[0:00] [laughter]
Go ahead.
[0:03] » Okay, let's call the Pipes City Council
meeting for February 17th to order,
[0:08] please. Could I have a roll call?
>> Mayor Delaney
[0:11] » here.
>> Council member Schmidt
[0:13] » here.
>> Council member Thompson
[0:15] » here.
>> Council member Swanson.
[0:18] » Council member Colbec
>> here.
[0:19] » We have a quorum.
>> Thank you. If you're able, please rise
[0:22] for our pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[0:27] United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
[0:32] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[0:41] Approval of the agenda. Is there any
additions, changes, or deletions to our
[0:46] agenda?
[0:50] I have none.
Hearing none, I'd entertain a motion to
[0:55] approve the agenda as presented.
>> Some move.
[0:57] » Second.
>> Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
[1:01] All in favor indicate by saying I.
>> I. All oppose say no. And motion
[1:06] carries. the consent agenda that
contains the February 2nd, 2026 special
[1:12] meeting minutes, the February 2nd, 2026
regular meeting minutes, the payment of
[1:18] claims, a list of bills, and the January
2026 financial report. I'd entertain a
[1:24] motion to approve the consent agenda.
>> I move we approve the consent.
[1:29] » I'll second that.
>> Moved and seconded. Any questions,
[1:32] discussion?
>> Hearing none, all in favor say I.
[1:36] » I. All oppose say no and motion carries.
[1:42] Community concerns is next. Do we have
anyone signed in for community concerns?
[1:46] There is
>> no one signed in.
[1:48] » Okay. All right. We'll move on to legal.
That's ordinance number 1714 series and
[1:53] that was introduced at our last meeting
and that is up for a motion to approve
[1:59] the uh amendments to that ordinance.
That's regarding the administration of
[2:04] city staff.
And we'll have to have a roll call for
[2:08] that roll call vote.
>> Do we have make a motion?
[2:11] » Right. So I'd entertain a motion to uh
approve ordinance 1714 series.
[2:17] » So move second.
>> Moved and seconded. Is there any
[2:21] discussion, questions, comments? And
what we're doing is we're we're changing
[2:26] we're updating that ordinance and uh
giving the uh city administrator some
[2:34] authority there to work with and also
updating the uh personnel committee
[2:42] making sure that's part of it too.
Correct.
[2:44] » Correct.
>> Yep. So, okay.
[2:48] Go ahead with your roll call.
>> All right. Mayor Delaney,
[2:51] » I will vote in favor of that. Yes. Okay.
Council member Schmidt.
[2:54] » Yes.
>> Council member Thompson.
[2:56] » Yes.
>> Council member Colbec.
[2:58] » Yes.
>> All right. Motion passed.
[3:00] » And that is a 2/3 majority. So that
carries.
[3:04] » Okay.
Engineering. Travis. Do you have
[3:08] anything for engineering? I don't have
anything on the agenda. So
[3:12] » no. Hoping to know sometime in the near
future when the safe routes to school
[3:15] project will start, but with the
fluctuations in temps, uh, we don't have
[3:19] a start date yet.
>> Okay.
[3:21] » So hopefully soon. Yeah. Yeah, that
would be great to get that going.
[3:26] New business, community concern response
and Donna Morris is on the agenda. Is
[3:31] Donna here today?
>> I do not see her.
[3:33] » Okay. So, a question came up through uh
Donna about uh a uh overdue bill
[3:42] on her uh rental property
and the balance was 54466.
[3:51] Um yeah, Donna's uh um take on it was
that she had notified the city to uh
[3:59] stop um to actually turn the water off
on her renter, but her renter had an
[4:06] agreement with the city and uh was
making payments or had an agreement to
[4:13] make payments. And so then it's the city
policy not to turn the water off when
[4:18] there is an attempt to to pay those
payments even though they're late. Um
[4:26] the last thing you want to do is shut
someone's water off. I mean you got to
[4:29] but we can't have bad debts either and
we can't just allow people not to pay
[4:33] their bills. And so anyway, we've um
changed that a little bit recently.
[4:41] Stephanie was instrumental in getting uh
we need to have actually a landlord
[4:46] needs to come in and sign
uh paperwork stating they want that
[4:51] water turned off if they have an
agreement. And and uh we try to work
[4:56] with landlords and some landlords want
to have the utility bills in their name
[5:02] so they have total control and some
landlords don't want to have anything to
[5:06] do with it. they want the uh the tenant
to take care of that bill and uh we try
[5:12] to work as a city both ways.
Well, this particular instance did not
[5:16] work out well for Donna because there is
$54466
[5:21] left unpaid.
