[clears throat] Six minute meeting. Yeah. >> No, I already told her she could HAVE FIVE. >> NOW IT'S UP to seven. >> Eight minute meeting. >> Record tonight. >> I know. >> Call to order. City of Canon Falls City Council meeting Tuesday, July 7th, 2026.
If I could get a roll call, please. >> Diane Johnson, >> here. >> Zimmerman, >> here. >> Chad Johnson >> here. Jeepson >> here. >> Noach >> here. Croninberger absent. Montgomery >> here. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> If I could get a motion to approve tonight's amended agenda. >> Motion from Jeff. Second from Diane. All
those in favor? I opposed carries. Uh, nobody has signed up for public input, so we will skip that tonight and we will go straight into our presentation. It is the Cannon Falls Area Historical Society and the, uh, presentation is by Amy Donbeck.
It's been a couple months since I plugged an HDMI cable into a device, so summer. >> Yeah, already in the summer mode. So, yeah. Thank you all for letting me speak tonight. Um, I appreciate that. My name is Amy Donbeck and I am the uh interimm director of the Canon Falls Area
Historical Society. I have taken on that role um when our director last year uh left and uh we appreciate I'm going to talk a little bit about some of the things that she helped us uh do. Um but I also just want to take a little time and talk about some great updates that
we've had. Um and a lot of uh the investment that's been done by the city is in part of that. So our current I'm the current director. Our current board president is Joe Towiliger. Vice president is Al Brine. And our other members are Bill Ericson, Keith Holt,
Martha McCusker, and Ray Rap. And again, I just want to thank um Jodie Scholam who came in uh for a little over a year and was our director and kind of filled that void um that was left by Zach Wear um not being there who he had been there
for over 14 years maybe even more and was actually under the um uh direction of Heidi Helgrren when he that was handed off to him after she left. And one of the things I will tell you in this role is that it has become very clear that we had very mindful stewards
of our museum. And we have some amazing artifacts and records in there. I want to in particular do a shout out to Jod because last year Jod did a a history of the fair and that was put up or whatever at the fairgrounds. There was a lot of good feedback about that. But in me putting together a little presentation
this year display, I uh ended up finding two amazing three- ring binders full of all or many of our Civil War, World War I, and World War II vets. And to go and even some of their like like testimony and experiences or their letters that
they sent home have been retyped up and put in there for people to see. Um even the uh Colonel Kovville the memorial uh that happened when President Kulage came to town and that the 100th year of that is in 28. Um we even have like that that
memorial bulletin for people to kind of see what that is like. So we have some amazing records and one of the things I'm hoping to do which uh for those that don't know I'm a almost a 30-year teacher at Canifal schools. I'm going to be bringing some of these resources to
our schools so that students can kind of dig into some of these primary accounts. I think it's amazing to have that. Um, and we need to kind of get that into the school. So, that's going to be one of my things this year that I'm going to be working on. So, I just want to give it a shout out to to all of our past
directors and that. So, some historic milestones from the last year is the publication of this uh book right here. and let me. >> So, this is our Mineral Springs Sanatorium um history. Uh it is uh put
on by the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment money. That is what made this book possible. Um the funding for that. Um so, if you're not a scratch off user, go ahead and scratch a scratch off every once in a while and just call that your contribution to the Clean Water, Land,
and Legacy Amendment. So, uh, but I just want to speak to the work of Bruce Cowwell, who is a local author who is currently writing the history of the Canon Valley Trail, but he wrote this book uh for us and went into our own
archives, worked with Rice County, some of the other counties that had uh sanatoriums and um uh even in with Goodyu County Historical Society partnered with them. Uh he was able to put together an amazing story. I don't
know if people know this or not, but the first time tuberculosis was successfully treated was in Canon Falls. That happened here and in a in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and it made us kind of a worldwide there were people from all over the world coming to understand
what happened here. Um, in kind of doing this, uh, we ended up, I want to thank Oork Media Group and the Beacon because they even took that out to the Redwing Republican Eagle. And we ended up having over 50 people show up at our annual meeting, one of which was an author who
did the whole history of the sanatorium in all around Minnesota. And we had a really interesting uh, attendee who we think might be the last teenager who was treated at Mineral Springs. He is in his 70s now, but he and his little brother
were brought to Mineral Springs in the late 60s, contracted uh from a family member. And when we talk about public health and all of the things with COVID, they were picked up by the county, driven away, they have clear memories of their families being absolutely
horrified, like what's going to happen? Am I ever going to see you again? But he talked about the treatment, like the experience of that and how much they tried to make that as nice as possible. Well, but the reality is you're getting treated for a pretty deadly disease and he was treated successfully. He's
clearly um living living a long life. Um but Bruce did a really amazing job putting that history together and that came from a lot of our artifacts and records. The other thing I want to a person I want to speak to is Mark Hyman. It's a local publisher in Northfield.
