Alright. Welcome. Welcome to the Northfield City Council meeting for Tuesday, February 18. We will start, calling the meeting to order and will take roll. Mayor Zweifel? Here. Councilor Ness? Here. Councilor Peterson White? Here. Councilor Soukup? Here. Councilor Beamer? Here. Counselor Dahlen? Here. Counselor Holmes? Here. Thank you. We begin our meeting with open public comment. So, those wishing to address the council, I believe I have seven cards, so far. So if you are here and you haven't filled out a card and you would
like to speak, you'll find the yellow cards over there on the table over by Logan. Thank you. Logan is pointing them out. So please, fill one out, and we'll start off with, Anne Goffman. Would you like to approach the mic? And you have two minutes. Yeah. Great. Yep. You have two minutes to address the council. Thank you. The table because no one was willing to rescind their vote. But I'm here tonight to urge this council to find a way to rebid this project. I voted for members of this council, including the mayor, because I thought that they would prioritize the health of our community and environment.
And this vote seems to go strongly against those principles. I'm a scientist. I'm an environmental studies and physics professor at Saint Olaf College. And I specifically wanted to address some of the comments made at the council's last meeting about the water in Northfield being safe and not in conflict with state guidelines. My understanding is that we're not in conflict with state guidelines because water, public water systems in Minnesota aren't required to treat for manganese. And this may be because about 90% of Minnesotans using community public drinking water already
receive water with levels of manganese below a safe threshold. That is not the case for community members here in Northfield, Minnesota. I have two young children, two toddlers, who have been cons you know, this has been concerning to me. But I've also been really worried about PFAS in the water system. The EPA has recently set mandates against PFAS. We've tested in Minnesota in Northfield, Minnesota for PFAS, and there are levels of PFAS here, not meeting the critical levels of the EPA. But there are 12,000
PFAS compounds, many of which we still don't currently have, technologies to adequately test for. And so I'm really concerned that this council isn't taking steps right now to to make a change, and include reverse osmosis in the water treatment plant. So, again, you know, we may have, options to do this locally, but say for my kids who are drinking water in the public school systems, they still get contaminated water, away from home. So thanks. That's it. Thank you very much. Next up is Natalie Maddow.
All right. So ten years ago, me and my husband decided to move here, to Northfield to raise our three girls in a healthy, safe environment. I never envisioned what the future had in store for us. These are my medical files for the past seven of those ten years. I was a healthy young mom who was experiencing serious health issues only to be misdiagnosed over and over. When I finally got a referral to Mayo Clinic almost three years ago, I had a heartbreaking diagnosis of early onset Parkinson's disease. I've been taking medication to help with the symptoms of Parkinson's, but I couldn't figure out why I was still having some symptoms that were untouched by any medication. It wasn't until last year when I left for,
a weekend with my daughter for a volleyball tournament that I slowly started to connect the dots. When When I was away from home, my symptoms weren't as prominent. It took me eight months to figure out that it was our city water that was causing these Parkinson's like symptoms. And I didn't just have Parkinson's. I was also dealing with manganese toxicity. I drank water from my refrigerator because I thought it was safe because it was filtered. I truly thought if my water looks good, safe, it what or it looks good, it was safe. Parkinson's has no cure. Manganese toxicity has no cure. I'm here to show you that manganese can be a neurotoxin at any age and
is actually a real threat. How do you know if you have if the manganese will be affecting you? You won't know because once you start showing signs and symptoms, it's already too late. There is no reversing it. There are many studies currently being done to measure contaminants in water everywhere. They're finding things that they've never seen before and they have no idea what the long term effects of the from these contaminants would be. This is frightening and a real threat. We actually have a chance of a community to be able to remove all contaminants from our water to make it safe. It should be a no brainer decision to build this, build this water treatment plant. I would love to be able to go to have a cup of coffee downtown.
