Laura, can you hear me? Okay, Jennifer, I'm ready when you are. >> All right. Good evening, everybody. Um, I would like to officially call to order the city of Nisa regular council meeting on this Tuesday, July 21st, 2026, and it
is 6:00 p.m. Um, if everybody could please join me in standing for the pledge of allegiance. Okay. Uh, our first item up is to approve the agenda. And I had two notes here, uh, council to consider. Under new
business, item number 12, it says waiver of conflict of interest, Severson Porter Law, Deborah Cruz, City of Nisa. Um, since Miss Cruz is here in the audience today, I thought maybe we can just move her up to number one so she doesn't have to sit and wait till the very end. If
there are no objections, could we move item 12 and make that item one? >> I make a motion to amend the agenda as presented. >> Second. H >> the agenda item I'm asking for is the
appeal. I mean, if you want to do that first, that's fine, too. But >> Okay. But I still I would like to I'd like to be heard on our lot split appeal. >> Okay. Thank you. Um well, are we still fine with moving it up or do you want to leave it? >> We have a motion in second. >> We have a motion and second. All those
in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. That will be item one. And then also, as Miss Cruz just mentioned, uh Miss Cruz sent an email to the full city council today um at let's see, it hit my inbox at
12:44. Um and I'm just going to read this part of her message. Came to all of us on council as well as staff. And it says, "The message below was sent individually to each council member and to the mayor on July 17th, 26, shortly after 10:30
a.m. I understand that not everyone received it, so I am rescending it with the hope of being heard at tonight's meeting. Before the agenda is approved, I respectfully ask that you consider whether this appeal should be allowed to be presented this evening. Question: Did council receive this email?" Council
member Freilley, no. Council member London, did you receive this email today? Council members on >> I'm even looking at my inbox right now. I have no email from anybody on 1244 >> and this isn't the first time I haven't received something. >> Have you received council any emails the
email on I know you might not have your inbox right now but the email from Miss Cruz on July 17th as well talking about her request to be on the agenda for the appeal related to Centennial. >> No. >> No. Um okay.
I got it, but I did not get the email you sent on July 17th. So, uh, without council having seen the email, uh, is does council have an interest in making a motion to add this item to the
agenda under new business? I don't know, Mr. Pearson or Miss Wentler, if you have any thoughts. I would like to just state for the record that this is there has been some discussion with Deb and staff in regards to placement of this on the planning commission meeting on August
4th. So that was our first step to um hear Deb Mr. Pearson, do you have anything? >> Yeah, I agree with that. That's what I thought was happening. So trying to add this to the agenda tonight would be
difficult and hard to advise about what to do. >> Okay. Miss Cruz, would you like to come and address the council? >> Yes. Um this was not my first uh my first show at at appealing this. I tried
to go to planning and zoning. I found out two weeks before or 13 days before the planning and zoning meeting, I was not allowed to go um to planning and zoning because there weren't enough Fridays. Uh I don't know how long you
have. I believe that 60 days might be um a window of opportunity that is closing fast. So, can can you answer if if you were to undo [laughter] an approved decision, how long do you
have to do that? >> You you don't have an application in front of the city. So, the the Minnesota statute 1599, the 60-day rule doesn't apply to the thing that you want um city boards to consider. Um and frankly, I
don't know that I have my arms wrapped around real well what it is that you are asking um the city to consider but the decision was made I think to source this at the planning commission level and then eventually to the city council and I think a schedule of how that would
happen was given um so I don't know how the council with with agenda deadlines are in place according to our ordinance I don't know how you approve a request to put something in the agenda >> my first request was on the 30th >> well the request we're talking about is
the one came today and that doesn't comply with ordinance requirements and we already had a process where you could bring up the thing that you want to bring up to the relevant boards up the chain. >> Okay. Okay. So, I can still say state it open forum, right? Pardon? I can still
state it in open forum, right? My spiel is about two minutes. So, >> absolutely. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Um, with that, do we have a Well, we did already approve well approve the agenda. >> Also move.
>> I'll second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Freley, second by council member Zan. Any additional discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed? Okay. The agenda is approved. Next up, we have the consent calendar notice to the public. All matters listed
are considered routine by the council and will all be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless good cause is shown prior to the time the council votes on the motion. Do we have a motion? >> Make a motion to approve the consent calendar as presented. I'll second it.
>> Okay. Motion by council member Z, second by council member London. Any discussion? >> Brian, u I'd like to say thank you for the added context of your report this month. It was good to see. Thank you. Okay. Any additional discussion? All
those in favor signify by saying I. >> Opposed. Okay. Consent calendar is approved. Um, next up we have council and liaison reports. Um, I do not have anything to report in the mayor's report because I'll be going over it as we get through some agenda items this evening.
Uh, we'll go to council reports. Council member Freillley, >> I have nothing to pass on. >> Okay. Council member London. >> Nothing at this time. Council members on >> congratulation Amber and the parks commission for the grant that was accepted. That's fantastic for this community. Nothing else.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um next we have our city reports. We'll start with our city attorney. >> Good evening everybody. I don't have anything to discuss at this agenda item. >> Okay. Thank you. And we will move next to our city engineer. >> Nothing to add. Our report later on and
new business will cover it. >> Thank you. Okay. Uh next up we are at old business and the first item under old business is Delaney accept final report. Uh for those of you that may have been following along or haven't um
the city did engage uh a consulting firm Delaney Consulting to do an assessment of the city's two municipal businesses. So the Spirits Anisa um which is up by 371 and also the Pickle which is just over here. Uh, and we worked with uh,
Flora and Michael and Michael, Mr. Bitser, is here with us in person. So, I will uh, turn it over to you. And I don't know if Miss Delaney is on Zoom and we have a possibility to take a peek at her. >> Oh, sorry. Yes, I can do that.
>> Thank you. Okay, Mr. Bitser, Miss Delaney, we'll turn it to you. >> Great. Thank you. Uh, Madame Mayor, council, staff, and citizens. Um so today our understanding is in front of you will be an opportunity to vote and accept our recommendations from our
report. Uh we went through this report in a special meeting that was open uh for about two and a half hours. So I'm not going to do that tonight. But I think what might be good is just to reemphasize what our primary
recommendations are. Uh this is on page 174 of the packet that was given out and is part of our executive summary. So just to recap that we have four primary recommendations back to uh the city of Nisa from our
four months of engagement under the executive summary. The first recommendation is to evolve the organizational structure that oversees the uh Niswah liquor enterprise. Um that recommendation should result in a
savings in dollars spent in leadership level and structure as well as reduce the number of direct reports by one to the uh city administrator uh lessening that burden as well. Um and then
cascading down from there a redesign of the organization below it as well with new job descriptions um uh new ways to work new new ways to deploy labor new labor structures etc. The second recommendation is to invest in the uh
infrastructure of the pickle um to ensure that it continues to um represent the community in the way that it should uh and that it extends the longevity of what's been returning back to the city and the citizens in terms of reducing u
any type of tax burden and providing that benefit back. There's some pretty significant in infrastructure that would need to take place in that building. The third recommendation uh focusing on the spirits is about returning the profitability trend there. Uh that's
been declining pretty rapidly in the last three years. Um we provided a roadmap for that as well. A lot of operational um and um operational changes largely that would take place that we identified. And then the fourth
recommendation is about um uh fourth and fifth is about speed and timing. Right? So the fourth recommendation is to recognize that 2026 and the point that we're in right now, the end of July is the absolute peak season for both
businesses and to recognize that and not do much um but do some things. There are some things that are very easy to do in this uh time period uh that would impact the profitability without impacting the
customer experience, the employee experience and so on. The fast follow to that is to act without delay. And what we mean by that is uh make decisions as quickly as you can about the recommendations and set an expectation to put those recommendations
in place this year. Uh we believe that both businesses are an extreme benefit to the city that you should keep owning and operating them. Um and we believe that the timing is incredibly important and opportuni opportunistic. Um that the
work should continue and be appropriately paced so that by the time you hit next year, you can have different profit expectations for 2027 than you can for 2026. So I'm going to pause there and see if Flora has anything to add and then we'll
open it up to any questions that you might have. >> I don't have anything to add. I support what you said and and I think that you know the um city council and the mayor have seen a lot of this report. So, you know, we're here to answer any
questions. >> Okay. Um council, do you have any questions for Mr. Bitzer or Miss Delaney? Uh council member Freley? >> No. >> Council member London? >> Nothing. >> Council member Zan, >> nothing on the report. >> Okay. Anything
else to add? Okay. then uh we would be at the point where we could accept a motion uh to accept the final report. >> I'll make a motion to accept the Delaney final report as presented. >> I'll second. >> Okay, we have a motion by council member Zan, second by council member Freilley.
