[0:00] A couple of them, too.

[0:03] Sarah, that's a really nice packet in here. You put a pair of that, right?

[0:11] » Oh, then it's not that great. >> No, I thought terrible now. It's It's

[0:14] serviceable. [laughter]

[0:18] » All right, we can call this meeting to order at 700 p.m. Please stand for the

[0:24] pledge.

[0:29] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:34] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:40] justice for all.

[0:52] Approval of tonight's agenda. Any additions or corrections?

[1:02] I don't have any additions. >> Motion to approve agenda. Second.

[1:07] » All in favor? >> I

[1:10] second. [snorts] >> Consent agenda. Okay. Attached are the

[1:15] minutes from August 10th. And you have your payables and a couple sets of

[1:21] couple sets of payables and the receivables.

[1:25] Really, all the expenses are pretty routine. You'll just see a couple

[1:29] related to the August primary election. You know, some costs for that.

[1:42] Did have a question. Clinton, um [clears throat]

[1:46] we spent seventh. Uh it's on page five. Uh 49200 300 professional.

[1:57] get that number. How does what's that professional entail? And why are we 23

[2:04] in the hole? >> That was uh I think I wasn't asked that

[2:08] same question though. That's the where the rent for the nursing home. That's

[2:11] line. >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure it was

[2:13] the same thing. >> Yep.

[2:16] » Every once in a while you got a backup on you feel is important.

[2:19] » Yeah. uh public safety aid. Uh uh under the revenue uh

[2:29] it's showing that we uh uh receive some

[2:35] I I guess this is the only transaction we've had

[2:41] in there. I'm just inquiring what it's about. Well, that was that the state

[2:47] gave cities money a couple three years ago maybe for public safety related and

[2:53] we spent most of it the first. >> So it's $172.

[2:59] It wasn't a big amount, >> right?

[3:02] It's funny. It just shows up now.

[3:11] I think that was the only one I hear.

[3:17] » Motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Second.

[3:21] » All in favor? >> I

[3:27] public forum. Do we have anybody here that would like to speak through public

[3:31] forum? >> Going once.

[3:36] Um we're here to respectfully request that uh the city approve the addition of

[3:44] the western half of section 12. >> Yep. Yep. That's actually an action item

[3:48] that we have coming up. >> All right. I'm sorry. I didn't agenda.

[3:52] » No problem at all. So, we'll catch that one here in a minute.

[3:55] » All right. [clears throat] >> Uh moving on from public forum notices

[4:01] and communications. >> I have none for you.

[4:08] admin report.

[4:14] Okay. So, attached in this packet would be the cash balance from last Friday,

[4:18] August 21, that report. Um, we're going to have five interviews for police

[4:24] chief. Uh, the last I just got the last final confirmation earlier here today.

[4:29] So, we'll be interviewing in a couple of weeks. Not it'll be here in this room.

[4:36] Andy Arnold Park. You remember we renamed that park on North Street a

[4:41] couple meetings ago. Um Sarah put together this design for this sign.

[4:49] Dig it up here for you.

[4:53] And Joel is working with a local sign maker.

[5:01] So, we'll get that installed. >> So, I did talk to Joe about this. I

[5:05] don't know, probably a month and a half ago.

[5:10] And with the North Street construction project next year,

[5:15] » Mhm. >> Um,

[5:18] we feel that if we do install it now, I think we should take it down in the

[5:23] spring. [snorts] I don't want them to have to work around

[5:27] it. I don't want it to get damaged. Um, we can wait till that's all

[5:32] restored, put it back in, get it seated around and

[5:36] have it kind of I just hate to see, you know, with the reconstruct them have to

[5:43] work around it and things just happen. So, we can talk about that when

[5:50] they get the sign and go from there. But you bet.

[5:53] » Uh, the only other couple items here I have in the report, just want to report

[5:57] to you that the primaries went very, very well.

[6:00] um we had a 18% turnout. And I I kind of go on to say here and

[6:05] there's some articles that I found online, but Minnesota traditionally has

[6:09] a very very high turnout. Um it's been that way for a very very long time.

