Okay. At this time, I'll call the uh August 10th, 2026 uh city council work meeting to order. [clears throat] Need somebody to make a motion adopt agenda. >> Make a motion to adopt. >> Second. >> Motion. Second. All in favor? >> I >> I >> I. >> Item three, oppose budget. >> Mr. Mayor and Council, we are bringing the budget discussion back this evening. Um, we had brought it prior and there was a desire to bring it back uh to be able to review it a little bit more in depth and uh and to then bring questions back if there were any. And uh and so we're here this evening to answer some of those questions. one of our department heads is going to be running just a little bit late. So, um but anyways, uh just to by way of background, we received inputs from the city council department heads union contract put a budget uh model and book together and that was what was presented to you um the other council evening. Nothing has changed in that uh since that time. But again, just by way of uh kind of a reminder, the um the [clears throat] union contract has a 3% COLA increase for nine union and 13 non-UN members, 40 paid on call firefighters per the union contract. There is an increase of two $1,510 per month for the cafeteria contribution for the healthcare benefit and overall salary and benefits uh increased by $21,000 over 2026. Um the law enforcement contract uh is a 3.9% increase or $62,000 from the prior contract. Uh city assessor is a 1% or a $500 change. city attorney is a 0% change. Metro Inet uh which is the joint powers agreement that we have uh for it work is a $6,000 increase and the audit contract is a $2,000 increase. Those kind of just identify some of the um um cost drivers. the equipment replacement fund. We um have increased that by $40,000 to account for um some of the deficiencies that were in that fund, particularly as it related to the fire department. Not a fault of the fire department, but just some of the cost increases we're seeing. We've had to account for that. Uh street capital fund we increase by $50,000 every year. The cost of uh asphalt keeps keeps going up. Um and uh so we try and offset that with an increase of 50,000 and the park capital fund increases by 10,000 annually as well. You'll see the note in there again. We spoke about this last time. Uh there's a state fire aid contribution of $114,000 and this is an offset with the same revenue amount uh that uh comes through for that. So this is budget neutral, doesn't impact um the proposed levy, which is 5.8% 8% this year. Um I know that um I sat in on some meetings and 5.8 uh is on the lower end of increases out there right now. Um not that we're a county, but I think I I just saw Dakota County was 19% increase. So costs are going up significantly. Um you see it when you pull up to the pump, you see it when you pay your electric bill. We see it here as well for the some of those costs. and um and so we try and try and keep it as low as possible and uh keep it as reasonable as possible for the residents. We feel that they're getting a a very good value for what they've gotten in the past and certainly going forward with this proposed budget. So, we stand for any questions if you have any. Um and hopefully we're prepared to answer those. Well, I'm just going to comment. I screded at trying to find something to cut to try to get it under 5% because I think this is the highest increase we've had in years, decades maybe. Um, and with the fire trucks that are so desperately needed and um, I noticed there was nothing in there about a maintenance fund. Am I correct or did I miss it? I was wondering if we could split the addition of the vehicle fund in half and put half of it in it and start a maintenance fund using that. >> Yeah. Um Mr. Chair and council members, we we do set aside $50,000 every year for a maintenance. You're talking building maintenance. Yeah. Um, we've identified, remember we did a cost uh analysis >> and that that's the fund I'm talking about the cost to cover some of the stuff that our future needs in that because things are deteriorating, >> right? Um, we we touched on this a little bit in the last meeting. Um, there was uh we had them go through a fine tooth comb of how old are your boilers, how is your roof, you know, when when do things need to be replaced? and they came up with a $2.5 million bill. It's significant. >> I know. >> Um so in combination with that, we had a space need study done. We have, for example, um you know, Nate shop over there. There's very little room to park vehicles and work on vehicles. It it can create a dangerous situation there. We have for the firefighters, we have um um a a decontamination requirement that we need to meet coming up. uh that uh we need to retrofit some of the fire stations to accommodate for that. Um and uh and so we're kind of looking at this whole idea as one. In other words, um the 2.5 million would be part of whatever cost would be needed for these space changes that that would be required. And um and that would be part of a a bond, if you will, to to offset that. You know, um we can set aside $100,000, but $100,000 a year is not really going to make much of a dent um in a $2.5 million, you know, backlog essentially of deferred maintenance. Um so, yes, it is a concern. We have our eye on that ball certainly. Uh we're not neglecting that at all. We're certainly not kicking a can down the road. Uh we have been replacing things as they, for example, the fire stations had a couple of HVAC units go out. We've been replacing those things with the dollars on hand. Um been managing to do that. Um if everything blew up tomorrow, we'd have a major problem. But likely that won't happen. Um, you know, there's when you're when you're dealing with heating, ventilation, air conditioning, they always give you the option of, well, we can fix it, which you might get x amount of time out of it, or you can replace it, and then they give you a price comparison for that. Um, but, uh, you know, you're talking fixtures like sinks and toilets and things. They're not going to break