[0:00] [Music]

[0:20] Sorry. Thank you for the update. Uh Shannon, can we have a roll call,

[0:23] please? Councelor Leman here. Waller. Mayor Bondic here. Council,

[0:30] uh, please stand if you're able and join me for the pledge of

[0:34] allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and

[0:40] to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:47] liberty and justice for

[0:51] all. Okay. Item four, agenda approval. Make a motion to approve the agenda.

[0:57] Been a motion to approve the agenda as presented.

[1:02] There's been a motion to approve the agenda as presented.

[1:17] regular. There's already a motion. So, you have

[1:20] to Is that all right under your Yeah.

[1:26] Yes. We'll need a second.

[1:31] So, we will There's been a motion and a second. We will add

[1:36] on items 7 A and 7B.

[1:42] uh the council meeting minutes from February and the PUC building update.

[1:48] Any more discussion? Hearing none. All in favor?

[1:53] Opposed? Motion carries. Moving on to um consent

[2:02] agenda. We have a motion to approve the consent.

[2:08] Sorry. Have a motion and second to approve the consent agenda. Um any

[2:13] discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I opposed. Motion

[2:19] carries. Um consent agenda items. Uh item seven uh 7 to8 meeting minutes from

[2:27] February. Mic, please.

[2:32] All right. Um, the reason I had this called is there's a mistake because

[2:36] councilman was here and he's not listed as being here present. February I was

[2:41] gone. March of March. Oh, March. Did I say February? Sorry. March.

[2:50] So there this correction

[3:03] confused me too because usually we add it to the end of the meeting, right? We

[3:07] turned it we we changed that agenda uh in the past so we could uh um get right

[3:13] to it versus waiting until the end while it's So do we have to make a motion to

[3:18] approve? Yeah, we could make a motion to approve with the correction

[3:24] support. Uh been a motion and second to approve the March minutes of the council

[3:29] meeting. Uh is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor?

[3:35] Motion carries. Uh

[3:43] oh, that's what and I forgot to do that too. That we're all goofed up. That one

[3:46] thing just I'll jump back to that in just a minute. So um good catch. Um uh

[3:54] then we'll move on to 7B for now. The uh DC building update. Councelor Ward

[4:01] again. Okay. So, the reason I had this pulled is um I I guess I just have I

[4:08] have a couple comments to make. It's I know this is really a mess trying to

[4:12] find the title and all this and that and I think if this cannot be cleared up

[4:17] within a couple months, I mean, he's been using this building for 18 years.

[4:22] Um, only paying utilities as far as I understand, no rent. You say that

[4:27] there's a lease here. So, is there a signed lease? And what did what does the

[4:31] lease say?

[4:35] Yeah.

[4:41] Um, just that he uses those premises for and pays utilities. It's the lease is

[4:46] it's a one pager and it's not. It doesn't fill the whole page.

[4:52] paragraph. Okay. And Kathy had stated that the roof is leaking. Um so who who

[4:59] takes care of the maintenance on the

[5:04] tenant has done that. He has done that. Um because I mean if this is going to be

[5:08] dragging on for months then I think we need to start looking at having a lease

[5:14] signed or some charging rent. So then if there is are things that need to be

[5:18] fixed that we have some money to cover those

[5:21] expenditures. So that's what I want.

[5:27] Absolutely. And I agree with her. I

[5:48] got I'm sorry. then we need to look at another option of getting that's one on

[5:55] my objection to the building ever had a grant and and right now this is a very

[6:03] unique situation right now what we have is the the PUC is leasing the building

[6:09] to somebody for the cost of utilities even

[6:13] though it's a city-owned building but we don't have anything that shows that and

[6:19] it appears that it's not on city land. So, it's

[6:24] and we know that we we've got pretty good now. We know it's not sitting on

[6:28] city land. We're we're pretty sure now because I when I saw the picture, I

[6:32] asked Jeff and he said, "No, this they're saying is accurate and it does

[6:36] not. It's a tax forfeited land." Yeah. And I don't know where it's going

[6:41] to shake out. I understand this sounds really odd,

[6:46] but I don't know how a lease on this a proper lease on this building will work

[6:53] or would work. It's it's not in our land. We got a

[7:00] problem. I mean, I understand about the rack and all that. We have problem,

[7:04] right? And I'm going to get into we're getting into the weeds on discussion

[7:07] here of something that just needs to be that was reported to be vital. So, um I

[7:11] assume that the ongoing uh work is being done and and hopefully

[7:15] we'll have an update soon. So, talk

[7:19] about speak again or [Music]

[7:30] second. Have a motion and second to uh accept the report that was pulled. Uh

[7:35] any discussion hearing none. All in favor? opposed. Motion carries. Uh

[7:41] jumping back to number six, we threw uh or I'm sorry, number five. Um it is

[7:47] sexual assault awareness month. Um and we have a mayoral proclamation here and

[7:52] I apologize for goofing that up on the agenda. I'm not used to doing these in

[7:55] the beginning. So whereas sexual assault awareness month is intended to bring

[7:59] awareness to the fact that sexual violence is widespread and is a public

[8:03] health concern for individuals, families, community members, and committ

[8:06] communities as a whole. Whereas child sexual abuse, exploitation, rape, and

[8:11] sexual harassment impact all communities as seen by the national statistics. One

[8:15] in three girls and one in six boys will be sexually violated by the age of 18.

[8:19] One in five children is solicited sexually while on the internet. Onethird

[8:23] of all sexual violence cases in north northern St. Louis County happened to

[8:26] children 17 years and younger. Whereas in fiscal 2024, our local sexual assault

[8:31] program of northern St. County has worked with more than 391 primary and

[8:36] secondary crime victims of sexual violence whom reside in the car

[8:40] communities. The program has provided more than 12,700 documented trauma and

[8:44] victim focus advocacy services with these crime

[8:48] victims. Whereas staff, board members, and volunteers of our local antisexual

[8:52] violence program, the sexual assault program of Northern St. County encourage

[8:56] every person to speak out when witnessing acts of violence, however

[8:59] small, to help survivors connect with community allies. Whereas we must work

[9:04] together to educate, engage communities in sexual violence awareness and

[9:08] prevention and to believe, listen, learn, and support its victims and

[9:12] family members. Whereas a growing number of Minnesota leaders are committed to

[9:17] sexual violence prevention. And whereas all motans must be part of the solution

[9:21] to eliminate crimes of sexual violence. Therefore, I as mayor of city of Lavik,

[9:25] Minnesota, do hereby proclaim the month of April in the year of 2025 as sexual

[9:34] assault. Uh, I don't believe we need

[9:38] approval. All right, moving on. I'm going to close the regular council

[9:43] meeting and open it up for the nuisance hearing at 1809.

[9:52] First, I'll ask is there a representative of the property located

[9:55] at 102 or I'm sorry, 101 Second Avenue South. Um, there is not.

[10:04] uh council, the um in your packet there is

[10:09] a letter that was sent to the property owner. Uh photographs that were taken um

[10:16] and then prior to the meeting, the updated photographs were presented

[10:22] uh as well as some photographs shown to all of us

[10:26] by the neighbor um that he took five minutes before coming here.

[10:32] So, does anybody have

[10:36] any comments on the property? I just have one. This has been

[10:44] an ongoing problem since I've been on the

[10:48] count and we need we need to take care of. I

[10:55] mean, I don't know what else to think. It needs to be taken care of. It's an

[10:58] ongoing problem. Not saying she, but a lot of people do just enough to get by

[11:04] and then it goes back right to where it was trouble

[11:09] again. And I' I've driven by this multiple times.

[11:14] Oh, yeah. I know that place and it it needs to stop.

[11:19] Well, there's a lot of properties in town that we can work on. Well, I know,

[11:22] but higher priority than others. This is a frequent flyer. So, yeah, good.

[11:28] So, is that a motion? Yeah, please. A motion. We have a motion to abate. Is

[11:33] there a second? I'll second. We have a motion and a second to abate the

[11:36] property at 101 Second Avenue South. Is there any discussion?

[11:41] Hearing none. All in favor? Opposed. Motion carries. I will close

[11:46] the nuisance hearing and reopen the council meeting at

[11:51] 1811. U item nine, presentations. There were no pre-registered presentations for

[11:56] us. Um, and we'll move into mayor and council member

[12:00] reports. These are that's for Did you pre-register?

[12:16] Well, we do public input at the for the open forum.

[12:33] Um, I will allow it. Please go to the podium. Turn the microphone

[12:41] on. We do generally have a Just click the the square big square button one

[12:46] time. There you go. All right. Am I good? Yes.

[12:51] All right. Uh so I represent the uh uh SD2

[12:57] committee for the strategic plan having to do with economic development and

[13:01] housing and uh the purpose of why giving this presentation now is because uh

[13:08] developments have happened regarding the school sites.