[6:15] Presidential elections, Minnesota averages a 75% turnout

[6:20] and the national average is like 64%. So just proves that motans care about who's

[6:27] sitting in the chairs. >> [snorts]

[6:29] » So that's good to see. Um the week of Labor Day,

[6:36] the Wednesday before Labor Day, I will be out of town. Then we are are back and

[6:41] open on Tuesday, September 8th.

[6:45] Um then the last item, the coalition has their weekly brief and there's some more

[6:51] information in there about turnout and the the elections and things like that.

[6:55] So that's all I have tonight.

[7:04] Motion to approve. >> Second.

[7:07] » All in favor?

[7:13] » Department heads.

[7:16] We have community development here. >> I believe I've met most of you, but for

[7:22] those who don't know me, my name is Caitlyn. I'm the community development

[7:25] director. Um, I have a couple items that I'm going to talk about today. The first

[7:29] is going to be just kind of an overview of the work that has taken place within

[7:33] the community development department this year. So, I'm going to start with

[7:37] the EDA business challenge. Um, this business challenge launched in January.

[7:42] The EDA committed $10,000 to the award with another 10,000 coming from county

[7:48] EDA. And then your key designs also supported this program by providing 250

[7:54] business cards to the winner which are going to be designed and printed by the

[7:58] owner Nina Peterson. During the first phase, we received five applications. Uh

[8:03] four applicants advance the second phase based on uh points awarded for their

[8:08] business ideas. Three finalists then move forward um based on

[8:14] I think I read something. Four applicants advanced the second phase and

[8:17] then three applicants moved forward based on the quality of their business

[8:21] plans although one ultimately um withdrew before the final presentation.

[8:25] So we had two final presentations. Um of those two studio row was selected as the

[8:31] winner. Uh the decision was based on the quality of the submitted materials

[8:35] throughout the entire business challenge as well as um just the sustainability of

[8:40] the business concept in general. I think that the business the biggest

[8:45] success in this program um is that it will result in a new business in the

[8:49] community. Um but beyond that immediate result, I think it is also a great way

[8:54] for the EPA to show that we want to support entrepreneurs and encourage

[8:58] people to invest in our community. Um we also implemented a truck enhancement

[9:04] program. Again, similar to last year, the EA budgeted $20,000 uh for the

[9:09] award. We sent 63 letters to eligible businesses within town. Um, these

[9:14] letters included information about the program, an application, and the program

[9:18] policy. Of those 63 letters, we received four applications. Three were fully

[9:23] funded while one was partially funded. So, in total, the EPA awarded just over

[9:28] $12,000, worth more than $52,000 in project costs. So, we did see a decrease

[9:35] in the applications [snorts] compared to 2025 where we received nine. Um, and I

[9:41] think that this was kind of expected because the EA did implement some new

[9:45] eligibility requirements this year. So, businesses that received funding within

[9:50] the past 3 years were not eligible to apply again. So, the good news is that

[9:54] 10 more businesses are going to be eligible in 2027. So, we might see a bit

[9:58] more participation as more businesses become eligible again.

[10:03] Um, another area of focus was the farmers market. I think last year was

[10:09] pretty successful. So, the EDA decided to continue this event in 2026. And one

[10:14] of the goals that the EDA had was to kind of um promote the visibility of the

[10:19] event. So, to achieve this, they um applied to the Compier Financial Farmers

[10:25] Market Organization grant in the spring and were a awarded $1,000 for market

[10:31] promotion. though they were able to purchase newspaper advertisements in

[10:35] Jainsville, Mano, Wasika, New Richland along with the signs and man banners

[10:39] that you will see around town. Um I think that promotion has made quite a

[10:44] bit of a difference. We went from 14 vendors in 2025. Um in the report I put

[10:50] that there are 22 22 vendors in 2026, but we actually have 24 now [snorts]

[10:56] because I received a couple within the past week. Um, so because of this

[11:00] increase in vendors, we've also seen more variety in products being offered.

