I'm not even looking. >> I can't do it. >> I couldn't keep up. Just let it go. >> All right. It is 6:30. We'll call the Monday, June 8th, 2026 city of mayor city council meeting to order. If you could please join me in the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge algiance 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. And with that, do we have any
additions to the agenda tonight? >> Uh, no additions tonight, mayor. >> Hearing none, I'll look for a motion to approve the agenda as presented. >> Motion. >> Second. >> We have a motion, a second. All in favor say I. I oppose. Same sign. Motion carries 5. And with that, we will move
to public comments. If there's anyone who would like to discuss anything not on the agenda, please come forward. Seeing none, we'll close public comments and move to consent agenda. Is there anything on the consent agenda that needs to be pulled for further discussion?
Hearing none, I'll look for a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Motion second. >> We have a motion, a second. All in favor say I. I. Post. Same sign. Motion carries. 50. And with that, we will move to uh consider adoption of resolution
authorizing the cable franchise application process pursuant to Minnesota statutes chapter 238 and setting a public hearing date. So, with that, Nick, if you'd like to uh uh introduce our guests from Comcast.
>> Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to introduce Robert and Megan, representatives from Comcast. Uh they had approached us in April about bringing a cable TV and internet service to the city of mayor. Uh they had just minted a franchise agreement with the city of Waconia and
they are looking to uh as I mentioned build out a network here to bring service. So, we began talks with them. We had internal staff uh meetings uh with Comcast and we've been working through that. But as part of this in order to grant a franchise agreement for cable television, that's not necessarily for the internet side. We don't deal
with that. That's regulated elsewhere. We just deal with the cable TV side of things. That is handled by Minnesota statutes 238 for how that process takes place. So uh nor cable franchise agreements are done by ordinance, but 238 prescribes a bit of a lengthier
process for us to go through by state statute. So before we get to that though, I'll invite uh Megan or Robert to come up. They have a presentation they'd like to give to the city council on services offered and what the construction might look like.
>> Perfect. Thank you. Welcome. >> All right. Uh thank you so much, Mayor Dodge. Uh city council members, good evening. Thanks so much for the opportunity to be here tonight. Uh my name is Robert Freeman. I'm director of government affairs for Comcast in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I'm also joined by my colleague Megan Sheay who's the
other director of government affairs and uh she is here because I'm only four months onto the job and so if we have any difficult questions uh she's going to help me out and uh we both office uh 45 minutes away in St. Paul. Uh we really appreciate the chance to be here in in May and walk through who we are um
what we're proposing and how we approach working with cities. Comcast has been around for more than 60 years. We've built our business around long-term investment and local partnerships. Our goal here is simple. Want to be part of the mayor community and not just a provider operating in it. Uh in case you're wondering, I'm from England
originally. Um so I'll just move to the next slide here. So uh at a high level, we're a technology and connectivity company serving residents, businesses, and the public sector. Um through Xfinity and Comcast business, we provide broadband, mobile, and video services.
As uh Nick said, um what matters most for the cities is that we continue to invest in our network. So it keeps improving over time. We want speeds to increase. We want reliability to improve. We want new technology that we can layer in uh without having to rebuild from scratch. And for the city, this is about having infrastructure that
will continue to evolve along with the needs of your residents and businesses. So, we'll go to the next uh previous slide. Uh one up this one. Yeah, thanks. Um so, I'll keep this brief. This slide provides some context on kind of our national footprint. We're, you know,
consistently invested in expanding and upgrading our network over time. That ongoing investment is what allows us to continue to deliver reliable service and continue improving performance. If you go to the Minnesota slide, the next slide, um, as you know, we already have
a significant presence uh, in Minnesota and um, we serve over a million homes and businesses here in the state. We have a large statewide network. We've invested over a billion dollars in the last few years. Um we think that reflects long-term commitment to the state and to
the communities we serve and for city of mayor that means you're not starting from scratch. You're joining a network that already exists is uh very reliable um is supported locally and continues to expand. So just to kind of get down to the nuts and bolts a bit, this slide kind of
shows how we approach building in communities. Um, we like to break the process down into kind of three phases to think about it. So, pre-construction, construction, and connection. Before construction, we'll work closely with the city, uh, utilities, and other stakeholders to make sure we're aligned on routes, permits, timing.
