[Music] Call this meeting to order. I'll rise 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. I think she Yep. Here she come. All right. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? So move. Second. All in favor
say I. I. Oppose. Motion is carried. There is an open forum if anybody wants to talk about any issues. Just make sure. Okay. Then there's consent agenda. Approval of the minutes, approve of the
bill's purchase order, uh approval of investments. There's one gambling resolution. Then there's a couple donations. Resolution number 2025-22. It's $1,000 from Landel Lakes uh foundation towards the Mars Fire Department. Resolution number
2025-23, donation of $1,000 from the American Legion Post 101 to the Chamber of Commerce for uh Riverfest celebration resolution number 2025-24. There is a donation of $150
from uh Lindsay Chimki for flowers, trees for the park and a cornhole bags and container at Sock River Park. Resolution number 2025-25, amount of thousand dollars from Jacqueline and Herman Mossman towards the Mau Fire Department. Then there's
resolution number 2025-26 donation of $2,000 from the Mau Lions to Mau's uh Chamber of Commerce towards the Riverfest celebration. Can I get a motion to approve? So move. I'll second it. All in favor say I. I.
Opposed. Abstain. Abstain. Motion is carried. All right. Um we're on to presentation so we don't have to keep these children here any longer than they have to. Um we have three state champions. We have two of them uh from
the speech team and one from the FFA. Um so how about if we start with uh the speech team because um I would like you to come up when we're done for the FFA and just tell us how you became a state champion for us. So, um, would you two like to come up to the podium and just
talk a little bit about what category you won? Sort of a little bit about your speech. We won't make you give it. Um, but I just just come and tell us a little bit about everything. So, if if you two can come up and then um
and Monica, you can come up too and follow behind them and can tell how you did it too. Okay. All right. So, my name is Logan Shod and I was the state speech champion in the creative expression category. Um, so
creative is where you write your own speech and I've been a storyteller um since my seventh grade year in speech. So, I've just been used to doing that my entire life. But about halfway through the season, my coaches wanted me to switch categories over to creative. and
my speech was about a football player who broke his back and then decided to join the fall musical, which is exactly what happened to me my senior year. Um, so I just got to kind of perform that with some fictional characters, added some funny bits to it, and then just kind of progressively got better as the
year went on, and then I ended up being the state champ. So, I guess it worked out. That is awesome. Uh my name is Esther Capsner and I won speech um in the category exemprinous reading which you don't have just have
one speech the whole season. The speech um for the state they choose a book and then you read cutings from that book and you get half an hour to prepare that before you perform. So I never just have one piece that I'm prepping and I work on all of them throughout the season.
Basically, I chose it so that I didn't have to write my own speech. Um, but you have to write all your intros and memorize them. And, uh, I guess I owe it to my coaches for like helping me hone specific things.
And then it got just more and more polished throughout the season and it paid off. Wonderful. Hi, I'm Monica Ferris and I was a state champion in the dairy evaluation CDE for FFA. And so this contest consists of six
placings classes where there are four individual cows in the class and you have to rank them from worst to best. And then two of those classes you have to defend your placing with kind of like a two-minute persuasive speech about why you placed the class that way and that
like you're trying to tell them that's the way it should be placed. Um, and so I have been dairy judging through 4 since fourth grade and um, and I've been judging through FFA on our
dairy evaluation team for two years and um, so I've been to a lot of different contests and there's a lot of behind the scenes and hours and farm visits and inclassroom work that has gone into
just being able to place at the top of over 200 kids. Really? That's wonderful. So, how intimidating is it when you're standing up there in front of all these people and they're counting down from
10th place to ninth place? Do you being able to speak in front of people? Is it still nerve-wracking for you? That is the worst part. Standing on stage waiting for your name to be called is the most
nerve-wracking out of all of it. I don't mind performing in front of people, but standing on stage like that is I hate it. Uh yeah, I'd have to agree with uh Esther. It's pretty intimidating, especially when there's like at state an auditorium full of people just kind of
staring at you and you have no clue if you're going to get the worst in the round or the best in the round. Um, but I'd say performing in front of people is kind of just you don't really think about who's in the room. You're just kind of being you. Um, but then it just
kind of translates to making talking in front of like a group of people like this just so much easier later on in life and then throughout school and everything else. What's easier, facing that crowd or 11 football players coming right at you?
Um, you know, it kind of depends on the day. Yeah. So, for FFA, there isn't a whole lot that I do like that the people get to see. They only end up seeing the results. Um, and so the biggest, like probably
most nerve-wracking part is finding out who makes it on stage. So that's when you find out the top three individuals and the top five teams. And so as a team, it's been our goal like the past few years to make top five. And so that's always like something exciting as
a team. And then the individual pieces are kind of bonuses. Um, and so for me, um, for me, like being top three on the stage, having been top three last year as well, I really just wanted to like improve from
where I was last year. So, as soon as like they were past third, I was like, we did it. We met that goal. So, awesome. Well, we have a couple certificates and and a a little gift uh from the city.