[13:12] Um, we all know uh that that uh the NTS borings have shown that we've got some

[13:20] brownfield uh sites on on each side and uh and we thought that that was just it

[13:27] and that uh that somehow these were going to be

[13:32] remedied. Well, as it turns out, the county is not going to remedy these. Uh

[13:38] Patty and I were at a Brownfield conference in Virginia. Uh and uh it was

[13:46] councelor Wallard's assessment that the city needed to be to find a developer to

[13:53] buy the property in order to get to remediate the the uh uh brownfield

[13:59] sites. Well, in some respects that is true, but I also know in from a person

[14:07] at the at the conference that the city can declare itself as a developer or buy

[14:13] the property period. So, not going into all the the weeds as uh the mayor has

[14:21] said about some other issues here. I'm asking the council to give some

[14:26] consideration to having special session just to talk about how we're going to

[14:30] how the city wants to handle this land. Uh and it really comes down to

[14:37] some very basic questions. Number one, is the city interested in buying the

[14:42] land? Number two is there are all kinds of

[14:48] ramifications of the city buying the land and what it's able to do. And the

[14:54] third point is is what kind of control does the city

[14:59] want to have if it doesn't buy the land. So what councelor Waller

[15:08] uh Oral March and myself have put together along with uh Jeff is a

[15:15] flowchart of all kinds of and it's exploded that it's it's actually gotten

[15:20] quite large based upon looking at different options and this special

[15:26] meeting would essentially look at this as kind of the basis for asking your

[15:31] questions so that you'll be better informed.

[15:34] when it comes to making a decision about what you'd like to do with this

[15:38] land. And the last point I'll bring up in context here is that what we thought

[15:45] was going to be the case in that that the council or the city would get the

[15:50] property or be offered the property or the city would reach out to the county

[15:54] is no longer the case. the Supreme Court case uh that that was ruled a few uh a

[16:02] couple years ago or just this past year indicated now that tax forfeit land

[16:08] between 2016 and 2024 all must go to auction. So we don't

[16:15] have any first uh first dibs on that property.

[16:21] I got this information last Friday. Chris Johnson who works for the county

[16:27] and so uh I wanted to get this information out so that you can make a

[16:32] motion hopefully make a motion or have a discussion about this special meeting

[16:37] because I think we need to walk it through as part of what the council

[16:41] needs and what we can provide as uh the SD2 committee to you and that's that's

[16:47] really our mandate there is to give to do the research. So that's all I have.

[16:52] If there are any questions, uh happy to address

[16:57] them. Thank you. Okay, moving on to mayor and

[17:02] council member reports. Uh we will start council. Uh I don't have

[17:09] anything

[17:18] councel with this. already mentioned about the depot being

[17:22] taxed forfeited land. There's other tax for land which is the school property.

[17:28] Okay. We also Jeff found out not we Jeff found out about Aurora having tax

[17:33] forfeited land. And so um we want to go to the county. We want to talk about

[17:38] these pieces of land and incorporate the depot with that. And so he and I if you

[17:44] me would like to work with Jeff on this tax forfeited land and see if we can get

[17:48] it cleaned up. We believe after talking Jeff and I talking we believe we can

[17:53] have more of an influence if we combine all this tax forfeited land that is in

[17:58] wavik and uh town of white and I can't remember was there one in white lakes so

[18:04] we think we can do more if we group everything with the depot go to this

[18:09] meeting and push it forward so I would like the council approval to work with

[18:13] Jeff on the tax for the land of the areas I mentioned above plus part of the

[18:18] other citizens or council members groups in the other community to do that.

[18:23] That's what I'm asking about.

[18:27] I have no problem in the general consent.

[18:31] Yeah, I'm fine with that. It's probably a good idea to get it bundled together

[18:34] and get it done and over with and then we'll Yes. And don't expect miracles

[18:39] here. Um this is government, but I give you a monthly report and let you know

[18:44] how we Okay. just like I did with this last. Sounds great.

[18:53] Is that all you had?

[18:57] Sounds good. Councelor Waller. Okay. Last month we signed an agreement with

[19:01] Wasabi East to provide services for the youth activities coordinator position

[19:06] and I had asked how many biwic youth are served. Um and we didn't have an answer.

[19:14] Well, I did ask Mark Gert and he cannot provide us with the number of by youth

[19:19] that participate. Um, he did say that he provides Jeff with the report every time

[19:25] they have a meeting. So, when was the last time you received a report?

[19:38] It seems like it's been a while since we've had that information. Um, so I I

[19:44] wasn't sure. I couldn't recall, but I he said in order to get that information

[19:49] about how many biologists, he would have to go through and like look at each

[19:54] person that signs up and and their address to get that. So, I just wanted

[19:59] to give everybody an update on that. Um, okay. Okay. And then a citizen contacted

[20:04] me wondering why Bowavic did not participate in the statewide tornado

[20:09] awareness program on April 10th. The siren should have been activated at 1:45

[20:14] and 6:45 and neither of them were. Who is responsible for that?

[20:35] Okay. Well, they were really upset because they said they had their family

[20:39] ready at 6:45 to practice the drill and the sirens were activated. That's not

[20:46] automatic.

[21:18] Are you the emergency management director in town?

[21:22] No.

[21:29] Okay. Okay.

[22:09] I can think of a lot better things to spend 20 grand on. I I guess it's just I

[22:13] mean it's supposed to be a statewide thing and if like Jeff if you normally

[22:18] do it and you know you're not going to care if you could make somebody else

[22:22] maybe do it. Um, I know at school we always all had to, you

[22:28] know, um, and then I did want to say that when Dave spoke, um, as far as the

[22:35] brownfield sites, you you have to have a developer in order to get funding that

[22:41] that's, you know, that that was what that was about. But then I just want to

[22:45] kind of know how does the council feel about having a working session on this?

[22:50] Is it something we want to do or how do we feel about it? We want to

[22:56] set set a working session to discuss school sites and closing and

[23:03] we we do have the on the council workshop agenda here coming up. There's

[23:08] going to be a few other things on this one that are pretty time sensitive. So,

[23:14] um I'm not opposed to a discussion on that near future.

[23:19] Um, yeah, we'll just have to I think maybe discuss put it on his agenda for

[23:25] next month. Okay. Because I guess I just don't want I mean I think the council

[23:32] should all be on the same page. We should all have the same

[23:37] like building. Thank you.

[23:44] Uh, this isn't for discussion. I'm sorry.

[23:47] I know in the past we've been used to an open public forum, but we don't do that

[23:50] anymore.

[23:53] [Music] When Jeff and I work with the county,

[23:58] we'll find out more about that. But she's absolutely right. We cannot get

[24:01] funding if the developer comes in right now. As of right now, we cannot get a

[24:06] grant for that unless we have a developer. So, I just want to make that

[24:10] real quick. And I do have one more thing. Um Jeff, is the water wrap still

[24:16] in the pit? Yeah,

[24:24] it isn't. I don't know that if it's actually in the water, but it's down at

[24:28] the end of the excess road. Um Homes Recycling is going to come over

[24:34] and take a look at see if they call it out for us. Because isn't the company

[24:42] that aren't they responsible for removing that wrap or not? I thought

[24:47] they were

[24:53] There you go. Now you're on. Oh, I got a battery signal here. So, oh, still

[24:57] working. Yeah. So, um that was not in the agreement to remove it. Uh we kept

[25:03] it in there in case something went wrong with the new one just so we weren't

[25:10] completely okay. All right. Completely out of

[25:13] water. Um with the understanding that we would then scrap it out at some point.

[25:19] Sorry. Thank you.

[25:24] Okay. Um so I'll move on to myself here.

[25:29] Um, we definitely have an overall blight problem in town. Um, and I've been

[25:37] saying the same thing and as I think everybody else up here has been uh

[25:41] saying the same thing for a couple of years. Um, I did start looking at a uh

[25:46] more comprehensive blight ordinance. Um, I know uh attorney Mitten will be back

[25:53] um shortly and we could probably, you know, meet in person on some of the

[25:57] suggestions that I have. But there is uh there's definitely a

[26:01] lack of, you know, pride in in your property and a definite lack of pride in

[26:07] the community. I mean, I just looked over in the park and somebody's been

[26:10] disassembling the flower garden and throwing the blocks in the middle of the

[26:14] park. So, um I will get that taken care of probably this week. But, uh again, if

[26:22] you see something, say something that goes above and beyond crime and

[26:27] everything else. There's I mean it's it's an ongoing problem. So I think

[26:31] let's all work together and get this town cleaned up because I think we're

[26:34] going to have to uh get the rules a little more strict that way Ed doesn't

[26:37] have to keep coming here with the same problem over and over and over. Um we're

[26:42] uh we're restarting the West Annex uh development committee. Uh we've added

[26:47] some some other players and we'll be meeting later this um later this month.

