Based on the context provided in the transcript, here is the formatted version with speaker identification and approximate timestamps. **White Bear Lake City Council Meeting** **Date:** March 28, 2023 (as referenced in minutes) [00:00:00] **Unknown Speaker (Staff/Technical):** foreign I'm nervous yeah so we just gotta wait until we're trying to go all right all right. [00:00:05] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** We're gonna call the meeting to order. Will the clerk please note those in attendance? Will the color guard please present the colors? [00:00:15] **[Music/Pledge of Allegiance]** [00:00:45] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** All right, ready. Thank you, you may be seated. With that, I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the regular city council meeting on March 14, 2023. [00:01:00] **Council Member Kevin Walsh:** So moved. [00:01:01] **Council Member Dan Jones:** Second. [00:01:02] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** Motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. (Aye). Any opposed? Minutes passed. Moving on to item 2B, minutes of the city council work session from March 21, 2023. I'd entertain a motion to approve those minutes. [00:01:15] **Council Member:** So moved. [00:01:16] **Council Member:** Second. [00:01:17] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** The motion is second. All those in favor say aye. (Aye). Any opposed? The minutes are approved, one abstention. Moving on to item 3, adoption of the agenda. Are there any additions or corrections to the agenda that anyone has? Seeing none, I'd entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. [00:01:30] **Council Member:** Move to approve. [00:01:31] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** All those in favor say aye. (Aye). Any opposed? We have an agenda. Moving on to item 4, consent agenda. I'd entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. [00:01:40] **Council Member:** Second. [00:01:41] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** All those in favor say aye. (Aye). Any opposed? Consent agenda is adopted. All right, let's jump into item 5, visitors and presentations. We have a biannual Police Department report and I understand we're going to swear in a few new officers tonight. So, Chief Swanson, please. [00:02:00] **Police Chief Julie Swanson:** Thank you, Mayor and members of the Council. We're going to start with the swearing-in. Thank you for the opportunity for us to bring our new officers to present them to you... Tonight we have three new officers to swear in: Officer Samantha Morardi, Officer Cole Campbell, and Officer Kyle Torvik... I'll have just the three officers come up, they'll read their oath of office with Cali, and then we'll have their significant others come up to pin the badges on. [00:04:15] **City Clerk Cali Collins:** Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I (individual names), do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the State of Minnesota, and will discharge and faithfully execute the duties as a police officer for the city of White Bear Lake. [00:04:45] **[Applause]** [00:05:15] **Police Chief Julie Swanson:** Mayor, members of the council, I am here for the first of my two recaps for the year... Our Police Department with these three and our new one is technically fully staffed... [Presents presentation on police statistics, training requirements, and community partnerships]. [00:15:30] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** Thank you, Chief. Glad to hear that we're at full strength in terms of staffing. Council, do we have any questions for the Chief? [00:15:40] **Council Member Bill Edberg:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Chief, I want to pick up on a conversation we started last time... You identified for us about 12,000 crimes or medical activities... A little over a third of those are traffic stops. Do you sense that our traffic stops are going up, down, or staying about the same? [00:16:30] **Police Chief Julie Swanson:** Council Member Edberg, I would say that they are consistent from last year to this year... Speed enforcement is probably the best thing that we can do. I know particularly in your ward today, the sergeant spent a lot of time doing speed control on County Road E and Bel Air. [00:19:15] **Council Member Bill Edberg:** One last question, you mentioned the Ramsey County SWAT and VSET. Is that through the Sheriff's Office or an alliance? [00:19:25] **Police Chief Julie Swanson:** They report to a board, and the board is the chiefs of police in the suburbs... The SWAT team is managed by the Sheriff's Department, and I will say they are very well managed. [00:21:00] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** Council, any other questions for the Chief? All right, you’ve got another item on the agenda here. [00:21:10] **Police Chief Julie Swanson:** I do. In your packets, you have the executive summary