Falcon Heights adopts administrative parking citations and authorizes handheld citation devices

Mayor Gustafson and the Falcon Heights City Council on June 10 approved a pair of measures intended to change how the city enforces pay-by-mobile parking and handles non-moving parking violations.

City Administrator Linehan presented Ordinance 26-05, which would amend Chapters 30 and 46 of the city code to permit administrative (civil) citations for non-moving parking violations. Linehan said the proposal grew from recommendations of the State Fair Task Force 2.0 after the 2025 State Fair: about 600 citations were issued at the fair, and roughly 560 were for nonpayment of parking fees. Under the ordinance, administrative citations would not appear on a violator’s driving record; recipients would have 14 business days to pay or request an administrative hearing, and the City Council would set fines through the fee schedule. No members of the public spoke during the hearing. Councilmember Mogen moved to approve the ordinance; the motion passed 4-0.

As an operational follow-up, the council also voted 4-0 to accept a proposal from T2 Systems for handheld citation hardware, subscriptions and services. Linehan demonstrated handheld devices that combine a license-plate reader, phone, and ticket printer and that integrate directly with ParkMobile to automatically check whether a vehicle has paid, capture photos, and print a citation on the spot. Linehan described the three-year contract price as $20,020 in year one and $8,496 in each of years two and three, plus tax, for a total of $39,279.84. Linehan said unpaid citations would trigger an automated license-plate owner lookup ($2.50 per search) and a mailed collection letter ($1.30 per letter).

Council discussion focused on privacy, data commercialization risk and ambassador safety. Councilmember Wassenberg said the ordinance “decriminalizes what is essentially a minor infraction,” and emphasized that the administrative pathway would free police officers for public-safety work while giving the city more flexibility to consider individual circumstances. Councilmember May asked specifically what protections exist “against hacking and whether any collected data could be accessed by or sold to third parties, including federal agencies.” Linehan said the contract is still under attorney review and that T2 Systems segregates client data, does not tie into law-enforcement databases, and that staff would require security and data‑use protections in final contract terms. Several councilmembers asked for an explicit prohibition on selling or commercializing license-plate data; Linehan said those concerns would be addressed in the attorney review and contract negotiations.

Councilmembers also noted operational safeguards for ambassadors. May raised concerns that issuing citations on the street could create confrontations; Linehan said de‑escalation training, supervisor contact protocols and a directive to leave unsafe situations had been used in 2025 and would continue. Linehan added that ambassadors do not carry money, reducing one incentive for conflict, and that police would still handle violations involving immediate public‑safety risks such as blocking alleys or parking at corners.

Next steps: the council approved the contract authorization and directed staff to complete attorney review and finalize contract terms to include the requested security and data‑use provisions. Implementation details, including any final fine amounts and expansion options (Linehan noted a possible $2,000 expansion to add permit and code-enforcement features), will be resolved in the contract and fee-schedule process.