Oh, good evening and welcome to the
Rapids City Council meeting for Monday,
August 3rd, 2026. If you could please
rise and join us for the pledge.
I pledge 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.
>> Let's call the role.
>> Council member Griscoak
>> here.
>> Council member Butler
>> here.
>> Council member Novak
>> here.
>> Council member Gesler here.
>> Council member Armstrong here.
>> Council member Carlson
>> here.
>> Mayor Cook
>> here.
>> Lost track of my phone. I wanted to make
sure it was on silent. [laughter] I
don't appear to have it.
>> All right. [snorts] Uh let's see. Why
don't we uh approve of this evening's
agenda?
>> Move approval.
>> Second.
>> Motion by Gu Gesler and a second by
Butler to adopt the agenda. Any
discussion?
>> Hearing none. All in favor signify by
saying I.
>> Opposed. And the agenda is adopted.
>> We're up to our minutes from the July
21st, 2026 meeting. Mr. Mayor,
>> I move to approve the minutes. Second
>> motion by Novak and a second by Butler.
Any discussion or corrections?
Hearing none. All in favor signify by
saying I.
>> I. Opposed.
>> Motion carries. Two abstensions. Gesler
and Armstrong.
Um and then we have just a whole bunch
of items on our consent agenda.
>> Um
>> your honor, before we continue,
>> Yes.
>> could I get a hard copy of the agenda?
I'll just run back and get it. I phone
doesn't seem to be loading it.
>> All right.
>> Oh, thank you.
>> All right. First item is to adopt
resolution 26-81 calling for a public
hearing to vacate drainage and utility
easement located at 12547
Riverdale Boulevard. Uh the vacation is
being considered due to a portion of an
existing easement on the Costco site
that needs to be vacated and
reestablished for the proposed gas pump
area. A new drainage and utility
easement will be created as a separate
document and the new easement will be
brought to the city council for
acceptance at a future date. And this is
all part of them buying the TGI Friday
building and moving their gas pumps over
to that side. So, we're looking to adopt
resolution 26-81,
which calls for a public hearing on
September 1st, 2026 for a vacation of a
drainage and utility easement for Costco
located at 12547 Riverdale Boulevard.
Next item on our consent agenda is to
approve a joint powers agreement with
the In Noah Henipin School District for
a pickle ball facility at Northdale
Middle School. uh they came to us
earlier and proposed that the city split
the cost of the project equally and the
public would be invited to use the
courts during non-school hours and days
when school is not in session. The total
estimated cost of the project is
$220,000
and the city share would be $110,000
in the 2026 budget is $50,000 and the
park improvement fund for a joint
project with them. um as the district
had indicated last year was interested
in this. Um and then the balance of the
city share of the project, another
60,000 would then be add or can be added
to the 2027 budget. Um we have a joint
powers here agreement here between the
city and them that formalizes the terms
of the arrangement and this would add
this would resurface the existing six
tennis courts to create 12 pickle ball
courts. Um uh okay. So we're looking to
approve the attached joint powers
agreement with the inaipin school
district.
Next on our consent agenda is to approve
a temporary onsale strong beer and wine
liquor license to Rapids Northstar
Lions for the military softball
tournament at San Creek Park. Um this is
going to be on September 11th, 12th, and
13th. The fees have been paid.
background investigation is being
completed and the certificate of
insurance has been ordered. Uh the
temporary on sale strong beer and wine
liquor license will be valid from 8 a.m.
to 11:00 p.m. from September 11th
through September 13th. Approval of the
temporary on sale strong beer and wine
liquor license is contingent upon that
background investigation and submittal
of the insurance. Um, but we're looking
to approve a temporary strong beer and
wine liquor license for Rapids
Northstar Lions for use at a military
softball tournament to be located at San
Creek Park, 1008 Northdale Boulevard on
September 11, 12, and 13, 2026
contingent upon a successful background
investigation and submittal of a valid
certificate of insurance for liquor
liability.
Um, next on our consent item five is to
approve a waiver of fees for portable
the portable stage for an NOA Ramsey
Community College. Um, Anoka Ramsey has
their big concert coming up September
17th called uh, Rhythm of the Rapids.
