Good evening and welcome to the Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, May 19th, 2026. If you could please rise and join us for the pledge. 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. >> Let's call the role. >> Council member Griscoak >> here. >> Council member Butler >> here. >> Council member Novak >> here. >> Council member Gisesler
>> here. >> Council member Armstrong >> here. >> Council member Carlson >> here. Mayor Cook >> here. >> Thank you. All right. Well, next, why don't we adopt this evening's agenda? >> So, move. >> Second. >> Motion by Geiser, a second by Butler to adopt the agenda. Any corrections or
changes? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. And the agenda is adopted. Uh, first item then is our approval of our minutes from our May 5th, 2026 meeting.
>> Mr. Mayor, Council Member Butler, >> I move that we approve the minutes from the May 5th, 2026 meeting. Second >> motion by Butler and a second by Griscoak. Is there any discussion or changes, corrections? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. And
those minutes are approved. We have three, four, five items on our consent agenda this evening. And the first one is to adopt resolution 26-67 um accepting the Twin Cities Gateway
2026 member city grant agreement. Um the city participates in a regional convention and visitors bureau known as Twin Cities Gateway and receives an annual community member grant. The grant is based on the local option lodging taxes collected by the city and other
member cities. And this year, the city will received will receive $23,300 from the program. And the city may use the grant funds for any purpose as specified and in accordance with Minnesota State Statute 469-190
governing the local option lodging tax and the established criteria identified by the Twin Cities Gateway Visitor or Twin Cities Gateway Board and the attached agreement. Um, let's see.
So, let's see. So, the grant amount is smaller for 2026 and has been several years. Staff is proposing a similar split of the funds. Uh, we recommend seven the staff recommends $17,000 of this grant be provided to the community strength foundation for the purposes of
supporting the Fourth of July celebration and other community events that attract visitors to Rapids. and the balance of $6,300 will be used by staff to support various city marketing efforts and to promote the use of regional amenities by outside
visitors. Um, this year staff anticipates utilizing its portion of the grant to fund marketing and entertainment enhancements for the Fourth of July celebration and to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States during that event. So, uh,
we're looking to approve the 2026 member city marketing grant agreement, adopt resolution 26-67 accepting the 2026 member city marketing grant in the amount of $23,300.
direct staff to contribute $17,000 of the grant funds to the community strength foundation for the purpose of supporting the Fourth of July celebration, fireworks, and other events that promote bringing visitors to Rapids.
Next on our consent agenda is to approve a temporary on sale strong beer and wine liquor license for the 4th of July community celebration to Rapids Northstar Lions. Steven Wells on behalf of the Convers North Alliance has applied for a temporary on sale strong
beer and wine liquor license to be used at the 4th of July community celebration to be located at the Boulevard Plaza Park 11000 Crooked Lake Boulevard on July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 2026. Uh the fees have been paid. The
certificate of insurance for liquor liability is on file and the background investigation has been completed and approved by the police department. The temporary on sale strong beer and wine liquor license will be valid from 800 a.m. to midnight from July 2nd through
July 4th, 2026. So, we're looking to approve a temporary strong beer and wine liquor license for Rapids Northstar Lions for use at the 4th of July community celebration from July 2nd through July 4th, 2026.
Next on our consent agenda is to adopt resolution 26-66 accepting donation for an AED save stations. The city's received a donation of two AED save stations valued at $14,996
to be installed at Riverwind Park and San Creek Athletic Complex from the Rapids Fire Department, Community Fund, and Northstar Lions Club. Uh, Rapids is a heart-safe community where the primary goals of the program are to make automated external defibrillators
easily accessible and to train citizens in CPR and AED use. The Kunar Rabbits Fire Department Community Fund and the Northstar's Lions Club wanted to help provide easily accessible AEDs at two busy city parks, San Creek Sand Creek
Athletic Complex and Riverwind Park. The safe station is a climate controlled outdoor storage station with 24/7 access to the AED machine. The AEDs are cellularbased for tracking and data collection and the station has
electrical power for continuous illumination and charging. Additionally, the station includes a camera that takes a picture of the individual who accesses the unit. Anyone using the AED can access the machine quickly while also
calling 911. One storage tower was donated by Action First Aid, the parent company of Safe Station, and the units included service through Advanced First Aid Incorporated. The location of the Save Station at Riverwind Park is going
to be behind the Riverwind Community Building facing the pickle ball courts and the park area. And this park houses this park houses our community's six dedicated pickle ball courts which see leagues, lessons, and open play for
thousands of players each year. The park also has a basketball court and playground. And the community building serves as a rental space for gatherings, trainings, elections, and meetings throughout the year. And then of course, San Creek Athletic Complex is the community's premier athletic complex
with over 120,000 visitors on a yearly basis. The stave st the save station here will be located outside the building in the center of the park. This can serve the entire park including the Rapids and over Little League Sand
Creek Athletic Complex is a seven day a week sports facility that hosts local leagues and state and regional tournaments. On a given day, 13 fields can be used at one time with over 2,000 people at the park for soccer, baseball,
softball, or football. This facility also hosts the annual Rocky's Pumpkin Patch event in October and is home to a community skateboard park. Um, so we're looking to approve uh resolution 26-66
accepting the donation of two SAVE stations being installed at Riverwind Park and Sand Creek Athletic Complex from the Rapsids Fire Department Community Fund and Northstar's Lions Club. Um, item five, which will be way shorter.
