This transcript has been formatted with the correct speaker names based on the context provided. *** **[00:00] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, good evening everyone. It is 7:00 P.M., so I'm going to call to order the regular city council meeting of the City of Richfield. It's July 25th and we are now on the air. So if you are able, please rise and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. [Pledge of Allegiance] One nation under God, indivisible. All right, thank you. So, we had a number of people that sent letters that City Manager Rodriguez is going to talk about at Open Forum. But before we do that, I want to give the details for how people can call in in case someone wants to participate in Open Forum that way. So if you want to call in to be part of Open Forum, you can dial 1-415-655-0001 and use the webinar access code 2633-091-443 and the password is one two three four. So is there currently anybody on the line right now? **[01:03] Clerk Leslie:** All right. **[01:05] Mayor Mary Supple:** Is there anybody here in the audience that wishes to speak? All right, so at this point while we're waiting to see if somebody wants to call in, I'm going to turn it over to City Manager Rodriguez because I believe there were like five different letters that were sent into the council as public comment. So I'll turn it over to you. **[01:21] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Thank you. Yes, thank you, Mayor. There were five letters. Only two of them asked to be entered into the Open Forum public comment period of the meeting. Three letters supported the proposed ban on flavored tobacco, and they were from Tobacco-Free Alliance, the African-American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, and Children's Minnesota—and we will put those in the minutes, the full letters. One was against the ban and it was from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets. That was too long, though, to read; it's four pages, but I did—well, he provided it to you and we will put that in the minutes as well. And then we have one and I will read that one, which I believe is under three minutes: "The National Hookah Community Association brings together and serves as the voice of hookah producers, distributors, sellers, hookah lounge owners, consumers, and community members who support the preservation of hookah's cultural traditions. We are writing to request that as you consider the ban on flavored tobacco products, you acknowledge the cultural significance of hookah to minority and immigrant populations as well as the lack of youth access to and use of the product. California took a historic step in December by enacting a statewide ban on flavor tobacco products which exempted hookah for these reasons. NHCA has worked with California and with many other state and local governments including Colorado, Columbus, Denver, San Diego, San Jose, Los Angeles, and others to include exemptions for hookah in recent flavor ban legislation. Hookah is a small category in the tobacco space making up only roughly .005 percent of nicotine product sales. However, hookah is an important cultural practice to many and one that has existed for centuries originating in the Middle East and India. Today, a broad cross-section of immigrants in the U.S. from around the world enjoy hookah at home and in lounges as a centerpiece for cultural, business, and social gatherings. Hookah is widely used in Middle Eastern American, Turkish, East African, Indian, Persian, Indonesian, and other minority immigrant citizens. Hookah lounges across the country have come to serve as safe gathering spaces for many diverse ethnic and religious communities. Despite the importance of this social practice and tradition, NHCA members continue to find that many policymakers are often unfamiliar with hookah, its practice, and its community. NHCA fully supports efforts to eliminate youth access to and usage of tobacco products including hookah. Hookah is unlikely to be used or consumed by youth for many reasons. Hookah water pipes are expensive, several feet tall, not easily concealed, and the setup for use is a lengthy process. Lounges that offer hookah are restricted to of-age customers, preventing teens from accessing the product. Recent research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that just one percent of middle and high school students used hookah in the past 30 days—10 times less than the number of teens who vape. Shisha—and I'm sorry if I didn't pronounce that correctly—the product used in hookah is a combination of tobacco and a sugar substance such as honey or molasses and the total product is only comprised of approximately 15 percent tobacco. As has been the practice for hundreds of years, hookah is by nature a flavored product. Unfortunately, noble efforts to address the teen vaping epidemic by banning flavor tobacco also would result in the ban of all hookah. A ban on hookah would not only eliminate this important cultural practice for many U.S. citizens but could also shutter many small independent and minority-owned businesses. Many of these businesses serve as community gathering places for immigrant populations in cities across the country. Many hookah users are part of religious or ethnic populations that already face discrimination; eliminating this cultural practice would make many feel as though they are misunderstood and targeted as an outsider by lawmakers and regulators. We ask that you do not target this important cultural practice and shutter minority and immigrant-owned businesses. Please grant an exemption for hookah from any flavor tobacco ban. Thank you." **[05:32] Mayor Mary Supple:** Is there anyone else who's called in, Clerk Leslie? **[05:34] Clerk Leslie:** No. **[05:35] Mayor Mary Supple:** Is there anyone else in the room that would wish to comment or come for open forum? Okay, then we will close the open forum. Next, we'll move on to the approval of the minutes of the City Council work session of July 11, 2023, and the City Council meeting of July 11, 2023. **[05:55] Council Member Sharon Christensen:** Move approval. **[05:56] Council Member Walter Burk:** Second. **[05:57] Mayor Mary Supple:** It's been moved and seconded to approve both sets of minutes. Is there any discussion? All right, all in favor of approving both sets of minutes please say aye. **[06:06] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[06:07] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? All right, we've approved those minutes. Next, we're going to move on to a proclamation celebrating the passage of the Americans with Disability Act, and we have Tim Garvey from the Richfield Human Rights Commission here to receive the proclamation. So if you could join me over at the podium... make sure... is the mic working? All right, awesome. Thank you. "So whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed on July 26, 1990, to ensure the civil rights of citizens with disabilities; and whereas the City of Richfield affirms the principles of equality and inclusion for persons with disabilities as embodied in the ADA, the laws of the State of Minnesota, and ordinances of the City of Richfield; and whereas numerous organizations in the City of Richfield work with constituents and communities to bring forth the promise of hope and freedom that is envisaged—excuse me—by the passage of the ADA; and whereas the City of Richfield is committed to providing