[26:54] There's the growing list of fire hydrants that I would like the PUC to

[26:59] address unless that's as far as I know that's the publicities commission's

[27:03] responsibility and uh I mean you've got two bagged up right here. I mean if

[27:09] we've got a fire at city hall or the pavilion I mean we've already got a

[27:14] problem or councelor Ny's house for that matter um that needs to be taken care

[27:18] of. So Jeeoff you want to get to the PC and get that taken care of? I'd

[27:21] appreciate it. Yep. And then we'll discuss the PC. Okay. I can't make it to

[27:26] PUC meetings. I've got my union meeting and Legion meeting that night on either

[27:30] side of it. So, um uh thanks to Snowcross Racer Levi

[27:36] Leval for throwing a great uh event up at Giants Ridge uh this weekend. Very

[27:41] well attended. Hopefully Tai wasn't too terribly

[27:44] busy.

[27:47] Um I went home early. Um, no, it was it was a it was a great day. Um,

[27:54] administrator Jacobson and I took the uh bus down to the Rams Day on the hill.

[27:58] Um, Rams executive director Paul Peltier set up a bus um set up meetings with all

[28:03] of our legislators and uh you know that was probably my seventh trip to the

[28:08] capital this session and it was by far the most well organized

[28:12] uh well done out of all of them and we ended with the Ranger party at Seni. So,

[28:18] uh, turned out really well. Had a really great chance to to not only connect with

[28:21] some other area, um, administrators and elected officials, but talk to our

[28:28] elected officials down at the at the capital. It was it was really good.

[28:32] Um, so, uh, in in in conjunction with I was unable to make

[28:39] it to that, uh, Brownfield presentation. Um and uh thankfully councelor Wallard

[28:45] agreed to cover that as well as councelor Neim covered the east range

[28:49] cap meeting. All happened to be on the same day that I had an appointment. Uh

[28:54] but uh since then I we've met with IT RB um to talk to the agency about how they

[29:02] can help us out um with some of our projects in town and some of our bigger

[29:07] projects and the brownfield development and whatnot was

[29:12] discussed and I also discussed a few things with Sean Haney from Northband

[29:16] Group from an East Range Powers perspective and uh you know he sent a

[29:21] contact to us uh through ARDC on that as well. So, we've got more to follow on

[29:26] that. It's all kind of in the works. That's uh that's all it's all good

[29:29] things coming. So, and then on that same note, the uh the SD2 group did come up

[29:37] with a um a statement on housing based on their

[29:43] um you know, based on the the group's work this uh this last year and

[29:50] realizing that a steering committee has a hard time with uh obviously like

[29:55] supporting housing developers and everything else. It's meant to be, you

[29:58] know, the strategic plan is meant to be a council

[30:01] action issue. So, u the statement from that group was SD2 wants housing for

[30:08] families, workforce housing, and affordable and senior housing. Housing

[30:11] should include garages. Special financing should be made available

[30:15] through government agencies. And that was their um official statement to the

[30:20] council. And uh it just kind of got overlooked uh first quarter. this this

[30:25] and I have not been uh part of that group and councelor Waller has taken my

[30:29] spot. So, um and that I believe is all I have on

[30:35] the mayor's report. So, uh moving on to number 10, old business or I'm sorry,

[30:40] number 11, old business. We have none. And moving on to new business, first

[30:45] reading of ordinance uh 435, managing flood planes within the city of Bav.

[30:53] And I know we did we covered this at the agenda meeting. Uh this is something

[30:57] that we need to adopt as the updated flood plane after last year's uh uh

[31:05] after last year's incident. So I would entertain a motion to have the first

[31:10] reading. I'll make the mot I'll make the motion to do the first

[31:15] reading. Uh it's been moved and seconded to hold the first reading of the

[31:20] ordinance 435. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor?

[31:25] I opposed. Motion carries. So if somebody makes a motion to dispense with

[31:31] the reading, otherwise I'm going to start reading. So

[31:36] I'll second. We've got an attorney. We've got a

[31:41] motion and second to uh dispense with the reading of ordinance 435. Is there

[31:46] any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Uh

[31:52] we'll have a second reading and we'll tack that on to the um special meeting

[31:56] at the end of the month. Uh item B, resolution 202512, authorizing a

[32:04] grant application to the Department of Iron Range Resources.

[32:09] I'll make a motion. Uh it's been moved and seconded

[32:13] to approve the uh resolution 2025-12. Any discussion? Um I I do have a

[32:21] question. Okay, so we have this money. Are there other grants we can apply for

[32:26] and use it as a match or not? Yes.

[32:34] U we'll continue to go after bonding bill money, which doesn't really bring

[32:38] in the match all that much other than we're building up an existing project.

[32:41] Um we could potentially go after Ir funds and uh USDA uh sorts.

[32:51] Is there any more discussion hearing? None. Uh roll call.

[32:55] Shannet

[33:01] I resolution

[33:05] passes. Uh item 12 C resolution 202513 authorizing a grant agreement with the

[33:12] Minnesota Department of Transportation Vocal Road Improvement Program.

[33:16] I'll make a motion. We have a motion and second to approve

[33:20] resolution 2025-13. Is there any discussion? I'm

[33:25] just wondering are is there any assessments to the homeowners after No.

[33:32] Is there any other discussion hearing? None.

[33:36] Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Resolution passes.

[33:46] Item 12D, approval of the amenities coordinator contract change. I'll make a

[33:52] motion to approve. Uh, it's been moved and seconded to

[33:57] approve the updated amenities coordinator contract. Any discussion?

[34:03] Yeah. Um, has Larry reviewed this contract?

[34:09] [Music]

[34:14] I'm sorry, Larry. Can you say that one more time?

[34:17] [Music]

[34:26] No objection. Okay. Um, another thing was there are no office hours listed.

[34:32] um that was discussed and the uh the office hours have

[34:39] been at the host discretion based on what the needs are because the host

[34:43] knows the needs more than the people sitting at this desk. Okay. Should that

[34:46] be stated in here? I don't I don't believe so. Okay. And

[34:53] then Pardon? I did. She's always done a good job

[34:59] in she does has to go to her doctor. She always and that's what I was going to

[35:07] ask like she previously always she's real good about okay and then it didn't

[35:12] say anything about having the insurance previously some they always

[35:18] had to carry the home had to carry insurance. Did I read the

[35:25] I didn't see it anywhere in here. Larry, did you see anything about them carrying

[35:30] the insurance? I did not.

[35:41] I missed it. You know what? I read the amenities one and not the camp. Yeah, it

[35:46] was removed from the campground because it's not in the amenities contract.

[35:52] wasn't the amenities one. It was in the amenities one, but it wasn't

[35:57] uh Did we have it in the 23?

[36:02] I I would think it

[36:08] was. So I believe

[36:19] well I mean because that's something that was still

[36:27] um so I believe we can I don't remember who made the motion I made the motion

[36:33] but we can and I can update a version and find that but we can find that cross

[36:37] from previous contract. U it's it's number five in the amenities

[36:42] um contract. I think if we amended to add number five from the

[36:48] amenities contract to the new contract. I think if you offer I'm going to offer

[36:56] friendly amendment to do that with number five. I see you have to update

[37:00] the mayor signature line. So I will update both of those. I was going to

[37:04] mention that next. Um is your does is the friendly amendment.

[37:09] Okay. Is there any more discussion? Thank you for

[37:16] hearing none. All in favor? Go ahead, Larry.

[37:30] highly

[37:43] [Music]

[37:51] advis before you sign anything. Oh, and there I'm sorry, there was one more. I I

[37:56] just had some edits here. Um on number two on the contract it says city agrees

[38:02] to pay the campground host as and for such services pursuant to this contract

[38:07] 32,000 payable monthly. Well to me that sounds like you're going to pay her

[38:12] $32,000 monthly and it should be in monthly installments or something like

[38:17] that. I I would just word that a little bit different I

[38:22] guess. And um 3a

[38:29] Just just put a slash between at and in camp off of

[38:37] daily. It's just a typo between and and gets used by campus and get used by

[38:43] campus. So there just a couple

[38:49] and yeah kind of had chicks there. Yeah.

[39:04] That's an interesting question there. I just it was there's a

[39:10] lot of miscommunication. So,

[39:16] um it was done by several people.

[39:21] Um and so I recommended from now on that the uh campground

[39:31] coordinator, it's the three of us that do it and no outsiders until we bring it

[39:37] to the

[39:40] council. question asked early,000.

[39:47] [Music]

[39:55] Yep. It was

[40:01] Yeah. And I'm gonna have Jeff do that for you. It was 30 It was 32,000 for the

[40:05] rest of the year. Not monthly, but the rest of the year.

[40:12] Okay. Does that make sense? And so I'll make I'll get with Jeff and I will make

[40:18] sure you get that red marking.

[40:23] Oh, yeah. That's right. You're going to be okay.

[40:26] Okay. I'll Yeah, Jeff and I can come in and talk to you about it. Okay.

[40:32] Okay. Are you still comfortable with an approval on that, Larry?

[40:38] Are you still comfortable with the approval of the updated language adding

[40:41] in the insurance and fixing the 32,000 to be paid annually versus monthly?

