Good evening and welcome to the Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, February 17th, 2026. If you could please rise and join us for the pledge. 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. >> Let's call the roll. >> 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. >> All right. Why don't we adopt this evening's agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Geisler and a second by Carlson to adopt the agenda. Any discussions or corrections?
>> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Opposed. And the agenda is adopted. And immediately we turn it over to Fire Chief Piper. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, mayor, council members. Thank you for allowing me time at tonight's
meeting to acknowledge the promotions for five of our members to the rank of fire inspector and firefighter. These five gentlemen have prepared themselves and worked hard to get this get to this point. As fire chief, it's always been my goal to promote people within our organization who have a
strong sense of community involvement and who represent the core values of our organization and mission statement. Our mission statement says that we are to provide efficient services designed to protect lives and property from the adverse effects of fire, fires, medical
emergencies, or exposure to dangerous conditions. We pursue this mission with determination and resolve with emphasis on dedication, compassion, and constant improvement. All five of these individuals uphold uphold our mission statement with the highest regard.
Tonight, these five will be pinned by pinned with their new badges by their chosen family members, followed by taking the oath of office led by Mayor Cook. Ryan. First, I'd like to introduce the community to our new fire inspector,
Ryan McAlpine. The fire inspector works under the fire marshall to ensure that apartments and businesses are safe within the community. Besides enforcing fire codes, they also educate the public about fire prevention and provide emergency response during their 24-hour shift.
Ryan has been with Rapids Fire for over 11 years, which includes five years full-time. Ryan and his wife Teresa have lived in Rapids for 22 years. They have been married for 21 and have three kids, Summer at age 18, Dakota 15, and Kieran 11. Ryan spends his time
volunteering volunteer coaching for many youth sports and has served on the Rapids Park and Recreck Commission for 18 years. In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors, hunting, camping, and supporting his kids in their sporting events and school. Welcome to the Prevention Bureau, Inspector Mccelpine.
Please come forward to be pinned and take your oath of office. Ryan's wife, Teresa, will be doing the honors. All >> [snorts] [applause] [applause] >> right. Raise your right hand.
I'll hold that like that. All right. I, Ryan McAlpine, do solemnly swear >> I, Ryan McAlpine, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department. >> of the Rapids Fire Department.
>> I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability >> I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability >> discharge the duties of a firefighter inspector >> discharge the duties as a firefighter inspector. and protect the safety and lives
>> and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> as my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me >> whose care has been entrusted to me. [applause] [applause]
>> Congratulations >> [laughter] >> Yep. Okay. Brian Daris has served as a paid on call with our city since 2016 and lives in Rapids with his wife Olivia and sons Maverick and Telbot. Brian has been an active member of our department by serving on our community
fund board for over four years and being one of our CPR instructors. Brian's grandfather, Paul Talbett, was a founding member of this department. All right. [laughter] All right. Good. Good. Good. That was deserved. >> That was deserved. Absolutely.
>> Okay. I was a founding member of this department which helped inspire Brian's career path. Welcome to the department. Firefighter Daris. Please come forward to be pinned and take your oath of office. Brian's mother Paula will be doing the honors. [laughter] >> [applause]
>> All right, raise your right hand. [snorts] We'll try I'll break it into small little things like I did for Ryan. Except Yeah, this is you. >> I, Brian Daris, do solemnly swear. I, Brian Daris, solemnly do swear >> that I will support the policies and
procedures >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department >> of the Rapids Fire Department. >> I will faithfully, honorably >> faithfully, honorably >> and to the best of my ability >> and to the best of my ability
>> discharge the duties of a firefighter >> discharge the duties of firefighter >> and protect the safety and lives. and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters >> of my fellow firefighters >> and citizens >> and citizens
>> whose care has been entrusted to me >> whose care has been entrusted to me. [applause] >> Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you for your service. All right, chief.
>> Okay, next. Tony Tony Fontaine joined our department after serving the citizens of Oak Grove. He lives in Oak Grove with his wife Leah and children Isa Isa Is Isaiah, Ezra, Miriam, and Naomi. Leah grew up here in
Rapids, so working for our city is personal by helping to protect many friends and family that are nearby. Tony is a member of the North Metro Specialized Rescue Team and has spent several hours mentoring fire explorers from Rum River Fire Post in which his son is part of. Tony enjoys traveling
with his family in his off time and being on the rink with a house of hockey players. Tony himself has been a hockey official for over 20 years. Welcome to the department, firefighter Fontaine. Please come forward to be pinned and take your oath of office. Tony's wife, Leah, will be doing the honors.
[snorts] >> [applause] >> What what your first what was the first name? It didn't sound like the chief got that right. >> Isaac. >> Isaac. Okay. I just wanted to make sure we got him acknowledged. >> All right. Right hand. And I, Tony Fontaine, do solemnly swear. I, Tony
Fontaine, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> I will support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department. >> of the Rapids Fire Department. I will faithfully and honorably >> I will faithfully and honorably >> and to the best of my ability >> and to the best of my ability
>> discharge the duties of a firefighter >> discharge the duties of a firefighter >> and protect the safety and lives >> and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me >> whose care has been entrusted to me.
>> Congratulations [applause] Congratulations [applause] bring [laughter] [clears throat] me All right, next. Tom Lion joined our department after serving the citizens of
Ramsey for the last 10 years. He is a dad to three kids, Taylor 19, Jackson 12, and Mia 10. Tom and his family still live in Ramsey, and Tom enjoys coaching sports, hockey, football, and baseball, walking his dogs, Raven and River, and hunting and fishing in his spare time.
Welcome to the department, firefighter Lion. Please come forward to be pinned and take your oath of office. Tom's youngest daughter, Mia, will be doing the honors. [applause] All >> [applause] [applause] >> right.
>> All right. >> I, Tom Lion, do solemnly swear >> I, Tom Lion, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> that I'll support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department >> of the Rapids Fire Department. I will faithfully, honorably, and to the
best of my ability >> I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability >> discharge the duties of a firefighter >> discharge the duties of a firefighter. >> and protect the safety and lives >> and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens.
>> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me. >> Whose care has been entrusted to me. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. All right, looks like we're on the home
stretch here, Chief. >> One to go. Jacob Knives. Jacob joined our department after serving the citizens of Andover for the last three years. He grew up in Andover, but attended Rapid Schools, remembering his favorite part of the year was fire prevention week with the dancing fire
inspectors [laughter] and and Freddy the fire dog. His grandfather, Doug Box says, "Doug, you want to stand up just a second? We the second person inspired by a grandfather. Right. Right there. Doug was on a department from mid70s. >> 73. >> 73. >> 73. So, thanks for showing up here
tonight, DOUG. [applause] >> YEAH. Doug was a paid on call firefighter with us from 73 to 1990. This helped Jacob mold his career path. So, in 2017, Jacob joined our fire explorer post and is our first Rapids Fire Department fire explorer to
be hired full-time. With that, welcome to the department. Firefighter Knives. Please come forward to be pinned to take your oath of office. Jacob's mother, Lyanna, will be doing the honors. [snorts] >> [applause] >> Good. All right.
I Jacob Knives. Wait. Knives. >> Yes. >> I think our S and our L are backwards on this. [laughter] >> Does that spell right? >> S and the V are backwards. But >> yeah. [laughter] I was kind of practicing on it.
All right. [snorts] I, Jacob Knives, do solemnly swear >> I, Jacob, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department. Rapids Fire Department. I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best
of my ability >> I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability >> discharge the duties of a firefighter >> discharge the duties of a firefighter >> and protect the safety and lives >> protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens.
>> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me. >> Whose care has been entrusted to me. [applause] >> [applause] >> Welcome. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. [clears throat] Chief. Okay. In conclusion, I appreciate
this opportunity to recognize these five men as well as their accomplishments and dedication to this organization and community. This concludes our promotional ceremony. Friends and family are invited to meet out in the hall for some photo opportunities, but you're always welcome to stay for the entire council meeting if you so desire. With
that said, thank you for coming and for your show of support. Thank you, MAYOR. [applause] >> I think I went to high school. [clears throat] Just like a ball game. All right. Next on our agenda is to approve the minutes from the February 2nd
meeting. >> Mr. Mayor >> Council Butler. >> I move that we approve the minutes from the February 2nd, 2026 meeting. >> Second. >> Second. >> Motion by Butler and a second by Novak. Any discussion or corrections? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed.
>> Those minutes are approved. One abstension. Council member Grisco. All right. Item I have two items on the consent agenda. The first one is to receive the schedule of electronic payments. Um 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 January 28th, 2026 through February 11th, 2026. And
the second and final item on the consent agenda is to approve an inter agency agreement with Metropolitan Council related to project 18-14. Uh the city supports initiatives to complete connections and expand capacity
along Trunk Highway 610, including a full access interchange at East River Road. [snorts] As part of the fully funded project, staff has coordinated with several partner agencies to prepare plans and specifications for the roadway
improvements, including the Met Council's park and ride facility located on Foley Boulevard. City staff and consultants have completed traffic uh studies and analysis that demonstrate removal of the busonly access ramp at the park and ride facility is necessary
to complete the project and will not adversely affect operations, safety and traffic flow for the site and and flow for the site. The inter agency agreement allows the city and its contractor's temporary right of entry onto the property to complete work identified in
the attached exhibits. Access rights to 9425 Foley Boulevard will commence upon signing of the agreement and expire with project completion. So, we're looking to approve the inter agency agreement with the Metropolitan Council relating to
project 18-14 and authorize appropriate staff to execute such agreement. And that is our complete count um consent agenda. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council Butler. >> I move that we adopt the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Motion by Butler and a second by
Geisler. Is there any discussion or corrections or questions? >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council Geyser. >> Uh one quick question since I see Mr. Hansen here. Uh Met Council's amenable to all of this and I'm assuming with all the time we've put into this, they're well aware of what's going to happen.
>> Uh yes. Thank you, Council Member Gistler. We've been working with them for several years on on this project and this agreement is been a long time coming. A lot of work went into coordinating everything with them and making sure that the the project doesn't
affect the operations of the transit station. >> Thank you. >> All right. Anything else on this one? Any other questions? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. >> And the consent agenda is adopted. Next,
we're going to hold a public hearing and consider resolution 26-16A, ordering project and 26-1 sub8, approving plans and specifications and authorized bids. Uh, Mr. Hansen.
>> Thank you, Mayor and Councel. >> Presentation prior to working through the public hearing. Um, I'm going to do a presentation here just to remind council and the public uh what the project is all about.
So, we are here to talk about 2026 street reconstruction. Uh, so a little bit of background. Uh, the streets that were proposed are being proposed for reconstruction have been rated in past surveys as deficient or in
poor condition. the engineering staff that come up with the plan for reconstruction. We work very closely with our public works department and we look at where our public works crews are spending the most time maintaining streets and where they're patching the potholes.
staff talked to council first about this project in okay uh July 15 in a work session format we reviewed the the 26 2026 street reconstruction program. So the first group of streets that are
proposed for reconstruction this year include a few different street segments that are south of 610 and west of East River Road. Those are 89th Avenue, 86th and 87th Lane, and then a short culde-sac that is east of Mississippi
Boulevard that is 85th Avenue. The scope of the work that we're talking about here is to replace the asphalt and all of the damaged concrete curb and gutter. We would be replacing the storm sewer catch basins as needed based on inspections that we have done in the
field and then replacing the water main pipes on 86th lane, 87th lane, and 89th Avenue. We'll also be replacing the storm the sewer manhole castings throughout and then upgrading city-owned LED or street lights to LED standards on
85th Avenue. also proposing as part of this portion of the project to build a water mane loop connection to the neighborhood that is west of East River Road. There is only one water man connection into this entire neighborhood
that includes the school. Uh we would like to have two. So, as part of the project, we're proposing to construct a connection that is via directional drilling methods from 90th Avenue Culdeac across the school district
property over to Sycamore Street. The other portion of the project is within the Northdale additions and then this is going to be between Kumcott Street and Foley Boulevard, Egret uh Boulevard on the south up to Northdale Boulevard on the north. So all
of the streets in between uh again we'd be replacing all the asphalt all of the concrete curb and gutters in this neighborhood will get replaced because we are going to be replacing all the water manes and water mane services within this neighborhood. We will be replacing storm sewer catch
basins as needing extending storm sewer pipes on on Kumquat Street. uh replacing the water man pipes and all of the related impertinances that go along with the water man system, replacing sewer manhole castings, and then we are also
looking at new sidewalks on the north side of 110th Avenue between Kumquat Street and Foley Boulevard and then the west side of Kumquat Street between 109th Avenue and Northdale Boulevard.
