I'll call this meeting of the International Falls City Council to order. Monday, May 5th, 2025, exactly 5:30 p.m. Please rise as we pledge allegiance to our flag.
I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
For the record, all members of the council are present this evening. Next item is to approve the agenda for this evening. Are there any additions or deletions?
Yeah, we have a correction on a charter commission appointment and the addition of a business license later in the meeting. Are there any further additions or deletions? Seeing no further, the mayor
would entertain a motion to approve the agenda with the additions. I'll move. We have a motion by councelor Kaylor. Second. Second by councelor Buller. Discussion. All those in favor say I. I. I. I.
Councelor Holden. Do you approve the agenda? Yes, I do. Okay. I said I Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. The agenda is approved unanimously. 50. Thank you. Next on this evening's agenda, approval of the
minutes from Monday, April 21st, 2025 regular city council meeting. Is there a motion to approve passage? I'll make that motion. Have a motion by councelor Holden. Second. Second by
councelor Wagner. Discussion. Question. I I I I I'll vote. Yes. Minutes are approved. 50. Thank you. Next on the this evening's agenda is the payment of claims and approval for
accounts payable. transfers. City of International Falls transfers $32460 from the general fund or to the general fund from the lodging tax fund. Total transfers
$32460. Moving on to accounts payable and claims. City of International Falls claims $43,858.82. Airport Commission claims $111,912.97. Airport major capital project claims $261,895. Total accounts payable and claims
$777,666 and.79. Is there a motion to approve the transfer and payments of claims? So move a motion by councelor Wgner. Is there a second? Second. Second by councelor Buller.
Discussion. Question. I I I'll vote yes. Bills are paid unanimously. 5-0. Thank you. Next on this evening's agenda is public comment from the
audience. Um, if you come forward, please state your name and ne name and address for the record. And you have five minutes, please. Kurt Wagner, uh, 34015th Street. I would like to discuss the
blight problem a little bit. Uh, it seems like your blight people, their hands get tied when you send it to court. And I would recommend not sending it to
court for the judge to tell people that, well, you got to do a little better job and nothing gets done. Uh you would uh be further ahead to talk to
them. If nothing gets done, hire someone to do the problem, whether it's mowing or junk, and then put the money on their water bill. They don't pay the water bill, you shut the water off and let
these people figure this out a little bit. The methods you're using now don't work, are not working. Is that anybody agree with that or are are you speaking? Are you finished
or No, no, I'm not finished. Please continue. Then we can then as far as part of this blight, uh I don't know if this was investigated very well, but apparently there's a law of no mo may that people don't have to mow their
lawn in May. Well, the University of Minnesota done a study on it and there are no effects to mowing or not mowing as far as pollinators and I think that's just a good excuse for the lazy people not to mow for a whole month. That gives them a
whole month off. U Mr. Mayor, yeah, that was last year. We just Yeah, we're not going to do that this year. Good. Good. Okay. Uh, but the blight problem, I
don't think it should be sent to a judge. The problem for Mr. Shimone or whoever it is to talk to these people. That doesn't get anywhere. I think the city should take command of
it and give more authority to the blight people or your assistant fire chief or fire marshal Baldwin whatever he his title Jared would do a lot more
you would get a lot more done than after the third warning or something send it to court because then it goes nowhere then he can't do anything after that after the judge talks to these people, then Baldwin's hands are tied so
the mess just stays there. And uh I just think that in committee, you people should maybe try to do something a little different because the the system you have going right now isn't working.
Is there a specific instance in this? No, I don't want to bring up any specific instances. I'm talking citywide. I would with the fire marshall not being here this evening, um I would defer to
our city attorney, Chelsea Nelson. Um and certainly I think that the council would be at a bare minimum open to input on the issue. Uh, well, I would just like us to discuss it a little further and see if something could get
done because there are some real clean cities in this state that I have relatives live in and they mow their lawns and pick up their trash and different things or or they the city
takes care of them. And then just coming in here, I noticed the steps. They're new within about a year or two, and they're terrible. They're not going to last
three more years. And how old did the first set go? whoever did that and stuff should be reprimmended of some kind. I mean, the city paid big money for that project
and it's terrible. Thank you. Is that enough? Absolutely. And I would I would like to add please um reach out to either your counselor or myself and I'm happy and want to make sure that we all work together on these
issues for different ideas. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Worth. Uh, good evening, uh, council. Ladies and gentlemen, um, could you state your full name and address? Yes, sure. I will. Thomas
Worth, International Falls, Minnesota, 1412 13th Street, International Fall. Yeah. And u, I lived here. I came here 68 years ago from Baiji. So I I lived here a long time. Anyway,
uh I came to uh share something that I cooked up by myself. I I'm not I don't belong to anything. Nobody uh told me to do it. Uh I don't answer to anybody, I guess, except my wife. And
that's probably a wise thing to do. Anyway, the city council is facing a problem with with the a place for the city police. And I I have an idea that I want to share with you.
