Approved Minutes 3-20-1996 SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE SAINT PAUL CITY COUNCIL
Wednesday, March 20, 1996 - 3:30 PM
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 3RD FLOOR
City Hall and Court House
15 West Kellogg Boulevard
The meeting was called to order at 3:45 p.m. by Council President Thune.
Present - 6 - Councilmembers Blakey, Bostrom, Guerin, Harris, Rettman, Thune
Absent - 1 - Megard (excused)
CONSENT AGENDA
Gerry Strathman clarified that Item #9 should be laid over for one week.
Councilmember Rettman requested Item #14 be removed for discussion.
Councilmember Guerin requested Item #10 be removed for discussion.
Councilmember Harris requested Administrative Order #D00859 in Item #8 be laid over for one
week.
Councilmember Bostrom moved approval of the Consent Agenda as amended.
Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
FOR ACTION
1. Approval of minutes of November 15, and November 22, 1995.
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
2. Claims of Thomas Florance, Sisters of St. Joseph, Huong Nguyen, Chon Yang and Ai Vang, Xay
Vang, and Jacqueline Vosecky.
Referred to the City Attorney's Office
3. Summons and Complaint in the matter of Steven Lamont Shoals vs. the City of Saint Paul, et al.
Referred to the City Attorney's Office
4. Summons and Complaint in the matter of Christopher Lee Iverson vs. the City of Saint Paul, et al.
Referred to the City Attorney's Office
5. Letter from the Division of Public Health declaring 862 Galtier Street, 275 Commercial Street,
350 Goodrich Avenue, and 1194 Ross Avenue as "nuisance properties". (For notification
purposes only; public hearings will be scheduled at a later date if necessary.)
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 2
6. Letter from the Real Estate Division announcing a public hearing before the City Council on
March 27, 1996, to consider the vacation of air rights around the northwest corner of Kellogg
Boulevard and Cedar Avenue to develop a ballroom facility for the Radisson Hotel.
7. Communication from Saint Paul Animal Control dated March 11, 1996, announcing a request
from the University of Minnesota Research Lab for unclaimed dogs and cats.
8. Administrative Orders:
D00858 Amending the 1995 budget in the Department of Planning and Economic
Development Parking and Transit Fund.
Noted as on file in the City Clerk's Office
D00859 Authorizing payment, not to exceed $500.00, to Woolley's Restaurant for meeting
costs for a Fire and Safety Services Team meeting.
Laid over to March 27
D00860 Amending the 1995 Capital Improvement Budget by transferring 1995 CIB
Contingency funds into the 1995 Capital Maintenance Program to cover project
shortfalls in the program and to provide additional financing for a Health Division
clinic ventilation project.
D00861 Amending the 1995 budget in the Police Department to provide sufficient funding at
the major object level of the Parking Enforcement Fund.
D00862 Amending the 1995 budget in the Police Department to provide sufficient funding at
the major object level of the special projects fund.
Noted as on file in the City Clerk's Office
9. Resolution - 96-270 - Approving the reappointments of Councilmembers Dino Guerin, Michael
Harris, and Janice Rettman, by Mayor Coleman, to the Water Board of Commissioners. (To be
laid over one week for adoption)
Laid over to March 27 for adoption.
10. (Discussed later in the meeting)
11. Resolution - 96-272 - Finalizing City Council action taken February 14, 1996, denying the appeal
of the West 7th-Fort Road Federation to a decision of the Planning Commission granting a special
condition use permit to allow a fast food restaurant at Grand Avenue and Douglas Street.
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
12. Resolution - 96-273 - Finalizing City Council action taken February 28, 1996, denying the appeal
of Amin Lotfalla for property at 489 View Street.
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 3
13. Resolution - 96-274 - Releasing "Phalen Boulevard Scoping Document and Draft Scoping
Decision Document" for public comment, and setting April 25, 1996, as the date for a joint
Planning Commission/City Council public meeting on the document.