So, we just wonder if we can, you know, give them to you and just take a picture with with champions up here because to us, you're you're you're the stars and we're excited to see you all on a billboard come this summer. Um, so you guys are on Mr. Rough to get that done
in a hurry, right? Sure. So, yeah. So, if if if all of you have the console Yeah. So, if all of you want to come over here, we'll hand it to you and then we'll come and take a picture behind here and let you All right, we'll just take a quick
picture up here with you. We'll let you three be in the middle and we'll just stand off to the side. Got to surround them, you know. We don't want them to run off before the pictures are done. They make us look good, you know. So again, congratulations and very happy
for all of you. Oh, there we go. You're giving me the short one, didn't you? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Take care. Congratulations. See you. Take care. All right. It is 6:11. We have a public
hearing for um Some Like It Hot LLC DBAs. Some Like It Hot on sale Sunday on sale liquor license. Who will be talking about that? Sheila, we'll let you. Yeah, you'll be able to or
um Yeah, go ahead, Sheila. Okay. Sorry. That's right. Um so, tonight we have a liquor license request for Some Like It Hot. Um they will be opening a coffee shop, wine bar, deli, um in Riverside
Flats. And so, the owner is here to answer any questions that you have. and I be glad to have her come on up and tell you about her plan. Sounds good. Well, come on up, Shauna. Thanks, Sheila. Hi, I'm Shauna. I'm really excited to be a part of your
community. Um, I am opening up an establishment that will kind of offer a little bit of everything. I want it to be very community, familyfriendly. So, I've got breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We've got coffee, draft beer, cocktails,
and some fine wines. So, um, baked goods, soup, salad, sandwiches, flatbreads. Um, and if you guys have any requests, I'll try to meet that for you as well. All right. Do you have any questions? So, what is your
target date for opening? I really wanted to be open by June. Um, it looks like construction is not going to be ready by then, but maybe I'll be able to have enough of my equipment in there that I can do some of my preliminary things and
we can open very soon after that. So hopefully by mid June. Fingers crossed you guys. Is the menu mostly pub food or is it going to be like So it's all really fresh. There's no grill and no fryer.
So, I have a panini press to still make nice uh melt reubins and then I have cold deli sandwiches as well. Uh I will be doing a lot of my own sauces from scratch, as many as I can. Um just to
kind of add a little bit of a personal flare. And then I will have a couple of my own breads that I'll bake in house as well. Sounds delicious. Yeah, it sounds great. We're excited. Really excited. Is there anybody out that would like to
ask any questions? And the affidavit was printed in the paper. So give a few seconds if anybody want to say anything. Otherwise, it is 6:14. What we'll do is we'll take action
on it here in just uh just a little bit. All right. Uh, new business. Uh, Sarah Car Sarah Carlson from the Greater Melrose Community Foundation is here to talk to us a little bit. Welcome, Sarah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, mayor, council, staff, and members of
the community. Good evening. Thank you for the invitation to be with you this evening and share just a little bit about what we're up to. Um, I'm Sarah Carlson. I'm also a resident of Riverside Flats and I can hardly wait for my punch card to be ready for frequent purchasing. Um, so the Melrose
Area Community Foundation was established officially in the fall of 2024 and it was uh after a blue ribbon steering committee. Jolene was one of those members who helped vet out the need for a community foundation in our
community and tried on a number of different uh approaches to doing so. And it became clear that the best synergy for the community was to align with the sock center area community foundation which is 10 years old and is under the
wing of the Wilmer area community foundation and I am the executive director of all three of those entities. Um so the decision was made to go ahead and do that. We seated a local board, the Blue Ribbon Committee sourced folks
who they thought would have a community mindset, could understand the role of community- based philanthropy and would be able to uh kind of leave their own personal issues at the door and think about the greater community much like
you all do as well. Um, and so they identified 10 individuals and in your packets of materials, you're going to see a year at a glance that includes the current list of the board members. They also decided that the geography that we would focus on would mirror the Melrose
School District community. So, we mirror the same footprint as district 740. And um, our goal is to have board members that will come from every community inside the district. We are not there exactly yet. We are working very hard on
recruiting some members from New Munich, Meer Grove, Spring Hill area in particular. So if you uh have any leads for us, we will definitely take those. Sheila is a member of our board and I or she I'm sure would be happy to hear that. Um, but your community foundation
really exists to be a an intersection where community-minded people who have charitable intentions and resources to do good in the community match up with professional staff who can assist them to do that, but also then help funnel
resources to local nonprofits, faith communities, school districts, um, where charitable good can be carried out in our community. That is what a community foundation does. We are not like a typical nonprofit because we often hold assets in alignment with others. So it
could be a 501c3 organization that has a reserve fund, for example, and they're looking for some investment opportunities. We're really good at making money grow into more money. And so we often do that for uh their nonprofits or faith-based communities.
