Good evening and welcome to the Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, April 21st, 2026. If you could please rise and join us for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Please call the role. >> Council member Griscoiaak >> 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? So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Geyser, second by Butler. Any changes or discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by
saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. And that motion carries. >> The agenda is adopted. And our very first thing this evening is a proclamation recognizing our volunteers. We're looking to issue a proclamation
recognizing the valuable contributions made by vol volunteers for the enrichment and betterment of our community and express gratitude to them for sharing their time and talents. National Volunteer Week, which is April 19th through 25th, 2026,
provides an opportunity to recognize the impact of volunteer service and the power of volunteers to tackle society's greatest challenges and build stronger communities. And I'm sure some of that will be repeated in here.
All right, I have a volunteer recognition proclamation. Whereas volunteers enrich the lives of many through their tremendous commitment and generosity. And whereas Commun Rapids has been blessed with citizens willing to volunteer their time, talent,
and energy to improve the quality of life in our community. And whereas in 2026, hundreds of volunteers will donate thousands of hours to the success of Rapids Senior Services and its programs. And whereas the city council
is fortunate to have more than 60 citizen volunteers serving on advisory commissions contributing to the overall well-being of the city. And whereas the city council is fortunate to have dozens of volunteers give their time at the
recycling center, community events, and in our parks. end. Whereas volunteers are truly building stronger communities and are deserving of our special recognition for their energy and enthusiasm in strengthening communities
throughout Minnesota. And now therefore, I, Jerry Cookook, mayor of the city of Rapids, on behalf of the Rapids City Council, hereby recognize the valuable contributions made by volunteers for the enrichment and betterment of our community and express
our gratitude to them for sharing their time and talents proclaimed this 21st day of April, 2026. And we do very much appreciate that if you ever stop by your um senior cent
senior center, it is a very busy place. There's lots going on. Recycling center is always jumping and we are always keeping our volunteers rolling and we are very thankful for all of their service. Um Miss Ring, are we done with that?
>> You did a wonderful job, mayor. Thank you very much. We appreciate our volunteers. >> I was just looking for praise. Thank you. Just wanted to make sure we had them covered. Thank you. Um, all right. Item two on our agenda is the approval of the minutes from the April 7th meeting.
>> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Butler, >> I move that we approve the minutes from the April 7, 2026 meeting. >> Second. Motion by Butler and a second by Geisler. Is there any discussion or corrections? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I. Opposed. And that motion
carries. item. The next item on our agenda, actually the next four items are on our consent agenda. And the first one is to approve the final payment to McFillips Brothers Roofing Company for project 25-61, the public works roof replacement.
Uh we're looking approve to approve the changes and the final payment to McFillips Brothers Roofing Company in the amount of $51,91 for project 25-61 public works roof replacement roof
replacement and the changes in that were primarily the uh uh new skylights. The next item on our consent agenda is to adopt resolution 26-57 adopting the 2025 Anoka County hazard
mitigation plan. Um, in 2004, FEMA began requiring cities and counties to prepare all hazard mitigation plans and Rapids and other municipalities municipalities in an NOA County began working with an NOA County officials on
a countywide plan and participation at that time was authorized by council resolution 0422 on January 20th, 2004. This plan was completed in 2006 and approved by FEMA in 2007. FEMA requires these plans to be
reviewed and updated periodically. Um, and to that end, our um, our current plan has been reviewed and updated and we're working collaboratively with an OKA county emergency management officials. Uh, Kuner Rapids has participated in the hazard mitigation
planning process for this 2025 update and continued participation in the process requires each city council to approve participation through a council resolution. Um, and of course this whole update can be found online. Um, so we're
looking to adopt resolution 26-57, adopting the 2025 Anoka County hazard mitigation plan. The next item on our consent agenda item or item uh is to receive the schedule of
electronic payments. Um staff has prepared for us to review a list of electronic payments processed since the last council meeting and we're looking to receive the schedule of electronic payments from April 2nd, 2026 through
April 15, 2026. Um, the next and final item on our consent agenda is to adopt resolution 26-59 appointing Mary Schmaly, the chair of the planning commission. Uh, with the resignation of Wayne Schwarz, who was
serving as the chair of the planning commission, it is necessary to appoint a chair to take his place. Um, staff recommended appointment of Mary Schmolky, who has been serving as the vice chair. So, we're looking to adopt resolution 26-59
appointing Mary Schmolki as chair of the planning commission. And that's our complete consent agenda. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Geyser, >> I move approval of the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Motion by Gisler and a second by Butler. Is there any discussion? >> Mr. Mayor.
>> Wow. >> Council member Gesler. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I just want to thank uh former chair Schwarz uh for his service on the planning commission. uh I served on the planning commission with him. He did a great job and 15 years is a long time to serve and so we appreciate his volunteer time and
leadership on that board >> and uh support Mary in her uh new chairship. >> Butler uh just to add on to that, I want to congratulate uh vice chair multi on her promotion. And I also just wanted to note for residents that there is an open
application period for a planning commission seat as well. And you can find more information for that online through social media. You can contact any of us if you're interested. We can get you in contact with staff if you have any questions or are interested in applying. >> Withdrawn. >> Um, council member Novette withdraw.
>> M withdrawn. You said >> council member Carlson. >> I just want to say Mary say Mary Smokey is an excellent choice for chair and she's actually been endorsed by Wayne Schwarz. >> Confirmed endorsed by Wayne. No, she's she'll be a fantastic chair.
>> All right. And we very much appreciate Wayne's service um not only to the planning commission but he's also a retired Rapids police officer. I don't know what what what rank he was. I know he trained you in. >> Yes, sir. Yeah, I still I think he had
some lasting problems with that, but he was my he was my training officer, Mr. Mayor. Uh yeah, he retired as a patrol officer. He was a fantastic patrol officer and it it u you know with a lot of officers that that's that's it. That's their world. His was patrol. was fantastic what he did. >> He's a great officer.
>> All right. Well, thank you very much, Wayne. Um, we have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion or questions on the consent agenda? >> Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed? And the consent agenda is
adopted. And we are up to item seven to consider resolution 26-1 sub9 awarding the contract for the street reconstruction project 26-1. Um this is a very large project. This is
one that we've been working on for years and kind of moving it out because it was so expensive. and we're going to have a little conversation this evening because along with the full bid, we're going to have an alternate bid item. Uh so we'll have some discussion uh for a particular
sidewalk along the north side of 110th Avenue. And with all that, I'll turn it over to Mr. Hansen. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. This item is for the award of Street Reconstruction 26-1. Uh at the February 17th uh public
hearing, uh the council authorized staff to complete the plans and specifications. We did that. We solicited bids. We received those bids on April 13. We got nine different bids from contractors. The low bid was
identified as Douglas Kerr Underground. They have performed street reconstruction projects in the city in the past successfully. Um the base bid of the project does include the sidewalk uh proposed on the west side of Kumquat Street from 109th
Avenue up to Northdale Boulevard. And then as you said uh Mr. Mayor, the alternate bid is the construction of a sidewalk on the north side of 110th Avenue. Uh the staff's recommendation is to accept the alternate as as well as
the base bid. Um, we do have an open house scheduled. Postcards were sent to property owners impacted by the project. Uh, we have an open house, uh, scheduled for April 29th, next week from 5 to 6:30. We'll have representatives from
the contractor there. We'll have schedules there. We'll be able to answer more detailed questions that people have. So, we encourage anyone that's in the pro project area to attend that open house. Uh, and with that, uh, I'll answer any other questions that the council has.
