Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Blaine City Council convened on August 3, 2026, at 7:06 PM at Blaine City Hall. The meeting included public hearings on five utility franchise fee ordinances, approval of a 84-unit apartment development, and routine consent agenda items.
Finance Director Jason Zimmerman presented a proposal to implement electric and gas franchise fees on five utility providers (Connexus Energy, Centennial Utilities, Centerpoint Energy, and Xcel Energy). The proposed fee structure is estimated to generate $5 to $6 million annually to fund the city's capital improvement plan and pavement management program. The model is intended to stabilize the property tax levy. For a median-value home valued at $346,000, the annual franchise fee would be approximately $144, which is $13.11 less than the equivalent property tax increase.
Community Development Director Sheila Sellman presented a proposal by Sentinel Management Company for an 84-unit apartment building on 2.48 acres at 9436 and 9422 Ulysses Street NE. The proposal required a comprehensive plan amendment (to High Density Residential 2/Planned Commercial), a preliminary plat, and a conditional use permit.
Good evening, everyone. We're gonna call the city council meeting for August 3rd, 2026. Order, please rise 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 all. The clerk will take the roll. Council members Fleming. Here. Ford. Here. Larson? Here. Here. Newland. Robertson? Here. Mayor Sanders. Here. All right, good evening, everyone. Thanks for joining us. We don't have any awards or presentations this evening, so we're gonna jump right into the open forum, which is an opportunity for the public to share comments, concerns, or input on other items. While the open forum is not intended to provide responses or discussion during this meeting, city staff will contact the speakers after the meeting if follow-up is needed. Each speaker is limited to three minutes. There is a maximum of 15 minutes set aside for the open forum. And just to let everyone know, we do have uh public uh hearing section of the agenda, which is section eight. So if you are here to speak on one of those items, you will be able to address the council during that time as well. Otherwise, if you wish to address council this evening, this is your opportunity. So the open forum is now open. You're welcome to come to the podium at this time. Good evening and welcome. Name and address for the record, please. Thank you. Yes, my name is Claire Walter Markety, and my address is 11761 Abel Street Northeast. And I've lived here in Blaine for a long time. Um as a matter of fact, I've been I've lived here when Blaine was more slide farms and strip malls, and today it is the largest city in Anoka County, and probably 10, I think 10th in the state. So of that, I'm asking you to show up for something that's very important to Blaine, but to our entire county. I am uh secretary and gala co-chair for the Friends of Anoka County Library. We do a variety of things to raise money for the eight branch libraries across the county, all the way north from St. Francis, South to Mississippi Branch and Fridley, east to Circle Pines and west to Anoka and Coon Rapids. We have two libraries here in Blaine, Johnsville and the Central Library on 10. We um the libraries today are more than repositories for books and e-books. That's an important function. It continues to be, but they are a community resource that does a lot of things for citizens.