Good evening and welcome. I'm going to call the regular city council meeting for Monday, June 23rd, 2025 to order. It is 7:03. Please rise for the pledge. 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. All right. First thing on our agenda tonight is the approval of the agenda.
So, I'll second. We have a motion and second. All in favor say I. I. Okay. Next, the approval of the minutes from our previous city council meeting. That is on pages 5 through 8.
We have a motion to approve. So move. Second. All those in favor? I I. All right. We now have a time for visitors. Do we have any visitors in the room that would like to speak on a
provide comment on an agenda item? Hearing none, we'll move on to any visitors who would like to make a general comment. Hearing none, we'll move on to the approval of the consent agenda. The consent agenda begins on page nine and
ends on page 28. Mayor Pimman, members, the information is included in your packet with the resolution on page 28. Uh, Mayor Pim, if you want me to read through it, I can. Um, happy to help in any way that you'd like. Sure, go ahead. So, um, first we have gambling permit, uh, licenses
approved for gambling permit, on sale liquor, Sunday liquor, um, temporary gambling. Oh, sorry, then I lost my page here. temporary on sale liquor, temporary dance, and fireworks for the St. Peter Chamber of Commerce. Um, I want to
mention that that one will be located at 2121 Broadway, which is Community Spirit Park for the Fourth of July fireworks. Um, and the scheduled dispersements from June 5th to June 17th. Um, again, the resolutions included in your packet on page 28.
All right, any questions or comments about the consent agenda? Motion to approve. Second. Council member DVOS. I. Council member Johnson. I. Council member Pettis. I. Council member Rand. I. Council member Wisenfeld. Hi. Council member Charstro.
I. All right. Moving on. We have no unfinished business. Under new business. The first item is new leafncf executive rights to negotiate agreement
that starts on page 29 and ends on page 84 in your packet. Um, Mayor Prov and members, Ben is here to provide introduction for this and staff from New Leaf is here to answer any specific questions that you might have. There's a lot of information
included in your packet, including some information that you have seen previously and um the request is for you to provide an exclusive right to negotiate on some property. This does not obligate you to sell the property, but this provides some level of sight
control to New Leaf. So, Ben, I'll let you take it away. Sure. Just quickly, we have uh two new people up here that will maybe introduce you guys yourselves to the council. I'm Dave Bergland with North Country Cooperative Foundation. I work with the
real estate um kind of issues and transactions for the for the organization. Tori Clark West, executive director at NCF. Welcome. Thank you. Good to be back. So, I'll just quickly go through the staff report and at the
end, well, there's plenty of information in here and then at the very end there's a resolution to consider. So, as you know, one of your the council and the city's goals is housing and creating housing opportunities. So, over the past half year, city staff, the city council
has worked with NCF. Um, we've been working develop a new model of housing. Um, and that would be for facility built housing. And this model would would allow for um a keep a achieving cost savings, providing ownership
opportunities, and putting that in a price range of $200,000 or less. Um, leaders from NCF um attended both the February 3rd and the May 19th city council workshop meetings. Um, they introduced themselves. um they talked to
you guys about their organization and they prevented they presented their um development idea for affordable single family homes or facility built housing. Um and they they received uh feedback from you guys. Overall, the council was very supportive of the potential
project. Um, attached to this memo, you'll find the proposed development layout um and some design concept again with uh plenty of um information questions that are frequently asked. Um there's some numbers in there as well. Um so with
this there's also attached a exclusive right to negotiate agreement. So NCF would use this to apply for different funding opportunities, some of which require the ability to se demonstrate um some level of site control. NCF is still
on track to submit a proposal for the Minnesota Impact Fund RFP, which is due in early July. Um once more details come together on this project, including finance and location, the city and NCF can then start working on a development
agreement. So on page 31 is the actual exclusive right to negotiate uh a purchase. Um there's four sections there. The first section goes over the period which would be about a a year and a half long period. Then there's some development goals stated there in the
middle of page 31. And then um some financing and product offerings. So um providing home loan products tailored to the affordability and accessibility goals of this project. And then at the bottom there is two potential sites. Um there's kind of more of a primary site
and a secondary site which would be the Klein Street um and the Greenway site or the land for sale property and those are on page 82 of the packet. Um if you look to page 79, it actually shows a proposed layout of what that could look like. Um
there's some phasing that could be done. Um, and then there's on page 78 and before there's actually some 3D layouts of what these housing what the housing could look like. So, uh, yeah, and then on page 82, you'll
see the the two sites that are under consideration. And then again, lots of information here. So, um, either Todd or myself, u, Tori or Dave would be happy to answer any questions. And then the resolution is on page 84.