Um, we also can hold uh plan gifts for persons who want to leave a legacy in the community and they are not sure exactly what they want to do with it or maybe they are sure what they want to do with it and then we help them figure out how to do that. Currently, you'll notice
that we have four funds under the Greater Melrose Area Community Foundation. Um, and those are two donor advised funds which actually operate like a charitable checking account that those donors use for their purposes at their direction to eligible charities.
And then we have two what's called field of interest funds. And those funds are a prescribed use, but anyone in the community can gift into those funds as long as they are in support of the intended use.
um our board is um not the official fiduciary board here in greater Melrose, but they are in the lead. So they are the ones who are the experts on what those communities need and they are the ones who are dictating the direction for
mission, for investment, for granting, for partnerships. And we can't do the work. We have all of the infrastructure. We our staff are experts on how to do lots of things, but we are not experts on communities the way residents are.
And so we always look for those boards to be made up of people who can help really lead the way and chart the course for each community foundation. By bylaw, we can have up to 15 members and today we have 10. Our goal is over the next
two years to build in fully into that 15 member board so that we always have room for new community members especially from outside of the greater or the exact Melrose uh zip code to be involved in that work.
Um, other important things that are probably worth mentioning for you is that there are ways that the community foundation in sock center um has and in Wilmer have actually been touching your community here in Melrose for a while
and that those are also in the packet for you. Uh the S sock center area community foundation is the operational hub for the CEO program west CEO which is a youth entrepreneurship project for juniors and seniors here in the Melrose
Sock Center and Albany school district and we've been doing that since 2018 and a number of Melrose area businesses are part of investing into that program. Um, and those kids do some pretty astronomical things, uh, from starting
their very own businesses that are real life, real cash, real problem businesses, just like normal businesses on Main Street. Um, and we're really proud to be the hub of that program. The Wilmer Area Community Foundation hosts all of the Geno Turkey Store
scholarships and four are going into Melrose students this year, Melrose area students. And those scholarships range from $1,000 to $6,000 per student. And because Wilmer is the ho the home of Geneo Turkey Store, uh we were really
honored when they asked us to uh step in and handle their scholarship program and really pleased to see it impacting this community as well. Um, we again support donors who are from this area and we have we've had donors with funds out of
Melrose in our other community foundations for over a decade. And so this is just a really cool moment where community philanthropy often exists when it's just the right moment, the right people, the right moment, the right reason. And um I know that there have
been opportunities and conversations in the past about starting this here, but the moment wasn't right. And apparently 2024 was the exact right moment. So um we had a match, a challenge match grant given to
us by the Sock Center Area Community Foundation from an anonymous Melrose donor. and uh it was for $5,000 and they asked us to try and match it through the Greater Melrose Community Foundation Board and the Melrose Foundation Board said that's not a high enough match.
Let's see if we can get that a little higher. And so they set the bar at they wanted to raise $50,000 by December 31st, which is a tall order considering that decision wasn't made until mid October. So I, you know, I swallowed hard and said, "Okay, let's figure that
out." And true to form, the community rallied and we actually raised $70,000. And so the board decided they would celebrate that by making a set of inaugural spark plug grants of $1,000 to organizations inside our footprint that
they really felt were leading the way and doing innovative, collaborative, and important work. So we have granted the first $6,000 out. And as we speak, in fact, another opportunity is in front of our Greater Melrose Community Foundation board about a a grant that they might
like to make. And so, you can expect that you'll see that from us in the coming years that we'll be doing discretionary grant making um to organizations that matter in the community. uh while we grow our assets towards the idea of a formalized grant
round where we might be releasing larger assets um in a competitive way. That is typically how community foundations do their grant making once they grow to a certain size. But while we're at the size that we are at, um it'll be discretionary smaller spark plug style
grants for a little bit. But we also have the capacity to assist. And so sometimes there are larger needs in a community. For example, in Sock Center, we helped them. They had a design for an obstacle course challenge ninja style
playground, first one in greater Minnesota, and went ahead and helped be the conduit to raise nearly $400,000 to build that park. In Wilmer, they wanted a destination playground. And what started out as about a $650,000 project
ended up $1.2 $2 million and the largest destination playground that's fully accessible in western Minnesota. And so we have the capacity to assist with items like that. Um and we are now positioned with your partnership to
assist around a response fund that can help the next time the tornado hits. the response fund at the community foundation is ready to go and we can help um harness charitable assets to put them to work to help our neighbors. So,
we are very excited about that. We have been approached about having a conversation with the fire department. We understand there's a dream for a ladder truck and we'd like to have a conversation with you all about if there's a way that we can help you get across that finish line um using some of
the tools that are in our toolbox that we've used in other communities. So, um, with that, I will stand for any questions that you might have. No, it's exciting to go through this. I guess I was here when we had the 400 block fire and how the area came
together. Um, you know, with the funds that were donated and and it did go to good people that needed some help. And um so it's nice to have a true foundation in our community instead of you know on the fly one that we had to
do right away. So really excited to see what can come and what we can do for each other in our communities and our school district. So it'll be nice to try to bring us all a little closer together. So So yeah. Well, thank you so much Sarah for being here. Really
appreciate it. And I think you have all of our numbers and our email addresses if there's something. I do. and I will keep you in the loop, but we really just appreciate the faith that elected officials put in institutions like this. Um, trust is really important and everything in community happens at the
speed of trust. So, we appreciate yours. Thank you. Well, thank you for your time. Appreciate it. All right. Uh we're on to B of new business, summer hours. Yep. The streets park supervisor and city administrator met with ad hoc to discuss summer hours
for the streets parks department. The department is proposing summer hours of Monday through Thursday 9-hour work days and Friday halfday 4 hours. While ad hoc was supportive of summer hours, it would still need to be presented to both the PUC and the council for approval.