>> Thank you. Um, and that open house is it's it's Wednesday, right? The 29th. >> 29th of April. >> 5 to 6:30. >> 5 to 6:30. >> More park. >> Where? >> In Moore Park. >> Oh, suddenly I thought you said four o'clock. I went, what?
>> More park. All right, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Okay, who we starting? Council member Carlson. I'll I'll step back. >> Mr. Mayor Council Member Armstrong. >> Yeah. Uh, as as many of you know, I'm I'm I'm not a big fan of the sidewalks
on 110th Avenue. Um, I I honestly I think it's it's a uh not a good use of taxpayer money. I am fully supportive of the of the street reconstruction that that portion of it and the Kumquat sidewalk that needs to be done. should
have been done a long time ago. But that being said, I will make a motion that council adopt resolution 26-1 sub9 awarding the contract to Douglas Kurr underground without the alternate bid for the construction of the 110th
Avenue. Um whereby awarding them the project 26-1 street reconstruction at the base bid of 10,8,268.16. >> Second. All right, we have a motion by Armstrong and we have a second by Carlson, let's
just say. Um, and that's to do the project and that's just the base bid that is without the sidewalk on the north side of 110th Avenue. Discussion, >> Mr. Mayor.
>> Council member Novak. Council member Armstrong and I served on the safety commission a while back and one of the things that we focused on considerably was sidewalks. Um we have an entire sidewalk plan and if there's any member on this council that understands sidewalks, I'm going to trust Brian
Armstrong. Um he has spoken to those residents that is his board. uh they have expressed very strong feelings on this one and so I'm going to go with his instinct on this and support his uh motion as
>> Mr. Mayor, Council Member Carlson, >> we currently have a sidewalk on 109th Avenue and 113th Avenue, both leading from Foley to, you know, Kumquat Street. I just don't think it's necessary to add the sidewalk on 110th on 110th Avenue. I just don't think it's necessary. Um, we
uh and the neighbors are are are certainly opposed to this. Um, I was okay with with Kumqulat Street, Kumquat from 109th to North Dell, but I'm not okay with 110th because we already have a sidewalk on 109th and 113th.
I feel like that's adequate. >> All right, >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Butler, >> I I appreciate the comments from everybody, but I do think fundamentally sidewalks are about safety. I think that sidewalks are important for children to
be able to walk safely, for senior citizens or people who maybe are in a wheelchair or use uh some sort of other assistance for their mobility. I appreciate the mention that there's other sidewalks in the neighborhood, but to me it seems like then 110th is the one that's missing. Maybe it was missed
in a previous version of re uh street reconstruction and other maintenance for it. You know, I I do appreciate that some of the neighbors came and spoke to us. uh I think it was on February 17th just about their concerns with it. And while I appreciate that, I I do think ultimately our one of our main jobs is
public safety. I think sidewalks do make everybody safer for the most part. It's part of our active transportation plan. Mr. Mayor, I think you yourself on the February 17th meeting mentioned that you almost hit someone with your car on the way to the meeting because it was dark and they're in the road and it's hard to
see people when it's winter, which is unfortunately a good half of the year here in Minnesota. And so I I respect Council Member Armstrong's opinion. I respect how much work he's done on this, but I I do think safety of residents overall is what matters to me. And I I do think this would be a missed
opportunity if we didn't have the sidewalk. >> Mr. Mayor, >> um Council Member Carlson, >> I certainly appreciate safety. Um a lot of times we want to do something, add something in our
community. We, you know, we we we run it through public works. we run it through our our engineer and and and when they do like a study on whether or not we should have that a lot of times they're looking at the numbers, right? Have we had problems there? And we're talking about safety here and that
neighborhood's been in there for uh 67 years, 1959. And uh Chief, hate to do this to you. Chief, you've been on the police department more than a couple days. You ever uh had a uh to your uh knowledge,
have we ever had a fatality injury, pedestrian bike crash on 110th Avenue between Foley and uh Kumquad? >> Council member Carlson, I haven't been here 67 years, but 29. Uh I from memory
I don't recall one. I But that's you know that's from memory I guess. I don't recall a significant accident there, but >> we could always miss one, that's for sure, but not a serious one. And and Chief, I've got the 80s into the 90s covered as well. And no, I do not
recollect any any crashes, any pedestrian being injured, any bicyclists being injured in that uh neighborhood. So I again I safety of course is very important, but a lot of times we talk about council member adding a stop sign because I know you took your shot at Kumquat Street.
>> Mhm. And uh a lot of times it's well what are the numbers? What's happened there? Why are we doing this? And so that's kind of my point on that. And Chief, I'm sorry if I cut you off, >> Council Member Carson. No, I I that's just from memory. I I would have to dig into that and certainly could if that
was the request, but >> All right, Mr. Mayor. >> Um Council Member Butler. Uh >> Mr. Hansen, why why did staff recommend a sidewalk here? because I I do feel our engineers do do a lot of great work. They recommended a sidewalk here and I
I'd like just to re remind me what what's the rationale here. >> Yeah, thank you council member. Uh really we we look a lot at connect connectivity. Um so we have you know a major thoroughare uh fully uh which has a sidewalk on one side and trail on the
other side. Um, and we wanted to provide a good direct connection to Moore Park and 110th seemed to fit that that location. So, Moore Park being a a marquee park for the city, uh, a
destination where we think a lot of people want to go to and also Sand Creek Park eventually as well. So, this neighborhood's got two really fantastic parks and we're just looking at ways that we can get people to them. So,
thank you, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Gisler. >> So, uh first of all, I I believe that we need the sidewalk there. It was on the plan. Um, one of the things that I think we need to look at as city leaders is to
do proactive versus reactive management. The last thing we want to do is only respond to things that had happened in the past when it comes to public safety. If we can proactively provide safer solutions so that nothing bad doesn't happen, that's a better way to be. If we're only reacting to bad things, that
puts us on the back foot and we're not providing for our residents ahead of time and thinking for the future. So, I think I think about that. I also think about um you know, a little anecdotally, there's there's a Facebook group on the more uh more bar community. Uh there's a gentleman who posts video all the time
of basically rolling stops through a stop sign is just asking for people to to look at it. And you know I look at that and and while it's a little comical to the sense of how how it's portrayed on Facebook, it it does go to show that there is potentially a traffic safety
issue that may go unreported. Near misses don't hit police reports. Bumps and scrapes don't hit police reports. Those are things that we don't capture. They can hurt somebody though and cause a disruption. And you know, I I I decided to go to the
one constituent who really needs sidewalks the most. I asked my seven-year-old son today, I'm like, "Would you rather walk in the street or on a sidewalk?" And he went, "Well, a sidewalk, it's safer." That's that's what I'm looking at here. And so I think while yes, it is a little bit more money in the grand scheme of
things for the project, not a lot more because there's a lot of underground that's going on with this project and a lot of needed value that's there. I know it's disruptive to have infrastructure placed in your yard. Um, I know it's another thing. I I now have a fire hydrant I got to clean around that I got
when we got street reconstruction. I'm happy to do that because it made my neighborhood safer. Um, so I personally will not vote for the current motion because I want the sidewalk, but I will. The project does need to be done. >> Mr. Mayor, council member Armstrong. Uh
as as far as this as far as this goes, I heard the comments about we're we're trying to make sure that we've got all kinds of access to more park. Uh if if you look at this with the come the Kumquat Street address that or the
sidewalk that we're putting in, we would have access to more park in three different locations because of Kumquat Street. And with with with that being said, uh Councilman Gisler had uh made a
comment about the rolling stops. where that gentleman sits with the rolling stops is the third the middle quote unquote entrance which is currently a dead end for Kumquat and 110th. So now we would have people crossing the
street potentially to use that sidewalk. That being said, I've lived in that neighborhood my entire life. Full disclosure, I don't live on 110th, but I have I have been in that neighborhood forever. And I will tell you the people
that are getting from point A to point B using those streets do not use 110th. They use Kumquat, they use Foley, they use 109th, they use 113th. putting that putting that sidewalk in there isn't isn't going to do anything
because people aren't the only people that are using that street are the people that live on that street. There's nobody going to be cutting across the 110th to get to Foley because they're either going north south walking on
Kumquat. That's why I'm in favor of that sidewalk. Or they're coming out of one of the park entrances and going up 113th or going up 109th. Your honor, >> Councilman Novak, >> I certainly appreciate the concern for safety that I think all of us share. Um,
but when it comes to asking people about safety and what makes you feel safer, I think the best people to ask are the people that it affects, and that's the people in those neighborhoods. Those people have been asked. They've been very clear. They do not want it. They do not need it. There are other places and
other things they can use. So again, I'm going to be voting for this. And Mr. Mayor, >> hang just one second. Mr. Hansen, how long do we think this street reconstruction and this sidewalk will last? How long do you think that sidewalk will be there?
