It's 5:30. I will call this city council meeting for the city of International Falls to order. Please rise and we will recite the pledge. >> I pledge 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, Councelor Buller is absent this evening.
And at this time, we can move on to the agenda with a proposed deletion of item three. I will move. >> Thank you. Councelor Kaylor >> second. >> And councelor Holden. Is there any
discussion? >> I would ask the question. >> I I >> I >> I'll vote yes. The agenda is approved unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to the approval of minutes.
I have one question. Do we typically I don't see minutes for the budget committee meeting that we had. >> The meetings themselves just committee as a whole and city. >> Okay. Thank you for that update.
>> They are saved and taken but they're not. >> Okay. Thank you. First, the minutes of the Monday, July 6th, 2026 public hearing on Francon's
third division in regard to vacation of certain streets and alleyways. Second, minutes of the Monday, July 6th, 2026 regular city council meeting. Third, minutes of the Monday, July 13,
2026 special city council meeting. And lastly, fourth minutes of the Monday, July 13th, 2026 committee of the whole meeting. Any questions or changes? >> I'll make the motion.
>> Thank you, Councelor Holden. >> Second. >> And councelor Wgner with support. Is there any discussion on approving these sets of minutes? >> Seeing none, I'd ask a question. I >> I >> I I'll vote yes and the minutes are
approved unanimously. >> Thank you. At this time we will move on to payments and claims. >> I don't know. >> I would uh entertain that in
just a uh about 30 seconds after I read them off. Counselor. Oh yeah. Whoops. Sorry. I forget that part every first transfers to fund number 101, our general fund
from number 812 lodging tax fund, $86,94. That is the total transfers and accounts payable in claims. City of International Falls claims 1,85,612.34. International Falls Public Library Board
claims $4,936.76. Total accounts payable in claims 1,90,54910. I'd entertain your motion at this time, councelor Taylor. >> I will move. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Councelor Wagner. Is there discussion on
payments, claims, and transfers? >> Seeing none, I will ask the question. >> I I >> I vote yes. And these payments of claims are passed unanimously.
Thank you again. At this time is our audience open forum. If you would like to come forward and address the council, please do name and address for the record and limited to five minutes. >> Oh, good evening, council. It's been a
while since I've been up here. Um, please >> I just really have a quick Oh, my name is Ed Bates and address >> 108 Riverview Boulevard. >> Thank you. Um, can you explain to me what rules it is that you would like the people of International Falls to follow? Do we
follow statute, city ordinance? Um, and the reason I bring this up is that Minnesota statute requires that the city post um the filing period for this upcoming election um in the two papers
previous to uh the filing dates start. Um I have those here um and that hasn't been followed. So, if the goal is that we would lead by example, um I'm curious as to why that's
not being done. And I understand it's an administrative issue, um but in the past um when people of this community came together um during the recall um that was struck down over an administrative issue. So, what rules do you want them
to follow? I'm sure the people would very much like to know. Well, I think that if there's a question regarding filing for office, is that what your question is? >> Yeah. Now, I I'm filed I filed for
office. I'm running. This is not for me. This is an issue for the rest of the town. ultimately if there's somebody else that wasn't aware of which positions were available or when they should do it, where they should do it, um, and what that filing
fee is, um, all of the surrounding communities, including the school board did it, um, and filed. So, I mean, if if the if the city doesn't have to follow the statute, why do the people
>> that notification process, that's some type of statutory requirement for the city, but I believe that attorney Nelson is on virtually, and I would hand that off to both her and our administrator.
Um, and if it's something that we can't answer tonight, we will get a answer as soon as we can. Mayor, I can answer since Chelsea hasn't chimed in yet. There is state statute that tells us the timeline in which we
have the first day and the last day and the time period in which we have to file that notice of um what it what um positions are open, the filing dates and who to contact, where to file. All of
that was posted in two um uh editions of the uh Rainy Lake Gazette. I do not have the document in front of me that indicates the two dates. I don't have them off the top of my head, but um we did post them and print them, publish them in two editions of the gazette as
required by state statute. >> Thank you. >> Okay, >> I can provide that to Mr. Bates if you like. >> You could provide the the dates of the Yep. >> the filing. >> Yep, I sure can. Absolutely. >> And then I guess my other question for
you is Well, I'll tell you I'll let you go through your meeting and then I'll come back up. >> Thank you. Seeing no further at this time, there will be an opportunity towards the end of the meeting uh to come forward again.
We will move to new business. Uh, first under new business, I would like to invite Representative Roger Scrub forward uh with a legislative update for the council and his constituents.
>> Good evening. >> Uh, good evening. Thank you, Mayor Council. Um, I I planned on being here earlier today, but all the things happening in the community that I live in in Elely, I got
way late. I left town at 3:05, something like that. So, it I didn't get to do what I wanted to do, be more prepared and everything. But, um, and I will speak about the fires. Uh, first and foremost, what I want to I want to thank you all. um you were successful in
getting $5 million from bonding for your water treatment. That was one of the bigger that there were not a lot of large uh um buyouts or gins this year. They were 5 million was getting big, 15 was rare.
