Good evening and welcome to the Newport City Council meeting. Today is Thursday, September 18th, 2025. I will note for the record that council member Sumar is uh attending this meeting virtually this evening. Uh we with that we will begin the meeting with
the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flagg to the flag United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and
justice for all. Will staff please call the role. Council member Schmidt here. Council member Sumar here. Council member Ingamman here. Council member Taylor here. Mayor Elliot here. Next on our agenda is to adopt the
agenda. I do have one amendment for the agenda and that is an appointment uh to the library advisory committee and uh that would go under the administration report as item 9B. Um
so with that any other changes to the agenda? I'll move the agenda or second. So have a motion from council member Ingamman and a second from council member Schmidt to adopt the agenda as amended. All those in favor say I. I.
Those opposed. The agenda is adopted. Next on our agenda is public comments. As we have no members of the public in the audience this evening. Uh we will move on to the consent agenda. The consent agenda is where members of the public can address the city council on
any items uh about local government that is not already included on our regular agenda. This is limited to concerns which are relevant to I'm doing consent right now. Oh, never mind. Sorry. I thought the um concerns during or the consent
agenda is limited uh is items that are all approved in a single motion and if someone would uh if there will be no separate discussion on those unless a council member so requests or a member of the public so requests. Uh is there anything that people would like removed
from the consent agenda? I'll move the consent agenda as printed. I'll second. I have a motion from council member Ingamman and a second from council member Schmidt. All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed I.
Bill, were you opposed to the consent agenda or was that just a late I? That was an I. Thank you. The consent agenda is adopted at 50. Next on our agenda is the engineers report. I'll turn it over to our city engineer, John Herdigan.
Good evening, mayor, members of the council. uh three items for consideration and then an update this evening. Uh first item is our uh 2025 street utility reconstruction project. Uh we've completed or the contractor I should say has completed all of the water and sewer improvements as well as
the storm improvements on Second Avenue. Uh they uh property owners are getting reconnected to the new water man. And uh crews are going to be out uh next week to start grading that road, removing some of the subgrade materials, grading the road down to the uh subbase elevation, building it back up with
gravel. Uh and then we'll be doing curb and gutter and and likely paving in in early October. Uh they have uh Meer Contracting has submitted a partial payment uh number three for consideration. Uh the work completed to date is valued at $1,956,180.
Uh less the 5% retainage that we're holding and the amount previously paid. Uh Meyer is requesting $614,63942. Uh we'd be looking for council to consider authorizing partial payment number three, but happy to stand for questions on the project as well. Okay.
Any questions for John? Bill, do you have any questions for John? No. Thank you. With that, do I have a motion to approve partial payment number three? I move to for to approve partial payment application number three for the amount
of $614,63942. I'll second. Thank you. So, we have a motion from council member Taylor and a second from council member Ingamman. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed.
