[1:43] Good evening and welcome as we call the order of this regular session of the city council on Monday, December 15, 2025, roll call, auto, here.

[1:50] here. Evan's here. Stacey. Glad is also present and joining us for City staff tonight is.

[1:56] Police Chief Terry Steer. City administrator, Dawn Meyer. Recording Secretary Renee Eirick.

[2:04] Patrol Sergeant Brian Vice-Cidal. Sympi of Smith Strat Community Development Director. Todd Otto Public Works Superintendent.

[2:11] Joe Duncan City Engineer. Bob Vos City Attorney. Steve Otto Fire Chief.

[2:19] Thank you for the approval of the agenda tonight with the edition of Resolution 25159

[2:26] of Proving Primest Permit for German Days Incorporated at Steelhurst, Tavern, and I'll add that

[2:30] to the consent agenda with that all of our motion.

[2:35] Second.

[2:36] I have a motion by Evans and a second by Stacey, all those in favor.

[2:40] Aye.

[2:40] Opposed?

[2:44] Moving on.

[2:45] public forum tonight we have Rachel Miller signed up and I will also invite any audience members

[2:50] that didn't sign up to speak if they were.

[3:04] Rachel Miller, Henderson and Pendant, that addresses 507 Main Street and Henderson.

[3:11] For those that don't know me, again I'm Rachel Miller and the owner and publisher of the

[3:16] Henderson Independent newspaper and the person who has covered the city council for the past

[3:20] year.

[3:21] Typically you'll see me in the back or to the side of this room, carefully recording

[3:26] what you all say. I typically don't address the council, but over the weekend I was made

[3:31] aware of an incident that I could not ignore.

[3:35] Maryland, you shared my article in the budget last week about the city finances, which

[3:40] is totally fine. But in your comments you stated, it's funny how Rachel was in attendance,

[3:46] but didn't include any of the proposed cuts. She would rather talk about an unbalanced

[3:50] budget that we were trying to balance by proposing cuts.

[3:55] Although you did not come out and say it, the insinuation was clear enough, you believe

[4:00] I am unbiased and unprofessional in my reporting.

[4:03] As a result, I would like to introduce the true facts into the public record.

[4:08] Last week's article had nothing to do with the December 10th budget meeting.

[4:12] It was in fact to follow up to the December 1st City Council meeting in which this

[4:16] Council voted down the tax, levy, and budget.

[4:20] If you'd read that initial article in the December 5th edition, you would have noticed

[4:24] I did not include the allegations that staff made that the city would lose state funding

[4:29] if a budget was not approved by the end of the year.

[4:32] I intentionally omitted it at the time because I could not verify the truth of that statement

[4:37] by our press deadline, and I do not believe in publishing unverified information.

[4:42] And that is how misinformation spreads, and how trust is eroded in the media.

[4:49] I had a conversation with state auditor Blahahah on the afternoon of December 3, and

[4:54] she told me that the information staff shared was not accurate, however she did say that

[5:00] It was a common misconception, and that same Paul staff had also made the same error.

[5:05] Because those comments were made on the record in the meeting, I felt it was my duty to share accurate information with the public.

[5:12] That is what last week's article was about.

[5:15] And at risk of incurring the staff's wrath, they should know that it was a result of my conversation that the auditor reached out to them.

[5:22] She just wanted to make you aware of accurate information.

[5:26] Isn't this what newspapers are for?

[5:29] Isn't not our job to hold officials accountable and verify that the information is true and accurate before we publish?

[5:38] Putting a newspaper together is not easy.

[5:41] There are a lot of moving parts that have to be finalized every week.

[5:44] And for those that are unfamiliar, newspapers do have deadlines.

[5:48] Hours is noon on Wednesday.

[5:51] So, Mayor, last week's budget meeting started at 3 p.m. Wednesday. By the time it finished close to 6 p.m., our paper had already been bundled, labeled, and was waiting to be loaded on a delivery van that would depart Thursday morning.

[6:06] Now, I'm good at my job, but I am not capable of getting an article in the paper that has already been printed.

[6:14] Now, I'm not going to fault anyone here for not knowing the ins and outs of my business. That isn't your job.

[6:20] However, a simple phone call, or an email, could have very quickly cleared up this situation.

[6:27] And frankly, that should have been done before a disparaging comment was made about me online.

[6:32] The Concern Citizens of Belplain Facebook page has 4800 followers,

[6:37] and a statement an assumption was made about me without care for the truth.

[6:42] No one has to like me, you don't have to want to be my friend,

[6:45] But just like I hold myself to standards to make sure I am sharing the truth, so should all of you.

[6:52] And that brings me to my final point.

[6:54] I have been a working journalist for almost 20 years now.

[6:58] And I can sincerely say that I have never seen a more dysfunctional governmental body.

[7:03] And at the heart of that is a pattern of disrespect.

[7:07] Last Wednesday's budget meeting was a perfect example.

[7:10] We had one council member drop an F-bomb, another leave before the meeting was over, and another

[7:16] speaking over, city staff and other council members.

[7:19] All of that is disrespectful and does not encourage collaboration.

[7:25] The moment disrespect enters a conversation is the moment productive communication dies.

[7:33] I'm going to repeat that.

[7:34] the moment disrespect enters a conversation is the moment productive communication dies.

