[0:16] Good >> evening and welcome to the regularly scheduled class a city council meeting for monday august 24th. We will start with the pledge >> of allegiance which >> is to the flag of the united states and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> all right.

[0:40] so looking at roll call, we do have counselors ten quest, mcdonnell and bonnell can present along with mayor casper. Councilor harkless is absent with notice. We also have barb barrett, our financial controller dean sharif, our security officer tony valentin zoning officer and ashley craig lowe with siedah present and at this time we open up to resident

[0:58] input. Everyone is here to talk about anything that's not already on the agenda. Come on up you have three minutes. State name and address and >> yes please. Yeah that's great. And if I can go from 3 to 5 that'd be better. But because some of them will depend on your answer.

[1:18] >> well the resident input is ability to talk not necessarily right to council action or response. That's good. Okay first of all my name is belinda carlson. I go by being b I am carlson and I live in cohasset >> address 252 >> four five island view drive I'm also married to this guy you might know doc carlson.

[1:43] anybody here who doesn't know him anyway, he knows about his volunteer hours. Okay, that's good. Here's I got a little work study for you being I was a teacher so you >> have a little work that's going to help you keep us on track to today for my perspective, mayor andy shannon, thank you. Good to see you. Thank you.

[2:06] thank you. Okay. You've got the right one. Okay. Here we are. Here's my quick priorities I was to your meeting about bike safety last year. I ride with the kids to school people and safe I had a concern last year when we short version of this and we did do some things.

[2:35] we worked on the crosswalk painted in that a little more safe. But here's what happens we're coming from oh first of all, how many of you are firefighters firemen? Thank you for your service now >> and you were there with right you will so I yield back to this I'm coming from the fire hall and I'm crossing highway

[2:59] two. I got my orange on I'm on my bike. I'm in the crosswalk. My kids are behind me. I'm in the crosswalk. We get the green to go my bikes in there and guess who else gets the green to go? The busses that are on the other side of the fire your home.

[3:22] guess who went the bus? Guess what the number one cause of injury to bicyclists are busses. So that's our first priority. I didn't get the number of the bus but luckily I was just in idaho. This gets me to who I sat next to. She was the head of transportation safety transportation in the state of minnesota.

[3:46] so this is where your notes you're going to come in bike safety first of all, this your first note to get ready traffic for lights dot at the state government. All right. That is our first information that we're going to need. Your crossing will be on county road. That's another issue.

[4:10] so >> all this has to do with bike safety but we're going to work on that and I will be meeting with you. Are you saying >> that the turn the left turn light you are going this way and a bus turned in to you? Is that what >> you're saying? Okay.

[4:26] green also though I'm going to cross yeah and the bus is over. Yeah. Not green also I understood understood. Thank you. I just want to yeah that's a very good so the bus went and I'm looking at him and I'm thinking I'm standing not on the sidewalk, I'm in the crosswalk.

[4:45] it went and turned because they have a limited time on the green to go I understand there so that you can very quickly change that because the with a very quick answer she said the lights can be changed that the kids walk first then the busses get the green.

[5:07] okay okay all right that can we quickly change now >> we live on an island you drive we have on our street along almost 30 children. All these families we counted them up. If you hit lake street, take left. You get about six more kids. So they all come my way across on island b drive and cross 63 with their bikes. Some of them cross on lake street.

[5:32] if one child gets hurt on that highway or killed I will not forgive myself because these are bonus grandchildren. They have been to our house. Their names are on our wall. They have been here for parties. So someone says who's >> your grandchildren? Who your grandchildren go they're all the same. So we need to lower that speed.

[5:54] so right now with and I know that's that's the city >> this county is a county of 63 >> so I know we have to work with the county so that's where we have to meet with crossings on county road the county engineer and the administrator. You got to write that down correct. Okay.

[6:13] so we're all on that same page. So I think when we talk to someone that she recommended this is her recommendation cc every time so that you're all on the same page then the last thing that will be very helpful on that crossing is what I experienced in wherever I travel with my kids there on busy roads like

[6:36] our county road 63 and they cross to a park, our kids cross to a bike trail and they have a button they press and that lights up the light on that side of them and on the other side alerts of traffic flow down. We have a crosswalk coming.

[6:57] get these kids across, get their bikers across, get those parents that are running across with their kids because I have stop with my car, put on my flashers and let them cross and that is my top points for today and I all we have a deadline this week and I volunteer well I still teaching classes sometimes by volunteer mostly I'm going to

[7:20] be their greeter this year because they know me >> and that why not have hello welcome to school. So here's what I want two weeks time one of these changes will be done the next week another thing will be done and I will meet with you any time you want because this is on my heart

[7:41] and it will get done in the month of september. So >> unfortunately things don't necessarily move that fast but they >> will be moving faster because I'm on the fire.