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
14. (Discussed later in the meeting)
15. Resolution - 96-276 - Approving the Hatch/Park Area Street Paving and Lighting Project.
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
16. Resolution Approving Assessment - 96-277 - In the matter of sidewalk reconstruction on the east
side of South Cleveland Avenue from St. Paul Avenue to Montreal Avenue, and setting date of
public hearing for May 8, 1996. (File #S9434)
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
17. Resolution Approving Assessment - 96-278 - In the matter of sidewalk construction and/or
reconstruction on the north side of Norfolk Avenue from Sumner Street to South Cleveland
Avenue, and the south side of Norfolk Avenue from South Prior Avenue to South Cleveland
Avenue; sidewalk reconstruction on the west side of South Prior Avenue from Sheridan Avenue to
Norfolk Avenue; and sidewalk reconstruction on both sides of Sheridan Avenue from Sue Street to
South Prior Avenue, and setting date of public hearing for May 8, 1996. (File #S9437, S9438,
S9439)
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
18. Resolution Approving Assessment - 96-279 - In the matter of sidewalk reconstruction on both
sides of West Idaho Avenue from Fernwood Street to Huron Street, and setting date of public
hearing for May 8, 1996. (File #S9440)
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
19. Resolution Approving Assessment - 96-280 - In the matter of sidewalk reconstruction on both
sides of West Montana Avenue from North Grotto Street to North Avenue Street, and setting date
of public hearing for May 8, 1996. (File #S9401)
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
20. Resolution Approving Assessment - 96-281 - In the matter of sidewalk reconstruction on both
sides of Hague Avenue from North Victoria Street to North Milton Street and the west side of
North Victoria Street from Hague Avenue to approximately 100 ft. south of Hague Avenue, and
setting date of public hearing for May 8, 1996. (File #S9458)
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
21. Resolution Approving Assessment - 96-282 - In the matter of sidewalk construction and/or
reconstruction on both sides of Lakeview Avenue from North Victoria Street to East Como
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 4
Boulevard, and the west side of North Victoria Street from Lakeview Avenue to approximately
176 ft. south of Lakeview Avenue, and setting date of public hearing for May 8, 1996. (File
#S9474)
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
22. Resolution Approving Assessment - 96-283 - In the matter of summary abatements (property
cleanup, snow removal, and/or sanding sidewalks) for January and February 1996, and setting
date of public hearing for May 22, 1996. (File #J9605A)
Adopted Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
10. Resolution - 96-271 - Finalizing City Council action taken January 24, 1996, granting the
appeal of Dayton's Bluff Center for Civic Life to a decision of the Planning Commission
granting a special condition use permit to allow outdoor sales of used automobiles at 672
Arcade Street.
Councilmember Guerin presented an amendment in Line 42, which should read "the plan
was accepted."
Councilmember Guerin moved approval as amended.
Adopted as amended Yeas- 6 Nays - 0
Suspension Items
Councilmember Harris moved suspension of the rules to consider the following resolution:
Resolution - 96-286 - Authorizing proper City officials to request an extension of thirty (30) days
from the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC) for meeting the criteria of the
conditional "Mighty Ducks" grant award.
Councilmember Harris moved approval.
Adopted Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
Councilmember Blakey moved suspension of the rules to consider the following resolution:
Resolution - 96-287 - Requesting the Metropolitan Council to reconsider planned reductions in St.
Paul bus service.
Councilmember Blakey said he spoke before the Metropolitan Council and asked them to consider
cutting back the frequency of the bus service rather than elimination of the routes. The public
comment period ends on March 22.
Councilmember Guerin stated he could not support this resolution as he hasn't had an opportunity
to discuss their reasoning with someone from the Metropolitan Council. He would like to know
how many riders are on these routes that are being eliminated and would request a one week
layover.
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 5
Councilmember Bostrom suggested amending the resolution by eliminating the route numbers
mentioned on Line 33, so it includes all the routes. Councilmember Blakey accepted the
amendment..
Councilmember Blakey moved approval.
Adopted as amended Yeas 5 Nays - 1 (Guerin)
14. Resolution - 96-275 - Authorizing the Police Department to solicit funds for structural
rehabilitation of the large billboard atop the new Eastern District Police Station.