And if you get a chance to look at the book, um, it's actually a living book, I would call it. It's full of pictures. And Bruce Bruce's words tell an amazing story, but Mark put the pictures
together and brought this story to life in a way that that I think just adds to all of that. So, if you get a chance to to read that or or stop by and and purchase one of those, I would be we would appreciate that support. But you should know there's some really good really good history. Yes, the library
has one too for check out. Thank you for pointing that out. Um, but it it's a really good uh testimony to the work that's kind of going on here with our local historians and and all of that. So the other big milestone thing though it gets into the building and that is what
I want I'm primarily here to thank you all for your support for the community support the city council support. Um we I was talking to Ryan about the Endrris who owns Atlas Roofing. He and his crew did an awesome job, but they were
pulling apart the roof. And we actually think that probably was from the 60s because the materials were actually obsolete by the mid to late 70s. And so they did this amazing work to restore and repair some of the the edge uh the
parapet up on top. um just trying to get that set back in place and then took it all down to the board which they were really surprised at how well like things were holding up. There was just a few quote unquote really bad soft spots. Um
but even that he was kind of surprised and they restored that and now uh and removed the asbestous that was up there and and now we can breathe a sigh of relief when it's raining and boring cats and dogs. we're not going to have to worry about those cats and dogs coming
into the building. So, the other one I want to speak to is the window replacement. And we had a local benefactor who um she gave us some money to put towards uh replacement of the windows. And I know there are some people in the community that might have some concerns that this is a national
register building and it needs to be historic and all that. We have saved all the windows and we are going to do our due diligence to put the front facing back to its historic look. When you read National Register and get into a little
bit, that is one of the things that street facing needs to be historic. Um, and so that is one of the things that um, the contractors who did that are going to help us with that. And then when that's all done, I will I will speak to that. But next steps for us uh
this summer are I'm super excited to have student volunteers this summer. We have some high school students are going to come in and help with cleaning up some of the back. We've had some trees, dead trees taken down thanks to Jed and his crew and thank you for that. Um we
also need to find a mason to get into some tuck tuck pointing. We actually have holes in the side of the building where some birdies are nesting and that's no good. We got to do something about that pretty quick. So, so that is uh like kind of our next thing. My
intent is to be again good steward of the purse. I don't want to just go I don't know if you've seen what's going on in Northfield, but this can this can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, but I'm going to get together a proposal. I'll work with John and any
other groups and we'll put something together and talk about what the possibilities are for that um that. So, so to be mindful of the dollars that are being put into that. And then in the not too distant future here, the public will be seeing uh communication coming in the
mail about some needs of the historical society. And we're hoping that increases maybe gets people to think about becoming a member um and just supporting on a on a annual basis what we do. And then I'm also gonna be meeting with our accountant because I um just moving
forward, one of the things I will say about the past directors is they have done such a great job in running this place on a shoestring budget. But we also have some big dreams for what we would like to see in the future. and we want to make sure that
not only this building but other historic buildings or other potential historians, we want to be able to support that work in the future if somebody else comes in and and wants to be a part of that. So, um, my main thing for just being here is just to say thank
you for your support of the roof project and, um, I'm super excited about the possibilities where our our group is going, some ideas that we have, and we're moving forward and making trying to make good things happen and keep telling that history, that story of our
amazing community. So, um, thank you for your time. Appreciate that. >> Thank you, Amy. >> Yeah. Uh, any questions for Amy while she's here? >> How much did you say the book was? >> 27.95. >> If you want to round up to 30 bucks, we'll take the donation [laughter]
>> or more. >> And I do. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Appreciate you. >> Yep. Thank you. >> All right. We move on to tonight's consent agenda. The consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion and resolution as council
business. Item A, just and correct claims for the accounting period ending on July 2nd, 2026. B, meeting minutes for June 16th, 2026 city council. C, resolution 2881, adopting primary and general election judges for 2026 and setting the hourly wages. Item D,
