--------- 5 I'll second what you just said Steve thank you Rum River BMX but it would be nice if they did if you I mean you guys got to put in your bids for a lot of these things it'd be this nice if you came up with you know keep you from having to come in here so often
I we have we have told them they don't need to come for their special event permits they just like hanging out with us I well I get it but I just assume give them all their all their good thumbs up is all it once rather makes their life easier
too all right so uh K9 resolution to consider approving a conditional use permit to allow for automotive restyling Precision windowtint applied for a conditional use permit to allow Automotive restyling at 22 Broadway Street Southwest um the Planning
Commission conducted a public hearing on March 18th on the proposed conditional use permit and recommended approval the I an city council approved a zoning text Amendment um in January to allow um this use as a conditional use within the district and the findings of fact
and all of the requirements um have been met for this conditional use permit are included in the packet what a process this has been for this this has been like six months on this so let's get them over with motion to approve this is the last one that we're going to have to do oh all right motion by council member
line Second by council member Peterson all in favor say I I and he opposed motion carries 5 Z I will let them know they're done too all right K10 resolution to consider supporting the retention of City Zoning
Authority good evening again um so I'm I did provide this in the admin update previously but the Senate and local government committee and the house elections finance and government operations are considering um four well eight bills um that will significantly
restrict City Zoning and land use Authority um from um requiring the City to potentially allow much more dense um housing in certain areas on any vacant lot that's res Zone residential within the city as well as any commercial
District within the city um which could impact um not only limit our decision- making on land use and Zoning but impose rigid State mandates on cities Force higher density development and um also eliminate our ability to require minimum parking standards it'll also have a huge
impact on our infrastructure and our ability to have enough water Etc so just this aot shows our opposition for it many cities have already opposed and they were supposed to have a hearing on this on the 25th which they canceled and I haven't seen any further updates from
that so you're saying we want to do this retention it's the way I gather it what's that we want to do this retention no no well to me I'm when you seeing retention that's keeping what it is we do we want to retain City Zoning Authority I I'm so it's it's preemption
by the state what the state's trying to do is they're not trying to restrict us they're trying to dictate what we do with our property and they have no business doing that that's way over their their reach and I hope the Senate and the house just laugh at these because you know every every city would be required to have the same standards
and that doesn't work you know how how can you make a law for down in the Metro when you're in the Suburban it it doesn't work at all and you're going to have huge issues that are not being thought out at all by whoever presented these these laughable bills so don't disagree so yeah there's defin I want to
keep it the way we got it yes so we're going to we're going to write the uh the resolution basically mimicking what the LMC had had sent out I assume um and I was good with the language I know the County Commissioners I had talked to them and they are hoping that they can get resolutions from everybody so they
have you know a a little bit of a stick behind theirs as well um because it's it's it's laughable I don't even know how it made it to the floor at all I don't either that there's the state can't be dictating one size fits all I mean that's what local communities are
about that's why our state is broke up in counties and cities I mean you can't you can't be dictating I do want to add that I did remove some of the language at the end of the original resolution that they gave to us that said that we would like to partner with the state to
come up with new ways for zoning and I just said we don't want them to have any more control over our zoning at all so we want nothing to do with them completely follow the format but I just wanted it to be as is at this moment I like that change so so we need a motion to approve
the resolution motion to approve oh that was quick second second motion by council member Peterson second by council member hren all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 5 z uh K1 resolution to consider approving hiring
bonus for police officer retention and mayor and councel on the cow meeting of March 18th brought up where we are in our hiring process and was council's U recommendation to look into the hiring bonuses uh Miss gr and
myself looked at some of the postings and what was out there and came up with this proposal for resolution which is $3,000 for less than one year experience and the $6,000 for lateral over one year
um onethird would be paid out at the completion of the field training process which would be somewhere between 8 and 12 weeks depending on lateral versus new um and the other two-thirds would be after one
year yeah so that's what we brought back at your recommendation that's what we came up with we looked at the you know the highest ones we've seen at $20,000 um that's kind of the outlier there's some higher ones in the $110,000 mark and then there's some that are lowerer um but that was kind of the one
that was the starting point Y would it be possible I know you broke it down versus under a year and over a year but you know one could argue that someone with a year and one month experience isn't more experiences someone with 11 months could we break it down further and say you
know 3,000 for one year or less and then say 4500 in the middle for 3 years or less and then anything over that's the full 6,000 would that be a potential yeah we could um but I would say that one year in one month
or one year in one day is extremely more valuable than zero days in all right right I mean because they've already gone through a field training program right and they've successfully now they've successfully completed that and are employed for that year that would be
different if they went and worked for a year and didn't make it we wouldn't then it wouldn't work in that process that to be currently employed as a police officer for over a year sure at that time fine with this can we have language put
in here that this resolution needs to be resubmitted every two years because the market changes uh mayor and Council what we do with this resolution is that it's effective for this job posting this hiring just this oh that's way generally
that's the way most of those are they don't when somebody's offering you an incentive to come work there it's generally for that job posting because it can change and they can raise it they can lower it they can do away with it hopefully we don't have another position open but if we did we would bring this
back to council and ask the same question again sounds great that was my only concern about it otherwise I like it as is or would you guys be okay with the 135 no I think this is just fine I think this is going to just fine you got a guy that's three years
he's just as well seasoned his all right so I think he should be paid more if you have but it's going to be so he's still going to get his well mayor and Council they would if they have say 10 years on they're going to come at a higher pay rate right to start with right and a higher signing
bonus I me I think I think we should break it down into you know the one year three year five year for 3,456 I think you're going to make it too concluded and there's it's going to go all over in different directions I think you're better off just leaving it as simple as it is generally most hiring
bonuses are flat that's it they don't it's not for the this and it's not for that it's flat out were you okay with those changes Chief I mean I don't mind the another but the marketing side would be the only concern just you know looking at to be
consistent with every other one that's out there that's offering some bonus I mean that is consistent at the year mark okay fair enough I make a motion we approve it as is second motion by council member line Second by council member hren uh all in all in favor say I
I I any opposed motion carries 5 Z I hope you get that position filled ASAP so uh K12 Financial Services request for proposal discussion thank you so mayor and Council as we had our abrupt vacancy of our finance director position uh
staff had reached out to ABDO for interim financial services this was approved um somewhat temporary at our last city council meeting on March 18th I've started drafting the rfpm vote halfway done what I wanted to bring to council is to verify after I've looked
at the timeline and make sure that this is still the direction of the council as you look at the dates um the contract would potentially begin in July I'm hoping to have a finance director in place by July 7th and it does take a lot of not just time but money as we post
the RFP and go through the vetting out process and I just want to ensure that this is the direction that Council wants to go is move forward with RP or should we reconsider continue on with ABDO I think currently we've had we're one week into that contract it's gone very well staff has taken on a lot myself has
taken on a lot so we're not passing on very much to ABDO at this time um but open for the direction of the council so I had a question on this could this be I maybe I should have used I used the RFP word maybe I should have used bid the last time because I was just expecting
we' we'd send out a a request for a bid and they would give us their week hourly price and that's what we would go by I wasn't expecting a six-month drawn out you know political bureaucratic mess so the RFP process is pretty lengthy in of itself um one thing that takes a considerable amount of time
which is what I've been spending a lot of time on this past week is the scope of services it has to be very detailed to ensure that whatever institution firm what have you that does submit a quote or proposal for it can meet everything adequately so it's got to be
comprehensive to ensure that I can vet out that they can actually do the services that we need I personally think we should just stay with those and be done with it it's just so much money it's four times what we were paying before it it isn't it isn't it it isn't it isn't by the time you paid paid to
our previous Finance director you're paying that for their service even though they're doing less but they're also the ones that do our audit so they're going to do it in a lot better shape and I think we're a lot better off staying right where we're at and if we're going to fill this thing within a few months we're going to spend more
time chasing down a rabbit hole than we are just leaving where it's at have there been any applicants yet or is that open I mean it is the current fance inst director position is posted it's open we're accepting applications until April 30th I'm not aware that we
have any yet so if we don't get any could we reexamine this at that point because I'm worried we're not going to fill his position for two three four years what if we don't and then we have we're paying $3,900 a week for 10 hours of service a week that and that's not going to work for our budget for the
next two if if that's not going to work for our staff so they're going want to fill this sooner or later we may end up having to do a hiring bonus under that to make it happen to as if look at but you know everybody don't you don't unless you're actively searching
for a specific job you're not going to know that that job is available you however they're posting it they may not see it until the last minute sure so I I think we should just stay with they're at and let's see what happens and if something doesn't happen by that
deadline of the applicants let's revisit let look at maybe doing a hiring bonus on it something to push it on sooner cuz the staff is not going to be able to eat all this time no matter and if we hired somebody else we're going to do the same it's going to be the same thing so I think we're better off just staying
right where we're at right now let's revisit this after that posting is closed and see what our applicants are at that point sounds good is is that something that we could just do with simple bid process if that comes rather than RFP so because it is a professional
service we're not required to do an RFP but again I'm not sure how you would go out and seek quotes Okay it wouldn't be a bidding process but it'd be quotes um if you don't have the scope of services for them to say yes I can meet all these benchmarks um I just completed drafting
the RFP for uh depository and banking services that'll be on our next city council agenda I think it's eight pages so it's pretty lengthy making sure that I have everything detailed out for people to send in so we can vet everybody out
okay well my motion is let's just stay with what we're doing let's see what happens when the when the applications are closed and then let's address it at that point that's my motion April 30th right around well that's when when does it
close mayor and councel if we do want to ask the City attorney we can ask for his expertise on whether we not do an RFP since we haven't gone through that before if you'd like definitely yes thank you so mayor councel because
the Professional Services are not subject to the bid law at all so and they're they're never done by bid they're never done by quote um the RFP process is very common it isn't required I you guys can go out and just literally
call up some firm and retain them under contract immediately if you want um but it is very common to to use the RFP process just to flesh out the experience these different firms there are certainly a number of them in the state that provide
public financing system one big ones but they're certainly not but yeah they're either way you want to do it is is perfectly legitim whatever you're comfortable with RFP or direct contract that's your choice okay so you
said April 30th is when that closing correct so let's just bring it back first council meeting and me and see where we're at on this and if there's no hires maybe we just make a couple phone calls how much would you charge roughly you know okay or or we're you're going to probably want to have a full-time
