good evening everyone it is March 24th 2025 it's 5:31 p.m i am Mayor Shelley Carlson the Morehead City Council welcomes public input on issues listed on the agenda of
general community interest time and council permitting speakers will be limited to three minutes each if you would like to address the council during the meeting you'll need to fill out a form provided by the city clerk and we will call you up during the citizens to address council um item on the agenda
you will need to state your name and if you are a morid 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
moreheadmn.gov we the Morhead City Council collectively and with gratitude acknowledge the sacred land the city of Morid is built upon we acknowledge the people who have resided here for generations and recognize that the spirit of the Dakota Ajiway Mati and all indigenous communities permeates this land that could I get a roll call please
ryan Nelson here nicole Matson here heather Nisser here emily Moore deb White here lisa Borggan sebastian McDougall I think he was just connecting
uh Chuck Hendrickson here mayor Shelley Carlson here and for those who are able please stand for the pledge of allegiance right and with that do we have any agenda amendments yes mayor we have one the addition of an item 13D which is a resolution to approve the title and summary for the ordinance um
that is listed um 2025-02 um this is um yeah the the title and summary which requires seven votes uh to record okay the ordinance which would be approved by resolution okay and
with that do I have a motion to approve the agenda amendment so move Nissa Meyer there a second second Nelson motion and a second any discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I i i all right
that motion carries oh that's right okay roll call please nelson I matson yes nissa Meyer yes moore white yes mcdougall Hendrickson yes
all right and that motion carries and is Sorry I got a hair in my face sebastian is not on i see two attendings but Sebastian's not on yet yeah and then we'll need his vote on this for the agenda amendment okay all right
for the consent agenda so for both do you need a do you need seven votes for the agenda amendment as well okay no just for the consent agenda okay so with the agenda amendment though that
did carry that motion passed okay all right we will wait for the consent agenda oh I believe he's on move to approve consent agenda a second second Matson have a motion a second for
the uh consent agenda um any discussion see none um roll call vote please nelson hi matson yes nisser yes moore yes white yes mcdougall
yes hendrickson yes right that motion carries moving on to recognitions and presentations um our presentation tonight is from the FM Coalition to End Homelessness and I will turn it over to Miss Chandler Hesinger the executive director and Taylor
Severson from the United Way thanks for being here tonight yeah good evening uh mayor and council members both in person and virtually uh we appreciate the opportunity to be here this evening and share an update about the collaborative efforts of the FM
Coalition to End Homelessness uh alongside the United Way of Caslay uh my name is Chandler Esinger and I am the executive director of the coalition and um I would love to just share some updates about the work that we've been doing uh so in partnership with the
United Way um you know the coalition's mission has always been that we work in partnership to achieve permanent solutions to prevent and end homelessness in our region and as this um community issue has continued to grow
we know that it requires consistent intentional leadership um thought leadership uh coordination of services um and a variety of buyin from our different stakeholder groups so we wanted to update you all with some of the progress that we've made so far on
that collaborative effort uh and a little bit about just the state of homelessness in our community overall so just to ground us in some shared definitions um when we think about homelessness um it really means that we're talking about people in our
community who lack a fixed regular nighttime residence um and that can that actually includes a variety of different folks um people who are staying in shelter or some sort of transitional non-permanent housing situation people who are living in an unstable uh maybe
doubled up situation uh forced to stay with a family member uh because they have no other place to stay uh we also know that this means that we have a um some unsheltered folks in our community as well and so that definition of homelessness depending on the population that we're talking about includes a lot
of different types of situations so here in the Fargo Morehead area on average we have about 1,50 people on any night who are experiencing homelessness uh and we also know uh based on data collected from our homeless liaison in
the different school districts that we also have about 600 students in our community who are experiencing homelessness um you may have heard that nationally homelessness has been on the rise in recent years um one of the data points that we point to that we use to
kind of determine uh the increase or decrease in homelessness over time is called the point in time count it happens nationally one night every year um and that can really help us understand are we seeing an increase in homelessness over time or are we seeing
a sustained and systematic reduction and what we know at the national level is that overall there's been an 18% increase in homelessness um in the United States and locally we see some of those trends as well um compared to 2023
we have seen about a 5% increase in homelessness in our region uh now that 150 individuals again is an estimation on any given night that does not necessarily represent in a given year the number of households individuals youth or families who are entering and
exiting out of homelessness so that's just one number that we use to kind of understand and it just helps us quantify the number of people who are in an unstable living situation on any given night so when we think about all of the diversity of situations that people find
themselves in where they might lack that regular fixed place to sleep at night we actually have a really incredible continuum of service providers who support all different parts of what we call the homelessness response system uh a lot of times when we think about
shelter uh excuse me when we think about homelessness our mind will immediately go to emergency shelter and shelter is a crucial intervention in our community that addresses that immediate crisis of homelessness and we also know that there is a network of service providers that
both work to prevent and end homelessness um that outreach to individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness uh that provide supportive services to help people move out of that situation um and then also help folks maintain stability long term so you can see there's a kind
of a wheel up on the screen here that shows all of the different sections that make up the homelessness response system some organizations exist in all five parts of that wheel others have kind of a niche population or a niche focus area
depending on what they specialize in and the expertise that they have but all together all of those different wheels of the system make up what we call the homelessness response system so it's really important for us to understand as we think about what it means to collaborate what it means to work
towards solutions to prevent and end homelessness making homelessness rare brief and one time that we understand there is a collective of agencies across the community who are working in partnership to achieve that goal now the some of the things that we know about
our homelessness response system is that um because we're seeing that systemat that increase in homelessness over time um that we are not able to sufficiently meet the needs of everybody who is experiencing that housing crisis in our community
and so when we unpack that wheel and we think about how what it takes for a system to be in an optimal state uh we know that there are certain parts of our system that are currently overburdened that are currently taking um the brunt of most of our homelessness crisis in
