in order. Everyone, please stand and
recite the pledge of
>> allegiance
to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.
Hey Ashley, can I have a roll call,
please?
>> Briggs.
>> Cavalier
>> here.
>> Breen last
>> here.
>> Alt.
>> BMA
>> here.
>> Chastel
>> here.
>> Fisher
>> here.
>> I don't think Clayton said here.
>> Huh?
>> Clayton not here. Clayton did say it
here. I was I didn't I put you as absent
because you didn't say here. Yes. So you
are here.
>> You are here.
>> I was just surprised because I was uh
looking at I was first
called. I'm here.
>> Fisher was last week. So
>> here comes another. [laughter]
And then um council member Al just
walked in as well too as well. So I will
mark her here and Briggs here.
Just missing is council member Breen.
So,
>> okay. [clears throat]
All right. It's time for the open form.
If anyone would like to address council
any issue not already on tonight's
agenda may come to the podium. State
your first last name and address,
please.
Okay. Hearing none from council
chambers, we'll move on. This brings us
to the agenda. Does anyone wish to add
or remove anything from tonight's
agenda? [clears throat]
Can I have a motion to approve tonight's
agenda?
>> I'll make that motion, your honor.
>> Second.
>> Leon and Henry. Thank you. Discussion
hearing none. Roll call, please.
>> Briggs.
>> Hi.
>> Cavalier.
>> Hi.
>> Plot.
>> Hi,
>> Alt.
>> Hi.
>> Hmma.
>> Hi.
>> Shastelle.
>> Hi.
>> Fisher.
>> I.
>> Okay. Motion carries. This brings us to
the consent agenda. Does anyone wish to
remove anything from the consent agenda?
>> [snorts]
>> And I have a motion to approve the
consent agenda. Motion by Don. Thank
you. Is there a second?
>> I'll second.
>> Thank you, Henry. [clears throat]
Roll call, please.
>> Wait, there's supposed to be discussion
after anything, right?
>> So, with consent, you you Well, that's
when you pull it. If you have a
discussionary item on there, if you want
to, you still can't discuss anything as
a whole. You can't
>> unless you pull it.
Yeah.
>> And then it goes to a regular agenda.
>> Yeah. So if you have a question about
it, you could have either emailed us or
called us today or um then you can bring
it up and pull it and have a discussion
on it.
>> It was just a clarification of something
that that we already talked about.
>> Okay. Um I guess
>> well our procedures are so every every
time we go for before we say the eyes
and the naz there's there's not always a small moment in there for us to
discuss.
>> Correct. Well, on the consent agenda
items,
>> consent agenda items, you pull if you
have further questions
>> individual or as open.
>> So, yes. So, on the regular agenda
items, you have discussion.
>> Okay. Uh, that is first and second.
>> Yes.
>> Roll call, please.
>> Briggs.
>> I.
>> Cavalier.
>> Hi.
>> Flat.
>> Hi.
>> Alt.
>> Hi.
>> Hmma.
>> Hi.
>> Shastell.
>> Hi.
>> Fisher.
>> I.
>> Okay. Okay, motion carries. Uh, we have
a public hearing tonight,
>> your honor. [clears throat] Item 7.01 is
a public hearing to consider the request
related to the Minnesota Investment Fund
myth assistant program u to Northstar
Lime LLC provided to Northstar LLC.
>> Okay. Uh to ensure everyone has fair
opportunity to speak, each person will
have the opportunity for up to three
minutes to provide comment. you come
forward. Please state your first, last
name, and address for the record. All
remarks should be directed to the
council and must be related to the
subject of this hearing.
Please be respectful of others. No
interruptions or personal attacks will
be permitted. When your time is up,
Ashley, our city clerk, kindly ask you
to finish your sentence so we can move
on to the next speaker.
So, I'll open this public hearing. Does
anyone wish to address the council? So,
please come to the podium. State your
first last name and address, please.
My name is Phil ShraMM. I live here in
Krookton, Minnesota. I am also employed
by Northstar Line. Uh I [snorts] serve
as their CFO with their company. And um
I would just like to just give a little
bit more background. Also, if there were
any questions in regards to um the
request here for an extension
um on uh on the compliance uh for the
grant as far as hiring the number of
employees. Uh currently on hand we have
17 people employed. Um two years ago
there were one. So uh uh we have made
strides in that. When we uh two years
ago when we applied for the loan and
submitted in and put a business plan in
um our plan was to be up to 21 people.
Uh it was a $15 million project and as
you know um those kind of sizes
everything goes according to plan all
the time. But in this case it didn't
quite do that. Um so uh uh we ran into
some issues particularly on one
enterprise in our company which depends
largely on a piece of equipment uh that
we purchased uh that produces biochar.
Uh we've run into a lot of uh challenges
with the operational part of that and uh
that has slowed our progress in being
able to get to where we want to be and
employ the people necessary to operate
it. So, [snorts] that's uh mainly why
we're at and why we're requesting an
extension to to hopefully uh continue to
build uh our company and add employees.
So, you you did get another new piece of
equipment, right?
Uh this uh um
uh we we did not purchase a new piece of
equipment. We're currently working with
the one that we have. Um the part of our
problem is the manufacturer went
bankrupt and is no more was bought out
by another company and we're trying to
work with them to uh uh
to to fix some of the the issues that
are at hand. But we're we're working on
doing most of that in-house. uh and um
currently
the uh the biochar industry I go in and talk
a lot more about it but uh essentially
we're looking at a different piece of
equipment that we may uh decide would be
the uh better route to go but we'll have
over the next few months to try to make
a decision on on how we want to do that
and and approach the issue. So we've
kind of just had to hold back additional
hiring and so forth until we kind of
resolve through that issue. So thank
you.
>> You had a question.
>> Yeah, Phil, thanks for good to see you.
Uh can you define biochar?
>> Biochar is essentially a product which
you sequester carbon and uh what it is it's it's a process. It's basically
like a big furnace that burns without
oxygen. You take um what they call
biomass. In in our case, we've been
using oat halls, sunflower halls. Um you
can also uh use wood. There's all kinds
of different but you burn it basically
at a high temperature without oxy oxygen
and in that chemical reaction it uh
basically sequesters the carbon into ash
and then that that ash has value. And uh
there are right now it's a relatively
new market uh with biochar and uh
there's people that are interested in
it. Um it's it's good for soil
amendments. It's good for filtration. It
has lots of uh has a a strong absorbent
feature that they're looking at helping
to absorb pollutants and waste and stuff
like that. So,
>> so, so if if the city gets funded on the
DNR grants to fell 100 plus ash trees,
are you able to use that waste product,
so to speak?
>> Yeah, I've already been talking some
with those that have been on the ground
floor trying to do grants and so forth
to get that up and we've been in uh
discussions about uh how we can be of
assistance in utilizing that wood waste.
Uh we've also talked with the forestry
council uh for the state of Minnesota um
and uh they they're just a big large
issue [clears throat] of trying to
address wood waste and stuff and so
that's part of another scale plan that
we're looking at. So [snorts]
>> thank you.
>> Any further questions?
Thank you Phil.
>> Okay.
Anyone else from the chambers?
