Are you interested in holding it? [Music] Call to order for the city of Can Falls City Council meeting Tuesday, October 7th, 2025. If I could get a roll call, please. Uh Diane Johnson >> here. >> Zimmerman >> here. >> Johnson here. Johnson
>> here. >> Burger >> here. >> Here. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. >> If I can get a motion to approve tonight's agenda. So move. Uh motion was from Lisa, second by Jeff. All those in favor say I. >> Opposed? Carries. Uh public input. Public input is intended to afford the public an opportunity to address
concerns to the city council. The public input will be no longer than 30 minutes in total length and each speaker will have no more than three minutes to speak. Speakers may address topics relevant to the governance of the city. Speakers must sign up in advance and must provide their name, address, and the topic they intend to address.
Comments must be on topic, respectful, pertinent to city business, and adhere to the applicable data privacy rules. Any speaker that violates these rules will be asked to sit down and if the speaker refuses to comply, they may be removed from the meeting. Speakers shall not address topics that are the subject of a public hearing. All such comments
shall be made at the public hearing. The city council will not generally act on issues raised by the public input, but may choose to schedule consideration of the item on a future agenda. Leading off tonight, we've got Carrie Lundine, data center.
Hi, I'm Ki Lang. I first want to thank all of you for your service. Politics, politics is polit right now. >> Carrie, if you could press the little button on the bottom of the microphone. >> I'll have to wear my glasses. >> Very.
>> Thank you, Carrie. >> So, anyway, thanks. Thanks for your service. I understand data centers are a necessity and that we're on the precipice of a technological revolution bigger than anything we've seen in my lifetime. And I'm old. I also understand these projects and the companies that need them in order to infiltrate every
single aspect of our lives aren't in it for us. They're in it for them. Track doesn't represent our interests. Data center developers are targeting small towns across the nation, hoping not only to overwhelm us, but outsmart us. They and the people they represent seem to be
succeeding at both. I just don't see what's in it for us. They um taken in context with the story in the beacon last month about drastic cuts in the school the school board could make to save money if the referendum doesn't pass in November. The
data center uh deal is particularly troubling. Canon Falls schools have not received an inflationadjusted increase in funding in decades. Tax revenue from this data center which would help fund our schools would instead go to Randolph. The hope for a handful of data center employees won't be able to find
housing in Canon. Not to mention the schools in Randolph and Northfield will be better funded and offer more opportunities. Meanwhile, the data center will consume our extra bandwidth for water and sewer services for residents. It may lower the very height of the water in the aquifer, causing many of us with wells to drill
deeper. It will cause our energy bills to spike. And in the words of another developer's representative, keep um they recommend keeping a generator in our garages for brownouts. The noise and light pollution will even rob us of the quiet and darkness in
which to see the stars. Those were the very reason many of us moved here in the first place. That's it. >> Thank you very much. >> Next up, Jeff Weekes.
>> John. John. Thanks, John. Thank you. Thank you for having the meetings and listening. Um, so I'm following up for what uh this is my third meeting for the data center and I listened to everything
that the company had to say and I realized that mostly it was just sales pitch. I started to research and I wanted to hear decibel hertz sound pressure for one nothing just oh it won't be any louder than 52 well do we
want two 52s you know it just goes on and on and um I wonder you know the last time we the last meeting there was some talk about we need to know more well I don't I
haven't heard about any committees East Wars or anything to go talk to the other towns that have had that now have data centers. Uh we had a representative come over from Farmington to to speak to us and to give us some heads up and I don't know if that's been followed up at all.
I really we desperately should have gotten more information. Uh but many of us have gone and looked for our own. Um, tell me on my head >> on my head. >> Yep. I'll let you know.
>> Um, real a realistic scenario, one she just kind of described, but uh concerning things like like the u the uh the diesel emergency with with a computer system, which is
what this is. It's gigantic. you don't get fluctuation. All right? So, they do have massive massive uh capacitors, but they keep those capacitors charged. So, every time there's a little fluctuation, you say, "Oh, we're going
to we're going to strengthen the the grid and all the input." No, I I run music here. I have a gadget. It's a conditioner and um for for my electric supply and it shows me the voltage right on there.
It goes up and down. Those things are completely automated. Those they are going to kick on a a diesel generator. Boom. 3:00 a.m. whenever it is. They're just going to go on whenever they go on. All right. And there's just going to be
like all of these endless annoyances. And uh you know 30 seconds. Ah. So what would you do about it? you would do nothing because once a data center is
here, you are disempowered. You are you have no power. You have no say. You do not have lawyers that can deal with their lawyers. And if you ever tried to make them shut down a floor or something to just make it not be such a problem,
eventually they'll say, "I can't do it. It's national security." Because one of the gentlemen from the company when he was asked what's on there, he said everything. Thank you, John. Uh Tim Dever,
>> can I request the other for all data? Can I go at the very end? I should have signed up last. >> Do you want to be the last one, Tim? >> Yeah, >> I can save you to the end. >> Thank you. >> Uh that makes us Alyssa Jacobs. Hey there. Thank you for um hearing all
of us today. Um I just want to echo what everyone else has been saying. Um I'm really concerned about the water quality, both its level, um and what they're putting into the water to keep things cool and what that's going to do
to our water systems. Um, I'm a farmer and I know most farmers are out harvesting right now, but um, we've got some of the best soil and water quality in the world. And once this data center puts up shop here, I'm concerned about
it expanding and what that's going to look like um for land prices um but also for uh water usage. And it's, you know, people's home wells, but it's also agricultural wells. And what is that going to do to our local farmer economy?
Um that also affects our school. you know, farmers affect our schools and our hospitals, how many people we have um in our town. So, I'm concerned about all that. When we're talking about being pro business, um I want to make sure the farmer's voice is included as well. Um
so, I'm I'm concerned about the water. I'm also really concerned about the um the noise pollution. Um I know that there's been a lot of conversation in this town about the racetrack. Folks are already pretty aware of that being an issue. Um and so, that's something I
don't take lightly either. So, um, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Next, we've got Ann Buselmer. >> Did I get the name? Okay. >> Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I have profound concerns about regarding
the proposed data center development and I would like to advocate at this time for a crucial step in this process. Um this proposal or this proposed development represents an undertaking of immense scale for city of Canon Falls.
While I deeply respect the diligence and the countless hours of the city council and the city staff that have already been invested in this proposal, I firmly believe that this project is at a juncture where the current resources working on this project need specialized
expertise to asssure that all aspects of the proposed development are in the best interest of the city and not track. Has anyone seen any specific written commitments from track that specify
community benefits? The technical, legal, environmental, and financial issues associated with the de development of this size certainly far exceed the scope of projects that typically are encountered by a city of
Cannon Falls and council members. And in fact, that was actually discussed at one of the council meetings like in July that um one of the council members brought up that maybe a specialist should be hired to oversee this whole process.