accessible services to residents with disabilities through such programs as the Adaptive Recreation and Learning Exchange Cooperative, which offers opportunities for people with disabilities to actively participate in recreation, leisure, and community education opportunities specifically designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities; and whereas people with disabilities make up approximately 8.4 percent of the population of the City of Richfield; and whereas July 26, 2023, celebrates the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and whereas the City of Richfield strives to promote an environment of equity and inclusion; and whereas this Richfield Human Rights Commission supported this Proclamation at its July 6, 2023, meeting and recommended the Richfield City Council do the same; and now therefore I, Mary Supple, Mayor of Richfield, on behalf of the Richfield City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of July 2023 as Americans with Disabilities Act Awareness 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 persons with disabilities throughout the year. Proclaimed this 25th day of July 2023." So I would like to present this to you, and did you want to say a few words? **[08:52] Tim Garvey:** Thank you, Mayor. The Americans with Disabilities Act—excuse me—the Americans with Disabilities Act is a very important law and it's right and proper that we commemorate it here today. But laws can only mandate compliance. To truly have a ceiling and not a floor of accepting those with disabilities requires a community. I'm very proud to say that Richfield is one of those communities. Thank you. **[09:20] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, you can take that. Thank you. And did any of the council members want to add anything? And thank you to the Human Rights Commission for bringing that forward. All right, next we'll move on to approval of the agenda. **[09:36] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I'll move to approve the agenda. **[09:38] Council Member Rori A. Coleman-Woods:** Second. **[09:39] Mayor Mary Supple:** It's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. Any discussion? All in favor please say aye. **[09:44] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[09:45] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? We have approved the agenda. Next, we'll move on to the consent calendar, and I'll turn it over to City Manager Rodriguez. **[09:53] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Thank you. 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, there's just one item: consider an interim ordinance repealing transitory ordinance 19.26, which authorized a study and imposed a moratorium on the sale of edible cannabinoid products. And I submit this one item for your consideration as part of the consent calendar. **[10:29] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, is there a motion to approve the consent calendar? **[10:32] Council Member Walter Burk:** So moved. **[10:33] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Second. **[10:34] Mayor Mary Supple:** It's been moved and seconded to approve the consent calendar. Is there any discussion? All right, all in favor please say aye. **[10:41] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[10:42] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? All right, we have passed the motion. Next, we'll move on to item number five, and I'll turn that over to Council Member Burk. **[10:50] Council Member Walter Burk:** Thank you, Mayor Supple. This is a motion to consider the approval of the first reading of an interim ordinance authorizing a study and imposing a moratorium on the operation of cannabis businesses in the city until January 1, 2025, unless repealed earlier at an earlier date by the City Council. The Minnesota Legislature enacted and the Governor signed in 2023 Minnesota Session Laws Chapter 63, House File Number 100, or "the Act," which is comprehensive legislation relating to adult-use cannabis. The Act provides that if a city is "conducting studies or has authorized a study to be conducted or has held or has scheduled a hearing for the purpose of considering adoption or amendment of reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of the operation of a cannabis business," the governing body of the local unit of government may adopt an interim ordinance applicable to all or part of its jurisdiction for the purpose of protecting the planning process and the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. As part of the city's interim ordinance, the city may prohibit cannabis businesses from opening until January 1, 2025. The City held a work session on July 11, 2023, to hear staff recommendations and discuss adult-use cannabis legislation, required city regulations, and its impacts on the city. Staff were directed by the City Council to bring a first reading of an interim ordinance to the July 25, 2023, City Council meeting imposing a moratorium on the operation of cannabis businesses until January 1, 2025. The City Council can repeal the adult-use cannabis moratorium earlier if the city is notified by the OCM (Office of Cannabis Management) that a license application is pending approval before January 1, 2025. The city has 30 days to respond to the OCM on whether the business meets the City’s zoning and building regulations. And so the motion is that we approve the first reading of an interim ordinance authorizing a study and imposing a moratorium on the operation of cannabis businesses in the city until January 1, 2025, and set a public hearing for August 8, 2023. And so I would so move... to turn my microphone back on. **[12:56] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, we have a motion. Is there a second? **[13:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Second. **[13:01] Mayor Mary Supple:** It's been moved and seconded. Are there questions or discussions? Do staff have anything they want to add? **[13:06] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** We're available for questions. **[13:08] Mayor Mary Supple:** Council Member Whalen. **[13:09] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Thank you, Mayor. Wanted to apologize again that I was out sick for the work session, but want to clarify: I believe the intent of this suggestion and the desire of Council is to prevent an unlicensed business from opening before the state office has been created and is ready to actually license the businesses. And I am wondering—my interest would be that we have this extra bit of local enforcement opportunity up to that point, but that we not needlessly extend how long the moratorium lasts. I know that this, the way it's currently written, gives us the option to repeal the moratorium earlier. I'm wondering if Council would be open to an automatic repealing at the point either when a license is first received by the Office of Cannabis Management for Richfield or when it is first issued. Not that we would take away our ability to repeal it at any point if we so desired, but removing the possibility that if the office was up and running by March, that there'd be an additional nine months that we could not have cannabis businesses. **[14:14] Mayor Mary Supple:** So are you asking staff a question of that, or are you asking the opinions of the other council members, or both? **[14:21] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Thank you, Mayor, for