Community & Human Services Cte Minutes 12-07-1988 ..
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• MINUTES
Community and Human Services Committee
December 7, 1988
1:30 P.M.
Council Chambers
The meeting began at 1:40 p.m. It was not called to order at this time due to the
lack of a quorum.
The first item discussed concerned City Council Agenda 8/25/88, Item No. 30:
Resolution - 88-1408 - Requesting the Administration to review the report and
recommendations of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Commission and any information available
through the Attorney General's Task Force on Violence Against Women. (FOR REFERRAL TO
THE COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE.) Laid over to December 7, 1988 for
preparation of preliminary standard draft. Marie Ohman, Executive Director of the
Minnesota Private Detective and Protective Agent Board, stated that the areas of
licensing her agency currently addresses deal with the groups themselves that provide
the service. The State does not license security guards. The State only licenses
security companies, whether they are corporations, partnerships, or individuals. A
company must have a qualified representative; this person.represents the company and
must meet all qualification standards. The companies must provide proof of financial
responsibility. Bob Long asked Ms. Ohman if there is a standard for training for
security guards. Ms. Ohman answered that there are no current statutory standards at
a State level; this is the responsibility of the individual or company. She stated
the age requirement at this time is 18. Discussion ensued regarding misdemeanors,
• gross misdemeanors, and felonies. Jane McPeak noted that parking tags are never
considered misdemeanors. McPeak offered to provide a listing of misdemeanors and
gross misdemeanors; this will be available at the December 21, 1988 Community and
Human Services Committee meeting. Jerry Segal has prepared an amended version of
' Roger Gostitz's ordinance dealing with security in parking lots; among these changes
are: Addition that all plans for parking lots shall be referred by the inspector to
the Planning Division for site plan review and approval before issuance of license;
television monitoring systems shall be included in parking lot surveillance and viewed
at all times by an employeee; interior walls of parking lots shall be of a light
color; access shall include all means of ingress and egress, all telephones, including
those located in elevators, shall be locatable by the 911 system; all signs posted to
notify patrons of escort services shall advise as tc� availability of escort service;
parking lots to be maintained in a clean and sanitary manner (e.g., removal of all
material, hazardous or non-hazardous, to avoid cluttered appearance). Jerry Segal
is concerned regarding the definition of "obstacles". Lt. McDonald, Police Department,
will work on this with Segal. Jan Gasterland, Building Code Official, noted that
"levels" of parking is a more appropriate term, as floors and stairs are defined in
Building Code, levels are not. Mike Monahan introduced himself as the Director of
Traffic Engineering, City of Minneapolis. H.e stated the Minneapolis City Council
has appointed a Skyway Advisory Committee, composed of: One of the Deputy Chiefs
of Police; Mike Monahan, representing municipal parking; Minneapolis Fire Department;
a representative of building inspectors; a representative from the handicapped
community; representatives of environmental committee; downtown security committee,
from the Downtown Council; parking ramp operators; and a developer from downtown.
They have been meeting on a biweekly basis. Tom Duffee,from the Minneapolis Downtown
• Council, stated they are researching lighting, interior painting, security patrol,
and the design of safety criteria. Criteria will be adopted by the Minneapolis Council
but will not take the form of an ordinance. Minneapolis will keep Saint Paul apprised
of their actions in this matter. This issue will be continued at the December 21, 1988
Community and Human Services Committee.
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Community and Human Services Committee
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December 7, 1988
Page Two
At this point, the meeting was convened by Janice Rettman, as there was a quorum.
The following were in attendance: Janice Rettman, Chair; Bob Long, Councilmember;
Bill Wilson, Councilmember (late); Kathy Gelao, Legislative Aide to Roger Goswitz;
Jane McPeak, City Attorney's Office; Terry Sullivan, City Attorney's Office; Jim Murphy,
Program Analyst; and Barbara Benson, Secretary.
The second discussion item concerned discussion of Human Rights complaints/City
Attorney's conflicts of interest. Ed Starr, City Attorney, noted that human rights
cases are broughtin under an ordinance and handled by a separate City Department
(Human Rights Department). An agreement was negotiated approximately ten (10) years
ago, whereby there would be "time sharing" of some cases between the State and the
City. Starr observed that one problem is that some people do not want the State
Department of Human Rights to handle their case. If an employee files a complaint
against a City department, it is handled through the Human Rights Department. It
was decided through bargaining agreements that the City Attorney would defend the
City. For this reason, the City Attorney cannot process the case for the Human Rights
Department and defend the Eity at the same time. A section of the City Charter
provides that the Human Rights Department may appoint special counsel. Practices of
the Attorney General's Office were discussed. Bill Wilson suggested discussion of
this matter. There will be further discussion of this item in one month, with
• involvement of the Attorney General's Office, Human Rights Department, and City
Attorney's Office.
The next item discussed was City Council Agenda 11/29/88, Item No. 15: Resolution -
88-1857 - Approving by the Mayor appointment of Blake Davis and the reappointment of
James Kirk to serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals. (FOR REFERRAL TO THE COMMUNITY
AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE.) The Board of Zoning Appeals hears appeals for a zoning
variance of administrative review. This Board holds public hearings prior to making
a decision on an appeal and prepares a written report of each appeal. The decisions
of the Board are final but can be subject to an appeal to the City Council. James Kirk
will be reappointed to serve a three-year term which ends November 1, 1991. Blake Davis
resides at 876 Osceola Avenue. He is a real estate appraiser and is familiar with the
land uses throughout the City. He works daily with the issues of land use and zoning,
and currently serves on the District 16 Planning Council Land Use Committee. Bill Wilson
made a motion that this resolution be recommended for approval. This passed on a 3-0
vote.
