All right, we'll call the meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening and welcome everyone.
Certainly not the pickle ball turnout, but still a great turnout from I imagine the arts and the police officers. I did like when I was sitting up here to watch the whole front row be open and not one police officer would sit in it. They are milling around till they find a second row or to stand over there. So, it's one of those things. Uh, thank you all for
being here. Looking for a roll call. Tennis. Mayor King present. Council member at large Austin present. Council member Hely present. Pashusta present. Fisher present. Waller present. Baskin present. Pos present. We have a quorum
your honor. Thank you. Okay. Item number one is a motion for the adoption of the agenda. So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? I opposed. That motion carries. Item number two is a motion approving our minutes from April 7th, 2025 meeting. So moved. Second. All in favor?
I opposed. That motion also carries. Item number three, recognitions and awards. We love this and it's almost getting tiresome. God darn it. We honor these police officers. I know Mack has done a great job now. Officer uh Josh Bradley also with the BWI. So, Mak, what do you have for our all-star DWI
winners? Uh, we've always been supportive of traffic safety and traffic safety enforcement. Uh, that was when the state program was called safe and sober. Uh, we've done the same when it's been under the TZD or toward zero death banner. Uh, as part of that, the state
does look to recognize those officers that are proactive uh out in the field making uh impaired driving arrests. Uh in in that vein, we've always had officers who have gone above and beyond. Uh Jeff McCormack for many many years
was our honore uh for this award. Um but we've had some of our younger staff uh pick it up as Jeff has kind of faded uh faded in the background a little bit. One of those being Ryan McCormack, his son. Uh the other being Josh Bradley. Um
we have our liaison from the state, Scott Con here. Uh Scott's a longtime trooper. Um, in fact, I wanted to point out that Scott and Jeff actually met uh 30 some years ago when Jeff was an Mstead uh jailer. Uh, that traffic safety culture is something that Jeff
picked up on through Scott. Scott's a huge advocate uh for it. Been a pleasure to work with. I've known him for a decade or more. I'm going to turn over to Scott and let Scott present the awards and talk about the officers. Awesome. Thanks, Mik. Welcome, Scott. Well, thank you again. Appreciate your
time. I can't I don't recall if you refer to me as an old trooper, but I was letting them know today. I lament Sunday because I turned Saturday. I greatly failed at retirement. But um it's it's important thing that we're representing
here today because it's not about them, it's about you and it's about the community and the people that came safe. And we have a couple officers who have dedicated themselves to become experts in the detection removal impaired drivers from our roadways. And it can be
a tough discussion too because sometimes it touch closer to home than we care. I know it has to me and my family. But our goal is one first to remove these people so they don't harm others or themselves. And then we hope that by creating a maybe a crisis in their life they they
find a better path. Um, briefly when I was Fergus cop way back in the 70s, Fergus Falls, I arrested a young lady for DWI and let's just say it didn't go very good. It went bad from the very beginning. Years later, I had moved on.
I was with the state patrol. My I grew up in Wilmer where my grandmother was in a care facility for Alzheimer. My mom had put up a bunch of pictures of family for her to help her with her memory. There was a picture of my family. Nothing in uniform, but a nurse came up
to my mom and said, "That that gentleman there, did he ever live in Fergus Falls?" She goes, "Well, actually did. Hope you didn't meet him professionally." He goes, "If it was a police officer, yes, he did. He arrested me for D. I thank him. He changed my
life." So, that's our ultimate goal that we can do that. But officers, why don't you uh come on up here? and they're a little shy. Um, when you said they're by the door, now I don't have to cover the door. I can just sit in these guys' shadow and,
uh, let them take it. But yeah, it was an honor because back in the day, uh, Jeff used to book my drunk drivers when I bring him in. That's how I met him. But, uh, he has gone beyond what I ever hoped to accomplish in public safety. But, we have recognition. We don't call
it award. It's, uh, it's because it's not a race. It's not a competition. And it doesn't minimize single arrest either. It says every impaired road driver that removed from the road makes a difference. But there are people in agencies that have gone a head and
shoulders above and beyond. And a lot of times you're don't get recognition for those efforts and this is a small way of recognizing their huge contribution. So, um, Ryan, uh, was fortunate to go to the Twins game where he's recognized as a
DWI Allstar and Officer Brady, um, is recognized as the honorable mention DWI Allstar. Um, they each have their awards. We're going to present them, but I just want to say thank you, sir, state of Minnesota.
