Call the meeting to order. All rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Roll call. All members are present. Approval of the agenda. We have two additions. 7F, approve purchase of radio equipment for 2026 squads and 7G, approve appointment
of training coordinator for Sock Center ambulance. Is there any other changes to the agenda? Hearing nothing. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda with those two additions? Motion to approve. >> Motion by Joel. >> Second.
>> Second by Scott. >> Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Five in favor. None against. Approval of the minutes of the January 21st, 2026 regular meeting.
I'll receive them in your packet. Is there any changes or corrections within those set of minutes? There is one. Um, it states that city administrator Vicky Willer was here at the last meeting. She wasn't. So, we
need to get that removed. >> Okay. Any other changes or corrections? >> Do I have a motion to approve the minutes with that change? >> So, move. >> Motion by Brad. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Heidi.
>> Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> Opposed. Extensions. Motion carries. Five in favor, none against. This now brings us to our public open forum. Is there anyone here that would like to speak to the council?
Is there anyone here that would like to speak to the council? Call a third time. Is there anyone here that would like to speak to the council? Seeing no one, our public open forum is now closed. We have no public hearings.
So we'll move on to reports and presentation. Planning commission report. Good evening, Mayor Council. um in your packet, we had a meeting on January 28th for to reszone a property and that is an action item a little later on your
agenda. And then I have um just a recap for December permits. In 2025, we had five permits for 53,000 and December 2024, we had three permits for 34,000.
Uh this year in January we had three permits. So about 7,000 due to the cold weather and a year ago in January we had 11 permits and the total value was $1.8 million but tractor supply was like $1 million of that. And
then I have a recap for the nuisance complaints and uh one I have an abatement plan. Five have gone to the attorney and I have some that are kind of circling back to the attorney. Uh two more need to check out in 2026. 21 are complete. Two were in compliance at time
of inspection. One was in compliance, no longer in compliance. Uh, one condemnation. Six are still in progress. Nine were irrelevant. And that's all I have. So, a total about 51 for that for the 2025 year.
>> Okay. Questions, concerns? >> Sarah, can you make sure that microphone is on? >> It is. Okay. Hello. >> Thank you. Okay. Fire chief's annual report. Jeff, good good evening, mayor and council.
Uh, this is the annual report for the sex fire department for 2025. Uh, responses calls. We had a from 2024 we had eight structure fires. Pack this 2025. We had 17. Uh, grass fires. We had
nine. In 2024, we had six. In 2025, uh rescue and medical, we had 41. In 2024, we had in 2025, we had 42. Vehicle accidents and fires, we had 23 in 2024 and two 21 in 2025.
Gas and alarm calls, uh 21 in 2024 and 21 in 2025. false canceled calls 47 in in 2024 and 55 in 2025 and then service calls we had 15 in 2024
and 2025 we had nine. So uh we had 171 calls last year compared to 164 in 2024. So uh we built build uh response calls that we build out was 55,364.
uh response calls received was $1,975 from the previous year of 2023 and then response calls received was $44,664. That should be from 2025, I believe. So then unpaid so far is 9,270.
Collections and writeoffs are $3,735. We had some donations uh from Saxon fire relief was a donation of $85,000. Saxer CVB was $250. Miss National Bank $129.
Leroy Morates was $200. Dwight Williams was $500. Michael and Nancy No was $100. Michael and Jeannie Mezer was $500. Dale Elmo $1,000. John and Christine Felding was $200. Um Community Connections $500.
And Logan Gerber was $200 for a total of $88,579. uh in 2025, beginning of 2025, we had four firefighters retire and then we had hired three uh firefighters in 2025. That's the honorable court. Any questions?