approve 2026 street maintenance quote. Item E, resolution 2882, approving the application for the deed redevelopment grant and committing local match and fiscal sponsorship by the city. and F approve or Gorman addition development agreement. Is there anything the council
would like to pull down? Hearing none, I would seek a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda. >> Motion. >> Motion from Chad. Second from Chris. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Carries. Gets us to our
reports. Uh library. Nicole, if you would like to update us on that. >> Sure. Okay. So, uh, last month we had meetings with Good Hugh County Commissioners regarding
the funding for outside sources uh, for 2027. And I have good news that they opted to give um provide flat funding for the libraries for 2027 [snorts] and then
resume their contract contractual agreement of CYP in 2028. Um but then because of our funding formula relies on the percentage of the overall
um rural resident circulation in each library. We've had higher rural resident circulation. So we're actually going to get a little bit of a bump in money. A couple other libraries are going to see a decrease of
a few thousand dollars, but we're going to see a de an increase of about 1,700. So, I'm really happy about that. [laughter] Um, and so then now I'm able to start
working on the budget for next year. And then just wanted to let you know that we've got some fun events coming up at the library this Friday. Actually, this is not actually at the library. It's going to be at East Side Park. There's going to be an agility a dog
agility event at East Side Park at 11:00 a.m. So, if you want to see the fun dogs going through and jumping and running fast and everything, just head on over. It's it's a library event. And just another interesting one that we have is
an information session about what is Lutheran Social Services and how they support youth in particular. That's going to be on Thursday, July 16th. Um, this particular information session is about
in particular like youth who are have chemical dependency and homelessness. But I know um personally that a friend of mine lived in Sandy Hook, Minnesota or Connecticut and her youngest was in
the school during the massacre in 2012 and Lutheran Social Services actually was involved in a camp for all of the survivors in that school um that the following summer. So they're involved in
a lot of things to help kids. So, and it's it's Lutheran, but they don't care about any kind of religious affiliations. So, I just kind of wanted to let you know about that. And that's
all I've got at the moment. >> All right. Thank you, Nicole. Uh, Joint Powers Trail Board also met June 25th. >> Yeah. Um I guess they uh they were finishing up I think mile 14 um was coming to an end there and uh
uh they made some updates to the website and the book is getting closer to being completed. So that was pretty much a wrap up on that. And uh there's part of the trail where it's dipping a little more than it should. And so we uh we're working on approving kind of like guard
rails. So when you're on the trail, if you have to go into those areas, it's steeper, they'll hopefully you don't go >> you'll run into a rail. So [laughter] yeah, >> put up a rail to protect you. >> Yep. >> Uh EDA
Laura. >> Um let's see. Um, thank you for approving the grant application um for the redevelopment grant. We've been um a colleague and I have been working um feverishly on that application. It's due at the end of the month. There's a lot
of information we have to gather for um the the terrace um to get that application in. It's pretty in labor intensive. Um but we'll get that in. Hopefully, we can get some funds so we can get that taken down and get that lot
redeveloped. Um, let's see. We've got uh three, possibly four lots closing in Hardwood Estates um for the new subdivision this um on Friday. Um the fire department was awarded um
about $13,000 to get a new extractor and dryer for their gear, which is really important. If you don't know what that is, it's like a super industrial washing machine um that gets all the carcinogens off of their gear. Um and then a dryer
um to dry their gear. So um anyway, so that was actually just delivered today. They were awarded the grant in June, but Bryce just let me know that it was actually delivered today. So I'll get that installed and reimbured for that. So that was good. That was through the state um fire marshall grant that we had
applied for back in April. So that was good. Um trying to think if there's some other ones. Um, I think that's all I have, but I did want to extend an invitation to all of you as council members that CEDA is um celebrating our 40th anniversary this year. So, we have
a couple events coming up. One um we have our big big celebration up in Cohasset, which I know is kind of a jaunt um up in northern Minnesota. That's in October, but I will be having a regional one that's a little closer. Uh that will be in August on August
19th. It's a Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 and I'm having it down in Manville because it's centrally located for my territory which is Good Hugh County and Dodge County. Um so I'll send an invitation out to all of you, but I hope you can all make it. Um that's all I have.