And the money they raise um is money to
inspire learning and help with student
success. The portable stage fee that the
city owns uh is $540 per day, but Anoka
Ramsey Community College is a partner of
the city, particularly during the Fourth
of July community celebration. The
college allows the city to use its
parking lots for public parking during
the event, and members of the college
work with the organizing committee on
lighting needs and other requests as
needed. They attend pretty much every
carnival meeting that happens through
the year. Um the city also has a
facility use agreement for parking lot 4
at the college which has been used in
the past as an overflow parking uh
during the Rapids street lighting
festival. We also use it I know for the
firefighters open house. Um so staff
members feel this cooperation and
partnership make it reasonable to wave
the stage use fee. So, we're looking to
wave the stage fee of $540
and the city will require Anoka Ramsey
Community College to sign an agreement
and provide liability insurance listing
the city as an additional insured.
[clears throat]
Um, the next item is to adopt resolution
26-76
accepting a grant from the state of
Minnesota for a fishing education
program. The police department applied
for and received a $2,500 grant to be
used to implement a fishing education
program focused on youth and underserved
communities. The grant is funded by the
state of Minnesota through the
commissioner of national resour natural
resources.
Um so while the exact date and details
of the program are still being
developed, the goal will be to create a
how to fish event within the city
focusing on youth and families. This
grant will be used to provide all
equipment and supplies needed to fund
the event and once finalized, the police
department will advertise the details of
the event. So, we're looking to adopt
resolution 26-76
accepting the grant from the state of
Minnesota commissioner of n natural
resources.
Um, the next item uh is to receive the
schedule of electronic payments. We do
this at every council meeting and we are
looking to receive the schedule of
electronic payments from July 16, 2026
through July 28th, 2026.
Uh the next is to adopt resolution 26-77
accepting a donation of a police K-9 and
training. Uh Mr. Mark Mcdana, a retired
long-term K-9 handler for the city of
Rapids Police Department, owns and
operates a police K-9 training business
named Mcdana K9. And Mr. Mcdana is
donating a police K9 and the associated
training of the dog and handler to the
city of Rapids in support of the
police department's K9 program. And the
training program for the dog and
handlers approximately 16 weeks of
classroom learning, practical exercises,
and testing. Once completed with
training, the dog will be certified as
dualpurpose, meaning it can be used for
criminal apprehension and firearms
detection. This will be the first
firearms detection trained canine in
Anoka County. The new dog will be named
MAC and will be partnered with Officer
John Roth. The team will start training
in a few weeks and the value of this
donation for the K9 and training is
$22,500.
So, we're looking to adopt resolution
26-77
accepting donation of police, K-9, and
training. And for those keeping track,
we have two items left on our consent
agenda. The next one is to adopt
resolution 26-78
appointing Andrea Hatchet, Tim
Boer, and Julie Gardner to the
Sustainability Commission.
Uh there are currently four vacancies on
the sustainability commission and staff
solicited applications for the vacancies
and reviewed three applications.
Interviews were conducted for the three
applications. After review and
discussion the three applicants, Andrea
Hatchet, Tim Buer, and Julie Gardner are
recommended for appointment to the
commission. So we're looking to adopt
resolution 26-78
appointing Andre Hatchet, Tim Buer, and
Julie Gardner to the Sustainability
Commission. And if I'm mispronouncing
those names all three times, I
apologize.
Um, and then the last item on our
consent agenda is to in planning case
26-27,
approve [clears throat] the final plat
Maric art, which is the old fire station
3 2831 113th Avenue Northwest, Ibiza
LLC. and the plan. The applicant is
requesting final plat approval to create
eight lots for the purpose of building
an 8-unit single family residential
development. This application was
submitted on July 28th, 2026. The
associated preliminary plat was approved
by the city council at their July 7th,
2026 meeting. The planning commission
held a public hearing on the preliminary
plat and subdivision variances at their
June 18th meeting and with no public
comments received. At the meeting, the
planning commission voted to recommend
to the city council approval of the
preliminary plat and variances. And then
at its July 7th meeting, the city
council voted to approve the preliminary
plat and requested subdivision
variances. Uh this final application
relates to the two parcels. Uh the final
plat has not been significantly altered
from the preliminary plat and no new
engineering firing I'm sorry firing no
new engineering fire or sustainability
comments have been added since approval
of the preliminary plat drainage and
utility easements are shown on the final
plat document and the final platars will
not be released until staff have
determined that all relevant conditions
of approval have been sufficiently met
and building permits will not be issued
until the remainder of all conditions
have been met. So we're looking in
planning case 26-27.