The partial payment is approved. Next is our uh Lovelin Sport Court reconstruction project. Uh crews have installed all of the exterior fence posts as well as the interior fencing and then all of the uh net uh posts. Uh
the uh surfacing crew had come in today and started pressure washing the the court and uh preparing that surface for the uh acrylic surfacing that the colored surfacing that goes on for the uh different court areas. Uh so that work is expected to begin next week,
weather depending. They need about 6 hours of uh of time for that material to cure uh before it's exposed to any kind of moisture. and we moni or we need to make sure that that temperature is above 50 degrees. Looking okay for uh uh for
next week, but their their contractor monitors that pretty closely. Uh we also um I before we uh consider a partial payment, I did want to update the council on the uh overall cost for this project. Uh we had mentioned at the uh at the previous council meeting that we
had we had encountered some poor soils in that area. We had ended up um removing actually some roots and some organic material from underneath the sport court and then some of the uh uh underlying material we removed and replaced with a bit of a thicker conc or
a thicker uh gravel base. Uh the cost of that is about $30,000 which ends up being about 13% over budget of that we expected. Uh we also had talked to the sport court uh uh surfacing uh
contractor uh about the you know just some concerns about differential settlement. What we don't want to have happen is that we have some settlement all of a sudden that bleeds through that surfacing and they have a product that's a uh it's a fiber mesh product that's uh
placed in an adhesive underneath that surfacing to kind of bridge those minor uh settlement areas. uh they had provided a cost of uh $12,000. I forget what the cost per unit is for that, but it's a uh it was it was something that
they certainly recommend. They put it on a lot of their courts, particular in areas that they have uh the potential for that differential settlement. I did discuss that with with Joe. This would add about 4% additional uh cost to the project. And understandably, we're we've
we've run into some unforeseen uh uh issues, but again, with considering the the long-term durability of the of the surface, it's something that uh administrator Hatch was uh was supportive of and uh did feel that that was uh an item that could be supported
within the budget for the sport card as well. So we would be obviously uh time is of the essence given that we have some considerations for not only weather but making sure that we can get the um material or get that surfacing installed this year. Uh we would like to get
council I guess uh approval to install that that uh under mesh underllayment uh at a cost of 12,000. Uh it was not in your in your council packet. I apologize for that. This was a conversation that we had uh just uh within the last couple
days. Um so I again apologize that it's not in your packet. Um but happy to answer questions or or consideration on on using that uh that additional product. So John, I'm looking um on page 30 of the packet which is the partial payment
application number two. There is geoteexile fabric fabric listed there just after line 24. Um it says in the amount of 7,60179. So is that a different geoexile fabric that that is? Yes. So that was a previous
change order. That material went between the uh the uh the virgin surface and then the gravel surface to keep any kind of u material when they compacted from that that clay or that unsuitable material from pushing up into the
gravel. So this would be an cost in addition to that. Now that $7,000 is included in that subgrade correction number that uh that I had shared. Um so that it's a combination of both uh the geoexile fabric and the additional
material that we removed and and replaced. Did we put any contingency into this uh project budget? We generally put in about 5% contingency. So we are over that. Uh but again with uh administrator Hatch felt that we have the uh we have the funds
within the the park's budget to pay for that and uh we did look at the we we're still below the second low bid for what it's worth. Uh this was a uh a competitive bid by the by the contractor. So it is certainly unexpected, certainly something that we don't uh like to see happen on our
projects, but again we're we're trying to look out for that long-term durability. Okay, other questions for John. Council member Schmidt. So the and the geo mesh is what it's called. I'm just trying to get the technical term. What's the thing that's going to be 12 grand?
That's a it's a mesh underllayment. So that goes right on top of the pavement underneath the uh underneath the acrylic sport court surface. Okay. So that if the you know if the pavement moves, it doesn't automatically reflect through. And you' said this is recommended by the
the surfacing installer. surfacing installer. So, the surfacing installer recommends this product. This product is something that they produce or they're buying it from a third party. It's I guess I don't know that they produce it. It's something that they use uh I'm assuming that they would purchase
it from the same supplier as the acrylic surfacing. Perfect. So, then is this what portion of this is warrantied? If it does fail, it does fall in like we're paying money up front to kind of protect against that. Is it warrantied? Yeah, the warranty for the project I I believe is
a one-year warranty for uh for surface cracking. Uh it is uh this product would you know would presumably help not only within that first year but you know many years beyond that but is not that the
warranty for the project. I'd have to verify that to be sure but product specifically this underllayment that's 12 grand is not warrantied is what I'm hearing. Not. I don't believe so. No, I can I can double check what the literature is, but I didn't uh I didn't get that information in front of
the meeting here. Thank you. Are there questions in the council chambers at all? Council member Sumar, do you have any questions for our engineer? No, nothing in addition to what he's
already answered. Great. Thank you. Um, with that I would entertain a motion. Uh, well, do you need a motion for partial payment and then you need a motion to approve the mesh? If you'd like to do them at the same time, I could certainly present the
partial payment as well, but I think it would be better to do the mesh. Sorry. Yeah, I'm jumped ahead of you. So, I would entertain a a motion to um do the mesh under layment product
uh addition or change order um in the amount of approximately $12,000. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I'll make that motion. Second. All those in favor say I. I
I those opposed I sorry those opposed and the um change order is approved and then secondly mayor the uh uh Winberg companies has submitted a second
partial payment application uh the amount completed to date $191,820 again less than 5% retainage and the amount previously paid uh Winberg is requesting $33,510 $10.91.
