--------- Okay, we'll bring the January 26, 2026 council work meeting to order. Item one, >> Mr. Mayor, we've got uh the wonderful Miss Carrie with us here this evening to talk about election planning for 2026
and beyond. >> Good evening. Um, as you're well aware, 2026 is going to be another election year. Um, luckily this year we do not have a presidential primary, otherwise
we would already have that underway. Uh, for this year there since it's midterms, we will have the primary election on August 11th and the general election on November 3rd. Um, we did
increase the elections budget for this year even though there is not a presidential primary simply so that we can increase the pay rate for our election judges. Um, after a comparison study with other municipalities in Anoka
County, we were kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, for pay rate wise. And so we did up that for this year. Um looking forward um we since we have a lot of new housing
coming in and which will increase our number of residents and our number of voters. Right now our we have three precincts and all three of our precincts are well over 2,000 registered voters in each precinct.
uh by comparison with other precincts in other municipalities for an NOA County, we we're stretching it. Um most of the time they try to keep the number of registered voters under 2,000 for a precinct. And as I stated, we're we're
well over 2,000 for all three of our precincts. So we've toyed with the idea before of creating a fourth precinct within East Bethl. Um, but that's not anything that staff wants to really do
without uh hearing from you guys first. Um, the thought right now is we would plan ahead for 2028 and possibly have a fourth polling place
and fourth precinct for the 2028 elections. Um, that would hopefully accommodate the the impending population increase. Um there are logistics that we would have
to figure out in advance, which is why I'm planning that far ahead. Um, if we are looking at making this change for 2028, I would like to be able to have our ducks in a row so that when this year's elections come around, we can let voters know that, hey, this is your
polling place this year, but at the next election, you could have a change. So then it's not quite such a shock and we don't have quite so much confusion if there is a polling place change for some of our residents. Um,
with the state statute and regulations that we have to have for polling places falling within a precinct, we do have a limited number of resources as far as buildings go and what we can use as a
polling place. Um, according to state statute, the building that we use for a polling place has to fall within one mile of the boundary of that precinct because we only have so many buildings that can accommodate that many people,
that much parking, the amount of space required to uh fill ADA requirements. Um, we have, like I said, limited number of buildings that would be useful for a fourth polling place. I have kind of
poked around and the Living Hope Church, which used to be St. Andrews Church up at the corner of 237th and 65, >> um, Living Hope Church has indicated that they would be interested in
possibly serving as a fourth polling place for us. Um, granted, we would have to work out, you know, uh, uh, an agreement for them to use them as a polling place, and they would want to run it past their church elders and
stuff first. So, there's, you know, some behind the-scenes work that would have to be done, but they have indicated, I spoke with um, their pastor and he said they have talked about it briefly previously and he said they would be interested in possibly serving that
capacity for us. um planning ahead, like I said, that would be beneficial so that we could let voters know this election year that hey, this change is coming. However, uh then
with 2030 being hot on the heels of 2028, we have the census and that means redistricting is right around the corner from that. So redistricting would happen in 2031,
which is only three years after our potential fourth precinct creation. Um, so it would I'm kind of wanting to test the waters, see what your guys's opinion is as far
as do we want to move ahead and see about this fourth precinct idea for 2028 or would we want to hold off and wait until after the census and see what we're dealing with?
That's my question to you guys. [laughter] I think it's a good idea to plan ahead because uh we're definitely our residents are going to be increasing with the development stuff we have and I think the church idea is great in my opinion.
>> Yeah, I think getting it started sooner than later because even there's always a possibility that obstacles are going to pop up. I've never seen a plan go through without an obstacle, right? >> Um that it could even delay it to 31 and
at least we're having a few steps ahead. So, I have no problem with going forward with it. I know it can get really busy in these places because I have judged before and um yeah, so by all means
creating a fourth precinct, I mean it would increase the election budget again because that's an entire additional set of election judges that we would have to add, >> right? But it's also that's less voters that are
showing up at a specific precinct. So, it's not going to burn out our judges. >> What is your um estimate of the budget change just this year with the pay increase >> from 2024
to this year? Because since in odd years we don't have an election, right? um we increased it from 15,000 to 20,000 just for >> Yeah. to cover uh staffing. So, but that
also covers uh we get a couple judges to come in and assist during the last two weeks of absentee voting. Um, in a general election year, the turnout
is amazing, but it's inundating. Um, it's really, really hard for staff to get anything done other than elections. And so, we had inhouse uh election judge assistance for both
the at uh, pardon me, the primary and the general. This year, because it's midterms, usually there's a slightly lower turnout. We would probably just have the in-house assistance for just the general election just to try and
conserve the budget where we can. >> Okay. >> You know, we talk about conserving the budget. [clears throat] Is this going to be too much of an overkill getting I agree with everything that's being said, don't get me wrong, get ahead of the game and so forth,
>> but are we we actually going to do this or are we going to be coming up with a plan to do this? >> Right now, we can't put anything into motion yet because we have to deal with the elections that are in front of us, right? But I would uh want to put that
to the elections director at Anoka County so that he knows this is coming down the pipeline, right? >> And get all of our ducks in a row so that we, like I said, we can get this notice if this is something we are fully intending to do >> so that we can get these notices out to
the voters. Would you be doing a mass mailing or would you be just doing posting on the website, social media, word of mouth? >> Um, >> that would probably
I would probably want to check with the elections director and see how what his recommendation is as far as this election year. I wouldn't want it to interfere with this year's elections. Um, so as far as this year goes, it
would probably just be word of mouth and information posted at polling places. And then as we actually get closer to the 2028 election year, then it may be mailings. I know that if there's any sort of jurisdictional changes or if
somebody changes address and is assigned to a new polling place, they get a postcard directly from the Anoka County Elections Office. >> So, I imagine that there that would probably be involved after we get through the 2026 elections.
>> Yeah, makes sense. So the general consensus here is to move forward. [clears throat] >> Sure. >> Okay. >> Sounds good. >> That's all I needed. >> Thank you, Carrie. [clears throat] >> Thank you. >> Next up, item two.
the mic. >> Mr. Mayor, on the second item here is the um need study that the council had approved a while back here and I wanted to get it in front of the council and kind of present some of the findings thus far. And uh I think that um while
this isn't the entire study, it it does kind of bring people up to speed on what's being found in terms of space needs and that sort of thing. And then uh solutions will be coming at a different time. So anyways, I'll turn it over to them. [clears throat]
>> What's that? >> People won't be able to hear at home. Um, good evening, mayor, members of the council. We are ICS enrolled. Um, we are planning on giving you an update today as far as what we've accomplished so far
in the space needs assessment. We've also had some core group meetings where with department heads and staff we've been um gathering information and giving them updates along the way too. [snorts] Tonight we'd be looking for your direction on next steps. So today's
objective um is to jumping ahead. Um, we'll review the planning process, the guiding principles, the current facility conditions at each of your locations, and then we'll discuss the assessments that we done and go over the space program. [snorts] I'm Kristen. I'm
with ICS. >> Chris Seamer, ICS. >> Uh, Kevin wasn't able to be here, but he was the one who actually walked a lot of the sites with the assessment. [clears throat] Hi everyone. I am Melissa Stein with W Architects and Engineers. I am here with
Joel Dunning and Allison Timmans. Um we are kind of the I would say the W team that has been helping with some of the space planning assessments and and had all the um I would say interview meetings um with all of your different departments.
