Holy holly. Yeah. I think Labor Day. I think I saw 76 on the now we're in the shallow water, but still it's I am thinking about that. Pretty warm. Oh, nuts. Mhmm. Yep. The, one from last month stack had a couple numbers wrong, so it actually goes down to 39,000. It was 40 last month. But Alright. It's 06:00. I'll ask everyone to stand and say the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Okay. What the management faculty we got at quorum, we do have six of the seven council members. Couple things, couple items, under new business, the letter I, put counsel resignation, and then letter j, we are gonna do a closed session. Ashley and I talked to League this week, and there are seven different, seven different exceptions to the open meeting law that can authorize the closure of a meeting to the public. I am going to use letter e, security reports as my reasoning for a closed session with the council.
So please put that on the agenda as well. Are there any other additions or subtractions to the council? Line employee contract. Renee again. Oh, okay. Under reports of department heads and committees, under letter b, let's put number two. Let's just put, let's put Brianna on there. K. Put contract and k. We'll, you guys obviously all got an email from Ashley last I think it was Friday. No. It was yesterday. The money's just all the money's just for that information. But, any other additions or subtractions to the council meeting?
K. So, first item, citizens' form, actually. If there's any citizens, that are present that would like to address the council, now would be the time to do so. Jason, anything you wanna say? K. So moving on to the consent agenda, all the numbers are right. Letter f, if you guys go down to that, that's the August amount. It it went down from $40,402.40 to $39.170. That was just, type of mistakes that Stefan made. It wasn't a change in bill. So just an adjustment, in our favor. So I need a motion to, approve the consent agenda.
So moved. K. I have a motion from Casey, second from Scott e. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Onto the agenda. Again, we've talked about the three changes that, I'd like to see done. Is there anything else any of the council would like to see added or subtracted? K. I need a motion to approve the agenda. So moved. Second. K. And motion from Sean and a second from Scott n. All All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. Moore Engineering. Okay. So moving on to presentations. Moore Engineering is not joining us tonight, but Ashley's got some info. We'll just we'll go through it real quick.
We Brian and I did meet with Brandon, couple weeks ago, and we identified the areas that are needed to be done in the city of Ada. All of this is still taken from that study back in 2018 that we did. So nothing's new except Brian did add a few new. It's not reflect on this map yet, but during that discussion, we added a few areas. So I'll I'll pass this around. You can see the previous projects we've done in black, and that was in 2022? '23. '22. '22. And then the green phase so, essentially, at this point with the, essentially, at this point with the, Public Works Building we have coming up and with all the projects that we've done,
we're looking at a 2027 project potentially, and then 2029 or even 2030. So there's really no need to do anything at this point in time, like I said, except for just identify the area. So that's why Brandon didn't need to be here. He'll continue to get us on the LRIP project, so just to make sure that we're always, able to get funding if we want to. But financially, we'd be responsible at this point in time to wait until our next bonds retire in 2027. That's all I got. Any questions, comments, concerns? K. Moving on. Mike, you're up next. APC. Okay.
Do you wanna yeah. Do you wanna come up near the microphone just so everyone can hear you? Sure. You can stand or sit. I see Mike. Whatever you wanna do. Whatever you wanna do. Well, if if it's alright, I might take a minute to, just have an overview of the eight area promotions committee. For those that are not familiar with that particular entity, eight area Promotions Committee Incorporated is a five zero one c three nonprofit that's been in existence for about twenty five years. It's registered with the state of Minnesota. Primary emphasis in the beginning was to help the Chamber of Commerce,
help the ADA EDA promote the facilities, and the, all of the different entities, I should say, of what ADA and the surrounding area would offer. And that can be relating to housing, school, churches, recreation, all of these different entities. It was kind of that emphasis to promote that and to work with these other organizations. Over the years, an average of 10 to 20 active members, and they were made up of business people, farmers, some clergy, education, just kind of a a broad mix of members of the community.
And it was nice diversion of what those people have to offer and what they felt was important in in the beginning. And then just to kinda highlight a couple of the organization had built and later sold a total of four brand new homes. And those homes are in existence in town, and they're occupied. Those family members, contribute to the community. I think kids go to school. They attend church. They're it's a valuable part of what the focus of the committee of the promotions
committee in the beginning was. And then through the years later, a development of a business park that's still active and available today. That was a big undertaking, a lot of risk, and a lot of organizations that work together to be able to put that in motion, developing about 20 acres, and it's entitled to Southwest Business Park. And you're aware in a couple of the key tenants today, Mustang Seeds, Barrick Farms. So we're we're very proud of these accomplishments as an organization. Not that anything is is always
easy, and we're certainly feeling like we're not done with those things going forward. But in addition to that, there's always been an opportunity to have social gatherings, fundraisers, support these other organizations, Holiday Chocolate Extravaganza. And now it's been a very enjoyable event, to be a part of. It's mostly focused toward toward the women and toward deer hunting spouses type of thing. So so that's been a successful thing. Within with a couple years of, COVID exemption, we, I think, are at about year thirteen or 14 with that.