tomorrow necessarily. Uh, but they do have lifespan and they will need to be replaced at some point or another. Um, so yes, we're definitely we're definitely concerned about that uh that storm cloud in the future, you might say, and we're planning for that. So, the equipment um you know, you said you said about splitting it or whatever. The equipment is um few years back the fire department purchased two two engines that were a good deal back then. Very smart financial choice to do back then. Unfortunately, when those two come due for replacement, now you're dealing with today's prices on two of them. So, we've we've staggered that now so that it's not a two unit replacement at the same time. It's one and then one in the future and and kind of getting it on that schedule. And that's really what those dollars are for is um is preparing for those future expenses um in the capital improvement budget >> or the plan the plan which produces the budget for the future. >> And when is the um [clears throat] final vote on this budget? >> September 14th is the preliminary vote we would take and then >> and we have one more meeting for it. So if I come up with something, I can bring that to the attention at the next meeting. >> You can always do that. Yep. >> Okay. [clears throat] >> You can go lower, you can't go higher after after that vote. Yeah. >> My question is [clears throat] with the sheriff's budget, has anybody really looked into this on how we could save money with the sheriff? If any negotiations with them at all? This discussion comes up every year in terms of where they're at and what they're proposing. I I know they're not proposing any increase in hours or anything like that, >> right? >> Um the you know I I think you that discussion needs to be evaluated with the calls, >> the number of calls we're getting, which we seem to be getting an uptick in in some calls. Thankfully, some of the serious ones are are trending down, but um some of the other ones, your your thefts or your, you know, assaults or things like that seem to be trending up and that generates a call and u time and and you know, and then the nexus plays in there as well, which generate has generated a lot of calls in the past. Thankfully with a reduced uh um >> amount of people >> amount of people your calls have been reduced dramatically which which is good >> because that had a a budget impact to us >> right because I got a print out that I want you to look at and you go over it another time but uh I'll sit down with you and go over this with ideas. You don't have to look at it now. We can do it after. Okay. >> But uh I mean just for an example I don't know if everybody remembers at when Derek did his report on the budget the last meeting that I didn't catch it right away. Tim Miller actually caught it and we talked about it. But Derek stated that East Bethl buys a new squad car every year. So my thought, well, it wasn't my thought, it was Tim's thought. He said that, okay, at the end of the year, why don't we own that car then? Why don't we if we're buying it, it should come back to us and we can sell that car to somebody else. So, this has been going on for who knows how many years. But it's stuff like that. If you look into it, we can probably change things. So, that's just one example. So, it's just a thought. It's like if we're buying a squad car every year, then we should probably get one back at the end of the year and then we can sell it for whatever somewhere to recoup the money so the have to pay all this stuff, but there's different ways to look at the budget, that part of it, too. You know, there's different things to look at. Just something to go by negotiations on it. So, once you get a chance to read that, get a hold of me, we can talk. >> I would I would assume on on that on a vehicle like that, part of it depreciation and then they're getting the cars cheaper, too. >> Sure. But the point is we're buying it. >> Yeah. No, we back at the end of the year. We could sell it for what we can sell it for. Yeah, my my guess, and it's just a guess at this point, is that they say that a car cost X number of dollars. It probably actually costs more than that, but they're factoring in the amount of money that they would get an auction for that vehicle. >> I don't know. Police cars. >> Yeah, police cars are kind of hot. You know, people like them. They generally have bigger motors or >> they're fast [laughter] and they're wellmaintained >> and they're super wellmaintained. Um, exactly. >> So they they pull a premium, but it's a val valuable question because without >> hearing directly from them, no, we factor that in. It's only a guess. >> Exactly. That's why I just figured we might as well check it and see. >> Mike, I got a question on the fire budget here. Um, why is it we're not showing the 2% money from last year? There's no nothing budgeted in there. Why was that blank? And this year we're back to it. [clears throat] >> Yeah, for some reason we don't have that even listed in 26. >> I'm just going to bring this up so I can find what you're referencing here. >> It' be uh 128. Yep. >> Yep. >> So right there. So, this is where the transition actually hit somewhere in there. And my assumption was because it doesn't actually hit the city's bank account that we wouldn't have to account for it. So, I took it out of your budget. So, that was that whole note then saying at audit time, I actually have to book this in as an expense out and the revenue in. >> Right. I agree with that. I was just curious. I didn't see it on the budget sheet. >> Yeah. So, it wasn't on there. So, it must not have been brought to my attention, I guess, at that time when the budget went in. So, but when the 2026 is done, when this is actually in there, you'll see a number in there right there. >> So, for 26, I must I took it out because again, it never actually does hit the city's books. So, >> no, I know that just for documentation. >> Yeah. But yeah, when there's when the actuals come in, it'll show right here. So, >> okay. >> Yep. And that'll obviously