Good evening and welcome to the Falcon Heights, City of Falcon Heights regular City Council meeting on Wednesday, 07/09/2025. We'll call this meeting to order at 07:01PM. The, roll call. Gustafson. Here. Leahy. Here. Melke. Here. We're waiting on Meyer Wattenberg's excuse Linehan. Here. Alright. We have a quorum. Do we have any changes to tonight's agenda? None, Mayor. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. So moved by Leahy.
All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed same sign motion carries unanimous three-zero. Tonight we have well we'll wait for Council Member Meyer to put the bike helmet away and and join us. Okay, roll call. Meyer. Here. Okay. Now we've got four. Our presentation tonight, we've got a we are recognizing the great work of, St. Anthony Police Sergeant Jim South, tonight with a special presentation and a proclamation. And what I'd like to do to kind of set this,
get it all started is to bring up the Chief of the St. Anthony Police Department, Jeff Spies, to introduce this and say a few words. Great. Well, good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council and City Administrator, Linehan. I'm really honored to be here tonight to present about the outstanding and professional work of one of our members, Sergeant Jim South, who was faced with a very high risk and volatile situation. I just wanna read a brief summary of what happened on the evening of 05/05/2025.
On that evening, Jim South was on patrol in the city of Falcon Heights, when he was informed of a call that had been aired to the State Fair Police Department and the St. Paul Police Department, who were responding to a male that had been chasing motorists, with a knife. Simultaneously, sergeant South observed a call in the Falcon Heights pen and cue on his computer notifying him that a similarly described male armed with a knife was walking in traffic and chasing cars aggressively in the area of Snelling and Hoyt. Sergeant Selt was already in the area and immediately observed a male matching the description
and still holding the knife in his left hand. He instantly requested assistance from other officers and drove towards the male, walking on the shoulder of Snelling Avenue, now near Larbinder Avenue. Sergeant South South exited his squad car and began a calm dialogue with this male. This male was acting aggressive, still holding the knife, and demanding that Sergeant South kill him. Sergeant South began to slowly retreat away from the male while still attempting to negotiate. As several assisting officers began to arrive, the male stopped in the traffic lane of Snelling Avenue,
but initially refused to drop the knife. Sergeant South continued to negotiate in a calm manner and attempts to resolve this situation peacefully. His calming presence and ability to build a rapport with this male resulted in the male agreeing to throw down the knife. He refused to step away from the knife, sit on the curb, or cooperate any further. Ultimately, Sergeant South coordinated with assisting officers in devising a plan for others to approach and take this male into custody without incident. It became became evident that this male was displaying contaminated thinking and was in a
mental health crisis. He was subsequently transported to an area hospital on a transport hold. And I think when I read that, it's it's evident that that sergeant South responded immediately without delay, and he put himself at risk to maintain the safety of our community here and the individual who was in the midst of a mental health crisis. He acted bravely, and consistent with his training in crisis intervention. In addition to himself, I think it's important to note that we had other Saint Anthony police officers that arrived on scene shortly thereafter.
Those officers include sergeant Jeremy Stroga, officer Quinn Barth, officer Keaton Roden, officer Adam Kodett, and officer Braden McNair, who had readied himself with a less lethal option should the situation warrant its use. And, also, when I think about situations like this, I know that the outcome that we received that night was an outcome that we always hoped for. No injuries to our officers, no injuries to any members of the public, and no injuries to the subject that's involved and and is in mental crisis. But I also know that, ultimately, no amount of training can can ever really guarantee, that that positive outcome.
With that being said, our department continues, to participate in ongoing quality training that we know increases likelihood of positive and desired outcomes that we achieved that evening. And this is something that is absolutely necessary, and we will never waver in our commitment to this type of training. As you can see, we also have other members of our police department here tonight, and I always I'm always impressed that, we get such a great turnout. Some of these officers worked all day today. Some of them were on shift tonight, and some came in on their off time too just to show that support they have for for all of our members who do such a fine job.
And I also think that this call could have happened to any any one of them. And I'm confident with the training, and the and the training that each one of our officers receives, and the high quality individuals that we have on our team here, that we would have we would have had a similar result as well. And I think Jim South, that evening really exemplified the the core values that we we expect of all of our police officers being integrity, courage, and compassion. And I'm I'm extremely proud of of how how he represented, himself, how he represented our department and our profession that evening.