We're looking to adopt resolution 26-80
approving the final plat for Marik art
subject to conditions stated in the
resolution. And that's our consent
agenda.
>> Your honor,
>> council member Novak,
>> I move that we approve the consent
agenda.
>> Second.
>> Motion by Novak and a second by Geisler.
Is there discussions or questions? your
honor.
>> Uh we'll start with Council Member
Novak.
>> Um this is actually a question for Chief
Steiner. Uh Chief, I've been a firearms
instructor for 23 years. I've never even
heard of a dog that could detect a
firearm. Tell us a little about that.
>> Well, there's um it's a new thing to
Anoka County, but the dog is trained in
the detection of firearms, both for the
purpose of locating, say, in vehicles or
discarded firearms uh from somebody that
may be fled on foot. And the dog is
trained, I believe, on primarily the
oils and and sense from discharging a
firearm. It's a first in Anoka County,
but there is one other in the metro area
that I'm aware of, and it's a it's a new
resource for us, so we're excited about
it, and it'll still serve the the basic
apprehension function that most of our
dogs do.
>> That is absolutely incredible.
[clears throat] That's
>> we're excited about it. So,
>> cool, Mr. Mayor. Council member Carlson,
>> I just want to thank Mark Mcdana and
Mcdana K9 for donating yet another right
>> very valuable dog to our police
department with this training. He's an
incredible trainer. He is known
everywhere. As a matter of fact, I think
his last year as a K9 handler in Kon
Rapids, he won the state championship
and uh incredible trainer and uh I think
that this train's leaving the station
pretty soon with [laughter] K9 with
Mcdana K9. So, it's it's great that we
uh it's great that we uh uh took this
opportunity to have yet another donation
from Mark Mcdana. Uh like I said, he's
been very very generous to our police
department.
>> Mr. Mr. Mayor, council member Armstrong,
>> I I would like to echo what what uh uh
council member Carlson said with regard
to uh Mark Mcdana, great great cop for
Rapids for years and years and great partner for the the
Rapids Police Department K9 unit. Um,
also I just wanted to to uh compliment
the city staff on the uh on the coming
up with the the pickle ball court idea.
Um,
I that that's in my that's in my ward
and I've driven past those tennis courts
I don't know how many times and they
looked decrepit,
>> unused, etc., etc. So, it with with all
the calls that we've had for for more
pickle ball courts in the city and and I
think it's a great idea, great
partnership for the use of that. Um, I
also wanted to give just a quick shout
out for the uh for that uh Minnesota
softball military appreciation
tournament coming up in September. If if
you haven't been to it, uh I would I
would highly recommend you you go out
there on on the on September 11th. Um
they have a a special tournament that
day for the different military branches.
Um the the color guard and the the um
just the festivities that go on down
there are just are just a great thing to
be a part of. And last but not least,
thanks for the three new appointment
appointees to the sustainability
commission. I know we're constantly
looking at filling those additional
positions. So, thank you for anybody
that's volunteering to help with those.
>> Yeah,
>> Mr. Mayor.
>> Council member Butler.
>> Uh, Council Member Armstrong took a lot
of what I was going to say. So, you know
what I what I would just add too is that
there's still one vacancy on
sustainability commission and we
definitely would encourage residents to
apply. We we really appreciate all the
citizen engagement across all of our
commissions.
>> Yeah. I would just uh do a little piling
on on the uh the military softball
tournament because when it hits and it
hits on September 11,
>> it's always a even bigger deal. It's a
very somber, very impressive opening ceremony and they have that on
that'll be on the 11th and then there's
also a ceremony on the 13th and then
it's just lots and lots of tournament
play in between and it's uh pretty
impressive.
So, all right. Any other discussion or
questions on the consent agenda?
>> Mr. Mayor,
>> Council Member Krisco,
>> I just wanted to make one quick note. We
had a long consent agenda tonight.
Almost everything that we're doing
tonight is on the consent agenda. Uh,
but I just wanted to point out we've
talked about all a lot of these things.
I see four of the items we've done,
we've talked about in work session, the
other things we've talked about as well.