regarding our body-worn camera audit... We found the Minnesota security Consortium to audit us... We did 2021 and 2022, about 45,000 cases. They selected 52 of them... I'm pleased to announce that we did successfully complete that. [00:23:45] **Council Member Bill Edberg:** 52 out of 45,000 is less than one percent. Are we confident that's a big enough sample? [00:24:00] **Police Chief Julie Swanson:** I would say it's sufficient because we employed an outside agency, that's what they do for their job. In that 52, the only errors we found were two times an officer didn't put the case number in. [00:25:00] **Council Member Kevin Walsh:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We spent a good amount of time putting this policy in place... I assume that the policy we put in place is working? [00:25:15] **Police Chief Julie Swanson:** It is working, yes. [00:25:30] **City Manager Lindy Crawford:** Mayor, members of the council, I just want to reiterate... Minnesota security Consortium did recognize us and acknowledge us for how simple it was for them to conduct this audit. I want to commend the Chief on that. [00:26:10] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** I'd entertain a motion to approve the resolution. [00:26:15] **Council Member:** Motion. (Second). [00:26:17] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** All those in favor say aye. (Aye). Motion carries. Moving on to item 7A, second reading of an ordinance amending the 2023 fee schedule. Miss Crawford? [00:26:30] **City Manager Lindy Crawford:** On February 28th, the council adopted an ordinance to permit sidewalk cafes... For the second reading, the proposed additions for permit applications are: initial application $150, renewal with significant changes $125, renewal with no changes $60, and a violation fee of $100. [00:27:30] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** What do you see as a significant change? [00:27:35] **City Manager Lindy Crawford:** It would be maybe a layout change or if you're proposing to add additional seating where we need to re-measure. [00:27:50] **Community Development Director Jason Lindahl (Mr. Copy/Staff):** Yes, the footprint of the cafe. If we have to do measurements or find property corners. [00:28:15] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** I can get on board with the 150... but I think we can soften the sixty dollars for the renewal for those situations where it truly is the same as every other year. [00:28:30] **Council Member Kevin Walsh:** I agree, Mr. Mayor. It just feels like "same as last year" should be zero, not 60. [00:28:45] **Council Member Dan Jones:** I'm going to trust that staff knows what the time is. If this was not using public property for private gain, I'd agree, but it's not. I'm comfortable with 60. [00:29:00] **Council Member Steven Hughes:** I would add to that, this is really only a benefit for a few establishments. I think it's fair that they have to pay for something so special on public property. [00:29:15] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** Motion to approve this? [00:29:18] **Council Member:** Motion. (Second). [00:29:20] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** All those in favor say aye. (Aye). Any opposed? The motion carries. Moving on to item 7B, the tobacco license renewal. [00:29:35] **City Manager Lindy Crawford:** The council approved business license renewals for all but two establishments on March 14: M&J Tobacco and Nothing But Hemp... Both failed compliance checks in November 2022 and March 2023 regarding THC products... Staff drafted two resolutions: one to approve and one to deny. Both establishments are here tonight. [00:31:00] **Bryce Holsted (Attorney for M&J Tobacco):** My name is Bryce Holsted. I represent mon altamimi, he goes by Mike. My business address is 2020 County Road F East... My client has not violated the ordinance... The basis presented today is presented as a violation of a city ordinance which has not been adjudicated. It has not even been charged... My client is a first-generation American, served in special operations in the US Army. He invested his life savings into this business... He took a 60% hit on his business to comply with the moratorium. [00:41:00] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** Mr. Holsted, I have one point of clarification. You said he's not violating it, but I'll dispute that there wasn't a citation. There was a citation issued, which does start a criminal proceeding. [00:41:15] **Bryce Holsted:** I've searched every database. There are no filed charges against my client. [00:42:00] **Eva Droz (Owner, Nothing But Hemp):** My name is Eva Droz... We did comply. Your moratorium stated we could still carry products up to 0.1% THC. When they shopped our store, they purchased products that were in accordance with your own moratorium... We have pulled all products that fit your guys' ordinance. [00:43:00] **Susan Burns (Attorney for Nothing But