Call the City Council meeting for Tuesday, 03/04/2025 to order. Could I have a roll call please? Council member Dodson. Here. Burbank. Here. Bokey. Here. McCann. Here. Spende. Here. Voss. Here. Rainey. Here. And Mayor Jessup. Here. May I have all seven of the council and the mayor present. Thank you. First thing I'm looking for tonight is to approve the council agenda. Motion to approve. We have a motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Nate. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. This time we will have our swearing in ceremony.
I would ask that if you are able, please rise for the presentation of colors and then remain standing for the national anthem, which will be a violin solo performed by OHS Junior, Mercy Mwanga. Ready? Arms. Thank you, Mercy. Order. Ready. Thanks. For March. So with the swearing in ceremony, I will turn it over to city administrator Chris Busse. Thank you. I wanna welcome here everyone tonight to this swearing in ceremony. My name is Chris Bosey. I'm the city administrator. This is a very special night for Owatonna.
It is not often that we can celebrate the the promotion of two key leadership positions in our police and fire departments. This joint ceremony reflects two of our core values, better together, which means we are one team of diverse perspectives and talents working to create a better tomorrow for Owatonna. Also pride in our work, which means we strive for excellence in all that we do. These two new leaders will carry out their tradition of excellence that previous leaders have
set for the city. Chiefs, will you please introduce your new officers? Thank you, Administrator Busey. I'm excited to have Ben here tonight. Ben, why don't you come on up? A little background about Ben. Ben went to college for firefighting at Fox Valley Technical College in Wisconsin, then finished and graduated from Riverland Community College here in Minnesota with an associate's degree in fire science technology. He then originally joined the Owatonna Fire Department in January of twenty twenty as a paid on call resident firefighter living at the station. After just eight months, he moved on to a full time firefighter
equipment operator. Since returning, he has played a key role in coordinating and leading our department's training. In 2024, Ben was also awarded the Firefighter of the Year Award from the Exchange Club. Ben comes from a family in the fire service with his uncle Brian Saskia and grandpa Robert Lewis serving as firefighters. Ben's promotion to Commander was effective 12/01/2024. Good evening, everybody. Ms. Busse, Mayor Jessup, City Council, thank you for this opportunity tonight. It's my honor to introduce Captain Tracy Deschenes.
Tracy, can you please join me? Tracy was born and raised in Medford and a first generation police officer. Tracy began his law enforcement career as a correctional officer for Steele County in 1998. After eighteen months, Tracy joined our force as a Patrol Officer on 07/14/2000. He served in a specialized assignment such as a field training officer and a SWAT officer. He was promoted to sergeant on 11/09/2011 leading up to his promotion to captain Tracy was the FTO supervisor for twelve years overseeing the training development and evaluation of new
police officer candidates Tracy is the recipient of many service accommodations that involve response to high risk calls and the apprehension of dangerous offenders and a life saving award. Tracy was selected by his peers and the moonladders exchange club for the 2022 police officer of the year. Tracy has been married to his beautiful wife, Shannon for twenty eight years. They have three adult children and one grandchild. Tracy's promotion to Captain was effective on 01/12/2025.
Please help me welcome Captain Tracy Duchene to our city and our police executive leadership team. In our promotional ceremonies I'd like to speak about the badge. So to Commander Staska, Captain Duchene, and our police and fire personnel The badge worn upon your chest and the badges about to be pinned are a symbolic part of our pinning ceremony as a new public safety officer or a promotional candidate advancing in rank In either case, it's an unforgettable moment in both the police and fire service and a proud moment
for each of you and your loved ones to witness this promotional swearing in ceremony shows your selfless commitment to public service that shows personal growth and dedication It also serves as a reminder of the years of dedication protecting our community and a commendable service record The badge is a symbol of oath your voucher renew The duty and constitution you uphold and the people and employees you serve. The badge is the most recognizable part of your uniform that symbolizes trustworthiness,
safety, and the protection to the people in our community. Let me bring your attention to the design and meeting behind your badge. The Laurel wreath represents strength and responsibility to protect life. It also represents honor, competence, and respect. The eagle on the top of your badge represents a defender of the Constitution. The eagle also symbolizes strength and protection. Although your badge may seem like an only simple portrayal of a position and authority, It represents the willingness to sacrifice one safety to assist others.
Now at this time we would like to witness the badge pinning. So it's my privilege to invite Tracy's wife, Shannon, to pin the badge. I'd like to invite Ben's fiancee, Chantel, to come up to do the pinning for Ben. So thank you. Now we'll move on to the oath of office. So I'd invite Mayor Jessup down to the front. And please raise your right hand. I, Benjamin Robert Stasco. I, Benjamin Robert Stasco. Do solemnly swear that I will serve the citizens of Owatonna. I do solemnly swear that I will serve the citizens of Owatonna. And the firefighters of the Owatonna Fire Department And the firefighters of the Owatonna Fire
Department. With honor and integrity With honor and integrity. And that I will, in all respects, observe the provisions of the city charter and ordinances of the city of Owatonna. In all respects, observe the provisions of the city charter and ordinances of the city of Owatonna. That I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of commander to the best of my judgments and abilities. That I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of commander to the best of my judgment and abilities. So help me God.