And as you may previously be aware, we've worked on many projects together. So this type of assessment is not new to us. Um at ICS we integrate expertise in facility planning and funding and construction. Um just a brief overview
of what we've done here. And then Walt Architects and Engineers. We have been a we're a public sector architectural and engineering firm. Like Kristen said, we have partnered with IC on a number of of projects. So, we're coming together as a collective team, but we kind of have different assets
that we we bring to the table to to help be here for you guys and help you through this planning process. Um, Old's been around for 57 years now, kind of working in that public sector realm, working with municipalities just like yourselves on these types of planning efforts.
our process. Um hopefully you can see this. Sorry, it's a little little small, but um we can always send it out and print it and send it out, but essentially we look at different tasks. We separate the the planning process, if you will, into essentially collecting the data. So we start off with a a
kickoff meeting really understand the the criteria objectives we call them guiding principles and essentially they help guide us through this process on some of those I would say overarching um principles that we want to try to achieve with this study. Um from there
we gathered data. So Kevin and I um they went and toured all of your existing facilities to look at the conditions started looking at life cycles of systems. So mechanical, electrical, um technology systems that you guys have along with the infrastructure exterior
of your of your buildings and then um we looked at um we sent out surveys to your departments and then also did um departmental meetings and interviews. So we sat down with them, talked about their current efficiencies, kind of what growth look like for them, what is what
are their service models today, what are things as we as we grow and we plan for the future, what are things that maybe we we as you know at the city of East Bethl can't do today that we want to accomplish and make sure that we're thinking that long term along with taking care of what we're doing today,
too. Um, from there, we are essentially at that that middle gold spot, if you will. Um we have core planning groups. So we have a bunch of stakeholders that that we meet with. Um we talked through all of our the needs and the things that came up. That's basically what we will
be talking to you today about. Um and then we're getting agreement on that need. So today we would love to get that feedback from you guys. um hear about your thoughts on what we're kind of presenting and make sure that there's alignment between our staff and the things that we're hearing, our core planning group that we're meeting with and then obviously our our council which
will all um and then essentially the maroon and the the blue parts um that's what we will be moving into. So those are kind of our our next steps as we move forward on this on this process. So really developing options and solutions um and then coming back to you with kind
of some of those findings. Like I said, our um first step is really kind of creating that criteria and those guiding principles. And so um these we call them guiding principles because we want them to help essentially guide us through this this process. Um so the first one, develop a 10-year capital
improvements plan. We want to establish a prioritized roadmap for facility investments aligned with anticipated service demands and budgetary capacity. Um, plan for the long-term community growth. Um, design uh facility solutions
that accommodated projected population growth and service expansions through 2040 and and beyond. Ensure fiscal responsibility and efficiency. Balance initial capital investments with life cycle maintenance costs, operation efficiencies, and
long-term taxpayer value. Prioritize firefighter health, wellness, and safety. Incorporate modern fire station design standards, and addressing occupational health risks, including proper decontamination facil sorry, decontamination facilities, exa exhaust
capture systems, and adequate rest amenities. Um, deliver functional and operational efficient solutions. So optimize staff workflows, enhance interdep departmental coordination and support effective service deliveries um through thoughtful space planning. And
last but not least, enhance customer service and accessibility. So having creating welcoming accessible public spaces that improve the citizen in interactions and reflect community expectations for responsive municipal operations.
I think Melissa probably already covered it, but the purpose of the study is really just to help you determine what do you do with your facilities and what are next steps and at what's the right time to do that. Do we keep the existing facilities or do we consider something new? [clears throat]
So, facility assessment and why capital uh planning is important. Um the biggest thing here is that you're making the right decisions on the best next steps. Uh and it really breaks down into three categories. Managing your budget and schedule improvements
effectively. Uh you know what you have, you know how things are where the wear and tear on items so you're effectively able to take care of the assets you have. Uh prioritizing and deferred maintenance and capital improvements within those items. There's always going to be prioritization that takes place
and understanding that a decision here also can potentially mean a decision down the line. But at least understanding those and then align available funding with these improvement needs. Uh it's really just making sure that you're budgeting accordingly and that you're aware if you're offsetting something, it doesn't necessarily mean
it goes away, but it's going to come back at some point to be revisited. And those all can be conscious decisions along the process. Next. So, space needs analysis. Uh, this is what feeds into that as well because
along with the physical uh we need to understand how the spaces are being used. Are they meeting the needs? Are they meeting the equipment needs with the vehicles the city has? Are staff able to effectively do their job and interact with the public in order to do their jobs uh efficiently as well? So,
there's two aspects of this. There's the fixed planning. Uh, and I kind of equate this to what you have, how you're dealing with what you have, and then master planning, seeing the bigger picture, where you can improve and how growth starts to tie into some of this as well.
Um, so the buildings that we looked at are City Hall and the community center, fire station one, public works, fire station 2, and fire station 3. The following slides will just give you a brief review of what we had found during our site walkthroughs. Um var uh various
additions throughout starting in 1979 and then another addition in 98 and then again in 2007 for um a total square footage of 13,360. city hall. Um, looking at all a lot of your mechanical and electrical systems,
your boilers are 31 years old. Your air handling units and water heater are roughly 48 years old. Cooling units are 19 years old and use an old R22 refrigerant which is fading out. Um, the community center and senior center, the
HVAC equipment are also aging 28 years old for the furnaces. The water heater is 28 years old. The cooling units are 28 years old and we're finding similar um dates with the roofing. 50 years old for the newest section and the rest is
anywhere from roughly 19 to 20 years old. [snorts] And these are just some pictures, a photo tour of what we just went through. Um, it would be important to note that a lot of a lot of the assets here are
original, such as the carpet or the VCT flooring, um, the outdated bathroom or the restroom here. And it's also non8 compliant. Um, the roof membrane, it's shrinking and pulling away from the edges. And we have dried out, cracking wall joints.