And it was it was a fantastic outcome. So with that, again, I thank you for this opportunity to present this evening, and I'll turn that over to you now, Mayor. Thank you, Jeff. And thank you, department members, for being here. What we've got tonight to, I'll, I'd like to read a proclamation that we're, gonna take up, a resolution recognizing Saint Anthony Police Sergeant Jim South. Whereas, on 05/05/2025, St. Anthony Police Sergeant Jim South responded to a high risk incident in the city of Falcon Heights involving a male individual armed with a knife walking into traffic and acting
aggressively toward passing vehicles and whereas Sergeant South, drawing on his crisis negotiation and intervention training, requested backup while calmly engaging the individual who was in a visible mental distress and repeatedly asked to be harmed and whereas Sergeant South maintained a steady and composed presence, gradually building rapport and encouraging the individual to discard the weapon, which he ultimately did, though he initially refused to comply with further commands and whereas Sergeant South then coordinated
with assisting officers to safely take the individual into custody and ensure he received appropriate mental health care, all without injury to the individual, officers, or the public and whereas Sergeant South's professionalism, patience, and measured response exemplify a commitment to de escalation and public safety. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor Randall C. Gustafson, on behalf of the City Council of the City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota, do hereby recognize and command
St. Anthony Police Sergeant Jim South for his compassion and calm approach while responding to someone in crisis, despite them being armed, and for his steadfast approach and peacefully resolving a very tense and volatile situation that no harm was done to this individual or others. May this proclamation be provided to Jim South in recognition of his dedication to preserving the peace and safety of our community. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. So moved by Melky. All those in favor,
signify by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries four-zero. This time, I'd like to bring Sergeant South up for some comments. Thank you for being here tonight. And I thank all my colleagues for being here, for this presentation. I'm very honored, and humbled. It's part of the job. And obviously, this isn't something that we think we, come upon every single day of our of our, you know, duty out there on the street. And it just so happens that that night, it was it was gonna be that night for me.
And, I was put there for a reason, don't know why, but, I was there and it was a positive outcome. And, I couldn't have done it without my partners and without other assisting agencies there and all the training that our police department has allowed me to go to, to hopefully be proficient enough to be able to handle situations like this. So I appreciate the honor and the presentation. Thank you, Sergeant South. At this time, members of the PD and Jeff, how about we take hand this proclamation off to Jim and gather for a photo?
What was that? I get to reach over a secret. Yes. Counsel, would you like to say don't get to a microphone? You think that I'm unaccustomed to public speaking here. Councils, do you have any words, comments? Thank you for your bravery and for applying what Mayor Webster describes as your excellent deescalation skills. Yes. Like that where it seems like the tension would just be raising even with the longer traffic is impeded, the more cars showing up, the more squads showing up. That is I feel like the the longer that situation goes on,
the more tense it would typically get. So, you know, a a testament to to your work there. Yeah. This is we don't hear enough of we don't hear enough stories like these, and I I know that there probably are a lot more, but they, you know, they don't they don't get the same news coverage clearly as when things don't go as well. So, you know, I'm happy we have this, this to talk about, and it's it's one of my favorite things to to bring up with with residents, when they have questions about our policing. So thank you for giving us such a great example to to talk about.
Really appreciate it. Fine work. Thank you so much, Sergeant South. Having known you for the years that I've been in Falcon Heights and your longevity in continuing to be serving Falcon Heights, for times like this that are very tenuous and, having the right tools that your leadership, your chief, and the team has provided for you and being able to put that into motion at the right moment. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for your work. Thank you, Jim. Really appreciate it.
And keep up the good work, and keep training these guys because I know that you're one of the chief trainers on crisis negotiations. So they've got a mentor to look up to. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. And a big thank you to the rest of the department as well. Yeah. Thank you guys. Thanks for coming. The, it's wonderful to, have you back here in Falcon Heights, patrolling our streets and helping our neighborhoods and being part of our community again. I really appreciate it. And the community does, too. I hear it all the time. So thank you very much.
Appreciate it. Okay. Next, we have a we'll go on to more mundane things, although I got to add somewhat on the topic. Did you guys see the lemonade stand updates today? I saw the the city reposted. That was do you wanna talk about it, mister Lemonade? Sure. Yeah. So Saint Anthony Police, they kinda hit up a couple Falcon Heights lemonade stands today. So kinda through their social media, shared the locations, and, wanted to highlight it. So check out our our Facebook story if you follow, and you can see kind of the the social media engagement from St.