[11:05] So at the end of the season, we'll send out a survey similar to last year, um,

[11:09] to kind of better understand how they heard about the market, what they

[11:13] enjoyed about it, what they think we could improve, and how the market

[11:16] impacted their sales. Um, and I think that information will help guide

[11:20] planning for next year to see if there's any changes we want to make. And then

[11:24] finally for the economic development authority um we have the revolving loan

[11:28] fund. So as of August 1st the balance um of this account was a little over

[11:33] $200,000. We have space for about two more um accounts because the maximum

[11:40] that you can have uh a loan for is $80,000.

[11:43] It receives about $3,500 a month through loan payments. And so far this year, the

[11:49] EBA has approved one new application while three accounts have been paid off.

[11:54] So as of August 17th, there were eight active accounts. I think one thing that

[11:59] the EDA could look into is promotion for the revolving loan fund to kind of bring

[12:03] that number back up after all the ones that were paid off this year. And then

[12:08] in planning and zoning, um the planning commission has received two variance

[12:12] requests this year. One was for West First Street um where the property owner

[12:16] requested to construct an accessory structure within the side and rear

[12:20] setbacks and then the second was for a property behind the hardware store where

[12:25] the property owner requested to construct a structure within the front

[12:29] setback. And both of these were recommended for approval by [snorts] the

[12:32] planning commission and ultimately approved by the city council which I'm

[12:36] sure you remember. Um and then in terms of building permits using the first six

[12:42] months of each of the last three years for comparison

[12:46] um we are kind of in line with the number of

[12:51] permits. It's slightly below the 51 permits issued at this point last year

[12:55] but above the 40 issued in 2024. Um you'll see quite a bit of a decrease

[13:01] in all the other numbers between um in comparison to the past couple of years.

[13:06] Um, this is probably due to the fact that we have not issued a new home

[13:10] permit yet this year. Uh, but we have been in contact with several people who

[13:14] are interested in building homes in the near future. So, um, you'll see that

[13:19] those that number reflected in the next few months. Um, and that's all I have

[13:25] for that. So, I'm happy to answer any questions if [snorts] anyone has any.

[13:32] Has

[13:37] there been any any word of any development opportunities or outside of

[13:42] the lots on West Street? >> There is always some talk. Um nothing

[13:47] that is for sure at the moment, >> right?

[13:50] » Um I know most contracting they're continuing to develop that uh that

[13:56] little subdivision that they have. >> Mhm.

[13:58] » But that's the only thing that's for sure at the moment. Is the shock

[14:02] division coming [snorts] into portion or are they just sitting on it?

[14:06] » Still kind of working on some details with the developers agreement.

[14:10] » And if anything with that has like it's decided that that moves forward, we kind

[14:16] of have to go through the entire process again because it has been two years or

[14:22] there's a time frame that you have to move forward with it within after it's

[14:25] been approved and it hasn't met that time frame. So, we'd have to go through

[14:29] the whole process again. Does the city's utility project east of

[14:35] town is are they required to uh have any

[14:42] building permits or anything like that? >> It's out outside the city limits. So, it

[14:48] would be all county.

[14:53] Yeah.

[14:58] » Anything else for Caitlyn? Okay. And then I just have one more

[15:03] thing. Um I have a memo for you about uh potential funding for improvements to

[15:09] the public library. Uh the branch supervisor provided me with a list of

[15:13] improvements that the library needs. Uh that is included in there. But there was

[15:19] also something that was brought to my attention by Jason Girtz that there is a

[15:23] hole in the roof that will need repairs as well. So, based on the severity and

[15:27] cost of several of these items, I recommend submitting an application to

[15:31] the Minnesota Historical Society's capital grants and aid program for the

[15:36] more immediate and costly issues such as the windows, roof, furnace, and water

[15:40] damage repairs in the basement. So, it's unlikely that this grant will fully fund

[15:44] all of this, but previous conversations have identified the windows and the

[15:49] furnace as the highest priority. This grant does require a um onetoone match.

[15:54] So additional funding would have to be secured if the application is

[15:57] successful. So I'd like to pursue this grant opportunity. So the next steps

[16:02] would include contacting contractors to obtain quotes for proposed contracts.