Uh we request that council consider partial payment number two. Okay. Any questions in the chambers on that? Council member Sumar, do you have any questions on this partial payment? No.
Thank you. Um with that, I would uh entertain a motion to approve partial payment number two. I'll make that motion. I'll second. I have a motion from council member Ingamman and a second from council member Schmidt in the amount uh
designated by our engineer. All those in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed. Partial payment is approved. All right. Then our water system interconnect project along Century Avenue between Cottage Grove and the
city of Newport. Uh A1 Excavating has completed all of the water mane uh uh between the uh connection at Cottage Grove into Lovelin Park at the ground storage reservoirs. Uh they they moved uh very quickly. Uh we did actually
encounter some rock uh within Sentry Avenue which uh caught us by surprise because it's uh way up on the bluff and that normally doesn't uh we don't encounter rock there. It was about 50 ft away from a boring that we uh that we performed in that area. Uh this is a
project that's funded through the uh 3M PIFA settlement. We're working with uh providing the information to the uh trustees to uh make sure that they have documentation as to that we did encounter that cost. A1 provided us a very um a very competitive uh cost for
that rock removal. We base that on the time it actually took them to to remove it that they documented and it was roughly about half the cost that we uh we we had for our uh some of the rock removal we had on the in the city's project. So they were very fair uh and
we provided that information to the to the trustees. Uh we also have some items that over overlapped with the reconstruction of Century Avenue. uh that road is being reconstructed as part of the Cherrywood development. And so some of the ancillary work like redoing
driveways or putting new driveway culverts in uh we didn't have to do because that work is going to be attached to that development project and they weren't ready yet to do that work. So that'll fall on to the developer. So there'll be some balancing costs there.
uh the uh valve vault that's going to or the metering vault, excuse me, that's going to measure the uh water amount of water coming from Cottage Grove. Uh that is uh we're expecting that delivered in uh November, December time frame. That
is something that can be installed during uh winter months. Not ideal, but it can be. Uh as well as the pressure relief va or vault. the uh pressure from Woodberry's water system is a lot higher than Newport's at the connection point. So we have to we put in a valve to
manage that pressure so we don't uh overpressurize our system that is installed by the uh um same or that's supplied by the same uh supplier uh and will likely be installed in that November December time frame. Uh we have
completed the uh gravel base for the portion of Century Avenue that was paved that we installed water mane beneath. Uh that is uh scheduled to be repaved the first lift a week from Saturday. They're going to be doing that work. So that'll
be I'm sure a welcome relief for the uh for the some of the uh residents in the area. Uh the remaining uh portion of Century Avenue south of Kalin uh is likely going to remain uh gravel for some time as they work on the utilities through that corridor. Okay.
Uh so uh A1 has submitted their first uh partial payment application. uh they've completed $619,154 uh of work and the the amount requested after the 5% retainage is $588,196.78. We'd be looking for council to authorize
partial payment number one. Thank you. And I think just to clarify this being part of the 3M settlement means that we pay the bills, we submit those bills and detailed information about the work that was completed to the settlement trustees and then we get
reimbursed uh back for those expenses. So um questions for John? when they do the second lift, the repaving, the final paving, how long does that need to be closed before they
can uh cars can drive on it? What should people expect in the area? The a few hours. Oh, you know, they they'll usually they'll uh they'll make accommodations for folks to to get around, but we like people to stay off for some time just to avoid the construction equipment. Uh between Kalin
and uh and Lyn Way, uh folks can get in and around there fairly easily. Good. Okay. Um, council member Sumar, do you have any questions for our city engineer? No.