So help me God. Congratulations. Tracy, please raise your right hand. I, Tracy Michael Duchaine. I, Tracy Michael Duchaine. Do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of The United States. Do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of The United States. The constitution of the state of Minnesota. The constitution of the state of Minnesota. The laws of the city of Owatonna. The laws of the city of Owatonna. And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of police captain for the city of Owatonna. And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of police captain for the
city of Otautonomy. To which I've been promoted to the best of my knowledge and ability. To which I've been promoted to the best of my bill knowledge and ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations, We're going to take a quick opportunity to take a few pictures here real quick and then we'll continue on. One for the paper. Congratulations. Oops. It is. Congratulations. Congratulations. For ceremony, I invite pastor our police chaplain pastor Brent Carlson. I would say chaplain. First of all, Commander and Captain, let me add my congratulations to you and your achievement and your new position of
leadership in our community. Shall we pray together? Our gracious and almighty God and heavenly father, we thank you as we gather together for this occasion that reminds us of the excellent reputations of our local fire and police departments and the uniqueness of our own community. We thank you for this great city of Owatonna and for your providential care as you have sustained us through both productive and challenging times. And now we thank you for the honor we have to be a part of this important ceremony of swearing in Commander Ben Staskey and Captain Tracy Duchene. O God, we thank you for these two men and all of the work and the preparation
that has brought them to this day. Now we pray that you would give them strength and wisdom to carry out and fulfill their duties and responsibilities in their positions of leadership. We pray that you would guide them as they serve our community with integrity and propriety, and we pray for their safety as they work alongside the men and women who willingly serve under their command. We pray, too, that you will protect all of our officers and firefighters as no one but you knows the potential danger and harm that could happen on any given day. Lord, we pray for these two men in their positions of leadership.
We also pray for our Fire Chief Hoffman and Police Chief Mundale and the entire staffs of both our Fire and Police departments. As our eternal stronghold and God of wisdom and strength, we ask that you enable these men and women to be true servants in our community as they put out fires and protect us from danger and rescue those who are hurting and in trouble. Keep them and their families safe, shield them from harm, give them wisdom and enable them to do their jobs with excellence. Finally, as a loving Heavenly Father, we pray for Captain Duchene's wife, Shannon, along with their children and grandchild and their extended family.
We pray as well for Commander Staszka's fiancee, Chantel, and their extended families. Father, these precious and brave family members make sacrifices few understand, fill their homes with love and peace and joy and grace and deep trust in you as a very loving Heavenly Father. This is a special evening of ceremony and celebration. And as we anticipate the days to come, with you, with hope in you, our prayers that every day you would vitalize Fire Commander Ben Staska and Captain Stacy Duchene as they serve our community and lead in their positions to keep our great
city of Owatonna, Minnesota. In your powerful and loving name, we pray. Amen. Thank you. Council President Rainey, that concludes our swearing in ceremony. Thank you. And at this time you will have a public reception in the art center correct? So we'll put the council meeting on hold for a few minutes while our very special guests leave the room for their for their social. Okay. Before we start, just a reminder, gentlemen, remove your hats. No hats are allowed in the council chambers. This time we go to 1.3.
Mayor Jessup, have you got anything for us this evening? I do as a matter of fact, Kevin. I have one proclamation tonight. So undeniably throughout history, women have played an integral role in shaping our world and the Owatonna community. We recognize their achievements as pioneers, educators, activists, entrepreneurs and so many more. Month after month, we do our best to honor the achievement of women of Owatonna and around the world. But we focus especially this month as the Owatonna Businesswomen celebrate the Woman of Achievement
Award. And so it is my honor and privilege to declare March of twenty twenty five to be O'OTANA Businesswomen Woman of Achievement Month. Thank you. Beautiful. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you now. Anything else, Mayor? That's it for now, thanksgiving. Thank you. We're now up to our consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of city minutes, city council meeting minutes, other board commission minutes, licenses, permits, and miscellaneous items all grouped together for the council to review prior to the meeting and vote collectively. With that I will entertain a motion on these consent agenda items.
So moved. Motion by Dan to approve. Second by Doug. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? The agenda is or the consent has been approved. We're now up to 3.1 on action item, finance report and I will go to Vice President Doug Voss. Thank you, Mr. President. Checks over $20,000 will be recapped and they are as follows. Dollars 23,273 to Cargill Inc. For Road Salt, dollars twenty seven thousand one hundred and seventy eight to the Otan Area Chamber of
Commerce, lodging tax being $17,178 and a forgivable loan for $10,000.118851 dollars to SHI International Corp that is for Microsoft renewal of $114,000 in the wastewater treatment plant screens and miscellaneous for $4,138.151939 dollars to serve as the service cooperative that's the twenty twenty February twenty five health insurance premiums,
dollars 20,032, Steele County auditor that is fourth quarter LEC expenditures, dollars $45,675 to UKG Incorporated that is November to April contract minimum fee, dollars 28,041, July to January usage overage, $17,385 in the twenty twenty four W2 shipping and postage, which is $247 $25,000 to the uncaged VR and game lounge,
that's an EDA loan Tier one and two, dollars 30 five thousand five hundred and 10 to U. S. Bank, the entire organization's monthly credit card purchases for December of twenty four and January of twenty five, dollars dollars '2 hundred and '20 '6 thousand '5 hundred and '50 '1 for other expenditures for a subtotal of $674,012 adding to that the HRA housing assistance payments of $108,734
for a grand total of $782,746.39 Thank you. You've heard Mr. Voss' report. I would look for a motion to approve. So move. Motion by Dan to approve. Second. Second by Don. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? And that is been approved. We have one ordinance tonight, 3.2.1 is the second and final reading for proposed ordinance 20 five-four amend chapter 90 animals
prohibit roosters And we'll go to City Attorney Mark Walbrand for that. Good evening, sir. There have been no changes, since the first reading of the ordinance. The presence of roosters within the corporate limits of the city is a nuisance to the neighborhoods where the roosters are kept. The proposed ordinance is an amendment to our existing ordinance entitled to obligation to prevent nuisances. I'm making it clear that the rooster is among the animals regulated under the nuisance statute. Thank you. Any questions from the council? Seeing none, I'd look for a motion to approve.
