technical. Okay, then. Well, welcome everyone to tonight's city council meeting. Whether you're joining us here in person, participating virtually or watching a recorded video later, uh we're glad you're taking the time to stay connected with your local government. Your engagement is important and we appreciate your interest in the work we do together to serve our community. So, I'd like to call our meeting to order for Monday, April 28th. And if we could please have a roll call. Council member Springs, here. Council member Denine here. Council member James here. Council member Biscans here. Mayor Marquez Simila here. Thank you. Um and if you're able to please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nationy andice for all. Thank you. Um, next we have our approval of the agenda. Are there any additions or deletions the council would like to make? Seeing as none, then I have a motion to approve the agenda as presented. So moved. Second. I have a motion by council member Denine and a second by council member Spriggs to approve the agenda. Any discussion? Hearing is none. And then all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. Next, before we begin our proclamations, I would like to read a statement um from the council, from myself as mayor, but also our council and our city staff. This is about zero tolerance for racism and personal attacks at public meetings. At the April Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, an anonymous masked individual used public comment time to launch a racist personal attack against Commissioner Taher Herzala. This individual refused to identify themselves, made hateful and false accusations, and demanded that Commissioner Herzala be removed from the commission, claiming he doesn't belong here. Such remarks rooted in racism and cowardice are absolutely unacceptable and have no place in Colombia Heights. Myself, Mayor Amada Marcus Simila, the city council and the city manager immediately responded with concern and urgency. We are actively implementing new measures to protect all participants in our public meetings. We are strengthening our rules to ensure that any future hateful, discriminatory, or racist remarks will be immediately shut down and addressed. Racism will not be tolerated. Not in our city government, not at our public meetings, not in our community spaces. Our public meetings are designed for respectful discussion, thoughtful questions, and informed decision-making to benefit our city. Everyone is welcome to attend to participate, including children, adults, longtime residents, and new community members. Our meetings should model professionalism, respect, and a commitment to listening, even when differences arise. When a child or newcomer visits a meeting, they should leave feeling a sense of trust and pride in their city leaders, knowing that kindness, collaboration, and inclusivity are at the heart of our work. Our city council is firmly committed to building diverse boards and commissions that genuinely reflect the community we serve. Behavior like what occurred at the parks and recreation meeting creates an unsafe and hostile environment for participation. It is unacceptable and we will not allow it to deter people from stepping up to lead and serve. There is no excuse for personal attacks, hate speech or intimidation. It will not be allowed. It will be immediately addressed. To ensure a safe and welcoming environment, the city will provide a new training to all board and commission chairs and city staff on how to recognize and immediately stop discriminatory behavior during meetings. The safety, dignity, and inclusion of all participants are non-negotiable. Myself, the mayor, city council, and city managers and the city manager stand firmly with commissioner Hzala and with all of our board and commission members. We are united in standing against racism, Islamophobia, and all forms of discrimination. Columbia Heights belongs to everyone. There is no place for hatred here. We will continue to build a community where every resident feels safe, respected, and truly belongs. Thank you. Thank you to the council for all of our conversation and support and to our city manager as well. I feel um very unified in our um in this statement in where we want to move our city forward. Next, we will move into the proclamation section of our meeting. Our first proclamation is for Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And to read this proclamation, we have our council member, Justice Briggs. Asian and Pacific Islander Minnesota Heritage Month, May 2025. The month of May was chosen by Congress to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the United States on May 7th, 1843. In Minnesota, the first Asian person noted on record came to Duth, Minnesota in 1875. Asian and Pacific Islander motans continue to make Minnesota home with more than 300,000 Asian and Pacific Islander motans representing over 40 different nationalities, making this the fastest growing community. The Asian and Pacific Islander motan community's long and deeply rooted legacy reminds us of both proud and painful chapters in our history. During the CO 19 pandemic, Asian and Pacific Islander motans reported an increased level of discrimination and hate crimes because of the virus's geographic origin. Viruses don't discriminate and neither should we. We honor the irreplaceable roles of Asian and Pacific Islander motans have played in our past, including the rich diversity they brought us to this, including the rich diversity they brought to the state through waves of migration. We celebrate the valuable contributions of generations of immigrants and refugees who have left an incredible mark on the state of Minnesota's economy as well as our culture. And we recommit to ensuring opportunities exist for generations of AsianPacific Islander motans to come. We celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander motans heritage month to ensure that the cultures, histories, and stories of this community are seen and heard. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Amada Marcus Simila, mayor of Columbia Heights, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 to be Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the city of Columbia Heights, County of Anoka, state of Minnesota, USA. And here to receive our proclamation tonight is Dash Yata and Arvin Narik. And if we could uh council stand up to do a photo, that would be great. This is Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Dash. I'm the executive co director for the Sava Asian Indian Family Wellness Program. Um, respected mayor and all the council members, uh, I thank you for proclaiming May 2025 as AsianAmerican and Pacific Icelander Heritage Month in Colombia Heights. As executive director of SA, a nonprofit serving Asian South Asian community in Twin Cities and beyond. I appreciate your recognition of our heritage and contributions. As a governor council member on equity and inclusion appointed by governor and Tim Wal and leftnant governor Peggy Blangam, I am proud to see the growing presence of AsianAmerican, native native Americans and Pacific Islanders in Minnesota with over 320,000 individuals from 40 national nationalities calling the state home. Euro proclamation highlights the importance of celebrating our culture, histories and the stories ensuring opportunities for future generation. Thank you so much for your proclanation. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] And Arvin, would you like to say anything? All right. All right. Well, thank you so much for coming into the meeting tonight and on behalf of the council, we're so glad to have you here representing the community and we're glad to have you. Thank you. And I can email you the photo later so you can have a copy. Next, we have a proclamation for the Four Rivers, Six Ranges, a tribute to Tibetan Defiance and Dignity Day. of Four Rivers, Six Ranges Day, which will be May 3rd, 2025. The feature film Four Rivers, Six Ranges documents a historic Chisu Ganguk resistance group, which was formed in 1958 by ordinary Tibetans united in their devotion to their homeland and their Buddhist faith. Against overwhelming military occupation, they courageously secured the safe passage of his holiness the Daly Lama into exile in 1959. In 2025, we honor the 90th birthday of his holiness the Daly Lama, a global symbol of peace and compassion, who has spent 66 years in exile while steadfastly advocating for the rights, dignity, and cultural survival of the Tibetan people through nonviolent resistance. Inside occupi occupied Tibet, the spirit of peaceful resistance continues. Despite decades of repression, religious persecution, and cultural erasure, Tibetans have preserved their language, spiritual traditions, and identity with unwavering strength. Created by Tibetans in exile, four rivers, six ranges, tells a story of survival, dignity, and resistance that transcends borders and calls upon all of us to stand up for human rights and justice. Columbia Heights has been chosen by the film's director, Shenpen Kashmir, to host the historic world premiere of Four Rivers, Six Ranges at the Heights Theater on May 3rd, 2025 at 12:30 p.m. This momentous event is both a significant cultural milestone and a powerful act of witness and solidarity. More than 6,000 Tibetan refugees call Minnesota home, including many in Columbia Heights. They enrich our city with their heritage, resilience, and enduring commitment to preserving a culture under threat. Therefore, I, Amada Marcus Simila, mayor of Columbia Heights, proclaim May 3rd, 2025 as Four Rivers, Six Ranges Day, a tribute to Tibetan Defiance and dignity in recognition of the Tibetan people's ongoing struggle for freedom, justice, and cultural preservation preservation. Let this day serve as a reminder of our shared responsibility to stand with those who resist injustice with courage, compassion, and [Applause] hope. And I will be attending the um movie premiere on Saturday and we'll uh read the proclamation at the Heights Theater as well as um hand it to the director so that we'll continue our our proclamation. Next we have our proclamation um for International Firefighters Day and Council Member James will read this one. Thank you, Mayor. International Firefighters Day, May 4th, 2025. On May 4th, we join communities worldwide in recognizing International Firefighters Day. A day to honor the bravery, dedication, and sacrifices of firefighters everywhere. This date also marks St. Florian's Day in tribute to the patron sate of firefighters. St. Florian, a commander of the Roman army, was responsible for leading firefighting brigades. He organized and trained an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires. Firefighters are our first responders, community protectors, and lifesavers. Here in Columbia Heights, we are deeply grateful to our own fire department for its unwaving commitment to the safety and well-being of our neighbors. Their readiness, professionalism, and passion for their community are essential to the strength and resilience of our city. Whether a career firefighter, paid on call, or volunteer, the passion for servitude knows no bounds. Our Columbia Heights Fire Department has also built international bridges of camaraderie and learning through our sister city relationship with Lommy Poland. Our firefighters have strengthened international goodwill and professional development with their counterparts from across the sea by exchanging knowledge on similarities and differences in firefighter training and operations. Closer to home, our firefighters regularly collaborate with neighboring cities, offering mutual aid and support whenever called upon. International firefighters day is also a solemn time to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. We honor the memory of all firefighters who gave their lives in acts of service. Their legacy endures in every act of courage that firefighters perform around the world. On this day, we reflect on the significance of fire prevention, safety education, and the vital role firefighters play in both emergency response and everyday community building. Now therefore, I, Amada Marcus Simila, Mayor of Columbia Heights, do hereby proclaim May 4th, 2025 as International Firefighters Day in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and encourage everyone to remember all fire and emergency personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their community and to pay respect to the survivors