All right. Good evening everyone. I am Mayor Shelley Carlson. It is November 10th, 2025, 5:30 p.m. The Morehead City Council welcomes public input on issues listed on the agenda or of general community interest, time and council permitting. Speakers are limited to
three minutes each. If you would like to address the council during the meeting, please fill out a form provided by the city clerk and 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, the comments submitted prior 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 Mud City Council collectively and with gratitude acknowledge the sacred land the city of
Mort is built upon. We acknowledge the people have resided here for generations and recognize that the spirit of the Dakota Ojiway Mati and all indigenous communities permeate this land. That could I get a roll call please? >> Ryan Nelson >> here. >> Nicole Matson >> here. >> Heather Nisser >> here. Emily Moore >> here.
>> Deb White here. >> Lisa Borggan here. >> Sebastian McDougall >> here. >> Chuck Hendrickson >> present. Mayor Shelley Carlson >> here. And for those who are able, please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance. United States of America to the republication
liberty. >> Right. And city manager Molly, do we have any amendments? >> No amendments to the agenda. Mayor, >> thank you. And moving on to the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Second, N mayor. >> Motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify
by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? That motion carries. Moving on to recognitions and presentations. We have three presentations tonight. The first one is Friends of the Morehead Library and I believe I'm going to call in Lisa Vodie.
Thank you, Mayor Carlson. Um, as we've done from time to time the last few months, coming I am coming forward with some wonderful donors for the loop, the Morehead public library and um community center project. And the friends of the
library is who we're um um recognizing tonight and thanking. They are have just recently provided an additional $12,500 donation after already providing a $25,000 donation. And a number of the
friends of the library have been very active in outreach to the community for some of the larger donations that have been received. I'll also report to the council that we've raised about $1.8 million in direct donations and pledges
toward the project. And as word is getting out, we're getting approached by even more um businesses, community members, and library patrons. So, we're really excited about that. The friends of the library president is Karen
Jawitz, and she's here tonight so that you can thank this group. I just wanted to say that we're very excited to be supporting the new Morehead Public Library in the loop and we can't wait to move in in the fall.
Yeah, Well, and Karen, before you leave, um I know that the friends of the Morehead Library have been very active in raising funds um for the new community center library. Um do you want to just briefly come back and just talk about one of the
events that you have there? You just recently won an award um for a statewide award uh for a really cool event that you did in a partnership with Swing Barrel. >> Yes. In um on April 12th, which was the end of National Libraries Week, we had a
bookmarked event at Swing Barrel, which um also had Zar Tattoo doing a popup tattoo event. And there were other partnerships um Duck Goose, Food Truck, and some others. And we applied for the
Minnesota Association of Library Friends Eye Nordley Award for Best Friends Project. And we knew we were a finalist um as of late July. And on October 11th, I believe at the Saturday Splash event, it was announced that we
won and we got $1,000 in a very pretty Minnesota shaped plaque and a certificate and yeah. Um so we were very excited and Sean from Swing Bear was very excited and thank you Shelley for and Emily for coming to our watch party
because we watched the uh the announcement. Yeah. So that was that was a great event >> and the Morehead Library always has events. So thank you and congratulations and I just know that you guys are continually uh raising
money. So I I expect that you guys will probably be back in another year. So thank you. Uh the next presentation is United Way of Cast Clay and I will call Dan or >> Sure. Yeah introduction if that's okay. um our community, one of the things we
do is we nip issues in the butt and we do that through all kinds of great partnerships. The United Way is one of them. Dan Kug is here to share how the United Way is doing that to kind of meet the needs um that people in greatest need and families and the great work that you do. And this has been uh we've
been part of this campaign for many years um in Morhead. I just want to thank Michelle Co who for so many years has done great work kind of coordinating, keeping it positive. This is the one who is like, we've got a a kind of an auction going, employee auction going. Um, thank you all for contributing and helping create these
baskets and put things in. I think um Lisa Borggan, you have a a bunch of homemade gifts. That that item is up to 70 or 80 dollars already and it just opened today. Our campaign in Morehead is opening this week and then and we keep it open uh until Friday. So, we're
kind of excited and appreciate all you do and thanks for coming and sharing the story. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Well, good evening everyone. My name is Dan Klug. I serve as the major gifts lead for the United Way of Casclay. But I would be remiss if I didn't first say thank you to the men and women of our armed services.
Tomorrow is Veterans Day and it's a day we should remember and celebrate. I'm also a little uh selfish. Uh my son is active in the United States Marine Corps and it's their 250th birthday today. So uh happy birthday to all the Marines out there as well. Um, we are so grateful
for your commitment to ending homelessness and the collaborative work that you do with the Cass Clay Inter Agency Council on Homelessness. So, thank you to your leadership and your involvement and your collaboration. Uh, we are making a difference. Now, I've got a slide presentation to pull up, I
think. There we go. And our mission is to inspire and activate our community to improve lives. And how we go about that, I think, is unique and very impactful and very powerful. And it should give everyone in our community confidence uh to support, to be involved, to volunteer
and to contribute to the United Way. And how we do that is we are a convenor. We gather data uh federal, regional, local data on poverty, on demographics, on socio and economics and and health data.
