Hello everyone and welcome to the special city council meeting today, Tuesday, September 9th, 2025. I'm call to order this meeting. If you could all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge 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, thank you. Roll call. Uh Brian Wormer is absent. Karen Miller
here. Tom Berg here. James Lipka here. Scott Pava here. Okay. Approval of the agenda goes to uh 10A. Does anybody have any additions, deletions, or corrections to the agenda? Motion to approve. Motion by Palava.
Second. Second by Miller. Any further discussion? All in favor? All opposed? There are no minutes. There are no public hearings. So, presentation of citizens petitions and comments. Comments limited to two minutes.
Okay. Uh there's nothing on the consent agenda. So on to old business. Discuss the city's preliminary 2026 budget and property tax levy. Joel Ericson, city administrator. All right. Thank you, mayor, and members of the council. This is our sixth
meeting pertaining to the city's 2026 budget and property tax levy. Uh items proposed for discussion. Uh again, the property tax levy, we're nearing uh end of well, not we're nearing end of September, but at the end of September, um we have to adopt the preliminary levy
and certify it to to Rice County and the state by the end of the month. So, we're coming up on that uh deadline here pretty quick. Looking at just kind of a once over of the entire budget and then uh any additional priorities that the
council would would like to discuss. Uh so throughout this process um staff has um kept or not kept the levy but uh increased the levy to $3,217,350 um which generates an additional
$153,200 in property tax revenue. Uh one of the assumptions is that values will increase by 5%. Um, I think that's a pretty real number. Um, just kind of given the the
housing market and and prices. And what that does is that keeps our tax rate for 2026 the same as 25 at 52.689. If the council has any questions on that, be happy to answer them.
Otherwise, I guess get right into the to the budget. All right. Uh, Carrie, you have anything to add? Not at this time. Jamie, nope. Scott, night is young. All right. Well, back to you. All right. Uh, well, starting with the
the council, we've got wages based off of the the city code. Um, increased office supplies to account for any repairs to our audio video system. And then at uh a previous meeting there was discussion on attendance at the uh
chambers's annual dinner. As far as human resources, um staff is proposing uh cost of living increase of 3%. As far as health insurance, we had our annual uh employee meeting earlier this
month and um reviewed some of the plan options that are are similar to what our current plan is. And the recommendation uh in the process that we're going down is switching from uh United Healthcare to Blue Cross. Those rates were anywhere
from a decrease of a little over 2% to a increase I think of about a 7 and a half% on one of the the uh policies that we that we offer. Um that was basically half the increase of some of the other firms. Uh I saw increases as high as uh
15%. So and how that uh compares to last year, it's actually a decrease of about $12,000. And basically the reason why is um we had some you know our uh our premiums
are age banded. So we had a couple um older people leave the city and um hired uh younger employees. So that um reduced the those premiums and then we just don't have as many dependents as we as we did um I guess this year.
Uh one of the requirements for the state next year is uh paid family medical leave. The state's plan, their premium is8% of u wages. We went to the private market and um costed out several different plans and we actually got a a
quote back at 82% so cheaper than the the state's plan. Um it still has to be split uh based off of the state's plan. So have the city uh paying 0.44 of it and the employee paying.38
and estimating that to be about a $15,000 increase. It's probably looking more like 11 12,000 um based off of um some some costing that that I did here uh today.
So, I think that's going to be a shock to some people when they realize that it's actually a a payroll deduction and um that money is going to the state and basically it can be used by them or what I think is going to happen is it's
going to subsidize other people to um have time off. And I guess I didn't realize this either, but talking with our insurance broker, um depending on how much you make, the uh benefit that you receive um gets reduced
uh the more you make. So, everyone's still putting in the same amount, but uh the more you make, the less of a reimbursement you get if you need to use um this this plan. So basically being subsidized by people
that that make more money and it's required. It is required. Yes. I think we're one of 14 states maybe. So the the So is it because the city the city can go to a private private plan or
because I didn't think anybody could. Yep. Okay. Yep. And you're actually um rated off of your uh employees. Okay. So, uh, in talking with our broker, he said some of the, uh, cities that he works for saw premiums of over
2%. Wow. Uh, as far as administration, accounting for uh, elections in 26. And then uh professional services, we have our um excuse me, mosquito control program, uh
financial disclosures, and then just things like copers, rugs, uh administration pays for 60% of the audit costs. When we went out for proposals, uh we got proposals for um
23, 24, and 25. So, um, probably around this time next year, maybe, uh, in the summer, we will have to, uh, solicit proposals for auditing services for probably the next 3 years. And then dues and subscriptions. We've
got our dues to League Minnesota City, Civic Systems, which is our accounting system. And then you'll see this uh, throughout some of the other departments. archive social is a a social media backup that um that we pay for
planning and zoning. Uh the property tax levy is increased due to anticipated less building permits. Um with that said, less building permit inspections are also expected and that's all going to be dependent on how far um you know well one if the apartments go through or
any of the other residential developments that we're working on now. um come to fruition. I would anticipate, you know, midsummer some uh builders wanting to have models in in some of the new subdivisions.
