All right. Good evening everyone. I am Mayor Shelley Carlson. Morid City Council welcomes public input on issues listed on the agenda or of general community interest, time and council permitting. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. If you would like to address the council during the meeting,
please fill out a form provided by the city clerk and we will call you up during the citizens to address the council item on the agenda. You'll need to state your name and if you are a Morhead resident. If comments were submitted to the clerk prior to the meeting via email or phone, those comments will be entered into the
record. For more information on participation, please visit the council meetings page on the city of Morhead website at moreheadm.gov. We the Morid City Council collectively and with gratitude acknowledge the sacred land the city of Morid's built upon. We acknowledge the people resided here for generations and recognize that
the spirit of the Dakota Ojiway Mati and all indigenous communities permeate this land. Um could I get a roll call please? >> Ryan Nelson >> here. >> Nicole Matson >> here. >> Heather Nissmeer here. Emily Moore >> here. >> Deb White >> here.
>> Lisa Borggan >> here. >> Sebastian McDougall >> here. Chuck Hendrickson >> here. >> Mayor Shelley Carlson >> here. And for those who are able, please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance of the United States of America and to
the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with. >> All right. and city manager Molly. Do we have any agenda amendments? >> Yes, mayor. We have a amendment to remove item 16D from the consent agenda
and a request under new business to add an item on local response to immigration control and enforcement. >> Okay, with that new agenda, do I have a motion to approve the um agenda with the amendment stated by city manager Molly?
>> So move Nissa Meyer. >> Second more. Any discussion? Seeing none, uh, roll call vote, please. >> Hendrickson, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Morgan, >> yes.
>> White, >> yes. >> Moore, >> yes. Nissmeer, >> yes. >> Matson, >> yes. >> Nelson, >> I. >> Right. Um, and that motion carries. Um, moving on to the consent agenda. I have a motion to approve the consent agenda. So, move Nissa Meyer.
>> Second. Borggan >> discussion. Seeing none. Uh, roll call vote, please. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. >> White, >> yes. >> Moore, >> yes. Borggan, >> yes. >> Hendrickson, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> hi. >> Matson,
>> yes. >> Nelson, >> yes. >> And I know that we have a lot of people here attending tonight's uh meeting. So, just so you're aware, the the rules in the state of Minnesota when everybody is not present, um you have to do a roll call vote instead of just having
everybody say I and things like that. So, it's just going to take a little bit longer tonight. Um moving on to recognitions and presentations. The first is our more heart recognition and I will turn this over to Miss Lisa Vodie. >> Thank you, Mayor Carlson. Good evening,
members of the city council. I'm here to um share information about our Morheart recipient that we're honoring tonight. Um we're the MHART selection committee unanimously chose to recognize Austin Filman for his leadership of Special
Olympics Concordia College which celebrates individuals for who they are. Austin works to organize and create opportunities for Special Olympic athletes to feel seen, valued, and included. Through his program, athletes come together to compete, participate in
a team, and build connections. His leadership style is enthusiastic, inclusive, and patient. And Austin probably had the most nominations of any more heart recipient that we've honored to date, um, including parents and
Concordia associates. The glowing nominations highlighted his initiative and communication which has increased participation by the athletes and created created a an inclusive environment uh compelling others on campus to join
in the fun. So um with that, Mayor Carlson, do you want to present um the award to Austin? >> [applause] >> All right. Well, thank you all for having me here and um accepting this award um and giving it to me. Um I also
have brought some stickers for you all to have uh to remember our club. Um but honestly, this is honestly a joy of the work that I've done at Concordia. Um I'm a junior and I'll be a senior next year. So I'll be leaving uh Special Olympics
Concordia soon, but you know, we're only a program of two years, but um the quick incline of what we've done at Concordia for Special Olympics athletes has been a tremendous growth. Partnering with a lot of onampus partners, whether it's our
sorority or team athletics, um and partnering with the community. I'm a big community fan. Um, and so I love that I can bring in people um that are off-campus to campus and experience sports for themselves um and give them the opportunity to partake in something
that they might not necessarily partake in. So um I'll go around and I'll pass you all a sticker um and then I'll take a picture. So but once again, thank you all. [applause] Congratulations Congratulations, Austin. And uh thank you for you have a
couple of fans that came. Um even the president of Concier College came here to congratulate or to celebrate with you. So thank you again for all you do and keep up the great work and congratulations on your early or graduation in a year. We're going to
just say that you're graduating. Maybe the president can even help, you know, expedite it. [laughter] So, um, next I will turn over to Chief Helmick for the swearing in of Sergeant Jonathan Hansen. >> Evening, mayor, council members. Uh,
tonight I'm excited to be able to bring forward a promotion that we're doing in our department. Uh, this will be the first supervisor promotion that we've had since I started. Uh recently Sergeant Rob Mat retired from our department after I believe 27 years of service and so we had to start the
process of finding his replacement as difficult as that was. Um so one of the things that we did since this was the first time we did a promotion process in our department uh I tked Captain Beta and the sergeants to come up with a comprehensive plan to uh revamp our
selection process for promotion. Um, this is really more than just doing an interview. We really wanted to make sure that we were selecting the best candidate for this position. Um, obviously we worked very closely with HR on this because there was a lot of intricacies that we needed to work through with this process. But, uh, we
were very pleased with what we came up with. Um, just to give you some somewhat of an idea of how this process worked, uh, like I said, it's more than just an interview. It started out where the candidates had to submit a resume and their work history. Uh then we had a
panel who took a look at that as well as the rest of their their uh uh leadership history in the department to make sure that they met the minimum qualifications. Um they also had to complete a panel interview that included both not only internal uh members but external. Uh they also had to do a
practical exercise to see if they could do uh some of the common tasks that a sergeant has to do. And then finally they had to meet with me and have another interview. So uh it was a very comprehensive process. uh took a couple of weeks to complete but uh at the end
we were very pleased with the results of that. Um we really felt that this was a critical role to fill with a lot of the transition that's going on in the department right now. So uh again this this process was very important to us. But when all was said and done, Sergeant
Jonathan Hansen performed very well and he also met the qualities that we were looking for in our new supervisor. And so we're happy to bring him forward tonight. Thanks to city manager Molly who approved his promotion and we'll be joining he'll be joining our leadership team.
Um before I uh bring him up to swear him in and pin on his badge just to tell you a little bit about Sergeant Hansen. Uh Sergeant Jonathan Hansen was originally from Sunberg, Minnesota. He graduated Belgard or sorry Belgrade Brutin El Rosa High School in 2005. I hope I got that
right. Uh he went on to Alexandria Tech for his law enforcement degree. Uh Jonathan graduated from there in 2007 and then he joined the United States Navy approximately 6 months after his graduation. Uh he was stationed in Washington DC for one and a half years
and then chose to move to the Fargo Morhead area to attend MSUM for criminal justice. Uh while finishing his degree he was deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for detainee operations. Uh he was in Cuba for nine months assigned to guardian high-v valueue detainees.
Uh Sergeant Hansen then returned home and finished his bachelor's degree. He obtained employment at the Klay County Jail and worked there for approximately a year and a half when he started with the Morhead PD in June of 2014. Uh since joining the police department over 11 years ago, uh he has been
assigned several collateral duties. He's been part of the honor guard, bike patrol, SWAT crisis negotiations. He's actually their t team leader. Uh he's also been a defensive tactics instructor, an emergency vehicle operations instructor, part of the investigations team, and also one of our
field training officers. So he's obviously had a lot of experience with our department and had again gave a lot of the qualifications that we're looking for to be a sergeant. So with that, I will bring Sergeant Hansen up here and uh we'll have his wife Tara pin this
badge on. I hope you brought it. [laughter] >> All right. And then with that, we'll have the mayor come up and give him the oath of office. Trying to see what your badge number is. 202. My husband was 206, so that's why I
always got to look. So, um, so I state your name. >> I, Jonathan Hansen. >> Do you solemnly swear >> solemnly swear >> that I will comply support and comply >> that I will support and comply >> with the Constitution of the United States of America? >> Const of the United States of America,
>> the Constitutional Laws of the State of Minnesota, >> the Constitution of the charter, laws, and ordinances of the city of Morhead. >> charters, laws, and Morhead. >> The policies and procedures of the Morhead Police Department
>> policies >> and the law enforcement code of ethics >> and that and that I will faithfully discharge >> I will >> the duty as police officer
>> sergeant to the best of my ability. I further pledge that on my honor >> pledge honor >> I will never betray my badge >> my badge >> my integrity >> integrity >> my character >> or the public trust >> I will always have the courage
>> I will >> holdselves and others accountable >> for our actions I will always uphold my community and the agency I serve Congratulations.
[applause] Actually, Sergeant Hansen said that he is going to be 206. And we also, which is my husband's retired badge number, and uh we also have a retired sergeant in the audience whose badge number was 206. So, it's just like the number that just the
gift that keeps on giving. So, congratulations uh sergeant on your new duty assignment. So, we can all clap. [applause] All right. Um, and we do have one uh proclamation. Um, this is Kurdish heritage month. So, I will read that.