And then lastly, we are looking at a storm water quality basin to help with storm water management within Moore Park. We have an area of Moore Park that's been difficult for our parks crews to maintain over the years. It's kind of wet pey type of soil. So, we're
looking we're working with the watershed district to develop a plan for a pond to help with the storm water quality treatment. project schedule is uh in January we had a second open house for the project
where we talked to property owners heard their concerns. Tonight we are here to hold the public hearing and the assessment hearing and then uh uh approve the plans and specs order the ad for bids. If the project moves forward, staff
would be working through the bidding process to obtain a contractor in April and then coming back to council in April, latter part of April to uh request award of a contract and adoption of the assessments at the first meeting
in May this spring. Uh in addition, we will hold a meeting as staff once we have a contractor on board in Moore Park for the residents to talk to us. We'll have schedules at that time. We'll be able to talk directly to the contractor
about our approach and our schedule for the work. Uh and then construction will proceed between May and October. Before any of the work starts, we'll get letters out with all the contact information, frequently asked questions that we hear on these types of projects. We'll have weekly meeting or weekly
updates that will come out every Friday. People, residents that are impacted by the project can sign up for that on our website. And then we also have an option to sign up for text updates. Typically, those are things that come up with a a moment's notice where we don't have much
time to send out flyers or mailings uh if something's going to happen or if it's a late water turn on or something like that. Uh estimated project costs are spread over a number of funds including assessments. Uh this is a very high level cost. includes all of the
engineering, the construction materials testing, surveying costs, uh 13.7 million. Um, we expect that we'll get better prices through the bid season as we get our projects out for bid. Uh, so why does the city assess? A lot
of people ask that question. And the the property taxes that residents are already paying uh typically pay for about 50% of the street surfacing costs. However, uh the the reality is it's really more like a 7030 split in the 70%
of the costs are being paid by the city. Um and then special assessments cover cover the balance. Special assessments allow the city to raise money without increasing the overall general property taxes or the city debt. Um, bonding. Any
bonding that is done as part of the street reconstruction project financing requires a portion of the project to be assessed. Uh, special assessments apply to all properties that impact the road but are exempt from taxation. So, schools and churches, uh, other
properties that don't pay property taxes are included within the special assessment boundary. And then we are not assessing for any of the sewer, water, or the drainage repairs that we're doing as part of the project. Those are all paid with the utility enterprise funds and the uh
utility billings that people have been paying uh over many years. Uh no additional assessments are are taking place for properties where sidewalks are proposed on this. We had that question come up from a few property owners whether they're getting an additional assessment if there's a sidewalk proposed in front of their property.
That's not the case. All the single family properties on this project are paying the same amount. The assessment of rates that are proposed this year, 2026 rates, single family residential properties, $2,755.
Duplex and town home properties are assessed at a different rate based on the front footage where their access is to oriented to the street that is being improved. Those are at $36 per front foot. Commercial property is $69 per
front foot. And then industrial properties at $87 a front foot. I would note again all single family properties pay the same rate. Some cities charge more for corner lots but Rapids we
do not. All single family same amount. A few different options are available for property owners to pay their assessment. They can pay the entire assessment amount after presumably the council adopts it on May 5th, their
first meeting in May. between May 6 and June 5th, they would be able to pay with no interest charged. Uh it does start to acrue uh interest over time the assessment. That's really to offset our bonding costs that that we incur when we
do these projects. after June 6 and up until November 15th, residents can pay the assessment plus any acred assess or interest up to that date or they could do nothing and then the assessment will roll on and and start being collected
with their property taxes in 2027. If one were to choose to do that, it would acrue interest and it would amount to about $365 for the typical single family home that they would pay off every year till 10
years till the assessment runs its course. Uh so what other cities are assessing nearby us? Um once again, Rapids is near the low end of the spectrum in terms of what other cities are assessing.
Um, some cities are assessing for simply reclaiming a road and repaving it. Uh, about the same as we are for what we do is a full reconstruction project and increasing the pavement thickness with the work that we're doing.
Some notification forms that property owners will see as the project starts. The one on the right is to notify about critical events that are coming up like if a person has to park on the street for a certain period of time because their the curb or the driveway a concrete driveway work repair work at
the end of their driveway needs time to cure. We will hand out notices such as the one on the right. And then for any temporary water shut offs that happen, a pink tag will appear on the front door. These will be delivered to the front door of a property. If you normally use
the garage door to come in, make sure that you're checking the front door throughout the project so that you don't miss any notifications. We do have street uh reconstruction videos that are available to the public to view. One talks about the step from start to finish, all of the different
steps, and then one is more focused on a lot of the frequently asked questions that we get. We did have one written objection that was submitted to city staff and the city clerk prior to tonight. Uh and that was from the property owner at 426 111th
Lane. I provided uh a copies of the email that was sent to staff to all the council members. So I will turn it back to you mayor and council if there's any questions and to hold the public hearing. your honor. >> Council member Novak.
>> Um, strangely enough, a lot of the questions I get about this kind of thing to have nothing to do with assessments, which I know is kind of weird, but I do get a lot of questions as to how we choose which roads we're going to have done. And unfortunately, many of the questions
I get are, why aren't we fixing Rapids Boulevard and Hansen? Because those go right through W 5. and I have to explain to them Rapids Boulevard and Hansen are county roads. Rapids can't fix those. If you want them fixed, contact the county.
I I would note council member Novak, the council the the county is planning to fix Hansen Boulevard from just south of Main Street to the Andover into the city of Andover this year. So, most of the other segments have actually been
repaved uh more recently. >> Thank you. I just wanted to get that on the record. >> But uh but otherwise, as far as picking the streets, you physically drive a lot of the streets and rate them every year, right? >> Yeah. We live this stuff every day. This
is what we do. [laughter] >> When we go home at night, we're looking at the street pavement conditions and thinking about them. >> [laughter] >> No, but we talk to our public works staff quite a bit and we together we not just our own inspections, but we also
talk to them about where they're spending time doing maintenance. The particular streets that we're proposing in 2026 have been on our list for some time. In fact, I used to get questions about some of the streets we did in the western or northern part of the city
that streets that were were constructed initially before this group. Why are we doing those before The answer was because when we got here, we knew we were going to have to replace the water man. So, in order to save up the funds, keeping the levy at a reasonable uh
amount, we had to wait a few years. So, now we're here and we need to move forward on the particular ones here that we're proposing. All right. Any other questions for Mr. Hansen? There's no questions for Mr. Hansen.
We'll open up the public hearing if anybody is here to address council for the project 26-16A or project 261 sub8
um for reconstruction of the streets. Anybody here to address council? Yes, sir. >> Yes, sir. >> I apologize for interrupting. I would also remind that this is your last opportunity to object >> assessments through this public hearing. So, if you want to object your assessment, now is your chance to. We've
received that one, but I just want to remind folks that they have until the end of the >> assessment hearing. >> Yeah, because this you Thank you for that clarification. This is this is we'll open the public hearing and the assessment hearing. So, this is the the last time to speak about it.
[clears throat] >> Great. >> Yes, sir. >> Uh my name is Herb Day. I live at 11050 Kumquat Street Northwest. I walked today from uh Northdale Boulevard to 108th Street. Uh I counted
besides the ones that were marked because they're uh diseased, 16 trees that would have to come down on the rightway to make room for the sidewalk that's proposed as part of this project. The
um project itself will be is really needed. I mean the especially the storm sewer upgrade and stuff like that and uh new water man. Um my problem is with the sidewalk is
that [clears throat] if you my my driveway is very steep. Um, so if you think of a right triangle and the driveway being the hypotenuse, 13 feet of my of that incline is going
to be taken out and have to be made up in well 13 less feet, which makes the driveway even steeper and more difficult uh not only in the wintertime, but a vehicle with a short wheel basease
unless the pavement is improved um from that uh inside part of the sidewalk all the way to the garage slab. Uh a vehicle could bottom out if it had a shorter wheelbase than my truck. [clears throat]
I don't think I have a problem with my truck. Um, on my walk today, I also found uh five homes on Kumquat where their their [clears throat]
uh corner lots at Kumquat is a side street. Their garage is on that on that side street, Kumquat. And their driveways are very short, very short. If you take 12 to 13 feet
out of that and their vehicle was parked on their driveway just inches from their garage door, a third to a quarter of their vehicle would be on the sidewalk. Um
the in the steepness of the uh grade on 10 other houses I noticed would be a difficult climb. And for that reason, I think the project is going to be good, but I don't think the uh sidewalk is uh
viable. >> Did Did you get a chance to talk to the engineer about Mr. Hansen about You did. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> We've talked before. >> Oh, okay. Just wanted to make sure. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is anybody else here to address council
for the public hearing and assessment hearing for the street reconstructions? We'll ask one more time. Anybody else here for the public hearing and assessment hearing for the street reconstructions projects 26-16A
and 26-1 sub8. Okay. Then we will close the public hearing and the assessment [clears throat] hearing. Council, >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Armstrong. Yeah. Um, we've we've discussed this in a number
of workshops and and um I've had a couple conversations with Mr. Hansen as well. Um, just so everybody's aware, I'm I'm going to be paying that $2795 as well. I'm over on 113th.
Um, but that being said, um, I I understand where there might be a a use for the Kumquat sidewalk to honestly I've the the gentleman that spoke tonight is the first one that I've heard
from anybody on Kumquat that was opposed to it. I've got a number of my constituents sitting out there in the gallery that do not want the sidewalk on 110. I still have not I still have not
heard a good answer as to why we need that sidewalk. From from what everything I looked at and read, etc., I understand wanting to have access to Moore Park or access out into the city from Moore
Park. If you had that Kumquat sidewalk put in, you'd have Kumquat, you'd have Magnolia, you'd have 113th, you'd have 109th, and they all go the distance, whichever way you want. Um, why in the
middle of all these shorter streets, we're putting a sidewalk in there when the when the people don't want it there? Um, I I think it's a I think it's a misuse of taxpayer money to be putting that thing in there when they don't want
it. Um, and I [clears throat] I also believe that if we put the the kumquat sidewalk in, we'd have everything we needed for access in and out of Moore Park. So, that's my thoughts on the matter.
your honor. >> Council member Novak, >> Council Member Armstrong and I have a little bit of experience with sidewalks. We were on the safety commission together, which we jokingly called the sidewalk commission. Um, I have to agree with that one. And Mr.
Mr. Hansen, I am curious what was the overarching result of the conversation that you had regarding that kumquat kumquat sidewalk and the amount of room that's going to be taking up in people's rooms in pardon me in people's yards.
>> Yeah. So, we've heard a lot of concerns about what could happen to the steepness of the driveways with the proposed sidewalk. And one of the opportunities that this project provides is that we are taking
out all of the curb and gutter. And the the driveway slopes are hinged upon the elevation of the curb and gutter. So when we're taking it all out, we have the opportunity to to raise it or lower it to help address the sidewalk grades.
The concern about making them steeper. Our target is to make it the same or better in terms of steepness than it is today. So in order to do that, we we will likely and we are looking at raising up the curb grades that go back
in as well as increasing the amount of distance we have to go back from where the sidewalk is to help address that. So yes, we've heard from a few different residents about that and we've worked through those concerns before and and
arrived at acceptable results. >> Brief followup, your honor, I presume that like a retaining wall has been discussed for people's yards if they are that steep. >> We don't think that's going to be required. >> Okay. >> So we would propose to do additional
grading where needed first. >> Okay. Okay. So, I mean, I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with the neighborhood. So, yeah. Again, if it's not required, awesome. But I presume you would be working with each individual homeowner. >> Could be a lot of lot of work directly
with the residents that are affected. >> Yeah. >> Excellent. >> Mr. Hansen. Um I heard like 16 additional trees or something mentioned tonight because I remember our forester and you've looked out there for how many trees would have to come out just to do
the construction itself? >> Yeah. >> Um is is that is that about the right number of additional trees? 16 for the sidewalk or >> Well, that that sounds about right. Um could be more like two to three dozen I think is what we initially contemplated.
But because we are replacing the water mane, that also involves replacement of the water service >> and that means we're going into people's yards and driveways just with that effort alone. And a lot of the the water
service shut offs where we have to go to. So we're about 14 15 feet into people's yards to replace the water service shut off valve. Um, a lot of those unfortunately wound up next to what are now mature trees. A lot of them
are ash trees and will need to come out anyway. Um, we're more than happy to work with the residents that are concerned about tree impacts. Um, we can provide new trees if they are interested planted in a proper location far away
from the sewer and water services that are that are there. But so certainly we recognize the concern about the tree removals. >> Mr. Mayor, >> B Armstrong. >> Yeah, I'm I'm glad that Councilman Novak
mentioned [clears throat] he wasn't familiar with the neighborhood because that that uh uh brought to mind something else. [clears throat] Um I've lived in that neighborhood my entire life. I you don't need to I've got white hair. I got the white beard. You know, [laughter] I've been around a
long long time. Um, but that being said, um, the entire time I've lived in that neighborhood, if you watch people going wherever they're going, they go up and down Magnolia, they go up and down Kumquat, they go up and down Foley. Um,
if they want to go east west, yeah, they use 109th and they used 113th. You do not see people cutting through those side streets to get anywhere unless they live there. We're taking what is a quiet neighborhood, a a peaceful neighborhood,
and you're sticking a sidewalk in there. Again, that I don't think is necessary. I don't think we need to spend the money on it. Um, but at the same token, it it it it's just another it it's just
another situation where we're looking at we're looking at something that we want to solve a problem for that the there a problem isn't there? I mean, yeah, it would it be nice to be able to go out the back section of of Moore Park there
and down 110th to get to Foley. Sounds like a good idea, but it doesn't get used. You've got a street there right now that people don't walk up and down. And to put a sidewalk in there and be interrupting these people's neighborhood and and whatever else cuz it sounds good
does not make sense to me. >> Mr. Mayor, >> um I I I feel that council member Armstrong is making some good points there with the sidewalk on 110. sidewalks in general, you know, if we're going to put them in, we should be putting them in when the development's
made because putting them in afterward is really a disruptor. Um, so I'll be I'd be looking at that. I do think we should have a sidewalk on Kumswalk Kumquat because it's safer for residents in that area. But my question on on the
sidewalk on Kumquat then would be if we're going to uh put the sidewalk in there, are we shrinking up any driveways to the point where they won't meet our minimum requirements for LDR3 LDR2, excuse me, three is the new one.