Um, in your packet there was a policy that talked about our work hours or core hours and then I also gave you information regarding what the current schedules are for all the various departments. Keep in mind that water wastewater and the line department are
under a union contract for ASME. They are governed by the PUC and the PUC met on Monday to look at summer hours for those departments within their union contract. Um, we'd probably have to put together a little
memorandum of understanding, but they also have on call folks and so they will always have somebody on a schedule of one week one week when they're on call that they will be eight hour days, 5 days a week.
So, um, again, there's, you know, the admin staff, we we do it here that four people work regular 8 to 4:30 shift 5 days a week, and then the following work week, it's four 9-hour days, 7 to 4:30 p.m., half hour lunch, and then 8 to
noon on Fridays. This alternates among the admin staff, so we always have staff here during regular office hours. Police department has to follow a rotating schedule of 8 to 12 hours, days and nights established by leases contract.
Administr uh the PUC supported uh the summer hours. Obviously, they govern the union side of it. Um administration support summer hours for the streets park department from uh Memorial Day to Labor Day.
And then um I also want to note that we certainly would support summer hours for the administration staff as well. Um but that's a separate issue from the summer hours for the streets park department. So I think if you want to discuss that, it needs to be a separate topic to
discuss. So I will open it up to any questions that the council or Mr. Mayor may have. Yeah. Um, like I said, the biggest thing I I'm I'm just dealing with the with the streets department. I
I'm okay with with that on Fridays, uh, you know, till noon. Um, but like I sort of mentioned to Andrew, only thing that I have a would only concern that I would have is if for some reason we have rain, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday, Friday are nice. I just don't want us to get backlogged on lawn cutting. So, that's the only thing I'd like um just just to get figured out. Um just just want to make sure that we don't get nothing left behind. Um I'm
okay with that. But um I think I I mentioned I I don't want to change anything with with up here because this building is a building of the people and I do believe that this building needs to be open, you know, till 4:30 every day,
Monday through Friday. Um for the taxpayers if they need something, they have a place to go in a building that's open. And so I would say what they're doing now where it's, you know, half on, half off, and it switches. I'm okay with leaving that as is, but I I don't want
to change any office hours. I want this building open till 4:30 for the taxpayers of Melrose. And that's my two cents. I would agree. So, the vote is only on the streets and parks, right? Or street department. Yeah, it would be the
streets administration clean. You said it was going to be a separate conversation if you want to have it. You don't have to. There's two separate issues. Obviously, the mayor just voiced what his is. We had talked about, you know, in the summer, is there a way we could work it out so they were able to
get an extra Friday somehow during the month and then we'd still have coverage. But I guess that would be my only clarification if you would leave that to the discretion of myself to be able to do that scheduling or if you are pretty um well set that you want it just
the way it is. Um I just want to make sure that this building is open to the people. I I will I will leave discretion to it, you know, and and if there is any issue, we'll come back to it right away. But if if if it works and and
everything's going, fine. But as long as it's open till 4:30 and there's people that are that can answer the questions of the taxpayer, I'm fine with it. Okay. So then these summer hours that are being requested, is this just going to be something that's going to be put
into the their agenda like all the time. We don't have to review this every spring. Correct. Yeah. I think it's just a one and done. It It'll be from here on out from Memorial Day to Labor Day, unless
there's issues. Okay. But if there's no issues, I don't expect it to come back. But like I said, the only thing is is if if there's a need or something, Andrew, um, as a leader, I want to make sure we get it done somehow or or if there's a way to do it. I'll leave it in your
hands and I think Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Cut you off. Go ahead. I just want to note that if you're going to do Memorial Day to Labor Day, that needs to apply to all outside staff. It doesn't it's not streets and parks that then water wastewater in line would follow that
same rule. So, just to keep it consistent, we can't do it. That's that's union. That's public utility site, right? But if theou you can write it such that it would be Memorial Day to Labor Day if you wanted to put that as anou in there. So certainly a discussion
point we can have with ask me union because I think that was the intent when the um PUC voted on it on Monday is that it would be summer hours but that all outside staff would have the same you know what I meanmorial day to Labor Day. Okay. Um, well, like I
said, didn't the wastewater, they've always had their own deal from 7:00 to 3:30 that's been going on for how long? Yep. And all of the outside staff right now have 7 to 3:30. Every single department works that way. Okay. So, Clean, if you felt like there
was an issue, is there any way to say that no, we're going to stop doing this or once it's approved, that's just the way it is. No, I I think I think that it's I think like anything if you look at the core hours and you look at um how the policy reads is it's at the discretion of you