the community and then there are other parts of our system that do really incredible work that to help prevent and kind of end that crisis but they're underresourced in our community and so our outreach and coordinated entry system kind of the inflow into homelessness is something that we're
really good at we're really good at figuring out who in our community is experiencing homelessness who is in crisis but what we don't always have the resources to do is help someone quickly navigate and end that that experience and that's where we tend to see again
that overutilization of e of emergency shelter when we think about what it takes to bring this system into an optimal state where we are preventing homelessness for as many people as possible and moving as many families and households into permanent housing we
really need to balance out these different uh columns to ensure that the whole system is meeting that need and so the optimal state of what we're seeking is to ensure that no part of that system is overburdened and that we are moving families and individuals quickly through
that housing crisis and into a more permanent situation and that means um sections of that uh wheel uh the agencies that make up that part of the system are able to scale up their efforts to meet demand and we have less burden on those emergency crisis driven
services in our community um and this uh dashboard up here kind of shows what that al optimal state would look like i'm going to turn things over to Taylor uh to talk a little bit more about the work that we're doing to optimize that system both in the short
term with some emergent needs in our community and also uh some more longer term strategy to sustain uh that optimum state thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit more again my name is Taylor Severson i serve as the director of community impact with United Way of Cass
Clay and our our partnership is really unique because it takes this focus of um the work it's going to take to address this crossborder issue it is certainly not one city one organization's
um uh opportunity or responsibility to address alone it's going to take this multi- sector and multi- uh jurisdictional approach to truly address homelessness in our community and our organizations serve a really critical
critical role in serving as that backbone infrastructure to bringing along those really critical service providers and the other sectors that cooperate and intersect with individuals experiencing homelessness and so our
initiative is very focused on this regional cross- sector approach we have learned over the past couple of years that our community is very engaged in this in this community challenge as well and one of the things that we've been hearing from business leaders from
service providers from the public is that this issue needs coordination strategy and collaboration to truly um have an impact on what we're seeing in that increase in uh homelessness across our community and so we've identified
that there are absolutely some critical shortterm needs that our community needs to address in order to uh keep that system from becoming further destabilized these short-term solutions are things that our community needs to
address right now as winter programming starts to come to an end i know it feels like spring today but there are many programs that will exist across our region through April and as those temporary programs end we will if we do
nothing see an increase in unsheltered homelessness of about 55 to 65 individuals entering homelessness without the adequate services or services who have the capacity to serve them appropriately and so this is one of the things that we're focused on right
now this is our our role and responsibility to address that potential for unsheltered homelessness an increase in that unsheltered homelessness as we uh get to the end of winter we also know that if we do
nothing based on the trends across our our um nation that homelessness will likely continue to rise across our community in the coming years and so we also need a community strategy that is comprehensive and
crossjurisdictional and this is our opportunity this initiative's opportunity to develop a long-term comprehensive plan to address homelessness this will allow us to integrate both those service providers that are really critical in this work
who have that subject matter expertise in serving people and those cooperating or intersecting organizations to create a planning framework that will allow us to address challenges in the way that are very unique to our region we know that folks don't simply live in one city
and and use services in one city or another but instead are leveraging uh the incredible resources across our community and so it's going to take this regional regional approach through these efforts this long-term comprehensive strategy and
those short-term solutions that are going to help us address our community's crisis right now we expect to see a sustained and systematic reduction in homelessness that is our goal we know we cannot achieve that um with with uh one single action or one year of programming
but instead will be this um cumulative effect of these resources working in alignment with one another as a result of this or as a in a in an effort to coordinate this work our organization serving as that backbone
infrastructure to help lead people together and bring accountability to this work and unified messaging we have um brought together a steering committee of 15 service providers who work across our region who are focused on serving people experiencing homelessness or at
risk of homelessness those service providers on that steering committee have been our our source of securing some of those effective solutions for that short-term action that we're working towards we also know that it's
really critical to bring other folks along and to make space for others and so through a regional planning process we will also be engaging about 45 additional stakeholders through a uh regional council process and we're excited to start to um announce more of
that process in the coming weeks and share more about what that what that structure will look like right now as well as for the for the future to effectively uh do this work we need both uh human capital and the um the the brain power of folks who are
providing that subject matter expertise as well as financial resources and we are well on our way to securing this initial investment of $2.5 million to support those short-term strategies for about 12 to 18 months and through this
um tiered approach making sure that we are bringing service providers closest to this work first those with subject matter expertise and then engaging those other organizations civic leaders business leaders and cooperating sectors to help us build this work long term
that we're taking a really strategic and targeted approach to addressing our community's challenges so uh as we work to achieve uh solutions both for the short-term needs of our community that potential increase in unsheltered homelessness if we kind of
status quo do not intervene and also lay the foundation for that more comprehensive approach that is required to see that sustained and systematic reduction over time that's the work that we're doing right now and so um getting this crucial kind of initial group of stakeholders and steering committee
members together helps us lay the foundation for that longer term strategy and we are so pleased at the amount of engagement and support that we have received across the system in all five of those sectors in that wheel uh that I shared earlier who are invested in
seeing that um that s that integrated approach that intentional strategy development to ensure that we are all seeing the datadriven decreases uh over time so our vision uh for United to End Homelessness
the partnership between United Way and the coalition is that we endeavor to create a community where homelessness is prevented whenever possible or or brief and that everyone has access to the programs and services they need to thrive um so that is a really short very
