Old order. The regular meeting of the Albert Lea City Council for Monday, June 22nd, 2026. Clerk please call the roll. Councilor Christensen here. Councilor. Baker. Here, councilor. Herman here. Councilor Olsen here. Councilor van Beek here. Councilor. Anderson here. And Mayor Murray
here. Would you please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? 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. Welcome to everyone tonight. We're glad you're here. Whether you're online or here in the chamber. With that, we'll move along to item three, which is a ceremonial item. Tonight we have the oath of Office of
Police Officer Joe Johnson. Chief Hansen. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the council, city officials. It's my pleasure tonight to introduce to you Joe Johnson. Uh, he is one of our newest police officers, our most recent police officer to
complete FTO. Uh, Joe is from the community. He spent several years with the sheriff's office, primarily in transports and court security. Uh, he got out of law enforcement for a short time, and when he chose to get back into the field, he chose the Albert Lee Police Department. So we feel fortunate and blessed to have
Joe come to our agency. Uh, Joe's family lives in town with him. And as you can tell, he enjoys riding motorcycle. Yeah. So. Joe, please step up. And, uh, the clerk will give you the
oath. So you can have, if you'll raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. Hi. Joe Johnson. Do you solemnly swear? Do solemnly. Swear to support the Constitution.
To support the Constitution. Of the United States. , of the United. States and of the state of Minnesota. And of the state of Minnesota. And faithfully and impartially. And faithfully and impartially. Discharge the duties of police officer. Discharge the duties of police officer. For the City of Albert Lea. For the City of Albert Lee.
Uh, Police Department. Police department. In accordance with the laws of Minnesota. In accordance with the laws of Minnesota. And the charter of the City of Albert Lee. And the charter of the City of Albert Lee. Freeborn County in the State of Minnesota. Fremont County, and state of Minnesota. So help me God. So help me God. Thank you.
Thank you. Welcome, welcome.
Thank you. Again. Glad you're here. Thanks for coming back. Nice job. Thank you. Welcome.
All right. Thank you. And, uh, thanks to the other police officers here tonight. We appreciate your service to our community. And let's be safe out there. Thank you. All right. Item four is a public
forum. Okay. All right. We have four people on the, um, public forum tonight. If you wish to speak
just to the on the EDA item that we'll be talking about later, there will be a, a public hearing during that time frame. So keep that in mind if you wish to just speak during that. Um, if not John. Uh, coconut.
Thank you, Your Honor. I do have something on the EDA, which I'll save for later, but I did have one question about the songbird trail that was not addressed in the previous, and I wondered how the, uh, a no vote would affect the, uh, Adams Avenue redevelopment as a
trailhead. And that was my comment. So when that comes up. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next on our list is Mary Umstead. Welcome.
Mr. Mayor and Councilman and council. Ladies. You want to pull that down? Yeah. Oh, there. You. Um, my talk is going to take a few more minutes. Um, I'm Mary Packer Olmstead. I own the
Merry-Go-Round. Shop down the street on Friday afternoon, I semi pulled in front of my shop after 3 p.m. five years ago, the same thing happened. I lost a lot of business that year during Eddie Cochran days. I had words with that person who
parked and blocked my sales. I was hurt then. I'm more hurt now. I went out to confront four men unloading Mr. Shipper Semi. I said, I hope you guys are only unloading because I don't want to experience what I did five years ago. Lots of
money, lots of business. A man with John Shipper, his group called me an Athens bitch and said we have a permit, a security guard proceeded to tell me to keep my mouth shut
to mind my own business said, I have no right to speak up, told me to get back in my store, that I had no idea what I was talking about. Then he raised a hand, his finger pointing many times as his fist came up and my husband stood behind me and
said, don't you dare touch her. I called Larry Baker, my councilman, the police, and my good friend Marsha mark. Martha Cisco Jones. I was hysterical, Larry was at my side. In seven minutes. The police got there
when they could. They listened to me, were kind. John Chipper had a permit and there was nothing they could do. They were sympathetic. Um, I walked around the semi and took pictures as they spread open, opened up a huge window to the
street and said. And I said, as I'm taking pictures. So it's okay for you to block my total business so you can sell your product. I was devastated, Larry gave me her phone to Daphne, who gives out permits. Poor Daphne also suffered the
wrath of Mary's hysterics. Why am I not valued in this community? After 38.5 years in business? Why is my business unworthy of us all contributing to Eddie Cochran days? I'm sorry I have to tell you this
or that. It's longer. I'm sorry it's longer. Not that I have to tell you this. 40 years ago, I was hired by the Taylor Hotel to be the new bar manager. The new bar was squishes at the hop. It had been the Corn Crib Lounge for years. Sandwiches was everything. 50s. The food, the black and white tiled
floors, the jukebox, the. The first band I hired were the Furnace Brothers, associated with the Platters and the Ink Spots. I was sent by my bosses, Joe LaFrance and Nick Gecas, to attend the buddy Holly event at the Star Ballroom in Clear
Lake. They dedicated a monument in front of the surf and they changed the east corner street to buddy Holly place. It was so amazing to me. I got to be part of it. I got to meet Maria Elena, Holly and Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets, the Big
Bopper son, the white sidewalls band group. For me, it was spectacular. I came back to Albert Lee, overjoyed, ebullient, exuberant with ideas. I called Mike white, Dave Noland, or both. At the radio station, and Mike reached out to a DJ from Fairmont who
they called Wolf Man because he looked like Wolfman Jack. I was ecstatic, ecstatic, and in squishies at the Hop, the Bar, I said, we need to establish Eddie Cochran Days. If Clear Lake can have buddy Holly
celebration, Albert Lee needs to celebrate Eddie Cochran's Eddie Cochran. I have some pictures from back then, and I have a note from Eddie Cochran's family thanking squishies because of their
going out of the way. So that's my story. My sad dilemma. I gave my all years ago to something I believed in. I went on, purchase my business, and Mike white has certainly took over the great development of Eddie Cochran days. He is the
pride and joy of our town, and I'm humbly grateful that my excitement created the idea. I was so pumped, my husband and daughter and I able to this incredible experience in Clear Lake. Our daughter rode up and down the elevator with
the Big Bopper son. Um. A little bit more. When something like this occurs to you, you tape it, you take a deep introspection and you take a
deep personal inventory of what has occurred in your life. I have folks from La Crosse, Des Moines, the cities, every small town in Iowa within 150 mile radius, who can sign and shop
at my store? I simply don't feel like I deserve this. On appreciation. My heart aches as I am ready to sell my shop. I've had the greatest passion and pleasure to be a part of this community. The community embraced me and I embrace the
community. I love my shoppers, my clients, and everyone who graces my threshold. I am embarrassed, ashamed and insulted to have been treated this way. Thank you. Thank you Mary. All right. Next
we have Thomas Newell. Welcome, Tom. Thank you. Good evening. And I appreciate your hearing me. I came before the council here a couple months ago regarding, uh,
Philip Johnson being appointed as an absent, uh, economic development person for the community. I was told that it was going to be interim, uh, in the past week, I've been receiving phone calls from people in the community asking
me to come forward again because they have heard that the city is about ready to sign a three year contract with our absent economic development. Man. Um, before you do that, I would like to have an explanation as to what the
search parameters were, what your efforts were to attract somebody to the position that could be in attendance in Albert Lee. And, uh, uh, what those requirements might be for anybody that would be
interested. Uh, has it been open to anybody in the community? And, uh, uh, if so, do they need to have a specific, uh, background or education? Thank you.
Thank you. Tom and I will follow up personally with you, uh, to give you your answers. I appreciate that. Thank you. Next up is Charles Newell. Good evening. Thank you everyone. Um, similar to my
father, I just, uh, was asked by several people in the last two weeks, uh, similar to about, uh, the position at Alida, and I've been out of the loop for a while, and, uh, after you hear it 4 or 5 times in a short period of time, it
just made me question and wanted to come to this, uh, council meeting to to ask questions and understand more's back to my neighbors and various people. So thank you. Thank you. All right. We'll
move along to the item five is a consent and approval of agenda A is the approval of the minutes of the June 8th, 2026 regular council meeting. Item B is approval of minutes of the June 8th, 2026 work session. And item C is licensed and permits counsel. Move to. Approve the consent.
And approval of agenda Your. Honor motion. My counselor. Baker. Is there a second? I'll second, Your Honor. Second, by Councilor Herman. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none. All in favor of the motion signify by saying I. Aye, aye. Opposed. Nay. Motion carries. Item six is petitions,
requesting and A is 20. The 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Now are we going to just. Your honor. Go ahead. City manager. Um, I'll just give a very quick report. And, uh, the auditor,
once they're available, will come in and and give the report. So at some point when we find a good, uh, breaking point, we will go ahead and do that. But just for the, the minutes and and for the public. Uh, Bergen KVD, uh, has audited
the 25 financial statements, and they are now available for review for the city council and the public. Uh, a again, a Bergen, uh, KTV representative will be, uh, present to provide a summary of the reports. We do recommend acceptance of the annual comprehensive financial
report. And at such time, when they are able to arrive here, um, once we conclude the business on that particular item, I would suggest that we come back to item six and, uh, have them give the presentation
and acceptance of the audit report. All right. We'll move along then to item seven, unfinished business A is the ordinance amending zoning and the land use map from the single family residence, R-1 to Industrial District I two for out lot A of
Battlezone Rincon edition. This is the second reading City manager. Thank you. Honor rezoning is requested for outlet A of the battles and Rakan addition from R1 to I2 to support the future sale and potential expansion of Vortex Cold storage. I would
say the future sale of properties and the expansion of Vortex cold storage. Adjacent vortex property and the remaining Port Authority number three will lead to Jobs Park, already zoned industrial. So the change is consistent with surrounding uses. While the
2040 Comprehensive Plan designates the area for residential use, the development patterns show the corridor functioning as industrial staff recommends. Excuse me.
