St. Paul City Council Meeting – February 18, 2026
St. Paul City Council Meeting – February 18, 2026
The St. Paul City Council met on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 3:30 PM in the Council Chambers. Six members were present (Councilmember Cheniqua Johnson was absent and excused). The meeting lasted until 4:46 PM and covered consent agenda items, a contested zoning appeal, several ordinances at final adoption and first reading, and multiple public hearings. Key actions included final adoption of a law requiring law enforcement to remove masks during operations, a first reading of a geothermal energy franchise, and approval of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district for the former St. Joseph’s hospital site.
Consent Calendar
- Items 4–13 were approved by a single 6-0 vote with no separate discussion. These included: a three-year lease for the Historic Como Streetcar Station with District 10, grant applications for trail connections and outdoor recreation, a police grant application for the HIDTA program, liquor and auto repair license ownership changes, acceptance of donated tickets from Tickets for Kids Charities, reappointments to the Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission, acceptance of a Knight Foundation travel gift, and use of Neighborhood STAR funds for street and sidewalk work.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Drive-through zoning ordinance (Ord 24-26): Two speakers testified.
- Steve Jurdigan (698 Sherwood Ave.) expressed support for the ordinance but argued it does not go far enough. He criticized the stacking requirements, called for a ban on drive-throughs near light rail, and urged the addition of a provision requiring equal pedestrian access at all hours. He also highlighted litter problems from drive-through customers.
- Meg Dore (Board President of District 9, West 7th Fort Road Federation) advocated for a moratorium on new drive-throughs and a conditional use permit requirement. She presented data comparing Minneapolis (which banned new drive-throughs in 2019) and St. Paul, claiming the ban did not stifle restaurant growth. She also argued that drive-through businesses yield lower taxable value per acre.
- Immigration grievances public hearing (PH 26-4): Peter Sentner (Ward 2 resident, Neighbors Protecting Neighbors) testified about the growing eviction crisis. He noted that 1,365 eviction notices were filed in the metro area in the previous month (up 44% from baseline). He criticized the city’s emergency rental assistance website for being outdated (last updated December 8, 2025) and for having closed applications. He requested more details on rental assistance funding and distribution.
Discussion Items
- ABZA 26-1 – Appeal of fence variance denial (Minnesota Department of Administration): Councilmember Yang moved to deny the appeal, arguing that the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) correctly found errors in the staff report. She stated that a 10-foot fence with trident blades in a residential neighborhood would be “imposing and fortress-like,” inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and zoning code. Council President Noecker dissented, arguing that the BZA’s decision contained procedural errors (e.g., a commissioner appeared to have pre-written findings) and that with proper landscaping the fence could meet standards. The motion to deny the appeal passed 5-1 (Noecker opposed).
- Suspension Item – RES 26-320 (Fire training exercises at 753 Front Ave.): Council President Noecker explained the item was brought under suspension because the training was scheduled for February 24, before the next council meeting. She noted that the department had been reminded of the preference for non-suspension items. The resolution was approved 6-0.
Key Outcomes
- Ordinance 26-7 (Law enforcement mask ban): Final adoption passed 6-0. The ordinance adds Chapter 268B to the Legislative Code, requiring law enforcement officers to conduct operations without masks or facial coverings (with exceptions). Councilmembers emphasized accountability, transparency, and public trust.
- Ordinance 26-8 (Administrative Code amendment): Final adoption passed 6-0. Authorizes up to three assistants to the mayor to execute certain contracts and increases the dollar value threshold for contract execution by designees.
- Ordinance 26-9 (Geothermal energy franchise): First reading. Laid over to February 25, 2026, for second reading and public hearing. The franchise is for The Heights Community Energy, Inc., a nonprofit geothermal utility serving the Heights development. The 20-year franchise includes a 5% fee and approximately $5,000 annual regulatory fee.
- Ordinance 26-11 (Bonds for St. Joseph’s hospital site): First reading. Laid over to February 25, 2026. Authorizes the Port Authority to issue up to $6 million in general obligation bonds for demolition and remediation of the former St. Joseph’s hospital site. Fairview will cover debt service for up to 10 years.