>> Questions, concerns? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Then we'll move on to CVB annual report. >> Good evening, mayor and council members. For those I haven't formally met yet, I'm Sarah Hoffner. I'm the executive
director for Visit Sock Center. I stepped into this role July of 25 following the retirement of Pam Borman who served the organization and community for the past nine years. My professional background is rooted in marketing, communications, and chamber work. And I spent the last nine years
working closely with local businesses, boards, community partners, focusing on storytelling, branding, event promotion, and strategic marketing that supports local economies. When I stepped stepped into this role mid year, my goal is to honor the strong foundation already in
place while bringing fresh energy, updated tools, and a clear, consistent brand voice to visit Sock Center. Tonight, I'd like to share a look back at 2025 and then talk about where we're headed for this year. Last year was a year of visibility, momentum, and
intentional growth for Visit Sock Center. Our focus was on expanding our reach, refreshing our digital presence, and making sure Sock Center is showing up in the places that travelers are already looking. In 2025, we advertised across a wide mix of regional and
national publications, both print and digital. This included AAA Living, Minnesota Monthly, Minneapolis St. Paul magazine, MSP magazine, Midwest Living, UPN North magazine, Minnesota Trails,
Iowa Sportsman, Rider Magazine, Roadrunner magazine, and the Explore Minnesota Travel Guide. We also continued promotion through our own sock center visitor guide, Facebook and YouTube advertising, and the Explore Minnesota leads program. In addition to
advertising, we invested directly in community events that align with our tourism mission and bring visitors into Sock Center. These included support for the Sock Center Conservation Club Walleye Tournament, Sinclair Lewis Days, the Time Travelers Trek, Festival of the
Arts, along with other events that contribute to overnight stays, dining, shopping, and overall economic activity. Visitor guides remain one of our strongest marketing tools. In 2025, we mailed close to 2,000 individual sock
center visitor guides directly to people who requested information about visiting. We also distributed more than 5,000 guides to other welcome centers and tourism locations across Minnesota, including hightra destinations like Mall of America, Duth, Brainard, and Bamichi.
Bamiji is where I attended the October Minnesota tourism association conference where I connected with other tourism professionals from across the state. Those relationships are important because they help keep Sock Center part of statewide conversations and open doors for collaboration and shared
promotion. Along with print and in-person outreach, we saw significant growth digitally. In 2025, Facebook post views increased by more than 2,000%. Video views are up over 8,000%
and we added more than 1,000 new followers in a single year. Overall, our engagement increased by 2,700% compared to the previous year. These numbers tell us that people are not only seeing Sock Center content, but they're
interacting with it, sharing it, and paying attention. Our website traffic also grew significantly. Website visits increased by 44% year-over-year, reaching approximately 11,000 visits. Most visitors arrive through direct links or Google searches, which tells us
our content is discoverable and relevant to people actively planning trips. Nearly every page of this visit sock center website has been refreshed. Visitors can now easily find places to dine, shop, stay, and explore. The site highlights lodging options, things to
do, sock center history, an information request form, a map showing where we're located, and upo in, and an upcoming event section. The goal was to make it easy for someone who has never been here to quickly understand what Sock Center offers and how to plan a visit. In
November, our board revisited our mission and vision. While the purpose of visit sock center remains the same, we wanted some language that would truly refle reflect who we are and what makes sock center uni unique. Our updated mission and vision is
visit sock center exists to inspire visitors to discover Minnesota's original main street, a community where history, hospitality, and hometown pride come together. We showcase Sock Center's unique charm from its lakes and trails to its lively
downtown and rich literary legacy. Our work focuses on growing tourism in a way that supports local businesses, strengthens the local economy, and preserves the authentic character that makes Sock Center special. Looking ahead to 2026, branding and storytelling will
continue to be a major focus. We're building on the check this off your list concept using the check mark from our logo. This theme has already been introduced in the new visitor guide and will continue throughout the year across print, social media, and other advertising. It allows us to highlight
experiences in a fun, memorable way while keeping a consistent visual identity. All graphics and ads are now created inhouse, which helps us be efficient with our lodging tax dollars while staying timely and flexible. Our board continues to be a strong asset to
the organization. This year we welcomed Scott Kowsky at Scott Scott Cowski as our city's representative and Dave Shrader of the Palmer House to the board replacing Kelly Freeze. Our board also includes Pam Durban of the American, Maria Westerbeck of Community
Connection, Stacy Michaels of the Sock Center Area Chamber, Allison Schliskey of Babbitts Wineb, and Annette Kennamp who is a member at large. This group brings valuable perspectives from lodging, dining, business, and community engagement. One
of the most exciting initiatives that I'm looking forward to is a partnership with Explore Minnesota Co-op and Sizzle Media. At the end of March, a professional video production team is coming to Sock Center to capture some local businesses, attractions, and community hotspots. These videos will be
used to promote Sock Center as a tour tourism destination across multiple platforms and statewide channels. In closing, Visit Sock Center remains focused on smart marketing, strong partnerships, and telling Sock Center story in a way that feels authentic and
welcoming. The growth we saw in 2025 shows that these efforts are working, and 2026 is all about building on that momentum. Thank you for your continued support and for investing in tourism that strengthens our local economy and community. I'm happy to answer any
questions. >> Anyone have any questions? I guess one comment. I'm happy with what I'm seeing. Good job. Thank you. >> I also was very impressed that we got the profit loss statement as an email almost over a month ago.
