Good evening and welcome to the Rabbit City Council meeting for Monday, August 4th, 2025. If you could please rise and join us for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Please call the role. >> Council memberak >> here. >> Council member Butler >> here. >> Council member Novak >> here. >> Council member Gesler >> here.
>> Council member Armstrong >> here. >> Council member Carlson >> here. Mayor Cook >> here. Thank you. Why don't we adopt this evening's agenda? Motion to adopt the agenda, Mr. Second. >> Motion by Carlson, second by Butler to adopt the agenda. Any corrections or changes, discussion?
>> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. And the agenda is adopted. Uh we're looking for approval of the minutes of the previous meeting. >> Move approval. >> Second. >> Motion by Gesler and a second by Butler to approve the minutes of the July 15,
2025 meeting. Any discussion or corrections? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. >> And that motion carries, one abstension. Council member Armstrong. We have seven items on our consent
agenda this evening. The first one is to approve an a temporary onsale strong beer and wine liquor license to the Rapids Northstar lines for the military softball tournament at San Creek Park. The appropriate fees have been paid. The background investigation is being completed and the certificate of
insurance for liquor liability has been ordered. and the temporary on sale strong beer and wine liquor license will be valid from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. from September 12th through September 14th, 2025. Approval of the temporary on sale strong beer and wine liquor license is
contingent upon a successful background investigation in the submitt submitt of a valid certificate of insurance for liquor liability. So, we're looking to approve a temporary strong beer and wine liquor license for Rapids North Star Lions for use at a military softball tournament to be located at San
Creek Park, 1008 Northill Boulevard on September 12th, 13th, and 14th, 2025, contingent upon a successful background investigation and submittal of a valid certificate of insurance for liquor liability.
Excuse me. The next item on our consent agenda um is to receive the schedule of electronic payments. Um this is happens at every meeting. 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 July 10th, 2025 through July 30th, 2025. Uh, next item on our consent agenda is to adopt resolution 25-87 accepting a crime victim services grant.
Uh, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs, sought proposals from county and city attorney offices to fund a victim witness advocate position. This position provides services to crime victims, ensuring crime victim rights are upheld,
and increasing victim safety and access to services that meet their needs. The city's attorney's office was first awarded the grant in October of 2017 and has since been awarded additional grants to support this position. The funding enhances, not replaces, existing
services for crime victims by having the victim service staff be in court with an attorney to improve victim contact. Further, the funding helps the city attorney's office meet statutory requirements by enhancing information or referrals for victims and providing
victims with greater assistance and advocacy. The victim services staff member is under the supervision of the city attorney. Under the proposal, staff uh state and federal funding is available to directly service the needs of crime victims. The grant will provide
70 will provide $70,000 for one year beginning October 2025. I would have loved to have truncated that a little bit, but it was all really interesting, so I just read the whole thing. Um, so we're looking uh to adopt resolution 25-87
to accept the crime victim service grant from Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs, and to authorize execution of the agreement. Next item under consent agenda is to approve the agreement with Anoka Ramsey
Community College for security contract. The contract between the city and the state of Minnesota is reviewed and renewed each year roughly following the state's fiscal calendar in a typical school year. The current the current contract expires on August 31st, 2025.
And the new contract reflects a total contract amount not to exceed $39,295 and will be effective from August 1st, 2025 to August 1st, 2026. and the total reflects a 4% increase over the previous
year. So, we're looking to authorize the mayor and the city manager to enter into enter into an agreement with the state of Minnesota and an Okaramson Community College to provide security services for 2025 2026.
Next item on our consent agenda is to receive the midyear gambling expenditure report. Uh the staff has received and reviewed the semiannual reports for January 1st through June 30th showing gambling expenditures within the city of Rapids and trade area for the six
organizations at 16 locations and the combined net profit this period was reported at $971,19143 with expenditures within the trade area which includes Rapids reported at $852,83130. 36 cents. We're looking to re officially
receive the gambling expenditure report for the first half of 2025. Uh next item on our consent agenda. We're getting close. There's only two items left. Uh is in planning case 24-23. approved the site plan extension for
Tronson Reserve 1354 121st Avenue Palmer Palmer Architects uh Limited and um Palmer Architects were granted site approval for this on August 15, 2024
and we're looking to extend it at its meeting on July 17, 2000 2025. The planning commission voted to recommend to the city council approval of the requested site plan extension. So, we're looking in planning case 24-23.
