[0:43] Call to order for a Watertown City Council meeting for August 17th of 2026.

[0:49] Please rise while our good friend and Watertown Fire Rescue Chaplain Hank

[0:54] Rosso leads us in prayer.

[1:01] » Thank you. Our heavenly Father, as we come to you

[1:04] this evening, we say thank you first of all for your many blessings. We take so

[1:08] much for granted. Our good health, our families, um a

[1:12] loving uh environment here where people are

[1:15] safe and they can say hi to one another and you don't have to worry about

[1:18] getting mugged or your car carjacked. And we overlook those things and there's

[1:22] other parts of this country that aren't so pleasant. And so we say thank you.

[1:26] Thank you for law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics to keep us safe

[1:30] at night, watch over us in the darkest of times. Thank you, Lord, for the city

[1:34] services we enjoy as well. Things we take for granted. And um we're

[1:39] so blessed tonight. I thank you for the common bond that we share, the love of

[1:42] community. It's a pretty rich here as well. God, we ask for collaboration and

[1:48] and uh dying to ourself and good wisdom and insight in decisions and the work to

[1:52] be done here tonight. And we say thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[1:57] » Amen. Okay, before we go straight into the

[2:00] pledge, I'm just going to do a moment of silence

[2:03] for Dan Miller. Dan was a

[2:07] If you don't know who Dan is, you probably haven't lived in Watertown in a

[2:10] long time, but uh a guy who really made an impact upon Watertown

[2:16] and the community. So, just a brief moment of silence.

[2:29] All right, thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[2:34] United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation

[2:40] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[2:46] » [clears throat]

[2:50] » Finance Officer Bob Zein, please call the roll.

[2:52] » Okay. Lawyer? Absent. Pauline?

[2:56] » Here. >> Mormon?

[2:57] » Here. >> Jurgens?

[3:02] » Here. >> Peters?

[3:03] » Here. >> Shutty?

[3:04] » Here. >> Allen?

[3:05] » Here. >> Thank you.

[3:07] » Quorum is established. I'll ask if anyone has a conflict of interest

[3:11] tonight.

[3:16] Hearing none, can I get a motion to approve tonight's agenda?

[3:20] » Second. >> Motion made by Councilman Shutty,

[3:22] seconded by Councilman Peters. All those in favor of approving the

[3:27] agenda, please say aye. >> Aye.

[3:29] » Aye. >> Any opposed say nay.

[3:31] Motion carries. We're on to open forum. If there is

[3:34] anyone who would like to address the council, now is your time to do so.

[3:39] Just please identify who you are and that's about it.

[3:47] Uh is the light on?

[3:50] Shh, maybe press the button to say your name. There we go. There we go.

[3:53] » So, thank you, Mr. Mayor. My name is James Simmons. Thank you, distinguished

[3:56] council members. I had a few issues I wanted to bring up,

[3:59] but I'll limit it to just one for the sake of time. I think the one that might

[4:02] have a time-sensitive nature to it. I'm not 100% sure.

[4:06] The issue regarding is is regarding a system that's used by the Watertown PD

[4:11] known as automatic license plate readers or ALPR for short.

[4:15] This is For some reason this has been a hot topic on social media for the last

[4:19] couple months. I don't know why. It's been near and dear to me for quite a

[4:22] while now. And I don't mean to pick on you, Chief

[4:25] Toohey. I got nothing but respect for you. Chief Toohey was was

[4:29] very generous with his time, sat down with me, and answered a bunch of

[4:31] ridiculous questions that I had for him. So, I appreciate you for that. So, this

[4:35] is timely because these systems have been in the news here

[4:38] in South Dakota for the last over this past week. There was two

[4:41] different things that came out. One from the state attorney general,

[4:45] Attorney General Jackley, who said that he made a public statement acknowledging

[4:49] that these systems are susceptible to abuse and misuse. And so,

[4:55] he's going to be implementing statewide policy to try to curb that.

[4:59] You know, that sounds That sounds good and all for the people

[5:02] who pay attention on social media, but I think it's personally too little, too

[5:05] late. Um Any statewide policy or even any

[5:08] department level policy is only going to limit how these gentlemen here utilize

[5:13] the system. And to be completely transparent, I don't think we have an

[5:16] issue with with the officers here in Watertown PD

[5:20] or with the deputies at the county sheriff's office.

[5:23] I think we have pretty good officers. I think they're not misusing the system.

[5:27] My concern primarily resides with what happens to the data that these cameras

[5:32] collect once it goes off to the third-party

[5:35] company that houses that data. You know, we use Axon

[5:39] cameras here in Watertown, which I'm sure everybody here is aware of that.

[5:43] Axon is headquartered in Um, Scottsdale, Arizona.

[5:47] So, all the data captured by these cameras goes to Scottsdale. They have

[5:50] it. They have possession of it. They can do whatever they want with it. They can

[5:53] analyze it any way they want. They can share it with whoever they want, and

[5:55] there's nothing we can do to prevent that.

[5:58] And so, that's really the primary concern that I have. There's no

[6:00] state-level policy that can restrict that. And so, I think the state the

[6:03] state's attorney's um policy is perhaps, like I said, too

[6:07] little, too late. Another um

[6:10] public uh announcement that came out this week was that the South Dakota

[6:14] DCI, which is the Department of uh Criminal Investigations,

[6:19] um they made it publicly aware that they are rolling out a statewide

[6:23] ALPR program. Um, and this only came to my attention

[6:27] because the mayor of Aberdeen posted to his personal Facebook page uh that

[6:33] Aberdeen was approached by the state DCI to have the city uh participate in the

[6:38] statewide program. So, the mayor of Aberdeen posted to his personal Facebook

[6:42] page and said, "Hey, Aberdeen, let me know what you think." And boy, did he

[6:45] get some some feedback. Uh I can tell you the comments were about 20 to 1 in

[6:50] opposition of the uh of the program. And so, he said, "Hey, you know what?

[6:53] Message loud and clear. We will not participate in the program." So, hey,

[6:56] way to go, Aberdeen. Good for y'all. Uh but here we are in Watertown. We

[7:00] already have the Axon ALPRs here in the system here. So,

[7:05] um I suppose what I would like to see is or

[7:08] I'd like to understand at least if we are being approached by the state to

[7:13] participate in the statewide program. I assume it's naturally

[7:16] that we are being approached to uh participate in that program.

[7:20] I would ask, what does that program consist of? You know, the state's

[7:23] spending like 300 grand to buy new equipment. Does that mean we're going to

[7:26] have more cameras here in Watertown? If we are participating, maybe we're not, I

[7:29] don't know. But, uh if we do participate, well then

[7:33] who does that open the door to gain access to this information? Uh what are

[7:36] they going to do with the system? What the what the uh what the data collected?

[7:40] So, again, the biggest concern is what happens to

[7:43] the data, who has access to it once it leaves Codington County. And if we

[7:46] participate in this program, all that data automatically leaves Codington

[7:49] County. So, what's happening to it? That's the big concern that I have. So,

[7:52] are we participating in that statewide program?

[7:55] Who has access to that data? Does that involve any additional technology, more

[7:59] cameras in our community? Like, what are those answers? So, and then I would like

[8:03] to wrap up with maybe a request, if I could.

[8:06] There's a So, there's a meeting in Brookings tonight

[8:10] talking about this exact topic. Um, Brookings has Flock cameras.

[8:15] Codington County Sheriff has Flock cameras. Sioux Falls has Flock cameras.

[8:18] Sioux Falls is having a meeting on this topic Friday night. Um, I would ask that

[8:22] we in Watertown also host some kind of public forum to discuss it. I'd like to

[8:25] invite, you know, the chief and the sheriff and maybe the mayor, city

[8:30] uh city manager, maybe the Codington County um commissioners. Let's all get

[8:33] together in a room, invite the public, and let's just have an open civil

[8:36] conversation about it, and let's see where the public sits and you know,

[8:40] where the the people who oppose and and object to

[8:43] and the people who advocate for the system, let's see where we all sit and

[8:46] if it's right for the community or not. And I'd be happy to facilitate and

[8:49] coordinate that type of a forum in any way I can. So, that's all. Thanks for

[8:53] your time.

[8:56] » Thank you very much, Mr. Simmons. Is there anyone else who would like to

[8:59] address the council?

[9:03] I will close open forum.

