[0:00] 6:00 on August 17th will come to order.
[0:03] May I have a roll call, please?
[0:06] » Cheeseman
[0:06] » Here.
[0:07] » Gilbertson
[0:08] » Here.
[0:08] » Hellwick
[0:09] » Here.
[0:10] » Jenna Wine
[0:11] » Here.
[0:11] » Lever
[0:12] » Here.
[0:12] » Lias here.
[0:14] » Mura
[0:15] » Here.
[0:15] » Taller
[0:16] » Here.
[0:17] » Major O Kelly
[0:18] » Here. Will you please join me for the
[0:20] pledge of
[0:20] » Allegiance
[0:24] to the flag of the United States of
[0:26] America and to the republic for which it
[0:29] stands. One nation under God,
[0:32] indivisible, with liberty and justice
[0:35] for all.
[0:36] » Thank you very much.
[0:41] So, we've all received the minutes for
[0:43] the three meetings we've had since the
[0:44] last time we met. Has anybody have had a
[0:46] chance to read them? have any comments,
[0:48] corrections, revisions to the minutes of
[0:50] the last three meetings, including the
[0:52] one the orientation meeting
[0:56] » And move approval.
[0:57] » Move approval. I have a move to a motion
[0:59] to approve. Do I have a second?
[1:01] » Second.
[1:02] » All in favor of accepting these minutes
[1:03] indicate by saying I.
[1:05] » I.
[1:05] » Opposed? Nay.
[1:07] » The minutes are adopted. Uh the adoption
[1:10] of the agenda. We've all had a chance to
[1:12] see the agenda. Does anybody have any
[1:14] additions, revisions, or corrections to
[1:16] our current agenda?
[1:19] If not, I would entertain a motion to
[1:21] approve the the agenda as written.
[1:24] » Second.
[1:25] » Very good. Thank you. I got it. You got
[1:27] it. Okay. Thank you very much. All in
[1:28] favor of approving the agenda as written
[1:30] in campus saying I
[1:32] » Opposed. Nay. The agenda is adopted.
[1:36] So, uh, do we have any visitors to be
[1:38] heard on items not on the agenda?
[1:41] Members of the public may speak on any
[1:43] topic and remarks are limited to to five
[1:46] minutes and no decision will made at
[1:47] this time by the city council. Public
[1:50] testimony on items on the agenda.
[1:52] There'll be an opportunity for those as
[1:53] we go through the agenda. Okay. Are
[1:57] there any visitors to be heard on any
[1:59] items not on the agenda?
[2:04] Okay. Very good. We will move on to our
[2:07] public hearings.
[2:13] There we go. Um, so the first one is the
[2:17] resolution authorizing application for
[2:18] financial assistance for the Cotton Park
[2:20] parking lot. Jim,
[2:22] » Good evening members of the council. Uh,
[2:25] background here. The Cotton Park parking
[2:27] lot was built in around 1980 and was
[2:29] held up well over the years um through
[2:31] multiple water or flood events. However,
[2:34] the flood event in June of 24 caused
[2:37] significant damage to both the pavement
[2:39] and underlying base, resulting in
[2:41] buckling, crumbling, and rapid
[2:43] deterioration of the parking lot. At the
[2:45] same time, the Cotton Park parking lot
[2:48] has been getting heavily used with the
[2:50] new addition of the courts down there,
[2:53] uh the dis the disc golf course, the uh
[2:56] new shelter that we have in there, and
[2:57] still stands as kind of the parking lot
[2:59] main area for the hike bike path area.
[3:02] Um, the item that you have before you
[3:04] tonight is a required public hearing
[3:05] associated with the USDA rural
[3:07] development grant application. This
[3:09] hearing gives residents the opportunity
[3:10] to learn about the project, ask
[3:12] questions, and provide feedback before
[3:15] the city submits its application. The
[3:17] project was identified in the city's
[3:19] 2026 CIP with an estimated cost of
[3:22] $450,000.
[3:24] Based on the discussions with the USDA
[3:26] rural development, grant funding could
[3:28] possibly cover half the construction
[3:30] costs with the city's anticipated share
[3:32] coming from the second penny. The
[3:34] parking lot details, just a quick
[3:35] overview. Um, we're going to keep the
[3:37] parking lot within the same size or
[3:39] footprint that it is at now. Replace the
[3:41] existing asphalt with concrete just for
[3:44] longevity and and a better surface um to
[3:47] resist flooding or other possible future
[3:49] flood events. parking capacity of about
[3:51] 63 stalls and widening the entrance from
[3:54] 20 feet to 36 feet. Uh at this time, the
[3:58] only cost is associated with this is the
[4:01] the uh publication of the required
[4:03] public hearing notice. The grant
[4:04] application will be submitted this fall
[4:06] and if funding is awarded, construction
[4:08] would begin in early 2027. Staff is
[4:11] recommending approval of the resolution
[4:13] so the city can move forward with the
[4:14] USDA rule development grant application
[4:17] process. Um, tonight I have Clinton
[4:19] Christensen who has helped from SECOG
[4:21] which has helped or write this grant for
[4:23] the city. Um, and we'd be open to
[4:25] entertain any questions that council or
[4:27] the public may have.
[4:30] Thank you very much. Are there any
[4:31] members of the public wish to comment on
[4:33] this matter?
[4:37] How about members of the council? Gary.
[4:39] Oh, sorry. Gary was a little Go ahead.
[4:41] You go Gary first, then Jay. So Jim,
[4:43] when I read this this afternoon, I
[4:44] you're you're going to be putting
[4:46] concrete down instead of asphalt. I get
[4:48] that, but I also know concrete cracks,
[4:50] too. Uh is this going to be some kind of
[4:53] a special concrete to help withstand the
[4:57] the virtues of that river or what's the
[5:00] plan there?
[5:00] » That's a great question. And to help me
[5:02] answer that question, [laughter]
[5:05] I have an assistant with me tonight who
[5:07] also can kind of give you a little bit
[5:09] more details on that.
[5:10] So, the plan we're going to be using
[5:13] concrete. Uh, the concrete's going to be
[5:14] jointed. So, hopefully that's going to
[5:15] take care of most of the cracking. Um,
[5:18] that you typically might see if it's not
[5:20] jointed. Uh, in addition to that, the
[5:22] base of it is going to be reinforced.
[5:24] We're going to be using uh we're going
[5:26] to be using some uh my gosh, it's
[5:28] escaping. Um,
[5:31] sorry. We're going to be reinforcing the
[5:33] base. uh regardless of that. And then
[5:35] we're also going to be uh adding some
[5:37] fabric to make sure that all the fines
[5:39] and all the gravel stays underneath the
[5:41] concrete road. So all of these items put
[5:43] together will be uh hopefully
[5:46] prohibiting the the concrete to fail the
[5:48] same way that the asphalt did.
[5:51] » Thanks, Jake.
[5:53] » Uh maybe you don't know, Jose. You might
[5:54] know this as much as anybody, so don't
[5:56] go anywhere. Thank you.
[5:57] » Uh does the county still plan on like
[5:58] wrapping that river down there somewhere
[6:00] or are we sure? So, the the county uh we
[6:03] did speak with the county um I'm going
[6:05] to say about a month month and a half
[6:07] ago regarding that. Uh I believe that
[6:09] they're still planning on that. Uh they
[6:11] haven't uh the project their project
[6:14] hasn't gone out to bid at this point. Uh
[6:16] they are aware that we have this project
[6:18] coming up uh early next year more than
[6:20] likely uh and that they're going to be
[6:22] working at that point. They're going to
[6:24] be working around our schedule. Uh so we
[6:26] they have been made aware of it. I think
[6:28] right now they're trying to uh maybe uh
[6:31] have their uh their site for equipment
[6:33] and so forth on the east side of the
[6:35] river. So they're outside of the parking
[6:37] lot and the closure of the parking lot
[6:39] if it's necessary or will be necessary
[6:41] hopefully coincides when they're
[6:42] working. So then we can uh minimize the
[6:47] impact to the public as much as we can.