So, uh, business that was pretty much
all done prior tonight. That's why on
the consent agenda, I did have a
question on the K9. Uh, Chief Steiner,
does that bring what does that bring our
strength to in K9 force, sir? Is that
>> Council Member Grisco? We have three
apprehension K9s. Uh, two of them uh
dual certified in narcotics and this one
in gun detection. Then we have one
facility wellness dog.
>> Okay. So, four total.
>> Four total. Okay. Thank you.
>> Different purposes completely, but
>> Right. Exactly. Thank you. That's it.
>> Cool.
>> All right. Any other discussion?
We have a motion and a second. All in
favor signify by saying I I opposed. And
the consent agenda is adopted. And we
are up to item 11,
which is to consider resolution 26-79,
accepting a local housing trust fund
grant from the state of Minnesota. Mr.
Brown, you want to hit the highlights on
that one?
>> I can. Yes. So, staff had uh submitted
an application for this grant several
months back. Uh this was a new program
that was funded by the legislature over
the last couple of years. Uh aren't a
lot of strings attached to it other than
that the dollars have to go toward
serving the households meeting the
established income guidelines. We of
course have a wide array of housing
programs here at the city. Uh so we're
able to simply use this grant to
supplement those. So what we had
submitted was to use uh these funds for
our deferred loan program which serves
households earning earning 60% area
median income or less. Uh that allows
them to make improvements to their home
and the loan uh doesn't has a 0%
interest rate and also doesn't have any
required monthly payments. So it's
simply due when the house is sold. So
those dollars are actually tied up for a fair fairly long time in some
cases. So the amount of this grant is
$150,000. It's basically a 50% match.
Over the last few years, we've uh loaned
out around $100,000 a year through that
program. So that would basically uh pay
for about half half of the program over
the next three or so years, which is
also the term of the grant agreement.
So, I can answer any questions, but
pretty straightforward. We're simply
using it to supplement uh our existing
programs.
>> Very good. Any questions of Mr. Brown?
>> Mr. Mayor,
>> council member um Butler,
>> I move that we adopt resolution 26-79
accepting a local housing trust fund
grant and approve a grant agreement with
the state of Minnesota.
>> Second.
>> Motion by
Wow, it's gone. Butler, second by
Gesler. Discussion,
>> Mr. Mayor, Council Member Grisco. Well,
obviously it's great that we're getting
this grant from the state of Minnesota.
It's a it's a large grant. It's
$150,000.
So, I just had one quick question of Mr.
Brown, and if you don't know the answer
tonight, that's fine. But I understand
that the grant funds from the state of
Minnesota are coming from the uh local
affordable housing aid legislation, or
how or where is the funding coming for
this? Is it Aloaha sales tax?
>> It it is not. I I don't I don't know the
exact exact answer. I know it was
budgeted basically through the state's
uh general fund. It is it is not coming
from the sales tax proceeds or LAA th
those are dollars that we simply receive
twice a year from the state. Those are
incidentally also going into our local
housing trust fund uh to help fund those
various housing programs.
>> Okay. Well, regardless, it's nice that
we're getting $150,000 of uh of uh tax
money back into the state of or the city
of Rapids.
Thank you.
>> All right, we have a motion and a
second. Any other discussion?
Hearing not, all in favor signify by
saying I. I opposed.
>> And that motion carries. [clears throat]
We are up to the open mic public comment
portion of the meeting.
If you are here for open mic, please
come up to the podium. It provides an
opportunity for the public to address
the city council on subjects that are
not part of the regular meeting agenda.
You are invited to express any concerns
they may you may have which are relevant
to the affairs policies or practices of
the city of Rapids and you'll be
limited to three minutes. Uh please
approach the podium. State your name and
address and all remarks will be made
from the podium and address to the
council. Uh what do we go? That should
be enough.
[laughter]
>> Thank you, Mayor Cook. Members of the
council, my name is Derek Lind. I'm I
live in Ramsey. 28-year resident,
Ramsey, four-year member of ASI, ANO
County Election Integrity Team, a
private citizen group. Uh, tonight's
subject is EAC certification of the
machine tabulators. If you could, if you
could take that packet, please, and turn
to the very last page.
So, it's the last, it should be page 16,
I believe. There's some yellow
highlighting there. This is a letter
from ESNS, which is our machine
tabulator manufacturer. They sent this
letter directly to Inoka County and they
said, "You got to take those
certification stickers off the machine.
