it's 5:30 I'd like to call this meeting to order of the international Fall City Council 5:30 p.m. please rise and join me to say the Pledge plge Al to the flag of the United
States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all can be noted that all members of the council are present
tonight tonight's agenda is there any additions or deletions seeing no additions or deletions the chair would entertain a motion to approve tonight's agenda I'll make that motion second have a motion in a second any any
discussion all those in favor say I I I I I any opposed the agenda is approved thank you next on the agenda is approval of the minutes minutes of the Monday February 3rdd 2025
regular city council meeting minutes of the Monday February 10th Committee of the whole meeting chair would entertain a motion to approve the minutes I'll move chair excuse excuse me motion by councelor Kaylor second by councelor Buller
discussion on the minutes anyone all those in favor I I I any opposed I shall carry next on the agenda payments of claims I'll
move are you going to read the to I'll read it just to be consistent yep um I'll slow down trust me we have total transfers of 95,3
3.33 then accounts payable in claims city of International Falls claims $ 376,162 Public Library board claims $552 27 airport commission major Capital claims $
39,5 22 even for total accounts payable in claims of $ 421,750multifamily on payments and claims seeing no further discussion all those in favor say I I I I any
opposed bills are paid thank you next on the agenda is an open form which would be an opportunity to come up and speak with the council about anything uh basically any matter particularly tonight's agenda there's
also an opportunity at the end of the meeting if anyone would like to come up and address the council hello Susan wga 107 Park Avenue and thank you Betty for your response to my email that I sent and shame on the counselors for not responding to my
emails I sent out to each one of you um and I did not get a response from anyone other than Betty and the mayor so thank you for your responses um I'll answer that if you call me a liar I'm probably not I'm not calling you a liar I'm just stating I didn't get a in in the email
you talked about transparency that's basically line so if you say I'm not answer and that was a professional move on my part all right dly noted thank you so um I originally did send an email to
the city administrator be uh Betty and these are some of the items that I addressed because I was inquiring as to how the sheriff's department could still be working there but it's not feasible for the ifpd to be housed there so here are some of the items that were um
responses the sheriff's department is still working out of the LEC I can't speak to all of the deficiencies as this is not a city-owned building however I can share what we have experienced as tenants over the years Heating and Cooling issues have been an issue in that building for years there was a raw
sewage leaking in in the ceiling of the Deputy Chief's office there is what looks to be black mold growing in another office that we occupied there's a water leak in the main Squad room area where there is a bucket on the floor collecting the water on several occasions the women's bathroom would
have a backup and sewage would cover the floor by the officer's entryway during the summer the door the officers enter would not closed securely allowing anyone to come into the Squadron area the city had a facility study done in February of 24 and as part of that the
company toured the LEC and noted it would be very costly to update the building due to how it is originally constructed again this is a county-owned building so I'd encourage you to reach out to County officials to better understand the state of the building and why they were required to build a new jail and the response didn't make too
much sense to me CU again how could the sheriff's department work in these conditions so I did forward the response to the County Board and got a response to that regarding the heating and cooling the cooling has been replaced with new um stuff a few years ago I
remember this well as does the Sheriff's Office they had to send all the inmates somewhere else to be housed until the AC was fixed a lot of work effort and money to do that the heating system is planning to be upgraded after the new jail is completed when the new jail was in the planning stages we sized the
heating system to take care of the whole campus including the LEC no specific timeline for that the issue that was causing the women's bathroom backups has been fixed that's that issue stemmed from a collapsed sewer pipe in the Sally par garage Shannon's Plumbing did the repair the issue a sewage from the
ceiling probably did happen because I remember someone saying that certain inmates try to cause problems so they'll plug a toilet or sink and then let it overflow to make a mess not sure about the bucket in the squad room that will have to um get filled in on that the door that sticks is an issue as it is
now you have to make sure the door is latched not sure if this has been fixed the potential mold issue again that's going to be referred to Dean who is the maintenance manager in response to the county being required to build a jail there are many reasons staff safe Public Safety inmate safety Court safety and
overall design and layout of the current jail to the best of my knowledge the LEC office space did not have any bearing on the jail build the office space for the sheriff's office in the new jail was added after lengthy discussion that circled around staff and inmate safety plus the extra cost of support staff at
separate locations um so it seems to me that a lot of these issues have already been addressed or in the process of being addressed um and I'd also um like I said I did send the councilman
emails and um I did not intend to call anyone a liar I was just saying it seems to me that there's not a lot of transparency when we're talking about millions of dollars needing to be spent to repair the old LEC when as I said we
already have people that are using the facility so I would like to know has there been any cost um analysis done on this to find find out what repairs actually need to be made and how much the expense would be I believe the
majority of the taxpayers in our town do support our Law Enforcement Officers but again there appears to be a lack of transparency thus creating a lack of trust from the taxpayers so far I've not seen a case made to the population as to why moving into the old kutasa building
is the best option if there are numbers and a valid reason to support this present them to the community so we can see it and we would support you if you can make a case for it so far again I've not seen that and I don't think a lot of people here have and that's why we are
frustrated and concerned about this um I'm suggesting to the city council that they take a step back from making a rash emotional decision on spending millions of dollars for a building and come to the table in good faith and try to come up with a reasonable plan that will meet
the needs of the ifpd and the community if the city can't work with the County Board could you consider a mediator that would be able to work with the county and the city to see if there's some options that can be made that would be feasible for all parties involved the
taxpayers the police department um the county it just it just seems like we are budding heads over stuff that should be able to be done so to conclude as I said the city hasn't presented any quotes as far as I'm aware of for current repairs
that were addressed in the email and all we've been told is it's going to take a lot of money to fix stuff I'd like to see the city come to a realization that the ifpd having an identity or a morale boost are not justifiable reasons to spend the money that we just seem so