Hemp):** My name is Susan Burns... I advised my clients they wanted to comply with your existing ordinance... On March 10th, there was a letter from Chief Swanson saying officers successfully purchased product. My client's products are compliant... How do they correct something they don't know what they should correct? [00:46:15] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** I'm going to defer to our City Attorney, Mr. Gilchrist. What do we know about the status of a criminal complaint? [00:46:30] **City Attorney Peter Gilchrist:** I had understood that a citation or charge through the prosecutor had been issued... Regardless, there is a civil component to this. A violation of this ordinance is not exclusively criminal... It is up to the Council to determine whether the activity is significant enough to deny the tobacco license. [00:48:30] **Council Member Dan Jones:** Regarding the moratorium, can we reread the specific language? [00:48:45] **City Attorney Peter Gilchrist:** The de minimis exception specifically says if it contains less than 0.1% of THC, then it's not subject to the moratorium. What you're hearing tonight is the businesses saying they adjusted to ensure they aren't selling products over 0.1%. [00:49:45] **Council Member Kevin Walsh:** If an inspection failed, what do we have to lean on? Do we have a package that says 0.3%? [00:50:30] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** We have compliance checks where law enforcement deemed it a violation... That alone forms the basis for me supporting a denial. [00:51:15] **Council Member Bill Edberg:** I'm going to vote against the motion. I'm not comfortable that I have sufficient evidence to terminate a livelihood. Every bullet in our ordinance refers to tobacco violations, not THC violations. I think this is extraordinarily vague. [00:53:00] **Council Member Kevin Walsh:** They failed two compliance checks... I don't believe that is arbitrary and capricious. I think we're perfectly in our right to deny. [00:55:00] **Mayor Dan Lindeke (Holding up a product):** I'm reading this off of "Blue Dreams Gummies" purchased at Nothing But Hemp earlier today. This package says total Delta 9 THC 0.111%. Ingredients may contain up to 0.3%. How else am I supposed to interpret this? [00:55:30] **Eva Droz:** That 0.3% is a standard warning label for state law... Delta 9 is the one at 0.1%, and there is variance when you send it to a lab. [00:55:45] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** The ordinance doesn't say 0.1% with some variance. [00:57:00] **Council Member Bill Edberg:** I'm still not buying it... I think a better alternative might be to extend but let them know we will be doing random checks. [00:58:15] **Council Member Dan Jones:** We've got five tobacco shops. Three have chosen to obey the moratorium. Two have not. What gives you the right to ignore the moratorium and sell product over the amount? It makes me mad because other businesses are passing up sales to stay in compliance. [01:02:00] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** I have a motion and a second for the resolution denying the tobacco business license for M&J Tobacco and Nothing But Hemp. All those in favor say aye. (Aye, Aye). All those opposed? (No, Nay). By a vote of 3 to 2, this resolution fails. [01:02:30] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** We have another resolution before us approving the tobacco licenses... I'd entertain a motion. [01:02:35] **Council Member Bill Edberg:** So moved. (Second). [01:02:40] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** All those in favor say aye. (Aye, Aye, Aye). Opposed? (No, No). By a vote of 3 to 2, the motion carries and the resolution approving the licenses is approved. [01:03:30] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** Moving on to item 8A, concurrent Detachment and annexation of certain property to the city of Mahtomedi. Mr. Gilchrist? [01:03:45] **City Attorney Peter Gilchrist:** This is a 100-foot wide strip of land... approximately 1.3 acres... Mahtomedi has already adopted the resolution. It would be up to us to file with the state. [01:05:00] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** I'd entertain a motion to approve. [01:05:05] **Council Member:** So moved. (Second). [01:05:07] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** All those in favor say aye. (Aye). Motion carries. Item 10, communication from the city manager. [01:05:15] **City Manager Lindy Crawford:** Saturday, April 1st is the Easter egg hunt... registration is full. Tuesday, April 4th is a ribbon cutting for Kajita Coffee at 3:30 PM. [01:06:00] **Council Member Bill Edberg:** Are these Easter egg programs an opportunity for us to recruit future police officers? [01:06:10] **City Manager Lindy Crawford:** Absolutely. Start them early. [01:06:15] **Mayor Dan Lindeke:** With that, I would entertain a motion to adjourn. (So moved). All those in favor say aye. (Aye). **[End of Transcript]**