And we look at those driving forces. How can we end poverty or at least help those that are in poverty uh get out of it quickly? Uh so we work closely with civic leaders like yourself, community leaders, corporate leaders, uh we pull
together volunteers, uh we pull together nonprofit organization leadership and we assess. And in assessing, we have found there are three key triggers, three key areas that really impact poverty. And we know if we can focus in on those areas,
we can truly do some transformational work. And so we call them our three bold goals. Preventing hunger and homelessness, preparing children to succeed, and strengthening families. And we go about that then in soliciting funds from the community. We have over,
I think, 200 companies that do workplace campaigns that raise money. We have donors that give $1 per paycheck. We have donors that are giving tens of thousands of dollars annually. Uh we have individuals that give us estate gifts and plan gifts. All of those funds
are pulled together and then focused through what we call our community impact review panel. So what that panel does, last year it was 53 individuals from across the community of Cass and Klay County representing civic, corporate, uh, and nonprofit and just
concerned citizens coming together and looking at the nonprofit organizations that are submitting requests for funds from us. And what we do then is we train that group of volunteers and then they go through and read and study and look
at and evaluate those requests for funding and we look at the governance of organizations. We look at what is their past results. We look at what are they stating to do and then we hold that up in line of our three bold goals and look
okay what is best going to be served in really addressing poverty and really making a change in hunger, homelessness, putting children in a place where they can succeed and then strengthening families whether it's mental health, addiction, workforce development. Then
that volunteer group makes recommendations to our board of trustees and say we believe we should fund like right now I think it's over two dozen organizations uh regionally within Cass and Klay County that provide uh 45
different programs right now of services across that spectrum. And what that does is that creates a cohesive uh services to where individuals in our community that are struggling in various issues can get that holistic care and support
they need to get out of the challenges that they're enduring. Uh because most needs are not just singular. If a person is hungry, they are probably also struggling in other areas. Or if they're homeless, they also have other economic or other challenge that need to be
addressed. So then we work with these tremendous organizations that really have gone through that vetting. We call them our verified impact partners and then they deliver these tremendous services to our community across that spectrum. I want to share some of the
results that we've seen recently. Just in the last uh year and a half, 739 children were enrolled in high quality early childhood development and education. And that is so critical. Uh I don't know if you know but uh I have read and been told I'm not a doctor uh
but the human brain is 90% developed by the age of five. Now what does it take to have a healthy brain ready to go to kindergarten? It needs to be intellectually challenged. It needs to be relationally in a good environment where there's strong uh relationships
and examples of what it means to be a kind, empathetic, caring human being. But it also needs nutrition to be physically strong. So we fund programs that address that and one of them is that early childhood development so those children that are uh experiencing
poverty have access and opportunity to those credible programs so that when they get into kindergarten they can be ready. But it doesn't stop there. when they're in junior high, senior high. We connect over 1,600 children with adult mentors. Uh again, to help to build
those positive childhood experiences and learn what it means to be a successful adult. 96% of those children that go through that program uh are kindergarten ready socially emotionally and academically ready. We're so proud of that.
2763 individuals were prevented from experiencing homelessness this last 18 months uh through the work that we fund in these great verified impact partners we have over 10,000 children were screened for hunger 35,000 almost 36,000
families uh were received over 3.8 million pounds of food. It's it's startling, but 45,000 people in our two counties need food assistance. Think of that. 40 thou 45,000 people. Uh many of you, you
probably cross paths with them just in your community, but they're struggling and need help. 612 individuals secured employment uh through the services we funded. 99 individuals improved their employability through degrees and education. and over
2500 families assessed supportive services that they self-reported improved their well-being by over 80%. So there's tremendous work being done. So you can have confidence that when you contribute to the United Way, you are funding dozens of local organizations
strategically to disrupt poverty, hunger, and homelessness and education and well-being so that our neighbors, our community can thrive. But in the midst of that great results, there are still challenges. So here's
some of the challenges. One in nine individuals or 28,000 individuals live in poverty right now in our community. They might even be working, but they're still struggling. Federal poverty definition is a family of four living on
$32,000 or less a year. And when you think about that, how do you afford housing utilities transportation school, uh, food and clothing? Very difficult. And so, how do we work with
that? One in seven children under the age of five are impacted by poverty. What's even more alarming is one in three children are experiencing hunger in our community. Many children the best meal they get is when they're at school and if they go home they may not have a
meal or in the weekends they may not have food. So some of the funding that we do with the Great Plains Food Bank, we are so fortunate to have that in our community. Uh they support uh Klay County as well as probably close to 80% of the food pantries in North Dakota uh that help deliver and get food out to
those that are struggling. And kids are three times more likely to experience poverty if they have grown up in poverty. So, it's so important through your funding and the and the the funding of the community that it can strategically disrupt and get those children and those families into the
programs they need so that they don't repeat that cycle, but rather are able to then really become a a valuable member of the community and tax uh incent and and work and really contribute to the culture and the health
and the vibrancy of our community. Now, I'm going to end on this. 1,50 individuals right now are experiencing homelessness in our community in Evan Given on any given night. Think of that on any given night. Now, when we talk about homelessness, there was just a tremendous article in the forum this
weekend uh with our director of uh impact uh Taylor Severson along with her team. They're doing such great work with the FM area coalition to end homelessness and addressing this problem. And there are chronic individuals that have homelessness. And when we think of it, we probably think
of more of that transient population, what you might see in the downtown here in Morehead or Fargo or what you might see on the corner uh of a road uh panhandling at a stoplight. But that's maybe 10% if not even of the homelessness crisis in our community.