Uh, the next facility is fire station fire station number one. Uh this is your newest facility. Uh that being said, it's 19 years old already. Uh just a little over 11,000 square feet. Um here, uh kind of the same theme
continues. It's got although this one has three brand new rooftop units. Uh the furnace serves the northeast rooms is original. The water heater is original. The apparatus bay radiant heating is original. uh interior, the
epoxy floor in the hall. There's new epoxy flooring in the hall and apparatus bay, new LBT, and then carpet in the office is original. So, there's some acknowledgement that some of the the features in the space are being addressed as they age. And then exterior
of the roof is original. It's starting to show some signs of leaks. And then again, the cocking and control joints around the windows are starting to crack with their age. Again, these are some of the pictures. Again, there's the radiant heat on the left, the original furnace in the
middle, and then the original carpet. Uh here's examples of the dried out, cracking, cocking that's starting to to show signs around the building. And then the builtup roofing, which um obviously has some signs that are showing up above
that need some maintenance addressed. Uh your second newest facility built in 2004 is fire station number two with public works building. Uh 14,500 square feet there with cold storage of 400
4,500 square f feet. Uh again here uh the furnace water heater and public works and apparatus by radiant heat are original. Um again new epoxy flooring here and the rest of the flooring is concrete, ceramic and por
tile as original. Uh cocking joints as I mentioned are showing signs of age and back of the area uh paving is showing some damaged spots and then the back fence is in poor condition. So here again is example of mechanical
equipment in the building and then some of the exterior components. Uh we've got some starting to deteriorate along with some of those cocking joints, the paving and then that fence that's showing signs of some age.
>> Sure. So, last day uh fire station number three uh built in 1998. Uh again, this is just an apparatus bay of a thousand square feet. Uh water heater is original. Apparatus bay unit heaters are original. Uh new
epoxy flooring and then the rest of the flooring, the office carpet and ceramic are original. Uh original shingled roof and then the parking and drive paving has damaged spots as well. Again, here's some examples of those
items that I just touched on. And then um what we're working on right now is taking all this information and this is an example of the spreadsheet that we'll eventually share that has all the data. Uh the one thing that we haven't worked on a lot with staff is
really starting to go in and prioritize uh what these projects look like because what that'll start to do is give you a look with each year 10 years out, 20 years out, what is the investment need in the existing facilities. uh just from a facilities aspect. It really doesn't
get into the space needs, but this really starts to schedule out when some of those capital improvement projects need to start happening to keep those buildings in operation. [clears throat] >> All right. Like Chris said, they um you know looked at the condition assessment
and then um that's only part of of this master planning effort. And so the other part is actually understanding the the utilization and kind of that that growth and kind of work load factors is what we call it of of your different departments. And so we we captured that in a couple different ways. The first
was sending out uh a survey to all of the employees. Um this was specifically directed to um the city hall and public works. We did a separate one for fire just because they do function a little differently and you do have paid on call. So we wanted to make sure we talked through training and
decontamination and and those sort of things. So the first couple slides here will will specifically be for um an overall employee survey for city hall and public works. So the first question was are there workflow um deficiencies driven by the layout of the primary
workplace? Um as you can see there was only 14 um answers but you know nine said yes and five said no to it. Um then we kind of asked them what are um as they ranked kind of their
importance of some of the characteristics. So this is if you looked at an ideal workplace um what would be some of the character characteristics excuse me that they would think would be important and ones that they would believe are not very important. So as you get clo more of the
black or sorry more of the blue it's um character that they think are very important. the the orange would be the not important. So, as you can see, we kind of ranked them here. Um, the first one would be the priority of size or properly sized workstations. Um, number
two is the personnel safety. There was a tie for three for environmental comfort. So, that's the temperature and the humidity inside the building. So, that ties really well into um condition assessment and kind of the the mechanical systems that we were seeing there. Um, ergonomics. So, that's kind
of just their space. how does their the the comfort of how they're sitting and making sure that they can do the the tasks that they need to do on a day-to-day basis. And then adequate storage space. So, you know, equipment, gear, supplies, um making sure that they have them in specific spaces and be able
to um get to them readily available. We also asked what is their satisfaction or overall satisfaction of their workplace and kind of supporting the their job if you will. And so, um 2.86 86
was the of those 14 people that answered. And as you can see, the next question that we asked was in their perception, taking those characteristics that we asked the first time of an ideal workplace. Um, we asked them how does
their current space um kind of align with those characteristics. So five all the way on the blue would be that it's far above average. Three is average. So more in that gray and then one. So more of the orange is the far below average.
And as you can see um access to wellness spaces so fitness quiet rooms kind of those rest de um deescalation spaces was something that um the buildings were far I would say deficient in um along with the properly sized work space.
