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Discussions about marijuana in parks, affordable housing, dead trees, and opioid response will dominate the West St. Paul City Council meeting, as well as regular business on drive thrus, charter changes, and an apartment clubhouse addition.
Marijuana in Parks?
With the state’s legalization of marijuana effective August 1, smoking marijuana would be legal in public places including city parks. The city could prohibit it and Council will discuss the options during the Open Council Work Session (OCWS). If Council wants to regulate cannabis use in parks, a proposed ordinance would come forward in August.
Affordable Housing
The state passed a .25% metro area sales tax to be dedicated to affordable housing. West St. Paul expects to get around $300,000 per year and City Council needs to decide how to spend it. Options will be detailed during OCWS and include rental assistance, developing new affordable housing, rehabilitating existing affordable housing, and affordable homeownership.
More on the Agenda
- Opioid response: West St. Paul is teaming up with South St. Paul and South Metro Fire to apply for opioid epidemic response funds from the state. The OCWS will include a presentation on the proposed $3 million grant.
- Dead trees: During OCWS Council will discuss complaints about dead and diseased trees and how aggressive the city should be in enforcing public nuisance ordinances and if tighter regulation is needed.
- Drive thrus: With more interest from developers in offering drive-thru options for restaurants, city staff reviewed existing code and recommended a series of changes to tighten restrictions and give more clarity. Planning Commission approved the proposal unanimously with no one speaking during the public hearing.
- Club house addition: Charlton West Apartments on Mendota Road is seeking approval for a 2,000-foot club house, as well as private pickleball court and dog park. Planning Commission approved the proposal unanimously with no one speaking during the public hearing.
- Charter changes: Back in May, City Council approved the first reading of three minor changes to the Charter—selling city property via resolution instead of ordinance (speeds up the process); a clarification that Council members appointed to a vacancy are full members (this codifies standard practice); and language stating that special elections comply with state law. These three provisions will come up for a final reading and must be approved unanimously.
Engage
Watch: The public can watch the meeting live on Town Square TV or cable TV starting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday (5:30 for the OCWS).
Learn more: Guide to West St. Paul City Council.
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West St. Paul Reader 
3oo
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S22 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone $300,000 for assistance housing, and $3mil for opoid?? Really?? I understand the difference between “grant” And counties, but why can’t the county get “grants” for low income housing. Not section 8. Just help the hard working low income people??