And uh
[5:26] since she isn't here to speak for
herself, I'm just giving you the
[5:31] quick layown on how it turned out that
she did have an issue.
[5:36] So what's the council's wishes? What do
we need to do to resolve this dilemma?
[5:42] We have uh changed our policies here
where we require the landlord to come in
[5:49] and uh sign. If uh worst case scenario,
no one pays this, it will go back to the
[5:57] uh taxes on the property. So the
landlord would be responsible anyway.
[6:03] And uh that's where we're at. So
[clears throat]
[6:07] any comments from the
council?
[6:11] » I could just see
>> you know that somehow the city should
[6:15] keep the um the owner
um
[6:22] of of what situation is going on. So
they know, you know, that this is what's
[6:28] happening. If it don't get paid, it's
it's going to revert back to them. And I
[6:33] and uh I know
as they had payment that [snorts] they
[6:39] were like a month behind every time I
think or something like that. I mean
[6:43] they were trying to make payments
>> you know and like you said that's that's
[6:46] kind of a health health risk to shut
somebody's water off. That's
[6:51] » Yeah.
>> But at the same time it's a
[6:54] responsibility of the the owner also.
Well, I don't know if it's a lack of
[6:59] communication between the owner and the
render also that kind of got to the
[7:04] point where it did, but I
I don't know what the fix would be. Just
[7:10] more communication between the owner and
the renter and the the city of Pipstone.
[7:15] » Yeah. And I think we're doing our share
where we do have a specific specific
[7:21] form available now. and and uh my take
is you you know originally it's a
[7:28] landlord tenant agreement. Well, we
aren't involved with it at all. It's a
[7:34] landlord tenant thing. And if it works
out well, that landlord doesn't come in
[7:39] and share the profits with the city. And
if it doesn't work out well,
[7:46] why should the city be responsible? And
when I say the city, what I mean is
[7:51] everyone, all the taxpayers. Why should
they be responsible for an agreement
[7:58] that a private parties had made and it
didn't turn out well?
[8:03] It didn't follow through. So, I guess uh
you know, I would follow staff's
[8:09] recommendation and uh
at this point, I think we're doing
[8:14] things correctly. it's for information
at this time to the council and unless
[8:19] you want to see something change
differently
[8:23] um let us know but I think we've got a
good system in place and
[8:28] continue to operate the way we are
operating
[8:31] » with regards to this bill we do still
send um that past renter and Donna a
[8:38] notice every month trying to collect on
that amount just it is city code that if
[8:45] If nobody pays on it come um October,
we'll send them notice that we're going
[8:51] to assess it to the property. So
>> So they will know that.
[8:58] » Yeah.
>> Does it have to wait that long
[9:03] » to assess taxes? Yeah.
>> And I'm sure we're obligated. There's
[9:06] statutes, I'm sure, that we need to
follow. And uh it's just like you just
[9:11] can't someone's a day late on a bill,
you can't shut their water off. Boom.
[9:16] You know, you have to give them the
30-day notice. And
[9:20] » yeah. Yeah. We can't send notice of past
due until they're 30 days.
[9:24] » Okay.
>> So then that's the first notice. And
[9:27] then what's the next step after that? So
once they get that notice, they'll have
[9:33] um 15 20 days to either come in, pay off
what they owe um that's past due or make
[9:41] a payment arrangement with us, or they
might pay part of it and make payment
[9:45] arrangement for the rest. Um and at that
point, we'll we'll try to work with them
[9:50] on the bill.
>> Okay?
[9:51] » But if it doesn't if they don't pay it,
you know, that's when they get shut off.
[9:57] » Okay? where this situation it just
happened to be they were past due and
[10:02] then they moved out so they had extra on
top of that. So that's why it got to be
[10:08] $500 and
>> and just because of the way we have to
[10:13] follow procedure you can get behind by a
month and a half two months quite
[10:18] quickly and there we go with the bill.
So
[10:22] » I see Donna has just entered the room.
Donna, do you have any comments? We're
[10:27] talking about your uh
issue with the city and the water bill.
[10:37] Would you like to would you have any
comments for the council?
[10:42] » Well, yeah. I don't think it's fair.
>> If you want to come up to the podium and
[10:46] talk directly to the council,
we certainly give you that opportunity.
[10:53] » I don't believe that. Yeah.
Okay. Well,
[10:57] » I like I said, I called down there
and I asked them to shut it off and this
[11:04] is before I even knew this there was a
policy. I could have came down and
[11:08] signed a sheet of paper saying shut it
off. I was not informed of that.
