City Council Meeting

Red Wing, MN · 2026-08-24 · More Red Wing, MN meetings · More Minnesota meetings

Agenda

Agenda: https://redwingmn.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFile(fileId=7436,plainText=false)

Full agenda packet (agenda plus every staff report and attachment): https://redwingmn.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFile(fileId=7438,plainText=false)

[0:00] This meeting will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers and virtually via Webex at the same time. Members of the public can join this meeting either in person at City Hall or virtually. Join the meeting via Webex and type in the password 2026. To join via telephone, please dial (415) 655-0001. Enter access code 2551 218 4427 and password 2026 when prompted.

[0:00] 1. Call to Order

[0:00] 3. Excusal of Members

[0:00] 8.A. Motion to Approve Bills (Warrant #129483 - 129704, totaling $921,455.84).

[0:00] 8.B. Motion to Approve Minutes.August 3, 2026, Workshop Minutes.August 10, 2026, Regular Meeting Minutes.

[0:00] 8.C. Motion to Approve Finance Report.

[0:00] 8.D. Motion to Approve the Encroachment Agreement with Trisha R. Erickson, Owner of 308 Washington Street, and Authorize the Mayor, Council Administrator, and City Clerk to Execute the Agreement.The purpose of this agreement is to allow for portions of an existing retaining wall, driveway area, and front porch to encroach onto the City right-of-way, while preserving the City’s full right to access and use of Washington Street right-of-way.

[0:00] 8.E. Motion to Approve Private Use of Public Property (PUPP) Application for Red Wing Hispanic Heritage Festival 2026. The annual Hispanic Heritage Festival is a free event that provides everyone with access to the arts, food, and folklore of Hispanic culture through live music and dance performances, authentic foods, and interactive booths. It is scheduled for Saturday, September 12, in Central Park from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

[0:00] 8.F. Motion to Approve Private Use of Public Property (PUPP) Application for United Lutheran Church Rally Day Kick Off. Organizers from United Lutheran Church have submitted a PUPP application for the Rally Day Kickoff Event. The event is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the church at 628 West 5th Street.

[0:00] 8.G. Motion to Approve Private Use of Public Property (PUPP) Application for Eagle Brook Church Fall Kick Off Event. Organizers from the Eagle Brook Church have submitted a PUPP application for the Fall Kickoff Event. They are requesting to hold the event in front of their church, located on 3rd Street, between East Avenue and Bush Street, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 13.

[0:00] 8.H. Actions Related to Sturgeon Lake Road Phase 2 Design. This is a street reconstruction project. Motion to Approve Amendment #2 to MnDOT LRIP Grant Agreement No. 1055983, Releasing Construction Funds to be Used for Phase 2 Design.Motion to Adopt * Resolution No. 8200, Agreeing to LRIP Grant No. 1064160 and Funding Allocation. Motion to Approve MnDOT LRIP Grant Agreement No. 1064160 Allocating Funds for Phase 2 Design.Motion to Approve Kimley-Horn Work Order 2026-1 for Professional Services for Phase 2 Design.

[0:00] 8.I. Motion to Approve Private Use of Public Property (PUPP) Application for the Red Wing Shoe Employee Picnic.The Red Wing Shoe Employee Picnic will be held on September 12, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Organizers are requesting to utilize the area near Pavilions 3 and 4 and an area of the Colvill parking lot.

[0:00] 8.J. Motion to Approve a One-Day Temporary On-Sale Liquor License for the Church of St. Joseph for their Fall Festival on September 27, 2026.

[0:00] 8.K. Motion to Approve the Recreation Agreement Between the City of Red Wing and the Red Wing Amateur Baseball Association for Improvements to the Red Wing Athletic Field.The Red Wing Amateur Baseball Association (RWABA) has been raising private funds for improvements and future maintenance at the City-owned Red Wing Athletic Field. City staff and RWABA have been working to advance improvements at the facility, including the first baseline patio deck project. Staff originally anticipated that RWABA would provide project funds to the City and that the City would administer the professional services agreements, construction management, bidding, construction contracts, material purchases, and project payments. Following additional review, staff and RWABA now recommend proceeding under a Recreation Agreement through which RWABA will be responsible for funding and delivering the improvements, subject to City review and approval requirements established in the agreement.

[0:00] 11. Adjournment

[0:42] 2. Pledge of Allegiance

[1:15] 4. Approval of Agenda

[1:36] 5. Proclamations and Recognitions

[1:39] 5.A. Introduction of Fire Personnel.Fire Chief Mike Warner will introduce each individual and highlight their accomplishment, followed by the badge pinning held at the Fire Department.Grady Nelson has passed his probation as an Assistant Fire Chief. He is tasked as the City's Emergency Manager and Professional Standards. Brad Pariler has passed his probation as a Firefighter/Paramedic. He is assigned to the B Shift.

[6:16] 6. Presentations

[6:19] 6.A. Red Wing Legacy Choir Presentation.Red Wing Area Seniors has received a grant and has founded a dementia-friendly choir dubbed the Red Wing Legacy Choir. Liz Magill, Pier 55 Executive Director, will be present to share information about the choir and how community members can take advantage of this new resource.

[13:18] 7. Public Comment

[41:23] 8. Consent Agenda (Roll Call Required *)

[43:04] 9. Motions and General Business (Roll Call Required *)

[43:09] 9.A. Consider Motion to Introduce Ordinance No. 241, Fourth Series, Rezoning 1808 Chakya Street from AR to R-1.Roberta Sellers has submitted an application to rezone her property at 1808 Chakya Street from Agricultural Residential (AR) to Single-Family Residential (R-1). The applicant is requesting the rezoning in order to remove an existing home on the property and to replace it with a new home; the 0.93 acre parcel needs to be rezoned in order to comply with City of Red Wing building setback requirements. The Planning Commission conducted a public hearing for the request at its August 18, 2026, meeting and unanimously adopted a motion to recommend approval.

[48:43] 9.B. Consider a Motion to Amend the Assessment Policy's Interest Rate Methodology.

[1:17:07] 9.C. 2027 Budget — Discussion and Direction Preparing for the Adoption of Preliminary Levies and Budgets on September 14.

[1:50:39] 10. Communication Items

[1:50:44] 10.A. Housing and Redevelopment Authority Update. HRA Director Kurt Keena will be present at the meeting to provide an update on HRA activities. See attached report for details.

[1:54:50] 10.B. Council Comments

[2:02:06] 10.C. Status Updates

Transcript

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[0:33] Everybody welcome This is Monday August 24th As I speak very slowly so the mayor

[0:37] can get back to his seat Thank you Welcome And I'll call us to order And if you

[0:43] please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance

[0:47] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:54] Republic for which it stands One nation under God Indivisible with liberty and

[1:00] justice for all

[1:05] Thanks so much We have all City Council members in attendance tonight so that's

[1:09] exciting We'll move on to number four which is approval of our agenda Does

[1:13] anybody have any changes or additions or I would look for a motion to approve

[1:18] So moved approve

[1:20] Can you give that to Ron Is that a second Second Is that okay

[1:24] Any last comments or questions

[1:27] All those in favor of tonight's agenda please say aye

[1:30] Aye

[1:31] Any opposed Agenda passes Move on to five which is our proclamations and

[1:35] recognitions And we do have a special night tonight So I'll hand it over to our

[1:40] fire department and Chief Warner and others

[1:43] Good evening Well this past year

[2:01] Oh my gosh

[2:03] Good evening Council president council mayor administrator staff family and

[2:07] fellow firefighters Tonight we're introducing to you Assistant Chief Fire

[2:10] Assistant Fire Chief Grady Nelson He's assigned to the task of emergency

[2:14] management for the city and professional standards within the fire department He

[2:18] has successfully passed his probation and is a valued member of the team Grady grew

[2:23] up in Red wing and is a fourth generation Red wing resident Grady holds a Bachelor

[2:28] of Science in Political science from the University of Wisconsin River falls a

[2:32] Master of Public administration from Hamline University and an associate of

[2:36] Applied Science and Paramedic Fire Science as well and recently attained an Associate

[2:40] in Applied Science and Emergency Management from the Hennepin Technical

[2:43] Community Or I'm sorry College Grady has been with the Red Wing Fire Department

[2:48] since 2019 and before that he actually served in the capacity and administration

[2:52] at city since 2015 He also worked for the Savage Fire Department and a Maplewood

[2:57] Fire Department as a firefighter paramedic When I asked Grady what he wanted why he

[3:02] wanted to be in the fire service he stated red wing fires a paid on call in 2019 and

[3:09] just fell in love with the work The significance of the work and the direct

[3:14] service provided by the fire and EMS is incredibly fulfilling Additionally Grady's

[3:17] grandfather was also a volunteer firefighter with the Red Wing Fire

[3:21] Department Grady is supported by his family his wife Therese or children

[3:25] Charlie Megan Teddy and Grady's wife will pin his badge on tonight

[3:59] Congratulations Congratulations

[4:05] Congratulations

[4:08] Congratulations

[4:13] Thank you And now on to our next

[4:18] No speech

[4:28] Next I want to introduce Brad Parlier Brad has recently successfully passed probation

[4:32] which including passing this paramedic certification Brad is assigned to be chief

[4:35] with the fire department Brad grew up in Wanamingo Brad was homeschooled by his

[4:39] parents all the way through high school He earned a Bachelors of Science and Health

[4:44] and Human Services or sorry Health and Human Sciences from the University of

[4:47] Minnesota Rochester Brad didn't have any prior experience before joining Red wing

[4:51] This is something he takes pride in as he learned everything about the fire and EMS

[4:56] service from his co-workers here at Red wing From day one he witnessed a level of

[5:00] care and excellence and pride in his job When I asked Brad why he wanted to join

[5:05] the fire service he said he wanted to be part of something greater than himself He

[5:10] mentioned that he goes through fire No pun intended Together as a team responding to

[5:14] calls for service with the people of Red wing followed by his peers next to him

[5:18] Brett is supported tonight by his wife Connie and their three children Noah Luke

[5:22] and Stella His parents and co-workers at Red Wing Fire His wife is going to pin his

[5:27] badge on tonight

[5:59] Congratulations

[6:01] Congratulations

[6:05] Congratulations

[6:07] Thank you

[6:08] Good job

[6:13] Thank you Counsel

[6:15] Thank you so much

[6:18] We'll move on to number six which is our Red Wing Legacy Choir presentation So I'll

[6:23] wait for them to file out and a few ladies And maybe if there's gentlemen also please

[6:28] come up

[6:40] Good evening My name is Liz McGill I am the executive director of the Red Wing

[6:46] Area Seniors or pier 55 We are here tonight to introduce our Red Wing Legacy

[6:50] Choir Chorus We have a couple people passing out some information to the

[6:54] audience and I think you guys all got them Um we are a division of giving voice

[7:00] giving voice started as a grassroots project here in Minnesota about 14 years

[7:04] ago by a group of women and one man who had family members who were diagnosed with

[7:09] Alzheimer's but they discovered they still loved to sing and they were very

[7:14] interactive and were really enjoyed singing And so they started the first

[7:17] giving voice choir that has now grown to We are now an international program that

[7:22] was based out of here in Minnesota last fall the Mayo Health um Rural Health

[7:27] Initiative put out funding for four new rural programs And so I heard of that

[7:32] funding and I thought that sounds very fun And I was trying to grow programs at the

[7:37] Red wing area seniors being I was very new there And so I applied for the funding and

[7:43] found out a couple of months later that we were one of four choirs chosen to expand

[7:48] in rural Minnesota It was like us and there's one up north and a couple others

[7:54] So we were very excited to get that funding to kick off our first season So

[7:59] what it is is we have three different sessions in a year We have a spring a

[8:04] summer and a fall And there are 10 to 12 week sessions And we choose a different

[8:10] theme kind of every year every session for our choir We try to find songs that are

[8:16] I'll show tune based very popular songs songs that people with dementia are going

[8:20] to be able to recall maybe from their childhood or just sing with the family

[8:24] those type of things I want to note too that we are not just a dementia friendly

[8:29] choir Anyone who loves to sing can join us We have some folks that have traumatic

[8:34] brain injuries We have folks who simply just want to sing We have folks like

[8:38] myself who were asked when the choir started by our musical director juicing

[8:42] alto soprano and I said I don't know and I don't think we've ever discovered yet What

[8:46] I do I just show up and sing and bring the snacks which is very important So we are a

[8:52] very low barrier Um choir we have there's our our quote is there's no wrong in the

[8:57] room And we just we just want people to show up and enjoy our choir

[9:02] So this Wednesday we are kicking off our first mini concert I call it a mini

[9:07] concert because typically when we would have our concerts we'd have about ten

[9:11] songs ready to go Like I said we just started this summer so we're going to have

[9:17] four songs ready to go And as we were moving through our our songs and

[9:21] everything I thought how fun would it be if we could sing before the Red Wing Arts

[9:27] concert in the park Like what a fun audience that would be So I called up the

[9:32] very nice ladies at Red Wing Arts and I said hey I have this idea And they said

[9:37] sure And it happened to be the local hooligans And I'm like very cool And so I

[9:43] was very excited and then found out that they are the local hooligans heard about

[9:47] us and our mission and they said don't sing before us We'll take a longer

[9:52] intermission and sing during our performance So we are so thrilled that the

[9:56] Red wing arts and the local hooligans embraced us that way So we'll be there

[10:01] Wednesday night We'll be singing approximately 7454 of our songs and we

[10:04] really hope all of you can make it Um I want to introduce like I said earlier my

[10:10] role is very administrative I write the grants I will be writing more grants now

[10:15] because our first grant cycle is done Um I do the organizing of it the marketing of

[10:20] it that type of thing Buy the snacks That is actually part of the choir Every

[10:25] rehearsal is snack time at the end And um but Stephanie Nolton is our musical

[10:29] director She's absolutely amazing and she is so organized It's really nice for me to

[10:34] stay organized with her And then um Candace Bean is our pianist She is not

[10:39] here this evening but she is the one who keeps us all in tune And then we have a

[10:45] few members of our chorus with us tonight too So they are the true magic of it I

[10:50] just try and keep it organized and like I say write the grants So we really hope you

[10:56] guys can make it Wednesday night at the park Bring your chairs and some of it will

[11:01] be a sing along We will let you know But I know you all know the song so I'm gonna

[11:07] turn it over to Stephanie now Thank you

[11:11] Hello and thank you so much for allowing us to speak to you about the Red Wing

[11:17] Legacy chorus It's been such a pleasure to work with the men and women who have

