[0:07] We adjourn.
[0:10] To the city of South Saint Paul.
[0:11] I call this meeting to order
[0:14] for Monday, NOVEMBER 4th. MISS
[0:17] Werner, will you please call
[0:19] the roll? Toen here. Council
[0:21] member Hanson, Council member
[0:23] Kaleski. Council member Pod
[0:25] Gorski, Council member Sberg
[0:27] Council member Thompson, Mayor
[0:28] Francis all present. Thank you
[0:29] very much. Please stand and
[0:31] join us in our Invocation and
[0:34] our pledge of allegiance.
[0:36] Heavenly Father, we come to you
[0:38] today asking for your guidance,
[0:39] wisdom and support as we begin
[0:42] this meeting. Help us to engage
[0:43] in meaningful discussion allow
[0:45] us to grow closer as a group
[0:46] and nurture the bonds of
[0:50] community. Amen. Amen. I pledge
[0:53] allegiance to the plan of the
[0:55] United States of America and to
[1:00] the Republic nation under GOD
[1:02] individual with liberty and
[1:07] justice for all. Good evening.
[1:09] We have no presentations today,
[1:10] so citizens
[1:11] comments is next.
[1:12] Anybody here with anything that
[1:13] is not on the agenda. They wish
[1:15] to speak about. This is the
[1:16] time to do that. Please step
[1:22] forward. Seeing none. Look for
[1:23] a motion to approve our agenda.
[1:26] So moved, Your Honor, that
[1:27] there was moved by Seabrook,
[1:30] second by Bakke? Is that
[1:32] correct? All right, just making
[1:34] sure. All in favor? I any
[1:37] oppose? Our agenda passes. Our
[1:38] consent agenda, all the items
[1:40] listed on our consent agenda
[1:42] are considered routine and will
[1:43] be approved in one motion.
[1:44] There will be no separate
[1:45] discussion of these items
[1:47] unless a council member or a
[1:48] citizen so requests. In that
[1:50] event, it will be removed from
[1:51] the consent agenda and
[1:53] considered at the end of our
[1:54] consent any items to be removed,
[1:58] council. Public, any items to
[1:59] be removed from our consent
[2:01] agenda. Can we slow down a
[2:03] little bit here? Sure, we can,
[2:07] Michael. Thank you. The consent
[2:09] agenda, no other items to be
[2:12] removed from the public or the
[2:14] council with that I look for a
[2:16] motion to approve, so moved.
[2:16] It
[2:18] s like a moved by Kalzeki,
[2:21] second by Thompson. MS. Warner,
[2:21] will you please read those
[2:24] items and then call the roll
[2:26] resolve the city of Sault Saint
[2:27] Paul does hereby approve the
[2:30] following. City council meeting
[2:32] minutes of OCTOBER 21st, 2024.
[2:35] Accounts payable. Declare costs
[2:37] to be assessed for the concrete
[2:38] exchange improvement project
[2:41] number 202401. Approved master
[2:43] control agreement. Turf
[2:48] maintenance services. Award
[2:49] streetscape services to
[2:50] curbside landscape and
[2:52] irrigation. To declare costs to
[2:55] be assessed for the 7th annual
[2:58] Avenue South Reconstruction and
[3:01] I-9494 water main improvement
[3:04] project number 2023-12. Retain
[3:05] Kraus Andersson Construction
[3:06] Company as the construction
[3:11] management advisor. Approved
[3:12] resolution 2024 131
[3:13] acknowledgment of lawful
[3:14] gambling exempt permit for Holy
[3:16] Trinity Catholic Church.
[3:20] Council member back in. Yes.
[3:21] Mayor Francis Councilmember
[3:23] Hanson, yes council member
[3:25] Kalaski, Council member Pod
[3:28] Gorski, Council member s Seberg
[3:29] Council member Thompson. 70.
[3:32] Thank you very much. Consent
[3:33] passes. Next is our public
[3:37] hearing. This first one is
[3:38] certifying unpaid charges to
[3:40] the county auditor. Hello,
[3:44] Clara. Welcome. Good evening.
[3:46] Um, the items that we are
[3:48] certifying or asking you to
[3:50] certify this evening. Our
[3:52] abatements, re-inspection fees,
[3:54] code enforcement citations, and
[3:54] rental license citations, all
[3:56] of the property owners received
[3:57] a letter indicating that these
[4:00] items would be on this
[4:00] evening
[4:01] s agenda, including the
[4:02] public hearing notice, in
[4:03] addition, public hearing notice
[4:05] was published in this, uh,
[4:08] Pioneer Press. Um, each of the
[4:10] properties was notified of the
[4:12] code enforcement or, um, rental
[4:16] license. Uh, infraction by the
[4:18] department invoices were issued
[4:20] by finance, uh, statements were
[4:21] sent out for the bills as they
[4:24] were not paid. Uh, these
[4:26] invoices were issued between
[4:28] OCTOBER of 23 and SEPTEMBER of
[4:31] 24. All charges are past due as
[4:32] of NOVEMBER 1st in accordance
[4:35] with city code. All the
[4:36] property owners have until
[4:38] DECEMBER 4th to pay the
[4:38] original invoice amounts
[4:42] without interest. Um, as
[4:45] allowed by statute. At that
[4:48] time, any charges not paid will
[4:50] be certified to the county to
[4:52] be collected with the 2025
[4:54] property taxes. These are one
[4:57] year assessments. Um, one
[4:58] correction I would like to make
[5:00] is that we do have a pin number
[5:00] that
[5:01] s incorrect on the
[5:03] resolution, we will make that
[5:04] correction before we submit it
[5:08] to the county. I myself and
[5:09] other staff are available if
[5:13] anyone has any questions. Uh MS.
[5:16] Elders, you, uh, you said you a
[5:18] property id number was missed.
[5:22] Ok. One of the property IDs is
[5:23] incorrect and the 113 3rd
[5:27] Avenue South. Very good. Uh,
[5:28] and the total assessments being
[5:32] levied to the auditor is 34,776.
[5:33] Is that correct? And we will
[5:35] again, like I said, we
[5:36] ll
[5:36] deduct anything that
[5:37] s paid
[5:38] between now and DECEMBER 4th.
[5:42] Very good. This is a public
[5:43] hearing, I guess I will open
[5:46] that up. Anybody here wish to
[5:49] speak on the items for the
[5:50] certifying unpaid charges to
[5:51] the county auditor. Anybody
[5:53] here whose address is on there
[5:57] that wants to discuss or
[6:00] Anything further? Asking again
[6:02] if anybody here from the public
[6:03] wishes to speak on the
[6:05] certifying the unpaid charges
[6:09] to the county auditor. Seeing
[6:10] and hearing none, we
[6:10] ll close
[6:12] the public hearing, look to
[6:15] counsel for questions. Comments
[6:19] Emotions Your Honor,
[6:20] Councilmember Sberg move to
[6:21] approve with the correction to
[6:23] 113 3rd Avenue South. We have a
[6:26] motion to approve by Councilor
[6:27] Sieberg, seconded by Podgorski
[6:29] for approval. Further
[6:35] discussion. Seeing none. MS.
[6:37] Werner, please call the roll.
[6:39] Mayor Francis, yes,
[6:41] Councilmember Hanson, Council
[6:43] member Kauski, Council member
[6:45] Pat Gorski, council member Serg
[6:47] Council member Thompson,
[6:48] Council member Bakke. Yes, 70.
[6:50] Thank you very much. Motion
[6:54] passes. Thank you. Clara. Next
[6:56] up is an assessment hearing for
[6:59] concrete exchange improvements
[7:01] project number 2024-01. MR.
[7:03] Williams, welcome. Good evening,
[7:04] Mayor and members of the
[7:06] council. Uh, one second as I
[7:24] load the presentation. At least
[7:24] something
[7:29] s happening. Sorry
[7:31] about that. There it is. At
[7:31] least it
[7:33] s on my screen. I get
[7:35] it. Ok, there we go. All right.
[7:37] Good evening mayor and members
[7:38] of the council. Uh, tonight is
[7:41] the assessment hearing for the
[7:42] Concord exchange Improvement
[7:43] Project, uh, brief presentation
[7:43] I
[7:44] ll go through this evening,
[7:46] then we can open up the public
[7:47] hearing and answer any
[7:51] questions the council MAY have.
[7:53] So the agenda will go through a
[7:55] summary of the project costs
[7:56] and funding sources talk about
[7:57] the special assessments, and
[8:00] lastly, the councilor action.
[8:02] So location we have Concord
[8:03] Exchange, uh, kind of broken up
[8:06] into two projects. We have the
[8:07] streetscape improvements north
[8:09] of Grand and the medians, uh,
[8:12] that was uh funded through the
[8:13] developer through the yards
[8:15] development, and then we have
[8:17] the reconstructions and
[8:19] streetscape improvements, south
[8:20] of Concord Exchange between
[8:22] Grand and the southern access
[8:24] that did include a full upgrade
[8:26] of storm sewer system as well
[8:29] as water main improvements. So
[8:30] before the project, you can see
[8:32] some photos here, uh, in the
[8:34] streetscape area. We had some
[8:36] deteriorated sidewalk
[8:37] conditions, various uplifts, um,
[8:40] you know, kind of some outdated
[8:41] streetscape amenities, which
[8:42] were all improved with this
[8:45] project. Uh, you can see, uh,
[8:46] in the reconstruction area,
[8:47] some pavement that
[8:49] s in poor
[8:50] condition, potholes and things
[8:53] of that nature, um, you know, a
[8:57] sidewalk again varied and, and
[8:57] various locations inconsistent
[8:59] wits, um, and then some kind of
[9:00] outdated, uh, street lights
[9:01] that we replaced with this
[9:06] project. So a summary in the
[9:08] streetscape area, we, uh,
[9:09] updated the landscaping and the
[9:11] medians, uh, replaced all the
[9:14] sidewalk through that, um, that
[9:14] Northern peace streetscape
[9:17] features, new benches, uh,
[9:18] trash cans, things of that
[9:20] nature, all the street lights
[9:22] got upgraded. Uh, we also did
[9:24] put an irrigation system in for
[9:26] the medians, so public works
[9:26] doesn
[9:27] t have to water that, so
[9:28] it
[9:29] s all self-sustaining.
[9:31] Reconstruction area, full
[9:32] roadway reconstruction, new
[9:34] aggregate base, new pavement,
[9:36] new curb and gutter, uh, new
[9:39] sidewalk throughout, um. New
[9:40] skatescape features similar to
[9:42] the, the streetscape piece, uh,
[9:43] irrigation as well and all the
[9:46] plantar areas. Uh, sanitary
[9:48] sewer upgrades, um, so with all
[9:50] the developable properties that
[9:51] could be on Core exchange, we
[9:53] stubbed out sewer and water to
[9:54] those properties, so when they
[9:55] come in to develop, we don
[9:55] t
[9:56] have to tear into the new
[9:59] street. Uh, storm sewer, some
[10:00] pretty massive storm sewer
[10:01] upgrades, improved drainage,
[10:03] and again, the street lighting,
[10:05] we, uh, really added, um, a lot
[10:06] of improvements to the street
[10:07] light system out there to
[10:09] really make sure it was very
[10:13] lit during the evening hours.
