All right. Uh, please stand if you can for the pledge of >> allegiance. [Music] Americace for all. >> Good evening everyone and welcome. Love to see the crowd. I just hope a hockey fight doesn't break out tonight. Those
get brutal. Uh, Tom, take the roll call, please. >> Mayor King, >> present. Council member at large Austin >> present. >> Council member Hely >> present. >> Obala >> present. >> Fisher >> present. >> Waller >> present. >> Baskin Pma
>> present. >> We have a quorum your honor. >> Thank you Tom. Item number one's a motion for the adoption of our agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. >> Motion carries. Item number two is a motion approving our minutes from our August 18th, 2025 meeting. >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor?
>> I. >> Opposed. >> Motion carries. Item number three under awards and recognitions we have welcoming week coming up and I have a proclamation to read and the proclamation reads as whereas welcoming week is an annual campaign launched in 2012 by welcoming America and its
members to celebrate the values of inclusion and belonging highlighting how communities can be welcoming places for all including immigrants. And whereas welcoming week 2025 themed stories we share invites communities everywhere to deepen understanding
uh build connections and celebrate the many perspectives of experiences that strengthen us. And whereas from September 12th through September 21st, 2025, the city of Austin will join this global effort by encouraging residents to come together through events and initiatives that highlight food, music,
art, conversation, and the sharing of stories. And whereas fostering a welcoming spirit requires ongoing commitment and welcoming week provides an opportunity to reflect on progress, recognize the contributions of all community members, and reaffirm that belonging is essential to a vibrant
culture and a growing economy. And whereas our community is stronger when neighbors seek common ground, celebrate differences, and choose connection over division, demonstrating that welcoming is not just an event, but a way of life. Now, therefore, I, Stephen M. King, mayor of Austin, call upon the people of
Austin to join together to celebrate welcoming week events and embrace the stories we share and continue building a stronger, more inclusive community where everyone can thrive and do hereby proclaim September 12th through September 21st, 2025 as welcoming week
2025. So with that, we were going to have I'm sure a number of events for the welcoming week. Um, and the human rights commission is kind of spearheading these initiatives. And I think Trish Wikman as our city liaison for the HRC will accept
the proclamation. Trish. >> All right. Moving on to uh item number four is a motion for the consent agenda. >> Some move. >> Second. All in favor? >> I opposed. That motion carries. Under awarding bids, we have item number five
is resolution receiving bids for tree removal at the JC Horell Nature Center. Jason, thank you honorable mayor and council. Uh on August 1st, 2025, we held a bid opening for the JC Horell Nature Center diseased and dangerous tree
removal project. The project is funded through a grant through DNR, which includes the removal of 475 dangerous trees, mostly ash trees from along nature center trails. Uh, next spring, the grant also will fund the replanting
of trees at a minimum of a 1:1 ratio, and I think we're going to be better than 1:1 ratio out there. We received 11 bids for the project. Four of those were deemed non-responsive. Um, and the bids ranged between 50,000
and 345,000. The two lowest responsive bids were as follows. Psqu in the amount of $50,000 and Olsen Timber Company LLC in the amount of $60,937.50. Uh Luke Reese, the director of the
nature center and I met with um the staff from Psqu asked them some questions, talked about the project, talked about their uh experience and their um their equipment that they use. Uh and they answered all our questions.
We feel confident they'll do a great job. Uh again, the fun the funding is through an a Minnesota DNR grant and staff's recommendation is that council award the bid to P squared LLC in the amount of $50,000. I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Very good.
>> Yeah. Uh does that mean the the difference the that mean we'll be able to plant more trees? We believe because the bids came in lower than anticipated um that yes, we will be able to um do quite a bit better than the 1:1 ratio.
>> That's awesome. >> Yeah, good bids. Thank you. Any other questions for Jason? Otherwise, looking for a resolution. >> It's all moved. >> Second, >> Tom. Council member Hely. >> I >> Oala >> I. >> Fisher.
