Good evening and welcome to the Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025. If you could please rise and join us for the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Please call the role. >> Council member Gosciaak >> here. >> Council member Butler >> here. >> Council member Novak >> here. >> Council member Gesler.
>> Council member Armstrong >> here. >> Council member Carlson >> here. Mayor Cook >> here. >> One absent Gesler. >> All right. Thank you. One of the first thing we're going to do this evening is adopt our agenda. >> Motion to move the agenda. >> Second. >> Motion by Butler, second by Carlson. Is
there any discussion or corrections? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. And the agenda is adopted. And our very first item is a visiting dignitary. >> Come on up, Mayor Skoquist to head up over to the uh Ambo there. Mayor
Scoquist from the city of Anoka and is here to discuss the food drive competition that benefited the ACPC food shelf. >> Well, thank you very much, Mayor, Council, and staff for having me today. It's always fun to be here. So, before we get into the uh the competition that we had, I just want to point out
something. You know, we have a lot of friendly back and forth and communities next door to each other, but showing the closeness of our communities. So, two items. First of all, um your chief was at our meeting last night. if you weren't aware, he is the proud father of our newest police officer, Officer Joe
Steiner, in the city of Anoka. So, it was wonderful to have him there last night, have his family, have our officers there, and uh welcome him into our into our sworn ranks, I guess now we could say. So, um, the other part is I I had a lot of memories when I was driving here today because if many people don't
know, I was a proud employee of the city of Rapids for seven years, uh, back when both all of us were much younger at that time. But, uh, it was a one wonderful experience. I really enjoyed working here. You have a great staff, great city. So, um, I just wanted to
point those things out that all the all the fun stuff aside, it we we like to have fun a little bit, but it's we're really close to each other. So, thank you for that. Um, but getting into the competition that we had. So, first of all, I'd like to thank Mayor Cook and the city for being part of that. We got
to raise a lot of a lot of food and a lot of funds for the ACBC food shelf. And so, um, I know there was various posts, but if anybody wasn't aware, so for a twoe period there, uh, we challenge each city to have, uh, who can donate the most food from each city. Um,
and so even though you're about three and a half times our size, I thought maybe we could pull it off. >> We don't have a downtown. >> Well, you never know. You never But I just want to say congratulations to the city of Rapids. Uh, you you helped contribute 3,24
pounds of food, which was the equivalent of 2,670 meals. Um, as well, there was $575 of donations plus $500 from the Rapids Police Association. So that is wonderful. Um the city of Anoka, we
collected 1,649 lbs of food equal to 1,374 meals. We also collected $450 of donations as well. So I mean together we made a huge impact. We literally collected tons of food uh that helps
that food shelf. And I know the mayor and I toured there. we got to learn a lot about their needs and and they you know I think she said to us if if they stopped collecting they would be out of food within a matter of a few weeks. Um so it's super important that everybody stepped up. Um and so I just wanted to
come and I want to say thank you for that and I wanted to honor my end of the bargain on our uh our fun little wager we had at the beginning. So I had to I had to go around and I had to find find one of these I knew that jacket was zipped all the way up for
>> Well, Right. Right. Right. And it'll get rezipped as soon as I leave. No offense. No offense. Big red. >> But no, thank you very much again for everybody for your contributions and your time and your energy and uh hopefully this is something we can maybe do again in another year or so. >> Yeah. Well, they had mentioned that
their slowest time for food collections, I think she said, was like March and July or something, >> correct? Yep. Um, so, so maybe we do this again next July or something when they're when they're really in need of food and get our communities back up again, >> right? And so I think that's a great
plan and they're always accepting donations from anybody at any time. So um, and I think she said it was interesting to hear this too. Um, 70% of their donations or excuse me 70% of the people that use that are from the cities of anc Rapids and it's about an even
split 3535 between the communities. So very important, very necessary, and you all, everybody that contributed did a wonderful job, and I'm super proud of what we were able to do. >> Absolutely. Thank you very much. >> All right. Now, I'm going to zip my coat back up.
>> Try not to get seen too much going back across the border. Oh, >> you you'll be safe right up to the border. >> Right. Exactly. And if you get stopped, hopefully it'll be by your newest police officer. >> There. There you go. All right. Well, thank you very much again. Appreciate it. THANKS FOR COMING.
ALL RIGHT. YEAH, that was a uh that was pretty impressive. Eight pallets of food in there plus 15 over $1,500 between the two communities. All right. Um number two,
uh Fire Chief John Piper, you are up. We've got some fire department promotions. >> We do. Good evening, mayor, council members. Thank you for allowing me time at tonight's meeting to acknowledge the promotions for five of our members to the ranks of fire marshal, battalion chief, captain, and fire inspector.
These five gentlemen have prepared themselves and worked hard to get this to this point. As fire chief, it has always been my goal to promote people within our organization who have a strong sense of community involvement and who represent the core values of our organization and mission statement.
>> Thank you. Our mission statement states that we we are to provide efficient services designed to protect lives and property from the adverse effects of fires, medical emergencies, or exposure to dangerous conditions. We pursue this mission with determination and resolve
with emphasis on dedication, compassion, and constant improvement. All five of these individ individuals uphold our mission statement with the highest regard. Tonight, these five will take the oath of office and be sworn into their new ranks by Mayor Cook. Their respective badges will also be pinned on
by their chosen family members. First, I'd like to introduce the community to our new fire marshal, Nick House, and Battalion Chief Justin McGee. Come up here, please. Okay, with that said, the fire marshal keeps our community safe by preventing, investigating, and reducing fire risks.
The fire marshall works with the building department to ensure that the fire codes are being followed in new and renovated buildings. The fire marshall also ensures that fire alarm and fire suppression systems are adequately worked working tested and maintained throughout the city.
Nick House grew up here in Rapids. He started with Rapids Fire in 2000 as a paid on call and in 2004 he became full-time. He was promoted to fire inspector on ashift in 2010 and went back to school achieving his associates degree in fire science and bachelor's in
fire administration. Mick has served on several committees over the 25-y year career with us including an investigator with the ina county fire investigation team, chair of the fire investigation program for youth fire centers and an active board member of both the Minnesota chapter of the international association of arson
investigators and the Rapids Fire Department Community Fund. just to name a few of them. So, in his free time, Nick enjoys traveling to Florida, going to the cabin in Alexandria, and hanging out with his second family, the McGee. Okay, moving on here. Let's see. Okay,
and what do they do? The the next position, Justin's position, is uh the battalion chiefs. They oversee the daily operations of their assigned shift, which includes nine staff members at three stations and are the incident commanders for critical incidents and high priority calls for service. Justin grew up in Rapids and was a
lo a local mechanic while starting on as a paid on call in 2004. Justin was promoted to career in 2012 and captain in 2019. During this time, Justin has has worked overseeing the specialized rescue team and maintenance of our SCBAs, that's the air packs we wear when
we go into fires. Justin has also been an advocate for helping train new and current firefighters, helping develop specs on our new apparatus, and as president of the Rapids Fire Department Community Fund. Justin and his wife Laura live in Cunar Rapids with their family, Alex, Penny,
and dog Molly. I can't forget Molly. Dog Molly. Okay. Justin holds his AAS degree in fire science, bachelor's in fire department administration, and is working on completing other classes needed for his master's degree. Congratulations on your promotions, Fire Marshal Nick
and Battalion Chief Justin. Please come forward to be pinned and take your oath of office performed by Mary Mayor Jerry Cook. Justin's daughter Penny will be doing the honors for Justin and his son Alex will be pin pinning Uncle Nick. Go ahead, Nick.
All right. Well done. A little blood going on there. All right. Raise your Let's see. Right hand. Huh? I, Nicholas House, do solemnly swear >> I, Nicholas House, do solemnly swear
>> that I will support the policies and procedures >> I will support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department >> of the Rapids Fire Department. >> I will faithfully, honorably, >> I will faithfully, honorably, >> and to the best of my ability >> and to the best of my ability
>> discharge the duties of Fire Marshall >> discharge the duties of Fire Marshall. and protect the safety and lives >> and protect the safeties and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me.
>> Whose care has been entrusted to me. Now it's Dustin's turn. All right. Raise your right hand, sir. I, Justin McGee, do solemnly swear >> I, Justin McGee, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> that I will support the policies and
procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department >> of the Rapids Fire Department. I will faithfully, honorably >> I will faithfully, honorably >> and to the best of my ability >> and to the best of my ability >> discharge the duties of Battalion Chief >> discharge the duties of Battalion Chief
>> and protect the safety and lives >> and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me >> whose care has been entrusted to me. Guess
all got your patches, right? Okay, next we will recognize our newly promoted captains, Andy Pyert and Joe Gotwald. Our captains are company officers that are responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of their assigned fire station and assume the battalion chief responsibilities in the
battalion chief's absence. First, Andy. Andy Picard, devoted husband to Barb and proud father to Allan and Beatus. He has been on a department since 2011 and has served as a firefighter and inspector. Andy's love for the Corn Rapids community runs deep. Year after year, he
has led Operation Warm, ensuring underprivileged kids in our city have coats for the winter. His compassion extends to families battling muscular distrophe, where his tireless work on our department in our department's MDA fundraising and awareness efforts has raised both critical dollars and lasting
hope. Within the department, Andy is a steady advocate, serving on the physical fitness committee to support firefighter wellness, helping as a board member of the community fund to give back to those in need, and representing his fire fellow firefighters as an active member of the union.
