04-23-2019 Work Session AgendaS P E C IAL C IT Y C O U N C IL W O R K S E S S IO N
R IC H F IE L D MU N IC IPAL C E N TE R, B AR TH O LO ME W R O O M
APR IL 23, 2019
6:00 P M
C all to order
1.I-494 project local goals follow-up
2.P roposed changes to the C ity of Richfield C harter
A djournment
Auxiliary aids for individuals with disabilities are available upon request. Requests must be made at
least 96 hours in advance to the City Clerk at 612-861-9738.
CITY OF RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA
Office of City Manager
April 18, 2019
Council Memorandum No. 21
The Honorable Mayor
and
Members of the City Council
Subject: Finalizing I-494 Local Goals
Council Members:
A portion of the April 23, 2019, City Council work session will focus on finalizing the
locally focused goals for the I-494 Corridor Project. Staff has revised the attached list
based on comments received at the April 9 joint Council work session.
In advance of April 23, please complete the following so that the limited meeting time
can be used most efficiently:
Review the attached revised draft goals;
Prepare any additional comments or proposed changes ; and
Send comments to me and City Engineer Jeff Pearson at
jpearson@richfieldmn.gov.
Pending acceptance of a final version by the City Council, staff will then present the
goals to MnDOT and use the list as alternatives are considered.
Please contact Kristin Asher, Public Works Director, at 612-861-9795 with questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Katie Rodriguez
City Manager
KR:kda
Email: Department Directors
Draft Local I-494 Project Goals
4/23/19 Richfield City Council Work Session
Regional Transportation Goals (Developed as part of the I-494 Project process to date)
Address deficient infrastructure in the corridor (i.e. bridges, pavement conditions, retaining
walls, etc.)
Bring to ADA standards pedestrian facilities within construction limits
Connect neighborhoods by constructing missing pedestrian facilities & providing improved
facilities on new bridges
Maintain/improve transit advantages
Direct connection of planned Highway 77 MnPASS facility and planned I-494 MnPASS facility
Access changes on 12th, Portland & Nicollet Avenue interchanges and 24th Ave via a new 77th
Street connection under TH77
Develop a phased implementation plan for the corridor expansion vision
Improve safety along the I-494 corridor
Improve travel time reliability on the I-494 corridor
Reduce the amount of traffic diverting off the regional transportation system onto the local road
system
Local Transportation Goals
Reliever System
Completion of 77th Street underpass prior to access closures or changes at 12th, Portland, &
Nicollet
Maintain or improve operations on 77th Street and on American Boulevard (key intersections
include Penn, Lyndale, Portland)
Improve operations on 76th Street from I-35W to Xerxes Ave (coordinate with PRO2 signal timing
project) including ramp access to I-35W
Local Mobility
Minimize the amount of traffic diverting off the regional transportation system onto the local
road system (North of 77th Street, south of American Boulevard)
Improve multimodal crossings (and approaches to the crossings) of I-494 (both on Avenue
bridges and bike/ped bridges)
Facilitate continuity and expansion of transit service on the local road network (Metro Transit D
Line and others)
Construction Impacts
Environmental sustainability focus on solutions (storm water, air quality, etc.)
Maintain or improve traffic operations along detour routes prior to I-494 traffic impacts (TH62 -
Crosstown)
Minimize impacts to local roadway network during construction
Clear communication to stakeholders throughout the project
Coordinated stormwater solutions with local cities and watersheds
Local Economic Vitality Goals
Develop an identifiable I-494 corridor and attractive gateways to Richfield/Bloomington
(coordination with required bridge reconstructions)
Provide access that will encourage the availability of quality goods, services, and employment
opportunities for residents
Provide access to encourage the Cedar Corridor Redevelopment
Incorporate design that will provide community continuity and not barriers
Maximize opportunities for business growth by addressing transportation needs
Maximize/utilize excess right-of-way
Limit right-of-way impacts to existing properties
Guide required right-of-way impacts to enhance redevelopment opportunities
Environmental justice focus on solutions through more equitable access:
o Improve transit service and reliability
o Improve multi-modal access to centers of employment
Help businesses to manage impacts of construction
Minimize impacts to businesses during construction
Minimize impacts to businesses access in final design
Minimize local agency project costs
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Kennedy Mary D. Tietjen
470 U.S. Bank Plaza
200 South Sixth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402
&
Graven (612) 337-9300 telephone
(612) 337-9310 fax
email: mtietjen@kennedy-graven.com
C H A R T E R E D
MEMORANDUM
TO: Richfield City Council
FROM: Mary Tietjen, city attorney
Dave Anderson, assistant city attorney
DATE: April 17, 2019
RE: Charter amendments related to council vacancies and special elections
I. Introduction
At the Charter Commission (“Commission”) meeting on February 5, 2019, staff brought several
discussion items to the Commission related to recent vacancies on the City Council and the process
for filling those vacancies. Staff suggested that the Commission, and ultimately the City Council,
may want to consider some amendments to the City Charter to address these issues. Before making a
formal recommendation to the Council to amend the Charter, the Commission and staff are s eeking
Council input on certain policy-related questions in order to evaluate Council support.