Awesome. Thank you for sharing. Um, questions, Carrie? Yeah. So, as soon as you're able to apply for a grant, how how long does it take to hear back? Sure. Um, I'll make sure getting getting close enough here. Um
the the program that Ben mentioned in his report is the impact fund through Minnesota Housing. That's due early July. Typically, you don't hear back until the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency's board meeting in December. So, there's a bit of a lead time. Um there
are some other um there are some other funding opportunities that we're just not sure when they're going to be announced um when the RFPs are are made available. I don't know if you mentioned any of the other funding in the pack. Do you say December or September? December. December. Yep. December 2025. And can
you talk about the way that a resolution like this helps support that effort? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. One of the things that agency reviewers of these types of applications, one of the criteria that they're looking for is project readiness. And a key piece of project readiness is ensuring that all
of the various parties are aligned and supportive of the project. One way to demonstrate that is with a site control agreement. This isn't quite a site control agreement. um in in the way that it's phrased, but it does kind of show that contractual um uh type of
commitment between both parties. Um and obviously the most important thing to the reviewers for an application for housing development is that you have a candidate site to develop. Uh so it's a key piece of the the the funding availability in terms of scoring. Mayor Prom may ask one more question. You may.
Okay. Thank you. Um, well, first of all, I just want to say I think that housing is such a complex issue and it takes a diverse amount of solutions and strategies to tackle it, especially affordable housing. Um, I'm really
excited to throw my support behind this. Um, I think it's a creative idea and it feels pretty cool for St. Peter to be a part of this. Um I have heard in our community um as I've been excited about it and talked about it um just the idea
of like how how do people think when they're living in a community community like this do they feel like they're not just a part of community owner home ownership but they're a home owner and so there was some concern that I've heard about well we all have this dream of home owner own home ownership and
this is just a little bit of a different concept than I think folks are used to. How would you respond to something like that? Yeah. Um, we think that a project like this u is a really great like nexus point between where lots of people are
on the housing continuum, right? So, it's a good entrylevel step towards other options in your housing journey. Uh, it might be for someone that's downsizing and wants a smaller place to live, right? So, it's part of what is referred to in the housing community as the missing middle of housing
development. Um, so it provides kind of a a medium space in between different options. Like if you're a renter trying to get into home ownership or if you're overhoused and you're looking to downsize and get into one level living, it's a perfect candidate for that. As
far as like people feeling like they're a homeowner, um we've been really intentional in all of the pieces, especially around the home buyer education and the financing, which I know that this council has deliberated about quite a bit, and I'm glad that you're interested in the home homeowner
financing. We certainly are very keen around that topic as well. Um, I think all of the things that we've been doing to align the home buyer ad and the financing, um, will set people up to really be serious about being a homeowner that they're securing financing to purchase the home. They're
doing education to purchase the home. So, everything on their pathway is going to be about them owning that owning that home and having that pride of ownership. I would say they get home ownership plus because they're also an owner and get experience in running a large
organization like a cooperative that owns the underlying land. So, they're also getting access to not only skills that you would be having if you're a homeowner, but you're getting all this access and insight into, you know, Robert's rules of orders because they're running on a co-op board and they're doing all of these things in the life of
the cooperative as well. Um, so we really see it as an enhancement to home ownership and that's the way that we would frame it in conversations with folks for sure. Thanks so much. Yeah. Other questions, Brett? Um, so I have a few questions. Uh, first of all, I I do like this idea. Um, I am in favor of it.
I do think it does present people both an opportunity to move into housing as well as move down. Um, I look at it, you know, as one way of, well, we've got Windsor Pond, which is great, but it's mostly for retired people who can afford something like that, but it's an HOA, single family home HOA. This is just
more, this is just something for more of the either younger people or older people looking to downsize that missing middle. I do like the idea. I think it could be a great asset to our community. Um, I've been one who's been, you know, concerned about the financing aspect of it. Um, I do appreciate you the letter
you addressed on particularly the sec essentially not necessarily the primary mortgage, but if someone looks to sell it and your the ways that you'd be looking at providing mortgages for the second buyer of a home versus this first um have a uh one of my first questions
