Please rise as you're able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I find the flag of the United States of America and Liberty and Justice for all.

Welcome everybody to our April 20th, 2026 City Council meeting.

And we begin every city council meeting with our open comment period.

This is an opportunity for anyone from the public to speak on items that we will not be taking public testimony during a separate public hearing later in the agenda.

Each person has up to two minutes to speak for a total of 20 minutes.

I will keep track of through two methods.

One is the uh the stoplight here, and the other is the two-minute uh red digital on the wall.

Uh I'd also I'd request that each speech speaker be concise to allow more people to speak during the designated time.

And participants are also encouraged to limit comments generally to topics that are within the scope and jurisdiction of the council's ability to affect policy.

Uh if you have materials to share with the council, you may give them to the city clerk to my right, and you will be invited up in the order of which you signed up.

And so we will start with uh Mr.

Ivan Eitzel.

Thank you.

No, okay.

Yep, it's on.

As I observe the disconnect between what's happening in the world and the city's growth plans, it's time to recognize that we have exceeded the limits of our planet, and there's a reckoning coming.

This is an original copy of the limits to growth book published in in 1972.

There were 30 million copies sold in 30 different languages.

This book was given to me by the co-author and director of the study, Dennis Meadows.

It's based on an MIT study that sought to answer the question are there limits to economic and population growth.

The handout given to you is a simplified version of their conclusion.

When we make products and services for our growing economy, we deplete finite resources and generate pollution through their extraction and use.

Next up, we have Molly Dennis.

The decision established the following.

It's all right here.

I'm not going to read it to you, but definitely please look it up.

Linked D versus Freed.

I was targeted and blocked from accessing the city council members Doran's official social media page used for his city council work because my constitutional protected speech was uh restricted.

My respectful comments were deleted, and I was blocked in direct retaliation for expressing my views that were contrary to that of Doran's and other city officials.

I believe this retaliatory act violates the First Amendment rights of our United States Constitution.

And I respectfully request the Rochester City Council to adopt and enforce a written policy protecting the First Amendment rights of all citizens and allowing residents the access to city official social media pages to comply with the United States Constitution.

I ask that you please, please do better.

Please obey the law.

Because transparency is trust and integrity matters.

Thank you.

That uh concludes the folks who have signed up.

If anyone else wishes to speak during open comment period, please uh please step forward.

Seeing none, I will close the open comment period and uh ask uh Clerk Raina to call the roll.

Good evening.

Councilmember Keene?

Here.

Councilmember Miller.

Here, Councilmember Wall.

Here.

Councilmember Fredericks.

Here.

Councilmember Palmer?

Here.

Councilmember Doring.

Here.

Council President Schubring?

Here.

Mayor Norton.

Present.

Thank you.

Next up we have the city administrators report.

Councilmember Doring.

I'd like to take a point of personal privilege.

The comments presented about me by a member of the community during open comment are mischaracterization of facts and situations.

I encourage any member of the community that has any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

City Administrator Selms.

Thank you, Council President, Council members, members of the public.

Just want to give a special shout out to our emergency management team, first responders, public works, public transit for all that they did to be prepared for, but then assist our partners in Olmsted County on Friday.

Anyone that was in town that day or trying to drive back to town or leave town knows it was kind of we were in a hairy situation.

So obviously we have neighbors that are still in need and just want to appreciate everyone for coming together and working to support each other in what could have been a much worse situation, but for many, what was a really um uh terrible situation across Olmsted County and um Southeast Minnesota.

Also wanted to point out um for folks that are on Century Hills Drive Northeast or anywhere in that neighborhood, there is a um open house coming on this Thursday, April 23rd, 6 to 7 p.m.

It will be at Century High School in the cafeteria.

That's 2525 Viola Road Northeast.

Um so looking for feedback from folks that um drive in that area for Century Hills Drive Northeast, um, specifically as part of the traffic uh neighborhood traffic management program.

And coming up on May 2nd, we have Women Explore Fire Day, Minnesota.

That will be um Rochester Fire Department and partners across uh the Southeast Minnesota region 15 coming together at the Olmstead Public Training Center, 1550 50th Street Southwest.

I think this is our fifth year doing this.

So if you're interested, registration is required because we need to make sure that we have proper safety in place, but you'll get hands-on experience with tools, climbing, what the experience is that is necessary in order to have the skills to be a firefighter in this region.

So if it's something that you're interested in, I would highly recommend it.

And even if the weather looks bad, sometimes it turns around.

Uh, we are also seeking proposals for sale and redevelopment of city parcels um in the Duran subdivision and Hilmer's uh High View Acres.

Our proposals are due May 22nd at 4 p.m.

So looking at properties that do not have an intended future city use.

Um, and so we uh will hope to have uh proposals and an award of contract after June 15th to be looking at um listing those properties and seeing what um the private market may do.

And of course, for those that do love lime scooters or those that don't, Lime Scooters are back as well as e-bikes on the road for 2026.

Um no parking zones have been created on select shared use path, so we know that we need to try to regulate where pedestrians and others are experiencing um these uh devices.

We have mandatory parking zones and corrals in place, and for those of you who don't want to click through the line process, we do have Rochester 311 able to take any concerns about where some of these are located, um if they've fallen down, things of that nature, um, just let us know.

Rochester Mn.gov forward slash 311 um recommend that for a lot of different city uses, but it is a way for you to easily report um if there's a scooter or an e-bike in the wrong place, or if you have concerns.

And with that, I'll turn it over to the mayor.

Thank you, administrator.

Mayor Norton, go ahead.

Thank you.

I too wanted to start out my comments by acknowledging the tornadoes last week and the impact that it's had on our community.

I knew personally two people whose homes or property were affected.

Um, and it's just some of them were devastating than others, but certainly upsetting to everyone.

And not only those families affected, um, I want to acknowledge those, but the EMS and the first responders who went out there to to help, um, the several churches, the Red Cross, and others, uh, Olmstead County who took point on this one because it was outside the city limits.

Um, but to really thank everyone for stepping off.

I've heard nothing but positive comments from the people affected in the neighborhoods about how kind and supportive the community has been.

So thank you to the city of Rochester for doing what we know you're gonna do, which is step up and help when you're needed.

So I wanted to comment on that initially.

Um, it's been a really busy time of year.

I think I say that every week, but it feels like there's a lot going on right now.

Um something that happened that was just stunning this this morning and this afternoon was um we allow a couple times a year uh groups that that sing, and this time it's the Southeast Minnesota Honors Choir to use our rotunda as a place to bring their the youth to sing.

And so this more this morning we had the concert choir, which is 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, and they sang beautifully.

They go up all three floors, and of course, the sound in the rotunda is just it just resonates so beautifully.

It was very, very moving.

And then this afternoon we had um the choral choir, which is the seventh, eighth, and ninth graders, and they sang um for about 30 or 40 minutes each, and it really is a remarkable um concert.

I love it every year.

Um, they love to come, and when I was telling the students, thank you for sharing your beautiful voices as they were leaving.

They said it sounds so great in here.

And it does.

If you've never heard sound in a rotunda like that, it really is remarkable.

So I wanted to acknowledge the Southeast Minnesota Honors Choir, who's continues to do wonderful work with our young people to share their gorgeous voices.

Um, I do have to just have a couple things.

