[Music] remember? I don't remember cuz I was gone. >> I know. >> Good evening and welcome to the Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, September 2nd, 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 member >> here. >> Council member Butler >> here. >> Council member Novak. >> Council member Gisler >> here. >> Council member Armstrong >> here. >> Council member Carlson >> here. >> Mayor Cook >> here. >> One absent Novak. >> All right. Very good. Thank you. Why
don't we adopt this evening's agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Geisler and a second by Butler. Is there any discussion or corrections? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. And that motion carries. The
adopt the budget. The not the budget. >> The agenda is adopted. >> On my mind, too. >> A couple weeks off. You got to retrain me, man. All right. Um, let's start with uh the fire department citizen
recognition awards. Um, Chief Piper, mayor, council, thank you for allowing me to speak. My part is very brief. Uh, basically, we're going to give out a couple of citizen recognition awards. A couple individuals were working in a neighborhood when a cry for help went out, and these two gentlemen stepped up.
And, uh, with that said, uh, Captain Joe Gotwell from our fire department is going to take it from here. All right. Good evening. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Uh it's my pleasure to stand before you tonight for this uh on behalf of the city of Rapids to rem uh to
recognize two remarkable individuals. Um on July 31st of this year, these citizens were faced with an unexpected emergency like we had said before. Um in that critical moment, they acted with speed, courage, and selflessness. and their actions reflect the very best of
what it means to be a neighbor, a friend, and a member of this community. Uh tonight, we proudly present the citizen recognition award to Tom and Tyson. And on behalf of the city of CR Rapids, uh thank you for reminding us all of the power of uh courage and
compassion and action. So, please join me in recognizing their extraordinary efforts and then we'll have the mayor present you with some certificates. Captain, will we be getting any details of this or not? >> Um, I suppose we can a little bit. Um,
>> I mean, usually we get just a little bit of an understanding of what happened. >> So, basically, Tom and Tyson were working the area doing some locating stuff and they heard some screams a couple blocks over and instead of just uh standing there and doing their thing, they ran over and they um helped gain
access into a home and kind of help with a personal crisis. >> Okay, good. Good enough. Good. Thank you very much for that. stuff. Hoping I grabbed the right one. >> I was halfway there. All right, we have a citizen recognition
award presented presented to Tyson Holland. On behalf of the Kunter Rapids Fire Department, you are hereby recognized with the citizen recognition award in honor of your outstanding and courageous actions during a medical emergency on July 31st, 2025. Your quick thinking,
selfless response, and willingness to assist in a time of crisis are a true testament to the values of compassion and community. Your efforts serve as an inspiring example of how we can all care for one another in moments of need. Thank you, Tom, for your remarkable
actions and commitment to helping others. [Applause] [Applause] It's awfully quiet waiting for me to walk back, I guess. All right. Um, okay. Well, we have another
presentation from Alina Health and I saw Oh, Chief >> Mayor Council, I'm going to just start this out and turn over the uh mic. Uh >> okay. >> As you know, our police and fire department along with our partners at Allian Transportation respond to thousands of uh medical EMS type calls
in a year. Uh some of them are nothing more than a lift assist, which is pretty easy to do and pretty basic. Others like such as a cardiac arrest uh is a big deal. in order for that person to survive, in other words, come home from the hospital mentally and physically intact, a lot of things happen have to
happen correctly in the right order uh uh for that to to be a reality. Uh I'm happy to uh to tell you tonight that what you're going to hear about tonight is one of those cases that there was a cardiac arrest in a residential home and that individual went home mentally and physically intact. A big part of that is
is that we talk about the uh chain of survival and a lot of things have to happen in order for the person to uh to make it. And with that uh we're uh privileged tonight to have Dr. Joey Duran. She's our medical director from Alina. And she's going to say a little bit about uh what that's all about. Dr.
Dur. >> Awesome. >> Thank you. Thank you for having me. Um first of all, uh we are honored at Alina that we get to have such great community partners that work alongside us. It's really the teamwork uh from law
enforcement to um fire um and then us getting on scene that can really work together that really increases the survivability from something like this. Um even within the first uh four minutes um we really can have a quite substantial survivability and then every
minute after that it significantly decreases. So having uh first responders get on scene and that are actually trained and have um been supported in that effort to do training equipment with AEDs. Uh Lucas devices, that's the
mechanical CPR device. um all of that. I thank you for um investing in your community because like I said, without that and without the um swift response from our first responder agencies, um we wouldn't have uh the outcomes that we
have. So, thank you and thank you to everybody here. >> Thank you, Dr. Duran. now uh to do the to say a few more words and to actually make the presentations. Brent Baker is with Alina also of course and he's an
EMS operations supervisor. So Brent, big stack of plaques here. Mr. Mayor, city council members, citizens of Rapids, friends and family, thank you for this invitation to the council meeting tonight. Uh as the chief said, my name is Brent Baker. I'm
one of the senior supervisors, EMS supervisors at Alina EMS. I'm here tonight to recognize the amazing work of our police officers, deputies, firefighters, and paramedics. On May 23rd, responders were called to a residence on 132nd Avenue for a cardiac
arrest. It was about midafter afternoon, and police and deputies quickly arrived, determined that the person was not breathing, had no pulse. life-saving efforts were started. The fire department arrived shortly after um acting as a a resuscitation force
multiplier, right? And and in these cardiac arrest events, the more hands we can we can have on hand, the better. Uh the fire department arrived and uh continued CPR used their automated CPR device, the Lucas machine. Um our
paramedics uh arrived providing u those advanced life support measures. The person regained consciousness, was brought to a local hospital, and I'm happy to share that they made a full recovery and were discharged a few days later.
As emergency responders, we're invited into people's lives to bear witness to their best days and their worst days. And on this day, for this patient and the family, it was a little bit of both.
with that. For most 911 calls, our public safety responders really don't get a lot of followup. They don't necessarily find out what happened, if they made it. But in this case, as the chief and uh Dr. Durn said, everything went perfectly
and life was saved. With that in mind, I'm proud to present these life-saving awards to the responders who answered the call that day. And there were a lot. Bear with me for a minute here while we
get some of these out. Yes, please. Should be in there. Starting with Deputy Lauren 6 of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office. Come on. [Applause]
[Applause] Deputy Peter Grover of the Ina County Sheriff's Office. [Applause]
Next up, Sergeant Joe Newfield of the Crew Rap. [Applause] Next up from Rapids Police Department, Officer Tara Breny. [Applause] [Applause]
Next up, paramedic Sydney Fitzpatrick from Alina Health EMS. [Applause] >> Next up, paramedic Paul Connealy from
Atlanta Health EMS. [Applause] back over here. We got >> I'm gonna have to change this one because there was a promotion that I uh was not aware of. Uh so we'll get that
fixed. Next up, Captain Joe Gotwalt of the Cougar Rapids Fire Department. [Applause] >> And Joe, did you notice how many more details we got with us? >> He's been on the job like two days,
guys. Firefighter Greg Wester. [Applause] >> We'll get it to him. We will get it to
him. Firefighter Jason Poof, Rapids Fire Department. [Applause] Firefighter Jacob Nland from the Kun
Rapids Fire Department. [Applause] All right. One more. And there's been another change since this has occurred, too. Last, but certainly not least, retired Captain Shannon Mowan of the Rapids Fire
Department. [Applause] Thank you for letting me hijack your uh your meeting for a few minutes. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> All right,
this is all fun stuff. Next item. Chief Steiner. [Laughter] All right. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, it's good to see you tonight. As you may recall, uh, Captain
Madson retired at the end of May after over 30 years of service to the community, and I actually see him back there. >> Um, good to see you. Looks like we've dusted off a lot of captains. happens. But no, Brady, you don't get paid for
being here tonight. That of course creates the need for a new captain and subsequently a new sergeant. We're fortunate to have had numerous great candidates, but after a competitive process, we've made two promotions and I'm excited to be here tonight to introduce the two newest
members of our leadership team to the council and to the community. And they are supposed to be up here with me. Busy night over here.
