hello everybody and welcome to our city council meeting I'll call to order this meeting Thursday April 24 2025 Please stand for the pledge of allegiance 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 All right roll call Brian Wormer here Kyrie Miller here Tom Burke here James Vipka here and Scott Palav is absent
All right approval of the agenda Uh tonight's agenda goes all the way down to 10N Is there any additions deletions or corrections to the agenda did you want to change that agenda yeah Item
A replace item A with item and start from there Make a item A item B Make A B and then make N the new A All right Guess he's not here yet So
All right Well I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion to approve the agenda Motion by Miller Second Second by Any further discussion all in favor i All opposed All right Motion
carries Uh approval of the minutes There are none Public hearing There is none Presentation of citizens petitions and comments Comments limited to two minutes So if you're not on the agenda now is your time to speak Okay All right Hey can we speak later on
if we want we have to do it right now If there's a topic can we get up to speak uh can I make a actually request that and you can either deny it or ask the council if I can do it Was there something you want to talk about right now i just want to make sure everybody knows there's treats in the back of the
room And that needed to wait for later I need your name Well I didn't want to interrupt the call here too but too late All right Jouri All right put a hat on it I will Approval of the consent agenda
Uh on the consent agenda are the monthly and additional bills the treasurer's report board and commission minutes consider approval of a sewer rate adjustment request Uh does any residents want to pull any of these items for discussion to be added onto new
business seeing none how about council all right I'll entertain a motion So move Motion by Wersian Second Second by Miller All in favor i All opposed All right There is no old business Moving on
to new business which is discuss a proposed staging lay down site lease between the city of Lansdale and Northern States Power Company Go Thank you mayor and members of the council Um Tim with Excel is going to be here Um
I did tell them to show up a little bit late just because it was at the end of the agenda Um so uh I received an email from Excel Energy to here They're looking for land to lease
um about three acres They are as everyone knows if you've been on Highway 13 to New Prague they're putting all new transmission line in from New Prague to the uh substate the Vesley substation and apparently they had a lease with a land owner and that uh fell through So
he reached out to the city to see if we had any um space that was available for lease Um I said the only thing that we have uh would be the 12 acres that we have in the business park and the council would have to make a decision as
to whether we wanted to uh lease the land or not Uh but as proposed uh if the the council did enter into the agreement they'd be allowing uh NSP uh reasonable access to the site uh compensation of $3,600 from May 1st to
October 31st And then if the project uh ran over that time period an additional $1,800 from November 1st to uh January 31st uh NSP would be responsible uh to to turn the uh property to pre-existing
conditions resto restore all damages uh caused by their use of the site provide insurance of $2 million per occurrence name the city's additional insured and then both parties would uh indemnify themselves uh for claims arising out of acts of their own negligence or intentional
misconduct Um the lease agreement is included The I guess the fiscal impact to the city would be anywhere from 3600 to $5,400 And the alternative would be to not approve uh the proposed lease agreement I guess I turn over to the
council to to discuss what what they wanted to do with the site if that's something that that we wanted to entertain Um I figured with decent space at the city hall I would bring this to you guys's attention to see if this is something that we wanted to do All right
Thank you Ryan Um well I think one thing first of all I don't think we should make any decision until we hear from the rep from NSP if they're coming I mean I don't think we should make a motion or anything just
yet Um and this is just a discussion So yeah Yeah I mean empty land making money I mean revenue versus non-revenue That's kind of the way I see it Um it's temporary I guess I I'm curious to hear
what what their presentation is If there's if there's something more specific I mean I'm assuming I'm assuming there's not a lot to it I've seen I've seen what they've got going on Driving on Highway 19 to New Prague they've got their staging areas They've got their equipment Uh it will not be a location where their crews will show up
to a strictly material lay down or staging area So would we have an increase in truck traffic then i guess that might be a good question for them Yeah I mean I guess what size
how big of of the truck I mean how big of trucks are going to be coming through i mean I'm assuming at the beginning it's going to be larger to do the drop offs but correct You know how frequent how many i guess that kind of stuff is what I'd like to know and what they you know I mean we got 12
acres they only want what three you said correct yeah see him right here see what they want Tim welcome oh perfect timing come on up put you on the spot right as you walk in the door my name is Tim Oith I'm I'm a land agent
with XL Energy um here tonight to answer any questions that you have about our um lay down yard lease that we're looking for Yeah Sure Yeah I guess we were just kind of talking about it as you walked in Um uh the questions I have I'm sure
you've seen the spot the the site we've got available Do you have a preference on where you guys would be looking at we're open to whatever works best for you guys Okay Um I think our construction foreman thought maybe up on the the west side but um as close to the
commerce as possible Yeah But again we're we're open to to working with you guys So Sure Um one of the questions I had just as you're walking in is um what are we looking at as far as increased traffic types of truck i mean I'm assuming at the beginning there'll be
larger trucks to drop things off Yep But as the project goes on how often are people coming to the site to pick up what what types of of trucks right So it's meant just for material storage So crews won't be coming to the site The cruise does go to the job site Um so you
know once the materials are delivered it would probably be um morning coming and going uh trucks of trailers and then in the evening as well So when you say trucks and trailers are you talking 18-wheeler trucks and trailers are you talking pickups with trailers both Okay
Yeah And the project is we're only replacing 10 poles So it's not going to be a large volume of poles It's more of installs hardware It's more of the kind of the refurbishment type project Okay that's all I got And there would be a
conx box that would um hold like smaller handheld equipment that you know just lock Yeah lock box type situation Sure That's all I got All right Brian asked all my questions that I had too So
I'm thorough Jamie how many acres do you need done uh we'll take three but you know we could probably squeeze in two and a half That's that's about the amount we would need
All right And uh anticipation date to to be completed uh completion date probably end of November And that will fluctuate with any potential storm damage um response that we need So we're doing this with
our internal crews and if they get pulled off for a period of time to to um to jump on other projects then that could happen Um so it's kind of hard to say for sure
So you're talking about a conx and probably 10 poles 10 poles and then insulators So we we'll have kind of crates that will have insulators in them Okay So it' be um that um crushed rock So it' be
um yeah kind of kind of materials that you would expect to see at like a kind of utility type of project Joel how do you feel about this with public works and and maintain that business
uh right now we're just mowing it is all that we're doing at once every two weeks and times Um the only concern I have is tracking on the street Um if you guys just follow our construction standard
for putting in a driveway um I would anticipate possibly some sort of curb cut permit coming in Actually we would just use mats So we could just go right over it Yep Just hop it Yeah So then I guess trapping is really my main thing and we'll just keep an eye on the curb
if it gets smashed or I mean and we'd use matting on kind of like the driveway lane type of areas so that there shouldn't be a whole lot of um turf being disturbed or rutdded out Okay Yeah Yeah Those those are the only concerns I
really have Okay Thank you Actually Tom that makes me think of something else Can I ask ahead um have you guys seen any sort of issues with um theft or vandalism or any of that sort of thing at any of these other
sites along this project yep Theft would be an issue concern for us Absolutely Uh it is at every one of these job sites So that would that would certainly be a concern Okay Jason do you have any concerns from a
a enforcement perspective you know do do you see this as being like a um you know something to attract problems potentially being right up on the hill there no that I
don't have maintenance maintained Okay And if we're not maintaining it orderly I mean it's a phone call Yeah 100% phone call and we'll we'll take care of it Well I know that we got 8 acres across
the street and I was hoping uh Gary Tuby would be here where we could probably offer it to him Oh he is Yeah is he okay Gary are you interested in this at all staging area 38 acres We would do whatever is
beneficial to the city and play There you go There's a right there literally right across the street on commerce Okay So I just like the idea of utilizing the city so that we can get some of that
coming in Yeah Do you need a motion right now Joel or can we come back to this uh it's May 1st you're looking at I I believe Excel will speak for them but it's expecting a decision otherwise they're going to have to scramble and figure something out Yeah Yeah Ideally
we'd like to figure this out sooner rather than later We do expect materials to be delivered midmay I guess the problem I have is that we're trying to market that business park and you know there's you
know even a another business that's interested on coming to that area and with a long date of November they wanted to come in and build and you know how do I get you out of there sure Uh the there should be
termination language in the agreement I'm not certain what the the uh timeline was but we'd be open to a 60-day termination language within that agreement So if there is an interested party in the property
um it it'd be tough on our end but you know we'd be open to that Okay I suppose it would all depend on groundbreaking too because I mean if somebody can't break ground till
spring I mean I don't know you know if they come in in September say I'm just hypothetically here and says somebody says yep I want to buy it all chances are they're not going to break ground on a on a building till spring anyway
So but you're also talking about construction in Minnesota Yeah Could be November could be next November Oh yeah Oh yeah No I Yeah you're not wrong But anyway all right Yeah I mean I guess I I it's it's hard to say right
because land big projects sometimes that that uh you know those projects take time to to come to fruition from purchase agreement to groundbreaking Um I guess I'm kind of leaning towards Ki here saying if we can get some money
off of off of land that's sitting there not generating anything at this point and we know it's temporary So it's not like we're just selling a small portion of it It's a temporary thing All right And full restoration Yeah And if if it's not up to your standards we'll we'll get
there So we're definitely going to do the right thing here I know we're going to get the money Let's uh somebody entertain a motion I'll make a motion I'll second it All right Motion and second So well I think we should clarify
the motion right for are you thinking this this west corner three up to three acres Yeah Up to three acres in that west corner Corner Well is this business looking at a specific part portion of the parcel or all of it
he said "Yep actually all Yeah I guess I'm not sure what's going on So if I know there's a business involved I went to brought this to you guys Well you also heard today about Rice County talking about the manufacturing place too So that's in
consideration and we don't have a letter of intent yet So if you guys want to make the motion for east side of the business park No West side West side West side West side West side West side West side Okay
West side Yes The business part Motion and second Any further discussion all right All in favor i All opposed All right Motion carries Thank you Great Thank you Appreciate it
All right Development update Gary TP If the council sees fit to adjust the schedule uh this may take a little longer If Jason's got a few things to handle we can certainly move him forward Well we also got the chicken ordinance we got to go through too So if I was hanging around too you might as well
just Yeah you don't want to be behind that I don't think Well I'll be here for that Uh Gary sent me some uh renderings here shortly before the council meeting that you want to take a look at
You see more So um appreciate the time tonight I'll try to keep it quick We have just a lot of things I'd like to catch up on I haven't even met many of you now a full new council and and the mayor Um we've
actively been well part of the community here since you know walk down Main Street in a baby stroller basically So we've been tied to the community for many years Um since about 2000 or a little before we've been I think the main developer in your community So we've I think now before Ben left he ran
a total I thinking we've produced more residential development lots in the city than any developer in the history of the city along with a lot of the cooperation with the senior center coming on our property Uh the whole eighth street connection which afforded us to get a grocery store in town uh working selling
the property and working with Joel and the staff to get the industrial park put in And so we've been pretty much fingerprints all over all four corners of the city uh uh actively trying to keep the city uh in the marketplace We've struggled hard
Lawndale has struggled hard to compete with other communities We down here have the same cost of construction as communities that are in much closer to the metro So 2x4s are the same you know concrete's the same but we deal with a a different uh selling price right so
that's why we haven't seen new street construction for quite some time now We haven't seen new plats coming on board We today cannot produce a new development with infrastructure and improvements and hit a market price And that's why you're seeing the projects stall out in the industrial park The
four buildings that are there we're directly responsible for three of the four in the park We've pushed the park very hard We continue to push the park hard Uh we recently had worked with city staff and Joel to bring advanced exhaust solutions to town Worked very hard to get that project under contract Uh got
into the advanced design stages of that project Detroit did a launch and really uh truth be told what happens is the financing community just wouldn't borrow Lawndale I mean he's now actively pursuing a similar value project but in Lakefield because they're saying they're not going to do a 20 plus million dollar
exposure on the finance piece here if something went bad but they would do it in a community where they thought the values would hold at those price levels So uh and kudos to the city staff on that I mean that was not an easy they were looking hard at other communities Farmington Rosemount even Dundis had
basically rolled out the red carpet I mean we did a good job getting them here to the table We just couldn't keep the deal together and it was no fault of the cities or no fault of ours It's just the you know it's just the logistics of what we're dealing with So uh this year we are trying to bring back uh the Bastier
Point project It's been on the agenda now for four or five years Uh Joel and the staff has been fabulous working with us and being patient with us on this project We've tried several different ideas options uh different mixed uses density uh and it's just a tough parcel The
grading number there is not an easy number to work with Um and we're dealing with like I said a retail lot price down here that's still we're just now finally I think burned through all of these uh you know fiscal cliff lots that we had just plagged the city for many years
Uh so we were trying to bring a concept uh back on Bastier Point where maybe we would try to get 15 or 20 lots on the outside fringe uh creating a better access point into the senior center getting through to the grocery store and this bringing like a four to five acre
