At the May 6 Hastings Council meeting, Community Development Director John Hinzman asked the council to consider entering into a contract with Coda Metrics to prepare to revise the zoning code which has not been updated since 1996.
“The revision itself is likely to be, frankly, a rewrite of the code. We're going to have them delve deep into every aspect that we have within their code,” Hinzman explained. “Coda Metrics has a wide background of doing codes throughout the country. Codes that are similar to what we have in Hastings as far as the development of historic development, also the new development that we have. We've been very impressed with what we've seen in the background.”
Councilmember Lisa Leifeld opposed spending $65,000 to enter into a contract with Codametrics at this time. She agrees this service is important but asked since the city is currently dealing with PFAS remediation costs if the money budgeted for this could be reallocated.
City Administrator Wietecha said transferring the money would not be automatic and he would want to talk with the finance manager because it would require crossing between general operations and the water utility side.
Councilmember Jen Fox weighed in on the discussion, “I’m worried about putting the function of the city on the backburner. I don't want something that we have very little control over to take over our city. We have to have a functioning city that provides resources, provides infrastructure, provides clean water and that is the function of our city, right? We need to pay for things. So, I'm afraid that if we set the precedent that a bill like $65,000 for an RFP for something that we haven't touched since 96, where best practices get lost. That will be consequential to the function of what we do here. I stand by my motion, and I will be voting yes in favor of this RFP.”
Councilmember Dawn-Marie Vihrachoff agreed with both Leifeld and Fox but was worried and inquired what the financial consequences of not contracting to update the zoning codes would be.
“I suppose a few things could be related to that, and one of the things we're going to be looking at here is the zoning districts that we have and a topic of conversation regionally over the spring has been looking at housing and providing affordable housing and more housing opportunities,” answered Hinzman. “The zoning code is a tool in which one can do that. I think part of the discussion we're going to have is whether there's more opportunities to create more housing that's not there right now… I know right now, with the zoning districts that we have for residential, especially with a single-family district, frankly the lot size minimums that we have right now, we're not consistent with the market. We're requiring something of our zoning code that the market is not serving right now. That could be a lost opportunity for us.”
Mayor Mary Fasbender thanked all for contributing and added, “Personally, I would like to continue to see this process go through for the betterment of our developments, and futuristically for our businesses and many other things that want to come in. Because it has been passed on for two budgets now, I think that it’s important. We can't keep kicking the can down the road. I understand where you're coming from, Councilmember Leifeld, and we are being very cautious as per spending, but we also can't go backwards in something like this, I think this is important.”
Leifeld inquired how many roof tops were added in the city of Hastings in 2023 and 2024 to which Hinzman answered there were over 200 in each year. She then remarked, “Last year, we added over 200 rooftops without having spent this $65,000 to have this study. Just wanted to point that out. I am going to vote no. I'm done speaking. Thank you.”
Councilmember Dave Pemble then added to the discussion, “I understand we had an hour-and-a-half plus discussion, and it basically revolved around income and costs but when you say it's been 28 years… 28 years… there are some people that are here that aren’t 28 years of age. And you look at that and say, ‘This has to be done.’ Yes. I wholeheartedly understand the need to say, OK, is this something that we can put off? Yes. But on the other hand, are there missteps or advantages that we didn't take care of? Because, like you said, the size of our lot size isn't part of what the current market is looking for. And, you know, if there are none in place, we may be losing that opportunity. We could be looking at better than 200 roof tops if we were in the right set, and it's also a maintenance thing.”
The resolution passed in the end with all but Leifeld voting aye.
The council then went on to approve vacating a trail easement the city has had for nearly 20 years which runs through the north side of Smead Park parking lot. Park & Recreation Director Chris Jenkins reported that “portion of the trail is being taken over by Dakota County as part of their regional trail. Dakota County has worked through the process to clean up and get their own easement through that property. And in fact, the work on the trail has been done there already. So, they've had permission, working directly with Smead Park.”
Jenkins then presented the second reading of the Chapter 94 Parks and Recreation. “This is a second reading and adoption repeal and replace of Ordinance 94 which is a lot of things Parks and Recreation,” said Jenkins. “I won't say all things but a lot of things Parks and Recreation. It is cleaning up some old cobbled together, edited, revised over the years ordinance. It also ties this ordinance in sync with a few of our other ordinances. Highlights of this are park hours. We have a standard curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. We have other parks that council has taken action on that extend those hours to 11 p.m. We have a couple of permits with the Mississippi river boat dock and the Mississippi River public water access that required different things. So, getting all those parts and pieces in there. It makes our leash law in the parks consistent with the leash law in our other ordinances and it excludes pets from being on the athletic fields themselves at Vets Park, which is a big one as well. It also deals with alcohol in the parks and tobacco in the parks and vaping in the parks as well. Lots of good stuff really clear and concise had a lot of help from this quarry land as well too.”
Leifeld asked for clarification on the liquor ordinance for the parks. “A little bit of inconsistency in parks and or special events,” Jenkins stated. “There's been new beverages now that have been created. Think your seltzer that's actually made out of vodka and sparkling water, under our old ordinance that would not have been allowed because it's intoxicating liquor, and not intoxicating malt liquor, which is beer. Do we really want to police and patrol if you have a Mike's Hard Lemonade or Coors Light in your hand? It just cleans that sort of stuff up. And if people choose to go and get intoxicated in a neighborhood in a park, they're violating other ordinances anyways, and the police can take care of that. But still no glass.” After all questions were addressed, the resolution passed.
Due to the accounting software changeover, City Administrator Dan Wietecha proposed a resolution for a temporary waiver on utility late fees. On May 7 the city implemented a new financial payment system. The current Municipal Online Payments website, along with the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Text-to-Pay phone options, will no longer be available. The new online payment system was live on May 13 and includes the option to set up auto pay using either a credit/debit card or bank account. Customers who wish to continue to auto pay must re-enroll in the new system. All online payments will incur a nominal transaction fee due to added cyber security features. To avoid any convenience fees, customers can pay their bill with a paper check or cash in person or by mail. The IVR and Text-to-Pay options will be available again in the future by the new software vendor. It was pointed out that the city would no longer be charging a debt or credit card processing fee this would be charged by the new company and there will be $3 fee per ACH transaction. The council all agreed allowing a temporary waiver of late fees for a three month period would be appropriate to help citizens update their payment system. Wietecha advised if anyone has questions with the new system, they should contact the departments of either Finance or Utilities.