The >> Vermillion City Council meeting
scheduled for Monday, July 6th, 2026 at 6 p.m. will come to order. Alex, will
you call roll? >> Taller
» here. >> Liieber.
» Price >> here.
» Holland >> here.
» Jennaine >> here.
» Hellwig >> here.
» Cheeseman >> here.
» Mura >> here.
» Mayor Cole >> here. Will you please stand for the
pledge?
I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
Has
everyone had a chance to review the minutes from the June 15, 2026 special
meeting, the June 15, 2026 regular meeting, and the June 23rd, 2026 special
meeting? If so, are there any changes to the minutes or a motion to approve?
» Approval. >> Motion to approve by councelor Mur. Is
there a second? >> Second.
» Second by councelor Helwig. Any other discussion on the minutes?
All those in favor signify by saying I. I
» opposed by saying nay. Motion carries. Minutes are approved.
Adoption of the agenda. Uh is everyone had a chance to review the agenda? If
so, are there any changes to the agenda or is there a motion to adopt?
» Move to the agenda. >> Motion to approve the agenda by
councelor Price. Is there a second? >> Second.
» Second by councelor Cheeseman. Any other discussion on the agenda?
» All those in favor signify by saying I. I
» oppos saying nay. Agenda is hereby adopted. Uh for
visitors to be heard. Under visitors to be heard. Uh persons
addressing the council shall use the microphone at the podium. Please raise
your hand uh before being heard to be recognized and go to the podium and
state your name and address. For items not on the agenda, members of the public
may speak under visitors to be heard for any topic not on the agenda. Remarks are
limited to 5 minutes and no decision will be made at this time. on each
agenda item. Public testimony will then be given will be taken by the beginning
of each agenda item after the subject has been announced and explained by
mayor and staff. Any citizen who wishes may speak for each agenda item may speak
for 5 minutes and public testimony will then be closed in the topic given to the
governing body for possible action. At that point, only council members and
staff may discuss the current item unless there's unanimous consent from
the council. Questions, however, may be directed to staff or member of the
public through the presiding officer at any time.
Um, we also have a park and wreck month proclamation. Um, and we also have some
outgoing council members. So, aside from those things, are there any visitors to
be heard on anything not on the agenda tonight?
Seeing none, first thing we have for parks and recreation month, uh, a
proclamation designation of July as parks and recreation month.
Whereas parks and recreation programs are integral part of communities
throughout this country including Vermillion. And whereas parks and
recreation are vital important to establishing and maintaining the quality
of life in our community and ensuring the health of all citizens and
contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of our
community and region. And whereas remain parks and recreation programs build a
healthy and active community that aids in the prevention of chronic disease and
improves the physical, mental, and emotional health for all citizens. And
whereas our parks and recreation programs increase the community's
economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of local tax
base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention of businesses and crime
reduction. And whereas parks and recreation programs and education
activities such as programming, youth sports, and environmental education are
critical to childhood development. And whereas our parks and national
recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of our community and provide a
place for children and adults to connect with nature and rec recreate outdoors.
And whereas the United States of House representatives has designated July as
parks and recreation month. And whereas the city of Vermillion recognize the
benefits derived from parks and recreation services. Now therefore, be
it resolved, we the governing body of city of Vermillion, South Dakota, do
hereby proclaim July of 2026 as Parks and Recreation Month. encourage all
residents to participate in this observance by being outside enjoying
your local parks and recreation areas dated this day 6th of July 2026
Vermillion South Dakota. And if we have the parks and recreational department
head, Jim Goblish come up. Proclamation
» Jim, if you'd like to say anything, I'll limit you to five minutes. [laughter]
» Make it longer for you tonight, but uh thank you, Mr. Mayor, for uh recognizing
Parks and Recreation Month. Um and thank you to the council for supporting our
local here parks and recreation department. Without your support, this
wouldn't happen. Um, also what wouldn't happen is without the great staff that I
have underneath me here on the park side, the recreation side, and we like
to throw the golf in there too. Um, we are really a small department, but we
try and serve the citizens in a big way each and every day. So, I appreciate it
and thank you for the recognition. >> Thank you, Jim. Um, are there any
visitors to be heard? I also want to recognize I I forgot to mention on the
consent agenda. If anybody wants to speak on the consent agenda items, also
speak now as well. There any visitors to be heard?
Seeing none, moving on. Uh, we have no public hearings, so we'll move on to the
consent agenda. We have the invoices payable and the final plot of
lot 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B, 9B, 10B, 11B, 12B, 13B, 14B, and 15B of block one, lots 1B,
2B, 3B, and block of block 6, and outlot 1B. All in the Bliss Point edition um in
the city of Vermillion. Is there anything on the consent agendum? Consent
agenda council wishes to remove. >> See none. Is there approval of the
consent agenda? >> Move approval.
» Motion to approve the consent agenda by councelor Price. Is there a second?
» I'll second. >> Second by councelor Holland. Any
discussion of the consent agenda? All in favor of approval of the consent agenda.
Save by saying I. I. >> Opposed by saying nay.
» Consent agenda is approved. Moving to old business. We have a second
reading of ordinance 1558 to amend title uh one of general provisions. This is in
reference to wards and boundaries to establish new ward boundaries to reflect
recent annexations. >> Thank you. The city annexed Munger
tracks 1 through three and the blue stump track earlier earlier this year.
Um the munger tracks are located on the west side of South Dakota Highway 19 and
south of the Vermllion River. The blue stump track is located on the east side
of North Crawford Road and approximately 500 ft north of East Main Street. If
this ordinance is approved, the Munger tracks would become part of the
northwest ward and the blue stem tracks would become part of the southeast ward.
Uh, currently both areas are vacant, so there would be so there would not be an
increase in the population for either of the wards. Um, the city council
considered the first reading of this ordinance on June 15th and unanimously
advanced the ordinance to a second reading. No changes have been made to
the ordinance since then. Administration recommends approval of the second
reading of ordinance 1558. A roll call vote is required with a second reading
of an ordinance. >> Thank you, Alex.
Did it go up there? >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, is there any
visitors to be heard on this topic? Seeing none, council members for any
discussion on this item. Is there any motions?
» Motion. >> Motion approved by councelor Liieber. Is
there a second? >> Second. [snorts]
» Second by councelor Holland. Any discussion on this?
Move to the voting machines.
Nine, zero nazs. Motion carries.
That'll conclude old business. Um, no new business. So, we will move on to the
the presentation of outgoing council members.
for this process. Uh what I'll do is I will um
recognize the outgoing council members, allow them to speak, and then allow any
members of the public to speak as well after uh the council member wishes to
speak. Um first up, we'll recognize Katherine
Price. Uh council [clears throat] member Katherine Price. Uh whereas Katherine
Price has dedicated 12 years of service to the citizens of Vermillion as a
Central Ward city council member from July 2014 until July 2026. And whereas
Katherine Price has served on multiple committees during her time in office,
including the labor and finance and policies and procedures committees and
the surplus property appraisal committee as member and chair. And whereas
Katherine Price has been an active, involved, and committed member of the
city government during her years of service, including serving as a city
council representative on the National Music Museum board. And whereas
Katherine Price has been the unofficial pledge of allegiance leader and perhaps
the only city council member to sing at a meeting. And whereas Katherine Price
has been an inquisitive city council member who through her questions sought
to help the public understand the actions of their local government. And
whereas Katherine Price has worked to understand all sides of an issue,
whether at a city council meeting or through efforts she made on her own to
understand different points of views. And whereas Katherine Price has been
involved with many projects such as the apprentice plunge, the downtown
streetscape project where she will have a lasting generational impacts on the
community. And now therefore be resolved that the fellow members of the
Vermillion City Council on behalf of the community of Vermillion and city staff
do hereby extend our deepest appreciation to Katherine Price for her
dedicated service to the community as a city council member for the city of
Vermillion, South Dakota, Data of Vermillion, South Dakota, the 6th day of
July, 2026. [applause]
» [applause]
» Thank you. I I do have a speech and I timed it at 9 minutes. So, I'm very
grateful for having that time to share these words with everyone.
So, first I'd like to thank the city staff, the people who keep the lights
on. The city of Vermillion boasts an exceptional ensemble of professionals
led by John Prescott, one of the most competent, ethical, responsible, and
kindest people I have ever known. John's positive influence sets the tone for the
functioning of the city as a whole. The department heads are likewise dedicated
and capable experts in their fields. And we are lucky to have people like Alex,
Crystal, Dan, Jim, Jose, Marty, Matt, Pete, Ryan, Shane, Tim, Todd, anyone I
forgot to name, and everyone I have had the pleasure of working with over the
last 12 years. Thank you, John, and all the staff for keeping Vermillion
running. I want to offer some advice to the
incoming council and this reinforces the useful orientations that Matt Fairholm
has run for us over the years and that is identify what part you play. So as a
musician I wasn't sure what practical skills I would bring to the council but
I ended up being good good at things beyond just saying the pledge of
allegiance. So in meetings, I noticed that after a
detailed discussion with a lot of potential outcomes, the group really
needed someone to summarize the conversation and outline the options in
front of us. And so I started doing that and saw the meeting's benefit. But every
council will be different and need different things and everyone has their
own skills. You might be good at attention to detail, words smmithing the
ordinances, or fine-tune combing the numbers, or asking hard questions others
don't want to, or at contingency planning for every scenario, or at
ensuring that everyone's voice is heard. Making group decisions with a team of
nine individuals can be a challenge and it requires all of us to engage with
goodwill, empathy, understanding, and compromise. So, play to your strengths
for the betterment of all. Here, I'd like to say something about
Vermillion, why I think it's such a great place to live, and how to keep it
that way. It's no news to anyone that the that the
United States has become more politically polarized and the blame is
often placed on social media. The idea that the algorithm creates an
ideological echochamber that reflects back back to us our own narrow view of
the world. But a study in 2022 actually found that the reason social media is
dividing us has less to do with it isolating us in our bubble and more to
do with the fact that the opinions we encounter on the internet are not tied
to real real familiar people we know but to distant indistinct people whom we can
readily categorize with black and white labels like friend or enemy.