of our fallen heroes. toll a bell, pause for a moment of silence, or read a special passage to honor the sacrifices of these public servants and their families. I encourage our community members to honor fire and emergency services personnel, past and present, who through their faithful and loyal devotion to duty, have rendered invaluable service to our city and its people. In Columbia Heights, we celebrate, honor, and stand in gratitude with firefighters here and around the world. And to receive tonight's uh proclamation, we have Captain Emily Cosman and Columbia Heights firefighter Brian Shaktel. There we go. I know. I thought everybody was going up. All right. Uh, good evening, Madame Mayor, council members, and esteemed guests. On behalf of the entire fire department, I am honored to accept this proclamation recognizing International Firefighters Day. We are proud to serve this city, and we are grateful for the ongoing support from our leadership, our residents, and our fellow first responders. Thank you, Madame Mayor, for this meaningful acknowledgement. This week through May 4th, we invite the community to take part in the light the night. Illuminate your home or building in red lights to honor fallen firefighters. We are also currently accepting applications for those that wish to serve their community. Please visit the city website for more information. Thank you. Thank you again. [Applause] And I wanted to mention too how in the proclamation we um talked about our uh sister city Wiiaki Poland and how we've done an exchange between firefighters and police as well um from Poland to the Columbia Heights. And so we were just discussing sending them a copy of the proclamation. We think they would really like to see that. And um and then some photos that the uh department will take later this week. So just letting the community know we want to share that with them. I think they're going to be really happy. Um we also in the future have a firefighter from Wiiaki who's planning to come to the United States. So we're kind of getting those details taken care of, but we will have more international um commodery in the future. Thank you so much. Next we have our community forum. The community forum is an opportunity to address the city council about items not scheduled for a public hearing. All speakers must provide their name and connection to Columbia Heights. Inerson speakers should complete a form for the city clerk and introduce themselves at the podium. Virtual speakers should send their information to the moderator via chat and turn on their camera when called. Comments are limited to five minutes. Disrespectful language is not allowed. The council may ask questions or refi refer items for follow-up, but typically does not take action during the forum. And I'll ask our city clerk if we have anyone who would like to speak. Yes, to Herzalo would like to address the council. Thank you. Welcome Taher. Commissioner Herzala. Thank you so much. I begin in the name of Allah. compassionate, the merciful. Thank you, mayor. Um, respected council members, uh, city staff, and and of course our our city volunteers. I want to take the opportunity here tonight to thank you for your support, uh, and and words of affirmation, uh, your unwavering, uh, spirit of commitment to justice. You've reminded all of us what principled leadership looks like. Your statement today proves that America has the potential to keep true to the promise of the words that this country was founded on, even if it falls short, that all men are created equal and that there should be liberty and justice for all. Your leadership in responding swiftly to the incident that took place last week makes Columbia Heights and its leadership a shining city on the hill in a climate of fear and intimidation. The vitriolic personal attack bursting with anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic epithets that I experienced last week at the parks meeting is but one in a long string of attacks on myself and those like me who find it reprehensible that the world watches and indifference as the most advanced military technology of the 21st century is used to slaughter a besieged and starved defenseless civilian population in Gaza. I want to share with you today the picture of my relative Muhammad Alubi. He was a young man in his early teens but with the mental development of a child. Muhammad or Hammud as our family called him was special needs but with a huge heart and beautiful smile. One day last December, as his mother and siblings were busy trying to figure out how to survive in this genocide, Muhammad wandered off into the neighborhood. A few hours went by and his family began to panic. Being outside for a few hours was extremely dangerous for anyone in Gaza, let alone someone like Muhammad. His mother and siblings began to frantically search the neighborhood to find him. They were worried that Muhammad would find himself completely lost in the middle of the night, hungry and cold, forced to sleep in the middle of the street or even worse, knowing that the Israeli army was positioned on the other side of the neighborhood, that he may have been abducted and taken to a torture camp as had been as had happened to so many others in the neighborhood. The sun had set and they were still not able to locate him. They put the word out to neighbors and friends to help find him. But the problem was that most of the people in the neighborhood that knew Muhammad had either been killed or had fled for their lives. As that area had been heavily bombarded in the months prior. Nonetheless, people continued to search for Muhammad. A grueling and painful week went by and they still did not know where he was. But finally they got word. It turns out Muhammad had wandered too far into an area where the Israeli military had a shoot on site policy. His body was found about 100 meters away from his front doorstep in the Sawawi area of Gaza city. Muhammad was shot multiple times by an Israeli quadcopter. It's a drone that looks like a photographers's drone, but it's equipped with it's weaponized. Four individuals that witnessed his murder tried to assist him when he was shot, but the quadcopter dropped an explosive ordinance on them and killed them all