[9:09] And we'll go to item 11A, which is a first reading of an ordinance amending

[9:13] chapter 7, Bicycles and Other Personal Conveyances, of title 19, Traffic, of

[9:18] the Revised Ordinances of the City of Watertown.

[9:22] We are going to our Assistant Chief, Ryan Remmers.

[9:29] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. Um, as you recall, 2 weeks ago

[9:32] I was here and we did a different first reading um for this same topic, but the

[9:38] language has been slightly changed after hearing some feedback from members of

[9:43] the council and in conversing with city manager Stager um

[9:48] so what you have in front of you today I believe is a

[9:51] second first reading. Another first reading just to keep it

[9:55] less confusing. Um, what I'd like to do is just highlight some of the changes

[9:59] that were made in an effort to make it more palatable for the council and the

[10:03] community. Um, in that first version we used the

[10:08] kind of some canned language in the existing ordinances that defined

[10:14] business district and just for further clarification that business district in

[10:19] the existing language is includes 1st Avenue North, 1st Avenue South East as

[10:23] far as 2nd Street and then West as far as 1st Street West.

[10:28] Um, the feedback that we got was that we don't necessarily have a known problem

[10:33] with wheeled vehicles on 1st Avenue South, 1st Avenue North.

[10:37] Um, so um, what we did is we changed the language a little bit here to go away

[10:43] from that business district language and just include where signs or other

[10:48] notices say that you cannot ride them.

[10:52] Um, so that gives us the flexibility to change

[10:55] uh, without having to change the ordinance. Um, that may sound scary to

[11:00] some but it's not a situation where we just

[11:03] go up and put up a sign and make a change. What we would be proposing to do

[11:07] is to run those locations through our city's traffic safety committee. And for

[11:13] those of you who may not be aware of what that is is it's a a group that

[11:16] meets quarterly. Uh, we take feedback from the community

[11:19] throughout each quarter and then create an agenda based on the comments that we

[11:24] receive from the public, concerns about speed limits here, turning lanes added

[11:29] there, stop signs, yield signs. And uh they get put on an agenda and

[11:34] then it's the the the committee is made up of city manager Stager, uh the police

[11:39] department, the street division, the city engineer's office.

[11:43] And uh we all get together collectively and and uh look at those individual

[11:47] items. This would potentially be one of those items that we would look at in

[11:51] that group to try to decide where exactly we would want to prohibit

[11:56] wheeled vehicles. And I can tell you at first glance without meeting with that

[12:00] committee, but the feedback that we've heard is that we're primarily concerned

[12:03] with the most densely pedestrian heavy areas and that would be from the again,

[12:09] this is just initial thoughts from Unkefer Avenue, from Foundation Plaza

[12:14] over to Broadway. So, we're essentially um this would be

[12:18] making a change instead of having the entire downtown business business

[12:22] district to just potentially changing it to something as small as that.

[12:27] Um that's really all that I have unless you

[12:30] have any other questions about some of the changes that were made from the last

[12:33] time 2 weeks ago. >> Well, we will ask you to stand by for

[12:37] any questions, but Council, this is a second first reading as the assistant

[12:42] chief said, but uh we encourage questions. Does anyone have any?

[12:48] Councilman Shetty? Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, assistant

[12:52] chief. So, if you could repeat which section you're considering, of course,

[12:56] this if this were to pass, you would you would we wait until it

[13:00] goes to the committee to really properly vet this? Is that would be the proper

[13:05] protocol to do this? >> That would make the most logical sense

[13:08] to me. That committee just met 2 weeks ago and it meets every quarter, but it

[13:12] wouldn't take much effort for us to have an impromptu meeting of that committee.

[13:16] Nothing that binds us to the once every quarter

[13:19] thing. So, if we wanted to or if if you guys wanted us to, we could move faster

[13:24] on it than uh I'm sure there's going to be a a

[13:27] little waiting period before the ordinance goes into effect, but that

[13:30] would give us enough time to to meet and sit down and look at it logically. Where

[13:34] do we want to do this? >> And the reason I ask follow up is, you

[13:38] know, it's we get feedback from the community. As a council, we get feedback

[13:42] on certain topics. But there's always wisdom in

[13:45] breathing for a moment and thinking it through and and having the committee

[13:49] work through it and not just a knee-jerk reaction. So

[13:53] I really appreciate the direction we're going on this wording so we can maybe

[13:56] just have it fit certain areas. So I would recommend you that we just have

[14:00] the committee get together whenever the time is right to

[14:03] to do this. However, if we if it passes, um my other

[14:07] question I guess would be then what was the You had mentioned

[14:11] What sections were you at least was on the radar, I guess, for this

[14:14] potentially? >> Sections of the ordinance proposed or

[14:17] the geographical locations of the >> locations for the walk your bike

[14:21] scenario. >> Right. What we've heard um feedback from

[14:23] a couple of council members and we think that makes logical sense as a starting

[14:27] point would be everything just on Camp Avenue

[14:31] in a restricted area of Camp Avenue from Foundation Plaza, so we'll call that I

[14:35] think that's Third Street that T intersection there at Foundation Plaza.

[14:39] Over to the west would be Broadway. >> So in front of the uh Foundation Plaza

[14:46] is considered as walking your bike in front of the plaza or would it be

[14:50] » Those would be the restricted zone, but there again that would be something that

[14:53] we would have to take feedback from you and from the community, put it in front

[14:57] of that uh that traffic safety committee and see

[15:01] what the various entities want for that restriction.

[15:04] » Which geographical area? >> The reason I bring that up is, you know,

[15:06] we we put that park downtown and it's going to draw, you know, bicyclists and

[15:10] stuff like that downtown. I believe, and maybe I'm wrong, is the

[15:14] issue more in front of certain businesses with pedestrians and

[15:18] businesses and coming in and out of the businesses or alleys. So So, would tell

[15:20] me that maybe the park road doesn't have to be walked because it's not really

[15:25] that's not the issue. But, that's just one man one guy thinking it out with

[15:29] with direction. So, that's why I think with with feedback you get, you know,

[15:32] having our committee work on it and I look forward to what we what we come up

[15:36] with. So, >> Yeah.

[15:38] » One of the other advantages we thought of with that area is that there for all

[15:41] we know there might be a another location a year from now. Just

[15:45] completely speaking in hypothetical here, but you may have the Lake Lake

[15:49] Erie Tech might that they want to make the sidewalks around their campus. So,

[15:54] this would be handled via that committee signage, but we wouldn't necessarily

[15:59] have to change any ordinance this way. And and Lake Erie Tech has not

[16:04] approached us. I'm just speaking hypothetically.

[16:07] » Councilman Peters. >> Just a maybe a couple quick questions to

[16:10] piggyback off what Dan said. So, what about like

[16:16] residential areas? And what is this committee gets together quarterly? What

[16:20] what are they looking for? Is it vehicle counts? Is it, you know, population

[16:24] density? Like what are the qualifications to say

[16:27] this is a highly trafficked area? What what is that defined by?

[16:31] » We haven't addressed that yet. Typically at at present the issues that are taken

[16:36] upon by this committee are generally I wouldn't necessarily call them

[16:41] complaints, but maybe concerns of citizens where they say, I would like a

[16:44] stop sign at this intersection or I would like the speed limit reduced from

[16:48] 35 to 25. So, instead of knee-jerk reacting at

[16:52] those, what we do is we bring those in front of this committee and it's again

[16:56] made up of the engineers office, police input, streets,

[17:01] city manager, and we sit down and we we each have our different hats on and why

[17:06] why this makes logical sense to make this change or to leave it as is.

[17:11] So, it's typically parking issues and stop signs and speed limits and turning

[17:16] lanes need to be added here. Can we reconfigure a stoplight to cycle in a

[17:20] different format? >> Got it. Okay, that's helpful. And then

[17:23] where I was going with that is if we have one side of the community that

[17:26] says, "Hey, we don't want these things here." And they pass the sniff test of

[17:31] vehicle counts or whatever. And you know, 300 ft over, this

[17:36] neighborhood's like, "Well, yeah, we're okay with it." And we're now we're

[17:38] checkerboarding all these areas of where we can or can't have bikes. And And how

[17:42] do we monitor or how do we manage that appropriately? So, thank you for that.

[17:46] » Yeah. >> Councilman Allen or City Manager Steger,

[17:50] did you have something to >> I I did. I was just going to point out

[17:53] that one of the benefits of utilizing the committee is we are looking at the

[17:58] traffic system for the community as a whole. And the traffic system wouldn't

[18:03] flow appropriately if we had the checkerboard you know, neighborhood A

[18:08] versus neighborhood B. And so, we do take changes very seriously.