Finance director so at that point we may want to address as hiring bonus on that as well okay that sounds good thank you thank you did you make a motion on that yes I did was there a second I don't think there was can I ask a quick question how what does this
market look like have you do you have a feel for how long you think it may take to find another Finance director I have no clue it is it could could it be two years like Luke saying or could it be two months it's a difficult question to
answer I we did intentionally leave the um application process open longer than we would some positions given my experience previously with this position being open when we hired Michael Becker he was done through a recruiting firm because the city of Ian did struggle
finding a permanent fulltime um fance inst director that met the qualifications in lasted we had gone through a couple of them used interim Services as well during that time to fill the void so it's hard to say I think that a lot of positions are
challenging to to recruit for so I'm hopeful do you remember uh how long that position was open before we got Mike it really wasn't it wasn't that long she wasn't I was here were you here then yeah so we had a couple two um we had a
our F instructor who had been here for a number of years I think I want to say probably four years or so maybe three years three months I feel like was in there uh we had two people after her that were very short less than their six-month probation I think one was only
maybe two and a half months and then we used um interim Financial Services to fill the Gap as we went out for the recruiting firm and it was a number of months but I maybe if I had to guess I could look it up for sure but maybe around that that four months or so as a recruiting process went through its
whole start to finish process I can tell you I I have some Finance background at school and there was people really didn't want to go into the mun into the government type stuff they want to go for the fun you know business type stuff this it's kind of a niche market and it's going to be hard to hard to fill
but that's where that's where we could go back to the same thing when we found Mr Becker because I know for a fact that Mr Becker had recruiting Services calling him while he was here so that let's push this till first May 1st meeting let's discuss it at that
point and if we decide to maybe at in this time that Miss Wood can look into what it's going to cost to do a recruitment service and see if we can f- tune some of that if we do not get any answers by them I don't think that's I don't think
that's asking too much at this point I don't want to tax them back there anymore than they already have all right there's a motion on the floor is there a second or any further discussion I'd like to ask a couple questions go for it so how much time do you have into the RFP so far i' say
approximately six hours okay how long will it take you to complete it I would estimate about five okay and I would argue that or I would State also that it' be a lengthier proc process when I get the proposals in to vet them
out thank you any else I'll second the motion all right motion by council member L second by council member hren all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 5 Z hopefully
we get some applicants if anybody knows anybody so yes so we have the consent agenda are there any questions on the consent agenda motion to approve approve second motion to approve by council member
lundine second by council member heeman to approve the consent agenda all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries 5-0 uh now we will go into Clos session Clos session under Minnesota statute 13d point5 subdivision 3B for consideration
of actions available to acquire easements for the Heritage intersection Improvement project Part: 2
all right it is 7:01 If we can call this 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 we'll open the floor to public comment If there's any public comment at this time you're welcome to come forward and just state your name and address for the record Jason speak on any of these things at
any time too So there any other public comment Uh hearing none we will go into adopting the agenda Are there any changes tonight Good evening mayor and councelor There are no changes All right Motion to adopt Second Motion to adopt
from council member Lundine Second from council member Heman All in favor say I I Any opposed Uh motion carries 5-0 We have two proclamations tonight Uh we have the week of the young child and I will read that here Uh week of the young
child whereas many local organizations in conjunction with the national association for education of young children are celebrating the week of the young child April 5th through April 11th And whereas these organizations are working to improve early learning opportunities including early literacy
programs that can provide a foundation of learning for children in Ianti Minnesota And whereas teachers and others who make a difference in the lives of young children in Iani Minnesota deserve thanks and recognition And whereas public policies that support early learning for all young children
are crucial to young children's futures I Luke Merrill interim mayor of the city of Sani do hereby proclaim April 5th through April 11th 2025 as the week of the young child and encourage all citizens to work to make good investments in early childhood in Iani
Minnesota And then we do have a wastewater treatment award Uh the 2024 wastewater treatment award Uh the city of Isani earns recognition from the MPCA for operational excellence Uh the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recognized the Isani for outstanding
operations in 2024 To receive this recognition facilities must demonstrate consistent compliance with monitoring operations and maintenance requirements Submit accurate on-time reports to the MPCA and employ staff certified by the MPCA and wastewater
operations Communities across Minnesota rely on wastewater treatment facilities to stay healthy and well said Nicole Blazing municipal division director MPCA Operators at Sani are critical to protecting and preserving water quality and the MPCA is deeply grateful for their considerable efforts and service
to their community Uh so are we So we appreciate that Uh more than 50 years ago the Clean Water Act established the basic framework for regulating pollution in waters by creating water quality standards to protect drinking water and to maintain healthy aquatic community for animals and recreational uses These
standards led to the development of clean water before it was returned to a river stream The MPCA recognizes outstanding water operations each year Approximately 1,600 municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities across uh operate across Minnesota The MPCA reviewed a total of
676 facilities from communities of all sizes with only 235 qualifying for the outstanding operations recognition So that's roughly one in seven um doing that math there So that means that our uh our public works staff is up there in quality So I'm really happy for that and
uh congrats on the award Uh next we'll move on to the city council meeting minutes from March 18th committee of a whole and city council Is there any discussion on either of those Motion to approve Second Second Motion to approve from Council Member Lundine Second from Council Member Peterson All
in favor say I I Any opposed Uh motion carries 5-0 Meeting minutes are passed Announcements Uh special primary election Tuesday April 8th 2025 from 7:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m Uh so everybody get out and vote Uh canvas board meeting
Thursday April 10th 2025 at 6 p.m Committee the whole meeting Tuesday April 15 2025 at 5:00 p.m Planning Commission meeting Tuesday April 15 2025 at 6 p.m City Council meeting Tuesday April 15 2025 at 7 p.m And the parks and
recreation board meeting Tuesday April 22nd 2025 at 6 p.m Uh council committee reports are there any tonight I have three have at it So we had the chamber of commerce meeting which was the state of the city
held in I sne So you talked about that and answered some questions You highlighted our fiscal responsibility community engagement our move towards our striving for transparency and also the free market principles we try and follow Uh they also announced some a
craft fair during Jubilee days Uh contact pretty little signs if you want to be a part of that They also announced a beyond the old ribbon ball at the armory that's coming up this summer and highlighted multi events taking place at the library for children And then I also had the community education meeting Uh
they updated on the faculty task force They have four of seven meetings completing completed and addressing some things they want to get done They also were highlighting their summer ECF and early childhood programs um they were talking about some new
requirements that ECF teachers need to meet but they aren't getting any kind of compensation So it's going to increase the cost of them to provide those programs without really being having a a way to adjust for the cost on their end And the community education brochure is
now out Uh they also want to highlight that there are plenty of classes for not just children but teens and adults of all ages And we also had the park board meeting Uh they passed forward the name for the park which they decided on Fairway Greens Uh I'm sorry they decided
on Woodland Park as the name they were going to recommend and then they made some uh progress on the skatepark QR code sign and that the skate park is being worked on by public works I don't know if that was completed or if it's still ongoing Waiting for treated uh plywood for it
right now It's on order not here yet but it'll be worked on soon Okay And then they're holding on the message board at Bluebird Park the high school so that they might be able to make us a sign rather than buying one So they're waiting to finalize that with the high school That's
all I have a short update on the fire district Um the fire district is looking to rewrite some language on the joint powers agreement Um I had spoke with Chosy She's going to send you each a copy of what changes they're asking for
I did throw my two cents in and said "I think we need to rewrite the whole agreement not take anything out of it or put anything more than already is there just update the language and make it have a little bit
more sense to it Um so we'll be bringing that to Cal next meeting and and I'll have some discussion with the attorney in between that time I hope about some changes
Okay Any others All right I do have a couple Uh I did speak at the Chamber of Commerce event and that was well attended I did make one error that I wanted to correct I had said that we were talking about the Heritage and Whiskey roundabout I said it was the most dangerous intersection in the county I meant to
say the city Um I don't know if anybody caught that but I thought I'd correct that And I'm happy that we are finally working to address that issue and we will have a roundabout there um by the end of the year Um for the school board uh the VFW donated $1,000 to IMS which I
thought was great I always love to see local businesses contributing back to the schools especially Um and there was a discussion um about you know some of their curriculum and they've decided to put more focus on technical and real life education like finances and skills necessary after school which I think our
community is very keen on Um I would like to see more and more of that so people come out of school with actual skills that can translate to the real world Um then they had the law the budget meeting Um so this one's always interesting to me Uh we are going to see increases on taxes Some people have been
receiving their tax statements and you'll see an increase in the schools Um most of that is actually caused by the state and their mandatory summer unemployment um which was a blank blanket law that the state forced through Um you know doesn't give the the
local jurisdictions the decision if they want to provide that or not Everybody still has to pay for it though So our local um local taxpayers will have to pay all of that extra cost which I don't remember the number on that I think it was four or five million or somewhere around that Um so that's a pretty
substantial hit Uh special ed funding was a discussion at the school as well Um some of the mandated special ed programs have increased and are only funded 80% by the state and 20% by the local taxpayers Um interesting note the special education program costs roughly
15 million of the 70 million I wasn't aware of that number Um so it cost the the uh district roughly $3 million per year from uh resident taxes here Um so you could expect an increase on that uh
on your taxes as well Uh free school lunches is another unfunded mandate that will cost taxpayers more on their taxes Uh that's another state blanket law which I think is great but at the same time it was kind of puts the school board in a tough position where they have to increase taxes
And the other biggest thing was their um 10.5% premium increase on their health insurance um which is mostly put on the the cost or the employees not the taxpayers thankfully But you know looking at some of the numbers a family cost roughly $36,000 now a year for
medical insurance through the school That is an insane amount And I think something has to be done by state legislature and local leaders to require insurance companies not to gouge the public sector um they think that they can just get away with that and I don't think that's fair and I think the state needs to get involved in that $3,000 a
month for family healthcare insurance It's not acceptable to me So that's something that you know the this the teachers have to face the brunt on and that's just sad Um but otherwise their their budget is in fairly good order Uh their fund balance is at 20.9% roughly
Um so I think they're in a fair position but we will continue to see taxes increase on the schoolboard side of things Any other committee reports All right then we will move on to public hearing J1 improvement hearing
for Hills Rehabilitation Project Mayor members of council So hopefully this is that microphone on Is there any way we could get another like a wireless mic up there That seems to be a common complaint is people in
