So happy to do that. >> Yeah. Great. Exciting. Uhhuh. All right, everyone. It is July 27th at uh July 27th, 2026. It's 5:30 p.m.
Hello. We have a chatty bunch here tonight. Hi everyone. I'm calling the city Morhead City Council July 27th, 2026 meeting to order. It's 5:30 p.m. Um, I'm Mayor Shelley Carlson. The Morehead City Council welcomes public input on issues listed on the agenda or 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 our city clerk and I 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
Morehead resident. If comments were submitted to the clerk prior to the meeting via email or phone, those comments will be entered into record. For more information on participation, please visit the council meetings page on the city of Morhead website at morheadmn.gov. We the Morhead city council collectively
and with gratitude acknowledge the sacred land the city of Morhead is built upon. We acknowledge the people who've resided here for generations and recognize that the spirit of the Dakota Ojiway Mati and all indigenous communities permeate this land. With that, could I get a roll call, please? >> Ryan Nelson. >> Nicole Matson
>> here. >> Heather Nisser >> 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.
United States of America to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> All right. And city manager Molly, do we have any agenda amendments? >> There are no amendments to the agenda tonight, mayor. >> Okay. Then moving on to the consent
agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So second. I uh Sebastian and then Lisa. Um motion in a second. Any discussion? >> See none. Roll call vote, please.
>> Nissa Meyer, >> yes. >> Moore, >> yes. >> Borggan, >> yes. >> White, >> yes. >> McDougall, >> I. >> Hendrickson, >> hi. >> Matson, >> yes. >> All right, that motion carries. So, moving on to recognitions and presentations. Um, we have a more heart
award tonight. So, I will turn this over to our governmental affairs director, Lisa Bodie. >> Thank you, Mayor. On behalf of the More Heart Selection Committee, I'm presenting a nomination for you and the community to celebrate tonight, and that
is FM Kicks Band Executive Director Tim Johnson. Uh Tim is being recognized for his work over the years to bring the joy of jazz to the whole FM community. Moren Kelly Jonas submitted Tim's nomination on behalf of the FM Kicks board um
indicating that Tim has spent countless hours over the past 10 years organizing and promoting the band through his administrative talents while playing for thousands of local jazz fans. Efforts throughout the years include grant writing, fundraising, purchasing music,
recruiting, arranging, and directing the band, performing for residents and students, and so much more. So much more than we think of when we watch a performance. Um, the summer youth jazz camp is entering its third year of operation and is also run and
coordinated by Tim. Um the nomination indicates although his posit position is part-time, Tim devotes many hours to sh ensure that Morehead can boast a vibrant jazz scene. So with that, Mayor Carlson, would you like to present the More Heart
Award? [applause] [applause] Well, thank you very much. It's very honoring and humbling to uh accept this award and I accept it on behalf of the FM Kicks band. It's a just a wonderful uh opportunity to work with the
musicians in in the area and uh uh it's it's just humbling when these quality of of musicians put up with me, you know, and uh I got to say we have our jazz festival on August 2nd and on August 1st
at the 4 and 4 we have a jazz night. So come on out and share the joy jazz with us. Thank you very much. [applause] [applause] >> You guys want to come? >> Anybody that knows me in the band, come on up. [laughter] That's your choice.
All right. Looking right here. Three, two, one. [applause] and thank you so much for bringing such joy to the community and teaching young kids how to do it as well and for bringing so many people too celebrate.
Um, and I think there was one more presentation um, and celebration as well that u, Miss Bod wanted to uh, present at the council meeting. Thank you all. This is a surprise. It's not on your agenda. Um
the um our marketing and communications people are top-notch. And very recently um our team was uh recognized um by the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators
with a Silver Northern Lights Award. And the award is for um what I call a work of art that is in Viking Ship Park right now. And that is the um trailer that our
parks department uses for river arts and other festivals. You see a before picture that um the parks department brought to Caleb and said, "What could we do to make this a little bit better?"
and Caleb made it a lot better. And so I wanted to recognize him because last week when we were in New Alm um we picked up the silver um award for this. And I will note that Morehead was the
only community outside of the Sevenount Twin Cities metro area that won an award. So I think we should [applause] recognize Caleb. >> [applause] >> Can Can we deputize someone to Can we get someone to take the photo?
