[0:15] Well, it is 6:30. I will go ahead and

[0:16] call the meeting for order

[0:19] city council on January 20th. Um, any

[0:23] status and concerns, Julie?

[0:24] >> I have no

[0:26] um additions or deletions to the agenda.

[0:29] There'll be one addition which will be

[0:31] solar for the fireball. It will be um

[0:35] we'll make it number eight and if Gen

[0:37] Peek from West Central Initiative isn't

[0:40] quite here at that time, we'll just move

[0:41] it down when he gets on on Zoom.

[0:46] Um can I have a motion to approve the

[0:48] agenda with that one addition?

[0:50] >> Motion second.

[0:51] >> We have a motion from James, a second

[0:53] from Paul. All in favor by saying I.

[0:56] >> Any opposed? Then we have the consent

[0:59] agenda.

[1:01] Um, anybody want anything pulled or

[1:04] otherwise? I'll entertain a motion to

[1:06] approve the consent agenda.

[1:09] >> Motion motion from Paul, a second.

[1:12] >> So moved.

[1:15] Bruce call to the vote. All in favor

[1:17] indicate by saying I.

[1:18] >> I.

[1:19] >> Opposed. Consent agenda approved. Our

[1:23] first item is the place, time, and date.

[1:25] uh we start a new year. So whether we

[1:28] want to change our meeting date, our

[1:31] time or place or are we good with what

[1:34] we back? We are the third Tuesday of the

[1:35] month at 6:30.

[1:39] » Is that working for everyone?

[1:42] >> At the present time. Yeah.

[1:44] >> Third Tuesday.

[1:45] >> Yep.

[1:46] >> Yeah. Sure. Don't conflict with the

[1:47] lines.

[1:48] >> Yep. Yeah. We kind of back away from

[1:50] that state.

[1:51] >> Yeah. was they used a lot of parking and

[1:54] >> yes

[1:56] >> or was somewhat noisy and

[2:00] >> it's okay with that. Can I have a a

[2:02] motion to maintain our current um

[2:04] schedule of the third Tuesday at 6:30

[2:07] here

[2:08] >> meeting room? We have a motion from

[2:09] Paul. Is there a second?

[2:11] >> I'll second.

[2:13] >> All in favor indicate by saying I.

[2:15] >> I.

[2:16] uh appointment of acting mayor other

[2:18] than the portfolio. The appointment was

[2:22] um really to recommend no change. So it

[2:25] would be James Stinger. Any other

[2:28] comments or a recommendation?

[2:32] Otherwise, I'll call for a motion to

[2:35] accept James Finger as acting mayor.

[2:38] >> Motion a motion to follow a second.

[2:40] >> Second, a second from Bruce. All in

[2:42] favor by saying I. I

[2:45] >> posted. Okay. Then we have our

[2:47] appointments. Um I think unless somebody

[2:51] wants one pulled out, I think we'll do

[2:53] the whole section instead of one by one.

[2:57] Um I would just note for the um the

[3:00] appointment of the city attorney and the

[3:03] engineer um you have the annual review

[3:06] in there and we will be providing those

[3:08] to um Blaine with with Seth and um to

[3:12] Karen. So um I I think you saw the

[3:16] overall results uh for attorney overall

[3:19] very favorable results however noted

[3:21] it's been six months we do realize we

[3:23] don't have a full year uh the annual

[3:25] review for engineering um

[3:27] acknowledgement in favorable is the

[3:30] expertise and knowledge um that has been

[3:33] brought um from the engineering service

[3:35] and an opportunity for improvement was

[3:38] in relative to communications more

[3:40] timely better communications. So um just

[3:43] so that you made note of the annual

[3:46] review as we approve these appointments.

[3:49] So we have the council portfolio

[3:52] attorney, the official paper,

[3:55] um the crazy form, the

[3:58] um designation of the city website, uh

[4:02] the depository state bank and engineer

[4:06] um

[4:07] >> motion.

[4:08] >> We have a motion from Paul to accept

[4:09] those appointments. Is there a second?

[4:12] >> I'll second.

[4:12] >> We have a second from James. All in

[4:14] favor indicate by saying I.

[4:16] >> I.

[4:17] Okay. And it looks like Griffin is on.

[4:21] Um so number eight, we have Griffin Peek

[4:24] from West Central Initiative who wanted

[4:27] to talk to us about solar and the city

[4:31] fireh hall. So I'll hand it over to you,

[4:33] Griffin.

[4:36] >> Awesome. Well, good evening everyone.

[4:38] Uh, sorry I could not be there in

[4:40] person. The roads were starting to look

[4:41] a little slick out there and I did not

[4:44] want to drive back to Battle Lake after the meeting. So glad I can join

[4:49] you all on Zoom. Um, today I'm here to

[4:52] talk a little provide some updates about

[4:54] the solar project for the community

[4:56] center and also talk a little bit about

[4:59] a new opportunity. So first I'll talk a

[5:01] little bit about your the building

[5:03] you're currently sitting in which is the

[5:04] community center. Um, as you've probably

[5:08] surmised, there's been quite a few

[5:10] delays um, in the contractor's

[5:12] processing in getting solar up. Um,

[5:16] however, I believe they have

[5:17] communicated updated timelines at this

[5:19] time to all communities uh, regarding

[5:22] their plans for battery installations as

[5:24] well as the solar installations once the

[5:27] snow melts. So, um, I know that they are

[5:31] behind. I know specifically in Verus,

[5:33] one of the things that pushed back the

[5:35] timeline quite a bit was a transformer

[5:37] upgrade. Um, that's something that uh

[5:39] cost that was unforeseen by both the

[5:42] contractor and by West Central

[5:43] Initiative. Um, we only found that the

[5:47] project needed a transformer upgrade

[5:48] when they dug into the interconnection

[5:50] paperwork. Um because in other uh areas

[5:54] that they'd worked in before uh

[5:56] essentially they had in with utilities

[5:59] they'd allowed um they'd allowed an

[6:02] entity to install up to the capacity of

[6:04] the transformer on a given site. For

[6:07] whatever reason, Ottertale Power only

[6:09] allows you to install up to half of the

[6:11] capa uh half of the capacity of the

[6:13] transformer on site. And so I believe

[6:15] the transformer at the Verus Community

[6:17] Center had to be upgraded in order to be

[6:20] compatible with the type of solar that

[6:22] we were putting on. And so that added

[6:25] quite a bit of of obviously time to

[6:27] their their estimate. Um and is part of

[6:30] what uh why there isn't solar on the

[6:32] building already. Um

[6:34] >> I'm just going to note what they gave us

[6:35] for our new timeline because I'm not

[6:37] sure others have seen this. Um for the

[6:41] electric schedule it is the first part

[6:43] of March. For the roof ground schedule

[6:46] it is the first part of May and the

[6:48] battery roof buildout is January the end

[6:51] very end of January. And the battery

[6:54] room blueprint is completed.

[6:57] >> Y the timelines we got

[6:59] >> that's the timeline I I saw as well. So

[7:02] and we we do believe they're on track to

[7:04] meet those timelines. Um they did begin

[7:07] work on a pro on a west central

[7:10] initiative project as well as they

[7:12] started again work on another project in

[7:15] the city of Ashby. So we believe that

[7:18] those those timelines are accurate at

[7:19] this time.