city park uh Bastier Park uh Bastier Point Park in which we saw a vision of um not the typical city park where you're just dropping one playground in the middle of a field uh some of the new urban design projects that we're working on in other parts of the country We just
finished one in Billings Montana We uh working on one over in Helena Montana Uh where it's more of an active uh park where there's multiple play spots within a 4acre park So the kids kind of can random you know make it through some random trails A lot of these parks now
the cities are putting in four or five food truck pads that they lease out on the weekends for food truck to come in these splash pads the video that I'm showing you here these are very popular They they don't take a lot to run or function The maintenance is minimal You don't need life lifeguards but yet it's
a great gathering spot when the kids are out of school from you know the end of May all the way out till Labor Day weekend and even a little beyond So um so we were seeing some kind of a 4acre park in there with like I said some kind of a food court Uh you get down into like the Fort Myers area Florida where they're just booming down there and the
population is growing like crazy We're seeing a lot of these backyard social type parks where there's food vendors and some little bit of music and just more activities within the park some new creative ideas to to build U so those are some of the ideas we're bringing to
the city Um we've got to figure out the financial piece of how it works Uh I have not talked to the park board here for a while if there's you know park funds that are still accumulated or if all that's been spent on maintenance upgrade We don't know Uh but we could have a a round table with staff and see if there's a way we can bring some of those ideas back to the table Uh we
desperately need to get Lndale back on the map for housing We we are struggling in the industrial park to find vendors We get a business that comes down and the first thing we do is court the guy who owns the business and then his family his wife Well where would we move to where's the nicer neighborhood in
town where would I and we just don't have a good step up housing option So they have a hard time moving their family here So they have a hard time moving their business here And so that's why the industrial park has just been sitting now for 10 years struggling because the community has you know one leg of the table there but we're missing
additional legs to hold up the whole economic piece So we need to figure out housing solutions in town Lndale has obviously been built on the affordable housing model It's always kind of been the baby sister to the Lakeville market and so on where people would come down here based on price Um but you know you
got enough residents here where they've been here long enough and there's equity in these homes and a lot of people have the ability to move up and and do other things We need to find housing solutions that take us into that next level of housing And we're going to have to get creative to do that of course because we're we're really whichever developer
comes to town and there's not many uh that are going to be willing to kind of break the ice I mean you're going to have to really uh somebody's got to come here and really take some some risk in figuring out where that new market's going to be for a little bit higherend product And it's never been here and
we've never seen prices in town averaging over 100,000 for lots and that's where we have to get to uh to to to be able to produce that market So uh those are some of the obstacles running into the industrial park Uh we've tried desperately uh to bring a daycare to town for the last four or five years
We've had several daycarees take a a look at it take a run at it Nothing against lawnsdale We've had a lot of vendors very interested in building a daycare here Some of the issues are uh being uncomfortable with being able to control the labor force They're having a
hard time staffing their daycarees in a city like say Burnsville where there's you know 70 or 80,000 people and then we tell them to come here and staff a daycare for 80 kids and we've got you know a minimal population So that's what they're having a hard time getting their hands around But we're we're still working on that We still got a few uh
leads in the water that we're talking to on doing an incubator building there across from the Dollar General store on uh on trying to get a daycare We'll keep you posted as that comes to be Um the garage condo sales have been I
would say kind of moderate to slow We thought this would be a bigger sellout So we've got a project in Prior Lake and another project active in Woodbury right now and those are selling at five to one We thought the price driver were substantially cheaper here would would be a motivator but we're finding that the the customers that have the money to
kind of have the fancy toy box with all the toys they're willing to just spend the money to be closer to home So we haven't been able to drag them down out of Prior Lake and Lakefield to save a few bucks like we thought we would So we've got we got about half the floor space accounted for either rented or sold And we're hoping within the next 8 to 10 months that first building should
be done And then we have to evaluate you know that plat's been approved for three buildings We have to see if we can launch the uh the the next building It's it's it's just all driven on price point Um and we can get back into the conversation a little bit later I know you guys have some things in the city that were talking about uh the chicken
issue and some other issues Um I guess from a investor standpoint investing in the city We're one of the largest investors in the city one of the largest developers in the city Um and I don't you know I've got children that live here and grandchildren I don't personally live here and so I'm trying not to take up
dog and fight But I guess I would ask has anybody at the city before we do an approval really got some professional opinions uh from the real estate appraising community what this is going to do to property values i think everybody closes their eyes and sees everybody's got a neat little cute chicken coupe in the backyard and it's
perfectly groomed and manicured and maintained and everything's good Uh but not every resident is that person And as you start to allow this to take place the enforcement of even cats and dogs can be an issue And now you take something like chickens that are going to get the neighbors dogs barking at the chickens And now you got dog barking
problem And whose fault is it the chickens or the dog and you know this thing's going to unwind with you know rodents coming into the city And just other things that are going to affect property values And I I just caution that to serve one group of people that are trying to get and I understand the whole I get I get it And I'm not like I
said I'm not trying to take up a side I'm just asking from a developers and a real estate standpoint what happens to the non-shicking guy on property values and we're working hard to bring money into the city for growth and development And I know uh just talking from being a broker 35 plus years and working this
area my entire career um it's not going to help us if the banos are twinging and we've got chickens running across the street and we're trying to bring a multi-million dollar business to town and talk about how nice we're making the downtown So I don't know how you control it I don't know how it gets out of control and maybe it's fine But I'm just
saying once you get that you know once you ask for what you get you got it And then how do you maintain it so you know it's it's like why some of these uh communities that people want to do these larger gardens well then the city would set up a zone for that type of use or a particular area for that type of use or
a community you know if you want to put together a a large chicken operation for residents that can go and everybody has their 10 x10 coupe space where we can you know police it maintain it and and just from a health and safety standpoint and and everything uh ju just some stuff
to think about that maybe the community hasn't brought up about this issue before we just launch out because uh I don't think anybody in Lonsdale wants to see their property values adjusted or the community get kind of a bad rap on you know and and with all good intentions I get it I mean everybody's I mean it's a like I said if you close
your eyes and picture the cute little chicken coop in the backyard it's fine but I mean this thing gets way crazier than that and so anyway um see what else they had for that so the best point park we talked about we're trying to work on that this summer Um Joel's been great keeping in contact with us on that Uh we'll have some
initial cost budget numbers for the from the park part of it Maybe it's got to be a phase project I'm not sure Um industrial park uh these food truck parks are just a big hit everywhere we go And there's some revenue there Like
uh Carrie you just said about the revenue with the XL right like getting some money in the door I mean you start renting food food uh trucks spots and you know now the park kind of selfunds itself right Can be an income generator rather than a and that's kind of just showing one of the parks that we have
that's kind of a random you know it's kind of got the different areas of the park for different uses and multiple people can be in the park at the same time and it's not just a kids park It's not just a dog park but it can be for the entire community So those are just ideas we brought to the table Um
What else we got as long as I got your ear here and then I'll get out of your way Joel can you go back to the one that was with the pads i think it was the third one Yeah there we go This is what you said you're thinking for that past year point something Well
this is this is one plugin of the park So what you do is we would be proposing a 4 acre park there or maybe a little better once we figure it out um some kind of a meandering trail system in through and around I think it's important to connect the senior center back into the grocery store and through the park I know right now you kind of
makeshift sidewalk that we've kind of done to you know make it safer from the walk but I think we can make a better connection Um and then then what goes around it you know what can we offer to the community i think the splash pad here would be awesome for the kids I mean you get out of school in May like I said we've got that area If you take you
know the whole Bastier farm and you've got everything on Gene Baron's development all the way back up into uh Shadow Stone and everything there's a lot of baby strollers can push to that park I mean that's in the heart of a big part of the city there with a lot of residents So it'd be I'm sure a very use with the library right there too Yeah
Right Right So uh just a great spot and if we can't figure out a better way to bring something to market I I mean I honestly I mean we've looked at we've had some people call for apartment buildings and low lowincome housing apartments and stuff and I just have had zero interest in doing that to the middle of town Uh when we're all here
done and gone and the next group is coming behind us Um that that wouldn't be the best part to I think to leave the heart of the city I think uh you know something that has more of a benefit for the existing residents may be something to look at but just ideas and we're open
to the city if you guys got additional comments or if you got a different you know additional ideas u then only other one issue that I had that I want to take up with the council as long as we're going and um uh kind of a sensitive issue so we're trying to do our part as investors developers to build and
promote the city as well as we can we put a fairly large financial investment in the industrial park and then we got a call said "Hey the city council wants the dirt pile that's up there moved out." And um so I I just got to try to get across to the city council that the price point of everything we do in
Lndale is extremely important and everything has a financial reality to it To move the dirt pile off has enough cubic yards of dirt where it would cost us more than it did to buy the land and only to come to find out that when we find the next user on top we may be short the same dirt that then becomes a
budgetary problem to move the dirt back on site So my proposal would be to the city uh if I can get you to kind of work with me and think of allowing us to clean up maybe because what we've had is the there's been local people that I've even know who they are I mean we just see backho show up and kind of randomly
kind of help themselves to some dirt and I guess it it's hasn't been a big deal other than working with the city to for tracking and stuff Um but if we just close that down burm it shut and make it look more like an oversized golf course berm and then seed it close it down I
think it's not an eyesore And then the valuable soil that will be there to finish the project is still there and then the additional cost isn't built into the basis of the land I think it's a win for everybody if you guys can come to grips with kind of what that should be and look like rather than just you know just kind of a knee-jerk response
to to move dirt So um throw that out there for conversation or discussion And uh I think that's all I got on my list guys unless you got more questions for me Yeah Can we kill the projector please
right in my eyes All right Well uh thanks Gary Uh I'm going to pass it around to council Uh Ki if you have anything I'll let you start first Um well a few things So I'm on the parks board and we've had a lot of meetings um already this year since
getting sworn in and we have discussed the splash pad option in town Um there's mixed reviews Um the cost is just not feasible for the city at this time um we can't we there's other priorities we do not want to increase taxes because there's already going to be tax
increases coming down from the state and county level So it would be great if you are going to fund a water park 100% and help us with maintaining it for public works to have um like the filters and equipment that we need to have a good
safe clean sanitary system I would love for you to come to one of our meetings so that you can talk about it and kind of sell it on with the other park board members who've been dealing with this splash pad idea for 20 years or whatever Um I know it's in the Londale 2040 plan
but it's just not been a feasible option um with money We've also been talking about a mister and that's been being met with um resistance as well So if you as a developer want to fund it completely that would be great for you to come in and give us a presentation and then we
can entertain that idea to see because I I know that amenities benefit the community And I have discussed at our park meetings having utilizing our parks with food trucks and music you know so just kind of like the things that you're talking about are all great because it's all stuff I've already brought up too So
we're all thinking the same thing So if we can figure out a way to work together that would be great Um so so most of the parks you see in the city if you go back even just say 20 years ago or 25 years ago I don't know if anybody was in this part of the city back then but the city's grown since then I mean there was
a day when it was that much Um and and the trail system that you see through town and the parks are all development driven I mean that's when we were seeing growth and the growth helped build the infrastructure and typically development does pave the way at least a portion of it Sometimes we could you know if
there's other outside and not just not just the city but if there's other things that we can do to get contributors and people to donate for certain parts I mean look it's everything from selling a park bench to you know who in the community thinks that it it builds value right so so yeah and maybe we just got to wait for the large uh vendor to come back into the
industrial park and like you know you get a $20 million guy come to town Well the fees and that can go a long way So if we already have an approved project that maybe we can't 100% fund right now at least it's already been planned out thought of and it's on the shelf waiting for funding But we might as well have those conversations now so we kind of know which way to go Right So yeah I'm
100% agree with you I was just looking back at previous meetings and discussions about the business park and it's been stemming back a long time Like 2008 you know is like the latest that I can find online Um so it's just kind of um I guess frustrating that it's just
been sitting empty uh for so long and then we get teased with a deal but then something always happens and but it's kind of funny How is AES building now just right up the road 15 oh they were in need So they came to Lndale the first time before they went out to Northfield