» May I add just to share a quick thing
just for clarification. We did on the
myth loan, it was about a $430,000 myth
loan. And uh part of that was a $100,000
grant if we reach that uh employment
level of 21 people. And that's the part
that we're asking extension on is that
$100,000 forgivable portion of the line.
Correct.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> How long would the extension be before
>> one year?
» Anyone is else wish to address council
» hearing? None. I'll close this public
hearing.
Okay.
Uh no regular agenda items tonight.
Uh we'll go to council reports. Darren,
please.
>> You I did attach my report, but I'd also
just want to again thank Taylor and
Kenan for all the hard work that went
into organizing, advertising, and
setting up the Krookton Connected event.
Uh I think the event was a huge success.
Very happy with the number of people
that attended. So again, thank you for
all the hard work that you put into
that.
>> That's all, your honor.
>> Thank you.
>> Uh Wendy, anything?
>> Um the same thing. It was a great event.
Good job to Keenan and Taylor for
putting that together. Awesome. Fun to
get out and and mingle with their
community members.
That is it for me for now.
>> Thank you, Delane.
>> Yeah, same thing. Great event. I think
it's something we can continue to build
on in the future. So, just glad to be
there.
>> Thank you, Don.
>> You like I'd like to thank uh Kenan for
the job you did. We had a lot of people
there and that we don't see very often.
Good conversations and uh about the
council and also the city. Thank you
very much. Appreciate it.
>> Thank you, Don Clayton.
>> Same as the others. Otherwise, I don't
have anything else.
>> Thank you, Henry.
>> Yeah, good job. Kenan and Taylor and
Michelle and Chris were also there and
did a really good job with their stuff
as well. Just that's all I got.
>> Thank you, Joseph.
>> Yeah, it's a it's a ditto. I I'm glad
you mentioned Michelle. She was an
important part of that as well. Um it's interesting. It's not just having
the small conversations, but having
something really impactful coming out of
that. Um, and I and I think I had a
number of different
small discussions with people and I
think there's going to be some positive
light coming out of that. Also wanted to
say uh kudos to the people who are
moving snow. Uh, it's been really
important lately. um uh they're so good
at it [laughter] and um but I'm also
getting calls uh that that that they're
so good at it sometimes they're
injecting snow
above and on people's um vehicles and uh
places where they've already cleared the
sidewalk. So um so it's it's like great
job but it's hard to please everyone I
would say. Um and then my other
announcement would be question earlier.
I thought we had already discussed and
voted on um the people on the boards and
the excuse me on the committees and so
on. Um so I was surprised that we saw it
again. Maybe we had just discussed it
but we didn't actually vote on it.
>> There was just one additional person.
>> Yeah, that was at the ways and means for
June Dinarki that is going on our IRP.
So,
>> so we formalize it again,
>> right?
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Starts at ways and means and then it has
to be formalized at the council meeting.
>> Thank you for that.
>> That's it for me.
>> Thank you,
>> Morgan.
>> Uh, nothing different than everyone else
has said. Just thank you for everyone
that was involved in the event. It went
really good. I had a great time.
Hopefully, we can do it again.
>> Thank you, Morgan. Yeah, kudos to what
everyone said and also uh probably
missed some people, but with Phil there
and Shannon and the displays and the
knowledge that everybody had.
Um same with Teresa from our housing and
uh Tiana. So, it was a great event. It
was a nice turnout for
as cold as it was. So, I think we can
build from it. Kian, thank you. Tan
Taylor, she's not here, but thank you.
Uh, that is all I have. So, uh, just a
reminder, we do have a ways and means
meeting tonight. So, nothing else come
before council. We are adjourned. Thank
you everybody.
committee meeting to order for Monday,
February 2nd, 2026.
Uh we've got three items on the agenda.
We start with the West Central Regional
Water District presentation. This would
be Lucas
and Stephen from AE2s.
>> Yeah. No, good evening everyone. Uh just
wanted to um introduce Lucas Spaith with
West Central Regional Water District. Uh
I happen to be the engineer for both the
city of Krookton and West Central. Um so
I've been meaning to get the two groups
together for a long time. I think
there's some kind of good things coming
um and it could be a good complimentary
relationship in the future. So um as
discussion happens and uh Lucas goes
through the presentation um I'm here to
add color commentary basically if
questions arise from both sides. So with
that I'll turn it over to Lucas.
>> All right. Thank you for being here.
>> No, if you want to just say next slide.
Okay.
>> Well good evening. Uh appreciate your
time this evening. Again, my name is
Lucas Faith. [clears throat] I am the
superintendent of utilities for the city
of Hollstead. Small community
[clears throat]
to the south here about 30 miles. Um I
do appreciate your time, council and
mayor. Um what we're doing, um so I'm
the superintendent there, but I'm also
appointed as a board a board of board
director for the West Central Regional
Water District. It is a threecount
board set up to to deliver um and um
purchase and deliver rural water um to
small communities, large communities um
and rural residents.
[clears throat]
Um so what it is if you I think you guys
maybe received these beforehand um but
the it's it's a true regional approach.
the three counties, you know, including
Pulk, Norman, and uh Klay County, um
decided after, you know, some time of of
going through this that this this looked
like a a real good way to serve rural
customers, but also the the communities
that are involved with it uh um with
different different sorts of needs that
I'll I'll kind of touch base on um in as I go along here. But as you can see
just kind of the the color comment of
the of the picture here you know it's showing you know egg egg farmland
um small cities large cities um
definitely less infrastructure uh
according to like you know water
treatment what you know what wells maybe
are are needed um the ability to find
wells um those sorts of things. So, so
the regional approach uh really
resonated with the county boards. Um
after quite a few meetings with them, we
had we had some conversations with um I
think we at least had at least three
meetings with each county board and in
the [clears throat] in the process of
kind of developing this.
Um [clears throat]
so, as you can see in your packet, um
there's a lot of reasons for for for
this to to work out well. these small
communities um have have issues finding
operators. They have issues, you know,
putting reinvestment into into their
existing infrastructure uh where maybe
their rates aren't aren't properly
aligned with, you know, what they need
for the future or even in the past. Um
it allows for um you know, this allows
to kind of work with with a bigger
group. that, you know, the counties are appoint they appoint the the board
of directors, but they also um Yes, sir.
>> I'm getting lost a little bit. Can you
describe exactly what what what it is
that you're representing here? This is a
regional approach to water. What what
exactly do you mean by this?
>> Uh it's a platable water system. So once
we're actually going through a state
statute to be established as a water
district, and it'll be very similar to municipal or city water, but it'll be
distributed through three counties.
So by vehicle, not by pipes.
>> This will be all be by pipes.
>> By pipes. Yes.
>> Y mean these great distances. Okay.
>> Yep. So in consideration um North Dakota
actually has about 90% of their the
state is covered by rural water and so
and it's all pipeline. So they've installed enough water line to
serve rural and then other communities.
Willist would be a good example of how
it really expanded really quickly and they had to put a big larger
investment into it. You know, North
Dakota actually, you know, they've got a
little bit they've got what they call
legacy funds. So, they have some money
that the the state continues to put in
to their infrastructure and it is um
water is included in in that
infrastructure that that that they can
continue to do. a small town like Park
River, you know, they actually, you
know, have their treatment plant and
they supply some out into the into the
rural and then there's other other areas
where um small communities are they you
don't see a water tower in our town
because they're served by rural water um
directly. So
>> the source in North Dakota is the
Missouri River, right?