[11:13] » Well, I don't think we had that policy
at that time, Donna. This is something
[11:17] that we've tightened up just recently
and and uh so yeah, it wasn't a good
[11:23] system,
but it was the only system we had. And
[11:29] it boils down to like I said earlier
before you came in, this is an agreement
[11:33] with two private parties, yourself and
your tenant. And we kind of get put in
[11:39] the middle as a city with providing
utilities. But the taxpayers, the city
[11:45] of Pipstone should not be responsible
for an agreement between two private
[11:51] parties that goes sour.
>> An agreement between them and you.
[11:56] » Well, you were the one that rented them
the property.
[12:00] » Where's the [clears throat] deposit?
>> You rented them the property. Correct.
[12:03] So, you are the beginning of the
agreement. and they knew that we were
[12:08] trying to get them out of there, but
they would not answer their phone. They
[12:10] would not respond to anything.
>> I know it's a
[12:14] » cops were in there and they were
supposed to go back and they never did.
[12:18] » Okay. So, the deposit I'm assuming the
city has.
[12:21] » Yep. That was credited back to the bill
>> and that covers how much?
[12:26] » That was $120.99 that was returned back
on the bill.
[12:31] » Okay. Okay. So,
I'm going to ask you, Donna, what is
[12:37] your opinion on what is fair for the
taxpayers of the citizens of Pipstone
[12:42] and your dilemma that you have here with
the bill of $54,446?
[12:52] » I believe about halfway, too.
>> You're saying halfway?
[12:59] Are you saying you're responsible for
50% of it only?
[13:05] » Like I said, I I tried to get it shut
off.
[13:08] » Yeah. Well, I think in any situation
where in my experience anyway, where
[13:14] there is a conflict, where there is
something where someone is injured or
[13:20] whatever, it's never 100% someone's
fault. And and so I'm glad to hear that
[13:25] you're saying that uh yes, I'm 50%
responsible. I don't think the city's
[13:30] 50% responsible though. But uh I could
see where if it was something like an
[13:36] 8020 split if you were interested in
that. That's maybe something the council
[13:42] might be interested in.
>> Even notify them where they move to.
[13:46] » Yeah. Well, that wasn't hard to
>> about that either,
[13:49] » right? Well, we can't because they're
under a different scenario totally where
[13:54] they don't have utility bills in their
name. So, we can't do anything with
[13:58] that.
But to me, I think if we can collect on
[14:03] a bad debt, and this is something that
needs to be collected, we're not a bank.
[14:08] There's three banks in this community if
you need to their use. But I I think
[14:12] that uh this should be paid off and if
we could come up with some type of an
[14:16] agreement of an 8020 split where uh
you're responsible for 80% of it and the
[14:23] city's responsible for 20% of it because
at that time there wasn't the system
[14:29] that we have now. And uh yeah,
information got uh missed or something
[14:35] because when you said you wanted it
turned off that should have been turned
[14:39] off in my eyes. But when you have people
that are paying,
[14:45] that's a tenant.
>> Come on now, Dan.
[14:48] » Well, I think in we're already at two
months by the time you got notices. And
[14:53] two months, you can have $150,
$300 worth of bills real fast. So, I I'm
[15:00] I'm just guessing that because I don't
know what the water use was, but the
[15:06] final numbers were
54466.
[15:12] And uh if you're interested in paying
the city of that
[15:19] 80% of that, I think that would be
acceptable to me. But I want to leave
[15:24] it's up to the entire council. So,
>> I don't know. I mean, I'd be willing to
[15:30] negotiate, but I don't know if we can
make that decision tonight. Can we?
[15:33] » Why not?
It's
[15:36] » on the agenda. It's
>> That's what we're here for to make
[15:40] decisions.
>> I'm just asking if if we can, you know.
[15:44] » Yeah,
>> we will. And if we can, you know,
[15:49] » I have a question on your new policy.
When there are 30 days delinquent, you
[15:54] send a note out. Does it go to just the
renter or does it go to the homeowner,
[15:58] too?
>> It goes to both.
[16:00] » Okay.
>> And that's why Donna, I think, called in
[16:03] was because she got that notice as well.
Yeah.
[16:06] » And [clears throat] I believe the reason
why we told her we wouldn't turn it off
[16:10] was one because they had an agreement in
place
[16:12] » and they were keeping to that agreement.
They were making those payments on time
[16:16] that they had promised to pay at that
time. Um, the second reason was because
[16:21] we've had property owners call in before
wanting us to turn off renters and we
[16:26] have. Well, then that $35 on $35 off fee
gets put on the renters's bill and
[16:33] that's not really fair for the renter to
have to pay that fee. So, that's why we
[16:37] never had, you know, we just didn't do
it. Yeah.