Anthony PD as they try to build those neighborhood relations and, doing a great job of it. Yeah. Yes. Their social media the excellent one was on June 14 when they immediately put out a video of what an officer looks like if they were to come to your house, what their car looks like, what we dress like so that you know it's us. Yes. Very pro Fabulous proactive call I mean there. I think other departments followed suit after St. Anthony. Is that Yes. Great to have them. Next, we'll move to a presentation or
a for our Bond Series 2025, the sale of those bonds, and we'll bring, forth our, Yeah. Pros. Kick it off. Okay. You kick it off. Alright. Thanks, mayor and council. So, reminder, today we have our bond sale. So we have been talking bonds now for a bit with the council. There's a lot of action that takes place. This is kind of that that next pretty much the final step. So Yeah. What we end up doing is we kinda done all the notice. We go out. We got our bond rating last week, as we went through that again. The city hadn't done that since,
it's been at least six or more years since we had done that. We got reaffirmed as a AAA bond rated community. So hoping to put out some words about that, just that it's, it's such a rare status for a city of our size, and it helps us with our interest rates. So we did get lower interest rates because of that. So in your packet, it has been amended, posted online, but the bond the the rates come in essentially today. We get all the information. It's all kind of a daily markets type of thing. So they do it on the day of. We update the pricing. So Todd might go over a little bit more details,
but ended up kind of at a average rate of 3.48 percent interest, which is fantastic. When we originally ran these numbers, we were talking 4.25%, or, you know, less or sorry, higher. And last bond we did in 2023 was 4.41. So it doesn't sound like much, you know, a percentage of interest, but that is a big part portion over a period of time over these bonds. The nice thing too, is kind of is kind of part of the offer is the low bidder, which was bared out of Milwaukee.
They also offer some kind of cash considerations as part of it. And so the city has one choice where they could either keep that cash, or reinvest it in the bond. Since we don't need that money right now, as part of this project, what we do is we reinvest that in the bond, and that brought the price down. So if you see in the packet, we were going out for 2 a little over 2,000,000. Now we're going out for 1.885. So that brings down our annual payments, everything kind of over the schedule. So good interest plus that, and a triple a bond rated. Everything kinda went really well, I would say,
over this. And I'll kick it over to Todd Hagen, our, bond Expert. Consultant Great. And kinda let him highlight the parts I missed. Yeah. Well, not many, Jack. Thanks a lot. He doesn't leave me with with much, but he's very thorough. And it did show in the bond rating. Just to kinda back up a little bit, to, Jack had said it's it's been a while, you know, since you issued a bond out into the public market. And, so we we had to update Standard and Poor's, you know, using your 2022, 2023, 2024 audits and budgets for 2025 and then prelim,
budgets going forward and then talked about the economic outlook of Falcon Heights. We sent them all about every document we could think of, kinda, you know, got the team together a week or so ago to talk through what they can't see in the documents and the numbers. So, Jack was on and Roland, and is it Allison as the Yeah. Assistant finance director. Kinda warmed her up for all this kind of stuff too to kinda maybe passed the baton over there at some point. But, and then the two, Raider rating agency folks,
out of Chicago and and our team and, they give us, the questions so we can kinda get get ready for it. Roland does a nice job of just, you know, thoroughly going through all of that, all the details and everything to, it it because because it's been a while. You know, lots lots been going on, you know, with the University of Minnesota and and and sort of, all around us here. So so it was a really good call. The rating report is attached, in my sale day report that's in front of the council right now. And just kinda to hit the high point there,
it's just, you know, the city continues to be a strong credit, strong management team, and strong reserves. In the in the, report, it's like, you know, what can we do to usually, it's what can we do to, you know, increase our rating? Well, you you can't. You're at the top already. So that's why that's why we it's what we all could do maybe if if how how how would we go down? Right? And it's it's, it's just a factor of, you know, maybe issuing more debt. The reserves start going down, right, depleting, and, population goes down or something like that. So, Falcon Heights is in a good position in all sorts of different ways with,
some opportunities that are coming up, and we did talk to them about that a little bit. So, you're in a unique situation that, you know, sort of landlocked, but you're not, right? So it's kind of kind of nice. We'll see what happens with that. But those are all the conversations that we had, with those with those folks. Like I said, the, you know, if you just kind of look at the highlight, in the report, it's just it says the AAA rating reflects their view of the city's low debt metrics. Right? You guys are real conservative. We did call in some bonds already too. And so,
you know, we we do that, and then we know we have to issue some more someday. So it is what it is. It sort of goes around, but we don't keep kind of layering upon layer, like most communities do. So you guys are real conservative that way. Favorable location just outside of the Twin Cities, contains University of Minnesota campus and state fairgrounds as well managed finances, which, consistently high reserves and, relative to, operating revenues. So all good. And then it's an easy read. It's a couple of pages, and there's some good statistics in the, in the rating report. So kudos to you folks for keeping a nice tight ship here.
