All right, it is 7:01. We'll call the city council meeting to order. If we could all rise for the pledge of >> allegiance 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. >> Doing roll call. All voting members are present. Uh I will open up the floor for public comment tonight. If there's any public comment tonight, uh we would ask that you just limit it to three minutes and not make it uh personal political attacks. If anybody would like to come forward, you're more than welcome.
Hearing none, we will move on to adopting the agenda. Uh Miss Wood, are there any changes this evening? >> Good evening, mayor and councel. No, there are no modifications to the agenda this evening. >> I do have one request. uh if we could add a business item for discussion for street parking along Heritage uh by 8th
Avenue over by the intermediate school if you guys are okay with that discussion >> I'd like to pull some things out of >> Okay, which items? Um, L2 L4
that was it. >> Okay, that's fine with me. Are you guys okay with all those changes? If so, I'll entertain a motion. >> Motion to accept its changes. >> Second. >> Motion by Council Member Homegrren,
second by Council Member Peterson. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries 5-0. The agenda agenda is adopted with those changes. Um, next we will move on to uh the approval of the city council meeting minutes. Uh, we have December 16th
committee of a whole meeting and December 16th city council meeting minutes. Uh, I would like to make a change to the city council meeting minutes. Uh, number seven on there. I would like to specify that we are discussing uh, ESST to ensure that employees are not not losing or gaining
hours. uh the minutes just say losing hours. So I'd like to just add gaining hours so it's more clear about what our discussion was. And then uh number eight discussion line the liquor store fund balance is at 1,66,000. I think a zero was missed in the minutes
because it says 166,000 not 1,66,000. And that's all I have for recommended changes. Does anybody have anything else? Motion to approve with the changes. >> Second. >> Motion to approve by Council Member Homegrren. Second by Council Member Peterson. All in favor say I.
>> I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries 5-0. Uh next we'll move on to the announcements. City offices will be closed Monday, January 19th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Uh, committee of a whole meeting, Tuesday, January 20th at 5:00 p.m. Planning Commission meeting Tuesday,
January 20 uh, January 20th at 6 p.m. City Council meeting Tuesday, January 20th, uh, at 7 p.m. And the park and rec board, Tuesday, January 27th at 6 p.m. Uh, we have county communications on our announcements tonight. Uh I don't see Todd here, but if there's any county
people that are interested in coming in to uh talk to us, you know, county commissioners, the chief or the sheriff or um the county engineer, uh we have that available now. Uh next, we'll move on to the council committee reports.
Who wants to go first? Nick. >> Uh all I have is that CAC was council for next week. [clears throat] My uh BMX committee meeting is uh next week. So next Monday, Monday. Your district was easy. We just talked
about uh captain engineer appointments, paid leave. Um pretty easy meeting. Not much much going on that meeting. >> Are they Sorry. Go ahead. Is there any discussion or deliberation appointments
or was it all unanimous? And >> there was one one thing I didn't vote on. I'm sorry guys. I should have made a note of that. Was a descending vote, but everything else was uh unanimous. Were you dissenting?
>> I think it wasn't the the appointment. >> A little closer. Otherwise, everything was unanimous. >> Why'd you desent? I changed notebook so I don't have my notes up. >> I can give I can give my committee report if you want to think about it. >> Yeah.
>> All right. Sounds good. So for the schools uh last month uh I went to both the arts and science academy and the ISD11 911 uh schoolboard meetings. uh at the Arts and Science Academy. I provided them some info on the paid family medical leave um and potential to save
money going through Sunlife like we did. Um I thought that was a good thing for them to potentially consider since their their budget is not looking so hot and they have concerns and they're talking about, you know, how can they save some money. So that I think they thought that was uh valuable input. Um they had a couple staff resignations and one new
hire and they talked about doing external auditing um on the finances uh more in the future. Um, I didn't dig into a lot of that, but that was kind of the the meat of their meeting. [clears throat] I I still plan to have a tour with them and talk more about their finances. Um,
hopefully sometime this month. And the ISD 911, they had a very informative meeting. Um, it was their truth and taxation meeting. I got there about 15 minutes late because I had another meeting before that. Um, but they ended up setting their final tax levy at 17,643,923.
Um, which is a decrease from last year. largely because the referendum didn't pass and existing referendum debt is falling off. Uh so residents will see a small decrease in their taxes uh which is great for residents and their families. Um and I'm also working on a survey and a list for volunteers to help
with the school projects. I'm waiting to get a little bit more feedback from a couple schoolboard members uh before going live with that survey that I'll be uh sharing. Uh so watch for that and and please share when you see it so we can help our schools uh without taxing our families to do it. Uh they talked about some new classes.
Uh there was actually some solid discussion and questions about um some of the new classes and curriculum. So I was really happy to see that. Uh there's usually not a lot of questions in that meeting. So that was a a breath of fresh air to see some some questions and people are starting to ask questions.
Uh Sandy Primary School, uh they talked about there's a a program Fridays. I didn't I didn't look have a chance to look into this, but they pass out meals uh to kids in needs in need. Um, so if you are in need, uh, reach out to, uh, Sandy Primary School. Maybe they can provide some more information.