[10:16] So this kind of uh a neat slide
[10:18] showing the pre-construction,
[10:19] um road conditions versus post,
[10:22] uh, you can kind of see what it
[10:24] looked like from Aeroview, uh,
[10:25] previously, um, just, you know,
[10:28] road was just kind of beat up,
[10:30] poor condition, had a really
[10:31] inconsistent kind of road with
[10:33] throughout, no real consistency
[10:34] through anywhere, through the
[10:36] corridor, uh, and then at the,
[10:37] and then the slide at the
[10:40] bottom shows kind of the post
[10:41] condition, um, you know, we got
[10:43] our, uh, 11 ft lanes, 9-foot
[10:45] parking, being a commercial
[10:46] area, um, the lines you see
[10:48] there are the striping yet, the
[10:48] striping is supposed to happen
[10:49] today, but it didn
[10:50] t happen
[10:51] with the rain, but that
[10:52] s just
[10:53] for illustration purposes, but
[10:56] kind of get the idea, um, of,
[10:59] of how it looks today. With
[11:02] that, um, that would show a
[11:04] quick drone video for all those
[11:06] who are interested, uh, about
[11:07] 30 seconds long and I can kind
[11:10] of describe. What we
[11:10] re seeing,
[11:12] so this is kind of going south.
[11:14] You can see the old Vendela
[11:16] glass, see the street lights,
[11:18] we got our new sidewalk, you
[11:21] can see the planter boxes, um,
[11:24] again those are all irrigated,
[11:26] uh, new curb and gutter, um,
[11:27] that car is not going that fast.
[11:28] It
[11:28] s the, it
[11:29] s the drone
[11:30] footage that actually makes it
[11:33] look that fast, so just so you
[11:34] know so it gives you a kind of
[11:35] idea of, of the improvements
[11:36] that we did. I
[11:37] m very proud of,
[11:40] of what, how it looks. Groups
[11:45] Yeah ok, sorry about that. Ok,
[11:47] on to project costs and funding,
[11:48] uh, looking at a total project
[11:50] costs of just under 4 million.
[11:53] That is under our as bid amount
[11:55] by about 320,000, um, pretty
[11:56] fortunate that we didn
[11:57] t run
[11:58] into any unforeseen conditions
[12:00] along that corridor, uh, given
[12:01] the history of Concert Exchange,
[12:03] we kind of anticipated we might
[12:07] run into some buried debris,
[12:07] building foundations,
[12:09] contaminated soil, things of
[12:11] that nature, um, but we were
[12:12] fortunate that we, we didn
[12:12] t,
[12:12] so we
[12:13] re able to deliver it
[12:15] under Budget, um, you know,
[12:16] also during construction, um,
[12:18] you know, Tom and Kelsey both
[12:20] looking at ways to save money
[12:20] during construction. We
[12:20] re
[12:22] always trying to find little
[12:23] tweaks here that we can save
[12:24] some money on this, then we do
[12:25] that? That
[12:26] s kind of a big part
[12:28] of our job. So you can see, uh,
[12:30] those costs did come in, uh,
[12:35] less than our as been amount.
[12:37] Funding sources so various
[12:37] funding sources for this. We
[12:38] got our municipal state aid is
[12:41] a state of road, about 1
[12:42] million uh tax increment
[12:44] financing of a million, uh, the
[12:45] developer fund I previously
[12:46] mentioned for the street skate
[12:48] piece, um, that was kind of on
[12:50] their plate to do, but we added
[12:52] it to our project. It was just
[12:53] easier that way. Uh, special
[12:54] assessments, which we
[12:54] re here
[12:58] to talk about tonight,
[12:59] approximately 40 545,000. Our
[13:01] water utility, sanitary sewer,
[13:02] and storm sewer make up the
[13:07] rest of that, um. Cost. So this
[13:10] is proposed to be specially
[13:12] assessed through the city
[13:12] s
[13:15] assessment policy that rate is
[13:17] $90.40 per front foot, uh, all
[13:19] the properties on this corridor
[13:21] are commercial retail, high,
[13:22] high density residential, so
[13:24] there, there is no maximum for
[13:25] those commercial properties, um,
[13:27] they are kept at 5%, but the
[13:29] reason being is they have a
[13:32] more intense use more traffic,
[13:33] more heavier vehicles, kind of
[13:35] more wear and tear on the road,
[13:37] uh, as opposed to a residential
[13:37] property there. There
[13:40] s no max.
[13:43] So if adopted tonight, um,
[13:45] property owners have the option
[13:46] to prepay the assessment within
[13:48] 30 days of tonight, which would
[13:49] be DECEMBER 4th without
[13:51] interest. If not, it goes on,
[13:52] automatically goes on property
[13:54] taxes over a 10-year period, uh,
[13:56] with a 5% interest rate. And
[13:58] there are deferment options
[14:00] available, um, for those who
[14:02] qualify if, um, senior citizens,
[14:03] older fixed income, disabled
[14:05] veterans that usually applies
[14:07] to residential properties, but
[14:08] there are different options
[14:11] available. So the action is to
[14:15] hold a public hearing first and
[14:16] then consider resolution
[14:17] 2024-126, adopting the
[14:20] assessment role of the Cocker
[14:21] exchange improvement project.
[14:22] Uh, with that, I could stand
[14:23] for questions. If the council
[14:27] has any. Very good. Uh, this is
[14:28] a public meeting, your public
[14:30] hearing? Uh, so I will open it
[14:32] up for public. Anybody here
[14:34] wishes to speak about the
[14:36] assessment on concrete exchange
[14:36] improvement for the concret
[14:38] exchange improvement. This is
[14:39] the time. Please step forward.
[14:40] I know there
[14:41] s some business
[14:44] owners here present, not sure
[14:46] if they wanted to discuss or um
[14:48] talk. But this is the time, so
[14:50] if anybody here would like to
[14:53] speak from the public about the
[14:53] assessing for concrete exchange
[14:59] improvement. Uh, seeing none,
[14:59] hearing none, I
[15:00] ll close the
[15:02] public hearing. And turned to
[15:06] council for questions. Comments
[15:08] or motions. Your Honor,
[15:10] Councilmember Sberg. Nick, you
[15:12] pointed out that it was capped
[15:13] at 5% for commercial properties.
[15:15] Can you tell us why that is and
[15:18] how that complies with state
[15:19] statute on assessments for
[15:21] street improvement projects.
[15:23] Sure, that was adopted through
[15:24] the city
[15:24] s assessment policy as
[15:26] a way to, you know, kind of
[15:28] limit how big the assessment
[15:29] amount would be, um, kind of a
[15:30] council decision at the time
[15:32] through our policy is to have
[15:32] an amount that
[15:33] s not, doesn
[15:33] t
[15:37] exceed that. And then we are
[15:39] obligated, so if somebody wants
[15:41] to contest their assessment,
[15:41] we
[15:43] re obligated to follow state
[15:45] statutes, so we have to prove
[15:48] that a property went up in
[15:51] value equal to or greater than
[15:52] the assessment that was the
[15:54] state statute part I was
[15:55] getting at, um, so we
[15:55] re
[15:57] complying with that. We make
[15:58] sure that that
[15:59] s the case in
[15:59] our opinion doesn
[16:00] t mean we
[16:00] re
[16:01] always right, but that
[16:02] s what
[16:04] we try to do, and then the
[16:05] different pots of money that
[16:08] made up The revenue that went
[16:10] into this, we had Minnesota
[16:12] state aid in addition to the
[16:13] developer
[16:13] s money that happened
[16:15] north of Gran we had the
[16:17] sanitary sewer fund and the
[16:18] storm sewer fund, sanitary and
[16:21] storm, we had some differences.
[16:22] You might say substantial
[16:24] differences in the pre-bed
[16:27] versus the post. Those are
[16:27] separate enterprise funds
[16:28] that
[16:29] s a city operates, correct?
[16:30] Yeah, Mayor remembers the
[16:31] council, that
[16:32] s correct. Um, so
[16:34] yeah, if, if somebody does
[16:35] appeal, there is a process on
[16:37] the, on the amount, but We do
[16:38] have the, those enterprise
[16:39] funds are kind of separate pots
[16:41] of money, if you will, for the
[16:42] individual pieces of the work
[16:47] that we do. Thank you. Others
[16:47] can
[16:49] t remember Kalzowski.
[16:50] ,
[16:52] you and the entire staff and
[16:54] all the contractors did a super
[16:55] bang up job on that looks just
[16:57] great. Kudos to all of you.
[17:00] Thank you. Thank you. Very good.
[17:05] Thank you, Councilor. Others? I
[17:06] would agree that it does look
[17:10] nice, um. I also know that We
[17:11] did everything underneath the
[17:17] ground. Sewer water New base so
[17:19] this this road should last us
[17:20] quite some time. I
[17:21] ve noticed
[17:22] now on your drone footage as
[17:23] well as driving on it that
[17:25] there are no cuts in that.
[17:25] That
[17:27] s a one straight. There
[17:28] s
[17:31] no cuts inside the. Asphalt, um,
[17:31] that
[17:32] s nice as well. There
[17:33] s no,
[17:33] there
[17:34] s no noise. And is that a
[17:36] new thing or is that uh the
[17:38] standard of, of roads today
[17:41] that there are no cuts in those.
[17:42] We certainly do everything we
[17:43] can to not have a cut into the
[17:45] new pavement, um, sometimes
[17:45] when you
[17:46] re raising manholes,
[17:47] if you, you know, there
[17:48] s a
[17:48] process to doing that where you
[17:51] can have a cut into the road,
[17:52] um, but we, another reason why
[17:53] we stopped the utilities out so
[17:54] we don
[17:56] t have to cut it in the
[17:57] future, so our goal is always
[17:58] to not have cuts in the rope,
[17:59] but sometimes, you know, we
[17:59] can
[17:59] t. Can
[18:00] t always help it,
[18:00] but that
[18:02] s the goal. Very good,
[18:04] thank you. Your Honor,
[18:06] Councilor s Seberg, I would
[18:09] move to approve Resolution
[18:12] 2024-126. Second Moved by
[18:13] council member Surg, seconded
[18:17] by Bakken. Further discussion,
[18:19] Your Honor, just one more thing,
[18:20] please, please receiver and
[18:22] then Nick, thanks to the
[18:24] businesses down there too,
[18:25] street projects are never fun.
[18:29] Uh We were blessed a little bit
[18:32] with some some decent weather,
[18:33] uh, for the latter part of the
[18:35] summer anyways, but we
[18:36] understand the inconvenience
[18:37] and we appreciate everybody
[18:37] s
[18:37] patience. It
[18:38] s not just the
[18:41] businesses, but on the next
[18:41] project. It
[18:42] s challenging.