Any additional discussion or questions? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Okay, motion carries. Thank you. Um Mr. Mr. Bitser, I would like to call you back up again for item number two under
old business. Um, so this is a Delaney Consulting state uh statement of work extension. So for those of you that are here in person or following along online, um, this came up as well during their final report presentation, uh, they did have this in the packet, but
we're going to uh go over that again. So we'll we'll start with you when you are ready, sir. >> [clears throat] >> Thanks. Uh when we do engagements like this with a city, we have a a standard protocol that we explain up front. We
followed this protocol which is our first statement of work is largely about discovery, diagnostics and analysis and recommendations. So we finish that in our first statement of work. The second statement of work is
a decision point that two things usually happen. Either the city does or does not request us to put a second statement of work in front of them to make a decision of whether or not they want to move that work forward. And there were members of
the council and city staff that asked us to do that. And even without that then we have the decision as well that if we find that there's an opportunity for us to continue this work and we believe we can continue to pro provide value we make that decision and both those things happened.
>> So we put a statement of work uh to the council in your packet last right during the special meeting that's when it was right. >> Yes. Thank you. um that new statement of work continues
the old statement of work and focuses on implementation. So why we think that's important or what it does? Let me start with the what we believe that the city would benefit from providing some some additional leadership based upon the gap of
resources that are currently available in the city administrative structure to oversee the recommendation and the changes in the business in the short term. You could think of that as like a leadership staff augmentation. So we would insert ourselves and
co-manage those businesses and those leaders. And what that would look like is instituting one of our recommendations would which would be evolving the um the meeting rhythms, the reporting mechanisms, um the planning structure and process
and move away from reporting on the past and and spend much more time reporting on the future. We would prioritize the recommendations that we put within it and we'd put the highest value first
and foremost uh into our work plan which is not in your packet. It's agreed to first and the work plan would come second and then we'd work with the team to then implement those over the course of the six months that we put into into the S. W we believe that that's in the
city's best interest, the the business's best interest because of the timing mechanisms that are in place as well as the opportunities that we identified in both revenue and profit gain that can set your 2027 year up differently than what has been experienced in 24 25 and
26. Um let's see the speed to benefit. I explained the gap in resources. Um I think that the last thing I would say on this is before any questions or discussion is we
don't take lightly at all the investment and the dollars spent in this um you should look at this as an investment and that true word meaning you should get a return on this investment. We have proof with other cities. They've
documented it. They've written uh articles that have been published of what they've been able to return based upon our spend and what has happened in profitability. And I'd encourage you to think about it in that manner that you're making an investment into the business and hold an expectation on the
first S. So if you consider and pass the second S so that those dollars should be recuperated over time in changes in the business. That's what we hold ourselves to and that's what I encourage you to look at that spend as as well.
Flora, anything to add? >> Well, I think that the first statement of work where we did a deep diagnosis of what needed to happen, h what are the highest priority things to change was much like going to a doctor and getting a diagnosis, right? But now is the
treatment. What do you do? How do you put that into practice? And I think that the reason that we are feeling that this is particularly good for Niswah is that knowing that there isn't currently an acting sitting administrator to kind of
take this on. We're hoping to help this business turn around these leaders get new capabilities that we can help them develop over the next 6 months so that when a new city administrator is in place, what they have handed over to them is a healthier business. that's
well on its way to operating differently as opposed to giving that city administrator the conditions that the uh uh businesses are currently in and expecting them to implement this. So that that is what I would say.
>> Anything else, Mr. Bitser? >> No. Uh happy to answer any questions. >> Okay, councel. Oh, Mr. Pearson. >> Thank you. [clears throat] Tom, will you just let's just a quick reminder that everybody talk in their microphones, please. >> Sorry, I'm trying. Julia uh Delaney people, I heard something in
that presentation that makes me ask this question. Is this third statement of work a suggestion that the city council would delegate management authority over these liquor operations? >> It's uh a it's the second statement of
work, just to be clear. That's okay. >> Sorry. And I I want to make it uh just clean up that language a little bit. We wouldn't take on like a formal reporting structure, right? So in an HR sense, we
would not do that. We would provide incremental additional support to those leaders like we did in the first statement of work. We did a weekly rhythm with them. it would expand and into different areas um in the in the
recommendations that we had, but we would be really clear that we're not there to manage them from an HR perspective. Is that what you're asking? It >> it is. Um so what I just heard you say is more along the lines of advice to
current management staff about how to implement your recommendations, not directions. >> That's correct. And with that would become, you know, accountability and, you know, a work plan, right? Setting goals and what we're going to accomplish and so on and so forth. But we would
never misconstrue that with being in a position of um providing HR level support in terms of performance or documentation or anything like that back to the city. the the the reasoning for my question is, you know, I'd be concerned about
union contract implications were that to be a different answer. >> Gotcha. >> That's all I've got. Thank you. >> Yes. Um I will open up to council for questions or comments. Council members on >> Appreciate the second scope of work. Um,
couple of things that have popped up for me in regards to going about this process on a consulting basis to a municipal liquor store and municipal bar with a staff that is short-handed right now. >> Uh, has come up. A couple things that
have come up on that front is who who would be your main point of contact for uh the city of Niswah on this because you're going to be working directly with two managers of these two >> units. Who would that be?
>> Uh in the first statement of work, our main contact was the acting and city administrator. We would keep that consistent. That's the norm that we operate within our relationships back to the city. that's the person that oversees that structure. So,
behaviorally, how that looked in the first scope of work is we had a preliminary meeting with the acting city administrator, ran things through, make sure that we were all on the same page, and then brought it down to the next level. >> Okay. Does >> that answer your question?
>> It does. And a second question, and then go off that is we've recently as a council voted to sunset the liquor committee. Um, with this additional scope coming into play here, these two gentlemen have two
businesses to run while working through these pollen or something. So, excuse me. These two business these two gentlemen have two business units to still operate. Miss Maggie, as your main point of contact, as you just acknowledged, is
still functioning. Uh, one person, two to three jobs given the day. Um, a thought that has come up to my mind, council, is do we want to potentially unset the liquor committee for the duration of their consulting services and put the liquor committee back in
place to be able to meet routinely to support all functions on this. >> I think we should decide if we're doing this first as a council and then sure consider that. >> Couple other questions on your proposal.
Is the quote still good? Because it said it was uh July 15th. >> Yeah, I think we um Yes, it's still good. >> Okay. In regards to the lodging piece of the
proposal, >> yep, >> there's lots of hotels in the Brandon Lakes area. Would it be worth considering >> for I believe it's yourself, Mr. boats here that'll be staying here to to stay in the Niswah uh proper.
>> Yeah, hap happy to. We took an average rate when we did this and ran this last time. This was this was the first um we replicated the same exact expense structure as the first S. So for the second, so we did research and we did an average of the hotels. If there's a
better solution that's better for the city and convenient to the work, of course, >> staying in Niswah and supporting local business, we love that. >> Yep. >> Um, and then one last question, Mr. Attorney, in regards to the confidentiality clause that's in their proposal. I just wanted to ask if
there's anything in there because this is a public entity. So, what on the basis of a confidentiality clause would need to would cause for reason to be in the proposal? I hope my question is clear. Does that make sense?
>> Is that to I didn't know who you were >> I know I'm looking at both of you but specifically to this he doesn't have it. So is the confidentiality clause necessary is my question being that we are a public entity.
It's page five of five. It's the very last page right? Yep. right there. >> It isn't necessary for us. It protects the city and if the cities chooses to strike it, that would be fine with us. >> Yeah, that makes sense from a data
practices perspective >> to keep it in place. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. No other questions. >> Any other questions? Okay. Council member London, >> nothing. >> Council member Freley, >> I have no questions. >> Okay. Um, I don't have any questions either because we we spent I think five
hours total in our last meeting um going over this. Anyone from the public have any comments? Okay. Um, do we have a motion related to the statement of work extension on the
pickle and the spirits per Delane's statement of work? >> Can I just make one comment? >> Go ahead, Miss Wentler. If the council decides to maybe not take all recommendations by Delaney, would this scope of work change at all?