And at that time, John Rodmacher, he indicated that there are consultants under an escrow agreement that are being utilized. And I'm just wondering if there is an allocation in the current escrow to hire an in independent independent not track not an employee of
the city an independent consultant land management special and then they can do an impartial professional guidance of this whole process and then we can assure that the decisions haven't been influenced by
track. This project has too many potential negative consequences to rely on the resources of staff or of even more concern to rely on the information provided by track. Track is feeding us
information all the time. They have a question, it gets answered. I don't know if the answers are right or not, but I think we need an outside independent dependent person to look at it. >> 30 seconds. >> Okay.
The land has been annexed, zoning changes, ordinances rewritten, and now it's in the conditional use permits and variances. This project needs to be put on hold before there's a passage of any more per permits or variances, and let's make sure it's been done right up to
this point. This development will forever change and alter the character of Canon Falls. There is some literature in which it is widely acknowledged that data center development such as track often strategically select smaller
minutes. >> Okay. >> Good. >> Well, thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Next up is Anna. Is it Lindol or Lundal? >> Lund. Lund. [Music] First of all, thank you for hearing this
public input tonight. I do appreciate it. As you already know, my name is Anna Lindall. I've lived here my whole life. And that's my husband and my children on the back wall. We just bought our house here in April. And we're planning on putting down roots here and settling
here and giving our children a future here. So, I understand that Canon Falls has some issues with growth and budget and taxes and that sometimes change is inevitable, but I also believe that this data center is not the kind of change
that we need can and falls. So, I would like to pose to the council tonight six questions that I've seen raised by the community that perhaps you haven't considered yet. So the first question is will there be a clearly defined cap on the water usage of the data center and
will there be a provision in place to give future city councils the ability to negotiate to protect the businesses and residents that are already here in Canon Falls. Second question is there a shity bond in place to protect the city for an incomplete project or project
abandonment which is very possible as you all know. The third question is will the infrastructure of this data center be designed to support other options like an industrial park or a new housing development in the event that the data center goes under and the building is no
longer used for its intended purpose. The fourth question is is this council going to find a way to address the noise pollution issues and what resources will be made available for residents who suffer from adverse effects of the noise pollution. The fifth question is, are
you going to be generating maximum taxable income from this project? And are there any deals or tax cuts that the city is giving the data center that they are not already getting from the state and federal government? My final question is, are you going to
forbid or cap the transfer of energy costs from the data center to residents of Canon Falls? Is the data center going to pay for 100% of the electricity that they use? And furthermore, is there a fund in place to supply financial aid to lowincome residents such as myself uh if
the utility bills increase as a result of this data center? So, I would say until all of these questions are clearly answered and there is a contract in place that clearly benefits the citizens of Canon Falls, the citizens of Canon Falls that oppose this data center will do everything in our legal power to
prevent this data center from happening. Thank you. Next up is Luke London. Thank you very much for having me. My name is Luke Bundal. My wife just spoke from Canon Falls here. Moved here about 5 years ago. Got our house in April.
I just want to say um before the council um that uh it is my wish and opinion that this data center be stopped um and this doesn't come and falls. Um on both a practical level, an aesthetic level
and a matter of principle. Um regarding the matter of principle, um we all know that AI big tech is the race for the future. Um they say that that is going to be the next cold war is the AI race.
And so data centers are popping up all over the country. You can look at news articles, uh videos, independent articles about how these things are just popping up like crazy all over the country. And it seems like places like
Cannon Falls are their primary target. We're out of the way. We're out of the big city. We got plenty of farm ground. perfect place to set up these massive multiund acre facilities. And as a matter of principle for small town
America or rural America, that's not what we're about. We want that crap. The reason we moved to Canon Falls is to get away from that. Like we are in the perfect location, like my wife alluded to that we moved here is cuz we're away from Rochester. We're away from the
cities. We're kind of out here and it's not Northfield. We're out in this kind of a little mix of rural America and farm country. It's the perfect place to raise little kids, nice quiet community. We're not about to have big tech come in
and set up massive industrial complexes around this town just because we have plentiful resources for them to exploit. On a practical level, my biggest concerns are if you look at the news articles, videos, independent articles
about all these data centers that are popping up like crazy all over the country. The two biggest issues that come up in these interviews and these exposees are the energy usage and the water consumption. depending on if these
facilities have like a closed loop cooling system like a vehicle or if they're using some sort of radiant heating where they're actually using water pumping it up and using that to cool these massive data centers. If that's the case, something like this,
this size data center, the estimates are between 300,000 and and 500,000 36 uh gallons of water per day, which is 28 gallons a minute of a flow rate, which is definitely I'm no engineer, but I am a decent mechanic. I know what it takes
for setting up pumps and meters. And I know that that amount of flow rate would definitely disturb the aquifer, stir up a bunch of silt, sand, potentially contaminate our water quality. The second thing is the offset cost of the energy companies having to develop the
infrastructure which will be offset to the consumer. Thank you very much. Thank you data center. Well, first I'd like to thank you for your service on the city council. I know you've put a lot of work on the get into
um and be on behalf of the residents of Canon Falls and we appreciate that. Um by now you are aware of the controversy surrounding the data centers and some of the risks of harm to our environment and possible increased energy costs to area residents. So, I won't go into those
details. I've been a Cannon Falls resident for over 24 years and a downtown business owner for 7 years. I recently retired. In that time, I met and listened to thousands of people who came to this area to partake in the beauty and amenities that we have to
offer. They came from all directions and they told me how they loved seeing the beauty here. Overall, they came for the friendly small town experience. Some like me and my family came back and live here because of that visit. And whenever
I leave town and come back into it, whether it's along Highway 52 or one of the other points of entry, my breath catches of the beauty in this valley. And I feel very lucky to live here. When I try to envision a data center, a massive data center in the fields along
Highway 52, one of the first and most often viewed glimpses glimpses that people get of Cannon Falls. I envision something that blocks the view of the bluffs in the distance during the day and generates light pollution at night. It certainly isn't a feature that I can
imagine would entice people to take the exit to explore the community further and to move here. I describe all of this because I don't believe a massive data center will enhance the beauty and reputation of Canon Falls and it could well detract from it. You've heard about the concerns of the area residents, but
we haven't heard from you regarding what the actual benefits are going to be to this community. Not the marketing points from tract, but the cold facts. So, I'm asking you to take these steps. One, take the time to listen and invest in