[18:13] And and even reversing changes, we consider very carefully because you

[18:17] don't want people to have the muscle memory of where a stop sign is and to

[18:23] flip and flop on that stop sign uh meeting to meeting. So, I I wouldn't

[18:28] anticipate ever having a checkerboard type of of system in place here.

[18:35] » Thank you, Councilman Allen. >> Thank you, Assistant Chief. Um

[18:40] Can you talk a little bit about the uh

[18:45] We have a relatively long list of personal conveyances.

[18:49] And what was your thinking about that? Cuz it's I mean, skateboards and a lot

[18:54] of things that I don't think probably are really

[18:58] as much of an issue as electric scooters, electric bikes. So.

[19:03] » Right. So, the list that is in the current proposed ordinance is

[19:08] essentially the same list that's been there for quite some time. Um so it

[19:13] would have been council members long before you guys were here that would

[19:17] have created that that list. Now we did propose changing there's some just some

[19:22] like um we're using inline skates instead of

[19:25] rollerblades cuz rollerblades is a brand. Um I guess I would equate it to

[19:29] like Kleenex or or Pop-Tarts. Um it it just makes sense to using the generic

[19:35] term as opposed to a um

[19:38] a specific brand. Other than that, I think it's basically largely unchanged

[19:43] as far as what the the list is.

[19:46] Um >> Cuz I guess carts, I don't know exactly

[19:49] what a cart is or or a toy vehicle, what >> I'm I'm assuming what a toy vehicle

[19:56] would be is like those little tiny police cars that little boys and girls

[19:59] ride >> controlled stuff.

[20:01] » maybe maybe it's that, but I don't I don't think it'd be a radio controlled

[20:04] thing because it's not going to be you're not riding in that. I'm assuming

[20:06] we're talking about like little kids toy vehicle. I think somebody mentioned it

[20:10] on the council last week like a or a couple weeks ago like a little battery

[20:14] powered toy cart or toy car that somebody rides on.

[20:17] » seen those little convertibles or tractors or whatever

[20:22] kids riding on that are electric. >> I've never written a ticket for that so

[20:26] I I spent a long time and haven't run

[20:29] across that. >> Yeah.

[20:30] » They They existed sometime in the ordinance so

[20:32] » Yeah. I mean I I don't have a particular issue

[20:35] with the number of personal conveyances, but it it uh

[20:41] um I guess I'm just interested in being as

[20:43] simplistic as possible and and my bias is that I think if people just used a

[20:48] little common sense, um

[20:51] probably we'd be better off than we are right now cuz I'm sure you don't want to

[20:55] be writing a lot of tickets uh for you know

[21:00] somebody not walking their skateboard or whatever, but I

[21:06] Yeah. >> I know that it's it's our goal at the

[21:07] police department this would be a voluntary compliance thing more than it

[21:11] would be a I mean we don't want to be writing tickets to people for riding

[21:14] their bicycle or their scooter. We we feel that if you were to prominently

[21:18] display signage and the other passersby on the road would maybe give somebody a

[21:24] sideways look if they're and and before long they would hop off and just comply

[21:28] with that out of respect for everybody around them.

[21:31] » Yeah. I would hope so. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments?

[21:36] I would just like to thank the everyone at the police department who has been

[21:40] working on this, members of the community, members of our staff.

[21:44] I think we're getting very close to a good solution and I'd like to say that

[21:49] from what I've heard from at least a couple business owners downtown is that

[21:54] the conversation that we have been having over the last couple weeks has in

[21:58] and of itself made a difference in raising awareness

[22:02] and that is a good thing. Um

[22:05] I also like the flexibility that this proposed ordinance has. The one concern

[22:12] that I had with the old one was it seemed like so broad with the entire

[22:15] downtown district, but this seems to me much more appropriate. You're using a

[22:19] scalpel to cut out the problem area instead of a broadsword.

[22:23] And I approve of that and it also gives you flexibility

[22:27] because let's say if um the awareness raises to the point where

[22:32] it's no longer an issue then the police department can amend the area

[22:39] potentially taking it down or up and I think that's probably a really good

[22:44] thing. So, thank you for the work that has been done on this and we'll see it

[22:48] back in a couple weeks.

[22:51] Thank you. Item 12A is an annexation and zoning of

[22:56] property to be known as Martin's addition

[22:59] and we have two separate motions under there. One is the approval of a

[23:03] resolution initiating annexation of attractive land contiguous to the city

[23:07] of Watertown. And item two under there is a second

[23:10] reading of an ordinance 26-29 establishing the zoning designation of

[23:15] R1 single-family residential district. I will allow

[23:20] conversation and questions on both, but I think that we need to take two

[23:24] separate actions when the time comes. We'll go to our community development

[23:29] manager, Brandy Hanten. >> Thank you, Mayor. So, this is the second

[23:33] reading for the annexation and zoning of a piece of property that abuts

[23:40] already annexed and already annexed lot and development to the north. This

[23:45] property encompasses 13,557 uh square feet, and it will connect to

[23:54] as you can see on the map that's pulled up, that blue hatched area is the

[24:00] lot being proposed for annexation and zoning as R1 single-family residential

[24:05] district, and then it will be added on to the lot directly to the north that is

[24:12] already annexed and zoned as it's under one ownership. So, with that, I'll stand

[24:16] by for questions. >> Thank you. I will open a public hearing

[24:21] on this item. Is there anyone who would like to

[24:24] testify?

[24:28] I'll close the public hearing. Council, can I get a motion to approve item 12

[24:33] A1, which is the resolution?

[24:37] Motion made by Councilman Shutty, seconded by Councilman Peters. And

[24:40] again, Council, you can talk on both one and two, but we will be voting on one

[24:45] first. Council, anything? Councilman Mormon.

[24:49] » Uh just a quick question. Um community development manager Hanten,

[24:54] for the benefit of the public and for I've had a few people ask me this

[24:58] question. How

[25:01] how they're allowed to annex a small portion like that when typically in

[25:06] Cottonwood County you have to have 35 acres.

[25:10] » Yes, so that is actually why they're annexing and zoning because

[25:15] they did try to get a building permit in the county to build the accessory

[25:19] structure. And they were unable to because of that

[25:23] 35-acre requirement. So that is why they have to

[25:28] look at annexing and zoning it because the city for an R1 lot we only require

[25:33] 9,000 square feet minimum. So that's why they're going this route.

[25:38] » Okay, thank you.

[25:41] Any other questions? Councilman Allen.

[25:46] » So uh

[25:48] essentially we're annexing because it's the only option for them because they

[25:53] tried to work through the county but the county's

[25:57] uh regulations are such that they're not

[26:03] there's no flexibility for them. Did they did they try and the county

[26:08] commissioners said no, we're not doing that or how did that work?

[26:13] » There there is the attachment that has the

[26:18] um the minutes or the background to the county's

[26:21] uh action on this on this property. Um

[26:25] but it's actually beneficial when property

[26:29] that's directly abutting city limits is annexed and zoned and regulated than

[26:34] just within the city. And that's something that the joint jurisdiction

[26:38] ordinance also protects. So we would rather see that.

[26:44] » I'll review that. Thank you.

[26:48] Any other questions or comments? Council, the motion in front of us is to

[26:53] approve the resolution initiating the annexation of the land. All those in

[26:58] favor will say I, oppose nay. Finance Officer Bobzien, please call the roll.

[27:03] » Okay. Pauline? >> I.

[27:05] » Mormon? >> I.

[27:07] » Jurgens?

[27:09] » I. >> Peters?

[27:11] » I. >> Schutty?

[27:12] » I. >> Allen?

[27:13] » I. >> Motion carries.

[27:16] Item Can I Council, can I get a motion on 12 A 2, which is the

[27:22] ordinance establishing the zoning designation of R1.

[27:27] Councilman Motion made by Councilman Mormon, second

[27:30] by Councilman Peters. Council, any discussion?

[27:37] Hearing none, we'll go to a voice vote. All those in favor of approving the

[27:42] ordinance, please say I.

[27:45] » I. >> I.

[27:47] » Any opposed say nay. Motion carries. Item 12 B is an application for a

[27:53] transfer of ownership of a retail malt beverage and South Dakota farm wine

[27:57] license and video lottery license from 727 Incorporated, Freedom Watertown, 225

[28:02] West Kemp West Kemp Avenue to K&L Investment Group Incorporated, Freedom

[28:07] Watertown at the same location. Finance Officer Bobzien.