Um, during construction, we make sure we focus on minimizing disruption, maintaining safe work areas, being responsible to your concerns, and and making sure that we're doing a good job communicating with residents. And then once construction's finished, obviously residents, businesses gain access to services, which is where the long-term
value for the city comes in. And the most important piece, I said, is communication. So we stay pretty closely coordinated with city staff. Um, they have our number and their email. Uh, we have an email address that's dedicated as well for questions from residents if they have issues. Um, and then if you
move to the next slide, you can see some examples. And we have some examples here I can hand out later to. Um, but during construction, we'll alert residents to activity through things like yard signs if that's something the city allows. Usually, we have door hangers as well and other notifications. Um, we totally get that construction can impact daily
routines. So, we'll make sure that people know what to expect when the work's happening. Um, and make sure that we're connecting with city staff so we know if there's any dates where we shouldn't be doing anything like the mayor festival, which we are uh heard about before. Um, we want to make sure communication is clear. We want to make
sure that we're being consistent and we want to make sure we're keeping projects moving along smoothly. So, I'll just close with this last slide. U again, here's our contact info. Um, you know, the approach isn't just building infrastructure. We want to be part of the community long term. We're already
looking at ways to be involved locally, including working on a sponsorship with Mayor Rising Festival. Um, which is a great example of how we want to support the community and get our name out there as well. Make sure people know that we're here and we're um and our services are available. uh we want to be a partner to your city or to your residents or your businesses and we're
very grateful for your time tonight. So if you have any questions uh Megan or I are happy to answer them. >> Perfect. Thank you. Any questions? We'll open it up if anyone has anything. >> So you said it's just the cable side of things right now or everything cable and
internet. >> Uh well we offer cable uh wireless broadband fiber and um and then mobile services too. So if people want to sign up for like cell phone through comcast too. >> Okay. So you'd have all the services but we have to go through the
um state statue for the cable part, >> right? Okay. So then >> um so we had a previous company. So do they put lines like on top of like how does that work with is it fiber internet? >> Yes. >> So we'll have two fiber internet options
in town. How does that work like with the infrastructure that's already there? How do you work around that? >> So with any construction that happens this or otherwise they'll have to call in locates which will identify where the existing utilities are already laid and then they will have to find space within
that existing rightway to additionally lay their cable beside it, under it, however it may fit in there. >> Okay? Because right now the current provider has these boxes and yards. >> So would there be possibly another box
like that in people's rightways? Possibly. >> Uh like I'm talking about. >> Yes. And that's where when we get to more of the construction phase, that's where we may dictate, no, we want to see these you see styles where it's buried underneath the ground rather than a pedestal sitting above.
>> Yeah. These are like underground, but there's an access point. >> Yep. >> I just wouldn't want if it was in my yard like two of those because that's where the junction points are. >> And that's common. Nobody wants a fire hydrant. Nobody wants a structure in their boulevard.
>> But that the point of a boulevard is to house that type of >> right >> infrastructure. >> No, I understand that. But like if they already have one, >> that could be something we ask of Comcast. Like if they already have like I don't have one but if like my neighbor
has my neighbor has one I think that'd be kind of mean to be like you have to have another one now. Does I mean that makes sense like >> so >> yeah go ahead. >> I'll kind of >> I'm just I'm coming from a resident standpoint. >> I get it. Similarly, so in the area that
I live in, I I live on a corner, so I have like three or four, right? And and I actually live in a space where Comcast doesn't provide, but you know, I've got one for one provider, one for the other. We do. So those sometimes happen because those are >> obvious access points, right? On a
corner, on a entering a neighborhood or some of those types of things. But we do try to work really closely with the city as to what aesthetically you like. Is it a vault? Is it a ped? What makes sense? Sometimes falls tend to flood and freeze in Minnesota. So sometimes it's helpful to have a pedestal. It's easier to
access to fix to to address issues. And then where they get located and sometimes we and a lot of times we work with the homeowner themselves. They're like, "Ah, can you just move it like a foot this way or a foot that way?" >> Yeah. it. So that's why we want to make sure we're as communicative as possible with meetings with the city public works
with your city administrator and then also um having phone numbers that the homeowner can call so if they are worried or seeing something marked that they have questions about that you can contact our business partner as well as email us directly and that'll come to
Robert or I so we'll know what's happening in the city. So it is inconvenient. It is hard sometimes. or some of those things, but we try to address them as much as possible. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> So, does Comcast do the installation or does it get subbed out to a a
contractor? >> It will be a contractor, a business partner who specializes in building. So, similar to what we're doing like in a Waconia or um other >> is it a contractor you can use quite often or not just some Joe ball street
to take care of mayor? Okay. And I find that 90% of our issues can be addressed with communication because, you know, nothing goes perfectly, but as soon as we know, we're then able to to address it. Which is why we want to make sure you've got Robert's phone number, you've got, you know, all those types of things
because things do pop up. Something might happen unexpectedly or or something's not going just the way we planned and um we want to know about them so we can address them right away. >> And I assume you'll once you're done, you'll be connecting homes throughout the entire year. I assume in the winter
where you might have to put the cable on top >> of the ground to connect the house. Are you what's your kind of time frame or how how quick do you get back to get those buried for the residents? >> So, we will once everything's connected and people can start signing up for
service. Um you can do drops um and bury them underground up until November sometime, right? Depending on when the ground freezes and then they'll lay on top. Um, and then by the first week in June, we usually try to make sure everything >> Okay. >> gets put back underground. But that that's across our footprint. So we have
thousands that we do in the springtime. >> Right. Right. Okay. >> What's your timeline for here if everything goes as a plan? Like you'd start construction is your plan is like in the fall with completion probably taking a year because you've got
different neighborhoods that you're doing. >> Yeah. I think um you know like assuming like everything goes well with the city and permitting process so we'd like to be done by like next spring but like you know obviously like things can come up too. So we don't want to like guarantee like a time until we like know you know
what what what hurdles there might be but you know we feel pretty confident working with the city that we can get it done as efficiently as we can >> and we will be connecting to the the plant that we're building out of Laconia. So some >> Okay. I was wondering where where is it coming from and are you coming down like 30 or 34? I don't know that the plans
have been done yet. We'll make sure to meet with public works and make sure that they are aware and folks um as we complete that walk out and full design. >> So will it be available for like all of mayor or just like certain like zones?