First, I'll introduce uh Sergeant Autumn Nelson, who's our newest sergeant. Autumn u has a bachelor of science degree in biology from the uh St. Cloud State University and an occupational certificate in law enforcement from Metro State University. We hired her as
a patrol officer in on August 27th of 2007. She was promoted to detective and assigned to Northdale Middle School in 2013. And in 2015, she took an assignment in general investigations as a detective and has spent the last two years uh as our dedicated autotheft
investigator. Uh in a few moments, Sergeant Nelson's daughter, Noren, is going to be coming up and pinning her sergeants badge on. I think she's going to get some some support from uh the rest of the family. The whole Nelson crew is here. Truman,
Leighton, Ellison, and husband Martin, who some of you may recognize as uh one of the captains of our Rapids Fire Department. So, he gets to go home to a hero every night. [Laughter] Next, I'd like to uh introduce Captain
Troy Highland. Uh Troy's family's here tonight. Uh part of his family is here tonight. His wife Kelly and daughter Bella are here. Sophia and Ben couldn't be here. Uh Troy's has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Winona State
University. Next week starts at the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command. Troy comes to us from the New Brighton Police Department where he started his police career in 2000. In 2016, we hired him here as a Rapids police officer, promoted him to sergeant
in 2021, and he's most recently promoted to captain in June, and uh currently is leading our patrol division. Additionally, Troy has served his country for over 33 years in the military. Uh first in the US Navy, then the Army National Guard, and he's
currently in the United States Army Reserves. He holds the rank of major. Uh, so he kind of gets a little bit of a demotion when he comes to the this job. And Troy's been deployed in service of his country three times. In a few moments, as I said, Troy's daughter,
Bella, will be coming up to pin his badge on. So to our newly promoted officer or our newly promoted sergeant and captain, I just want to congratulate you both on this accomplishment. There are a lot of excellent candidates in both of these processes and these decisions are really tough and the
processes are really tough and you've certainly earned this and you and your family should be very proud of you guys. To the council, uh you know that we've become a really young police department in the last 5 years. I also want you to know that you should rest easy knowing that the Rapids Police Department
cupboards are really full with promising future leaders. It's a really good problem to have, but I don't envy the next person who will be making promotions when I'm gone. So, with that, I'd like to invite the Nelson family up first. If you guys will step up here and
newly promoted Sergeant Nelson will come out, get you guys the right badge. [Applause] Well done. Oh, stay up there. Mayor's gonna come
and >> raise your right hand, please. All right. I, Autumn Nelson, do solemnly swear >> I, Autumn Nelson, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of
Minnesota >> and the Constitution of the United of Minnesota >> and discharge faithfully >> and discharge faithfully >> the duties of a police sergeant >> the duties of a police sergeant >> for the city of Rapids >> for the city of Rapids >> in the county of Anoka >> in the county of Anoka
>> and state of Minnesota >> and state of Innesota >> to the best of my judgment and ability. >> to the best of my judgment and ability.
[Applause] Right. And next we'll have uh Captain Highland step forward and his daughter Bella. [Music]
Please raise your right hand. I, Troy Highland, do solemnly swear >> I, Troy Highland, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of Minnesota >> and the Constitution of the State of Minnesota
>> and discharge faithfully >> and discharge faithfully >> the duties of a police captain >> the duties of a police captain >> for the city of Rapids >> for the city of Rapids >> in the county of Anoka >> and the county of Anoka >> and state of Minnesota >> and state of Minnesota. To the best of
my judgment and ability. >> to the best of my judgment and ability. [Applause] All right, for those that came out tonight to support Troy and Autumn. Thank you for coming. We appreciate it. I know they do. Uh we can all step out
into the lobby and do some pictures and congratulations. And uh if anybody wants to come back in after the meeting or after the pictures, you're certainly welcome to. It's you don't have to save your seat or anything though. Thank you to the council. Appreciate it. Awesome.
>> Thanks, Chief. Thanks, Chief. >> Thanks, Captain. Thanks, Sergeant. [Applause] That's where everybody leaves. >> Yep. The active. >> We'll see how this goes. We got a couple bets going on the overunder for how many are left. >> Okay.
I think it might be >> actually You guessed four, Peter. That was good. >> That was close. >> Okay, everyone. >> All right, I think we're back. >> Um, next item on our agenda is approval of the minutes of the August 19th
meeting. >> Motion to approve the minutes, Mr. Mayor. >> Second. Motion by Carlson, a second by Armstrong. Is there any discussion or corrections hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. And those minutes are approved. We have four items on the
consent agenda this evening. The first is um oh it's first is just the it's to receive the schedule of electronic payments from August 14, 2025 through August 27th, 2025.
This is a list of electronic payments processed since the last council meeting. The next item on our agenda is to approve the waiver of the fireworks display license fee for Rapids Community Strength Foundation. Uh Community Strength Foundation has submitted an application to conduct a
fireworks display as part of the holiday treelighting event being held at Boulevard Park on December 13, 2025. The foundation has requested this in prior years for other events and the council has granted the waiver. So, we're looking to approve a waiver of a $125
license fee for fireworks display as part of the holiday tree lighting event being held at Boulevard Park on December 13th, 2025. Um, next item on the consent agenda is to approve the final payment to Corrective
Asphalt Materials LLC for project 25-12 Reclamite Maintenance and approval of changes and final payment to Correct Corrective Asphalt
Materials LLC in the amount of $323,8164 project 25-12. 12 Reclamite Maintenance. And the fourth and final item on our consent agenda is to approve a final payment to Asixen's Services
Incorporated for project 24-3, miscellaneous trail reconstruction. Um the changes to the contract were for quant quantity adjustments from the original bid and the work was substantially completed before the contract completion deadline. Um, and the additional time required for final
completion was for concrete and turf seating repairs. So, we're looking to approve a change order and final payment to Asixen Services Incorporated in the amount of $9,97253 for project 24-3
miscellaneous trail reconstruction. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Butler, >> I move we adopt the consent agenda as listed. >> Second. >> Second. Motion by Butler and a second by Carlson. Is there any questions or discussion? >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Gesler, >> all I'm going to say is uh make sure you
come and see those fireworks on December 13th. They're they're a blast and it's a really fun event. So, put it on your calendar now. You got some time to plan. >> It's It's turning into quite a fireworks show. >> I know. It's great. >> Good stuff.
