good evening I'd like to call this meeting of the International Falls city council to order 5:30 p.m. Monday March 17th please rise and uh we'll say the [Music] pledge pledge alance 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 all members of the council are present this
evening we will move on to the agenda are there any additions and or deletions I am not aware of any shair would entertain a motion to approve the agenda as presented I'll
make that motion motion by councelor hold second second by councelor Buller any discussion all those in favor say I I I I I any opposed motion carries 5 Z
agenda is approved thank you next on the agenda approval of minutes like to do them together unless there's discussion number one minutes of the Monday March 3rd 2025 regular city council meeting and number two minutes of the Monday
March 10th 2025 Committee of the whole meeting the chairman would entertain a motion to approve those I'll move second motions by councelor Kaylor and councelor Wagner any discussion on the
minutes for March 3rd or March 10th all those in favor say I I I I I any opposed minutes are approved 5 zero thank you next on the agenda payments of
claims and approval first is our transfers of 95,3 33 next is Accounts Payable claims city of International Falls claims
International Falls Public Library board claims of $5,995 93 for a total accounts payable in claims of $519,999 and. 74 cents the chair would entertain
a motion to approve these transfers and payments of claims I'll make that motion a motion by councelor Holden is there a second second second by councelor Wagner discussion on the payments and claims and transfers seeing no discussion call the
question Hi I hi hi I'll vote Yes bills are paid 5 thank you next on this evening's agenda is audience open form it uh if you'd like to come up and
discuss anything with the council that is limited to 5 minutes thank you good evening good evening Tyler we 121 Second Avenue East um with the new ifpd building I just have a question if you guys looked for any like grants or
programs to assist the taxpayers on this by chance here if I may yes the chief is currently um filling out an application due into uh clar's office by the end of the month and you and I had spoke about those other funding um um options and he is
looking into those as well yeah the uh leeso 1033 program yep yeah so I spoke to Brian Curtis he's the state Point contact for that um ifpd used to be a part of it back in 2010 was the last time they were part of it um for the
people that don't know this program it's a milit military surplus program that uh law enforcement are able to use they can get ammunition guns office supplies Vehicles bulletproof windows secured doors
cameras I think a program like that would be very beneficial for the taxpayers especially if you guys are going to move forward with making this new building um talking to Brian he stated uh law enforcement officer would have to apply for it and then be in charge of
doing the orders and it's kind of like a catalog let's say you need 20 bulletproof windows but they only got 10 you can take that 10 and they'll notify you if you need more um after 12 months if it's for a building the feds will come up and inspect the building make sure
everything was done correctly um and then thereafter it's yours um from my understanding things like Vehicles equipment and stuff like that once you get it they you have to keep inventory every six months and then
after that uh you're you're not allowed to sell the product um if it's damaged you can return it back to them or they tell you how to dispose of it so I just wanted to make sure that people were aware of that a program like that that exists and it was a program
that we used to be part of until 2010 um I do have his information if anyone would want that uh Brian Curtis he's out of Minneapolis there I got his email and I got his phone number I've spoke to him for couple hours about it um
um but other than that you guys like you said Betty you're you're going through uh kashar I believe it's clol bashar's office that he is putting a grant in through right now yes and if you have that contact information for Brian please give that to me forward that to
me and I will take care of that okay absolutely could you get me a copy too yeah I can I can get you guys the info form um and like I said that gets into the uh there's like a 12-page form that you got to fill out send it back to them um and then from there you can start
ordering product that's available um I guess my other concern would be um with moving forward with the ifpd building what other buildings that the city owns that has to be repaired like I think when I spoke to you Betty back in
February I think you were talking about the fire hall as well what are we looking at for a price point on that for repairs well we had just if mayor if I may yes we had done a a facility study and all of our facilities need some sort
of Maintenance updates and repairs um the council has um prioritized what those needs are and what we'll be you know hoping to move forward with in the near future and right now we're working on prioritizing some of our uh Street
Department uh garage spaces and um spaces for the employees of those that department okay I I guess my biggest concern was with current city buildings that need to be renovated SL repaired and moving forward with building a brand
new or I shouldn't say brand new uh renovating another building um we should probably get a price point on how everything is going to cost if that's something that you guys have available um I think it'd be beneficial to explain it to people like hey this is
how many millions we're looking at we'd have to spend to renovate all these other buildings I think as taxpayers we should know other than that I think that's all I have thank you thank you I'll get that information to you guys as well thank you appreciate it thank
you mayor council Steve Blair 1301 7 Avenue I I just have three three points that um I was asked to come here tonight to see if there was any um uh changes in the lease of the park building out there if you've heard of
anything Betty or the council or the mayor it's all all the the lease Agreements are all up to date and they're moving forward is is just because of speculation and Senator hosch child had a town hall yesterday and so
much is being discussed about cuts at the federal level I'm assuming is that what you're directing towards I believe that is and I heard that they already canel the lease but I you know I just that is not any knowledge that we have we have not been contacted okay and
Betty would be the first to know most likely tell you but um okay and second item was uh I walked out of here after the last meeting I was at here and uh I was walking to my vehicle with a council member I'm not going to name who but uh
the discussion was that um we would be over looking at the law enforcement center if the county was more favorable on their their rate lease rate well I called the count uh County Commissioner the next night after I talked to this
gentleman and he said the the lease rate has always been negotiable it was at the bottom of the letter always negotiable so why is it that you're you're you're fixed on this lease rate from the county when they're they're they're willing to sit down at the table and say well what
what do you need what is your bottom line lease rate I mean is it 110,000 a year so you break even with the quasa building because to me it's not money it's the location and I don't I'm sorry I don't think it's a
great location out there I mean if there's big petitions from Neighbors out there that don't want it why are you moving forward with it the council voted 4 to one to go ahead with the project I don't
personally support that project but there's things that um I'm probably going to support that others won't so I I want to touch on that that I the last meeting I think it was brought up about resending motions or not going ahead
with it and I asked for a motion and I haven't seen that there would be support for that it's just my opinion anyway it could you know a lot of people might like it out there I'm sorry um so at the meeting I attended last
time there was discussion that we haven't spent the nickel yet well what this 10 page phase report from car Anderson did you get that free did they do that for free for you guys