Um with that we asked for additional you know workplace enhancements, support spaces, amenities. So for public works, it's a a tight work space if you've ever been that in there with all of the equipment parked. There's kind of inches in between each of the vehicles. So it is pretty tight. Um more storage and
more kind of garage doors. They just have the one main garage door right now. Again, I think um if they didn't have such tight spaces and and vehicles parked in the drive lane, the one garage doors would be just fine. Um yeah, a lot of maneuvering of vehicles. Yeah. um a
dedicated wash bay and kind of a separated locker room. Right now, their lockers are in the the garage. So, again, as we think of decontamination, it's a similar aspect for public works as as we would think of for kind of fire. So, kind of removing those workstation or those lockers out of the
garage and having them be in a separate space and just kind of adding that support space for them. City hall, um a fitness area, um automatic locking front doors, a break room that they can actually sit in. Um and then kind of meeting better meeting collaboration
spaces. Um and then there was a note of a dedicated sheriff and and fire building. Again, didn't want to modify anybody's notes that they provided. So this is just um comments directly from staff. Um taking those we then kind of looked
at, like I said, we that was our survey. We then met with each of the departments and did essentially what we call functional assessment. So talking about deficiencies, talking about work um load changes and kind of how they see the future of their department changing. So for city hall, I won't go through all
of those, but all of this, but really the biggest one would be uh a larger and more secure election storage. As as we just heard, right, you may be thinking of adding another precinct. So obviously that's going to add some additional storage. We know that there are increased regulations and rules being
put on elections. So just making sure that we're following those. um space for um the current staff is adequate right now. Um but as you grow, there is no room to add that additional capacity for maybe other services. So
really, as we think of the long-term buildout of your city, you're going to need a city hall that kind of can accommodate that growth to help serve your community. Um the service counters are adequate size right now. Um we just probably need to add some better way finding, especially for the buildings
counter. people just need to go a little further down to see that counter and people don't always follow signs. Um, conference rooms, you know, there are times, especially during elections, where conference rooms have to be locked down. So, again, if we take care of the secure piece for elections, that might
free up some of our conference rooms where right now there's some um tension during times for the lack of conference rooms and meeting rooms throughout. And then really the break room. There is no space for staff, right, to to take a a break other than at their office or at their workstation. and there is no place
in the break room to actually sit down. Um public works like we we talked about that it's very tight for the the vehicles. They're strategically fit into place. Um equipment, you know, there's equipment being stored outside. So, as we think of the asset preservation of
the equipment that you guys are purchasing, making sure that it's stored properly. So, having the pieces that should be inside, having them inside and not outside during inclement weather. >> [snorts] >> um dedicated wash bay within the the garage or somewhere near the garage. Um
dedicated ma mechanics area. Um there's just a lot of pieces that they store. There's computer spaces there. And right now it's all open to the to the elements. So kind of just creating more of a mechanics space that we can secure some of those parts and pieces. Um and making sure that again we're we're
maintaining the the assets that you guys have invested in. Um, and then kind of looking at some exterior security, the fencing. Chris had mentioned that and just kind of a better separation for the the welding. Right now there's not a dedicated spot for that. Right now it's
kind of wherever they can find it. So anybody's weld knows their sparks. So just making sure there's a dedicated spot with that from a safety perspective. Then we went and kind of surveyed the fire department. And like I said, we um met with them, but we also sent a separate um survey for them, too. So,
the first one was operational workflow. Um so, we kind of talked about where do they gather for for calls. Um so, again, it varies depending on what station they were they were at. Um station one would be that Bradis Bay or the radio room that's there. Station two is that Bradis Bay and station three is in the office
that they have in the back. Um, as you can see, majority of it is note that the spaces aren't necessarily adequate for for them to be able to muster for calls. Um, when we asked about improvements, so exhaust ventilation for the truck, so that dedicated capture
that we talked about in terms of the decontamination piece. Um, better technology and alerting systems. Um, right now there maybe are some AV and cell service issues within the station. So, it's dropping calls and dropping radio signal which not always great to
have. Um, and then we do talk about, you know, comfortable seating amenities as we look at the service model that you have and maybe potentially going to a duty crew, making sure that there's a space for your firefighters there when they're not on a call to be able to sit and and do trainings and do other things
like that they may need to do. Um, and then specifically at station 2, just kind of adding that report um, writing space or another space out of the apparatus bay. right now all they have is that apparatus space. Um we also talked about parking. So station one is
is adequate for parking. Two is tight. Um especially when they get everybody gets called there. There's just not a lot of room and they want to make sure um that as they park they don't impact public work functions. So it kind of can become um congested at times. And then
um station 3 for the most part they're fine. But they also said that if Smokies is full that sometimes that can impede them responding or getting to the garage to be able to respond to calls. We then talked about the health and wellness of um firefighters and so
adequate the first one was do we have adequate supplies and support spaces for decontamination process. Um so the answer was no. Um and then do you feel that these um do you feel there are adequate facilities for personal
decontamination? So for those of you that that don't know um there you uh decontaminate yourself. So the firefighters would decontaminate their their turnout gear and the things they have, but you also have to decontaminate the equipment and the trucks and the pieces of um the items that they're
using as well. when we talked about improving um right now there all of your turnout gear is in the apparatus bay. So kind of having a dedicated space for that I think along all of your stations is something that we talked about. Um having additional
extractors or essentially the way that you wash your gear right now there's there's two. So, if all of your firefighters are being called out to a structure fire or something like that, the line to clean the equipment and turnout gear can become long. Um, and so
just making sure that we're thinking through how also they dry and having adequate space to be able to dry their equipment as well. Um, exhaust ventilation for the trucks. We talked about that, the dedicated capture. Um, having space to be able to wash their helmets and their their masks and making sure that they can clean them annually.
they need to do that if they're not being used. Um, dedicated locker rooms, there's a desire to have a fitness area. Um, and then currently station one has the hose tower. That is also where all of your hoses are um,
stored and the racks are there too. Um, so just kind of talking about how those should maybe be at every station or being able to store at different stations. Um and then there um dedicated tool laundry and SCBA storage essentially on all stations if if
possible. We also talked about how there might be additional workplace enhancements and support spaces amenities if you will. Um so there was a request for maybe some additional apparatus bay. Again, this is staff request. So a ladder truck and a
side by side. the side by side would help with um icy conditions on the lake and then trails that you have and just making sure that they can respond to people who um maybe are off the the road and on those trail spaces in a more timely manner. um as we think through
the future of you know your community and and thinking again of that service model and potentially going to a fulltime um or more of a dedicated duty crew looking at dorm rooms, sleeping spaces, a better day room setup for those crews. Um, we also talked about potentially
since you are paid on call having a office area. So if someone is working from from home or can work remotely, they could do it at the station and and be there to respond when needed. Um, just meeting the the NFPA standards for
the stations. Um, and then again depending on what station you're at, you know, station two all they have is an apparatus space. So just kind of separating some of those spaces. um and then providing better coverage as the city grows. So again, change of
service model or potentially looking at um the coverage and how you can respond to your community as effectively as possible. We took all of that and we kind of translated that into space. Um and so based off of um our years of experience
and um meeting with your your staff, we kind of utilize this is a I would say our space standard. So, this was created for you guys um specifically, but based off of um administrators and you know the the chief office, what we would see
as a a best practice for for standard office sizes, departmental leads and command offices having those and then supervisor offices. Same with workstations and then meeting rooms. So, we use this as kind of a general standpoint as we create our our program,
if you will. So we took every building um as you can see the the middle column the existing is what you have today a little bit but um
it is what you have um oh did we miss one oh okay [laughter] um so we took knowing that your your need maybe isn't immediate today we wanted to look at that long-term growth for your city. So, we looked at what you
have today, that utilization, which is that existing column, and then looked at the short-term, the midterm, and the long-term. Um, and then we kind of separated it by different spaces. So, we looked at the public works office spaces. So, that um includes locker rooms, offices, amenities, break rooms,
that sort of thing. The warm vehicle, garage storage. So, that one we looked at the number of vehicles that you have today and what's being stored in there. And then again, based off of the public works that we've worked in, looking at what that drive line lane, excuse me,
would be um and making sure that we can adequately walk around all of the vehicles. Um and that's how we get to the square footage for each one of those spaces. Um we look at the public works vehicle support. So that's going to be your mechanics, your wash bay, um anything that's not a a vehicle, if you
will. Um, and then since public works is also with fire station number two, we have the apparatus bay, the fire support, and then we also know you have county functions in there, too. So, we wanted to make sure that we listed them there. Um, as you can see, we do we do
grow for public works. We really grow um in that public works office space. That's really going to be your locker rooms and some of the the break rooms enlarging that. So, as you grow, the support spaces need to grow. And then really in that vehicle storage. So again, it's making sure you have
adequate space around the vehicles, the drive lane, um, and making sure you're providing for again like those spaces in mechanical space or sorry, mechanic space and wash bay space. And then as we >> Can I interrupt you real quick? Sure. On the warm vehicle storage, how does it
decrease at the 2040? Is that a mistake or is that I'm like, how it just isn't making sense. goes from 18 to 17 to 18. >> I'm gonna go, yeah, I will take a look
at that. I'm not sure how I'm not sure if that was a a typo. Um, it it definitely doesn't decrease by a thousand and then increases again. No. So, >> yeah. >> Um, we will take a look at that. Thank you. >> Thanks.