[6:51] » Yeah. just concerned and I'm sure if
[6:53] we've got a somebody doing planning this
[6:55] whole thing done it but there's a lot of
[6:59] river water bottom on that land and is
[7:02] are we already doing soil testing to
[7:03] make sure we're getting down deep enough
[7:04] to stabilize the ground before we start
[7:06] putting all the concrete in there.
[7:08] » So the it was we did actually did I
[7:11] think two borings two soil borings on
[7:13] the parking lot itself. Uh the geotech
[7:15] already did the design for the for the
[7:17] subbase. Uh and we're going to be using
[7:20] that as far as
[7:21] » So they've given you some statistics
[7:23] what what to use on the base then.
[7:25] » Yep. Yeah. That was required for the
[7:26] grant application as well.
[7:29] » Yes.
[7:31] » Uh why are we widening the driveway from
[7:34] 20 to 36 feet?
[7:36] » So right now there are some issues. Uh
[7:39] if whenever you have two cars there
[7:40] where they're and they're turning, uh
[7:42] you tend to have a little bit of uh uh
[7:45] vehicles uh getting stuck, not stuck,
[7:47] but they just take their time. So we
[7:49] don't want to we don't want to have cars
[7:50] stopping on Dakota Street waiting for
[7:53] somebody to turning out of the parking
[7:54] lot. 36 ft will allow hopefully for two
[7:57] vehicles to to get out whether they're
[8:00] going north or south and space for a car
[8:02] to come in at the same time.
[8:07] Thank you. I go to Cotton Park pretty
[8:09] regularly and I was glad to see that
[8:11] that you're widening that because it is
[8:12] it is an issue. Sometimes you have to
[8:14] stop and you're in the way. But may I
[8:16] ask how you came up with the number of
[8:18] parking spots you want? I rarely see
[8:20] more than two or three cars there at one
[8:21] time. Why do we need 66 or whatever
[8:23] parking spots?
[8:26] » Yours.
[8:27] » So So the the parking layout, as Jim
[8:31] mentioned, we are using the same
[8:32] footprint. uh we just went ahead and put
[8:35] as many as we could that met our
[8:37] standard of 9 by8 and 63 was what we
[8:41] came with. Uh there there isn't in this
[8:43] instance we didn't actually have a
[8:45] formula to go uh to go through. We just
[8:47] tried to at least have the the same
[8:49] amount that we had prior uh which I
[8:52] think was 558.
[8:54] Uh and then uh we just put as many as we
[8:57] could but we tried to not go below that
[8:59] number.
[9:01] I I get that that was clear in the memo,
[9:03] but uh there's I mean I've I don't think
[9:06] I've even for parties I bet I've seen 10
[9:08] there maybe somebody had a birthday
[9:10] party down there.
[9:11] » I can say that when I personally have
[9:14] gone pickle to play pickle ball. Uh I
[9:17] have probably seen about maybe half to
[9:19] 3/4 of that parking lot full. And it's
[9:22] not with just people that play pickle
[9:23] ball. We also have people that go and
[9:25] maybe are using the the shelter or
[9:28] taking their kids over to the playground
[9:30] equipment or playing frisbee golf. So, a
[9:32] lot of these things tend to come at the
[9:35] same time. But
[9:37] » I'm with you. It's probably rare, but we
[9:38] want to have the capacity for the
[9:40] » Yeah, cuz otherwise they don't have a
[9:41] place to park, right? Where are they
[9:42] going to park?
[9:43] » Don't allow parking on Dakota Street.
[9:45] » Very good. And if I may, I think you're
[9:47] only going to see Cotton Park being
[9:49] expanded down there as as um there's a
[9:51] new playground going to go down there
[9:52] hopefully within the next couple years.
[9:54] Um once the pickle ball courts really
[9:56] get used and and found out about, I
[9:59] think you're going to see heavier
[10:00] heavier traffic down there. So, we want
[10:01] to prepare for that as well.
[10:03] » Fair enough. Any further questions or qu
[10:06] comments from the city?
[10:13] » Nope. Uh the staff recommends adoption
[10:16] of this uh resolution. There's no
[10:18] financial consideration. Do I have a
[10:19] motion to adopt this or to approve this
[10:22] resolution?
[10:24] » Second.
[10:25] » All in favor indic.
[10:27] » I post nay. Passes. Thank you very much.
[10:30] Jim.
[10:38] » Don't go. There you go. There you go.
[10:39] Don't go too far away. First reading of
[10:41] the uh uh blue stem trail edition
[10:43] resoning for the co-ousing project. Yep.
[10:46] Jose,
[10:47] » Thank you. Uh so the city has been
[10:48] working with the owner of this property
[10:50] since 2024. Uh this property is located
[10:52] on the east side of Crawford Road. Um oh
[10:55] where is it? Here it is.
[11:00] All right. So this property is uh
[11:02] located on the east side of North
[11:03] Crawford Road and about 400 ft north of
[11:06] East Maine. Uh it's about uh 15 acres in
[11:09] size. As you can see, some of this
[11:11] property is uh within the R2 residential
[11:14] district, which is this pink area. Uh
[11:16] and then also within the NRC uh natural
[11:20] resource conservation district. Uh the
[11:22] R3 district does uh touch or is
[11:26] adjoining the property in question by
[11:28] this little strip right here. Uh this uh
[11:31] property was annexed into the city in
[11:32] March 2026. Um as such uh the property
[11:36] owner uh has a process to follow for uh
[11:40] for reszoning. Uh and this process the
[11:43] the the fact that some of it was already
[11:45] within city limits and another portion
[11:47] was actually annexed at a later time
[11:49] makes that process a little bit uh
[11:51] different than typical uh for anything
[11:53] that's already within city limits like
[11:55] this R2 area. uh for that to be
[11:58] resoneed, the property owner would
[11:59] actually be required to acquire
[12:02] signatures or petitions from uh property
[12:04] owners within 250 ft of that area. But
[12:07] then the area that was recently annexed,
[12:10] so essentially this uh shaded area or
[12:13] the NRC area, well, he's not required to
[12:16] do that. Uh so what staff uh did was to
[12:20] essentially remove the requirement to uh
[12:23] to file an application and to pay the
[12:25] reszoning fee but still was required to
[12:29] to acquire all the signatures as far as
[12:31] the petitions and all the notices and
[12:33] all the letters. All of that was still
[12:34] sent to the property owners. Uh based on
[12:37] that u the owner's plan is to develop
[12:39] the area for residential uses. Uh the
[12:42] intent is to have uh
[12:47] the intent is to actually have Oh, let
[12:49] me sorry
[12:52] it's on the other side.