[7:24] Any questions before I talk a little bit

[7:26] about a new opportunity?

[7:29] >> I don't think so, Griffin.

[7:31] >> Okay, sounds good. I'm going to share my

[7:34] screen here. So we are in the process

[7:37] now of putting together our second

[7:40] cohort of communities to explore solar

[7:43] projects. And so uh I just have to find

[7:47] the document.

[7:49] Here we are. Um,

[7:53] and so

[7:55] the reason we're I'm here today is to

[7:57] see is to really provide a highle

[8:00] overview of the opportunity that may

[8:02] exist for solar for the fireh hall. Uh,

[8:05] can everybody see my screen? I'll zoom

[8:08] in a little here.

[8:10] There we go. Everybody see that? All

[8:12] right.

[8:14] >> It's quite a little, but yeah, we can

[8:15] see it.

[8:16] >> Okay. Maybe I can try and make it full

[8:18] size here. My controls are in the way.

[8:23] Okay,

[8:26] there we go. Is that a little better

[8:29] >> a little bit?

[8:30] >> Okay.

[8:31] >> Oh, that is

[8:32] >> that is

[8:33] >> Oh, god.

[8:35] >> Okay, I'm just gonna

[8:37] >> try it there. Okay, so uh we we you

[8:42] know, we heard from from Julie and Julie

[8:44] that there may be interest in looking at

[8:45] quotes again for the fireh hall. So

[8:48] here's some highle analysis on what a

[8:51] potential solar project for a fire the

[8:53] fire hall might look like. So it's

[8:55] actually quite a bit better than the the

[8:57] community center for a couple of reasons

[8:58] that I'll point out here. So first at a

[9:01] very high level the fireh hall consumes

[9:04] 66,64 kwatt hours per year and it

[9:07] consumes that much energy split between

[9:09] three different services. The small

[9:11] general service which runs the lights,

[9:13] the plug loads, you know your

[9:14] microwaves, that sort of stuff. um

[9:17] something called fixed time of service

[9:19] which is used for a heat system in this

[9:21] case and uh only delivers power from I

[9:25] believe it's 1000 p.m. to 6 a.m. and

[9:27] then an off peak water heater service

[9:29] and so the total bill cost per year is

[9:33] uh $3,922

[9:35] of which 228967

[9:39] is direct those direct energy charges.

[9:42] Um in terms looking at the rate analysis

[9:45] again there's a small general service

[9:47] the fixed time of service and then this

[9:51] uh off- peak water heater service. The

[9:53] small general service uh in the summer

[9:56] it's 7 1/2 cents. In the winter it's 5

[9:58] 1/2 cents which when you include energy

[10:01] adjustments averages out to about 8

[10:03] cents a kilowatt hour. For the fixed

[10:05] time of service uh it's 1.032 cents in

[10:10] the summer and 1.109 109 cents per

[10:12] kilowatt hour in the winter. And then

[10:14] when you include the energy adjustments,

[10:16] it's an average rate of 2.6 cents per

[10:19] kilowatt hour. And then the off- peak

[10:21] water heater, which in this case is a

[10:23] very minimal amount of the total use, is

[10:27] uh 3 cents in the summer and 3.2 cents

[10:29] in the winter

[10:31] with an average rate including energy

[10:33] adjustments of 4.7. Now when you look at

[10:37] the whole picture and all the energy

[10:39] consumed on site, the average rate for

[10:41] energy p average rate paid for energy

[10:43] consumed in the building is 3.58.

[10:47] Um the reason why this building is still

[10:50] really a good choice for solar is this

[10:54] the bulk of the energy in the building

[10:56] is consumed under this fixed time of

[10:58] service heat. Like I said, that that's

[11:00] power that's only delivered at night,

[11:02] which means that when you install a

[11:05] solar system on a building like this,

[11:07] you're going to export almost all of the

[11:08] energy, which means that you get 8.3

[11:11] cents for all of that energy. And so, as

[11:14] you can see here, between the average

[11:17] rates, none of the average rates, we're

[11:19] getting close to 8.3 cents. But because

[11:22] of the way that this building runs,

[11:25] it'll it consumes a lot of energy. you

[11:27] can put a large solar array on it, but

[11:29] it's going to put almost all of that

[11:31] energy back onto the grid for which

[11:33] you'll get compensated at the retail

[11:34] rate. Um, and then it will be offset

[11:38] when you consume energy uh overnight.

[11:41] And so I'll scroll down here to the kind

[11:44] of highle uh analysis for for a solar

[11:47] array. So quite a lot quite a bit larger

[11:50] than the array for the event center. It'

[11:53] be a 50 kWDC 40 kW. That's the maximum

[11:56] amount that you can install on a public

[11:58] building and uh still get that retail

[12:01] credit. Um the system would produce

[12:04] 62,260

[12:05] kilos a year. And so depending on the

[12:09] year uh I had a access to about 3 years

[12:11] of bills. It'll offset 90 to 110% of the

[12:16] total analy use. So again um really

[12:19] offsetting most if not all of the energy

[12:22] use in the building. Um we estimate a

[12:25] total upfront cost um of $117,500.

[12:30] Uh and then again the rebate, the

[12:32] primary rebate being the autotail power

[12:34] pop rebate which for this project for

[12:37] this sort of array would come in at

[12:38] 58,750

[12:41] and then the 30% tax credit which would

[12:44] come in at $35,250

[12:47] which would make the total incentives

[12:49] $94,000.

[12:52] And then the balance after incentives 24

[12:55] or $23,500,

[12:57] excuse me. Um,

[12:59] this is the this is the kicker. Annual

[13:02] energy savings $5,100.

[13:04] So, if you decided to do a project on

[13:07] this building, the solar would more than

[13:10] pay for the total energy bill of the

[13:11] building. In fact, you would have

[13:14] probably $1,000 extra on top of the bill

[13:16] you're currently paying for that

[13:18] building. So that's the really big kind

[13:21] of opportunity I see here. Um and then

[13:25] uh it would be cash flow positive after

[13:27] uh about four and a half years of

[13:29] operations.

[13:31] Over a 30-year lifetime, the project

[13:33] would save the city $149,661.

[13:38] Um and the total energy value, so that's

[13:40] the total value of all the energy it

[13:42] produces over its lifetime would be

[13:44] $173,161.

[13:48] And then I'll just scroll down a little

[13:50] bit to this cash flow that kind of

[13:52] illustrates that in a more visual um

[13:55] manner.

[13:57] And um it sounds like we will be or my

[14:01] colleague Cedar Walters will be

[14:03] presenting uh to the fireh hall board on

[14:06] February 2nd to seek approval um to to

[14:11] put these details into our cooperative

[14:13] RFP. If that approval is granted, it

[14:16] means that the city and the fireh hall

[14:18] board would receive a bid in May or

[14:21] June. It would not again uh as last time

[14:24] it would not this, you know, decision

[14:26] tonight or February 2nd doesn't commit

[14:28] the city to anything. It just means that

[14:30] you'll receive a bid um and get to

[14:33] decide in May or June if you want to

[14:34] move forward at that point.