investigate the concerns of citizens. two, hold a town hall meeting where folks can ask questions directly to you and to city staff and receive answers instead of just giving folks a threeinut um timed event. Tell us exactly what benefits you expect
this community to receive by proceeding with this development. This is an important issue that will affect this community and the surrounding area for generations to come. While I consider myself a change agent, an early adopter of new ideas,
and I do support community development, we also have to guard against change for the sake of change, resulting in a lot of work with no benefit. No matter how much work the city staff and the developer and you have put into this or what statute constraints that you are
under, you have the power to step up and protect the best interests of this community, our neighbors, and our environment. Please have the courage to do so. Thank you. And last night, Tim Demer
just like to thank all the seated are all of you that are part of the city that we live in and
enjoy. Um just would like to also just ditto everything that was said. um the last thing that was spoken. I was going to comment on that a little bit, but then she was just saying about
I I wasn't expecting the to be uh this discussion on the data um project or whatever the um data center. But I came for another
reason. I've I've called it this home for over 34 years now. I moved here in ' 91 [Music] and like what was mentioned about
she how did she say that she counts herself lucky to be there. I did for the first 20 years having a stable job, decent employer, so on and so forth, but it's just been declining so rapidly. Um
I think mainly my or people I don't really believe in the luck of chance or whatever but seems like my luck has run out a decade ago both in personal um family
um to community um and so on. Um, I I take these out, but the the lighting it's clean, but I get kind of sensitive to the lighting seems to help some, but I had two issues, you know, there's way too much
to get into. One of them had dealing with what we what I came to the last two meetings or two meet two board meetings at the library public library board meeting twice. And I think if my memory ser this my second time here regarding
the this apology um stating that the board so I I got a reply back from the the president of the library board discussing um that the board asked me what action I'd
like seeking and I thought for for sure to get um an apology and and in writing and some have commented. I think last time um Mr. Novak said that it was um was done, but
things just seem to get swept in the card. And this if you consider this an apology that the the president um Bruce Cwells mentioned that they believe they received an apology when um library
director Miller said she a regretted that I felt that way and b that uh director Miller did not intend to treat you me with the disrespect disdain on professionalism. So I want to get to the bottom of this. >> We're past 3 minutes still. Right. And I
got a bigger issue with the police officers with what I wrote on my comment about who to trust and who to understand. >> Thank you, Tim. >> Thank you. All right. Um that's it for public input tonight. We have two presentations. Uh
leading up first tonight will be schoolboard referendum presentation from the school board chair Clint. Well, first off, good evening, council. Um, thank you for giving the time to give a quick presentation. Uh, John, as
well, and thank you all for serving. Uh I know firsthand it's quite a thankless job and I know all the time that goes uh on behind the scenes that the public doesn't often see and uh thank you for all of that. So with respect to time, normally this
is about a 354mm presentation that we put on and go in depth. Uh I'm going to go rattle through this and I'm going to try to get done in about 10 minutes here because I have another presentation at 7:15. Uh just to start off, uh yeah, we are
going out for an oper uh operating levy uh on November 4th. On November 4th, Canon Falls Area School District voters will be asked to support a $950 per pupil subject to an annual increase at the rate of inflation
operating levy to support the day-to-day operations of the school district. This would give the school district operating re revenue estimated at between $700 and $950,000. I also want to add uh by putting that rate of inflation that would have
nothing to do with the school. That would be tied to the consumer price index which is set by the federal government. So, I'm going to play a quick video here. I'm hoping I can get this to work. [Music]
After headlines across Minnesota declared record school funding in 2023, you may be asking yourself, why are so many school districts making budget cuts and going to voters for more funding? Here are the top reasons Minnesota
schools are struggling to balance budgets. Number one, inflation. Families aren't the only ones feeling the impact of rising costs. For school districts, the costs of labor, health insurance, property insurance, and school bus
transportation continue to rise. The 2023 inflationary increase to the general education formula is a step forward, but it doesn't make up for decades of underfunding and failing to keep up with rising inflationary costs.
Number two, unfunded and underfunded mandates from the state. When it comes to some of the most costly things schools have to pay for, it's the state legislature, not the local school board, who makes these decisions. From implementing new instructional
strategies to increasing curricular requirements to providing unemployment benefits, there are decisions made at the state level that local districts must follow. While the state may offer one-time funds to help pay for some new requirements, the ongoing costs are
often the school district's responsibility. And number three, the changing role of schools in our communities. The needs of students are different than they were 10, 20, or 30 plus years ago. From mental health support for students,
specialized learning assistance, family resources, and career programs to help meet workforce needs, schools have taken on additional responsibilities to meet the needs of their students and community. When you add rising safety needs, aging buildings and technology,
and declining birth rates, it's clear why Minnesota districts struggle to balance their budgets. School funding is complex with the majority of funding coming through the state in the form of general education aid. Schools also receive funds for
specific categories that can only be spent on certain items. Additional needs are then covered by property taxes. In other words, just because the state is providing us with more dollars doesn't mean we can use those dollars
wherever we like. Each year, we tackle the challenge of balancing these funding sources with our increasing expenses to build an effective budget that meets student needs. When our student needs exceed state and local funding, we may seek additional support through a
referendum. As you can see, there's more to the story beyond headlines of schools receiving record funding, inflation, unfunded mandates, and a changing role for schools. Funding schools is an investment in our
students, community, and future. Please reach out to your elected officials and share your story so they can help do their part to make sure our students and our schools are receiving the resources they need for success.
Visit our website to learn more. All right. The need for additional funding isn't new. We've made reductions over the past seven years to address our budget challenges. Align teaching and uh supports possessions to enrollment, increase class sizes, reduce apartment and building projects, delayed
maintenance project, and facility updates. Last November, we asked voters to consider an operating levy, and that failed. The need is real. As a result of the unex successful levy last year, the district was forced to make nearly
$800,000 in reductions for the 2526 school year. This included eliminating teacher uh teaching positions, eliminated coaching and advisor positions, increased or created fees for facility use and activities, reduced eliminated technology plus curriculum
subscriptions, restructured administrative positions, delayed a bus replacement purchase, eliminated a bus route, and reduced district budgets. Despite our financial challenges, great
things are happening in our classrooms. Cannon Falls area is the leading is the CA Canon Falls area schools are the leader in the area in test scores. Our reading and math scores have been above the state average for the past 5 years. Our career and technical educational courses are preparing students for high
demand and well-paying jobs after graduation. Our food service program is a recognized leader in the state. US News and World Report has placed Canon Falls area schools in the top 20% of high schools in the state.