>> Um, but yep, we will. So, as you can see, we do increase as we go through. Really, we've increased in the vehicles and then those support spaces to help that. Same with the fire. Um, the apparatus bay, we are increasing to make sure that we can provide adequate space around all your vehicles um that are
currently in that space. And then the fire support, as you can see, um it's pretty non-existent right now. There's really just a bathroom there. So, as we look at adding gear wash, decontamination, those turnout gears, um a separate report writing space to be
able to, you know, not always be in the apparatus bay. Um that's really what's in that fire support. Um and then as you can see, the the deputy office, those don't really um increase at all. Those stay the way they are. The only thing
that does change is the deput deputy vehicle storage. as your public works increases, the thought is that eventually they're going to get large enough where they would essentially need the space that the county is using right now to store vehicles in there. So that's what that
780 is just finding maybe a new spot um for those vehicles that are currently stored in public works. As we look at fire station one, it's a similar thing. We looked at the existing square footage that you have today. Okay, so 10,000 square feet is what that
current building is today. And then we looked at the short, the mid, and the long term. Um, and really there isn't a whole lot of increase. The the biggest increases are really going to be in that that fire office space. So, it's going
to be um updating or increase in in kind of that decontamination and and that fire support spaces there. Um, nothing else really changes within those. So again, increasing from 10,000 to um 148. And then in the long term, we see another
increase. And that's really for as you your model service model changes, you might need dorm rooms and potentially looking at the amenities that would come with living spaces. >> Yep. >> Oh, yep. Sorry. There is a
our existing column is off a bit. Um >> it just slid down one. Yeah. >> We did fix it. Yeah. [laughter] >> Um so the >> the SF here is supposed to be
>> up at the top. So it's skewing the numbers a little bit. So apologize about that. um city hall and senior center. Again, the existing column is is skewed a little bit. Um but again, we looked at the existing utilization. The building
that is here today is 13,680 18, excuse me, gross square foot. As we look at that increase, um we really look at that public shared spaces as one of the the increases. And then, um community development.
I'm off here. Sorry. kind of our support spaces um and building support spaces. So really our our shortterm change is election storage and then we really we don't have many other changes until we
get to that long term really when your city wants to grow and we need to look at those um new positions that currently don't fit in this facility today. and then fire station three um talking
about this station um with the fire department and and the chief we know um like the other stations there might be a model change for for those we don't foresee that for station 3 in its location um today and so the thought is that we'll always stay kind of as that
paid on call but we do want to make sure we're accommodating for that decontamination so the the turnout gear space and maybe an extractor at this space and that's the the changes um at this facility. >> Oh, in the short term. Yeah. All right. Um, so as we looked at kind
of our process, like I said, we um, this was more of just an update of of where we've been, the things that we've talked about with all the departments, the things that we saw when we went and toured um, all of your facilities. And really our next steps are moving into um understanding solutions, looking at
options, um looking at maybe what those costs are and and definitely coming back and and getting more feedback from from our council. So with that, I guess I will see if there's any other questions or further
clarifications we can provide for you. I'm just wondering if you can send us all a copy of that just because I can't read it from here and then I I would probably have more questions if I could actually [clears throat] read it. But what does
that say? I know on when you went around the buildings and there's and looked at the cocking and everything else. Uh did you look at the possibility of tuck pointing and that being done because I know there is cracks in like station one and stuff?
It's been tuck pointed before and it's probably due again. Uh and then future looking into the future on these block and brick buildings and stuff like that seal coating typically it's nice to do that every
five years so you maintain the block so they don't absorb water and moisture. Yes, we we captured all of those items. It was kind of a highlight of some of the items, but yes, we captured the tuck pointing in there as well. >> Yep.
>> Anybody else got anything? >> So, what's our next phase here? >> Yes. So, um If there's general, I would say consensus with our our council here of you guys understand the needs, the things that we've talked about. I know there was a lot of information that was that was given to you. So, we'll make
sure you have those packets so you can look at all of the the detail that was in there. Um, but really our next step is as long as there aren't major um issues with what we're showing um with with you all, we will um move forward. will continue to meet with our stakeholder group um start developing
maybe some options um solutions and that doesn't mean it's a singular one. It it can be [clears throat] anywhere from a long-term 20 um 20 20 year growth and it might be short-term which be minor things out to where that long term might
be. Um, obviously we want to evaluate what our options are based off of cost too and making sure that we're aligning um with maybe the debt service that you have coming off and and looking at how that kind of aligns with maybe our solutions and options as we move forward.
Can you uh like provide a needs versus wants type of thing where things are really critical >> and really need our attention immediately >> and then kind of separate it from future
what we could do. That'd be great. Thank you. >> Right. because some of the items are could be considered pretty luxury items and you know nice to have but we need money. Let's get find a way to
get money without charging the taxpayers. Man, I'd almost like to sit down with Nate to go through this with our own public works guys and see what's what they feel, what they think.
All right, I guess we got your direction what we're looking for. You should have received the email last Friday from Matt. You were on the list >> for >> this. >> Oh, with the packet. I didn't see the packet in there.
>> Your name's on here that it was delivered to you last Friday. I did get the email, but I and I opened it, but I didn't see a packet in there. I just saw the basic letter. >> We can copy. I don't know if it's exactly this one, but we can certainly
get you copies of this presentation. >> Thank you. All right. I thank you for your [clears throat] >> kindly worked on this and >> we'll keep moving forward. >> We have a little break [clears throat] seven or we have a we had a cut off at
seven. >> That's right. Hard stop. Suz, [clears throat] >> her name was on the email. >> Weird. >> That was weird. >> Yeah.
