Loading...
04/14/2008 - 29250CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY APRIL 14, 2008 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember-at-Large Barnette Councilmember Saefke Councilmember Varichak Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager Fritz Knaak, City Attorney Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Don Abbott, Director of Public Safety PRESENTATION: Summer ROCKS Program APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of March 24, 2008. Special City Council Meeting of Apri13, 2008. APPROVED. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Receive the Minutes of the Planning Commission Meeting of March 19, 2008. RECEIVED. 2. First Reading of an Ordinance Amending the Fridley City Code, Chapters 11 and 102, Allowing Storage Fees for Seized Motor Vehicles. William Burns, City Manager, stated the Police Department has been seizing vehicles under circumstances where they arrest drivers under the influence of alcohol, those who have fled the police, and those who are charged with substance abuse crimes. Between 50 to 75 vehicles a year are seized under these circumstances and stored at the City garage. Since there is considerable staff time involved in handling these vehicles, staff is suggesting that Council approve legislation that would allow them to charge a storage fee to the uninvolved owners of FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 2 vehicles. These uninvolved owners are individuals who own the vehicle but were not involved in the use of the vehicle for criminal behavior. These owners are often parents, friends, other relatives, banks, or finance companies. They are proposing a$10 per day fee, not to exceed $500 or 50 percent of the book value of the vehicle. Staff recommends Council's approval. WAIVED THE READING OF THE ORDINANCE AND ADOPTED THE ORDINANCE ON FIRST READING. 3. Receive Bids and Award Contract for the 2008 Miscellaneous Concrete Repair Project No. 375. William Burns, City Manager, said the bids were opened on April 3. The low bid was submitted by Standard Sidewalk, Inc. in Blaine in the amount of $44,465. Since the low bid was well within our budget for 2008 and was submitted by a contractor with whom we have had a favorable experience, staff recommends that the bid be awarded to the low bidder in the amount of $44,465. RECEVIED THE BIDS AND AWARDED THE CONTRACT TO STANDARD SIDEWALK IN THE AMOUNT OF $44,465. 4. Receive Bids and Award Contract for the 2008 Sanitary Sewer Lining Project No. 376. William Burns, City Manager, said they opened bids from three bidders on April 9. The low bid was from Lametti & Sons from Hugo, Minnesota, in the amount of $70,275. Since this amount is within budget and the overall estimate as well is made by a person with whom we have had a favorable experience with, staff recommends the contract be awarded to the low bidder in the amount of $70,275. RECEVIED THE BIDS AND AWARDED THE CONTRACT TO LAMETTI & SONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $70,275. 5. Approve 2008 Advocacy Agreement between the City of Fridley and Alexandra House. William Burns, City Manager, stated this agreement provides that the City pay Alexandra House $21,000 as a partial offset for the cost of their services to Fridley residents and to the Fridley Police Department. These services include provision of an advocate to assist battered women and their families. These services include criminal and civil court advocacy, crisis intervention, general advocacy, referral, and education. Staff recommends Council's approval. APPROVED. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 3 6. Award 2008-2009 Liquor License Renewals. William Burns, City Manager, stated the list includes 10 intoxicating liquor license establishments and three clubs. All of these establishments have provided the necessary bonds and CPA statements attesting to their food to liquor ratios. They have also conducted a police review of these establishments. All but one of the establishments met the required ratios. The one exception, the Two Stooges Bar & Grill, came within .6 percent of ineeting this ratio. They were at 39.4 percent rather than the 40 percent that is required. They have submitted a plan for improvement of their food sales to the Finance Department and have indicated a willingness to report back periodically on their success in accomplishing their objective. While the Police Department has some concerns of the failure of Baggan's Pub to pass their alcohol and tobacco compliance checks regarding sales to minors, they are satisfied at this time that there are no law enforcement reasons to deny any of these licenses. In light of these reviews, staff recommends Council's approval of the 20081iquor license renewals. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 7. Claims (136138-136383). APPROVED. 8. Licenses APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: Councilmember Bolkcom asked that Item No. 6 be removed. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to approve the consent agenda as presented with the removal of Item No. 6. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the agenda with the addition of Item No. 6 from the consent agenda. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 4 OPEN FORUM: Roger Avery, 600 Glencoe Street, stated summer is coming and a lot of people want the windows open and he wanted to know what is the game plan to keep some of the noise down. Mayor Lund asked if he was referring to the item they spoke about earlier. Mr. Avery replied, yes he is. Mayor Lund stated he spoke with the Chief of Police and has also forwarded the complaint to the City's Code Enforcement staff. NEW BUSINESS: 6. Award 2008-2009 Liquor License Renewals. Councilmember Bolkcom stated in Dr. Burns' presentation he mentioned that Two Stooges has presented new plans to meet their liquor and food ratios and also their tobacco. When she looks over all these liquor licenses she is just incredibly disappointed that not just them but other establishments have failed a liquor or tobacco compliance. She understands how it cannot be held liable for that as far as renewing their liquor license, but she asked what was going to be done so this does not happen. She knows the City has fines and there is some training. She asked when Two Stooges would be checking in. Greg Asproth, Two Stooges Bar, stated they have a reason for the glitch in their business. They had a chef working for them for eight years, he quit, and they hired a new che£ During his learning process, he was not as good as they expected. As of September 15 they hired a new chef who has been fantastic, and food sales have been going up quite steadily. Just going from 2006 to 2007, they increased their food sales by $104,000. He thinks a big part of that was near the end of the year. His goal is to try and increase that by another $75,000 to $100,000 this year. Their chef is just getting warmed up. They have more experienced management. He just hired a new manager, and he also needs to hire another manager to help them with this and keep their focus on the food. Sometimes the business is such a big place that managers have lost their focus on getting a menu out to everybody when they come in. That is one of their focuses is getting the word out about their food. The manager he just hired is very seasoned in the restaurant business. Their new menu will be out in June and will be the best one they have had so far. They will be coming to the City to talk about an electronic sign out front which he thinks will help to announce that they are a restaurant. The exterior of the building does not match the interior as well as they would like it to. Their website should be finished very soon also. This will help them with their parties and banquets. They have a lot of companies they do business with. They are currently marketing to businesses around them. They are also going to have breakfast on their menu. Catering is one of the other things they have been talking about as well as an aggressive schedule to get the menu and website done. He wants to also include marketing of more of the catering. They are constantly promoting the restaurant with coupons, flyers, and discounts. They have 50 to 60 employees at different times of the year and they are spreading the word and they are putting a big focus on talking about the new things going on. They hope FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 5 never to have to come back here again. He does not want to ever be close to these numbers. He knows they are growing a lot right now, and he thinks they will continue. April 8 was their 20tn year. Mr. Asproth stated with respect to the tobacco issues, as a business, he cannot stand the thought of anybody selling anything to a minor. It just so happened a girl on her second day, 18 years old did that. She thought she was going to get fired; but they used it as a very good training purpose. The fine is more money than they make in a year selling cigarettes. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Asproth if it seemed reasonable for him to check in with Mr. Pribyl's department in six months with his food to liquor ratio. Mr. Asproth replied, absolutely, and asked if that would be three months from now then at the six-month point for the year. Councilmember Bolkcom said that would be six months from now so in October. She asked if they can tie the liquor and tobacco non-compliance to the liquor license itself? Don Abbott, Director of Public Safety, said they can. They have it set up in ordinance that they follow an administrative process against both the employees and the license holder by City Code. There are monetary fines that escalate with each successive violation. They are able to come back and take license action if Council was so inclined to do that after a third violation. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if any of these establishments are on their third violation. Chief Abbott replied within a calendar year, no. They do three compliance checks in a year, and they can put in extra ones when they need to. They have done that in the past and will do it again. Baggan's Pub has failed two tobacco compliances. So that would be the closest one. They do definitely keep track of that, and it is specified by ordinance. The City can take action against the tobacco license irrespective of the alcohol license at any time. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the 2008-2009 Liquor License Renewals. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING: 9. Consideration of a Text Amendment, TA #08-01, to Modify the R-1, R-2, R-3, and S-1, Residential Zoning Districts, to Further Define the Level of Housing Maintenance Required of all Residential Property Owners in those Districts. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to open the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 6 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AT 8:07 P.M. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, stated concerns were raised about housing maintenance during the 2005 housing forums. City Council candidates also heard that housing maintenance was a concern during their 2006 campaign. Demographics for Comprehensive Plan updates showed an aging housing stock which caused staff some concern. There was also concern about housing maintenance at Comprehensive Plan neighborhood meetings and in the 2007 citizen survey. Mr. Hickok stated staff recommended a housing condition study last summer. That study showed that conditions with around 85 percent of our properties were good. Staff recommended that the best time to implement a program was when the condition of the homes was good. Staff recommends a modification to the existing City Code that will only address exterior maintenance, as Council has been clear in the past that they do not want staff inspecting the interior of homes. Mr. Hickok stated there is language in the existing City Code that addresses housing maintenance; however, there are a few fairly minor problems and that is why staff is requesting the text amendment. The existing City Code language only refers to roofs and exterior surfaces in regard to the entire plan or wall. Problems evident in the 2007 survey were damaged doors, windows, trim, or gutters. They felt more specific language was needed to allow staff to address peeling paint on window trim or other maintenance concerns which do not include the entire plane of the house. Mr. Hickok stated the intent of a text amendment is to provide staff with a greater ability to address needed basic home maintenance before the structure is severely dilapidated. Mr. Hickok stated the Planning Commission held a public hearing on March 19, and there were some questions from the public. The Commission closed the public hearing and asked staff in a motion to adjust the draft language and to bring it back for further discussion. Mr. Hickok stated after hearing public testimony, the Planning Commission requested the following changes: that the 10 percent surface deterioration limitation be increased to 25 percent. Then everything in the text would be 25 percent with the exception of roofs, and they felt that was appropriate. They felt 10 percent might be a bit too picky, and homeowners might get aggravated with too much inspection, maybe even too much government at that point. Mr. Hickok stated also there was some discussion about creating accommodations for hardship cases. As they have with every code enforcement case, they take into consideration the condition and if reasonable, allow a grace period to fix what needs to be fixed. There are also a number of programs through our HRA designed precisely for that situation. Mr. Hickok stated there was a question about the text amendment language and if it should apply to the S-2, Redevelopment District, zoning as well. It is important for them to know it is a redevelopment district. Some of our S-2 is residential and some is not. A residential housing FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 7 code in an S-2 District would not be as appropriate as the language that already exists in S-2 that says "all performance standards in this District are based upon standards of the zoning district that most closely associates with that district." So changes to the R-3 code would apply to multi- family use in an S-2 District, for example, so that district is really designed to say if it is multi- family it functions under the performance standards of the R-3, so it is covered. Mr. Hickok stated regarding manufactured homes, the R-4 zoning staff did spend a great deal of time on this. There are very good reasons why they did not include the R-4 manufacturing home. Here is the language that exists, "It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that (1) every exterior wall, foundation, and roof of any building or structure shall be reasonably watertight, weather tight, and rodent proof and shall be kept in good state of maintenance and repair. Exterior walls shall be maintained free from extensive dilapidation due to cracks, tears, breaks, or deterioration of plaster, stucco, brick, wood, or other material that gives evidence of long neglect; (2) the protective surface on exterior walls of a building shall remain in good repair and provide a sufficient covering and protection of the structural surface against deterioration without limiting the generality of the section of protective surface of a building shall be deemed to be out of repair of (a) more than 25 percent of the area of any plane or wall on which a protective surface that is painted is blistered, cracked, flaked, scaled, or chalked away or (b) more than 25 percent of the pointing of any brick or stone wall is loose or is falling out; and (3) every yard and all structures, walls, faces, walks, steps, driveways, landscaping and other exterior development shall be maintained in an attractive, well-kept condition. Further the boulevard area premises shall be properly maintained, groomed, and cared for by the abutting property owner. All of that language exists in the current R-4 mobile home district. What is important about that is they believe this standard is a broad standard. It includes any condition they have encountered in the past. They do not get a lot of complaints in the mobile home district. He showed a select set of photos he had. Mr. Hickok stated it is important to know also that manufactured homes are a bit different than single-family homes. For example, if you have a single-family home and it has rotting around the window, they may contact that person and they say, we knew it was rotting. They are getting to a point where they are replacing the windows and are thinking of putting in a bay window. You could not do that in a mobile home because you are changing the structural integrity of the shell itself, and you need certification from the manufacturer to do that. Mr. Hickok stated changes accepted by the Commission at their last meeting include increasing deteriorated surface limitations on walls, window trim, doors, eves, and soffits. They moved from 