You know, those are big communities. But uh we did spend $1.2 2 billion dollar on bonding. And uh between Senator Hoschild and myself, the way we do it is, you know, obviously I'm a Republican, he's a Democrat. He goes to his people and say,
"This is what I want." And I go to my people and say, "This is what I want." And those people don't talk to each other. So, we get you get best of both worlds here. It works out to everyone's advantage in the district. Um and uh we
we did very well uh very very well for for the people we represent. Um and they're all good worthy projects. Uh water plant in in I falls uh just a small million and a half in uh Grand Marray for their sewer. They needed uh
they needed five, but they really needed nine. So they're going to come back again and and we'll do that. Uh Ele got like three and a half for their water line between Burnside Lake and and uh these are all just what what what I'm
trying to really stress to everyone is the more we can get you in this bonding money, the less you have to the user pays and the taxpayers pay. And and these are all good jobs that are provided. This bonding money is all unionun uh it's Davis Bacon wages. So
it's um and preferably they're they're in my world I've been being uh um I I think union workers do a better just for me not it's not not true I'm sure do
a more thorough job for me the experience that I've had in my life um there are just as many good non-UN shops but as a rule when the union guys come to work on a project a big project it gets done once, they don't come back to
do it twice. And that's how you have success is the number of times your project gets done. If it gets done once and you're out, that's great. Sometimes mistakes are made or things change and then you have to do it twice. That's where it gets
um that's where it gets hairy, I guess, is the best way to describe it. You lose it's not it's not healthy. Um but we were we worked hard on this everything bonding day the meetings I sit on capital investments so I I kind of see
what's going on and um I also sit on legacy we had a lot of projects in northern Minnesota the DNR and projects in this area also um that we had to
negotiate extra to get that bill pass. Um, and but we did finish it. Not quite the last day, but real close to the last day. A lot of people were nervous. I I I want to say they think um so many new numbers in my head. I I
can't remember if it was 229 million or something, but it was a fair amount of dollars in that bill. Um, just recently, um, we got done. I also sit on the legislative citizens commission on Minnesota resources LCCMR
and we um just um allocated 129 million in projects and I'm at a loss. I can't remember if there's any specific for you up here, but I do encourage you um either I I think legacy if you're not
done with your band shell, I think it's important that we sit down and try to get a bill written so that we can get you some unless it's already done and it's out the door the project, but if it's not, we can maybe try to help you get some funding for that project. Uh
it's an arts we can go to the arts board part because obviously there's bands it's band shell and it's very it's used a lot in this community. So um that that we can help you with. Um we did some ambulance stuff but not like
the prior two years. Um I I think you guys are living proof of the ambulance issue in this state. Um actually everyone in my district, you know, you just International Falls,
Elely, Grandmarie, Cook, Big Fork, Little Fork, all everybody. Um it's just not a money maker. It's a you you spend a lot of money on it and we can't even break even. We can't other ones do. And when we bring this issue to the
legislature, what happens is the metro area doesn't need. They have enough ambulances and they have enough people volume that they don't need to be subsidized. Ours needs to either be redone, start from scratch, and
figure out how to do this. Obviously, you're going to end up taxing the people for this. Um I happen to be in the camp that I believe you know police, fire and ambulance are the same to me. I don't I know we we do not have them in the same
categories now. Police and fire get funded but ambulance doesn't but I think it should be in the same group of because it's a public service that um um government can do a good job with. There are private industries that do it, but when you get up here this far north or
even by Healey, it's not it's not profitable. So, nobody wants to do it. So, the government has to come in and help. And I I I'm will keep working on a solution. Um I don't know what the magic bullet is. I wish I did. I would have used it
already, but it's a not a complex issue. It's just where is it going? is if the federal government were to up their ante, it would solve everything. We wouldn't have any issues. But they're not doing that anytime soon. You're not going to see that anytime soon. And it
doesn't matter which administration it was. If it was Biden or Trump, it's beyond them. It's beyond that. It's um if we open up the Medicare Medicaid bill to put ambulance mileage higher, then
every doctor is going to say, "I need more money for the knee, for the shoulder, for everything." Then all of a sudden, there's not enough money for anything. So that's why it's not being looked at. One of the reasons it's not being looked at because you just can't go in and just do one thing. It'll get
way more and then it's not feasible. That's your federal part. That's the way it's going to work. Um um I have been in contact with uh your hospital folks. You're trying to get a hospital in town. I applaud that. I'm
I'm we're going to try to work as much as we can to help wherever we can help to get that. I think it's important that your community has a um real live breathing hospital. I think it's important um and you're upgrading
and trying to make it right. Uh, I look forward to working with them and you guys. Um, we we did some economic development stuff in the legislature this year. We brought down some tab fees. These are all one-time fixes. They're not the fix
fix that we're trying to do, but every little bit that we can help for a year or two years means a lot. on the on the um opposite side of that. So you
cut the tab fees, what we did is we had surplus. So we're going to use that surplus to buy down the tab fees because the tab fees pay for the roads and we raise the tab fees in my opinion
way too high and we got to figure out how we can still get money into that road account. I also sit on transportation uh committee and we need we we obviously don't have enough money for all the projects but we need a good
source of money. The tab fees was part of it but it's just it's very ownorous for the average person to go and spend $1,000 a year to drive their vehicle or $800 a year when they were used to spending less. So we're we're all trying
to find a better way to solve that problem. Um, local government aid obviously helps you guys a lot, helps the communities that I represent, almost all of them, if not all of them. Um, it's important that our voice is still
heard at the at the legislature. It's important that we, um, keep that LGA at the level it's at. Um um we don't we don't have the advantages that the
um here's my spiel. This is the way I explain it. In northern Minnesota, we have our economy is based on uh natural resources. Whether it's trees, mining, dirt, gravel, whatever it is, that is where a large portion of our income
comes from in all the communities around. It's in the metro area. They have businesses that just take money from another business and make money. And it's an economy on an economy. It's it
their economy is based on the the number of more people and more money flowing. We don't have that advantage. We we have fewer people. We don't have that kind of money that we can flow. I falls is an example where it does work. When that
plant is going full boore, there's a lot of money floating around moving through all the businesses and all the employees and that helps the community. Multiply that by 20 and that's a normal community down in the metro area. That's how they function. That's how they get by. We
have one, you know, and you go into Two Harbors, you know, they have LP and they have they have some other manufacturing, but we we as a communities, we need to work with our friends in the metro to