The next item of business concerned City Council Agenda 11/29/88, Item No. 17:
Resolution - 88-1859 - Approving by the Mayor the appointments and reappointments
of persons listed to serve on the Overnight Shelter Board Committee. (FOR REFERRAL
TO THE COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES CONIl�IITTEE.) The Saint Paul Overnight Shelter Board
was established by Council Resolution. The Board conducts annual surveys to determine
the need and adequacy of shelter in Saint Paul and makes recommendations to the Mayor
and City Council on programs and planning for shelter in the City. Joanne Tromiczak-Neid
and Terry Lindeke would be reappointed to serve a three-year term which ends October 31,
1991. Morris Manning is the Director of Housing Services at Wilder Foundation. Manning
• has a Master's Degree in Social work and has 30 years of social work experience; has
advocated several housing programs for low income and disadvantaged people. Mary 0'Rourke
has worked for RAP for eleven (11) years and coordinates the emergency food program at
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the East Area Comr.�unity Center. In addition, 0'Rourke works as an advocate for low
income people in Ramsey County. Patrick Leary is currently employed by the State
Department of Jobs and Training. He is a member of both the Saint Paul and
Minneapolis Coalition for the Homeless and has monitored the emergency Shelter
Network in the State. Bill Wilson made a motion that this resolution be recommended
for approval. This passed on a 3-0 vote. Patrick Leary questioned when this
appointment would be effected, as there was a meeting scheduled within the next
few days. Rettman answered that she would bring this in under Suspension of the
Rules at tomorrow`s City Council Meeting (December 8, 1988).
The next agenda item concerned City Council Agenda 11/29/88, Item No. 18: Resolution -
88-1860 - Amending rules for the distribution of revenue from the sale of pulltabs
and tipboards used to support the Youth Athletic and Sports Fund. (FOR REFERRAL TO
THE LICENSE COMMITTEE.) This resolution will amend the Youth Athletic and Sports
Fund`s current rules. It was drafted by Bill Wilson's office and had been sent to
Phil Byrne, City Attorney's Office, for review. Changes were discussed under the
categories of "Purpose", "Eligibility", "Definitions", "General Procedures", and
"Grants". Discussion ensued regarding an additional paragraph, "Evaluation
Procedures". Howard Bell, Division of Parks and Recreation, questioned the $1000
per year versus $1000 per quarter, indicating he would prefer it to remain per
• quarter. Discussion ensued regarding language under "Eligibility". Bill Wilson
made a motion that this resolution be recommended for approval, with the following
amendments: Under "ELIGIBILITY 3.a." - strike "or an application thereof".
Under "GRANTS" - change "year" to "quarter". This was approved on a 3-0 vote.
The last item discussed was a request, which was made at the November 1, 1988 City
Council Meeting, for a discussion and review of criteria used in determining
properties designated as a nuisance. Any interested Council Members were urged to
attend if they had questions on criteria being used by the staff. Frank Staffenson,
Division of Public Health, addressed the issue, stating his biggest frustration is
information; e.g., is there a utility on or off? If a utility is on, how do we
find that out? He noted that he is most pleased with the progress in the Vacant
Building Section, adding that the Nuisance Ordinance IS working. He observed that
a great deal of energy has been invested in making a vacant building program run well-- '
there are now 5+ clerical staff, plus backup people to do research, compared to a
previous 1.5 persons. Currently, there are 1300 summary abatements per year.
Rettman queried: (1) Regarding utilities shutoff, are you having a problem with the
answer you are receiving from Utilities? Staffenson replied with an emphatic "yes".
He stated they are experiencing problems getting correct information at the point of
entry. Bill Wilson suggested the intervention of the Administration to urge the
departments to reconcile this problem. He suggested the involvement of NSP in this
issue also, with a report back to the Committee in one month. (2) How have the
County and the State responded to our new aggression? Staffenson answered with a
resounding "no". Steve Roy, Division of Public Health, responded also to Rettman's
second question, stating that the County and State have not resolved the question
• of who the owner is of tax-forfeited property. He added that if these problems are
referred to Health, the Division ends up boarding them up. When asked what we need
to do to correct this problem, Roy responded that we can process it as a nuisance
building. Much expense is incurred with this process. Ecolotech was discussed in
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December 7, 1988
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terms of hazardous materials. Terry Sullivan noted that we are pre-empted by the
State regarding jurisdiction of hazardous materials. If they tell us we cannot
touch it, we cannot. We may proceed up to that point. Staffenson observed that
if we proceed under Chapter 45, we may well be assuming millions of unrecoverable
dollars. Steve Roy distributed a copy of a Vacant Buildings Status List. He
explained that this program became functional at a reasonable level in May of 1988.
The initial goal was to deal with 50 buildings per year; action has begun on 58
properties as of now. He added he is amazed at how well the Nuisance Ordinance is
working. Both Staffenson and Roy stressed that P.E.D.'s feedback is essential to
this program. Staffenson added, as a final note, that once foreclosure is gotten
into, it is difficult to progress to any further point.
A motion was made that the meeting adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
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