be a variance to the budget, but there'll also be a variance to the budget on top with the revenue. The revenue comes in. >> That's why it shows >> Yeah. So, the revenue doesn't have anything. >> Fire department at 15.5%. >> Yeah. Exactly. So, if you take [laughter] if you take that out, if you take out the fire aid, you're back down to 5%. Jeeoff and I that was one we talked about because it looks a little concerning, right? when you have a 15% increase, but it's because we're adding in kind of a non it's kind of an accounting entry at the end of the year. >> No, you know, so the fire department budget's actually 5% if you would just kind of take that part out. But yeah, so in 26 we didn't budget for it um on the revenue side or the expense side, but now since we know that we have to do an accounting entry basically put that back in there, we add it back to the budget. >> Um I wanted to ask question regarding the sheriff. Um, if the sheriff department has the ability to levy, why do all the cities levy for them? >> U, Mr. Mayor and Council, I if I understand your question, I don't believe they have the right to levy. >> I believe I'm told they do by the somebody at the county, but um >> the county the county board establishes the budget for the sheriff. the sheriff can spend the his budget however he sees fit. Um and um because he's an independently elected official um he does not levy I I you might be referring to the um fire pro not fire protection council it's the um it's it's the other council that um that deals with law enforcement uh JLE JLE can levy because they've gotten Um that's a joint law enforcement council. Uh they've gotten um permission through the state of Minnesota to do that and they do levy for special projects like for example um uh they want to do radios or whatever, replace all the radios, they'll levy for that. And believe it or not, that is significant money. Um so you'll see that on a public safety line on your on your property taxes. That's for JLE. But the sheriff himself, he belongs to JLE. He's a member of JLE and pays a a due if you will. Um but he does not levy himself. >> Okay. I was just told that and so I thought, well, I'm going to bring that up. >> Yeah. If he did levy himself, it would take a lot of pressure off the county commissioners. I know that. >> Yeah. >> But yeah. I guess my other question would be on the planning and zoning part. Oh, they're at 35% increase. And I see it it's all up in pretty much line item 101. So again, a little a little background that uh community development position has been vacant for x amount of years now and we were slowly funding it um by a percentage like if the the employee was to start in March, we you know we prorrate the salary for 2027. It's in there at 100% of the salary. [snorts] So um you're going to see a big increase now in 2027 for planning and zoning, but Okay. Any other question systems? >> I guess you're good, Mike, till the next one. Um just a reminder then we will have the preliminary budget at the September 1st September meeting and then the December meeting the first December meeting you can like Matt had mentioned you can lower the levy at that point but you cannot hire it. So whatever you approve um in September will be the highest you can set it at. So, >> okay. >> So, with that, we'll we'll bring this back in September for uh for adoption of the preliminary budget, and we'll also have your um sheriff contract on there as well to get that form. Sounds good. Okay. Item four. Okay, Mr. Mayor and Council, the um um there was kind of some recent calls that folks have been getting from um [snorts] some shooting in neighborhoods and and there was a desire to put the firearm ordinances uh up on, you know, on a work session to kind of see what is legal and what isn't legal. Uh, and I have the um if I can find it. Um, here's our code of conduct. It's under here. Article four of our code identifies firearms, gives a definition meaning a gun that discharges shot or projectile by means of an explosion, gas, or compressed air. Um, and it says specifically addresses prohibited use near buildings. Uh, no person shall use, fire, or discharge a firearm in the city within 500 ft of any dwelling, house, or commercial or industrial building. person, however, may use fire or discharge a firearm within such distance of a dwelling, house or commercial industrial building which is owned by that person or if that person has written consent of the owner of the property um to to use fire or discharge that firearm. Um, so it kind of defines, you know, some of the penalties in here and, uh, but this is really the only part of our code, um, that that addresses the use of the firearm. Now, I think every good neighbor would know that there's a reasonable time to discharge a firearm and there's a not so reasonable time. And um and if you're discharging a firearm on a continual basis, I think at that point it might get into nuisance. And um and if you're discharging a firearm because you don't like your neighbor and you want to you know um create a you know a um you know what's the best way to put it? you want to you want to uh essentially um upset them or try and create a scenario that that they're uncomfortable with. I think at that point it's definitely a nuisance. Um so again, when you when we kind of I think what brought this a lot of this up is the the state changed um south of 95 used to be shotgun only. uh they allowed they allow now rifle by decision of the county and my understanding is our county uh is not taking a position on on what can be used and uh and so there's that concern on that side of you know uh how far will a rifle travel versus how far will a shotgun you know slug travel. Uh we know that shot will travel you know 40 50 yards but you know your um your uh your slugs might travel up to two to 300 yards. I mean they're they're highly effective methods of if you're shooting at deer or whatever the case is. Um you know most people are discharging a firearm be a shotgun or a rifle within 50 yards of a deer or something