Canon Falls Area Schools offers competitive academic and enrichment programs that other school districts don't offer and we are committed to hands-on and experimental learning. A lot of different things that are shown in this uh picture here is kind of a
shout out to our ed foundation and uh different things that our ed foundation provides that uh the normal school budget doesn't cover. Our graduation rate is above the state average. So why the need for voter funding? In
this graph you can in this graph you can see the bottom dash line that is what the funding that we are receiving per pupil. If you look at the very top line, that is if funding would have kept up with inflation what we would be receiving. So if you look all the way
from 2003 all the way to uh 2025, we have a $1,470 funding gap. That equates to about $1.5 million less that we are receiving. The current referendum that we're looking at going for, we're hoping for
somewhere between $850 and 950 thou $950,000. So, still a lot less than what we should be receiving. I also just want to add if like we go off of if we went off of our budgets based on what the city or what
the county has done, if we went off the county's projection of what their budget has done, we'd have roughly about an extra $10 million a year to work with right now. Uh if we went off with what the city has done, we'd have about an extra 5 million. We're looking for about
1 million. So 20% of that. Why the need for voter approved funding? School districts have no mandates from the state, all of which cost additional money, including additional course requirements, paid medical leave, uh unemployment, discipline requirements, and mandated teacher
training. The funding shortfall means most school districts most rely on local taxpayers for support. 72% We're not alone in this. 72% of school districts utilize an operating levy and that number is continuing to grow. There's a tremendous
amount of schools that are going out for operating levies this year. Our operating levy hasn't increased since 2004. How do Canon Falls taxes compare to other districts? Now, this is total school property taxes payable in 2025 on
a home with an estimated market value of $375,000. So, right now, Cannon Falls is at $1,276. You'll see we just right below uh the middle of what our surrounding schools are. So just a few few schools below us,
few above us, and some are sign significantly higher. >> Clinton, do you know who's going out for referendum or a levy there? >> For sure. Uh Goodyu is. Uh, so that's where if you look at Goodiew where they're at right now, uh, if I remember
correctly talking to Evan, their superintendent, uh, based on what their home values are, uh, in goodu they're asking for 800,000 and I believe, uh, that was going to raise uh, it was going
to be about 600 extra dollars or something like that. Um, so theirs would go up significantly higher on their tax base there. >> I believe Farmington has one too. 30 yard sign. >> Yeah, I think Farmington is also going out for one too. Uh, I haven't talked
with uh their superintendent, so I don't know the specifics on that one. This graph here shows what uh we receive per pupil uh for total funding. So that's where you can see the state average is at $10,78.
We are down at 9,452. Um we rank uh 283rd in the state. I will also say uh some of these schools down here that you see receive less uh it's quite common
that uh com when we look at their MCA scores a lot of those schools are towards the lower level on that as well. So it seems like that kind of correlates. So, you can go on the MD website if you want to look uh of what every school has uh
for test scores. What will be on the ballot? The board of independent school district number 252, Canon Falls Area Schools, Minnesota, has proposed to increase the school district's general education revenue by $950 per pupil subject to an annual increase at the rate of inflation. Like
I said, that is tied to the CPI. The proposed new referendum revenue authorization will be the first levied in 2025 for taxes payable in 2026 and applicable per 10 years unless otherwise revoked or reduced as provided by law.
Shall the referendum revenue authorization proposed by the board of independent school district 252 Canon Falls Area Schools Minnesota be approved? Yes or no? By voting yes on the ballot question, you are voting for a property tax increase.
So, what's this going to cost you? Uh, this just kind of shows a chart so you can look up if you know what your property is worth. Uh, and this is a levy. So, this goes based off of a home,
garage, and 1 acre. It is not all land. So if we look at the the previous chart was based off of 375,000 which that's what we found was the average in the Canon Falls School District. So 375 you'd be looking at about an increase of
$325 a year or roughly $27 a month. Now I'm going to go back up if I can get that off. So if we add 325
to our 1276, we're going to be roughly around 1,600. That is still going to put us below good, but like we talked about, they are going out for an operating levy as well, which if theirs passes, they'll go up quite a bit. So we are we would jump
Hastings. Um, but we still are would be right in the middle. on our website, you can pull up this exact uh presentation here and then we have this tool right here where you can type in your estimated market value and it'll show you exactly uh what your
price increase would be. So, what happens if the levy is not successful? the levy is not successful, the school board will cut another $700,000 in staff program and services from the annual operating budget. And
that's just for the next year. Um the year after that, there's going to be more and the year after that and it's going to continue and continue and continue because inflation continues to eat us up. School boards identified the following
items for consideration to reduce expenses and increase revenue. Eliminate teaching positions, reducing the number of sections in the youngest grade levels and increasing class sizes to an average of 26 students per class. We're talking kindergarten through 2
grade having class sizes around 26 kids. State guidelines recommend around 17 to 19 for kindergarten and first grade for reference. I think everyone here can figure out uh what your better better chances are for
education with having a either a one for 17 ratio or a 1 for 26 especially at that young age when that's the one of the most critical times uh for our young kids where their brains are like a sponge
>> and their body is very active >> and that's going to come right into the another cut that's coming up here. But I'll also add, we need to have staff that are willing to teach these bigot classes. Okay? I can only think of when I have 10 or 11
over for birthday parties at that age and what I go through. I can't imagine that having that many. So, the next one to your point, reduce physical education class to the state minimum. That would be every other day. We currently have every other or we currently have every day. We're very
proud of that. And that's where you think of those young kids. They need to release some energy and we want to keep them fit. Uh we want to keep them off of devices. We'll eliminate course offerings. We'll charge in town bus usage. We are not
required to bus anyone uh within 2 miles of our school. That is a state law. We choose to do it because it's the right thing to do. It's the safest thing to do. We have Highway 19 right out in front of our school,
but we're not forced to. Uh so by doing this, I would say that I don't think we'd eliminate it, but we will look at having people uh we will charge people to do that. I don't know what that amount would be. It could be anywhere from $300 to $500 a year to ask people
to ride the bus. We will reduce classroom and department operating budgets. We'll charge senior citizens and students to attend activities. We will increase rental rates and season pass fees. I will also add a lot of these different things that
we're looking at increasing. They're already a large amount and we already just increased them last year. A lot of these were all going to be 100% increases every single year. We'll increase activity participation fees. We're the largest in our conference right now. We're going to
look at increasing them even more. What do you think that's going to do for getting kids to participate in more activities and sports? We're going to eliminate the family cap. We're going to reduce uh coaching staff for golf, reduce support staff positions, which will be administrative assistant, a custodian, and food
service. We're already short in all those departments. We're going to charge the view live view live streaming of events. We'll fund the f uh fall musical through community education. And here's the one. Uh we'll look at
possibly implementing a 4-day school week. Voting. Where can you vote? You can vote right now. Maybe not right at this minute, but you can vote between 8:00 and 4:30 Monday through Friday all the way up to uh voting day on November 4th. else
November 4th right here in city hall 7 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Anything here that you want to see, you want to see this exact uh presentation, you want to see more uh information, just go to our website. Plenty of stuff
there. I will also say that all my my contact information is on the website or superintendent, any of the other school board members, uh feel free to reach out. We want that. Uh I think we are up to about 24 or so presentations that
we're doing here so far. But uh we want to I want to meet with you. Uh I don't care if it's one person, 10, 15, 20. Um if you have questions, please reach out. Any questions from the council?
>> I got one. Uh do you guys know I mean is there anything from the state? I mean obviously the state passed down all this stuff and it's creating stress on you and your budget. Has the state or legislature or anybody indicated any sort of funding relief for you guys outside of the levy and all that stuff?