And then dues and subscriptions, GIS, and then I work is our uh building permit software. As far as uh police department, um budgeted 140,000 in federal funding to account for uh the purchase of the body camera system that um council wants to
to implement. Uh it hasn't been approved. Um uh everything that I've received from uh the US Senate and House of Representatives was that it is included in the bill. It just needs to it's just
a matter of whether or not it's actually going to get approved or not at the federal level. Um, in talking with him, nothing would happen until October or or November at the earliest for for passage of that.
Uh, Chief Schmidz is here uh looking at adding the position of sergeant. Uh this is anticipated to be a uh promotion from within and will not increase the number of officers and uh we'll work with David
Dr the the the pay scale that was recently uh approved. Uh discussion on department issued firearms. Uh this was discussed at a previous meeting. Uh the chief received
a quote of about $8,300 from Glock to um purchase firearms for the department. Um that invo or quote is included in the the budget packet. Chief, I don't know if you want to go
over this. Thank you, mayor, members of the council. So, so at the July 28th, 2025 budget meeting, uh discussion was made about going to department issued handguns. During the first week of August, I along with several officers met with a Glock
representative um out at the range and tested test fired approximately eight different Glock handguns with different sites. And after testing the different clocks, officer preferred the G47 MOSS 7 aim point
8 as an ACR P2. Um, and then included with that was basically a quote that I got from Glock for for that for nine handguns. So, I don't know if there's any
questions with that. Yeah, I got a question. Um, as far as holsters go, is this something that our officers could probably use are their uniform allowance? Is that has that been a conversation?
Um, it hasn't, but uh, I mean, it certainly could be. Okay. Yeah. I just want to get an idea on that, too, and get it in one fair shake if if we go this route. Yeah, I know. I can definitely
um reach out to the officers and see if they'd have an issue. I believe some of them already have a holster that would fit this type of firearm. Yeah. So, not everyone would need a new holster.
Yeah. I I guess I would Yeah. If you could take that back and and just kind of get a price point of of what it would be to um to fit them with whoever doesn't I think would probably be about 150.
Yeah. But yeah, I can double check into that. I don't think it's uh I don't think it's a bad idea to include it with this, you know. So then that way I'm sure the supplier also has them too. That's selling the firearm.
Yeah. So, that's all I had with that. Uh, Jim, you got anything? No. Scott? Oh, sorry. I just like the idea of the department issued firearms. Yeah.
So yeah, just let me know what you guys think about that and um if we can include it with this um or if they want to just take it out of their their um uniform allowance. Uniform allowance. Yeah.
Yeah. No, I can definitely bring that back to them. Okay. I have no problem with this. So thank you, Jason. Yep. furniture. Sure. Yeah. Okay.
And then two, part of uh for the 2026 budget. Um during the construction of the police department in 2021, the building was built for the future, which included office space for a sergeant and space for a second records receptionist. At the time of construction, there
wasn't a need to furnish those areas. uh with the approval of a sergeant's position for 2026. I worked with Hendrickson to provide a plan and quote to furnish a sergeant's office and then finish the records receptionist area. Those are the only two areas that were
not furnished during the construction. Um and then Hendrickson is the company that furnished the police department at that time. And then kind of included a quote that kind of shows what that furniture is and how that's going to look in that different space.
and then kind of a you know the breakdown of the cost for that. So and then with that I mean there's several options you know obviously one is not to approve the project um and then approve uh only the
sergeant's office and complete the records receptionist at a later date or you know approve the full project. So, and if it's just doing the sergeant's office kind of went through, broke it down. Um,
looking at probably right around that 6,500. Okay. The 7,000 somewhere around there. Okay. Um, Scott, do you have just on the furniture is I I don't remember what I mean, how is this for
style and compatibility to the other stuff? Is it look close enough? It's the same same stuff. Okay. Yeah. I wasn't sure if there was any changes that styles or anything that took place in five years. No, I and I'm sure they still had our plan on file, but I provided the our the
plan that we had when we initially went out for bid for the furniture. Okay. With them. So, all right, Curry. I think it's needed. I just wish it wasn't so expensive. No. And uh I kind of wish we would have
just completed it at the time of construction, but even at that time, I mean, we were seeing prices, you know, really go really starting to increase and we were like, "Oh, this isn't going to be good." And and now it's like, now I look at prices now, it's like, god dang, I know.
What did we do? It's just going to keep going up. And I think it's essential to have workspace and have it nice and organized so that you can be productive and get the job done. Yeah. Okay, Jamie,
I'm good. Um, so that additional space for the uh receptionist area. Mhm. Um, so we got Candace that would sit in the front and then would this help with
if we get the uh audio and visual um you know body cam, squad cams, is this potentially going to be used for another employee if we need to start redacting some things with that footage?