There are families, there are individuals that you would not know they're homeless, that are struggling. uh they're living in their car, they're living in their friend's home, they're going from family member to family member trying to make ends meet and get out of that. And through your
involvement, whether it's a dollar, $5, or $50,000, that can help be the difference to have that disruption and empower and get them the services and the support they need to be able to get out of that path and and be able to get uh into again a
family sustaining job and get the housing and the food uh that they need. The schools, area schools have reported that 600 students have reported themselves that they're experiencing homelessness. That means every day at Morehead High or in our vast elementary
schools in the community, there are children that are showing up for school without a home. I don't think that's acceptable. And and hopefully you have that same uh feeling of we've we've got to address and do something about this.
And then 16,000 individuals are experiencing hunger, of which 6,400 are children. We want to continue to do this transformational work and see those impacts that I showed you earlier grow in volume to where we really can address
it. So if someone is experiencing homelessness, it's rare, it's brief, and it's not going to repeat itself. And so I would just invite you to support the United Way uh in whatever way you can and what would what is within your income and your level of commitment. Um
but you know that when you give to the United Way, you can have confidence. 98.5% of those funds are staying local. Um we send 1.5% uh to United Way as part of our agreement with them. So your funds are
staying here. Our scope is Cass and Klay County and we address both sides of the river with the same vigor, enthusiasm and dedication and we use your funds to make the greatest impact to help force multiply those gifts that it truly can
have those results. So you can go to unitedway uh castlay.org to learn more about how you can give. You can give online or if you have questions you can just reach out to us. Um, we are all passionate about talking about the work and the community that we love and the
work that we're doing here. So, thank you so much for your time and your support uh in your will willingness to continue to advocate, collaborate, and support the great work that is being done in this community through our leadership, through our donors, uh, and through those wonderful verified impact
partners that are delivering the service. And then for us that are trying to just provide some leadership, encouragement, and support along the way. So, thank you very much, Mayor Carlson, and everyone. >> Thank you. Um, you have a lot of, um, very incredible
and impactful statistics. The one that I keep looking at keeps drawing my eyes is the $3,000 annually to prevent two families from experiencing homelessness. Math is $1,500 a year. You know, $1,500 is a lot of money, but yet it's not a lot of money.
>> Yeah. >> To just prevent a family from being homeless. So, um I know that we have a very giving community. You see that with all the food insecurity that people are donating and businesses are donating and um I know that people are a lot of
people are struggling. Uh do council have any questions at all um um regarding this presentation um or for Mr. Clug? Um Council Member Nissme. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to appreciate your presentation here tonight. Um I know uh Chandler and
Taylor visited us. I I don't know if it was last year or just this spring at the um stats that they brought uh were uh similar and of the 600 children's that were unh the 600 children unhoused in their stats they did say that 300 were
from Morehead and so um I know that you do uh collaborative statistics and I really appreciate that. Um, but I know many people are always um very interested in how it impacts their particular um close-knit community. You
mentioned 45,000 people uh are in need of food assistance in our two counties. Um I'm curious of the timeliness of that data. I know we have had a lot of changes very recently in our community and I don't want you to guess or make assumptions but I'm just curious about
the timeliness of this statistic and if you have any um ideas or impacts moving forward as you said uh people who are unhoused often deal with more than one thing right it's utilities it's clothing it's food it's a v transportation is something that I hear about all the time
and I'm just curious if um you have any idea if h how old this stat is and what the impact is for our two counties um in the immediate future with the recent changes. >> That's a great question, Heather. I really appreciate that. I don't have the
reference or resource in front of me. Um but I I can get that and and work on uh getting that documentation back to you. >> I appreciate that. I um >> am so uh >> I I struggle so much to receive emails and calls um from our residents looking
for housing because rent continues to go up. Um looking for transportation. We have a lot of food resources in our community. Many there's been a great deal of outpouring from residents as well as um businesses which is absolutely fabulous. But when I still
hear that it is not enough to make ends meet and like you said uh family of four um lives in poverty by the standards if they make $32,000 or less a year is um monumental when we think about the
benefits that those of us who have first jobs and second jobs and we're able to to be um provided our basic human rights with no struggle. Um, and so I just want to appreciate the work that you and your team do and say that I was very um glad
to support the city of Morhead staff in the um this week's fundraiser and I really do look forward to new stats and great outpourings from our community uh so we can make a difference in the lives of many. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. And it's
um just to touch on that on that hunger issue, I do know uh $1 can provide two meals. uh through the support that we do with the Great Plains Food Bank. So, uh really cost-effective
uh tremendous work that they do in sourcing again affordable food and being able to get it distri distributed um not only on the North Dakota side, but also in in Klay County as well. So, thank you so much. >> I think that's a great reminder for people who want to like go grocery shopping and add things. I know um
Coburns has provided small um like little easy grab things um so they can easily be donated to Great Plains Food Bank, but that um stat that you have that $1 can purchase two meals if the money goes through United Way or Great Plains Food Bank directly, I think is
very impactful. So, I sincerely appreciate you adding that stat for us. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um just I guess just a call out to the community that if you're able to um please donate to the United Way
and there's a multitude of ways to do so. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much everyone. >> Y um our third presentation tonight is Metro Railroad Needs Study and Brian King. Okay.