>> Well, it varies. Uh there are surface
water plants throughout scattered
throughout North Dakota. some of the
Missouri River. Um, cities like Grand
Forks, Fargo get their water out of the
Red Lip River, Red Lake River. Uh, a lot
of the water districts actually get
their water from, uh, aquafers and
groundwater. So, uh, Williston's is that
Lucas mentioned, um, that comes from a
surface water. So, it it kind of depends
where you're at.
» Good questions. Um, we can go on to the
next slide.
Um, like I mentioned, there's three it's three counties that appointed the
boards. It was based on population. So,
Kurtson was actually put into um their
population was put into it with PK
County um at least um as as we sit right
now eventually. You know, that could change one way or the other.
Um but PK County has four
representatives on the West Central
board um including two county
commissioners. And then Norman County
has two um directors on the on the
board, one one county commissioner and
myself. And then Klay County has three
um directors on the board, including two
county commissioners. So they have they
the county commission has got some
oversight on, you know, how they want
this established, you know, what the
process is involved with the policy
making um as as we continue to go
forward. Um we are the first water
district that will be formed since the
mid80s. Uh so engineering and legal fees
have u been strenuous uh at least. Uh
we've we've kind of had to rewrite
[clears throat] a a law that was written
in the late '7s. U not really rewrite
reread it and and uh and u figure out
what it means. Anyway, so um we are in
the process of that. In uh April 17th,
we will be um having um our final
[clears throat] court hearing which I'll
touch on a little bit here a little bit.
Evolution of the of the boundaries. So
the city of Climax actually served by
Royal Water right now. It's served by
East Central Regional Water District,
which is on the North Dakota side of of
the Red River val or the Red River. And
they um they've been getting served I
think it's about 3 years now. Um, and so
they'll be taking their water tower
down, which I' I've heard that they'll I
don't have my director from there, but
he's got the old Krooksson water tower
that stands in climax if you guys didn't
know that. So, he's [clears throat]
willing to give give it back. [laughter]
Um, so I just yeah, just kind of some
commentary there. Um so Climax has
served um right now the engineers have
recognized a uh a pipeline project
number one phase one we're calling it.
Um it's a highway 75 corridor. It is
climax. So it goes from PK county all
the way through Norman County into Klay
County. It serves I think eight
different communities in project one and
uh we are in the process of uh you know
looking for state funding and I'll touch
on that on the next slide here.
So, right now, um, we've expended about
$3.2 million in development and design
and getting through this court process
to become a water district. Uh, we've
had many meetings with different city
councils, um, small, large. Um, I've
been to East Grand Forks and u we've met
with uh um many of them. Okay, that's
the slide I was looking for.
[clears throat]
>> Sorry, my slides are jumping around.
>> You want to go up to that colored one?
>> Y, please.
[snorts]
>> Thank you.
Um,
so as you can see the different colors
there. engineering um which you you guys
know Stephen um they've recognized um
close to 16 different kind of buildouts
that we would perceive this uh going
with um as you can see Krookxton is kind
of on the edge of of two different ones
um where the real rural consumers would
benefit from um you know connections
into existing water systems um we've met
with um East Grand Forks Grand Forks,
East Central Rural Water, Cask Row
Water, City of Fargo, City of Morehead,
um City of Barnesville,
City of Holly, City of Fost,
um
Southeast Water Users District, which is
the is the the uh south um west
southeast corner of North Dakota. Um but
we've recognized them as as potential um
suppliers of water and Ken would be one
of those potential suppliers of water
based on um your capacity to um supply
water from Aquafer your capacity to u to
run it through your existing plant. This
water district does not um intend to to
build a water plant at this point. Uh it
makes it more economical for us to we
think it'll be more economical to
purchase water from existing facilities.
It it improves our economics. It
improves um you know the the economics
for each larger water system. If you can
supply water up to uh 25 million gallons
a year or or maybe it's 100 million
gallons a year uh that are purchased
back from an existing water plant and
then we can build build pipeline um as things grow and as you can see
there's you know if there's 16 different
phases we have many many years of
growing.
So, so what's the difference between
what which what you're proposing and
this a Marshall Pulk rough water is that
would that is that similar?
>> Yeah, it's very similar. Yep. Marshall
Pulk um serves Marshall and Pulk
counties. Um we've approached them for
water supply as well in into our our
existing.
>> Um they don't have a lot of water. We I
guess um when our counties formed it,
Marshall Pulk wasn't necessarily
interested in in expanding into Norman
and and Clay counties.
>> Okay.
>> So, but but yes, exactly the same. I
think there's only f there's there's
five existing water districts in in
Minnesota. Um and and they're in the
north northwest and the southwest
including you know like parts of them
are even purchasers of the Louiswis and
Clark um water system which is
13 13 states
>> uh like 13 cities
>> 13 cities.
>> I got a quick question. Let's say
Krookxen is a whole supply and water,
rural water. Um
does that put a strain on our water
plant where we have to
>> you're so the one of the reasons why
Krookton was evaluated
uh for a long-term water supplier is we
had looked at you know who has that
large infrastructure in place with
likely excess capacity as kind of our
first goaround. Um, and Krookton's plant
actually is only running at about a
quarter of its capacity currently. Uh,
so your water plant actually has
sufficient capacity um to build out um
and add more without adding a whole lot
of infrastructure needs. Um, the
long-term question with the city of
Krookton though is, you know, the
strength of your well fields and water
supply. um which is why the city's
undergoing another study right now
that's going to help kind of inform some
of these next steps and long-term
um decision- making for the city. So
>> So go ahead. Sorry.
>> So they the DNR who or engineers whoever
would be looking at our wells.
>> Yep. depending on how much they would
look at how much extra, say if this
district was looking to um buy from the
city of Krookton, you know, the DNR
would want to know how much, you know,
what's it going to look like? Um and
then alternatively, if for some reason
an industry came in and the city of
Krooksen wanted to buy for some reason,
there's the potential for that as well.
So
>> the users are we talking primarily about
agricultural areas or are we talking
about other cities outside? How do you
how are you defining rural users of the
water that exits here?
>> Who's mainly going to be using that
water?
>> Uh so it it would be both. It it would
be both. Um like city of Climax right
now is purchasing water from a rural
water district. Um, City of Hollstead
where I am at, we're in the process of
financing um kind of a water access
charge to buy in access into the into
the North Dakota facilities so that we
can have water supply. Um, so each
community it it really helps with like
kind of getting the communities
involved. Well, you know what I'm
getting at though. I'm talking about So,
you have agricultural areas which use a
whole lot more water than than than we
are an agricultural area than than a a
Would you be asking like livestock
[clears throat] and like um irrigation
pivots? Is that kind of what you're
asking?
>> Yeah. Well, well, it could be um
we all eat, we depend on farms. I don't
I'm just trying to get a sense of you
have a farm area, real area that will
either have animals or just growing
crops and both use a lot of water.
>> And would they would they be able to use
for water?
>> Um I I think we would develop it for for
the the livestock, but not definitely we
could we couldn't build it big enough
for for for you know watering watering
fields. So then I was I was I was
thinking along those lines and then have
you done an assessment then of how much
water that takes?