Um, yes, if it's needed. Um when I did uh the demo with Axon on the body cam, I mean they really advance that technology when it comes to redacting. It was they
kind of use that AI technology and uh it was pretty impressive and not as time consuming as what I thought it would be. Um cuz typically it's like watch the whole video, you know, make sure certain things, but I mean you can type in certain things like
computer screen. Anytime there's a computer screen that shows up, boom, it redacts it. Um or persons um redact their face, whatever. So yeah. So, is this um reception area
gonna come with another job potentially too or what's the intent behind? No, there is no at this time. No, but in the future there will be as our workload picks up um you know, we just get with more
requests, you know, with the county attorney for um sending information. um the uh data entering, you know, once that workbook picks up, you know, there will be a time that we will need to add another position or another
records receptionist to help out with that. So, when you retire, are you filling in part time? You can't. I just want to make sure this chair is comfortable for you. I'm okay with it. Um, but no, this the records receptionist
area isn't technically needed. Um, I just figured since I was doing um finishing or doing the the sergeant's office, I might as well see what that's what the cost is for that, too. Sure. And not only that, but now I have this
plan. So, if it is in the future, it's nothing to go back and have him do this. Yeah, I I can see the concern of it going to be more expensive like when we go to fill that position, too. So, um I'm on board. Definitely on
board with this. So, and maybe they would change the style so then it wouldn't match and you know, all that fun stuff. All right. I got nothing else I I want to add on this unless somebody else does. Uh other items in the police department
are proposing to seal the parking lot uh next year. And then professional services are just our memberships to um drug task force, things like that. Um access to uh programs through the BCA licenses and permits would be the camera
licensing and then uh capital outlay which we just talked about, body cameras and office furniture. And uh we did confirm that we would be able to use the uh forefeiture funds to uh purchase these these or help help uh
pay for for these items that we just talked about. So there's about $5,400 in in that fund. Okay. I do have a question about the fence that was supposed to be there um with Quick Trip coming in and
potentially another business next to it. I'd hate to see uh the police be used as a roundabout going down to the garage. I didn't get to see the drawings of what was proposed to be there. Um but I
remember the price point was significantly high. Um, but was that a perimeter fence or was that just an access fence? Uh, it was access gate on the I don't know where mid building or maybe to the
north a little bit, but then it fenced in the back the north parking lot. Okay. I'm kind of curious about just having um that gate access on the um road itself because
I kind of wonder if we put a fence up and then say 10 years from now we end up expanding on that police station then uh do we have to expand the the backend kind of parking area or
Um what uh the plan was for the building to uh go out to the west. Yeah. So in the future if there was any expansion, it would uh yeah go to the
west. So where that conference room is um that wall would get pushed out. So then where the conference is room is currently then we'd kind of add office spaces through there and possibly that conference room would just get shifted to the west a little bit.
Okay. As far as adding on to the garage space. Yeah. Um no I don't have any intentions I guess now or in the future to add on to garage space. Okay.
If we have so if we have to have a squad car or we get to a point where we have to have a squad car sit outside. I mean that's not the end of the world. Yeah. It's more for um basically those that are working
especially during the colder months of the year that they're able to pull in and you know help deise their car and you know they don't have to sit outside and run the whole time. So yeah, I kind of think the the access arm or gate,
whatever it is, I do see that being a need relatively soon uh versus the whole perimeter fence just so then that way cars aren't going down there and just turning around. Um,
but I would kind of like to see what that would be. Uh, what was proposed before and get a little bit more information and maybe not just playing, you know, this year, but maybe 27 for it, too. Yeah, we can definitely keep an eye on it to see, you know, Quick Trip is and,
you know, how that is impacting with cars coming down, trying to turn around and, you know, provide you an update on what that looks like. Yeah. Yeah, that would be great. I don't recall if the if the piping was put or there was something put in under
the pavement if they it was conduited. We might have put we might have put the conduit in. So that that dictates where the location was. I'm pretty sure we had that before the pavement went in. Mhm. So for the fence for the gate for the gate.
Yeah. that I think it was it was conduited all the way to the building so that they uh it was definitely under the the pavement so it wouldn't have to be pulled again. Yeah.
Cut out and repaved. Okay. Attached. Yeah, let's do that. Let's just monitor monitor how it goes and then kind of see what our options are uh next year. Um, oh, get some spike strips.
Yeah, there you go. There you go. Electric ones that just pop up. Even those those one-way things that they have in the parking ramps when you return your rental car, you know, don't back up. There'll be tire damage, but just actuator. Yeah. Wouldn't last in
this environment. You'd get a lot of business. Tire repairs. Yeah. No fixing that. I know. Thanks, Jason. Uh, continuing the uh recycling rebate,
we created this fund um for when we get reimbursed from Dick Sanitation for for recycling. Um, I guess I haven't seen the numbers for a month with the um recycling or the the cardboard recycling dumpsters gone from from Macintoons, but
I want to say the the first one that we received was like $500 $550. So, uh, little short of what they were estimating. So, hopefully, uh, it increases going forward.