[28:11] » Okay, thank you, Mayor. Yes, in front of the council, this will just be a

[28:14] transfer of ownership. So, the location stays the same. Everything else is is

[28:19] exactly the same. All fees have been paid. Notices published. Everything's in

[28:23] line. If you have questions, I can answer them. Thank you.

[28:26] » Thank you. I will open a public hearing. Would

[28:29] anyone like to testify on this item?

[28:33] I'll close the public hearing. Council, can I get a motion to approve the

[28:37] transfer?

[28:39] Motion made by Councilman Mormon, second by Councilman Peters. Any discussion,

[28:43] Council?

[28:46] Hearing none, the motion is to approve the transfer of ownership. All those in

[28:49] favor, please say aye. >> Aye.

[28:54] » Any opposed say nay. Motion carries.

[28:57] Item 12C is an approval of a 25-year lease renewable for one additional

[29:02] 10-year term with Dynaware LLC on 5,625 square feet of city-owned real

[29:09] property located at the Watertown Regional Airport on which on which the

[29:15] lessee's [snorts] privately owned 75-ft by 75-ft hangar will be situated in the

[29:20] amount of $1,125 per year with a 2% annual increase.

[29:27] Airport Director Ian Merryweather is with us tonight to tell us more.

[29:31] » Thank you, Mayor. [clears throat] Uh Councilman,

[29:33] um as the Mayor stated, this is 75-ft by 75-ft hangar, um and I do want to note

[29:40] that it is the land upon which the structure is um so you can purchase it,

[29:47] and that's what happened in this case. It was taken over by a different entity,

[29:50] and as such, um they are assessed property taxes. So, this is simply for

[29:54] the land, not the structure itself. Um and with that, I'll stand by for any

[29:59] questions. >> Thank you. I will open a public hearing.

[30:02] Would anyone like to testify?

[30:07] I'll close the public hearing. Council, can I get a motion to approve the lease?

[30:12] Motion made by Councilman Shutty. Seconded by Councilman Mormon. Council,

[30:17] any discussion?

[30:21] All right. Hearing none, all those in favor of approving the lease, please say

[30:26] aye. >> Aye.

[30:28] » Any Any opposed say nay. Motion carries.

[30:33] 13A is an approval of insurance policies and authorization for payment for

[30:37] premiums for general liability, auto liability, and physical damage, law

[30:41] enforcement liability, buildings and contents, equipment property damage and

[30:45] equipment breakdown, boiler and machinery coverage, and authorization

[30:48] for the chief financial officer to issue a special check. We will go to said

[30:53] chief financial officer to tell us more.

[30:56] » Thank you, Mayor. That was a a long motion there. Um

[31:00] Nick is going to pull up I have just a very short PowerPoint. So, um it's that

[31:05] time of year, annual renewal for our liability insurance.

[31:09] Um I wanted to just go over a few things cuz we had some conversations last year

[31:14] about this. Of the 18 first-class municipalities,

[31:18] only one of those is not um currently part of the pool.

[31:22] Um I've listed all the ones that are currently part of South Dakota Public

[31:25] Assurance Alliance. We have been a member since 1991.

[31:30] Um in the last 5 years, the pool has only had two members leave, um and then

[31:36] one has returned. And re-entry into the pool does have a 2-year

[31:41] time frame. So, just so we're kind of aware of that.

[31:45] Um Our current renewal for 2026-2027

[31:49] came in at just shy of 1.2 million. This is an increase overall of $1,408,

[31:56] so relatively flat. The majority of that was due to the property values um up

[32:01] from 373 million to 401 million. Um otherwise, costs have stayed pretty

[32:07] steady. The next slide here just kind of shows

[32:11] over the last 3 years where we've sat between our liability, our property, and

[32:16] then our equipment breakdown. Um and then on the right side there's a

[32:20] comparative where you can see the changes. I will say that part of the

[32:25] liability and auto is we did have the fleet committee go through and look at

[32:31] how we are um maintaining coverage on certain pieces

[32:34] of equipment, whether that's full replacement value, or there's just

[32:38] liability, stuff like that. So, after that review, um we did decrease the

[32:43] liability in auto 11% and then, like I said, property's up 12.

[32:49] Uh the next slide here kind of says what's driving those

[32:52] changes. Um the main change is due to the property

[32:57] valuations. We are currently receiving a 7 and 1/2

[33:01] uh percent inflation guard. The reason we're receiving that is cuz we haven't

[33:05] had our full evaluation of our property. They were here this summer. Um HCA Asset

[33:11] Management came in. They take pictures of every single piece of property. They

[33:15] write down all the details, square footage, what the materials are.

[33:19] Um South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance

[33:22] will be going through that and then we will sit down with them and we will look

[33:25] at that and there could potentially be adjustments to our property valuations.

[33:30] Uh and then

[33:33] yeah, kind of went over the auto, how the fleet committee did look at our

[33:36] coverages on those. Um

[33:40] so, last but not least, the city's portion of the premium will be 866,000

[33:46] and the municipal utilities will be around 318,000.

[33:50] Um I guess for us, uh we're looking for an approval

[33:54] of this renewal and then the next steps that the staff will do is once we do

[33:59] receive that

[34:02] assessment from HCA and South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance, we'll sit

[34:06] down and kind of look at the replacement actual cash value and some of those

[34:11] different options for our property. So, if there's any questions, I can

[34:15] answer them. Thank you. >> Thank you. Council, can I get a motion

[34:18] to approve the policies?

[34:22] Motion made by Councilman Mormon. Seconded by Councilman Shutty.

[34:26] Council, any discussion? Councilman Peters.

[34:29] » I just have a quick question, Kristen. Thank you for this um PowerPoint. This

[34:33] answered a lot of my questions, but why would Rapid City not be the pool? What

[34:36] would there What do you think that they're currently doing? Is it something

[34:40] for us to consider as well, or what's the reasoning behind that?

[34:43] » I wouldn't know. I'd probably have to reach out to them. I did reach out to

[34:48] some of the other I Brookings, Aberdeen, um

[34:53] What was the other one I reached out to? Mitchell, I think. And yeah, I think

[34:58] others have went out and looked, and they just never feel like they can quite

[35:02] get the same amount of coverage as what we get through South Dakota Public

[35:06] Assurance Alliance, just because of some of the uniqueness to our We even have

[35:11] our law enforcement liability and things like that.

[35:14] » Got it. Okay. Yeah, I'd be curious to know

[35:17] who they go with just as another option in the future, but thank you.

[35:19] » Yep.

[35:22] » Any other >> I may have

[35:24] » Councilman Johns. >> Yeah, I have a second.

[35:27] » Yep. Yes. >> Being in the business doesn't make me an

[35:31] expert. Um

[35:34] what I do know though is that when I go through Rapid City and I see hail

[35:38] shields over the top of trailer sales and vehicle sales, and they're the only

[35:44] city in the state that has uh extra protection because those

[35:48] dealerships are having difficulty finding coverage. Uh we can be blessed

[35:53] that they're not in this pool uh because uh

[35:57] I've had one hail claim in my agency this week. Guess where it's from?

[36:03] Rapid City. It's not from Watertown. It's not from

[36:07] Brookings. It's not from Castlewood. It's not from Clark.

[36:11] It's Rapid. They get whacked every year out there, so

[36:16] I don't know if I'm understanding uh this completely, but I do understand

[36:24] uh I do understand uh where hail claims

[36:28] come in South Dakota and I just have a hunch we can be blessed that they're not

[36:32] in the pool. Thank you.

[36:36] » Thank you, Councilman. Any other discussion, Council?

[36:41] The motion is to approve the policies. All those in favor will say I, opposed

[36:46] nay. Finance Officer Rob Zine. >> Okay. Coleen?

[36:49] » I. >> Mormon?

[36:50] » I. >> Juron's?

[36:53] » I. >> Peters?

[36:54] » I. >> Shaddy?

[36:55] » I. >> Allen?

[36:56] » I. >> Motion carries.

[36:58] We're on to item 13B as an approval of the resolution 26-35, a resolution

[37:04] approving the city manager's employment agreement.

[37:08] We'll go to City Attorney Lisa Carico to kick us off.

[37:13] » Thank you, Mayor. As you know, the there's it's been a year since our city

[37:17] manager has been employed with the city of Watertown. Pursuant to the employment

[37:21] agreement, you guys then conducted a performance evaluation.