[11:22] joined us to start our adventure this summer On the music and rehearsal side of

[11:26] things As Liz said our motto is there is no wrong in this room We're here to bring

[11:32] joy just through the fun of music and singing and through my experience here in

[11:36] Red wing as well as with another dementia friendly choir I have had experience with

[11:41] in the Rochester area I have found that this model really gives people living with

[11:46] memory loss a beautiful dignity and purpose in this season of life We're

[11:50] currently working on songs like Ben E King's Stand By Me and Louis Armstrong's

[11:54] What A Wonderful World both of which do trigger existing memories for our singers

[11:59] How amazing it is that music is so closely connected to brain health and can improve

[12:04] the quality of life of so many people right here in Red wing I'd like to leave

[12:09] you with a song that sums up our motto This was written by one of the founding

[12:14] dementia friendly choir directors David Moore And it goes like this

[12:19] There's no wrong in this room There's no wrong in this room There's no wrong in

[12:27] this room Just music joy and cookies

[12:33] In the words of one of our singers I've always enjoyed singing Here's a new

[12:37] opportunity to meet new friends and share our music with you We hope you'll join us

[12:42] and sing along on Wednesday evening at the park Thank you for your time

[12:47] Thank you so much

[12:51] Thank you If I could just add one last thing We are always encouraging new

[12:55] members If you know somebody who is diagnosed with dementia if you know

[12:59] somebody who's a family member or caregiver of dementia if you know somebody

[13:02] who just loves to sing if you want to just join us 10 to 1130 Wednesdays at Red Wing

[13:08] Area Seniors or pier 55 we will be starting our fall session in the end of

[13:12] September Thank you

[13:13] Thank you

[13:20] All right We are now at the public comment section number seven on our agenda tonight

[13:23] Each person is allowed one time of up to three minutes to speak on agenda items and

[13:27] one time of up to three minutes to speak on non agenda topics We have started a new

[13:32] process using comment cards and I will start by calling the card numbers of those

[13:35] who wish to speak on non-agenda items and then we'll move on to agenda items If you

[13:39] want to speak would have not filled out a comment card yet You can pick one up on

[13:44] the lobby or actually they'll be up here by the box and then you will put it in the

[13:48] box So sorry for that Again you'll just come up and I'll call you and you'll come

[13:52] up and grab a card fill it out and put it in the box when you come up We'll work on

[13:57] that Michelle

[13:59] Um when you come up to the podium please drop your card in the box again and then

[14:04] state your name and what city you live in If you can share what ward or street name

[14:09] neighborhood you live in Red wing we'd appreciate it Remember that personal

[14:12] attacks and comments related to political campaigns are not permitted and may be

[14:15] ruled out of order The Council welcomes all perspectives and appreciates your time

[14:19] and attending tonight So it looks like I have three for non agenda items Um signed

[14:23] up right now

[14:25] So we'll have some more So how about the first number one If you want to come up

[14:31] please and introduce yourself again

[14:35] Good evening My name is Stephanie Rogers and I am the executive and artistic

[14:40] director of the Anderson Center at Tower View here in Red wing I live in Ward one

[14:47] precinct two I am here today on behalf of the Anderson Center's Public Artist

[14:52] Residency program and our collaborators the Public Artist Residency Program

[14:56] launched in 2021 It builds on the Anderson Center's long standing Artist in Residence

[15:01] program providing additional financial and administrative support to enable an artist

[15:05] to co-create a significant public artwork with Red wing community members Past

[15:10] public art residents include muralist Camila Leyva who worked with Hispanic

[15:14] Outreach and other community groups on the Plant Wisdom mural across from Liberty's

[15:19] and statue Jones who stand in the shadows etched the shadows of historic black

[15:24] residents of Red wing into our sidewalks Anderson Center's 2025 and 2026 Public

[15:29] Artist residency is Doctor Margaret Pierce a map maker and Citizen Potawatomi tribal

[15:34] member I'm here today in my role as the project manager for the Red wing

[15:39] installation of her national project Mississippi Dialogues Pierce is the lead

[15:43] artist Prairie Island Indian Community Tribal Historic Preservation Office and

[15:47] Ho-Chunk Nation tribal Historic Preservation Office are important

[15:50] collaborators Our proposal for a public art installation in Red Wings Colville

[15:54] Park also includes the artistry of Red Lake Nation woodcarver Ben Spears

[16:00] There's information in your status report today about the packet or about the

[16:04] project which is being financed entirely through Non-city funds Um many of them

[16:08] private sources and prestigious national grants including a 2025 MacArthur

[16:12] fellowship for Pierce a 2026 Creative Capital Award and a Blandin Foundation

[16:15] grant to Prairie Island Indian Community also provided significant funding for the

[16:19] local portion of this project As you review the materials we have provided

[16:24] you'll note that there's a budget for maintenance funds to be transferred to the

[16:28] city along with the gift of the artwork Our intention is to formally bring this to

[16:33] the next council meeting on September 14th for your consideration and approval Both

[16:37] myself and Margaret Pierce who will speak during the virtual comment period wanted

[16:42] to join you today to call your attention to the upcoming project and proposal which

[16:46] has been in discussion with relevant commissions and staff members for several

[16:50] years In the meantime if you have any questions about this project please don't

[16:55] hesitate to reach out to me about Mississippi Dialogues All of my contact

[16:59] information is on the Anderson Center website Thank you

[17:02] Thank you so much

[17:05] All right Do we have our second speaker tonight

[17:21] Hi Danny Howdy Neal Street Um this is probably too little too late but I just

[17:28] want to make a comment on what went on here earlier with uh money allotted for

[17:35] the different organizations and such Uh I got some ancient history that I could lay

[17:42] on you Um years ago there was another car club in town called the Bearing Burners I

[17:49] don't know if anybody remembers that or not The what The bearing burners Thank you

[17:56] Um of which I happen to be the president Um we decided to have a car show in

[18:04] conjunction with uh River City days So we talked to chamber got everything arranged

[18:10] They gave us Bay Point Park So we fenced it off so that we could charge admission

[18:17] to the cars and to the spectators Um we bought the awards We hired music a DJ for

[18:25] music We hired a bus to haul people from Bay point to downtown or out to the mall

[18:33] out in Burnside

[18:35] um

[18:37] and had a very successful show And after the show we gave the chamber back money

[18:46] and we had enough money to do our next year's show And we did this show for quite

[18:52] a quite a few years as the Baring Brothers Now it's done by I think the Corvette Club

[18:58] or something So

[19:00] I just wanted to let you know that we did this all without money from you guys or

[19:07] the chamber or anybody We did it on our own nickel

[19:12] Um we also used to hold dances

[19:17] uh in the wintertime for the uh what was it called

[19:23] It escapes me the winter celebration that you all used to have Rivers shiver River

[19:32] days We had dances raise money there too So these things these organizations can do

[19:40] things

[19:42] quite easily I think if they've got good membership they can do it without money

[19:47] from you all Thank you

[19:50] Thank you

[19:55] We have our third public comment for non agenda items

[20:04] Hello my name is Alex Colley and I'm from Central Park Street near in Red wing Uh I

[20:10] just want to uh take a moment of your time to air my grievances regarding al P s more

[20:17] commonly known as flock cameras Uh quite frankly I am just very unhappy as not uh

[20:22] strong enough word to bring up how I feel about them

[20:27] They are constantly tracking just normal citizens They have a remarkably high

[20:33] failure rate for false positives Records can be accessed without a warrant They can

[20:39] They create their own security issue And in addition to that uh

[20:47] There are multiple cases across the nation of people being stalked because of these

[20:53] cameras Uh they are being used as a tool for the stalker So I just want to uh bring

[21:00] up my uh my issues and concerns Thank you very much for your time

[21:05] Thank you

[21:09] All right

[21:10] I think we have a couple more people that have signed up So do we have a fourth or

[21:13] fifth that grabbed cards if you want to walk up

[21:25] If you want to just come up for non agenda items that's fine So

[21:36] You can just put the microphone down so we can hear you Okay Introduce yourself and

[21:41] where you live

[21:45] Here's my card

[21:48] Do I have to like say my address or just word for it

[21:52] Perfect

[21:53] I'm a word for it So first things first I hope everyone had a wonderful summer Um I

[22:00] hope you all had a nice year

[22:04] Um to tell you I'm doing great My mom got a surgery She's doing well

[22:09] Here's what I want to say

[22:12] Um you were kind amazing articulate smart funny pretty handsome And no matter what

[22:20] you matter

[22:23] I hope you're starting to love yourself like I am doing And you're trying to be

[22:28] the best you can I'm also trying to myself

[22:33] Um

[22:35] And also remember you are important Thank you

[22:38] Thank you

[22:45] Do we have another non agenda item

[22:49] You can come up Do we have a fifth Number five Or you can come up and then we'll go

[22:54] to number six And then I'll let people raise up their hand if you haven't grabbed

[22:57] the card yet

[23:06] So just put it up a little bit

[23:08] All right Uh blank Ward four First I would like to bring up the moment of silence

[23:13] again I previously asked for one That request was denied and afterwards a rule

[23:18] was put in place that doesn't allow moments of silence anymore

[23:22] I'm not bringing this up just to argue about what happened before I'm bringing it

[23:28] up because when residents make simple requests like that and then responses the

[23:32] responses to create a rule restricting them I think that it can make people feel

[23:37] like there's no point in speaking up I'd ask the council to think about whether the

[23:42] rule is actually necessary or whether there's a way to allow moments of silence

[23:47] again without disrupting meetings The only other thing I want to talk about is

[23:52] something I've noticed as a younger person in this community Most people my age don't

[23:57] even know about city council meetings or that they happen A lot of them probably

[24:02] don't know that they can come here and speak We're not really taught or taught

[24:07] how to participate in local government Unless you have a reason to pay attention

[24:12] to it you might never know what what's happening there Here Um

[24:18] that means the same small group of people tends to show up Well a huge part of the

[24:23] community has no clue about the decisions being made that can affect them I think

[24:28] this city could do more to change that It could be as simple as reaching out to

[24:33] schools using social media in ways that actually reach younger people or working

[24:37] with youth youth organizations to explain what city Council does and how people can

[24:41] get involved If you want more people involved in local government especially

[24:44] younger people they first have to know what they're invited to be part of And I

[24:49] think we could do a much better job of making sure they know that Thank you

[24:54] Thank you

[25:00] Card number six out there

[25:02] or people would like to Again anyone wanting public comment on a non agenda

[25:07] item Okay

[25:20] Amber Planck Ward four Many people believe that Jesus is coming back So what if Jesus

[25:25] already came back Only this time his name was pronounced Jesus There's a chance he'd

[25:30] be sitting in an immigration detention center right now because he wasn't sent

[25:34] back with papers You ever thought about that Somewhere along the way along the way

[25:38] we started calling things political I've heard people say I don't do politics and

[25:42] sometimes I understand that politics can be exhausting Democrats versus Republicans

[25:46] taxes budgets elections policy those things are all political But you know what

[25:50] isn't political Caring about people believing a woman has bodily autonomy or

[25:53] that people shouldn't be called slurs believing that somebody in a wheelchair

[25:57] should be able to access a public space or that a family shouldn't go hungry that an

[26:02] immigrant should be treated like a human being or that LGBTQ people deserve dignity

[26:07] or that someone experiencing homelessness still deserves compassion Those are not

[26:10] political beliefs That's called humanity And frankly some got way too comfortable

[26:14] using the word political as an excuse not to get involved with when something

[26:18] doesn't directly affect us You ain't got to agree with somebody's lifestyle You

[26:22] don't have to vote like them or share their religion their beliefs their

[26:26] background You don't even have to like them But at the very least you should

[26:30] still care when they're basic when their basic humanity is being violated that's

[26:34] like a bare minimum There are absolutely political questions about how government

[26:38] should solve problems We can disagree on those That's democracy But whether another

[26:42] human being deserves dignity doesn't depend on which box you check in a ballot

[26:46] Now that brings me to something else that should cross political lines the flocks

[26:50] and the ALP I understand the argument for them If a child is kidnapped or somebody

[26:55] commits a violent crime we want police to have the tools to help find them But also

[27:02] that also requires us to ask what happens when the tool is used wrong or when

[27:07] somebody abuses it In Wisconsin a woman was stopped twice because her vehicle was

[27:11] flagged with a homicide alert during the second stop Officers drew guns on her

[27:16] Texas used 83,000 cameras to find one woman accused of having an abortion

[27:20] nationwide Dozens of law enforcement officials have been accused of abusing the

[27:23] system including officers using them to track exes and people in their personal

[27:27] lives And I've seen reports that show that they've been pointed at pools parks and

[27:32] splash pads That should concern everybody Privacy is not Democrat or Republican

[27:36] Civil liberties are not left wing nor right wing And asking questions about

[27:40] surveillance doesn't mean you're anti-police It just means that you pay

[27:43] attention Red wing is our home and many residents simply don't believe the level

[27:48] of crime in our community warrants this level of surveillance and Red wing alone

[27:52] isn't questioning it Communities across the country have ended their use of flock

[27:56] cameras and alpr over concerns of misuse and data sharing I'm not saying these

[28:01] cameras have never helped solve a crime I'm asking whether that benefit is worth

[28:05] the privacy we're giving up in return Just because we can track people doesn't mean

[28:10] that we should They call them flock cameras people because they think that

[28:14] we're sheep They think that we're sheep Sheep Thank you Until next time

[28:18] Thank you

[28:24] All right Do we have someone with number seven card

[28:32] Do we have Is that it Okay All right Is there anybody else in the chamber that

[28:37] would like to provide public comment on a non agenda item Anyone in the chamber I

[28:41] saw the man in the black and back there first If you want to come up

[28:51] And please introduce yourself and what neighborhood you live in

[28:54] My name is Ron Teasdale Some of you out there know me Majority of you don't But as

[29:00] I look around this room I've been a member of this community longer than anybody in

[29:04] this room So I've seen a lot of ups and I've seen a lot of downs Right now we have

[29:10] both ups and we have a lot of downs And it's not just the city not just the city

[29:16] but our school district has the same has a problem Also

[29:20] having been in business for as many years as I was I saw people desiring to move to

[29:27] this community because of the community and because of the education system for

[29:32] their children They no longer do that So many children from Red wing are gone to

[29:38] other school districts which is a shame and it's not your problem but I would say

[29:44] you and the school district together have to work together and figure out a plan to

[29:50] improve

[29:52] what what's being taught and handled in that school district And as far as as far

[29:58] as the city council

[30:01] you have problems too You've got many problems and a lot of them throughout the