Joe Gotwal grew up in Ramsey. After graduating from Anoka High School, he attended Anoka Ramsey Community College where he earned his associate of arts degree. He went on to complete an AAS degree in fire administration, an AAS degree in paramed, and is currently finishing his bachelor's degree in fire
administration. Joe and his wife Shay have been together for 13 years and married for six. They have two childrens, Kalin and Max Kalin, five and Maxwell, four. He is actively involved in numerous Rapids community events and serves on the department's EMS
committee. He also works closely with the local paramedic program and its students, supporting their growth in clinical education. Joe's desire to purs pursue a career in firefighting grew from his commitment to helping others, he continues to thrive in admission today. Consistently seeking
opportunities to support everyone, anyone and everyone around him. Welcome to the supervisory team, captains Andy and Joe. Please come forward to be pinned and take your oath of office. Andy's son, Allan, and Joe's wife, Sheay, will be doing the honors.
hand. All right. I, Andrew Picer, do solemnly swear >> I, Andrew Piser, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> of the of the Rapids Fire Department. >> of the Rapids Fire Department. I will faithfully, honorably
>> I will faithfully, honorably >> and to the best of my ability >> and to the best of my abilities >> discharge the duties of captain >> discharge the duties of captain >> and protect the safety and lives >> and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens
>> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me >> whose care has been entrusted to me. >> Thank you, sir. Hi. >> Hi. Hi. Good. Good. All right. Raise your right
hand, please. >> I, Joseph Gotwolf, do solemnly swear. I, Joseph G. Gotwolf, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department >> of the Rapids Fire Department.
>> I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability >> I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability >> discharge the duties of captain >> discharge the duties of captain. >> and protect the safety and lives >> and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens.
of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me. >> Whose care has been entrusted to me. This be a great opportunity to get them to sign almost anything. Don't slow down.
Carry on, chief. >> Thank you, Mayor. Finally, fire inspector Matt Hull. The fire inspector works under the fire marshall to ensure that apartments and businesses are safe within the community. Besides enforcing fire codes, they also educate the public about fire prevention and help provide
coverage during their 24-hour shift if an incident should arise. Matt. Matt has been a lifelong resident of Rapids and lives with his wife Lexi and daughter Jolene. Matt started his career with the NOA Champlain Fire Department and has been with our with
Rapids for the last three years. During the short time with us, Matt has been very involved in the community, specifically with the department's commitment to the MDA fill the boot campaign and being part of the In Noa County Specialized Rescue Team. Matt has recently completed his fire investigator
certification and is eager to learn. Matt looks forward to a long career with the Rapids Fire Department and serving the citizens of Rapids. Welcome to the Prevention Bureau. Inspector Hull, please come forward to be pinned and take your oath of office. Matt's wife, Lexi, will be doing the
honors. seems awful convenient. We're bringing >> you in just in time for this mustache competition in November. Yeah. All right, raise your right hand. Thank you. Let me change this around. You don't need to hear me.
>> I, Matthew Hool, do solemnly swear >> I, Matthew Hoo, do solemnly swear >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> that I will support the policies and procedures >> of the Rapids Fire Department >> of the Rapids Fire Department. I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability
>> I will faithfully, honorably, and to the best of my ability >> discharge the duties of fire inspector >> discharge the duties of fire inspector. >> and protect the safety and lives >> and protect the safety and lives >> of my fellow firefighters and citizens
>> of my fellow firefighters and citizens >> whose care has been entrusted to me >> whose care has been entrusted to me. Congratulations. All right. What else you got, Chief? >> I'm going to wrap it up right now.
We have a Just to finish up, we have a long-standing history of promoting people in our organization that have a strong desire to serve the community and uphold the core values of our organization and mission statement. I appreciate this opportunity to recognize these five men as well as their accomplishments and dedication to this
organization and community. That concludes our promotional ceremony. Friends and family are invited to meet out in the hall for some photo opportunities. And this is the important part, but you're always welcome to stay for the entire meeting if you'd like. >> With that said,
>> thank you for coming and your show of support. Thank you, mayor and counsel. >> Thanks, Chief. Congratulations. All right, we'll give them a moment to move out. >> We're just not exciting enough. >> Yeah, >> they do.
>> Oh, hey Lisa. My daughter used to have a metal dress like that. Miranda, we had her convinced that if she tried washing it, it would rust. They might just uh be good friends. >> All right. Now, on to the less exciting things of the evening. Uh we're looking
to approve the minutes from the November 18th meeting. >> Motion to approve the minutes, Mr. Mayor. >> Second. >> Motion by Carlson and a second by Butler. Are there any additions or corrections? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I.
I. I. >> Opposed. >> And that motion carries. One abstension. Council member Armstrong. We have one item on our consent agenda this evening and that is to receive the schedule of electronic payments. Um
we're looking to request the I'm sorry. We're looking to receive the schedule of electronic payments from November 13, 2025 through November 24th, 2025. And that is the extent of the consent agenda.
>> Move to approve the consent agenda. Second. >> Motion by Novak and a second by Butler. Um, any discussion on all that? All right. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. Opposed. And that motion carries.
And we are up to item five. And I think we're going to get a presentation. Mr. Stem, oh, and Miss Hansen are both over there. All right. We're going to be looking at we're going to be holding a truth and taxation public hearing. Um, but that will be after we get a little
presentation of a brief look at our budget. >> Correct. Mayor and Council, U. Matt Steml, city manager. I'm here to present to you along with Ashley Hansen the proposed 2026 budget. So, the purpose of tonight's um discussion is to provide information about the proposed budget.
This is required by state statute. It's known as truth and taxation. Um we'll get into a little bit more of what that what that is as we go throughout the presentation. Um but essentially the way it works is much like you just described. We'll have a presentation. We'll we'll pause. We'll do a public
hearing. Um that way anybody from the public who'd like to provide feedback on the budget may do so in front of the city council. After the hearings close, staff will ask that council consider the levy and proposed budget as it's um been outlined in your packet. So, with that,
I'll just cover a little bit of timeline from a public standpoint. The budget process begins in in August of each year, and that's when council is provided with the preliminary budget. Um, and it's really council's first opportunity to see what's being proposed by staff from a global perspective.
There are other conversations along the way going back into April and May of each year where staff start to work on their budget. We do reach out to the city council just to understand if there are any things council would like to see in the budget process. Uh questions they might have before we get too deep into
it. Um so it's much earlier from a staff perspective, but from a public perspective in August each year we have that work session. That's really the opportunity to get into the details of the budget and understand what's going on with the proposed levies. In September of each year, we need to
set a preliminary levy and we certify that to NOA County. And at that point, the city can lower the levy, but you cannot raise it. And the purpose of setting a preliminary levy is to be transparent to let the property owners and taxpayers know this is what's
coming. Uh we certify the information to Anoka County so that they can put it into their parcel specific truth and taxation notices which come to property owners in November. Excuse me. So, if you if you own property in the county, you should have received a letter in the
mail a couple weeks ago that showed the various taxing jurisdictions, the estimates for what your property taxes would be in 2026, and how each jurisdiction increases their was proposing to increase their levy. It also has information in there about if
you'd like to provide feedback to those local jurisdictions, where you might go. And of course, tonight was listed in our as our truth and taxation hearing. After tonight, uh we'll need to certify the levy to the state and to the county by
the end of the month. Um once they have that information, the property taxes move forward and we start the process all over again next year. I always like to just touch on some of the core budget principles that staff uses as we're developing the budget for the city council because I think it kind
of helps um you know just portray the the core ways that we're thinking about the budget and we know that the impact it's having. So first of all of course we want to address core services within the communities. Local governments exist for a specific reason. Uh we are here
for core services. We are the level of government that affects people in their day-to-day lives. And so we don't forget that. It's the fire, the police, the water, the sewer, the streets, you name it, we're involved in those things. And so we budget through that lens. We know that that is the core reason why we
exist and and the services we must carry out. We respond to budget needs responsibly. There are always changes and challenges every year. Um sometimes they're the same, sometimes they're unique. Um and so we we try not to get carried away with overreacting to certain things. We take a tried but true
approach of trying to smooth out peaks and valleys from year to year and not overreacting to things and then having a really low levy one year and a really high levy the following year. You know what is that uh slow but sure way to get to those goals that we have. And so we keep that in mind. And then of course
along with that comes investing in capital investments and long-term strategic staffing through that exact lens. You know, we do 10-year capital budgets and things of that nature so that we can anticipate what are those big costs coming down the road three, five, eight years from now. So, we can
start to stair step our way to that and not again have these big peaks and valleys that we're dealing with from year to year. 2026, as I mentioned, every budget year has some unique challenges and every year there are some that never change. So, um, on that front, things that
impacted the 2026 budget, uh, we continue to experience some inflationary increases. The way we budget and how things impact local government, oftentimes there's a lag that we're catching up to. So, some of the things that were happening a year or two ago relative to inflationary increases are
now kind of catching up to us from a budget perspective. Um, from a labor agreement and general wage increase perspective, um, it's been a tougher labor market for us these last few years, especially depending on the particular employee group we're talking
about. And so those are things we've really had to stay up on, make sure we're looking at. Um, yes, the the inflationary part of it, but the market changes um have been more difficult. You know, we are seeing especially in uh places like police officers, for
example, it's highly competitive. Cities have been very aggressive with how they're trying to recruit police officers, and we've had to kind of keep up with those trends in order to be a choice employer. Moderate increase to health insurance premium, 5% is the employer change. uh
that's how much our uh premium increased from 25 to 26 which actually 5% seems like a pretty moderate amount in health insurance these days. Um so we're okay with that for 2026. And then each year we know there's going to be vacancy savings through retirements and
transitions. And so we do we don't budget at 100%. We sort of assume there's going to be a little bit of vacancy there and then kind of hold that back as savings. We are experiencing some slower economic development growth. A lot of this has to do with market conditions that I just
talked about. Higher construction costs, higher borrowing rates, you name it. Um, all you have to do is look at our planning commission meetings for the last year or two and and you notice that there aren't as many big development proposals being made and ultimately that has a flow down into our budget.