Councilmember Rettman presented the following amendment: "Finally be it resolved that the
guidelines for the use of this community billboard will be submitted to the Council for review and
adoption." Councilmember Bostrom accepted the amendment
Councilmember Bostrom moved approval
Adopted as amended Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
ORDINANCES
23. Second Reading - 96-260 - An ordinance amending the Saint Paul Legislative Code by establishing
a user charge for excessive consumption of health code enforcement services.
Laid over to March 27 for third reading/public hearing
24. First Reading - 96-284 - An ordinance finalizing City Council action approving the petition of
Steve Scribner to rezone property at 1374 Arcade Street from B-3 and R-4. (Public hearing held
February 28, 1996)
Laid over to March 27 for second reading
25. First Reading - 96-285 - An ordinance amending Section 170.10 of the Saint Paul Legislative
Code by deleting gender-specific references and increasing the amount of time a person may be
expelled from a recreation center.
Laid over to March 27 for second reading
26. INTERNET POLICY DISCUSSION
Gerry Strathman reminded the Council of the following objectives set for this meeting: current and
planned uses of the Internet by City employees, how the City currently is placing resources on the
Internet; plans for future usage of the Internet, considering possible uses on the Internet to meet business
goals; considering how to enable citizens and organizations to have access to the Internet and what the
role of the City might be to facilitate that.
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 6
A. Pam Wheelock, Deputy Mayor
Mark Shields, Chief of Staff
Overview of current status of Information Technology Leadership Project(ITLP) and its
recommendations. Current and future plans for City IS management and projects.
Mark Shields, Chief of Staff, provided an overview of the status of technology. In the mid 1970's, the
departments and offices were acting independently and using technology that best fit their individual
environments. Studies show that the City isn't unique. The same frustrations and limitations that are
experienced within the City, are seen in comparable sized communities around the country.
One of the important components of this report is that a City employee, rather than an outside expert,
gathered the information from previous studies and worked on it in consultation with other talented City
employees. They also worked on the Web Page on their own time.
B. Cindy Mullan, Transition Leader, Information Technology Leadership Project (ITLP)
Bob Kessler, Director, Office of License, Inspection & Environmental Protection (LIEP)
Policy development concerning employee Internet access and usage. Findings and
recommendations of Internet Policy Group.
Cindy Mullan said it should be ensured that technology is being used to achieve goals and a coordinated
approach is being taken.
The Internet is a tool that can be used to deliver services to the citizens of Saint Paul. The Internet Policy
Group was not interested in using the Internet only because it is an up-to-date technology, but rather
because it meets some identified needs. It should be ensured adequate planning is being done for the
Internet, the resources are there to support what work has been started, a close look has been taken at the
Internet and the value it brings, and there is a healthy environment. There is an approach by the City that
guarantees a professional and well done endeavor with the Internet. It should not be confused with
censorship and control.
One of the problems Robert Kessler found was that some of the managers had little exposure to the
Internet. Kessler's group examined the following: the implications the Internet had on delivery of
service to customers, how the Internet can be used internally for employee communication, the costs of
the Internet, the goals the City is trying to accomplish, opportunities the Internet presented, and why are
citizens coming to the City Web Page. One basic policy that came from Kessler's group is the City
should examine the Internet as a means of meeting business goals and conducting business. If that's the
policy, some issues naturally follow: the City should commit the resources to sustain it; the Internet
should be accessible to all customers and citizens (nationally 4 to 19% of households have assess to the
Internet) should the Internet be used internally or externally; who uses it and should every employee have
it on their desktop; does every department and office have a Web Page on the Internet; what is the policy
for entities outside of the City having a spot on the Web Page; and what is the policy for supporting non
City entities with Web space.
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 7
The Internet is a tool no different than the telephone or the computer, therefore caution should be taken
so that policy made on the Internet deals with the technology itself and things that are specific to the
Internet. Policy should not fall into the areas of employee management and ethics.