Thank you. So, um, with that, uh, do I have a motion for partial payment number one? I'll make the motion. Thank you. Second. Go ahead. Second. I have a motion from council member Schmidt and a second from council member
Taylor to approve partial payment number one in the amount as stated by our city engineer. All those in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed. Partial payment is approved. And then the last update, mayor, uh council may recall, uh last
year around this time, we had sent out mailers, uh requesting information from property owners about the uh material for their water service line coming into their home. Uh the EPA and then through um uh through the Minnesota Department
of Health uh has funding available to replace uh any lead service lines that are are found within communities across the state. Uh we do not believe we have uh any lead service lines. Uh most of our lines that went in uh in the 60s
were indeed copper. Uh but there is funding available to try to identify any lead services that may be out there. Uh so we had submitted all the information that we found last year. Department of Health supplied us with a list of the remaining unknown services. So staff is
uh sending out a mailer to those unknown uh services asking to get uh fill out a small flyer and take a picture of their uh service line coming into their home so we can verify it's copper. And we've uh we've already had several coming in. So I would just encourage folks that may
be listening and they received that uh letter, take a look. There's a there's an application that you can do on your phone to uh complete that very easily. you can fill it out uh via or fill out the paper form and if you have any questions uh uh city hall staff or myself can can certainly help walk
through there and we can always send someone out there to uh verify it for you as well. Yeah, happy to do that. And this is a great program. Don't be concerned if you think your pipes might be led because there is funding available uh to fix that. Um and I believe it's at no expense to the
homeowner. Correct. Correct. But the only way we have access to that funding is if we can document that it that it exists. So we certainly would appreciate the the participation. Yep. Wonderful. Any questions on that?
Uh Council Member Sumar, any questions on the lead pipe survey? No. And lead pipe is a terrible disaster for people that consume water that's come through lead pipes. So, it's a strongly recommended that they get this resolved.
Absolutely. Thank you. Uh, council member Sumar. Um, next on our agenda is the superintendent of public works. He is unable to be with us this evening. Do you There's no updates. Okay. You know, we praised him so much last week, he didn't even show up this
time or at the last meeting. He didn't even show up this time. Okay. Moving on to the administration report. Um, for the first item, I'm going to turn it over to city planner Nathan first. All right. Thank you. Uh, good evening, mayor, members of the council. So, uh,
we have the development agreement for Newport Station, third edition, which is Red Rock Square phase 3. Uh, this should start to feel, I think, kind of routine to you now with these development agreements. Um, this development agreement is very similar to the others that you've reviewed. It's the city's standard form of agreement modified to
suit this particular development. You'll recall that Red Rock Square 3 was uh approved for a final plat in July of this year. So, the developers moved through to the next stage of the project and um we're we're looking for that development agreement approval here this
evening to allow them to complete this agreement with the city and eventually uh probably soon get their building permit. So, just a couple highlights for you here. Again, this is a standard form protects the city as the project moves forward through construction. Uh the city will receive uh escro funds to
ensure that construction happens in a timely manner and things are built as proposed. Uh highlights for you in terms of fees. The city's parkland dedication will receive over just over $90,000. And sewer and water fees uh both would
receive uh just over 78,000 with 51 units at a minimum. I'll remind you that this project may have up to 53 units uh depending on how things shake out here. So, I know the developer is working to finalize that as they move forward with their building permit. And I'm sorry, how much did you say on
park dedication? Just over $90,000. Okay. Yep. So, those are the highle fees, the the cash fees required for this development. Uh resolution 202564 will approve the development agreement form. There are some blanks in the