>> I mean, the the ones that are 109th and 113th have been there for >> they've been there for 40, 50 years. >> So, that would be our expectation. In the future, when we reconstruct the road, uh we would presumably not need to
replace the water man at that time. So, we would be looking at replacing different panels that have settled over time or cracked, things like that, but it would it would last even more than 50 years. >> Thank you. Okay, Council Member Carlson,
go ahead. >> Council member Armstrong has lived in his neighborhood his entire life. >> Nobody knows that neighborhood better than Council Member Armstrong. And even though he's not right on 110th, these are his neighbors. That was my first
point on that. And also um if we did the what if um boy we could put sidewalks in pretty much every street in Rapids. >> We should >> um Well, good luck on that. But um yeah, it just if we did the what if we they'd be everywhere and it'd be great, Council
Member Butler, if we could do that. But of course, that's not possible. Um so I just want to make it a point. This is Council Member Armstrong's neighborhood. These are his neighbors. And I'm gonna go with Council Member Armstrong and his neighbors on this. >> Mr. Mayor,
>> Council Member Armstrong, >> I should just point out as well um with with what we're what uh we're going through right now as as taxpayers, etc. I I this is $103,000. I see from daily I I mean, I'm I'm
traveling up and down that road. I'm going out of my way to go to work now to see what's going on on 110th and with the the lack of uh foot traffic that is there and trying to save money where we
can save money. I think this is $103,000 we do not need to spend. Okay. I have never been more conflicted. Well, I probably have been, but I don't I don't recall the last time I've been this conflicted. I've driven those streets so much I started to look like a
creeper, I'm sure, to the neighbors. Um because I I I like sidewalks, you know, and I and I and the reason I am so conflicted is because it is your neighborhood and I do appreciate your care for your ward and your
constituents. Um we're not we're not we're not putting a sidewalk in for a lot of them, though. A lot of them have been there for 30 years or whatever long and a sidewalk that's lasting 50 years. We're putting it in
for the future residents, hopefully attracting young families. I stood down and I was just telling somebody that I I'm I'm listing two houses down in Robbinsdale and they're two blocks apart and one doesn't have a sidewalk and the other one has this beautiful sidewalk
that was just put in when they reconstructed the seat the street. And I'm standing there and watching these families walk back and forth thinking, "Oh, okay. That's really walkable and that's really nice." And um I'm really conflicted. I really am. I I I wouldn't
be at all again if I didn't have so much respect for you, Council Member Armstrong. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Butler, >> I I really appreciated your comment you just had there about realtors. So, you know, Council Member Armstrong, I live a couple blocks away from you on the north side of Northdale, uh, off Magnolia
Street where there's not a sidewalk. And the first thing my realtor told me when we got to that neighborhood was, "There's not sidewalks, but they're hopefully going to add them in the next 10 years." That's one of the biggest questions I got campaigning two years ago. Frankly, I get more complaints
about traffic andor questions about sidewalks than probably any other issue. And you know, I I I do think that there is something compelling to thinking about that if we don't do this now, we might not be back in this neighborhood for 20, 30 plus years. And I I again
would hate to look back and say, "Oh, we we didn't add this sidewalk even though the staff recommended it." And I hope that we add sidewalks to my neighborhood while we're talking about this in 2028. Your honor, >> Novak, >> I don't mean to extend this any further than it has to go, but I do just again
want to point out uh when we served on the safety commission, we talked about sidewalks so much we sometimes called it the sidewalk commission. And I remember from those discussions, you put a sidewalk in, you're talking about hundreds of dollars per foot. If we
tried to put sidewalks on every single street, our city would rapidly go bankrupt. So, we have to be very careful about where we put these. And if it is not needed, then especially if it's going to be hurting
the residents that are currently there, I see no reason for it. Yes, it would be there 50 years from now. But if there hasn't been foot traffic in the last 50 years, then it's likely that that same foot traffic can use the paths that are there now.
>> Mr. That's Robert Gesler. >> So, it's really hard to have foot traffic when there isn't a safe place to walk. People tend to go to where it's safer to walk. If there's a sidewalk, they go towards it. Um, it's a little bit of if you build it, they will come.
That's the intent of it. That's the intent of the infrastructure. Uh, people prefer not to walk on streets. If they can, they will if they have to. Um, but to the point about it existing for 50 years, uh, if we think about $103,000
over 50 years, it costs us two grand a year for the life of this sidewalk, which is pretty dang cheap in the grand scheme of things for a piece of infrastructure that will be used for half a century by probably two generations worth of residents. So, I I
understand that it is more money. Infrastructure is very expensive. It just is. That's the nature of how things work these days. We're talking about a $10 million project and we're discussing a h 100red,000 right now, just to be clear for full context. So,
it is something that we can choose to provide for current and future residents. Frankly, there there are probably going to be people who use it and then can't use it anymore because they don't get out there and use it. but new future bikers, new future connections to more park. We don't know
what More Park is going to look like in 50 years. We don't know what enhancements we're going to do. We don't know what the demands will be, but we do know that we want people to go to parks and use them. And especially if we invest in them, and giving more access to parks everywhere we can will improve citizen usage of other public dollars
that we're already spending. So, I I see this as a force multiplier investment and a safety investment and a preventative investment, which is honestly what I think the best thing we can do. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Gresco, everybody's waiting with baited breath.