In the real world, when you encounter someone whose worldview differs from
yours, it's a lot harder to to just hate them outright if they are cheering
alongside you at your children's sports event.
This 2022 study summarized it this way. quote, "When individuals interact
locally with others, we come into contact with a plural patchwork of
cross-cutting conflicts, but our shared space and interests require us to look
beyond our differences of opinion in order to cooperate on a shared goal."
End quote. As a remarkable example of how this kind
of shared goal can undermine polarizing extremism, I'm going to tell you the
story of the West Eastern Devon Orchestra, a groundbreaking youth
symphony founded in 1999 by the pianist and conductor Daniel Baron Boone and the
late postcolonial critic Edward Say. Baron Boy who is Jewish and Sed who was
born in Palestine saw music as a way to combat fierce political turmoil.
Assembling talented instrumentalists from Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and
other war torn places in the Middle East, the orchestra provided a shared
goal for these young people who otherwise saw themselves only as
adversaries. In Baron Boy's own words, quote, "The
Devon was con conceived as a project against ignorance. It is absolutely
essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other
thinks and feels without necessarily agreeing with it." End quote. The West
Eastern Devon Orchestra has performed for 25 years, giving generations of
children from constantly conflicted countries the opportunity to make
beautiful music with those whom they otherwise might only have encountered in
violent bloodshed. A key point in Baronborn's comment is
that the goal is not to unite everyone in one mind, but rather to acknowledge
the other's humanity and experience even in disagreement.
American democracy is not about people all thinking the same thing. It's about
people being able to think differently, worship differently, speak differently,
love differently, live differently, and being confident that the plurality
of our differences makes us a stronger nation.
But in the world of predatory social media and two-party politics, it's very
hard to remember what makes American democracy work.
And this this is why I think Vermillion is such a great place. It's not that
we're immune to political polarization happening all over the country. And it's
not that we don't have a social media problem like everywhere else, but
Vermillion is still the kind of place where people come together across the
aisle to cooperate on a shared goal. And therefore, we are still the kind of
place where differences of opinion can coexist because we still recognize and
respect each other's humanity. We do that by jointly creating things
that matter to us. But it only works if you lean into the dissonance.
Choose to actively collaborate with people who might disagree with you.
Maybe you sign up with the fire department or EMS to help save lives.
Maybe you volunteer at the welcome table or the food pantry. Maybe you support
adults or children with disabilities. Maybe you foster animals for the Humane
Society. Maybe you participate in creative activities like community
theater or vado or painting public art. Maybe you enjoy the outdoors by
restoring the native prairie or join a cycling club or a golf league or a
pickle ball team. Maybe you preserve historic buildings or build new ones for
Habitat for Humanity. Whatever you do, challenge yourself to work in concert
with others, regardless of the campaign sign in their yard. Because the only way
democracy can work is if we do the work of democracy together.
Finally, I'd like to say that stepping away from city council was a difficult
choice. Not only because I still have a lot to give, but because the council has
given a lot to me. I was fairly new here when my neighbors first asked me to run
for council, but serving the central ward and planning for the city's future
quickly made this place home to me in a way that nothing else could. Some of my
life's proudest moments happened in the course of this service. So, I'd like to
thank my constituents for having confidence in me and allowing me the
privilege of serving you.
I also encourage others to similarly step up not just because Vermilion needs
you, but because it because service is a gift you give that gives back to you, a
gift you can be proud of. A symphony only happens if all the voices sound. So
even if you're new here or you have doubts about what you have to offer, I
urge you to get involved because while it takes professionals to keep the
lights on, it takes all of us to create this community together. Thank you.
» [applause]
» Do I leave now or do I wait? [laughter] >> We we might need your vote to adjourn.
So that's right. [laughter]
» Is there any visitors from the public that wishes to speak um for Katherine
Price?
Seeing none, is there any council members that wish us to speak and
comment for councelor Price? >> You can present mine next, but then I'll
wait. >> I just want to say thank you, Katherine.
Just want to say thank you for taking most of my speeches. Just kidding.
[laughter]
Thank you. Um,
Councelor Holland, proclamation recognizing Richard Holland
for his city council service. Whereas Richard Holland has dedicated 12
years of service to the citizens of Vermillion as Southeast Ward City
Council member from July 14th to July 2026.
And whereas Richard Holland has served on all the city council committees
during his time in office uh including the labor and finance committee, surplus
property appraisal committee, policies and procedures committee and utilities
committees as chair. And whereas Richard Holland was a city council
representative on multiple boards during his time in office, including the tree
board, the vermilion now three board and the library board. And whereas Richard
Holland has served on the law enforcement center committee and prior
to his election to the city council, he served on the planning and zoning
commission and who in which he continues to regularly attend the meetings. And
whereas Richard Holland served the city council in leadership positions as vice
president for the city council from 2016 to 2020. and as city council president
from 2020 to 2026. And whereas Richard Allen met with the
state and federal legislative delegations and peer in Washington DC
participate in quarterly trainings and was community leaison as the inaugural
Missouri River energy service ambassador for Vermillion and whereas Richard
Holland has been involved with many projects such as the Jackpolla
development and the downtown streetscape project which will have generational
impacts on the community. And now therefore be resolved that the fellow
members of the Vermillion City Council on behalf of the community of Vermillion
and city staff do hereby extend our deepest appreciation to Richard Holland
for his dedicated service to community as a city council member for the city of
Vermillion, South Dakota, data of Vermillion, South Dakota this 6th day of
July, 2026. [applause]
» [applause]
» I cannot possibly follow Katherine's visitation and my presentation brief
will explain why I cannot. Katherine and I have served 12 years on city council
at the same time. Same time. I don't know what it would be like to not have
Katherine clearly recite the pledge of allegiance. I that's all I've heard for
12 years. Um okay. During the time that Katherine and I have served, the city
has made great accomplishments, and I'm proud to be part of those
accomplishments. Some of those things I have done would not have been successful
or completed without Catherine's help. I highly value her superior knowledge and
composition skills, and she's always delivered when I've asked for help, and
I have asked several times. Thank you for helping me, Katherine, and the city.
She has made it all a better place for all. Thank you.
» [applause]
[applause]
» I asked if there's any visitors to be heard for uh councelor Holland.
Seeing any council members to speak for councelor Holland at all.
Seeing none, next presentation uh be a proclamation
that is going to be read uh by the first lady, Jenna Lucas. If you go ahead and
please come up and
this is a proclamation recognizing John Cole for his city council service.
Whereas John Cole has dedicated four years of service to the citizens of
Vermillion as mayor of Vermillion from July 2022 to July 2026.
And whereas during John Cole's tenure as mayor, Vermillion was recognized as
South Dakota's community of the year and received national recognition as USA
Today's best smalltown art scene, reflecting the strength, collaboration,
and momentum of the community. And whereas John Cole promoted
transparency, accountability, and thoughtful evaluation of city policies
and procedures while encouraging continuous improvement in local
government. And whereas John Cole worked to build
the tax base, whether through enhanced sales tax collection accuracy or bring
events or development to town that would contribute to the tax base. And whereas
John Cole supported and advocated for significant community investments,
including housing development, public safety facilities, infrastructure
improvements, economic development initiatives, and long-term planning
efforts designed to position Vermillion for future growth. And whereas John Cole
served with integrity, dedication, and genuine desire to promote the best
interests of the city of Vermillion and its citizens.
And whereas John Cole fostered strong partnerships among local organizations,
businesses, educational institutions, state and federal leaders, and community
stakeholders in pursuit of opportunities that benefited Vermillion residents. And
whereas John Cole developed the mayor of the day program for eighth grade
students in Vermillion to encourage government engagement among Vermillion
youth and to educate and inspire future community leadership.
And whereas John Cole worked tirelessly to support the projects and initiatives
that benefit Vermillion residents. Now therefore, be it resolved that the
fellow members of the Vermillion City Council on behalf of the community of
Vermillion City staff do hereby extend our deepest appreciation to John Cole
for his dedicated leadership, service, and commitment to the citizens of
Vermillion for his lasting contributions to the growth, progress, and success of
the community. Dated at Vermillion, South Dakota, the 6th day of July, 2026.