However, I will say uh people are investing in their own properties and businesses um likewise in that they're doing the smaller projects, the updates, the decks, and things like that. We're just not seeing wholesale new developments the way we were two or three years ago. And again, that's mostly due to increased supply and
construction costs. Oops, I went the wrong way. Uh a few budget highlights before I pass things over to Ashley Hansen, our finance director. Um, in the world of fire, um, each year we do ensure, especially in our public safety services, that we are
investing in staffing and training in particular. Training is is really been an emphasis these last few years. Um, and so there's certainly an adequate budget for that. The big news in the fire world for 2026 is some of the capital investments that we're looking
at. First being a new ladder truck um, at the price of $2.2 $2 million, which uh is kind of a staggering sum when you think about it. Um but that is the going rate for a truck of that type. The reason it's important to move forward on
this, it is part of our capital plan. It did um come due for replacement in 2026, but even if we put in the order tonight, which we're asking council to do later in the agenda, we won't get that truck for two years or more as it just takes
that long to have it uh built and delivered. So, um, all the more reason to move forward on it if we are able. And then in addition to that, a new fire rescue truck which is on a 10-year replacement schedule. And, uh, we have two of them. There's one that's in the 26 budget. The next one would be in the
2027 budget. On the police side, again, investments in investments in training and employee programs were certainly some themes in the 2026 budget. Uh, regular replacement of core capital, equipment, and vehicles. We'll talk about that a little bit more in a second. And then third, we
are we did hold in the public safety capital fund some dollars to anticipate additional planning related to a future expansion of the police department facility. We're sort of in in between right now on how exactly to move forward with that. As council knows, we're
talking about several options as it relates to facility improvements and how to finance those. And some of those answers we won't have until we get into legislative session here this spring. But we do have a placeholder for uh further design on that plan.
Uh continuing some highlights in the world of housing. Uh we have an estimated $900,000 in local housing aid. These are state dollars. They're now flowing into cities for housing programs um that really supplement our existing programs, allow us to leverage those at
a much higher level than we had prior to the state money. And then, excuse me, $2 million appropriated for lowinterest deferred home loans. Um, as I mentioned, homeowners are still investing in their homes and we're able to offer some interest rates that are more competitive
than they might be able to get in the private market. And so, our low interest loan programs have been very valuable these last couple of years. And we've seen a high utilization of those programs. And if it we came to the council earlier this fall for a budget amendment so we could continue those
programs through the balance of 2025 and we're expecting uh similar response in 2026 and so we are estimating about $2 million to be appropriated for that. We continue invest in city facilities uh fire station one and two were planning
some LED lighting upgrades. I mentioned the police station expansion design services and then various facility maintenance projects to the tune of about 300,000. In the world of parks and trails uh and streets street reconstruction, we're planning four miles of street
reconstruction in 2026 to the tune of about $5.2 million. That's the kind of the full street reconstruction. We do attempt to do a lot of maintenance of our streets so we can prolong the streets uh needing to be reconstructed. And so we have $1.3
million programmed in steel coating and overlays in 2026 to lengthen the life of some of our streets. The big change uh from August to December here in our budget is the trunk highway 610 East River Road full access interchange
construction. Uh we got good news this last legislative session at the state level that we filled that final gap in the financing for that project. Um, and so we we anticipate that that'll begin in 2026 and wanted to make sure that that project was reflected from a budget standpoint as we will be the project
administrator on that. And so we needed to add in a very significant amount of $33.5 million into the budget. The good news is that's really coming from federal and state sources and not local sources. So um it's not city of Kunrap's
property tax dollars going to that project per se. It's more uh other sources. Northdale Boulevard and Raven Street. Uh we are expecting the county to do a signal project there and the $300,000 you see is what would be considered our local match for that
project. And then miscellaneous park and trail improvements through our our park improvement fund. We're expecting about $770,000 worth of investment there. And then of course uh we're still working through Emerald Ashbor as you might imagine. Um, so we've upped the levy in
2026 to 400,000. This is a part of that plan to accelerate the removal of ash trees in the community. U, we think we'll be in really good shape with removal by the mid to end of 2026 and then the focus will turn more towards other activities like replanting,
addressing some of the other tree needs. We're seeing a lot of stresses with oak trees and other things in the community. So, if it's not one thing, apparently it's going to be the other. Um but this uh levy will be pretty flat we suspect going forward for several years as we
finalize some of those emerald ashbor related issues and then start to pay back the facilities not the fac the revolving construction fund for some of the loans we took out to accelerate that plan the last year and a half. Again uh capital equipment fund. Uh so
we look at a 10-year replacement or a 10-ear schedule. Not everything's on a 10-year replacement cycle. Um, and some of those capital requests have already been covered. Again, the fire aerial, the rescue truck. We are expecting one dump truck to be replaced in 2026. That's a pretty typical ask. We try to
do one a year just to spread it out. Police vehicles, $420,000 for uh several vehicles. That's a pretty standard number that we've gone with. That covers squads, unmarked police vehicles, and any of those other unique needs.
And while that is common, what isn't so common is the need to replace a Zamboni. But we do have an ice arena in Rapids and we are the state of hockey after all. Um the Zamboni that we're placing is original to the building and it's just really at the end of its useful life. We've rebatteried it
several times and it's just to that point where it needs to be replaced. So that is part of the budget as well. >> And we weren't we weren't picked by Pearl Jam to >> No, I saw that. Yeah, >> Pearl Jambon. >> Yeah, the Jambone. That was great marketing, I thought. All right, and with that, I will pass the baton to
Ashley Hansen. see which one's working here. Thank you, Mr. Stone. I'll move on with more of the numbers. So, um we'll start off with just talking a little bit about our levy supported debt requirements for 2026. So, this is for um past projects, mostly
street reconstruction from some facilities that we issued bonds for and that we're required to pay back. Um the amount for 2026 is 5,664604. This is actually a about a $100,000 decrease from last year as we um we did
add a levy for 2025 recon that came on, but then we have sufficient fund balance in uh 2017 issue that will mature in a few years that we feel like we didn't need to levy for in 2026. So, we canceled that off um resulting in a decrease. Um the most of that change or
all that change is in the street reconstruction related debt and the rest of the debt service um leveies are comparable to the previous year. All right. So I want to highlight the utility funds. So though these are not levy supported funds, they make up a big
chunk of our budget. Um so let's see here. Yes. So good portion of our city budget. So, they're meant to be self-supported by user charges. Uh, the 2026 budget assumes revenue increases for all three
utilities, 8% water, 5% sewer, and 5% storm water. Uh, 26 rates were approved here this November and will go in effect beginning um with the May 2026 billing. So, that will be the first billing that will have January usage. Uh the rate increases were recommended as part of
rate studies that we did the last three years looking at long range uh cap improvement needs and making sure that the funds remain self-sufficient and that we don't have to um tap into the the levy to support those. Um for the average residential user, they'll see a
annual increase of $46.18 across the board there. So that um equates to about $1155 per quarter uh for some of the capital investments. So for the water fund as part of that re street reconstruction plan for next year
um that those areas that are planned have a lot of uh water and storm water replacement needs. So, we've got about 5.1 million in water main replacements related to street recon and then 785,000
in just various uh water well pump and treatment plan rehabilit rehabilitation projects and the sewer fund. We did see an increase from Met Council who handles our disposal of uh sanitary
waste. So, our charges increased 2.69% over last year. It's about 120,000 uh capital investments. So along with the street reconstruction comes 400,000 in sewer line replacement. Uh Met Council is also planning to do its own
sewer lining next year that the city will have about 300,000 uh Sharon and then some equipment replacement. The storm water fund as part of that street recon. We've got about 1.7 million in storm water um infrastructure
replacement. We're continuing to work on uh projects related to limits that were put in place at the federal level for those um I think it's total max daily limit standards. Okay. As mentioned earlier, um just
wanted to highlight. So since this discussion that we had in August, we did the proposed budget night includes changes most notedly the um highway 610 and East River Road full access interchange both in the revenue and expenditures is 35 million 33.5 million
and these are these are one-time costs and then additionally there were some small adjustments um based on actions that the council had taken after August. Total budgeted revenue and other sources for 26 is 141,290,516.
Uh quite a large increase from the uh 2025. Again, a lot of that is related to one-time uh intergovernmental revenue and then related to the 610 project. Um I wanted to highlight just a couple
things. Um, so special revenue funds are up about and that includes about 500,000 increase in the state aid for the housing programs and then 100,000 increase in the levy for the Emerald Ashbbor um plan. The 20 the capital
improvement capital project funds includes that 610 East River Road project. So that's why that's such a large increase there. Uh utility fund revenues include proposed revenue increases and rate adjustments. And then the internal service funds um we actually see an increase in the state
aid for health care costs related to disabled police and fire officers. Budgeted total budget expenditures and other uses um are proposed at 137 million221,787 $783.
33 and a.5 million of that is related to the 610 project. Um other notable changes would be the general fund is a 2.1 million increase. Um 2.3 million increase is actually related to personal service costs and then we actually saw a
reduction in capital pro uh onetime capital expenditures. And just to note the personal services make up about 79% of our uh total costs in the general fund. And that's you know our main operating fund of the city.
Um let's see here capital project. So the increase there is less than the uh 610 project largely because 25 included about 6 to 7 million in pedbridge project the cost that's no longer there. Um let's see that's probably worth
noting. All right. So, after allocating grants, program fees, and other nonprofit tax revenue to appropriate services, the amount left requiring tax support is $41,295,381. About 79% of this amount goes into the general fund, which is our main
operating fund of the city. 14% towards our debt service funds to repay back on those bonds that were issued. And then 7% goes towards um capital projects to help with facilities, park improvements, um those kinds of things and make sure
that our infrastructure is maintained. We have a slight increase in the tax rate. Uh it's 42.05099. The county added another digit to make it a little more precise. Um up from 39.533
last year, largely due to um just our overall tax base. we saw actually slight reduction. So um without any kind of growth in the tax base then it makes and if the city increases a levy it just makes that tax rate go up higher.