>> So the plan is to build out the usually when we come in and ask for a cable franchise we're asking to build the city. >> Okay. Now, different neighborhoods might be turned on at different times as we continue. >> Okay. >> I mean, I do like that now people have
two different fiber option lines for internet or I mean, and cable is different. That's probably not as prevalent anymore as it has been in the past. >> You know, it's so funny because different communities you find different
products are really, really popular. But once you lay the fiber in the ground, you have access to all of our products. Good. >> Yeah, we're big believers in competition to keep prices down. So, >> and I know when Robert and his team were out last time,
you know, there's a lot of conversation. You know, obviously for the right reasons, you want to get in and get out as as soon as you can to, you know, so we're not under construction for two years. It seems to me, and I know we talked about this a little bit, our public works is just three people,
right? you know, it's going to be hard for locates and maybe that becomes a timing thing. If if we run into that and it's not meeting yours, is there thoughts of maybe you would contract that out to get someone in and do locates where we wouldn't do that or what's your
>> we in a variety of ways depending on what they're comfortable with and what the needs are. So, if if we're moving at a pace and think that we can supplement it, we'll we'll work with the city on Okay. that might look like. >> Yeah. Yeah. because it'd be hard for us
to commit a person for the entire day doing locate locates, right? And lose a third of our staff for that. So, I'm glad there's >> We'll get into those details for sure. >> Yeah. Yeah. Good. >> And I know I think part of that discussion, too, was sometimes we can lay the conduit and then we'll pull the
fiber later, right? So, we'll try to take advantage of everything we can do. >> Oh, sure. Sure. And then lastly for me, um, not so much going from the right away into to each individual home, but just
laying the the perimeter and laying all the what's your restoration? I mean, are you are you quick on the restoration? How do you do it? Is it hydro seed if you have to or what what typically are you doing for restoration? And then where do you wash your hands and say, "Now the homeowner, what typically have
you done?" Oh gosh, that's a great question. Um, some of it we we work with you on, right? Like what makes the most sense for yours. In some cities, there's very specific restoration requirements. Sometimes they're asking us to lay sod, at times it doesn't make sense to lay sad. Hydro seed sometimes takes better.
Um, we are always our goal is to always meet the expectation of the homeowner, right? And and to be in very short order after we're there. Um, so we'll we'll work with the city on what work looks best, works best. You know, you can't lay seed at certain times of the year.
You don't want to lay sod at certain times of the year, right? >> You know, those types of things. Sometimes a hydro seed with a hay >> is really what's going to take. >> Good. >> We we'll want to make sure. And I will say that that's a lot of the the comments that we get from residents is,
"Hey, you're just through or hey, there's a you've opened up, you know, some space there." It's a it's a multi-step process. We want to be in and out as quickly as possible and we want restoration to be a short follow. Um so if something is sitting longer than it should, we want to hear about it. >> Good.
>> Oh, I appreciate that. And and like I said, I think the communication is going to be the biggest piece of this and we've learned some lessons from our the previous one and >> and are trying to, you know, get ahead of some of those things as that was new to us as a community. So, I I think the communication part is is the biggest
piece. >> And I think that's been my experience, too. When I come in um after a town has maybe had somebody else come through, >> it's like we it's hard to find somebody. That's why we want to be as accessible as possible. >> Yeah. Perfect. No. Good. Good. Thank
you. Any other questions? >> Nick, do you have anything you want to ask? >> Uh just a couple extra notes. uh bring up proposed uh what the anticipated timeline would be for this. So tonight uh we have Comcast here. They're requesting the franchise
agreement. So according to statute 238, what we have to do is it's an open process for applications. Um when the statute was written, it was how it works now is very different from how the statute was written then. This has to solicit an open process. So if there are
other companies who want to bring in a cable franchise as well, they are invited to do so and that's the structure of it. So we have to actually solicit that. So it's got to be published two weeks in the newspaper and then we have to hold that application period open for 20 days and then after
that okay >> we can begin the process of adopting the order. And so the franchise agreement is done by ordinance ultimately. uh we have to have a public hearing as part of that and um so the schedule there uh uh fits those timelines. This is the quickest
schedule that we could have on it barring having a special council meeting to try to quicken it, but I don't see the need to do that. So tonight we have June 8th, the 12th through the uh the 2nd. That's going to be that 20-day period and posting on July 13th. Uh in
the resolution you have in the packet, that's when it sets the public hearing for that. So, we'd have the public hearing and then afterwards it would introduce the ordinance as we do for all of our ordinances. We'd publish it then on our website for public review and then at the following meeting on July
17th, as long as all things are aligning well, then we would adopt the franchise agreement by ordinance. Uh, on the staff side of things, uh, Tim Sullivan and I have been working with Comcast back and forth on drafts. Part of this statute also says that if you have an existing
franchise agreement, it has to be similar in nature as far as benefit goes to both. So the Jaguar franchise agreement really sets the template and the stage for how we negotiate with Comcast. We can't give them more or less
favorable conditions than we have for Jaguar on a a number of issues. So Tim, the city attorney, has been reviewing that. We have most of it knocked out. uh we're pretty much in final draft format. So when we get closer to these dates, then we'll be introducing the ordinance, what the changes have been, what they're
proposing, and we can go through it at that point. >> Perfect. Thank you. Anything else? >> Nope. >> And this is obviously nothing new to you for a timeline, right? Yeah. What you probably expected.