Yeah And we almost had the building then and then they an existing building came up on the market that they could save money and they were a startup business then and so they jumped over and then they pulled out on us right well then they they've done phenomenal and they've grown like crazy and so they called back and said "Hey we need to grow We need a 100,000 square foot building immediately
Uh we have contracts with Caterpillar and all these people." Great So um we represented them as the broker and we looked at we had to go meet with Farmington and Rose Mountain Elco New Market and everybody put their proposal on the table and we pushed really really hard I mean Lndale would be a anchor in the community Those guys would be the
big 100 pound gorilla here where in Lakeville they're almost nothing you know and we convinced the ownership group to come and I got to tell you the staff Joel and the whole staff was absolutely phenomenal We did a great job and we got the guy to say yes and we were under contract We spent a lot of money on plans and engineering We're
ready to launch the project get to the finance phase and the banking community would not back a loan And it isn't just Lawndale alone It's any of the small rural communities There's so much more risk if if for some reason the guy that owns the business has a heart attack and the business goes
under What do you do with a $20 million facility in Lndale right there's not another guy just waiting to take that over So the bank's got a lot more risk You go into Lakeville for example they see way less of of a risk on that loan So the banks steered our customer out of our community The financing did and
that's nothing I mean we just have to grow how we can grow as a small town We can't really So I apologize for like you know if you felt teased about it Believe me you had way less work in it than we did We put a lot of energy into it and we're still selling the park as hard as we can The reality of it is every city's
fighting for the same customer Dundis pushes hard I mean Farbolt pushes hard Owana pushes hard And there some of those towns are highway on the interstate towns right now Elco New Market launched their park up there with the big water plant And I mean they're
pushing hard So we're all competing against the same businesses you know and we we we're I think we we qualify as a freeway town but we're six miles off freeway town We're not on you know so it always amazes me how well New Prague does right i mean New Prague has done just unbelievable growth out there and
and they're further off than we are so we should be able to um at least get the crumbs to to do some more work Uh I think we just got a lot of work We just got to keep at it We got to keep our marketing hat on and and stay creative on what we're doing as a city and how we present the city I would ask the council to just
think um beyond just the flavor of the day with all the you know I get egg prices are 10 bucks a dozen and all the stuff and everything that um that that the typical resident might think is just a great idea but but honestly it goes so much deeper than just that when we bring
people into the community to move here to move a business here to invest here um how the community shows matters because we're competing with every other community And if like I said if we come downtown and we've got kind of it looks like we're you know stringing twine on a
banjo downtown that's not going to do your industrial park any much any benefit It's not going to bring more investors to town It's not going to bring better paying jobs here Um and I don't want that to sound off or snobbish It's just a reality We we are competing with the rest of the world that probably is not going to be doing some of those
things And so it impacts not just the few people that want that but impacts everybody And if people have invested here and they're thinking hey I came here to live five or eight or 10 years but I'm going to move out sometime We're impacting all of their values by those decisions So my only comment wasn't I'll get out of your way and let you guys continue the meeting but but maybe slow
down long enough to bring in some brokers bring in some appraisal people bring in some people that have some other a different side of that argument to educate that the entire not just the council but the entire town of what those ramifications could look like You know what do we look like once because once you let that dog out you know cat
out of the bag you kind of own it So any other questions that's all I got Is that all you got i don't know I have a lot but I don't want to take up too much time in the meeting So I would love if you could come to one of our parks board meetings Be happy to be happy to We got a lot of things to do Yeah All right Jamie
That dirt pile it has n earned the nickname lawns still on top of the hill And personally if you burn it up I wouldn't care But you've got cliffs up there right now And safety issue because we've got the pond down below where he
go fishing Totally agree to totally agree And so you know we didn't create the BM right so it's people that have been in there pirating out of the pilot We don't even know who they are Honestly people call and say "Who's back?" I don't know whose back it is And so they create that We didn't right when we left it our grading contract heard it rounded People borrow dirt out of there and they
leave it that way We can just close it chain it burm it shut and then we don't have that problem right and then so I I we're happy to take care of that Put some fence up until it's down Yeah When can you get that done we can do that immediately right i mean so shave that BM down and just get it So and then we
would ask the city you know works and police to then help us police it you know because obviously the local landscapers or whoever's in there think that that's some kind of a municipal drop and pull pile and it's not Well the compost site's right across the street So right So that's that's what we're getting So and it's hard to we don't
have eyes on it 24/7 So if the city could help us we will certainly grade it shut burm it down make it look pretty close it down and then with and then any reason that we would have say somebody that is justifiably needing dirt or even like say the city project or something we would then notify the city
temporarily open it up put it back the way you know what I mean like like come back and communicate with you guys so you know what's going on right i'm good right now All right Brian Um you know I there's a lot of stuff here that I mean got me got my wheels
turning you know Um I would really if we could get something going on that Bastier point What I saw tonight would love to see that The connection between the library and the senior center and the grocery store like you're talking about where we've got sidewalks We don't
have to worry about shutting down half of uh Birch Street Um you know it'd be awesome for the library I'm on the library board so I know the library wants to do a lot more partnering with the parks especially on the summer reading program I mean I just see a lot of opportunity the food truck thing I
guess Never even thought about it I worked downtown St Paul and I mean right around Rice Park I Well I did but um you know I mean I just that's what I'm seeing you know Um so one idea Brian that to maybe have you guys just think about you can privatize the park let a
park developer come in and devel and In that agreement they have to build the splash pad in in the park and and then they get the revenue that generates from the use of the park And maybe they need a temporary uh food vending license maybe it's a weekend liquor license whatever it is But and then what we do
is we give them like a 10 or a 12-year lease on the improvement so they can get a payback And then after 12 years then the park gets turned over to the city you know something like that So it's a stepping stone for the private community to come in and get a payback for their you know and we would of course come in on the through the housing piece and we would pay our normal well and that's and
that's kind of where I was going next is the housing piece in that area What are you envisioning are you like single level living you know smaller footprint because I you know that's I moved here 22 years ago The reason that we came to Lndale is because I had a friend who
lived in Vesley We were looking north Blaine up in that area cuz that's where my wife's family was all from and my buddy lived in Bessley He said "You got to come down to Lndale You're going to get so much more for your money in Lawndale." And 22 years ago he was absolutely right That's not the case today because our housing value in this
city has is shot through the roof I mean I've got kids in their 20s and 30s now that want to live here but they can't afford to live here you know um I I get what you're saying about we don't have that next tier
inventory Um but that's something you know we've got we need both ends right i mean you need both ends but we got to start somewhere because I think if we have the affordable now we see okay now development's happening that's going to attract the next developer that's going to come in and do the you know half a
million dollar plus homes in the in that de you know whichever development that happens to be whether that's the north side or over on the on the west side there um you know in the the Bixby property whatever it happens to be But if we have the the starting point and
again it's like you're saying the same the next piece is we got to get the houses so we can get the business because then they see that there's the the staff that they need Yeah So I I mean and I think that's the the biggest thing you can help us with is build a couple houses Build some
houses Not a couple Right But you know what I'm saying We do Right Exactly But but what are you envisioning for let's say Bastier as a starting point so in all honesty um after playing this game for almost 40 years um postco we're
still learning Yeah What we thought we knew has all changed The deck has gotten shuffled Um it's interesting all the demographic studies we had that showed Lndale as a prime retirement community would have been just great for a place You think hey someone's going to move out of their you know a half million dollar house in Prior Lake and they want
to retire on a fixed income So they're looking for something a little less and they're going to come to this beautiful little town in Lonsdale and this and and if you'd asked me five years ago I would have felt very confident that's what we had And we tried that in Elco New Market and for the last three or four years we've struggled to bring that to market And so well you know I don't think it's
just retirement though I agree Because because I'll be honest with you I mean when I start talking about retirement with my wife we're not talking about Minnesota It's not even Lndale We're not talking Minnesota I mean when you talk about retirement it's it's it's cold here Yeah You know we we have a limited
outdoor time you know I mean when I'm retired and I'm not working I don't want to spend eight months sitting in my house But we got to have something for the younger people because there's a lot there's there's a big generation and I'm seeing it with my kids age you know that
20some early 30s can't afford a house They can't afford a house and they're willing to take something small I mean my son had a friend who who just bought a two-bedroom house because it's a house and he wanted to buy a house you know i mean would he like a three-bedroom house
or a fourbedroom sure But you know a house is a house to to the kids at this point and it's it's they recognize the wealth building opportunity of of owning property to get into that next level Um so we had past your point all teed up Joel and the staff had some really great
creative ideas we brought to the table just uh gosh Joel four units Yeah Right And we had as many as 38 units on that property and we would had some very affordable units and the development costs crushed the deal We couldn't bring a an acceptable like
so for example what happens the last lot that sells is the lot that the bank uses to appraise the financing for the last guy That's the appraisal process right we can't get off these discounted $55,000 lots in Lawndale but yet it takes you 75 or 80 to produce a new one
So we've got to find an ice breaker to be able to jump these values not from distressed bank takeback inventory from a dozen years ago but we've got to get it to the new prices today And it's going to take us we've got to just someone's got to take a little gamble and just get out there and we've got to
find a few buyers on the front side that are not the zero down buyer that can come in and put some cash into the deal and are not so sensitive to to the down payment And then we can build our own values back And that's and we did this back in Lndale in the late 90s when we came to town when you know a house here
was 69 You lot was eight grand you know and we had to kind of rebirth it then the same way Yeah And so yeah we just need to do that So yeah I guess I'm looking forward to creating a ongoing good relationship with the city Creative ideas will be everything Thinking outside of the box We see a lot of the communities that you guys are competing
with right now that are really out there thinking outside of the box the national builders are having to create new floor plans and products and things to do and and you still got at the same time uh it wasn't that many years ago we had a big rub here with the quality of the housing so we implemented square footage
standards and brick standards and window size standards um and I get why because we were overreacting to what we thought was going to be a poor housing stock but in the reality that just keep continues to hurt us because it keeps taking the minimum buyer out of the market forcing him to be somebody he's not so if you guys we did this years ago Joel we did
this many times we used workshops We invite a few builders and developers in the mayor some council people We have started have some workshops some in-depth workshops come up with some ideas Those were very very good meetings Well I know Lumis um has kind of gotten into the build and rent Yeah sort of
scenario I mean I think for maybe a smaller development you know the entrylevel type h homes smaller homes maybe smaller footprints there's an opportunity for a developer to make some of their their return back on their investment because you know you still
own the property and you're getting income off of it Something to think about there Um you know so we've talked about the business park I mean I I brought Obsidian Group down here to talk to the EDA at one point So I mean you know the idea of bringing a broker in has been brought up Unfortunately it
didn't go really anywhere Um and I don't I I mean there's a lot of reasons why I don't need to get into them now but you know beyond the business park you know we there's a couple other properties here Um so like over by Idaho you got that one small that's next
to the cemetery right this one here Idaho Street Yeah that's all platted into 60 foot lots just ready to get Okay So you're just We talked about doing it last year We just we don't feel confident we can bring that product on market Okay I mean I was curious because that's the one spot we
haven't talked about yet So I was just curious if you had any plans for that You know that one's all platted and primed and ready to go We just got to take some scrub trees that have grown over 20 years That project could be blow the dust off that plat It's all graded Literally you could put curbs in there in weeks That's probably your most shovel ready It is shovel ready Yeah
It's a it's a it's a little bit difficult of a product because the lots are steep walkouts on the bluff and that works great for the retirement guy that doesn't want a lawnmower but for the kid chasing the ball right not as good Yeah So we would love to rebirth a Shadow Stone in town again one more time and find another place where we can go back
to getting three four five units to the acre and do a nice new fresh neighborhood from the start Love to find that Okay that's that's all I got Thank you Well Gary thanks for coming in again Um
sorry if I didn't look so entertained with the splash pads and everything because honestly I've seen all this pitched to council for years and years and years and nothing's happened Understand i mean Gary you promised a 400,000 square foot incubator building
Where is it well we didn't promise a 400,000 foot incubator That was the intent I got it on video I got it in the minutes It's a 400,000 square foot incubator space So we can only build what the market will ask for and launch So when we started
the garage condo that is operates like an incubator building there's people there that can go in there and start a small business That's not true It is I I called I called Parkplace Storage They straight up told me they disapprove of that Well you got to So when you talk to