[30:07] community

[30:09] It's a well known fact that you have a money problem not just income but but what

[30:17] you're spending on and how you're spending it and the justifications of what you're

[30:23] buying

[30:25] It's not there

[30:27] And I'm I'm talking about this as somebody that's been in the business for a long

[30:32] time and knows a lot more about this than what you might think and you have a

[30:38] problem

[30:39] and it needs to be looked at And if any of you want to talk to me I'd be happy to

[30:46] talk to you and have a nice conversation because it it needs to be directed

[30:52] and I won't take any more of your time But like I said we have a problem And I hate

[31:00] to see it because it's been my community for a long time Thank you

[31:05] Thank you

[31:11] Is there anyone else in the chamber that would like to provide public comment on a

[31:15] non agenda item

[31:17] Come on up

[31:25] Uh my

[31:25] Name is Mueller and I live on West Avenue Um

[31:30] I didn't come to comment on this but I would like to express my agreement with

[31:36] the two people who've spoken and expressed concerns about the spy cameras

[31:42] Um this is something I've given a bit of thought to and many people have and it's

[31:48] generated a lot of discussion Um and there are obviously two sides to it but what

[31:55] strikes me as being very red wing so to speak about the issue is that it doesn't

[32:01] appear that residents have been asked whether they think this is a good idea or

[32:07] not whether they want cameras

[32:11] In the vicinity of their homes or not

[32:15] Um and as usual I feel that the residents should be consulted about decisions of

[32:21] this nature And if I'm mistaken if they have been I'd be happy to know that but

[32:28] I'm not aware of it

[32:32] Um item number two I have a document to provide to you as an exhibit

[32:39] It's entitled The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators and it's from the British

[32:45] Society for Ecological Medicine It's not too long about 70 pages but there are 329

[32:51] citations Um and this is not the most recent uh report of this nature There are

[32:58] lots of them that I like to

[33:02] offer it to you with the request that you read it Particularly since you seem so

[33:08] determined to take actions that would increase the amount of garbage being

[33:12] burned in Red wing garbage from Minneapolis garbage from Saint Paul and so

[33:17] on and so forth Um can I give this to the attorney or

[33:23] Sure That's fine

[33:24] Okay

[33:33] I only brought one printed copy but it's something easily found online

[33:39] Can can can

[33:41] We make a copy of it and distribute it Thank you I mean like as in in a packet

[33:47] It's

[33:49] it's readily available online Thank you There are several succeeding versions of

[33:54] it but it's one of the most comprehensive reports that I have seen focused on the

[34:00] health effects of this which I certainly have had no success over the last 18 or 20

[34:07] years And um convincing city councils or city staff that this is something that

[34:13] they ought to be interested in

[34:17] Um okay I'm I'm done Thank you

[34:20] Thank you

[34:24] If you're

[34:25] in the chambers I would like to provide public comment on a non agenda item

[34:30] one last time Anyone in the chambers

[34:33] Then I will move online I think we have one person virtual on a non agenda item If

[34:38] you'd like to unmute yourself and introduce yourself that would be great

[34:45] Good evening councilors I'm Margaret Pierce I'm a resident of Rockland Maine

[34:49] and a citizen Potawatomi tribal member And as Stephanie mentioned I'm the lead artist

[34:55] on the project called Mississippi Dialogues that is described in your packet

[34:59] and will be in the status updates at the end of this meeting So Mississippi

[35:05] Dialogues is a public art project elevating indigenous knowledge and

[35:09] experience of the Mississippi River through 14 map panels in public parks

[35:14] along the river from the Gulf to the headwaters And we would like to install

[35:20] the Premier the first panel installation portraying the stretch of the river

[35:24] between Hastings and La Crosse in Red Wing at Colville Park on October 1st It's been

[35:31] my privilege to collaborate on this artwork with Prairie Island and Ho-Chunk

[35:35] Tippo We first started working on it back in 2019 and then we really got going this

[35:42] past couple of years after securing the needed funding Some of you already know

[35:47] about this project from our presentations over the past couple of years including

[35:52] presentations to the Arts and Culture and Heritage commissions and an evening event

[35:58] centering Fairy Island elders at the barn at Tower View last year called our

[36:03] relative haha Wakpa and a Saturday picnic this past June in Colville Park

[36:09] The installation is two oak structures that look like oversized park signage

[36:15] standing side by side and the structures hold two map panels each 7.5ft wide by

[36:22] five feet tall Described describing the river through indigenous voices and

[36:27] memories through direct quotations from extensive interviews with

[36:31] Dakota and Ho-Chunk knowledge holders And on the other side of the panels are two

[36:37] wood artworks by Red Lake Nation artists Ben Spears who also built the structures

[36:43] So we've been working with Michelle Lacy Pat Ramaker and Steve Cohen to select a

[36:49] site in the park that would be appropriate for such a work and that doesn't interfere

[36:56] with existing park usage Last week we made our third presentation in two years to the

[37:02] Arts and Culture Commission and they voted to recommend approval So as Stephanie

[37:07] mentioned please reach out with any questions you might have prior to your

[37:13] formal consideration at the September 14th meeting Meegwetch Thank you

[37:18] Thank you so much

[37:23] All right Anybody else last time virtually that would like to provide public comment

[37:28] on a non agenda item

[37:31] Please unmute yourself if you'd like to comment on a non agenda item

[37:36] All right I'm not seeing anybody else So we will move on

[37:39] There is one

[37:40] There's a hand up Jean

[37:41] Oh there we go

[37:44] Do you want to unmute yourself and introduce yourself please

[37:50] Deployed

[37:52] at all

[37:55] times

[37:57] for the upstate

[38:00] Beth I think it's you since I can see your name but you can

[38:04] I know it's kind of hard to hear you Can you hear

[38:07] Me Yep You can go ahead

[38:09] Um I have concerns Um I kind of piggyback off of to Ronnie a little bit here Just

[38:16] just thinking about things Um in the past when I was um on different committees um

[38:22] and I'm not speaking of of being on a city committee other committees or other

[38:28] festival committees Um the funding that was channeled um to help the festivals we

[38:34] had to actually report back what we did with that funding We also had to have

[38:40] somebody as a city representative

[38:44] on the meetings with us As far as the groups we had to keep track of all

[38:51] receipts and report all receipts We had to do monthly reports back to actually at

[38:57] that time it was Mark Marshall um

[39:02] regarding monthly Um but I'm very concerned about money um of how it's being

[39:06] handled out and the non reports the non receipts Um last fall one of your staff

[39:12] members actually mentioned that on the funding that was given out that the people

[39:16] underneath their breath um that person which they were speaking um mentioned that

[39:20] they didn't have to show receipts Um it's concerning to me regarding the money or

[39:25] all the money that's that's out there to be had or being given out Um I really

[39:31] strongly feel that the city council really needs to kind of sit down and put some

[39:36] policies and procedures in place if they're going to be giving money or big

[39:41] money Um even if it's 5000 or 2000 or 1000 or whatever Um I think it's very important

[39:47] that people come back and report you know what They spent the money on what they did

[39:52] with the money Um I think Ronnie's right I mean we have been really dishing out a lot

[39:58] of money here Different committees have given money here money there Somebody else

[40:02] goes some different committee gets money to again Um I think we need to really be

[40:08] watching all that I think it's very important Um because if you go back and

[40:13] look at the reports there's been a lot of money that's been given out Um but a lot

[40:19] of people haven't come back to report what the money was used for

[40:24] Thank you

[40:26] Thank you

[40:30] All right The last time is there anybody virtually that would like to provide

[40:34] public comment

[40:36] All right I think we're going to move on then And we're going to move on to agenda

[40:40] items And I don't believe we have any cards that were taken for agenda items So

[40:44] I will start in our chamber Is there anybody tonight that would like to provide

[40:48] public comment on an agenda item tonight

[40:51] One last time Is there anyone that would like to provide public comment on an

[40:55] agenda item

[40:57] All right Seeing none we'll move on virtually Is there anybody virtually that

[41:01] would like to provide public comment on a agenda item Please unmute yourself

[41:08] Anyone virtually that would like to provide public comment on an agenda item

[41:12] tonight please unmute yourself and introduce yourself

[41:15] And again I'm seeing nobody else do that So I'm going to close public comment and

[41:19] move on

[41:22] Then we're on to number eight which is our consent agenda section And these are items

[41:26] on the agenda that don't often require require council discussion These items are

[41:30] routine business non-controversial or have been discussed publicly in the past These

[41:34] items can be approved by the council all at once unless the Council member

[41:38] acknowledges that they would like to comment on or discuss any of the items at

[41:42] tonight's meeting Are there any items that council member would like to pull from the

[41:46] consent agenda tonight

[41:49] All right Is there a motion to approve

[41:51] So moved Second

[41:52] All right The motion is by Don and a second by Beth

[41:58] Any last discussion or questions

[42:02] All right Now we don't have a rock Are we going to do a roll call for these for

[42:07] consent agenda

[42:10] Um is that usually

[42:12] We would do that So would you be prepared to do that

[42:15] I'm not prepared Um is Melissa on line Melissa is on line

[42:19] Oh sorry

[42:20] There we are

[42:21] There we go Hey Melissa Wonderful to see you So again no last discussion So roll

[42:27] call vote please

[42:29] Snyder Hi

[42:32] there Hi

[42:34] Cleaver I

[42:37] I

[42:38] Lambert

[42:39] I

[42:40] Goggin

[42:41] I

[42:43] Norton I seven eyes zero nays Motion carries

[42:48] Thanks Melissa We've now approved all the consent agenda items We'll now move on to

[42:52] our general business section and the council will address each of these items

[42:55] separately All input from community members occurred during the public comment

[42:58] period at the beginning of the meeting so we won't be taking any more comments at

[43:02] this time

[43:08] And our first item is nine A which is considering a motion to introduce

[43:12] ordinance number 241 a rezoning option

[43:16] All right Thank you Madam Mayor Members of the council I'd like to do a quick

[43:21] introduction This item This is a recommendation coming from the Planning

[43:24] Commission to rezone a piece of property within the community The property is

[43:27] located at 1808 Shakya Street and the rezoning would be from agricultural

[43:30] residential to single family residential or R1 And just to get us oriented I'll

[43:34] make sure we understand where this is because this is an area of the city that

[43:39] we don't deal with a whole lot when it comes to zoning This is an extreme

[43:43] northwestern portion of the city It's really hard to even show it and show other

[43:47] um kind of features in Red wing So what you're seeing is a pretty blown out map

[43:52] here But just to get us oriented real quick downtown Red wing is right here

[43:56] Highway 60 runs east and west Uh highway 19 heads north here uh by Prairie Island

[44:00] Then the site that we're talking about is located roughly right in here So the

[44:04] nuclear power plant right here Uh the casinos up here And so this is a piece of

[44:09] property that is located again up on Prairie Island Uh so like I said this is

[44:14] an area that is unusual because of the mix of properties that are owned under trust

[44:18] with the Prairie Island community and parcels that are also still part of the

[44:22] city of Red wing Uh so the next maps do show those a little more clearly This is a

[44:27] blow up the property again this is one 808 Shockey Street That's the area shown in

[44:31] red Um this is the parcel that's under consideration tonight It's just under one

[44:35] acre in size The site is currently zoned R residential which means it

[44:40] only really applies to sites that are rural and that don't have access to public

[44:44] services In this case this particular site and others around it are provided with

[44:49] sewer and water service from the Prairie Island community And then the street

[44:52] Typekit Street itself is not a public street but it is a street that's

[44:57] maintained and owned by the tribal Council So in the past as we've had these these

[45:01] matters come forward we have generally interpreted our code to reflect that

[45:05] because the site does tie into a community system or a community run system that it

[45:10] would meet the requirements for the R-1 zoning That hasn't always been the case

[45:14] out here So a lot of this zoning goes back to and predates the Prairie Island system

[45:19] being installed So with that in place the Planning Commission has been making

[45:23] recommendations to support Rezonings in situations like this In this particular

[45:26] situation the property owner is asking for the rezoning to allow for the removal of

[45:30] the home and to allow new home to move onto this property Without that zoning in

[45:35] place it would be difficult to build something new and comply with the area

[45:39] requirements setbacks and all those other much greater standards in the AR district

[45:43] And again this will allow for basically resetting of a home on the property

[45:47] consistent with the development patterns that you see in the surrounding

[45:51] neighborhood The rezoning would allow for a potential resubdivision of the property

[45:54] or further dividing the property The applicant has not indicated a desire to do

[45:58] so at this point in time but that has happened in some of these parcels as well

[46:03] that have been rezoned The last map I wanted to show was just the general zoning

[46:08] of this area The areas that's shown in the purple kind of cross-hatched color are

[46:13] parcels that are part of the Prairie Island community The parcels that you see

[46:17] that are the more yellow and tan color greenish color Those parcels are within

[46:21] the city of Red wing limits So that includes properties that are zoned AR

[46:25] which is the lighter green color and then R1 which is the tannish color the purple

[46:30] ish color there is all uh Um owned by Prairie Island And most of those are

[46:35] parcels that are split between industrial zoning and some other zoning

[46:38] classifications So again just to point out this particular parcel in particular we

[46:42] don't show it highlighted here but it's this parcel right here You can see it's

[46:46] surrounded by the cursor So as noted in the staff report there have been two

[46:51] previous rezonings of similar nature to go from R to R1 Those are the parcels to see

[46:56] here that that are shown that way on the map Uh the other unique thing here is that

[47:01] these parcels are essentially surrounded by Prairie Island and by tribal lands Uh

[47:05] again this is a little unusual in terms of how this was um

[47:10] how this how this what the history of the area is and why the parcels are set up the

[47:15] way they are Um but again this is I think really allowing the property owner to uh

[47:20] further re further use the property in a way that's consistent with the character

[47:24] of the neighborhood So with that the Planning Commission did review the request

[47:27] On August 18th the Planning Commission unanimously recommending approval of the

[47:30] Proposal with the findings that are documented in the report I would note

[47:34] because this is a rezoning it does require a five vote majority of the council to

[47:38] move this forward And for tonight's we are asking for a first reading of the

[47:42] ordinance and we'll bring back a second reading if it goes forward with that If

[47:46] there are any questions I'm happy to answer Any questions from the Council

[47:52] Any questions for Kyle

[47:54] I'll look for a motion to approve

[47:57] I'll make the motion to introduce ordinance number two 414 Series rezoning