spread that love. And I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm saying LGA every time gets looked at from the Metro people because they're like, you know, we pay for you. Well, if you add up what we spend send down in sales tax and what
we use, I'm not saying it's a wash, but we help a lot, too. It's not like we're just idle and we just take take. We put in a lot. Also, um the I'm trying to think some of the other
committees. Housing, we we were very successful this year in housing and we got um about 16 million for workforce housing in greater Minnesota. And that is a shot in the arm. Uh the developers
were asking for more and more and more. So, we delivered and we're going to hopefully see some housing. I don't know if you folks have used any um trying to access any of those funds. They'll be available this summer. Um it's it's important that we keep revitalizing our
h housing stock as we all know. Um as far as the legislature, I don't have anything else, but I'll take questions. But I I do want to talk about the fires. Um, you guys did get some of the smoke and I don't know if it
was from our fires or the Canadian fires or up north. I don't know which which smoke you got. I was I was talking to different folks in the community. It was like, you guys got smoke? No. I'm like, I need to tell the people that are leaving Elely to go to High Falls
because there's no smoke there. And and it truly is a big deal because a lot of people can't, you know, health reasons, things like that. they come up on holiday on vacation and you know they're like this isn't what we want. We got to go and hey just go two hours away and
you got clear air and you got a great lake and h have at it you know. So we're trying to do our part on that and um every morning roughly at 10:00 a.m. we have um um
I'm I'm part of the the leadership listening to what's going on. everything is going on and um today was a quiet day till the wind started blowing then it became a moving day and when you have a moving day that
fire starts to move um what it did the wind picked up substantially all them lightning strikes we had the other day with a storm that went through this breeze finally gave the air that
those lightning strikes needed to show themselves. So far, we've had two new fires. Um the first one was yesterday evening. They were they were up and around and they noticed the smoke. They were going to Big Lake to go fight the fire just off the Echo Trail and they
saw that and within 7 minutes of being seen, it was put out. That's the priority to do that. This afternoon while I was driving here, um, another one of those lightning strikes about three miles south of the Ele airport
blowing towards Birch Lake. Um, somebody finally saw the smoke. Uh, the fire had already grown to 4 acres and it's completely out. They got that one too. That's the kind of priority we we have a
complex of fire incident command team in Elely right now. Um there's three levels. You got Nimics Minnesota and then you have NEMO the national and then you have the complex fire where they oversee everything and they have access
to everything. 737s retardant food everything. This they're going to be there for the summer. There's the fire right now is burning into the duff anywhere from two to four feet. And the firemen that are on the
fire lines, the fire people, uh they're they're seeing this and and they fly over at night when they can. Uh the other last week the smoke was so thick they couldn't fly. They couldn't do anything. So now they're flying and they're finding the hot spots where the
heat and then they send crews in to try to put that out. And cuz like the guy from Louisiana or Arizona, I'm sorry, from Flagstaff. He's part of the incident command and last night he spoke at our we had a city of Elely. We had a
uh a community meeting. What's the fire doing? What are you doing? And he he he comes up and says, you know, I've never seen so much water. How can you guys have fires? You got so much water. You know, and it's like, well, you're going to find out. and and we have
unprecedented dry the the the amount of wood, the amount of air, everything is the perfect storm. It it's finally we've all been talking about it for years. It's finally come to fruition. So, uh
the DNR finally um uh banned fires in the state parks up on I I found out on Friday they still allowed fires in the state park. And I called the DNR and I said, "Leadership and I said,"Hey, what are you doing?" And they're like, "What do you mean?"
"Oh, our our people said, you know, it's it's okay as long as it's in the pit." I'm like, "Dude, there's a spark is going to light everything. I mean, this is unprecedented. What? Well, we'll close it on Monday." I'm like, "No, no, cuz what happens if you burn everything down today? I can still come there tomorrow
and start a fire again because you know your rules say I can have a fire till Monday." Okay, let me do they call back and those and in those two uh state parks they banned it immediately and because there were still people there a
lot of people and now as of today everything is no more open fires anywhere um it is dangerous it is um just pray that the person that thinks oh it's just a barrel I burned that barrel
a million times don't do it because that ember can go right like we've seen like what's freaking everybody out uh from this incident command and these fires where we are. They're jumping lakes 3 four miles across and it's like there it's just like how
can that happen? Well, when you get those 30 mph winds and you know um on Iron Lake and in the Boundary Waters, it burnt um Peterson Bay 3 Island, four island, it just hopped island right into
Canada and the Canadians up by the Canadian village, Lac Lacroy Indian village has been uh evacuated completely 100%. And that fire jumped Coleman Island in the middle of Lacroy just past the village and it's starting to now
turn and if we get a east wind then the village will. So we are actively the United States is actively trying to keep that fire down. So we got this international thing going as you fully aware. We're trying to keep everything
all at odds. Um, for obvious reasons, I'm spending a lot of time on this. Uh, so I may not be the best candidate for running around trying to do the other part of my job to, but
but I think, uh, we've got a lot of good people >> in charge of this. Um, this is like a military operation when when you get there. Um, and I was in the military and one of the things I can safely and honestly say about the military is when
it comes to this kind of stuff, they are they they got it the best. They know they've been through so many. They know what they're doing. Um, we have we have this set up in Elely right now. Food trucks, um, um, supplies, you name it,
it's all there. It's everything. It's gonna So, and the fire that we had a small fire come from quite park over in Little Knife towards Grand Marray and that's the only one that is in that section of the Boundary Waters. But again, it's so dry out there. They don't
want anyone in the woods cuz it it the one moved 5 and a half miles in one afternoon. Um I could paddle fast. I can't paddle five miles an hour. I can paddle three, you know, maybe. And and when you've got
heat chasing you, you know, not it's as much as I hate to say, you know, it's I shut the woods down because economically, um, we are Grant and I are having a roundt on Friday morning in Elely. Uh,
so many businesses have been affected that we have to address this issue. and Senator Kle Butcher was in Elely and you know she's shoot her speech and and as far as the economic stuff you know Senator Hutchild and Representative Scrabber are going to help us on that
you know and I'm like okay Senator this is your federal land you got to give us some money to make this thing work so we're going to all work together we'll we'll try to help and make a solution here you know all ideas are welcome so we're we're going to do that um as far
as Anything else? I'm trying to think what else we worked on for you folks this year and it's not ringing any bells, but do you have any questions of me? Do you have anything for the council, please? >> Yeah.