10 percent to 25 percent in their recommendation leaving the determination of a roof to be deemed out of repair if more than 10 percent of the roof surface is damaged. Mr. Hickok stated, finally, no additional language regarding hardship cases since there is also the appeals process in place, Section 205.05.6A of the Zoning Code. The Appeals Commission is set up already by ordinance to be decision making in the event that any property owner feels aggrieved by an alleged error, any order, requirement, decision, or determination they have been given by an administrative officer of code enforcement staf£ They can appeal to the Appeals Commission who can also give a recommendation/decision. He said that further research showed that only 30 residential properties ranked with an overall score indicating major FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 8 improvements would be required to be repaired demonstrating financial hardship. Staff will resources for assistance. Not all of these would be expected to be cases be providing homeowners with the potential Mr. Hickok said at their April 2 meeting the Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the ordinance language. Staff concurs, but found one sentence they would like to modify to bring back to the second reading and that is where they address missing doors and/or missing windows. They believe that can be refined a bit. Mr. Hickok stated staff is also suggesting Council conduct the first reading of the ordinance. Staff would like the language to be in effect during the summer months when there is additional staff available for enforcement. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Hickok to reference the minor change, the doors, he talked about. Is that under Item G(3), maintenance, where it says, doors, windows? Mr. Hickok replied, yes, correct. Though he thinks this language is very well written and states what they need it, they need to make sure the word "doors" is in there. Councilmember Barnette asked regarding the mobile homes, does the current language apply equally to mobile homes as it does other homes. Mr. Hickok replied right now they think the language is adequate to protect them in the mobile home district. Councilmember Barnette asked about foundation issues with mobile homes. Mr. Hickok replied the preferred language is what is in the ordinance now. Of the several hundred mobile home units in the City, there are two or three on foundations. The skirting is an issue if it is missing. He is pleased to say in both of the developments, the mobile home management folks are very critical of skirting issues. If it is missing, the owners have been notified that the skirting needs to go back in place. Councilmember Saefke stated he knows they have a few modular homes. Do they run into the same kind of problem with that then? Mr. Hickok replied those are in districts that are R-1. They are already covered in the zoning and they would be that other standard. Unless it is in one of the two parks, it has to be on a permanent foundation. We have had several of those in the recent past, and they are built to the modern standard--whatever was in place in the building code at that time. Councilmember Saefke stated he was wondering if there was any modification that was done to the buildings, if they needed to be certified by the manufacturer, too, because they were built off- site in sections and put together on-site? Mr. Hickok replied those are built according to manufactured specifications foundation wise FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 9 and framing wise. That engineering comes in as part of the building permit package for our building inspectors to review. So there is careful review of that and they are built according to specifications. Mayor Lund stated the easiest distinction would be both are modular homes built to a UBC or IBC or some other generally accepted construction standard or code just like houses. In the HUD code for manufactured homes, that is a different structure code than the Minnesota accepted code. There is a big distinction. In other words, on a modular home, those are built to a Minnesota accepted code and the frame was removed. In a HUD code manufactured home, the frame is an integral part of the structure; therefore, the frame stays. Councilmember Bolkcom asked in the R-4, Mr. Hickok mentioned planes. Is a plane a roof? Mr. Hickok replied a plane could be the face of a building it could be one side of a roof from the eave to the ridge, and it could be a door. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she had a bit of a hard time with the 10 percent of the roof. You could have a storm and it could end up being 10 percent, but it would not cause the overall integrity of the roof to be sacrificed. Mr. Hickok replied 10 percent is 10 percent. A property owner will be as anxious to fix that as the City is. We are reasonable with storm conditions. Councilmember Bolkcom asked how long do they have to repair something like that? Mr. Hickok replied the timeframe is going to be very different from the standard code enforcement. It is not going to be a 15-day typical first notice time period. For most of the items, 30-day notice will basically introduce the issue to them and have them get back to the City. At that point they are hoping they will have a good discussion and understanding with the homeowner of what kind of time frame they feel it is going to take. The City will be reasonable about that, but at the same time, they are going to have some expectations that it get taken care of. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what happens if they do not do it within the 30 days. Mr. Hickok replied ultimately this will be a part of Chapter 205 which, like any of the other Code sections, would be a citable offense. There would be a criminal citation for non- compliance. A very small percentage of our cases end up in court. They take an educational approach; it is about people understanding what is wrong with the property and what it will take to get it into compliance. The City then gives a reasonable amount of time to get it taken care of. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the City would abate. Mr. Hickok replied they need to be very careful when talking about the structure. There are ongoing liability issues and warranty issues. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 10 Councilmember Bolkcom stated she is for this. She knows there may be some hardships, but she thinks they also have some really good programs. In all the time she has been on City Council, she has probably had more complaints about how neighbors keep up their property. While walking through a neighborhood last summer, she noticed there were gutters on homes barely hanging on. They called those in and someone checked on them, but it was not in our maintenance code at that time. She is glad they went with the 25 percent; the 10 percent seemed a little extreme. This will also probably help the foreclosed homes. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Mr. Hickok where he saw this going. She asked if a summer intern would be going out or if it would be done by complaint. She thought the big influx of complaints will probably be similar to when they went out and did systematic code enforcement years ago. It also seems to her there will be less time for staff to be going out and reinspecting a home to see if there is something in the Code now. Mr. Hickok replied they will have two interns this summer--a code enforcement intern and a housing maintenance intern. They have taken the approach to have both those interns be cross- trained to see housing maintenance issues and code enforcement issues. The beauty of the housing study they did to see what kinds of conditions are out there is now they have mapped those 30 homes that are in the worse condition. They also have the degree on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being good. Councilmember Barnette said he received a call from a long-time resident of Fridley who thought it was probably the very worst time to institute a housing code. Her feelings were that because of the difficult economic times and the aging of our population, this is going to hit some of these older homes at a time when they probably cannot do some of this maintenance. He said he tried to explain about the low cost loans. The resident was more concerned that the City should do more about trying to explain reverse mortgages. He explained it is not the City's position to get into that. Councilmember Saefke