the Is there Okay there you go I'm too tall for it Stick it on your shoulder there Well we'll have a lot of people probably Well hopefully not too many but we'll have some people coming up So um this is the uh improvement hearing
for the um Sandy Hills rehabilitation project We're uh planning to levy assessments on it So we have to follow the MS429 process Um so we started out with the feasibility report that I've already presented to you guys This is a very similar presentation you've already
seen with some tweaks um because we also held an open house last week Got some feedback that I'll relay to you guys here um with a few questions for you to uh kind of make some choices on and then we'll open it up to the public for any
comment and then we can proceed into the resolutions to move forward if that is what you guys want to do So and hopefully this is kind of a a third time for some people seeing this So I'll hopefully be brief but certainly
uh hopefully I don't miss anything and get questions if we skip anything So uh the project includes Birch Street Cedar Street Dogwood Street uh Nenah and Marian as
well as a trail segment that we're evaluating as well Um so the streets have been rated for their paving condition They were found to be in extremely deteriorated condition I think everybody is aware of that Um turning into more potholes than
street Um two of the streets are state aid routes Birch and Dogwood So we'll be following some of the process with those And there is also some fairly bad curb The concrete curve is deteriorated pretty bad We'll have to look at how we
fix that On the utility side the water the sanitary and the storm are all in very good condition for their age and uh are expected to last through the life of a pavement restoration project So I
guess I got ahead of myself but we're proposing to leave the existing utilities in place And um for the road condition we found that doing the same that we did for South Brookview where we would reclaim the existing street
section and blend that pavement with the underlying gravel remove off that upper surface to just make room for a new batuminous surface and replace any failed curb and uh sidewalk panels that
are non compliant with ADA requirements Um two things that I added since the feasibility report for the slideshow It was in the feasibility report but I just want to point out um Dogwood Street had a resident asking about how to find out
how to reduce speeds a year ago Um when we talked with them we said that well this project's coming up and one of the best ways we've found that actually has an impact on speed is to add striping and make the corridor feel
tighter as well as removing parking so that there isn't any of that blocked visibility um for kids crossing and things for safety So to do that uh we would have to do no parking on both the north and south side
of Dogwood um to to fully follow that setup Um we discussed it at the open house and I did go back and evaluate if we could shift it to one side and still parking on one side Um and we could we'd have to because we're going to reclaim
the road Instead of having that crown you know like any standard road would just kind of have a high point in the middle we would shift the crown over two and a half ft and that would be the new center line point and we'd be able to leave room for parking on the south side
Um that may not be you know as safe as this current plan but it is an an option At the time we weren't sure so to go back and do some measurements So that is one of the few questions that I'll have for you guys If you do want to make that modification um we have a no parking
resolution that we'll have to park pass later and if we want to allow the parking on the south side we could just modify that um then or or proceed with this game plan Um I'll get into some of the feedback we got at the open house uh near the end of the slideshow when we
kind of can discuss some of those options Otherwise Birch Street um is for width is also going to require no parking on one side but we're not planning on doing the striping that we just are thinking about doing on Dogwood Uh for the trail uh the original
plan or the existing trail is very squiggly Uh that's a technical term Um and uh in a failed condition So so we're looking at doing two different bidding packages One where they would remove the
the trail and straighten it out and make uh snow plowing and maintenance easier but uh you know the actual act of straightening it out isn't necessary to make that surface you know corrected And so we also are going to bid it with a
straight overlay to you know compare price and see if it's significantly different and whether it's cost effective to actually go about straightening it But uh that's the two different bidding options that we're looking at right now for the
trail Uh there it is straightened out And then uh the sidewalk the original concept uh there's a segment of sidewalk that's missing on Birch uh half a block east of 6th Avenue The original concept
was to just hold the same boulevard that would go straight across the fronts of these yards It would have had to take out three trees and um and I guess impact the driveways even more significantly After the original meeting
we re-evaluated if we could push it over We found this concept to work without having to take out trees and and still you know fit into the driveways Um admittedly the driveways are already
have a reasonably steeper slope to them And so adding a sidewalk that has to be relatively flat just to meet sidewalk ADA standards it would make their driveways you know steeper than they are right now to be able to make room for
the flat piece Um and obviously it'll be disturbing their front yards and and how to tie in to uh to their yards And I guess as noted um the two residents that live specifically there
were opposed to adding it Um and in the few slides later I'll give the feedback that we got in the rest of the open house Um and then another element to the project Anoka Conservation District did a evaluation The whole city um had
identified this area in yellow as an area that could benefit from adding rain gardens Each of those green triangles is a possible rain garden location Um we brought that to the open house and sent out letters to everybody and ended up
with two residents in those green triangle locations that actually were interested And we'll discuss the rain garden item a minute This actually is an old slide Now I believe in your packet is a
comparison on rain garden types Um this rain garden with that uh structure that would be used to catch the initial sediment um and oils and things and then a rain retaining wall in the back was originally bid on our previous project
and the price came in significantly high And so we've modified it to not have either of those types of elements and essentially it would just turn into a curb cut with a depression with some mulch and you know minor plantings
So yeah so since we're talking rain gardens we'll start with that um the two respondents that would fit that criteria um are interested in having one but we weren't able to talk costs and that is one of the items that
we're going to want to talk with the council here and see which direction we want to go Um that wouldn't be an assessed cost but the current rain garden city policy is there's just a a share to a maximum I
believe like $500 Um that the question is just would we just hold to that policy and the resident would be responsible for that extra cost or would the city pay the full cost but still turn over the rain garden to the
resident to own and maintain moving forward Um so that is a question we kind of want to have answered so that we can get back to those couple residents and see if we do want to proceed with those on their property Um or eliminate it Um
technically there doesn't need be doesn't need to be decided today in that we could go out for bids get what the actual price turns out to be and then make that decision but obviously the earlier the residents can know um what direction it's going the better Can I
ask you a question quick on that So um is there a possibility for a resident to do their own Raiden garden if they so choose and then just get the $500 rebate if they're not happy with this or they want to do something more specific Would it be possible for us to do the curb cut for them and then they do their own raid
garden however they decide Sure Yeah I mean currently the current policy is it's completely their choice They can pick whatever rain garden they want I mean they have to submit it and we have to approve that it meets a rain garden criteria but we can pay half of
the cost up to $500 of whatever it is they do that meets our criteria Um so prepping it you know is easy enough to do We already have spot repairs that would be curb replacements that we' be planning So we'd be able to you know do
something along those lines you know So that would be a third option potentially for them It's either they do it the way that we have designed or they don't do it at all or they do it how they could maybe choose Sure And and some of that would come down to whether you know the city's paying for all of it portion of
it or you know whatever I just want to be clear about that ownership side In the end it would be theirs to own and maintain either way Um so for this slide I got one more respondent today So we have 19 questionnaires that were completed Um we
asked a variety of questions like "Do you have a dog fence Do you have sprinkler heads?" Things for us to kind of be aware of when we're doing the project We also asked a few that I want to bring to your attention um on some of these items that are kind of open for
decisions to be made on how we want to proceed So that sidewalk segment on Birch um out of the 19 respondents that added one there are seven in favor five were opposed which leaves you know somewhere on the order of seven people
just left it blank They didn't have an opinion Um so we currently have that in the plans We would be able to go out for bids and get pricing before we'd have to really make a decision but same idea the earlier we can make a decision on the plan you know the better just for
understanding of what's happening Um the next question was there's a yield sign at Nenah and Marian Um just the question of are we want want to put it back or should we switch to a stop sign Um seven people now have said yes let's switch it
to a stop sign Uh four were opposed and everybody else didn't have an opinion Um we did actually leave a yield sign in place on our last project South Brook Um it was the exact same thing Pose the same question and and that one everybody
said leave it So so that one does still have a yield sign but it's not a traffic legal issue It's more of a what do you guys want to see there or for consistency in the city Um we talked
rain gardens already Um then that topic of no parking on both sides Um we also already discussed but we would like to have some direction on that because um that no parking resolution does have to be passed and submitted with our state aid plan submittal package which
technically already did get submitted as an unsigned version to get state aid reviewing it but um we'd need to make that resolution adjustment today um to keep moving forward with that piece if we're going to try and shift that Um and
I think That is about it Oh yeah cost Of course we've all been through this but here we go So I'll try and make it even quicker Uh the total project cost is 1.2 million Um of that the street improvement cost is one just over 1
million estimated Our assessment policy is 25% of assessable costs came out to $266,000 whereas 75% of the cost would go to the city which is about 800,000 and about 400,000 is state aid eligible
to um for the city to cover some of their cost Um for that trailer replacement we're looking at our estimate of about 76,000 for that full rement and straighten versus about 20,000 for an overlay And then that
sidewalk infill half a block is estimated at 60,000 So for the assessment topic um of that $266,000 there uh we're looking at applying an adjusted accessible front footage as the means of distributing
that cost And so it came out to 11,566 feet of adjusted front footage to distribute that cost over which comes out to $232 per foot of that adjusted front footage And I do adjusted I think we've
had a few questions um our policy makes adjustments based on lot size or shape Um more specifically on whether or not the the lot is a nice square shape versus a front is significantly wider or
narrower than the back of the lot So there's some adjustments that are made to make it a little more uniform on how it applies to people um as well as corner lots have a have a significant adjustment on their side lot versus their front lot and that's all factored
into um to those assessment numbers that we come up with Um so with all that said there's 129 parcels Um so generally it averages out to about $2,000 per assessed parcel on the assessment role But that final assessment is going to be
based on actual bid prices that have been accepted and the actual costs incurred So you know these are estimates that are um usually established as the cap and once we get to that end we're
just hoping that it all comes in less Um and then otherwise these two sidewalk and trail elements are not on the assessment plan and not included in that amount that's uh covered just because that's the assessment policy And then
that topic of how we want to handle the rain gardens wouldn't be that assessment as well So here we are at the uh improvement hearing Um we'll open this up to the uh the public to comment Um
once that closes if you choose to proceed we would need to authorize the project in one resolution and then approve the plans and call for bids on another resolution and uh or ban that
parking on those on another resolution Um I'll just follow this open house or public Um right now the game plan would be to open bids at the end of the month April 29th Um and then have it available for
construction to occur any time throughout the entire construction season Really estimated to start in June Um I don't expect it to take more than three months So they may not even start until August or later but they may start right away We'll make that available so
that we hopefully get the best prices Uh once they start we would restrict how long they're allowed to continue so that they can't just draw it out on us But um that's kind of the expected uh game plan there And then we would hold that final assessment hearing that would be based
on those final dollar amounts uh in November so that the uh the actual assessment will be able to be levied on the next year's tax role So with that um if council doesn't have any other questions I guess I would