>> I >> Waller. I >> Hostma >> I >> council member at large Austin >> I >> resolution passes 6 your honor. >> Thank you Tom. Item number six is resolution receiving bids for the ash tree and stump removal project number three. Jason >> thank you. So this is the third bid
process the city has undergone outside of um the the bid that I just mentioned at the nature center. Um most of these trees have focused on boulevard and street uh trees. And so u this actually this bid would put us at
1125 infested ash trees that'll be removed from boulevards and streets. That was our kind of our number one priority along with removing trees that were um potentially uh hazardous to public infrastructure such as parks, trails, playgrounds,
things like that. um by the end of 2025, we think that with this this bid, this final bid, um that we will have treated or removed more than 95% of the infested ash trees along boulevards and streets.
Um again, most infested ash trees along our park system um that are higher priority have been removed, but there's still several hundred trees that are not, you know, directly impacting our infrastructure, our parks, our playgrounds, trails, things like that
that our city tree crew will they will continue to battle um for the next couple years. Um the city for this process, we held a bid opening on Thursday, August 14th. Uh this is for a contract removal of 100 trees with the
option to increase by 100% so we can actually uh increase to 200 trees which we plan on doing so as with the previous bid process. Um we received eight bids for the project. Uh this project
includes ashtree removal uh stump grinding and uh ground restoration. Um, the project is funded using capital improvement revolving fund and staff is recommending that council award the bid to Olsen tree, sorry, Olsson Timber
Company DBA Swayback tree service in the amount of $62,988.88 and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. >> Excellent. Thanks, Jason. Any questions for Mr. Sean? >> Um, Mr. Jason, I have a question on um
the trees removal from Boulevard. Um few weeks ago, we have complaint from the um citizens. So, what is the process when we go remove those hash trees? I know it belong to the city, but um regarding to notification to the residents.
>> So, best answer, we've done our our our best to notify the community that this is happening. We started um last spring with our treat first uh community outreach. We were in encouraging residents as along with the city to
treat ash trees if they were treatable. Uh and then also to have a reputable tree company come in and inspect trees because that emerald ashbor does infest ash trees and the the trees become uh brittle and die very quickly after
infestation. Um, so along the way we held several meetings to notify the community what was going on at different locations. Uh, more recently we've held some um, you know, social media is really the best way that we've gone out
there to try to notify the community that uh, we have tree bids. We've done some community engagement or not engagement but outreach identifying what those tags mean. So you have, you know, you might have a green tag or a blue tag. What do those mean? Green tags mean
we treated it last year. Blue tag means unfortunately it's infested. It needs to come down. Um I've had the question come up before and maybe this is where this is coming from. Um why don't we notify every homeowner? And it's just the the
bulk of this process and this project these projects like I said now we're at you know 1125 trees uh along boulevards that are in front of people's homes that we will be removing. Um so we don't we don't notify each individual by putting
a a hanger or something. We're hoping that by seeing a tag on their tree, if they're not sure what that means, they can contact the city and we can let them know if it's a treatable or b it's on the removal list. >> Yeah. The reason with because the tag
sometime as you say a lot of resident may not know because let's say for example if I taking care of that tree um year long and then came home from a vacation or from work and I saw the trees gone. So I think that will raise a lot of concern. we know how important it
is. Um I think it will be good especially the contractors when they go I know it's not their responsibility but to have that background or a note hey we're going to take this down today or tomorrow so that when a homeowner come home they know what's happening because
so that we can avoid this debate on the street with our constructors. I can say and then I appreciate that. Um I can say that so we treated about 430 trees last spring. Um throughout the process and the community outreach that
we were doing, we were contacted by I'm guessing five or six property owners that asked if they could treat a tree or had mentioned that they did treat a tree. So we actually have another list. That's a small list of individuals that
decided to treat a city owned tree on the boulevard and we've put that on our list so it did not get a tag. Now, if a property owner decided to treat a city tree, a boulevard tree, and not let us know, then then we do not know if it was treated. And the the thing about ash