>> That is something that they continue to talk about every single year. The problem is it just doesn't tend to happen. And so that's where it's really tough to predict on what our funding is going to be like 5 years from now, 10 years from now. We never know. Uh, and
you know, one question I get I've gotten asked from, you know, when I'm talking to different people, especially like senior cit citizens where I'm say, "Hey, hey, let's try to pay this back." Uh, they'll ask me, they'll be or they'll tell me, you know, when I was in school,
>> Bradley, do you work with any other small towns here in Goodyu County? >> So, or in the area? >> Yeah. Uh, Redwing is a member. Um and then going kind of down the river, uh Wabasha, um Plain View, which I don't think is Mio County, but but near enough. Um so a
number of of of nearby communities. >> Any other questions from the council? >> So what is this the conference we went to? >> No, different. >> No. So that was the >> league of municipities.
>> The you went to a conference last fall. >> Well, somewhere I started it was in the spring. We drove somewhere south of here. It was in the base. >> Oh, uh the January one that was the that's the southeasternly uh municipal
municipal. >> That's a different organization. >> So that's a different organization. Yeah. So that one just serves the >> 11 counties of southeastern Minnesota. Okay. >> Um similar uh and they you know there's a definite distinctive focus on the work
that they do and the focus areas and the needs of southeastern Minnesota as they differ from the rest of the state. Um what the coalition I would say in terms of my experience with them. Uh definitely would complement and serve us additionally to that. I'm not saying they're replacement, nor am I saying,
you know, you join the league or you join the coalition, you you participate in and have as many advocates supporting you as you can because these issues are really important. Um, I will I'll I'll put my uh previous experience working for two different cities. My first city,
we were not members. They are members now. Um, and and I moved to Little Falls and started there. We were members. Um, and it was it took me very little time to regret not being a member of the coalition um when I was in Madison,
Minnesota. Like the the issue areas that they worked on were the same um for Madison as they were for Little Falls at the time. the advocacy and the work that I was able to do in partnership with the coalition uh for issues surrounding
wastewater and child care which are have huge issues for the city of Little Falls in 2017 18 and 19. Um I would not have been able to achieve the success and the support that we did at the state level had it not been working with the
coalition. So I I you know I I know these I know these folks. I've worked with them in the past. I know their their mission and core and the way they operate uh and the team that Bradley leads uh and that the way they do it is is truly um one of the best and that's
to say that you know they're not they're not going to be your sole resource. U you know you you participate with the league. Um I think the South Eastern Municipal League is a great resource as well. um they have some focus areas that that help us uh too, but but having the
coalition um available uh to us is is I think could be a very beneficial. So, um Bradley, if you wanted to mention too like how the rate structures work for for memberships. >> Yeah, absolutely. So, as a not a current member um and one that hasn't a city
that hasn't been a member for a little bit, we do phase in your membership uh over time. So we start with sort of 25% of what the total would be. Um and then ramp it up by 25% over uh four years until you hit your your total. And so
your first year of membership kind of 14th of the total would be $1,915 I think is what we calculated. Um and you know there's certainly no obligation from one year to the next. You do it for one year and you think it's not for us.
We'll be sad to see you leave but we'll leave as friends. Um but I think you know if you do become members and and engage and really absorb and and engage with the material that uh we're putting out there and come to conferences and
such um I think you'll find value in it. >> Anything else from the council? >> Thank you for your patience tonight. >> Absolutely. >> Appreciate it. Thank you for the presentation. >> Thank you so much. Have a great rest of your meeting. >> Thank you. All right. That gets us to consent agenda. Uh consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as
presented or may be removed for discussion and resolution as council business. I'll go through them. Uh option item A, adjust and correct claims the accounting period ending October 2nd, 2025. Item B, meeting minutes for September 8th, 2025 city council work session. Item C, meeting minutes for
September 16th, 2025 city council meeting. Item D, approve council meeting date change for November. Item E, approve health insurance renewal and additional plan option. F, acceptance of John Burch Park improvement project. G,
resolution 2829, accepting grant from Good Hugh County Co-op Electric Association, $750 to the parks department. Item H, approve lease agreement for Striker Medical Equipment for the ambulance department. Item I, approve laser fee conversion. Item J,
approve John Deere 325G compact track loader trade. Item K, approve the purchase of a second GridB AP500 wet well mixer. Item L, approve disposal of surplus equipment for public works. Item M, approve disposal of surplus equipment
and purchase of replacement tractor for public works. Item N, resolution 2830, accepting a monetary donation of $640 for a memorial bench in honor of Jane Duckett. Item O, resolution 2831, receiving preliminary report and calling
public hearing on 2026 street utility improvements. Item P, introduction and first reading of ordinance 411, an ordinance authorizing the sale of parcel number 52.14.0140 and item Q, approve signage of Hoffman Street East and First Street North. Is
there anything the council would like to pull down? Hearing none, I would accept a motion to approve the consent agenda. Motion from Diane. I think Lisa got a second in there. Lisa got the second. All those in favor say I. >> Oppos? Nay. It carries.
Gets us to our reports. Uh, library board Nicole. >> Um, well, there's nothing from the library board, but I do want to let people know that day. Um this weekend the on Saturday the
library is hosting um NAMI Minnesota from 10 to 2. They're doing a workshop um called Hope for Recovery. It's a 4-hour workshop for participants to learn about anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and
co-occurring disorders, including diagnostic assessment processes processes, treatments, and recovery. Um, so lots of things that people can learn. This is a free workshop and um I know
that NAMI has uh registration on their website and also on Eventbrite. So yeah, that was really fun to plan. >> Yeah. Awesome. Thank you, Nicole. Uh the Joint Powers Trail Board, what I got there. >> Nothing new.
>> Nothing new. All right. Uh the EDA met on October 2nd. Laura, if you just want to give a quick update. >> Um, yep. The um the myars um which uh the let's see um the EDA signed and those are at the county now to be
recorded. So once the plant is recorded um then that's very good news so we can sell some lots. Um they will break ground on October 20th. So they'll start the mass grading for that and then get as much infrastructure as they can in
yet this year. Um so we're excited for that. Um the farmer did get some of the crop out. So that is good. Talked to him on Saturday. So um anyway, >> timing is just right. It's been dry and we're hoping for soft weather so that it
>> Yeah, his equipment broke down Saturday evening. So he was going to try to get more of it out. But anyway, um, so we have some progress, so we're excited about that. >> That's all I have. >> Thank you. Uh, public works and parkboard also met on October 2nd.
>> Everything was consent >> agenda. I I figured there was a lot of public works in there, >> obviously. Has a lot of paperwork in there. >> Yeah. >> Uh, all right, let's go around the horn. We'll start with J. >> Um, just a reminder, the it is October. The watering uh sewer credit has ended.
Uh, so all those that are still watering your lawn, just know that to expect a bigger bill because you're going to pay for that that sewer as part of it. Uh, my guys have started flushing hydrants this week. Um, if your water does end up a little bit yellow, just run a bathtub and it should clear up shortly. Um, and
finally, the asphalt, our Rochester sand and gravel should be uh paving this Thursday and Friday. Thursday before Friday. Um, our last of our our little bit of road asphalt. So, wrapping things up for me.