[14:37] Um so maybe I'll pause there for for

[14:39] questions or comments.

[14:45] questions. The the energy and resilience

[14:47] committee met last week and we didn't

[14:49] have a quorum but those presidents that

[14:50] were supportive um and thought that you

[14:54] go to the fire board and for the next

[14:56] step

[14:57] >> on there there's the west central

[14:58] initiative grant um you have nothing

[15:01] there.

[15:02] >> So is it because we're going to make

[15:04] money so quickly that we are not

[15:06] eligible or you just don't know?

[15:08] >> We just don't know yet. So, as you might

[15:10] remember last time when I ca when I was

[15:12] there probably over a year ago now when

[15:14] we I was pitching the first project, we

[15:16] weren't sure like how how much prices

[15:18] were going to come in. I think last year

[15:20] when I pitched we were pitching at 250

[15:24] or 275 a watt. Um this this analysis is

[15:29] at 235 a watt which is more expensive

[15:31] than the bid we received last year just

[15:34] because of some policy changes at the

[15:36] federal level. We're expecting a little

[15:37] bit of increase in price from last year.

[15:39] Um, but we do know that we're going to

[15:41] be below 250 a watt. Um, the reason I

[15:44] don't have anything in here is because

[15:46] we don't we just don't know a how many

[15:48] communities are going to move forward

[15:50] with a project and b what the pricing is

[15:53] going to look like. And depending on the

[15:55] pricing and how many communities move

[15:57] forward will kind of uh help us decide

[16:01] how we use grant funds. Obviously, last

[16:04] year we used the grant funds to pay for

[16:06] battery systems. One thing we're

[16:08] considering this year is if the prices

[16:11] come in at 235 or above, instead of

[16:14] doing larger grants to specific

[16:17] communities for batteries, we might do

[16:19] some smaller grants to all communities

[16:21] to help pay down that cash flow. um we

[16:24] just don't know where the pricing will

[16:25] land and we also don't know how many

[16:27] communities will ultimately move forward

[16:29] with the project and so we're not

[16:31] putting anything in there. Um but it's

[16:33] possible that West Central Initiative

[16:35] would also be able to contribute grant

[16:37] funds to support this work as well.

[16:43] » Any other questions for Griffin

[16:46] at this point?

[16:48] >> No further questions right now but

[16:50] Griffin.

[16:52] Okay, sounds good. If anyone has other

[16:54] questions or comments or anything,

[16:58] Julie, maybe you can share my email

[16:59] address with the council um and they can

[17:02] reach me that way. And then like I said,

[17:05] my colleague Cedar Walters will present

[17:06] to the fire board on February 2nd for

[17:09] that formal approval.

[17:11] >> Perhaps we he could share his slides

[17:14] because they were really hard to

[17:15] >> Yeah. Can you send me the slides so that

[17:18] I can have those? Or is Cedar going to

[17:20] bring those?

[17:22] >> Yep. I will I will send you send you

[17:23] this copy and I'll be sure Cedar has a

[17:25] couple copies with her as well.

[17:27] >> Thank you.

[17:28] >> You could electronically share them with

[17:29] the council too just because there's a

[17:31] lot of information and like you said a

[17:32] little hard to see.

[17:34] >> Yeah,

[17:35] >> absolutely. Um and I will just maybe

[17:37] share here. I'll stop sharing my screen.

[17:39] I will just share some of the other

[17:41] communities we have on board for this

[17:44] second round. We do have a number of uh

[17:48] communities like Fergus that are

[17:49] returning for a second project. Let me

[17:52] just get that list pulled up here. Okay,

[17:54] so as of right now, we have the city of

[17:57] Ottabon, the city of Brandon, the city

[17:58] of Chicago, the city of Ottertale, the

[18:01] city of Rosé, the city of Underwood, the

[18:04] city of Callaway, the city of Hitterall.

[18:06] Those are all new communities that are

[18:08] joining that were kind of inspired by

[18:10] the first cohort. And then Battle Lake,

[18:13] Parker's Prairie, Hoffman, and New York

[18:16] Mills are other communities that were in

[18:18] it the first round that are also

[18:19] returning for a second project. So,

[18:21] we're hopeful we'll get a a good price

[18:23] with the number of communities we put

[18:25] together. Um, and and yeah, we're

[18:28] looking forward to to continuing this

[18:31] work uh in the region.

[18:35] » Thank you, Griffin. Appreciate it.

[18:37] >> Awesome. Thank you, Julie. and Julie, I

[18:40] will see you two tomorrow for our our

[18:42] meeting. I have some exciting updates to

[18:44] share then.

[18:45] >> Thanks. We have

[18:48] >> Oh, yeah. I thought I thought we had one

[18:52] with mommy. Okay. Thanks, Gone.

[18:56] Uh, our next order of business is the

[18:59] city center parking lot. Blaine.

[19:05] » Yeah. Uh, let me see if I can get my

[19:08] camera on here. There we are. Um, just a

[19:12] quick update on that. You know, nothing

[19:13] obviously has changed from last month

[19:15] other than we have a uh an additional

[19:18] payment above last uh payment there. Um,

[19:22] and so that uh amount that you're seeing

[19:24] that 55,000 I believe. Um, that's kind

[19:28] of due, you know, to the contractor.

[19:31] That's for all the work that's complete.

[19:33] Um the last little thing out that's

[19:34] hanging out there is a little bit of

[19:36] concrete and we talked with the concrete

[19:38] uh contractor and he seemed willing to

[19:41] look at it in the spring. So we do have

[19:43] uh 3% retainage held out there uh to

[19:46] make sure you know when we really once

[19:48] the ice melts and we get a good look at

[19:50] it uh if we need to fix it and it seems

[19:52] like we're trending in that direction um

[19:55] that we can get that done in the spring.

[19:57] But otherwise um yeah overall a good

[20:01] project. Tori uh and his crew did a

[20:03] really good job. Um yeah, then if

[20:07] there's any questions, I'd be glad to

[20:08] answer them.

[20:12] » Questions on this second and silent? If

[20:15] not, I'll take a recommendation to

[20:17] approve.

[20:20] » I would make a motion to approve partial

[20:23] pay request number two.

[20:25] >> Second

[20:27] motion by Bruce and a second by Paul.

[20:29] All in favor by saying I

[20:32] >> I

[20:32] >> opposed. Okay. Then we have the

[20:36] assessment hearing that we're willing to

[20:38] do. Um our next meeting is February 17th

[20:42] if we'd want to do it like at 6 o'clock

[20:45] before our council meeting.

[20:48] >> Is that soon enough, Julie?

[20:51] >> Yes.

[20:53] thoughts about when does that work to

[20:56] just do it when we're together anyway?

[21:00] >> Okay. So, we'll do 6 PM on February

[21:02] 17th. The other recommendation is how

[21:05] many years do we want to indicate or the

[21:09] assessment payment? It seems like we've

[21:11] done 20 in the past, but these aren't

[21:13] huge.