And one other thing I just want to say, this isn't just about us and cops. It's about the whole community, giving them the support that they need to do the job and keep you safe. So, I always say it's it's a joining of officers and elected
officials who all have the same purpose, serve the community. So, thank you for your time, but are there any questions in the ear of the officers? No, I certainly want to add on behalf of the citizens of Austin, I guarantee the folks here and the people out in the community not do nothing but appreciate law enforcement and your your proactive
uh work in finding these drunk drivers particularly, but just the work you do every day too to keep everybody safe and I know you're up against it with some staffing issues and you're certainly up against it with kind of some levels of crime and what people are doing out there making very poor decisions, but but uh we appreciate having you folks do what you do and you make Austin really
shine. So, we appreciate Scott coming down to honor you and uh just hope you can keep on keeping on. So, Josh, thank you. Ryan, thank you. I want to thank you, mayor. Um, well, I normally I like to come out at night. Tai is my biggest fan. That's Maki never shuts up,
but uh when I was out here before, I came out about 10:00 at night. I like to present wars, but the cops actually are working then they don't have to get punished for lack of sleep coming out earlier. But your mayor was there for those times and thank you for showing that support. So, thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thanks, gents. See you guys. Appreciate Appreciate the APD showing up too in their support. Have a great one. All right. Another recognition. We have a uh proclamation for Arbor Day, which I'll read. The proclamation reads, "Whereas trees and forest soils keep our lakes
and streams clean by absorbing and filtering pollutants and sediments. And whereas forests prevent flooding and reduce storm water by capturing and storing rain water and snow melt which is then slowly released uh to our lakes, streams and groundwater. And whereas careful management of our trees and
forest protect drinking water and reduces the cost of water treatment. And whereas sound management of forested lands surrounding the Mississippi River ensures clean drinking water for more than 1 million motans. And whereas about threequarters of motans get their drinking water from the forested parts
of the state. And whereas planting and maintaining trees is a natural and easy way to keep our water clean. And whereas throughout the month of May, Minnesota pays special tribute to our trees as natural resources and dedicate ourselves to the validity or vitality of our
forests. Now therefore, I, Stephen M. King, mayor of Austin, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim Saturday, May 10th, 2025 as Arbor Day. And I do hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 as Arbor Month in the city of Austin. Very good. Thank
you. We do love our trees. We're tree city, by the way. Ash trees are a different animal. Um, moving on to item number four, the consent agenda. Need a motion. So moved. Second. All in favor? I. Opposed? That motion carries. Under
petitions and requests, we have resolution for item number five, establishing miscellaneous administration license fees for 2025. Stephen, yes. This is just a modification to what is generally adopted each December and
it's adding in the fees that were set as part of the um fats, oils, and grease ordinance and also the sewer service line inspection requirements. So with that, we would request council approval of these additional fees. Very good. Thank you, Stephen. Council, any
questions or comments for Mr. Lang? Looking for resolution? So moved. Second. Tom. Council member Hely. I. Basha. Hi. Fisher. Hi. Waller. I Baskin. Hi. Oma. Hi. Council member
Large Austin. Hi. Resolution passes 70. Your honor. Very good. Thanks Tom. Item number six is a resolution approving a contract with Oyer Trucking. Stephen, we've we've contracted uh two-year contracts with Oyer Trucking for hauling of sludge at the wastewater treatment
plant for the last 10 years or so. Um with the changes in our treatment plant process, we will be this will be what we would propose as the last contract for hauling liquid sludge. We don't know exactly uh how many how much quantity we
we will have once the switchover occurs sometime in 2026. So instead of uh readvertising this, we wanted to just uh extend the current contract with Oyer Trucking through the end of the the hauling for this uh this particular liquid product. Uh we anticipate the
maximum duration would be two years. The maximum amount would be 9 million gallons. Um, and Oyer Trucking has agreed to continue this two-year agreement at the same rates as what he's currently hauling it at. Um, so with that, we would recommend extending this
two-year agreement to Oyer trucking for the hopefully the remainder of our liquid sludge uh time at the treatment plant. Very good. Stephen, are they going to be trucking the cakes after the liquid goes away? Correct. Well, actually the we'll look at how much quantity it is. The city, we may truck
that ourselves. We um if timing and everything works out, we can haul that material in our dump trucks. So, okay. Thank you, council. Any questions or comments? Mr. Lang, item number six. Looking for resolution. So moved. Second.
Council member Hely. I. Basha. Hi. Fisher. Hi. Waller. I. Baskin. I. Hosma. I. Council member Large Austin. I. Resolution passes 70. Your Thank you, Thomas. Item number seven is resolution approving an employee recognition
policy. Craig, thank you, mayor, members. Uh we've have a compilation before you of existing policies and practices that we've done in relation to employee engagement. Uh some new additions as well. Uh focused on years of recognition and some other items. Uh
this has been before the employee engagement team. Uh they've endorsed that and we talked about it at the work session. be happy to answer any other questions about the policy but otherwise looking for approval. Very good. Thanks Greg. Council any questions of Mr.