Currently, I cannot. I want my children to be able to drink water from a phone at school. They can't. I want my girls to grow up in a health safe safety environment that I envision Northville being for them. If you're still against the water treatment plan, I would invite you to my house. I'll show you what a life is like living with a progressive brain disease. I'll even drink a glass of tap water to show you the disabling side effects that it has on me. I'm extending this offer to the public as well. I'm glad to share my story as long as my share my symptoms too. I'm asking you to just all keep on working on this to make it actually
happen. Thanks. Thank you. Next is Melissa Iblin Zayas. Hi, folks. I am here to share my support for the new water treatment plant and my disappointment and the lack of action by the council. Northfield has the opportunity to build a water treatment plant that can remove everything from manganese to PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, from our drinking water. While the cost of building a new treatment plant are high, the cost of doing nothing in terms of the impact on the health of our community are even higher. I have heard opponents of the water treatment plant wonder how many infants there are
in Northfield who are impacted by the high manganese levels. Hubert Humphrey once said, the ultimate moral test of any government is the way it treats three groups of citizens. First, those in the dawn of life are children. This council is failing to do its moral duty if it ignores the well-being of infants. And it's not just nuclear families with young children that are impacted. Anyone that regularly cares for young children including grandparents, aunts, uncles or family friends needs to have access to safe water from the tap. Beyond the impact of excess manganese on the development of young children,
I want to emphasize that the proposed plant with its reverse osmosis treatment proactively addresses other public health issues where our scientific understanding is continuing to evolve. For example, the health impacts of PFAS Forever chemicals seem to be much more widespread than the impact of excess manganese. These include increased risks of cancer, thyroid disease, and changes in liver function in addition to causing developmental delays in children. With a new plant, Northfield will be able to address these emerging public health concerns.
I've heard some people suggest that we can't afford to make an investment in water treatment. I would argue we can't afford not to. Delaying this project will only cause the cost to go up, leading us to pay even more in the future. But most importantly, clean water is not a luxury nor is finding safe drinking water a personal responsibility. Clean water is a fundamental right and a basic necessity for every member of our community. Thank you. Next, I have Randy Jennings. I'll shift gears a little bit.
The city budget is usually not on your agenda until way too late in the year. And I'd like to talk about '26 and '27. I've worked in small and large nonprofits, small businesses in several industries, and I worked for a fortune five corporation. I've had my own small businesses. Starting budget planning with spending is not the norm in any well run organization. First step is always a revenue projection to which spending is then tied. Northfield does its budgeting exactly backwards. Staff prepares a spending wish list and the council raises taxes and fees to fund it. This path is not sustainable and it's the main message the public sent you in
the last election. Instead of this perpetual cycle of excessive spending and unsustainable tax increases, a more fiscally responsible approach would be for the council to clearly state for '26 and '27, we will have a 0% levy increase and a $0 increase in fees. Staff should then be directed to prepare a two year budget that reflects this directive. For 2026, this won't be all that difficult. The city spends millions of dollars on unproductive and unnecessary projects. Just stop them. Put all the necessary city contracts out for bid, especially the big ticket items like engineering services.
There are 31 engineering civil engineering firms in the Twin Cities. I'm sure two or three would like to bid for our business. Twenty twenty seven will likely be a little harder after covering the fixed cost of essential city services. We may need a small increase to fund specific projects or programs. Council can prioritize those things next year as necessary. There's chaos in the federal government. There's a push for fiscal restraint at the state level, and it's unlikely we're gonna see external funding of any significant amount over the next two to four years. We have to live within our means here. One thing you might consider is following the school district's example and invite citizen volunteers
to help identify cost reductions and savings. That process has the double benefit of introducing new thinking as well as providing a level of transparency and community buy in the city's current process simply does not. So thanks. Thank you. Next, I have Lily Tharp. Hi. I'm Lily, and I'd like to address the council about their decision to no longer pursue a water treatment plan for the city of Northfield. I relocated from Seattle in August of twenty twenty three, and I've been warmly welcomed to your community. Thank you. I'm an early childhood special ed teacher, and I've been in the field for over twenty years.