Pam Wheelock, Deputy Mayor, said if the opportunity is to promote Saint Paul, this is a public tool to do
it. The City can promote an event that is going to have a private benefit. The questions could be what
should the relationship be to the other parties, should there be some value assigned to that, does the City
work out an agreement with the other entities. In many ways, it is related to discussion on special event
policies.
Councilmember Blakey asked if there is any city in the country with the ideal system. Cindy Mullan
stated Chris Krueger, Communication Office, polled ten to fifteen cities to see what their Internet
situation was. Mullan would provide a copy of Krueger's findings.
Pam Wheelock informed the Council that U.S. West has filed a petition challenging municipalities' right
to control access to the public right of way and to determine reasonable compensation for use of the right
of way. In federal legislation, it has been determined that municipalities would retain the right to control.
That may only mean the question goes to the state level.
C. Greg Haupt, Manager, Citywide Information Services (CIS)
Dennis Grittner, Manager, Public Works Computer Services
Current technical status of Internet access within the City, with plans and timelines for future
implementations.
Greg Haupt, Citywide Information Services, said his job is to briefly identify some issues that are going
to get the City to the kinds of access being described. The issue of desktop access to the Internet was
recognized a couple of years ago and is being dealt with through the Network Redesign Project. There
are three components: network component internal to the City, desktop capability component, and
software component. Currently the process is to take the homogenous City network and break it into
smaller pieces to assign Internet addresses and to manage the network. First task is to install routers
which take the information and aim it at the appropriate address and secondly, testing on PC's, printers
etc. In other words, pieces on the network that need to have an Internet address in order to respond to
commands. Third, prepare for Internet access. Browsers (run on PC's and permit a home page to be
brought up) should be looked at. There are 908 IBM compatible machines on the various City networks,
250 MacIntoshes in Public Works, and 33 file servers. As for costs, there are training needs and
ongoing maintenance and support costs that need to be allocated for the internal network accessing the
Internet worldwide.
Councilmember Blakey asked what items would be displaced by the Internet. Mr. Haupt answered
technologically, there is no reason why paper copies can't be disposed of completely.
Councilmember Rettman stated accommodations may have to be made for some people and it is going to
be expensive to make sure people have equal access.
Council President Thune wondered if the things that are invested now are going to be outdated soon. Mr.
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 8
Haupt answered the Internet itself and the protocols upon which it relies are stable. Browser software
and the capabilities the Internet provides will change a lot.
Councilmember Harris stated there are benefits from payroll deposits, banking, using the Internet, etc.
The technology is there and the City wants to encourage people to participate through whatever medium
they choose; however, the City needs to be conscious of the costs. Sometimes organizations can spend
$5,000 computer per employee and all they're doing is checking their e-mail and maybe doing some
typing and that is not good usage of money.
Dennis Grittner stated the City has an outdated network. The cost of connection to the Internet is in the
lower thousands for the whole city. The cost per desktop is low and there are many access providers.
American On-Line has about 5 million customers to it's access services.
D. Dennis Grittner, Manager, Public Works Computer Services
Fran Galt, Public Services Manager, St. Paul Public Library
Larry Hlaysa, Information Technologies Coordinator, St. Paul Public Library
Cindy Mullan, Transition Leader, Information Technology Leadership Project (ITLP)
City Resources on and Usage of the Internet. Current City Web Servers, current status and future
plans. Usage of Internet capabilities to conduct City business, both internally ("intranets") and
externally--providing information, making services available via the Internet (licensing,
permitting, records distribution, citizen participation, etc.), electronic mail, etc. Process for
content development and control.
Fran Galt, St. Paul Public Library, said that discussion of the Internet has dominated library publications
and conferences for the past six to seven years. Anyone can walk into a branch of the Public Library and
access the catalog, the catalog of other public libraries in the Metro area, or a catalog from across the
world. The White House, the Congress, the Legislature can be accessed. The virtual branch is open 24
hours via the computer and modem. The present expectation is before the end of the year to provide in
the Central and Highland Branch libraries a fully networked system of PC's in which full accessibility is
available. There has been talk about the World Wide Web and the Internet replacing the book and it's
not going to happen.