recommend they open it up to the public hearing I have a quick question So the rain gardens are are completely an optional thing They're not they're not mandated by any by the EPA or MS4 rules or
anything It's just a it's just an option we can do on our own Right So the conservation district evaluated because we kind of have a variety of different points that our storm system go directly into creeks stream wetlands um on how they felt we
could improve that water quality Sure And this is this region's recommendation It's not a requirement It's not a mandate It's something that could be done to improve water quality Sure
Would the curb cut on that be a cost associated with that or is that just built into the project So that's not a cost associated Right So those costs that I gave you on those two concepts and and what I would consider the cost for it would be not including the curb because we have other pay items that are
for the curb Okay And so the curb quantity that's you know accounted for would include doing that curve work When you say improve water quality was there any metric that we were not in compliance with or is it purely they
didn't test anything It's just this would make it even better Right So so this is just storm water runoff So it's not a compliance thing really It's just a we want to try and catch sediment and salts as much as we can to try and improve rivers and streams But they
didn't test our our runoff to see if we were having any problems It's purely just based off of this would make it better regardless of any test or assessment that was done So that entire uh their entire report was in the
feasibility report Uh I admit I am not 100% sure if they did any tests I think they may have done a variety of spot checks either on the river itself um to know that it's worth doing the evaluation but I admit I I don't know
that they had a specific one on you know this region's discharge point I I wouldn't think they even I wouldn't think they did I think it was more just the river's condition uh versus you know city salt use and trying
do something about it May not know the answer to this but are there any ash trees on any of those in the boulevard on any of those streets I don't know I would assume there are just on how they're distributed throughout the city but Okay I'm not
aware Just just curious because we're going to have to do a project through there and just looking at all options Sure And and remember this project you know we're going to leave a good portion of curb and only do like the minimal amount of
work behind the curb So we really aren't going to be disturbing people's boulevards beyond a little twoft like patch behind the curb that fixed But so you know wouldn't have been touching any trees but you know that's more why I
don't have a clue with what kind of trees or how many there are All right Thanks Any other questions Otherwise we can open up for public comment and then discuss more afterwards Thank you Jason Uh we'll open up for public comment for this public hearing if anybody wants to
come up and speak on this matter Just stay state your name and address for the record please Andy Feedler 519 Bird Street Southwest Um here on behalf of my wife and I we are opposed to the sidewalk Um I have a couple questions for you How many
complaints about the lack of a sidewalk have there been to the city in the last 30 years Uh 24 I guess is when they put the development in How many requests for a sidewalk to go through these last two yards has there been
Um both my neighbor and I do not want this but on the other hand we fully expect to get the shaft from the city of Isani and have a sidewalk through our yard Um I think you should save the low estimate I'm sure it will be because I'm sure it's not going to cost you anything
close to 59,469 bucks to do it Um should maybe save that since we had a big epic fail at Blueberg Park this winter that we're sucking up 50 grand for Thank you
Josie Maybe you can answer that question Have there been any requests over the last that you know of for a sidewalk there I know it's been a heavy discussion item with connecting to Whiskey but I don't know if if that particular road is at any request May council I know that there
have been discussions about sidewalks in that so area like off 6th Avenue but specifically here I cannot say recall any that came directly to me Okay Is there any other public comment
Just state your name and address for the record Thank you guys for coming up Janet Ross 509 Nina Street Southwest Um a couple of questions and one comment George there are ash trees in the neighborhood They're right across the
street from my house So there's a number of ashes Um one question Um why are they not uh doing the entire bike trail It's what another maybe 1,000 ft Why are they
only doing a portion of it Cuz it's going to stop pretty much right behind my property and it's cracked and there's other things that are not quite right with the bike trail all the way down Um the other comment is instead of having a
yield sign at Marian and Nina I believe it should be a three-way stop I watch traffic go up and down that road like their foot has landed on the gas pedal and doesn't know what the break is And there are small children that play there
all the time And I'd hate to see somebody get killed It's going to happen Thank you Jason can you answer the question on the the bike trail section that you had asked about Yeah So just like where the sidewalk starts and heads
east um on Birch is the same line that the trail was built to and then that development that built the rest of that trail is newer And so we're repairing the worst side you know the
older condition of the trail and and just admittedly stopping at that line of the segment that's 10 years newer or whatever that age difference is Um you know I I agree that stopping
midway partially doesn't make sense Um you know for just a full trailer repair Um and maybe a concept would be We went with the straight overlay You know we continue it to the end Um but that segment is just in a better condition
than the rest of the segment that we're looking at Could we uh price that for both the just the section we we've previously discussed as well as a price option for the full to see if it's you know if it's feasible to if it's better for us to do it all now Is that
something we could do a dual type of thing on So Are you asking to get the to see the cost of a cost of doing the whole trail versus just the section that we had
already discussed Yeah I mean I guess we're already at about four different sub alternates um each little segment is going to get a little messier for the biders but um I guess in my mind we would bid it with
the two different scenarios uh that we already have and then we would be able to know like the cost per foot that they gave us and we'd be able to extend that because these are unit price projects We'd be able to just make a change order
that says "Okay we're going to add x square feet of trail you know finish this out at the unit prices they bid and we would you know we would know what it's going to be Do you think there do you think there's enough trail there to see an economies of scale on doing a
bigger project for a quote like a per foot savings for is or is it still not enough to really make a huge difference It's only like an 800 foot piece of trail that we were so Yeah I don't see how it would change the
unit price Okay And then on go ahead on the three-way stop Um that would be just putting a stop sign there Correct Instead of the yield currently that's the plan Yep Okay Yeah It's not a three-way condition You know as usual I don't recommend
adding extra stop signs or changing conditions but you know that's again your guys's call I'm not opposed to these backside streets I'm not opposed to stop signs on them I'm not either I mean I'm going to be honest with you One person gets hurt
one car crash whatever If it solves that problem I'm not against that idea but that's me personally I mean just that location is just a culde-sac there So you know that'd be three-way stop for just the six homes or whatever The only
question I got for you Matt on that trail something just keep in your mind and think about it Does it need to be answered now I would like to know how much savings there would be by straightening that
trail over the life of that trail You know what I'm saying By straightening it for plowing preparing uh yards Kind of kind of put that in your head and think about it something to come back to because I mean that's going
to weigh it's 20,000 but we would spend 50,000 or more fixing driveways or yards and and plowing time I mean that's just something you you know we got to put in effect too on that So I just just
something for you to think about Doesn't need to be answered now Good point Uh was there anybody else that want to speak on this Cheryl come on up State your name and address for the record please Thank you for coming in Cheryl Davidson
512 Marian Street Um I talked to you at the open house and I just like Sure So um I guess I touched on this in the open house must been with specific people but that is a specific item that
we are going to have to be aware of Um concrete once it gets poured has to cure for a week And so if we're doing the curb through your driveway that would be the only time that we would really be expecting to block access to your actual
garage and driveway is you'd have to wait that week for the concrete to cure Um and so we would give plenty of notice to let everybody know Um we would coordinate getting you know say you have a trailer or something that you may want
to use that week we'd help coordinate getting that out you know um making sure you've done that before we come to pour concrete And then you'd be able to park right in front of your driveway for that week but you wouldn't be able to literally drive onto your driveway for
just that week The rest of the work is kind of in short quick segments the way the work's going to happen So we don't really anticipate entirely blocking access to your driveway or use of your driveway Um besides you know the partial
day short windows of work as it passes by your property Um but that concrete curing piece is the one And that still is only if we have to do the curb literally in front of it through your driveway Sure Yep We have a lot of
planned curb or to be replaced like there's a lot of bad curve We understand that And I guess my second question is um but it's my understanding that it will be going on Is there another option What is the
difference What is besides mention Sure So um that's yeah good question on on how the payments work Um so when in November when we have that final number
we'll send out individual letters to everybody that has their exact dollar amount and the you know the property identification number and the owner's name and and the official like this is what is going to be filed on your tax roll starting you know the following
year um you have a 30-day window to just pay that outright and then you don't have any anything go on your taxes You don't have any interest payment You're just done Um if you don't um it's a
10-year payment plan is the city's assessment or uh yeah policy on a street reconstruction project for how many years the payment program would be And the policy is that the interest rate would be 1% above the city's prime rate
that they have to pay Uh I admittedly don't know exactly what the city's rates are right now but given how rates are in general I'm going assume it's somewhere in that 8% interest rate range Um and so you know that average
$2,000 assessment spread out over 10 years with a 8% interest rate would be somewhere somewhere in the $300 a year um you know payment on your taxes It's just you know just directly one of the
lines on your tax roll you know amount and it just Yep I just I wanted to clarify Right Right Yeah I mean yeah Yeah Um so I mean I guess the the validation on that is the city has to
take out that loan to give you the ability to pay it over 10 years Like they're essentially have spent the money because the project happened They had to pay the contractor when it happened and they're
having to take on that you know loan and then they're you know making that a option to spread that out for you And the only add-on beyond what they incurred is that extra 1% for management
Oh sure The state aid Is that No that's like a a citywide state aid system And so that would just cover the city's you know citywide costs And so that's why it covers their
Well it's the it's that's already [Music] master No Um so essentially the loan you know if they're you know however they fund it would still have to be that assessable amount
plus whatever is left of the city's cost So whether or not it's the full project cost or $800,000 because it 400,000's covered by state aid it still is a loan and still has the same interest rate So
I just wanted to clear that up Thank you Sure So if I could sum that up quick If the average is assessment two is the average assessment cost roughly $2,000 we say And if you decide to take a 10-year loan it's going to be roughly $3,000 out of your pocket by the end of the loan Rough
math Yeah I mean and that's that's very typical with all assessments correct I know that's the city policy and across the state You work with a lot of cities That's pretty typical as well Oh yeah Okay And and I did do want to clarify that the city is not making money on that interest The city has to take the
money and pay the interest So they're just getting their interest back They were to know what the expense is going to be incurring for us Sure So if you if you can spend the money it's going to save you money in the long run but obviously it's it's a little bit harder Is there an option for them to maybe
start with the payments and if they can come up with the money pay it off early and save the interest payment Yeah I believe every year they could choose to go to the county and and do that Um but
it once it levies onto it I think there's an extra step or two that they'll have to do to stop it you know to pay off what's left No no I don't believe so Um I think the easier part that I am aware of is you
can pay a portion ahead of time so only a smaller amount gets levied over the 10 years That's an easier process but I just wanted to definitely I share the same sentiment If anybody has ever has any financial
questions on it I'm always happy to answer those too It's uh I know I you know our family was not well off when we did it when they did our road and it put us back pretty far too So I understand that 100% Uh we try to do it the best way we can you know and it has to be it
