Okay, at this time we'll call to order the June 22nd, 20 26 regular council meeting to order. Please rise if you can for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for >> Make a motion to adopt tonight's agenda. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor? >> Aye.
>> Aye. >> Uh, item 4A, Sheriff's. >> Greetings, Mayor, members of council. I am Scott Wicklund. I'm a sergeant with the patrol division. Uh, in May, Anoka County Sheriff's Office responded to a total of 489 calls
for service. Responded to six assaults, six six theft reports, and one damage to property call. Uh, deputies made a total of 22 arrests for miscellaneous offenses, made 103 traffic stops, which resulted in 18 traffic citations. Uh, some
notable calls our deputies handled, 900 block 189th, which would be Nexus, on May 1st, assault. Deputies responded to client assaulting two staff members. Per protocol there, she was arrested. On May 2nd, at Highway 65 and 181st Avenue
Northeast, we had a DWI. A deputy responded to a vehicle that hit a post. Uh, when he arrived, the driver had already exited the vehicle and was walking away. This was witnessed by a bystander. Deputy located the male who was impaired and said he wasn't driving. After investigated, it was determined that he was driving. Uh, male did not
speak English, so translation was provided. Um, all tests were not conducted successfully. He was arrested at a 0.094 BAC. Uh, May 2nd, Nexus again, the 189th Avenue assault. The client was attempting to run away and assaulted staff in the process.
Uh, located and arrested. Uh, on May 6th, 3500 block of 228th Avenue Northeast, a domestic assault. Uh, deputies responded to a juvenile female assaulting an adult male in the home. Deputies arrived and the suspect fled into the woods. She was eventually
located and arrested. On May 12th, at 300 block of Elm Drive in the Beach area, uh, domestic assault. Deputy responded to a male who's attempting to get into a home after breaking into the victim's vehicle. Uh, he also assaulted the homeowner. Uh, the [clears throat] victim reported the male was leaving in a vehicle.
Deputies located the vehicle leaving the neighborhood and attempted to stop it. The male would not get out of the get out and was on his phone with 911 saying that he was going to light them up, whatever that means. A high-risk stop was conducted and stop sticks were placed under his tires. He tried to
flee, but his tires were deflated. The male exited the vehicle and was walking towards deputies, but then decided he did not want to cooperate. So, he ran back to the vehicles. That is when the deputies grabbed him and placed him on the ground. Uh, the victim and suspect used to be former roommates, so it was not random, and he was arrested.
On May 12th, in Nexus again, a domestic assault. Deputies responded to a client assaulting another client who was his girlfriend. After the investigation, the boyfriend was arrested for domestic assault. And on May 16th, on Viking Boulevard and
and 192nd Avenue, uh, DWI, a caller reported a driver um, all over the road. The deputy located the vehicle and observed poor driving conduct and stopped it. The deputy smelled alcohol and when he was asked how much alcohol he consumed, he stated a little.
Uh, field sobriety tests were not successful. He was arrested. His BAC was a 0.32, which is four times legal limit, so a little more than just a little. And he was he arrested for that. And on
May 22nd, 2000 block 185th, a probation requested a deputy go to location because a juvenile offender was in possession of drugs. The deputy located the drugs. During investigation, the juvenile admitted that they were his. And he engaged in an extensive fight
with the deputies. After that, he was arrested. Um that is for May. Thank you for the opportunity to provide a quick update last month's activities. Any questions for me? >> I'm curious, uh when you respond to a call at Nexus,
what is about the average time that you guys are spending? >> Oh, that is So, I most of the calls we have there are at night, or used to be at night until recently. And it all depends on what kind of calls we have there. Sometimes we have calls
that we have 12 juveniles absconded into the woods. And that requires a large response. Might have five or six cars that go into the woods, and we'll just slowly go find them in the woods as they're running away. So, that could be an hour and a half, 2 hours. Sometimes we'll go there and there'll be one juvenile
running. We'll go scoop them up, bring them back in, and that's a 5-minute call. Uh it it is so random, but I would say the average response time we're there it's got to be at least a half hour per call we're there when we're there. >> Thank you. Any other questions?
