02-13-2024 RegularCALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann at 7:00 p.m. in the Council
Chambers.
Council Members Present: Simon Trautmann, Mayor Pro Tempore; Sharon Christensen;
Sean Hayford Oleary; and Ben Whalen
Council Members
Absent:
Mary Supple, Mayor
Staff Present: Katie Rodriguez, City Manager; Mary Tietjen, City Attorney; Jay
Henthorne, Public Safety Director/Police Chief; Jennifer
Anderson, Support Services Manager; Karl Huemiller, Recreation
Services Director; and Chris Swanson, Management Analyst
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann led the Pledge of Allegiance.
OPEN FORUM
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann reviewed the options to participate:
Participate live by calling 1-415-655-0001 during the open forum portion
Call prior to meeting 612-861-9711
Email prior to meeting kwynn@richfieldmn.gov
There were no participants.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
M/Hayford Oleary, S/Christensen to approve the minutes of the: (1) City Council Work Session
of January 23, 2024; (2) Regular City Council Meeting of January 23, 2024.
Motion carried: 4-0
ITEM #1 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Richfield, Minnesota
Regular Council Meeting
February 13, 2024
City Council Meeting Minutes -2-February 13, 2024
M/Hayford Oleary, S/Christensen to approve the agenda.
Motion carried: 4-0
ITEM #2 PROCLAMATION CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann invited Commissioner Carol Kelly to accept the proclamation and
read aloud the proclamation.
Commissioner Kelly accepted the proclamation on behalf of the Human Rights Commission.
ITEM #3 CONSENT CALENDAR
City Manager Rodriguez presented the consent calendar.
A.Consider approval of the renewal of the 2024 licenses for Off-Sale 3.2 Percent Malt Liquor
doing business in Richfield (Staff Report No. 17)
Licenses to sell 3.2 Percent Malt Liquor – OFF Sale
Richfield Minnoco
Speedway #4196
Speedway #4188
Speedway #4191
Speedway #4615
B.Consider the approval of a Construction and Maintenance Agreement with LYNK 65, LLC that
defines ownership and maintenance responsibilities for certain features constructed at 6445
Lyndale Ae S. (Staff Report No. 18)
C.Consider adoption of a resolution authorizing the City of Richfield to accept grant funds in the
amount of $27,800 and enter into a cost share agreement with Nine Mile Creek Watershed
District to implement a Low Salt Design Pilot City program (Staff Report No. 19)
RESOLUTION NO. 12180
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF RICHFIELD
TO ACCEPT GRANT FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF
$27,800 AND ENTER INTO A COST SHARE AGREEMENT
WITH NINE MILE CREEK WATERSHED DISTRICT TO
IMPLEMENT A LOW SALT DESIGN PILOT CITY
PROGRAM
D.Consider the approval of the first reading of an ordinance amending Section 925 – Nuisance
to include a new provision relating to flexible dumpsters and adding that a violation of section
1305.27 Subd. 5 (Yards) & 6 (Vehicle parking and storage limitations and requirements) is
nuisance conduct and subject to a repeat nuisance fee (Staff Report No. 20)
E.Consider the acceptance of a quote from Northland Recreation in the amount of $100,000 for
the replacement of play equipment at Fairwood Park and the authorization of the Recreation
Services Director to proceed with the project. (Staff Report No. 21)
City Council Meeting Minutes -3- February 13, 2024
F. Consider the adoption of a resolution appointing election judges and establishing an absentee
ballot board for the Presidential Nomination Primary Election of March 5, 2024. (Staff Report
No. 22)
RESOLUTION NO. 12181
RESOLUTION APPOINTING ELECTION JUDGES
FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION PRIMARY
ELECTION BEING HELD ON MARCH 5, 2024
M/Whalen, S/Hayford Oleary to approve the consent calendar.
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann asked if the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District grant related to
the Richfield Bloomington Watershed District. City Manager Rodriguez noted it was a separate
Watershed District.
Mayor Tempore Trautmann gave hats off to the City’s election judges.
Motion carried: 4-0
ITEM #4
CONSIDERATION OF ITEMS, IF ANY, REMOVED FROM CONSENT
CALENDAR
None.
ITEM #5
VIOLATION HEARING AND CONSIDER A RESOLUTION REGARDING CIVIL
ENFORCEMENT FOR ESTABLISHMENTS THAT RECENTLY UNDERWENT
ALCOHOL COMPLIANCE CHECKS CONDUCTED BY RICHFIELD PUBLIC
SAFETY STAFF, AND FAILED BY SELLING ALCOHOL TO A PERSON UNDER
THE AGE OF 21 (STAFF REPORT NO. 23)
Council Member Whalen presented Staff Report No. 23.
Council Member Whalen asked if the establishments could admit or deny the allegations. City
Attorney Tietjen responded the licensees could either admit to the violations and the Council would adopt
the resolution, or they could deny the allegations and request a hearing at which point staff would get the
hearing scheduled.
Council Member Whalen invited the representative from Lyndale Smokehouse LLC to approach
the podium.
Tony Lawler, Lyndale Smokehouse LLC, stated they were not denying and were admitting fault.
Council Member Whalen invited the representative from Los Sanchez Taqueria to approach the
podium.
Mr. Sergio Andrade and Mr. Santiago Sanchez admitted fault and apologized for what happened.
Mr. Sanchez indicated they were working to correct this situation so it did not happen again, which
included alcohol compliance training.
City Council Meeting Minutes -4-February 13, 2024
Mr. Andrade stated they have read the best practices and would adopt a policy regarding alcohol
sales. He noted part of the problem was that for many of their staff English was not their primary
language, but now they were translating their policies into both English and Spanish. He acknowledged
this was their second offense and understood this was a critical situation and he hoped they would not
be before the Council again now that they had specific policies to deal with this.
