[Music] call the meeting to order all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liy and justice for all roll call all members are present approval of the agenda uh 6B the Eda report is to be
removed and then 7i approve appointment of emt-p paramedic will be added that is on the agenda is there any other changes to the agenda Council okay do I have a motion to
approve the agenda with those two changes motion to approve I'll second motion by Joel second by Heidi 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 May 15 2024 regular meeting is there any changes or clarification needed within those minutes hearing nothing do I have a motion to approve the minutes of the May
15th meeting motion to approve motion by Diane do I have a second I'll second second by Heidi call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed 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 that would like to speak to the councel our public open forum is now
closed we have one public hearing tonight we will recess regular council meeting and enter into our public hearing we have one public hearing before us this evening in accordance with the official mailed and public notice in the matter of a vacation of
utility easement it is Our intention that everyone has the opportunity to be heard if you wish to speak please sign in on the signup sheet at the back of the room the procedure is as follows presentation by staff followed by questions of Staff then public input
raise your hand when recognized by the mayor approach the podium and state your name and address for the record State your comments and position no one will be allowed to speak a second time until everyone has had a chance to be heard first we will hear questions for clarification
second public in favor of the proposal third public speaking against the proposal after everyone who wishes to speak has had an opportunity to be heard the hearing will be closed after closure of the public hearing the council will deliberate and take action as
appropriate members of the audience do not participate in the council's discussion unless a majority of the council concedes to hear additional information or questions the hearing is now in session so Richard peer and Ruth whitel are the
proposed purchasers of lots one and two in author's Edition and you do have that schematic on your staff report the request before the city council is to consider the vacation of the utility easement common to these Lots except for the 5T along the rear line and 10 ft along the front property line the
purpose of this is they're planning to place a home about 2third on lot one and about one3 on lot two they're trying to get a larger setback you notice that's kind of a triangly shaped lot and as you push back toward the lot you get closer to the line their their proposed home is quite wide so uh we did publish the
notice in the S Herald according to law notifying the public of The Proposal uh we have done this in other similar cases where someone combines two lots into one and we need to vacate that utility easement of course at this time there's no utilities in that easement so that allows us to do it and that is all I
have on that Council have any questions mm is there anyone in the audience that wants to speak in favor or against or needs clarification is there anyone in the
audience that wants to speak in favor against or needs clarification call a third time is there anyone in the audience that wants to speak in favor or against or needs clarification of this vacation
staff and or councel have any okay then our public hearing is now closed we will reconvene our regular council meeting uh Park board report so the park board met last night in regular session
which is Tuesday June 24th we did welcome our new member that you appointed last month to and she was she was nice to have on that with another perspective we did receive an update on the community garden fencing we have received donated 400 ft of fencing and $2,200 has been raised toward the cost
uh that would be for Gates connectors Corner posts other things that are needed the Public Works crew would be the installers of the project and then now it's up to Ben to meet with them to make the plan of exactly where it's going to go and to make a materials list and see how close they are of meeting
that goal the idea would be to supply or to do the work sometime in July that's where we kind of have a lull in the public works crew uh work uh jobs that they have to get accomplished so that is the goal to get that up in July uh the park board is working on a trail maintenance and Improvement plan this would be an amendment to the park plan
kind of talking about the future of trails in the in in the city and then also to plan for the maintenance of those Trails we met with wgon Trail Outfitters they're going to be renting ebikes and inflatable paddle boards out of the park you go online and you reserve it and then they bring it here to you so you can rent an ebike for a
couple hours or you can rent a paddle board for a period of time we also are looking at Blue Cross has a grant out there for an exercise Park um it's kind of a healthy healthy Fitness initiative and so uh Blue Cross is putting a significant amount of money toward that
two of these uh exercise parks are already in place in the area one in Wilmer and one in weight Park I don't know if you've seen either of those Wilmer is in the Veterans Park and weight Park is over by their Splash Pad so if you're ever there you can stop and look at that and that's one of those
that is a it's static and you know people will jog there or walk there and then they go through an exercise r that they bring up on their phone you do so many reps of one thing and so many of another so we're looking at a potential location for that uh we do have a couple people from boost up sock Center that
actually brought it to us and they're going to be helping us to spearhead that and then we're also working on a movie in the park night for children where we would show an outdoor movie at the Band Shell we'd have to have a screen up there and so we're working through the
issues of copyright and that so that'll be more to come on that uh the park board does not have have any action items for the council tonight okay questions I got a question Vicki has anybody ever approached us about these electric scooters that they
could rent electric scooters and ride around on the trail they do that a lot in Minneapolis I know my son rents them I I've never we've never had anybody approach us for that this electric ebike rental is kind of the first one that we've had thank you thank you okay does
anybody else have any questions well just just as a comment I I'll I'll say that uh it was nice last night having five members a full Park board so I appreciate both Chris and like you said Alex for stepping up and both of them even though it's they've been relatively new both provided a lot of good feedback
so it's nice to have a full group good okay Eda report was scratched we'll move on to our action items 7A approved resolution 2024 4- 48 concurring with the 2024a bond sale sock Center Public
Utilities Commission George ersson from North and securities is here tonight um he's working on the final steps in the process of the public utility to obtain bonds to finance their Municipal electric and power plant and system uh it does include the city's adoption of a resolution concurring with that issuance
and so he's here tonight to kind of review it a little bit with you to so that in case you have any questions before we ask you to pass that that resolution I'll look at that you can it's the only copy I got thank you Vicki good evening George allerson Northland Securities and along with me
this evening is Debbie Boyer the G general manager of the public utilities who I'm sure you know um so thank you for the time on your agenda as your administrator noted this is a um a
resolution or an action item that relates to the sale of electric revenue bonds the public utility um has the authority to issue the bonds and then the city council needs to concur with that action so both sorry both parties need to uh take a