Staff recommends amending the plan following rezoning approval to reflect existing conditions. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on June 2nd, 2026, and recommends approval based on the findings of rezoning consistency and zoning
compatibility. Staff recommends approval of the second Reading. Council moved. Approved. Your honor, counselor Baker, is there a second? I d, Your Honor. Second, by Councilor Herman. Any further discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. Aye.
Opposed? Nay. Motion carries. Item eight is new. Business A is a resolution accepting bid for the 2026 led service line replacement project. Job 2606 City Manager. Thank you, your honor. Engineering has reviewed the bids. Opened on June 2nd, 2026
for the 26 lead service line replacement project. This project is a city project designed and administered by the city. Uh. The project involves replacement of lead service lines throughout the city. This is the third year of lead service line replacement projects. The city has secured
approximately 1 million in grant funding for this project. This is less than in previous years. The plans and specifications were written in a way that we can reduce the award amount after the award, a change order will be done to reduce the award to match
funding. This project has let one of uh was let as one advertisement bids with two subgroups with 75 service line replacements within both bidders were allowed to bid on any combination of groups one and two, and the contract was awarded to the low bidder of
each group. The engineer's estimate was 1.16 $1,163,877.42. We received four bids for Group one and three bids for Group two. Um, the engineering is recommending the
low bid for each of the project groups. Platinum plumbing in the amount of $511,465 for Group one and BCM construction of Faribault, Minnesota, in the amount of $537,877.60 for Group
two. Total contract will be $1,049,342.60. Staff recommends approval. Council move to approve your. Honor. By Councilor Christensen. Is there a second? Second, Your Honor. Second by Councilor van Beek. Any further discussion? Yes.
Councilor Baker. Um, I. Just want. To say, um, it's nice. To see. That amongst the bidding, we had a local company and that they won the bid. So it's always nice to see that we get a local company doing some work for the city. All right. Thank
you. Any other discussion? I'll just mention that I will be abstaining from this vote because I have a family member. This part of that business. All right. All in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. Aye aye. Opposed? Nay. And I abstain.
All right. Motion carries. Item B is a resolution accepting bids for a portion of the Songbird Trail. In cooperation with Freeborn County. Job 2411. City manager. Thank you. Honor. Freeborn County and City Engineering have reviewed the bid openings by Freeborn County on Tuesday,
June 2nd, 2026 for a portion of the Songbird Trail. The first. The first portion is proposed to be constructed is from Fountain Street to Highway 13, and then a portion from Sunset Street to County Road 74, as well as the four bridges. The
county received two eligible bids, with the low bidder being Uihlein Brothers Engineering and Freeborn County are recommending accepting the low bid and awarding a contract of $2,196,920.72 to Uihlein Brothers of Albert Lea, Minnesota engineers estimate
was originally $1,526,876.34. The bid abstracts were attached in the packet because the bids were significantly higher than engineering estimate. The plan is to remove a gravel portion of the project so that reduce the contract. Total by 93,000.
The higher bids increase, the city and county cost significantly. The new estimated amounts, at least that are in the resolution seeking approval would be, um, uh, originally were 620,000
$953,000 in at grants, $250,000 and DNR connection grant $300,000, and DNR regional grant, uh estimated local city funds would be $466,488 and
estimated Freeborn County local funds would be $466,488. Uh, additionally, what I would like to say is that we do believe that, um, we can get this down,
uh, with a combination of some other available grant funding, uh, down to approximately 350,000. Uh, but right now, um, a couple of things. One county has to also approve on their end. And technically, it is
their project to we then have to get a contract from I believe it's it would be the dot. As to the increase in the At grant. Um after construction the city total cost will be
approximately 685,000. But we do believe we can reduce it by about 100,000. And, um, the funding source for the construction will be from fund for one. So we for one is a fund that we've been using for miscellaneous construction
projects. We did have this portion of the trail originally in fund 401 to be funded. Uh, it's just slightly higher, but there still is, uh, funding available. And without the
sales tax. Without the sales tax, uh, right now, as we originally planning to take care of the the trail project, we will probably be reverting back to our original plan, which was to go for heavy concentration of grants to pay
for the vast majority of the project. So 80, 90, in some cases, 100% of the construction would be funded from grants. Uh, and we would be likely moving this project a lot slower as a result of waiting for those grant cycles as
opposed to, uh, potentially going a little bit faster, in which we could have used the sales tax, uh, for those, uh, for that project. So, um, our change plans to use the sales tax has actually forced us to go back to our previous plans
from a few years ago of relying heavily on grants moving forward, this would probably be the highest concentration we would be seeing from the city on on this project. All right. Council would approve Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Anderson. Is there a second?
Second?Second by Councilor Bake Further discussion by the Council. I would like to. Councilor Baker. I would just like to have, um, the city engineer go through some of the things that he went through in our work
session, if you would, is to, you know, the the different things that are are in this, this project and what we are going to possibly eliminate. City engineer Mr. Yankee. I sure will. Yes. The project. Would start.
At Fulton Street and it would go northwest over to highway 13. In that section it would get it would all get paved. And then there is a bridge in that section that would be completely reconstructed, and then it would skip over highway 13 and go north to sunset. And
then at sunset it would go we would begin the paving again from sunset up to County Road 74. As part of that, this project that would get paved. And then the piece we took out, we were going to do a gravel portion just north of 74. That's the piece we're taking out of the project. And then
there's three, three bridges along highway 13 that the bridges don't need to be replaced, but the top sections of those need to be basically converted to a trail from a railroad section. So they have to be made safe for pedestrians. Okay. Your Honor, if I may, Mr.
Baker. Yeah. I just want to talk a little bit. I talked about this at the work session, and this has been going on for at least 12 to 13 years from from a joint meeting that, uh, the, the council and the commissioners had to talk about
this. And at that time, there wasn't a lot of, um, there wasn't a lot of people that were kind of interested in it, especially on the, uh, commissioners side. And as this has progressed, we have, uh, we've come this far. We've
talked about this. We've had different meetings about this. And one of the things that has happened is we, as a city in the county, have been able to work together to get to get to this point. Um, there's, there's quite a lot of, uh, you know, there's quite a decent
amount of money in the grants. That's, that's, uh, involved with this. Um, I don't know. Nobody knows for sure, but I, you know, if we were to not approve this and let those grants go away, what would our chances in the future be?
Nobody really knows. Um, so I think it's important that, uh, this thing, this whole project moves forward from from here. And, uh, and get the, get it started because I think this this, this also falls under
the, the I'm going to the piece of pie that we're working on with the economic development housing and with this, this, this brings in this works under the destination part of what people in this community have been working for. Uh, on a long
time. And I just want to mention the fact that, uh, the people that I've talked to, most of the people that I've talked to, are really excited about this, so that that would be Your Honor. All right. Thank you. Additional comments or discussion by the council.