has to be uniform across the city otherwise you're you know favoring another one And with the with the state aid funding you know if we didn't get that state aid funding more of it would just be assessed to you guys More of that that percentage would just be on on you guys So the state aid funding helps everybody and then the rest of the taxpayers as well Uh any other questions
or public comment Janet Ross 509 Nina Street Southwest Um I do have one question and it is when you go to replace the curving gutter will that be taking some of the
um driveway out at the same time or will it maintain And the reason I asked this is I just had my driveway replaced four years ago so it's brand new and I'm going to be really pissed if I've got
cracks behind that Sure So again if the curb is bad enough to need to be replaced Oh it is It's over half missing So we we would usually plan to do you know a strip of the driveway behind it So basically from
the crack that's at the end of my driveway they'll replace from that down I I don't know where your crack is but possibly it's bad And you're probably going to replacing I would say at least 50 ft of the curbing and guttering in front of my
place It's that bad They filled it in with cold patch and it sucks Yep Exactly So Jason the best way to explain it how far are you going to come from the back side of the curb up the driveway 10 feet Good question Five feet eight feet Two
feet So if it's a batuminous driveway it's likely to be like a five foot wide patch along the back We do try and fit in whatever makes sense like uh you know so like the crack that's already there which is about 8 feet no not quite 8
feet up So possibly um concrete driveways that are newer um we try and pull the curb off and not have to do the driveway um just for not having to have a patch and a different color and you know nobody likes a patch no matter how
you know no matter how new it is It's just different looking and it's you know and so we try and avoid it but patuminous driveways usually don't hold up or we try and pluck the curb off and chunks come out So then we have to just saw cut a line to clean that up and that's usually about a you know two to
five feet um and then whatever is reasonable for an adjustment My next question is right at the corner of my driveway um I have landscaping and is that going to be replaced or is that going to be on me to replace that
So you're saying that's up against the back of curb Yeah So yeah that would actually be more on you to have to kind of rake back or salvage what parts that you might want Um we don't actually you know that's a private thing placed in a
rightaway that's actually not supposed to be there So we don't we don't really So let's make the city look nice but not replace it when they tear it apart So Gotcha So we we try to work with it to minimize impact But yeah if there's something
that you would want to you know I want to say so then the garbage pad that I put in 20ome years ago will get ripped up because it goes right up against the curving That is pretty much statewide policy that if you put any sort of landscaping
or any work in the Eastman area that's subject to construction projects unfortunately Yeah it's your property to use but if the city has to reconstruct something within that right away um
exactly I pay taxes on it and then they tear apart and I have to pay more taxes but then the rest of the people have to pay more taxes to pay for a choice that you made So it's it's it's a hard same with the trees that are on the boulevard and removing those and things of that nature So this answers a lot of
questions for me as to how this is going to go It should be interesting Any other public comment All right Hearing none Thank you all for coming in and giving the suggestions Uh is there any other questions that council has Oh a motion
to close the public hearing at 7:54 Any other questions or discussion I'm sure there's going to be a lot Do we want to just take it you know piece at a time You had that slide up there with you know the survey responses If we could just look at that and then decide piece at a time I
suppose So yeah I guess if you're looking for lead the way Um I guess if we want to start at the top um do we want to still include the sidewalk infill and at least get a price for
it and proceed as that And we still it would be an alternate where we can still make a decision when the bids come in and we're looking to award but we're just looking for direction on that one That would my suggestion would be to you know get the bid um and then it'll give
us more time to maybe talk to that neighborhood specifically before we decide on anything You know if we have a a bid that comes in and it makes no financial sense at all well then obviously you can just throw it right out of the wayside But I think if we get the bid with part of the project um and then gives us an opportunity I I hope
other people reach out Um I don't I don't know how I go on it I think you know it's it's a seven to five but you know how do you how do you justify it So just get the bid and see Um I think at this point I'm not in favor of it However personally I don't know what you
guys think I get the bid Okay And just so you know how many people actually were given these questionnaires The the 129 were given the overall questionnaire for everybody that's on the assessment role Then we
also sent out a mailer to everybody in the development to the south and east of this segment of sidewalk to see if they had an opinion And I don't know how many of these are theirs but in the end we're on the order of over 200 people were given the opportunity and we're at you
know 19 So the feedback limit isn't less than 10% It's always 10% on surveys It seems like on 10% but yeah it's not exactly overwhelming but okay so I'm hearing proceed with alternate a sidewalk
was this the sidewalk section that we talked about where you had asked about offsetting it from the because it was going to remove three trees in the current location I think it's silly to have a sidewalk that far off Then you have you know if you have a sidewalk 10t off the off the street then the people are losing 10 more feet of their
driveway for no reason you know So this would be the section that how far did we decide to move it like two feet or three feet I don't remember We have it on the back of curb for three quarters of it Okay But the existing is somewhere around 10 ft back So we curved it in to
cross the first driveway square and still leave their ballards on either side of their driveway and then finish tapering it in to dodge the trees that are all in the property line Is this going to be a surmountable curb or 8 inch curb or what
is it The curb would just stay as is which is that surmountable Surmountable Okay So really the curb doesn't give that much break for a vehicle like someone walking on the sidewalk versus the street It doesn't really it's not really going to slow a vehicle a whole lot versus how a a solid straight
vertical curb would Right Okay Now we did make the walk six feet wide instead of five because you have to have a one foot clearance between the edge of walk and the road And so you know that's kind of the buffer
maybe that you're thinking of Our average sidewalk is five feet wide Correct So how does that work with public works equipment Would they have to come do two swipes I would I would rather just see the foot grass boulevard myself Less concrete cost Mayor Col So we'd be able to do that with one swipe
sidewalk We wouldn't wouldn't have to go back and do it again Okay Okay Um yield sign Uh do we want to change that I'm in favor of changing it The survey said change it So in favor
uh the rain garden do we want to pay for it for the project Have the resident pay or use the c the city policy for 50% up to $500 or I guess it's kind of the two or
curb cuts I have a quick question on this one So I kind of like Luke's idea offering $500 to to the resident if they did it themselves and then somehow get a guarantee that it's all going to happen especially if you're going to cut back
the curb So you know we're planning on having one there But my main question is is can this money be taken out of the storm water sewer fund or the storm water fund Sure It should be able to So it wouldn't have to be out of our our our main
budget general budget here Right Yeah Right Okay So I I guess I would like to see uh the city if we're going to be replacing the curb anyways the city just does the curb cut if somebody wants it and if they'll confirm that they want I mean otherwise if you do a curb cut you're going to get
all that in your yard if you don't put a rain garden in So I mean it it does similar purpose I guess But if if the resident doesn't want it I wouldn't be putting in a curb cut Oh obviously right Plain and simple It's if the resident wants it we have to see if they really
truly want it at at that rate So as far as I'm concerned just ask it and we all have to go from there because we're not charging anymore for the curb cut And if they want to do it we'll have to get those specific ones that say they
want it and go from that route So you just want to follow the the standard city practice basically Okay Yep That's where I'm at with it too the $500 rebate potential option It's the standard we've done and we did increase that That used to be like $200 when we first got on We increased that a year and a half ago I
believe to 500 So and I still don't think we've had a taker U but yeah I I can reach back out to those two residents and say we can get the curb cut to cover that cost uh and part of the project because that would
have been factored in Um if they kind of sign some kind of agreement that they'll take over you know do a rain garden and take it over Otherwise we would not that's not in place Otherwise you know there's 16 or so of those green
triangles right now We're only talking as it is just from the feedback and I don't expect to get more added You know one thing Stephanie have we had any failures with our storm water runoff with MPCA
Um we've had our regular elicit discharges We haven't had an audit again since 2021 and our reports haven't been due because they're changing their system So we expect to have an update on our reporting hopefully this year But most of those elicit runoffs were due to
new construction construction related incidents or or elicit discharges related to like a spill or something of that Yeah And that's something that we're not going to be able to control as far as the rain gardens impacting our reporting It would be a positive We
would report on that saying we did you know use the rain garden program or implement more rain gardens throughout our city So we would report on that But if I'm not mistaken wasn't the rain guard program It was $500 and the city took 50% of it So it was basically the
city was only covering 250 We cover up to $500 Up to 500 Yes Okay It was $200 I believe when when I got on Sorry Go ahead Oh the project would be a thousand We were going to pay 500 Okay So I mean I wouldn't you know I mean if
you went to some of the other ones in that area and said "Hey we're going to give you 500 bucks for you to do a rain garden but this is this is kind of what you have to do and if you can meet that you know we can do the curb cut." Otherwise I wouldn't uh I I I don't want
this part of this project otherwise Yeah I I think it should almost be under contract Let them know that hey they have to maintain it If they don't maintain it and the city has to maintain it then we're going to have to assess our property I mean that's basically the way you I'm looking at that's what they
have to sign to enter into that Sure You know cost share So it would be program that incentive Yeah So we'd make you know we'd have that signed Okay Before we put that curve in and then it's got it all you know what it has to be like
and all that I think I'm still hearing I probably would include getting a price for the rain garden as we have laid out in case it's just Do you want to have them do this Here's the cost I think you should probably get them a cost They when you get when you send them that information they're going to want to
know the cost before they sign anything Obviously well it's going to cost them anything other than $500 So I mean if they could do it for under $500 they're money ahead So I mean let's The way the incentive works you can only get 50% of your total cost So if you spend a,000
you can get 500 If if you spend 800 you can get 400 Yeah sounds good Um no parking on both sides of Dogwood That one I am that is a hard one You know someone at the the public
hearing asked about uh what happens if I have people over and they don't fit in my driveway Well you're going to have to tell them to park in their neighbor's drive or their yard or three blocks away So to me you know three out of three residents I I appreciate that they don't want any parking but what about the rest
of them So I think it's a hard cell for me I do like the idea of shifting the center line because that allows people to park on one side of the street and it still does the traffic calming lines that we had talked about which was the main reason for this you know speeders on that road Yeah And in residential
areas like that you can't have park no parking on both sides of the street I mean people have companies parties graduation parties and yeah in this case they'd have to park quite a few blocks away We got to find some medium happy medium here Sure I mean we do have the
no parking on a variety of streets in this exact way residential streets And I don't know that we've actually had too much feedback in in old in old old construction or new construction type scenarios because that's a little different in this town specifically know
we went through the same process in downtown right here on first and Elizabeth um and those are all and maybe third right in here when we did a project in about 2011 and those have all been posted no parking on both sides since
and I don't I don't know that we've had specific feedback on that but people do still park there occasionally parking problem um it is all surmountable curb so you know I don't know what the rules But you know right
So sounds like shift it and allow parking on one side Up to you guys We're a vote of five here So I would hold off on shifting it just because if people do have a problem with the no parking then we've shifted the road and it's going to be stuck that way