or I am going to defer that because it's a question that I had but when that came out that was before I was seated as the mayor I believe in November so I as to when that was authorized um again to Administration
and councel on I I can't answer that but they may be able to I it was just a question I had and my last point is uh last week I I was driving up to get lunch um through Main Street at 11:00 in
the morning morning okay there wasn't a single car parked on Main Street like a ghost town thank you my name is Joe caner I live at 16007 13th Avenue West
International Falls and you know please Department having asking for all these phases for money what is the total going to be for the police department International
Falls Police Department move in to that facility when they could share the building next door I'd like to answer that question first there's something that everybody's focused on that building out
there it just doesn't seem right and my second thing I have to say is we have a water treatment plant that's in needs of upkeep in it that's going to be probably
the most expensive project this year in International Falls to get that water build building fixed up so it's correct there's I I came to the meeting here about water treatment plant it's
it's got a lot of work work that's got to be done it needs a motor control center for all the electrical it needs Pipe Fitters to come in there a crew of them and fix all the all the valves and everything else and we're talking over
10 million we're talking 12 million easy to fix that up now where are we going to come up with the money with the taxpayers where we going to come up with this money when we got a police department worried about that when they could just move into
the into the police depart or we move in with the sheriffs and get save us all a big headache here you know as taxpayers that's not fair for us to have to pay that much money up Mr caner and I just want to point out I'm not stopping you I
don't know where we're at on time we are going to address in much more detail tonight again the water treatment facility okay just so you know that I know I don't expect any decisions to be made but there'll be some more info on that yes okay important yeah okay sounds
good I'm not going to go into can of worms here there's there's more but 5 minutes is good so I'll leave it at that thank you okay okay we will move on
oh Ang I live in 6011 Street International Falls I didn't see your hand I'm sorry I I thought we were moving on I'm here as a concerned citizen with the conduct of this Council especially Mr
Kaylor I believe he should resign from this Council for what he said under the mic at least in two occasions I heard it on the mic just the other day it's not appropriate for one of our council
members to talk that way to anybody under his breath over top of his breath he should resign and if you guys haven't talked to him about resigning then you guys should resign
too we have a thing here it's ridiculous what's going on in this town and other places there's such a thing as integrity
do you know what integrity means do the right thing and I don't believe any of you are doing the right thing let that go letting it go forward from here not any one of you and
I'm just bothers me posi me so much I wouldn't get on the elevator with him today coming up here that's how bad it is he's got no right talking addressing anybody like that thank
you thank you Mr Nagel is there any further comment this evening I would also add just to say something Mr Nagel that there's going to be um
some discussion later on at the meeting regarding the code of conduct for city meetings some questions that I have um not necessarily regarding any specifics but more generalities with that being said we
have opening of bids and our quotes open and consider quotes for demolition of a trailer house located at 22103 Avenue
West thank you mayor um we did receive three quotes for this property um I will start with um how they were received they are dated in time and then I will turn it over to
City attorney Nelson as she has additional information regarding this property as well thank you so the first quote received is from Travis Thompson that quote is in the amount of $ 3,894 the second quote is from Steve boam
construction that amount is 3,00 249 and then the third one is from J&J Contracting LLC and that amount is $3,930 I'll I'll just add in now um so the council can accept the lowest quote um we have gone out for quotes we've approved this I did want to let the
council know um we also don't have to accept any quotes this is a unique property in that the trailer house being torn down is owned by one party renting a lot from someone who owns the actual ground it sits on that
person who potentially would' be leving those tax against um the property owner is willing to tear it down themselves essentially not costing the city any money but um that person has requested to have until May 15th to do
it um so I inform that person I would bring it to council you don't have to accept a quote we can allow the land owner to do it um obviously that's going to take more time but if the council wants to move forward and accept the low quote they can still do that as
well would the process be if the council were to go with option b of letting it sit until May then would we have to rebid um that one I would defer so essentially we can hold off accepting
any quotes give them until May and potentially accept those later um best practices it's going to be difficult to hold them to those quotes with such a long period of time time in between so the short answer is is no I
don't think so I mean we could certainly ask out or reach out to those individuals or whoever wins the low quote and say hey will you tear it down after May um if this person doesn't tear it down but that just that's kind of a bad practice and I wouldn't really recommend
it thank you councilor what kind of guarantee do we have that it they will tear it down just their word at this point do we have any recourse so if they don't tear it down our recourse is to condemn
it or we have to reot it we already have the con condemnation that's done right um but we if they don't do it by May 15th essentially we'd be re it where we are today having to requote it and go that
route we not out anything by waiting yeah that's how I feel I mean it's could save us $3,200 if we wait and let have a chance at it so months away yep so you'd be looking at um a motion denying all
quotes not accepting any quotes and essentially tbling this for a later discussion if needed a motion to um deny all bids and then we would postpone this until after May 5 15 depending on the situation at
hand um Mrs rigs if you caught that I would ask if someone would like to make that motion I'll make it motion by councelor Kaylor a second second by councelor buler more discussion on the topic seeing no further discussion call
the question all right I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 Z to deny bids and and give the property owner until May 15th uh to clean it up and hopefully save some money thank
you there's no old business uh moving on to the consent agenda approve necessary expenses for mayor counselors and administration to attend the 2025 League of Minnesota
cities annual conference June 25th to the 27th in duth Minnesota um there's some training in here for all of us that the league offers as a resource that I think is um quite
important so with that if there's a motion to approve I would entertain it I'll make that motion motion by councelor buler is there a second second no discussion call the question I I I I I'll vote Yes
agenda is approved 5 unanimously thank you we'll move on to new business discuss architectural Design Services for the bans shell with Jim lukach good evening good evening good evening mayor
councelor I'm Bob bman Drive International Falls Minnesota and uh I brought him along because he's good-look um Mr lucachick and I have a vested interest in how the bans Shell's
redone I've got I've had concerns in regards to how long it's taken to do this and to get going and I realize the insurance companies are tough so I've reached out I commend my counselor um Mr
buler um he steered me in a couple directions of where we need to go this is a no-brainer in my book um Jim is an architect uh his buildings at 2093