trees is once they're infested, they're they're you either treat them or they will die. There's no alternative. So even an infested tree that's treated um it's still likely going to die. It just it buys some time. So what we have seen
is some trees that are still leafing out. They look pretty green right now whether they're treated or not, but they're they're clearly infested by the blonding or by the exit holes that the emerald ashbor create. Um, so we we can
say, well, I mean, so our certified tree inspectors would say, "No, that tree is heavily infested. It needs to come down." Whereas somebody else that don't that doesn't have that training might look at a tree and say, "Well, there's leaves everywhere." Um, why can't we try
to save it? So, um, we did have a few people treat boulevard trees. And I know of one who did treat a boulevard tree that's city-owned and and we did not we were not aware of. So it was in the removal process because it was infected. So
>> thank you. >> That answers your question. >> Ju just to be clear. So residents get noticed through our Facebook posts and the and through the newspaper and word of mouth of the trees. So there is no
bid specification for them to notify. >> All right. Thank you, Jason. Any other questions regarding item number six? >> I had one. What percent of the trees are taken down? >> You got to come to the >> What% of the trees are taken down by the park and wreck? >> Come to the This is a formal meeting, so
you need your name, address, and uh we'll take a comment from you >> here. Sure. >> I was just wondering >> name and address first, please. >> I was just wondering what percent of the trees were taken down by the park and wreck.
>> Okay. Now, your name and address. >> Okay. >> What's your name? >> Mike Whan. >> And address, Mike. >> Address for the record. >> 406 13th Street Northeast, Austin, Minnesota. >> What percentage of the boulevard tree is 100%?
just the park and wreck crew themselves. Are they taking any of these trees down or are they all contracted out? >> We've contracted mainly. Jason, you want to answer that? >> Sure. I don't know the exact percentage. I can tell you that uh one of our most recent inventory of ash trees on city properties, public ash trees, uh 2 years
ago or so was 2,000 trees. And I mentioned that the contract removal is,25 trees. So, um you could say maybe just over half are contracted out, but our city tree crews are extremely busy every day with tree removals, with tree
trimming. Um their focus has been more on the park trees and and dangerous, hazardous trees that present themselves along boulevards that might uh create a hazard to either a home or a vehicle or a street. We move those up on the list,
but our city tree our city tree crews will remove those hazardous trees and we pull it off the contract tree removal. But um I would say um a bulk of the boulevard trees this year would be from
contracted tree removal, but not all of them. >> Okay. >> But overall it it's not much more than half if anything. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mike. Uh, anyone else have any questions? Council on number six. >> If not, looking for resolution.
>> So moved. >> Second. >> Tom. >> Council member Hely. >> I. >> Obala. >> I. >> Fisher. >> I. >> Waller. >> I. >> Baskin. >> I. >> Postma. >> I. >> Council member Large Austin. >> I.
>> Resolution passes 70. Your honor. >> Thank you. Item number seven is reappoint of Tom Danker to the Hormel Foundation. and I know he was on since 2013. Um, with his new job coming, he's going to be an arm of the city which the foundation uh has requested that that
Tom return. And uh, one thing I'm not going to do is make the Hormill Foundation mad. So, if Tom wants it, Hormemell Foundation wants him, I think they're going to get Tom reappointed. So, anything to add to that, Tom? No. >> So, looking for resolution reappointing Tom. So, >> can we can we do an amendment that
requires Tom to stay with us? Yeah. Out of the scope of this particular >> Yeah, >> I would. >> I'll second that. >> All right, Tom. >> They're going to have any power tonight. >> Yeah. >> Nope. >> Council member Hely. >> I >> Obala. >> I >> Fisher. >> Hi, >> Waller. >> Hi, >> Baskin.
>> I >> Postma, >> I. >> Council member Large Austin >> very definitely. I >> resolution passes 70. Your honor, >> thank you. Item number eight is a resolution approving an annexation of Red Rock Township. Your yours might say Austin, but Bri assures me it was a typo on that. So, it's Red Rock Township
annexation uh for Heather and Ryan Voller. >> Yeah, this um this property is located at 141728th Street Northeast. It's uh the last property in that area to annex into the city of Austin. Uh their reason for annexing is to access city sanitary
sewer. Um they own approximately 5 acres in Red Rock Township. Uh the site is currently used as a residence and as it's uh brought into the city, I would recommend that it will be annexed as R1 single family residential.