instantly. Neighbors could see the body on the ground, but could not reach it. Israeli snipers and militarized quadcopters had shot multiple people on that street. It was not until the ceasefire went into effect on January 19th, more than a month later, that our family was able to retrieve his body and give him a proper burial. By then, his body had nearly completely decomposed. And I'll leave it to your imagination as to what the stray dogs had done to him. He was only identifiable by the clothing he was wearing. and he was wearing his favorite red sweater that you see in the picture in front of you. There is nothing in this world, no racist verbal attack, no call out from random mayors, no threat of deportation or imprisonment, not even death threats that will ever stop me or people in my community from speaking out against this genocide and what the state of Israel is doing. Our families may not survive this genocide, but we will never ever stop talking about it. We will never forgive those who perpetrated these heinous crimes. And if that subjects us to more attacks, then so be it. If this incident was meant to act as a deterrent from people like me to participate in the civic process or force me and my community into retreat, then let me be clear that this incident only fuels our passion to continue advocating for the freedom and justice of the Palestinian people. Again, I thank you, council, mayor, city staff. You all have been phenomenal in your response, swift in your action to address the issue, and I thank you for constantly being a source of hope and and compassion for our community members, no matter where they are from and what community they belong to. Thank you so much. [Applause] Thank you, Commissioner Herzala. I'm so sorry for your loss and I know there's been so many more family members that you've lost. And I appreciate you sharing this because hearing this over and over again make sure that we're not forgetting and that as you said, we're not going to be silenced about this and the truth. and I appreciate you um taking the energy and time and heart to share here. Um is there anyone else who would like to speak tonight? Yes. Mark Veronicus would like to address the council. Good morning. I I woke up a little earlier, had breakfast, I have a Coke, so I'm much more sane today. Um, I just thought I'd stop in uh real quick to give you guys a latest update on my my amazing neighborhood and and and how we're trying to get our sanity back. Um, in the last couple weeks, how many cars have been towed and how many cars have been ticketed on on our streets over here? I have a pretty good idea. So, you don't even have to answer that. But, we have a even newer development that I don't know if you guys know about. There was a shooting out in front of my house yesterday. Two cars came up up the road, just random cars came out. People got out of their cars, started fighting with each other. Then somebody pulled out a gun. Three shots fired. One went through some guy's hand. I heard he went to North Memorial. Please give us our neighborhood back. Give us our permit parking for our neighborhood. Give us our sanity. We are We are so sick of this stuff and it's just getting worse and worse and worse. Please give us our neighborhood. That's all I have to say. No rambling speech this time. I'm going to go home, walk my dog, and go to work. Have a good one. All right. Thank you, Mark. Ed Higgins would like to address the council. He'll be in in a moment. Welcome, Ed. Hello, mayor, members of the council. I I would like to just put it on record that information came out today that the Biden administration was doing nothing in the last two years to get a ceasefire by the Israelis and by the administration. in their own admission that they were doing nothing to do to get a ceasefire at all. Just the bare minimum, a ceasefire. I don't care what political party you belong to. I don't even care about politics anymore. I don't care about pomp and circumstance. This is all These people are dying. Millions of people are dying on our watch by our weapons. And we are doing nothing. Ed, we're not going to have any profanity. We are at a point in our fascist regime where we need to go beyond politics, beyond beyond swears. I know, but we have to make sure I'm talking to the council at this point. I I I agree, but I don't agree. We are beyond everything. We need to do what we can to save human life and to stop this fascism. and it goes way beyond nicities at this point. Thank you. Thank you, Ed. So, there's no one else in chambers who'd like to address the council and there are people participating online, but no one has requested to speak to the council. All right. Thank you. Anything from the council, though? All right. Okay, I'll ask one more time. It is community forum if anyone else would like to speak. It sounds like not. Thank you very much for um sharing your um views and thoughts. We are here to listen and um yeah, we are here to listen. We are here to do as best we can. Um, and I will just say that in light of uh Commissioner Herzala being treated to with such uh disdain and um racism that we are being united in our attempt to um make sure that respect is happening at our meetings for our commissioner's sake. And in that it is the same thing about profanity. So um I'm also enraged and I know that we have to make sure we follow through with a meeting where we can be respectful. So um it's not to to pull anyone's comment away, but I feel like we have to make sure that we're united in that to make sure we can keep moving forward. Um I just want to share that further. Council member James would like to say something. Thank you, mayor. Um, I want to say I know the mayor had shared our statement. I really appreciate all the work that's gone into it. One of the things that we have to over we can't overlook is that the people who are serving are all volunteers on these commissions and they are taking time out of their lives which are filled with immense personal joys and tragedies and they're taking time to come and lead especially Commissioner Hzala and his family and other leaders on our commissions. I have heard over and over since I moved in the city, we need to get more diverse boards and commissions. And here we have