Typically, in the fall, another nice success story for the, organization. And then just recently, a couple of highlights that we wanted to have you aware of. And and we don't have, at this time, a project or anything specific. We wanted to get behind efforts from the city to improve, and repair, for instance, the DECO facility. The eight area promotions committee has contributed $7,000 to the recovery and repairs of the DECO committee. So we felt that was a important highlight to to also share.
And, and then recently too with the event center opening and promoting and and being able to kinda advertise and to get behind some of these these these improvements and these exciting times, that was a nice opportunity to contribute to that as well. So just to help you understand a little bit about what the organization is about and and kind of our I don't have the mission statement in front of me, but I could read that in terms of of what we wanna do, what our focus is, what the emphasis is, and it's to
collaborate with other groups and to work toward the common betterment of the community. Mhmm. So with that said, I know that you're looking at an EDA proposal, a budget number, or even something that, might be decided soon or this evening. In the recent history, the city has supported the eight area promotions committee with a outright donation to help with advertising, promoting, be it any kind of media with the print, radio, website, so on. And that's been an annual contribution of about $3,000
And so we appreciate that. We've tried to put that to good use. And if that is something this, budget decision can continue, we'd we'd be in favor of that. I did take a poll of the promotion members, and they would like to see that continue into next year given that next year is also a focus year on the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the community and how to work with the city, to work with the EDA, and to spend money in a conscientious way is is what we'd like to see
for next year. But we'd like to support that but still receive that annual $3,000 for 2026. Any questions for Mike? Yeah. We'll be talking about in the budget planning. You know, the EDA has talked about it. And I think it was mainly for the fact that, wanting to make sure that that money got spent on the hundred and fiftieth. But I think if the APC is wanting to do that, we should be supporting this organization. So when we get to the budget planning, we can we can talk about that. And, you know, so you guys can allocate it, and it's another organization with more eyes and more ideas of how to use that
money, If there's an opportunity to to support that, If there's an opportunity to to support that, participate, keep us on the radar too. Sure. Mike, is there is there a way so obviously that we've had plenty of conversation about this in the last couple of years, and obviously, the promotions committee, since selling of the facility that Barracks now owns, I don't wanna say you guys haven't had a project, but haven't haven't been as active with that maybe as saying it
loosely. Is the is the $3,000 and the reason this came up in conversation from the EDA is the EDA obviously meets every month. They're active. They have to be as part of the council and the council members. Is it is it better to give the AAPC $3,000 and have another advertising arm for the 150 if if that's what you guys wanna spend it on, or give it to the EDA to extend their arm and already have them continue to do what they're going to do to promote it.
I mean, I what I don't want to see happen is I don't want to see 15 different arms of the city promoting the same of the advertisement. When if we give one group and consolidate some money so it's a bigger chunk, we can make a bigger splash. I guess that that's my devil's advocate in this conversation is is the AAPC gonna spend $3 on the hundred and fiftieth anniversary? And we don't know at this point. Yeah. And I just mentioned that we would like to be a partner in the planning of that or help support it financially or strategically.
And, I don't know what kind of an EDA budget or what this might be looking at for the hundred and fiftieth if if the 3,000 is just getting started or if that's plenty or I don't know what the magnitude of the We we don't know either. We, you know, we had our our special session here, two weeks ago and we talked about it. Is is $5 too much? Is $10 too much? Is is it not enough? And I I think we settled at 10. Right? Wasn't that the number last month, guys? So Well, we've got a meeting coming up on the twenty fourth,
don't we? Or Yes. For that planning meeting. Just a start of a planning get groups. So what I meant is we didn't we didn't take that $3,000 away. We reallocate it in the EDA, but the discussion would be if the EDA should should do that or if we give it to the AEPC and allow them. Them. That's what I've had with council. We'll need to decide where that needs to go. We moved the money around. We didn't take it. You know, we we took it and gave it, I guess, so to speak, because we we knew that the EDA was gonna meet and and and do that
and be active. But if you're telling me and telling the council that the APC obviously wants to be involved, I mean, it's it's gonna be a huge event next summer. I don't think anyone at the table is gonna say no to that. I I think I just like Wayne said, I don't want I don't want everybody in town and every organization and every group fighting for advertising when if we just gave it to one group or a group of seven to make a decision approved by a council with our discretion, then we can make a bigger splash. I mean,
there's a, you know, we all don't need to take out, you know, an an ad for 500 and have the same thing. The AAPC welcomes you to ADA. The EDA welcomes you to ADA. The ADA future leaders welcomes you to ADA. Well, you know, we everyone's welcoming everyone to ADA at the same time. I would rather see $15,000 in a in a giant coffin and, make a huge splash and have a big event and and throw a party. I but this is up to you guys. Hey. I'm just I'm I'm speaking out loud.