>> Uh well, I >> there's five. I'm looking at our our planner and he's shaking his head and we're not adjusting any of the property lines. We're working entirely within the public space that's
already there. So the rightway is 60 ft wide. The third the road is 31 ft to the back of the curb to the other back of the curb. So that leaves about 14 1/2 ft of public rightway space. But my question was more, is there still going to be a minimum length of driveway to
meet LDR2 requirements? Because you put a sidewalk in there now that sidewalk becomes right away. You can't park on that sidewalk bigly. >> Yeah, it it does compel a inconvenience where you can't park on the driveway or the the sidewalk
portion. [clears throat] Mr. Mayor, >> if I may, um, speak to the, uh, LDR2 question. >> Um, the LDR2 district doesn't have, um, specifically a driveway length requirement. Instead, it relies on the setback of the home from the property
line. So, the 35 ft setback requirement of the home from the property line constitutes 35 ft of driveway that are on the property. The sidewalk would um, I'm pretty sure be on the public side of that line. So the 35 ft driveway length would still be in place even with the sidewalk there.
>> Okay. >> Okay. Other questions for Mr. Hans, >> Mr. Mayor Carlson. >> So Mr. Hansen, so we got we have sidewalk n sidewalk 113th. I'm trying to trying to pull it up on
the map here real quick, but maybe you could just refresh my memory, Mr. Hansen, on why 109th and 110th. Seems like 110th is the uh that's the neighborhood where most people are concerned. >> Yes, I am. >> Yep. Yes.
>> So, we thought that uh 110th provided a good connection between Foley and More Park for people that might want to get from one uh roadway that would have a lot of pedestrian traffic on Foley on the sidewalks that are there over to
using more park. Yep. >> On my drive on my drive here this evening coming up. Direct River Drive, no street lights, dark. Somebody wearing dark clothes walking with the traffic on the right side. And it was just and I went around him at the last minute and I
went, I wonder if that was my sign that we need a sidewalk. But I don't know. I'm uh kind of a fan of sidewalks, but >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Barstrong, >> just to just to clarify, and if I'm being redundant, I apologize, but just
to clarify, the roads need to be done. The streets, the curbs, the sewer, etc. They need to be [clears throat] done. Yes. I I agree with all of that. Um um as I stated earlier, I I hadn't heard anything from anybody on kumquat until
tonight. So I assumed whether I should or not that kumquat was something that they were they were all for. Um so I agree that needs to be done. I agree that it should have been done a long
time ago. My only my only qual is with 110th Mr. [clears throat] >> Mayor, Carlson, >> with that, is it Could we make a motion? Um,
we need to get this thing going. I mean, for Pete's sake, the neighborhood's been waiting 10 years, >> I think, for this. >> Could we entertain a motion um with removal of item 11, 110th Avenue from Kumquat Street to Foley Boulevard? Is
that something that we can do to get this moving? Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Gesler, >> [clears throat] >> uh, Council Member Carlson, I I would I think we would need to be careful of that because that would remove the entire street from the project, which we would would not want. I think that would
be an unintended consequence. I I guess maybe my question would be to Mr. Hansen of even if we spec this out as written, we could still decide to not go forward with the sidewalk at a later date. Is that correct? >> Yeah. I mean, even if we award a
contract, we wouldn't nec we we would be able to eliminate that work from the contract through a change order if the council desired. Um the next step would be when we award the contract, uh see what the the bid prices come in
at and you can make another determination. then may want to defer to the city manager and city attorney about the best way if you if you desire now to remove one of the sidewalk segments from the project while keeping everything
else moving forward. >> Mr. Stew. >> Yeah, Mayor and Council, I was just going to make the comment that at minimum you would want to make a decision at the time you're awarding the contract. So, there is a little bit of time if you want to further investigate
perhaps um you may want to identify the sidewalks that are of the most concern and then we can have some of those conversations what that might look like from a bidding standpoint if some of those are removed. Um because it could it could make a difference in terms of pricing if you know we bid it as one
thing and then take a bunch of work out of the project. That could be somewhat problematic. But I think just for clarity around what's going to get built and when, we'd want to know by the time we award those contracts. Just to keep that in mind. >> So, Mr. Hansen, um, when you put this
out for bids, you could actually list the sidewalk along 110th as an option, right? And then when we award the contract, we could say we could with with the sidewalk option or without the sidewalk option. Y >> and then we >> Yep. We could do it that way. Yep.
>> Okay. because then we get we have to keep moving on this to get out for bids before while we can still get advantageous pretty >> right. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Armstrong, >> help me understand real quickly if we looked at doing something like that.
>> What is the option um to make sure that sidewalk I mean is there a vote that we >> Yeah. >> When we when we award the contract, it'll come in and it'll say here's the contract. Do you want option A or or not?
>> And option A would be we would be separating out that sidewalk >> as a as a separate. >> So then then we would have a full discussion at that time plus we would have more information because we would know what the sidewalk is going to cost too. >> Yep. Yep. >> Okay.
>> Yeah. We would have the base bid would be all the other components of the work presumably also including the kumquat sidewalk and then the alternate the bid alternate would be for the sidewalk on 110th. >> Mr. thoughts from member Geyser.
>> Uh, you know, I I think that plan makes the most sense because from the other descriptions we've heard, Kumquat seems to be a little bit busier and especially with the distance of going up to Northdale there. You know, having a sidewalk that runs on that north south part, I can see that making a lot of
good sense. Um, you know, we've seen on between Foley and Moore Park, as we've also heard, those are relatively quiet. Those are relatively stable streets. half of them are called the sacks um that people could walk down as well. Um so I I think I think we need to include
kumquat in this and figure that math out. I think an alternate for 110th is a good way forward for us to keep this moving forward, make a better decision when bids come back and make a final decision then and still have all the better information than what we have
now. >> Council member Armstrong, does that work for you? I would support that >> because you would still you would still get an opportunity to >> fight another day and >> Absolutely. Right. >> Okay. >> Yes. Thank you, >> Mr. Mayor. >> All right, council member Carlson.
>> I actually hadn't heard anything from residents [clears throat] because I know that I know council member Armstrong has been pretty much everywhere, you know, upcom. [clears throat] And so maybe that's why nobody's called me. But I was contacted today by a resident. the the one resident I've heard from since this all started was someone who lived on
Kumqua um who was in favor of the sidewalk and and they lived on that side of the street. Um so to to me it does seem like um 110th Avenue um does seem like the largest area of contention and I'm happy to support this as long as I
know that we can revisit that sidewalk 110th Avenue. I appreciate that point that you made uh council member Ger. Uh, I think that uh, yeah, I I can certainly support it if I know that we can have that conversation about 110th the sidewalk on 110th Avenue, >> your honor.
>> Okay, council [clears throat] member Novak, >> I completely agree with that one. I am willing to discuss a sidewalk on Kumquat. It sounds like that one has some benefit, has some some not as beneficial stuff to people's opinion. I
haven't heard anyone say anything good about a sidewalk on 110th. So you >> don't want it. >> No, we'll have that conversation on another day. >> Yeah. >> Nobody wants it. Not necessary. >> No, we don't need it. >> Okay. We've had our We've had our public
hearing. [laughter] >> Okay. Um, what's your wishes? Councel, >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Butler, >> I move that we adopt resolution number 26-1 sub6A, ordering the improvement. A super majority vote is needed for this. and then adopt resolution number 26-1
sub8 approving plans and specifications and ordering advertisement for bids. >> Your honor, I'm wondering if we could take those one by one since one of them does require a super >> I'm sorry then I'll just go with the first part which is adopting resolution number 26-1 sub6A ordering the improvement and
>> I would remind council that a super majority is 67 six of you. >> Thank you. >> Very good. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion by Butler and a second by Armstrong. Is there further discussion on this, >> Mr. Mayor? >> Council member Grisco, >> does our resolution include the option
then of a sidewalk on 110th? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Correct. We don't need to. I mean, >> you got that. >> Just went on the record. >> Okay. All right. Uh if there's no further discussion, all in favor signify by saying I. I opposed.
>> And that motion carries. >> Mr. Mayor >> Butler. >> I move that we adopt resolution number 26-1 sub 8 approving plans and specifications and ordering advertisement for bids. >> Second motion by Butler and a second by Armstrong. Any discussion on that?
>> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. And that motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Hansen. >> She back out here. Where are we at? >> Six.
All right. Consider adoption of ordinance 2648 amending the city charter sections 1-505 and 1-511. Mr. Brody, this was introduced at our last meeting. Correct. Correct. And it's coming back now for adoption. Um, a
couple unique things. Because it is a charter amendment, it does require a 70 vote of the council if you desire to uh approve it. And that is our uh recommendation and our recommendation that came from the charter commission. Um it's basically a housekeeping measure
for uh petition and referendum within our charter. It requires that we provide as part of the petition the year of the birth. We did not have that in our charter or in our petition. This action would uh bring that up to in [clears throat] compliance with the state rule. So, we're just asking that
you would uh adopt ordinance 2648 and authorize summary publication of the ordinance. >> Council member Novak, >> I move that we adopt ordinance 2648 to amend the city charter sections 1-505 and 1-511 and authorize summary
publication of the ordinance. >> Second motion by Novak and a second by Gesler. Is there discussion on this? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I I opposed. And that motion carries.
Item seven is to consider planning case 25-15 and 25-16. Consider Well, we probably need to take this off the table, don't we? We table this, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Geisler. Mr. Mayor, I move that we take planning case 25-15
and 25-16 off the table for consideration. >> Second. >> Motion by Gesler and a second by Carlson. Um, all in favor signify by saying I. I opposed and that is off the table. Um now now we're going to consider a a planned unit development
and preliminary plat Balcony Farms 12301 Shannondoa Boulevard Northwest Landspec Fund 5 LLC. Um anybody have any questions of Mr. Patner on this? We've had lots of presentations on it.
>> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Butler. >> Uh Mr. Patner, I know I had asked you this question over the weekend and I was wondering if you could just share with this group. You know, we we had talked about in our work session how, you know, LDR3 had just passed last year, this variance would not quite conform with
that. So, I'd asked Mr. Patner if he could compare the standards in LDR3 to this development just to show where it's still within compliance and what the variances would be given that the original variance was that. >> Hold on, Council Member Butler. I do have responses to that. So, were the
property to be zoned LDR3, the ask that the applicant is making would uh be non-compliant or would require variances or or flexibility to three of the items in LDR3 uh not including the culde-sac length, which is something that applies to all residential districts. Um, so
these would be lot area, lot width, and garage floor area. Um, so what they'd be asking for would be 6,250 feet of lot area, which is a 13% uh deviation from the 7,200 square feet required in LDR3. Um 50 feet in lot width, which is a 17%
deviation from the 60 ft required in uh LDR3. And then for garage area, it would be um a minimum of 390 square ft uh which is a 19% deviation from the 484 square ft required in LDR3. Um, so those
would be the three asks uh that go below essentially the L3 district standards. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Mayor. >> So, Go ahead. >> You probably wouldn't need the the the maximum lot coverage increased from 30 to 60%.
LDR3 is 50% lot coverage. So, most likely no variance would be required there, you're thinking. Right. >> Correct. And then and then the uh minimum lot area for the corner lots. Um they're looking for 7,500 square feet for the corner lots and LDR3 is 8,400
square ft for the >> Mr. Mayor. Thank you for pointing that out. I did fail to mention the corner lots. Those uh lot area and lot width would be um deviating from the standards for the corner lots as well. >> Okay. Council member Greskoviaak. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh first of all, I
appreciate you tableabling it. Uh I couldn't make last week or last meeting. So I appreciate you tableabling this because it uh gave me an opportunity to talk with staff. It gave me an opportunity to look at some other uh development properties similar to this. Uh then it also allowed us of course to
have the work session last week where we kind of talked about some of the concerns. So, um, I learned a lot and I have less questions now than I did before, but I do still have some concerns with this. Um, I will say this, the one thing that I noticed with the
other Lenire properties that that I visited in um, Atiggo, St. Michael, Ramsey. um they there there are lots like this of this size in those other communities, but they're all part
of a much larger planned unit development. So those other properties uh developments have a mixture of the the large standard home, they have a mixture of these smaller lots on slab on grade like this, and then there's also a mixture of like uh quad homes and and
dual dual homes. So I hadn't seen a property that was this dense on its own. Um, the second thing I noticed with all of those properties, and they look good, the houses look nice. Lener makes a a good product. The other thing that I noticed that all of those other properties that I looked at, they were
they all had some type of HOA assigned with it. And when I looked at that, the HOA costs were from $64 a month to $192 monthly. Um, one thing that struck me, especially with a culde-sac that is
longer than standard, a 650 foot culde-sac, as I'm thinking without some type of HOA, the simple things like garbage service, you know, if we could be looking at 15 trucks a week going down and doing a U-turn at the end of
this culde-sac. So, I would think at minimum we'd want to maybe look at an HOA. I have quite a few other concerns with this too, including what we just talked about a minute ago, sidewalks. When a de development goes in, now is
the time to put a sidewalk in. And I think that a development this dense, there's going to be kids in here. And a sidewalk would definitely be merited, especially since we're considering an easement on the property that is going to be a trail to a park. I just think it
would make sense that we had a sidewalk in here. Um, so those are a couple of my concerns. I also am concerned that that um in the other uh developments that we looked at, the the garages were up to standards.