[37:25] Um it's my understanding that it was satisfactory. Congratulations.

[37:29] Um and as a result of the performance

[37:33] evaluation, we have revised pursuant to the

[37:37] Council's direction, revised the employment agreement.

[37:40] It should be noted that his probationary period is over.

[37:44] Um and so that part has been taken out of the agreement. And the rough

[37:48] highlights, which are also stated in the resolution and in the

[37:52] agreement that you can read for yourselves,

[37:54] is um an increase to the his salary of

[37:58] approximately 5%. Um

[38:01] a contribution to a qualified deferred

[38:04] compensation plan annually at 22,500.

[38:10] And we revised the section on vehicles to provide for

[38:14] an allowance for use of his personal vehicle.

[38:18] Um and with that, I can stand for any questions, but I believe the agreement

[38:21] is as you as council have directed and is ready for your approval.

[38:26] » Thank you very much, Attorney Carrico. Council, can I get a motion to approve

[38:30] the resolution? >> So moved.

[38:31] » Motion made by Councilman Peters. Seconded by Councilman Shetty. We'll

[38:35] open it up for council comments. I think uh Councilman Jirens, you have something

[38:39] to say?

[38:44] » Uh thanks, Mayor. Um

[38:47] really uh didn't

[38:50] prepare to lead this off other than >> [laughter]

[38:54] » that um I've made [snorts] public comments in the past whether that to the

[38:58] media or in in during city council that um there are some big differences

[39:05] in who you hire and who you have

[39:09] uh as your city manager and this goes for every city um that is in this form

[39:14] of government um I likely won't make comments in regards

[39:19] to nays and yeas uh to that and comparing ourselves to Sioux Falls and

[39:24] Rapid City, but I will make uh

[39:27] a quick comment on the amount of dollars, these are

[39:31] factual dollars uh just in 12 months

[39:36] that um the taxpayer in the city Watertown has

[39:41] saved and we've saved this without

[39:47] I believe even feeling

[39:51] that we've been shorted somewhere. Uh first position was a position that

[39:56] was made up um by the previous administration called

[40:00] an assistant city manager who had a uh

[40:04] payroll and incentives of close to 200,000

[40:08] and I think it's really really good for all of us to know

[40:14] that that position has been absorbed by

[40:19] employees, current employees, and the city manager. That position with

[40:25] incentives is $200,000.

[40:29] Um yeah, we might need this down the road, but

[40:36] this year zero of that money was spent to the

[40:41] 200,000. Second thing, there was a there was a project that came up a few months

[40:45] ago and I was like, "Wow, most of the time these engineering costs on these

[40:50] highway projects, you just think,

[40:54] 'You know what? That must be the way it goes, you know.' Previous

[40:58] administrations, I don't know if they haven't caught it, but our city manager

[41:03] caught something in the engineering costs on that big project that's going

[41:07] on in Northwest Watertown right now. And in the engineering section alone, there

[41:14] was a $140,000 in savings to the taxpayer and to the

[41:21] budget and to the city of Watertown. And I mean, you start adding the numbers up

[41:27] and you start adding uh things like no vehicle purchases. In

[41:32] fact, a you know, quick story. Um the vehicle that was purchased for just

[41:37] under $50,000 um

[41:42] here just a couple years ago, just under 50,000 because it never became in front

[41:47] of the the council. That vehicle is not being used by the city manager.

[41:52] That vehicle had better use to be used in the police department. And and I I I

[41:59] admire that. So, the few dollars that our city is spending for a vehicle

[42:05] stipend um is I believe incredibly fair. Um so, you know, you start adding things

[42:12] up and all of a sudden pennies become dollars and you know the old adage and

[42:16] before we know it dollars becomes a hundred thousand. Um,

[42:21] this this is really really a good night for Watertown. Um,

[42:28] let's not talk about some of the convert controversial things that we dealt with

[42:32] um, with the previous council and and and and it was in regards to travel.

[42:38] Uh, uh, it was so hard because we couldn't make decisions uh, on travel

[42:45] for uh, putting initials behind uh, you know, people's names. And I'm all for

[42:50] initials, but I'm really not that type. I don't care if I have initial behind my

[42:54] name uh, because I'm not looking for um, all the ACM uh, awards and the the

[43:00] statues and the and and the trophies and and the room and and pins and plaques.

[43:06] Um, but the travel budget alone this last

[43:10] year has had a twenty-five thousand dollar

[43:13] reduction. Uh, uh,

[43:16] things are adding up here and and and I had a a text from a constituent.

[43:23] Great great questions. He goes, I cannot see why

[43:27] the city manager would need a raise. How does he even know enough after a year?

[43:32] Well, there's a lot that is known just because

[43:38] of the years spent in in dedicating time to understanding what

[43:46] we do for a city. And

[43:49] you know, a comment that I saw on on uh, crazy book uh, uh, from uh, a downtown

[43:57] business person was, you know, what's really interesting is to see

[44:01] that at 7:30 a.m. the vehicles there at city hall and when

[44:07] she leaves downtown area in most nights, that the vehicle's still there.

[44:13] And and

[44:15] knowing from questions over the last few months

[44:19] that then he leaves

[44:23] the office and spends time uh studying things like you know, the

[44:27] bankruptcy court that's going on up in in Fargo right now over the ruins. And

[44:33] and you know, all of a sudden we get briefed on that. And I mean, we kind of

[44:38] we're we've been kept in the loop. And and there's so so many

[44:42] hidden things that that we've uh we've been uh blessed with. Is it perfect? No.

[44:48] Do we need to be questioning? Absolutely.

[44:52] We we we we need to continue to work together though

[44:55] uh while we question and while we have

[44:58] dialogue on on things that are you know, important to Watertown. Uh one

[45:03] other thing um previously the city uh was pushed and the council was pushed

[45:09] to approve a $27 million

[45:13] street department facility. Needed? Yes, but not at $27 million. And

[45:18] we kept talking, "Hey, can we get something in that seven to

[45:23] $12 million?" You know what? I I'm I'm here to report

[45:27] that we are working on something that we feel one day will be important. And that

[45:33] depends on priorities and that meetings coming up uh

[45:36] uh uh uh soon. And and I'm looking forward to that. So, those are a couple

[45:40] of things so far here in this discussion that I wanted to add to uh

[45:45] to what we um what we have in front of us here. Thank you, Mayor.

[45:50] » Thank you, Councilman Jordahl. Council, any other comments?

[45:54] Councilman Mormon. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um

[45:58] I appreciate everything that Councilman Jordahl had to say. I will be voting

[46:03] against this. Um and the only reason I'll be voting

[46:06] against it is simply because I believe that the city manager, his raise,

[46:11] compensation, benefits package should be equal to that of what the all the rest

[46:16] of the 200 plus city employees were given. I believe whatever is given to

[46:20] your lowest employ- paid employee should be good enough for your highest paid

[46:25] employee when it comes to raises and benefits.

[46:28] This has nothing to do and my my decision for voting against it has

[46:31] nothing to do with city manager Stager. Um it's about the position and not the

[46:35] person. I really appreciate the

[46:39] uh great working relationship I have with city manager Stager. Um I'm

[46:43] extremely appreciative that. I enjoy every meeting I have with him and it's

[46:49] uh it's a wonderful experience to sit in his office and discuss

[46:54] issues pertaining to Watertown and be able to bounce ideas back and forth. So,

[47:00] I I thank him for that and I greatly uh

[47:04] greatly appreciate what he is doing for our city.

[47:08] I know a lot of employees, city employees

[47:11] are going to be watching this meeting tonight online or on TV.

[47:16] And I just want to say I remember working for the city when we had a wage

[47:21] study about roughly five or six years ago.

[47:26] Um and I watched as

[47:32] you could use any descriptive word you want to use. You could use any

[47:35] descriptive phrase you want to use to describe what happened to morale in the

[47:40] workforce after what I will label as a 100% complete failed disaster of a wage

[47:47] study for anything for anything to help out recruitment and

[47:53] retention. So, I understand that. I understand

[47:56] where the city employees are coming from. And uh

[48:01] I just want I just want them to know that uh the reason why I can't vote for

[48:05] this is I cannot vote and I never will ever vote and support something that I

[48:09] know will have a negative impact on morale of our city workforce. And I just

[48:15] believe singling out somebody, handing them a lot more money and benefits than

[48:20] anybody else when so many of our city employees could make the exact same

[48:24] argument about how hard they work and how much they donate extra um to the

[48:29] city. So, with that, I'm voting against it. Um you know, what I have to say are

[48:35] my opinions and my thoughts alone. And I appreciate uh the time to be able to

[48:40] discuss that.