Um this is a joint resolution with Red Rock Township. Uh once the city council uh if the city council approves, then it would go to Red Rock Township for their approval. Um and then it would be submitted to the state for uh an order of annexation.
Uh one of the only uh uh unusual things about this joint resolution versus our annexation by ordinance is that there's a incremental change in property taxes over seven years to give the township a little bit of time to adjust to any budget changes
and so it will be fully on the city's tax role in seven years. Okay. >> Thank you, Holly. Any questions council for Miss Wallace? >> Nope. I think it makes a lot of sense. I mean, I think homeowner wants it. It's fully surrounded by the city of Austin right now. I think we've worked out a good deal with Red Rocks Township. So, I
would move to approve. >> Second, Tom. >> Council member Hely. >> I >> Obala. >> I. >> Fisher. >> I. >> Waller. >> I. >> Baskin. >> I. >> Postma. >> I. >> Council member Large Austin. >> I. >> Resolution passes 70. You're on.
>> Thank you. Looking for a resolution frame number nine setting public hearings for October 6th, 2025 for fall assessments. So moved. >> Second. >> Tom. >> Council member Hely. >> I. >> Obala. >> I. >> Fisher. >> I. >> Waller.
>> I. >> Baskin. >> I. >> Bosma. >> I. >> Council member at large Austin. >> I. >> Resolution passes 70. Your honor. >> Thank you. Uh, moving on to item number 10. Uh, resolution accepting these donations. The library got a bunch over the year. Uh, $100 from Marine
Steinblock in memory of Robert Hayes. $20 David and and Brenda Rafflesen, 20 or $2,000 from Richard and Judith Bergen, $250 from Sandra Johnson from Glennville, Minnesota in memory of Lois Sola, $100 uh from Robera Mista, $500
from Elizabeth Chamberlain, $100 on Nez Winter, $330 from the Mo County Historical Society in memory of Dale Odigard, $10,000 donation from Katherine Wagner, and $250 uh from Tianda Guerrero
for Spanish language driver class, $1,900 from the Austin Ladies Floral Club for the summer reading program, $5,000 friends of the Austin Public Library for the summer reading program, and $1,000 from anonymous donor for the Spanish language driver's license class.
And um we also have a donation from a Dan Pessure Pessure which has a $400 gift to the Austin Police Department weight room and wellness fund. And I'd love to put Chief McKean on the spot to share the story of that donation to the
crowd. U if you've seen our Facebook uh posting at all, uh Dan was a West Point graduate who served in the military. He did have a ring, West Point ring as the original class ring. His had some metal from the Twin Towers. He had relatives that uh
served with the fire department during that time. So, the ring was very special to him as he was passing through Austin going under 28th Street. He had some things in his lap that he wanted to throw out. Biodegradable. It was all good. And when he went out with the hand, the ring went out with the candy
he was throwing out. Uh I actually was leaving town and saw him searching for it. didn't know what it was until later. Uh he spent several hours looking for it. Came in, talked to dispatch. Deputies and officers went out, looked for it, tried a metal detector, just couldn't come up with it. Several days
later, Officer Ted Sherwood, uh decided to head out at 1 in the morning. It is pitch black out there, got his flashlight out, and 20 minutes later, he not only found the ring, but the capstone had come off, was lying next to it. So, he was able to recover that for
Dan. uh got a hold of Dan who lives in Wisconsin. Dan personally drove back. Uh we were not expecting a gift, but Dan did give us a card with with a gift in it. Uh and I know was very appreciative of it. Uh and I think uh one of the local news agencies will be interviewing
uh both Dan and Ted about that particular story. So that's the story behind the donation. >> Very good. Thanks, Mik. Just thought it was interesting enough to share. So with that, we'll uh take a resolution approving those donations. So moved. Second >> stop.