agreement as the developer is finalizing those units. They can't dial in the project costs. That's what we need to complete the all those blanks. So, I feel very confident that we'll we'll get through that part of it pretty quickly here. I know the developer is pushing to have that done. So, that's where the the
process is at. I would look forward to a building permits um issuance in the next month or so. Okay. Just generally speaking, and we've got a limit on how many units, so it isn't like they can go beyond. It's going to be 51 or 53. Yeah. Yep. That's what you're going to see. Even though the line is blank at the
moment, correct? Yep. Okay. So, there there may be some very minor tweaks to the agreement, but um yeah, the developer has sent over some comments and red lines, but I don't anticipate that those are going to be um anything like major. So,
anything substantive? Okay. Um questions for our city planner? Council member Schmidt. So, just dumb question, but uh this motion is being brought forward today with an incomplete document. And I'm just curious what's the urgency of
doing it today versus having a complete document for us to approve. Yeah. So the only blanks in the agreement are related to costs. Those costs are pretty standard. They're based on unit quantities that the city engineer is, you know, definitely able to review and I John can help speak to
that. So that's really the only blanks. There's nothing at this point yet to work through and I think that we benefit um from having the flexibility of having this document approved to to allow the developer to record their final plat with the county. They're they cannot
record the final plat with the Washington County until they've executed this development agreement with the city. They're pushing to try to begin their construction soon. So this is part of working with the developer to help uh just make sure that you know we we're as
staff making sure that the city's bases are covered definitely if there are policy level decisions this would get brought to the city council again. So okay hope that helps in in in because of the urgency of getting this recorded with the county so they can start their project. They want
a conditional approval today that will allow them to do that versus providing a completed document for us to approve. Yeah. I mean, I I don't see there being a lot of risk with this document. I think it helps to work with, you know, with this developer to make sure that
they can move forward to their building permit. Um, it's not, you know, uncustomary to approve a document with costs to be reviewed. Yeah. Yeah. It's fairly common because part of when they're ready to move, they want to really move. They want to break ground. there's a certain um amount of
structure they want to get in before the ground freezes so they can work indoors over the winter. So delaying for you know another two weeks could disrupt uh kind of that timing of all those things. So yeah, thank you. Yep.
Other questions in the council chambers for uh our planner? Um council member Sumar, do you have any questions for uh our city planner? No, I understand that there is a reason to to move ahead with this.
Thank you. So, with that, um, our planner has provided a motion for us on page 36 of the packet. Uh, do I have a someone willing to read that motion and make that motion?
I'll make the motion. A resolution approving the development agreement for Newport Station, third edition. This resolution 25 or 2025-64. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second.
I have a motion from council member Ingamman and a second from council member Taylor. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. The resolution is adopted. And I would just for the public's uh knowledge, this
is the third and final building that will go on the transit site. Um in terms of apartment buildings over there. So mayor council, just one more update on this project. So as I mentioned, the developer is uh has a building permit currently on file with the city. They are proposing a
slight shift in the brick material that was proposed on the facade. Uh they've uh proposed substituting the brick that they were previously proposing or more of a stone with a brick. This is the same quality of material. Staff are are supportive of this particular material
in appearance. Can be subjective, but we think it looks maybe even better than it did before. So, I just wanted to put that note to the council to see if there was any questions on that, but he would anticipate seeing a a building with that same amount of brick that was approved previously. Just a slightly different color.
Okay. Same amount. Still in the sort of the brown tones. Correct. Yeah. So, it's going to Yeah. Kind of the idea is that these are consistent generally, but they're not the same. Exactly. Yep. Yep. Okay. Thank you for that. Yep. Anything else? That's all I have.