I'm sorry. Ordinance. Ordinance. I need a motion to approve. Motion to approve. We have a motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Dan. This is an ordinance, so I'd look for a roll call vote, please. Councilmember Dodson. Aye. Burbank. Aye. Bokey. Aye. McCann. Aye. Cindy. Aye. Voss. Aye. Rainey. Aye. We have all seven ayes. Thank you. We have two resolutions, nine three. First one is 3.3.1 for a pension increase for the Owatonna Firefighters Relief Association and we'll go to C. Administrator Busey for that. Good evening. Annually the relief association reviews their percent funded of their investment account.
We had, worked out a previous guideline with the relief association where, we would not increase the amount of, the pension lump sum unless they had a minimum of 120% funded. So they are proposing an increase of 1,000, where the level of benefit will now rise to 12,500. Even with this increase, the fund will still be over 142% funded. So it should not impact the city budget at all.
And staff would recommend approval. Thank you. Any questions on this motion to approve? We have a motion by Doug to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Nate. Any further discussion? Being none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? That is passed. Second one tonight is 3.3.2, amend Resolution 120 nine-twenty four to acquire flood prone properties and we'll go to Troy Plecker. Good evening, sir. Good evening. In December of last year, the City Council approved a Resolution 100 and 20 nine-twenty four to to secure $120,000
in hazard mitigation funds from the DNR. Those would be used to acquire and remove, the home at 315, Lemann Road. The funds would cover 50% of the cost of that project. We are proposing, another application or an amendment to our application to acquire another property, with some of the DNR funds here. And so we are looking to amend the application for, DNR funds for additional $72,452.77 which is the remaining amount the DNR has in that account,
to purchase property. So we're looking to capture the rest of that to acquire another property. As part of that application we need to amend that previous resolution from December, which just verifies that the City will match those grant funds. So we are estimating the cost of the acquiring additional property of the floodplain and removing it at $225,000 The grant would cover about a third of those project costs and the city would be responsible for the balance. So staff is looking for approval to amend resolution 120 nine-twenty four.
Thank you. Any questions for Troy on this? Troy, are you at liberty to say where the next one that you'd like to acquire is? It's another one on Maple Drive. Maple. And once we have a purchase agreement in place here, we'll bring that to the City Council. Very good. Thanks. Any other questions? Troy, have you heard anything from your DNR contacts about whether this is going to be refunded again because we need to get more for them for this. Well Or as I'm concerned. They are, the legislature, if they approve a bonding bill,
I think there's a proposal to have additional funds put into this program. So So again, we're subject to if the legislature passes a bonding bill with that in there. Who knows? Any other questions? Seeing none, I look for a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Motion by Brent to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Dave. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We now have eight miscellaneous items tonight and the first two are Troy, the first one is 3.4.1 professional services agreement. This is for the airport taxi lane and parking lot designed with SEH Incorporated,
so we'll go to Troy again. Yes we're looking for approval for a service agreement with SEH for final design work, program coordination, preparation of construction plans and bidding documents, bidding services and project management for two CIP projects we have at the airport. One is taxi lane reconstruction, which involves a reconstruction of pavement, in the hangar area and then also, parking lot reconstruction, and this involves reconstruction and expansion of the main airport parking lot out front there and that access drive.
The total lump sum would be $66,500 These costs are eligible for, both FAA and MnDOT grant funding. Essentially that would cover 97.5% of the costs. Our responsibility would be two and a half percent, which would total $3,725 So staff has recommended approval of the service agreement with SEH. Thank you for today's report. Any questions? Seeing none, I look for a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Motion by Doug to approve. Do I have a second? Second.
Second by Nate. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now we're up to 4.2 change order number one for the dome hanger roof replacement project with Equity Builders and go back to Troy. So last year we went out to bids to replace the dome hanger roof. We did receive one bid from Equity Builders. In that bid, there was an estimate of $50,000 to do repairs to the existing roof in addition to putting on the new roof.
When they did do demolition on the existing roof they did find that they had to remove an extra layer of roofing on there and make some additional repairs. So they did exceed the $50,000 allocation from the original bid, in the amount of $44,358.70 above that amount. So that amount is eligible for the grant that we have for that project. The grant does allow up to 15% of the total project costs in change orders above that amount.
This is a little bit more than that. We're gonna still submit it for the full amount and see if, the grant will cover their 70% of those costs. If they do, it'll be a $13,307 expense to us for the total for the additional costs. If they don't it'll be $16,554 Either way both those amounts total less than what we had budgeted for the CIP project. Dan came in far under the, engineer's estimates for the project.