Any questions from the public? >> I'm friendly. >> Thank you. Thank you, sir. >> [clears throat] >> Forby. Fire Chief. Mayor, members of the council, thanks for having me up here. Uh
for the past month, we did a total of 65 calls. >> [snorts] >> Um the most most of them were medical. Nine difficulty breathing, nine falls, six unconscious, and five seizures. We did have three structure fires. One
was in East Bethel on the west side, the west edge. And two of them were mutual aid requests. One of the other thing that we've seen an uptick in is illegal burns. Just wanted to point it out. So that
it's set on the record. There's no burning garbage. If you're going to have a wreck fire, it's got to be in clean dry wood. Can't be painted wood. Green treated wood, any of that kind of stuff. It's got to be clean dry wood.
Some of these illegal burns have resulted in investigations and stuff like that to figure out what's really going on. So they take a little bit of time and uh It involves us getting the sheriff involved. Tonight on the
the consent agenda there's potential for two new hires. Um One is contingent on that person moving into the area, but that's supposed to happen at the end of the month. We want to get everything all our ducks in a row so that when they do, we can get them into the academy which is set
to start the middle of the month next month. We received the CenterPoint grant and we'll be moving forward with that. We're adding some electric tools to our uh our our engines. Some portable scene
lights and then um sawzalls. And with that we're also evaluating some other new equipment. The one thing is a battery operated fan that would operate off the same platform battery platform so we would be able to have a little bit more mobility with it.
And not rely on a gas engine that has all the upkeep of a gas engine. And then last month I told you that we were working um to uh get an AFG grant submitted. Um, today at
4:00 was the cutoff for that. Uh, it was not submitted because there were a lot of problems with the site. Uh, according to our grant writer they were not able to get everything submitted. However, we are ready with two ready-to-go projects with this grant writer.
Everything is set. They have all of our information. Uh, I believe the AFGs are set to open sometime in September or October and will be some of the first that are submitted. So, we'll be able to streamline that process and get it straight through. Um, with that,
um any questions? >> Who do you use for grant writing? >> Uh, it's Gratchul Services is who we're using. Um, I've had uh great success with them in the past. Um, and they have a great success rate.
>> And what is their fee? Do they charge a lot or >> It's uh >> a portion of the grant or how does that work? >> Uh, the fee is a one-time fee of $850 for them to write the grant. >> Per grant? >> Per grant. And then, um
if they get awarded the grant, they write a lot of their grant writing fees into the grant. Um, all AFG grants have a 5% match, so it depends on the scope of the project that we're submitting. Um, but if the grant is sub Uh, one of the reasons that I I like
working with this firm is if the grant's not successful, they write it again for free and until it's successful or until we tell them to stop writing it. >> Got it. >> So, it's it's a one-time fee either until it's successful or the city's no
longer interested in pursuing it. >> Okay, I have a question on your call medical calls. So, do ambulances when an ambulance goes, is that considered the fire department or an ambulance goes and a medical fire truck
goes to a call, a personal injury medical call like that? >> Uh we have first responders that go on just about every call. Um the ambulance typically arrives somewhere around the time that we do.
So, Alina is our ambulance service. >> it's duplicative, like it's redundant having an ambulance show up and a fire I I know every car accident I've ever been in, a fire department never came. Only an ambulance came. So, I I just feel like it's redundant having fire
go when an ambulance goes, too. And maybe I'm wrong, but >> No, when they're when they're dispatched, it triggers the police, fire, and ambulance all at once. And some of the calls >> in East Bethel because in in Rapids, my
car accidents, I >> in Rapids, too. They're part of a no >> I've never had a fire department come, just the ambulance came. >> Oh, that makes so much sense. >> I mean, I guess I could see if the car was on fire or something, but I'm just trying to think that
we're wasting money sending all these different vehicles for a a a car accident. So, >> car accident is a completely So, I referenced medicals. A car accident, one of the things that we do is we block the scene so that nobody else can get hit.
That's one of the big services that we're doing is securing that scene so that we're providing a safe area for the paramedics and the police officers to work, and we also help where we're needed. >> Okay. >> Um And that doesn't matter if it's on Highway 65 or if it's on
221st out in the out in the rural parts. Uh we're still shutting down areas so that cars can get around us safely so that we are providing a safe, secure space for our people to work. And for our counterparts to work and
provide the service for the citizens. >> Yeah, cuz so you have ambulance, you have fire, you have police doing a lot of overlap is what my mind is saying and I probably I could very well be wrong, but >> We are all doing different jobs. So, the
police are investigating the accident, what caused it, there's any legal grounds for tickets and I'm not going to speak for the rest of what they do cuz that's not my specialty. >> Right. >> We're taking care of anything any patients that need to be extricated from their cars, we're doing cleanup of the
roadway, getting rid of debris, again, providing secure area for our people to work in and the ambulance is tending to the patients. So, it might feel like there's some overlap, but there's distinct jobs with each service that responds to those calls.