[18:42] There
[18:43] s no good way to
[18:46] sugarcoat that. Um, but we
[18:49] appreciate The accessibility
[18:51] that not only the contractor,
[18:53] but Tom had in answering
[18:53] people
[18:53] s questions, so we
[18:56] appreciate that. Yeah, I would
[18:58] echo that Councilor s Seberg
[18:59] with the last year
[18:59] s Concord or
[19:00] the two years prior with
[19:03] Concord. Street and now with
[19:04] Concord Exchange those
[19:05] businesses have gone through a
[19:07] lot, so it is uh probably test
[19:09] of their patience, but now I, I
[19:10] just, I council member s Seri
[19:12] says, thank you for that and
[19:13] appreciate your investment in
[19:14] South Saint Paul. We
[19:14] re hoping
[19:17] Quality Auto will be there
[19:17] another 25 years. So you won
[19:18] t
[19:21] have to see another street
[19:24] project, right? Ok, uh,
[19:25] anything further council, we
[19:29] have a motion a second. Seeing
[19:31] none, MISS. Werner, please call
[19:33] the roll. Council member
[19:34] Steberg Council member Pod
[19:36] Gorski. Council member back in
[19:39] council member Thomson, Council
[19:41] member Hanson, council member
[19:43] Kaluski, Mayor Francis, 70.
[19:45] Thank you very much. Motion
[19:46] approved. Thank you for
[19:48] investing in South Saint Paul.
[19:48] The businesses there on
[19:51] Concrete exchange. Now we move
[19:53] along to assessment hearing for
[19:54] 7th Avenue South reconstruction.
[19:57] MR. Williams, good evening
[19:59] again, Mayor and members of the
[20:01] council, uh, one second I load
[20:03] the presentation. Ok, here we
[20:05] go. This this is the assessment
[20:08] hearing for the 7th Avenue
[20:09] South reconstruction project
[20:10] similar to the last
[20:11] presentation, uh, brief
[20:12] presentation will go through
[20:14] and we can open up, uh,
[20:14] questions and the public
[20:18] hearing at the end. Talk about
[20:19] the summary of the project,
[20:21] cost and funding, uh,
[20:22] assessment policy again, as
[20:25] well as the council action. So
[20:26] this project was the
[20:27] reconstruction and JULY proved
[20:30] the 7 Avenue South from I-494
[20:32] to South Street, 5 blocks of
[20:34] 7th Avenue South and also
[20:36] consisted of the uh water main
[20:38] improvements along the under
[20:43] and along the I-494 corridor.
[20:44] Pre-construction conditions,
[20:46] you can see the the road was
[20:47] definitely past its useful life
[20:48] as well as the water main,
[20:50] being 84 years old, um, did
[20:52] have a history of water main
[20:54] breaks, sanitary sewer was also,
[20:57] uh, old and we were able to, to
[20:58] rehab that roadway drainage was,
[21:00] was kind of lacking. We were
[21:02] able to improve that, and then
[21:04] there was a, uh, sidewalk gap,
[21:06] uh, on the east side between
[21:07] Dale and South Street that
[21:07] s
[21:08] been identified in in several
[21:10] city plans in the past and we
[21:11] were able to, uh, to put that
[21:15] new sidewalk in. And then the,
[21:16] the I-4994 Waterman crossings,
[21:17] this work isn
[21:19] t accessible work,
[21:21] but very important work as we
[21:22] had multiple crossings under
[21:25] that, uh, interstate, um, that
[21:26] were not encased old pipes in
[21:29] the Risk there is if those
[21:32] pipes were ever to burst, you
[21:33] could potentially have sinkhole
[21:34] develop on a major interstate,
[21:36] which nobody wants. So we were
[21:37] able to correct that with this
[21:41] project as well. So the
[21:42] existing conditions, 60 ft
[21:45] right of way, 44 ft wide, um,
[21:45] it
[21:47] s kind of oversized for our
[21:49] new standards, um, twelve-foot
[21:51] lanes, 10-foot shoulders, uh,
[21:54] and then the 7 7.5 ft sidewalk
[21:56] between 494 and Dale. Uh, again,
[21:57] the no sidewalk, there was a
[21:59] gap between Dale and South
[22:02] Street. So what do we consider
[22:03] during road design? Well, this
[22:04] is a state aid road, so that
[22:04] s
[22:05] first and foremost, make sure
[22:09] we meet state aid standards for
[22:11] line width and parking. We did
[22:12] include a 5-foot boulevard for
[22:13] our city
[22:13] s new tree ordinance
[22:15] so we could plant trees in
[22:18] those boulevards. Uh, we
[22:20] addressed that sidewalk gap uh
[22:22] between uh Dale and South that
[22:24] was identified in our 2014 bike
[22:27] plan as well as our comp plan.
[22:29] And we want to make sure it
[22:30] meets our complete streets
[22:31] policies the council adopted in
[22:34] 2019, which, which it does, and
[22:35] then kind of standard is we
[22:37] always try to avoid property
[22:38] acquisition, expensive
[22:40] retaining walls and things of
[22:41] that nature on all projects we
[22:45] we do and reconstruct roads.
[22:46] Summer of the project, so a
[22:47] couple of photos you can see
[22:50] again, I, I think this really
[22:51] turned out amazing, you know,
[22:53] with brand new water main, new
[22:56] services to the curb stop, uh,
[22:57] reline the sanitary sewer
[22:58] manholes when you realign the
[22:59] sanitary sewer, it
[23:00] s basically
[23:02] a new pipe after you reign it,
[23:05] just cheaper to do that. Uh,
[23:06] all brand new storms were
[23:08] through there, uh, replacement
[23:09] and really upgraded the, the
[23:12] drainage of the road, uh, full
[23:13] roadway reconstruction,
[23:14] sidewalk installation, uh, the
[23:14] street lighting, kind of
[23:16] matching. Our new street light
[23:17] standard that we
[23:18] ve seen on
[23:19] Congre Exchange, Concord Street,
[23:21] uh, trying to have a consistent
[23:22] kind of light standard. So if
[23:23] we ever do replace streets,
[23:25] street lights, we have the
[23:28] parts handy. And then, uh,
[23:28] boulevard tree planning, we
[23:29] weren
[23:30] t able to do that this
[23:31] year with the, with the weather,
[23:32] the fall, um, but we are
[23:33] planning to do that in the
[23:34] spring. We
[23:36] ll be contacting, uh,
[23:37] residents about they want a
[23:39] tree, we can work with them to
[23:43] get one. And then 494 work
[23:44] really removing all those
[23:45] redundant crossings, putting
[23:47] one big crossing in, casing
[23:48] that pipe, if there
[23:49] s ever a
[23:49] problem, it
[23:49] s casing, it
[23:50] s not
[23:52] going to undermine the, the
[23:53] surface under the road under
[23:55] the interstate. And then we
[23:57] also upgraded the system with
[23:58] kind of looping it and, you
[23:59] know, kind of making sure it
[24:00] s
[24:04] more resilient, more efficient.
[24:07] So similar photo, um, of the
[24:08] pre-construction versus post,
[24:09] uh, you can kind of see the
[24:10] center lines matching up. You
[24:11] can gives you a good idea of
[24:13] kind of how the road changed,
[24:15] right? From it, it did narrow a
[24:17] bit. Again, that
[24:18] s for our new
[24:19] standards trying to 11 ft lanes
[24:22] with 8 ft parking, uh, I will
[24:24] confirm the parking is 8 ft.
[24:25] From the face of the curve to
[24:27] the middle of the stripe, so
[24:28] that
[24:29] s been verified multiple
[24:32] times, so any concern? That
[24:32] s
[24:33] been addressed, um, and then
[24:36] the 5 ft sidewalk we put in, uh,
[24:39] to have a, a complete sidewalk
[24:45] from 494 down to south. Similar
[24:46] to Congress a cool video to
[24:47] show again, about 30 seconds
[24:53] long. Play that now. So I was
[24:54] traveling southbound on 7th
[24:56] Avenue South. You can see we
[24:58] have street lighting, the
[24:59] 11-foot lanes, 8 ft parking,
[25:02] new curb and gutter. Matched in
[25:04] all the driveways, um, new
[25:06] carriage walks for people, um.
[25:09] Got the new so. Pedestrian
[25:13] improvements with new curb
[25:13] ramps, um, so that pretty much
[25:14] just continues along the hill 5
[25:15] blocks of the road. So thank
[25:19] you to, um, Jacob Steiner, our
[25:20] communications coordinator for
[25:20] for filming this. It
[25:20] s nice to
[25:29] have. Sorry about that. Oops
[25:35] Sorry, ok. Oops, sorry about
[25:41] that. Try this again. Ok, sorry,
[25:42] a little glitchy. All right, on
[25:44] the project cost funding, so,
[25:46] uh, Project To came in about
[25:47] 3.7 million that happy to say
[25:48] that did come in under budget
[25:51] as well. Similar to Conquer
[25:51] s
[25:52] Change, we pretty fortunately
[25:53] we didn
[25:54] t run into any
[25:56] unforeseen conditions. We had
[25:57] good soils, no real, you know,
[25:59] issues. A lot of times they
[25:59] ll
[26:00] run into sub-grade issues. You
[26:00] just, you never know what
[26:01] you
[26:01] re gonna get into when
[26:01] you
[26:02] re, when you
[26:02] re
[26:04] constructing a road, so we got
[26:06] pretty fortunate with that. Uh,
[26:07] everything went very smooth. Um,
[26:10] as you can see by the pricing,
[26:11] uh, everything was, uh, you
[26:12] know, uh, came in, came in
[26:14] really good, so really happy to
[26:20] see that. As far as uh
[26:21] Assessments are concerned,
[26:22] again, this is specially
[26:24] assessed for the city
[26:24] s
[26:26] assessment policy, that rate,
[26:29] uh, is $90.40 per front foot.
[26:33] Uh, there is a 7 75 ft maximum
[26:34] accessible for residential
[26:35] properties. Yeah, if you have a
[26:37] corner lot, you only get
[26:38] assessed on the narrow side,
[26:40] not the long side, and those
[26:42] are also capped at 5%. Uh, you
[26:44] can see the table to the right,
[26:45] kind of what the amounts are,
[26:47] uh, most of the lots on 79
[26:49] South or in the 50 to 40 ft
[26:54] frontage. Payment options have
[26:56] adopted tonight again they have
[26:57] 30, 30 days from tonight, uh,
[27:00] which would be DECEMBER 4th, if
[27:01] adopted to prepay without
[27:03] interest. If not, that does go
[27:05] on property taxes over a
[27:06] 10-year period, 5% interest
[27:09] rate, and, uh, there are
[27:10] different options available if
[27:13] anyone does qualify, uh, senior
[27:14] citizens, fixed incomes,
[27:15] disabled veterans are, are the
[27:17] kind of the categories if, uh,
[27:20] for deferrals. Actually seeing
[27:22] is to hold public hearing and
[27:26] then to consider resolution
[27:27] 2024-127, adopting the
[27:29] assessment role for the 7th
[27:30] himself and I 494 Water main
[27:32] Improvements Project. Uh, that
[27:33] concludes staff
[27:33] s report. I
[27:33] d
[27:34] be happy to answer any
[27:36] questions you MAY have. Thank
[27:38] you, MR. Williams. This is a
[27:39] public hearing, so we will open
[27:42] it up for the public. Anybody
[27:44] here wish to speak about the
[27:45] assessment on 7th Avenue South
[27:47] for the reconstruction. Uh,
[27:48] this is the opportunities.