Paul it's it's how you're asking the question We've got guys that will run So what here's what they don't want They don't want the guy moving their Bobcat off the farm into your industrial park parking it outside with a tarp over it Like there's they want to keep the
thing professional and looking nice But there's opportunity Gary When we talk incubator buildings we're talking about a building where a business can come in say 20,000 square foot Yep Run manufacturing They get bigger they expand they go to an extension of a
business park or do it every day We do it every day But that was what was sold to the city Understand so again you've got to understand the economics of Lawndale We cannot force the market No no more than you can force the market
The pressure you feel on putting park improvements in with no budget We feel the same pressure when we put a development in It's you've got to have some you know and so think of what we've hit since we've been doing this We've hit 08's the fiscal cliff We hit COVID
right now we're hitting tariffs I mean can you have a more unstable development world to be jumping into as a developer if we just had a steady half a dozen years of just normal business with good interest rates we could be doing amazing things But we have to walk it We are no good to you out of business I guess my
my thing is you had the bank that built to design standards You had wetsies go through an awful long process poor design standards And then you have scanner filtration that came into design standards Then we get a garage condo that doesn't follow design standards
That should have never been allowed Gary And the reason why I say the reason why I say that is because there was investors that wanted to do an incubator building to design standards and they wanted to land for free pay taxes day one That was the deal And then we said
no And then you pitched 400,000 square foot of incubator space And then we got this garage condo unit in the business park So we'll put up as much building as business wants to be here as fast as you can build it So the three of the four
buildings in your park we've put there Okay And now the ones for sale again Can't help that right the other guys struggle a little Like it's not just a roll out deal here You guys got to understand that this is not uh you know we're not Minnitonka We're at Lawndale We've got a different set of rules down
here that we're playing by And it's not if if it doesn't pencil out on the book there's not a builder or a developer nor the city that's going to do projects that you can't get it to pencil out And that's where I believe that those garage condos should have been at It's been a tonka It should have been in Lakeville It should have never been in Lawndale
because you're 50% occupied and half of that's rented half of it's owned Yeah And we're not generating hardly any tax money from it Well you we got you got sold incubator buildings you have the same problem Yeah but I mean at the same time you look at an incubator building
how much tax revenue would come off of that how much comes off of a 20,000 foot building so I have no interest in paying taxes on an empty incubator building So then why was it proposed we would put up an incubator building once you have any kind of a business that will be one
anchor You could build two more units off that anchor unit We've struggled to find even one acre tenant Okay I can get you one Bring them to town We will build for anybody right i mean we're building commercial buildings every day all over the place But the problem I have the
problem I have is that if you couldn't build that incubator space the land should have gone back to the city because the city and made that investment the city made it shovel ready The city works with deed Deed doesn't want to work with developers They want
to work with city because city can offer them more incentives They can cut the land prices and they'll accumulate the tax money But then here we are where majority of the business park is under your name There's all of our leverage Now we got a third person involved in
any business dealing It's difficult It's really difficult because now we got to make sure that we're seeing eye to eye to make a deal where I scratch your back you scratch my back I don't like that I don't feel comfortable with that You got 12 acres there still to do whatever you
want Well right there but we had we had almost 50 You know what I mean we didn't buy that much So we own 10 right now extra that we that that's right there I mean hey I can talk to the partners if you guys want to purchase it back It has not been a win for us either If you want us to fold up and leave town and go somewhere else we're your last standing
game And I'm not I'm not saying that We're working We got a nice building in Prior Lake right now selling We got one in Woodbury that's selling We're all over town We can take our bag of marbles and go anywhere to work if you guys don't want us here We have like I said we're tied to this town from family church grandkids but if for some reason
you don't like how we do business or you don't think we're doing good for the city we're out of here We'll leave There's no problem I just would like the business part to be in the city's possession It is the best thing that's for the city So you
have without us there Well right But there was also five deals that were on the table where we could have paid off all the debt service that we currently own on it If we had that property tax value if the city would just cut the deal on the land lower the design standards that whole business park would
have been full by now And I think you know that I think you know that We haven't seen it We've had a hard time getting even the three buildings that are there We have worked hard to move those buyers into the community We took dispatch trucking was all teed up on the west side of New Prague and if it had
not been a personal relationship with those people kind of hey you know this Joel we rolling on a red carpet those guys were teed up to go to New Prague you know Gary I I'm not saying I want you to leave I'm saying let's work together let's do the right thing and we
and I think and I think it would be better if the city owned the business park you got that money if we start looking right by the villages is that five acres on ETH and I disagree with you I think that's the best part to put
an apartment in I think that that is the only location right now where you can fit an apartment in and then you can do your splash pad park whatever it may be that five acres I think that is the best location for it And I got somebody on the phone
right now depending on the price for land they would work with you 110% So we would sell that I would have no interest in putting a apartment building there in town So I think that's a you'd have to really think through what that's going to make your town like what that's
going to look like when you're done you know i I think it would be great honestly because that's Rolling Ridge Marketplace That whole area could be right there for you I mean I I like the idea of slab on grade housing I I really
like the idea for 50 to 55 plus Even if you wrapped it into some type of condo style and added a little bit more housing where it's not just one house you know but something's just got to get done there And
we're happy to any ideas you guys want to bring to the table We're open for ideas We we haven't pushed a fast hey let's dump this and go I see it as being a major part of the the city of Lawndale there I just I guess I have not been willing We've had people that have said
"Hey let's do a lowinterest section 8 you know because we can drag all the government freebies down here." We've just said that no we have a better No we I don't want to do that to the town of Londale So we've been held off mowing that and paying taxes for years trying not to put that there Now if you think you can put an apartment building just
because that's what happens in Plymouth or Maple Grove the Plymouth and Maple Grove checkbook in those apartment buildings is not your tenant here your tenant is going to look substantially different with an apartment building in Lawale than they are there And you then I think you got to do more studies You got to talk with your police for what
that does for for law enforcement safety social issues Talk to Rice County for what that's going to bring for social welfare problems within the community I mean there's all kinds of other things to consider before you just start building up rentals And the rental market right now up and down the highway
is flooded and vacant units And so now you got to deal with a guy that's going to be discounting to get you drive farther to get here Ownership's better for the community If you have a good housing stock owned it's better for the city than having in our community to
have a volatile rental situation But I I don't agree I talked to these business owners They can't get anybody here because nobody can afford a house around here That's the problem And then you're trying to tell me something different And I mean I agree with you I think it would be great to get more housing in
here more affordable housing But the thing is the number one thing my residents tell me my business owners tell me I need somewhere to rent It's too expensive to own We got two years of declining measurements for house for
home ownership Have you called and checked what the rentals are in those new apartment buildings with the cost of construction you can't get a two-bedroom unit for 24 2500 3,000 a month I can build them a house cheaper than that Yeah but maybe they don't have the credit scores to get it You know there's
there's just as many factors as there are but but you're not going to wave a wand and fix that in your city I'm just telling you like the cost of construction the reason the houses are high percentage- wise the apartment construction is the same So the rentals are are going to price your people Like
if you went and did a study right now and I'll bet Rice County probably has this information The typical renter he would probably stomach 12,400 a month I can't build them anything to meet building codes and fire standards in an apartment building that can rent for 1,400 a month You I I could give the
land for free and I can't produce that for you You're going to be 21 2200 a month That doesn't hit the market here All right So what I'll do is I'll go and talk to some contacts I've been working on and I'll find some answers where we can have a conversation you and I and
them And then maybe it might even change your mind I'd be happy Does that sound good Gary it does So the and I'll leave I know you guys got plenty of meeting here to go The thing I would challenge the council to think about my opinion 40 years in this business I don't know if any of you have been developers have ever been on your
own other side of this table developing land signing bank loans development agreements I mean unless you've seen both sides of this table I've served on planning commissions I've served on city councils and I've been on the private side The best thing you can do for the city of Lawndale is work with your city staff and come up with really good ideas
on how you can let the development community find a more efficient way to plat property The reason these lots are drive so costly we've got projects right now going I've got projects in Prior Lake we're doing Scott County we got two big ones in Credit
River the cost of consulting engineers fee schedules and developer agreements We don't want to take money from the park But if I can't get people here I can't even extract taxes then to take future money from the park Like we got to plant a seed So you got to come to the table to the development community not just me then other developers and
say "Hey look we've got a new development program to come here These are all the typical fees involved from a city's perspective and we're going to wave all of these costs to get you here Now we can compete to get this like I said break our values open again to start the appraisal process so we can
justify our values for new construction And then you're going to get developers me and other guys that can come here and say "Look it's cheaper in lawnsdale by 30 grand than it is to be in Lakeville." Now we've got something to talk about But the way it is today park dedication's the same whacken sack fees are you know like there's so many similar costs and the 2x4s are the same
but yet the retail price is 30% less The guy's going to go develop up there That's why we haven't put a road here in 10 years Sure So if you want to do a workshop I'd be happy to sit on a workshop We could you know take more time and break this down into incremental parts and you guys identify all your problems and the things you like or don't like about us and we'll
try to respond back to why they are so you have a better understanding that we're not trying to hook or crook anybody that we're just trying to operate within the market conditions that we're given and see if we can keep moving forward One one question I have is um the property
um east of H Hallstead F and H Hallstead you had had a letter of intent on there for five acre lots or whatever it was Do you remember this so east or west west side So Oh you had the west side I mean where you go both sides All right So
east side Um what's up with that was there an issue with the Is that Crusader Ridge i think is that what we're talking about correct Yeah Yeah Crusader Ridge Was that shut that down we were already launched the plat The county wouldn't get off the expensive turn lane for 10
units We couldn't budget in another quarter of a million dollars for 10 houses for a turn lane and so it killed the project Okay Because we we just had a meeting with them today about just redoing fig all together So if you can get the county to have some kind of a
basic standard when those if if for safety a turn or bypass lane is necessary then it's necessary But what they try to do is just when when some little something happens they try to use that action to extort the money to make something happen that then kills the project That's how I understood it today
Grab the developer fees and then yeah we'll help you know I hear you on that but that's what So we brought a project in on the northwest corner of Fig in Hallstead Now I don't know if that propertyy's back on the market I have no right to represent that property I don't have another contract
so I don't want to say too much because I know they're actively trying to sell Um but but if they haven't been to the city yet that's that property wants to come in and actively develop It's a it's got its you know there's every property has its own set of circumstances there Uh but there's a big assessment deferred
assessment owed from fig on that property and that's what's keeping that property from coming to market So um I get there's an assessment there I don't know Joe how long it's been 20 years all seven and a long time So if the city can figure out a way what really is that number to help that property owner come
to market in a in a in a more just number today You know I mean he wasn't the one that propagated the upgrade to fake He got stuck with a deferred assessment He didn't ask for it 20 years later we're here you know and here we are Was it back taxes or No it's just he it was a you know the road one developer
petitioned that was in the city and the city put in the infrastructure and said we'll collect the rest when the next piece comes in and and now it hasn't came in for a very long time and that back assessment for a road that was put in many many years ago is still sitting there and honestly today it's one of the things that's keeping that property from
coming in We did bring a plat in on that property u I thought it was a great plat and we just can't get the finances to work out It's just it's you take the value of the land like I said the road the infrastructure the curb the gutter the storm pony you piling all that on there I had to come to the city and say "Hey can we sell lots in London for
219,000?" The answer to that is no So it doesn't work Can we get 169 well if they're really high in nice lots maybe we have a shot at 169 but we need help figuring out a solution Maybe it's a road standard We did this in Credit River years ago where the road standard was 24 feet We developed a safer
standard with with uh the radiuses in the road for controlling speeds and turning movements and we went to a 20 foot 22 foot road top and it got us really close you know and so there's things that we can do to think outside the box to help a city grow and I'm happy to come sit in on those meetings like I said and offer whatever we can do
We've been invested here a long time and we're part of the community We want to keep moving forward We're not here to you know it's not a gotcha moment You know I'm not we've been here a long time We put a lot of energy and investment and sweat into this town and we haven't run off and made a bunch of money left