>> Oh, that's great to know. Thank you. >> And my experience with the calls on the medical calls with the first responders, they're often there before the ambulance and sometimes have the has the uh
patient ready to go on a stretcher for the ambulance by the time the ambulance gets there. So, uh uh they're when in a medical emergency when minutes matter, that is it's a pretty incredible service.
>> Any other questions? >> Nope. >> I'm being heard. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> There's no way for public forum, so consent agenda. >> Make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Second.
>> There's a motion and a second. I want to pull F. >> Okay. So, the a second uh for the approved the consent agenda as amended. All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed?
None heard. Okay, I'm pulling F just for the simple fact it it be nice if we list the street that we're doing in these projects. I mean, I know Nate knows what they are, but
we don't know what street it is. When it comes out, you see this contractor's application for payment, it just says that 226th Street Surface Improvement Project. Be nice to have the street on there that we're doing. >> Okay.
>> For reference in the future. >> Yep. Do you want me to get the street on this one? >> Well, it doesn't matter, but in the future for reference, it's it's nice to have that in there. >> I agree. >> That's a good point. >> Used to be on there. >> So,
with that said, uh I'll make a motion to approve F. >> Second. >> Motion and second, any further discussion? None being heard, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Approved. Uh staff report.
>> Uh Mr. Mayor and Council, got uh three items I want to address this evening. Uh the first is that we're continuing uh the process of working through the dangerous dog or the high-profile dangerous dog scenario that we had. Um I do want to say that the uh owner of
the dogs has been very cooperative and working with us uh to meet all the uh requirements the city's placed on him for keeping these two animals. Uh he's been very easy to work with and I commend him for doing so. I don't know
that everyone would would be that happy to work with the city on this topic. But at any rate, um we're just continuing to work through some of the public data requests on that as well. Um and then additionally we're trying to work through uh some of the community neighbor relation issues that we have.
Um that um have come up and there's some some indication of progress at least on one of the properties [snorts] uh that is being used as a VRBO scenario. But um we'll we'll continue to work with
I I think we may um uh work with the attorney here to draft a a letter uh to escalate that a little bit in terms of importance. We're told that the property might be sold. We hear that quite often. You know.
But uh but at any rate uh we'll take whatever steps we need to here. I know the neighbors are probably copying council on a lot of the disruptions that are happening. So we want to we want to make sure we stay on top of that. Uh wanted to update the council also um on in regards to Klondike. Um we are going
to be putting gravel down this year on Klondike. As you know we treat that with chloride and other uh chemicals to try and uh keep the the dust down. And uh part of the conversations that Nate and I have been having are
um kind of serious discussions about potential of paving this road. Uh and um we can borrow 3 years in advance on our state aid dollars for projects such as this. Um in this particular scenario um being that there are businesses on this
road there is a possibility of assessing some of the work. And that can be a future discussion as to the policy of assessing and how much to assess. Um and um but again this is a a long stretch. We we um
I would say uh there's good and bad to doing it. I think because it's a long stretch it becomes a raceway. Um and uh and so if the uh if the sheriff was still here, they would >> [laughter] >> they might collect some revenue on that road. But, at any rate, it's still
whether it's um gravel work that we're doing, grading, or the chloride treatments, or, you know, restoring the road with with class five, it There is a cost to the city in its current status that um that uh would be obviously done away with uh when it's
paved, so. More more to come on that one. And then, the final thing I just want to update the council on is the city is in discussion right now with the school district. Um as you know, we were looking at acquiring a approximately 2-acre parcel for a water treatment
plant tower type of concept that has had fallen through. Um and so, the discussion right now is for uh the city uh to work with the school district on on utilizing two acres in their southeast quadrant uh to essentially build the tower and
the treatment plant on that on that ground. Um and so, uh I know the school has at the two schools there, there's a uh problems with pick-up and drop-off. Um a lot of backing up of traffic, and a
lot of issues, so they need to have some adjustments done to their entrances there. And uh and in '27, we're looking at uh having Polk Street potentially redone. So, uh if we're going to tear up that
road, it would be the time to put in a force main sewer and and water pressurized water line uh to the schools, and then and then work with them on on um trying to fix that entrance and exit, so it's a lot safer for folks when they're
picking kids up and dropping them off. Uh at any rate, more discussions on that. I know they're very excited about hooking this up. One of the schools has uh sprinkler systems in it, the other one does not. And so, part of their plan is to uh with pressurized water is to put in
sprinkler systems in the in the other school, which would make it a safer uh a building for the killed kids, obviously. And then also, uh they can access other dollars uh that the state has for safety um related to improvements to those type of buildings.