intent on spending and again I don't I don't feel a case has been made to show this expense and I would urge you to um suggest that you consider a mediator to come in and see if there could be a resolution to the situation that would
be agreeable to all thank you thank you [Applause] we will with the nature of tonight's agenda we will have time for anyone that wants to come forward either before new business or afterwards so please name a
name name and address for the record I'm Wendy mayor and I live at 10113 Street um I'm here to represent Tom also uh he's is not here cuz he's curling but um we are just concerned about the the
opport you guys wanting to pursue this um buying caasa um we just feel like we're declining uh Community um we know facilities need to be updated and that building that the
police that shared with the police and the County Police for years work seemed to work had enough space but I know times change and buildings get old but we would like to see um some you know
what are the expenses that need or things that need to be repaired to use that building at the county where the police department already at and is it can we use buildings that we already have that's all I have to
say thank you yeah hello good evening good evening go ahead okay if we could have both your names and address for the record thank you hi I'm Sharon ball 120 Cedar Road International Falls um the
reason I'm here today is to talk about this kutasa building okay um [Applause] at the risk of sounding ignorant okay I'm asking you these questions because I can't find
them the answers okay um before you make a decision to spend more money you need to consider the fact of what you're doing to your citizens I got a increase I think 6 to 8% of that was City I got
an increase this year 40% on my taxes I just retired this year I get $813 a month okay I've planned this my whole life I finally paid off my house I
owned my car and between my insurances and my taxes here that costs me more than I make okay which is obviously why I'm trying to get myard boarding business up but I spent you know so when you start talking about you know I
understand this is done and this isn't done deal but I'm talking about the future if we keep doing if we keep spending next year I might see the same thing because you guys got a letter from
kutasa offering um to let the police department be in in the same building with the county and they said they were talking about it costing $3 million for them to go over there I would like to know if there's been a survey done that
shows that property there I believe that's in a flood zone and if you've ever driven through that parking lot there at kutasa it's it's horrible because the ground's constantly shifting so it's going up and then there's dips
everywhere and if we could do something with the with police department and the sh Department being together like it always was even I I don't know for how long but right now we're still trying you have to
realize how many of our small businesses I was one of those businesses that was shut down for three years by Governor Waltz and I was told if I open my doors I'd get a $5,000 fine and I'd lose my license which I'd been in good standing
for 13 years and so I had to close down and the Canadian border was closed down so we're just barely getting back up on our feet and we're getting hit with this and this is enough to ruin somebody's life and we've gone from
10,800 years ago to 5600 and the newest figure is 5300 and you know we have to figure out how many of those people are actually homeowners and who pay property taxes a thousand kids go to school here so that thousand is in that
5,300 you got to look at how many are in daycare and younger you know at home that aren't paying taxes because most of them are included in that figure our senior population is well over I would say
50% okay and we're we just keep getting hit and now we're down to 5,300 people and I don't know how we can keep giving I want the police department to have every tool they need but we're not a big city that can afford everything we want
every time we feel we need it the the belts got to be tightened somewhere and um another thing you know I have a friend that you know I think I told you he was a mayor in Minnesota and he went for state representative too and he had
mentioned like if you're it they combined where he was at they combined their Administration their police and their Sheriff Department all in one and then their state I guess that would probably be um scraba Roger scraba went
to let State Legislature and got um hold on it's a dedicated let me just make sure I've got this uh dedicated City sells tax for new police headquarters but we could you know put that all into one building and if we could do something like that I think
they get 6% or 6 and A2 and that is basically a temporary you know I mean that's not permanent forever but then you've got money coming in from tourists and other places besides just hitting our few homeowners we are just kidding I
mean I'm getting taxed out and I don't want to have I mean I can't afford to just I've got my kids here I can't just afford to up and sell you know what I mean and when you get these kind of hikes like this in
price the price of year your value doesn't go up on your property and your services doesn't go up you're really getting hit hard right so I'm just I guess I'm just asking you to think about it as
neighbors and some of you are retired and you understand what I'm talking about so anyways those are things we really I would like to see you kind of slow down a little bit and get some type of a report that talks about the
condition of that property because right now you know the city's the Jail's already 20% over budget what happens when we go three you know over budget on this project and this is just the worst time so that's all I have to say and
thank you thank you for listening thank you my name is Joe caner I live at 1607 13th Avenue West International Falls Minnesota here and uh the transparency of of
having taxes being paid and stuff we're paying out so much and we're not getting an audit done I mean it's been 5 years and we haven't had any really good transparity of the salaries of people and what they get our
our community is shrinking it's not getting bigger and because it's not getting bigger is not a time to be taken on more projects absolutely the cucha task of building to me is a
failure if we go ahead and do that sure they're going to get the they going to get the police department they're going to have their area and everything else they'll fix it all up but it's not the building to fix up I've been in construction for 40 some years and I
know when I see a building that's worth fixing and one that's not this is not but what we have is we have a police department right now that's at the back is that's cool we got we're holding on
to our grounds with what we have and we got a brand new jail going up I think we can continue with the sheriff department keep it going and look for something a little bit better and take our time this is not the time to be taking on another
project a police department when they already have have something going on right now and hiring more police deputies and and putting on more people is not the greatest idea in the world I
traveled when we never had work in town there was places I could go and go to work but here in International Falls I had to leave town I think some of the people that are that want to be a police officer in this
town or work in this town well I think it's time to we might have to let some strings go a little bit and let them look for another town to working this is we got to slow down a little bit here our prices are way out