>> But you're not Brian. So >> Okay. He'll be here in just a second. >> I'll just turn it over to you. >> Thank you, ma'am. Madame Mayor, um honorable council members, thank you for letting us present this study to y'all tonight. Um this study's been a little over three years in the making. Um BNSF
approached several jurisdictions or mostly I should say all of the jurisdictions in the region as well as Metrocog almost three years ago and inquired about doing this study and out of out of those early discussions um th this study that I I'm not going to read
this to y'all so y'all rest easy on that. um this this study has come together. Um all the parties agreed to uh um over 15 rail crossing locations to study throughout the region and on top of that just something of interest to
the jurisdictions. BNSF agreed to provide the local match for this study. So that relieved all the local jurisdictions of having to provide a portion of that 20% local match to federal funds for that. So that's always a big plus. So HDR was the selected
consultant and they began work on the study in June of last year and the local office here drew on expertise from offices um from their offices across the US and Canada. So it was a lot of work that went into this study. There was a
study review committee that was assembled and it was comprised of representatives of all the local jurisdictions of both state departments of transportation, the railroad industry, not only BNSF but the other railroads in the area as well. And there was there was a lot of feedback
throughout the process. Um public engagement was a big part of the study and we did several um there were a couple of popup engagements including one at the RORO Art Museum uh during the Frostville event this uh this winter this past winter in early February and
um in the month of July we had four public meetings throughout the region including excuse me including one here at the Yumump Center in on July 10th. So we've had a lot of outreach and engagement. We've had uh pretty much
various surveys online to to to get feedback from the community and and tonight we're glad to be able to present uh almost two years worth of work to y'all to show y'all what's what's been accomplished with that. So Brian King is here from HDR and he's got a couple of
slides to present and I will get out of the way but we'll be road um is being is being um identif identified. It's going to add four different locations accesses to the b businesses behind it. And it
also will pull be able to pull people off of Highway 10 when they're trying to make the the quick swing between uh trying to get across 34th Street. Next, moving south is 40th Avenue South and Highway 52 intersection. Um number
one, it's a skewed intersection, so the vis visibility and the safety has been decreased because of that. And in addition, there's not a lot of room uh between Highway 52 and the crossing. So, what we have determined the the most cost effective
uh improvements are is to add a turn lane, widen the intersection, add shoulders for for bicyclists and and pedestrians, and then as well as to pave pave back on to 40th there to to clean it up. Um, in addition, lastly, this
crossing would also be upgraded to meet the railroad quiet zone standards, which includes the RA raised medians, uh, new gates, and and an additional flashers. So, as we move south um down to 50th
Avenue, right now this is a a rural intersection. And so, what the what the most the the improvement would include is eliminating the at grade crossing uh with an overpass that that we would
pave on each side as well as add in preparing for the future add accommodations for bicyclists as pedestrians as well. And so f finally down on 60th Avenue. Similarly, this also includes improving the intersection
uh by adding an overpass, widening the street so it's safer for bicyclists and pedestrians um to to enhance for the future growth as the city continues to move southward. So as we as we how were these options uh
determined? The preferred alternatives were identified through a multiple account evaluation. Uh this evaluation criteria was developed using qualitative and quantitative data and with the concurrence of the local government agencies and metricog. Uh the study
review committees and the stakeholder committees helped to weigh these to best uh reflect what was important in their communities. So, as you can see with the percentages there, uh the magnitude of the project benefits, which you could
also loosely call a benefit cost analysis, are ranked the highest. And then emergency service access, you know, how do how do we not reduce delays due to traffic? As we all know, downtown once everything cleans up, it's going to be
much easier to get around downtown, right? So we try to do that at all the intersections across the the metro area. So where we are today uh we are in the last week of uh public engagement and
public feedback. The the study that Ben's got in front of him is available on their website um if you would like any more details and to provide any recordable um comments for that period. So, with that, as been indicated, uh,
thank you for your time and if the council has any questions, we'll be happy to answer them. >> Thank you so much. Uh, any questions from council members? >> Council member Matson. >> Thank you. One quick question. Um, $2 signs versus $4 signs. What's the range?