Uh, the EDA has essentially three funds. the revolving loan fund, the small cities development re uh housing rehab grant and then the overall EDA uh revolving loan fund is essentially the repayment of the pet stop vet clinic revolving loan fund uh that'll be paid
off in October of next year. Uh then the only expenses to that would be any loans that are are provided. the small cities housing rehab grant and that runs through uh September of 26 and uh any revenues would just be reimbursements
that we submit for the state for a project cost incurred and then um in December we'll uh update the remaining balance to be spent in 26 and put that as the the the revenues that will be received and then obviously then the the
expenses as well. uh the EDA, they talked about their uh budget at their last meeting, talked about um providing funding to cover 50% of the overall city marketing. So, we'll have to add that to the other other
departments um to to cover that expense. So, that that will have to be added. Uh there was discussion about reestablishing the facade rehab deferred loan grant program. So, we'll be having more discussions uh next week at our EDA meeting on what
that looks like and um the amount of the uh deferred loans or or grants. Going back to the EDA as far as the marketing uh that they're doing and participating in, um I remember a conversation of
splitting it between council and EDA. Is that something we want to talk about now or before the meeting the EDA meeting? Uh yeah, that's what they um reviewing the minutes, that's what they motioned on to pay um $3,000.
So um basically I think the proposal this year was about $7,500. So we just have to look at um various departments and just fund it accordingly.
Now, is that um how's that getting split? Is that um what responsibilities are they taking and what are they forking over to the rest? Uh I believe theirs was more focused on
on the business aspect and you know if we were advertising our parks or something then then that would come from the the park fund. So, I know there's been discussions on, you know, what that program looks like. Um, I think there there needs to be
discussions on what what does the city want to see and u essentially create an RFP and send it out to to people and let them bid on it. Yeah. So, is that how we can move forward with
this, too? Since it's budgeting, can we just try to go out for RFPs since they want us to do half? Yep. Are they providing us with insights on what they're actually getting for hits and clicks? Mhm. Yep.
Don't count the five I had today on the restaurants cuz I was making sure everything was included. Yep. Um I could email email it out to the council because I'll be putting that packet together here this week and sending it out. So, and you said it was about 7,500 for the
year, correct? Okay. Uh based off of what uh what we're doing now. Okay. And that's just social media marketing. Yes. Okay. uh library um the library director
Margaret Moran I believe was at our last budget meeting um property taxes city's minimum level of support is just over $74,000 um looking at funding from Rice County and then fees and donations uh expenses
training and education uh professional services they're uh pretty similar throughout uh each of the departments copy beer rugs. Uh in this case, the city pays the villages proportionate for the uh electrical cost. We don't pay um steel wika
uh selco uh extinguishers and cleaning like I said utilities electrical is build by and paid to the villages dues and subscriptions just memberships magazines uh again archive social zoom uh gifts and donations that's what is
used to purchase programming supplies office furniture and equipment uh looking at um getting some type of storage bins or shelving for uh the storage of the science kits that they uh
received through grant funding. And then capital outlay has been consistent over the last few years, 11,000 for collection materials and then uh we lease the computers there through Celco, which is uh 3,000 a year. How many computers?
We had eight at one time. It might be six. Have they ever looked into just buying our own? Uh we we did previously. Um but just um software updates and they get old. It's kind of they're always
under warranty and All right. Kind of like a lease car, right? You always get the latest and greatest. Yeah. Uh debt service. All the debt service funds have uh been accounted for. I projected out the 25 year end fund
balances and allocated them uh proportionately over the the remaining years. Uh any fund balance in the debt service funds would be due to uh prepayment of special assessments and let's see uh two spec it's two two
specific debt services. the police facility. Um that would be $161,000 on our levy. Um as of July 31st, that fund had a fund balance of about 446,000 uh essentially due to selling land to
Quick Trip. So to keep the the levy down and kind of work our way into that um levy amount, I'm proposing to use the some of that fund balance to uh keep that at zero for for 26.
And then the city hall, I'm reducing that required amount by 150,000 and that's uh simply due to the sale uh or anticipated sale of the the old city hall. And again, you're looking at um
two years of of of reduced levy for for that project or that that service. So, with the potential sale of the old city hall, um what was the original payment for
city hall this year for the lease? Uh it was just interest. I believe it was like $90,000. So when I believe in 20 uh 26 it was like 190,000.
So when you say reduce by 150,000 what was the principal amount for city hall? funds. Uh 150 193. So
So that Yeah. Okay. Yep. So we're still levying some. So the the wholesale of old city hall would contribute to 150,000 for this city hall payment. And then what about
uh the remainder? What would that go to? Just the following year's debt service payment. Okay. All right. Okay. Uh as far as parks, uh I believe this was talked about at our last meeting as as well. A main revenues property tax
levy. uh we get the uh grant and aid uh from the state the DNR which is we're essentially pass through for the snow wizards to reimburse them for their cost of trail maintenance uh property um acquisition things like that. Uh LGA
refunds and reimbursements basically the compost site reimbursement from the county which is about $4500. uh cable and telephone franchise fees. Uh as we talked at the the last meeting, 26 will be the last year of our T-Mobile
um lease for the having their antennas on the water tower. Um this year that was $45,000. So um that'll be something that uh won't be available in in 27,
but they are going all the way through 26. Yep. Um, I had the the city attorney review it just to make sure that they complied with everything, hit their dates, and um, he was confident that it was 26 was the last year, and it was
actually um, I think 120% of the the prior year payment. So, okay. Well, hopefully my cell service doesn't Yeah. Did they remove it? Did they already remove it or No. Uh, not that I'm aware of because they'd have to get
up in the the water. They'd have to contact us to get access to the water tower and Okay. climb up. I believe was November 30th, I believe, was the date. Okay. Yeah, Joe, give them a pressure washer while they're up there.