Otherwise, I'll try and come back next month with more info on that. >> Was that their sunshine program? >> What's that? >> Was that their sunshine program or a different one? >> I'm not sure. It was It was a very short It was kind of like a committee report that one of the schoolboard members gave, so I didn't have a lot of info on it. Um, that's something I I was writing
this today and it's like, ah, shoot, I forgot to look into that. So >> know at the community ed they'll talk about some of the people have given reports on their sunshine program if there's a family in need of food or clothing especially in the [clears throat] winter time they have stuff on hand so kids can get jackets or
cold weather gear. >> Sure. >> For some reason they don't have it. >> Sure. Yeah. I'm not sure. Maybe uh be best to reach out to a school board member. Um that's kind of their expertise. Uh that's their Yeah. their expertise. Um IMS had 3,000 plus items donated to the food drive. So, good job
IMS and thank you for everybody that donated there. Um, and they have a a WBL program, formerly OJT, which is on the job training. Uh, it's very it's very successful and always been pretty popular. Uh, they also did an online school showcase, which I thought was
very interesting. Um, it's been very successful for them to go to online uh student learning. Um, and they have open enrollment, so anybody anywhere in the state can actually enroll with their online program. And their online program has been growing very fast. Um, it's easier for people's schedules. You know, you can mix that with the with the
formerly OJT program, so you can work, you can do online school at your pace. Um, it's a little more more flexible. So, families want to go on a vacation or something. They have that family flexibility. So, I think that's a great option for people. And fun fact, they also they actually make $5,000 per student on that per uh over the year
because they have less overhead with the online. So, they get more back in state funding than they expend. So that is a that's I thought that was very interesting to see that they can educate kids and save money. So that's and it's more flexible. Uh they got some grants. Uh one of which was for Chromebooks for
kindergarten through 2 grade. Um I don't know how I personally feel about that but they got a grant for it. Um there were there were also two other grants. One for a set of ukuleles and another one for a kindness retreat for students. Um then they talked about the calendar year for the schools this year because
Labor Day is very late. Um, so they try to juggle around their schedules and they ended up coming up with a schedule that will not mess up Labor Day and also won't push them too far into the summer. Uh, so that'll start Tuesday, September 8th, and then spring break will be March 22nd through the 26th and school ends
June 4th. Uh, pretty much in line with normal. Um, they were able [snorts] to shuffle some, uh, teacher learning days around and do a little bit of other shuffling to make it happen. So, uh, it was a pretty busy pretty busy month with committee reports. um do a lot of work with the school stuff and I appreciate
the schools we have and just trying to help them, you know, be more efficient for everybody. So, >> what kind of projects are you trying to organize? >> Yeah, so my survey, um you guys will see it hopefully in the next week or two. Uh it's basically going to ask people, you know, will would you like to volunteer?
Would you like to donate? Um would you like to what sort of expertise do you have? Have you ever done tile work? Have you ever done drywall, concrete, stuff like that? Um it's just to provide information. Now, I'm going to take that information and then forward it on to the school board. Um, I'm not going to be the person meeting. I'm not going to
do any of it. I'm just the person collecting the information. Um, I have a, you know, strong social media reach and I was pretty vocal through the process of the school referendum. Um, so this is my my way of hopefully helping, uh, the school get what they need done. Um, obviously there's going to be some
hurdles with that. Um, but that's kind of what I'm doing, just getting information, providing to the schools, and they do what they want with it. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Okay, >> have at it, George. [laughter] >> One of the reassignments were was the
attorney and the attorney has been with the fire district forever and um they're a big part attorney is a big part of the culture of any organization. I mean, I've seen how much it changed here when we switched attorneys within the city. um because we had the same attorney for
like 25 years and they get embedded deep. So um my desending vote was because I believe we should get a new attorney. I haven't had that, you know, that discussion with the board because that's going to be a long discussion to have
with them and I didn't feel like bringing up that battle that night because I knew I wasn't going to win anyway. So but that was my descending vote. All right, good to know. Anybody else
with any other committee reports? All right, hearing none, we will move on to business item K1, resolution to consider designating committees and representatives for city commissions and advisory boards for the year 2026. Miss Wood, >> thank you, Mayor and Council. We have our annual uh designating committees and
city representatives. Um we had two open positions or terms ending which was on our parks and recreation board. We did express uh get interest and an application from Erica Zadon and also Mr. Dan Henamp. So they are back onto the parks and recreation board. Uh we
also need there to be discussion amongst the council here for if there's any changes to any of the committee groups as well as if there's any change to the mayor prom position. >> I'll start off with a little bit of an easy one here. [clears throat] Um, can I
request that we change the name of the weed inspector to something that isn't confused with marijuana inspector? I've always thought that one was silly. I'm the mayor is the weed inspector and now that there's marijuana cannabis stores, I don't really want to be >> grouped into somebody that's supposed to be inspecting the weed the weed stores, you know.