So perfect. Any last words? Anything else you want to say before? >> Really grateful for your time this evening. Thanks on behalf of Megan and I and for Comcast and we're we're excited to come to your community. So, thank you. >> Perfect. I appreciate you guys coming in, both of you coming in. It's nice to meet you, Megan. Good to see you again, Robert. And we look forward to getting
together um as we move forward with your team and and working with our public works and and moving forward with this. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Man. >> Thank you both. I appreciate it. >> All right. So with that, so we need to uh adopt the resolution. Correct.
>> Correct. >> Do you have the number by chance? I don't have it in front of me. >> Resolution 2026-4. >> All right. I'll look for a motion to approve adopt resolution authorizing cable the cable franchise application
process pursuant to Minnesota statute chapter 238 setting public hearing dates. Uh resolution 2026-4. >> Motion second. >> Motion. >> Motion and a second. Any further discussion?
>> Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I. Post same sign. >> Motion carries 5-0. Thank you. >> All right. With that, we will move to uh approval of agreement for uh municipal website services.
Thank you, mayor. Uh we have about uh two pieces of legislation and a third uh factor the we're coming to the end date of our current contract for our website services. Um so two pieces of legislation that are driving some of
this as well. Uh Minnesota uh chapter 111 and uh federal DOJ title 2. Uh for the Minnesota end of things, this requires a migration to a.gov gov domain domain by June 1st, 2026, unless you already have your.gov domain, then you
get an extra timeline on that for implementation. So, we as city staff, we applied for our.gov domain handful of months ago. We've received it. Everything is in order. So, now that we've got that, our deadline gets pushed back on that. But then we also have the
ADA requirements as well. Our current website is from a 2021 design and is not ADA compliant according to law. Even though we have till 28 to and uh 27 and 28 to do some of this stuff when now that we coming to the end of our contract with our current provider, now
is the time to really take a look at it if we're going to make a switch because we're in prime position to do so. So, we took a look around our area to see what uh website services other cities were using. And the two that we found the most prevalent was Catalyst, our current
provider, and then Civic Plus. Uh we scheduled demonstrations with both of those to look at the front end, how it would look and the updated on the uh viewing side and then also see what they had on the backend side as far as design flexibility and those types of elements.
And after we got done looking at both of those, uh, we, uh, we talked and that the back end and even the front end of what we're looking at was better on the Civic Plus side than what we currently had or would get with Catalyst. There was just better functionality. The way
you could design the website was a bit more fluid and flexible to give it a bit more flare to it. Um, nothing against Catalyst, but it was very, it was like designing a Word document on the back end. uh not as good as uh we were hoping. Uh when we're looking at our
traffic to our website, we noticed about a third of the visitors used the calendar. They take a look at that. A third go to our more document center, city council, parks, planning commission, city code, stuff like that. And then the rest was a mix of other things. So another driving factor when
we saw that was well what are the calendar services like? Again, Civic Plus, much more user friendly, much more uh welldesigned than the Catalyst counterpart. Uh we got pricing from both of those. Um over a 4-year period,
Catalyst came to $20,280.72, whereas Civic Plus was $20,95243. The big change between those two was the $850 setup charge that came with Civic Plus because it would if we were to do move to them, it would be going to them. there would be a setup whereas Catalyst is existing there wouldn't be a setup
charge for that. Um otherwise they're relatively close. Uh Catalyst had uh a yearly inflator of 6% while Civic Plus had a yearly inflator of 5% on their pricing for their packages. Um recommendation from city staff is to go
ahead and recommend switching to Civic Plus. So we'll continue this catalyst until we got everything ready to go with Civic Plus. We'll move everything to the.gov gov domain with that email addresses address addresses will change with that as well. I've been working with Jimmy Brand, our IT staff. He's very well aware of this migration. So,
he's going to have everything ready to go on that end as well. We're currently paying about a little over $3,600 per year. So, this represents about a,000 or a little more uh increase than what we're doing now, but it brings us into compliance with everything. And I think
we're getting a better product overall if we're uh we choose to go with Civic Plus. So with that, any questions I can field from the city council? >> Any questions? >> Apparently not. Then I'll look for a motion
uh to go with the recommendation of Civic Plus for the amount of $20,95243. >> Motion second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Now, will this make it a little I don't know if easier is the right word, but >> user friendly.