The city council will to approve a one-year extension of the site plan approval to August 16th, 2026. And our next item and the last item on our consent agenda is to approve the final payment to Northwest Asphalt
Incorporated for project 25-2 which was a full depth reclamation. It was several streets in town. It was about a mile and a half of reconstruction. And we're looking at the amount due is 57,786.65. And that was on a uh about a $538,000
project. So, we're looking to approve the change order and final payment to Northwest Asphalt Incorporated in the amount of $57,786.65 for project 25-2 full depth reclamation. >> Your honor, >> Council Member Novak,
>> move to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Motion by Novak and a second by Carlson. Is there questions, discussion? I think you said it nicely. >> Wow. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda.
All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. And the consent agenda is adopted. We are up to item nine. Consider a request by Shanner Pizza Grill to reduce false alarm fees.
And um I see Mr. Hy is here. Do you want me to just Should I just hit the highlights of this? Do you think Mayor, that'd be fine. >> All right, I'll hit the highlights and if you think we missed something, you just come up or if anybody has any questions. Um, false alarm responses to
businesses are tracked on an annual basis. After a third false alarm response in a calendar year, the business is provided with notice that fees will be incurred for additional false alarm responses. And responses four to five result in a $70 occurrence
charge. 69 result in $125 per occurrence and 10 and more result in a $260 per occurrence charge. Um, in December of 24, Shannar Pizza Grill began to have some issues with their security system
which resulted in nine false alarm responses by the police department. The police department spoke with Shannar about the issue and provided them with some flexibility on the fees they had incurred as they were working toward a solution, but they were charged $610 based on the city's fee schedule. The
issues persisted in 2025 and there have been 20 false alarm responses to Shannar resulting in $3,500 in charges. The issue with their security system has I'm going to put in the word finally has been resolved finally. and the city
hasn't responded to a false alarm call since the end of May. Uh Shannlair is just seeking some relief on their bill as it has created a significant financial burden for them. Um they approached the mayor about the issue and stated they would be willing to pay for each response but asked that the
precurrence fee be capped at $125. Uh this would result in a total charge of $215 and the city council will need or would need to approve any change or reduction to the fees the chandelier has incurred as this fee is established by the city
council resolution. So we have a few choices. Um we can uphold the fees incurred of $3,500. We can approve Shannllar's request which would cap their fees at $125 per occurrence resulting in a total bill of $215.
um and consider or three consider an alternative such as a different fee reduction scenario or referring the issue to the board of adjustment and appeals. Now, before I even open this up to council now, I'll ask Mr. Hy, do you have any anything you want to add to that? If you do, just come on up to the
mic and give us your name and uh and feel free and then and then you can wait there in case anybody has any questions. >> Okay. Welcome. >> Um my name is Dale Highley. I am the uh partner of Chanclair Pizza Grill and I've done business in the city of Kunar Rapids for 30 years and up until
December of last year, I've never had any issue um like this and we sort of had a perfect storm of uh things that happened um beginning last December and they actually continued until this morning. I I didn't want to correct the
mayor, but um we we thought we had everything resolved and uh a service that we had discontinued um more than a month ago. One of the employees came in and again set off the alarm just this morning and so we dealt with that
today. We believed that to have been the last issue that we had. Um it it's just been it it it's been a tough uh a tough last 12 months and it's kind of a burden. I mean it's it's been a little bit difficult business climate in the
last 12 months and that's not the council's problem or the citizens of Rapids or the police department for that matter. But uh it's been a little difficult and we're just seeking a little bit of relief. We're working diligently to get this solved. We believed we had it solved up to a month
ago and found out that we didn't. Um, today I had a conversation with the company. Um, we I think have a resolution right now, but it seems that something crazy seems to come out of nowhere, but I'm just asking for a little relief on this. I uh I
believe we should pay something, and I'm willing to pay the entire thing. I'm just hoping that our history of 30 years operating in Rapids would be considered. Thank you. >> So you said your former So did you terminate with that alarm company or what?