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide an overview of the Charter’s current requirements for
filling vacancies and to present potential options and discussion points related to prospective Charter
amendments.
II. Current Charter Provisions Related to Council Vacancies
The Charter presently contains a number of provisions that govern the procedural requirements for
filling a vacancy on the Council.1 Specifically, the following three rules apply:
1) If 90 days or less remain in the vacant seat at the time of vacancy, the person elected to fill
that seat during the November general election “shall be appointed” to serve the remainder of
the vacant term. The appointment shall be made as the first order of business at the first
meeting following the declaration of election results2;
2) If 91-179 days remain in the vacant seat at the time the vacancy occurs, an appointment must
be made by the C ouncil to fill the vacant seat within 30 days. If a majority of the Council
1 Richfield City Charter, Section 2.05, subd. 2.
2 Richfield City Charter, Section 2.05, subd. 2(1).
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cannot agree on an appointment during that time period, the mayor must make an
appointment3; and
3) If 180 days or more remain in the vacant seat at the time the vacancy occurs, a special
election must occur within 30-60 days from the date that a special election is called. The
special election must be called at the first meeting following the vacancy4.
As a home rule charter city, Richfield has the authority to provide for its own procedural
requirements for filling vacancies and holding special elections. Some of the implications related to
the Charter provisions summarized above are as follows:
Appointment when 90 days or less remain in the vacant term. Requiring that the
incoming elected official be appointed assumes that the incoming elected official has both the
desire and the ability to start their service early. That may not be the case, especially if that
person has other professional or personal obligations prior to the start of their elected term.
Appointment within 30 days when 91–179 days remain in the vacant term. Requiring the
Council to make an appointment within 30 days affords the Council with very little time to
solicit interest, conduct interviews, or thoroughly vet potential appointees. Because the
Council meets only twice per month, a 30-day appointment window is relatively short.
Special election required when 180 days or more remain in the vacant term. Because the
special election must be called at the first meeting following a vacancy and subsequently held
within 30-60 days, the C ity in many cases will not be able to adhere to Minn. Stat. 205.10,
subd. 3a, which provides for only five dates throughout the year on which a special election
may be held.5 (For example, if a Council member were to resign in late March, the City
would be required to call a special election at its first meeting in April. Because the second
Tuesday in May would be too soon to hold a special election, the next available date allowed
by statute would be the second Tu esday in August, meaning that the City could not meet the
30-60 day requirement.)
Also, the City accepts nomination petitions for elections between 56-70 days before the
election, which coincides with the statutory filing period prescribed in Minn. Stat. 205.13.
Because a special election must be held no more than 60 days after it is called, that timeline
will always be impossible to meet when holding a special election under the Charter’s current
requirements.
Requiring a special election whenever 180 days or more remain in the vacant term potentially
increases the frequency of special elections . Special elections, when not held in conjunction
with a municipal general election, are expensive and require a significant amount of staff
time and resources, and generally have low voter turnout.
3 Richfield City Charter, Section 2.05, subd. 2(2).
4 Richfield City Charter, Section 2.05, subd. 2(3).
5 “[A] special election held in a city or town must be held on one of the following dates: the second Tuesday in
February, the second Tuesday in April, the second Tuesday in May, the second Tuesday in Augu st, or the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November. A home rule charter city must not designate additional dates in its
charter.”