>> All right. Any other discussion or questions? Consent. All right. We have a motion and a second. And all in favor signify by saying I. I >> I opposed and the consent agenda is adopted. Um item nine this evening
uh is to consider resolution 25. It's in planning case 25-8. We're considering resolution 25-92 approving a planned unit development Costco wholesale 12547 Riverdale Boulevard and 12519 Riverdale Boulevard.
So, Mr. Behinger, I take it TGI Fridays is not coming back. >> I don't believe so, Mr. Mayor. >> All right, Mr. Mayor, uh council members, I have before you tonight a Costco PUD. Um this was heard before the
planning commission um who recommended approval. So just a quick overview here. Um as Mr. Mayor alluded to, um the TJ Fridays is planned to be demolished. Um Costco is looking to purchase that
parcel and combine it with their lot in order to enlarge their gas facility at that location. And so they'd be moving their gas facility from the northeast corner of their lot to the new spot in the southwest corner. Um expanding it from 10 to 20 pumps and with the overall
goals of improving gas operations, reducing traffic congestion, eliminating backups on Northdale, which we all know is a problem right now, and provide effective screening of the new fuel facility. So here is that site plan. Um that top
circle is the current location of the gas facility. That'll be replaced with 128 new parking spaces. Um and then that lower circle is the new gas facility. We'll zoom in here. That's what that is proposed to look like. Um they will access via the same driveway that TJ
Fridays used to access there. So nothing changing there, but it is turning into a right in out with a dedicated right turn lane on Riverdale Boulevard. Little zoom in to those nice new 128 parking spaces up there.
This is what the canopy is proposed to look like. I I think we've all um seen this. This is pretty typical on um Costco sites um around the nation. The applicant was nice enough to provide us some nice um renderings of what the
screening will look like. So, here's from Main Street. You can see before and after there. Another one from Main Street and then a final one from Riverdale Boulevard as you're turning into the gas
facility. So, a little bit about the gas expansion and the traffic analysis. Um, what we have here is the current um fuel facility with the 10 pumps. It services 20 vehicles right now in Q's 23 on a um
typical Saturday midday peak um with for a total of 43 vehicles. And as I said before, this causes a lot of congestion on Northip Boulevard. What is proposed is 20 pumps servicing 40 vehicles and at midday peak queuing
around 15 vehicles for a total of 55. This will ease that congestion on Northdale Boulevard and allow Costco to service the current peak demand more efficiently. Um, similar expansion projects that they brought up in their traffic analysis around the country have
experienced around a 30 to 75% reduction in peak cues and weight times. So, this new site is built to accommodate up to 84 vehicles, which is three times more than what they're expected to need on a on a typical Saturday. And this is really to build in
some flexibility for um surges due to non-reoccurring events, weekend holiday travel, um etc. Zooming in a little bit here on that right turn lane into the gas facility. This is kind of built in to maximize
efficient driveway entrance movements and reduce any chances of backups onto Main Street. We are also seeing a proposed um turnaround lane in the existing roundabout. This was recommended in a previous 2018 study by SRF that the city
had done of the whole area. And that study said it would um result in uh more more utilization along Riverdale Boulevard as well as reduce volume conflicts at the north Costco approach.
Once again, that roundabout shown here as a truck moves through it. So, you can see it's it's well designed to handle um a full-size truck easily getting through. And just to kind of hit that point home, this is a excerpt from that 2018 study
from SRF kind of showing a rut a rough sketch of that roundabout. Um you'll see here that it's uh the northern section and the southern section both show a through lane, but it was um noted there that the southern one does
not provide as much benefit and thus should not be considered. So they just went with the northern lane for the turnaround. And with that, in planning case 25-8, uh staff recommends that the city council adopt resolution number 25-92
approving the proposed plan unit development with these following six conditions. Thank you. And we do have the applicant here with their um traffic engineer as well for any questions. >> That's what messed me up. We're trying
to decide how many were here from Costco and they weren't sitting together. Um, questions for Mr. Behringer. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Carlson, >> just one quick question, sir. >> Beher, I probably missed it. Um, currently we have 20 spaces for fueling
and how many spaces for the queue right now? >> And go back to that slide, council member. >> No, probably right in front of me. >> Yep. No, no worries. That is your existing condition right now. So, 23 queued, 20 vehicles served currently. Thank you. >> Yep.
>> Mr. >> I'm sure I've seen more than 23 kilos. >> Council member Geyser. >> Mr. Bridger, uh, could you go over why we're using a PUD here instead of just allowing them to adjust their site as needed? >> Yes, great question, uh, council
members. So, a PUD specifies this use to just this um, property. We did consider opening up the use to the entire Riverdale district um, Riverdale Shopping District. Um but we thought it it would be most appropriate just to include it here since it's an existing
um facility and expanding it seems to make sense at this location. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. >> Council I think I'm to understand that if we would have done that may have opened up some unintended consequences. >> That's correct.
>> That's correct. Yeah. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Bearinger? >> Mr. Mayor >> Council Grisco, >> I don't know if the question is for our community development or for the applicant, but I'd like to maybe understand that the traffic queuing and
the traffic flow a little bit better. You mentioned right in right out off of the main road. So, is that designed that cars will come in and out of that right and they're not going to try to get through the parking lot and wind up over by Best Buy and come back or I would
just like to see how that traffic is designed to flow. Yeah, I'll I'll turn it over to the applicant. They've got >> a few slides um for >> I think any way you look at it, we're going to improve the traffic flow off of Northdale for sure. That's been a
problem since the beginning, but I just wanted to see here. >> Good evening, mayor, city council members. My name is Larry Gerjek. I'm a Costco real estate manager representing Costco Wholesale tonight. Uh we're really excited to be here tonight and Kurt did a great job explaining and
highlighting all the main points of of our proposal. Um with me tonight is Adam Bergdolf. He's our national traffic consultant throughout the country and he can probably address uh your question. So I'll turn it over to Adam. Would you like a slide, Adam?
>> Yes. I'm gonna I'm gonna step back. Uh so Adam Bergoff KDson and Associates, 143 North Woodland Boulevard, Dillian, Florida. Um I'm gonna step back. We've got a K had a really great graphic here showing the overall site um here.