>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Good idea. >> Photo of our photo taker. Yes. >> The lens off the cap or the cap off the lens. Okay. Congratulations. [clears throat and laughter]
>> Way to go. [applause] Congratulations, Caleb. You do incredible work for the city and you have just given us a huge facelift with all of our graphics and the design and the work that you do throughout the city and we are so grateful and appreciate it so much. So,
it is an award that is very, very deserving. So, congratulations. All right, moving on to the July 13, 2026 meeting minutes. Do I have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. Motion and a second. Any
discussion? >> See none. Um, roll call vote, please. >> Hendrickson. >> Start with me. Huh? >> Yes. >> McDougall. [clears throat] >> I. >> Borggan. >> Yes. >> White. >> Yes. >> Moore. >> Yes. >> Nissmeer.
>> Yes. >> Matson. All right, that motion carries. Um, all right, we are down to 14A. Um, and I will Yep. 14A. We will turn this over to uh Travis Schmidt with more
in public service. >> Good evening, mayor and uh council members. Just wanted to uh present to you tonight the S1 agreement extension with Missouri River Energy Services. Uh this has been a longstanding multi-deade agreement we've had with
MREs and a roughly about every 10 years we go through the process of extending that agreement. Um before that we will talk a little bit about Western Area Power Administration. Uh Western Area Power Administration is our firm electric service. So, we get their power first and anything above and beyond that
is supplemental power from Missouri River Energy Services. It's why they call it the S1 agreement. Um, again, this is done for a multitude of things. Again, a lot of things are to clean what's or clean up things that have changed in the last 10 years like
environmental attributes, uh, renewable energy certificates. Those are some of the main changes that you'll see in the agreement. Now, the S1 changes are very immaterial overall. It's just cleaning up what they've got for that and extending it for the next year. So, the
contract, if approved tonight, will end in 2067, not 207. That's a current one. Um, [snorts] if you guys also approve it tonight, this will be the sixth amendment to this contract that we've had. Again, MREs is a a fantastic
partner for for Morehead and Morehead Public Service. Um they do a lot above and beyond just supplying that supplemental power such as leadership training. They also do uh energy services um rebates for us and help us out with those whether it's a project in
town or a customer project. They they come in, they evaluate, they help with the rebate process as well too. Um besides that, they also provide a lot of our uh media or andor flyers that we have as well too. So again, great partnership. Uh it's been long lasting
and we're just requesting that you approve this. Uh the NPS commission did approve this last Tuesday. Uh attorney Shockley and Attorney Bulier have both reviewed this and are comfortable with the approval. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions from Council Member Nissmeer?
>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um could you tell us should people be interested in reviewing the contract and the changes? the only way for them to see it would be to look in our um city of Morehead packet or is there a space um like MPS agendas and packets or on the website
for Morhead public service that people could look and see those changes in those six amendments for example if they were interested at reviewing that sort of information. >> Correct. Yep. You can just email MPS and we will we will provide the tracked or strike and underlying changes that are
available. >> Excellent. I know there's um always conversation about what goes into energy and energy costs and I know that there is an open utility um uh process for uh changing rates. But when we look at contracts that go to 2067
um people might have uh just an extra interest in sort of looking at some of those terms and conditions and what that extra energy means to us at Morehead Public Service as co-op owners. >> Yep. Correct. And and I will just add to that MRES follows a very similar process
that Morehead and Morhead public service does when it comes to rates. Typically they look at it on an annual basis and they also forecast forecast out several years as well too. So >> excellent. Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? If not, I would entertain a motion to
approve this resolution. >> Move Nissa Meyer. >> Second more motion and a second. Any other discussion? Not roll call vote please. >> Borggan >> yes. >> McDougall >> I. >> Hendrickson
>> I. >> Matson. >> Yes. >> Nissa. >> Yes. >> Moore. >> Yes. >> White. >> Yes. >> All right. And that motion carries. Um and I need to go back to citizens to address the council because I
inadvertently had crossed that off my list. So, if there are any citizens who wish to address the council at this time, you're more than uh welcome to I don't have any up here. So, all right. And moving back on to the agenda to 16A
and I will turn this over to our police chief Chris Helm. >> Good evening, Mayor, Council members. Uh we're here to talk to uh you tonight about an opportunity that we have as a department and uh we need your permission to move ahead. Um, one of the
priorities for our department is to improve our organizational culture and with that is to enhance our efforts to improve our employee wellness. And uh, we're here tonight to present to you an opportunity that we have to really take
a huge step towards making that improvement and not only for our department but also for our regional partners uh, in both North Dakota and Minnesota. So with that, I'm going to turn over to Assistant Chief Bill Alfelt, who is going to talk to you a little bit more about this opportunity. Uh he's actually spearheading this
effort in our department. So turn it over to Bill. >> Well, thank you, Chief. Uh council members, thank you for just giving me opportunity here to talk about what I think is a really good opportunity uh that we have coming uh to us. Hopefully
if we're allowed to uh apply for a grant and and if we're uh offered this grant, we accept it. So, um, I'd like to give you a brief explanation of of what we're talking about. So, this is a a grant that's offered by the Office of Community Oriented Policing or COPS. Uh, COPS is out of the US Department of