[40:54] Can I make a suggestion? If we have our monthly work meeting, can we get it

[40:59] approved then so we could just hold off on this and get it make sure it's

[41:02] correct and that Larry reads it and we get it done right. Um because we have a

[41:08] motion and a second on the floor, I would ask that we vote it down and then

[41:12] vote to take Yeah.

[41:16] Um so we do have a motion and second. Uh is there any more

[41:21] discussion? All in favor?

[41:28] I don't want to influence any.

[41:35] All right. watching and we will need a motion to table. I

[41:39] make a motion to table this until we set our date for the work meeting and get

[41:43] this taken care of appropriately. There is a motion to table. Does not need a

[41:48] second and there's no discussion. So all in favor

[41:56] I motion carries. So Robert rules of order there. Uh review item 12E. Review

[42:02] the updated joint powers agreement for police services.

[42:05] Gilbert. Um staff recommendation was to direct the mayor administrator to meet

[42:09] with Gilbert officials and bring back a contract proposal for action. I would

[42:14] like to um add to that recommendation and have the city attorney involved in

[42:20] that as well. Anytime we're going to be doing contract work at this point, I

[42:24] would like to have city attorney as well.

[42:33] Second Yeah, I'm

[42:37] motion with Larry looking. Yes. Okay. There was motion in second. Is there any

[42:45] discussion? Yeah. Um, okay. I I mean I am happy with the police protection or

[42:52] the service that we are getting, but I have had citizens in by contact me over

[42:58] the price. And I mean, we're going to be paying over $100,000 more a year and

[43:06] they have suggested other options. And I'm just wondering if the

[43:10] council how you feel about checking to see if any other department would be

[43:16] willing to provide service. If they are willing to provide service, what

[43:20] services would they provide and what would they charge us? um then we have

[43:26] some research done whether or not I mean nobody else may even want to provide

[43:32] service to us and and I do want to say I have been happy with the services that

[43:37] we have been receiving from Gilbert but when you have people calling and

[43:41] emailing you and saying that this is just it's too much I mean it's what 400

[43:52] 436 Yeah. So, I guess I want to know how the council feels about

[43:59] that if they want to check out our options or if we just want to renew this

[44:03] contract. I can say firsthand St. Louis County is

[44:07] not an option. Um, that's already been asked. Well, it's already been asked.

[44:12] They don't they don't have the personnel and they don't it sounds like they don't

[44:15] even have desire. Correct me if I'm wrong. Correct. So, when did this take

[44:20] place?

[44:32] when we did the discussion county

[44:38] I think it was during the last discussion on police

[44:40] service which yeah so is that so

[44:47] I have double checked the dates I mean I I honestly I don't think there is

[44:52] anybody else that would want to provide us service. But I just think if citizens

[44:56] are asking that that you know if we could provide them with that information

[45:00] that would be a good thing to do. But I don't know how everybody else on the

[45:03] council feels.

[45:08] Oh all the feedback I've gotten has been uh Gilbert is a fantastic asset to our

[45:14] community. Um and that's in conjunction with you know everybody else. And like I

[45:20] said, I personally have I feel that we're getting a fair deal. I mean,

[45:24] obviously we have to have a discussion with Gilbert at this time. Um, which is

[45:30] what this directs, but I personally don't have any um reason or desire to

[45:36] look anywhere else. Not that I'm saying that it's, you know, I mean, we're we're

[45:41] probably not going to find anything cheaper than what we got, especially for

[45:45] the level of service that we get. So all the feedback I've got has been very

[45:50] positive for Gilbert PD. I I I think it's highly unlikely that another unit

[45:55] of government is going to um actively bid for the service like

[46:05] uh like a construction crew or something like that or some of the other service

[46:10] contracts we have. Um I think it's very unlikely that any of the other agencies

[46:15] would would say well yes we would like we'd like provided well here's our lower

[46:20] cost in order to to get you to come to us.

[46:25] Um I think out of professional courtesy they would decline do that

[46:32] and I'm pretty sure in that position we would

[46:36] certainly go to and I just have

[46:43] I feeling question I have when was the last contact?

[46:52] Uh 2017 Okay. And if I remember, help me

[46:58] out here. Um they are long overdue to have an

[47:05] increase. Is that not correct? because we've been slid into that was the last

[47:09] cost increase as well 2017. So knowing that like I do I I understand

[47:17] what you're saying. I understand what the citizens are saying but personally

[47:21] um because of just because of that I have no trouble with police. I've never

[47:27] heard anything contrary to this. They do an excellent job except the cost and I

[47:32] think they've been well worth the money. It's not

[47:36] over as I know it

[47:45] because that's just the proposed right now. Then you're going to

[47:49] go meet with Gilbert and actually get the the finalized number, right? But

[47:52] that's the just Yep. And I think there's some movement on I mean we can discuss

[47:57] just the number itself um kind of the meanings of what some of the what they

[48:01] have in here as far as actual rever reimbursements received. I think that

[48:05] requires some clarification. So we both so both sides know what we're talking

[48:08] about when we talk about those categories because there is some room

[48:13] for

[48:16] interpretation. Okay. Uh is there any other

[48:19] discussion hearing? None. All in favor? I opposed. Motion

[48:25] carries. Jeff and I will set that up shortly.

[48:30] Okay. Um item 12F, approval of memorandum of understanding with uh

[48:37] local

[48:39] 49. We talked about the update in our agenda meeting. I'll make the motion.

[48:44] There been a motion to approve the memorandum of understanding. Support.

[48:49] It's been supported. Is there any discussion? So, this will be accepted.

[48:54] It doesn't have to wait until a new contract. Correct.

[48:58] Then my only question was is in here on the new one it says deal like minor and

[49:03] major infractions like what's a minor what's a major what who determines that?

[49:10] I think that's always a judge follow.

[49:15] Okay. Yeah. that gives us the that gives us the ability to decide

[49:22] that which is pretty standard. So, I'm sure there have been extended

[49:27] conversations about what's minor and what's major um but without without a

[49:32] very very long list up to discussion. Is there any more

[49:39] discussion hearing? None. All in favor? I opposed. Motion

[49:44] carries. Item 12G, approval of the application number five for Boic

[49:48] Recreation

[49:56] Area. This is the uh payment for the finish or the final payment

[50:02] for the uh or is this the final close to the final? One more to release the punch

[50:08] list items and the retainage and all that stuff.

[50:11] So, this is the second to last. I apologize. Yeah, there is still a

[50:14] $28,000 retaining. So, um, and there was no reason not to approve it. I'll make a

[50:22] motion. Support. It's been, uh, moved and seconded to approve the pay

[50:26] application for the campground projects. Is there any

[50:30] discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Uh

[50:39] item 12 I approval of fire equipment

[50:50] purchase 12 approval of fire. Oh H did I say I

[50:57] sorry item 12H approval of fire equipment purchase.

[51:06] Uh it's two budgeted items and the fire chief uh went out and got two competing

[51:10] quotes for those items and it's recommending that the items on the

[51:14] ultimate safety concepts or clarity safety equipment will be approved. I'll

[51:19] make motion. It's been moved and supported to approve

[51:23] the fire equipment purchase. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor?

[51:29] I opposed. Motion carries. Uh item 12. I got it right this time. Um uh you'll

[51:38] see an attachment from the uh McQueen emergency group along with um some

[51:44] costing. Uh as everybody knows, the firetruck task force has been meeting

[51:49] regularly and uh the fire department worked very hard on spec and Chief

[51:55] Mackey searched out some lease to own options and other things. Um, so if

[52:02] there's any if there's not any discussion on this, I'm going to add

[52:06] this to the uh the city council workshop that is denoted in item 12.

[52:19] There's no motion. It's just discussion. So

[52:23] you check it was just it was updated on for theformational purposes. So, but

[52:30] that will be added to the to the workshop.

[52:34] I guess the only thing I would say is I have not heard anything from any

[52:38] citizens. So, I mean, if somebody has an opinion about if I want to buy a a new

[52:44] fire truck, then they should be letting us know so we know how you're feeling

[52:49] about this. And um Steve, I don't know if you

[52:53] wanted to say a couple of the reasons why we need this fire.

[52:58] Well, we're trying to avoid a 30% increase in homeowners insurance rates.

[53:02] Um, which we've already seen homeowners insurance rates going up. This should

[53:07] actually bring our fire flow to a standard or what is the term I'm looking

[53:13] for? Firefighters.