[7:42] Now, I truly believe that a majority of this council agrees that taxes are too high and

[7:47] something needs to be done, but that's why this situation is so baffling. Because if people

[7:52] can agree there's a problem, they should be united to work together to address that problem,

[7:57] and that's simply not happening.

[8:01] Respect is earned. It can't be demanded, and if you don't show

[8:04] to one another, you're not going to get it back from one another. A good leader leads by example.

[8:11] A good leader wants outside opinions and thoughts and collaborates. They don't think their opinion

[8:18] is the only one that matters. They don't talk over people. They don't take credit for success

[8:24] while finding someone to blame for the failures. All five of you matter. You have equal voices, equal

[8:34] votes, your opinions, your perspectives, your lived experiences are all equally valid.

[8:41] There isn't anyone at this table that matters more than the other four.

[8:47] Belplain needs good leadership, it deserves good leadership.

[8:51] Not infighting, not cursing, not leaving meetings early, and not speaking over others.

[8:57] A new year is almost upon us, gentlemen, and for the sake of this city, I genuinely hope

[9:03] to see much needed change when it arrives.

[9:07] Thank you for listening.

[9:09] Can I follow up with one question, Rachel?

[9:11] Yes, sir.

[9:12] During the preliminary budget,

[9:14] you printed the incorrect tax percentage amount.

[9:17] And I reached out to the Henderson Independent

[9:18] and had you wanted you to correct that in the next article

[9:22] and that was not done.

[9:23] So you are relaying bias information.

[9:28] The preliminary one, are you talking back in September?

[9:30] Yep.

[9:31] I do know you reached out to me.

[9:32] I do know I had printed a correction if you'll I would be happy to look that up on our archives

[9:39] and if I'm speaking I'll happily correct that on the record but I do know I do remember

[9:44] receiving a correction from you and I do remember running a correction so I would be more

[9:51] than happy so look into that for you and I know there's been people here where we've had

[9:57] correct information and they've reached out and we've made

[10:00] I think Cynthia, we had a very lengthy correction that you sent us, I think last year, I'm always happy to correct the record.

[10:10] And I always apologize when we do have an error.

[10:12] And I apologize for putting that. I thought that you had made that article on Wednesday, so I apologize to that.

[10:20] No. And truthfully, it would be very difficult for even a Tuesday night meeting to make it simply because of the time it takes to put something together.

[10:28] And the fact that it's not just enough to write it, it has to be designed, it has to be put on a page, it has to be proof.

[10:34] Like, I mean, when there's elections, I will be up until 4am, getting that data, compiling a story, getting it designed,

[10:45] and then I'll be back up at 7 to finish the paper by noon.

[10:48] And I'm just going to remind everybody that concerned citizens of the plane is a private Facebook group,

[10:53] which means the admins own the content, not anybody else.

[10:57] So that information is going to be used for you to monetize and need to be correct.

[11:02] It is.

[11:03] And I was also I used to be a member of that page until a few months ago.

[11:07] I noticed that I had been removed and banned from that page.

[11:10] So I didn't have a way to address the comments on that page.

[11:13] I didn't have a way to address the comments on that page.

[11:15] I didn't have any comments on that page.

[11:16] Rex, this is another forum.

[11:18] You're not allowed to talk here, so I did have three residents reach out to me on Saturday

[11:23] between eight and noon and one of them said, wow.

[11:25] You must have really ticked the council off.

[11:27] They're talking crap about you online.

[11:30] I was in the 820 AM at breakfast with Santa.

[11:33] That wasn't how I would like to start my day.

[11:37] But it was something multiple residents reach out to me about.

[11:41] So I just want to correct that record that the budget meeting

[11:44] had nothing to do with last week's paper.

[11:47] It was already printed.

[11:49] Thank you.

[11:51] Hold on.

[11:52] Hold on.

[11:53] Hold on.

[11:57] I would have to go back and look at that.

[11:59] I know that the bell plane side, we print about 740 papers a week, but there are people

[12:08] outside of bell plane that want that news to.

[12:10] So I'm not going to say they're all bell plane residents.

[12:15] So if you want, I could look that up and email you at a later date.

[12:21] Anyone else have question for me?

[12:25] Thank you.

[12:33] All right, anybody else, I want to speak tonight at 12th of warm.

[12:37] There is anybody?

[12:51] Tracy, high in three, 15 south-seater street.

[12:54] I haven't been paying attention to that budget.

[12:56] Was the budget passed?

[12:58] Is the budget not passed?

[13:00] It's on the agenda tonight.

[13:02] It is on the agenda tonight.

[13:04] Okay, that's what I need to be clear.

[13:05] Thank you.

[13:06] Thank you.

[13:14] Hi, my name is Chris Lens.

[13:16] 977 farmers rich trail.

[13:19] I just started to come out tonight.

[13:20] get out from behind the keyboard. I think budgets pretty much sailed for this year, but I hope

[13:28] you're listening to people when we say these increases are not sustainable. I've been

[13:35] in finance for 30 years. All I do is balance budgets. Easiest thing in the world is just take

[13:42] last year's and slap a contract increase on there and keep going forward.

[13:51] That's not leadership, that's not moving things forward.

[13:55] We need to take hard books that are spending, I think you've got a whole room full of people

[14:01] here who agree with that.