>> You know they'd all want at the same
time
>> versus I mean I mean you look at the
Aala aquifer, right? And that's too many
straws going to the same and the water
levels are going down, right? And so now
they're have to change their farming
methods because of that.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm not saying this is going to do that.
I'm just wondering if you're doing the
calculations to figure out what the need
is because it's really about two things
for water, right? It's it's quality and
quantity. you have the right quality and
you have enough water,
>> right?
>> Clearly you have enough water because
you're giving a nice presentation saying
that we have water to go elsewhere,
>> which is great. Um, so anyway, have you
done the calculation to see how much
what what the potential users are going
to need versus what we have? You said
that we're at 25% capacity right now.
>> So, what would this what would this
bring us up to then?
>> Yeah, I I'll
touch on that quick. So the uh the
entire region, the 3count region, 30
cities, all the rural residents,
um looking at a projected use of about
1.6 billion gallons long-term. That's
just what all that's what the current
use is
times 25 years uh or not times 25 years,
in 25 years using uh population trends
and growth. what we had kind of planned
for in our initial uh master plan and
rural hookups and municipal hookups
looking for an annual water use of about
8 to 900 million gallons is kind of what
we're uh basing our current models on uh
based on the S or the interest we've
seen to date
>> gallons what's the unit time
>> million gallons per year
>> per year.
>> Yep. So, uh, to put that in perspective,
the city of Krookton, uh, uses on
average from 310 to 350 million gallons
per year. Um, so, uh, just a couple
times time or couple times the size of
the city of Krookton. Um, and the
thought would be that there'll be likely
be multiple water sources uh throughout
this district. So, um, as far as demands
solicited from the city itself, that
would be kind of ongoing future
discussions, I would say, of, uh, what
could possibly come from here versus
North Dakota versus
Morehead, East Grand Forks, wherever. So
>> yeah, we've we've recognized kind of our
initial buildout being with East
[clears throat] Central Rural Water for the first phase and of course that's
that Highway 75 corridor um south south
of Krookton um where um it would make
sense for us to either you know pipe
those together eventually and if if
Krookson was you know a supplier or East
Grand Forks was a supplier that we would
have multiple supplies for redundancy,
but also, you know, looping similar to
what a city does have that we have the
ability to move water. I mean, it's been
a big lift for A2S to try to develop
kind of a master plan that might take 20
years to build out. Obviously, we know
when the master plan comes out, it's a
little bit different within minutes or
hours.
>> Can you go back to Delane's question too
about the source of water here? Can you
explain a little bit more about our
source water here that we got into
>> yours? Well, I can tell you what I know
about your source water, but that's the
DNR is a little bit concerned concerned
to us with us approaching you guys
because of your aquifer. so that having
your wellfield uh study done um makes
sense that you would need to know that
before you could ever ever think about
selling water to a to another entity,
especially that one that was going to
use, you know,
>> recently had a large business
[clears throat] that was
possibly coming into our community and
there was some concerns at that time
>> just to just uh just to have enough
water just for that one business. let
alone a tri-state area. So that the
amount of water coming out of our
aquifer kind of concerns me a little
bit.
>> Wasn't that like a quarter million
gallons a year for that one business
alone?
>> I think wasn't it something like that?
>> I think so. Something like that.
>> Okay.
>> And that was a concern at the time
>> to supply that in addition, you know,
that was one year.
>> Yeah.
>> In addition to
>> But I think to studies will show
>> right before that even came a reality
too. I know the DNR and the watershed
were going to do studies to see if the
capacity
>> did we had some studies done though, did
we? I mean,
>> I don't think it was really in depth yet
cuz we
>> Brandon had some studies done maybe. I I thought
before Brandon left there was some
studies that were done. I thought we
paid for a study.
>> You uh the city still has a phase two
study ongoing with bar engineering. Um,
so you should see actually a draft of
that in the next couple months, I think
was their last report. So, um, that'll
help influence a lot of city kind of
decision making and next steps on
anything in the future, whether it be a
district like this or industry coming in
or so,
>> um, you name it. A question I have, and
I apologize if you're going to get to it
later, if we if we do get into a
contract, are we are we tied into that
contract if um for gallons of water per
year?
I mean, is there is there any um so like
say we get a dry year and our our our
aquifers, our our wells are running low,
but we have to commit to you guys x
amount of gallons of water
per year. Are we tied to that then? I
mean somewhat, but that would be, you
know, a drought situation where um, you
know, I would assume Krookton and West
Central all would be doing, you know,
their drought prepare or, you know,
going through the drought preparedness
um where, you know, you would shut off
industry. We would shut off any kind of
industry. We had those sorts of things,
you know, kind of a step stepping stone
down. That's how that's how most you
know drought preparedness plans are are
right now is that you would shut down
you know your your you know your your
first tier would get shut down then your
second tier and then your third tier
where and then you know it
>> sure mean it's a regional drought that
could be just a drought um that covers
just our aquifers and our wells. I mean,
we've had issues where we've got
involved in other communities and just
seem to have any issues. So, in that
situation, what would happen?
Well, that is that's that's concerning
that that that if that is possible. I
think the well field, you know, your
wellfield um study, your your step two
of that um should be able to alleviate
some of those concerns that the DNR
might have um or or else or else
strengthen their concerns uh about your
ability to serve more than what you you
currently have. So I mean it that's
pretty important to us that you guys
know what you can supply so that there
wouldn't be this hey we we we're not
sure it's dry you know you know what the
farmers took all the water out of the
aquifer and now we don't have the water
we can to serve you know the actual
people that need it for the drinking
water.
>> Okay.
You didn't talk much about the arsenic
contamination in private wells, but you
said 43% in your presentation. 43%
Norman County, which is that%
[clears throat]
43% Norman County has that problem or
that's some data that engineering pulled
off of the MDH website. [snorts]
Um, and and so it would be a
representative sample, not that every
not that 100% of the wells have been
sampled, but the of the ones that were
sampled, it was the 43%. So of of the
samples that they had, no matter what
number it was, 43% of those you had 40
if you had 100 wells, you're saying 43
of those wells in Norman County that
were tested have a high arsenic level.
Yeah. Right.
>> Above the above the state minimum.
>> Thank you.
Well, I'll
>> I'll try to be brief on the rest of this
here. [clears throat] Go to [snorts] the
next slide.
Um okay. So today um the West Central
District um is formed by resolution.
We're a legal entity. We're not a public
water system. Um we have a petition with
the district court which is also is in
Klay County District Court. Um that was
kind of worked out between the um county
administrators and the county um the
county board members that are on our
board to do it through Klay County. So
on April 17th, we will be having our
final hearing. That final hearing
[clears throat] allows the West Central
Water District to become become a water
district and to um be um eligible for
state funding to be eligible for, you
know, similar similar funds that city or county would get through um tax
dollars um through the state. And then
um
well with that I better I need to touch
on this. We have 19,500 mailers going
out and your city residents will be part
of that as part of the statute. Um it's
mandatory that we send those out. Um so
we have met with Mr. Getsman about this
uh kind of made him aware of it. Uh we think that they'll become lots of
questions and it'll probably come to the
locals and then probably go well above
us and go into the Minnesota Department
of Health. Um so we're trying to be
upfront um getting this information out.