Street he's been in architecture since 1977 I didn't think Jim cill gave me my was that old yeah cill gave me my first job in June of 1977 so this year I'll be have been doing this for 45 years wow Jim said Mr lukach said that we will be
playing in the Bandshell till we can't play any longer and we've all attended different concerts there and things like that so um I'm just here to basically introduce him and uh maybe see where
we're at uh where the insurance company's sitting and I understand I might be a little bit beyond the eight ball because I I think there was a meeting this week wasn't there
Mr we if I may I did meet with our um adjuster on Friday very briefly gave him um the information that we have in questioning his quote for the value in which he is placing on the structure for
replacement and uh he was going to review that and we're meeting again Wednesday morning can you share with the community the figures that we have to rebuild this they're not definite but they're about 570
plus, okay is where it's approximately right now that's the dispute on that value okay um I talked to Mr Oto seems like a very nice man um very up front said if we
have a plan together uh he'll write us out a check as a Community I think uh talking to Jim I think we're going to be a little low so we've got to look at some fundraising efforts or something um to get this going but I I really don't
want to sit on this and neither does the community want to sit on it for another year um so we're willing to do whatever is necessary whether we get a number two shovel down there ourselves and or get some people in the construction field together that that might be willing to
donate some time and and uh I've gotten a little bit of the runaround about okay do we tear this pad up or keep it and the insurance adjuster said that's up to you guys do whatever you have to so that's where the engineers come in and that sort of thing
so I appreciate counselors Mr Mayor and I'll let Jim take over and I I won't take a whole bunch of time you have a big agenda um I also offer uh this that I I know where you I was a Bel trammy County Commissioner for 14 years I was
sworn in on January 7th and sworn out on the 8th um I am fully understand where you sit uh the your job is to represent your community what I'm here tonight to do is to make a nice a a
real easy offer I'll I'll give you my services pro bono to assist you with this project and make sure that we keep it very transparent uh um we put out a request for qualifications to reputable
Structural Engineers that we need to do this project primarily structural a little bit of architectural services but again I won't gain financially from this at all I want to donate my services to the city because it's my community so i'
uh as a point of reference I sat on the task force for the uh belamy County veterans home uh I sat on that for 12 years as a county commissioner and a citizen um we went through that whole process of getting Engineers getting
designers going through the whole process I went to St Paul and testified we raised money we uh actually raised privately uh roughly five to eight% of a $50 million project um I I want to help
I what I want to say to the council is I'm here to help and I'm not asking you to be handed anything I will work pro bono I'll help you out however I can I have a lot of great experience to bring forward I also have a lot of emotional tie to that for for our good old buddy
IR Peterson he taught me how to play horn and I actually own one of his trumpets that he sold me when I was in ninth grade so lot of sentimental value there and there's a lot of sentimental value for me back to my city of International Falls I currently live in
uh piji but I'm Trans in the process of retiring and I've out a place on Rainy Lake a piece of land and I have a small place there that's my starter retirement home and I'm going to be spending more time here and this particular project Bob and I have been talking about and we
didn't want to you know push or you know try to get in and and do a whole bunch of other than make that offer see if there's something I can do to help you out um in the form of a a good building committee a task force to put it all
together bring it back to you folks um I've done this before and I and I've argued exactly the point we're talking about with insurance companies we all know insurance companies they're going to come in low we come back and if we have good verification and good
information to say that we need it to be valued more that can help the case so uh I believe there's a good road forward on this uh I'm willing to dive in I'm back and forth from buiji the ey Falls very often um at least once a month sometimes
twice month if there's more things going I can be here on a on a more frequent basis than that would really like to help you out again all positive that's my offer I don't need any commitment I don't need any money I just want to help
the community I really want to have the alumni Dirty Dozen playing in that Bandshell and all the other people that can play in there so we'll make sure we get it ada8 handicap accessible there's there's ways of accomplishing that uh will'll go through all of the the
scenarios of making sure that we work with the insurance company and before anything's done the council will know exactly what you're going to put forward and if we got to put Bob and the and the community forward to start raising some money to fill a gap that's what we
do if you weren't willing to donate uh this service to the council which we'll have to consider what would this cost if you were here giving your best sales pitch and you were going to charge for it so so what you do in that case mayor
is you put out a request for proposals and qualifications right that's what you always do for any engineering or architectural job and then what I'd do is I'd be back here at the table with uh the structural engineer that I know well and knows how to deal with these types
of rebuilds these types of structures and we would come back with a proposal that says here's our experience level here's what we're going to charge you to do that front-end design work um and at this point I haven't even uh looked into that to see what that dollar value may
be okay so uh and I'd be willing to bet there's a couple of firms out there that would be interested in getting you a request for that type of uh qualifications and proposal to uh bring that forward thank you councelor Wagner
at the committee of the whole you had a keen interest in the Bandshell and so I know I'm getting the feeling that of course summer is approaching and this is a topic that I think matters deeply to many of our
residents um so my understanding was not only were you going to come forward and offer your services for consideration but that we would get an update to which we have on the value of it um so
at this time we don't have the settlement yet um but I think that there will be I'm looking at the councilors I know there will be desire to move ahead with
this yes um so take it under consideration give it some thought and uh just get a hold of of Bob and I again and and whatever we can do to help that's where we are at this point I'd like to welcome you back to International fall so thank you
[Applause] Mike I didn't get kicked out of Bel tramy County well that's good I like hearing that too so yeah thank you I are you in communication with
Betty yeah yeah Bob has been you have been okay um so if we could make a note unless some wants to make a motion if we make a note to keep this discussion going I are we getting the sense that the claim will be it's very close very
close that I think it's probably appropriate next steps might be to you know uh form a subcommittee and um of a couple counselors and staff and then invite folks like you know Mr lukic to the table to continue those discussions
okay i' be yeah that'd be a great way to go and are we I looked through some entries and we've paid Bolton and M about 40,000 on the Band Shell are we do we have what have they done for us and
do we have any commitment to service I don't know what services they've rendered so that's a question as well they've been assisting us with the um different pieces as we've moved forward when we had to go through the um tearing down with the asbest the
abatement and the you know doing the different pieces up to now um and they are helping in reviewing the quote that the insurance company received for the rebuild um and that's where we have some