people who are stepping up, who are leading, who are taking time to work on the minutia of parks budgets and work on library board planning and other all of our commissions. And um I'm so grateful for those who are taking the time to do that. So, thank you. And thank you to all who are on commissions. And I think that our community knows that these are volunteer leaders who are giving their lives to make a difference even many years after they may leave this city. And I'm so grateful. I know all of us are grateful for people. And we hope that this doesn't discourage others from standing up and leading in our city. Thanks. Yeah. Yes. And I will also just say those volunteers, this is their only time that they're doing this for the city. They're not they're not on multiple commissions or boards. They're on one. maybe they're on a couple at different times of their lives, but um we want to provide the best uh support for all of those people that we can and um and we're going to do that. So, I just echo the many thanks we have for all the families sitting here today and commission members and board members who aren't here tonight. Um we do support you and we want to be here for you as council and city staff as well. Thank you. All right, then we will continue on with our meeting. Um, this is our consent agenda and these items were considered to be routine by the city council and will be enacted as part of the consent agenda by one motion. Um, items removed from consent agenda, approval will be taken up as the next order of business and our city uh manager will take us through these items. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. There's nine items this evening on the consent agenda. The first is approval of the April 14th, 2025 city council meeting minutes. Item two is acceptance of the February 24th, 2025 special EDA meeting minutes. Item three is second reading of ordinance number 1712, which is an ordinance to amend chapter 3 of the administrative code for the city. Uh the council may recall just bringing alignment through the various code sections um so that uh administrative fines that have been recently um adopted by the city can uh can work effectively. Item four is uh resolution 2025-40 which is amending the city's water meter fees. The council might recall that recently they authorized a change order to the city's water meter replacement program to bring in all of the commercial meters that uh weren't originally part of that project. Um, in a follow-up action to that, uh, change order, uh, the city needs to amend its, uh, water fees so that the fee to pay for those new meters can be built into the city's um, water utility billing system rather than charging individually, which was the previous policy. So, uh, kind of the second leg of that, uh, that change order. Item five is the annual declaration that the city of Columbia Heights does not wave the monetary limits on municipal tort liability under Minnesota state statutes. So, the city receives its um liability insurance from the League of Minnesota Cities. Um in state statute, there are liability limits that are specified that aren't congruent with the amount of coverage that the city has through the league. So, we need to wave that lower statutory limit um to uh to be in compliance with the league more or less and it also results in lower insurance premiums for the city. Item six uh um is to do with the city's fitness court in studio installation at Svin Lake Park. So, as part of the fitness court installation, um Blue Cross Blue Shield works with a group of qualified installers across the nation um that are predetermined at a predetermined price. Um they've put forward nationwide fixture installations. This is authorizing um that contract in the amount of $36,000 to install the court. Item seven is permits related to the city's 2025 jamboree. This deals with uh closure of the streets for the carnival, closure of the parade route and the parade permit, and then also waves fees for the city's fireworks uh display, the permit fee for that. Item eight is rentalable rental occupancy licenses for approval. And item nine is review of the bills, which for this period totals [Music] 1,72,750.74. And I'd just um like to thank the city's finance department for uh changing formatting on the bills to um separate out the the liquor expenditures which can be quite lengthy and I hope this meets um the objective of the council. And with that, I would take any questions. Thank you. Any questions from the council? Councilor James. Well, comment. Thank you. Yes, I have been excited when I got the packet to see that I could read through all of the expenses in a little bit of an easier format. I know that our finance department and does a fantastic job and they always have top marks on their audits every year, but this makes it a lot easier for us to do our due diligence and to see all of the things that are happening in our city as evidenced by these receipts. So, thank you. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay. Then if I may have a motion then to approve the consent agenda as presented. So moved. Second. I have a motion by council member James and a second by council member Denine. Any discussion hearing? Seeing none, then all in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. Thank you. Um we have no public hearings this evening which takes us to our bid considerations. Item number 10, adopt resolution 2025-39 being a resolution accepting bids and awarding a contract for the 2025 concrete alley construction city project 25506. And our city engineer, Kevin Hansen, will take us through this. Thank you, mayor, members of the council. I'm very pleased to present and review with you the results of our public bidding process for the second year of our concrete alley program. Um, as you may know, uh, the council authorized an alley program in 2024 and 2025. It was intended that we would, uh, convert or reconstruct, I should say, um, 10 to 12 alleys during this time period from buminous, which are in really poor shape, over to concrete, which is a standard for these alleys. Uh for 2025 uh six alleys were publicly bid and the results from those um range from a low of 1,72,000 to a high of 1,555,000. So we got a very good range of bids