I I think Mr. Gatman just told me that
he received the letter from us um today.
So I'm sure you'll see a copy of that in
um shortly, right? Yeah.
Um, but so you'll you'll receive a
letter from West Central Regional Water
District stating, you know, our our
[snorts] intentions, which is what I'm
here to try to explain as well. And then
we will uh your residents will also be
receiving that or or your land any land
owner in Krookton. I believe that that
could be somewhat helpful maybe for the
city of Krookton. We're we're willing to
share information. So with that, if
there's surveys that come back, they're
inside the city limits. you might get,
you know, a free survey out of uh out
[clears throat] of our out of our our
mandatory court court filings. So, in
your packet also, there's um
next slide here.
Here's the public notice. Um it has
what we're doing. Um your residents do
not need to show up for the court
hearing. It is strictly a hearing. the
judge will not make a ruling that day,
but if there is, you know, people
proponents for it or people against the
water district, um, they are welcome to
come and make comment. I believe
there'll also be a Zoom option. So, if
you're interested and you're sitting at
your desk and you want to watch on the
17th, uh, Mr. Slick will actually be
presenting
the good portion of that of that
presentation to the judge. Um in our
packet, you'll also have the frequ
frequently asked questions. So we've um
we've been at this for a couple of years
now. We uh definitely have um a few, you
know, pre pre-baked answers to some of
these questions. Um but the roundabout
way of it is, you know, it is it's
pipeline. We're bringing potable water
to some of those wells that don't, you
know, have arsenic issues. There is
there's people in in in rural areas that
haul water still at this point in time
because they can't find viable water. I
mean, even flowing water uh in some
cases. [snorts]
So, um it's been recognized that this is
a good project. We've had really good
success. We've met with you know about
12 different cities that have signed
what we call memorandum of inclusions
but it's a memorandum of understanding
saying that we we we want to be planned
for. So that's how this has expanded um
you know down up and down Highway 9 up
and down Highway 75 and we've just kind
of started from the North Dakota border
and uh been working our way out. So,
we're trying we've we've mailed out to
all the city councils in the in the
three county area and um all of the land
owners in the area will soon receive
something from Klay County District
Court asking or or telling them about
the hearing.
So,
your frequently asked questions are in
your packet as well. Do you guys have
anything more? Mr.
What's it what's in person's benefit to
do this?
Um well so if you were to use your
existing infrastructure and this is what
I've told some of the other um larger
public water systems like if you can use
that to its most economic benefit you
know like the life of the you have the
life of your plant and you put that
investment in but if you can really
optimize what you're what you're
producing out of it and then make you
know a little bit extra on it you like
so you have a margin on what you at
least I assume you would have a margin
on the water that you sell to your
existing
constituents in in your community. Um
but you would have an an additional
margin on top of that that now you can
you know put put away for the next plant
or put away for different
infrastructure.
>> Sell the water to you.
>> Yes.
>> Who who dictates how much we can sell
the water to you or
>> we get to negotiate. [clears throat]
[laughter]
>> So it's not a set price that we have to
abide by,
>> right? We'll be looking for the most
economical way to serve our our
consumers as well. So, I mean it'll be,
you know, a way that, you know, try to
optimize, you know, existing
infrastructure, but also finding the
best deal and we want quality water. I
mean,
>> so can you give me an example of a
community that's already doing this and
how much that um how much they're
bringing in a year roughly? I mean, is
it um
is it is it a million? Is it 500,000? Is
it?
>> Oh, you'd have a
Oh, I don't have I don't I don't we
don't have any communities that are
actually selling to us right now. And we don't we don't we we don't have a
purchase agreement with anyone or or a
water access charge. Um but I I would
say it's somewhere around that, you
know, $2 per thousand maybe that they're
bringing in. But, you know, that's
there's a a margin error there, too. So,
you're probably in the 3 to 5% margin.
So, if your operations, if your all-in
operations and maintenance, you know, is
$5 per thousand and you're selling it at
$6 per thousand, that's in in in in the
utility world, that's a decent margin,
right? So, maybe it's only if you're
producing it at five and you have maybe
existing or future capital investment in
that. You might be able to sell it for
$5.50 50 cents and that 50 cents is your
margin where you're it's a 10% margin on
top of you know what you're existing or
you're doing it right now just
generically.
So, so in that negotiation, that
contract, um, then I would I would I
would think you you you would also say
if we did have a difficult year, that
something in there would be written to
say city of Krookton still gets their
water, right, to to do all the things
that they need to do if that's agreed
upon ahead of time such that everyone
who comes to the table understands that.
Um,
>> yeah,
>> right. Because they go sour pretty
quickly. I um a couple other questions.
Where is um Warren Standle? Because he's
Poke County representative, right?
>> Yes.
>> That's not you.
>> You're Lucas. Right.
>> Right. So, I'm asking where is Warren,
>> Mr. Strandel. Um I don't remember what
he had going on. Um
>> Okay. [snorts] Just just because
>> where we are, right?
>> Right. Great. Nice that he'd be here.
It's his neck of the woods. Now, can you
tell us a little bit more about your
funding, the backers? [snorts]
So, it's $3.2
three and a quarter million dollars
local project funding. Who
>> who's backing this again? Where's the
money coming from? So, the three
counties, um, they put the original
budget up of $500,000,
um, to go through the formation process,
do the the preliminary design, and then,
um, along the way, I'm not exactly sure,
>> along the way, um, the pole cwell, the
city of Climax decided to hook up to
regional water to kind of start this
process.
um about a $2.1 million from off the top
of my head uh grant loan funding package
was secured through the USDA. Um and
then in the time while that pipeline was
[snorts] being built uh designed and
then the inception of this district kind
of concurrently happened uh PK County
contributed another um just shy of
$600,000 in ARPA funds as well to upsize
the physical infrastructure uh in order
to serve a broader area within Pulk
Norman and Klay County.
>> So I'm hearing grants and counties
cities but no corporations. No, no. It's
all state, federal, local seeking.
>> Thank you. Now clarify.
>> There is a different operation that's
going in North Dakota that may help with
a connection
our direction
um Riverview Dairy if you're familiar.
Um they're out of Morris, Minnesota, but
they build large 25,000 cows [snorts]
operation.
um and and they need water, but that is
on the North Dakota side. Um there's two of them going in on the
North Dakota side. Um also, we've
secured um through Senator Clolobashar
um she secured 1.75 million for the for
Norman County and then also 1.75 million
for Felton um that we are currently in
the process of working through with EPA
on our on our budget. Um but those those
funds should be released um hopefully in
the next 40 45 days or so that we can
start expending some of those dollars
for the final design and then
infrastructure.
One other so like as like like some
small cities as they finance things
through like USDA or um um you know
through PPL the PPL list that uh like
city of Hallid is a good example and I I live this every day but um so
we're trying to secure $3.2 million and
most of it's for water access charge so
that the North Dakota side of things can
get built out. It'll be owned by the
North Dakota side of things and then
West Central will actually take over on
the Minnesota side to serve the city of
Hallstead, but it will be a H Hallstead
kind of funded um project, but in that same in the opposite of what we
could do is that we could build a new
plant for about $3.5 million and then we
have, you know, the same same aquifer,
same well, same everything and then but
we have a new plant. And um as far as my
council is concerned, they'd rather have
better quality water and and kind of go
with the pipeline project.