[14:04] Thank you to the council, thank you to the city, you guys do a thank-less job, especially

[14:10] finance. We're always the bad guy who gets stuff cut out. I'm asking you guys

[14:16] start being the bad guy. This town has a spending problem and I go to city

[14:21] council meetings with the Minneapolis City Council and St. Paul in much

[14:26] bigger jurisdictions. That's my job. I've done her for 30 years and this is

[14:32] are more dysfunctional. So I'm asking do better. Thank you. Do better.

[15:01] Nobody else wants to speak, I'll move on. One final call here, everybody else wants.

[15:10] Approval of consent agenda, truth and taxation minutes of December 1, 2025, regular session minutes of December 1, 2025, work session minutes of December 1, 2025, resolution 25147, except in a $2,000 grant from the Minnesota Chiefs, a police foundation for the 2026 cooked line in hero's fishing derby, resolution 25148, except a $4,000

[15:34] dollars grant from Comp here financial for the Bell plane ambulance emergency response

[15:38] equipment. Resolution 25149 except a thousand dollar donation from Chevy Drive event for the

[15:44] Bell plane police department. Resolution 25150. Pointing Rick Crand as a regular member of the economic

[15:51] development authority. Resolution 25151. Pointing Brian Robnes and Genese Arts as members of the

[16:04] Smith's Ryan Ramness in Jim Eggers is regular members of the point as regular members in a pointing

[16:11] Antoinette Walsh is alternate of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Resolution 25153 pointing

[16:18] Antoinette Walsh is a member of the Parks Commission. Resolution 25154. Resolution improving

[16:25] in terms of a rose loan program to paint in them, enterprises LLC, 106 Main Street East,

[16:34] Resolution 25157, accepting a $1,000 donation from Scott County Air Culture Society

[16:39] for the Belt Clean Fire Department, and with that, I will look for a motion with the addition

[16:45] of Resolution 25159, a proving premise permit for the German days in corporate at C.O.H.

[16:51] that one. All motion. All second. I would motion by Otto on the second by

[16:57] Hartman, all those in favor. I vote. I have stain.

[17:06] One of stain Renee, four

[17:08] days.

[17:11] Commandee, we are receiving the Department reports. Community service

[17:13] department is report only tonight. Please refer your questions and

[17:18] administrator. Myers, we'll get those answered to you. Ambulance

[17:20] permit. Ms. Burton.

[17:25] Good evening, Mayor and council.

[17:28] Do you want me to just go through our runs first?

[17:30] Are you okay with us talking about the.

[17:33] Yeah, whatever you want to talk about.

[17:34] Perfect.

[17:35] So as you have in your packet, I do have our previous

[17:38] months runs.

[17:40] Are there any questions on those at all?

[17:45] You want to answer?

[17:46] Open the council.

[17:47] Any questions?

[17:51] No questions.

[17:52] All right.

[17:53] a little bit of history with our pages. So, as you saw, I did get a grant for us to get

[17:59] some more pages back just to give you a little bit of a brief history. Probably for five

[18:05] plus years our primary way of getting an ambulance call out for a backup crew for a 911 call

[18:11] was a system called active 911, which comes across our cell phones. We are still going to continue

[18:16] to do that, but we've noticed recently that we've had an issue with cell phone outages. We

[18:21] probably all seen them differ types of phones,

[18:23] everything else.

[18:25] So we wanted to make sure that people were aware

[18:27] from our staff when there was a call.

[18:30] So I took the initiative to get Patre's back on,

[18:33] getting those grants, getting some funds.

[18:36] One of the hiccups we found in Belplane

[18:37] was a history of a piece of equipment called a store

[18:40] in Broadway.

[18:42] Essentially, it took in the information,

[18:44] processed it, and sent it out.

[18:45] It was located by the old water tower

[18:47] and it continued we got hit with lightning.

[18:49] It hasn't been functional, and I'm going to guess fiveish years.

[18:55] So the lease agreement we had with that, essentially we just met with Elfa and said that

[18:59] this is just not a good place for it, because it continues to get hit.

[19:02] We don't want it to mess with the city's infrastructure, stuff like that.

[19:06] So we had a meeting and we thought the best place to put this tower would be for a new

[19:12] antenna with repeater is on the fire station.

[19:16] So that is what Cynthia had drawn up the new

[19:19] Alisa Grieman for you guys to take a look at.

[19:22] I also brought with me another one of our Ambulance

[19:24] Vanders John Shikings.

[19:25] You've had actually more IT or technical questions

[19:28] because that is not my forte, that's him.

[19:31] But please let me know if you have any questions, concerns,

[19:34] ideas, that's Mayor Council.

[19:38] The action for the Alisa Grieman is later on the agenda

[19:41] for you to take action.

[19:43] Thank you.

[19:46] Open the council.

[19:47] If there are any questions, comments, concerns?

[19:50] I just want to comment good for you for reaching out, finding a grant and getting those

[19:54] funds.

[19:55] That's awesome.

[19:56] Thank you.

[19:59] Please.

[20:00] All right, good evening, Mayor and council. For the month on November, your police department had on 19 criminal cases, resulting in 49 offenses. We wrote 192 traffic citations in mornings, and we had 624 calls for service.

[20:14] Clearance rate for the month of November was 95%. So I can take any questions that you have.

[20:33] Good evening Mayor, council members, you have a copy of our report.

[20:38] We had 34 calls last month for service.

[20:42] We happy to answer any questions.

[20:46] Open the council.

[20:48] I just have one question at the bottom of your report.

[20:50] It talks about extraction equipment that was broken.

