is called to order. And I'd like to invite all of you to please stand and join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. To the flag. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. The first item on the agenda is approval of the regular agenda agenda as presented. Are there any council members or anyone in the audience that wishes to make any
changes to the regular agenda? If not, I would entertain a motion for approval. >> So move >> second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve the regular agenda. Discussion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> Oppos? Motion carries. The consent
agenda is before the council and all items with an asterisk are considered to be routine by the city council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or citizen so requests in which event the item will be
removed from the general order of business and considered separately in its normal sequence on the agenda. Is there anyone in the audience or any member of the council that wishes to either remove or add an item to the consent agenda? Hearing none. I would entertain a motion for its
approval. >> So move motion's been made and seconded to approve the consent agenda. Discussion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The motion carries. >> And the minutes of the regular city council meeting which was held on
November 10th, 2025 or before the council. Again, is there anyone in the audience or any member of the council that wishes to make any changes to the minutes? Hearing none, I would entertain a motion for approval of the minutes. >> I make a motion to be approved as presented.
>> Second. >> Motion's made and seconded to approve the minutes of the November 10th, 2025 council meeting. Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. Opposed? Motion carries. We have two
new police officers here with us this evening, Tristan Kav and Anthony Hug. And at this time, I'd like to ask them to come forward and we'll do their police officer oath of office. And the chief can come too. If you raise your right hand and repeat
after me. I >> Tristan Canop >> Anthony >> promise that I will humbly serve >> promise that I will humbly serve >> all residents >> all residents >> with a response to their crisis >> with a response to their crisis >> with compassion >> with compassion >> sincerity and concern
>> sincerity and concern >> patience kindness and respect >> patience kindness and respect >> I promise that I will >> I promise that I will >> at all times >> at all times >> conduct myself in a manner >> conduct myself in a manner >> that reflects positively >> that reflects positively
>> on the Detroit Lakes Police Department and the city of Detroit Lakes. >> on the Detroit Lakes Police Department and the city of Detroit Lakes. >> Finally, I promise >> Finally, I promise >> to follow the policies of the Detroit Lakes Police Department >> to follow the policies of the Detroit Lakes Police Department.
>> Uphold the laws of our state and nation. >> Uphold the laws of our state and nation. >> And the ordinances of the city of Detroit Lakes >> and the ordinances of the city of Detroit Lakes. >> And that I will faithfully discharge my duties. and that I will faithfully discharge my duties >> to the best of my abilities. So help me God.
>> to the best of my abilities. So help me God. >> And that's it. >> Congratulations. So, under the uh public hearings and comments, uh we've got some resolutions regarding Tristan and Anthony. And I would call on uh chairman uh public
safety chairman Nolman. >> Thank you, honor. Consideration to a resolution declaring the position of the part-time police officer meets all the pair of membership requirements. Tristan Knoff. I make a move. >> Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to declare the position of the part-time
officer Tristan Kaf meets all per membership requirements. Discussion on the motion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. >> All right. Consider to a resolution declaring the position of the part-time
police officer meets all the pair of membership requirements, Anthony Hug. I make a motion. >> Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to declare the position of the part-time officer, Anthony Hug. Uh that it meets all the PR membership requirements.
Discussion on the motion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. At this time, I'll adjourn the regular meeting and call to order a public hearing to receive public comments on the issuance of an intoxicating liquor
license and Sunday license to Woodfire Foods LLC at 811 8th Street Southeast. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to speak to the issue of that liquor of those liquor licenses? Hearing none, that public hearing is
closed and I would entertain a motion from Chairman Sterns. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. We have a consideration to approving the issuance of an intoxicating liquor license and a Sunday license to Woodfire Foods LLC for 2025 at 8118th Street Southeast pursuant to
their application and fees uh liquor and gambling committee uh discussed and we recommend approval and I so move >> second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve the intoxicating liquor license and Sunday license to Woodfire Foods. Discussion on the motion. All in favor
of the motion say I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. We have one individual this evening, Gary Corson. Is it Cor? I'm sorry. Gary Kosen wishes to speak to the council. And I'll give
you just a couple minutes, Gary. All right. >> Okay. >> Mr. Mayor, city council members, I'm here in my official capacity as the attorney for God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Ghost.
I have a hypothetical question for all of you. If you were to hire an attorney, would you hire somebody who was going to lie about everything or would you hire somebody who's going
to tell you the truth about everything? Unfortunately, in this country, we have Satan has all the attorneys on his staff. God has nobody. So, he appointed me as his legal counsel. >> You know, I'm not going to put up with
this very much longer. I'll tell you that. >> Let's go back a few years, back to October 2009. >> I'm going to give you one more minute and then you're done. You understand me? I understand you, okay?
>> But I'm tired of people telling me that I can't say my peace. Okay. >> Well, you're getting >> You work for me. I don't work for you. >> You're getting off on the wrong foot here. >> No, I'm not. I'm getting to it.
>> I had to tell you who I was first. I'd like you to remember back to October 2009. >> Ron, give me one minute. when 90 when Nancy Pelosi made her law saying you could not know what was in the bill until after it was passed.
Do you remember that she threw away your first amendment right to peaceibly assemble and petition the government for redress agrievances and everybody just follows right along with her
because nobody cares about what your constitutional rights say. So I'd like you to remember I'd like to re rephrase a statement by Booker T. Washington when he said it doesn't matter how many lies you tell it's never going to be the
truth. So, I'll bring it forward about to last year. If you remember right, two months ago, the legal women voters were here screaming about the Little Somalia flag and how this city council would not
allow it to be >> Okay, your time. Your time is up. >> Your time is up. >> I got one more question. >> We don't answer questions. >> I know you don't, but I want you to think about it. >> Well, you make it fast. Is there anything wrong with thinking about questions?