>> So that is a step in the right direction. So thank you very much. We'll move on to action items. Approve ordinance 854 amending zoning map for Engle. Okay. Uh at its meeting on January 28th,
the planning commission held a public hearing to consider a request for resoning. The request was submitted by Brent Engel on behalf of the Marcus J. Angel Revocable Trust. The request was to remmen amend the zoning map to reszone a 7acre parcel of land from IC industrial commercial to R1 residential.
The property is located at 1732 Beltline Road, the northeast side abuing the Wigggon Trail. It's adjacent to IC commercial egg and R1 residential property. After the public hearing, the planning commission voted to recommend the amendment to the city council. I do have that in front of you tonight as
ordinance 854. Most of the ordinance is actually just the legal description of the property. So what that does is removes it from the IC industrial commercial district and puts it in R1 residential and two family.
>> Okay. Is there any questions, concerns? Brad, you're on the planning commission. You got any comments? Yeah, just um one um it was presented to the planning and zoning and we uh we felt that beans it was uh adjacent to an existing you know
residential uh zone that's always one of our thoughts was is we don't want to spot zone >> right well it's illegal to >> right and so um are certainly uh in kind of collaboration what we've felt the city has done in the past we've
definitely supported moving forward ward with the with the request. >> Okay. Any other questions or concerns? Otherwise, I will look for a motion to approve ordinance 854. >> So, motion by Brad. Do I have a second? >> Second.
>> Second by Heidi. Last minute concerns. Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Oppose. Abstensions. Motion carries. Five in favor, none against.
7B approve resolution 2026-03 setting schedule of penalties and fines. So this was a fee schedule recommendation that was held over from prior months regarding the penalties and and fines section. Uh the policy
committee met they reviewed the fee schedule and they recommend adjustments as shown on that schedule that you have attached. The highlighted numbers are the ones that we are looking for a recommendation. The general rule is that they'll be consistent at $125. Uh otherwise, there's certain areas that
are called out code that don't allow us to do that, make that change. But as you can see, uh the violations like streets and sidewalks, development related, traffic violations, nuisances, everything just kind of uh shifts to an even 125. Some were 50, some were 100.
Uh they were kind of all over the board. Some hadn't been changed since 2006. And so they just made a consistent number across the board. Do you have any questions about that? >> Questions, concerns? >> This is kind of what I was looking for
when I pushed it a little bit to move it from 2006 at $50 for most of them. At least now we're making it more stiff. Um, there's any other comments. Do I have a
motion to approve resolution 2026-03? >> So moved. >> Motion by Scott. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Heidi. Last minute discussion. >> Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Five in favor.
Done against. 7 C. Approve resolution 2026-08 authorizing solicitation of quotes for seal coding. So the 2026 budget uh for crack filling and steel coating to be
undertaken in 2026 is budgeted 175,000. The operations commit committee met this morning or this evening before the meeting to review the project list and has a recommendation for the city council. As you know our policy is to try to crack field and seal quote within five years uh to kind of protect those
roadways. So the roadway list that uh the policy or the operations committee has agreed to is Anjo East the public works shop county road 112 and Sinclair Lewis Avenue will all be crack filled and then Anjo East the public works shop
parking lot will then be seal coated and then uh Ash Street they're pro they're recommending a micro seal as you know we have the ruts in Ash Street and a micro seal will fill those in and so that entire roadway would be micro sealed from one end to the other. Uh the total
estimated cost comes in at like 163 based on based on those estimates and we'll go out for bid and then we'll see where we're at. We could be high or low. Um if the bid comes in more, the council has the option to remove a road. If the bids come in less,
we do have the option to add a road. So as of right now, it's Andrew Drive, East Street, uh the public workshop, County Road 112, Sinclair Lewis Avenue, and Ash Street. And so that is the roads that we would like to insert into the resolution approving the advertisement for quotes
for the 2026 crackfield and seal coat projects. Questions, comments? Everyone understands where we're at with the roads. Hearing nothing. Do I have a motion to
approve resolution 2026-08? >> So move. >> Motion by Brad. Do I have a second? >> Second. Second by Joe. Last minute discussion. Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I.
>> Opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. Five in favor. None against. 7D. Consider refund request Birch Pine project. >> So this is a carryover from the last meeting of Ralph and Larry Zimmer Zimmerman at 6:30 Pine or Birch Street.
They've requested that the city reimburse them for costs they incurred for the reinstallation of sidewalk pavers for the walkways up to their house. Uh the city removed a couple feet of each of two sidewalks where they connected to the city sidewalk. Uh Zimmerman stated that since they were not put back, they hired Treetop Nursery
to do the week work and they paid the bill to Treetop for $1872. So Keith Yap, the city engineer, calculated what the city would have paid to replace the pavers with a walkway, you know, because that's what we would do. And so he calc you have you have the
calculations there in your packet. A total cost if we have replaced that would have been 37651. Um so that is kind of a number that maybe is what we would have paid anyway if we would have done the work. And so
the question for you is if you want to consider that request. We did do one other one where we did a reduction in his special assessment to help compensate for the the cost that he incurred. Uh this one has already been assessed, so it would be a direct
payment back to the owner. >> Questions, concerns? >> Um but to be consistent with what we did the last time, it was a very similar process. Correct. >> We looked at the cost. We took it into consideration. $700 for kettle sins and
that's what we approved. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That was the difference having we done it. If we approved what we would have done and would have spent, >> right? >> So >> that was based on this the amount of concrete we would have poured exactly for that job where this is totally different.
>> Yeah. But my point is is we did it based on a process and we use the same process based on cost. >> Okay. Any other comments or concerns? Do I have a motion?
>> I'll make a motion that we reimburse the 37651 that it would have cost the city to replace that portion of that walkway. >> Okay, we have a motion by Scott. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Brad. Any other questions or concerns?
Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Densions. Motion carries. Five in favor, none against. 7E, approve final SEDP loan for Arrow Health.
>> So this is the final agreement. On July 2nd, 2025, upon recommendation of the EDA, the city council approved proceeding with the development of an SCDP loan/grant to Aerrow Health for code efficiency and accessibility upgrades. At that I at that time the EDA
EDA recommended that electrical updates by Esler electric and the plumbing heating upgrades by Kleinmid plumbing and heating would fit the parameters of the project the best. The total costs were estimated at 20,500 with the city participation at 17 70%.
Final invoices for those two ent entities came in at 15,800 which is recommended to be approved and paid as follows. Of that 15,800, the deferred loan, which converts to a grant over 10 years, would be 40% or 6320.
And then there would be a zero interest loan of 30% of $4,740. So the total reimbursement would be 11,60. The balance of 30% is the owner portion. So basically, there was 15,000 eligible expenses. The owner pays 30% of
that. We pay 70% of that. So, what we're looking today is to approve payment of $11,60 for SCDP loans upon receipt of signature agreements. >> Questions, concerns? Hearing nothing. Do I have a motion to
approve payment of $11,60? >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Joe. Second. >> A second >> by Heidi. Last minute discussion or questions. Call the question. And all those in favor signify by saying I
>> I >> opposed. Extensions. Motion carries. Five in favor, none against. 7F, approve purchase of radio equipment for 2026 squads. >> So the 2026 squads have arrived. Um, one of them I believe is ready to go up and
get the equipment put in it. Uh, the installation does include new mobile radio equipment and software licensing. It's 5,451 each. Uh the request is for the purchase of two sets for the new squads for a total of $10,92. And this was included in the budget.
It's just a doesn't come with the squad. It's just new radio equipments to go in that. So that is our request is to approve that purchase. >> Okay. Questions or concerns? Otherwise, do I have a motion to approve the purchase? >> Motion to approve.