[20:52] for damaged in that we replaced that.

[20:56] It's been ordered.

[20:58] That equipment was 30, 30 years old, and it's

[21:03] couldn't be repaired anymore.

[21:06] So, let last this lifespan.

[21:10] That answers my follow-up question.

[21:11] Thank you.

[21:28] I want to call that individual, I want to call that individual, I'm sure there's questions that I can find, but maybe you could address that how it might be on.

[21:48] So,

[21:51] the reason for our ladder truck, and it's actually considered a nine-story ladder, it's

[21:59] a hundred and nine feet long.

[22:02] The problems we have with cul-de-sax, setbacks from the houses.

[22:08] Some of our mutual aid towns have 75 foot ladders, and they don't even come close to the

[22:14] And one of them is actually in the middle of purchasing a truck similar to what we have.

[22:24] So the setbacks, we're not always going up straight up 190.

[22:30] And then in our rural area, the farmers are a lot of big operations that have 90-foot

[22:39] green bands. So if we have a green band rescue, we need to get to the top of that thing.

[22:45] So it's not all about going 193 straight up.

[22:50] So it's the biggest thing in the city is the

[22:52] setbacks. Can't get close enough to the horses. So kind of like a re-trolver where there's

[22:59] maybe no alley access or something like that. Right. If we have to come off a front of

[23:05] And just so everybody's aware, that truck was proposed to be purchased here in 2026, I believe,

[23:16] and the cost of a new truck is $3 million.

[23:20] And it's four-year wait-time on that.

[23:23] And we got lucky, one of our neighboring town in shock, if we had this truck for sale.

[23:29] So, we got it for $500,000, and they left $100,000 worth of equipment on there, which

[23:37] is city, what it had to purchase.

[23:39] So, it was a good deal all around for the city.

[23:48] Thank you.

[23:50] There's no further comments, questions, concerns on the button.

[23:53] Can you leave the development department, Mr. Smith-Drak?

[23:57] Good evening Mayor Council, I report us in the packet and I'm pleased to take any questions.

[24:03] Hello, I'm the council.

[24:08] Questions, comments, concerns?

[24:10] I'm a done.

[24:11] Business presentation claims 8.11 per request number 12.

[24:15] The final for Project 1 construction incorporated for the Fire Station

[24:19] Edition and Renovation underneath that amount tonight.

[24:23] It is $364,546.

[24:27] dollars and seven cents without all the promotion.

[24:32] I'll move on the polio.

[24:38] I have a motion by Heartman in a second by Stacey, all those in favor.

[24:43] I'm an A and I'm an A and I'm an A. Resolution 25155, a resolution, a proving, an authorizing

[24:51] execution, communication, sight, lease agreement with Ridgeview Medical.

[24:57] With that all the promotion.

[25:06] I

[25:09] would just note that the lease agreement is in the packet. I think ambulance manager Burton did a nice job of explaining how we got here.

[25:18] We did have a similar antenna in repeater system on our self water tower. This one is proposed to go on a fire hall temporarily.

[25:29] There isn't any new access holes that will be made in the building.

[25:34] It'll all be through existing bending.

[25:38] The agreement, a couple of important things to note,

[25:40] it set up for a term of five years with an option to review after year three.

[25:45] It contemplates an annual lease rate of zero,

[25:47] since the city does contract with Ridgeview for service.

[25:51] It requires Ridgeview to provide insurance and a sketch of where the equipment is going.

[25:56] It is based on that previously agreement we have and it's proposed for approval and execution via resolution to 5155.

[26:07] Thank you.

[26:09] With that, I'll look for a motion on 25155.

[26:16] All motion.

[26:18] I'll second.

[26:19] I have a motion by heartman and I heard auto second first.

[26:24] All those in favor.

[26:24] I post most carries resolution 25158 approving increase the para for the fire department.

[26:35] I'll have done from this over one more time.

[26:40] Thank you, Mayor Council.

[26:43] So in January, the fire department did switch over to the para plan effective on the first of 2025.

[26:51] The benefit at level at that time was established at 5,500 per year of service.

[26:58] Council has discussed it twice in budget work sessions.

[27:01] The first time they discussed not providing an increase because there was lack of certain

[27:08] information.

[27:09] At the December 10th meeting, Council was provided additional information and there was additional

[27:15] discussion.

[27:16] At that meeting there was a consensus of the majority of the council to move forward with

[27:21] adding the $100 increase for benefit level to the fire department for retirement. Attached

[27:29] is your resolution for consideration.

[27:31] And I just want to clarify this is paid for by state aid correct?

[27:35] So the state aid for the fire state aid money that the city receives goes to

[27:39] Pera. At this time, at this benefit level, at the proposed increased level, it does not show that

[27:47] there's any additional required municipal contribution.

[27:51] Perfect.

[27:51] Thank you.

[27:52] With that, I'll look for a motion on 25, 1, 5, 8.

[27:56] A motion.

[27:57] I have a motion by Hartman and a second by Evans.

[28:00] All those in favor.

[28:02] Opposed.

[28:03] Motion carries.

[28:06] Ordnance 25, 2, 0, men, fee schedule.

[28:09] And I will hand this one off to.

[28:14] Administrator Meyer.

[28:16] Excuse me.

[28:18] Mary and Council, this ordinance review and resolution for summary publication was tabled at the last meeting.