Uh, we're doing a second town hall in our series of better public meetings.

This one will be on utilities.

Um, and we'll cover lots of um rate adjustments, water supply planning, power supply planning, renewable energy, and battery battery storage, um, solar energy power outages, and how you how you can get more information about those.

So it should be really interesting.

The events are free.

Um, it's going to be out at the Heinz Center.

And I will say I called, I had Michan actually call, I shouldn't take credit for that, um, out to RCTC.

And the road is blocked on fourth, so you have to go around and enter through West Circle Drive to get to the Heinz Center.

But it that's where we will be, and it's on Tuesday, May 12th.

So put that one on your calendar.

It should be really interesting.

The director of um Tim McCullough of Rochester Public Utilities will be there to share information.

So should be should be fascinating.

Um, Arbor Day is coming up.

We have an annual celebration here in Rochester, and RPU is one of the sponsors of that, as well as the park, uh, the park association, the park board, the park department, they're all they're all involved.

This year it's at McQuillan Field Park, um, which is a new location.

We're often over um by Silver Lake, but there's still construction in the final um steps of the the pool and the the uh skate park being worked on this year.

So uh come on out.

Usually they have free trees.

Um I shouldn't make a promise, but um, every every year that I've been there, you can take home a free tree if you like in celebration of Arbor Day.

Um lastly, I'm just gonna mention um we are Bloomberg City and we are we've been invited again this year.

Um, I'll be going this year to Madrid.

It is this weekend, so I will be heading over there.

And it is an opportunity.

The first day is 200 mayors from around the world, so it's an international group of 200 invited mayors.

Fascinating uh day.

We just been with mayors, and then the next two days are um cities and staff members, um uh Aaron Luxtein from the city of Rochester went one year, um, and to learn about what's happening in cities uh really innovative uh development and work going on.

Um to learn about what's happening in cities, uh really innovative uh development and work going on.

So uh fascinating time.

Um it's just a few days uh that I'll be gone.

And uh council member and council president Schubering will be acting mayor while I'm gone.

And lastly, uh board and commission vacancies.

We do just in the last week or so.

We've we've heard of uh a number of vacancies.

Some people um on some of the boards and commissions it they most of them end in January.

There are a few that don't.

So we've had a a couple people that are just timing out and they can't be on the boards anymore.

So these are the openings we have.

We have an opening on the board of appeals.

We have citizens advisory on transit.

So if you are a transit writer or interested in transit, um that's a really interesting one.

Uh fire civil service and police civil service commissions both have openings, and both of those are statutory and important, and it has to do with the hiring and promotion of officers.

So if you have HR experience, um it you don't have to really know a lot about fire and police, they will train you as you go, but really an interest in following rules and regulations and um and uh understanding HR issues would be really helpful on those boards, but community members are all welcome, and I encourage you to apply.

That's all I have.

Thank you, Mayor.

Next up, we have the order of the agenda.

I have not received any notice to changes to the order of the agenda.

Approval for the order.

Motion made by Councilmember uh Keene, seconded by council member Miller.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay.

Motion passes.

Next up, we have our consent agenda.

I did not receive notice of any polled items.

That's correct.

Uh is there approval?

Motion to approve the consent agenda by councilmember Miller, seconded by councilmember Doring.

Uh, Councilmember Wall has a comment.

I will uh be voting no on F 19.

I thank Steve Sampson Brown for extra information uh today.

Uh as to my inquiry about uh just what I consider to be an enormous cost to plan for uh five blocks of uh city street.

Um I realize uh a grant covers this and the money is in the bank, but mine is uh protest vote for the runaway costs for reviews, regulations, consulting, engineering.

Thank you, councilmember.

Uh all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Poe say nay.

Uh motion passes with council member Wall vote voting nay on F 19.

Moving on to our public hearings.

We have three public hearings on our agenda this evening.

Uh before I begin the public hearings, uh, a little bit different from our uh open comment period.

First staff will introduce uh or uh uh present on the item.

If there is an applicant involved in the item, then the applicant will have up to 10 minutes to uh discuss the item.

After that, I will open the public hearing.

Members of the public have five minutes each to uh to discuss the item.

And uh as with the open comment period, please keep your uh comments concise and and be uh relevant to the issue at hand.

And so with that, I will start with public hearing G1, which uh is public comments concerning finalists for appointment to the ethical practices board.

Uh attorney Michael Spindler Craig, go ahead.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The RCA is partier packet frames up this uh this public hearing process, and I think uh this full council has been through this process before.

Um, but I would like to take a moment tonight just to talk a little bit about the importance of the work of the ethical practices board.

I know all of you don't necessarily get exposed to the work of that board, and that's generally a good thing, but um they do very important work.

Um we live in a day and age where talk about unethical conduct or impropriety or illegal behavior gets tossed around um pretty loosely in social media settings or at times before this body.

That's not how it is supposed to work.

Uh we try to make the process of submitting a concern or a complaint to the ethical practices board as user-friendly as possible, and that is the process that is supposed to be followed.

If somebody has some concerns, um, believes that a city employee or an elected official um are engaging in in some kind of conduct that they believe violates uh the city ordinance.

This group of people that make up the ethical practices board, they are not necessarily busy, which is a good thing, but they do get a fair amount of work that comes their direction and they take their work very seriously.

I would just tell you that the that's a that's a group that I've worked with for some period of time.

They pay close attention to the ordinance format, um, understanding the sometimes detailed and somewhat nuanced description of uh what is permitted and what is not by the ordinance.

I would uh take the opportunity to thank the two individuals who are leaving the board at this time.

Mr.

Daniel Borup served two full terms, um, including as president of the board.

Also thank uh Gloria de Bussman as well.

Uh, you know this process.

Um, you're not the appointing authority.

Uh you don't have to make comments on any of these folks.

You're not you're not a review committee.

This is really an opportunity set by ordinance to allow the public or you as well.

If you have any comments that you want to make as part of the public record that will be supplied to the appointing committee, which is set to meet on April 30th of this year.

Thank you, Mr.

Spindler Craig.

You explained our process very clearly.

So with that, I will open the public hearing, and our first speaker is Linda Patzer.

And you step forward, identify yourself, and you have five minutes.

Linda Pulser.

I'm sorry, Pallzer.

Okay.

Uh, first of all, I just want to thank you all for the opportunity to uh talk about my interest in contributing to the ethical practices board.

I've spent my career as a social worker.

Uh, social work is a profession with a robust code of ethics that really guides every social worker's practice.

As I've worked with multidisciplinary teams over time, I've come to a deeper appreciation of the social work code of ethics.

Due to the comprehensive nature of the tenants involved.

This code is a guideline that I've often drawn upon when involved in difficult situations and serving the best interests of patients.

In addition, a state social work licensing boards require annual continuing education in ethics.

Over the past eight years, I've had the privilege of working as an independent living donor advocate in the living donor transplant program.

This role is federally mandated to be in every living donor transplant program in the U.S.

One of the main purposes of this role is to ensure that each person is fully informed of all aspects of donating a kidney or a partial liver.

Living donation in the medical world is a pretty unique situation in that a person undergoes surgery out of compassion, but not medical benefit.

At times these situations involve ethical dilemmas, and the living donor advocate really needs to be involved in sorting through this again with the best interest of the living donor at the center.