[53:17] Um, yeah, the fire flow you need us you need to hit that 3,000 gallons a minute

[53:21] mark, which we don't have. So theoretically, you should even see a

[53:25] decrease in your uh in your insurance. Well, we never see

[53:30] a decrease. You'll see a less intrusive increase. Um we're also running a fire

[53:36] truck that is was deemed unsafe by OSHA in

[53:41] 1991. Um I was 10 years old then. So um that's that's just where we're at with

[53:47] that entire fire truck process. So, um, and I mean obviously firefighter safety

[53:55] is is number one, but number two would be your homeowner's insurance rate. So,

[54:00] and just general discussion with local insurance agents, it is it is about a

[54:06] 30% increase if you lose that that fire rating. So, um, just remember when you

[54:12] call 911, the fire department comes. You call your insurance company, they fight

[54:16] you, they fight you the whole way. So, and I have to back up Patty. The

[54:21] citizens need to speak up. You know, I mean, nobody says

[54:27] anything and all of a sudden if your taxes go up to the fire truck and we

[54:30] hear about it after the council, that's a little late. You need citizen input at

[54:36] this workshop meeting. And I'm really stressing if you got questions, you need

[54:40] to bring them. I would say before the work before the workshop. The workshop

[54:44] is going to be a council workshop. It's not going to be a But you need to get

[54:48] those comments in. Yes. I I will say on that front, um I have not had one

[54:56] person say do not buy a truck, but I've sure had I've had people from Woodlands

[55:00] and Voyagers come and say if you need somebody to testify, we'll be the ones

[55:05] there there to push this. And I know we even had a citizen from Voyagers um that

[55:10] sat down with the fire department and helped inspect the truck. So there's a

[55:15] um there's definitely a community uh favor or you know the community's in

[55:22] favor for whom I've talked to. I've not gotten one I've got not got one bad um

[55:28] bad review on it. So and I'm saying that's fine. I'm playing devil because I

[55:33] know how it works. It'll be the other side of the coin. It'll flip. And so I'm

[55:38] just saying I'd like citizens if they have concerns or they disagree, they

[55:42] need to they need to speak up.

[55:48] Okay. Is there any more discussion? Hearing none, we'll move on

[55:52] to item 12J. Um discussion and action on

[55:56] citywide cleanup. Um attached in your packet, you did see

[56:02] um the old citywide cleanup um rules which uh were not followed. Um but we do

[56:12] spend a full week plus. It's about a week and a half now in the spring during

[56:18] the busiest time. We're trying to get a campground ready. We're trying to get

[56:22] mowers ready. We're trying to get the town cleaned up for the summer. Uh we

[56:26] tie up uh the every person on our public works crew for about a week and a half

[56:33] now. We also pay uh tipping fees at the dump. We rent a dump truck and I can

[56:42] tell you because I've got friends that have done it. They bring in their stuff

[56:46] from out of town to their friend or relatives house in town and the citizens

[56:51] of Aabi get to pay the bill for their stuff to go to the dump. Uh there's also

[56:55] been uh it's it's it's it create it's creating a blight problem now versus

[57:01] solving it as the the pickers wait for the

[57:04] free-for-all. Um and so the I I've spoke with the public works crew uh which you

[57:11] know obviously they're you know they they'd rather not do it at all in the

[57:14] spring and I said well we've got to do do some um and I would recommend that

[57:21] we see

[57:25] We're, you know, we're looking at between tipping fees, rental equipment,

[57:29] and if we're going to factor it in man hours that we use at our our rates, it

[57:33] cost the citizens without equipment usage about

[57:37] $15,000. Um, in in in overhead to do this clean.

[57:43] Um, and I would recommend personally and like I said after talking with the with

[57:49] the public work crew about a efficient manner getting rid of demo materials

[57:54] which is on our rules anyway so I don't know why we've been picking them up but

[57:58] uh I would recommend we do Monday brush Tuesday um tires off the rims and steel

[58:04] and Wednesday appliances. Um, not the brush does have comes with a small cost

[58:10] at the dump for a tipping fee. However, the other ones are also free and we can

[58:15] get everything done for in three days versus a week and

[58:20] a half. And it eliminates it eliminates all the blight that winds up in

[58:24] everybody else's yard because they run through and pick and of course make a

[58:28] mess out of the neatly done piles that people do put up. So,

[58:33] so you still did want the furniture here? No, that's just the old one.

[58:38] That's the old Yep. That is the uh that's the current.

[58:45] Yeah. And like I said, it creates it's creating more of a blight problem than

[58:49] itself at this point. And it's costing I mean, if you look at our next agenda

[58:53] item, we're talking about eight houses of senior recycling that take, you know,

[58:57] two hours twice a month because of cost. But then we're going to tie up our

[59:02] entire crew paying for everybody else from out of town's

[59:05] garbage. I mean, it's it's ridiculous what the cost is. Okay. So, it'll be

[59:10] household appliances, tires, brush,

[59:16] branches, not bagged up because we we know we wind we wind up with

[59:21] um you know, bags full of dog feces and it's not what it's intended for. So,

[59:30] Okay. And how will we let the citizens know about this? We'll post it, put it

[59:35] on the website, throw it on social media, you can put the paper. I'm sorry,

[59:40] Mary. What was what was your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday break? Uh, I guess it

[59:44] doesn't matter the day of the week, but six foot lengths of brush um brush

[59:49] branches and sticks. Uh, Monday, uh, Tuesday could be

[59:55] tires and scrap steel tires off the rim. uh because we can't throw away tires on

[1:00:00] the rim because they gr they grind them. Um and then Wednesday would be

[1:00:05] appliances. So, and I did have multiple discussions with the public works crew

[1:00:10] to make sure that would work for them as well. Everybody was in favor of that.

[1:00:16] So, we need a motion for this. I got a question. And then, okay, that's spring

[1:00:22] kind of. What about fall? Anything? I would say we do the same in the

[1:00:29] fall. So did want to say there is um a free

[1:00:36] hazardous waste day um at the dump on May 8th from 10 to 2. So if people have

[1:00:43] paint and things like that, you can bring that out there for free on May 8th

[1:00:48] to Aurora. We can combine that latest county notice with our notice. Sure.

[1:00:58] Is there any thoughts on that? That was just what I think it's a good idea. said

[1:01:02] you got one day to brush the tires and I have

[1:01:10] and I also did speak with the public works crew on scheduling and I was the

[1:01:14] full four guy crew and they did say that the week of May

[1:01:19] 12th after um after

[1:01:25] uh opening fishing and before Memorial Day

[1:01:29] should be a good week for

[1:01:35] I mean, I guess the demolition material, I mean, I see people that have

[1:01:39] demolition material sitting in their backyards waiting. And I just think if

[1:01:44] you have a contractor or if you're doing demolition on your house, you should be

[1:01:48] able to get rid of the the materials yourself. It shouldn't be up to the

[1:01:52] city. All of us pay for that.

[1:02:00] Is there is there a motion? I'll make the motion to do the support.

[1:02:11] All right. There's been a motion in a second. Is there any more

[1:02:14] discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I opposed. I'm sorry. What was the

[1:02:20] selected week? Uh May 12th. Okay. Okay, item 12K, discussion and

[1:02:26] action on senior recycling service. Um, I don't have any uh

[1:02:32] thoughts on this. I do agree that it probably should be updated with the

[1:02:36] people living there, but again, speaking with the public works group, it's about

[1:02:41] two hours twice a month. Um, does take up a lot of time and effort. However,

[1:02:48] there probably could be some some uh clean up of the of the list and making

[1:02:54] sure that we're, you know, making sure that uh Adam didn't buy his house and

[1:02:58] there's a senior recycle can there and [Laughter]

[1:03:04] he's I just know that you you purchased the house from someone you may have

[1:03:08] taken part in.

[1:03:12] If anybody has any thoughts, I'm going to say the seniors need to know about

[1:03:16] it. You like to add more people to Well, I

[1:03:21] want if they obviously but we we're healthy and we

[1:03:26] take care of our own stuff. Okay. We don't wait for pickup and all that. We

[1:03:29] do it I think I city services for twice in my whole life. But I'm just saying I

[1:03:36] want to make sure that the seniors know about because I think there's some that

[1:03:40] don't know. But I could I could be wrong. And a notice of the utility bill

[1:03:48] that you know this is available for seniors 65 and older. I would assume

[1:03:52] that is 62 or 65. I think it was 55. Was it 55?

[1:03:59] Oh yeah. And I'm talking about conversations with Pen Berts and Gene

[1:04:03] Newton when I when I started here. There's, you know, there's, you know,

[1:04:06] you can tell where I am.

[1:04:12] I'd be on 55 people. So, you can put a notice in the utility bill saying that

[1:04:17] we have this available at 55. No, not I think that I do too. Frankly, I kind of

[1:04:24] shocked that. I mean, we could do a senior cycle 65 and older with mobility

[1:04:28] issues, you know. You got mobility issues.

[1:04:33] I think that would work. I don't know if we could. Can we do that, Larry? Is that

[1:04:37] like, you know, we're trying to help out those

[1:04:40] that need help. Is that allowed? I guess I don't know.

[1:04:51] Okay. And we just don't they got right. I

[1:04:55] can't walk under my back. What are you going to say? Go to the chiropractor or

[1:04:58] something. Yeah. So, so then they should contact I can't remember the last time

[1:05:03] we purchased a bin or a receptacle. So, we'll have to look into what the options

[1:05:07] are there. Right. Like I said, pan is probably about the last, right? So, um I

[1:05:14] think it could I don't even know if we need to take any action. I think we

[1:05:18] already have a program in place and I think if we

[1:05:23] uh I think if we fine-tune it, you know, administratively, I think it would be

[1:05:28] acceptable.