Um, and I'd appreciate if you would consider it as as others would consider it also. And my uh my claim to fame is I was on the house boat when we were doing the sewer
district and uh Joe Bole was there and Jack Murray and Jack Walls and at that out on that houseboat they merged International Falls and South International
Falls. Uh Joe said to Jack uh Jack Walls, "What would it take?" And Jack says, "I don't know what what's what Jack Murray got to offer." And he said, "We'll take all your people and all your equipment and everything you do, we'll do oursel. We'll do it
with you." So he said, "Done deal." That's how it happened. Anyway, um I was lucky during the time I I I I moved here as an elementary school teacher, sixth
grade out at Holler School. And uh during the uh during that time, I I uh I learned a lot. And one of when the when I was working for the I worked for the sewer district for a while then I was superintendent
and I learned something from Jack Murray. I went to him one day and I said we got a problem and Jack said, "Good. Let's fix it." And I've kind of used that model or ever since. When
something's broke, you got to fix it. I think the city police deserves a place of their own, not rented but owned by the city.
Um, if you look at the situation, we've been renting space and if you take the county's first offer in 10 years, you spent $1,600,000 and you have nothing but a
scrap of paper to throw for it. If you build something yourself for the city police, at the end of 10 years, you partly paid for it, probably almost completely paid for it,
and it's your own. And besides, you need it. It's a city police are the only department that don't have a home of their own, if you can imagine. We need one.
So, um, you know, we talk about the county commissioners and the city council. The county is in charge of the county and the city's in charge charge of the city. They got to look out for they got to
look out for themselves. The countyy's not looking out for us. And they don't have to. They got other things to do. We have to look out for ourselves. Um, therefore I suggest that you
consider building a building or adding on to this building, but build a building close to here where you're in the center of the city, the center of the action. and
um and we need the building besides we're already um several years ago I used to work for the sewer district and we rented the downstairs basement and we got moved out
because they needed the space and that was a long time ago and I know you need the space now a lot more than you did then Mr. worth the uh 5 minutes, but if if you'd like to give a closing
and we I think the council will afford you that and I'll say goodbye. Um this is not going to add money to your taxes. You're going to have to pay it anyway. Whether you pay it in rent or you pay it building a building, the city
taxpayers are going to have to pay it. And so you're not saving any money. You're going to be dealing with the same amount of money. And the second thing is I want to compliment the city council on
the work you do and the city departments and I know and the city administrator. This is a well-run outfit. We have excellent people on the board and I wish to congratulate you and wish you well and stick in there. stay
in there. So, thank you. Thank you. You um at this time I would like to close public comment because we will be offering that at the end of the meeting. And I would move to new business. And we have a special guest this
evening. We have Judge Sherone and his treatment court. and they're going to come forward, please, and give us a presentation. Good evening. Good evening, Mr. mayor and counselors and um everyone in the audience. Thank you uh
for having us here today. Uh my name is Judge Shimone, Jared Shimone, and I'm the district court judge here in Cooching County. Um I have Alyssa Hackin Mueller to my immediate left. She's our treatment court coordinator. And then uh
to my right is Katie Degan. I got it right. Yeah. Um, and Katie is a treatment court graduate uh from a couple almost uh getting close to two years now. So, we're uh going to give you just a little bit of background on our treatment
court. Um, I don't you know, we we should do more of this. Um, we're we're not very good at uh you know, tooting our own horn, so to speak. Uh, but we have a very very well-run, very successful treatment court here in
Cooching County. Um and uh we've got some big things going on this year. Um right now this month is uh National Treatment Court month uh the month of May across the country. So um we got that. That's a big deal. But uh even
more important is this is our 20-year anniversary uh for the Borderland Treatment Court. And uh that's a real big deal cuz uh Judge Leuk uh with uh the help of at the time Troy Rodio and Jim Eersbacher were uh the
genesis of uh starting this treatment court here in Kuching County and at the time um one of the one of the first um especially up in the northern part of the state. So a lot of foresight there. Um it's a great program. I tell I tell a
lot of people um and people on my right and left have heard it plenty, but it is uh by far the best part of my job and what I do. So, we've got a short uh little PowerPoint presentation to to run through that uh our coordinator has
helped put together here. So, um just give you a little bit of background about what treatment court is. Um and uh the treatment court obviously is uh dealing with folks that uh are suffering from the disease of addiction. And so you've got a definition up there from
the American Society of Addiction Medicine. And you know the important part of that that definition is it is a disease. Um and it's you know it's no different than you know diabetes or cancer or you know chronic diseases.
And you know, historically we uh we haven't done very well in how we've gone about it. Um that's starting to change uh especially with the the research and looking it and treating it as a disease.