We're here you know so I want those equipment here Yeah I appreciate it And you know we all just want to see things get done and because we can't grow if we still aren't doing anything in town So we we're with you I mean you
guys want to grow and we needed to grow right so we're on the same side of that issue So All right Gary Anybody have anything else thanks for coming All right Thanks Thank you Gary For taking so long
All right Consider approval to make a conditional job offer to Zachary Baker as full-time police officer at Step One Jason Schmidz Thank you Mayor members of the council So um during the background process with
the previous applicant it was brought to my attention some issues we were having with the applicant during the background process I was decided not to continue with that applicant I had received another application from a Zachary Baker for the open full-time police officer position An interview was held shortly
after by the human resource committee officer John the I Zachary interviewed very well and believe he will be a good fit for the city of Lville and the Loville Police Department So with that it would be my recommendation to give Zachary Baker a conditional job offer as a full-time police officer for the city
of Ldale on conditions that he successfully completes passes the background investigation psychological and medical exam So there's any questions All right Thank you Jason Jamie
Brian um sitting in on the interview I really liked him Um I think he will fit in extremely well with our current police force and with the community So I absolutely wholeheartedly support this
All right Thank you Curry I'm just thankful that people are still wanting to be in law enforcement So thank you for being in as a police officer and doing your jobs to help protect us We appreciate it Thank you Yeah I agree I really like Zach I I think he's going to
fit in really good I think this is a good opportunity for him So um with nothing else to be said I'll I will make that motion Motion by Wormcersian Second Second by Miller Any further discussion all in favor i All oppose All right
Congrats Zach if you're listening to this Thank you Consider approval of radio usage agreement between the city of Ldale and Lzdale Skyworn Jason Schmidz Thank you mayor members of the council Just some background Law enforcement fire skyward currently operate under 800
meghertz Prior to switching we operated under a VHF frequency which the state no longer supported causing everyone to switch to 800 MHz Due to the cost of the radios Lo Skyworn purchased one 800 meghertz radio and used a two-way radio system to communicate with spotters in
the field The two-way radio coverage was poor requiring a pole and antenna to be installed which is still in place at the old police department to increase the radio coverage The LA Police Department is currently receiving new radios which will make our old radios useless to the
police department knowing the communication needs of Skyworn They were interested in our old radios Um I've been in contact with Joseph Johnson the Rice County uh emergency management director about Skyworn taking over our old radios which requires a radio usage
agreement which is included Um and when our new radios are programmed and in use our old radios would have the encryption removed and programmed to meet the needs of Skyore So the radio usage is basically
because Sky is volunteer right so I included the uh the radio use agreement and just some of that is basically um the radios used for solely emergency weather spotting and severe weather operations
Um used by train authorized personnel with Skyworn Um we have to complete the armored user training which will be conducted by someone with the police department And then obviously the
property remains the city of Ldale they're responsible for any maintenance as far as battery replacements If there's any major issues that go wrong with them they just be taken out of service because they're too expensive to repair at this point Yep
So any questions kind of briefly touched on it So Ryan you got anything no I don't have any questions Curry Jamie I'm good All right Um I don't have anything except
for thank you for doing this for Skyworn So uh with that I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion All right Motion by Miller Second Second by Worcers All in favor i All opposed All right Thank you Jason Thank you Thank you Chief
Consider consider approval of the 2025 crackfill expenses in the amount of $8,931.95 Joe Dor Thank you mayor Members of the council uh previous years the city of Lancale has partnered with the city of Montgomery for crack filling In terms of our agreement are each city
purchases their own materials Each city purchases their own router or cutter bits City split the cost of the rental equipment and the city's labor trade for the crack filling process This agreement has worked extremely well dating as far back as 2015 Typically each city sends
two employees for a labor trade The crack filling process is labor intensive requiring traffic control and a minimum of seven employees Labor trading allows both cities to maintain daily operations of our water and wastewater facilities and completing park rounds Typically the
crack filling process is one week total for both cities combined Attached is a map of the proposed areas to crack fill in 2025 The areas for 2025 were selected based on the date of the last crackfill the street condition and priority to
reconstructed areas The fiscal impact during our 2025 budget process $8,500 was budgeted for crack filling The breakdown is as follows The craft code road saver that is the actual material that goes in the cracks We have
$5,481 and $431.95 of that will be for the new city hall parking lot Um and then just the DTAC uh 479 carbide cutters um 9.42 and the washers that go with them for
installation 2925 Half of our rental for the seal melter is $1250 half the rental of the router is $650 and half the delivery fee is $100 The funding proposed is $8,500 be used from road bridge and
$431 be used from the city hall project fund The alternatives would be to not crackfill in 2025 I have attached the quote from crackfill or from craftco um which is just a baseline per item
cost Um the breakdown is in the fiscal impact for what we we will be spending And then I also have a map with the proposed crackfill areas attached You guys have any questions i would be happy to answer Thank you Joe Gary do you have
anything nothing Jamie nothing Brian no I don't have any questions Thank you All right I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion Motion by Miller Second Second by Safe Any further discussion seeing none All in favor i All oppose
Motion carries Thank you Joe Thank you Consider approval to make a conditional job offer to Richard Bell a seasonal public works employee at grade 1 step six Joel Eerson uh thank you mayor members of the council Uh just over $48,000 was
budgeted this year to hire up to four seasonal public works employees Uh we received a total of 11 applications U we're working on scheduling interviews for uh early next week will conduct those interviews and bring a recommendation to the city council at the May 8th meeting Uh based on
discussions at the staff level uh Mr Bell has four years at his workforce done a good job fits in well and uh we're glad to see that he applied to be a seasonal employee again uh this year Because the position is seasonal uh Bel
can only work uh cannot work more than six months 185 consecutive days Otherwise the city and him would be required to pay per which the city has not budgeted for I propose that they'll begin work on or about May 1st and end
in October Uh based on the proposed timeline the seasonals would start again on or about May 1st depending on who we recommend for job either miday or the first part of June given the vast majority of the
applicants are high schoolers Uh this was a budgeted expense in 25 to hire up to four seasonal public works employees Alternatives will be to not make a conditional job offer to Richard Bell and then included with the council
packet is the 100 point rating and Mr Bell's application Unless there's any questions staff would make a recommendation to make a conditional job offer to Richard Bell as seasonal public works employee at grade 17684
Right Thank you Jamie you got anything brian I think this is the same one from last year where I said "Hey if the guy keeps coming back we must be doing something right." So and I see on his application he he literally says "Enjoy working with Joe and the guys." So I
think that's good enough for me Yeah Nothing All right Andy has a CDL That's a plus Certainly does Yeah Um just just so you guys know you know Dick Dick is a very valuable part of our team every year for the last four years starting his fifth
year His class A CDL is is actually a thing of value Um hauling street sweepings through Rice County and things like that on rain days Dick comes through he can he can drive Um and then just uh it's not mowing a golf course He's
it's it's intense mowing So it's it's really great to have him come back and you know I'll call him up and day one he knows where to go So he's very valuable Thank you Joe I'll make the motion to extend the job
offer All right Motion by excursion Second Second by the safe guy Any further discussion all right All in favor i All oppose All right Motion carries Congrats Richard U consider approval of resolution
2025-21 a resolution proclaiming May 23rd 2025 as Poppy Day at Ldale Joel Anderson Uh Council Member Miller a member of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 586 requested this be on the agenda to proclaim Friday May 23rd as Poppy Day
in Londale The poy is the designated symbol of sacrifice of life in all wars And in the past the council has approved this motion or I'm sorry resolution Uh quick story on the poppy After World War I the poppy flourished in Europe Scientists attributed to the line from
the ruffle from all the buildings Uh from the dirt grew a beautiful red poppy The poppy became to symbolize the bloodshed during um battle following the publication of the wartime poem in Flanders Fields The poem was written by John McCria MD while serving on the
front lines September 27th of 1920 the poppy became the official flower of the American uh Legion family to memorialize soldiers who fought and died in war In 1924 the distribution of poppies became a national program of the American Legion uh led by the American Legion
auxiliary Each year members distribute poppies with the request of the person receiving the flower make a donation uh to support future veterans active military personnel and their families with medical and financial needs Uh there is no fiscal impact to the for approving the resolution Uh
alternatives would be to not approve the proposed resolution and then included with staff report is resolution 2020 2025-21 Any questions recommend approval of resolution 2025-21
All right Thanks Brian I'm glad that uh Ki you're here to pick up the baton from Cindy because Cindy Cindy always did this But I will say this Cindy always brought us poppies I was going to say I will be I will have them in the med meeting I
promise No I think this this this is a no-brainer But thank you for Thank you for bringing this up Yes Thank you for continuing the tradition and being on board with it and we really appreciate the support for our veterans and active military Anybody can make a donation at
any time to the American Legion um right here in Lndale or you can have it go to the auxiliary unit We um handle funerals and other events um throughout the community as well We do a lot of blood drives and things like that So uh if you see these poppies out at the store um
please feel free to put some money in that bucket Thank you Thank you Carrie Jamie I'm good All right Well we'll uh entertain a motion then I'll make the motion Motion by excursion I'll second
Second by Miller All in favor i All opposed All right Thank you again Cody Thank you Consider approval of special meetings to discuss the city's 2026 budget and property tax levy Joel Ericson Well uh budget season's fast approaching
Um just put together some some proposed dates for budget meetings to talk about the 2025 budget and property tax levy Proposing start times of 700 p.m or as soon as possible
Um and I guess in the past we've kind of laid out schedule of those meetings kind of understand if something comes up and one needs to be rescheduled so be it Or um if one's not needed maybe towards the end of the budget process that could be cancelled We recently held two work
sessions earlier this year and um the first meeting would be staff will be looking to the council for direction to kind of at least begin framework and give provide direction so we could work towards um achieving what what the council wants to achieve guidelines of
you know hey maybe we should be looking at a levy of this or or whatever just to give us some parameters as we're going through it um so we're not out in left After that uh the next meeting or two would be talking about council's
priorities uh and staff's recommendations for short long-term fiscal needs facilities capital improvement plan and then followed by department by department presentations It's anticipated that we'll need to approve the preliminary budget and property tax levy no later
than September 25th September 25th regular city council meeting that's consistent with prior years September 30th and then looking at approving the final levy the first meeting in December or
sometime in December after that if need be impact depending on the staff that attends looking at 750 bucks per meeting Uh alternatives will be to select different dates at this time ask the council if
these dates work or adjust that All right Thank you Curry I It's soccer season but that's fine Now Chase can drive so I'm fine with whatever This works
Jamie works for me right uh yeah Yeah I mean I like the fact that there's a lot of Mondays in here because Mondays is probably my freest day Um I know the only one that I I know for a fact that I will absolutely not be able to make is the September 8th I will be
out of the country Um on the ETH I forgot that is the first Monday because the first Monday is actually a holiday but that ETH I will have an ambassador meeting from 6:00 to 8 Sure So it would be good I thanks for bringing that up And you know part of that too is I don't
think we need to necessarily reschedu that one tonight I think we can we can wait for Scott Yeah I agree because we're meeting next Monday We can just have a casual conversation about it and have it ready to go for the next council meeting But yeah these these dates look
fine for me because uh the kickoff meeting is the day that my fourth child is due is due So I can't miss that We can take care of the budget We don't need you So we'll we'll uh yeah let's reconvene
with this when Scott comes back So um other than that the dates work out for me except for that first day So Joel do you need a motion tonight or can can we say we're tentatively okay until we talk with Scott um I mean I guess the sooner the better
because staff has vacation staff has kids in sports I mean we're all our schedules around the summer time Yeah Um Did Scott did Scott say anything on this to you or No Uh he didn't say anything Maybe on Monday would we be
able to visit it to confirm these dates uh you could add it to the agenda It's a special meeting but it's been reported as a open meeting to the public So we we've met the open meeting requirements So we could take So we could take actionous agenda Okay I wasn't sure if
we were able to take any action on any business at that meeting other than interviews but if we can do it I say that's cool with me All right So I'll have look for a motion to table I'll motion to table till uh Monday What is
Monday 27th 27 28 28 All right Motion by Worm Christian Second Second by Miller All in favor i All oppose motion carries All right Consider approval of a quote submitted by All Flags LLC in the amount of
$10,97745 for flag poles for city hall joyers At the last uh work session uh discussion was held on the following three flag poles at the new city hall Uh I contacted the three following companies and obtained the attached quotes Uh the lowest or the cheapest
being all flags at 10,97745 Um staff has recommended approval of the quotes submitted by All Flags LLC They're the company that we have recently purchased all of our flags from and flag poles u at least for the best
memorial as well And that's what I used for the the design We had talked about that at the meeting So looking at buy 140 footer and 235 footers Um public work director and myself have a couple layouts out there that were kind of looking at to see which ones we like
better I guess if the council has a preference on if they face the parking lot or highway 19 Um certainly would entertain your thoughts Uh flag poles are to be installed by staff and again proposed to be located by the northeast corner of