You're not certified." And the reason
you're not certified or we're not
certified is because of the modems. If
you could turn back two more pages,
there's another letter. So, this would
be on page
13. Actually, it's a two-page letter.
Also
got some yellow highlight on there.
That's a that's a letter from the US
Election Assistance Commission. We call
it the EAC. This is the federal body.
They sent that letter directly to ESNS
and they said, "We got a problem with
your your machine tabulators. You got to
take those stickers off." And that's
what that's what triggered this. If you
look at the dates of this, this is March
2020 and then April of 2020. This is
right about the same time that COVID
hit. Um, and then one last page. If you
could look at page four and five, it's
towards the front.
Page four, please.
This is the Secretary of State's website
and Noa County's website. Their
communications to the public. If you
read through that in your own time, they
say federal this, federal that. They're
making the public think that these
things are on the up and up on the
federal side. So, what we're asking you
to do is compare this page, page four,
with those two letters that I just got
done showing you. Now, it's a long
packet. I'll let you read that on your
own time. Couple other points I want to
make that the state of Minnesota, we've
been pressing the state of Minnesota and
the county on this, and they're
admitting to us, yeah, they're not EAC
certified, but they don't have to be.
We're saying that's fine, but let's get that out to the public. Let's
let the public know that the machine
tabulators that we use to count our
votes are not federally EAC certified.
Uh this was featured in the movie
Minnesota Mau. The other thing to to pay
attention to here is there's a strong
commitment to the modems. This is really
about the modems and the tabulators.
That's why they had to take the stickers
off. I think if this was something that
came to me, I would have said, "Okay,
fine. Let's take the modems out. We
don't need it." But there was there was
a commitment to those modems. They paid
extra for them. I think they they submit
the um the early totals. I don't know
why they had to have them, but they they
kept them in. Um
I'm not sure if you guys have checked
any of your votes when we do the post
election review. I don't know if
Rapids has been selected in that. You
only do four out of 128, but it's kind
of interesting. We put a lot of faith in
these machine tabulators, and according
to this, they're not federally EAC
certified. Last comment. If you guys
want to invite us back for a work
session, you know, I can spend more than
three minutes up here on a microphone.
We can have a little more dialogue. We
got some people that have been studying
this a long time. That's up to you. So,
with that being said, do you have any
questions for me? I know you probably
weren't
expecting this, but it's a lot to
digest.
>> Thank you. Thanks for your time.
Appreciate it. Have a good evening.
Thank you.
>> All right. Anybody else to address
council for open mic this evening?
Mayor and council, my name is Dave
Ecbomb.
I uh excuse [clears throat] me. I went
to the U commissioner's meeting and I
spoke at that time concerning the uh
decisions that are being made with the
uh old they call it the old the family
center mall which is I'm about a block
and a half away from that. So I'm a
little concerned. [clears throat]
Dave David Eckbomb and I'm at 11206
Crocus Street Northwest in Rapids.
I've lived at that address for 42 years.
Since 1984, excuse me, [clears throat]
I've seen multiple changes around the
community from the location of
businesses, new businesses coming to the
areas. I mean, I could go on and on what
I've seen come and go to my own home.
There has been significant number of
upgrades in the and I'll tell you why
I'm thinking or saying this in a second.
specifically to the outside, including
two times I've shingled the house, new
siding, I tore down a garage, I put
another garage up, concrete driveway,
planting new trees. You get the picture.
I'm sorry to say that few improvements
have been made to the Family Center Mall
with the exception of of uh Grand Slam.
Thanks, Mike, for doing the things at
the Grand Slam. And it's a a success.
we've seen all the people that go over
to Grand Slam. Uh recently, uh District
11 was there and so they made some
improvements as well.
Uh some some time ago out the outside of
the building was painted, lights were
added along some of the potholes were
added along with some of the potholes
were filled somewhat recently, but for
the most part, the building and the
outside building is a mess.
Uh when I went to the commissioner's
report meeting, they had 11 propositions
and I can read them quickly. Paint the
exterior. Replace the weather sealant
along the bottom. Add decorative lighting. Replace all rusted
metal exterior doors. Work with the
staff to add landscaping to the parking
area. Repair deteriorating sections of
the asphalt. Restripe
uh paint parking light poles. Repair
secure fence around the loading dock.
Remove the vacant Burger Time building
and dumpster enclosure. Repair paint.