>> What is it? >> Can anybody tell me when Jim Joy or Robert Cupc came down here to Detroit Lakes to hold a hearing on the little Somalian flag?
Or did they also violate your constitutional right to peaceibly assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances? >> Okay, we're done. >> You think about that. Thank you. And I'm tired of people telling me I
can't take the time I need. Good. >> Okay. So, we are up to the community development committee agenda and this evening the chairman is alderman Carlson. So, Sean, >> thank you your honor. Uh, and
consideration I'm going to I'm going to have Kelsey go through items 5A and 5B. consideration to approving a resolution approving a joint powers agreement with Lake View Township and a consideration to approving a resolution repealing joint planning board. Uh the resolution
uh 2024 1217A. We'll do them as separate motions, but Kelsey, if you could >> Yeah, mayor and council, I'll try to do a brief summary on this. So about a year ago, the city council passed a resolution uh authorizing a joint powers
board which would have >> what >> year ago was the plan? >> Yes, >> you said >> oh sorry this is why Charlie's here to correct me on this. It's been a it's been a long year >> specific
>> a joint planning board uh with Lake View Township and and Becker County. Um after that resolution we had several meetings with representatives from both the township and the county as really nobody was really excited about creating a joint planning board. So we started
talking about is there other options? Is there other solutions? Is there a compromise to address this issue? So we went through a lot of different iterations working with uh uh the township's attorney as well. uh we we looked at everything from an orderly
annexation agreement um to other agreements, but we landed on a joint powers agreement that is included in your packet. So, what the joint powers agreement would do is it provides the city it gives the city back some subdivision authority inside the
township. Um, if you recall, um, before the township adopted, uh, their own subdivision and zoning controls through reference, uh, of the counties, the city used to have subdivision control within a 2m area outside of city limits of the
city. So, if you look at the map that's included in the joint powers agreement, it's obviously not two miles. It's quite a bit reduced, more targeted of an area. But really those were part of the negotiations that took place over the last 12 months of first of all what was
the agreement going to look like. We nailed down kind of the the structure what that agreement would be in the joint powers agreement. But then we had to agree on what the designated area would be that the city would have subdivision control back in. Ultimately what's what's in that agreement is what
was mutually agreed upon. So there's two actions. uh versus the resolution to approve the joint powers agreement and then the second resolution is to repeal or resend our resolution from last year creating the joint planning board. Um
our withdrawal of the joint planning board is actually a condition of the agreement. So that's why we're proposing that you approve the agreement first and then the second resolution resend the joint planning board resolution. That's it in a nutshell. I think you did a
great job other than >> planning and powers >> and and Kelsey, if I understand, uh, Lake View Township has already signed this, so if we approve this tonight, it's enacted. >> My understanding they've already approved the agreement. Yes. >> Okay. Any questions for Kelsey?
Uh, all right. Then, uh, item 5A, consideration to approving a resolution approving a joint powers agreement with Lake View Township. The committee met yesterday and discussed. We unanimously agree that we should approve this and I so move. >> Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve a resolution approving a joint
powers agreement with Lake View Township. Discussion on the motion. >> Just one point of clarification is looking at that map is everything in the gray area then is in Lake View Township currently, but we would have some say of subdivision in that gray boxed out area.
Is correct. >> That's correct. and and be clear, the city council would have all the say in the subdivision control because it's it's not no longer part of that joint planning board. It would go back to the city council and the planning commission for subdivision control. Zoning control
is still administered by the township and county. >> Okay. Thank you for clarifying. >> Okay. Any further questions? If not, I'll call the question. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? The motion carries. Item 5B, consideration to approving a resolution repealing the joint planning board
resolution 2024-1217A. We met and agre yesterday and uh agreed that we should approve this and I so move. >> Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve a resolution repealing the joint planning board resolution. Discussion on the motion.
>> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. Item 5 C, consideration to a second reading and adoption of ordinance number 546, reszoning from R21 and two family residence to RM multifamily residence at 204 and 220 Willow Street East, Circle
North Properties. This is the Lincoln School. This is the second reading. Uh we discussed yesterday and recommend approval and I so move. >> Second. Motion's been made and seconded to give second reading and adopt ordinance 546 reszoning
uh from R2 to RM at 204 and 220 Willow Street East. Discussion on the motion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. Second reading is given and ordinance 546 is adopted. Item 5D, consideration to a
resolution approving a conditional use permit to allow a car wash in a B3 district at 1365, 1369, and 1373 Wer Road. This is for Weber Motors. They are building a new quick lane and they're going to put a publicly accessible car wash attached to that new 10 bay
facility. Uh the planning commission met and unanimously approved it. CDC met yesterday and unanimously agreed that we should approve this and I so move. >> Second. >> Second. Motion's been made and seconded to approve a conditional use per permit to allow a car wash at 1365, 1369, and
1373 Winter Road. Discussion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> And that is it for CDC. >> We'll go to the public works committee chairman Zean. >> Okay. The first item is item A, which is we had a discussion uh in regards to the
world's smallest gas station. Beck Becky Mitchell from the museum was at our meeting. She's she's had people was interested in maybe kind of replicating what we had here many years ago and that's right in front of the Greystone Plaza there, but there's a lot of work to be done yet on that. So, it's just
the beginning stages in talking about that. So, the next item is uh 6B uh consideration to accept bids for the Washington Ballpark project and awarding to contract bids. This is for phase one. I'm going to ask our administrator Kelsey CLM to give us an update on that.