Thank you.
[applause]
Well, before we adjourn, and I realize I'm going to
ask any visitors to be heard after I speak as well. Um, I just want to say
that I've had a privilege of serving the city of Vermillion for
actually over a decade. First as city employee for about 10 years and then as
mayor as your mayor for the past four. Public service is really all I've ever
known. Uh whether it was serving as a police
officer or serving as your mayor, my goal has always been the same. To leave
this community better than I found it. Serving the people of Vermillion has
been one of the greatest honors of my life.
Over the last four years, we faced challenges,
celebrated successes, work together to move our community
forward. We've invested in our housing,
infrastructure, our public safety, [snorts] economic development, and
long-term planning. We've built strong partnerships and
positioned Vermillion for continued success. And I'm proud of what we've
accomplished together. And none of that happened because of one
person. It's happened because of a dedicated city staff,
committed council members, engaged community partners,
and residents who care deeply about Vermillion.
To the members of the council, Katherine summed it up pretty well.
We don't always agree, but we've always respected the person and the passion and
the commitment each other of you have brought to the table. Healthy discussion
and different perspectives make us stronger. I am grateful for the
opportunity to serve alongside you. We've even had the ability to have a few
laughs together and oftentimes have the similar thought and common ground.
Few council members I want to particularly point out. Council member
Mura, you've [snorts] been with me from the
start, from the day I was sworn in and the day
you were sworn in. And even though we've not always agreed with each other,
I have to admire your ability to not say or to say how it is and not be afraid
even when someone else is going to be quote mad at you.
Gary, Council Member Cheeseman
for always willing to have dialogue with me, even though not always having the
same train of thought, but many, many times having same common ground. You've
always treated me with respect and honor, and I valued our conversations
together. Rich, Council Member Holland,
and pardon my language for a couple of the children in the room, but Council
Member Holland, quote, first time I started, he wanted to kick my ass
is what he said. However, as we've grown in our meetings,
he appreciated another point of view and the relationships and the strengths of
of others that I've built over the years. And I believe ours is one of
those strengths and relationships. Thanks to council member Holland. His
outside the box approach um where he thought of allowing us to go to auction
to purchase a piece of land now came to fruition as Jack Powell edition if it
was not for his outside the box thinking. I don't think that project
would have ever came off the ground. So I want to say thank you
John Prescott. Thank you for your counsel, your
friendship over the past four years. Correction, make that 14 years.
While there's no handbook for being a firsttime mayor,
I want to say thank you for your patience, guidance, willingness to
answer the phone no matter the hour or a text message. and I am a better leader,
a better person because of your mentorship and your knowledge of
municipal government and your dedication to this city has been invaluable and not
only to me but to countless other leaders across our state.
To our city staff, thank you for your professionalism and
dedication. The work you do every day often goes unseen. I've seen it
firsthand while riding alongside a plow truck in
the middle of the snow or in a police car going to those calls
that nobody wants to know about. To the citizens of Vermillion, thank you
for placing your trust in me. Thank you for your support, your ideas, your
feedback, and your willingness to stay engaged in our community.
And most importantly of all, I want to thank my family.
As public service is never the work of one person. It requires a sacrifice from
those who stand beside you. They've shared my time with this community for
many, many years. There are countless evenings, weekends, events, meetings,
phone calls, and interruptions at the dinner table that took away from my time
for them. Their love, support, patience, and understanding made it possible for
me to serve. And I'll always be grateful those sacrifices.
So, as I leave this office, I do so with a full heart and a great sense of
gratitude. As Vermillion is in a strong place, a strong position, and I believe
the future is bright. While my term as mayor has come to an
end tonight, my commitment to Vermillion does not. I will continue to support,
advocate for, and serve the community in whatever way I can.
To mayor like Kevin O. Kelly, I wish you the best. Lead steady, lead strong. May
not always be the most favorite person in the room, but I have confidence in
you. Thank you for allowing me the privilege to serve. It has truly been an
honor. Thank you. [applause]
» Yeah. Thanks again. Thank you.
» Are there [laughter] Oh, no. We have to >> Are there Well, are there any other
visits to be heard on um my acknowledgement?
Seeing none, the only thing left to is a motion to adjurnn. I would ask if
Councelor Price or Councelor Holland wants to make the motion to adjurnn.
» Move we adjourn. >> I second. Motion by councelor Price and
a second by councelor Holland to adjurnn.
» All those in favor signify by saying I. >> Opposed by saying nay.
» Meeting adjourn.
[applause]
We're looking for the best photo op. >> I don't know if I go that
Thank you. >> You got this under control.
» I hope so.
» When you're ready, Nick. >> When I'm ready. All right. I'll have you
raise your right hand. Repeat after me. >> I state your name.
» I, Kevin O. Kelly. >> Do solemnly swear or affirm. Does so all
this swear >> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of
South Dakota >> and the Constitution of the State of
South Dakota. >> And I will faithfully discharge my
duties >> and I will faithfully discharge my
duties >> of mayor of the city of Vermillion,
South Dakota. >> of mayor of the may of the mayor as
mayor of the city of Vermillion, South Dakota.
» According to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability.
» Thank you. >> Thank you.
» [applause]
» together.
You raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. I person do
solely swear or affirmly swear or affirm
» that I'll support the Constitution of the United States that I will support
the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of
South Dakota and the Constitution of the State of South Dakota.
» And I will faithfully discharge my duties.
» A council member of the city of Vermillion, South Dakota.
» Council member of the city of Vermillion, South Dakota. According to
the best of mind according to the best. Thank you.
[applause]
Why is my dad?
Well, that was exciting. I just want to start before you start,
John, I just want to say thank you to the outgoing members, John Cole and Rich
Holland and Katherine Price. Uh, citizen government is what makes America great.
So, thank you all very much for your service.
» And John? >> Okay. So, when we have a
reorganizational meeting every two years, there's a number of procedural
items that we'll go through tonight. Um, the city council will and staff will
kind of walk you through some of those. Uh, so a lot of these things will seem
um well, they're very procedural and not really the most exciting for some
members of the public, but nonetheless, the first thing that um I'm sorry, Mr.
Mayor. Um, we needed to do the roll call.
» Yeah, I knew there was something I got sooner later. Might as well get it all
the way down. Uh, Rlet, roll call, please.
» Cheeseman >> here.
» Gilbert Gilbertson >> here.
» Hellwig >> here.
» Genine, >> here.
» Liieber, >> here.
» Lias >> here. here.
» Mura >> here.
» Taller >> here.
» Mayor O Kelly >> here. And I forgot to observe the
agenda. >> Yes.
» Very good. Before I Oh, thank you. >> Before I start with the adopted agenda,
I just want to remind us that our future as a community depends on
recognizing our past. The city of Vera exists on the ancestral lands of the
Shedi Sakuan and Omaha indigenous people. We honor and appreciate those
who have the longest relationship with this place. Having
said that, have we all had a chance to look at the agenda?
Any changes, amendments?
» Second. >> Moved and seconded. All in favor? Any
say I >> All post say nay.
» Motion passes. Oh, Gavl. Sorry, got excited for a minute.
» Very good. Now the officers. Thank you, John.
» Thank you. I'm sorry about that, mayor. I should have moved to meet.
» We've been to other meetings. This is your first one. We got to do a better
job as staff. Well, we'll work on that. But nonetheless, one of the things that
is stated uh not only in state statute, but in the home rule charter, in the
city rules and procedures, is that one of the first acts of the council is to
elect a president and a vice president. Uh those individuals serve in the
absence of the disability of the mayor. Uh we would recommend that the motion
for president um be one motion and a motion for vice president be a separate
motion. Uh with that, we'll turn it over to the council.
» Having said that, do I have any nominations for the uh city council
president? I'll make a motion. Mr. Bur,
» is there a second to that nomination? >> Any further nominations?
» I would like to motion for Julia. >> Hellwig. Got it. And do I have a second
for that nomination? >> Do I have a second for the nomination?
Julia Hellwig, the president. >> Second.
» Second. Any further nominations? How do we conduct the an election like
this? Roll call or >> Yes, because the voting machines are set
by name and so till we get that change. So you'll need to Alex, if you'd call
the role, please when you're ready, Mr. Mayor.
» Yes, I'm ready. So uh how many uh support Mike Mura as presounc
Do you want me to go down? >> Yeah, let's go through.
» Perfect. Cheeseman. >> Nay.
» Gilbertson. >> Yes. Hellwig.
» No. >> Genuine.
» No. >> Liieber.
» Yes. >> Lias.
» Nay. >> Mura.
» Yes. >> Taller.
» Yes. >> Mayor O Kelly.
» Nay.
» Uh, five nays. Four yays. >> I guess that settles the that makes the
hell nomination moved. Very good. Congratulations, Mike. Thank you very
much. Do I have any nominations for city? I'm sorry. Did I miss something?
» We still need to move for do that. >> Oh, we do. I'm sorry. Thank you very
much.
» Do I until this vote on Hellwig, right? I'm sorry. Thank you very much. Uh, how
many you going to do roll call, please, Alex? How many vote for Hellwig?
» Cheeseman. >> Yes.