No, I just I want to say though that you guys working together basically nonpartisan and that's great. I I mean I applaud that. I I was a big union boy now for 50ome years, but I applaud the fact that
you guys are working together. I really do. I mean, these are hard times. >> Um, and so I just thought I'd let you know that. >> Thank you, Commissioner Council Member. I I Senator Hashild and I started like
this and it's been four years and like now um just this morning we were talking and he's like have you been getting a lot of calls about like business economy and I'm like yeah he goes we we need to have a town meeting.
I go and we talked about it yesterday and just brought it up in conversation and then this morning we're like let's just pull the trigger. Let's do this. So, we're going to do it. Um, you know, again,
the way I see our jobs once we're elected, we represent you. That's our job. You know, the party is second. you know, now when it comes to campaigning, I guess you you could say that's how the parties get involved. But again, in the
end, you know, what's the knowledge? I'm just I I can't when I when I was the mayor of Elely and when I wasn't the mayor of Elely I was like what a waste of knowledge you know because because I I have so much to
give and so much to do and and then it just when you start looking at and I don't care who's you know I don't mean it in a cavalier way but whoever it is I'll work with you know and like I'm driving the other day to a function in
Big Fork and Senator K butcher calls me up and says Hey, how' that how did you think that went? We're just talking, you know, like normal people. It's >> uh we need more of it. There's no question. We do. >> And and I think if the public can
understand that it's not all, you know, knives and daggers, you know, that sort of thing that and and it takes an individual. It's not for everyone >> because this is sometimes this is a very
um difficult position. Very difficult because you got to make a decision like we're going to on Friday we're going to have a bunch of people that want money now. They need it now and you know and I'm telling we got you know got to wait but we'll find it. We won't stop till we
find it. So and I hope you guys don't get to that point. I hope the smoke and everything stays the way it has been. Um, but the fire team told us you're going to need a named storm to put this fires out or
snow, i.e. a hurricane or the snow and we don't get hurricanes. >> So they said basically you're going to be we're going to be here till winter >> and that's just the way unless some freak of nature happens. So hopefully
the winds, everything works and we keep going what we do. But um and again it's pretty impressive. No injuries, no deaths. Um and it is knocking on it came down from the Boundary Waters to the
Echo Trail and it's that one is close. That one, the one by Healey, they're really pouring a lot of water on it, trying to keep it down because that one, if we get a northeast wind, boom, you know, it's five miles away. It jumped 5 miles in one day before,
but we're pretty confident it's not going to. And we have the resources now to make sure that it can't, you know, we can cut fire line and we can put retardant lines. So, what it there's a lot of thought going into this. There's this is what these people do. This is
it. So, I feel confident that they're confident. Any other questions? I want to thank you, by the way, or congratulate you. You got the lead water. Was that the the one? Right. >> And then just this morning, I got an
email from PFA that you got uh for another hydrants or whatever they were. I can't remember. >> Another what? You got another uh loan. You were approved for another loan. Um
is that a portion of the Ninth Street >> lead service lines? >> Lead service lines probably. >> Um I I thought it was separate. Let me look really quick. Someone if they want to um Where's my
balls? And well, they say 5G is the best. It's terrible. Just sits there and spins. >> Sits there and spins. >> Yeah. Um, but no, I got something or hydrants
or something. Um, connections. Um, let me look real quick. There it is. Um um I'm pleased to inform you of the Minnesota Public Fil facilities
authority approved project financing city of International Falls replacing the 69th water manes. >> Yeah. >> Drinking water loan. >> Ninth Street. >> Ninth Street. >> That's that. >> Yeah. That's different than the lead lines, right? >> It is. Yeah.
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, you've got both now. >> Yeah. >> So, um and again, when we were in bonding, we're trying to put 300 million into that bonding so we can get these some of its grant, some of its loan
money so that we can do more projects. And at 28%, 1 9% that helps a lot of communities, a lot of them. um rather than going out into the open um they figure they save
taxpayers about $388,000. So it's >> and you know like everywhere else you got to keep that you got to keep maintaining that stuff you know because otherwise it just middle of the winter is not fun to maintain when you can do it now.
Anything else? >> Well we're very thankful for uh your service. um legislatively and your work with your counterpart in the in the Senate. We're we're thankful for the relief and uh for being able to borrow
from PFA cheaply. >> Yeah. >> And uh for the grant for the water treatment plant, all those things add up and they're all things that we would either use or pay or levy for. um which helps our community and our thoughts and
prayers uh to all the communities being affected by the fires we've been with our proximity in Minnesota. We're kind of on the western edge of where those generally occur and uh I don't think any
of us care to find out but we're certainly thinking of our friends in different places. It it also is affecting the Northshore smoking that um Grand Marray. I got an email today from them saying everyone
quit coming. They just and the business owners are is there any support? So what Grant and I are doing this Friday, we're going to repeat the next Friday in Grand Marray and have a town hall and just try to get, you know, a feeling for what's going on. Um so it's it's
in in the truest sense it's not pretty. It's not good. It's not something cuz it's a very difficult issue as a community, you know, how how do you who gets it? How much? All those things need
to be answered. So, I'm I I'd be lying if I say I'm looking forward to solving that problem, but but it is what it is, you know, and I'll work on it. We'll, you know, we'll all work together and we'll find a solution. But I just, you know, I hope you guys
don't have to go through it. I I'm thankful where we are now and um keep making paper. We're going to be >> All right. Thank you. Thank you for everything. >> Thank you. >> Thanks.
At this time, we will move to number two of new business with Travis HooL, who I believe is with us virtually. Uh, waters of the dancing sky scenic byway corridor management plan.
>> Yes. Hello, Mayor D. Thank you so much for having me. Can you all hear me okay in the room? >> It's a little quiet. I can see if I can talk a little bit louder here. Uh, how's that? >> That'll work. Thank you. >> Fantastic. Um, if I if I may be so bold,
I'd also like to take a moment before my presentation to introduce Shawn Bartlett with our team here at Arrowhead Regional Development Commission. Um, to just give a quick word about a project he's working on in the in the Coochin County area. Um, Sean, if you'd like to unmute and share.