Your honor. Councilor Christensen okay. Thank you. Rachel. Um, there are a lot of wonderful things about this project, and I appreciate the many, many hours that have been
spent by our city engineer, the county engineer, the trail group that's been working on all of these things, planning all of that. But, um, since we lost our planned funding with
the local option sales tax, uh, I am going to vote no on this project. Um, not that I would hope it would not be, uh, brought back at some time when we had the a better funding
source. But I did make a commitment at our truth in taxation that we weren't funding non-essential things like trails and trail is not essential for us at this point in time. So while I support the
project, I'm going to vote no. At this time, right. Thank you. Additional discussion. Your honor. Councillor Anderson. Yeah, we had a very long discussion at the work session about this. And there's a couple of things that it's worth the, you know, the public understanding. First of all,
that 1.4 million roughly in grant money. Can you speak quickly to the rarity of how difficult it is to secure those? And if we walk away from this, we the likelihood of us being able to get those again, I think that was Steve that made those comments at our work session. I think that's something good for the public
to hear. It's just, you know, they commit that money to overtly. So when if we and the county. So if we turn it back, they have to find a different spot for it. So it's more than likely, you know, it'll be a while before we would receive that funding and again in the future, if you look, remember
at the Blazing Trail Star Trail, we worked for almost 15 years before we we got funding for that one. So it I mean it's out there. It just if we turn it back it's hard to get it back again. Okay. Oh did you have another comment. Go ahead. Yeah. No I was going to say that because I agree
with Councillor Christiansen about not using the money, but the I think what I think it's important, the point that we need to make is that this part of the project had a lot of momentum behind it, and a lot of work has already been done, and it sounds like we have a solid plan to pay for it. At least our portion of this. If the county approves their
portion of it, that's the reason I'm supporting it. But I also just want to say that we really need to slow this process down. If we don't have that sales tax in there, uh, we have to have a funding mechanism that doesn't involve just adding this to the levy. I mean, this part of it, I think I in my opinion, we've done so
much work already, the the horses left the stable, so to speak. So that's why I'm willing to support it. But long term we have to make sure that we have a funding source in order to continue it, because there's a lot of people that were really excited about this project, including other counties. If we could get regional trail designation on
this. But, you know, now because of that sales tax, that's a that's a huge blow to this community. It really is not just for this trail, but a lot of other projects. Um, that, that that's, that's a, that's a divide between the Metro representative stopping this for us and the rural
communities, because there's so many amenities in a metro area that they have access to, that we struggle to find a afford to provide them for for our areas. And that's it's very frustrating. So hopefully we can get that funding back. But I will support this part of it. And could we quickly get Christy to talk about the fund
401 and how this portion of it is going to be paid so that we can get that on the record for the public? Just a second, city manager, did you have something to add first? Um, well, I could I could also speak to, for one, as relates to the workshop is that we do have the funding available in
fund for one, and we do not have any current projects slated for that fund. So otherwise it would sit there. One thing I want to keep in mind is that we already did have some funding planning or some fund use of fund 401 already planned. What we're actually looking at while we're looking at the total, and we're
talking about the total, in the end, we're probably looking at about a $75,000 difference between what had been originally planned and what we will likely receive as an outcome. Uh, and so if there's adequate or if you still wish to have the, the finance
director, uh, speak to fund 401, uh, certainly could one thing though, I do want to also comment on is that while it's not specific to this resolution as it relates to the trail, overall, we've had a number of other pieces and communications
in with the public about the trail and what would be taking place. And one of them that we, uh, were seeking as it relates to getting federal EPA money for, which would be the, um, tearing down and the rehabilitation of the area. Uh,
right by, um, along the rail line along Adams, there's a number of warehouses that are directly abutting that. And there was a plan to potentially put in a trailhead, uh, well, first step is still always going to be to tear down those
dangerous buildings and environmentally compromised buildings, uh, with those federal monies. And then after that, finding an adaptive reuse will come and it will come through the process of finding these other grants. Uh, if we're not able to, to use the
sales tax. So, um, you know, there there may have to be some shifting that would have to occur with what we've shown the public in this project as a result of what comes available in grant funding, if the sales tax, um, at the sales tax
legislation does not eventually pass, the legislature. , did that answer your question? Yes, sir. Thank you so much. Any additional discussion? Hearing none. All in favor of the motion, signify by saying
I. I, I'm opposed. No, no, no. What was the other. No, Keith. I mean. Keith and Rachel. And me. Oh. Yep. Okay. Motion carries for three. All
right. Item C is the public hearing resolution establishing the Economic Development Authority of the City of Albert Lee, city manager. Uh, before we start that, Your Honor, um, our auditor has now. Oh. Ed here and is able to present
under item six, as we had, uh, postponed. We'll jump back to six. This is the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Welcome. All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And members of the council, I appreciate you having me on the agenda
tonight, and I do I do apologize for being, uh, you know, not being here at the start of the meeting. I was trying to tackle two council meetings tonight. Uh, you know, so I was doing one virtually just down the hall here. And, uh, you know, there are some things on the front of the agenda that took longer, and, uh, so. But I was keeping
Christie updated on that front. So, uh, we do have a a slide deck as we, as we have in past years, that provides a good summary of the results of the audit work that we did for the city. Uh, so that's what I'll be utilizing. Uh, here again,
just to talk through kind of the key points from the various deliverables. It's a lot of reading information that that's included within those that's provided to you. Uh, we gave the final hard copies to Christie here tonight. Uh, so those will be available to you as well. Uh, but, um, you know,
to, to provide a good summary of the 250 plus pages of information, we can build a strong. I'll let you take this out for you. There you go. Thank you.
Okay. See? One second here. Here we go. All right. Uh. Let's see. Yeah, I. Guess that'll work. I don't know if there's. There we go. Maybe. Yeah, I think that's fine. Just to leave it that way. Yep. All
right. Uh, let's see, let's go. Okay. Well, I'll, I'll I'll work through it here. Some of the. Yeah. There we go. If we just adjust it there a little bit. All right. So of the various deliverables that we have, um, uh, the first one I'll refer to as the annual Comprehensive Financial Report.
So towards the beginning of that very lengthy document, there's a few pages that's referred to as the independent auditor's report. So that's our portion of it. Uh, we help with the preparation of the entire document. But the, the true, uh, segment that that belongs to us or pertains to us, that
reflects the results of the work that we did with regards to the finances of the city comes in. And in regard comes in through this report. Uh, so within there there's various sections. The first one that's included relates to the opinions that we're providing with regards to the financial
statements. Uh, the type of opinion that is included is what's referred to as an unmodified or clean opinion. Is is another term that's often used. So that is the optimal result. Uh, when it comes to a set of financial statements,
that's what oversight entities, the state, um, the state auditor's office, other state agencies, federal grant federal agencies, grant tours, uh, bond rating agencies. ET cetera. That's one of the key things they're looking at within the financial report, to see that there is indeed a clean opinion
that we didn't have issues with the audit, as far as, you know, not being able to test the necessary documentation. Uh, there could be, you know, scope limitations, things like that. If we ran into those type of situations, but, uh, very, very favorable result for the city there, uh, with, uh, uh,
achieving that, uh, unmodified opinion. And then within that report as well, it touches on the responsibilities of both management and then also has the auditors. Management is responsible forr presentation of the financial information to us and appropriate maintenance of internal controls. Our duties
as the auditors is to design and execute the audit approach, uh, that adheres to the professional standards and puts us in a position where we can provide reasonable assurance, uh, versus absolute assurance that there would not be any material misstatements that would go undetected as part of the process, either
individually or in the aggregate. Okay. So that that reasonable assurance is a term that's used intentionally, but it is meant to provide a high level of confidence that there would not be anything, again, material that would go undetected, 90 to 95% confidence level, uh, is kind
of how it works out just based on our our materiality, calculation, sampling, etc., that we incorporate into our testing approach and procedures. Okay. So with that, uh, then the other deliverables that we have, I'll get to the other information, the financial report through some
uh, graphs that we'll look at, uh, but the other before I get to those, the other deliverables that we provide, uh, there's a report that captures, uh, reporting that we have to do on internal controls as well as Minnesota legal compliance. And then also for federal awards, uh, depending
on the extent of federal awards expenditures that were incurred, there's some additional compliance audit work for us to do in that regard, too. So first, as it pertains to the reporting on internal controls, so the information that can come through in this report can be somewhat wide ranging. So if
there's issues we run into where we identify that the the city did not have appropriate segregation of duties, checks and balances in place, things like that. That would be something we'd have to report on. We do not have anything in that regard that we're reporting. So things checked out well in regards to, um, our
review of the segregation of duties and all of that having appropriate mitigating controls in place where there may not be, you know, the ability to have perfect separation. Uh, another area that that does get included within the internal control reporting aspect is if,
uh, during the audit process, if us as the auditors, uh, identify any, um, known or likely misstatements as, as part of the audit, just based on how certain transaction or balance is recorded, uh, within the general ledger. Um, we we
work through that, uh, with management and make sure we've got all the facts and circumstances and figure out if indeed there is an adjustment that isn't necessary in those cases where it's determined that that an adjustment is necessary. We then have to look at how the amount of that adjustment compares to our materiality. Uh, materiality
calculation for that individual fund, because our opinions we provide are at the individual major fund level. And then non-major funds collectively, not to get too far in the weeds, but the my point is, the materiality amounts that we calculate, uh, under as prescribed by the standards can
get to be fairly, fairly small amounts. Um, the item that we had that surfaced in, in the grand scheme of things, this is very narrow, uh, in nature and really a technical matter. Some things that came into play with
timing, just with how certain actions, you know, certain things were happening prior to year end than after year end, but then also looking kind of closely at how, um, you know, the the terms of the agreement are structured and so forth. So the that is in place, um, between the city and
the Port Authority as it pertains to the TIF district, uh, for vortex, where there is the agreement for the land, uh, tied to the land right down and so forth, where then, you know, the city will, um, basically
pass along the tax increment collections that are considered to be available in future years to the Port Authority to, in essence, make them whole for the for the right, down on the, on that, on that property or the real estate, the, the, the liability for those future amounts to be paid through to
the Port Authority and and then a related expenditure were initially recorded on, on the city's general ledger. But as we kind of dug into the information more and got a better sense as to kind of the extent of this city's obligation and so forth. And, you know, certainly the full
expectation is that that full amount will ultimately make its way back to the Port Authority. It's just when you line it to the specific characteristics under the accounting guidance, it does not for the especially for the fund level, financial statements. It does not meet the the definition quite yet of
being an A liability and expenditure. Um, because of the contingent nature of it based on the available tax increment revenues in the future. Okay. So that's the that's the nature of the adjustment we had. It's
unfortunate that it has to get referred to or called out as an item in our internal control report because as I alluded to, um, you know, it is not meant to, um, be indicative of any kind of, you know, pervasive
internal control concern or anything like that. It is it just happened to be a transaction that was a significant dollar amount. And, uh, digging into some of the technicalities and aligning it to the accounting guidance, it kind of led us to that position of having that adjustment. So,
okay. All right. On the federal ward findings. And I'll mention on that to, um, certainly not uncommon for uh, municipalities to have that type of finding, uh, from time to time, I would say, you know, not just the reports we issue as a firm, but the reports I look at from
other firms more times than not, there's a finding that surfaces for some type of adjustment to come through. The city's had a very, very great track record. And we fully expect going forward to next year that it'll be back to not having a finding like this just from time to time. It's hard to
bat a thousand, I guess, as the the point I'm making. Um, so things like this will will surface here and there. So. Okay. All right. Uh, mentioned earlier that the federal wards, depending on the level of expenditures this year, the city with the, um, some of the PFA funding that's coming
through, it is there's federal funds included with that. Um, even though it's coming through, uh, passed through a state agency. So given the extent of the, uh, related expenditures that were incurred tied to that funding, this additional federal ward compliance requirement, our audit requirement kicked in. So
we did some deeper dive testing on that piece. Everything checked out. Well, no findings that were reporting in that regard. And then the Minnesota Legal Compliance, uh, the state auditor's office, they publish a guide that we have to go through in addition to all of our other audit programs that really focuses on the state statutes that have financial
pe in basically, they ask us as as the engaged auditors to do spot checks on things like contracting and bidding protocols, conflict of interest, uh, checks, requirements, etc., making sure deposits have appropriate collateral that's been pledged
for them by the by the banks and, and such. Uh, there with all that testing, everything checked out. Well, okay. And then the communications letter that's known at the bottom, uh, various required communication points in there, all those are, um, very favorable, indicate that we encounter no
significant difficulties as part of the audit. Uh, no disagreements with management. You know, anytime we have adjustments, there's always that process of working through and making sure we're aligned as to, um, you know, how you know, how it should get reflected and so forth. But I wouldn't classify anything as a, you know, difficulty or disagreement. Certainly. So.