step and so at 5:00 pm this evening the public utilities met uh on a special meeting and approve the sale of the bonds this is for a bond sized at 10 million $870,000 to finance a new
substation and distribution improvements uh the the bonds of course as uh you at the city council may recall the city has a a good bond rate of double A minus with standard and pores as part of this
process we worked with Moody's investor service on the assignment of a bond rating for the utility and and that process went very well the outcome was that they rated or assigned a rating of A1 which is a very strong rating for for
an electric utility uh to the bonds and so in addition they affirmed the same level of rating for the city A3 which is uh on the Moody side and so that rating
along with uh bond insurance so that's another enhancement to help drive down interest rates is is we were able to get insurance added to the bonds so along with that strong A1 rating help to provide good enhancement to the
investment public and drive the interest rates lower and so we've been working for several months with the utility on you know structuring the debt finding the right spot in terms of the amount uh that's that they'd like to borrow for the project and so um they are netting
$10 million for this Bond uh there's also a Debt Service Reserve fund which makes up a majority of the balance as I noted it's 10, 870,000 so the uh the 30-year Bond term they'll be they locked into a true interest cost
of 4.48% so over the 30-year term that's the interest rate and and like I noted that um this is action that the city needs to concur so that's the resolution that you have on your agenda tonight
concurring with the action of the utility uh issuing the bonds and I can address any questions you uh may have regarding the sale questions [Music] concerns guess not thank you
George you okay we have resolution 20 24-48 concurring in the actions of the sock Center Public Utilities Commission and providing for the issuance and sale of its 10 million 870 not 955 which we have
here electric revenue bonds series 2024a is there any questions of George or Debbie or Vicky before I call the question or ask for a motion Sor yes
just one quick thing that I should have said um so and maybe already realized this the electric revenue bonds are when the city issues debt you're issuing First Street projects or other types of municipal buildings Etc you're doing
what's called General obligation bonds so you've got that full faith credit to the city as security for those bonds when the utility does electric bonds uh their pledge is the Pledge of their net revenues the pledge of their electric
revenues as well as those enhancements like the de service fun I talk I I apologize I didn't mention that in case you had any questions so thank you mayor uh just one quick question here with with the rate and stuff I just want to make sure so you got a call date where we could call it in 10 years if rates
are lower and renegotiate yes okay all right just want to that okay thank you I got to give that back to more basically with this is we concur with theirs the city is
not um the faith and credit of the city is not pledged to the payment of strictly Water and Light um the one thing is is also with this Bond it does not affect the city's Bond rating for anything that we want to do in the
future does this have any any um I mean how do I word that what is the public obligation for this how is the what is the repayment um and is there any
effect to Utilities in percentage increase like how is that repayment looking like mind just so it's a little bit better on video over the last 10 years plus years we've um established where we do a rate study the CIP Capital
Improvement plan and through that we have added in the substation okay so those annual increases are for that okay I thought I heard George kind of mention that or you know reference that but I just wanted to make that clear to anyone
who's listening if if they're scared that that's going to be a yep yeah okay that's electric revenues that we got but basically like they said that's all been planned out for the next 5 years and we do that on a regular basis
so and I'm sorry we the uh a good question I I'm sorry that I didn't into more detail but the uh historical revenues when you do a non-general obligation Bond like this one they look a lot at your what are your historical
operations how do your historical revenues compare to what debt you're going to bring out and so even with this new debt add they're at two times coverage so that they've got uh ample revenues to support this Bond and that's
one of the strengths of that's it's great just to discuss this because it is different than when we Bond we usually are you know doing some sort of an assessment and this is not an assessment to the general public so right okay any other
questions okay do I have a motion to approve resolution 2024-the motion by Diane do I have a second second second by Joel any other dis discussion
call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed motion carries five in favor none against thank you who would who made the motion on the second Diane motion and Joe Joe made the second 7B approve amended resolution
2024-25 Anderson Lot sale on May 1st of 2024 the city council approved the sale of lot one block four of author's Edition to Mark and Janette Anderson by resolution 2024413044 purchase lot four rather than the one
across questions do I have a motion to approve resolution 2024 49 I'll make a motion motion by Diane do I have a second second second by Heidi call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose
extensions motion carries five in favor none against 7 C approve amended resolution 50 after Lot sale on January 3rd the city council accepted an offer for lot one block two author's addition and the
purchasers have now requested to purchase the adjacent lot lot two block two office Edition these are the lots where you did the public hearing on the easement vacation so what we're looking to do is approve resolution 202 24-50 amending the prior resolution authorizing the execution of the
documents by having both Lots on the on the resolution rather than just the one question do I have a motion to approve resolution 202 24-50 I'll make the motion to approve motion by shallon do I have a second I'll second second by
Diane call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed motion carries five in favor none against 7D approve resolution 202 4- 51 vacating utility easement so this is the
action from the public he ing earlier this evening to consider the vacation of a utility easement between Lots 1 and two block two if you concur that the easement would no longer serve a public purpose you should do so by resolution 2024 51 which approves the vacation of the utility easement on that property
that with that line common to Lots one and two last minute questions would this be contingent upon the successful closing of the purchase right we won't record this till we actually close in case something falls through okay good question okay any other
questions do I have a motion to approve resolution 202 24- 51 motion to approve motion by Diane do I have a second I'll second second by Joel call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed
motion carries five in favor none against 7 C approve final bdp Grant close out so the final closeout report was repaired and submitted to deed which is the state of Minnesota for the bbpi grant which is the business development
public infrastructure grant that we applied for and received to assist with the construction of the infrastructure in the South Sox Center Industrial Park the total Grant proceeds that we received 1,243 36317 it's a little less than what we
originally were approved for and that is because the total cost of the contractor crment less than we proposed when we applied for the grant so this concludes the grant portion of the project ongoing reporting related to tax base and jobs created will continue on an annual basis until the goals of the grant are met in
