This transcript has been formatted with speaker names based on the context of the meeting, the provided list of officials, and the dialogue within the text. **Note:** The transcript mentions **Council Member Lisa Wong**, who was not on your initial list but is addressed by name in the dialogue. Based on the context of the roll call and interactions, she is assigned to those sections. *** **[00:00:00] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. Okay, I'm going to call the February 21st council meeting to order. Let's do the Pledge of Allegiance please. Jenny, can you call roll please? **[00:00:15] Jennie Kloos:** I sure can, Mayor. Council Member Cole is absent. Council Member Schweer? **[00:00:20] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Here. **[00:00:21] Jennie Kloos:** Council Member Wong? **[00:00:22] Council Member Lisa Wong:** Here. **[00:00:23] Jennie Kloos:** Council Member Nordby? **[00:00:24] Council Member Jason Nordby:** Here. **[00:00:25] Jennie Kloos:** And Mayor Monge? **[00:00:26] Mayor John Monge:** Here. Thank you. Agenda—adopt the last agenda. We need to make a motion. Whoever make a motion please. Oh my God, it's on. I'm sorry, must have not been leaning far enough. Sorry about that. **[00:00:40] Council Member Lisa Wong:** I move to motion. **[00:00:41] Council Member Jason Nordby:** Second. **[00:00:42] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor? **[00:00:43] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:00:44] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. Look at the consent agenda. Would you like to go through that, Jenny? **[00:00:48] Jennie Kloos:** Yes, yep. For the consent agenda: February 7, 2023, Workshop minutes; February 7, 2023, regular meeting minutes; General claims in the amount of $1,938,979.39; HRA claims $9,054.30; EDA claims $12,051; the 2023 Pay Equity Report; resolution accepting donations for January of 2023; building permit report for January 2023; ordinance amending the 2023 Municipal fee schedule; and the resolution accepting Tom Schiffski to the EDA board. **[00:01:25] Mayor John Monge:** Any questions? Any comments on the agenda? Motion to move? **[00:01:30] Council Member Lisa Wong:** I'll make a motion to move. **[00:01:31] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Second. **[00:01:32] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor? **[00:01:33] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:01:34] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. Next meeting open to the public at 6:32. Anybody? Mr. Schmall, your name and address please, sir. **[00:01:40] John Schmall:** I live in a snow bank. John Schmall, 2750 Chisholm Avenue. The subject for this evening was to refer back to the special meeting that you had—the retreat. The only thing on the agenda sheet was "discussion Council and City Manager." I don't know what that is. Anyway, it turned out to be a very interesting meeting. I have learned that according to the open meeting law, the only agenda that requires a list of agenda items is a special meeting. That agenda needed to say "goals for year 2023 and prioritizing same." That should have been on the agenda—a requirement by the open meeting law. Just for the future, if you have a special meeting, you have to tell us, "the great unwashed" out here, what the meeting is all about. And just an item from what we were doing just a little while ago regarding the 120 situation: when you go to the DOT website, it lists 120 in Oakdale and Maplewood and no mention of North St. Paul. Maybe you guys have much more power to get him to put North Saint Paul in. Amen. **[00:03:00] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. Yeah, we did talk to everybody. As far as the Council, we went up to 120 and 36 and were able to discuss and look at some of the different plans they had. It was a great meeting. Thank you. Close the meeting at 6:36 for open to the public, unless there's anybody online? Okay, thank you. City business, action items and recommendation: Resolution approving the site plan for 2231 11th Avenue. Is somebody going to speak on that? **[00:03:30] Jennie Kloos:** That’ll be Community Development Director Brandy. **[00:03:32] Brandy (Community Development Director):** Yep. We received an application for a Dunkin' Donuts to be located at Polar Plaza at 2231 11th Avenue East. The Planning Commission reviewed that at their last meeting. The site plan as presented met all the zoning requirements. A couple of items the Planning Commission brought to our attention was to have the city engineer review it for traffic circulation and traffic counts. That's listed as a condition of approval. The other item was to ensure there is a cross access agreement to one of the driveways to the north. But all other items were reviewed and it was recommended for approval. **[00:04:15] Mayor John Monge:** We're going to do this one item at a time. Do I have a motion? **[00:04:20] Council Member Lisa Wong:** So moved. **[00:04:21] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** I'll second that. **[00:04:22] Mayor John Monge:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:04:23] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:04:24] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. I think the next one is yours, Officer Phil—Chief, sorry. **[00:04:30] Police Chief Phil Baebenroth:** No problem at all. How's everybody