- Ordinance 26-12 (Transportation Network Company license fees): First reading. Laid over to February 25, 2026. Creates a three-tier fee structure based on driver count: $5,000 (≤300 drivers), $11,000 (301–1,000), and $18,000 (>1,000). The current flat fee of $41,115 is replaced.
- Public hearing on drive-through ordinance (Ord 24-26): The council adopted an amendment (version 2) that does not ban drive-throughs but increases buffer zones, stacking requirements, and defines walk-up window service. The public hearing was continued to February 25, 2026, for final adoption.
- Public hearing on sewer assessment (RES PH 26-7): Adopted 6-0 after no testimony.
- Public hearing on parks grants (RES PH 26-39, 26-40, 26-45): All adopted 6-0. Includes $250,000 for commemorative statues/memorials, $2.5 million for Conway Recreation Center, and $551,205.97 from Como Friends.
- Public hearing on sound level variance (RES PH 26-44): Approved 6-0 for Pro-Life Action Ministries’ Good Friday prayer vigil on April 3, 2026, with amplified sound.
- Public hearing on firefighter grant (RES PH 26-46): Adopted 6-0. Accepts $679,543.63 for firefighter physicals and training.
- Public hearing on Fairview/St. Joe’s TIF district (RES PH 26-50): Adopted 6-0. Establishes a TIF district for the 5.5-acre site, with a $60 million estimated redevelopment value and $1.5 million in annual property taxes. The Port Authority will acquire the site for $1 after demolition, and Fairview covers costs.
- Public hearing on immigration grievances (PH 26-4): Continued to February 25, 2026, with a 6-0 vote. Council Vice President Kim noted that the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) chair is seeking additional rental assistance funding.
- Legislative Hearing Consent Agenda (items 29–49): Adopted as amended by the legislative hearing officer, 6-0. This included decisions on tax assessments, a summary abatement order appeal, a fire inspection correction notice appeal, and a rehabilitation order for 799 University Ave. West (referred to April 14, 2026).
Meeting Transcript
Call the meeting of the St. Paul City Council to order. Roll call, please. Coleman. Here. Johnson. Joast. Here. Kim. Here. Yang. Here. Bowie? Here. Council President Acre. Here. Six present one absent, that being Councilmember Johnson, and she is excused. Welcome everyone to our City Council meeting. Thank you for joining us today. We invite everyone to join us in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag. Indivisible. Liberty and Justice Raw. And can we have item three right into the record, please? Yes. Item number three, AO twenty-six dash fifteen, establishing intent for one-time special funds budgeted for consulting services in OFS. I believe we just wanted um some additional information about this from Director Laura Logston, who is here. Come on up, welcome. I'm the director of the Office of Financial Services. This item is a change within OFS's budget to the intention of funds that were budgeted in this year's 2026 adopted budget. So there's 100,000 of one-time funding that was allocated for OFS for consulting services. And OFS has made a recommendation to continue to use the funds for consulting services in OFS's budget, but instead to support the city's annual comprehensive financial report or the ACFER. A number of factors occurred kind of after the proposed budget and near the end of the year impacting our ACFR timeliness. We fully expected to complete the ACFER in a more timely manner last year, and then the cyber incident impacted that timeline. So OFS kind of looking at the current factors that we're dealing with this year, we would recommend reprioritizing that funding to support the ACFAR work. Great. Thanks, Director. I'm looking to my colleagues to see if there are questions. Ms. Bowie. Thank you, Council President. Thank you so much, Director Wakvin for providing that brief report. I did have some questions, particularly because I know for the intended purposes for these dollars was to go towards our priority-based budgeting. And I know on the during our budget committee meetings, and we have Chair Ying here, particularly where you know some of our priorities was to be like on the two-year biannual budgeting, and that's something that is still a strong priority for us as a council. I'm particularly wondering with like knowing ASPR is like a mandatory annual reporting. You know, was it just the timeliness of the issue because of the cybertact? Or is are we is this like kind of like a larger question, particularly around you know what can help us with the timeliness? Um, because I gotta imagine you know, outsourcing one-time funds for something that we know we have to do every year can actually you know uh raise a question around like is this a good use of our funds, right? Um so I just I'm just trying to understand would it be the entire $100,000 that we'll be hiring it for a consultant to help solve for us to make our our deadline on time. Yeah, thank you, Council President and Councilmember.
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