>> Council member. >> Council member Ellie. >> I >> Obala. >> I. >> Fisher. >> I. >> Waller. >> I. >> Baskin. >> I. >> Oma. >> I. >> Council member at large. Austin. >> I. >> Resolution passes 70. Your honor.
>> Thank you. Item. Number 11 is a motion granting the planning and zoning department the power to contract for the removal of junk and/or legally stored vehicles at the address 9023rd Avenue Northwest, the Hared property. So moved. Second. All >> in favor?
>> I opposed. That motion carries. >> Are there any citizens here in the audience looking to address the council on items that weren't on the agenda? >> And I know the packer arena here folks are lot that's going to be on the work session. So that's not part of it right now. Hearing none. Moving on to reports and
recommendations. Craig, >> I have none. Okay. >> On to councel. Paul, >> nothing your honor. >> Obala? Nothing. Your honor. >> Uh, I just wanted to say a special hello to the uh our friend over here who's
been talking on the phone tonight. I feel like every time I said I, they said hi. And I think that that is cool. And uh we're able to get all of our work done even uh though that Fred is here
with us. So um I'll leave it at that tonight. >> Say hi. Hi, >> Jeff. Anything? >> Uh, nothing, your honor. >> I actually thought that Tom was recording eight votes for eyes.
Said I >> um just a quick thing you might you probably didn't see on the consent agenda because we just kind of approved everything on there all at once, but there's like six, eight, nine different events that we just approved that are going to be taking place this fall. There's a lot of great organizations
putting together some great events. So, keep an eye out and get out there because this is honestly the best time to live here and I'm really excited for the next few months. >> Thank you, Jason. >> Yeah, a couple things. One is a huge thank you to everybody that helped with the Austin Artworks Festival. I thought I mean just that's one of the premier
festivals really of our region and definitely of our community and I thought it was another great event this year. Um I know there's a tremendous amount of time and energy that goes into that. So, a big thanks to all those who were involved in that. And then second of all, I mean, kind of setting up the budget conversation we'll have here. Just a thank you to everybody that's
been involved. I mean, the reality is we don't have a ton of easy choices. And so it makes our job substantially better as we go through and we have input on here's the things that we like or don't like from a tax levy standpoint. Here's the things we like or don't like from a
cut standpoint. I think it's our job as a council to obviously look at, hey, let's ask the tough questions. let's get all the options on the table and then let's figure out how we make a decision as a community and and input um plays a really really important role with that. And so um I give tremendous amount of credit especially for folks that that
show up and are part of that process because I think it's easy to send things on social media much better to be involved in the process and I think it's been really productive and proactive. So, not that we have a great conversation coming up, but I think it will be a much better conversation for all the people that are involved in
helping us to get to the right decisions to help the community long term. So, thanks for showing up and hanging out with us tonight. >> Thanks, Jason. Becky, >> nothing your honor. >> All right. I have the September anniversaries for the citizen or the uh employees of Austin. Uh Brody Jensen, wastewater treatment, 12 years. Travis
Keller, street department, 12 years. Matt Olsen, street department, 11 years. Logan Goskasen, wastewater treatment plant, 11 years. Ryan Schaefer, wastewater treatment, 11 years. Dave Wolf, street department, eight years. Riley Donovan, uh, park and wreck and
forestry, eight years. And Gentry Sover's police for two years. So, thank you. I know I went pretty quick. Stephen, you like to note these people every day, so hope you got them. >> Very good. We appreciate our employees. No doubt. Um, with that also, I'd just like to, uh, speaking of appreciating employees, we had a employee
appreciation uh, picnic last week. Uh, excellent job by um, Piggy Lewis for catering it. And I happened to ask because I like to know these things. The cater how many folks came through the line? They said, "Absolutely, no, because we we bring 125 plates." They had 106
people come through. So, I thought that was well well attended and it was just a great feel. So, we appreciate uh, our city employees on that employee appreciation lunch. So uh with that take a motion to adjourn to our September 15, 2025 meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. All
>> in favor? I >> we are adjourned.