There were on the graphics there, two of them had $2 signs and two had $4 signs. And I'm just wondering what the spread is there. I will get back to you on that. I'm not sure what the dollar range was. >> Do you remember? >> I can't call off the top of my head either. Sorry.
>> I'll find out and I'll let you know. >> Yeah. >> All right. Looks like there are no more questions. And uh I hope hopefully you'll get a lot of public comment. Um just so that you know people can have an opportunity to give their two cents
worth or $2 signs I guess. um as far as you know thoughts of which one might be better to focus on. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much for coming tonight. >> Right. Next on the agenda is approval of the October 27th, 2025 meeting minutes.
Do I have a motion to approve? >> So move check. >> Second Nicole. >> Motion in a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. Um, we do have one citizen who wishes to
address the council at this time. Uh, Mr. Dra, if you want to come up to the podium. Um, so how this works is this very modern contraption here. Um, you'll get three minutes to speak. The button, this will be green while the three
minutes are going and then it'll turn red and if you see it red, you'll need to wrap it up. Um, and then just state your name and if you are a Morhead resident for the record and then your three minutes will start. Well, thank you so much. Uh, my name is Dane Drae. I am a Morehead resident. I'm a lawyer, so
I'm very familiar with red, yellow, and uh, green. So, I'll do my best to beat the clock. I own a law firm in downtown Morehead. I own some property in Tessa Terrace, and my family and I live just south of the 52nd roundabout.
Technically, we're in Curts Township, but we still say Morehead. And so, I'm a proud Morehead resident. U, my kids go to Probesfield. They're in the Spanish immersion program. My youngest kids go to Little Discoveries. Uh all that to
tell you that uh while I'm not from here and I wasn't born here, I'm going to stay here and we are Morehead Spuds and we're going to bleed, you know, orange and black for as long as my kids grow up. I wanted to speak very briefly today because it's come to my attention that
there are some new hirings that are going to be happening at the Morehead Fire Department. And one of the things that makes me love Morehead the most is that it seems like we know how to get things done in Morehead. The recent levy was passed. My cousin works in West
Fargo. They struggled to get theirs passed. He's with the school department. I am very proud that Morhead always does a very good job of getting things done when it needs to. And I think having new firefighters is important for my business. Uh we live south. I know some
times down there are difficult. department to continue to grow. I know Jamie Garvey very well when he used to be in Fargo when I worked for Earl Pomememoroy a million years ago before I went to law school. The point of this is Morehead sometimes feels in my experience like the kid brother to
Fargo. One of the ways I think we stop that nonsense is by continuing to grow smartly, invest in our city, invest in our citizens, and invest in our community. My kids are going to grow up in this area. I want them to have safe schools. I want the fire department to
be great. I want Morehead to continue to be great. I know it's a thing that we can get done. I don't think it's a huge ask. I'm very thankful that the board is doing this. I ask you to continue to do that great work. I'm way ahead of schedule. I'm on my way out. I'm going to go coach hockey now. My son's
outside. He's in Mike Miner. He's been watching my phone. It's time to get over to the Colen Hockey Arena and do more things for Morehead. Thank you. I don't think I have any questions. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you. I didn't know we had a minor league for
our mites in hockey. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Um All right. Um we are now down to mayor and council reports. Do any council members have reports that um you
want to provide to council? Council member Nissmeer. >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um I would like to invite everybody to the solid waste advisory committee meeting on November 20th at 8 a.m. at the resource recovery um cent's conference room. Um there we
will be um discussing on Thursday, November 20th, the stats that lakes and prairies from the incinerator co-op that we have with five other counties. We will be getting their stats on home trash and what is what people are
throwing away and what we're burning at the incinerator. as well as Klay County has been doing a a survey of trash from the same 100 homes for a number of years and we will be getting both sets of stats. Um, and I think that that's really important because at our last two
SWAC meetings in September and October, um, the county is exploring possibilities of organic composting and it's organic material, not organic like it's grown specially. It's just, um, we find that we have a lot of organic
matter historically. And I'm just curious if the stats in November will prove to be the same as we've seen in the in the past. And I'm really excited that there is an interest in organic waste composting in the city of Morehead and in Klay County. And so I want to
lift that up. On that same train, it is uh the last week of Takeback Jack. And so if you have any pumpkins that you would like to share into a wonderful composting agreement that the county and the city work towards doing great for our ecosystem, the last day to drop off
your pumpkins in the bins that are in two locations in North Morhead and two in South Morhead is November 14th. So you have all week to get your pumpkins off. They might be a little frosty and frozen if they were on your front step this week. It's been a little chilly, but yes, please get those um pumpkins to
um those bins so they can be used for uh wonderful programs in Klay County. Um also the uh Association of Minnesota Counties, which is AMC, not the movie theater group. It's something cool. Uh they have an environmental uh committee
and they have uh voted to put the number one legislative priority um as solid waste related items. And why I think this is important is because it is funding and funding and policymaking for comprehensive and innovative solid waste