fact they emailed me today and said he'd be giving me a call in five years I said you try that so we'll see but anyway what we want to do tonight is just accept that P final Grant as as final and uh then we just move on to the
reporting process over the next 5 years until we um get it completed or have the meet the goals of the grant questions we got the payout payment request thing in front of
us otherwise do I have a motion to accept the final Grant I'll make the motion motion by Heidi do I have a second second second by Joel last minute questions I guess if um so this amount is coming as a payout
correct like it's coming to us at this time or does it we've received it already Okay yep so with the reporting pieces that you were asking about like if there are things that don't get met are we obligated to there there are
if you don't meet the encumbrances that we have agreed to like if we didn't create enough jobs you didn't create enough tax base we sold to businesses that don't qualify as the type of business that is expected to be in the industrial park then those are all kind of demerits and they will rank that and
there there is potential that that would be they would call part of the grant back in the future it rarely happens simply because they they do understand that um things happen with the economy things happen with uh how people do
their job and so it it does rarely happen but if we just went out there and let people build things that that were obviously and blatantly not part of what we were supposed to do yeah then they'll look at it but he had looked at this and he thought that we were doing a good job he came out they inspected it on we were
on site and he was excited to see how far along we were the buildings were going up you know the paving was in everything was done he says he's gone out three years after a grant and seen a fire hydrant in a field and that's all they can see so um they were pleasantly pleased so we did get pretty high marks
for it so I'm not too worried about that simply because of the track that we're on right now we're we're ahead of schedule for trying to meet those goals and I'll add that Vicky every time that we discuss any um Ventures um at the Eda
level that is one of the primary things that we discussed does it meet the you know requirements of the grant so we keep that at the front of our mind thank you for that y any other discussion or
questions I have a motion in a second I'll call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I oppos extensions motion carries five in favor none against 7f approved deferred loan and repayment
agreements so Scott and Lindy Bergman had previously applied for and received preliminary approval for a small cities development program zero interest deferred loan and Grant for property at 101 Pine Street North the purpose of the loan was to upgrade electrical needs for a duplex at that location the total
preliminary approval was for $111,000 that was the total then the city would pay 70% of that the work has now been completed the contractor has registered with the systems for award management and completed the prevailing wage documents so the final agreement has been prepared for approval and signature like I said we had the total project
approval of $111,000 the owner share is 30% so the owner would pay 3,300 the 0% deferred loan is 30% so the city would pay 3,300 and what that 0% loan is is that loan stays on the property until they sell whether it's one year or 50
years from now and at that sale the principal gets paid back with no interest and the and the third part of it or the component of it is a repayment agreement which is a loan convertible to a grant that's $4,400 that we would pay and over a period of 10 years that
dollar amount goes down until after 10 years that is Forgiven and becomes a grant so it's a loan and a loan but the second loan part of it becomes a grant over time um we've done this for about 40 different businesses and Residences
and rental homes in sock Center I would say that there's probably a dozen of them that are still out there with that have not turned over or not sold anything that was going to be granted that Grant is or that loan has converted to a grant but there are some that still owe the money
back for the zero interest loan they just haven't sold their property and so it still stays there but those that do pay then that's what we turn around and we loan out so that's what this is this is a product of somebody selling their property pay us back we turned around loan it back out again and we just keep
rotating it so what we're looking out for tonight is to authorize the execution of the contracts and the disposition of funds in the amount of $7,700 to the contractor as our city share of the project comments
questions do I have a motion to authorize the execution motion to approve motion by Diane 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 I I OS
motion carries five in favor none against 7g approve resolution 2024-25 ft the request is for 15 ft which if approved would allow for the construction of a 30x40 addition to an attached garage at the same setback as the existing home the size of the garage
was approved by variance on May 15th the property is described as lot one block one of Pleasant Hills and is located at 813 10th Street South and you can see by the aerial picture exactly how that would look so what we have tonight is to approve resolution 2024-25
so uh I'll make a motion to approve Diane has got the motion to approve second Joel's got the second any questions should have recognized that sorry call the question all those in
favor signify by saying I I opposed exensions I motion carries four in favor none again against one abstention 78 approve resolution 2024-the sale of lot so this is one of the items that the
Eda was going to discuss today but because they didn't uh meet we'll be kicked up to you uh the city had previously received an offer for lot one block three of South sock Center Industrial Park the city counter offered following a Clos session where it was discussed the city's counter offer was
$160,000 with a 3% Commission the purchaser has Now counter offered that counter offer which is 155,000 with 3% commission so uh that is the offer that's before you tonight is if you wish to approve that or accept that counter
offer of 155,000 and if you do so you would do so by resolution 2024-the the execution of those documents this is the lot with the pile of dirt on
it questions is that still at 3% then yes okay probably missed that the there was something about Market it in the original recuit that would that didn't get its way back in no
okay it's just a straight Real Estate Commission got it okay I'll make a motion to approve we have motion by Diane do I have a second I'll second second by Heidi any other
discussion Eda members I I mean I think it's in line with with what we sold the uh the other lot for price-wise price per acre um so very similar close to what our counter offer was and what we were looking for um so to stimulate that growth I'm I'm in
support okay any other comments do I have a well we have a motion in a second for 155,000 at 3% and that will be resolution 202 24-
53 call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed extensions motion carries five in favor none against 7 I approve appointment of EMT paramedic Kathy stord am ambulance
director submitted the following request she's requesting to hire Timothy Duval as an emtp paramedic with the sock in her Ambulance Service Timothy previously worked on the service as an EMT but he has now completed his paramedic training and is a licensed paramedic with the
part-time alss license we now hold Tim would be a valuable asset to the service he's a resident of the community and excited to be back on the crew Tim along with the other three paramedics we currently have on the crew will be able to assist with the Ala transfer requests and the medical needs of the community so her request is to appoint Tim Duval
as an EMT paramedic effective June 5th 2024 questions comments great to have him back do I have a motion to appoint Tim Deval I'll make the motion to approve motion by Shon I have second ID