>> Motion by Heidi, second by Scott. Yep. Last minute discussion. Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. Five in favor. None against. 7G. Approve
appointment of training coordinator Sock Center Ambulance. >> So, ambulance director Brian Zales has submitted his recommendation to fill the vacant training coordinator position. Uh, he states that Nicole Westbrook has accepted the position of training coordinator. The effective starting date would be February 9th, 2026. So the
action requested is to appoint Nicole West Brock as training coordinator for the Saxiner Ambulance Service effective that date. >> Questions, concerns? Do I have a motion to appoint Nicole Westrock? So move motion by Brad. Do I
have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Joel. Last minute discussion. Call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> Oppose. Abstensions. >> I. Motion carries. Four in favor. None
against. One abstension. Unfinished business. Trunk highway 71 project. >> Yeah. For that one. >> Okay. >> All right. Mayor and council, I've got uh updates. As I mentioned last time, we
put together some preliminary cost estimates, excuse me, for our portions of the project. Um, we do did come in, I'll just explain what this all is. Includes all of the side streets that we have uh scoped so far, the council has
scoped, includes all of the sewer and the water for those streets plus trunk highway 71 itself. Um, all the services, all those kinds of things. includes the storm sewer for this all the side streets includes including second street
north discharge up there uh second street south discharge as well as the a street south discharge all the way to the you know on the far east side and also includes that a street portion as it relates to a reconstruct for for those couple blocks in there. So
includes all of that. What it doesn't include are things such as the storm sewer allocations on the trunk highway 71 corridor itself. We don't have them yet. We won't have them for a while yet from Mandot. We don't have that. We
don't have um lighting costs on trunk highway 71. We will be paying for at least a portion thereof for the street lighting for 71. So that's not included at this point. Um, we also if there's any street costs uh related to the street itself, the sidewalk, the
pathways, those kinds of things on 71, if there's improvements that we have to pay a share of, we don't have that at this point either. Uh, the good news on those is it looks promising that most of those costs, if not all of them, will be being paid for by Mandot. So our
improvements on 71 that we're responsible might be sort of limited to the the lighting and the storm sewer improvements of what you know our share thereof. So that would be nice for us. So uh what we have at this point uh with the with all that being said is I have a
construction cost estimate about 8.7 million with a total project cost of just a little over 11 million 11.1 million at this stage. still preliminary. I do plan to send all my numbers out to a contractor to get some
some air checking and see if they agree and see where those numbers are at. So, I'm going to try to fine-tune our costs as we move forward here. Um, at this stage, um, Mandot is going to is finalizing the alignments and all of the
improvements essentially and surfacewise and layouts for 71. Um, supposed to have it actually by the end of the week. this week. So, they're just about finished with that. Um, so that's something I'll be able to share with you once we once we get that. Um, uh, we'll actually have
our first next Friday, so a week from this Friday, uh, will probably be our first kind of coordination meeting with MDOT and their and their, uh, consultants to start talking about how these projects can fit together. Uh, those kinds of things. Um, one thing
else I've neglected to state is these improvements, the cost they should also include the bypass road as well. Now, the bypass road itself uh was about $630,000 for that bypass road. Now, remember that's just a basically a rural section
with a uh asphalt surface on it. So, that's what that includes for for there. Um, so that's kind of where that's at. One thing I wanted to just kind of leave you with and it kind of relates to the bypass and Vicki and I were talking about this the other week. Um the bypass
road leak provides us an opportunity to actually have an emergency connection between the east side of the city uh and it's at least the north side of the community when there's a flood event going on because when there's a flood
event going on uh trunk highway 71 at Lake Street is underwater at the bridge is underwater um Sinclair Lewis is underwater you know going to the east so there is no sort of connection between that side of the town and and and to the
north. Also, there's not a real good connection between the south side of the bridge and going north. Thinking about the the hospital in particular, being able to get there for emergency uh services. So, thinking about the bypass, it actually allows some opportunity to
have some connections out there. Uh if we think about we already have a plat that would go from the bypass that kind of goes up to the north. It happened many many years ago actually. But if there was a a small connection that went
up to Third Street uh north, you actually could have a connection because remember First Street North is also underwater. Uh the the public works building is about one and a half to two feet underwater as well. So that's another larger concern as well. But uh
it's a vital vital thing for the community and it it could be underwater uh during a during a 100red-year flood event. So it is something to be thinking about there as well. Um and to the southside here kind of the southeast corner at 415th Street out there. I