quick overview of a really complicated system and complex plan uh we would love to answer any uh questions um kind of respecting uh your thoughts and feedback on this and we will continue to be engaging both the city of Morehead um
and Klay County in this process as well but wanted to give you at least a little bit of of an overview on the work that we're doing right now and what we hope to achieve in the future thank you so much uh Chandler and Taylor i know that um I don't even know how
many meetings that we've had or that I've had with you guys since last October I think or even probably September um and I just want to thank you guys for um sitting down with us learning how the city of Morhead is
structurally set up um and how they are different than the city of Fargo um you know it's you know we talked a lot about how Fargo Cass public health is the city of Fargo and the county and on the Minnesota side um the city of Morhead
doesn't have a public health department we don't and we used to have housing but that has combined with the county so we don't have the departments or the staff or the resources in the city structure to be able to provide those services that they do on the Fargo side but what we do is that um when our law
enforcement in particular get calls um we don't usually send a police officer out it it's likely going to be maybe a cadet but um it's our public works folks who are putting you know the signs out that they're the ones working with them and then we make the referrals to CAP LP
and they have somebody who really um goes out and works with the individuals who are unhoused that um we find in our community and then we have that community navigator position within the law enforcement um agency in order to help folks find the services so I know
that that took um you know some conversations and then how how can we support and assist with the city when we don't have those departments or those people in our city um and it's really the county that has those services and
those people and also the funding um so just really appreciate you providing um an opportunity for the city to provide that education at just um for um smaller groups but also larger groups as well because um knowing what limitations
people have when they're at the table is also as beneficial as knowing the resources that they can contribute so um we don't typically allow and I know that we talked about this i don't typically allow a lot of Q&A back and forth between um uh the council and people doing presentations um it's just mostly
an opportunity for people to present information uh the council take it in and then if they want more information or details to be able to connect with folks but because this has been such a um a flash point of a an issue in our
community considering what happened with Churches United last fall um I will allow the opportunity for a few questions to be asked if council members have any so any questions or comments by council members council member Matson thank you
um thank you for the presentation um is do we have any sense and this this might be too far a field and please tell me you'll tell me later if it is but do we have any sense um I guess well first part is how how much funding for the
system wherever geographically it lives comes through from the federal government to either a state or municipality or whatever that's number one and then number two do we have any sense of how impacts to um cuts to transit services might have some impacts
on people experiencing homelessness not not in the sense of people that are currently experiencing homelessness but like create conditions for people to find themselves experiencing homelessness who currently don't have that issue because they have transit yeah those are great questions and I
think um we know that there are variety of agencies um throughout our community who will be impacted by any federal cuts to housing and homeless related services that being said we also know that kind of given our regional um just nature um
we do not receive the type of infusion of resources that other communities across the nation see and so um for many years it has been um actually fundraising that organizations do on their own um that does supplement many of their budgets so um some agencies
certainly have a predominantly federal or state funding that they utilize but oftent times agencies are doing their own fundraising and de and uh development in order to to be able to serve um the population that needs them and so we are um what we know is that
our community is really invested in solving this issue on a regional level and so we are really seeking to optimize whatever federal funding will remain as we see how this um moves forward as well as maximizing state dollars so that public private partnership that we are
really trying to develop by having that buyin from other local stakeholders who have the financial resources to support this work just can unlock a little bit more funding or can help it can help those dollars go further so we're analyzing the impacts of all of that and agencies have been pretty candid with us
um if they're facing any specific challenges but right now um we are moving forward kind of status quo with that knowing that we need an infusion of resources in general to meet demand and so if those federal funds go away it will just be more so um and of course
when you're speaking about transportation I mean kind of anything in a community that can disrupt somebody's ability to access services is of course a challenge um however I would say that's not necessarily inherently new to our region either um I think that's something that we've always
struggled with but agencies also work really creatively to um collaborate on the transportation resources that do exist and so there's so many different factors that can um kind of put uh a community or a family or a household in
a situation that could put them at risk of homelessness and all of those factors have a role to play so um that's kind of my general answer to a very big question you council member Nisser thank you Madam Mayor i also want to sincerely appreciate both of you coming and
sharing just a brief highlight into the magic that you do um I had a couple of follow-up questions to your presentation um I uh as many as others probably were shocked to see the numbers as you know over a thousand people in our community a night are homeless um and so I am
curious when you talk about our region um what does that mean so people can have like a scope of uh is it the metro area like Fargo West Fargo um Morehead and just sort of to get a better grasp of the the number of folks who like you
said it's not you're just a Morehead or a Minnesota resident you're not just a Fargo or a North Dakota resident that it's more complicated in that and so we have to collaboratively work together and so just to get you know scope on you know those students are they just K12 students and are they throughout the
metro area or just a better feel for the individuals impacted my second question is how will we um where can we find more information you said like this was like a dipping the toe like just a taste for big things to come where can people find
out more information about the good work that is being done and how they can help be supportive be impactful because Chandler I you're completely right our community is really close-knit and really interested in being part of the solution so absolutely so uh that number
uh 150 is representative of the Fargo Morehead metro area um and that is a number that um we have used uh that we have analyzed over the past several years that that remains actually kind of consistent despite the fact that we've seen this increase which is a little
kind of doesn't make sense necessarily um but that means that we're seeing people kind of move through the system right so that's just on a any given night um the 600 students are the metro area as well um do you have Yeah yeah
