11-9-2022 Work SessionCITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Richfield, Minnesota
Special City Council Work Session
November 9, 2022
CALL TO ORDER
The work session was called to order by Mayor Regan Gonzalez at 5:48 p.m. in the
Bartholomew Room.
Council Members
Present:
Maria Regan Gonzalez, Mayor; Mary Supple; Ben Whalen; Simon
Trautmann; and Sean Hayford Oleary
Council Members
Absent:
None
Staff Present: Katie Rodriguez, City Manager; Kumud Verma, Finance Manager; Kristen
Asher, Public Works Director; Joe Powers, City Engineer; Amy Markle,
Recreation Services Director; Jay Henthorne, Public Safety Director; Melissa
Poehlman, Community Development Director; Mike Dobesh, Fire Chief;
Jaimie Hafner, Human Resources Manager; Sack Thongvanh, Assistant City
Manager; and Chris Swanson, Management Analyst
Mayor Regan Gonzalez introduced the topic for discussion for the work session and turned it
over to City Manager Rodriguez.
ITEM #1 CONSIDER THE CITY'S PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 2023
City Manager Rodriguez introduced Management Analyst Swanson who gave a presentation
that described the past legislative priorities and outlined the new legislative process and introduced the
top three 2023 legislative priorities.
Director Markle presented on supporting a bonding bill to help fund the Wood Lake Nature
Center (WLNC) construction. The state funding would cover some of the cost to renovate the site,
including covering the cost for predesign, design, construct, furnish, and equip a new nature center
building.
Director Markle then presented on the request for council to support legislation which would
provide the City of Richfield the authorization to propose a local sales tax (LST) to support regionally
significant park projects. She remarked the LST will be discussed further at a work session on
December 8, 2022, to determine what projects will be included in the final legislative platform.
City Council Work Session Minutes -2- November 9, 2022
Fire Chief Dobesh presented on the support local control of Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
He discussed how the current laws do not provide meaningful oversight of the ambulance service
providers.
Council Member Whalen asked Fire Chief Dobesh why this EMS issue has risen to the top three
this year. Fire Chief Dobesh outlined how there are no response time requirements or control of
ambulance billing rates within the Hennepin County EMS Primary Service Areas. He discussed how,
due to the change in Hennepin County EMS protocols, they have seen instances where residents are
waiting up to 2 hours to receive service. He asked council to support local control to determine who is
best able to provide EMS services in our community.
Council Member Supple was supportive of including the virtual/hybrid meeting option in the
City’s platform. She believes this will make the city more accessible to all and increase participation.
Council Member Hayford Oleary expressed support for the top priorities identified in the
presentation. He wanted to comment on a few other legislative items included in the City’s platform.
Specially, he wanted to discuss THC regulations. He recognized that the THC item included in the
platform was under the assumption that the political landscape would remain like the divide last year.
He felt with the “trifecta” win by democrats we should reevaluate our language as there is a string
possibility for full legalization with the change. Police Chief Henthorne said the city will continue to look
for direction from the League of Minnesota Cities and that the legislative priorities specifically relate to
employment related cannabinoid questions. He also stated the city will continue to be involved in this
discussion.
Council Member Whalen discussed how part of the problem with the THC regulation was that
cities were not consulted with when the law was drafted and passed last year.
Council Member Hayford Oleary asked the words “in consultation with” be added to the THC
regulation to ensure cities have a seat at the table for any future THC legislation. Staff was supportive
of the change.
Council Member Whalen commented on how streamlined this process was this year. He was
appreciative how this process incorporated the mission, vision and values and the strategic priorities of
the city. He mentioned he looked forward to future discussion on freeway projects.
Council Member Supple mentioned the 494 Visioning Committee was still looking for comments
on their legislative platform and that she wanted to hear from the rest of council before providing
comments back to the committee.
Council Member Trautmann said he also appreciated the process and thanked staff for all the
work they do.
Mayor Regan Gonzalez echoed comments of appreciation. She said she loved the final
legislative approval process. She specially pointed to the connection to the both the mission, vision and
values and the strategic priorities of the city in the process.
Council Member Supple asked if the city would still be able to quickly respond if other legislative
issues arose. City Manager Rodriguez confirmed.
Council Member Supple asked about the presumption clause in the administrative section of the
proposed legislative positions. Police Chief Henthorne, Fire Chief Dobesh, and Human Resources
Manager Haefner provided more information on the presumption clause and the city’s commitment to
their employees getting the help and support they need to return to duty. Specifically, Police Chief
Henthorne pointed to strong legislation passed in Wisconsin as a good example.
City Council Work Session Minutes -3-November 9, 2022
Council Member Hayford Oleary asked if there were any major projects coming up around work
on 494. He was worried that we would not have a stance prepared if something were to happen soon.
Director Asher and City Engineer Powers answered questions on the status of the 494 projects and
outlined how the city would have time to review and respond if a project were to come up soon.
City Manager Rodriguez provided a summary of what she heard from council and the next steps
of the legislative platform adoption process.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Regan Gonzalez adjourned the work session at 6:21 p.m.
Date Approved: November 22, 2022
Maria Regan Gonzalez
Mayor
Chris Swanson
Management Analyst
Katie Rodriguez
City Manager