I'm currently teaching over at NCEC. And as you can see, I'm also about to have a baby. Upon arrival to Northfield, we heard a bit here and there about water issues, but it wasn't until this fall and the way out of my son's pediatrician's appointment that I stumbled on a flyer at the sticker table, manganese in Northfield water. Did you know? No. I didn't. And I was pretty upset. My family and I are currently renting the Bottom Floor of a duplex over on Second Street. And as renters, we cannot install the kind of filtration systems that many other folks have. The flyer recommended carbon filters like Brita and bottled bottled water.
However, Minnesota Department of Health summary to reduce manganese indicates that carbon filters are not actually a reliable solution. You guys probably already know this. And the recommendation to, purchase bottled water I found particularly egregious. Isn't access to safe drinking water part of public utilities included in my rent? What about those that do not have the financial means to purchase bottled water? And or the time to refill the refillable containers? And that takes significant time. These recommendations are pretty inequitable in my book and not a long term solution. I'm upset and confused by the council's recent decision to abandon the water treatment plant,
especially considering members recently elected to office ran campaigns on their dedication to issues concerning equity and the environment. Equitable access to safe drinking water for all Northfield residents easily aligns with Northfield's priorities and statewide accolades. As a special ed teacher, I know firsthand how learning and behavioral difficulties can impact young children and their families. And as noted on a recent infographic provided in our buyer superintendent's office, Northfield students receiving special ed services have been rising steadily over the past ten years. It is, of course, very difficult to factually attribute these numbers to manganese,
but I feel it's an important issue to note. Council members, I urge you to reconsider your recent decision and fund a water treatment plant. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Howard White. I'm not speaking for or against any project. But what I'd ask you to do is to consider the chaos that exists in Washington, D. C. About federal funds and for any project that you wish to make a contract for and make sure that you are not counting on any federal funds at this time
in our political environment. We need to pay for the things we want to, not count on the federal government at this time. I think this is gonna last until the 1974 Impoundment Act is rendered by the Supreme Court to either be constitutional or unconstitutional. And until that time, we cannot count on the federal government for anything. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Cheryl Casper. Thank you, City Council and Mayor Zwiefel,
for allowing me the opportunity to address this council regarding the proposed water treatment project. My address is 1208 Superior Drive. We live directly in the path of the proposed, water treatment plant and are opposed to building this altogether. The water in our city, to my knowledge, was deemed safe to drink for just about everyone, so the minimal need does not justify the costs. It's not that we don't want pregnant women and children to have safe drinking water, but there has to be a reasonable cost in achieving this.
And the millions they wanted to spend on this project is not reasonable. Also, if lower income folks can't afford home the in home treatment, then they certainly can't afford the increased utility costs either. Many others, like my family, are being property taxed and school levied right out of Northfield. Our home is 3600 square feet, sits on 85 by 127 square foot lot, and we will pay just under $10,000 in property taxes next year. An increase in property taxes or utility rates mean the same thing,
more of our money being burned. That is absurd. We live in one of the highest property tax bases in the state. And I have to ask, why would we need a WTP if we are not mandated to have it? How many people already treat their water? If they were insistent on building this, why can we not at least wait until we get more federal or state aid? As far as the argument that building costs will go up in the future, is there a crystal ball that the rest of us don't have? With the new administration now in power in this country, many of us believe that materials may actually start decreasing in prices.
Why not put the project on hold and wait before spending millions of dollars of Northfield tax dollars on yet another wish list of the city? At some point, we have to take a stand and say enough is enough on frivolous spending in this town. We can do this by scrapping the WTP project. It is evident from the results of our last election in Northfield that we want change in the way the city spends our hard earned tax dollars. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Alright. Having trouble with the handwriting on this one. I believe this is Scott Schweissler. Oh, it's not. Okay. Sorry.