for quite a while So what do we do What do you think we should do on it Oh it's it's shifting it but parking only on one side It's not no parking when the shifting the if they don't shift it and leave the crown in the middle It's no parking on both sides If they shift as
parking on one side only and if if it doesn't work out with that and we need to go to no parking on both sides as another element we can just add no parking It'll just have space for parking and just it'll be signed accordingly And this is one of the
decisions we did not have to make today No we do need to get the no parking resolution uh to state aid I I I don't think there's any way we can take parking away from that whole street there There's no way we're going to hear so many complaints about that I I don't I'm not in favor of it I think that's
the compromise You know we had how many people come in asking for traffic calming or ways to speed slow down the speed on that street you know So we're trying to appease those people with the speeders and then also we need to appease you know the residents So I think it's a a good combination of both
You know obviously there's nothing's ever perfect but and we have changed the speed limit to 25 through there since that resident complain as well So right Yeah I don't know if that worked I don't know if it did either but we're just making elements We're trying the
feasible things that we can do as a city It's not a local government issue It's a community issue And in my neighborhood in my neighborhood it was the stay-at-home moms that speed the most to be shot Most of them are like
"Yeah I walk my dog around the whole neighborhood until they're pass They just run right through." I mean six is a drag drag strip I've seen cars and trucks one in particular goes
all the way tail lights should be easy to see and spot Travis you hear that Exactly Thank you Any any sort of stuff like that we want to hear about because we can't be everywhere at once And come out in the morning when they're all
going to work Yep No if you have problem vehicles like that I would definitely be calling Travis and letting him know and see unless he's right there right But if he's doing it day after day after day he's going to get him someday Sure Steve what are your thoughts on
this Some of these streets aren't wide enough for parking period I live on one but people have place to park I get it But also people have to be respectful for people that live on that street I don't care
If you're going to do it if you're going to compromise the offset is the only way to do it And if it ends up having to go no parking then we'll end up no parking We have to make that decision now is just let's just offset it and park it on one side
only I mean you could sit here and have a three-day debate on this and we'll still never get anywhere Do we need a vote on that or this is going to be the whole resolution I assume we're going to vote on There will be a resolution but if we could get clarification on which side of the road will be designated no parking that'll be included in the
resolution That's another three-day conversation Also to let you know that no parking is also stated within chapter 227 of city code So while we will council will likely pass resolution this evening at an upcoming council meeting the ordinance will be on there to make
that final change Which side are the mailboxes on Both I suppose Um so I I just recommend um no on the north side just like we're doing on Birch for consistency one The Palomino still has
the crown in the center and the stripes off three feet and people drive that road just confused as difficult probably the In our case we're just going to move the
center line over across It'll be a little bit flatter on the longer side a little bit steeper on the shorter side But at least it should look like it makes sense And we're adding a fog line a deep a big fog line right 8 inch or something six inch Yeah To to really define the lane
versus the parking lane So So that should be a lot less confusing than Palino was Sounds good I think it consensus on Yep Okay So that's my list
Is that it I guess resolution time We have to pass a resolution authorizing the improvement to follow the uh assessment procedure requirements and then approve the plans and order the ad for bid so that we can
get that going And then we will edit the no parking resolution to only be on the north side of Dogwood as well as the north side of Birch Make a motion to accept
all three resolutions as presented Second Motion by Council Member Lundine second by Council Member Holgren All in favor say I I Any opposed Motion carries 5-0 Thank you Jason and the community for invol being involved in that I was uh very happy to see how
many people showed up to that public hearing or the open house on that construction project Uh so we will move on to agenda item K1 interview applicant Theodore Kudson for vacant planning commission
seat Come on up Theo And we just have some questions for you Can you state your name and address for the record please Canon 1112nd Avenue Southwest Okay thank you Uh so we'll just start right off What is the
planning commission's role Uh it's to serve as an advisory board for city council on planning zoning Yep Okay What is the role of the comprehensive plan in the planning commission's decision-making process
It's meant to be the guiding book for making those decisions based on our plan for the city Okay Do you feel the current comprehensive plan applicable Does it need to be changed If so how Um yeah I
feel that I'm guessing that it's applicable I've read a little bit of it but it's 139 pages So um I'd have to do some studying to could be changed was something that's outdated since it was it has been used for the past 10 years
So it was written a long time ago Um I'm sure that there's current time Okay Uh what is the purpose of a zoning code and do you feel there are changes that need to be made currently
uh zoning code has to do with uh dividing the community into industrial commercial and residential properties Do I feel that there's changes that need to be made I would have to review
Okay If you are asked to make a decision on a matter before you that does not meet city requirements yet you are in favor of will you be able to uphold the city standards Yes What is your knowledge on conditional or interim use permits zoning variances and plats So the first three that you
mentioned are pretty much the same thing Um they're just used in different scenarios Um with the uh conditional interum interum that would be where you
can uh use your property as for this purpose even if it's against what are you compromis the the interim which gives you a period of time where you can use
for that purpose And then you got uh the variances which are like hey we know that you're not supposed to be using this property for this but you kind of have a waiver right now
that have nothing to do with any of those It has to do with uh those are multiple plots that are used Great answer Thank you Uh do you have planning or planning commissioner experience Nope
Do you volunteer with the nice community I am a delegate All right And uh can you attend evening meetings at 6 pm All right Are there any other questions from the board
All right Well thank you for coming in We'll have a vote Thank you I would make a motion to approve Second Motion by myself second by uh Council Member Peterson All in favor say I I Any
opposed Motion carries 5-0 Thank you Theo for wanting to get involved All right we will go to business item K2 the annual fire district report presentation Al come on up State your name and address for the record please Sir evening everybody Al
Jenovich fire chief uh for the Iani Fire District My address at the fire station is 401st Avenue Northwest here a couple blocks down the road Uh so do we have our annual report for the computer Otherwise I have paper copies back there
I came in a few moments before 7 so I didn't get them handed out before you all sat down but they are available if you wanted to grab one now or on your way out and take it home with you Otherwise we might have to grab them here to Okay I saw you come I saw you come at
five and the door was locked and I ran out and I just missed you Yeah Try to drop them off before the meeting but I was wondering where they are Have the last couple years in my folder I was just looking at them He was here The door was just locked
Thanks Is this available online So anybody that's watching if they want to look at it at some point in the future will it be available online or is that something that the city would have to do or Yeah I don't have it on our website I have seven different versions for all the owners of the fire district but I you
can email me at the fire station or one of you guys or Josie Uh they're absolutely available via PDF Okay It's a pretty big file with all the pictures in it but uh we can definitely email them out to anybody who wants one Okay sounds great Thank you So we'll dive right in
Uh what we're looking at is a 2024 annual report for the fire district So the fire district covers uh six townships and the city of Isani if you didn't know Um and so annually I put together a report It's looked the same uh similar to this for the last several
years So it might be familiar to uh most of you but I still like to just go through it and see if there's any questions anybody has Uh now is a great time So quickly uh on the front cover there uh that white house with a C on the front of it that is a training burn
Uh so that is a house that somebody out in Bradford Township dedicated to the fire district uh to the fire department to use as a training aid So they empty the house out We get it as uh inspected make sure uh there's no asbestous etc in
the house Uh and then we uh file for some permits and hire an instructor and and conduct a burn where we enter the house several times probably actually 12 to 20 times depending on the condition of the house and the uh and the size of
it Uh and then once it's deemed no no longer safe to enter uh we let it burn down which is permissible by the MPCA and the DNR as long as we're using it for firefighter training So little bit on that Uh we'll flip open to page
one Uh you'll see a picture of uh the majority of the department on a training or a meeting night we had That's our roster as of 12:31 2024 So if any of the firefighters had like myself if I was at
26.9 years of service it reports as 26 So it rounds down These are complete years of service You'll see some of our newer hires uh on there with zero years of service because they haven't breached the one-year mark at the time of this
report Total years of service if you added up everybody's years combined is 226 and our average uh between all of them is eight Uh the next report on page two
uh is the entire fire district's calls broke down by the different owners of the fire district So you'll see a simple piraphph there The city's portion of our 562 runs is 205 So you the city has the biggest piece of the pie there
Uh the bottom of page two 10-year fire call volume history Uh I like to use this during budget setting and and prep for the future just to uh keep track on where we're headed and where we've been So you see on the
simple line graph that uh we were creeping up and up and up and up and in 2023 our calls were uh pretty much cut in half and now they've started to creep back up again which is entirely expected
Can you explain uh to people that are watching or listening why Sure What happened there So with these call volumes on the rise uh that puts a tax on any entity when you have uh increase in and demand for service like that Uh
and short of thank you budgeting to uh increase staffing uh increase liability wear and tear on our equipment We had to figure out some way that we can um save save in those things as I
listed uh and it was determined that uh in some of our run runs that we were going on we were duplicating service uh and to be most efficient we don't want to do that So the determination was made
uh that we would limit our call response to non-critical uh sometimes considered minor medicals uh in our area the uh Alina uh North Ambulance Service and Lakes Region EMS
respond to medicals Uh we do not transport as a fire department We never have So we act as first responders along with the ambulance service who does transport the patient to the emergency room as well as law Uh so that was one
area on those non-critical non-life-saving calls that if we pulled back we decided uh between Alina or one of the ambulance providers and law uh if we didn't need to be there then we were going to draw back and and test that and
see how it works Can you can you give an example of what sort of call that would be Uh not feeling well would be a call that is not infrequent in EMS Um different people
have different thresholds uh which is I'm not downgrading their need for EMS because they're not feeling well But with an ALS ambulance advanced life service ambulance and police on scene uh
adding more trucks and more service to a call that's non-critical such as that we figured uh was a good place to start to try to reduce our calls And it's it's shown to be effective overall Of course
when you any change is going to uh offer uh an option to push back and there has been I'm not going to lie to you and say that it's been a perfect road It hasn't Uh we've learned a little bit along the way but in the end you can see our call
volumes have been reduced drastically which is uh going to save us So who decided to make that decision on that There's been a rumor going around town that us up here on city council made that decision Who made that decision on that The city was 17th of the decision
In all fairness uh our fire board makes those decisions So uh the fire department officers and myself drew up a draft policy and presented it to the fire board and they voted on accepting
it uh which then put it into effect and the sheriff uh saw it through that dispatch uh would change our call types that we respond to And I did I did talk to dispatch up there We did a little tour with the citizens academy and and
they said that that has gone pretty streamlined It hasn't been a huge issue They can determine whether something is you know whether we need to triple triple services or you know if just the police and the ambulance is enough So I think it's gone very well and I just wanted to clear that up for the community Yeah Thank you It and that was
some of the the the initial concern um which I totally understand Dispatch they're on the phone and they're listening to this call for help and and they don't want to take on any more