know obviously administration and the council. So if there were an issue or there was anything going on, it would come back to you guys so you could revisit it. But I don't anticipate that happening. I think that um staff understands it and they were certainly um you know I'm sure they're going to
work very well in this type of situation. So, if we do what you're saying that it's from Memorial to Labor Day, then what happens here at city hall then? Nothing. You said that that doesn't matter. Yeah, that doesn't matter because we already keep the our
schedule's always been four on four off. The only thing I was saying is if uh if I could work it out for the summertime where they have extra, they would fall Memorial Day to Labor Day if we have the coverage. And that's something we have to take a serious look at because I don't know right now whether or not we
could do it. Yeah. No, but but the office hours would always be here and we're always we're always till 4:30. Yeah. No. Um but you were saying for outside like water, wastewater, and electric, we got to we got to tell the utilities we want it just for Memorial
Day to Labor Day. I I think I would say that you should I think it to be fair to everybody it should be the same. And that was and I can get that clarified, but my understanding at that meeting is that's what the I don't know, Patty, do you I don't remember, but I think that
was the intent. They agreed to summer hours. Yeah. I don't know if it was ever specified summer hours. I don't know if they ever said what days. What days, but I mean summer hours, but it is a discussion I've actually had with their um union rep. Yeah. So, she's aware of
it and I I think that they would be very amiable to that. Okay. And I would throw that at like me and the utilities commission. So yeah. Um so I guess I'm looking for
um motion. The motion. Motion. Motion. So move. Okay. We have first and second. All in favor say I. To approve the summer hours for the streets parks department. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Thank you. Yep. All right. All right. So, uh there is a first second on
fair say I. I oppose. And motion has been carried. We are on to reports. Police department report. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and council. Um for our April numbers in our traffic area, we had 21 citations, 82 verbal warnings, and two written warnings. Uh
this year we had 350 calls to request for service. Last year it was 236. So quite a jump in uh last month there. Uh we ended on ICR 1122 and last year was 1094. So we're up by about 114 calls which is um pretty favorable for this early in the year. Uh 15 agency assist
those continue to float in the right direction. Um few things to note. Uh graduation parade for the senior class. They did vote. I believe I mentioned it last month but uh just to remind the public May 30th around 8:00 it's when the commencement is completed and then some time to get everybody assembled. But, uh, the route that will be posted
on, um, social media through the school as well as our department, I would believe that it'll get shared with the city as well. Um, but it is going to be a very similar route to what we've had in the past because we don't have road construction get around anymore. So, it'll be um, either a good night to support our our seniors or a nice night to see a bunch of shiny flashy vehicles
that maybe don't see every day. Um, some other things, ordinances, ordinance violations, we did those most of April. We had 55 violations roughly so far. Um, some of those have expired. They're a 10-day window allowing them to get those squared away. I issued 13 citations
today and they'll go out tomorrow. They're administrative citations, $750 fines for each violation. There's one household that has two violations, so that's a $1,500 fine. Um, and then the remainders are the single violation, $750, which was the dollar amount agreed
upon by the uh fee schedule for this year. In that letter, it also gives them the option to set up a hearing, an administrative hearing with the council or resolve the issue within the time period given. Um there was in the past a reminder of five more days. Uh we're
skipping that reminder and then um seeing people can comply by the date given for the citation be either paid, hearing, scheduled or resolved. Ultimately, we want everything resolved to make uh make the neighborhoods look like they should
be as well as u make sure the neighbors are getting satisfactory lots next door to them as well. Uh a couple last things. Tomorrow is uh May 15th. Obviously, this won't be posted then or won't be running live, but that is police officer memorial day uh federally. Uh we wear our morning bad
bands across our badges for the week, but especially tomorrow, flags will be at half staff honoring all the uh law enforcement across the nation who have given their lives in the line of duty. Those numbers continue to fluctuate from year to year and we're hoping to get to zero someday, but uh we're going to make
those promises. And an update on squad car. I have a loose promise through email that it's end of May will be delivered. I still say parade, but uh even if it comes the end of me, that's going to make for a very tight tight window to make that. So, we will see how things play out, but uh the hopes are
always there and hopes are like dreams. Some come true and some don't. So, River, that's the goal. Any questions? I do want to say thank you, Craig. I did a I was bored one night. I did a ride along with one of your officers and what they see is
unbelievable. Um humanity is changing. So, a lot of patience that you police officers have. Thank you very much for all you do. I know we had a line of duty death probably close to 100 years ago. Um, people don't understand what law enforcement is going through nowadays.