[16:06] Once those quotes have been received, they will be presented to the council

[16:10] for review and approval before moving forward with the grant application. Uh

[16:15] the grant pre-application is due on January 22nd of next year. So, with your

[16:20] approval approval, I'd like to begin gathering quotes and preparing

[16:24] pre-application materials.

[16:29] » I think the hole in the roof probably needs to be addressed.

[16:31] » Mhm. >> Yeah. Uh,

[16:35] very soon versus later.

[16:40] » Yeah, that was one item I think was important to include in an application

[16:45] for a grant, >> right?

[16:46] » Yeah. If we get this in, um, when do we find out if we get the grant?

[16:51] » Um, I am not entirely sure. I can't remember the entire timeline for

[16:56] » I mean, is there a difference if we put it in now versus if we waited till

[17:00] January to put it in? >> That that is when it's due. We can't I

[17:03] mean, we could submit. >> But I mean, but we could if we submit it

[17:06] now. There's no difference between now and January.

[17:08] » Nope. It's all in all. It's not a rolling grant.

[17:13] » We just had the inside of the library painted. should at least patch the roof.

[17:19] » Mhm. >> Sooner rather than later.

[17:23] » I know that Jason did put some um like a sheet metal over it for now, but I think

[17:29] a more uh long-term solution would be best for that.

[17:35] » For sure. Uh, another question I had is someplace here

[17:42] in the last 6 months, the library received a grant from the Carnegie

[17:48] Foundation. And [clears throat] >> any library that is started as a

[17:54] Carnegie library, it's still a Carnegie library.

[17:59] » I don't remember the amount, but it was substantial.

[18:02] » Mhm. >> Where did that money go? I so they have

[18:05] their own the city [snorts] that probably went straight to the library. I

[18:09] don't know exactly what they use that for. My guess is maybe programming. They

[18:13] have a lot of >> It would be nice to know if it went to

[18:16] the regional system or if it went for books just for this.

[18:19] » I [clears throat] can reach out to Kelly and ask exactly.

[18:21] » It certainly didn't go for maintenance on the building. That's our

[18:24] responsibility.

[18:33] Thank you. >> Y you've been doing an amazing job here.

[18:37] A lot of work for the short time you've been here.

[18:40] » Great. Thank you. So, do we do we need action on this

[18:44] » to >> I guess we can look more into all of um

[18:50] I can like gather some quotes, maybe come back and bring it up and we can

[18:54] talk about maybe what that funding was used for, what it was able to be used

[18:58] for because it might not have been able to

[19:00] » for improvement. Um and just kind of talk about it further at that point.

[19:07] » Okay, >> very good. Very thorough. Thank you.

[19:09] Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you.

[19:17] » Uhhuh.

[19:21] Staff reports. We just stopped that

[19:27] election judges for general election. >> Yes. So this is a similar resolution

[19:32] what you approved for the primaries last August and earlier [clears throat] this

[19:36] month. So, resolution number 27 names the election judges for the general

[19:40] election on November 3rd.

[19:47] » I'll make a motion we accept resolution 2026 27.

[19:53] » Second. All in >> favor? I

[19:56] » Sarah second. >> Yep.

[20:01] » Amended data practice policy and procedures.

[20:06] Yeah. So, for the past several years, um, we have what's called the data

[20:10] practice policy and procedures. When a person comes in to make a request for

[20:14] information, there's a certain set of paperwork that they need to fill out and

[20:18] things like that. We are supposed to look at our data procedure and policies

[20:23] each year in August. So, thanks to Sarah Joe, she was looking at it. We did add a

[20:29] couple things. It would be in yellow for you right now. And these changes

[20:34] actually they come from the state recommendations from the state. So

[20:38] attached is the resolution amending the policy and procedures and then also

[20:45] attached is a resolution adjusting the fee schedule for when a person does make

[20:51] a request we are allowed to charge so much per hour. So that's what tonight's

[20:56] two resolutions do. And just keep in mind each August you'll [clears throat]

[21:01] be looking at it. >> Do we need separate motions or can they

[21:05] go together?