[1:05:32] Okay. Is there any does anybody want want to take any specific action on it

[1:05:36] or any more discussion? I can take a motion. Well, I was going to say if we

[1:05:42] just administrative if they administer that's fine.

[1:05:47] Take it in place. Sure. Uh well, you want to make that a motion?

[1:05:52] Yes, I'll make that a motion. Okay. We have a motion in second to uh

[1:05:58] um direct the administrator to uh put in place the senior recycle uh with the

[1:06:04] suggestions made this evening. Is there any

[1:06:08] discussion? Uh hearing none. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries.

[1:06:17] Item 12M. Um, oh, I'm sorry. 12 L. 12 L. I've had a hard time. There's just too

[1:06:24] many today. Um, discussion and action on the city brush file. In your packets,

[1:06:30] you did see the um the reasoning behind the the recent closure.

[1:06:38] Uh, and again, this is a a problem for for a lot of people.

[1:06:45] I've never I've never had anybody uh not complain about smoldering and

[1:06:52] stinking out half the town with a burn pile. And for the amount of things that

[1:06:57] have been burned in that pile the last, you know, 3 years, I shouldn't be able

[1:07:01] to look out this window and see a tree anywhere in town. Um, and you know,

[1:07:06] talking to a few people, they figure about 80 to

[1:07:09] 85% is from people out of town. We've got contractors that don't want to pay

[1:07:15] the money to go to the dump, so they go, um, they just go dump at Boavic. So,

[1:07:22] um, and, uh, it's, you know, burning garbage is a problem. Minnesota statute

[1:07:29] 88.171 and county solid waste ordinance 45 both say, you know, burning of

[1:07:34] garbage. Well, that's what we've got down there. The p the pile is still

[1:07:38] smoldering and uh we are we're seeing garbage pile up in

[1:07:44] there already. So, um leaves and brush, you know, in in plastic bags or you

[1:07:52] know, compost isn't supposed to be part of the brush pile. So, you know, it's

[1:07:56] it's we had to or not we is that, you know, city city staff made the decision

[1:08:02] to close the brush bottle when there was a, you know, the

[1:08:08] LP bottle that was put in there was kind of the last straw. So, as I can tell you

[1:08:13] what, I don't I don't want to see our fire department light that brush pile up

[1:08:17] to burn it and a propane bottle blows off in there and kill somebody.

[1:08:22] So, um, you know, I also personally have breathing problems from toxic exposure.

[1:08:28] So, I don't think anybody's going to convince me otherwise that we should be

[1:08:31] burning things on the edge of town, but I don't know what everybody else thinks.

[1:08:37] Well, I guess I especially if um to put a cap there, I'm sure he would um not he

[1:08:44] would like that. And it has, like we said, it's, you

[1:08:50] know, had our tone covered in smoke many times. I mean, I like the file, but not

[1:08:58] that people because people are abusing it. I think it's something that's going

[1:09:01] to have

[1:09:05] I will say there's been some comments about staffing and I said, what do we

[1:09:10] do? Hire another person to monitor a free burn pile. I mean like that's we'd

[1:09:15] be better off paying for your tipping fees at the dump to get rid of the brush

[1:09:18] be you know far cheaper. So I think it needs to be both and I I am

[1:09:23] going to say it I think it's a shame that a few people for a lot of people

[1:09:30] and that's usually what happens. It's always just a few can't name them

[1:09:35] experiences. It's always a few and this is what's happening here.

[1:09:40] And this isn't the first time it happened up at the rail track. It

[1:09:44] happens down at recycling. People are trying stuff. It happens all the time.

[1:09:49] And this has just got worse. And even I tested the smoke. So when I stepped out,

[1:09:54] they were burning. And I knew it wasn't this brush.

[1:09:58] And I've already seen already because we closed it. Everybody's going on a

[1:10:01] snowmobile trail dumping all their stuff out there. So, you know, I mean it you

[1:10:06] close that they're just going to bring it somewhere else and make a mess. You

[1:10:09] know, it used to I saw it with that what happened out there because they're

[1:10:13] matches. I mean, we fire our guns off of hunting people and it happened out

[1:10:18] there. I mean, I saw and you're absolutely right. And it's always just a

[1:10:22] few. That's the problem. It isn't the majority. It's the few. And I don't I

[1:10:27] don't have an answer to be honest about it.

[1:10:30] The only other thing I was thinking is I mean if it's a possibility at all or

[1:10:35] not, but there is kind of open space behind city garage. You could have like

[1:10:39] a small brush pile set up there and then the city guys could haul it down to the

[1:10:43] burn pile later on. So at least you could have a little bit of an idea

[1:10:46] what's in it before you move it and then burn it. So it just be just strictly

[1:10:50] brush. You're going to have a spot for brush and then a spot for like say

[1:10:54] compost, climbing footings, leaves, one thing or another. So at least it's not

[1:10:59] getting mixed. Like that's what everybody does down there. They just

[1:11:02] throw everything in the pile and then it burns and then the grass is smoldering

[1:11:05] and making a mess. I mean that could be an option, you know? I don't know.

[1:11:11] But it's an idea that at least, you know, you could still have burn pile and

[1:11:16] have one and then but just move it to a different location later on. maybe. No,

[1:11:22] it was in my idea at least. I know. They do accept compost right up the road as

[1:11:29] well. Yeah. Um and I believe it's I think it's about $3 for a box of

[1:11:37] Yeah. I I don't even think most towns burn anymore since all they all

[1:11:42] chipper. Burning is just I mean for a for a civilized nation, I think burning

[1:11:47] things in town. That's just my

[1:11:51] But it's currently closed. And I guess my my thought is is you know what we're

[1:11:57] going to do with that site down there. I do agree that they will have a problem

[1:12:00] with with the uh the few dirt bags and I will call them dirt bags publicly that

[1:12:04] are dumping stuff off the um off the snowmobile trails and anywhere else. So

[1:12:10] my hope is that we can maybe talk to DNR too about some

[1:12:14] increased patrol around here because that's that's completely unacceptable.

[1:12:23] Well, we have a problem and I don't I don't have a solution. Go to the

[1:12:27] recycling. People put their cardboard boxes. They can't even smatch them. They

[1:12:31] just throw them in there. Would that take I mean, we got other citizens from

[1:12:36] other communities dump because they like we have a problem. And I don't think

[1:12:42] needs to be a dumping problem.

[1:12:46] We also have a uh when I went to throw some recycling, it's that same

[1:12:50] mentality. I opened up the thing to drop in um you know, beverage containers, you

[1:12:55] know, milk jugs and all the plastic. And there's a like a plant rack in there.

[1:13:01] The whole rack just thrown right in the recycle bin because you didn't want to

[1:13:04] throw out the garbage. And I don't know how you I don't know how you fix that.

[1:13:09] And that the the recycling part of this is a it's a county service that just

[1:13:14] happens to be within the city of Wavik. And Gilbert's already having the same

[1:13:17] problem at their recycling bin. Now they're blaming the citizens of Aavic

[1:13:21] for putting cardboard in their um recycling. And they said, "Well, we've

[1:13:26] never had cardboard recycling here." So it's not our people that are used to um

[1:13:30] throwing cardboard in. And so it's it's I don't know that there's a

[1:13:35] solution for for the few people that are, you

[1:13:39] know, that are going to be they're going to be dirt bags no matter what.

[1:13:48] Was there a motion? There there was not yet.

[1:13:53] So it did say discussion and action. I figured that way we could uh discuss it

[1:13:57] before making motion. Discussing

[1:14:07] I'm learning because then Larry yells at me if I don't follow the rules. Right.

[1:14:10] So, and as far as the motion goes, keep as far as any motion goes, keep in mind

[1:14:15] that it is what is currently closed. So, you want to keep it closed or open

[1:14:22] it up. But the current status is it is closed.

[1:14:28] Did we make motion to keep we could discuss it one more month

[1:14:33] if there's any solution for options and

[1:14:37] then

[1:14:46] closing it out? No, I'm not opposed to you know if we're gonna if we want to

[1:14:51] explore some other options and and you know talk with our our public works

[1:14:55] crew. I I mean I really wish we had a giant fenced area that we could open it

[1:14:59] up. I mean we do have a a fence area at City Garage. I don't believe those

[1:15:02] fences work anymore, but uh I know I believe Qu Lakes and I guess I'm not

[1:15:08] sure because I've never been there, but sounds like they have a you know

[1:15:12] recycling and different and they call it a chipper but they've got separate piles

[1:15:16] for everything but it's all behind a gate. Um, and in order to to do

[1:15:22] something of that nature, it's it's, you know, obviously very costly. Yeah.