So, on behalf of me and whoever, thank you for all all of you do. Appreciate it. One thing that uh just thought of as I was sitting up here, our um conditional hire graduated today uh sent me a text saying that uh potentially they can already schedule their licensing test
Friday or Monday, which means they test, they get the results the very same day. So we might have a late May, early June body in the car training hopefully by September on their own situation. So awesome. That's the
hope again. hopes and dreams. Well, I'll give you permission to go up there if you know what his test is and bring him a dilly bar before and after or something. So, appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Um, city attorney report.
Yeah, I I don't have any projects to report on this month, but I I do have to uh notify the council that um I'm going to be
retiring. Uh my last uh day will be June 30th. So, I've got this rest of this meeting and one more. Uh, I have sat down and tried to come up with some lists of names of attorneys
that do this work and I gave the mayor and city administrator a heads up so that they can start trying to find some find a replacement to take over these these jobs. If you find somebody before
June 3th, don't you won't hurt my feelings if uh bring them on for the next meeting. Uh and I and I miss it. So, but I thought, you know, I wanted to let you know that yeah,
that career is coming drawing to a close. So, thank you. I just want to wish you a long happy retirement, Scott. Thank you for everything you and Rachel have done for our community. Um Rachel served on some boards in Melrose and um
I'm really glad you're part of our community. Thank you for everything. We're not going anywhere. Um just not coming downtown to the office every day. So Well, good. Thank you. Thank you,
Sheila. Community development director. So, I do have an action item tonight following the April 28th planning and zoning meeting. Um, Colleen and I have kind of charted out the comprehensive plan. Our hope is that we bring the comprehensive plan to a close here. Our
goal is a public hearing before planning and zoning at their June meeting, therefore coming to you in July. Those are our goals and that's what we're working towards. Uh we want to invite everybody to check out the new improvements in the Soccer River Park. There are two new fishing peers. If you've seen them, they are very cool. Uh
the pickle ball court has been poured. Nets are on ready for people to come and play. The bathrooms on the pavilion are epoxied. Um Waterfest was held on May 8th, so if anyone drove by the park on May 8th and saw all the buses and the kids, those were all the fourth graders
from the neighboring communities. It was a really nice day to be in the park. It was dry. It was nice. Um, and so now we're ready for graduation parties and family reunions. So, we're excited about that. Matt has been having some good conversations about future projects and
supporting existing businesses. I was able to attend the Brownsfield conference in St. Cloud on April 24th and brought back some good information about redevelopment. Um, at that conference it was acknowledged that redeveloping existing sites is much more
challenging than building new onground. It just things just take longer. You have to be much more creative. The conversations just take longer. Um, and so we're going to start digging in and tackling some of those challenges here in our community on
redevelopment. And then related to Chief Mouse's, he is dealing with cleanup and nuisances. Our focus here in the office is fix up and rehab. And so we are making some efforts to reach out to property owners who could use some
siding, could use some insulation, could use some shingles, could use some windows. And so that's our focus here to kind of work hand inand with the nuisance. And that's our summer goals. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you,
Dave. City engineer report. All right, good evening. Quick update on all of our construction projects that are carryovers from last year. Uh Main Street is looking better uh after some efforts with some seating and uh quite a few walks up and down the road with the contractor myself. But that's that's a
good thing. A little bit of rain and some cooler weather and things will green up nice and then everybody's a lot happier when things are green. So, but again, I think we made some significant progress the last couple weeks here. So, things are heading the right direction. I'm sure it's not done. There's going to be spot repairs and that kind of thing
that always happened. But otherwise, most of that's good. Met with um Mr. Shiffler over at Mel Rose Bowl this uh this actually this late afternoon. Got a plan in front of him to form a little bit of an apron instead of the curb. So, the contractor is going to replace the
curb because it wasn't torn to spec at their cost and we're going to add some extra apron behind that. So, there'll be some additional cost, but we're within budget projects. problem notice really but Mr. Shiffer was on board with that approach. Uh so hopefully we can make him happy and get
his business functioning the way he wants it to. So I left the meeting thinking we had a plan. So I agree. You agree. Thanks. Thanks for coming Joe. I appreciate that too. So um Highlands couple bunches ended up there and then the work course.
Um otherwise Main Street will be paved after Memorial Day weekend. So make sure we don't hit a parade day or something like that, but otherwise it's going to be a one day mess come and gone. So 25 2025 street project is uh underway
pretty soon here. Um next couple weeks have a pre-construction conference. I'm going to schedule with the contractor and we were hoping that was going to be less obtrusive to the community, but with community or with the city center being involved, it's still not going to be easy. So, another summer of construction, hopefully a little less uh
impact on the res. Perfect. Questions? Oh, we should be good. Thank you. Thank you so much. Finance Director Neils to present general fund financial first quarter report.