>> Yeah. Well, I mean, for us to upload our own images instead of stock photos and and images of around the community or the splash pad or the water tower, whatever it may be. >> Yes, I'd say both those websites had those capability. You could upload those
types of images, but I think with Civic Plus, there's more flexibility in how those get shown on the website. >> Good. >> Where they can get placed in and amongst other content. >> Yep. I'm hoping we can focus on some of that and get it, you know, make it more of a mayor versus some of those stock
images that we have. You know, we kind of have a mix of both and it just doesn't flow real real great, I don't think. >> And that's something we're going to definitely take a look at as we build the new site is that >> there are things that are very antiquated about the way the old site is
set up. And this gives us a chance to redesign and restructure. So, it's not just taking that and then into the new format. It's like starting fresh. Let's realign this to function better. >> That's wonderful. So, any other comments? So, with that, thank you um
Nick and staff for for digging into this and and coming with a good recommendation. I appreciate that. >> Um hearing nothing else, all in favor say I. >> I. Both same sign. Motion carries 5. And that will take us to a quote for Storm
Pond Sonars. Thank you, Mayor. uh year and a half ago, well about two years ago or so, um we had brought up the project of having our pond sonar. We have a storm water maintenance uh policy
that says that if the capacity uh dips below 50% capacity, then we should be looking at dredging efforts. And it's a fantastic policy to have, but the next question was how do we know when we hit that 50% capacity? And at the time we talked about having a company come in to
do a sonar of the ponds to give us a look at what the uh current sediment levels are. We worked with that company and the idea was that last fall they were going to come in and start doing some work. We have a we got a price for it as well. Approved it. Uh we had uh
city staff had met with property owners to gain access to some of these ponds, get that all cleared up. Um and then the company then told us that well our workload changed so we're not able to get at it. They were still going to do some and then they came back and said we're not going to be able to do any of
them. It's like well okay then said we'll be back this spring to do that. Well, they came back this spring and they re-evaluated it and they uh uh mentioned that the scope of it wasn't what they thought they w was, which was interesting to me since we went all over
that all over all of that and uh that they had under quote the project and they wouldn't be able to do unless they were to be able to renegotiate that. So, uh at that point, I had had enough after a year and a half of this back and forth and trying to get
this going. Um so at the time when we originally approved it Bolton M does have a service for doing these baometric surveys uh we elected to go with team lab because they seem to have uh good process and the price was a bit lower than having Bolton and Mink do it. Um
now that we are have experienced what that meant uh looking to have Bolton and M do that work. What that involves is Boulderm Bank will go out. They're proposing to do roughly a third of the ponds uh for the initial phase and not all the
ponds uh will need to get done. If you look on the map that was included, we have 45 ponds, but uh there's a a share of these which are really wetlands. And we would not do bometric surveys on wetlands because we wouldn't dredge wetlands. Uh we would do those on the
true storm construct uh truly constructed storm ponds which hold retention waters and roughly uh by looking at it uh we probably ax out maybe 12 13 of those that are wetlands versus actual storm ponds. Um that would be a part of what we're looking at doing
and then carving that up uh to take care of those. Um, we had also I had Josel just talked with Phil this morning about perhaps we don't have to do every single one right away of those remaining. If we had ponds that were constructed in a similar time frame
around similar years, you maybe do one of those to get an idea of what the others in the area might also be. And then maybe, you know, five years later when we come back to do another survey to see how those had uh filled up over the last five years, you do one of the other ponds to get a a reading on that.
this will help price control and spread it out over time on things of that nature. Um, so we had propos they had proposed to do that work. Uh, I talked with Mike here uh this morning about it a bit more and we had a very good discussion about this and some of the
things that we had brought up with de uh doing a more of a not a true delineation but delineating between wetlands and storm ponds that still needs yet to be done. and then reducing the scope of work to do a sampling rather than a full uh survey here uh here that we're
talking about. Uh the recommendation Mike and I are thinking of is we would like to send this back down to the public works committee, do a little bit more work on it and polish it up before we bring it back up for a true uh uh approval from city council. That way we
can get a better map on it, delineate that more and get a a better scope of work and a pricing on that. >> Yeah. And and do a nice revisit to it. Like I said, it was a year and a half, two years ago when we were first working on this whole thing and and the plan was
to do every one of them, get a good baseline. Obviously, pricing has changed and that. So, we want to get a better plan, not a better maybe some more options for us to look at and kind of uh vet through some of this data again. uh make sure we're bringing a good
recommendation up. Um because as we've talked one, you know, this is just one piece of it. Once we get in, if we find some that are over the 50% and we have to start dredging, I mean, we're we're talking we're getting into a lot of money then um to start repair and getting these back to where they need to
be some, you know, $50,000, $100,000 it could easily be. Um, so we want to make sure we have a good plan and we're getting what we need together cuz this is this is going to be the cheaper part of the project if if we run into um
where they've really filled up. So, Phil, do you have anything you want to add um from your end? >> No, I I think you you nailed all it on the head. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I think it makes sense for Bolton and Mink to do this now. And I'm glad we kind of took that direction
on it. Now, they help design all these. They they really have a lot of input on it. They have a lot of the data on. So, it really makes sense as they're going through it. A lot of it's right there at their office, too. So, I think it's going to be beneficial. >> Yeah. We've got all the record, >> right?
>> Yep. So, I think that'll be good. So, any other questions on that? um and comments or concerns if we do take this back to uh public works and and vet through this. Um >> I think it needs be re relooked at.
>> I think it's worth doing that. So >> with that, do we need a motion to take or just table it or can we just t table? >> I think we just table. Yes, >> we just table it. So we'll just table this then and and there'll be more to come here in the future. >> Perfect. Thank you. Um with that, we'll
move to city council reports. Council member Halt, anything to report on? >> Um, had a personnel committee meeting just ongoing union negotiation. >> Council member Fouch, >> I do not have anything.