of hand and can I just say something here because we we are together but the thing is I mean not together together but we've talked about this right so we got that squ away was that out there yeah make sure you get it out there well I'm just saying
this televis so but what I was going to say is it feels like and you know like I said I did talk to my friend who was a mayor and did go for a state representative because I'm always looking for advice because I really know nothing about politics I you know unless something affects you directly most of
the time you just don't get involved and I just didn't and so now you know things asking questions but you know we're paying basically Services you know and like it was kind of suggested a little bit that maybe the
police department could go like certain time in the morning 5:00 a.m. to midnight or whatever which would leave for and then you know the sheriff's department works so much time which leaves for deputies that would have to be let
go and when you're T you know if you start looking do you realize that I can go on Google and look up anybody's in this state who is an administration of any kind or city worker I can look up
what they make for 2025 and it shows the last time it has been that I can find I've had other people help me we have looked for salaries since 2019 nothing comes up and that is controlled by the
cities I would and that to me is one of the things I'm talking about transparency we want to know because we want to understand how are we going to do this because for me if this is going to continue I want to know so I can sell as much as I can when properties go up and move to Mexico because I can't
afford to live here and I don't even speak Spanish we we certainly appreciate your comments and to address some of this it has been 10 minutes um but as what I would like to point out is that all
information um for the most part is public information that happens within city government and um I would like to make sure that if there's information that you would like there's a process for that uh Betty could speak
directly to that um so I definitely want to make that but would you agree that it should be on Google like every other government entity is I checked at bigi Hibbing Luth Herman town they all show up I'm not familiar with that I see that
Emma finance officer is Raising her hand though okay so just point of clarification so that information becomes public when an entity such as open the books or one of those websites request that information they don't just here's your information we get requested
I know we've sent those types of entities I don't know particularly which Wednesday you're going to I know we've sent information since 2019 because I sent information to them so um IED typing in in every way you can imagine but we I know there's a form we fill out
but I just want to I just want to make you aware of that because that is something that I don't know why they haven't asked us because every other city has been asked and it's nice to know I when when you're looking at you know anyways you guys know yep and I
would also ask that if you make a request and you don't feel if you feel something's wrong for whatever reason please reach out to me as well and I would work on that okay so appreciate your time thank you yeah thank you also
point of clarification that we undergo an annual audit every year we weren't talking about that type A yeah talk about that any further comment while we have open form good evening good evening hey
everybody my name is Rhonda Benedicts and I live on 9096 Street okay my name I was going to bring up the water pipes but I'm going to let those go for right now um first of all I'm going to say I back the blue I was married to law
enforcement my son-in-law is law enforcement um I was dating law enforcement so I totally backed the blue so this is not personal by any means um I used to work at Boise Cascade I lost my job in Boise Cascade so therefore I have a fixed
income right so when taxes keep jumping dramatically like they have the last few years it's very hard for people that have a fixed income to save for certain things like house repairs and things that pop up that you know big ticket
items like my furnace is over 30 years old actually so I need to replace that so those things cost a lot of money I need a new vehicle my vehicle is 20 years old I'm trying to save for that and now with the covid and the new way that they're doing bank loans and you
have to have a certain percentage down it makes it hard right so every time I try to save all of a sudden taxes are getting raised so it makes it very hard so this is personal to me okay as far as I understand and I do believe
this is true law enforcement wanted to leave the building that they were in okay because they didn't want to pay more rent so that was their choice city council let them leave okay because they didn't want
to pay a little bit more rent so they left and they went to the building that they're in now they were also given the choice to go into the new jail that's being built they didn't want to do that city council let them skip that and stay where they're at
correct correct to the best of my knowledge that's correct all right so they had the option to go into that new building they didn't want to do that either because of the rent was too high okay so now you're asking the citizens which you all represent to pay millions
of dollars more because they didn't want to stay in the building they were in they didn't want to go to the new building that's being built they want a a different building that's going to cost taxpayers your taxpayers that are already paying millions of dollars for the new building
millions of dollars for the school millions of dollars that you're just put out for the new Waterworks you want us to pay millions of dollars more now to pay for another building because they didn't want to stay where they were at they didn't want to go into the new building and you want us to Fork out
more millions of dollars which are going to raise our taxes again dramatically and you think that's fair you can consciously do that to us you think that's fair in good faith and good conscious you can do that to us how can
you do that to us when there's a perfectly good building sitting there that might need a new few more repairs how can you do that to us why you sat there in your last little meeting that you had and you all voted that it was a good thing a win-win win
to let them go back to the building that they were in and then you changed it because they didn't want to that's not fair it's not fair to your taxpayers that barely make any money it's not fair to your taxpayers to ask
for multi-million doll projects all at once to pay for everything this is a poor town there's a lot of poor people you're not paying for the the water we don't have enough money to pay
for the water lead pipes don't have enough money for that that's mandated by the federal don't have enough money for that but we have money to Fork out for another building that doesn't need to be because there's a building sitting there that they could move back
into I'm done thank you for your time thank [Applause] you well the form is still open good evening Council Mr Mayor my name is Steven Blair at 1301 7th
Avenue I uh listened to the previous speakers and you know I I agree I'm not against the the policemen or at all but um and they brought up some good some good topics and and points um uh Joel mentioned you know what if there's cost
overrun and this project is going to be you know more than $3 million um I'm I'm scared I mean this what you see on TV now is going to hit us it's going to hit the state it's going to come down to the local governments he's already threatened to go after Social Security he's threatened
to go after the park service you have a Park Service building you're leasing it to the park how much are you getting for a square foot for that building I'm sure it's more than $1,500 or whatever the city's going to charge you for law enforcement 1, 1500 square foot or whatever I don't know what the figures