>> Great question. The scope of work was written based upon the final report. It assumes that the city agrees with the findings.
We're being pretty conservative in our approach to this. And I think the largest thing the largest item that's in there that could affect the hours essentially is what we're talking about is the
organizational redesign. Mhm. >> But if if I understood the process which pretty experienced in these rooms, you just accepted the recommendations in whole. >> We accepted the report. >> Report. >> Just the report. >> The report.
>> It would be up to the council to decide at a point in time what recommendations they wanted you to move forward with. >> Very good. >> Okay. Then I have a follow-up question to that. Um the council would decide at a point in
time which of the recommendations to move forward with how does that impact the fees and terms that are presented in here >> or does it does it not? So what we would do next if you accepted an S. So from us
>> first of all let me put it in a little bit different light in the hours that we built in and in the six um and in the six months time duration. Right? So just to break it down so we're all clear. This is 20
hours a week for five of the six months. That's it. It's it's not a tremendous amount of hours. We can't put in motion all the recommendations that are in here and you don't need us to is another thing. Um
the leaders that are in place can do and should do some of this work without us. There's some more heavy lifting though that we built out and we prioritized within before we got to the so where FA and I work. this is our process and say
these are the big rocks that if we were in your shoes this is what we would move forward with and they're pretty safe assumptions based upon how long we work together um the feedback that we got from the our final report um but the
process would work as such um you can or cannot accept our so if you do accept our so what would come next would be a work plan the work plan would clearly delineate what our recommended priorities are are and in what sequence, but it you
wouldn't have any surprises. They would start with the largest that are in our report, the organizational design, prioritizing and mapping the the the infrastructure back to the pickle. Um the um sorry, I'm going I closed my laptop, so I'm going off the top of my
head. the uh the spirits profitability um roadmap and then um the um the city operating sort of rhythm and model around the business meaning um
what are we meeting for on what occasion on what agenda accomplishing what using what reports right that's a pretty large um it's actually a pretty large piece of work to move forward um within that as
well there's a very simple in the so a pretty simple paragraph that just speaks to operational changes right there are something like 25 or 30 operational changes that we recommended within our report right so it's fine-tuning that
and saying here's what we know or here's what we believe you should prioritize first and here's what would fall off so it kind of be our order and the way that we would work beyond tonight. >> Okay. Thank you. Um council, any any
other council member London costumes? >> Um it is in the Sorry, I just closed it when I sat back down. Uh it is >> uh it's a Yeah, it's a it's a monthly cost of $11,500,
which for the six months is $69,000. >> Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Yeah, that's on page page four or five in the in the packet. Okay. Any additional questions from councel? Anything from the public?
>> Go ahead, Mr. Frell. Thank you, Miss Mayor and councel. So I guess my position on this is you know I we worked with Delaney and they have a lot of stuff in that report that I think can be beneficial. A lot of it
uh I would say 80 to 85 90% of it you know they came and interviewed us and they said you know how can the spirits improve and we gave them this information and some of that stuff a lot of the stuff in the report was from our staff. Now sometimes a lot of times that
things don't get implemented because we don't have time. So in a sense you know they would give us time to you work with us on some of those things but truly I feel that we can implement pretty much everything in that report
that Delaney has asked for without their expense of the however which was 69,000. So that's my position. If we if the council goes with them, we're going to work 100% with them. I we we get along great with Michael and Flora and we
would have a good relationship. But I do think we could save some money and maybe, you know, if we tabled this for a few months and say, "Okay, what can the core group that we have right now implement?" and um cuz maybe maybe I'm wrong, you know, maybe we do need their
help, but it would be nice if we had a chance to try to save some of that money and do it on our own with the AI and everything out there. We can use those resources to improve our business. And
the one thing I just feel a little um I'd like to justify some of our numbers because um our business is a very successful business and it is the profit is very well I have some rankings here from the state of Minnesota that comes
out every year. They are a little behind. They're usually two years behind, but in 2017, we were ranked the 31st highest municipal liquor store in the state of Minnesota. And that does include the inner city uh and um and
Duth. But now if you take out So then you go 2019, we went to 28. That was an improvement of three spots. 2022 went to um 25. And 2023, we're at 25. and 2024
we moved up to the 24th largest municipal in the state of Minnesota. If you would take and just include outstate which we are in we're the 12th largest and I know those are just numbers because it really depends on the size of the building. Detroit Lakes has a huge
building and we have a larger building than a lot of places also. But just looking at our sales in the past, if we looked at the first year that we were flat was in 2024 and that was a year
that THC came out and the city council had a moratorum on anybody selling THC in Niswah and we 100% followed that rule. Now, in 2025, I was not a opponent
of THC, but I did state to the council that um there is THC. There's a lot of profit to be made in THC, and it's not my decision. I don't love it because it's just another drug in this world, but um I mentioned to the
city, hey, if you want to sell it, we can make a lot of profit, but you have to tell me that you want it brought in here. Now, if we looked at um sales for this year, we are up $92,000 in sales
year to date and um we're up $38,000 in gross profit. I don't have the net profit numbers yet on that, but um I feel that we have very competent people working at the staff with myself and Terry and all the other people that work
for us that we are able to do exactly what the city wants. And I also do want to point out in 2025 when we did have a struggling year, we had road con we had not wrote construction but we had um construction and
we were down at that same period of time from 24 to 25 we were down $53,000. There was times that our front door was blocked off and it was for a whole week. customers had to go around the side of the building and that definitely in this report numbers show us that hurt our
business and our parking lot has also hurt our business. Um we're still battling with that. We don't have um the spaces that we're supposed to have in our contract, but um it is what it is. But I just wanted to state that um
either way we will work with whatever decision that you guys come up with. >> Thank you. I think there's uh someone from the public that would like to make some comments. If you could just state your first and last name and your address, that would be appreciated. Diane Pagashnik.
Um these two people are very important along with all the people that are employed in these places. Question, who else is on this committee that would oversee this or be accountable for it?
>> There is none. There is there is no liquor committee right now. Okay. >> So, it would come straight to the council. The liquor committee that previously existed uh included both of the managers. So, Mr. Wallen and Mr. Frell. Uh it included Miss Wentler. Uh
council members on was a liaison. I previously was also a liaison to that committee, but that committee sunset. >> Okay. And I just think it's important because I I think what you did was a good thing. It cost the public money, but I think it was a good thing. we
needed to oversee this. Okay. But we need to take it beyond that. And I'm I'm with what you brought. I'm with what I I'm I'm I don't think there's a right or wrong, but it's whatever is decision. It's got to be someone's got to be accountable for what's been decided when
the final decision. So, put the things in place, make these places profitable again like they were before and make sure that somebody's accountable and not let it go wayside. So whether you hire a firm that can do it and follow up with you to make accountable and if you
decide not to do that then make sure the people that are on this council or the people that are in the public put somebody on to make them accountable to make sure it happens because it's the only way it's going to continue or it's going to be a couple months down the line and it's going to be back where it
was. So it's just important to me we've done this work. Let's make something accountable. the people the the people there, the people here, whoever is going to manage this to make them accountable for what we need for these two entities
to stay and be profitable in our city. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I think to my [clears throat] earlier point regarding unsetting the liquor committee and to relaunching it to be able to support these folks in that endeavor is a wise move for us to consider as we're
considering this piece as well. So I think we should tackle the Delaney consulting statement of work extension. But Mr. Pearson, a question I'd have for you because we do not have on the agenda. It has not been noticed about adding the liquor committee back and I
know Miss Cruz had asked to have a item under new business, but our ordinances don't allow that. So would considering a liquor committee also then need to be considered for like our next council meeting? >> I think so. >> Yeah. Okay. So with that, um, is there
any other any other comments from the public? Uh, Mr. Bitser, Mr. Delaney, or council, Council Member London, you have another comment, >> Brian, um, you know, since you met with Delaney and kind of got an idea where they're going, what they want to do. Um,
have you and your staff uh, gotten into some of these new ideas such as upselling and things like that? >> Have we have we implemented any of their suggestions? implemented it. >> I would have to say no at this point,
but we got that literally one week before the 4th of July and we've had record sales through the 4th. I think um year to month to date we are at almost a half a million dollars. So in July it's really hard to implement anything. some
of the areas that we have in the back of our mind that we're trying to be aware of is the labor costs and um that is that's one of the our biggest bills out there is labor and we're trying to keep that into in perspective but with the
implementing some of their other stuff which they don't they didn't recommend either implementing it right away but um that is about all we've had to to do is m basically to make sure our customers are happy when they're walking out the door. >> So that half a million that was in how
long of a period in July? >> That would be the first to today. I think it was four 483,000. I have the numbers. I could right over here. I could pull them up, but it was almost a half a million. >> Off hand, how did that compare to last year?
