Yeah. >> Well, we didn't do anything different than we normally do. So, I don't I don't know what's going on, but it just uh it's something with YouTube because it says that the encoder is not working and it won't connect um with the cameras, but it appears that we possibly are live
streaming audio. So, we'll have to check into that. But I would assume for now it's >> it's audio being live audio now. >> Okay. So, everybody please make sure you talk into your microphone so anyone listening remotely can hear us. Thank you. Shall we do the 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. >> All right.
>> Would you do the roll call, please? >> Mr. Steinberg >> here. >> Mrs. Rorich >> here. >> Mr. White >> here. Mr. Lewis >> here. >> Mayor Whittington >> here. >> All right. Um, anyone here for public comments that aren't on the current
agenda? I think we're all on the agenda. All right. >> Look for approval of the agenda. >> Motion. >> Second. >> First and a second. Any additions? All in favor?
>> I. All opposed. Move to move for approval of the last minutes meetings. >> Motion. >> A second. >> We have a first and a second. Any updates?
All in favor? >> I. >> All opposed. All right. Consent agenda. Is there anything that needs to be pulled out of the consent agenda? >> I had a question on the fee schedule. Um, >> I asked Administrator Bowman a couple
questions, but probably my biggest question was related to um fees related to the city council chambers and if those rental fees either needed to be adjusted, if they're good where they're at, and then some clarification on we
have it being a resident and a non-resident, but I thought we also had a um nonprofit fee and things like that. Um but just questioning if those are comfortable where they're at or if they needed to get adjusted with the um additional use that's been happening and
wear and tear on things or cleaning fees or things like that. So um that'd be my only question or comment. I can uh mayor and city council I can add a little bit too and talking with council member Vor before the meeting.
Um I was in contact with Shan Sweeney today and so we're still working on the information for water, sewer and storm for utility rates and that will be coming at the next meeting. Um so uh anything that you if you have any questions on you we could um do an amended fee schedule at the next mean or
you could just table it until the following mean with the current 2025 fee still in effect with the exception of I suppose we have our uh refues and recycling rate increases. Those are really about the biggest changes I think. So go ahead.
Also, the state water connection fee already went into effect at the state. So, we increased that with the January billing just cover that expense. So, I don't have any like recommendations per se. I just when I
was looking through that um every when I drive by city hall, there's always a lot of cars in the parking lot, which I love seeing. But um with that, we also have additional wear and tear on the chairs, the furniture, you know, so on and so forth. And um haven't been budgeting for
some of those pieces. And is that something we need to be budgeting more for? Is that something that's little by little comes out of the fees or where where is that stuff coming from to factor that? >> Well, I think it should be budgeted for um especially the replacements as we go
through, you know, should have a four, you know, five to sevenyear replacement cycle. Um, but it would be nice to have some of the fees cover that as opposed to just all um all other dollars. Um, I think what's might be good is if we
could go ahead and approve it this week and then do an amended one. It sounds like there might be some changes coming. >> Yes. >> Y there will >> that way we can get the state charge change and others. So >> y
>> do we need to do that separately or just as just part of the consent agenda? >> You can do that as part of the part of the consent agenda. >> Okay. >> All right. I'd look for approval of the consent agenda then.
>> I'll make the motion. >> I'll second. >> First and a second. All in favor? I. >> All opposed. All right. presentations. That's where we're at, [clears throat]
right? I didn't skip anything, did I? Notorious for that. >> So, yeah, first presentation. >> Oh, sure. Yep. I sure do. >> Testing. Testing. My name is Nathan Belel. I reside at 312
South Agency Street. >> I'm Roger Beckl at 308 South Agency Street. Thanks for letting us address the council there. >> All right. Um this is in regards to South Agency Street specifically um through the residential area on Cassad
27. Um just for recollection there was a county stadia highway project um agency reconstruction full length sidewalk included in that um project. Um
I know at the time there were [clears throat] many discussions um some of the residents actually did not want a sidewalk along that that section road or they were concerned about what was going to happen if it was continued all the way down the entire length of that road.
Overall, the sidewalk was was put in. It was extended to full length. It was actually widened from what was there. And I know the overall road width and boulevard was narrowed from what was
um so as a result, we have some continual issues. We've talked with the city council a few times about [clears throat] issues with snow removal or removal. Sometimes it's not removed, it's just moved out of the way. um some county practices, some city
practices which we can discuss in a little bit. And um we feel that the overall structure and how it was handled, the structure has kind of exacerbated the issues as far as snow removal goes.
So that kind of sets the stage for everything here. As far as [clears throat] excuse me, as far as what we see on the screen right now, this is just a a county map. Um, I believe it has CASA or county
state a highway um written as far as what what the source is. It's a map having to show designations of different cases within Blue County, specifically Um, as far as MINDOT and Minnesota
Department of Transportation, they are the body that kind of divies up county state aid highway funds to the counties and then that trickles down to smaller cities in different ways and different agreements and how that all works out. I'm not totally sure, but I know it flows from
mind to counties to cities. So, this is Eagle Lake. We are Can anybody see this? >> Unfortunately, it won't show up on that that monitor. >> So, by the
the sign that says 56 there, that's about where we are in town as far as where we are on the road here. Um the green line right above 56, that is Parkway. That is one of the Cass roads. It's
labeled a minor collector. And I can go into that a little more in a second. Um the yellow road, sorry, yellow road that shows 27, there's two different sections to the south and to the north that continues. That is labeled a major
collector. So the big difference is just the level of travel, how much you're getting through that road in this general area. So just kind of give you the logistics of everything. The the two main County state aid highways that go
through Eagle Lake are um Parkway and agency meaning 17 and 27. Um the main thing I want to point out is that 27 is a major collector, 17 is a minor collector. I know there is
some city removal of pedestrian paths or debris and snow on Parkway. Um, as as of now, I don't know of any city work being done on the sidewalks on 27. So, I just wanted to point out the two designations there. It seems like 27
as a major collector has more travel, could have more debris, may need more just overall funding or I don't know, attention does have a stance on why Complete streets are important. So what I talked
about with the overall structure and how 312 South Agency was reconstructed, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's maybe prudent in how they changed everything to make it work in that area. I know they had a lot of issues with right of way and just really old flats and
just was not up to snuff. So they got that all figured out. The county had a hell of that. Um but as far as that stance. They want complete streets. They want it to be functional for everybody. And that that's where changing its structures and
going outside of what typically is narrow or wider is okay. But we got to think about maintaining it after that in my opinion. So if there are things that are challenges that come up that were not there before the project, I think we
need to take a closer look and see if there are things that we can do differently. I do have another another body that like the Federal Highway Administration they speak to the different corridors like I said of major and minor collectors.