[48:01] 1808 Shaker Street from R to R one

[48:04] I'll second that

[48:08] Discussion or questions

[48:11] All right Again the motion is to introduce ordinance number 2414 Series rezoning 1808

[48:16] Check Street from R to R one All those in favor please say aye

[48:22] Aye

[48:23] Any opposed Motion passes seven zero

[48:28] Didn't it

[48:30] Did that need a roll call vote because it has to be a super

[48:33] I think it's an introduction So I was assuming we didn't need that

[48:37] Okay

[48:38] Thank you I'm sorry

[48:40] That's okay

[48:40] All right Nine B is considering a motion to amend the assessments policy interest

[48:45] rate methodology

[48:47] So is this Chris

[48:50] Actually I think Tony's going to take the bulk of it But as far as an introduction

[48:56] this is a follow up conversation from last year As you recall we had an assessment um

[49:02] uh during the assessment uh approval policy There was a concern or a question

[49:07] about um actually raised by council member Lambert about potentially adjusting the

[49:11] rate for that particular assessment and the determination at that time the council

[49:16] was uh um

[49:18] open to possibly considering it but not on the fly not at that time and requested

[49:23] that it be added to a future agenda We also talked about it at our annual

[49:28] workshop which I mentioned earlier this evening at our workshop Um and so this has

[49:33] been added not as a special request item but as sort of a cleanup and an option for

[49:39] for your consideration prior to our assessment process which is actually

[49:42] coming forward probably in the next two meetings here for our 2026 street

[49:47] reconstruction or not the street reconstruction project actually the alley

[49:50] construction project Um so in light of that um Marshall put the staff report

[49:54] together but Tony was going to cover a few of the things from a financial perspective

[50:01] All right

[50:01] Thank you

[50:01] Yeah Thank you Well as you all know um periodically when we do some of these

[50:08] larger projects uh one of the financing sources is through special assessments And

[50:13] um we have a couple of those projects coming up this fall yet Um so when we do

[50:20] levy those assessments we have a policy and we have our ordinance that we follow

[50:26] which establishes the interest rate for those projects Um so

[50:31] we've compiled information from other cities across the state of Minnesota on

[50:35] what their policy does We included that as an attachment And if you have any

[50:40] questions on that you can let us know But

[50:44] um

[50:46] our policy falls in line with what

[50:49] most other cities do Um there's a little variance across across the board Um but

[50:56] what we're doing is trying to establish a

[51:01] a guided policy over time that we can follow Um and what we're doing is So the

[51:07] reason that we do this is because

[51:11] we have an interest rate that should any assessed property for any of these

[51:16] improvements um

[51:19] not prepay one of the one of the rules and guidelines established in Minnesota law is

[51:24] to offer the right to prepay but should they not there's a borrowing cost So the

[51:30] city when we do a project or if we issue general obligation bonds we have borrowing

[51:36] cost So this policy is meant to cover those borrowing costs for the city That's

[51:41] why we have it

[51:43] Um

[51:46] We follow several criteria Many of the considerations um it's to cover our

[51:51] financing costs It's out of fairness to property owners So we're not picking and

[51:57] choosing We're we're following a set policy and offering the right to prepay to

[52:03] everybody Um

[52:06] One of the considerations I think that's important to point out also

[52:11] is if we don't have a interest rate policy such as this we still have borrowing costs

[52:18] to cover Those borrowing costs would be subsidized likely from the general fund So

[52:24] to the broader tax base So having an interest applied to the

[52:30] owner of the improvement is actually an equitable way

[52:36] to capture that financing source versus subsidizing those borrowing costs from the

[52:41] general fund and spreading it across the entire tax base essentially Um so we've

[52:47] provided the attachments Um what we're looking for is any discussion if there is

[52:52] some sort of proposed change um what the council can do tonight is discuss um and

[52:59] then the alternatives would be for the council to either take no action to leave

[53:05] the policy as is currently or if there's discussion to make a motion to change the

[53:11] interest rate methodology that would be the other direction we could go

[53:18] So with that I'll be available to take any questions as they come up

[53:22] Beth Balthazar

[53:23] Handout I just have some

[53:25] questions for understanding So in your um in the brief that you gave us you say

[53:32] state that um

[53:35] Red wing has one of the lowest assessed rates in Minnesota for street

[53:40] reconstruction projects at 50% of the cost So of a total cost So if I'm a homeowner a

[53:46] homeowner right now where things are being reconstructed how am I assessed How do you

[53:51] forget the interest for amendment How am I assessed

[53:54] Sure And I'm glad you pointed that out because that is different than the

[53:58] interest rate the borrowing Right

[53:59] I just want to understand because when I look at the thing that big sheet you gave

[54:05] me it says nothing about that

[54:07] Sure

[54:08] That's important to point out but it also is a factor consideration okay that you

[54:13] all should take into account and I'll maybe lean on Zach or Amy potentially to

[54:17] weigh in on this because they might know more than I do about comparing to other

[54:22] cities but

[54:25] we have a total cost of a project and if you have a property that's being improved

[54:31] we can we can calculate what that cost is to your property Right And so our policy

[54:38] is to assess half of that improved cost to your property

[54:43] Half of my piece

[54:46] Correct

[54:46] Correct So if there's 100 hundred homes being affected by this I'm going to pay

[54:53] 100th of it but it's cut by 50%

[54:56] Correct Yep The city will pay 50% of that assessed improvement And then we assess

[55:02] the other 50% Now that's just a lower formula or percentage to what some other

[55:08] communities do for their projects

[55:11] And that's we we take into account the total cost of the project Correct

[55:16] That's correct Yep

[55:17] Okay I have more questions but I'll wait

[55:22] Mayor

[55:23] So Tony

[55:26] We What do other cities charge What do other cities charge We're at 50% What are

[55:32] other cities that you know of charged Is it 75% or is it

[55:37] Now you're

[55:38] Really

[55:38] Trying to pin me down

[55:39] Just in general

[55:41] It does vary It depends on the size of the city and what their policy is I think

[55:47] there are

[55:49] It's hard for me to give you a number on what some other cities charge Um but 50%

[55:56] is on the conservative side

[55:58] Okay That's all I needed right

[56:00] I think it's fairly typical to see more like 75% Okay Um because the improvement

[56:07] is going to go to the property owner

[56:11] Thank you

[56:12] Sounds like Marshall might have an answer

[56:14] Is Marshall on Oh

[56:16] Oh Hi Marshall

[56:17] I am I am Great to see everybody So if memory serves me correct on that last

[56:23] question from the mayor I believe it was Kim Busy and I that read a league

[56:29] conference in Duluth and they asked and it was a conference session on special

[56:34] assessments and they asked They pulled the room hundreds of people in the room and

[56:40] said how many people assessed 75% or more of the costs for reconstruction Most hands

[56:46] went up 50% or more most hands up 50% or less I think it was Kim and I standing

[56:53] there solely with our hands up So the anecdotal evidence is street

[56:57] reconstructions are often at 75% or more of the total cost and that's an estimated

[57:03] cost that can get into great detail with you but I'll leave it at that

[57:10] Thank you

[57:14] So

[57:16] when I look at our policy around interest it talks about the bond buyers index

[57:24] And so then

[57:26] I don't know about stuff like that So I look it up and there's tons of bond buyer

[57:32] indexes Do we use the municipal bonds or which one do we use And it changes from

[57:38] what I've read daily So how do we

[57:42] how do we set on this is the rate This is the current rate

[57:47] If I may

[57:50] Sure

[57:51] Yeah Um so the bond buyers index You're right There's a lot of different bond

[57:56] buyers index The one we're looking at is for the 20 year muni rate which tends to

[58:02] be and which tends to give uh citizens a benefit from the get go because it's it's

[58:08] uh it's a double It's similar to what Red wings credit rating and it's a a a a plus

[58:15] So it's a good rate and it does It fluctuates every day along with any bond

[58:21] prices in the market So we would technically we just go look on that day

[58:26] we're going to declare for the assessments pull the bond buyers index from that day

[58:31] And it doesn't usually deviate substantially over the 30 30 35 days it

[58:36] takes to get the assessment to the City Council Any other questions I'd be happy

[58:41] to answer those

[58:44] So yeah can I keep going

[58:46] Somebody else says she's on a roll

[58:48] Well I'm just trying to understand why do why is our policy state that we're going

[58:53] to choose Um either we're going to use the bonds Um the interest rate for the bonds

[58:58] that we receive So like this latest one was it was a pretty low rate I mean we

[59:04] were surprised that it was a lower rate Um but we raise it to to the nearest quarter

[59:10] percent I get that And then we add the 2% But then in the then it says Or we use the

[59:16] buyer bond index again rounded up And then we choose whichever is higher Why do we do

[59:21] that

[59:23] That is just the methodology that the City Council picked at one moment in time

[59:28] That's been on It's been part of our policy for over 25 years And that's why we

[59:35] brought this for the council consideration because we frankly we'll we're happy to

[59:40] use whatever methodology you'd like us to use We just need to be able to go to the

[59:46] market and be able to say okay this is the rate that we're benchmarking on Round up

[59:53] by quarter add 2% add 1% whatever it may be But it just so happens that the bond

[1:00:00] buyer's index is usually better than the bond If you just go out for some general

[1:00:06] bond because then you get commercial and everything else involved When you're using

[1:00:11] a government benchmark they tend to be lower than what you'd see For example bank

[1:00:16] rates like we go to bank rate.com and find the bank rate for that day as I mentioned

[1:00:23] earlier But it's likely to be higher than the bond buyer's index because bond

[1:00:29] buyer's index is strong municipal governments receive that rating Just again

[1:00:33] I mentioned Red wing receives that rating So it's just one methodology out of a

[1:00:38] million That just so happened the council decided to utilize and and um as as Tony

[1:00:44] mentioned there was some discussion about should we change the methodology And you

[1:00:49] can see all the varying methodologies in those three pages of that addendum that

[1:00:55] got attached to that exhibit There's no real rhyme or reason to it It's just the

[1:01:01] one that was selected 25 plus years ago

[1:01:07] Anyone else comments Becky

[1:01:09] Well yeah I mean I'm glad that this came up And I think that one of the pieces that

[1:01:13] might also be missing from this is

[1:01:16] there were this is if I'm recalling correctly there were some times when the

[1:01:21] bond rating was more or less favorable to let's say the home owner Um and so that

[1:01:27] made a difference to if we were assessing it on June versus on October And

[1:01:32] ultimately my question is this have we ever done a study of let's say that our

[1:01:38] last I don't know five years or 8 or 10 years worth of projects using this formula

[1:01:44] if we have what percent of our street reconstruction projects have we

[1:01:50] has this method covered So I know that that's a separate question than have we

[1:01:55] been paid Because I know sometimes we

[1:01:58] people don't pay their property taxes right And so we haven't gotten that money

[1:02:02] in So that's not really what I'm looking for I'm really looking for studying this

[1:02:07] methodology are we coming out of that 50% benchmark That's what our goal if I'm

[1:02:11] understanding correctly that's what our goal is is 50% of the project cost correct

[1:02:16] So there's two questions in there

[1:02:18] Yeah

[1:02:19] The first I'll answer by saying we have used the same methodology for at least the

[1:02:26] last 27 years Um the second part is really something Zach's a better expert on but we

[1:02:32] set in the fee schedule We set an assessment rate for reconstruction That

[1:02:37] rate approximates 50% of the cost per foot of street reconstruction So we've we're

[1:02:42] covering two things here One is the assessment rate That's the I'll just call

[1:02:48] it Zach can correct me $55 a foot The linear foot And then on top of that we

[1:02:55] have that time value of money financing cost which is an interest rate component

[1:03:00] that we're discussing now I don't know if that answers the question or not but

[1:03:08] Yes and or yes But um I mean we're the write up talks about that We're trying to

[1:03:15] if we don't cover enough then it moves towards the other taxpayers And if we

[1:03:20] cover too much it's an unnecessary burden on the resident who's paying that So I

[1:03:26] guess what I'm asking for is there must be some way to analyze whether we're hitting

[1:03:32] the middle

[1:03:34] So by definition if we just stick with that 50 if we just stick with my $50 or

[1:03:43] $55 per linear foot example that's approximately 50% of the cost So

[1:03:50] theoretically we are assessing 50% of the cost because we know how much it costs per

[1:03:58] linear foot So we're covering 55% or 50% of the costs on that $55 And we're also

[1:04:06] trying to address these other issues like administrative costs recording costs

[1:04:12] financing costs all in this interest rate But again there's no

[1:04:18] perfect methodology So we're optimistic that um if there's a discussion or debate

[1:04:24] there was three pages of different methodologies to really choose from What

[1:04:29] finances we're really concerned about is that we just end up with a standardized

[1:04:36] methodology Um the preference on that methodology is totally the council's

[1:04:42] Don has a question

[1:04:44] Um when we when we do a street project whether it's a resurfacing or a complete

[1:04:50] reconstruct is the uh the do we base that 50% off the total cost of a reconstruct

[1:04:57] the same as a resurfacing

[1:05:01] Um I think this is where Zach would be handy

[1:05:05] So I can chime in a couple things So when it comes to resurfacing if you're talking

[1:05:11] the historically mill and overlays um we don't assess for that at all So there's

[1:05:16] zero cost to homeowners Um we only assess for street reconstructs

[1:05:21] that cost So it's one correction We generally actually assess for only 25% not

[1:05:27] 50% in that ballpark I believe uh seventh Street we were actually under 10% largely

[1:05:33] because a lot of that right of way was the highway right of way So we're we're fairly

[1:05:40] low A lot of communities are probably in that 50% give or take Um but we

[1:05:48] assess you can do a bunch of different ways We assess based on our fee schedule

[1:05:54] which sets an amount per linear foot which is actually $56 currently So Marshall was

[1:06:01] very close We base that on looking at our past projects and kind of setting a rate

[1:06:08] rather than doing every single individual project and setting a special assessment

[1:06:12] rate for that individual project Um that method I don't think is super common There

[1:06:19] are a lot of communities that move it to an even simpler approach and just assign a

[1:06:26] assessment amount per lot period So you're not calculating an assessment amount based

[1:06:31] on lot sizes and whatnot But we do that and ours is based on frontage of street

[1:06:38] that they have generally And it is comprised of both a street assessment

[1:06:43] amount And then if homes have their private utility laterals that need to be

[1:06:49] replaced their sewer and water that's also assessed So there are separate charges but

[1:06:55] in the end they get put into one assessment amount and that is the

[1:07:01] assessment amount that is then charged interest

[1:07:04] You're talking from the street to the home

[1:07:06] From the street to the right away So we don't do work on private property but we