are but um I don't have Facebook I just know that someone that is on Facebook was attended last week's meeting and said it's a done deal well it cannot be a done deal something this important
should you know at the very least go to a vote to the people I mean I think it's getting moved a little too fast I think the the location of this new building it might be a perfect
size for our law enforcement but to me it's a disconnect from our town it's not close enough to the courthouse I don't know if there's in the future something could be done closer I don't know but um
there is a lot of lot of things in our town that there's no money for the gal Mrs Benedict's mentioned the lead pipes about the Band Shell that's been burned all summer I asked somebody about it the other day they said oh they don't have the money to fix it well how long do we
got to look at that I hope it's not a done deal I would actually like to comment to you that um I have some deep concerns about some topics that we're going to discuss um so
if there's any questions that you want to ask you're free to to to do so within the 5-minute window and regarding the bans shell um I'm not privy yet I would say to what is going on with it but that is a common question that keeps coming
up and I would ask the council where are we at with that well the we have the insurance money to pay for the whole thing getting it fixed but the design and everything we haven't finished the design on it yet because
there are some changes that need to be made for disability and stuff and then the insurance is still looking at the whole thing so it's not the council's fault that it's in the shape it is right now the council I mean we got it cleaned
up Wagner construction cleaned it up but we can only go so far until the design is done and the insurance gives us the go-ahead the money is there to pay for the whole thing State that's what we were told right Betty okay can I ask a question is it
going to be the exact same design no similar no no no no no no no it's not okay I thought it was going to be but the money's there so it's not like and it's not we're not dragging our feet on it I was concerned too that it was
taking a long time but from what I understood from our Public Works director that it was insurance that was holding it up and am I right Betty yeah Mrs that is the case thank you mayor um we have been working with our adjuster it
has been a long extremely drawn out process very frustrating process with our insurance um due to the age of the structure and what it would take to make the structure ADA Compliant are some of the issues we're running into and I
actually received an email just yesterday that we're going to be having another meeting hopefully by the end of the week um we're moving forward with it it it's truly with the insurance company and um trying to understand what the value of that structure would be if we
were to build it exactly the same as but including ADA compliance and our adjuster is been a bit difficult to say the least lie thank you absolutely well that's one thing you can't blame the city council
on before we move on is there any more comment from the public well I I would just like to say one more quick already had five minutes I'm sorry we have to be consistent with the with the comment if he would like yes he can and
then we will have at the end of the meeting as well which would be consistent please come forward sir uh Wayne Fuller 1601 3D Avenue East um I understand that a letter was sent February 13th from the County Board you
are all familiar with that letter um I was interested to see if that is a topic of discussion tonight I did not see it on the agenda will that be discussed before a decision is made to move over to the cooch Taska or move
on with the cooch Taska plan I you and I share the same questions I didn't see it on the agenda right there's uh been some discussion outside the meeting between constituents and
myself um I have think I have been clear that I think uh that the council has the votes to move forward with the kutasa building uh I'm not on board with that but I believe the council's going to have the votes later and that's what
they're going to do that's the best information that I can give you as the mayor um but I think it's um I think it's disappointing that the county did Reach Out they've always wanted to give
us a number or to work out something with us and I don't think that will happen and um I would also add to that that back in September when I was running for office um it was very evident in my
meetings with different departments that uh going in the LEC was really never going to be an option and I don't agree with that but I'm one vote on the council and that speaking on my own account there's four other counselors here that uh may or may not feel
differently and I would allow them to open the floor or Betty if I may mayor Dr or excuse me mayor Dill the the letter that was received on February 13th was addressed to yourself and myself and if you wanted it on the agenda May or you just have to ask and
you can put it on the agenda or you could have asked added it or asked to be added this evening as well um that is a process and could have done that not to say that it still can't be discussed during the time of which would they're discussing the kutasa building but that
could you have could have asked to have that on the agenda it is your agenda to be asked to be added well I'm aware of that but the county sent us a letter and it wasn't a priority to get it on there there's a lot of other things that get on this agenda that I would deeply question um we also approved the agendas
I voted to approve the agenda um but here is how I would answer you is that if it was important enough it would have been on the agenda and it's not is my understanding that with the unanimous vote of the council they can
add this to the record or add this to the agenda I wouldn't if if there was a motion on the floor I I would be happy to entertain that uh from from any of the counselors to add it we wouldn't need to add it we could do it under
other business which should be here at the end of the any other business number six well I certainly think it's worth reviewing um from my understanding I do not have the actual figures on what the interest payments alone are on this $3
million uh but the rent from my understanding the rent over at the courthouse would be less than just the interest payments no what are the interest payments we're not doing a $3 million project we're doing a $3 million project so it's all
misconception out there no you're off the mall there well good that that's what we're going to discuss later on looking into into kutasa not not definitely moving there but looking into where we're at with this okay this that project originally
started as a $5 million project and it's now a $3 million project that's what we're discussing not yes what was cut out of that project to save $2 million well we've talked about having some of our own public employees
doing some of the work electrical um we have a great electrician working for us done a lot of construction work that's one area um we've looked at bringing it down way the best we can and so um one of the things we'd start out with would
be you know taking care of the heart of the building building so and that's usually a roof um but other than that it's way down from that so okay all right thank you thank you is there anyone else that would like
to come forward during public comment seeing no further comment we'll move on to new business which is to authorize the Police Department to use Smoky Bear park for National Night Out activities from 400