>> All right. Thank you, Jed. Bill, how are you? >> I'm doing well. Thank you, Mayor. A couple quick items. So, uh you sent motion earlier in the consent agenda. You did approve uh the 2026 street project and you did send motion the assessment process. So, John and I talked, we should give you a a little
heads up of what'll happen. So, a couple council members, you've been through the assessment process. So, on your November 4th council meeting, we will have a public hearing on the project. So, the public hearing will involve I will give a presentation. Uh John and Jed can chime in as well and that will be the
public's uh chance to give you input. So, for those you've been through this before, they'll be able to give input on should this project proceed. So, mayor, we've called this the thumbs up or thumbs down vote. Uh this is a super majority of the council. What that does is says we've heard your input and we
have decided to continue this project. Uh just a reminder, this project is a continuation of the 2023 street project. uh which was actually the sewer bridge lift station and in 2023 the council decided to break this project up into three phases. So this is the last of
those three phases. So and then after that uh that hearing you'll again you'll have that vote and then we will proceed with moving towards uh having final plans prepared and going out for bid this spring at which time we have another hearing uh where then people will be able to uh present evidence if
they so choose to the valuation of their assessment. So, first one, thumbs up, thumbs down, and then the spring when we actually have bid, it's going to have a real amount. So, uh, second item, just a quick one. We heard, you know, earlier on the the data center, you know, as I'm
listening and I hear comments on sewer and water. As the council, we we have a lot of information. We've, you know, the AU process. We have thoroughly examined our water, our sewer. We know we have where we are on our infrastructure. And uh just this just for you guys if you
want to ask questions Thursday night would be a great time. Uh you know we as staff we've given you a lot of information and sometimes it's a lot to digest. So would more than welcome uh the chance to dazzle you with our information again. So >> all right. >> Thank you mayor.
>> Thank you Bill. We'll see you on Thursday. Izzy, >> I will just note the next planning commission meeting is this coming Monday. So, we'll be discussing items that were tabled at the last planning commission regarding tract. >> All right. Any
>> Izzy, I got a question on that. Just just so I'm clear, just for public information, that meeting, we've already had our public hearing on that. So, there will be no comments from the public based on track. Is that correct? >> Yep. So, public hearings were all on September 8th. So, there's no public hearing scheduled for this coming
Monday. >> Okay. Thank you. But but then of course there is public input at the beginning. >> Okay, Laura, >> no updates. >> Um just a couple things. Halloween's
around the corner. Um one thing that we've noticed uh recently we've seen an uptick of uh kids from mainly outside of the city coming and trying to look at our abandoned buildings that we have. Uh just to remind everybody, if you see something, say something. Uh a couple of
our buildings are not safe for individuals to be running around in, especially kids. So please, if you see somebody by either the Progressive Rail, the old nursing home, the old Dairy Queen, any of these buildings, please let us know so that we can arrest them, make sure nobody gets injured, and take
care of it. Uh like I said, most of these kids have not been locals. We've been following up on videos that we've gotten from the general public, but just remind everybody to call us and let us know if you see something. >> All right. Thank you very much, Nicole. Anything else?
>> I did forget to add that during the trick-or- treat trot. There we go. During the trick-or- treat trot, we will be handing out candy. So, please stop at the library cuz we could have good candy. >> All right. Candy and books. >> Yeah. >> Sarah, >> nothing. John.
>> Okay. Um, would you want me to answer or address some of the questions brought up in the public comment piece? I think I I can certainly >> Yeah, if you would like to. I know a lot of the audience members left, but this will be on YouTube and we also will have the work session on Thursday. If you would like
>> Yeah, there's some there's definitely some concerns of our ability to respond. I know the planning commission meeting a lot of questions were asked. Um, the way that those things played out like we weren't able to answer them. Um what we're alluding to on Thursday is our joint work session that we have again with the planning commission which is a
public meeting. Um but thisformational only know actions decision that are at that time but our chance for us as council and the planning commission to ask a lot more questions of the developer and and the application to have and we will have more defined terms
from the development agreement that we'll be able to share at that time. So that is a big part of the questions that were were that came up and why you know we don't have we haven't presented because that development agreement wasn't in a phase that I felt was we
reached tentative agreements um or in in a position where we have that after a meeting today um I think I feel like we're a lot closer um to a point where we can talk about the terms in which we have agreements there are things yet to
be finalized so um primarily going focus on Anna's questions because they're succinct and um you know direct. So one water use um as we've discussed in what we've presented in our in our studies there is a cap within the the um
development agreement for water and and sewer. So water distribution and sewer uh collections. So on the water distribution side the the requested amount is at the end point of development. So this is a 10-year development plan. At the end year end of
10 years, 43 million gallons per year is the is the cap of which water that they can they can draw from the city. Um just as an I think it's it's interesting um the circumstances that are aligned to this. So the property that they are
intending on purchasing has an irrigation well on it that has an appropriation for 41 million gallons per year. So that well as part of our annexation agreement cannot be used for their purposes unless the city has a
organ an emergency use in which we cannot provide them water for a period of time. We'd have to notify them. There would have to be a lot of things in place. They in addition to that they have to get approval from the DNR to amend that permit so that they can use water from that well in order to to use
it for this purpose because it's changing use. going from agricultural irrigation to something different. So they got to get permission from the DNR as well as there has to be very specific emergency only circumstances in which they can draw out that water. So in
effect that well goes away our allocation you know fills up 43 million over a 10-year period. So there there is a cap on terms of use on the sewer side within the the most recent request. The end um dist
collection amount on an average is 50,000 gallons a day. So a lot more water on the usage side but a lot less coming back to us on a per day basis. A great back again to the studies that we we conducted. And this was a very important reason why we did the study so
was to understand what our systems can use that is well within the capacity of our existing sewer treatment plant for how much water we can take on and be able to treat from them. So in terms of how that water is actually used, what it's you know the cooling purpose, the systems that they they have, a lot of
those things are way past our ability to date to to predict or determine what they're going to be. But in terms of setting a cap for water and sewer, those have been set within the development agreement at this point for our purposes from the staff side because I know
council you have not been a part of that. Not to say that you can't have input, you should have input and you should, you know, if you have concerns about that, that should be addressed on Thursday because we have time to change them. Um those those are the amounts that we're at for water and sewer. Uh
sure I this is probably the thing that we have been at the table and most um in back and forth discussions and is not yet to the to the final stage of completion but what we want to ensure is that within this uh pro project there
are infrastructure needs for the developer to be delivered to the site. So one is infra is the mains the water sewer means to get to the site on at the site we have been discussing having a water tower constructed. So they would dedicate land for us city to then
construct a water tower on on the property. Additionally, we have a new user that would likely be what we call a significant industrial user coming onto the system. They would accommodate that even though it's still 50,000 gallons per day, that's still going to be a lot
a high level user for us. And what we've talked about is instead of them being charged a higher rate than everybody else because they're coming into our system, if we can get a forward contribution to that, that would, you know, offset any need for us to build
them more. So, what we would be asking them to do is what we call a capital improvement charge. So, paying us in advance for the improvements that we're going to have to make at the at the sewer plant just because of its age. It's 25 years old. On the tower side, what we're asking for is a specific