>> I can definitely look into it. That was by statute. Um, but I can see if it would include nuisance weed inspector. So, I'll look into that. >> Yeah, like nuisance weed inspector or invasive weed inspector. I'll see how the statute defines it. Yes, >> I think we could add a word, but I think
statute does say weed inspector. Okay. That's why you have to >> or invasive. I know we talk about it every invasive. I I like that idea. >> Yeah. Just to make sure that people don't think I'm supposed to be inspecting that stuff. >> Yes, we can make that change.
>> Sounds good. Anybody have any changes or recommended changes or what are you guys thinking on committees this year? I'm I know I'm personally happy with the school liaison stuff and um I've been pretty involved with that. And then LMC obviously I've been a big proponent of you know our
small town values down at LMC. So I would like to keep those. Um but I'm open for discussion on anything that you guys want to talk about. >> I can make a shuffle. I'd like to >> you what' you say? If I can make a shuffle, I'd like to uh get off of the
uh Chamber of Commerce and then pick up something else instead of it. >> How often do they meet? >> Once a month. >> Third Wednesday of the month at noon >> or That's why that one's so difficult is during the week at noon.
>> I would love that one, but that's impossible. Are you uh like a schedule difficulty? Think it'd be more valuable to have someone else have it or what's your thoughts on it? >> It's not great for the schedule. I have to try and shift stuff around and
if if no one's willing to do it, I can continue doing it. But if it works better for someone, I'd like to >> Okay. I think I'm the only other one that could be able to take it. I take I'd take enough time with the League of Minnesota City stuff.
>> Yeah, if somebody else would like to be on that fire district board for a while and get another a new set of eyes on it again, that would I'd be okay with that. >> I'd push for Jeff to do it, but feel like he's going to turn me down. So, I' I like the the fire district stuff and I was able to get some redundancy for my
other obligations, so I'd be able to do it if you want. >> That'd be great. And um I'd be more than happy to fill in. I'll probably go to a few meetings anyway. Just uh especially at the beginning too,
fill you in and I have just a ton of information. I'll start putting together a better packet for you >> for the uh >> That would be great. >> Yeah, I was just going to say for the Chamber of Commerce stuff. Um, maybe we could both be on there and then if I
can't make it, maybe if you could fill in just so we're we're there. Um, I I should be able to make it, but I don't know if my schedule might change too. So, >> uh, to follow up on that, there's times where we have city staff there, too. If city staff is there, is it
>> since they report back anyways, is it necessary to hit it from both sides or is one sufficient? >> Yeah, I know. Usually we don't get back like any sort of committee reports or feedback reports, but maybe if we did say if if you or I were on there and we
missed it, we could have Stephanie give us a report back. Maybe that would be a request just about what was talked about. I mean, that's kind of the point of the committees is to know, you know, have our finger on the pulse. And I think Stephanie does a good job. But I do like that idea.
That's probably half the time where she was there too or Miss Wood was there or somebody was there and then >> I don't know. >> Okay. >> And we can change these [clears throat] midterm, can't we? We want to. >> Okay.
>> Well, we do have the ability for whoever is appointed to pick an alternate or an alternate to an alternate. So, that language is in there. if someone's not able to attend, they could reach out to me and let me know and I could reach out to the other members and find out if someone else was able to. >> I'll I'll take the chamber. I think it's
a valuable uh chance to sort of network for the city. Um so I can take that and just have Nick as an alternate if that's okay. And then if if you can't make it and city staff can't make it, I mean, it's not the end of the world. But >> if it comes to that, I can I could do it. Just wouldn't be nice to not have it
be all the time. >> Yep. Sure. You did already register for January, so I can finish out that one. >> Okay. >> So, should I be designated alternative for the fireboard? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Jeff has alternate to alternate.
[laughter] >> I'd love to see Jeff on there because he he [clears throat] knows all the ins and outs of the fire district and and it really be nice to have somebody that knows. I don't want to put Jeff in a spot that he doesn't want to go back to. >> I do. Yep.
>> I >> just saying it would be nice. >> I know. >> I get it. >> All right. Any other different committees? Steve, are there any that that you would like? No. >> Can't make any of those if they're during the day. There's no way I'm making them.
>> Yeah, it's tough and it is a lot of work doing some of these committees. So, all right. So, we have Peterson for the first for the fireboard. Uh, He-Man for the alternate. Uh, myself first for the chamber. Peterson for the alternate. Uh, it sounds like all the rest of them are
are good. Jeff, are you still good with the BMX or >> Yeah. >> Any changes you want? >> No. Um, it'll be uh interesting to get the League of Minnesota City's schedule. [laughter]
So, but yeah, that's that's uh it's time consuming when you have to take days off during the week in the summer, which is usually people's busiest time, but I'll do my best to get to as many of those meetings as possible, but definitely a
learning curve for that stuff. A lot of information. >> It's almost You're almost like a state legislature down there. That's what you work on. It's Yeah, it's a lot of ins and outs that you don't really understand until you go through that process. And it's more than what
you would think. >> Yep. But yeah, it'll be July, August, and September. Yep. It's an interesting one. >> Otherwise, I'm fine with mine. >> Okay. Sounds like we're good. Do we want a different prom mayor? I will miss one
meeting this year. Um, so somebody's going to have to run the meeting. >> George, >> March, April, >> one of the two. >> We'll be fine. >> Sounds good. Everybody's good with George for prom.