Okay. Um, then the communications letter also includes various graphs showing financial trends. I'll take us through a few of those here tonight. Uh, looking first at the general fund. And then we'll also look quickly at the water and sewer utility funds, just given that those are three
really the primary operating funds, if you will, for the city. Of course, there's many other funds for capital projects, debt service. ET cetera too. But these are the ones we'll focus on for this purpose. Okay. So for the general fund, here's just showing a trend of the, uh,
general funds, uh, fund balance position. Uh, over a five year period at the end of 2025, of the total fund balance that is reflected there of about 13 million, uh, roughly 10 million just north of 10 million of
that is in the unassigned category. So that unassigned fund balance is really the, uh, um, uh, what's showing what's truly available for covering kind of day to day operating costs. And, uh, as you're aware, it's important for local governments to have a, a
healthy fund balance level at the end of the calendar year because it's halfway through the next year. Before that first large property tax instalment comes through from the county, based on the property tax collections that happen in in early April, early April, it's usually late June,
if not the first day or two of July when that remittance comes to the city. So having plenty of working capital built up, uh, to kind of get through that first half of the next year, uh, with that, uh, let's see. Oh, uh. why is it not advancing
here? Oops. Sorry about. That. Oh. All right. Uh, okay. So with that, here's just shows the trend with the revenues and expenditures. Um, actually, before I go through this, I was thinking there maybe it was another fund balance slide, but I'll just mention quickly. So
with regards to the coverage for that unassigned fund balance category, the city's fund balance policy is to have a minimum fund balance coverage of 45% of the next year's budgeted expenditures. That's in line with the guidance from
the state that says municipalities should strive for a range of 35 to 50%. They also say no less than five months of expenditure coverage. So where it shook out for the city at the end of 25, uh, based on a 2026 budget for the
general fund of about 20.2 million, it's almost exactly at 50% coverage. Uh, so very good spot for the city to be at and demonstrates the good financial stewardship that's in place. So, okay. All right. So then we'll move forward to the
revenues and expenditures here. Uh, on both both revenues. And then we'll see on the expenditures as well. Uh, they have increased uh, over the years, presented in total, they've increased about almost exactly 25% each. So moving up
at the same clip in 2025, uh, uh, revenues increase. Uh, not not quite as significantly on the ex. Uh, yeah. This one's fine. Most of that, of course, is tied to property taxes and intergovernmental, which is the
local government aid. Uh, if we look at the next slide on the, uh, for general fund expenditures, uh, for this one here, uh, total 18.9 million increase from the prior year was about 4%. Okay. And continuing to move forward.
Okay. Looking at a budget tax for comparison. So, uh, here with this one, uh, both on the revenues and the expenditure side, favorable variances that are reflected, uh, for revenues, uh, about as close as can be to the overall budget,
uh, comes out to be about 2/10 of 1% positive variance there. Uh, a few different offsetting factors. So for the tax revenue line that's shown first there you can see there's a variance of about 420,000. Uh, that's not as much related to the property tax piece, but more so
the franchise taxes. That can be a bit more unpredictable. And when it comes to the budgeting for that. So just how that kind of, um, shook out during the year, uh, really drove most of, of that variance. Then uh, the other line item in the revenue
section that had a significant, um, difference relates to the miscellaneous revenue. So a positive variance there, about 337,000, most all of that, uh, difference relates to investment earnings. So the general funds allocation of the
total investment pool for the city, the amount that was reflected there, the budget for investment earnings, um, pretty much across the board for all cities is done in a very conservative way because things can change fairly quickly as it pertains to interest rates and
just other market factors that drive those results. So between interest, earnings and the mark to market fair value adjustments on those investments, that's what really drove that that positive variance there about 336,000 okay. Then on the expenditure
side, uh, the positive variance, there was about 2%, roughly $400,000. Most of that came in the culture and Recreation uh, line item, as you can see there. Uh, and with that, uh, it was notably tied
to personnel costs in the one of the key driving factors there was with the arena being shut down for part of the year for the remodel project. Um, so less, less, uh, personnel cost being incurred during those during those time or during that time frame. So that was
the most notable, uh, item to call out there. But all in all, you can see all fund balance for the general fund increase by about 400,000 year over year, which is very much in line with the increase in the previous year as well. Okay. All right. I'm going to advance
the next one here. So then we'll look at the water utility first. Uh so with this one you can see uh generating a healthy amount of operating income. We do include both uh, operating income with depreciation and without depreciation. The without depreciation gives you a better sense of the of the
cash flow generation. How much is being, uh, um, uh, um, uh, coming through that can be put into reserves for, uh, uh, covering costs of future infrastructure improvements and so on and so forth without having to incur, uh, or limit
the extent of, of debt that's utilized for some of those projects. So you can see they're certainly very, very good results. Uh, for 2025, on the revenue side, uh, the increase, uh, there was, um,
not as significant as on the expense side. There were some non sizable expenses that came through in 2025. Uh, so those go rate to uh, the the income statement, if you will, uh, that those that don't meet the capitalization policy and get
depreciated over a number of years. So that's really what drove, uh, that change there. Uh, then also, if we may advance to the next slide here for the water utility, you can see this is showing both cash investments and the
unrestricted net position, each of which had, uh, increases from the previous year just with that operating income generation. Uh, and then looking at 2021, I did want to just point out and just remind folks that the reason why that cash balance was showing so high for that year, there was, uh, debt that was issued, uh,
leading up to the end of, uh, that that year. Uh, so until those proceeds are spent for the related projects that they were issued for, uh, it does cause that temporary bump in the cash position for the fund. So and the project that he would be referring to in the
bond would be the water tower. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. All right, then we'll move to the sewer utility here. So with this one also operating income in all five years presented, uh, the operating income, uh, was up about $1 million
compared to the previous year. And, uh, much of it was kind of twofold, uh, on the revenue side, uh, increase of almost half $1 million tied to mainly rate increases. And then on the expense side, uh, a decrease of
almost half, around half $1 million. And it was kind of the, um, the opposite, um, just or, uh, a similar situation, but just in falling in different years. As to the water utility, there were some large, non-capital, sizable, uh, kind of repairs, maintenance costs, etc. that
happened in 2024 that that, uh, bumped the expenses up there. And now coming back down again. Okay. So then the, uh, that then leads to the change in the cash position as well as the, uh, net unrestricted net position, uh, for the year. And
you can see they're kind of building up now going past the ten, 10 million mark on the unrestricted net position. So that representing, again, kind of the reserves that are built up to take on those future impr Okay. So that is it. Uh, as far as the information that I wanted to
cover with you, uh, here this evening. So I know that was pretty quick. And there's a lot of information there. And then in the reports we issued two. So if anything caught your eye that I didn't touch on, uh, certainly. Glad to elaborate or address that. And then any
questions you have, uh, glad to feel those. To. Councilor Christiansen. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you for your presentation. I really appreciate that you give the wise behind some of the differences. That makes it so much more meaningful and accessible. Uh, one slide that I was confused by. And I bet
there's an easy answer, but on the general fund, revenues and expenditures chart where there's a difference every year, uh, in about four of the five years, it is a continue. Uh.