dollar amount that's paid. What we're at right now is when that is going to be paid specifically and then what guarantees are there assurityity um about the pro the the payment of that amount when the project gets approved. So those things are still on the table
being discussed and where we're trying to trying to get finalized. >> John, will those numbers be public by Thursday? >> Yes. >> Okay. So we can't share them now, but you can share them on Thursday. Uh yes, >> perfect. >> What's going on on Thursday? >> We're having that joint session work
with traction 6:30 right here as well. So >> um not again it's a work session. It is a public meeting so the public is will able to attend but is not necessarily what yeah we don't have a public input session. We don't have public hearing. It's primarily information for the council and planning commission members
to ask questions of the developer. uh the infrastructure for using another purpose. Yes, is the answer. So if the infrastructure is there to serve the site, it can be utilized for for purpose. The the pipe in the ground is not specialized the case. It's it's
crafted in a way or designed in a way to handle um you know high levels of flows and and then some um but is not you know it's not specifically built for data centers. It can be used for many other things. So, if this doesn't work and the land stays within the city, um it is
right now it it's in the process of being zoned towards industrial, it is in our comp plan as as a planned area for industrial expansion. It's adjacent to our industrial park. Um like likely that would be a style of use um that could potentially be out there if this project
doesn't move forward. the noise pollution um as part of our agreements and the and track has agreed to these and these are in the process of the land use decisions that are still at the planning commission stage. Uh noise pollution any noise is governed by uh
MPCA uh as we talked about recently with u um an IUP for a local person operating out of their garage um creating noise. be that the MPCA actually on this instance is something that they would respond to if there is complaints they would study it and they would address
it. So there would be mechanisms in in which if they are generating noise that are exceeds the levels allowable from the MPCA into various zones residential. So if it crosses from this industrial into the residential and it exceeds the thresholds that NPCA and the state have
established then there are repercussions. they do have to do mitigation measures to um alleviate that noise pollution. So they cannot do that. That is MPCA governs that that law. We do have noise standards of our own. Um
however ours are more vehicle related than they are an industrial related purpose and ours are above right now the MPCA thresholds in which this situation would govern are actually more strict
than what our standards are. So we would you know defer to them to uh to manage that however we can support them in the enforcement of it and it's part of our agreements. If they don't meet those or if they exceed those and they violate that and they don't have mitigation strategies then we can revoke their
conditional use taxable income. Um, as this project has gone on from prior to my start, there has been no discussion ask for, well, maybe there was an ask, but it never has come up in my time here of a tiff
district tax financing, tax payment, no tax dollars from the city going to subsidize this project. Contract has never asked for that. they have mentioned that they, you know, may um leave that to the end user to be able to
ask for things, but I have clearly and 100% every single time that's been brought up retract said this council at this time has never been in support of tax dollars going to incentivize this project. None. They have also um
discussed in it uh a contribution for a park dedication fee based on our our current plan which is $494,000 um onetime park dedication fee based on our code and within this development agreement there is a uh dedicated
contribution to the school district. Will that number be able to be shared on Thursday or >> you want to talk with the school district before we we say what that is. Got it. >> Um that was what we committed to to being able to um so that and I if there
you know have to predict the future which I don't like to do. I don't think the appetite for this council or future councils that are going to be a big large scale end user coming in to work in this data center that they're going to offer or accept or you know entertain any sort of tax increment.
That is a big portion of what we've looked at and where these funds have come from. Um that is some additional information that I'll share. track has done a um they have them there uh presented from Ernston Young a um tax a taxable market values uh impact study.
Um I reviewed that Laura and I um saw the presentation discussed making sure that hey are all the assumptions that are going into this correct because Minnesota is very complicated and I feel pretty confident in what I saw and that what they've listed that those are
correct. I've done then compared that to my own analysis for what you know I can project. Obviously this is very um you know future future based. These are things we don't exactly know. Um it's it's kind of at some points it's just like throwing darts at the wall while
you're spinning around in a circle with blindfold on. Um but to my best knowledge I would say that they're pretty accurate in terms of what we have. So that's something I've I've shared with council and we can talk about more on Thursday. The last two items that she brought up
are the energy costs and the financial aid for utilities. Um uh so in terms of the energy costs, we heard from Dakota Electric and Great River Energy that their strategy working with developers like this is that they also pay their way for the infrastructure that they are
they're the ones contributing to this cost so that it does not impact the rates of future users. Now that one thrown back in my face anytime I talk about it, but that is what they were told. That's what we are told from the people that would be providing the energy, the ones that are, you know,
setting the rates for them. We set the rates on the water and sewer, they set the rates on the electric side. John, can I add to that? >> Yes. >> So, I actually I called Dakota Electric and got in touch with our engineering division. And I was told by then that all costs will be upfront paid for by
tract um with upgrades uh in respect to request to whatever the system is. And they're paying for transmission distribution. And that's what I was told by Dakota Electric. So echoing what you just said. Yeah. >> So in terms of if that's the case and
back to our water side and our uh development agreements and why these these funds and and you know things are there to pay for this work is so that we are not pushing this cost back onto our users in the system. that they're paying
their way for these improvements that we can then take their consumption at the limit limitations that we are establishing on it. Plan for that to be incorporated within our existing system and plan for that within our capacity to
expand the system um naturally whatever growth we do have. That was part of this you know efforts of the study that we conducted back earlier this year so that we still have existing capacity. So we are not jeopardizing future users. We're
not jeopardizing existing users from being able to receive water from us and send their you know sewer back to us for treating us. That has been a very important element in every conversation that we started with and I will say I
will give attract a lot of credit on they've heard that and they've incorporated that into these allocations inress and this is all been great. really quick. And just not only the cost like with electricity, isn't it also
true that um use of that electricity the residents are priority over industrials that so it's not not even the money >> we're not going to have an outage just because they're using too much power. We have priority over industrial use >> and that's yes and that is governed by
the public utilities commission and the other regulatory agencies over that and we also address those we any state regulatory agency that has uh in influence over track in the data center in the project they have to meet those
if we are not satisfied that they are not meeting those standards and guidelines we can revoke the cup we can take this this away if they are not doing that. That is that can be that is part of the the agreements that is what track is asking. So to Laura's point, I
mean I I believe we asked the code electric when they were sitting here, you know, what about black health? What do you think or is this going to happen? And they said they would not overcommit to the system. This is their and when I talked to them, they said this is their first one on their system. They and they and they have standards that they have
to meet in the plan of of increasing and providing this that they they have to again they cannot just add to more power because this is a high-end user at the sacrifice of they have regulations they have to so the financial aid uh for the utilities is not something that we have
however I feel that based on this plan if accepted and approved that is something that will put us in a position in which our rates are absolutely not going to go up. Understandably, this development is going to take a long time. So, there are going to be there's
going to be a lot of time before, you know, the users are are coming into full full fruition. Their a lotments are, you know, expected and to be in phases. So, they're not asking for the full 43 million gallons in the first year. They have caps in which the first couple years that are lower.
