk. [00:00] Council Member Walter Burk: I walked past uh or walked around Adams Hill Park uh recently and saw the continued progress of the pond there. It's actually looking like what it's supposed to be, I believe. And it's nice to see it getting into the home stretch and I want to thank anyone and everyone who's worked on it. Really appreciate the hard work. Speaking of, you know, mucky waters, that's uh that's going to be hopefully greatly improved. So, I appreciate their efforts. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All right. Thank you. Um, and I want to and join um, Council Member Christensen in thanking everybody that was helping clean up the park. And one of the staff members gave me a tip that really um, was brought home today as we're picking up trash. When if you're throwing away or recycling a plastic bottle, please twist the top on because the number one thing we were picking up today were little um, bottle caps, plastic bottle caps floating around in the water. And I can't believe that that is good for nature. So, just make sure when you're disposing of it in the recycling that you twist your bottle cap on. So, that's my public service message after being out there seeing all of the bottle caps floating around Veterans Park. Um, and I'm glad that Council Member Hayford Oleary mentioned the Toast of Richfield event on May 1st, and I'm hoping that you'll all join us there. I was able to visit the families and students at Seven Hills Preparatory Academy for their Civitas fair last week and it was just fabulous. And um the kids had like an art show. Um several people were um doing um displays and presentations and food samplings for their ethnic background. So, I think I tried Tibetan, German, Lithuanian, Filipino, and Mexican food. And I'm sure I missed something, but it was all very delicious. So, I just want to thank everybody because that was just a fabulous time to see all the kids. And the art show was amazing. So, a lot of talented artists. Uh, Augsburg Library is now open. So, I haven't had a chance to stop over, but I'm hearing good things. and they're gonna have um a celebration event on May 3rd from 10 to noon. And lastly, I want to do a shout out to our public works department. There's a little thing on the website under public works that says report a problem. And there was a pothole on 73rd Street and I typed it in. It took like 30 seconds and within three days that pothole was filled up. So if you see something, make sure you report it. like if there's a um street light that's out or a pothole that needs filling or something that they can help us with. It's a really simple process. Just look for report a problem, explain what it is, and they will help us out. So, hats off to public works. With that, since we have no further business, I would entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. [00:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary: So moved. [00:00] Council Member Sharon Christensen: Second. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: It's been moved and seconded to adjourn the meeting. All in favor, please say I. [00:00] Council Members (Collective): I. [00:00] Mayor Mary Supple: All opposed. We stand adjourned. Thank you everyone.