>> Okay. >> Okay. So um couple of considerations with um moving the the gas um that I'd like to highlight and then I'll I'll answer your question directly. Um so the the ga the existing fuel location is
serviced by a directional median opening here on Northdale Boulevard. Um in conjunction with this moving of the gas, we are also proposing a red and red out driveway just north of the where the existing gas is that is intended to
remove some traffic from the um the directional median opening just south of there. Uh and hopefully to make that a much safer condition. Uh we are very fully aware, Larry and I talked about this when we first started contemplating the site. Um that that left turn in right into the back of the existing
queue, it's not as organized as we would like to put it politely. Um and so safety is the main motivator for this. And so by moving it down to Riverdale Boulevard, um we are reducing traffic at that left turn. Uh reducing traffic from
Northdale Boulevard as well. in in addition to not only reducing it, we're we're still diffusing it a little bit by having that additional driveway on Northdale. Uh so coming in to the um the the proposed access with uh Riverdale. Um as you can see, we proposed an
additional right turn delane to help uh exiting vehicles have better understanding of of of who's going where. You know, the right turning vehicles, they they know that they're turning right. they can now uh maneuver out to um to to make their turn and and
head north or and then come back south in the um uh proposed U-turn lane that we are um implementing as part of SRF's uh recommendation to the city within that circular intersection. I've got a
graphic that I'm um going to pull up as well that highlights that a little bit. Uh, one addition that we have to that that that lane that's being added, the U-turn lane is um in the SRF concept did not have a dedicated uh deceleration lane. We're
we're we're adding that with hopes that again it'll help to sort out traffic a little bit more, make, you know, have drivers have appropriate expectation of what's going on up there. So, we think we've improved upon SRF. Now, back to your original question, um the drivers
will, I believe, um come into the Riverdale driveway by the gas. Um what we find with our data is that, you know, typically anywhere between 30 to 40% certain sites uh will get gas before um going and doing their Costco shop. So,
it's a significant amount of traffic that would want to get their gas and then do their Costco shop. So, they will use that driveway most heavily um and then and then find a place within the parking field as is. Um there are opportunities for other vehicles coming
from the south to filter in or they can continue on up to the hallway stop control intersection near the GameStop on the northwest corner and then filter in that way as well. Adam, that uh new right in right out on the norththeast corner on Northdale.
Um that actually that's something that SRF recommended in their study, wasn't it? >> I believe they had access up there. I I think >> it it seemed when I looked at at the planning commission, I thought I think that's what SRF recommended. Then >> we we tried to emulate as as many of
their um recommendations as as we could. However, I think it is a little bit different. There was a proposed full access driveway, I believe, up there. Okay. >> Um just a little bit further north, but with the grade coming down, we did not feel that that was appropriate. >> Yeah. No, this looks good. >> Well, and it really wasn't possible for
you to do that with your with the gas there anyway, I don't think. But >> Mr. Mayor, Council Member Grisco, >> to that to that point, is is Northell is that a an Oka County road right there or is that uh within our domain? And I'm
just wondering if uh Anoka County is going to authorize that. >> Council member Gosco, that is a city. >> Okay. Okay. >> I guess I did not notice that right turn lane being added to the site as well. So, um I'm not sure if we looked at turn
lane for that additional turn lane or was that just to eat up an existing lane of traffic for any right turning movements coming southbound on Northdale or is there going to be a right turn lane into that as well? at this location. We're not proposing a right turn lane into the site.
>> That might be >> Excuse me. >> Go ahead. >> You're coming right down from a hill there without a right turn lane. Might be something we want to look at. Um the other point going back to my question on traffic flow. You mentioned that 30% of your customers will probably take that
right turn in off Riverdale, get gas, and then maybe 30% of them will park in uh in the parking lot and then do their shopping. the other uh 60% or more, how are they going to filter out from that gas station? Do they go back out onto
Riverdale Boulevard and then use the roundabout? Is that the concept or >> I'm just We We don't have a lot of room between Main Street and your access point on Riverdale. We've had a lot I just saw today there was people backed
up all the way to Main Street uh through the the the Menard's parking ramp to get into that gas station. So, we're not I don't want to cause any impact on the main street. >> Sure. And so, um they they are intended
to exit uh via the the right and right out likely one of the uh driveways that they would enter from. Um, that's part of the reason that we are proposing that U-turn lane uh though is to u make that a um a relatively easy movement for
vehicles to make. We've done a level of service analysis. It is um shown to operate well. We actually micro simulated it. Did a video we looked at the video from a simulation. It's a it's an 10 different simulation runs with different random number factors to see are there any
conflicts there. there. And that's actually part of the reason that we ended up proposing the northbound right turn lane into there. Um because we saw that that actually reduced some of the friction of the outbound movement at that intersection. Um currently at the allway stop controlled intersection and
the PM peak hour, there's about 30 Uturns that are occurring there today. On Saturday, that number is 70. >> Um at an always stop controlled intersection with a very narrow median. Um that's a very difficult movement to make for a larger SUV um of sorts. And
um we believe that this um movement that was demonstrated in one of the slides to accommodate a pumper truck, firet truck um would be a much better uh scenario. >> I like that much better. I make that with my big SUV all the time. >> Yeah, definitely nice that those quas
roundabouts might actually be a roundabout. Can I continue on with one more question, Mr. there. So, when the uh customer exits the fuel pump, takes a right on Northdale Boulevard, they might want to take that roundabout or what I'll call a roundabout to get back onto
Main Street. Is there going to be any safety issue with their visibility looking left if you've got a turn lane of cars that are queued up right there because they got to jump over two lanes to get over into that roundabout. That's precisely why we did the simulation analysis for this is to make
sure that that vehicles have aren't aren't secondguing and they're not you know we were observing 10 different simulations in the in Saturday peak hour um so that they could are there any strange movements happening and what we saw there adequate gaps given actually
right right now the the proximity to Main Street is actually doing us a favor being closer to that signal allows for more uh gaps in that intersection and then us pulling the right turn inbound traffic out into their exclusive lane. Actually makes a sight triangle a little bit better for those vehicles. Um they
can tell who's turning versus who's going straight, navigate that gap, and then make that that maneuver. >> Excellent. I'm glad to hear that there's been that much analysis done on this because there's a lot of other businesses uh in this area that we don't want to have uh in adversely or
adversely impacted with this. >> That's all I have. >> Very good, Mr. Butler. Yeah, I I just wanted to say I I think this is a fantastic plan. I I routinely drive that exact route. I turn right on to Riverdale. I go up to that intersection. I do a U-turn in a Civic, so it's a
little easier. I I see trucks and SUVs almost wipe out every Saturday that my wife or I go to Costco. I I think this would be an enormous improvement for safety. It's more convenient to have the more stations. And thank you for the wonderful report. >> All right. Anybody else?
>> Mr. Mayor Council member Geyser. >> So, uh, in general, I think this is a much better layout that the the whole north side there is always really difficult to flow in and out even for folks who aren't going to Costco, if you want to go to Best Buy, if you want to go to the sporting goods, like there just isn't a good way to get in there
when you're dealing with all the traffic that you guys are generating for folks coming to stop in because all the spots are pretty hard to get into. And when the gas stations back up that northale entrance from any direction is difficult. Um to I think Mr. Mr. Hmer's
point um and looking just a little bit at the maps, I think that right in right out might need a short turn lane in um that's given the turn, it could be a little bit of a blind coming around that corner and somebody could be going 40, 45, 50 or more where they shouldn't be
and try somebody's slowing down trying to make that first right turn in. I think we might want them out of the through lane. Um, so I think that might be a worthwhile consideration. Um, past this >> on Northdale. >> On Northdale? Yes, on Northdale. That
that the far north the the new right in right out there um for southbound traffic on Northdale. I think that's that's a potentially risky condition there fender or rear end. Um, as much as uh to the to the point about um the
roundabout there, I'm not I'm not a super fan of crossing two lanes of traffic to get there. However, I think you've made it as good as it can be uh given with what we have and I think that will actually alleviate a lot of the traffic that's at that angled front road up by GameStop there. Um that is a very
difficult triangle to negotiate with the amount of traffic, especially on a weekend. >> So, I think overall this should improve the traffic flow in almost every single entrance to your site. Uh so, I think that's great. I also like the fact that folks could come in, get gas, and just zip right out and not have to experience
the entire parking space if they don't need to. Um, which is safer for pedestrians, safer for shoppers, safer for pe people driving, like all the way around. Um, so overall, it's a great site improvement. I just think the one thing we could look at is a right turn lane from that southbound northtale on
that north one uh to make sure we don't end up with a fender bender as somebody's trying to come in there at 10 miles an hour and someone's zipping up behind them on that kind of blindish right uh coming down the hill. But uh yeah, all all in all this is a a great improvement for making this site flow
better for a very busy place. Thank you, >> Mr. Mayor. Council member Carlson, >> quick question for Mr. Hammer. We've been talking about that that right turn lane now on south, you know, southbound north. As you're looking at it, quick view, would you see any problems right now as you're looking at it with the right turn lane?