» Gilbertson, >> nay.
» Hellwig, >> yes.
» Jennaine, >> yes.
» Liieber, >> no.
Lias. >> Yes.
» Mura. >> Taller.
» Mayor O Kelly. >> Yes.
» That's five yays, four nays.
» What did we have for Mura? >> The opposite.
» Oh, I'm sorry. I miss I misheard. Thank you very much. Are we done with that?
» You need the vice president next. >> Yeah. Great. Do I have any nominations
for city council vice president? >> Any nominations for city council vice
president? Step in. >> I would like to nominate Lindseay Jenny
for vice president. >> Do I have a second to that nomination?
» Second.
» Any other nominations for the uh role of city council vice president?
» I'll nominate Mike for vice president.
Is there a second for that nomination? Second.
» Any further nominations?
» Seeing none, Alex, will you take us through the roll call, please?
» It might be helpful to state the motion, the candidate you're voting at this
point in time. >> Very good. So, we're we'll be voting for
uh Lindseay Genoine first as vice president for the city council.
» Cheeseman. >> Yes.
» Gilbertson. Nay >> Hellwig.
» Yes. >> Genoine.
» Yes. >> Weieber.
» Nay. >> Lias.
» Yes. >> Mura.
» Nay. >> Taller.
» No. >> Mayor Kelly.
» Yes. >> That's five. Yay. Four nays.
» And now we'll have a vote for the uh nomination for Mike Murray as city
council vice president. >> Cheeseman.
» No. >> Gilbertson.
» Yay. >> Hellwig. No.
» Genuine. >> No.
» Liieber. >> Yes.
» Lias. >> No.
» Mura. >> Yep.
» Taller. >> Yes.
» Maro Kelly. >> No.
» That will be four yays. Five nays. >> Thank you very much. I hope that I'll
attend most meetings and there your work won't be required very often. But thank
you for offering.
Okay. So, sure. Ready to move forward. Next. Next item is appointment of
administrative officers. There are um three positions that the city council
hires. Uh the city manager, the finance officer, and the city attorney. First
item on your agenda is to address the position of finance officer. Um again,
this is addressed both in state statute in our home world charter. um that the
city council would appoint a finance officer and that is done each time the
city council has a reorganizational meeting. It is a bit unique this time in
that uh Nick is serving as our interim finance officer and the previous council
uh hired Wendy Boura Diaz who will be starting or is projected to start as our
finance officer on Monday, August 3rd. Um, at this point in time, we'd ask that
there be a motion to, if the council feels it's appropriate, to recognize
Nick serving as our inter Nick Dodie to serve as our interim finance officer and
Wendy Boura Diaz to serve as our finance officer effective August 3rd of this
year. >> Thank you. Is there any discussion on
that matter from the council?
» Okay, we have a motion to approve. Do we have a second?
» Second. >> Uh, moved and seconded. Any any last
minute discussion? All in favor of the motion to recognize
Nick Dodie as interim finance officer and Wendy Bourja Diaz as city finance
officer of August 3rd. Please indicate by saying I.
» I. >> And those opposed say nay.
» Motion passes. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh the next item is
the appointment of a city attorney. Uh back in 2022, we went through a pretty
extensive process where we received proposals from several different firms.
uh the city council committee interviewed those firms and they made a
recommendation to the full council and that's when Craig Huff was hired as our
city attorney in roughly August or September of 2022. Um I've visited with
Daryl Jesse who will be at your first meeting of the month typically and then
another member of the firm um is here for the second meeting of the month.
Daryl has expressed interest that the uh firm of Crair Huff would be willing to
continue serving as our city attorney and we'd recommend approval of Curry
Huff as city attorney. Thank you very much. Any discussion on
the city council over this proposal?
» Second. Any further discussion before we vote? I will say that I've discussed
this uh the service of this law firm with city staff and they've been uh
uniformly satisfied. So giving no seeing no further discussion, those in favor of
extending the appointment of the Crair Huff Lir city attorney, please say
indicate by saying I. >> I. Those opposed say nay.
You're hired.
» All right. Oh, now it's me. >> Yes.
» Uh so the uh city council members are asked to serve on one or more city
council committees or other assignments to assist with various aspects of the
organization and to meet legal requirements. Community members and
staff also assist the city in serving on a number of committees or representing
the organization. In other words, this group, this meeting night is not all
they do. Vermillion is fortunate to have a dedicated city council to have
dedicated city council members and individuals willing to serve on a broad
range of city committees and and or represent the city. The city council is
asked to review the assignments as proposed and make appropriate changes
and adopt a document assigning the individual individuals to the respective
areas. I'm not going to read all of the assignments. There are quite a few but
is everybody does anybody have any comments on the committee assignments as
proposed. Before I say before I ask for further comment I will say I did not
designate chairs of any committees. The committees can uh decide determine their
own chairs and just let me know and I'll put their name in bold. Okay. But until
then uh just the committee assignments. Anybody have any comments or suggestions
or requests?
I did try to take into account your preferences and the needs of the city
and I I think it's a I it looked to me like a fairly well balanced list of
assignments. Some of you have more work than others, but you asked for it.
Hearing no comments, I'd entertain a motion to approve the committee
assignments as listed. >> So move.
» Is there a second? >> Second.
» Moved and seconded. Any last chance for discussion?
All in favor of the committee assignments as written, please indicate
by saying I. >> I.
» Oppose. Say name. >> You're assigned. Thank you.
Uh, next item. Nick.
Hi. Um, state statute requires the designation of an official newspaper.
Uh, a law effective on July 1st, 2024 expanded the definition of entities that
may qualify as a legal newspaper. A legal newspaper can be provided in print
for free as long as there are at least 200 paid online subscribers. Um, the
Vermillion Plane Talk has previously been designated as the official
newspaper. As the Plain Talk is the only local newspaper which meets all the
definitions of the legal newspaper per SDCL chapters 9 and 17, the city council
can designate it as the official newspaper. Legal notices are also
available on the city's website. An individual or business can also sign up
on the city's website to have all legal notices posted on the city's website
automatically emailed to them at no cost. Um, it is a requirement of state
law to publish public notices, minutes, etc. in the official newspaper. The
publication of the minutes and notices for the finance office alone cost
$19,33.17 last year. administration recommends
adoption of a motion to designate the Vermillion Plane Talk as the official
newspaper. >> Thank you very much. Is there any
discussion among council members? >> I'm going to abstain from this since I
even though I'm supposedly retired. I still have a little bit of an
association with the plain talk. So, >> you have a difficult time retiring.
» Yeah. [laughter]
» Any other discussion? Seeing none, I would entertain a motion
to uh to designate the villain plane talk as
our official newspaper. So move. >> Is there a second?
» Second. >> All in favor of the plane talks official
newspaper indicate by saying I >> I oppose. Nay.
» You're on. Thank [clears throat] you very much,
» Nick. Back to you. >> All right. State statute requires that
the city council to design designate the official depositories of city funds. An
official depository can be added at any time by the city council. The city
council has historically designated the official depositories at the
reorganizational meeting. Um the city council previously designated the
following as official depositories. Port Trust Bank, First Bank and Trust,
First Dakota National Bank, South Dakota Public Funds Investment Trust, Wells
Fargo, and US Bank. No changes in the most recent official depositories are
proposed. Of note, the city hall bonds are in process of being called while no
additional payments are anticipated to be needed. Staff recommend recommends
leaving US bank until the bonds are retired. Administration recommends that
city council designate the above listed financial institutions as official
depositories for the city funds.
» Thank you very much. Uh is there any discussion on that from this council?
Yes. Well, just a question. Since apparently is going to be changed to
First Citizen Bank of North Carolina, if I understand, will we do that at the
next meeting or is that something that can be done ahead of time?
» I Great question. I think it's probably one of those once we have the official,
I'll say, changeover date or whatever it is. We probably should at least have
that as a consent agenda item. >> I have a similar question. Wells Fargo
is gone. Are we still Why are we still using them?
Um the others are all local banks, right?
» With their I think we've listed typically all local banks and they have
their location at um Ace Hardware Jones not center but yeah
» the hardware store bank I forgot [laughter] about I'm sorry
I go I go to the hardware store for food. Okay. I'm just saying.
» All right. Any anything more any further discussion on
these uh banks? All right. Very good. I would entertain a motion to uh approve
these banks as listed as official deposiitories for city funds. Some move.
» Is there a second? >> Second.
» Very good. Moved and seconded. All in favor of these institutions indicate by
saying I. >> Oppos say nay.
Passes. Here you go, Nick.
Okay. Next item up is consolidated board of equalization. Uh down to two items
left for the public that we need to do for a reorganizational meeting. Uh this
is one of those items that we have a consolidated board of equalization which
for the public makes it an easier process when they want if there's an
appeal of their property tax valuation. So with this process, it avoids a
citizen having to go to two different banks. We uh we I should say you the
council members serve on that. Um and you meet jointly with the Klay County
Commission and schoolboard representatives. And typically that
meeting is in April of each year. Um in March or either last meeting in
February, first meeting in March is when you would designate three members to
serve on the consolidated board of equalization with all the other members
serving as an alternate to it. Um with this process though, we did agree to
every time there's a city council reorganizational meeting that the city
council would commit to the consolidated board of equalization. So uh the
recommended motion would be to uh continue participation in the
consolidated board of equalization. Thank you very much. Uh discussion among
city council members.