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann thanked them for attending. He said [In Spanish] he was glad the
applicant is here, as this is a building for everybody, not just for English speakers and asked if the Council
had any discretion regarding the penalties. City Attorney Tietjen responded that the penalties were
established by City resolution. Mr. Andrade responded he had read the resolution and he believed it did
allow for Council discretion.
Support Services Manager Anderson noted Los Sanchez had passed their liquor compliance
check in 2019 and failed it in November 2021 and again in December 2022, which was outside of the one
year, so technically this was their third offense. City Attorney Tietjen noted it was within the Council’s
discretion to decide what the penalties were, but staff had provided some information for the Council to
consider with respect to that.
Support Services Manager Anderson indicated a similar request was made by Mr. Sanchez last
year, which the Council did not grant.
Council Member Hayford Oleary asked staff if the loss of sale date was an effective deterrent
compared to penalties. Support Services Manager Anderson indicated it tended to create an environment
where every ID was checked. She pointed out that when somebody was underage, their ID was vertical
and if someone was over 21, their ID was horizontal, so no math needed to be done.
Council Member Hayford Oleary thanked the City Attorney for the clarification but given the
information from public safety and even if this were a first offense, it would still be a five-day suspension.
He believed Council should proceed with the recommended suspension. He thanked the owner for
coming and hoped they would be doing better on this.
Council Member Christensen agreed with Council Member Hayford Oleary and indicated this was
a learning curve and she hoped their employees would learn from it.
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann agreed with the previous comments and believed the Council had
an obligation out of fairness to treat everyone equally and other restaurants in similar situations had not
been shown that discretion.
M/Whalen, S/Hayford Oleary to approve the resolutions regarding civil enforcement for
establishments that failed alcohol compliance checks by selling alcohol to an underage person.
RESOLUTION NO. 12182
RESOLUTION SUSPENDING THE LIQUOR LICENSE FOR
LYNDALE SMOKEHOUSE, LLC d/b/a LYNDALE
SMOKEHOUSE, 7745 LYNDALE AVENUE SOUTH AND
IMPOSING A CIVIL PENALTY FOR FIRST TIME
ALCOHOL COMPLIANCE FAILURE
RESOLUTION NO. 12183
RESOLUTION SUSPENDING THE LIQUOR LICENSE FOR
LOS SANCHEZ TAQUERIA II, LLC d/b/a LOS SANCHES
TAQUERIA, 2 WEST 66TH STREET AND IMPOSING A
CIVIL PENALTY FOR FIRST TIME ALCOHOL
COMPLIANCE FAILURE
City Council Meeting Minutes -5- February 13, 2024
Motion carried: 4-0
ITEM #6
CONSIDER CITY COUNCIL’S APPROVAL OF THE MAYOR’S APPOINTMENT
OF A HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY COMMISSIONER.
(STAFF REPORT NO. 24)
Council Member Hayford Oleary presented Staff Report No. 24.
M/Hayford Oleary, S/Christensen to approve the Mayor’s appointment of Gordon Hanson as the
Housing and Redevelopment Authority Commissioner for a five-year term expiring February 28, 2029.
Council Member Whalen indicated he was happy to see more applicants applying for these
positions and encouraged the residents to apply for future openings on the Commissions.
Motion carried: 4-0
ITEM #7
CONSIDER THE CHARTER COMMISSION’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
AMENDMENTS TO THE CURRENT CITY CHARTER BY ORDINANCE AND
PUBLISH A NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PROPOSED CITY
CHARTER AMENDMENTS. (STAFF REPORT NO. 25)
Council Member Christensen presented Staff Report No. 25.
M/Christensen, S/Whalen to accept the letter from Charter Commission transmitting the
recommendations for proposed amendments to the Richfield City Charter; and adopt the Resolution
authorizing notice of a public hearing including a summary of the proposed city charter amendments.
RESOLUTION NO. 12184
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING NOTICE OF A PUBLIC
HEARING INCLUDING A SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED
CITY CHARTER AMENDMENTS
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann thanked everyone who was a part of this and noted a lot of
work went into this and nothing was taken lightly.
Council Member Whalen noted that while it appeared they were making a huge overhaul, the
vast majority of the changes were technical or grammatical.
Motion carried: 4-0
ITEM #18
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
City Manager Rodriguez stated she had no report.
City Council Meeting Minutes -6-February 13, 2024
ITEM #9 CLAIMS AND PAYROLL
M/Whalen, S/Hayford Oleary that the following claims and payrolls be approved:
U.S. BANK 02/08/2024
A/P Checks: 26440 – 326832 $2,136,172.80
Payroll: 184882 – 185529 43754 - 43772 $1,849,034.73
TOTAL $3,985,207.53
Motion carried: 4-0
ITEM #10 HATS OFF TO HOMETOWN HITS
Council Member Christensen gave a shout out to the nature center and their fabulous programs
coming this spring.
Council Member Whalen gave a shout out to the youth commissioners and encouraged other
youth to get involved.
Council Member Hayford Oleary thanked public works for dealing with a shopping cart which had
been abandoned in his neighborhood.
Mayor Pro Tempore Trautmann noted Mayor Supple was feeling under the weather and hoped
she would be feeling better soon. He gave a shout out to the Richfield public schools and Richfield High
School and to Mrs. Whalen for making the high school great.
ITEM #11 ADJOURNMENT
M/Hayford Oleary, S/Whalen to adjourn the meeting at 7:42 p.m.
Motion carried: 4-0
Date Approved: February 28, 2024
Mary B. Supple
Mayor
Chris Swanson Katie Rodriguez
Management Analyst City Manager