I'm playing devil's advocate. Like, do you guys Could I add and respond to your Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Open conversation. 100%. Just from the standpoint of the timing of it, we haven't, put in a request for 2025, and we typically do that about this time a year. So if we look ahead a year and we forego the 3,000 that would typically come in, and I'm thinking most of the budget and expenses will happen before we typically are awarded that 3,000
at later in the year. So, I mean, it's kind of a point of using a a or, AACP money or using that money through the organization. Or I guess what I'm trying to say is that we'd like to support it, but we'll can we support it for 3,000 or more than 3,000 as a separate arm? Yeah. You know, we haven't decided that at all. We we'd like to know what the the different plans are and what might we might be able to contribute. Well, nice. Yeah. And again, you know, we we're gonna approve a levy tonight regardless.
We don't have to approve where the dollar amounts go. We have to approve the percentage. I guess what I would like to see, and Scott brought it up, on the twenty fourth we have our first planning event you know at the event center where we invited you know everyone from the public and I know Ashley's gonna hit on it a lot in the advertising here in the next couple weeks you know open for groups organizations churches, businesses, and especially the community to come and offer their input. And then after that meeting, we talked at our August council meeting. I'd like to put a council or a committee together,
five to seven people, and let's, like, spearhead this centrally because I I don't have a problem leaving that $3 there if it's all still coming together in a community pot. Like I said, I I just don't want I don't want 15 ads on the radio. No offense to Burke welcoming everyone to ADA from every organization because what does that really accomplish? You know, where we could hire a band or we could throw on a, you know, a free supper one night or something like that.
And it could still be sponsored by the AAPC, sponsored by the future leaders, sponsored by the ADA. I mean, it's we could do all that, but, yeah. Counsel, I need some input. I I don't know what I'm talking about here. And I'll just leave you with our request would be to continue that 3,000 and to work directly with the city and the EDA to help make that event the the best it can be. So you can decide how best you would move forward, and and we'll see what happens. And so and mainly the timing of that, we won't see that 3,000 if it's approved till after the event anyway.
So I in terms of it going directly into the the plan Well, technically, you could if you wanted it. It's excuse me. If you wanted it to You could get it. Whenever you send me the request, we can it's already allocated. So I could get it to you. We that's just kind of practice we've done in the past, I guess. Yeah. Because it used to be 5,000, and then it went to 3,000 when we had to do some cuts. And Right. We had some big expenses. And then, so I think yeah. That's just been a practice in the past. It's always come in, like, the November time frame. But, really, we could issue it at any time. Okay.
Yeah. We get issued anytime after January 1. Yeah. Mike, do you guys plan on being at this This I didn't know about this organizational meeting till right now. Sorry. So September 24 Yep. Six 6AM at the ADA Event Center. September? Okay. Yeah. It's a Wednesday night, and Ashley is gonna Yeah. I think Ashley is gonna hit on I think you were in the original email, Mike, but that was, like, almost a month ago that I sent out the first one. I may have missed it. And that's I I plan on doing it kind of now, like, hitting it tonight. And then it's otherwise,
it's so far in advance. People don't put it on their calendars until. So, yeah. I plan to do it. Is there other, like, marketing, I think that you guys wanna do and support that you would need the $3,000 for other than just a 100 and fiftieth? Because I know that you guys use this money toward marketing other things too. You know And that's it can be shifted with the emphasis on the one fiftieth. I think that's a big deal. I'm excited for that too. So I think, you know, with the group wanting to get behind that and support it, but also wanting to kinda have a little our fear is that that gets taken
out of the budget and it never comes back. Yeah. Mhmm. You know what I'm saying? So I kinda I kinda need to go to bat for that to continue that. Understandable. So but thank you for Yeah. Have have you guys used that $3,000 every year? Generally, we do. Gets. Yeah. And it's kind of a a way of supporting and and, promoting the different activities and events through the media, through, radio, print, different aspects of it. And we're still kinda working on the website, so it's been a little challenging. But, and, you know, 3,000
doesn't go as far as it used to. Nope. Doesn't really. So Yep. So Not right. But thank you all. Thank you for coming, Mike. Thanks, Mike. You're welcome. Okay. Moving on to mayor's report. Street dance and street block off permits. Obviously, we had a well, we didn't because the weather changed, but we woulda had a dance, in town last Friday or yeah. Friday that you guys approved. The previous week, Pub twenty one put on, like, a back to school blow up deal in the middle of the street. I guess this is just more of a reminder that if anyone wants to do