which Todd relayed to you um and I'm just going to put it out there because I had said um so on page 75 you talk about 30-year loans are available and then below that um home buyer assistance is available to those under AMI. Okay. So, for the 30-year loans, are those
available to any buyer? Like, they don't have to fit the 80% AMI if they're above that. They can still get your 30-year loan. That's correct. The the Prime Path loan program is not income restricted. Okay, great. That's that and I'm glad to hear that because, you know, there might be some that are just above or just some
that are significantly above that threshold, but, you know, they're looking to get into a more affordable house and this is their opportunity to get into that. Um, so, um, and then the next question I have, it's page 50, it's how page 50, will the home be titled as
real property or personal property? You indicate that Minnesota law now allows for, uh, cooperatively homes to be titled as real property, but this has not happened yet. Um, explain that. Sure. Um, to do so briefly. Um,
uh, okay, let me take a crack at it. Uh it is. Yes. We made an attempt at um passing a law back in 2021 to have manufactured homes when they're on cooperatively owned land titled be have the option to be legally affixed to the
land because they're already affixed to the land but legally affixed to the land so that they could get access to Fanny May Freddy Mack fedallym backed mortgages right which is the bedrock of single family home ownership in this country is access to liquidity in that
secondary market. Um so really it was our organization's aim at accessing that secondary market um that we went after that. Uh what we realized uh after passing that law is that there's a lot more and a lot more people involved in
ensuring that u all the conditions are right for manufactured homes. um when the when it's uh leased land even if it's through a cooperative to be able to legally affix the structure to the land and secure that it's really it's really
about secondary markets and how Fanny May and Freddy Mack look at this. So it's it's like way above my pay grade at the federal level about secondary market issue. Yes. So the whole impetus though for getting for for going after single
or uh manufactured home titling reform was that impetus of trying to get access to a secondary market nationally. The perspective and this is true of our organization as well. The the push is to push on all fronts because manufactured homes, facility built homes, they're all
indistinguishable. They're all, you know, wonderful structures now. They're well built. Um, and so it's just frustrating to everyone nationally that they don't have the same access simply because of the land. Of course, from a lender's perspective, um, and I'm sorry,
I'm I'm probably getting too much in the weeds, but from a lender's perspective, it's all about the the structure. It's all about land, right? Security of land. Uh, so really our organization's perspective, and I would say nationally, this is the perspective as well about manufactured homes. What we're trying to
get at is security of land tenure, right? What you're trying to get is some type of security for that homeowner that has all of their assets in this structure that they have some level of control of the land underneath it, right? Because that's where they're most vulnerable is in your existing
manufactured home communities in your community residents and the homeowners in those communities, Marway, Green Valley, they have very little control about the the land rents that go up every month. So really all we're trying to do and what the the new leaf what um our existing preservation work is about
achieving is the security of the land underneath that home which demonstrates to lenders that there's that ongoing perpetual security for that asset. Um, so whether it's real property titling or it's this prime path product that achieves the same objective, um, it it's
all one and the same in terms of just unlocking better financing tools on longer terms, fixed terms for folks that purchase these types of homes. Thank you for the explanation. Um, do you have more? Yeah. Well, I was just going to say, um, so I am supportive of of the
excl of this resolution for the exclusive right to negotiate. I I do have a I I have a concern uh just with NCF being the only financing opportunity at this point for for a uh for for a community of for a uh a project of this
size, but you're obviously obviously you're working on it. Um because I think also opening up the opportunity for regular mortgages will only help with I both with your financing and then having other mortgages come in. So um yeah, like I said, I'm I'm in favor of it. Um,
but yes, uh, I I do think it would only help your cause to continue to work on the on the secondary market and and the real property aspect of it. So, thank you. And am I safe in assuming that that's a very large priority of your guys'? Yes, absolutely. for both our
existing preservation work of existing communities, our new construction. Um, and I mean there are lots of the majority of manufactured homes are on lease land, whether they're in a community setting or whether they're on, you know, triby owned land or just on any non-owned land. There's lots of farm
families that have manufactured homes or modular homes that are on their homestead, right? And that's considered non-owned land as well. So there's a much bigger tent that we're talking about here about access to financing than even just even just our our our little project setting. Um so it's a
part of a larger scope of things. So absolutely. Can I oversimplify something and hopefully not put words in your mouth? Sure. Moving forward, there is financing for both people who can make a down payment andor people who need assistance.