May I ask, have any of you been on this board before? Is it uh ownorous? Is it
controversial? Is it uh adversarial? >> Not typically, but it could be a little
bit. >> Okay,
» it's fine. It's organized well where they move the city items first so we
don't have to stay for all the county items. Thank you. Hopefully, they'll
keep doing that and not put us at the end. that would make it significantly
harder. >> Okay. Very good. Very good. Any any
further discussion on continuing with this system?
All right. I would entertain a motion to uh continue the consolidated board of
equalization. >> Move approval.
» Is there a second? >> Second.
» All in favor indicate by saying I. >> I.
» Oppos say nay. >> Board of equalization.
The ne the final item for your reorganizational meeting is
determination of the rules of order. Uh this is a two-part piece. Um for many
years we've used the ninth edition of Robert's rules of order. Um for many
years being like about 20 years, we've had that kind of purple book that's
probably floating around here uh somewhere. And we got to looking at it
and realized that um the 12th version of Robert's Rules of Order are out. The
books are downstairs. I forgot to bring them up. We're so used to having them up
here. But I would recommend u moving to that 12th edition of Robert's rules of
order versus the ninth edition. It's a little bit cleaner for taking uh minutes
guidance that way electronic meetings um refinements to rules. It just improves
overall clarity and reduces some of the redundancies that are in the other
versions. So that's one part of what we'd ask you to consider with your rules
of order. The second part is the city council uh has long-standing uh rules
and procedures document that was created probably 20 plus years ago. About two
years ago in 2024, the city council went through and you updated that. You
updated that to include references to the home world charter and some other
minor uh changes that were needed. So, uh staff recommendation to the city
council is to uh reaffirm the rules and procedures uh of June 2024 edition as
well as the 12th edition of Robert's rules of order.
» Thank you, John. So, there's essentially two in one. It's this replacing this
book, which by the way, I noticed on this book the first there's several
copies of it here. The first 10 pages are all well thumbmed. The rest of it,
not so much, but the 12th edition is is more current. And uh that's sorry, I'm
doing all the discussion myself, but I did read our I thought the city council
did a good job of our rules and procedures when they revised it a couple
years back. And the 12th edition does seem perfectly normal that it uh
incorporates the 21st century. Any any further discussion on these issues?
Well, then I would entertain a motion to both update the Roberts rules orders to
the 12th edition and to concur that we're going to continue with the 2024
rules and procedures manual. >> I'll make that motion.
» Thank you, Mike. Second. Then second it. All in favor indicate by saying I.
» I. >> Opposed? Nay.
» Passes. All right.
Visitors to be heard. First of all, uh persons addressing the council shall use
the microphone at the podium. Please raise your hand to be recognized. Go to
the podium and state your name and address. For items not on the agenda,
members of the public may speak under the visitors be heard section, which is
now on any topic not on the agenda. Remarks are limited to 5 minutes and no
decision will be made at this time. If there's an agenda item you want to speak
about, public testimony will be taken at the beginning of each individual agenda
item after the subject's been announced by the mayor and explained by staff.
Again, any citizen who wishes may speak one time for five minutes on each agenda
item. Public testimony will then be closed and the topic will be given to
the governing body for possible action. At this point, only city council members
and staff may discuss the current agenda item unless the city council member
moves to allow another person to speak and there is unanimous consent from the
council. Questions from council members, however, may be directed to staff or
member of the public through the presiding officer at any time. I hope
that's clear. Are there any visitors to be heard at this time under the item not
on the agenda?
Very good. Good. Enough time. Okay. Um, next item,
public hearings. The first item, item 8A, is the first reading of proposed
orders 1559 to amend land usage definition.
I'll let Jose take it from there. >> Thank you. Uh so at the June 1st uh noon
meeting, the city council heard from a citizen uh who purchased a former
Steuart Oil and Tire Company building on East Cherry Street. Uh the citizen
stated that the current zoning ordinance did not allow uh for mixeduse building
in the general business district. uh he asked the city council to consider uh
amending the ordinance to allow these uh mixed uses and for the mixed use uh to
allow residential uses to be built in conjunction with convenience stores
associated with gas stations. After consideration, the city council directed
staff uh to try and uh amend the ordinance as quickly as possible. Uh so
uh to facilitate the request for this type of development, two changes are
necessary. Uh first a definition would need to be created uh which is what
we're discussing at this uh particular agenda item and secondly uh the new use
would need to be placed within the desired district. That would be the
following agenda item. Uh the proposed definition would create [clears throat]
a new use u the new term would be defined as a building with fuel
dispensing station where the residential use is above the convenience store
associated with the fuel dispensing station. Uh this term was created to try
and maintain the original desire of maintaining residential uses away from
strictly commercial uses. Uh excuse me. Uh the planning and zoning
commission considered this item at their June 22nd meeting. Uh at that meeting,
there was one member of the public that spoke. Uh this individual stated that
they were in support of the proposed amendment. Uh the commission had
questions for staff regarding the appropriateness of the uses's name and
about the uniqueness of the proposed use. Uh after discussion, the commission
moved to recommend the city council approve the amendment, but that the name
of the use should be changed from special mixeduse uh building to fuel
dispensing mixeduse building. Uh the vote was 5 to1 in fa favor of that
amendment. uh staff and the planning commission uh recommend the city council
advance the ordinance uh with the commission's recommended change for
consideration at the second reading. Thank you very much. Are there any
visitors be heard on this subject subject of the definition in the
ordinance?
Any seeing none any discussion among the city council members?
» I have a question. Um, has there been any talk yet about like um the occupancy
of the apartments and I guess then say the number of parking spaces that would
be required for the apartments and then working in the the parking that
naturally would be needed for the convenience store. Has any of that been
hashed out yet? >> Go ahead.
» If I may. So, and no, I guess that that would be the
short answer to it. Uh, and there's a reason for that. So, right now, what
we're looking at is just amending the ordinance to allow for the use, right?
So, whenever depending on how the the other item goes, uh, the other item
would actually be placing this particular use as a conditional use. Uh,
and already by ordinance, conditional uses are heard by the planning and
zoning commission and decided by the planning and zoning commission. So at
that step when they're considering that all of those items would be taken into
account. Uh so but just to be very broad and not to go into too far into the
weeds just because we're not talking about that particular item. Uh we have
talked about all these uh things with the proposed developer. So they're
they're aware that there's going to be parking requirements. They're aware that
there's going to be Kaplan beds in the apartments. And so they know about all
of these things. It's just that right now we're not considering a conditional
use or the particular use for this location.
» Okay. Thank you. >> Y
» yes. Um I apologize for not looking this up
myself before, but um would there be any variation between the um use of the gas
station if it has residential like is is the definition of the fuel station going
to be the same as it in a conditional use or is that always conditional?
» So gas stations are always conditional. >> They are.
» Yep. >> That answers my question. Okay. Thank
you.
» Anything further? >> Well, I would entertain a motion to uh
advance the ordinance of with this new definition, revised definition of a fuel
dispensing mixeduse building as a conditional use.
» I'll make a motion. >> Moved seconded. All in favor say
indicate by saying I. I oppose. Nay. Motion passes. I'm glad you're still
there cuz you're next. Thank you. [clears throat]
So u this is uh the companion item I guess to the previous agenda item. Uh in
this as I mentioned earlier this uh the first item that you guys consider the
previous item was definition. This item would actually be placing that use in a
particular district and then it's going to place it whether it's going to be a
permitted use or a conditional use. Um, so what we're proposing, what staff is
proposing is to place this new definition or new item as a conditional
use within the general business district. Uh, the residential use should
be separated uh, from the gas station use. So this is a so all of the just to
go a little bit further into it, uh, if I may here.
You guys don't have a TV today. >> No, it's not working yet.