p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday August 5th 2025 I do have we do have a letter in our packet from Chief kic yes we do um I'll make that motion we have a motion by councelor Holden is there a second a second second by councelor Buller is
there any discussion roll call vote starting with you councelor Buller I I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 Z thank you on to number two Committee of the
whole recommendations consider the first reading of ordinance authorizing the Housing and Redevelopment Authority in and for the city of International Falls to exercise the powers under Minnesota statutes chapter
462c on behalf of the city of International Falls would you like to give some background on that before we discuss it bety sure I can mayor thank you um yep let me grab the document here the H has
been um requested to work with a um development company to rehab what currently is known as West Falla States um I believe if I'm not mistaken it's a $12 million
project and they have the authority through the city of International Falls to help them with um funding the city is not liable and it does not affect our debt um service values in any W way or form to be assist them and move forward
and this is all falls under Minnesota state chapter of housing code 462c um and has that Authority and they are working with fryberger um law office to you know put all the bonding papers and all the
documentation legal documents together we'll be assisting with public hearings and all the additional information necessary to to do a project of this magnitude thank you yep you're welcome I think that the the two big check marks that I would like because we're talking
about financial figures and statistics is there's not liability to the city and this would facilitate the rehabilitation of Apartments um so it's a it would be a good thing uh for our community yeah and
I just like the collaboration with HRA to get us all involved which we've been working on for a while you know and these come up so this is a good deal wonderful chair would entertain a motion to approve the first reading of this ordinance we have a motion by councilor
Buller is there a second second second by councelor Wagner any discussion roll call votes starting with councelor Buller I I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 on the first reading
thank you I almost wasn't ready still we'll move on to Item B approve moving forward with kuss Anderson for renovation of the kutasa building for the police department for design and construction services through
project completion Council action I'll make that motion we have a motion by councilor Holden is there a second second second by councelor Wagner is there any
discussion yes yes go ahead Tim you I would like to thank the county for the letter that we talked now we can talk about it I think right discussion's open uh I was really good to hear back from them this is the one you were talking about um it gave us some the answers we
were looking for and helped with uh some of the decisions we were going to make make um but I will say that what we've seen uh far as the cost goes uh it's cheaper to go to kutasa
than it is to stay in that county building and we don't have to remodel you know that there's no remodel there or nothing so the the numbers are I would ask yeah I would ask for
decorum we've so the num are councelor Wagner you have the floor thank you thank you mayor D the square footage for the LEC is 10,300 the cost per month is $113,000 308 cost per year is
$159,000 uh bis which has been alter for a while uh they are 4,877 square ft cost per month is 6,400 approximate dollars $77,000 a year so we didn't want to go much over that what we are doing now
that's what we're budgeted for we're a little over that kutasa building square footage 13,000 cost per month 9,000 166 cost per year is about $110,000 so taxpayers want us to save them money that's saving them money
$110,000 foring per year got maintenance maintenance heat electricity that's all included in $156,000 all the maintenance all the 160
159 696 signicant amount of money $50,000 a year more I think we can heat the building for that the other thing is Tim the other thing too you can talk
about the county wants us to remodel the part if we went back into the old part yes I know that were open for discussion yeah well counselor I I'm not okay I have not
heard that but I understand that you may have so okay they said they were leaving that open because they did not have enough information and they were open discussion it come to they well I have sat down and just hear me out I've sat down and looked at
the whole picture for many hours okay I've studed it and the best thing that I can see after going through everything was to go into coocha tasa take it a little step by step and get our policemen in there we got the best
police force in the state of Minnesota bar none Bar None and my my uh view of what some of them were sitting in offices over there with problems in their offices and stuff that wasn't taken care of like sewage and different
things over there that's I couldn't believe it and I'm not going to have them people sitting in there like that so it's going to some stuff has to be fixed over there from my understanding majority of it has been fixed and the rest of it would be well
I'm just saying I studied this thing and the best cost figure is for us to go into cooa Taska Barone I I have a question for the Council on this where like it or don't like it I was elected
to be the mayor of this community I am the chief executive officer uh that's been very humbling and I enjoy serving our departments and my constituents I have none of this information I I I couldn't I don't even
know what you guys are talking about I I have I've got a situation the other day I was fueling a jet out at the airport it's Rice Lake Construction I'm sitting in my office I hear someone say is that the mayor so I walked out it was the
president of Rice Lake construction $12 million Rehabilitation project I didn't know anything about the meeting we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on it and apparently it's the equivalent of a bar napkin now that isn't the topic
the topic is law enforcement but how do I not know about this Pete how do I not know about this I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to I'm I'm going to go to the Rice Lake part of this the rice late part of
this and I'll tell you what did have you ever talked to the public works director about what he has going on we have Public Works committee have you ever reached out to him and see what's going on I asked you multiple times when you were elected I was willing to help catch
you up to speed you never reached out so you can blame us that's fine I I know what I've done that's the same with this transp where have we not been transparent they're booing about it's too much and he just told you it's this is what it is and you're still saying
it's not too much and we're not being transparent and you can no no my turn I listen I listen to you there will be listen to you this discussion stays amongst the city council and one thing I want to make very clear tonight I don't
work for Ted broka I understand works for this Council I understand that is accountability I understand but if you want to know what's going on he would know that's all I'm saying May D if I may go ahead you for the
citizens yeah you can get rid of me in year and a half we can go go ahead don't think we administrator Bergstrom you [Music] had mayor it's this is out it's out of
control this is exactly do something this is very frustrating because as the city administrator my do is open every day you're in the office um with this discussion will remain here
amongst the counselors I understand that everybody has a piece that they'd like to get in and there will be those opportunities throughout this meeting with that being said administrator bergst please you have the floor I believe May May the very first time I met with you I told you I said what what was my job what did I tell you my job