>> Yeah, thank you Travis. Um, and good evening everyone. Thank you for having me. I just wanted to um take a moment to share this new project. So there has been a project going um in the Northshore and in the St. Louis and Cook
counties region um that's been working towards uh community and climate resilience and trying to get as many stakeholders as possible throughout the region um to plan and strategize um around these around these issues that
we're currently experiencing. Um, and I just think it's very timely to follow this after uh, Representative Scraba's uh, presentation because um, we actually have received some funds from the legislative uh, citizens commission on
Minnesota resources to extend this these efforts toward the west. So um, Cuchaching County, Itasca County and u, Aken County are part of the Arrowheads Regional Development Commission uh, jurisdiction. But then we're also partnering with the headarters uh
regional development commission to try and expand and and really take care of uh north central Minnesota and make sure that we're working with as many stakeholders as possible to try and identify some goals and target areas to help strengthen the community resilience uh of throughout all of these
communities. Um and with that this uh project is going to be a three-year project. We are hoping in the first year to get as many stakeholders involved as possible and communicate with as many uh local government entities, regional entities, state entities. Uh and then
with everything that we learn in this first year, spend the next two years developing technical assistance programs and pilot programs to try and implement some new innovative strategies and work on this community resilience plan. So,
um there's a lot more information we could go into. I don't want to take away any more time from Travis. He's got a lot he's got to share. Um, but I just wanted to introduce myself again. Um, I believe my contact information will be on the last slide that Travis will have for you today. Um, and thank you so much
for your time. >> Wonderful. Thank you, Sean. And one last note that I'll mention uh on on Sean's project and and on on this project as well, the waters of the dancing sky scenic byway. Um, we will both be joining the the Cooching County uh board meeting for presentations with a bit
more information uh at their meeting in Birchdale coming up on the 28th. So, this this next Tuesday, not tomorrow, but next week. Um, so I encourage folks to uh um those those who are interested to to come out to the Birchdale uh Cuchin County meeting at their at their community building um to to engage with
us further. But I will jump right into things. And yeah, I see the slides are on the shared screen. So, I'll I'll just jump right into my presentation. I'll try to keep us uh moving rather quickly. Um again, my name is Travis Hulie. I'm a senior transportation planner with Arrowhead Regional Development's planning commission or uh ARDC uh
plannings division. Uh and I'm here to talk about the uh Waters of the Dancing Sky Scenic Byway. Uh so I uh I'll let I'll let the uh whoever's in the room controlling the slides kind of move through things here. But um at a high level, my overview tonight, I'll talk a bit about our project at a high level. you know, what is a scenic byway? What
is the corridor management plan and why we're updating this document now? Uh I'll then jump into more of a uh overview of the corridor, you know, known conditions, uh known intrinsic qualities. I'll spend a little bit of time on our project timeline and then we'll talk more about how you can get
involved. Uh so go ahead on to the next slide, please. Thank you so much. Uh yeah, so tonight the purpose of my presentation is to is to garner and document local perspectives as it pertains to um priorities in the in the community of If Falls and in the greater
region along the Waters of the Dancing Sky Scenic Byway corridor. Um I apologize I'll I'll get to that corridor more specifically here on in a couple of slides, but just really highle checkbox items here as a part of this process. Um, you know, we're here to make sure that this document is updated to reflect
current conditions and that those conditions and priorities of the communities along the corridor align with regional and statewide goals. Um, and ultimately, you know, we're doing so uh in an effort to continuously support improvements uh along this byway corridor. Um, you know, so again,
throughout the presentation this evening, if I'd love it for folks to spend time, you know, thinking about uh places that you love spending time, places where you see opportunities for safety improvements, um, and other areas where you might see opportunities to otherwise enhance the visitor experience
of those traveling along the corridor. Now, what is a scenic byway? You know, I'm sure many folks are familiar with what a scenic byway is generally, but more, you know, the textbook definition here is it's a public roadway that's been designated for having its outstanding scenic, natural,
recreational, cultural, historic, or archaeological qualities. Those are specific qualities that are defined by FHWA to designate scenic byways. We have three different classification levels. We have local scenic byways, state scenic byways, and federal scenic
byways. Uh, Waters of the Dancing Sky is a state uh, Minnesota state scenic, by the way, and it's one of 22 that exist in the state. Um, it just celebrated its 28th birthday this year in early in May. Um, from its original establishment date. However, back in 2002, uh, that
border, the border on the west end of the corridor was extended from Carlstead um, all the way to the North Dakota border. And what does it take to be designated the scenic byway? I won't spend too much time on this slide really. You know, the main uh element here is that there is
something special about this corridor, whether it be a natural feature, um human-built structures or cultural monuments, uh scenic vistas and overlooks. Um really, you know, the purpose of that designation is to promote that space to preserve that space, to build partnerships among the
the local entities that are responsible for segments of that corridor, and to build pride and overall awareness of this corridor. You know, we ultimately designate scenic byways as a economic development strategy to help promote and pro or while while also promoting and protecting the natural and and cultural
resources that um we hold dear to place. Uh now ultimately what is a corridor management plan? This is a document that tracks the current conditions along a roadway corridor. It defines the goals of the communities and representatives of the local um the local fabric of that
byway corridor. Uh it's a it's a concrete list of objectives and strategies that you know we establish and work to reestablish throughout time uh and track at the scenic byway council level which I'll talk a little bit more here in a little bit. Um, you know, we ultimately document who's responsible
for carrying out and and delivering projects, whether they be large projects like full roadway remill and overlays um or smaller uh cityscale projects, things like um you know, adding in uh amenities to um enhance the local visitor experience. You know, things like adding
bathrooms to your water access sites or to your parks, uh making sure there's running water for folks who come and visit your your your neck of the woods. and then ultimately tracking when those strategies and objectives will be completed. So, this is a a a collaboration of smart goals that we