Um and so that's what treatment court is for. The treatment courts started obviously um about 30 years ago uh in response to basically you know the incarceration rate in our country and uh you know the thing looking at something
and and it's just not working. Um high super high recidivism and um we can go to the next slide. Um oh miss well she didn't give her that's okay. We can go through this now. Um, so
anyway, the u the treatment courts were were uh established to look at look at, you know, folks that were coming into the judicial system um with with uh substance use
disorders and um because what we were doing in the past just just wasn't working. And so the treatment court is a team approach where we uh the pre previous slide you saw the number of the team members and um we have the judge, we
have the prosecutor uh Jeff Nagloski is our our prosecutor on the treatment court team. We've got defense attorneys. Uh Erica Oad, there we go. um coordinator obviously uh Alyssa Hacken
Mueller law enforcement involvement we've got both uh Sheriff Hedland and then Dne Olsen from the International Falls Police Department. Huge part of our treatment court obviously is the treatment side, right? So, and we've got a super strong uh group of folks that
work with us on that. Um, from the substance use side, we've got Gustin Sue Christensen at Rainy River Recovery and Cindy Gudall from uh, Northland uh, counseling. And then the mental health side, which, you know, is is super
important because we we know u a very large percentage of our folks with with substance use uh, disorders um, have a co-occurring mental health issue going on as well. And so we've got uh very strong mental health group, Mary Clark
from Cedar Branch and April Krauss from Northland Counseling on our team. And we've got uh social services representation uh from Ariel Olsen. Uh Janelle Feller is a part of our team from Crime Victim Advocacy. Uh we have
Alana Nordine. Um American Indian Advisory Council and Public Health. And then uh my court reporter Tammy Dolbler is also uh a member of our team. So you can see very you know very diverse large group. Um and that's that's what
treatment courts are all about. It's a team team approach looking at folks as an individual and um making sure we can provide those wraparound services to uh to work with folks um and hopefully um keep them from coming back into the
system. All right. So, is this one yours or mine still? It's yours. It's still mine. All right. Okay. All right. So, we've come a long way in 30 years.
Uh 4,000 plus treatment courts in uh currently in existence. I can tell you in the state of Minnesota, the goal of our chief justice um is to have a operating treatment court of some kind in every county in the state. Um we're we're not quite there yet, but I can say
we're we are getting close. And treatment courts vary, right? We can have, you know, what traditionally we call drug courts, there's DWI courts, there's mental health courts, veterans courts. So all of those kind of come into the umbrella of treatment courts. Our uh the
Borderland Court is actually a hybrid court. We uh so we do both drug uh offenses as well as DWIS. So we are we have a hybrid court. Uh you can see the numbers uh up on the on the screen up there in terms of uh the population that
we serve on an annual basis. This is nationally um average tax dollars saved versus um you know being in uh incarcerated. So recidivism is kind of a big measure that you you hear about obviously in the
criminal justice system. Um and and it basically is you know how you know what what's the percentage of the population that's you know reoffending and coming back. And you know this is this is where the treatment courts um have have really
shown that they work. Um and you look at these numbers and and you can see that um you know traditionally um outside of treatment court you can look you know this obviously
statistics depends where you look at them and which study it is but historically you know for typical population criminal offenders there's usually about 40 to 65% recidivism rate.
uh very high. Um treatment courts bring that down considerably. You can see nationally it's about 16.4% um for folks that go through treatment courts. Uh Minnesota's doing a little better than the national average. And
then our treatment court um is at 13%. Um and that's as of 2022 uh which is our most recent numbers. So we're beating uh beating Minnesota average. And again, I I truly believe based on my, you know,
five years working here um in this work. Uh it's a testament to our team um and to the strong, you know, strong uh team approach, mental health, um treatment folks um in the substance
use arena that really are making that difference for our numbers to be like that. So, we're very proud. Um it's not perfect. Obviously, it's not going to be perfect. We know that. Um, and that's we know that, you know, relapse is is is
something that happens and um we deal with it. So, I think Alyssa is up next. So, with all of that, why why do treatment courts work? What makes them so different than standard probation or
um no probation, no treatment whatsoever? Uh, one of the models of treatment court is that we look at recovery capital. Recovery capital is what you see up there. It's all of the personal and tangible resources an individual has and needs in order to initiate and sustain recovery. Uh and
when I talk about recovery, it's not just um abstinence from drugs or alcohol use. Uh we look at the person as a whole. And so it's also their mental health. Uh do they have transportation, employment, uh are they engaged in their community? What are they? All of those different factors in your life are good
indicators that you're going to be successful and healthy in the long run. Another reason why treatment courts work so well is this model um of the cascade of care. And um so if you look at this model, there was a study that was done
uh where um a treatment provider or a court I should say had 500 new intakes. So 500 new people came through the system. Of those 500 people, they were all screened and determined 45% of those were determined to be in need of services.