>> Mayor and councel, uh, the Washington Park phase 1 project received five bids. Uh, the low bid was from Bristling Construction. Um, just a little bit of background of what's included in phase one. It's basically all the building project. Uh, if you think of the grand
stand, uh, the dugouts, uh, the alternate that is included, the alternate number one is for the concession stand. um is all included in that phase one. Uh at this point, uh where we're sitting budgetwise, fundraising wise, uh we're in pretty
good shape to do phase one. Uh so our recommendation is to proceed with a awarding the bid for phase one. Um this is higher than we were expecting for the phase one cost. So, we still have some work to do for phase two, whether it's,
you know, pairing back the scope of phase 2 or raising more funds. Um, but at least at this point for phase one, we're in good shape to proceed. >> Thank you, Kelsey. And as Kel said, we did have quite a bit of discussion on there. And um I I believe they said if
we do get started on uh doing the the main part of the building, it would it would start here uh the latter part of 2006. And then when when would be complete to use that? Uh people have asked when when we be able to use the ball field. >> Yeah. So phase one um part of the the
bid document is basically be done at the end of next construction season. I think it's the end of October. Um, as far as when they'll start that TBD, um, the Brislin is contemplating even potentially starting with some of the demo and stuff yet this winter. Um, so
the plan would be phase one, the building improvements, uh, you know, the new u safety netting, all that being completed, uh, next construction season by the end of 2026. Phase one, uh, phase two, which is all the field improvements. Uh the plan is
to get that out to bid here in January and February to also hopefully uh do that phase that part of the construction here in 2026 as well. To the question of when will the field be ready to be used that's a little bit dependent upon the
scope of what phase two ends up being. uh if you end up basically regrading the whole outfield uh which may be needed because we got to put uh drain tile in, irrigation in, if you seed it here in in 2026, even if you get seated earlier, it
might need a whole another year before it's really ready for traffic to be on it, which has the potential then that you would lose the ball field really for 26 and potentially for 27, but that's to be determined. and uh based upon the
scope of the phase 2 improvements and how quickly they can be done and how quickly turf can get established. >> Thank you. And like Kelsey said, it's a work in pro progress, but right now I'd like to uh make bids uh for the Washington Ballpark phase one and I so
move second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to accept the low bid for the Washington Ballpark project uh phase one. Any further questions or discussion? All in favor of the motion say I.
>> I opposed. Motion carries. >> Okay. The next item received consideration of resolution accepting a preliminary engineering report and setting an approvement hearing for Rashman Avenue Street and utility improvements. And I want to call on John Pat, our city engineer, to give us an update.
>> Good evening, mayor and councel. Uh in your packets, the preliminary engineering report for Rossman Avenue. just a quick fly over on that project. Um, I think I mentioned it during our capital improvement planning process. Um, but at that time we had that project
pushed out a ways. I think there was maybe even a TBD on it um while we were doing some ongoing investigation and and long story short through that investigation um determined that we've got some fairly significant concerns with uh the
condition of the water man. Basically, we're getting water mane brakes and did some more voluntary investigation, if you will, of potholeing that water mane. Um, we've got bolts holding that cast iron pipe together that are not bolts anymore. Um, that is a pretty
substantial or significant water mane within the distribution system just because of where it's positioned between the tower and the water treatment plant and its size and things like that. So, uh, upon learning that, we sort of bumped this up to look at a project for
next year, um, for a portion of of Rossman. And so, the portion that we're looking at here is is between Willow Street and Reynolds. It's not a terribly large project. Uh, went through the exercise of trying to determine, you know, were we just going to go in and replace the water man. Um, I think that
was the initial thought, maybe even hope. Um, as we got into this further, for a variety of reasons, it became pretty apparent that no, we really ought to do a a full reconstruction of the streets and the utilities uh within that area.
Otherwise, we were going to end up sort of with infrastructure with sort of offsetting ages where we might run into a scenario that, you know, we rebuild a portion of the street or all of the street, but the w the sanitary sewer is still got 50 years of life on it already. It is PVC, but we're going to
be back in there in 10 or 15 years replacing that before the street uh runs its its course. So, the recommendation was to do a full reconstruction uh which would be the street curb and gutter, sanitary sewer, water main, storm sewer, um for that that portion of
Rossman. Uh total project cost is about $1.5 million. Um the way that gets split out between the city and property owners is about a million dollars would go on the city side of the ledger and about $500,000
um would be assessed to the adjacent property owners. Um what that results in in the way of specials uh from an estimate standpoint, you know, for a 50-ft lot, folks would be looking at uh about $16,500.
uh for an assessment on a 100 foot lot about $23,000. Um just to give you some comparison, those are both right in line with a couple of more recent projects including Forest uh and then the residential area
of West Downtown on Fras Street. So in line with those um this is the first step in the process adopting the report and then uh we would call for the hearing at the at the January council meeting and notify all the adjacent property owners. >> Okay. Thank you John. Uh committees
reviewed this and I've moved to give consideration of the resolution accepting the preliminary engineering reporting to setting an approvement hearing for the Ros Avenue street and utility remov. So move >> second. Motion's been made and seconded to accept the preliminary engineering
report and setting an improvement hearing for the Rosman Avenue street utility improvement project. Discussion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Okay. Next item is D. Consideration to
resolution approving the application for the local road approvement for program LRIP relative to funding assistance for multi-use trails and improvements for West Lake Drive phase 4 Pelican River uh to Long Ridge Road. I'm going to call on John Pratt again to give us an update on
that. >> Yeah, mayor and council. Again, this is sort of a project that um just sort of recently came to light. Um the background on this is Becker County has this portion of Westlake Drive included in um their five-year capital improvement plan. And so that would be
from the Pelican River to Chembridge Road or just past Longbridge Road. We're kind of calling this phase four of Westlake Drive. They had planned on doing a full depth reclamation on just the pavement portion of that. Um, but it struck us as a probably a pretty good
opportunity to maybe look at extending uh our trail network a bit further uh from where we left off at the river there and getting it up to at least Longbridge Road. Um, that type of project lends itself well to be able to maybe make a shift in a curb alignment
there and make make some space for a separated trail look very similar to what you see elsewhere on on Westlake Drive. um county was supportive of the idea and the concept is to apply for grant dollars uh through the LRIP program
through MDOT uh to fund what would be the that additional cost associated with the trail. In other words, it doesn't really burden the county any by adding this trail. We would try to cover those added costs u through this grant. Um, so
in total here we're looking at applying for about $730,000. What the the city is going to be committed to would be about $130,000 um of that cost that would be allocated to the city and then the balance would be fall onto the county side of things.