So staff would recommend approval of this change order. Thank you. You've heard Troy's report. Any questions on this? Once again, seeing none, I'd look for a motion to approve. So moved. Motion by Don to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Dave. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That passes as well. We're now up to 3.4.3, the food and beverage vendor agreement with Chilli Key at Brooktree, kind of rhymes. And we go to, Head of Parks, TW. Good evening, sir.
Good evening. Good evening, Mayor, Council members. Thank you so much for having me tonight. Just a little background. Staff have been seeking a new food and beverage vendor for Brooktree Golf Course since December of twenty twenty four. Chilli Key is a local vendor interested in serving our operation on a year round basis and they do have food and beverage experience. Chillaki used to operate a coffee shop on the North Side Of Owatonna, which a lot of folks are familiar with, that also serve breakfast and lunch as well. If approved by council, they'll operate as Chillaki at Brooktree and the proposed agreements for three years with two
additional one year options for a total of five years. Budget impact is none. They'll pay a monthly fee, as a rental fee to the city to operate their business at the Burke Tree Clubhouse and staff recommends approval. Thank you. Any questions for TW on this? Just to comment, I know they had a very devoted following at their old location. My wife was one of them and she's very excited to hear they're coming back. Glad to hear that. I'll point out that, three of the representatives, if you guys would stand up just real quick, Brandon, Manny and Josh,
that's your future our future teammates. Perfect. I would echo Mr. Voss, we are very excited to have you on board. I don't think we're going to be open tomorrow. 28 inches of snow, I think is now what they're predicting, but welcome. With that, do we have a motion on this? No, I'm looking for a motion to approve. So moved. Motion by Nate to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Don, any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, TW. We've got one more item for ChilliQi and it's 3.4.4
on sale liquor with Sunday sales and tobacco licenses. And with that, we will go to see Mr. Bussey. Thank you. Since we did sign that agreement, I think it would be nice to give him a liquor license and tobacco license. So, the background verification was completed. Chief Mundell has no objection to the issuance of these licenses. The applicant is also in process process of securing the insurance, needed for these licenses. Budget impact is $1,137.5 and staff would recommend approval contingent upon receiving the certificate of insurance.
Thank you. You've heard Chris's report. Any questions for Chris on this? Being none, I'll look for a motion to approve. So moved. Motion by Don to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Dan. Any further discussion? Being that it's in the Second Ward, I'm very happy to see these guys come to Brooktree. And you will see me there quite often. Don't take checks from him. He said he checks, so don't worry about it. Anything else? We have a motion in a second. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now up to 3.4.5 Cedardale and Autumn Hills Lift stations the SCADA program services and we'll go to Sean
Murphy with that. Good evening. Good evening Mayor and Council. Yes we're requesting City Council approval of an agreement with AE2S for our Cedardale And Autumn Hills Lift Station SCADA programming services. Last July, Council approved design services for our Autumn Hills And Cedardale Lift Station electrical panel redesign. They're out of date. Some of them are not code compliant and just needing of upgrading. Coming along with those panel improvements are our SCADA system programming services.
So that's what allows us to monitor these facilities, these pumps, these PLCs, these OITs within that control panel for each lift station. And we can make adjustments from our wastewater treatment facility. We don't necessarily have to send out someone in the middle of the night. We can do that from at home computer or at the wastewater treatment facility. These SCADA systems and programming allows us to more efficiently utilize our equipment.
And with that, the services for programming are not to exceed $43,400 without prior authorization. Cost will be paid for out of our sanitary sewer funds and with that staff recommends approval. Thank you. You've heard Sean's report. Any questions? Seeing none, I look for a motion to approve. So moved. Motion by Dan to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Don. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. And we will go back to Sean for the next one as well,
3.4.6. It's an agreement on the Frontage Road and Heritage Drive lift stations electrical improvements with Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services. Sean? Thanks again. So this is next year or our 25 CIP project for our lift station electrical panel replacement that's been identified in our CIP. The next two are our Frontage Road and Heritage Drive lift stations. So again, these will comprise of electrical or electric panel design,
along with SCADA integration, SCADA programming, cellular connectivity, construction administration, design bidding with those control panel electric panels that will be designed. The total for this is not to exceed $78,800 without prior approval from the city. The large difference here between what we just approved is that we're aggregating all of those services into one agreement where we did a separate panel versus SCADA integration or programming services.
So we're trying to be a little more efficient and do it all in one agreement. So with that, staff does recommend approval for the agreement with AE2S. Thank you. Any questions for Sean on this? Doug? Sean, we've been marching through these, I think, one by one over the last few years. How many total lift stations are there and how far do we have to go before we're completely upgraded? We have about 16 lift stations in town. So we've gone through this will be the fifth that would get approved. So we did 20 Sixth Street First,
Autumn Hills and Cedardale last year and then Frontage Road and Heritage Place this year. So we'll have, we're trying to do, about two a year as what we programmed in our CIP. So So we have a few more years to go. But just to be clear this is all with electronics this isn't anything to do with the pumps they're doing well at this point? Correct. For the most part right When we need repair or replacement, we have separate capital improvement funds or operating budget to take care of those.