Clark? Appreciate the employee engagement's time on this too in the review and the road deep dive. So I think it's a great great new policy great addition to honor those employees in a in a meaningful way. Uh looking for a resolution item number seven. So move.
Second. Tom. Council member Hely. I basha. I Fiser. Hi. Waller. I Baskin I OMA I council member at large Austin I resolution passes 70 your honor. All right on to number eight. Hole number
eight. You're all interested in number eight. Number eight's a resolution approving a request from the Paramont Theater for funding. Craig. Thank you mayor and members. This is a bumpout that's necessitated by ADA requirements. They've asked for a cost
share of the 93,000. Uh members of the art artworks festival and Austin area commission for the arts are here this evening uh to answer any questions. Otherwise, we're looking for direction from council on approval. Council, any questions or discussion on this request
before I open it up to the folks that came to? No, I'll just say, you know, I I had some questions and some reservations from the work session. So, I reached out to those folks and got a nice tour. Jason joined me since he wasn't able to go to the work session and uh got a better understanding of the
scope of what's being done and the importance of it and uh I think it's going to look great. Uh the renovations inside are already looking great. So I'm happy to support this one. Agreed. Anybody from the arts community want to speak on this or Patrick too from the
construction aspect or we're good either way. So Tom Robbins, executive director of Austin Area Arts, and I just have to do a shout out to the cohort behind me. We have two co-chairs of our capital campaign, Belita Schindler and Randy Kramer, and members of our board and
staff. And uh so glad that they could be here. We've got a great team and we just appreciate your consideration of this request. It was great to be able to show council members Postman and Baskin around the the facility and the property and and just give them a better
understanding of the scope of the project. So, we appreciate your your effort and time looking at this request. Awesome. Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh council, anything else further before we entertain a motion? Then I will entertain a motion for any
amount you choose. Item number eight. I'll move to approve the 465. Correct. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve the 465. Um, let's do a resolution. Uh, Tom, Council Member Heli, IA
I, Fisher, I, Waller, I, Baskin, I, Posa, I, Council Member Large, Austin, I. Resolution passes 70, your honor. Very, good. Thank you. Thank you all for your attendance and look forward to that project being done. I I understand that tours might be available for some others
on the city council if we didn't get to go with Jason. We had a lot of fun. Yeah, we'd be happy to do that. Excellent. Popcorn a little desk. All right, thank you folks. Uh on item number [Applause]
[Laughter] uh item number nine is a motion approving the main street temporary bumpout. Stephen. Yeah. Similar but different in that uh we're we've talked previously about the four-way flashing signal lights at uh
Main Street at Second Avenue and also at 4th Avenue. And until we can actually remove the signal lights and improve the pedestrian crossings, we're proposing to install temporary bumpouts. That would
in involve a four-way stop at Main Street and Fourth Avenue, and it would involve a two-way stop at Main Street and Second Avenue. Um, this is I don't have any new information to add following our the presentation that occurred at the work session. And
there's different photos of of other uh communities and how they have laid out similar type intersections with temporary bumpouts. So with that, I'll turn it over to council for any questions that you might have. Good. Thank you, Stephen. Council, any questions? And looking for a motion for item number
nine. So moved. Second. All in favor? I opposed. That motion carries. Thank you. Uh item number 10 is a resolution accepting this one donation from Holly Wallace. $50 gift to the 2025 flower project. We thank Holly. She's not here to accept that in person, but we sure thank her for her donation and looking
for a resolution to accept it. So move second. Council member Hi Basha. Hi. Fisher. I Waller I Baskin I council member at large Austin I.
Resolution passes 70. Nick Tom, item number 11 is a series of motions granting the planning and zoning department the power to contract the removal of junk and or legally stored vehicles at the following locations. 11A addresses 506 6th Avenue Southwest, the Tuscano property. Need a motion. So move
second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Item number 11B. Address is 408 street Southeast the Neri property. A motion. So moved. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 11 C, address
406 2nd Street Southeast, the Rhaegar property. Need a motion. So moved. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Moving on to citizens addressing the council. Are any citizens in the audience wishing to speak to the council of items that went on the
agenda? Hearing none, moving on to reports and recommendations. City administrator Kra, what do you got? Uh, I have nothing. Okay. Uh, city council. Let's start with Paul. Nothing, your honor. Thank you.