>> The first issue we had was with the alarm company and we didn't end up terminating um because they believe they had resolved the issue with uh some faulty the second faulty sensor that they u thought it was. So they fixed the faulty
sensor and so at that point we thought we had it taken care of. Um then it was getting tripped and by a vendor that was using an old code uh a necessary vendor and I I couldn't pinpoint it because we had multiple vendors and they come in
generally between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. before any of us are there and somebody did something to sabotage our our camera system. The back four cameras were um were not operable. That's getting rectified this Thursday. Um but
I wasn't able to see who was tripping it. So, uh, that happened and then we had a a supply or a cleaning company that came in and they switched cleaning, uh, they switched crews and the new crew knew knew the key but didn't know the
code and so they were coming in but we didn't know it was them or a vendor tripping it and we couldn't uh, see with the camera. And then uh an additional cleaning company that I terminated the contract with, I thought a month ago, um
an employee for that company came in to clean today because somebody from their company didn't communicate that the contract was terminated. So they came in, the alarm was going off, and they just went about cleaning with the alarm going off. It's I've never seen anything
like what I've seen in the last eight months with this. Okay. >> But I I think we've got it resolved. >> Council member Carlson, I cut you off. I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> That's all right. So, Mr. High, I just want to So, I just want to clarify that the first ones were there's a sensor and
then then sounds like vendor issue issues, supplier issues. >> Yeah. And what what happens is the these vendors, so they're they're going through a lot of employees like our uh food companies and such, the cleaning
companies. So, they get new employees all the time. And communication breakdowns are have been more prevalent in the last 12 months than I've ever seen. I mean, typically you deal with a company like Cintas that are solid and their communications are good and you you see a lot of the same people coming
in and out. um in the last 12 months it's not that way. So different people will come in and out. They have supervisor changes. People aren't communicating code changes. It and it's just been it to the point where we were going to disable the security system and
just not have one except for we have alcohol on site and so it's just we thought better of that. But um you know >> not the best. >> Yeah. Yeah. And you feel like you have nail down Mr. I I I am as confident as I can be knowing that
it just happened today after I told the mayor a month ago that I felt like we had it nailed down, but this I think we've ruled out everything in my camera systems fixed as of this Thursday. So, >> has there been anything from the inside of the business? like you know sometimes
if you have like posters or things that move around when the air conditioning kicks on or the heater kicks on. Has it been any of those? Moving blinds, anything like that? >> That's what we think the initial several were and u we believed it to be that and there was some Christmas decorations and
some things that were up there and so when the air system went on um it was it was moving that around. So then we got rid of that motion sensor in that area because we had to have the Christmas decorations up and then it continued into January and February and um the
security company assured us that uh everything was in order. Well, we had them come out again. We had a different tech come out. I talked to a manager when I threatened to cancel the service and he came out with a tech and they dialed in on the problem. I think
that was about April and they said, "Nope, we found a bad sensor. That was your issue." And they and they volunteered to pay for up to $900 of our expense because they know that there they were at fault for some of it. And uh um so that that's when we thought we
had it there, but then we had another vendor issue and then we had the cleaning company issue. And um but as of right now, um I am near certain that we've got it dialed in. I mean it once or twice a year I expect that to happen but uh to be this
level of burden to the police department uh it's it's not right but >> your honor council Novak >> would you entertain a motion >> um I would >> um let me just say beforehand
I've worked in the security industry for 15 years man I've seen that type of thing happen before and when it happens it just seems to cascade sound like a waterfall. I feel for you. Um, I don't believe that these laws were put in place to be punitive when the merchant
is making a a good faith effort to try and keep it from happening. So, uh, your honor, I would move that we approve China's request, which would cap their feeds at $125 per occurrence, resulting in a total bill of 2015.