That was just I didn't want to leave anything out. You know, it's important. Um, item five is to receive the schedule of electronic payments. Staff has prepared the attached list of electronic payments processed since the last council meeting. So, we're looking to receive the schedule of electronic
payments from April 30th, 2026 through May 13, 2026. And then the sixth and final item on the consent agenda is to adopt resolution 26-63 accepting the victim services grant. The
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs, sought proposals from county and city attorney offices to fund a victim witness advocate position. And this position provides services to crime victims,
ensuring crime victim rights are upheld and increasing victims safety and access to services that meet their needs. Uh since October of 2017, the city attorney's office has maintained grant funding for a crime victim witness
specialist. And this funding enhances, not replaces, existing services for crime victims by having the victim service staff be in be in court with an attorney to improve victim contact. Further, the funding helps the city
attorney's office meet statutory requirements by enhancing information or referrals for victims and providing victims with greater assistance and advocacy. Um, so in 2025, the city was awarded $70,000
for a one-year period. Um, the grants have followed the federal fiscal year and this timing creates challenges when there are delays in the receipt of federal awards. To address this, OJ, that's the Office of Justice Programs, is shifting grant periods to align with
the calendar year. Therefore, the city's current grant is being automatically extended by OJP through December 31st, 2026, red resulting in additional funding of $17,500 C. So, we're looking to adopt resolution
26-63 to accept the crime victim service grant extension from the Minnesota Department of Revenue, I'm sorry, from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs, and authorized execution of the grant agreement amendment by the mayor and
city manager. >> Your thoughts? >> Our full consent agenda. Councilman Novak. >> I move to accept and approve the lengthy and consequential consent agenda. Second. >> Motion by Novak and a second by Butler.
>> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Carlson, >> we do a pretty thorough background check in that person that's applying for the uh license for the liquor uh you know, beer and wine at the Fourth of July festival. >> Former former council member Wells and former retired or retired police chief
Wells. >> Oh, sorry, Mr. Mayor. I forgot about that. No, that's right. I'm sure we're fine. >> I'm sure they gave them they due scrutiny. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Butler, >> I I just want to thank the North Star Lions Club and the Rapids Fire Department Community Fund for the two
AEDs. You know, those are things that save lives. It's important to know how to use them. It's important to learn CPR and just really appreciative that we're able to get these two installed. >> Mr. Mr. Mayor. >> Um, Council Member Armstrong. >> I'd like to I'd like to second that
because I've actually had people ask about why we didn't have an AED down at uh at uh uh Sand Creek Park and Riverwood makes a lot of sense as well. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you to Kunrap Fire Department Community Fund
and Northstar Lions. >> Yeah, I was just looking because didn't one of these machines actually come from the company that manufactures them? >> It was a gift from them. Correct. >> Mayor and council believe. Yes. It was gifted to them. Um and then now we're
accepting it from community strength and the fire fun rather North Carolina and the fire. >> Yeah. Cuz Yeah. Cuz at the uh the fireball last fall, the fundraiser raising money for these the the the owner or the CEO of that company was there. She was so inspired by
everything. She said, "I'm donating one." >> So that was very cool. >> All right. Any other comments or questions on the consent agenda? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I.
>> I opposed and that consent agenda is adopted. Item seven is planning case in planning case 26-10 consider adoption of ordinance 2351 amending other temporary signs city code
section 11-1203.6. Excuse me. Sub two. This is the one we introduced at the last council meeting. Um, does anybody have any questions on this one? >> Mr. Mayor, council member Butler.