They would actually hold two cars and maybe a bicycle and a and some suitcases or whatever. These houses aren't going to have basements, so I think that storage would be a concern for everybody. Um, I I I could go on for a while. Another thing they're proposing
to to build up this property to make it buildable by building a 26 foot deep trench that is going to be 6 700 ft long, I don't know, 150 ft wide, steep,
20 26 feet deep. I'm not sure what what a trench like that is going to look like in a few years. Um, who maintains that? Uh, you certainly couldn't mow it. I don't know if it's going to fill with water or just be a big eyesore back
there. Um, so I can get around some of these things, but these are all the concerns that that I really started to think about when I saw the other developments that LAR's proposing with houses of this of this nature. So, I'll
leave it at that for now. Your honor, Council Member Novak, >> I'm going to reate my concern from the last meeting and that's simply that length of that culde-sac is very concerning to me. I live in a very short culde-sac and I've seen emergency
vehicles, not firet trucks, but ambulances, uh, police cars, that kind of thing, get stuck in that snow because the city schedule for plowing a culde-sac is not optimal for the people who live
there. If you have that many people living at the end of that long culde-sac, that could be very dangerous if someone has a medical emergency. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson, >> before I say anything, I do want to say
that LAR does have a good product. I've seen a lot of LAR homes in the last week. As a matter of fact, have some friends move into Cape Coral, Florida, and they're buying a LAR home. My son's going to be living on a on a home different builder. Sorry, but about the same size. [snorts] I did go out to uh
Sky Meadows. I looked at the uh the venture section of Sky Meadows, which I was told was comparatively the closest to it. One thing I did notice about um about that section of the neighborhood was that they did have a sidewalk. Um
they did have um I believe 22 foot deep garages and they did have an HOA. Now, I don't know exactly what their HOA covered, but I guess my my point to this is that I would be most concerned about uh about an HOA. I would like to see an
HOA. Um just because you have you have a lot of residents, you know, squeeze in there. And um if you have a a neighbor that doesn't take care of their property, you're all it could be a real problem. You got a lot of lot of homes
in there. 29 homes in a 650 ft culde-sac. Um I just uh for me the biggest thing is I I think there should be an HOA. Um I think it'd be great if the garage size was the same size as a venture and I agree with Council Member Grisco. It
would be [clears throat] nice to have a sidewalk um like there was in in Sky Meadows um because we were talking about people, you know, coming across going to Cardinal Woods and uh to Council Member Guskoviaak's point, we want families to
live in in the homes on the COET. Um so it would be nice to have a sidewalk. Uh to me, the biggest uh sticking point is the HOA. >> Mr. Mayor, Council Member G. [clears throat] So, I have a very different uh tack to this one. Um, one,
we just talked about a sidewalk of needing them for safety purposes because of through traffic uh and not needing one because there wasn't a lot of people who drive through it. Culde-acs have no throughput. They they only the people who live on them drive on them. So,
there really isn't as significant of a safety concern there. And the park that they're connecting to is in at the end of the culdeac. So they they wouldn't have to cross any major roads. There really isn't any traffic there. So I I don't think a sidewalk is
worthwhile. Um to an HOA perspective, HOAs are there to help ensure that shared amenities are preserved. There are no shared amenities on this on this development. None none at all. There's no shared clubhouse. There's no pool. There's no toddler park. There's no
nothing like that. These are just single family homes. This would be like asking to put in, you know, a new HOA around Thompson Heights because there's a whole bunch of homes that are all right there, right? Doesn't make sense. It there's no shared amenity that would need to keep that up.
To the aspect of property maintenance, city has an enforcement arm to handle that. We already do that everywhere around the city when it's required. We have ways to handle that problem. So, I don't see a compelling reason for an HOA to the point of uh digging a ditch. Um,
it's a retention pod is what it will be because if anyone knows where this property is right now, this is currently a sod farm. A speedy bogggy sod farm that is already pretty dang close to being a wetland. Once we dig down, it's going to fill with water. I'm going to frankly I don't know how they're going
to get down to 26 feet without it being full of water. So, they're going to have to they're going to have their work cut out for that one. But, it will become a pond. That's what we're going to have is we're going to have a pond and some backyards. So the the final point that I wanted to
make is one of the things that we are charged with is making sure that the highest and best use of our land is being observed and executed upon. Right now this entire parcel, which is 30 acres, this development is only 10 of that. So a third of it. This entire 30
acres generates about $700 in city property taxes. You can go look at that up on the parcel viewer. If you look at 29 homes that are valued at, they gave us an estimate. I'm going to shave it back a little bit at around $400,000. That would generate
$50,000 on the city property tax levy that we wouldn't have to ask our existing residents to pay. So, we are looking at taking if we take a third of that $700, about 250 bucks, and turning it into 50,000 by approving
this development. That's a sizable sizable offset. Plus, we get 29 new families in our community. That's also a pretty good benefit because we all want new neighbors. I don't see a compelling reason to deny
this, honestly. Is it a little denser than LDR3? Yes, it is. It's six denser homes than what LDR3 would ma would math out to be. So, 23 versus 29. I think we're splitting hairs to say no to this. I think that this is a
opportunity for us to get single family homes, which is something this council over the years has routinely requested more of and less town homes and less apartments. We have a single family home development in front of us that will
help defay future costs on the levy that isn't ideal, but this plot isn't ideal. We're out of ideal spaces to build in the city. We're over 90% built out. Everything left is going to be weird and hard to develop. The developer told us that this is the only way to make it
out. If we don't approve this, plan B is a sad farm growing grass. 29 homes or grass. That's what we're faced with. So, I am 100% for this development. >> Mr. Mayor, Council Butler, >> I'm also in favor of this development.
And to echo some of what council member Gesler said, our our options are we either give 29 families a chance to live in Rapids or we're agreeing to raise taxes on everybody in Rapids. I think on top of that, you know, when we're thinking about just what could this land be for, again, this is really
it's either going to be empty land or it's going to be 29 homes. You know, I I I understand some of the concerns about garage size or, you know, some of the dimensions of these, but I live in one of those ramblers from the 50s. It's a smaller square footage than what these
are proposed to be, and my garage is barely more than this square footage. My wife and I get along just fine. We're a nice young family in Rapids. I think it'd be good to get more young families in Rapids. And beyond even just this specific development, the market's slow. We're having a lot of
trouble getting any sort of development due to factors outside of our control. But the reality is is that this is where the market for new housing is. I think that if we don't approve this, it's not just that we're going to miss out on this. We could set a reputation for our city of not being interested in
development at all. And I think that could really be a black eye on us for several years. >> Mr. Mayor, Mr. Council member Carlson >> on September 15th. We voted on and approved LDR3.
>> I watched it again. >> I remember the council member that made the motion. I remember the council member that made the second and it was a vote of 70. The whole idea was let's fill these small spaces with LDR3. We thought that was a good compromise to
bring more single family homes in some of these these 10% uh little smaller areas that you're talking about. Um I understand the situation here um with uh this um you know this new development. I understand that uh
because of the extra excavation and such like um we wanted to get six more homes in there to do that. Um, so, you know, keeping it at LDR2 with a whole lot of variances. Um, and I understand um the situation
and why we want more homes in there to make up for the loss of all the excavations. I totally get that. I worry a little bit about the precedent though. We we had we create LDR3 on September 15th for a reason. And I remember even some people say, "Well, we all agreed
70-0." And then now we're we're taking um what could be an LDR3 um or an LDR 2 with just not as many modifications, not asking for a whole lot. Add an HOA. We have it at Central Homes. Um and
Central Homes has uh larger garages than we have in these homes. There's an HOA there. They're freestanding. Um the whole point would be uh yeah to make sure that we have the lawn care covered, the snow the the snow removal covered and the sanitation keeping at at
uh one company one company three trips once a week down that 650 foot. So I'm not asking I you know I know I know it sounds like a lot when we're asking for it but at least in HOA
your honor. M council member Novak. >> Um I've actually been the president of our HOA and I'll be honest with you, I've got mixed feelings about um homeowners associations in general. I've seen them go really really good and I've
seen them go really really bad. Um our HOA had a real hard time after four years of not getting our windows replaced when we put our own windows in there and they didn't match everybody else's. Well, maybe you should have paid for
them yourself, but in a situation like this, the HOA isn't there to take care of shared property as much as it is to take care of, as Council Member Carlson said,
lawn care, snow removal, trash. These are all things that come up on a weekly basis that the HOA has to deal with and they deal with it so that the individuals don't have to. And again, in a situation like
that, personally, I'd feel a bit better if you had people going back there to take care of things like snow removal. You've got two football fields worth of road going back. If there's not going to be a sidewalk, if there's not going to be an HOA, then yes, I am concerned
about people getting back there. There are somewhere between 23 to 29 homes that are going to be there. That's 23 to 29 families that all pay taxes for emergency services that deserve to have them whenever they need
them. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Giser, >> uh, first of question for the planning staff. Uh so for public planned unit developments PUDS they're all taken on their individual merits. Is that correct? And there's not a precedent
setting practice to them. They're spite specific. They're plan specific. They are unique to their where they're deployed. >> Generally yes that is correct. Council member Gisler. >> Thank you. Um to the other point that I
would make is uh you know [clears throat] we brought up we talked about single hauler in a work session earlier this year because we were discussing boy there's a whole lot of trucks rolling around and this council and a majority said we don't want to do
that but we want to make a small part of the city have to do that. I don't know how I feel about that. I feel that that is juxtaposed. We discussed it and said, "Nah, we don't want to pursue that. We don't want to look at that." But an HOA forces it and
we would de facto be forcing single hauler on a set of residents because we think it'd be too many garbage trucks. I don't like the cognitive dissonance of that. I think if we're concerned about the number of garbage trucks, we probably should have a different discussion than what we're talking about
here. >> All right, Mr. Mayor. Well, if it weren't for hyperbole, we would have nothing tonight. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Carlson, >> I don't think this would be the first neighborhood with an HOA. >> I don't think so. [laughter] >> I think they're in other places as well. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Butler,
>> you know, I I I think with LDR3, I I did vote for it. I think it's a great idea. There will still be times that we need to look at things that would require a variance. I I think that creating LDR3 was a good move. It's frankly something the council should have done years ago
rather than six months ago. We have gotten to use it once and I'm glad we did, but there will still sometimes be creative ideas for things such as a former sod farm. Um, related to that, I I really do think, you know, LAR is a
great builder. They frankly build smaller homes than this that are way more affordable, but LDR3 wouldn't accommodate that either. And that's just a different affordability challenge for us. But I I really do think it'd be a mistake to let this go over the
difference of a handful of homes. >> Yeah. Mr. Mayor Council, >> I'll just say this. I'm not against development. Of course not. I voted for LDR3. And even on this project, I'm okay with the development here. I'm okay with
them going with the narrower lot than LDR3 all the way down to 50 feet. I'm okay with a lot of this stuff, but there's just other things that um that I think we're going to look back at and say that wasn't a very good idea. The
the big the big trench is not a storm water pond. They're building a storm water retention pond for the north side. Regarding that big trench, um I asked the city engineer in our in our uh in our work session, what's going to happen
to that? And do you guys remember what he said? I don't know. It could could fill up with water, could be dry half all the time. So, and again, if it's dry, how does a homeowner maintain that? I just hard for me to to fathom that. Um, and you know, there's a lot it's a
it's a sod farm and it's it's hard to develop a pete bog. There's no question about it. We've got a lot of undevelopable land in Rapids because we're right here in the in the watershed. Uh so I think that an HOA would not be out of the question on this
to make sure that we have nice good-looking uh development years down the road. I could I could um I could be persuaded not to have that sidewalk. I think it may might make a good uh point.
It is a 650 foot long culde-sac which is again way out of our variance but it has the access going into oh by the way the trail access going into Cardinal Woods Park. I don't know if anyone's familiar with Cardinal Woods Park but the way the reason it's called
Cardinal Woods is it is a very dense woods and you go back in there is all kinds of wildlife in there. You walk into the middle of the woods and it's like you're in a bird sanctuary. So, there are neighbors, too, that actually have concerns about where that trail is going in. I think we could easily skirt
it on the edge of Cardinal Woods Park and bring it up into this property, but again, just another concern that I have. So, I think we got to look at this uh very carefully. And uh again, I would be okay with an HOA. Again, every other LAR
pro project though, they're doing it in other communities. there are other other communities aren't agreeing to this many variances to their city code. I mean, we can we can um go back and forth on some of them, but to
give a an approval on every one of them would I think would be a mistake for us opposed to it at that point. >> Okay. My I I I don't know what we're how we're going to move forward yet, but my my two would be either conforming to
LDR3 or an HOA for the lawn care and the snow removal and the sanitation. >> Mr. Mayor, so >> I know the developer is here. Could the developer speak to just the potential cost benefit of if this project's viable if either of those two options went up?