[12:57] The intent is to actually have uh some
[13:01] town homes on the north side and on the
[13:03] west side and then this large area here
[13:06] would be uh the co-ousing area. uh that
[13:09] co-housing area uh looking at it right
[13:12] here uh would then be actually composed
[13:15] of uh several I think it's 26 units uh
[13:19] and then a larger u house I guess if you
[13:23] want to call it that where they would be
[13:24] able to have more shared meals and a
[13:27] space to share maybe have some get
[13:29] togethers and so forth along with some
[13:31] green spaces. Uh all of these uh shared
[13:34] uses would be available to the to the
[13:37] residents of this co-housing project uh
[13:40] this uh this staff uh after talking to
[13:43] the with the owner uh we propose that
[13:45] this area should actually be resone to
[13:47] the R3 district rather rather than the
[13:50] R2 uh choice the the reasons for that is
[13:53] that the uh a lot of the the items that
[13:56] would actually be considered uh
[13:59] essential for the co-ousing uh some of
[14:01] the the driveways private roads. Uh the
[14:03] lack of frontages for each of these
[14:05] individual properties would make it
[14:07] difficult to be in the R2. So again, the
[14:10] R3. In addition to that, then you also
[14:12] had the size of the development. Uh the
[14:15] R2 sets a max uh of 16 bedrooms. Uh this
[14:20] development would have somewhere between
[14:22] 52 and 54. Uh so again, that's that's a
[14:25] larger number that would have actually
[14:26] been allowed in the R2. Uh so all of
[14:29] these items put together then uh would
[14:32] benefit or would point to this area
[14:34] being reszoned to the R3 district if
[14:36] possible. Uh this item was considered by
[14:38] the planning and zoning commission on
[14:40] August 10th. Uh at that meeting uh one
[14:42] individual did uh talk in favor of the
[14:45] proposed project and and recommended or
[14:48] said that the item should be approved by
[14:50] the PL by the city council. Uh after a
[14:53] brief discussion, the commission
[14:54] recommended unanimously A to Z for the
[14:56] city council to approve the reszoning uh
[14:59] the resone as proposed by staff.
[15:01] Administration and the planning
[15:02] commission recommend that the city
[15:04] council advance the ordinance uh to a
[15:06] second reading on September 8th.
[15:09] » Thank you very much. Are there any
[15:10] members of the public who have a comment
[15:12] about this proposed ordinance?
[15:17] » No. How about members of the city
[15:19] council? Any comments or suggestions?
[15:21] Would Lindsay beat you yet? Gary
[15:24] Lindsay,
[15:25] » Um, can you I'm a little confused by
[15:28] some of the roads that are note are
[15:31] notated on these maps. Should we take
[15:33] that I mean to heart. For example, Clark
[15:36] Street. Is that is that going to be
[15:39] Clark Street?
[15:40] » So Clark Street right now is there's a
[15:44] cutout for Clark on this side.
[15:47] Right. I don't know if you can see that
[15:49] little
[15:52] I don't want to say trust me but trust
[15:54] me Clark Street is right there right now
[15:57] the the remainder of that would be
[15:58] platted if Clark Street would be
[16:00] continued west of that point it would uh
[16:03] connect to the Clark Street at Norbec.
[16:06] So the proposal is to extend that uh
[16:08] further east and then on this
[16:11] development here then that would turn
[16:13] north and uh follow the 16th line at
[16:17] that point.
[16:19] » It's at least close enough to get a
[16:20] little angle and connect the other side.
[16:22] » No, it's right across it. There's no
[16:25] angle. [laughter]
[16:27] » Gary, did you have a comment?
[16:29] » Yeah. Am I going to assume that uh I
[16:31] read this in here, but uh a lot of the
[16:33] uh communal housing in there is going to
[16:35] be for seniors?
[16:36] » My understanding is that all of it is
[16:38] going to be for
[16:39] » All of it's going to be for
[16:40] » And we're talking about this this area
[16:42] here, the the area that's the co-housing
[16:45] portion of it,
[16:46] » But not the town homes.
[16:48] » No, the town homes, anybody can move
[16:50] there is my understanding. Again,
[16:54] » I'm certainly happy to hear that. I
[16:56] think one of the things that of course
[16:57] we've been discussing is a need for
[16:59] senior housing.
[17:04] » Anybody have any questions? I I have a
[17:07] question that I don't remember the
[17:10] parking rules by heart the formulas but
[17:13] is how about the R3 off streetet parking
[17:17] uh formula. Does this meet that the
[17:19] requirements of zoning?
[17:21] » So it will
[17:22] » There is there is one, right? I'm sorry.
[17:24] There is one there is a formula for
[17:25] » Yeah, there is uh we we haven't looked
[17:28] at that at this point as much uh just
[17:31] because we're just talking about
[17:32] reszoning. Uh but through conversations
[17:34] with the developer and the owner, uh my
[17:37] our understanding is that all of these
[17:39] units is going to they're going to have
[17:40] enough space within the driveway
[17:43] » Uh to account for their parking. They're
[17:45] they're also going to have a one-stall
[17:46] garage. So the ordinance also allows for
[17:48] the one stall garage to account for
[17:50] that. Uh and then they're also going to
[17:52] be having parking spaces in front of the
[17:54] the larger house uh as well. So that
[17:57] also accounts can be used for that
[17:59] formula.
[18:00] » I understand that question might be
[18:01] premature at this point.
[18:02] » Yep.
[18:05] » All right. So any other comments or
[18:08] questions for Jose?
[18:11] Well, I would entertain a motion to uh
[18:14] advance this to a second reading on
[18:16] September 8th if anybody was so willing
[18:18] to move that.
[18:20] Is there a second? Second.
[18:22] » All in favor of moving this uh planning
[18:25] zoning commission or advancing ordinance
[18:28] 1573 to a second read September 8th.
[18:30] Please indicate saying I.
[18:32] » I oppose. Nay.
[18:35] Motion passes. Thank you.
[18:41] One question. No comments yet from our
[18:44] This is very good.
[18:45] » Uh okay. Item seven, consent agenda.
[18:49] Uh any item listed on the consent agenda
[18:51] may by the request of any single council
[18:53] member be considered a separate item
[18:55] under the new business section of the
[18:56] agenda. If a member of the public would
[18:58] like to discuss any consent agenda item,
[19:00] please notify the well me during the
[19:02] public comment period to have it
[19:03] considered a separate item. Does anybody
[19:05] have any questions or comments on or
[19:08] anything removed from the consent
[19:09] agenda?
[19:12] I don't know if you were standing up to
[19:13] come forward. You're you're good. Okay.
[19:15] Anybody on the city council have any
[19:17] items they want remove from the consent
[19:18] agenda and move to new business?
[19:23] If not, I would entertain a motion to
[19:24] approve the consent agenda items.
[19:28] » Is there a second?
[19:30] Second.
[19:31] » All in favor of approving the consent
[19:33] agenda items indicate by saying I. I.
[19:36] » Opposed? Nay. Consent agenda passes.
[19:49] Okay, old business. We have none. No old
[19:51] business. Moving on to new business.
[19:53] Mid-American, please come forward.
[19:57] » This is my first year of meeting you.
[19:59] So, if you can remind me of your name
[20:00] and
[20:02] » Great uh Sam Wagner, business and
[20:04] community development manager with uh
[20:06] Mid-American Energy. So, mayor, good to
[20:09] meet you from the other side of the
[20:11] room. practically. Um so, hey, uh
[20:15] members of the council, uh John, it's
[20:17] good to see you again. Um as part of
[20:20] our, uh franchise agreement with with
[20:22] the uh city of Vermillion, um you're
[20:25] blessed on an annual basis to have me
[20:27] come and tell you about uh all the great
[20:29] things Mid-American is doing here, uh in
[20:31] Vermillion. Um and so uh you know
[20:35] honestly last year was kind of a light
[20:37] year in terms of uh uh new projects uh
[20:40] new services uh within the within the
[20:42] city. Um it was um sort of I don't have
[20:46] the exact figures but in terms of like
[20:48] the number of projects it was down a
[20:50] little bit this year. Um but we've had
[20:52] some uh uh some residential services uh
[20:55] that we've run a couple of new services
[20:58] over at the ICU everywhere these days.