>> Second. have a motion by Novak and a second by Carlson. Mr. Mayor, >> further discussion with counc. >> Yeah, I I really thank you, Mr. Hy, for being here today. I I appreciate this extra context and I know we all got some context via email about this, too. Um I
would not support this current motion as it is. And I I don't think it's because you've done anything wrong. You're doing the best you can. And I appreciate the upfront honesty that there's still problems even today. But I do think that if we're going to give them a 43%
discount on their fees, we should consider sending this to the board of adjustment and appeals first. I I would even be open to looking at reducing our fee schedule because I I can appreciate the difference of going from $125 to $260 per occurrence, but I think it's a
little too on the fly for us to knock off 43% of the bill. and I appreciate how much work you're doing and the thoughts everyone else has, but I'm not comfortable just doing this without further review. >> Okay, Mr. Mayor, Council Member Geyser,
>> uh like Mr. Butler, but for totally different reasons. Um I look at this from a precedent perspective. Um we have our fee structure put in place for for a reason. Um you know, our citizens can appeal to the board of adjustments and appeals. Um the structure is the way it
is. I'm not comfortable with just straight up reducing it as a decision, but I would I do agree that some grace could be offered whether it's a longer payment term, whether it's a stepped payment plan or putting it on an assessment or
something else to make it not so instantaneous. I'd be more interested in that type of adjustment than a straight fee cap. Um my second question is this is as we've had another one this morning is the this one this morning another $125 or is it $260? What would the
council be thinking about that? What about future occurrences? Um to me this has nothing to do specifically with Shannar and it's it's a policy discussion point. Um I I believe that Shannar has done what they can to try to mitigate this which is why I think we should consider some level of
grace or consideration. Um, I would be more in tune with um what council member Butler had said is sending it to the adjustments and appeals for kind of a a second process of like we do with regular citizen requests to reduce their fees or administrative fines. Understanding though that they don't
really have a playbook for this. That's kind of a hard ask. So, I do think that it is with us. Um, but I struggle with just a straight discount on fees. And I would want to understand what what was this morning's charge going to be and what would future charges be? Would it be at 260? would it be at 125? Are we
capping 125? Are we comfortable with anyone else coming with this request in future times if that happens? Um, those are the things that I concern about with this. Again, not specific to Shannar at all. I think you're great business in the in the community, but I would like to figure that part of the policy out
before we decide. >> Okay. Um, I I guess what I wanted to make sure was that we were covering the costs and and the the officers show up and they they file a report and this
this is the the step up. This isn't the maximum. I think we need to maintain that for people that are um serial abusers of this. Um and I and I guess I just it it seemed like it was a fair and I still support it. I I I think it's a
fair way to reconcile this and let everybody get back to business. And I guess I assumed that that one this morning would be at 125 just because we capped their fees at 125 per occurrence, but for for now, >> Mr. Mayor, Council Butler,
>> I have a question for the city manager on that. So if if we did unfortunately have more whether next week or next month, would the resolution as written cap it going forward or would we potentially be getting this ask again if unfortunately we have like another five
or six instances? >> Yeah. Uh Mayor Council, you we may want the motioner to clarify the intent um as it's written or as it was sort of anticipated by me sort of relative to the total amount of fees that had been incurred
>> before today. Um the cap would have as it is stated would apply to those calls through yesterday, we'll say. >> Okay. >> Um so if it was the motioner's intent to apply that cap for the calendar year for future occurrences, um that would be
good to understand or if it was sort of effective through 83 or even today then with this new one knowing that it exists um or what the the future would look like. I guess my thought was we were sort of addressing calls to date. Sounds like they've got most of their problems
addressed. There might be a oneoff, but then the default would be back to the fee schedule. So, if they have a number 22 or 23, those would be at 260. But if there's a different intent, we should clarify. >> Your honor? >> Yeah. And that and that would have been my assumption was be through through today. Go ahead. >> Yeah. Counc. The motioner's intent was
to have the motion stand as is. If there was a fee that was put forward today, that would be on today's schedule, not the schedule from before. So, anything going on forward would be for the 260. >> Okay. >> Mr. Mayor. >> Okay. Council member Carl,
>> just to clarify, my second would be with that in mind as well. >> Okay. We have further discussion on this. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson, >> have a couple questions for Chief Chief. Uh, I mean, this this is a lot of this is a lot of false alarms. Um, can you
describe kind of the basically the amount of time it takes for our police department when they respond to a false alarm? >> A false alarm. Chief, >> well, Council Member Carlson, the the actual time in minutes isn't isn't that
much. The expense, I think I broke that down for somebody or took a shot at it based on CAD calls uh times on those CAD calls. From my perspective, my biggest concern is the red, you know, when there's so much redundancy that complacency is uh
is a bigger concern for me, both for the the businesses to get a prompt response and somebody that rolls up uh you know, looking for something wrong. Um and then also from an officer safety perspective that they're arriving and not, you know, rolling their eyes saying another one,
you know, and and that's my biggest concern. Uh it is a twocar call. So the other component to this is people, you know, your backup car at two o'clock in the morning could be coming from the opposite end of town and that leaves that part of town and whatever might happen there um kind of um kind of
leaves them hanging over there or that part of town. So it's kind of sort of an efficiency thing and an officer safety thing, but again it's not a it's not a financial, you know, a huge financial burden. um you know if you break it down to minutes because you're talking about you know 15 minutes a call probably and
a few minutes writing a report somebody reviewing it and some administrative times and chief calls are prioritized right so if you have a an alarm call which we know are you know what 99 times out of 100 it's a false alarm we don't know that when you're going of course
but um if you have an emergency call at the same time uh the 911 dispatcher would start by prioritizing that call and the officer would then prioritize as well. So, it wouldn't necessarily be taking officers away from a high priority call like a heart attack or what have you. >> That's correct.