Justice. And this grant is provided uh it's a law enforcement mental health and wellness act grant. And there's an acronym for it, but I'm not going to try because it's it's a long one. Um, it's offered to state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies. It
would cover the fiscal years of 2027 2028. No match is required. So if we were to receive this grant, uh it would cost us nothing. And we're asking for a $250,000 grant. The basic purpose of the
grant is to implement new or enhance existing programs that offer training and services to support officers and mental health. And for us, this would be new. Uh it would provide counseling programs, peer mentoring, pro uh suicide prevention programs and
stress reduction programs. Uh it seeks to increase the delivery and access to mental health and wellness services in three ways. Increase law enforcement agency capacity to provide mental health training and resources. Increase law enforcement agency capacity
to implement peer support networks for crisis and non-crisis circumstances. and increase law enforcement agency capacity to create a culture of wellness by supporting the implementation of mental health education and development of those resources. Working with a group called Trauma
Matters uh who provides a network of therapists and counselors who are specifically trained to work with uh first responders both in person online. We would hope to if receiving this grant make all of those things possible for uh not only the Morhead Police Department
but others in our region. Um the way we've uh we would have written this grant uh and would like to apply for uh is uh the grant would allow all active or retired sworn or civilian law enforcement employees within within 100
miles of Morehead uh to work with a trauma matters therapist free of charge. And so this could be either uh taotherapy or inerson therapy. Something trauma matters uh has done in the past and would do if we were to receive this and move into Minnesota uh is they would
allow for uh training of individuals and they would actually look for individuals locally who could do inerson therapy uh in Morehead. There are currently ones already in Fargo. Um but we would be the first group to do this in Minnesota using this grant. And so it
would take them some time to to come in and do that. Right away they could provide tele therapy and and therapists could be used in Fargo for this uh to work. So um that 100 miles is only in Minnesota, North Dakota, doesn't extend. It technically could extend into South
Dakota, but we've written it to only stay in Minnesota and North Dakota. And it would keep it in basically the Red River Valley, maybe just a little bit further out, but would open up these types of therapeutic services uh of coun with counselors that are trained specifically to deal with first
responders and some of the the the things that they deal with, especially uh for extended periods of time uh within uh the profession. And so it's just an incredible opportunity for multiple uh different levels. Um, we met with our city finance office who's
prepared to manage the financial side of the program if awarded mainly by helping pay invoices and assist with information quarterly for the quarterly reporting uh which would come from my office but with their assistance. So, that's a little bit of the who, what, when, where, why,
how, or who, what, when, where, and how. But here's the why. Um, law enforcement officers are called to this job and respond to years of traumatic events. And we know we're going to see those traumatic events when we're called to them. But those who are called would not have it any other way. The cumulative
trauma from responding traumatic events can take its toll on the officer, though. And so just some brief stats as to why we might want to do this, not only for city of Morehead officers, but those in the region. Be be a regional leader in that regard. On average, 184
officers die by suicide each year. Studies have shown that cumulative trauma over long law enforcement careers leaves 67% of veteran officers with some symptoms of PTSD. And many times this is underreported. So that's what's reported
uh just because of uh stigma that is surrounded not only in society but in our profession which if this program is brought in we would we would try to bring training in to change that culture. That's that culture change piece. Um it would bring mainly preventative therapy and that's what uh if allowed to
pre to apply for this grant we would want to use the majority of that uh for prevent preventative therapy and even post PTSD therapy. So preventative therapy if our younger officers start uh seeing therapists just briefly uh occasionally strengthens the body's
natural recovery processes during traumatic events uh reduces the consolidation of traumatic memories and builds resilience before trauma occurs. So that's pre-PTSD. We could do this right away in their in their careers. Post PTSD, it's also very helpful. Shown
reduce distressing symptoms, uh restoring control, changes harmful thought patterns, uh process traumatic memories, reduce avoidance behaviors, improves mood, sleep, physical health, all things that uh in law enforcement and first response
we see a lot of uh a lot of issue with. Builds coping skills and resilience. Then the other side of this grant, it would provide resources for peer support. So our our agency has currently has a peer support team, has multiple members that we do uh fairly regular
training with. This would allow us to enhance our training with other portions of its money if we were rewarded it. What peer support does for an agency, a peer support team normalizes stress reactions and prevents long-term harm, provides onseen or near onseen emotional stabilization,
provides debriefing after critical incidents. Um they provide a shared experience and that's why we have a peer support team is there are often times uh a lot of people don't understand what we see or what we've done other than others that have done it. And uh it's also
another very important part to this is if law enforcement or first responders go to therapists who aren't trained to deal with law enforcement or first responders and to hear some of the stories they might tell. I've actually heard stories of co-workers where they go in to try to get some help and the therapist says, "I can't listen to that.