on these. Um there was a lot of public interest. We had 17 plan holders on these. So getting five bids on these is excellent. on the low bidder. This is a new contractor for the city of Columbia Heights, but it is very similar to what we went through last year having a new contractor in town uh for concrete alleys. They actually bid this and they were the second low bidder. So, we are recommending after we've reviewed um both their company reviewed their bid. We're still in process of reviewing their references. We are recommending contract award to um equity builders in the amount of $1,72,5001. I would note that with this low bid for the alleys, they are about 15% under the engineers estimate, the city of Columbia Heights will pass that on to um that would lower uh folks assessments in the fall based on final construction costs. So, it depends on the outcome of the construction process um where that ends up, but if we do end up lower, whatever that amount is, that gets passed on to the assessments for uh anybody involved with these six alleys. So, mayor, that's our recommendation to go ahead and uh the timing of this, we have not held any type of meetings with this contractor, but we would look at trying to get going here maybe towards the end of May. All right, great. Thank you. I have one other thing. Sorry about that, M. Um, so this does include um you had just approved on the um consent agenda for the uh fitness court up at Sullivan Lake. So, this includes the concrete pad for that. Um so that was in the bidding and it also includes as we do with every one of our whether it's street zone work or this type of um alley work we do offer to residents here if they want to have driveways redone if they want to have sidewalks redone. So that is part of this program too that that was publicly bid that would be a private contract with them and the contractor. The next step after the contract award is that um we would organize once we have the contractor schedule, we'd organize aformational meeting and invite everyone to come in and we can go through what the schedule's going to look like, any questions they might have, any type of interruptions that would be critical to them like grad parties this time of year. So, we'll meet with them here probably more towards the end of May also. Mayor. All right, great. Thank you. Any comments or questions? Um I would I would um just like to say um thank you for sharing that not only is this under uh the bid that we had thought it would be, but that that will be 15% less we think and that it'll be passed on to those property owners. Um I've also heard um some people have asked and I know we've already chatted about this, but some people have asked when will their alley be done. um if you could just share how these were like the worst alleys in our engineer in our engineers opinions and then when would the next time our city would be doing alleys. So mayor members of the council I think one of the things that the engineering department plans on doing over the course of the summer is updating our CIP our capital improvement plan. Alleys were not originally um programmed in our street rehab program. We pick those up later um and we started programming for those. The unfortunate thing is that we do cost share in these. So we have to figure out um as far as the city's cost share goes, how that's going to be paid for over the course of uh whenever um an alley program would be picked up. Again, typically alleys are done in an off year of our street zone work, which would put them on an every four or five year repeating cycle. And that's how um this program came up is that we're on an off year taking some time off from our street rehab work. Our street rehab work, it's critical that we get going on that next year just due to the condition of our uh primary streets uh throughout town. But we would anticipate probably in that four to six year horizon is when the city may want to consider doing an alley program again. All right. Thank you so much for sharing that. Any comments from the council? All right. Well then, thank you. Um, if we have no other comments, then may I have a motion then to wave the reading from a council member? Move to wave the reading of resolution 2025-39. There being ample copies available to the public. Second. I have a motion by council member Spriggs and a second by council member James to wave the reading. Any discussion? Hearing none, then all in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes to wave the reading. And next, may I have a motion then to adopt? Move to adopt resolution 2025-39 being a resolution accepting bids and awarding the 2025 concrete alley construction and Selvin Lake fitness court concrete slab city project 256 to Equity Builders of Rosemount Minnesota based upon their low qualified responsible bid in the amount of 1,72,000 $1,72,5001 with $975,000 from fund 415.6400 6400 and $87,351 from fund 412.6400 and furthermore to authorize the mayor and city manager to enter into a contract for the same. Second. I have a motion by council member Spriggs to adopt and a second by council member James. Any discussion hearing and seeing none, then all in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. Thank you. Um, I would just like to make a comment that I'm hoping um that the that the the Sullivan Park can happen as soon as possible. I know people are really excited about working and having the new um fitness court and everything else. So, this is really exciting to get these bids in and and move forward with this project. All right. Well, we have no new business or reports, so it takes us to our city council reports. Uh, Council Member James. Absolutely. Hey, thank you, mayor. Um, last week all of us participated together in the city strategic planning process, part one of two, and that was a really wonderful time to get our our top goals together and our ideas. On the 23rd, I stopped by the expungement clinic, which was put on by the Minnesota Attorney General's office, and it was hosted at the library. I got there nearly to the end, and they had seen over 200 people, about 220 people. And the attorney that I spoke with said if you missed the clinic or if you have a um an offense in state court that you'd like to be have