[1:07:11] replace their private lateral from our main line to the right of way line

[1:07:15] Gotcha

[1:07:16] And that's what we charge for If they don't currently meet code which oftentimes

[1:07:22] they don't because it's old parts of town Um and so together with the utility

[1:07:28] assessment and our street assessment that ends up being around 25% 20 to 25% of our

[1:07:36] total costs that we assess for

[1:07:39] And is that a 25% rather than the 50% Is that a policy Who who determined 25%

[1:07:48] Yeah So I don't know what the year was on our assessment policy but it's several a

[1:07:53] few probably as old as the interest rate policy a couple decades old We have an

[1:07:58] assessment policy that outlines all that and there's technically three different

[1:08:01] methods we use to look at assessment calculations All that's an assessment

[1:08:05] policy Let's say if we update it like last year we did update it in our fee schedule

[1:08:11] which we

[1:08:12] look at our reconstruct data and adjust it if needed and try to stay in line with

[1:08:19] that amount

[1:08:24] Thank you

[1:08:24] Joe Go ahead

[1:08:25] No I knew that you had your hand

[1:08:27] Oh go ahead

[1:08:28] Okay Thank you Um I appreciate all of this conversation And one of the reasons that I

[1:08:34] had um asked about this um the interest rate was because residents had come

[1:08:39] forward and they made um there were a few different public comments And one of the

[1:08:45] things that that I was asking is what is our actual cost

[1:08:50] for doing business on this So I understand we're charging the interest rate because

[1:08:54] we're getting charged interest rate and I

[1:08:58] passing it on But my question is um because now I'm hearing that this has been

[1:09:04] going on for 20 some years but um when I did research last September I understand

[1:09:10] that there was a revision in uh completed in 2017 So um that's I'm just curious

[1:09:16] about what does the city actually need from a resident with the assessment And

[1:09:21] that's my question about the interest And so the question for this body is do we

[1:09:27] need that extra rounded up and 2% or do we not need that And um particularly when um

[1:09:34] folks were talking about if they could go out and refinance it they would have

[1:09:40] and they can't afford to do that So here they're stuck with this interest rate And

[1:09:45] one of the things I appreciate is that once it's locked in it's locked in which

[1:09:51] is which is a double edged sword right So if the interest rates go way down then

[1:09:56] they're still locked into that interest rate But if interest rates go way back go

[1:10:01] way up then they are still locked in But that's my my ultimate question is what do

[1:10:06] we really need and what are we willing What is this body willing to accept or

[1:10:12] charge for that

[1:10:14] opportunity for the person to have to pay the assessment

[1:10:19] And what do we really need

[1:10:24] Can I let Ron ask a question Maybe they'll build on it Is that okay Or did you have

[1:10:28] or did you even have your hand up

[1:10:30] Yeah I did yeah

[1:10:31] Would that add on to it or should we let the staff respond to that one

[1:10:34] Let let staff respond and then I'll respond

[1:10:37] No I I don't know that that was a question directed at finance specifically or staff

[1:10:43] I think that was a good way of framing It is as Zach pointed out we're on the very

[1:10:50] conservative end of financing and funding These projects were way less than 50% of

[1:10:55] the assessed value of the project So it's a financing source that council needs to

[1:11:00] consider what our policy is both on the assessed rate as well as the borrowing

[1:11:06] rate so that we can do these projects in a sustainable way without placing

[1:11:12] too much burden maybe just on overall

[1:11:18] General fund tax residents essentially Yeah

[1:11:21] Yep

[1:11:24] A comment that you know with our low uh assessment to the actual homeowner you

[1:11:29] know we're much lower than the norm Our interest rate policy is pretty much right

[1:11:33] at the norm you know for all the examples you showed but in relation to your

[1:11:38] question residents saying well they go out and refinance it themselves or they could

[1:11:42] afford to do it Well the city has to pay upfront costs as well to administer the

[1:11:47] bond So if you're going to go and buy by bonds There's administrative costs

[1:11:52] associated with doing that just like closing costs and things like that Just

[1:11:55] just the same not the same as a mortgage but similar to a mortgage So that's part

[1:12:01] of that additional interest rate piece But I think um you know we are very

[1:12:05] conservative on what we're charging the the residents to begin with So they're

[1:12:09] paying an interest rate on a much lower principal than they would in other

[1:12:13] communities So I think I think we're good where we're at

[1:12:20] Mayor And then I will go to Kim

[1:12:22] I want to say that I have a building on Old West Main And when you redid Old West

[1:12:28] Main what I was charged was very very reasonable I think it was 10 or $11,000

[1:12:32] for my 60 foot And I thought it was very For what we got out of that on Old West

[1:12:39] Main I think it was very very good

[1:12:43] Kim And then I think

[1:12:45] I'll just

[1:12:46] Echo what Ron said You know I think our interest rates are reasonable

[1:12:53] for what we do and with what we assess people on projects is way below the norm

[1:13:00] Having been at the conference of the League of Minnesota Cities and being the

[1:13:05] last men standing

[1:13:08] It's like people kind of were amazed So I think we're in the ballpark and we're fair

[1:13:14] to our residents

[1:13:17] Becky

[1:13:17] Well I'll agree with that I think considering that we're at that 25%

[1:13:21] assessment rate I don't have an issue so much with this now that I understand a

[1:13:26] little bit more But I will say this I'll contrast a little bit I looked at similar

[1:13:31] homes and some of the last few reconstruction projects And while it is a

[1:13:36] low rate I've thought about what it would do to you know my income having to pay

[1:13:41] some of what I was assessed And that would have been a really hard hit for me And

[1:13:46] what I think is a pretty modest home Um so in contrast I thought it was it can hit

[1:13:52] hard for families but given that um I think that I think I asked the same

[1:13:57] question really that Vicki Joe asked which is

[1:14:01] what what are we trying to accomplish What is the cost Are we trying to So I I think

[1:14:07] there's an ambiguity ambiguity about what the cost is I think that the cost is the

[1:14:12] build and the administrative costs and staff time and all the other things that

[1:14:17] we do not just how much concrete we pour Right But like Zach said it's also all the

[1:14:23] you know the sewer and water and all of those things Um plus the administrative

[1:14:28] costs it might not be the borrowing rate that might be a separate thing or it could

[1:14:34] be looped into the cost But I think what we should be thinking about is are is the

[1:14:40] goal to cover 25% of the total cost which includes administrative And then are we

[1:14:45] accomplishing that or is the goal to do 25% of the total cost plus recoup our

[1:14:50] borrowing rate And if that's the goal then when we do it internally when we don't do

[1:14:56] a bond we would change the line in there that says if it's an internal I think

[1:15:01] there is

[1:15:03] There's a specific line Um if no debt was issued the rate of interest shall be the

[1:15:09] bond buyer's index rounded up But if it's an internally funded no debt then why are

[1:15:14] we recouping that interest if we're not trying to recoup that bond again For now I

[1:15:20] think because we're at a 25% assessment um which is I agree which is a low assessment

[1:15:25] rate though it would feel pretty heavy for for some residents So I'm not advocating

[1:15:30] to change that because I think that that you know everybody tips into the pot

[1:15:36] That's the other philosophy is that everybody who uses the streets chips into

[1:15:40] that pot which is how we're Why it's paid by the taxpayers why the other 75% is paid

[1:15:46] by the taxpayers Um so given that I support what we have right now However I

[1:15:51] think that this merits some further study What is our objective and then is the

[1:15:56] policy meeting that objective

[1:16:01] So I just want to clarify something is I mean Tony we assessed 50% do we not

[1:16:08] Well as Zach pointed out um 50% is our policy But in practice based on that fee

[1:16:14] schedule we're actually assessing quite a bit less more like 25%

[1:16:19] But that depends on the project So I mean you have a you have an alleyway If you're

[1:16:24] if you're doing an alleyway or something of that nature I would guess that's being

[1:16:27] assessed at 50% right

[1:16:29] Yeah They have different rates Um yeah

[1:16:32] So it's not 25 across the board I mean it can vary

[1:16:36] Yeah

[1:16:37] They generally end up being fairly low though Um

[1:16:41] yeah Not we don't ever really hit 50% or even close to it

[1:16:49] Okay

[1:16:52] Well does anybody else have any last thoughts or

[1:16:56] Actions

[1:16:56] To take No action So I want to make sure we didn't move on before

[1:17:01] And if we took no action that means it stays in place Correct Okay

[1:17:06] All right We'll move on to nine C then which is the 2027 budget discussion

[1:17:15] Tony's on the hot spot today

[1:17:18] Yeah we really stacked mine back to back here

[1:17:20] Thank you Yep You're ready to go

[1:17:23] Um I'm going to get this one going from up here And then I'll probably slide back

[1:17:28] over just so I'm it's easier to answer questions from over there but I'll just

[1:17:33] give the quick overview here Um so 2027 budget We had a workshop On August 3rd How

[1:17:39] do I get this

[1:17:40] Bottom right corner

[1:17:48] Slide show

[1:17:54] Thank you Michelle

[1:17:56] So 2027 budget update On August 3rd we had a preliminary workshop at which we had a

[1:18:06] 3.99% levy

[1:18:10] So as you see on the top here we were at a 3.99% levy level Um what we've done is we

[1:18:18] have some updates here that we can talk about tonight or have further discussion

[1:18:23] on where council wants to be Um and then there's some questions to be answered or

[1:18:30] discussed Now this is

[1:18:33] this is a fluid process as finance says several times I mean there's updates and

[1:18:38] changes We're trying to capture some static data here to give you for a one

[1:18:43] moment in time shot Um but what I tried to do here that's a little different from

[1:18:48] what we included in the staff report is those above the line items there we have

[1:18:53] the preliminary proposed and then we have a couple of items that are above the line

[1:18:59] Now one of them is a CIP project itself Um that's one that was brought up at that

[1:19:05] August 3rd workshop And we had the discussion and that was a redundant

[1:19:09] project that simply has been eliminated from the CIP

[1:19:13] Um that second item there the miscellaneous changes

[1:19:19] That includes dozens probably even a hundred minor changes to the budget minor

[1:19:24] little operating things that departments have either requested to add or we've

[1:19:29] continued to fine tune And you know a department has said we don't need a couple

[1:19:36] of printers or things so that that miscellaneous changes line that is

[1:19:42] capturing all of those operating one time specific things and just netting them all

[1:19:48] together rather than listing out a hundred separate changes for you So then those are

[1:19:54] those are the changes that essentially have been made already Um we have enough

[1:20:00] information to factor those in Then there's those below the item changes And

[1:20:06] these are things that

[1:20:09] need more discussion need more information We don't have final determination on any

[1:20:14] of these but we felt like it's an important time that we at least have some

[1:20:19] good enough information on all of them and just need to start the discussion on some

[1:20:25] of these projects So um we have a couple CIP items that I think Zach will briefly

[1:20:31] touch on tonight just for a little more explanation Um

[1:20:35] and then the item there for eliminating extra that's one that's been asked for by

[1:20:41] council for over a year now We finally we've worked with IntelliSense The

[1:20:46] insurance committee has met in August we were able to take a look at the data and

[1:20:52] get a pretty conservative So this is a very conservative number and we feel like

[1:20:57] it's going to be important for you to keep that number in mind or that part of the

[1:21:04] discussion um based on a number of factors that are going to occur We still have a

[1:21:10] workshop in August or not August It is August in October October 5th Um that'll

[1:21:16] go into this a little more depth but we've done enough legwork to have a number here

[1:21:22] to be able to show you the conservative potential impact This number hopefully is

[1:21:27] on the high side As far as if a change needed to be made Um so all of this what

[1:21:35] it does is it captures where we were at as of publishing this for you last Thursday

[1:21:41] which is essentially if we made all these changes now some of which still need to be

[1:21:47] determined we're at roughly a 3.5% levy increase

[1:21:51] Um

[1:21:54] So then what we've done based on the last discussion and Chris will probably chime

[1:21:59] in on this point is based on feedback from the August 3rd workshop

[1:22:05] We've added in either a 2% preliminary levy increase to offer council flexibility

[1:22:10] or a 1% preliminary levy increase for flexibility or the third option that's not

[1:22:16] listed here but would just go right from where we left off on the August 3rd

[1:22:22] workshop would be to stay at a 3.99% Preliminary levy I think those options are

[1:22:28] all things that we should discuss And if there's any other changes or things that

[1:22:35] were included in the packet for attachments if you have any of those

[1:22:40] questions I'll be ready to answer

[1:22:44] And maybe I'll just clarify again to Tony and Chris and Marshall on there So we're

[1:22:48] looking at a preliminary levy vote on September 14th So that's why this is

[1:22:53] extremely important

[1:22:53] Correct

[1:22:54] Correct

[1:22:55] I'll go back to the

[1:22:56] With no more workshops between now and then

[1:22:58] Correct I'll go back to the

[1:23:00] Calendar really quickly

[1:23:01] Yes

[1:23:02] The next budget date we have is that September 14th And we need to set

[1:23:07] preliminary levies for the city And then of course the port and the HRA Um so this

[1:23:12] is kind of our last opportunity for direction on what you want prepared um

[1:23:17] prior to that meeting

[1:23:18] And we can always go lower on a final levy if we need to

[1:23:21] Mhm

[1:23:22] Yes That's an important consideration

[1:23:24] For me too

[1:23:25] So we can't go up

[1:23:27] Yes

[1:23:29] Thank you And then I'll leave That was my last

[1:23:32] So if I could play the transition music Tony can go back to his seat I'm going to

[1:23:39] say the important piece here is that that that number the 301 is a really good

[1:23:44] number for going back to the the group health plan But the piece that really

[1:23:49] needs to come at that October So it will be after our setting the preliminary levy

[1:23:55] is what are the potential impacts one year down the road So that is um in some ways

[1:24:02] it's because of the diligent work of separating out some of the higher cost

[1:24:06] claimants And and um you know having that option that has enabled us to get like

[1:24:12] last year we wouldn't have gotten that bid It would have been closer to I think it

[1:24:18] was over a million in estimates that we had from IntelliSense to to actually add

[1:24:23] the currently 37 exempt employees back to the group plan This year the estimate is

[1:24:29] 301,000 It's doable but then the renewal for the entire group could be significant

[1:24:34] Like we could be looking at the 15 20 25% renewal cost So there's a lot more

[1:24:40] information that needs to be in front of you before anyone makes a decision on that

[1:24:45] For sure

[1:24:46] And maybe to piggyback that's one of the important things of the staff survey that