Good evening. My name is Scott Shisher. I'm a master water treatment specialist. And the first thing I wanna say today is that I strongly believe that we all deserve safe water. But I wanna make three points tonight. First point is the city is yet to provide us or to provide anyone the number of homes or businesses in this community that would be affected, in a positive way or a negative way. What I mean by that is we have no idea how many homes in Northfield or businesses currently have water treatment that would make this project,
somewhat meaningless. Number two, EPA Water Quality Standards Section three zero three clearly defines soft water as water that is less than one grain hard or 17.1 parts per million. That's an important point because the city constantly tells the community that they're gonna be providing soft water. That's not true. The city is providing water that has the hardness reduced. That point is important because people and business owners that, for example,
have, boilers that they use to to heat their heat their companies or run their equipment. They need to understand what quality of water they're actually getting. And when the city says that they're getting them soft water, that's very misleading. Lastly, a Harvard study on legacy water issues. I've offered this study up numerous times and the study clearly states that when a community drastically changes the water chemistry in existing piping and plumbing, you can expect residual.
What would happen is if we went online with an RO plant, the water chemistry is gonna change, and the community is gonna see for a given period of time, I have no idea how long it would be, but they're gonna see residual from those pipes. I think it I think it's fair, that that's communicated. Thank you. We have reached the end of the cards, and it is exactly 06:20. And we have so we have reached the end of our, time for open public comment. Thank you all very much. Which person? Oh, yep. My bad. Nope. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. You did pass where did it go? You did someone did pass me one.
Lee Lee Yang. Yes. I remember the name. I've I'm my apologies. I've I lost I yes. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. My name is Lei Yang. I'm here to show my support to the water treatment plant. And I think I can represent lots of new moms living in our town, and we are concerned about the elevated levels of manganese. I recently learned this from the city's website, and I when I was very excited when I know that this plant is going to be built. And then later,
I learned that it was suspended. So the idea was suspended from now. So I really want to show that as new moms, we are very concerned about the water quality provided by the city. And the second thing that I want to talk about is I moved here to I moved here in 2017, and I know that we have two colleges in the town. And the two colleges actually attracted lots of young families and young faculty and staff moving to this moving to our town.
So I want to say that maybe we want to these new families to stay here and water quality is one of the concerns for all of for lots of these young families. And I also want to point out that I think it is smart to collectively solve the water quality problem because as individual families families, it's very hard to track the changes happening in the water quality. You have to track it every year and use different methods to trace the changes
in the chemicals in the water. So it's very hard to do it as individuals. I think it is very smart to do it collectively. And the last point that I want to make is, I think we should think long term. Like that is to say we want to protect the children and we want to have the plant the plant will stay for one hundred of years. So I think, we need to think about the future generations too. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Now I think we're at the end of our open public comment. Thank you all very much. Stay warm. We will move on to the approval of our agenda.
Looking for a motion to approve the agenda. Councillor Ness? I will move the agenda for the City Council meeting for February 18. Thank you. Is there a second? Councillor Beamer? I'll second. Thank you. Discussion, changes to the agenda? Seeing none, we will, my mic is there we go. All those in favor of the agenda signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We will move on to the consent agenda. Sorry. I got logged out. I'll go paper. So the consent agenda is an agenda where we vote on all the items listed
here at one time. And, council members have the opportunity to ask questions for clarification on consent and agenda item agenda items in, in advance of the meeting and have the opportunity to request an item to be removed, which we did not have from the regular agenda for further discussion. So, given that, I'm looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda. Councilor Holmes. I move to approve the consent agenda. Thank you. Councilor Soka. Second. Thank you. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. We will now move to reports from the mayor and council members,
and we'll start with Councillor Ness this week. Thank you. Attended the NAFRS finance committee, nothing unusual. We were looking at the 2026 budget for NAFRS because townships have to have their levies into the state of Minnesota sometime in March. And they were kinda running blind in the past. So when Tom Nelson was made chief, he decided to at least put a preliminary forecast of the budget out,
early enough that the townships could see that and get an idea. It's going up slightly, not dramatically. Most of you know that Northfield pays approximately 72% of the NAFR's budget. The townships, and now there's six, I believe, because we're losing one. But Sciota is gonna go with your Randolph. Thank you. And they pay 22% and Dundas pays approximately 6. If that doesn't add up to a hundred,
my math's bad. But that's all I've got for that. I attended my first age friendly Northfield meeting. Last week, I believe it was, and there's some kinda neat stuff that's happening. I you know, going in as a rookie is always hard to grab on to it and see what's happening, but that one should be good. And I'll let councilor Beamer report about the beyond the yellow ribbon breakfast. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Peterson White.