But of those 45, only 70% were referred. And of those 70% that were referred, only 50% actually started treatment. And this model happens all over the US. Um, and what happens is without oversight and without a team like the treatment
court team and all those providers coming to the table to work together and track progress and take care of the person as a whole, those people drop off the radar and they don't get treatment. They don't get the services that they need. And so um treatment courts work
because we look at the whole person. We look at the recovery capital. We look at the cascade of care and we ensure that somebody is accessing services if we need to. The judge just orders it for us. And then um we follow through. We follow through on that. We
we work with them and encourage them to step out of their comfort zone and lean into hard changes. We ask them to change things. um change the way they think, change the way they react to problems. We ask them to change who they're hanging out with, sometimes where they're living, people, places, and
things. That's a big part of um addiction and recovery. And so, treatment courts work because of these models and that all of these providers in our community come to the table every single week to take care of the individuals that are enrolled in our treatment
court. So, a little bit about treatment court. our target population. We serve what we call high-risisk, high need. High- risk is defined as someone who's at risk of committing another crime. They probably aren't going to do well in traditional probation. Um, high need means they have a clinical need. They
have a moderate or or severe substance use disorder. So, a clinician of some sort has to make that diagnosis. um to come into treatment court uh as an individual, you either have a new criminal charge with a history of addiction or you have a probation
violation with a history of addiction. And somebody somewhere in that process, whether it's your probation officer, your defense attorney, the prosecuting attorney, sometimes even the judge, um discussion about treatment court comes into play. Uh and so the judge will at some point when appropriate order
somebody to be screened for treatment court where we then assess are you high-risisk and high need. The the team also then looks at okay let's say you are high-risisk high need are you a good fit for treatment court. Do we have the services that can provide for you uh appropriately? Some people need inpatient. We don't have inpatient
treatment here in international falls. Um that doesn't mean they can't come into treatment court once they get back from inatient treatment but we look at all those things. We also look at safety. are you um based on your history and your the crimes that you've committed, are you a safety risk for not
only our team, for other participants or the public at large? And that's where feedback from law enforcement and probation really comes into play. So that's kind of how you get into treatment court and the population that we work with. Once you're in treatment court, the phases vary a little bit
depending on the type of court like the judge was mentioning. There's juvenile courts, veterans courts, all those different courts. We follow a five-phase structure which is recommended nationally by all rise uh the national agency on treatment court best practices and it's on average about an 18-month
program. So we're going to go through those phases. Um not every phase has uh an approximate timeline to them but really we we're looking at the individual and saying okay maybe within 90 days you can um get through phase one. Um but really it depends on that
individual right. So phase one really we're just looking at crisis stabilization. How is your mental health? How is your housing? How are those immediate needs? Um are you safe? Do you need detox? Um let's get you a
diagnostic assessment to see if you need mental health services. Um and then our famous line that the judge has is show up, show up, show up. Um, oftentimes when you come into treatment court as a new participant, you're very overwhelmed because you have this whole team of people there to support you. And that's never happened before in your life. And
um, all we ask of you in this first phase is show up. Go where we tell you to go. Engage in the things we want you to engage in and and show up and the cloud will start lifting and things will start improving. Phase two, just an ongoing
psychosocial evaluation. Again, it's more assessment. We're looking at are they attending core, are they are they showing up with their PO, are they going to their counseling sessions, are they going to outpatient um treatment at Rainy River Recovery or Northland? And then we're looking at are you clinically
stable? Clinical stability is when you have at least 90 days where you are not um experiencing a ton of cravings or withdrawal symptoms. So, we really want to make sure before we look at um working on other things in your life that you're getting to that clinical stability before we move you on.
Um, and by the way, through all this, we're not requiring abstinence perfection. We're looking at length of time. Like every phase, we want to see that you've been absent from drugs or alcohol without a relapse for longer periods of time. Phase three is when we start to look at pro-social
habilitation. What's your lifestyle look like? Do are you connecting with sober people and sober activities? That's really what we're looking for here. Um, and are you trying to be um are you trying to be sober and what are you doing to be sober and maintain
that? Phase four, we move into more of life skills. Okay, what do you need to be a successful um taxpaying member of your community and oftentimes we're looking at employment. We're looking at getting helping you get your GED. Um we even have some people who have gone to
college as of recently. Uh others it's maybe just finding work and getting some good solid work experience under their belt because of their addiction. Most of the time your resume is not that solid. And so we're just really looking at those life skills. Uh and we're looking at finding an adaptive role for you in
the community. Whether that's being a better parent and having parenting skills, which is where social services comes into play. Uh maybe it's finding full-time work. Maybe it's being a student. And then that early remission is where we're looking at you've been able to be sober for about 90 days and
that's when we know you've you've hit some early remission, which is a good thing. And the last phase um is recovery management. Uh they're only required to show up once a month instead of every other week or um weekly check-ins with their PO. In phase five, they're we we
kind of take a big step back and we leave it to them to to demonstrate that they are accessing services and that they're continuing to be engaged in sober activities and a sober lifestyle. Um so in a nutshell, those are the five phases.