Um from here just it says that rural and they have two different types rural and residential. 27 it looks like it's a mix of and residential, but what they state is 5 to 15%
has most of the traffic besides the regular major archeries arteries around the Bay Area like Highway 14. The rural ones supposedly the yellow outside of the city as far as
27 is concerned would be up to 20 to 30% would actually have more traffic or the amount of traffic in the area. longer distances or collecting and moving cars where they need to hook up. So what I'm trying to explain is where we have
83 on the south, we have highway 60 to the northeast and then you have the big red one that's 14. [clears throat] It's a major principal artery. 27 and 17 all interconnect that. But I would argue that 27 is taking quite a
bit more traffic because of the north and south and the connections between 83 and 60 all those major arties. So that's kind of my interpretation. I would think 27 could be handling up to 30% or more of the general traffic in
the area at different times. As far as other direction, how county state aid funds are distributed, there's a Minnesota house research department document that discusses how the funds can get from Mindot to the
county and then to cities that are under 5,000 population. And in there it also describes that I can just read specific something that's cited in that house research document is minister statute
162.08 subdivision subdivision 4 and one specific quote from that is money. So a portion and allocated to each county shall be used for aid in
establishment location construction reconstruction improvement and maintenance of county state aid highway systems within each county. Specifically it says at the end here including the expensive sidewalks. So whether that's construction or
maintenance, it sounds like it's not misappropriating funds to actually have some of that a come from mind and flow all the way to county and cities. So I think there are ways to
put more resources or funding to kind of what we're seeing and the issues that we have. I don't know if we're actually doing that at this time, though. I'm sure the the city and the county already have a a contract and how they move snow or debris
county highways within the city limits more specifics about what we're seeing. >> Uh Jennifer, was this information in the packet for them? Okay. What Nate just covered is in your packet as it covers the regulations and so on that are put forth by the state, county, federal and
so on. Um we did we were in contact with Mr. Tilis with Blue Earth County. Um the the snowstorm before this one we had a lot of snow and we moved it the county came through and moved it again
from the road onto the sidewalk and at that point it had ice chunks in it and we couldn't get through it. It was hard solid. We couldn't get through it. This is a picture of what ended up on the sidewalk from the street. Now they also this is the time when things warmed up.
So they wanted to clear out the drains that go to the street drain when for liquid. So they wanted clear next to the to the curbing. Well, this is a section where they actually went up over the curbing, hit the ice chunks on the
boulevard and scattered across the sidewalk. This is what we had to deal with. We we can't use blowers on it. It's too heavy to get the smaller push blades like my six-wheeler. It was just too light to get through it. So the only thing then is to shovel it. And we have
we've talked to residents. There's one person here who just couldn't move it. It was too heavy to move. And we have a lot of elderly too. So one person I talked to who was a gal was a married couple. She said all I could do is put on a shovel, drag the shovel over to the side, my husband tip it over into the
boulevard again or onto his lawn. This is what we deal with. We have been for years. and talking to some of the residents, they've complained about this for years as well. So, I'm just asking the city what we've been doing. Does it work? Are the residents satisfied with
how the snow is being removed from the sidewalks? And this is just one example. We have many sidewalks throughout the city and some sidewalks are right on the curbing and the snow is plowed right onto the sidewalk and it can't be moved. It's just like this stuff. We can't move
it. So I'm asking the city to consider different ways of moving snow from the street to somewhere else. I know in the language for the state it talks about county state a highway it talks about snow removal and it's it's semantics
that's true but removal is removing the snow from the street and we look at as just they're simply pushing it for someone else to move it somewhere else again. Uh there are municipalities in in Minnesota. Minnesota Lake is one of
them. There are municipalities in Wisconsin. I have brothers that help move snow municipalities in Wisconsin. They don't move it on the sidewalks. They either move it to the curb before the sidewalk and they blow it or loaders or whatever. And some municipalities move it to the center and load it and
haul it away. Takes more expense. That's true. But who works with a budget? who works with a vision and a plan to do things differently than what we're currently doing. What we're doing, I would say, is is not good for us. So,
I'm asking you, can you come up with plans that help us? In helping us, we're helping the rest of the community as well. This particular sidewalk is the safe route to school sidewalk. And I had been out there at 5 in the morning trying to get it cleared and open so the
students could use it at 7 o'clock. And it takes that much time sometimes to get through all of that. This we couldn't do. We we couldn't get it opened up. So now we have people not using that. They're walking on the street. And we witnessed that when we
had the holiday uh performance at the at the elementary school, the street directly east of there. That sidewalk was all trampled over, hard packed with ice. and the the parents and students, children were walking in the street
because the sidewalk was not safe. And that's exactly what this is. You know, we're a community trying to work together to come up with ideas. And like Nathan had mentioned, there are vehicles for payment, financial that work from the state to the county to the city that
can help with this. There are resources there. We just need to find them and go after them. And as far as the annual budget, I'm asking you to take a look at the annual budget and see if there's more equipment you could get, more personnel. Um, one resident along this
corridor said, "Well, can the city buy a piece of equipment, have volunteers run it?" Probably not. Their liability there, but that the the residents are brainstorming what can be done so that this can be made better. The other resident said, "Can we just build a fence alongside the sidewalk that'll
catch the snow?" probably not. That's a boulevard. That's county property. So, we're looking at ways to make this not happen so we can clear the snow, keep the sidewalk clear. We don't have a problem necessarily clearing the fresh
snow. It's this stuff that's moved there from the streets. We got to get together and and do something differently. What's working now we feel doesn't work. So, the only way to change that is change how we move this stuff. And we're not the only ones.