And, moving forward, like Jack says, the AAA stable outlook attracts more bids, that way. And then we hope that translates into lower interest rates, which we think it did today. So today, you know, June 11 or whatever, I was here for for presale, and then we had a public hearing in between. And now we're here for the bond sale, and you're probably, like, you know, probably done with listening to bonds, for a while. But so up to 10:00 this morning, we had three, three bidders set up. We picked up two more. So we had five,
which is great. It's a fifteen year bond issue. So we got a ten year part and a fifteen year part in here. So, the bidders were looking at the whole thing just saying it's a fifteen year bond. So, so we picked up the best bid of Baird out of Milwaukee, you know, and there were 23 participants there with them. So not just them, you can recognize, you know, all sorts of names when you go down the list there in the bid tabulation, Edward Jones, you know, UMB Bank, United Bankers Bank, and Zions Bank, and Caldwell, and all those folks sharpen their pencils and and got us the low bid.
The second bid was for TD Securities out of New York, 3.49, and then Stiffle Nicholas out of Birmingham, Alabama, 3.522. Northland Securities out of Minneapolis at three point five four two, and Hilltop Securities out of Dallas at 3.56%. So the AAA pretty much, you know, you you you go nationally with that. Right? Not just Midwest. So we're happy with all those bids. They were all good Bids, because when we quantified low bid to high bid and say, hey. What's the maybe the interest difference?
It's only it's just under $8,000, you know. So really tight. They all were really good bids. We would been happy with any one of them, but, you know, hey. We send it out for bids, and, we'll go with that Baird that Baird, the lowest, lowest cost bid from those guys. Jack mentioned too that we got more money than what we needed, or they offered us more money than what we needed. It's called a premium bid, probably in the last fifteen years or so. That's, all I've seen, coming out of the public market. So, if you look at the coupon rate on the bid, five to 4%, you look at the reoffering yield of 2.56
to 3.85. That's the yield is what the investor gets and the rate is what you pay. So the difference is that premium, basically. Right? So, we lowered the bond by a $170,000 to burn that down, so to speak, to get to the yield. So even though you got 5%, 4% stamped on your bond, where you're basically paying on less bonds. Right? So that's that's the whole idea of bringing that bringing that down. And then I think those investors just like to have that higher interest rate in their hand in case rates go up, then they can remarket that that bond a lot easier.
So, they're sort of pricing it that way for themselves, so to speak as well. And it doesn't harm the city. We just lower the bond issue down by the premium. So that's what we did, and we're all good. So we're down to the 3.48 or 3.49% or so. The closing on this is, July 24. So Roman will get all set with his wiring instructions and stuff, and you guys would get all the money at that time. Invest it, spend it, and, you know, you're off to the races. So we do have a a resolution in front of the council for action.
If you like what you see, it adopts, awards the, the bond to Baird, basically, at the $1.885 figure instead of the $2,000,055 figure. And, attached to my report is, you know, final numbers. They'll all be final too in the closing, memorandum that comes a little closer to the closing date, but this is this is it. What you see here, is what you what you have, rating reports attached. And then I just put the graph of the bond buyer index on there too. And it's a thirty year snapshot graph,
but, you know, rates have been kinda going down slowly, but they're pretty steady. And, for those folks that are in the market, nobody's been complaining. They've all been pretty good rates. So a lot of times, they're lower than what you get on the investment side too. So there's money to be made, during construction for some larger projects too. So everybody likes that as well. So, yeah. Happy to yield for questions right now, but good bond sale. And, happy for you folks. It worked out, I think, really well. It's always good to come in a little low. Like I said, I think, when I talked to Jack and Roland this morning,
I think the market did come down, for you a little bit too. So I think maybe 25 basis points or so because this this rate from the presale, in June, with my estimated rates, is about 75 basis points or, you know, three quarters of per percent lower right now. So we always put a little cushion in there, you know, just for market movement. But then I think it I think it's come down about 25 basis points or 0.25% for you today. So all good. Yeah. Yep. Timing is everything. Well, yeah. We don't have a crystal ball. Yeah. It's nice to have a public sale where it sort of speaks for itself,
you know, as opposed to just talking to one banker, one broker, purchaser. So, yeah, you never know who you're gonna get, who's gonna step up to the plate, until they do. So I think we I think Baird likes you guys today, and that's all we needed to know. That's that's great. It was good. Thank you for your work and your people, Todd. We really appreciate it. Ehlers has been good to us, and our staff has worked well with you through the years and mutual coaching going on. It's really it's been good as a council member to not have to really worry
about all of that and how it's done. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We really appreciate the business, and it's been a long time working with you folks, and we'd like to continue that as well. So yes, thanks a lot. Thanks, Roland. Yes. Thank you, Roland. The so next, I suppose with further discussion, do we just move to if we do Resolution 2,568, providing for the sale of $1,885,000 general obligation tax abatement improvement bonds Series twenty twenty five and
a subsequent, summary for the there's probably a summary resolution as part of that? No? No. In this case, it doesn't need to be? Yeah. No. Just the one resolution, and it does cover in the packet too is a certificate of kind of a legal compliance document with who signs what. But the resolution covers that. The resolution came from our bond counsel at Taft. And so they kind of similar to ours. They've been our bond counsel for quite a while. They're the ones that prepare all the legal documents on the back end. So they provided all that today. All of that's been updated here.