>> Thank you for indulging us.
>> You're you're very welcome. Anytime.
[laughter]
[snorts]
>> Any other questions for Lucas?
» Thank you for your Thank you for your
time, Stephen. Thank you.
>> Yeah, thank you.
>> If you have any questions, you know to
file me.
Okay, moving on. Uh, discussion
regarding the Tri Valley Grant.
Yes, sir. I'll keep I'll try to keep
these short, get this out of here in a
relatively short period. Um, so, uh, in
the original deed redevelopment grant
request, uh, that was proposed to
council on January 20th, original grant
amount was for $650,000.
Uh, that deed redevelopment grant is a
50% match. So meaning at that time the
city would have been responsible for
$325,000
if awarded that grant. Um the original
grant request of $650,000 was
anticipating the approximate cost to
demo and redevelop that property. Um
that number um to my knowledge was
estimated from speaking with contractors
um back in like 2024.
So, in an attempt to obtain an updated
demo cost as required by this uh deed
grant, uh the city asked AE2s to provide
an estimate just to uh try to get us
closer on what that cost may u be. And
according to AE2S, the demo costs were
estimated at approximately, and these
are all approximate. So, uh don't hold
this for anything more than what it is,
but just over $1.3 million. Um, and this
estimate does not include uh any
infrastructure anticipated to be
incorporated with the highway 2 uh
reconstruct project. Uh, doesn't include
any tipping fees or disposal fees and
does not include any uh temporary
shoring related to any basement or
foundation removal uh if needed. So, it
it's it's not likely. It's it's a known
that the demo costs are going to likely
exceed that $1.3 million.
So after receiving this update
information, uh Taylor and I had further
discussion and she informed me that uh
in relation to this project uh that that
we could increase that grant amount uh
to the for this project up to $984,000.
Again, based on on the engineering uh
demo cost that we received. And again,
uh the numbers, uh for this grant, they
wouldn't include engineering, any
contingencies, permitting, um and and a
few other things. Um so, if we were
awarded uh this grant for $984,000,
again, it would be a 50% match. The city
would be responsible for uh just over
$492,000.
Um so given that the grant application
was February 1st um prior to any council
meetings u I did authorize Taylor to
increase that amount from 650,000 to
984.
Um, so again, if the project costs are
similar to AE2S's
estimates, uh, we awarded this grant
from deed increasing that amount to
984,000.
The city would be responsible for about
$866,000.
Uh, notification if we do receive the
grant would be approximately 6 to8
weeks. So, we'd hope to hopefully to
hear something in April. Uh however,
just given the timeline and everything,
I'm not sure how competitive we will be
on this grant given some of the
requirements. Um so if we don't receive
the grant, um
the next opportunity to apply for this
grant would be August 1st, which would
be too late to have the building
demolished in 2026 or before any of the
uh 2027 DOT Highway 2 reconstruct
projects. So, um, again, we've had some
meetings with A2S. We're currently
working with them to draft and we will
be publishing an RFP for the demo
project. Uh, but regardless if we
receive the grant or not, uh, we are
going to have to demo that building in
2026.
Um, so that means that, uh, we would
likely have to include the demo cost of
Tri Valley into a bond. Um we're
actually meeting a few of us are meeting
with Ellers on Monday the 9th to discuss
bonding for the industrial park. We'll
also be discussing or I'll bring up you
know options or or ideas for bonding for
the Tri Valley project. So again, this
is uh just more discussion uh
informative to just let council know
that we did increase the grant amount
and that um unless there's other
directions, we are likely going to have
to demo that project or that building. I can tell you um A2S, myself, Mr.
Gatsman and uh Matt Upgrren from
Minnesota DOT who is leading that
Highway 2 reconstruct project. [snorts]
We did meet last week and uh we
discussed the the options of what if we
didn't uh tear down Tri Valley and what
if we did and you know uh Mindot is
confident in their design that if the
building was there um that semi- traffic
and and vehicle traffic would be able to
make that turn on that intersection.
However, if the building was removed,
they would look at likely uh purchasing
some of that property and recessing that
intersection and and making more room
for pedestrians. As we know, it's with
that building there, it's a very tight
intersection for pedestrians to stand on
that corner and wait and monitor for
traffic. So, um you know, that
discussion went on as as we do have time
even though the plans now I think we're
coming up to 60% on that highway to
reconstruct. Uh however, talking to Matt
and A2S, I mean um you know, if it was
decided to take this building down in
2026, which we're fairly confident we
can do, um you know, they would redesign
that intersection to accommodate for
that. Uh again, maybe recess it back,
have some more room for pedestrians to
stand there while they're waiting for uh
traffic. So, um,
again, just wanted to inform council
that the numbers are obviously more than
double what we maybe originally
anticipated and kind of what again,
unless there's any other direction on
that building, what what we would like
to move forward with uh as a city and
how that looks and of course there'll be
much more discussion to come in front of
council with bonding and other amounts
like that.
>> More the more we delay it, then it gets
more expensive each time we start the
process again. Right.
>> It does. And if we don't get this grant,
like I said, the next opportunity we
would have to apply for it is in August.
And um you know, that would just we
wouldn't have any summer left to to take
this building down.
>> Um you know, and the whole idea or plan
would be to remove that building this
summer so that it's you know, obviously
gone and ready for next year, 2027, when
we uh start that Highway 2 reconstruct
project. So
>> how how will we sew off in that
estimate?
You know, those are just the numbers
that I received from u prior staff.
[snorts]
I'm not uh um talking or getting some
numbers from other contractors, but
again, those numbers were old. Um AE2s,
uh they're a great firm to work with. Um
they included, you know, all the
necessary things that were maybe
overlooked. They've compared it to
several buildings in our region or area
that have been torn down about similar
size. Uh, you know, there's some other
factors that were maybe overlooked as
far as possible historical value of that
building and what we'd have to do to
accomplish that to tear it down. Um,
just a much more detailed likely um,
realistic bid that we would be looking
at.
>> The person that was gathering that bid
did not use
>> excuse me,
>> the person that had gathered that bid
for us before did not use
[clears throat]
to get that information. It's It's
likely things were overlooked
>> and and I don't think uh they included
[clears throat] they were just looking
at demo of the building that not
including the tipping fees.
>> Well, this this is not including tipping
fees either.
>> So, that 1.3 estimate is not including
tipping fees.
>> Any idea how much tipping fees are,
Stephen?
>> I mean, Walmart [clears throat]
it could go as high as 100 grand
possibly. Um some of the next steps that
uh we had kind of thought and discussing
with Darren and um last week is uh I
think it would be kind of at this point
it would make a lot of sense to do um a
little bit more thorough cost estimate
now that we have a little bit of time um
walk through the building. We got the
architectural plans today, see how much
mass is there. Um, and just do a little
bit more factf finding to kind of help
shore up that cost a little bit, too.
>> So, you recommend we should have done
that before and come to you guys with a
lot more time for you to do that?