Correct. There is funding available. Correct. Yep. There's a down payment assistance program. That is the incomerestricted one, right? So, you have to meet a certain income in order to qualify for the down payment assistance program. But the home financing product is agnostic to your
your income qualification. Okay. Well, if we have any viewers or anyone who happens to tune into this, hopefully that's a good clarification at the end. Um, further questions if Oh, Josh, I was just going to say I I too am generally supportive of this. Um,
however, I voiced this in our sessions as well. I I'm pretty against the idea of this going on the North Klein Street lot and very interested in it going on the Traverse Road parcel. I know that's not totally what this is about, but um that North Klein Street area is is
intentionally supposed to be for industrial and commercial use. And while I know we've been putting some residential housing there, I think it makes a lot more sense to put what will be desirable residential housing in what will be a residential neighborhood that we're putting together. And while I do
plan to support this, I just want to put that out there that my support is, you know, somewhat backed by the idea of hoping for this to go into a residential neighborhood rather than uh an industrial sort of edge of the city area. And I have no doubt we're going to have plenty additional conversations
about this, but once we enter, if we choose to enter into this negotiation agreement, we can start that process. But let me start by saying I appreciate my fellow council members who like that location. I just always want to put a plug for the um Klein Street location
being um there's just like perfect marriage of employers and residential and opportunities for bikable, walkable opportunities. And so we have some of our largest employers up there, more residential up there, I think could be
harmonious um for everybody. And so I respect everyone's opinion on that, but I do want to continue to make that point that it could be a very good option. Brett, um I I'll just Yeah, now we're getting into location. So um I I I will
agree with that, Council Member Weisenfeld. Um I I believe the other location is a more ideal one. I I I feel like this one is almost putting this this uh the this opportunity in a corner of the community as far away from everything as possible that it might not
be seen. Um whereas the other location might be ideal. Um but once again as Mayor Prom said once we get past this then we we can start discussing location. Correct. I assure I'm assuming that we will have a very lengthy discussion in multiple workshops if we
get to that point. Any other questions or comments? Darl, I got two actually two questions. Um I guess the first question is um what's the path forward if you do receive the Greater Minnesota Infrastructure Grant? And the second
question is what's what's the what's the reality? What's the path forward if you don't receive it? Uh are is everyone else on the council aware of the greater Minnesota infrastructure funding program? Todd and Ben, that hasn't been one of the primary discussion points. We've been working to
get to this point. Okay. Would it be appropriate to provide context? Okay. Just just want to make sure we're all and and as Tori said at the beginning, there are multiple funding opportunities that are out there that overlap. Yes. And so there are other opportunities and
just like we do with Gorman Park and other projects, we're shaking every possible tree that we can to see if we can get resources to help these projects move forward. But you got it. But we are I I wouldn't miss the opportunity to say how excited we are for the fact that of two housing projects that were funded in
the general obligation bonding bill in the state legislature this year. This type of project was funded through the greater Minnesota infrastructure grant program um at $3 million made available for um cities, municipalities to apply for specifically for this type of
project. Um so we're we're hoping that the city of St. Peter, it's still unclear when the RFP will be for that funding since the bill just got signed into law. Um, so we'll we'll have more information for uh for Todd and Ben uh
about that uh that bonding uh funding. Uh and so it's it's kind of but we but we hope and expect that you would score highly. Uh we're not aware of many other projects that fit the bill that would meet the requirements of that funding. Um so hopeful about that one. Um there
is also another pot of money um at the federal level um under the price and I always forget the acronym but this was passed in 2023 funding that was u made available in 2023. The nonprofit Minnesota housing partnership based in St. Paul is the administer um
administrating agency um entity for that. It's a $20 million award. Um and one of the eligible uses of that federal funding is also a project like this as well. So those so the impact fund, the price funding, and then this greater Minnesota um infrastructure grant
program uh with the bonding uh uh uh uh appropriation that I just mentioned are three immediate um uh funding opportunities for the project. Um to get to your question, um we're shaking all of the trees to
Todd's point. Um, and I think we're feeling very optimistic that among the three um options that could help cover some of the really the most capital intensive part of the project, which is the the infrastructure uh development, water, sewer, roads, uh, and the like.
Uh, we're confident, feeling confident, more so than ever, um, and we've been at, you know, at this project for, um, a little over five years, uh, working towards our first demonstration project. more confident than ever that between those two sources that there's going to
be a um a good case for funding. So, would that bring in 20% of the funding you need, 100% of the funding you need if you were to receive that grant, or where would you be at for funding if you were successful? Um yes. Uh I I the
current estimate is that between those two sources, the price funding um and or this bonding um financing from the state of Minnesota that we could cover the the subsidy aspect of the water sewer road buildout.