Clear scrub vegetation vegetation uh
covering the pylon sign along Crooked
Lake Boulevard. And then there's other
things. A sidewalk along 113. It goes on
and on and on. The point is is that
this is kind of a disaster over there.
And I've been watching this over the
years. I've seen the businesses kind of
come and go. And now we're at a point
where I'm hoping after seeing the work
that was done with the two malls that
are west of me
on Crooked Lake by Kudrass Boulevard
plus the uh the beautiful bridge uh over
uh by by Lilyutt all the building that
took over the area where the old uh post
office was. You know the area I'm
talking about Sniders was in that area.
the homes that are being built and the ice arena. Beautiful ice arena.
My my granddaughters use that. The new
fire station. Unbelievable. It's like
the Taj Mahal.
But now I see the Family Center Mall and
I just go, "What's going on here? Why
haven't we had some new new buyers?" I
understand that the old buyer has is is
now deceased and and the and the kids
are probably somewhat unloading the
site. The building dates back to the 60s
and if a person I'm I'm sorry we're way
over the three minutes here. Are you are
you just about to the end?
>> Just about done. Yeah.
>> Okay. Thank you. So anyway, to kind of
come to the end and I'm sorry the three
minutes, but but we've we've seen so
many good things happening within in
Rapids. We we appreciate it. But
now we're coming up to a charter school
that's been designated to be at that
location. And not only a charter school,
but there's a religious religious group
coming in there, too, which is we have a
copy of the architectural drawings, and
we can kind of see that that's going on.
Okay. What we need is as neighbors, we
want transparency.
The the what was the purpose of the
particular charter school coming to this
particular area.
Isn't it necessary to have neighborhood
input? Let's be transparent. The
neighbors want again to be have input.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
This is not my cup of tea. [laughter]
My name is Vicki Akbomb and I'm his
wife. Um I'm going to talk primarily
about charter schools.
But first, I want to ask you to please
look at the commission um meeting and
listen to what he had to say before. It
talks about um the road s systems in
that area and it t and
there was something else he talked
about. I can't remember what but those
are very important to this whole
discussion.
However, when it comes to um charter
schools, I want to ask are there
sprinkler systems in the building? Who
knows?
Um it's a school zone. It is not it it
is not a school zone. It's a commercial
zone.
That's important.
Um
are there enough bathrooms in that area
to accommodate
500 plus students?
There weren't when I was in that
um building.
Um, I'm wondering about a gym for that
school.
Sometimes charter schools don't think
gyms are important. I heard a people say
last time, "Oh, well, they have a recck
room." A recck room is used for games,
parties, relaxation to be used with
virtual reality and social video games.
We need gross motor activity areas,
not video games.
Are the rooms large enough for for
school activities? Are they do they have
fresh air? Do they have windows? Is
there enough room in those classrooms to
move around for students for um student
engagement?
um busing and drop off, pickup and
[clears throat] drop off for for um
cars. That really bothers me. I saw some
area for if you look back, you can find
the areas for
buses and how they have that set up. But
I didn't hear anything about drop off
and pickup. And that's important. I've
been in charter schools. I've worked in
charter schools. And I can tell you that
sometimes that is not
um what am I trying to say? It's not
safe. It's just not a safe area. And I
heard nothing about drop off and pickup.
Um I'm concerned about crosswalks
patrols. There's three busy roads there
and one road is 113th. And I heard
people say, "Well, there's just not that
many people living there." But there are
people living there, and that's
important that we respect those people
living in that area.
Um, so crosswalks,
not only for the safety of the kids, but
for the safety of the neighborhood,
should be available.
And then outdoor play. I've been told I'
I've heard,
well, we can kids can play anywhere.
They can play on a parking lot.
Really?
And and a parent comes in. This happened
to me. A parent comes in to where the
kids are playing and the parent says,
"Well, I can pick my kid up here. I pay
for this." And it's not safe for a
parent to drive their car where the kids
are playing.
These are grave concerns in my my
estimation for a charter school anywhere
and for our neighborhood.
Like Dave said, we've been there 42
years. We don't want to move.
Are you going to force us to?
>> This is Go look at that place. It's a
mess.
>> We drive by it all the time.
>> Thank you. Thank you very much.
>> A block away. It's a mess.
>> Help.
>> Totally. I totally understand. Thank
you.