As I grew in this role, I developed an interest in medical ethics and became involved in the transplant ethics advisory board.

I also was able to take an online course on transplant ethics through the NYU Langone Transplant Institute and was able to develop a wider perspective from transplant professionals across the U.S.

I've recently retired and I'm interested in contributing to our community and to the field of ethics.

In a city government, I can see how the public becomes the entity whose whose best interests must be protected.

Having a set of standards to guide decision making ensures that the public continues to have officials who act in their best interest.

I hope to be able to both learn from and contribute to the ethical practices board and their important role.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Falzer.

Yes.

Okay.

Next up we have Travis Wilson.

Good evening.

Madam Mayor, Council members, and fellow attendees.

My name is Travis Wilson.

I'm a Rochester resident, and I'm here tonight as a candidate for the Ethical Practices Board.

My family and I lived in Rochester from 2009 to 2016, and after some years away, we moved back in June 2024.

We're very happy to be back, and I want to contribute to the community in a meaningful way.

And what that means is being transparent about their interests up front about potential conflicts and honest with the people they serve.

And it's this belief that drew me and made me interested in uh applying for the board.

In reading uh chapter uh 2-16 of the Rochester City Code, uh I see a board with three functions that align well with my background.

Uh, first is adjudication.

Um, early in my career at a research university, I was a student conduct officer, reviewing allegations, investigating, making findings of fact, and presenting evidence to ensure accountability.

Uh the second role I saw was advisory.

As a leadership development professional, I've helped everyone from first line managers and executives and physicians uh to navigate their roles and the ethical responsibilities that come with those roles.

Third is compliance oversight.

In multiple management roles, I ensured my direct reports met their obligations, that processes were followed, disclosures were accurate, and gaps were addressed.

So, if appointed, I hope to help this board be responsive, to be thoughtful and be forward thinking, working with my fellow board members to anticipate the ethical challenges our leaders may face rather than simply reacting to them.

Uh again, I'm very happy to be back in Rochester.

I care a lot about the city, and I hope to uh serve and be honored to serve in this capacity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Wilson.

Next up we have Chris Brandt.

Uh good evening, esteemed council members, mayor, and appointing committee wherever you are.

Um let's see, I did I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself and share why I would like to serve on the Ethical Practices Board.

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, mostly grew up in Macquan, Wisconsin, and came to Rochester in 1979 to take a job with a major technology company where I had an interesting and rewarding career.

Way back in the 80s, I was active in the Rochester Civic Theater and some dinner theaters that existed at the time, one of which evolved into the Rochester rep.

And very importantly, I also met my wife Doris here, and we celebrated 38 years this month.

Doris worked for a major medical clinic in Rochester, uh, loved playing viola in the Rochester Symphony, and we acted and performed with the Rochester Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

I don't think it exists anymore, unfortunately.

In the 90s, I volunteered with Sandy Cookman's Community Youth Outreach and a post-prison support group called Next Chapter Ministries.

And I have to say, Rochester is a great place to raise a family.

This city is safe, prosperous, with almost unlimited opportunities.

Our boys flourished in the Rochester public schools, with one becoming captain of the century tennis team.

He actually now works at the company where I had my career.

Now we are retired empty nesters.

I greatly appreciate Rochester and would now like to give back to the city by serving on this board.

I will be able to commit to attending all meetings and doing whatever work is needed.

I fully understand that the board has very specific duties as specified in the city ordinances chapter two.

And if appointed, look forward to working with the board in a professional, cooperative and unbiased way to carry out those duties.

I've also worked on and led other committees that followed constitutions and bylaws, so I'm fairly experienced with the process, including Robert's rules.

I would be honored to serve on the ethical practices board and thank the appointing committee for considering me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Brandt.

Next up, we have Nadidi Nawaneri.

Oh, thank you.

I had difficulty with PALSER but evening.

Thank you for having me.

My name is Ndidin Waneri.

Um my background is academic research in ethics and public policy.

And I have a professional background in um assessing public institutions, uh, assessed institutions in a lot of places.

And um I recently, a few years ago, decided to make Rochester home because I have a lot of family here, so I decided to move here.

And um the reason I'm applying is because it's my way of contributing to society or to the community where I find myself, and I also have this background training and experience in assessing public institutions.

So I decided to apply.

And um another thing I'd like to mention is that I'm given my background in ethical research in research into ethics.

I recognize that it is not good enough to have an ethical institution.

It is almost as important, if not more important, to be perceived as being ethical.

And very few laws, very few laws when you interpret them are neat because human beings are not neat.

In interpretation in application, it gets very complex.

And that is where my training comes in and my experience comes in.

So I'm hoping that I'll be able to bring a balanced approach to the deliberations of the committee of the group.

And uh this is a good opportunity for me to become more of a community that I've decided to make my own.

And um that's all I have to say.

Thank you for considering me.

And um, it will be an honor to serve.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Kathleen Hansen.

Oh, that might be G3.

Oh, I'm sorry, are you here?

Oh, I'm sorry.

Yep.

No, we'll we'll get back to you.

Okay, thank you.

Yep, my colleague pointed that out to me.

Uh that's all I have who have signed up.

Is there anyone else who wishes to be heard on this item?

Anyone else wishing to be heard on this item?

Seeing no one, I will close the public hearing and invite any comments from my colleagues.

At first, I just want to thank you all for coming before us.

I feel honored to hear about your backgrounds and wish you luck in uh the appointment.

And Mayor Norton.

Thank you.

I really appreciate that you took the time to be here this evening and to speak to us.

Fascinating um skill set.

Um, and sadly, only two of the six applicants are going to be able to be appointed.

But I do want to mention, as I mentioned at the beginning of the hour, we do have four or five boards and commissions, and in particular, the police civil service and fire civil service is about making sure that the city of Rochester hires ethically talented um and and wonderfully uh qualified candidates for both our fire department and our police department.

So if you aren't selected, I would just ask that you keep that in the back of your mind because it sounds like actually all of you uh might have something to offer to those committees if you aren't selected.

I hope that's not inappropriate to add, but thank you, Mayor.

That was excellent.

Anything else on this item, Councilmember uh Keene.

Yeah, I just want to thank those who came to to speak today to represent themselves.

I feel like they're doing it as if we're the re-established body that's going to make this.

And I've obviously it's not the case, but um, it also makes me feel really good about the standing of our city to see such accomplished uh candidates coming forward to help us, and I want to reiterate the mayor's thing.

I uh maybe it's inappropriate, but a small story of this one of the ways I started getting involved in the city 11 years ago was of trying to get on to the police policies oversight committee, and I came and interviewed and did also and had no chance of getting on there and didn't get on, but then I got involved in some other things, and it is a way that people start getting involved, and again, it makes me feel good about our city tonight to watch the caliber and the kind of people who want to get engaged and want us to have uh uh like an efficient but also an ethical uh city going into the future.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Miller.

Sure, I'll just echo my colleagues' comments.

Thank you for coming tonight.

Thank you for your interest in serving the community, and thank you for bringing your your professional experience and your personal experience to a public body.

I I just was struck by how different people's stories were of having selected this to be the new community, having lived here for decades, or having moved away and come back.

And I think you represent just a wide swath of our community, and I'm really glad to see uh qualified candidates coming.