I have pricing for to wash here. uh training and education uh safeure and tree school repairs and maintenance as just general items uh field paint and chalk. Uh landscaping materials would be uh flowers for uh Main Street and the
the welcome signs. Looking at replacing the the mulch in the flower beds and then uh every year we budget for tree replacement. uh professional services again consistent with the copier uh cents tech support uh RPZ testing and then uh
grinding of the uh brush pile at the compost site and um we had talked at that meeting about what to do and it was use utilize the camera and just a presence up there and and education.
Have we gotten any any movement on that camera situation? that uh Vercada has I don't know that Alex has been the most difficult guy to get a hold of. He's always in the meeting. Um
I know the police have had a larger presence there as of recently. Um they always kind of have we have been having a presence there. It's the weekend warriors that are killing us.
Um it is so SMSC is in Northfield right now. Once they're done with Northfield, then they will be coming here. Um so I guess once we get that pile out of there,
you know, it's really going to just be an effort from us and the police and the camera and just kind of word of mouth to just really hone it down. You know, these ash trees are just coming by the semi loads. So,
it's not going to stop anytime soon. No, it's not. Um, but then he's also got on here um for professional services, tree removal. um we budget money for that and those are the ones that are
leaning over somebody's house or dealing with power lines or something that we don't want to have to call the League of Minnesota City saying we owe somebody a new porch. So that's what those ones are for. Um the rentals next year will be our last
year with our portaotties. um again that they've been doing a fantastic job. So, you know, I guess if there's some drastic price increase, hopefully Peter will honor what we've had in the past and continue to be our
portaotty guy. And then equipment as far as uh edggers or stump grinders or just mostly skid loader attachment type of things.
So, um, and then I guess for for the grants, Joel talked about the snow wizards already. If you got more on that, Joel, or I don't know if you
Oh, that's just a that's just a grant and aid. It's a It's a wash. We're a pass through. Yeah, I have submitted some um ideas for grants for parks to Corey in the past like and we've talked about it a little bit. So hopefully we'll be able to get
those on here too. I've talked with Mayor Berg as well about the T-Mobile Hometown grant which I am on Bolton Banks on board with. It's a quarterly grant so get those on. We have two projects identified currently
that the park board has deemed priorities. So hopefully um we just get the funding to help us out. It's as simple as that. Um for recreation, we have the city cost participation for TCU summer wreck
program. Um and then equipment and capital outlay. Again, the veterans memorial was deemed the priority for projects for next year. um getting some more PA stones for people. There are only two available. Um so it' be nice to
have another option for that. Um the snow blower, we can scratch that cuz we purchase or got approval to purchase that this year. So that could come off of 26's budget. Um but the lawn mower is
still on there. So, okay. Yeah. Then as far as the Veterans Memorial, I think we budgeted 30,000 for for that project. Um, and I know at the staff level, we've talked about reaching out to local organizations for donations
towards that that project. Yeah. I got one more thing for the vest memorial so the council knows. Um, I did meet with Common Grounds about at the parkboard level. I'm not sure if we discussed it at the council level. For sure we did at the parkboard level. um
the planters and there is the um monument by the flags where the pa blocks are kind of separating out. Um so common grounds came out there. I met with Kevin. Um those block are hollow
core blocks. So it's just this isn't thousands and thousands of dollars. We're not going to reinvent the vets memorial park. It's going to be disassembled, reassembled. Um I told Joel I joke. Like I said, the guys aren't going to like me that day, but that's just part of the job. Um, so
that's what we're going to do. The only um cost that I anticipate is for that memorial by the flags of getting some sort of capstone to kind of anchor those block together and trying because holo
core block, they don't make a corner block. So that is the purpose. But I just wanted council to know that the 30,000 that was budgeted uh I believe just from Owaton to Granite Stone that was like 28,000.
So I don't anticipate thousands and thousands in in repairing. That's just going to be sweat equity into fixing that park up. So confident in that $30,000 number that we'll be able to achieve what we are
looking to do at that park. I think it's worth bringing up to the Lions Club and auxiliary, too. Yep. Mhm. I'm on it. Let's hope. You You just list all my organizations.