was do you recall that mayor I do not my job was to make you successful and to make you look good that's my job but you know what you need to communicate with me I can't always always come to you if you have questions you need to come to me just like the other department heads
we're here to help you be successful to give you the information necessary every one of these counselors talk to me from time to time and ask me questions or they give me different feedback that is what it's called communication so if
you're not getting the information you're needing to be successful that's not on me I wish you would come visit me more please do we can talk about these things talk to your department heads talk to your Chiefs talk to the public works director you need to you you're
new coming into this you haven't been on the council before we're here to help you be successful uccessful to help you understand what's going on so when you say exactly respect is a two-way street people I deserve just as much respect as
he does I've been here a lot longer thank you very much that's all I have you're welcome I I again I don't know how there would be meetings occurring with the city council that I don't have knowledge of and I think that as the
mayor of this town and us taking another vote to spend a sign significant sum of money I think it would only be fair that I would have that information and I do not and that is what I mentioned and
apparently I shouldn't have that information with that being said if the council would like to discuss further the floor is open which information do you need what information do you have there councelor Wagner my my all my
information came from the county letter and the backst letter and our LEC upgrade that's where all my information came from but what about the sheet that's just what I wrote up so
that I could follow it easier that's all I just did a comparison that's my own personal yep my own personal write up I didn't this didn't come from anybody here I this is me okay so that's so I could see the numb internal okay see how the numbers numers matched agree with
the numbers yeah that that was just me how are we going if there is overruns with this how are we going to treat that is this still open to the floor no never was first of all mayor D we
were going to take it a step at a time okay just like what I just a minute now just like what I was talking about can't hear you oh well sorry just a second we're going to take it a step at a time and what we were going to do is start
with the heart of the building which is a roof making sure that that's up to Snuff cuz it's got some time on it um and then maybe air conditioning and get our great Police Department into that
place and and then go from there you know a step at a time and I can't see where I mean I can't see an overflow on extra stuff so it's just to get them in there their offices they're going to be
hauling the criminals uh when they pick them up we're going to go to the new law enforcement center it's an office building it will have some area for confiscated whatever items to be put in there but other than that it's mainly an
office building for them to go to and do their office work and then get out most of the time they're going to be out they have an increased amount of stats on how many uh police things that they go to and a lot of it's very dangerous okay
but they still got to do paperwork and that's coming back to the office to do that and we'd like to have our Police Department in their own privacy area taking care of that kind of business really what they'll be doing is
taking the criminals over the only thing over to the LEC will be to get them in the jail cells over there and I think I've studied this thing back before um nothing against a new mayor coming in but we did look at that building we were told that we didn't
look at it well we did there were about six of us that took a walk through there looked it over good we had the Fire Marshall building inspector few of us councilmen were there and we like what we saw was an
opportunity to put them in a good place what I think is a good place not necessarily what maybe some of the public thinks but I think it'll be a great place and if they can just you know I mean down the road I think it's going to be good I really do and that's
my opinion like like P Kaylor said I mean just a minute now like Pete Kaylor said there election time comes around if some of you people think you can you know want to run for office then that's
what you do this is America do it made but it's all huh what there the the floor is not open for for any discussion I'm sorry this is Council business that we're going to conduct the other thing I want to say one more thing too before I can talk all night that's me everybody
everybody here in this room probably knows me and they know that I can talk but that said this Council worked really hard to keep the percentage of the taxes how high they went better than any other government
here in International Falls we kept it at 5.8% check it out 5.8 that's good the department heads they cut back on a lot of different areas and and uh we got it down to 5.8
show me something better around town that's incredible I think uh I thought we did a good job but we don't get any thanks for that uh you know I all I hear is negativity so I'm not scared to say that
I've been in this town 50 years a long time everybody knows me and I think we're doing a good job and I think the police department's doing a good job I think the fire department's doing a good job but I think the city council has had to dodge bullets because
of negativity like on the public forum that's on Facebook that to me is like a cancer and it's out of control all it is is people stirring a pot up and a great town of International
Falls is stirring the pot up and I can say that you won't tell us not million it's less than that we don't know yet we're that's why I'll give you a figure 1.6 how is that about
1.6.6 yeah councelor Holden the isn't 20% that's what we're looking at right now is 1.6 the floor is not open for discussion uh under the rules of dorm councel or hold in I know you're giving a passionate hey I love this tone and I
you know what I get tired of the negativity and if you don't like me then vote me out here it is right here vote me out V for you is there any more discussion and thank you Council Holden it's important
that we keep the discussion at this point amongst the council is there any further discussion on this agenda item I think the the question being asked is they want a number I think I think we can't give a number until we can go ahead with this and finish up
with this study to get the number that's what we're looking at was there a meeting with Krauss Anderson last week that you attended no that we had okay not yet not yet no okay we go forward with this that's what we have last summer was the last time we talked
to them we got this okay uh call the question roll call vote beginning with councelor bler i i i i I'll vote no motion carries 41 thank you item
C considering approv lease renewal options for the ifpd at bakus which would be the current space in which the department occupies we do have in our packet a letter from bakus and I believe jogging
my memory two weeks that Mrs lundine had presented that letter um with basically any option that the council wanted to consider um going forward until the ifpd is housed in a new location I move we go
a month to-on lease with Backus second we have a motion by councelor Buller a second by councelor Wagner to go month to month on the current Backus lease which was an option uh given in the letter any discussion on that
topic call the question I hi I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 Z new business number