[27:52] Please step forward. We have
[27:52] questions, comments, or
[28:07] concerned. Welcome. Hello, um,
[28:08] I really don
[28:09] t know anything
[28:13] about this process, but why?
[28:16] Thank you. Why isn
[28:18] t um Why are
[28:21] you holding a hearing now?
[28:22] Rather than before the
[28:25] construction happened. We held
[28:27] a hearing. I, I think you, I
[28:28] remember you being here and
[28:30] speaking at that, right, but
[28:30] now you
[28:34] re Voting on the or
[28:35] Going to determine the
[28:36] assessment if it
[28:38] s Going to
[28:39] follow through or not follow
[28:43] through or Yes, that
[28:45] s, that
[28:45] s
[28:47] the process we, we, we hold it
[28:48] before we let people know we
[28:50] have the call for the bids, we
[28:52] bid it. It gets constructed,
[28:55] and then we assess afterwards.
[28:56] Isn
[28:57] t that like putting the
[28:59] cart before the horse. Well, I
[29:01] think MR. Williams could
[29:04] explain that the The formula is
[29:05] already set, and we talked
[29:07] about that in the beginning as
[29:09] I, I think, again, you had some
[29:12] concerns with that being um. On
[29:14] a fixed income and homeowner,
[29:16] correct, all those things, yeah
[29:18] exactly because it, it almost
[29:18] feels like we never had a voice.
[29:23] We had a voice, uh, for the
[29:25] levy for the proposed increase
[29:27] in our taxes for the schooling
[29:31] uh 1.5% raise in our property
[29:32] taxes to uh additional funding
[29:33] for schools, you know, when
[29:35] they got brand new computers
[29:36] and everything, we voted on
[29:39] that. No problem, but this one
[29:40] I, I feel like we never got a
[29:45] say in the whole matter. And
[29:45] Now the work
[29:48] s been done. But
[29:48] now you
[29:53] re Trying to basically
[29:55] say now should we charge Each
[29:57] and every person that lives on
[30:01] 7th Avenue, an assessment. What
[30:01] if it doesn
[30:04] t pass or I guess,
[30:05] is there a chance of it not
[30:10] passing. I, I, I don
[30:10] t
[30:12] understand the reasoning or the
[30:14] why for here because It feels
[30:15] like we never had a vote in the
[30:18] whole matter. Or we weren
[30:18] t
[30:22] hurt. You, Your Honor,
[30:23] COUNCILMAN Sberg, you bring up
[30:27] good points. I understand where
[30:28] you
[30:28] re coming from, but
[30:28] individual street projects do
[30:32] not go towards a citywide vote.
[30:32] That
[30:32] s not good government.
[30:33] That
[30:36] s Pushing off our
[30:39] responsibility to fix up our
[30:41] infrastructure to a popular
[30:42] opinion at the time. Nobody
[30:44] wants to pay for anything. The
[30:47] first option is free. As you
[30:49] looked at the breakdown, the
[30:51] community as a whole is paying
[30:53] for the overwhelming part of
[30:54] this project. It
[30:54] s important
[30:58] for us to provide good, safe
[30:59] city streets. In addition to
[31:00] that, it
[31:02] s important for you to
[31:04] have adequate water and
[31:07] sanitary service to your curb
[31:07] light. That
[31:08] s not a votable
[31:09] thing. That
[31:10] s not like a levy
[31:12] where you get to say, yeah, you
[31:12] know, we
[31:13] re going to put that
[31:15] in front of everybody in the
[31:15] city. We
[31:18] re going to redo. 5
[31:21] blocks of 7th Avenue South from
[31:24] 494 to South Street. So your
[31:26] vote in this matter and the
[31:26] reason we
[31:27] re certifying this is
[31:27] because it
[31:29] s got to go on the
[31:31] tax rolls to either be
[31:33] collected over the next 10
[31:35] years at a 5% interest rate,
[31:38] which is a good interest rate,
[31:40] or if you qualify for a senior
[31:44] deferral or a fixed income
[31:45] deferral or disability deferral
[31:47] that ball starts. Rolling this
[31:50] evening, so There, you MAY have
[31:51] a difference of opinion on
[31:52] whether we should do a street
[31:56] or not, and we do care. We
[31:56] ve
[31:58] delayed street projects. Which
[31:59] hasn
[31:59] t been the smartest thing
[32:00] to do because we get a room
[32:02] full of folks. Well, this
[32:02] street doesn
[32:03] t need to be done.
[32:04] Well, the price doesn
[32:05] t
[32:07] generally go down. It goes up.
[32:11] And we try to set a fair amount
[32:13] on the front footage that
[32:15] covers a portion of the cost
[32:17] that is set in the state
[32:20] statutes. You can, you have
[32:22] every right to contest that
[32:22] what we
[32:23] re charging is not what
[32:25] you got. In other words, if you
[32:26] don
[32:28] t think the value of your
[32:30] home went up by the amount
[32:30] you
[32:31] re being assessed, you can
[32:33] challenge that. You have every
[32:34] right to do that. It
[32:34] s up to us.
[32:39] To only assess what we believe
[32:42] the value of the homes went up.
[32:42] That
[32:43] s our responsibility, so
[32:43] we
[32:44] re not, we
[32:46] re not trying to
[32:48] do anything sneaky, but if we
[32:50] literally voted on every street
[32:51] project in the community.
[32:52] Hardly any of them would get
[32:57] accomplished. Because again, or
[33:00] If the city paid the entire
[33:02] cost of every street project.
[33:04] The amount of assessments on
[33:06] this project that get assessed
[33:09] back to the homeowner is what,
[33:17] 4 462. What was it???????
[33:18] 4,621,462,000. If we added
[33:21] 462,000 to the general levy.
[33:26] Either in this year or in 2025
[33:27] to pay this, everybody
[33:28] s taxes
[33:30] would go up in the finance
[33:31] director just left. My best
[33:33] guess. And don
[33:35] t quote me on
[33:36] Facebook on this because that
[33:36] s
[33:39] what the finance persons for
[33:43] would be over 5%. So we don
[33:47] t
[33:47] have the luxury of paying for
[33:47] all street assessments or
[33:49] paying for the entire cost of
[33:53] every street project. The the
[33:55] water services in the street.
[33:58] Is paid by you and me. The
[33:58] city
[34:00] s portion of the street is
[34:01] paid by you and me and
[34:03] everybody that lives in the
[34:04] community that
[34:06] s not assessed,
[34:07] so street assessment hearings
[34:09] are always the hardest hearings
[34:10] for us because we
[34:11] re asking
[34:14] people to pay money. What we
[34:14] ve
[34:16] consistently tried to do
[34:17] through the time I
[34:18] ve been here
[34:21] is treat them all the same so
[34:21] nobody gets preferential
[34:23] treatment. We
[34:24] re all paying a
[34:25] portion of everybody
[34:27] s street.
[34:29] The the project before yours
[34:30] was concrete exchange. You paid
[34:32] for a part of that. You
[34:33] re not
[34:34] getting assessed on that
[34:35] yourself where you
[34:36] re writing a
[34:37] check every month. But through
[34:39] your property taxes, you paid a
[34:41] portion of that. You paid a
[34:43] portion of 5th Avenue. The
[34:44] people on 5th Avenue are paying
[34:46] a portion of the 7th Avenue
[34:47] Street. It
[34:48] s always been our
[34:51] thinking that all of the public
[34:53] streets are truly public and we
[34:54] all have an investment that we
[34:57] need to make. In that
[35:00] infrastructure to keep our
[35:01] streets workable and travelable
[35:03] to keep our sidewalks in good
[35:05] condition, but more importantly
[35:07] for us to make sure that when
[35:10] it rains, The water drains and
[35:12] it goes someplace. And when you
[35:14] turn on your tap, You
[35:14] re
[35:16] getting water that comes out of
[35:19] your tap, and believe me, we
[35:19] ve
[35:21] run the numbers countless times
[35:22] over the years. If we can
[35:25] afford to pay for everybody
[35:25] s
[35:27] street projects entirely. We
[35:29] would love to do that, but it
[35:30] s
[35:31] not necessarily the fairest and
[35:34] most equitable way to do it. So
[35:34] I hear what you
[35:35] re saying. I
[35:38] appreciate you coming here. The
[35:39] only thing that uh leftover
[35:43] thing that I have is When I
[35:44] turned the faucet on, water
[35:46] came out. When I flush the
[35:52] toilet. It went down, um. To my
[35:53] knowledge, there wasn
[35:53] t a
[35:58] problem. I know that the street
[36:01] itself looked. Hideous. To say
[36:11] the least. Basically He gave
[36:13] the street a facelift. We read
[36:14] no, that
[36:15] s not true though. If
[36:16] I might point that out, we
[36:17] didn
[36:19] t give the street a
[36:22] facelift. We gave him an
[36:23] extensive rebuild that
[36:23] s going
[36:25] to last another 25 years, that
[36:28] water main that was under there
[36:30] was 84 years old. It
[36:30] s like
[36:32] your house. How long does your
[36:35] roof last? I
[36:37] m asking you about
[36:39] Can you put it off another 2
[36:40] years of times are tough. Sure
[36:42] you can, but then what happens?
[36:42] It
[36:43] s got to be done at some
[36:47] point, right? And it generally
[36:47] Doesn
[36:49] t get any less expensive.
[36:51] Understandably so but there
[36:51] wasn
[36:53] t a problem. There was a
[36:54] huge problem with that street.
[36:56] It was laid out in the
[36:57] presentation and in the public
[36:58] hearings six months ago about
[37:00] the sewer system and the water
[37:02] system. There was no, it was
[37:03] televised. There was a
[37:04] challenge with the water and
[37:06] sewer system. It was being
[37:07] degraded and it was going to
[37:09] start to leak. We
[37:10] ve had
[37:12] multiple water main breaks
[37:13] coming under 494 and in the
[37:15] south end of town that had to
[37:16] be addressed. We just couldn
[37:16] t
[37:18] put it off any longer because
[37:21] your taxes and my taxes, pay
[37:23] for the water department to fix
[37:24] those water main breaks every
[37:24] time there
[37:26] s a water main
[37:29] breaks at a certain point it
[37:30] becomes more economically
[37:31] feasible for everybody that
[37:34] lives in this community. To
[37:36] redo a street where you have
[37:38] multiple challenges instead of
[37:39] patching it with asphalt,
[37:41] digging up the street to fix a
[37:43] water main break, digging up
[37:45] the street to fix a sanitary
[37:48] sewer break. If I had my way, I
[37:49] wish that everything would last
[37:52] 100 years. It would make our
[37:54] Our obligation up here much,
[37:55] much simpler and we wouldn
[37:55] t
[37:58] have to send you a bill, but
[37:58] that
[38:00] s not reality. To my
[38:03] knowledge, the, I think the
[38:04] company
[38:06] s name was Inogenesis
[38:09] or the, the, the sewer guys.