[21:08] Let's do separate just to be safe. Motion to approve resolution 2026 29.

[21:17] Second. All in favor

[21:24] one.

[21:32] » Sure. Uh motion to approve resolution 202629.

[21:37] Second. >> All in favor?

[21:40] » Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. >> Yes, sir.

[21:43] Uh looking at these fees here, we're not in the rental business and

[21:49] these fees are extremely low on most of this stuff.

[21:55] It also requires uh that a city employee run the

[22:01] equipment. However, we don't state the rate for that city employee.

[22:08] » I think it's on the actually the next page. This fee schedule is like 10 pages

[22:12] long. So I just included page eight that deals with the data request. If you want

[22:17] to come in tomorrow, we can we can look at the

[22:20] » We talked about this last year, too. >> Yeah. So this what we're not we're not

[22:22] voting on the master fee schedule. Correct.

[22:25] » Just the one improvement the >> correct. Okay. Highlighted one.

[22:29] » Yep. All right. >> Just the update of the hourly employees.

[22:35] I I still contest that because $16 an hour, our office staff receives

[22:44] way more than that to uh we can't be doing this stuff for for

[22:50] nothing. So,

[22:56] » well, you want to you >> It was It was 11. So, I bumped it up $5.

[23:03] » Even at 25, we're not covering our expenses.

[23:07] » But you got to remember somebody's going to come in and they're not going to pay

[23:10] for that. Then they'll go somewhere else to buy to do that then.

[23:14] » Well, if it's data that city has, they have to get it from here.

[23:18] » If it's data that can be purchased somewhere else, they'll find it

[23:21] somewhere else. So,

[23:28] » I mean, if if I'm standing alone here, I'll just vote no again. I mean,

[23:36] » and you can >> What's that?

[23:38] » And you can >> cuz they can. Yeah, I've done that

[23:40] before. >> You have a point. Um,

[23:43] » yes, you do. >> I look at this as kind of splitting the

[23:45] difference. >> Just go get them to come in. They're

[23:48] paying increased fee. Then I go somewhere else like Sarah said, but

[23:53] we're getting something. >> Yeah.

[23:57] » Uh, we had a motion in a second. >> All in favor?

[24:03] » Opposed? >> 41.

[24:09] Public safety township. Dig it up here.

[24:25] All right. You you want to >> go ahead.

[24:30] » Okay. Um Raith Township has provided a proposed amendment to the agreement

[24:35] which will increase which will add uh the western half of section 12. They

[24:41] they provide a map here. I also went to Blue Worth County Beacon

[24:48] just to show you that the four parcels that we would add are allable acres.

[24:55] Okay? So, there's no residential west half of section 12 there.

[25:02] Uh, one thing to discuss too is what we should do for charging for the fee in

[25:08] 2027 because in 2027 is a final year of our

[25:14] three-year township contract. So, beginning in 28, this would go with the

[25:19] same formula that we do with all of our townships. Uh, presently speaking, right

[25:24] now, we charge 633 per township.

[25:29] So, Do you want to charge half that or I was

[25:35] going to ask Mike >> per section or per

[25:38] » per section? Yep. >> Okay.

[25:39] » Yep. >> I was going to ask Mike, we were talking

[25:43] about this what Thursday, Friday. Um it is possible that Blue Earth County may

[25:46] charge some fees to us because we'd have to add

[25:51] that onto our system, >> the the mapping system for the 911 and

[25:56] all that. I don't know what the cost of that is.

[25:59] » Yeah.

[26:02] Should we just do the like 600 bucks or whatever

[26:06] » plus the fees? >> Plus the fees.

[26:10] » If there may not be any fees >> if there's none then then that's to

[26:13] their favor. [clears throat] So

[26:17] » we have any discussion on that? >> Yeah. Do you want to see if K see if

[26:21] they have >> L Township is agreeable to those terms.