Um, where is the Kurdish community has been integral has been an integral part of Morehead contributing significantly to the city's social, cultural, and economic growth. And whereas the Kurdish people have enriched Morehead through their dedication to business, labor, education, and advocacy, playing a vital
role in the city's workforce, entrepreneurship, and community engagement. And whereas Morehead is home to one of the largest Kurdish populations in the region, and their contributions continue to strengthen the city's diversity, economic, and inclusivity. And whereas Kurdish
Americans in Warhead actively promote promote social justice, human rights, and cultural awareness, enhancing the fabric of the community through civic engagement and leadership. And whereas Nurose, the Kurdish New Year is celebrated on March 20th and symbolizes
renewal, unity, and the hope for the future and is widely observed by the Kurdish community in Morehead. And whereas the city of Morehead recognizes and honors the contributions of Kurdish residents, their cultural heritage, and their ongoing efforts to foster a more inclusive and prosperous community for
all. Now therefore, it be resolved that I, Shelley Carlson, mayor of Morehead, do hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 as Kurdish Heritage Month and encourage all residents to celebrate the rich history, culture, and contributions
of the Kurdish people. So we will give that to I believe it was a Kurdish diaspora um who requested that right and moving on to the next presentation. This is partnership for health and I will turn it over to
Patrick Hollister who I believe is online. There you are. Right. I'll turn over to you Patrick. >> Good evening your honor and members of the council. Can you hear me? >> Yep we can hear you. >> Okay. Terrific. So I'll make it quick. I just want to advertise a uh meeting that
we have coming up that's free and open to the public. It's on Tuesday, April 7th, and it's going to be at five in-person locations, one of which is in Morehead. It's room 8 of the family
service center there on 11th. Um it's going to be from 4 to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7th. And the purpose of the meeting is to discuss how we can strengthen the local food system which includes things like farm to school,
farm to institution, food rescue, which is uh how to rescue food that would otherwise be thrown away by institutions such as schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and get that food to people who need it. Of course, there are
logistical and uh legal challenges with that, but uh we want to do as much of that as we can. And so, we'd encourage everybody to come join us. Uh there is a registration website for the meeting.
And I'll give you that URL really quickly here. It's mnfoodonsil.org/jointhesel. I'll say that again. mnfoodconsil.org/jointhe councsil. Don't let the URL scare you by merely attending the meeting. You are not committing to joining the council,
although we'd love it if you did. Uh so uh please come join us uh Tuesday, April 7th, 4 to 6 p.m. at the Family Service Center on 11th. It's uh room 8. And but please register in advance because we are feeding you and we need a headcount
for the food. All right. Thank you so much. Um, Council Member Matson, you said I'm so sorry. I'm just checking to make sure. That's th Tuesday, April sec 7th. Okay. Thank you. I was
confusing the Thursday and the Tuesday. I'm good. Thanks. All right. Any other questions from council members? See none. All right, Patrick, thank you so much for sharing this um this information and um we will
have that written down April 7th. Um and I for now I even forgot the time 4 4 to 6 4 to 6 family service center. All right, thank you so much for sharing this information and I hope you get a great turnout. >> Yep. >> Thank you. Y um next is a presentation
by age friendly Morehead and I will turn this over to Valerie. Hello, my name is Jane Stumbo and Valerie is right here plus all our team from age friendly. So, thank you for having us this evening. Um, we have a
few presenters tonight, myself, um, Valerie, um, Jim McKistra and Jennifer Ericson. So, age friendly Morehead is creating together a supportive, healthy, and vibrant community.
And I just want you to check out that logo because I think it doesn't appear very often in this presentation. We are a multidisciplinary collaborative focus collaborative focused on cultivating a community that engages all
ages. the movement of age friendly Morehead in Minnesota. Um, as of July 2025, Minnesota was one of 12 states that had a multis- sector blueprint for aging or
what is also known as a multis- sector plan on aging. Um, there is a handout in your packet on that um to find out more about it. Um we um the state of Minnesota were the ninth state to join
in January of 2022. Age friendly Morehead convened in 2024 as a part of a broader state effort um to address concerns in Morehead and
the surrounding area. In 2026, age friendly Morehead is working to connect with partners to initiate community projects based on the data collected from the Morehead seniors. We are also pursuing funding opportunities
um to reach our these goals. Age friendly Morehead accomplishments. We attained an MSUM student to assist for two semesters and help facilitate age friendly Morehead priorities.
We have set up and conducted seven listening sessions and compiled data um on what the areas of need are and to be a community for all ages over a lifetime. And there is um also data in
your handouts um from those listening sessions. Um we created the Morehead logo um through the talent of another MSUM student offer Jen. Good evening. I'm Jennifer Ericson and I
work with Freedom Resource Center and we are a part of the age friendly collaborative and I'm just going to just talk a little bit about why this matters. You want to move to the next one here. There we go. So why age friendly and why now? Well, there's a
lot of great data out there to suggest um that that we need to be moving in that direction. Um, for those that like to kind of crunch numbers, the US Census Bureau by two 2034 has indicated that people aged 65 and older will outnumber those under 18 for the first time in US
history. So, that's going to be a really big shift. Um, by60, nearly one in four will be at 65 years, at least 65 years of age or older. Um, well-designed, age friendly communities foster economic growth, greater greater quality of life,
and healthier residents for all ages. And when I think of this, I think, you know, if we can get around safely, most of us, we want to go, we want to meet our friends for lunch. We want to be able to see our our grandchildren, um, their recital. We want to be able to go
to concerts and sporting events and, um, shopping and those kinds of things. And sometimes we have barriers within our communities that prevent us from doing that. And so part of our age friendly effort is to be looking at our communities and trying to figure out how how can we make this more age friendly
and what can we do um to foster accessibility and inclusion for um that age group. And then this is one of the most compelling reasons I think for age friendly um environments is that age friendly environments create physical
environments that work for everyone. Um, so really we're talking about universal design here. And one of the examples I really like to use is, you know, most of us when it comes to our bathroom, we have a hand towel for or we have a towel rack for our hand towels. I would venture to say there's probably not
anyone in this room that doesn't have that. But when it comes to grab bars, it's very it's very specialized. A lot of people like, "Oh, I don't want to have a grab bar unless I need a grab bar." But the truth of the matter is we have aging parents that come visit us that could use be grabbars. Kids can
benefit from having those grab bars. The number one cause of brain injury is actually falls. A lot of people think it's vehicular accidents or um high contact sports, but it's actually falls. And so I'm thinking if we can make these um hand towel racks look really ornate
and beautiful, we can probably do that with our grab bars, too. Um, so I'd like to see those more universally designed, our bathrooms in general, and developers, I think, can be a big part of that in in being able to um share that when they're looking at designs for
um single family homes and beyond that. And then lastly, age friendly communities can increase availability of volunteers. I think many of us when we're working um and not retired have a lot of great ideas about what we'd like to do and how we'd like to spend our
time and devote our time. Um, and a lot of times as we get into that retirement age, we might have a little bit more flexibility with our time. And so we want to we want to draw people in um and keep our aging population so that they can be a vibrant part of of our
community. I'm a perfect example of that last uh point because I am old and retired and I do volunteer a lot in the community and I want to stay in this community. By the way, I'm Valerie Ritland. Um, I've been
a part as a volunteer to join other really awesome people working on how to create a future where our elderly will stay and not have to relocate to communities that better serve their needs. So, uh, you received a lot of
information in your packet, and I know it's more than probably most of you want to read, but I want to just highlight a couple of things from this page, and I think it's all worthy of of your time to read um the information, but this is data that we collected from listening
sessions that we conducted in the community and we conducted them in churches and nursing homes, and a v library, a lot of different places. And so all the listening sessions, what you see is coming directly from those that are an aging population. [clears throat]
So a couple of things that are significantly important. I think all of it is important, but one of the things that we're learning, and I'm learning myself as an older person, I didn't know about a lot of things that are happening in our community, but I found out just
by being on this committee that there's a lot that we offer, but nobody knows about it. the communication to the elderly is significantly um in need of some attention and that's something that we heard again and again and again that
oh we didn't know that or where can we find the information. So we're working as a committee on trying to address that and perhaps someone you know from the city council has some ideas or what you're sending out could also include some information to the elderly. um
affordable housing. We know that that's been your priority for many years and we appreciate that you've invested time and building and you know a lot of apartments in the community, but what we're hearing again and again is for the elderly
um to have affordable and alternative housing. Not um all of them can afford to go into a nursing home. Not all of them want to go into a big building with, you know, 72 units or whatever. What we really need is some alternatives
that are affordable. So, I lived for 16 years near Alm Park. And during my time there, there was a greenery that got tore down and condos or town houses were built. And it's a perfect example of what this community needs more of. a
townhouse or a small home that's affordable but keeps the people in the place where they want to stay and um makes it affordable for them. So that's a model. It could be a co-op. It could be a gated community, but something that
we could say would not just be appealing to our citizens, but to other people surrounding our community. So I think that's really important. Um and then um transportation the bus you know I know a Matt bus is not completely
in your control but what citizens have told us is that it's not the Matt bus doesn't come near a stop where they can get on and it doesn't always work at all hours of the day and I know you've spent a lot of time on that as well but uh something that it's important that you
hear that message from our seniors that it's challenging for them to participate in the awesome things that happen when they can't get there. Since I've been on this community and committee, we we were in the newspaper some time ago. We were on TV uh North
Dakota today and people have reached out to our committee and a special especially I've had a couple of contacts. one of them from Kevin who is a fire um firefighter in the community that I didn't know but he reached out and wanted to know more about what we were doing because he wanted to share
the affirmation that he had um based on their experiences um that a lot of calls come to the fire department from falls in the homes of the elderly because the home that they want to stay in because they have no other affordable place to
go is not handicap accessible And so they want to he wanted to share with me that yes, he would like um to be a part of any way he can to substantiate the this point that the city should look at
alternative places that allow for safety um and that people can stay in this community. Hi. Uh my name is Jim McKinstra and I'm a Morehead resident and also involved uh in age friendly Morehead and
uh things that um we've discussed and what we've talked about um what we would like to see happen like going forward
would be things like this educating here, city council. I was at a meeting in Park Rapids in November. It was called the age friendly regional exchange. And uh what was good about that was one
of our own county commissioners was there at that regional exchange and he was actually on a panel, uh Dave Ebinger. Um, so I got to visit with him afterwards and that and thanked him for
his support, thanked him, you know, for being a panelist at this regional exchange which kind of brought people from all over, you know, West Central and Northwest Minnesota to kind of discuss about these age friendly
movements and efforts and that um, you know, we've talked about um, uh you know more accessibility and you know uh especially like outdoor spaces
and um something I've heard over the years is like our sidewalks, parks, all that, you know, parking lots. You know, if you if you can push a
stroller on there, you should also be able to push a wheelchair. you know, it's going to work for, you know, a young mom or dad pushing their infant in a stroller and would work for somebody in a wheelchair. and that um
and the other thing too is um what I would really like you to really strongly consider is supporting our efforts. Certainly as an individual citizen in
Morehead, in Klay County, in Minnesota, as all of you are, um we do have a monthly meeting, uh the third Wednesday of each month. Um
at 12:30, it's a virtual meeting. We can get you information on that. Um there is like an official AARP designation as an agefriendly community
and um in order to move forward with that in the future, it's highly recommended that there's some like official backing of support
from generally a city council or it could be like a a county commission, something like that. But there, that kind of gives it a little bit more weight and bearing if uh mayor and city council officially sign on with the
local age friendly effort. That kind of gives it more weight. I our efforts would still move forward with or without that, but that's something you could consider. I would invite you to consider that as well.