So um it's just a funding application at this point. We'll see where it goes if we're successful. More to come, but certainly take any questions. Any questions for John? >> Okay. >> Okay. Thanks, John. Then the committee
has reviewed this and we move to give a consideration of the resolution approving the application for the local road improvement program LRIP for the grant relative to funding assistance for the multi-use trail improvements of Westlake Drive and I so move. >> Second. Motion's been made and seconded
to approve a resolution approving the application to the local road improvement program for multi-use trail along Westlake Drive phase 4. Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries.
>> Okay. And the last item you honor is consideration accepting the city engineers monthly report status and John. >> Sure. Mayor and council. Uh most things are obviously pretty well wrapped up here. I'll just hit on a few uh highlights and where we're at with some
things, but um Southwood Shore Estates, we're just going to have a wear course in the spring on that. Um the water tower project that's effectively at seasonal suspension at this point. I don't expect we'll see any activity on that until probably around March, uh
depending on what spring conditions look like, but um that'll stay at a standstill for a while. Hartland Trail. Uh contractor did get that uh effectively completed right before uh things started to freeze up. So that one is pretty much done other than some turf
maintenance. Um Forest Street, same boat, just uh some turf, but we'll probably working on a final payment for that real shortly. Uh Westlake Drive phase three, which again includes the city beach improvements. Um,
still waiting for uh final authorization unfortunately from MDOT central office down in the metro uh before we can move into the next phase of this which would be bidding it. We're effectively all ready. Just kind of sitting around waiting for MDOT. Had some uh
communication with them this week. I expect we're going to get that any day. I've been hearing that for a couple weeks now, but I do think we're going to get it any day. So that's what that's doing is setting us up for uh a bid opening on the the core or the roadway
project around January 20 something rather and then we'll be opening the beach contract about a week later. So means by the end of January we should have bids in hand. Uh we'll be taking that to the city council then the county commission uh for the February uh
meetings and hopefully awarding a a contract and moving in towards construction on that. Um, DMRA, uh, a lot of the legacy grant projects are completed. About the only thing that's being done out there at this point is they're still working on the treehouse element of that, but the
parking lot and trails and snow making and all that stuff is up and running and functional and they're using it all right now. Um, Shwood Drive, that one's buttoned up other than turf. Nothing to nothing new to say about the Highway 10
drive intersection study. uh 270th Avenue. Um we're under design for that right now. I might be bringing that for council approval in January. Um we're getting closer on finishing that one up.
Uh Lyn View Estates uh seasonal suspension. They got all the sewer and water in and just need to build the road next year. And we already talked about Rosman Avenue. So any questions? Okay. I go ahead and I'll make a motion then to accept John's report. I shall move. >> Second.
>> Motion's been made and seconded to accept the city engineers monthly project status report. Discussion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. >> I've got one other thing your honor. Like to call on John King says we've got a lot of snow out there right now and
I'd like to have him explain emergency snow routes and so forth. If you could give us a update on that and what people are supposed to do this time of year when we get all this snow. >> Yes, mayor and councel. Um, we have our first snow emergency. Um, hopefully you
saw that uh for tomorrow morning. Uh, we were out twice today and we'll be out again 4:00 tomorrow morning. But, uh, with the snow emergency, make sure your vehicles are off the road. And it's a good, uh, good time to remind people to please have your vehicles off the road, even if
we don't call a snow emergency and make sure your sidewalks are cleaned. >> Okay. Thank you very much for that report. And that'll be all for me today. >> All right, sounds good. We'll move to the finance committee agenda. Chairman Bokei, >> thank you, honor. Item moving to item
7A, consideration approving of personnel pro policy updates. Matt, >> item 7A, we're going to consider the approving the personnel policy updates. Mr. Clem, >> mayor and council, I'll just kind of
whip through these. Um, a lot of the personnel policy updates are related to some statutory changes relating to work hours and rest periods. Um, vacation leave. Uh, we are removing the
requirement that you have to complete your probationary period to be able to use your acred vacation. Uh, that is a loosening up of our current rules. Uh along with that with vacation, we're going to allow a carryover of up to one
year of the previous year's um vacation acral going forward. Um and then paid family leave is the big one. Um so that was a big ad to our personnel policy. Again, basically conforms to statute. Um one thing worth
noting, uh the city we got a better rate going through a thirdparty vendor through MetLife. So, we are not uh utilizing the state plan. Uh we'll be going through Met Life and all the terms of how that paid family leave is spelled
out in the personnel policy. Um I think that's about it. >> Thank you. Uh we discussed this at finance committee. It was a unanimous decision and and I so move >> second it. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve the personnel policy updates.
Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Thank you. Item 7B, consideration to approving the architect agreement with JLG Architects uh for the pavilion project. Mr. Clem, >> mayor and council, a couple months ago,
the council approved working with JLG and negotiating a final architect agreement for the work at the pavilion and city beach project. um over the last few months have they been able to work through kind of their preliminary design
and kind of narrow in on what the scope of the project is. We've been able to work on some of the the legal ease if you would of the agreement as well and uh finally negotiate a lump sum uh fee that's spelled out in the agreement along with again some uh changes to the
document itself. >> Thank you. With that, uh, we discussed at length at the finance committee. We were a unanimous decision and I so move. >> Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve an architect agreement with the JLG Architects for the pavilion project.
Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. I. Oppose. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Item 7 C, consideration of a resolution approving the 2025 year end fund transfers. Uh, these were in the packet. Uh, Heidi, anything to add?
Um, not really. Uh, just that these are budgeted transfers from the stormwater fund to various debt service funds for um the storm water fund to pay for their portion of those debt service payments for the year 2025. >> Thank you. Uh, discussed again in
finance committee. We so move or excuse me, I so move. >> Seconded. >> Motion's been made and seconded to adopt a resolution approving the 2025 year-end fund transfers. Discussion on the motion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I.
>> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Thank you, your honor. Uh item 7D, consideration to a resolution approving the 2026 fee schedule. Uh we did have some discussion on this. Uh if you go to page 328 uh of your packet, uh it was discussed about the administrative penalty for the
cannabis being $150, but the administrative penalty being 200. Uh Mr. Ramstead, any resolve to that? Sure. Statuto maximum $300. >> Okay. >> You could raise that administrative penalty up to that amount.
>> There was discussion at finance about making those those two dollars match. Uh at that point I think we'd with the recommendation of the finance committee raise that $150 to $200 to match that. Is that a fair assessment finance? >> Correct.
>> Okay. Uh with that change we would uh I would move this for approval. Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to adopt a resolution establishing uh the 2026 fee schedule with one change that was noted by Alderman Boi.
Discussion on the motion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Thank you, your honor. Item 7E, consideration of resolution resolution establishing 2026 pay rates for the DL Fire Department. Uh this was in your packet as well. This is the same pay
rates as in 25. So, no movement there. Discussed at the finance committee. Uh, we're all in unanimous recommendation and I so move. >> Second. >> Motion's been made, seconded to adopt a resolution establishing the 2026 pay rates for the Detroit Lakes Fire Department. Discussion.
>> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Thank you. Uh item 7F, consideration to approving the union contract with LEALS for 26 through 28. Uh Mr. Clem, >> mayor and council, maybe I'll start with just providing a little bit of
background. So the city of Detroit Lakes has four bargaining units. Um on the agenda is contracts with two of them. LS is our patrol officers in the police department. ASME is represents uh our
employees in the public works department. and in liquor store. And then we have MPA is another uh bargaining unit that represents the sergeants in the in the police department. And then lastly is
IBW. They represent all of our electric employees in the electric department. Uh so we've been meeting with um well three of the four groups we're meeting with MPA for the first time this Thursday. um have had several negotiating sessions as
we are at the tail end of a uh three-year contract uh ends at the end of the year. Uh the proposal in your packet is uh again a union contract for another three years with both LEALS and
with ASME. Um I can go into more detail and answer questions. Uh but I'll probably just jump right to you know the wage consideration. Um, these COLA include basically a 4% COLA for next year, a 3.5% the year after, and then 3%
in 2028 in the last year of the contract along with again health insurance increases are also negotiate as part of the contract. But I'll leave it brief, but if you have more questions, >> I can answer them. >> Thank you. This was discuss discussed at
finance and I so move. >> Seconded. Motion's been made and seconded to approve a union contract with the LES union for 2026 through 28. Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries.
>> Thank you. Uh 7G consideration approving the union contract with ask me uh for 26 through 28. There again Mr. Clem any different? >> Same summary. >> Okay. And heck of a summary too. Uh thank you. Uh there again was discussed at finance and I so moved.
>> Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve a union contract with the AFSB union for 2026 through 28. Discussion on the motion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I opposed. Motion carries.
>> Nothing further. >> Thank you. So we are up to the public safety. Is there anything on there? Chairman Dolman? >> No, your honor. >> All right. Liquor Gambling Control Committee Chairman Sterns. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. We have item 9A. Uh
we're uh visited by the Propel DL Committee. Uh they had a request to uh over a three-w weekend period uh have a uh uh liquor license uh for on the beach. Uh during those periods stated on
the agenda, um they would it would be in a fenced off area. Uh so the liquor and gambling control committee discussed it, felt that it was a reasonable request. Uh I recommend uh for approval and I so move second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to approve the issuance of a temporary
intoxicating license to Propel DL for uh some dates in February in the city on the city beach for Polarfest. Discussion on the motion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I oppose. Motion carries. We have item 9A1 which is also an additional request
from Propeld. uh little uncommon, but uh it was one we had a discussion on. They were asking for a waiver on the uh licensing fees. Uh instead of it being $150 total, as mentioned in the in the request, there are three permits of $150
each. So for a total of $450. Uh after some discussion on that, like I say, it's not very common that this would be waved. But uh the thought was that in exchange for doing some inind exchange for up to $1,000 sponsorship from
PropelDL that the committee felt comfortable with that. So we have consideration to the request from Propel Propel to wave their licensing fees. And I so move. >> Second. Motion's been made and seconded to approve the request from Propel DL to wave their license fees. Discussion.
>> I just wanted to say that uh what we did for Propel here is very much what we do with the JC's in the summertime for the water carnival. This group helps put on all these events down there and that's what that's all about. >> Okay, further discussion. All in favor of the motion say I.