>> Okay. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Armstrong. >> Yeah. I just I just I've been in your situation before. We we uh a company that that we have sensor
issues and it's kind of like you feel like when you go to the auto mechanic and you want them to check your vehicle and it won't do what it's supposed to do for the mechanic to figure out what's going on. And um so I I can understand and appreciate where you're coming from.
Um, I also want to uh applaud you for coming forward with a a resolution instead of just kind of kicking the can down the road and whatnot. Um, I I think that the 2015 is is fair. Um, I I I
don't think this is anything that they're they did intentionally. guide from from his uh explanation, I think they did significant amount of work to try to solve the problem. Um, and so
from my standpoint, I appreciate you coming forward. I appreciate you're you're trying to find a resolution to it and I think that 2015 is fair. >> All right. Any further discussion, >> Mr. Mayor? Council member Gusoviaak, I >> I would agree with council member on
that one that 2015 is fair. I appreciate you coming in tell us a little bit about the situation. I do also appreciate uh the other council members uh comments about bringing it to the board of appeals and adjustment. Uh but I think if it went to the board of appeals and adjustment, it's going to get appealed back to the council and I think we would
probably come to the same decision. It is a policy question, but we do have a business owner that's been in business in Rapids for 30 years, and we really haven't had these problems. They've come together. They're working with us, and uh I would support lowering this down to 2015, capping the fee at 125 for the next month until they get
this figured out. >> Okay. Don't now don't confuse our motion. The motion was through today. >> Through today, I will be happy through today because it's going to get worked out. >> Council member um Gesler. >> Thank you, Mr. Uh so to clarify on that
the the motion was to include the charge from today. >> No >> not to include the charge from today. Correct. So so today's charge would be at the 260. >> Okay. >> Just I wanted to clarify that to so we are approving basically yesterday back
>> um at 125 in occurrence and then the regular fee schedule applies from today this morning forward. >> Correct. >> Okay. Okay. >> I misunderstood. Sorry about that. That's that's why I wanted to clarify. Appreciate it. Thank you. >> All right. Um, so is there any further
discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. >> No. >> The motion carries. Two nays. Um, council members Gesler and Butler. Mr. Highley, thank you. And I'm sorry I was mispronouncing your name. >> That's all right. And council, I
appreciate the consideration and thank you very much. And I understand your point about precedence. I normally would agree with you 100%, but except when it's not in your interest, too. >> All right. Um, item 10. I figured we see Mr. Soskum running in
the door from uh the studio, but you were watching over there in your desk, weren't you? We are we are considering an agreement for city council chambers technology upgrade. >> Thank you your honor uh council. Um we
are uh considering an upgrade uh to the council chambers technology. Um we worked with two vendors uh over a period of time now. Uh the two vendors are Forte, who is AVI systems up until about
6 months ago. AVI systems is the original integrator of the equipment that's in here uh from 1996 when we first moved into city hall. Um and the other vendor was uh Alpha and they've
been probably our primary equipment vendor the last 15 years. they typically have the lowest prices. So, um both of them are very experienced in uh council chambers. Uh the chambers, as in the memo, uh does not just our council
meetings like today where we're broadcasting live um and doing presentation work, but also um when the city has training or other events in here, uh they use the AV system uh without hopefully IT help or uh CTN
assistance. Um so, uh with 15 years old, uh we're definitely due uh for an upgrade. Um, and some of the upgrades, uh, the large monitor above the mayor is a plasma, if you remember that term. Yes. Um, so that'll be replaced. It' be
slightly larger and a little lighter. I know the mayor was concerned at one point about that heavy TV um, above him, but um, it will be lighter. Uh with the new resolution and higher quality technology, all the DAS monitors will be
updated as well, so the signal will be a little cleaner, a little easier to read uh when there's presentations. Um we're also adding two 55 in audience monitors in here. Um that helps us with open
captioning if the need ever arises. Uh CTN does live captioning. uh it's closed captioning to the public at home watching uh on cable but here it would be open caption so uh viewers in the audience could see you know there'll be
a slight delay as we feed the signal over from CTN but um that's available um and if somebody was presenting and just needed the to see the captions for assistance uh that would be available um an ad along the process was also for
council um to put a um well, we would say a confidence monitor, but if somebody was appearing to council or if we were doing a a remote presentation, we'd have a monitor uh up not far from where the projector is located currently so that um you would be able to see