[28:30] After that tabling, there was discussion at the budget work session about changing fees at the Aquatic Center.

[28:39] The Council has three options. Option A, you can consider action on the ordinance this evening.

[28:45] With the updated aquatic fees, they are not, they do not require additional publication or a public hearing.

[28:54] Option B, you can consider action on the original fees that were proposed and then address the aquatic fees in January.

[29:02] Or option C is considered decision to not contemplate.

[29:06] The fee schedule is back in there also includes the language for charging credit card fees directly to the user.

[29:17] That was part of the discussion and direction of council earlier this year.

[29:21] I'll be happy to take any questions.

[29:24] The ordinance and the resolution are there for your contemplation.

[29:28] All over in the council.

[29:37] There are no questions, comments, concerns.

[29:40] I'll look for a motion on 25, 20.

[29:47] I need a little clarity there.

[29:49] Action.

[29:50] We have three different options there.

[29:52] A, B, and C.

[29:53] You kind of laid them out.

[29:54] Yep.

[29:55] So the original ordinance and resolution were tabled for action.

[30:00] Then, at the work session, there was discussion about making changes to aquatic fees.

[30:07] After a discussion in research, it doesn't require additional public hearing for that.

[30:13] So the council can contemplate adopting the ordinance with amended aquatic fees, or you can adopt the ordinance as it was originally proposed, and then address the aquatic fees in January by an amendment,

[30:28] or you have a contemplation of your other option, which is not to adopt at all.

[30:35] However, we do have fees included in there that would have impact.

[30:41] Mayor, if I may, just on the public hearing question.

[30:46] So we bill plain, always when you adopt your fee schedule.

[30:50] We always have a public hearing on your fee schedule.

[30:53] Just to give a little more color to the reason why this isn't being subjected to a public hearing.

[30:57] You had one before in the beginning, December, December, December 1st.

[31:04] So we subject your fee schedule to a public hearing because a few of the fees, right?

[31:08] You've got a whole bunch of different fees in your fee schedule.

[31:11] A few of those fees are required to have a hearing.

[31:15] And so we just subject your whole thing to a public hearing.

[31:18] The particular fee at issue here, though, aquatic fees or any recreational fees that the city charges,

[31:24] There is no law that requires that those kind of fees be subject to a public hearing, so as I understand it

[31:29] That's really the only substantive change to the fee schedule everything else has been subjected to a public hearing that change in that feed doesn't require a separate public hearing

[31:42] so the original

[31:44] fee was an increase for

[31:47] swimming lessons correct

[31:51] that was originally proposed at budget

[31:55] prior to December 1st

[31:57] if I

[31:58] There were no changes in aquatic centerpiece prior to December 1st.

[32:04] There was discussion, but that wasn't changed in there.

[32:09] It was at the, just handing me, we have both sets applied to Council for you to review.

[32:19] So prior to the December 10th work session, no aquatic fees have been changed from 2025.

[32:27] After that meeting, there was a discussion about changing the fees and so we addressed those in the updated version of the piece schedule.

[32:39] I thought because it was noted by the consensus of the council that everything we discussed prior to that consensus was wiped off the table because it was motion to revert back to the proposed preliminary.

[32:55] So I thought all those fees and everything we discussed went away.

[33:01] Do you do that motion?

[33:03] Then it's a misunderstanding from staff.

[33:05] I believe the direction was to address fees.

[33:08] It was more about a fee schedule.

[33:10] It wasn't about the budget.

[33:12] But I can accept that.

[33:14] That's why the original is on here.

[33:16] For council to contemplate the original fee schedule as proposed.

[33:21] What does council want to do here?

[33:24] And we can look at it in January if we want.

[33:27] I would like to see what we discussed on December 10th.

[33:31] The minutes, sir.

[33:32] I agree, I'd like to do that.

[33:34] Why do I mind this?

[33:36] Let's bring it up and I think I agree.

[33:38] I agree with this, so after some of the minutes.

[33:47] So that one has all of the changes discussed

[33:49] that had a public forum with the addition

[33:53] to the fee changes to the aquatic centers.

[33:56] Is that what I'm understanding?

[33:57] So, remember, you're on the fee schedule.

[34:01] So, it is exactly the same as December 1st.

[34:04] Okay.

[34:04] However, there was proposed changes for the aquatic center fees.

[34:08] That's the amendment you'd be making.

[34:12] Sounds good.

[34:15] Yeah, I'll motion for that.

[34:18] I have a motion by Otto and a second by Evans on resolution.

[34:26] and excuse me, ordinance 25, 20, all those in favor?

[34:32] All right.

[34:33] Post, I'm opposed.

[34:34] No, just ask for one clarification.

[34:37] The motion did include to include the amended

[34:39] aquatic fees as well.

[34:41] Thank you.

[34:47] See, moving on here, resolution 25, 143, authorized

[34:53] summary publication of ordinance 25, 20, all those in favor?

[34:57] All right.

[34:57] and I'm

[35:00] We need a motion. I have a motion by Evans and a second by Stacey to amend the fee schedule. All those in favour? Aye.

[35:13] Aye. And I am opposed.

[35:16] And that was for the summary publication, correct? So we just did there.

[35:20] All right. Mayor and council, just on that point, it's something I've said before, but I just want to make sure we understand what we're doing. So this second action here that the fee schedule got approved.