management systems including SCORE, CND management, e-waste and batteries. I referenced that last um council meeting that our our work in Klay County is working on um electronic waste and safe battery disposal uh as well as solid
waste capital and waste to energy and emerging technologies. And so I think knowing that uh the Association of Minnesota Counties is really all going all in to really support a number of projects that Klay County and the city of Morehead are actively looking at and
we do great in our community. And so knowing that is uh not only taking off just here, but it it is across the the counties of Minnesota as well. That's something to highlight. There uh is uh this Thursday, November 13th uh from
noon to 1. The Klay County MPCA uh funds settlement uh first listening session is Thursday, November 13th from noon to 1 at the Morehead Public Library. And the there are two other sessions as well as
an online survey. um the Yam Comp Center, there's a session on November 19th from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. And then the third and last um session for this round of community input for what we can do with MPCA or Minnesota uh
pollution control agency funds that we received as Klay County. So what they are looking for in these sessions is input from community members on how we can do great things in the city of Morehead. The third and last which I interrupted myself is at Triumph
Lutheran Brethren on November 25th from 4 to 5:00 p.m. Um the survey is one question. There are three options under that question as well as an other slot. You can include all of those details. I did visit with um Klay County Public
Health individual Patrick Hollister who is facilitating these funds, these settlement funds, and he did acknowledge that all of the input that goes into the survey. And when I visited with him last week, they'd had 96 responses so far, but all of those options that people
list in other will also be at the listening sessions. So people can interact with the choices and elect or select um their preferences for how they would like to see that $129,000 spent by June of 2026. So I think it's a
great opportunity to get involved with the county and I the city has put it out on our socials which I want to appreciate. So has the county and so I look forward to seeing many community members there uh providing input. >> Thank you. Uh council member White.
Thank you, mayor. Um, on 116, I attended the our planning meeting for the intergovernmental retreat and just wanted to give an update to the council so you can get this on your calendars. Um, the next intergovernmental retreat will be January 30th and we picked the
theme. We're fleshing it out, but it'll be related to how we can improve collaboration between our different government bodies on um growth and development. Um on the 7th I attended the Klay County Family Resource Center
SNAP update and um they just shared a lot of really useful information related to the current um accentuated food crisis that we have in our community and at large in the nation. Um one of the things that they reported is that as of
that day there had been no SNAP benefits um issued for November for all of Klay County. and they anticipate even though we've seen some improvement of um things moving ahead, but once they do begin to process them, they anticipate the county
anticipates a 2 to 12 week lag before people actually receive the benefits. Um they um we had folks there from Great Plains Food Bank and they mentioned that they have um uh a government shutdown
landing page with information. So, that's a good resource if you hear from folks that are looking for information. They've also doubled their capacity at several of their popup food pantries, but they're still running out on all of those. Um, the United Way has an online
hub that has very valuable information. And, um, even the Sanford Clinic here in Morehead has opened up a food pantry. And so if you know folks that are going to the Sanford Clinic, if they talk to their medical provider and they are
experiencing um uh food insecurity, then they may be able to get access to that. On December 20th, uh the LifeCare United um nonprofit organization will be doing a hygiene product drive right here in the Yam Center from 10 to 3 um because
in addition to food insecurity, that's another thing that um that people are really struggling with is personal hygiene products. And they're looking for volunteers. There's a network. They're putting together a list of places like uh restaurants and grocery stores that are
willing to donate food, but they actually have a shortage of volunteers to pick that up. And so they're looking for more volunteers, particularly on the weekend that could help to find to pick up food from the places um that are willing to donate it and get it to some
of these food pantries, food shelves. So, um, if you hear of folks that are interested in volunteering, um, you can reach out to places like Great Plains, uh, United Way, or the Family Resource Center. Um, on Saturday, I attended Win
Liberia's celebration of their 7-year anniversary. Um, if you don't know of Win Liberia, they're a great organization that helps support mothers and youth, youth um, from our, um, local FM Liberian community. Um, and I just
wanted to remind folks that one of my favorite events is coming up this Saturday and that's Pangia, the cultivate our culture cate celebration that'll be right here in the Yamcomst. Um, and there are as always f uh food
performers and other great activities to celebrate the culture of the uh people in our community. Thanks. >> Thank you, Council Member McDougall. Just quick reminder, um, besides Pangia, there's another one of the HRC's doing
the cookies with commissioners this Wednesday at the library from, uh, 5:30 to 7:00. Just want to give a reminder on that too. >> Council member Hendrickson. >> Uh, thank you, ma'am. Mayor Carlson, just I I got a quick text from somebody I looked at. It's um people are
wondering the locations of the Takeback Jack. Uh they do have a um an area on the Klay County website that is strictly for takeback Jack, but I can give you the quick addresses here. In Morhead, it's 715th Avenue North. It's public
works facility. And uh South Morhead, it's 23rd Street South and 40th Avenue, which is by the soccer fields. And then they have one on 418 Elm Street South. And then u one at the re resource recovery center, 3322 15th Avenue North.