[16:41] » But then we came up with the idea if
they they want to take the
[16:46] responsibility of turning the water off,
they need to come in, they need to sign
[16:50] accepting that responsibility and pay
that $70 fee so that that doesn't become
[16:56] an additional burden on the renter.
>> Okay.
[17:00] Well, yeah, it's it's not an easy
scenario, and I understand where you're
[17:05] coming from, Donna, when you try to make
an agreement with someone and then they
[17:09] don't follow through. And any business,
[snorts] um, you can't just take bad
[17:14] debts after bad debts. You can't take
100% loss. I think any businessman would
[17:19] agree to that. But if you could collect
80% of your bad debts, I think that's a
[17:24] reasonable offer. And uh I would make
that motion that we would but I would
[17:31] expect you to pay that 80%
um right away. We're not going to go 30
[17:37] 60 90 days down the road.
>> You got to give me a little
[17:42] » I would like to see the bill get put
into Donna's name permanently if
[17:46] possible.
We're
[17:48] » now on it. So
>> they're going to have to pay their own
[17:52] deposit now.
Do you go after them?
[17:56] » Well, it's not our job to go after, you
know, your scenario that turns out to be
[18:04] bad, but I can I can certainly
understand and I appreciate a landlord
[18:09] because we need landlords. We need
people people need places to rent and
[18:14] and uh but there is a risk there and
sometimes there's profits and sometimes
[18:18] there's loss in any business and and so
um yeah so I would move that uh we uh
[18:26] reduce the bill by 20% and payable in 30
days.
[18:33] Is that acceptable to you Donna?
>> Okay.
[18:38] I'd entertain a second on that motion.
>> I'll second that then if she's accepting
[18:44] that.
Any questions, comments?
[18:52] Hearing none. All in favor indicate by
saying I.
[18:55] » All post say no. And motion carries.
>> Well, thank you, Donna, and good luck.
[19:03] » Can I have a final amount right now then
so it doesn't change again? 435.73.
[19:18] All right.
[19:23] [snorts]
We'll move on to request for council
[19:27] action on disc golf upgrades at West
View Park request. And uh we'll have
[19:32] some guests present. So I understand we
have some guests present. And if you'd
[19:36] like to come up to the podium and uh
introduce yourself, tell us where you
[19:41] live. Just for the record and uh tell us
what you got in mind.
[19:48] » Little pipe stone here.
>> Bruce Zler. Awesome pipe stone here.
[19:53] » Yeah. So we were
we play out there on the course out
[19:58] there a lot and we do see some people
out there. Um, and we've noticed, you
[20:04] know, they it could take use some
upgrades out there and some better
[20:08] signage and we came up with this
proposal
[20:12] um that returned in there. I don't know
how many of you guys seen it, but um
[20:16] » Yes, we did.
>> Yeah. And
[20:21] we feel
they could bring a lot more people to
[20:25] the town here.
Uh if they knew that there's a course
[20:30] here for one and it being updated a
little better and the signage better out
[20:36] there.
>> The course as is. There's certain parts
[20:38] that are kind of just run down too. And
just overall I think it makes the park
[20:41] look better.
>> Okay.
[20:43] » Fix it up. Well, just what I can
remember of that course, I believe it
[20:47] was in the mid90s
that uh we had an individual come in
[20:52] that was very interested in disc golf
and uh through uh our park and
[20:57] recreation department at that time, they
were able to put together um a nice
[21:02] course out there. But to my knowledge,
and I'm not on park and recck commission
[21:07] anymore, but I don't remember anybody
talking about any upgrades to that in
[21:13] probably the last uh
35 years then.
[21:18] » Just last year. [laughter]
>> Yeah, just last year.
[21:21] » And so maybe it's due to be upgraded a
little bit. I certainly like your idea
[21:26] of promoting it because yeah, we want
people to know what we have available
[21:31] and we've got some wonderful parks in
our community and there's a lot of
[21:35] different recreation available in our
community and this is just one of them
[21:40] and uh we want to make sure people know
it.
[21:42] » Yeah.
>> So, yeah, great idea. Um, as far as
[21:46] updating it, there are some grants
available and uh um Pete would be the
[21:52] guy to talk to as far as uh upgrading
and I think we can direct him. He's our
[21:59] park and recreations director and uh see
if we can't get this going for you, get
[22:06] it updated. So,
>> I have one question if I can. When
[22:10] you're talking about course maps, are
you talking like printed maps that'd be
[22:13] like at the chamber or are you talking
like online maps that that people would
[22:18] be able to find online on the city's
website? I just see that was one of the
[22:22] line items. So the map we're talking is
it'd be a course map that would be out
[22:27] at the park
>> like at the start of the park. Yeah.