risk or liability than they have to So for them to triage a call over the phone is very hard and can be tricky Uh so to take some of that u pressure off of them I made them a list uh which I shared
with the sheriff who then forwarded it to the dispatchers to give them a a basic yes or no If they're this then do that If they're this then do that And on the bottom of it if you if something doesn't feel right or if you don't know call us Mhm If law is out of
position if the ambulance is out of position call us We will go It has happened numerous times and we have no problem with with that So if all else fails air on a side of caution and send fire So it it seems to be working One
thing you do have to bring up too Al was 2024 we had a lot of grass fires and that's one of the incident reasons some of those incidents went up that 30 30 incidents You know you that it wasn't
just the call volumes have dropped for the medical runs but last year there was a lot of fire calls There was and we had a big windstorm in August that accumulated a lot of runs for us too
over several hours where we were clearing trees and and uh blocking roads where there was power lines down Um so we not to get in the weeds during my annual report but we use averages on our
call volumes when we calculate um our budgets and our cost sharing And the reason why we use averages a five-year average is because of some years are heavy on grass fire Some years have big storms during the summer that generates a lot of call volumes we try to uh
average things out to not have those big spikes in our budgets and in our call volume So yes there was a few uh different events in uh 2024 that added quite a few calls which is uh a good
segue to page three Uh what this is is every time we go on a fire call we need to submit uh a report to the state of Minnesota which goes in a national database so that they can see what the fire service in Minnesota is doing So we
have to categorize all of our calls Uh and what this report that's on page three and four is is on those different categories I like to share this because it's a lot of fine detail on everything we do Some people uh look at our our run
totals and say 562 runs My gosh I've seen your trucks on the road one time What are you doing 562 times Well folks there it is Uh 61 different fires 206 different EMS calls So even though we
modified our call response criteria and we reduced our uh response to uh non-critical medicals we still responded to 206 of them in 2024 So we'll move
on The uh report on page five is the different training events that the fire department uh participated in in 2024 So these vary from a new hire who needs their initial firefighter one training
uh to monthly trainings that we do at the fire department uh every fourth Tuesday we meet at the fire station and train on something different uh to something that's as simple as an online class uh to meet OSHA standards Uh those
also qualify for training and are in this list on page five Page six public relations and education Uh this is a lot of the well PR stuff that we do County fair We're at the county fair for the entire length of the
fair with our jump house Uh meeting folks giving the kids something free to do Uh so that is one of our PR uh events We also go on numerous parades as you'll see uh and uh support the fire service
as well as our rodeo uh national night out numerous uh touch a truck events uh township picnics etc where where people want um to to see and learn about their fire department So
we're happy to be a part of that The picture there is at the high school graduation Something we've done with Cambridge Fire the last uh several years as it is the Cambridge Iani High School Uh the the leadership up there is excellent about uh getting both
departments there to represent the students Uh so together with our ladder trucks we hang that beautiful flag that was donated by the I see any VFW above the doors so the kids and parents all walk under it after graduation Can you
forward in the the slideshow too on the computer No you're good So service area Uh this is all of the sections uh that we cover It's 157 total square miles inside those sections of
land There's an estimated 6,447 households estimated population in those sections is 17,539 So the bottom is it's kind of a mess I agree with you that it's hard to
look at and and tell where you're looking at on the map but just to give you a vague picture of our service area The yellow box is our boundary line It goes as far west as uh beyond the middle of Spencer Brook Township It goes as far east as the edge of county there in
Oxford Township north uh in Iani Township uh south of the south junction I guess we call it where the city limits of Cambridge is and then south to the uh Iani county line on 65
there The next uh pages are financials again as of December 31st 2024 Uh I won't uh trouble you with listening to me read all those numbers but uh just to note our 24 budget was $790,720 Uh you see we made some grant
income We had some donations We have uh a few different uh bank accounts We just have a general checking account We have a capital equipment savings account uh which is for our new equipment All of
our equipment by the way is 100% paid for Um so we are in a a good habit of saving up money in that capital equipment savings account and and buying our equipment outright So that equipment or that account needs to build a little
bit It's at 142,000 and some change Uh and then we have a fire call savings account Uh that account is is something we haven't used for a few years but we used to bill for our service calls Uh that's one of the joint powers agreement
amendments uh that George talked about in his update that we're working that we're having uh discussions about uh where we would bill for certain types of our our call response and then we would deposit that money into that savings account and use it to replace uh worn
out firefighter gear And then we have a a separate account that we also keep uh for our water rescue equipment Next page is our capital assets Page nine that's all the equipment that we own So what does it
take to build a fire department or to to have a fire department That's it We go out and buy all that and then we can have three stations Uh the one thing that we do not own that we are excited to own uh in a few months uh is the station one building in the city of Iani
here We are currently on a lease to own a a contract with you folks Uh once we uh sign for that building we will officially own all of our stations and and all of our equipment debtree That's
a big one Debtree saves a lot of money Yes sir We're we're proud of that Uh page 10 So the the rest of the report is going to be zooming in on the city of Iani Uh so just to duplicate that same run type report on page 10 and 11 uh is
what types of calls we we are responding to in the city So you see we had eight fires uh 87 EMS calls for example totaling 205 uh runs last year
Uh then uh I had to have some filler so I added a few pictures in there And then the last uh report or data on page 13 is this year So fire in the city of Isani this
year You'll see that our budget is $779,50 Uh the city of Isani's contribution towards that budget uh will total $297,526.60 Uh so I build uh the city quarterly Uh and you'll see there I will
bill the city uh approximately $74,000 each quarter this year Uh and if you do the math uh the city pays for 38% of our entire budget Uh and looking at your call volumes compared to our call
volumes overall uh we respond to 45% of our calls in the city limits So that's my annual report Uh I'd be happy to answer any questions um or share this with any of you via
email if if you would like to reach out No problem All right Thank you Al You guys have any questions No Good job Thank you Thank you And great job to the fire department and
everybody that's involved with that All righty K3 ordinance amending chapter 87 article one keeping of certain animals Good evening mayor and councel Um at the previously held cow meeting committee of the whole meeting um it was discussed
that you would increase the um area allowed for per chicken to 15 square feet and increase the number of chickens on any parcel 3 acres or less um to 10 chickens and allow up to 20 chickens on
any parcel within the city limits um on any parcel in the city limits of three acres or more would be 20 chickens And so um the ordinance has been posted for 10 days as is required and is before you
Motion to approve Second Motion to approve by council member Lindy Second by council member Heman All in favor say I Any opposed Motion carries 5-0 I think that'll be a great thing for the community and the chickens giving them a little more space and their bank account
And the bank account Yeah Uh so item K4 ordinance amending chapter 160 article 2 enumeration of fees Good evening again Um the at also at the same meeting um staff had pre presented
some of the fees that we currently charge for the community center um and noted that we haven't raised any of the fees um since about 2013 we figure And so after adding Wi-Fi services to the community center which has now been
installed which is exciting um it was decided that we should update some of these fees And um those fees are before you They have been posted for um the required 10 days Um and if you have any questions feel free to ask So So with
that we had hoped to increase the fees to offset the basic operating costs of the building And our our fees were pretty low compared to the average And I think we offer a a nice service You can use it and you don't have to have you can bring outside food which is a big deal Um so I think it's a a good place
and a fair pricing Motion to approve Second Motion to approve by council member Lundine Second by council member Holgren All in favor say I I Any opposed Motion carries 5 Item K5 the emerald ashbor asht tree
removal discussion Good evening mayor and councel So discussion was held at the March 18th meeting in regards to who's responsible for the ashtree removal in the rightway areas State statute 160.22 was referenced Um access to private private property was
questioned and the legality of our ordinance 264 So staff reached out to uh our city attorney Joseph Wangle for clarification um and assistance on that matter and you see in front of you his response on that Um so if you have any questions on that
seat um on that I'd refer you to the attorney on any questions on the seat statute Um I reached out to a couple different people um in regards to a recommendation was made to do an astri inventory so you know how many ashries we have which ones are infected Um and
that was 75 to $10,000 depending upon how far we want to go with it I reached out to uh tree removal um treatment for the aspore and tree replacement if we decided to go that route So um looking for a recommendation
So my first question is I know there's uh money available through the DNR I believe is up to $150,000 per city um for a grant for amor ashbor remover Have you I think it's the relief grant That's what that grant is called And I've been looking into that to find out when
they're going to open it up again Okay So right now I can't apply for that grant because it's not open right now So I'm waiting for him to open that back up so I can apply Okay Well we should have plenty of time I mean we can't even cut any trees down starting May 1st So May 1st to October 1st the Department of
Agriculture recommends that we do not cut down any trees during that time period But yeah so it might give us some more time to find out if we'll have more money Yeah it's uh it has spread in the last year a long ways where before the
quarantine was highway 95 and now it's all the way to Mhm Brainer around Duth I mean it's really spread fast How often do you do you see these grants come through Is it a yearly thing or you just I've been looking for a long time and that's the only one I can find Sure
Yeah Well I have I have a feeling they're going to realize that they don't have enough funding because $150,000 and they only have 2.1 million total to give I mean that's only what is that 14 cities or something That's going to go fast How many trees total do we have in a
boulevard that are ash Uh you know I drove around today I took a rough estimate a year ago and I figured 400 400 Um the more I drive around the trees I see Was that the boulevard or was that was in the rightway In the rightway 400 in the rightway or more You look at all
the trees down Heritage those are all ash trees A lot of these trees in this downtown area here are all ash trees And I mean somebody out here recommended they have an ash tree in their front yard So I mean I was just driving around downtown just trying to take a rough count how many ash trees were per block Um there's a lot So historically ash
have been uh planted um because they're uh they're a deep rooting tree and they don't tend to disturb sidewalks or streets So that's probably why they've been planted in so many rightaways because they're great for that sort of thing But in this instance it kind of
uh yeah it negated that value obviously and I don't know where we go from here So you'd said there was something from the attorney I didn't see that in right right after the first paragraph there That was his response Code 264-3 and down from there on the cover page Oh I
see that now I read that statute but I didn't realize that was attorney comment or opinion I guess I'll make a comment while you're looking at that I think we have time on this We have one citizen who
who obviously it sounded like he wants to get his tree down ASAP Um is it something you guys can do The one tree until we figure out what we're going to do with these boulevards I did look at his tree and I do believe
that's something that public works can handle Okay I think that's one option we should look at take care of this one tree that really we can't really do much cutting after May 1st anyway Um and that
will buy us a lot of time to look into this problem and how we're going to do it because that is a phenomenal amount of money if you're looking at 400 trees times $400 to $3,500 We don't even have that in this in the budget I mean we have a half a
million budget We had neighboring cities They reached out to all of our neighboring cities and one of them is considering the tree belonging to the homeowner until the tree dies and as the city takes the tree down They're a lot have a lot bigger staff to handle the trees as they come
down than than we do here Um other cities are treating some trees and other cities are just coming through and wiping out all the ash trees that just come through and get rid of them Treating is just prolonging it because they're going to die anyway So they need to be taken care of And I think I I I