looked at for clearing that you can contact the attorney's general's office anytime and that they will look at it then. So if you missed it um I was also able to attend the fire protection council as liaison. It's all the fire chiefs in an noa county gathering and it's usually the mayors. This was my first time attending. It was such a wonderful experience to see all of the collaboration and coordination that happens between all of the different fire departments. One thing that I found interesting was um the fire protection council of Anoka County voted to become um almost like a sister city to the state of Durango in Mexico with their fire protection services. So they'll be doing potential exchanges of firefighters and maybe equipment and definitely learning best practices from the state of Durango. And so I was grateful to uh Chief O'Brien for that. We had our Central Avenue cleanup and the mayor was one of the leaders at that. On Saturday, we met at the library. We had about 35 people total. We ended up working on three different parks and did a lot of cleaning and got the city cleaned from the south side all the way up to 47th. Um the main trash we found this year were cigarette butts and of course other types of trash and on there. So, we we're thankful for all of our sustainability commission members who showed up and were leaders there and helped with that event. Also, I stopped by the city's shredding event that day. Thank you to Jesse Davies and to our refuge department for hosting a shredding truck for paper shredding in our city. Um, I helped lead an adopt a park cleanup at Ostrander Park on Sunday. And then today, Council Member Spriggs and I and Connie stopped by for a little bit too. We're at the Habitat for Humanity build with our economic development authority uh home that we had purchased and had teared down and now Habitat for Humanity is rehabbing it to be sustainable long-term affordable housing. And that house is going to be wonderful four bedroomedroom, beautiful. It's going to have a heat pump, solar panels. It's just going to be a fantastic home in our city. And that is all for me. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member James. Council member Biscins. Hi everyone. Um, we have begun, I'm still continuing starting this year volunteering at Lomiaki at the Blooming Sunshine Garden. We are making plans for our uh, seventh year and uh, very excited to get that started. Um, I attended the high school inaugural volleyball game. Thanks to the police department for partnering with the schools to make this happen. It was very exciting and the room was full. It was fun to watch. Um, I also attended the fire department pinning ceremony for Alex Kather John and as well with all the council members attended the strate strategic planning with council and department heads and look forward to their next meeting. I think it's next week. Um, and I uh attended while I'm leazison for park and recck commission and updates and timelines for the fitness court in Sullivan were discussed and we are also very excitingly starting plans for a permanent soccer field in Columbia Heights. Um, they're planning this year and they're going to be building it next year. So, that'll be very exciting for our community. Um, and even though I physically can't do it, but I my spirit was there with the cleanup on Central Avenue. I do drive around when I'm driving around town, I do stop my car when I only have to walk a certain number of feet and pick up garbage here and there in large bags of plastic and all that stuff. So, but I appreciate everyone going out there and taking their time on Saturday to help make our city look beautiful and clean. Um, and thanks to everyone who showed up on Saturday and I visited. Um, I wasn't again able to do the work on the Habitat for Humanity, but I sent my husband in mystead and uh along with Rachel and Justice and other volunteers. That was very exciting to see um the house being built. And my father was a contractor building homes when I was a kid. And I love the smell of new homes. It just there's nothing like it. And it was also very exciting to speak to Rose who was the the supervisors, the contractor basically building the house. And it was because in the day when my dad was building, it's all men. So, it was super exciting to see a woman in charge and she has in June they have uh basically all women working on that house. They have different teams that come in and then they also have high school kids and I also made a connection with Zena to see if our high school kids would like to take a couple hours and work on that house before it's finished. So, very exciting to see a brand new house being built and everyone contributing to its uh to its structure and everything is quite cool. So, that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Um, Council Member Dane, thank you. Um, unfortunately I was on vacation a lot of this week and I got had to miss Arbor Day and the street cleanup. I love getting out there and helping with that. But thank you to everybody who took time out of their lives to come out and pick up trash in our city. Like I don't think we realize how much builds up over a winter and uh you can really tell the difference after that cleanup. So thank you so much to everyone who did that. Um, I attended the boys volleyball inaugural season celebration at Columbia Heights High School. It was a really wonderful celebration. It was great to see the community come out and support the team and the kids were so excited. It was like a great a great opportunity to go there. And I personally haven't been to the high school much. So, it was really fun to kind of see the building and and the um the team. um also attended our strategic planning meeting number one on this 22nd to kind of prioritize what we're going to be bringing forward and what we'd like to see as a city and what we've heard from you. So if you have things that we want to you want to make sure we're talking about please reach out to us. Um but that's it for me this week. Great. We're glad you're back and had a nice vacation. Council member Spriggs. Thank you. Um yeah, a little bit of overlap starting with today working on the Habitat for Humanity House with Council Member James. Um and city