Uh sometimes individuals receive rewards for achieving milestones. We can do gift cards. We um do a lot of recognition, a lot of like um rounds of applause and um really boosting each other's morale and encouraging them. Um we also have
sanctions where if you are if you have a relapse and you lie about it, uh you may spend a night in jail or you may have to write a letter about why cognitive therapy is good for me or why I need to change people, places, and things and how does that affect my recovery. So
there are there are consequences and there are rewards to help kind of change that cognitive thought behavior that has been not successful in the past. And so now I think we're going to go on to talk about some participant feedback. And uh before I forget when I
think about it um when I was going through the staff I think I think we left off or I forgot uh to mention uh very important piece of it which is probation. Uh, obviously, so we have we actually have two probation officers on our treatment court team. Um, a male and
a female. Uh, so we've got Troy Rodio and then, uh, Jodell Edens. Um, so they serve our treatment court. Huge piece of the puzzle. It's intensive supervision. So it's much, you know, much more intensive on the supervision side than, you know, what
traditional a traditional probation case load is because, you know, they don't have a hundred people that they're trying to keep track of. We've, you know, typically we run probably between 15 and 20 is about, I would say, kind of where we run our treatment court at any given
time. Um, so that's a huge part of it, making sure that we're keeping these folks accountable. So, we've got uh a little bit of participant feedback. These were some quotes from um some of our u one's from a 2021 graduate and one's uh from a
current participant. Um and so these uh these were just some good quotes that have uh happened um while while I've been um a part of the a part of the team. um the uh the current participant this was um I want to say was January of
this year um and just came I mean I can't remember how it exactly came up but we were just talking about the different things and you know that that really says it all right um you know I thought treatment court was just help
help keep me sober but it's it's really here to help change your life um because we know that to stay sober over long term. It's a lifestyle change. But I'm going to turn it over to uh Katie Degan and and you can hear it directly from
her. So Katie, my name is Katie Degan and I'm a certified peer recovery specialist at Northland Counseling. I have lived experience and understand that everyone has their own journey in recovery. Not everyone's recovery looks the same. I
make myself available to walk with others as they find their path in recovery, keeping an open and non-judgmental mindset. I connect individuals with the recovery community by attending meetings or to sober activities. I am willing to assist others and present resources if needed.
I wish I had someone like me early on in my recovery. But getting to this point in my life where I'm able to do those things was not easy. I started using substances and alcohol at the age of 14. I had a troubled upbringing of trauma and abuse of different forms. I went through foster care, mental health
issues, selfharming and suicidal ideiations. As I got older, my weekend drinking and drug use turned into everyday using. I became physically dependent on opiates when I was 21. That quickly turned into IV use. My opiate addiction turned into a cross addiction
to mess. I know now that if I continued using opiates like I was, I would surely have been dead a long time ago. What a life I was living. Only till I got sober did I realize I wasn't living at all. In 2020, I was stuck in the most abusive relationship, unable to find a way out.
That February, I ended up getting charged with first-degree sales. I will never forget that moment. Looking back, I think that it was a blessing in disguise. Because of my legal situation, for the first time, I went to inpatient treatment. It failed, but I had a taste of what it was like to be sober. and
went back to the same people, places, and things and continued on that lifestyle for a year till I got in more legal problems and ended up back in jail to going back to treatment again. I did the same thing as last time. This time, I ran until Troy Rodeo finally caught
me. Back to jail, I went. January 19th, 2022 was the last time that I used. As I sat in jail, I made the decision that I no longer wanted to live that the lifestyle I spent so many years stuck in. I wanted better for myself. I wanted to be part of my family's lives and be
the best parent I knew I could be. As I sat there, I knew the only op two options I had. I knew I was either going to go to prison for the 5 years I had hanging over my head or to be accepted into drug court. I don't think I've ever wanted something so badly as to be accepted in the treatment court
program. Almost two months went by. I did an assessment with Becky at Rainy River Recovery and I did an interview with the treatment court team. I was accepted into the program. I knew then that this was my only true shot at getting my life back. I didn't know very much about the treatment court program
other than what my now husband told me, which by the way, he was a very vital role in me being accepted into the program and helped me be so successful. I will forever be grateful for his support and him believing in me. On March 31st, 2022, I was released from jail and on that same day, my husband
was granted full soul custody of his two daughters who now call me mom. My recovery journey was just beginning. I started outpatient treatment at Rainy River Recovery where I attended group three days a week. While in treatment, I worked hard at understanding who I truly was as a person, what my goals were,
what I wanted for my future, who I wanted in my life, and what was most important to me. I did a lot of self-discovery and dug deep into what made me do the things I do, what would emotionally trigger me and why, and how I could change myself for the better. I would meet with Troy Rodeo on Tuesdays.