Thank you. I think since we last did this, I attended the mayor's youth council brunch on the afternoon of the ninth. I really encourage folks to come meet up with the mayor's youth council when offered the opportunity. It was a really thought provoking, engaging, and delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The youth are really eager to engage on policy issues both large and small. And, I think, those of us who were able to attend had some really interesting, thought provoking, fruitful conversations that I hope will result in further conversations and youth input into our
policy making, which I think is so important for a community that, so frequently restates its commitment to the youth. I also, on the thirteenth, attended, Three Rivers Community Action Hiawatha Land Transit meeting. That is Hiawatha Land Transit, not as a as an operation of Three Rivers Community Action. They have a quarterly meeting, and I'm the Northfield's Representative to that group. For those of you who don't know, the Hiawatha Land provides the bus service that provides two different circulators around Northfield. So we got an update on some changes to then they provide the service throughout
Southeastern Minnesota, in a lot of different communities and really are able to tailor the services to the needs of the community in a lot of ways, But are primarily focused on meeting the needs of, young people, disabled people, people without other transportation options. So we got a report on kind of their 2024 recap and major changes any major changes. There's one community that's leaving the service and other communities making changes to how they're engaging with Three Rivers. And I thought the most exciting aspect of the meeting was that, over the past several months, they've been able to, instead of contracting out their,
the the work on their vehicles, they have brought a mechanic shop in house and have their own mechanic's bay, and they've saved an unbelievable amount of money by doing that. I'd be happy to share the numbers spending one. Once you see them, it was astounding and very exciting to see, the efficiency of that, for that organization, which is, you know, always trying to do more with less. So it was great. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Soukup. Thanks. I also attended the mayor's youth council branch and had just a great time. I'm looking forward to hanging out with that group of folks,
more often. So, thanks to the mayor's youth council for hosting us. There's an HRA meeting, a couple weeks ago. We got a budget update from, community development director Riley, given the uncertainty at the federal level, which was a good update to have. We also heard from a community member about their concern around, water meters and water and sewer starting to be billed to residents at Viking Terrace starting in May,
and that that there's a big concern about affordability and, increased costs for residents there. On the regular agenda, we, approved selling a plot on Sumner Street, to a partnership between Habitat and Obero, properties. They're gonna be building four homes there and, selling them to folks, I believe in the 65% AMI category, and it was sold for a dollar. It was valued at about a hundred and $37,000.
So, with that, subsidy through the HRA, the residents who will live there in the future will are estimated to save about a hundred and $60 a month on their mortgages, which is, great. Then we also, talked through with, Dana Norvold from Habitat. They're looking at trying to relocate the Paulson house. It's a one bedroom, one bath house that's still standing, in the kind of Craywood development. And instead of, getting rid of that, they're trying to figure out a way to relocate it and, set it on a basement foundation that would,
increase the size and then, ideally, the home when it when it would be moved and and have a different use, could be sold to a family, in need. So it was a great meeting. Thanks. Thank you. Counselor Holmes. Thanks. Excuse me. I'm sad to have missed the mayor's youth council. Unfortunately, I was teaching little kids how to cross country ski out in the cold. So, otherwise, I've been I would recommend for new counselors to go because normally I go every time. But I also know that we've had the request to come on Wednesday mornings,
and unfortunately, that's my drop off time. So I won't be able to go then either, so I hope other counselors will be able to pick up the slack there that I'm dropping. And but again, I think I concur that it's a it's a great opportunity to connect with the members who are serving on our boards and commissions and also who are very passionate and engaged in our community. I have not had any board or commission meetings since our last meeting, but I did attend the public finance workshop, the two day public finance workshop put on by Ehlers up in, The Twin Cities last week.