clarifying. I had emailed with staff to clarify that that is an option that we could pursue. We would just need to decide exactly what the specific sort of lever is that would trip the automatic repeal. So I am mostly asking Council if there is interest in that or an openness to it. **[14:38] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, thank you. Council Member Hayford Oleary. **[14:42] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Yeah, I do support this moratorium. And just for the clarity of the public, that this is about the new product that would just be available on August 1st and it is only delaying—our intent is to only delay this as long as it is not legal to be licensed by the state anyway. With that intent in mind, I prefer Council Member Whalen's suggestion that it be sort of an automatic repeal rather than requiring our action. I appreciate the staff note in the report that we have 30 days to respond, but I would prefer if this went away. I guess my trigger would be as soon as the Office of Cannabis Management issues a license to anyone in the state, that this becomes repealed, because that would suggest they now have the authority we are concerned that they do not currently have. **[15:28] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, City Manager Rodriguez, you had something to add. **[15:31] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Yes, thank you, Mayor. So Council Member Whalen had emailed about this and Attorney Tietjen had provided information, and I just wanted to give her a chance to provide that here. **[15:43] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Sure, Mayor and Council. So just to clarify, and this is maybe more of a wording issue than anything else, but—and I don't recall the exact verbiage in our emails, Council Member Whalen—but I think it would be... first of all, I think you can do that if you choose. But I think it would be rather than an "automatic repeal," it would be an "expiration" of the moratorium, because repeal means that you're taking some action. So if the expiration of the moratorium is based on some other event such as the OCM issuing a license, then we would draft it such that it would be automatic that the moratorium would automatically expire at that time. So again, that's more of just a wording issue, but I think the most important thing from my view is to be very specific about what that act is that triggers that automatic expiration. So, is it... are you intending or thinking that it would be the issuance of a license by the state to a Richfield business? I think we just need to define that very specifically so that we know what triggers the automatic expiration. That's really the key to doing it. But I think if that's the direction the Council wanted to go, I think we can do that. **[16:54] Mayor Mary Supple:** Further feedback from Council? Council Member Burk. **[16:58] Council Member Walter Burk:** Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Attorney Tietjen. I would also support an automatic expiration of the moratorium as soon as the OCM, the Office of Cannabis Management... I would even feel comfortable saying "upon the publishing of the process for obtaining a license." But I don't know if that... once they publish their rules, then anybody would then have an obligation to apply through that process, correct? They'd have to—once a legislative regime is established, the seller would have to use that regime. Is that correct? **[17:34] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** That is correct, but I don't know what the rules are going to say about that or what the process will be. So I just think we need to be careful and precise about what's going to trigger that expiration. **[17:48] Council Member Walter Burk:** Do you have a suggestion of what would be concrete? **[17:51] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Well, the Council has some discretion here, but I think one option would be "upon issuance by the OCM of a license to a Richfield cannabis business." That might be one option to consider. There might be other options. I guess I haven't thought through them totally, but it kind of depends on what the Council is looking for. **[18:14] Council Member Walter Burk:** And if I could, just one other comment for folks that are maybe just tuning in and don't have the passion to listen to every city council meeting every week: just to clarify that this ordinance doesn't prevent businesses like restaurants or other establishments from offering legal products right now. It only prevents basically dispensaries that are not licensed to operate without a license in the city right now. Is that correct? **[18:41] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** That is correct, yes. **[18:43] Council Member Walter Burk:** All right, thank you. **[18:44] Mayor Mary Supple:** I believe Council Member Whalen was next, and then we'll go to Council Member Hayford Oleary. **[18:48] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I just want to recognize that this was not in the staff recommendation; I would like staff feedback on it. My understanding is that it currently, even if we did not do this after August 1st, it would still not be allowed for a dispensary to open without this license. But the concern is that only the state would be able to enforce that. And so with that concern in mind, I would worry to Council Member Burk's suggestion of "when it is published"—that may be too early, because then there would still be a period of time between someone actually receiving a license and when this would expire that someone could open a business and we would not have the local ability to enforce it. And so I guess I am comfortable with... again, we're writing this in as the absolute latest that the moratorium could last, and we still could repeal it sooner. I'd be comfortable with the suggestion of a license being issued in Richfield, just because in my understanding, that would not... it would take away the possibility that this moratorium would be adding an extra delay to someone opening, which is ultimately what I'm seeking to do without ending it early. **[19:54] Mayor Mary Supple:** Council Member Hayford Oleary. **[19:56] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Thank you, Mayor. So my question is that it just seems like it's a closed loop, since they won't issue the license until the city has responded within 30 days as to whether it meets the requirement, and then it won't meet the requirement because there's a moratorium in place. Am I misunderstanding that? **[20:13] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Council Member, I think if there is... well, first of all, the Council would still have the option to repeal it if they got notice that there had been an application for a business in Richfield. So that's still an option. But I think that the purpose of the 30-day review is to look at whether it complies with any zoning regulations that you might be considering or have put in place by then, or state fire and building codes, that kind of thing. **[20:39] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** All right. Can I just ask, is there any concern with saying "when a license... when an application has been submitted" as opposed to "a license issued"? Or if it's too vague and it has to be something? I would just say "the first license issued in the state, period," because it's unlikely a Richfield business will