questions back to them so they they are assisting us as our city Engineers okay I just the reason I ask is to know if we had any investment in any engineering structurally as no would we're not correct we're not there yet okay and I
Mr May if I may I I worked with Bolton and mink uh as a county commissioner we hired them many times they're very reputable firm um they know what they're doing we hired them uh for Township remonumentation projects over the course of the 14 years that I was a
commissioner uh very good firm they've worked all over the place and again I'm I don't I'm not here to step on any toes I'm here to help and to watch and to give guidance I think I have some some really good information for you and I can I I can make this project a success
and help you watch how it goes and whoever you have in charge I'll be behind them looking at looking over what's going on because I I understand that language right the engineering language and the insurance language in in buildings and the abatement and the
and the assessments and the uh and the there's it's so there's so many pieces but I'm I'm familiar with all of them and have helped a number of clients go through that and work with insurance companies to make this a reality so um
I'd really like to do it I'm really fired up about it Bob and I have had lots of conversations about it and however I can help that's where I stand thank you thank you thank you very much any other
questions we'll just wait to hear you guys give us we'll hear give it some thinking and give it some uh couch time and figure out how you want to move forward and then just let us know if you'd like us to help you okay will thank you so I should just deal strictly with
Betty then yes told before that Mr broa was basically in charge of this whole operation should I be dealing with him or Betty well the communication should go through Betty um on this topic do you do you feel that way Betty yes okay if
she's talking to me after this meeting told so thank you this will likely end up on subsequent agendas so um as the claim comes to an end and um as long as you're in contact we will
wait to assist thanks for getting us on the main agenda tonight I know you have a you have a Full Slate so I appreciate you getting us in early thank you thank you thanks everybody [Applause]
if I may share on the news the day picture Mr Blair no we have to can't item two acknowledge letter of resignation from councelor Holden as president protem and chairman of the budget and
finance committee I'll move if you're if if that's what you'd like yeah we have a motion to accept that letter of resignation by councelor Kaylor is there a second second second by councelor Wagner is
there any discussion on the topic councilor Holden no no discussion call the question I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 4 Z and councelor
Holden's resignation from president proem and chairman of budget and finance is accepted thank you number three and four these could be one position or they could be two
historically I believe they've been one um which is selection of a president proem or better known as the backup mayor and to fill vacant budget and finance shair person I have not received
a great deal of um interest in this position councelor buler do you have any interest in this position councelor Wagner no sir
councelor Kaylor not not not at this time okay well we will take no action I would accept a motion to table items number three and four um until further
discussion is required on the topic so moved have a motion by councelor Wagner second second by councelor Buller any discussion all those in favor say I I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 Z items
three and four are on the table new business number five consider approval of memorandum of Cooperative agreement for implementation of the Rainy River Rainy Lake comprehensive watershed management
plan Jason do you have uh anything you'd like to add to this or any discussion is there any question from the council no and this we've had it before the um it's a just an memorandum understanding now
we've all read there's no uh financial obligation but it's memorandum of the it's a volunteer program us Kuching County and rer to help with uh water conservation let's say
Shoreline management things like that and we're hoping to get approved sometime in April once we get the memorandum signed in that and hopefully get some money from Bowser and the state to help with some
of the programs we'd like to do so okay I guess was my way of saying I recommend passing it so I'll make a motion okay we have a motion to approve this memorandum of Cooperative agreement is there a second second second by
councilor Holden discussion question I I I vot yes this is approved on a 5-0 vote than thank you number six adopt a resolution supporting the International Falls cucha
Ching County Airport commission for Bond funding for the Reconstruction of Runway 422 and GA apron phase 4 project at The Falls International Airport is there a motion to approve I'll make that motion
motion by councilor Holden is there a second no second it's a second by councelor Buller any disc discussion just did yeah we've already did we already approve this did I understand that right but there's some different language in it
or if I may mayor yes please there was an email on the backside from Kira and it's the updating to the runway 4-22 and apron project and it is still part of the 2020 Capital bonding request but
they needed an updated resolution for those two pieces of the project so it's the resolution specifically that needs to be updated that is correct okay we do have our motions um any discussion
further question I I I I I'll abstain this carries 4 Z thank you item seven um update on water treatment plant Rehabilitation open house I'm happy to
share uh Mr broa is here as well do you have anything to add I see you're on the agenda so it's not I'm not putting you on this wish we would have a little bit more involvement without the conversation well well I would uh like to add to that that
I think the entire Council was in in attendance except councelor Holden right um no business was conducted obviously um was pleased with the presentation and the the facility is obviously quite
remarkable in the story of how we ended up with the plant and how it served us um I think there's I I'm certainly not questioning anything that needs to be done uh at the plant to get us into the next 40 years I
am the most concerned about naturally how we're going to fund that Rehabilitation it's not a contraction yet it's not an expansion it's a rehabilitation um so with that and I want to double check
so we don't cover two topics at once uh Senator hosch child was in town yesterday um I met him for lunch before the town hall and reiterated the importance of this project project and
assistance which we have applied for our lobbyist Rob Eckland has had bills drafted for us in both the House and Senate um tentatively they may be heard in committee on March
25th that amount is for 4.8 million and I think at the moment 12 million for the rehabilitation is that the magic number where we're thinking this is going to come in at so
at the open house there were some different there was one finance charge suggested to pay the debt off that we would incur to rehabilitate the plant which was a debt service charge um and I think
that a lot of those things are yet to be determined I just would like to State the importance of the project I think that the council is in agreement on that um but I'd also like to state
that I believe that the affordability of it hopefully will hinge on us getting some assistance there was a ke meeting this morning representative scrubble was there and he has warm feelings towards whether
there'll be a bonding bill or not um so it's my hope that we can get that assistance and and the good news that there is a bonding bill this is the type of thing they're looking to provide
money for if I understood right yeah um the the only thing I would add is that if there's bonding it would most likely delay the bonds aren't ready tomorrow the state has to take the size of the
bonding bill issue the bonds and that all takes time um we did a bonding project last year uh for a snowmobile club and it took about nine months to get the bonds issued anything more on