And it was very it was I was it was great. I learned so much in terms of expanding my understanding of, of public finance, TIF, TIF two zero one, TIF one zero one, TIF two zero one. I got a lot of TIF, TIF work there. I would encourage I'm no longer on the EDA or the finance committee, but have been in the past and, would encourage when they offer this again in the future, those of you that are sit on those or anyone, particularly as we look at budgeting, it would to it to attend. It was it was very worthwhile. Thank you.
Councilor Dolan. Yes. I'm looking forward to, the first meeting of the finance committee, which I'm a member, and I hope that we can look at four issues, bond rating, consultants, financial controls, and fund balances. So that will hopefully be on the agenda for next Tuesday and be ready to report back on progress we are making in those four areas and maybe others as well maybe other areas as well. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Beamer. As council member Ness said, we had, beyond the yellow ribbon meeting
two weeks ago, three, Yeah. Two weeks ago. Most of the meeting was talking about the omelette breakfast that we had on Sunday down at the VFW. I worked at the first shift, and it was busy. Great turnout. I don't know what the final numbers are. I'm not sure if councilor Nuss has anything on that yet. I would like to make sure that we throw a thank you to the Sons of the American Legion, the VFW, the Honor Society volunteers that were there, and all of the other volunteers from the American Legion and and,
the VFW and throughout, that helped that helped put it on because I I felt it was pretty busy and and pretty successful. So, haven't had any other meetings just yet. Planning commission meeting this Thursday. EDA meeting is on Monday. And then as councilor Dolan had stated, the finance policy subcommittee meeting is next Tuesday. So plenty of meetings coming up. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. So I also attended the mayor's, youth brunch, which, was a lovely event, and I thank,
Martha Lundin for, putting that together and convening us all. And I attended the mayor's youth and and all board and council discussion in January, which I previously reported. But I do have in this agenda, Martha typed up the notes from that meeting, the comments, from the students who were there, and that's, attached to our agenda. And there's also an email from Sarah so that you can sign ups, to attend a future mayor's youth council, if it works into your schedule. And I also previously recorded on the EQC meeting and their work plan,
and I have attached that here in the agenda as well. So that's all I have. And I will be looking to administrator Martegg for his report. I'm talking slowly because I can see he's busily taking notes, and I don't wanna interrupt him until he's ready. Thank you, mayor. Members of city council. Just a few updates. One follow through from the work session last week. There's been some interest on the water plant. We're working on updating our communication on our web pages, as well as preparing some kind of just public information on kind of the status of things is, As you all know, the motion to rescind option that would have kept the bid option open is no
longer available. So we'll be moving on from the project as was bid. Based on the feedback that we got, at least on the short term, we'd be pursuing the option the broader discussion of that probably would come back in June unless there was interest by counselors to expedite anything before then. That doesn't mean nothing's happening though under that option as we presented. The intent is there are construction documents underway for road projects that will include some resurfacing but will include some extensions of our water mains and other utilities out to
the new site that we have, as well as an access road that would be constructed with that. So we're planning on bringing that back to the city council for action on those as planned under that option. Additionally, staff, as as we talked about in some of the alternatives, is trying to find a way to keep the federal funding option available. So we have about 3,945,000.000 available. So there are a number of Ettler eligible, water projects, including ones that are in our five year capital plan that potentially could be eligible. It's a little bit challenging because of where we're located in the state of Minnesota
and the requirements of the funding the corps of engineers have to lead the project, in the bidding and the kind of the management of the project. And we do have a small local match as part of that, but we can't exceed the amount of the match that's funded. So we have to find projects that are a little bit smaller. So we had hoped that the water tower site might be the water tower project, which is in our five year CIP, would probably be one that we were hoping that would work. We're still working through those, but staff's trying to find some alternatives to keep those fundings available for that.