We we had a work session and they said that over 12 builders were consulted. This is just really hard land to develop. And so I I understand some of the nitpickiness here, but the answer is it's a sad farm or it's going to be 29 houses. So I I'd love to hear from the developer just about would either of
these options be financially viable or is this just going to be a no-go. >> My guess is it'll be the same answer he gave us at the workshop, which was there is no plan B, which he owns the land. He's going to he's either going to have nothing or he's going to move forward.
I'll just speak briefly uh regarding the HOA and thanks for having us here tonight. We really appreciate it. Um the HOA can add upwards of $250 a month uh if you include management fees and just the dues and that can really um impact a
family's ability to be able to afford these homes. So that's why we're opposed to it. There are no public amenities here to maintain. Um, we think it's great to encourage homeowners to do their own snow and and manage their own properties and not rely on some outside
governing body to um control their properties. So, for that reason, we don't believe an HOA is required. Um, that said, if it's a deal killer, I think we could find a way around it because there there is no plan B. Uh, John Rous is here with me also. He's the
uh one of the land owners and he had a few things to say. Yeah, thank thanks for having us. Uh John Roush. Um you know what my wife grew up down the street. Um we got family in this area and you know the I grew up in a small
town very similar to Rapids Mano but and you guys always beat us in baseball by the way. So, so, but we we lived in um small homes, you know, and when we were able to finally move up and be able to buy something, you know, like
a LAR home, which is going to be $300 to $400,000, I assume. Um, it put us on a budget. It was really, really hard to, you know, do I make a car payment? Do I ride this car out another year or or do I pay it to the HOA? I I wouldn't have
chose to live in an HOA. I grew up very poor and I um I wanted to put the money in the house and you know I'd change my own oil and that sort of thing. So it's an economic decision. But these are very very nice homes. They're brand new homes. I don't know how long a Lar home
will last but um I've seen you know 30 40 years potentially. And that's what we're trying to cater to is is that move up. You move from your starter home maybe to the next home. joined the Cardinals, beat the Mano Royals in baseball, that sort of thing.
>> Um, you know, the other thing is is this lake trench. I well, respectfully, you know, um, understand, you know, why I use that term. There's docks immediately to the south of us of of this proposed property. Uh, the propertyy's 32 acres.
We're only developing um I'm going to call it a third of it, Joel. These would be on average 1.1 acre lots. Um, we have our our excavator also partner here. I don't know if this thing's going to fill up with water, but you know, the water table everywhere else is >> it'll it'll have water.
>> It'll have water. Uh, there are docks on the trench lake to the south. We're going to call it a lake. We think it's an amenity. The land owners that are on the s that are on the lake will have an association. We'll have some sort of an agreement. Maybe association's too
strong of a word. Uh to provide for, you know, cleaning it up and and maintaining it. So, we think that's an amenity. I do anyway. I I live on a pond trench and and I love it. I get to look out there and I get to look at the ducks and the geese. And we were out there today and
the number of birds that were piling in and the deer tracks and the trees that were all rubbed up. I see where that Cardinal Woods is definitely an amenity >> and ice drink. >> We have some friends that play hockey, you know, and that is hockey central.
That is where the kids are going to congregate. Um I also live on a culde-sac. My neighbors put up my kids are 21 and 22, but they put up those signs, you know, kids at work or kids that play. That's where they play. They play in those culde-sacs. If you guys
don't have kids or if you haven't been down a culde-sac lately, go go on the warm day after school, go look. That's where they are. And if anybody's into hockey, they will have hockey rinks out on every one of those ponds. Um there's not going to be Joel, right? He's the engineer. We're not going to have like
dangerous drainage ways and things like that that are going to, you know, suck the kids to wherever Blaine. So that that's real important to us, you know, to make a community that, you know, we can be proud of. Um, this thing is 32
acres and we're doing 29 lots at 1.1 acre a piece. That's why we bought this thing. We met with the staff in advance of purchasing the property, our engineers and our guy Luke did, and you know, they they gave us a pretty firm indication that we might have a good
project here that everybody would be proud of. So that's why we bought the land. um open for any questions if anybody has any of us. >> So um LAR is $192 a month for their association for the uh we're somebody
from LAR here >> that uh Alicia is here with us and we were unclear it's it varies depending on the community the amenities etc. I threw out a number as a as a somewhat of a guess, but yeah, it's somewhere between a hundred, $200, 250, whatever it might
be. >> Yeah. See, I'm I'm a fan of people doing their own their own work, but when you give them a garage, it just barely is big enough for two cars. You don't really have room for all your yard stuff either then. So, it it seems like we're
it seems like we're we've got opposing ideas there. But >> your honor, >> council Novak, >> um, garage doesn't scare me a whole lot. Like I said, I live on a culde-sac and ours is about 20 by 20 for the garage size. We can fit two vehicles. Well, we
used to fit two vehicles in there. I've got a pool table in there now, but um, we just park on our driveway. There's room to put a shed in if you need to be storing anything. But again, my concern is that two football fields
of street. Now, what is the plan for snow removal there? I mean, I understand the city does that, but it can take a while for them to get to there. So, >> yeah. I mean, I think uh I did look at the city map and you know, throughout
Rapids, Blaine, just within a quarter mile of this site, there's probably six culde-sacs that are >> 650. There's one that's uh what was it? 900 ft long. Um the city of Blaine allows up to 600 and and they'll allow even longer with with uh certain
conditions. I don't think it's an anomaly to have a culde-sac that's 640 ft long. Um, I think people actually prefer it. They they want to live there. They like the quietness of a culde-sac. So, me personally, and nothing against
you, Mr. Novak, but I think that's a great amenity of this site and not a detriment. That's just my opinion. >> Mr. Mayor, [clears throat] Council Gesler, >> and just to clarify, even if we put in an HOA, this would still be a public street, >> right? And so, an HOA wouldn't clear
away the street at all, right? where it would only be driveways. >> So, it wouldn't alleviate any of Council Member Novak's concerns. It it's it's up to the city to plow appropriately and where we're where we're required. Um, and to and also, you know, folks can let
us know when there's a significant issue in the roadway, which they do. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council [clears throat] Butler. Uh, so I I know that the the gentleman here just said that, you know, it'd be about a hundred maybe 200 bucks a month for an HOA. I just did the math. I I pay $240 a
month for city property taxes. So if we instituted an HOA's requirement on this, we've just almost doubled the tax burden. And it's probably a little lower than double because I know these houses are worth more than mine. So maybe a 30% tax increase instead. But it it would be the city saying, "We want you to pay an
additional one, two, $250 a month for very little service >> for not having to mow and for not having to plow your driveway and for not having to pay for trash." >> I do those for free for the most part. I do pay for trash. >> Hey, M. Mayor. >> Okay. Council member Carlson.
>> Yeah. I don't I don't see the HOA as a necessarily as a punishment because you would receive lawn service removal. um and trash service. >> You're on something else from Novak. >> I live in a culde-sac that has two
duplexes and two quads. So, there's a grand total of 12 units plus one single home. Our dues at the time were about $160 per unit. In general, the more units you have, the lower those come down because
you're not having to duplicate the same thing for each one. >> Um, I am not against this. I just want to make that very clear. We do need more single family housing here. That's something that we wanted for a
very long time. I will freely admit I didn't make the workshop where you were showing your numbers, but I'm a numbers guy. And the difference between 23 and 29, I can see where that would be an issue
because you're talking about roughly, you know, 26 27% as far as the amount of profit coming back into it. Again, my biggest concern and it's not so much that
the road itself would be plowed. I understand that. Although, however, if Kun Rapids ever wants to uh discuss how culde-sacs are plowed, we can have that discussion too. Uh but that's not a time for right now. Is there anything
else that you are looking for besides the variances that you've already asked for? What's going to jump out? >> Um, I don't think we're just to be clear, there's no variances. It's a PUD, right? And so when we say variance, we're talking about flexibilities to the
rule. And that's just to get the 50 foot wide lot, right? And to get the smaller garage size and max, what's the third >> uh lot width, lot area, and lots from from LDR3. It's more from LDR2.
>> Um, and I did send an email to Max. I think on Friday and I just wanted to reiterate what I sent to him. So, we're asking for 50 foot wide lots, but we're proposing 30 foot wide homes. So, we are going to have 20 ft between our homes. I believe the LDR3 would allow homes to be
within 10 ft of each other. So, while we're asking for some flexibility, this is going to feel like a fairly open development. It's not gonna look like maybe some of those LAR projects you looked at in AIGO and in Ramsey I think
it was. Um we're gonna have 20 feet wallto-wall which is significantly more than LDR. I mean double what LDR would allow LDR3 would allow. Um so it feels dense on paper but I think when it's built it's going to be a great community
with lots of green space and we feel >> and Mr. Novak, to address your question, um this this project does not work at 23 lots. We we will have to scrap it and try to figure something else out. The other thing we did think about and we're
not we can't we don't have this figured out is what if we made this a rental community, then the HOA thing is easy. Then people are coming in, they don't want to, you know, they they're here for that lifestyle of not wanting to shovel. when I was in my 20s and that was a long time ago or 30s or whenever I could
afford a $400,000 house. I was out there doing my home equity, you know, the equity builders. I was doing the shoveling. I was mowing the grass. You know, I was not going to have some kid for and by the way, it costs about 25 bucks an hour now to pay a kid to mow your grass. I know that for a fact.
That's just your own kid. So it's it's really it's it's those things that just fundamentally growing up little blueco collar you know that is problem for me you know with an HOA I would have trouble living in an HOA with with people doing those things for me when I
was able to do them but if if we're real adamant about it and we think this should be a an HOA community um you know providing those level of services then may then it's probably not the single family 400 am I using the number $400,000 homes. It's probably something
different. >> Um, just a quick followup. I do want to thank you guys for coming in and I don't want you to feel like we're trying to rake you over the coals for no reason. I've been reminded by several people up here on the stas that we have city code for a reason and if we're going to
create exceptions to those codes, we need to make sure that it's done for a very good reason. So, thank you guys for coming. >> Mr. Novette, could I also just add to and Exactly. We we like to follow the codes. That's how we make a living is, you know, doing that stuff,
>> but I haven't seen a site like this where you can only develop a third of it. >> Yeah. >> You know, this is going to be a nature area. And and I'd invite you guys, you you [clears throat] have full permission because we own it to go sit out there tomorrow if it's at least a normal day and look at the ducks and the the deer
prints. I didn't see any deer. And the geese and all the critters that are out there. I don't know where they came from, but um it was really a serene, wonderful um experience for you know sitting out there for 15 20 minutes while the sun was going down and you know we're going
to we're going to keep that that mantra. We're going to create that that trench will become a lake. I promise you Mr. Mayor to to that point >> uh uh we'll call it a lake. It it might be a lake. I know that you know there's the this the ditch that runs through
there too. So there's a there's a Creek wershed district drains water through there, but >> okay, we'll call it a lake even if it's just a little little one. >> Um, so you you mentioned kids out there maybe uh ice uh uh you know skating on
thing with any any consideration of the developer maintaining that lake in Perpetual uh and allowing it to be a shared access. Um, no. In fact, I think city staff uh asked us to, you know, extend those
property lines over the lake so that there wasn't this common outlot there. I mean, if that were the case, then there would need to be some entity that would own that lake into perpetuity. >> Uh, if if that's something the city desired, we would probably be looking
for the city to own it. Um, you know, maybe there's some HOA at that point that could pay into the city to maintain it, but we wouldn't, John being the owner, he's not going to be around forever. He's not going to want to own that lake forever and charge
each uh homeowner a certain fee to own it, you know, into perpetuity. I I don't see how that would work. >> In the applicant's narrative that I read, it was written in there that LAR may retain uh ownership of that property or convey it to the city. He said we don't really want it to convey to the city because we don't want our property
tax owners to be maintaining it. But so I think there might be uh that that potential >> that there was absolutely the potential at the time and and um where when we uh had further discussion with LAR they were fairly adamant against the HOA for
all the reasons we've stated. It's it's additional c it's really about getting people into homes at a price point that they can afford. That's >> that's what it is. And if you have to pay another $200 a month, I mean that's a car payment. >> I get you. No, I get you. Affordability is a huge thing. And I mean these houses
when it was presented in the workshop would be ranging from$420 to$460. Is that correct? Because I think we might have heard some other numbers. >> We're using some round numbers, but yes. >> Okay. Yeah, I get that. The other concern that I have is, you know, with the with the really small garages,
there's going to be cars on the street a lot on a large on a long culde-sac, too. So, um, are these driveways all conforming to our standards? I think they are, right, >> Council Member Visco? Yes, they would be, um, 25 ft from the home to the lot
line, which is what we would allow in LDR3, and then from the lot line to the to the curb, the city owned section of the um, >> right, the rightway section would be another 10 ft, >> which is better than what I saw in the other developments that I saw. Lar had
had pretty short driveways and their houses were closer together. So, I like the the fact that these are farther apart and that's why I'm okay with the 50- foot lot line. I did see a lot of cars in the drive in the in the street in the other developments. But, um >> and this is a 31 foot wide street. And
Mark, I believe we parked both sides or one side. >> Uh parking would be allowed on both sides? >> Both sides because it's 30 31 ft wide >> during the summer months. No park. no overnight parking >> because of because of snow. Um, but I
guess I'd like to see you maybe model what an HOA in there at least for the bare minimums of lawn care and and trash just because it's a long culde-sac. I'm warming up to this more and more. >> All right, your honor. Council
>> member Novak. >> Looks like we have some language here that is provided. Um, in planning case 25-15, I move to approve resolution 2629. I'm not sure if I'm saying this.