>> Uh, council member Carlson. Yeah, I I was I see this very briefly. You know, Mark handles a lot of the the development review stuff. All the focus was over by the gas pumps. I was not aware that a new um access point was was put there. I'm guessing it's probably not in the engineering comments, but I
think um we may want to look at that. Well, we certainly should look at that as part of the permitting side because as you all mentioned coming around that corner, coming down the hill, um we're just adding another spot and if we're reducing that lane now and you have to now watch out for what's coming in front
of you around that corner, uh I think a right turn lane of some size may be beneficial. And I I think we'd like to review that as part of the building permit and and work our way through that. If if that's a condition we want to add with the engineering comments, I
think that would be a wise one. Okay, Mr. Buchoni, you prepared to give us a a subject two here or a additional condition? >> I think Mr. Himemer adding it as an engineering comment is probably wise. That's where it fits best and just
consider it an amended engineering comment because, you know, that is his department. >> Okay. >> All right. And it seems like we're going to get this gas station moved a lot quicker than we got your liquor up at that
store. I'll tell you that. >> That took us a long time. >> Can't speak to that one. >> They're all shifting going, "What?" >> Um, all right. Well, somebody want to uh >> get back to this. >> Sorry. Jump the gun there, Mr. Mayor.
>> Oh, go ahead, Council Member Carlson. >> Mr. Riconei, just to double check, do we need to add to this motion to cover that? >> I don't believe so. I' I'd suggest we That is an engineering comment and one of the conditions is to address the engineering comments. >> All right. With that, Mr. Mayor, make a
motion to adopt resolution number 25-92 approving the proposed plan unit development with the following conditions. Number one, 12547 Riverdale Boulevard and 12519 Riverdale Boulevard be combined. Two, all engineering and fire comments be addressed. Three, the
applicant enter into a development agreement with the city. Four, the applicant enter into a site security agreement with the city. Five, a right of entry agreement be established between the city and property owner. All signage is subject to separate sign permits. >> Second.
>> So, a motion by Carlson, a second by Butler. Um, do you see any do you see any issues if it comes up with the engineering says we want a right turn lane up there? Yeah, great place. >> Sorry, Adam. It would have been a good
question while you were standing there. I guess >> no worries at all. Um, we will have to look at the grade at that at location to see if that is uh feasible from an engineering perspective. I know the analysis that we completed within our study did not include a right turn lane from an operational perspective, but I understand the safety benefits
associated with a that you've described today. Um, so I think we'd have to take a look with our site civil and understand, you know, if there's any engineering constraints to that and we can >> Okay, sounds good. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. Do we have a further discussion? >> Mr. Mayor,
>> council member Carlson. >> Yeah, those folks in Southbound Northdale, if they're going by, you know, abiding by the speed limit, not probably that big of a problem, but they don't, >> right? So yeah, they they do fly over there and uh yeah, anything we can do to alleviate that uh that crazy congestion
on Northdale Boulevard at Costco and and over by GameStop and there Yeah, I have a little concern too as far as the cutting over by two lanes to get that roundabout belt, but for the benefit that we're achieving on Northdale Boulevard and by GameStop, to me, it's worth the trade-off. >> Yeah. Well, and there's and there's like
no plan B over there on Riverdale Boulevard. There's just no room to make that anymore. >> All right. Any other discussion hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. >> And the motion carries.
>> Thank you very much. Thanks for everything, >> Mr. Hammer. We're going to leave it up to you. All right. Item 10 in planning case 25-9. We're going to consider an introduction of an ordinance amending
the use table and creating LDR3 district and standards city code 11-601 and 11-607. All right, >> Mr. Per. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council members, I have before you tonight a request to introduce an ordinance
amending uh 11-601, which are the um allowed uses in the residential districts and creating 11-607, which would be a new single family residential zoning district within the lowdensity residential land use designation in the comp plan. Um so this would be the LDR3
zoning district. And this was discussed at a work session. So, I'll go over some of the highlevel points and some of the minor changes that were made to the proposal between the work session and today. Um, but what would be proposed would be the creation of an LDR3 zoning district. No properties would
immediately be asked to be reszoned to LDR3 um as part of this ordinance, but we would be creating the LDR3 zoning district to have in our back pocket for u future infill development to potentially be reszoned um to this this zoning designation. And what this would
allow would be uh only single family residential uses but at a somewhat higher density than is allowed in LDR2 at a smaller lot width, smaller slightly smaller lot depth. Um and then with slightly closer setbacks than is allowed in LDR2. Um and staff believed this
would be beneficial for certain infill lots that already have constraints that are already small, oddly shaped um things like that where um smaller lots may uh be more feasible. So, what's being proposed is a 7,200 square foot minimum lot area, 60 foot minimum lot
width, and 120 foot minimum lot depth. These would be minima. So, any um proposed development in the LDR3 district would still be allowed to be larger than those, but that would be a new minimum lower than what's currently allowed in LDR2. On top of that, what's
being proposed is an increase uh compared to LDR2. is this isn't a change to LDR2 that's being proposed, just an increase compared to LDR2 of lot coverage from 30% to 50%. Um, front yard setbacks to be uh generally 25 ft
instead of 35 ft. Same with rear yard setbacks, street sideyard setbacks to be 15 feet instead of 20 feet and interior sideyard setbacks to be 7 and 1/2 ft instead of 10 feet. Um, one other change that's being proposed would be um to add
the uh correlary that any living space directly above an attached garage uh may conform to the attached garage sideyard setback. This would eliminate um a home design where there's living space directly above an attached garage from having to be set back 2.5 more feet than
the garage, thus creating kind of an awkward hip between the living space and the garage. Um, so this is something that was added in between the work session today by planning staff in response to um what seemed to be an increase in uh homes designed such that there are living spaces over the garage
um in more recent developments. Um so going over the density very briefly. Um so no uh development would ever be developed at the maximum density mathematically possible uh for a zoning district because streets, storm water
ponding, larger lots um due to culde-sacs, lot constraints, corner lots would always reduce the maximum density allowed. Um but just showing how what's being proposed would fit into the comprehensive plan. And so low density residential land use designation in the
comprehensive plan allows for 3 to five units per acre. Um what's being proposed here would um theoretically mathematically allow up to six units per acre. However, no development would ever have that many units an acre. And because of the comp plan um being maxed
out at five units an acre, no development would be allowed to be up to six units an acre. But what this shows is that the LDR3 zoning district would um create the allowance for um small enough lots to to fit comfortably within that 3 to 5 unit an acre designation.