>> I move that in planning case 26-10 that we adopt ordinance 2351 revising temporary sign standards and amending city code section 11-1203.6 sub2 and authorized summary publication. >> Second motion by Butler and a second by
Gesler. Is there any discussion on this, >> Mr. Mayor? Council >> member Guskoviaak. >> Just a comment. It's nice to see this one go over the the finish line. I mean, we had it in work session. We had it a couple times in front of the council. So, and a lot of thought went into it and I'm glad that we've making these updates.
>> Mr. Mayor, council member Gesler. >> I just want to continue to thank staff for anytime we can clean up ordinances to make it easier to follow is better. >> All right, we have a motion of the second. Any other discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I I
opposed. And that motion carries. Item eight is to consider resolution 26-64 for 2026-1 appealed assessment levy. Ms. Hansen.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. City Council. Uh the board of board of adjustment and appeals uh heard objections to two appealed miscellaneous assessments at their last meeting. Um upon review they are recommending uh that case 2601 have their um amounts
removed um and then also to affirm the amounts in 2602. Um so the council has asked to adopt the resolution affirming the recommendations by the by the board. >> Very good. Any questions on this?
>> Mr. Mayor Council Geyser. I'll make a motion that we adopt resolution 26-64 adopting 20 2026 sub one miscellaneous special assessments contested miscellaneous assessments three-year >> second motion by Geisler and a second by Butler. Discussion
>> Mr. Mayor Council Geyser. >> Uh I just want to thank the board of adjustments and appeals for their work through this. Uh I I asked for the m minutes of this one and to get a little more detail and understand why one and not the other. And boy, they they they do a lot of good work there and it's those are not simple things to listen
through. So I want to thank those volunteers for that work um and for the due diligence. >> Yep. Absolutely. They uh they do yman work and and it's it's it's a very fair process. I'm very impressed with how how
how much time they spend making sure they hear everybody out and uh yeah, thank thank the board of adjustment and appeals. Absolutely. Um, we have a motion and we have a second. Correct? >> Yep.
>> Do we have any other discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. And that motion carries. Item nine is to consider resolution 26-62 amending the 2026 recycling fund for a
replacement paper shredder. Uh, Mr. stem oil. I feel like I could almost do this. I've used those shredders so much after my mom died. >> I'll have Mr. Hammer hit the highlights on this one. Thank you. >> Sure. Thank you, Mayor Councel. Um, it it gets heavy use there. It's selfs
served for the public. Uh, while it may not be the oldest machine, we've repaired it a few times and we believe now is the most prudent time to to get a replacement. So, we've got a good quote and it includes delivery, installation, setup, the whole nine yards. It was not in our budget. It wasn't anticipated as
a replacement. So, the budget amendment is also required, but there are adequate funds in the score grant uh for the recycling budget. And uh I can answer any questions. >> All right. Any questions of Mr. Hammer? >> Your honor, Council Member Novak.
>> Uh I would move that we adopt resolution 2662 approving a budget amendment to replace a failed paper shredder at the recycling center. Session I know gets a lot of use. We have a motion by Novak and a second by Armstrong.
Is there more discussion on this? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries. Yeah, it's really important because they still bring the shredding trucks in once or twice a year. >> And what I'm pulling out of Epiphany,
that line goes all the way down 111. Man, that is a busy busy operation. Yes. >> So, if you just got, you know, some stuff you can stop in and take care of on these shredders and avoid that line >> works well.
>> Item 10 this evening is to consider resolution 26-65 providing for the sale of $9,999,000 in general obligation improvement and water revenue bonds series 2026A.
Miss Anson. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. City Council, uh council was uh asked to consider a resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds. The amount is $9,990,000 and the and this would be to fund the
2026 street reconstruction project. Um the improvement portion, which is 5,65,000, is to fund the street and sidewalk. um it would be paid back with a de tax supported debt levy um combined with
special assessments over a 10-year period and the water revenue portion is 4,925,000 uh which also has a 10-year payback which will be paid for with utility revenue. I'm happy to answer any questions um that you may have.
>> Any questions of Miss Hansen? >> Mr. Mayor, Council Member Armstrong, >> I uh make a motion we authorize resolution 26-65 providing for the sale of 9,990,000 in general obligation improvement and
water revenue bonds series 2026A. >> Second >> motion by Armstrong and a second by Carlson. And I just want to restate that 9,999 I'm sorry 9,990,000. Yes, you you did you did it correctly. I
just wanted to get it's a very large number. >> All right. Any further discussion on this, >> Mr. Mayor? >> Council member Grisco, >> we're going to use Ellers again to prepare and do this bond sale. >> Do you when do we anticipate that happening? >> Council member Grisco, uh the the sale
date would be set uh June 16th and then the council would consider those bids that same evening. U Mr. Anne Hut would be here from Ellers to uh prepare that for you. >> Okay. So happening mostly on the June 16th meeting. Okay. Very good. Thank you.