>> It it would have been helpful, but um
yeah, that that just wasn't time audit.
That's kind of some numbers we had
pulled off of some uh historical
tearowns in the Red River Valley that we
had just um been a part of. So,
>> are there any materials in the building
that could be sold such as copper or
>> I don't know,
>> you know, sometimes uh and Stephen can
lightly, but sometimes depending on the
contract they would hire to demo that
that's taken into account and sometimes
is, you know, reduced from the amount of
demo as they would get that, you know,
as far as they could recycle or use that
for some other purposes.
>> Is that listed under historic?
>> I believe it is.
We're checking into that. But again, we were talking about this last week. I
think
>> again, don't quote us on the years, but
it isn't anything prior to 1960ish.
>> It uh I did a find that out Friday. So,
um if it's over 50 years old, that's
considered historic.
>> Uh so, I actually have meeting lined up
with a couple architectural historians
to kind of figure out what those steps
look like. Um, sometimes what you'll
have to do is [clears throat] maybe put
together a video of the building or a
plaque there or something. Uh, there'll
just be a little bit of factf fighting
that we have to do with them as well.
So, um, we'll have more details in the
coming week on that.
>> I like what you said because you said 50
and since I'm over 50, I'm historic.
[laughter]
» You get a plaque.
Um, so, so I, you know, I came into this
late, obviously everyone else here has
been, uh, discussing this for some time.
I I I assume that that although I'm
never supposed to assume, but I'm going
to assume that that this is really about
safety
and that and and that [clears throat]
the other side of not tearing it down,
it was looked into to see was there a
way to keep that building and still make
it safe place when people exit or
walking down that sidewalk. That was
looked into. Right. Were there any other
possibilities of not tearing the
building down? We have had a few
>> p that way for people walking in that
area.
>> We have had some people approach us and
some interest in possibly purchasing
that building and redeveloping it into
housing or something else. Um but you
know given the the the studies that you
know Minnesota DOT has done and deemed
that intersection critical and given the
space I think it would be in our best
interest to remove that building to gain
that access for pedestrians and and for
the intersection for turning of semis.
Um, I mean they're they're confident in
their designs that they could move
forward as is with that building there.
Again, it just restricts that
intersection to about six or eight feet
for pedestrians to stand there.
>> So, I don't know if I answered your
question, but
>> just
>> exactly [clears throat]
I'm sorry. So, go ahead.
>> I mean, they they did do that build out
there and they've done things to like
try to make it safer and I mean, and it
didn't work.
>> Yeah. And so I guess when when it's that
expensive then you're forced to relook
at okay do I but if it's a safety is
it's sort of this okay
>> that is that it would be that's the
primary reason or I guess the primary
purpose of tearing that building down
would be for safety for pedestrians and you know for motorists to be able to
safely turn at that intersection
specifically semis because remember the
highway 2 reconstruct project they are
you know reducing to two lanes and
expanding the sidewalks and a bike lane
which will narrow that intersection for
turning for larger vehicles like semis.
>> So, what's it look like for
bonding for that for our yearly um
I mean I know you got some other stuff
you want to bond for, but I mean
>> we're going to try to get the big
picture as far as bonding at least for
this year. You know, we have the
industrial park, we'd have Tri Valley to
worry about that would be likely 2026
bonding. There's been talk about doing,
you know, temporary bonds until we're done with the Highway 2
reconstruct project uh and then rolling
them into a general obligation bond. Uh
I don't know all the answers for that.
Like I said, we're meeting on Monday to
discuss that further. Um you know,
however, if we uh you know, temporary
bond you make only interest payments on.
Uh temporary bond is typically up to
three years, which can be extended for
another three years if needed. Um, if we
just elected to go right into a general
obligation bond, year one of 2027 would
be an interest payment and then moving
forward would be the actual payments
roughly easy math to get ballpark on the
payment amount which again know that
dollar amount is about 8% of that's
going to be your annual payment for
that.
you know, is that something we can
swing, do you think, as as a city, with
all of our other challenges that we
have? And,
>> you know, like [snorts] like we've
discussed earlier in budget season and
that with these projects coming forward,
there's going to have to be some serious
discussions in 2027, moving forward on
operational costs and and services we
provide to make sure we can accommodate
all that. We could likely be looking for
um you know, 27 and beyond uh bond
projects of you know, 250 plus thousand
a year in bond payments if not. I mean,
is it and I know some of this is hard,
but is it possible once we decide to go
if we go forward with this, we get a a
kind of a firm number on how much our
how much we'll be bonding and how much
of that's we're going to have to pay
yearly? I mean, can is that something
that can happen when we decide this?
>> Yeah, absolutely. We would have a
structure that would be provided on
exactly what that would look like
>> and then what you know and after getting
that then we as a group can decide you
know what what does that look like for
our
>> absolutely
>> they would have an they would have a
percentage amorization schedule
everything they're showing council
before they move forward. Absolutely.
my my concern about selling uh you know
if there was a someone interested in
buying a Tri Valley building and they
purchase it, how long are they going to
sit on it to repurpose it? I mean, we've
got a few of those buildings in Krookson
already that
>> Well, like like you said, if somebody
buys it for housing now, we probably got
a bunch more people down there in a
dangerous intersection going in and out
of there. That's probably not helping
the situation as far as safety.
>> True. So I I I just I just look at the
history of our some of our older
buildings in Krookton that are purchased
by individuals and they got grand ideas
and they never come to fruition. So
that's my issue that that was part of
the reason u prior to the prior
community development director leaving
on trying to do a downtown tiff district
for the downtown Krookton and add it up
through Tri Valley. Obviously,
incentives for current business owners
or ones that are looking to establish
business in Krookton and also for that
property um if someone part of the grant
requirements would be that someone if we
get a grant for Tri Valley that a
developer would have to come in there
and develop that property or build
something on there. Um you know, a tiff
district would help with that. However,
if they didn't within 5 years, this is
other reasons why this grant is maybe
not a good fit for us. We're not sure
yet. if if someone didn't build or
develop that property within 5 years,
we'd owe the full amount of the grant
back also. So, not saying it wouldn't
happen, but there are like anything,
there's contingencies or risks with
anything we do.
» A lot to absorb. Anything else on this
discussion?
>> Just like I said, I'll keep you informed
as we go forward. I just want to be as
upfront with you, council, and
everything that we're doing as we move
forward. So, thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you. [clears throat]
>> All right, one more uh cheetah
discussion.
>> Okay, again, thank you, your honor. Um,
so yeah, I just want to discuss with
council what I'm proposing
reorganization of the housing and
crooken community development positions.
Um, I presented this plan to the cheetah
board on January 7 or 27th at their last
board meeting and it was very
wellreceived.