So the resolution should cover everything and gives us the authority to sign and start getting our money. Make certain we get that into the minutes properly is the key. Page 46 of it is where the resolution starts. Okay. So moved by Leahy. Any further discussion? All right. Hearing none, all those in favor of passing Resolution 2,568 on the sale of our 2025 bonds as written by legal counsel. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed same sign.
Motion carries four-zero. Alright. All of the official business, get great police work, and we're spending money like sailors. The, let's see. Thank you, Todd and Roland. Appreciate it. Approval of minutes, from our 06/25/2025 City Council regular meeting. Any changes to the minutes? I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. Okay. Move to further discussion. Myer moves. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed same sign. Motion carries. We've approved the minutes for oh. Public hearings,
don't have one tonight. Tonight, we have a consent agenda with five items on it. Any general disbursements through '2 $11,672.41 payroll through 07/01/2025, dollars 24,214.6 wire payments through 06/03/2025, $17,525.17 approval of city licenses as outlined in the packet three,
approval of Resolution 2,569, accepting the resignation of Sophie Nagel from the Environment Commission four, approval of Resolution 2570, reappointing Beth Mercer Taylor to the Environment Commission five, approval of Bay Estimate two to Bituminous Roadways Incorporated for their 2025 pavement management project. May your motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. So moved by Meyer. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All those opposed same sign.
Motion carries four-zero. I'd like to welcome a brow salon to the, what started off as the Bullseye Plaza when it first opened. So anyway, anyway, depending on how to date me for remembering what's, what's where for, for that area. But anyway, and I want to thank Sarah for her service and Beth for her willingness to continue to, lead the, environment commission with with her thoughts and her leadership. And, our roadways are in pretty good shape. Right? Yes. They are. So they just yeah.
I'll get to that later. But, yes, they're they're moving. They're moving. Alright. Policy item. Tonight, we're gonna take on Resolution 2,571, which is a confirmation of intent to not pursue purchase of 2275 Larbinger Avenue, Les Bolstad Golf Course property. On this, I'll open this, hand this over to administrator Linehan. Sure. Thank you, mayor and council. So this action is largely, formality, but it's an important step. So, on Friday, June 6, the University of Minnesota notified the city kind of in advance of their board packet
for the Board of Regents, that they'd be planning to dispose of the Les Bolsteg Golf Course. So as part of that process is they mark it as surplus. They have to get Board of Regents approval. Part of their internal policy, whenever the University of Minnesota sells land in any of the communities that they operate in, they first must offer it to the city, county, and state at fair market appraisal value. And that's an important concept, as it relates to this. So, they need to kind of offer it that way. If they do not have the buyer locally, and that's kind of for any of their
property like this size. Sometimes it's a half acre, kind of an extra parcel. The U is one of the largest landowners in Minnesota, and so they do this quite frequently. So what they'll do is they go to the cities, the counties, and they ask kind of for confirmation not to purchase. So the challenge here is they they want to kinda get this process moving. If one of these parties are interested in buying it at fair market value, what they'll have to do is they'll pause their process for going out for a search for it, and then kind of get into more of a serious negotiation with that community.
And they have to be ready to purchase. And so with this, the challenge is we don't know what that fair market value is. They're gonna go out and get two appraisals, kinda take the balance of the two and market that. We do know that we've seen other, similar appraisals. We had saw some at, when we went to purchase Community Park. We purchased 15 acres of Community Park for 1,100,000.0, but that was designated as parkland and had historically been parkland. They had also had an additional appraisal for, for kind of if they sold it and developed it, and it was many times that amount.