Okay. All right. So just take a look here at historical tax levy increases. Um so proposed general fund levy increase for 2025 is 8.61%. The proposed total levy increase is
7.62%. 62% and if you look over the last 10 years, it equates to about a 5% average for both the general fund and the total levy. All right, if you take a look at our tax rate, so um tax rate is kind of something that's
a little foreign to most people, I think, but it's what actually determines the amount of taxes that a property pays. So property taxes do not have a set rate like um income or sales taxes. So what happens is taxing jurisdictions like the city determine the dollar amount to raise for property taxes and
this is what we call a levy and then the levy is divided by the total value of the property in the taxing jurisdiction which is our tax base. So we talk about that as net tax capacity. Um the tax rate is then multiplied by each by the value of each individual parcel
determined that parcel share in the property taxes. And so for 2026 our net tax capacity decreased by 0.03% 03% which means the increase that the city is considering um raises that tax that tax rate impacting the properties in the
city. Um if you look at the city comparison amongst other jurisdictions in the county. So our proposed tax rate we puts us um 11th out of 20. And if you notice that a lot of the lower tax rate
jurisdictions are more rural communities that don't really have as much services as the city of Krampus provides or they're communities that have a lot of room for growth still. They have a lot of new value being added with development and so that kind of helps
keep that tax rate down. But overall um we're doing very well. Um here is a tax calculation of the tax impact on a medium single family home. So the medium value home for the city of CR Rapids increased 1.5%.
With that increase and that comes a reduction of the homestead exclusion and so the taxable market value actually increased by 1.8%. Um and then so what happens is a legislature assigns class rates. So that
gets applied to the market value and determines the tax capacity of the property and then the tax rate gets multiplied by that. So a single a median single family home would see an increase of $1040 for the year u based on the
proposed levy and it equates to 100. So the proposed 2026 levy would be $10042 a month or an $8677 per month increase over the previous year.
If you take the levy amount or sorry the median value home um for Rapids and then apply that with the tax rates of other Anoka County jurisdictions. Um the chart kind of shows what our home medium value home would pay in our neighboring
communities. So again Rapids is 11th among 20 and so um you can kind of see where that spread is. And then really what does the resident get from what they pay? Well, here's for about probably the cost of a cable internet bill per month. Um, you know,
the residents get 247 police and fire coverage. They're getting parks and trails and recreational opportunities. um as streets are getting plowed. Um a lot of services that I think a lot of residents just don't take for granted or
don't realize that really the value that they're getting. Okay. Property tax distribution. So for the taxes proposed um the median home value would pay about 30% of their overall taxes would go would go towards
the city. Um which as stated the local government has the most impact on the day-to-day life of of residents. So you know you're really seeing the efforts of what you're paying. All right. Um so next steps. So the we
have a complete total budget. It's about 300 pages available on our website. um if you want to really delve into the detail. Um following this presentation, council will be asked to conduct the public hearing and allow for public comment and then consider resolutions for adopting the 26 budget and tax levy.
>> Excellent. Thank you. >> Any questions of either Miss Hansen or Mr. Stemworthy? >> All right. If there are no questions, then we will uh conduct the truth and taxation hearing. Is anybody here to
address council for the truth and taxation hearing? I'm going to open that public hearing now. Is anybody here to address counsel for the truth and taxation hearing? All right. Um, please step up to the mic
and give us your name and address. >> Hello everyone. My name is Chris Palumbo. I've been in uh Rapids for about se about 7 years. 466 83rd Lane Northwest. Uh just two comments. Uh the start of
the presentation uh was um about um transparency and I'd like to reiterate that me as a citizen that's one of the most important things and uh so it's a compliment to you uh for being as transparent as you are. Uh the other one
is a forward-looking one with the continuous increases in taxes. Every year it's an average of 5%. And eventually that's going to be not sustainable. And I understand everything costs a lot of money. uh especially uh
these days. But you are going to get to a point where you're going to have to make very hard decisions where you have to back off on services, do more with less or uh people are just not going to be able to survive.
So again, it's years down the line, but it's something to keep in mind. That's all I have. Thank you. >> Well, thank you. >> All right. Is anybody else here to address council for truth? Yes, sir. Go ahead and give us your name and address
and and your comments, sir. >> Good evening. I appreciate the work that city council does here. It's a difficult job. My name is Dave Olsen. I'm a CPA and I'm retired at this point in time. I've lived in Rapids for 45 years.
I agree with the g what the gentleman just said. I went and did a little analysis of just my property because that's the only thing I have tax statements for. Over the last 11 years, on average, my taxes have increased just for city
taxes 6.7%. Or 233% of inflation for an 11 period of time. And by the stuff you just put up here, it looks like you're going to be at six, seven, 8% for some time into the
future. Um, at what point in time does that stop? Right? You can't keep going at three times the rate of inflation when the citizens of this city are only
getting inflation or maybe a little above inflation for their for their payroll. That's not sustainable. The next question I would ask is you showed a $4 million surplus in this year's budget. Where is that going?
Should it be used for reduction of property taxes? I don't, you know, considering the amount of money that we go through here, $4 million is about one month's worth of expenditures here. We should probably
take a look at reducing the property taxes or using that money to reduce bond bond debt so that we get ourselves away from this problem. I was just at an NOA county's meeting last night and the same thing is going on. Five, six, and in
their case it's on average 8% for the next five years and they're not guaranteeing it's going to stop there. >> Mhm. >> It's going to, you know, if your budget was three times the rate of inflation, how long would it be sustainable for you?
>> But like I said, I do appreciate the work you guys do. It's a difficult job. budgeting is a is a problematic issue, but sometimes you got to make those hard choices and and I will tell you um if you take a look at some of the other budgeting principles, zerobased
budgeting being one of them, I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I like the one out in Oregon a lot better where in Oregon they assign numbers, one one does some some other number for every service, every everything they do there.
And when they have tough times, they go, "Well, the lowhanging fruit is gone because we're not going to fund it this year." I hate seeing budgets where it's just an automatic increase. There is clearly stuff in that budget that can be cut. I
don't know if it's all been addressed. Don't care. That's your job. >> Um, appreciate that. You know, one of the other things is I get I get the need for people and you hate seeing people turn over, right? Because training costs
money. But it's inevitable that it's going to happen either through attrition or they moved out of state or whatever. It's eventually going to happen. And the real question is is every person that the city of Kuner Abbotts employs,
if you had to re-employ them again, would you? You can't. I don't think any of you guys can sit there and tell me that I would reemploy every employee that the city has because there are some people that you just wouldn't want back. One of the
other things you look at when you get into higher levels of of employment stuff is you have a standard graph. On one side you put intelligence. On the other side you put motivation. And when you divide that into the four
quadrants, the upper right hand corner is highly intelligent, highly motivated. Train them and and promote them. The ones down in the lower left hand corner, get rid of them. Then you got to deal with the other two. You can deal with
the training issue, but motivation is often a problem. >> Thanks, gentlemen. Have a nice evening. >> Hey, Dave. Dave, sir, before you sit down, one question, one quick question. Um, you you said a type of budgeting, but it went by me really fast. It was just before you mentioned the Oregon
model, the one through some number, but you mentioned some type of budgeting, and you didn't think much of it, but I didn't catch what you said. >> So, in Oregon, >> Oh, no. I got that one. The one just before that. Zero bas zero based budgeting. >> Oh, zero based. That's what you said. >> I'm not the biggest fan of it because I think it leaves some things out.
>> Got it. Thank you. >> But I'm also not a big fan of just saying just because I had an expense this year, that expense continues next year because clearly that is not the way to do it. >> Okay. >> There's other there's other means and methods of which to do there. >> Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. I was I was
taking notes and I just thought I missed that. So, thank you, sir. >> Thank you. Anybody else here to address council for the truth and taxation hearing? Call one more time for anybody to address council for the truth and taxation hearing. All right, we will
close that and reserve comment to the city council. your honor. Council >> Novak, >> um just want to say that uh city council did spend a lot of time with staff going over this budget and
we are trying to make a lot of things happen all at the same time. I think if you do go through this budget, you'll see that in a city the size of Rapids with our tax base, um there are no easy solutions. And so this is what
we've been able to come up with this year to make this year work. Hopefully our plans will go forward and in the next coming upcoming years we can address those years as they occur. Uh
with that I would like to move that we approve resolution resolution 25.126 adopting the 2026 tax levy and adopt or should we do these separately together >> and adopt resolution 25-127
adopting the 2026 budget. >> Second. >> Okay. We have a motion by Novak and the second was Butler. Um further discussion on this >> Mr. Mayor. Council member Butler, >> you know, I I really just want to thank both staff and my colleagues here for
walking through the budget process this year. This is my first year on city council, and I really appreciate getting to understand the city structure, the challenges that we're facing, the uh fiscal constraints we have with our current tax base. Nobody likes to see their tax bill go up, but at the same
time, I really want to make sure when you turn on water, it's clean. When you call 911, the police and the fire department get there. and to make sure that we have safe streets that are plowed correctly and to address all the different challenges we have. I I do want to say I am voting for the budget
tonight, but I think it's a tolerable budget. I I don't think this budget looks to the future, whether for next year or two or three years out. We left positions for police officers that were requested. We left out positions that were requested by the fire department.