And that um the advantage with that is it can um maybe open up some more sources of funding and more grants and things like that to our group in the future if we had that
formal backing from the city council and that. But like I like I said, we would we're go we're going forward um while we're you know regardless of that um
I've on behalf of this group I've looked into some funding opportunities with West Central Initiative Foundation. So that's something too like as those grants pop up our group could look at to see if there is any funding opportunities with them to kind of help
support our efforts and that. So the reason I want to share these things with you is that you know we are we have ways that we're wanting to move forward and ways to accomplish our mission and get things done. So, um
really the uh the last thing I wanted to share and I do have a handout is we are going to have a community event. It's Oh, I'll pass them around.
It's going to be Tuesday, May 12th. Um it's going to be at the new Morehead Public Library. Um, we're going to have a presentation from age friendly Minnesota. So, the statewide age friendly group out of St.
Paul, they would come up and be and present. Um there'd be an opportunity prior to that for some networking and visiting and basically an opportunity to ask questions of age friendly Minnesota
us and age friendly Morehead would be there also to answer questions and we're hoping to foster collaboration between agencies, organizations and departments. um provide clear priorities when navigating funding opportunities
and continue to promote a well-rounded view of aging in healthcare and across our whole community. So, I don't know if we did we have anything else? >> No, I I not interrupting you or buting
into your presentation. I was a part of the final >> part. But um it isn't is more than a listening session or a sharing session. It's we're trying to figure out when we see what you're working on, how can we support your goals. When you see what
the community is sharing with us, how can we join together? So, uh it's more than just sharing information. It's really really have a desire to sort of work together with you. And so one of the things that we're hoping is that either someone who's interested or a
liaison that's appointed that somebody would come to our um meeting in April so that we can further see uh if you have a common thing you're working on housing we're interested in helping. So if you can decide on that and let um there's
names that are on that presentation let one of us know who might be interested in joining us in April. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. >> Yes. And thank you so much. Um we will definitely be looking into that. I'll visit with uh city manager Molly on on who might be able to uh attend that
meeting. Um thank you for all of your information. I'm I'm not sure if I participated in a listening session or if it was just a meeting that I had with you guys. Um with all of this information, you guys have spent a lot of time and um working at an elder
justice organization. I know that uh the the age friendly Minnesota groups across the state of Minnesota do incredible work. Um and I did want to just kind of give you guys just a little bit more information about what the firefighter Salsbury talked about. Um there was a
position that was created within the uh Morhead Fire Department. And this actually came out of a uh St. Louis Park, Minnesota. um a fire chief and a public health entity came together and said, "How can we help one another?" And
it is uh a a program that has been replicated not just across the state of Minnesota, but also in North Dakota and several other states. Um the fire chief who created this this idea and this vision and the public health um
individual, they actually now go out and do a lot of training across the United States. It's it's an incredible program. It's called community risk reduction position and it has alleviated um a lot of issues that some older
adults um not always older adults but it's primarily older adults um are experiencing. So just so that people in the community know that this is a position that exists and it's that followup that is needed um to help our older adults be able to live safe at home. Um, also the sidewalks is
something it's a I I have our the our city engineers are here and it's something that they've been working with public works. It's a multi-year project to get the sidewalks so that they become level with the ground uh or the roads and um it just takes a lot of
time because we only have so so many months that we can work on that and um I do know that our parks department has assisted and I'm not sure if they've assisted with age friendly Minnesota or if they have just done it on their own but um received some age friendly micro
grants to be able to do some park benches and uh even pickle changing some tennis courts into pickle ball and and different things like that. So, um you know, we we just um want to make sure that the the city of Morehead
is open and friendly and accessible to everybody um including our older adults. And when you talked about volunteers, I think the majority of our police volunteers are um older adults who are retired. I'm looking back at our chief and I think he's nodding his head. it's
way back there. But um I just think of you know all the volunteer and tax preparation that's coming up and that's done by volunteers um usually older adults as well. So thank you guys for all the work that you're doing. I know it takes a lot of work and there's so many different things and it's hard to
focus on just a few um but I'm I'm glad that you're doing this work. So thank you for coming and sharing and um sharing the information also about the community event in May. Madame Mayor, we have a hand up online. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. Um, Council
Member White. >> Thank you, Mayor. I also wanted to just thank the presenters. Um this is really great information and I I want to encourage my colleagues to just not miss this opportunity that here we have even
even some of these things are things that we've heard in other places but having this all in one place and having some concrete evidence about issues in our community and you know I would love to see this added to an agenda for an upcoming workshop just to look at how we
can integrate some of these ideas into the work in the city and some of it honestly is kind of lowhanging fruit. You know, things like they mentioned putting more park benches in our trails. I love the trails that we have added, but you know, if you have mobility
issues, um just the opportunity to have a place to sit and rest every once in a while makes a big difference in whether you do or do not go out. We're making sure that we have accessible public bathrooms too that so uh folks are are
um more eager to go out in public and go to our parks um knowing that they have the amenities that they need. But then other things that I think are important and have a big ripple effect like we continuously talk about housing shortages and I know that um uh my
colleague uh Valerie Ritland brought this up that we have folks that don't that are seniors and would like to downsize but we don't have the housing stock that is affordable to them that maybe would allow them to move into something that's smaller or they wouldn't have to maintain a lawn. And
not only does that mean that they can't downsize, but that means that the house that maybe could be opened up for a young family isn't available. And so there's that ripple effect. So I just really I want to, you know, just put that out there on the record. I really
hope that we could take action on this of, you know, put it on an agenda for a workshop and go through this and really look at what are some actionable items that we could focus on to put this information to work. Thank you.
Thank you and thank you guys for coming and providing us with all this information tonight. Really appreciate it. Moving on to the approval of the March 9th, 2026 meeting minutes. So I have a motion to approve. >> So moved. >> Second.
>> Any discussion? Seeing none, uh, roll call vote, please. >> Nelson, >> I. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. Matson, >> yes. >> Moore, yes. >> Borggan, >> yes. >> White, >> yes. McDougall >> I. >> Hendrickson >> I. >> All right, [clears throat] that motion
carries. Um, we do have one individual who would like to speak tonight under citizens to address the council. Um, Martha Wheeler, if you want to come up to the podium. Um, and you'll have three minutes. And if you'll state your name and if you're a resident of Morehead.
>> I'm Martha Wher. I'm a resident of Morehead. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak, having had interactions with uh city of Morhead staff and city government. I have great respect and appreciation for the work you all put into making Morehead a good
place to live. I attended the council workshop last week and saw the effort that you put into planning for public health. I'm here to express myself about the vector control policy. I'm not a scientist, but I'm a concerned citizen and I've read a lot and taken a lot of
classes on pollinator support from the University of Minnesota, Zersei Society, Pollinator Pathway and other organizations. And I have learned that aerial spraying of adulticides like peromethine to kill mosquitoes also kills are necessary bees, moths,
butterflies, and aquatic life. And many conservations are skeptists are skeptical of the effectiveness adult of adultic sides and it's expensive. I urge the city to develop and implement a robust public health campaign. The Xeri
Society states it's understandable why in the face of a mounting health crisis, communities and health organizations scramble to prevent mosquito-born disease outbreaks by any means necessary. Spraying may seem like a quick uh way to soo the public's nerves,
but as a strategy for controlling mosquitoes, it's a blunt and ineffective tool with widespread and far-reaching consequences. Through the application of common sense protocols and proactive planning, effective mosquito management that limits impacts on the environment
is possible. Also, the New York uh state department of health's mosquitoborn illness response plan states aerial adult sighting has uncertain and potentially very limited benefits pre for preventing illness among humans. Given the limitations of adult sighting,
the primary strategy to prevent mosquitoborn illness among humans must continue to be promotion of personal preventive measures. Dr. Doug Talamy, professor of entomology and wildlife in ecology at the University of Delaware, says adulticiting is very in
ineffective. In fact, he says it just doesn't work. He recommends that private individuals use mosquito dunk buckets. This includes uh filling dark colored bucket with water, adding grass straw or plant waste, and adding an inexpensive
BTI tablet called a mosquito dunk. and that it actually is very effective. Running um other ways to uh prevent mosquitoes are running a public information campaign to educate citizens about what they can do. Eliminating
breeding grounds by removing standing water, keeping water features clean and adding features to keep water moving. Running a fan on the patio or deck. Building rain gardens using native plants with deep roots to soak up water. wearing protective clothing like long
sleeves and pants during peak mosquito season periods of of dusk and dawn and using effective insect repellent containing deep picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Thank you very much. Thank you.