the building Part of the city hall contract Uh the contractor is to provide power and lighting for for the flags Alternatives not approve the quote reduce the number attached to quotes
from the three companies and recommend approval of all LLC among 1097745 All right Thank you Jamie I'm good All right Brian No I mean I think we all had the discussion about how many and three was
the magic number So this is what we got to do it Thank you K I just wish it wasn't so expensive but we need flags So yeah All right I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion Motion by Miller Second Second by Vapeka
All in favor i All oppose Motion carries Now to the good part the really good part the fun part It's what everyone's been waiting for Mhm Consider approval of ordinance 2025-330 an ordinance amending chapter
90 of the city code concerning chickens All right Um the planning commission has been reviewing chickens at the well since the beginning of the year and really discussing them February meeting March meeting and then a review further this week on Monday along
with the public hearing Um I guess Couple things first Uh if approved tonight um the city will be accepting applications on Tuesday April 29th Some of the comments from the public hearing that was held on Monday
were the fee is a is a tax uh concerns about power source property rights Uh and that roosters are okay I won't get into the fbombs or we heard them
Um so prior to the public hearing it was noted as well we did receive two comments or comments and they were just focused on enforcement So the ordinance as proposed uh would allow chickens uh the keeping of six chickens on residentially zoned
properties subject to the following So the property has to be residential and can only have one or units on it So there are properties in Welco that will not allow will not be allowed to have chickens because there are triplexes up there Just want to make everyone aware
of that The owner of chicken must reside where the chickens are kept Um and then the property also uh cannot be in violation of city code 91 and then nuisance is 153.057 Permit is required to be applied
for and reviewed by staff as proposed I believe the application fee is $50 the renewal fee $50 as well And then there was talk about a um $300 10year permit
Uh as far as the application needs to have the number of chickens that are uh going to be housed on site a written statement that the applicant will at all times comply with city's conditions and city codes address of the property where the chickens will be kept a certified
survey with a site plan Not every property in Lawndale has a survey Want to make that clear Cost of the survey is what six to,000 600 to$,000 um showing where the coupe will be the run the setbacks um the surrounding
buildings and then the style height of the fencing proposed uh to be used for the the run An insurance rider for additional coverage for the coupe run and chickens located within the property Again this is another additional expense that will have to be required before the
city will approve uh an application The initial permits shall run through December 31st of the following year So anyone that applies this year it would run through December 31st of 26 Uh from there on they would need to
renew their permit As far as inspections uh through discussions at the planning commission it is proposed that there will be no inspections As far as permit revocations the city may revoke any permit issued under this section if the permit holder fails to
comply with requirements of this this code State or local laws city code chapter 91 nuisances Uh any person whose permit is revoked shall have the right to appeal the revocation to the city council
Uh can also revoke a permit if the city's not able to obtain the occupants consent to enter the property If a permit is revoked shall not be issued for two years following revocation Uh any person whose permit is
revoked or refuses to renew a permit shall within 10 days thereafter humanely disposed of chickens own kept or harbored by such person General standards for keeping chickens u roosters are prohibited A chicken
shall not be raised or kept for the purpose of fighting Chicken shall not kept in a principal structure dwelling or structure not meeting the required setbacks Chicken shall be kept in a stationary coupe and accessory structure
or accessory structure Meaning that if someone has a shed they can use up to 40 square feet of that shed or accessory structure for a coupe Coups may not occupy the front or side yards only one
coupe per lot Uh the coupe shall have a minimum size of four square feet for chickens and not exceed 40 square feet The coop shall be set back a minimum of 30 ft from principal structures at least 5t from all property lines and not any drainage and utility
easements Coops and run shall not exceed 8 ft in height The roofs of the coups shall be made of non-combustible materials The coupe shall not create a nuisance which may have characteristics related to noise dust odors glare or unsightly
building exterior The coupe shall be built to protect chickens from extreme heat and cold Coops shall at all times be maintained in good condition and then also shall be locked when the coupe is not actively being maintained As far as the runs and their minimum requirements
uh the coupe or I'm sorry the run can be temporarily attached to the coupe similar to the Similar to the coupe it has to be set back a minimum of 30 ft from the principal structure 5T from the property lines and not located any change utility
easements A maximum of one run per lot shall be permitted The run shall have a minimum size of a maximum size of 20 square feet per chicken The run should be fully enclosed and covered with durable material Structural components of the
run should be consistent with the key material Uh fencing materials used as run components shall be woven wire materials and high quality wood resistant to moisture rod aluminum rod iron vinyl compost composite or other
similar materials and kept in good condition and regular regularly maintained Shall be kept in good condition at all times As far as sanitation standards the slaughtering of chickens is prohibited The premise shall be kept clean from
filth garbage and substance which attract rodents The coop and the surrounding area should be cleaned frequently to control order Odor manure shall not be allowed to accumulate in a way that causes an unsanitary condition or causes odor to be detectable from other properties Uh all food shall be
kept in a rodent proof container Uh chicken shall be kept in such a manner constitute a nuisance Again city code 153.057 or chapter 91 Persons no longer intending to keep chickens on the subject property nullify
the city in writing and remove the coupe excluding accessory structures and the run no later than 10 days after not having the chickens And the coupon shall be removed from the property upon a permanent expiration or permanent revocation at the property owner's expense no later than again 10
days from no longer having chickens Ordinance like I said the planning commission did have public hearing earlier this week and did recommend approval to the city council All right Thank you Brian Kick it off
with you Thanks Um yeah I don't know I mean this has been a hot topic for years I mean it's it's been up and down for years I I know this has come to the council before and this is
probably the closest it's ever been I think Um you know I I know uh first of all I want to say thank you to the the Planning and Zoning Commission Um that was a wild one on Monday I was here for
it So thanks guys for for standing in the line of fire I was worried what we were going to get tonight Um you know I know with no heat source I I know there was some some conversations around the insurance rider and maybe
Jamie you can help I thought it was said at the planning and zoning that it was a recommendation not a requirement That's what I put in there worded as as a recommendation and I also said maybe we should on our dog permits put a recommendation in They have a rider for
your dog if your dog would bite somebody but after the fire department's insistence we put it in there Okay Okay I just I just wanted to clarify back to a recommendation and then I
guess a question I haven't I don't know if you can can answer this Joel I mean are there potential lots in town [Music] where the lots are small enough where 30 ft from the primary structure would be a
challenge and where so 30t from the structure and then the setbacks Are there are there lots where those numbers would be a challenge for a property owner if they wanted to do this and they just couldn't because they couldn't meet
those those distance standards Uh there are lots in town um for example up against wetlands that a lot of the their property is drained utility easement so they wouldn't they would not be eligible correct I can't have chickens
my lot is not okay I mean I guess I kind of that makes a concern in my mind because now we're you know potentially excluding people that may want to do this kind of no fault of their own I
mean I I understand the need to be far enough away from the structure Um but again we don't have heat sources anymore So I don't know Those are those are my
questions for now I'm sure I'll come up with something more All right G Well mine just if we're excluding if we're doing um single family and the attached single family with no more than two dwellings I feel like that needs to just
not be it should just be a single family dwelling because then you can take out the uh triplexes and quad homes that would maybe want the chickens too but they can't But then they're going to fight because like the two people you know
what I'm saying like well I think the the reason being is the yards right because because a duplex has a yard whereas a triplex doesn't necessarily have a yard because you're talking stacked Yeah So you have a deck area but you you have a shared green space I
think that's the concern Okay Because most of if not all of the the duplexes in town have their own yard property that that they own Correct Okay Is there anything where the person if you do have a duplex you need to like talk to your
neighbor to see how they feel about the chicken since you are like essentially sharing a wall and a yard there is no language in there Um I don't know That would be my only concern And then so you know how we're pretty strict about like sheds the color
has to match the house Are we going to be doing that kind of thing on these coups and stuff no Okay I just want to I want to get that out there because people have a big deal about sheds and and matching and things like that So and then um just the I don't like the
wording dispose of humanely Like it just seems so sad to me Like disposing him like he's alive still Like just chicken fingers count Yeah I don't know Sorry That's just me I just don't I don't like that word
Disposing humanely Okay Anyways that's it All right Jamie I'm gonna let you go All right Um the inspections it's complaint based driven on this So if you're complaining they're going to inspect from your
property So they better be able to find something for your property And um what else is there we said that the homeowner the actual property owner had to be involved in the application process because we have some rental properties
in town and that's not on the permit We had that on there Uh yeah that um well that's not in the in the ordinance It was I guess the discussions it was that was
one of the very first things that we put in there under Joe's discussion and Jeremy's right behind shaking his head And also for fee structure can you put please circle one because everybody's reading that and that we're stacking
those fees That's what I heard all week It's like why are you fee after fee after fee it's like no that 300 is a 10ear permit fee so you don't have Yeah that that came up on Monday too Yep Yeah there's some confusion around that I can come back
Pardon so renters renters can but the home the actual property owner has to approve it Well with that said I think we need a new draft right so well hold on All right just wait Wait
your turn You got more Let me pull Robert's rules on you 30 foot step back being that we took the heat source out Some people in town are requesting that maybe we give a variance and set it back to 20 ft if
their recommendation would be make it 25 ft Then they get 30 you know why do I do 30 why do they get 25 my recommendation would be 25 is good enough for someone It should be good enough for for everyone else Consistency is our
friend Yeah Let's go 20 20 20 then nobody can complain People still Oh yeah So technically do we have I mean technically I think we have to make motions for these to amend
this right Joe because don't we have to vote on these oh 100% Yeah So any changes that we make need to be a motion Yeah So Jamie you're a motion to change Wait hold on
Motion's always in order All right Because I I got some things I I want to bring up too So do you need a survey if you can locate your pets based off the ordinance yes So even if you know exactly where your boundary line is
you got to pay the 700 bucks for a survey based off the off of the proposal or yes Does everybody agree with that that's why I brought that up Large expense I think if you can prove that you're not near the setback of that five you
shouldn't survey Well we we got to be a little bit careful with that because I can guarantee you somebody's going to say "Well I know." and their neighbors are going to be like "Absolutely not Do you know?" This is why I said that during co
I added a deck onto my house to the front yard to the center of the lot and I had to pay $600 some dollars for a survey six months after I paid a survey for buying the lock behind my house Yeah No I I think if we have something on file that should work Absolutely
Absolutely We provide surveys to residents all the time if if we have them here Yeah Okay The the other problem I have is when it comes to accessing their
properties and you know it says the city can refuse a permit if you will not let them access your property The problem I have with that is that it's trespassing We have police officers that know the
law and I feel like we should weed that out of there But is that is that if there's a complaint because that's the way I read it That's just it is it it says if there's a complaint they're coming to investigate the complaint Well right But it was will not issue a permit if you
will not allow city staff on property for city whatever it may be It's not really like it's is it a police officer is it a city administrator is it
Cy is it police will be enforcing this canations and this has been reviewed by people That's a tough one for me Um hold on I would like to add you cannot make a
chicken in a marginal support Is it in there is it in there it's in the state statute That is why the homeowner has the property owner has to be on the permit because of Mia Because of Mia All right So
hold on Does anybody have anything else to add so I can break it to uh the residents if anybody wants to speak on anything anything immediate well I think there's been some stuff proposed So I'm sure as long as we've got a list of potential changes because
we need motions for those right and under Robert's rules of order honestly a motion is an order at any time It doesn't matter who's speaking So you know we can have a round robin but if somebody wants to make a motion they can make a motion And I think the concern is we get talking about something and then
we forget about it if we break to something else That's why it's like if we're going to make the change or if we want to propose a change let's just make the motion and get it on the record So that way the public can talk about what we're what we're looking at My concern is you know we we say this should be
changed this should be changed and then we break to to more comment and then we forget what we are going to change So that's just a thought since there are a number of changes and I don't want to delay this any longer than it needs to be but maybe bringing a
draft back to council to make sure what you guys want with these changes is is in order It's up to you guys Yeah Yeah I mean I was going to make a motion at some point to table it and get a reddraft once
we've gotten what we want changed you know Um I just want to make sure the wording is right Yeah Because it's it sounds like there was something that got missed So that needs to be addressed under the
impression There's no doubt that the ren the owner had sign off on it but then it was it was removed Okay Staff was under the impression that it was being removed So we
definitely put that back in there Yeah So would that trigger another public hearing i don't know If the changes are that dramatic becom I think that if we talk about it
tonight and then we include some people out here right now to discuss it then we can pass it on to city staff reddraft it bring it back to another council meeting where we can immediately just vote on it