So, and then last Thursday I did attend the Red River Basin Commission. You know, it's it's its quarterly meeting and everything went normal. We did have a presentation by Maline Luke of the Dakota Resource Council and Stephanie Marinowski who's a former county
commissioner and RBB, our RBC board member. They gave a pres presentation on confined animal feed operations and they expressed concerns about potential contamination from largecale dairy operations especially regarding w water quality in the red river valley.
So the presentation basically highlighted the crossber impact of industrial agriculture on shared resources like water and it's not too far from the red river. So there's great concern for that. So she gave a really good presentation on that. So that's all I have. Thanks.
Thank you, Council Member Nelson. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, back on the 28th of October, Mayor Carlson and I attended the, uh, Red River Regional Dispatch Authority um, uh, board meeting. Uh, along with that, uh, following that was
the, uh, ribbon cutting ceremony, uh, for the opening of the what we refer to as the triple RDC, the Red River Regional Dispatch Center. It was a, uh, wonderful, uh, ceremony and ribbon cutting. Uh, we got to tour the facility. Um and I tell you it was um uh
it's a just a spectacular facility. Um all the uh staff there, the uh all the dispatchers and administration had input into the facility. So this uh this facility is going to run like um it's going to be extremely efficient. Uh
there's room to expand. Um it is a just one of the best examples in my opinion of the collaboration amongst the um government entities in uh the Fargo Morehead Cast Clay areas. So shout out to all the the entities and you know Deb you mentioned about the
intergovernmental retreat and the collaboration and I tell you what that you know we may struggle at times but there are other times we just excel and this is uh this is an example of that. the uh director over there, Amanda Glasso, is doing a excellent job uh leading the team over there and uh her
support team with Christy Kansky and Mary Ediger and Brian Zastapool being the radio systems expert. There just aren't people like that um in the in the in the tri-state area, I would I would argue. So, uh, we're fortunate our our
all the agencies, entities are saving it's, uh, I don't know, you could put a number to it that the amount of dollars that we're saving on, uh, working together like that. So, um, great job to all the entities, but it was a, it was a great uh, um, great thing. They're going
to start uh, transferring over uh, start actually working out of there. Um they're doing some I guess last minute uh touchup if you will, but they're going to I think it was December 3rd. I think it was the day that the 911 calls were going to transfer over into the new facility. So just in the next few weeks,
uh they're going to be working out of there 247. So um it's great to get to that. It's been kind of a a long time a long time coming. So and uh I can't I can't do the second one. I'll
defer to you or city manager. >> Yeah, I will. >> Thank you. >> Else, Council Member Borggan. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I did attend the Morehead public service strategic planning session. It was a an evening where we
spent about four hours talking about the next 5 to 10 years on water and electric. And I think they did a really nice job. First of all, we have a a great team over at MPS, but they did a really nice job of talking through some of the potential new customers that
could be coming, etc. So, it was nice to see that they're certainly very got it on their radar. So, they're they're working towards that. I also attended the Sanford Community Breakfast in the new Bellbank downtown building in the
they have a new community center or it's a community gathering space. is absolutely gorgeous, state-of-the-art, really nice u facility and the focus of the community breakfast was an update on the Roger Maris Can cancer center and
there were four doctors that work there and gave us all the updates on the research, the new things they're doing. It was really incredible and we are such a we are so lucky that our community has a place like the Roger Mayor Cancer Center. So that's my report. Thank you.
>> Thank you. No other council members. No, council member Moore. >> Um, since my last report, I just wanted to say I did a board meeting for the West Central Initiative and that was um strongly focused on our comprehensive
economic development strategy. Also had a Laurel board meeting where we talked about reviewing the formula for funding of our libraries and um added a new health safety policy. And then last, but certainly not least, at the EDA, the
Economic Development Authority, we had an incredible marketing update from our team, Lisa Bod, and Kelly Coun, Caleb Fugleberg, and just really got to celebrate them and want to just tack on that they're doing such incredible work for our city, and we greatly appreciate
them. All right, thank you. If you want me to say I went to meetings, I did, but I'll spare you guys. Keep All right. Thank you. Right. Um well, since October 27th, I've participated in
eight meetings. Um a few to just highlight. Legal Minnesota um League of Minnesota City Board of Directors meeting. Um we approved the 2026 legislative policy priorities um covering areas that really improve
service delivery, local economies, improving fiscal futures, and human resources and data practices. the 12 priorities for 2026. These are in alphabetical order, not necessarily in in order of significance, but adult use
cannabis bonding elections emergency medical services, employment/human resources, housing, um local government aid, local decision-making, local sales taxes, public safety sales tax exemption on construction materials, and water
infrastructure and policies. So, for council members or anybody who wants to go and find out um more about these specific priorities, you can go to the League of Minnesota Cities website. Um they have the the whole report um that you can read through it or download. Um
just a few things to add to the trip board meeting and grand opening. I think just a a few um kind of fun facts uh to highlight about the triple RDC. Um this is the only one in the entire country
that serves um two different states. There are 57 agencies that um the triple RDC dispatchers provide dispatch and call taking for. They handle nearly 10,000 calls every single month dispatching for fire, EMS, and law