[7:58] so you're the fireman so we're going to do it well and there just to ease >> your concern there's already been conversation with the county about road 63 and things that can be done about that. So that's already and that >> couple of months ago already and now school is starting so I don't want an accident >> a lot of those nobody wants an accident with that next year's project at the county house on 63 and >> I'm going to be

[8:17] working with these guys and see if we can move that up. Good afternoon. I >> already set a precedent as far as speed limits on their cody rhodes 62 south it's 30 part way and 40 then all to 6362 north is 40 until you get past bass lake and 76 is 40 the

[8:40] whole way through so I don't think pretty set a precedent in in in heavy traffic and residential areas that's all >> and and that's a conversation I am assuming you guys are taking up with the county as well so they're the ones who dictate that >> we agree I agree with you doc >>

[8:59] yeah but but that's about seniors and go to the phone. Yeah absolutely. You people have a little more clout than we do as citizens and I hope you would be on board >> and definitely on board.

[9:15] and like I said we have been >> that conversations already and I know the conversation has happened. But I will tell you that the neighbors our neighborhood, they will be here at the next meeting and you're going to have to get a bigger room because that's how many people will be here. So the city will listen and the county the city grand rapids, our city.

[9:31] glasser we're happy to live here. This is where we want to live this where we want to watch these kids grow up. But we wanted to see that's when my time. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. You should have that crew of people show up at the county meeting. They will. Good. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[9:46] and you come with us because you're part of it. We would love that. Thank >> you. Perfect. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank >> okay. And the other resident input? No hearing none.

[10:04] we can move on to council info and liaison reports last week we did that was it last week we had the plan and the meeting had a short meeting to discuss one of the items that's on the administration portion of tonight's me my night agenda holy cripps so we'll talk more about it at that point but then the comp plan we had another round of the comp plan updates that was very constructive and a lot of all

[10:22] of that. So when want to add more to that or >> we know we're good. Okay. And the other council thank you. So >> then we can move on to item number five approving the agenda with the additions of item six f and 6g6f, b and firefighters response policy and 6gb in black water level

[10:44] in and erosion control I a motion to approve the agenda with the additions of six f and six g. >> I'll second that motion by ten second I've been asking any further discussion or clarification on that hearing none.

[11:05] all in favor >> I opposed motion carries so moving into item six a approve class of small business partnership loan program policy. So this is something that's been going on for a while now trying to clarify and revamp our small business partnership loan gone from area for the council back to eda clean up and shannon's put a lot of work into it as well and I think we have a final product that everyone agreed

[11:24] was a very workable model for the small business loan program and without going into all the details and certainly find out I won't be able to find it on the website and then you'll see at that point too but >> I'll make a motion to approve the updated loan program for the eda this it

[11:43] does clean up a lot of loose ends and it's still very attainable for small businesses in cohasset to make it easy for them to get a little extra help. I agree and I'll second that motion. So we got a motion by mcdonnell second by being open for discussion on it.

[12:03] you're not all in favor I opposed motion carries move onto item six b approve steve's supplemental letter agreements and this would be working on the bonding bill that we got awarded for the county road 76 sanitation and trail system expansion as we're looking at the different phases of that that this portion would be entailed and looking to get a letter of approve the

[12:28] supplemental letter agreement, we'll make a motion to approve the supplemental supplemental letter agreement for the county road 76 connection trail. I'll second >> that got a motion by mcdonnell second burton quest any further discussion on that one? Hearing none. All in favor. I opposed motion carries here .

[12:55] moving on to item six see approve loan to blackwater equipment rentals llc. Now we've got a visit to meetings ago by blackwater rentals looking to take out a small business loan for us from the city of cohasset for the amount of $24,000. Presentation was very informative.

[13:17] I think they're going to have excellent business model going on over there and looking to purchase more equipment and expand their operation. So looking to take advantage of the small business loan program that we have here.

[13:37] so looking for >> a motion to approve the loan to blackwater equipment rentals llc >> you note that motion to approve that loan motion between quest >> I will second that second by mcdonnell any further discussion here in an all in favor I would >> what was >> that all in favor I suppose you all wow this is >> it's a monday I can say motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Okay, moving on to item six d approve itasca county soil and water conservation district agreements.

[14:05] so we had a discussion about this back in april april 13th a meeting where since steer him and presented to us what they're looking at doing on the south side of highway two here in front of the post office at that time we thought that the total would be up to potentially $5,000.

[14:24] this is the power drive hasn't been done yet but this is what the estimated amount is going to be $4,267.13 in april we approved >> the project to move forward with this option be up to 5000. So this is just the finalized number on that and make the motion to approve the project agreement with the city manager $4,267.