something, they need to get it in ahead of time. Again, not that it's a huge deal, but It states a stop. It it is just a piece of paper. They just gotta stop in the start stop in the city hall, sign it. We don't charge anything for it. No. You know, and our guys will be more than happy to put barricades and stuff out, but it it just needs to be done. So we need to be cognizant of that. So let's let's you guys got anything else? No. Yeah. It needs to stop. We need to step Put up their own barricades, or they just all of a sudden decide? No. They usually text all of our ex,
like, the day, like, Friday morning. And then they're do and they're doing other stuff. And We need to get stricter on this. And, also, there are there's some businesses that they it hinders that, effects that they should know ahead of time and stuff. And That's the biggest part of it, I think. It's supposed permit process. It's easy permit process. I understand that sometimes you don't know a month in advance. So there are circumstances, I guess, when it might arise out of nowhere. But it'd be at least nice to get it into the city. So we we know of that city hall. Yeah. Well,
we can and, again, we don't charge anything for it. Mhmm. And then the nice thing too is Ashley and Steph can reach out to those business owners that are next door. And instead of wondering why at 04:00, the street's blocked off, and they can't have parts of the entire place. So so that's all we got, actually. So, administrative clerk, treasurer's report. Yeah. I mostly want to kinda dive into department updates. I didn't have this on here, but police department, we had a big emergency planning meeting last week with the county. It was our, Gary Johansen spearheaded it,
and it was, the county, the hospital, public health, all of our neighboring communities. And some of the big topics on there were the Shelly fire, things that worked well, things that didn't work well. And then the other big topic was, obviously, this we haven't met since with the storm that happened here in June. So, one of the big things that got brought up again is that the city of Ada doesn't have a sufficient storm shelter. You know, this building right now is what we use. And if there is no power, it's pitch dark, and there's no elevators that go up and down. And, it's not, obviously,
the ideal place. You know, the county, they're they have some suggestions, some ideas. Obviously, the city can't we can't build a storm shelter, of that kind. But there was lots of ideas thrown around. Gary is gonna reach out to a couple churches. We have contacted the school a few times about it, and I do believe in, like, a a large event that something where we needed to evacuate people would be a different story. However, for those casual storms or power outages, they don't wanna use that facility, and the hospital would prefer not to use their lobby either.
So anyways, a lot of discussion around that. Nothing set in stone. There's gonna be more discussions on a storm shelter for Ada. And not just Ada, but neighboring communities as well. But until then, this is the place. Luckily, for the most part, I mean, it's a tornado comes through town quick or a storm, and it's the trailer park and limerick cabinets getting over here. Then there's a lot of discussion on people in apartment buildings and how they get around and those on oxygen tanks and what we need to do. So then the other big discussion was the Shelly fire department or the Shelly fire.
A lot of positive things that happened there. Communication was one of the big things that they talked about as far as needing improvements on. Liz Brainard is the emergency communicator, so she communicates to the public, to the press of what's going on. And there was issues communicating. She was in her office, so she was always didn't always get things firsthand. Dispatch would know more than her at some points in time. And then the next thing was just the peep the amount of people that came. They should have been evacuated, and they came in spectators. And so,
there was talk of cracking down on actually fines and charging those that are not listening. So those are the big things, but it does apply not just to that chilly fire, but if anything was to happen here in our community. And then the next big thing that the police department is doing, on October, MEA, sixteenth. Sixteenth. They will be doing a huge, active shooter drill again at the school. This time, they are including, Essentia and emergency services that way. So they're doing a whole reenactment, or they're gonna actually have the victims and how they would handle it,
how our ambulances would handle it, how Essentia Health would handle it, just being the fact that they only have eight beds available, eight rooms. So that will be taking place with all of our emergency services here and within the county. If anybody would like to be involved in that, contact Steve. You know, if you wanna I don't think there's a lot of room for just, you know, spectating it, but they do still need some volunteers to play certain position or roles in it. So, on top of that that repeater that we spoke about in the past that we got,
so we got the $17,000 for the grant. The sheriff's department has put up $10,000 for it, and the school has put up $5,000 of it. The remaining portion is $3 $3. $3,000. We have talked about splitting that between the fire department and our police department, and that way, we can purchase that Richard Peter system over there. It is under $5,000. I did approve it. It is within their budgets if we split it. We are gonna actually apply for a shock and shock and awe grant as well coming up here just to cover it.