[48:44] » Council. Any other comments?

[48:48] Now, Councilman Durance has something to say. I will just add uh

[48:52] little bit of something. Just to describe to the public in case

[48:57] they were curious as to how this process worked.

[49:01] I would like to thank Councilman Allen. He put together a questionnaire that

[49:05] went out to the council where we graded City Manager Steger on quite a few

[49:11] different performance metrics. Then we collated those ratings from all

[49:16] the councilmen and we had a very long, productive

[49:21] conversation with just council members in executive session a few weeks ago.

[49:27] Afterwards, we brought City Manager Steger in.

[49:30] We listened to his requests for what he would like to see revised in his

[49:36] contract going forward. After that, we broke and uh as per our

[49:42] home rule charter, the deputy mayor, Councilman Peters and I entered into

[49:47] some negotiations with City Manager Steger

[49:50] where there was some give and take, but overall it was very cordial.

[49:56] And that comes from people sharing a vision for where they want Watertown to

[50:00] go and how they want it to run. And that is without the animosity,

[50:06] without the vitriol, and always keeping your eyes on where

[50:11] you want to reach and what you want to achieve.

[50:16] The job of a city manager is very difficult. And then after that, we did

[50:21] go back to City Council, showed everybody what the

[50:26] negotiations resulted in, and that is pretty much what you see in the contract

[50:32] before you tonight. The job of a city manager is a very

[50:35] difficult job to fill in the entire country.

[50:40] The position of a city manager usually gets filled at a much, much higher rate

[50:44] than what Watertown is currently doing it at.

[50:48] What you see here is partly bringing City Manager Steiger into some level of

[50:56] agreement with what other communities pay their city managers, but we are

[51:01] still underneath that amount, which I would like to point out is

[51:06] very impressive from what City Manager Steiger accomplishes because

[51:12] unlike other cities, Watertown actually has as much if not more than most cities

[51:18] in what is going to fall on the city manager's job performance or in job

[51:24] description. I know City Manager Steiger has called

[51:28] it from A to Z. Start with an airport. Not every

[51:32] community that has a city manager that pays them

[51:36] a similar amount if not more, not everyone has an airport. Very few has an

[51:41] airport or have an airport that is as vital to the local economy that

[51:46] Watertown has. And has the EAS service and has to

[51:53] analyze everything including what we did tonight, which is hangars and solar

[51:58] panels over over the parking

[52:02] lot and things like that. These are obligations that not every

[52:07] city has to deal with. You go to Z, which is the zoo.

[52:11] Watertown is justifiably very proud of Bramble Park Zoo.

[52:17] And I think only two other cities in South Dakota have a zoo.

[52:22] And that's obviously something we all know how much that is on the budget and

[52:26] how many people that we hire there and what that does to the community. So

[52:29] these are things that not every community has.

[52:33] Then you have like we have more green space than any other per capita than any

[52:39] other community in South Dakota. That's all on our parks and rec.

[52:44] We have more roads per capita than any city in South Dakota.

[52:49] You look at a city of like size in Brookings, we have 70 miles more road

[52:52] that we take care of on a on a given year.

[52:56] That's all falling on I mean it's a team, but it's obviously on the city

[53:00] manager that is at the top of that. We have a river, we have lakes, we have

[53:05] all sorts of things. So it is a very hard job to fill and I

[53:10] think the community saw that when it took us many, many months

[53:14] of hiring in a process that took applications from across the

[53:20] country. And I'm very happy with the person that

[53:23] we have filling that role right now. Um the scores from the council were very

[53:30] high, very favorable.

[53:33] And that is what you see reflected in the contract.

[53:37] So, thank you for Watertown for staying with us in this.

[53:42] I think we've got a very good system of government and we're looking forward to

[53:47] what more we can achieve. Councilman, anybody else here?

[53:52] Councilman Shady?

[53:55] » Thank you, Mayor.

[53:58] So yes, just to kind of help hopefully clarify, help people work through this

[54:02] process in the in the city in our community and and within within

[54:05] employees of our city. You know, we have we have employees here

[54:10] that are faced with sometimes a career choice. Sometimes it's paid, maybe

[54:13] they'll move from well, maybe from being employed by the

[54:16] city, they'll go work for another agent another organization, maybe the county,

[54:20] maybe the private sector. And sometimes the

[54:23] motivation is pay because they can maybe make a few extra dollars. And I don't at

[54:28] all blame them for we got to make choices based off you know, where we're

[54:31] at in life. Sometimes that's not the choice. Maybe it's not pay. Maybe we're

[54:35] working where we're working because we enjoy the job we're at. There's so many

[54:39] oh, so many things that that that bring us to why we do what we do as a career.

[54:43] When I look at current city manager Steiger,

[54:48] you had mentioned here, Mayor, that he's still underneath the average.

[54:52] I got to believe that with the even having a year under his belt in private

[54:56] sector, my guess is city manager Steiger could

[54:59] probably for more pay, could probably move

[55:03] somewhere and and that might you know, might motivate

[55:06] somebody. He's under the average, but it doesn't appear like Al really wants to

[55:10] leave this position, city manager Steiger,

[55:13] because of pay. And and technically, he's under probably what the national

[55:18] average or even the state average is for city manager potentially.

[55:22] So, what my point on that is is I don't believe he's in this for the

[55:26] money. He's not doing this just to for a paycheck. I believe his heart's in it

[55:30] and he wants to he wants to serve the community Watertown. So, I just don't I

[55:34] just don't want people to think that it's it's because of money that that

[55:37] city man I don't want to speak for city manager Steiger but just getting to know

[55:39] him over the last year it isn't the money that motivates him

[55:43] and again we're we can compare ourselves and and

[55:47] some employees will leave their their position for for the county because of

[55:50] they're making a few dollars more working for the county. You know, maybe

[55:53] we need to review maybe not but what motivates us to work somewhere and again

[55:57] that's you know, we're not losing him because of that.

[56:00] Um the other thing is why we came about this particular

[56:04] compensation package was sort of a reset from from the first the first year we

[56:10] were we decided as a council with city manager Steiger on

[56:14] on we kind of were under even more on the lower end of this and and actually

[56:18] city manager Steiger was good with that. He wanted Watertown he wanted a year to

[56:23] to show Watertown that what he can do what that he's into this and there was

[56:26] it was below again it was well below what we maybe would have offered

[56:29] somebody else. So this year we seen it as a reset to

[56:34] kind of get him to what's what he's what he's deserved to pay and so we all we're

[56:39] kind of in agreement some of us aren't but as a whole as a team here we're

[56:42] we're I think we all believe that the the job

[56:45] performance is is there so it's just how to properly compensate. So this is a for

[56:48] those of us who have been here a little bit longer this is a reset

[56:52] um from from the first year. I believe moving forward as councilman

[56:56] Moorman is saying I'm one too. I'm not for showing partiality. I don't want to

[57:00] show partiality. Um

[57:02] I don't I personally don't see this as as favor showing favor to somebody. This

[57:07] is a position we can't compare it I mean I guess you could look at the

[57:10] department heads. I don't know if all the department heads make all the exact

[57:13] same amount. They probably is a range there.

[57:16] Um we we probably have um we we

[57:19] trying to be uniform you're going to have positions that require more

[57:23] responsibility there's going to be more pay. City manager's at the top.

[57:27] And that position does deserve um proper pay and compensation. And so

[57:33] um it's it's one thing if we had two city managers, I guess, working for a

[57:36] city, right? That was one was making x amount dollars more, but we don't He's

[57:40] This is the the one position that deserves to be

[57:44] at a at the it's at the where he's going to be. I believe where

[57:47] we're at is is is fair and just. So, I just wanted to share those couple points

[57:51] there that this is by no means um this could this could create Yeah, as

[57:55] Councilman Mormon says, there might be some city employees that are uptight.

[57:58] I would say to city employees, hang in there.

[58:02] See continue to to see to try to resist the temptation to grumble and complain

[58:08] uh because there's there's a a positive future

[58:11] ahead of us, but it takes the right person in the job to lead this. It takes

[58:15] the council. It takes city manager. And then yes, it takes department heads and

[58:18] every single employee. Not one is better than the other. However, there's certain

[58:23] skill sets that we need to have in in those positions and properly so, we got

[58:27] the right skill set at city manager. So. Thank you.