think it's street or I can't remember. Um there's a small segment there that's underwater, but thinking about if you just if we were able to do a project where we able to raise that road a little bit so that 415th would be passable, be able to make a connection up the third, we actually could have an
emergency connection between the south and the north. We talked about Vicki and I talked about potentially thinking about um applying for looking for resiliency funding, some grant funding to be able maybe help with those couple areas because it really isn't all that
much once assuming the bypass is done and that roadway is in, it becomes something that's kind of uh fairly small in doing to be able to make those connections. So, I just wanted to bring that to council's attention to just be thinking about I'm not asking you for
any uh any any thing to move forward at this stage. I just wanted to bring it to your attention. Maybe that's something we can discuss at a at a at a further time. But, uh just something to think about because there are some resiliency funds that are out there and that might be something that could be tied in and
doesn't even have to be done right at that immediate time. It could be done a year from now, two years from now, five years from now, something of that nature. But it just gives some thoughts about how to maybe make some uh some emergency access a little better for the for the community. So with uh something
that's pretty easy to do, assuming the bypass road is actually installed. So I just wanted to throw that out there to you. So with that, I'll ask entertain any questions that you may have. >> Questions? >> Yeah, a couple. Um, do you have any uh
print out or anything? A handout for all these numbers you showed or >> I I provided one to Vicki. I that was not >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I will get you something so we can have we'll send that out and maybe we can email that to everybody. So, you'll have a kind of a
sheet that you can look at for that. >> All right. And um >> it's not in detail. I mean, what I gave is just kind of summary. So, here's all the you know, sanitary, sewer, water, main, that kind of thing. So yeah, >> but I do like the fact you have it broken down per job, right? Or per
street, I maybe say better. >> I have it per street. What I provide isn't up per street. I do have the ability to figure it out per street. We have that. I have it broken down by the costs by every single street. So I do have that ability to break that down. If you want to see it by every street, I
can certainly do that. I hadn't got to that point. I mean, I probably will, but the report, as I mentioned before, until we get the rest of the mind costs, we're pretty much at a standstill at this point. So, we will be waiting >> until we get those things from mind at this stage.
>> Right. But these are dollars that the city's going to have to pay no matter what if we were going to go with everything that you just stated. And I'll just tell you, $640,000 for to connect Morning View is outrageous in my opinion. That's a lot of money.
Just saying >> it's about 1300 feet of roadway through there. It's not the easiest from the sense of it's uh uh you know there's some sidehills especially on the would be closer to the morning view side. There's some cuts and you know some significant cuts through there. U I will
say also though it is because we do have a ponding area is located uh between first and second street north. Uh, and that fill material. I've got that kind of preliminary plan that that would go to the bypass road. Otherwise, we'll
have to find a place to put that, but uh because it is a fair amount of material through there. It's like 20,000 yards. So, it's quite a bit, >> right? >> Yeah. I I understand it's a lot of money for that bypass road,
>> but I guess what the council when we get to that point is going to have to look at how important it is to get that fire truck to the north end of town or that ambulance to the hospital for somebody that's on the south side. Does ignore it and have them do a four
mile >> all the way around at least four miles to get around to the other side and it's going to be a way. Okay. Do you somebody's structure or somebody's life? Is that more more important than the 600
and some thousand or isn't it? So that's one of the things when we get to that point, we're going to have to figure that out, >> right? And I don't think we need to build a freeway. So >> no, >> I think there's there might be other alternatives. >> I was thinking just a gravel road and be done with it. >> That's at 8640.
>> Well, I'm not an engineer, so I'm not going to say that. >> This is a rural section with so it does have uh a 30 foot wide >> pavement section on the top that could be removed and just leave it as a gravel section. So that is a way to cut but you know that's what we that's what we have
and that's what the costs are at the moment. Doesn't mean we have to do it that way. So we can do something. >> So yeah thanks. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> I make sure I had my notes right here. So 8.7 was the construction cost. Is that correct? Okay. All right. And 11.1 for the total project. Then as you
talked about the um >> you know those resil resiliency funds and uh 415th Street. >> Now that's outside of city limits. Correct. Township. >> Township. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And keep the numbers at this stage, you know, use them for they're
going to they're going to change a little bit, you know, one way or the other. Depends what we get from Minda to, you know, for you know, that include that doesn't include if they are participating some of the costs off the street. That's not included in here at this moment. This is just total cost.