doing tonight? Surviving the storm. Let me try to share my screen here... [Presentation on law enforcement staffing crisis]. We are not hiring as fast as they're going out the door. Applications have decreased dramatically making hiring extremely difficult and our officers have fatigued from working long shifts. We unfortunately experienced that with two who resigned from North Saint Paul; they just left the entire profession. My solution concept is state-funded medical and dental care for single and family insurance premiums for all officers in Minnesota for the duration of their careers. I’m hoping to get support from you for a future bill. **[00:15:00] Mayor John Monge:** Thanks, Chief. Appreciate it. Any questions anybody? **[00:15:05] Council Member Jason Nordby:** I don't know the right way to do this... if I want to support this but I have two family members that are police, am I still—can I still support this? **[00:15:15] Phil Baebenroth:** The question is essentially a conflict of interest? I don't believe that would constitute a conflict of interest. **[00:15:25] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Chief, I appreciate the research you’ve put together. My overall question is: how do you feel that the department is doing here right now? **[00:15:35] Phil Baebenroth:** We're doing good overall. It's been a tough stretch. We're still one short, but we have a darn good team. It's a young group, and they're a fantastic group of cops and people. **[00:16:15] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** So with us supporting you, is this part of going to the Capital to attend some of these Bill requests? **[00:16:25] Phil Baebenroth:** Absolutely. If you're willing to support this and make a resolution, I’m going to share that with the rest of the Ramsey County Chiefs group and take that steam to get somebody to author a bill. **[00:16:45] Council Member Lisa Wong:** Thank you, Chief Baebenroth. I know you've done a lot of work to recruit. Can you specify some of those strategies you've implemented to recruit who you have now? **[00:17:00] Phil Baebenroth:** Really, my strategy has been focus on culture. Word of mouth goes a long way. If cops are enjoying the place they work, that's the best recruitment. Council support in getting much-needed equipment has also absolutely helped. **[00:18:00] Council Member Lisa Wong:** And can you speak to other stakeholders? Are other municipalities having the same discussion? **[00:18:10] Phil Baebenroth:** I got vocal support from the Ramsey County Chiefs. I also spoke with a lobbyist who informed me that the Hennepin County Sheriff was on board. **[00:19:00] Mayor John Monge:** Your team that you built—the nine new officers—what kind of seniority or experience do they have? **[00:19:10] Phil Baebenroth:** We're pretty young. Most senior has 15 years, then 11, then a couple around 10. The average is probably four years. **[00:19:30] Mayor John Monge:** Any other questions? We're going to be moving to do a resolution. **[00:19:35] Jennie Kloos:** It would be a motion to request staff prepare a resolution in support of the policy proposal. **[00:19:40] Council Member Lisa Wong:** I'll move that. **[00:19:41] Council Member Jason Nordby:** Second. **[00:19:42] Mayor John Monge:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:19:43] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:19:45] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you very much, Chief. Appreciate your work. **[00:19:50] Fire Chief Jason Mallinger:** Hello Mayor, hello Council. Thanks for having me today. I'm going to go over review some data regarding 2022 response as it relates to the Fire Department. [Presentation on 1,605 calls, staffing of 33 part-time members, and training facility]. I ended the year with 1,605 calls. Our average response time for EMS calls is four minutes. On February 3rd, we had our awards and retirement party. [Lists award recipients]. **[00:35:00] Mayor John Monge:** Well, I just like to say thank you. You don't appreciate it until you need it. In our case, family wasn't feeling well... my youngest came in and said our oldest son Nathan couldn't breathe. We called, we did CPR. We had fire and police there within five minutes. Everybody was working on him for 45 minutes. With the result, of course, he didn't make it. It's so hard on those guys; I can see how they need that support. Eight months later my father-in-law dropped dead of a heart attack, and same thing—they were there within minutes working on him. We have a great staff and I just want to say from my experience, thank you all so much for everything you guys do. **[00:36:30] Jason Mallinger:** I appreciate that. I will let our team know. I'm proud of them. **[00:37:00] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** I had the pleasure of attending that awards event. The teamwork you have exemplifies their attitude. Thank you for a wonderful event. **[00:38:00] Mayor John Monge:** How is it staffing wise? Where are we at with trying to get people? **[00:38:15] Jason Mallinger:** We have 33 members; we can have up to 40. We're always looking. It's a constant battle, but we've been getting about 10 to 12 applications recently, which is good. **[00:41:00] Jason Mallinger:** [Moves to Code Compliance report]. We had 113 code compliance cases in 2022. The majority deal with tall grass, weeds, snow, and trash. We also