[26:26] » Great. And then uh in the um amendment to the

[26:32] contract, we we did leave the effective date open on there. Um we would like to

[26:38] insert uh 123126 as the effective date for it to go into

[26:44] play and then it would run through the end of 2027

[26:48] when we do >> you you don't want it to carry out the

[26:51] rest of this year.

[26:55] » We certainly can. Um, that area is covered under the Madison

[27:00] Lake Fire contract until the end of the calendar year. If it if it makes it

[27:05] easier for the for the chief um or for the county to enact it immediately, uh,

[27:12] we're on board with that as well. We're flexible with that. I think it'd be

[27:16] easier to uh have it January one to make sure that I know the system is has the

[27:21] right stuff into it. >> County.

[27:31] » Any other discussion on that matter? >> So, um

[27:35] will your legal counsel fix this then or

[27:41] » I'm sorry, would you repeat that? >> Is is the township attorney gonna

[27:45] fix this or >> um I I don't see anything for him to

[27:50] fix. Uh we left a blank where we can just write it in.

[27:53] » Okay. >> And uh and if the uh mayor and you

[27:58] Clinton would sign that and date that today, uh we do have a special meeting

[28:02] at the township level on the 31st and uh we'll present it at that meeting and

[28:07] have it duly taken care of. >> Okay. Okay. So, we'll do the flat rate

[28:11] of 600 for providing services, right?

[28:16] » Yes. >> Um, you want to add in there

[28:20] » plus any fees associated with >> that are charged by county for changing.

[28:28] » There is. >> Yeah. So, the blank date on top is 1127

[28:35] » 123126 >> 1231

[28:41] Can you give this to Andy? >> 26.

[28:46] And then the open slot down below is $600 plus fees. Is that it?

[28:51] » No. >> Thank you.

[28:55] » And that's acceptable. >> You write plus fees on that 600. Can you

[29:00] say plus fees?

[29:06] I'm not sure. >> It's better to be safe. Sorry. I mean,

[29:11] you know, this is our request and it's, you know, to benefit us. We don't want

[29:16] you to bear the burden for that. >> Very good. Thank you. Yeah.

[29:23] » And Mike, you're agreeable to this? >> Yeah. There's no residents there. Uh,

[29:30] realistically, the ads call. >> It's an easy ad for us. And Kurt, you're

[29:34] agreeable. I would I would move that we uh approve this

[29:42] contract. >> Second

[29:44] » amendment. >> I'll second it.

[29:47] » All in favor? >> I post.

[29:53] » Thank you, Chris. >> You're not opposed. You're abstaining.

[29:58] No. She opposed. >> I oppose.

[30:00] » Okay. Thanks, guys. >> Thank you.

[30:01] » Thank you. >> Turn on the fire department.

[30:04] » I am. >> We told him no three times.

[30:16] » New portion of general fund. Okay. So, tonight we're doing looking at

[30:22] public safety. Uh Mike is here for the fire department. I can go over the

[30:27] police just in a matter of a couple minutes here. Um there is with the

[30:32] proposed fire budget there is a decrease actually of about $6,000 in the budget.

[30:41] Um anybody have any questions? It's kind of

[30:45] » I I do [clears throat]

[30:48] » maybe I don't understand what's on Gro Street that we're paying

[30:52] electricity and natural gas and furniture.

[30:55] Okay. That's police department. Um >> the street.

[30:58] » That's the old city. Yep. >> Yep.

[31:03] » That'll go number. >> That's where they held a bunch of

[31:11] » Yeah. >> I don't Mike, do you want to add

[31:15] anything? Um it's >> No, we uh decreased the uh fuel. Uh we

[31:20] had in the last six we had to hold the Q budget and prices are going up but we

[31:27] some of those good. So I budget to reflect closer to what we really do

[31:32] decrease that and few of the other things that we haven't

[31:37] um hit all our budget on. So no sense budgeting quarters. We're not going to

[31:42] spend it. Um I just want realistic numbers in there. Obviously the

[31:48] insurance side of the 10% there and we don't know insurance kind of a flag

[31:54] » right. So as with all your departments >> Mhm.