Okay. Uh with that, we'll move on to item 9B. This was the amended uh agenda item. Uh Council Member Taylor and I had a chance to uh meet with Ruth Smith a little bit earlier uh today um to
consider her for the vacancy we have on the library advisory committee. Her appointment is supported by our library and community center coordinator. And so with that, I would entertain a motion to appoint Roose Smith to the library
advisory committee. This will be to complete the term of Christina Rom and ending on January 31st, 2028. I move to appoint Ruth Smith to the library advisory committee. Thank you. I'll second. I have a motion from Council Member
Taylor and a second from Council Member Ingaman. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I I those opposed. Uh Ruth has been appointed to our library board. So with that, we will
move on to council comments. Um earlier this week, uh Tuesday and Wednesday, I was at the MRCTI annual meeting and this is the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative. The organization is for mayors of communities that are
located along the Mississippi River. all the way from Baiji, Minnesota, south down all the way south down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And um this organization really uh tries to address things like pollution on the river,
clean water issues, um sustainable economies, business and commerce on the river, whether it is uh shipping grain or farm products or uh leisure cruising through Viking cruises or the American
cruise lines. and they um try to bring outside private sector organizations in to talk to the cities about and the theme this year was about data and technology about the kind of data that's
out there to help cities predict uh in this case um things that can go wrong such as if there's flooding um happening in Minnesota they can predict when that's going to hit communities down
river so that preparations can be made um or if it's some sort of a chemical spill, but they also um help cities not just with projects that are on the river, but any project within Newport. If we're looking for federal funding, it doesn't even necessarily have to be
river related. They will provide us with assistance and some free consulting um with some uh private sector consultants. So part of what we listened to was an executive from FEMA came in and talked about the future of FEMA going forward.
Um Excel Energy talked about uh moving away from the use of coal and that that was uh more cost-effective for them to move away from that. They talked about being able to predict wind speed and what kind of energy they're going to get from that and allowing them to power
down a little bit their nuclear power when they knew that wind energy was coming in. So, it was all very interesting. There were, you know, I don't know, probably 15 or 20 different speakers over the course of the two-day event. Um, but it's really an interesting organization and you really
tap in and meet a lot of highle executives. We had a number of people from the entertainment industry there. Uh there's a business that will do deconstruction of city-owned buildings and partner with the entertainment group
to build a facility for uh training and completing entertainment type projects. And there were people in the room that had been producers and directors on TV shows and movies that you've you've heard of. And so, um, this is an organization that really brings very top
talent, um, into the room for mayors that will even help the smaller cities. They're not just there for the for the Minneapolis and the St. Paul and the St. Louis and Memphis type cities. They even help little cities like Newport. So, it's really a great organization and it
was a really um interesting conference. So, that's all I have to share. Uh, Council Member Ingamman, uh, just remember the fire department Booya is coming up Sunday. It starts at 11:00.
Okay. And you don't want to miss it because it's really good. Okay. Are they selling tickets for things? What can I buy tickets for? I don't know if the tickets are on sale,
but yes, they normally have tickets available for there's a monetary amount and then there's a a wagon loaded cheer and of course I'll be raffling off milk liquor bottles. Uh
so yeah, just you got to show up and and be part of the uh the fun. Okay. Hey, and I think kids games and activities. There's all kinds of activities for the kids and and adults and whoever else wants to come.
Thank you for that great plug and that'll be at the fire station. Yes, it will. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Ingaman. Council member Taylor. I mean, I I can add that not only with Tommy doing the liquor raffle, I will be his assistant doing the liquor raffle. I can't think of any other reason to. Um,
the one thing I I will note, I know there there is a a football game on that some people apparently will be watching um some Vikings team that I think I know they plan on having a TV there this year, too. So, you can come and enjoy the game. Oh, and uh enjoy the enjoy the Booya. Have a
beer. So, all right. Hope to see you on Sunday. Sounds great. Council member Schmidt. Nothing formal. Okay. With that, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. I'll make
second. I have a council. I have a motion from council member Ingaban and a second from council member Schmidt. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed. We are adjourned. Thank you so much for watching.