I'm going to have to leave." This doesn't happen with that. And it's the reason why we want to have a specially trained therapist for this in this regard if we were to get this grant. Uh and it's the same reason why we have peer support also is there's a shared experience and there's an understanding of what's going on. Uh peer support
helps connect staff to professional mental health resources, strengthen the agency culture and awareness and maintain operational readiness. So they're always looking out for people that might be exhibiting signs of post-traumatic stress or some type of stress from the job and and look to prevent it. So, that's a brief uh
somewhat brief uh explanation of what we'd like to do here with this uh grant if uh if allowed to if allowed to apply and and hopefully receive it. So, I'm prepared to answer any questions. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Uh Council Member White. >> Thank you. First, I want to just speak
in support. I think this is fantastic. I know when we were able to um secure some funding earlier to hire Dr. Aaron Sumala Folkart. Um that was a resource that we were able to share with our officers and I know that that is not something that
they had in other many other law enforcement agencies in our region. And so right from the start we were a model for what you know we could do to pro to provide that kind of really necessary support. Um, and so I think it's wonderful and I and I um, you know, I
would I really hope that we were are able to do this and that it then brings more resources. We can support more officers and hopefully see them doing more in other areas as well. My only question was um, you mentioned first responders. So I wondered is this strictly law enforcement or could we
also allow our firefighters um, to participate in these programs too? because as the daughter of a of a firefighter who I know my dad still talks about things that were, you know, 50 years ago, right? Uh those things just don't go away. And so, um if we
were able to do that, if not, I hope we'll pursue things like that in the future. So, if you could address that question, but I'm 100% behind this. Thanks. >> Most definitely. I appreciate that. First off, uh Dr. Dr. Aaron is an incredible resource for our agency. does a phenomenal job and uh he's already
starting to do uh a one-year check-in with all of our officers. That's something that was implemented this year uh uh as hopefully looking forward to next year and being able to do this type of thing. He's preparing them for it and and uh doing a phenomenal job in that regard. Um yes, when when I saw this
opportunity come up, I actually asked uh would would fire uh be included in this? And because it's a cops grant, it's a Department of Justice grant, the answer would be no. But um would definitely be a good thing to look into for our fire department also is they're also uh on a
daily basis exposed to a lot of traumatic incidents that they know they're going to see. Uh they they signed up for it, they understand it, but also it' be great to to receive some help to prevent some of these things. So we looked at it, we we thought about it. >> Member Borggan, [clears throat]
>> thanks. I totally support this as well. I think it's a great opportunity. Um, I had a chance to go to the chambers uh event last week where our chief and the other three chiefs, local chiefs, talked about things that are happening in law enforcement. And I think sometimes we as
the public hear a lot about mental health of the people that they run into and how we need more mental health services and we kind of forget that the people who have to deal with this trauma every day also need some support. So, I think this is wonderful. And I just want
to give a shout out to our chief. You did a great job really representing Morehead in that discussion. So, thank you so much, >> Council Member Matson. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, also supportive. I do have questions. I don't want you to raise read my questions as, you know, anything negative or anything
like that. Um, so what is the length of this grant if we were to receive it? >> This is a two-year grant. >> Two year. Okay. There's possibility for extensions also if for some reason uh it wasn't uh you know fully spent. >> Okay. Do we have a plan then um for how
to sustain these programs after the period of the grant ends or is that something we're considering or thinking about looking forward? >> So in all reality this is a program that was being run on the North Dakota side and it's going to be running out in 2020 well and at the end of this year end of 2026 it's been extended. Um, so it's
something that we've seen and that the chief and I are both very familiar with from our former employment. We've seen that it works. But it's very hard for an agency to reapply. And so what we're hoping to do here is build a little bit of uh of support not only on the North Dakota side, which we already have, but
on the Minnesota side, uh, where we can say to other agencies then, all right, let's keep this ball rolling. Let's keep everybody in in the same area and you reapply the next year and you reapply the next year. That's what we're hoping to do with this. But, uh, it's good. it would be hard to re reapply for this
same grant just by the way that it's offered from the department of justice. >> Right? So just and I think that's a really good plan and if that doesn't happen I just want us to be thinking about if these are things that you need I want us to be thinking about how we can get them to you even if this isn't
the way if this way doesn't work in you know two years or or you know we don't have another mechanism to get this I want to make sure that you guys have what you need and so I do want us to be thinking about if we can't make that plan work you know what do we do next >> I uh I agree with you 100% on that I'd
love to see this uh work in many other ways. So, thank you. >> Yep. And my last question was um is there because this is a 100 mile radius, is there any particular administrative burden on you beyond the reporting? I mean, are you having to facilitate things or do the individual agencies take care of that for themselves?