Larry Hlaysa spoke about the following: 1) how Internet services began at the library, 2) the current
status of Internet activity, 3) the current status of information servers at the library, 4) how the Internet
is being used, 5) how the Internet could be used, 6) why Internet access is vital.
1) In 1993, the Metropolitan Library Services Agency provided three years of access to the public
libraries in the counties and cities. With e-mail, the library started conversing with other libraries around
the country. In late 1994, he felt the Web would be a natural and cheap way of extending library services
beyond traditional library hours. The Web Page opened unofficially in May, 1995. There were 2,100
accesses to the home page in a two month period.
2) The data processing staff will be working on migrating the Web server from the current Macintosh
platform to a Unix computer. Lynx software will be installed.
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 9
3) The public Web server exists. The most heavily accessed page is the government page. The library
lacks the staff time to property develop the internet Web server and to train staff on its usage. All library
dumb terminals have World Wide Web access to the text only version.
4) Staff uses the Internet to access list services around the country. Staff also uses the Internet to talk to
other library staff around the country; however, the use of the Internet is still minimal due to lack of
training. Mr. Hlaysa uses the Internet to upload and download software and files, and to acquire
information from the library, his home site, and libraries around the country.
5) In Mr. Hlaysa's opinion, the Internet could be used for on-line surveys, allowing people to do library
card applications from their home, publishing library fliers, newsletters, hours of operation, press
releases, crime statistics, and inter library loans.
6) The Library historically serves two audiences: the recreational reader and the information seeker.
The Internet poses little threat to the recreational reading function of the library. The information
function is very much at risk as the Internet is developed. For example, the Pioneer Press offers a fee
based account for searching the past eight years in the newspaper. The library has always provided this
service for free.
There are five Web servers that are on the City's site, two are dedicated to the Web and the other three
are multi purpose.
Saint Paul was reviewed by professional staff at the University of Illinois last December. They looked at
567 cities and the Saint Paul server was rated third in the United States. A gateway has been built
between most of the City departments. A program can run like Lynx which is a text browser of the Web
and there are currently about 100 people in the City that use that. It saves a lot of time. There is a new
section in the Web called Construction, which has information about all the paving products in Saint
Paul. Who should the Web work with cooperatively? The Visitors and Convention Bureau, Chamber of
Commerce? Do we provide space for the neighborhoods? The Web site was rated high because we
provided space for some of those organizations. Should the Web be promoted officially is another
question.
Dennis Grittner stated an employee who does graphics and creates a newsletter will need a better
computer then a manager, who mostly reads e-mail and looks at a few databases and does not need a
significant computer. Councilmember Thune stated this is a new leap in technology and wonders if the
City is ready for it and also needs to be careful about buying $5,000 to $10,000 computers that wouldn't
have needed to be purchased a year later. Grittner answered that the City is behind in replacing old
technology. The Internet cannot be browsed with a 286 computer and is not capable of running
windows, which is the minimal machine a person would need.
E. Mat Hollinshead, Policy Development Corporation, Merriam Park District Council
City Internet policy as it relates to citizen and community organization access and usage.
Mat Hollinshead explained how the Merriam Park District Council came to be the first district council to
have its own web site and how the Merriam Park Post came to be the first community newspaper to have
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 10
their own web site. In mid 1994, they were approached by an organization called FreeNet which runs a
server whose mission is to give access to non-profit organizations. The district council had two
resources: one is Ed Bauer, community organizer and the other resource is Officer Glen Norstrem, a
board member and treasurer, who has some 200 pieces of software and a vast knowledge of different
ways of doing things and contributes this on his own time. The council is located on the FreeNet server
with pointers from the Saint Paul City home page. An unlimited number of organization can be linked
through pointers from the Web page without adding to the electronic space the City supports. The Web
page has been up since last July and has been accessed 600 times. They've come from Los Angeles,
London, New York. Someone from Amsterdam was trying to oppose a French Dutch company that
wanted to put up intrusive billboards. They were surfing the web and found a resolution about billboards
from the Merriam Park Community Council.