[58:30] » Thank you. Councilman Peters. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um I don't need to

[58:33] rehash what's been said. I think Councilman Shetty said it very well, and

[58:36] I agree um with him, and I'm in full support of this uh

[58:40] this resolution and to increase the city manager salary, but there's a there's a

[58:45] story, I guess, I want to tell from earlier today.

[58:48] I had a constituent reach out to me um

[58:51] and uh she was very much not in favor of this resolution or approving an increase

[58:56] in salary for the city manager, not because um she did she doesn't know Alan

[59:00] um has never worked with him, but because she said her taxes keep going

[59:04] up. And so, as we had this conversation, I

[59:07] asked her, "Well, what do you mean by taxes?" And she was referring to her

[59:09] property taxes keep going up. And so, I wanted to take a moment here just to

[59:13] explain how we, or at least myself, look at the city budget and our revenues.

[59:18] A very small percentage in the grand scheme of things actually come from

[59:21] property taxes for the city's revenue. We are funded, I I say, roughly about 70

[59:26] 70% by sales tax in the city. And so as I was explaining this to her,

[59:32] she became quite comfortable with uh I think it's 5% we've been increasing in

[59:37] sales tax. Does that sound close? Um since last year.

[59:40] And um as I explained this and explained that the city continues to grow and how

[59:45] it becomes more complex and and you know we're not yes the the property tax

[59:50] revenue is significant and and we certainly need it to operate, but we're

[59:54] more focused on growing the sales tax. And so as I explained that, she became

[59:59] um more supportive of uh the resolution and more supportive of of ensuring that

[1:00:03] we're more in line with other communities in the city. So I just want

[1:00:06] to take a moment to share that that yes we look at everything holistically, but

[1:00:11] we get sales tax revenue numbers and they have consistently grown month after

[1:00:15] month um and we need good leadership to continue that. So thank you.

[1:00:19] » Thank you. Councilman Allen, did you have anything before I go to Councilman

[1:00:22] Jerns? Councilman Jerns.

[1:00:26] » Uh thank you, Mayor. Um I I believe we should again um talk

[1:00:31] about um and listen to the concerns of the city employees. The city doesn't go

[1:00:38] anywhere unless we have employees, unless we have good morale, unless we

[1:00:42] have uh people that are uh

[1:00:45] really just excited to get to work. So I'd really like to uh speak to the city

[1:00:50] employees and ask one question.

[1:00:55] Um would anyone

[1:00:59] ex- let me rephrase that. Is there anyone in the city in on the city staff

[1:01:05] that would lose their job if the citizens of Watertown decided that

[1:01:11] city manager form of government is not for them,

[1:01:14] strong mayor is. And and ask yourself, would any of you

[1:01:20] lose your job? And who would lose their job if that got

[1:01:25] switched in the next few months?

[1:01:28] Yes, there's only one person who would lose their position, and that's the city

[1:01:33] manager. So, it really we have to look at this position way different.

[1:01:39] And and to be honest with you, one of the constituents that reached out to me

[1:01:44] uh was concerned when I uh explained the amount of

[1:01:50] uh solid savings that we've seen as a city over the last year.

[1:01:56] Now, this city employee also said, "Hey, I think you should talk about this

[1:02:01] tonight. I think people need to know this." So, really speaking out about

[1:02:06] some of these savings was really motivated by a city employee who said,

[1:02:10] "I really understand this better now." So, uh very good dialogue tonight. We

[1:02:14] thank you for this. And there's one other thing in some comments that the

[1:02:19] second constituent brought up. And that is, "Glenn, I'm not aware and and and

[1:02:25] they read they read very closely to uh what we were voting on tonight. I'm not

[1:02:31] aware in there, but I've seen on crazy book that there's some incentives that

[1:02:36] are in uh this this plan." Uh he goes, "Ask

[1:02:42] if there's any incentives or whoever said that if they can explain

[1:02:47] what they mean by incentives. Thank you."

[1:02:52] » I'm not exactly sure who said that, but at the very least I think Councilman

[1:03:00] » Willis. >> Maybe a question for our city attorney.

[1:03:03] Uh it's fair to say that there's no incentives in this contract or

[1:03:07] milestones or anything like that that the city manager has to hit for

[1:03:11] additional compensation. >> Correct. There's nothing in there.

[1:03:17] » Thank you very much. I think

[1:03:20] » Thanks, Mayor. That's all I have. >> Thank you.

[1:03:23] Allen might be getting uncomfortable hearing all these good things about him.

[1:03:27] Allen, did you uh City Manager Steiger, did you have anything that you would

[1:03:30] like to add? >> I I'm sure I could think of something.

[1:03:34] I've I've just say this has been great. I I will also say this, a couple of you

[1:03:39] know who who served on the council before,

[1:03:42] I'm the world's worst negotiator. I I sat down, I'm not going to break

[1:03:47] confidence of executive session, and I don't care if you pay me anymore.

[1:03:51] This this is still fun, and it's going to be fun, and we're making

[1:03:55] we're making a lot of progress. But, also in terms of the reset, I want

[1:04:00] to say publicly what I told you gentlemen in executive session as well.

[1:04:05] This is a reset after the first probationary year.

[1:04:09] This isn't something we should do every year.

[1:04:14] Um this is a one-time reset, and as some of you know,

[1:04:18] I came in with one expectation of salary,

[1:04:22] and guess what? It was actually $7,000 a year less than what we negotiated in the

[1:04:27] process. The whole time the executive search firm

[1:04:31] was mad at me toward the end because I wouldn't ask for more.

[1:04:36] Remember, gentlemen, I told you guys I want to be treated

[1:04:41] like any other employee. And so, I was told everybody comes in as

[1:04:46] step five. Here it is. Less than we had even negotiated a year

[1:04:51] ago. So, I appreciate all of your

[1:04:54] perspectives, all of your kind words, and I appreciate

[1:04:58] you taking the time to make this adjustment for

[1:05:02] for me and the position. Um

[1:05:05] I'll also tell you this, I appreciate Councilman Mormon a lot.

[1:05:10] Um he has the public sector service employment record.

[1:05:16] And so when he talks, I listen. He brings me a perspective I haven't

[1:05:21] seen elsewhere. And so I I don't want anybody to say, "Hey, Brent and Allen

[1:05:26] don't get along over this." We we do.

[1:05:30] I enjoy the perspective he brings. It's just a

[1:05:34] different perspective than I have. And that's okay.

[1:05:38] Um, so again, thank you. If there's anything else I

[1:05:42] can answer for you, I'd be happy to try. >> Thank you, City Manager Steiger. I would

[1:05:48] like to say thank you. And Watertown is blessed to have you in

[1:05:53] your position. The motion is to approve this

[1:05:56] resolution. All those in favor will say I, opposed nay. Finance Officer Bob

[1:06:00] Zein, please call the roll. >> Okay.

[1:06:02] Pauline? >> I.

[1:06:04] » Mormon? >> Nay.

[1:06:06] » Jurgens?

[1:06:09] » I. >> Peters?

[1:06:10] » I. >> Shady?

[1:06:11] » I. >> Allen?

[1:06:13] » I. >> Motion carries. We're on to the city

[1:06:16] manager's report. >> I wasn't expecting to have to give one.

[1:06:20] But >> [laughter]

[1:06:21] » no. Um, a couple of things. Uh, to start out

[1:06:24] with, I'm actually going to turn it over to City Engineer Peterson to give an

[1:06:28] update on some of our major road construction projects. So we will go to

[1:06:32] the screen if if Nick, you could bring up the website

[1:06:36] uh, and the map.

[1:06:44] » Hi. Thank you. Um, just a kind of a quick update where

[1:06:48] we're at. Um, projects are kind of wrapping down as towards the end

[1:06:52] of the season. Um, there's four of them I want to

[1:06:55] highlight. The this area in red, this is 5th Avenue. You may mark it there.

[1:07:00] The other mark in here red is uh, 4th and Highland.

[1:07:05] Uh, the kind of center area here, blue area, that's the WMU project. And

[1:07:12] then up here in River, um, yeah, Northridge

[1:07:17] is is purple. Uh, that's the mill and overlay. Um,

[1:07:21] the mill and overlay project, that that was the top lift was paved today. I

[1:07:25] assume they finished already, but that that should be done today.