water treatment plant and Ted thank you for the explanation along with Brian at the open house next on the agenda Public Works committee recommendations discuss response letter to Pleasant Hill
Baptist Church regarding parking lot concerns this has been 2020 yeah before my time mine too yeah I believe that was the date somewhere around
there from when they did Pleasant Avenue know what whatever that was Betty because I you were here when this began and we would like some closure on this at some point
um is there anything specifically that stands out um in verbage well mayor if I if I you know this project like you indicated was 2020 and 2021 um they had done a
reconstruction of that um area Pleasant Hill Baptist Church um allowed uh contractors to use their um property and then are coming back and asking for assistance to repair some of the damages
that happened um we've met with them multiple times spoke with them over the phone a few times um and at this time we even offered them to you know take the route of contacting our insurance company and you know
letting that process take its its you know place and roll that through and they never did um do that um however they're still now um you know coming back and asking the questions so um I
think it's something that we need to uh you know send them a letter indicating what our findings are and you know giving them that option and then closing the door on I mean the the concern yeah
and I've reviewed the correspondence and I'm comfortable with that being that there has been communication I've been there twice before it snowed so uh with that I would entertain a motion uh to have a letter draft to
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church second okay motions by councelor Kaylor and older or Holden excuse me any discussion question I I I I I'll vote
Yes letter can be drafted unanimously 5 Item B adopt a resolution to public facilities 2025 reimbursement resolution establishing procedures relating to compliance with
reimbursement Bond regulations under the Internal Revenue code 9th Street and Sixth Street water main projects chair would entertain a motion to approve I'll make that motion motion by councelor
Buller is there a second second second by councelor Wagner any discussion question I I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 Z C adopt a resolution authorizing
execution of the Minnesota clean water partnership project loan agreement for the international fall sanitary sewer lines Improvement projects chair would entertain a motion to approve I'll move I think councelor Wagner was first
councilor all right be second okay any discussion question I hi I I I'll vote Yes carries 5 z d adopt resolution calling for Capital
Improvement plan public hearing on intention to issue General obligation Capital Improvement bonds scheduled for Monday April 21st 2025 at 5:30 p.m. city council chambers city hall right here at
604 Street is there a motion to approve the hearing scheduling of the hearing I'll make that motion motion by councelor Holden is there a second second second by councelor Wagner
discussion May or if I may yes we do have um George ersson is online with us today if you guys have any direct questions for him as as part of this process um I
just have a little we could probably make it easy for George um the the hearing for these bonds is for two sets of bonds correct for 9th Street
and for the public works Rehabilitation which has already been approved uh mayor and and members of the council mayor would you like me to address that question judging by the silence in the room yes okay thank you okay perfect perfect
thank you uh George ersson Northland Securities and so mayor members of the council this resolution tonight um you know just like it was stated it's simply to call for the public hearing on April 21st and it's really
just um we're working with the city on structuring kind of a comprehensive project one that uh you you can Finance uh as long as you're doing General obligation bonds you can package different projects together to make it
more efficient and and so the public hearing is only required for the renovation of the Public Works garage uh equipment garage and Sewer VOR garage so um other parts of the bond issue um are
not necessary for this hearing but it's really only those two um Public Works garages I just with oh go ahead no I'm just I just want to make sure that we're getting enough information out about it
because this is doesn't happen every day um so this is the hearing on the intent to issue the bonds and not um the city council authorizing the bonds because the city council couldn't authorize them
without a hearing correct correct okay that's correct thank you Mr ersson yes thank you for the questions and the time on your agenda there any more questions for him I should have asked first don't believe there is with
that the chair would entertain a motion to approve scheduling this hearing I'll move all right motion by councelor Kaylor second by councelor Holden any discussion on scheduling the
hearing question I I I I I'll vote Yes this carries 5 e approve agreement to transfer the donated level two charger back to Minnesota Power and approve a charging station easement agreement for the new DC fast charging station chair would
entertain a motion to approve I'll make that motion second motions by councelor buler and councelor Wagner any discussion question I I I I I'll V yes
this is approved 5 the city is out of the charging business thank you item F approve water department trailer purchase and the amount of 9,650 from All Season equipment from fund 403 which is water Capital outlay
the chair would entertain a motion to approve this purchase I'll make that motion motion by councelor Holden is there a second second by councelor Wagner discussion question I I I I vote Yes trailer
purchases approved 5 Z thank you number nine Committee of the whole recommendations discuss moving forward with the general obligation Bond proceeds Grant agreement design grant for the International Falls health and wellness center project
um regarding this I have spoke with both representative scrubba and Senator hild the grant would have to be used for its intended purpose um if
thought is what can happen is by if we if the council decides not to use the money they will go back to the chairs of Capital Finance in the House and Senate and say hey the city had this money that went back in the pot that they didn't use
essentially ask for priority which has kind of been what the discussion has been the priority this year has been the aid that's been applied for uh for the water treatment facility so
that's the update that I have on that those bonding funds that are available to design a new carry Park the council worked on carry park for a period of time before my time so
um floor is open so if we don't I mean if we don't do anything with it we give it back is that what you're saying yes we can't use it for anything else no okay not
unless no it would be imperfect but it basically it they would allow you to use it for something else but you have to restart the process so I believe that we've had this on the agenda um to keep the evening
moving deed has been asking what we're going to do yes um thank you mayor the uh director of Public Works has been working with members of deed completing the application and it from my understanding
it's sitting waiting ready to to go um if we are going to move forward with the project to release this you know to allow for release of the funds and move forward with the engineer design is there anything specific the council is looking to
do is that amount that is that amount going to cover the whole design process I am going to defer to the director of Public Works if he does know that off the top of his head he's been working closely with them thank you mayor and
councel yes so the million dollars will cover the design of the wellness center itself it does not cover the rest of the compound per se as as replacing the the playground the spray park but it would
cover the wellness center itself yeah basically the I mean the steps with it are the first million dollars is going to go towards engineering and then the process would historically be we figure out what we
want and then you go back to the legislature and then depending on the size it would typically go into phases unless it was not over four or five million um the I think our old lobbyist and our new lobbyist