[21:14] Um, do do you have an idea what they

[21:17] are, Julie? I think you were going to

[21:19] take a look at that.

[21:21] Do you have those exact numbers of what

[21:25] I mean? I can look up your email, too.

[21:27] >> Yeah, let me um I can pull them up here

[21:30] real quick.

[21:42] So, it's kind of broken into the two

[21:45] different sections as we know. um where

[21:48] when the work was the private work on on

[21:50] the property that was being directly

[21:52] build and then what was actually

[21:53] assessed to the property owners that was

[21:57] by a cost per linear foot basis. Um and

[22:01] so yeah, I have those numbers and I can

[22:04] Do you want me to rattle them off or

[22:07] um how do you want me to

[22:10] convey those?

[22:14] Well, I think we're just kind of

[22:15] wondering kind of where the prices are

[22:17] to set the year term.

[22:20] >> So, we have one person getting three for

[22:23] assessment costs.

[22:24] >> What was it?

[22:25] >> Um, one place is one parcel is $3,46752.

[22:31] » Y

[22:32] >> another parcel is $1,69344.

[22:36] Another parcel is 80640.

[22:39] Another is $216.

[22:42] And the last parcel is $2,688

[22:48] for a total of $36,970.

[22:54] » Uh that's that's once you include the

[22:56] city's share of that as well, Julie. Um

[23:00] if you look at what is only being

[23:03] assessed, that amount is $10,671.36.

[23:11] Well, we can assess the city as well.

[23:14] Um, $26,326.34

[23:18] for the two parcels that the city.

[23:22] >> And so that that amount is based off of

[23:24] uh the the rate of I think I $26.88

[23:29] a linear foot. That's what was presented

[23:31] at the the public hearing. Um I suppose

[23:35] that was about a year and a half ago now

[23:37] um that we originally presented that.

[23:39] you know, that's kind of the the

[23:40] maximum. It it exceeded that by um a

[23:44] little bit, so we can't go above that

[23:45] without reholding a public hearing. And

[23:48] at that point, it's it isn't worth it, I

[23:50] don't think. But um to meet the, you

[23:53] know, 429 statuates um that going with

[23:56] that 2688 is is what we'd recommend.

[24:06] » That's the recommendation for repayment.

[24:08] 10 20 like I said we've done 20 but

[24:11] that's usually been considerably more

[24:14] than this amount that we got here but

[24:18] >> we went 10 I mean on the highest one

[24:20] 3457 it amounts to you know $345 a year

[24:24] you know plus interest

[24:27] >> we know what the interest is

[24:29] >> right

[24:31] >> it is 1% higher than what we got in the

[24:34] bond and I do not know that off the top

[24:37] I'll have that ready for public hearing

[24:46] » is

[24:48] if we set that tonight, that's when

[24:50] we'll go into the public hearing then or

[24:52] what if

[24:54] >> we don't um if we don't set that we

[24:56] can't make a we can't get

[25:00] of what uh at the public hearing we

[25:02] won't have all the information available

[25:04] at public hearing if we don't know the

[25:09] But that doesn't mean that after

[25:11] significant dialogue if they wanted it

[25:12] more you can change.

[25:14] >> Yes. This is only proposed.

[25:16] >> Make a motion that we go 10 years on

[25:19] bond for the parking lot improvement

[25:21] project.

[25:25] » We have a motion by Bruce a second by

[25:27] James

[25:28] comfort vote. All in favor by saying I

[25:32] in the

[25:32] >> post.

[25:38] Okay, we need a motion for the public

[25:41] hearing. Oh gosh, we didn't do that.

[25:43] Okay. And I have a motion to hold the

[25:45] public meeting February 17th at 6 p.m.

[25:48] here.

[25:50] >> I'll make motion.

[25:51] >> We have a motion by James. Is there a

[25:52] second?

[25:56] » We have a second.

[25:58] All in favor by saying

[26:00] >> I

[26:05] committee reports.

[26:09] Um

[26:13] the first one is um

[26:16] the um approval of the successful

[26:20] performance ratings for the city clerk

[26:23] and utility superintendent.

[26:28] Is there a motion to accept that? I'll

[26:30] >> make a motion. We

[26:32] >> have a motion from James. Is there a

[26:33] second? Second.

[26:35] >> Offer the vote. All in favor, indicate

[26:37] by saying I.

[26:38] >> I.

[26:39] >> Uh the next item is um we've talked

[26:41] about the Minnesota paid leave law. It

[26:44] It's been placed into our personnel

[26:46] policy. It's on page nine. It's pretty

[26:48] much language straight out of the the

[26:50] law. and uh personnel reviewed and

[26:54] approved um that section of the policy

[26:57] in personnel.

[27:00] Is there a motion to approve that

[27:01] addition?

[27:03] >> I'll make that motion.

[27:04] >> Motion from James. Is there a second?

[27:06] >> Second.

[27:08] >> Paul. Um all in favor indicate by saying

[27:11] I

[27:11] >> I

[27:13] Okay, that's all we got from personnel.

[27:16] Aba H.

[27:20] um

[27:27] to request a resolution of support from

[27:29] the city council waving the

[27:33] water and sewer fees and the conditional

[27:35] use permit fee for the daycare project

[27:38] if it gets to that point where it

[27:40] actually

[27:42] becomes a buildable project. Uh at this

[27:46] point in time, we know that uh one of

[27:49] the things that we're going to have to

[27:50] do is come up with a pretty a fairly

[27:53] detailed budget. And of course, these

[27:55] numbers would factor into that if we can

[27:57] say they're waved. Um it helps us with

[28:01] our budgeting.

[28:02] >> What are the lacking faces?

[28:04] >> Um $750 for water and $750 for sewer per

[28:09] property. So on the property that the um

[28:12] EDA has a p or h has a purchase

[28:15] agreement on, they would be putting two

[28:19] um properties on there. So it would be

[28:21] costing the water $1,500,

[28:24] the sewer $1,500.

[28:27] And then they're also asking for the

[28:28] conditional use permit fee to be waved,

[28:31] which is $400. So we're talking about

[28:34] $3,400

[28:36] um divided up between those three

[28:38] different entities. general fund, water

[28:40] fund, and sewer fund.

[28:43] >> I think we've done that in the past for

[28:45] community um projects of this nature.

[28:48] So, we'll see if we get to that point.

[28:51] It would be nice to say we're going to

[28:52] get to a point where we're actually

[28:54] going to build it.

[28:55] >> Yeah. I mean, daycare has been kind of a

[28:57] priority in so

[28:59] >> a lot of sit and teased to cross between

[29:02] now and that actually happening.

[29:06] The other thing I see is you don't

[29:07] really want to miss a meeting of this

[29:09] group because you could be nominated as

[29:11] chair.

[29:15] » So is the um

[29:18] is the resolution separate

[29:21] >> or can we

[29:24] >> they have a resolution? Okay. Um, is

[29:27] there a recommendation that we would um

[29:30] wave the whack and sack fees and the

[29:33] conditional use permit for a daycare?

[29:37] >> I would make that motion.

[29:39] >> We have a motion. Is there a second?

[29:40] >> Second.