Troy would u me and hold me accountable. I knew well enough that Troy wasn't someone to mess with. I know a lot of people think that their probation officer is out to get them, but if you're doing the right things and doing what you need to be doing, your probation officer is a person that can be there to support you. I have a lot to
be grateful for when it comes to having Troy as my probation officer. Another requirement of treatment court was to be involved in mental health services. Mental health and substance use disorder go hand in hand. Going through life and addiction comes with a lot of trauma and I had experienced a ton of it. While
seeking help for my mental health, I was able to learn to cope with my anxiety, triggers, and grief. It helped me to overcome my problems and grow into the person I am today. While you were in treatment court program, you were pushed to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, meaning you can't just sit and do nothing. Treatment court
wants to see their participants succeed and do good. Treatment court makes it your goal to seek and obtain employment. With the help of Alyssa Hackimuer, who was a career counselor through Jet, she was able to help me find a job that I was comfortable enough to try out where I wasn't overwhelmed. Treatment court
also supports their participants in helping them get their license back. I got mine back while I was in the program and it opened up a lot of doors for me. Because of Treatment Court, I was able to become the best version of myself. I am a parent that shows up, that provides, and I'm actively doing
everything I can for my children. I make the people around me proud and they cheer me on every day. I show up for myself by continuing to achieve my goals and work every day on my recovery. I show up to my job that I hope makes a difference in the lives of those that are still struggling. My parents no longer have to worry that they're going
to get that phone call that I didn't make it. My little brother has his big sister back and my husband has someone he can count on. I will forever be grateful to Treatment Court for supporting me, pushing me to do better, believing in me even when I didn't, and giving me the opportunity to prove to myself that I'm deserving of a better
life. Treatment court changes lives and I am living proof. Today I am just over 3 years clean and sober and living my best life. Thank you. So that's our presentation. Uh thank you for having us mayor and counselors. And
uh I just so you know uh treatment court u is it's open court. I invite um any of you and anybody in the audience you're always welcome to come and attend and see what it looks like. It uh it looks a lot different than uh traditional court.
I can assure you of that. So uh our our sessions are every other Thursday but you can check the court calendar. Um and uh love to have you at any time. He stole my thunder. That's what I was going to say. But I also uh the first slide has or the second slide has a
video from All Rise and um that video really shows how informal and emotional treatment court can be and how impactful it is on individuals and like Katie was saying their families. Uh I didn't want to show it today cuz it's an extra 5 minutes. So I'm just going to send it all to you via email and um I think it's
you'll really enjoy it. And if anybody has any questions or wants to come to court, my email address is up there. Uh I'm sort of like the layon between everybody at treatment court. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And any
questions, comments? Well, nice job. And well, I can from I used to be working firsthand experience of some success stories that nobody thought were going to make it and they have. So I
know it works. We're so happy to have you in the community and this is a success. So, thank you, Judge, and Alyssa, and everyone else that has worked hard to make this a reality. Thanks. I I should make them all stand up. If you're on treatment court, you're
in here. Tammy, Dane, Ariel, April, they're going to hate me for that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. We have a proclamation for treatment court month.
If there is a motion to approve. I'll make that motion. Second. We have a motion by councelor Holden. The second was by um councelor Buller. Is there any discussion? Question. I I I I although yes
proclamation is approved 5-0. Thank you. Item two is a proclamation for National Travel and Tourism Week which is May 4th through 10th. Is there a motion to approve that? I'll make that motion. Motion by councelor Buller. Second.
Second by councelor Wagner. Discussion question. I I I'll vote yes. Carries unanimously. 50. Thank you. New business number three, another proclamation for mental health month. Is
there a motion to approve this proclamation? I'll move of a motion by councelor Kaylor. Second second to councelor Holden. Discussion question. I I I I'll vote
yes. Motion carries 50 for this proclamation. Just a note, if there's a proclamation and you want to come forward and it's on the agenda, please let us know um ahead of time. We ran into that last week and of course as
we do this, we like participation. New business number four, proclamation of friendship between International Falls and the town of Fort Francis. This is something that I worked
on with Mayor Hakus. It's been a pleasure getting to know him. Uh we routinely communicate and talk about many of the issues facing both of our communities which ironically are have a
lot of similarities. Yes. Um so the door is open going both ways uh to Fort Francis. And with that I hope someone would offer a motion to approve this proclamation of friendship. So move have a motion by councelor Buller. Second
second by councel Wagner. Discussion question. I I I I I'll vote yes. This proclamation is approved. 5-0 number five new business mayoral appointments to our
charter commission. three, all for terms May 5th of 2025 through December 31st of 2028. Rory Walker, Craig Bernath, William
Brightite. Is there a motion to approve these appointments? I'll move. Motion by councelor Kaylor. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by councelor Buller. Discussion on the appointments. Question. I I I I'll vote
yes. Appointments are approved. 5. Thank you. New business. Seven. Approve contingent offer of seasonal employment for office clerk position for the police department.