But for the time being, I did get it purchased for them. So Is it gonna be up before the train? We hope so. I don't know. Steve was gonna order it and see how long it would take to get in there. I don't know if it'll be in here by October, and Steve's in Italy now this week. So I haven't had communication with him. This happened last, like, last Wednesday. So, yeah, just a few updates there on that. Obviously, the big thing is the Public Works Building. Last Wednesday, we had a meeting, myself, a few members from the public works department or public works committee, Brian,
Steve, Sean was here. And we just talked about ideas and, actually, Steve put together all of his plans and drew this nice little drawing for us on the board on his idea on how he thought the building could go and, with what the police department needed. Thursday, we met with the engineers out on-site. The the good news is they feel that the foundation is sufficient, different departments. And so they came here to City Hall, figured out space and what we would need, public work or police department and then obviously public works. Other than that,
we don't have much to go on. They're gonna work on some plans and get them back to us. Obviously, at that point in time, we will decide if we wanna add, subtract, what we wanna do. The good news is the engineers did tell us that this is a good time. Cost of materials are a lot lower, so building is actually in our favor right now. And so our hope would be then, yeah, January, February time, we did it out in the spring. So, yeah, lots of good ideas put into that. Do you guys wanna comment on anything there with the other work? Like you said, it's, he was really optimistic that,
he showed up and our foundation was in good condition. He he was worried that he was gonna have to come and we're gonna have to tear it all out and start from scratch. So Mhmm. They were very impressed with that portion of it. Mhmm. He listened to all of us. There were six, seven of us at the meeting, and he went around and what do you want or what do you see and blah blah blah. And he he just made notes and said it'll get you guys something, back by, well, hopefully, October meeting with a start, and then we can the public works committee, obviously, will see it first. I did appoint Wayne to the public works committee as well.
Mhmm. Two weeks ago, on Friday, I appointed all four public works employees to the public works committee until the finale of this project. We all know Brian's told us all. He's got two or three years left. The other four employees have anywhere from 10 to 25. So I want them I want them to be involved in this project or at least have a voice so that we can do this building one time for sure, and it's done. So Yeah. So we do have five extra members on the public works committee moving forward,
but I hope that gives us a better idea of long term vision, I guess, is my goal, and, it should be the vision of this council too. So that's it. Yeah. Is there any questions on the Public Works Building or any I know we've had a lot of discussion on it. I know you guys have thoughts and opinions so far. But, obviously, until we get some numbers back, it's really hard to determine if we're gonna move forward or not. And then obviously, at that point, there'll be discussions on what to do with our other buildings. The next this is an addition added to the agenda. Brianna has contacted me about her contract.
And her annual date or her annual date that she started with the city falls on August 26. So usually at that annual time, they they do have the ability to, come forth and and negotiate their contract. A couple small things, and and this is my fault. When Brianna started, I was brand new to the position. I did her contract. I left out some things that were in previous contracts. So some of them that you saw on that list that I sent you are already things that she's getting. So, the COLA increases, which we've talked about multiple times, and then the insurance benefits, it reflects whatever the union gets.
Same with longevity. Just real quick on that, Ashley. So Sorry. Just so the council is clear and the community is clear, even though our department heads are not part of the union like the rest of the employees are, if we approve a 3% or 6% or whatever that number is, those managers, so Brian, Brianna, and Jerry Joe, and Ashley get those COLA increases without being part of the union. So like Ashley said, she she's already getting them. She just doesn't have to fight for them. Yeah. She wants to be written in, which, that needs to be updated,
but I need your guys' approval on that. The other thing, was the comprehensive plan or comprehensive Insurance. No. The comp time. Sorry. Oh, comp time. The comp time. Yes. And insurance. So the the comp time is something that our auditors suggested we do. We've never ran into these issues, but, with Rhianna's positions specifically, and and brands a little bit, we run into and Jerry's very regular rarely but we run into where they have to cover for employees, or they're in working later, or they're coming in on a weekend. And so we've always done it where you write it down in your time card,
and they've kind of kept track of their comp time. So then, you know, the next week, they take a day here or a couple hours here. And so our our auditor suggested that we actually put it into writing and have it into our employee manual policy if we don't have one. That just states a little bit more outline of what they can and can't do. For example, you know, we we had an employee, try to roll over fifty two hours of comp time from last year, and it's not meant to be used for a week's vacation. It's meant to be, you know, I worked until 05:00 or 08:00 this night.