>> You're I know where you're going. I got him. Part: 2
Okay, we'll bring the January 26, 2026 regular council meeting to order. Please rise if you can for the pledge. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for it stands one nation indivisibley and justice for all. Make a motion that we adopt tonight's agenda. >> Second. >> Have a motion. Second. All in favor? I
>> I >> presentations. Sheriff's office. >> Well, uh, good evening, mayor and councel. December had a total of 350 calls in our city. We had seven assaults and one theft report. We made a total of 33
arrests for a number of different miscellaneous offenses. Uh we conducted 98 traffic stops uh which resulted in the issuance of 13 traffic citations on our roadway. Uh on the 8th of December at 10:34 p.m. our deputies were dispatched to Northway
Sports uh of a regarding a male stealing tires and fleeing in a green ATV. The suspect was located nearby uh and a traffic stop was conducted. The driver had an ATV tire and a snowmobile track strapped to the vehicle he claimed he had retrieved from a dumpster. After
reviewing the surveillance surveillance video, the deputies confirmed that the items came from a business dumpsters area which was posted with no trespassing signs. Male suspect was issued a trespass notice. Further investigation revealed that the ATV he was driving had been reported as stolen
out of Iani County as well. So the ATV was recovered from that scene, returned to its owner, and the male was advised he would be charged for receiving stolen property and then transported to jail. So uh good allound arrest there. Little
we were lucky as that came out. Uh our guys were nearby and were able to get there quickly and locate this person. So, it's a good ending to that for sure. On the 9th of December at 4:23 a.m., our deputies responded to a verbal domestic in the 24100 block of [snorts] Skyllock
Drive on a report of a dispute occurring inside of the residence over a loud TV. While speaking with uh the people that were involved, our deputies learned that there was a female at the residence who provided multiple false names before finally identifying herself, who was a known runaway. Her identity was
confirmed through her mother who was not able to pick her up from the scene. So, the female was later arrested for providing a false name and transported to uh Lino Lakes Juvenile Detention Facility. As no additional crime had been committed, all the parties were advised to separate for the remainder of
the night. And then finally, on the 14th of December at 10:26 p.m., Deputy Martinez responded to a vehicle in the ditch in the area of Highway 65 in Viking. He located a vehicle stuck in deep snow
on the center median. The male driver stated that he was drunk, immediately admitted to that, and had missed his turn. He also admitted he had did had not had a valid driver's license for years. Our guard driver in this uh incident showed multiple signs of
impairment and was unable to perform any standardized field sobriety testing. So, he was arrested for DWI and his license status was confirmed as uh canceled and imical to public safety. He later provided a breath sample of 0.20 within
two hours. So due to that prior DWI conviction in the extremely high uh breath alcohol concentration, the offense was enhanced to secondderee DWI. The driver was booked on those charges. So, uh, rounding up 2025, uh, for total
calls for service, we were at 4,867, which was down from 5,127 in 2024. Our property crimes remained relatively steady with minimal changes on that. Either way, uh, thefts were slightly up again this year, while assaults and
damage to property offenses were down, which is good to see. We did see a decrease in traffic crashes with injuries while property related crash crashes also just stayed the same. So we saw an increase in traffic stops and traffic contacts but saw a similar
number of traffic arrests in 2024. So I hope uh everybody's having a good start to the new year. Stand for any questions if you have them. >> Any questions here? Have you had any complaints at all in neighborhoods that people coming up your driveway to
basically uh sales people trying to be salespeople? >> I'm not aware of anything recent. Have you guys been getting some concerned citizens? >> I'm just curious. I had one uh last week and guy was coming up my driveway. No
vehicle I could see anywhere. I wasn't at home at the time. We got him out of camera and he's whistling away and he's got a green vest. He's got a mask and ski goggles on and he came halfway up and right at my deck. I got a camera on
the corner and he seen it and immediately turned around and bailed out of there and I seen other ones walking down the street that I got on my camera too. So just curious. >> Do you think he was a solicitor or >> you know maybe pretending to be? That's my thought.
>> Sure. >> Just kind of different. It was strange because I had seen some different things on social media with people saying similar things happening. >> Just curious if you had anything. >> Yeah, >> I think the same thing happened over by Breezy Point last week. Some people
called me on it. They were had hard hats and lights on them, orange coats, >> and they were only targeting targeting houses with no lights on. >> Yeah. >> Do you know if those people made reports with us? >> I don't know if they called it in or not. Well, if anybody is listening or
watching and that happens to you, definitely give us give us a call because our deputies will come out and then we'll just take the information that you have, which we're we're just recording at this point in time. We're recording that information. What we can do is build a paper trail when something else kind of comes up. We can figure out
who these people are, you know, uh verify whether or not what they're there for is legitimate or not. >> So, that would be my recommendation. >> Okay. Say someone does come to a house. What kind of credentials should our residents be looking for that they have? >> Well, some of our other cities, and I'm
not sure if East Bethl does, but um they need the solicitor's license, right? So, I think there's a there's probably a process through the city. So, a lot of our other cities, you have to have that badge visibly viewable, you know, if we end up having
contact with them um on patrol. And they >> we will require them to show documentation of that. So, Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, [clears throat] >> Fire Chief. >> Mayor, members of the council, thanks
for having me tonight. Um, over the past month, uh, we had 83 total calls. Um, four of them were structure fires. Uh that includes our mutual aid uh fires uh where we're bringing our apparatus and personnel to a neighboring city
requesting help. Um [clears throat] we had uh structure fire last uh Friday uh which was the 23rd at approximately 5:30 in the morning. Onseen air temp was
- 255. Um we were the crews that responded were able to make a uh a good stop uh containing it to the chimney and the attic space of this house. Um should not be a total loss of this house
by any means should be repairable. Uh the departments that helped with us or helped us on that fire were Ham Lake, Lynwood, uh Rum River Fire District, which is now a combination of St. Francis and Bethl fire departments, Stacy Lent, Iani, Oak Grove and Forest
Lake Alina also stood by for our people and then uh Noa County Sheriff's Office was there for a couple hours as well helping with uh whatever we needed help with. Uh the medical calls, um there were various medical calls that we covered um
over the past month. Uh the majority of them were difficulty breathing, possible heart problems, and falls. Uh there is a year-end report coming. I was hoping to have it done for this meeting, but uh that didn't happen. So,
I'll get it to you guys next uh uh next meeting. Uh but we did end the year with 918 calls uh which is approximately um 100 shy just over 100 shy of uh last year's. Um
we did make minor adjustments but nothing to equal that. Uh I did talk with Alina and they just actually said they weren't in the east area for the past you know the last six weeks to two months. Um the floors are complete at all the
stations. So that project has been completed. The floors turned out great. Uh Polytech did great work. They worked with us uh logistically to keep the stations up and running and making sure we had apparatus at every station to be able to respond while they were doing
the work. Um we have an update on the duty crew. Uh we changed back to um daytime all calls. uh we're running into some staffing challenges uh with being able to cover
the shifts. Uh with that being said, um there are people that are picking them up uh when they do uh they are helping u test equipment and maintenance and that kind of stuff. Um the deputy chief and I are
re-evaluating that program and seeing how we can better utilize it uh and and make uh make it a a positive program. And then uh this [clears throat] coming Saturday the 31st [snorts] we have the uh East
Bethl Fire Department auxiliary breakfast. Starts at 8:00. Uh goes until I think it's 11 or noon. Can't remember. Uh but encourage everybody to come down have breakfast with us. It's at station
one. It'll be in the apparatus bay. With that, I would uh open it up. Any questions? Any questions? >> Thank you, sir. >> I just want to say I've been to that breakfast a few times. It's definitely
worth going to. Definitely stop in. Uh, it's being catered by Route 65. >> Yesterday on that again >> this Saturday, >> the 31st. This Saturday. >> Thanks, G.