second call the question all those in favor signify with saying I I opposed motion carries five in favor none against unfinished business 8 a approve ordinance 832 amending city code CVB
board membership so this is is similar to the meeting on May 1st where the CBB on April 9th amended its bylaws uh removed the appointing authority of the city to its board and the new bylaws allowing for the CBB to select its membership um
and it would did include in their bylaws at that time that their membership should include one member from the city council uh those put the CBB bylaws in conflict with the city code uh which allows for the city council to appoint so that was where the conflict was uh the CBB boards changed this according to
their attorney hired by the CBB uh that they felt that the city was exercising control of the board which he maintained was a violation of Statute so the city council at their meeting directed that a committee of two members of the city council and two members of the CV board meet to try to find some common ground in an effort to move forward the
committee met and they're proposing that the city amend its code which removes appointing authority with the exception of one city representative and a committee would determine the balance of appointments meaning two members of the city and two members of the CBB board would meet to talk about future appointments down the road uh and then
the CBB has agreed to report back to the city on the use of the lodging tax dollars regarding tourism and Convention activities that have been accomplished advertising that has been done in an income and expense report so there'll be more of a reporting function back to the city council so we still have the same
three options uh they continue with no changes you can amend the code to match their bylaws and I do have a resolution or the ordinance in the ordinance 832 amending the city code to allow that and then of course you have the final option that we had as well which was from the last meeting to uh to just repeal that
section of the city code which repeals the lodging tax itself so those are your three options of doing nothing or pass ordinance 832 you have two options of 8:32 the one to amend it to have one city representative and the other one to
repeal and then Joel was on that Joe and Chon were the Committee Member that met with the CBB comments I just want to thank Jo and shellin and the members of the CVB um
for getting together to discuss this and come to a resolution that both boards can can agree upon um in my opinion it it makes the most sense um keeping I don't want to say politics or keeping personal feelings out of it it just
makes it makes it feasible for the city to still have some sort of an idea or um and I don't want to say control that's not the word that I'm looking for but be involved somehow because that's how this whole board started um 25 years ago or
however many years it was um but it makes sense to me so I appreciate the work you guys did okay Shon you got anything I guess I would just add that I mean it really did
the entire discussion to me felt like a good process I mean um Joel and I were able to talk a few times and really come up with a game plan from some of the perspectives that were brought up here and it was
a lengthy conversation with the group there and I felt like everyone came to the table willing to find where we could meet and have some common ground so felt good to me okay Joel so I guess what I'll add is
so so what are our conversation centered on where we're kind of really the three points for one how the appointments were done two the eligibility of the the board members and then three was the reporting process and so those were the things we felt that needed to be addressed and things that we we did were able to address um uh you know the
eligibility really we're really Brad back to stock Center um their interest in the tourism convention and then the loding organization so that will be um reflective of um the eligibility of the membership in their bylaws um when they make those those adjustments uh the
appointing authority uh they felt they wanted a voice with that and and you know um which certainly can agree with and me and Shon felt that the compromise of two Council reps and two CVB reps discussing that was was a good good compromise there and the increased
reporting will really um you know address that transparency question that was that was on the uh you know May 1st agenda um to really get an idea of where the spending's going some of those things that was maybe only a benefit to the council rep at that point that the entire Council will have the opportunity
to know kind of how those things are being allocated ask those questions instead of um you know sitting back and maybe not asking them that um you know we we have that clarification and everything so um I I don't believe believe the bylaws have been amended by
the CVB to reflect that agreement I think it was going to be up to us so I would add that we would expect those amended bylaws to be turned into the City by a certain date so we know that that is in agreement with with us here as well so that was going to be my second
question is if it's been accepted by the CVB yet but I mean we uh the the CBB did have a meeting to discuss it and the way um when I talked to Pam deran the way we had left it was
that the majority of the group was in agreement and willing to move forward with it we it just hadn't gone to a full Vote or right formal vote they they were waiting on us to see where we were going to go and then we would they would go
accordingly okay um the third I just got a few questions on some of it you know Vicky stated that the according to their attorney the CBB Bo you know we're controlling them it's
it's viol and that's why I I apologize I did not mean to say control well been a word that has been I know floating dur this whole conversation but on the other hand our City attorney says it's not so okay to
draw um I know their letter from this their attorney stated that there was a conflict having a city employee and Shon sitting on there because we both they both get a paycheck from the
city um I don't know if they knew or he knew that one member of the CVB who we appointed is an employee of one of the lodgings so they both so is that not a
conflict the other thing is the director of the CBB is also on the chamber board and the Chamber board is on the CBB board so depending on which meeting you go to their each other's
boss is that not a conflict to me it doesn't pass the public smell test I was just going to uh touch a couple of those things if I'm able to um I would have to go back and
and try and think about what question I asked Nick um just in terms of the um control and he gave me an answer that I felt very much was in line with the opinion
that their attorney had given he he said there are two were the idea that I got was that there were two different um questions that were kind of being asked one about the nonprofit status and being able to appoint members to a nonprofit um I also um since the meeting at the
beginning of last month had a chance to talk to several other cities and other cvbs even as I was looking at their bylaws or or city code online um and it is very unusual when it's set up as a
nonprofit for a city to be appointing all of the members so that that part I don't feel is okay however however that point came to be putting aside how that answer was given I don't feel like that answer is an incorrect answer I don't
feel like that's out of line the other piece um I think when you talked about the conflict of interest with um two members of the city I think what that was referring to um was the idea of not that we couldn't
be on the board together it was where I I'm I'm going to be just coming at it from a because I don't know it was just what I've heard in meetings if the information was presented to us as far as we are going
to get an attorney to look at something where would where would my responsibilities lie would it lie to the CVB board or would it lie to the city so that is where the conflict of