>> All right. Thank you. We'll go around the horn, Jed. >> Um our uh 2026 uh reconstruction project is is making headway. They got past the railroad tracks which was the the biggest obstacle we had and now they're just working their way down fourth and
then probably start Ohio here in the next couple weeks. >> All right, Chief. So, we wrapped up the uh uh fair. Uh now we kind of coast till the end of summer. Um fair went uh really well. I think the
uh parade uh crowd didn't seem that big, but seemed sort of normal, but there were a lot more cars on the side street. So, I'm thinking that uh the crowd may have actually been larger and uh than I anticipated uh just driving through it.
Uh there weren't too many bear spots, which is always good for our parade. Um I will be meeting with the uh fair board president. Um, one of the things that the police department is trying to do is after action reviews, um, when we have events or something happens, looking at
just, you know, how do things go? Could there be smoother, better ways to do it? Um, plan for any future, in this case, it's an annual um things that would make the next one uh run even smoother. Um, so that'll be something that I'll be working on with them over probably the
next month. They need about a week to recover. um they put in some very long hours um in preparation and then during the event. So uh other than that um I can't think of anything else. We have some uh uh towards zero death um waves
that'll be coming up later closer to uh Labor Day uh where the refocusing typically Labor Day is usually a speed focus. Um so as that approach is I'll probably cover that more. >> All right. Thank you, Chief Sarah.
>> Thank you. Uh, a couple things. Uh, there is no finance committee meeting on Monday the 13th. So, just checked with John. Um, and then there is uh the notice of election filings that is starting um actually next week, next
Tuesday that starts uh it goes from July 14th to July 28th. Um, if you would like to refile for office, um, the fee is $2 and you can come to city hall and we'll help you file. Um, there is positions
available as the mayor. Uh, two council members for a two-year term and two council members for four-year terms. So, come on in. >> Thank you, Sarah. John. >> All right. A couple things. uh last between the last meeting and now we've
had the league's uh annual meeting that was in Rochester and the big takeaway was uh the National League of Cities has uh promoting um what's called the civility pledge. Uh so that was one of the big items that they carried around throughout throughout the conference uh
to uh pass a resolution um for our city to adopt our own civility pledge. And it's a commitment to respectful governance, constructive communication, serving every resident with dignity and respect. And I thought that was a a good sentiment. And you know, maybe that's
something that we put as as the leadin conversation to the public forum instead of our, you know, our orders and rules. You know, as an idea, but um it was a really good conference. I I really appreciate the uh speakers. uh one uh talked about uh measuring dignity and
trying to put that into terms where uh we understand what that what that truly means and how we use our our language to uh support the dignity of of others. So I I thought that was really really interesting. Um part of the reason for no finance committee next week uh we'll
be having our budget meetings. So we're going to start that work and hopefully have uh our kind of meetings with the department heads and council uh looking at early August. And then I wanted to acknowledge the employee appreciation lunch that we're doing next week uh on July 14th at Riverside Park from 2 to uh
noon to 2. Uh so I did send that out in a message earlier. So any council members if you did want to participate and help out um you know I'm always welcome to to doing that something that done in past cities and I think it goes over really really well for for our employees to to you know for us to serve
them sometimes. And then lastly, I wanted to touch on uh the recycling containers that were down by the the pool at the parking lot. Uh I know there's been a lot of messaging going around about that. So indeed, it is true that it was a request made to us from