» Okay. So then I'll just, uh, >> it works. That'll work up there. Their
monitors aren't working. So you guys all have the the actual packet. So I I guess
one of the things that we're proposing to do, staff is proposing to do is to
place this as a conditional use within the uh general business district. And
within that section or each of the items actually have what we call applicable
standards. And the applicable standards for the gas station uh for the special
mixed use sorry fuel dispensing mixuse building uh will be to have a separation
between the store residential portion of the building and the gas space
dispensing uh station. And what we're proposing to do [clears throat]
may zoom out a little bit. Uh if not then we're just going to go with it. Uh
but what we're proposing to do is to have a 45 ft separation between the
store residential uh portion and the canopy. And 45 ft comes into play uh
because we have uh a we're treating these essentially as two separate uses
within the same parcel. Uh, and I can get into why we're doing that a little
bit later, but uh, in keeping with that that in mind, the 45 ft is a typical
setback found in residential district, which is 25 ft. And the required buffer
between commercial and residential uses, which is 20 ft. Erggo, 45. Um, as far as
additional 15 ft, so 45 + 15= 60. uh that 15 feet would allow the pumps to be
a little bit further uh from the from the uh the residential use. Um so during
the day if there's a lot of usage at this location then that allows
additional buffer space. Uh the reason that staff actually utilize that 45 ft u
is uh we actually had a a pretty hard time to finding a similar use within the
state. There's none in the state. We couldn't find one within any of the
surrounding states either. Uh so then we went a little bit further and we
actually found two similar uses in Connecticut. Uh and the state of
Connecticut, at least in the two locations that we uh we looked at, we
talked to uh uh the planning and zoning individual for New Haven uh sorry,
Hampton. Uh and what they said is that their ordinance, even though it's
different than ours, much different, uh they actually have allow mixed uses
throughout the community. And what they do is some something similar to what
we're proposing to do, which they have all sorts of buffers and distances set
between uses even though they might be in the same parcel. So that's what gave
us the idea to have that 45 ft. We have again the 25 ft and the 20ft buffer. So
if you had if these were properties that were adjoining then there would be a
property line somewhere around here that 25 and 20t line uh and that would be the
the buffer space. Um with all that being said I do want to say that the planning
and zoning commission did consider this again at the June excuse me June 22nd
meeting. Uh there were several individuals that spoke uh at the
meeting. Uh one individual commented that they use proposed setbacks and
buffers uh make the use safe. Uh after the public comments, uh the commission
discussed the item and asked how this new uh use would affect uh existing fuel
dispensing stations. Uh and some of the commissioners expressed hesitancy
whether it was appropriate to combine the two uses, fuel dispensing station
and residential uses. After discussion, uh the commission moved to recommend the
council approve the ordinance with a change that the name of the uh the name
of the use be changed to fuel dispensing special makes use building. Uh that vote
was five to one in favor of the amendment. Staff and the planning and
zoning commission recommend the city council advance the ordinance with the
commission's recommended change for consideration at the second reading.
» Thank you very much. Are there visitors heard on this matter?
Okay. Well, uh, how about the council? Any comments or discussion here?
Yes.
So, Jose, the the 60 ft just pertains to the apartment above the gas station, not
to surrounding residents, right? >> Correct. So, I mean, yes, you're you're
correct. >> Okay.
Is there anything to protect the surrounding residents from
» So there is uh the ordinance right now has that 20 foot buffer uh between any
commercial use and a residentially zone district. Um so uh in some instances if
you have a residential district uh adjoining this then there would be that
20 foot separation. Uh, so I you can't see the drawing, but uh let's say in my
in my ex if it goes I'll back up. I'll show you what I mean. Um,
there it goes. Um, so in my example here, if if there was a residence over
in this side, so behind this uh store residential, there would be a 20ft
buffer there, if that makes sense. >> From the store.
» From the store. Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. But there is a residence
directly to the west. >> In the particular one that we're talking
about, there's actually a residential district to the north. But again, that's
all that's all going to be discussed in the conditional use. But if if it gets
to that point, um in this in that particular instance, there would be a
20ft buffer to the property to the north uh with the resident with the commercial
building. U now the house in this or this location again uh to the west,
you're correct. there's a house, but that house is uh it's grandfathered in
use. It's actually in the general business district. So, there wouldn't be
a 20ft buffer in that instance. >> So, my my followup to that is well, I
think if this goes through, we're we we're apt to see this in the future for
conventional use, right? >> Yeah. If this ordinance passes and it
gets adopted, then this would be an allowable
conditional use. >> Sure. I I just want to really set
precedence that, you know, the residents of that neighborhood are protected from
anything that may happen at a f fuel station.
» Yep. They would be as protected right now as they were before, I guess.
» Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah.
Any other comments? Not in any rush.
» Move. It's been moved. Is there a second?
» Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any further
discussion before we vote? All in favor of allowing the field dispensing mixed
use building and as a conditional use indicate by saying I
» I opposed.
» Thank you. [clears throat]
Uh next the res the next is the tiff. Over to you John.
» Thank you. Uh the item before the council is a resolution uh designated
the boundaries of tax increment financing district uh number 13. This
would be for property known as lot 21 which is a replat of parts of lots one
and four block one Johnson edition. Uh what that translates into for the
average or lay person who doesn't necessarily go by legal definitions is
we're talking about a property about 1.7 acres at the southwest corner of Elm
Street and Alumni Street. Um there's a couple steps in a TIF district process.
TIFF, I'll use that term, stands for tax increment financing. Um, this would be
district number 13 for our community. Uh, the developer is is looking at a
process uh to develop that TIFF. Again, there's multiple steps in the process.
The first one is designation of the boundaries. That happens after a public
hearing at the planning zoning commission level. They did review it on
June 22nd and made a recommendation uh to the city council to approve this
district uh as tax increment financing district or tiff number 13. The second
part of it is the project plan and that's uh really where you get down into
the nuts and bolts of how much uh funding would be looked at with this
tiff. This is really just establishing the boundaries of this tiff district. I
would note the parcel is zoned R3. It is R3 zoning um partially to the north and
to the south. To the north is also some general business zoning. Uh to the east
is the Heights Plan Development District and to the west is R2 zoning. There's no
resoning change that is needed as part of that. Um, I would say that starting
July 1st, there's a couple of additional state statutes that came into place with
regard to tiff districts. One recalls a requires a third-party review and um,
Meer Henry uh, firm out of Sou Falls is completing that for us. Uh, I should
have that if I have a draft of it, it's not quite done. Probably get you the
final version of that tomorrow. If that moves through um then the planning and
zoning commission at their next meeting on July 13th would consider the project
plan and at their July 20th meeting you would can have an opportunity to
consider uh the project plan. Going back a second on this project uh this is a uh
multifamily project. They're looking at four building uh project. It would be uh
including 95 off street parking spaces. It would be 56 apartment units. Uh 48 of
those are onebedroom. four are studio and four are two-bedroom units. It's
basically looking at about a building a year that they would build. So over
several years they would build those 56 units there. Uh with all that said, uh
the item before the city council tonight is a resolution uh to consider the
boundaries for tick tiff district number 13 uh being lot 21 of parts lots one and
four block one of Johnson edition at Elm Street and Alumni Street.
» Thank you very much. Are there any comments of the staff? Do you have
something to say there? >> Okay. Any comments from the any visitors
we heard on the subject from the public. >> Yes. Please come to the podium. State
your name and address.
» Hello. My name is uh Jeffrey Greylo. I live at 224 Forest Avenue. Um want to
start by saying that I think that tiff uh tiff districts are really important
tool. I'm really glad that we have them at our disposal to uh to spur
development. Um, I think that housing development, especially dense housing
development like what's uh what's planned here, is some of the most
important things for us as public bodies. Um, I'm on another public body,
the county commission, um, to to try to encourage and and find ways to support.
Um, I have a little bit more concern about developer tiffs than about public
tiffs. I think that uh when an entity like the VCDC or the city um has a piece
of property and uses the tiff to put in the infrastructure themselves, I have
more confidence that we have control over everything behind the scenes. And I
just uh wanted to express um a little bit of concern um that when it's a
developer tiff, um in some ways we are uh taking public dollars to add to the
amount of profit that a for-profit developer is going to realize from this.
that is not bad on its face. Uh it's a matter of degree. And so um I think that
the the question that I hope that um everyone is is just taking very
seriously is that but for question. So would this uh development not occur?
Will we not get these units um if we didn't uh give this tax break? But for
the life of this tiff, um uh this property is not going to be contributing
to our tax base. And so everybody else in the county and the city are going to
be uh going to be paying the public costs. um that that this entity uh or
that this this development um uh puts onto the community. So um that's just
what tiffs are. Uh I'm not opposed to them, but I did just want to urge
everyone um to read carefully through the independent review. I think that
having a third party review of these is a good way to try to address um those
concerns that I expressed. Um and uh and that was all I wanted to share. So thank
you very much for your time and careful consideration.
» Thank you. May I ask question? Does the third party review include a a review of
the butt for clause? >> Um,
good question. I know their project plan includes um a they address the butt for
test in the project plan that they've submitted. Um, I would say the third
party review, I'll call it in process. So, I don't think the final document's
done. Um, I scanned it, but I have to admit I didn't read it thoroughly yet
because it's not the final document. So I sure
» unfortunately I'm not able to answer that question.
» So we'll we'll look at that then when we get third party review.
» Thank you. Any other visitors? Yes.
» So Jim Peterson from the Chamber and Development Company. Tonight you're here
just to look at the boundary of this for a tiff which will be addressed later in
the planning zoning. Then back to you. So based on a housing study which is
being finalized this week, we still have a need for apartments multifamily
housing in the community even with everything going on and that'll be
addressed at that planning meeting or back to you. I get where the colleague
who just spoke Jeffrey spoke on that. However, you know that's for another day
on the whole tax base which will be in the tiff plan different discussions but
we're getting x amount on taxes today. If they do invest heavily over time, you
get more taxes down the road to pay money back. Be at the city, county
level, or developers. But tonight, you're just looking at the boundary
matrix to see if we can move it to the next step. And from a chamber and
housing in the community, we support that.
» Thank you very much. Any further public visitor discussion?