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III. State Law Provisions Related to Council Vacancies
State law sets different requirements for filling city council vacancies.6 If a vacancy occurs before the
first day to file affidavits of candidacy for (more than 70 days prior to) the next regular city election
and more than two years remain in the vacant term, a special election must be held at or before the
next regular city election and an appointment shall be made to serve until the qualification of a
successor elected at the special election. If the vacancy occurs 70 days or fewer before the next
regular city election, or when less than two years remain in the unexpired term, no special election is
necessary and an appointed person shall serve until the qualification of a successor. State law allows
a city to hold a special election earlier than the next regular city election, but it is not obligated to do
so.
State law does not establish a process that a council must follow when making an appointment to fill
a vacancy. Therefore, cities are free to follow whatever process they feel is most appropriate in any
given situation (e.g. soliciting candidates, conducting interviews, forming a selection committee).
IV. Miscellaneous
1. Posting Requirements for Elections
The City Charter requires the City clerk to post and publish notice of all regular, primar y, and special
elections. However, the requirements in the Charter are different for each type of election.
For a regular municipal election, the Clerk must give 2 weeks’ notice “by posting in the City Clerk’s
office and on the website and by publication. . .” For a primary election, the City Clerk is required to
give 2 weeks’ notice “by posting in at least one public place in each voting precinct and by
publication . . .” For a special election, two weeks’ published notice is required.
2. Start/End Dates for Terms of Office
The Charter currently requires that regular terms of office begin at the first regular or special meeting
in January following the general election.7 Under that provision, new terms could hypothetically
begin as late as January 14 (if the second Tuesday in January happens to fall on January 14).
Minn. Stat. § 205.07, subd. 1a provides that “[t]he terms of all city council members of charter cities
expire on the first Monday in January of the year in which they expire. All officers of charter cities
chosen and qualified shall hold office until their successors qualify.” Therefore, there will always be
a gap between the date the previous term ends and the date that the new term begins. Although the
phrase “until their successor qualifies” adequately fills that gap by requiring the previous term to
extend until the oath is administered at the first meeting in January, it may be helpful to amend the
Charter for additional clarity.
V. Potential Charter Amendments and Policy Considerations
The Commission is seeking the Council’s input in order to make its decision on whether to bring a
formal recommendation to the Council. An ordinance amending the Charter requires unanimous
6 See Minn. Stat. § 412.02, subd. 2a; see also Minn. Stat. § 205.10.
7 Richfield City Charter, Section 2.03.
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support of the Council. The Council should consider the following issues related to possible Charter
amendments.
1. A Charter amendment to increase the amount of time remaining in a term of office
before a special election is required.
Issues to consider: frequency and cost of special elections (including staff time), particularly
when held not in conjunction with a regular City election; Council appointments vs. allowing
the residents to elect new members; voter turnout at recent special elections .
2. A Charter amendment to reconcile timing of special elections with state law.
Issues to consider: current charter requirements make compliance with state law difficult or
impossible
3. A Charter amendment related to the appointment process.
Issues to consider: in instances where 180 days or more remain in a vacant seat, the Council
does not have the ability to make an interim appointment before a special election; in
instances where 91-179 days remain in a vacant seat, is 30 days enough time for the Council
to make an appointment; in instances where there are 90 days or less remaining in the vacant
seat, the question is whether the incoming elected official has the desire and ability to serve
and whether the Council needs more flexibility.
4. A Charter amendment creating consistency for election posting requirements.
Issues to consider: consistency for City Clerk’s office and for the public
5. A Charter amendment that would create consistency for when council terms end and
begin.
Issues to consider: clarification and better consistency with state law
For your reference, a chart comparing how other charter cities fill council vacancies is attached
hereto as Exhibit A. (This chart was prepared by the Minnetonka City Attorney, who
graciously shared the information with Richfield staff.)
VI. Procedure for Amending Charter
The Commission formally recommends that the Council amend the Charter by ordinance. Within
one month of receiving that recommendation, the City must publish notice of a public hearing on the
proposal. The City must then hold the public hearing on the proposed Charter amendments at least
two weeks but not more than one month after the notice is published. Within one month of that
public hearing, the Council must vote on the proposed Charter amendment ordinance. The ordinance
requires unanimous approval of all five Council members, so all must be present for the vote, and if
the ordinance is adopted, it becomes effective 90 days after publication. Within 60 days after passage
of and publication of an ordinance, a petition requesting a refere ndum on the ordinance may be filed
with the city clerk. The petition must be signed by registered voters equal in number to at least five
percent of the registered voters in the city or 2,000, whichever is less.
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EXHIBIT A
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