interest would be knowing that piece of information is to having some sort of in that letter that um their attorney had provided that's where the conflict of interest was not that we are both
members of the city and the CVB would be to have that information and to know that they were going to go get an attorney now there's a inherent conflict of interest in my role on that board and
my role on the city council is that there's something there does that kind of make sense that's what was explained to us at one of our meetings so I I don't know that that's answers your question but well you know it it
explains it to me and to the public cu the public is sitting there looking at it and there if I go by if the public doesn't think it's right something's wrong so that's the reason why because we're here to represent the public
they're the ones that put us in these chairs right so um so in this position can I ask was that discussion part of that that you if there's a a city council representative
chosen by the city council what happens in the future if these discussions happen again or if there's some sort of a conversation that puts the council member a voting member of the board in personal conflict with a
decision to be made that's a great question and again in some of the other calls that I've had um with several other cities and their cbbs several of them don't like having an elected representative on their board they refer somebody within the city government um
some of them have a finance member of the financial team or some of them have admins or whatever so some of them prefer or don't let elected members sit on their board it's kind of contradictory so I
mean you take a conflict of interest I mean it'd be no different than us sitting on this board when we have a conflict of interest related to you abstain from the vote I just did I mean that's that's what we would do if we're in a situation that that comes up you abstain from the vote right and having one person from the
city you just said they didn't want a city representative on there but yet an elected wanted somebody from city government other other other cvbs right right and elected officials so if we also we also found out that there's a
few cvbs that Ci's just eliminated the cvbs and started their own tourism board because most of the money that was coming in to the CVB was used for wages and stuff that by the time they got done
there we didn't have enough money to actually do a promoting job well I think that's where the the transparency of reporting is going to come into play when we have an idea that you know what is this contributing and how is it coming back into play so I appreciate
that being added to the discussion I guess where where I'm coming from is we're responsible for the tax money that's collected in this city and how it's spent and when you have a director in the CVB that is using the
money to hire an attorney to sue the city she's sueing the taxpayers that's an egregious egregious that she would even do that I think she should step down I really do I I don't think anybody was sued necessarily in this situation
not sued but but when you're spending money for an attorney to sue the city that's that's you know the there was no it there was no suing it just became an involvement of
our budget to hire an attorney in response to their hiring an attorney well we're wasting money and we shouldn't have to be spending that money I I I did state that it didn't need to come to this but I do appreciate the work that Joan shanon put into it so that we can come to an agreement where
both parties are equally validated we have a say and still continue to have a say and the board also gets a little more control over their board hey at the end of the day I mean you
know their board is at their Liberty to decide how to spend those funds we allocated I mean we collect the tax revenue and following the state statute we pass 95% of that on to their board right to their discretion to spend we don't agree with how they're spending it that's where we would decide to repeal the lodging tax or change how that's
done now we're not going to change what the past was past it's it's what's done is done yeah so now we're going to decide are we going to move forward with something that's workable are we going to repeal it or or what are you going to do and that's really where where we need to look at going forward not looking in the rearview miror because we're not
going to change what's back there so you know at the end of the day we can decide you know how this motion is going to be you know future reporting is going to tell us how things are going and if we need to make a change at that point that's when we make that change um I'll make a motion what I'll
make a motion that we uh repeal chapter 117 of the wait a minute which one uh pass ordinance meting remove the city's appointing no no no that we stop
collecting the sales tax that's what I'm going to recommend okay so you're appeal section 112 of the city code as it relates to lodging tax the city would no longer collect lodging tax from The Lodgers okay we have a motion to
repeal do I have a second do I have a second I will second it strictly for more discussion otherwise we have a motion in the second um when it talks about the committee a committee would be determin
the balance of the appointments who's the committee two two people from the city two people from the CVB so we want to be the personel Personnel committee to be part of that committee you want it to be two people who the mayor would appoint uh at the you know beginning of the year like we do any other committee
position I mean the finance Comm it could just fall under the rubric of one of the existing committees is what our thoughts were well the only thing is is what I'm looking at is we haven't ever turned down an
applicant we did we delayed one two weeks and what is the difference on the city Side basically I make the recommendations but all you other four
can say know that's not happening so now we're going to go from five people down to two people and make and then everybody feels good yeah I to me it's not any different because the council still
cannot do anything the way the city code is now and are we going to stop and have uh each board appoint I mean we've always appointed everybody to every board this isn't a city here y here's where the difference is I mean we're
this is a nonprofit board it is not under the city's one of the city's boards so I mean to me to me either we go the route that Diane suggested and we cut the tax and
we do that or and just be out of it all together or we find this compromise to say we shouldn't be appointing 100% of the members and this is a good compromise that is the piece that is
missing in the discussion it it's set up as a right now it's set up as a nonprofit and and you got to remember shanon it's been this way for 17 years but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's that's
right no it's a power struggle is what it is and I'm getting tired of it it's a power struggle on many levels and we can't be a part of that to be representing those of our city that
this benefits so if we're going to be levelheaded we have to remain neutral and do what's best for those in our community who this means the most to so it's those who visit which aren't many in our community but those who own as
well so this is not just Hotel owners this is also short-term rental this is restaurant owners this is people where this money benefits them and I think having this discussion meant the most
for that as well where we get to analyze and bring in more that maybe wasn't discussed back 17 years ago when this board happened when it started I mean it is evolved and the purpose of the purpose of boards like this is to change
with time to do what's best over time that makes the most sense for what the economy is doing for what is happening in our world so having this discussion might be the best time for this to happen at this moment 10 years from now it might be a