This isn't the only sidewalk. This isn't the only corridor that works with this. This is just more pronounced because it is such a heavily traveled road. It's county road and they have to move the material and it's hard packed material. The other thing with this road, it has
three purposes. Sidewalk is one. It has lanes for driving through and has lanes for parking. And the parking is next to the curb. So, they're running their blades right up to the curb, sometimes over the curb in a parking area. And that was one of the concerns I heard
from Blue Earth County. Well, we have to keep the road safe for the drivers. They're into the parking lane. They're not supposed to be driving in that lane anyway. Can we use part of that for a buffer? There's no boulevard to catch the snow like B and Me had mentioned before the reconstruction was done. They
said, "Well, it'll build a column up and it'll stop the snow from the snow plow." You can't build a column at 3 to four feet. We lost our 11 foot buffer before. So now we're dealing with complications from the reconstruction. We had enough
problems before. Now we have even more problems. In three years ago, we had brought ice in size of a basketball. We have pictures. We still have the pictures. and this last storm and the storm before we had residents who were trying to move ice packs the size of
basketballs again trying to get them to where he could move around safely. I'm asking you to please consider some other method, some other process to clear these streets and not move it onto the sidewalks for us. Or if it's moved on the sidewalk, who is going to move the
material? We can't move. Would the city be willing to go out if we Hey, it's blocked up like this. Can the city come out and move it? Blorth County has already said they don't have the equipment, so they're they're not going to. We heard that. Jennifer heard that just today. Okay. What are we left with? I'm tired
of breaking my equipment. Can I use yours and if it breaks, you replace it? Well, I'm sorry. That's that's just where things are at. That's the bottom line here. I'm asking you, please review everything and see if you can change the process to make it a little easier for
us and not so costly. This whole project has been a really expensive experience. This is a lifetime hardship. This is a lifetime. We're stuck with this. They say the road's good for 60 years. Well, I'll be dead by then. But my son will be here, so he'll have to
deal with it, too, and so will many of you, okay? This isn't going to go away. Reminds me of Patch Adams. He said, "I'm going to be a thorn in your side, but it would be a thorn that will not go away." This isn't going to go away unless we change the process. I thank you for
hearing. Thank you. >> No, thanks for the information. We'll take we'll you know some of these statues I haven't heard of before so we'll have to take a look at those and see what that is. Um yeah this is a tricky one right. So we can't clear all the you know to be
equitable we couldn't clear all the sidewalks in town. Um Andrew is throwing spikes at me right now. Um so but we'll take a look and see what there is. You know understanding that we went from that larger boulevard to a smaller boulevard. So, you know, it
obviously rolls into the into the sidewalk. So, but right now, I don't know what we can do. You know, we don't have the equipment either. You know, we don't have anything purchased that size. Um those kind of things. So, let's take we can take that away and and kind of
I'll work with Jennifer to just see what what there is if anything that we can do. Um but we thanks for bringing this up, you know, and bringing it forward again. Um, it's one of those things that's there is a solution, but I'm not
sure what it is. >> What we're faced with is if we can't come up with an idea, this gets hard packed and it's not a safe route for >> No, totally. It's terrible, >> right? >> Yeah. One resident said, "Close the sidewalks in the winter time, too." So,
not really an option, but >> No, >> that's what people are thinking out there. This is This is real stuff. No, totally. So, this is different, you know, like the one that down by the school, the residents should have cleaned their sidewalk. Um, those kind of things. So, um, yeah.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. All right. Thanks, guys. All right. Good evening. So, my name is Sally Comfort and I'm here tonight with Keith Stanky. We're from Computer Technology Solutions. Uh, we are the
managed services provider for the city. U, so I'm the customer success manager and I won't be doing any of the talking because it's going to get a little technical and that's why I have Keith. He's our technical account manager for the city. So, we're here to talk about a new server solution.
So, um, uh, thank you members of the council for the opportunity [snorts] to to address this. Um, we've already been in discussions with, uh, Carrie and and, uh, and Jennifer as we do a yearly, uh, technology assessment, make recommendations. Um, one of those is is the need for a new server. The current
server is over five to six years old at this point and has reached its recommended end of life. Um, we've suggested new hardware and um [clears throat] this actually consists of three separate
nodes that they're called that um kind of all talk to each other and back each other up. So you get some some scalability and redundancy that um you know larger industries um often take advantage of but this is on a much smaller scale um that [clears throat] is
much more approachable budget-wise for all sorts of organizations. Um, I'm not sure how technical you want me to get. Um, [clears throat] do members of the council have any specific questions about the quote? I can tell you the expected lifetime of
this infrastructure is also about 5 to six years. One advantage of this system though is that we wouldn't have to replace all three of those nodes at the same time. We could we could look at a more spaced out we replace one one year, one the following year, and one the year
after that. You get about out of each node. So some of them would end up maybe serving six or seven years, but you start getting on a more regular replacement cycle that's a little more easy to manage. >> No, as you look at the the piece of
hardware, it's it's a nice piece of hardware. I've implemented other places. Um it's solid, it's redundant, it's scalable. Um yeah, so it's just expensive as hell. Um What [clears throat] I noticed
>> the I mean one thing to keep in mind is that the the virtualization that we used to use was purchased by a company called Broadcom and they increased the cost of that licensing by about 160%. >> Yep.
>> So what used to be an $800 license that you know was good for three years, it's now 16 grand. [snorts] No, it's it's it's reasonable. You know, like you said, VMware went from, you know, the way they
priced it from it just I couldn't believe it. Um, what we're looking at too is probably in five years we'll probably be in the cloud and not need to potentially replace the server because, you know, we'll be using cloud services
as opposed to this. this farm will be here physically here. So in the server in here so >> yeah that's another thing to mention is that this this infrastructure is largely needed to run bion
>> billing system. Could I ask a question? Is there any I mean when you look at like the different um levels I know you talked about scalability and redundancy, but I mean is there anything else out there to compare because it seems like it's such
a sticker shock looking at that price. Is there I mean are we getting the Cadillac model or is this our only option? >> Um this from this particular vendor. Um we're really only offering solutions from this vendor at this point. Um, we've been doing them for about a year
now since we moved away from, you know, the typical HP server solutions that we were doing. Um, but we we've had really great luck with this vendor over the last year. And, um, yeah, I mean, this is what we're what we're doing [clears throat] for the con future. So,
this is this is in like the it's like a a mid model of the what they call like their edge computing solution. They they have they have much larger that have uh tiered storage. It's called combinations of flash storage and spinning storage
for different purposes. I'm getting overly technical now. So, um but I I kind of that's just this is kind of an a mid-level of an of an entry tier that answers your question. >> Yeah. So, I'm really novice with this
stuff. So, is it just technology gets bigger and better and better? Is that the five to six year thing or like what's wrong with ours now? >> Sure. So, as as servers age, the um the
ability to find reliable [snorts] parts in case something does happen gets harder and harder. You you have to start, you know, looking at less reliable places like, you know, eBay or something like that where you really don't know where this part's coming from. It doesn't really have a warranty.