>> Yep. Okay. >> Well, she won it. [laughter] >> All right. >> Anything else? If I'll entertain a motion to approve those changes, then. >> Motion. Second >> motion by council member Peterson,
second by council council member Heman. All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries 5-0. [snorts] >> Uh next we'll move on to K2 resolution to consider designating an official new city newspaper depositories, appointment of city attorney, city engineer, city
auditor and professional services. Miss Wood. >> Thank you. Mayor, as you mentioned in that title, we do um designate all these at the beginning of every year. Um, pursuant to statute and a resolution passed last year, uh, in 2025, the city entered into a three-year agreement with
the Sanago County Star as the official newspaper designation. Uh, so that would be continuing into 2026 and then all other uh, designations are per the resolution. >> I make a motion to leave them as is. >> Any questions?
>> I got a quick question. >> So, every year we have had a bond council. >> Yes. Do do we have to pay retainer each year or how how is the payment on that? >> Great question.
>> The only thing that we pay them for is for ongoing work on current outstanding debt. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. >> So, we're using them actually yearly. >> They're for the most part just managing the backside of debt that's already been
issued. So along with those debt payments, we have a portion that goes to them for their management of that during the year. >> I don't ever remember seeing a line item for this going through the budget. Do you have an approximate cost for the
bond council? I'm just curious. >> I do not off the top of my head. >> Yeah, it's not very much. It's a few hundred per debt issuance that we have per year. >> Okay. Is that something that we have to do with an outside source? >> Yes.
>> Okay. [snorts] Well, that's too bad. But that'll be dropping off in 2029 as well, unless we issue new debt. >> Mhm. Correct. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Yeah. We do reach out though like um if there's questions about the BMX, you know, with our bond that we have on
that. Um sometimes we have to reach out to them to ask questions if you know, someone we're leasing to has a question about what they can do operations. So we might get build for questions like that too. >> Yeah. So every once in a while we'll have compliance questions for them that may lead us to having some extra billing
just on some of that stuff to make sure that we're not violating any of those bond covenants. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> The star it says has a three-year agreement. The other ones, can those be changed whenever? Is that the only one
that is locked in? Uh yeah, we do um look at those annually, but yeah, they they are on a continual annual contract, so they're approved with this resolution, but we they can be reviewed at any time. >> So each one of these is going to be a one-year contract that we'd have to
change next year if we wanted to. >> Well, or we'd have to look into a process of changing. So if we wanted to say have an RFP for our um our attorney services, we could go through that process if we were looking to do so. But
we're not required to. >> We have a time frame for when we need to approve this. I know it's up for vote now, but like if we will this halt business if the these things aren't extended. >> I would my recommendation would be that
we do move forward on voting with it now and we can bring it back next meeting and we can amend it similarly to what we do with the other resolution at the beginning of the year. We just continually update it um and bring it back if we want there to be changes. But I wouldn't recommend having a break in service.
>> Quick hypothetical. Let's say another newspaper comes in town next year. We got a three-year contract with a star. Um, was that contract based on a discount in their rate by going out three years at that time. If I remember that conversation, I think that's what
it was based on. >> Yeah, some of them. But they there probably is a clause in there to break service or we just have to look at the Okay. language of that. Sometimes there's a notice that we could um provide to terminate the contract early. So, usually there's provisions like that
in there. >> Can you can you email that to all of us so we all have it? Say if we ended up wanting to change newspapers, we would have the contract and we would know what the financial implication of that may be. >> Yep. Yes. >> All right. Thank you.
>> Great questions, guys. Anything else? >> There was a motion to approve on the floor by Council Member Lundine. >> Second. Second by council member Peterson. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. 5-0. Next. K3. Resolution consider authorizing engineering services for the
Railroad Avenue improvements preliminary engineering report. Mr. Cook. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. So, this is to authorize doing the preliminary engineering report on Railroad Avenue from Main Street to Palamino. Uh we talked about it a couple
months ago on that concept of how to fit that sidewalk in within the tight rightway without narrowing the road or or still at least allowing parking on the one side that we currently do. Um so this study would be to just finalize actually making that evaluation drafting
up some figures. Um we had done a study back in 2017 uh that was three quarters of exactly what we're looking to do. So this is a hopefully a reasonable kind of update to that old one. Try and keep it, you know, not too costly for the city to to get
that update. The other thing that the study didn't do was evaluate uh what an assessment would look like if we were to assess this project. So to follow the assessment procedures, we have to do a feasibility report to it that lays out specific things. And so so this study
will [clears throat] follow those steps if we do choose to proceed that way. >> And with the state um being designated a state uh >> state aid route state aid route. >> Yeah.
>> Then they they take care of like 50% of that. >> So this is a state aid route and all of this work that we're proposing or at least that we're expecting to need to do. you know, if the study finds some utilities need work, uh, city sewer and water aren't stated eligible, but all
the rest of the surface work is actually stated eligible. >> Okay. >> And so, we'd be able to go after most of the funds, uh, you know, all that are stated eligible uh, on this route as well. >> Is there any is there any negotiation room on the price?
