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2023-02-21 City Council Minutes ALBERTVILLE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES February 21, 2023 – 7 pm Council Chambers Albertville City Hall 1. Call to Order Mayor Hendrickson called the meeting to order at 7 pm. 2. Pledge of Allegiance – Roll Call Present: Mayor Hendrickson, Councilmembers Cocking, Hayden, Olson and Zagorski. Staff Present: City Administrator Nafstad, City Attorney Couri, Finance Director Lannes, Building Inspector Lindberg, Building Tech Becker and City Clerk Luedke. 3. Recognitions – Presentations – Introductions – None 4. Public Forum There was no one present for the public form. 5. Amendments to the Agenda City Administrator Nafstad requested to add an item under 9A2. Council entitled “Possible City Hall Closure”. MOTION made by Councilmember Olson, seconded by Councilmember Cocking to approve the February 21, 2023, agenda as amended. Ayes: Cocking, Hayden, Hendrickson, Olson and Zagorski. Nays: None. The motion carried. 6. Consent Agenda All items under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine by the City staff and will be enacted by one motion. In the event an item is pulled, it will be discussed in the order it is listed on the Consent Agenda following the approval of the remaining Consent items. Items pulled will be approved by a separate motion. A. Approve the February 6, 2023, regular City Council Meeting minutes as presented. B. Authorize the Tuesday, February 21, 2023, payment of claims as presented, except bills specifically pulled which are passed by separate motion. The claims listing has been provided to City Council as a separate document and is available for public view at City Hall upon request. C. Approve an On-Sale Temporary Liquor License for St. Michael Lions Club for an event at St. Albert Parish Center located at 11458 57th Street NE on March 4, 2023. D. Approve the Chad Smith Ride for Life Lawful Gambling Exempt Permit Application for the event to be held at The 152 Club located at 5794 Main Avenue NE on June 17, 2023. E. Approve Final Payment Estimate to Knife River for Barthel Industrial Drive project in the amount of $32,958.01. F. Adopt Resolution No. 2023-10 accepting Grant Navigator Funding from the League of Minnesota Cities. G. Adopt Resolution No. 2023-11 vacating a Portion of 2nd Street and Lamont Avenue (F.K.A. Pacific Avenue) within the Townsite of Hamburg in the City of Albertville. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 Regular Meeting of February 21, 2023 6. Consent Agenda – continued MOTION made by Councilmember Cocking, seconded by Councilmember Olson to approve the February 21, 2023, Consent Agenda as submitted. Ayes: Cocking, Hayden, Hendrickson, Olson and Zagorski. Nays: None. The motion carried. 7. Public Hearing – None 8. Wright County Sheriff’s Office – Updates, reports, etc. Wright County Deputy Johnson reviewed the incidents that had happened in the City of Albertville within the past few weeks and answered questions from Council. 9. Department Business A. City Council 1. Committee Updates (STMA Ice Arena, Planning, JPWB, Parks, Fire Board, FYCC, etc.) Councilmember Cocking provided an update from the STMA Arena Board meeting and said the Arena Board reviewed the preliminary budget and the proposed ice rate increase. City Administrator Nafstad answered questions from Council regarding the preliminary budget. Councilmember Zagorski provided an update from the STMA Finance Board meeting and said, at this time, the Finance Board was not recommending a levy this year. He answered questions from the other Councilmembers. 2. Possible City Hall Closure City Administrator Nafstad asked Council if due to the upcoming winter storm, would it be acceptable to close City Hall to the public. He said City staff work either work at City Hall or remotely so the closure would only effect walk-in customers. He said Public Works staff would be out snow plowing. There was Council discussion regarding closing the City Hall and the consensus was to approve the request and, in the future, give the City Administrator the authority to make the decision if needed. B. Building 1. 2022 Year-End Building Permit Review City Administrator Nafstad reported Building Official Heins would be retiring in March and Building Inspector Lindberg has been promoted to the Building Official position upon the retirement. Administrator Nafstad reviewed the building service contract the City has with St. Michael. Building Inspector Lindberg introduced himself and provided details on his work history and said he does not foresee any changes to the building inspections services. He answered questions from Council. City Administrator Nafstad summarized the 2022 Building Permit Activity report and said last year was one of the biggest years so far for issuing permits as was the revenue collected for the Albertville Building Department. He said the increase was largely due to new single-family home permits and five new commercial projects. He also reviewed the rental inspection numbers and answered questions from Council. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 Regular Meeting of February 21, 2023 2. Annual Rental License Review and Discussion City Administrator Nafstad introduced the item and provided background information on the City’s rental license program. Building Tech Becker explained the process used for the renewal of the rental licenses, the frequency of the inspections, the current number of licenses and the issues with non-compliant properties. She reviewed the violation fines associated with the rentals properties not submitting their applications on time or not complying with the rental inspection requirement. She answered questions from Council regarding the process. Building Inspector Lindberg answered questions from Council regarding the property inspections. City Administrator Nafstad reviewed the renewal and inspection timeline of the rental licensing process and said many rental owners were not submitting their yearly application or scheduling their rental inspection in a timely manner. He said City staff discussed potentially amending the license period from January 1 through December 31 to April 1 through March 31 to give the properties owners more time, during the spring, to complete the inspections. Administrator Nafstad said this time period would also work better with the building department’s schedule. He answered questions from Council and said with Council’s approval, City staff would bring back for Council’s review an amendment to the rental ordinance. The Council discussed the rental program and the consensus was to change the licensing dates to May 1 through April 30 to give the property owners more time for the initial inspections and to repair any issues found during the inspection. The Council noted the success of the rental license program and asked City staff to review the fees to ensure they are generally covering the costs associated with the service. The Council also discussed the building department service agreement with St. Michael and the staff changes due to the upcoming Building Official’s retirement. C. City Clerk – None D. Finance 1. 4th Quarter Budget to Actual Report Finance Director Lannes reviewed the budget to actual report and stated the increase in revenue was largely due to the additional building permits issued. She answered questions from Council. E. Fire – None F. Planning and Zoning – None G. Public Works/Engineering – None H. Legal 1. Regulation of THC Products within the City of Albertville City Attorney Couri provided background information on the legalization of THC products in Minnesota and the City’s moratorium that was approved in September 2022. He presented a draft ordinance for licensing THC products within the City and reviewed the main requirements of the ordinance. He said the ordinance being presented would cover the licensing of THC products but added the Council could also consider a zoning code amendment to restrict the location where THC product sales may be conducted. Attorney Couri explained the process and timeline required if a zoning code amendment were to be considered. He answered questions from Council. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 4 Regular Meeting of February 21, 2023 1. Regulation of THC Products within the City of Albertville - continued City Administrator Nafstad and City Clerk Luedke answered questions from Council regarding the draft ordinance and what surrounding communities were doing in regards to THC licensing. The Council discussed the draft ordinance and raised many questions concerning the location, licensing, zoning, and compliance procedures. They also discussed the pending legislature that may legalize cannabis which could change the way cities are able to regulate THC products. The Council did not approve the draft the ordinance and directed the City Attorney to revised the ordinance to include language permitting sales by zoning district, a certain distance from school buildings and not limit THC sales to tobacco stores. City Attorney Couri stated he would revise the draft ordinance and present it at the March Council meeting for Council’s review. I.Administration 1. City Administrator’s Update – Verbal City Administrator Nafstad updated the Council on a grant the City had recently received. He said the new Waste Water Treatment facility was out for bid so he would present the information at the next City Council meeting. Administrator Nafstad also provided information on a grading permit agreement that would be presented at the next Council meeting. Announcements and/or Upcoming Meetings February 27 Joint Powers Water Board, 6 pm Parks Committee, 7 pm March 6 City Council, 7 pm March 13 STMA Arena Board, 6 pm March 14 Planning Commission, 7 pm March 20 City Council, 7 pm 10.Adjournment MOTION made by Councilmember Cocking, second by Councilmember Hayden to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 pm. Ayes: Cocking, Hayden, Hendrickson, Olson and Zagorski. Nays: None. The motion carried. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ Kristine A. Luedke, City Clerk