>> Yeah, I've been pretty quiet on this one, but you all know I'm kind of a budget hawk and, you know, looking at the 100,000, borrowing that for 30 years and the interest that's put all that aside. I definitely uh value public safety. Everybody knows that. We all value public safety. And if we could put
in a sidewalk in every new development that we built, you're going to get my stamp of approval on that every time. This is not like that. This this community has been there, like you said, Council Member Carlson, 60 years. I happen to have lived in this neighborhood for the first 20 years of my family. I raised four children. Uh
safe. I mean, it's a safe, quiet neighborhood. We are not looking at a street here that needs a sidewalk that has excessively high speeds. It's, you know, just a very short little stretch. and you know people don't they're not speeding on that road. Um to Council
Member Geyser's point of being reactionary, no, we don't want to be reactionary. We want to be proactive. But the other thing we want to look at too is, you know, historically look at these neighborhoods historically. Uh we we have data uh that shows that, you
know, when we built these roads all those years ago, we built them to a pretty wide standard. people have been utilizing the streets with bikes and pedestrians and cars for all those years and we're not seeing accidents. So, in in my opinion, the disruption to 110 uh
is uh I don't think it's necessary. I don't think we need the road. I would like to see uh us, you know, bank that $103,000 for other projects because we know we have them. We've got other big budget stuff coming in coming in as well. Uh to the mayor's uh point about
young families again, I I was a very young family living in that neighborhood. Always felt safe. I was taking my kids to the park, pulling them in the wagon, taking them on their bikes. Never felt um unsafe in any manner. So, for all those reasons, I think we should move on with the
project. We should put sidewalks on Kumquat because those speeds are a little bit higher and those stretches are longer. Uh but as far as um uh the sidewalk on 110th, I wouldn't support it. >> Okay. Um Mr. Hansen, I think I see where
this is going. I thank you so much for adding adding this in because this was our discussion 10 years ago. You know, anytime we have an opportunity to add a new sidewalk to our street reconstruction, we should, you know, at least research it. And we did a great
job researching this. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Armstrong, >> I' I'd second your comment. I appreciate everything that that staff did. I mean, I I ask a lot of questions in in this situation. You guys came back with with
answers. I mean, they were they were what's the word I want? They they were neutral answers. You you didn't try to sway me one way or the other as far as what should or shouldn't be done. I I I look at the project and again the
project is a great project. We we need to have this done. Um but again looking out for the the interests of our our budget and looking at the the neighbors in the area. Um I think I I strongly
think this is the correct way to go. We need the we need the one on Kquat. We don't need to spend the money on 110th. >> Okay. We have a motion and we have a second to move forward with this without the alternate bid.
Correct. That's how we've got this. Okay. Is there any further discussion on this? >> Mr. Mayor C. He's trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat here. >> Sorry, Mr. Mayor. What do you call it? >> I was kind of bummed that you, you know, that you clarified it right there because I had just one more thing to say. Mr. Hansen, you know, I respect
your opinion. We all respect staff's opinion, but but I no one on this council has agreed with every recommendation that staff has made. Um uh it is we serve the citizens. We serve the people that live in those neighborhoods. That's who we serve. And so in good faith and good conscience, if
I um if if I agree with the residents, I and I agree with their concerns, that's how I'm going to vote every time. Mr. Hansen, you know, again, I respect your opinion. I respect Mr. him or your opinion as well, but we're not always going to agree all the time. >> Oh, I I didn't even think they were
really I just I was just thanking them for putting the work together. >> I just know a lot of thought went into this with Mr. Hansen and Mr. Hammer. And it's not it's not about that. It's about it's about the residents what I think is right on that particular issue. >> All right, we have a motion and a
second. Is there further discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I >> I opposed. >> Nay. >> The motion passes. Um five eyes, two nays. Uh council members Gesler and
Butler opposed. Item eight, consider an agreement for the 2026 street maintenance activity report 26-5A. Mr. Hansen.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and City Council. This is to award a contract for pavement markings. Uh this is part of our annual uh maintenance of various street street maintenance items like crack ceiling and fog ceiling. Uh we
also do pavement markings. So we we refresh the markings on our our streets half of the city every other year. So kind of flipping back and forth. And uh this was formerly as part of the joint powers agreement program. Uh but this
year we went out and got our own quotes. Uh for this particular item we had to get quotes twice. The first round we only got one quote. We tried again and we only got one quote. It was the same contractor both times. Uh which we have
worked with numerous times successfully. So, we're here to recommend award of a contract to Sir Lines a lot for doing half of the city pavement marking maintenance um throughout. So, I'll take any questions that you have.
>> Mr. Hansen, is this our first little wrinkle, you think, that we went to four contractors and only one gave us a bid that it's not enough for them or what? >> Not necessarily. Even when we had the joint powers uh program, we still had occasionally one bid in this particular
category. The number of contractors that do this kind of work has shrunk significantly within the last few years. >> Okay. Well, only one company has the really cool name. So, how do you compete? You know, >> name.
>> Any questions of Mr. Hansen on this? >> Mr. Mayor Grisco, >> I'm just curious. Did uh did uh Sir Linesot LLC, Wade Demer's uh former favorite contractor, did did they come back with the same bid amount of 124? We didn't lose ground, did we? >> No.
>> No, it was the same price. >> Okay. >> Mr. Mayor Armstrong. Uh just to let everybody know how how in favor I am of public safety and traffic safety, I am going to make a motion that uh council
approve the agreement for contract services with sir lines a lot LLC was just fun to say in the amount of $124,200 for project 26-5A pavement markings and authorized staff to execute set agreement. Second.
>> I don't even know. Pick one. Yeah. Right. All right. Motion by Armstrong, second by Gesler. Um, is there discussion on this? Further discussion? >> Mr. Mayor. >> Councler. I >> I just want to thank staff for putting this bid out again. You know, I I know it's sometimes tough when we only get
one bid twice. I don't really like when we only get one bid, but you know, I I know you did your best and they've done good work, so I'm excited. >> All right. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. And that motion
carries. We're up to old business. Consider planning case 26-5. Uh consider adoption of ordinance number 2349, an ordinance amending subdivision variance standards, city code section 11-154.
And Mr. Passner gave us a presentation on this last time, I believe. And uh Mr. Brown, still just housekeeping, correct, Mr. Brody? >> That's right. >> Everybody good? >> All right. Anybody have any questions on this? This was introduced at the last
meeting. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Geyser, >> I'll make a motion in planning case 26-5 that the city council adopt ordinance number 2349 amending city code section 11-1504 revising subdivision variant standards and authorized summary publication.