i'd love to share so one of the things that's unique about uh the the data about students experiencing homelessness is in that that count of 150 one of the one of the challenging things about that number is it doesn't necessarily capture those who are doubled up who might be
relying on a non-permanent or temporary situation whereas that number around students comes directly from our metro schools who are serving uh homeless students right now regardless of their specific definition of homelessness if they're in a shelter or if they're doubled up or if they're in a an unsafe
situation and about half of that 600 are from the Morehead side of of our public schools thank you that was very helpful and then uh to answer your second question about where can people uh learn more uh we have a really incredible robust website
um hosted by United Way about the United to End Homelessness initiative uh we have a whole host of data on there um a lot of other information that we've shared in various other settings that people can find and access it's also where our fundraising link is located and then as always the coalition website
has a ton of information about the work of the coalition the state of homelessness in our community and I always encourage folks to sign up for our coalition newsletter it comes out weekly we tend to share a lot of good information both with people who are working in homelessness and people who are concerned about it so would welcome
um participation that way from the public as well excellent thank you thank you so much Chandler and Taylor um just really appreciate the the work that you guys do in the community um the coordination and the collaboration that you model every single day and um just
the sheer grit and resilience that you you demonstrate so thanks for coming tonight and I hope that people sign up um I get the homeless coalition email and you guys do have a lot of great information in there thank you so much
right moving on to the approval of the March 10th 2025 meeting minutes to have a motion to approve so move Nelson is there a second second matson motion in a second any discussion seeing none roll call vote
please nissa Meyer yes moore yes white yes mcdougall yes hendrickson yes nelson yes matson right that motion approves or passes um are there any citizens in the
audience who wish to address the council at this time um and if you Yep and if you do um please feel free to come up if you haven't filled out the form you can do that after you
speak oh during the public hearing okay never mind we'll wait um other citizens in the audience who wish to address the council outside of the public hearing in regards to the items on the agenda seeing none um moving on to our
public hearing first one I will have uh turn this one over to Mr clay Lexon um from our engineering department but first I will need a motion to open the public hearing for River Drive South 18th Avenue South 3rd Street South and M Street South Underground Utility and
Street Improvements so move Nisser so move Deb White count my second by White you can pick whichever one you want for the motion and whichever one you want for the second because they both kind of said both so I have a motion and a
second any discussion see none roll call vote please yes McDougall yes White yes Moore yes Nissmeer yes Matson yes Nelson yes all right that
motion carries and we are in the public hearing or the open public hearing portion of this agenda item and I'll turn it over to you Clay thank you very much Mayor all right thank you mayor members of council this is the public hearing for underground utility and street
improvement improvements this is project 25203 this includes Elm Street South portions of River Drive South 18th Avenue South and 3rd Street South this project will consist of street improvements pavement improvements spot
curb and gutter and sidewalk repairs and some cast iron water mane replacement these streets were originally constructed between 1955 and 1961 there have not been any major street projects on them since the streets are generally in poor condition
and require a rehab the pavement condition index or PCI has a low range of 17 to 48 there is sidewalk throughout the project area with no gaps however most
ADA pedestrian ramps in the area are non-compliant for utilities the storm sewer is in acceptable condition the majority of the sanitary sewer is vitrified clay pipe but it's been lined and is in acceptable working condition all the water man in the area is PVC
except for River Drive South which is cast iron and will be replaced as a part of this project the proposed pavement include improvements include the rehab of all streets in the project area a rehab includes removing and replacing the
entire pavement section but the curbon gutter largely stays in place except for spot repairs no sidewalk or no new sidewalk is proposed but spot repairs will be needed on the existing sidewalk most of the pedestrian ramps in the area are
non-compliant like I mentioned so we will update those as we come through as I mentioned on River Drive South there is old cast iron water man that will be replaced with new PVC water mane and the city is partnering with MPS
to do that work under this contract there's approximately 13,000 ft of water man that will be replaced uh lastly Excel Energy will be replacing gas manes on all streets in the project area as a reminder Excel
Energy's project is not part of a city project but it will be happening at approximately the same time this is a map of the assessment area there are no collector streets in this project so there's only one rate which is the rehab rate which is $90 a
front foot there will be an assessment hearing later this fall so to note there the assessments are proposed assessments at this time they're not finalized until later this fall if residents have questions about assessments amounts how
to pay we'd encourage them to contact the city's special assessment coordinator that number is listed here it's also in the letter with the public hearing notice and residents can also contact the engineering department directly and we can get them in contact with the right
person there are a total of 41 properties within the assessment area the total amount being assessed is approximately $342,000 the average assessment is about $8,300 and the maximum assessment is a
little over $30,000 and that is the city property that is Alm Park we received bids for this project on March 12th the total project cost is expected to be about 1.52 million that includes construction contingencies
testing and fees on the funding side the city share of that cost is approximately $866,000 assessments are approximately $342,000 and the MPS share is estimated
to be approximately $314,000 aformational video was posted to the city's website um on February 14th as of today there were 41 views of that presentation and
we have received four different questions from the public since that video or since this project was started those projects or those questions pertained to construction duration to scheduling and
a number of questions related to access during construction the public hearing notice was mailed on March 13th there have been two questions as of today related to assessments from
residents for the schedule construction is expected for May through September and then the assessment hearing would be later this fall and then tonight after the closure of the public meeting we're asking for a for you to consider a resolution to
order the improvements and award the bid that's the end of my presentation you have any questions thank you very much um ma'am I believe that you wanted to speak during the public hearing portion of this item so if you want to come up to the
podium come right up there and you'll need to state your name and if you are Morehead resident and then you can go ahead with your question well good evening my name is Cheryl Wenheim and I'm a Morehead resident i work I live in Ward 3 so are they electronically
participating uh one of them is attending virtually and one of them is um not available tonight okay so my my public comments will be much shorter if I can ask him a question real quick go ahead so my understanding is that the water main project is not being paid for