All right. Um we are moving on to public hearings. Um the first um and I'm assuming is this Oh, there you are. Uh Clay, if you want to come up to the podium. Uh this will be a public hearing for the final buminous workar course and
prairie parkway first prairie meadow 7th and village green 7th editions. I need a motion to open the public hearing. >> So move Nissa Meyer >> second. Uh motion and a second. Um roll call vote please. >> Hendrickson
I. >> Nelson I. >> Matson. >> Yes. >> Ner. >> Yes. >> Moore. Yes. White. >> Yes. >> Borggan, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Right, that motion carries and the public hearing is now open and I'll turn over to you, Clay.
>> All right. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thank you, members of council. Just wait one second here for our PowerPoint presentation. This, excuse me, [clears throat] this is the public hearing for the 268205 project. This is the final batuminous
workhorse project for this year. This is the project area. It covers three subdivisions that were built in 2022. This includes Prairie Parkway 1, Village Green 7th, and Prairie Meadows 7th. The project consists of laying down the
final inch and a half of Batuminous Pavement. During the initial construction of these subdivisions, we leave the pavement a little bit low. This allows time for settlement to occur and for construction of the homes to occur, which can be hard on a pavement.
With this project, we come in and we put the last bit of pavement to fill in any low spots, and then we bring the road up to its final designed grade. These types of projects, which are petitioned for prior to the construction of the subdivisions, typically occur 2 to 5
years after initial construction. This is a map of the assessment area with these projects again which is according to the petition are 100% assessed to the benefiting properties that is the properties that front the overlay area.
There are a total of 160 properties within the three subdivisions. The total amount being assessed is approximately $295,000. The average assessment has been summarized for each subdivision, but they range from about 615 6, sorry,
$1,650 to a little over $2,300. The maximum assessment is approximately $7,500, which is a city-owned lot. Again, the total project cost is expected to be $295,000. This project is 100% assessed.
The public hearing notice was mailed out on March 12th. As of today, we have not received any questions regarding assessments on this project. This project was bid on March 4th. Tonight, after the closure of the public hearing, we're asking you to consider a resolution to order the improvements and
award the bid. Due to excess bonding capacity on this project, it is tied to another project 26-13-01 for funding purposes only. It does not result in additional assessments to this
project. And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you, Clay. Are there any members of the audience who would like to speak um during this public hearing portion? Again, are there any members of the audience who wish to speak to this item?
Seeing none, I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing um of this item. >> So I have a >> second. Nissa Meyer >> motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call vote, please. >> Nyer,
>> yes. Moore, >> yes. White, >> yes. >> Oregon, >> yes. >> McDougall, I >> Hendrickson, >> hi. >> Nelson, I >> Matson, >> yes. All right. Um, the public hearing is
closed um and opening it up for any questions from council members. If there aren't any, I would entertain a motion to approve 9B. Would would it be 9B and C together? >> Correct. >> Correct. Okay. So, it would be a motion
to approve 9 B or C if there aren't any questions. >> Motion to approve 9, B, and C. >> Second. >> Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call vote, please. >> Hendrickson,
>> I. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Borin, >> yes. >> White, >> yes. >> Moore, >> yes. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. Matson, >> yes. >> Nelson, >> I. >> All right, that motion carries. So, we will move on to the next uh public
hearing. I need a motion to open the hearing. We'll >> move Nissa Meyer. Second. Nelson. Motion >> in a second. Uh, any discussion? Seeing none, roll call vote, please. >> Nelson, >> I. >> Matson,
>> yes. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. Moore, >> yes. White, >> yes. >> Organ, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Hendrickson. >> All right, that motion carries and we are in a public hearing. I'm also getting flashbacks to from a different council meeting where we had to do this,
I think, 12 different times. So, We've only got three tonight. >> Yeah, we only have to do it three times tonight. So, um, we are in public hearing now and I will turn this over to you, Clay. >> All right. Thank you again. This is the public hearing for the 26
A202 project. This is a mill overlay project in Oakport. This is the project area. It takes place in two subdivisions, Crystal Creek and North Crystal Creek, and will consist of street improvements and spot repairs to
the curb and gutter. These streets were originally constructed between 1992 and 2000. The pavement condition index ranges from 63 to 88. Notably, neither one of these subdivisions have sidewalk. North Crystal Creek has curbon gutter and
storm sewer infrastructure. However, Crystal Creek subdivision, the south subdivision, is a rural section road without curbon gutter and has uh ditches for storm water drainage. The public utilities were installed in
the 1990s and early 2000s. The water and sanitary are both PVC and are in acceptable condition. When we do street improvements like this, we will do an evaluation of the area to look at sidewalks. We'll look to see if there are any gaps or segments of
sidewalks missing. Sometimes there is sidewalk on one side of the street and not on the other side of the street. And in some cases, as in the case with these neighborhoods, there's no sidewalk at all. [snorts] The Crystal Creek subdivision with its
ditch section for drainage doesn't have room. It doesn't leave room for sidewalk. So staff made the decision to not pursue it any further in that subdivision. North Crystal Creek does have room in the boulevard. So it would have been feasible to construct it there. With
that in mind and by city policy, we would then propose to install sidewalk where there is none. In this case, that would be the entire North Crystal Creek subdivision, which is shown as the red line on the map. When we propose sidewalk like this, we
do survey homeowners to find out if they would or would not support the installation of the sidewalk. And by city policy, there would need to be at least 75% of homeowners opposed to the installation in order to remove it from the project. Out of the 53 properties
that were surveyed in North Crystal Creek, 48 responded against the installation and there were five that did not respond. that meets the 75% threshold and so the sidewalk will not be installed. The proposed improvements for this project are pretty simple. We will have
a mill and overlay which involves removing and replacing the top couple inches of pavement. There will also be a couple spot curb and gutter repairs and then some full depth pavement patching in a few areas. This is a map of the assessment area.
There are no collector streets in this area, so there's no area wide assessment. Both subdivisions will receive the Milan overlay. And there are two rates on this project. North Crystal Creek will be assessed at the urban milan overlay rate, which is $45 per
front foot, and Crystal Creek would be assessed at the rural mill and overlay rate of $27.50 per front foot. The reason for the difference is that the road section in North Crystal Creek does have curb and gutter and the pavement is wider at
approximately 33 feet wide. Crystal Creek subdivision does not have curbon gutter and has a narrower road section at approximately 24 ft wide. There are a total of 110 properties within this assessment area. The total amount being assessed is approximately
$461,000. The average assessment is about $4,200 and the maximum assessment is approximately 10,300 which is a city-owned lot. The total project cost is anticipated to be $593,000.
Again, assessments will generate approximately $461,000 and the city will bond for the remaining amount of approximately $132,000. The public hearing notice was mailed out on March 12th. We've received several general questions about this project
pertaining to curb and gutter, the settlement of curbon gutter in the project area, questions pertaining to on street parking and then the sidewalk policy and objections to how that was communicated to residents. There was also a couple questions about special
assessments and how those were calculated. Anformational video was posted to the city's website on March 11th. As of this morning, it had 22 views. So, this project was also bid last week. Tonight, after the closure of the public hearing, we're asking you to consider a
resolution to order the improvements and award the bid. And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you. And we are in public hearing still for uh the 18th Street North, 21st Street North, 53rd Avenue North, 52nd Avenue North, 51st Avenue North, 49th
Avenue North, and Crystal Creek Drive, Batuminous Mill, and Overlay. And I forgot to say that when we open the public hearing, so that's why I wanted to get that out there. Are there any members of the public who wish to speak to this agenda item? Again, are there any members of the public who wish to speak to this agenda
item? Seeing none, I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. Um, roll call vote, please. >> Moore, >> yes. White, >> yes. >> Borggan, >> yes.
>> McDougall, >> I. >> Hendrickson, >> I. >> Nelson, >> I. >> Matson, >> yes. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. >> All right, that motion passes and the hearing is closed. Um, any questions for
Clay? And if there are no questions, I would entertain a motion to approve 9E. >> So move Nissa Meyer. >> Second, Morgan. >> There's a motion to approve 9E. Roll call vote, please.
>> Did you want to do 9E and 9F together? >> 9E and F. >> I would love to change my motion to be 9E and F. >> Okay. Thank you. That was on the second page on the back. So, um, is there there's a friendly amendment. Is that okay? >> Yes.
>> All right. Um, so nine E and F. Roll call vote, please. >> Nelson, >> I. >> Matson, >> yes. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. >> Moore, >> yes. >> White, >> yes. >> Organ, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Hendrickson, [snorts] >> yes.
>> Right, that motion carries. Um, we now will need to open the public hearing for Partridge Creek Addition and Underground Utility Improvements, Storm Water Pond, and 28th Street improvements. Do I have a motion to open the public hearing? >> So moved. >> Second.