completely different discussion things will change and that's the purpose of having multiple people involved in having these discussions I don't think that means that we need to say it's an end all be all I think it's let's let's roll with what we've we've been talking
about see where we can meet if it comes back to bite us that's on us and then we have this discussion again but we at least had people willing to meet and that to me is important that that makes the most sense to me you know
at the end of the day I mean if we we were go along with option two of amending it to this way and if it's not working these options all still exist for us still right we can still repeal the tax then we can make plans to bring the board within the city government and
continue to have the you know the lodging tax that's just administered through a a board within in that like we've seen in other municipalities you know just simply throwing our hands up and repealing the tax today because you know I I don't know what it is exactly as far as the
rationale but um you know it's like these everything still exists for us going forward so we try this if it's not working because the reporting's not you know to the level we expect we aren't happy with the answers we're getting for how the dollar are being spent we can
address those at that point I I don't I just think it's over reactionary to Simply repeal well one of the pieces that I know um I had brought up at the Joint meeting that we had with the four of
us I mean in the position I've been on I mean in the last year I mean I haven't had any Communications about the going on at the CBB board meetings with anybody here I mean so I mean if that's a negligence on my part so be it I mean
I can bring any information from those back and do a report if I need to at a monthly basis I can make myself available to the council to answer those questions I have offered myself to Pam and to any of the members
on the CVB to say hey if there's something you need from me it's acting as a go- between so I would offer that same piece here if I'm in that role or maybe that's an expectation that we have of whoever's in that role is to be
that go between person to bring back some of those questions to answer some of those things I don't know on that committee is that necessarily got to be can be somebody that's not on the council then or is that going to get you know you two City Representatives you
mean the appointing yeah no our I think the way we Hades two coun repres and two CBB board Representatives y okay CU basically with two even one or two it doesn't make difference because
and the discussion was on a split vote if it's two to two that it fails that obviously there's questions and that was kind of was an agreement within the Committees so one of the things that I don't know I don't know if it's being reflected in some of this wording super well where our discussion was and we had
come down is basically your Lodgers have a spot on on the CVB um the council gets to a point um even if we don't have the campground we can have a representative on the board and then basically you're looking at a short-term rental person as
well as your um at large members who the committee the committee is appointing there is appointing to the board so any applicants that would fit under that umbrella your short-term rental as well as your at Large members
those are the members who that committee is appointing so we as a council still get to decide who is our Council representative the um Lodgers still have their spot on the board it's the remaining who the joint
committee is now coming together in and I hope that there's a broadened discussion of who to think of and who to encourage and invite to this board um because when I did my I ALS also did my research on other cvbs it included many
people Beyond just the lodging industry right because it it it's our community at large not just heads and beds it is tax dollars being spent within our community at businesses across the board well I know even in the conversation
that we had um at the bank that day it I mean we had all talked about even the fairgrounds has a potential interest and you know there could be somebody who's on the Sterns County fairboard who maybe isn't right in sock Center but also through that role has some sort of an
interest in serving the community in that respect the one the one thing is with the fairgrounds that's a totally different animal yeah but we can't go after them for logic deck no no that's not what I'm saying I'm saying that a member maybe
somebody who's uh in the on the fair board or is involved with the county fair maybe they've got an interest in seeing tourism expand and would like to someday have a seat on the board so I mean we talked about some of those components as far as what membership could potentially look like and having
that tourism component captured under that um um is actually in the roundabout and I'm you could say it's splitting hairs or not but actually the campground it we've been the city's in good faith been collecting the tax for the campground it's not lodging yeah we're
we're renting a space well um but we've been collecting the 3% for that space and passing it on to me for the amount that we contribute to we should have some say
in but that that's where I think we do get to have the say is by continuing to have this position that they've discussed is to allow still you know at least a voice in in the discussions whether or not
that's and I feel like we we're kind of kind of battling ourselves right now because we asked these guys to have this discussion with the board and I know they have to come back to us and defend their discussion but I want to I want to put my faith and my trust in the
decisions that you guys have made together and I feel good with this so that's where I stand okay well we have a motion and a second I'll call the question and this is this Motion in
second is to to deny repeal the section 112 and we will no longer collect the tax call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed I I motion fails one in favor four against
do we have another motion or is there more discussion I'll make a motion we go with option two passing ordinance 832 amending the chapter 11215 to remove City's appointing authority to the CBB board with the exception of one city
representative and I mean goes along with that some of the language that we had discussed with the joint do we have that's not part of the code though that's well I will add that the CVB has to provide us with the amended bylaws to
include the discussions the agreed upon um eligibility appointing authority and uh reporting uh well I guess the reporting is not in their bylaws um by the first meeting in August or we will
revisit okay do I have a second I'll second that okay is there a certain amount of time we want to see if this all come Joe said Joe said August August 1st I know is
when the first report would be right is that the first report in the first meeting is that it's our first meeting in August I have a calendar you know do we want to relook at it in case we have any other issues that come up or
are we just going to leave it up to the I I think to me I I I just am looking for the bylaw amendments to reflect the the changes I mean the reporting is going to be coming and at that point we're we're asking the questions from what we're getting from the information and you know if we're not happy with that then then we have that conversation
at that time or you know some future date I mean I don't think we're going to put a date on here to start reviewing this every three months you know if we're not happy with a report or something right doesn't makes any sense I'm I'm just basically and and trying to keep the personal side out of
it but it's like you know it's really hard when you walk into businesses and get slammed for you're out doing nothing but controlling controlling controlling while we were all elected to be controlling mhm so if that goes away if we're going to
work together it better go away if I hear anything else I'll be the first one to bring this back because if we're going to be on the same team we can't be backstabbing people right and I think every one of you