And that's in contrast to LDR2 which has a maximum of four units an acre um allowed within that zoning district and LDR1 which has a maximum of under three units an acre. Um, so I'd be happy to clarify any of this if any of the council members have questions on what I'm discussing here, but I did just want
to briefly go over the density and how that fits into the comprehensive plan. Um, so there are some adjacent cities that do have similar districts, and we did talk about this at the work session. It's primarily Brooklyn Park and Andover that have existing districts with similar um similar standards to the
proposed LDR3 district. And there are also subdivisions within Rapids that have similar um lot sizes, lot areas, widths, and setbacks to what's being proposed. All of them are within PUDS, however. So, they were all approved separately and and not within a specific zoning district allowing this.
Um so, one example, Eager to States, um has uh lots with a lot area uh bottoming out at around 7,600 and 60 foot lot widths. And then just a look at what it looks like on the ground over at Eager Estates. And then um I also took a look
at North Fork Meadows which is a recent development in the last 5 years in Ramsey which has smaller lot areas and widths and is being proposed. So 50 foot lot widths, 5 foot side setbacks and 7,000 square foot lots just to take a look at what it would look like. So this is denser than what's being proposed for
LDR3, but just to look at some recent development that kind of fits into that general density. Um and then a couple other differences um from LDR2 that were not discussed at the work session. I discussed the living space over the garage exception. Um and then there are some variable setback options uh allowed
in the LDR2 district that would be removed from this district. The setbacks are generally considered to be um close enough to the lot lines here that no exceptions to those setback requirements would be needed like they are currently allowed in LDR2. And then the allowance
of two family residential um as a as a use type. So, two family homes, twin homes, uh would not be allowed in the LDR3 district uh as they are currently allowed in LDR2. So, those are some of the other differences. Um that's all I really have for a presentation. I do have a recommendation um from the
planning commission uh for approval. Right now, we would just be introducing the ordinance and then uh city council decision will be at the following meeting. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Pasner? >> Mr. Mayor
Cisco, >> just one one question like so sideyard uh setbacks currently in LDR2 it's 10 ft. >> That's correct. >> So like if I wanted to build an auxiliary garage 10 ft from the property line. >> So um council member Kriscoak for a
detached garage it is currently 5T but for a living space it's currently 7 feet and what's being proposed for the LDR3 district would be to continue 5T for something like a detached garage but only have 7 and 1/2 ft for a living space. >> Okay. All right. Yeah. you pretty much knew exactly what I was asking.
>> All right, council member Ger. >> Mr. Mayor, uh first I was just going to say uh we didn't mention it last time, but thanks to the planning commission for both of these elements. Uh they spent a good chunk of time working on it as well. So, uh that that is a lot of work and we appreciate their time and uh
investment in this. But uh I'd like to make a motion that in planning cases >> we're just introducing it tonight. >> Yeah. Oh, that's all we have to do. >> All right. >> I like your enthusiasm. >> I was so I was gonna be really efficient, but but no, uh, thank you
very much. I and also the the response from our work session, too. So, I appreciate it. Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Passer? >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson. >> I I just think it's a really good way to fill in some of these odd spots that we have.
>> You know, a couple weeks I'll certainly get out of your way, Council Member Gisler, for that motion. When it's time to make the motion, you'll get Okay. All right. >> Um Okay, then. If there's no further questions, in Planet Case 25-9,
we will consider an ordinance amending the use table and creating LDR3 district and standards, city code 11-601 and 11-607 introduced. And we will look at it probably at the next council meeting. >> Is that is that okay the way I did that?
>> Yes. >> Okay. Mr. Brody usually doesn't give me a smirk like that. I wasn't sure. >> All right, that's introduced. And now we're on to item 11. Consider resolution 25-91 accepting a community tree
planting grant and approve agreement with the Metropolitan Council. Mr. Hammer. >> Thank you, Mayor. Council, um Tommy Shilla, city forester did a little digging around and found some more grant dollars. As you know, we've been challenged with the emerald ashbor and
budgeting for that. Um, so he was able to secure up to about $95,000 for uh an area within Rapids, generally east of the railroad tracks, west of 10, west of south of Egret Boulevard and north of 104th. So, it's roughly 70 trees. Those
have been inventoried. Um, so he he looked at the grant dollars for this particular neighborhood to remove and replant, and it just helps supplement some of our costs that are there. it's fully reimburseable. So, um we'll have to fund those costs initially and then seek reimbursement, but uh right now
we're just looking for your approval of the resolution accepting said grant. And I'm happy to answer questions. >> Mr. Just a question. Since we would be expending it and then reimbursing it, do we have to do any budget adjustments as well or
>> mayor and council? We do not. we have sufficient funds within the 2025 26 EAB plan to front this and then we'll get reimbursement later just allow us to do more work sooner in 2026 than we would have otherwise with the current budget amount.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Um Oh, there's the neighborhood. Thank you. Okay. Um any other questions for Mr. Hammer? >> Where? >> All right. Council, who is it? Carlson.
I make a motion to approve a resolution 25-91 authorizing the acceptance of the community tree planting grant and authorize execution of the agreement with the metropolitan council. >> Second >> motion by Carlson, a second by Butler. Is there any further discussion on this?
Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. And that motion carries. Item item 12 is to consider a right of way acquisition services for project 18-14 trunk highway 610 and East River Road interchange. Mr. Hammer.
>> Thank you, mayor. Um this is to consider two proposals that we received for rightaway acquisition services. This will also assist with relocation. So, if you recall, we've got six single family um total takes and there are three um
strip takings as well as some construction easements. Uh having now secured all the funding for construction and we're on a a tight clock to get this started next year as early as 2026. Uh the sooner we get these appraisals going and get these negotiations started, the
better off we will be. So, uh we received proposals from SRF consulting. They're part of the project design team. and they help with some of the traffic modeling and things on that project and ProSource has helped us on several projects in the past. So, both companies are really good um taking advantage of a
project team and not having to bring someone else up to speed. It's it's a cheaper cost and uh we hope we can hit the ground running with your approval and and try to get these things hammered out if not by the end of this year, certainly the very beginning of 2026.
>> Very good. Any questions of Mr. Hammer? Mr. Mayor, Council Member Butler, >> I move that council accept the proposal from SRF Consulting for acquisition and relocation services for project 18-14 and authorize staff to execute a letter of engagement under SRF's master
consulting agreement. >> Second. >> Motion by Butler and a second by Gesler. Is there any further discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries.