>> Motion and a second. Um, roll call vote, please, to open the public hearing for 9G. >> White, >> yes. >> Borggan, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Hendrickson, >> I. >> Nelson, >> I >> Matson,
>> yes. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. Moore, >> yes. Okay, the public hearing is open and I will turn this over to you, Clay. All right. Thank you, Madam Mayor. This is the public hearing for the Partridge Creek edition street and utility storm
water pond and 28th Street improvements project. This is number 25 A63. This project is located near the Southside Regional Park, south of 40th Avenue South and west of 28th Street. The project has several components. As
an introduction, this project includes the Partridge Creek residential subdivision. It includes improvements to 28th Street. It includes a regional storm water pond and it also includes the extension of sanitary sewer trunk
line infrastructure. I do want to take a minute to just highlight the difference um between what we refer to as local infrastructure and trunk infrastructure because we will have both types of infrastructure on this project. Local infrastructure are utilities and
streets that benefit individual properties within a subdivision. on this project that includes the streets and utilities such as water, sanitary, and storm sewer within Partridge Creek Edition. It's limited to that subdivision. Trunk infrastructure provides a benefit
or service to multiple existing subdivisions. On this project, that includes improvements to 28th Street, which is classified as a collector street. It also includes the regional storm water pond and it includes the extension of the sanitary sewer trunk
main which is a large diameter pipe that has the capacity to serve multiple subdivisions. [snorts] For the proposed improvements, this project is largely on undeveloped farmland. Partridge Creek Edition shown
in the orange hatched area on the map will consist of 77 single family residential lots. We're proposing full street and utility construction within this area. This project will also require improvements to 28th Street,
which is batuminous pavement south of 40th Avenue South for several hundred feet, but is a gravel road and ditch section south of the Good Shepard Church entrance. At this time, we're proposing to make improvements for batuminous
pavement and curbon gutter down to approximately the MPS water tower lot, but we would not go all the way down to the city limits, which is shown as the black dashed line on the map at the southside or the bottom of the picture.
That would be done at a future date. We're doing just enough for this project. the rest. Excuse me. [clears throat] This project also includes a regional storm water pond for Partridge Creek and two other
parcels that is shown as the blue shaded rectangle on the map. Lastly, we're proposing to extend the large diameter sanitary sewer. That is the solid green line. We would extend it from its current location in Prairie
Parkway, which is directly north of Partridge Creek. We're proposing to extend it across the 40th Avenue drainage ditch and through Partridge Creek. Again, this is infrastructure that would serve Partridge Creek edition and several other future developments to the south and east.
Future construction of the trunk line is shown as a dashed green line. To be clear, that dashed green line is not work being done under this project. It's just shown for reference. I have several assessment area maps to
run through. The first one is for Partridge Creek and we will have we have four distinct components of this project. So, we'll have four maps in total, but this first one is for Partridge Creek edition. 100% of the construction for this will be assessed to the benefiting properties. In this
case, it's all 77 lots of Partridge Creek Edition as well as undeveloped property that is generally to the west. The dashed line on this map shows the boundary of the assessment area. The undeveloped property to the to the west
is getting assessed because it fronts on 23rd and 25th Street. When we construct streets and utilities, we assess benefiting properties on both sides. So that's why this other parcel is getting assessed for this work. We're estimating that the Partridge Creek edition will be
assessed 2.63 million and the adjacent parcel to the west will be assessed. 278 million. 428th Street, which is a collector street. Assessments would be applied to the benefiting properties on both sides of the street. It's the parcels that
front the improved area. So that includes all of Partridge Creek Edition as well as four other parcels. Because several of these parcels are undeveloped farmland, we would defer assessments on those properties. I'll explain on a later slide uh about
deferred assessments, but for this map, we just want to communicate that we have our normal special assessments, but we also have deferred assessments. Our total estimated cost for 28th Street is 414 million. Of that, we're we're
proposing that. 283 million would be deferred for the pond. This is also trunk infrastructure. It's constructed in accordance with the city master plan and it benefits Partridge Creek and the two other parcels within the boundary.
The total estimated cost for the project is a pro for the pond is approximately 1.19 million. Special assessments in the amount of.138 million would be applied to Partridge Creek. The remaining 1.05 million would
be deferred assessments that would be applied to the other parcels within the assessment boundary. And it's again it's deferred because it's undeveloped farmland. Lastly, this map is for the extension of the sanitary sewer trunk line, which is
again in accordance with the city's master plan for development. This is a large diameter pipe, which is meant to serve future developments of the south and east, including east of 28th Street. There are a couple uh noteworthy items to mention with this map and this items.
When we make improvements that benefit parcels outside of city limits, we will propose to assess those, but they will be done as postponed assessments. I'll explain on the next slide what the postponed assessments are and how those work, but I just want to mention it
again here given the map. The other item that I want to mention is that we did bid this project with an alternate that would have resulted in installing the sanitary sewer at a shallower depth, which we were anticipating would have cost savings for
the project. However, doing so would have required an additional unplanned sanitary lift station uh to the east of 28th Street to serve that area. Because a lift station would have a might have cost in the
neighborhood of a million dollar and it would have had commitments for staff and maintenance. And because the alternate would have provided cost savings of only $30,000, staff are recommending awarding the project on the basis of the base bid
and not the alternate bid. The total sanitary trunk line costs are expected to be $364,000. $324,000 of that would be deferred to other property and 23,000 would be going to
Partridge Creek. $17,000 would be postponed and that's to the property that is currently outside of city limits. [snorts] So deferred assessments are assessments that will benefit parcels within the city or sorry benefit undeveloped
parcels within the city. When this happens, assessments are deferred without interest until one of two things happens. It's either one year after the undeveloped property is platted or no later than the year following 10 years after the final assessment hearing
notice has been given. Postponed assessments are assessments apply to parcels that will benefit from the improvements but are currently outside city limits. The current city policy is that the assessments are not adopted, but they are postponed without interest
until the property is annexed. When it's annexed, the adoption of the postponed assessments would be considered by city council. And I don't I don't remember if I mentioned it first, but on the deferred assessments are also deferred without interest for that until the one
of those two things happens. I just want to make that point too. Project funding total estimated cost for all components of this project is expected to be 4.88 million. Of that amount about 2.91 million will be will
be special assessed. 1.92 million will be deferred and about 17,000 will be postponed. And again, that's going to that property that is currently outside city limits. The postpone part is part of that pie chart. It's just such a small sliver it doesn't show.
[snorts] We received bids for this project on March 11th. We're anticipating that this project will fully be will be fully constructed this year. for comments. Um, we did receive a written objection to the assessments at
the end of the day today. Um, but that's the only that's the only written comments we've received and we've had calls with that individual as well. Staff have had calls with that individual. Tonight, after the closure of the public
hearing, we are asking you to consider a resolution to receive petitions and approve a special assessment agreement, order the approvements, and award the bid. You'll notice here and in your council communication that this project is tied
to the Blueest Stem Bridge project for funding purposes only. The Blueest Stem Bridge project requires a local match. This project, the Partridge Creek project has excess bonding capacity and so that excess bonding capacity will be used to provide the local match for the
bridge project. There will be no assessments on the blue stem bridge project and this will not result in an increase in assessments for any component of the partridge creek partridge creek project. So that is the end of my presentation
and I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you Clay. Um, we are in public hearing. So, are there any members of the public who would like to speak to this agenda item? Member of the public who wish to speak to this agenda item.
Not I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing. >> So, move Nissa Meyer. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. Could I get a roll call, please? >> Nelson. >> I. Matson, >> yes. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. Moore,
>> yes. White, >> yes. >> Oregon, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> hi. >> Hendrickson, >> hi. >> Right. And if there are Okay, we have a question. Uh, Council Member Matson and then Council Member Niss Mayor. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um,
from was the objection from a um property owner in that area and what was the objection The objection was from a property owner in the assessment area. The objections
in general were to the the assessments as a whole. Um there was a number of items that they objected to, but they objected to being obsessed or being assessed for the improvements at all and
that the improvements did not benefit their property. Right. Council me. Oh, okay. Council member Britney SM. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um Clay, I just want to appreciate the three proposals tonight. I know I um am not an engineer,
but I do appreciate very clear laid out information um defining acronyms within the packet and the documentation as well as the variation of the terms that are being used. I don't know that these are like regular coffee talk type um
conversation items. And so having these three projects very clearly laid out um as well as uh outlining the community engagement but also the funding. I think assessments um are one thing that are unique to our community and are a hard
cell. And so having those details tonight so people can reference them if they missed the letter that they were sent or they had more questions. I know that the engineering department is um always accessible and willing to um visit with folks about their questions and comments and so I just wanted to say
thank you. Um I have noticed a great deal of um work that goes into these things and I just wanted to appreciate the staff time um not only for myself as a council member but for our residents. >> Yeah. Thank you. There's a there's a great team working on these. So thank
you. >> All right. I don't see any other questions. So, um I would entertain a motion to approve 9H, INJ. Think you can take them all together. >> Move for approval.
>> Second. More. >> Motion in a second. Uh roll call vote, please. >> White, [snorts] >> yes. >> Morgan, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Hendrickson, >> hi. >> Moore, >> yes. >> Nisser, >> yes.
>> Matson, >> yes. Nelson. >> Right. And that motion carries. Thank you. Thank you very much, Clay. Um, I know a lot of work even just goes into putting those presentations together. So, thank you.
See? Okay. I think I think we're on to 16D. That was taken off of consent. Um, so I don't know if Chief Helmick is going to speak to this item then. All right. Looks like he is. So I'll turn it
over to you, Chief Helmick. >> Good evening again, council and mayor. Uh, so just to explain a little bit about the resolution that we brought forward to the council tonight. Uh, recently our department purchased new handguns for our officers. Uh this is typically done about every 5 years or
so. And uh we completed that project which meant that we had the old handguns that were left over. And uh on top of that, we also had the holsters and the lights that are attached to the handguns that are not compatible with the new
handguns. So what we're looking to do is to declare that uh property surplus. Uh what we'd like to do is to sell those handguns to Northern Plains Gunworks who will in turn be able to sell those as used handguns. Um also as part of that
process, uh we have several officers who would wish to purchase their old handgun and so they would be allowed to do that through Northern Plains Gunworks. Just to be very clear, we are not selling guns directly to officers. That has to be done through a a a licensed firearms
dealer. And so Northern Planes would be handling that transaction for us. As far as the holsters and the lights, uh we have been offering or we would be offering that to officers to purchase as well. That purchase would be done directly since there's no licensing
requirement for holsters or or handgun lights. Um, and uh, if there are any unsold units, what we're asking to do is to either uh, put those holsters and lights up for auction, and if there are still remaining items not sold, uh, they
would be disposed of properly. Uh, guns would all be sold to, or I'm sorry, uh, brought to Northern Plains for tradein. Uh, we would not be selling any of those firearms through auction. So, uh, with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.