Is there a motion to approve this? I'll make that six. Pardon Mr. We need six. You missed six. Yeah. Oh wow. I thought that goodness. Excuse me. That one got messed up. We'll go back to
number six. to consider the request of Packaging Corporation of America to suspend calendar parking during their annual outage and shutdown which is scheduled for May 30th through June 19th, 2025. Before we have motions, I
want to get my plug in for Fire Chief Manassa that he mentioned to me that when we do suspend ordinances like this, it's also at the most likely time that there may be a fire call. I'm not laying them out to dry. We had a a chuckle over
it. We want to help. So, is there a motion to approve this? So, moved. Motion by councelor Wagner. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by councelor Kaylor and and I
just would Well, you haven't asked for that part yet. Go ahead. I just want to make sure it's clear that and this is citywide, not just around um PCA when this goes on. Thank you. Any more
discussion? Question. I I I I vote yes. This request is approved. 5. Thank you. Okay. Number seven. I think we're on the right track. Approved contingent offer. I'll make that motion. We have a motion by councelor Holden. Is there a second?
Second. Second by councelor Wgner. Discussion. Uh I'd just like to add that uh when they made the move and it was uh stated that they wouldn't need to be hiring any more people than
the move that uh I'll be voting no because we were told they weren't going to have to hire any. But I know Mindy, she'll do fine job. appreciate the input. I
Is there more to that that no would like to be added? No, it's just that I made that was part of the move. When we moved, nothing was going to change. We weren't going to have to hire any more people and circumstances changed, I guess. And I don't think that is any
surprise to the chief that that's why I'm voting. Any more discussion? Is this anything that Chief Kick you feel the need to bring forth? If you have any questions, I'm available.
please. Thank you, Mayor Councel. Absolutely. Thank you, Chief Kendrick, for coming forward. I want to piggy back before I vote on councelor Kaylor's question about the staffing. Um, so my
question is not related to the potential hire or anything to do with that person, rather the position. Um, is there a reason for the for the additional hire? Uh, we did it last year. We see in the summer we see
kind of a peak in the people coming forward ringing the bell. Our current administrative assistant works about 20 hours a week, 3 days a week. Mhm. So this position would be to fill her any vacation she takes in the summer e sick leave as well as the two days out of the Monday through Friday she's not working
and it would be for about 4 hours a day. So we're looking about 8 to 20 hours a week through the summer. And Sher, correct me if I'm wrong, but what is the rate per hour? 15 hours a week. $15 an hour. Excuse me.
Thank you. And some of those hours, if I understand, are to backfill hours that Heather is unavailable. Correct. And what do we do at the present when we don't have the seasonal position and Heather's not available?
Like I said, we technically we usually just have vacations to fill in the summer. That's when she usually takes her vacations. And we see a lot more with the tourists and the influx of customers and in the law enforcement coming up to ask for data requests, gun check-ins, anything like that. Um, right
now we don't do anything. People ring the bell and and she's not available. We don't have anyone there. So again, we've heard complaints from the community that there's no one at the window as well. So, we're trying to do a balancing act to it's more cost efficient to just hire during the busier months just to get us through that and then like you say back
fill as needed as opposed to increasing her hours all year round and and doing that. We're trying to be conscious of the budget. Thank you. Does any of the council have questions for Chief Kick? Okay.
question. Uh, no. I I I'm going to abstain 31 with my abstension. Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Thanks, Mike. New business number
eight. Consider request to purchase new vacuum splints for each ambulance with funds from ambulance capital outlay furniture and equipment fund. Request from Adam Manasa, fire chief and EMS
director. Is there discussion or a motion on this request? I'll move a motion to approve by councelor Kaylor. Is there a second? Second. Second by councelor Wagner can have this
one. Discussion's open. Seeing no discussion on the topic, we will move it to a vote with the question. I I I I will vote yes. This purchase is approved. 50. Thank
you. New business. Item nine to adopt a resolution for the fee schedule for the layown yard. Is there a motion to approve this schedule?