>> So we are for saleswise for the year we are up 90 I looked at it today. They were up 94,000 and um what and some change and um profit-wise I would have to look at that but I'm thinking it's like 18,000 somewhere in
there. Um >> is is that is that gross or is that net >> for the sales? >> The the profit is is gross. >> Yeah. I don't have our for I don't have our June or our July um numbers for
expenses. So gross profit, right? You know why they call it gross profit? >> Because it's gross. >> It's not the bottom of the net. >> Well, I would I would love to give the net profit, but those numbers aren't available to us because we don't have all the expenses in yet.
>> Okay. Any other question? Are you good? >> I'm good. >> Okay. Um All right. So, the item here is Delaney Consulting's statement of work extension. Uh so, we heard from Mr. Mr. Bitser and Miss Delaney um about the
statement of work extension. The fees and terms as outlined in this extension, the total budget is $69,000 with an average monthly amount of $11,500. Do we have a motion from councel? >> I'll make a motion to accept the Delaney
Consulting Scope work extension as presented. >> Okay, we have a motion by council member Zan, second by council member London. Do we have any additional discussion? Okay, I'm going to take a roll call vote. Um, I will start with you, Council
Member Freilley. >> Nay. >> Council member London. >> I >> I Okay, Council Member Zan, >> you're next. >> I >> I vote last. Um,
I am going to vote nay. Mr. Pearson, we have a tie vote. So, does that mean the vote fails? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Thank you for your time. Uh, we appreciate it and we will move on to the next item, which is the pickle new
chairs for the bar. Mr. Wallen, >> new new chairs. So, I reached out to Amy Hansen at the Lies and when I called over to East Coast uh Barcels and Chairs,
um I tried getting the part number from the lady there. So, we reapproached Amy just before the weekend and I've got all the information from her because we really enjoy those stools up there. Those the ones that were there before.
Nope, different one. Those those are the ones from the casino guy. So, we're reaching out to her tomorrow and getting a bid from East Coast. That's where we bought the other ones from and um that's what we want to do. >> Okay. So, we are going to
>> So, I will have a bid and everything for you next month. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Sounds good. Any questions for Mr. Wellian? Otherwise, we will carry on and this will carry over to the August August meeting. >> I like Ly's, too. >> You like Lies? They're nice, aren't
they? >> They're nice. >> Yeah, they're really nice. >> Okay. Uh, next up, under old business, thank you, Mr. Wallen. Uh, for planning and zoning, we have the Schaefer sign right ofway agreement. Uh, Mr. Pearson, I believe I turned this to you.
>> Uh, thank you. Uh, yes. um at the council's direction uh to approve the concept of the Schaefer sign being in the city right away. This is an agreement me uh meant to uh put effect to that. Um we did
share this in advance with Andy. I don't know if he's got any comments on it. I don't know if he commented to city staff about it, but >> he's already signed it. >> Oh, he did sign it. >> Yeah. Today. >> I guess that's a good comment. I didn't know that. Okay. I guess that means he approves.
So, I guess I would recommend this um uh be approved as presented. >> Okay. Any questions from council for Mr. Pearson about the agreement? Council member Freley, council member London, council member Zan.
>> No, I'll make a motion to accept the Schaefer's rightway sign rightway agreement as presented. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Zhan, second by council member London. Any additional discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I.
>> Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. >> Mayor, if I may quickly, >> I understand that now the permit that will that will permit this sign uh with the approval of this agreement is in the process of being issued. Probably will be issued tomorrow, I think, is what I heard.
>> Correct. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Okay. Sounds great. Um, wonderful. Our next item under old business is the spirits parking lot invoice. Uh Miss Wentler, I will turn this to you. >> Yes. at I mean I put together my memo
but at the April council meeting it was um assumed I'll say by myself staff and even talking with the city engineer that the council approved engineering and consulting fees for
removing the center island in the parking lot in front of Spirit's buildings. Um, I did receive an invoice from Shapers for what I feel like is more than was approved by council. So, I am looking
for council direction on this piece. Okay. Um, council, are there questions for Miss Wentler or questions about this particular agenda item? Council member Freley, I'll start with you. Now, Maggie, did we I don't
remember if we uh set an amount for this. We never did. >> No. Um No, we were just advised to have Woods reach out to their engineer to figure out what additions and changes needed to
be made in order to accommodate removing that island and adding a few parking spaces. >> And so, that came out to $27,146.97. Well, I've already paid some more, >> right? >> $880 for their services in regards to the
update on >> the plan. >> So, for their services, you mean Woods. >> Um, >> I'm sorry. >> That was Smore. >> Pardon? >> Smour Engine. >> Oh, Smore Engineering. Okay. >> So, Schaefer's engineer to do that.
Woods has sent their bill as well for that portion that they worked with them >> and that's included in this. >> Nope. That none of those prices are included in the invoice you see today in your packet. >> Okay. Do you have another question or I can
come back to you? >> So, as of right now, we don't have a full total. Correct. Um, I'm ass I'm I'm assuming from what I interpreted the council's motion and discussion at the April meeting is I
have paid their engineer and I have paid our city engineer for the cost of this change >> and you're just waiting for the one >> what one >> you said. Okay. So, we have the one invoice for you said 800 from theirs. >> I paid them and then with Seth I've paid them.
>> Okay. Yes, but those are the Yeah, those are the two that I am assuming based on my interpretation of the discussion and motion at the April meeting. >> I have no more. >> Okay. Okay. Council member London, >> Council Member Zan,
>> I don't have any questions other than looking back at the minutes from that meeting. The motion that looks like I made was that any fees associated with this modification to be paid from the liquor fund.
Um there was no dollar amount. So is that [clears throat] why you're coming to us for the because the dollar amounts over what you are permitted to approve? >> I would say yes and no. But I again my impression of the motion and
discussion was only engineering and consulting fees not actual storm water paving the the little bit of itemization I can see on that I didn't feel like all of
that was approved by council. So, I think the understanding is what you just said. You thought the council was just approving any engineering fees, but then we received an invoice, which has things like an extra manhole for
storm at $12,796. Subcut parking lot and moving fill for $8,500. Uh surveying cost 2325. Um, Morazz Management $650, Schaers of
Nisa 400, uh, Change Fe $1,775.97. So, the total of 27,146.97, which does not appear to be engineering fees, but other items. Correct. Okay. Additional questions or discussion from
councel? Was there was there authorization for construction, Maggie? >> Well, Dave reviewed the plans. I'll let you speak on that because you had that conversation with Chris.
>> Sure. >> So, we consult or contacted Sonore Engineering that originally put together plans for that area. We reviewed two alternatives to the construction to
achieve the goal of the project and both appeared to be viable and acceptable to us after our review and we offered back to the uh consultant that either one
would be approved from our standpoint. Okay. What was that last part? Sorry, Mr. Reese. That I >> There [clears throat] were two plans submitted to us. Yeah. >> To review. They both achieved the objectives of the project. Either one
was acceptable to us. um they selected one that I believe uh didn't require them to dig up what they'd already installed in in terms of
storm sewer pipe and did it the other plan way and that was acceptable to us. So if you look at this uh invoice from Shapers for the scope of work that was
completed, >> is this in line with what you would anticipate the scope of work was discussed and the pricing as well? >> I think it's probably in line for the construction. We haven't looked at it
in, you know, great detail. We looked at the plan for what was going to be done. We didn't do any construction management over the construction. So, um, and we
concur with city staff's, uh, understanding of our, uh, task was to review the plan that was being ultimately submitted, see if it's acceptable, and respond accordingly
to Schaefer and their consultants. Anything else? Okay. Uh, Mr. Schaefer. >> So, you guys made three motions that day. So, the first one was to authorize Woods.