What other organizations are you on, Carrie? Let's list them off, too. Do you want them? You're a busy person. Yeah. I love it, though. It's what I'm born to do. Serve. Uh, as far as the water department, um
the the whack and sack accounts, uh, as of now, um, did account for, I guess it has to be approved, but apartment building and then, um, some new homes. Uh, general repairs and maintenance, uh, general with water mane brakes and then painting of some some fire hydrants. Uh,
professional services. Basically, this is just stuff that we contract out for. Um, again, the RPZ testing, the flow meter. Um, it was brought up before cleaning the water tower. We've got funds budgeted for that. Uh, engineering is the water tower
sighting study and then a portion of the updated capital improvement plan. Capital outlay. uh when we talked about the the water fund at a previous budget meeting talked about purchasing MXUS water meters and then um working towards
uh deadline of 27 I believe to be able to auto read uh accounted for all the debt service payments that are associated with our street projects that were for water main and services. uh not so good part uh projected deficit
of about 340,000 when accounting for depreciation. Um with that said that uh is not paid out. So looking at a deficit of about 90 $99,000. um
you know and and basically um what that's from is I think we had a hund uh basically almost $200,000 that we are gearing up for for our um auto read. So that's a a huge expense that um is is the main difference
between I I guess 20 and in 26 and it'll be there in 27 as well. Uh you guys have all seen this before uh with our comprehensive water study uh recommendations uh from 240 to 55 years
the booster station which uh we completed last year finished it up this year. The tower sighting storage study and then um uh utility rate study. We did not budget for that utility rate
study. 28 uh years 5 through 10, almost $5 million for a a second water tower that also included the uh a water main loop. Um talking at at the staff level and with with Bolton and Mink, it
they're going to kind of, you know, preliminarily cost them out both ways, but it's looking like uh Highway 19 is probably the the the least expensive um route to go. And we did um it'll be
on I think on the council meeting for Thursday night approving a resolution of support to submit a bonding request for for these two projects. Uh those are due October 17th. So uh once we get the resolution to support
I'll be able to uh upload those and just some other documents um from the the comp water study and submit that here uh next week. and then going out 10 to 15 years uh existing Howard rehab and then uh
treatment capacity expansion and then uh a new well and water man in 10 to 15 years. As far as sewer, uh the sack accounts for the same items, uh this the sewer
access charges, uh which is paid on a building permit. Um and those go to pay the the debt service on our uh water and sewer treatment plants. Chemicals include bugs for the uh aerration basins, professional services,
uh bioolids, anticipate hauling in the fall. And we did account for uh some expense if we did have to uh call someone and you know, in the case of an emergency or
whatever, have to haul it to um a different city's sewer plant. Sewer line cleaning and televising that's consistent uh throughout the last what have we been doing it five six years I would say uh electrical is
doubled bringing on that second pond uh capital outlay is increased uh to purchase a feric acid pump and air raators for the the second uh pond to be up and running do have a projected surplus of about 190,000 uh when
accounting for depreciation and then when not accounting for it because it's not paid out about 383,000. So, um and basically what that comes down to is is the wastewater treatment plant um was paid off here uh I believe
in 24. So, um and that was about 400,000 a year. Uh liquor, our manager, Lynette Mo, was at a recent meeting. Basically the the vast majority of our revenues are uh just sales of of goods some interest uh
expenses training and education at safeure chamber dinner MMBA conference uh required alcohol training that's an annual thing that we're required to provide our insurance company repairs and maintenance is just unexpected items our uh credit card
processing fees have been increasing quite substantially so we um talked to our provider and we're able to get some better rates. Uh in speaking with Lynette today, that went online on Friday.
So, we'll almost have a full month of to see what the the savings was. If I remember correctly, uh um in July, uh it could have been as much as $850. And that's obviously just going to be dependent on sales. So,
cost of goods, beer, liquor, wine, THC products, uh, infused beverages, and then we just base that off of historical data, uh, professional services. We've got security, pest control, uh, and then just the the standard ones, tech support, uh, synths, floor cleaning at
the the liquor store, dues and subscriptions is our annual membership to the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association, the chamber, archive social, and then just our software support for our point of sale donations. The liquor store pays
for the portaotties for community days. And as of now, there are no proposed capital expenses. And then association fees. This year we increased them to start to build up a reserve. So when something did have to happen, we we had
the funds. Um just given expenses and you know what we believe uh our margins can be to still be competitive. Um we did reduce that just to be what the what we anticipate the actual monthly costs to be. So any expenses would would uh
just come from reserves. Uh any questions on the enterprise funds? Kind of kind of went through them quick. Not really. Okay. Uh as far as road and bridge, uh the main thing is just street
maintenance. Um we are looking at increasing that substantially. uh increasing about 100,000 compared to um this year. Did include the southeast portion of town and what the uh pavement ratings for each of those respective
streets are. Looking at doing the GSB 888 for sealing the streets and then just the annual patching and uh crosswalk maintenance. Uh engineering would be a portion of the CIP and general.
And um based off of where we are in the budget process today, um we are running a deficit of about 273,000. I think uh looking at the numbers today, it's probably closer to to 250,000.