[clears throat] >> Consent agenda. >> I'll make a motion to adopt the consent agenda. And I'd like to pull E, F, I, and J. E F I J. Any others need to be pulled?
>> Well, I was going to pull E, but since you pulled it, >> we got >> Did you make a motion? >> She made a motion. We need a second. >> Second motion. >> Okay. All those in favor of the consent
agenda as amended? >> I >> I item E. Item E is um I just want to thank Tanner Belfany and Sue Jefferson for their service on our planning commission. I really appreciate they've been on for
quite a while and um since 2011 and 1990 respectively and I really appreciate their service to this city. >> Yeah. On E, I'd like to say thank you to Sue Jefferson. U she's actually on the
parks committee. Uh it's been a pleasure working with her over the last three years. Uh she's moving outside the city, so there's going to be a vacancy on the parks. Parks is an excellent commission to work with and work for. I've been liaison there for three years and I really enjoy working with this
commission and I look forward to great things coming down the pipe from them. But thank you, Sue. She's been there since 1990 and she's really done a great job for our city. With that, I'll make a motion to approve item E on the consent agenda. >> Second.
>> We have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor? >> I >> I. Motion passes. >> Item F is the Arbor Day uh for April 24th. I think this is a really great
thing that the city does, but I do just have a question. How many trees do they usually plant every annually on this for this Arbor Day? Does anybody on here know? >> Good evening, mayor and council. Uh to answer your question there, uh we
typically have one ceremonial tree that we plant for it. Um we've done it in the past with the scouting groups. Uh a couple years ago we did we did three or four in the park, but we typically just have one kind of ceremonial tree that we do. Uh it's usually a bit more expensive tree and then we take pictures and it's
part of the uh requirement too for our Arbor Day um Tree City USA award. So >> Okay. So pretty much just one do they periodically just plant trees throughout year then? Okay. Because I'm like one tree a year we lose more than that.
[laughter] >> Okay. Thank you. With that, I'll make a motion to approve item F on the consent agenda. >> Second. Have a motion. Second. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor? >> I. Motion pass.
>> All right. And then item I is a purchasing of a forestry mulching head. I think this is such a great idea because I think it's really needed. I actually just have a question. Do we let other communities ever borrow our
equipment? Do we switch and um trade and borrow their stuff and they borrow our stuff to collaborate that kind of way? >> Absolutely. Yes. Uh we've got a pretty good working relationship with the city of Ham Lake. They actually have a lot of equipment that we borrow from them. We're kind of the the neighbor that
borrows more than we give right now. We're trying to kind of this this piece I think would kind of help that. They'd probably want to use it a little bit too, but they we use their truck. Um they we borrow their water truck. They have a aerial bucket truck that we use once in a while for stuff up in the air.
So we do share we work with Oak Grove. Uh when our motor grader went down they let us use theirs for a while. We borrowed stuff to them as well. A little bit with St. Francis and Columbus and Lynwood too, but not not as much as anymore. But >> fantastic. Thank you for that
information. With that, I'll approve item I of the consent agenda. Second >> motion a second. Any further discussion on being heard? All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion passes.
>> And item J is approval of the hire of the senior city planner. Well, I think this went pretty faster than I thought it was going to go, so I'm excited about that. I have a question regarding this, though. I heard that this person is
going to be spending uh time working from home too and what are those um time frames that they will be working and is there any chance it will affect our residents? Because I did hear have a
resident contact me and they were a little concerned that well what if I need them you know it's all kind of what's in it for me with the residents too. >> Yeah. Um, Mr. Mayor and council members, uh, the the original request was two
days in the office, three remote. Uh, we negotiated three days in the office, two remote. And and that's going to be, you know, I think a little bit fluid in that, let's say during the wintertime things are real slow, [snorts] but during the summertime things are really,
really busy. Um, the applicant had indicated that whatever time is needed, they'll they'll definitely accommodate that. Currently right now um Kendra with Landform is pretty much all remote and emails that come in or telephone calls that come in get directed right to their
right to her phone as would be to this gentleman's phone and uh and they can handle things, you know, without necessarily being in the office. There are times when people want to be in the office and at that point we would just ask that they schedule an appointment with him. He'll he'll give them the
available slots when they'll be in and they can coordinate schedules, that sort of thing. So there shouldn't be any deficiency in service. >> Well, that's good to hear. What about technology? Does he have the technology at his house currently or are we going to provide it for them?
>> We'll provide him with a laptop and and connect him to whatever he needs to be connected to. He has he has a wide range of experience with all the programs that he'll be needing. So, um I think he'll be able to hit the ground running. >> Okay, good to know. All right. With
that, I will approve item J on the consent agenda. Make a motion to approve item J. >> Second. >> Okay. We have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? >> Yeah, Matt, I would like to know what kind of a schedule we're talking about. >> I know you said three days on. Do we do
we know what our prime days are to have in the office? Are they going to be Monday, Wednesday, Friday? Are they going to be >> No. >> Wednesday, Thursday, Friday? >> Yeah. Um, mayor and council, it'll be uh Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I'm sorry, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday will be in
the office. Thursday, and Friday will be off um uh remote. So, Fridays are generally slower. Um so, we figured that that would work fine. Thursday can be on the bubble then in terms of whether things get busy [clears throat] or not. But, um but again, um he may trade if he
knows he's got a busy Thursday coming up, he may trade a a Monday or something like that or a Wednesday. Tuesday, we want to have them in for um the staff meeting that we have so we can kind of keep keep up to date on everything that's that's cooking.