stated he received a call from one of his constituents who resides in Sylvan Hills. She took the absolutely opposite viewpoint. She felt this maintenance program was probably very much needed right now. He lived in Fridley but went to school where his grandparents lived in northeast Minneapolis. At the time, most of the people there were immigrants who did not make a lot of money, but they took a great deal of pride in their property. They cut the grass, painted windows, did whatever they needed to do with whatever they had; and one neighbor helped the other. There are programs, church groups, and paint-a- thons that happen at least once a year. For people who cannot afford some things, there are such things as reverse mortgages. It is about taking pride in your community. Councilmember Barnette said there are a number of programs available through the City's senior program. There are groups out there that will assist people. As a City, we need to communicate that. He thinks the whole idea of this program, which he is very much in favor of, is for the betterment of our community and neighborhoods. Jim Klewel, 1631 Rice Creek Road, stated he opposes any new restrictions or the hiring of new employees for code enforcement. He thinks staff has a lot on time of their hands and a lot of FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 11 taxpayers' money on their hands. One of the easiest things to do is to spend other people's money. According to the House Research Proj ect the decline in incomes has been about 3 percent, and he thinks it started in 2002. It has continued to go down. Mayor Lund said they are not suggesting hiring any new staf£ Council asked staff to look into this. Mr. Klewel stated it just reminds him of a government that has plenty of money, and it is easy for them to spend. He has seen our taxes increase by $6 billion for a transportation-funding bill. What we are talking about is a tremendous burden and expense on the taxpayer. He does not know that we should be spending so much time and effort in regulating private homes in the City. He just senses a real feeling of infringement on individual property rights and liberties. He sees it as a micro management of individual lives and deprivation of rights essentially. Councilmember Bolkcom commented she got into politics originally for people because of maintenance codes. She was down by the valley and there was someone who had eight cars in his driveway and he took every piece of junk no one else wanted. If she lived next door, she would not want that. She thinks there is infringement in the other direction, too. You are not taking care of your property and causing my property values to go down or if I want to sell my house or if she has friends over and they look at the other house. Almost every other community is adopting something like this. There are concerns about foreclosed homes and rental property. She does not think there could be a better time for this to happen. Mr. Klewel stated they should be cautious in enacting any laws that may be construed as unconstitutional or with intent to defraud or conspire against the rights of the citizens in Fridley. Roger Avery, 600 Glencoe Street, said he thinks if people had done their job taking care of their property, the City would not have to. The only problem he has with this ordinance is he wished they would have been talking about it four, five or six years ago. He is all for it. A1 Stahlberg, 8055 Riverview Terrace, asked with all the foreclosed properties, what about boarded up windows. Mr. Hickok stated that is going to be difficult. What typically happens is you then have three parties involved, the original property owner, a guarantor of the loan, and the bank You try to cut through the administration as quickly as you can and get resolution to the issues. In the past where we have done abatements, it is much easier. We can clean it up and certify the property. In this particular case it is going to be much more difficult. They do not pretend this is going to be an easy issue. This may be the ugliest of times for staff to bring this on, they recognize that, and they are going to have to deal with it. Councilmember Bolkcom asked but does not this new maintenance code would help. Mr. Hickok stated one of the things they see is damage to property when homeowners leave against their will. They will damage doors, etc., when they are moving out. They do need to secure the property and deal with people quickly to get that taken care of. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 12 William Burns stated what he is saying is the new ordinance allows them to deal with these windows in lieu of clear transparent glass window. However, because the responsibility for the property is so divided it is hard to pin the blame on anybody. Mr. Hickok stated, right, and with us taking the approach there is a liability for us getting in and doing the work ourselves. People are going to need to understand we are dealing with property owners. It is not that we are ignorant to the fact that plywood is not a good window. We are dealing with a number of different property owners about who is going to correct the issue. Mr. Stahlberg stated to him it is worse not to have it boarded up and you got kids going in and out, people stealing the copper, and starting them on fire. All you have to do is look at the houses in Minneapolis which have blown up from people stealing copper. It is a lot tougher to get into a house that has boarded up doors and windows. It is ugly but maybe you paint the plywood. He thinks it would be required by the City for the safety of the neighborhood, sanitation, etc., that the City goes in and boards them up. They are going to be mowing the grass anyway and they just charge it to the taxes. Councilmember Bolkcom stated but is that not an invitation. Mr. Stahlberg said it is not hard to spot them. Councilmember Bolkcom stated but when driving by you could not tell unless there are boards, then you truly know. Mr. Stahlberg stated it makes it tougher for them to break in. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Stahlberg if he is in favor of this ordinance. Mr. Stahlberg replied it sounds good. Peter Eisenzimmer, 6535 Oakley Drive, stated he was at the Planning Commission on this ordinance and he thinks a lot of the language has changed because of the fact he did get up and talked on it. He was very concerned about the senior citizens, both are living, they are both paying a mortgage on their home. One passes away and now you have one person trying to take care of all the bills and they cannot do it so the home starts deteriorating. They go get a loan from the City, it is 6.5 or 5.5 percent. They cannot pay their mortgage but yet they get a loan and have to pay that payment. This is the problem he is having with this ordinance. He thinks it is something that should be thought about before they pass it. He asked if they had permission to take pictures of the homes. Mayor Lund stated they can take the pictures just like you if you are driving down the street and took them from the public right-of-way. Mayor Lund asked if he was opposed to the ordinance changes. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 13 Mr. Eisenzimmer said he is opposed because he thinks there are a lot of pieces in there that if there is storm damage and it's over $500 to $600 or $1,000 they cannot afford to make the repairs. Mayor Lund stated he is right. There are people out there now even without these changes who probably cannot afford to fix their homes. Last summer the City conducted a survey and found 85 percent of the homes are in generally good condition. One of the thoughts is to try and get a handle on this before it becomes a real large problem. Mr. Eisenzimmer stated there are two foreclosures on Mississippi Street. Now people are getting to know where it is, and it is creating more crime in the neighborhood. This is something we have to watch. If we are going to put more burden on the homeowners, we are going to have more foreclosures. The taxes keep going up and now our medical bills are going up. He is up to $717.96 a month for prescription drugs for himsel£ He gets about $14,000 a year and he has a lot of things to try and keep up. They are going to end up chasing people out. Tom Myhra, 6360 Able Street NE, said he supports it but for a little different reason than the comments that are being made. He does not think they are going to have a lot of folks opposed in Fridley. They have talked about what are they going to do to keep these houses looking good and so they will get sold and people will want to live here. He thinks this works in that direction. Pam Reynolds, 1241 Norton, said when she first heard of the maintenance code changes she was quite pleased. All the way back to some of our housing forums, it became obvious that one thing we need to do is maintain the housing we have in Fridley. Her concern is the manufactured home community. That housing is just as important to the community and is a very effective source of affordable housing. She provided pictures of manufactured homes. Her concern with having the R-4 property included into this maintenance code was to make sure that is maintained as well as everything else. There are things you can do that are basic maintenance, caulking painting that do not interfere with this code. She is in favor of the code; however, she thinks they need to pay just as much attention to the R-4. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if there could be a reference to the R-4 put in the maintenance code so it addresses that they are not treating one property or class of housing different. Mr. Hickok replied if she truly believes they are treating them different, then they should address it by having the language be the same. Hopefully he has made his argument as to why they should not. Councilmember Bolkcom stated she does not think they are treating one class of housing different. Mr. Hickok made it clear to her tonight and they are comfortable it is not being treated different because the housing is different. She just wanted to make sure they are not having a different standard. Mr. Hickok replied, she can be assured the enforcement is going to be consistent. Councilmember Saefke asked if it would be possible just to have a reference to the ordinance FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 14 that covers the R-4 district. Not that it is going to be different but just to say that manufactured homes in the R-4 are covered under the Code. Mr. Hickok stated what they are suggesting is a text amendment to each of the zoning districts that already have some maintenance language in them. It is a little different. The R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 will all have maintenance language in them. Mayor Lund stated actually he thinks they already have the ability to do maintenance in the park just like they do with every other housing in the City of Fridley. Ms. Reynolds brings forth some very easily defined code issues, for example, a toilet sitting in a yard or piece of glass missing, that is unacceptable. All those things can usually be dealt with very easily by staff in just talking to the management and letting them do the code enforcement as their rules and regulations already stipulate. Those people are in violation even if it was not in City Code violation, it certainly is code violation within the park; and the park has the ability to make those people do that because they have signed a lease and they have signed rules and regulations. He thinks the property manager actually does a very good job. He thinks now that spring is here, management will be doing their in-park inspections, and a lot of these issues will go away. A lot of those Code issues can be taken care of right by one telephone call to the park management, and he will ensure that is brought up. Maybe we have to do a little oversight to make sure the manager does his job, but he would think they would not have to tell him twice. Mr. Hickok commented they have had a good working relationship with both management organizations for both parks, and he is always pleased with their response when the City contacts them on issues. Edgar Murphy, 600 Hugo, approached regarding the park issue. The tennis courts are not in the best of shape and there are a lot of cracks. There are only certain parts of the parks that are being kept up. The tennis courts are run down the most. Mayor Lund stated they are aware of the condition of the tennis courts and they will talk with staf£ They are working on replacing some and elimination some because they are not being used the way they used to. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to close the public hearing. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED AT 9:35 P.M. NEW BUSINESS: 10. First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapters 205.07, 205.08, 205.09, and 205.23 of the Fridley City Code Pertaining to Housing Maintenance (Text Amendment, TA #08-01). FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 15 MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to waive the reading of the ordinance and adopt the ordinance on first reading. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. Councilmember Bolkcom also directed staff to come back with changes related to windows and doors for the second reading. Mayor Lund referenced the additional words to be added in sections G(3). Councilmember Bolkcom commented this has probably been the biggest thing she hears from her constituents. She knows this is going to be a hardship to some people, but she thinks there are some opportunities for them to help some of those people. There are also some programs available through Anoka County. We do not have a lot of foreclosed homes right now, but we do have to be concerned about it. Also with the rental properties and some other homes that have come into disrepair, they could affect the selling of your home. Mayor Lund stated it is very clear that something needs to occur because there are many people for a long period of time who have demanded, not just requested, that something be done. This is a far cry from a housing maintenance code. We are trying to be the least restrictive we can be and yet trying to accomplish the goal of keeping up the image and look and the housing in Fridley. It certainly could be a hardship for some, but if we do not do this, the alternative is even worse. Councilmember Varichak stated she is in favor of the change. A few weeks ago, they got a letter from some travelers coming from the south. They made a very nice comment about the City of Fridley and how well kept our city is. There are places people can go to for assistance. There will be hardships, but she thinks they can make it a better place and a nice place for everybody to live. Councilmember Bolkcom commented the only additional staff are the interns this summer. Mayor Lund asked Mr. Hickok to share the photos with the management at the mobile home park. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 11. Approve Hotel/Motel License for LivINN Suites. Richard Pribyl, Finance Director, stated the current hotel license period expires as of April 30, 2008. The LivINN Suites have been licensed in the Fridley location since 2003. They have four locations across the United States, Maplewood, Burnsville, Sharonville (Ohio). The Fridley location has 134 rooms, renting on a daily and long-term basis. This particular situation is due to the high number of police calls for service at this location. The Public Safety Department has voiced concerns regarding the renewal of this license. In the last two years, police calls to this location were 122 in 2007 and 131 in 2006. Due to the nature of the calls for service, staff is recommending the license renewal with the following provisions: 1. That LivINN Suites FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 16 participate in the 2008 Action Plan prepared by the Fridley Police Department; and 2. That LivINN Suites appear before the Fridley City Council on November 17, 2008, for possible revocation of their license. Don Abbott, Director of Public Safety, stated the Police had concerns with LivINN Suites when it first acquired the Kelly Inn property in 2003. At that time, staff inet with hotel management representatives and discussed concerns and developed plans to reduce those concerns. Those steps included among other things that hotel management would conduct background checks of incoming guests, there would be credit card charges for rooms only, and there would be no stays for a period of less than 24 hours. Over the past several years, the Police Department has responded to calls for service and monitored activities. Based on police reports, officers' observations, surveillance, and comments, the Police Department believes that drugs and prostitution are both regularly present at the LivINN Suites. Calls for service history have been increasing during the last two years from the past five years. He presented them with the numbers. In 2007, there were 9 robbery and