We're not looking at who's paying what for sure out of these dollars. So, those are all things that have to be figured out yet. >> When we have that meeting with Mandot next week, Friday, is that kind of when we're going to find out whether or not these side streets are going to have to
be done maybe a year in advance, or are we going to be two contractors having to work together through the whole thing? >> Well, I don't know if we'll get that resolved next week, but we'll start those discussions so and see where there it goes. because their biggest thing is everything that's off the corridor is
well now that they have to have all of their 4Fs and their different permitting processes that they need to go through. Um and they don't they don't like to go farther than they than they need to because that takes a little bit of time to to do that. So they're looking to us
say, "Well, could you do your projects first essentially and then we'll come through with our project." That can be done. However, we end up with extra costs because now we got to connect to existing facilities and then come back and tear some of them out and reconnect.
So, there are there's clearly going to be additional costs for us to go that route. And certainly from a financial perspective, it'd be nice not to do that, but you know, we'll see where that goes. But those will be discussions that we'll we'll be having with them.
>> Yeah. The issue I got is they're expecting us to handle their storm water and not at our expense as of right now. So, that's the reason why I want to try to get these tied up. I know they're not
going to answer us any faster than they need to, but if they're all of a sudden going to dump all this water on us and we got to send it through our system, we should get more than just one block
payment or an assist on it. So those all things we'll be discussing it and even like the A Street South storm sewer they at this point still nobody knows right who owns and maintains who who who who owned originally who paid for that
system initially. We haven't been able to figure that out. Mindot doesn't seem to have any records. We don't have any records. We're kind of >> right >> pointing fingers saying, "Well, clearly this had to be yours." And they're saying, "We don't have any records." And
so we'll we'll see. But there'll be some some discussion for sure on those things. >> Okay. Any other questions, concerns? >> Thank you, Keith. >> Thank you. >> 8B SCDP grant application. So, this is good news. Um, the city
applied for a grant from DED for a small city development program grant to assist with the reserv the renovation of up to 25 single family homes. The grant application was for $600,000. Uh, we were notified that we were selected to submit a full application. So, we're working with Heidi Pepper of Stantech,
Jason Cresbatch of CO Central Minnesota Housing Partnership, and Amy Wyatt of the Deed. She's our region 7W representative to finalize the application. We have to have a submitt date by April 15th and sometime over the summer we'll get notification if we are selected. Uh 14 cities of the applicants
were uh deemed competitive and invited to apply. Uh 27 cities were deemed marginally cond competitive and they can apply if they want to and the balance of the cities were invited to apply in future years. So we were in the top the top tier of the applications initially
submitted. So we're working on that. If we get notification this summer, then there's a big process with administration uh with deed and the grant grant agreements and then there's outreach that we have to have contractors that will register with SAM because it's federal money and then of
course interviewing and accepting applications from residents. So there probably won't be construction until 2027, but 2026 if we get the grant will be over the winter will be the public hearings and the the organization of everything. Uh we did have 42 people
apply uh that requested the funding and so not everybody will get it. Uh but it'll all be based on on what they need to do um who comes forward uh what their income eligibility is and all of that. And this is actually set up different
from the one that we did before where it's a grant that dissipates to or a loan that becomes a grant over time. This is just if you keep it for seven years, you're done. there's no payback whatsoever. So, it's either you you keep it or you don't. And so, it's much going
to be much easier administratively on the city's end over time. So, kind of just some information only. It was some good news. So, we'll keep working forward on that and hopefully we'll be successful to get awarded some funding and we'll go from there.