[29:41] >> Have a motion and a second. All in favor

[29:44] by saying I

[29:47] >> The other part is a resolution. the EDA

[29:50] was wanting to make sure after they go

[29:53] through all this work that it wouldn't

[29:55] come to the council and then um not get

[29:58] supported. Um so they were requesting

[30:01] that there be a resolution that the EDA

[30:05] um as well as having those fees um waved

[30:09] would have city council support as they

[30:11] move forward um with investigating if

[30:14] they care

[30:15] >> and that will help as we also apply for

[30:17] different grants and stuff that are

[30:19] available um to a project of this

[30:22] nature. So, I would make a motion that

[30:25] the council approve resolution 2026-001

[30:31] um indicating city council support of

[30:34] that potential project.

[30:36] >> We have a motion from Bruce. Is there a

[30:39] second?

[30:39] >> Second.

[30:40] >> We have a second from Paul. All in favor

[30:43] keep by saying I.

[30:44] >> I

[30:46] approve. Motion carried. Um the liquor

[30:49] store municipal building

[30:54] Um we had a meeting

[30:57] last week. Um

[31:00] the among recommendation the council um

[31:03] was that the stepup boutique had

[31:06] requested um signage last meeting and we

[31:10] approved

[31:11] um some but not all of the signage and

[31:14] we the signage that we did not approve

[31:17] got kind of altered and still hung up.

[31:20] So, what they had originally requested

[31:22] was the step-up boutique sign next to

[31:24] the door. We did not approve it and we

[31:28] told them to come back to us with

[31:30] something that had different wordage

[31:32] that would have liquor store and separ.

[31:37] They went ahead and redid it and they

[31:39] hung it up, but it hasn't been approved,

[31:41] nor is it branded in a way that goes

[31:45] with the liquor store. and then the

[31:46] wording of the policy and their

[31:48] agreement that it cannot

[31:51] take away from sales of the liquor store

[31:54] or detract from liquor store at all. So,

[31:57] >> and then it was adhered without

[32:00] drilling.

[32:00] >> It is not Yes, it is noted with drilling

[32:04] or anything, but it's it's

[32:09] » I never did look at the back of it, so I

[32:10] don't know how it's attached. I don't

[32:12] know if it's double-sided tape or

[32:14] Velcro. I'm not sure.

[32:16] >> I don't know. But in this one, we should

[32:17] look into

[32:19] >> I just know after our last meeting, not

[32:21] the meeting like a week ago that he's

[32:23] talking a meeting like a month or so ago

[32:24] that we discussed that.

[32:25] >> That was before small town Christmas.

[32:27] >> Yes, I think so. It was right around

[32:29] that time. I probably failed in how I

[32:30] worded it to them. I told them there are

[32:32] no nails, screws, absolutely nothing to

[32:34] be on the exterior.

[32:37] Failed to say no signage.

[32:39] >> What was your conversation after you

[32:41] since this meeting? Have you had any

[32:42] chance?

[32:43] >> I've never been able to find her. I came

[32:44] in on the weekend. I left a note up

[32:46] there for her. Okay.

[32:47] >> Of letting her know about tonight.

[32:51] >> So, our recommendation to the city

[32:52] council would be to remove the step up

[32:54] sign by the entrance that does not

[32:56] adhere to our branding stuff and wasn't

[33:01] approved.

[33:03] >> I would put them back then to what our

[33:05] decision was at the December council

[33:06] meeting is to come back with a revised

[33:08] design.

[33:10] >> Yep. I would make a motion to remove the

[33:13] existing sign and to follow council's

[33:16] December recommendations. Is

[33:18] >> there a second?

[33:19] >> I'll second a motion from Bruce, a

[33:21] second from James. All in favor by

[33:24] saying I

[33:25] >> I

[33:28] anything else from

[33:31] just the one recommendation?

[33:34] Okay. Then we have event center. That's

[33:37] you.

[33:38] >> Okay. Um, so the only recommendation

[33:42] um that we have for the event center is,

[33:46] let me just see what this Oh, wait. Put

[33:49] it in here. Um,

[33:52] we've had a little bit of an issue since

[33:54] the last city council meeting regarding

[33:57] the ashtrays around town around the

[34:00] event center. Um, and um, we've recently

[34:05] kind of fixed that a little bit.

[34:09] Um but

[34:11] in the process we've gotten um

[34:16] some push back from the city employees

[34:18] as a part of how the policy reads as to

[34:21] who has control over this building or

[34:23] how this building is run. Um we just

[34:26] recommend that the city council um look

[34:29] at the policy um as far as um city

[34:32] employees as opposed for

[34:36] safety of this building.

[34:38] Essentially what had happened was um we

[34:41] had last meeting we agreed that the

[34:44] ashtrays would be taken off

[34:48] um and that was agreed upon. It was not

[34:53] communicated correctly apparently and um

[34:56] we got some push back saying that as an

[34:59] advisory board that we advise the city

[35:01] council but we do not make um we do not

[35:05] make the rules

[35:07] >> and our only concern is that in a safety

[35:10] situation we do not have the three weeks

[35:12] to wait for a meeting and the decision

[35:14] that we had made was to remove them for

[35:18] the safety of not having the building

[35:20] burned now. So, we would just like that

[35:22] looked at um as so that we

[35:26] cannot have these problems in the in the

[35:29] future. Um Julie did attach the

[35:32] personnel policy for this building.

[35:35] >> No, no, no. I know it's not yet.

[35:38] >> Um we need to look at it though. So,

[35:40] we'll bring it back to next meeting. But

[35:41] I just wanted that

[35:42] >> when I looked it's outdated. So, be a

[35:45] great opportunity to

[35:47] >> um and it it does kind of outline the

[35:49] various responsibilities. they're not

[35:51] clear and it gives you an opportunity to

[35:54] >> we have gotten the

[35:57] with our meeting the

[36:00] um ashtrays were removed. Um we

[36:04] discussed different options. We did not

[36:06] come to a s to a final say what was

[36:09] going to happen but I my understanding

[36:11] is that they were purchased new ones

[36:12] were purchased after that meeting. Um

[36:15] and that's where we're at with that

[36:17] meeting.

[36:22] Well, I guess we should look at the

[36:23] policy and see what it says. But, you

[36:25] know, I don't use the ashtrays, so I'm

[36:26] not I know in the front wasn't there

[36:28] kind of like a sand or something. You

[36:30] didn't put your cigarette butt in.

[36:32] >> Used to be. Yes.

[36:33] >> I just My concern if we don't have

[36:35] ashtrays, where are those butts going to

[36:36] end up? They're going to end up in a

[36:38] bass.

[36:38] >> Our our concern was that they should not

[36:42] be attached to the building so that they

[36:43] can be remove like moved away from the

[36:45] building if they were on fire,

[36:46] >> right? which was not able to happen at

[36:49] that time. That was our suggest

[36:52] that was the one that was having the

[36:54] issues. Our only recommendation is that

[36:56] they removed until we figured out

[36:57] another option. It was never to not have

[36:59] them. It was just to remove them for the

[37:02] time being. So

[37:04] >> what is the footage? They have to be

[37:06] >> Well, you can't smoke within 20 ft of

[37:08] them.