Good evening. You guys should have received a packet with um a more in-depth report. So, I'm just going to go over a brief review of that for you. The city of Melro's 2025 general fund revenue and expenses have started off trending very similar to last year with
very little significant variances. As anticipated, revenues are low in the first quarter. This is due to the timing of when we receive local government aid and property tax distributions as these will be received later in the year. The city did receive a small one-time early
local government aid dispersement in March, equaling around 9% of the total LGA distributions we will be receiving this year. 100% of the budgeted liquor license revenues have been received and building permit revenue is down around
50% from this year last time. One notable difference from 2024 is an increase in the park, camper, and shelter fee revenue. Um we're receiving that early now because of our reservation system. So that's going to kind of be more evened out throughout
the year. Um general fund expenditures are in alignment with budgeted totals coming in around 4% lower than quarter 1 of 24. The largest expenses were a combination of wages and benefits and transfers out
to set aside funds. The city was showing an expect an expected net loss at the end of quarter 1 due to local government aid and property tax income not yet being received. This net loss will decrease in the second quarter when these are dispersed. Um the Mel's area development
authority funds these revenues are in alignment with budget. The first quarter transfers have been made from the general fund to help fund these activities. Expenses were very low in quarter 1, totaling only 4% of the annual expenditure budget for these
funds. The special revenue funds are fairly consistent with the prior year. Senior activity center fund expenditures are up by 48% from quarter 1, 2024, as there have been several donations made to the chamber and one to the arts council. Tririccap bus fund expenditures
have decreased by 50% from the prior year. Capital project fund revenues are consistent with quarter 1 2024. There's not much activity to report in these for quarter 1 other than transfers in of set
aides. Um the fire department fund revenues are higher in quarter 1 than prior years. This is due partly um we've received many generous donations from several um businesses and individuals in
2025 so far and expenditures for these funds are on target with the budget. The largest outputs were from miscellaneous operating expenses such as training and utilities for the fireh hall. Ambulance fund revenues have increased by 50% due to higher call
volumes including advanced life support calls. advent or expenditures are on track with 2025 budget and at an increase of 18% over quarter 1 2024. The debt service fund revenues and
expenses for quarter 1 are as as expected and as in other fund categories most of the tax revenue has yet to be received thus showing an overall low total revenues compared to budget in quarter 1. rental payments for ambulance and fire and small a small amount of
interest income have been received. Principal bond payments and half of the interest payments for 2025 have been made. Um for the cash investment summary, the city of Melrose's cash cash and investment balances were well funded
in quarter 1 2025. These are regularly monitored to ensure the city continues to hold a solid financial position with sufficient capital oper for operations and growth. Do you have any questions? Thank you very much.
All right. City administrator report. Obviously the clock ticking down. It appears that the Senate, the divided House, and Governor all, um, have very different plans for how they want to spend the budget this year. The House bill, um, House File 2437 was taken up
and passed out of the House Tax Committee, and it does include some changes to TIFF for greater Minnesota that would help in housing and redevelopment. And um I I'll talk about LGA in a moment, but the other thing I wanted to mention more utility related, but just something that you're need to be aware
of is MREs and other utility lobbyists continue to work on pulling the MPCA air dispersion modeling language out of the bills. Meanwhile, municipal cooperative utilities are also working to protect customers interest as a potential data center bill is being negotiated. So just
so you're aware of that. So the big issue right now is local government aid. So the Senate out of their uh tax committee has proposed a permanent cut to local
government aid. Um that would result in approximately 3.1% from Melrose. But the problem with this is there well there's many significant issues with this. One is during times of financial stress, the state should definitely
focus on fundamentals of government. LGA helps cities provide those services such as police, fire, and infrastructure. The LGA cut coupled with other challenges such as inflation, uncertainties unfolding at the federal level and the implementation of paid
family medical leave and unfunded state mandate will result in higher property taxes and lessen local government services. The LGA cuts are disproportionately weighted towards greater Minnesota cities. On a per capita basis, the cut is about $2 per
capita. In the metro, whereas in greater Minnesota, it is $5 per capita. While LGA is being cut, the homestead credit refund program, which primarily benefits metro homeowners, is being held harmless. Unlike LGA, the HCR is indexed
to inflation and has grown at an unsustainable rate. That simply is not something that's fair. So both the LO um League of Minnesota cities, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities is working very hard on this. It did move out of committee on May 9th. I do believe we are going to have a special
session. I think from a budgeting standpoint when we meet as staff, I think we kind of have to plan on some reduction in our local government aid when we go into the budget year for next year. So that's what I have at this time. Um on a more positive note,
um EMS week is next week and we're going to be celebrating that. That is for police, fire, and ambulance. And so we're going to have some little things for, you know, coloring sheets for kids up here and some tables and stuff. And then I know each of the departments
probably is doing different things. So just if you get a chance to thank a police, fire or ambulance person, uh next week they're being celebrated. So, I believe that is all I have um for now. Thank you, Colleen, for the research cuz
yeah, I've been following the state and it is so dysfunctional down there. And I hope the citizens of Melrose know we do everything we can to take care of you. Um keep the taxes to a minimum um and
try to serve the people. So, sad to see what's going on. you go from record surpluses to deficits now and there's nothing us small cities can do about it. So hopefully somebody can get people can get their act together and take care of
our state. So we are on the action items. So on sale Sunday on sale license some like it not um do you want to talk about that? Yeah. So, let me go here. The council to give
consideration to request from Some Like It Hot LLC doing business as Some Like Like It Hot for an on sale intoxicating liquor license and Sunday on sale intoxicating liquor license. AR background investigation by the Melrose Police
Department has been completed and no records have been found. Minnesota law requires cities to obtain proof that all licenses provide workers comp insurance for their employees. Also, the city must obtain licenses, social security numbers, and Minnesota
and federal tax ID numbers for the department of revenues use. These documents have been received. The city look the city clerk has received all the required documentation. the council to give consideration approving the liquor licenses as requested for Sunl Like It
Hot LLC doing business as Sunl Like It Hot. All right, unless there's any questions, can I get a motion to approve, please? So move. Second. All in favor say I. I oppose. Motion's carried. Congratulations. Glad you're part of our community.