[38:14] They lined The sewers From 494
[38:17] all the way to South. They were
[38:20] just lined. There were no
[38:25] actual pipes. Removed From my
[38:27] understanding. Now I was out
[38:28] there seeing them dig every day.
[38:32] Spoke to one of the foremen,
[38:35] they said, well, This is almost
[38:36] better than replacing the pipes,
[38:38] that type of thing. It
[38:38] ll last
[38:43] another 20 years. And I just
[38:47] found it. Pretty interesting
[38:48] because the reason why all the
[38:50] digging up and everything else,
[38:52] I believe. Was because we were
[38:55] gonna get New sewer pipes, or
[38:58] at least You know, upgraded
[39:01] ones, but You know, I saw them
[39:05] do the lining and everything.
[39:05] So they
[39:07] re good for another 20
[39:10] more years or so. So if a
[39:13] problem happens, Are we looking
[39:18] at this all over again? And not
[39:18] being cosmetic in front, you
[39:20] know, make it look nice because
[39:22] it does look great. It looks
[39:23] fantastic, you know, 7th Avenue,
[39:24] but that
[39:25] s not gonna last if
[39:27] they continue having semi
[39:28] tractor trailer trucks drive
[39:29] down the road. Let
[39:30] s, let
[39:31] s let
[39:33] that Nick uh answer the lining
[39:35] question? Sure, yeah, Mayorman
[39:37] is the council. So sanitary
[39:38] sewer lining as opposed to
[39:40] water main, you, you can line,
[39:41] a sewer. It
[39:42] s a, it
[39:42] s a process
[39:45] called, um, cast in place or
[39:47] cured in place, uh, piping, so
[39:49] it basically ends up being a
[39:50] brand new pipe when you
[39:50] re done.
[39:52] So the, the beauty is if it
[39:52] s
[39:54] in good enough condition is you
[39:55] can just line it, which ends up
[39:56] being a brand new pipe in the
[40:01] end. Basically it gets the same
[40:02] useful life you just you get
[40:03] more than 20 years out of it,
[40:03] we
[40:05] ll probably get 50 years out
[40:06] of it, um, you know, so there
[40:06] s,
[40:06] there
[40:07] s no need to replace the
[40:09] pipe at that point when you can
[40:10] light it. Now Waterman, you
[40:10] can
[40:11] t do that, and the water
[40:13] main, has to be fully replaced
[40:14] and removed, and that
[40:15] s what we
[40:15] did in this situation. And
[40:17] there was a history of water
[40:19] main breaks through that
[40:20] corridor and that
[40:20] s the reason
[40:22] why we, we needed to replace
[40:23] the water main, um, to answer a
[40:25] couple more questions, she
[40:28] mentioned, um. Is we during the
[40:30] assessment process, we have a
[40:31] feasibility study that that
[40:31] s
[40:32] done and a public improvement
[40:34] hearing at that hearing,
[40:35] everyone
[40:36] s kind of told what
[40:38] the preliminary assessment role
[40:40] will be. So that was presented
[40:41] at that public hearing, and
[40:44] everyone got a notice of what
[40:45] the proposed assessment would
[40:47] be, so this is really not new
[40:47] information we
[40:48] re providing
[40:48] tonight. It
[40:49] s just kind of the
[40:51] formality of the assessment,
[40:52] adopting it, um, and then we
[40:54] also presented that at at the
[40:55] uh neighborhood meeting, which
[40:55] I, I know you
[40:55] re at, we present.
[40:58] That kind of assessment
[40:59] discussion at that as well. So
[41:00] i just wanted to let the
[41:02] council know about that. Your
[41:05] Honor, just just I could ask.
[41:09] Council Please, by officially
[41:10] adopting the assessment, it
[41:13] gives Residents who are being
[41:15] assessed, it starts the time
[41:16] clock on contesting the
[41:19] assessment, does it not? So
[41:20] that
[41:22] s part of the formal
[41:24] process too, and Again, there
[41:24] s
[41:25] no hard feelings if you don
[41:26] t
[41:26] believe that you
[41:27] re getting
[41:27] your money
[41:28] s worth out of this
[41:33] project, you can pursue that.
[41:34] The only difference I see was
[41:36] that what was said at the
[41:37] preliminary meetings like you
[41:38] were stating and everything as
[41:40] far as uh And what we were
[41:46] presented with. The main reason
[41:50] Was to replace 85 year old
[41:53] pipes. That was the crux of the
[41:56] meeting to replace 85 year old
[41:57] pipes after Inogenesis did
[41:59] their evaluation and they put
[42:01] the, the, the camera, the
[42:01] microscopic camera through the
[42:05] tube and everything. One of the
[42:06] foremans kind of stood up and
[42:08] said, why do we want to create
[42:09] a problem when we can take care
[42:13] of it this way. And that
[42:13] s when
[42:15] the lining came into play and
[42:16] everything else and I don
[42:16] t
[42:20] know Much about uh, you know,
[42:22] lining or this or that or. I
[42:22] don
[42:25] t know, but What I was
[42:28] expecting and what I was.
[42:30] Believing what would happen was
[42:31] 85 year old pipes would be dug
[42:33] out of the ground, which is why
[42:35] they were going to The massive
[42:38] area in front of my house. And
[42:43] Replace The sewer pipes,
[42:43] because they
[42:46] re 85 years old.
[42:46] That didn
[42:47] t happen. They lined
[42:51] the sewer. I don
[42:52] t know about
[42:53] the newer technology. I don
[42:54] t
[42:56] know about anything else and it
[42:58] probably is going to be ok, but
[43:01] what was said at this other
[43:04] meeting was not what happened.
[43:04] That
[43:04] s what I
[43:07] m getting at. And
[43:09] for residents like myself that
[43:11] saw every single day. The
[43:12] construction and everything
[43:15] moving along with it. I felt
[43:17] kind of helpless. Because I
[43:18] didn
[43:18] t know exactly what was
[43:24] going on. Sure. And um MR.
[43:25] Williams, uh, you had mentioned
[43:27] that there was a reduction in
[43:29] cost would that anything to do
[43:31] with uh the The lining of the
[43:33] pipes. I know we were under
[43:35] budget by the foreman told me
[43:37] that too at at right after they
[43:41] put the micro uh or the Scope,
[43:43] the scope down and basically
[43:46] said, If we started cracking
[43:48] into the sewer pipes and
[43:48] everything. We
[43:51] re gonna put
[43:53] Newer technology with older
[43:54] receiving pipes and everything,
[43:54] we
[43:58] re gonna cause a problem.
[43:58] And that
[43:59] s why I understood
[44:00] what he was saying, but what
[44:02] was said at the meeting and
[44:03] then said, and then what
[44:08] happened? To me, there are two
[44:09] different things, and
[44:09] somebody
[44:11] s got to be aware of
[44:12] this. MR. Williams answer that,
[44:13] and then, uh, can
[44:15] t remember.
[44:16] Yeah, mayor and members of the
[44:18] council, the plan was to always
[44:20] line those sewers, if you look
[44:21] back at our feasibility stage.
[44:23] The plan was to always line the
[44:24] sanitary sewer again, there
[44:24] s
[44:26] no need to replace the pipe
[44:26] when it
[44:27] s in good enough
[44:27] condition where you can line it
[44:29] because you end up with a new
[44:31] pipe at the end. Um, as far as
[44:33] the costs are concerned, um, it
[44:35] was always a plan to line it,
[44:37] um, the cost reduction you see
[44:38] is we have less services that
[44:41] we run into. So sometimes we,
[44:42] if the services are where the
[44:44] water main is, we have to
[44:45] replace their service and so
[44:47] sometimes that can get costly,
[44:48] so we have to assume we
[44:48] re
[44:49] going to replace so many in
[44:50] this case we
[44:51] re able to do that
[44:52] work without replacing those,
[44:54] but the plan was always line it,
[44:55] we shared that at the
[44:56] neighborhood meeting, we shared
[44:57] that in a feasibility study
[45:00] that was always the plan. I
[45:00] can
[45:02] t Hanson and I also think
[45:03] that um it
[45:06] s a good example. To
[45:07] the residents of how we hire
[45:09] people to go in and do a
[45:10] project, and if they see
[45:12] something or some way it can be
[45:13] done better. I think that
[45:13] s a
[45:16] good thing. So even they
[45:17] expected something different
[45:18] what you got was probably
[45:21] better so. I appreciate the
[45:23] fact that that our employees
[45:25] and the people we hire take the
[45:26] time to check that. I
[45:27] m, I
[45:27] m
[45:29] impressed that you were able to
[45:30] talk with them and they
[45:30] explained it all so I think
[45:31] that that
[45:35] s great. And if I, if
[45:37] I MAY add, um, during
[45:39] construction, we, we go above
[45:40] and beyond to communicate the
[45:41] the items of work that were
[45:42] happening. I, I don
[45:42] t know if
[45:44] you were on the email list that
[45:48] Kelsey had sent out weekly, but,
[45:49] um, we did communicate um very
[45:50] frequently with, with the
[45:51] neighborhood to let people know
[45:53] what was happening, what to
[45:54] expect, all of our contact info
[45:55] was there. I think you
[45:55] ve
[45:57] talked to Tom a few times in
[45:59] the field during construction,
[45:59] so you
[46:00] re kind of aware of what
[46:01] was happening. I just wanted to
[46:02] make sure you were, you were
[46:08] aware of that. Ok. But um Maybe
[46:12] just uh And update or advise us,
[46:15] you know. The difference
[46:18] because uh The yard got torn up.
[46:22] My tree roots, the big tree on
[46:25] 7th Avenue takes up lot of
[46:28] space, um, were exposed. They
[46:29] put side on it, but uh I don
[46:30] t
[46:30] know if that
[46:30] s going to catch
[46:34] in. There
[46:35] s a possibility of
[46:37] that huge tree which was there
[46:39] since before I was Even moved
[46:40] into the place and everything.
[46:40] I don
[46:41] t know if that
[46:42] s gonna
[46:43] survive because they really did
[46:45] cut in. To the property line
[46:48] and the root. So I
[46:48] m hoping
[46:51] that it comes back. But I
[46:52] m
[46:53] pretty sure that when they were
[46:54] cutting and everything, they
[46:55] were cutting to replace the
[46:57] sewer line. And not just Line
[47:02] it. So What
[47:05] s your address?