three adopt resolution approving transfer of funds from funds fund 250 sales and use tax fund to fund 450 sales tax construction accounts I'll move second motion by
councelor Buller second by councelor Holden Kaylor Kaylor Kaylor you'll get a stone yeah we're both on the end and wear glasses I didn't look did we get the proper I got it okay thank
you any discussion question starting with councelor Kor I I I I I'll vote Yes transfer is approved 5 Z new business number
four approve order of removal or repair in the matter of hazardous Building located at 22103 Avenue West is Chelsea online she is she is I mayor we can't hear you Mrs Nelson can
you hear me that's better oh my God I'm sorry I have my kids um this is an old house um the council approved to tear it down um in November or in the fall no service was completed in November and I'm just
getting back to this so I have it back on the account ccil agenda to bring it back to attention can that be turned up louder either I don't know Todd is it on our end or is it on Chelsea's end is this any better my volume's up as
high as it goes that's as high as you have Chelsea yes we have a wonderful it person Mr oel coming up to offer assistance well I think that's what he was doing he is
there's I'm out can you hear me now I was just go ahead uh Mrs Nelson uh thank you mayor so last summer this was actually brought before Council to go for tearing it down it did get um
quotes and it was um served on that person and service was complete in November and I lost track of the file um Fire Marshall Baldwin brought it back to my attention that um our timelines are up on it for service so it can be torn
down at any time okay thank you go ahead so mayor Chelsea would we need to requote that yes we would need to do a new quote for the lowest quotes um even when we were approved back last summer before
starting publication even that one if I had done that in November would have been too old so we do still need to requote it okay thank you I moveing we get quotes on the removal of this building okay we have a motion on the
floor by councelor buler second second by councelor Wagner is there a specific reason why Public Works isn't doing this as they did in the past and how much are we spending on
removal and repair of buildings I think I think it's a Time issue and other things things to do then tear down buildings I think it's about 10 to 12
for a tear down give or take that I've seen come through I just know that Public Works used to do it the guys enjoyed it it was our own time for the most part our own equipment so I just want to add that
that I I would hope at some point it's an option we can ask that and see if the time um currently allows for them to do it within the schedule of what other things they have going on like councelor killer indicated I think that's most of the issues are they have other projects
that interfered with them getting done in a timely manner and so they were bidden quote so we could ask public works first if they have the time to do it before going out for if that's okay with everybody would
yeah would you be comfortable with that motion councelor buer yes okay check with public works first before we do go out yeah for quotes yes and there is a second sure I'll second thank you councelor Kaylor
discussion question I I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 Z thank you Chelsea thank you I again for my children have a good evening number five consider letter of
support for the Voyer country ATV Club they're applying for a federal recreational trail program Grant I believe that Tom dhy is here to commissioner roach is here if you'd like to come forward
and explain anything about the proposed project thank you mayor uh Tom dhy had to step out he had to go present it to another club to see if they can get a letter of support uh looking for a letter of support for the
ATV uh Club wers country for pushing the trail in um we got grant funding all the way uh through St Louis county is actually going to come all the way up into County Road Three which is in cooch County and we are looking to go out to
get a funding for finishing the trail from Boondocks basically all the way into International Falls to bring the ATV group into our public area nice they did funding checks on this before um and
they actually did over $3 million worth of income for the ATVs riding around the Virginia Northshore area so if we can get them to get to International Falls we can actually make a complete loop from the NorthShore all the way to
International Falls all the way to MIDI basically it's enance once they get to here awesome so they're looking for a letter of support from the city council which the county is going to be their physical agent we've already sent a letter of support out for them well I make a motion that we support with a
letter for the voyagers ATV Club thank you councelor Holden do we have a second second second by councelor Buller any discussion on a great economic thing for our area question hi hi hi hi I'll vote
Yes letter of support passes 5 thank you commissioner thank you very much guys if you have any questions I can help you with the what he needs written up thank you thanks six other business for the council any other discussion topics
amongst the council seeing no further Business Report of all boards committees and department heads are in the packet any discussion on those topics next on the agenda there as promised there is a opportunity for
anyone who would like to come forward and address the council may do so at this time it's me again Susan wga 107 Park Avenue thank you so I just want to clarify and get this in my head right so
for the question that you brought forth regarding um oh demolition of the property if the public works department has the time and availability that would
be an option possibly in the future and was I right in remembering with the decrease from say 5 to three to 1.6 million for the kutasa building that
the electrical and stuff would be done by city employees possibility possibility so I mean that's a lot of possibility time away from city employees on their jobs right so I'm wondering how that
savings and time I I it just it's it's kind of like on this side it's we're doing it we're looking at it and that was brought up and then it's questionable about
whether or not that's an opportunity here so I guess I'm just trying to think of that's a huge jump from the original amount to this amount and using city employees I mean if there's that much
time maybe there's too many employees I I I'm just trying to figure it out in my head and again everyone's good people here everyone you know that's how we get raises and stuff is we're good people so
um I I just wanted to state that it just kind of is a mish mash to me in my head it's it's not it's not a done deal we're looking into this and trying to figure I get that but I just wanted to bring that up that and that's what we're that's what we gave the goad to is start
working on it now and try to work it out and see what the real numbers come out with at the end and I appreciate that I appreciate that you are going to work that out and when we get that we'll we'll present it because that's when we'll have it we don't have those numbers now do you understand though my conundrum with that at all no I
understand understand all right that's I just wanted clarify it so thank you to the council members for listening to us and um it's not easy I get that we're all upset you guys are upset and on pins
and needles um but it's serious stuff and I think we all are just worked up so that's it thank you thank you she obviously on benedic 9096 straight
again chair Holden I know you I've known you for a long time I respect you nobody here is saying that the police don't do a good job I got that okay noting that whatsoever wait let me speak nobody's