And while we can sometimes utilize those solutions in an emergency. It's not something we want to kind of have as our plan. >> And so we we want to have you want to get into a a nice, you know, [clears throat] normally budgeted, you know, years in advance so you can plan
for it. Um sort of replacement cycle of we know what our expected lifetime of this particular piece of equipment is and we just plan on replacing it when it's expected. >> Did we plan on replacing this? Was this a budgeted item piece or is or is it
broke? I mean, I've always been in the if it's not broke. >> We didn't even find out the pricing on this until what, like a week, a couple weeks ago or I don't remember when it was at the end of December. >> Or what prompted this? >> We did our review and you guys noticed that our server was getting to the point
of end of life and needing to be replaced. So, we meet with CTS annually to kind of review our needs and you know what we we can take on and um we did talk about this was it about a year ago. >> Um and what we decided to bite off first
was the replacement of the computers. So, we replace a number of computers last year. I can't remember how many off top of my head. Um and so we knew this was coming and so we did put money into the budget for a new server, but we didn't know exactly how much it was going to be because of the cost increases and so forth. So,
>> well, to Beth's point, maybe this isn't the smart idea, but wait until it breaks. >> Well, I mean, I'm always a proactive like, let's fix things before it gets to that point, but it was just to me it came out of nowhere and then it's like, man, 27,000 right away in January, here
we go. and and was it a um capital line item budget we had figured out and we just didn't come to it or is this like is this an absolute need or where are we sitting on it where [clears throat] um I mean I I have printers that are yeah every five years we got to replace them but I'm on year 10 and we're sitting
good if you maintain things and upgrade things are we you know but technologies um becoming frustrating in the sense that everything phones everything is by the time you get it paid off you're having you're being told you got to start over again and That's disappointing. >> No, I think if you take a look at the
current environment, the supportability is kind of hitting the end of life. So, it's that same type of thing. You know, is it an HP >> or HP server? So, HP is not going to make any parts anymore. They're not going to do any kernel upgrades, which
is kind of the operating system of the hardware. So, if there's an issue with it, you know, we won't be able to do that. Um, the reason we shouldn't wait till it breaks is because we're probably looking at if we did that 30 to 60 days of outage because that's how long it
take to get another server in. >> That's right. Forgot to ask is, you know, is this a >> Yeah, it's not it's not on something on the shelf. The servers aren't something like a laptop you could jump over to to uh Best Buy and grab one. This is something that's got a pretty decent
timeline to to acquire >> and every hour we're down is critical. So I mean you bring that piece up right there makes sense. >> Now this goes down this new system. >> So >> is there is there I wouldn't say a warranty but a a war I mean you saw what
we dealt with for the first 15 minutes. You know like something's not working. Are you coming out and we get a $5,000 bill because it didn't work or you know and or things do break. How soon are we getting replaced and back up? >> So, so these do have a 5year hardware warranty that come with them. But the
way these units are designed is that uh one of the units could fail and you experience you don't even notice. I mean, we're going to get alerts and we're going to have but these units are these clusters are designed to be able to work with even one unit in a failure so that you have time to respond,
replace that hardware, but your your your work the ability to work and carrying on the business of the city is not >> is fully redundant. >> So processor, memory,
disc, everything redundant. So like we said, >> you know, you wouldn't even know that one of them is down. >> You said this is a mid-grade. What what would a lowgrade server cost? Like we talking like 10,000 >> low server wouldn't meet the needs of the organization. it'd be it'd be too
small to even store all the data and have the resources capable to operate the systems. >> So, this is already kind of the minimum system to solve your to meet the needs of the city.
>> What's turnaround time on this? And once you know I get ner, you know, >> I get I get nervous of if we're down, we're kind of screwed, right? But are we six months out? Are we a week out? What it would be? >> The equipment is about eight weeks or
so. So as far as when we push it through this process and get you guys approval and then as far as actual week for us in it's not a tremendous undertaking time as much as we can the office and then bring the
equipment on the >> and I actually did get an email from Jim Klein um late this afternoon. He said that um kind of looking at late February to get started on this project. So, he would definitely, you know, um get the install scheduled, but he thought late
February is when they'd start on that. So, >> just seems like a lot for server. >> Just to give you a scale, the one that I just installed last year or six months ago was 110.
You know, I'm not going to sound like I'm speaking intelligently on this topic, but a couple years ago, we didn't RFP for it because I noticed our costs just seemed to be going up significantly. And it was just I was getting that price or that sticker shock. And after going through and doing
um getting proposals from other IT providers and realizing like it is expensive, it's the world we live in and we don't have a choice. Now we move to this a I can't say it astral. Um and so we have increased fees with that and there's really no option to not have
these mechanisms in place to protect our our um IT infrastructure, our data. It's it's expensive and it's it's changed a lot in the last and well you guys know better than me but John knows but it's it's really been noticeable in the last
few years. And the biggest change I think from the last time we purchased servers was like they were saying you would buy a mid-range couple mid-range HP servers and you'd buy uh VMware which is the virtualization server that was
two $3,000 to do that. Now to in order to do that it would be you know probably three to $5,000 for each piece of hardware which it doesn't have the redundancy and the failover reliability that this does and VMware would be about
16 to 20 because VMware just it it hockey sticks last year I we couldn't even afford it at the clinic that I work with. Um it just I don't know why they thought they could do that but they did. They're catering to large >> larger organizations.