No. Seeing none, I'll turn it over to council. Do you have any comments or
thoughts about this boundary? >> Yes, Gary. I'd like to know when when
are we going to be able to see the housing study?
» It was being finalized last week. They made a change today. So, I would believe
um John and I've been back and forth with that firm on it. It probably late
no later than the end of this week. It'll be released and I have to just get
with John how do we want to then ensure that what we have to the community, let
alone county and our boards. So, it's it's pretty much 99% done as we stand
here tonight. >> I don't know about other people on the
council, but I'd like to see the housing study before we start ahead with the
TIFF. >> Well, so I will say that uh we're not
going to be voting on the TIFF today. Right now, we're just talking with the
boundaries of the TIFF, which is that square. I wish you could show it on the
screen. Actually, you can show it on this screen, right? Look, we're just
talking about the boundary of the of the TIFF. That's all we're talking about
today. We're not approving the TIFF. And and I understand I want to see the
housing study, too. So, where is that? There it is.
And here's the heights. And there's the quarters.
Right now, that's grass and uh thistles.
Just Yes. Go ahead, Lindsay. >> Uh, yeah. So, just for um educational
purposes, if we make this um if we go forward with this today and decide not
to go forward with the tip later, what would the impact be? What what
exactly? >> Yeah,
help. >> Sure. The good very good question. Um
really I if you choose not to do the tiff on it I don't mean to make light of
this I think the only question will be can we use 13 again or do we have to go
to 14 and I say that because this Mr. Jesse is laughing but the state was very
specific that we have to number these sequentially and the statutes and I
don't know what that looks like if this is considered that 13 is done then and
we have to enable 14 um we probably would if you approve the boundaries
tonight and you don't approve a project plan we probably would at some point
bring a resolution to the city council just acknowledging that that um is not
move the project plan's not moving forward or something along that line. Um
I I I I would say in staff's opinion, this does not lock you in to anything
tonight other than the boundaries of what that TIF district would be. You as
a city council would um control the amount of TIFF um that you would want
that you would award to it. You could control the length of time. Maximum by
state law is 20 years. If you decided that we're going to do a 10-year, you
have that ability. Um when we were developing the tiff guidelines starting
last December through we and kudos to the city council you talked a lot about
and they weren't always universally popular but having performance standards
in your tiffs so that um to the the question that Mr. Grey raised is that
we're not taking these properties quote off the tax. we're not removing that
increment from benefiting the the total of our community uh because obviously
the base is still paid but um if they're not producing that we end that tiff and
so that um how much that is how long that goes that is all at the discretion
of city council through the project plan and ultimately through the developers
agreement that you approve so I it does not in any way um harm the city if you
do not proceed with a project plan it it's not maybe going to be viewed
superficial favorably by the developer, right? They probably may not have as
strong an interest in developing in Vermillion if that happens, but it does
not lock the city into doing anything tonight after approving the boundaries.
» Okay. So um so we will be essentially just drawing
making that line a yellow line setting it aside so that from there on all
conversations about 613 um would be this is it this is it the
only piece of land that we're talking about when we talk about and that's it.
» Yes. Although >> we're not looking into Sorry, but we're
not looking into any tax implications at this point tonight.
» Correct. There's absolutely no tax implications that are being locked in.
And just to clarify, and it has never happened in Vermillion, but it is
possible to amend that boundary to grow it by a certain amount. Now, given that
the neighborhood around there is developed, there's less incentive to do
that, but it is a possibility to amend the boundary. But, um, I don't foresee
that happening with this one. So,
» oh no, don't be sorry. Go ahead. >> So, basically what we're doing is we're
establishing the legal address as the boundary of the tiff.
» Yes, that's a fair way to look at. Yes. >> Yes.
» Well, then if the tiff wouldn't go through
somewhere along the line, it kind of messes you up on your numerical
sequencing. And uh if we've got a couple the mayor and other community members or
uh council members want to find out what that housing study is. Are we maybe
rushing this by one meeting if we waited if the if the housing study
will be ready in a week and people get a chance to see that? is
that >> I I would I would say the housing study
will help us determine the um imperative for what we need to build but it
wouldn't necessarily determine which lots or where the building occurs. This
is a uh particular developer land owner wants to have a tiff in this particular
spot. So this meeting today is just about the boundaries of that particular
project rather than a comment on what are we
going to build in the future. I haven't seen the housing study yet either. Yes.
» Can we maybe have a plan if it's not already set by state statute? Can we
discuss discussing what to do with the
enumerating of these two dates? So that question doesn't exist in the future.
whe whether I mean that seems like a good question that we should figure out
independent of this particular situation. Um but then you know
personally I would see 613 would always be the conversation that we're having
around this but >> interesting
» I haven't gotten very far in this book but if there but if there's a a
consensus that we should table this discussion
um I I don't know exactly know how that is done. Is there a consensus we should
table this or no? Okay. All right. >> I believe if if you're going to do that,
make I'm looking at Alex here. I believe the proper language is to continue that
and it's helpful to it's either it's more helpful to continue it to a date
certain than to >> just very y
» was there. >> Okay. All right.
» Or is there consensus that we can vote on these boundaries tonight?
» I'm sorry. Yes. >> I'm sorry, Jeffrey.
» May I address the council? >> I have no objection. You didn't use your
five minutes yet. >> You have to. Oh, I'm sorry.
» I'm all down page four. Okay. So, it has to be
» You have to have an unanimous consent.
» Very good. So, are we all who's in Who is Are we all in favor of having Jeffrey
come back up and speak for another moment or two?
» Yes. Any opposed? Come on up.
Thank you for the second opportunity to address the council. Just listening to
the dialogue. Um so were I on the council, I did just want to say that I
would probably vote to move this forward at this time simply establishing the
boundaries. Um my comments previously were intended for your future uh
consideration. Um and and I think that um slowing this process uh at this time
doesn't make uh doesn't seem desirable to me. So, I just wanted to make sure
that that I had clearly stated my previous um my previous thoughts about
that. So, thank you. >> Thank you.
» Yes. Um, I have to admit Jeffrey and I are I
guess on the same wavelength now. Um, concerning this because especially what
I was thinking when you were talking about the housing study and perhaps
delaying until we got the housing study, well, how many weeks are we going to dis
uh how how many weeks is it going to take
to digest the housing study and know what we want to do next? I I would
rather that we go ahead with what's recommended here, set the tiff
boundaries and then the housing study can come in and we can start working on
that too. I don't know why we can't work on both of these sim simultaneously.
Can't talk. >> Okay,
» that's my pitch. >> Thank you. Any further comments from
council members? Yeah, Mike,
» I would agree with that sentiment. I think we need to move forward on these
boundaries tonight. Um, as far as waiting for the housing study,
we know we need it. The housing study told us that in 2022, I'm sure certainly
it's going to tell us the same thing again. Um, I've admittedly been
skeptical on tiffs throughout this whole time I've been on the council, but if we
don't do tiffs, we don't get the developers. They move
to other towns and then they do it. So, waiting on a housing study if the
numbers aren't quite what you think it should be and then just throwing it out
because, well, it didn't meet our approval.
I think that's wrong. We need to move forward in this town. not kick people
out or turn people away because well, we didn't like that number. So, if you want
to ruin Vermillion and ruin development, start doing that. That's my opinion on
it. Other than that, we need to move this forward and keep things going.
That's what we've been doing for the last four years in this town before that
even. So, we need to keep stuff going that way.
» Very good. Anybody else?
» Very good. I'll make I'll make a motion to uh approve the boundaries.
» Very good. Is there a second to that? >> Second.
» Moved and seconded. All in favor of uh establishing the boundaries of tiff
number 13 as presented by staff indicate by saying I.
» I opposed. Nay. Passes. When I said opposed, nay, I mean
I say nay. I wasn't tongue tied.
All right. Next item is the consent agenda. Any item listed on the consent
agenda may by the request of any single council member be considered as a
separate item under the new business section of the agenda. If a member of
the public would like to discuss any consent agenda items, please notify the
mayor during the public comment period. Have it considered as a separate item
under the new business section. Consent agenda.
What do we have on the consent agenda? >> The fuel fuel quote and the assignment
of the I didn't see the fuel quotes. Are monitors in front?
» Sorry. >> Oh, there they are. [laughter]
» Ted, want to explain that to us or do we care? I don't know what we normally do.
How often do we get fuel quotes? Is that monthly, annually?
» It'll be at the first meeting every month that you'd have these fuel quotes.
» Yep.
Approval of the consent agenda. >> Second.
» Any discussion on the consent agenda? Okay. All in favor indicator saying I.
» I. >> I.
» All oppose say nay. Agenda passes. And I assume that
includes the airport hanger lease. Correct. Okay. Very good.
» Old business. We have no old business. New business is the uh number A is the
Vermillion Housing Authority appointment. Uh we have one vacancy on
the housing authority. Let me see. Um, by state statute, the city council is
charged with appointing members of the Vermillion Housing Authority and one
individual had there's one opening, one individual has submitted an expression
of interest form for the vacancy on the Vermillion Housing Authority board.
However, that application was not complete. I'm asking that we return that
application to the applicant, ask them to complete it and continue having
expression of interest or having the opening posted on the city's website.