All right. Thank you. Um, are there questions from council members? Council member Matson, >> I don't have a question, but we cannot see council member White, who is the one who asked to take this off the consent agenda, so she would probably, I would imagine, like to speak to this, but we can't see
you. >> Can you hear me? >> Yep, we can see you now. Uh, Council Member White. >> Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I did ask to have it removed from consent and it was just um would like to request a minor change
and that would be that I'd like to um prohibit accessories such as the holsters and weapon lights um from being auctioned if they're not sold or excuse me if they're not purchased by an officer. And um my reason for that is
just given what happened in our state last summer, um I would hate to see any of those accessories get into the hands of somebody who might use them to impersonate a police officer. And so um I would rather have it I you know this I
did check with the the city manager and I know he spoke with the chief about this. We're not I'm not asking anything about the firearms, just the accessories that if they aren't sold to our our officers that they would just be disposed of. And so I would like to request that the language changed um in
the resolution where it says whereas any holsters, weapons, lights, or other accessories associated with the replacement equipment that are not purchased by officers will be liquidated through disposal or auction. I would just like the word or auction removed.
and any other um references that would indicate that we would sell items um to anybody other than our own police officers. All right, other comments or questions from council members?
Uh, Council Member Nelson, >> Chief Helmet, can you um just conf I guess confirm or or clarify um if uh Council Member White's comments, the holsters and the the
flashlights, those are um available for the public to purchase off from any store, online site, all that stuff. They're not prohibited. They're they're not um they're not all that unique. Uh so it uh the lights
especially could be purchased by the general public. Uh the holster um looks very similar to and I actually brought one with tonight if you'd like to take a look at it, but has the crosshatch pattern on it. Um that's about the only thing that really would identify it possibly as a law enforcement holster.
Um otherwise there it's really not all that unique. uh would fit any other, you know, a Glock that I would purchase uh from Shields, for example, would be able to fit into that holster. So, um yeah, >> thank you. Yeah, that that's all I have. Thank you,
>> Council Member McDougall. >> Is this anything new, different type program, first time you've done it or have you done it before in the past? >> Uh it's my understanding that this has been has been done in the past. Um and I know other agencies have done the same thing as well. >> Thank you. Uh, council member White, your hand is
still up. I don't know if that is a new hand up or if that was you took it down and I >> No, it's a new hand. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And and I am aware that people couldn't find things in other places, but again, it's a minor request. I understand it
wouldn't have that much of a financial implication, but I would hate to have it on our conscience that we sold something that was then used um for something as horrific as what happened last summer. And so, you know, um my thought would be to make I and I will make that motion
that we omit the words um or auction um from it and uh prohibit the items from being auctioned off if they aren't um sold to our officers. >> I will second that motion.
>> Okay, there is a motion and a second. Um discussion. Council member Nisser. >> Thank you. Uh, Chief Helmick, I want to appreciate the bringing of something. Uh, currently we're talking about something that I may have never noticed even in your gear that you wear. Would you for educational purposes show us
what we are talking about? That would be really helpful for me. >> Absolutely. >> Officer, right? I'll just have hand this around and you guys can take a look at it. Madame Mayor, while while we're doing that, I have a question for the city attorney. I want to make sure I'm not stepping outside of any kind of um legal
boundaries. If we could just if I could have a moment just to confer with the city attorney outside of the room. >> Um yeah, I you can do that. Um all right. Um although we have two
council members that stepped outside that doesn't uh we still have to continue with our meeting. We can't necessarily [clears throat] pause. Excuse me. Um I know that council member Hendrickson gets up and leaves every
once in a while as well to use the restroom or whatever, but um so we're going to continue. Um council member Nayer. >> Thank you. Um and so now that I have it and I can hold like Van Vanna White, that's me. Um so it's the crosshatch pattern that is unique to law
enforcement. Not necessarily, but um usually with law enforcement gear, it'll have that pattern or it'll just be a like a glossy leather finish. Uh but that's not to say that you couldn't find a a crosshatch holster in a through like
a sporting goods dealer or something like that. >> And and that's what my follow-up was going to ask. So the the sellers of the I know you mentioned the flashlight um would be the same. You could buy them online or at a sports store or a gun dealer or something. And so there's
nothing unique about these. >> There really isn't. No. >> Okay. Marvelous. I appreciate you bringing the demonstration because I did not know what you were talking about when you were talking about the texturing. So I appreciate it very much. >> So and and just one thing to just in case the question comes up to clarify why those holsters are not compatible
with the new guns. It's a new model and also the new guns have a red light optic on them. Um, so they need a special holster in order to uh to to fit properly. So >> So like the bigger, it's bigger. So >> a little bit. Okay. A little bit. >> What is a red light thingyamajiggy that
you just >> uh it's a a special site that's attached to the gun and uh produces a red dot inside the the optic uh that helps officers uh with their accuracy because they'll be able to see more clearly where they're they're aiming. And uh
it's a little bit newer technology that we're seeing a lot more with law enforcement guns right now. >> Excellent. I appreciate you sharing that new information. So officers have their new guns already and are already training. >> Excellent. Thank you.
>> Other questions or comments from council members? >> Council member Borggan. So I think what is at issue here is number four that other accessories may be purchased directly from the city by the officers. So we're talking about the items that
we're looking at right now liquidated through auction. So is that like the city auction where you auction off the cars that we take in and any other stuff we have that we're just Okay. >> Yes. >> And we've done this for years. >> Same thing. Well, I I honestly don't
know about the auction piece, but it's not unusual for us to have smaller items like that that we put online through our auctioneer. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Other questions or comments? Uh, Council Member White.
>> Thanks. I would say um even if we have done this in the past, we're in unprecedented times. I don't think anybody before this last summer anticipated that someone would impersonate an officer and go to
multiple homes and assassinate people. And uh there is a lot of discussion now of things that we could do to try to make that less um feasible. And um it was surprising how easy it was, how
easily accessible a lot of these things were. And so I think it's part of a bigger conversation of what's happening is what we could do to try to curb those possibilities. Um and again it would be a pretty small gesture and also a um a
way of showing that we acknowledge and that we uh um recognize something horrific that happened and we want to be part of making things better. >> All right. Um, madame clerk, could you just maybe step
out into the hallway and let them know that we are ready to take a vote? Um, and if the council members could please come in if they wish to be part of the vote. Right. There is a motion on the floor. Um, could we take a roll call vote, please?
>> Nelson. >> No. >> Matson, >> yes. >> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. Moore, >> yes. White, >> yes.
>> Borggan, no. >> McDougall, >> no. Hendrickson. >> No, >> that motion failed. >> Okay, that motion failed. In order to
pass this, um you need uh six votes. So, um council would like to I guess make a motion to uh pass as written or um I'm >> I'll make that motion.
>> Okay. I'll make the motion that we pass the resolution as presented to the council. >> Second, Nelson. >> There's a motion and a second. Any additional uh discussion? Council member Nisser.
>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um I want to acknowledge that I hear Council Member White. Um, and although we haven't done this historically, um, I think, uh, we may have things that need to change because of new instances
um, or occurrences. And so I don't want to necessarily hold up a vote. Um, and so I will support it, but I would like to encourage um our police department to consider maybe finding alternatives or I I have no idea what some of those would
be, but um last summer again, it is something that I never would have even fathomemed. uh uh elected officials uh being gunned down in their homes and that I just I want to acknowledge the
fear and the um change that we may need to have in the future. >> Council member Matson, I missed the discussion. I was out of the room. Um I had to go on that morning that Melissa
Hortman was murdered. I had to go to my friend's house and check to see if her teenage son had been killed while she wasn't home. I had to check. I had to go find out. She wasn't home that day and her son was home from college and he wasn't answering his phone. And I had to
go check to see if her child had been murdered. And and the whole way over there, I had to drive all the way across town. The whole way all I could think about is how am I going to tell her if if something happened to this child? I promised her nothing would ever happen
to him and now I might have to go find out that I I said something that was not true. That something horrific happened. Thank goodness that it was not the case, but also some very horrific things
happened that day. I just think as a courtesy to council member White, if this is a concern of hers, just as just out of like just being collegial, it's not it shouldn't be a big deal for us to to if this makes her feel better. We know the situation
she's in. We could just we could just do this. Apparently, we're not going to. Okay. But it would have been nice. Council member Borgan, >> I think we all feel the same as Council Member Weiss does about what happened to
the speaker and the others who were killed or shot or injured. But we're talking about holsters and flashlights and things that are not guns because our police department does a very good job of getting rid of our guns by giving
them to a reputable dealer who will take care of them. So, I just I think it's performative and I don't think a council should be doing performative measures. So, that's why I'm opposed to it. Um, it has nothing to
do with whether or not I respect or don't respect what council member White feels. It's just this is not about guns. It's about accessories that don't kill people. Uh, Council Member White and Council
Member Matson, then. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, with all due respect, Council Member Borggan, I don't think you really could understand what I experienced, but that wasn't the reason that I did this. It was out of respect for again for the people that um were
impacted by this even more strongly than my family was. I did have to flee my home, but um I wasn't shot. Uh I did I you know my some of my my husband's colleagues were murdered and seriously injured. Um and for the record I did not
ask for us to ban the selling of firearms. It was merely the accessories that could are that again is part of a bigger problem of these are things that are readily available can and can be used to impersonate an officer and made
it very easy for people to be murdered. It was just a small request. So, um I just wanted that for the record. I did not I don't see it as performative um and it wouldn't have been that difficult for us to do and um but we
took the vote. Council member Matson, >> I just want people at home to watch what's happening here. And then when you hear people talking about relationship building and and you know
um working together, this is the reality. Okay. I don't see any other hands up. So with that, um, could we do a roll call vote, please? >> Moore, >> yes. White,
>> no. >> Organ, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I >> Hendrickson, >> I >> Nissmeer, >> yes. >> Matson, >> no. >> Nelson, >> yes.