I think it's one higher than that. There it is. Yeah. What is the difference? And where do we make it up? Is that so? The so the revenues. Um, so part of this is, uh, and in
2022, as far as the, the revenue is exceeding expenditures, uh, there likely was some grant funding coming through or, um. I think I. Perhaps I'm trying to remember
what in 22, there would have been. These revenues and expenditures don't, um, include the transfers and transfers. Yeah. The transfers part, but yeah. So that's why you still have increase in fund balance because there are budgeted transfers coming into the general fund from the different
utility water and sewer for their share of kind of the general administrative costs that all are are borne by the general fund. Okay. So you've got those, uh, inflows coming in that contribute to, uh, the fund balance change in the general fund. So that's very
common for cities. And then, uh, you're right, you do have the one year they're 20, 22. I would have to look back to get a little bit more details on kind of what happened in that in that year. But sometimes there can be kind of a one off revenue source, uh, that's non-recurring in nature, that
makes its way through. , uh, city manager. I do believe that it was, uh, part of the Covid money that we got and that we officially then put it into, um, I'm going to say this wrong somehow. We put it into the general fund to
cover, uh, operational expenses as it related to, uh, eligible expenses for Covid grant. Yeah. You know, Councillor. Christian and I have one final question. Sure. Um, is there anything that came to your attention that you haven't mentioned that we should be
aware of? No there hasn't. We try to be very, very transparent with, you know, the information we communicate to the to the council. And, you know, as far as any any particular concerns, things like that. No, there
isn't anything, anything else? Um, you know, the folks involved at the city, um, certainly demonstrate to us that they take stewardship very seriously and doing the right thing for the right reason for the city. And, um, certainly very, very impressed with the the team that's in place here. Yes.
Thank you. And chairman. Overall. What is our financial picture we stand in. Good. Excellent. Fair. Not so good I mean. Yeah no, the, uh, the city is in I'd say very healthy financial position. Um, the credit rating, which you would
have had one here somewhat recently, I believe a double A plus rating or double A minus. Uh, but uh, from, in that regard, in the, you know, kind of the, the different metrics that are looked at by the credit rating agencies, the bond rating agencies, certainly
from their perspective, also viewing the city to be, you know, in a very, uh, you know, solid financial position, okay. City manager. Uh, yeah. As to the, um, comment about the bond rating, our bond rating is probably
maxed out as what a city can be for both our financial position and our strong management of funds. Uh, the only thing that could make our credit rating, uh, improve by, uh, Standard Poor's or Moody would be
significant demographic changes within the community, which do not just, you know, easily happen or are not 100% within our control. So without those major demographic changes, um, we're we're probably as high as
we possibly can within our stewardship efforts. Uh, financially. Thank you. Thank you. Any additional discussion or questions from the Council? Thank you for your time tonight. We appreciate. Yes, thank you very much. We appreciate the opportunity to again, to be of
service to the city. And and, uh, yeah. Glad to be here this night, tonight to present the results. So thank you. Thank you. Yeah. All right. Item C is a public hearing and a resolution establishing the Economic Development Authority of the City of Albert Lee will open the public hearing with the
staff report. City manager. Thank you, Your Honor. Uh, first must conduct a public hearing. And after the hearing, the council can vote on the resolution. Uh, resolution is a standard creation of an EDA. Uh, for the public. And EDA is a special district that's
currently, uh, encompasses the city of Albert Lee boundaries, but has the potential to be expanded and expanded in cooperation with other governmental agencies. That's one of the advantages of an EDA over a port authority. Uh, the benefit at this time, though,
is the differing level of authority that an EDA has that is greater than an HRA. And also then could alleviate some of the potential projects or actions that the Port Authority, um, has since taken on. Um, following the council
meeting, uh, the EDA will convene no sooner than 8 p.m. if the council does a pass, the enabling resolutions and items D and E are also tied to whether or not the enabling resolution is passed. Now, I was asked to make sure to
comment on a couple of things as to why we are doing this. Um, first I'd like to say is that a lot of it has to do with statutory authority. Uh, within the the state of Minnesota, uh, they carve out certain special districts to do certain things.
And while there are some overlaps, there are very clearly some limits or some expectations within those particular agencies. As an example, though, a HRA can do certain redevelopment aspects.
Um, they are typically more focused. And the way the law is written, especially when it comes to bonding practices, at least now, uh, as it relates to HRA, they are very much more focused on low to moderate income housing. Now, many communities that have high res
then also have ADUs or just simply have Adas that they have set to take on HRA authority to do everything within an HRA and also an EDA. So many communities that have HRA also have Adas. Uh, we are different
in that we have an HRA and we have a Port Authority, and I think we've been running under a general assumption that somewhere in EDA, a proper EDA under state statute had been established. It had not, at least not any records we could
find. Um, the Port Authority and its and its efforts. Um, well, again, there are certain things it can work on because there's this general term that says and other buildings or properties, which then could mean, well, that could mean an
apartment complex, that could mean a number of different things. But typically when they list the type of projects or authorities that a port authority works on, it's typically more warehousing, industrial or infrastructures
or relates to warehousing and and industry and support of, let's say, manufacturing. So we have an HRA that does not have the full capabilities of an EDA, but does have some redevelopment authority, uh,
under certain circumstances, but is not been used. We have a port authority that has been um, uh, applying, uh, that other buildings standard, uh, as it relates to its assistance in the absence of an EDA. But
what we've been missing is that middle portion, which is the actual EDA, and being properly established, and that authority being established, um. And an
example of, again, the differences for the public port authority might build an industrial park, build a warehouse, build an incubator space, SREs can deal with blight and redevelopment. So let's say if you have a downtown block that has
significant blight, they could use some of their HRA authority to help clean that up. Um, whether that would be commercial or residential. And they have powers to add housing to the community. But again, typically it starts off as low to moderate income housing as
the primary focus and funding sources. So in that gap you have, uh, what about very uh, without going through and spending exhaustive time, uh, officially labeling in areas blighted, you know, but you might have a shop that needs
some assistance with some, uh, mild renovations, let's say some exterior work, some facade work, or, uh, establishing, uh, business loans or some of those ' really an EDA comes in. And having that, the city has been stepping up and doing a lot of
those without officially establishing an EDA. And under our very broad charter, city, uh, authority, there are a lot of things we can do, but there's still certain limitations that if having an EDA, um, that that would unlock
primarily with any projects that we may take on that require bonding. So this is where, um, basically, this is the missing middle of a broader economic development picture that I think maybe we were running under certain
assumptions. I know I was when I first started, that it had been established, but I could not find any record of it Officially being established and, um, the goal at this time is to not create a new agency
where we're going to hire more people or anything of that. It's just simply creating that legal pathway to do some of the things that we've already been doing or we need to do, but working with as a three prong effort, the HRA, a newly
established EDA, which would basically be largely the city, but under proper authorities and the Port Authority. So that way we can work together on a lot of these projects because we know all of them going hand in hand, cleaning out blight,
uh, low income housing, workforce housing, uh, manufacturing, warehousing, uh, taking care of utilities and infrastructure, all of that interplay with each other as it relates to economic growth in a healthy community and a vibrant
economy. So that is what we're looking at here. All right. Any questions from the council? Uh, City manager. Councilor Herman. I have a question, Your Honor. Um. so where does the Alita fit in amongst. Those boards? City Manager.
Alita is the Albert Lee Economic Development Agency, not authority. Um, honestly, it took me about a year to finally, um, remember that that's what it actually means. Is agency. Um, and for many
years, I kept saying, well, I think we gave them the authority to be the EDA, but in the time of the creation of Alita and the separation of the HRA from being city, uh, directly, um, I could not find anything in the establishment
resolutions that showed that we actually properly gave those authorities to them. Um, as for the Port Authority, uh, they do have a lot of work in front of them. Uh, we do know some projects coming up that is going to keep them, uh, quite
busy. As for the elite of board, it's actually made up of two separate boards. There is the Port Authority board, and then there is the Greater Jobs, which is a nonprofit board. Again, same people. You can have the same people on both boards, but they still have to
keep two separate books and hold technically two separate meetings. Essentially, what we'd be looking at temporarily with with the EDA would be the same thing as it relates council. There would be the council in the city, and then there would be the EDA. Um, and
it would function very similar as how greater jobs and the Port Authority Act under Lita. Now, not similar as in duties, but similar as and make up how they both mirror each other in the future down the road. If we
so chose to incorporate and consolidate more of these together to create greater unity, accountability, transparency, whatever the reasoning may be. Uh, efficiency, even, uh, we can
have um, and that's because the minimum requirements set up for what has to be on an HRA board, an EDA board, and a Port Authority board is two council members. And so with that, all
three of those could be technically laid at the same board, even if they have to hold three meetings in the same day back to back, back. Um, so there is that ability to do that. But right now what I like to do is establish one the authority. And then through
that, the potential for, um, a levy, which would be to optimize its authority. But it doesn't mean we have to use it. And then sit down and have all three boards at your official everything being officially
established. Basically, divvy up the responsibilities that we know need to be done in the community to really bring forward, uh, growth. We need houses. We've had, um, we know that we were in competition of
a larger community for something coming up that, um, quite frankly, we beat them on taxes. We beat them on financing, we beat them on just about everything but workforce. That was their biggest concern.