be the very first one, maybe. But my concern about that is how are we going to know? I mean, maybe we would know. Yeah, that seems a little broad in my opinion. **[21:05] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Mayor and Council Member. So we will receive that application from OCM and then have that time to respond to it. So we could word it, I think—I don't know what the exact wording would be—but "when we receive that first application." That sounds good to me. **[21:23] Mayor Mary Supple:** So I'll weigh in as well. I do understand saying "expiration" rather than "repealing," and I appreciate that. And I think if we... what you were just saying makes sense, to when we... that would make sense as a reasonable compromise. Did anyone else have anything they want to add? All right, so this is... I want to ask a process question. So this is a first reading and it's going to be coming back to us for a second reading. I know in some ordinances you have to have a public hearing but others you don't. **[21:52] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** We do have to have a public hearing for this. If you make the suggested changes, we still could have the public hearing on August 8th and have the second reading. That would not hold that up. **[22:04] Mayor Mary Supple:** That's correct, Mayor. All right, so is staff clear on what the Council is seeking for changes? **[22:11] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Mayor, if I could just repeat back what I thought I heard: So the Council would like to see a change that there would be an automatic expiration of the moratorium upon receipt by the city of an application for a cannabis business within the city of Richfield. **[22:25] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, is everyone clear on that? All right, so the motion before us—oh, we have more discussion. Council Member Burk. **[22:34] Council Member Walter Burk:** Sorry, just very, very brief. Is it worth clarifying that it's an application that complies with the regulations promulgated by the OCM? Theoretically, somebody could apply outside of that regime and that might comply with the letter of the law but not our intent. **[22:54] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Council Member Burk, again I don't know what the rules are going to say, but this is the only place where a business will be able to apply—with the OCM. So if the OCM is sending the city an application for a business within Richfield, I think they're saying "we got this application, now it's your turn to look at it to see if it complies with local rules." **[23:14] Council Member Walter Burk:** Now I understand the mechanism. So it will come first to the OCM and then to us. **[23:19] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Exactly right, correct. **[23:20] Council Member Walter Burk:** Thank you. And so then that would trigger the expiration if that's what we write into the ordinance. **[23:25] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Correct. **[23:26] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, is everyone clear on that? Council Member Whalen. **[23:29] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Just one process clarification: Do we need to make an amendment to the motion or since it's a first reading is that fine? **[23:35] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Mayor and Council Member, I think you're fine with the motion. I have the direction from Council on what to do and we'll just bring that back in the second reading. **[23:44] Mayor Mary Supple:** To clarify, we're approving the first reading of an interim ordinance authorizing a study and imposing a moratorium on the operation of cannabis businesses in the city until January 1st, 2025, and with the change that was discussed here. And also we would also be setting a public hearing for August 8th of 2023. Is everyone clear on that what we're voting on? Is there any further discussion? All right, all in favor please say aye. **[24:12] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[24:13] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? All right, we have passed the recommended action. Next, we'll move on to item six and I'll turn it over to Council Member Hayford Oleary. **[24:22] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Thank you, Mayor. This item is to consider the approval of the first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 11, Section 1146 of the Richfield City Code to include eliminating the sale of flavored products and capping the number of tobacco licenses. The Richfield Advisory Board of Health is charged with bringing recommendations to the City Council related to community health and has a long history of advocating for sound health policies that protect residents. In their continued effort to protect youth and adults, particularly members of the LGBTQ and Black communities who have been historically targeted by the tobacco companies from the harms of tobacco products, the Advisory Board of Health is recommending prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products as well as placing a cap on the number of tobacco licenses issued to four. Reducing the number of tobacco licenses will take time since current licenses are only revoked when a current licensee moves or the business changes ownership. Work sessions with city council members were held March 22nd, 2022, and March 28th, 2023. Do staff have anything to add prior to making the motion? **[25:31] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** No. **[25:32] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Okay, I will move that we approve the first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 11, Section 1146 of the Richfield City Code to include prohibiting the sale of all flavored products and reduce the number of tobacco licenses to four, and to schedule a second reading of the ordinance for August 8, 2023. **[25:52] Council Member Walter Burk:** Second. **[25:53] Mayor Mary Supple:** Okay, it's been moved and seconded. So now we'll open up for discussion. Are there any comments, questions, or discussion that people would like to start with? All right, Council Member Whalen. **[26:06] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I just wanted to say thank you to everyone involved in this. I thought it was a really collaborative process. You could tell from the work session dates it's been a longer process, but the Advisory Board of Health members and certainly staff have worked a lot on this. Community members have spoken up. I know even at various points groups from the high school have been involved on just highlighting how prevalent youth particularly vaping has become. And so I think this makes a lot of sense and I'm excited to support it. **[26:35] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right. I did have a question that had to do with when the ordinance would become effective. I noticed it right now it has blank spaces in here, and then it says it would fall back to, I think it's Section 3.09 of the Charter, which if I understand correctly would be 30 days after the enactment it would go into effect. And I know there had been discussion during work sessions of having a little bit longer time before it went into effect so that we wouldn't catch business owners by surprise, so that they could adjust their inventory and stop ordering flavored tobaccos in anticipation of this going into