[21:02] I don't know if that's a good thing or
[21:03] not. Um, uh, couple of projects, a
[21:07] couple of new services at the, uh,
[21:09] University of South Dakota, uh, that,
[21:11] uh, that were wrapped up. Um, and then,
[21:15] uh, in terms of, uh, coverage, um, the,
[21:19] uh, staff coverage that we have for the
[21:21] city of Vermillion, uh, to cover these
[21:23] things. Uh, primarily, um, our
[21:25] engineering staff is based out of, uh,
[21:27] Sou Falls. Um, so we have uh our uh our
[21:32] lead tech uh for Vermillion uh Tim Forch
[21:35] uh who's actually done this presentation
[21:37] uh on occasion in the past. Uh Tim
[21:39] continues to uh chase down projects and
[21:42] uh uh deliver on those uh designs uh for
[21:46] uh new services uh commercial and
[21:49] residential and and industrial when they
[21:51] come up. So he continues to cover
[21:53] Vermillion. We have a couple of uh field
[21:55] guys uh that are based uh here in
[21:58] Vermillion. Um that has not changed. Um
[22:02] and all of that is backed up by
[22:04] operational teams out of Sou Falls and
[22:06] Sous City. And uh if we need to, we'll
[22:09] go tap the few guys up in Yankton as
[22:11] well to come down if there's any kind of
[22:13] emergency. So Vermillion really does
[22:15] kind of sit in a in kind of a sweet spot
[22:17] in terms of uh available resources from
[22:20] uh the engineering, design, and
[22:21] operational standpoint.
[22:24] um uh had them run some uh on that
[22:28] operational side um leaks uh you know
[22:32] gas leaks on occasion. So uh we had
[22:35] within the last 12 months we've had 167
[22:39] uh reported leaks uh within uh
[22:41] Vermillion. Usually that's just like you
[22:43] know you know within homes and
[22:45] residences and and small businesses. Uh
[22:48] nothing major, nothing super dangerous,
[22:49] but it's something that we hop on very
[22:51] very quickly. So out of that 167 uh
[22:54] number 165 of those leaks were addressed
[22:57] and dealt with within 60 minutes. Uh the
[23:00] remaining two went over that 60-minute
[23:02] mark primarily because of weather. So,
[23:06] um,
[23:07] uh, mainly, uh, oh, and the other thing
[23:10] I want to point out is, uh, in recent
[23:12] years, we've gotten on to, uh, kind of
[23:14] a, uh, annual, uh, rotation, uh, to meet
[23:17] with, u, uh, John and his staff, uh, to
[23:21] review upcoming projects. Um, that
[23:23] meeting is coming up. We need to
[23:24] schedule that. Um, but, uh, we we do
[23:27] that at least on a on an annual basis.
[23:29] Looking forward to doing that again. Um,
[23:32] next time I think we should have that
[23:33] meeting before I address your council.
[23:35] Give me better material.
[23:36] » Okay.
[23:37] » So, um, but with that I'll take any
[23:40] questions you might have.
[23:41] » Thank you. Thank you very much, Sam.
[23:43] Does any member of the public have any
[23:44] questions for a mid- American?
[23:48] » Okay. Al,
[23:49] » Well, just when you said 167 leaks, I'm
[23:52] went that may not be much to you, but to
[23:54] me it sounds like a lot.
[23:55] » Sure.
[23:56] » Would Would the majority of those be
[23:57] things like pilot light went out, they
[23:59] just had to relight it? I mean, or gas
[24:02] leak going into the house. And what
[24:03] would you how would you paraphrase?
[24:04] » Yeah. Yeah. Um, it's it's a lot of pilot
[24:07] light stuff. Yeah, it's a lot of pilot
[24:09] light. Um, there uh we've had no major
[24:13] leaks uh in Vermillion during that time.
[24:15] So, yeah, that number I think can be a
[24:17] little uh a little alarming when you see
[24:19] it. Um but uh you know that's part of
[24:23] what we do when managing our system is
[24:24] if if we have a molecule of gas that's
[24:27] leaking out that we're that we're made
[24:28] aware of, we jump on it. And um you know
[24:31] each one of these systems and homes of
[24:33] varying varying ages and and um uh
[24:37] conditions and so on does present a lot
[24:39] of opportunities for that and so we
[24:41] chase those down as quickly as we can.
[24:43] So yeah, nothing major.
[24:47] » I think Jay was first. I can help you a
[24:49] little bit with that, Al. Um, I did have
[24:51] to call you guys this last year.
[24:52] Something simple as I got a new gas
[24:53] range and the coupler that came with it
[24:55] to catch the old gas pipe, there was
[24:58] like a a coupler head versus a flathead
[25:00] or something, whatever it was. I had the
[25:02] wrong one and it was just slightly
[25:03] leaking,
[25:04] » But the guy who came was very very
[25:05] helpful and very friendly and he he
[25:07] pulled out his little scanner deal and
[25:09] say, "Yeah, there's a slight leak back
[25:10] there and told me exactly the one to get
[25:12] and got it and fixed it up."
[25:14] » Yeah.
[25:14] » So, it's just simple stuff like that was
[25:16] like 10 15 minute fix.
[25:19] Lindsay, would you Oh, no, sorry, Julia.
[25:22] » Well, I guess it's a little unfair if
[25:23] you haven't met with John yet, but I
[25:25] just want to see with our new expansions
[25:27] and developments, you know, especially
[25:29] as we are not just building new homes or
[25:32] apartments, but sort of expanding
[25:33] outside of uh previous limits, do you
[25:35] all feel properly informed and prepared
[25:38] for such expansions?
[25:39] » Yeah. Yeah, we do. And um uh yeah, we're
[25:42] well familiar with the uh with the
[25:44] growth patterns um and some of the
[25:46] annexation plans that the city of
[25:48] Vermillion has. And so part of that
[25:50] coordination is just um allowing us to
[25:53] kind of see what's coming so that we can
[25:55] half the half the phone is keeping up
[25:57] with you guys. Um so yeah, I think we're
[26:00] in a pretty good spot there. Um there's
[26:02] nothing even, you know, even the uh uh
[26:04] proposed development that was described
[26:06] earlier, that's not a particular concern
[26:08] of ours. And we've also had a number
[26:10] over the last couple of years um uh
[26:14] several uh like infill uh infill
[26:17] projects um that has kind of allowed us
[26:20] to kind of reconfigure our system and
[26:22] take advantage of those infill projects
[26:24] to uh prepare for future growth and
[26:28] understanding where the annexation
[26:29] patterns are are are headed are
[26:31] incredibly important to us. And so
[26:33] coordinating with John and his team has
[26:35] been very helpful.
[26:38] Any other questions for Sam? I have a
[26:41] question. A couple of weeks ago, we lost
[26:43] we had a burst water pipe. You know, I
[26:46] mean, these things happen. How are your
[26:48] pipes? Are they maintained? You have a
[26:50] replacement schedule. What kind of shape
[26:51] are they in? Are they 20 years more life
[26:53] or how do you manage your pipes?
[26:54] » Yeah. So, we go through we go through,
[26:56] in fact, we just wrapped one up, I
[26:58] think, a couple of years ago. We we'll
[27:00] we'll focus on the town and do a full uh
[27:03] full review of the pipes underground.
[27:05] And I want to say I'm kind of going off
[27:07] of memory here, but I want to say we did
[27:09] something uh for Vermillion a couple of
[27:12] years ago. Um so um that sort of
[27:15] proactive maintenance, if you will, um
[27:17] is part of our overall maintenance plan
[27:20] uh for our, you know, for our system. We
[27:22] can't do everything all at one time.