Anybody else here for um open mic?
[clears throat]
And we will close that portion of the
mic of the the meeting.
Why am I closing that? I got a couple
responses.
We uh we had two folks visit us for open
mic last meeting and the first one was
Mr. Scott Nellis uh with concerns about
the storm that had gone through and um
additional street sweeping and
uh we got out immediately after that and swept that neighborhood.
And the takeaway is residents and
property owners may choose to
proactively assist in protecting storm
water by adopting a storm drain and
providing volunteer cleanup activities.
Um but even ahead of that um staff
encourage residents and property owners
to submit non-emergency maintenance
concerns by using report it the city's
online reporting system found at the
city's websitem.gov
and requests can also be made by calling
public works 763755-2880
option three and leaving a message
there. um we we really when streets do
get um get to be a mess, we do want to
get out there and sweep it up, but with
over 400 lane miles, we might not know
that it's messy. So, it'd be good to let
us know. Um and then uh the other uh
person here for open mic
um I was uh uh wondering about the legal
authority to require franchise
agreements for broadband providers
including gateway gateway fiber and
there are numerous benefits to
franchising for the broadband provider
the city and the public versus
right-of-way permitting. Right ofway
permitting is limited to construction
installation in the right of way while
franchising provides an agreement for
specific public benefits for the use of
the public right ofway. And these
benefits include compliance with city
code, streamlined access to the public
right ofway, improved permitting
efficiency, potential for preferential
positioning, defined dispute
resolution/c
customer service mechanisms, better
access to city data and planning
coordination, and a reasonable build out
of the system in the city. And there's
additional things. Uh the city is open
to negotiating franchise agreements with
broadband providers like Gateway Fiber,
but to date no provider has reached out
to the city for that purpose. And that
is the end of our open mic responses.
And
um I just wanted to be clear, I know I
was smiling. It's not because I disagree
with anything you said. We are we are
really dialed in on that property
>> for sure. But it's it's private sale,
private. It it didn't go the way we were
all hoping it would go. Um but
we'll get a response from staff and and
believe me, we all heard you.
Um all right, other business. Council,
>> Mr. Mayor,
>> council member Gryler.
>> Uh I just wanted to uh double down on
the reported use. Um reported is a great
resource. Um I've used it to report
roadkill. staff comes and gets it out of
the street for you. Uh potholes, downed
limbs, dangerous things on trails, you
know, overhanging brush. It's really a
way for the citizens to let us know
that, hey, work needs to be done here.
And staff looks at it, prioritizes it,
and gets to it. It might not be the
instant, depends on the severity of it,
but it's really a great way for citizens
to let us know that something needs to
be done. Um, and it keeps track of it
and really easy for them to get out
there, especially public works, they've
got a lot to do. Um, and they really
prioritize getting those done. So, I
just wanted to double down on that. Uh,
the other thing,
>> can can I add on to that just for a
second?
>> Um, to add on to that,
>> um, street lights.
>> Yes.
>> They have no idea the street lights are
out because they drive in today. So,
it's uh it's important that those get
mentioned.
>> Yes. So, please let us know when you see
things. That's a a great way for us to
come and help you.
>> And when you see them flashing, when you
see them flashing, know that they're on
their way out. Okay. Now, Council Member
Gesler, back to you. I'll quit
interrupting.
>> Thank you. Uh, the other thing that I
was gonna mention, uh, today there was a
blood drive up at city hall here. I
happen to have a chance to go. I really
want to encourage folks if you are
willing and able to please do that.
There is a blood emergency right now,
um, for both Red Cross and NBC. NBC does
uh, Memorial Blood Centers does have a
facility in Riverdale um, to go visit.
So, if you're able, please consider. Um,
there's there's really a big need right
now. So, just from a public opportunity,
think about that. Thank you.
>> All right, you're on.
>> Council member Novak.
>> Council member Gesler stole my thunder.
I was actually over at uh the Memorial
Blood Clinic in Riverdale this last
Tuesday donating blood. Uh there's a lot
of different ways you can do it, folks.
And as he said, there's the second blood
emergency right now going on just this
summer. I believe only about 4% of the
population actually donates blood. And
odds are at some point in your life,
you're going to need it. So, please, if
you can donate, it's going to save
lives. You know it will. Thank you.
>> All right,
>> Mr. Mayor.