And item 13 is to consider resolution 25-93 accepting a service line inventory technical assistance from the Minnesota Department of Health. Mr. Hammer again. >> Yes. Thank you again, Mr. Mayor, Council, uh, in the spirit of trying to find more money out there to help us
complete our work. Uh some of you may recall we started this project about a year and a half, two years ago just trying to understand what uh water services are. It's a requirement of the EPA. We have to inventory every single one. We got it from a little under
22,000 is what we started with. We're down to about 4500, I believe. So, um these dollars are it's not a city of Rapids money. It's it's directly the Department of Health hires a consultant. We've selected from a few. We've worked with Bolton and Mink in the
past on some of our our water infrastructure. So, what they're going to help us do, and you'll see coming soon, is postcards going out to those 4,000 people, reminding people you can go and do the little QR code and and do it on your own. If not, we will come to you and we will do it for you. We will
schedule appointments uh evenings, weekends, whatever it is. But we're trying to get that unknown service amount down to zero, which is required over the next couple of years. And so this is a way to go about getting that done. So, um, we're looking for your support on the resolution. We can move
this project forward. The sooner the better because it has to be completed by the end of October. That's how it works. You uh, wait a long time to hear about it and then once you hear about it, you've got six weeks to get it done.
>> So, we're here asking for your support. All right. Well, we better waste no time getting this through then. No. Any questions for Mr. Hammer on this? Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Gesler, >> I move that we approve resolution 25-93 authorizing the acceptance of service line inventory technical assistance from
the Minnesota Department of Health. >> Second. >> A motion by Guys, a second by Armstrong. Is there further discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries. Item 14 is to
consider resolution 25-90 establishing the preliminary 2026 tax levy. Miss Hansen. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. City Council. Um, as part of the truth and taxation process, uh, Minnesota statutes require
that the city, uh, certified to the county auditor a proposed property tax levy for the following year, uh, by se September 30th. Um in line with that, uh staff is bringing forward um one um recommendation to uh set the truth and
taxation meeting for December 2nd of this year and then two to set the preliminary uh tax levy at $41,295,381. This is a 7.62% increase over the 2025 adopted levy. Uh
once this is approved, if approved, uh the levy cannot be can be reduced before final certification but cannot be increased. Uh no county will then use this information. Uh they'll use it to prepare and distribute parcel specific notifications to property owners. They
they usually come um towards the end of November notifying uh each property what their proposed um changes in their taxes are. and then uh also supplying meeting information that they can go and and
speak to the taxing authorities. Um we do have the proposed 2026 budget available on the city website uh that can be be viewed as well and I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Very good. Any questions for Miss Hansen?
>> Mr. Mayor Council member Carlson, >> just want to thank you for your work on this, Miss Hansen. Um toughest time of the year for me is figuring out what this levy because I know it affects people and um you know a lot of people are different levels of afford you know
levels of what can that they can afford and I I'm uh so confident that the levy are covering things that the city needs and not just something that we would like to have and so I really appreciate that. I appreciate your work.
All right. Other discussion, any other questions for Miss Hansen? >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Gesler, >> just a discussion point. Uh, you know, we discussed this quite a bit obviously as as a council of staff, and I appreciate all of the uh information staff provided back, especially as a
newbie uh up here asking a lots and lots of questions, lots and lots of emails. Um, so I appreciate all of the education that came with that. Uh, you know, I I think it's worth uh also reminding folks that, you know, this this isn't the final number. All of that information
comes in November from the county once all of these proposals are set. Uh your number may not be exactly what the number coming up here is, 7.62, is not what your increase might be. You might see a decrease, you might see an increase, you might see a larger increase. You don't know until that
final number comes back from the county of because it's based on so many other variables. Um, so this is a 7.62% increase on what we levied last year, not on you specifically as a homeowner or a property owner or business owner. So, make sure you check those property
tax uh estimated uh notices that come out in November. >> Yeah, a lot of this is out of our control. It's just the breakdown between the industrial and the residential and everything else. And and it it seems so antilimatic when we come down to this
tonight. you know, we spend a few minutes talking about it. Staff has been working on this since what, April? Um, multiple meetings. We have hours of discussion about this and uh I think that this represents needs, not
wants. And I think it's a very responsible budget and I and I I just think it's the right thing for the residents of Rapids and I'm supportive of 7.62. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson
>> make a motion to adopt resolution 25-90 establishing the preliminary 2026 tax levy for the city of Rapids. >> Second. >> There was a motion by Carlson and I'm going to give it to Armstrong. Is there any further second by Armstrong? Is there any further
discussion on this? >> Mr. Mayor, Council Grisco, >> I'll I'll just state start by saying it is right. I mean, we we talked about this a lot. I appreciate everything that the council has done to kind of provide the guidance and the policy for these kinds of things. We listen to our residents. We know we know what they
need and we give that guidance to the city staff that does an excellent job in creating these uh these budgets. Um you know a 7.62% increase over last year is actually not that large. Uh I think we're doing a lot responsibly with this when you talk about the size of our city
um and the size of the uh payroll that it takes to run this city. I mean just I was just looking at tonight's uh you know meeting we we talked about fire, police and fire. We've got three fire stations all equipped full-time 247 365
with uh with fire and we talk about first responders. I mean, these people are extremely fast responders and uh we're paying for that. We are investing in that. This budget has a large piece of fire equipment in it, the big ladder. I mean, it's a two million dollar piece
of equipment that we need in a city this large. We've got a lot of apartments uh and things of that nature. But, you know, we talk about, you know, same thing with police, 73 sworn officers. That's, you know, a lot to uh to pay for. We talked about streets tonight. We
talked about trail reclamation. We have just beautiful parks throughout the city. We have uh miles and miles of trails to uh to take care of. Uh you saw demonstrations tonight by community development uh you know supporting our businesses in the community. I mean it
takes a lot to run a city this large. And I just want to say I appreciate uh the way that our council works together to get to this point and uh uh you know investing in the infrastructure while keeping uh you know the taxpayers in
mind and you know what they're paying on their bills. I think we get a a big bang for the buck with what we're doing in CR Rapids and uh you know one of the one of the big things that we do on the council is to come up with this policy and set this budget. So tonight's a big night and I'm in support of this.
>> I'm thankful that staff presented a very responsible budget to us >> with our direction. >> Yeah. No, right. I mean, >> yeah, we give we given the direction months ago, >> right? >> And Mr. Mayor, just the one other question that I have. So, we'll set the
preliminary budget tonight and then set the truce and taxation meeting. Um, and then would we be um voting on the final budget at the next city council meeting or we have to do it before the end of the month? Correct.