[1:24:50] we talked about a little bit today with DDA So yes because I know some people

[1:24:54] don't care for it but there might be some employees out there that really like it

[1:24:58] too So I think it'll be really important to figure out what our staff needs and

[1:25:02] wants So Right

[1:25:04] So then the other thing that I think Tony alluded to is a couple of these CIP items

[1:25:09] We really haven't had exclusive updates on them And I don't know how much detail you

[1:25:14] can provide on the spot Zach But if on the

[1:25:19] at least explaining what the $150,000 Broad Street to the crossing improvements

[1:25:24] and what that implies for moving forward with grant projects And then secondly the

[1:25:29] what the intended purpose of the

[1:25:33] 2705 Riverfront Trail expenditures were for

[1:25:36] Yeah I can give an update I'll just go in the order there So the first one with the

[1:25:43] Broad Street railroad crossing uh that one is for the Broad Street railroad crossing

[1:25:48] specifically pedestrian focused uh the roadway and all that is fine Um nothing

[1:25:53] specifically there Uh this initially kind of came back up I mean it was talked about

[1:25:59] throughout the quiet zone process for the last couple decades when that was in the

[1:26:04] works And then as we finalized that process um and I believe I talked briefly

[1:26:09] about this a couple times in the past when we've talked about the implementation of

[1:26:15] this one

[1:26:17] Pedestrian improvements are not a specific requirement for quiet zones yet They're

[1:26:24] like an ancillary thing Essentially if the railroad thinks it's not good enough they

[1:26:29] could require an improvement to be made there But there's not a specific criteria

[1:26:35] like there is for the roadway Um and so during our process we they basically did

[1:26:41] identify that it's not ideal And if you would look out there you'd probably tell

[1:26:47] why there's not enough space The gate arms are in the sidewalks It's not an ideal

[1:26:54] crossing for pedestrians And it's a really not great crossing for bicyclists using

[1:26:59] the roadway with the turns and access to the trail there Um so it's something just

[1:27:06] we leave ourselves a potential risk of losing the quiet zone If for a reason the

[1:27:12] railroad were to come back or the Fra in the future and say you know we don't think

[1:27:19] this is safe enough So that's just a piece of it But just in general we know that

[1:27:27] that's our one and only crossing in the entire downtown corridor It's adjacent to

[1:27:32] the Amtrak station The why Potential future uh large residential developments

[1:27:37] the Saint James the Riverboats levee park essentially our trailhead to the

[1:27:41] Riverfront trail which will tie into the next item So there's a lot of movement

[1:27:48] there And from an engineering perspective I believe from a community development

[1:27:52] perspective Kyle's been involved in the discussions to um we think it would be a

[1:27:58] worthwhile improvement for pedestrians and bicyclists to upgrade that crossing Uh so

[1:28:03] that's why that's in there The specific amount is to basically get through a do

[1:28:09] the design of the project That would be assuming we go after some grants this fall

[1:28:16] which this all kind of implies Um we have a good chance of scoring well on grants

[1:28:23] and we have funds this year to do that application process And if we got those

[1:28:29] grants typically they're like one and two is out Um depending on the grant So I'd be

[1:28:36] looking at a design next year with the implementation in 2028 to utilize grant

[1:28:42] funding But grant funding doesn't cover the entire process So you know say next

[1:28:47] year's CIP there would be likely another

[1:28:51] if it was all city funded probably at least about 350,000 to do the final

[1:28:57] construction for the non city match portion So if that's a project that you

[1:29:01] want to commit to there's further commitments But unless we want to fund it

[1:29:06] all we do need we would need to start and go after the grants and to go after the

[1:29:13] grants We need to commit to the project That's what that one's there for Um the

[1:29:18] Riverfront trail kind of just alluded to that This this also goes back a few

[1:29:23] decades and it has been worked through up to this point with getting it connected to

[1:29:29] Bay point getting it connected to Levee Park Just this year finishing up that

[1:29:34] connection between Barn Bluff and Covell Park Now the one and only remaining gap is

[1:29:39] between Barn Bluff and Levee Park And prior to doing the segment we just

[1:29:44] completed that was actually the targeted segment back in the last decade or so And

[1:29:49] there's some challenges with that A fair amount of money was spent on a study that

[1:29:54] looked at a bunch of aspects regarding the river route and the challenges there and

[1:29:59] basically they skipped over that segment tackled the segment that was more doable

[1:30:04] immediately So now we're circling back to completing that gap which is why I put it

[1:30:09] in there We do also have in my head just thinking towards their other future

[1:30:14] projects that it ties into as well Uh the plan that would go along the river has

[1:30:20] been identified as going around the wastewater treatment plant on the water

[1:30:24] side We're obviously in the midst of talking about that project and just making

[1:30:29] sure that if that was the route that that would accommodate it And just talk briefly

[1:30:35] with Sean And we think that it it'd probably be fine to accommodate but it's

[1:30:40] good to keep in mind that we're not going to cost ourselves more money in the future

[1:30:46] by not properly accommodating that or the other reason why I put this in there And

[1:30:51] these are just for more feasibility um studies to just get us more on the path to

[1:30:57] actually getting something done If we can't go the river route what are our

[1:31:02] options In my mind the other option is to go the other way around the bluff It's not

[1:31:08] really desired And back in the early 2000 when there was a steering committee and

[1:31:13] everything developed that was very specific to a riverfront trail So that's

[1:31:17] why that's the preferred option to go on the river But if that were to not be the

[1:31:23] desired option potential to go down Fifth Street and connect in through downtown

[1:31:28] more or less And if we do that there's likely a chance we'd end up going down

[1:31:34] Fifth Street to fourth Street to Potter Street and maybe tying in with say the

[1:31:39] Eisenhower Bridge And in 2029 we have plans to reconstruct Potter and Fourth

[1:31:43] Street So also wanting to make sure if that was a route that we wanted to pivot

[1:31:49] to we don't put in sidewalk and then want to tear that sidewalk out and put in a

[1:31:55] trail So just trying to make sure we're forward thinking a bit and covering all

[1:32:00] our bases with that feasibility study And that amount would definitely should be

[1:32:05] enough to do feasibility study some public engagement to see if public viewpoints

[1:32:09] have changed and try to get this to a point where we could make a decision to go

[1:32:15] no go after grants or other funding or whatever the next steps would look like

[1:32:22] Madam president if I could for sure

[1:32:25] Go ahead Marshall

[1:32:26] I would just mention there on the list because I placed them on the list because

[1:32:32] they do need some more internal dialogue There has also been conversations previous

[1:32:37] to the on the rail crossing trying to get that incorporated within the TIF district

[1:32:43] and utilizing TIF revenue if there is sufficient TIF revenue to help pay for

[1:32:48] that And there's also um we just like a little more time to make sure we don't

[1:32:54] have a comprehensive study on that small segment to connect over towards the water

[1:33:00] treatment plant So um those are just a couple more considerations More internal

[1:33:05] dialogue is necessary on those

[1:33:09] Well thank you Question Any other questions or thoughts at this time on the

[1:33:14] Cips Maybe we start there

[1:33:22] Okay I guess not Is there anything else that we want to cover on that then that we

[1:33:28] did on the Cips and

[1:33:31] We can go to the next slide

[1:33:32] Okay Um

[1:33:34] So what we're looking for tonight I guess is any direction on we've tried to

[1:33:40] highlight a few of the larger things to keep in mind that still need to be

[1:33:45] determined You know if there's a change in group health plan from ICRA or if there's

[1:33:51] a few of these CIP projects that need more internal consideration before we're doing

[1:33:56] them Um but outside of that I mean there's still our list sort of pending from the

[1:34:02] last workshop of potential budget adds to bear in mind Um I don't know the timing of

[1:34:08] it but if if or when we have the um

[1:34:12] I forget the name of it Mike the

[1:34:16] the community risk assessment Thank you for that Um from the fire department Um

[1:34:22] there may be a request at some point following that or a consideration to add

[1:34:28] some more fire department department personnel um

[1:34:32] longevity pay or other you know compensation related adjustments

[1:34:39] um funding for community survey in 27 uh we discussed at the workshop funding for

[1:34:48] community festivals or special events

[1:34:50] Actually I should I should have clarified that this morning that is included in the

[1:34:55] budget at or not this community survey sorry

[1:34:59] I'm getting confused

[1:35:02] Is 15,000

[1:35:06] 15,000 is included in this These numbers

[1:35:10] Yes 15,000 is the amount that is currently in there for

[1:35:16] a community survey Now there was some internal discussion on whether or not that

[1:35:21] was enough for a um I think it's to do a full comprehensive survey prior to the

[1:35:28] strategic We have 15,000 in there for the strategic plan effort

[1:35:34] But that's correct

[1:35:36] But not the

[1:35:38] Not for a

[1:35:39] Survey

[1:35:39] Community

[1:35:40] Survey

[1:35:40] Beforehand

[1:35:42] So that's that's what this is If we want to do a comprehensive survey before

[1:35:47] strategic plan initiative that would be an item that is not currently in there Um we

[1:35:53] talked about it earlier this evening at the workshop the funding for community

[1:35:58] festivals and events I mean that's a potential ad change I think we got

[1:36:03] direction on that

[1:36:05] um

[1:36:07] dog park That's been another

[1:36:09] hot button issue but I don't think we have anything currently in the budget for dog

[1:36:14] park so we need more direction or that it's a decision that's going to come after

[1:36:19] we're setting a preliminary levy here So it's a it's something to keep in mind

[1:36:26] And then on the flip side of that any reductions Um so whether or not we reduce

[1:36:32] or eliminate performance pay or other compensation related things deferring

[1:36:36] capital projects which you know we've presented a few and if there's any others

[1:36:41] we'll continue to have internal discussions on anything in the CIP which

[1:36:45] we included as an attachment And I hope you've all had a chance to look through Um

[1:36:54] We continue

[1:36:55] Every

[1:36:55] Day every week to reevaluate those discretionary items and we're factoring

[1:37:00] those in Um

[1:37:02] We included those reserve amounts for alternative funding strategies Internally

[1:37:06] the Capital Project Reserve Fund has a little over 900,000 that if we identify

[1:37:12] any of these projects where we can utilize any of those funds we may consider or even

[1:37:19] the Green Fund there's some money in the Green Fund And then lastly the policy

[1:37:25] change of you know converting all the exempt employees over to the plan And you

[1:37:31] know that'll just be a decision that needs both more information coming in October

[1:37:36] and then more discussion and consideration on that before we can actually make a

[1:37:42] change

[1:37:44] But those are important factors to weigh in

[1:37:48] I have a question Do you do we have a sheet or a write up on each of those

[1:37:53] subjects What the uh reduction would look like

[1:37:58] Help me out

[1:37:58] The reduction on

[1:38:00] If we were to reduce or eliminate performance pay what does that look like

[1:38:05] How much are we going to reduce Next one Same the same thing for every one of them

[1:38:10] What would that would that would what would it look like

[1:38:13] Yeah I can address that So on the first one we haven't done an analysis yet on

[1:38:19] we provided one last year And I feel like we could dust that off and it'd be a fair

[1:38:27] or close estimate once again Last year in the discussion we reduced it from 5% down

[1:38:33] to the four and a half Um 300,000 is jumping to my head right now of what our

[1:38:40] annual estimated amount was city wide Okay Um and then as far as those other items I

[1:38:46] mean um deferring capital projects or CIP items that's a matter of simply going

[1:38:51] through that CIP we provided and seeing if there's any items in there We continue to

[1:38:58] have dialogue as staff regularly about different CIP items and where they can

[1:39:03] move around or be deferred But we're kind of at a

[1:39:08] standstill right now where we feel comfortable with what's in there for both

[1:39:12] the five year plan and for 2027 As long as the as far as the work plan goes

[1:39:19] Um

[1:39:25] Yeah I guess that's all I have to add as far as your questions Is that address

[1:39:30] looking for

[1:39:33] And Tony maybe again to clarify um you know in past years we've had a lot of

[1:39:39] discussion about the ambulance fund and kind of the general you know the balance

[1:39:44] reserve transfer taking it from the reserve fund So as of right now with the

[1:39:49] numbers again presented we have kind of that ambulance fund large

[1:39:55] Addition in there right now That's a no kind of general like fund balance transfer

[1:40:00] to help reduce the levy Is that the right way to say it

[1:40:05] Um

[1:40:06] let me try to address it Maybe a little different way

[1:40:09] Okay

[1:40:10] Um so we do have two things in there for the ambulance fund We have one which is

[1:40:17] the use of the unassigned fund balance That's a one time purposeful transfer

[1:40:21] That's to address that pre-existing deficit that is built up over the course

[1:40:26] of the last 4 to 5 years So that's one component And then the other component we

[1:40:33] do still have that annual transfer

[1:40:35] Now I remember the discussion Yeah

[1:40:36] Which is a contribution or a subsidy from the general fund to the ambulance fund

[1:40:44] That's still at the

[1:40:47] um increased amount We've increased or stepped that up over the course of the

[1:40:52] last few years to try to prevent that ambulance from fun from going even further

[1:40:57] into deficit So we do have both of those pieces in

[1:41:01] I remember like about 2 million for both of those

[1:41:04] Uh it's actually when you combine both of them it's close to 4 million for a

[1:41:08] transfer

[1:41:08] Never mind But and I know that's going to be a whole nother discussion but I just

[1:41:12] for my mind needed to kind of put that in again

[1:41:14] So but only that annual operating amount would be a current year levy or revenue

[1:41:21] source right Yep

[1:41:24] And that do you know that off the top of your head is it 750

[1:41:27] Yes It's still 750,000

[1:41:33] Other comments from people Vicki

[1:41:34] Joe I've got a few things Um one of the things I'm just thinking about is that

[1:41:40] there are going to be additional Medicare and Medicaid cuts after the first of the

[1:41:46] year and I anticipate that will impact our ambulance fund again because those

[1:41:51] reimbursement rates will go down again So I think we need to be mindful of that as

[1:41:57] we are considering because with our aging population and with people not feeling

[1:42:02] comfortable or safe going to the doctor regularly I imagine more emergency calls

[1:42:07] versus people doing preventive care or ongoing treatment because they can't

[1:42:11] afford it And and I'm really mindful of that when we're thinking about this and um

[1:42:17] and

[1:42:18] transition forward when I was listening to the budget meeting um something that Kim

[1:42:23] had said that really is still sitting with me is that we can't I don't remember

[1:42:28] exactly how you said it but it was almost like it was glossed over and then somebody

[1:42:33] else started talking again But it was something about like making sure that we