>> That motion passes. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, and as the clerk said, that motion carries. That was six votes were needed for that motion. Right. On to mayor and council reports. Um, any council members who have uh reports?
Council member Nisser. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I would like to report on the Caslay Food Commission meeting. It was held March 11th at the Metro Cog offices. Um we were able to discuss uh Klay County at that uh meeting. We have taken a new format for
2026 and we are highlight highlighting the seven jurisdictions that uh all participate in um the Casclay food commission. And so Klay County uh chose to highlight um how they participate in food systems by having a presentation
from local uh residents about municipal um organics composting. They are working with the Klay County solid waste um group to apply for a grant in April. So look for some possibilities for
commercial and residential um organics composting. If you don't know what organics composting is, it's all sort of your food waste. And it is a um composting site that would be able to manage even some of those really fancy composting cups that you see or
silverware. um those would be able to be handled at that facility in addition to all of the food waste that you have at your home. Um the other thing that was highlighted was the Klay County land development code. Um land development codes have now made it more possible for
people to engage in um sales of food that they grow on their land, animal um apiaries, um apiaries or bees also um wine. There are a lot of um really great food um inclusions that Klay County has
recently done. Um our highlighted communities on our next meeting May 13th at 10:30 a.m. again at Metro Cog, which is in downtown Fargo, adjacent to the City Fargo uh chambers. Um we will be highlighting Horus and West Fargo. And
if you're like, "Wait, Heather, I don't want to know anything about Horus and West Fargo." I think you're wrong because um we will be c talking about community orchards, um Boulevard Gardening, and uh a variety of very cool things that have to do with the food system. So, I encourage you to join us.
It is a free and open meeting where we have lots of great conversations about policy as well as the residents who are impacted by our metro area um governments. Uh I was uh going to make sure to highlight the public housing meeting which is tomorrow, Tuesday,
March 24th. It is at Riverview Heights at 11:30 in the morning. Um please join us. Uh we not only have lunch but we are having an open public um hearing tomorrow and so that would be great to have some folks from our uh community there. Our solid waste advisory
committee for March uh which would have been this Thursday has been cancelled. So, look for us um talking about trash and fabulous things like organics, composting on Thursday, April 23rd at 8 am at the Resource Recovery Center. Also, for your calendars, an Earth Day
celebration and proclamation is going to be held on Wednesday, April 22nd uh at 10 a.m. at the Resource Recovery Center. It's a wonderful time to share what great things are going on in Klay County and the city of Morehead um for Earth Day.
I would also like to mention the um women's history month and global market that we have here tomorrow night from 5 to 7:30. As you may or may not know, the historical and cultural society of Klay County always has free admissions on Tuesday, but tomorrow is extra special
because they will not only have a global market which is uh put on in collaboration with the cultural and uh and historical society of Klay County, but also inclusive Morhead and the indigenous association. There will be uh women's history month trivia, food, music, and wonderful things that you can
buy from local vendors. And that is all I have for updates. >> Right. Thank you so much. Uh Council Member Borggan, >> I think White had her hand up first. >> I'm sorry, Council Member White. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh on the 18th I attended the Red River Recovery
Initiative meeting and I just wanted to highlight the presentation that we had from Sarah Opitz from the Lotus Center. Um she gave some really valuable information about a new program they have the solid ground program. Um it's fairly new but what they're doing is
they are working to identify barriers for traditional housing for folks that are in recovery. Um and they have some housing that that um they've secured in Romkey Park. So far they've served uh 24
folks who have um are in recovery and of those 17 have already successfully transitioned into independent living. Um I also want to mention the MAP bus meeting. We are um starting to work on really solidifying our plans for
budgeting. Hopefully the process will go a little more smoothly this year. Um, and I wanted to mention that one of the things that I brought up at that meeting is there are new federal policies on commercial driver's licenses that will be um restricting and revoking CDLs for
immigrants seeking asylum, refugees, and DACA recipients. And so, one of the things that we need to do is look at the how that will impact. We've had a long-standing driver shortage. We finally were getting to where we are almost um with our latest searches
almost up to full capacity for map bus drivers. Um obviously we have this could be detrimental. We have a lot of drivers that would fall under that and under the new federal changes they um even someone without any
tickets or any infractions um will not have their CDL renewed if they fall under one of those um categories. Um, on the 14th I volunteered at the St. Patrick's Day 5K and 10K. And I just wanted to mention um all of the great
things that I heard about our staff in public works and law enforcement that the race organizers were so impressed by Morehead and how easy it was to work with uh folks in the city, how communicative, how proactive they were. And so I just wanted to get that out
there and thank them. Um, council member Nissa Meyer mentioned the uh um global market and I'll me the only thing I will add to that is it's all this month's global market is featuring women entrepreneurs particularly for women's
history month. And then lastly, I had I wanted to congratulate Hope Inc. on another really successful um hockey for hope fundraiser. Um this year I got to um participate with two local running groups. So I got to
introduce them to Hope Inc. We had 22 people on the ice yesterday. Um it was a great event and just another um chance to see the great work by Hope Inc. So um uh just they're a gem. Thank you.
>> All right, Council Member Borggan. Thank you, Madam Mayor. So, um, I'm on the Morehead Public Service Commission representing the city council. And a couple weeks ago, the DNR asked for a special meeting with some
members of Morehead Public Service. So, it was me and um, our water plant manager, a couple of our um, technicians and uh, Travis Schmidt, who is the executive director of Morehead Public
Service. and they wanted to discuss the levels of the aquafer both of Morhead aquifer and the Red River aquifer and frankly you know when you get a call I got a call at home from um the DNR wanting to know if I'd be at that meeting it, you know, makes you a little
nervous when that DNR is calling to say what's going on with your water supply over there in Morehead. So it was a very good meeting. There were four DNR officials that came and you know we talked about the two different aquifers. You know, we get our majority of our water from the Red, but during certain
times of the year when the water quality is not good, they have to blend water from those two aquifers with the Red River so that the quality of our drinking water and other water is, you know, acceptable to the public. So, um, I would just like to call out, you know,
our water plant staff, um, Travis, etc. for really being good stewards of the water supply in in Morehead. And we walked away from that with a good plan. They understood more of what we were doing and why the aquifers are at the levels that they are. If you look at the
trend line, they started meeting with Morehead several years ago and the aquifers have replenished since they started meeting. So it was a very good meeting and overall I was really really pleased with the staff that we have. So I wanted to thank them.