You'll have to let me know if I'm doing this properly. To approve the proposed planned unit development subject to the 14 conditions that are listed in the agenda. Is that sufficient?
I don't think >> I guess your intent is I mean we've got some entity or instrument be established to ensure perpetual maintenance and liability associated with the southern pond. Um I don't think we address an
HOA. In fact, I think our intent the way we created those long lots is because they didn't want an HOA, so we wanted them not to have an outlot. If there's an HOA, certainly there could be an outlot that the HOA could manage, but I don't necessarily know if that's what they want or if that's what council
wants. If council's more concerned about the plowing of the driveways, the mowing of the lawns, things like that, that's a little bit of different of an issue. >> My motion did not contain an HOA. >> So, if that's your intent, then then I think there was a second.
>> Yeah. And I apologize. >> So, we got a motion by Novak and we got a second by Geisler. discussion. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Griscoiac. >> I think the only way I can get behind this would be to include an HOA of some
sort. Again, I did research on this. I looked at other developments. Lar is doing HOAs. Other communities are needing the HOA uh in their code. And I think it's a small thing to try to get this many in here. This is going to be pretty dense. It's going to look nice, I
think, but we have to have some of those uh some of those things built in. >> Council member Brisco, I would be amendable to a friendly amendment. >> Well, let's let's work with what we got here first. Council member Gesler,
>> I think uh you know, when you think about an HOA, those costs will inflate every year. And when we're looking at our street recon costs $2,700 that you can pay over 10 years, this would be asking someone at $200,
which is probably what we're going to end up with. A special assessment every year is what we'd be asking for by shoving this in. I don't think we need an HOA here. I understand the concerns there. I also believe that people can be responsible for their homes um because
we ask a lot of citizens to do that. Matter of fact, thou tens of thousands of citizens do it. So I I know that there are HOAs elsewhere. Um but yeah, I don't I don't think we need one just because it's a little denser.
Okay. All right. Um other discussion. Okay. Um we have a we have a motion and a second. Um, I will not be supportive
of it because I would either want LDR3 or an HOA. But all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. Nay. >> All right, let's do a uh hand count with the the eyes's
>> threes. There's a second >> and the nays. One, two, three, four. Okay. So that didn't pass. Um so then we would be looking at the uh
denial language. >> Mr. Mayor, council member Gisler considering the comments made by yourself and by member if we added the the condition of an HOA but still approved otherwise as stated
here. Is that something that folks would be amendable to, >> Mr. Mayor? >> Council member Carlson, >> I would support it with the with just the HOA. >> Y as would I. >> Yeah. >> I if they can if Lar can do it in other
communities, I don't know why we should settle here. >> Miss Mr. Mayor, >> I do think Mr. Brody might have a concern. >> I'm just trying to figure out procedurally how we could undo what you just did, but [clears throat] I think
the motion. >> That's true. Thank you. I apologize. >> Yep. [laughter] >> Okay. >> Motion failed. >> Thank you. Robert's rules. [laughter] [clears throat] So, Mr. Mayor. Uh, with that said, I would I would like to make a motion that
in Planet Case 25-15, the city council approves resolution number 26-29 approving the proposed plan unit development subject to the 14 listed conditions as well as a 15th condition that an HOA be established over the entire development. >> Second
>> motion by Gesler, a second by Novak. More discussion hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I >> opposed. And that motion carries. >> Mr. Mayor, >> hoping figure something out, gentlemen. >> Thank you, >> Council Member Geyser.
>> Uh, I'll make a motion in Planet Case 25-16 that the city council approves the proposed preliminary plat subject to the following conditions. Uh, the final plat must show the easement for the trail connection to Cardinal Woods Park. The final plat must show southern lot lines extending to the southern sight boundary
eliminating outlot C. Final plat must show a cross drainage and utility easement over all of former outlot C for common conveyance of water between property owners and approval of the association associated PUD request planage 25-15. >> Second.
>> Okay, there's a motion by Geyser and a second by Carlson and Mr. Patner. I assume in that associated PUD request, it isn't it doesn't um it doesn't say no to an HOA, right? >> That's correct. It just says that some
instrument be established which could include an HOA. So adding a condition to require an HOA is amendable to what we have. >> Thank you. >> And just so I'm Mr. Brody, this is getting complicated. I want to make sure that we understand the council's intention in the motions that you've made. For me, what I interpreted as
we're going to set up an HOA for the purposes of snow removal of those items. We still have a condition that we're going to have a separate instrument which we've working on with the developer to regulate that pond which we are not which will be owned by the individual um uh property owners that'll extend
into the pond. They'll manage it themselves. We will have any say over that. So as long as we're all clear on that then I think staff has enough direction and I think the developer has enough direction. I think the findings have enough direction here. >> Mr. Brody, is there any way that the the the HOA could
>> take over the management of the water feature? >> It would be difficult now with the you can't have the either the lots can extend into it like they do now like we just approved. That way then everybody owns a little piece of the lake. >> Okay. >> Um otherwise we could have created an outlot that the HOA could have been the
owner of >> and then that could have been part of the HOA. I mean that's generally kind of typically how they they run the common elements. That would be, I guess, the common element that makes it a little bit more complicated than sort of snow removal. And >> well, if you if you guys figure out something like that that'd be better.
All seven of us voted for it. Any one of us could bring it up again and [clears throat] vote. >> But again, I I get a little concerned because we just approved a plaque that shows the lot lines extending all down without a creation of an outlot. >> Mr. Mayor, Mr. Murray, we have not approved the plan yet. >> We are on the plat right now. So, if you
would like us to [laughter] I could move a as as we've as we've currently it's on the it's been motioned and seconded, but if staff is recommending an amendment to remove condition two, which is that southern lot lines extend to the southern sight boundary eliminating outlet three and I
don't not do that. I guess I want to defer to I mean there's different reasons for different to having it you know an HOA controlling that pond versus having individual property owners do that and we as a staff have been kind of going back and forth on that. We've come to this sort of agreement or we know
where the individual lot owners would do that. So I guess I want to confer briefly with staff to make sure we're still comfortable we undoing it with HOA putting the HOA back in play and it sounds the developer might have some questions as well. >> Um yeah go ahead. Uh would the
applicants be amendable to tableabling the plat so you can have a further discussion knowing that we've approved the PUD as it stands or would you like us to decide that tonight? >> Um I think our preference would be to decide that tonight and I'll give you the reasons why. So if if we put that pond back into an out lot and it's owned
by an entity and then controlled by the HOA, only 13 of those lots really benefit from that pond and you'll be burdening every one of those the other 16 lots within that culde-sac. Therefore, we would prefer to keep it the way it is now. Lot lines extending
through the pond. There's a declaration over those 13 lots that enjoy the benefit of that pond. They maintain it. The other lots don't have the requirement to, >> your honor. Okay, Councilman Novak, >> that would make it much easier for insurance purposes as well. >> Mr. Mayor,
>> Council Grisco, >> um, there's going to be an easement between lot 16 and 17. Couldn't that easement uh provide shared access to the pond? >> It could, but I think in practicality, would you want people walking behind your house and putting up
a ice rink in your backyard? Like I I understand what you're saying and I've thought about that too, but our opinion is no, it's not fair to have those other 16 homes pay to maintain that pond when they're not really enjoying the benefit of it. That's our opinion.
>> Council member Gesler. >> Then with that, I would uh in the initial motion we had item 12, which was the entity or instrument as Mr. Brody has described for maintaining the pond that has already been approved. And then I would humbly say let's leave the
motion as is for 25-16 which is preserving the four items as stated. Okay. All right. So we have a motion by Gerler and a second by Carlson on that one. I think it was. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Brody, you good?
>> I'm good. Thank you for entertaining me tonight. >> All in favor signify by saying I opposed. And that motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Item eight is to consider the first amendment to purchase agreement
2831 113th Avenue. Uh Mr. Brown, you are here. Hello there. >> Yes. >> Uh we discussed this at a workshop. Um, we uh we're looking to amend the
purchase agreement from $33 to $163,000. Does anybody have any questions of Mr. Brown? >> Mr. Mayor, >> Butler, >> I move that we approve the first amendment to the purchase agreement with the Visa LLC for the property 2831 113th Avenue Northwest.
>> Second. >> Motion by Butler and a second by Geisler. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries. Item nine is to consider adoption of the resolution
26-30 approving the 2026 and 2027 International Association of Firefighters Labor Agreement. Ms. Roth. Hello. >> Hello. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, as it pertains to resolution 2630, we ask the council to approve the
tenative agreement between the city of Rapids and the Minnesota uh international association of firefighters union local 1935. The resolution and updated contract have been provided to you for your review
along with an applicable that I'll discuss here in a moment. The terms of the tenative agreement are as follows. It's a two-year contract effective January 1, 2026, ending December 31st, 2027.
Uh 3% cola for 2026 accompanied with a 1% market increase to the beige base wages and that would be effective January 1, 2026. Um, and then also a pay plan revision for 2027 contingent with
the dissolution of the fire relief association program. Um, and that new pay plan outlined in the memo and in the resolution you received would be effective January 1, 2027. your honor.
>> Uniform allowance increased by $15 for 2026 and 2027. And uh we provided one shift to uh one shift for shift employee. So 24-hour
shift if you're a 24-hour employee and an eight hour shift if you're an eight-hour employee for health and well-being activities. renewal of anou for the tuition reimbursement program. And that's it. If you have any
questions, I'd be happy to answer them at this time. >> Um, I think I know what I think I know. But, um, what would be the health and well-being activities? I'm just curious. And we're not talking like a spa day or something, are we? >> Sure. Uh, it could be the annual, uh,
mental health checkup that they participate in. It could be engaging in um uh medical appointments or mental health appointments. Can be a variety of different things. >> Okay. Very good. Thank you. All right. Anybody have any questions?
>> Your honor, >> Council Member Novak, >> Miss Roth, thank you again. You always do such a great job with our contract negotiations. Um, I'm going to move to adopt resolution 26-30 approving the
2026 2027 International Association of Firefighters Labor Agreement. Second. >> Wow, a lot of support there. >> Motion by Novak, second by Carlson. >> Further discussion, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Gisesler. >> Uh, I'll ask a question of Mr. Stmle
since he already sent me the data and I'm asking it just of all of them. uh could you put these in empirical numbers for this year? I understand they're all within budget, but just understanding what these uh contract contracts are. I'll ask you all the rest of them. >> Sure. Yeah. Council member Gistler,
mayor and council. Uh just from a general dollar standpoint, the changes from 2025 to 2026 equal about 193,000. And then from 26 to 27, it's about 220,000 for $413,000 total. Um, oh, I'm
sorry. I'm reading the wrong one. I read the top one. My apologies. Like, that didn't sound right. Let me start [clears throat] over. Uh, $124,000 increase from 2025 to 2026 and a $450,000 increase from 26 to 27 for 574
total. The reason there's a big jump in that 27 number is as Miss Roth uh alluded to or spoke to is that uh we are proposing that the fire relief association be dissolved this year. Um that has [clears throat] provided additional retirement benefits to our
firefighters for decades if they participate in the program. And so what we worked out with the union was um sort of anou that should that program dissolve in 2026 that their wages would be adjusted to effectively market average wages for full-time fire
departments in the metro area to sort of recognize and offset a portion of that loss benefit that they'd realize um if that were to dissolve. So, uh, that was done in concert with, uh, the union group and the discussions related to the fire relief association are sort of
separate but related discussions and that'll be something the city council considers probably um, in early April. >> All right. Any other questions or discussion? We have a motion and a second on the table. >> Mr. Mayor, council member, >> just clarification from Mr. Roth on the
on that health and well-being activity. 24 hours for shift employees, eight hours for 40 hours a week employees. So that's going to be that's that's the equivalent of three paid vacation days is >> is that how I read that or >> No. >> Um, no. So we our firefighters work
24-hour shifts. >> So typically their leave acru matches that 24-hour shift. So in this situation, it was a the wellness day also um follows that same suit. >> Okay. and kind of the same concern that I had when we approved the the police
contract. I mean, this this is a pretty big impact on the on the levy and as we thought, you know, our contracts kind of follow that police union contract in terms of cola increases and the wage increase. So, here here again, we're
kind of um it it seems like we're increasing a little bit above inflation, which kind of concerns me in the long term. We can't keep that up forever. I do have a question for Chief Piper if you don't mind. We just hired four police officers or badged them tonight,
right? So then are we at full strength with uh fire, excuse me, fire? >> Council member, excuse me, council member Groviac. Yes, we are at 10 firefighters per shift. >> Okay. >> Of three shifts. >> So So we're remaining competitive in the
market for for good quality firefighters. >> Yes, we are. >> Okay. All right. Just got to keep those things in mind. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Butler, >> uh, you know, I I just want to again applaud that this looks like a pretty good deal for folks. You know, I I was
talking to Chief Piper a couple weeks ago and he said that our call volume was up a thousand calls in 2025 relative to 2024. So, I I do think that the pay bump is warranted. I I think it's great to have this health and well-being uh
offset because that's something folks have been asking for for a while. And this is something we're probably going to have to monitor for future years because staffing hasn't changed in a while, but that call volume keeps going up and up and up. And Chief Piper, I'm sorry to put you on the spot. It's about 8,200 from last year. >> You are correct.