So you'd have the funds to start adding into a little different way. Yes, please. based on how you guys talk about this is that um there are three or four key factors to making this entire project go forward. We're at step two or
three in my book which is providing the opportunity for NCF to apply for additional funding where they need to demonstrate some level of sight control. Yep. Next is funding. And whatever funding we get will be put into the overall cost, revenue, and expense
structure. And our target continues to be that $200,000 or less. So that's one of the primary goals here. No matter how much or how little we get, if we can't make that number or if that 200,000 number moves within the marketplace, we can adjust, but we have to make that
number. So right now the infrastructure costs are less than 3 million under the current bestcase scenario that we have. And so if we received 3 million from an infrastructure standpoint, we'd be in great shape. In addition to that, from a staff perspective, the third requirement
is being able to it's great that we have the infrastructure, but we have to have mortgage products and we talked about that earlier and how important that is, not just at the first point of sale, but who comes and buys the home after I bought it when I leave. And so are there funding mechanisms? And then of course
the fourth is determining location and where can you make that work out from the discussion and the direction that I've received previously from the council. And you might not all agree and that's okay. But where from a staff perspective we view you're at is that this type of affordable housing or affordable housing in general continues
to be a very high priority for you. And if we can make that work, location is a secondary issue that you'll discuss and will get figured out. However, it is also true that as we add cost to this, the need for outside funding to ensure we meet that purchase threshold of
$200,000 or less, that ceiling, I should say, um becomes more and more difficult. So, it's a matter of balancing these things. So, the next step in the process would be applying for funding and other funding. The step after that would be if we receive funding, then we do a recalculation. We come back and talk
with all of you about where are we at related to that $200,000. And then at some point depending on where you want to move, what resources we have, there'll be a discussion about a development agreement. That development agreement will indicate the resources that NCF is bringing, what we're providing, how funding is being provided
for for the infrastructure, whether it's grant funded or there's an assessment or how all of that fits together, and then you'll be able to make an an educated decision related to what's available to move this project forward. And I would anticipate that's going to happen over
the next eight months to a year potentially is what it'll take to get that far along. Um that's how long these types of projects take. And so um if we don't get those grant funds, are there other opportunities? The numbers that you've seen so far have been premised on
the idea that we will not get a substantial amount of those grant dollars. that assessment or some other financing mechanism will be put in place to provide for the infrastructure. And so any dollars that we get help move us towards a greater affordability and
that's been the discussion that the council's had. Affordability is important within the housing market within St. And the ability to provide for that is really premised on a bunch of different things including Monday money and finding partners with substantially
similar goals and technical expertise to make help you make it happen. I'm pretty confident that we will have many discussions about this moving forward and the logistics of it. The purpose of tonight's vote, getting back to it, is just on a resolution approving
an executive right to negotiate for the purchase. Exclusive right to negotiate. Exclusive right to negotiate. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Council member Johnson. I. Council member Pettis. I. Council member Ram. Hi. Council member Wisenville. Hi.
Council member Sarstrom. Hi. Council member DVOS. Hi. I was supposed to say call roll. All right. Next on our agenda, the an amendment to ADA accessibility grant program which starts on page 85 in
your packet and goes until page 90 and this one I believe is Ben. Y thank you Mayor Prom and city council members. Um so if you do look at page the memo starts on page 85 but uh on
page 88 um this is actually our program guidelines for access the accessibility improvement grant. So, um, our finance director, um, came and attended the May 29th EDA meeting, um, and she provided,
uh, she asked us to consider amending the, uh, grant program guidelines, um, explaining because if we do get a loan or slashgrant of over $9,000, um, there is some extra procedures and tracking obligations that are required
uh, by the finance department and by businesses receiving the loan or grant fund for tax purposes. Um, so Sally suggested any loans or grants awarded by the program be granted full grant right away and not partially forgiven. So if
you look at the middle of page 85, if right now we have um these grants or loans are forgiven at a ratio of 1 over 15. So 115th. So each year it gets less and less until you get to the 15th year.
Um so following the finance director's explanation and rationale for the proposed amendment, the EDA did recommend approval of the proposed amendment. Um this would allow for full forgiveness of the grant amount immediately and it wouldn't be advertised. Um grant recipients would
still be responsible for maintenance of the improvement over time provided the grant agreement. Um, another note in there too, if you look at the middle of page 97.5, there is a um, underlined in red, just making sure that if for some reason a
door came out or a ramp came out, that on that property and that building, there would still be some accessibility uh, requirement to that building if for some reason it was taken out. And that would be for that that lifespan of the agreement. So on page 87 is a resolution
to consider. Um again, it was the EDA's recommendation to approve this little adjustment to the um program. But I would also think from a business's perspective, not having to deal with this for 15 years would make it more
conducive. Yeah, absolutely. Yes, for sure. questions. So just an administrative burden from the perspective of the city to have to track that people who've received it, their accountants just seems logical to
me. And for the explanation where 9,000 comes in over 15 years, um it's advertised $600 a year and $600 is the magic point that a 1099 is required to be sent out at. So that's why it was referenced at $9,000 is because of that.
It's if it was under $9,000 then 1099s weren't needed at this point. That makes sense. Thanks, Brad. Other questions, comments? Call the role. Oh, nope. Sorry. I need a motion. So move.