[27:23] That's an awful lot of pipes. So we do
[27:25] concentrate on certain areas um and then
[27:28] come back to them um in a in a rotation
[27:31] and then as problems come up um as they
[27:34] like your burst water pipe for example
[27:36] sometimes you know nature has other
[27:38] plans for us uh we'll respond
[27:40] accordingly but we do have a proactive
[27:42] maintenance plan all across our entire
[27:44] system.
[27:44] » Thank you. That's comforting and we
[27:46] appreciate that.
[27:47] » Y
[27:49] » Are there any other questions for Sam?
[27:51] In that case, thank you very much and
[27:53] we'll see you next year after you meet
[27:54] with John.
[27:55] » Yep, that's true. Oh, and uh we have a
[27:58] franchise coming up. So, uh the
[28:01] franchise agreement for uh the city of
[28:03] Vermillion comes up in I believe the end
[28:05] of February uh I want to say. So, um yet
[28:08] more opportunities to uh to work with
[28:11] the city of Vermillion and put that
[28:12] agreement in place for the future.
[28:14] » Okay.
[28:14] » Okay.
[28:15] » Thank you very much.
[28:16] » Thank you.
[28:19] » Uh where are we at? So item B, request
[28:22] to close down uh the road for a
[28:24] fraternity sorority party. Is that you,
[28:26] Alex?
[28:27] » Thank you. So we have a request from the
[28:30] USD sorority and fraternity life. Uh we
[28:32] have some representatives here from them
[28:33] as well. Uh they would like to close
[28:35] East Cedar Street from North Pine Street
[28:37] to North Plum Street on September 17th,
[28:39] 2026 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for a
[28:42] block party. Um the actual event itself
[28:44] will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. That
[28:46] additional time from 5:00 to 6:00 and
[28:48] from 7:00 to 8 or 8:00 to 9:00 will be
[28:51] for setup and takeown of the event. Um
[28:53] for the event itself, there will be
[28:55] three food trucks there. Um and it as
[28:58] the applicants have told me, it will be
[29:00] a dry event. Um additionally, they will
[29:02] have a team of five individuals who will
[29:04] clean up the streets after the event and
[29:06] in in front of the respective houses if
[29:08] those were to get dirty. Um everything
[29:12] is included in the packet. Our street
[29:13] police fires departments did not have
[29:15] any issues with this closure. Um
[29:17] administration recommends that the city
[29:18] council approved their request to close
[29:20] East Cedar Street from North Pine Street
[29:22] to North Plum Street on Thursday,
[29:23] September 17th, 2026 from 5:00 p.m. to
[29:26] 9:00 p.m. for the USD sority and
[29:27] fraternity life block party.
[29:30] » Thank you. Are there any members of the
[29:32] public who'd like to talk about this
[29:33] subject?
[29:36] Come on.
[29:39] No. Okay. So, uh I'm glad you told me it
[29:43] was a dry event because we don't start
[29:44] driving the bus until 10 o'clock on. All
[29:46] right. So, I'm not said about that. Yes,
[29:50] Julia.
[29:52] » Well, first of all, I'm super excited
[29:53] that you all are celebrating
[29:54] Constitution Day. So, well, um
[29:57] [laughter] but then I'm just wondering
[29:59] if there will be an associated um you
[30:02] call that um noise um exemption planned
[30:06] for this as well or if you're not um
[30:10] anticipating exceeding noise levels.
[30:13] » I can also assist with that question as
[30:15] well. With the new noise ordinance that
[30:17] we passed um with September, it would
[30:19] need to start at 8, but since they're
[30:21] cleaning up from 8 to 9, we didn't
[30:22] believe that they needed a noise permit
[30:24] for it. Okay.
[30:25] » We also don't plan on using anything.
[30:29] » Hi, I'm Emma. I'm one of the
[30:31] representatives from student sorority
[30:32] and fraternity life. Um, we don't plan
[30:34] on using anything bigger than like a
[30:36] normal standard size speaker. Um, so we
[30:38] don't anticipate it getting super loud
[30:39] and will be cleaned up hopefully by 8:30
[30:42] at the latest.
[30:44] » Thank you. Why don't you hang out for a
[30:46] minute, Emma, in case people have
[30:47] further questions. Okay. Anybody have
[30:50] any questions for Emma?
[30:55] Okay. Uh so I would entertain a motion
[30:58] to approve this uh request to close East
[31:01] Cedar Street from Alpha FE to PYI
[31:04] uh on September 17th.
[31:09] » It has been moved. Do I have a second?
[31:12] » All in favor of allowing the street
[31:14] closure indicate by saying I
[31:16] » Oppose? Nay.
[31:18] Motion passes. We'll see you at 10:00.
[31:22] Thank you.
[31:27] » All right. So, the first reading of
[31:29] ordinance 1564 about a our cable
[31:31] franchise agreement with Midco. Uh John.
[31:34] » Sure. Thank you, mayor. Uh in 2016, the
[31:36] city council entered into a 10-year
[31:38] franchise agreement with Midco or
[31:40] Mid-Continent Communications. Uh as you
[31:42] might do the math, that is coming to an
[31:44] expir here um in the coming month.
[31:46] Actually, it expires in October. We did
[31:48] receive a proposal from Midco to extend
[31:50] the existing terms and conditions for an
[31:52] additional 10 years. Uh the only two
[31:54] changes that they are noting is instead
[31:57] of having a rate card that they would
[31:58] provide to the city to have on file each
[32:01] time a rate changes, they would uh
[32:03] maintain a website that continually has
[32:05] the rates available. The second one
[32:07] really has to do with um FCC order 621.
[32:11] It really has changed how quote free
[32:13] cable has worked. Um when this ordinance
[32:17] uh was the last ordinance 1345 was
[32:19] adopted in 2016, there were a list of
[32:21] buildings that would receive uh free
[32:23] cable service as part of the franchise
[32:24] agreement. This FCC order basically
[32:27] eliminated um the requirement for cable
[32:30] companies to do that and instead um what
[32:33] free cable means is that they don't bill
[32:36] us for the cable, they take it out of
[32:38] the franchise fee payments that we would
[32:40] receive. So, um, Midco and I had a
[32:44] little discussion as to what really free
[32:45] cable was if you're charging us for it.
[32:48] Um, but so that is what free cable means
[32:51] now. Instead of, um, literally being
[32:53] free, it it comes out of our franchise
[32:55] uh, fees they would otherwise receive.
[32:58] Um, and there are three buildings that
[32:59] we have that receive um, this anymore.
[33:01] When we this order went into effect
[33:03] about two years ago, there was a lot of
[33:05] different buildings in the community. um
[33:08] uh our schools, uh senior center, um a
[33:11] lot of different places that did receive
[33:13] it and those um pretty much all uh were
[33:15] eliminated from being eligible for free
[33:18] cable. And now we have three city
[33:20] buildings that continue to receive um
[33:22] this city hall here uh building, our
[33:25] service center, and the fire EMS. Um the
[33:28] rest of the golf course is handled
[33:30] separately because that has more of a
[33:31] public viewing than what those other
[33:33] buildings do. So they literally receive
[33:35] the same bill as somebody would at home.
[33:37] Um I would note that the 5% franchise
[33:40] fee that's paid on eligible services uh
[33:43] last year in 2025 that amounted to
[33:45] $56,112.
[33:47] So that is revenue that comes uh to the
[33:49] city from that. Um administration would
[33:51] recommend that ordinance 1564 to extend
[33:54] the cable franchise agreement with Midco
[33:56] uh for an additional 10 years be
[33:58] advanced to a second reading on
[34:00] September 8th.
[34:02] » Thank you. Are there any visitors we
[34:03] heard on this subject?
[34:06] Members of the coun members of the
[34:08] council.