Obviously, we want that to be uh zero. Um, so I guess some of the options that we could do is use more of our debt service fund balance to reduce the reliance on uh property tax levy. Um, probably not the most popular thing. Um, less
mosquito control. Um, that has went up just substantially over the years compared to when uh when we originally started it. I think I've got like 50,000 budgeted for for next year. Uh we talked about it earlier using the
PD forfeiture funds to pay for uh some of the furniture. Uh less capital outlay expenses for all departments. Um just talked about street maintenance being up 100 grand over last year. Uh could reduce that. Uh or we could use a portion of our uh sewer department fund
balance to offset that. So and we're going off of this as if nothing gets done next year. So, no BGsby, no um
future business being worked out and correct. Yeah. Um so, I guess I That's a pretty large deficit. Yeah. Um well, at staff level, we can we can certainly get it to zero. I'm not I'm not worried about that.
Yeah. But it just what you know, right? When you guys are doing your job, what what priorities uh do we want to cut? You know, I would say we run a pretty pretty lean budget when it comes to our
expenses. Um there's it's it's definitely needs and and not wants. Y Okay. Uh otherwise, as far as the budget, that's all that that I had. I believe our next meeting is the 22nd.
Yeah. If if it's even needed, uh we'll be reviewing it at our uh September. Our last meeting is September. I don't want to give the wrong date. And then when is the preliminary levy
supposed to be due by to the county? Uh September 30th. So uh regardless, we'll have uh one more uh meeting to review it. Uh would be our September 25th council meeting. And then that would just get certified to to Rice
County the the following day. And then what is one percent on a tax levy equal out to be in dollar amount 32,000 I think the staff has done a great job talking about the needs and planning for
the future. At some point, it falls on us for having um basically stating, hey, this is kind of the highest mark that we should be going as far as uh taxing our businesses and residents and we should
really be taking a strong effort into recruiting business and recruiting for housing options. um you know, we can't just sit here and keep putting the burden on the residents so and the business owners. So, I I
really want to make that known is we really got to focus on economic development and it isn't just the mayor. It just isn't city staff, it's everybody. We're a team. So, um I really want that to be echoed with every single
advisory board. We're a team. So, um I think city staff's done a great job and this is just the uh truth. It's a big number for a deficit. So, and again, we've got no no problem getting
it to zero. Yeah. Yeah. But I I just don't think kicking the can down the road on some of these priorities is acceptable either. Yep. Then it'll just end up costing more down the road. Yep. if we don't take care of it now.
Well, um I'll go around the table. Uh K, you got anything you want to add? Nothing more than I've already said. Jamie, have we considered assessing the mill and overlays back to the property owners? Uh we had a we had a brief discussion
about it um when we were talking about it. Um, yes, that would that could be a possibility. I know it's going to suck, but it doesn't suck as much as the owners in town that had to pay for complete reconstructs at $15,000 a lot and the businesses were upwards of 60 to 80
$90,000. I think WSB's recommendation, I don't remember if it was a percentage, but the dollar amount seemed to be right around that 2500 to 3,000 per household. And everywhere does depending on the neighborhood or size of
project, you know, that it's going to change. It wasn't that partially to but we had to look at who was assessed previously too cuz if you were doing assessing for a mill overlay that you've already they've already been
assessed on. Wasn't there some argument about that? Uh well I mean legally to assess someone it just has to increase the value of their their property. Um but yes there was some discussion that we had started the mill and overlay uh and we haven't
assessed to this point. So you know is that fair that now we would be assessing I guess points to take into consideration is the way we've done our milling overlays up to this point at least in my tenure here at the city of
Lonsdale is it's a reactionary method. Um you know this prop what I have proposed for 26 is more of you know it's covering a neighborhood or thereof so I guess the project scope
is a little different um but Scott to your point about assessing people that have already been assessed I think um I don't know if you're going with um
our maintenance plan for people that have been assessed for the reconstructs cuz that is our priority when I sit down with Joel. You know, as far as street maintenance goes, all street maintenance is a priority, but if you've paid an assessment, you're on top of the list. We're going to keep our nice streets as
nice as we possibly can for as long as we can. Yeah. Yeah. I just there was that and then there was I there was that whole section u uh that we ended up not really doing a re recon. We just kind of uh patched it up that um
northeast third and fourth. Yeah. Yeah. That was uh you know that was the that argument was you know assessing for that again when they were assessed the first time. I don't remember all the details on that but there was that was a big portion of the the opposition
because they some people were assessed for because they had homes there before the roads were there. Oh, that was by the funeral home, I believe, on fourth at the end when fourth got extended. Okay. Down um
I can't think of the house numbers off the top of my head. North, but okay. Yeah, we got a lot of priorities in front of us. Joel, is there anything you want to add
on to this at all? No, I would just like to echo what Joel said. you know if the you know we have identified priorities um for the four departments I oversee and you know not not alone but you know if
if the number has to be zero that's with confidence that we can get the number down to zero. Um it's just it's it's just as simple as listing our priorities and what we absolutely cannot do without. So, all right.
Well, I got nothing else I want to add or or say, but I think maybe we should have that one last final budget meeting. Is there any information that the council would likes to have to provide
uh for that? Um, I guess my recommendation would be is um what what is it that we can dial back on? Um, just to have it there, have a conversation about it.