[47:06] 1120 7th Avenue. So, the
[47:09] massive tree in the front yard,
[47:09] that
[47:14] s my big baby. Ok Thank
[47:16] you. Thank you. Thank you for
[47:18] coming down. This is a public
[47:20] hearing. Anybody here else wish
[47:22] to speak on the assessment
[47:23] hearing for 7th Avenue South
[47:24] Reconstruction. This is the
[47:28] time, please step forward. This
[47:29] is a public meeting and it is
[47:32] open. For public consideration,
[47:36] comment. I
[47:37] ll ask one more time
[47:39] if anybody is here that wishes
[47:40] to speak again on the
[47:41] assessment hearing for 7th
[47:45] Avenue South Reconstruction.
[47:47] Seeing none a closed public
[47:51] hearing. Turn to council for
[47:53] questions, Councilor Hansen. Um,
[47:55] first of all, I would like to,
[47:58] uh, make a motion to approve
[48:00] the project number 2023-12.
[48:01] Then after that I have
[48:03] something else to say. Motion
[48:07] by Hansen for approval. 2 by.
[48:11] Kalzewski. Further discussion,
[48:14] Councillorhansson. I was so
[48:16] impressed by how that project
[48:17] turned out. If you haven
[48:18] t had
[48:21] time yet to take a drive down
[48:22] 7th Avenue South. It
[48:22] s
[48:23] beautiful. I hope all of our
[48:25] streets end up looking like
[48:27] that in town because it, they
[48:30] did a great job. I heard
[48:32] nothing but compliments about
[48:33] McNamara, the construction
[48:34] company that worked on that,
[48:35] and obviously, it, you know,
[48:37] just the way they talk to the
[48:39] the people that live there,
[48:41] they were all more several
[48:42] people actually came up and
[48:44] told me what. A great job they
[48:44] did, and they
[48:45] d be out there
[48:45] working and they
[48:46] d be cleaning
[48:49] up, and he said, um, they were
[48:50] just very impressed by the
[48:51] company that did the work and
[48:53] so that makes me feel good that
[48:56] we made a good choice and we
[48:57] did have some discussion about
[48:59] the width of the street, and
[48:59] I
[49:00] m pleased that it turned out
[49:03] very well. That
[49:04] s it. Thank you,
[49:09] Councilor. Others. I would echo
[49:09] Council member Hanson
[49:12] s um,
[49:14] Comments about the project, um,
[49:16] I was not for the sidewalk, um,
[49:18] I think I was the only
[49:19] dissenting vote for for the
[49:24] sidewalk, um. But Like most
[49:26] projects, when there
[49:27] s a
[49:28] dissension and approval. We
[49:30] continue to support that and
[49:32] having walked that whole strip
[49:34] with uh Tom Madigan, who is our
[49:36] project superintendent. I, I
[49:39] too was impressed at at how it
[49:41] turned out and um. Also we
[49:41] re
[49:43] very fortunate in the city of
[49:43] South Saint Paul, ma
[49:44] am, you,
[49:45] you met with Tom and others
[49:48] have met with Tom as, as well.
[49:51] Uh, he spent An absorbitant
[49:52] amount of time making sure
[49:53] people were aware of what was
[49:55] going on and making sure that
[49:57] it was the project came out the
[49:59] way it does from designing um
[50:02] to Execution to working with
[50:05] the contractors and folks I can
[50:07] tell you that we are so lucky
[50:09] to have Tom on our team for
[50:10] your sake, he
[50:11] s there to make
[50:13] sure that the project gets done
[50:14] to the specifications and that
[50:16] nothing gets missed and there
[50:16] s
[50:20] no no things cut corners cut
[50:20] and so again we
[50:21] re, I
[50:22] m very
[50:23] impressed at seeing that, um,
[50:23] I
[50:27] m. More of a fan of sidewalks
[50:29] than I was before. I think that
[50:32] it turned out. Better than I
[50:33] anticipated with a sidewalk,
[50:36] and I think it really does help
[50:37] our connect our community from
[50:38] north to south, and so I
[50:39] m, I
[50:39] m
[50:40] impressed with that. So thank
[50:41] you, Councilmember Hanson for
[50:43] bringing that forward.
[50:45] Councilor Bakken, I actually
[50:47] have a question and a comment.
[50:50] I love the sidewalk, actually,
[50:51] um, the track team and the
[50:55] cross country team use it a lot
[50:58] to run and as we redo a lot of
[50:59] the projects in South Saint
[51:00] Paul. We
[51:03] re an old city. And
[51:04] accessibility wasn
[51:04] t
[51:05] necessarily a thing when we
[51:07] were created back in the day.
[51:09] So the fact that we have 3 ft
[51:12] sidewalks, kids. Anybody
[51:14] wheelchairs, they all can get
[51:16] down, um, to upper fifty-fifth
[51:18] safely. Um, that was a pretty
[51:19] wide road to just have
[51:20] pedestrians pretty much on the
[51:22] street or in people
[51:23] s yards. So
[51:27] I, I think that um, is, um, I
[51:27] think that
[51:28] s the prize of it
[51:30] all, other than the, the road
[51:32] being redone. I do have a
[51:34] question, a follow up about the
[51:37] trees, um, will people get an
[51:37] option to have a tree? You said
[51:40] you were going to be contacting
[51:41] residents or um, are they, are
[51:43] they just going to be planted
[51:47] in a certain Sure, uh, Mayor
[51:47] mayor and members of the
[51:49] council, we will be asking
[51:51] people if they want a tree. Now
[51:51] they
[51:54] re certain. Criteria
[51:56] involved if we have private
[51:58] utilities or our our water main
[52:00] or sewer in the way, then they
[52:00] can
[52:02] t put a tree there on their
[52:03] property. We don
[52:03] t want that
[52:05] growing into our new pipes, but
[52:06] we are giving people the option
[52:08] if they do want a tree, um,
[52:08] we
[52:09] ll be reaching out this
[52:11] spring and, uh, offering those
[52:12] up to people. So they do have
[52:14] an option, yes. Perfect. Thank
[52:21] you. Others Xinan motion the
[52:23] 2nd. MS. Werner, please call
[52:26] the roll. Council member Pad
[52:28] Gorski. Yes, council member
[52:31] Thompson. Yes. Council member
[52:34] Keleski, council member back in
[52:36] Mayor Francis, council member
[52:37] Hanson, Council member Curg.
[52:42] Yes. 70. Thank you very much.
[52:44] Motion is approved. Thank you
[52:45] all residents for investing in
[52:47] South Saint Paul and uh those
[52:49] that worked on that project,
[52:50] getting that buttoned up before
[52:53] the end of the year. Moving on
[52:54] from our public hearings to
[52:58] general business. First is a
[52:58] preliminary development
[52:59] agreement llc at the Hardman
[53:05] Triangle Phase one. Doctor
[53:08] Garcia, welcome. Thank you. MR.
[53:10] Mayor, members of the council,
[53:11] uh, item 10a. Tonight we are
[53:13] seeking approval of a
[53:14] preliminary development
[53:17] agreement with That llc or eda
[53:20] owned property. At the corner
[53:21] of Grand Avenue and Concord
[53:24] Street. Um, just a quick
[53:26] summary, the agreement is
[53:28] enclosed in the in tonight
[53:28] s
[53:29] packet, uh, but just a quick
[53:32] summary of that agreement. This
[53:34] establishes an exclusive
[53:35] relationship between this
[53:36] developer and the eda and the
[53:39] city. Uh, to explore a
[53:40] development opportunity at the
[53:41] southwest corner of what we
[53:45] call the Hardman Triangle. Um
[53:46] Key provisions of the agreement,
[53:49] the eda in the city for this
[53:51] agreement agreed to provide the
[53:53] developer with various studies
[53:55] and data and reports about the
[53:58] conditions impacting the site
[53:59] and impacting the development.
[54:01] The eda and City agreed to
[54:02] identify and evaluate potential
[54:04] public costs that might be
[54:06] associated with pursuing the
[54:08] developments such as new
[54:10] streets or utility extensions
[54:11] to serve the development and
[54:13] the eda and the city agreed to
[54:16] negotiate in good faith. Uh,
[54:18] the execution of a purchase and
[54:19] development agreement or, uh,
[54:22] agreements plural. The
[54:24] agreement also obligates the
[54:26] developer to develop and submit
[54:27] development plans for city
[54:30] approvals in a timely fashion,
[54:31] uh, to conduct their own due
[54:33] diligence on the feasibility of
[54:36] the development. Uh, to obtain
[54:37] financing to complete the
[54:39] project, and similarly to
[54:41] negotiate in good faith with
[54:43] the eda and cities towards the
[54:43] purchase and development
[54:49] agreement or agreements. A
[54:51] couple of other key provisions,
[54:54] the agreement itself is
[54:55] effective through AUGUST 30th
[54:58] of 2025, the developer has
[55:00] indicated a desire to uh
[55:02] hopefully break ground in the
[55:05] late 2nd quarter to early 3rd
[55:10] quarter of 2025. The agreement
[55:11] proposes option payments
[55:12] $15,000 due at execution. This
[55:15] would, uh, be, uh, not only to
[55:17] secure that exclusive right to
[55:18] pursue the development of this
[55:20] property, but also, uh, to
[55:22] cover any of the EDAs or the
[55:23] city
[55:24] s administrative costs
[55:25] that might be associated with
[55:28] reviewing this development such
[55:29] as financial consultants.
[55:29] There
[55:30] s a master plan that
[55:30] we
[55:32] re looking at as well on the
[55:34] eda agenda tonight, uh, some of
[55:34] those other administrative
[55:39] costs. In addition to that
[55:41] $15,000 if the agreement is not
[55:43] terminated before these
[55:45] milestone dates additional
[55:47] $5000 progress payments to keep
[55:50] the site under option are due
[55:53] on JANUARY 1st of 25, APRIL 1st
[55:58] of 25, and JULY 1st of 25.
[56:01] Final point, um, The agreement
[56:02] itself does contemplate and
[56:04] acknowledge that there MAY be a
[56:06] request in the future for
[56:08] potential financial assistance,
[56:09] whether that
[56:10] s through various
[56:12] grant and loan programs that
[56:15] the eda is aware of or through
[56:17] the establishment of tax
[56:18] increment finance district for
[56:19] the project. The project, as
[56:21] you can see, does propose
[56:23] multiple phases of mixed-use
[56:25] development, uh, the site is,
[56:29] as everybody knows, um. A
[56:30] former former industrial campus
[56:33] location for Swift and Company,
[56:35] uh, meat meat processing, uh,
[56:37] and we have encountered some
[56:38] underground conditions in our
[56:40] due diligence of the site in
[56:42] our demolition of the buildings
[56:43] that were there previously. Uh,
[56:45] so there MAY be a need for some
[56:46] of those financial assistance
[56:48] programs to To make the
[56:52] development a reality. If that
[56:53] financial assistance is
[56:54] ultimately pursued in the
[56:56] future. It would require the
[57:01] eda to review and approve, uh,
[57:02] development plan confirmation
[57:04] again independently through our
[57:06] financial consultant of any
[57:07] financial cost estimates for
[57:08] all phases and components of
[57:10] the project. And it would
[57:11] require its own public hearing
[57:13] and review again at a future
[57:15] date once some of those terms
[57:16] and conditions are, are
[57:19] understood. But at this stage
[57:21] we are looking for approval, a
[57:24] motion to approve a preliminary
[57:25] development agreement between
[57:29] sas. The city and the eda. Uh,
[57:30] which would thereby authorize
[57:32] the mayor and the city clerk to
[57:34] execute the agreement, subject
[57:35] to minor revisions meeting the
[57:35] city attorney
[57:36] s approval. Happy
[57:38] to answer your questions. Thank
[57:40] you, MR. Garcia. Very exciting.