>> Council member Jackson >> meeting tomorrow. >> And you had a previous one. You must have had one after our last meeting or No, >> it was very very short. It was before it. Yeah, cuz we did um clean up on the
trail >> and I think we only discussed one itty bitty thing. So, >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. Uh, Council McNeely. >> Nope. >> And I only had the same meeting that Chad was in. We had our initial uh sit with the union and the collective
bargaining unit. Um, I think it went really well. They're great to work with. um we've met um the new person who'll be taking over for the city of mayor. So that was nice to um put an uh name to a face and we just want to get a little more we're
getting a little more information on some of the other communities and cities and we just need to vet our our data to their data and where it was coming from. So Nick had a meeting with them uh last Thursday to kind of get a good idea where they were coming from. So we'll be meeting again uh before too long. We're
get waiting on a couple other communities for some of their information. So, more to come on that. Go ahead, Nick. >> Uh yeah, one item I just bring up. Uh Wednesday this week, uh the splash pad will be closed for the day. Uh the fencing uh contractor will be coming in
and putting that up. I met with them this afternoon to go over final spots with them. So, we should be all good to go and then benches for the splash pad should be arriving tomorrow. So, should all come together on Wednesday. >> Perfect. Thank you. All right, with that then I'll look for
a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion second. >> We have a motion second. All in favor say I. >> I post same sign. We are adjourned. Thank you. And with that we will anyone needs a break uh then we'll move right into the
workshop and call that to order and start with discussion on trails and sidewalks uh plan. >> Uh thank you mayor. This is something we wanted to bring back up because I don't think we ever had really final definitive answers on what we wanted to
do with this portion of the project. So, uh we had done a sidewalk and trail uh implementation plan and that has been out and we identified areas namely in Cold Water Crossing and in Hidden Creek. Those are the areas marked down here
where we have existing trail that is in need of replacement. And one of the options we looked at uh right now we currently have a six-foot asphalt trail and option A was a 5-ft sidewalk of concrete or option B was an 8ft trail of
asphalt. We had gone back and forth on the pros and cons. Uh concrete while more expensive upfront tends to last about 50 years whereas asphalt is a cheaper price but you'll get about 20 25 years out of it with maintenance. So um
this got brought about because Bolton Mink was were talking to me about having us go for a safe routes to school grant. Uh I was talking about that with Mike and the safe routes to school grant would be more targeted at some of the newer additions we're looking at here.
four one in this area and then um as we got talking he's like no the priority from city council like those areas would be good over time however the existing trails are where we really need to focus in on that's where we got on the topic of did we really choose asphalt versus
concrete so wanted to bring it back up to city council to make sure we get definitive guidance on that >> Phil favorite conversation, right? >> I wasn't here when it was discussed, so I'm about to join in on the fun. >> Well, I think fun for you guys.
>> And Phil, if you have anything to add, feel free to jump in or >> Yeah. I'll I'll see how the conversation gets steered. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And as we know, we've been kind of, you know, obviously our trails need to get >> they need repair and we've been kind of kicking the can down the road a little
bit partly for some of this discussion. I mean, there's a a significant cost difference between them, but again, you know, concrete, you're not uh seal coating and doing and get more out of it. So, and everything's going to concrete now. So, do we want to match up
with the other stuff? So, >> like field stone is all concrete. It's very nice. It's clean. >> Yeah. Um, now even if we redid the asphalt, there are several driveways that are
do those have to be repaired if you do concrete or asphalt. Not repaired, but like >> level >> level, you know, because it all because it has to be ADA compliant, >> right? So any project you really do on a trail
segment, you really need to clean up through the driveway. >> So it doesn't matter if it's an asphalt or a concrete that we do, we're cleaning it up. So technically, we need to go ADA approved and some of these areas may need additional work because
they're not ADA approved. Now, >> correct. And you can do I don't know if that was your question. You can do it in asphalt or concrete, >> right? But either either way, we have to do it. If we're going to be redoing these trails, >> you I would highly suggest that you open yourself up to
lawsuits later on. >> Well, that's what I don't want. But >> yeah, so highly recommend doing it if you're in there just touching the trail. >> And do we have a good map? And I because we had so many discussions. I
thought, didn't we walk the trails and get a good idea of where our worst where the >> Yes, there are. We've done that a couple times, I feel. >> Correct. >> Yep. Greg and I went through and did that. Um, >> and there were multiple segments where there's a lot of cracking. a lot of has
been crack filled, but then you're getting expansion of joints once again and they're getting to the point where they're separating so much that crack filling of for another time. It's a band-aid on what really needs to happen out there.
>> Didn't see a ton of heaving, disjointedness in elevation. Some, but less than I was expecting. Greg and I went out and we rolled it. Um, but there's just a lot of crack, a lot of cracks, wide cracks in there. That tends to be the issue with a
lot of that. And they're getting to be so wide that >> crack filling those. >> It's not It's not everywhere. It's just some key spots are really bad. >> Where it's they're trip hazard, especially like coming into
cold water, >> the first entrance. That section's bad. But that's also I think due to like trees and roots like what's happening, you know, >> or by cases. >> Yeah. That's happening by Casey's. >> Mhm.