[1:42:37] have um that the levy when it's when it's set isn't the absolute we have continuing

[1:42:43] conversation And I think with all these variables that are in I think it's

[1:42:47] incredibly shortsighted to say what we're going to do 3.5 and go down or we're going

[1:42:52] to do 3.9 and go down I think it makes way more sense to give ourselves this

[1:42:57] opportunity to be aware of what's happening in the bigger world That's going

[1:43:01] to definitely impact our ambulance fund and other things that may come in And I'm

[1:43:06] also curious about things like I don't know fuel costs because they kind of do

[1:43:11] this crazy thing How much is diesel fuel anyway these days How much is that Do you

[1:43:16] know how much that is

[1:43:18] I don't know what we paid but at the pump it's 537 There you go

[1:43:23] Five that I know

[1:43:25] So I don't know I'm not really raising my hand to say please don't plow my street in

[1:43:32] the winter Um so that fuel cost which is unpredictable at best I think running the

[1:43:37] city keeping the city going I think we need to be open minded and say let's start

[1:43:43] let's start high and agree that there will be additional things just to give the

[1:43:49] assurance that all of these things that are maybes can be effectively worked on

[1:43:53] That's my um my ask or recommendation

[1:44:00] Beth

[1:44:00] I agree with Vicki

[1:44:02] I think we said it next week Well the next meeting I won't be at Um but I do agree We

[1:44:08] give us

[1:44:10] room to work I wouldn't I wouldn't be happy if it were five Whatever is being

[1:44:16] suggested but I think we need room to work

[1:44:22] And general fine with that to

[1:44:25] other people

[1:44:26] Ron I'm not in favor of that I mean it's we need to get this down

[1:44:30] We need to reduce our spending And that's just where I'm at I can't

[1:44:35] I can't go over certainly what what the preliminary was was first proposed by

[1:44:38] staff at 3.99 And now we're talking about going even higher

[1:44:43] No I can't So any of the additions listed there It's a no for me and several of the

[1:44:48] potential budget reductions are a yes for me as well

[1:44:53] as for CIP goes Sean We had a report on the athletic field you know the agreement

[1:44:59] or whatever Um and we see stuff still in the CIP I know we talked about there's

[1:45:05] probably going to be some city costs associated with that Does the CIP reflect

[1:45:10] the new agreement with the athletic field the baseball association

[1:45:14] Yes The costs in the CIP are outside of the projects that the Baseball Association

[1:45:19] is taking on

[1:45:24] Any other comments Becky

[1:45:27] Well the only comment I agree with setting it high That gives us some room to have

[1:45:33] the not high but a reasonable amount that gives a conversation to have between now

[1:45:39] and when we actually agree to the to the levy in December The one thing that I feel

[1:45:45] really strongly Well actually I'm going to step back with a question Um Chrissy had

[1:45:50] mentioned that the renewal rate would be could potentially be high So my

[1:45:55] understanding with the insurance is that on occasion 1 or 2 or a few employees can

[1:46:01] really sort of have a high claim years And that's what trips the the renewal rate So

[1:46:09] I'm I guess I'm I'm confused

[1:46:13] that you say that the renewal rate could potentially be really high Is that if

[1:46:18] they're bringing us back on on a $300,000

[1:46:22] Is there data to support that the renewal rate could potentially be that like

[1:46:25] significantly higher or is that just a sort of a guess because you're bringing on

[1:46:28] more people Like where where does that risk come from Or is it just an ambiguous

[1:46:32] risk

[1:46:33] There is data to support that That comes from IntelliSense That's actually the

[1:46:36] reason we're having or we're calling for that workshop is to provide some of that

[1:46:40] data for you to consider

[1:46:43] I guess Yeah Yeah

[1:46:44] Madam president

[1:46:46] Sir Marshall

[1:46:47] Yeah So there's two things going on here So I just want to make sure they're clear

[1:46:53] The first is what Tony told you We have reasonable assurance that that number is

[1:46:59] uh 300 plus thousand is is a conservative estimate of what it would take to get

[1:47:05] everybody on the group health plan 27 with the council administrator is referring to

[1:47:10] is what happens in the renewal rate in 28 Once everybody comes back on 27 and you

[1:47:16] see the experience of the whole group what happens to the group health plan rates

[1:47:22] moving into 28 and beyond Thank you

[1:47:25] Yeah And I would just add that that's something that we're further evaluating Um

[1:47:31] the insurance committee met in the middle of August here just to get the initial

[1:47:37] data And we're working closely with IntelliSense to get a couple different

[1:47:42] scenarios But exactly what Councilwoman Naughton is describing We're trying to

[1:47:46] evaluate a couple scenarios as far as if

[1:47:51] you know almost like a worst case scenario if those high cost claimants go back into

[1:47:56] the pool what effect is that going to have on what we need to do with our funding

[1:48:03] I know the mayor had his hand up

[1:48:05] I used to deal with health insurance for my old company Is this kind of like a

[1:48:09] first year We want to get you in at a lower rate and then geez it just happens

[1:48:14] to go up you know

[1:48:16] Um I won't go too far in depth on this conversation but we talked for a couple

[1:48:21] hours about this internally a couple of weeks ago

[1:48:25] That was kind of our worry at first too or our suspicion Um we asked a lot of

[1:48:31] questions with IntelliSense

[1:48:33] shortly I would say no And the reason being is because we're self-insured we are

[1:48:39] funding our own insurance Um I think we had the same suspicions that Is this too

[1:48:46] good to be true Are we in some way being tricked here into two rosy of a situation

[1:48:54] Um there's some other underlying factors but what we still don't have worked out

[1:49:00] and what we're going to bring in October is a more

[1:49:05] thorough evaluation of our

[1:49:10] Census our our people to try to predict whether or not those costs would actually

[1:49:17] increase substantially or if we feel like it could be absorbed And again I we've

[1:49:24] projected it initially in the 301 000 is hopefully a conservative initial year cost

[1:49:30] And then down the road we just we're in the evaluating stages

[1:49:35] But and obviously it depends if we have any large claims and we don't know that

[1:49:40] Yep We're trying to we're doing predictive analysis on that And IntelliSense is

[1:49:44] helping us with that

[1:49:45] So thank you

[1:49:46] Yep

[1:49:48] Any other comments from people

[1:49:52] Any other guidance that staff feels like they need

[1:49:58] I think we mostly heard that having the flexibility

[1:50:03] towards the higher end is where we're comfortable at the moment But I didn't

[1:50:08] hear I don't think I wrote down anything for Don or Kim or the mayor

[1:50:16] I think what I said at the last meeting was sufficient

[1:50:22] Same here

[1:50:25] I haven't changed my thought process

[1:50:27] Okay

[1:50:28] With that I think we have enough direction then

[1:50:32] Thank you

[1:50:33] Thank you Thank you very much It's a lot of work

[1:50:36] Yep All right We'll move on to number ten in our agenda tonight Communication items

[1:50:41] and ten A is our Housing and Redevelopment Authority update with Curt

[1:50:51] I'll bet you enjoyed staying here all late tonight huh Didn't you put it out the room

[1:50:57] Um

[1:50:59] thank you for the opportunity to come in front of you and just give you a brief

[1:51:03] update about what the HRA has been doing and going to be doing Uh you had a written

[1:51:08] report I just want to highlight a couple of things I know we've talked about Jordan

[1:51:12] Tower and the big plumbing replacement project that we're doing And it seems like

[1:51:16] every time I come I say it's close it's close it's close This time it's actually

[1:51:20] really close

[1:51:22] We're going to do a pre-construction meeting in the middle of September The

[1:51:26] contractor should mobilize to the site by the middle of October and they'll start

[1:51:31] ripping and tearing on the ground floor Our main sewer and water lines uh in

[1:51:37] November with actual work in residence units starting just after the holidays we

[1:51:41] decided to wait till after Christmas and New Year's before we start moving people

[1:51:46] around there So that's kind of exciting And then on top of that we had enough

[1:51:52] money to do Jordan Tower one We were a little short on our family sites and so we

[1:51:58] went back to Minnesota Housing and said would you consider a funding modification

[1:52:03] And to our delight uh July their board meeting agreed to that So we now have

[1:52:09] enough funding to move forward with the family site project that because of timing

[1:52:14] and how very long it takes to get to closing on the financing that will start

[1:52:20] probably in 2027 sometime the first quarter maybe uh and finish in 2027 as

[1:52:25] well So it's it's been a big project that takes a lot of bandwidth from staff and

[1:52:31] we're very close to that So we're excited about that On the voucher side you just

[1:52:36] call your attention on the federal vouchers If you've been paying attention

[1:52:41] you'll see that that number of utilized vouchers keeps floating downward Right We

[1:52:45] used to be 13125 Now we're 119 and that's simply a function of rents increasing and

[1:52:51] the federal funding staying static So we can we can't help as many people at a

[1:52:57] higher rent than we could before So that's why it's important that the other two

[1:53:02] state funded programs are there We use bridges And now to bring it home program

[1:53:08] to help try and keep the number of vouchers in our community somewhat steady

[1:53:13] So this is a rare case where state funding is helping us moderate the decrease in

[1:53:18] federal funding But there's no denying that our waiting list continues to grow

[1:53:23] We're now up to 448 people So you know the need is there The resources at the federal

[1:53:30] level are staying static at best Luckily the state has come forward but I don't

[1:53:35] know how long that will hold either The other thing I would call your attention to

[1:53:41] on the on the second page and is kind of exciting is the Jefferson School RFP The

[1:53:47] Housing and Redevelopment Authority is considering submitting a proposal along

[1:53:50] with Three Rivers Community Action and the HRA commissioners will hear that in a

[1:53:55] workshop on September 3rd at 1:00 If any of you would like to attend and be in the

[1:54:02] know of what we're proposing there And then the my commissioners will be asked to

[1:54:07] either approve submission or reject submission at their regular September 8th

[1:54:11] meeting which is just two days before the proposals are due to the port So that's

[1:54:17] sort of exciting and I'm happy to answer questions if I can

[1:54:22] Any questions Vicki

[1:54:23] The date and time and place again uh

[1:54:27] For the workshop is September 3rd at 1 p.m. here in council chambers

[1:54:34] Okay Thank you

[1:54:38] Thank you very much

[1:54:39] Thanks so much Have a good night

[1:54:43] All right Well we will move on to council comments Tenby Would anybody else like to

[1:54:48] share any information

[1:54:51] Vicki Joe

[1:54:53] I know you have Go ahead I'll be quick

[1:54:55] Ladies first

[1:54:56] Okay

[1:54:58] So I got an interesting call and I guess I might look to the chief for this

[1:55:04] particular thing Um there was a woman who decided that the bike trail went all the

[1:55:09] way through and came up and over and was at the base of humanity and then was

[1:55:15] biking what she thought was a trail which it's not And she was stopped by the police

[1:55:21] officer And this officer said oh we do this all the time And so I'm guessing that

[1:55:27] that all the time is actually a frequent occurrence So

[1:55:34] I mean they probably put an emphasis on it probably more than it actually happens But

[1:55:39] there's

[1:55:40] quite a few people that drive the wrong way down places they shouldn't The

[1:55:44] railroad tracks for instance is one of the places that sometimes people have driven

[1:55:48] down We've had a vehicle well a couple vehicles get hit by trains because of it

[1:55:53] Mhm So it's not a surprise that somebody drives down a trail Um I wouldn't say all

[1:55:58] the time I guess I wouldn't emphasize that but it it occurs

[1:56:02] I imagine it does And so um I'm curious

[1:56:07] This might be over here now Is there an opportunity for us to maybe do like some

[1:56:12] signage trail ends here for now Um and on both sides maybe at Levy on the other side

[1:56:17] So people aren't trying to come through thinking hey there's this new trail down

[1:56:21] there I'm going to go this way Can we is there How much would that cost And is that

[1:56:27] would that would that be helpful That was that was what this person was um inviting

[1:56:31] me to bring to this body is to say that it

[1:56:36] don't come here private property Stop it Whatever you need to do

[1:56:41] Turn around Go back

[1:56:43] You know whatever The big hand Stop I don't know if that's an offer that I

[1:56:47] wanted to bring that up here because I think it's it's important that people

[1:56:51] aren't going where they shouldn't if they don't know that they shouldn't be going

[1:56:54] there because this person is an avid biker and was really disappointed And she said

[1:56:58] well if I had known I would have turned off and gone down fifth So

[1:57:06] Can I can I piggyback on hers I know the mayor had his hand up but um just from

[1:57:12] that perspective I would love to see I've been an advocate for more of the sharrows

[1:57:17] and the bike ability in our community Maybe there's even some safe routes

[1:57:21] funding And so maybe instead of the stop you know don't go here Or maybe in

[1:57:26] addition to that is signage that says trail continues this way or or trail

[1:57:30] continues on the road And there's more signage that has the Sharrows on the road

[1:57:35] because I think the alternative was mapped to sort of zigzag them through town to get

[1:57:40] them back onto the rest of the trail by levee until that that piece continues So I

[1:57:45] mean I think some signage that would say you know trail continues on the road

[1:57:50] Sharrows or more road painting for Bikeability I think drivers need to know

[1:57:54] that they're sharing the road with bikers as well So that signage is twofold gets

[1:57:59] the bikers in the right spot and helps the drivers not run into them

[1:58:04] What she said

[1:58:05] Maybe we can get an update on that eventually if that's possible or if it's

[1:58:09] already in the plan or if there's money I don't know if somebody wants to respond

[1:58:14] Now I know we're putting you on the spot but it's true

[1:58:18] Zach's talking to Sean Sean's talking to Zach No

[1:58:22] Sean's taking notes

[1:58:23] I'm trying to get a better understanding of exactly what we're talking about here

[1:58:28] Signage

[1:58:29] Know where this incident happened

[1:58:31] Oh at the base of

[1:58:33] where the trail ends There

[1:58:35] The new

[1:58:35] Trail The new trail

[1:58:37] Okay

[1:58:38] Trail bikers are coming from cobble up and over the new trail Okay And then

[1:58:42] continuing by what used to be I don't know The name of the place now is Isaac Walton

[1:58:47] Yep

[1:58:47] Past there and going that way to try to go and continue that

[1:58:51] Private road the private road

[1:58:53] Wastewater treatment

[1:58:54] The gravel road going past treatment plant

[1:58:56] Correct Got it And being stopped by police saying hey okay you don't belong here Um

[1:59:03] because this is private road So if we could get signage before folks get that

[1:59:10] far Uh something saying please turn here Don't go there at the end And also at Levy