>> Um how this will work, uh I will I'll only have to do quarterly reporting. That'll be with the help of of uh finance. They'll keep all the numbers and be able to provide reports from what I've heard in the discussion we've had with them so far. The only other obligation I have and I I would continue this even after the the grant expires is
there's a committee being formed of all the agencies that are that are being affected. Um and so I would I would maintain remain on that committee. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, >> Council Member Nisser. Madame Mayor, um again in complete support. Uh I have
lots of questions for you. [snorts] Um I uh I heard asked uh about how this differs. Um you talked about how it will extend the support for first responders. You clarified for council member White that it was specific to sworn police
officers only. Does that alleviate some of um Dr. um Dr. Aaron uh and any of Dr. Erin's um uh time that is being spent uh since we will be able to have additional
services to be able to support fire in that. I heard you interchangeably say um first responders and police officers and I got really excited that more could be included with this. So um knowing that we already have um Dr. Aaron on contract
uh to do some support. I am curious if that for his allocated hours we would have um support to share with some of our um fire folks. Do you anticipate that? I have no idea the details of his contract and what that would look like. You did say that you're doing the uh
checkup once a year at least for all folks which I think is excellent. Um, and I don't know how many firefighters we have that would be interested in it, but as you said, um, everybody who is responding to calls potentially has um, some engagement with traumatic uh, uh,
occurrences and that is not only traumatic, but the potential for secondary trauma and PTSD is great for all of our first responders. And so, I'm just sort of brainstorming here and thinking, >> right, so um, this would not replace Dr. Erin. Uh, it would it would be as a
supplement to him. So, uh, Dr. Aaron has taken a pretty substantial period of time to do those checkups that we were talking about and, uh, still is is not complete. And so, we have to see exactly how long that how long that will take, but it's it's taking a substantial period of time. >> Um, he, you know, he is there. He's not
a full-time employee by any by any means. He's a contract employee, and I know that he uh he he gives of his own free time quite a bit for the stipen that he's that he's getting. So, I don't know how far we would want to go down that road with adding more work to Dr. Erin. This would uh supplement some of
the things he's doing. Uh the the grant is being written not only for uh police officers, but civilian employees at the police department also. Uh where I was talking about first responder, just to clarify, is uh the therapists are trained in working with first responders, but this grant in and of
itself is for uh for for police officers and for civilian employees at the police department. And so, um, you know, what Dr. Aaron is doing is he's also providing a little bit of that direction to our peer support team. Uh, he's he's there weekly for sure, looking around, making sure checking to make sure our
peer support team is doing well and and checking in with people that that he he works with. We don't know who they are, but he's he's checking in with people that he works with. And uh and so I hope that answers some of your questions. I I would hate to burden Dr. Aaron with adding more uh to a contract employee
who's uh he's giving a lot of his own free time >> and and I don't want people to work for free. Um as a union supporter I and uh contract labor I think is very important. Um he brings an outstanding skill set as well. And so, um, as
council member, uh, Matson had said, even beyond the fiscal year 27 and fiscal year 28, if we see a need among our civilian staff and our firefighters, I know Sanford is an ambulance and that's sort of tangential, right? Um, but, uh, look for that need and if there
is a need, um, I think we should explore it. I think that is something um, hearing your stats were very moving. um our previous uh chief had shared some new sworn officers experience like in my first three months I experienced one
death and we had one new human who in their first three months had nine and I was like oh that is a little bit of a difference. Um now of course um times have changed. Our uh community has grown and the world has changed a great deal. And so knowing that, but also knowing
more about um humans and the need to care for um not just the neck down, but the the neck up as well is really important. And um the call rates for mental health calls. Um I you know, I've only ridden along once and it still sits
with me some of those um important engagement um elements that we have with folks who they themselves are dealing with mental health crisis. And it is not a criminal sort of engagement, which I'm sure y'all dress for criminal engagement and like fun stuff. I shouldn't say fun
stuff, but um that sort of activity, but in reality, that is not necessarily what happens um dayto-day. That there is a lot of layers to go into that. And so looking forward, my hope is that we could look to expand services. I don't know if that was part of your spiel or
your committee is visiting, but I anticipate the um police office departments up and down the Red River Valley also have colleagues um that are not sworn officers that are also doing fire that are doing lots of things in our community. And so if that topic were
to come up and we could have federal or state-to-state um grants to support that, I think that would be absolutely outstanding. I also like the idea of trading be like if Fargo just did it and Morehead does it now maybe Grand Forks takes it next time. I I enjoy that