So we will see be able to anticipate and plan for where those rates need to be. The way our current system is and with the kind of excess capacity that we have both on the water side and the sewer side, it is in theory very possible that
by them coming onto the system and staying within these limitations that they are that they're not they're re the revenue we would receive from those water consumptions and sewer distribution back to us are higher than
the cost of the operations. which they're going to, you know, it's going to take to serve that. So therefore, back to that that chart that Clinton showed, you know, inflation outpacing uh revenues, it's the opposite. Revenues
outpacing operating costs. If that is the case, that is absolutely something we can look at and explore and build into our rate structure, you know, and if nothing else changes, if everything stayed status quo of today and we add that into the system, I would say in
confidence that you could lower your your water and sewer rates. How much? I don't that's not the answer. benefit. In theory, if you're budgeting for that and then if these you have now new revenues that are outpacing your expenses, in theory, you can lower.
>> Say question for Thursday. Are we and maybe you already covered this and apologies if you did, but you know, one of the questions that I've seen a lot is like are they going to be held to like obviously you said they're going to be capped at x number of million gallons. if they go over is that that's in the stipulations and and the agreement and
all that. >> Those things aren't yet in the agreement. Those are things that we would have to determine like what are the circumstances in which you penalties if you know but those are something we brought up. >> Yeah, we brought up
>> and we're discussing because >> track's position is that you know not they're the developer not the end user. like you know so maybe housing development selling homes to to somebody else like they those are things that you know likely we would put into the significant
industrial user agreements that we would have um with whoever that that final user is of the of the park. So we may not I will say I'll admit this one we may not have that final answer but it's something that absolutely is on our on our radar. It's not something that will
be forgotten. Any other questions for John? >> I just wanted to make a couple other points too is that you know this this site will be served by Dakota Electric where a majority of the city is actually served by Excel. We have a small sliver
of um like the northern part of town where residents are served by Takakota Electric but a majority of Canon Falls is actually served by Excel. Um, so if that helps um satisfy some of the questions with the brownouts or you know
people worried about that type of a thing. So I wanted to make sure that that was cleared up. Um the other thing um as far as some of the other costs or um concerns that maybe um maybe it was I know that it was addressed very early on
when we were um when this project was coming out into the public and now that it's gotten more attention and maybe it hasn't been um resurfaced. But you know there's also the ask for agreement too where you know our attorneys that have been you know working on this um our
engineers that have been putting time into this you know any other consultants that have been engaged have also been you know covered under an escro agreement too. So you know the city is you know the the time that's been put into that too has been covered. Um so it's it's not on the city. So, I think
that that's another important thing that um is is put out into the public as well. >> Thank Thank you for pointing that out. >> Yeah. Thanks, Laura. >> And thank you, John, for all the your work that you've put into this project. It's been what, 10 months going on now?
>> Uh yeah, I believe it was uh announced about a year ago at this time. >> Yeah. >> So, and I've been here for 10 months. So, I've been working >> since you started. >> Yes. So, hit the ground running >> before before it started before I got here. But,
>> all right. Uh, obviously, if we have more questions or discussion points, we can save those for Thursday cuz that will be a very informative uh uh e event. And I do appreciate the public tonight. Um, and they're invited to that. But again, that is not going to be a public hearing. That's not going to be
public input. That's just going to be information sharing and a work session. So, you're free to attend. Uh, but there won't be any back and forth or Q&A. Uh, we'll finish up around the horn. Laura, >> good. Thank you, >> Chris. McDonald's update. What do we got?
>> Sorry, I see it all over the internet. I just eat >> uh their demo permit was just submitted to Good Hugh County. So, that's an approval um to get demolition started soon here. Okay. >> So, are we thinking like spring or
>> Oh, sooner than that, right? Uh, I don't have a timeline quite quite yet, but no demo yet. If that helps kind of >> All right. >> align you with your times. >> Thank you, >> Jeff. Anything? No, >> Diane.
>> I know you said we were done with the data center, but um I once again to express my appreciation for everybody who came. People continue to submit comments. Um, obviously I've had many of the same concerns and and uh appreciate
the work that our staff is doing and they emphasize that we do have the outside attorney who specializes in in data center uh reviewing everything also which reassures me to some degree. Um, and you know once again would I rather
have something other than the data center sitting there? Definitely. Uh, it appears that that's what we're going to get. And so, uh, you know, my hope is that we indeed answer all these questions and we get the best possible agreement for the city. And I do not
believe, uh, listening to what our folks have done that that they're going to take advantage of us. I think if we're smart, um, we'll do it well. >> Thanks, Dan. >> Lisa, >> I'm good. >> Jad,
>> uh, I'm gonna go with Diane on that. I think this thing if done right it could be very well regulated. Um and we're actually better because of the people that come out and bring up the points and we have to think about those things too. So when you come out here like John
spent 10 minutes explaining kind of answering the questions that a lot of people have. I've followed the the sites go that are around town the no data center signs and a lot of them stem from what happened in Farmington. And if you look at that, I um they've got YouTube
videos where they did a thing in the park and Drew Roach and Bill Estie, the senators came out and they said, "Hey, we're not against data centers. We're against doing it wrong and having the wrong regulation and people go they'll go to the towns and they say pray on
them because they didn't do the the work." And so by people coming out here and it helps make it better. So thank you. And if it does go through, I mean, at least we'll have it really well regulated and we're trying to think of
everything ahead of time. So, if you got more things, keep bringing them because we want to do it right. So, that's what I got. >> All right. Thanks, Chad. And I do I appreciate everybody that uh spoke in public input tonight. Very respectful. Uh very focused questions. Um and we
appreciate their time. And like Chad said, the questions that get brought up make us uh have to work to try to come up with the answers and to look at get some clarity to to help explain these issues. Uh on a side note, um I want to say thank you to Keith Meyers. This
Saturday is going to be the last fifth and sixth grade rookie tackle football game, and he has been the football director for 11 years, and this is his last year. He's handing it off. And we talk about, you know, being an elected official, uh, you know, Clinton said it too on the school board. There's a lot of times there's thankless jobs. I think
when it comes to community events and youth sports, there's a lot of people that do a lot of work that, uh, put in lots of time, two practices a week, uh, the games on Saturdays, the uh, all the gear, the helmets, the shoulder pads that he stores in his office in
downtown. Uh, countless hours of work that gets put into these things, and he's done it for 11 years. uh and I've been lucky to have uh two of my boys get to go through that. Um and it's just it's been a great sports program and he has been the leader for 11 years. So
thank you to Keith for his his 11 years of service for that and then best wishes to Mike Ays who he's handing it off to that's going to take it over from here. So uh with that I would take a motion to adjurnn. Motion from Lisa, second from Jeff. All those in favor oppos. We're adjourned.
Thank you everybody.