[1:59:18] So people aren't walking that way either Same sign like please don't go here Turn

[1:59:24] around

[1:59:26] There's a sign that says Private Road

[1:59:29] Does it Oh so whoever's doing that is not reading

[1:59:32] I've driven past it When I went fishing down there

[1:59:34] Okay

[1:59:35] So you're paying attention We didn't We didn't go Admit that publicly Good job

[1:59:41] Okay

[1:59:42] I'm in the water

[1:59:44] Oh my gosh

[1:59:46] I think we'll move on to the mayor if that's okay

[1:59:48] I don't have anything that's interesting but uh today I saw they're not sentenced

[1:59:53] to serve Shawn Correct me again Corrections labor was out trimming at one

[1:59:58] of our parks They did an exceptional job I got an opportunity to talk to them and

[2:00:04] they all said thanks for the opportunity So they really they really appreciate that

[2:00:08] opportunity Now we had a battle of the badges on Saturday and the winner is in a

[2:00:14] blue shirt

[2:00:16] and the second first loser is in a white shirt His team But they played fabulous I

[2:00:22] don't know who was operating the scoreboard but he was an idiot

[2:00:26] Oh gosh

[2:00:28] It was me Oh they asked me Rise up Asked me to run the scoreboard and I'm thinking

[2:00:33] okay push a button to run Oh no Oh no One of the I believe on call paid on call

[2:00:39] Firefighters came in the eighth inning and straightened it out But I was hoping

[2:00:43] That one

[2:00:45] Oh

[2:00:45] Oh yeah So I asked Neil Hammer who's doing a great job announcing I said Neil can you

[2:00:50] help me out here He says many people have left left this booth crying He says I have

[2:00:55] no idea

[2:00:57] So thank you And on good news I received a letter today I know other staff have that

[2:01:04] Mpca has given us preliminary approval on the new wastewater treatment plant plans

[2:01:09] So awesome Good

[2:01:12] That's all I have But don't ever ask me to do the scoreboard again Unless it's like

[2:01:16] at Wrigley Field where you put a thing in there you take one down

[2:01:21] Go ahead Go ahead Talk amongst yourselves Yeah I was receiving numerous texts on You

[2:01:27] know it's not the ninth inning It's the third inning It's not 21 to 4 Yeah Like I

[2:01:34] didn't know But thank you very much to everyone who texted me

[2:01:40] All right Well any last comments I would just do a public service announcement

[2:01:44] Maybe Becky knows this too but school does start in Red wing Tuesday September 1st So

[2:01:49] I've actually had people in the community that didn't realize that So if you have

[2:01:54] kids in Red wing right Tuesday September 1st Um school starts early this year

[2:01:58] because of Labor Day So and I'll hand it over to Chris for status updates

[2:02:04] All right Um the only two that I want to call your attention to tonight Well

[2:02:09] actually let me start with I should first look at the dates of upcoming meetings as

[2:02:13] we've mentioned a few um additions here So

[2:02:18] obviously September 14th is a normal date but we do have a workshop before that

[2:02:23] meeting 5 p.m. and that's as requested by the council at the last meeting An update

[2:02:29] from the police department primarily or from on the law enforcement Center

[2:02:34] primarily about the the proposed new facility So it'll just be a 45 minute to

[2:02:39] you know lot less than that hour period Um and whatever data is available at that

[2:02:45] time Um then the 28th is the standard meeting workshop before it but we also

[2:02:51] have the October 5th workshop that was mentioned in here as an upcoming meeting

[2:02:56] That's a newly scheduled um standalone workshop

[2:03:01] Um I mean it could delve into budget related topics but it's intended to be

[2:03:06] specifically about benefits benefits analysis the survey and and kind of have a

[2:03:11] non bookended time to be able to talk about that topic

[2:03:17] The other two things that I was going to initially call your attention to um the

[2:03:23] public comment at the beginning of the meeting referred to the last item in the

[2:03:28] status update and that's the Mississippi dialogues That was initially on the agenda

[2:03:32] for tonight but we didn't have staff reports ready And there was some some

[2:03:37] questions about exactly where it was Because when we were finalizing the agenda

[2:03:41] packet it was before the Arts and Culture Commission meeting last week So we instead

[2:03:46] shifted pivoted had the presentations of sorts at public comment to make sure that

[2:03:51] you're at least aware that it's coming And then it's intended to be on the on the

[2:03:57] agenda on the September 14th meeting I think their concern about getting in front

[2:04:02] of you tonight was that it's supposed if if approved it will be installed in

[2:04:07] October So they really want to make sure that this doesn't get deferred when it

[2:04:12] comes before you at the next meeting And then last but not least I might turn this

[2:04:17] I didn't pre discuss anything but we have um an update um a paragraph update We have

[2:04:23] a number of links three separate links on our um LPR program which are LPR

[2:04:28] technology which is axon Um and then there's a separate attachment that was

[2:04:33] prepared with a lot of additional detail of um kind of uh frequently asked

[2:04:37] questions I guess you would say And um so we tried to provide the information that

[2:04:43] was requested and as as clear away and as quickly as possible But I don't know if

[2:04:49] you want to present anything further Nick or answer or if there's any additional

[2:04:53] questions but make sure you saw that in the status update

[2:04:58] Yeah there's a lot of data privacy concern over license plate reader cameras as you

[2:05:02] know I mean we had a couple people come in and talk today and and people should be

[2:05:07] concerned about what we do with our data I'm not against that by any means Um

[2:05:12] I obviously see the data and what comes through Um so my perspective probably is a

[2:05:16] bit different than most people I did have one of our council members take a look at

[2:05:21] it um to an extent without seeing the actual data but seeing what it is that we

[2:05:26] do Um so I mean if you question as far as what it is I really invite you to actually

[2:05:31] take a look at the program There's nothing here to hide Um but I do want to let you

[2:05:36] know that the data is held within I mean it's a cloud system It's with axon who

[2:05:41] holds all of our data by the way they hold all of our digital evidence data they have

[2:05:46] for the last six years we haven't had any issues Um they hold all of our body camera

[2:05:51] data They hold all of our in-car camera data um and all of our digital evidence

[2:05:55] data which could include photos um videos anything that you could think of that's

[2:05:59] digital um is all held on the same base system Uh people talk about the flock

[2:06:04] cameras We don't have flock Um that's not not a thing here Uh we went with axon for

[2:06:09] a couple reasons One we're actually not even paying a bill this year It's free Um

[2:06:13] because we contract with them for a lot of other services So in return for our

[2:06:17] service to them and theirs to ours we made an agreement where we would get the first

[2:06:22] year for free and then we would pay uh after that also with a substantial

[2:06:26] discount We didn't pay for installation nothing Um so we actually got a really

[2:06:30] good deal on the program itself But beyond the cost I just really want to address the

[2:06:35] data issue right So we hold the data here Nobody else has access to it We don't

[2:06:39] share the data with anybody Nobody uh no no other entities have access currently to

[2:06:44] our data One thing we are looking at is a possible share with Pierce County Um there

[2:06:48] was concern of immigration use by Pierce County if we were to do that So we have an

[2:06:53] agreement typed up that if we were to go into an agreement with them that we would

[2:06:58] maybe take a look at that They couldn't use that data for immigration Um but

[2:07:02] that's the only entity that we're even looking at sharing data and we're not

[2:07:06] doing it currently Um they don't even have the cameras installed Even they don't even

[2:07:10] have the system to to get into our cameras anyway yet Um so they're just not there

[2:07:15] yet either Um but even the company itself if they're going to access our data they

[2:07:19] need to go in And the only reason they do that is to fix something in the system Uh

[2:07:24] they actually have to ask us to access it and then it gets logged and it gets

[2:07:29] audited Um any time that our officer does a search and I showed one of the council

[2:07:34] members this um you actually have to enter information and even to do a search Uh and

[2:07:38] that includes the reason why you're doing it the date and time you're doing it who's

[2:07:43] doing it Um a related ICR call for service um related to why you're doing it Um so

[2:07:48] there is a lot of

[2:07:50] stuff that you have to enter to even get to a point to even do a search And then

[2:07:55] all that is in an auditable program and then we're required by the state to do an

[2:08:00] audit So we have a third party come in and actually audit us and look at all our

[2:08:05] stuff as far as whether or not we're doing it correctly Um so yeah you see officers

[2:08:10] that are on the news getting arrested for misuse of data uh they're getting arrested

[2:08:14] because they got found because it tracks them Um so I wish I could tell you that

[2:08:18] nobody's ever going to abuse technology I can't make that promise to you So if as a

[2:08:23] council you decide that you don't want this program anymore I understand Um and I

[2:08:27] can't make the promise that nobody here is going to misuse it I can tell you that we

[2:08:32] have a lot of restrictions in place Um and that it is monitored Um and if somebody

[2:08:37] does misuse it there's a high likelihood that they're going to get found probably

[2:08:40] go to jail um and lose their job Um but I mean I can't sit here and tell the public

[2:08:46] that nobody's ever going to misuse something Um there's always potential for

[2:08:49] anything So but with that I don't want to keep I mean I could talk about this for

[2:08:54] the next two hours probably but I don't want to do that Um but if you have

[2:08:59] questions feel free to ask me

[2:09:02] Thanks Becky

[2:09:03] I have two questions Um first First can you restate what you said about Pierce

[2:09:07] County requesting to share the data I just missed that

[2:09:09] Yeah So Pierce County has requested to do a data share with us because they're going

[2:09:14] to install the same type of camera system through axon as well over there And we can

[2:09:18] decide to do a sharing program with them if we choose Um right now we don't share

[2:09:22] with anybody And so nobody has access to our data Um if we did a sharing we would

[2:09:27] have access to their data then to over the bridge So right now we do have one camera

[2:09:31] on the bridge It doesn't pick up everything I don't believe Um and so they

[2:09:35] were looking at actually putting the camera on the other side of the bridge to

[2:09:39] pick up the other traffic And so it would kind of be a mutual sharing agreement

[2:09:43] where we would get both sides of the traffic if we did that Um and then any

[2:09:48] other cameras they decided to install within the county as well Um we can if you

[2:09:52] want also restrict the fact that they you know only have access maybe to that one

[2:09:56] camera Um if you really wanted to where we just would share just the two cameras on

[2:10:00] the bridge or none at all It's completely up to the body as far as what you want to

[2:10:05] do and how you want that done

[2:10:07] Did I mishear you or did you say something about immigration data Or do you mean

[2:10:12] across the the Wisconsin Minnesota border

[2:10:13] Nope So you did hear me correct

[2:10:15] Um there was concern Somebody brought up concern about um Pierce County using the

[2:10:19] data for immigration Um and so if we don't have we don't allow that here Um we don't

[2:10:24] use the we we don't allow the feds to get our data for immigration purposes We don't

[2:10:28] look it up or anything like that We don't have access to any of that Um so there was

[2:10:33] concern that if they got the data that it could be used that way So what we do is we

[2:10:38] have a type up agreement that if we were to go into an agreement with them to share

[2:10:43] camera systems we would ask that they would sign an agreement that they wouldn't

[2:10:47] be able to use that technology for that purpose our data

[2:10:50] And that brings me to my other question is so what other agencies can access to it

[2:10:56] Can so can Goodhue County or can any other federal agencies access that data

[2:11:01] None currently I mean certainly somebody could serve me with a bench warrant or

[2:11:04] something and make me give up the data But but we currently don't share with anybody

[2:11:09] Nobody has access to it except for us There is a possibility let's say

[2:11:13] another community calls us and says hey we had a robbery and we're looking for this

[2:11:17] vehicle Could you look in your system We would ask them a lot of questions of

[2:11:21] course and go through and log all that information of why we're looking at the

[2:11:25] data And we could look at it for that purpose and share that one search with

[2:11:28] them if we choose to do so Um but currently nobody has access to searcher

[2:11:32] data system

[2:11:33] And then um do when somebody logs in when somebody from your department logs in for

[2:11:37] rightful purposes do you do you specifically or assistant chief Matt link

[2:11:41] get an alert that somebody has logged in for a purpose

[2:11:44] We don't get an alert but

[2:11:45] Right under the system there's an audit log that we can just click on and look at

[2:11:50] it at any point to see who accessed it and for what reason And so it will show us

[2:11:55] that log And then that log also will get audited And we can't we can't delete it

[2:11:59] It's it's you cannot delete it Even if the company goes into our system it gets

[2:12:03] logged in that audit as well If if if we have an agreement with somebody it's still

[2:12:08] the same thing It gets audited and logged in that in that log as well

[2:12:13] So it's always there Um it just you know and I think that one of our captains

[2:12:17] usually goes through it every few weeks Um just to kind of check up on it to make

[2:12:22] sure we've also sent a new directive out recently that we specifically only allow

[2:12:26] the officers to use it or even search the database for higher based crimes Um so

[2:12:30] like if you have a driving complaint and they're like hey we want to find this car

[2:12:35] It's not allowed to be used for that Um there's a directive that's put out that

[2:12:39] says you can't use it for this And they certainly could but then it would be

[2:12:44] against the directive And then obviously there would be discipline based upon what

[2:12:47] they do Um so right now it's only set for higher based crimes I've actually had it

[2:12:52] up this whole time because I was hoping to see a plate so I could actually block it

[2:12:57] out and show you kind of without showing you the data what it actually looks like

[2:13:01] Um but during this whole process one is actually not even uh gone up there because

[2:13:05] it's set so high Um so it's just it's collecting the plates but it's not showing

[2:13:10] us any data currently right now

[2:13:12] And you answered one of my other questions which is is there a procedure within your

[2:13:16] department to to regularly check that And you said that one of the captains is and

[2:13:20] I'd like I'd like that in the I think that's a good policy Is that somebody in

[2:13:25] there whether it's a captain or captains or you or assistant chief battling is

[2:13:29] routinely looking at that record so that you know this pattern seems a little bit

[2:13:33] off You can preventatively

[2:13:34] Look

[2:13:34] Yeah And that's actually an easy policy addition Um because it's really easy just

[2:13:38] to go in and look So it doesn't it probably takes you know a few minutes out

[2:13:42] of a day um to just go through and just scan it real quick So we could actually

[2:13:46] add that directly into our policy or requirement Maybe it gets scanned every

[2:13:49] four weeks or every three weeks Um and direct person do it right now Our patrol

[2:13:53] captain usually takes a look at it

[2:13:56] Thank you

[2:13:58] All right Any other questions or comments

[2:14:02] All right Seeing none then No else on our agenda I'll call us Adjourned