either a council member or a presenter uh all the time in case you'd also see them their presentation in your monitor. So, it it helps in that aspect. Um, also I mentioned the projector, uh, that is also 15 years old. Uh, it's 3,000
lumens. The new one would be 7,000. It's a laser. Um, so it'll be a much, uh, easier to read picture. Plus, when you have some lights on in here, uh, when that is used, obviously the council is not here. There's a motorized screen
above you that drops down in that mode. uh the screen and the motorized uh aspects of it. Uh they work just fine. So, we're leaving that um not replacing that. And um interesting uh we're replacing three uh
audio uh amps in the control room that were actually part of the original building. Two of the three were. One we replaced out about 10 years ago. So, um that'll feed this the sound system in here. And then um as I mentioned much better picture uh the current system
right now works off of VGA and so everything will be digital and HDMI. And then another ad that we put in in the last few months is um our city's been switching a lot to Microsoft Teams and our technology. So all our conference rooms as they get new technology it's uh
Microsoft Teams equipped. So it helps a lot better with staff to use the presentation system. And so we added that in uh to this system as well. And I uh you see the differences in price uh below. Uh we did ask both vendors just
to kind of do their own proposals uh and then had the things I listed um as requirements for the upgrade and what we were trying to do. And they did it two different ways. Um so like I said, they're two really good vendors, but you
can see one is considerably less um in their proposal. the other vendor had additional equipment, things like that that um are great. Uh it's just a little bit more robust uh proposal uh than the other one. So um with that, we are um
asking for approval to Forte. Um I will make one note. Um the contingency we're asking for is 10%. Um, that number is correct in the uh spreadsheet, but actually at the end
it's $13,353.88. Um, somehow it uh it dropped out. We lost about $20 um in the other two locations. Uh my calculator was also from 1996, so we got rid of that. Um so I am replacing that as well. So, um,
with that, I will stand for any questions from your honor. >> All right, Council Man Novak. >> Uh, quick question. Actually, the quotes between the two are pretty wide in ranging there. Um, is there anything
having to do with the alpha quote and the more robust equipment that would make it last longer and have to take more time to replace, so to speak, than the fort take one? >> Uh, good question. Hopefully, we don't
have to wait another 15 years um for an up upgrade. But um they just uh it's just different components and how they did it. How there's a lot of um distribution and conversion of signal and so they did uh frame style with
cards in it is is part of it. And they did add extra as as the project as we were going back and forth separately with the two vendors. Um we uh added on some things in the control room and so uh they just did those differently. Um,
so not really not not nothing that would really help us uh especially with that large of a difference in price. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Strauss? >> Council member Gesler. >> Uh, Mr. Strauss, I know one of the comments we get every now and then is
the audience audio is a little rough in the chamber at times. This will address that. >> Yes. Um, that is our goal. Uh, Council Member Geyser, uh, the speakers will stay the same. There will be new amps. uh and when they do the system, they will rebalance. There's some automixing
that goes on and that is part of what that issue is. And so rather than having them come out for four or five grand, we're going to do it all at one time, which brings up the timing. We're trying to complete this by the end of the year. I am hopeful if council uh passes
tonight, we would uh see if there was any way there's kind of a gap in the end of October, but that that's you know getting all the equipment and everything lined up. So, but that's kind of my wish um time period. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Strauss?
>> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Butler. Uh, >> I move that city council approve the contract with Forte in the amount of $133,538.72 for the 2025 city chambers technology upgrade project and approve a 10% contingency allowance of an additional
$13,353.88. >> Second >> motion by Butler and a second by Novak. And you got your extra 20 bucks in there, too. You saw that. >> Perfect. >> I was really nervous. >> Hopefully, we don't need that. Any further discussion, >> Mr. Mayor? >> Council member Griscoak, >> I think this makes sense. This was in
our 2025 budget. This is some pretty old technology. We use this room a lot. There's a lot of stuff going on in here. And I I for one, there's a lot of times where my monitor doesn't work at all. And there's other times where a presenter is presenting and I'm trying to look up there because, you know, I'm not seeing what they're seeing. So, I
think we're even past due on this thing. We're on budget. So, I support it fully. >> Mor Carlson. Yeah, that's that's that's a nice bid. >> 50,000. That's a nice bid and we've worked with both. So, we we're confident with with 4K as well. >> Excellent.