have been fairly adamant that this project would not receive priority if we were to pursue it um I personally would like to see us offer this up
towards the water treatment facility as an olive branch you mean to ask if we can use the money towards the water treatment plant that's what you're saying well we would yes but it would the process would be the council would have to just walk away from
this um and if we did that basically our current lobbyist who is Rob Eckland would go to the legislature on our behalf and say you know we want 4.8 million for the water treatment facility
and we we just gave you a million dollars back we could have spent mayor if I may uh just as a reminder also we did have a study done on the current carry park facility um I'm not going to be able to quote the
dollar amount but the facility is in um need of desperate repair I believe there's a compressor or something currently down right now waiting on parts running on one only um so if we don't continue to move down
this road we are going to need funding to figure out what we're going to do with the current facility as we had that facility assessment that was done and presented um a few months back it's been a while but we do have that study that
is in front of you as well thank you Ted go ahead hang on Ted if we had if we had I mean we're giv a million dollars for design on that building and that's it that's it's either we use it or we lose
it yeah so if we do go through with it and do have that design done can we put that on the Shelf then when we get to the point where you know where this needs to be done I mean it's all going to be taxpayers dollars if we have to re if we have to rehab
that building there's not going to be any money given unless we can have a bond go in it and we're going to have to have this design for the bond so are we better off going ahead and doing it yet and get that design and put it aside and have it ready when we
can because if we don't have a design we can't submit to bonding either so if we have the design sitting there and it comes to the point where a couple years down the road or something looks like uh they're going to be doing some bonding on something like that we we've got our
we've got our first we're set the goal that is a a school of thought um my concern is more geared around that I I'm only one school of thought on this but I don't think
that we're in that the community is going to support taking on any non-necessary debt and is what we've seen with all these projects is that they have overruns the management of them costs
more um and that's not to say that that's where this project is headed so I just I I thinking of the projects we have going on right now
um the Public Works Rehabilitation the eventual police facility the water treatment facility then we have construction side of things and some of those things
aren't funded out of um out they're out of different pots of money that are there for specific purposes um so I would entertain a motion um go ahead for Mr brov if this if we
did the design thing with this money will that point out issues with the current building councelor Wagner I believe we've already done that with the building assessment okay with with the current building the way it sits I think you know you've got to look at do you
want to be in the arena business or do you want to be in a Wellness Center business because they two Tech you know the wellness center is a lot bigger it's you know um you know or are you going to be in one sheet ice business or
neither or neither because that's where we're headed yeah well that's been discussed yeah I mean it has what is it March 17th yeah I think that's come up at least monthly
um so we got a shot at using this 1 million towards a water treatment plant no no no no way they won't let us use it for huh it's a bargaining chip that okay well a
bargaining chip then yes I know water treatment plant's number one priority no doubt it's right up as one of the top well I sitting here the water treatment plan
is something that we uh obviously it's an essential and like my comment at public work my only concern is we got this bonding money to make the design but then we don't want it you know what precedent does that or does this happen
more often than I would think that you know they go through all the process of doing it you get your bonding they give you the bonding but then you come back say how there's been a well things happen right you know and hopefully they can understand that other that's my only
concern for for if we happen to go for something else again you know not necessarily the treatment plant but something down the road well that had that's been discussed as well and I think that um the discussions that I've been privy to that the discussion is
around long-term affordability of the project and that's something um the city of Virginia being the classic example and some others that uh those projects were awarded relatively
quickly and um in some instances they've uh really affected the town and their levies significantly well they didn't have the money for maintenance right and that's they got they got money for the building and stuff but they didn't have
the money for the maintenance and they ran into problems well there I believe their Levy it went up over two or three years significantly to cover that side of it I think though tonight what we need
we need to make a decision one way or another Are We There is that where unless someone thinks their position is going to change I we might as well make a decision I would what was the can you reord the motion again how you want me to word it to return the money to the
state maybe or how do you want to well it would essentially be that we don't proceed with the Grant and using those I'll make that Mo we have a motion on the floor by councelor wner is there a second second second by councelor Holden
is there any discuss further discussion on this topic question I I I I I'll vote Yes motion carries 5 Z thank
you thanks thanks Ted thank you Ted moving on to number 10 I would uh like to Circle back to this which is why I put it on the agenda it's resolution 27 -13 which was adopted 1 July 2013 um so
before I was seated as mayor I got a packet to sign up and uh report for Duty and there's a separate page to this which I don't have that asks me to sign it which uh I did has anyone else signed
that I I assume I did so you know we there's some concerns about things that are being caught on microphones or at a previous meeting um and I'm steadfast in my personal belief
that I do not feel comfortable making accusations uh nor am I going to but my question is what what what does this mean you know if if we somebody drew this up and I these weren't probably the funnest of times
when this was drawn up but um and in full disclosure Chelsea I did not talk to you about putting this on the agenda so I is this guidelines I mean there's no action that can be taken based on this resolution is my take on
it but I'm not an attorney and I am putting you on the spot but no that's okay um so I did see this when it came out Friday so I did do a little research over the weekend um it's not uncommon
for cities to have code of conduct um the slight difference with what I found for our city and other cities is Code of Conduct is kept separate from dorum in their bylaws which is the equivalent of our Charter somewhat um so you
technically can in enforcing deorum not necessarily the code of conduct which is where it gets a little tricky for ifalls because they it's used synonymously here is the code of conduct deorum that's that's used as one um any member council member can um make a motion um to
censure a council member and what censure means is take notice of certain conduct um admonish the conduct and express that disapproval and recall order but that's essentially all that I found on it um we don't have bylaws like
I said nor do we have a specific um list for decorum other than the code of conduct which like I kind of said the Falls uses those synonymous but that's as much as I found okay thank you
okay with that being said um I'd like to move on to number 11 which is to discuss resolution ution number 5611 the only reason I'm aware of this
is because I two years ago at a truth and Taxation meeting mayor droba was visibly upset about this resolution and the city's finances going