You know, I'm gonna leave early this night. And, the salary employees have to do that. Now, obviously, there's hours extra hours of salary that you're expected to do. This is more so, like, you're covering a shift for an employee. So Jerry's there on a Sunday or Saturday because one of her employees is sick, or Brianna is covering on a weekend because her lifeguard isn't it. So I sent you guys the policy. This was done with our attorneys just to make sure that we're following all the labor laws that will just need to get added. And then the other two things that are not in Brianna's contract asking for,
the one is the family insurance, which I outlined to you guys. Currently, I am the only one that gets full time benefits. That was something that I negotiated in my contract when I got hired. The only other person that doesn't follow the mean contract of the union members is Steve. And if you remember, Steve elected not to be on the in Insurance. Insurance, but we give him a $500 stipend towards his HSA every month. So his is a little bit different. Brianna is asking for full family insurance, which would be up to you guys. So I I I laid out the numbers in that email to you guys so
you could understand what that would be. And then she didn't state it, but she's looking for a raise as well. So now I would like to turn it over to you guys for discussion on what your thoughts are. I have one thought on the insurance is being department heads. It's kind of hard to say I want family, yet you, my employee, who has wife and kids, you don't get the same, you know, you don't have the same insurance. I think the the That's just gonna snowball, isn't it? Correct. Yep. That's gonna snowball. That's all that's gonna do. The the hard part is and not that I don't wanna make any decisions now.
The hard part is we have our union negotiations the September. They're set for the twenty third and the thirtieth. And so we don't know what's coming on their And so, yeah, we don't know what those COLA increases. We don't know, you know, every year, those premiums that we pay have gone up. I mean, we paid 1,300, 1,400. Now it's $15.40. Yeah. So those have all increased over time too. And and, obviously, insurance goes up every year. I mean, we know that. Does the department heads insurance follow what the union contract and union employees do?
They all get $15.40 except for Steve Yeah. Who didn't the reason he did it is because it saved the city money. Yeah. Yep. And I you know, going through the email, I and I I'm with Ashley. I I think at the very least, we have to wait until after union I was just gonna say that. 100%. And then Like, we can't pass this now. Yeah. Well and I don't know if we're asking to pass it. I Oh, okay. I'm with Is there a high deductible on their insurance? So there's three different plans that you can choose from as an employee. So there's a low deductible,
and then it goes up to a higher deductible. It's through Blue Cross Blue Shield. Every three years, we sit down with all the employees, and we have insurance reps come in and go over the different plans. So we were on Medica for a long time. Our police department was on PEAP, and then they switched over to Blue Cross Blue Shield. We've been on Blue Cross Blue Shield now two years. And so then the employees at that time, including the head of departments, they pretty much dictate what they want to what plans. So, Medica was great for a while, and then Blue Cross Blue Shield's premiums were lower. And so we switched to that with the same number of deductibles.
And then from that, each employee then has the option to choose from those different plans. Okay. Absolutely. So everybody's on it, you know, whatever works best for them. Some of them are on the high deductibles depending on how often they use it. And then on top of that, we do give HSA money every year, and that's negotiated in the contracts as well with the union. So right now, we give $1,400 annually that goes into an HSA account for every employee as well. Yeah. I don't know. We don't know what they're gonna ask for. Well, we've heard or I've heard, but, we we don't have it. Right? But I I do think the other things that should be in our contract already
are is an is an easy thing, you know, to get into our contract. And I understand it's it's just a safe as security than anything. Because she's already getting it anyway. Safe as security that, you know, down the road, if there's a new counsel, a new administrator, and they're saying, well, it's not in your contract. You don't need to get it. Even though She has been. She has been. And, again, that was my fault when I started. She came in a month later, and I was so new to this position that I didn't put those types of this time. I you know, I I think she has every right to ask for a raise. Everybody does. All the employees do just like anyone else.