And as the mayor said, um, there are only two uh slots available on this board, but I would encourage you for those who are not selected for this position to continue to use your talents and use your interest to to serve the city of Rochester, and thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you again, and we will not be offended if you if you choose to leave after we finish this item.

So with that, we will move to uh public hearing number G2, which is a text amendment to the Unified Development Code.

Mr.

Ed Capels.

Council President Schubring, Mayor Norton, members of the council, good evening.

My name is Ed Caples with Community Bowlment, and tonight I'll be bringing forward the text amendment.

This text amendment, in coordination with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, adopts the most recent flood insurance study for Olmsted County, which is recently completed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Approval of this text amendment will allow for Rochester residents to remain eligible to the National Flood Insurance Program.

Additionally, the DNR has provided additional language, which has been incorporated to better clarify section 60.200.040E of Unified Development Code.

Similar to yours passed, a yearly UDC update will be brought forward to council later on this year.

And that concludes my presentation, but happy to answer any questions the council may have.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Caples.

Uh this is a public hearing.

Anyone wishing to be heard on this item, please step forward.

This is a public hearing.

Anyone wishing to be heard on this item, please step forward.

Seeing no one, I will close the public hearing and invite my colleagues to ask any questions that they may have.

Seeing none, is there a motion on this item?

Yeah, I'll um move to approve a text amendment number C D 2026-001 TA to amend Section S uh 60.200.040 of the United of the Unified Development Code, the UDC, and direct the city attorney's office to prepare an ordinance for first reading.

Second motion made by Councilmember Doring, seconded by Councilmember Palmer.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay.

Motion passes.

Next up we have G3, which is a housing code text amendment, and we have Miss Taryn Eidens coming to the microphone.

Good evening.

Excuse me.

Good evening, Council members, Council President and Mayor.

My name is Tieron Edens.

I'm here to present this text amendment on behalf of the community development department.

You have heard this presentation before, but what is before you this evening is a housing code text amendment, a proposal.

The housing code is chapter seven of our Rochester Code of Ordinances.

It's used really to guide and protect all of our housing, but largely used for our rental inspection program.

You are specifically being asked tonight to uh approve the housing code.

Uh it will come back for first and second reading.

It is an ordinance text amendment, but this is our request for approval.

Uh, as a reminder, the housing code update uh was primarily clerical in nature and it was intended to better align with international property maintenance code as it was updated in 2024.

So, like I just mentioned, uh this are the the IPMC or International Property Maintenance Code was updated in 2024.

The last time we updated this text was 2023.

At that time, it was a code overhaul.

So what's before you this evening is more technical in nature or clerical, and I'll I'll point out those noteworthy amendments for you once more.

Whenever we're making code amendments, particularly for the housing code, we are looking at existing uh code references to make sure we are in alignment and following uh proper legal requirements.

Therefore, we look at the Minnesota Building Code, we look at the 2024 International Residential Code and the Minnesota Fire Code.

We did do some external engagement in preparation for uh this evening.

Um, and just as well when this came before you as a study session.

The feedback from council was bring this back as a public hearing.

It gives the opportunity for the the public to provide input.

Um, and please uh also try to connect renters and make renters aware of these changes.

So uh generally you've heard how we tried to connect with folks originally.

Uh we did we have sent out a couple of mass emails to a lot to all housing providers.

Uh we've connected with the Rochester Multi-Housing Association on some of these changes.

Um, and since then, we did a bit more advertisement on this public hearing.

We leverage some existing newsletters like our neighbors, the public library, a local legislator who recently held a renters forum, um, as well as uh, as I mentioned, we reach out to property uh excuse me, housing providers, ask them to to share with the residents.

We provided flyers, and we leverage specifically Olmsted County HRA and their assets to to notify uh residents of these upcoming changes.

So anticipate some public comment tonight in hopes that we um we spread the word.

So the housing code updates, once again, primarily clerical in nature, but I did want to bring some bigger amendments for your considerations.

Certainly, these are policy considerations that the council gets to decide.

The first that was mentioned previously is the option is essentially removing, removing the requirement to rent while waiting for an initial inspection.

So the way the code exists today, if you have a new property that you want to register as a new rental, you essentially have uh 90 days to register it with us.

We are suggesting to change that to now require that the property be completely inspected before it can be physically occupied.

That's not unique to other communities, but one of our rationales of why we think we can make this change uh is our availability for inspections is a lot sooner than it once was.

There's a time uh when our inspection scheduling was far behind.

Today we could schedule a new use rental inspection in two days, but we see about two weeks at the highest uh amount.

Um this is specifically to protect residents, right?

Giving us the opportunity to inspect it before a tenant were to enter the property, but I'm I'm sure you'll get some comment on this, and it's a policy policy decision of council ultimately.

The next noteworthy update is uh regarding late compliance fees.

So this was a new penalty fee that was introduced when the last code update came to be.

It was intentioned to sort of balance incentives and penalties related to compliance.

We had introduced the property incentive program, which you're generally aware of, but for the public, it's a way for us to essentially score inspections and they result in a one, two, three, or four-year inspection cycle.

We pair that with financial penalties to encourage compliance.

The way it's written today is that fee is assessed at 90 days from license expiration or 90 days from the last inspection.

Once again, we intend to continue to provide availability and inspections, and that has uh improved since our property incentive program.

Therefore, we are suggesting the change and assessing this fee at 90 days from license expiration only, not 90 days from the last inspection.

The last update uh is is regarding measurement details for egress windows.

So essentially, it provides a table for clarity on the minimum requirements for egress standards based on the year of construction.

So we might encounter situations in which uh uh an older building is looking to become a new property, a new rental property, and in that they have approved permitted windows.

So this provides clarity on what those expectations were based on the year provided.

That's clarity for staff and for potential housing providers to know what those minimum requirements were versus us referencing those codes behind the scenes.

What's missing here that was presented to you previously, just want to be transparent in that.

We also included language for properties we encounter in which a conversion has happened to increase density in the property, and it gave options for becoming a compliant with that.

Uh per some recent guidance we've received, we've taken that out of the code.

Instead, we will refer to existing building codes for compliance if you convert your property to say a duplex and what your options are to be compliant with that.

So that was a change that I wanted to clarify.

With that, I um I will I will conclude my testimony.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs.

Miss Eden.

Uh, with that, I will open the public hearing and invite back Miss Kathleen Hanson.

See, it didn't take that long, did it?

Thank you.

I'm Kathleen Hansen, and I just moved to Rochester about a year ago from Northfield.

And for the last 25 years, I've had roommates.

Uh, as a senior citizen, um that is a way for me to have somebody to find my body when I die, because I'm single.

Do you have money?

And you laugh, but it's true.

It took them three months to find my cousin before after he died.

So, as senior citizens, we gotta think of that.

And if you ever hear a person that died in their sleep, you have to ask how many days.

And also by having roommates, there's the money for the upkeep, improvements to pay the utilities and taxes.

And also, there's money for doing the aging in place, so people can I can stay living in my home.

I have a dealt son who, according to the state of Minnesota lingo is employed disabled person.

We purchased a multi-generational home in Lower Town.

I updated it, and I'm looking at the city of Rochester.

One of your important priorities is housing access.

This is a multi-generation home.

I have eight bedrooms that meet everything in the code.