>> All right, we have a motion and a second. Do we have any further discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. >> And that motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Strauss. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, item 11 is to consider an
introduction of an ordinance restricting parking on 89th Avenue. Mr. Hammer, you want to hit that one? >> Certainly, Mr. Mayor, Council, uh, this is just the first step in the process. This is the introduction. Uh, we received some resident concerns. We've had some concerns with some snow plowing
in the area. Uh, the busing route over to Adams Elementary School. You've kind of got a skewed intersection there on a curve. You got a traffic signal in there. the roads a little narrower than typical. So, um we know parking is a challenge in every neighborhood. So, we tried not to be overly excessive. Just
trying to get some good visibility and allow smoother movements on those corners for the safety and the ability to get emergency vehicles and buses in and out of there. Um consistent with the memo, there's still only been two responses, one positive, one negative. Uh I think it's really the the
individual who's going to be most impacted obviously that has some concerns with some lost parking. But um we stand by our recommendation to move forward with this proposal. This would be the introduction and uh I would make that recommendation to you and be happy to answer any questions. Okay. >> Any questions of Mr. Hammer?
>> Mr. Mayor Council Geyser. >> Mr. Hammer, just to clarify too, this is only 225 ft from East River Road down. It's not the entire stretch of 89th Avenue. >> Correct. It's 225 ft west of East River Road. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Mayor. Council member Carlson.
>> That's short of Sycamore, isn't it? >> Considerably short of Sycamore. Yes. >> It's It's goes about two properties up, two and a halfish properties. >> Okay. >> Okay. Any other questions of Mr. Hammer? >> All right. All right. If there are no
further questions, we will consider an ordinance restricting parking on 89th Avenue introduced and we will look at this at our next meeting. Is that right? >> Yes. >> Mr. Roy's naughty that. All right. Our
12th item 12 on our cons on our agenda is to consider appointment of election judges and approve the election judge salaries for special primary election for district 34B. Uh, Miss Lensmire, do you want me to read this or what do you want me to do?
>> I'll hit the highlights if you don't mind, Mr. Mayor. >> I wish you would. Thank you. >> Mayor and Council, the uh request before you tonight is for an approval of the election judge list that's attached to the memo. Council is tasked with appointing those election judges and
staff is requesting that uh you also authorize the city clerk to make substitutions and appoint election judges as deemed necessary during the days leading up to happens next week already. And as I noted in the memo, we were under a time crunch because of the
timing that we were dealt by the governor's uh issuing of the writ of special elections. So there will likely need to be a couple folks still added to the list. Okay. And then uh the other request is for the salaries
to be set with uh as they exist now or as we used last time at $12 per hour for election judges. 13 for an assistant head judge and the head judge at $15 per hour. Student judges would be paid paid at the $12 per hour. If they have any
questions, I'll answer those now. >> All right. Any questions for Miss Lensmire? >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Armstrong, >> you said we're too short right now. Is that as far as judges go or are we >> Mr. Mayor? Council member Armstrong,
we're close. I would like to have two more just in case. >> Okay. >> So, >> okay. >> Anybody's interested, let me know. >> These are special individuals that do this. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah. >> We're very appreciative. >> Yes. Yes. Your honor,
>> council Novak, >> I move that we approve the appointment of election judges as outlined on the attached list. uh that we first of all authorize the city clerk to do her usual excellent job in appointing and assigning election judges during the days preceding to the election if
substitutions are necessary and approve an hourly salary for election judges at $12 per hour, assistant judges at $13 per hour and head judges at $15 per hour, student judges at $12 per hour. >> Second motion by Novak and a second by
Butler. Is there further discussion on this? >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Gesler, >> I will re-emphasize thank you for signing up to do this. This is a great service to the community and we appreciate it very much. >> Absolutely. It's an election we
shouldn't have to have. >> Amen. >> Um, all right. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. >> And that motion carries. Uh, we are up to open mic public comment. If you are here for open mic, now is your time.
Open mic provides an opportunity for the public to address the city council on subjects that are not part of the regular meeting agenda. And the public is invited to express any concerns they may have which uh which are relevant to the affairs, policies or practices of the city of Rapids. Remarks will be
limited to three minutes. Uh please approach the podium, state your name and address and all remarks will be made from the podium addressed to the council. And you've got three minutes. Open mic is not a time for problem solving or reacting, but is that enough?
Okay, go for it. >> Good evening. Um, Mayor Cook, council members and city council. My name is Elizabeth Betsy Keyfir at 12772 Swallow Street Northwest, Rapids, 55448.