like that. maybe a 100 tops, but you're probably running into trees at that point. Um, so I think in this particular instance, the the individual was discharging a rifle and um was discharging it on a repeated basis and and kind of creating a use term firestorm, but a significant issue in his neighborhood. Um, we have families that I've spoken to that, um, don't really want to let their kids out during the day to play when they hear, you know, a firearm going off. Uh, we have a we have a range not too far from here, you often hear shots going off there. Uh, but I guess when it's your next door neighbor, it can be it can be a crack. It can be pretty loud. Um, so I'm we want to bring this forward not suggesting a change to um policy at this point unless you you guys are the policy makers. You get to decide. But um but if um if there's a firearm that's discharged within 500 ft of someone else's dwelling, if a firearm is discharged at somebody, um you know, at that point, it's highly recommended that the sheriff be called and that you know, police report be written and and um and some investigation done because it can get very serious obviously. So, I don't know if anyone wants to comment on it, but wanted to kind of You can see it's just a a short little section. >> Yeah, my neighbors shoot target practice all the time. They have 20ome acres. They hunt on their property. It doesn't bother me at all. Um, I'm not for restricting any gunfire because I think it would affect them and hunting hours start really early in the morning for deer hunting and um although they don't go late into the night. Um, I think we just have they'll just have to call the police. you know, maybe if you put something in a noise ordinance where it's um after between midnight and 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., you know, cuz that would help with some of the firework complaints that we get to. [laughter] [gasps] Um, but I'm not for restricting any firearms. I think that's unconstitutional all all the way. I don't know that I I'd ever restrict it, but our our ordinance is pretty big. It could use some addressing. I don't see restricting any weapons. It just it's vague and could be, you know, redone a little. One of the challenges, Mr. Mayor and Council, is the penalty, as you'll see here, is a misdemeanor. um a traffic ticket's a misdemeanor. So, it could be a petty misdemeanor, but anyways, it's um not a serious violation, you know, for doing this. And but I I think if you can if if it starts to uh become a nuisance, that's possibly a different scenario. um then it's not done for recreational purposes necessarily. It's done to literally upset your neighbor, you know, scare their kids or whatever the case is. And that's not necessarily a good thing. Yeah. Growing up here, gunfire is something you just kind of always hear at random times. If it gets in the case of nuisance, that's a different situation. But like a lot of people say, they move up here for the country and acorage and everything that comes with it. One of those can be in gunfire. If it's a nuisance, then [sighs] I don't know if we would have to deal with it if it came to that level on a case-byase basis if it was a grievous. >> Yeah. One of the challenges with nuisance is the ability to define nuisance. >> Yes. >> You know, one person's feeling of nuisance is different than another person's. Well, I I think with uh in the case of uh ATVs and dirt bikes, we have something in there that says if it's used continuously for this amount of time, then it could be considered a nuisance. So maybe if we need a little bit of language like that in there, I don't know. I can research nuisance a little bit more to find out >> as it relates to >> how it might relate. >> Of course, seems how we have a gun range, they would probably need to be >> exempted. >> Yes. >> All right. Anything else on that one? Okay. Moving on to five. >> Okay. Um, Mr. Mayor and Council, uh, we received a complaint uh from a neighbor that an advisory uh member was saying things or doing things that they felt was inappropriate. We don't necessarily want to take that as fact necessarily, but um um but again, it's We don't have [clears throat] any sort of member code of conduct documents at all that might say this is how we would expect you to to you know conduct yourself if you're appointed to a committee or commission. Um some cities have code of conducts for elected officials. Some cities say well your code of conduct is your election. you know, next time you run, they'll they'll the public will determine code of conduct. Um, so we have a couple of examples in here. If I can pull those up. Um, so I'm going to pull up the other one here first. So in this particular one it's um city of Long Lake goes into you know purpose standards of conduct uh goes into how to conduct a meeting goes into open meeting law conflicts of interest which is valuable gifts and donations can't receive those disclosure disclosure of information I think is is important uh working with the community. Um um and kind of kind of then breaks out advisory board members are not authorized to make positional statements on behalf of the city council and care shall be taken by advisory board advisory members when expressing a position to accurately clarify whether such a position is that of the individual member or of the board on which the member sits. So they try and touch on it, right? Um and um take a good stab at it, I guess, maybe is is a good way to say it. Um try and find a different one here that this is for uh North Oaks code of conduct. They get into the council members, mayor, uh, compliance with the law, conflict of interest, prohibitions, and data practices, uh, standards of conduct. Um, you know, it says councils and commissions are composed of individuals with a wide variety of backgrounds, personalities, values, opinions, and goals. Despite this diversity, all have chosen to serve public office in order to preserve, protect, and enhance the present and the future of the community. In all cases, this common