>> They don't care about small business. >> So kind of crisis out of the market >> earlier today analogy isn't a lot. It's one of those things that you really are frustrated and annoyed to pay for,
but when you have it, you know, the analogy, you're happy you have it. Well, it sounds like we don't have a choice. And if we plan for it, I guess. >> So, it's inevitable. It's going to
happen. We need to make the change, right? And I guess I look at you, mayor, in the sense that you live this every day. I mean, I get you guys are are looking at us in the best interest, but also selling us something. Um, >> no. And I think, you know, working with in the in the new MSP level that we just
signed, um, I think we'll do a better job of planning. Um, so you know, we'll know that we'll need this. You know, we've even talked about this, you know, this may be the last internal server that we have, you know, as an organization, you know, because some the
cloud pricing is coming down. Um, the reason we're really not moving to right now is our our software cannot run in the cloud. absolutely >> right. So >> right.
in order for to do that. So there was there was some discussion about you know one is could we do less server less hardware you know but our performance would suffer with that. Um it didn't give us the reliability redundancy and and scalability that this does and
we couldn't move you know some things into the cloud just because Bion won't. So, you know, it was a pretty good discussion, I thought. So, unfortunately, right, it's kind of like me. I'm a back office guy, you know, me out front, you know, it's kind of like
that. >> If you don't hear from us, we're doing a good job. >> Are we making the decision now or during the >> Well, we can >> new business. >> What would you like to do? We can go through and approve it now or we can
approve it in the new business piece or I guess I shouldn't say approve it. We can vote on it now or we can move it to head to Ryan and do it later. >> I'll make a motion to accept the CTI circle. >> Okay, we got a first. Do we have a
second? >> I'll second. >> We have a first and second. Any other discussion? Do we need to roll call or just a Okay, voice vote. All in favor? >> I >> All opposed.
>> Okay, we'll look forward to seeing that next week. [clears throat] >> I guess the one question I forgot to ask until right now, all the data that's currently on it that just happen. I mean, >> yes, >> it will happen pretty s like smoothly and everything. >> Yeah, so um we will have to build a new domain controller because those don't
transfer well, but um the application VM we can just do a an easy migration and that will happen after hours. >> Okay. So, these guys won't be affected from a business standpoint. Okay. >> Thank you.
>> Thanks, guys. >> Ryan, you're up. >> Good evening, uh, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, and staff. Um, thank you for inviting me here to talk about the transforming tomorrow together regional plan. Uh, the uh,
transforming tomorrow together plan, which you'll hear me call triple T because it's a lot easier to say, uh, has been in the works since 2022. Um, if you remember, uh, there have been a couple of regional plans that were
created prior to this. Uh there was Envision 2020 which was um created in the early 2000s and prior to that there was act 2000. Uh coming out of 2020 we said it's time to do another one and
that's when transforming tomorrow together was created. So Jennifer you can go to the next slide here. Um the process of this uh beginning at the end of 2022, there was a survey that was delivered uh not even just throughout
the 2count area, but even getting into some surrounding counties that aren't part of the economic development alliance, getting over into Wasika County, Brown County, a lot of these people that come to our region to shop um to frequent work for employers in the
area and get that broader view of what a region means. Following the survey, we had two large group or sorry, three large group discussions as well as a series of roundts where we got feedback from different industries, education. Uh
we even went down and we had some college student and young professional feedback roundtables. Those resulted in the regional plan that you can see highlighted there and in your handouts, which was produced in early 2024.
Next slide. So, oh, this is the process. The the slide I was on was talking about what's in the regional plan. So, uh the regional plan in large case, yeah, you can stay here, but the regional plan in
large case is a vision for where this region will be in 2040. And that came down to five key pillars that [clears throat] the participants in this process said are the main focus areas for us. We want to create the region as
a human talent hub uh which covers both population growth as well as uh entrepreneurship and innovation. Uh we want to create the region as renowned food and bioeconomy and business epicenter. Um so that really lines up
with the green seam work that's being done in all of the agricultural production in the region. Uh we want to drive investment, innovation and industry synergy. Um we want to drive future forward regional community infrastructure. And then finally we want
to create an inclusive and healthy regional community. So if you want to go to to pillar one here. Um oh sorry. So the current status >> [clears throat] >> uh the regional plan has been adopted by 42 different organizations or cities and
counties. Uh there are work plans already in place for three of the five areas and plans for the creation of the work plans for the other two. Um and then the alliance or the strategic plan has actually been adopted by the
regional economic development alliance. So as I talk about the regional plan I'll also tell you a little bit about how uh we as an alliance are working on uh making it come to fruition. So now pillar one a couple of things that have already been done with this pillar.
Greater man growth is the facilitator for the human talent hub pillar. uh some key objectives that happened in year one. Uh we wanted to make sure that the college students who are coming here stay in this area. Uh and part of that is simply telling them we want you to
stay. Uh I had a career services person tell me it wasn't until about eight years ago that they first heard from the business community that there was a desire for the students to stay here. Uh which that sounds like it's a given, but it's not for the students. they're
coming here to go to college and they expect to go on where they want to go on. So, we want to make sure we know we want them to be here. Uh we also helped host uh in partnership with Minnesota State Mano um host and other universities the largest career expo in
the state of Minnesota for college students. And then we've developed the greater mano CEO program which we'll be launching with the upcoming school year. Uh that will have high school students taking a class that actually occurs
offsite where they're learning entrepreneurial [cough] skills um in business and actually starting their own business. So then we look at how is the regional economic development alliance working on these. Uh we have a couple of priorities. Supporting and participating in these
talent committees. Um maintaining our relationships with our educational institutions to drive their efforts forward and let them know what the business community needs. Um continue to conduct our resident recruitment initiatives and then provide training to
employers so that they can better recruit talent. Then in the next slide we have how we're working to support entrepreneurship. Uh the number one way is in partnership with the Small Business Development Center. They offer
free support to small businesses. Um and we help as part of the alliance provide them some funding, but also help make sure we're driving businesses their way. Um we want to make sure that we have a page full of resources on our website with information for entrepreneurs. Uh
we also provide direct support to those new businesses. Uh we help them do RFPs for site search. Um we use data tools to help them make decisions on where to place their business or whether they think their business can even be
successful. Um and then we help them find uh lending programs, financing, uh what they need to be successful there. The next pillar is positioning the region as a renowned food and bioeconomy center. Uh so with that uh it's really
taking advantage of what's already here, what already exists through Green Seam. Uh Green Seam will be leading the work of that pillar. Um and it it's still being developed on how the work group for that pillar will differentiate
itself from the work of the Green Seam board. So more to come there. Uh as for how Rita will support this, first we want to use the Green Seam brand. When we're advertising the region, we want to use language like we are in the heart of the green scene. Uh when talking to
businesses about why they should be here, uh we also want to see the cities and counties in the region highlight their participation in the green scene uh on your own websites having it show that you're a member city of the green
scene. Uh we want to target specific food and a businesses. So instead of all aggra business. We said what makes the most sense for our region. Uh and we're looking at animal health and nutrition, food and beverage manufacturing and then
advanced manufacturing that supports the a sector. So things like the manufacturing of food equipment or the manufacturing of tractors and implements. Um finally here, oh I am on the next slide there. Sorry.