Second. Council member Pettis. I. Council member Ram. I. Council member Wisenfeld. I. Council member Sharstrom. Hi. Council member Das. Hi. Council member Johnson. I All right. Next on our agenda is the
2025 ADA accessibility grant awards which starts on page 91 and ends on 95 in the packet. All right. Thank you Pro Mayor Prom and city council members. Um this is a very exciting agenda item each
year. um in back in 2019, so it's been a little while now, the EDA and city council created this program, um this accessibility improvement grant program, and it was developed to encourage commercial properties and businesses to enhance accessibility for those with
mobile mobility impairments. Um earlier this year, uh the council decided that $55,000 approximately, um was going to be the budget for the 2025 program. Um, just to note that where that $55,000
comes from is our finance director, Sally, um, calculates what the interest was earned on our revolving loan funds the previous year and it was about $55,000. So, it's not taxpayer money or anything like that. It's actually in interest generated um through the
revolving loan programs. Um, so we did send out notice to all the commercial properties in town. Um we gave them uh quite a bit of time to put their applications together and by now most are familiar because the program has
been going for a few years about this. Um we did receive 11 applications for a little over $100,000. So almost half over or you know 55,000 as our budget. We had $103,000 in requests. So um the
that's why we're this on bottom page 91 this great committee that comes together is formed. There's eight members. Um, three ADA members, a HPC member, a planning commission member, and some members from the community development department, and a business owner that does happen to have some mobility
impairment um to provide a different perspective on when we're reviewing these grants. So just an excellent group that got together and went through all these different scenarios, these applications and they used the criteria um from the from the guidelines and on
the top of page 92 to help them make a decision on ranking the different applications that came in. So um on May 12th, the AC application review committee reviewed it. they made a recommendation to the EDA and then on May 29th the EDA uh basically took that
recommendation and they're recommending to you the on the middle of page 92 the seven businesses organizations um listed there totaling $56,439. On the bottom of page 92, you can see all of our past applicants over the last
five years. This is about $200,000 worth of um of grant funding that uh the city and the EDA has has given out for this program. So very impactful. Um I guess at this time I'd be happy to answer any
questions if you have any. And I know we do have a few EDA members here tonight too, so they can pipe in if they want. Questions. I just have a comment. you know, one of with all this work um over the years, the council and uh the community
development office putting this together all those years ago and then the work of the committee, it is amazing to walk around our city and see so many of these automatic doors that were not there before. It just makes it possible um for
business owners to take this step and to modify it in such a way that you know still uh maintains the integrity of some of these historic buildings but makes it accessible for everybody. And so I just feel very proud of this program.
I couldn't think any higher of this program. Um, just at quick glance, 31 businesses in five years have benefited from this. And this is not costing the taxpayers any money. All it is doing is making our community more accessible and welcoming.
Um, so Carrie and I were both on the EDA before we were on city council and we were here when when and we were on that when this first came to us and I remember JohnWami speaking so passionately and he was actually speaking on behalf of uh Stephen Steve Grahams. Um, and yeah, it it it's really
amazing what started from something that we were hoping to help just our business district and now is helping larger parts of the community. It's it is this this is one of the fun things that we have come up every year. Sometimes we have we have vigorous debates as to whether something does or doesn't fit the
criteria, but it's still a really good debate to have and it's it's re it's probably one of one of our fun topics to discuss even both on the EDA and here at the city council. For those who are newer to town or maybe unfamiliar, Steven Grahams was one of our city council members who was in a wheelchair.
Also happened to be my neighbor who passed away recently. His family has had continual conversation with me and could not be prouder of what we're doing. On that note, do I have a motion? So move. Second. Call the role. Council
member Rant. I. Council member Wisenfeld. I. Council member Sharstrom. I. Council member Devos. I. Council member Johnson. I. Council member Pettis. Hi. All right. Moving on to item D. Timeless license for a ramp in the
right ofway which begins on page 96 and goes until page 102. Is this one you again Ben? Is everything you tonight? It is. Yeah. Okay. Between him and Tyler this second. Hey guys. Go ahead Ben. So uh with the resolution
just being passed um approving those businesses and organizations for the accessibility improvement grants. Um timeless was one of them. They had two items in there. one was an automatic door opener and one was a ramp. Uh just because of the way that their building is laid out and the grade in the back
and um how things are situated with uh old construction and electric and tight spaces. We looked at all sorts of different options for them to get a a door or hallway or something through their building and it just isn't possible. So the alternative was to um
put a ramp into the park row sidewalk. it'd be about three and a half to four feet wide and go for maybe a little over 20 feet. Um because it's going in the park row um rightway or sidewalk, there is a license that's required. Um and so
the HPC actually was able they review everything exterior in the downtown district. They did meet on April 29th and they recommended approval of the ramp and then of course the EDA um and the application review committee
approved the grant for the for the ramp itself. Um so this is strictly is just a license to be in that sidewalk and the the resol is attached and then um the resolution is attached as well. Questions or comments for Ben?
here members. I will mention that you have provided licenses in the past under various circumstances for use of rightaway. And um from a staff perspective, this meets the criteria to provide opportunity for long-term use of the rightway while limiting liability
for the city um for improvements that are made within your right of way. Hearing that, do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Call the role. Council member Wisenfeld. Hi. Council member Shstrom. Hi. Council member Devos. I. Council member Johnson.
I. Council member Pettis. Hi. Council member W. I. All right. Moving on to the next item with timeless. That would be the CBD accessibility enhancement loan, which goes from pages 103 to 108.