by the by the residents and the public park areas the frontage is being paid for separately by the city okay excellent okay so great so all I want to say is when you award you have
to award it to somebody um it takes away my assessment issues but um those of you that live in South Morehead you've experienced uh we had two summers ago we had north of 12th Street South we had a lot along the river we had a lot a lot of streets being being rehabbed or I'm
not sure what they were doing and we also had a section this past summer that was an east west street just about two blocks right by the water tower both of those projects closed off those areas from essentially I I think about
May i didn't write the dates down until just before the snow flied in fact I think the snow was going when they were finally putting things down so ex I'm concerned about accessibility i live on one of these streets um almost no activity the entire summer they would
come out and do their stuff right i know they they go around the city and they do this and then they do it here and there but it didn't appear that there was much accountability in the contract the contract said you must finish by this date and I I my I don't have any knowledge of this but my observation is
that there's not much accountability in terms of making projects convenient for residents and when I mean convenient I mean simply able to access the streets and that east west th those two blocks i don't know what they were doing but you
could not drive north south you could not drive north from 12th Avenue to Main Street you could not drive north except the road along the river and all the way out to 8 8th uh street so there's no like we're on one
week or twoe period when your street is inaccessible so what I would like to do is have some accountability to the engineering firm so that the street is only closed during the time period at which they're actually working on the street and and it means a lot more than
you can possibly imagine those of you who had construction on your streets it's not just convenience so I would appreciate um some discussions with the engineering firm about that that's all I have do you have any questions for me thank you yeah we don't really do Q&A back and forth with the individuals who
are speaking it's just an opportunity for you to um express your thoughts and opinions to the council but um when we close the public hearing I will ask uh engineering because there are different reasons as to why um it might look like
they're not working on the road um and we have three of our really a lot of our engineering staff here tonight so I I have I've been in discussion with them and unfortunately I have to I have to go home with my children soon but I he has reached out to me and I've made my my
concerns known and they have been responsive so thank you wonderful thank you so much are there any other members um of the public who would like to um make a statement at this time seeing none I'd be looking for a
motion to close the public hearing portion of this item so move Nelson second Matson motion and a second any discussion seeing none roll call vote please matson yes nissa Meyer yes moore
yes white yes mcdougall yes hendrickson yes nelson yes right that motion carries we the public hearing is now closed and um I'm not
sure Clay if you want to respond to the questions regarding engineering contracts and length of time and when they're able to work and not work and why we close off so many blocks or not or if Tom or Bob would like to do that you guys need paper rock scissors
i we'd be happy to follow up with the resident too afterwards um we do have a lot of us here tonight be happy to do that um generally with street improvement projects when we're doing pavement work and utility work it's generally
um not I I wouldn't say impossible but generally our our duration for having that street torn up to the place where to the point where it's not accessible for vehicles that's usually at least a month um there's a number of things too
that can attribute to that being delayed i'd say there's also uh mechanisms mechanisms within that contract that allow us to you know help that contractor finish
that that on time uh if they go be go beyond our completion date too um we do have other measures such as liquidated damages that we uh can apply always do that but we can apply so but um we'd be happy to follow up afterwards too if she if Cheryl would like to stick around
that would be great and I know that sometimes with engineering firms they have staff and sometimes they're pulling the staff to go do a bigger project somewhere and then they bring them back and there's a variety of reasons um but I also can't I can certainly understand your frustration with not having access
for a summer um it's trying to balance all of those different things uh Council Member White you have your hand raised go ahead thank you Mayor uh first I just wanted to thank the resident for speaking and uh it's always best to contact staff directly but I'm one of
your ward three council members and if you can ever be of assistance feel free to contact me um I have three questions for uh our engineering staff the first two are related so let me start with those one is that the section on Elm
between 12th and 14th is part of the um Midtown Trail and so uh that is a section of the Midtown Trail that actually follows the road and so one is I was wondering will we be able to will we make make sure that we put out
notifications also with the trail system so that people know that they that section of trail won't be accessible and then related to that when I know when we were finishing the Midtown trail one of the places where we had to cut back a little bit was we weren't able to put
wide the wide bike ped lanes in um and I think that was one of the areas so I'm I don't know if we talked about that at all in this case it sounds like we're not able to do that still we're just going to keep the existing sidewalks so I'll let you answer this and then I have
one other question about the culde-sac so for bike path access Deb I apologize i don't know if we'll be closing down that section or not but I'll be happy to look into it and then follow up with you directly afterwards if that's okay um sure
generally if we have to close down a section of the street we'll we'll detour around that um that that that's a really good question i don't know the answer to that off the top of my head and then for the for the Oh go ahead oh for the for the section
of street that's being improved where we we're not planning to extend the bike path um along any of these other areas where it's not currently at okay and then my other question that culdesac um because the we'll have construction on the culde-sac and then
we'll have it on Elm north of it and then to the south so where will those f will they have it sounds to me like they won't have access to their driveways um do we have an idea for how long and for them in particular where will they be
able to park because they'll also then be um to the east would be Elm Park or Elm Park too and so it seems to me there'd be really limited opportunities for them to even find a place to park that's anywhere near their house
i think the best way to deal with that situation is that we we would phase that culde-sac area differently from the street right next to it and so while the culde-sac area is under is under construction the street immediately adjacent to it would would be open and
and accessible and so they would they'd be able to park you know as as closely as we possibly could get them in that situation thank you very much thank you any other questions uh Council Member Ner thank you Madam Mayor um Clay I was hoping you
could provide um the answers while you're next to the microphone that you provided to the resident i think that was really important information that people may be interested in um I believe it was who is paying for the cast iron pipe and who is paying for the uh street
and sidewalk improvements I think yeah so this project's done jointly with Morehead Public Service they have a cost share in that project so they will pay for all the the work related to the water man replacement that's approximately