[37:08] >> 20T

[37:09] >> of the door.

[37:10] >> That's smoking. But your ashtrays, there

[37:12] is no state statute. No. Um

[37:15] >> I couldn't find

[37:16] >> right. Yeah. Um Otteraw County and the

[37:18] city of Vergus does not have but there

[37:21] is a recommendation from um that states

[37:25] best practice is 15 to 25 ft from any

[37:28] entrance window or air intake.

[37:32] >> So I think we're going to have a problem

[37:35] if you have them farther away from the

[37:36] door than you have them they don't use

[37:38] them as much. Um, so I don't think it

[37:42] was like the biggest problem was having

[37:44] them away from the door. It was just

[37:46] more so having them connected to the

[37:47] building.

[37:48] >> Yeah. And

[37:49] >> I do think we have to observe some

[37:50] distance because I have gotten

[37:52] complaints about people that go in the

[37:54] municipal building towards the liquor

[37:56] store because there's someone who has a

[37:58] tendency to smoke right outside the door

[38:01] >> and they find it bothersome to walk

[38:04] through there. So,

[38:07] >> not even kind of briefly dug into that

[38:09] too about like what Julie just said

[38:12] about how there is no distance

[38:14] requirement for the ashtray itself

[38:17] because I I smell it too. I can smell it

[38:19] when people put them out and they come

[38:20] in and

[38:21] >> I see it out there smoking just coming

[38:24] into the door and I've often wondered

[38:26] that with the Clean Air Act that it's

[38:28] only two feet away from the front door.

[38:30] Yeah. So, it' be a good time as we're

[38:32] looking at new ash trees going up to

[38:35] take a look at that footage and you want

[38:37] it convenient, but you don't want it

[38:40] right at the doorway where

[38:43] smokers again don't have that issue, but

[38:46] most smokers are, you know, probably

[38:48] want to put their butt on, you know,

[38:51] >> if anything does get decided with the

[38:53] event center on that, I would like to

[38:54] hear it at as well. Might you propose it

[38:56] at the liquor store, too?

[39:07] All of them.

[39:09] >> Yeah, they just came the shop today.

[39:11] Gotcha.

[39:12] >> So, we'll take a look at how many feet

[39:14] in them before they're installed. Are

[39:16] they multi?

[39:18] >> You wanted them where you could just

[39:19] grab them.

[39:21] >> Oh,

[39:22] they're the

[39:24] >> whatever.

[39:25] >> Yeah. Yeah, the ones that between the

[39:28] >> Yeah,

[39:28] >> the bank and the loom's desk look

[39:30] exactly like that one.

[39:34] >> I I do agree that I do see more butts

[39:36] hitting the ground if we don't have them

[39:38] there. Like I already see people dumping

[39:40] their ashtrays from their car right on

[39:42] the alley between us and did merkantile.

[39:45] Yeah, there's a lot of butts out there

[39:47] even though we have an ashtray over

[39:48] there.

[39:53] Okay,

[39:56] thank you.

[39:58] Um,

[40:01] I guess we are down to staff reports.

[40:03] Um,

[40:06] >> I presented my report to you guys in

[40:10] paper or form. Do you guys have any

[40:11] questions?

[40:15] » Um, do we was there any followup for

[40:18] Keely Shores? cuz at our last meeting

[40:20] there was going to be followup. I see

[40:21] you matched or is it still not resolved?

[40:25] >> Yeah, me and Blaine went out there and

[40:26] looked at it and um like he's not on

[40:28] there I guess.

[40:29] >> Yeah, he's on.

[40:30] >> He's on. He's just not.

[40:31] >> He was in agreement but it still didn't

[40:34] meet the criteria.

[40:36] >> So there was going to be discussion

[40:38] engineer to engineer. Do you know if

[40:40] that ever occurred when did you have a

[40:42] chance to talk to the engineer?

[40:45] >> Yes. So, I um Keith had emailed uh the

[40:49] engineer and then CCD me on it. Um and

[40:51] then I also emailed the engineer. I

[40:53] haven't heard back from them yet. Um so

[40:57] that's where that sits currently.

[40:59] >> Okay.

[41:02] Any other questions on Mike?

[41:08] If not, uh, liquor store report kind of

[41:13] >> um, at the end of quarter 4. Um, let's

[41:17] see.

[41:18] We're still waiting on some sign

[41:20] material from JH signs. That's on back

[41:22] order. That's the last we heard from

[41:24] them. Um, soon as that signage material

[41:27] shows up, they should be installed in

[41:29] the main liquor store sign up on top of

[41:31] the roof.

[41:33] Um, midtime December, gutters were

[41:36] installed. Um, some concerns were

[41:39] brought to the meeting, but nothing that

[41:41] had to get brought up here. I'm getting

[41:43] different quotes for different gutters

[41:45] to potentially bring to council. Maybe I

[41:48] don't even know if it' be my next

[41:50] meeting or next February, but

[41:53] um, so gutters may be getting brought up

[41:56] again soon to the council.

[42:00] Um, hold on as I load here.

[42:04] So, I don't think we could actually

[42:06] attach I do a year end PowerPoint

[42:08] preview. I don't think we could attach

[42:09] it. I don't know if you guys got a print

[42:11] out of it.

[42:12] >> No, they didn't. Are you about to

[42:16] >> or did you get a PDF? I'm not sure.

[42:18] >> They didn't get anything on.

[42:20] >> It might not be too crucial. I can

[42:21] >> We just kind of got your fourth quarter

[42:23] sales and

[42:26] >> just kind of what you know

[42:28] >> does kind of summarize. I mean, it

[42:30] includes first quarter, second quarter,

[42:32] third quarter, and a second one. Yeah. I

[42:34] guess the PowerPoint I was asking that's

[42:36] just kind of the the fun numbers

[42:38] throughout the year. I didn't know if

[42:39] you guys got that one yet or not.

[42:42] >> No, they have not. Okay. But I will get

[42:45] that.

[42:47] >> Well, before we I don't know if you're

[42:48] emailing it. Before we get to that, um,

[42:50] yeah, sales have decreased from 25

[42:54] versus 24. That's not just us. I mean,

[42:57] fortunately, it's not just us, but

[42:59] unfortunately, we are affected by it as

[43:01] well. It's kind of a nationwide thing

[43:03] happening right now. Um,

[43:07] part of the I mean, we're we're still,

[43:10] let's see, we still exceeded over a

[43:12] million in sales. We did exceed last

[43:14] year's sales by

[43:16] roughly 1 $1,800

[43:20] higher than last year's. Yeah. Last year

[43:22] we hit 1,12,000. This year we hit just

[43:25] shy of 1,14.

[43:29] So yes, we're still getting the sales.

[43:32] Yes, we're still rolling in the profit,

[43:33] but it is not the increase that we were

[43:36] expecting that I was expecting.