[1:15:27] So, um, like I said, especially when you've got redundant services five,

[1:15:34] well, that's I guess that's what bothers me that they would drive to a snowmobile

[1:15:39] trail to dump it, but they won't drive to dump it, right? It's unbelievable.

[1:15:44] Yeah. There's a motion uh to Was that a

[1:15:48] motion, Kathy? Well, I'll make a motion because I'm kind of stuck to be honest.

[1:15:53] So, I recommend I make a motion to keep up and if a solution comes up, we

[1:15:58] discuss the next.

[1:16:04] Okay, there's been a motion and second. Is there any

[1:16:08] discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I oppos. Motion

[1:16:13] carries. Another discussion discussion and action on uh main street landscape

[1:16:18] maintenance.

[1:16:23] Okay. Um so Jeff, the state, if I'm right, the

[1:16:28] state contracted with the people that are taking care of the plants right now.

[1:16:31] Is that correct? Um right now is over. So they Yeah. So

[1:16:37] they contracted with the people that took care of it the summer they were

[1:16:40] planted and last they had to keep

[1:16:45] um there's a through the establishment agreement. Um so they took care of it.

[1:16:50] They replaced the dead ones. Now the now the cooperative maintenance agreement

[1:16:55] with us in mind is that uh all the maintenance is on our shoulders now. I

[1:17:01] thought we had until June. Did we receive I can check the end date, but

[1:17:09] did we receive like a care plan for the plant? I thought that was part of the

[1:17:14] contract and then that there would be like 3 in of mulch

[1:17:18] um covering everything before we took over.

[1:17:23] I know we're supposed to get a care plan. The three inches of a mouth

[1:17:26] doesn't ring a bell, but it could be a Did we get a care plan?

[1:17:35] No, not yet.

[1:17:42] I don't know why I thought that was back in the spring

[1:17:49] and that'd be great. But I was under the impression it was year last year.

[1:18:02] uh any you mentioned citizens being interested taking over or taking care of

[1:18:07] the area is that this talk or they interested um I don't know there was

[1:18:14] somebody that was interested somebody that was involved in the selection

[1:18:17] process and was on the committee when we did all the all the choosing of the

[1:18:21] plans and the layout um and she has a lot of experience with that stuff. Um

[1:18:26] was going to check back with her if the council wants to wants to look at doing

[1:18:31] a contract or paying somebody to do it um to get a proposal from here from her

[1:18:39] to take care of these during the growing season.

[1:18:47] Okay. The other thought I had uh with the summer help, how could the

[1:18:55] other could one person be able to do that those areas? Be that sort of

[1:19:02] responsibility for summer or is that unreasonable to I I think the the labor

[1:19:07] and the watering and and stuff like that um could be done by

[1:19:12] uh done by a summer helper or labor. Um, the piece we're kind of missing or kind

[1:19:17] of hoping for was the the gardening touch or the green thumb. These plants

[1:19:21] were chosen because they're hardy. They the landscape architect knew they were

[1:19:25] going to be in a highway rideway. They're going to get they're going to

[1:19:27] get salt on them. They're going to get sand on them. It's a cold area. All that

[1:19:30] type of stuff. Um, and this person actually was who we kind of got on our

[1:19:35] committee to verify that yes, these plants are hardy enough to with stand up

[1:19:39] to the climate and everything like that. Um, so you know the difference between

[1:19:44] somebody who's doing the labor on it to make sure they get enough gallons of

[1:19:48] water and certain stuff is cut down versus somebody that actually knows how

[1:19:52] to take care of the flowers and make them look nice. Okay. So if this

[1:19:59] person they might be consultant

[1:20:10] I I think that would be an excellent idea could find somebody to teach you

[1:20:16] know who work alongside it probably have to be a couple

[1:20:21] um I mean that's a it's a big job to take care of those plants and a lot lot

[1:20:25] of people don't know like what's a what's a weed and what's not um us.

[1:20:31] So, so I mean we do we do we do need somebody that knows about

[1:20:36] plants and then like we don't have anybody to take care of the flower beds

[1:20:41] in the park either.

[1:20:47] We did a a volunteer group last year.

[1:20:53] So, I mean, I I guess I would make a motion that we have to try to find

[1:20:58] somebody to take care of the the landscape to contract.

[1:21:04] Yeah. And to work alongside the, you know, summer use. And do you want to

[1:21:08] include options for doing the stuff that's outside of the rightway that

[1:21:12] would be the plants that are by the local library and stuff like that? Those

[1:21:17] in there? I Yeah, I guess. I mean, if they're willing. I mean, I'll take care

[1:21:22] of the signs.

[1:21:31] So, I think what we're looking for then maybe is a, you know, a proposal from a

[1:21:35] person or landscape company um as to the rightway and then a, you know, an add-on

[1:21:42] for flower beds in uh in the park. Yeah. Okay. Is there a second? I'll make a

[1:21:51] second. We got a motion and a second to uh direct the attorney or I'm sorry, the

[1:21:57] administrator to seek out a landscape maintenance person or company. Is there

[1:22:03] any more discussion? Hearing none. All in favor?

[1:22:07] I opposed. Motion carries. Um approval of summer public works summer helps.

[1:22:19] Make a motion report. Okay, we have a motion second to approve the summer work

[1:22:25] hires. Is there any discussion? Yeah. Um my question is who will supervise the

[1:22:39] uh will be somebody from public works. Um, most likely the foreman could be

[1:22:43] assigned to somebody else depending on what's going on that day or potentially

[1:22:48] this person that's might be in charge of the

[1:22:52] uh landscaping stuff. Um, there might be days when they're doing stuff uh for

[1:23:02] um for the PUC and working on that stuff. And um there's a couple of uh

[1:23:09] fire department related projects that they have we'd have ever fire department

[1:23:12] kind of showing hybrid maintenance and painting

[1:23:16] and stuff like that where it's where it's better to have the have the fire

[1:23:20] department directly involved on what they're looking for some kids to do some

[1:23:24] more help to do. And do you know how old they are? Um I don't have exact ages. I

[1:23:31] know one of them for sure is over the age of 18.

[1:23:37] I think they all can every other town around kids push. Oh, I thought you had

[1:23:41] to be 18. Do a rider to do a rider.

[1:23:49] Um, and then I guess I I would like to see a little

[1:23:53] more planning like a weekly schedule for them because this seems really like this

[1:23:59] was not what I had in mind when I said I'd like to see a comprehensive work.

[1:24:03] Hope that's coming close. We'll have the crew flush that out with more detail and

[1:24:08] also breaking it up into spring, summer, fall stuff. So, it's not only

[1:24:13] identified, it's scheduled. And then when are they going to start

[1:24:17] working? Um, it depends on their schedule. Um, so usually when school

[1:24:21] gets out, I know the college kids are usually mid May and the high school kids

[1:24:24] are a little bit later. Um, and we've got some of

[1:24:28] both kind of accommodate their schedule if they've got a family vacation or

[1:24:32] something going on. Um, same with the fall. They the college

[1:24:38] kids end up going back first and high school kids. It just be nice to know the

[1:24:44] schedule so we know how many we've got working.

[1:24:51] Okay. Yeah. The other thing I'm concerned about is uh painting the

[1:24:56] buildings because I've heard some complaints

[1:24:59] about painting that was done in in the city offices here. And if you're

[1:25:05] not good at painting, you should not inside.

[1:25:13] I guess that I I kind of have to

[1:25:19] question or not, but I've seen some really bad paint jobs. So, I think

[1:25:24] that's a good point. Um, speaking of st and I had my

[1:25:29] grandchildren have paint where I knew if I had to straighten it up, I can do it.

[1:25:36] So, everybody has to learn, but you're doing public buildings. you want a nice

[1:25:40] job, you don't want someone have them be done, but they don't know how to paint

[1:25:46] and and some of that will take some evaluation. But over the years, we have

[1:25:49] had some summer help with some skill levels that were pretty

[1:25:55] impressive in some so somebody could have been painting for

[1:26:00] years. Well, and that would be good to assess

[1:26:05] assess those skills. I mean there might be somebody here

[1:26:08] that's

[1:26:12] okay there's been motion and second uh for discussion.

[1:26:17] No just one just one more and then trim you know that the student needs to be

[1:26:23] trained so they chopping their toe off their shoe off. Okay. Uh then or if

[1:26:29] they've had experience, you know, people who can't have access

[1:26:35] and there so there's some organized uh safety training that I know last year

[1:26:41] specifically targeted to the summer kids. So yeah, getting them in place in

[1:26:45] April will give us May to get that uh get that train through our regional

[1:26:49] safety group. Okay. Is there any more

[1:26:53] discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Uh

[1:26:59] declaration of surplus property item 120. There's a 2006 Ford ambulance

[1:27:07] that will be put on the surplus property. I'll make a motion. All right.

[1:27:13] A motion and second to declare surplus property. Any discussion? Hearing none.