[35:29] The second action is just to publish a summary of it instead of the whole thing, so it's just a money saving thing, so it didn't sound like that was understood, but that's what the second action is.

[35:39] Yep, yep, yep, yep.

[35:46] Let's see here.

[35:49] 8.5, we had a motion to reconsider.

[35:53] Resolution 25146, adopting the final tax levee collectible in 2026 and the 2026 final budget and capital improvement plan.

[36:09] So council held work session on December 10th.

[36:14] that was a consensus of the council to revert back to the numbers that were put in front

[36:21] of us on December 1st and I have a brief statement. I'd like to read here regarding this.

[36:29] Bear with me, please. It's lengthy one.

[36:34] Throughout the budget process, the council has encountered

[36:36] numerous issues stemming from missing information, delayed information, and incorrect information.

[36:43] The preliminary levy amount did not align with the tax impact percentage, which was voted on

[36:48] pass and submitted to the county on September 2.

[36:51] Furthermore, it took over two months to obtain the actual regular overtime amount for

[36:55] the police department, excluding contractual overtime, which is holiday pay.

[37:00] Despite my repeated request, we did not receive this information until December 10.

[37:05] Even though the prior, prior to December 1, we had three budget meetings.

[37:09] During the last budget meeting in November, a council member posed a question regarding the budget, if it did not pass.

[37:17] I followed up on this inquiry with the Finance Director and City Administrator on November 19th.

[37:23] However, the email sent to all council members on November 21st, failed to mention the potential loss of all state aid and grant money.

[37:31] Instead, staff presented us the surprise consequences to the council on December 1st, which was stated by the Finance Director

[37:37] of the city administrator in our city attorney leading to a past motion being tabled.

[37:42] The council's decision to table the motion was based on incorrect information.

[37:46] We will not lose state aid grants as a consequence.

[37:49] The deadline was stated to be the last day in December but it's actually the last day in January

[37:53] for budget deadline.

[37:56] As council residents and taxpayers, we rely on the experts to provide accurate information

[38:00] and it is essential that we receive reliable data to effectively perform our duties.

[38:05] The provision of incorrect information presented by staff on December 1st effectively reversed the past motion

[38:10] Therefore, I strongly oppose this process and request that the council uphold the vote that occurred on December 1st

[38:16] We were heading back to the 2025 levee in budget amount. We have 45 days to set a budget to match the levee with that

[38:24] I am going to make a motion to deny and revert back to 2025 levee in budget amount a look for a second

[38:30] I've also had a motion by lad in the second by auto all those in favor I pose.

[38:40] No.

[38:42] All right.

[38:43] Table tables yours, Rex.

[38:46] No, we're going to move on.

[38:47] Table's yours.

[38:48] I can't wait to start the record.

[38:52] Okay, set the record straight.

[38:55] We have two budget.

[38:58] All five of us.

[39:02] Sorry, Tracy.

[39:04] We have three budget meetings before December 1st.

[39:10] We went through a line by line analysis.

[39:16] Everybody's budget.

[39:19] Public works, police, fire, line by line.

[39:22] And I want to thank Rachel Miller for being an adult in the room.

[39:29] But during these three meetings, we got along.

[39:33] We treated each other respectfully.

[39:37] Now I'll admit, when I first joined the council, I was bad at this.

[39:44] This was new to me and it was contentious from day one, but we got along for a long time, and

[40:00] At the conclusion of three budget meetings, we had consensus. No statements were made in opposition, no protest were posted by anyone on the council.

[40:15] And at the end of the third meeting, there was discussion about how to proceed because we knew

[40:26] Brady Hartman and his family had planned a vacation to Mexico for months.

[40:36] So that topic was discussed.

[40:38] I would urge you, urge you, please.

[40:43] Don't rely on anyone's word.

[40:46] Go back and listen.

[40:48] Go back and listen to that meeting.

[40:50] They can't because it's not available on the city website.

[40:53] They have to come down to City Hall and get a thumb drive to listen to that audio.

[40:58] Come down to City Hall, get a thumb drive.

[41:01] Have a group, get together, listen to it.

[41:05] Nobody at that concluding budget meeting suggested they would take advantage of Brady's absence.

[41:15] I don't think anybody took advantage of Brady's absence last Monday.

[41:18] It's just the way the cookie crumbled.

[41:20] With Brady was here, it's still what it failed on a three-two motion or three-two vote.

[41:31] Can I speak?

[41:36] I'm sorry.

[41:40] Tell you what, I'll steal one from the office and give it to you.

[41:47] Okay? I would love you to have it truly.

[41:52] But nobody had any idea that on December 1st,

[41:58] a motion would be made to ignore all the work we had done.

[42:04] So, we meet again last Wednesday,

[42:12] and I tried to make clear that my position, and let me

[42:18] tell you, I make mistakes all the time, okay, but this was time, I tried to make clear

[42:27] that my position was that I was going to stand by the work the five of us did.

[42:35] No one was missing.

[42:36] The work the five of us did over three meetings, where there were no surprises.

[42:44] Nothing was hatched, and so when Mr. Evans wisely made the motion for reconsideration because

[42:56] If this would have been a travesty to have to trim half a million dollars from the budget

[43:06] where you can't trim, I'm sorry, did you want to say something?

[43:13] Rex, just continue on with this statement, please don't include audience members in your

[43:16] conversation.

[43:21] I'm sorry.

[43:24] Time with me.