>> Turn this so I I know a little better what slide we're on. Um okay so we'll go on to pillar three. So pillar three is driving investment innovation and industry synergy. Uh key things that we're working on there is uh
building on the clusters that already exist in this region um to make sure that we're bringing new employers in growing those clusters. also increasing the amount of investment that's happening locally. Um making sure there's opportunities for investment
capital uh in new scalable businesses and then finally expanding the political heft of the region. Now [snorts] the a workshop [cough] has had its initial meetings but we found that there's more work that needs to be done.
Uh so I'll highlight at the end of this presentation an event on January 22nd that we would love for really the entire council to be at if possible. So going on to how Rita is supporting this, we support this pillar in three different
areas. The first is having that critical business information that I'm talking about. conducting surveys and research uh providing information to the public on the economic health of the community but also responding to those business requests for things like wage data or
information on the economy. The second uh area on the next slide is supporting business retention and expansion. Uh in my opinion, this is the most critical part of all of the work that we're doing. making sure we're sitting down with businesses to find out how [snorts]
things are going for them and resolving any issues that they're having. Uh we want to respond to all requests we receive from businesses for assistance and then uh making sure that we're connecting them again with that financial capital they need. Finally, we
work on business attraction creation. So we start that by maintaining a regional site selector focused web page. So businesses can find our region and then we participate in lead generation opportunities. Uh we are part of the
community venture network which identifies businesses that want to expand outside of the cities. Uh and those have actually helped us in much more ways than that. So if you may have seen the news recently uh we almost faced the loss of cultivate mano that
would have resulted in the loss of 144 licensed slots in the region which while that's in main ko that would have impacted parents in Eagle Lake. uh we were able to retain that directly because of community venture network.
They connected us with New Horizons Academy which agreed to buy that business out of bankruptcy and uh keep it going. [clears throat] Um we uh are conducting uh business recruitment campaigns in addition to the resident recruitment campaigns and then
finally we've identified those key clusters for the region the aggra business ones. Uh we have a lot of electronic component manufacturing. Um printing and media which Eagle Lake has uh businesses in the printing and media sector, generator manufacturing,
plastics. Uh there's actually a plastic producer with an Eagle Lake address, but it is outside of city limits, uh warehousing and distribution, and then back office operations to make sure we're providing careers for those college students. The next pillar is building future oriented regional
community infrastructure. And this is really that public private partnership portion of a lot of P's there uh portion of the transforming tomorrow together regional plan. Uh making sure that we're developing both housing, transportation,
but also the community amenities. People live in communities because of things like parks and trails and recreation. Uh so some of the projects that we've featured on the website for this sector include the Rockwell Adventure Park project. If you haven't highlighted or
seen that, um there will be about uh 16 miles of mountain bike trails that will be developed and donated to the Greater Mano Mountain Bike Association. Um the Minnesota State Future State project should also bring more students to the
area. Uh going to how Rita is supporting that. This one we really take a approach that the cities and counties that are part of Rita will take the lead on the public portion of that investment. But we will support that in any way that we
can. Writing letters of support for grant applications that the cities might have. Uh but also highlighting all of the work that they're doing, making sure there's a voice celebrating that. Uh and our ask for the city is that when you have that work that you'd like to see highlighted, let us know. We can make
sure that we're cheering that on. Um we're also in the same ways that we support entrepreneurs, supporting the nonprofits or for profits that are developing amenities. Uh [snorts] next year, the final pillar is um creating an inclusive and healthy regional
community. This work group is being led by the Mano Area Foundation. um it's focused on both physical health and well-being uh me mental health [snorts] and one of the wins with this one was the creation of the greater mano mental
health hub by the United Way and then developing social inclusion and belonging. Now when we look on the next slide for the Rita activities associated with this we want to make sure that we're helping employers connect with the underserved populations in our
community. Um that includes everything from uh racial minorities to uh justice involved individuals to individuals with disabilities and connecting those employers with resources. Uh we want to provide targeted support to
organizations that offer those culturally appropriate offerings whether that's culturally appropriate foods or services um for uh individuals. and then make sure that we're highlighting all of the different culturally appropriate
options that we have in this region. So, finally, what are the next steps related to the uh regional plan? So, first is make sure that you're attending on January 22nd the next steps activation
meeting. Um this will be uh tied to the inner city leadership visit trip uh that was taken in November [snorts] um but focused on the regional plan. One weakness in my opinion of the regional plan is it does a good job of laying out
the vision of where we want to be and in the Rita areas I talked about some of our action items but the plan itself doesn't have a lot of those action items. So the goal of that January 22nd meeting is for us to put those action items there and I think it's critical
that Eagle Lake is represented because it's easy for some of these action items to get Mano North Mano Centric. So making sure we have the entire region involved would be good. The next uh we would like to see a resolution in
support of the regional plan so Eagle Lake can join that list of 42 organizations supporting it. We have a sample resolution on the website. Um it obligates the city to essentially nothing. There's no cash investment
required. Uh the resolution does state that the city is supportive of the regional plan and will participate in regional plan events and uh Eagle Lake is already doing that. So it should be an easy resolution to pass. Um and then
finally, we would ask that the city utilize transforming tomorrow together. Uh branding when taking actions that drive forward the goals that I've highlighted there before. Any questions?