And so, it's determining what you guys think on that too. I think the biggest thing is with the negotiations coming up and everything, take in all the info and all the, you know, bring everything in together and then make a decision that I'm doing. Mhmm. Is everyone okay with that? Yep. K. K. Alright. Moving on. Budget. Alright. Well, not many changes from all the meetings we've had. If there's any questions on it, let me know or if any further discussion after looking at it a little bit better. I highlighted just a couple little changes that are three of them that are in
there. And again, this is not we didn't change any total number, so the surplus doesn't change on any of them. We just kind of rearranged some of the numbers. Yeah. Any questions on that? Still at 6%? Just at 6%. Again, we can, you know, we can go down as we talk about this, but we have to set it tonight. We can't go up. I think 6% is palatable for the community. I think if Ashley says all of our numbers, are set across the board and everyone's happy, I mean, I don't I don't know why you guys would wanna do anything different,
but that's that's a few days. Correct. One thing though, and I did I don't know if I made the comment last month, and I don't know if Ashley did either, maybe on the radio or not. But if you guys look at that table breakdown that she gave us, if you go to the 6% line item, the $44.35 a year, average per household, that's on a $100,000 home. So you have a $200,000 home, double it, 300, triple it, blah blah blah. But, I've had a couple people ask me about that last week. Just, it's it's nice simple math going off a 100,000. Yeah. It's hard to sit and Yeah.
Accurately. Exactly. You know, the things that could change between now and, the when we do the final budget is we'll get better numbers from what the county is assessing properties at. If assessments go up, then we could potentially put our levy lower because we're getting a bigger percentage. Oh. Because it's based on their household. So if the household so there is still potential to lower that levy down to the 4%. We won't get those numbers usually until later, you know, October, November. But, yeah, if assessments go up,
that only helps the city because of percentages. Obviously, it affects the homeowners, and I'm not saying we want their values of their homes to go up. But it might give us the option then because we're making more since the values are up, we can lower that levy to help offset. Okay. Well, I guess I don't really need a formal approval on that not to what you said. Bottom. So Yeah. K. Any other questions or comments? Anybody? Perfect. K. Old business, September 24, back to what we were talking about earlier, the hundred and fiftieth anniversary kickoff meeting at the, Main Street Yep. ADA Event Center from six to 08:00.
Yep. And I did send Mike's in there, but I sent this out on August 12. So it's been a long time. So So Ashley hit on some advertising, some Facebook and paper and and, radio, and then, yeah. Does any council wanna be Oh, I'll be there. Part of it? I will try to be there. I'll see what my week is. Yeah. Yep. K. New business, Kaleidoscope guest, Casey and Scott. Nope. Casey is not out. Or Yeah. Casey is not gonna be around. So does anyone wanna help Scott out and do it? I can cover these guys. Alright. Alright. That leaves me, I guess. Right? Yeah. We got Scott and Ashley.
Got it. Awesome. You're good. Okay. Truth in taxation meeting set for 12/02/2025. We I've been at this council for I don't even remember years. It doesn't matter. We've never had anyone come to these meetings ever, ever, ever. I would like to move the time to 05:55 Okay. Before the meeting. Okay. If you guys don't mind showing up five minutes early instead of I hate starting the meeting, pausing here, sitting here with our, you know, fingers in the air waiting for someone to show up, and no one ever does. K. So That's fine. Can we do that? Yep. Okay. So Let's go ahead and be the year.
For that. Got it. Cool. Yeah. Because I gotta send the whole I gotta send this to you. Could Casey could come. Okay. So I need a motion, to change the time to 05:55 on December 2, please. So moved. K. And motion from Casey? Second. Second from Scott e. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. K. And then, set the preliminary levy. K. We talked about this. I think everyone's on the same page. I would like a motion to approve the preliminary levy at 6%. Motion. K. I got a motion from, Wayne and a second from Scott Ann. Nope. Any further discussion?
All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. K. Kelly Thronson Memorial donation request. Completely skipped it in August. I apologize. Maybe both of our faults. Yeah. Just looking for a $500 dose donation request to help offset some of the cost for the ribs and the food for Saturday's event. I saw your photos on Facebook. You probably ate $500 over there. We, it was a really good it was a really good turnout. It was, it was very well attended. I I I bet you mid afternoon, there was 250 people out there. Maybe 300. There was a lot of people there by one What did they think of the
phone? We had a little issue with the foam. If anyone had the chance to complain, it would have been Paul Bergman because it literally blew right in the tent. But he got first and chicken. So he's got nothing. So Seasonal. Yeah. Seasonal. Yeah. Maybe who knows? Never know. It might have been the secret. I'm the winner of the Yeah. How much do you got? Mike. Do we yeah. Yeah. We've got $3,000 in there. I like a motion that is going $500 off. K. Second up. And a motion from Mike, second from Casey. All in favor? Aye. Motion approved. K. And then, the joint powers agreement. Yeah. This is the annual agreement that we have.