understand that because we were elected by the people to control what happens at the city level well if we're going to give away some of the control then all that goes away but if I hear any comments and people telling me because
it happened just last week yeah people are entitled to their opinions they are intend to their own opinions but they don't like it when it comes back in their lap so we have a motion in a second call the question all those in
favor signify by saying I I opposed one motion carries four in favor one against I hope it works I do too 8B land purchase airport RP EZ
update so the city's proposed purchase of property across County 186 from the end of the turf Runway at the airport continues to move forward Al beit slowly uh we had considered a purchase agreement submitted by the seller at a prior meeting since that time request for reimbursement for moving expenses
among other items have been received the FAA authorizes certain expenses to be reimbursed following specific procedures with proper documentation at the present time the reimbursement requests are incomplete in addition with a switch from moving a residence to moving a business alternate evaluations need to
be completed regarding the value of the home regarding the value of the business they do car outs for the business so City representatives are working on that with the seller's attorney and attempt to gather all the information needed to make a final recommendation and the reason why this is important is because
uh this is part of our FF FAA entitlement money and when we got the FAA entitlements we sign certain documents and certain encumbrances that if our proposal or our submittal to them for reimbursement doesn't meet all their criteria they're just not going to reimburse us and we're going to be out
the money that we put out so we want to make sure absolutely sure that before we finalize that we will get reimbursed so that's kind of where we're at trying to get the proper documentation to make sure that we are solid when we do the final work on that so I know you guys
have received some emails and if other people in the community have asked me what's going on I just thought it was best just to give you a little update we're not backing out we're just trying to get the process completed so okay questions okay moving on Final arpa
projects so back in the co days the city was the recipient of some arpa funding the American Rescue plan funding uh then we had allocated certain projects we have a few of those projects remaining the three that we have outstanding yet are the city hall rooftop air handling and ventilation unit um the
accessibility upsite updates to the city website and the finalization of the council chambers technology so we're working on obtaining estimates to determine which of these projects can move forward we'll be looking for formal approval at a future meeting but these are the three outstanding projects the city hall rooftop air will be the major
cost I think we'll get some preliminary estimates from that and then from there we'll make a decision on what else can be done and so um with your blessing I guess we'll we'll proceed with kind of getting some preliminary numbers I'm sure that that number will be high enough that we'll have to do something
more formal than just getting a phone call um and then uh we'll bring it back before you at a future date but we have encumbered the money we just have to spend it now so okay and is it by the end of this year by the end of this year it has to
be uh formalized we have to have all the estimates and so we can still spend down into 2025 if we have to if we're going to do the rooftop it'd be nice to have it done before winter I don't know if that can be accomplished or not yeah okay okay sense new business next steps for
landlord licensing non-compliance so our rental inspection and Licensing program is now in the second year there still remain a few landlords that have either refused to apply indicate they will apply but they don't follow through or they have simply gone dark on us and so these the these
units are generally the ones that are in disrepair and possibly won't be able to pass inspection without significant Improvement and this is probably why they're dodging us uh the council has the option to not issue the license as a rental or in certain cases proceed to condemnation so what we're looking at is
we're going to be taking the next steps according to the city code to gain access and compliance which could include legal legal action which would come before the city council so I've been in touch with our City attorney about the next steps that we want to take um and I want to make sure that we take all the correct steps in the beginning because if it ends up in
condemnation if you had didn't start out correctly you will never be able to do it so um in addition to that we do have some updates to the rental code that we've learned throughout the year that we've beneficial to have uh that some other cities have done and has worked well for them makes it a little more
clear I think for the landlords at first there was a lot of fear in what we were doing and now that we have done it the landlords are actually using us as ways to you know make sure that their tenants are performing the way they're supposed to so it's kind of been beneficial on
both sides I think it's been a good thing but we just have those few out there that are holding on and we can't not proceed because that sends the wrong message to the people that did comply they're like well why should I do it if no one else has to so that's what we're trying to do so if you hear anything out
there um yes there are a handful and yes we are moving forward and you'll you'll know more when we know more one question um we got an option to not issue a license as a rental but not all cases or condemnation
if we proceed so what kind of penalty or because not getting a piece of paper doesn't mean nothing to them now so what you so if we had somebody that had a house or a duplex or something that they rented out and they they can't comply for any reason then we can just we won't be able to issue the license is what I'm
getting at they won't be able to obtain a license in a case like that we had one person that said my place will never pass I'm just going to sell it and it discontinued being a rental and I think that we might see some of that that the landlord's just going to say it's going to cost me too much money
to put e agress window in or it's going to cost me too much money to uh get the the electrical upgraded or get the plumbing the things that the safety things that need to have done and so really it's by the landlord's choice if they choose not to and and they don't
want to do the upgrade we're just not going to be able issue it but if they can continue to rent it out regardless if we give them a license or not what penalty is there that's that's why we have to um do what's called an administrative warrant through the court system that's where involves the City
attorney so that we can get in there and then it's through the court system that you have to uh work with actually it becomes an actually becomes like an eviction at that point okay so they lose the ability to rent it out which is what
happens got it good okay any other questions 9B next steps for regulations of cannabis businesses so we have the upcoming license of the Cannabis related businesses which will allow for the cultivation and sale of cannabis Sterns
County they've uh they're passing a moratorium on the businesses now what we're talking about is not the THC infused Edibles you can buy those now we're talking about the leaves and the buds the smoking of it and so the city of Sox Center we need to consider the
impact of the new licensing uh the examples of items to be considered should include how many licenses will we register we're required to allow at least one for 12,500 residences and we're not really licensing we're registering the state licenses um when Sterns County gets a