kind of like the idea of if public works can just take care of them as they see them and as they have time and then just keep kind of doing that over the next four or five years or there will be some trees that public works won't be able to handle taking them down Some of these
ash trees are really big and public works won't be able to have the time to take them down We're talking like I don't know how big around something like that Yeah that's a big tree That's a big tree Yeah The city started pling planting these ash trees in the early 80s more before
then Well I know back to the early 80s This one on this property was planted in ' 89 I mean I'm sure you guys have thoughts on this too Just I would rather see if there is a grant available I would rather see us apply for the grant and then use that money
and as we get the grant we take care of the tree problem Um I think it's I it's just a hard thing to push half a million dollars of tree removable on 7,500 people That's a that's going to be a pretty big uh but if the tree isn't
affected it doesn't need to come down today right So I mean this is something that we should probably The city's stance was you no longer can plant a tree in the rightway Plain and simple It's been like that for many years I agree These trees were planted long before a
lot of our times And back then there wasn't a it wasn't a question You know people wanted to see that They wanted that Now they don't want to be responsible for it Well then I I personally feel
that maybe we're going to have to start looking at it as the trees are diseased and starting to die then we'll have to address it But I think we should start budgeting something to do with that I'm only talking about removing in the rightway Nothing beyond that If it's in
their yard it's not our issue I would like to look at this a lot more deeply I mean if if you're saying Steve I mean I can look at it two different ways but if the city planted them in the 80s and the people bought
the house in 2010 and those trees were there and they didn't have a problem at that time I'm saying But but but the city didn't plant in their yard They only planted in the rightway I'm just talking the rightway The rightway over
is what I'm saying Just the right in the middle of their yard I'm not they're 100% responsible for for any trees that are off the rightway Right And actually our attorney did a great job They're responsible for the trees on the rightway according to state statute Yeah
we're just trying to find some forgiveness here and maybe maybe meet halfway Um what what that might be I have no idea at this point That's why I was saying let's take care of maybe the one tree that we have a complaint about
and then we have the summer to figure this out But then we're on we're on the hook for anybody else that ever comes in if we decide something different because we don't have a policy set at this time But we set a precedent that be you have to do for all as you do for one
It's a it's a tough one The I I don't think we are setting one by by doing that at at this moment in the decision making process because we haven't made any firm decisions yet I mean so we tell him the one guy right now that we have a
problem with that he's responsible for that tree then until we can make a decision I guess I'm okay with that So I did have a question for the attorney if that's okay So a lot of these statutes use the word maintain and maintenance but nowhere that I've seen does it
actually specify what maintain means So does maintain mean removal of a tree that is dead in the rightway Does it have to have a structural flaw before we're responsible And I guess a two-part question If one of these trees that's affected by ashbor falls on somebody's
car that's in the rightway who's responsible for that So mayor council your code right now states that your property owner is responsible for trees located in the public
right So it's got that branch about to come down It's diseased Whatever the issue is they're responsible for it As you saw in the materials that that's a that's a duty issue between the city and private land It's still a a tree that's in the
public record So ultimately if if the city doesn't get that landowner to do to follow this code and take care of that tree whatever is wrong with it somebody gets hurt some property is damaged then
that that person or that property owner can come after the city because it's your tree and you can in turn go back after the property owner but tell you to deal with it But the city is still involved in that mix See what I'm saying
So yeah I mean ideally if the city staff sees a tree that's a problem for whatever reason in in the right way it's best to take care of that as soon as possible before it becomes a problem Obviously these trees can be diseased for many years
before they get so weak that my experience the bigger problem with respect to liability isn't the disease trees like this board It's more to do with dying trees that are just old
dying for some other reason that people don't deal with either because they don't have money or not fall down These diseased trees we've got some time to deal with Yeah your code says right now the
property owner is responsible for if you if you look at league of Minnesota the statutes that I was sent it does say u the word maintain are we contradicting state statute or is that just a a is that just the league's
opinion and our ordinance overrules what the state has guidelines or opinions on Well the league stated that the city can pass an ordinance requiring the property owner to maintain the trees Like I said that's between the city and the property
Maintain Maintain to me means if you've got a branch that's dead and about to fall you cut that thing off Right Right If you've got a tree that is so diseased that it's no longer structurally sound you take it back Okay Thank you
he had cited the uh article or I'm sorry the email from the LMC Did you have a chance to review that And do you know where that went arry I don't think it went ary I think if you're talking about this No there's an email from the LMC from uh
Storley that's citing that article and has a language She's citing the language out of this article states that while the city can pass an ordinance requiring the land owner to maintain trees in the rightway that has a duty owed to the city not the general public So the city
can still be held liable for injuries to third parties of property damage That's out of this that's out of the article It's it's it's based on state law It's based on common law It's your rightway ultimately treat
but as between you and the property owner you have the right as a city to tell the property owner you maintain it and you've already done that in your code so if something were to happen per se a tree falls on something you said that the property owner could go after
us and we could go after them in in the in the process so it is that how I'm understanding it yeah who's injured it might not be the property might be the next door neighbor's car okay might be somebody else walking along So his recommendation was try to take
care of the trees and you have time if they're diseased before they get to that point where you need to take them down or we write a letter to the landowner telling them they need to take it down I mean we don't have to clear the boulevards right now Some of those trees
are probably 100% fine you know but over the next 5 10 years and and who knows how this disease will hit It might not hit every tree It could just hit one in 10 or one in five or I don't know how it works Do you Matt I I'm not exactly sure
but I know last year when I spoke with it of egg they said in five years your ashes are all going to be dead There's not a single variety of ash that is resistant to emerald ashbor Not a single one It's not like oak wilt where it doesn't attack some other It's it's universal Okay I do have an ash tree in
my yard that was probably infected I'd say seven or eight years ago and we do finally have limbs falling off of it Um you know it's so five six seven years It depends on the tree though too you know Jeff or Steve anything else
I think we should move this to cow because we're going to have a lot more discussion on it and I see there's a attorney has some recommendations for our uh policies So I think we're going to have to take that on So I would say let's ask the attorney our questions now
and then bring it to committee of the whole in two weeks because we got to start doing something about it I'm good with that I'm good with that But according to the attorney I mean
we're we would have to guess we don't have to change ordinance to help land owners but right now it falls on them and state statute both Um which is unfortunate And maybe yeah in we can
find something in between And I did just want to remind people that about a year and a half ago we did make that ordinance better because previously it was written that if there was an infected tree with something like this the city had the right to go in and remove the tree and then bill the
homeowner for that service without even getting their permission So we did change the language to be significantly more friendly um to residents so they could choose if they wanted that done or not Um so it is better but obviously there's still work that needs to be done So uh I have I'd like a motion that we
move this to cow committee of a whole Second Motion by myself second by council member Holgren All in favor say I I I Any opposed Motion carries 5-0 Thank you Okay Six Resolution to consider
authorizing authorizing ad for bid for the well for improvements Jason Thank you Mr Mayor members of council Um so this is um I guess uh time to move the well four project into the
bidding phase Um after some evaluation we determined we weren't going to need a wellhouse which was included in the original budgeting amount Um we devised a way to do the metering and and elements that would have needed to be
held held in the wellhouse in the actual water treatment plant Um so we're estimating that that's going to come in about a half a million less than we had budgeted Yeah Um we also are recommending to bid this in two parts Uh
just the well drilling itself uh and then the rest of the pipe and site work Um so so what you have before you is just a resolution to authorize advertising for bid for the the two parts bid separately
So the fact that you know we were up here asking all these questions and trying to get any creative solution saved a half a million bucks basically with your guys' work Sure Okay Half a million bucks That's a that's a good savings on that So is there is there any significant drawback
to not actually building the the physical wellhouse that would cost us a half a million bucks Um well I believe it's going to fit fine in the current water treatment plant but there is going to be that much more elements in the existing space So it's taking up some of the existing space that's in the
treatment plant but I believe it was figured out how it would fit out of the way So thanks Awesome So that's an extra 500,000 we have towards long-term investments like another water tower or really whatever Awesome Motion approve
Second motion by council member Lendine second by council member Homegrren All in favor say I I Any opposed Motion carries 5-0 Great work Jason and crew Thank you Uh K7 resolution to consider approving special event permit for the Rum River Rods Good evening again mayor
and council A special event permit application has been submitted by Rum River Rods for their 14th annual summer spectacular car show The event will take place Saturday August 9th from 10:00 a.m to 3 pm for a one-day event It will be held on the streets in downtown This
event is the same day as one of our street um dances and will conclude prior to the start of the street dance Is open to the public and will include a car show craft food vendors muffler cap contest and 5050 raffle There is an estimated 4 to 500 people in attendance
Um the applicant will not be required to provide additional restrooms as they'll already be in place for the street dance for the evening Um they will the Rum River Rods Club will walk the event area and clean any garbage after their event Um and they are requesting street closure on Main Street from Short Street
to 4th Avenue one block north and south on Second and Third Avenues and two blocks south on First Avenue The event site map was included in the application and they're requesting equipment from public works to include 10 barricades six road closed signs to be utilized and
dropped off on Saturday August 9th at 8 a.m And those uh road closed barriers and signs already go up for the street dance anyway So it's just a few hours earlier essentially And we expanded a little bit more I believe now for the car show but it's well attended and people Yes it is They've done an awesome
job Yes they have I'm going to make a motion to approve I'll second Yeah Okay Motion to approve by Council Member Lundine second by Council Member Peterson All in favor say I I Any opposed Motion carries 5-0 Thank you to the RER rods It's a big part of our community in the summer and the car
shows are near and dear to my heart So I really appreciate the work on that Uh so I hope you guys all show up Resolution to consider approving a special event permit for Rum River BMX 2025 Gold Cup Minnesota State Qualifier Race Good evening again The Rumar River BMX is
hosting the Gold Cup Minnesota State Qualifier Race event April 25th through the 27th Um between 6:00 to 10 p.m on the 25th and 11:00 a.m to 3 p.m on the 26th and 27th An estimated 800 to 1,000 people will be in attendance each day of
the event Parking will be in the main parking lot with overflow into the soccer field parking lot which they have received permission from Um the camping will be in the grass lot to the south of the building and six portable restrooms will be on site and
Rum River BMX will have volunteers cleaning up the property They're requesting to use 10 barricades and 25 no parking signs and for the drop off time to be April 25th by 12:00 p.m Um they're requesting that the $100 cleanup
deposit fee be waved Rome River BMX has been a huge part of this community and they've done an outstanding job and I 100% would like to see him give us a little more list of all these qualifying events and maybe we
can knock it all off without you having to come up here so many times cuz 100% I'm 100% I motion to approve it 100% Second motion by council member Lendine second by council member homegrren All in favor say I I Any opposed