the fair board to the to the city um that they be removed especially during the week of the fair. um which we accommodated that request and in that conversation we've also had uh Dick Thompson who's who manages that that service for the county shared
information about the contamination and other things that are going on. So we've been talking with them about you know what can we do for monitoring um we've looked into it. I mean, for us to put cameras and to to monitor that is um something that could be done, but it's
not in in our immediate uh plans and certainly would come with a cost. Uh so we opened the door and said, "Hey, are there any other locations that you would, you know, like to put them, city locations or even county owned property that's within the city?" um since
they're they're not directly a service for our residents as we do the curbside recycling program for you know residential um um people in in Canon Falls. So that was where we left it and then it seems that in that time span of two weeks there's confusion that the
city is told us to take them away and not put them back. Um but I've been waiting for that to be a conversation. So, um I I did have a followup with shortly after [clears throat] u we put the request out with uh the county and you know the representative that I spoke
to talked about well do we need the county board to approve a different location for them. So I've just been waiting for their you know open the door for that that conversation. It's not that we told them that to get them out of here never put them back. Not that we
didn't offer other locations within the city. John, do they own do the so that they're not going back on that exact location? They go the other side of that lot at the the pool. >> Uh that was something that we opened for a conversation like the area adjacent to
the to the fair didn't want them on that property because they're kind of on part fair property as well as ours. But also like if the contamination is a problem, you want to have some measure to be able to monitor that so you can, you know, catch people that are doing that and
hopefully correct that behavior and prevent it from happening. >> When you say contamination, I mean, it's supposed to just be cardboard and recycling. So people are bringing >> putting garbage there, you know, we've had Dick Thompson was here, showed us pictures of, you know, just pure garbage, you know, garbage bags with
random garbage thrown into the into the bins. It's like not something that's acceptable. It costs the county money they contaminates the batch of recycling and takes all other people's good intentions and actual practice and and throws it makes it wasteful. So um you know in in trying to
find a better solution you know we're opening the door to you know helping to put in a better spot >> and unless council says otherwise like that's where we stand. I used them all the time, but a lot of people did. >> Yeah. Figure it out.
>> Yeah. We're not we're not opposed to having them in our in town. >> That's as that was the message and sentiment that I tried to convey. >> Yeah. Okay. >> All right. Thank you, John. Laura, >> I'm good. >> Chris, >> good. >> Good. Diane,
>> just hats off to the fair board and all the volunteers for a great time. >> Lisa, >> good. Chad. >> Uh, yeah. I wanted to talk about the recycling. I'm glad John addressed that. And, uh, again to the not only the fair, but the police, the fire, the ambulance.
Uh, I was there for the derbies. I even saw Bryce Miller, the fire chief, out there in that hot gear on a 98 degree day. Like, everyone put in their their time this weekend. So, I appreciate all of it. So, thanks, guys. >> Yeah. Uh, I'm just going to piggyback on that. It was a great Fourth of July. I
thought the parade was awesome. And thank you to our our police department, everybody that's involved with the parade. Um everything looked very organized and put together. The crowd, I agree, I think the the cars in the the neighborhood, it seemed like there were just more people. Uh which was great. And then the fair, too. It was a a great
presentation. I know that kids had a a really good time. The midway is popular as ever. So, um with that, I'd seek a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion. >> Motion from Lisa. >> Second. >> Second from Chad. All those in favor? >> I opposed. We are adjourned. Thank you
everybody.