>> All right. He's not just going to phone it in. He's going to be here. >> He will be here. >> All right. >> All right. We have a motion and a second. Do we have any other discussion on this? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. And that motion carries.
Item 11 is to consider a purchase agreement 9XX 93rd Avenue Northwest. Mr. Hammer. >> Mr. Mayor, this puts us about halfway done with uh at least your time here. We continue to work on them. Um there
aren't many left. Uh this was the original offer from the appraised value and uh this one, I believe, is scheduled to close in about 3 weeks. So, uh, it's one of the single family sideby-side homes in there, and this will put, uh, four out of the six of those complete.
Happy to answer questions. >> All right. Any questions of Mr. Ammer on this? >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Butler, >> I move that we approve the purchase agreement for the property at 9XX 93rd Avenue Northwest. Authorize the city manager and mayor to execute the agreement, and authorize staff to
execute any documents necessary to close on the property. >> Second. Motion by Butler and a second by Chris uh Gesler. Is there any discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I.
>> Opposed. And that motion carries. And this is one of those things where it shouldn't be surprised there's no discussion. We've talked about all of these homes. We've been through all of the appraisals on them. So, all right. Uh we are at open mic public
comment. Is anybody here to address council for open mic this evening? All right, let me uh get this out. Open mic provides an opportunity for the public to address the city council on subjects that are not part of the regular meeting agenda. And the public
is invited to express any concerns they may have which are relevant to the affairs, policies or practices of the city of Rapids. and remarks will be limited to three minutes. Should you wish to participate in open mic, please approach the podium and state your name and address before addressing the
council. All remarks will be made from the podium and address to the council as a whole. Personal attacks are prohibited. Open mic is not a time for problem solving or reacting to the comments made, but for hearing the speaker forformational purposes only. Questions from council will be for
clarification only. And if necessary, a staff report will be prepared for the next regular council meeting with a copy forward to the speaker. All right, give us your name and address. City staff and council members, my name is Connor Olsen, 11761 Elorado Street Northwest,
apartment 317 Rapids. I am requesting clarification regarding the city's current practice of not displaying the official state flag of Minnesota on city property. I have been unable to locate any formal council action, resolution, or recorded policy decision explaining the city's current
practice of not flying the state flag. From what I can best determine, the only public reference is a brief discussion in an October 15, 2024 council meeting. Comments came from one council member followed by a change in practice with no corresponding publicly documented vote
or policy adoption. Additionally, I have not been able to find any minutes or formal record clarifying whether this change in practice reflects the current council's consensus. A sitting council member publicly publicly characterizes the current practice as a council
decision, but I have not been able to locate the formal public record documenting when or how that decision was made. My concern is not the symbolism of the flag itself, but the lack of a clear attributable public decision. When a city alters how it
represents official state symbols on public buildings, that should be tied to a documented decision made by elected officials and available for public review. It is my understanding that the topic was discussed at a work session following the October 15 council meeting. However, minutes are not kept
at these meetings and the composition of the council has changed since then. So, I have three questions for staff and council. First, under what formal direction or authority was the decision made to discontinue flying state flags and city property? Second, what was the
process of communication or consensus among council members and staff that led to the current practice? And third, does the city currently possess either new or old state flags in its inventory sufficient to display at all locations where a city flag is currently raised?
Finally, I would like to request the council consider placing this issue on a future agenda for a formal vote or policy discussion clarifying its stance on not raising a state flag. I believe residents deserve clarity on whether this is an intentional council policy or
an administrative default and if it is a policy that it should be formally adopted in public session. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody else for council or for open mic this evening? All right, close the open mic portion.
And we have one report on an open mic from the last meeting. Um, Miss Vanessa Height, 123rd Avenue for council uh to comment on flock cameras and the use of drone technology.