And so, but I've been told the deals is five unrelated persons.

Now, I can't find a definition for five unrelated persons.

But in the code, there is the definition for what a family is.

One or more individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption, a group of not more than five persons, some or all whom are related by blood, marriage, adoption, occupying a single dwelling unit.

The city of Rochester just had a beautiful tour of new multi-generation homes.

That's five people.

That means a man, a couple, and three children.

That's it.

And I think, especially for the older people who would like to stay living in their house, we'd like to use our money to upgrade the house.

This is discriminatory to have this.

And I hope you could address that.

Second, there's and part of this is too in my keeping this property updated.

I've double the taxes.

And I have to pay every penny of those taxes, even if I can't use the building for a home.

Now the other word I have that's been used in my updating everything is the word grandfathered.

There's a house next door that I was told that was grandfathered in.

But I'm a little confused because it was an owner-occupied property.

The people now live outside of town and it's been a rental, but it's been grandfathered in.

She got out every single inspector in the town to go through my property.

And so it did come to light everything.

But one thing, if the contractor puts in for the building permit, I, as the owner, am not notified on anything.

So when there's an inspector coming, I'm not notified.

Yes, there's reports that go in, but let's be honest.

When they're standing there looking at the problems, this place was built in 1926 and it was improved and added on in 2004.

That's a lot of construction grandfathering.

An owner should be kept up to date and be invited to all inspections.

That's it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This is a public hearing.

Anyone else wishing to be heard on this item, please step forward.

Anyone wishing to be heard on this item, please step forward.

Seeing no one, I will close the public hearing and invite Miss Eidens back up to address uh issues that came up during the public hearing.

All right.

Sure thing I took a couple of notes to address some of the points that were that were made, and I'm happy to follow up specifically with the housing provider.

Uh but essentially a couple things I'd like to clarify.

Um is a rental license required.

Let's start with that.

Um, a rental license is required if uh essentially the owner does not occupy the property and they allow another to occupy the property without the property owner present.

There's some stipulations to that, I would say, but uh an example of a roommate situation.

For example, if if the property owner occupied the property, that would not require rental certificate, if that makes sense.

So I wanted to start with that.

Um the the family definition that was mentioned uh is is a is a hairy one, but the way it's worded essentially, we have certain provisions uh for occupancy limitations, and really the intent of that is to avoid overcrowding, I would say.

So things were we're looking for typically are more related to square footage, and we would be sizing that in a rental property, but not necessarily in an owner-occupied property.

But the language there is for uh no more than five unrelated folks.

So uh a related household technically would be exempt and is not limited by size.

So I wanted to clarify that.

Um, another another comment that was made, just wanted to address um and give some more information.

Uh, but once again, I'll be following up with the housing provider to make sure I understand the neighboring property and the concerns there about grandfather clause.

But something I will mention is we do have a local contact requirement for all of our rental properties.

That means the owner or representing uh manager must live in Olmsted County or the surrounding counties.

We want folks to be uh available within an hour, essentially if an emergency were to occur.

So know that that's technically a require for all rentals in Rochester.

Uh I I think we shall look into her last concern.

She's if I'm understanding it's more specifically related to uh buildings inspections, right?

So if you were to pull a permit for your property, uh usually our building inspectors are working with the contractor to to gain access to the property.

Uh so that's a fair point that that's typically our process, um, and there are ways to look up that information, uh, but it's working with the contractor and if a property owner wants to be involved.

So with that, I'll pause for comments, questions.

Councilmember Keene.

You're giving the I'm I'm sorry, madam, we've uh closed the public hearing.

Okay.

If you have some individual issues, you can certainly uh contact Ms.

Eden's uh separately.

Councilmember Keene.

Thank you.

Um yeah, I'm interested in the remove the offer to rent while waiting for inspection.

And uh in your presentation, you said this is that we used to have it because we had you know up to three months to get there.

Now we're two days to far end two weeks.

But I'm also interested in if we're doing that to close a loophole or to address a problem that we've experienced over the last you know, one to five years.

More or less.

The intent once again really is to protect residents and give us the opportunity to assess the property earlier on.

Um have we run into major life safety issues?

No, we have ran into issues where the property requires some significant upgrades and is it meeting minimum requirements?

Usually the big ones uh are uh windows or bedrooms that aren't legal, I suppose, and those tend to require um uh big investments in the property, and we would rather uh uh property owners be aware of that upfront.

So I would say no, we haven't had large life safety issues, but we have had things come up that we would have preferred the opportunity that the provider knows that sooner than later.

Just so again, so I understand I it's that's good that we're not like addressing something that you didn't want to talk about in public, but um I I'm still trying to get to the point though.

So if somebody would you see this as a method of like getting around some things by saying, I know if we tried to get the inspection done, we wouldn't pass, so let's get it rented and then we'll get the inspection.

There we're not you're not trying to close something like that.

No, right, because the way it exists today is someone can occupy a property before the license is fully secured.

So it the folks can do that now.

It's a way to be more proactive and cautious, uh, but not necessarily not necessarily addressing a loophole.

Okay, thank you.

Councilmember Miller.

I guess to follow up on that question, I had a constituent reach out not so long ago, who was disappointed after moving into a unit that a balcony that was included as an amenity was then found in an inspection to be non-conforming and had to be removed.

So is this a the type of loophole that that would close, even in the expectations of the tenant, what has been advertised as the features of a unit that are perhaps out of compliance?

Thank you for that question.

Not necessarily, and we have received similar feedback for existing rental properties.

Um this is specifically to uh register a new property, existing rentals.

We also hear about those concerns, a bit more difficult to time compliance with the fluidity of folks moving in and out of homes, but I would say a similar uh intent is to make those things known and documented up front before it's established as a rental unit.

Okay.

So to the issues raised by Miss Hanson, I I was also on the housing tour and brought up a related question of how do we think about other opportunities for multi-generational housing access or for seniors to be able to age in place.

And so I appreciate Ms.

Hanson bringing those comments up.

And because one of the um issues raised with the zoning maps preventing that, but it sounds like in this case, zoning would not prevent um the use as she's um considering these issues.

But I I am curious from your assessment, do these changes meaningfully impede her ability to provide housing and live independently in the way she's describing the changes within the housing code today.

That are subject for adoption.

Are there concerns that are unaddressed in your response to her?

Should we adopt this tonight?

Are there things that we should be aware of that are perhaps not clarified to this moment?

Sure.

I would say that the way we have enforced the code today, does pro hit prohibit household sizes if they're not rental properties, if that makes sense.

So that existed in the code before today and is continuing on after this adoption.

Okay.

So having eight bedrooms, should she occupy the structure?

Is that allowed today?

Would it be allowed in this housing code update?

I'm pausing for consideration.

As I mentioned, it's sort of a hairy topic, or we're trying to find an equitable balance in this as well.

Uh, if it were registered rental property, we have certain occupants occupancy requirements based on square footage, right?

So the case could be yes if it was a rental.

Um the case could be no if they were uh unrelated folks.

So there could be an opportunity for consideration.

Okay.

Councilmember Fredericks.

Thank you.

I'll try not to ramble too much here.

Anything that gets in the way of people getting into housing as quickly as possible from any situation.

Um anything that slows that down or prohibits that I'm not a fan of the affordable housing community in this town that are individuals like you, Kathleen.