We have over 50,000 calls each year for the police department. And so I am concerned about if we don't do it this year, that's one thing, but when will we do it? And when I looked at that great chart just showing the past 10 years, the average is 5%, but for the last 5
years, four of them have been over 7%. With the outlier being 6.8, I fully expect next year it will be a similar number, barring some really big change in the world compared to this time. This is a good budget. I don't think though that it plans for what we need going
forward. I think it would be important what we're doing this next year to really consider not just what our staffing needs are next year, but over a two or three year period because that is something that we need to smooth out so that we don't have those big increases. But I do think it's going to be a challenge for us over the next several
years unless there's more development or new revenue or some other change. >> Okay, other discussion, >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Krisco, >> just to add on that and there was a lot that went into this budget. I think it's
a responsible budget. We're covering core services. Um, I mean, there is a lot of work and I do give a lot of uh credit to staff like the feedback from the from the community tonight. >> When we've started to look at this, we were looking at budget increases in the double digits and we really had to roll
up our sleeves and look at how how that's going to impact our residents. And I think we made some adjustments that are prudent and necessary. I don't think that uh increases of this level are sustainable over the long term. I
also am a little bit concerned about our debt loads going forward and I'll have a little bit of comment on that later. But overall, I think uh the staff and uh the council did a good job coming up with with this budget. staff worked very hard on presenting
this to us and we did spend a lot of time discussing it. Um I think it does reflect our priorities. Um and with Rapids when we have done surveys which would almost be the equivalent of that zerobased thing. Um the first
responders, our police and our fire are always right up there and that's a very expensive part of our budget. Um so I'm I I do support the budget. I wish it was a little less, but I I didn't like the amount of cuts we were going to have to make.
>> Mr. Mayor, >> yeah, there's we can we can talk about it afterwards, but we're going to go ahead. >> Yeah, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, staff did a did a great job of really kind of putting it, you know, to what is uh needed versus
what is wanted. And um it's this is the most troubling discussions we have all year is the budget. Um, whenever we consider budget, I think about the people who are on fixed incomes, the social security, disability, who who
aren't making these types of um they're not getting these types of raises. And it does it does really trouble me um when we have uh increases like this. Um at the same time, this is the fifth budget that process I've been a part of.
And it's actually the first uh the first year um where I really didn't have many questions. It seems like the staff did a pretty darn good job of being able to explain everything that they had on the budget. Um last year I think I
questioned like five things uh just to be sure is this what we need versus what we want. And so, um, this was one of those years that the number does it bothers me. Um, because I I've I've heard a lot of personal stories with people who are struggling and it bothers
me, but at the same time, um, I am confident that the staff did a a good job of putting out needs versus wants this year. >> All right. Other discussion, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Butler, >> I'm sorry. There was just one more thing
I wanted to bring up too. You know, uh the the staff had brought up how this budget for 2026 holds a little bit of money for us to start planning for a potential police station renovation. It also talked about how street reconstruction is getting more expensive due to construction costs and borrowing
costs. You know, I I don't think those concerns are going away in the next few years either. We we obviously do have to discuss what a timeline would be for renovations to a police station. I know some neighborhoods, especially neighborhoods around where I live, including mine, they're going to be ripping up all the streets and replacing
the water manes for the first time in decades. So, it is just again one of those things where this gets us through next year. But I I do share the concerns of one of the gentlemen who is here about how when we're looking at how the county is facing troubles, that gap between our levy and their levy
increases is shrinking right now. And I I think that's something for us to be very cognizant of next year. All right. Um, unfortunately, Council Member Ward 4, Council Member Gesler was ill this
evening. Um, but he wanted to be on the record that he supports the proposed budget without amendment and hopefully that would be to preserve a unanimous approval despite his absence. So, assuming it goes that way, he said anyway.
>> All right. Any further discussion on this? >> I'll make it I'll make it short short and sweet, but yeah, I >> do whatever you want. >> No, I uh yeah, I'm I I'm in favor of the budget. Again, I won't repeat a lot of
what others have already said, but I know um both between staff, what what staff originally brought to us and what I've seen in in previous years, I think they did a very very good job from the
get-go. Uh looking at looking at what was really necessary uh for the city versus just hey gee, can can we spend money here and there? Um, so by the time it got down to the to the point where
it's at now, uh, again, kudos to to to staff for the work that they did. And um just from the the discussions that we've had um we're all in agreement that we've got to figure out a way to make this the the the
um percentage increase reduced somehow some way making uh making taking a look at some serious um cuts and and potential changes that need to be made. But that being said, I
think they did an excellent job with what they did this year. This was the this was the first year that my property taxes exceed the total payments for the year on my first house
in Rapids that I bought in 1979. But it was like if the total payment on that was $530 a month and property taxes this year be 600 a month. So, I was like, "Oh, ouch." All right, we have a motion and a second. Do we
have any further discussion on this? All in favor signify by saying, "I >> opposed." >> And that motion carries. And hopefully, Council Member Gesler's vote counts. He phoned it in.
All right. Um, item six. Thank you very much for all your work on this. Thanks for the presentation. Thank you for your um observations and the suggestions from the city or from the community. I mean um item six is to consider adoption of ordinance 2340 amending city code
chapter 13-200. Anybody need any information on this one? This is the one we've was introduced at the last meeting. It's actually been introduced introduced, modified, reintroduced, and we're looking at uh uh yeah, 13-200.
>> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Butler, >> I move that we adopt ordinance number 2340, repealing in its entirety and adding chapter 13-200, municipal water system and connections and authorized summary publication. >> Second. >> We have a motion and we have a second.
Um, is there any discussion on this or further discussion? I like the fact that it's right in there, right in the motion, municipal water system, because that sort of takes care of my concern with the the wells and the irrigation systems. Um, okay.
All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. >> And that motion carries. Item seven, consider adoption of ordinance 2334 amending city code chapter 8-1 100.
Um, >> Mr. Brody, is this what you're doing this one? >> I can do this one, your honor. You're in council. This is kind of similar to the last one. We were doing some changes to a couple different chapters. >> Oh, yeah. >> Or a couple different sections in chapter 8. >> This particular one, we did
>> make changes to it. So, we reintroduced it at the last meeting once and so we're asking adopted today. This is our nuisance code. Um talks about uh various uh things that we pulled out of the zoning code, put it here to make it easier for both staff and our residents
to understand in regards to um some parking uh junk and debris in your yard, exterior storage, those kinds of things. So, we're just asking that you adopt that ordinance tonight and authorize that sub publication. >> All right.
Council member Novak. >> Uh, just move to adopt ordinance number 2334 repealing in its entirety and adding chapter 8-100 nuisances and authorized summary publication. >> Second. A motion by Novak and a second
by Armstrong. Um, is there discussion on this? The one thing I would remind people of because we're talking about nuisance codes here is we are a complaintdriven city. We have, you know, what 400 lane
miles of roads with 400 culde-sacs and 25,000 housing units. Our code enforcement cannot be everywhere. So, if you have a neighbor, some a problem with your neighbor or somebody if you need it addressed, please please let us know
through code enforcement. Um because otherwise it probably won't get taken care of. All right, we have a motion and a second. Is there all in favor signify by saying I >> I opposed? And that motion carries.
Item eight. And I know I'll take some heat about that ratting on your neighbors. It's like, you know, it's like, sorry, I don't know what to do. Um, consider adoption of ordinances 2345 and 2346
amending city code chapters 6-501 and 6-700. Mr. Brody, kind of the same thing. >> Correct. And this is our was previously our chicken ordinance. We're now changing it to domestic birds. So, we've added a few uh birds that will be
allowed to be kept um in the city and uh of which those do not include ducks or turkeys. >> No, foresee I'm sorry, geese. They do include I apologize. >> Ducks and pigeons. >> And then ducks is what got us into this.
>> Right back to chickens, I guess. Um so, I apologize for that. And then it sort of updates some of the structures and things that are required for those additional uh birds. Um, and then we also had to amend our non-domemestic animals to to
reflect this change um in chapter 6700. So, we're asking that you would adopt both of those ordinances and again authorize this publication. >> All right. Um, any questions of Mr. Brody on this? >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Butler, >> I I just want to take a minute to thank
Council Member Grisco for bringing this to council. He he was talking to someone at one of our uh city and the park events over the summer. You get to come and talk to city staff and council members and someone came up to him and said, "Why don't we allow ducks?" And it was one of those moments where then we
were able to go back and talk about it with staff and added a couple other birds that I hadn't thought about. And uh you know, it was just a very swift example of community feedback to council member to council and now a new ordinance and I'm very excited for it.
>> Was this just last summer? It was. >> Wow. >> Yeah. Speed of government. Speed of government is pretty good. Went pretty good on this one, I would say. So, >> mayor, maybe I should give due credit then to the birds that we are allowing. It's chickens, ducks, quails, pigeons, and doves. >> Okay. Um and and then and then did you
get a chance to review that feeding ordinance so that so that we can actually feed them too now now that we have them? >> Yes, we can. It's the only I did. It's not and I can't remember exactly, but it's not impacted by this particular ordinance. >> Oh, okay. All right. because because I remember that was a big thing back then.
>> Okay. Um and then to clarify, we're modifying the chicken ordinance so you don't just go get these birds. You come in, get a permit, buy a license for that, and have things inspected and you there's very strict code you follow for
having these birds. >> Just like now remember, mayor on your previous question is we don't allow you to feed non-domemestic animals. These are now not considered non-domemestic animals. >> Ah, very good. >> Very good. All right. Thank you. Um, okay. Any other questions? Mr.
Brody, >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Carlson for I'm I'm glad that ostriches didn't gain any ground. I'm glad we shut that down right away. Too big, >> Mr. Mayor. Too big. I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance number 2345
amending city code section 6-501 non-domemestic animals and adopt ordinance number 2346 repealing in its entirety and adopting chapter 6-700 domesticated birds and authorized summary publication
>> second >> motion by Carlson and a second by Butler. Is there further discussion on this >> Mr. Mayor Council, >> I'll just point out that that I support this change and um you know, we looked at it and first of all, we looked at what other communities were doing and
they were allowing these types of things without any issues and we looked at that pretty heavily. We also going back to when we introduced and allowed chickens uh raising. Uh we really haven't had any issues with that and I know that there's quite a few permits in the city with that today. So, I'm glad that uh the
residents uh stepped up, contacted us with this. We work through staff and and here we are. So, I support it. >> Excellent. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Council Member Armstrong, >> I I I can't let this go, but since we're talking about budget increases and on and on and on, feeding the birds, is it
still tuppens or is it more than that? Oh, come on. >> Still what? >> Tuppets. >> Oh, >> come on. Is there no Mary Poppins fans out there? >> Feed the feed the birds. Tuppins. >> Oh, >> tupp and
Can't go so deep. >> I should have stopped talking before. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion except for you, Council Member Ar. >> All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I opposed. And that motion carries. Um, okay. Item nine under new business is to consider an introduction of an ordinance amending chapter 13-899 Centerpoint Energy Franchise Agreement.