The second one was to amend the conditional use permit. And then the third one says any fees associated with this modification will be paid for by the liquor fund.
So I don't know how that isn't saying you're going to pay for the modifications. I think what Miss Wentler was saying, if I heard her correctly, and Mr. Ree, is that the understanding of the motion was fees,
meaning like engineering fees related to looking at the modifications, not necessarily paying for the modifications themselves. If I misard you or mis uh rephrased what you guys were saying, please correct me. >> That's correct,
>> Miss Wentler. >> Correct. And if you go to page five, um, um, he is willing to I'm willing to pay any additional. Okay. >> Where, >> um, >> can you tell us what paragraph you're looking at?
>> It's the last paragraph. Okay. >> And this is where this is where my mindset was in going back and listening to the reading and listening to the meeting and reading the minutes. It says, "Mr. Schaefer stated he was unwilling to pay additional contractor or engineering fees to address this
matter." So that was my interpretation. So I didn't know if you guys wanted something else and this was above my approval. >> Okay. >> So from what I'm understanding, the
work's done. Is that is that correct? >> Yes, >> the work's done. So Mr. Attorney, where do we go from here at this standpoint? Well, I mean, Maggie's concerned that an invoice came in that appears to be outside of the scope of what you
approved, which is engineering related. >> Having said that, that makes sense that she would bring it to you to decide what to do with this. These modifications, I think, are a result of what the city directed. >> That's right. >> In changing that plan.
>> So, it's really a fresh impression for the council to consider whether to pay these and it's irrespective I think of the previous motion about engineering fees which is why Maggie wants you to decide this. Um the only comment I've
got about this is not necessarily that it shouldn't be paid but there isn't much corroboration of the expenses that are in this invoice and at a minimum it seems like those should be provided for your review >> and itemized
right in regards to the line items. on the invoice. Are you talking an actual >> That's That's all I'm saying is to ask for some backup for these expenses, but I'm certainly not saying that I it's not my opinion that you should ultimately approve these expenditures. Again, these
are done at the behest of the council asking for a change in plans because of the liquor store's need for space in that parking lot. >> Okay. Do you have any additional questions for Mr. Pearson? No. Do you have any additional questions or
comments? >> It sounds like you want some more itemized statements here, right? >> Well, that's what Mr. Pearson. >> Yeah. Should uh maybe look at that. >> Okay. Council member Freley. Uh Mr. Schaefer, do you have anything else you'd like to add? >> No.
>> Okay. Um do we have a motion? Okay. I do not see a motion. >> Okay. Uh oh. >> Trying to think of how to navigate through this. >> The work was intended to be done at some point.
>> Perhaps perhaps the thing to do here is just table this request pending the supply of backup corroboration for these invoice line items. to Maggie and this can get on your agenda next month. >> I think that makes sense and for work
that's going to be done to be done in the sequence of events as it was. I understand contract immobilization, right? So, um if they're out there, they're out there and they're not going to go back another time. It's going to be a higher cost and the cost
go back to the city because the city requested this scope in the first place. So, it's an interesting situation like to avoid being in it in the future. But, um, yeah, I guess is it do we need a motion to >> a motion to table? >> Do you need a motion?
>> Do we need a motion to table? >> Yeah. Again, the recommendation is a motion to table pending um some documentation >> supplied to city staff. >> Okay. like to make a motion to table this item till next month's regular council meeting with the request of any
and all supporting documentation regarding this invoice. >> Can you see it? Okay, we have a motion by council members on a second by council member London. Any additional discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Okay, motion carries. All
right. Uh okay. Next up we have the spirits lease. So, this agenda item hit our council meeting, I think May, May or June. I don't remember exactly what month, but a couple months
ago. Um, it's back on the agenda because at that time, so a presentation was brought forward, just, you know, for everybody here, just a refresher. Uh Schaers is the landlord for the Spirits
building which is the municipal. Um we have I think three years left on our lease and a presentation came forward from Mr. Schaefer to amend the lease for Spirits to increase the rent from I think $17.90 a square foot up to $21 a
square foot. >> Can I Can I pause you there? You say that he proposed that >> that Mr. Schaefer proposed. Yes, he presented the city with an amended lease agreement [clears throat] and that's what started this whole conversation back last like November or
October. I don't remember the exact month. It was discussed in the liquor committee multiple times when I was still a part of the liquor committee. Uh different conversations were had. I believe you were a part of those discussions. Anyway, just to get to the point, um, a mot a motion was made
whether the city should amend the lease agreement in the middle of the lease with three years left. Uh, Delaney at the time, the consultant we hired had come on board and said no, they do not recommend it. Anyway, a vote was taken by voice vote or sorry, by roll call
vote and it was 24 and two against. And at that time I chose to abstain because I wanted the full liquor assessment to come out. And I think that is why this is back on the agenda. So if there are differences
in how council voted last time, a motion can be made again and considered. >> Yeah. My my only comments to that were uh on the basis of when we met in this room, which I believe it was April
It was a suggestion made by the group, not by Mr. Schaefer himself, to consider modifying the lease, which would result in a per per square foot increase uh a lease extension by x amount of years to be
able to be uh to be able to have access to the added amenities to be able to move that forward. I don't think that that was by him. And >> I think I think what the mayor was talking about is last October, September, October is when uh Mr. Shaver
came forward with a a modified lease agreement and at that time um our city attorney looked at it and he advised not to >> change the lease. Um, but I think then there was more conversation and then when this came back up I think you're
correct. It was April or May when you had sat and gone through this and that's why I had questioned you know we had talked about this before city attorney had said not to but now is looking at >> I don't think I was a part of that conversation October at that time but
>> I I think you I think you were you weren't here. I think you're going to be doing a zoom in, but I can't remember. But it was during your busy time or should I say overly busy time. >> I remember it differently, but uh we can move on from that. So
>> saying the same things, right? The conversation started in October of 2025. >> Correct. That's when we the city was presented with an amended lease agreement by Mr. Schaefer. >> Then it matured to several conversations which resulted in this uh memo that I wrote to the council on May 13th which
put some um options in front of the council and that's I think acting on those suggestions is when the vote got taken where you're talking about where you abstain. >> So since this is on the agenda again I'm asking councel is there a motion? Is
anyone voting differently? >> I'm not voting differently. >> I'm not voting differently. Okay. And that's fine. I I abstained last time. >> Yeah, >> I did. So,
if there's a motion, one can be made. But >> I I think >> Go ahead, Miss Wentler. >> I think we need to have a motion. Like if you want to do nothing, I think that should be the motion that says we're going to just leave it as is and not >> make a motion to leave the lease as as
>> I think that was option. >> No changes to the lease. >> Okay. Do we have a second? >> I'll second that. >> Okay. Motion by council member Freilley, second by council members on to leave the lease as is with no change. Um I will do a roll call vote on this. If you're in favor, uh council member
Freley, how do you vote? >> I. Council member Zan >> I. >> And I vote I. Okay. Motion carries. All right. Next up, we have the long awaited EDA. And we have Mr. Glenn with us tonight as well from Bladec. I'm going
to call on him in a moment. I just wanted to give everyone here just a quick very brief uh refresh as to where things stand. Um, we as a council motioned and did a public hearing and put together an enabling resolution to
create an EDA for economic development authority for the city of Nisa, a seven member EDA which would include five members from the public and two members from the council as prescribed by Minnesota state law. Um we then had a
window where applications could be turned into the city and there were a few folks that turned in applications after that window. Um for the interview process, Mr. Glenn and I worked together uh as a team on this and we were together for all of the interviews except for one and that was going to due
to scheduling issues closer to the 4th of July. But even with the individuals that submitted applications after the deadline, we interviewed everybody because we wanted to be fair and we felt that if people from the community are willing to step forward, we should interview them because it's great when
you have members of the public that are willing to serve. Um, our first round of interviews was on May 19th. We interviewed five people. On June 2nd, we did a second round of interviews and we interviewed six people. June 16th, we interviewed
three individuals. And then June 24th was our last interview. Um, and that's the one that I ended up doing alone without Mr. Glenn. Uh, Mr. Glenn and I were able to get together. I think not last two Fridays ago um to be able to
synthesize with one another to kind of give feedback. We each had different notes from the interviews and our thoughts about how to shape the EDA. Um, so we had good robust conversation about that. We've chatted again since. Um, but before I get into who the appointments
are, I did want to give Mr. Glenn a chance to come up and address the public and the council. >> Yes. Thank you, mayor and council. Um, just from from my lens, I I want to thank the community. I think this is a um this doesn't happen in the
communities that we support throughout Crowing County. 14 applicants is is incredible. And so I want to thank the community for wanting to be involved, wanting to stay involved with this process. Creating an economic development authority is um is a big