right So yeah I'm not disagreeing with you Okay So but we want to move forward with motioning it right now Do you want any public comment before No no no If you want to open it to public that's fine I'm not saying we don't we don't have public comment List of things we need
to Okay that's why I just want to make sure we don't lose any of these changes that people are talking about Check circle one on the application for the fee property owner sign off rentals 20 foot rear access back no survey locate the
pins and then remove access to the property Can I can I add one thing or two things here about number one the survey for locating the pins that's currently a service that public works does not offer we get a lot
of requests for it but it's a necessary time that public works spends trying to property pins that are buried for who knows how many years Um just I want the council to be aware of that The other thing I want the council to be aware of
is I don't want to have any misunderstanding when my guys are out doing utility locates that they're out inspecting chicken coops If we get to that point utility locates will stop at the right
of way which beneficial to no one Well I think I think the problem is is that people are worried about somebody coming in there from the city just to write a ticket No I I I understand that
Um we just need to be clear about our communication The only people the only people that can enforce are the police force That's that's on us It's a communication thing on us Yeah And by us I mean Cy And the inspections are complaint so it's
not just Yeah Enforcing this No I'm just thinking that you know we put it up on the Facebook page all that stuff You know I mean there's lots of ways we can communicate it out like hey here's the new chicken ordinance Only enforcement will come from PD Okay So I'll turn it over to the public
if anybody wants to say anything Go ahead Sorry I should Yeah Steve coming back up here Jason Steve Churnney thing Oh well you
can Steve Churnney 1509 Connecticut Drive Southeast Your honor and council U I've lived through the chicken ordinance 25 years ago in Burnsville when I was on the council I I think you have a great ordinance I'm glad you brought up the
the emotional support chicken idea and and I say that it sounds funny but we being in the health industry for the last 19 years and currently in it we're moving to a society of of wellness and well-being and red light therapy and and
I can go on and on and on And I could see someone two things walking into Macathons with a chicken saying this is my support animal The second thing is I wasn't clear I I'll contradict myself It looked like good ordinance but I wasn't
clear Can a chicken could someone say uh this is my support chicken and have them in their house no No That's that's clear Okay Yeah If if you are going to reference the state statute then I would put the reference in there since the
people can go online and look at our ordinance so they can go look that up I would strongly recommend that Yeah And that's all Thank you Unless you have any questions Okay You don't want a chicken as a support animal
On the ground mind incriminate me no All right Thank you Steve You're welcome your honor Go ahead Gary Keep it short Just two comments to maybe consider and I'm late to the conversation So Joel maybe you guys have done this but I'm fairly certain most of
the new neighborhoods in the covenants recorded against those properties it prohibits these animals So if the city authorizes and says "Hey go ahead spend the money do your survey do all your stuff." You guys come in One neighbor could come and say "Look we have recorded property covenants in these neighborhoods This is not allowed." And now somebody spent a bunch of money from
the city going green light and there's covenants that are going to be over trumping your ordinance And most of the new subdivisions that have been in the last 15 years I would bet Willow Creek Shadow Stone Harvest Bluff Rolling Ridge almost all of those I would think would be precluding agricultural animals
in those covenants Something to think about because that's going to have a duality problem for the city Second thing is is you know just listening and we do this all across the country these meetings and an already taxed police force Now they're going to be doing chicken
enforcement and there's no way some small little kid to attach their chicken not bring it in their house to watch the movie to put it back out I mean you're going to have these issues coming up For the city to take this on it may be wise to put a sunset clause on a trial ordinance where maybe you say "Look
we're going to try this for 24 months." If in 24 months it becomes such a burden to your works department or your police department or city or you get these meetings just full of people fighting over whatever it is then you can recapture this back and say boom ordinance is done If you don't come up
with some kind of a sunset clause and people invest all this money with no sunset clause provision you're going to have a hard time getting rid of this thing and it could overwhelm future councils and future administrations beyond you So just something to think about So all right Thank you Thank you
Anybody else all right Council tell me what you want to do What's your wishes motion to change setbacks to 20 ft from the house You want this motion one at a time or
Yeah we All right Let's get some motions All right Motion by Va I'll second Second by Miller Uh any further discussion all in favor all opposed All right Motion carries
Motion to add property owner to the application and add a circle one for the fee schedule to avoid confusion Second Motion and seconded Any further discussion all in favor i
I All opposed All right Motion carries Anybody else got any motions what about the update that i think this covenants thing is a fair point that we didn't think about We should probably add some language But
the city does not enforce covenants We are not a party to that agreement It's between the property owner and the developer however long that they retained ownership or control over the HOA or the HOA
I'm not in the nature So so they would have to go back to the HOA and make sure that they have permission to do it would be a civil civil thing Well you have covenants on your house just like I do But I don't pay a fee which I like I just organized Yeah
The residents don't want to start an HOA because they don't want to have to be the bad guy to deal with their neighbor So you can't do that They call the city to do that So they're not no one's going to enforce start up and enforce covenants They don't want to be the neighbor Like Gary did you have something to add
to the difference like HOA the homeowner association recorded against the land are completely separate from HOA So if property values start to be a problem or dropping or somebody has their they can't sell it because of chicken next to it or whatever That does not keep the
city out of the legal battles that could ensue I mean because what you're doing is knowingly enforcing or allowing an ordinance that is in violation to the covenants within the neighborhood that protects the values And without at least some disclosure I mean you're kind of telling people hey come get a survey We'll give you a permit I mean I think
it'd be wise to at some check the box at least that people check their covenants in their right So to change the covenants in a neighborhood you can't neighborhood meeting every mortgage company that has a vested interest in every single house if the values drop because we have a a mess of chicken
house in that neighborhood and it becomes a real problem and you guys have a problem enforcing it I mean everybody has a plan So I think maybe you want to consult the city attorney and just talk about what that looks like I mean I honestly I think all the new neighborhoods since 2020 on I'm sure all of those have some reference to
covenants for agriculture animals in the neighborhood So if you bought 20 years ago hey I don't have no animals in my neighborhood put animals in my neighbor See what I'm saying like that's potentially open up a whole another council where they had a home
association I know it's difficult to talk about So I think it's worth protecting her but I like the idea of I think we we at least have to have some sort of acknowledgement when they apply like I understand that I have to check
my company It's on me as the property owner applying for the permit So that way they can't come back Nobody can come back to us They assume liability and then we can just say here's the document It's on you And I mean I guess I don't know how the the attorneys would word that but
there's all kinds of things in can't have the same house You know there be four house separation There's all kinds of things in governance that the city's not enforcing Could this come back and hurt the city though
i guess I would reference the city attorney I don't All right So do you feel better if we did that i would feel better if we did that Me too I would feel better Should we table this and then just do a reddraft and then see what's going on make sure that we're Well I guess I the question I have
is should this be kicked back to planning and zoning yeah I I would Well yeah I mean I know they've done a lot of work already and I know it's and I'm sure there's people that are they're not going to be happy that we haven't finalized this tonight
but I'd hate to see I don't want to see a legal problem down the road even if there's just like a a faint glimmer of it you know um that's my concern I mean I'm not I I'm not worried about like coups and number
of chickens because I think we've got all that figured out but it's like all of a sudden this is kind of a a new wrinkle in the fabric and um yeah I don't know A lot of the residents don't even know there's covenants on some of those properties Yeah But if you've ever seen
a neighborhood come on each other it's when one person discovers it One person knows there's covenants and somebody else has invested all this money guidelines to put in their chickens and then they get a letter from somebody else's attorney saying we have covenants here and oh my gosh why didn't you guys know why didn't
you do something why didn't you tell us now we got all this money spent now what are we going to do and mortgage lean holders have well and they have the money to afford the attorneys to do it so if anybody watching and wants chickens make sure you check your
covenants say I can offer this free of charge I'll go back to burn just see them regarding this specific subject see if they run into what they did how they handle it I'll do
that for free you don't have to kick it down public hearing public that open a whole new I'll get back you want to report back city attorney I think we should check with city but it would be it would be nice to hear what another city I would like to stay with the city attorney and
have him check with their city attorney All right So let's let's do that then So making a motion to check with the city attorney before and if they have any recommended language about covenants or that sort of
stuff just just just to read none of them mentioned anything about covenants and chickens Yeah And I read them the entire metro area letting us Nobody said anything about
covenants Well we can either pass it and follow through follow up with the attorney and see how he feels or we can table it too Um it's up to council whatever you guys want to do Well we've got some changes
that we've just put in right so it's got to be reddrafted anyway So why don't we while it's being reddrafted because we got two weeks before another meeting in that meantime we can just ask the attorney and if they say no big deal
don't worry about it at least then now we have legal advice you know written legal advice yeah I mean that's just it so with table with you know wait you know Joel you got the approved changes
Uh got the check one survey Was there motion on accessing the property no there wasn't Well you're going to need preliminary for the place You have to let the building inspector out for
that No we're not doing insp Yeah Yeah The only access would be if if there's a complaint Yeah Um Yeah And I don't think we need necessarily language around the covenants Just just ask the attorney and
say "Hey you know this was a thing that was brought up Should there be any language added is there any concern?" You know at least then we have legal advice on it Jason you got something
yeah I was just gonna add even based on We're not going to ask for warrants Then based off of that that should have never been incorporated here for discussion with staff and the pl inspection the access of property that that line
will be removed said "Well yeah we've had numerous discussions with staff It's been the planning commission and that's never been raised So that's a violation that should not be in the building right that's what I assume but there's not going to be an
inspection inspased off of discussion with at the staff level and it's been presented to the planning commission three meetings actually Were you okay with the price 50 bucks a year
I mean I know Rice County is 25 I'd like a one time inspect Yeah I'm ambivalent on it honestly I mean this is this is what came up through planning
All right I don't I mean if somebody wants to change it I'm not going to not going to have a problem with it but I'm also not going to make a motion All right Well I think to start with the fees and then we can always review it
down the road um in fees schedule It's not in the fee schedule It's in the or wait no it is in the fee schedule isn't it so that's what I'm thinking We could just start with this and then as long as it's not in the ordinance as that fee It's going to be in the fee schedule right then it's but if it's in the
ordinance then it's a lot harder to change That's what it is Yeah Yeah It will it will be incorporated into the fee schedule FE schedule says we can charge fee even if it's not listed in there Perfect All right So a motion to table
further discussion Is that what we need waiting on the updated draft and attorney Okay Okay All right Motion by Miller Second Second by Merson Any further discussion all in favor i All right All opposed
motion carries All right Consider approval of a proposal submitted by I work Systems Inc in the amount of $6,500 for premise software So as staff was gearing up to get the permit for chickens on our website as a
zoning permit uh we were informed that we've maxed out on our forms that that we can have We have 26 on there currently Uh so staff reached out to Iowa and got a price for the so add
three additional forms $500 and the $500 setup fee In addition our contract with I work is up uh towards the end of this year So we got a price uh for the cost to add the uh three more
application fees So after the chicken we should have two more if anything else comes up And then uh for the first year of the contract we're looking at $6,500 they are willing to work with us and provide a discount between prorate discount between now and and when we
sign up I mean they're proposing three months Um but starting November 1st invoicing cycle the city will receive an invoice for for $6,500 to cover the cost from uh November 1st of 25 through October 31st of of
26 Uh currently there's $5,500 budgeted for for the highwork agreement in in 25 This would be that the city would use building permit revenue to pay for the fiscal impact
$500 annual increase from November 1st 25 to 26 for a total agreement cost of $6,500 Alternatives would be not to enter into the I work service agreement and only accept paper applications for chickens Then the proposed agreement
with I work is included Unless there's any questions staff would uh recommend approval of the service agreement between the city of Lawsdale and I work systems All right Thank you You got anything um are there any other uh permits that you see coming up that
we're going to need this immediately if we did forego the I work online application and only did paper for chickens just to see how it goes Um time will tell I don't know
I just I don't like adding more cost to the budget that we didn't budget for you know and if it's just a paper application I mean people would come stop in anyways right because don't they have to or are they providing all of this information building permit
everything is just uploaded to the site or whatever is required It's like a building permit for shed Everything is online and it cuts down on staff time to have it all online Is it easier for staff yes Okay All right
All right Jamie how many more can we add going up to the 6500 is there like three total three total Correct and it save time make it easier on everybody I think it's worth $1,000 and
permits are going to cover it anyways And I think when was the last time we created a new form Joel do you know would it have been golf carts uh those are done through the PD Okay I I don't
know It's So we'd probably have those extra forms handouts It's applications Sure So we'd probably have those extra too for a while We' We'd have some space probably Most likely I say right