effect. And so I was just wondering what Council thought about when this should be effective. **[27:18] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** There's no science to this, but I feel like we've talked about about four months out. I think the minimum is... or it could be four months from today, but around that time period—less than half a year. I don't know if staff has any insight on like how much of a supply of product that businesses generally have, but in general, it'd be nice to mirror what they likely have on hand. **[27:42] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Mayor, Council Members. We had discussed giving businesses ample time to sell down their product because the cities of Bloomington and Edina also have a prohibition on flavored products and Richfield didn't, so our stores carry a large amount of menthol cigarettes and so forth. The date was left blank, and at your pleasure we had discussed December 31st, which would be five months from now, as an option. Even though Richfield Charter Section 3.09 says the ordinance would be in effect 30 days later, after talking to City Attorney Tietjen, that December date could be valid; we wouldn't necessarily have to stick to 30 days. **[28:28] Mayor Mary Supple:** Other thoughts? Council Member Whalen. **[28:31] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I was going to suggest the new year, so I'd support that. I think it would be giving fair notice to do it as December 31st. **[28:38] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, other questions? One clarification: this addresses both changes. So does that mean if we get additional tobacco license applications between now and the new year we have to approve them? Can we just do the flavored tobacco on December 31st but take the license limit immediately? **[28:57] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Mayor, Council Member, that's a good question. I guess I would need to look at the ordinance language specifically to be able to answer that. But if it's not in effect yet, I think the city would have to process an application if it came in. **[29:10] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, other questions? I did have one question: The letter we received that City Manager Rodriguez read during the Open Forum from the National Hookah Community Association—does staff have any feedback on whether or not hookah should be exempted from this? **[29:27] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Mayor, hookah is tobacco. It is a combustible tobacco smoked with a hookah, which is a water pipe. It exposes people to the addictive chemical of nicotine and contains many of the same toxins within cigarettes. I can appreciate the cultural sensitivity, but it is tobacco. **[29:46] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right. Other thoughts or comments on that from council members? I know we did receive another letter from a different advocacy organization that did not want to have hookah exempted. So we've heard from both groups. And then one other clarification question: One of the groups, the advocacy groups that wrote into us, was talking about what the rules were for family businesses, because we're saying that as soon as a business changes ownership that the license would expire. And so I wanted to clarify: if you have, in an estate, say a parent, then the business goes... passes down to the children, does that cancel the license or what happens in that situation? **[30:26] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** In the current draft ordinance, it would revoke the license. The city of Bloomington does allow a business to be passed down I believe one generation, and if that's something that you wanted to consider and add in, that could certainly be amended to include that. But as of now, for the 25 licensed tobacco establishments in the city, if any of them moved or tried to move within the city or out of the city, they would lose their license, or if their ownership changed. **[30:57] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right. So then also getting to kind of an add-on to what Council Member Hayford Oleary said: if they added someone to the business before this ordinance goes into effect, like a son or a daughter, they would have that option and then they would be on the license or how does that work as well? I was trying to think through all of the unintended consequences and ramifications. **[31:21] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Tobacco licenses are renewed at the end of the year. The renewal application is completed and those renewal... that renewal process starts in early October. The council typically votes to approve those licenses the first or second meeting in December. So I think, if I'm processing right, they could add a family member if this were to go into effect 12/31/23 and we included the license process with giving businesses time to sell their products. So everything went into effect December 31st, '23. I feel like that would be a legitimate application if they were to add a family member to the renewal application. **[32:02] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** I agree. **[32:03] Mayor Mary Supple:** Are there other questions or comments? **[32:05] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** So I guess I would say with that in mind, that sort of... of course, the opposite concern of what I had, of people making new licenses before December 31st. So it almost seems like if this is a high priority we wouldn't—even if it's possible to separate those dates—we wouldn't want to, because we still want until December 31st to allow people to make those license changes. **[32:27] Mayor Mary Supple:** Well, my concern is as in Bloomington, they're allowing it to be passed on to one generation. And that was something I hadn't thought about until I received the letter, because I do want to eventually start limiting how many licenses we have, but I also don't want to set up a situation where the entire family generational wealth is in a business and then suddenly we pull the rug out from under them at the last moment. So the other question I had is: if we put this in place and after further study, could we amend it later to allow the families to pass down one generation? Or I'm just wondering what the process is. **[33:04] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Well, Mayor and Council Member, I think you can always amend your ordinance at any time. I think it's less of a legal concern than it is just a messaging sort of and what the public understands the rules are. So I don't know if staff has other input on that. **[33:20] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Couldn't we just include in the second read? **[33:23] City Attorney Mary Tietjen:** Yeah, or the other option would be to amend—if the Council wanted to make that an exception, we could change it for the second reading. **[33:30] Mayor Mary Supple:** So that's what I was wanting to have a discussion about. I'm still formulating my thoughts on it, but I want to hear what other people have to say. Council Member Burk. **[33:41] Council Member Walter Burk:** Thank you, Mayor. I had a clarifying question. You had mentioned if a business were to leave Richfield that they would lose their license. I think that would naturally occur, but that wouldn't prevent somebody from obtaining a license in a different city, is that