it's not a big task, but it's a task that I think most cities should take on. I think having some separation between responsibilities, ownership, things like that with an EDA and the city are extremely important. So I'm glad that the city council has has directed um us
to go this direction. So happy that that's that's in process and uh as as Mayor Carneahan mentioned um this was a good process to go through with the applications. We were very succinct in what we were asking them. We were
telling everyone what an EDA does, how an EDA is set to act and ask some specific questions around growth and opportunities that are that are available to the city of Nisa. Um, you know, again, we fall back on this, and we've talked about this many times. An
EDA does have the ability to be a taxing entity. They can levy. That is not the intent, and if that intent were to come forward, it would be in front of the council. I don't see any reason why that would ever occur, but um I don't want to say never, but again, it is not the
intent of this um body to go ahead and move that forward. after uh after our communication between myself and the mayor um with her appointees that she's set to to make this evening. I completely concur with the with the list
and um as soon as this is decided tonight, we'll set the first meeting and love to get this moving in the in a right direction. It's not just about the property that the city owns. This is about development throughout the community. It is about vacant properties. There are a lot of items on
the agenda for this uh for this body and um I'm excited to to help lead this and move this in a in a positive direction. But thank you to to the mayor for her time and thank you to the council for um moving this forward. If anybody has any
questions for me, I'm happy to answer. >> Oh, go ahead, Council Member Freley. So, will you be helping guide the EDA, the people on it, once it's set, who's confirmed and go forth? >> I will. I will set the I will set meeting agendas, set meeting dates, get
schedules out to everyone, take minutes. These meetings are open to the public, so the public can attend. Um, it'll be a very open and transparent uh process, but yes, I'll lead the I'll lead the meetings. And my goal with this, just like anything else, people are
volunteering their time. when they are volunteering their time. We want to make sure to keep the schedule tight and get people in and out of here in an efficient and effective manner. >> Any questions for Mr. Gwyn? Okay. Any
questions? Council members on. >> Thank you for all the help. >> Absolutely. >> Yes. And I want to say a special thank you. >> Yeah. >> Well, it was it was a pleasure to work with you. I found our process to be very collaborative, very professional. I respect your expertise and
>> Thank you. your availability because I know you have a lot on your plate. So to carve out the multiple interview dates and be thoughtful about it is very much appreciated and I think all the applicants appreciated probably your knowledge and information you shared throughout the process. >> Well, thank you and again yes I am this
is my city as well. So I'm happy to happy to serve. So thank you. >> Okay, thank you. Um I before I share my appointments I do want to state as Mr. Glenn said we had a number of applications. I don't remember
the exact number if it's 15 14 15 and as Mr. Glenn had said other cities are they have vacant positions on their EDAs or EDC's or you know they struggle to get applications. So I think the fact that there was such uh strong interest in
this is a positive thing for our city. I also do want to share that every single person that applied is qualified. They are all qualified. They all have great capabilities, different backgrounds, uh, and different experiences. And being on
an EDA, bringing in that diversity of work experience, uh, professionally is a good thing for our city, right? I think we're lucky that we have such a broad swath of folks here, not just people who maybe grew up here and spent their whole lives here, but people who have moved in, people who have retired up here,
that have had different experiences even in different parts of the state or country. Um so that's a positive thing. I will be honest in sharing that making these appointments has been um challenging in a sense because there
were so many qualified applicants and you want to think and go through how that process looks. So I told uh Mr. Glenn this when we met at his office that Friday that I started making like a matrix in Excel and it had all these different you know resident non-resident business owner not a business owner both
um you know board experience corporate experience non right like I started to do this matrix and I put everyone's name and I started to try to do a scoring grid and I thought okay this is I'm just making it overly complex uh for myself and it doesn't have to really be that hard. Um so that said as I mentioned
everyone was more than qualified to be on this and you know every individual can look at applications and say oh I think this one has more experience here or this one here but it's all subjective right based on whose lens you're looking at it through. So with that uh I am
going to start with um the council appointees for the EDA. Um and the two council members that I have selected to be on the economic development our authority are council member Zan for a six-year term and council member uh
Freillley for a five-year term. >> Thank you. >> Any comments, gentlemen? >> Thank you. Thank you for your confidence. >> Okay. Um and then the five members of the public and again this was a very difficult uh decision but
I I did I also the reason we pushed this and I didn't want to do it in June is because I wanted to be professional and I wanted to have the time to call everyone or meet with them face to face and have a conversation because I felt that was the right thing to do so that no one would come to this meeting or watch this meeting and be feel
blindsided or surprised because I don't think that's right because we all care about this community. Um, so the first appointee I have from the public, uh, he is not able to be with us tonight, but his name is Bruce Imhalt. Um, he was a city council member in Detroit Lakes for
a number of years, uh, served on the EDA there, has great experience. Um, and so I would like to appoint Bruce Imhalt to a six-year term. I'll let you guys write that down. >> Okay, >> quick question. Did
what what is Councilman Freley said? said five. >> Five. I apologize. >> You six and five. >> Okay. Then the second uh member from the public that I would like to appoint is Jake Huer. Uh so for those that aren't aware, Jake
and his wife Katie uh own Moxy, so they still own the building and they just opened the laundromat. Uh Jake works in insurance and uh he is a resident of Niswah. So that is for a 4-year term. The third member of the public that I
would like to appoint is Mike Foy. He is the owner of Main Street Ale House. He also owns Ernie and I think Dobros. Um I would like to appoint Mike Foy, Mr. Foy for a three-year term. And then the fourth appointee from the
public I would like to appoint is uh Don Southworth. She is the general manager of Grand View. Um, I would like to appoint Miss Southworth for a two-year term. And the last appointee I would like to appoint is Sean Hansen. Uh, Miss Hansen
is the executive director of the outreach program and she in her past also served as the president of the Nisa Chamber. I would like to appoint Shawn for a one-year term. Um, so I can read that back to you. So, Council, I'm doing it in order of terms from the highest
amount of years to the least. So, Council Member Zan, six years. Bruce Imhalt 6 years. Uh, Council Member Freillley 5 years, Jay Kuser, four, Mike Foy, three, Don Southworth, two, and
Sean Hansen, one year. Do we have any questions from council about those seven appointments? If not, I would entertain a motion. I would be honored to make the motion to accept
the appointments to Nisah's economic development authority. >> I'll second. >> Okay. We have a motion by council member Zan, a second by council member London. Any additional discussion? Okay. Uh we'll do a roll call vote. Uh
council member Freley. >> I. >> Council member London. >> Hi. >> Council member Zan. >> Hi. And Miss Wler, I will vote I. And again, I want to thank everyone. Um, your time, treasure, talent, and applications are tremendously appreciated. Uh, we value you all and we
thank you uh, for being a part of this process. Uh, Mr. Pearson, I would like to bring up because on our enabling resolution, the second part says officers of the EDA are appointed as follows and it has president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and assistant treasurer. But if it is a
possibility with this enabling resolution to consider making a slight change to let the EDA board come together in their first meeting and let them decide amongst themselves who would like to take what what positions. uh let them vote for one another because I am
hesitant to appoint people to positions because we haven't had those discussions and I know Mr. Glenn has some input on this as well. >> That's very common in in these proceedings. So just the recommendation back to to the attorney that would be my
recommendation as well and that's common with the other uh EDAs that we have in place. >> Yeah, it makes sense to me. The only question I have is if the if the group uh self-nominates uh the officer positions, do you want to have that come
back to the council for ratification? >> In your experience, is the group enough or does it go back to councils? >> It's always just been the group. >> I'd be fine with that if the rest of council is fine with that. And if Mr. Pearson doesn't see any legal challenges about that,
>> no argument here, but the way we've got this written then I think what we need to do is not Yeah. Well, I we don't we can't fill in these blanks. So, I suppose we could amend >> a suggestion. We fill them in now
when after the EDA meets for the first time. If they're amended by the EDA body, then in August, the council, assuming there's a meeting from now till next August, regular meeting, council could be presented with them from the EDA and they can be amended. Does that
make sense? Or >> or can we just amend this to just remove this from the council appointing >> or could you just have these you've just made a motion to approve these appointments. Can you get an ed
can you get the original initial meeting between now and the council meeting for the purpose of just making these elections and then we can backfill this then at this point? >> Absolutely. >> Perfect. >> That'd be great. >> Okay. Thank you everybody. All right. Uh, new business. The first item,
Crowing County Emergency Management. Um, they are moving to next month, so we're going to bypass that item. Um, Amber is not here with us, so she's got a number of items. Oh, she's here. Oh my gosh, Amber, I'm staring right. I didn't even see you. I'm sorry.