Thank you for doing what you're doing.

That provides a big need for people that can't afford a full-fledged home on their own.

It's a great option.

Anything that slows down that process from people getting those homes, I'm not a fan of people can use good judgment, they can decide if it's safe for them to live in a place that the landlord takes on that responsibility, their reputation.

There's a lot of things on the line.

Your department knows all of us who are landlords in this community, and people trying to be, you may not know, but within reasonable time, you're saying you can get there in two weeks, great.

Let them move in, let them uh and then go and inspect and make any corrections that need to be made.

But there's certain like you you stated it right in the in the comment here that there hasn't been anything of imminent danger.

So why take that measure to stop speedy processes and things like this?

We have a because let's face it, it is gonna be in the affordable housing realm that this is gonna hit the hardest.

It is so I don't want to slow down that movement.

And you know, if and it's not just for the tenants, landlords are are taking a risk and buying affordable things and trying to fix them up on their own dime and improve our community.

Let's make sure that they can make their ends meet in a timely fashion.

Um you guys have been reasonable to deal with when we when we come up with issues, we work through them, and I just don't want to see uh the the next two make sense being timely with things, fines.

I believe in those things.

There has to be accountability if you're not meeting safety measures in our in our housing community.

But the first one I'm I'm just not a fan of council member Palmer.

Thank you.

So I want to understand is owner occupied.

If I own a home, I don't have to have a rental certificate, correct?

If you occupy the home, and if I have eight people living with me, you don't care because it's not a rental.

Is that not the case?

Right.

Technically, it could still be in violation of overcrowding based on how we define households.

So if I own a home, I live in it, and I have six people there, it could be considered overcrowding or is overcrowded?

It could be considered depending on the level of relation, we would also check once again square footage requirements.

So it's sort of gray because it depends on the size of the home and occupancy limits.

Okay.

And I'm just gonna take you down the path here.

So so if I have my five um cousins living with me, do you argue with me?

Do we need birth certificates?

What do we need here for my five codes?

That's certainly why it's it's gray, and this is tough for us because the definition of related is very loose.

So uh no, technically typically um it's it's not something we would dive into unless it was very apparent.

Um that that's the case of folks being unrelated.

So let me use your memory and you might be able to dance to this or not.

Last two years, how many of these owner occupied with more than six people have we had?

I can't confidently answer that.

I would say a hundred.

No, I would say less than a dozen, more than one.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um in grandfathering, we do that because something was built a while ago and and all of a sudden we have it.

So that goes into my favorite subject, the egress windows.

And and so if we have an egress, a house built in 1950, which we didn't have any permits or building code for, if that was an egress window and no one's touched it, we're still going to accept that as an egress window.

If that was an egress window and no one's touched it, we're still going to accept it as an egress window.

Correct.

And if a house is built, say 1970, and you come there and it looks okay, means now we have actual dimensions in 1970.

We're going to okay that window.

Is that up to me as a homeowner or the rental person to say this was a egress window?

Is that it has to meet the minimum requirements at time of construction, has to be a permitted window, has to show that it was not altered or reduced in size.

There's some stipulations, but essentially, yes.

Okay.

So if I'm gonna go out and buy a single family dwelling and I want to rent it, and I it's a 1960s rambler in Country Club Manor that's got an awning window.

Um I'm fine because that met the egress window at the time.

Is that correct?

I'm checking my notes to confirm the years, right?

But assuming minimum requirements existed for 1965, or if they did not, said 1960.

You did, then it would be okay.

Okay.

Certainly, once again, there's stipulations.

We're looking at every individual window, but it provides ideally more clarity on what those minimum requirements were at the time of construction.

And in really and truly, what we're trying to do with a rental code is to have a safe minimum standard of housing for people.

We want it to be safe, so we have egress windows, but we also have smoke detectors and check other things.

So we're we're not, it's not a revenue generator for the city, it's it's about safety.

Is that not right?

That's correct.

Okay.

Thank you.

Is there a motion on this item?

Councilmember Keene, are you?

Yeah, I'll uh move to approve the ordinance amending the housing code chapter seven of the Rochester Code of Ordinances.

Motion made by Councilmember Keene.

Is there a second?

Second.

Seconded by Councilmember Palmer.

Any further discussion?

Councilmember Keene.

Yeah, again, I as the staff presented this.

This really was sort of started out as a technical, but there are a couple of policy um things in there.

Um, and again, it feels like we're open on this.

Again, I'm just looking at the one summary page talking about uh the removal of the offer to rent while waiting, and again, trying to understand that one.

But the other two things are just you know a late compliance fees and setting the right date and the specific measurements on egress.

Um, I I'm good with the way it was brought forward by staff, but I'll hear with my what my peers think is a uh possible changes.

Councilmember Palmer, any comments?

Anyone else?

All in favor say aye.

Aye, aye.

Opposed say nay.

Motion passes six to one with council member Fredericks voting nay.

Moving on to our reports and recommendations.

We have an informational update on digital accessibility and WGAG 2.1 AA compliance.

Uh and we have uh Miss Jenna Bowman and Liz Gas.

Ah, yes.

Um, for those I haven't met yet, my name is Liz Goss.

I'm the digital communications coordinator on the communications and engagement team.

Welcome.

Thank you.

So, yeah, thank you for the opportunity tonight to provide an update on our digital accessibility efforts and work to meet those WCAG 2.1 double A standards you mentioned.

Um, it's kind of a mouthful, but we are working on them.

Oh, and I will use this.

There we go.

So tonight's update's just going to provide a high-level overview of where we are, what's changed, and what this means for the organization's next steps.

Uh, this work reflects a broad ongoing commitment by the city to ensure our services, information, and communication are accessible to all members of our community.

So a little bit of context behind what this digital accessibility thing is.

Um, it really just ensures that our online content, so documents, web pages, digital services, they can be used by people of all abilities, including including those that are using assistive technologies.

This aligns directly with your foundational principles of inclusive decision making and social equity, and our broader goal of being an accessible and approachable local government.

While recent Department of Justice Guidance has clarified expectations and timelines, this work has been underway for several years for the organization, and up until Friday, the Department of Justice had set an April 24th of this year as the deadline for local governments to meet these specific digital accessibility standards.

That has shifted to 2027, but that while that deadline does represent an important checkpoint for us, it is nowhere near the starting point.

So I do want to preface that this is a highly technical and operation operationally complex space.

Um teams across the organization.

So communications and engagement, IT, the city attorney's office, diversity, equity, inclusion, accept, and accessibility, and then folks embedded within departments have been working to build tools, workflows, and shared understanding needed to move this work forward sustainably.

What we've accomplished so far, one major milestone in this effort was the launch of the city and library's new websites just last week.

The new platform was built with accessibility as a foundational requirement and significantly improves navigation and usability, compatibility with assistive technologies, and the structure and readability of content on the website.

A few examples of improvements that you can see on the new website already.

So on the old site, navigation was largely built around how our city is organized from an organizational standpoint.

Um, so kind of from the back end, based around departments, divisions, internal structures.

So this meant users had to click through multiple layers just to find what they needed and required them to have an understanding of how our organization is structured before they could access the services that they needed.

On the new site, navigation is organized around tasks and user needs, focused on answering the question, what are you looking for?