[22:31] » And then also on every teapad to the
hole there'd be a sign
[22:36] » kind of like a golf course going to the
next green or the next
[22:40] » Okay. I've never played. So that's why
>> that's why I was wondering if you know
[22:46] be something where like up at the
chamber conference you know say hey we
[22:50] got this you know people are asking what
can we do around town or maybe at the
[22:53] motel or something like that.
>> You know we want to the A's are very
[22:58] interested in you know us get some
tournaments set up as well
[23:02] with us.
>> Yeah that would be great. I think in the
[23:07] long run tournament out there with the
with the disc golf they'd be serving you
[23:12] know have their concessions open and
they want to bring more attention to
[23:16] their team as well. So, uh,
>> these these courses,
[23:21] um, these signs for each hole or
and at the beginning, you know, out the
[23:28] country club, there's a a sign there for
Pipstone Publishing for hole number four
[23:35] or whatever. Would there be people
willing to
[23:41] » sponsor a hole?
>> Well, it's possible. We haven't asked
[23:45] anyone yet. It is definitely possible.
>> Well, let's uh let's here's my take on
[23:52] it. Let's turn it over to our park and
recreations director. Sounds like the
[23:57] council's behind upgrading it. it's due
and uh let him apply for some grants and
[24:03] see what's available cuz if we can get
grants for something like this and it
[24:07] sounds like he's got some ideas that uh
it's possible
[24:11] » and we'll get it updated and there won't
be an expense to the taxpayers and we'll
[24:16] have a nice facility for everyone to
use. Yeah.
[24:19] » And I like that idea of having cuz you
know when you go to a golf course the
[24:23] first thing you want to do is look and
see well how is this set up? Okay, this
[24:27] is what I need to be doing. And you
don't have signs like that out there.
[24:30] How do you know? You just look and
>> signs, but a lot of them are missing
[24:35] now.
>> Really? Okay.
[24:38] » 30 years.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, it's time to update. So,
[24:41] well, thanks for bringing it to our
attention
[24:43] » and uh we'll get to work on it.
>> On a couple websites, too,
[24:48] » so that's where we actually started
noticing there's problems with the
[24:51] courses. the the websites that the
normal players go to, they would they
[24:54] would notice what you were just talking
about where you couldn't figure out
[24:56] where the next thing is or what not. So,
>> that's so we we'd update the stuff on
[25:01] the other websites, too. But basically,
you know,
[25:04] » well, coordinate with Stephanie and uh
>> for the city website.
[25:09] » Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
>> And we'll go from there.
[25:11] » Okay.
>> Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate it.
[25:14] » Thank you.
>> Do we need to Let's see.
[25:17] » Do we need to have a motion on that
upgrade?
[25:20] Um, I don't believe so. Not at this
time.
[25:25] » Okay. All right. Okay.
Next up is resolution 2026-11.
[25:32] And this is a resolution regarding the
applicant for authorization for
[25:37] exemption from the lawful gambling
license. And it would be for the Pipone
[25:42] Sportsman's Club to hold a raffle on May
8th at the Pipes National Armory. And
[25:47] this is something we've done in the
past. So, I would recommend uh we move
[25:51] ahead with this.
>> I move we uh do resolution 2026-11.
[25:56] » Second.
>> Moved and seconded. Any questions,
[25:59] comments? Hearing none, all in favor
indicate by saying I.
[26:02] » I. All post say no. And motion carries.
Resolution 2026-12.
[26:10] And this resolution is approving the
summary publication of ordinance 1714
[26:15] series that was approved earlier this
evening. and simply put it's uh costs
[26:20] too much to to publish the entire
ordinance and so we do abbreviated
[26:25] version. We've done that in the past and
it's legal to do that. So entertain a
[26:30] motion.
>> So moved.
[26:31] » Second.
>> Moved and seconded. Any questions?
[26:34] All in favor indicate by saying I.
>> I. All oppose say no. Motion carries.
[26:41] Approval of our 1, five, and 10year city
plan. and we've met uh in January and
[26:46] February and had our planning
discussions, came up with a good plan.
[26:51] Um I was very pleased with the council
and how we uh met most of our one-year
[26:57] uh plans in 2025 and so we've got 2026
ahead of us and uh we've got some good
[27:04] goals that have been drafted and I I
think uh hopefully we can get through
[27:10] those just like we did in 2025.
entertain a motion to approve the 1,
[27:14] five, and 10year city plan. So moved,
>> second moved and seconded. Any
[27:19] questions, comments? Hearing none. All
in favor indicate by saying I. I.