>> So, okay. So, all those in favor? I >> I motion passes. Item E, public works. >> [clears throat] >> Item 8E1 is our 2026 class 5 gravel road
reservicing projects. Um, in 2006, the city began a six-year uh cycle of gravel road resurfacing. We currently have 14 and a half miles of gravel roads, 30 uh 30 actual roads spread out kind of evenly throughout the city. Um last year
we did the five uh roads that are listed there. Skylark, Allen, Monroe, Van Beerren, and Palisade Street. This year we are recommending that we go out for bid to do Klondike Drive. So it's a mile and 3/4. I think everybody's kind of familiar with Klondike, so I didn't
provide a map, but um it's due for a resurfacing. And uh if the council approves, we'd like to send that out for bids and we'd bring that back once we get the bid numbers to finalize the actual amount. So, you're not planning on paving the
gravel part. This is for the paved part. >> This will be just to reggravel this current uh dirt portion. >> Okay. >> So, roughly $50,000 I think is what we kind of figure. We got a $55,000 budget. I think we'll be a little bit below that. We put an application of chloride
on there as well. We do that every year. We do that after the the uh road was resurfaced. So we need a motion then you're hiring this out. >> Yeah. The city will do the uh prep work.
The delivery of the material will be placed by the contractor and then our staff levels it out and rolls it after it's dropped on the ground. So basically we're just paying for the delivery and they drop it off and then we take it from there. >> So you guys just like you say the preliminary we're crowning it and right
crown and everything. >> Correct. Yep. Reshape some of the ditching drainage issues stuff like that. >> Okay. I'll make a motion to approve the proposed gravel roads for classified resurfacing 2026. >> I'll second it.
>> Any further discussion? >> No. >> None being heard. All those in favor? >> I opposed. >> Not heard. Motion passes. Staff report. >> Mr. Mayor and Council have a few updates here. I wanted to just pull up the
section 18-231 for um as it deals with peddlers and um and essentially uh under licensing we would require them to have state or county licenses as required and a city
license as well. Uh they would need 30 days to apply for that. uh we do background checks um and um and then notify them whether they are um approved or not. So essentially um to answer the question of
earlier, yes, they would need a a license for uh pedalling uh or selling or there's definitions up here of everybody that uh would qualify. Um, so at any rate, um, yeah, if there's people
coming to your door and they don't have this requirement, you can notify them that they'll need to get this. Um, and if they're nefarious looking, then of course call the call the police. So, okay. So, want to clarify that one. Um,
then also we have on u the local board of adjustments going to be in April this year. We have two council members. Uh Jim and Tim are both uh good in terms of their training through July 1st, 2028. If there's anybody else on the council that would like to get this training,
it's an online training. Uh they would need to complete it this week. It's due by um January 31st. So we have enough people to conduct the meeting. Um but if other people are interested in getting that training to
better understand how the inner workings of this um I would definitely recommend doing that and um and uh Carrie can send you a link to that and it's pretty straightforward. I know um I'm not sure exactly the amount of time it took for
you two guys to do it but I don't think >> I don't think it was too lengthy. >> So that's going to be renewed every year. >> Uh theirs is good till 2028. So you get um I think you did it last year so seven years or so. >> Yeah, I did mine last year.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So >> Okay. >> So it has it's the renewal is how often? Every other year or >> No. So theirs is good till 2028. So I would assume it's around seven years is is it'll last for that period of time.
I'm sorry not seven years. uh they did in 2025 four 2024 25 >> so it' be three years my apologies >> uh three years and um and then you'd have to go back and get another renewal
on that um but essentially like I say we have enough in terms of the required number just if other council members are interested in in understanding that whole process and the and the training that goes with that we can set show up
with that and um and then everyone of course participates in April for the local board of adjustments meeting. So >> I would like to attend it as a renewal because I've done it before. Okay. >> And I just want to see if anything's changed honestly. So
>> Sure. Okay. I will have um Carrie send you the link. >> Thank you. >> For that. Yep. Uh and then the only other thing is the local government officials meeting uh reminder is on the 28th. So, on Wednesday at 6 PM, if you
plan on going, please RSVP. Um, and I can I can RSVP for you if you'd like. Um, sometimes the topics are mundane. This time the topic's going to be about um um rifle versus shotgun
uh changes that the legislature did. So, that impacts our community. Um, and just as a kind of a primer, um, anything south of Highway 95 was shotgun only. North of 95, you could use rifle, uh,
for hunting. And now the state has changed it to you can do either. And the local municipalities, county, cities have to decide what they want. Um, the fundamental belief was that years ago when this went into effect that shotguns
were less lethal or accurate or whatever, however you want to look at it, and the numbers for deer were down. So, it kind of gave the deer the advantage at that point. Now, the numbers are of course through the roof in a lot of areas. and um and uh and so
your shotgun and your rifle today two to 300 yards each. It's pretty much uh the technology has advanced to the point either through ammunition or scopes that uh that you have that long distance shooting. Arguably around here, people are hunting
on woods lines and you've got 50 yards stops maybe. Uh but at any rate, it's still a discussion that the the sheriff wants to establish to determine some continuity in the area because we don't want to get hunters confused. Oh,
Andover has this, but we have this and they have that, you know. So, anyways, I think it'll be a good discussion. Um I will not be able to make it uh that evening, but I think it will be a good discussion and um and it voices should be heard on this one. I did register to
go to that. >> So, okay. And that is all I have unless you have questions. >> All right. Council reports. >> Nobody. >> I um attended a um airport meeting and a senior
meeting this month. Um I think the senior meeting was a week ago. uh the airport meeting uh they up increased them to quarterly they were first they were bianually and then they were three times a year now they're four times a year which means I go eight times a year
because we have the planning meeting in advance and our election for chair and co-chair are will be at the March 4th meeting um and the senior dance is coming up February 6 Friday from 1 to 4 so if
you're over 55 and you're not working, come on by and have a good time. Bring a date and dance your little feet off. And I think that's all I have. Uh we had a we had a good parks commission meeting this month. Um got some great help from
um Capstone moving forward with our parks in the city. Um we ordered all the playground equip equipment for phase one in there. Uh it's really going to be a nice park. the city's really going to enjoy this. Um, I also want to point out
once again about Sue Jeff with us since 1990. Uh, we will have a position available, but I want to thank her once again for all the hard work she's put in on that committee through the years. And u uh 29th, we've got the Upper Rum River
budget meeting. That's going to be a fun one. So, we'll be there on the 29th and that's all I have. Thank you, Jim. Anything with that? I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Make a motion to adjourn. Second.
>> You guys go right ahead. [laughter] >> All those in favor? I