And I just wanted to stop by tonight and thank all of you for sponsoring the sustainability garden tour on July 19th this year. Um I was able to participate in it. I also did last year and I'm
happy to report that um there was an increase of almost uh double. I had like 30ome last year and over 50 this year. So, a lot of people are very interested in in native gardening and interested in
finding out either how to get started or how to expand what they're already doing. So, I just wanted to um to come and express my gratitude to all of you for having this sponsoring this event because it's a very important
one because we're losing our pollinators. And um I've always been a flower gardener, but I started native gardening six years ago because of this reason. And um that's how important I I feel it
is. And um I just want to just appreciate want you to know that I appreciate you sponsoring it. So thank you. >> Well, we appreciate you hosting that. That's a lot of people to have through your yard. Thank you.
Anybody else here for open mic this evening? All right. Well, then we will close that portion. Um, I do have a report on a previous open mic. Um, at our last council meeting, uh, Mr.
Kurt Cole addressed the city council and explained there are three access points to his neighborhood along Northdale, uh, none of which are traffic signal controlled intersections. Um he's concerned uh there have been several vehicle accidents and instances instances
of unsafe driving behavior along Northdale Boulevard adjacent to his home and neighborhood and suggested signage and street lighting be reviewed by the city for this area to help improve traffic safety. Um uh in late 2024 and early 2025, city
engineering staff worked with the traffic engineering consultant firm to conduct a corridor study of the city-owned and maintained section of Northdale Boulevard between Kirk Lake Boulevard and Main Street. The study reviewed the Northdale Boulevard roadway
corridor design and considered operational safety for both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The report results are scheduled to be presented to the city council for consideration at a council work session in early September. Uh so staff will be
presenting the results and recommendations for the Northdale Boulevard corridor study to council at an early September work session and seek council's feedback. And no other action is recommended at this time. So that was that was good timing on its part.
>> All right. Uh that's the end of our regular agenda and we are up to other business. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson. >> I mean I'm just going to cover the I mean we got night tomorrow. Some of the other stuff we have coming up the last
concert in the park concert at the Kun Rapids Dam is this Thursday, August 7th, 7 o'clock. It's the Revolution 5, a Beatles tribute. >> Excellent. Excellent. They're uh they're there pretty much every year. great
group. So, um 7 o'clock, no charge for parking on those nights. Concessions start at 5:30 with the Kunapids, uh Northstar Alliance. There'll also be concessions with the scouts. >> I would highly recommend riding your bicycle in that night. They are a very
big draw. >> They're great. And and just since this is the last one, boy, thanks to the thanks to the arts commission for hosting this. you know, it's sponsored by the Community Strength Foundation, but the Arts Commission is out there every Thursday night doing their thing. So are the Northstar Alliance. So are
the scouts. Um our Rapids uh police reserves are out there as well. Um just a a a great effort. Just a a great evening. >> So that's that one. >> Yeah. What else you got? >> Night. We could go all night about that. >> Yeah. Chief, >> tomorrow night,
>> is that tomorrow? >> I I I think so. That's a uh that's a very big day for us. Uh as you're all aware, uh we're excited. Looks like we're going to have some great weather. We'll have dozens of officers out there and other staff. Um a lot of prep work
goes into it. Um but it's always it's always a great time and we're excited for it. So, um we'll see you out there tomorrow night. We'll have I don't know how many probably 30 plus additional officers out there and armed with swag and suckers and whatever with
instructions not to bring any back. So I >> think we've got over we've got over 100 parties, haven't we? Again, >> it is just right around a hundred and I think it might even be a couple more. There's always a couple of stragglers that we're happy to to accommodate here at the last minute, but I think we're
like 102 or 103 I think this year last I heard. such an important night around the city. You know, it is so great when you go there and people are meeting for the first time. They live right across the street from each other and and then there's other neighbors neighbors that have been they've been doing this for years and years and you can just tell
everybody knows everybody and they watch each other's houses and it's just it's a great event. Um, all right, other business. One real quick going all the way down to the top of the agenda again. I just want to put
another shout out for the uh the uh military softball tournament uh September 12th through the 14th. If you haven't been to that yet, it's it's great. It's it's I mean great softball. You get great food, but you get to see a
lot of the military veterans and their families and whatever else. Um I'm I'm looking forward to it. >> We got two more meetings to remind them about that. We just we just gave the liquor license today, so >> Yep. Any other business to come before council?
>> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Motion by Carlson, second by Butler. All in favor to adjurnn signify by saying I. >> I. Ajourned.