So yes, this is just these are electric control panels that are twenty plus years old. And like I said earlier, sometimes our auto compliance don't mean electrical code. So there's upgrades that needed to be done and then upgrading our SCADA integration with our new wastewater treatment facility and expansion. Sounds good. Thank you. Any other questions for Sean? Seeing none, I look for a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Motion by Dave to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Doug. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We're now up to 3.4.7 personnel policy revisions and we will go to human resources director Emily Thamert. Good evening. Good evening. I have a few personnel policy proposed revisions for you tonight. The first one is 8.2, our paid time off policy. The proposed revision, will allow for leave donation for employees receiving workers' compensation or disability leave benefits. So that provision,
they're currently excluded from receiving any leave donation, so we would like to include them in that. And then the other two, six point three and six point two, are in regard to, overtime. So the proposed revisions would revert the policy back to the language that was in place since 2023 and keep it aligned with our union contracts for consistency and how that's applied across all of our different employee groups. So there is no budget impact and the staff recommends approval of the proposed personnel
policy revisions. Thank you. You've heard Emily's report. Any questions for Emily? Seeing none, look for a motion to approve. So moved. Motion by Don to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Dan. Any further questions? I am really glad to see that donation portion added because I know there are some need for that. So thank you for doing it. Seeing no other questions, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Finally tonight we're at 3.4.8, request for a letter of intent retail cannabis business Red Pine Group.
And with that I will go to Mr. Boussey. Thank you. As you know, we had a lengthy meeting, this evening with the Red Pine Group reviewing their proposal to, partner with us to operate a municipal cannabis store. They reviewed their experience and their, proposal, which would be that they would put up all of the, funds necessary to open and operate the shop, the the dispensary with, 25% of the profits of the net revenue would go to the city.
They're estimating those revenues would be about $500,000 and they based that on similar size cities throughout the country and and their history within this business. They are working with, a number of other cities in the state of Minnesota. They're very familiar with, this operation and have, had successful stores all over the country. I know it's, a tight time frame for us. The deadline for municipal dispensaries is March 14.
What we're looking for council discussion and consideration is the ability to authorize myself to sign a letter of intent. And I would ask if you had concerns or questions or items that, you would like us to investigate further to to verbalize those so that we can do that. I know that, city attorney Mark Walbrand has some, concerns with the language and will offer some, additional modifications that we'll share with the council as well. I don't know,
Mark, if you want to go into that right now. Okay. There are a number of changes, that we want to make in the letter of intent rather than signing it as it is. One very important one is that, the agreement indicates that all the documents, papers, that they've proposed to us are strictly confidential. We, of course, live in a world of, you know, the Data Practices Act, and the Data Practices Act would trump, any confidentiality, unless the document that they're talking about is truly a legally confidential document.
So there are a number of changes that we're going to need to work out with them before it would be satisfactory for the city to sign the letter of intent and we'll get that resolved shortly. They're aware of the change regarding data practices, with cities. Okay. Thank you, Mark. Any questions for Chris or Mark on this? No, I had a few questions. I'm sorry. Couldn't be here for the study session. The liability in a failure of a compliance check would be on them,
not on the city. Correct? That is correct. That's the information that we have. Thank you. I'm not terribly excited about this. I don't like the city being in business really at all in many areas. We've very quickly gone from putting people in jail for utilizing this product to pretty in pretty short order turning around and trying to make money off of it. So I'm not terribly excited about it. I'd rather we not be involved probably. If we are gonna do it, I would ask that the revenue, generated would offset other revenue then, not be an increase to our revenue,
but offset and reduce somewhere else. Thank you. Any other questions? I really don't have a lot of questions, but I would second what Nate said. I'm concerned about public private. We being private, getting a republic company becoming involved with the private sector. But again, I think there's some opportunities for us. I do have some questions related to what they put together as far as their revenue forecast, which Chris, you and I talked a little bit about that. Their projections are pretty optimistic on '25,
which probably isn't going to happen, 'twenty six, 'twenty seven. And then in 'twenty eight, there's a significant drop off. And I would just like to get some clarification because, you know, they are when they said $500,000 to the city and then you're going, okay, that's based on $10,000,000 in 2028, it's going down to $7,300,000 okay, in the expenses. I just would like to get some clarification on their numbers. I think they've got an interesting business model. I'm sure there's competition from other organizations they're looking at.
I am concerned about the time window, how quick it is. But again, I think we need to be engaged in this. And it was kind of related to some things that Doug had mentioned to me of what's happening with Governor Waltz and some of the things that are going on there. But again, I'm not excited about it, but I'd like to see us at least explore this possibility. Thank you. Councilman Fenby? I just want to make sure that we have a way out of this. If we get down the road and we feel that this isn't right for us so we can get out of our agreement with this group and not have anything
that they can't bring anything against the city and they can't sue us for this. So we might have to clear out What they had talked about, this is a nonbinding letter of agreement. I think we would only get into some costs if we were to receive a license and not work with the Red Pine group and work with a different group. They would that would, trigger some costs that would be paid. But they have said repeatedly that we can change our mind at any point. And then I guess one other question. Have we got any feedback from League of Legal Minnesota Cities at all in regards
to I've yeah. I reached out to them, and they're not touching this with they're they're not, offering any assistance on that. They did mention the lead, the LMCIT, the insurance trust, would not insure this type of operation. The Red Pine Group has said that they already have avenues or, companies that will provide the insurance that it would require. Nate. So this letter of intent does not bind us to them specifically, just that we have the intent to potentially open a municipal dispensary so we could change to a different vendor,
but there would be a potential cost, that's what we have to clarify. That's an issue that, I believe if we if we when we get the license from the state of Minnesota, then the choice would be to not do it at all. So no one would do it. But as I understand, their their deal with us is that if we do choose to get the if we get the license and we choose to have a facility, then they would be the one that would do it. And so, the way out of that would be for the city itself to to provide that information.