goal should be acknowledged even as the council and commissions may agree to disagree or on contentious issues. Um, so it's, you know, again touching on decorum in public places. Um, um, you know, how to address the mayor or the the person running the meeting and, uh, being punctual. private conversations are are um essentially public conversations in in some cases whether it's hot miked or it's uh you know someone does a data request they can get access to texts or whatever. um uh it's talking about written notes and text messages and so there's a there's a lot in this and this was in your work packet if you've had a chance to review it and um and what I think if I need to summarize it what we want to >> we never got this packet part of the packet >> no all I got is the agenda >> we got the agenda >> okay well I apologize for that I I don't know if it's on the website or not, but we can certainly send this out for future uh discussions. Um but um but essentially kind of getting back to the to complaint, there was a complaint that a a commission member said that, you know, they're going to do this or they're going to do that, that they have the ear of the council to do this or, you know, threaten that. and and that kind of gets into maybe using your position um inappropriately. Um and uh and so this is why we wanted to bring it. Obviously, if if there is a violation of some sort, we can go through a whole process of determining if it's actually true or not. you know, we don't even know if that's true, but um uh there's a due process portion of it that everyone would would be able to defend themselves. No, I didn't or this is why I said it or whatever the case may be. We've had some commission members come up and and bless the council. Okay. Um they are certainly entitled to freedom of speech. However, uh it can bring some level of disrepute upon the board and it can um you know undermine the the the board in in the in the community. Um should that be something that they can do? That's that's the policy question, right? Um or should they one when on a a board or commission be limited to a decorum of some sort that you know respects the the um the council as the ultimate decision makers. They're an advisory board to you in in this particular situation and um and you guys make the ultimate decision. You can choose to go with their advice. You can choose to go a different route. that's totally within the power of the of the board. Um, so this is the this is the discussion. Um, [clears throat] you know, if you guys want us to bring this back as a, you know, look deeper into it or if it's, you know, let people say what they want to and we'll sort it out later. I don't know what the other option is. >> Was there a written complaint filled out on this? Um, I will double check if there I believe there was >> because on that I think I remember us talking like last year or whenever it was. When you get a written complaint, us on council should probably get a copy of that so we know what we're talking about because otherwise we don't know. That's important if you can do that. >> I will double check make sure. >> Thank you. Um the individual I'm referring to some of you know well >> um and uh a lot of it is hour-long conversations. Um so this is why sometimes people want to elaborate you know in in in their conversation. So, we're not necessarily going to say we're going to take it for truth, >> but if there's a document that's out there that that we can send to somebody and say, "We're not saying you did. We're not saying you didn't, but just review this for future, you know, reference or whatever the case is." When they get appointed to a commission, here's a document. This is the expectation. um doesn't have to be ownorous, but at least it can give, especially as it relates to gifts and you can't take gifts. You can't be on the board voting for your own interest, you know, right? >> Conflict of interest type of scenario. So being aware of that is somewhat like and I'll and I'll liken this to when you get elected, the League of Minnesota Cities puts on a um uh first time elected deal, dos and don'ts, right? And it's um and it's valuable information because you don't know what you don't know until somebody helps you say, "Nah, you don't want to go down that road. You'll get in trouble for doing that." Um, so this would be something similar because they don't have a dos and don'ts for commission members when they get appointed. It's, you know, get appointed and take the seat and you're off and running. So anyways, >> I think it's a good idea to put something in writing because if somebody's saying that they can influence our votes, that's not good because nobody can influence me. I vote my heart and residents. Well, I think I think the commissions do influence you in terms of the you know, they vote a certain way. you look at the meetings or you watch the meeting the meetings on online on the decision like the planning makes you know planning and zoning um they they may influence you may agree with them you may not agree with them but if they're using that by saying you better do what I tell you to do or I I'm going to you know utilize my power to you know to come back against you in a neighborhood rel you know scenario that's not the role and function of that any board that we have here, I guess, you know. >> Um, so, and again, that's the claim. We've heard a lot of wild claims, but whether that's true or not, hypothetically, it should never happen, I guess. But I think something just general, maybe a couple pages, >> um, at the most, >> but we don't need to get into explicit detail of, um, some of the stuff. Uh because I know when I first got on planning uh many years ago, there wasn't anything there wasn't anything given to me. It said show for next meeting. Sit here. Here's your packet. >> Good luck. >> Yeah. >> Uh so, you know, some education is great. Uh, one thing that can be included is, uh, links to the League of Minnesota C's website for, uh, for particular, um, they have particular packets put