handle chicken and bee licenses. We have 13 chicken licenses and one beekeeping license. **[00:46:00] Council Member Lisa Wong:** Thank you, Chief. Can you describe your experiences with Code Compliance? How are those managed when it gets to a legal issue? **[00:46:20] Jason Mallinger:** We always try to talk to the property owner first. It's difficult telling someone what's wrong with their property. Sometimes we are forced to get legal involved, and that's frustrating because the court system isn't always where we want to resolve these things. It can go on and on. **[00:48:00] Council Member Lisa Wong:** My other question is regarding the backlog of inspections. Have you been able to move the needle on that? **[00:48:15] Jason Mallinger:** Having the second fire inspector back since January 24th has helped. He's been going through old licenses and getting things scheduled. I'm looking forward to seeing how far we move that dial this year. **[00:49:30] Council Member Jason Nordby:** Could you explain what the Safe Haven program is? **[00:49:40] Jason Mallinger:** We get smoke and carbon monoxide detectors donated by the Red Cross. Residents can request a walkthrough, and we install these 10-year sealed battery detectors in older homes that aren't up to modern codes. **[00:51:00] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** What are your recruitment and community initiatives for this upcoming year? **[00:51:20] Jason Mallinger:** Focusing on firefighter health and awareness, and also increasing the pension and wages for part-time staff to keep them competitive. For the community, we have "Big Truck Night" in June, National Night Out in August, and Fire Prevention Week in schools. **[00:57:00] Mayor John Monge:** Chief, how long have you been with the department? **[00:57:10] Jason Mallinger:** I started in 1989 as a part-time firefighter right out of high school. In 2019, I was placed as Fire Chief. **[00:57:30] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you so much, appreciate it. Next is reports. City Manager is not here tonight. Any commission reports? The Planning Commission was the Dunkin' Donuts thing we just approved. **[00:58:00] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** I retract on Parks and Rec—we had an applicant for one of the seats and are extending an offer. **[00:58:15] Council Member Lisa Wong:** The Planning Commission did have an interview scheduled earlier today. **[00:58:30] Mayor John Monge:** General business? Council Member Nordby? Council Member Wong? **[00:58:35] Council Member Lisa Wong:** I do not have anything, thank you. **[00:58:36] Council Member Jason Nordby:** I don't have anything. **[00:58:37] Mayor John Monge:** Well, I have one thing. I’m going to be doing a ride-along with one of our officers this Saturday from 6:00 PM to midnight. I better not see any of you guys in the back of the squad car! That’s all I have. **[00:59:00] Council Member Lisa Wong:** I'll move for adjournment. **[00:59:01] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Second. **[00:59:02] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor? Aye. Dismissed at 8:19 PM. *** **[08:23:00] Mayor John Monge:** HRA meeting, 8:23. Call to order. Roll please? **[08:23:10] Jennie Kloos:** Chair Monge? Here. Commissioner Cole? Absent. Commissioner Schweer? Here. Commissioner Wong? Here. Commissioner Nordby? Here. Executive Director Brian Frandle is absent as well. **[08:23:30] Tom Spain (Northeast Metro 916):** My name is Tom Spain. I teach the construction occupations program at Northeast Metro 916. [Update on student-built house at 2172 Eldridge Avenue East]. We are shingled. Windows are back-ordered until March 6th. Weather is our biggest challenge. We plan to be finished around mid-July. **[08:28:00] Mayor John Monge:** Timeframe on when you think it would be completely done? **[08:28:10] Tom Spain:** Probably mid-July. We might want to get it on the market when it's 90-95% done. **[08:29:00] Mayor John Monge:** Have you thought of a third-stall garage? **[08:29:10] Tom Spain:** With that 60-foot lot, it's pretty tight. **[08:30:00] Council Member Lisa Wong:** Mentioned multiplexes or duplexes? **[08:30:10] Tom Spain:** There was property off Delaware, but infrastructure costs are high. We decided to keep looking for distressed properties to help the neighborhood. I have 54 students this year and 40 on a waiting list. **[08:33:00] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you for the presentation. Next item: Marketing video. This was approved at the last meeting, but you’re going to tell me something, Jennie? **[08:33:15] Jennie Kloos:** It’s a promotional piece for the city. Open Window Productions is putting it together. I do not know the exact total amount offhand. **[08:34:00] Jason Zimmerman (Finance Director):** It's $10,649.95. **[08:34:10] Mayor John Monge:** The HRA is accountable for 25%? **[08:34:15] Jennie Kloos:** Correct. **[08:34:20] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** I would like to motion for the $10,649.95 with the 25/25 split. **[08:34:25] Council Member Jason Nordby:** Second. **[08:34:30] Mayor John Monge:** All those in favor say aye. Any other questions? I will move to adjourn at 8:44. **[08:44:00] Council Member Lisa Wong:** Motion. **[08:44:01] Council Member Cassidy Schweer:** Second. **[08:44:02] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor? Aye.