So the key takeaway, users no longer really need to understand how city government is organized and works to find the services that they need.

Another example on our old website, a lot of the content relied on PDFs or other static documents, making it harder to ensure a consistent and accessible experience across the site with the new site, accessibility has been built in from the ground up.

So one example is moving away from PDF forms, which often need to be downloaded, filled out, uploaded, sometimes printed, mailed, to switching that into accessible web-based forms.

Now I will say not all of our forms have been transitioned to digital forms.

That is part of our ongoing work in this space, but the existing PDF forms have been remediated to meet accessibility requirements.

And then on the old site, we were working with some legacy infrastructure that wasn't designed for today's expectations.

The experience wasn't mobile first, and that caused barriers and frustration given we know a significant percentage of our users are accessing our website via a mobile device.

So the new website is fully responsible, fully responsive and works seems seamlessly across devices.

So desktop, tablet, mobile content will automatically adjust to a whatever screen size it's on, and that'll make it easier to navigate, read, and complete tasks.

In addition to the websites themselves, we've implemented new governance standards for digital content, required training for staff who create and upload materials, updated workflows to ensure accessibility is built into the content creation process, and clear expectations around document formats, including PDFs, Word documents, and presentations.

This represents a shift from reactive fixes to a more sustainable, proactive approach.

And we're happy to note that the change in provider will also result in annual cost savings for the city.

It's important to note that accessibility is not owned by one individual or one team.

This is an enterprise-wide responsibility.

So anyone creating or sharing digital content on behalf of the city plays a role in ensuring content is accessible.

That includes everything from agenda materials and reports to everyday communications.

And because of this, we've focused heavily on internal education tools and support systems to help staff meet these expectations in a realistic and repeatable way.

Like many organizations across the country, the city is balancing a large volume of existing content with evolving federal expectations and finite resources.

So our strategy has focused on prioritizing high impact and high visibility content, establishing defensible processes and standards, demonstrating good faith progress towards compliance, reducing long-term risk by embedding accessibility into everyday operations, and establishing clear pathways for users to report inaccessible content along with internal workflows to triage, prioritize, and remediate those issues in a timely manner.

For you all, one key takeaway is how information is shared and act and accessed.

As we move forward, we strongly encourage the use of RochesterMn.gov as the primary source for documents and reference materials rather than attaching files directly to emails or distributing documents outside of those established systems.

This helps ensure the most up-to-date version of a documents being used.

Accessibility standards are consistently applied, and residents have equitable access to the same information.

This is a small shift that supports a much larger goal.

So in closing, this work represents a significant cultural and operational shift for the organization, but it is about far more than just compliance.

It's about making city information services accessible to all members of our community.

We appreciate the continued support of council as we implement these changes and continue improving over time.

And I want to say also if any of you would like a more detailed or technical walkthrough of any of the improvements or the requirements, happy to meet individually and go deeper into those specific areas.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, one congratulations.

I I know kind of back of the house, it really takes a lot to make these kind of changes.

And while you were speaking, I did check out the mobile app for what we're doing here tonight, and it was pretty slick and moved pretty quickly.

And it was pretty slick and moved move pretty quickly.

So thanks for doing that.

Question on uh updates and compliance.

Are there uh any additional needs from a staff time to keep up, keep keep us in compliant uh compliance and uh and keep keep uh the updates moving through.

I will say we are in a very strong position going into the this week, knowing the deadline was this Friday, and now it's been shifted by an entire year.

So we're considering that I think we're in a really good place.

Um, it's ongoing work though, so it really is just embedding those systems within the way that we do our work on a day-to-day basis.

Great.

Uh administrators alms.

Um, just to add a little bit more to that, council president, um, I thank you for thanking the team.

Um, the the accessibility digital accessibility champions really and Liz Goss herself really worked hard on this to try to meet the compliance date, but also recognize that we would need to continue to move on this.

So I would echo what what Liz has said.

We are head and shoulders farther than probably most cities of over 50,000.

Um, and so one of the things that would be helpful, I think to the team is for you to be supportive in reinforcing that yes, we have this next year to like work our muscles and try to have good practice at getting better and better at delivering accessible digital services.

Um, but that is a lot of work for the team.

And so supporting them in continuing on the journey towards um becoming more and more accessible will be important because it is a really different experience for how we, for example, created this first digitally accessible packet for the city council, the processes, the templates, and um the work to rec recreate sometimes base PowerPoint templates that we can then continue to use moving forward is really critical for us to not just meet the compliance deadline that has now been moved magically six days before it was due.

Um, but for us to continue improving on the journey so that we don't slip backwards just like working out.

If you stop your routine, it is really hard to get back into the routine.

So I really appreciate the team that felt a great sense of joy, and then I shared that we are continuing to move forward in meeting our digital accessibility goals right now, um, so that we can be even head and shoulders farther ahead any year.

Thank you.

Mayor Norton.

Uh yes, I think one of the things that might be interesting for you to know is that some of the products that we use actually did not help us by becoming compliant for this deadline, partly because, as you all know, there are cities of many different sizes and the majority of their clients were smaller than our city.

And so they were going to wait until the majority of cities had to reach compliance.

And so those of us that were on the upper end have kind of been behind the eight ball because of their lack of um coordination.

So I really do give the staff a lot of credit for the work that they've done trying to get everything ready to go.

I did want to point out, and I should have mentioned this in my my opening comments, but um the boards and commissions page when you go to sign up is not yet ready.

So if you need to sign up for a different board or commission, you can contact our office and we will get you a proper link.

Um, but that is one of those products under that company that is just a little behind, and our staff are having to kind of make up for their lack of uh enthusiastic compliance.

So let Michael Rogers or myself know in the mayor's office, and we'll make sure we get you a link so you can sign up for a board and commission just starting.

I think that start the issue started today.

Thank you, Mayor.

Do you realize you've done three pitches today for boards and commissions?

Well, if we still have other business, Mr.

Chair, I could just swing it in there too.

Any other comments on this item?

Councilmember Miller.

Yeah, thank you.

I I appreciate that this is probably stressful and differing levels throughout the year.

And I know that this has come up even in our engagement with federal partners uh recently at the uh National League of Cities and League of Minnesota Cities Breakfast, this came up from other cities in Minnesota as a point of stress.

Uh my question though is one of the concerns that other cities were bringing up in that format with um uh congressional elected officials was the loss of functionality or the loss of access.

Are there areas of this initial project that you feel like are not yet there that you would continue to work on and build back functionality or access for members of the public?

Yeah, and as we've gone through content on the website as part of this process, there have been a handful of times where it somewhat feels like you're taking a step backward from providing information or providing what you what we historically have or what we would like to have out there because we need to assess the way that that content is presented.

Um that being said, having the the more we build our templates and our tools and the easier it will be to transition some of that content over.

So I do anticipate it'll become less of a haul, but um, there are certain things like specific maps, right?

Like those, that's a that's a specific one that can be really tricky to get into vocal compliance um for various reasons.

So there if you go through the website, you might notice a few things that look a little different than they used to.

Um, and as we work through this and get better at it and build those muscles, then we're planning to continue improving those items as much as we can.

And we do encourage if there is anything that's missing that you really want and you admit you can't find on the website, do reach out.

Well, I guess I I was curious.