Uh Mr. Brody, first of all, your honor, I apologize there's a typo. It's reminding chapter 13-800. So that's the ordinance that we'll be introducing tonight. >> Okay. >> Um this is respect to as utility franchise to center point in the city.
under our charter, we can uh franchise utilities and we do that. We can franchise them for up to 20 years at a time, which is what we've done here. And so now center points has come up this year. We've negotiated with them to enter into a new franchise agreement that we do by ordinance. So tonight
we're asking that we introduce that ordinance. Um the ordinance is similar, if not identical. I think it's more similar to our previous ones with the other utilities that we've done over the last uh 20 years. And so it's consistent with that as we're required to by state
law. And so again, it just continues the relationship that we have already with Centerpoint and probably most important um with for council's perspective is one it gives us the right to to help regulate them within our right of way, but it also to continue to collect the franchise fee which is at 4%. And so
there's no changes to that and we're not proposing any changes to that going forward. So again, we're asking tonight that uh you would introduce that. Um, our charter does require that uh we have a public hearing before we uh enter into a franchise agreement. So, we're asking
that you schedule that as well. Um, due to some additional notice requirements required by our charter, we're going to have that not at our next meeting, but the one in January 6th, uh, I can stand for any questions. Otherwise, >> any questions, Mr. Brody on this? >> Mr. Mayor,
>> council Carlson, >> I just want to be clear with Mr. Brody. So we're we're just continuing a franchise that we've had for 20 years >> and probably before that as well. So all right, >> it just required and that's the maximum amount of time that you can under state law. So we'll do it again in another 20 years hopefully.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions of Mr. Brody? If there are no questions, we will consider ordinance the ordinance amending chapter 13-800
center point energy franchise agreement introduced. And now do we need a do we need a motion to set the public hearing? >> I think we could just say that we're going to set the public hearing >> to say the words. >> Yeah. >> And then and then set a public hearing for January 6, 2026
at 7 p.m. All right. And item 10 is to consider uh purchase of a Rosenhower aerial and I'm sorry, Rosenbower aerial and a
Rosenbower rescue truck resolution 25-128 declaring official intent to reimburse expenditures from bonds. Chief Piper, most of it's already been covered, but obviously this is stuff we've talked about quite a bit. I'm here obviously to
answer any questions you may have. Uh the uh approximately 15 years old. If it comes in, comes in two years, but as Matt indicated, it could be a little longer. Best case scenario would show up at the end of 27 and the rescue truck would
show up at the end of 26 and stated that replace whichever the two rescues considered the worst shape at that time. I'll be asking you for the second heel. I don't need to repeat everything, but I'll be glad to answer any questions you have.
>> Very good, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Council member Carlson, >> Chief Piper. Uh, so what are we going to do with the extra aerial truck? Then what we going to do with the old one? We going to sell them or >> and and ultimately we'll sell both rescue trucks as well. >> Correct.
>> Oh, my Okay. Okay. Yes. the uh the any anything new that we get, whatever is being replaced gets sold. That is correct. And basically the only difference is on the engines when we get a new engine like we just did recently, then the engine that it's replacing goes into reserve capacity. The truck that's
in reserve capacity gets sold. So that's probably the only caveat to that. But uh yeah, the trucks we're talking about here, both of them would get sold upon delivery of the new ones. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Mayor, if I may,
>> couple questions for Chief Piper. Um, first point is it's a large purchase, of course. I mean, fire uh trucks are expensive. Did some research. Useful life out of a truck like this is 10 to 15 years. Looks like we're going to get
15 years out of what we have now. Um, we it looks like you could potentially get extra useful life out of a truck like this if you refurbish them, whether it's the lift truck, the chassis, the engine, or whatever. Have you ever looked into uh what it would take to
refurbish this truck and get another 10 years >> on this particular truck? We have not. In the past, we have looked into it and it it didn't make sense to us. I think the things to consider is is that even is that when these trucks get that old, I mean, the point is is its reliability. This truck isn't worn out. These trucks don't get worn out because of a lot of
use. They get worn out. I mean, they just they're old. I mean, and they start to fail. We've had that experience already. And the point is is that that's why when when they're up in that 14 15 year old range, uh the reliability just isn't there. And as the uh our Joe Wagner over in fleet maintenance would tell you that when they get that old,
then it becomes more difficult to get parts to replace to to repair them. Not to mention the amount of technology that has improved dramatically uh from since since this truck was purchased, National Fire Protection Association that develops the safety standards for fire equipment, it's probably had four uh
revisions to their stuff. Stuff like just as an example on this truck, if you see a ladder truck set up, if the outriggers are all the way out on both sides, we can operate anywhere we want. We're safe. It's the truck's not going to tip over, I guess. Well, there's times where there's a car parked, there's a tree, whatever, you can't get the outriggers all the way out. Well, if
you don't have them all the way out on a truck like we have today, you're not sure what's going to happen if you go off that side of the truck. These new trucks, just to give an example, is that it's all computerized. Wherever you put the outriggers, it will allow you to go off that side as far as you can safely.
Another example is like right now when when we get on this truck, if we if we want to get to the bucket, as any of you know, we got to get up on the back of the truck, we got to crawl along the rungs, hold on, not fall through, get out to the bucket and use both hands, unless you're carrying a chainsaw or whatever stuff. Then you're doing with one hand. This new one has an
articulating boom. So what happens is that the very end of the last 8 ft of the ladder articulates. So basically that goes down onto the ground. You load the firefighters into it. You load the equipment into it. It's safer. It's a lot safer. You get up off top the roof.
If you, you know, put a straight ladder up. If you get up to the top of the roof, when it's sitting on the roof line to get down to the roof down below, then you got to put a small ladder on the end of the bucket to get down there. Well, when you have an articulating boom, which is a new technology, you drop it down there. Firefighter can go down
there can uh put a hole in the roof, for example. You want to ventilate the roof. They can do that while attached to the bucket. So, in other words, if something goes wrong, as you see in videos, where the the roof collapses, the firefighter doesn't go through the roof. So, there's there's many many reasons why uh we are
strongly strongly believe the best case scenario for us is to replace it for the reasons I've stated and more. >> Thank you. If I could just have a follow-up then, but no, absolutely firefighter safety number one. I mean, the council's got you 100% on that, Chief Piper. Uh you mentioned these
trucks don't wear out. Um, but is there a way to outfit or refurbish a truck like this with the new technology would allow these booms to go out and and you know calculate how far they got to go with the angles and everything like that? Are those types of things that could be retrofitted? Could you in fact
retrofit a truck like this with the new boom technology that you had? Those are just a couple of questions that I've kind of had rolling them around my head. I I mean I can't answer that for sure, but I will speculate that no, you be I mean this is heavy duty electronics going into it, the articulating boom on
the end uh of the ladder and stuff like that. I I would be very surprised if that could be done, but I I can't say that with 100% certainty. >> Not to interrupt, but I think the other challenge would be it takes them two and a half years to build one of these. How long would it take them to retrofit
that? How long would we be would that truck be away from us and out of service to be reconditioned or retrofitted or you know I don't know what we would do. >> That's that's a really good point and something that we could you know think about in the future. Do we we keep this truck a little bit longer so they can
retrofit it and then you know kind of get them in a rotating cycle like this? I think we could maybe get a little bit more useful life out of these. They're so expensive. They're so big and they're so wellb built. You know they're just they're just so well built. Like you said, they don't wear out, but the technology gets ahead of us. Right.
>> Right. I think it's worth noting that uh previous back when I took my current position in 2007, we had two aerial devices. We had the ladder truck that we're talking about tonight, and we also had an engine that had a 75 ft ladder on it with a waterway so we could do, you know, do large diameter uh u you know,
heavy water from an elevated uh stream. But we we as a department decided that you know with the with the way things are operating here we could get rid of that because again like as you deal with every time you know with all the different budget issues we try to be uh cognizant of where can we save money and
that's why we went from two aerial devices at that time to the one that we have today uh that we're talking about replacing. >> Yeah. And that was going to be actually one of my questions too. How often do we actually dispatch the area ladder? you know, we don't do it as much as maybe once did, but we do have a lot of
apartments in this town that you got to get up high. If there is an event, we got to make sure that we're there and prepared. So, I appreciate you answering those questions, John. Uh, Chief Piper, and that's all I have. >> Yeah, you're I think I think we'll do very well for resale on this if we
decide to sell it. Are when back when we bought this one, um, they were only a million dollars to buy or just a little over. Uh, but we sold the used one for $200,000. That's >> Canon Falls if my memor is correct. >> Canon Falls is where it went. Yeah. Yeah. So, I would I would think we would
get very good money for this on the market considering what they cost now. But, >> well, as you know, you're talking about the numbers. I mean, a standard engine uh uh we joked when uh we're up at the uh fire station 3 a while ago for a new employee tour. Matt can correct me if
I'm wrong, but the first truck we purchased for the city back in the day was like $3,400. And now there are 925,000. So things have changed. >> Council member Novak. >> Uh no, no, that's um I have to admit I'm a little curious myself to find out what
the answers are to some of your questions, council member. Um how often do they go out? What would the cost be to get it retrofitted? Now, I actually am on the the opposite side of that one because being in the insurance industry, I see a lot of uh replacement type costs
for normal vehicles. And I know that a lot of times depending upon the vehicle, it can actually be more expensive to repair and retrofit a vehicle to a new status or a close to new status than it is just to buy a new vehicle. So, it
really depends on what would have to happen, what's going on, and what the cost would be in labor really. It's not so much the parts, it's the labor to make it work. So, uh, my guess is that it would be much more expensive to retrofit something than it would be just
to to buy a new one. That the the cost benefit when you look at it would say just buy the new one. But I would be curious to see that answer. >> All right. Um, any other questions for Chief Piper? >> Mr. Mayor, >> any other discussion? Council member Butler.