forward um and this resolution basically uh to boil it and condense it all down states that 50% of the year's general fund budget at the end of the year should be in reserves
and some of that probably can be up to uh interpretation I pulled the fund balance sheet from the end of 2024 and uh I think it's concerning and
so I believe the Auditors pointed it out so I you know this was I'm concerned these were fairly heavy times when both of these were passed and I just maybe
they think it's concerning we not following them um and I don't think that the general what I perceive as a general fund issue um and its solvency going forward I
don't think um necessarily points to the ambulance uh either we do need assistance hopefully on that but um I just want to let the council
know that ultimately um I'm not I want to make it really clear amongst the council this is us this isn't department heads um if we think that things are not are out of whack that it's our decisions
that are going to um ultimately give the direction to change course um so with all the spending that's going on and some of it without question is warranted the water treatment plant that's a pretty pretty necessary thing to have good clean piped
water to our homes number 12 discuss auditor and hiring an outside consulting firm this is another addition of mine and the reason I put this on there
is if we're not in check and we need to make some decisions to get to where we need to be uh maybe we should ask for
help and uh I'm happy to do that um I think to start for any of that we would have to make a council action um but I don't know the level of concern
that the council presently has the four of you have been on the council for some time and sat through the audit reports we've gone through the auditor reports uh like every year um and for quite a while we used the same
auditor that the school did same company and uh you know they did a good job of auditor everything so um I guess I I always thought we were going good with the using Professional
Services and using an auditor and did the same as the school did they used a professional auditor they give us a good report um never thought of it as any problem mayor well I think I appreciate that
councelor I think that you know the auditor when they give us a bill of clean health I think they're looking for many other things but I don't know that it's necessarily their job unless we hire them for something
specific to tell us that we're potentially broke or headed there quickly so C or excuse me administrator Bergstrom mayor thank you if I may um our Auditors will be beginning a week from Monday our 2024
audit um and each year this this resolution comes up in the conversation I encourage all of you um as the finance officer indicated if you get those questionnaires please reach out to them you know answer those so they can do their a good job their due diligence of
our of our audit annually um if there are specific concerns we we can I always ask them to look into anything specific if something has any of you have that um but as their firm we have one main
contact however they have a team behind them and they're changing and rotating from time to time but they're they're checking all kinds of things all the time um I guess I just encourage you to bring things to us that we could ask
them to look at further if you so choose we are um have approved a a contract of Professional Services with them to conduct our 2024 audit um I don't know if um we'd be able to get out of that without paying them if that's what you
are you know asking to do um and go a different direction and if we would have to request proposals for a new auditor or if that's you know what you're what you're asking um but they are scheduled to start a week from Monday I thank you
and I don't have um a problem with schlener wner so I do not want to do that okay I I would if I was going to discuss I think auditing it would be on a different basis perhaps third party a different opinion
um but to get there that would be you know if we looked for some consultation otherwise um but I just want to know is it a concern of the council and I I'm not I don't want to make it sound like I'm setting this up
but I watched this for years as a concern every year and this was talked about and I don't know what's changed uh so that's why it's on the agenda um if something catastrophic were to happen
it's going to fall on the five of us and that's why I have the level of concern that I do with that being said I'd like to move on to number 13 is there any other business uh to come before the council from Council or
Administration this evening seeing none we will move on to reports of all boards committees and department heads reports of the administrator and attorney please mayor I have nothing additional this evening thank you I have nothing
additional okay thank you reports from committees boards and commissions no reports excuse me I did find out today that our our uh reorganizational uh status has hit the house floor today
that we've been working on over the north Co and so hopefully that's going to be going where we can reorganize the the board to have the the right representatives for the right areas because of the the increase in in uh East coo and and different different
things so it's been three years so pretty happy to see that hit the floor finally and yeah and we yeah that we just learned at ke they they were hoping that yes they were going to get on there and also I would add that um thank you
councelor Buller um there's police and fire reports in the full packets that are available um to our citizens that being said um audience open form is open limited to 5 minutes if you have any questions or
concerns please come forward hello Susan wga 107 Park Avenue and I just want to commend you all for um your vote on number nine I believe um it's a hard decision no one likes to
not move forward with things like Carri Park um The Wellness Center all that stuff so I know that was a hard decision but I commend all of you for making that hard decision um because we have priorities of needs versus wants and no
one likes to to make that decision so thank you and um I have a question then on number 11 where is the percentage of The the Reserve at from this time right now do we have that
percentage that's a I believe that's calculated on a year-end basis at the end of the year so uh the flows of money throughout the year are obviously fluid right and when we receive our LGA uh our
payments that the county handles to us and some other revenues um so I don't I would defer to anyone but me if there's a metric used throughout the year to meet that or if that's could maybe if I ask what is the last known one that we
would have like for a set because I mean there must be a date like is it January 1st that you come up with that number after the audit for year end like right now you're looking at 2024 audit so would you have 2023 the
the city sets its budget which then it approves its Levy usually in December uh in which the general fund is budgeted for so the number for the for the end of
the following year would be with some contingencies 50% of the budgeted amount for the general fund okay so maybe I misunderstood number 11 then could you elaborate on that some for us is that
possible I put it on the agenda because I'm curious where we're going to be at the end of this year right um which is a concern of mine and I did the general fund budget for this year I think it was around 7 million
round numbers so essentially if we were following that res res solution we should have enable fund balance of general fund reserves of 3.5 million right yeah but if I may that's not just cash there's other
variables in speaking with the auditor and I'm not going to claim to know all the intricacies of that formula there are other things that go into that so I I would defer to our auditor to help help better explain that balance to all
of us okay all right well thank you thank you and thank you again for um being cognizant of the um budget for the city because we're looking at a lot of money right now so thank you very much y
thank you good evening hi I'm Nancy mhof I live in little park but I own a business on Main Street Mason's on Main pay local taxes with that one um kind of repeating what Susan was
saying so is there a number on that general fund balance currently can you share that what is there where we at what well we would have that information through the end of February I believe