[27:24] » I. All oppose say no. And motion
carries. The ework gymnasium floor. And
[27:29] we've known that that's been kind of an
issue for a while. And uh we've had some
[27:35] uh
rough estimates on replacement of that
[27:39] floor.
And I guess we need to uh give direction
[27:43] to the recck department and our again
our recreation director um Robert
[27:49] Peterson to see what the council's
wishes are in this. So
[27:55] » I I would move that he would um move to
get a
[28:05] new
estimates on what a new floor would do.
[28:09] » Yeah.
[28:12] It looks like what they'd like to do is
have council approval
[28:17] for and then a planning session with the
park and wreck commission and probably
[28:23] Stephanie and uh Pete and and uh come up
with a plan and then come back to us
[28:30] with uh what type of floor they want to
put in
[28:35] there.
With that, I know if you want to add
[28:39] that to your final your motion, I would
approve that then with that with that
[28:46] verbage added to it.
>> I would move that please to use the the
[28:52] rec board
to do a planning session and bring it to
[28:57] council.
>> Yeah. give them authority to uh research
[29:00] it, find out what floors are available,
what they cost, come back to the council
[29:05] for final approval, and you second to
that. Roger.
[29:07] » Yes.
>> Okay. Any other questions, comments?
[29:12] All in favor indicate by saying I.
>> I. All oppose say no. Motion carries.
[29:17] » Haywatha Pageant Park Trail and uh
recently the city received federal land
[29:22] access program. It's a flap grant they
call it for construction of phase one of
[29:27] the Hayawa Pageant Trail project that is
being coordinated with the National Park
[29:31] Service. And uh we do have a updated map
here that shows um
[29:40] where that trail is proposed to be.
And the Hayawa Pageant Park Commission
[29:49] definitely needs to be a part of this
discussion. And uh this is a trail that
[29:54] will take off from Hayawa,
North Hayawa Avenue and go to the uh
[30:01] west and connect in with a trail that's
going to be um at the Pipeso National
[30:07] Monument and then also go back down to
the south and west and go through the
[30:14] pageant park area. So this is
preliminary. Um the exact uh route will
[30:21] be discussed with the pageant park and
uh the council and uh I hope we can move
[30:27] ahead on that because I I think it's a
win-win for everyone. It updates the
[30:32] park a little bit and it helps with the
national monument being a good neighbor
[30:35] there and uh I think it's going to be a
wonderful recreational area for it
[30:41] enhances the recreational area for the
citizens of the pipstone.
[30:46] So, we would need a motion.
Um, it this was not a budgeted expense,
[30:52] but we have to have an environmental
review and a land survey by our
[30:57] engineer. And then Travis, correct me if
I'm wrong. Um, that's estimated cost is
[31:02] about $100,000 for that and then
additional 15,000 for an environmental
[31:08] review study too. Or was that 15,000 for
the entire trail system? That would be
[31:13] the additional um cost to do the entire
trail out to play more curves which
[31:19] would in so that would include the
future phases. It's going through the
[31:23] same paperwork just expanding the the
research area. So it's it it's a pretty
[31:29] small increase to to do that extra that
would open us up for better positioning
[31:35] for grants down the road too.
>> Yeah, I I think that's a good idea. And
[31:40] I failed to mention this, but this flap
grant is for 9 and what 8
[31:45] » I think 989
>> 894
[31:49] » very very close to a million dollars. So
we're very fortunate to to be able to
[31:54] get this flap grant and uh yeah, we have
put a little skin in the game here with
[31:59] engineering fees, but I think in the
long run it's going to be well worth it.
[32:04] Okay, for clarification, the 100,000 is
just to go through the Padet Park.
[32:13] » And for the additional 15,000, you're
going to add that all going west. And
[32:19] how about this?
>> Um, going south.
[32:23] » Um, yeah, that we can get clearance on
I'll say the whole thing there.
[32:30] That ties in the proposed veterans
memorial area, too.
[32:34] » That's just what I'm at. Yeah, I didn't
I didn't word that way, but I guess I
[32:38] showed him on the map.
>> The biggest area of concern is when over
[32:42] here by where it it goes west of the
park. That's where some perceived
[32:47] wetlands could be at. So, it's it's
going to be more field work.
[32:51] » Okay. So,
>> Okay. Yeah. And eventually this would
[32:55] all tie in with the uh park around or
the trail around Indian Lakes that comes
[33:00] back around through uh Minnesota West
area and uh really connects everything
[33:05] up nicely. So
>> yeah. Okay. Well, I'd entertain a motion
[33:10] then.
[33:14] » Okay.
One other question.
[33:17] » Yeah.
>> The 100,000 I mean it's not budgeted.