[1:27:17] All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Uh item 12P, accept resignations from

[1:27:24] fire and ambulance department. Make a motion to accept support. Motion and

[1:27:30] seconded to support the resignations from the fire and ambulance department.

[1:27:33] Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor?

[1:27:37] I opposed. Motion carries. Uh 12Q schedule the uh city

[1:27:44] council workshop. Uh I have got written down in my notes to

[1:27:49] uh hold the workshop at 3:30 p.m. 42925. Uh there'll be a couple of items

[1:27:57] from this agenda um that are going to go on there. We'll do the second reading of

[1:28:02] ordinance 435. We'll do the final update of the contract. Um, and we will, you

[1:28:09] know, the things I had on my list were a discussion of the, um, information put

[1:28:15] forth by the fire truck task force. Um, I know councelor Layman is on that, but

[1:28:20] I would appreciate if the, uh, any, you know, at least another member or two of

[1:28:24] that group could could make it that day. Um, if not, we could also set up teams

[1:28:30] meeting for that. And another item on that agenda is whether it be discussion

[1:28:35] of the

[1:28:38] facilities assessment that was given by uh or not given by but sold to us

[1:28:44] by the other there may be a few other items added on such as you know we've

[1:28:50] been discussing a capital improvement plan for public works equipment as well.

[1:28:55] Um that will be it will all dictate as how time progresses. I don't I don't

[1:29:01] anticipate us being here until 9:00 p.m. So, uh, with the administrator and I,

[1:29:06] we'll we'll start to put an agenda together for that. Um, you know, as well

[1:29:10] as a few of the other discussed items. So, you said April 29th at 3:30. At

[1:29:14] 3:30. Is that okay with everybody? Y, I did check with work schedules. See,

[1:29:21] you're the only work person. I'm on call for the ambulance that night, but maybe

[1:29:26] get somebody covered.

[1:29:32] Otherwise, you think I think I'm otherwise I'm good.

[1:29:38] So, there's no opposition to 330 42925. We will set that as

[1:29:44] our council workshop.

[1:29:49] Okay, that concludes new business. Um, I'm going to open it up for open public

[1:29:54] forum. If you have anything, please uh head to the uh podium and turn the

[1:30:00] microphone. We do uh limit to five minutes. Yeah, just to further

[1:30:06] clarification of the earlier statement here uh to uh councelor Wallard's point

[1:30:11] and uh councelor Nimi's point, I want to make sure that you understand one thing

[1:30:17] and she and I seem to have a different opinion after coming from the Bronfield

[1:30:22] sites uh workshop pardon

[1:30:28] Patty and I have a different view on this.

[1:30:32] Um yes indeed to remediate the brownfield sites

[1:30:38] the city should have a developer. The city can be a

[1:30:43] developer of the sites. That doesn't necessarily mean it has to develop the

[1:30:49] sites to the fullest extent. It only means and it doesn't necessarily have to

[1:30:53] declare itself as a developer. The city can buy the

[1:30:57] land at that point. then the city can apply for these different

[1:31:03] grants from deed and so forth. And that's where I got my information. So

[1:31:07] you could make this, you could get the uh uh inference that Patty had uh and I

[1:31:14] was at the meeting, Jeff was at the meeting, was sitting right next to me

[1:31:17] that the only way to do this is getting an outside developer. No, that is not

[1:31:21] the case at all. Cities buy land all the time. for example, land that was over in

[1:31:28] uh in Aurora that they're g they're going to plat. So, but that

[1:31:33] property actually was uh I I believe it was bought and the city is platting the

[1:31:39] land um and it can be designated as a developer and so forth. So, I just

[1:31:46] wanted to make that clear. And as far as the workshop is concerned, given the

[1:31:51] extent that you have for all those items and so forth, I would ask you to look at

[1:31:56] having a separate workshop on this housing. It's more complicated than you

[1:32:00] think, particularly given what Kath with councelor Nimi said of wanting to put

[1:32:06] the school sites in with the rest of the property. I would suggest that you talk

[1:32:10] to Chris Johnson down at the county to find out the recent rulings that that

[1:32:16] have been uh a result of the court case here. They should be a separate item

[1:32:22] right here. These properties will all have to go up to auction irrespective of

[1:32:27] our wish to have done otherwise. So that's all I have to say

[1:32:31] about that. I I housing is a huge issue, but I want to make sure that the

[1:32:37] developer definition is understood in a couple different ways. Thank you.

[1:32:43] I guess I would say that I do agree that the city could be a developer, but I

[1:32:50] just personally don't see our city having the staff or the knowledge to do

[1:32:57] that. But I do agree that the city could be a developer.

[1:33:06] Okay. Is there anybody else that wishes to Mr.

[1:33:14] Sakovich? You must be happy with it.

[1:33:22] You know, we're talking about landscaping on the main street and that

[1:33:24] again. There was an issue last summer came up about these plants that the

[1:33:28] state planted that the corner of 8th Avenue and Highway 35 135. It's a

[1:33:35] traffic hazard. You people driving smaller vehicles can't see through it.

[1:33:39] One of our local residents took upon himself to solve the problem last year

[1:33:44] and got got in trouble. So what's going to be the city's plan on that? Is that

[1:33:50] they're going to maintain the the tall bushes or keep that included? I think

[1:33:54] that's going to be included in our landscaping plan, but that will be

[1:33:57] addressed. I will say that it is absolutely unacceptable for somebody to

[1:34:01] go and start hacking down things that are not on your property. Well, I

[1:34:05] understand that, but like you know, right? That'd be no different than

[1:34:07] grabbing a chainsaw and saying this tree in the park is wrong and cutting it

[1:34:10] down. You just can't. There's nothing wrong with that.

[1:34:15] There's going to

[1:34:18] be disagree or probably disagree with you on that, but Okay. And we got two

[1:34:24] main two areas on the main street. Why people why the city decided

[1:34:28] to plant sod there? I have no idea. One's in front of TNT and V's in front

[1:34:35] of the one right out here too in front of the park in front of the

[1:34:39] gazebo and this parking lot. It's terrible. Okay. You know, you can plant

[1:34:45] all the sod you want and people don't care. They want to walk on it. All it's

[1:34:49] going to do is become a big mudp or mud mud pie. So, the city have any ideas and

[1:34:56] plans on that? So, my thought was to uh fill those

[1:35:02] areas in with concrete right here. Hang

[1:35:08] on. My son checked to make sure I'm still alive.

[1:35:18] should be just hit the side button. I tried that. I can't find

[1:35:21] it. Um, you know, like I said, my my desire would be to to pour concrete

[1:35:27] there and I know that's going to come with a little bit of heartache because

[1:35:32] and I I I I plan to hopefully get a hold of some MDOT officials as they are going

[1:35:38] to supposedly fix a few of our sites. You notice there's some sidewalk caving

[1:35:42] directly across the street from us um right across from Bise where you know

[1:35:48] this the settling on their fix on the road was unacceptable. And then we you

[1:35:52] know we requested last year they came back and said they are going to fix some

[1:35:56] of that um some of that sidewalk mismatching and

[1:36:01] cracking. But it would be nice to fill those in with concrete. The problem is

[1:36:05] is when you look at it down the sight line, you know, it's going to take a

[1:36:09] little bit of work to make your concrete lay like this because it's the but um it

[1:36:15] would be nice to put concrete and get rid of that. I don't know whose idea is

[1:36:19] sidewalk sidewalks. There's two areas in town where different individuals have

[1:36:25] damaged the sidewalks. One right across the street in the corner then across

[1:36:30] from the apartment buildings. Damn, I wish Danny Bear was

[1:36:34] here because I pointed those out the last year. And who's going to be

[1:36:37] responsible for that damage? That's over two years ago now. Nothing's been done

[1:36:42] on it. And both property owners have claimed responsibility for it. Um, and

[1:36:48] they'll be responsible for the cost when when Midnight comes in and do the other

[1:36:53] stuff, they'll have it in the contract. Okay. And then we can add to the uh 8th

[1:36:58] Avenue alleyway that a U-Haul truck completely destroyed because it's

[1:37:04] mud. So right across the street from your

[1:37:08] house.

[1:37:11] Yeah, the alley behind you know from the storage units it's destroyed.

[1:37:17] So okay, that's all I have this time. Huh? That's all I have. Okay, thanks

[1:37:22] Ken. Anybody else? I'll wait.

[1:37:33] the 8th Avenue alleyway um on the what is it the 100 block I guess that's

[1:37:39] completely destroyed from that U-Haul truck cleaning out for that bank. So, uh

[1:37:45] that should be their responsibility to fix that alley. And I I just noticed it

[1:37:49] yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to uh I haven't had a chance to convey that

[1:37:53] to the administrator yet to put on the list. So,

[1:38:05] [Music]

[1:38:09] All right. If there is no more public comment, I will move to or I will

[1:38:13] entertain everybody's favorite motion toart. We have motion second to adjurnn.

[1:38:19] Uh no discussion. All in favor? I [Music]

Biwabik City Council | April 13th, 2025

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