serious assaults, 10 other assaults 17 drug-related (mentioned or a factor) and 2 prostitution-related (mentioned in the report related to the call). Those were some of the most concerning calls. While in the beginning of 2008, the calls seemed to be somewhat diminished, they also had some very serious calls. So are they have had 26 calls from January 1 to March 31. Those include one homicide where a person was charged with murder, and a stabbing which occurred in the back parking lot, which was non-fatal and believed to be related to drugs. They had four other drug-related incidents so far the first quarter of this year. Chief Abbott stated overall the hotel is managed at this time in such a way as to allow conditions that conflict with the values of the City of Fridley and the expectations our community holds for its business operators. He referenced Values First sign setting forth the values the City of Friday which are responsibility, non-violence, self-control, citizenship, integrity, respect, and caring. Chief Abbott referred to the action plan. Police have met with LivINN Suites management twice in the pass month. The overall tone has been positive. They identified issues and stated expectations. They provided staff with the same detailed summary of service of calls that Council received. They also received a very similar breakdown of calls for service in 2006 as well. They stated what their expectations were. LivINN has already identified one employee in the management capacity who was condoning the activity or at least knowledgeable of allowing it. They have since been replaced. They developed a six-month plan and the highlights of this plan would be that LivINN Suites would no longer accept cash payments for any room rental. They have been accepting them for overnight stays as long as a credit card was placed to guarantee the room. At this point they are going to be requiring that all stays are paid for by credit card. Chief Abbott stated the hotel will comply with all requirements under Minn. Statute, Chapter 327, which requires that hotel management obtain from guests who are checking in complete identification and that those registration records be made available for police review upon request. Officers have been making visits there already making checks of those registered guests for warrants and have made some warrant arrests already based on that. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 17 Chief Abbott stated the hotel will review websites and other media commonly used by prostitutes to ply their wares and compare their photos and other features against their current guests. Hotel management will meet with police staff monthly over the next six months to review police reports and evaluate the effectiveness of policy and procedure changes making modifications where indicated. The Police Department will continue increased surveillance and enforcement efforts on and around the hotel. Chief Abbott stated the Police Department will offer training in the recognition of drug activity and other illicit conduct to LivINN Suites staf£ They have already had some discussion with their management about some things to look for. Staff will provide monthly updates to Council summarizing police calls and any noted improvements in the overall operation of the hotel. Chief Abbott stated staff is recommending approval of the hotel license at this time. The renewal of the license for LivINN Suites conditional upon the items including the six-month action plan as outlined. Staff further recommends that Council set a revocation hearing for November 17, 2008, to review the hotel's progress and current status at that point and consider revocation if that seems the course of action to take. Police will provide a comprehensive report of the current status of the effectiveness of the six-month action plan at the proposed license revocation hearing of November 17, 2008. Staff will also be providing monthly updates during that time period. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Chief Abbott if he had any idea how much police time is spent there in terms of dollars or hours. Chief Abbott replied he did not know the dollar amount. The amount of time spent on each of those 122 police calls in the last year, could be anywhere from 20 minutes or some could be several hours by detectives and officers over two to three weeks. Councilmember Bolkcom stated it is almost a full-time police officer's time over the year. Chief Abbott replied as a ballpark figure he would say that it would probably be somewhat less than a full-time position. For 2008 it would definitely be approaching that when you add up multiple officers working on the case. Councilmember Bolkcom stated the police time that is spent there two years in a row is just incredible to her. Tim Welsh, Attorney for LivINN Suites, said they are really here in the spirit of cooperation. They recognize that the current state of affairs is not acceptable to the ownership and certainly to the City. They have worked and met with Captain Weierke and with the Director of Public Safety a couple of times to talk about how they might proceed. Attorney Welsh state with respect to the conditions, they understand they are going to be meeting with the Police Department. Some of the conditions may evolve and change. They make think of other things that will be added and some things may not make as much sense. He would also request that rather than setting a revocation hearing now they give them some time to FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 18 try and work through some of the issues that they have and see if they have improvement on at least an interim basis. At that time they can always establish or set a revocation hearing. Right now for them in terms of the business plans they have, it creates an issue for them in terms of any kind of a financing or sale or upgrading of the property. Trish Wallin has been with the ownership a long time. Originally she managed the LivINN Suites. She took over another part of the business operation, but once it became clear last fall that the management which was in place was not doing the job it needed to be done she has returned to run the project. The calls have improved since she took over. Trish Wallin, regional manager for LivINN Suites, stated she was involved with the hotel when they originally came and was involved in the original licensing. She previously had been in charge of the apartment side of the operation and kind of went back to doing just that while they brought in somebody whom they thought was an expect in hotel management. Once the hotel had been remodeled, they felt that this individual would be able to bring them to a new level. To the contrary he did things like not requiring credit cards at all and the owner, after unfortunately a long period of time, recognized there were some issues with that. They asked her to come back Since that time and things may not have happened as fast as they could have, but immediately they started requiring credit cards. They did bring security on site to help with the issues. They have replaced a manager on site and they have replaced a couple of other full-time front desk staff that they thought were contributing to the type of issues they were having. They are working with Police Department and recognize the issues and want to correct them. Mayor Lund stated they have taken an exception to one of the action items and that was about monitoring and reviewing the website which is not a part of the license requirement. He asked whether they would object to having that as one of the action plan items. Attorney Welsh replied what they are saying as to the specific action plans is that failure to provide one of those specific issues is not necessarily a condition of the license which would lead to revocation. Rather, the condition is that they meet with the Police Department and work with them on the action plan. They are agreeable with working on the things that have been suggested. It a good idea to at least try to use the internet for known prostitutes but no one knows exactly how that will work. Mayor Lund stated the reason he brings it up, is he would think the establishment would want to maintain and look at their comments and reviews. He asked if they have had an opportunity to see one of the reviews of their facility that he has in his possession. Attorney Welsh replied he is aware of the one that was provided. Mayor Lund stated it is pretty telling. This is certainly not a facility that maintains an image of what they would expect in our community. The comments are on the LivINN Suite's website as a review. The list goes on and on. However, Attorney Welsh's point is well taken. Attorney Welsh stated he is attempting to not be legalistic. He can tell them that what has been happening there, and especially as they are becoming more aware of it, is simply not acceptable to the owner. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 19 Mayor Lund asked who the owner is. Attorney Welsh replied, Wayne Rixman. Mayor Lund asked if he was related to Brad Rixman. Attorney Welsch said Brad Rixman is his son and owns the Pawn America store. Wayne does not have an interest in that business. They want to clean this up and cooperate with the Police Department. On the other hand, without some clarification he would not be doing the service for his client that he should. Mayor Lund asked Attorney Knaak asked if they could look at revocation tonight. Fritz Knaak, City Attorney, said there should be greater notice but certainly that is within the Council's discretion. They have a significant amount of information, and it is the kind of information they could reasonably use to reach a decision. If he understands counsel's reaction to the internet perusal provision, it is the ambiguity almost of it that he thinks is probably the response. He thinks what the City is looking for is awareness on the part of the ownership as to who known prostitutes are in the area and a way of doing that now is on the internet. He is reluctant to say that perhaps even the Police Department could provide some education in that area, he does not know, as to what kinds of sites are being used for this purpose. However, he thinks the concern is that they would be made responsible for an area where they may not have the expertise to actually know where to look On the other hand, if you do not make something like that a condition, it would be arguably an excuse for them just to blithely ignore people that would otherwise with a little bit of research be known to be prostitutes in the area. He is anticipating the Police Department tried to come up with some means by which that would be known or not known, but he thinks the reaction here is not knowing exactly what that means and what the known sites are. Attorney Welsh commented, are they talking about thousands of ads or hundreds. How does that work and how do you match them up? Are they going to attempt to proceed? Of course. If he understands the police calls correctly, while it is a concern of everyone's, there were only, and not to minimize or speak in favor of prostitution, a few calls. It seems like really a lot of what was going on there was drug-related issues that seemed to sort of permeate the calls. Chief Abbott stated they indicated that two calls for prostitution were mentioned in the 2007 and five in 2006. Prostitution, especially occurring in a closed and hopefully locked hotel room is something that is difficult for the police to get a good handle on or sense for. More than even the police calls, are comments that are made by members of the public, and also our own officers' observations. About a year and a half or two years ago, they actually rented a room in the LivINN Suites and had officers rotating through that room over a two-day period just surveying the activity and what was going on. They came back with a definite feeling that prostitution was occurring in the building. They have taken some steps to actually prepare and train our Police Department towards those types of details. That is something they have traditionally not worked on with any frequency here in the City of Fridley. The internet absolutely is the way advertising is occurring now. During their meeting last week with Ms. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 20 Wallin and Mr. Welsh, they did discuss this issue of conditions and at that time he thinks Mr. Welsh had a concern about being held accountable to each and every condition of the license to the point where a violation of that condition would then be grounds for revocation. Specifically, Number 3 in the action plan where they talked about looking at the internet site for prostitution was something they reported two weeks ago in their first meeting with Ms. Wallin and another manager. They relayed to them where they were finding some of this information, what websites and how. Their response was they can go look and see if they recognize the people. That truly came as kind of an arrangement or cooperate idea to that. He explained to Attorney Welch on past action the City has taken, more than looking at action in one specific condition of an action plan it will change as time goes on. He thinks things will be different in the next six months than what they have outlined here. They will be looking for a more constructive or substantial compliance with these and definitely the ability and willingness by their staff to keep working with the City and adapting a plan as they need to. Mayor Lund commented it boils down to cooperation on both sides. Attorney Welsh stated right. One of the things they have already found is a very quick way to do criminal background checks on everybody who comes in. He thinks that will make a difference, too. Mayor Lund said he does not know about the feasibility or legal side of it but maybe a$3 transaction or per room fee may need to be looked at to pay for the police to spend that amount of time on one facility. This does not meet community standards. Certainly he is going to vote for a six-month review and set the revocation date. Attorney Welsh commented they are not disagreeing with him. It is not acceptable. Mayor Lund asked Attorney Welsh, when he said they are actually planning some major capital improvements, can he give some highlights of some improvements. Attorney Welsch replied they actually have just finished a major upgrade of the property. There was $1.5 million or so spent upgrading the property within the last four years. Ms. Wallin stated she thinks the renovations were completed in the middle of 2006. Attorney Welsh commented the occupancy has not been high there. They represented the folks who owned it before. It has been a problem to make it economical from the beginning. All the new properties have a water park, they are larger, more attractive properties; and it something they struggle with. He thinks they are going to be able to upgrade the clientele they have and over the next few months get the police involvement to an acceptable level. Councilmember Saefke asked when it was the Kelly Inn, what kind of police calls did they have. Chief Abbott replied their automated police record system does not go back to the 1990s. From his own experience of being a street officer at that time, both when it was a Best Western and FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 21 then a Kelly Inn Best Western, they have always had some police calls there. In fact more than he would have expected from either of them. They were not of the same number of calls they have had in the last two years. Councilmember Saefke asked whether they were drug or prostitution related? Chief Abbott replied he thinks a lot of their calls there were alcohol-related. Not a lot of drugs, drinking, juveniles having beer, and the bathtub beer parties. They had the pool open at that time, and there were some very interesting fights. Definitely more drug-related, prostitution activity, and assaultive activity has increased now than they saw then. Councilmember Saefke stated he was concerned about as one letter says, "being able to smell marijuana and crack cocaine in the hallways" and nobody did anything about it he guessed. That is what bothers him about this whole thing. He agrees with the Mayor that it does not really meet our standards in Fridley and he is going to vote, too, for the revocation date in November and give them six months to straighten out. Hopefully with new management and working with the Police Department they can clean up the mess there. It is no good for our community. Apparently it is a known spot now for drugs and prostitution and that just attracts more undesirable folk. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Chief Abbott whether they are doing anything different than they have done on other liquor licenses. Chief Abbott replied, no, they are following a very similar procedure to what they have followed with Sha� and Fridley Crab House. Councilmember Bolkcom stated regarding the last two years of police calls, they probably should have been doing something last year. She asked if they have looked at the LivINN Suites in Burnsville. She asked if that was owned by the same gentleman. Attorney Welsh replied, correct. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Chief Abbott do they have any idea what the activity is like there. Chief Abbott replied he does not have the actual numbers. He did talk to a detective from Burnsville. In talking with him there have been some issues but nowhere near what they are seeing in Fridley. In talking with Ms. Wallin it sounds like the Maplewood property has more similarities to Fridley, but he thinks even in her opinion Fridley was the more challenging property. Councilmember Bolkcom recalled their discussions in the past and concern about a LivINN Suites being in Fridley. When she started reading some of this information, she is concerned about the neighborhood very close to this property along with other the other businesses. They have an obligation to take care of them also. She sees nothing wrong with putting them on notice and she is sorry that they cannot get the loans needed to do a business plan because of this. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 22 To her, that just means you clean up your act and do so very quick so they can. Six months is fair, considering the stuff that is going on. They do not want to be known for homicide, murders, and assault, wherever it might be. Whether it takes one or two policemen, it still takes them off the street. They are taking people away from that for activity that should not be going on in any business in the community. Councilmember Saefke stated what he is hoping for is that anyone who is having any thoughts of doing anything illegal at the LivINN suites he hopes they are listening to this tonight because they are putting them on notice. Councilmember Bolkcom asked Attorney Welsh, does he not think that it is up to the management that it is not a place to congregate. Attorney Welsh stated it is up to them to figure out a way to change over the clientele and one of the things they talked about is they can get access to the police calls and police visits on a weekly basis. The policy right now is if there is a police call at a room, they evict the person. They need to know that happened and work on ways to find that out. Again, they are going to have a challenge for a couple of months because they are talking about rumors, changing modes of behavior, and changing a reputation. Dr. Burns stated Attorney Welshs's comment regarding the six-month revocation and hearing threatening financing caught his interest. He asked if he was talking about financing a project that is eminent or if this is a hypothetical project? Attorney Welsch replied he is not fully at liberty to talk about his client's plans but he can tell them in terms of the LivINN Suites in general that they have been under discussions with some of the major chains about reflagging them. With the mention of revocation, it is very difficult to talk somebody into paying attention to a plan or financing or reflagging. They say, well, let's get this behind us and then we will talk about it. What he is hearing tonight and kind of sensing is we will go on hold, we will work on our plan, and then six months from now if they have demonstrated the property is back where they expect it to be, they can go on with their plans. Dr. Burns asked if they are talking about reflagging. Attorney Welsh replied the property's challenge with respect to a major teardown and a rebuilt, is how it relates to Menard's. There a little mall in between, and its visibility is back from the street, so one of the challenges has always been to find it. It is probably not the site that somebody would choose to construct a more modern hotel. Mayor Lund stated regardless of whether they are under the threat of revocation, it is still out there. If nothing changed, they would still be back anyway. Attorney Welsh stated that was really his point. The fact that the hearing is set, however, is just a disclosure item for them. The truth is at any point in time they could set a revocation hearing. If there is a violation they can set a hearing, and they do not have to wait six months. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 23 Councilmember Bolkcom stated it is a much simpler thing for them to say basically you have six months to clean it up. It is not any different from land uses that they have done where they have looked at revocations of special use permits and said you have six months to clean it up. It makes sense to her to put a date. To her it is a disclosure item for them anyway because they are here tonight. Attorney Welsh replied, he understands. Councilmember Barnette asked Ms. Wallin what type of a security staff do they employ and if they are overnight and what kinds of power do they have. If these kinds of incidences are going on, why is their security staff not doing something about it. Ms. Wallin replied since she has been back and since they brought along a security staff, it is not one that they employ. They hire a service. She would not say they are necessarily the type of individual that she would want to handle those issues. They bring attention to the issue and say, we have an issue and you need to call the police. Councilmember Barnette asked, they are not asked to confront guests. Ms. Wallin replied the security staff will go into a room and say they need to be quiet. However, if they have an issue with that room and they cannot take care of it on their own, they are going to call the police. So if they have somebody has a drug or alcohol issue or there is violence, they are going to call the police. Councilmember Barnette stated he has had an opportunity to be in contact with quite a number of the people who live up on the hill. They are also concerned with what is going on in the parking lot. They are looking right down on the facility, and they are very, very unhappy people with what is going on, as is the councilperson representing them and himsel£ He is also pro- business for Fridley. They want businesses to be in Fridley but ones that are appropriate, good businesses, as they represent the City. He is in favor of the six months and having them back on November 17. He hopes that things have been taken care of and things are much better. MOTION by Councilmember Saefke to approve the LivINN Suites, 2008-2009 HoteUMotel License with the following conditions: A That LivINN Suites participate in the 2008 Action Plan prepared by the Fridley Police Department as follows: 1. LivINN Suites will no longer accept cash payments for any room rental. All room stays will be charged to a credit card. Currently overnight rentals may be paid in cash and backed up by a credit card on file. 2. LivINN Suites will comply with the registration requirements of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 327. Hotel staff will gather all personal identification on each guest and provide that in a format that allows police to check registered guests for wants and warrants. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 14, 2008 PAGE 24 3. LivINN Suites will review websites and other media commonly used by prostitutes to ply their wares and compare their photos and other features against their current guests. 4. LivINN Suites management will meet with police staff monthly for the next six months to review police reports and to evaluate the effectiveness of policy and procedure changes, making modifications where indicated. 5. The Police Department will continue increased surveillance and enforcement efforts on and around the hotel. 6. The Police Department will offer training in the recognition of drug activity and other illicit conduct to LivINN Suites staff. 7. Staff will provide monthly updates to Council summarizing police calls and any noted improvements in the overall operation of the hotel. B. That LivINN Suites appear before the Fridley City Council on November 17, 2008, for possible revocation of their license. Seconded by Councilmember Bolkcom. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 12. Informal Status Reports. Mr. Hickok mentioned the fourth annual Yard and Garden Get-Together on Saturday, April 6, 2008, from 1 to 3 p.m. Mayor Lund stated on Saturday, April 26, the Fridley Historical Society is having their annual dinner and silent auction. ADJOURN. MOTION by Councilmember Barnette, seconded by Varichak, to adjourn. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 10:38 P.M. Respectfully submitted by, Denise M. Johnson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor