Good evening and welcome to the Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026. If you would 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 >> here. Council member Butler >> here. >> Council member Novak >> here. >> Council member Gisler 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. >> Motion by Novak. >> Second. >> Second by Butler. Uh any changes or corrections?
Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Um opposed. The agenda is adopted. We're up to item one then, which is the approval of the minutes from the May 19th meeting. >> Mr. Mayor. >> Butler. >> I move that we approve the minutes from the May 19th, 2026 meeting.
>> Second. Motion by Butler and a second by Griscoiaak. Any discussion or corrections hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. And those minutes are approved. We have five items on our
consent agenda this evening. The first one is to accept the 2025 annual comprehensive financial report. Um it it just seems so easy to to receive it after you've got how many hours of work in this? How many weeks
and months of work into this? >> There have been a lot of hours. Yes, >> a lot of hours. Uh we just held a work session to review the 2025 annual comprehensive financial report with the city's external auditors, Clifton Larson Allen LLP. Once approved, an electronic
copy of this report along with a condensed summary report, a PAFR, will be made available on the city's website. Um, following council acceptance, the report will be submitted to the government finance officers association for consideration in the
certificate of achievement achievement for excellence and financial reporting program. And then we've participated in that and received recognition from this program since 1975, which is pretty dang impressive. Uh so our first action on the consent
agenda will be to accept the annual comprehensive financial report for the year ending December 31st, 2025. Next on the consent agenda is the approver approve I'm sorry approve a waiver of fees for use of the portable
stage by Faith Lutheran Church. Faith Lutheran Church is requesting a waiver of half the fees for use of the portable stage for two summer dates in 2026. The stage fee is $540 per day and the fee covers the cost of stage rental setup and delivery, take down and return and
other related administrative fees. The total cost for the two days would be $1,080. We're looking to wave half the fees. So it' be a total of $540. Faith Lutheran is a very good partner for the city. and we have our open house. Um they allow us to use it use their
parking lot for overflow parking and uh so we are looking to wave half the fee. Um we're looking to wave half of the fees for the stage rental which would be $540. The renter, Faith Lutheran, would also be required to sign an agreement
and provide liability insurance listing the city as an additional insured. Next on the consent agenda is to receive the schedule of electronic payments. Um each council meeting we receive a list of transactions that have taken place
since the previous meeting. So we're looking to receive the schedule of electronic payments from May 14th, 2026 through May 27th, 2026. Uh the fourth item on our consent agenda is to accept the right of entry agreement with Land Co- Investments of
Rapids LLC. At its regular meeting held April 7th, 2026, council approved site plan for a 32 unit assisted living and memory care facility titled Sweet Senior Living for the undeveloped property at 725 96th Avenue Northwest.
The right of entry agreement will allow the city to periodically enter the property to exercise hydrants and valves and flush the water man system. The utility and drainage system within the site are considered private and the property owner will continue to own and maintain these items. This right of
entry agreement simply provides the city the ability to ensure appropriate public safety. So, we're looking to accept the attached right of entry agreement with Landco Investments of Rapids LLC for the 32-unit assisted living and
memory care facility at 725 96th Avenue Northwest. And item six on our agenda, which is the fifth and final item on our consent agenda, is to approve a cooperative agreement for public safety and security
for the 2026 3M Open. The 2026 3M open will be hosted in the city of Blaine from July 20th, 2026 through July 26, 2026. The event and related social events require a significant security
presence. As such, the city of Blaine Police Department has requested assistance from other law enforcement agencies and the attached cooperative agreement outlines the rights and responsibilities of each party and the scheduling for Rapids police officers for security services will only
be done in a manner so as not to impact the safety and security of Rapids. There will also be no impact on the city budget as police expenses will be submitted for reimbursement once the event is over through funds provided by the 3M open. So, we're looking to enter
into the cooperative agreement for public safety and security for the 2026 3M open with the city of Bolain. And that is our consent agenda. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson. >> Motion to accept a consent agenda.
>> Second. Motion by Carlson, a second by Butler. Any discussion? Mr. >> Mayor, um, Council Member Gesler, >> I just want to again congratulate staff on a clean audit report. That's always very good to have and very difficult to achieve a perfectly clean report. So, thank you again for your effort.
>> Exactly the words we want to hear. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Grisco, >> add on to that. Yeah. Uh not only did we have a nice comprehensive report that the staff attained uh but the result from our auditors Clinton Anderson uh was was outstanding. They gave us a clean unmodified report which is
basically the best uh report audit that we could have and I just appreciate the work that the staff has done on behalf of the residents of Rapids to have such a clean report and knowing that everything's in order here in Rapids. >> Absolutely.
>> Anything else? We have a motion and a second on the consent agenda. Any other discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries. >> We are up to the open mic portion of the meeting. Zipped right along. Anybody
here for open mic this evening? Anybody here to address council for open mic? >> All right. We have one open mic report from the last council meeting. Um, Mr. Connor
Olsson, 117XX Elorado Street, appeared before the council to inquire about why the new Minnesota state flag is not flown at city buildings. Um, and whether flying the state flag is a formal policy or an administrative decision, and how many of each type of flag the city has
in its possession. Um, the uh, let's see, well, I might as well just read this only three paragraphs. The new Minnesota state flag was approved in May 2024. At that time, staff conducted an inventory of which buildings were flying the state flag and determined it was only being flown outside city hall.
Prior to any changing of the state flag occurring, the city council requested the matter be discussed at a council work session. The city council then discussed this topic at their work session meeting on November 12th, 2024. Staff communicated to council that there is not a state law requiring cities fly
the state flag. and council was informed that the only building where the state flag was being flown was outside of city hall. After discussion, the city council provided direction to staff to implement the use of a city flag rather than the state flag as that was viewed as an acceptable compromise to flying either
the old or the new flag. Based on council direction, the old state flag was taken down and the city flag was put up. The city is in possession of one old Minnesota state flag and one new Minnesota state flag. Um, no further action recommended by this this time.
And that is our entire council meeting. And we're on to other business. Zipping right along. >> Your honor, >> Council Member Novak. >> Um, I've been on this council since 2022, and this is quite possibly the shortest council meeting that I've ever
been a part of. How about yourself? >> Not trying to set set records. Just get the business done. >> That's right. Too bad the Boy Scouts didn't come to this one. >> That's what they're thinking. Um All right. Well, um Mr. Ericson, I believe, has some activities coming up.
Um we have our first concert in the park this week on Thursday night. The Naked Cowboys. It always makes Council Member Carlson blush, I guess. >> Just a little bit, Mr. Mayor. >> Just a little bit. >> Um followed by the backyard band the next week and then we'll have another council meeting in between there. But,
uh, Pirates Guitars and Beachfront Bars are on the 18th. If you get down there early, like at 5:30, the Northstar Lions is, uh, serving food down there, but that's all done by 7. So, you want to get down there early to eat, and then the Boy Scouts are there selling
popcorns and concessions through the through the concert. We're not going to go through all of them, Mr. Ericson. >> Mr. Mayor, >> there we go. Council member Carlson. >> And parking fees are waved, too, on those nights. So, it's real it's a real nice night. It's a It's a great partnership with the Oaka County Parks,
right? They wave the parking fees, so you can just drive into the park and >> Yeah. >> enjoy a nice concert, walk around the park a little bit. It's a good night. >> Bring a lawn chair. All right. Um, next Tuesday night is our first summer meeting in the park from
6:30 to 8 at Crooked Lake Park. Um, it is a great opportunity to meet with staff, to meet with your elected officials. if you have any questions about what's going on in the city. Um, and if you don't have questions, just come and be informed. There's, uh, all the departments have tables set up and
you can learn about recreation on wreck on the spot, sustainability, public works. U, police is there, fire is there with ice cream. Why does why does fire always have to buy their love? They give out ice cream and water, whereas the
police, they just serve and protect. Yeah. Um, but it's a it's a great opportunity and it's at Crooked Lake Park which is a beautiful park and that's usually a pretty well attended event. >> Um, is there anything else, Mr. Eric, or
does that kind of cover it? >> Yeah, >> we're good. All right. >> Any other business to come before council this evening? >> Mr. Council member Butler, >> you know, I I just want to do a quick shout out to some students at Rapids High School. I know a lot of us
today got to attend the civil engineering and architecture classes, final projects. A lot of the projects were around redevelopment across Rapids. And some of these were just fantastic projects. Like I I got to see four presentations. I know all of us were at different tables. And they were
just really thoughtful projects, especially for high school students who are just kind of getting an understanding of what does the city do, what does redevelopment or city codes look like? And I I just thought it was a great event and I wanted to thank the high school for inviting all of us. It was it was a really well done event
and I will tell you what it gave you nothing but encouragement with today's youth >> and uh very sharp um clearly from our group there's a need for basketball courts in town indoor basketball courts >> um but uh yeah it was very well done
they didn't tell us how they were going to pay for it but uh >> um yeah and uh thank uh Mr. Miller for inviting us. >> Yeah. Very well. All right. Anything else to come before council this evening? >> Motion to adjourn. Second.
>> Motion by Butler, second by Carlson to adjourn. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> We're adjourned.