>> Who would I talk to about that? I have that question a lot. Would I call Bolton and M and ask that sort of question? It's It's at 10,800 bucks. And I would I would just love to see it >> consulting >> the consulting fee. >> The consulting fee. Yeah. >> I I mean, I'm the one that comes up with it by how many hours I expect my staff
and myself to need to do to accomplish the the study. >> Does And is this a not to exceed number? So, could it come in less potentially? >> Yep. >> Okay. >> All right. And also to mention because sometimes
this does happen, something happens and then there is more time spent um when there's that not to exceed Boltink does eat that. >> Sounds good. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion to approve by council member Lundy and second by council member
Homegrren. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries 5-0. Uh, next we'll move on to K4. Resolution to consider establishing the new position of a city clerk, deputy HR director. Resolution to consider promoting Jaden Strand as city clerk on deput deputy HR director.
That's a mouthful. >> Mayor and councel, uh, staff is recommending that we create a new position as you mentioned, city clerk, deputy human resources director. This would be a dual position full-time. It would help to support efficient administration, recordkeeping, personal
management, compliance with statutory requirements and crossover. Uh this position be at pointed at 278 and a grade 13. Um it is recommended that we offer this position to Miss Jaden Strand. She does hold a bachelor's
degree in human resources and she has been the city clerk for over four years and she has done an exceptional job with that. and um the job description is within your packet because this would be a new position and then we would not be filling the city clerk position.
Uh the impact because we would be moving her to the new grade. This would be um moving her to the next step um that she would not receive a pay decrease. However, would also receive the 3% cola which was approved for non-union staff. So that does put her at step four of the
new grade. Sounds good. [clears throat] >> Any questions on this? >> I think it's a good idea. We're not hiring outside. We're not starting another job position. I mean, you know, HR, you know, when she's gone, you got
nobody there. You know, Miss Wood fills in all roles in the city and it helps her take some off of her plate. I I'm 100% I I think it's economically bar far
by far better to do this. So with that, I'm recommending approval. >> And I agree. Uh Miss Strand is always working hard. I know she replies very fast to emails, always here busting her hump. So I I I want to give her a shout out on that. So I I think it's a great
idea. Um save us some long-term costs. So, my recommendation is to prove the uh how do you say it? Uh establishing a new position and promoting her to that position. >> Is that a motion? >> That's my motion. Okay. >> Motion on the floor. Any other
discussion or a second? >> Second. >> All right. Motion on the floor by Council Member Lundine. Second by Council Member Peterson. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries 5. Uh, next we'll move on to resolution to
consider approving the updates to the personnel policy. Miss Wood, >> mayor and council, we did have this on the last city council meeting of December and at that time we wanted more time to review it um, and look at the changes. So, that draft is included in here. I do want to make note that there
are a couple more changes to section 11 that the attorney had made that was put in your packet which was posted um, a couple weeks ago. I just wanted to make note of that. Also, what has been changed since the last discussion were the things that uh council had wanted change in going through certain sections
and those are highlighted within those sections. And I did want to say that uh one of the revisions uh was just a policy revision to align us better with statutory requirements uh as they relate to the ESST and sick leave. Uh the legislation has amended the statute several times
over the past three years and the purpose of the policy revision is to align the personnel policies uh with the current law which requires all sick leave to meet the statutory requirements of the ESST statute. Um so our our policy will now um match that
>> which is important >> and just for clarification um of what mayor is speaking about is that alternate language about the ESST. So that is also for discussion for this evening of and I do have that printed out if you wanted to see it printed
versus on your iPad. Let me know please. >> I do have a procedural question regarding this. Is it necessary to do every year where you approve it all as opposed to just doing individual changes and improving the individual changes? >> Uh we've done it both ways. Usually we
do it annually to incorporate all the changes. There are some times for example when the ESST language was first um brought in by a statute that it was going to be coming. We had made a revision um in August. It was August 15th of 2020 uh3.
So sometimes we do um for compliance like we did bring um a couple months ago the DOT uh policy early because we wanted to make sure that that was um all of our employees and the city was covered for liability items. Um but typically we do it annually and that's
when the League of Minnesota Cities does theirs too. They update theirs. So, we would be voting to approve the the the language with the changes that the attorney suggested last week. >> If you want to, we should discuss that. Um, that is not what's in the full
packet. Um, but that it was sent out to all of council. Okay. >> So, we should discuss that. Um, the that section was reviewed by the attorneys previously also. Um, so no, I think the language that you're referencing is not what's in the packet.