No questions. There's a lot of information. >> Well, that was good. So, >> thank you. >> Perfect. Thanks, Ryan. All right, looks like we're on a new business. Uh,
number two, letter from MPCA. >> All right, mayor and city council. Um, we talked with this a couple meetings ago, so this is just a followup. Um, we did get a notification from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, MPCA, um, in October of this year, not
notifying the city that we had a right to submit a petition to the commissioner um, requesting a re-evaluation of our designation as a small municipal separate storm sewer system or an MS4. Um we had talked about this uh for some
time now wondering do we really fit the designation? Is there a way we can get out of it? And prior to the October um you know we reached out to PCA had conversations with them but had never um been given an opportunity to petition to
um to lose that status. So, um, uh, when they reached out to us, they indicated that, um, after receiving a signed petition, the commissioner would evaluate the petition and then determine whether the city of Eagle 8 continued to meet the criteria for a designation as a
small MS4. Um, if the criteria were no longer met, the city could be released from the MS4 regulatory program. Um, in the packet I included a copy of the petition that was submitted to MPCA. And then also included is a letter from the MPCA stating that the city of Eagle
Lake's coverage under the general storm water permit for small MS4s has now been officially terminated. Um, so what exactly this means for the city of Eagle Lake, I'm not sure right now. Um, as far as how how it looks moving forward for new construction, we get permits. So,
I'm um have a meeting next week um with public works director Hartman and then ISG to kind of find out where do we go from here. We put a lot of time and energy into establishing that program. And there's a lot of good things that came out of it. We want to make sure that people are not tracking mud into
the street. We want to make sure that people have proper erosion controls and we don't have um sediment going down our storm sewer system. So, I don't want to lose that, but it's kind of figuring how do we navigate forward when um application comes in and do we can we
still do the reviews? Can we still, you know, there's just lots of things we have to work out. This is all new territory. Um so, ISG said that they're um they've got some availability um next week to meet with us and um kind of help us walk through where do we go from
here. And the good news is um I guess in simple terms is we won't be audited anymore. That's really scary because um you know we don't have a storm water department sep or um MS4 staff separate from so that's where um it's it was a
huge undertaking for the city but I think we did a lot of good work and I don't want to see it completely undone. So um I'll keep you posted on what I I learned from ISG and how we maintain those good practices yet. So that's all I've got for now. So basically I'm just included on the agenda to let you know
where we're at. No official actions taken. You already gave me authorization to apply to um submit the petition. It was approved. We just want to document it and >> No, I I think there are several things we want to try to keep.
>> Absolutely. I mean, it was >> we've made a lot lot of progress and I feel like we the contractors have been really good to work with. Um I think back to what it was like um you know, even three years ago. I mean, it's it's just so much more well managed and I'd
hate to lose that. So, >> perfect. >> Number three, pricing HVAC. >> All right. So, um, as we talked about before, nothing is nothing's cheap these days, but so the, um, we noticed, well,
first, let me back up. So, we contract with Shrierts. um they've been doing our maintenance, preventative maintenance, maintenance on our um heating cooling system here. And we have geothermal and um so they come twice a year and they do um you know, inspections and then kind of talk about, okay, this
needs to be addressed or this is coming up. And so when they were here, they noticed that uh heat pump number two had failed. Um and they said that it's obsolete and needs to be um we need a new heat pump. And basically when I
talked to the guy, so I've talked to lots of or a few different people, but basically the guy I talked to today, it was the first time I talked to him, but he just said um that they were not able to work with a vendor to get the a like comparable pump and um because I had
mentioned that um I mentioned it to the council, this would be an expense we need to make and it was suggested that we get um you know another opinion. So, we reached out to Scogan Mechanical um another local company in the area and theirs was half the cost of what Shriards um submitted to us. So I talked
to two different people at Shriers to kind of find out why is this like half the cost and the guy today kind of explained it better and said that it's most more more than likely that uh Skogan Mechanical was able to get a hold of a and and they even mentioned um when Carrie and they were wondering what was
taking so long to get pricing that they had worked with a they were having trouble with with vendors too. So they must have been lucky and found somebody that had a light pump. And so, um, the thing with, um, Schwickerts, and, I know I'm kind of talking, there's lots of details here, but, the way it was explained to me is that theirs would
require like a retrofit going with the piping and the because, um, Skogan Mechanical is able to get a a like pump basically, they don't have to go in and do all that retrofitting, so it's not as expensive. So, the other thing I checked with Schwicks, I said, "Well, now if we
go with Scogan Mechanical because it's cheaper, are you then going to continue to service and, you know, maintain our system?" and he said, the guy I talked to today said yes. So that that was my concern was that we were going to be in big trouble and do we have to make a complete clean break. So So basically what we have is it's this room right
here. We don't have heat in there because the rest of the building's heated. We haven't had any issues with lines freezing. Um so we're we've had some heaters running in there during the day and keeping the doors open, but um need to get that need to get it replaced. So, um there's two quotes in
the one from Schwickertz. Um and that is in the amount of let me find it again. $6,175. And as you'll see on the top of that quote, there's pretty detailed description and they talked about the retrofitting and that's why there's is
more expensive. And then Scogan Mechanical was able to get um a new uh unit without having to do all that retrofitting. And so it's more than half less than half the cost. So at 3,000. So
it's kind of a long explanation, but um I do feel better after talking to Schwickert today that um they would continue to service it, you know. Um >> do we keep continue servicing it? >> I mean they we seem to have issues with
our thermostats every now and then and I don't know. >> Saying can we switch fully over to Skull? >> Yep. Yep. We're waiting. I asked Carrie to reach out to them and they are working on getting us pricing for um for the preventative maintenance as well. Yes. Yep. So, we're definitely we'll check into that and that'll be coming up
at another meeting. So, um so no, I'm glad that you said something. We've always worked with sugars, but I'm glad that you you mentioned that and we, you know, checked into it. So, >> do we have a contract with right now or >> um we we have a preventative maintenance