[34:13] Well, I have a few questions. Is this 5%
[34:15] normal uh among cities? This is a normal
[34:18] rate that uh people pay.
[34:20] » Yes, the 5% is the highest that is
[34:23] allowed um by the [clears throat] FCC
[34:25] and it's pretty typical with most
[34:26] cities.
[34:27] » Very good. And my other question was
[34:29] that of the
[34:31] establishments that used to get free
[34:32] cable that ended two years ago.
[34:35] » I believe it was 2 years ago that there
[34:40] um yes it seemed like not the intern
[34:42] last summer, the intern year before put
[34:44] all those letters together and we
[34:46] notified those entities and I think um
[34:48] it probably ended around September or so
[34:51] um when it actually took effect. Well,
[34:54] well, my question is, should those
[34:56] continue to have free cable? I mean,
[34:58] they're charging. It's not free anymore,
[35:00] right? They're they're they're charging
[35:01] us, so you're subtracting it. Are there
[35:02] should we, the city, be subsidizing some
[35:04] of these places for their quote unquote
[35:07] free cable, or did we have that
[35:09] conversation two years ago?
[35:11] » I don't know. I don't know that it came
[35:13] before the council. Um I think we viewed
[35:15] it as um is it city's cost to provide
[35:19] those? And so that's why we we pulled
[35:21] that back and eliminated we eliminated
[35:23] several city buildings that had there
[35:24] was um I know it was in 2024 because
[35:27] they had sites listed that were no
[35:29] longer active such as Jolly School um
[35:32] Austin school were listed on there. So I
[35:34] know it was in 2024. So part of us
[35:35] cleaning up their list um but we yeah I
[35:40] there were some that we approached that
[35:41] were on the list that said we didn't
[35:43] even know we had it and they were never
[35:45] hooked up to it or they were using it
[35:47] for the internet piece.
[35:49] piece with the school and the main
[35:50] street center and some of those that are
[35:53] public good. I mean they're paying now
[35:55] out of their own pocket for cable. I
[35:57] assume they all have cable obviously.
[35:59] » Yeah, that I don't know. We haven't
[36:00] followed up to see if they still have
[36:01] cable or not. Um I know Damon Albby and
[36:04] I had a conversation about it because I
[36:06] think some of our school buildings had
[36:07] more interest in it than others.
[36:10] » Okay.
[36:13] » Any questions for John about Yes. Go
[36:15] ahead, please, Jeff. John, there's no
[36:16] other companies that want this business
[36:20] other than Midco.
[36:22] » Good question. It is not exclusive. So,
[36:25] um, Blue Peak, uh, their their
[36:27] predecessor, but now Blue Peak, you can
[36:29] receive television, um, services through
[36:32] Blue Peak that qualify as cable. So, if
[36:35] another cable company comes along and
[36:37] wants to provide, uh, television
[36:38] services, it's a non-exclusive
[36:40] franchise. And so, that's why we're one
[36:42] of the few that has two of these. in uh
[36:44] Blue Peak. We've scheduled them for
[36:46] their annual report just like Sam just
[36:48] did with Mid American. I think that's in
[36:50] October they're coming, but they'll come
[36:53] before the city council do their update.
[36:55] » And I should say MidCo's I believe Midco
[36:58] will be here at our next meeting uh to
[36:59] present their annual report.
[37:03] » Thank you. Thank you for clarifying
[37:04] that. Any other questions for John about
[37:06] this uh franchise?
[37:10] I would entertain a motion to advance
[37:12] ordinance 1564 to a second reading on
[37:14] September 8th.
[37:16] » Moved seconded. All in favor of
[37:18] advancing the second reading indicate by
[37:20] saying I.
[37:21] » I oppose. Nay. Motion passes.
[37:27] » Uh historical presto historic is it
[37:29] historic or historical? Historic
[37:31] preservation commission appointments. We
[37:33] have two reappointments. uh when we had
[37:36] no further no additional applications.
[37:38] So I would re I recommend with your
[37:41] consent that we approve Susan Keith Gray
[37:43] reappoint Susan Keith Gray and Carson
[37:45] Murwan to their posts on the historic
[37:47] preservation commission.
[37:52] Oh, sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Any
[37:54] members of the public have a comment on
[37:56] this these reappointments?
[37:59] Thank Thank you very much. I'll get it.
[38:01] I'll get it. Five members of the council
[38:03] have comments.
[38:07] » Second.
[38:07] » All in favor of reappointing Susan Keith
[38:09] Gray and Carson Murkw historic
[38:11] preservation commission appointment,
[38:12] please indicate by saying I. I
[38:14] » Oppose. Nay. Appointments are are done.
[38:17] Very good.
[38:19] Um
[38:21] what about this? Do we discuss this?
[38:24] » You certainly can. So if you want me to
[38:26] start off.
[38:27] » Yeah, please go ahead. So, at the last
[38:28] city council meeting, uh there's a
[38:30] question about uh broadcaster press and
[38:33] how best to handle that. And what we had
[38:35] suggested um at that point in time is
[38:37] that we would listed as an open account
[38:38] claim. So, the next agenda item says
[38:40] open account claim uh broadcaster press
[38:42] for $2,323.34.
[38:45] Periodically, once to maybe both
[38:48] meetings each month due to legal notices
[38:50] we place um other ads and those
[38:52] respective publications, the broadcast
[38:54] or plane talk, we receive a a bill at
[38:56] least once a month. And so, um, there's
[38:58] a question with Mr. Lias, um, had, uh,
[39:01] worked full-time for broadcaster press
[39:03] organization, um, whether or not that
[39:06] was a conflict. And so, the proposal was
[39:08] that we would just list as an open
[39:10] account claim rather than under invoices
[39:12] payable. So, it'd be easier, uh, for Mr.
[39:14] Lias to abstain um, uh, from voting on
[39:17] that versus not being able to vote on
[39:20] all of the other um, uh, other bills and
[39:22] invoices payable. So we list it under
[39:25] invoices payable and it's noted that
[39:27] it's under new business and then we list
[39:29] the respective account claim here and I
[39:32] would suggest that if we have and we do
[39:34] from time to time a city council member
[39:35] travels on behalf of the city there's
[39:37] reimbursement um for those items that
[39:40] those would be listed in a similar
[39:42] manner. Um uh the city attorney did
[39:45] provide guidance after we kind of set up
[39:47] the system um and I'll let Mr. Hinds if
[39:50] you wanted to uh explain it from a more
[39:52] legal manner that um as I understand it
[39:55] that it wouldn't necessarily need to be
[39:57] handled this way. It may be a matter of
[39:59] um the message that the city council
[40:01] wants to communicate or the transparency
[40:02] that you want to communicate with how
[40:04] you handle this. Right? So generally
[40:06] speaking a direct financial interest
[40:08] would be someone who is an owner uh of a
[40:11] specific entity. If someone were merely
[40:13] an employee of that entity we wouldn't
[40:16] consider that necessarily a direct
[40:17] interest. Um that being said, it is a
[40:20] responsibility of every individual
[40:22] member to determine if they have a
[40:24] conflict where they would want to
[40:26] abstain from voting. Um this in this
[40:29] particular instance, I don't think it's
[40:31] critical. Uh but the member could always
[40:34] decide to abstain from the appearance of
[40:36] having any sort of direct or indirect
[40:39] interest.
[40:42] » Thank you.
[40:43] » Um Council Member Elias did abstain from
[40:45] voting on this item.
[40:48] Very good. So, uh, we discussed this at
[40:52] our noon meeting. I don't have any
[40:54] further questions. Anybody else have any
[40:55] further questions regarding this issue?
[40:58] Well, I would entertain a motion to pay
[40:59] the broadcaster 23234.