right now so current what can you share that number what it might be absolutely I I would I'm going to add a great deal of caution to this though okay that we get like most of us who are still working in get our paychecks money comes
and goes at different times sure I think I have it or I left it on the desk Mr Mayor could we have Emma come up and help with this absolutely I was trying thank you
Emma I thought I if I had it in the packet or the council did it was on my desk so this is the resolution to which he's speaking about so I'm just going to clarify a little bit so the resolution
in question is the resolution that implements gby 54 and it establishes a fund balance policy and in in the resolution it indicates that um the city shouldn't slip below a 50% uh threshold in its general
fund upon me taking this position I did inquire with our Auditors if there was a point of reference in which I could do the calculation on my own on a month-to-month basis as a part of our bank reconciliation process because of the nature of the
calculation and because of as City administrator burstrom indicated there are other things including fix assets and other notable things um that factor into that calculation is not something someone like myself can calculate it is calculated strictly on an annual basis
as a part of our audit so when we receive our audit package um and report at our Budget Finance meeting in June we should know that number I believe if I this is just kind of spitballing if I remember the December 31st 2023 number
we had slipped just slightly below we were at I I believe it was a 48 or 49% so we weren't marginally off from that um but it was a point of reference that we we did have a discussion of this is you know we are at a point where we need
to be cognizant of that so not you know deathly alarming but something to be cognizant of thank you thank you thank you Emma so are you saying like if your budget is at
7 million you should have like 32 million in the general fund is that am I understanding that correctly yes okay so we don't know right now as of end of February what that was well Emma did make the comment that
there's fixed assets and everything included in that too not just cash I know but so you still have to have a number on paper at some point to start figuring what the fixed assets from that would be there's certainly times I I'm
comfortable with this there's certainly times throughout the year where if we had to take into account fund balances that are negative and got called on the carpet I think it would be safe to say that the city would likely be
insolvent wow so that is some of the concern about the spending okay that well that should be an eye opener I guess I feel like if that's the
case all these million dooll projects just need to be on hold until you can get to a place where it's even feasible to move forward it's just otherwise it's just us taxpayers that are going to pay for all
of it which we're going to pay for most of it anyway but I don't know that's my other concern is I know my time's almost up is still the law enforcement center I think that's a
terrible location just my personal opinion it's not user friendly for the community um it's we don't even know how much it's going to cost it may be 1.6 it might be three it might be four when you consider the phases in my opinion the
best solution is moving to the old l where the PD can have their own separate place I know you're paying rent and it might be a little higher than you want but somebody else said the county is still willing to negotiate uh say you pay
110,000 a year over say you had to sign a 5-year lease that's you know 550 or whatever thousand it's not still not 1.6 million or three or 4 million so I really think you got to rethink
that but thank thank you for stopping the process on the car park I think that's important thank [Applause] you Steve again 1301 7th Avenue sorry
for out speaking audit turn there on that uh Bandshell but when I was watching the news the other night they had a picture of a band shell in city of Cl they were painting murals on the inside of it and it looked like our old Bandshell really and I don't know I've never I thought ours was always kind of
a one of a kind but they might have been built in the same era I don't know but that was just a comment but um I will talk to Jimmy lukic about that maybe he's aware of it you know for an architect to go look at something like that maybe it'll help them in whatever
we're doing over here I don't know um my other concern is on the news several weeks ago um I don't know if it was a dog whistle or what but the border patrol were flashing around a bunch of scary things that were being invaded by illegals you know like 1100 Crossings in
the last whatever year or several months and I think it's an important topic and I haven't heard nothing from anybody about it and I've talked to people are you aware of any you know people getting busted or anything nobody knows anything about it um one gentleman
I know lives on the river several you know 10 miles Downstream he sees a helicopter going by every day now I've seen them flying over at rat Ro Lake when I was heading down 53 I don't know I'm I'm assuming they're Border Patrol helicopters I don't know what
else they'd be um I've seen them come here turn behind our hospital and head into Canada now that's not a LifeLight helicopter they don't go into Canada I can are you asking why that's going
on I'm asking is the council aware of any problems with uh illegal entry and drugs being smuggled across the border and I I can't comment specifically to that but I would say because I have a
job um that is Aviation related that there has been a lot of joint efforts between the Canadians um and the USA in regard to that um The Border uh is being watched
very very closely by both sides uh between Pema which is West and Pigeon River um so if if you have an aviation radio which most people don't understandably you hear it all day long
um so the ones behind the hospital are typically going Canadian helicopters going to Fort Francis uh and then our side of things stop at the airport from time to time as well I was uh uh representative stabber
requested this to be put in the news and I think he was going to be uh requesting funding from the federal government to uh beef up the security along the border and I I don't know what that means I I
really don't but I just threw out there thank you anything else hello everyone my name is Lois lundine 2222 3rd Avenue East um I'd like to discuss a little clarification I'd like a little more clarification on
number 12 please um where you discuss an auditor hiring an outside consulting firm mayor were you talking about someone in addition to the people who conduct the regular audit or in place of or what can you tell me more about that
well is is what I am concerned about is that if we if the council um and we may we may or we may not because it'll be a council decision ultimately if the council thinks that there's action that
needs to be taken uh regarding City fund balances I would uh Lobby uh towards getting the appropriate help okay um and so that's what I mean by that okay so it isn't something necessarily that would have to have
action taken on it tonight and because there wasn't anything done tonight it's not going to just go away it could be brought up later on you brought it as a point of discussion in this meeting correct okay so that it's if if I wanted to put it back on it
would assuming we approve the agenda which we have a history of we normally do it would be up for discussion good you know like everyone else in the community I'm concerned about the amount of money that we're spending on different things and I'd sure like to find out in advance if we're sliding on
a slippery slope and before our city really got in trouble that we would reach out for help um so I'm I'm really pleased to see that on the agenda tonight number 12 and I would encourage the the council please just keep a very close eye on it because there's a lot happening in our community and people
are concerned okay thank you thank you okay um have a remind or correspondence we have a lobbying update but we've pretty much already covered that throughout the meeting so for
reminders the next regular city council meeting is Monday April 7th this year 5:30 p.m. that being said this meeting is Jed