That's to be discussed. >> Okay. Well, I think the the language that's in the packet now um does not actually fit what our intended purpose of this was. Um so that's why I think it's important that we we update um to what the current statutes and the current laws say. Uh I
know when we had passed this originally, it was going based off of the original rules of the program, but the rules have changed significantly. Um so that's why the the option that Miss Wood had sent out, I feel is [clears throat] a better option. Um, I don't know if you guys had a chance to read that, but it just streamlines things and makes it uh more
equitable for everybody and it meets the statute along with what we thought it was originally when we had passed the ordinances or the stat the policy. So, >> can we just approve it all minus section 1102 and then pull that one in separately and
make a decision on that? >> Pass it out. >> Yeah, sure. Sure. If you pass it out, Miss Wood, did you guys have a chance to read that that email or did you see the email? >> Yes. >> Thank you. with their lines. If council's considering uh not having
the additional ESST time now that the statute has required us to make all of our sick leave time ESST time as well, that would be um a revision alternate that I just passed out. That would replace what you see in your packet as 11.02
in its entirety. I did print off the entire thing so you could see that whole section would be replaced. So, could we approve mine without 11:02 and then approve independently the revised 11:02 >> at a different date >> or
>> or tonight? You could approve uh the personnel policy with the changes. If everyone's clear and wants to make those changes, we could do so tonight. >> Yeah. >> Okay. This has already been fully reviewed. I'll >> make the motion to approve the final
personnel policy with the revision to 11 decimal 02. >> I'll second that. And just so everyone's clear, it sounds like everyone read it, but just so everyone's clear is if we have any positions not union, this would
be um putting it back to the way it was >> prior to giving that additional ESST time. >> Yep. >> All right. There's a motion second. Uh motion from council member Peterson, second from council member Lundine. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed?
Motion carries. 50. Uh, thank you everybody for your work on that. Um, and then I had asked to add uh item what number would that be? >> K6. >> K6. Um, to talk about uh the street parking along Heritage and 8th Avenue. Uh, so there have been repeated
complaints about parking outside of uh an apartment building over there off of Heritage Boulevard and 8th Avenue um by the Intermediate School across 65. I'm sure you guys are familiar with um the street parking there. uh repeated complaints. Um and I have actually reached out and talked to Sheriff
Cyberlick and the County Highway Department and our INRPD a little bit about it. Um both the IPD and I County Sheriff's Office uh can enforce if signs are placed. Um it would likely be something like parking for cemetery use only uh or parking only by the cemetery
or or something like that. Uh the county engineer um said in an email to me that uh the county highway department has been in contact with the apartment building um the manager there regarding parking along 5. Uh written notices provided and expectations have been communicated to residents and visitors.
Uh compliance has been inconsistent however which is prompting further discussion. Uh the county has attempted to address the issue through voluntary compliance and support of routine maintenance and winter operations. Uh while this road roadway is designed as a county state aid highway, the segment lies within the city of Iani. Um from my
understanding after some research pursuant to Minnesota statute 169.04A1 authority to regulate parking rest within the city within its corporate limits. Now I had always thought it's a county road so it would be their jurisdiction but um either way um the
sheriff and the county engineer um think it's a good idea. I'll continue reading his his email. uh the county engineers from winter maintenance and safety standpoint. Uh parked vehicles along this stretch interfere with snow plowing operations, reduce effective roadway width and create sight distance
concerns. For these reasons, the county highway department would be supportive of a no parking restriction along this segment and is willing to coordinate with the city on the next steps including sign placement and implementation should the city leadership choose to proceed. Uh, Sheriff Cyberlick, I followed up
with him and he said he would be good to do uh, whatever the city leadership decides to do on that road. Um, so I don't know. I thought we'd have a discussion about uh, the parking situation there and if anybody has received any feedback. It sounds like Steve has. Um, >> I don't need any feedback. I just see
it. >> Fair enough. Well, my question is why are they parking on the road? >> Right. So, is there not enough parking spaces or or you know, do they have >> My guess is
>> my guess is there's people that have So, just just you understand where I'm coming from. Like where my daughter lives down in Lexington, her apartment complex has garage that you rent. She rents one come fall and then she releases it in the
spring because she doesn't need it in the summertime. But people rent garage stalls and they don't use it and they still park in the parking lot. And if somebody has somebody that's a visitor and they have a three-day pass, they park in there.
They plug up that parking lot. It's a nightmare. And my guess is that's the same thing that's happening there. People aren't using they're using the garage garage stalls as storage, which that's their right. But now the lot's full and all those people are pushed
there or it's a nightmare for them to get in and out of there. So they're parking there. It's easier for them to get out. I I don't think they should have been allowed to park there. I've never thought they should have been allowed to park along five. >> Right. >> And no, go ahead, please. >> I just think that, you know, you got the
school buses coming in and out of there. I think it's a problem for kids. I think it's a problem for traffic. I think it's even a problem for those people parking there. >> Yep. I don't think they should be allowed to park there. >> Yep. And Miss Wood, maybe uh I think those were built in ' 04, 05, that that
era there. Um is there any possibility that maybe the garage parking was actually considered in their their parking requirement? Does that happen from time to time? Like, you know, when they come in all these apartment buildings, they want the smallest parking lot they can have, right? Because it costs less money. Is it typical or have we seen where a
developer says, "Hey, the the garage parking that should count as parking stalls." And maybe is that what happened with this one? Cuz it is a very small lot. Like when you drive around there, it seems very small. >> I would have to look into that. I know when some complaints had come into the city a month or two ago, Miss Hillis did
look into it to determine that there were because that was obviously way before our time that there were enough stalls built for the requirements of city code and it was, but I am unsure if that included them parking or not parking in their garage. I'm not sure. >> Okay. Um but there should be
consideration of the um cemetery there. People do park on the road to access that cemetery. There is no off street there. Although there are some cemeteries like I've seen off of Highway 47 and they put signs cemetery parking only or something like that. >> And that's even if there's a funeral
there that's for an hour two tops. It's not all night. I I guess I guess, you know, I don't I don't disagree with you, but I think we should look into if there's something that we can do to change that where the apartment complex needs to find more
parking inhouse on on their lot. >> I think that's something that we should look into and what we can do with that before we make an any kind of determination what we do with that at this point. >> I don't disagree with you. I don't think they should be allowed to park there. I never thought that. I always thought it
was weird that they were parking there. >> Yep. >> But my guess is knowingly like where my daughters at the same situation and they're probably got their garage full of their instead of renting a storage shed someplace. They're paying for that rent for that garage door that cames
with their with their unit. So they just got it full and they're parking in the parking lot. I don't know. Personally, I'd rather park in the garage. But >> thems only talked about winter being an issue. Is there not an issue with summer? Like would a snow emergency route be [clears throat]
>> better or does it need to be straight up no parking? >> Well, I think at at the time we had talked about this. I I would guess I don't want to put words in his mouth, but this was around the time of snow. So maybe this was the first in the engineer's mind. I think I personally think it's a problem all year round because that intersection there is a
dangerous one to begin with. Um and any sort of visual impairments there in my opinion are are a distraction. I don't know, maybe the chief could fill in on that, but I think summer and winter it just seems to be a It just seems very not not ideal.