work together to see come to fruition. And why are we doing this now? Well, this document was last updated by ARDC in concert with a few other partners that I'll speak about in a bit about 13 years ago. And generally speaking, it's best practice to update this at least 10 every 10 years. um you know as
throughout time roadway conditions, amenities, features along the corridor change. Uh and we are um tasked with making sure that this document accurately reflects the community of today. We also want to make sure like I mentioned on the previous slide that this document aligns with regional and statewide priorities which of course can
change throughout time. Um additionally planning how a community and a regional community support each other and subsequently the visitors that that bring new money into community. Um and additionally because this corridor extends across the state, we've got a very wide uh range of project
stakeholders at both our project management team level as well as our steering committee level. Um so uh this this process is being delivered in a similar fashion to how it has been done uh or how it was done 13 years ago where ARDC is taking the lead on the project and servicing the east side. Uh
Cuchching County is the furthest um west of in our arrowhead territory. Um and then uh as Sean mentioned, Headwaters Regional Development Commission, they operate in the middle of the state and will be servicing Lake the Woods County. Uh and last but certainly not least, Northwest is meeting with Kitson and
Roso counties. And really, we're breaking that up to ensure that we are um making sure that the planning teams that are working with local communities and performing this community engagement have a actual connection to the communities that they're working with. So jumping up to a very high level, I
may have been better served to start with this information, but I I want I want to share this with you now. Um again, uh the byway currently as it sits today is about 28 years old. It is one of 22 scenic byways in the state. It is also the northernmost scenic byway in
Minnesota, stretching approximately 229 miles from Voyager National Park all the way to the Red River at the Minnesota North Dakota border. Um, it primarily follows trunk Minnesota trunk highway 11, but it also takes uh limited segments on US Highway 59 as well as
Minnesota trunk highway 175. Um, it passes through multiple cities, towns, uh, unincorporated communities uh, and passes through four counties, multiple Mindot districts, and multiple RDO boundaries. Um those who might be familiar with this corridor will know that we have a variety of biomes that we
experience along this corridor from agricultural grasslands and croplands to dense aspen um aspen forest and pine forest. Um as well as lovely features such as uh open groves of orchids and and uh Minnesota state uh flower the showy lady slipper. Um like I mentioned,
you know, with intrinsic qualities, there's a lot to talk about here. Um, I'm going to not spend too much time on the vision, but this is our current vision statement of the byway. Um, this is a um a statement that's pulled together by our steering committee and influenced by our public engagement
efforts uh as we go through um our various meetings with various levels of community. Um, so I won't read this per se, but I welcome folks to to take a moment, read read the uh the current vision and know that by the time this process is completed, this may not be
the exact version of our vision. Um, as this was generated uh 13 years ago. Um, so I again I'm not going to read through it today. Uh, going to jump right into some of the the the various intrinsic qualities that we see along the corridor. Um, you know, one of the largest sources of intrinsic quality that we see on the corridor is
recreation. Um, of course we have a variety of um of of recreational types, but the vast majority of of respondents through our 20 or our 2013 update and this current update have all responded saying that, you know, fishing and other aquatic forms of recreation are really
the the main stay forms of of rec outdoor recreation along the corridor. We do also see other activities uh and have heard these things echoed at community engagement. things like bird watching and geocaching. Um offhighway trails uh through state forest lands on ATV UTVs, other motorized sports of
course biking um uh other recreational activities like golfing and as well as you know RV and tent camping sort of a crossover in a lot of ways uh comes into the natural um intrinsic quality. you know, of course, spending time out on the boat in nature, fishing, all very
much so, you know, sort of hybrid natural and recreational um, you know, qualities themselves. You know, as I continue through these slides, I want you to think about, you know, where you enjoy spending time and how you enjoy spending that time. You know, if it falls into one of these categories, I'd love to hear from folks at the end of my
presentation. you know, what stands out to you on this corridor is something that you feel should be promoted um uh or should be given attention, you know, with things like safety. Um you know, natural looks at a lot of different things. We've got glacial beach ridges
uh that dot this corridor. Um we have many surface bodies of water um uh varying from lakes and rivers to streams um and many different points to access those features. Uh you know, water access sites abound along the Rainy River. Uh we also have a variety of
state states parks and forest lands um wildlife management areas, SNAs and a and a myriad of county parks and forests. Um and of course uh we this would not be the waters of the dancing sky if it were not for the aurora borealis that we have the pleasure of viewing here in the north woods.
Getting on to our next intrinsic quality scenic. You know uh again a lot of crossover when it comes to scenic. you know, whether we're talking um you know, uh things to view from the car or places as destinations to get out of the car and spend time at things like you know, scenic overlooks and other ways sides,
we have a ver wide variety of these opportunities that exist along the corridor. And there's many exciting things and places to see throughout the calendar year. Um, and similarly to, you know, the natural, recreational, and and scenic, you know, the Aurora, the value of the Aurora Borealis and and that
being a natural phenomena that we're blessed with seeing in this region, um, certainly can't be undervalued and and is heavily promoted along the corridor. Moving on to our next in in terms of quality, historical. Um, you know, again, I'm sure I don't need to say too much about historical. The main
distinction here is when we talk about recreation history or um um scenic and natural features, those are generally uh you know have predated human existence. Uh whereas historical in our next uh um topics that we get to are much more so
um the genes like gen or created by humans. um you know so when we talk about historical we're talking primarily historical structures or um you know the uh spoken or written histories of of people who came to these lands before us you know your ancestors um and uh and
and others uh across the um across the region across the corridor. Um and that's represented you know again through physical structures um written uh written stories uh and uh you know other statuary or historical markers uh that dot the corridor.