Thank you, Mayor Prom and members of the city council. U. Um, back in March, uh, Brian and Cora Hogan of Brycorp LLC, which are the applicants, purchased the property at 123125 South Minnesota Avenue. Uh, this is currently the record
store. Um, you might know it by that or previously Rick's Consignment Antiques or the Orange Christmas Trees if you remember. Um, so what they're looking to do is put Timeless on the South uh, commercial property next to the record
store. Um, and then up above there is some rentals, some uh residential rentals, and that's actually where they'll live, uh, above one of the stores. Um, but in that and in that they're infusing about $200,000 into
this property, and into this building. Um, they do need a little bit of help. So, they have requested some fun funds from the EDA city um, in the form of two loan requests. The first one would be specific to the central business or downtown district area. We do have a
loan program um for the very thing that they're doing and that would be exterior improvements um at 123125 South Minnesota and that request is for $19,416. Um the second one would be just from our revolving loan fund um and that would be
for the interior improvements that they're doing. Um, and that was in the requested amount of $26,650. If you look on page 104, you'll see um all the exterior improvements that they're looking to do on the top there.
That particular loan um does allow for um up to 90% to be funded and they're responsible for 10%. So, out of the $21,573, they're going to provide 10% in matching um and then uh gradually repay that back. This particular one does offer a
loan forgiveness of $5,000. So, if they make all their payments on time, they will receive the $5,000 off at the very end. Um so, that's uh a nice caveat of this loan program. The terms of this one would be 0% um advertised over 10 years.
So about $162 a month would be the payment. So this does meet the purpose of this loan program um which is designed to fund exterior historical enhancements and uh help rein reinvest in properties within the downtown area.
Both the EDA loan committee and the EDA did recommend approval of this one. on the top of page 105. Um this is the second loan request. Um this one would be for uh about a little over 4% of the
total project cost or investment in this property, which is $622,426. So 4% of that is $26,650. Um this one would be for the interior remodeling at uh Timeless and on this building. And the terms of this loan
would be at 5.5% interest advertised over 20 years. And then we would um as EDA and city look at this in five years. So they could either pay it off in five years or they could ask ask for an extension and then the city could consider that at that time where the
5.5% comes um last year the EDA and council approved if in the guidelines if um a loan was secured or backed by real estate and which it will be in this case we actually can go 2% lower than the prime rate which is at 7.5 right now and
that's where that 5% 5.5% comes in. Again, with this one, we have a EDA loan review committee comprised of two bankers, local bankers, city administrator and myself that initially reviews it. We make sure that they can make their payments and review their loan documents. And um that group
recommended approval to the EDA and the EDA also looked at this and recommended approval of that loan as well. So then attached um starting on page 107, there's actually two resolutions to consider. one for the central business district loan and then one for the
revolving loan. Point of clarification, Todd, do we need to have two separate votes? Then we want to have two separate boats because these are from two separate programs and it makes everything nice and clean for your auditors and for the funding mechanisms. Okay, so the first one would be going
from page 105 to 106. Am I saying that right? Oh, nope. 107. The resolution ends on page 108 for the first one. That's correct. Starts on page 107. So moved.
Second. All right. Call the RO. Council member Charstrom. I. Council member Devos. I. Council member Johnson. I. Council member Pettis. Hi. Council member Ran. Hi. Council member Weisenfeld. Hi.
All right. So the second one. Um, do we have any questions or comments on this one? being I was just gonna I was just going to uh uh just note that the besides being secured besides the loans being secured and obviously we hope the business is successful uh this property
does have two uh rental two rental units that will be leased out that will help with the payment for this if people are wondering how it's going to be paid for part of it will be paid for by rental income so okay thank you for the clarification other comments questions
so I will This resolution goes from page 109 to 110. A motion. I'll make a motion. Second. Call the RO. Council member Deos. I. Council member Johnson. I. Council
member Pettis. Hi. Council member Ram. I. Council member Weisenfeld. I. Council member Shar. I. All right. So that would be both E and F. Moving on to G, which is spring touch, which is Rit Street loan
extension, which is page 111 to 113 in the packet. Thank you, Mayor Prom and members of the city council. Um, this particular loan request is into regards to the property at 430 Rit Street, which would be across from the current MDOT
truck station. Um, so way back in 2009, we had a great business, Creation Technology, that the EDA and the council uh helped actually move out to the North Industrial Park out on Sunrise Drive. They've created a beautiful facility and actually added on um again here
recently. Um just a great business to have out in that business park. So, um, with them them moving out there, that actually opened up this building at 430 Rich Street, um, the city EDA owned it for a little while and then was, um,
recruiting or enticing businesses to come. Springtouch from North Mano was actually this business that came um, and they asked for uh, a loan way back in 2015 and that loan amount was, I believe,
$500,000. Um, so what they use that for is actual purchase of the property and then the remodeling or rehabbing of of the buildings there. Um, so if you look on page 112, you can see back in the
original loan had a interest rate of 3% over 20 years. Um, and then they came back 5 years later just like our program allows for a um, a review after 5 years. It was reviewed, it was extended um, again for another 15 at 3%. Um, in the
meantime, like I explained on the last one, um, the the there was some revisions to our guidelines and um, we actually follow the prime rate and so um, 2% under the prime rate is 5.5%. So the the new loan extension that the EDA
is recommending here, it would be over 10 years at 5.5%. Um, so 213,000 or the current balance would be the the amount. So again, we had the EDA loan uh review subcommittee look at this. They recommended approval to the EDA and then
the EDA um also approved this at their last meeting. Um so if you have any questions on this one, this is would be comments hearing none. Do I have a motion? Motion second.