correct? **[33:59] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** No, we would just not fill that license with a new... **[34:03] Council Member Walter Burk:** Understood. So one option that a business might have would be to leave our city, understanding there are significant costs when you relocate a retail business. But that would be one long-term choice. I think what I'm struggling with is if we're saying that this is a public health concern, that we would say that if it's really a public health concern, saying, "Well, we want... it's a public health concern, but we want to continue this on for another generation" seems to be at odds with our policy to just say this is publicly not what we want in our community. I also just want to highlight an internal contradiction that I feel where we derive a lot of revenue and benefit from the sale of alcohol in our city, which has huge public health consequences—significant, profound public health consequences—and that's a source of revenue for us and it's a part of our institutions. And so I'm not making a policy recommendation, but I don't want to let this pass without just saying we live with some internal contradictions about how we raise our revenue in the things we sell in our city that have negative public health consequences. But I would support this. I would support giving business owners the opportunity to make changes that they need to make right now in the next five months, but I don't think I would support continuing it for another generation. Thank you. **[35:28] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Well said. I was going to point out a similar thing—that to me the public health benefit outweighs the single owner or family benefit. And so I would not support that kind of exemption. If the rest of the council is interested in giving the current owners those five months to adjust things as—not just sell inventory but to change their licenses if they feel they need to—I guess I don't feel super strongly about this, but to me, I would share Council Member Hayford Oleary's original concern that we would see additional license applications ahead of this. And it appears that the way it is currently written, both actions relating to flavored tobacco and limiting licenses are in the same ordinance. And I guess I would support, as a recommendation between now and the second reading, either splitting them up entirely so they can have two effective dates or writing it in such a way that the limit on licenses can be effective as soon as possible, even if we are waiting until December 31st for the limits on flavored tobacco products. **[36:44] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I guess I would say I generally agree with what Council Member Burk had to say about the pub... but I don't know about the liquor store thing, but the first part. Yeah, I think the benefit is greater, and when we're here for public health first and economic development second in this case, I think that makes sense. I think after hearing the Mayor's comments though and just for the sake of simplicity, I think I'm inclined to now say maybe it was actually fine as written, just do everything on December 31st, because that does afford people time to make these changes as well as giving businesses time to sell down their inventory. Although I'm still a little bit concerned about a rush for licenses. The reality is we've been talking about this for a year and I don't... there hasn't been any rush as far as I know to get these licenses. So please don't open your tobacco business in Richfield if anybody's listening. All right. But I guess I'm just... I don't know, it seems like there's maybe just too much complexity and other unintended consequences if we do try to move that faster. So I think at this point I would support just doing it as written... well, with the date of December 31st for everything. **[37:55] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, other comments or questions? I appreciate the conversation because I think that's the purpose of having public comment: to hear what people have to say and discuss all the ramifications of the various things. I will say we did get those five advocacy letters, but also I was at a community event a couple months ago where I had parents of upper elementary and middle schoolers that were very excited to hear that we were going to be considering banning flavored tobacco, because they were very, very concerned about the ramifications of youth getting hooked on flavored products. And they talked about the issues they were having with kids vaping with flavored products and that type of thing, and how they as parents were trying to fight against it and the schools were trying to fight against it, but it was hard when it was so readily available. And even though businesses might not have been directly selling it to minors, somehow it was going along the chain and getting to the minors. And so even though we didn't get lots of letters and stuff like that, I heard a lot of verbal input from families that they were saying we want to get rid of the flavored vaping products and the flavored tobacco. So I think it would be reasonable to say the ordinance goes into effect on December 31st of 2023, and I would otherwise be in support of it as written. Is there other comments or questions? All right, so are we clear on what we are approving here? And there will be—let's... okay, so this is where I was asking about the public hearings. And this one does not require a public hearing is what I'm understanding, is that correct? **[39:35] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** That's correct, Mayor. **[39:36] Mayor Mary Supple:** Okay, so we would have a second reading on August 8th and the only change would be when the ordinance goes into effect. Is that clear to everyone we're voting on? Any further discussion? All right, all in favor please say aye. **[39:51] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[39:52] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? All right, we have approved the motion. Next, we'll move on to item number seven. Council Member Whalen. **[40:00] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Thank you, Mayor. This is to consider the approval of a resolution approving 2023 State legislation for a local option sales tax in Richfield. Richfield is an older community with a modest tax base. The city has an immediate need to continue making investments to ensure community amenities are available for residents in the future. Last year, a local sales tax or LST was identified as a potential funding source for three major projects including the Woodlake Nature Center, Veterans Park complex, and the Richfield Community Center. Approval of these projects will support athletics, recreation, and well-being in Richfield. On January 24th, 2023, the City Council approved Resolution 12067 directing staff to submit a request to the Minnesota Legislature to propose a one-half of one percent or 0.5 percent local sales tax on the gross receipts from retail sales in Richfield. That comes out to roughly a five-cent tax on a ten-dollar purchase. The city estimates an LST of 0.5 percent would generate approximately 3.5 to 6.7 million dollars annually over 20 years for estimated total sales tax revenues of approximately 98 million dollars. Based on these estimates, each Richfield resident would have paid on average an additional $30.77 in sales tax in 