collaborative um element, but also um having this rise to the surface I think is of the utmost importance. And so um being able to be preventative and be supportive not only of the sworn officers but their families and our civilian staff as well is incredibly
important. And so, um, the $250,000 I think is kind of small really, but, um, my hope is is that you and finance, um, are able to manage it and manage it well and look forward to planning for the future for a really, really supported
first responder group. And I'm speaking broadly beyond just the cops uh, federal grant. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments or questions from council members? Can I move to approve authorizing submission of the fiscical year 26
startup law enforcement mental health wellness act program grant? >> Second. I have a motion and a second. Again, any other discussion? If not, roll call vote, please. >> Nissa, >> yes. Moore, >> yes. >> White, >> yes. >> Borggan, >> yes. >> McDougall,
>> I. >> Hendrickson, >> I. >> Madson, >> yes. Right. And that motion carries. So, congratulations. Uh, go ahead and good luck on getting the grant application in and hopefully we get good news soon. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> All right, moving on to mayor and council reports. Do any council members have any reports from boards or committee assignments this month? >> Council member White. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I attended an age
friendly Morehead meeting on the 15th and I wanted to share a couple of questions that came up. Uh, and these are some things I can um let our city manager know and we can follow up on them later. But they did have questions. First of all, if we um if we know of any
developers uh that are looking at building 55 and older housing, and I know that that's an ongoing issue, and it was a good question and also another reason for us to look, I think, at more incentives or things that we could do to encourage that type of development. Um I
also had a they had a question about lighting on 50th A P. uh as as you go towards blue stem, we've got a lot of folks, but a good number of seniors that are, you know, walking their dogs there and when the days are short, um they would really like some more lighting in
that area. Um and I wanted to mention that they are working to bring in some folks to do a presentation for developers on universal design. And so as we're looking at talking with developers about putting in new housing, if we put in things that apply universal
design methods so that these are units that are ex much more accessible than maybe your typical design um for housing units, then that um increases the pool of places where people can live. On the 15th and the 20th, I attended MAT bus meetings. And I just wanted to mention
that um Julie Balman, who was the um coordinator for Matt Bus, is ret has retired. Um she was on a leave and then is retired. And so we are in the process of reviewing applications. So I'm on the search committee um along with some city staff and others um from our other
partners. And it's nice we have a good pool of applicants and hopefully we'll know within the next month or so month um who our next coordinator for MAP bus will be. On the 15th I attended our Red River recovery initiative meeting and I just wanted to mention because we had a
second presentation onratom and um if you're not aware of whatratom is it's something that's becoming an increasing issue um not just in our community but in others. This is something that um it in many ways has similar uh uh it's
similar in terms of how it impacts the effects of the brain and things like that. Um similar to opioids um but it doesn't respond to nlloxxone and it's currently unregulated by the federal government. Um it's considered sort of a health supplement and so you can buy it
in convenience stores and things like that. But we're starting to see a growing number of overdoses from umratom. And so just working at if you're hearing about this um in our community as well as lots of other places this is becoming an increased
health problem um all over the country. On the 22nd, I attended the um River Arts Festival and it was a really special one um because it was the Indigenous Takeover. And so I wanted to just give thanks to Brandon Batty from the Indigenous Association and to one of
our city staff members, Steve French, because this was a great um example of a good collaboration where we brought in a community organization. Um Brandon worked at having all um uh indigenous community members participate in activities. So there was a traditional
drumming, prayer, traditional dance, um an indigenous rapper, a fashion show from an indigenous uh fashion designer and lots of great food. And so great example, I'd love to see more things like that. And so um many thanks to um
Brandon Batty and to Steve French. On [snorts] the 23rd, I attended a CAP LP meeting and wanted to mention mention a couple things. Um, one is that, um, we did get an update on the homeless outreach in our community, but particularly here in Morehead. Um, they
said here in Morehead, they are having great partnerships with our Morhead Police Department, and also with um, riverkeepers. And so identifying folks that maybe are encampments along the river, sleeping in cars, um, and that they have been able to get um, many of
those folks into some housing. Um, one of the things that they mentioned is that the heat and the smoke has um been really challenging. We're all struggling with that, but when you are unhoused um and you don't have any place to go, it's particularly challenging. And so, one of
the things that the um homeless outreach staff have been doing is freezing bottles of water and bringing them around to folks that they are um meeting um who are currently unhoused in the um through their outreach. Um, but it's something to think about as we see this