>> Um and then there's a couple other spots on the other side of Cold Water that the route I walk is pretty >> uh it's not great. >> Nope. And either whichever option we go with asphalt
concrete we only go up to driveway stop then carry on go and then carry on again right we skip all driveways. >> No we would go through driveway that's where the >> that's what she was just talking about. >> Well and also there's um some elevation like
>> there's some changes. Some will just be probably simple, but others >> like the you're walking like this on the trail, like on their driveway because it's not flat. >> And I missed that part. I thought you were just talking about those kinds of things versus how how it looks. Okay.
>> Oh, yeah. So if you do concrete, you you'd be ripping up driveways and >> and when you go through the concrete ones, it gets it can add up really quick because you're >> if it is that not ADA compliant and you're walking on a slope this then you have to change that elevation has to
change. So you got to catch it closer up to the driveway, you know, so you're just extending those limits to make sure you're not making a jump into their garage. Well, that part starts changing things.
>> Yeah, it sounds like asphalt's a much better for both. >> But but concrete, you know, it's more expensive than the asphalt is. That's why I'm saying it sort of kind of snowballs really quick because if you have to increase the limits, >> that concrete just really adds up
quickly. >> Well, and going from is going from six foot to five foot. >> Yeah. You got to fill that in, right? that a huge >> I don't even think some of our sidewalks are I don't know what I they might not even be six foot.
>> I think the city standard is five >> city standard. So in your field stone uh the new additions of cold water and the newer additions of Hidden Creek that have gone in those are five foot concrete sidewalks are in those areas where we have the existing trail. Is it
a true six foot? Probably not anymore because you've had fill in and overgrowth that happens over time. So they're probably that five and a half, five and three/4ers. >> Okay. I'm just wondering if it was like going to be a big, you know, if we did go with concrete, if dropping a foot off is going to be a big
>> But that's another good point. The new part of Hidden Creek is all concrete. >> Yep. >> Yeah. Aesthetically, aesthetically concrete's the way to go, >> right? >> Because then >> Well, and long term and you can just chunk out sections and
replace it fairly. I like our guys could almost mix a bucket of cement and fill in a section of concrete. >> You don't deal with cracking nearly as badly over time. And like you said, if there's a bad panel, you cut, cut, pop her out and replace it.
>> Yeah. >> You don't have to do seal coating, >> right? I'm leaning more towards concrete even though it's >> if we're going to do it right, I think we do concrete. So this >> but we really have to prioritize the sections. >> Yes.
>> I was just going to say >> I would say to your point we got to understand if there's any street recons coming too because why just do a standalone project if you have this bigger >> project. I don't think any really are up for a recon anytime soon. But it's just
>> we want to be smart about it. Right. We've got I think it's some sections of cold water that in 2030 will be up for a mill and overlay. We're not in reconstruction area for quite some time, but a milling overlay >> and you could package it with that.
You'll get economy of scale with the general contractor can rip it out pretty quick and then the concrete guy comes in and does that. So, it's something to think about when you're um >> doing everything around >> because in some of those areas you're going to be pulling up curb >> Yep. around storm sewers are just ones
that have busted up and you're going to be replacing that anyway. So, you're going to have concrete contractors as part of the project regardless. Now, you're just adding more flat work. >> Correct. >> Which for a concrete company, flat work is going to be the easy part. >> Oh, yeah. >> Well,
I feel like we kind of have to pick an area and like where we feel is the worst and then like that's where we start. >> Mhm. And we have to get a figure out a estimate of what it's going to cost for that section and looking at the
driveways and the slope. And >> and I think the other thing was I wanted what was our ordinance like for paying? I I'm against charging homeowners 50%. >> We did change that. Okay. The previous special assessment policy, I think, uh,
slated 25 or 50% of sidewalk reconstruction towards the abuing property owner. >> I don't want to do that. >> And we did change that. So, it's 100% city cost. >> Yeah. Because everybody's using it and not everybody has a sidewalk, >> right? >> And so, how is it fair if you just
happen to buy a home with a sidewalk, >> but everybody's using it? Because a lot of our streets only have a sidewalk on one side >> or only half the neighborhood. or have the neighbor. >> Yeah, cuz we don't even have it on. >> And we did talk about like adding new segments like one was like Birch and I
think we did like a like we did some sort of thing and it was like nope, we're not doing that. We're not. >> Birch said no. >> Correct. A lot of the homeowners like I don't Rocky M. >> I would love to have a sidewalk there. I think that there was a big miss when the neighborhoods were built on where there
were no sidewalks. >> But I don't I just want to redo what we already have, which you can still get around every street safely. >> And that was kind of our conversation is we got to replace the ones we have
versus going out and doing new and carrying on. We gota >> Yep. >> We can't forget about what we have. >> Agreed. >> That's being repaired. Go ahead, Phil. So as far as the maintenance is it on the pro for the ones that are asphalt is it the property owner city doesn't go and plow the ones
>> no if I had I would prefer it to be concrete versus the asphalt >> especially with the age and how it deteriorates running a shovel on there isn't always the funnest but that's one thing to consider the maintenance aspect in the winter.
>> Yeah. I think from a finance standpoint, uh, just to recap on that, we used to be we used to put money into the public works building project. When that completed, we reallocated those funds for trails and sidewalks. So, we have 125,000 we've been allotting since 2024.