What it would take to get to zero, I guess. All right. and that number too. Um, is there a way that we could apply the sale of the old city hall to that principal
amount too? You could. Yeah. So, that would take it down 100,000, right? No, less than that, right? No, 100,000. 125. you know that or I mean even the even the quick trip as well,
you know, for for what the city paid for the 10 acres that we purchased, selling one lot previously, selling one to Quick Trip, uh obtaining the property for the new PD, and still having three acres to Yeah, I'd throw that on the table too
for more information. um kind of what we can play around with instead of looking at 20 27. I guess we we we should really have that last meeting just to fine-tune. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. And that's Monday the 22nd, correct? I believe so. We know the Vikings aren't playing that night, so we're good. Just kidding. Correct. Monday. Okay. All right. Thank you. Yeah.
Yes. Thank you. All right. On to new business. Consider approval of resolution 2025-38, a resolution approving a purchase agreement for the property located at 415 Central Street West. Joel Erikson,
city administrator. Thank you, mayor, members of the council. Um it wasn't too long ago that we went into close session to consider uh an offer for the sale for the purchase of um the old city hall. um did work with the uh broker on that to
uh come up with what the or not me but um relayed the city's counter to the broker and she worked with the uh potential buyers to uh submit the offer that was uh submitted to the the city.
Um, you know, this the city can go into close session to discuss it if they want or the council can. Um, I think based off of what the the offer is, um, it's going to be be my recommendation to to accept it. Um, so I don't know if it's
really necessary to go into close session. Um, but but we certainly can if you would like. How does everyone feel, Curry? I'm fine with just discussing it. I have Jamie. I'm fine with discussing it. Scott,
I agree. I pretty much mirrors what our or covers what we discussed any clos. So, okay. So, I guess um you know, a quick summary of the the proposed purchase agreement. It is the old city hall 415 Central Street West.
Uh purchase price offer of 275,000 uh 1% earnest money. Uh the city is to obtain the owner's title insurance policy. um as the way it's proposed um and given the the uh the offer city would pay the
uh commission buyer has the right to access the property for inspections. I believe they're going to be working on scheduling an inspection here right after the purchase agreement is signed. Looking at a closing date of on or before October 28th. Uh probably the the
biggest difference buyer is going to uh going through the process to obtain uh traditional financing. Closing costs would be uh split 50/50 based off of the industry standards. Um, I did receive a kind of a preliminary
settlement statement and um with commission and closing costs uh looking at netting around 265,000. Um, one of the conditions of the sale is currently that prop well it's owned by
the well both properties are owned by the city. So, it really didn't matter where that property line was. Um, but they are requesting and I knew this was going to happen regardless for anyone who was going to buy it. They wouldn't want to be up on the Highway 19 parking
lot, go down the stairs onto someone else's property, and then go down the ramp to access the the downstairs there. So, I had already worked with um WSB to to get the survey and everything wrapped up um to
uh basically extend the vast majority of that what would it be? south property line so that it would um be consistent with essentially the edge of the parking lot. Um did retain about 10 ft plus or well
it's not less than 10 ft at least 10 ft uh around the fire hall so we have complete access around around that building. Um some of the other things we did fix that north wall. Um so that is good. Just
worked with uh American Waterworks today. They wanted to uh start the process of or what whatever would require to transfer the warranty for that and um American Waterworks doesn't have a transferable warranty. It's just
associated with the property. So we don't have any any paperwork there. And um when they were cutting those holes in the sheetrock um there was some moisture uh found. So as actually over there with uh some public
works staff today um looking at what we can do minimally to to address that concern um as best that we can. U it it has been disclosed. So that's that's the main thing.
Uh by approving the proposed resolution, the council is agreeing to sell the parcel according to the proposed agreement and then uh authorizing the mayor and city administrator to execute the deed and other closing documents as necessary.
Unless there's any questions, I would recommend approval of resolution uh 2025-38. All right. Thank you, Joel. Jamie, you got anything? Nope. Scott, nothing. Sorry. No, just excited to have another
business in town. All right. Well, um, so they're going to get 15 foot from the bottom of the step towards the dental office or towards the street. Uh, correct. Yeah. From the parking lot
at the fire hall there. Now, is that going to be approved parking, too? say if they just pull up next to the stairs down below. Uh yeah, I guess I would be would treat it similar is to the dental office right
now, you know, they have what two or three staff that that park there. I I do know in in talking with them previously, uh that is something that they wanted. They wanted to be able to access that that ramp from the from the
parking lot. Okay. All right. Well, uh, I'll entertain a motion. Motion to approve. Motion by Vipka. Second. Second by Miller. Any further discussion? All in favor?
I. All opposed? Motion carries. All right. Well, thank you, city staff, for all your work, including you, Chief. [Laughter]
Um, if there's nothing else, I'll seek a motion to adjurnn. Motion. Second. Motion by Miller, second by Va. Any further discussion? All in favor? I I. All opposed. All right. We are now adjourned. Thank you.