>> Mr. Stem, >> uh, mayor and council, the next time you'll see this at a regular council meeting would be December 2nd. That's when we have the truth and tax taxation hearing where Ashley and I will go through a presentation that's pretty similar to the one you all saw at the work session a few weeks ago. we have to
describe to the public what's changing in the budget sort of what they're getting for the additional levy and so forth. Um after which the council would consider the budget itself at that time you still have the option to change the le you can lower it you could not increase it if there was something you
wanted to do there um so that would be at that point December 2nd you formally vote on it tonight's just to get the process started from a property tax perspective so that can inform the residents what it might look like for them. Okay. >> All right. In that December 2nd meeting,
there will be a public hearing if folks want to talk to us about the levy and about our budget. >> Correct. Uh mayor and council, they can certainly uh come to the to that public hearing. Although I would encourage people to call Ashley or I or send us an email. We'd be happy to explain what's
going on the budget. Um, there's a really nice addendum piece to the larger budget. That's a simple explanation of the things that are changing in the the 2026 proposed budget. The other thing I'll mention is Council Member Gistler brought up the whole concept of property tax or property values and the effect
that it has on property taxes that you pay. Um, so often the questions and concerns we get about what a person's going to be paying the next year is more driven by value changes than it is levy changes. I mean, that's a part of it. We can't hide from that. Certainly, we have
some control of that aspect, but a lot of its value, what your house is doing relative to other houses in the community, what commercial properties are doing and that sort of thing. So, um really, uh in those cases, we refer you on to our city assessors department, which we have an internal department here. Um and they'll do a really nice
job of walking you through what went on with your property, what your options are. We won't be into that process until April of next year um to really consider what your value might be, but it's something to pay attention to as this moves forward. >> Excellent. All right, we have a motion
in a second. Do we have any further discussion? >> Mr. Mayor, council member Butler. >> Yeah, just real quick, I I want to thank staff too being the other newbie just walking through questions, trying to understand documents better. You know, the other thing I would just say for anyone watching, and I see some of my constituents in the chambers here, if
you do have questions, reach out to us. If we don't know the answer, we'll work with staff to get you an answer. Like everyone else has said, this is a very reasonable increase. Nobody likes to see this type of increase, but it's a necessity given just where we are overall in our community right now. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any further discussion? All right, we have a motion and a second to uh um for resolution 25-90 establishing the preliminary 2026 tax levby for the city of Rapids. All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I opposed. >> And that motion carries. >> Mr. Mayor, council, >> point of information, do we need to set the uh the meeting for the truth and taxation at the same time? Yeah, mirror and council is actually included in the resolution.
>> Okay, that's correct. Thank you. >> So, you have done that. >> We have done that. >> Usually, usually we work more to that end of the motion, but uh yeah, it's in the resolution. >> All right. Uh we are up to the open mic public comment portion of the meeting. Is anybody here to address council
tonight for open mic? All right. And then I just have I do have a report on the previous open mic from let's see uh we had two residents uh from Kerry Street and Ivywood Street
address the council and noted concerns about backyard backyard drainage problems believed to be caused by city storm water backing up from the adjacent Marshall Park ditch and drainage systems. The residents noted standing water has been maintaining their backyards as has made maintaining their
backyards difficult and they have concerns about the impacts on landscaping, private sheds, and a gazebo. Um, engineering and public works staff met at these properties with these residents to review concerns on July 31st. And additionally, a second meeting with residents, city staff, and staff
from K Creek Watershed was held on August 21st. Engineering staff intend to collect survey data of the backyards and adjacent ditch system this fall to understand what options exist to address the drainage concerns and public works staff will continue to monitor the pipe
outlets and ditch system to perform any as needed ve vegetation and debris removal. Uh once the survey data has been collected, city staff will review options with the residents and council to determine what can be done to address the drainage
concerns. So we just thank thank them for bringing those concerns to us and we are up to other business. Um does somebody have right on the top of their head or the uh um love my pet
fair? >> Mr. Mayor. >> Well, I was just thinking about that just a second ago. >> You got it. >> I sure do. >> All right, we'll go for it. >> Yeah. September 20th, uh, Mr. Mayor, from 10:00 in the morning till 1:30 in the afternoon, we'll have the Love My Pet Fair event here, Mr. Mayor, at the
Kunva Civic Center. It's been at uh, uh, River uh, Riverwind uh, park for quite a while over here in Fifth and Zavas and >> Riverview. >> Well, Riverview. >> Riverview. That's right. Wrong per Riverview. But but now it's here, Mr. mayor at the Rapids Civic Center on
uh September 20th from 10:00 in the morning till 1:30 in the afternoon. >> Chalk art contest, kid games, vendor booths, entertainment, pet and owner costume contest, demonstrations, and more. And this must be just the the
10,000 foot flyer. On the other one, it says um you're welcome to bring your well-behaved pets. Are you still be able still able to do that in the civic center or it's going to be outside here? Mayor and council, there'll be indoor and outdoor activities. Uh, this location will better allow for uh
adjusting to weather changes and last year's event was Oh, yeah. impacted by some um significant weather and so the thought was give it a try at a new location and protect against that a little better, but yes, you can certainly bring your well behaved pet to that part of the function.
>> Excellent. All right. Um, I also wanted to mention that same week, Thursday, September 18th is the second annual Rhythm of the Rapids. Last year was the first annual down at the Noca Ramsey Community College. Um, where they have music down by the dam and it's just a
wonderful evening. Uh, this year it's 5 to 8:30 and they've got music by Martin Zeller and the Hardways. Thursday, September 18th, 2025. Um, and all of the information is at rhythmoftherapids.com. And uh, yeah, if you're an AR, if you're
an ANO Ramsey alumni, tickets are only $15. Otherwise, they're $25 and under 10 is free. Bring a lawn chair. Look forward to a great night. >> M. That's at the college, right? >> It's at the college right at right right in front of the college. Right on the riverbank. >> Beautiful setting.
>> Yep. Absolutely gorgeous setting. >> Mr. Mayor Council >> Carlson. >> It's a great fundraiser >> and it's a great >> music was great last year. I'm sure she'll be great this year, but what a beautiful location, too. >> Real nice. >> Yep. That's Yeah, that's a good that's a good point. In the interest of full disclosure, it is a fundraiser and
proceeds support the Noar Ramsey student success goes for the college foundation there. All right. Any other business? >> Mr. Mayor, >> hang on. City clerk's hand went up. I'm going there. That's fine. Miss Lensmire,
>> Mr. Mayor and Council, I wanted to let everyone know that absentee voting for the House District 34B special election began today here at city hall. We're open Monday through Friday, 8 to 4:30, special hours on the 12th, which is a Saturday from 9 to 3. That is uh again,
House District 34B. The election day will be September 16th, and that encompasses f uh precincts 54 and 55. There is a map. If you're wondering if you're included or not, you can check the website on the elections page or give us a call at the clerk's office and
we'll get you the information you need. >> Basically, if you live almost in Fidley, you're part of it. But, uh, yeah, it's it's the very south end of Rapids. >> Correct. >> Um, and on that same note, there will be a candidate forum here tomorrow evening at 5:00 p.m. for the the two candidates
running for 34B. And it's open to the public. So, if you're getting this and you feel like stopping by, um, there is a candidate forum at 5:00 pm tomorrow here in the council chambers. Council member Geyser, is that you? >> Yep. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, I just wanted to also, uh, thank staff. It
looked like they had a great time at school, first day of school today. Uh, saw some good pictures from school district and our school board members out there. So, uh, and congrats to all the parents that successfully got their kids out the door and to the bus on time this morning. So, uh, you know,
hopefully we have a great, quiet, uneventful school year this year for everyone. >> All right. Any other business to have before council? >> Motion to adjurnn, Mr. Mayor. >> Second. >> Motion by Carlson, second by Butler to adjurnn. All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I. We're journ. [Music]