Again definitely a very much humanmade phenomena is the c cultural intrinsic qualities. You know, here we're talking things like obviously rock in the river music fest. Um but we're also talking about um other cultural rituals uh that you might see, you know, um other types of community gatherings or celebrations
of arts and c like historical culture. You know, there's a lot of crossover when we start to get into the the nitty-gritty of these uh these intrinsic qualities. But that just goes to show that there is a um a a a fantastic fabric of uh of this history um and and
existence that that uh is intrinsic to uh the entire corridor. And they're all things that we want to make sure that we're capturing accurately in our planning documentation and pro or leveraging as promotional opportunities to to drive greater traffic to uh the community of international falls and far
beyond on the corridor. uh you know last thing I'll say about the cultural qualities here is that you know it t it takes a real community buyin to to manage maintain and promote cultural um uh qualities. You know things like musical festivals um you know taking the
time to invest in your community for these more arts and and rituals and promotion of those types of activities. Um it really does take a village when it comes to maintaining these. And so this especially is an area where we may see drastic change over the course of 13 years. You know um you know thankfully
rocking the river is still an an activity that happens along the corridor but there may be many more that we should be made aware of. And so again I encourage folks on the on the uh on the meeting tonight to to share those with us um as we go through tonight's presentation um or after the fact.
And last, but certainly not least, archaeological. Uh, you know, generally speaking in, uh, in Minnesota, at at the very least under our former document, the the vast majority of archaeological intrinsic quality that we tend to see are American Indian burial mound complexes that exist um along the
corridor itself. Um, and predominantly that that is the the Grand Mound um uh uh burial mound site as well as the Mckinstry mounds. Um both of these two are uh historical landmarks that are documented by the Minnesota uh natural
his or Minnesota uh history society um and are uh are are obviously you know have a archaeological intrinsic quality that um uh that that exists with and tells a cultural story um uh to this to this place. Um, you know, there may be
other types of archaeological um intrinsic qualities that we see, you know, things like um, you know, gen like it'd be human artifacts, like generally speaking, but there's a, you know, given that we have such a storied history of of human populations across northern Minnesota, uh, I'm certain that there
are other uh, types of archaeological qualities that we certainly could be documenting. But with respect to our current plan, uh burial mound sites uh vastly outweigh any other types of archaeological um qualities.
So moving on to project timeline. So that that was the you know the byway itself in in the form of its intrinsic qualities. Um just talking a bit more about our project timeline here. Currently we're in our data collection phase and we are about to start the formal CMP document drafting. Um CMP
meaning corridor management plan. uh you know that process is a little bit behind on our schedule right now. Uh but ultimately it proved to be most fruitful for us to um look to scheduling additional community engagement meetings. We did get a lot of really get great feedback. Uh for anybody in the
room who was at uh the International Falls Chamber Fest. Uh we had a really tremendous uh amount of uh community engagement that happened there. Uh, so I'm not sure if anybody from the chamber is present in the room, but I appreciate the uh uh the intention and I hope that you feel that that event was a success
because we certainly felt that it it really did a great job of helping us understand how people enjoy spending their time. Uh, CMP document drafting is going to be taking or taking place the latter part of this month in July here. Uh, but also is going to be looking uh
to um be completed here in August. We'll be getting our steering committee members back together to review that draft before we go back into our formal public engagement phase. And that's going to take place over this fall into the winter. Um the final CMP development is going to take place over the early
2027 period uh with final comments in January, February. Uh and then final acceptance of that document is anticipated for March of 2027. So between between now and then, we have ample opportunities for members of the public across the corridor to to share
their voice uh and let us know what places they feel deserve to be uh acknowledged and what other opportunities they see for things like safety or um enhancements to that visitor experience. Now, here's where I have a call to action for folks. I'd love for everyone
on this on the call uh as a part of the city council uh to consider getting involved in our scenic byway council. Um this is a volunteer citizen-led, citizen-run uh uh council um that each scenic byway in the state of Minnesota
um has uh and really the uh the purpose of the scenic byway council is to um provide input on our plan uh as it's being put together. Uh and then to support the implementation of the priorities that we identify therein. Uh so you know it's things like pushing our
our local um uh state representatives and mindot representatives to ensure that they're keeping projects like roadway reconditioning or resurfacing projects um at the top at the highest priority um you know uh and and completing those projects in a timely manner with uh to the expectations that
they set through their statewide transportation improvement program. Uh and then also doing things like making sure that other communities are aware of the importance of uh promoting the scenic byway. you know, uh, calling your neighbors to to have them come out and join us for our meetings. Um, share with
share with us their thoughts about, you know, what's important to them, uh, and where we can see opportunity to to have uh, direct grassroots citizen uh, influence on uh, this this corridor. You know, ultimately staying in touch with us does a lot of different things. Really, the main things here are that
you you help to shape the future and and you help to buy into the future by participating at the scenic byway level. uh you know, while there's many transportation partners that uh that extend across this byway corridor, um we really rely on citizens to get involved
and to help keep pushing uh priorities forward. Um you know, as as priorities change throughout time, you know, things like our our corridor management plan remains static and we want to make sure that, you know, this document by the end of our process represents your your needs of today. Um and that we have
community members that are um active in participating to make sure those things um arrive. uh uh you know in a timely fashion. Um so on the screen here I and on the next slide here as well I have a scanned QR code. Again I welcome folks to to scan that at any time. It'll take
you to a survey that we have where we're asking folks to to share their voice with our planning team. Uh you know that survey asks a lot of similar questions to these uh these these top three bullets that I have on the screen and I've echoed a couple of times tonight. You know, we'd love to hear your thoughts about places where you love
spending time and how you spend that time. Um, we'd also love to hear, you know, where might you see opportunities for safety improvements or um, you know, do you have concerns about uh certain intersections that should be looked at with a higher priority for safety? Um,
how how we uh take care of the roads uh throughout the throughout, you know, with respect to seasonal maintenance. Um, you know, I'm I I'm still getting caught up to speed on all of the uh the roadway maintenance techniques, but I know we heard a lot about sanding on the roadways when I was in International Falls um at a few specific
intersections. So, um uh and last but certainly not least, you know, how do we make sure that the visitors that are coming to the International Falls area and anywhere else on this corridor are leaving with those lasting memories that um you know, and and how do we influence and enhance that experience for them?