314 or $15,000 so Morehead public service has that cost share and then the city will pick up for the the work adjacent to the park the city assesses that park property marvelous thank you uh my follow-up question um in the packet it
specifically says the remaining project cost will be financed through the PIR fund and I didn't see that defined um elsewhere in the agenda i often get acronyms incorrect and I feel like we have an opportunity to not only share
the workings of the world but also share some acronyms with uh residents if they are reading the packet do you have any um can you define PIR and the PIR fund for residents tom do you mind taking this one
yeah the PIR fund is the permanent improvement revolving fund so every time we bond for projects it goes into the revolving fund and it's used to pay construction costs so yes marvelous
thank you my last question um is a follow-up question in regards to access you had said the um curb cutouts are not um up to code or the ADA ramp 88 yes thank you um is there um a process in which while the
road is torn up people still have access to gaining parking in other streets and or sidewalk access to their homes or is it we tear all one spot up at once and we just hope for the best and then then they have access to it so I if we could
talk just a tish about that I would appreciate it sure when we move into a street project area will generally maintain access for residents either through their driveway or through the sidewalk so for example
if the pavement is out and they're not able to bring a vehicle into that street the sidewalk there would be a public access route along where the sidewalk is and and vice versa if the sidewalk is out the there would be access maintained
through the driveway marus thank you seeing no other council members with questions I would entertain a motion to uh approve 9B and C so move Nissa Meyer white second have a motion and a second any further discussion
seeing none roll call vote please nelson I matson yes nisser yes moore yes white yes mcdougall yes hendrickson hi all right that motion carries um moving
on to the second public hearing of the night um looking for a motion to open the public hearing for 9th Avenue South 10th Avenue South and 16th Street South area street improvements so move by Anderson second more motion
by Nelson second by Moore any discussion see none uh roll call vote please mcdougall yes hendrickson yes nelson yes matson yes nissa Meyer yes moore yes white yes
right that motion carries and we are in public hearing now and I will turn it over to Mr tom Trobridgeidge thank you Mayor and members of council we have a public hearing presentation to bring up here this is the public hearing for the 9inth Avenue South 10th Avenue
South and 16th Street South area street improvements engineering project number 25- A2-01 and this project then is in the area just south of MSUM and north of 12th Avenue South and the streets in this area were
originally constructed in the late 1950s the pavement condition index or PCI values range from 35 to 67 out of 100 most of them were well below 50 so uh worthy of the
rehabilitation uh and the sidewalks are they're continuous in this area so we don't have gaps but like the other project that Clay presented on today most of the pedestrian curb ramps are not compliant with the current ADA
standards those were updated in the early 2000s uh and so the conditions the requirements for those were changed significant significantly at that time and then in addition to that so this area the the utilities were also
installed generally in the late 50s most of them uh so the sanitary sewer is it was a vitrified clay pipe uh most of it's been lined with a CIP which is a cured in place pipe uh so that's like a
PVC liner that goes inside the pipe and we can do that without digging the streets up so that's that's a nice option to have for the sewer rehabilitation the storm sewer was all installed in the 50s and that's a reinforced concrete pipe that's
generally an acceptable condition then the water mane has a mix of uh some different types of pipe uh and so we really need to replace the cast iron pipe that's the pipe that can corrode the the types of clay soils we have are
corrosive to iron and as a result that pipe deteriorates and we start getting water mane breaks and so it's time to replace those pipes so the proposed improvements are a batuminous rehabilitation so it would be full replacement of the pavement and the
gravel underneath it uh but we're going to try to keep as much of the curb and gutter as we can and just do minor spot repairs uh and that's really only going to be if the drainage is so bad that the water's coming out onto the pavement uh just because the curb holds a little bit
of water that's not a problem to us as long as it's not ponding on the pavement and then the sidewalks again are generally acceptable we can do minor repairs to those but the curb ramps just don't meet current standards and those
need to be replaced and then the water man is going to be replaced by Morehead Public Service so that is not technically part of the project we're doing but it will be done concurrent with it and so Morehead Public Service has their own
crew that can replace water mane they just can't do as many water manes as there are in the streets we're doing so sometimes we hire it in our contract sometimes they do it concurrent with our work and that's what that's what will happen this time is Morehead Public
Service will do that themselves and that's only the only water man that needed to be done was on 10th Avenue and on 16th Street the piece on 9inth Avenue had been replaced or or as actually a different type of pipe that doesn't need to be replaced sorry sanitary sewer at
this time there are no improvements we need to do and similar to the other project uh and other projects in the past few years Excel Energy is replacing they also have some uh metal pipe gas manes and those also are susceptible to
corrosion and so they are replacing those as well and they're going to do that outside of our contract but concurrent with it so hopefully when everything is all done we get things restored to our standards so the project will be
assessed and it be assessed the way our current policy is is we assess a a fee based on the front footage and that fee is designed to gain or to recover about 30% plus or minus of the project cost and it will vary based on sometimes
projects cost more or less but this this fee will basically be consistent so everybody citywide really pays the same thing based on the type of project they're getting okay and so for rehab that assessment rate is $90 per front foot so if you
have a 50- foot lot you would have a $4,500 assessment and then of course that's the rate that the council has adopted this hearing tonight is only to order the project we actually have to have a separate hearing after the project is
done that should happen this fall and that is the assessment hearing and at that time nothing should change on the total assessment even if the project cost goes up or down the assessment should stay the same um but that assessment hearing will be held this
fall so people don't have to pay something now but if they don't pay off their assessment or a portion of it anything not paid by November 15th goes on the assessment roll and gets paid over a period of 20 years and that has interest if they pay something before
November 15th there's no interest on that anybody that has questions on the assessment process we strongly encourage them to call our special assess assessment coordinator Amy her number is there 218-299-5427 she's very good at
explaining the entire process and answering any questions that people might have so as I talked about proposed assessments a bit there are 39 properties that are going to be assessed for this project the total amount is about
$370,000 so the average assessment is $9,500 the minimum assessment was $3,684 median is $6,750 the maximum assessment was uh $60,939 i believe that was on so this