2019. In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature approved this law as introduced, which would give the city, with approval from the voters, the authority to impose an LST under special law. The proceeds of this LST must be used to pay the capital and associated interest and financing costs for Woodlake Nature Center, Veterans Park complex, and the Richfield Community Center. Based on direction from legislative staff and the City Attorney, the city plans to bring the proposed tax to voters for approval at the November 2024 general election. If approved by the voters, the authorized LST will expire either 20 years after the tax is first imposed or when the city council determines that the amount received from the tax is sufficient to pay for the projected costs. If the Council approves this action, the signed resolution and required certificate will be sent to the Minnesota Secretary of State. The next steps in this process will be to set the ballot language for the referendum, which staff will bring proposed language to Council at a future meeting. As noted, the city plans to bring this proposed tax to voters at the November 2024 general election. At that referendum, voters will have the opportunity to vote to fund each project separately. If the voters approve the referendum, the city must pass an ordinance adopting the LST for each project approved. Do staff have anything further to add at this point? **[42:47] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** No. **[42:48] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Okay, then I would move that we adopt a resolution approving the 2023 State legislation for a local sales tax in Richfield and directing staff to submit the final signed resolution and the required certificate to the Minnesota Secretary of State. **[43:03] Council Member Walter Burk:** Second. **[43:04] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, it's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Go ahead, Council Member Whalen. **[43:10] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I'll just add: we will have a lot more public education to come before the actual vote. But in the full agenda for tonight, there is more information about the three projects. So folks who are wondering what all is included at Veterans Park, what we're doing with the new Nature Center, or the ideas around the new community center—there's more information there, and much more to come. The only other thing I'll add—some pretty comprehensive summary—but the other thing I'll add is that the cities around us, many of them have local sales taxes already. Just over half of this local sales tax will be paid by people who live elsewhere but come in and use the amenities of our community. And so I continue to support. I think this is a very reasonable way to have the people who are visiting Richfield pay for these wonderful amenities that we need to upkeep. **[44:03] Mayor Mary Supple:** Council Member Burk. **[44:05] Council Member Walter Burk:** Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate... just want to amplify both the comments about the majority of the individuals that would pay the tax will be people outside of Richfield as opposed to people inside of Richfield, and also that I don't feel like we're at a competitive disadvantage relative to other cities. I don't know that a lot of other businesses are locating to Richfield because we do not have the sales tax; so in that sense, we're losing an opportunity to get that revenue or we're putting that burden on property tax owners here in Richfield where it could be more equitably distributed throughout our community and through people—the majority, again, of people outside our community. And then the last thing I would say is that we have—and we just talked about this in our work session—but we built a lot of our infrastructure all at the same time, a lot of times all in the 60s. And so we have a pool and we have a nature center and we have a lot of infrastructure that is now three generations old. And so it's incumbent on city leaders to rebuild that infrastructure. And unfortunately, because we built it all at the same time, we have to maintain it all at the same time. And this is a really competitive tool that, aligned with our other neighbors, I think will ease the burden on Richfielders as opposed to putting a heavier burden on Richfielders. **[45:32] Mayor Mary Supple:** Questions? I wanted to thank staff for all the time they put into researching this and also our legislators, so that there's this option to put before the voters. Because without both of those things happening, the voters would not be able to have a say in whether or not they wanted to have this local sales tax for the infrastructure. As also a way of context, in the previous work session we were talking about roadways and that a lot of the roads are all needing to be rebuilt at the same time as well, and wanting to figure out a way to be good stewards of our debt levy and those types of things. And so this is one of the proposals that we can have the voters weigh in on. So thank you all for working on that. Any other questions or comments? All right, so we have the motion before us. All in favor please say aye. **[46:19] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[46:20] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? All right, and we have adopted the resolution. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to the City Manager's report. City Manager Rodriguez. **[46:31] City Manager Katie Rodriguez:** Thank you, Mayor. At the last open forum, Ruan Onasarosa had a question about the documents for a bond issue that the Richfield HRA approved. It was for conduit debt; it's for the Upper Post project. The citizen was concerned that the bond documents were all dated as of June 1st, 2023. I have a letter from Julie Eddington, who was the bond council for the issue and is one of our attorneys, and I will be sending it to her. It's a common practice for bond attorneys to use the date of the first day of the month for all documents related to a bond issue. The dates change frequently in bond transactions, and it is easier to use the first day of the month to date the documents. The bonds were issued on June 29th. And this is from Julie: "I can confirm that all actions required by state law and the Internal Revenue Code related to the issuance of the bonds were taken." And again, I will pass that on to Ruan. And there was a follow-up question she also had about benefits and salaries—is that going to be addressed now or at a future meeting? I can certainly do that. I was going to just send it to her, but... so right now the Mayor's current salary is $13,130. Each Council Member receives $10,192 a year. All Council Members can participate in the Minnesota Public Employees Retirement Association defined contribution plan; three of you do. The city pays five percent for Council Members who participate in that plan. But then we do not pay the Social Security taxes for the two council members that don't participate in the defined contribution plan. The city pays the 6.2 percent Social Security and then finally we pay the 1.45 Medicare for all Council Member wages. And I've got that and supporting documents at all... I was hoping to give it to her tonight, but I'll have to send it. **[48:38] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, thank you. Any additional comments or questions? Did you have anything