We know that. So we know the valuation. We've seen another appraisals. And so likely, it would be significantly more. So even talking to the EU, you know, anywhere from 30,000,000 plus is likely of the cost of the parcel, if it was all sold kind of together as part of this. So this step, essentially, just to kind of clarify it further, is just that we are not gonna be, seriously in the market to purchase the entire property. Now if we go through, they do an RFP, it ends up getting subdivided. Part of our process is we have parkland dedication.
So a section of this is gonna be dedicated to parks. We require 10 of the land or value to be dedicated towards parks. So all of our planning, that's gonna be a big focus, is that if this does get redeveloped, how can we kinda maintain, green space, open space for the community to enjoy? But if there are additional parcels the city were interested to purchase, this action doesn't preclude that. This doesn't stop us from doing it. It stops us from being the primary buyer. And to be honest, there's no we just did our the largest bond issuance, I think, in city history for 2,000,000.
We do not have capacity to do a $30,000,000 bond. So, anyways, just a formality for that option for the council to discuss it further. We did phrase this in kind of the the, you know, not the negative, but essentially we are phrasing this that we are confirming that we don't intend to buy. And that's based on all of our past action budgeting, etcetera. So I guess I'll kind of turn it over to the council. If there's questions or discussion, happy to answer that, but that's kind of the summary as to how we got to this point and our next steps in the process. Thanks, Derek. Great. Eric? Thank you. Yeah. I was just wondering if you could say a little bit more about this 10%
requirement, that it has to be of of the land or the value. It has to be a park, kind of where that comes from, if that that's in city code and how how we look at that. Sure. So that's a parkland dedication is in city code. So it's in our subdivision ordinance. So what'll happen is, as it stands, there currently I think there's a total of three tax parcels. So if you look at a parcel map and kinda how they break this up, there's three of them. Of that, some of it includes, you know, like how they even the you wants to keep the parcels.
They need to redo that. Right? They can't just take the existing parcels and only sell part of it and leave it. They're gonna have to resubdivide the whole thing. And so as part of that process, when public land, which this is, goes through a subdivision or a request for a private party to purchase it, it has to go through the planning commission, and we do a subdivision ordinance. We actually did this with, community park. We subdivided community park. It was one parcel that went all the way from Roselawn to Larpenter. We subdivided it into two. So we kept the farm fields as the u, and then the park was the north.
So in the ordinance, that's that 10%. So it's a requirement that they dedicate that to parkland. And the idea behind it is when a new subdivision opens up, it's a requirement for the developer, even beyond any development agreements or other things, they do have to dedicate that land to parkland. So and that's something to it doesn't mean that that's the full extent. As we go through this process and kinda assist the U of M and participate in this, that can be something we can continue to push forward too, is the importance of parks, public infrastructure, and other improvements. 10% is just the floor?
Yes. Got it. Yep. Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. And I appreciate you clarifying things so that it's clear not just for us but for the community as well as to why we're coming to how we're coming to this decision and that we still have input once the land is sold as to what takes place in that property and how it's developed. So I think that's, the biggest part that our community cares about and all the previous studies and discussions
that have gone on for this land will come into play at that time. I was looking at the corridor study the other day and, we we had assumed when this came to be that the the driving range would not be a part of it. So that that adds a a fairly significant chunk of land there. And we also hadn't planned for the 16 acres of North America. Yes. That's right. South of that either. So yes, that's there's a lot of fun discussions, I think, and sort of envisioning what this could look like for our community. Yes. It would be I don't think that the city has the capacity to be the
master developer of the property and really wouldn't. Right. Yes. And I think it's going to sell for more than $30,000,000 which would be our capacity that we've got to borrow if we went out to the max. Well, we've already obligated $1,900,000 to it. So we could if we could buy it for $27,000,000 we might have a chance. We'd have some room for a street project. But anyway I did have one question here in regards to they need to reach out to the municipality,
the county, and the state. So do they reach out to us first and then the county and the state, or are they reaching out to all at the same time to expedite their process? It's concurrent. So it's not a preference to any of them. So I had kind of had a conversation with the county just to give them a heads up too to look for it. Kind of the staffer I had talked to hadn't seen it, so they were just trying to track it down internally Mhmm. To give that opportunity so they could kind of, figure out their response as well. And it's it's no. Yeah. I mean, I mean, it's like Yeah.