together on particular roles, particular information. Um, so that if they want to do further research, they certainly can. Here's the education there. Here is where you can go for a lot of your answers. And I will send these out. Make sure you get them as well so you can review them. >> Yeah, send them out and we'll bring this back up at a future work session. >> Yeah. >> Perfect. >> All right. >> All right. Moving on to six. that one. Six is an update on code enforcement activity, short-term rentals, large events. And I have Eric with us here this evening to um give us a little more background on one of the cases that he's working on. I believe this is it. short in your uh thank you mayor and council for taking this matter up in your workshop here. Um >> please talk in the mic. >> Well, I'm sorry. I got to move over here. Uh again, thank you for uh taking this matter up um in your workshop. Um the city's received several complaints about uh a rental activity occurring at 1 19520 Tri Oak uh Circle and um the the owner of that site um has been uh renting that space out as an VBO. um using it for uh hosting um large groups through that VBO. Um just I'm just showing the pictures. They've hosted wedding events at this site. Um and I just want to share those images with you. There have been a number of complaints from uh the abuing property owners. Um and city has sent two letters to the owner um requesting they cease the operation of renting the property um and ceased using the property as um a commercial venue. Um first notice sent in Mayuh 2026, second notice sent in June and we did actually post a notice on the door on July 16th again asking them to cease the operation. Um, part of our letters also included uh that if you do need to have a rental license in place before you can you can operate uh this type of venue. Not the commercial operation, mind you, but just the the renting it as a VBO type matter. um the applicant or the owner um only submitted um partial return of their application. Um late last week, I'm sorry, early last week, they did provide um set up a time for a final inspection of the site. So, that'll happen, I believe, August 20th and ultimately um potentially back before you for that rental license. However, um we have not gotten to that point. Um they have they have operated um illegally, for lack of a better word. Um our city attorney is here and I I appreciate him coming here and and and sharing. Um but essentially the staff has exhausted um all of its capacity for sending letters, you know, asking um it's really boiled down to uh mayor council um what would you like us to do next? And um our city attorney is here and and I think that's the policy direction we are asking and and the city attorney is is asking for. Um, and with that, Mark, I >> sure convert it over to you. >> Sure. Um, so I it's my understanding that, you know, a policy decision like this, whether we're going to charge a citizen of the city with a ordinance violation like this is kind of something that the the the thought is to have a discussion with the council first. I think in the past it may have been that the city would go through its exercises that it has of sending out the correspondence and trying to bring the property owner into compiance. Then if they didn't, just be referred to the prosecutor's office to charge out and then sometimes there's questions about that after the fact. So, this is trying to be or the goal here is to get the direction from the council as a whole because this is not a theft crime. This isn't a DWI. This is someone who isn't complying to the city ordinances. And of course, the goal of the city, well, well, two things I'll comment on. One, you know, the city's going to be complaint oriented. So, the city's responding to complaints on something like this. So, this has been complaints from the neighbors who have complained about these issues that that were just described by Eric. Um, so we're not seeking them out. And then the the goal the the attempts have been made to get the property owner into compliance. Now, and and that is at the end of the day ultimately the goal to have property owners in compliance with the city ordinance, state statutes, and so forth. As Eric just said that there has been this ongoing violation of the city code, which is a crime. It's a misdemeanor to be in violation of the city code, punishable by up to 90 days in jail, $1,000 fine. Both often times the goal of criminal prosecution more so than having somebody spend time in jail usually is to have them come into compliance with the code. So, as as Eric just described, this individual, this property owner has been making slow strides towards coming into compliance. One of those things is by going through our processes to apply for a rental application. Um, she submitted that. I believe she's got to do some allow for some inspections to occur and so forth and then she will potentially be into compliance with regard to having a rental property and as Eric said not to have these events commercial or otherwise happening that's another story. So we're sitting at this point where uh she's close to coming into compliance doing the things we've asked but she's not there yet and of course we have the issue of past violations. Now, what's also unique about this and part of what's happened since in the last month or two here is that as uh the deputy sheriffs have gone out there to respond to the complaints, they've gathered some information to actually prove that in fact the property was being rented by those people that were there who said yes, I rented the property. We did it through the VBO. Because that's of course obviously in order to prove this in the court, you have to have you know the evidence that the person did in fact violate the ordinance and you have that So I guess again from a policy decision it's does the council want the next step would be for us to do a formal complaint and charge the individual and again seek to have them come further into compliance and so forth. So I think that's where we're