I'll make that motion. Second. Motions by councelor Holden and councelor Wagner. Is there discussion on the motion or the question? Seeing no discussion. Councelor Wagner. Uh so all all the department heads have
access to the yard and stuff, right? for for impound and that kind of stuff to my knowledge. As far as we know. So then this is a good start, but if if it costs more for us to do this, I just want to make sure we're we're fluent if we have
to move it up the cost. The cost. Yeah. The rate schedule. We don't know yet. Right. This is a good start. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Any further discussion? question. I I I believe yes, fee
schedule is approved unanimously. Thank you. Moving on. New business item 10. This came from legislation in land use to approve a taxi license for Taylor's taxi. Would entertain a motion to
approve this light business license. I'll make the motion. Motion by councelor Buller. Second second by councelor Wagner. Discussion on the permit. Question. I I I I'll vote yes. Permit is
approved unanimously. Thank you. Any other business to come before the council from the council or staff? I would like to mention from the previous
meeting there was a motion that was approved to engage with the county on law enforcement space needs. I signed a letter that administrator Bergstrom
um had drafted that was simple and it went over to the county and councelor Wagner and myself will be engaging with members of the county uh in a relaxed
manner to see where there's appetite for collaboration. If there isn't, we will move on and eventually we will get a decision. With that being said, we'll
move on to reports of boards, committees, and department heads. Once again, I would like to thank the judge and treatment court for the wonderful presentation that they
brought today and hearing some of the successes of the program. On Saturday, the International Falls Fire Department had their pancake feed. I think we did over 300 plates. So,
thank you to all who came out and supported the fire department and all those serving the department. Mayor, I have two, please. Okay. Um, the first one is um it didn't make it as an
agenda item, but you all recall the trailer 2202 Avenue, I believe it. Oh, yes. um the land owner um so the trailer owner is different from the land owner was going to have until the 15th um to
clear it out. No progress has been made. Um so I wanted to give you all a heads up. Um our next city council meeting is the 19th. Um, and we can certainly make an agenda item to potentially revisit and award the low bid and then reach out
to that person and see if they'll honor that bid still for removal. Yes. So, I wanted to update everyone on that um first and then Mr. Calder asked that I also follow up and explain the statute that was referenced um about specially
marked vehicles, Minnesota State statute. Could you speak to the mic? Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry. When I turn to talk to them, I turn away from the mic and unless someone like you reminds me, I
don't do it. Um, so I did look at the statute. Um, it designates that a police vehicle throughout the state. They have different colors that are assigned to different police departments. um says the emblem or um marking on the
sides of the doors is a certain size of contrasting color that's easily identifiable is what the statute requires. And then um it does have an exception for a specially marked vehicle, which is essentially what most people define as an unmarked vehicle or
a um emblem or decal only on the right side of the vehicle. So it's not as easily identifiable. Um, so because our uh police department has 11 or less, I think it's 11 or less, we can have one. It might be 12 or less, but
that doesn't change the number we're allowed. We're still only allowed one unmarked vehicle. Okay. Is that kind of what you were looking for? Yes. Okay. Uh, we can maybe do the rest at the
audience. Do you want to just do the rest at the audience? Open forum. Yes. If you'd like, if you were going to come forward or you'd like to come forward, we'll just start the open forum for the public now. I can do it now. Was that
all you? It's up to them. Did you have any more, Chelsea? No. Unless he wanted me to expand more. No. Good job. Okay. Okay, the only please come forward. Yeah,
thank you, Chelsea. Reynold Calder, 19016th Avenue East. Uh, thank you for that, Chelsea. Um, my the reason I raised this one is I I want our city to be a welcoming
community. I don't feel that the cars are uh I think the people feel like they're surveillance cars, not to protect and serve. And that image is important for our community. I don't
care that matter of fact, I don't want to see the city spend money on repainting these things right now. But I think I think the law basically is uh we're just allowed one one of those unmarked vehicles. The rest should be a
regular paint job. That's my position. Uh I know there's the exception that you read. Uh we you know that's up in the air. I believe we shouldn't have any of those unmarked cars except for one. And uh in time, I
think this this council and the chief should get together and uh as we phase out cars, make sure that the rest of the lot are painted a regular police paint job. That's that's my position. That's all I want to say.
Thank you, Mr. Calic. Seeing no further public comment, I'll move on to reminders. Open book meeting presented by County Assessor's Office is from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the county assessor's
office at the courthouse, 7:15 for street, Wednesday, May 14th. The next regular city council meeting is Monday, May 19th, which is in two weeks at 5:30 p.m.
before you gave. Councelor Lightner, can you give us a update on the banjo? Yes, I can. It was also in my report, but uh I received a um email from the uh adjuster, Mr. Chris Otto and upon my
requesting and asking for an update, he indicated that the company that he had reached out to was still at least at a minimum 30 days out to get us information. So, so do we have any recourse on this that we can city
attorney can do or anything that you're aware of to move this along? What you talking about? The the bandell the insurance claim and stuff. officer. Um, I don't know. I can look at it. I think we need to. I'm just I don't
know what you guys think. We do, too. Yes. Oh, you guys. That's unacceptable. 30 days to get back to us. It's been 8 months. Last time it was 3 weeks. You had something 3 weeks and now it's 30 days again. After 3 weeks, it's up.
So, you have to if you could look into Okay. Yeah. if we got to take him to court or whatever we need. I'll give you your options before I just go ahead and sue them at the start. Yeah. Thank you, Councelor Wgner. And I'd
also have to happen now, but I am curious. I know that it seems that every month we're paying Bolton and Mink for something to do with the band shell that I assume eventually is going to come out of the dollars when we do get the claim.
So, I'm curious about it. Okay. Any other discussion on the band shell? Okay. Have a good evening everyone. This meeting's adjourned.