[57:42] This is, um, can you go back to
[57:45] the, the picture and and
[57:46] perhaps maybe just go a little
[57:47] bit into detail on, on the
[57:51] house, yes, and uh what each of
[57:53] those would entail just for the,
[57:54] for the general public. Thank
[57:59] you, yeah, um, the developer is
[58:00] 11 NOVEMBER 2024 schematic
[58:03] concept for the site, uh,
[58:05] proposes a building along
[58:07] Concord Street. This would be a
[58:08] residential building. Market
[58:11] rates. Apartment development,
[58:14] about 140 to 150 units total.
[58:15] With underground parking under
[58:18] building parking. Uh The other
[58:20] component of that first phase
[58:21] of the development as they
[58:21] re
[58:24] proposing it is about a 30,000
[58:26] square foot, what they call
[58:27] destination retail, uh, right
[58:27] now they
[58:30] re working with. A
[58:30] group that
[58:32] s interested in um
[58:33] establishing recreational
[58:36] indoor sort of commercial
[58:37] recreational indoor pickleball
[58:39] facilities so folks could go.
[58:42] You know, rent a court and
[58:44] joined friends for a friendly
[58:47] spirited game of pickleball.
[58:50] That concept is also tied to an
[58:53] independent um full service
[58:54] restaurant which has the number
[58:58] 4 on the map. On the screen
[59:01] should be again about a 300 to
[59:02] 5000 square foot full service
[59:04] restaurant with um with, you
[59:06] know, indoor and outdoor
[59:08] seating, uh, full kitchen, uh
[59:11] bar that would be Really not
[59:12] not directly affiliated with
[59:13] the destination retail but
[59:14] would have some shared service
[59:17] opportunities there. Um And
[59:19] then uh with number 2, there
[59:20] are housing b, that
[59:21] s a
[59:23] potential future phase of
[59:24] additional residential
[59:25] development. This schematic is
[59:28] still pretty early. We are
[59:29] looking at other concepts for
[59:31] the site in terms of how it
[59:32] would lay out and uh whether
[59:35] all of those buildings would
[59:37] actually uh work and fit on the
[59:39] site, so this is subject to
[59:40] some revision again as we get
[59:43] into that due diligence process,
[59:46] but um this is again the
[59:47] preliminary schematic concept
[59:48] really anchored by that that
[59:50] housing, that first building
[59:52] along Concord Street and the
[59:52] destination retail and
[59:54] restaurant development. Very
[59:58] good, thank you. That, that
[59:58] shouldn
[59:59] t get people excited.
[1:00:03] Um, it should be noted that um.
[1:00:04] Economic development has been
[1:00:06] working on the Hardmann
[1:00:09] Triangle for 7 to 8 years and
[1:00:13] this. Agreement is helping us
[1:00:14] move that forward, that vision
[1:00:17] forward and really is going to,
[1:00:21] I believe, um. Catapult that uh
[1:00:23] piece of property into more
[1:00:24] development New Concord Street,
[1:00:25] New Concord Exchange, great
[1:00:26] opportunities down there. Thank
[1:00:28] you for the presentation.
[1:00:29] Questions, comments from
[1:00:34] council. Motions Your Honor,
[1:00:36] Councilor Sberg, I would so
[1:00:39] move approval. Second, moved to
[1:00:40] approve by Council s Seber,
[1:00:43] seconded by Thompson. Further
[1:00:44] discussion, Councilor Murray
[1:00:44] Thompson, I
[1:00:46] d also like to
[1:00:47] basically echo your statements
[1:00:49] that I think, you know, for the
[1:00:50] public to understand that this
[1:00:51] is a really exciting
[1:00:52] opportunity, I think, to get
[1:00:55] the Harbin Triangle to start
[1:00:56] the development that we
[1:00:57] ve been
[1:00:57] talking about for years, you
[1:01:00] know, we have, we have people
[1:01:01] living down there now, and now
[1:01:02] this is another development
[1:01:02] where we
[1:01:04] re, we are looking at
[1:01:04] potentially getting a
[1:01:06] restaurant, uh, retail
[1:01:08] destination, a place for people
[1:01:10] to go. People somewhere where
[1:01:11] people want to go, come into
[1:01:13] South Saint Paul and enjoy
[1:01:16] something and so this is, I
[1:01:17] think, I hope the springboard
[1:01:18] to continue to develop in
[1:01:20] Harbin Triangle, so, um, I
[1:01:20] m
[1:01:21] really looking forward to the
[1:01:22] development of this project.
[1:01:29] Thank you. As am I. Others
[1:01:32] Hearing none We have a motion
[1:01:33] to second, MS. Werner, please
[1:01:35] call the roll. Council member
[1:01:37] Thompson. Yes. Council member
[1:01:39] Kal Zeski, Mayor Francis,
[1:01:41] council member Bakke. Council
[1:01:43] member Hanson, Council member
[1:01:45] Curg, Council member Pat Gorski.
[1:01:48] 70. Thank you very much. Motion
[1:01:51] passes. Uh, thank you to, uh,
[1:01:54] Zavvi and te Miller Development
[1:01:55] for um looking to invest in
[1:02:00] South Saint Paul. That does it
[1:02:02] for our Business here tonight,
[1:02:04] our general business. Uh
[1:02:08] council Communications would
[1:02:09] like to start. Can
[1:02:09] t remember
[1:02:11] Kalzewski. Thank you, Your
[1:02:13] Honor. Uh, last Thursday,
[1:02:14] Halloween over on Marie Avenue
[1:02:16] was just fantastic. Did anybody
[1:02:17] get a count of how many people
[1:02:19] were there. I guess I made it
[1:02:22] out about 3000 people. There is
[1:02:23] a tremendous crowd there,
[1:02:25] tremendous, uh, great night, a
[1:02:27] little cold but but great night
[1:02:28] and uh everybody had a great
[1:02:30] time. Some great costumes there
[1:02:36] too. And also my lawn service
[1:02:37] note for the communications
[1:02:38] keep those leaves out of the
[1:02:39] street, please use the compost
[1:02:40] site. I
[1:02:41] ve been down there a
[1:02:43] couple of times. That place is
[1:02:45] fantastic. Buck a bag. By big
[1:02:46] banks, it
[1:02:47] s only $1 so it
[1:02:48] s uh.
[1:02:49] Well worth it for everybody
[1:02:50] down there to dump all the
[1:02:52] leaves off. Very good. They can
[1:02:54] find that information on our
[1:02:56] city website and good luck to
[1:02:57] the candidates that are up for
[1:03:00] election, so. Thank you,
[1:03:02] council member. Others?
[1:03:05] Councilor Hanson. Um, first,
[1:03:06] I
[1:03:09] d like to, um, tell everyone
[1:03:11] about Thursday, NOVEMBER 14th,
[1:03:12] which is coming up soon. It
[1:03:13] s
[1:03:15] the South Saint Paul senior
[1:03:16] citizens Thanksgiving dinner,
[1:03:17] so it
[1:03:18] s free for the over 55
[1:03:20] year old group. Sorry, I
[1:03:20] m not
[1:03:23] going to be here to go, but um
[1:03:24] it
[1:03:25] s being sponsored by
[1:03:26] Protouch Wakota Federal Credit
[1:03:28] Union, Lyons, and the partners
[1:03:30] of South Saint Paul School
[1:03:33] District, Boy Scout to 9095 and
[1:03:33] Mayor
[1:03:35] s Youth Task Force. You
[1:03:36] can find more information on
[1:03:37] the website and Facebook if you
[1:03:38] need it, but that
[1:03:38] s coming up
[1:03:39] quick. It
[1:03:41] s hard to believe
[1:03:42] that it
[1:03:42] s practically
[1:03:43] Thanksgiving. Um, the other
[1:03:43] thing I
[1:03:45] d like to mention too
[1:03:48] is um council member Kalzowski
[1:03:49] talked about Halloween, so I
[1:03:52] was at the, the event and Marie
[1:03:54] and after was all I went home
[1:03:55] and I decided, well I
[1:03:56] m gonna
[1:03:58] hand out some candy. So I did
[1:04:00] and I have to tell you I was so
[1:04:02] impressed by all the kids who
[1:04:04] came to my door. They were all
[1:04:05] always happy, smiling, and from
[1:04:07] the littlest to the the older
[1:04:10] ones, they were very polite and
[1:04:10] I
[1:04:12] m just impressed by the, the
[1:04:13] kids that came around on
[1:04:13] Halloween, and I
[1:04:14] ve heard that
[1:04:17] from a few other people too, so
[1:04:19] kudos to the kids and
[1:04:20] appreciate them for how great
[1:04:21] they were. Don
[1:04:22] t forget to vote
[1:04:22] tomorrow. That
[1:04:23] s all I can say
[1:04:28] about voting. Thank you Council
[1:04:29] Councilor Podorski, thank you,
[1:04:30] Your Honor. Yeah, I too would
[1:04:33] just like to say um thanks for
[1:04:34] the Halloween event on Marie
[1:04:35] that the city helped sponsor. I
[1:04:37] just want to thank our staff
[1:04:39] and, uh, the volunteer
[1:04:41] businesses, uh, because without
[1:04:42] those businesses and and others
[1:04:43] helping put it together it
[1:04:44] really wouldn
[1:04:44] t be the great
[1:04:46] success, um, that it is so
[1:04:48] great to see, uh, kids and
[1:04:49] family out on a, a little
[1:04:52] chilly night as, uh, council
[1:04:53] member Kalzewski said that we
[1:04:53] were handing out candy together
[1:04:56] for a little while and um It
[1:04:58] was a little chilly at times
[1:04:59] when the wind would pick up,
[1:05:01] but great to see the, the kids
[1:05:02] out there, just want to say
[1:05:04] thanks again to all those that
[1:05:05] helped participate in that. And
[1:05:07] yes, um, I also would like to
[1:05:10] say get out and vote and let
[1:05:11] s
[1:05:12] stay friends after tomorrow, uh,
[1:05:15] NOVEMBER 5th, um, I think
[1:05:16] people are staying pretty
[1:05:18] respectful, but please try and
[1:05:19] be respectful to your neighbors,
[1:05:21] family, friends, and voting
[1:05:23] staff, uh, as well. I know, um,
[1:05:25] a number of people are feeling
[1:05:26] like this is some challenging.