Um my second uh report is about um the legislative work group which um council member Nelson and I sit on and we went down to Morehead Day at the capital which is a yearly meeting that is um
coordinated and put on by the chamber of com the Fargo Morehead Chamber of Commerce. There were 47 um residents of the Fargo Morehead area, businesses at the schools, etc. that went down there to talk to our legislators about our legislative
priorities. Um we are, you know, they are all really impressed that we would bring almost 50 people down there to meet with them. We had a room um in the Senate building as well as the um the representatives centennial office
building. Approximately 20 representatives met with us, state senators, etc. our local reps, uh, Senator Coupac, Senator Mark Johnson from East Grand Forks, Representative Joy who is in Holly, Representative
Gander up in, um, again in Grand Forks area, all came to those meeting rooms and met with us. uh the speaker of the house came, staff from the governor's office, the deputy commissioner of agriculture, the executive director of explore Minnesota,
and several other reps and senators all came to those rooms where we were, you know, 50 strong, and they all told us what they were doing and and uh how important it is for large groups to come down and, you know, tell them what our
priorities are. Uh Ryan is going to talk about that. We also had a really good dinner. Um and most of those people that met with us also joined us for dinner which was also very nice so that we could continue to talk with them about what our priorities are and how they
could help us. We had other representatives who weren't able to meet with us in those rooms come to dinner. So that was nice as well. We did get a meeting with the Morehead Representative Heather Keeler. she asked us to come and meet with her in the hallway at the cap
and we did that as well. So, you know, I just can't say enough about what great participation we have from our community to go down there to to try to get the lawmakers to understand what the priorities are for Morehead. So, I'll
let uh Council Member Nelson talk about that. >> Okay. >> Council member Nelson. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh thank you, Council Member Borggan. Um, you did a great job uh summarizing. I echo your comments. I think it was a great couple days uh down
there. The a number of legislators commented on uh how impressive it was with the number of u people we brought down from the government entities and the local businesses and we came down um together and um sent our our messages
and uh brought our information down there and uh they were um it was it was a good couple days. We the I will say that uh um I'll say all the legislators were um I'll uh for a lack of a better
term they were excited or at least uh hopeful that there would be a bonding bill passed. Some you know might not have been uh as you know weren't quite sure if it would get passed but at least they were like we're going to give it the old college try type of thing. Um so we'll
see. we we'll uh there was a lot of comments about people um at least wanting to work on a bipartisan way to get stuff done. So, I I hope that's the case. I hope they all can work together and get there so we can get our priorities met. Um it's been we've had
some good uh communication with Senator um uh Coupac uh who's um who's well, he's been working with uh the city on flood protection stuff for for years. So, we think that we'll hopefully make some progress. that's been kind of I'll
say been recycling for years. Uh we just need to finish that off. So I think uh we have some options. We'll see what comes out of the legislature this year. We hope to get a bonding bill done as well. We know that uh the East Grand Representative from East Grand Forks,
Gander, has uh taken on the uh well, Representative Gander and Representative Joy have taken on the uh border cities legislation um and really moving that uh forward. I know that uh um uh so I don't
know where that is currently since then, but I know that they'll be um hopefully moving that forward. They were excited to take it on. So, but just echoing the uh echoing what council member Borggan said. They was a it was a good day. uh a shout out to the chamber for a a great
day organizing uh those that event and um those times and also with our uh staff with uh Lisa Bod, our governmental affairs and Dan Molly um doing the work behind the scenes to get those appointments and stuff scheduled. It was it was a good couple days. So, we'll
also be going down uh uh this week uh for a CGMC coalition of greater Minnesota cities um I'll say uh conference and also meeting with the legislature uh legislators uh this week as well. So hopefully to can report back
some more um in the coming weeks. But um that's all I have on that piece. My other uh other report is just a congratulations to uh Sergeant uh John Hansen with Morhead Police Department. A great selection. I'm sure you had I'm
sure Chief Helmick, you had all sorts of great candidates to uh to select from. Um but uh John Hansen um top-notch candidate. I'm sure um he'll make uh uh make you proud. Um he's a great candidate. I've known him for a number
of years and uh I couldn't be more excited for him to uh move up in the leadership role at Morhead Police Department. So, congratulations, Sergeant Hansen. That's all I have. Mayor, >> right? Thank you, uh, Council Member Matson. >> Um, I was not at the uh legislative work
group at the chamber day at the um legislature. I I am I was told that we as the city did not reach out to Representative Keeler until for the first time until the day before the legisl legislative session began which is very late to try to get any kind of
legislative priorities established and that um the me like the the ask for the meeting came after her schedule was already full and so that's why it had it was in the in the hallway between meetings. So, I just didn't want to leave the impression that uh Representative Keeler doesn't work hard
for Morehead. She does. Um but she's only half of the equation. I also attended the um Metrocog Policy Board meeting on March 19th. There is a uh mill and overlay project that was um planned for 34th Street North from 3rd
Avenue North to 28 a 28th Avenue North. That was planned for next summer, but um it's being planned now to be pushed back to 2028 for um to be done in con in conjunction with the roundabout that is planned for 8th Avenue North and 34th
Street North. I for one cannot wait for that roundabout. That intersection is a menace. I should say it's not the intersection's fault. It's it's our fault. The drivers the cars don't drive themselves yet. Um, so anyway, Milan Overlay on 30 34th Street North will be
pushed now is the plan to 2028, right? Our other council members have any reports? Okay. All right. uh for mayor reports and I I just wanted to let everyone know that um council member Matson is correct
that um our governmental affairs director wasn't able to provide that information at the time right leading up before our lobby day at the capital. She was going through um uh hospice with her mom during that time. So, it slipped her mind a little bit and um we weren't even
sure if she was going to come down because um right before her mom passed away. Um and I know that Miss Lisa Bod did send her apologies to Representative Keeler and all the other legislators as well. Um
I I don't think she thought it was going to be an issue since our our um since I've been mayor. really the number one priority we've had has been flood mitigation. So that has not changed at all. And the last couple years it's been our enterprise uh zone as well. So they
haven't changed since last year or the year before. Um it was just more of a heads up and the League of Minnesota Cities does a great job as is a chamber of reaching out to all of the members. So um again just apologies on behalf of the city I guess for um getting that
notice out late. Um, one thing that, um, Council Member Borggan and Council Member Nelson didn't mention was, um, it wasn't just the chamber. Um, well, I think you mentioned it a little bit, um, Council Member Nelson. We really appreciate that the, um, Fargo
Morehead Chamber works with our schedules. Um, um, you know, we have to take time off from work and take PTO in order to participate in these events down in the cities and they work. so that we only have to go down one time um
for the league conference and and the league lobby day at the capital. So uh we went down and we got the opportunity with the League of Minnesota cities. We got to hear from our Senate uh majority leader and Senate minority leader as well as our House leaders and as our
number one priority in Morehead is flood mitigation work which would require a bonding bill. Um I think it was the Senate uh my no it was a house um one of the house leaders that said uh 5050.
They kind of did this fast rapid um percentage of if a bonding bill is going to be passed and the lowest was 50/50. The rest of them were a little bit more positive. So, we took away from that that there might be a good chance of a bonding bill. And we tried to stress the
need for our flood mitigation projects to be fully funded um and continually stress that uh six years ago when I started doing the lobbying as the mayor, the cost of a lift station in the city
of Morehead was about 1.1 to 1.2 million. In six years, it's gone over to $2 million. So something that was maybe 10 million, $9 million is now almost doubled in price.
If we wait another six years, um our asking for our seven lift stations right now is $18 million. If we wait another six years, it's going to be $36 million. The reason for um and and we stress this with everybody that we talked to was
that even though the flood diversion project will be operational by next year, there are residents in the city of Morehead and businesses that are continuing to have to pay mandatory flood insurance
because FEMA will not reertify the area until the projects within the city and outside of the city are completed, which means that bringing a tractor to a lift station is
not accordance to FEMA, that is not a permanent resolution because that tractor could stop um and that would in ensue flooding. So that is a reason why it is so imperative for Morehead to get
these projects funded so that the people who are paying the mandatory flood insurance which on the low end is about $2,000 a year upwards of $6 to $7,000 a year. And that money going back into the pockets of our residents would be
vitally important to those individuals. So, um, again, those individuals and businesses will continue to have to pay that flood insurance until our projects are done and until we get there, you know, find a way
to pay for these lift stations. Um, so that again has been our number one priority. It's been the number one priority since I've been uh the mayor. This is my sixth year. So, um, League of Minnesota cities and then it was a
chamber day at and we were able to do that all in two days. Tomorrow, we're going to go down and stress again the need for flood mitigation funding and some border city tax legislation changes. Um, which is just statutory changes. There's no money attached to
that. Um, so that's just kind of uh the recap with some of the lobbying work that we're doing down at the capital. Um, I was traveling for my my professional job, so I wasn't able to attend as many events for the city of Morehead the last two weeks. Um, but I
was able to attend uh um the Nuro Nur lighting for Eid and the new year with the Kurdish community. They lit a fire um contained fire in uh Gooseberry Park uh to celebrate the new year um which
was wonderful and I appreciated the invitation to participate in that. And then uh the council um as has we've been doing for the last six years put together a uh a sled hockey team and we had to recruit some others. Um we didn't
have as many council members this year participate. It was council member McDougall, uh, Council Member Hendrickson, uh, myself from the council and assistant city manager Mike Greets, and then we we, uh, recruited maybe bribed our family members to participate, uh, so we could actually
have a team. Um, and this was the first year, I think, that we actually won. So, I'm really excited about the fact that we took away a win. And as council member White said, it is an amazing event. There are so many teams now that
are participating and I think Hope Inc. does such a great job introducing those of us who are ablebodied to be able to experience a a sport that you can still do um even if
you don't have the ability to maybe walk like some of us. um just I really appreciate all the work that they do in the community um and helping everybody have the the ability to have fun and and participate. And I know that one of the individuals last year that participates
on sled hockey was actually trying out for the Olympic team. Um I'm not sure if he made it or not. I needed to find that out. But just to give you the caliber of the type of sled hockey players we have in the city of Morehead. So that is all. Oh, and I did want to give just um a
quick update. Um we did have not had another meeting with the mayor's ad hoc committee. Um but based on and I know council member Namera gave a phenomenal recap at our last council meeting, but um we are going to be having another
meeting again on April 3rd. Um there are additional individuals that are going to be invited to maybe address some of the questions that have been raised around housing issues um and around school attendance. Um so Morhead housing, Morhead public schools, First Link which
is a repository of all services in our community, Community Connect which is um an organization that uh has received money and from the Bush Foundation to assist with legal assistance. Um and then Justice North with Alto is doing
more work around immigration. They are going to be also invited to the meeting. So uh hopefully at the next council meeting um and then we're also working to translate again this is council member Nissa Meyer reported on this last time too but just reiterate we're
working to translate the law enforcement information sheet that was disseminated to the public um but it was only done in English. So this sheet is being disseminated into multiple languages and our city attorney and staff are also working to condense eight pages of legal
questions Q&A that were were given to us into something that's much more digestible to our community partners and also to the members of the public. Um and so again I will be able to provide a much more um robust update after we have
our next meeting. So with that um I don't have anything else so I will turn it over to you city manager Molly. Nothing to report tonight, Mayor. >> All right. And we do not have an executive session. Um but we do have a item on new business.
Uh Council Member Nissme. >> Thank you. Yes, that was my um uh ad. I want to thank Council Member White for the second to put immigration control and enforcement um on new business. And it really was similarly to uh the mayor's updates to let folks know um at
our last city council meeting which was two weeks ago. Um I uh shared a report of our first meeting and I wanted to remind folks that we are meeting again. I just learned tonight from the mayor's um report that we are having some new um folks join us with some information
which I think is excellent. A question had been asked from a resident if the ad hoc meeting that the mayor the ad hoc group that the mayor had put together was an open public meeting. And based on the city legal council um feedback and research, uh the ad hoc meetings are not
subject to Minnesota's open meeting law. And so I want to thank residents for continuing to reach out. Um I think community engagement and feedback is really important on all of our um uh things that we do in the city. I also want to appreciate legal counsel for
doing that research and helping us understand um how we can um be engaged and be uh transparent, open, and get some work done in uh an ad hoc format. And that was all I had. Mayor,
>> thank you. Council member Dismeer, and with that, it's 7:33. We're adjourned. Good night, Morehead.