There is an internal necessity to define access and to have structure. The City needs to do the internal
things, but the creative qualities of this opportunity have to be preserved. In the policy deliberations,
how this issue could be used to affect children should be discussed and how learning can be done at
home. Reaction can be much faster with queries from the City electronically than with a hard copy or the
telephone.
Councilmember Harris asked is it possible for someone to outline the process in order for other groups to
get on the FreeNet. Council President Thune stated he has asked FreeNet to send him information and he
hasn't received it. Hollinshead informed the Council that FreeNet uses volunteers and they charge $40 a
year for an organization to get on their server and the people who volunteer their time are well served by
FreeNet. FreeNet needs to state this policy more specifically.
Private foundations are reluctant to fund technology because it becomes outdated so quickly. His
organization was fortunate to get a grant from Waldorf to buy the Macintosh computer. It is rare to find
an outside fonder like that.
F. Mike O'Connor, Go-Fast Corporation
Issues relating to citizen access within St. Paul, ISDN accessibility, and business concerns.
Mike O'Connor stated that US West lived up to their promises, heard the concerns of Saint Paul and
Minneapolis, and committed money to improve the ISDN infrastructure.
O'Connor is an Internet access provider. He is one of the people who founded the FreeNet and provided
the University with their first server and he also manages Go-Fast.
The City doesn't need to contribute money to this, but rather leadership. There's no way the very large
data engines that cost a lot of money to support are going away. There are things that are very
appropriately done on large main frames and they're going to stay there. There are a lot of debates going
on about what kind of word processors should be used, what kind of spread sheets, etc. Mr. O'Connor's
observation is that it doesn't matter so much about what these things do as long as they can trade
information.
The Internet represents an important way to get more people involved in the political process, as there are
only about 1% of the people involved now.
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 11
Mike O'Connor would be very careful about the high performance network deployment items. ISDN is
very small. It is about 100,000 bits per second. Broadband will eventually be here, but not as quickly as
people think. The hype level is so high because the cable companies are trying to raise a lot of money to
deploy it. They would have to put in about $1,000 a household to get it working.
It's important for the City to pay attention to content. It's important to provide a leadership climate that
says this City wants to be a major participant in this revolution. The tools to collaborate are easy to do
and free for the most part. All of the good Web servers are free and he recommended not to fund fancy
technology.
G. Public commentary
John Kerr alerted the Council that a lot of these discussions about community input will be coming to the
Council in a number of fashions. Some groups are working on a community access proposal.
Council President Thune asked what is meant by community access. Mr. Kerr is anticipating physical
sites in the libraries, community centers, etc.
Council President Thune informed the council he received an Internet inquiry some time ago from a Saint
Paul serviceman in Japan that faithfully reads the City Council agenda and wondered about a $200 fine to
a particular business. Now that our Council agenda is more specific with listing what the fine is, that
information is being provided worldwide. The feedback from the other side of the world actually
changed the procedure here in St. Paul.
H. Council discussion of issues
Council President Thune suggested that Council Research study what policy issues can be anticipated to
come out of these committees in the City, what information is necessary immediately for about setting
policy, and what information can come later.
Councilmember Blakey added the Council should look at what other cities are doing. What time frame
are we looking at?
Brad Hendricks, Council Research Center, indicated that the time frame may be ongoing for certain
policy issues such as access. The longer term issues that have to do with leadership roles the City would
be playing and access for the district councils, Council Research can report back in the next couple of
months.
Gerry Strathman, Director, Council Research Center, stated that the Administration is developing policy
alternatives on some of these issues and Council Research can maintain communication with them as they
develop the issues.
Councilmember Rettman indicated that she will put her issues in writing to the Administration and
Councilmembers. Her issues are in regard to budget, positions, centralization, and other items not
touched on during this meeting.
March 20, 1996, City Council Summary Minutes Page 12
Councilmember Harris concurred with Guerin: some of the issues are obvious and need to be addressed
in the budget process.
Councilmember Bostrom moved to adjourn the meetin:
Roll Call Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
• 'JO 1 ED Ai 7: ' P.M.
avid Th ouncil President
ATTEST:
Minutes approved by Council
Nancy ders
Assistant Counci ecretary