That was the thing that even despite all of those those benefits we could provide, workforce was still a very big issue for them. And could they fill those jobs with people soon enough and continues to be an issue for many of our businesses here. But we can't
just have workforce arrive without there being housing nearby. So we know we need to work on that. And and it all plays with each other. And so these are the kind of tasks that we need to set up. We need to make sure that our sewer, uh, our wastewater treatment plant stays at capacity, that
systems are looped or large enough to be able to handle, um, you know, supplying, you know, water. If we have a wet industry come in. What does that mean? Uh, so all of these play into each other? Um, and, uh, we really need to sit down
and and sort of divvy up those responsibilities, knowing our limitations and resources financially, resources and time, and also our skill sets with the individuals that that that make up the the staff and the boards. So.
Did that help. That. Did any further discussion by the council? Hearing none. Oh, Larry. Yeah. So just one. Um, as we go forward with this and when we come to deciding the board, um,
I think it I would like to see the board. Obviously be part the the or the council be part of the board. But I'd also like to see, um, community members that will be appointed to that board too. Um, just for the
simple reason that gives them the idea or gives them an inside information as to what really goes on and how we go about doing our development, doing our, our housing and things like that. And then they can talk to other community
members if there's ever questions come up just to kind of help understand what exactly is going on and how it's, uh, how it's performed. Okay. All right. City manager. Your honor. Uh, I'm sorry, I'd
like to comment on on that before we open up the public hearing. Um, many cities, actually, while the city staff are the actual ones providing the services under those agencies, such as an HRA port or an EDA, or a combination
thereof. Many times they do have boards that are not exactly the same as the council. Some do. Some don't. And for those very reasons that you stated, sometimes they create those those differences for those very reasons. Uh, but
a lot of times they do combine like many times you will see an HRA and EDA as being almost inseparable. Uh, maybe they're separated. I mean, they might be separated in a few reports, maybe even by a few, you know, websites here and there. But largely it's a lot of times the
same staff under the same city. Um, uh, that, that are joined up. And that's one of the, the strong connections that is, that is created between the council and these boards that are comprised of, uh, the minimum state required council
representation, plus members from the community. Okay. Thank you. All right. With that, for the first time, would anyone like to speak regarding the resolution of establishing the Economic Development Authority of the City of Albert Lea? Come
on up. State your name. Good evening, mayor and the council. My name is John Cockett. I'm a resident of Ward two. Longtime resident, and I've been here about almost 13 years, and I've just had a few,
uh, observations of what I've seen as far as building development and the things that have gone on. I'm standing here tonight to address the proposal to establish new Economic Development Authority. The official notice in the email I got states that this council is creating the state, this agency
to focus on expanding the local tax base through housing, business development. And they intend to immediately appoint yourselves as a sole governing board before we concentrate this immense financial and administrative power into a single closed loop, we need to
ask a very straightforward questions about what expanding the tax base actually means for the everyday residents of Albert Lea. now, we're witnessing a visible pattern in our residential neighborhoods and wards where modest generational homes are being acquired through tax forfeiture
or code enforcement slated for demolition and replaced with new housing that is significantly more expensive than the surrounding neighborhood. Let's be entirely transparent with the public tonight. Does expanding the tax base mean artificially driving up property values so the city
can take a bigger cut? Or is the goal here to intentionally raise property assessments? Assessments on the hardworking families, retirees and those on fixed incomes already living in those blocks, effectively pricing long term residents out of their own neighborhoods
through rising taxes. At the same time, this is happening to our residential neighborhoods. We are seeing a completely different standard applied to high value commercial assets downtown. We watched multi-million dollar structural assets be funneled through public custody, stabilized and
prepped using public resources, and then awarded to preferred private investors and family insiders for single dollar under the guise of redevelopment. Let's look at the ultimate roadmap roadmap mentioned at the last meeting of the eventual dismantling of
our Port Authority and the HRA altogether, phasing out those distinct bodies in favor of the single monolithic EDA doesn't just streamline paperwork, it completely dissolves our system of local checks and balances. It replaces independent citizen
commissioners with a single political board that controls every piece of public land. In Albert Lea industrial, commercial and residential. So we have two systems operating at once. On the one hand, everyday residents face aggressive code enforcement,
tax forfeitures and the threat of rising neighborhood assessments. On the other hand, a select circle of preferred developers receives deep public subsidies. Public land for a dollar, and elimination of independent citizen oversight. Meanwhile, the basic administrative duties like
ensuring our special events permits, are legally compliant and not exposing taxpayers to federal copyright lawsuits, languishes true. True economic development should protect the community's wealth, not displace it. Before we centralize more development
authority behind closed doors tonight, let us first commit to protecting our historic neighborhoods, ensuring fair assessments and running transparent administrative house. Thank you. Thank you. For the second time, would anyone else like to speak?
Please state your name. Lucas Schuster. Your honor, um, just like to say thank you for all of your efforts in, um, cleaning up what seems to be an administrative oversight in the past. Um, what the agency and
authority, all the acronyms. Um, thank you for doing that. In in that line of thinking, um, for the public's benefit, it might be great for a breakdown or some sort of, uh, infographic to see how does this all work together? Sorry.
Um, and in that regard, I think, um, Mayor Murray yourself and probably Mr. Riggs and the council have done a fantastic job in coordinating, uh, a better, um, presentation of what the city has been doing
over the last several years. So thank you for that. Thank you. All right. For the third time, would anyone else like to speak? Hearing none. We'll close the public hearing. I would entertain a resolution
establishing the Economic Development Authority of the City of Albert Lee Council. So moved. Motion by Councilor Christensen. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Councilor Anderson. Any further discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by
saying I, I close. No motion carries. All right. Item D is the appointment of the Economic Development Authority board members Rich Murray, Rachel Christensen, Larry Baker, Ted Herman, Reed Olsen, Keith Van
Beek, and Brian Anderson. Council. Duane, do you need to comment on that or go ahead? City manager. Um, we'll take. Basically council will need to, at least for the moment. Uh, appoint themselves to EDA officially. Uh, typically,
mayor makes a, um, the appointment announcement and, um, it would be best to have the council motion. Second, approve, uh, these these, um, these, uh, members for the public and for the record, what we have listed is, uh, Ward
four, uh, Council member Reed Olsen would serve and expires at. These all expire December 31st. In order to keep them consistent with all other boards. December 31st of 2026. Ward five Keith van Beek
expires uh, in 27. Ward six Ryan Anderson expires in 28. Ward one Rachel Christensen expires in 29. Ward two Larry Baker expires in 2030. Ward three Ted Herman expires in
2030 231. Excuse me. I want to double check that. No, this is correct. Excuse me. And then, um, Ward. Uh, and then, um, mayor Rich Murray expires in
2032. Uh, we had to set him up where? It's a, um, it's one two, three four. Uh, I believe 6 or 1 23456. Uh, separation. And, um, so every year there would be someone appointed, and
I don't expect this to stay this way, because I think that there is a strong desire to eventually have the EDA mimic something very similar to what the Port Authority or the HRA is. However, given the roadmap that a lot of other communities
have, many of these boards are one and the same. So we do have to have these discussions with those boards as to what they may look like in the future, as well as, again, as I had said earlier, what are the authorities going to be? So while I cannot say this is an
interim board, legally, I think we all generally have an understanding that this not the intended permanent makeup of how this board will be. And at some point, once we have that understanding and trying
to find a way to make sure that we have better connection and transparency and accountability, uh, with between all three, we would then potentially be looking at changing the very nature and makeup of the board, either
through general expirations. Uh, and then appointing new or just a full rewrite, because you do have the authority once someone is on to also then change and and remove, uh, in the future. So this is not meant to be forever. What we
will need to do though in the EDA meeting that is required by law, is that we must appointed president and vice president, a treasurer, a assistant treasurer, and a secretary. Uh, that is something that in order
to conduct the meeting, following this meeting, we will need to make sure that those appointments are made at the time of the meeting, at the start of it. So. And we will need a board officially appointed in order to call a meeting in the first place. All right. Council.
Move to approve, your Honor. Councilor Christensen, is there a second? I'll second. Your Honor. Second, by Councilor Herman, any further discussion by the council? Yeah. Real quick, Councilor Anderson. Uh. I think that Joel said something earlier, and we were talking about this a lot at the at the work session. I think it's worth sharing with the
public about, uh, how the the EDA isn't going to do anything that the city is not already doing. It's just statutorily it makes it easier to do it. Is that a correct description of how our discussion earlier. The city attorney I. Think you're legitimizing what you're already doing by
creating a format that ties directly to the statute with, uh, responsibilities and authority that you presume that you've had on an ongoing basis. I also believe that this process here, as outlined, is going to create greater accountability to the public for the actions that the that
these activities actually are involved. All right. Any additional discussion? Hearing none. All in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye aye.