>> I oppos. Motion carries. And there is nothing from the public utilities commission. Correct. Correct, >> Mr. Mayor. >> Uh, anything from city administration. Kelsey? >> Can't think of anything. Um, I I think
it's in your your calendar here. We got uh January 6, we host the joint governance meeting. Um, if you have anything you want on the agenda, uh, or any speakers you might be thinking of, let me know. Uh, January 6 is also our annual meeting date. So, see you early
in the morning and and late in the afternoon. >> Okay. I I'm still looking for someone to serve on the Arts and Culture Commission if anyone has a recommendation. I would like to recommend the reappoint of Jenna Schwarz to the planning commission. And
I would entertain a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. Motion's been made and seconded to reappoint Jenna to the planning commission. Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. And I would also like to recommend the reappoint of
Tom Cleavey to the Police Civil Service Commission. >> So moved. Second. >> Motion's been made and seconded to reappoint Tom to the Police Civil Service Commission. Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. A few
announcements. The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities Legislative Action Day at the State Capital is March 25th. If you're interested in attending, please let Carrie know. The League of Minnesota Cities City Day on the Hill is March 11th. If you're interested in attending,
please let Carrie know. Uh next week on the 16th at 2:45, the Canadian Pacific holiday train will be here in Detroit Lakes and they're always uh making a nice donation to our food pantry and it's a just a really fun event. The
Elected Leaders Institute with the League of Minnesota Cities is in February and you can let Carrie know if you're interested in attending. As Kel Kelsey mentioned, the uh on your agenda, the the 2026 joint governance
meeting dates are listed as well as the 2026 city council meeting dates are listed also. >> And I couldn't stretch it out anymore. We could have let Gary talk a little longer, I suppose.
Um, anything further from the council? Craig, Aaron? >> Nothing, your honor. Okay, Ron. >> Well, I just want to wish everybody a very merry Christmas and happy holidays, but I also am excited to see two new police officers for Detroit Lakes and uh
we're very fortunate to get two young men and uh a lot of cities are having hard time getting police officers and we're able to sign up too tonight. So, that makes me feel real good. >> And they look like they're 15 years old. >> Yeah, they look young and but that's good. >> 12.
>> Yeah. Jackie. >> Uh no, nothing. >> Okay, Matt. No, sir. >> Mike, >> nothing. Mr. Mayor Sean, I'd like to say thank Charlie and Dylan for always telling us the truth, even when it hurts. >> Okay, good. >> Jay, >> no, I'm good. >> All right. Well, you just have to wait a
little bit because at 601, Heidi's going to present our truth and taxation information. So, we'll just take a little break here and reconvene at 601. No, now he's recovering. He just had it.
>> I'll call the uh Thursday meeting back to order and it's uh 601. So, at this time, I'm going to turn it over to Heidi to present our 2026 budget tax levy
pursuant to the truth and taxation requirements. Heidi. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Councel. Um, so I will do a presentation here um kind of that I do each year and then um there are a couple of resolutions that the
council should consider regarding the budget and levy. So I'll just um dive right in. Um so just to kind of go over our property taxes and kind of how all of that works, I'll go over a few definitions first. So first is estimated
market value. That's the total valuation of your property. Then there's taxable market value. That's the actual valuation on your property. Um that is subject to property tax. Um next is net tax capacity. That is your taxable
market value times the property class rate. So we'll go over that a little bit later, but um that's another term that we'll use. and then levy. That is the amount the city determines that's needed from property taxes to be able to um
function the next year. And then tax rate is the levy divided by the total tax capacity for the city. And that's um what we use to calculate your actual tax bill um and tax um obligation to the
city each year. Um, so just a general overview of the Minnesota property tax system. So as of January 1st, the assessor determines your property valuation. Um, in 2026, taxes are determined based on evaluation
as of January 1st of 2025. So there is quite a lag there in in terms of timing. Um, properties are not taxed directly on the value, but rather on that tax capacity that I mentioned in the earlier slide. And then different types of property are taxed differently. Um
multiplying um the taxable market value by the class rate arrives at the tax capacity as I had mentioned earlier. And for instance, if you're a residential homestead property, you um have 1% of the first 500,000
um and then 1.25% of everything thereafter um is how your tax capacity is calculated on commercial industrial properties. one and a half% of the first 150,000 and then it's 2% of everything over that. Apartments four or
more units, it's 1.25% of the entire valuation that's taxable. So, just some examples of of how things differ from types of properties to types of properties. So the overall timeline for determining property taxes, so in March or April,
valuation notices are sent uh by the county to property owners. Um and then in April or May, the local board of appeal happens. That is when property owners can appeal their property valuation either in writing or in person. Um and that's the time where
that can happen. That does not happen at this meeting. In September, the city council must approve the preliminary budget and levy that has to be adopted um by state statute by the end of September. Um in November, then the
county sends out proposed property tax notices for the next year based on that preliminary budget and levy that the council then adopted back in September. and based on those valuation notices that were sent out earlier in the year
um to give folks a sneak peek of what their tax uh bill would look like for the following year. And then in December, what we're doing right now, the city holds the meeting for the public discussion on the final budget and levy. And then um if everything um
looks good, then the council would adopt the final budget and levy at that point. So, what do the property tax dollars pay for? Obviously, it's not just the city services that are on your tax bill. It's it's the city, the county, the school
district, and then other special taxing districts. And the breakdown um is shown here. So, approximately 30% of your of your property tax dollars go to the county, approximately 42% go to the city, and 27% go to uh the school
district if you're in uh Detroit Lake school district. and then 1% goes to other special taxing districts like the Becker County Economic Development um authority and then the watershed district and then uh the Detroit Lakes
HR. This is just an example of a 2025 property tax statement. And just uh the the blue arrows here are pointing out um some certain things you might want to look at and and note. So, right here we'll show you the Becker County portion
of your tax uh bill. Here's the city of Detroit Lakes portion and then here's the school district portion. Below that, obviously the the special taxing district portion and this is an actual um bill of
someone's and then up here is the valuation. In the upper right hand corner is the valuation information for that property. So you'll see the valuation from 24 to 25, the change that happened, and then there's also a homestead exclusion for any property um
that's below a certain amount. You have a portion of your value that is excluded from being taxed if you are a homestead property. So the homestead exclusion works um in that for homesteads valued at 95,000 or
less, the exclusion is 40% of the market value. So, you just get 40% of your market value is excluded from being taxed right off the bat. Uh, the max exclusion is at that $95,000 um amount and that max exclusion is $38,000.