>> Terry was blocking. >> Nope. Yep. Okay. Uh, Miss Moon Peterson, please come forward for your item. I think you did tell me she wasn't going to be here. I I gave them the option because these are pretty basic approvals that if they didn't want if they wanted their evening back. But I will say that
I believe you made a motion to amend the address. >> You're right to put um I apologize. Sorry, you're next. Okay. The first item is the waiver of conflict of interest, Severson Porter Law, related to Deborah Cruz, City of Nisa. So, Mr. Pearson.
>> Oh, yeah. um this source with me uh with Mark Severson asking uh what the proper channel would be to get this in front of the council. As you know, his firm uh represents the city for misdemeanor prosecutions in a joint contract that
involves Nisa and Brainard and Baxter. Um so I got this to Maggie. She got it in the uh in the packet for your consideration tonight. Um, I don't think there's an ethical conflict
for Mark to do what he's suggesting to do by this waiver. If anything, he's concerned that it would be a business conflict because he represents the city and other matters, but it's certainly not an ethical conflict. I don't think it's a business conflict. I would
recommend moving it. >> Okay. Any questions for Mr. Pearson? I will make a motion to approve the waiver to accept the waiver of conflict of interest uh from between Super Porter Law, Deb Cruz, and the city in this wall.
>> Second it. >> Okay, we have a motion by council member Zan, second by council member London. Any additional discussions or questions? Okay, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I opposed. Okay, motion carries. Uh now,
Miss Moon Peterson, you are up. >> Awesome. Thank you. Yes, I'm here tonight. Um, I have a series of change orders and pay applications as we are trying to wrap up several projects. So, happy to answer any questions on them. Um, first up, you have a change order
for the community center followed by the final pay application. >> Okay. Do we have any questions for Miss Moon Peterson? Okay. Do we have a motion? I make a motion to approve change order number two for NISLA community center community event center update says.
>> Okay, we have a motion by council member Freley, second by council member London. Any additional questions or discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Okay, motion carries. Next up, community center pay application number three. >> And the change order is reflected in
this pay application. >> Pardon? The change order is reflected in this amount. >> Okay. Any questions for Miss Moon Peterson from council? >> Okay. Do we have a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve pay application number three for the community center updates as presented.
>> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Freillley, second by council member London. Any additional questions or discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Next up, parks. Uh, Gull Lake Trail phase 4B
NLP restroom change order number one. >> Um, so these next four all for the Gull Lake Trail project, we have two different contractors on the project with the addition of the bathroom portion. Um, so first up is that with um
Pratt that is a little bit different where it's a lump sum. >> Any questions for Miss Moon Peterson? Do we have a motion? This is for the pay application, correct? >> Change order. Change order. And then the >> change order number one.
>> That is and change reflected. >> I'll make a motion to accept uh G Lake Trail phase 4B NIS Lake facility change order number one as presented. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Freillley, second by council member London. Any additional questions or
discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I >> I opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Next. Parks Gull Lakeake Trail phase 4B NLP restroom pay application number one. >> I'll make a motion to accept pay
application number one as presented. Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Freilley, second by council member London. Any additional questions or discussion? >> Maggie, do you want me to change that motion to add everything in there? The gold lake trail. All right. No. Thank you. >> Okay. All those in favor signify by
saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Um, next item. Parks Gull Lake Trail phase 4B change order number seven. Yep. So, this is with the contractor Landwear who did the um bulk of the work along 77 for
the trail. They have the change order and then again pay application. This one um releases the retainage and is their final pay application. Do you want those in two motions or do you want them all in one? >> Two. Two. >> You want them in two? Okay. First motion
uh to approve change order number seven for the Go Lake Trail phase 4B project as presented. >> Okay. Do we have a second? >> Uh motion by council member Freillley, second by council member London. Any additional questions or discussion? All
those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. I'll make a motion uh to accept. >> Sorry. >> Payment application number seven as presented.
>> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Motion council member Freley second. Council members on any additional questions or discussion. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Thank you. Thanks Amber. Thanks Amber for all
your work. >> Okay. Uh now we are on public works. Um Mr. Blommer, our director 2026 road patching. >> All right. This is pretty uh standard stuff. So we do this annually. We do
have two quotes, one from Anderson Brothers, one from Knife Knife River. I provided a list of the roads that we'll be seeing this patchwork. Um, the low bid was from Anderson Brothers, $49,8615. This is well below our budget for this
stuff. So, I would recommend that you approve that. >> Okay. Do we have any questions for Mr. Blommer? >> Making a motion to recommend to accept the recommendation for the 2026 road patching. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Zan,
second by council member Freilley. Any additional questions or discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. And Mr. Blomber 2026 road improvements pay application number one. >> Okay. So this is for work that was done
on Old Government Trail, Poke Road and Hole in a Day Drive. It's a hard one to remember sometimes. Um anyway, uh as as maybe many of you are aware that those roads have been repaved. They're basically complete. Um
and the amount of the pay application is for $38,884. This is about 12% complete of our 27 project, excuse me, our 26th project. Um so with that, I'm looking for approval of the first pay application. I will
make a motion to approve the first pay application for the 2026 road improvement projects for the dollar amount of $38,8847. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Zan. Second by council member Freillley. Any additional discussion or questions? All
those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. >> I. Okay. Opposed. Motion carries. Um, thank you very much. >> Thank you. Um, next up, police department. Uh, Chief Shamansky. The first item is a joint powers agreement
with Crowing County. >> The agreement you have in your packet there is for our new records management and mobile CAD systems. Um, something we've been working on for a few years now, getting everything sorted out and
implemented and bugs worked out of it. uh we're going to go live with it in December. So, it's already uh budgeted for um for this year and uh they have the projected costs laid out for the next few years and they're looking at
approximately 3% roughly per year after that 10-year contract. So, it'll go till 2037. >> Okay. Do we have any questions for Chief Shamansky? >> Do we have a motion? I'll make a motion to accept the joint powers agreement.
>> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member London, second by council member Freillley. Any additional questions or discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Um and
Chief Shamansky, you also have the next agenda item, which is remove Sergeant Scott Williams from probationary status and move to permanent full-time status. >> Correct. Um, Scott's been filling in that role of sergeant for a little over a year now. He's done an excellent job
with his leadership, uh, problem solving, taken on a lot of additional responsibilities as well, tasks. Uh, he's done an excellent job with all of those. So, heard a lot of positive feedback from other agencies,
um, our own agencies, officers, um, and the public as well. So, looking to keep him in that role. if you will agree to do so. >> Any questions or comments from councel? >> No questions. I'd like to make a motion to remove Scott Williams, police
sergeant, from a probationary status. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member London. Second by council member Zan. Any additional questions or discussion? >> I discussed his hubard time frame as we have many people in common.
>> He's enjoys he enjoys talking about those days. >> Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We had some interesting he he I I think he's a great sergeant. I think all the men respect him. >> Yeah, I think it was a great decision. He's doing a great job and he's a great
value ad to our city. Um so all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Thank you, Chief Shamanthy. >> Thank you. >> Okay, next up we have uh remove Jane uh deputy clerk from probation status. Miss
Wetler. >> Yes. Um Jane started in January and she's been a great asset to the city of Nisa um for those who have called in or stopped at city hall. She's always uh very bubbly and friendly and um always has a smile on her face. So it's nice to
have somebody here for that role and uh support myself and other staff. >> Any questions for Miss Wentler? >> Okay. Do we have a motion? We'll make motion to remove Jane Mashad, a deputy clerk, from the probation probation
status. >> I'll second. >> Okay. Motion by council member London, second by council member Freilley. Any additional discussion, questions? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. Jane has been
a great addition to the city as well. Um, next is remove Chief Shamansky. >> Yes. from uh probation status. >> Yes, he um filled the shoes of Chief Taylor, which were big shoes to fill.
