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City of Gem Lake City Council Meeting Minutes February 20, 2024 2 | Page The two (2) properties along Highway 61 are running a business operation outside of the home. There is construction material all over the backyard. These properties are also rentals with the properties meeting the minimum lifesaving standards. A notice has already been sent to the properties and the owners have agreed to remove the construction storage. It appeared to be nearly done at the time of the inspection. A property on Labore Road is storing commercial vehicles on the property and a fence was installed without a permit. A notice has already been sent to the property with no response. A property on Scheuneman Road is a rental property with a long history of complaints and a history of trying to work on a resolution. The property meets the minimum lifesaving standards to operate as a rental. The property is running some sort of business out of the home, but each time an inspection is scheduled the mess gets cleaned up just enough to be able to pass. It looks like a pallet fence was also installed without a permit. The occupants also decided to clear out most of the trees in the backyard which is a violation of the tree preservation ordinance. Criminal prosecution could be taken on the brush pile, vehicles on the property and anything related to the home business operation. A notice has already been sent to the property owner with no response at this time. Mayor Artig-Swomley asked city Attorney Kevin Beck what else the City can do about all of these properties. Mr. Beck responded that it is hard to prove someone is operating a home business. Building Official Mike Johnson will continue to work on these problem properties and give an update on the progress at a future meeting. MS4 Audit Report On January 5, 2024 Gem Lake had its first MS4 Audit. After the audit was completed, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) had sufficient information to allege that the city of Gem Lake, (hereinafter Regulated Party) had violated nine (9) provisions of the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) General Permit in Gem Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota. See attached report for specific violations. The City is in the process of correcting these violations. There is some concern with being able to correct a concern related to training of public safety staff. Gem Lake does not have its own public safety staff, the job is contracted out to a neighboring city. The public safety department does not currently require the training from the MPCA. Mayor Artig-Swomley asked City Attorney Kevin Beck what the city can legally do to try and ensure this gets completed, to which Mr. Beck feels may be tricky to require them to do something they don’t currently do. City Engineer SEH should be able to help out with correcting some of the other violations. Gem Lake Clean-Up Day Discussion Gem Lake is partnering with White Bear Township for the second year for the Town clean-up day scheduled for May 18. Based on Gem Lake resident participation in 2023 the Township is considering changing the participation fee from a flat rate to a per car rate. The Township will finalize their decision and a resolution will be ready for Council review at the March meeting. New Business VLAWMO Workshops March 7 & 14 at Heritage Hall VLAWMO will be holding two (2) workshops at Heritage Hall. The first workshop featuring Grant Program 101 will be on March 7, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. The second workshop featuring Raingardens 101 will be on March 14, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Councilmember Amlee will plan to attend the workshop on March 14. Office Computer Replacement The front office computer is at the 5 year mark and it scheduled to be replaced this year. Metro-INET sent Acting City Clerk Melissa Lawrence the specs and pricing for a new computer that is comparable to the current one. The computer has started to run a little slower compared to when Mrs. Lawrence started working for the City and things are starting to freeze. Mrs. Lawrence would also like to replace the old 23”