[41:03] So, move
[41:04] » Second.
[41:05] » All in favor of paying them paying our
[41:06] bill say I.
[41:09] » Oppos? Nay.
[41:11] Thank you very much and thank you,
[41:12] David, for being uh so considerate. Uh
[41:16] the last the next item rather is uh the
[41:20] bid opening for our electrical
[41:21] transformers.
[41:22] » Thank you. Um so light and power
[41:24] department requested bids on electric
[41:26] transformers uh to both replenish our
[41:28] inventory and to stock up and get ready
[41:30] for specific projects in the future. Uh
[41:32] this year we requested bids on a total
[41:34] of 16 transformers varying at seven
[41:36] different sizes. Um bid documents were
[41:38] sent out to 17 potential um biders. Uh,
[41:42] out of those 17 suppliers that we sent
[41:44] those out to, we received six bids. Um,
[41:46] however, only five of those bids
[41:47] included proper bid security. Um, and
[41:51] then two of those five actually included
[41:53] bids on transformers that were on the
[41:55] the acceptable uh manufacturers list.
[41:58] So, those two were the only two that we
[42:00] evaluated. Um, for the transformers, the
[42:03] evaluation process that we look at is is
[42:05] we look at the operating losses over the
[42:07] life cycle of the transformer. Um so on
[42:10] the bid tab you'll see the total base
[42:12] price which is the initial cost of the
[42:14] transformers up front and then you'll
[42:16] see the total evaluated cost which is
[42:18] the cost of the transformers through
[42:20] their entire life cycle. Um using this
[42:22] process we resco out of Morhead
[42:25] Minnesota uh was the lowest bid with a
[42:28] base price of $146,959
[42:31] and the evaluated price of $210,4520.
[42:36] Uh these transformers have an estimated
[42:38] delivery of 12 to 13 weeks which would
[42:40] put the delivery here in 2026, excuse
[42:43] [clears throat] me. Um this purchase was
[42:45] not fully budgeted for so a revision
[42:47] will be necessary to cover the cost of
[42:48] these. Um however we do have sufficient
[42:50] funds in the reserve account for the
[42:52] light and power department. Uh with that
[42:54] administration recommends awarding the
[42:55] bid to resco with an initial purchase
[42:57] price of $146,959
[43:00] and a total evaluated price of
[43:02] $210,4520.
[43:06] Thank you, Shane. Do any members of the
[43:08] public have any comments about this bid?
[43:11] » Just like explaining what's the the
[43:13] evaluated price. What's what's that
[43:15] mean?
[43:15] » So, so when a transformer is operating
[43:18] and the electricity is it's doing its
[43:20] job, there's going to be some losses,
[43:21] right? It's not 100% efficient. So when
[43:23] they supply their their their bids to
[43:25] us, they give us a couple numbers that
[43:27] we plug into an an equation that tells
[43:30] us this is how much electricity is going
[43:31] to be lost through this thing's lifetime
[43:33] while it's operating out in the system.
[43:35] And so the more efficient, the cheaper
[43:37] it is over the next 30 years, right? And
[43:39] so we evaluate that when we're looking
[43:41] at these. And so we don't look at just
[43:42] what does it cost us up front. We look
[43:44] at what is this really going to cost us
[43:45] once it's out in the system for for 30
[43:47] years.
[43:48] » So you want to so we want to lower
[43:50] » Exactly
[43:50] » Outside revenue. Okay.
[43:52] » Yep. Thank you.
[43:53] » Yes, Jay.
[43:55] » So, this looks like about 25% different
[43:57] from the total base to that um evaluated
[43:59] cost. We don't have a 25% loss in energy
[44:03] at that point, do we?
[44:05] » No.
[44:06] You're getting pretty deep into the
[44:07] weeds when you start getting into that
[44:09] that that equation. Um and so, um I
[44:12] can't speak to the guts of it. I can
[44:13] just kind of tell you where I take the
[44:15] numbers. You know, that's electrical
[44:16] engineers kind of give us those numbers
[44:18] and we we we go with them. Um, but no,
[44:20] we do not get a 25% loss on our
[44:22] transformers.
[44:23] » As I understand it, what that means is
[44:25] they expect say $65,000 worth of
[44:27] electricity is going to get lost in form
[44:30] of heat
[44:31] » Over the lifetime of these transformers.
[44:33] » Yeah, 30 plus years.
[44:34] » And uh what is the life of these
[44:35] transformers here?
[44:36] » Uh so most of them I think are around
[44:37] that 30-year mark. Kind of averaging
[44:39] right in there.
[44:40] » How many do we have? We're replacing
[44:41] » The system.
[44:42] » Yeah. I mean
[44:43] » Uh so Oh, you got to put me on the spot.
[44:45] I want to say that we have like 800
[44:46] transformers out in the system. Don't
[44:49] quote me on that. I will get that number
[44:50] » First year, but is this a normal thing?
[44:52] 150 grand a year for transform places
[44:54] every year.
[44:55] » Say that one more time.
[44:56] » Is this a normal thing then replacing?
[44:58] » Absolutely. Yep. Yep. So that's it's
[44:59] been a year or two since we've got this
[45:00] is a little bit larger larger bid
[45:02] package, but yeah, every year we usually
[45:04] buy some.
[45:04] » How do you know which ones need to be
[45:06] replaced, Shane?
[45:07] » Uh so we have the our AMI system and our
[45:10] smart health map. um it actually can
[45:12] tell us loads and stuff. And so now
[45:13] everything's so smart, we can really
[45:15] kind of pull up a map and it can show us
[45:17] which transformers are overloaded, which
[45:19] ones are underloaded. Um if we have, you
[45:21] know, they're running all kinds of tests
[45:22] all the time to just look for
[45:24] efficiency. If there's anything that's
[45:25] out of whack, we can go in and look at
[45:27] it. And so over the last couple years
[45:28] since we got our AMI [clears throat]
[45:29] system up and going, um I think that's
[45:31] made life a lot easier on our electric
[45:33] department on really pinpointing those
[45:34] issues before they become a big issue to
[45:36] where we got outages and things like
[45:38] that. So older transformers have lower
[45:40] efficiency, we'll lose more electricity
[45:41] and maybe overheat,
[45:43] » Right?
[45:44] » Okay. Y
[45:46] » John, and I just add, correct me if I'm
[45:48] wrong, Shane, this is also for growth,
[45:50] too.
[45:51] » Yeah, this is for potential growth. So
[45:52] like that blue stem is out there. This
[45:54] is transformers to build that. This is
[45:55] looking at different things like the the
[45:57] Munger property out there is getting
[45:59] that out there developed and having
[46:00] transformers out there. And then also
[46:02] just kind of restocking some of our
[46:04] supplies in case things do go bad. Some
[46:05] of these larger ones can have larger
[46:07] lead times sometimes like this one's 12
[46:09] to 13 weeks. We've seen lead times in
[46:11] the past that were years and so having
[46:14] them on stock is is important in case
[46:16] something goes down we can get it fixed
[46:17] right now instead of having to wait.
[46:20] » Very good. Yes. Gary
[46:22] » Shane, how many are we getting?
[46:24] » There's 16 of them.
[46:30] » Any other electricity guys here? Did you
[46:32] have a question? Mike,
[46:34] » I was glad to see the 12 to 13 weeks cuz
[46:36] since I was on been on the council
[46:38] starting in 2022,
[46:40] » It it's gone down from 2 years or more.
[46:43] » Oh, yeah. I think I think the last time
[46:44] I was in front of you, we were at like
[46:45] 84 weeks was the delivery day. So, it
[46:48] has gotten supplies have uh come back
[46:50] around, but
[46:50] » Yes, that's I'm very glad to see that.
