Council - Regular Meeting

All right. So the clock in the room here apparently is behind the rest of the world. So thank you all for joining us. I'm going to call to order this meeting of the Richfield City Council. It is September 22nd, 2026, and it is 7 p.m. If you're able, please rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. So we're going to start off with two presentations this evening. The first is the proclamation recognizing His

I want to thank the Human Rights Commission again for their efforts to draft and present this proclamation to the city. It is important to recognize and remember all the different groups in the community, and right now we're recognizing Hispanics and their contributions. And again, thank you to the Human Rights Commission.

Next, I would like to invite Dr. David Sorkin from the Academy of Holy Angels. This is a proclamation of the city of Richfield. Whereas the city of Richfield celebrates individuals and organizations whose generosity and dedication to the community have made a lasting difference in the lives of our youth, and whereas Larry Fitzgerald Jr. member of the Academy of Holy Angels class of 2001, and first ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, has supported countless students through the Carroll Fitzgerald Scholarship established in honor of his late mother. And whereas the Carroll Fitzgerald Scho

We've got a couple people that want to take pictures. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to approval of the agenda.

It's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. We have Council Member Coleman Woods joining us online, so each of our votes tonight need to be roll call votes. So City Clerk Friedrich, could you please call the roll?

All right, we've adopted the agenda. Next, we'll move on to approval of the minutes of the September 8th, 2026 City Council and Planning Commission Joint Work Session and the minutes of the September 8th, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting.

It's been moved and seconded. Are there any corrections or changes or comments? All right. City Clerk Friedrich, would you please call the roll?

All right. We have adopted the minutes. We're going to move on to open forum. Participants can share their comments in person by voicemail or email and may also request to participate virtually. For more information on submitting comments, refer to the council agenda and minutes page at richfieldmn.gov slash city council. I believe we received one email comment that's been distributed to all of the council members. And so we also have a card for somebody that would like to speak this evening here in person. So please state your name and city of residence, and then we'll have three minutes to a

Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to address the council in open forum? All right. After you get done speaking, can you fill out a card so we know who you are? But you're welcome to come join us and state your name. Back at the table, but we can get you on it for after. You can go ahead and speak now. Just need your name and your city of residence.

Thank you. And then if you could get the card and give it to one of the staff members after you fill it out. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak? All right. With that, then we'll end the open forum and move on to the consent calendar. City Manager Rodriguez.

Is there a motion to approve these items? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? All in favor of approving the items on the consent calendar, please. Oh, wait, we have to do a roll call. Thank you. All right. Could you please call the roll?

All right, we've approved the consent calendar Next we'll move on to Item 11 a and I'll turn that over to councilmember Hayford O'Leary Thank You mayor.

This item is to adopt resolutions establishing the 2027 preliminary budget and property tax levy setting the date for the truth and taxation hearing authorizing budget revisions authorizing revision of the 2026 department budgets and approving city fees for 2027 on August 12th 2026 a City Council special meeting was held for the purpose of presenting and discussion discussing the 2026 revised 2027 proposed budget and the 2027 preliminary property tax levy at this meeting staff presented to the City Council preliminary gross tax levy of thirty three million one hundred ninety three thousand sev

I will move that we adopt the attached resolutions establishing the 2027 preliminary budget and property tax levy, setting the date for the truth and taxation hearing, authorizing budget revisions, authorizing revision of the 2026 department budgets, and approving city fees for 2027. I'll second that.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion?

I just want to thank staff for their work on this and to Acknowledge I feel like the last you know I've been on the council for six years now in the last two cycles I've just been much more aware of actively hearing from residents about the cost increases in their life and People are just really more sensitive to every increase that they're feeling right now with the cost of everything going up so severely so I'm just grateful to staff for finding the efficiencies where they can and And I don't know if we'll be on the bottom of that increase list, but I know we are being financially prudent an

Any other comments or questions? I would also like to thank staff that it's been a very thorough process. It's been going on for months and we've been going through all the different steps. I went back and looked at the budget book again today to prepare for this meeting. And there was a list of all the things that had been like the department highlights. And that's interesting readings when you realize how much has been done each year. And so I just want to thank everybody involved in all of that and all the people that were involved. And I would concur with my colleague council member Hayfor

All right. Thank you all, and the budget has passed, or the levy has been set, and the truth in taxation hearing is set. Next, we'll move on to other business. Item 12A, Council Member Christensen.