[14:47] 13 what the task is where I live water conservation district >> got a motion by ben elkin I'll second second by mcdonnell any further discussion? Austin do you have anything you wanted to add to this or wanted >> to be here if you guys have any questions, okay. The scope of what's going to be done is still what we had talked about in april.

[15:02] nothing's changed on that. We've done >> all our construction timeline. You know, pending this approval we're probably going to be in here next week to get it done and it should be monday, tuesday, wednesday and then get out of here. So >> perfect. All right. All in favor I posed for motion carries. Thank you.

[15:18] appreciate it. Thank you. Okay. >> I went to actually change this to see the update at last while we moved fmg up to ian's on here so make item six e the firefighter response policy with the recommended changes in the work session we did discuss this response policy and it's just a cleanup of

[15:43] what we already have on the books just trying to make it a little cleaner, a little more black and white so we got a working model on it that's going to be a lot more user friendly for the fire department. I'm just looking at a motion to >> make a motion to update the firefighter response policy.

[16:00] okay so we got a motion by mcdaniel second by knocking any further discussion hearing none all in favor I opposed motion carries and then the revamped item six f will be a black water level in and erosion control and this road subgrade on there looking at trying to get the black water brings project into a more of

[16:23] a finalized state of at least being more presentable to any incoming developers and then also potential of opening up the boat landing making it accessible yeah for people to use that so I'm looking at doing that project of completing that this year yet I would make a motion to move forward with approving the

[16:43] $359,254 and 40 cent estimate for at&t to bring this project up to that to establish turf and bring the road up to half of the class five level and get things leveled off and get turf established which is part of their mvc requirements for their permit that they have right until we get a developer

[17:06] at the second person. So we got a motion by mcdonnell a second by ten first any further clarification discussion on that hearing none. All in favor I opposed motion carries and then we can go to item 6gc the update ashley. Good evening. >> all right.

[17:36] so for marketing we're still continuing to do act amendment on both of your facebook pages the city one and the eda. We did 5054 posts during the month of july to promote community activities businesses, tourism and economic development opportunities. We're still going with tourism to it tuesday which has actually gotten you a lot of new followers by the way. So that's going well.

[17:59] we're highlighting local attractions and recreation opportunities and destinations to increase awareness of cohasset as a place to visit and explore where I'm still working on developing a targeted marketing campaign focused on residential housing opportunities and available business development sites in cohasset.

[18:23] so we're currently working on a commercial ad that we'll use on facebook that highlights the three development properties that you guys have for residential. So the bass brook, the glenwood addition and then the cemetery and it kind of highlights the acreage and then hopefully we'll connect them to back to the website for more questions to follow up with and we'll targeted that that towards like the duluth and twin cities area

[18:42] for developers for perfect right >> let's see for business and retention so the fda approved the updates to the small business partnership loan and you all approved that this evening. So thank you. Thank you for all your hard work on it.

[19:02] I'm glad it's done and we're continuing >> to do weekly outreach through the eda social media page promoting regional small business resource edge resources and encouraging local entrepreneurs to contact the city for assistance whether they're starting expanding or locating a business in cohasset and then working to identify opportunities to activate city owned downtown properties and attract new businesses.

[19:27] and barb and I have been exploring some potential funding sources for an innovative downtown development concept that we're hoping to I'm hoping to bring to the eda next month so stay tuned. And then this month's eda business spotlight featured one to tree service and they shared how their story of how they're business owners and they discovered cohasset and then they chose to stay here and live here

[19:51] because they love the community and thought it was a great place for their family. So I really do think that the business spotlight is not only highlighting the great businesses you have but why the businesses are staying here and that's because of the great community you all have.

[20:08] so >> for development site demolition and cleanup is complete on the glenwood property which is the second street and eighth avenue. So we're getting towards that goal of being development ready and then on >> wednesday that's been two days actually get ready.

[20:29] >> we're working with the arrowhead area agency on aging to do a walk on it so your parks and rec department and myself will be doing a walk otic on on >> eight second street eighth avenue and then river road and lake street so we kind of made a loop over there that will look at and kind of look at the accessibility of the the sidewalks if there are any over there or the lack of and

[20:46] just the safety concerns and hopefully that we can bring that kind of feedback into your guys's future expansions and looking at how we can better the community. So >> and then we're still working on the housing development strategy so how we can best target residential developers through that marketing campaign and then we're going

[21:08] to start evaluating the zoning and density considerations for each of the properties making sure again that your goal is lined up with what your current regulations and standards are and if there are any barriers to those that we start addressing those >> and then the business and developer attraction.

[21:27] so again just working on that merging marketing strategy to attract developers and businesses to cohasset focusing on communicating the available properties that you all have the community assets, the infrastructure for workforce and incentives and quality of life advantages.