[33:21] Where where are we going to find that I
guess or where is that coming from?
[33:25] » So my recommendation would be to take it
from reserve funds out of either the
[33:30] general fund or the liquor store fund.
So if there's any leftover in the street
[33:36] budget, we can utilize that that money.
But any that we might need, we probably
[33:42] come from general fund.
>> So basically it's about 10% of a project
[33:47] that we're paying for. Yeah.
>> Yep.
[33:52] » And I I mean when we talked about it
through the planning session, that was
[33:55] one of the council's high priority was
try to try to keep continue and get that
[34:00] trail done. So
>> and the and the schedule for it, it's
[34:04] this year go through the environmental
paperwork and get that clearance and
[34:09] then, you know, proceed. We'll actually
be looking at some other grant
[34:13] opportunities this fall to try to expand
on it. Um, design will be next year and
[34:17] then construction in 2028.
>> Is there a possibility that we could get
[34:21] some of that back on?
>> I think Well, I'm going to say probably
[34:27] not.
>> Probably not on this front,
[34:30] » but I'm hoping that we can expand on it
and uh, you know, make this make this a
[34:36] more complete trail project using some
state funds. State funds partner well
[34:41] with federal funds. So,
>> Okay.
[34:46] Yeah, I I'd hate to see money come out
of the street department at all, but uh
[34:52] um the profits from the liquor store
have always funded community
[34:56] development.
>> Sure.
[34:57] » And I I know there's a limit
>> and uh and this is a large amount of
[35:04] money, but 10 cents on the dollar, I
think that's a bargain for what we're
[35:09] getting. So,
>> because if we don't do it, we aren't
[35:12] going to be able to continue with the
flap grant.
[35:14] » Correct. We lose that. We give that
away.
[35:17] » Right.
>> And once you give a grant away, it makes
[35:21] it more difficult to get those types of
grants again, I'm assuming, because a
[35:27] lot of time and effort went into getting
that grant.
[35:31] Yeah, that was a good partnership with
Justin,
[35:34] um, city staff, myself, um, the National
Park Service helped out. So, it was a
[35:41] joint application. Um, I think that
partnership is what's going to continue
[35:46] to make this a good project to keep
getting more grant funds as we go
[35:50] forward.
>> Okay. And let's make sure that uh um
[35:55] representatives from the highwa pageant
park commission are also involved with
[36:00] this.
>> Yep.
[36:02] » Good. Okay. All right. Okay.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
[36:07] » I'll second
>> motion on the floor. It has been
[36:10] seconded. Any other questions,
discussion?
[36:12] » It's for the 115,000.
>> Yes.
[36:15] » Okay.
>> For the 115. I'll clarify that. Okay.
[36:18] » All right. Thank you.
All in favor indicate by saying I.
[36:23] » I.
>> I.
[36:24] » All oppose say no. And motion carries.
[36:30] Next up is the city hall roof. And we've
been talking about that for quite some
[36:34] time too. But uh yeah, this building has
some issues and uh there hasn't been any
[36:40] updates to it. Um, I'm I'm assuming this
building was put together in the '60s,
[36:47] probably late60s,
and uh, it definitely needs some roof
[36:53] issues, needs some updates on windows.
It's something we talked about in our
[36:58] planning session. And uh this would be
the first step is to uh
[37:06] have city council or city staff I should
say um get some estimates together and
[37:12] see what's available, see what we can do
with this building. Maybe we'll find out
[37:16] that we can't do much with it. And maybe
we'll find out we can. We don't know
[37:21] till you start looking at it. But we do
have funding available. Um, we have
[37:25] 52,000 set aside for a roof on this and
then another 39,000 was set up for
[37:32] replacement of carpeting and flooring in
the building that could almost be used
[37:36] for it, too. But um [clears throat]
those are all steps that we would get to
[37:41] once we find out what we're talking
about because we need to have this
[37:45] building looked at with a architect or
engineer or something and uh address
[37:51] what it needs and and the costs and then
go from there, make a decision. So
[37:58] I'd entertain a motion to have staff
move ahead with the that project. So
[38:03] moved.
>> Second.
[38:05] » Moved and seconded. Any other questions,
comments?
[38:09] Hearing none, all in favor by saying I.
>> I.
[38:12] » All oppose say no. And motion carries.
We need to consider an amendment to our
[38:18] personnel policy and with approval of
ordinance 1714 series. The personnel
[38:23] committee is requesting amendments be
made to the uh city council the city
[38:30] personnel policy with regards to
employee evaluations.