So, they're working through some of those details to try and determine how to best uh look at some of these costs. The the big cost, of course, is SAC and WAC. And uh we've we've cal- calculated about 1.5 million based on their units.
Uh about just rough numbers, maybe about a half a million is for the uh Met Council SAC, which is fixed and in stone. And the other million would be for SAC and WAC of city uh costs. And what just as a reminder, those SAC
and WAC fees, what they do is they go into a sewer and water fund, and they're used for the eventual replacement of the system. And uh so, they're very important in terms of uh you know, the depreciation of that system and making sure the dollars are there to replace it when when time comes
due for that. But there might be some flexibility the city can have in terms of deferring some of those payments, working with the school district uh to, you know, ultimately, you know, pay it, but over time, maybe. That might be an option. Again, a discussion that the council can have and
uh to determine if that's something they want to do. Ultimately, the goal here is the schools have uh septic systems that are in question, and water that's uh that's um not not necessarily the best quality.
And uh and hooking up to uh to city sewer and water will be a a a wonderful improvement for them. So, more discussion on that with the with the city. We've had two meetings uh with them. We We having maybe one or two more, and and they'll bring it before their board for authorization and
approval. And if that happens, if we can utilize their two acres, that saves us from having to acquire two acres and um and the cost associated with that. So, that's a good thing. And I think that concludes my report unless there's any any questions for me.
>> I actually have um two questions. One on this that um water for the school, would the city be requiring all the people in the neighboring area to hook up? Would that be mandatory or
>> No, so the city has a policy that if sewer and city sewer and water goes by commercial entities, they're required to hook up. >> Right. >> But residential entities are not required to hook up. >> Okay. >> Now, if um if that development says, you know, we're we want to hook up, you
know, can the city make this happen? Yeah, I mean, it's running right by. We can facilitate that. >> Yeah. >> But we would not take the position of saying you must hook up. >> Yeah, they might have the same water as the school, I don't know. Um I have a
Klondike question. How often right now does that get graded and um re- um chlorided and re- graveled and stuff? >> Ah, good question. I I don't know that I've uh seen a bill come through on
gravel in the last couple of years. Um but um we do try and grade it because of the washboarding, you know, that occurs on that. We have a We have a grader almost exclusively for that road. We have other roads, too, but that's a big one. Um so, there's a cost in that
and chloride treatment, I think, is generally once a year. >> Yeah, it's one one time. >> Yeah, and that's >> It's [clears throat] I think it's about 8 >> it being done it something being done to that road every year, but I didn't know if >> $8,000, I think, per application. So, it's not cheap,
but um and and quite honestly, the you know, to pave this will be in the million plus, >> Right. >> but that'll be you know, you'll get 20, 30 years probably out of that before it has to be resurfaced in some some form or another.
But um but yeah, it's um as cities kind of move through the getting rid of the dirt roads into the paved roads, your plowing becomes more, you know, easier to do and safer and and uh it should be something we
continue to try and work towards. >> Okay, I look forward to the assessment conversation, but that will be then. >> Yeah. >> All right. Council reports. >> I have [clears throat] airport information
um and In God We Trust information. Um the airport we are working on the um Discover Aviation Days for 2027.
And we are looking for volunteers to lead out in the vendor trucks, the kids activities, the parking, you know, probably 15 different jobs. So, I'm wondering if um that
plea can go out on in the next newsletter. Um I will kind of type have something that I could send to the city probably by the end of the week. Um and then there's a seniors information. There is no July dance um
thanks to the 4th of July. Um but we are putting on a our annual pancake breakfast, so everybody's invited to that. There will be a bake sale there of all these delicious yummy um home baked goods and a craft and vendor
show and we are looking for flea market and vendors for crafters for that and I'm the point of contact for that. And now the In God We Trust I would I talked to Matt about it and he was talking about having something like
a vinyl thing put up here. Um and he sent us all a email with that those fonts and I like Do you want to bring that up by any chance? Can you find that? >> I'll try and find it here. >> Okay. I was thinking the third one, the
boldest, biggest letters and >> Okay. >> So and I'm thinking at least a foot high. I don't know what Matt was thinking but he said doing it in house >> [clears throat] >> is the least costly way and I'm like,
yeah, because I found a guy who could make them out of wood but that would be a bigger cost and so I'm like, yeah, let's let's do it. Let's get this done. So if you get when he pulls that up we can all have a consensus on the letter
the font that of the fonts that he sent. So does anybody else have anything else while we're looking? >> So here is a Here are the three fonts just a I'm sorry, four fonts just some ideas of what we can go with.