Guys. Yes. It's with the state, our police department, and the, county attorney's office. Just stating we're all joint in powers. We're all following the same laws and procedures, and that, our, county attorney is our prosecuting attorney. So And I can read all seven pages if you guys wanna be here till 10:00. Otherwise, I need a motion to approve, please. I started reading it and fell asleep. Mike, was that a motion? You're better than me. I got I got a motion from Mike and a waiver they're reading and then a second from Scott n. Any further discussion? Otherwise,
I got a resolution 2025 dash o nine dash o one by roll call vote. Mike? Aye. Scott? Scott? Aye. Sean? Aye. Casey? Aye. Wayne? Alright. Resolution twenty twenty five dash o nine dash o one passes. K. Then, liability waiver coverage form. This is another annual thing we do when we, submit our liability coverage. It just looks that we waive the monetary limit, so that way, we're not at a set amount for our total loan of property that we have. It's kinda just a standard form. So I need a motion.
So moved. K. Motion from Casey. Second. Second from Scott e. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. K. Department updates. Public works. We I don't know. Yeah. So we we know what public works is going on. K. Public safety. And the last time we met was right before our, meeting special. So nothing. K? Yeah. EDA, same with See? Us. Yeah. Yeah. And then beautification. You wanna do that, Casey? Go ahead. Oh, we just, kinda did some ordered some more park benches. Some have been purchased. So we still purchased more.
We're certainly rising the cemetery and inside park, things like that. So, yeah. So about it. That's really Perfect. K. Letter I, council resignation. Casey, I'll just let you Yeah. Know. Gonna be moving out of town, so it's, time for me to resign this position here. But it's been, been a pleasure. I think it's been I don't even know how long it's been. Six years, I think. So yeah. Thank you guys for everything. Thanks, Casey. Yeah. Are you gonna come back next week? Month with the plan. No. I have a plan for you. Truth and taxation, I might show up to that.
So I'm excited. Thanks. Well, I think I speak for everyone. Obviously, Casey, you know, thank you for your six years of service, and you and I have talked multiple times outside of the chambers. I appreciate your vocal stand on everything that comes to this table. So, it's definitely gonna be missed. And, hopefully, you come back next month, and we'll give you a plaque that you can Sounds good. Put above your new mantle. There we go. So with that being said, Casey has not met two years of his four year term, so we have to open it back up to the public. No. Excuse me.
Take that back. He has met two years of his full term. We do not have to open it up, to a, a special session vote. It'll be just like when Wayne joined us. Next month, we'll, actually, we'll come to the council with a resolution. We'll open it up to the community. If any community members wanna join the council, it'll ultimately be up to the six remaining members to vote on, an approval of a extra council member. K. So anyone have any questions on how that's gonna work? Again, it's just like what we did with Wayne. So Wayne's fresh with it. So What the moment can I look at the timing of that being?
So our our at our October meeting, Ashley will open it up. She'll bring a resolution. We'll open up a council seat. Yeah. At our November meeting, we will If anyone If we yeah. If If there's anyone interested, we will, we will appoint a new council member. And if, we've had it before where no one's, been interested, we've got a month or two with only six council members. And that's again, as long as we have a quorum, it really doesn't matter. We're only obligated to have five anyway, and that's a conditioner, conversation for down the road maybe. But, so October, we'll open it up. September,
we'll either come with suggestions or, volunteers and then go from there. So But but there's no election. This is only here. Is there anything? There's election next year. Next year. Yep. It'll be 2026. There's, three of us on the mayor. Thank you. So you only have to do the special election if, you're with if you have more than two years left of your term. Your term. Right. Then we would have to do a special election and actually put that position on to a vote. Yeah. Yeah. Casey, you're in your third year. Right? He's in his third year.
His term is actually up next year. So we have So because we only have five year one year then. Well and that's gonna be the nice thing, and that's gonna be the draw, kinda like what yours was, Wayne. I mean, we can when you're talking to individuals throughout the community and Ashley and I'll hit on it on the radio too, it's it's basically a a year term to see if you're interested, see if it's something that you like. It's it's not a huge obligation at that point. It's a test drive. It's a test drive. Yeah. A long test drive. So So I get a longer test drive. Yeah. Anyhow. So with that being said, I'd like to go into closed session.
I need a motion to, go into a closed session and a second. Do we need to do a motion to Accept his resignation? No. We'll do it as the the You'll do it next week. Next week. Gotcha. Or next month. Sorry. Yeah. I'll make that motion to Go into to call session. Call session. K. So I got a motion from Sean. Second. Second from Scott e. All in favor? Alright. K. This meeting is closed. K. So do you wanna Jason? Yeah. Yeah. Turn the cameras. Turn the mics off. Shut the door. Thank you. Oh, god. That's fine.