enforcement. But it's not just dispatch. They also answer a lot of calls um from those entities to provide information, driver's license checks, things like that. Um to give you guys an idea of how long something like this takes to actually come to uh to reality where you
get to have a ribbon cutting, the discussion about a possible new dispatch center started in 2012. So um over over a decade ago and it was in 2021 that um our area jurisdictions came together to really get this project off the ground
um and and accumulated in the new dispatch center that um will be fully functional in December. So it takes a long time to um build an amendity like this and and to have all those jurisdictions come together. Um one of the significant changes that they are
making once they uh switch over to their site in North Fargo is they are going to have a dedicated dispatcher for our area fire departments. um they had not done that before, but because they're um but it's it's primarily due to mutual aid
because uh they call out um they don't just call out one fire department. They will call out frequently um a multitude because of all the mutual aid and um so they wanted to make that adjustment and are dedicating one dispatcher per shift exclusively exclusively to work with our
area fire departments. Um, the other things I wanted to mention, um, just wanted to give out condolences first to the family of Millie Mlod Mccleed Mloud. Um she was a former city council member,
served for 20 years, I think the longest serving council member um in the city of Morehead and was very very instrumental in moving and assisting uh Mayor Mory Lanning at that time in moving Morehead from a city administrator type of a structure to a city manager type of a
structure, which is what we have now. and and um very very different structures um and helps really uh elevate the the mayor and the council into positions where we are policy makers um and we don't get involved in operations. That was the biggest um
biggest difference and speaking with um former mayor Lanning um um Millie was quite a force to be reckoned with um and was very very well respected in the community. Um so just giving out condolences to to that family. Um the
other um condolences and um that I wanted to share was um I'm just going to read it from the Morhead Police Department's uh Facebook site, but we really want to honor the life and legacy of formid police, former Morhead police officer Brad Skank, who served our
department and community with unwavering dedication for 16 years. And those who worked alongside Brad will tell you um he was the kind of officer that you wanted. Steady, dependable, and deeply committed. He was more than a police officer. He's a marine. He was a master sergeant in the Air National Guard, a
SWAT sniper, a husband, a dad, and a friend. In 2016, um Officer Skate was diagnosed with a grade two to three I am not going to even try to say this. I'll not gonna try. It's a malignant brain cancer. Two years later, he made a
triumphant return to work. A testament to his strength and determination. Just six months after his return, though, he experienced a seizure and another biopsy confirmed uh the heartbreaking truth that the his his brain cancer was back. He loved his family fiercely and even in
the hardest moments of his battle with cancer, he showed up with strength and grace and a quiet determination that we all admired and an incredible incredible sense of humor. I think he was one of the first officers we had within the department that did some lip syncing,
little Tik Tok or whatever they were um about donuts and it he was just a really great guy. Um his fight was long and courageous. He returned to serve our community when he ever whenever he could and remained a source of inspiration to everyone who knew him. He ultimately had
to leave the department in 2021, but even after stepping away from the job, he was and always will be a part of the Morehead uh family. Passed away uh November 8th, 2025. And we want to extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife Sarah and their
children, Colby, Bentley, and McKenzie. Um and also to uh happy birthday to his son who um is celebrating his 15th birthday just a few days after his father passed away. Um, but our condolences condolences to his extended family, friends, and all those who stood by him throughout the journey. His
legacy lives on in the lives he touched and the community helped protect. So, thank you to him and I'll turn over to you, city manager. >> Thank you, mayor. I'll just I'm just going to pick off on where you um left off. So, that um Officer Skanks, it was a nine-year battle. These cancer battles
are so incredibly difficult. And this is someone who had encouraged still showed up at events, at the stations, at celebrations, and different things that encouraged us all to keep going. And so certainly thinking about he has a young family and his and Sarah and and everybody all the family at the law
enforcement center across our community. He was he was amazing. I'd also say um Millie Mloud was an absolute giant. She um she she was really something. um not not only just a real strong leader in Morehead from in Ward One, but also
chaired the um League of Minnesota Cities, served on the National League of Cities, and then just went out. And I'll tell you, her manner was so direct and honest, but it also was done in a way that just makes you feel um cherished, lifted, and protected. She we were at the League of Cities conference just a couple of years ago, and she was still
sitting right there, and she got to she just hung out um all night uh and was just really part of it. Um she uh she was something. She was um she was really something. And um so she was a good friend too. Uh and then the last
thing I'd add is um so Council Member White mentioned the WIN Liberia Network uh event that happened over the weekend. And WIN stands for um women um in um in initiative, right? Women in initiative. Women's Initiative Network. Yes. And um
and so um uh Council Member White was recognized with the Win Liberia's highest honor as well um um for her work empowering women and children across our community for many years. So congratulations to you and and thanks for all you do too.
>> Yeah, congratulations. Um we do not have an executive session tonight and we do not have any new business. So with that at 6:31 we are adjourned.