>> Thank you. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. Do we have any any other discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. And that motion carries. Item 10, consider adoption of resolution 26-31
approving the 2026 and 2027 Teamsters Local 320 public works collective bargaining agreement. Miss Rob, >> again, thank you. We ask you, mayor and councel, to approve the tenative agreement between the city of Rapids and the Minnesota Teamsters Public and Law Enforcement Employees
Union Local 320. This is the public works agreement. Again, a copy of the resolution and updated contract have been provided for your review and a summary of the changes are as follows. Uh contract uh duration, again, two
years, January 1, 2026 to December 31st, 2027. uh wages, a 3% cola increase and a 1% market adjustment to the base wages. That would be effective January 1, 2026
for all employees except mechanics. For mechanics, 3% cola increase and a 3% market adjustment. U market indicated that that uh differential needed to occur. And then in 2027, a 3% cola and a
1% market adjustment for all job classes. Uh we had increase to standby time. So it's typically 18 hours. Uh it would go up to 20 hours. Increase to uh uniform allowance to $600. And that was
contingent upon an agreement that they would purchase their uniforms through a select vendor. Our um hopes is they'll look very professional and they will be um identified as city employees. So that was important. A tool allowance increase for mechanics increased to $800
and increase to temporary employees work from 120 days to 180 days. Um and we changed from calendar days to work days. So it allows us to keep those people during some really key time and longer times. Otherwise, we were put in a
position where we had to end their employment. Um, and the time frame was expanded from April to December. Any questions? >> Questions, >> Mr. Mayor? >> Council Butler. >> I move that we adopt resolution 26-31
approving the 2026 to 2027 Teamsters [clears throat] Local 320 public works collective bargaining agreement. Second. >> Motion by Butler and a second by Novak. Is there further any discussion on this? Mr. >> Mayor, >> council member Gisler, >> Mr. Samuel, if you wouldn't mind.
>> Council member Gisler, mayor and council, I'll read the one I read earlier in in mistake, but which is that uh the dollar increase from 25 to 26 is 193,000. From 26 to 27 is 220,000 for a total of 413,000.
>> Thank you. All right. Any other questions? Hearing none. We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. And that motion carries. >> Item 11 is to consider adoption of
resolution 26-32 approving the 2026 and 2027 police captain labor agreement. >> Thank you again. We ask that you approve the tenative agreement between uh law enforcement labor services local 528.
This is the police captain's agreement. um and the city of Rapids. The solution or the resolution and the updated contract have been provided for your review. Again, the contract duration again is two years. So, January
1, 2026 to December 31st, 2027. Uh 3% COLA increase and a 1% market adjustment effective 1 uh January 1, 2026. Effective January 1, 2027, a COLA
increase of 3% and a market adjustment of 0.5%. Uh snapshot of that uh wage scale has been provided. We agreed to an additional wellness day for uh the police captains.
It mirrors what we offered our police officers um for a total of three shifts each year um to promote health health and well-being. Article 17, uniform allowance that increased from 1,00 to 1,025 in 2026 and
1,50 in 2027. And again, that mirrors what our police officers were offered. Uh we have a memorandum of understanding for the captain's ability to divert 50% of their uniform allowance to a uh one
of the city's deferred compensation programs. Um, we have 457 programs. And with that, uh, any questions? I'd be happy to answer them. >> Okay. >> Questions from M. Spr. >> Mr. Mayor. Council member Carlson.
>> Like to make a motion to adopt resolution 26-32 approving the 2026 2027 police captain labor agreement. >> Second. >> Motion by Carlson and a second by Gesler.
Um, no discussion, Mr. I'm gonna ask Mr. D for the third one. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Mayor and Council, I'll just give you the quick summary. Over the course of the two-year agreement, it's about $40,000 additional budgetary impact
relative to the 2025 agreement. >> Mr. Mayor, Council, >> I appreciate Council Member Geyser uh bringing those [clears throat] num numbers up to us. I mean, this is all going to play into, you know, budgeting for future years. I have a question on this one on number five. The memorandum
of understanding for the captain's ability to divert 50% of their uniform allowance to the city's deferred compensation program. Is that something brand new or is that just because we're upping the allowance? >> It it's a brand new initiative. It's something that they requested during the
negotiation process. So, the only increase to their uniform allowance matched what the police get. And typically those positions get the same uniform allowance. It was about $25 each year. >> Okay. To to me that that kind of stands
out as just a an extra perk if they're not really needing the full uniform allowance. Now it goes into diver deferred compensation. So I just I wanted clar clarity on that. That might not be true, but >> Okay.
>> Mr. >> Not not the hill you were going to die on. No, not [laughter] not counelor. What? Councelor Gazer. >> Uh, and I just wanted to highlight for folks the reason why I like the empirical numbers is it helps contextualize what these percentages mean. Um, employee employees are by far
the largest expense that a city incurs. It's not just us, it's everywhere. Um, so understanding what that is and what that takes, a couple percentage points adds up to a lot of dollars when you go across the entire city. Um, so I am fully supportive of all these agreements as I voted for. Um, I just like to
contextualize what that number is for everyone so they understand. Thank you. >> All right. Somebody feel strongly enough to put this forward. >> It's up there, Mr. Mayor. >> It's already out there. Yeah. >> Yeah. Mr. Mayor, I I I'm a former member
of the L528, so I kind of wanted to make sure I got that motion in. >> All right. Thank you. I must have for I Yeah. must have been writing a different note. All right. So, apparently we have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion?
Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries. All right, we are at the open mic portion of the meeting. Open mic provides an opportunity for the public to address the city council on subjects that are not part of the
regular meeting agenda. 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. 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 addressed to the council as a whole. Personal attacks are prohibited. An 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 forwarded to the speaker. All right. If you want to give us your name and address. >> I'm Jim Shaggstad. I live at uh 2940
119th Lane Northwest Rapids. Um Mr. Mayor and council members, thank you for uh giving me your ear. Recently, there was a newspaper article
in the New York Times. Comments were made by the mayor. Uh at the same time, or previous to that, the community was asking for comments from the mayor and didn't get it.
Some of the things said is we're not a sanctuary city. I don't think anybody believes that we are. I personally believe that we have some of the finest law enforcement in the metro area. I know some of the officers personally. We cooperate.
I would personally like to know who we is. Are we the council? Are we the residents of Rapids, the citizens? Who is we? If you're speaking on behalf, if you're going to be the leader of our community and speak for we,
we'd like you to lead in other ways, too. And I'd like to I' would like to know who we are when we say we cooperate. I cooperate with all law enforcement. But I'm still helping. I've sto in the community moving food with my truck,
bringing it to staging places where it can be then delivered to people in need during these times through the difficult times they're having. There's people out there not with whistles. There's people out there not with tracking uh tracking software or apps on
their phone. There's people busting their butts to help those who seem invisible to some members of our city leadership. Invisible. I told a story recently at a meeting about [clears throat]
I I I have some graduate work in emergency management. There was a 1995 disaster in Chicago. It was a heat wave. 736 people died. They were older. They were poor. They were in sediment housing
where the windows had been painted shut. They couldn't they couldn't get air movement. There were there were uh uh power outages. People's air conditioning didn't work. And 736 people died before the city even knew
they had a disaster. I'd liken that to this. This is a bit of a smaller scale, but there's forgotten people out there that are suffering. There's business owners losing business, losing money. If they are open, some of
them aren't making enough to live on. So, not everybody has whistles. People have pickup trucks. People are eating out more often to support people. I am very disappointed about what I'd read in this what I read in this
article. I did many years in the military. >> There's something that we commonly hear. >> Lead, follow, or get out of the way. >> Okay. >> You had a chance to lead. Some of you led right after we first spoke. >> Thank you.
NEXT. [applause] >> I'm way too short for these things. All right. Uh, my name is Brett Ortler. at 11414 Zava Street here in Quinn Rapids. Uh, so I'm addressing something similar. Um, so the mayor's biography on the city website describes our city as follows.
And I use this as an example. From our amenities and services to our close-knit neighborhoods and vibrant business community, our city offers the perfect mix of opportunities for people to thrive. Well, our business community isn't vibrant if restaurants or businesses perceived as non-white have
to close temporarily, reduce services, or if patrons fear going out in public. That's no exaggeration. I'm not going to name names, but I'll describe them, and I think you'll know. All are in Rapids, a Mexican restaurant just down the street, an ethnic food market over
by Northtown, a buffet by Riverdale, and the list goes on and on and on. All of the above are paying property taxes and employees and offering valuable goods and services in our city, not to mention some really good food. And our neighborhoods aren't close-knit if some children and families can't go to school
for fe for fear of being racially profiled and detained without cause. I've spoken to teachers at Rapids High School where some families have stopped attending school in person because they're afraid of being harassed or detained by immigration enforcement. community members have banded together to create emergency food shelves, as he
mentioned, along with deliveries to families too afraid to pick up or drop off their kids at school. Now, don't assume that all these people are undocumented. Many simply don't want to go to school and get picked up uh wrongly arrested, put on a plane to Texas, and left to find their way own way home. That's been happening.
As the poultry number of arrests in all of Operation Metro show, only 4,000 in six weeks. I illegal immigration isn't a problem here. This was about targeted harassment, plain and simple. Now, finally, I don't know how our city can thrive when we read the country's
newspaper of record, New York Times, and see our mayor disparaging Rapids residents for expressing their concern about real suffering happening in our city. Let me be clear, we're not asking you to solve the immigration crisis or to have CRPD arrest the feds. All we wanted was for you to meet the historic
moment and voice support for your fellow Rapids residents and businesses with a fraction of the level of effort that you put into promoting the excellent snowflake days. Clearly, if we want leadership like that, we're going to have to look elsewhere. Thanks. Thank you. [applause]
Uh Angela Nelson and I can give my address to the clerk. Good evening, council members and mayor. My name is Anne Nelson and I'm an elementary school principal, an educator, a mom, and a lifelong resident of Rapids. In each of these roles, I've seen firsthand
the devastation and fear that the federal immigration enforcement action and ICE have brought into our community. I have sat at bus stops to make sure that students feel safe enough to go to school. I have carpulooled with neighbors who are afraid to drive home alone and delivered food and basic necessities to families afraid to leave
their homes. I've supported mutual aid efforts that spring up almost overnight to meet our community's needs. And this is why I'm deeply troubled to read the mayor's comments in the New York Times. Telling neighbors to get off tracking apps and put the whistles away minimize the very real harm and trauma our
families are experiencing. The economic impacts are ongoing. The mental health toll is devastating. Trust in our government and institution is broken and in some cases beyond repair. Families are still living in fear. Children are still missing school, activities,
stability. The damage is compounding and it's going to take years to repair. We cannot pretend that this is over. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and hope it passes. We need our leaders to step up to protect those who have been harmed and to show through real action that they are valued members of the
community. We need a public statement. We need a clear plan to address the economic, emotional, and communitywide fallout. We need courage. With all due respect, we will not sit quietly while our neighbors are being terrorized and our leaders fail to meet
the moment. We will organize. We will speak up. And we will ensure that Rapids is a safe and welcoming community for everyone through our continued efforts, through our advocacy, and through our votes in November. Thank you. >> Thank you.
[applause] Hello, my name is Alana Calio and I'm a resident of Fidley, Minnesota. Uh my address is 7626 Arthur Street, Northeast Fidley. Um, I am here today to request that the
mayor of Rapids and city council condemn the actions of ICE and make tangible efforts to ensure safety of all Rapids residents. This evening outside, we held a vigil for the lives lost due to ICE, including
Victor Manuel Diaz, who was a community member, a father, a brother, and a son. He worked in this city and at his place of work he was abducted by ICE. A week later he was found dead in Texas under
suspicious circumstances in ICE custody. The silence about the federal occupation of our city which allowed it to happen speaks volumes and the inaction that has followed is unacceptable.