Joyce, make me cry. Yeah. Um, so this being my last meeting, I had something written up, but um, instead I just want to give a very simple and very heartfelt thank you to my colleagues, the citizens of Austin, the city staff. It's been
nothing but a complete pleasure. So, thank you all very much. Thank you for your service, Joyce. Appreciate it. [Applause] Uh yeah, I wanted to say congratulations
to Joyce for your service and um we wish you well as life takes you in a a different direction. But um I I don't know that anyone has been a better voice for the employees of the city and bringing their um concerns forward. So thank you for that. Um Fourth Avenue
Fest is uh Wednesday, June 4th. make sure it's on your um calendar. And uh that's it for me tonight. Very good. Thanks, Laura. Jeff, uh yes, the library board did have a meeting last week. Uh they want everyone to be aware that the
library will be closed on April 28th for staff training for the beginning of the Selco Library system changes. Also, April 29th through May 1st is the implementation of the new Selco library system. Communication is being shared with the public with what they can and
can't do during the transition. For example, checking out materials with an existing library card will still be available. A key feature of the new system for patrons is data privacy protection. The board voted to support the Minuteex resolution. Minuteex has
several components and is important for two key reasons. Equity the service provides through shared library resources. Example, each library can't purchase and store all the materials versus having a shared pool. And for community, our library has
more Spanish language materials than other libraries, so we can share those materials with other libraries. Stay tuned for an infographic of key insights from the libraryies annual report. And I'd also like to thank Joyce
for her service. It's been a pleasure serving with you. You have been an outstanding and excellent voice uh representing the people of the third ward as well as all citizens of Austin and wish you well in your future endeavors. Thank you. Thank you Jeffy.
Um just one note um this weekend there's lots to do lots to do in town. Um, there is the citywide cleanup. I know that uh the United Way and a bunch of other folks are partnering on as far as helping cleaning up the parks. Um,
there's still volunteer opportunities for that. In the morning, beer, bacon, and beignes is happening uh in the afternoon and they're looking for folks to attend and or uh volunteer for that. That's a fundraiser for Life Mau County.
So, lots to do in Austin this weekend. And then I just again uh express my thanks to Joyce for all the work that she's done. Uh she's been on council the entire time I've been here, so it's going to be kind of weird to look over there and not see her anymore. I appreciate it. Thanks, Mike. Jason.
Yeah. So, two quick things. Um one is you very much enjoyed our joint conversation with the school board and the county commissioners last week. Um so, just to again express our appreciation and support for the work that they do. Obviously, that's not always easy work. Um, but I think overall people have the best interest of
the community in mind. Um, and certainly appreciate everybody's time and energy and work to make sure that we represent Austin in the best possible way. Um, and in the most positive and proactive way. And then secondly, very much we'll miss you, Joyce. Thank you so much for your service. I know there's a lot of time and energy and work that goes into it.
Um, I mean, you've always had the best interests of the city of Austin at heart and yeah, we started together. So, it's going to be different not having you over there either. So, best of luck on your next chapter. Thanks, JJ. Becky, yeah, Joyce, I just want to wish you the best of luck. Um, was with you
previously and then was hoping to work with you a little bit more, but yeah, good luck in your adventure. Thanks, Becky. Thanks. Good. Thanks, Becky. Uh, poster reminded me of the cleanup Austin that spur a memory mine. Um, just want to thank the sentence of service program. They uh took a lap with their van and trailer around Mil Pond and got
three 380 pounds of trash uh picked up around the rip wrap and they're still looking to get on canoes and pick up even more. They got more to do. So, it's an amazing uh that much poundage can come out of a one trip around the mill pond. So, kudos to Austin and those
volunteers that will be picking up the the trash around. Um got to keep our city clean, no doubt. and Joyce that certainly uh we're all well aware this job doesn't it's not easy uh comes with a very certain certain level of of
uh stress and and uh you've done an admirable job of representing your ward and and thanks for your your time on council. It's largely been absolutely a blast. Thank you. I mean no squirrels today but I guess we'll just have to I was hoping so but the squirrel but
haven't gotten a call yet. Thank you for all the all the years and the the decisions and the I get I know it's stressful so the Yeah, thank you. You've done a great job. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Uh with that looking for a motion to adjourn to our Monday, May 5th, 2025 meeting. So moved.
Mayor, one one thing I just since it's staring at us in the face and since we've all said goodbye to Joyce, it does open up a seat and so um we will be posting the third ward seat uh open for applications. Well, to Wednesday, it
looks like through May 13th. Um, and so information on that will be on the city website, I'm assuming, or we have it here. I'll have it on the newspaper and on Facebook and city website. We'll post it on the boards here. Perfect. Very good. Thanks, Posty. Now, we'll
entertain the motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second. All in favor? I opposed. We are adjourned. Thank you. Take a little fiveminute break and we'll go into the work session.