[1:07:29] The this long street kind of here in the

[1:07:32] middle of the WMU project is Second Street. That will be paved, uh, starting

[1:07:39] tomorrow. Um, should be done by the end of the

[1:07:41] week. Um, so, um, the schools kind of right in this

[1:07:45] area, so that should be, uh, good. Um, uh,

[1:07:51] Fourth and Highland, there was, um, some spongy material. When we we took

[1:07:57] that out, so we had we did, uh, what's called a cement treated base.

[1:08:02] They just finished that up. Did a proof roll

[1:08:05] and it's hard to rock, so we're going to, uh, start grading that and, um,

[1:08:11] doing conc- uh, curb and gutter uh, this week and then, um,

[1:08:16] paving is tentatively scheduled for, uh, September 2nd.

[1:08:21] And then Fifth Avenue, um, that also is tentatively scheduled for,

[1:08:27] um, September 2nd. They're are finishing up

[1:08:31] grading and curb and gutter on that as well.

[1:08:34] Um, I guess

[1:08:37] if there's any other questions, I can answer them.

[1:08:42] » Thank you. Back to you, city manager. >> Thank you for that update. Um, a couple

[1:08:46] of other projects, uh, we have previously foreshadowed our desire to,

[1:08:53] uh, do a a reseal of 14th Avenue North including a restriping plan. Um, just

[1:09:00] for full transparency in the budget, that was not a project that was budgeted

[1:09:04] this year. We think we can cover most of it with

[1:09:08] the existing street budget. But that is a project we we likely will have to come

[1:09:13] back with some level of supplement for the budget. We do think it's an

[1:09:17] important project for the community to to protect uh the public that utilizes

[1:09:23] the bike path, to protect the road. Um I don't know if you are all aware, but the

[1:09:28] shoulder we are driving on as driving lanes was not designed to be the road.

[1:09:33] And even the the confusing pavement markings where you see the old markings

[1:09:37] and the new ones, from a safety we think that's important, so there likely will

[1:09:41] be a supplement. Um

[1:09:44] like to talk about Elmira Township. Um we have brought forward a memorandum of

[1:09:49] understanding in the past. Uh the township has made a request that

[1:09:53] we take over uh

[1:09:56] additional portions of about 1.5 miles of 26th Avenue Northwest.

[1:10:03] And that is a section that uh the township argues is used quite a bit by

[1:10:09] city traffic. It's used actually very uh very little

[1:10:15] um with township traffic. And so I'll just

[1:10:20] alert you to that. I know that there are some opinions, sometimes some strong

[1:10:24] opinions on what we take over there. So that's just a heads up if if you do have

[1:10:28] opinions, I'd be very happy to to hear them.

[1:10:32] Um school safety speed signs went up starting today, so watch for those

[1:10:38] signs. Um

[1:10:41] our next governance policy that we will be working on in advance of the budget

[1:10:45] year is a policy on our relationships with external organizations.

[1:10:51] And I say our relationships versus just funding of external organizations

[1:10:55] because we need to address more than just who do we fund and how do we fund

[1:11:00] them. I want to take that governance policy to go as as far as to determine

[1:11:05] how we appoint people to boards of these organizations. What what are the

[1:11:09] requirements in the memorandum of understanding? I think that's something

[1:11:14] the public would appreciate having and even the outside organizations would

[1:11:18] appreciate having that clarity in a governance policy.

[1:11:23] Um

[1:11:27] one final thing that I'll throw out this council chamber

[1:11:32] and this addition that that all of you approved um is rarely used.

[1:11:40] So we use it twice a month for this meeting and and our citizens have put

[1:11:45] millions of dollars into this and and as I

[1:11:49] think about government transparency from a perspective of a citizen and I look

[1:11:53] around at the other units of government and even

[1:11:57] committees and even our own Watertown Municipal Utilities and how those bodies

[1:12:02] don't have the same degree of transparency as we do

[1:12:06] here at the city of Watertown just like to make this room available to

[1:12:11] all of the other governmental units in the community. We will find a

[1:12:15] way to accommodate you. We will ensure that we have the

[1:12:19] recording equipment, the broadcast equipment, the investments that have

[1:12:22] been made here and we can make Watertown the most transparent city in the state

[1:12:28] when it comes to open government and that's the commitment that we can make

[1:12:32] here from a staff standpoint. You know, I just just today the state's open

[1:12:38] meeting law task force

[1:12:42] kicked down the road a requirement to record public meetings

[1:12:47] because most bodies don't have the recording capabilities. We've made the

[1:12:52] investment here. We have the capability of doing it. You know, there should be

[1:12:56] no reason that a joint planning commission with the county and the city

[1:13:00] takes place in an extension building without a recording for the public. And

[1:13:05] so, I'd like to just make that available. Uh just contact us here at

[1:13:09] City Hall and we can get a schedule together for the for the public.

[1:13:14] Um with that, I just uh also like to thank Mr. Simmons for coming forward in

[1:13:18] the open forum. Um I've met with Mr. Simmons a couple of

[1:13:22] times. He mentioned he's met with with Chief Toomey as well.

[1:13:26] Um he's brought forward many of the privacy concerns uh

[1:13:31] around some of the stationary cameras um early on in the process that that are

[1:13:36] now being talked about uh on a a broader broader basis.

[1:13:42] I do feel that we've got great policies in place with within our our local

[1:13:47] police force and would welcome a community conversation to show what we

[1:13:51] have. Um I do know that um further conversations are happening as Mr.

[1:13:57] Simmons mentioned. So, just want to state publicly we are we are open to

[1:14:01] that and we we thank you for keeping uh keeping us advised of what's happening.

[1:14:07] With that, I'll turn it back to the mayor.

[1:14:14] » Thank you. Does any city council member have an

[1:14:17] topic for a future discussion they'd like to introduce?

[1:14:21] Councilman Moran. >> Uh just a quick topic and for the

[1:14:24] public, since we had a discussion about traffic committee earlier tonight, I've

[1:14:30] had a few people reach out to me about uh our new football stadium.

[1:14:34] And when you're leaving there at night, um there's so many people walking across

[1:14:40] 3rd Avenue with the stadium lights, when it's dark,

[1:14:45] the one street light that is right there at the crosswalk doesn't come on. I'm

[1:14:49] assuming it's probably got a sensor on it. And so, we have hundreds with a

[1:14:54] football game coming up. We have We'll have thousands of people

[1:14:58] walking across that road right there in basically pitch black.

[1:15:03] And there I'm sure there's three entities involved between the school,

[1:15:08] municipal utilities, and the city. I I have no idea who that would fall on. If

[1:15:12] Yeah, if you want to comment.

[1:15:17] » Very quickly. Um during the varsity football games for

[1:15:20] both GPL and Watertown High School, that road is closed down. They They put in a

[1:15:24] permanent request. That doesn't fix soccer and JV football, but for those

[1:15:28] thousands of people that you're talking about, they close that road down from I

[1:15:33] think it's like 6:00 p.m. until everybody's gone from there. So, no

[1:15:36] vehicle traffic. It's just pedestrian traffic. Okay.

[1:15:39] » Thank you. >> That might be helpful, but we'll check

[1:15:41] into the the sensors on the top of the light.

[1:15:44] It's probably something that nobody caught.

[1:15:46] » Yeah, I just noticed, you know, leaving the soccer

[1:15:49] game Friday night, you know, there's there's

[1:15:53] anything from the littlest toddler running across the road to, you know,

[1:15:57] grown adults, and they they're walking across the in pitch black. So.

[1:16:02] Thank you.

[1:16:05] » Anything else? >> All right, thank you.

[1:16:09] » Councilman Shetty.

[1:16:12] » Just to put it on the record, someone has a birthday tomorrow.

[1:16:14] » Correct? Does the mayor have a birthday tomorrow?

[1:16:17] » someone does. >> [laughter]

[1:16:21] » Well, happy birthday, mayor, tomorrow. >> [laughter]

[1:16:24] » Thank you.

[1:16:28] » That's uh something for executive session.

[1:16:31] » [laughter]

[1:16:34] » Any other topics? All right. We have no reason to go into

[1:16:39] executive session. I will entertain a motion to adjourn.

[1:16:42] Motion made by Councilman Allen, seconded by Councilman Peters. All those

[1:16:46] in favor of adjournment, please say I. >> I.

[1:16:49] » Any opposed say nay. Motion carries. Good night and God bless

[1:16:53] you, Watertown.

City Council Meeting - 8/17/2026

Transcript