at. >> So Mr. Mayor and council in the prior what you know policy for the city had was when we kind of exhausted all the options we just turned it over to the attorney and the attorney would prosecute and then you would get phone calls and say why is the city suing me and you folks would be like we don't know anything about it. So the policy then changed to once we exhaust all of our options then we bring it to the work session then you decide is this something where we need to take it to that next level and prosecute and if so um you know we had a couple of options whether it's abatement we've talked about or whe what whether it's you know going through the normal prosecution process or or what. Um, so that's why it's here this evening. Um, and um, just as a side note, not to complicate matters here, but um, in the Friday uh, update, I I I identified this property as kind of the, you know, they're going through a rental process, but they're really not renting it the way that our intention of a rental ordinance is. In other words, if you're going to rent your property for 6 months or a year or five years or whatever the case is, this is a weekend type of deal, which would fall into the short-term, you know, type of concept, which is standing by. I mean, completed, you know, we're we're going to bring it uh for um the council to review and and potentially approve. So, we're kind of thinking the best option, at least in terms of clarity for courts, if it gets there, is the rental license is really not applicable in this situation. And if she applies for and gets one, it's still not applicable in this situation. So um one we should probably define a rental license in terms of time that would apply to six months or a year you know short term then is less than six months you know uh type of a time frame or a month or a weekend or however it wants to be defined. And then at that point um uh then you can obviously say that she has neither one but she would need the one that best suited would be best suited and and then the council gets to decide okay do you really want to given the history on this do you want to issue a short-term rental license because your phone's probably going to be ringing off the hook. you know, you you can put guard rails around it. You know, there can only be 2.5 people per room or whatever the deal is. And what happens when there's 10? You know, your phone's ringing off the hook. So, that's kind of the scenario we're in. >> One other thing I'll comment on from what I understand um from speaking with the law enforcement is that I believe this particular individual, the propertyy's listed for sale now. which is that that's that's great. They're fine, whatever. Uh so if you have a rental situation, then it goes away because the new buyer has no interest in doing that, then this is part of the prosecution question because then you prosecute someone potentially no longer reser. So >> yeah, that's a waste of money going to prosecute somebody and their house sells. I'm like maybe we should wait and see. I did want to make a comment on this because I was informed that several after the last planning commission meeting where they discussed this um several houses on that or properties were vandalized on Tri Oak. So, I just want to bring that up because I I feel like there was some kind of a vendetta because it happened either the day or the second day after the last planning commission meeting. I'm like, this is not good. >> I don't know. We've heard of that. >> Yeah. The paint reports, >> mailboxes painted, cars messed up, stuff like that. I think our first process is to get the ordinance changed so that we can put the limit of time, you know, designated basically in the ordinance before we can even attack this short-term rental stuff. >> I agree. >> Otherwise, we don't have any leverage in court, period. >> Yeah. and depending on the timeline of how quickly we get it done and would we be able to use that ordinance on this particular case. some legal questions that we probably have to get into at some point because he can't retroactively go out back grandfather laws etc blah blah blah but that is definitely one issue to look into and if if we want to allow short-term or are we just reacting to the this one problem issue to avoid future problem issues for the short-term rentals. >> Most cities, I believe, are using it just because of the influx of so many of these popping up. Now, you go north up the Briner Lakes area, you know, there you got a huge problem up there with this huge problem. I mean, and anywhere you got a big body of water, it's going to come. So, we need to address the ordinance to start with. Period. >> Mayor, and council, if I may. Um, so the the planning commission did hold a public hearing on the proposed short-term rental ordinance. Had a number of people um that showed up and spoke in favor of it. Um, I think it was a balanced, well, well wellreceived uh plan. Um, it certainly looks for ways to advocate for people to have a successful uh VRBO, a successful short-term rental. Um, few twists and turns aside, you know, I I would speculate that it'll it will be uh reasonably wellreceived. Um to the council uh administrator look's comments about uh clarifying the current rental ordinance you have. Um yes that's something that is should be done in tandem with this to uh specify that you know basically 30 days or less is shortterm 30 days or more is is the more traditional rental which we all kind of understand. Um however um the case we have now with um this this address um has been in violation for some time. Um and even if you had your short-term rental license in effect, again this is speculation, but even if you had your short-term rental license in today or you had this process in place today, um that property would not be in compliance. So I think what staff is maybe for is how else can we convey to this individual that um you are operating contrary to the current law um and yeah you've submitted some things but you're not there yet and in the meantime uh please cease. So