else you wanted to report on? All right, thank you. So moving on, we will move on to the claims and payroll. **[48:51] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I'd move claims and payroll. **[48:52] Council Member Sharon Christensen:** Second. **[48:53] Mayor Mary Supple:** It's been moved and seconded to approve claims and payroll. Are there any questions or comments or discussion? All right, all in favor of approving claims and payroll please say aye. **[49:02] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[49:03] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? We've approved claims and payroll. So now we'll go to "Hats Off to Hometown Hits," and we'll start with Council Member Whalen. **[49:13] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Thank you, Mayor. Just wanted to highlight that one week from tonight is Night to Unite. And so many blocks have block parties planned. Reach out to your block captain if you have not heard of any plans or aren't sure your block has a captain but are interested in helping, learning more, helping host... I don't know if it's too late yet to add more this year, but certainly, if you are on a block that doesn't have anything and would like to for future years, please reach out to our Public Safety department. But that is next Tuesday night. The times vary slightly but usually between six to eight in most blocks. And that's it for me. **[49:52] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right. Council Member Christensen. **[49:54] Council Member Sharon Christensen:** Yes, I'd like to go hats off to the Richfield Symphonic Band. They had a very wonderful concert at Veterans Park last Tuesday, and it was an enjoyable evening to come alongside fellow citizens, residents of the city. And at last count, I think there was over a hundred people watching them and they filled the band shell with the band. And I know that their next performance will be at Veterans Park on August 15th. That's it. **[50:23] Mayor Mary Supple:** All right, thank you. Council Member Hayford Oleary. **[50:26] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** I wanted to be corny and actually put a hat on because I have a good hats off today to win... Okay, so I'm taking my hat off to Will Winslow at the school district. He just left his position as Safe Routes to School Coordinator for a job at the State Department of Transportation. He's been there for I think about three years, and he's just done an incredible work for Richfield Public Schools and for the community at large. He's brought bike safety education into the physical education curriculum, so kids are learning how to bike more safely and learn to enjoy riding. He's gotten a ton of additional bike racks at the school, leveraged external funding, and he's partnered with the city repeatedly on projects like you can see right now outside of the STEM school at 70th and Elliot; there's another project yet to be installed on 73rd Street by Centennial Elementary. He's just been a huge asset to the city. I'm so grateful for everything he's done, and I know that MnDOT is going to be better to have him. So, thank you, Will. **[51:33] Mayor Mary Supple:** Thank you. Council Member Burk. **[51:35] Council Member Walter Burk:** Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to remind everybody that the Urban Wildland Half Marathon is coming up this Saturday. It starts at Veterans Park; it starts at 7:00 A.M. They can always use volunteers, and also it's just a great opportunity to come out, grab something at the Farmers Market, and cheer on our neighbors and cheer on folks that come from all over to run in our half marathon. It's a really great event. And I also wanted to say for folks that maybe did not get the right paperwork to get the cones to have the Night to Unite and shut off your block—just have a barbecue with your neighbors anyways. You won't get it... you know, the police or the city council members may be driving up to your barbecue saying hello. Sometimes Minnesotans, if I can be stereotypical, we struggle to just be as deep in our neighbors' lives as we want. People say we will give you directions to anywhere but our homes. This is just an opportunity to talk to your neighbor. You need no context, no invitation—we've already created a national invitation. Just say, "Hey, we're going to have a barbecue," and it will not be time poorly spent. Thank you. **[52:48] Mayor Mary Supple:** I wanted to mention that we've reopened the HRA application process. So if you're interested in being a member of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, that process is open through July 30th. And the reason we reopened it is we had said that we should always have two applicants, and we had one applicant but we need to have a second applicant. So they actually wanted to reopen that. It is a very important commission and I would really encourage people to apply to it. If you need more information about it, you can certainly reach out to any of the current members of the HRA, you can reach out to staff, you can look on the city website, but the applications are currently open and they'll be open through July 30th. So I would really encourage people to apply for that. I also wanted to do a hats off to the Richfield Leadership Network. I was able to go over to the Hoop Local basketball tournament and it was really exciting. I believe last year they had eight teams that were entered in the tournament and they were able through the money they raised in matching funds from the City of Richfield to have four new basketball hoops installed at Donaldson Park. And you know, the city replaces basketball hoops on a schedule, and this was able to speed it up because of the additional money. Last year that was eight teams; this year they had 14 teams in the tournament. There were a lot more businesses there as sponsors, there was a lot of energy. It was just great to see the tournament actually being played on those new hoops. And so they're raising money for Taft Park, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there. I also had the honor to speak with the residents that lived at Main Street Village today, and there was a great turnout and lots of really good questions. And so I just want to see if there are other groups out there that would like to speak with council members or myself—we would love to go out and visit those community groups. And then finally, I wanted to do a hats off to Representative Michael Howard, who was given the honor of being named a League of Minnesota Cities Legislator of Distinction. So congratulations to Representative Howard. And I believe everybody's talked... oh, the one thing, did anyone mention about the Urban Wildland, the race that's coming up? So we covered that. All right, so that was the other one. I'm going to encourage people... right, Council Member Burk talked about that. Thank you. All right, so with that, is there a motion to adjourn the meeting? **[55:18] Council Member Walter Burk:** So moved. **[55:19] Council Member Sean Hayford Oleary:** Second. **[55:20] Mayor Mary Supple:** It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? **[55:22] Council Member Walter Burk:** I'd like to talk about it for a while. **[55:24] Mayor Mary Supple:** Okay, go ahead. All right, all in favor please say aye. **[55:28] Council Members (Unison):** Aye. **[55:29] Mayor Mary Supple:** All opposed? All right, the meeting stands adjourned. Thank you.