>> Okay. Questions? Then on to local option sales tax amendment. So the request for the amendment to the city of Sax center local ops and sales tax that's been submitted to the house and the senate. A bill implementing the change is being prepared by senate and house staff will
be introduced to the sent house and senate tax committees in the coming months. And I have seen the uh the bill that they're proposing. It's very very simple. It just takes the existing bill that we have and it crosses off uh $10 million and it inserts $20 million and that is it. Um the reason for that uh in
change of course is over time we've had quite a bit of increase in cost. When we first put in for 10 million our project cost was going to be 4.8 and then you know you could calculate interest and I think like Keith was talking about cost. Well MDOT's going to charge us a percent
to administer the project and to pay the bills and so it's going to snowball a little bit over time. Um so because of that's the only change. I mean I think it'll be fairly fairly easy. uh they'll get that scheduled. Uh then we'll have to go down probably be me again to go
down and testify in front of the House committee and the Senate Tax Committee. Then we likely won't hear anything till they roll it into the ominous tax bill. They usually pass that like one day before they have to leave in May and that's very typical because a lot of stuff gets put into that. Um at that
time we'll also know whether we're required to have a ballot referendum. Now, typically any sales tax has to have a ballot referendum because we already did that. We have the option to potentially get it passed without needing to go to referendum, which would be very helpful for us because to wait
till November um is really going to impact our project. You know, I would have done this last year except that there was a moratorium on sales tax. So, that's kind of where we are. We're still pushing it forward. We're hopeful. I've been talking to uh Senator Westerm and
Representative Franson. They're they're in on it with us. Um they're aware of it. Their staff has been really good to work with. So there's not much more I can report now. And now we're kind of wait and see. >> Okay. Any questions on that or concerns?
Okay. Thank you. We'll go on to new business. Uh local border review and equalization. >> So the local board of review has been set for Monday, April 6th at 1:00 p.m. So I do need a quorum of the council present and uh we need at least one member who's undergone the training
which we do have. I think Scott took it now. Warren, Heidi, you're valid. So, did you get mine? >> We're well covered there. Do have at least one of you at that meeting. So, that's of course when the county assessor comes and reviews values and sales. So, >> did you get a notification that I completed it? >> What's that? >> Did you get a notification I did it?
>> Uh, I haven't. >> Okay. >> Did you do it? >> I did it on the 30th, >> whatever. Friday night. Thursday night. >> I can log in and look. >> Thursday morning. Friday. I can I can email you the back. >> I haven't logged in and look since I typed this. So >> yeah, I la the last time I redid I never
got an email back saying I just emailed her the >> certificate. You did? >> I didn't. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. None of us did it because he told me >> we've never gotten emails back saying she's always had to go online and say, "Yeah, you're good." So >> I waited till >> I printed it off the printer certificate that you completed it. So
>> Okay. >> Okay. Any questions about that? Nothing on that. Then we will move on to consent agenda. We have schedule of claims. Unpaid claims of $26,35.7.
Paid claims of $90,76 for a total of $116,741.7. We have resolution 2026-09 accepting contributions of $131.75 from the men's card playing group to be
allocated to the senior center. $52 from West Union Combined Charities to be allocated to the ambulance department. $70 from the West Union combined charities for allocation to the police department. $30 from West Union combined
charities to be allocated to the fire department. On behalf of the city and the community council, I want to thank th that group those two groups for their contributions. Thank you.
We have Sock Center Youth Hockey Association has submitted an application and permit for a one-day temporary on sale liquor license for a beer and wine event at the Sock Center Civic Arena on March 28th, 2026.
The fee and certificate of insurance is being provided. Is there any questions or concerns with the consent agenda? I did have two copies of the schedule of claims
laying here and one it's got a circle here on the >> that's the change in the claims from what was in the packet is all it was >> okay that's that circle on that one okay >> it was a a water delivery for the police >> yeah okay that takes care of that is
there any other questions or concerns hearing nothing do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar as presented >> motion to approve >> motion by Joe or do I have a second >> second by Scott call the question. All those in favor signify by saying I.
>> I opposed. >> Motion carries. Five in favor, none against. >> Informational items. >> Just a couple things. We got the the the charter lineup changes that we always have to do. And then I just put uh the pages in there that from the city
incorporation date, the city turns 150 years old this year. So, kind of fits in well with the with the federal government. So they're 250 and so we're 100 years younger at 150. >> That's okay. >> Seven. >> You can actually even read it. It's
amazing to read too actually. >> We have all the books back to that date. The ordinances and they're all written like that. It's >> Yeah, >> you can get lost in it. >> That's a pretty decent handwriting too. >> Yes. Okay. >> I don't know why the one page is upside down
>> in the copy. Any questions about either one of thoseformational items? >> Okay, then let's bring us to our end of our agenda. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion by Heidi. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Brad. >> Call the question. All those in favor
signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. >> Motion carries. Five in favor, none against. Meeting adjourned.