[43:25] Hey,

[43:29] sir, that's fine with me, you know, and if anybody wants to talk about this with

[43:34] personally and not on concerned citizens, but with me, because I'm barred from it, you can call me.

[43:43] And I'll talk to you. All I ask is that you'd be moderately respectful.

[43:50] So I don't have to hang up on you. And Tracy, I already talked to you once, for half an hour.

[44:04] Okay, then listen again to the meeting last Wednesday, where Mr. Evans made the point that

[44:15] this is not the way to do it. After all the work we had done, as a council,

[44:22] to throw a stick

[44:27] in the wheel, to upend all that we had done, this needs to be done thoughtfully. And if you

[44:35] Listen, you'll hear Mr. Evans say, I will work with you.

[44:40] And if you listen even harder, you will hear me say, yes, I'm willing to look at reducing

[44:50] costs.

[44:51] I pay taxes to folks, nobody on the City Council wants to increase taxes every

[45:00] Everybody wants to be more fiscally responsible. It has to be done in a responsible way. One reason

[45:10] it's going up, they're going up everywhere. And consider this. There was a question asked by the

[45:18] same gentleman that asked about the pocket truck. And I wish I could get a hold of them. I think

[45:24] name is Mark Warner. I would really like to talk to him because he asked, what's the difference

[45:31] between New Preg and Bell Playing? So I called the New Preg City Administrator and I asked

[45:38] him that question.

[45:42] And the New Preg, they have more people, they have a much lower budget. And

[45:50] Two-thirds of their tax revenue comes from industry.

[45:55] They have a large industrial park.

[46:01] And they're closer to 35 W, which I'm told,

[46:05] makes a big difference.

[46:06] And Highway 8 is going to come to Bell Plane.

[46:11] Bell Plane is out farther than New Craig, Jordan.

[46:17] If you take a $300,000 home in Belplain, if you move that home to Jordan, it's worth $350.

[46:34] If you move that home to New Craig, it's worth $400.

[46:38] So that's what their tax incomes are based on.

[46:46] We're kind of stuck in the middle.

[46:50] You know, we're not quite far enough to be rural,

[47:00] but we're too close to the cities.

[47:03] And we're honestly my view of I think Bell plane is about the best run city of 7,000 in the state of Minnesota, and maybe that's too much.

[47:23] You're all saying that that's too much.

[47:27] We have wonderful service in GalPlan, but make no mistake.

[47:37] Now, I regret taking this job.

[47:42] Okay, you know, I volunteered when he quit.

[47:45] I volunteered.

[47:47] And I only have a year left.

[47:51] And ought to respect to all of you and the rest of my colleagues, and Brady Hartman, really,

[48:00] is getting a bomb rat for taking a frickin' vacation.

[48:05] There's this family plan forever.

[48:07] I will promise I won't leave a meeting again.

[48:11] I mean, I've been held out of order so many times.

[48:14] For me, it's easier to leave.

[48:16] and argue with, yeah, see, see, we were

[48:20] crambling on about a non-topic about the budget here or so.

[48:27] But I thought that's what I was talking about.

[48:29] I'll stop,

[48:36] okay, okay, okay, okay, okay,

[48:43] okay,

[48:45] yes sir,

[48:51] you sure I haven't said too much?

[48:53] Mayor and council, obviously you're entitled to reopen your

[48:58] public forum or take comment, but can y'all agree to do that?

[49:00] Please, I mean, this is not your normal process.

[49:03] Are you going to make a ruling that you want to let people talk?

[49:06] Which is fine.

[49:06] I'm fine.

[49:07] I'd like you to all decide that you're going to do that.

[49:09] I'm fine with it.

[49:09] I've rucks a ram along for hours and all that stuff.

[49:12] Ram along for hours.

[49:15] I'm sorry.

[49:16] Would you, would you, would you rather I never set a word?

[49:24] Go ahead.

[49:24] My name is Dr. Dale Lauder milk.

[49:26] I have a doctorate and organization development change.

[49:30] Evan MBA.

[49:32] I teach college.

[49:35] Everything you just said makes absolute sense why NewPreg has a better approach to their budgeting.

[49:45] The question I have is, with all of the budget talks that you've had, you modeled any of that.

[49:54] Where is our industrial park going to be?

[49:57] We have Highway 169.

[50:00] That was made into a foreign lane, all the way, turns into 60 down past Mancato, but it goes all the way to Iowa, as a foreign lane now.

[50:11] It goes all the way into the cities. It is an artery in Minnesota.

[50:19] But we're talking about spending money on things that don't contribute to what will build that infrastructure that will pay for all this up.

[50:30] I'll be the first to tell you, I'll be the first to tell everybody back here, in any

[50:33] going to get better until it gets worse.

[50:36] But if you're investing in new street lamps and signs and all the other stuff, and I'm

[50:42] relatively new to town, I've only been here for two years.

[50:45] But I've heard all the stories, I've heard of all, I've heard all the complaints, and if we're

[50:50] investing in beautification of the community, but we're not putting into the infrastructure

[50:55] that will bring those businesses in the town, those industries in the town to offset what the communities paying for.

[51:02] Gentlemen, you're not going to have a community anymore.

[51:06] These people are going to move.

[51:09] As soon as my wife will agree to move, I'll be moving.

[51:12] I'm not going to pay these taxes.

[51:14] I mean, I'm going to have to as long as I'm here.