Call the RO. Council member Johnson. I. Council member Pettz. Hi. Council member Rand. I. Council member Wingfeld. Hi. Council member Sharstrom. I. Council member Das. I. All right. That concludes all of our new business. Moving on to reports.
We'll start by asking, do we have any council members that would like to make a report? Okay. Um, I do have from the mayor um two proclamations. that she would like to make. The first proclamation is proclaiming John Denver
Day. Whereas John Denver, an iconic American singer songwriter, touched the hearts of millions through his music and lyrics celebrating nature, love, and the human spirit. And whereas it was in St. Peter that John Denver met Annie
Martell, a Gust Davis student and local resident. And whereas John and Annie were later married in St. Peter and spent the early years of their marriage in Minnesota, a period that inspired some of his most beloved songs. And whereas John Denver became a cherished
pres presence in the St. Peter community during his time here, forming meaningful connections with residents and sharing in the vibrancy of our city. And whereas Young John Denverfest is an event held in St. Peter to honor John Denver's
connection to our community and celebrate his mu music and legacy. Now therefore, I Shannan Noal, mayor of the city of St. Peter, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim Friday, June 13, 2025 as John
Denver Day in the city of St. Peter. And I encourage all residents and visitors to join in the celebration, sharing in music, and reflect on the lasting impact of John Denver's artistry and special connection to our community. In the
witness whereof, I have here unto set my hands and caused the seal of the city of St. Peter to be affixed this 13th day of June, 2025. The next one is the proclamation of Rex
and recreation months. Whereas parks and recreation is an integral part of communities throughout this country, including the city of St. Peter. And whereas parks and recreation promote health and wellness, improving the physical and mental health of the people
who live near the parks. And whereas parks and recreation promotes time spent outdoors in nature, which positively impacts mental health by increasing cognitive performance and well-being and alleviating illnesses such as depression, attention deficit order, and
Alzheimer's. And whereas parks and the and recreation encourages physical activity by providing space for athletes, trails, playgrounds, golf courses, community gardens, and many other activities designed to promote active lifestyles and parks and
recreation programming and education activities are critical to childhood development. And in July, the city of St. Peter's recreck and leisure service departments is offering a variety of enrichment programs including a youth pickleball tournament, youth basketball
league, youth fishing contest, collaborative story time with the police department, bedtime buddy adventures at the library, and volunteer in the park fundraising effort in support of Operation Gratitude and Parks and
Recreation increases a community's economic prosperity. through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism and crime reduction. And whereas our parks and open spaces
ensure the ecological beauty of the community and provide a place for children and adults to connect with nature and recreate outdoors. And whereas the US House of Representatives has designated July as parks and wreck month and
whereas the city recognizes the benefit derived from parks and recreation services. Now therefore I Shannan Noal mayor of the city of St. Peter, Minnesota do hereby proclaim July 2025
as parks rec park parks and recreation month in the city of St. Peter. We call upon all citizens and civic organizations to pay tribute to the value parks and recreations bring to our community and to recognize the sub substantial contribution parks and
recreation professionals make in our health, quality of life, active lifestyles, socialization, and the building of communities. I witness therefore I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the city of St. Peter to be affixed to this 23rd day in
June 2025. That was a mouthful. Two of them. Moving on to reports from our administrator. Um, mayor members, I only have one thing that I want mention and if you want to get your calendars out for this, that would be great. We really appreciate you responding to the query
about who's available, what's going on in the month of July. I know you have lots of things going on, but I do want to mention that based on the responses that we received that we will be unable to reach quorum on July 7th. So the workshop that would normally be scheduled for July 7th will not take
place um due to our inability to make quorum. Um we would anticipate certainly that on June 30th, which is the Monday before a week from now, um you'll have your goal setting session and then on July 14th you'll be back in regular council session. So, um, for those of
you that weren't already going to be gone, I guess you can be gone, too, on July 7th. So, we wanted to make sure we give that opportunity to you. We know you have a lot of things going on in your lives, not just your life here at the council meeting. Um, Mayor Prom, that's all I have for you for tonight. All right.
All reports done. I will ask for a motion to adjurnn. So, moved. Second. All those in favor? I meeting's over.