I'm making no appointment at this time.
So, but that's that right? >> I believe so because the mayor is the
one who makes the recommendation and the council then says yes or no in the
recommendation. So, if the mayor chooses not to make a recommendation at this
time, then there's not an item for the city council to vote on.
» And number B is the resolution of a mutual aid agreement between Beersford
and us. >> Thank you. Um due to some recent
staffing issues in Beersford, officials with the city approached officials of
the city of Vermillion with a request to enter into a formal written agreement
for mutual aid in the event of an emergency situation. Specifically, this
would be with uh the two light and power departments. Um the attached resolution
and the accompanying mutual aid agreement estab establishes protocols
for requesting, providing, and compensation related to providing
assistance for emergency situations. Kind of helps clarify the before and
after details. um what's the requesting and responding m municipalities have to
address billing um what was used stuff like that the attorneys have reviewed
the mutual aid agreement and beers did approve this at their June 25th 2026
meeting a copy of the agreement signed by officials um has been included in the
packet from the city of Beersford um the agreement would help make it
easier would also help make it easier to determine costs for which city would be
responsible for paying um certain things. Um, as of now, administration
recommends approval of the resolution adopting the mutual aid agreement with
the city of Beersford.
Very good. Any are there any visitors for heard on this subject?
» Seeing none. Boy, the crowd really thinned out.
[laughter] Um, discussion of city council.
» Got to hold their attention better. >> I guess I got not I'm not funny enough.
I'll just say it seems fairly straightforward to me. We have an
informal arrangement already and we're formalizing it so it uh it meets the you
know the lawyers are happy. That's that's important.
» Second. >> Any further discussion?
All in favor of approval of the resolution adopting mutual aid agreement
with the city of Beersford indicate by saying I oppose say nay. Motion passes.
The next item is the hanger lease agreement, but was that not I didn't
understand the difference between that one and the uh consent agenda item.
» If you can explain that, please. >> Yep. So, the consent agenda item is for
the lease of this hanger right here. >> Okay.
» And this item is for the lease of this land right here.
» I see. Very good. I'm sorry. Sorry, I didn't understand that. Carry on.
» Yeah. So, uh we've uh city staff has actually been working uh uh since
October of last year with Nebraska Iowa helicopter uh on them having the
possibility of leasing some land uh at the city's airport to uh move some of
their operations into the city. Uh North uh Nebraska and Iowa helicopter uh they
are a spraying company. They they have helicopters and u I think today if you
were at the noon meeting at the airport you might have heard uh Denny uh
speaking about the helicopters that are going to be coming here and that they're
loading and getting ready with all the chemicals. That's what he was uh
referencing. Uh the owner has purchased a hanger that you mentioned that was
item that was discussed at the at the uh consent agenda. So, they purchased this
hanger and uh they're going to be moving starting to move some of their
operations there and to this land after tonight. And their intent is to store
equipment and chemicals within that space. Uh if the chemicals are going to
be stored within the land, the barrel land, they're we are going to have to uh
work with them and with uh Danner uh regarding containment. Um so, we're
we're starting the process of working with them. We don't have uh a permit
process. the city doesn't, but we do work with uh Danner with the state
regarding all the requirements that they have to follow and we make sure that
they talk to Danner and we talk to Danner and everybody gets along. Um so
that's that's something that we're working on. Uh the long-term plan from
the owner uh is to actually eventually build a an additional hanger in that
space uh to have additional uh space for storing equipment and then more than
likely have an outdoor space for loading the chemicals. uh similar to the uh
aerial spray applicator that you have uh on the west side of uh that taxi way. Uh
the lease agreement that you guys are uh considering today is very typical uh and
it's a very uh typical for a recent new lease agreement that we have at the
airport. The length of it is for an an initial 10 years with an an option to uh
add another 10 years to the lease. Um the lease amount is actually 15 cents
per square foot of the entire area. Uh we moved away from the five 5 cents for
the building space and 10 cents for the unused space. Uh that change happened
last year. Uh there's no cap on future lease rating increases. That's something
that we've also moved away from. And the lease payments are going to be once per
year. That's typical for all of the agreements that we have at the airport.
Uh based on the size of the parcel being leased. Uh so it's it's a 50 by 160 and
the rate of 15 cents per square foot. the yearly rent would be uh 1,200, which
is a lot of money for the airport. Uh regardless of that, staff recommends
that the city council allow the mayor to sign the hanger lease agreement with
Nebraska Iowa Helicopter LLC. >> Thank you very much. Any visitors to
talk about this? Uh no, you last. Okay. All right. Very good discussion up here.
Yes, Al. Just if those chemicals are going to need a containment that I
assume that's on the owner of the company that's going to pay for all that
containment. The city's not paying for that, is it?
» No, the city doesn't pay for the containment. We That's a requirement
that we would make. Same thing with the state.
» And same thing if there's an architect involved or banner associates, they're
going to pay for that study or whatever they have to do.
» Yep. What we literally are just leasing them to land. Anything else? Is there a
cost? >> Thank you.
Any other comments?
» Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor of uh allowing me to sign the hanger
release agree with NIA helicopter company. Any saying I
» oppos? Say nay. >> Passes.
» Thank you. >> Thank you.
And no bid openings today. So, right to city manager report.
» Uh thank you, mayor. Just a couple of meetings um coming up here before your
next city council meeting on July 20th. Um, the Historic Preservation Commission
is meeting this Wednesday, July 8th. It's a little at 9:00 a.m. This one is a
little bit different. They're going to the uh former Jolly School site uh for
their meeting. Um, the the plaque that recognizes the presence of the school
there. They're going to be looking at that, reviewing that. So, uh, they're
actually having an off-site meeting or off-site from city hall anyway, this
coming Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. The city's historic preservation commission. Uh,
the library board meets on Wednesday, July 15th at 6 p.m. in the Kak room.
your planning and zoning commission. Uh their next scheduled meeting is on July
13th, next Monday. A couple of items on their agenda right now include a zoning
amendment for Munger Ridge Plan Development District. Um this is located
um on the west side of um Highway 19 just south of Vermillion River. Earlier
you saw the annexation um item that led to the uh adjusting the northwest ward
boundary. This is that same property that's been talked about. They're
bringing forward a plan development district for that property. So that will
be going to the planning and zoning commission on July 13th and then to the
city council on July 20th. And another item on uh the plan zoning commission
meeting would be uh assuming they get everything put together be the project
plan for TIF district number 13 that you just heard about a few minutes ago. Uh
just a reminder before your next city council meeting on July 20th, there is a
joint meeting with the Klay County Commission and that will be at 5:30 p.m.
here in this room. That is uh two items. One is uh a reasonzoning amendment for
some property and timber road uh about a mile I believe west of the city limits
that would be going from uh a U A1 to light industrial and the second item is
an ordinance to amend the boundaries of the JJZA the joint jurisdictional zoning
area. So those are the two items that you as a city council will be meeting
with the Klay County Commission on Monday, July 20th at 5:30. Um the final
year we do have a one-year term left on the planning and zoning commission. U
Mayor O Kelly was on there. this is a term uh that he is vacating because he
cannot serve on both of those. So, we do have a uh one year left of a planning
and zoning commission term. Um we do ask that expression of interest forms be
submitted uh by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday uh July 16th and it's anticipated the city
council would appoint someone to that term at your July 20th meeting. Uh we do
have some information available on the city's website. Uh just a reminder, it's
that time of year. Thursdays on the plats will be starting on Thursday, July
16th. So just reminder that Main Street as it abuts the plat plats east through
Prospect Street intersection, Prospect Street for uh half a block north of West
Main Street and then Market Street as it abuts the plat. Those will be closed on
those respective Thursdays through August 27th minus uh fair week. And
that's closing is from 4 to 8:00 p.m. each one of those Thursdays. And then
included with your uh city council packet was a raffle notification. Uh the
Boys and Girls Club, they are selling $20 raffle tickets from August 10th
through the 15th of this year. Uh the prize is an 8x10 white storage shed. I
believe it is the same storage shed that is located in front of the building
right now, but uh if not, it certainly looks a lot like that. Uh all proceeds
uh from this raffle will be used for youth programming at the Vermillion Boys
and Girls Club location. That's all that I have. Mr. Mayor,
» thank you very much. Uh, I can just comment. I was on the U Boys and Girls
Club Advisory Council and that shed that's up for sale was actually that's
up for raffle was actually won by Mr. Brady and he donated it back to be
raffled off again. He won it in the last raffle, donated it back to be raffled
off again. So, thank you, Mr. Brady. I'll be going to Germany with the German
American Partnership Program on Wednesday. So, I don't know. I don't
know what to say about that. Keep me. So, you you president Vice President
May. No, I'll be back before the next uh meeting with you.
» Oh, that's right. Right. Who else is going? And so several of us are going.
And I just one final comment is I did see that uh Munger edition that we just
annexed. If you look at it the right way, it looks like a howling coyote.
Have you seen that? Take a look at that. Looks like a looks like a howling
coyote. >> You're never going to get that on your
mind now again. Okay. All right. Uh do I have a motion to adjurnn? Move.
» A second. Second. All >> in favor? I