I'm asking the council members who represent this community to act to protect the people who elected them, to ensure the safety of children as they attend and leave schools, to protect local businesses, to prevent more
abductions, separation, and preventable death. City officials should follow the lead of other cities who have made public statements of solidarity with their communities. Please find humanity and love in your
hearts to stand up to this harm against our neighbors. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. [applause] >> My name is Connor Olsen. I'll give my address to the city clerk. I have been a resident of this city for four years. Two as an industrial painter and two as
a student of political science at the Noa Ramsey. When I first came to Rapids, politics were not on my mind. But after becoming a part of this community, political work and education have been at the forefront of my life. I'm not an activist. I've never marched in a protest. But I am a working student
working on working in government and on campaigns when I can and in manufacturing when I need to pay the bills. Tonight, I'm here after 10 hours in the shop floor. I'm tired and so is our community. In the past few months, as members of the of this community have faced countless threats and disruption,
we have seen remarkable work being done. They have organized food collections, provided for those without stable income, and offered security to our schools and businesses. They have done so alone, but inspired. And as we approach the 250th anniversary of this
nation, we should remember why the early republic prevailed. everyday citizens provided for one another when their government neglected to and then elected leaders who stood with them in providing for one another. It is this work that gives me the courage to make a public
statement, something I've never done before. I have long preferred to keep my personal politics private, letting my work speak for itself. That was authentic, but it didn't require bravery. But I'm no longer avoiding controversy. I'm going to be authentic and accountable to my community in this
moment. I risk being misunderstood and imperfect. But waiting until I'm more prepared would mean passing this moment in silence, and I cannot let that happen. I am choosing to use the power I have, my voice, in order to affirm and protect this community. I have been
moved to speak by the sacrifices of a community that has been loud without me, but needs every voice it can add. Up until tonight, this council and I shared one thing. Neither of us had spoken in support of these community efforts. That has changed for me. Our neighbors are
depending on one another and the record to show my stance clearly. I want there to be no mistake when we look back at this moment in the future. This is what I believe and I'm willing to be seen believing it. And so I ask the city council for their help in standing with
their neighbors instead of dividing us between friends and enemies. We are one Rapids with one message of hope, love, and support. Do not let silence speak for you. Issue a council statement. Thank you.
[applause] My name is Vanessa Height. I wasn't planning on being here tonight because I've been busy in the community and I'm exhausted. But I do need leadership to hear from me and other people that are speaking today. So, I threw something together. I
will give my address to the clerk. I'm a resident of Rapids here. [sighs] While I care about sidewalks and snow removal, we have bigger issues right now. Tonight, I see old white men in power swearing in more of the same in a room
full of similarly privileged people. I noticed maybe two brown people here tonight. One of them is a custodian that a lot of us probably overlooked. And I actually am hesitant to bring up him because now he's on somebody's radar and maybe next week he'll disappear. And that is a reality. I am on the ground
with our community and witnessing these horrific things. Our city leadership is not meaningfully connected to large swaths of our community because if you were, you would not let these atrocities continue. Our neighbors rights are not being protected. My rights are not being
protected. And our children are being traumatized. And at least one of our community members has died, Victor Diaz. And I have met his friends and his roommates by chance because I am engaged in this community. And it's heartbreaking. Federal agents are breaking laws in ways
that make it easier for them to break more laws. Meanwhile, the people we have entrusted to protect and serve our communities are not meeting this moment. Your leadership has been asked to ensure the safety and well-being of our community. So far, the response suggests a lack of willingness or ability to
truly serve. I implore you to pause, reflect on your values and your responsibilities, then do what is humane and right for this community. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] HI, I'm Cindy Gibsky and I'm from 12969 Ibis Street, Rapids.
And I'm going to take you on a drive along for a moment. Uh members of our community work here so hard getting out food to people who can't get out. They can't go grocery shopping. They've been locked in their
homes. And so on the morning when they went out on this morning going out and this is a story from a friend of mine. I can no longer we can't go out to deliver it because our car has been made and so we could be trapped by ice and be bringing
them into the communities that we're trying to give food to. So on this morning when they go into the park and they were delivering food to these people in need, each one of the households that they go
to and they ring the doorbell, the people come out and say, "I am here legally. Do you want to see my papers? My papers are here. I am legally here. I work. I have three jobs from house to house that you're going." Oh, thank you
for coming. We were almost out of food. We're here legally. Do you need to see my papers? The very last house that they went to that day that they were delivering on the addresses. They kept looking at the house next door, there was somebody
looking out by the shades and he kept looking out and then just as they were leaving, he came to the door and said, "I stop, please. Don't you have do you have a bag for me? We're all out of food." There were three little ones
standing behind him. Do you need to see my papers first? Can you get me food? Of course, they went back and got him more food. But these are just some of the people that are out there in need. They are here. They have entered this country
legally and they are the backbone of working in this society. They do the jobs in our nursing homes. They during COVID they were the ones that were cleaning the hospitals and they were doing it without PPE.
This is just so sad. But I do want to say thank you to our police department here. I have 10 grandchildren and out of those two are only white. The rest are mixed race. four of them would not be passing and they are in
that age group from age 20 to 15 where they have jobs. They're out in the community and they're scared. They have to carry their papers all the time. I was frightened for them driving back and forth. They'd had friends who'd had ICE pull up next to them just showing them
their guns because of the color of their skin. Do you know how frightening that is for a child that's 17, 16 years old and they're seeing this in the community? So, I came into the police department here and said, "If I tell my
grandchildren that they're being pursued, you can pull them to the police station and honk your horn. Call ahead of time. Call 911. Will you answer? Will you come to their aid? Will you come out?" And the person that I spoke to that day
was wonderful. They said, "We can't intervene, but we will be there. Our cameras will be on." >> Okay? >> And I thank her for the answer, too, that this won't be forever. We will document. These things are illegal that they're doing. You know that.
>> Thank you. >> It's against our constitution. [applause] Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council and staff. My name is Becky Frink. I'm revisiting the council tonight. May I approach the das with something, please? >> Sure.
>> May approach. For those of you, um, we had a amazing vigil. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, we had an amazing vigil in the room next door that you weren't able to attend because you were doing the people's business.
These are the people. These are the real life people. Your constituents, this is what we were doing in the next room. Thank you for allowing me that, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Um, I
had a whole bunch of different things that I thought of to say tonight given the events since the last time we were here, the regrettable um, events since the last time we were here. But you know what? Today was the first day of session without Speaker Hortman.
If you didn't watch that today, please go home and feed your soul and see how a leader was honored today at the Minnesota State Capital with her decency and her collaboration.
So, I tap myself down a little bit tonight in her honor. And I can do better and I'm going to continue to do better. I want you to do a few things, specific things. And this is a formal request. Put it in
the minutes. I want a response. I've spent the since we were together most recently. I was on the League of Minnesota Cities website. spent a lot of time there trying to understand the roles, the lanes, the advice, the guidance that you have as council
members at from professionals from a professional organization. You have tools. There's no way that I can understand that we are here today with all the tools that you have available to help
you make a statement. I want you to know that the cities for safe and stable communities has now reached 19 or 20 communities that have come together, found common ground and have made a common statement. I want to ask you something
and I want an answer. You don't obviously won't answer here. I want an answer. Have you discussed joining that coalition of other cities? Question one. The second is if the
answer is no, I want to know exactly why not. Why have you not reviewed this, workshop this, taken a position on this? I want to know. >> Okay, that's our three minutes here
>> soon. The other thing I just want to say is that there is a um there's also the League of Cities is asking you to participate in an assessment of the impact of all of these federal cuts. You're aware of that. I'm sure staff is aware of that. I want to know if it is
your intention to fully cooperate with that assessment of the impact of these federal actions on our local city. The last thing that I want to say to you is this, Mr. Mayor. I know that you regret what you said.
It's understandable. I would, too. I've said things I regret. I understand that. Mr. Mayor and members of the council, where we're at today in this room, the only thing we have to be sure of our own
protection is our whistle and our phone. Please, Mr. Mayor, don't ever talk to us or about us like that again. we are going to take for our own safety in our own hands until and unless the council I'll be back in two weeks to ask what
kind of efforts uh you have been successful at in terms of participating in the community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody else here to [applause] Anybody else here for open mic? Anybody else here for open mic? Are you here for open mic? Okay.
>> Susan Fanning, 10256 Quinn Street Northwest. I've been a resident of Rapids since 2004. I read the comments by our mayor in the in the New York Times and then I listened tonight to a lengthy discussion about 29 proposed new
homes here and welcoming new people into this community. I don't believe that your comments really are going to play well with a large audience. This has received international attention and um it's not very friendly to people wanting to move to this community or to
businesses that may want to be in Rapids. So that's all I have to say. Thanks. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Hi, my name is Cameron. I'll give my address to the clerk. Um I didn't plan on talking at all today um because I'm very new to the community. I moved to
Rapids in October actually. Um we moved from St. Cloud um due to some homophobia and transphobia and I was told that Rapids was safe. Um and that's why we moved. And
then of course all of this happened and then I find out that my mayor doesn't really support us in saving our um neighbors. There's so many in our community. It's a
beautiful community. I drove around when we first moved when we were looking at houses and I said, "Wow, this is beautiful here." And I felt safe when I came. And then then we're told, "Oh, just put your
whistles away. Stop being a part of the community. Stop talking to your neighbors. It doesn't matter." And that just hurts. Um, so I have some questions that were brought from um a community group that I'm a part of that they just wanted answered. They can be answered at later time, but we would like answers to
these. So, what is Rapids um doing as a city to help businesses and residents that are affected by ICE actions? What are each of them doing individually to help their residents? The average people are spending their spare time taking care of our neighbors. What are you guys doing?
And then is flock data being shared with ICE? Um I know in some communities they are, some um communities they aren't. That is just a question that a lot of us would have. That is all. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> All right. Anybody else for open mic?
All right, close the open mic portion. We have a response to last week's open mic. Uh on February 2nd, city council meeting, 10 citizens spoke at open mic about their concerns with the Department
of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the city and the metro area. Several themes and questions regarding federal immigration enforcement were raised during the open mic portion of the last city council meeting. Many speakers made appeals directly to the city council or its members during open mic. While this
staff response doesn't address some of those statements or requests, staff can provide additional information on the following. The role of the city's police department. This information was provided in the staff's response for the February 2nd meeting, which can be found on the city's website. Um, incidents
with an OKA Henipin School District students. Concerns were raised about reports of ICE stopping on Oka Henipin School District buses and enforcement activities near schools. While there have been reports of such activities in other communities, staff is not aware of similar incidents occurring within
Rapids. The city works closely with the school district on student safety issues and has continued to do so in recent weeks. The school district has developed a website to answer immigration enforcement related questions and that's on their Yeah, that's on their website.
Um, ICE contacts in Rapids. City staff and the police department are not aware of every ICE activity that has occurred in the community over the past several weeks as ICE doesn't inform the police department of their actions. Staff estimates there have been between
15 and 20 ICE enforcement activities that were verified through a call for service or were observed by a police officer. None of these incidents rose to a level that required any interaction by the police department with either a civilian or an ICE officer. On Thursday,
February 12th, DHS announced the end of Operation Metro Surge and plans to remove the immigration agents tied to this operation from the Twin Cities area within the next week. This response is forformational purposes only and no recommendation is being made at this
time. All right, other business. >> M council member Gesler. >> Uh, so like we've said before, thank you again for everyone for coming out. I always thank anyone who comes up to open the mic. It is a very challenging thing to do regardless of whether you're
talking about assessments, federal actions, or frankly your neighbor blowing leaves across the yard or a drainage issue in your backyard. Um, we know it's difficult, we know it's hard, and again, thank you for your courage to do that. Um, I did want to make just one comment.
Uh, you know, it was great seeing Senator Hoffman walk up the stairs today and give his [clears throat] characteristic thumbs up and look like himself, frankly, as as as good as it could. But one of the things that troubles me is when we think back to
those events, it was done by someone posing as law enforcement with a mask. And it it's understandable why people are afraid when that literally happened in
our backyard. And those are people with resources, >> right? So, you know, I I thank our PD for their abilities to share. Here's what our uniforms look
like. Here's what our cruisers look like. Here's what our researchers like. Here's our numbers here. We won't cover our face or want to work with you. We wear our body cameras. We do all this. These are all the things that good law enforcement looks like. And that builds trust with the community
because that's what we need, right? We give power to those in law enforcement and they get trust back when they we work it back and forth. And that's a very very powerful and thing when it works well. And when it doesn't work
well, we are in a situation where we have a community who's frankly very upset and understandably so. So, I want to thank the CRPD for what they do in engaging with our community in a positive way and trying to ameliate fears as we heard tonight. But I do
think that we need to be concerned about the fact that law enforcement needs to be bright and visible and clear because they're supposed to be there to help. and when they're not and when it's not clear who they are and we don't can't individually identify them, that's a
little scary and I can understand that. So, I just wanted to make that comment. >> Thank you, Counc Butler. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I I just wanted to thank folks for coming out to open mic and like the similar with the last few meetings, I'm happy to stay after to talk to anybody. I I know this
was a bit longer of a meeting, so I I appreciate folks taking their entire Tuesday night to be here. And I also just want to acknowledge that we as a council have gotten several additional either emails or phone calls over the last few weeks and I appreciate hearing from everybody about that as well.
>> Thank you. Other business. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Motion by Carlson, second by Novak. All in favor signify by saying I. I.