After $95,000 in value as you go up in value, your exclusion is reduced and that phases out at $517,200 in value. So that was increased um somewhat back in 2024. So 2025 taxes
were the first year of that increase happening. Um but as you can see once you hit that hit that peak and then say your valuation is you know 275,000 your exclusion amount is somewhere right around maybe $22,000
um in valuation is excluded from being taxed. So calculating you you can calculate your own exclusion if you'd like to. Um I'm kind of a nerd so obviously I can do that type of thing and will do that type
of thing but just an example here of how you can do that. And this presentation will be on our website if um anyone would like to see this uh going forward. But this calculation just shows um an example of a $280,000
um homestead property. the you take the max exclusion, you start there, and then you take your valuation minus that 95,000 that where that max hits. So you end up with 185,000 left over. Anything over that max exclusion amount is uh
reduced by 9%. So you take the 185 * 9% you get 16650. Take the 38,000 minus 16650. That's your final exclusion amount. So you take 280 minus the 21350, that's
your taxable market value. So that's how that's calculated. Um, and then if you're a residential homestead property, um, to get to your next net tax capacity, you multiply your valuation times 1% because you're under 500,000.
That's how you come up with that net tax capacity of 2587. So this is just a graph that shows the city's net tax capacity and adjusted net tax capacity, which is the net tax capacity less um tiff over the last
several years. And as you can see, um you know, we've grown a lot in property valuations and certainly a lot in the last, you know, just handful of years. We've had very um very steep increases in property valuations here in Detroit Lakes, but that's not unique to us.
That's happened statewide, I would say. Um but certainly something that um we're thinking is, you know, maybe going to plateau a little bit or at least not increase quite as as significantly as it has the past couple of years.
So, on the budget side of things, major factors in our 2026 budget as we were putting this together, um we started off with an LGA, local government aid decrease of $100,000 right off the bat. So, just some factors um in the formula
uh calculated us to have less state aid than we had in 2025. So, that's what was a starting point for us. Um, other factors included uh increasing our levy to help uh fund the city's portion of a
match for a large grant that we received from the state for um rehabbing the the library's roof and exterior and then some interior improvements. So, we increased the levy 25,000 for that. Um the Lake Agassy Regional Library
contract increased uh somewhat sub significantly this year. So, that added another $19,540 to the levy. Um, and in some good news, we did still have some public safety aid funds on
hand that we could use to offset some costs. So, we did do that in this budget to offset the cost of one police officer and then the difference between uh the migration of one of our sergeant positions to the deputy chief position,
which happened in 2025. Also included in the 26 budget, we had uh public works. Uh we moved the the jeter um duties into from the sewer fund into the
public work or I'm sorry from the public works into the sewer fund. So, um the public works uh funds had to absorb a half of one half of an FTE in the general fund which which impacted that
about the tune of $57,000. Um, we also had some reorganization and some positions in community development and planning and zoning. And so that uh affected the levy in that it decreased
the levy in the general fund and increased the levy in the development authority fund um with a net result of adding some to the levy. Um, we have a capital equipment levy
increase of $50,000 to help fund equipment uh replacement that needed to happen. And then next year is also an election year. So, every other year we have to include a budget for election um items. So, that is included as well.
Um, this is probably really hard to see, but it is a summary of the general fund um, budget and all the different departments. And it just shows a change from the 20, sorry, that heading should say 25 budget. Um, but a change in
dollars and a change in percent from the previous budget. You'll notice that the budget isn't a balanced budget because we are using some of that public safety aid to um to supplement the the property taxes and other revenue sources. So um
it is not a balanced budget because we are using some of that fund balance. Speaking of fund balance, this graph shows um the historical um historical where historically where we've been in the general fund as far as
fund balance um and unassigned fund balance. So that's a really key factor um in terms of the state um state auditor's office um wants cities or suggests that cities be between 35 and
50% of the next year's um expenditures have that in an unassigned fund balance in order to be um fiscally solvent and and we are certainly within those parameters. Um you'll notice our fund balance has come down over the past
couple of years. That's been intentional. Um we've had some ARPA funds and certain things like that that we've we received and then have now spent down finally uh completely. And so we're now in a in a position where this
number really shouldn't be moving a whole lot from where it is now at as of the end of 2024. Uh, one of the positive things in our budget is obviously always our enterprise fund transfers. Um, we're fortunate to have an electric utility
and a liquor fund that um, do well for us and are able to transfer funds over to the general fund and and provide a direct offset to the property tax levy. That's very significant for us. And so the electric utility is transferring
$680,933 in 2026 and the liquor fund is transferring $690,000 in 2026. So that is a direct reduction of the property tax levy and without that the tax levy would have to be 15.76%
higher if we did not have those transfers. So makes a huge difference having those enterprise funds within the city. Um on the screen is a proposed the proposed tax levy and where that all goes. So the total levy is $9,260,561.