>> Uh, Chief Piper, one thing I'm curious about. So, so this truck's currently 13 years old. that's going to be 15 year old years years old by the time we would get the new aerial truck. You mentioned just like how much technology has changed in that time and I'm thinking about like you know in 2012 I got my first smartphone and it's a lot
different than the one I have here today. You know could you talk through a bit like have we done any sort of changes with the truck over the last 13 years just because of how much technology has changed? I'm kind of thinking in the same vein of just there's certain things that maybe aren't offered as well anymore. Just there's
different technology now that would be again hard to retrofit in. I'm just curious like how we've even adapted with technological change over the last 13 years. >> If I understand you're talking about the new stuff we're doing to the to the truck that we're purchasing the new
technology is that do I understand you? >> I am curious about that too. I was mostly curious like what if any changes have we made to the current truck over the 13 years just because technology has changed. >> I would say none. >> Okay. But what would we get then with the new truck in terms of technology? I
know we talked a little bit about the the sensors and whatnot, but >> Right. I I think the the the major things is is is what is the firefighter safety >> for both on the roof and loading. I already addressed that. I addressed the technology to where if the outriggers
aren't all the way out, the computer can allow you to do what is safe. Another thing is is like they call it soft touch. So, in other words, if you're if somebody's up in the air 100t up and you're and you're operating with the controls before, if you let go, I mean, it comes to a sudden stop, it really jerks a lot. That doesn't happen
anymore. Now, the technology is if you let go of it, it slowly stops. So, that's kind of probably the three things. and and again, you know, obviously airbags and stuff they have in their cars and stuff like that, but I guess that, you know, I'm sorry, keep the microphone up here. That's the kind of stuff that I would cite as the new
stuff that we're talking about. Uh, that's again makes us more effective and safer. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions, Mr. Chief? >> Um, any interest in buying a couple fire trucks? >> Mr.
I'll go for it. Uh, I motion that we authorize the purchase of one Rosenbower aerial truck and one Rosenbower rescue truck and adopt resolution 25-128 declaring official intent to reimburse from future tax exempt bond. >> Second motion by Butler and a second by
Armstrong. Is there further discussion on this? >> Mr. Mayor Council member Scoiac. >> I guess I would have kind of maybe liked to see these taken separately uh because we just discussed the need for the truck and you know possible refurbish and
things like that. But the second part, resolution 25128 declaring official intent to reimburse expenditure from bonds is something that I think I would like to talk about too because in the budget we have the budget presentation we just saw we had $2.2 $2 million uh
for the truck and 400,000 for the rescue truck. But if we're going to issue bonds for that, um well, let me just start by asking um Hey, Miss Hansen, if we issued bonds for the truck uh um equipment certificates, I guess they're called.
What's the term on that bond? >> Oops, the mic. Council member uh Griscoak, we would never issue a bond longer than the life of the um equipment. So in past instances, it would be 10 years because we keep the engines that long. Um so at
mo at most it would be 15, but we would discuss at the time of issuance. >> I think we have a followup from our city manager here, >> Mr. Stew. Sorry, >> mayor council. It's important to note too that this is sort of declaring the intent. We aren't yet issuing any debt
service related to this equipment certificates, but this is a part of the process that if we want to do that, the time that's required. >> Um, it's also important to note that the way the purchase of this truck would work, you put a certain amount 50% down when the chassis is completed and the
other 50% uh, you know, before you receive the vehicle. >> Um, and so the timing of of when we might need that is down the road. And so, um, you know, obviously there's time for discussion. I think it's important to note though is this is by far the largest purchase that we do in our
capital equipment fund. And so as we're trying to smooth out those peaks and valleys if we if we talked about here over the last or the next 10 years, we're looking at what is that levy that we need to sustain sort of the annual average cost of that capital equipment fund. The ladder truck is this giant
anomaly in that graph. And so we need those equipment certificates to sort of smooth that out for this really extreme purchase even within that fund which has very expensive purchases already. If we don't do that, we would need to seriously accelerate our capital
equipment fund levy um which again then sort of creates this high point for several years and it's going to drop off again and then it'll create another high point 15 years down the road. So equipment certificates are really designed to allow communities to address those more anomalous type of purchases
without, you know, getting whiplash in their levy. And and so in this case, we would strongly recommend we go that route to avoid that. If we don't, then we're going to have to significantly increase our levy like by double in that fund to make it work over the next um
you know, several years. And well, frankly important than that because the $2 million is uh going to be due in 26 and 27 and you know that fund isn't anticipating that much revenue. So that's really the need in this case. Whereas in the last engine, we're able to avoid that after a similar
conversation part because it was much smaller purchase and we happened to have some state funding that had been given to us as one-time public safety funds that were sitting there that was a obvious use for some purchase like that. We don't have that this time around. Um, and that was kind of the convenience of
a couple years ago. >> We we still could engage in a longer conversation about this in the future >> and make sure that we really >> look at this, >> but in order to preserve the ability to right >> to issue those certificates, we'd want to pass this resolution tonight.
>> Okay. >> So, Mr. Mayor, follow up then. >> Yep. >> To me, it doesn't make sense to finance something for the life of the thing. you you you finance it, you pay for it. By the time it's paid off, it's obsolete. It's no good. I don't I can see bonding
for things that last a long long time. Our streets, our roads, this public building that we're in 30, 50 years, we bond for that and it gets paid for over a couple of uh maybe even a couple generations in the city. Um and the other thing is is if if we bonded I mean
2.2 plus $2.6 $6 million over 15 years. I mean, even even with good rates of a 3% bond rate, we'd be looking at we'd be looking at four,500, maybe more thousands worth of interest on that,
which is a lot of money in my opinion. So, I I just uh I don't know how I can make this vote knowing that I I really don't want us to reimburse from bonds. Uh, you know what I mean?
>> You want You're okay buying the trucks? >> We need the truck. We got to protect the community and the firefighters. There's no question. But we we got to pay for it, too. >> Yeah. >> Well, mayor and council, again, we're not you're not making that decision tonight. You're preserving the ability to make that decision later on. So, from
that standpoint, if you believe that the truck uh the trucks are right to purchase, you know, they're in the budget, I would suggest you move forward with that. And then if council would like we can have a additional conversation well in advance of when we may need to make the sort of financial
specific financial decision related to how we're financing the traffic. >> Your honor man >> just to clarify uh Mr. Stemwell if we did not bond for this item >> then the only other option that we have the only other realistic option we would have would be to increase property
taxes. Is that correct? I mean, we're increasing property taxes either way, but there would be a more acute increase in the levy for the capital equipment fund or we'd have to find other sources for it, internal sources. And, you know, we've been doing quite a bit of that and so we don't want
to overtap fund balances in other areas and sort of, you know, do an IOU to those funds um more than we need to. So, uh, yeah, it, you know, I think it's the it's just one approach council would like to take. I mean, that the term of
the equipment certificate wouldn't have to be for the life. We want to pay it off sooner than that and we can look at those options. This is really just holding that um the ability to do it at this time. And just as a followup, I do want to let the the community know that
council is examining other options than property taxes as ways to generate income. It we don't want to raise people's property taxes here because we pay them too. >> Um so council member Guscoviaak,
Mr. understand. So my understanding is so we're saying that we're going to order the trucks and we're going to have the option of a future tax exempt bond, but even if we do that, we're still going to have to vote on that at the time and we're going to have to
authorize that. We're going to have conversations about that bond beforehand. >> Correct. Um when we ordered the last engine, we had a similar conversation about the need for equipment certificates. Ultimately, we decided to go a different direction. However, when we ordered the truck, we too then at
that point passed a similar resolution to say we intend to uh reimburse ourselves through the tax exempt bond. Ultimately didn't do that. Um but we could have and so that's a similar process as we've um been proposing tonight. >> Okay, Mr. Mayor,
>> councselves a little bit ahead of ourselves if we're going to order a truck, but we're not sure how we're going to pay for it. I mean, it seems like those two things should go together in my in my mind. Um, >> yeah. And I think with the two and a half year build time, it's
>> Oh, that that was the other part of my my thought process here is you said we have to have like half down for the chassis, half down when it's done. When would the first down payment need to be made then? >> You know, it uh could be a year from now. Um, so it's either late 26 or 27
usually somewhere in that time frame. I think John would be >> okay closer to 16 months into the process for the first >> that does give us some time to talk about it to to to budget it. Uh, council member Norvac, to your point, not
necessarily raised levy if we don't do bonds because to one of the person's uh, examples was if you put if you put a number on everything of what you really want and what you really need, if the truck is 100 and new furniture for city
hall is three, you know, you're going to go for the truck, right? Um, okay. >> Okay. Suddenly, we're getting new furniture, too. That's not a part of this request. Just >> exactly. >> All right, back to this. We have a
motion and a second. Is there any further discussion on this? >> Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. >> And that motion carries. Item 11, consider agreement. Um,
consider an agreement with Kerosoft for Zoom and VoIP services. Mr. level. >> Mayor and council, I'll take this one. Although, u get into too many detailed IT sort of questions. Uh, you know, they may go right over my head, but I'm going to make the U. So, uh, staff is
proposing that we move forward with a new telefan provider. In this case, it's Zoom for government. Um, the big trend in this industry is going towards soft phone. So, you're, you know, answering your phone through Microsoft Teams, through Zoom, on your computer, on your
phone, you name it. Um, and so that's the direction that's being recommended here through Zoom. Um, and as you can see, there's a number of benefits both operationally um, and budgetarily and custom service-wise. There's a lot more flexibility with the service. Um, it's
easier for um, employees to kind of stay connected when they need to. Any number of reasons. The agreement that's being proposed with Kerosoft is a four-year agreement that sort of has that first year as a free year, but then three years um of contract beyond that for a
total of $113,500 over that four-year period. Um given that it's over $100,000 agreement, we're asking council to approve that as it exceeds the city manager's authority. And I think with that, I'll stand for
any questions. >> All right. current are we currently using a VoIP system? >> We do have one that's an on premises system through Mel um and so it is over the internet phone but it doesn't have the capabilities to integrate with
Microsoft Teams um and things of that nature that this product will >> I I guess more of my question was has that been dependable for us? >> Yep. >> Okay, that's good. Um do we have a hardline phone for the emergency operations center?