[38:34] And in addition to a personnel committee
is recommending changes be made to the
[38:38] city's vehicle use policy and leave
acrruel policy. Um city administration
[38:45] is also requesting the addition of
language in the policy to address remote
[38:50] work. The policy amendments have been
provided to the council in your packet.
[38:55] And if you have any questions on those
or I'd entertain a motion. We did we
[39:00] discussed this with uh um the personnel
committee and three department heads and
[39:04] I'll bet we talked for 2 and 1/2 hours
on what we could do to make things work
[39:09] a little better and a little easier and
uh I think Stephanie's come up with some
[39:13] great ideas and the department heads
also have and so uh I I would like to
[39:19] see us move ahead with this. One thing I
did want to mention, um, back late 2023,
[39:25] the council did make a motion to stop
having city employees take home vehicles
[39:31] that lived outside of the city, city
limits. Um, through our discussion with
[39:36] personnel policy, um, we had talked felt
that it would be adequate to leave that
[39:43] decision up to the department head and
myself. Um and basically if a department
[39:50] head felt that um their their staff
person needed to take it home due to
[39:56] being on call, they could do that. So
within this new policy or the amendments
[40:02] in this policy, it does state that um
that it's up to the department head and
[40:09] city administrator to decide if it's
okay. And if if they do decide it's
[40:14] okay, that has to be within the city uh
or the zone county limits. So,
[40:22] » not response time within the county.
>> Not response time. Um
[40:27] » they have we left it within
>> they have to live within the county if
[40:30] they're going to take it home.
>> Correct.
[40:32] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[40:35] And when you start talking about on call
and expecting people to respond, you
[40:40] know, to on call scenarios on their uh
what would be their time off, um I I
[40:48] think it's fair to have uh use of that
vehicle that they have during their work
[40:53] hours also. So to me to me it's not
unreasonable.
[40:58] And uh one thing I learned with these
discussions is that uh you know we have
[41:03] staff that are monitoring city utilities
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Um these
[41:13] pump stations and they have to be
checked every day and that's 365 a year.
[41:21] And uh yeah, just imagine if one of
those pump stations failed and nobody
[41:26] knew about it for a couple of days and
you walk down in your basement and find
[41:30] a nice little surprise. Uh nobody would
want to have that in their home. So the
[41:36] the staff um that we have is very
dedicated and uh we've got some very
[41:42] well experienced department heads and
this is their recommendation and uh so I
[41:47] I'm in favor of it. I I think it's a
good idea.
[41:52] So, I'd entertain a motion to approve
this amendment.
[41:55] » I approve this amendment.
>> Second.
[41:58] » Any other questions, comments? Hearing
none, all in favor indicate by saying I.
[42:03] » I. All post say no. And motion carries.
That brings us to closing comments. Does
[42:10] anybody have any closing comments?
>> Yes, I do.
[42:12] » Okay. Verdine Lipstone Area School has
started a mentor program
[42:18] and it's helped some of the students out
there and they could use some more uh
[42:24] individuals stepping up to they said
they have a lot of lot of students that
[42:29] still need to be paired up with
somebody. So, if you have a half hour
[42:35] time during the week, you can dedicate
uh go out and check with uh Principal
[42:41] Ortman and she can fill you in on
exactly what the program is about.
[42:46] » Um
I'm doing it myself and I'm learning
[42:50] more than I think the kid is.
>> What age group are the kids?
[42:56] » Well, mine is uh eighth grader. Okay. I
think most of them are middle school.
[43:01] All right. Okay.
>> But
[43:04] principal can tell you more about that
than I can.
[43:07] » Yeah.
>> Yeah. Good way to spend your time.
[43:10] » Yeah.
>> Helping kids.
[43:12] » Nothing wrong with that.
>> You said that was President Hortman.
[43:17] » Yeah.
>> Principal Hortman.
[43:18] » Principal.
>> Yep. Any other closing comments? Thank
[43:22] you, Verdine.
Since we won't have another council
[43:26] meeting before the ambulance chili feed,
that's next Saturday, February 28th. So,
[43:32] » okay.
>> What time you start?
[43:33] » We start at 4:30 and run until 7:00.
>> And that's drive-thru only again.
[43:39] » Drive through only at the ambulance
building. Yeah.
[43:41] » And that's chili and
>> chicken noodle soup.
[43:44] » The best.
>> Yes.
[43:45] » The best chicken noodle you can get.
Okay.
[43:48] » Yours truly. So,
>> okay. [laughter]
[43:50] All right.
Okay. Any other closing comments? If if
[43:54] none I would entertain a motion for
adjournment.
[43:57] » I so move.
>> So second.
[43:59] » Moved and seconded. All in favor
indicate by saying I.
[44:02] » I. All post say no. And motion pairings.