agreement. Um, so it basically we just would have to give them notice. There's terms in here. [clears throat] Um, you know, stating that we we entered it into it. It looks like the last one was 2015. Um, but it said >> contract that you get. It's just
>> it says right now it's just 30 days. Um, okay. Hold on. Either party may terminate this agreement effective as of any annual anniversary of the data execution upon notification writing to the other party 30 days prior to such anniversary date. So we would need to let them know
I guess 30 days prior to July. Um it'd be July of this coming year. So >> when are they doing >> so it's it'd be this spring they'd be doing >> and I don't have anything against
Schwicks but you know 30 years ago it made sense where Scogan is more, you know, they're from this area and so is Schwickerts, but Schwickerts kind of went national >> where Scogan is more local here. Um, and
again, Schwicks does a great job. It just you're paying for the national company. >> Um, and I've seen that over and over again with my line of work as well. So, >> I just I just know shickers is
expensive. They're good, but um I think >> just know >> Yeah, talking to Skullen would be a good idea. >> Is there any actions for us that we need to take to to approve those? >> Yes, I would feel comfortable. Yes. Sorry to interrupt you, mayor. I'd feel
comfortable since we've always been with Schwicks if the council would um you know just make that decision based on the explanation I've given um that Schwertz will but I just feel like um it's it's kind of a it is a big move and we just you know I feel better now that
I know that they're okay that they still service and maintain it um until we are no longer working. >> It sounds like right now no matter what we're under contract with Swicker >> until 30 days knows and I'll have to calendar that >> July. So we got time to get the service contracts
looked at and get the notification proper notification. So >> and I would love to see the difference in the service. >> I'd like to see a new >> service contract having the two options or whatever
it is >> because we probably should get a new one from SWS if that last one was 2015. Um, so it sounds like it's just gone evergreen with probably an elevator in it. >> 3 to 6% elevator in it over the past
five years. So yeah. >> So I'd look for a motion to approve the the uh is this Scoggin >> Scogan um purchase. >> I'll make that motion. >> Have a first. Do we have a second? We have a first and a second. Any other
questions? All in favor? >> I. >> All opposed. All right. And then just, you know, >> mayor, I think deputy city clerk Roush has a question.
>> Nick did. [clears throat] >> Okay. And then just going forward and getting a a PM quote from him. >> Okay. and then making the proper notifications so we don't end up into another new year with
>> Okay. Yep. [snorts] >> All right. Next one. Pricing for plow wing repair. >> Yeah. So, um >> what was that? >> Oopsies. >> Yeah. [clears throat] um that happens.
Um so I think it was during our first snowstorm, I don't know exactly what got hit, but something in the road um hit the wing on the front corner and
twisted up the paraglide system that makes it go up and down. Um which this is the second time on this truck that we've had this happen. Um, I guess it's a pretty common thing talking to Chris
De. Um, so I got a quote to get that fixed. Um, you'll see it attached is $9,410. Um, it's a lot of cutting and rewelding and
painting and all of that. So, I'm assuming right now the wing's inoperable, >> correct? Yeah, we we have it off the truck so we can use the sander and stuff, but um with that [clears throat] new plow blade, like this last snowfall, we didn't even have that truck out. We
just used the um blade on the payloader. >> This is a big expense to have happen twice now. Is it I mean avoidable or just something randomly hit or >> either a manhole or a water shut off or
something and just dumb luck [laughter] >> uh probably four years ago now. Um and [clears throat] which a big reason why we did a bunch of the um manholes this last year was to help try
and prevent things like this. But >> put a red X on the one that you hit with this one. You make sure that one gets done next year. >> Yeah. The the problem is is during >> summer while he was while he was plowing
he didn't know that it was broke. So he doesn't know which one, >> right? So he doesn't know which one it is because, you know, when we're going around, you know, we only raise them up just a little bit. >> Well, once it got raised all the way up, then it wouldn't go back down cuz it was
all jammed together. So, unfortunately, I don't think we have a choice on this, do we? No. I'd look for a motion to approve the repair. >> I'll make that motion to approve it. Have
>> a first. Do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> First and second. Any other questions? All in favor? >> I >> I. >> All opposed. Be more careful. Damn it. >> How soon can they get you in on it and
get it fixed? Um, they said it depends on how everything went with the last snowstorm and I haven't talked to them after that. So, >> and is the whole plow in and inoperable once it's in? >> Yep. The whole truck will be >> down. So, >> that's when we'll get pounded again,
>> right? But with that new plow blade on the payloader, it's a night and day difference. So, >> well, at least got a new backup. >> How long will it be out of service? Did they say >> I They were hoping if they could get it in and have all the parts in and ready,
it would take a week or two at most. >> All right, we're down to the city administrator reports. Um, mayor and city council, mine's going to be pretty short because I was gone um last week only working a
little bit. Um, but uh, so I will send out the year-to- date revenue and expenditure report for the end of the year um, here soon. I'm just working through some stuff and then I'll get to the employee leave balances and I thought I I forgot to send the draft
orderly annexation grant. I can email that to you. But basically um, the next step is for the mayor and I take that to the um to the gentleman with the township. Um, but if the council is comfortable, we had legal counsel draft it. We can if you're comfortable giving
the mayor and I authorizations pre-standard agreement, I can email it tomorrow, too. But we would just obviously go and try to work with them and then it'd have to come back to the council for final approval. Um, and then the bank reconciliation project update. I did email the auditors. Um,
I shouldn't say the auditors. We're working with Abdo Solutions on that for an update. Have not gotten an update, but I have some other things I need to talk to that lady about tomorrow. So, she's on my first list of people to talk to in the morning. So, as soon as I get an update, I will um get that to you and
um trying to think of anything else. I think that's all I've I've got for now. >> All right. Next city council meeting is February 2nd. Same bat time, same bath channel. Um EDA,
any updates on that? Anthony >> Park board. >> No updates. We had our holiday lights and that went well. >> Um otherwise I that was gone for our last meeting. I think it got cancelled.
>> Cancelled. Yeah. >> Let's see. Nick, anything? >> Nothing >> here. All right. I think all we have left is a motion for ajournment. >> Motion. >> All right. First and second. Anybody want to stick
around? Thanks everybody. >> Thank you.