Uh Rapids has a contract with Flock Safety for the lease of automated license plate readers, ALPRS, in multiple locations in Rapids and for pan, tilt, zoom security cameras at two city parks. The technology has been very successful
and has enhanced the safety of the citizens of Rapids. On July 28th, 2025, the Rapids Police Department successfully completed an audit with the state of Minnesota, which verified Rapids Police Department's compliance
with data accuracy, protection, and legitimate access procedures, and applicable databach notification requirements. The police department has a policy in place for the use of ALPRs. The policy includes when the license
plate information can be accessed and the information which needs to be provided to access the data. The flock drone assisted response proposal would be a collaborative project through the ina county sheriff's office. This proposal has not been approved and is
being considered by the ina county board of commissioners. Additional information on this proposal can be found on the In Noa County website and there's a link here for that. Most police departments in Anoka County, including Rapids, currently operate drones and have seen
success in locating lost people, suspects, and evidence. Like the ALPRs, there are policies and state statutes in place which govern how and when law enforcement can deploy a drone and how
the related data is managed. Um, so that was the report from our last open mic and we are on to other business. >> Mr. Mayor, council member Butler, I I know we talked a little bit about this in our work session, but Mr. Stew, could you tell us a bit just about anything
that happened at the legislature that impacted Rapids? I I know we talked about one of those things at the work session, but do you have like a whole list of just everything? >> Mayor and Council, Council Member Butler. Yes. I'm glad you qualified that with how it impacts Rapid Rapids because I don't think we'll be
here long for that. Primarily, the city was kind of seeking legislative um approvals on a couple of topics. Primarily for a local sales tax and so we had pursued a local option sales tax that would potentially have funded two
city projects, namely a an expansion of our police department in renovation and then and an additional renovation of the civic center building here. That would have been one question we would have proposed to the taxpayers in a referendum if we had received authorization. And the second one would
have been a question about um an expansion of a community center at the current Rapids Ice Center site. None of the requests for local sales taxes were included in the final tax bill. Therefore, none of us have received authorization to hold a referendum on
those questions. really what that means is that we'll need to do some re-evaluation on how we want to proceed for next legislative session and and what that might mean for those projects. So at minimum we'll approach that as we get into policies for the next session in
the fall and the winter and then um similar to what we had to do this year we'd have to notify the tax committees by uh January 30th to be considered for that again next year. Um, beyond that, we had been seeking some changes on congregate care, namely in in on how the
relationship works between the state and city governments on reporting and licensing and so forth. It's kind of a complicated issue, so I won't go into too much of it, but there was a lot of compromise around a bill that ultimately was passed by the state. And so, we receive some good news there. uh you
know how that all sort out and what it means I guess will be a little bit uh of time to take before we understand that entirely but um the city consortium that was involved in pushing that uh law change forward is happy with the result on that and wasn't everything the group wanted but certainly was a good portion
of it um and then the only other thing that I I'm aware of is um there was some funding in the bonding bill for improvements to Rapids regional dam structure itself uh it's an aging structure and is in need of some maintenance and upgrade and uh that was
a successful component of that. Those are the three things that came to my mind and there probably other things that I'm not aware of yet. >> Thank you for the update. I appreciate it. >> Your honor, >> Councilman Novak, >> Mr. Stem, if uh constituents next year
would like to try and help get that sales tax through, >> who would they want to contact? Their own legislator. Correct. >> Correct. Yep. Yeah. either your senator, your representative at the state level. Um, and just, you know, if nothing else, it pushing the importance of allowing
the voters of Kunrap to determine their own fate as it relates to those projects and how they might want to finance them. Um, both of those are pretty expensive projects that will be challenged to bond for through traditional revenue sources like the tax levy and the sales tax really represented a sustainable way for
us to do that. Um, and to sort of recognize the regional nature of our city and the number of regional uh, facilities that we have such as Mercy Park and the community college and the regional parks and and Riverdale Shopping Center and so forth. There's a lot of regional effect on our services
and our infrastructure and so it really made sense to us as we thought about that sales tax to use that to fund those projects. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any other business to come before council? >> Mr. Mayor Council >> Member Carlson >> just want to talk about all the Memorial
Day festivities activities we have going on this weekend >> activities. Yeah. >> So this Saturday, Mr. Mayor, May 23rd, 10:00 in the morning, Morningside Memorial Gardens. Really a beautiful ceremony there. Uh 11:30 be at the Eno County Veterans Memorial at Bunker
Hills. Last year was at Bunker Hills Activity Center. This year it's going to be back at the uh Veterans Memorial uh with a lunch served open to the public after that memorial service. On Memorial Day itself, Mr. Mayor, at 10:00 in the morning uh at the Epiphany East
Cemetery, there will be Memorial Day ceremony and then immediately following at the Joyce Chapel Cemetery about 11:00 or so. >> All right. Very good.
Any other business? >> Motion to adjourn. >> Second. >> Motion by Carlson and a second by Butler to adjourn. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. We are.