It's an increase of 6.46% from the 25 levy. And this is just how it's all uh divvied out and where it's going to. It's the same uh levy amount that was presented um and approved at the
preliminary levy in September. Again, that same information, but just all of the numbers and where that's all going. Again, a 6.46% increase. This graph shows the tax capacity as we had spoken about earlier. the property
tax levy. That's what the city determines that we need um to take in in property taxes to function. And then also the tax rate, which is how much um is is charged toward a person's tax
capacity to determine their tax bill. And so these all sort of are in relation, excuse me, to one another. And as you can see, our property tax rate has been extremely consistent over the over the long haul here um since 2011.
Very consistent, hovering everywhere from, you know, about that 35% up to maybe 42ish%, but really staying very consistent. And that's really what we want to see. We don't want to see huge peaks and valleys because um that ends up being I think
more detrimental to to the taxpayers that way. Um also you'll notice our property tax levy is you know there are no huge peaks and valleys there either. I think we try to keep that very consistent and that's done intentionally so that we can, you know, keep up with
our street projects and things like that and and still try to get things accomplished while while not um you know making huge knee-jerk reactions from one year to the next. How do we compare to other cities? So,
uh, we like to take a look at how we compare to other cities just to see how we are, um, in terms of benchmarking ourselves. So, Detroit Lakes is is right here on the graph. Um, you'll notice the blue lines are the local government aid
that all the different cities that are on the graph receive. The orange line lines are the certified levy for 2025. Obviously, our LGA is extremely low compared to everyone else except Baxter
is lower than us. Um, and then our levy obviously has to make up the difference of what we don't receive in LGA. So, it just kind of goes to show that we really don't rely a whole lot on LGA or or local government aid for um our
operations. So, the city's net tax capacity rate um or our tax rate um I've got tax rates here for 2025 and then I've got our estimated 2026 tax rate. Um our 2025 tax rate is 39.80%.
Um and then our estimated 26 tax rate is going down just ever so slightly at 39.78%. So, um, very consistent once again. And then what does that mean for an individual's property taxes? So, what
does that really boil down to? Will someone's taxes increase? Because I talk about a levy increase. I talk about, you know, valuation increases, but what does that really mean? So, an I give you an example. A residential homestead property um that is again valued at that
280,000. And we already did the homestead market value exclusion calculation earlier. So we know what that taxable market value is. We know what the tax capacity is. And then now I have applied this tax rate that I've just come up with and and told you
about. This is what your city portion of your property taxes would be for 2026. So it' be $1,28.86. And if your value was consistent from 25 to 26, your property taxes would decrease about 55. So very consistent from the previous
year. And again, this is just the city portion of your property taxes. This does not include the county, the school district, or any of those special taxing districts. And it also doesn't include special assessments. Those are separate.
So, when we break that down and compare that to other services that folks pay for, um, I don't know about you guys, but I pay for internet, it's about $69 a month. Um, compare that to that $,28 annually or that $8586ish
dollars a month. Um, again on on this side, you're looking at, you know, cell phones about $60 a month. live streaming, cable TV service, somewhere around that $89$90 a month. So really, if you're looking at all the services that you get from the city as far as
parks and, you know, street cleanings and and snow removal and, you know, all of those types of things. Um, that's what we provide. Law enforcement. Sorry, Chief Todd. Fire protection. The
big ones. Yes. Very big ones. Um yeah, on the commercial industrial side, um I have an example here. It's just a $500,000 example. Um there really isn't a rhyme or reason why I chose that 500,000 figure, just as an example. Um
so this property would um pay $3,67947 in 2026. And again, it would be very consistent. it'd be a decrease of about a $1.96 from the previous year if the value stayed the same. So once again,
kind of depends on on each person's situation. And I I looked at some real life examples of actually all the council members homes and it was a really a mixed bag of where valuations went. Some went up, some went down, and
and honestly, um yeah, so it really depends on what your >> specific um situation entails. But overall, the city's what we're doing as far as the setting the budget and levy, that
shouldn't impact your property taxes this year. It would be mostly it would be just what happens with your valuation is what is really impacting your property taxes from the city perspective. If folks are looking for property tax
relief or need some relief, there are some options. So there is obviously that homestead market value exclusion program. So, if people do not have their property homesteaded and their value is 517,200 or less, they should certainly make sure
that they homestead it if they can. Um, there is the property tax refund program and there's targeting property tax refund, special property tax refund programs um for folks that have larger increases in their taxes. Um there are
blind veteran um disabled uh homestead classifications uh senior citizen property deferral programs and things like that um at the county auditor's office and who can help you out with that if if you so need
those services. And again, the 2026 complete budget will be on the city's website. Um, I'd be happy to print off somebody a hard copy if they're so interested or talk somebody's ear off as well here at city hall or on the phone or wherever if
you're if you're interested. So, with that, I would take any questions. >> Is there anyone in the audience that has any questions or wishes to make any comments about our uh budget and tax levy?
No. Okay. Any questions from the council? Thank you, Heidi. Um, and I would uh call on the finance chair Bokei for some motions. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh, item C1, consideration to a resolution adopting
the final 2026 budget and final 2025 tax levby levy collectible in 2026. Uh, there was a ton of meetings throughout the summer that we all attended looking at this budget. Uh, a lot of discussion on this. It came down to a a recommendation and I so move. >> Second. Motion's been made and seconded
to adopt a resolution adopting the final 2026 budget and the final 2025 tax levy collectible in 2026. Discussion. >> All in favor of the motion say I. >> I opposed. The motion carries.
>> Thank you, your honor. Item C2, consideration to the resolution granting city council con consent for final tax payable to 2026 H levy. Uh this again is a taxing entity that we passed along to the HR. Uh discussed finance and I so move. >> Second.
>> Motion's been made and seconded to adopt a resolution granting city council consent for final taxes payable for the 2026 H levy. Discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The motion carries. The
business of this council has come to a conclusion. The meeting's adjourned.