exactly Yeah But yeah Okay Anticipating based on history How about that all right Good Brian Yep All right I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion Motion by Miller
Second Second by Worm Excursion Any further discussion all in favor i All opposed motion carries Consider approval of application for payment number two in the amount of $61,870.33 to Peber Company for the
booster station rehabilitation project Shabbani I apologize taking this long No problem Um yeah this is the second pay request from companies for the booster station rehab project Um the booster station has been back online since the
end of March Um the uh power panel and the air compressor has been installed since I last reported to you last month vouchure Those items were uh not delivered to the site yet So those have been installed
That was a couple weeks ago The remaining items are the certified pumps The old pumps are running right now That is planned to be installed the first week in June We just heard from the contractor today that the pumps will be
delivered by the end of May Um and so after the pumps are switched out the other remaining items are the coatings for the piping and then the epoxy for installation which um they're
mid June So after that point the project will be complete Um and so the contractor is requesting their second partial payment um for the uh air compressor the electrical panel and then some associated items in the amount of
61,870.33 Uh the original contract was 340,235 Um and then at the March 27th council meeting we the um first pay voucher and change orders deduction So the contract is
334,9866 To date the city has paid 212,101.75 Um the requested uh payment does include that 5% retainage reduction uh or retainage as part of the contract
until final payment is made And then $61,148 remains on the project So we would bring that back to council after the pumps the new pumps are installed and then floor is completed along with
getting warranty and all the final paper contractor Uh the projected for the water fund 460,000 was budgeted We are below that amount Um so requesting council to uh
approve number two right thank you Shiovani Jimmy you got anything i'm good Okay Under budget like it Sorry Same Under budget All right I will entertain a motion So move I have a
motion by Warian Second Second by Miller Any further discussion all in favor i All oppose Motion carries Thank you Shani Consider approval of request for proposals for contracted building official Inspector Services Joel Ericson
Well with the um currently inspector Gary Staver submitted his 90-day notice to terminate his contract Uh this was discussed at the the last meeting and council decided to
uh buy some time to decide what was best for the city in the long term either hire city employee or contract Um so drafted this RFP to solicit proposals basically the introduction summary of
permit history scope of services are they'll perform all the building permit review inspections related administration Uh as far as the selection process criteria the process will be completed in June potentially conduct interviews and then uh decision
will be based on experience and qualification of the signed employee or employees and ultimately cost Proposals will be due Friday May 16th require firm information similar client relationships credentials If they need to sub out any of the building permit review if they
have a limited building official license they would need to contract with someone that can review commercial plans Current expected workload references and fees timeline would be tonight approve the RFP due May 16th May 29th council will select firm to interview Interview is
the week of June 9th and then contract approval on June 26th The revenue used to pay for these services are strictly building permits Fiscal impact would be based on the number of permits issued the cost difference between our current contract
and what is approved with the new firm There are no alternatives The city needs to have a building inspector official in place by July and then included the staff report is the proposed RFP All right Thank you Joel Brian you got anything
nope Sorry No Jamie no All right Entertain a motion Make a motion Motion by Miller Second Second by the Safea All in favor i All opposed motion carries Consider approval of a lease agreement between the city of Lonzo and Evergreen
Therapy Solutions LLC Julie Uh representatives of Evergreen Therapy Solution Um I contacted I showed them the the site also provided them the contact information for several other locations in town They attended the
March 13th council meeting uh introduce themselves and provide an overview of their business and needs and then based off of that staff was instructed to uh draft lease agreement for the new city hall I work with the city attorney to draft the proposed agreement uh which
has been accepted by Evergreen Therapy Solutions Summary would be a term of one year June 1st to 25 to May 31st to 26 A monthly rent of 550 city to furnish utilities accept internet taxes when they become due our
responsibility of ETSs Speaking with the county assessor just the way that valuations work and we're always a year behind I was told not expected until 2027 EST
ETS excuse me uh is the only use allowed They've received four parking installs No improvements to the building can be made without city approval Signage would be per city code Uh they would be responsible for repairs above normal wear and
tear the least portion of the premise The city's responsible for maintenance and repairs utilities Uh ETSs cannot subleas the premise There are defaults uh or examples of defaults would be rent past due 15 days 30 days or more of not
complying with the agreement excuse me if ETSs allow a hazardous condition to exist in the premise and the city's only default uh if notified and it's not cured within 30 days remedies would be the city can resolve the default and bill ETSs The
city can terminate the agreement As far as inspections the city can enter the lease area for reasonable business uh after providing notice of the city As far as insurance any claims we would be limited to our court liability which is uh state
statute And then ETS uh is to have liability insurance No leans can be filed against the property And as far as termination ETSs can terminate the lease upon 30-day written notice And the only way the city can terminate the lease is based on a cure a default not being
cured This going back to the city lease revenue of 6,600 less expenses associated with the commons and least spaces Alternatives would be to revise the agreement as desired by the council or do not enter into the proposed lease
agreement Staff's report is the proposed lease All right Thank you Joel Jamie you got anything i can't wait This is going to be a great benefit to the children in this community Right
Spoke with both the owners They're good people I'm excited to uh partner with them I'm looking forward to having this service in town as well Yeah me too So congrats evergreen I'll entertain a motion So moved Motion by Wormcursion
Second Second by Miller All in favor i All opposed motion carries Now to other business department and council reports Uh Joe Dornfeld why don't you kick us off thank you mayor members of the council Uh tomorrow is Arbor Day The
trees were purchased Three varieties of trees that will be going in at park Um two Valley Forge elms one Prairie Expedition Elm Um we also replaced two Boulevard trees that were damaged by wind Um the flowers were purchased for
Main Street The flowers will be purchased for the welcome signs in miday Um hydro flushing is wrapped up It went very well this year Um every year it improves a little bit that we get another year of the water
treatment plant under our belt So everything went great Round two of the spring sweeping is underway Um BKJ was on site for the Ash Street Trail Uh he put some erosion blanket down where we had some wash outs
and receeded and fertilized everything Um it's really important to us that we get some turf established Um they were the contractor that did the skate park and I've got confidence that Tom with BKJ will uh make good on his word He did
with the skatepark He seated that I think three times before it finally took So um he is prepared for Lndale soil Um there was supposed to be a TCU softball game tonight There have been two games
The concession stand is open and fully functional The only thing I'm waiting on are the steel doors They I don't know how you order them and then they become on back order But anyways that's the situation we're in Um
and then something cool Yesterday the DNR called me up and they put 500 pounds of fish in our fishing pond We got 300 sunfish 200 crappies Obviously they're all not each So the
balance was filled with perch Um the crappies are actually pretty nice size So kids you're hearing this get out there There's a whole bunch more fish there Just in time for badges Once once they heard that we have that
program which we've had I don't know how they didn't know Anyways um that bumped us from middle to low tier on their priority list to very top So that's cool That's really good That's all I got for
you guys All right Thank you Joel How about you Shiovani thank you Mr Mayor members of the council We're just working with McNamera to nail down their schedule for the mill and overlay project and um coordinating with Joe on some additional milling areas and kind of
process for that since that project was under budget and there's some more need out there And then like Joe mentioned um BKJ is very good to work with for the trail project and we really pushed him to get out there sooner than later um to
restore those areas along the trail gave you a update on the booster station So just assisting staff and um city's got a lot of initiatives so ready to get going on those once those a decision is made
and how to move forward Thank you Shabbani I do have one more thing to add if I could You're going to go last Okay I'm only um I would like to give a huge thank you to our former mayor RDE Um he donated his roller for us He does it
annually Um the Lale Aces roll trend of memorial field to flatten it out and then we roll soccer fields and all of our other baseball fields So thank you Tim Thanks Thank you
Joel Uh attended some public works staff the new city hall rooftop unit startup and boiler training completed co reporting for the last year I think uh started the work comp renewal property
casualty insurance will be next compensation study all the job descriptions are done so she's working on costing uh that'll be presented to the working group uh for review and consideration presented to the city council seasonal public works earlier in the meeting we'll be doing those
interviews next week bringing recommendation to the council for the May 8th meeting We closed on the old PD on Monday Uh looking to determine a move in date for the the new city hall attended the federal funding
meeting and worked with the police and fire chief and submitted on behalf of the city a grant for 180 or not grant federal funding request for $185,000 uh liquor store staff and myself met with Brenda Visavic uh of the MMBA at
the liquor store to um just kind of go over operations see how things are going Um it's nice that they come down every every few years and um you always provide good insight It's nice to keep that relationship uh a good relationship
with them Uh engineering reviews on Monday Next week we'll be closing on our second uh small city's housing grant project Our spring cleanup is set for Saturday May 17th 7 to 11 at the JC Park
overflow lot And then uh here today sent the road closure request for community day to Rice County All right Thank you Joel How about you Brian library had a birthday Uh so that was a big deal um
did a volunteer recognition I want to specifically call out a couple people Um Mary and Len Turk those two are like super volunteers for the library Uh Mary's also on the library board So um I
think that drives Len But uh we couldn't have pulled off the birthday party without Mary and Len honestly Also want to do a special thank you to Brenda Hergenrotor Cakes by Brenda for providing the birthday cake for the library Um couple of things to note Um
the Celco software is being updated So the software that the library uses for online reservations and checkouts and all that stuff for the ebooks and audio books Um it that upgrade from the 28th through
the 30th the library will be open but can only check out So um to current card holders so they can't issue new cards next week the beginning of the week and they can't do returns So don't bring your books back um I mean bring them back yes but don't
bring them back those those couple of days because they can't process the returns uh May 1st they go live on the new system Um Margarite the director wanted to note that wish list that you may have built on the old system may not
transfer over So just be prepared If you have a wish list you might want to grab it before uh next week There's a junior library board So far there's four students signed up for that They're basically helping with planning for the summer reading program So that's kind of exciting Um they put
out a call for more junior board members Um it's kind of a pre-teen early teen age age group they're looking for So uh go to the website look for that Um Friday June 6th is the kickoff for the summer reading program in the barbecue
at noon Um and the library got a $2,000 grant from the in the Institute for Electricians and Electrical Engineers and the money is being used to create checkoutable
science kits Um so thank you for that grant And then uh EDA usually this for Scott's since he's on it as well but since he's not here EDA met last week as well Um the big highlights there were uh
Lisa from Quicktrip She's the real estate manager director something I can't remember exact title Um but she came in and spoke with the EDA and spoke about potential um other businesses um you
know who who she's got in her repertoire What do we want um you know and just she said "I'm here I'm here to help." And they're excited to come to town Um and then uh the other thing of note is the EDA will have a booth at the Londale
Area Chamber of Commerce Street Fair which is on May 13th So uh the EDA will be set up there So stop by and check out the EDA There'll be information about the grant We'll have information about revolving loan fund all that good stuff
All right Thank you Brian Yep Krie just a quick reminder that May 3rd it's a Saturday the liquor um liquor store has their spring tasting event It's a really fun time for everybody so please remember to go check that out uh for parks board Joe already talked about it but just a reminder tomorrow at 1 pm
Kina Park tree planting I'm excited to be there to leave work early Yay Uh I also want to still give another huge shout out to public works You guys did awesome with the JC Park uh remodel the concessions and the lions are so excited uh to be working out of there People
have already been complimenting everything uh the bathrooms uh concessions and everything looks great and the um the scoreboard So thank you And that's it Thank you Jerry Jamie public works had the chicken ordinance
hearing It was well attended It got a little heated at one point in time You could have used a g I got you We finalized some stuff on the cannabis ordinance after the chicken ordinance hearing and we will have a
public hearing on cannabis next month And then this morning I had the opportunity to sit in with Mayor Bird on a meeting with the county and we discussed lowering the speed limits on a couple streets and it's going to take some
speed studies just to get that done So we'll bring that to the next counc Thank you Jamie Big shout out to uh Brad and Scott for the hard work on the concession stands and bathrooms Uh the scoreboard looks great too We had a
Easter egg hunt over there for the Masters and it was fun seeing the kids go crazy and be able to see that whole area and it really comes together really well Um you know again I I showed up to EDA and then one thing I did want to bring up is Quick Trip will be looking
for people to put active bids on to build that Quick Trip And so I'm sure we'll get something together here pretty soon for that And not just that but um it sounds like they're open to landscaping So for for
um long-term contracts not just for the construction They like to they said they like to use local labor as much as they can So if anybody We'll have more detail like you said Sorry I'd like to get something together so then that way we can put it on the Facebook page But
Agreed Yeah And then the county meeting went good Um went pretty good Uh but yeah back to K's point please go to the Kino Park 1 PM for Aber day Other than that I don't have anything else but the upcoming meetings May 8th and May 29th
both at 7 p.m So if there's no further discussion we have a meeting on Monday as well Yep 28th Monday the 28th 7 p.m 7 p.m here at town hall So with that I'll entertain a
motion to adjurnn Motion made Motion by Miller Second Second by Worm Christian Any further discussion all in favor all opposed motion carries Good night Good night