So we'll have some more information going out on that soon, and we're updating some of the communications with that. The we're obviously tracking a lot of the what's happening at the federal level at the executive branch or the government in particular, the executive orders, which in many ways aren't directly meaningful to a lot of the work that we do, but as it processes through to the actual agencies that manage those executive orders and then make decisions, I guess we're having a growing kind of monitoring and concern as it relates to
what how city operations and even the broader community would be impacted potentially, especially around those areas of federal executive orders on things like diversity, equity and inclusion and tying those to funding. So there's a lot of questions about what might be coming related to that. City government, we receive things like you know, body protection armor that we get from the police department or federal grants. We get transportation funding through the states that trickle down to us. There could be, funding that we get in library services,
housing, CDBG funds that started under, Nixon's administration that helps fund some of our, HRA programs are somewhat in question depending on what the interpretation of some of that might be and agreements that might have clauses tied to funding that we sign off depending on, procedurally how some of that administration will be impacted. Additionally, community partners are are publicly owned hospital. Also, there, have been, communications out with concerns over not only DEI, but things like gender affirming care,
that there might not be federal reimbursement programs like Medicare and Medicaid made available if some of those, really recognized medically recognized programs by associations that have vetted this, these types of programs. There's now potentially threats of the hospital associations are ramping up. All of these areas do have a number of lawsuits that are all active and tracking that our colleges potentially be impacted by funding with some of the threats related to some of the equity inclusion or what the interpretation of some of those issues might be. Nonprofits across our community arts organizations and other are potentially being impacted.
So we're particularly around the city side there is a growing concern amongst my peers to start tracking what all the federal dollars are and the interpretations that are coming forward. One example that we were impacted by related to our new passport services that has been really widely, embraced, I guess, not only by our own community, but we're getting people coming down from the South Metro in particular to use our passport services because we're available on the weekends, and Northfield's a great town to visit. But we did, get a, directive from the US Department of State who oversees passports,
related to transgender, orders that are coming from the executive level has started an out trickle through the agency. We were directed last week to destroy all of our paper forms that had non binary persons listed on the forms. The websites are being removed with forms that only includes male and female options, and we are directed to tell applicants that they can submit if they have an old form and they fall under the category of non binary, but that there would be, quote unquote, delays in the processing. There are lawsuits that are currently active related to that issue as well.
So we're working on educating people on those types of issues. So we're also working on that. Does raise a lot of other like legal questions into federalism and the differentiation between state and federal government as well. Because in Minnesota, some of you might know, we have the Human Rights Act that does provide discrimination protections for gender and sex that causes some potential conflict in interpretation of the law or the right here at home. And Minnesota also has constitutional protections,
as well in these areas. So, continuing to track, issues in these areas, and more, from some of the federal actions that are happening, and we'll work to try and gather some of those. I do suspect, although, the LM League of Minnesota Cities Capital Day on March 6, I'll send an email off to you. But if you're able to attend, a lot of times that focuses more on state government. But my guess is there might be some discussion potentially about federal impacts that are going on as well, especially knowing the potential financial repercussions of many across the state that might be seeing
this in our cities on what's what's happening. So we are tracking that very closely and starting to ramp up some of our internal review of that as well. I think that, completes my updates, at this time. Thank you. Thank you. I'm looking for a motion to adjourn, but don't panic out there in the audience. We, we're just adjourning our, council meeting, and we will need to take a break so we can reset the technology and come back for our work session. So looking for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Councilor Ness.
Move to adjourn the city council meeting. Thank you. Looking for a second. Councilor Soukup. Second. Alright. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? We are adjourned, and we'll take a short, break so we can stretch our legs.