>> Yeah, there's their crosswalk just to the east there. Yep. >> That's a bigger concern. You know, we've had one act pedestrian exit there that I can think of in the last couple years. >> So, that's probably the bigger concern is the crosswalk for school with that on street parking.
>> Well, and there's an empty lot to the north of that. There is. So, >> and I think they own that as well. >> Well, maybe >> how do we dress uh current parking for new apartment complexes? Is it like one
parking space per bedroom? I mean, that it that should be considered because is that is that what may be going on? I mean, you may have a lot of people rooming together and way more cars than that was approved for that complex. Yeah, I believe it's per
unit, but um I we can definitely get that information and maybe add this as a discussion topic on committee of the whole. >> Sure. >> Miss Hillis share exactly what what the requirements were when that was built, what they are now, if they are in fact different or if they were the same. We can bring all that forward >> and then reach out to the apartment
owner and see if they have any ideas and maybe just let them know we're talking about changing something there. >> Does that sound good with you guys? >> Yep. >> Yeah. the problem in the future. So, we should address it. If there's a problem there, we we need to address why and make sure it doesn't happen in the future is my concern.
>> Yep. >> Mr. Wrong, you're talking about the property lot to the north, not an empty parking lot to the north. >> No, there's just land. >> They own that lot. They were going to build another complex there, which was going to be a high-end
apartment. So, it had been more for, let's say, retirees that were going to rent it and it was going to be all granite tops. It was going to be, you know, instead, I don't want to put numbers in people's mouths, but let's say they're getting $1,800 a month for
this apartment. That one was going to be like 2,800. So, it was quite a bit considerably more. And then that fell through. That was That's I think is the owner of that. They're out of North Dakota. >> Okay. Well, sounds good. Sounds like
we'll have more discussion uh maybe in two weeks from now potentially. Sounds good. Well, I'm happy I brought that up. We can get the ball rolling. All right. And George, you had said that you had wanted uh was it L? >> L2 and >> L4.
>> L4. >> Okay. So, we'll we'll pull up item L2 and make that business item. Was that K7? uh resolution to authorize signitories and city credit card use. >> All right. Just had a few questions. Um were there are there any changes from
last year to card holders? You'd probably be one. >> Yes. So I'm a change to card holders. We also have a new equipment mechanic and then change in foreman and director are
the four changes there for card and parks and recck coordinator. So people that are now occupying those positions have been updated to be listed on this. >> Okay. Are there card limits and and who and are you the one who reviews statements and receipts each month?