[43:41] » But that's probably representative of

[43:43] the nationwide trends or whatever we

[43:46] hear all

[43:47] >> initi

[43:49] liquor store is part of an organization

[43:51] called MMBA. It's Minnesota Municipal

[43:54] Meers Association. all municipal liquor

[43:57] stores had the option of being part of

[43:58] it. Um

[44:01] I don't know maybe four or five months

[44:02] into the year the the head president of

[44:05] that was reaching out to all of us

[44:06] asking us for our sales history.

[44:09] Wasn't too much long after that asking

[44:11] for THC history and it sounded like they

[44:13] were maybe going to some national

[44:15] conference to discuss sales there as

[44:16] well. So it it is trending. Alcohol

[44:20] sales are definitely trending downward

[44:22] nationwide.

[44:25] So support local as much as you possibly

[44:27] can. That's for sure.

[44:30] Were we able to get that over?

[44:32] >> Yeah, we should care.

[44:34] >> Okay, then we'll kind of briefly touch

[44:36] on that. Yeah, we did exceed over a

[44:39] million again this year, which you guys

[44:41] can see on the first slide there. Um

[44:44] approximate profit after all expenses,

[44:47] that's utility bills, wages, everything

[44:50] should be approximately 32,000.

[44:53] That is an estimated number. We're still

[44:55] waiting to hear from the state auditor

[44:56] whenever she comes and gets our audit

[44:58] done.

[44:59] Um several months ago, we transferred

[45:02] over $20,000 into the Bergus general

[45:04] fund

[45:06] and just little over 13,000 was given

[45:09] back into the community in a form of

[45:12] some type of discount whether that's

[45:14] senior um veteran, military.

[45:20] The next slides I put in our comparisons

[45:23] from 24 to 25. So the first one which is

[45:26] our sales comparison. Obviously we want

[45:28] to see that orange bar which is 25 to be

[45:31] slightly higher than the blue one. Some

[45:34] months it is. Some months it's not. And

[45:37] unfortunately the months where we really

[45:38] want to be up which is like June, July,

[45:40] August, that's where it's down.

[45:43] >> June, July, I guess it's down not

[45:45] August.

[45:50] I'll get any questions as we go or

[45:54] keep going. Um, I kind of briefly broke

[45:57] it down by categories as far as what

[45:59] we're selling. Um, with the new POS

[46:02] software, I I'm no longer able to pull a

[46:05] report to show percentage. So, I don't

[46:07] know the exact percentage of like what

[46:09] beer is doing, what wine is doing, but

[46:11] at least shows the number of products

[46:13] sold per category and the dollars that

[46:16] it brought in.

[46:20] Um,

[46:22] just a question on expense comparison.

[46:25] Of course, um

[46:27] obviously

[46:29] um expenses were greater than 2024 also.

[46:34] >> Yeah. What factors entered into that?

[46:37] The wholesale prices of liquor or what?

[46:40] >> I I do see some wholesaling pricing

[46:42] going up. Um I think our insurance is

[46:44] probably also a big factor in that. That

[46:46] was a

[46:48] correct me if I'm wrong, Julie. I

[46:49] believe that that was a decent increase

[46:51] there.

[46:52] >> 14% increase.

[46:53] >> Yeah. So I just wonder because

[46:57] like at the very beginning of that bar

[46:59] graph as well or whatever graph that is

[47:03] I don't I don't focus too much on how it

[47:06] drastically changes in January February

[47:09] like that because municipals typically

[47:11] try and thin our stock out at the end of

[47:13] the year and come the beginning of the

[47:16] fiscal year that's when we're looking

[47:18] for those crazy buys.

[47:21] But yeah, so the expense is not just

[47:24] liquor, it's everything to keep that

[47:27] store open. Y

[47:32] » um onto the sales statistic page. I'm

[47:35] not going to read off all the numbers.

[47:37] It just kind of gives some fun numbers

[47:38] of how many products we sold throughout

[47:40] the year, how many transactions.

[47:43] The average transaction is about neck

[47:45] andneck with last year at $27 and change

[47:48] per transaction.

[47:51] Um, kind of a fun one I put in there.

[47:53] The amount of ice that we sold was over

[47:55] 25,000 pounds and almost all of that got

[47:57] hauled into the store by employees.

[48:00] >> Um, and then at the very end there, I

[48:04] just like to put in our top products

[48:05] that we sold. So, I kind of accumulated

[48:07] all of our top 10 shooters, which were

[48:09] over 11,000

[48:11] little airplane shooters that we did.

[48:14] And then the top beer was Bush Light,

[48:16] followed closely by Kors Light and

[48:17] Keystone.

[48:22] And that's just the end of that unless

[48:23] there's any questions

[48:29] from Kyle.

[48:34] » I guess not. Thank you, Kyle. This is

[48:37] >> was a good overview. Thank you.

[48:40] >> I think I said it last year. I don't

[48:42] give this big overview every single

[48:43] quarter. It's just kind of a year end

[48:45] recap.

[48:47] Appreciate that.

[48:51] We ended up being so

[48:57] clerk treasure Julie.

[48:58] >> All right. I also gave you a written

[49:00] report um on what is going on. the one

[49:05] grant that was submitted, the MDH

[49:07] implementation grant. We were awarded

[49:10] the grant. Um, but the availability of

[49:13] grant funds have been exhausted and so

[49:15] our application is sitting on a list.

[49:17] When the state gets funds for that,

[49:19] that's when they'll distribute that. So,

[49:22] we're on a yes, you're approved, but you

[49:25] have to wait, you can't do anything

[49:27] until um they can sign the paperwork and

[49:31] know that they have the funding.

[49:32] >> Which was that? That's the um NDH

[49:35] implementation. It's where we want to

[49:37] put the fence up around the water tower.

[49:47] Any other questions of Julie come for a

[49:50] report here?

[49:57] And thank you Julie

[50:02] to

[50:04] grass for 2025.

[50:09] Um, past annual addresses have had a

[50:11] focus on planning, vision for the

[50:13] future, and partnerships, and those

[50:15] themes remain important to the work of

[50:17] the city. But this year, resilience was

[50:20] introduced as an importance to the

[50:22] future of Bergus. Resilience is the

[50:24] capacity to anticipate, adapt, respond

[50:27] to disruptions while maintaining

[50:29] essential functions that ensure

[50:31] long-term survival and growth. Through

[50:33] collaboration with ESMC, which was the

[50:36] empowering small Minnesota communities,

[50:39] RSDP regional sustainable development

[50:42] partnership, and WCI West Central

[50:46] Initiative, Bergus has advanced our

[50:48] efforts to strengthen city resilience.

[50:51] The 2022 city comprehensive plan remains

[50:54] our overarching road mapap for the

[50:56] future vertus to the year 2036.