[1:05:28] Times and people are maybe
[1:05:29] getting a little tired of uh
[1:05:32] some of the the rhetoric that
[1:05:33] goes along with elections, but,
[1:05:35] um, I
[1:05:36] m looking forward to it
[1:05:38] being done, and I know a lot of
[1:05:38] other people are as well, and
[1:05:39] we
[1:05:41] re gonna get through this
[1:05:41] all together, so thank you,
[1:05:44] Your Honor. Very good. Thank
[1:05:47] you. Councilor Bakken. Sure,
[1:05:47] I
[1:05:49] ll go. Um, I think a good
[1:05:52] number of us were at the great
[1:05:53] Halloween get-together and uh
[1:05:55] My plus one was with me, and I
[1:05:57] think we might have beat you
[1:05:59] all with how much candy we
[1:06:00] handed out, but you know,
[1:06:01] that
[1:06:02] s just, um, but the, you
[1:06:04] know, the costume, I love, I
[1:06:07] love seeing the Old school
[1:06:08] costumes maybe, and then the
[1:06:10] fancier ones and I think I
[1:06:11] counted like 8 bananas. I mean,
[1:06:12] who doesn
[1:06:13] t want to be a banana
[1:06:17] for Halloween. So, um, that, uh,
[1:06:20] it just as always a fun event.
[1:06:23] It was the 23rd annual, uh, get
[1:06:25] together, and I remember the
[1:06:26] first annual get-together when
[1:06:29] all of our kids were small, and
[1:06:30] so I think it
[1:06:32] s very cool that
[1:06:34] kids that have attended that
[1:06:35] when it was a um a beginning
[1:06:37] tradition. Um, brought their
[1:06:38] own kids, um, that evening as
[1:06:39] well, and that
[1:06:39] s kind of what
[1:06:41] South Saint Paul is all about,
[1:06:42] you know, um, growing up here
[1:06:45] and. Raising your family here,
[1:06:47] um. Speaking of voting, yes,
[1:06:50] please go out and vote. However,
[1:06:52] I would like to just take a hot
[1:06:53] minute to say thank you to
[1:06:58] Deanna. And your staff. And the
[1:07:00] election judges, I mean, we
[1:07:00] ve
[1:07:03] had a banner turnout here at
[1:07:05] City Hall and you were open
[1:07:06] Saturday and Sunday. I heard
[1:07:08] you were here all day yesterday,
[1:07:11] so I just want to commend, um,
[1:07:14] your, uh, role in all of this.
[1:07:16] I actually attended the
[1:07:18] election integrity, uh, Deal
[1:07:21] you put on to watch how our, um,
[1:07:23] you know, our machines work.
[1:07:24] And there
[1:07:25] s just a lot of
[1:07:28] behind the scenes that happens
[1:07:30] and I just appreciate you and
[1:07:30] everything you
[1:07:31] ve done, and
[1:07:32] just your knowledge about the
[1:07:34] whole thing, how you did that
[1:07:35] whole meeting. I was just like,
[1:07:38] look at her ghost. So perhaps,
[1:07:40] props to you and thank you and
[1:07:44] I hope you survive tomorrow. Me
[1:07:44] too. That
[1:07:45] s all. Thank you very
[1:07:46] much. That
[1:07:48] s my receiver.
[1:07:49] Thanks, Your Honor. There
[1:07:50] s
[1:07:51] been almost 1.4 million people
[1:07:54] that took advantage of early
[1:07:55] voting according to the latest
[1:07:56] statistics from the state. I
[1:07:59] saw earlier today, I think it
[1:08:02] was 1,372,000, which is about
[1:08:05] 35% of the electorate. So it
[1:08:05] s
[1:08:07] an awesome thing. We
[1:08:08] re looking
[1:08:09] forward to tomorrow. Keep in
[1:08:10] mind that it
[1:08:12] s your friends and
[1:08:15] neighbors that are working the
[1:08:16] polling locations in South
[1:08:17] Saint Paul. They don
[1:08:17] t have a
[1:08:18] preconceived agenda. There
[1:08:19] s
[1:08:21] people from every party there
[1:08:22] working on behalf of doing this.
[1:08:24] A number of them have
[1:08:26] volunteered for years. So get
[1:08:29] out, do your job. Your civic
[1:08:32] duty and vote, um, and to, to
[1:08:33] my friends here that are
[1:08:36] running, best of luck to
[1:08:38] everybody that has put their
[1:08:40] name in to be considered for
[1:08:42] counsel or mayor or school
[1:08:44] board, it takes courage to do
[1:08:47] that. Thank you for doing that.
[1:08:47] It
[1:08:50] s not easy in 2024 with all
[1:08:53] of the digital means to
[1:08:54] question things. A lot of the
[1:08:56] discussion is good. It
[1:08:56] s
[1:08:57] constructive. Some of it you
[1:09:00] kind of wonder what planet it
[1:09:00] s
[1:09:02] coming from, but Um, at the end
[1:09:03] of the day, it
[1:09:04] s a democratic
[1:09:06] process that we have, and it
[1:09:07] s
[1:09:09] extremely important for us to
[1:09:10] continue that democratic
[1:09:11] process, not only in South
[1:09:13] Saint Paul and Dakota County in
[1:09:15] Minnesota, but in the United
[1:09:15] States, it
[1:09:16] s a fair and free
[1:09:21] election. Make sure that we
[1:09:22] exercise our constitutional
[1:09:23] right to vote, and we
[1:09:23] ll see
[1:09:25] where the chips fall, but we
[1:09:25] re
[1:09:26] looking forward to the future
[1:09:28] here in South Saint Paul. And
[1:09:30] again, thank you to the
[1:09:31] election officials and to our
[1:09:31] team that
[1:09:32] s put in so much work.
[1:09:35] It truly is in our community
[1:09:37] and with the number of team
[1:09:38] members. I always call them
[1:09:40] team members, and not just
[1:09:41] staff, they
[1:09:42] re team members
[1:09:43] that we have. It
[1:09:44] s an all hands
[1:09:47] on deck process. We don
[1:09:48] t have
[1:09:50] a department of 100 people
[1:09:51] working on elections. We
[1:09:51] ve got
[1:09:54] a team at City Hall under the
[1:09:56] direction of the city clerk
[1:09:58] that works on elections, and we
[1:10:00] appreciate you and we want to
[1:10:01] thank the buildings that allow
[1:10:04] us To go in and conduct
[1:10:05] elections on election day in
[1:10:08] the primary, so. Thank you,
[1:10:10] Your Honor. Very well, thank
[1:10:12] you, Councilor Thompson. Uh,
[1:10:14] slow day in the news for me
[1:10:15] today, I guess. Um, I guess the
[1:10:17] one thing I do want to say is,
[1:10:20] I want to say again, thank you
[1:10:23] to MS. Warner and her excellent
[1:10:25] staff for their hard work, um,
[1:10:25] they
[1:10:26] ve, they
[1:10:26] ve gone through
[1:10:27] some tremendous numbers in just
[1:10:28] one building, you know, so we
[1:10:29] have, how many, how many
[1:10:32] precincts again? 5 precincts,
[1:10:34] but over 2000 early votes,
[1:10:35] right? 2000 early votes. I mean,
[1:10:36] so that
[1:10:37] s, that
[1:10:37] s tremendous
[1:10:39] all coming in here to get the
[1:10:42] job done, um, so I just want to
[1:10:43] thank staff and, uh, the
[1:10:44] election judges for putting
[1:10:45] their time and effort and
[1:10:46] energy into this and making
[1:10:48] sure that there is a good
[1:10:50] honest selection here, um,
[1:10:50] that
[1:10:52] s all I have. Thanks. Very
[1:10:53] good. Thank you. I would like
[1:10:56] to thank the team, uh, all
[1:10:58] departments actually the
[1:10:59] engineering department at this
[1:11:00] time of year, year after year,
[1:11:01] we button up all these big
[1:11:03] projects that we started and
[1:11:05] your team has a lot to do with.
[1:11:06] Orchestrating those and trying
[1:11:08] to keep everybody on time and
[1:11:12] keeping Keeping the issues low
[1:11:14] and the progress high and
[1:11:14] sometimes those don
[1:11:15] t
[1:11:15] correspond, but I, I, you,
[1:11:15] you
[1:11:17] ve all done a really good
[1:11:19] job, uh, not only your
[1:11:20] department but the water
[1:11:22] department and all the public
[1:11:23] works department who are doing
[1:11:25] all of those things on the
[1:11:26] backside that we don
[1:11:27] t see, um,
[1:11:29] many times in the middle of the
[1:11:31] night, many times early in the
[1:11:32] morning when contractors need
[1:11:33] to get things started. So thank
[1:11:34] you and please pass that along
[1:11:36] to your, to your team. Because
[1:11:39] it does take all of us to make
[1:11:41] this happen and it is um I
[1:11:41] m
[1:11:44] quite proud of the work that
[1:11:44] You
[1:11:45] ve all done making sure all
[1:11:48] these things happen every year
[1:11:48] and now we
[1:11:49] re going to start
[1:11:51] preparing our public works
[1:11:52] department for snow and the
[1:11:53] winter and the cold and the ice
[1:11:56] and so all those things are
[1:11:58] coming together now in NOVEMBER
[1:11:59] and so I just want to recognize
[1:12:01] those staff members that are
[1:12:02] that are continually working
[1:12:03] hard for us and those that back
[1:12:05] them up, and of course, it
[1:12:06] s
[1:12:08] been said about our, our city
[1:12:09] clerk and all the work that
[1:12:09] that she
[1:12:11] s been doing and her
[1:12:13] team have some grace. With
[1:12:15] people if things are a little
[1:12:16] long tomorrow if if things
[1:12:16] aren
[1:12:17] t, uh, you make a mistake,
[1:12:17] it
[1:12:18] s ok, have some grace with
[1:12:20] yourself, go back and work out
[1:12:22] to get another ballot and and
[1:12:23] redo that. Don
[1:12:25] t be afraid to
[1:12:26] ask ask questions if you
[1:12:27] re, if
[1:12:27] you
[1:12:27] re concerned about
[1:12:30] something, they are all trained
[1:12:31] and are are there helping and
[1:12:32] as council member s Seberg said,
[1:12:35] they are. All of them are our
[1:12:36] neighbors. These aren
[1:12:36] t flown
[1:12:38] in people. These aren
[1:12:38] t
[1:12:39] professionals. These are moms,
[1:12:41] dads, uncles, neighbors that
[1:12:43] are that are out there doing
[1:12:45] this on our behalf to make sure
[1:12:46] that everything goes well, so
[1:12:47] thank you to them and thank you
[1:12:49] to you all for getting out and
[1:12:51] exercising your vote. With that,
[1:12:56] uh, I look for a motion to
[1:12:56] adjourn our council meeting
[1:12:58] that was moved by council
[1:12:59] member Serg, seconded by
[1:13:02] Councilmember Kalzeki. All in
[1:13:04] favor of adjournment. Any
[1:13:07] oppose? Meeting is adjourned.
[1:13:10] We will Thank you very much. We