more often that we're seeing these long periods. Uh, I know council member Nissa Meyer and I attended a workshop on um how cities respond to um extreme heat. And so some places are looking at, you know, we have warming places in the
winter. Maybe we should start thinking about cooling places in the summer for folks that um don't have access to cooler places to stay safe when we have these extended periods of very high temperatures. Um and the last oh and the other thing I will mention two other
things with CAPLP they were able to get um over a half a million dollars from the state that will be used for homeless prevention and assistance. And this is part of the funds that were allocated by the legislature by the state for um in response to Operation Metro Surge that
we know that there were a lot of people throughout the state, but including in our area who were adversely affected by Operation Metro Surge. And this is necessary or very helpful funding that can help folks that um couldn't go to work um you know, for a lot of other
reasons were harmed and were at risk of losing their housing. Um, and then lastly, a really exciting thing that CAPLP did, if you didn't see, is they had their work camps. So, this has been in our area. They just finished up last Sat Friday. I think there were 275 kids
from all over the United States and Japan who camped out in Barnesville and then were in different places doing service projects. They did, I think, 17 projects in Morehead. And most of them are projects where if you have say um a
household that needs a ramp or they talked about um we had one gentleman who was living in a in a trailer home. Not only did he need a ramp but for he's um uh limited mobility but for years he's had a hole in the floor of his kitchen
and so would have to work his way in his wheelchair around this hole through the floor in his kitchen. and they were able to make some um very necessary repairs. And so big shout out to CAPL LP for their work camp and all of the great projects that the kids did. And lastly,
I attended um this weekend the volunteers for Ukraine social at Riverview Estates. Um and it was a great event, nice opportunity for the community to come together and also show support for um our friends from Ukraine who are staying with us. And just wanted
to mention too that many of those folks right now are at risk of losing their TPS, their temporary protected status. Um that's due to expire in October. And um and many of them are also having difficulty receiving work permits. And so um anything if we can just raise
awareness about that. We've got folks in our community that don't have a safe home to go back to in their home country and um we should do all that we can to to make them feel welcome and supported while they're here. Thank you. >> All right. Uh, Council Member In Mayer,
then Council Member Moore. >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, I have several meetings that I'd love to report on as well as some upcoming events. Um, SWAC, uh, solid waste advisory committee met on July 23rd. Um, as I mentioned at
our uh, shindig, also known as a council meeting two weeks ago, um, uh, we were able to announce a $2 million grant. Specifically, this is a five-year grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency or MPCA for $2 million with a
$.75 million match. um over that five years for organic composting within Klay County. Um there is uh a group of residents as well as the Klay County solid waste staff that worked together to put in that MPCA grant and are
currently working on that grant signing uh contract in order to start work on um getting quotes and m uh for the work to lay down an organic composting pad as well as the machinery to enable that. um
new action. And again, the organic composting is not going to start with residents. Instead, it is going to start with large agencies that create a lot of organic waste like school districts, long-term care facilities, uh colleges, universities, and a variety of other
spaces that serve a lot of folks food and other organic waste uh materials. um solid waste uh committee uh advised and sent forth a uh tipping fee increase of $4. That um would total a tipping fee
of $60. Um and that pays for uh the Red River Resource Recovery Center, the salaries at the RRC and the landfill for the Klay County. Also, a fee a proposal for $5 increase per parcel fee um is
being proposed to the county board. Look for that coming up. Also on July 23rd, the resource recovery center advisory committee uh met. And so that was myself, council member uh Hendrickson, as well as Paul and Randy from our own city of Morehead public works met with
commissioners uh Mojo and Campbell and um Corey Bang, the solid waste director about our current contract uh for the resource recovery center. It looks like things that are go are going quite well. Um the city of Morehead has reduced our staff from two to one. Um and we're
currently assessing needs and looking at redundancies to see if that one position needs to be filled. The county said that they will wait to receive an addendum um for uh reporting and responsibilities changes if that needs to be done um in the coming years after the assessment of
staffing has been done or completed. Um, upcoming this week, we have uh Morehead Public Housing Agency is meeting tomorrow. Um, we'll be reviewing the budget as well as security updates for the last um couple of months. If you would like to join us, we'll be at
Fieldcrest Town Homes tomorrow, Tuesday, July 28th at 11:30. Um, also coming up is Nightite, um, which is Tuesday, August 4th. Thank you to all of the neighborhoods who signed up for a shindig, a party in your driveway, your
uh street. Um, I know that our uh first responders really look forward to getting out. I do not have a car with flashing lights, nor do I have stickers, but I am looking forward to seeing lots of families out visiting um with their neighbors enjoying games, food, and lots of other things. I'd love to um see you.