uh >> or is that also VoIP? >> That is it's through the same the current system. Um the the new the the team Zoom I get all these things mixed up. Yeah. Zoom for government does sort of have the 911 >> component to it because that has been
some of the concerns with going with cell phones is you're not nec it doesn't show up in e you know when you call 911 necessarily. Um but the there are ways to program it. there are ways to you know location services whatever it might be um to address some of those issues so
we feel comfortable with proposed here >> okay all right questions for Mr. Understand? >> Your honor, council member Novak. >> Uh my only real concern and it's not much of one because I'm familiar with Zoom and I did go through that arrangement. It would be uh internet
security protocols and making sure that what happens here in the city isn't hackable by someone outside the city. >> So that would be really my only concern. >> Yeah. >> What assurances do we have from Zoom? >> Yeah, mayor and council. I mean this has to meet standards that um meet the
thresholds are required by the BCA and FBI is we have you know police services here and things of that nature encryption you name it and so uh they meet all those standards and then some there are a number of communities that have gone to Zoom for government service Plymouth is the one that comes to mind
and they've had it for a year or two and are very happy with it and feel we asked some of those same questions you know about security and integration with 911 things like that um and got really good responses from them directly Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Okay.
All right. Uh your wishes, >> Mr. Mayor. Just one more question before motion. >> Uh the quoted price $113,000 first year, no charge upfront, four-year term. So 113500 for for four years.
>> Correct. It essentially it's the 113 for four years. >> Got it. Okay. Wanted to confirm that. Right. >> Okay. Well, with that, Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion. >> Thank you. >> Uh that the city council grant the city manager authority to approve a 4-year
agreement with Cara at a quota price of $113,50047 for VOIPE and related Zoom services. >> Second. >> Second. >> Motion by Grisco, a second by Butler. >> Mayor, Mr. Some of them,
>> your honor, if if the council member Grisco, >> I think our charter requires both the city manager and the mayor to uh sign any agreements over 100,000. So, if we could just amend the motion. >> I'll amend my motion. >> Authorize the
>> authorize the contract and allow the uh city manager and mayor to sign it. >> Okay. You okay with this? Are you okay with that, seconder? >> I'm good with that amendment. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Right. So, we have a motion and a second to grant the city manager and the mayor authority to
approve a 4-year agreement with Kerasoft at a quoted price of $113,50047 for VoIP and related Zoom services. Any further discussion? >> Well, your honor, if you have to do it, then I don't know. I mean, >> yeah, right. All in favor signify by saying I. I
>> I opposed. >> And that motion carries. Open mic public comment. If anybody is here for open mic public comment, feel free to come up to the mic. Open mic is a time uh 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. Please state your name and
address for the record. >> So my name is Dave Olson. I was up here earlier. Can I comment on some of just the last banter that was going on? >> I'm sorry. >> Can I comment on the last banter that was going on here? >> Um, technically not because that's part
of the uh the regular meeting agenda. Um, what what this tries to avoid is running a meeting out. We've already made all those decisions. If you have issues, you can spoke talk to me or the city manager or whoever you have may may have questions.
>> Come up and talk to you when this thing is over. >> Okay. Thank you, sir. All right. Anything else for open mic? All right. We'll close that. I don't have any reports on previous open mics. And we are to
other business. Um I have three things time related. Um, Riverdale Village sent out notice of their upcoming Santa Fest this Saturday,
December 6th, 11:30 to 3:30. Face painter, balloon artist, holiday drawings, holiday crafts. They uh really really go out of their way to make some family events up there. Um, so that's at the 12654 Riverdale Boulevard. So, it's
going to be one of the units up there by Schneiderman's Furniture or somewhere up there. Um, and that's Saturday, December 6th, 11:30 to 3:30. Um, also our uh they're they're taking another run at that bridge.
So, >> what? >> Um, so the uh the the new closures for Rapids Boulevard will be out on December 10th and December 11th. Um, and they'll be removing the closure on at 6
by 6:00 a.m. Friday, December 12th. So, they're going to try and get the spans set, including the new span they built to replace the old span that got wrecked. Um, but then they just want to get that stuff done. We're not agreeing
to concrete or anything. >> Correct. >> Yeah. But, uh, make sure you if make sure you check out the city's website. um Or inoka County because they will be starting the traffic switch um Wednesday
morning on December 10th and it will impact all three days uh with the closure being removed by 6:00 a.m. Friday, December 12th. And then going chronologically, the next thing I've got is the Rapids
Treelighting Festival. There we go. Saturday, December 13th from 3:30 to 6. The countdown to the tree lighting and the fireworks are at 5:30 p.m. This is at Boulevard Plaza, 1102 Kirk
Lake Boulevard, next to the Ice Center. Join us for a free community celebration. Enjoy coco and cookies, pictures with Santa, live music, fire pits to keep warm, and write letters to Santa, not by the fire pit, but in the heated
tent. Um there's also uh uh uh what's the nest of threads will be there um with some decorations for kids to make. Um and make sure you stay for the countdown and uh to the light display on the tree and the fireworks again. That's
at 5:30. >> Emphasis on the countdown there this year. >> Emphasis on the countdown. We're going to get that countdown right this year. Yeah. Last year I forgot to turn the countdown clock off and there was a kid on the stage who started the countdown and everybody went with it. It was like
okay well whatever. >> Other business. >> Mr. Mayor, >> council member Carlson. So, we have the holiday lighting contest going on and um the applica the applications closed on uh actually yesterday and soon our arts
commission will be going out and judging the displays and thanks to everybody who's participated this year and the city will be putting out a kind of a map with all the different residents that are participating in the uh in the holiday lighting event. So once that
gets out, it'll be a great time for people just to get a hold of that mat, go out, grab some coffee, hot chocolate, drive around, look at some beautiful lighting. They got a whole month. >> All right, other business. >> Mr. Mayor, council member, >> I just like to point out that, you know,
we had a big water mane break on Thanksgiving at 121st in Hansen. It was a major one, 12 12inch water man affecting a lot of people on Thanksgiving. So, I just want to give credit to the city manager for coordinating everything, public works
and everything else because it was a it was a major break and a big hole and I think we're going to be dealing with some ramifications on that for a while. I don't know if you want to add anything to that, Matt. >> Yeah, thank you, Council Member Scoviac. I did I did want to mention that because there were a whole host of employees and
contractors that uh went out there on Thanksgiving, were there all day and have been dealing with the repercussions uh ever since. So, uh, we had a large water mane break on 121st east of Hansen. While they're working on that, there's another break on the west side
of Hansen. Um, these particular water manes were pretty deep um and caused a lot of sink holes and you name it. So, um, there's going to be a little bit of pain over the winter on 121st now because we c we are attempting to compact the soils in that area as best
we can to allow for driving. Over the winter, we'll have to fill in with sand and gravel as best we can because the plants that create the pavement are closed already for the season. So, there's no hot mix that can be used to be put down over those areas uh probably
until April or something um along those lines. So, uh it's going to get patched up as best it can for winter. We'll come back in the spring and do the ultimate fix. So, uh, beyond, uh, beyond that, you know, it was a great coordination between utilities, streets department,
um, different contractors, public safety, you name it, were out there all day on Friday. Subsequently, we've had some other breaks and some of those same people. Even today, as the mayor, uh, mentioned to me, he ran across the water main break. Um, so there's been a lot of overtime, a lot of tired public works
folks uh, dealing with some of those issues. It's pretty typical this time of year when you get some of the weather changes, fluctuations in frost and temperatures, water pressures, you name it, those pressures find the weak spots in the system and exploit them. And
that's kind of what's happened here. Hopefully, we're going to be in a better place now uh moving forward, but um certainly there will be other water breaks as time goes on. So, >> of course, it was a perfect storm on a holiday um all those things. So, thank you for bringing that up and we really do appreciate all people did and I had
very little to do with it. Did nothing to do with it on the day of, you know, sort of just making sure things were going okay and we had media coverage and all those sorts of things. Uh, credits all due to the public works people who are there. >> And it's a great reminder um how important those master contracts are
that we have that we can just call those contractors that are already vetted and they can just go out and fix it. >> That's right. Yeah, but there was a lot of our own staff out there, too. For sure. >> A number of them. Yeah. >> All right. Other business, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Councilor Butler. I >> I'd just like to echo the thank yous on
that. I I had a handful of residents and some of the businesses right there at the intersection just say that they were really impressed with how quickly this was resolved, especially on a holiday. >> Obviously, that's stressful for a lot of different reasons anyways. So, again, just thank you to everything and I know there's still quite a bit of work to do
over the next few months. >> Yep. >> All right. Any other business to come before council? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Motion by Carlson, second by Butler to adjurnn. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. We are adjourned.