project borders on Morehead State University or Minnesota State Morehead showing my age there um but uh they they've got some parking lots and and properties at about uh 9th Avenue South and so that would be the largest assessment there's also uh another large
business property that used to be the uh Edison School and another building north of that uh that has a large amount of frontage but the the uh residential properties assessments were much less than
that so the total project cost is $1.29 million basically and I would note this does not include the water man now because MPS is doing that separate from this contract so that's not included in that cost at all the assessment then is
29% of the total project cost and then the rest of it is paid by the city uh the city would pay off its share through the general property tax levy so the public input to date uh the city had anformational presentation that
was posted in the middle of February it has had 24 views as of late last week i've neglected to check on that today to see if it had any more um and in response to that there had been one inquiry with questions on proposed
assessments we also mailed out the public hearing notice on March 13th and we have not received any comments on that through the end of today project schedule this project started when we ordered the report last December and then uh the report was
received in January plans were approved we received bids March 19th and the bids were good and we are would like to be able to proceed with the project then if the improvements are ordered today work should start in May and be completed in
September and then we would hold the assessment hearing September or October so the public hearing tonight the intent is to receive public comment specifically with guidance to the council on whether or not to proceed with the project as
proposed and so upon closing the public hearing we would ask that you consider a resolution to order the improvements by state statute that resolution has to be passed by 80% of the full council which comes to seven votes so we would need all seven uh
members tonight to vote in favor of ordering the improvements then following the ordering of the improvements we would ask that you award the bid and the award of the bid requires six votes per the city charter so if you have any or
that's that's all I have for the public hearing presentation thank you Tom appreciate that are there any members of the public who wish to speak to this agenda item again any members of the public wish to speak to this agenda
item seeing none we'd be looking for a motion to close the public hearing portion of this item so move Matson is there a second mor second have a motion and a second any
discussion seeing none all those in fa Well seeing none roll call vote please hendrickson yes mcdougall yes white yes moore yes nissmire yes matson yes nelson yes all right that
motion carries and the public hearing is now closed um any questions for Tom and if no questions would be looking for a motion to approve 9E and F white moves to approve second motion in
a second any discussion further questions see none roll call vote please nelson yes matson yes nissmire yes moore yes white yes mcdougall
yes hendrickson yes and then 13D was on consent so that was approved correct okay all right we are now on to mayor and council reports are there any council members who have reports on boards or committees activities uh that
you've done on behalf of the city that you'd like to report to your fellow council members council member Matson um thank you mayor uh attended Metro Metrooco Policy Board meeting i think that was last week i wouldn't say that there's any um firm information on federal funding situ status but I think
it's fair to say that the what we should anticipate be prepared for cuts to federal funding to transit um no idea how much or you know what kind of specific cuts but that seems to be the the sentiment um I was invited to attend
uh last night's if dinner i would like to thank uh Kanyean Fia Adiham Amdi and Ahmed Mccran for the invitation it was a lovely celebration of community and togetherness and it was very nice um nice to spend time with some some new
friends and some um previous friends so uh thank you for the invitation um I also attended this weekend uh the attorney general was in town for some events um he held a public town hall that was an official an event it was not a it was not a campaign or a partisan
event it was official um visit open to everyone to ask questions um and I would say um one thing that I took from that meeting is that um you know he has filed some lawsuits based on the um recent
executive orders and the reason that he has filed those suits is that motans have contacted his office and say had said that they have experienced harm directly as a result of those some of those executive orders and so that's how he's able to file the suit is because a motan has been impacted so if you're a
motan who has been impacted by an executive order um please contact the attorney general's office and um let him know and they will you know get the information from you that they need to proceed if it if they determine that they need to do that um he also held a
couple of private meetings with some u vulnerable communities i'm not going to talk about what happened in those but I will say um one of the key things that I took out of out of that uh the latest the last meeting he had was um you know we say the pledge of allegiance and we
say with liberty and justice for all and um his point of view that and it's one that I share is that all means all if it doesn't mean all then it doesn't mean really anything so we really it's incumbent upon all of us to stand up for everyone's rights all of the time um so
that was uh meetings with the attorney general and then upcoming this in a couple of weeks on April 5th is the Woodlands and High Plains Pow-Wow um it's at Concordia this year i believe it starts at noon with grand entry at 1 and 7 they do still need some volunteers so if you're interested in volunteering
please can contact me and I will get you the sign up link thank you Council Member Nissar thank you Madam Mayor um I um councelor council member Matson beat me to my ifar thank you um I will encourage uh community members uh
to remember that uh Ramadan is an annual event it changes the season and month in which it is observed and um the community if event um which we have uh each and every year and it changes um
metro location and so look for that mark your calendars next year and if you weren't able to join us u make note and try to join us next year because it is a truly um inclusive and open to everybody environment um I also want to highlight uh that it is
curitage Kurdish heritage month and our um Klay County Historical Society has a wonderful um exhibit that highlights um our Kurdish culture and Kurdish community members and our history here so I if you haven't had a chance to pop
out um please continue to do that because that is uh currently in our um museum and so it's a great thing uh from my uh participation in the recent cast clay food partners event um the backyard chicken backyard chicken um blueprint
was recently updated i also want to highlight how um awesome the uh city of Morhead is we were um well um accolated for our um community outreach and connection to our
strategic plan in um how we have improved a number of ordinances and um access to food stuffs and so look for events um the Cascade Food Partners is celebrating their 10th anniversary and so we are currently planning um some
shindigs or two um and so look for those um items on our website thank you Council Member Wait thank you Mayor and I won't repeat some of the things that have already been said i will express my gratitude as well
for the um hosts who put on the ifar last night in Morehead it was a wonderful event and so welcoming um I was honored to be a part of that i wanted to wish happy Navus to our Kurdish community members uh I know they'll be having a celebration at the
Fargo Dome on April 12th even though NVU just happened um and I wanted to take a minute to thank um Siame Amedi who we know through so many different things in our community in our community uh she just finished up as our chair of the