So, we're in our third year of that. We had a little excess there that we dumped in there. Y >> um, so how this can work into the future. So, we have the funds building up in there. The idea being we're looking for grants, applying for grants to help do for the reconstruction
portion of this. Um, if we could f we can still do projects with the fund balance, hit the worst of the worst while still applying for grants. But what this can turn into into the future is if we do happen to get a grant, and it's going to be millions of dollars to do all of it,
um, we can convert this CIP into a debt service payment. So we can take, you know, maybe leave a little bit in there just for the future, but we can take a great chunk of that instead of 125, maybe it'sund 110 and turn that into a debt service
payment that can go towards the other half of that match or 80 whatever the match has to be that we have to put towards it if we don't have that built up enough already. And that way we're not really having a detriment to the levy. It's trading it
out. Now that we've got it, we we're going to go it's going to get replaced. Swapping that out for that potential option in there. But until we get that grant, we will have money that we're keep putting in and that can go towards reconstructing
those worst the worst segments. >> But I would like I mean I feel like we have been talking about this for like three years. what we have, >> you know, like when we started putting money aside knowing this is a project, but some of the worst of the worst is
getting pretty bad. And I just I just a safety thing, you know, like if you're walking when it's dark, you know, and it's a it's asphalt. Like you don't see these, you know, I'm I'm very impressed with how we've maintained our streets and sidewalks, but I feel like our sidewalks
now are on that back end of needing help. >> Agree. Agreed. So, I don't know if we walk it. You and Greg walk. So, I think you have to just maybe find sections that
need it >> the worst and then start looking at like I don't even know how you go and look at the driveways and figure out like what needs to be done and >> yeah, you to get a survey and sort of make sure you can get you know how every
a 3D model of it so then you can see how it ties in. And then do you work directly with those homeowners where cuz not every home will have an issue, but I already know there's a couple. >> Mhm. >> There's definitely going to be some that
are going to have some changes. >> Yeah, we just did this uh in a different community and we have to just send out letters and, you know, have a community discussion with them and, you know, a lot of them we we were able to take to the rightway and not go on private
property, but then they said, "Well, my driveway is asphalt. That's a piece of garbage. Let's can we just sort of kind of wheel pitch in and then you know we can get the whole driveway done at that point. So it's a benefit. It can be a benefit. >> Okay. So you can work with homeowners if
and say okay well the concrete company's already here. Here's your part. How does that bill out? Did they just >> Yeah, it gets a little sloppy on on city staff side on how we >> code it and everything like that.
>> But I mean it is an option. It is if somebody does need to replace their driveway and wants to make that >> change. >> Correct. >> It's doable. >> Yeah. Because when we did four street, people did larger sections, smaller sections. >> Yeah. Pretty consistent. I think what
we've done in the past with homeowners on big construction like that. Yeah, if they can benefit from it, why not? >> So, we agree concrete. >> I I I think that's what we should do. And some of you might not have seen numbers. We did have some comparison numbers at one
point and there it's >> it is >> it's a big difference. >> Oh, yeah. >> In what it is. So, if you want any other information for now, reach out to Nick or Phil. We can get whatever. Um I I think maybe we bring this to our next public works and have start having some of these discussions
>> on it long as we're going to have to meet anyways on the so sonar. >> So now question just one more question. We're strictly talking sidewalks here not trails going to come. >> Correct. >> Right. >> There's a time and place for a trail. Right. And and there's time for a
sidewalk. >> Right. Right. But no, the main discussion is sidewalks. If it turns into a trail, a butts right up where some sidewalks are and we want to throw it. I mean, well, but the intent is sidewalks for now is the main intent of it. >> Got it. >> Yep.
>> But no, not going through and doing all our trails through parks or anything like that. No. >> Okay. I was going to say because that's a good >> Maybe line up the ones that are entrances and exits out of the developments and those, you know, might throw some of, but you know, parks are not in there trailwise is not the intent
now. Um, so yeah, we can start having some discussion, but I think concrete's the way to go now and until we get some numbers together and >> just changes everything. >> Well, yeah, cuz like the new part of
Hidden Creek is concrete. I think that part of >> cold water that back end that's concrete. So I mean and then it's such a such a difference between the old part and the cold water and the new part. See that's all
>> you can see in the seventh edition here it switched to concrete. You can see and then in the eighth edition >> it's concrete. >> So I mean I I think that answers the question >> 100% >> already is it's I mean concrete is
>> we made the decision somewhere to switch it over use. We need to go back then. And >> and here's where it switched in Hidden Creek. >> Yeah. >> On the south side. >> Yeah. >> And see a lot of these. >> And then they just put in concrete driveways, which I think looks so much
nicer, too, for all those. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. I wouldn't mind a concrete driveway. I don't want a sidewalk, but >> All right. Anything else on that? >> Nope. Good. Phil, you got anything else you want to add or?
>> No, Nick. >> Nope. I'm good. >> Seems like we have some direction and we'll take it public works and >> Sounds good. >> Spend some money. >> Well, we've been looking. >> We've been starting to save for it. >> Yeah. So, like I said, it's been at
least three years and and it is getting that point. We got to make a decision. >> Yeah, it's fine. So, >> with that, we'll adjourn the workshop. Thank you everyone. Have a great night.