But Todd has done a fantastic job over the past year. I hear nothing but uh great things in the community. I know the chamber has been great working with him, a good working relationship. However, um last Saturday he dunked me
in the dunk tank for Sean's benefit. So, that would probably be the only uh check mark I have for Todd. Okay. Uh any questions for Miss Wentler about uh this item? >> No questions. Uh make a motion to remove
Todd Samansky, police chief, from probationary status. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion by Council Member London, second by Council Member Zan. Um before we vote, I just want to say Chief Shamansky, uh you are doing an incredible job. Uh very impressed with
you. We're lucky to have you as a chief and thank you so much for everything you do for the department and our city. >> All those in favor, >> round of applause, I think. >> All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Okay, motion carries. And
last up, um, city property land appraisal. Justice, >> I asked for that to be on there, Madame Mayor, in the hopes that we had an EDA established today. Uh, assuming that we're going to be needing to get an appraisal done on the current valuation of the property, we can get that
potentially underway for what could come for that property. So um like to ask council for their consideration of such push. >> Would that go through council today or would it be better to have as a
discussion in the first EDA meeting to allow the group to come together and does it doesn't matter either way? Go ahead, Miss Wentler. Does it does it make sense to do it now or once maybe
some parcels have been divvied out because then we're focusing on each parcel or a specific amount of acreage instead of as a whole. I have this is not my expertise but >> valuations are going to have to be
determined. Yeah, >> appraisals can take 30, 60, 90 days. You know, I wanted to bring it before you all because I deal with these things at times. And is it something that we should consider? >> I think Jesse, with this, are you just asking the city seek quotes for appraisal work? >> Yes.
>> Is that what you're doing? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Oh, you're just asking for quotes. >> Yeah. >> Oh, okay. I misunderstood. >> I don't want to say. >> All right. Um, any questions or clarifications from council? >> I apologize about that. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um, do we have a motion?
>> I say also move. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Freilley, second by council member London. Any additional discussion or questions? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Um, open
forum. >> Oh, go ahead. If you again want to state your name uh and your address and then for open forum um we allow 2 minutes. So after you state your name and address and I can get my timer working um
I will start the time. >> All right. My name is Bonnie Johnson uh 25942 Trailside Run. This might be a minor point but to me it's a big deal. Um, I would like the council to reconsider the placement of the open
forum on the agenda. Um, first of all, I'd like you to ask yourself these questions. Is this being respectful of the citizens opinions by placing us at this point? Um, secondly, is it encouraging active comm community part
community participation because we really want to get folks out and sharing their concerns, their ideas. So I would hope you know we're now an hour and a half into the council meeting and as you've seen some people have filtered out maybe they would have said something
earlier. And then I think the last thing is is this a message that you as the council want to give the hierarchy of importance by placing the citizens opinions the very last. So just I don't expect any answers but I just something
that you can think about for the future. Thank you. >> Thank you Bonnie. Okay. Anyone else for if whoever wants to go come to the microphone over here? >> Um Bob here 4984 Ruben's way. This one
just a small suggestion. Um number of projects I've witnessed in the last 12 13 years and we go through change orders. they get they get discussed and approved. For those of us that have a little bit of background in design construction, it would be really
nice if the council would um adopt a justification for the change order, assuming most of these projects have professional engineering and the and the uh drawings are essentially signed off by a PE. Um so are is that there's been a change of scope for
example that justifies the change order uh incomplete engineering um act of God thunderstorm or something like that trees fell over but it would be nice if there's like you know forest old categories and you just give the public that as to why you know there's a change
order when there's complete thoroughly vetted engineering been done. Thank you. >> Thank you. all in my face. Deborah Cruz, 25829 Centennial Lane, Niswah, Minnesota. Um, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, allowing me to
speak. Uh, most of you know why I'm here. The rest will have to catch up since I only have two minutes. Um, I believe the city may have exceeded its authority by allowing my neighbors lot split uh to proceed without the conditions on the preliminary approval being satisfied. I also believe that the
city's window of opportunity to correct that error is closing, which is why I'm here speaking tonight. My argument is straightforward. Condition 4, the planning and zoning approval required that the owners to verify continued future access to Centennial Lane. Uh the
documents ultimately relied upon to satisfy that condition according to the city planner's July 9th email to Holly Holm and I uh were that the easement across the remainder of the parent par parcel and a quick claim deed. And these
documents may get someone to Centennial Lane, but they don't give them permission to be on Centennial Lane. Um they're two different questions. They require two different easements or other instruments. If the planning commission had intended that easement to across the
parent parcel alone, it would satis to satisfy condition four. It could have said just to that. Um it didn't. Instead, it required verification of continued future access to Centennial Lane. Um I've provided copies of both
the city's transcript and a partial verbatim transcript of the October 7th so you can follow the planning commission's reasoning. their discussion um shows that they really understood that access to consent to to Centennial Lane was the main issue before them at
that point. Um you will get those things in just a few minutes but anyway um in many situations certain rights associated with a parent parcel may pass to the newly created parcel but that's not automatic. In this case, tracing the
claimed access rights back to their source leads to the to the recorded plot documents that the city does not enforce. And if they did dig into those, they'd layer lay bear the prohibition against splitting their lot. So, who would ultimately prevail in court is not
an issue before you tonight. Um, this this issue is whether the condition imposed by planning and zoning was actually satisfied before the final approval was granted. I respectfully submit it was not and I ask the court to ensure that this matter receives prompt
review before the city's opportunity to correct the approval is lost. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hi My name is Bruce Botser. I am a resident of Niswah, but I'm actually a
citizen in the state of Florida now. And I didn't plan on speaking to you, but it kind of got my attention. Item 10 refers to the joint powers agreement with Crowing County. And even though your police chief
uh spoke to that, there's a joint powers agreement that exists for all the cities and all the townships and all the districts in Crowing County for annual asphalt maintenance work.
My company, I should say my former company because I'm in the process of trying to get my foot out from under it. But Crowing County has a condition and an annual seal coat contract
that offers the same unit prices to all the districts, all the townships in the county. My company has been awarded this low bid many times in the last 15 years, perhaps
longer, but I've kind of paid attention over the years. And Niswah is the only city that does not participate in this contract. And I believe it was your public works director last year that I told about
that. I don't know if you've discussed that with him or not, but it's surprising to me that you don't participate. If there's any further questions about that, I'd be available to talk to any of
you, but you might look into it. So, basically, the county lets an annual contract to resurface their roads, uh, typically 50 to 75 miles.
And the same unit prices apply for all cities, all townships, and all parking lots. So, it's kind of a deal. And there's only about 17 of 87 counties that offer this joint powers agreement.
So, you might be overlooking some real cheap good maintenance. And again, two minutes is enough. But you want to look into it, I'm at your service. >> Thank you. And I'm not looking for the work cuz it's usually cheap work. [laughter]
>> Thank you very much. >> I I wasn't looking at the your company logo on your shirt at all. >> Okay. Anyone else for public comment? >> Uh Andy Schaefer 23930. Uh Smiley Road. Just wanted to touch on
some of the stuff that Brian was talking about earlier. He seems to always bring up things that are untrue at these meetings. So, I would just like to say that the construction was not all
of 25. It was October and then it stopped through the winter and there is ample parking for Spirits currently and always has been. And uh I'd like to apologize. I ran out
earlier. I'm not mad about what was going on. I had a fire call. So, that is all. >> Thank you. Okay. Anything else? Anyone else for public comment? All right. Uh oh, do you have a public comment?
>> Just wanted to give one shout out to Cali in the back in the chamber for one hell of a show on the 4th of July. That is, I think, the pinnacle event amongst many. So, it's kind of hard to pick and choose which
one's the best. But, man, oh man, Cali, bravo. Thank you to you and your team. And, uh, community almost deserves to give her a round of applause for coordinating such a great party. That was all. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh
on the agenda we have listed the uh upcoming meeting dates for the rest of this month and then into August. Our regular city council meeting uh for the month of August is on August 18th at 6:00 p.m. Um with that a motion to
adjurnn would be in order. >> I so move and I second. >> Okay. Motion by council member Freillley, second by council member Z. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. Meeting is adjourned. Uh thank you very much everyone.