>> Council member Carlson.
>> Heck, they even called me. I was at NBC
[laughter]
on Friday morning.
>> Yeah, absolutely. There is this severe
shortage right now. And I just want to
mention, of course, night tomorrow
night. Great way to get out to see your
neighbors. And there's going to be a
community night at Lions Park from 5:00
to 7:00. If you don't have anything
going on in your neighborhood, go down
to Lions Park and there's a community
one going on there. Uh last last concert
in the park is on Thursday, Revolution
5, a Beatles tribute. Probably the
biggest crowd that they'll have all
year. It's a great great uh uh great
music. Um last concert this Thursday,
Rapids Dam at 7 o'clock. Do you
know if we're going to have shuttles for
that? Because in the past we have um
because the parking fills so
intensely for that.
>> Mr. Mayor, I do not. But we will look
into that and let you know.
>> Um and then the other thing I'd say is
get down there early. If you get down
there at 5:30, you'll have plenty of
places to park and put your chairs. And
the Northstar Alliance will be serving
dinner from 5:30 till 7. And it's uh
it's a great way to start the evening.
All right. Um we still got our uh
farmers market Wednesday afternoons over
at the ice center.
Uh any other business to come before
council? Yes, Miss Lensmire.
>> Mr. Mayor, council members, a reminder
that next week, Tuesday, is the primary
election. So, the polls will be open
from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. If you have
questions about where to vote, please
give us a call at the clerk's office and
we will help you find that.
>> Awesome. Yeah. So, this week our council
meeting is Monday night because tomorrow
night is night to unite and next week um
Oh, next week we have a workshop. Never
mind.
>> Nobody cares. [laughter]
>> It's just won't be on Tuesday,
>> right?
>> Mr. over here. Council member Armstrong,
>> I just wanted to to uh give a a shout
out to uh Mercy Hospital. I kind of had
to smile when the the three gentlemen
were talking about donating blood. They
didn't Thank goodness I didn't need it,
but uh um few weeks ago I had a I had a
fishing mishap. Tiny tiny deal, no big
deal. But five days later, I'm up in
northern Minnesota and it becomes a big
deal. Um, and when I discovered it, I
had my choice of waiting 2 hours for a
clinic to potentially be opened up or
drive 3 and 1/2 m 3 and 1/2 hours back
to Rapids to have it addressed
here. And thank goodness I did. Um,
because if if you ever think you're
having a bad day, go go to the waiting
room at uh or the emergency room at
Mercy Hospital. Saturday afternoon,
there was over 50 patients there. And I
thought I was having a bad day, but
there was others having even even worse
day. And the the front office staff, the
security, I I thought security was there
to do security. They do a heck of a lot
more than security as far as helping
patients out and whatever else. But long
story short, what I thought was a slight
little fishing mishap ended up that I
was in the hospital for four days. They
did emergency surgery. I was in there
for 4 days. Realized it was
significantly more seriously than I than
I thought. But that being said, um Dr. I
was I was asked not to give full names,
but Dr. G and his uh surgical team, uh
the nursing staff, Jack, Rose, Cece,
their attention to patient care, their kindness and uh just overall care
that they gave not only to me, but to a
number of patients that I saw there on
the floor. Um I'm not telling you
anything you don't already know. We got
a great facility over there, great
partner here for the city. But boy, when
you need them at the spur of the moment,
we are so lucky to have them.
>> And I can't say enough about them.
>> We are very fortunate to have Mercy in
town here. That's for sure.
>> And if there were 50 people in the
waiting room, there were at least
another 50 in the rooms in the back.
>> Yep. Yep. They were they were hopping.
>> All right. Any other business to come
before council this? Yes, ma'am. Council
member Geyser. Uh, one more thing that's
going to happen before our next big
meeting, uh, on Sunday the 16th from
11:00 to 1:00 at the civic center here
is the school supply and kids clothes
swap um, being hel uh, the our folks
over at the recycling center and staff
is putting that together. But, uh, so
August uh, 16th 11 to 1 at the civic
center, school supply and kids clothes
swap.
>> All right.
>> Right in time for school.
Perfect. All right. Any other business?
>> Motion to adjurnn. Second.
>> Motion by Carlson, second by Butler to
adjurnn. All in favor signify by saying
I.
>> I. We're adjourned.
[music]