disputing that this isn't about this this meeting is not about that okay so nobody's disputing that okay we all think that they do a great job I myself have called on a house that was dealing meth and there was a huge huge huge bust
and it was police and Sheriff together that came big meth lab downstairs okay couple houses over from me so I 100% back them up okay nobody's disputing their job nobody that's not what this meeting is about this meeting
is about Council what they do for the citizens what is the best thing for the citizens not for one small group of citizens it's for the best majority you represent a certain part of the town you represent a certain part you represent a
certain power you represent so it's for all of us not just one little time Clan right it's not about what job they're doing nobody's disputing that that's not what this is about well I'll tell you something
Rhonda I back all the different departments besides the police department and I'm 100% behind them because I was one for 40 years okay I understand that and so my heart's in the game with all the Department Public
Works Police Department fire department and I want the best for all of them so do I but they're citizens we're paying the bills yeah but we we're keeping our we've kept our part this year especially where we kept the taxes way down okay
5.8 take a look anywhere else we've done a good job we really have you can say that I understand that but we've been paying for multi-million dollar jobs back to back and our taxes have jumped substantially over and over and over
years in a row and these those taxes come out at the same time people have to pay income taxes and all those things just line up in a row we have to look at it's hard for people we have to look at each thing and this is one that I felt was very
important um but yeah you're right we have a lot of irons in the fire a lot definitely and I've brought that to the attention to all of us that we got so much going on we're trying to fix so many different things that yeah we maybe
got to slow down in some areas but this one here it's in my heart that we've I've studied this thing okay it I sit at home and I I've studied this and and I believe that the route we took is the
best for the police department I is just about what's in your heart it's about what's in everybody's pocketbooks yeah I got that but we're going to keep it down the best we can Rond it's they you have to listen to what your
people your tax paays your citizens are saying I've listened many times and this particular one I believe is how I believe I believe we're doing the right thing not
listening but again I want to we're not here to dispute whether the police department does I got that but I always throw that in there because I'm so proud of them okay yes so is everybody else if they knew if people knew some of the dangerous
situations I do I was married to law enforcement I got that I got that my daughter dated law enforcement my daughter is married to law enfor I get it I know it I you don't have to tell me I know that everybody knows that if I
think with the vote um that we just had I would ask that because I know there's going to be a lot of ongoing questions um with the situation with where the PD will eventually be located so I would ask that the councilors be
reached out to um directly that includes me um and that we communicate with our constituents on these issues yes clearly the town is speaking
no body's listening thank you thank you very much I'm not Wheeling my walk there cherl 6046 street so so we don't have a price that we've got 5 million million
to now 1.6 million you said but councilman Buller said that you don't really know and so what we're here and is we're going to try to keep it as low as we can but there's not a price there is no price there's no bid my
husband's Works he's been a contractor for 40 years and I'll tell you what it's going to cost you more than you think it's going to cost you absolutely will it just it that's what's going to happen also I don't think our public for is garbage or trash or whatever that is our
free speech that's where we discuss things that we're not allowed to come here and debate with everybody and we need a voice and that's where our voice is we talk to each other we make our complaints we figure things out and that's our right to free speech so
that's what our forum is but this is going to cost you more than you think it's going to cost you and I know that from being married to a contractor for 40 years in this town he works in this town so that's all I have to say about
that you thank you I got shame I you I mean I'm hearing okay 1.6 I'm hearing no no we don't know what it is yet yet you Tim already said no it's
$110,000 a year is it I right that's what you're going with you you're running with 110,000 a year what's that based on the 1.6 or is that based on unknown no the 1.6 what's the base on the cost of the
project the 1.6 okay and we're hearing well that's not going to be 110 then so it's likely it's not going to be 110 well I I think what you're hearing is we're trying to lower it not increase it that's what he's getting now that's why I said we're
trying to lower it more than that okay are you sh for6 I assume you might be going higher so you don't want to no no okay that's the whole point of using the city employees for some of the renovations and uh Chief krick's already cutting
things out that they don't get it even lower we're trying to get it lower I assume that using this city employees was bringing it down from 3 million to 1.6 no no absolutely not suggested that was one way great to cut some of the
cost no to cut some of the cost was there are some different areas that maybe we could use Public Works employees yes um I'm just saying so I would I would do everything we can to keep it down I would be more than happy
if you got it down to 77 okay I agree thank you I would ask that in regard to the vote on the katas building and law enforcement that we would I would encourage and ask that the councilors or myself or or our administrator be
reached out to directly uh for any more comment on that issue uh that has been discussed at length tonight with that um we are under public comment so the floor is open I'm
Joe again Joe caner 16007 13th Avenue West and as far as construction goes for this job it's been a it's it's a bad spot I mean it's not it's it's got flood problems it's got a lot of work to do to
it compared to what the back has has to it right now I mean even though the backas is renting out their place for $6,000 mayor didn't we say we're not we're done with this yes thank we're done with this that's a sad thing with that topic but you can continue if
there's another topic that you'd like to address okay I okay just ask a quick question just to get it on the record when this goes to five or6 million and I was married to Carrie Myers I know a little bit about how much
things go up okay from what you say so when this goes up to 5 million you're telling us you're not going to charge us more next year right yes or no because you're so sure you can do it but hypothetical question totally yes
if it does go up to 5 million no but it was it's a unkknown 5 million this price the prices are unknown of what it's going to cost that's all I can say right now because that's all I heard tonight is you got the prices going from one price to another but actually it's
unknown what it really is going to cost because of inflation point of order Mr Mayor hey we're done yeah we're done I was just talking about the price thank you and please take the opportunity to reach
out freedom speech there is there anyone else that would like to speak with that being said correspondents letters from the chamber or public library is there anything that needs to be
addressed administrator Bergstrom reminders next regular city council meeting is Monday March 3rd 2025 5:30 p.m. this meeting is adjourned