[51:17] But you're going to run yourselves out of a job.

[51:21] Why are we not looking at how to take that same money and invest it into something that is going to bring stuff back to the community?

[51:30] That is the question I have got.

[51:34] Thank you.

[51:45] So we had a failed motion on the table.

[51:48] I will open back the council to the motion on 25146.

[51:54] Okay, say something.

[51:55] So I was going to read something here that I wrote some notes, so I just like a few minutes

[52:00] of your time.

[52:03] So as Rex said before, I was the one who voted against the budget, and I just wrote a few

[52:10] notes here to explain this budget is not good in my opinion.

[52:18] There are cuts that need to be made, a couple of decisions, I believe her taxes are too high.

[52:23] I have said that from the beginning.

[52:24] I did not approve a budget in my first two years.

[52:29] We spent 14 hours going line by line that yielded

[52:32] $100,000 in reductions.

[52:35] Some of those cuts were good, some were bad.

[52:39] Doing this is a good to learn what goes into each line item.

[52:43] So I'm glad that we had a chance to do it.

[52:45] But it did not yield results.

[52:48] That is what we need to do.

[52:50] We can't cut jobs and not know who's going to do

[52:54] the work. We have to reorganize, cut jobs, reorganize, rewrite job descriptions as a lot

[53:02] of these people employees are on union contracts and their unions tell them what you

[53:08] can do. We need to, in January, sit down as this is a working budget. This is not a budget

[53:14] that's set in stone. This is a working budget. And sit down as a council and work together

[53:20] to make bell plane what it needs to be for the next five to ten years. Because as I've said before,

[53:30] the tax increases cannot continue having. This is the lowest tax increase that the city has had in the last

[53:38] I think it was eight years and that you can't sustain that. Make it rash decisions in the final hours

[53:47] to appear to the public that we know what will happen is unfair to the residents.

[53:56] So with extreme hesitation, because I absolutely hate this budget, I motion to reconsider

[54:04] resolution 25146 and I motion to approve resolution 25146 in the hopes that the council

[54:13] we will work next year in January to reorganize and do what's right for the community.

[54:23] So I have a motion by Evan's, go ahead a second.

[54:29] I'm sorry.

[54:29] I apologize.

[54:30] Can I say something, too?

[54:32] I mean, I appreciate you speaking for me, Rex, I respect that.

[54:37] I agree with Mr. Evans here.

[54:40] I wouldn't say I completely hate the budget.

[54:42] I believe that staff presented a budget.

[54:44] that was pretty low and an increase.

[54:46] We went through it for 10 hours, I think, in total.

[54:48] I could be raw in that number, and we went line by line,

[54:51] and we dissected it and cut another 100,000 out of that budget, right?

[54:55] That's the one that was proposed to you in December 1st.

[54:57] The one that I failed to meet, because I was not here.

[55:00] And I apologize for my absence. I was, yes, I was in Mexico. I planned that trip. Before I became a city council member, it is where it is. I did tell people a month in advance that I would be gone. And they said, instead of, should we put it on the first or the 15th, they decided to go on the first, that it, my decision.

[55:19] I appreciate you guys all coming out. I appreciate hearing from the community. And you are absolutely right. I mean, we should be focusing on infrastructure. And I think we should do that tactfully, mindfully, thoughtfully, right? We should put time,

[55:30] enough for it into that. So with James's proposal to address it at the beginning of the season,

[55:35] and not at the end, that's probably a wise decision. So I will second his motion.

[55:42] And I just want to clarify that the reason the vote took place on the first is because that was

[55:47] the day we had the public hearing. So I thought they should go together. And that's what I was not pushed back.

[55:55] So I have a motion by Evans on resolution 25146 and a second by Hartman, all those in favor.

[56:01] Aye.

[56:02] Opposed.

[56:03] Aye.

[56:06] Resolution.

[56:07] I'm sorry.

[56:08] Motion carries three or two.

[56:09] Resolution 25156, approving city employee wages and salaries for 2026 with that

[56:15] I'll look for a motion.

[56:20] All move.

[56:26] I'll second.

[56:27] I have a motion by Stacey and a second by Herman, Allows and Baber.

[56:32] Opposed.

[56:36] Um, before we go on and move on to administration and upcoming tenant meetings,

[56:42] I would like to add a discussion, I would like the budget workshop audio placed on the city

[56:51] website along with the meeting minutes for those corresponding meetings.

[56:57] Can I get two people to agree with me on that please?

[57:01] Yes.

[57:02] Thank you.

[57:03] Thank you.

[57:06] redistution ribbon cutting Monday December 22nd to o clock PM CD office as closed

[57:11] At twelve o clock PM in residence of the holiday on Wednesday December 24th city offices

[57:16] clothes and observance of the holiday on Thursday December 20 fifth city office

[57:19] as closed at 12 p.m. in accordance in the holiday on Wednesday December 31st City

[57:24] offices closed and observance of the holiday on Friday January 1st Design Monday

[57:29] Jan .5 5 o clock PM City Council Monday January 5 6 o clock PM Work

[57:34] Question Monday January 5th 615 p.m. with that I will offer a motion adjourn on motion second

[57:41] I will motion by Otto and a second by Hartman to adjourn all of those in favor. Hi, I suppose we're adjourn. Thank you

[57:49] I was only held out of what order once we're making progress

[57:57] Thank

[58:14] you

City Council

Agenda

Transcript