>> Yes. >> What are are the limits? They're low. That's what I want to know. >> Um >> do we do you have a policy for missing receipts? Because that happens. >> Yes, we do have a policy. So, we do make
sure within 30 days basically of the credit card closing that within 30 days of that all receipts need to be turned in so that we can do our proper coding for each of those credit cards. So, we do ensure that we have receipts for all
of our credit card purchases >> and ultimately um the department head or the employee who uses a credit card is responsible to turn in that receipt or they they could be held responsible for it. Okay, >> this policy was changed
quite a few years ago. There was a council member that reviewed that >> and that's when this policy was changed and it was tightened down a lot. >> That's why I was questioning what why you were questioning this is >> it's just curious on yeah how they were
doing it. I don't remember us asking it last year. >> All right, that's all I had on that. Is there like a training or education like do you guys like when you give somebody a new card or they walk through like this is how you do it, this is what you can and can't do. It's very clear. >> Yep. So we have a credit card policy
that's given out to any individual that is receives a credit card with kind of the process for what purchases are allowed, how to do sales tax exemptions, all that type of stuff too, so that the expectations are laid out there. And then I also just have a conversation
when issuing it and let them know who they can work with in the finance department if they have any questions on turning in receipts, coding, and any of that stuff. So, run through it with everyone that gets issued a new card. >> Sounds good. >> So, we'll make a motion to approve
>> L2. >> L2. >> Second. >> Motion by council member Lendine, second by council member uh Peterson. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries 5. Next, we will go to item L4, which would be moves moved up to business item K8, a
resolution to declare the official intent of the city of Iceni to reimburse certain expenditures. >> I uh I'd like to understand this one a little bit better. It it to me, I'm looking at it to me, it's an open checkbook. I I would like to see a time limit put on it. I mean, I
I'd like to see it be renewed every six months minimum. So I mean just in the resolution have it wrote up. This will be renewed every 6 months. I also want to know the reason for it and if you have any expectations in the next is there anything that you want to backdate
that happened in the last 60 days. >> Okay. >> So this is on every >> so yeah this is a this is an annual renewal for this. So this is the last time it came council would have been January of 2025. This is basically ensuring that if there was something
that happened with the city of Iani that then would require us to go out and receive a bond issuance after the fact that we would be able to take expenses from that event that happened and be able to use that as a qualifying expense for those bond proceeds. So probably
looking for like disaster type scenarios would be when this resolution would come into play because there may be large costs that a city would incur if something were to happen. And then in that scenario, we may need years to pay
that debt back off just depending on what happens. And if we're waiting on money for any sort of thing that happened, that may just allow us to better fund those expenses than just trying to pay it all out of pocket and potentially running out of money as the
city. >> And is that with council approval? >> No, >> that's looking at it doesn't look like it. Do we have any projects? >> It does take No, we don't have any projects planned for this. This is a if we need it, you have to have had this
passed prior to something coming up. But council would be approving any bond that we would do. This just allows us to backdate so to say back so we can recoup costs from the original part of a project. So >> or if not project or emergency or anything like that.
>> Mike's it comes up every year questions about this and it is just a boilerplate very standard. You can see we don't spend very much time updating. It looks pretty archaic compared to our other forms because we never use it. But if we don't have something passed like this, if something comes up down the road like
as he mentioned as a disaster, the city will not be able to recoup all catch all those costs that potentially could come up. But no, we don't have any planned for this year as we haven't for >> I don't remember ever seeing this one on here. >> I don't either. >> It usually someone pulls it every year
too. It's always in consent every January. >> It is. >> Sounds good. >> So just one more quick question. If the real intent is to use it only for a disaster type situation, can we put that in the resolution
so that it doesn't get used because of a project that you may want to backdate and >> this would only be used if the city approved a bond. >> Yes, it would have city council approved a bond. city council has to approve a bond and then we would be able to wrap
any of those beginning conversations that for example maybe not that we would do this but for example what if we were doing a large massive $5 million park project and we had engineering go through a bunch of renderings and spent cost for it and the council decided that
you know we're going to do this $5 million project but we had $75,000 before the pro the bond even happened of the project getting us ready for it. This allows us, correct me if I'm wrong, this is not my forte. Um, but this allows us to go back and roll that 75,000 into the full project. If we
didn't have this passed, the city would just have to eat that and pay for that separately in addition to doing the bond that they had planned to do. >> Okay. You put it in real life perspective. Okay. And I get it. >> Any other question? >> Really hard to understand reading it as
is. Looks like a kind of >> mumbo jumbo, right? This has not been updated in a very long time because we never we don't use it. But it is something that the council has to approve in order for us to do that kind of scenario, but I don't foresee that happening, but we do have to pass it.
>> All right. Thanks for the explanation. I >> I make a motion to approve. >> I'll second. >> Motion by Council Member Lundine, second by Council Member Heman. All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. 5-0. Uh we'll move on to the consent agenda. Are there any other items that anybody would
like to discuss? >> Make a motion to approve. >> Second. >> A motion from council member Lundine, second from council member Peterson. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries. 5-0. I did have a quick
question on that, Miss Wood. Um item L7, resolution to approve staff to submit application for grant pertaining to community development. Would that include potentially a railroad development? is I assume community development would be the railroad type industrial deal would be under a
community development umbrella. >> That is correct. >> Okay, sounds good. I thought so. But all right. Uh any other questions or communications uh regarding you know M1 review of conflict of interest policy or any other questions from council or staff?
>> Yeah, I would like to mention that the annual review of the conflict of interest policy is done every January. uh you have all that documentation. If you could fill that out, complete it and sign it. If you need additional time, that's fine, but turn it into uh city clerk Jaden as fast as soon as you can. And the other thing I would like to mention, it'll be on announcements at
the next January meeting. But just so everyone can have a little bit more of a heads up, our first meeting in February for city council and all city meetings will be on Wednesday, February 4th because it's caucus night on February 3rd. So instead of it being Tuesday, it'll be a Wednesday night. And also it's starting at 5 pm because of the set
goal setting meeting. >> Sounds good. Any other questions? If not, I'll entertain a motion to go into close session. >> Motion to go into close session. >> Second. >> Motion by Council Member Lundine, second by Council Member Homegrren. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries 50.
Therefore, we are going into close session regarding labor negotiation strategy pursuant to Minnesota statute 13D.03, 03 subdivision 1B. Thank you.