>> Second. >> Second. Motion by Gesler and a second by Butler. Is there f is there discussion? >> Mr. Mayor Council, >> just a note, we did we did talk about this in work session then we talked about it in our meeting a couple weeks ago. We got all the answers uh answered
at that time, all the questions answered at that time, but it's basically just updating this and keeping us up to the current standard. So certainly support the adoption of this ordinance. >> Kind of important to meet state statute on this. >> That's right. >> Yeah. >> All right. Um all in favor signify by
saying I. I I opposed. And that motion carries. Item 10 this evening is to consider resolution 26-56 accepting the lead service line replacement program master loan andor grant agreement from
the state of Minnesota. And personally, might I just say thank you because they've been sending me emails to sign this for three weeks or it's like we haven't talked about this yet, have we? Why do they want me to sign the contract? >> No, mayor and council. the state often gets out in front of us on those
agreements, so we'll take care of it. Now, >> Mr. Hansen. >> Uh yes, Mr. Mayor and Council, this is a grant agreement that uh city engineering staff have been working with the state on for quite some time. Uh we've also been going through our uh lead service
line, uh inventory, really our private side water service line that's beyond the shut off to the meter, that's privately owned. We've been going through, we've sent mailings, we have done door knockings to try to determine
the best we can where we might have lead service lines. And so far, we haven't found any, >> but the neighborhoods that we're reconstructing in 26 and then the next four years after this are all that the water manes were installed in the late
50s, early 60s. So, they could. So, this grant agreement is really just to allow those residents to be able to have it paid for in the event that when we're out there in construction, we're going to we're going to find out if it's lead or not when we're replacing the shut off
and when we're connecting into whatever is there. Presumably, most of the time it's going to be copper. But this will give residents the opportunity to work with contractors to be able to have that section from the shut off in the yard up
to the meter replaced based on or provided by the the grant funds here. >> All right. Very good. Any questions of Mr. Hansen? >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Butler. >> I would like to move the following actions. Approve resolution 26-56
authorizing acceptance of a lead service line replacement program master loan and slaw grant agreement with the state of Minnesota acting through its chair of the public facilities authority and authorize staff to administer the lead service line replacement grant program. >> Second
>> motion by Butler and a second by Geisler. Is there further discussion on this? >> Council member Gesler. Uh, I would just say folks, if if you have the opportunity to take advantage of this, please do so for your own health, for your family's health, this is a great opportunity. This is the right time to
do it. If you haven't got to it, please, please, please respond to city staff. If you have questions, talk to city staff about this. This is a good thing to fix. >> Novacc. >> Well, first of all, I just want to say that uh it's getting kind of dangerous to be in between council members Gesler
and Butler here with their really quick motions and seconds. It's all the lead. >> But again, yes, by all means, I want to second that. I've been in some neighborhoods in the past where they have had problems with lead lines and it seeps into the it is a
huge problem. So, by all means, please take advantage of this program and if something is found, we can get that taken care of for you. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Carlson, >> I kind of want to get this question in too before that motion was fired off.
Mr. Hansen. Um, could you tell about what what percentage of residents do we have right now, you think, that have the still have the lead lines? >> Well, so far throughout the city, uh, we haven't found any. We've found what might be some galvanized in need of
replacement service lines. >> Okay. >> Um, but we haven't, to my knowledge, found any lead service lines. >> Okay. >> Mr. Hammer, >> Mr. Mayor Council, I'll just say currently we have about 4500 that are still unknown. >> Okay. >> So, out of 21,000 services, we've been
able to eliminate those from building permits, age, condition, um, but some of the older neighborhoods that we're going into, and I was going to put a plug out like Council Member Gistler in addition to this, which is we've we have money available for residents. So, if if you
miss the opportunity, I can't say that it'll exist next year, two years from now, three years from now. So, one of the things we typically hear in our recon projects is, "Why didn't anybody tell me? I could have put some money aside." Well, here's two opportunities with the reconstruction is comply with
what we're asking. Just respond. If you're not sure what notices you're receiving, give us a call. We'll help you determine what that material is. And then the second part of that is the the ability to have your sewer line televised for you to determine if you have any issues, settlements, things
like that that give you time to plan and prepare for that. if recon is a year or two away um because it's going to be more expensive when we're out of the neighborhood and you start to tear up the road that was just reconstructed. So, here are two really good opportunities over the next 5 years in these neighborhoods that are some of the
oldest in the city to let us help resolve maybe some of the concerns with your sewer and water and we're trying the best we can to get money and make that happen for people. We just need a little cooperation and a little help and we're more than willing to help. >> All right. Thank you,
>> Mr. Mayor. Um, Council Member Armstrong. >> Yeah, I you you you stole my thunder, Mr. I I had I had a couple of uh couple of constituents that had contacted me about the the uh sewer line cameras and
and again, this this kind of work here that that you guys are doing, I mean, a lot of it goes unseen by the the general public. You guys, again, you're second to none as far as finding ways to get projects like this done. Um we we we all
like to gripe about our property taxes and this that and the other thing, but um you guys are really really good about finding grant programs and finding ways to to save the the people of Rapids money. And these two programs, both of them, kudos to you guys.
>> And this is just beyond this year. I mean, it's it's even more important for the people in 27 28. It gives them time to plan and prepare and get real data on what exists and ask questions and get get bids and and take their time in getting it done.
>> All right, Mr. Mayor, Council Presia, >> can I get a clarification either from Mr. Himmer or Mr. Hansen? You're mentioning 2728 the next couple years, but isn't this grant uh isn't this term for like seven years? So, we'll have like seven years of runway to take advantage of this. Is that what I'm reading?
>> 2020 2033. >> Okay. So, we get seven years. And I mean, lead's been a known public, you know, safety issue for years and years and years. We're lucky in Rapids that we have around zero, but we want to make sure we have zero. So, we take advantage of that. I would like to see it maybe noted in one of our newsletters
or something that this is out there and available to them. On the same time, at the same time time, we don't want to cause concern that there's a lead issue in Rapids. We again, there hasn't been any. We want to make sure there is none and we want our residents to uh
take advantage of the opportunity to make sure. >> And just to be clear, while this master agreement is good for seven years, we have to apply for funding year after year after year. So the only money we have right now is for this 2026. We'll continue to apply for 2728, but at some
point the dollars may not be there. This is just a master agreement that will be in place for those future years if and when we're successful in getting the money. >> Yeah, great point. get after it. All right, we have a motion and a second and a lot more discussion than I thought
we were going to have. Um, is there is there any other discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. And that motion carries. Item 11 is to consider an introduction of an
ordinance restricting parking on 109th Avenue. Mr. Hansen. >> Uh, yeah, Mr. Mayor and Council. So, this one we we first introduced to the council last fall. Uh city staff had been contacted by residents that live in
the area of Foley and 109th uh regarding some concerns about just parking generally close to Foley. Uh so we had initially proposed a no parking zone of 250 ft on 109th Avenue, both sides of
Foley Boulevard. um and received some concerns heard some concerns from council at that time. So at this point we we did have a meeting last last fall in 2025 to discuss this resolution and
it was thought that 75 ft would be more acceptable. still address some of the safety concerns that we thought are present um from the traffic review committee near the intersection but then also uh assist with the resident concerns about the on street preserving
the on street parking in that general area. So this resolution is to propose 75 ft instead of 250 ft as before. Um, if the council chooses to continue and eventually adopt the resolution, we
would put the signs up as part of the street reconstruction project this summer. >> Sure. >> At least on the west side of Foley. >> All right. Uh, it's just an introduction only. Does anybody have any questions of Mr. Hansen on this? Hearing none, we will consider an
ordinance restricting parking on 109th Avenue introduced. Item 12 is to consider an agreement between CTN and the St. Paul's Saints. Um, Ms. Ring.
>> Good evening, Mayor and Council. Yes, we're here before you to ask for council approval for the St. Paul Saints to uh be a partner with us for us producing their games with our CTN services. I would like to turn it over to Eric Strauss to explain just a little bit more to you tonight.
>> Uh, thank you, your honor and, uh, council. Um, the St. Paul Saints, we're excited to have them as a production partner again this year. Uh, they're one of our longest uh, partnerships. Uh, as council's aware, CTN is primarily funded
through cable franchise fees which have been declining uh, rapidly the last uh, seven, eight years. Uh so we've been subsidizing our uh cable franchise funding through both production services
and uh client and equipment rentals. So uh the St. Paul Saints has been one of our longest partnerships and uh we're just coming off a two-year agreement. This agreement is very similar to that with uh increases over our game rates uh
previously. Um we have broadcast games. There's two broadcast partners this year. It's Fox 9, which is on their Fox 9 plus channels, which are all the Friday night games. And then uh the CW uh network uh carries um I think it's
around 15 games. They're like one or two of the weekend games and then some day games and then the remaining games are on uh community channels uh and they are shared over a hundred cities throughout the state of Minnesota. Um, so people in
Hibbing, uh, they don't have to, uh, pay for MLB packages to watch the games. They can watch it on their community station, um, or in, uh, Grand Rapids or Duth, other communities around the state of Minnesota. So um but uh one of the
things that happened after co uh while we've been producing the games uh at 2015 since 2015 when CHS opened um but after CO what was nice is each uh team that came to visit uh would play six straight home games Tuesday through
Sunday uh for the most part that's how the season schedule works and that works out really nice for the production side of things. So our heavy set is on Tuesdays. Uh and then it's just basically having the crew come in uh to produce the games uh the re remaining part of the week. So it uh we've gotten
really good at this over the last um 15 years or so. But with that stand for any questions? >> Any questions of Mr. Strauss? >> Just comment. Mr. Mayor Cber Novak, >> I just got to tell you congratulations on getting this and congratulations on
keeping it. Now, full disclosure, I'm a baseball fan, a huge Twins fan, and seeing minor league games on our CTN, that is really cool. And the fact that you guys were able to get this to supplement your income, I am so happy to
see that. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Grisco, >> just to expand on that, I think it's it's a really great thing. We have this production equipment. We have this production facility here in Rapids. to do a great job on CTN for our local community and doing things like this really help pay for it, help pay for the
personnel that are producing our local stuff and the building and the equipment and everything. So, I I think it's been a really great partnership uh to get everything that we have. We got some really nice equipment over there. And also, Eric, I just wanted to just say thanks for a little plug there for
Hibbing and Go Blue Jackets. >> Oh, you went deep for that one. >> It went way deep. Yep. >> Mr. Mayor, >> uh, Council Member Butler, >> uh, I move that we approve the attached agreement for CTN production services with the St. Paul Saints baseball team. >> Second.
>> Motion by Butler and a second by Gresco. Um, oops, I have so many notes. I'm marking the wrong one. All right. Any uh further discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. And that motion carries. And
now kind of along that same line, item 13 is to consider an agreement between CTN and Longhaul Productions. Miss Ring, Mr. Strauss, whoever wants to take this. >> Sure. We'll uh introduce this one for you. Um as you said, it's along the same
lines, slightly different. This is equipment rental. So our staff isn't producing the programming. The equipment is being rented. And so we have some agreements before you with actually some ideas. this client wants to expand a bit. Um, Eric Strauss, would you like to add?
>> Sure. Thanks, Stephanie. Um, yeah, as Stephanie mentioned, this is much different and actually it's with our other truck. This is our larger truck. Um, works great. This is, uh, it's dirt track racing. Basically, it's called Champ Off-Road Series. Uh, we have been partnering with them for a number of
years. Uh we started with just two events uh and it's grown uh since then and and so now we're up to eight events uh and including uh now in California. Um but it is uh just uh the truck rental. We have very little crew time
involved. It's basically getting the truck prepared uh to go out. Um with the exception of Elk River. Um so if uh you're interested, that one is is close by. uh we deliver the truck there, but the remaining contracts uh the uh client
actually has professional driving services, thus the longhaul productions. Um so they they actually will uh take the truck from CTN uh and pay for all fuel tolls, uh things like that. Uh again, a lot of them are in Wisconsin,
but uh we do have the one in uh the opening series is in Wheatland, Missouri. Um and then they finish in California. So um but again it is just the truck rental um for that series and we've been a partner
with them for a number of years. I will add uh Cranon Wisconsin. They actually have two events there. The second event in Cranon is over the Labor Day weekend. They do get about 50 to 60,000 uh fans that come out and camp at Cranon
Wisconsin to watch it. So, if you're not familiar with it, um it's it's pretty exciting. Uh side by side, small trucks. Uh I guess the small trucks, I'm told, have like the engines the size of NASCAR uh engines in there. So, it's pretty
wild watching them race on the on the dirt tracks. But, uh so, uh we've been working with them for a while and and uh they've been another good partner. But again, just a truck rental. >> Mr. Strus, what year is that truck? Do you remember?
um 2007. >> 2007. >> Yes. >> Okay. Because I'm just thinking if we're sending that to California and all over the United States, we must be making sure it's serviced and good tires and all of that. >> Our our garage does a great job on
keeping up on service. Um also, uh probably for the first 10 years of its life, it's mostly been driving around Rapids, so it still has fairly low miles on it. um considering and it you know it's a diesel a big nice diesel
truck that'll that'll uh go for a lot of years yet. Maybe you can coach our fire department. How do you get 19 years out of a truck? >> Noted, >> your honor. >> All right, council member Novak. >> Uh Mr. Strad, I'm sure you guys have
this covered. I'm just not quite sure how it works myself. So, if you could just let me know, say something were to happen to some of this equipment while it was out on rental. Who handles the insurance there? I I'm the insurance guy. So, >> you bet. No, it's a great question. We do, as part of the contract, um require
an insurance writer. So, that the client does carry uh supplemental insurance that that basically is primary insurance if there were to have an issue, an accident or anything like that. >> And that's pretty standard. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Right,
>> Mr. Mayor. Council member Geyser. >> I will move uh make a motion to recommend approval of the attached agreements for the rental of the HD1 production truck to Long Haul Productions. >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second to actually approve the attached agreement
for rental. Okay. Not just recommended. >> Okay. Yes. >> Um further discussion, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Greskoviac. Uh just looking at at the rates that we have drawn up in this agreement, it looks like it's more than will cover the uh maintenance on the vehicle and uh with
the liability on the equipment, I think it's just another great way to supplement CTN. It's all in favor. >> Okay, any further discussion hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. And that motion carries. Item
14 is to consider resolution 26-58 amending the 2026 general fund budget for purchase of ex of civic center refrigerator and convection oven. Miss Ring, >> mayor and councel, um since I was here
at the last meeting, we've had some equipment failures at the civic center. We're always very diligent and we want to get maximum use out of all the equipment, but we have found out that the repairs proposed for both the refrigerator and the convection oven are
just too much to put into an appliance that's 19 years old. So, ironically, we were going to budget for this for 2027. We didn't quite make it that far. So, we're asking for you tonight to amend the 2026 budget. As you'll see, um, for
the refrigerator, we're looking at a middle value model of about $5,913 plus a delivery fee. And then for the convection oven, it a warmer is perhaps a more um usable term for that. So, um, it is a warming station to have food be
continually warm while people are using the facility. You also can cook with it, but it is quite important to have these two pieces of equipment. And that model um for that is of course um $6,600 plus again a delivery fee. So we would be asking for you tonight to amend the
budget in resolution 2658 for a total of $13,528. >> Your honor. >> Okay. Council member Novak. >> Um talking about spreading the cost of something out. Yeah. Less than $500 a
year. I think that's a really good investment here. So, I am going to move to adopt resolution 2658 to amend the 2026 general fund budget to purchase a new civic center refrigerator in the amount of 6,288 and a convection oven in the amount of
7,240 which together total $13,528. Second. >> Second. >> Motion by Novak and a second by Carlson. Is there discussion on this? >> Mr. Mayor Council >> Member Carlson. >> I just want to say I was pleasantly surprised at the price here. Yeah, as I
was reading at the top, I was expecting that number to be a lot bigger at the bottom and I was pretty pretty impressed. I think that's a really decent price for commercial equipment. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Brisco, >> everybody knows I don't really like these budget amendments, but I know that
things happen and things are going to happen and we need this equipment in the uh civic center. I know 20 years on a fridge is a really long time. and I could see why that needs to be uh replaced right away. But I just do have a question on the convection oven if you don't mind it. You mentioned in the memo
that it was slated for repair. Uh what was the repair estimate? >> Um the repair estimate was over $1,500. So for repair to be, you know, 20 to 30% of the cost of a new piece of equipment. We did not feel that was reasonable. So that's how we got to the place of
replacement versus repair. As I mentioned, we were going to put these things in the 2027 budget. So, we were stretching a little bit. Um, and uh, we've had a couple bad weeks at the facility. One thing went out one week and the other thing went out the week after. So,
>> were we looking at Well, if I may continue, Mr. Mayor. >> Hey, go ahead. >> Um, in the 2027 budget, were you anticipating the replacement of these or were you anticipating the repair? >> Replacements. >> Okay. Um,
$1,500 versus 6,600. That's a pretty big spread in my opinion. And like you mentioned, it's just it's a convection oven and it's a warmer. So I I I would think for $1,500 we'd be able to get some more use out of this thing. I mean, again, you guys know I'm a budget hawk. I have a stove in my house that's 20
years old. I repaired it eight years ago. It's still working. So I would have liked to have seen it repaired. That's my two cents. >> Okay. I I could just add that the repair person that we've had has recommended in good conscience that we don't keep putting money into both of these two
pieces of equipment. So, we are going off of that recommendation as well. >> May I ask how much money have we put into the maintenance of that >> uh >> the warmer >> the warmer? >> I'd have to go back and look at all the repair records. I don't have that in front of me right now. But we are
looking at a lengthy uh you know a repair uh schedule on that thing over the years. Or is this the first time it's needed repair? >> Oh, it's had other repairs. >> Okay. >> I would say if the guy that actually profits by repairing it says it's time
to replace it, you know, maybe take his advice. I don't know. >> All right. We have a motion and a second. Do we have any further discussion on this >> hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed and the motion
carries. Item 15 is to consider a temporary easement and authorized memorandum of agreement for project 18-14 trunk highway 610 interchange. And this is Mr. Hammer. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor, council. Uh, yet another
one of the acquisitions necessary for the 610 East River Road interchange. Uh, this is just a very sli slim strip, southeast quadrant. There's a commercial facility there. um just a little sidewalk widening that's going to happen and it's really just temporary impacts
with regard to grading and things. So um the offer that was um put forth was exactly what was in the appraisal what council directed and uh the property owner has accepted. So um I'm recommending we move forward with this one and I'm happy to answer questions.
>> All right. Anybody have any questions of Mr. Hammer on this? >> Mr. Mayor Council Butler. I move that we approve the easement agreement, accept the temporary easement for the property at 9255 East River Road, and authorize staff to execute any additional documents necessary to complete the
transaction. >> Second. >> Motion by Butler and a second by Geisler. Is there discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries. And that brings
us up to 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 personal attacks are prohibited. Open mic is not a time for problemolving or reacting to the comments made but for hearing the speaker forformational purposes. Any questions from council would be for clarification only. If
necessary, a staff report will be prepared for the next regular council meeting with a copy forwarded to the speaker. Is anybody here for open mic? Yes. Please state your name and address and you've got three minutes. >> Do I need to adjust these mics or are they picking it up?
>> You're good. >> Okay, should be good. >> My name is Kathleen Seccon. I have lived in Rapids since 2003. I've lived in Anoka County since um 1977.
I'm a former teacher at Rapids Middle School. So, I spent a lot of time driving on Northdale Boulevard. The last four years, I have lived in a town home that has access off of either Northale or Round Lake Boulevard. And I was very
pleased a couple of issues ago when you talked how you were trying to deal with people who do not drive properly on Northdale. I have noticed the efforts to try to slow people down with the meters
that will let you know how fast you are going. It has been a learning curve for me to learn how to drive on Northell Boulevard after all of the development that we've had over the years with many more businesses and many more housing areas
that have access off of it. I could tell you about several close calls. I'm going to abstain from some of those. I'm going to tell you about my trip here tonight and then I'm going to be telling you about something that happened to me
about a month ago that had not the errant driver swerved. You would have had a vehic vehicular homicide and I would not have lived in order to tell you about it. Coming here
tonight, I left from my home. I I live on uh off of Silver Rod and so I take Silver Rod to Northdale Boulevard and wait for an opportunity to make my left turn. It can often take several minutes to wait for that because you've got the
cars that are racing through Round Lake once they get a light or make a turn and they're moving very quickly. You've got cars coming from the other direction that are moving very quickly because they're trying to make the light on Round Lake. This time it worked really
well. I needed to wait for one car coming from the right and one car coming from the left. I was able to pull onto the road without accelerating too much. So, I completed the turn and was going about 24 so I could speed up.
I try to drive the speed limit. It's not always possible when you get to hills and that kind of thing. So, I pulled up that to Northdale Avenue, which is a little street that kind of goes into our housing development. And Northdale is a
very important avenue because that's where you can see if there are any cars stopped to make a left turn at Lily. >> I'm sorry. Can you get your We only have about 15 seconds left here. You only have three minutes. I don't even get to tell you about the other one. >> Okay.
>> Well, I'm done. >> All right. >> When I was stopped at Crooked Lake, >> I had a red light. I got the green light and I pulled through. There was nobody else coming until I was
nearly through and then a car, I think it was a pickup truck, started to make a turn, which would have been right into me. Whether he was going through a red light or the driver, I should say, or had a
flashing yellow arrow, I don't know. They quickly were able to change direction and turn behind me. This shouldn't have happened, but because of speed and reckless driving,
I was nearly in a crash that I would not have survived. Okay. >> And I am here tonight to ask you please to take seriously the reckless and excessive speed on that
road so that we don't have a fatality. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. And sorry I had to cut you off. I'm sorry. Thank you though. >> Okay. >> Hi. My name is Kathleen O'Harn and I
live at uh the Bambberry Estate Apartments down on Hansen Boulevard. And I do a lot of walking in the morning and in the evenings. And I walk by the soccer field on 111th.
And um we have a lot of wildlife there. And I would like to see some kind of a road sign, slow down, wildlife crossing area put there. We have deers, ducks,
geese, turtles, frogs. I've seen a lot of animals. Um, last summer I was helping a turtle out of the middle of the road which cars were speeding coming and I'm trying to stop these cars and a gal in another car, she
saw me and she stopped to help me get this turtle out of the road. Um, so I would like to see some kind of a reduced speed or just let people know there's wildlife there, you know.
Most of us that drive that a lot know that. But you I see that. >> I mean I when I walk sometimes these cars and I see these ducks with their babies trying to cross the street in these cars. I mean I'm just like I can't
look because you know. So anyways that's my concern there. >> Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Good evening. Good evening. >> My name is Connor Hansen. I live on the east side of More Park, 112th Lane. I
can tell you people blow the stop sign there, too. >> But data is the new oil. Perhaps some of you have heard this phrase. It indicates that the new fuel driving our economic engine is measurements taken on everything from shopping habits and Instagram viewing
habits to driving habits and Google searches. Some of this data can be invaluable in taking action when the way forward is opaque or challenging. For example, in spring 2024, a fierce storm knocked out power to nearly 800,000 Texas residents in the Houston area.