And then before The fourteenth. The fourteenth. And then if we got the license ourselves without their assistance, we could choose to go with them or we could choose to go with another outfit that is doing similar work in the state of Minnesota. And I don't believe that we have the necessary knowledge to to receive this you know, to fill this out and to, receive a license. Doug? I think if we had the chance, we probably could talk about this all night, but we probably shouldn't. But most of this is the result if you talk to mister Petersburg or senator
Jasinski. This was some of the worst legislation in the history of our state. It's been two and a half, three years now and it seems to be that still nobody knows what's going on. So it puts everybody in a bind and that's not really a very good thing. One thing I do like with the Red Pine deal is at least we can get some positive for our citizens out of something that's probably going to create a lot of negatives. And then as Brent was asking, we did very specifically ask if there's some off ramps on the way.
So to get our application in by the fourteenth seems pertinent at this point but we still have a long way to go so. Any other questions? I do have one other question. So I think we agreed with the county that we're going to have three. And based on the comments Red Pine made, this would be exclusive of that. So theoretically, it could have three more. Interesting that they said that. I I I didn't think it would, but apparently, it does. So we will have to verify that.
Mark. Yes. If the if the city gets its own license, that doesn't bump off one of the three. K. So theoretically, there could be within Steele County, 3 other shops. Super spencers. So you're you're not stepping on the feet of somebody Right. We're just competing against them. Right. Yeah. Or you're working with the private sector. That's another way to look at them. Any other questions? I I just to add one, where is chief Mandel on this? Is he You know, I talked to him about it. He personally, doesn't,
condone this, you know, sale of marijuana, but he would support whatever the council wants. So for my 2¢, right or wrong, good or bad, the people at Saint Paul voted that this would be a legal legal business to operate in the state of Minnesota. And Mr. Dotson you weren't here for the presentation. I think their numbers are very lofty. I don't want to say too good to be true, but the numbers $500,000 a year, I think we should slow the brakes on that until we see what type of revenue it
does generate. They seem to be very knowledgeable with what they do. They had answers to all of our questions. I feel more comfortable with this company running it than someone coming in that you know there they want us to work with them in regards to the facade, how it looks, how it fits into the neighborhood, how it fits into the community. And it's very rare that you get that from someone that's going to build a new business. They're looking at not building a new building but potentially taking a distressed building and
turning that into the building which would generate more profits tax tax profits as well. So that would be my comments. Any other questions? Just a comment. Yes, Dave. Just a comment. Mr. President, I appreciate you crunching the numbers there. You know, we're all confronted with huge numbers on the local budget and the national budget. It doesn't register anymore. Hard to get your head around it. But I'm glad you broke it down for the money they're claiming it's gonna be generated, the number of people that need to walk through that door and drop $200 a
piece. Yeah. That's gonna be it if it would like they describe, there's gonna be a line out the door. Well, you heard what I compared it to. Yeah. So seeing no other questions, I would look for a motion to approve. Motion to approve. Motion by the letter of intent. Motion by the way. So letter of intent. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Don. Any further discussion? And again, I would approve this based on answering some of the questions that you're going through. Any other modifications that the attorney recommends. So,
yep. Okay. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. Motion carries. We're now up to staff reports. We have two tonight. We've got Troy and TW and we will begin with. All right. Give you some updates on some building construction so far this year. We're at about $17,000,000 through the February. We've issued one single family home. We got four of them that are ready for approval to be picked up and we got a triplex that's been submitted as well.
Lake Meadow Apartments, they're working on the fifth building that should be ready by late spring or summer. The Ascend project has been, the interior improvements have been made, people are moving in, Westbank has a temporary certificate of occupancy, the detention center is ready for final inspection, and they've moved in a number of things already. The Mill Street offices are in drywall and finishing stage. The Honda dealership the structural steel and concrete tip up panels are nearly complete. Olmsted Medical Center is working on the build out of that First Floor.
Chipotle is working on drywall drywall stage and facade improvements. Samstone storage building is got the roof and siding installed and Daikin which is taking over the CDI Building is about 50% complete on those alterations for them to move in and we had a lot of construction over the winter. What we have, what projects have been completed is foam craft, the heated storage garages on the North End, Mineral Springs Brewery, Scooters Coffee, uncaged virtual reality and game lounge,
and Dunkin Donuts have all got full certificate certificate of occupancies and are open. Thank you. Any questions for Troy? I've got one. It's coming from Mr. Greg Schultz. Are we on track to make do the $100,000,000 this year? Well, through two months we are. Okay. I will let him know. Next up tonight is TW from Park and Recreation. Good evening, sir. Thank you again folks. I'm bringing this up because I had it all in here and I didn't print it out. So mine will be a little more brief than Troy's, but I'd let you know that ice skating closed as of February 22,
had a successful season. As you know, we started some satellite sites and those were well received. I met with Al Martin down at The Chalet yesterday to kind of get a recap, on how everything went down there at Morehouse and at The Chalet this year. We are in the middle of part time employee interviews and there are a lot of them from youth officials to guest services leads, you name it, but we're in that process right now, gearing up for spring. Just remember that word spring as we get about six inches or plus of snow tonight. Mentioned the Brooktree agreement, thank you so much for helping us move forward with that.