[21:50] so we're really what makes cohasset great and why somebody will want to make a development here or >> do business here and then we're still highlighting the industrial park. So again I think you guys have some really great competitive advantages for the industrial park so just making sure that any of our marketing is highlighting those advantages and why we should have people come to the industrial >> park and then we're still exploring >> strategies to better position cohasset to compete for

[22:10] multifamily and other residential development. So again just kind of looking at what nearby communities are doing to attract developers and then what kind of actions cohasset can take so that we're competitive >> with the ones around us. Any questions? That was a lot actually. Thank you. Okay. Thank you ashley. Thanks. You share that.

[22:34] all right with that we can move into miscellaneous announcements reports and f y I is just going to kind of reiterate what actually did say state on there and on wednesday, august 26th we are having that class a connected community coalition walk audit starts at 930 at portage park and again kind of talks about

[22:53] the safety of biking, walking or whatever looking at the safety and the walkability of our city streets here mainly river road, lake street and then second to second street and eighth avenue.

[23:12] so definitely want to get the public out there to kind of see what is what our thoughts are on it and whatever input or whatever results we get out of that we can certainly use for grant funding and know going after different dollars to make these sidewalks a reality in those sections so if you're able to definitely I do >> know that those of us that needed the 30 year program for yoga to take over

[23:30] and we walk we're going to continue walking we are where we are all walking that excellent excellent and that will be taking my little blue book along. Take some notes. >> perfect. Well whatever input you guys can have on that will be hugely helpful. So thank you for that.

[23:47] september 6th is labor day so city offices will be closed that day and that time of year again october 15th will be turkey bingo for the fire department so you're able to come on out and support for that one any other time. I just want to clarify some stuff for the city but for the carlson's as well.

[24:07] the city's taken steps in the last probably three years on a lot of speed limit changes in the city. They reduce the speed 25 on lake street, catherine avenue and river road just because of the population there the narrow streets, the corners, the pedestrian traffic to foot traffic they put stop signs at lake street and catherine her highland

[24:28] view and a crosswalk to get across to the trail they even reduced the speed on tower would be true to throw the first mile and it turns to 40 I'm not going to disagree 63 is a speed we had drive it every day I live on the other end of it it is a speedway and

[24:43] when I was with the county sheriff's office we dealt with that quite frequently the speeders and complaints or whatever. So just to reiterate the city has >> taken steps because we know that as time goes on and residential areas get bigger it's going to bring in families.

[25:01] there's more traffic, there's more kids and we all know that kids sometimes don't pay a lot of attention to the traffic when they're there biking or whatever and no disrespect to them but that's just the way they are.

[25:18] so I mention one thing I am the one that's with those kids when they're when they're coming biking from the beach on the beach way towards lake street and we're stopped and we're listening for traffic there isn't any we start going across the traffic comes it can come up quickly, quickly and they accelerate because it's a corner corner. I agree I I'm not going to district I'm going to be 50 >> they're not going 60.

[25:36] so what I'm saying is I will never want to see one obituary in the paper while no one does. But no >> there's no way there will not be one. Well, we hope not. No, there won't be one. Good. Okay.

[25:54] so anyway, the steps are being taken and I think I'm in close contact with the sheriff's office that runs the speed patrol, if you will, on county road 63 and they're out there all the time I believe it's a scary highway. So the state patrol is out there and again, there's been several accidents there over the years that have been failed and bad or whatever as there is other roads.

[26:10] I mean you can you can't police in 24 seven but we can certainly take the steps to make it safe and that's one thing that the city is doing on their city streets for sure. And I think there's going to be more as time goes on lower the speed limit, more speed bumps, more crosswalks, more stop signs. It all helps.

[26:26] >> one thing that does work in other town and other cities and if you crunch we have places where it's not up. You don't have to reinvent something and have a place where flags kids grab a flag and they walk across that crosswalk and they put it over on the other side and the kids use it on the other one.

[26:44] you could use that in streets in our town so it's not even an electrical is pick up the flag it's visible. They walk across it, put it in a holder. That's simple. But what I'm saying is that pushing the button for that like a warning like for the traffic that's also okay. We're not reinventing it.

[27:03] I >> agree. Okay. And again this debate could go on and there's different views and different theories or whatever. But my point on the city's behalf is we are taking steps to make it a safer place for everyone. >> no problem. You're welcome. So >> thanks. Thanks. Appreciate it.

[27:24] anyone else having a fly as well? I think that we can move on to the consent agenda approval claims in the amount of $296,691.71 approve the august 10th work session and city council minutes acknowledge the july 6th and june 1st step pub minutes and approve amended cemetery deed for janine moss >> I make a motion to approve the consent

[27:47] agenda as we have we had a couple of changes so as amended I'll second that >> got a motion by one item second by mcdonnell any further clarification of discussion on this hearing? None. All in favor I opposed motion carries. Thank you and

Cohasset City Council - 08-24-2026

Transcript