Um again just a little history uh with
some of the problems that have occurred
um in the past under the current
organizational structure. Um you know
prior to um Carrie being hired as
community development director uh if
council remembers maybe some Robert
Barnes served as a community development
director and executive director of
Cheetah. Um again Robert did have
extensive experience in community
development. However, um learning or as
time went on, uh that he had to also
serve as the executive director
overseeing housing. Uh he ultimately
elected to resign his position. Uh in
the absence of a community development
director, uh city administrator Corpy
Reynolds served as the executive
director for eight months uh prior to
Carrie being hired. Um when Carrie was
hired by the city as community
development director, she also served as
the executive director of Cheetah and
appointed Terresa Taran um as the
Krookton housing director shortly after
um she was hired by the city of
Krookton. As time went on, u there
became several concern uh concerning
staffing issues between housing and the
executive director which created
difficult working environment
[clears throat]
>> and lack of communication between staff.
uh these staffing issues continued for
an extended period of time and were not
uh resolved during the prior community
development director's tenure. Um I did
introduce this plan to the prior
community development director. Uh but
then again after learning of uh they
would be resigning their position, I
decided to wait before moving forward
with this plan. Um so like I said as I
stated there's been a strain
relationship in housing and the
community and prior community of
development directors uh and the strain
relation relationship between prior
community development directors and past
city administrators. So uh I I think
past has shown that the current
structure between housing and community
development hasn't been working and that
something needs to be changed moving
forward. So what I'm proposing is to
revise the job descriptions of the
community development director and the
housing director. So the community
development director job description
would stay very similar uh to what it is
except uh the executive director title
of cheetah would be removed from that
job description. Uh the community
development director would still oversee
the community development city budget
and they would oversee the EDA or
cheetah budget. uh community development
director would uh be a direct report to
the city administrator as they always
have been and they would continue to
work with the cheetah board on current
and future community and economic
development projects. Uh the housing
director's job description would also
have some minor revisions and moving
forward uh they would also be a direct
report to the city administrator not the
community development director. However,
to do this, um, the Cheetah bylaws would
need to be revised to state that the
executive director of Cheetah would be
the city administrator. Um, the housing
director again would continue to be
responsible for the housing budget and
they would report to the Cheetah board
as they currently do. Um
the city administrator as the executive
director Cheetah would sign off on or
approve any housing relating systems and
transfer of any funds. Um and that would
apply basically to housing or HUD. You
know, originally when I was going
through this and trying to create this
plan, I wanted to eliminate the
executive uh director title completely.
However, the executive director title
needs to remain in place for housing or
HUD requirements, not EDA requirements.
Um, so in summary, uh, I guess the
change that I'm looking for again is
that the community development director
and housing director would report to the
city administrator and they would each
be in charge of their respective budgets
and staff. The city administrator would
serve as the executive director of
Cheetah. U, I've spoken with Teresa and
Taylor about this extensively. They both
agree with the changes. Um, I've also
spoke with Tanner, our city attorney,
who has also consulted with Steven
Larson, um, and the League of Minnesota
Cities. There's nothing preventing us to
make this change. Um, and like I said
previously, uh,
you know, the reorganization, housing,
and community development director
positions were wellreceived by the
Cheetah board. Uh, they actually made
two motions that day. One motion to
approve the reorganization.
uh motions they made and they were both
accepted and second to appoint the city
administrator as interimm executive
director of cheetah and that's basically
to kind of keep moving forward with the
HUD requirement so we don't slow
anything down or any processes there um
so moving forward I'd be looking to
revise those job descriptions revise the
cheetah bylaws uh again to state that
the city administrator would be the
executive director of cheetah and would
present the updated bylaws uh at any
future meetings at the cheetah board and
the city council for approval. Um, and
again, I just continue to work with
Taylor and Teresa on the daily workflow
of of each of their respective
organizations and organizing that as we
move forward. So, I guess in closing,
I'm just, you know, looking for
discussion from council and again a
count consensus to hopefully support the
reorganization of these job descriptions
in cheetah.
>> So, I think I think this is a good move.
Um,
>> as many of you know, back when I first
got on the council, it was we made we
made some changes with the cheetah and
we got the the director to answer to the
city administrator. Therefore, in a
roundabout way answer to the city
residents of Krookton through us us
council members. So, I think I think
that's a good move. The thing that we
didn't we didn't finish the job. I
think we like with what Darren is
presenting here is um you know making
the the housing director report directly
to the administrator as well as the is
the um cheetah director and I think it
just it makes it everything clean at
that point.
So, as somebody on the cheetah board, um
there [snorts] has I don't know how much
everyone's been aware, but there has
been some very much confusion and
contention of who reports to who, where,
who goes to who for what, who can
oversee what. And I mean, there hasn't
been clear answers. Um there has been a
lot of back and forth over the last year
between legal, between HR, and all of
that. And there has not been a clear
answer that we can see through. this
would be a clear clean answer. It would
give a lot of clarity to everyone over
within those departments um for every
position within that department. Um we
discussed it at the last cheetah board.
Um it seemed to be a consensus there
that everyone agreed that this would be
a great move. So from that standpoint,
the cheetah board from our you know at
that time at our last meeting supported
this move also. And I think that speak
when people know who is who to speak
with and al also
cooperate with is very important. I
think this is a good plan. you know, and
I've spoken in detail with Theres also
because I didn't want to burden the city
administrator position uh with, you
know, is there an excess amount of work
that comes with this helping with
housing and uh you know, she's detailed
that list and and I've spoken in detail
and it's it's at uh you know, quarterly
uh reporting uh approving uh transfer of
funds uh maybe monthly but usually you
know quarterly um it would be part of an
email chain uh through HUD. I would
create an email account that myself,
Teresa, and Tanya could could read or
see for that communication. So, it's not overwhelming. I did speak with
Corki who did that position for about 8
months. And and again, really how it
boils down to is it's not any different
than any other department in the city of
Krookton reporting to the city
administrator. Each department head or
director is responsible for about 98% of
their budget current or or um
organization currently. their
department. You know, like anything,
there are things that city administrator
needs to sign off or and approve and and
this just really wouldn't be anything
different. You know, in speaking with uh
you know, the Josh Mack, the the
president also tried to come up with
other ideas. It's it's just impossible
for the board president or a board
member to oversee daily operations,
day-to-day operations of of housing. I
think this just provides a solution to
have a person that there's every day to
help with that and move forward. So, um,
like I said, Taylor and Teresa have been
very receptive of this. Have been
working closely with Teresa moving
forward on on getting accounts changed,
people's names on accounts and what that
looks like. So, um,
sounds [cough and clears throat] good.
Um, yeah, I think I think it's put a lot
of work into it, Darren. Um, I think
it's a good move, too. Um, separation of
duties each are in their own lane
basically and moving forward. So any
other discussion on this
>> other than I really appreciate
>> No, like I said, I appreciate that. I
will um
>> Does this need uh
>> Yeah, you I'll let you finish up if
whatever. Yep. [clears throat]
>> We need a consensus on this to and it
has to go to council for
>> Yeah, that would be if if we get
consensus on this, I will present uh it
likely won't be at the next council
meeting just because of the cheetah
bylaws. They need a 14-day notice before
any bylaws can be changed. So, it would
likely be about a month out before I'd
bring anything back. What that would
look like if there is a consensus is I
would bring back uh the amended or
revised bylaws for approval through
council and then appointing city
administrator executive director at that
time officially.
>> Okay, Mr. PL.
>> So, I am in favor.
>> Anybody in favor of this?
>> Yes.
>> Consensus is there.
>> Thank you. I'll move forward with that.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, Darren.
>> [clears throat]
>> Okay, that kind of wraps it up. If
nothing else, we are adjourned. Thank
you everybody.
>> Thank you.