human rights commission but she also just participated in a program that West Central Initiative has it's called Love Letters to Your City and you can write about your city and she wrote about Morehead and it was picked and so the city of Morehead will be receiving a
donation on her behalf so just wanted to say thank you to her for that and for all of the wonderful things that she does in our community it's people like her that make Morehead such a great place so thank you thank you Council Member Hendrickson uh thank you Mayor i
had a chance to go to a retreat for the Red River Basin Commission on the 5th of March and then a board meeting on the 6th and talked about the Red River Basin from Fargo to Winnipeg and how we need to keep it healthy and uh keep the waterways healthy and uh a lot of flood
protection and as uh Commissioner Dave Pepcorn for Fargo we we uh emphasize that we need the FM diversion needs funding and we need funding in Morehead so we emphasize that over and over again and at the uh board meeting we had the honor of having uh executive director
Benson speak on behalf of the FM diversion so it was a good meeting um all in all it was the drive up to Grand Forks was boring but you know what do you expect and then um I attended a preparing greater
Minnesota communities for extreme weather at Thumper Pond in Ottertale Minnesota and it was interesting to hear these rural cities talk about you know all the shelters they need to build and what they do in case of extreme weather events i think we're lucky in Morehead we have a lot of colleges here we have a
lot of places we can go to house people if we ever do run into an extreme weather event but it was interesting to hear them talk about their processes and the and the and the way they take steps in protecting their citizens and they're small towns too they're I think well Morehead was the biggest and I think the
smallest was about 200 so but all in all it was a very good meeting and uh and uh it was a nice drive that day too so thanks you um any other council members have reports
right seeing none uh so for the mayor update um some of the events I have done on behalf of the city um I'm participating in a strategic planning committee task force for the YMCA um I am also participating with members from
Klay County and uh folks from the chamber and also uh from the Metro Flood Diversion Authority we are doing weekly check-ins on flood mitigation lobbying work that we're doing to obtain the needed funding that we need for flood
mitigation so there's been a number of check-ins a little bit more lately because there was a um uh capital investment committee on the House side where uh uh Klay County Commissioner Mojo myself and executive director Jason
Benson um and uh Rep keeler and Rep joy all testified on behalf of our requests for the $60 million um flood work that needs to be done on the Minnesota side for the metro flood diversion
um I was able to and I was excited to be able to swear in three new um police officers that Morehead has now through the IC Poet grant um those individuals are now in their FTO program or their field training program so hopefully in a couple of months we will have three new
officers that are going to be able to be out on the street by themselves um and the there was a meeting on March 12th for the diversion authority planning committee uh one of the things that we are getting asked about um as we're getting closer to having the the flood
diversion project complete is about FEMA and with the FEMA update um they have been meeting for several years already um they are having ongoing discussions still with uh local state and federal
representatives based on uh the Clomar which set the initial boundaries and Clomar is conditional letter of mapping revision i actually got that right so the Clomar um there's still ongoing discussions about that and determine if
a physical map revision um versus a a LOMAR will be done um and I think that will be based on the modeling is that correct i'm looking at our city engineer who's nodding his head he knows way more
about that than I do um but it it is interesting the different hoops that FEMA has to jump through and to make it even more complicated um Minnesota is in one FEMA district North Dakota's in a different FEMA district and with a project being two different states you
have two different districts that are needing to work together um so it's it's very complicated and um hopefully by 2030 the mapping will be redone and we'll have new uh a new update from FEMA
and people will not have to pay for flood insurance um we're also starting to have some global pro program um O andM discussions for the diversion uh the city would be obviously responsible for the mowing control structures etc
things like that but the county um is talking about possibly creating a district um which um would not include the city of Morehead and figuring out a way to fund their operation and maintenance for the projects that are in the county
um also there is a um a strategic asset management plan that the new executive director is starting to develop called a SAMP um and with those timelines it's when uh different portions of the
project get turned over to the metr flood diversion um that transition there's going to be so many of them occurring so determining um if the staff of the metr flood diversion authority would be managing those assets or if it would be contracted so just a lot of
discussion um at the planning committee that was held on March 12th and uh I was able to present to the Kuanas Club with former mayor Mach Voxen uh to talk about our community center library
and uh some of the other ongoing projects that are happening in the city of Morehead and last but not least I think that there were a number of us who also part participated in the beam signing so wanted to thank the city staff who put that together because it might look like
it's simple people just you know show up but there's a lot of uh planning that goes into creating an event like that and and I know that for the six hours that they were there there were a lot of people that were coming and signing the beam and then fast forward to the next uh week where there was the the beam
raising or placement um which there were a number of people there as well and it is um kind of putting that last puzzle piece together in our structure so it's exciting to see that and then last but not least um I signed a proclamation
declaring March 2025 bleeding disorders awareness month and the individuals that requested that proclamation came in to um get a photo so that they can uh start doing someformational educational marketing around that and that is all I have
so uh city manager Molly do you have any updates no updates tonight Mayor all right Mayor yes Council Member Hendrickson uh thanks i just I I forgot to mention that that uh greater Minnesota community extreme weather was was uh provided by
West Central Initiative in Fergus Falls so and I got to see an old friend Ben Sher the old mayor of uh Fergus Falls so hey Ben I don't know if you're watching but that's all I have all right thank you um and next I will be looking for a motion to go into close executive
session pursuant to Minnesota statute section 13D uh.05 subdivision 3 pinb for attorney client consultation with external litigation council in the matters of Ames Construction Inc versus the city of Morehead i have a motion to
go into close session second Nelson motion in a second any discussion see none roll call vote please hendrickson yes mcdougall White yes moore yes nisser yes matson
yes nelson yes right that motion carries we are in executive session hello hello there we go um and we are back from executive session do I have a motion to close the executive session so move Nissa Meyer
second nelson a motion in a second uh roll call vote please i madson yes niss Meer yes moore yes white oh she's still connecting
sorry and special hendrickson yes all right uh well that motion carries so we are clo the executive session is closed um and with that we don't have any new
business and we are adjourned so good night Morehead