If I don't catch you, please reach out and send me a note. If you are getting together outside of August 4th, I know um a work night is always tricky to get folks together. So, some people choose to schedule their community gathering together and council member Moore and I
would love to schedule a time to meet with your neighborhood. So, that is all for my updates. >> All right, >> Council Member Moore. >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. All right, so I had the West Central initiative on July 16th and just wanted to report a couple things out from that. And one is that we
had a great presentation from Susan Brower who is our state demographer. Um so she studies growth and changes within our state and she just wanted to let us know and have us be prepared and thinking about our future as the growth is decelerating. So that's due to
falling birth rates, folks dying and then also pretty extreme drop in uh international migration right now. So as we face uh this slow or this deceleration uh of growth, one thing to strongly consider is increased efforts
to staff critical workforce areas because that could be a coming challenge for us. So I just wanted to share that piece of information. The revolving loan fund is in great shape. Um the comprehensive economic development plan is in great shape. Uh, one one piece of not so great news is that um there's a
couple of executive orders out there, 14154 and 14260, um that are aimed at punishing organizations that believe in climate change or extreme weather patterns that are happening right now. And the West Central Initiative does believe in those
things. We have it on our website um and really focus efforts to help mitigate that within communities. And because of that language, we are expecting to lose about 70k in funding from a federal grant next year. But knowing that that's
coming, we are preparing for it. But um I just wanted to share that. Thank you, Council Member Nissmeer. >> Sorry, Madame Mayor. I forgot one thing. Um I was meeting with a resident this morning with Council Member Moore and they mentioned um they had never heard
of the 11th Street and 14th Street um corridor study. And so, as a reminder, the survey is currently open and available on the city's website through this Friday, July 31st. And the interest is in um collecting data and information
around the 11th Street and the 14th Street corridors. They are currently oneways. They are seeing about people's thoughts and feelings about walking, biking, and driving in those spaces. Um and we would love to have more engagement. There have already been over
300 folks who have engaged in the survey. Um they had an open house a couple of weeks ago, but really just to push that out one more time on a public forum to um get out there and uh complete that survey. It's really quite
short. Um and any and all uh public feedback is really appreciated. All right. Any other council members with reports? All right. uh for mayor reports. Um I met with several individuals who are
looking to start businesses here in the city of Morehead. Um also myself with uh several council members, we attended a an event that was held um by Churches United to look at um some of their future plans as far as what they are
hoping to do um as far as expanding in the community and um selling the Dorothy Day house and and things of that nature. uh just really appreciate the work that they do in our community. Um we had our last safe city night and uh
Sergeant Scott Costich is in the room and just want to extend a lot of gratitude to you and our also our parks department for putting on some exceptional events for the community in various parts of the city. It was very very well attended um and just very well
put together. So thank you for doing that every single summer. um also attended a ribbon cutting for a new home that Habitat for Humanity is building in the city of Morehead. Uh this is a single gentleman who has a daughter that
is moving to Morehead now from uh West Fargo and she's excited to become a Spud this fall. And Habitat has three other homes that they're going to be building in the city as well. So there are going to be a number of people who now will be able to have a place that they get to
call home um fairly soon. also uh the chief and the assistant chief of police and I met with leadership from the United Liberian Association of North Dakota. They also um participate and have individuals from Klay County as
part of that organization. and a lot of great information was shared and I think that there are going to be some unique uh things that are going to be done between uh collaboration between the police department and the United Liberian
Association as well. Um that is all I have so I will turn it over to you city manager Molly. >> Thank you mayor. No update other than uh real quickly u night on August 4th. We'll see everybody out there. Just wanted to let the council know that um Lyanna Cord and our police departments
putting together all of the the neighborhood uh block group parties and um events. So, um checked in with her today and that's still coming together. We have folks that are still sending in their parties. So, there's going to be
uh a lot. So, you'll get a list of those in your ward along with addresses and a map and and other information uh coming later this week. Thank you. Right. Thank you. Um and we do not have an executive session and no new business. So it is 6:22 and with that we
are adjourned. So good night Morehead.