staff. It was a really good experience. It was very muddy and very wet at times, but we persevered. Um I thought it was really interesting as council member Biscans had talked about talking with Rose, the project manager of the site, just about, you know, how the Habitat for Humanity like housing partnership works of preserving affordable housing in our community. And it's it's really nice to have them working here. Um and also hear about other projects they have going on in the state as well. Um, excuse me. I was able to attend the Arbor Day tree planting ceremony with fifth graders from Immaculate Conception with the mayor, which she did a great job of setting up and um, providing us some entertainment as well, which I know she'll talk about here in just a minute. Um, also attended our strategic pan planning with the rest of the council. And then I also had a meeting with the government relations director at Medtronic as well. Just come up part possible partnership opportunities we could have uh, with them as the city. And then um we all attended our local board of appeals and equalization meeting before this. Thank you. And thank you for adding the uh board of appeals that we all just attended an hour or two ago. Um yes. So of course some overlap. Um I'll just start with uh this weekend was the Earth Day cleanup. Um I will say Connie Bisgens, Council Member Bisgens ordered donuts from the Heights Bakery. So, uh, you weren't there physically, but you made sure we were taken care of with a little sweet tooth. Um, and Council James is the one who organized it. So, thank you for doing that. Um, thanks to all the volunteers and thanks to the library for, um, letting us use the parking lot to meet in. Um, the library used to open at 11:00 a.m. and now they open at 10:00. So, we actually had a good crossover with people coming into the library, grabbing a donut, and just learning more about the street cleanup. Um, and then also to uh public works. They had gone out and had done street sweeping and picking up trash before we even did it and there was still more trash. So, I'm glad that we have public works doing their part. Um, and then uh Council James and I went over to the paper shredding and it was um very busy, they said. And there's a there is like a camera inside it so you can actually watch your own stuff be shredded. So you don't have to have any concerns that the papers just disappeared into a box and someone else might look at them. You get to make sure right then and there that they actually did get shredded. Um so many thanks to coordinating that with the city. Um yes, we had the Arbor Day festival with um probably one of our most famous staff members, Liam Gentry, uh our city forester who answered so many questions from the fifth graders from Immaculate Conception School. Um, and all the kids got to water the tree. Um, I led a song of the green grass grows all around by Woody Guthrie and everyone sang along. It was a lot of fun. But, um, I know that not everyone can be, all of our council members can be at every single thing we do, but we're there in spirit and we all make sure we know who's going to be attending these things. But many thanks to um, our communication team at the city staff for putting that together. um and public works for bringing in all these benches for the kids to sit at and coordinating with the school. Um once again, a really successful Arbor Day celebration. Um I wasn't able to extend or attend the expungement clinic, but helped to coordinate that date and I'm so glad it was so successful with 200 people um receiving services there and so glad our library was able to do that. Columbia Heights was a great location um for people uh to attend there. um and our attorney general was here, our county commissioner as well. So, we're glad to have so much support. Um attended the Operation Pollination International virtual meeting through Rotary um talking about all the ways that um pollinators are being affected in climate change and what we're doing about it. Attended our strategic planning and goal setting with the rest of staff and our council. Um did some Monarchfest planning with um Will Roder at the city. met with the police chief, city manager, attended the um inaugural volleyball, boys volleyball game, which I saw got a lot of coverage in the newspaper this week, three pages of photos and coverage. Um, Church of All Nations High School class came and took a tour of City Hall last week and um talked with me about what local government's like and and how to be a part of um our city as as a as youth. So, we talked about um different boards and commissions that they can attend and give their input. Um but yes, thanks to a really great week with our city staff. And before I finish, I just want to read a small um sort of remembrance um for the passing of Pope Francis. Um just that we join people around the world in mourning the passing of Pope Francis. his leadership, compassion, and dedication to peace and social justice touched millions of lives. May his legacy of humility, service, and hope continue to inspire us all. And um that will just end my report, but I will hand off to the city manager. Madame Mayor, members of the council, just one update. Uh citywide garage sale is about upon us. So, the 2025 citywide garage sale is scheduled for June 6th through the 8th. Uh, registration for this event will take place May 1st through the 31st. New this year, Merson Hall will be open on Sunday, June 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for those unable to host a garage sale at their location. Space is limited for that portion of the event. There is no cost to register for the citywide garage sale. Residents can register by visiting the city's website starting on May 1st. Mayor, that's a cool addition to that. This is the first year we're doing that. Is that right? Yeah, that's really cool. Um, anything else from the council? All right, then I have a motion then to um adjourn our meeting. So moved. Second. I have a motion by council member Denine and a second by council member Bisgens to adjourn the meeting. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And the motion passes. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for attending and good night.