[46:55] » Any other questions for Shane regarding
[46:57] these transformers?
[47:00] I would entertain a motion to award the
[47:02] bid to Resco for $146,959.
[47:06] So move.
[47:07] » Is there a second?
[47:09] » Second.
[47:09] » All in favor of awarding this bid
[47:11] indicate by saying I.
[47:13] » Oppos? Nay.
[47:14] Bid is approved.
[47:17] » Thank you. Shane,
[47:20] you're leaving before the city manager's
[47:22] report. [laughter]
[47:23] » Okay. Very good. Over to you.
[47:28] I
[47:30] Thanks Shane for your support. Um just a
[47:34] couple of different items uh for mayor
[47:35] and council here. Uh couple the next
[47:37] meeting is on Tuesday September 8th. Uh
[47:40] with the way that August is structured
[47:41] in the Labor Day holiday on Monday,
[47:43] September 7th. Uh city office is closed
[47:46] in Labor Day. Uh the next meeting is on
[47:48] Tuesday, September 8th. Before that
[47:50] meeting, our planning and zoning
[47:51] commission meets on Monday, August 31st
[47:53] at 5:30 5:30 p.m. They have um two basic
[47:57] items on their agenda. One is a
[47:59] conditional use permit for 426 East
[48:01] Cherry Street. Uh that's the former
[48:03] Steuart Oil property uh over there in
[48:05] East Cherry. And then they will be
[48:07] continuing uh their discussion on the
[48:08] ordinances related to data center. So
[48:10] those are the items uh that we know of
[48:12] right now for the planning zoning
[48:13] commission on Monday, August 31st. And
[48:16] then our human relations commission is
[48:17] set to meet at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday,
[48:20] September 3rd. That's in the Paul
[48:22] conference room here at city hall.
[48:25] A couple reminders on street closures.
[48:27] Uh this coming Friday is USD's movein
[48:29] day. So Rose Street from Coyote Village
[48:31] north to Dakota Dome. Uh that one closes
[48:34] at 5:00 a.m. and that lasts until 4 p.m.
[48:37] on Friday, August 21st. And then uh
[48:39] North Plum Street from East Cherry
[48:41] Street to Highway 50. that closure is
[48:43] from 6:00 am to 4 pm uh to help
[48:46] facilitate the traffic related to move
[48:47] into the north complex. So uh watch for
[48:50] some additional traffic in the community
[48:51] this coming Friday the 21st. Uh just a
[48:54] reminder the last two Thursdays on the
[48:56] plats are coming up. We didn't have it
[48:57] last week with the fair. Uh so August
[48:59] 20th and 27th. Um the street closure is
[49:02] from 400 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to allow for
[49:04] the setup and the tear down. And it is
[49:06] Main Street as it ab butts the plats
[49:08] east through the Prospect Street
[49:10] intersection. uh Prospect Street south,
[49:12] excuse me, Prospect Street for one half
[49:15] block north of West Main and then Market
[49:16] Street as it abuts the plat. So those
[49:18] two uh events for the balance of this
[49:21] year coming up, we do have several open
[49:23] border commission seats. Um one I'll go
[49:26] through the list here, human relations
[49:27] commission. Uh that is a one-year term
[49:30] for our postsecondary uh student. Uh so
[49:33] that term uh began in May and would go
[49:36] until next May. We have not had any
[49:38] applicants for that. Uh but you do need
[49:40] to be a post-secary student um to fill
[49:42] that slot. Uh business improvement
[49:45] district number one um that is the
[49:47] business the board that works with the
[49:49] $2 per night preoccupied hotel fee. We
[49:51] do have a three-year term available in
[49:53] that board. That seat is for either an
[49:55] owner or manager of a lodging property
[49:57] in within the uh district here in the
[49:59] community. Uh that one's a little been a
[50:01] little bit tougher to fill. And then the
[50:02] Vermillion Housing Authority, they do
[50:04] have one uh 5-year term that remains
[50:06] available. Uh there are no requirements
[50:08] on that other than you do need to um
[50:10] live I believe just within Klay County.
[50:12] I think you can uh definitely within uh
[50:14] you know what I you have to live within
[50:16] the city to serve in that role. Um so we
[50:18] do have one 5-year term on the
[50:20] Vermillion Housing Authority available
[50:21] for any board or commission openings. Uh
[50:23] there's an expression of interest form
[50:24] that we ask applicants to fill out that
[50:26] goes to city council to help make that
[50:28] appointment. Um so those are available
[50:30] on the city's website. You get them here
[50:31] at city hall and dismit those to city
[50:33] hall for the city council to consider.
[50:35] Then coming up in uh September and
[50:37] October, we were going to have regular
[50:39] seats on bid number one, the hotel one,
[50:41] bid number two, which is our downtown uh
[50:43] district, and then also the tree board.
[50:45] So, there'll be more opportunities to
[50:47] serve. And uh just a reminder, the
[50:49] mausoleiums at the Bluff Cemetery,
[50:51] they've been nominated for inclusion on
[50:52] the National Register of Historic
[50:54] Places. The State Historical Society
[50:56] Board of Trustees will be considering
[50:58] this nomination on Friday, September
[51:00] 11th at their meeting in Sou Falls. If
[51:02] anybody has any comments, please submit
[51:04] those to the city through this Friday
[51:05] the 21st, so we can forward those on to
[51:07] the state. Uh the nomination is
[51:09] available through the city's website.
[51:11] And then finally, included in the city
[51:12] council packet was one raffle
[51:14] notification. Uh the Vermillion Rotary
[51:16] Club is selling their Monday Night
[51:18] Football uh books. Uh basically the
[51:20] final digits in the score of each team.
[51:23] I won't say anything about Vikings,
[51:24] Packers playing and what that might that
[51:26] score might be, but hypothetically. Um,
[51:28] whatever the last digit in the score of
[51:30] that uh that any game on a Monday night,
[51:32] that's used to determine the winning
[51:34] book number for that week. The cost of
[51:36] the book is $25 for the season. The
[51:38] winner each week receives $50. Um, the
[51:42] money which doesn't go to the winners
[51:43] goes to Rotary to help with their
[51:45] charitable work in the community. That's
[51:47] all I have. Mayor,
[51:48] » Thank you. Any questions on any of those
[51:50] items for John?
[51:52] I did have one question. So, how do we
[51:54] find the uh grad student to be on the
[51:56] human relations commission? How do we
[51:58] find them?
[52:00] » Um those are posted or do we reach out
[52:03] to the grad school office or
[52:06] it's worked different ways um over the
[52:09] years. The commission was created in
[52:11] 2018. Sometimes it has been maybe the
[52:13] student who's going off suggested to
[52:15] some friends of theirs to apply. Um, we
[52:18] can certainly reach out maybe to the
[52:19] student government association and see
[52:21] if they might be able to help get the
[52:23] word out. Um, it's
[52:24] » I got the grad students come in and they
[52:26] don't they're not necessarily plugged
[52:28] in. Oh, sorry, Gary.
[52:30] » Uh, one of I have a suggestion. Uh, they
[52:32] teach human relations courses in the
[52:34] school of education. We could contact
[52:36] school of education, have them make a
[52:38] recommendation through their professors.
[52:41] » Thank you.
[52:42] » Yeah, that that makes sense.
[52:44] [clears throat] Thank you. Just want to
[52:45] help out. All right. Any other items for
[52:48] the good of the order? If not, I would
[52:50] entertain a motion to adjurnn.
[52:53] » Second.
[52:56] » All in favor of adjourning indicate. All
[52:59] oppose. Nay. Sorry about that.
[53:03] Although we just found out we don't need
[53:05] a