First, I want to thank Troy. He was one who was first contacted by the folks from Chilliqui and we were trying to turn over every stone and sometimes you just things just come together and the timing worked and he pointed them our direction. So that's what really was a big help to get this moving forward. I want to also thank facilities staff as well as the park staff. They've been working diligently to clean the kitchen, scrubbing floors, scrubbing walls, cleaning the deep fat fryer, cleaning the oven, everything, painting the ceiling, painting walls,
getting it ready for our new tenants. So hopefully it will be all set and meet your approval as well as put in some two forty service for a new espresso machine and doing some minor plumbing work behind the bar preparing for those machines. And then also wanted to point out that the park staff recently cleared some of the tree debris, some of the downed trees and stuff in the channel behind Mineral Springs Brewery. They also removed the downtown decorations. So we're moving forward into Springs the next step. Thank you. Any questions for TW? Thank you.
We're now up to public comments. Please limit comments to two minutes. Please approach the microphone, sign in and state your name and address for the record after being acknowledged by the Council President. Speakers will be limited to two minutes to deliver their comments. At the one forty five minute, Mr. Voss will raise his hand, letting you know that you have fifteen more seconds to wrap up your comments. Those speaking are asked to conduct themselves in a respectful manner as they deliver their comments. Audience members are asked to refrain from reacting to comments. The city council will not respond directly to comments in this venue or take immediate
action in response to them. With that, I will open it up. I have my chickens to watch you while I drink this. Good evening, council, staff and residents that are here. I am very sad Carol Hackmack, ten fifty nine St. Paul Road, OOTANA. I am very sad that the ordinance passed tonight, that the amendment to 2,504 was passed with a very blatant flaw of Part II, Part B. I'm in full agreement that control of noisy animals and animals that molest,
defile or destroy property should have rules that give penalties to the owners that do not control their animals. However, if the city wants to force a ban for animals that violate the nuisance ordinance, then singling out boosters is excessive and inappropriate. If you want to ban animals that are nuisances, then you need to include dogs that bark incessantly and defecate on sidewalks and streets and parks and all the cats that are strays in town.
That would be a complete ban, not just one isolating out one animal. I could bring up the fact that raising chickens is not a hobby for many families. It's a means to feed the families and raise money And having those roosters with the flaps protect the hens, keep the hens controlled and save them from the many animals around that attack. I truly hope that the council will return to this ordinance and either remove the rooster ban or make Part B consistent with Part A and ban all nuisance animals in the city
of Lawrence. Thank you. Hi. I'm Chad Parrish, five five eight East Academy Street here in Owatonna. Good evening. Esteemed council members and fellow citizens, I stand before you today to express my profound disappointment regarding your decision to ban boosters at our community. This measure not only undermines our efforts towards self sufficiency, but also exacerbates the financial strain caused by escalating egg and food prices and increasing risks to our flocks. Shame on you. Myself and members of the community are disappointed very disappointed by this decision.
Roosters play a vital role in sustainable poultry farming, ensuring the reproduction of our flocks and contribution to local egg production. By banning roosters, you've hindered our ability to maintain self sufficient egg supplies, making us more reliant on external sources. This dependency is particularly concerning as egg prices have reached unprecedented heights as we're all seeing when buying groceries due to factors like avian influenza outbreaks and supply chain disruptions. Instead, you chose higher prices and increased risk for your constituents. Communities nationwide are turning to backyard chicken farming to combat these rising costs and ensure
food security. Roosters are essential for breeding and maintaining sustainable flocks. Without them, our residents or forests rely on external sources for new hens, thereby increasing dependency and risks to our entire flocks as new replacement hens may cause the spread of avian influenza. In light of these considerations, I urge the council to reconsider this ban. Let's focus on promoting responsible ownership and community education to address any concerns associated with rooster keeping. By doing so, we empower our community to navigate the challenges of rising egg prices,
keeping our flocks healthy and take a proactive steps towards self reliance. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak? Drew. Six forty six East Pine Street. We're in desperate need of adult community education classes in Energy Science. With that said, I'm going to solicit help from everyone in the community to call you City Council members and ask when we'll have a tour of Otona sewage treatment plant with someone that can explain combined heat and power from the biogas produced in the digester tank. Call your county board members and ask when we'll have a repeat of the community
education fall twenty nineteen class Minnesota goes green facility that utilizes waste wood to generate electricity and also heat and cool downtown St. Paul and some residential areas. I'll end with a suggestion for the City Council to have Autonomous Economic Development Director conduct a feasibility study for small regional energy facility constructed in the industrial park. I don't know how many have seen or read Autonomous Public Library book that's out. I noticed on page, the 1955 picture of,
Mark Wahlbrand in here. Program. Don't lose that, Roger. Good evening. Melissa Zimmerman. Twenty five twenty five Stoney Creek Drive. Good evening. Tonight, you discussed a municipal cannabis dispensary. According to regulations, a cannabis store cannot be located within 500 feet of a daycare or a thousand feet of a school. The concern that simply having a store within those distances poses a potential risk to our children and I agree. Now let's talk the East Side Corridor. Instead of 500 or a thousand feet, we're talking about placing a highway just 17 feet from homes,
feet where children play. A road where cars will fly by at high speeds every seventeen seconds, creating constant noise pollution and danger. A road in Minnesota is typically measured by its right of way, meaning homes are just 17 feet from the road. But even if we stretch that number to use 35 feet instead of 17, how does that compare to 500 or 1,000 feet? If we are so concerned that a possible cannabis sale within 500 feet of a daycare is a danger, how can we justify a highway with vehicles flying past at high speeds just feet
from a child's swing set? It takes 300 feet to stop a car at highway speeds, yet we're expected to believe that a possible retail sale of cannabis half a mile away is a bigger threat than a vehicle flying past a child playing in their backyard. If we are truly concerned about safety, then let's apply the same logic here. If a storm must be a thousand feet from a school, then how can we justify a highway 17 feet from homes? The solution is simple. Follow Minnesota's noise regulations and move the East Side corridor out a thousand feet just as we insist on for cannabis stores.