Opposed? No. Motion carries. Item E is the adoption of the bylaws of the Economic Development Authority of the City of Albert Lee, city manager. Thank your honor. These bylaws are basic and were provided by our TIF bonding attorney, um, who has helped us on a number of questions related to economic development and the
use of an EDA. The official seal is not attached at this time to the bylaws, but will be approved at a later date by the board and approved by City council staff. Recommends approval. Council moved to approve. Your honor, councillor Baker, is there a second? I'll second. Your Honor. Second, by Councilor Herman, any further
discussion? Hearing none. All in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? No. Motion carries. Item F is the resolution accepting donations as presented to the City of Albert Lee, City Manager. Thank you. Honor. Uh, the City of Albert Lee is generally
authorized to accept donations pursuant to Minnesota state statutes for 65.03 for the benefit of its citizens. Staff recommends acceptance of the following donations as submitted for council and approval. Daph giving 360. This is the Murray Family
Charitable Fund in honor of Adam Murray, $18,903 to Shoreline Heights Playground Equipment and $5,000 to the Senior Center design. Council. Move to approve Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Baker is
there a second? Second? Second by Councilor Anderson, any further discussion? Councilor Christensen. Thank you, Your Honor. I want to thank the Murray family for this generous donation. I also want to thank all the other businesses and individuals who
have contributed, uh, their skills and abilities and and financial gifts to our city to help it make it better. Thank you. Thank you. All right. No further discussion. All in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. Aye aye. Opposed?
No. Motion carries. Item nine is mayor and council reports. And we'll start down with Ward three. Councilor Herman. Thank you, Your Honor. Uh, let me start out with, uh, getting my paperwork up here. I had
several grass complaints. I worked with the our local CSO officers on that, and I've had a couple parking complaints on Jansen and First Avenue. I reached out to our city engineer and our police department. They're working on
it. And I also volunteered at Eddie Cochran. This last, uh, event they had here as a judge. And as I also helped park the show cars, it was a it was a great day. Uh, today I attended the, uh, junior, uh, PGA tour
tournament in Albert Lee at Green League Golf course. Um, I also dealt with, uh, a couple other incidents from that had reached out to the proper city workers to take care of it. That was it, Your Honor. All right. Thank you. Ward two,
Councilor Baker. Thank you, Your Honor. Um, as far as ward items, I have a couple, uh, a junk, uh, issues that I will get the, uh, addresses and stuff to the city manager so he can look into that and have that taken care
of. Um, other than that, um, I, I was unable I, I was up at Eddie Cochran on Friday night and, uh, just kind of hung around and just just to see some of the cars and stuff come on there and, and, uh, unfortunately, I was out of town Saturday, so I wasn't able
to attend. But from what I understand, it was one heck of a one heck of a show. So, um, again, I, uh, kind of wish I would have been here, but anyway, um, I don't have any more ward items. I do have a an HRA meeting tomorrow. Um, and,
uh, we will I will report on that next meeting as to what we talked about. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Your Honor. Ward one, councilor Christiansen. Thank you, Your Honor. I've got a no ward items to talk about. I do want I do have quite a bit to talk about. However, after
our vote last meeting on the animal ordinance, I was asked why I had voted yes, when all along I had been kind of resistant to it and voted nay the first time. And I think it's a fair question. Uh, I believe that the newly approved
ordinance has some benefits, and it also has some problems. I knew the votes were there to approve the ordinance, and while my continued nay vote could have been part of the record, I'd rather move forward and work to improve with what
we have established. Now. I commit to work with all the parties who are active in animal advocacy, uh, such as the Humane Society, Camp Companion are many local, dedicated volunteers and law enforcement to monitor
situations and, uh, things that are problems. And then we will propose amendments to the ordinance as our experience shows, areas that need to be addressed. And while we're speaking of animals, this Friday, uh, starting at 7 a.m.
until 6 p.m., the the Humane Society is going to be having their annual fundraiser. They're going to be on the safe corners of Broadway and Clark, where there's four way stops and collecting there, as well as in the North lot. They've
got food trucks starting well. Coffee's starting at seven. They've got the the cupcake person, the the ice cream cookies. They've got all kinds of food trucks and a lot of fun people. So please, please do come by and make a donation.
The first $1,000 donated is going to be matched $1 for every dollar donated. And I have heard that the second thousand dollars is going to be matched $1.50 for every dollar that's contributed. So hopefully we get to that first
thousand dollars real early. So we get into that 1.5 to 1 match as well. So the Blue Zones project, as we now all know, the exciting news is that Dan Buettner is going to be here. Dan and Ellen Kerr will be our
grand marshals for the parade. So 2026 marks our 10th year since Albert Lee was first certified as a Blue Zone city. And there's people all around the world, honestly, all around the world, that know about Albert Lee because we were selected to be the test case
for the Blue Zones project, and specifically, can changing the environment lead to better health and wellness outcomes? Well, since then we've completed the walking path around Fountain Lake. We've got bike trails, bike lanes, completed streetscape in
downtown. We've held purpose workshops and community building dinners. Many businesses participate in ways to make the the work environment healthier for both, both physically and mentally and under Cathy Malinowski leadership, there's a lot of
projects and initiatives that are underway that are improving outcomes for people in Albert Lee and Freeborn County. And one of the things I'm really proud of is that Albert Lee is showing the the Blue Zones organization, and all the cities that have become
certified and those that are looking at it that we Albert Lee, we have staying power and we're continuing to work and to invest in our community using these power principles. And it is making a difference. So
please come out to the parade and welcome Dan Buettner and thank Ellen Kerr and celebrate with us. And while we're speaking of celebrations, Albert Lee has definitely been having a lot of great celebrations lately. This past weekend we celebrated
Juneteenth pride in the Faith and Family Festival. The week before, we had the wind down Wednesday Thursday on fountain and the Eddie Cochran Festival. There are so many organizers and people to thank, but I want
to thank the people of Albert Lee. You work hard to make this a beautiful and welcoming community. You showed up and participated and as the cars toured Albert Lee during the cruise, many people were seeing Our Town for the first time.
The community lined the parade route and made the event so much more fun. So I thank you and I'm wishing you all a safe and fun celebration of America's 250. Thank you. Your Honor. All right. Thank you. Ward six. Councilor Anderson. Uh, Your Honor, uh, at the wind
on Wednesday, I was in the dunk tank. I had a shift right after the honorable Mayor Murray. I don't know who raised more money for the United Way. Which one of us? But we both seem to get wet plenty of times over and over again. So that was fun. Uh, I had an hour before I had to run off to work. I stopped by the pride festival. It seemed like that was very
active. There was a lot of stuff going on. I have I have no ward items, and I'm looking forward to our HRA meeting tomorrow night. Your honor. Ward five, councilor van Beek. Thank you, Your Honor. Uh, this time there are no ward items. Um, I also was a judge at the
Eddie Cochran Festival. The motorcycle end of it. And, uh, what a great experience. Um, just walking around, seeing all the people so happy and enjoying themselves together was truly uplifting. Um, this past Saturday, there was an
event called, uh, The Ride for heroes. They literally raised $2,800 in one day with a motorcycle event out of Clarks Grove. And all those dollars will go directly to veterans in the community. There is 100% of
those funds raised. Go to our veterans. So and that's all I got. All right. Work for Councilor Olsen. Yep. Uh, a couple things that I had, uh, touch base with the city manager for the meeting. Got a couple property questions
kind of answered for me that I can probably relay to some people. Uh, I would like to thank the officer that came out and met with me and a homeowner as we were looking at, uh, a couple of suspicious looking weeds along the fence line, he came out and gave us a negative
on the plant that we thought it was. So we got to cut down and gotten got it taken all the way. And everybody was happy about that. That's what, Your Honor. All right. Thank you. Uh, next is the mayor's report, and I had a very active couple weeks,
uh, started out on June 9th with the chamber leadership group graduation out at Wedgewood. Uh, good group of young people there that took part in that, uh, then wind down Wednesday and the dunk tank, as Councilor Anderson mentioned. And we spent a lot of time in the water. So, uh,
those kids were having a good time. Um, I then ran out to the flags at the fairgrounds that were put up by the Patriots for Jesus. And if you've looked at those flags that are flying along a bridge now along the fairgrounds there, that just looks magnificent. So thank you
to that group for putting those up. Uh, and then, uh, I met with the blue zones, uh, Cathy. And she brought in a person from Galveston, Texas that is looking at blue zones. And so I met with him and her, uh, on June 11th and then on also on
June 11th that went over to Simcock. They had their 60th celebration. And so a good group of people showing up there, and they've done a lot of great things for this community. Uh, Thursdays on Fountain was on also that day. And then, uh, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We just had a busy, busy time. Wind down. Wednesday, uh, was fantastic. Uh, people had a great time out there. Uh, and then the Eddie Cochran Show starting Thursday and running through Sunday, and the number of people that were out in the community was just fantastic.