We There's thousands of fonts available obviously. >> Yeah. >> But >> I like the third one. >> I do too. Third one looks really good. >> So we can we can make it any size where you know put it any color. I was thinking possibly a silver color to match the
interior here. Something that would stand out against the You have kind of highlights there bars that are silver. Um maybe match that. >> Yeah, I'm just wondering if it would be possible to create it and send us like a proof of
how it would look up here and then we can approve or disapprove. >> [laughter] >> Too fancy for us. >> We'll see. We'll see if we can do that. Yeah. So, take a picture of it and drop it in there. >> can do it for you guys. I promise.
>> AI is unbelievable, [laughter] actually. It's uh yeah. Anyways. All right. Yeah, I know. >> So, everybody agree on the third one? >> Yeah. >> Do we [clears throat] have a consensus? Okay. >> Okay.
>> All right, that's all I got. >> We had a Booster Days meeting. Again, uh Booster Days is coming up next month here. Uh July 18th. Uh looking for volunteers for that, as
always. Um we also had a Sunrise River Watershed Management Organization meeting, uh where we discussed considering uh membership with the Lower St. Croix
Partnership. Uh that is a partnership that the state gives I think it's 1.3 million or 2.3 million every 2 years for
uh this it's a joint powers agreement to disperse. Um you can get uh money from them without being a member, but that's only every 2 years that you could apply for that. By being a member,
uh it would be more readily available. Um with discussion with this, uh it was some a potential liability issue. Was discussed. It's a it's a very small
potential liability. But, uh it was uh agreed to bring this back to the partnership cities of the four partnership cities of East Bethel, Linwood, Ham Lake
and Linwood and or Columbus to uh bring this information up to them, make them aware and have any potential feedback and uh JB Sherbon, our administrator, has
present uh put together information and email that uh should been presented. I don't know if he sent it already. Okay. >> believe I've seen it. >> Yeah, it uh it will be pre sent out and ultimately
uh hopefully we'll have feedback by sometime in September by all four cities. Um, so I just want to bring that up that uh we'll be seeing that in the future here without getting into the
uh nuts and bolts of the whole discussion. >> Can I ask a booster days question? Is there going to be a city information table or anything like that with council and city staff information or anything?
>> There has been discussion on that. I do believe so, but I don't believe that uh or so far there is not been any uh like blocks of times that to sign up for. >> Okay, thank you. >> So,
with that >> I just want to welcome uh Mark Berglund, our new city attorney, to our city council meetings and I look forward to working with you. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate being here. I'm happy to be here. Look forward to it, too. Appreciate it very much. >> Welcome.
>> I want to thank you for Friday's update, potential dog stuff. We need to stay on top of that stuff. It's good to know that that dog owner is is trying to meet all the conditions that the city imposed. Also [clears throat] good to find out
that our data transfer is going well. We often wonder if people ask what's going on with that. Understand that's going well, so thank you for that. >> Agree. >> I met earlier today with one of our
be be all be people that are live next to our problem house and tried to calm them down and let them know where the process we're in at so far and that I do feel for them because it was happening today right
there in front of me, so it uh it's an issue. I can't wait for this short-term rental agreement to be on our lapse here. I know they got a public hearing on it, I believe, next month.
Planning does coming up, so >> I've been wondering. >> I have one more thing. Jim and I attended a chamber meeting over at one of our local businesses. Uh Advanced Hydraulics? >> Aggressive or Aggressive Hydraulics? >> [clears throat]
>> Uh what a phenomenal company and atmosphere that they have here in our city. From what they do to their culture to what they're trying to bring to this city and push forward. Uh I wish we had all our businesses like
that. They set the bar and they set it high, so thank you for them. Uh they've been a great blessing for this city. >> It's all I have. >> Okay. >> I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. >> Make a motion to adjourn. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. All in favor? >> Aye.
>> Aye. >> Meeting's closed.