Commissioner McMurtry said last night that Yeah. They can't afford it. How many can't afford it? Yeah. Yep. I don't know if they've taken it to a vote or anything yet. So And I don't know that they necessarily will just kinda with their part of it's powers type of thing. I I it's not a power I can necessarily do as a city administrator in a plan a government. It does have to go through the council for that. A little bit above my 5,000 purchasing authority. But, that'd be a bit of a surprise if I could If we could've pulled that off, we would've,
but But won't they have to vote on it as well as Maybe. I mean, even for them, this could be really tight. I know their their agendas are a month out, so maybe they get an extension and they vote on it. Yeah. But they could respond no. I think if they were to up purchase it and other stuff they'd have to, they could kind of administratively potentially say no. Oh, okay. I don't know their own internal Their practices. Their Their practices. Yep. Okay. Well, I think that the resolution's well, well written, and it shows kinda lays out exactly what happens with,
why we're why we're talking about it at this time and and where we're coming from on it. So knowing that we will have an active participation in the process as it redevelops, that will come through the city, through the community and through our planning commission and through this council in the years ahead. Yes. And, Mayor, if I may speak to that too, because I think we do get a lot of inquiries. We know our neighbors are as well. Everyone's interested in this, right, and from all all sides of it. They're interested in either development. They're very concerned about the development of it. So we are hearing that.
It's it's important kind of that we're it's very early on stages for us as well. It's not one of those things that's kind of we we did some preplanning with the Snelling Larpenter study. That kinda got us a little bit, you know, ahead of the game. This was our fear is that, you know, we didn't wanna get kinda surprised and have to go through this process. As a tiny municipality, it's really challenging to kinda do that with speed. So we got that kind of in place, but the the u is still kinda working through it too. This is something that they're kinda figuring out. They're working through how they wanna best do this.
RFP is still the answer. They're gonna be going out to an RFP. When is to be determined? How is to be determined? But they know that whatever they do, once it changes hands, part of the sale contingency will be, zoning approval through the city of Falcon Heights. So they wanna work with us as an active partner. They know that they wanna create something and, you know, work with a buyer that'll create something that provides value to the community. So that'll be something that they'll consider. We'll have to work with them and consider it as well. So I think the next steps eventually we're gonna be hosting probably a special workshop
or a workshop for the council, really kinda talk about how to start this process. And so that's, you know we're kinda, haven't done community meetings, haven't done any of that yet because there's really this is about what we know at this time. There's not, like, a lot of behind the scenes things that are happening. It is being built out. Things are being worked on, but it's no decisions have been made. No there's no kind of predetermined plan. It's all of us working together, through a big deal. And for a city of our our size, it is a substantial lift. And so we're trying to get everything together and prepare to help facilitate this as
best we can. Anything more? I hear a motion to approve the resolution confer 2571 confirming our intent not to pursue the purchase of 2275 Larpenter Avenue at Les Volstead Golf Course property. So moved. So moved by Melky. Further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed same sign. Motion carries four-zero. Thank you very much. Information announcements, go left, right.
Council Member Leahy? Yes. I want to thank all the residents that participated in our Restoration and Unity Day, activities this week. And when I say participate, some of you may have done things that we'll never know about, but you still did hard work or, met a new neighbor, that you haven't met before or worked on a relationship, maybe someone within your family or, just meeting someone different, that's what our restoration day is about. And then Unity Day coming together to celebrate that we are doing the work to
heal and walk in unity hand in hand. And I just wanna also commend, the Castile family, Philando Castile's family, and how they have, embraced our city through even hardship and have appreciated our residents in participating with the Philando Castile Peace Garden and holding the barbecue. It was just a delightful couple of days of remembering, reflecting, and, being together. And, I want to thank our residents for their participation from pies and treats to,
interacting at the barbecue and, being part of the Peace Garden Committee. So that's it for me. Thank you. Yeah. Don't have much for announcements, but, looking forward to the ice cream social next Thursday, five to seven, City Hall, front lawn. I'm guessing are we gonna leave the tent up till then? I think that's the plan as well. I got I realized that today. I thought what but I yes, I believe so. I'm just going to leave it out. I think he was going on a little bit. I'm sure public works would appreciate that. Good. Because I had some people come on last night and ask if this was ice
cream social. Oh. Yeah. Seventeenth. Yeah. And then and also, yeah, register for nineteen night. That's, the first first Tuesday in August. So that's coming up. Looking forward to that too. Sure. And it's the lawn and garden tour, nine to twelve on Saturday, July 19, and the goal is to help residents learn from each other about pollinator lawns and gardens and rain gardens and vegetable gardens. And tomorrow is the deadline, July 10, for registering to be a host to share what you've learned or are striving to
learn. How about eradicating creeping Charlie? Yeah. Come to my garden, I can show you which hostas rabbits like the best. There you go. There's the most expensive ones. They like the dark green at my house. The more native and expensive the plant at our house, they're like, oh, why we try. I didn't mind the spotting the coyote who came through the yard the other morning, and I didn't stop long in the back garden house area to flush anything but kept treading through the neighbors.