There were 360 some cars, I believe, parked downtown, another 100 cars that couldn't even get into the show because there was all filled up. So they're going to have to look at some expansion next year if they're going to have all those back. Um, a lot of great comments from a lot of people. I spent a couple of days there
just walking around talking to different people that I did not know, and they were from all over the place. We had people from Clear Lake and Mason City and Des Moines, South Dakota, Rochester, the Twin Cities, several groups from the Twin Cities loved Albert Lee. So
what a great show we had for them. Uh, people were very happy to be here, and the majority of them said, we'll be back. So that was uh, that was very nice. So thanks to, uh, John Schipper and his wife Danielle, uh, they did a great job in putting all that together. Uh, had Olivia a
little update on the 12th of June, and then on the 15th Monday, I was asked to come out and help with the family y youth golf outing. And so I did not go out in golf, so nobody was in danger. But I did go out and help on one of the greens with one of the games for a couple hours. So that was very
well attended and we had a good time out there. And then Tuesday, um, we just seemed to keep drawing more and more people. I got to go out to the fairgrounds on Tuesday, and, uh, there was a group of 250 to 300 non-motorized bicyclists
out there. And, uh, so, um, a Klobuchar, who was a columnist for the Minneapolis Tribune many years ago, started this 50 years ago. Um, I think he has a famous daughter now, too. Yeah. Our senator. Anyway, uh, he
started this, and now they come out and they go to a couple towns every year. So this year they started in Mankato. Then they came to Albert Lee, and then they were going up to Faribault from here. Uh, but a lot of great comments on our community. Again, enjoyed some of the restaurants, enjoyed the biking around the community,
the beauty, the trails. Um, ice cream, different things of that nature. So, uh, the group had a good time. Uh, and that was about 250 to 300 riders that were in town for 2 or 3 days here. So great to see them here. Also. Um, and then, uh,
got to take part in the Port Authority meeting. Uh, we were working on selecting finalists. This is our second time through this process. Uh, we did this one round, uh, a couple of months ago, I believe it was in a lot of people found jobs or dropped out of the running, but
we got down to three people that we interviewed, and then we made an offer, and that person turned us down, uh, decided to stay in the job that she was in already. Um, so then we started the process up again. We've now, um, we had 16 applicants. I believe we picked
eight that we wanted to get more information on, and now we've picked four that we are going to interview those interviews or I believe, in two weeks. Um, so still working on that, uh, process. Um, and then on June 18th, I attended the American Legion Patriots group,
and I was a speaker for that meeting that night. And, uh, that's about 70 people that have just gotten together to support our veterans, support our Legion, and to help out with different things like that. So a great group of people that help out in the community. Uh, Friday night I attended the Juneteenth, uh,
out at Edgewater Bay. And, uh, I just like to mention it was a it was probably the biggest one I've been to. Uh, it was a good group of people out there. Um, Dave Pearce piece, uh, from Mason, um, Lake Mills was the emcee of the event, but he
presented two young men there that we got to know a little bit that night. Rashi Dilthey. Um, he's come to town and he's a barber, and he's looking at starting a barber school in Albert Lee. Uh, so I know that he's working with, uh, the Port Authority or Greater Jobs on
getting that up and running. And then also a young man named Quenton Amos who has a job in town, but he also opened a shop in town, Minnesota Fresh. And, uh, so if you get a chance, get out and take, uh, take in these two guys and help them out with
their businesses. And then on Saturday, this past Saturday, busy day, um, I went up and and watched the motorcyclists take off for the heroes ride. And I think there was about 90 bikes up there. There was quite a few. And so that was good to see. And uh, then we had the
pride event and then also the Faith and family Festival here in Albert Lee. So busy, busy day. Um, food trucks were doing well uptown. And I think a lot of people were having a good time. It was a it was a nice day to be out and about. So that was kind of the activities that I had for the last couple
of weeks. And then just a few things going on over the next week. Uh, Thursdays on Fountain this week will feature Matt Hanna. Uh, he does a collection of folk Americana sharing acoustic songs and storytelling. And then after Thursdays on Fountain, you can enjoy the Bayside Ski Show at
Edgewater Bay at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 26th. The counselor, Christiansen mentioned the Humane Society of Freeborn County will be hosting a drive in and donate fundraiser from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and again, like she said, the first one thousand and then
the second thousand, there's some matching dollars going forward there. So please get out and take part in that. The July jamboree starts on Thursday, July 2nd and continues through Sunday, July 5th. There are events and activities each day, and these can be found on the community calendar, on the CVB website
and the City of Albert Lee website. Some key points are the 3rd of July parade that starts at 6 p.m., leaving from the fairgrounds, ending at Central Park. Dan Buettner and Ellen Kerr will be the grand mars of the parade. The parade theme is red, white and
blue zones in honor of the Albert Lee's 10th anniversary of the Blue Zones. Fireworks. Friday, July 4th at 10 p.m.. Will be shot off. Uh, between Albert Lee and Fountain Lake. Same as last year. And then,
uh, enjoy the 4th of July activities in celebration of our country's 250th birthday. And then in observance of July 4th city offices, the recreation office, public library will be closed on
Friday, July 3rd. I think. Was there a typo in there? Okay, I think that's all right. Okay. That's all I have. City manager, your report. All right. Thank you, your Honor. Uh, to anyone that says there's nothing to do in Albert
Lee. Um, I would, I would, uh, I would, I would listen in, um, I kind of read my notes here. Okay. Uh, we just, uh, in the last two weeks, we had two modular homes, uh, set at 409,
uh, Clark Street West and 915 Autumn. Uh, these are intended to be sold, uh, and as part of our redevelopment efforts, we, um, are starting our budget process, and all budgets are
due from, uh, staff to the finance director and entered into our our software by June 26th. So this Friday, uh, I attended the wind down Wednesday, I two was in the dunk tank right after council
member Anderson. And, um, I think that I have a unique distinction and one I tried to think someone else and in four throws I missed every single time to then have, uh, uh, my friend who's blind, uh, throw
one pitch and sink me. So I, I, I don't know if that's, uh, you know, I should be embarrassed or feel distinguished and in such an honor. Uh, but, uh, it was a great event, uh, which the dunk tank was brought on was put together by the, uh,
Human Rights Commission. Uh, just so that way people can be familiar with the committee and, and their objectives. I, too, also attended a number of the events, um, in particular, uh, I was out on Friday for
Eddie Cochran and the band bombshell was playing, and I was going around the cars. I was, I was, um, a little disappointed. I felt a little cheated because one of the guitarists started playing the intro to Slayer's Raining Blood, but then they went into
Black Velvet, and I just, uh, I was, I was my hopes were just were picked for just a moment that we were going to hear some 80s thrash metal. Uh, but uh, was, uh, sadly denied. And then lastly, I did attend a Lions Club meeting and gave a state
of the city, um, and basically I think, uh, again, I talked a lot about the efforts that we're doing for economic development. Uh, I think when when people actually take the time to listen to what's actually going on, understand the process, uh, they would realize that it takes a lot of
effort. And what they don't see is they don't see all the times that we're at bat trying to hit that home run or that base hit, and it just and it it doesn't it doesn't happen. We have on a number of occasions been the
final site location for the state, but then get beat out by another state for one reason or another. So, uh, we are actively, um, we do not turn anyone down. We are actively working. But I think again,
our, our and we've talked about this our, our biggest effort that we can put forward to making sure that we are as attractive and competitive as possible is finding some solution to housing and workforce. So, uh, from the presentation earlier about, uh,
the scholarship to what we hope to do with housing down the road, uh, that is all very important, Your Honor. Thank you. We must have a different look at music here, because I didn't understand one word he said about that. So. All right, with. That, we'll.
Move along to item 11. Approval of claims as a resolution approving claims. One is a presentation of claims over 25,000. City manager. Thank you, Your Honor. We have $30,836.43 to homes for USA Corp, $33,865.44 Wolverine
Chevrolet, $36,766.20 to Platinum Plumbing Solutions. $37,710 to Midwest Enterprise of Albert Lee, $39,069.13 to Freeborn Morrow Electric
Cooperative. $44,497.30 $36 to Wolverine Chevrolet. $51,782.41 to Platinum Plumbing Solutions. $65,702.40 in built, LLC.
$68,831.14 to BCM. Construction. $74,426 to Solar Connection. $75,376.30 to Bolton, Inc.. $76,615 to Dryer Painting.
$80,740 to Solar Connection. $99,196 to League of Minnesota Cities Insurance. $111,620.38 to Union Brothers Incorporated. $143,192.65 to H&M Underground
Solutions. $145,332. Excuse me. $322.64 to BCM construction. $153,296.96. To Jensen Excavating. $164,533 to Monroe
Toe, Master. 248,000 $248,056.98 to Jensen Excavating and Trucking.. Council move to approve Your Honor motion. Councillor Baker, is there a second? I'll second. Your Honor. Second by councilor van Beek. Any further discussion?
I just have one comment, Your Honor. Councilor van. Beek. It's great to see so many local businesses up on that board. . You know. So thank you. Good points. Yeah. All right. Any further discussion? All in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye aye. Opposed? No. Motion carries. Is there a
motion to adjourn? So moved. Motion by Councilor Christensen. Is there a second? Second. Second by Councilor Anderson. All in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye, aye. Meeting adjourned.