Uh one of the forms that all of us sitting at the table fill out uh at least every year, but this is an election year is the campaign finance report and initial filings.

And I would just want to make sure that those are clearly available.

It looks like now we're linking to the uh Secretary of State's website, which has a different form, and it doesn't look like they're maybe in compliance with this, and I'm not sure how that would apply to state governments.

But I think about those places, boards and commissions, other places where members of the public who are not city staff or not familiar with the internal processes that we prioritize those so that they don't create barriers or confusion.

And I'm sure Mr.

Cartwright will appreciate that as well.

Not of having fewer questions of I can't find a form on the website uh when it's not likely to be converted, I wouldn't suspect to a PD uh a form-based entry since it requires some additional um tables or probably uh numbers of lines for expenses and income for reporting beyond what we would build in.

Yeah, um, I would love to see, or I think there's a world where a lot of these items do become accessible just the way that they're built naturally, but it is each organization's role to do that at the moment.

So for that example, the state, I know that in communication we've had with different organizations or different departments within the state, like they're going through all of this the same as we are.

Um so it is nice to have that network network, and I know that there is good faith behind it.

Um, that being said, our new website and some of the tools that we've implemented do have a lot more fun search functionality.

So hopefully people are able to um find things a little bit quicker than they were on our previous website.

Um, and that has come from both an upgrade and provider and then just work on the back end to ensure that we are organizing content and displaying content in a way that most people can access.

And I I guess as a follow-up and and maybe um just thinking about making sure the contact uh that's relevant for that page is not a general contact for the city, but it's a direct contact to a department that can help answer that question to facilitate any any unforeseen areas.

Um again, I I just know that as a first-time candidate going to a page like that, there are a lot of questions that come, and I would just hope that we're not uh introducing new questions or confusion.

But I really appreciate the work and all the thought and timing and and stress that came with this and now the last minute opportunity to go back.

And and I think it's admirable to not take that option to say we just get another year, let's undo this, but to really continue to build.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And oh and the good thing about a website is it's living, breathing, you can keep it keep improving it as we go.

So that feedback is extremely helpful.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Keene.

Uh, yes, thanks.

I did run into some things over the since the pack's published that I had my own set of sort of issues.

Um, I do support like the digital accessibility, the overall goals here.

Um, and I think it's really good to hear that we're getting some good things out of it.

But I I want to make sure that we we portray this correct for the public.

This isn't us trying to get to be better at doing our stuff.

This is us being regulated at the federal level and saying, this is how you must do things.

Um, and I have concerns that there's things that we present to the public right now that we're not going to in the near future without changes.

And and those are big lifts.

So um, right away the thing, just things is um working with RPU as far as how they like portray to the public.

Here's the accounts payable thing.

Um, that can't be done tomorrow.

Um, if we're and if we're going to say these are our our goals.

So now we have this new extra year.

The question is, are we going to like say, nope, nope, you got uh either pull them back or or don't publish things.

So there's gonna be some of those trade-offs, and I think we have to think our way through those.

Um again, I I'm glad to hear that like by by having something like this regulatory, we were able to kind of go through it.

And that thing you talk about is like the workflows become more um externally viewed and thought through as opposed to internally.

I think those are the kind of good benefits you can get going through something like this.

But I think it's misleading to act like this was us deciding to be more productive on our interface.

This is us following regulation that you know, to be honest, many people find very cumbersome, and it's going to be difficult to make those transitions.

Um, there's been there's a lot of broken links out there right now of things that say, oh, here's where it is, and those pages are gone because of the the transitions that are happening.

So we've got some of that transition pain in front of us.

Um, I'm expecting, and I think you guys should expect calls of people saying, where is the thing I've become dependent on that we then we're going to say we can't do that anymore?

So I again I I'm glad to hear this.

I I have history back on this back to you know 2005 of the graphical user interface and how we used to be 80 column cars and the transitions that happened and the tools that broke because they were happening.

Um so it's good that we're getting some good benefits out of this, but I I'm a I feel a little bit like misleading the public here acting like this has just been this great productivity thing for us.

This is this is a regulatory thing that we're following and trying to do the best we can with.

Yeah, it definitely is, and I think it's been such a case-by-case basis as we go through items, really needing to analyze each specific thing and ask the questions of okay, how do we follow the requirements and still provide this information to the public in a way that they deserve to have it?

And the way that a lot of folks are used to having it.

And if it's not in the way they're used to having it, how can we make it better?

But they're I've had several conversations with folks across the organization that end up in this is counterproductive.

This we're supposed to be providing access, and it's gonna result in us pulling this information, and that's an ongoing conversation and trying to work with how the regulation is laid out.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Miller.

Is there a place those are being compiled, though?

I mean, is there a way that that could be communicated back to us?

Not every time it happens, but periodically of here's some of the challenges.

I mean, obviously, we have study sessions, we have reports and recommendations.

I think that to Councilmember Keene's point, having the regulatory deadline and impetus for making these changes, but also understanding where there's a loss or something that we should understand.

Um, because I would also point um to Mayor Norton is frequently talking about um the importance of how we interact with our um congressional delegation and how we lobby as elected officials and make clear to them how these federal regulations impact uh life in Rochester.

I would just love to be aware of that, and I don't want to have that be an added burden, but if there are particularly points where it's uh a conflict that can't be resolved and we've lost something, I I would love to know about that some way.

Yeah, and I think given the federal implications of this entire process, um, there's been a pretty significant priority on documenting things as we go along.

I will say a lot of that is currently in a very disorganized place in my own vials.

But um, now that we are through website launch, it is on my list of things to hopefully sort out a little bit more.

But yes, I think that that's important as we work through this and as other communities do too, because like if it's not communities of our size, it's can communities that are smaller that will be going through this as well.

Thank you.

Sounds like uh we're ahead of the curve, uh, but we're not taking our foot off the gas pedal, and there may be some uh kind of hiccups uh with uh areas that may not be covered, but it sounds like you've got uh good team working on it, and so keep it up and uh we'll hear back from you.

Sounds great.

Thank you.

Next up we have our uh ordinance uh first readings.

Uh Mr.

Spindler Craig, go ahead.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Item J1, an ordinance amending subsection three of subparagraph A of paragraph three of clause E of section 60.200.040 of the unified development code.

Moving on to the second readings, item K1, an ordinance annexing to the city of Rochester, approximately 124.61 acres of land located south of Highway 52, north of 40th Street Southeast Street Alignment, and approximately 1200 feet east of Highway 63, which is pins number 041942, 041953, 041956.

Move approval.

Second.

Motion made by council member Keene, seconded by councilmember Wall.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Oh, say nay, motion passes.

Thank you, Mr.

Spindler Craig.

Moving on to other business, council member Palmer.

Yeah, just a quick short one.

Um, in Massachusetts, it is Patriots Day today, which marks the start of the revolutionary war, but it's also the 130th year of the Boston Marathon.

And we do have 26 people from Rochester who ran it today, and uh we should congratulate them.

So just let them know and you were one of them?

I know you were in the past.

How many times?

Nine years.

You've done it nine times.

Congratulations.

Congratulations to this year's runners and you, Councilmember.

Anything else for other business?

Is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Moved by Councilmember Palmer, seconded by Councilmember Fredericks.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Pose say nay.

We are adjourned.