But at the same token, it looked healthy anyway. And so do the rabbits. The yes, I want to yes, the a lot of things going on in the around Philando Castile anniversary with Restoration Unity Day, and it was really good. Great messages heard by by those there and people stepping forward to what can you do for the community was Val's message on, Sunday night, and it was well done. And, now he's throws a good party too.
Great music. Great music. Great music. Do you all see Melanie rocking out on the on the drums? I miss that. Oh, it was really good. Well, they invite I didn't know. My husband said they invited drummers up, so Missed up. Yep. That was fun. Then they were going to start dancing, so I made it way to the back. But yes, looking forward to the garden tour, to the Night to Unite. Is that on that link's on our in the newsletter, that goes out weekly and organizing that through the St.
Anthony Police Department for them to get the schedule of events and getting the blockades ordered with the city. There's a few moving parts with, putting on and hosting your party, that the city can help you with. And it's a great, great neighborhood get together, and it's always fun to go out to the parties as, doing that. That's about what I've got for for announcements. I know I'm missing a whole lot of things. And, what else is happening in the city? Administrator Lynn Anne. Yeah.
Thank you, mayor and council. So today, Potomius Roadways put down the final lift layer in the Falcon Woods neighborhood. So, final layer's on. Welcome to drive through it even after the meeting if people are curious. It looks great. So that's there. Then next week will be the North Home neighborhood. So went through. They've been raising around the manholes, doing some spot repairs, waiting for it to dry out. So it's been very wet. So now that it's dry, they're able to get in, get the repairs, and they'll do the the lift layer. But it's a couple hours to do the whole process.
It's amazing. So, they were done today by, like, noon, I wanna say. And they started at, like, nine. So it's pretty amazing how quick they get it down, and you can drive over it pretty much immediately after it's done. Wow. Wow. That's incredible. Yeah. So then the final part is cleanup, getting it all kind of out, and then they'll continue to do reseeding into the spring too. So we always hold that final payment for them. They can't get that until they're done, and we we sign off and the engineers go through and make sure everything looks good. It's to our specs. So overall, you know, good project and well ahead of our we have the escalator in there to get
them done before August 15. And so very safely still in advance of that. Other stuff too. So we're getting ready for our state fair mailings and everything together. So, getting our pass distribution plan for the pay by mobile parking for the residents who live in areas of pay by mobile. Those will be going out, so pretty soon, getting all that. We're doing hiring of our parking ambassadors. We've had a great response so far for Awesome. The applications. So we're gonna be doing interviews the next couple of weeks on that, getting all the supplies and everything ordered and logistics together,
training on the software. So it's been busy at City Hall with that. Starting the community park demolition, so getting all the process together. Looks like August 15 will be kind of the start of the demolition. And so getting all that, we'll kind of announce as we get a little closer to that. And that's pretty much the majority of beyond kind of getting the staffs, getting ready for ice cream social, and then all the other projects we've talked about. Great. Follow-up there. Now we'll move on to Community Forum, provide an opportunity for those who would like to address the council to come up
and do so for up to three minutes per person. Items brought before the council will be referred for consideration, and we may ask questions for clarification, but no council action or discussion will be Hold it on them, but it does raise them to our awareness. If anybody would like to come up for a community forum. Second call? Okay. We'll close community forum. Next, prior to, our next official act well, we're going to enter into a closed session at this point, where a closed session is to review a confidential or protected non public appraisal data
and to discuss offer for the purchase of real property located at 1407 Larbachere Avenue in Falcon Heights, pursuant to Minnesota Statute 13.05, Subdivision Three(one) And (two). We won't take official action except for in public, and our only action following that will be adjournment after that. So I wanna thank everybody for tuning in tonight and for attending, and, I wanna thank once again the members of the St. Anthony Police Department for showing up to here so that we could all recognize the
great work of Sergeant Jim South in, the city of Falcon Heights and, and all of that. And thank you all for coming out. And now we'll, enter into closed session, and, we'll start the session with a short break to, make certain that we've got the meeting closed down. Thank you.