Or if we want to be fiscally responsible, let's do it this once and build the road at 30 Fourth Avenue, where a minimum maintenance road already exists. A farmer has tilted under and profited on it for twenty years, but it can be restored and save taxpayers $30,000,000 instead of committing to $60,000,000 to build a two road alternative for minor differences. So what's the priority? Safety, fiscal responsibility? Because right now, we're applying strict standards to one issue while ignoring common sense in another. Let's be consistent. Let's be responsible. Let's move the East Side Corridor to 30 Fourth Avenue and protect families.
Good evening, council members. Matt Senna, two thousand five hundred and nineteen Stoney Creek Drive here as one residence of many in a neighborhood of 150 homes on the East Side Of Owatonna where the city and county are proposing the East Side Corridor, which is a county highway. As Lisa said that the right of way comes within 17 foot of existing homes. So close as a matter of fact that the government has actually said that with our affirmative vote, us residents on the side of that highway that's being proposed to be built, we get a noise wall. It's law.
And we will vote yes, because it's our only guaranteed protection. A noise wall in Owatonna, how ridiculous does that sound? But it is our only protection if you all are to proceed with putting this highway this close to homes. Here's an internal email from the lead engineer on the project, because from a cost standpoint, the wall doesn't make sense. It says, we aren't going to build a wall, but if the neighborhood votes against the wall, we can move forward with the original alignment, meaning right next to the neighborhood. The engineering firm says back, It's fairly safe to say that most will vote for having the noise wall option.
If I lived along that area, heck, I would likely vote for that wall too. To which the engineer then replies, There is a desire by the elected representatives to have a vote taken. Could we still do the vote and if the wall is rejected then change the preferred alternative to be right next to the neighborhoods. It's a shame that we have to request this data and get internal emails to get answers to questions that we've been asking for years. But this is what we had to do with the county and a data request has now been submitted through the city to try to get answers to questions again
that we've been asking for years. We crave collaboration. We don't want to have to do this, but we would like some communication back and forth. And this just doesn't speak very well to how you all are working with the representatives us out in the neighborhoods. Anyone else wish to speak tonight? Hi. Good evening. My name is Kasaya Winters from 345 Broadway, and I'm sure you all already have an idea of what I think of the Rooster Band. But I do wanna point out that you probably have noticed that Fleet Farm is selling chicks now. And if you haven't, surprise. Fleet Farm is selling chicks now.
And I would like to point out that chick sexing is apparently very difficult, and we're going to probably have, if local people are buying from our local fleet farm, more roosters coming out. So I would advise, if possible, to give people a little bit of grace as they find out that, oh, their head now crows because a mistake was made. Because some breeds you just can't tell until they lay an egg or they crow. So, just wanted to give you a heads up. Anyone else who wish to speak tonight? Seeing none, we will go to council comments.
And first up tonight is Councilmember Dotson. Nothing to add. Councilmember Rivenc. Nothing more. Councilmember Bokey. Nothing go ahead. Councilmember McCann. Nothing to add. Council member Svenby? Bad. Council member Voss? Man, you guys are so quiet tonight. I just wanna take a minute and thank our I don't know if chef chief Mundale is here. Chief Hoffman, thank you for having all the folks here tonight. That's awesome. Every time we see that it gives me a little bit of a chill and makes me pretty proud to serve with people like you.
So thank you very much. Well said. I'm sorry, Mayor. Almost missed you. All right. We'll get there. I just want to second what Doug said and what an honor it was to be a part of the ceremony tonight, depending. It was a fantastic thing to be a part of and to be able to swear those gentlemen in, was truly an honor and a privilege. So thank you for that. Jim minister Debussy. Well, I agree a % with everything that was said, and I can't add anymore. So nothing else from me. Thank you. It it was a a a great night. Mister Bulky commented right away.
This is this is always a fun night for council. It's, we get to the police and fire get to showcase their talent and we get to witness it in the swearing and it's a special moment for council. We don't take it for granted either. I also want to thank staff for being here tonight. It is noticed when staff is here so thank you for attending tonight, as always. I have nothing else with no other business before us. I'd look for a motion to adjourn. So moved. Motion by Dave to adjourn.
Do I have a second? Second by Nate. Any further discussion? All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? We are adjourned. Thank you.