Um, so again, would love to hear about, you know, like during the course of the the last few minutes of this meeting, you know, what local issues or opportunities that you see that we could, you know, leverage to influence the byway. Um, I'd love for anyone and everyone to become members of our scenic byway committee. Um, I'd also welcome
and invite elected officials to participate in our steering committee. Um, we have a meeting not quite set, but we're looking to to set a meeting for early August to to revisit all of the community engagement findings, including anything that's generated from our meeting here tonight. And then last but
not least, um, if you scan the QR code on the screen, uh, and provide your email, we'll be sending out project updates throughout the life of the project uh, to make sure that, um, you know, throughout time uh, we're keeping engaged with you and and giving you the opportunity to share your comments. So
yeah, I'd love at this time if there are any uh questions, comments, or anecdotes about this corridor, um I'd love for uh to open the floor to to members of the meeting here. >> Well, thank you for the information and
the presentation. Are there questions from any of the counselors? it uh was quite informative and I just learned the other day from someone that it's quite the process uh to have a scenic byway as you explained and what
it means to our community and I hope that we can drum up some volunteers that want to participate in the process for you. We will definitely be back in the International Falls area as a part of the public engagement uh phase of the
project. And again um strongly encourage um participants of the meeting tonight to consider joining the the Cooching County uh board of commissioners for their regular meeting um on Tuesday the 28th at the Birchdale Community Center. Um I hear that it's it historically has
been a well attended meeting uh and I'm certainly hoping for for something similar. So, um, I I certainly hope to see a couple of familiar faces there. And if there's any other questions, I I definitely welcome them. >> Any questions? Well, thank you very much and please
keep us posted um on the progress and the engagement as this moves along. >> Wonderful. Thank you all. >> Have a great evening. We can move to number four. Item four of Excuse me.
>> Oh, I was pointing outside. >> Oh, it's raining. >> It's raining. >> This is a good thing. >> Yeah. We can move to item four at this time to consider a board of zoning appeals affirming the decision on a side setback
variance for Brandon Podpeser 120914th Avenue Board of Zoning Appeals Resolution 01-26. >> I'll move. >> Thank you. Councelor Kaylor >> second >> and second by Councelor Holden. Is there
any discussion? Seeing none, I'll ask a question. I >> I >> I vote yes. The motion carries unanimously. Thank you. >> We'll move to item five to consider
board of zoning and appeals affirming the decision on a side setback variance for Jake Rule 2414th Avenue East resolution 02-26 by board of zoning appeals.
I'll make the motion. >> Second. Thank you. Councilors Holden and Wagner. Is there any discussion? Would ask the question. >> I >> I
>> I although yes, motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Moving to item six from public works committee recommendations. The city of International Falls received a $23,385
grant for tree removal. This is in regard to the ash trees that we have in our community uh that are or are going to become affected by the emerald ash border. Uh with that to expend this money, I
would ask for a motion to approve requesting solicitation of quotes for a tree clearing and grubbing project as uh what is spelled out from Bolton and Mink in the packet. >> I'll move. >> Thank you, Councelor Kaylor. Second and
Councelor Wagner with your support. Is there discussion and questions? What asked a question? I >> I >> I I'll vote yes and motion carries unanimously. Thank you. >> Is there any other business?
>> Yes, I have some um I want to thank the International Falls Police Department and some workers on the city city garage for coming to our fish fry for purple pride.
It's a huge fundraiser for the high school. Um, it's probably the biggest fish fry we've ever had this time. In fact, I know it is. Um, we get a report tomorrow from the chairman of Purple Pride. Um, how
much fish we went through, how many French fries, the whole the whole bit. And the police department was there to make sure. I asked them uh to be there for traffic control, handle anything out of the ordinary that you never know what
you're going to get. Um but they did a good job. I want to thank police chief Scott Worley um and the men that he sent over. Uh it went like clockwork. Uh it was a long lineup. Um, and then the guys
that put the signs up for making sure the people went in the right direction and stuff. So, I want to thank for that. And the other thing I have tonight is I don't sit on the public works committee, but
I'm concerned about filling the jobs that need to be filled in public works. And I'm bringing it up tonight because I was around here for 40 years working
and I know what this operation needs to keep the positions filled and that we keep filling what we need and we move on and take care of this city. And so I'm asking
tonight the city council, those members that sit on the public works, where are we at on getting these jobs filled? >> You're asking the public works committee members. >> I am not a public works committee member, >> right? But you're asking councelor
Kaylor and I. >> That's right. >> Okay. >> We did hold our public works committee meeting last Monday. Um and I think we ran to within three minutes of the committee of the whole meeting and uh they were
um on the agenda for discussion. So that's where it's at. I'm would say that we put forth um a qualified candidate uh for the public works director position. Um and councelor
Holden, you uh were not willing to make a motion for discussion. Um and so that was an incredibly lengthy process. It was a fair process. Um so I mean
>> but then but then we have other jobs that haven't been filled that need to be filled and we can't sit on that, mayor. I I'm just saying we don't we need to get those positions filled >> and as we go into the budget process
that'll be a good time to analyze it. >> Well, there was already a position that was needed to be filled and it was right there and it didn't get done.
So, I'm bringing that up tonight. I um you know I mean I've been here I've been here and done it and I know what this town needs to keep moving and public works is very important and uh so I
suggest that we we move on and get get these done. >> Well, councelor, thank you for bringing that up and thank you for your concern on that topic. Okay. Any other business?
Seeing none, there is to reports or review in your packets. And at this time, we will move back to the audience open form. If anyone so chooses to come forward, please do so. name and address
for the record and comments are limited to five minutes. Seeing none at this time, uh we have a reminder. The next regular city council meeting is Monday, August 3rd of this year at 5:30 p.m.
It's the only reminder. We will have an EDA meeting immediately after this council meeting that is now adjourned.