Because many power companies there are privatized, they apparently didn't think residents needed an outage map. One person creatively discovered that their What a Burger app could tell them which restaurants they could order from and therefore which restaurants had power.
However, data can be used in creepier and even nefarious ways. There is, of course, the massive Cambridge Analytica scandal, which built psychological profiles on millions of Americans thanks to Facebook data. But let's get even more intimate. In 2012, a teen girl
began to receive baby coupons in the mail from Target. Her father, in an understandable rage, bered the local Target manager, actually here in Minneapolis, thinking Target was trying to encourage his teen daughter to get pregnant. Turns out she was pregnant and the
father apologized for his outburst. How did Target know? Shopping patterns. Statisticians analyzed purchases and found certain products that allowed them to assign a pregnancy prediction score to women shoppers. They could even time coupon delivery to match pregnancy
stages. There are currently 89,884 known flock security cameras in the United States. Many are simple automated license plate recognition cameras, but many are PTZ, pan, tilt, zoom, installed on walking paths and playgrounds. Some are even
pointed at people's private property. The amount of data being collected by them is staggering. And just what is happening to that data? Can we be 100% guaranteed that our travel patterns are not being shared with third parties?
Flock's own privacy policy is convoluted here. I'm no legal scholar, but I know where there is convoluted legal language, there is license. I'm a millennial. I've grown up on the internet, PlayStation, computers, and as a professional data analyst, I know the
power of data. And I know the power of data about I know the power of data about people in the hands of private actors who get to do god knows what with it. And I'm tired of so much of our lives being handed over to private tech entities who are more worried about
their IPO evaluation than my six-year-old daughter's privacy. I'm not against this stuff. I'm not against I'm against not having a say in something so present in all of our lives. I encourage this council to
cancel its flock contract and find alternative city-owned, city operated means of surveillance. I will gladly offer my time and expertise and research to find such solutions. Thanks for your time tonight. >> Thank you.
>> Anybody else to address council for open mic this evening? All right. Close the open mic portion of the meeting and we are at other business. Um Mr. Mayor, >> Council Bernstrom,
>> since I've been so quiet tonight, I guess about time I chimed in. Um, just just to uh just to remind people for for W five, the uh the small amount of time we spent talking about the the the reconstruction project
and whatnot. The the uh meeting is at Moore Park uh from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29th. Um, and uh, I will definitely be there. So, if you've got any questions, concerns, these guys are the experts, but I'll be there. Um,
we've also got uh, with the police department, we've got the drug uh, takeback day on April 25th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the uh, the police department. Uh, it's National Prescription Drug Takeback Day. uh
basically designed to to uh be a convenient, responsible way to dispose of prescription drugs that uh you no longer need or want. And then last but not least, um later this week, uh we have the spring ice show at uh Creek
Rapids Ice Center, uh April 25th uh on Thursday at Excuse me, let me step back. Thursday, April 23rd, starts at 6:45 p.m. Friday, April 24th, and Saturday, April 25th, it starts at 7:15
p.m. And uh the spring ice show every single year is kind of a kind of a cool deal to go to. If you haven't been there, check it out. >> And is this year, is it called Decades on Ice, Brian? >> Uh it is. I'm sorry. Steve put up the Steve put it up up there.
>> Oh, last night Steve. All right, other business. Council member Novak, >> I just want to uh stress the drug takeback day. >> This is something that is really underutilized. A lot of people just dump
them down the drain. Don't do that. That kind of thing can affect water quality >> and studies have shown a lot of residual prescription drugs in our water supply. Just bring them in here. the police department can dispose of them safely.
And I know when Minneapolis first instituted this, they got a lot of prescription drugs coming in and that people were telling them. We didn't know what to do with it. So, it doesn't cost anything,
very safe. Please just bring it in. >> Yeah. And and the new part of this is that we actually have a spot here now all the time. Correct, >> Mayor Cook? Yes, we have a collection point. uh in uh just in a room off the lobby of the police department that's
always available but uh has a limited capacity. >> Yeah. >> So it's maintained regularly and events like this are I mean yield boxes and boxes and boxes of uh >> Yeah. >> you know. Yeah. It's pretty impressive. People just drive through the parking
lot and unload. Yeah. >> All right. Um any other business to come before council? Then >> if I may, >> Mr. Stew, of course you may. >> I want to put in a plug. Uh, one week from tonight, the members of this body will convene as the local board of
appeal and equalization, >> which sounds very exciting, I know. Uh, but really the intent is for those folks who own property in town, uh, they would have received a notice from Anoka County about a month ago with their estimated market values for 2026. Um, and as a
part of that, there's a process. If you think there's something wrong or you have questions about it, the first step is always to call our city assessor's office. 90% of the time they're able to give you information in a way that'll make you satisfied with um with what your value is. You might not like it,
but you understand why your value is the way it is. Um, if you're not satisfied with that or even if you haven't yet called the city assessor's office, it is your right to appear before the local board of appeal, which again is the meet up of the members of this body, um, to make your case as to why your value
should be reduced or I suppose increased if you really wanted to go that direction. Um, but again, I really do encourage folks to call our assessing department at 763-767-6446 to ask that question ahead of time. If nothing else, it allows that team an opportunity to do some research that
will present it to the board so they can make a more informed decision rather than just showing up and kind of, you know, freewheeling as you get there. So, that's my plug. Uh, one week from tonight, 7 p.m. in these council chambers on Tuesday, April 28th. >> It is absolutely their right to just
show up, >> but it is absolutely not recommended if they actually want to get something constructive done. >> Right. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um, other business, >> Mr. Mayor, >> that's where we're going. >> I just wanted to make a point. You made the proclamation recognizing all the
volunteers, which was great. We really appreciate all the volunteer work. But I also want to just say an extra uh appreciation for Chair Schwarz on the planning commission. When you talk about volunteering for the community, I mean, this man was a police officer in our community all those years and he spent 15 years on planning, which is one of
the harder uh, as you know, uh, uh, commissions to be on, and then uh, being on on the chair. and I think he did a really good job on the chair. It was equalized and uh so I just wanted to appreciate let him know we appreciate that and we wish him the very best in his next endeavors in life and uh also
Mary Schmoki has done a great job as vice chair and I know that she's going to be doing a great job as chair so welcome her to that position and uh yeah just wanted to make a a point up for that because he's been doing it for such a long time. >> Perfect. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson. >> Yeah, Wayne Schwarz has been so
dedicated to this community. Yeah, we've >> been, you know, just just was wonderful. Did such a great job. So, >> wish you well. >> Um, and I I mentioned at the last meeting, so I won't belabor it tonight, but um former mayor and council member and commissioner Dave McCauy's memorial
service is a week from today, Tuesday afternoon the 28th. Uh it's Washurn McCree down in Kapas Boulevard. I think it's like 3 to six or something. It's all online. you'll find it. But just want to make sure everybody knows about
that. >> All right. >> Did I did I see something flash on for public works or >> mayor? Mr. Hammer, you want to touch on the public works open? >> Talking about the open house already. >> We'll have the proclamation here at the
next council meeting. Uh it's uh May 16th, 10 to noon. come on down and and hopefully we can fill your chambers here next week and >> you can thank us in person. >> Cornerstone
>> the foundation of our uh >> cornerstone of civilization. >> Yeah. >> All right. Is that it? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Motion by Butler, second by Novak to adjurnn. All in favor sign goodbye by
saying I. I. We're adjourned.