[31:59] » Um the uh if you look at 601 and 602 there

[32:06] 601 and 611 those are done one more year payments on

[32:14] and that falls off the

[32:19] 60 69,000 roughly. >> Yep. two of them

[32:24] that falls off after this next budget. That won't be long.

[32:34] » The 12,000 for turnout gear. >> They buy us about two and a half sets

[32:40] right now. >> Okay.

[32:41] » We just put two two new people on. Two. >> We did put two new people on last month.

[32:50] » Yep. Um some of them are partially trained so

[32:55] that helps on that area. Um

[33:02] otherwise not a lot has changed on there. Um I'd like to pick a phone out

[33:09] of the fire hall if I could. We don't answer up there. Nobody's there

[33:15] to answer it. >> When it rings it scares you cuz

[33:18] [laughter] it never rings.

[33:22] I don't think in the 35 years I've been around I've ever seen anybody answer.

[33:26] » I've answered it twice. >> In the 26 years I've been on, I've

[33:30] answered it twice. >> Well, is the fireh hall open that

[33:32] somebody could go in there in case of an emergency?

[33:35] » No. No. >> Okay.

[33:38] » Um if we need it for a storm show or something like that, we can have

[33:42] somebody pretty quick to >> Right. But nobody could go in to grab an

[33:46] extinguisher or to use the phone if that was the

[33:48] » Do we need the phone for fax? Do you use the fax ever?

[33:51] » I've never fax, >> but we don't need it for a copy or for

[33:56] any reason.

[34:00] » We used to use it when we'd have to call dispatch at all times.

[34:04] » Yeah. >> But we don't have to anymore. Now we

[34:06] just use our cell phone. >> Now it's all Yeah. on the radio

[34:11] and it's not a huge dollar item, but it's we're not using it.

[34:17] » Yeah.

[34:23] » Any other questions for Mike on this budget?

[34:30] I did want you guys to know that uh fire department in conjunction with the

[34:35] school is putting on EMR class again this year. We did last year too. Um

[34:42] medical side is the minimum that we require for fire department members. Um

[34:47] the juniors and seniors can take that as an elective class this year. I think

[34:51] they have I think there's 16 people in that class sign up for this class

[34:56] starting first day of the year. So, just let you know that we're doing that.

[35:02] Instructors are volunteering their time on that. So, mostly me, but

[35:08] I'm trying to get other people on because I'm not going to be on forever.

[35:11] So, >> so what is our total exposure as far as

[35:16] the budget on that? >> There's no

[35:18] » there's none none to us. No dollar amounting us.

[35:26] Just want to let you know that that was happening.

[35:28] » Yep. Thank you. It's a good program. >> Yeah, it's very good.

[35:34] » We have nine last year that went through. They all pass. So,

[35:40] » and we have 16 this year, >> I think.

[35:44] Nice. >> I'll know more next Tuesday.

[35:49] » Uh on the police side of things, >> yeah. Um there is an increase due to

[35:55] personnel costs of course and insurance. Um so that top part of the budget would

[36:01] be all the HR items. Um other than that uh when Steve put the 2026 budget

[36:07] together, he did a very good job with uh keeping the line items at

[36:13] [clears throat] a minimum. And uh Mark has done the same thing this year. So,

[36:18] honestly speaking, the 4% increase is coming through human resource expenses.

[36:27] Anybody have any questions? I know Kyle, you had a question on Grove Street. You

[36:31] got that answered, right? >> Yeah.

[36:33] » Okay. >> I just thought it was weird

[36:35] [clears throat] that the police I didn't know that building was there.

[36:38] » Mhm.

[36:44] So, our next meeting will look at um streets and parks and then at the end of

[36:49] September, we have our preliminary tax levy that we have to submit to the

[36:53] county. So,

[36:58] and if you have any ever have any questions on some, you know, you can

[37:02] always come in and and ask, you know. >> Anything else on public safety budget?

[37:09] » That's all I have. Thank you, Mike, for being here.

[37:13] » Before we move on to the golf course, we got to go back to council reports

[37:17] because I forgot that. >> Okay,

[37:19] » I saw that and I >> uh does anybody have any council reports

[37:23] they'd like to share with us this evening?