certain saturation then we don't have to issue any more some cities are like free business if 10 want to come in let 10 come in and others are saying no one or two for our population is enough so what you need to be thinking about is do we want to set a limit on how many we will
allow in our community and the second thing is is they have what's called sensitive use zoning which will allow you to do an overlay of your zoning we don't want to have one of these retail cannabis businesses Within by 500 ft of a school or we don't want to have them near a daycare or we don't want to have them in certain
areas an option another option we have is you know we have the C1 and the C2 zoning District which is like the downtown and then the C2 is like the Walmart area down that way and we have the option of just restricting it to those two right now we have those two
and then we have RC which is like the transition zone which has more housing that's kind of used as commercial do we want to allow it in there so these are the kinds of things that we'll be taking to the plan commission to um decide on the zoning side of it but it'll be the city council that will decide how many
we want to register so this will be um by the first of the year the state of Minnesota hopes to be licensing they've changed their whole criteria for how they license you know it used to be based on certain um you got a score and based on certain things about you you
got higher up on the rank and I think now they're going to go with a lottery so I'm not certain how they're going to license yet but we we should have our ducks in a row as far as where do we want them and how many do we want that's really the only things we need to worry about so you guys be thinking about that
um we'll be back with that uh maybe the policy committee can have a talk at that unless you just want to talk about it as a group either way does that make a difference policy policy I think it's good to send it to the policy committee have a discussion get a plan and present that y okay send
it policy 9 C Ferell cat Ron I didn't know what else to call it so we've received a lot of complaints about feral cats residing in large numbers in certain areas of the city many of them are feral um or they're very wild um
they're I don't know where they all came from but you can imagine so we're planning with along with the police department and the public works department what we're calling it feral count feral cat Roundup where we actually trap live trap the cats and so they will be live trapped and then once
we have them then we'll be working with a a company or an individual to do that trapping and then the outcome of the cats you know it falls into different um criteria you know when these roundups happen in the past they usually call them a third a third a third a third of
them are so sick and so ill and such bad shape they do have to be put down a third of them they can you know spay neuter vaccinate and they can go to somewhere like a grain Farm or something where they're not really with people and the other third of them are maybe house
cats that got loose a couple years ago and they can be reh homeed so we'll look at the third a third a third option um whether that is an option for us or not I don't know but um we're getting into this Roundup sometime this summer and we'll just see what happens so what's to
know the differ if it's if it's a loose cat or if it's my neighbor's blind cat that gets out of their house and you know what I mean whether it's licensed or not is that what it is they're liced if they're not licensed in they and they're y well
down the road they're going just Cur I was just curious I didn't so anybody going be all over town it's just going to be in a couple key areas where they're really prominent um the police see them more at night than you'll see them during the day I'm sure you because they're really it's more of a nighttime thing and so yeah if something looks
like a house cat we're going to probably be pretty lenient with that cat but it's pretty obvious when you look at them okay so it's pretty obvious but they should still be licensed right yeah well should be too okay we
move on to consent agenda we have schedule of claims I'll have different numbers because we got an updated one um schedule of claims unpaid claims of $172,800 we have uh resolution number 2024-25 from the SE the men's card
playing group to be allocated to the senior center it's on behalf of the city and the council I want to thank that group for their contribution uh we have a request from James Macy representing the sock Center
Alliance for a road closure for a Soapbox Derby on Sunday July 21st 2024 from 11:00 a.m. until 400 p.m. that's Third Street North from Ash Street to bir Street um they did this before in other years last year
they didn't um temporary extension of premise permit and road closure for Sinclair Lewis Day Street dance on July 20th 2024 road closure request is a two block area from Main Street the stop lights to Elm Street from 6:00 a.m. to 3: p.m. and
closed one block from Maine to Oak from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. Eric Helman plans to close the road at 6:00 a.m. for the car show and Street dance and reopen at 3:00 a.m. following cleanup the fenced area will be from the Palmer House
across to German's and at the intersection of Elm Street also partial closure of Oak Street from stclair Lewis Avenue up to the alley on both sides of the street till 400 PM for the car show the car show Street dance road closure
permit will be sent to jod Tech at the county after Council approval we also have a request from Erie Kellerman doing business in nextd Door Bar loued for a temporary extension of premise permits for 15th Avenue party
15th anniversary party with music on August 3rd 2024 in the back parking lots next door and food shelf from 6:00 p.m. to 3: a.m. amm is there any questions about the consent calendar can I ask one more question about the
cats let's can I ask one more question about the cats I guess content agenda I know I know I ask as long as we're still here and I didn't have a better opportunity well that that could be a potential thing that we is posted on
Facebook and just maybe even a PSA to get the unregistered cats registered right I'm assuming before we do that that that'll be something that we do we won't I know I'm a bleeding heart I get it I okay okay do I have a motion to
approve the consent calendar as presented to approve oh boy got sorry everyone's racing I'll go up Joe made the motion Joe made the motion who took the second all second Heidi took the second okay call the question all those
in favor signify by saying I I oppose motion carries five in favor none against we have informational items cats are not included in that sorry I did find out mayor that each cat that's captured will be paw printed and and
photographed dropped off my garage I'm assuming informational items Vicky you want to go through the informational or sure I will okay okay this is a reminder there's no meeting on June 19th which is two Wednesdays from now because it is a Federal holiday and we're not allowed to conduct public business for juneth
a couple uh employee related Reynolds is going to advance to step four on June four June 1st and Kowski on to step seven on June 15th so he's been here two years I have the concerts in the park 2024 flyer attached uh the city is actually the sponsor of July 31st the
simmeron B and so that's being updated uh the Sterns County Roads 5-year plan is attached there's nothing really happening in our area this year for the Sterns County Roads we do have some new voting equipment again so that's the press release that the county is putting out and the City of sock Center is one of the places that will have that piece
of equipment and then also we have the Spectrum channel lineup change which we seem to be getting almost every meeting so and that is all we have any questions on those items that brings us to the end of our
agenda do I have a motion to adjourn I'll make a motion to adjourn motion by Shon do I have a second I'll second it second by Diane call the question all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed motion carries five in favor
none against meeting adjourned [Music]