[50:59] Currently 86% of the identified

[51:02] strategies have either been completed or

[51:05] have had some progress made. Parking,

[51:08] housing, and businesses were the top

[51:10] focus areas which have received ongoing

[51:13] attention since 2022. Of note in 2025

[51:17] was the completion of the city center

[51:19] parking lot and additionally two

[51:21] handicap parking designations were added

[51:24] to the downtown parking. With the three

[51:26] housing um new housing additions, 94% of

[51:30] the lots have been sold. the EDA, the

[51:33] Economic Development Administration and

[51:35] HRA, the housing redevelopment authority

[51:38] and the Burgus Community Club. They have

[51:41] continued to provide the strong support

[51:42] to the the business community. The EDA H

[51:46] continues to offer the business facade

[51:48] improvement program and is maintaining

[51:51] the CEDA for community and economic

[51:53] development associates contract for

[51:56] 2026. SEGA has been invaluable in

[51:59] providing services and expertise in

[52:01] identifying improvement opportunities

[52:03] and funding resources. The EDA H made it

[52:07] a priority this year to secure a daycare

[52:09] in Bergus. A purchase agreement has been

[52:12] made that secures the daycare location

[52:14] at 303 Eltona Avenue. The EBAH is

[52:18] visiting other community daycarees,

[52:20] researching grant opportunities and

[52:22] established a daycare committee to lay

[52:24] out the operational bank framework. It

[52:27] should also be noted the comm community

[52:30] club maintains a high visibility through

[52:32] the hosting of community events to bring

[52:35] people to fellows and has expanded um

[52:38] the looney and holiday dollars to direct

[52:41] spending to our local businesses within

[52:44] the comprehensive plan. The importance

[52:46] of our parks and open space was also

[52:48] identified. This was further validated

[52:50] by a resilience and energy survey that

[52:52] we conducted in April this year. The

[52:55] protection of lakes and our natural

[52:56] environment scored as a highest area

[52:58] concern in the survey and a 2023 parks

[53:02] improvement plan um was devised. The

[53:05] Long Lake Park is very important to

[53:07] verbus recreationally, environmentally,

[53:09] and economically. Funding has been the

[53:12] barrier to execute the plan. In

[53:14] November, the city council approved the

[53:16] sales tax resolution to request

[53:18] permission from the state res

[53:20] legislature for a half cent sales tax

[53:22] increase on city retail sales. If

[53:25] approved, this would be placed on the

[53:27] November 26 elections ballot. Based on

[53:30] historical data of city sales, it's

[53:32] anticipated it would take approximately

[53:34] 5 years to raise the $1.2 million

[53:38] estimated project cost. Additionally, in

[53:41] 2023, a city of Bergus trail feasibility

[53:44] study had been conducted and this year

[53:46] Bergus was connected to the heart of

[53:48] lakes trail. Next step would be to

[53:50] connect to the Hartland regional trail

[53:52] which is targeted for the year 2031.

[53:56] In May 2024, the Verus city of Verus was

[53:59] awarded grants um from the empowering

[54:02] small Minnesota communities and the

[54:04] regional sustainable development

[54:06] partnership.

[54:08] The grants focused on engaging in energy

[54:10] initiatives with direct Bennett's bits

[54:13] to the community fiscally and

[54:15] environmentally. It entailed baseline

[54:17] assessments of our municipal building

[54:20] energy use energy audits of the

[54:22] municipal buildings and building

[54:23] enclosure and operations. The city

[54:26] received another grant from the

[54:28] Minnesota pollution control agency to

[54:30] make the identified weatherization

[54:32] improvements to the event center fireall

[54:35] and the liquor store municipal building.

[54:37] These grants have positioned the city of

[54:39] Burgers to receive further funding which

[54:41] was through the West Sentinel initiative

[54:43] for the installation of solar panels at

[54:45] the event center along with the

[54:47] installation of a battery bank that will

[54:50] support decreasing energy costs and

[54:52] provide energy backup commit

[54:54] capabilities for the community in the

[54:56] event of a power failure. In 2024,

[54:59] Bergus became the 100th and 49th

[55:02] Minnesota community to become a green

[55:04] step city. And this year, a level 205

[55:06] was achieved. Green steps is a

[55:08] recognition program that helps cities

[55:10] achieve resilience, sustainability, and

[55:12] quality of life goals to guide the city

[55:15] in achieving identified best practices

[55:18] and energy resilience. Um, advisory

[55:21] board was established this past year.

[55:24] Energy grant data, results of the

[55:26] community energy resilience survey, and

[55:28] best practices outlined in the GreenStep

[55:30] program is guiding work toward

[55:32] achievements in the following priority

[55:35] areas: energy and building

[55:37] infrastructure, natural environment, and

[55:39] green infrastructure, water, lake

[55:41] systems, and emergency preparedness and

[55:43] management. In summary, Bergus has moved

[55:46] forward and experienced significant

[55:48] momentum in 2025 and demonstrated what

[55:51] is truly possible even if you're a small

[55:53] community. The 2025 story would be

[55:56] defined as what is possible. What is

[55:59] possible when a small town uses data,

[56:01] partnerships, commitment, and community

[56:04] engagement to achieve advancement,

[56:06] resilience, and quality of life while

[56:09] keeping the small town charm and the

[56:11] heart of the community. And that is the

[56:14] 2025 address.

[56:18] Along with the address, it it noted our

[56:21] comprehensive plan. And in your packet,

[56:23] there were this plan was done in uh

[56:26] 2022. There were 58 strategies and 50 of

[56:30] those strategies. You know, we're seeing

[56:32] some progress. Some we've actually

[56:34] closed out because they're basically

[56:36] done. There's not more we can do. Um

[56:39] there are eight areas where we really

[56:40] aren't seeing traction. And granted,

[56:42] this plan goes to 2036, but it would be

[56:45] nice to just see if you know, are they, viable? Are they ones

[56:52] that are there that we don't see that

[56:54] there is a need? So, I think we're going

[56:56] to just kind of put those out and uh to

[56:59] the areas that would have

[57:01] some oversight and and kind of see what

[57:04] do they think. Like one was conduct a

[57:07] feasibility study for soccer fields and

[57:09] Frisbee golf. Does it need to be that

[57:12] specific? Or as uh you probably noticed

[57:14] in the parkboard minutes, they want to

[57:16] take a look at the little league field.

[57:18] Maybe it's something we can incorporate

[57:20] there. Um show uh show snowshoe rental

[57:24] companies. Look at them. I don't know,

[57:27] you know, does that follow in the realm

[57:29] of our our comp plan. So, we're going to

[57:32] kind of put those eight of those out and

[57:34] just see if if they're viable and and at

[57:37] the 5year mark, we'll take some time to

[57:39] just really overall evaluate. But, um um

[57:43] you know, it it's pretty incredible with

[57:46] that. We, you know, 86% of these 58

[57:49] strategies are we're seeing some work

[57:51] done. So, uh kudos because it isn't us

[57:54] doing the work. There is lots of groups

[57:56] in the community doing this work. So uh

[57:58] we appreciate all their all their

[58:00] efforts.

[58:03] any questions or further comments on we

[58:06] have plan

[58:12] just for information announcements don't

[58:14] forget about our April 8th uh board of

[58:17] review and our hazardous waste is June

[58:20] 23rd and then uh the employee training

[58:22] that we had previously um approved at

[58:25] the beginning at the end of the year.

[58:27] including

[58:30] on our agenda. Can I have a motion to

[58:32] approve or to move the motion to return?

[58:35] >> I like motion for James.

[58:40] All in favor?

[58:42] I

Vergas City Council Meeting 1 20 26

Transcript