[37:25] » No, >> no.

[37:27] » James Brothers is going to fix the water pipe at the nursing home.

[37:31] » See, they did that. >> Or did they fix it already? Has not been

[37:35] gone. So, >> yeah, they they re they installed it.

[37:37] They're still waiting for some part by the for the plumber. I think he said the

[37:41] I think it's a check valve or something. The plumber's waiting for it to get

[37:46] completely change. >> It's supposed to be in this week

[37:49] sometime. >> Yes. Otherwise, the project's that close

[37:54] though.

[37:58] » Uh park board met right before this. Um we talked a little bit about uh Arnold

[38:05] Park and the signs and um our part in that. Um mostly what we talked about is

[38:11] um back at the end of June uh we had a ship resentative come in and talk to us

[38:17] and give us some paperwork. Um we are going to have Clinton or Clint here uh

[38:24] reach out for a grant request through this uh to do an update. We looked at a

[38:29] few um options. Uh we are going to see if they will give us a grant for a

[38:36] um a swing um like a bench swing and then the A-frame for that. And then

[38:43] we're going to ask for a uh a love seat bench very similar to

[38:49] what we have ordered before from them uh to go in veterans park here. Um, and

[38:54] then we're going to see if they'll let us do a

[38:57] octagon picnic table to put over by the uh pickle ball court because we noticed

[39:02] people move to park picnic table over there and they're using it to store

[39:07] their stuff and sit and talk while people play.

[39:09] » Sure. >> So, if we can get a bigger table over

[39:11] there and and then if we can get this done, it

[39:15] sets a precedent that maybe next year we can make a number of similar

[39:19] improvements to Arnold Park.

[39:24] Sounds good to me. >> Um,

[39:29] I didn't have much. I know we're going to be doing interviews soon, chief

[39:37] job as far as personnel committee goes. And

[39:43] I think we meet utility board might meet next week.

[39:50] Going to be gone.

[39:54] Uh that's it I believe for council reports now that we got that squared

[39:59] away. Uh quotes for the ball picker out of the driving range.

[40:04] » Yes, the uh ball picker that surprise surprise picks up the balls at the

[40:09] driving range

[40:13] is in need of repair. I think it's a >> nothing gets by you.

[40:16] » Nothing. It's uh the original to the course I do believe. So, Jacob did get a

[40:21] couple quotes. Uh, oops. The quotes are the same same dollar amount.

[40:30] He says he believes that the Trasher Thrasher Golf had better

[40:36] customer service just visiting on the phone and things like that. So, Jacob

[40:40] recommends that we purchase the unit from Thrasher.

[40:45] » The picker completely down. >> Yes. So, the driving range is closed. No

[40:50] one can use the driving range. >> All right, let's get on this picking up

[40:54] for him the other day.

[40:57] » Was that a motion, Kyle? >> I motion that by the go with fresher.

[41:05] » Second. >> We get this moving.

[41:08] » All in favor? >> I

[41:12] » What's the EPA on that? If he orders it right away, does he know the one to two

[41:18] weeks? I thought on the bottom there is >> Did I just not even look at it?

[41:22] » One to two weeks. >> Oh,

[41:24] » so you should be able to get it here this summer yet.

[41:27] » And that's just an attachment that goes on the front of that

[41:30] » just to pick the boat. >> It's not a self-propelled machine. It's

[41:34] an attachment that goes on. >> It's not seats to hold little kids so

[41:37] they can pick them up as it goes by. >> Well, they should have them out there

[41:41] right now picking them up, right? >> Uh does anybody have anything else to

[41:47] add? Nope. >> This pretty quick.

[41:51] » We have any other motions? >> I'll make a motion to adjourn.

[41:55] » Second favor. >> I

[41:59] meeting at 7:41.

[42:03] » Thank you, Caitlyn. That was very well done.

[42:06] » Was very good.

[42:12] » What time did it say? 7:41. Thank you. >> 41. Yeah.

City Council August 24, 2026 from 7:00 - 7:41 pm

Transcript