Great. Great. Glad you're here. All right, we're on to a conditional use permit for Lamar Advertising. So, the Planning and Zoning Commission acting as the board of adjustment and appeals held a public hearing on April 28th for the purpose of consideration to the request
of Lamar Advertising for a conditional use permit. The conditional use permit would allow construction of a digital billboard. Um, the applicant is requesting to replace an existing board. So, this is on the Blue Door Storage property. It currently has an existing
board. Both sides are static, just printed boards. The request is to change one side to digital, one side remain static. Uh the planning memo and supporting documents for the public hearing were included in your packet. The planning and zoning commission is recommending to the council that the
conditional use permit be granted. conditions are including are included in their recommendation which will be ongoing particularly in this case because with the operation of a digital billboard there's going to be things we're going to need to keep monitoring in terms of glare and lighting and and
those things. So the action item we're requesting tonight is the council to consider approving the conditional use permit for Lamar advertising for a digital electronic billboard. The digital is the west facing side as you go toward Alec will be digital static as
you come towards. All right. Can I get a motion to approve? So move. Second. In favor say I. I motion's carried. 2025-2026 LMCIT property liability insurance
quote. the 202526 property and liability um insurance renewal was processed and the quote came back in the amount of $158,624. It is down 2% from last year. We did make a couple changes. We
increased the coverage for the city center building um to be in more in alignment with replacement cost and there all of the new things that have been added to the wastewater plant were also added. Um, the city's insurance coverage
has a $5,000 deductible, $15,000 aggregate. The city needs to decide whether or not to wave the statutory tort liability limit. In the past, the city has chosen option two, which is if the city waves the statutory tort limits
and does not purchase excess liability coverage, a single claimant could not could potentially recover up to $2 million on a single occurrence. The total which all claimants would be able to recover for a single occurrence to which the statutory tort limits apply
would also be limited to $2 million regardless of claimments. The council to give consideration approving the insurance quote of $158,624 to wave the monetary limits on municipal tort liability to keep the
deductible at $5,000 $15,000 aggregate and not purchase excess liability on equipment breakdown or coverage. Is there any questions? I know you're new, Mark. Did do you have any questions? Seems like 5,000 is very very low for deductible for a municipality,
but my house is like 1%. So that's like Yeah. considerable close to that already. Yeah. But there's a lot of little things that can happen too that you know, signs, different things. It's Yeah. Smaller equipment. Do we make a lot of insurance
claims as a city? No, not not too many. We made one when there was a fire at the um power plant. So there's an insurance claim on that. Okay. When it blew out those panels that had the fireball to that is normal like
5,000. I don't know. No, that's going to be way more than 5,000. But obviously that's just deductible, right? I mean, yeah, correct. All right. Can I get a motion to approve, please? So move. Second. All in favor say I. I. I. Oppos. Motion
carried. There is no old business. And then uhformational item is the utility commission meeting minutes. Unless there's any questions or concerns, can I get a motion to adjourn? I actually, Mr. Mayor, I'm sorry I should have brought this up before, but I would like the council to give consideration. Um, and
again, we have a couple months before you have to do this, but to possibly in July, but for sure one or two work sessions in August. um one's going to be budgeting and then another is going to be um a presentation regarding tiff. So
we um we may have to just look at depending on what happens especially the state legislature and depending what the feds do with the um lots of things. Uh we may have to have a couple meetings in August. So I just want you guys to be
aware of that. Do you think we're going to have to have a meeting in June especially if LGA gets killed? Perhaps we might have to look at a work session. Yep. The other thing that we're really watching on the federal level is the um the cuts to energy assistance, which
affects a lot of people, and Medicaid. So, we'll see what happens because Medicaid is a significant um amount of our ambulance. Stay tuned. For sure. Looking for a motion to adjurnn. So,
move. Second. All in favor say I. I. Oppos. Motion to adjourn. [Music]