Thank you, Mayor. This is a consideration of the appointment of an alternate commissioner to the Arts Commission. City board and commission appointments are typically three years in length, and alternates are designated yearly to avoid unfilled seats in case of a vacancy emerges. An arts commissioner has vacated their seat and alternate Jacqueline Vilema has agreed to take over the remainder of the term, which is set to expire January 31, 2029. Does the staff have any further information on this? No? All right, the recommended action would be to make a motion to approve the appointment of Jacq

It's been moved and seconded. Are there any other comments or questions? Thank you to our new Commissioner and I know Council Member Christensen is the liaison to that council, so you'll get to know her well. So we appreciate it. I guess we'll take the roll call then.

All right, we have a new arts commissioner. Moving on, we'll go to item 12B, and I'm going to turn that over to Council Member Burke.

So the item for consideration is the appointment of a youth commissioner to the Sustainability Commission. Youth members serve one-year terms on city advisory commissions, with current terms expiring August 31, 2027. The City Manager's Office recruits young youth applicants on an ongoing basis to fill vacancies. For recruitment, the city shares information on its website, Facebook page, and reaches out to local high schools. The city manager's office forwards all applications to the city council for review. Anything the staff wants to add? So I move to approve the appointment of Ellie London t

Are there any other comments or questions?

I would like to thank Ellie and also to say we do have some other youth openings, so if anybody's listening out there and you know a good youth, please send them our way. Could you please call the roll, City Clerk Friedrich?

All right, we have a new youth commissioner. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to the city manager report. City Manager Rodriguez.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for City Manager Rodriguez? Council Member Hayford-Leary.

I'm grateful for the Human Rights Commission for taking that on and that we are going to have a work session to discuss it. I certainly appreciate the staff need time to prepare information and we all need to be available and I have the personal luxury of a flexible schedule, but there's any way to be doing that work session any sooner. I think it would be beneficial, especially given the timing of the public meeting that the HRC is holding. I worry that almost a two month delay would be problematic given the level of public input that we've received.

Thank you for that. And I do think regardless of how soon we can do it, having the day will be helpful for community members that are interested in this issue.

Thank you. Any other questions for city manager Rodriguez? All right. Then we will move on to the council discussion. You can either do hats off to hometown hits or council liaison reports. And we'll go to Council Member Coleman-Woods first.

I'm sorry, the audio is a little sketchy, but is this hats off to hometown hits? I don't have anything this week. Thanks, though. Thanks for all your support of all the council members in my absence.

And we're pleased that you could join us virtually. All right, Council Member Burke.

I just wanted to share that I got my tickets to a toast to Richfield today, and I hope many folks will be able to join us for that. It's always been a lot of fun, and it will happen prior to our next council meeting. So October 8th. I don't know when ticket sales end, but they do sometimes sell out. So if you want to go, get your tickets.

Yes, I have one event coming up and I couldn't believe we're not meeting until right before that or after that. The Great Pumpkin Giveaway takes place on Saturday, October 10th from 9.30 to noon at Fairwood Park located at 6700 Logan Avenue South in the city here. And it's really a fun event. They've got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins that they give away for free. And also the Arts Commission does a coloring contest, so it's always kind of a fun event, and they have different vendors and different things going on during that time, so it's great fun.

Thank you. And I was going to also talk about the Richfield Foundation's fundraising event, the Toaster Richfield. It goes from 6.30 to 9 p.m., and it's on October 8th, as you mentioned, and it's a lot of fun, and I hope that you all can join us there. I was asked to mention this by the Richfield Disability Advocacy Partnership. They're hosting a nonpartisan event to engage voters with disabilities. You can come talk to candidates and let them know what issues are important to you. You can also get information on how to vote. The event, again, is nonpartisan, and it is Thursday, October 1, 202

Second. It's been moved and seconded, and we'll do one last roll call vote here.