I think maybe that's what we're asking for. I realize that there's cost associated with that. So would you be looking for say a drafted letter by the city attorney addressing that that uh if it comes from the city attorney may have more teeth? I I have no objection to that but it's up to you know you folks and [clears throat] obviously given the direction we're happy to do that. Um sometimes that does help certainly seeing something on letterhead and so forth. We just don't want to like you. It's a valid concern that the council would have is we just don't want it to be letter after letter and why is Berglin charging us all this money for these letters that seem to be going nowhere. So if we do a letter which is perfectly fine. It does make sense because it will indicate and it's true that our next step is to do what we would call a formal complaint and then bring charges in district court and the person individuals will have to come to court. So we just want the council to be aware of that so that it's seen that okay we're taking these steps and this is the next logical step. I I I don't think I have an issue with uh approving one letter to address and if we can reconvene on what happens after that in a month or so. We'll see what happens. >> See what kind of response we get back. So, >> Eric, have we passed the 30-day threshold >> for I'm sorry, mayor, for >> for her application. Every complete complete application >> her her complete application um so, okay, uh I believe she completed her paperwork application on or around July 28th, you pick a number. Um she then had to advise the city and coordinate with um Nick Schmidz, the building official, to get an inspection. That is now scheduled for the 20th. Um and then once Dick would write his report, presumably we'd package that up and bring that to you for final approval. Um, but in the meantime, again, that's still probably not that's still even in a best case scenario, probably a month away. >> Nick's going to bring the fire marshal with them, too, right? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> I mean, again, it's a not a complete uh, you know, this is a health, safety, welfare, you know, fire safety versus a, you know, a commercial inspection type thing. We do have a pretty good checklist and and certainly the building officials been through those many times. Um but even in the best case scenario, it's a month away and um I think I believe the city attorney haven't we already sent her one letter from >> we we sent her one letter indicating that she needed to get the application in >> and then she and she complied with that which is positive. Um so that's where it sits. So what is the one thing we can do that has teeth? It would I mean from where I sit as a as a attorney prosecute attorney is to if the correspondence has been exhausted would be to do what we call as I said earlier a formal complaint lays out what the charges are and usually makes sense in a ordinance violation situation to do that because it's not as I said earlier just a simple theft or a DWI and I know those are not simple but in any event you need a little more explanation of what's going on citations to the code and so forth and then what that really does is it forces an individual ual to come to court in order to respond to and that's where you have to deal with the issues in court. Well, that uh brings people out of the comfort of their own home into the courtroom. If they don't show up or they ignore that, then we have the the ability to seek a warrant because they didn't come to court um and those kinds of steps. So, that's the teeth. And of course, at the end of the day, the ultimate threat and purpose of that is if someone doesn't comply with the ordinance and um are convicted of the offense and they could potentially be fined financially or face jail time. >> So the question is, do we have enough form [clears throat] of formal complaint? I I I I indicated earlier that with um the uh law enforcement going out there and gathering the information, another thing to keep in mind, but [snorts] gathering the information of those individuals that they spoke to that were actually renting at the property and identifying them. I think I I believe so. Yes, >> let's do it. >> I would say that's move forward with the formal complaint >> consensus. If they the house sells, is everything dropped then or do you continue because the crime was committed? So, >> so we as the prosecuting authority always have the decision- making in that regard and um and we can certainly talk about this as larger conversation, but uh if if the house sold um then that person is no longer going to be a concern of violating the ordinance, at least as to that, that that may be a cause to decide to dismiss the charges if that made the most sense or something along those lines. Often times with ordinance violations, if people come into compliance, like I said, that's the goal. That may result in the charges being dismissed because they've come into compliance and we're no longer receiving complaints. But if the So I can't say that definitively, but we have that ability to do that. Yes. >> Okay. We got to cut this off. Uh [clears throat] we've given staff direction and we'll move forward with that. Okay. >> Okay. >> All right. At this time, I'll close the morning meeting. on my quick recess. >> Yep. >> All right, let him in. They're good. right there. >> Okay. Okay. At this time, I'll call the uh the uh August 10th, 2026 regular council meeting to order. >> Please rise if you can for the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nation. Okay, I'm going to make a quick statement here. Um, there are mo moments in public service when words feel too small for the weight of our hearts. Today is one of those moments. We gather not to debate policy or pass ordinances but to honor the life of colleagues friends and who have left us too soon. I ask you for a pause with me for a moment of silence to remember the voices in this chamber, the laughter in the hallways, their unwaving commitment to the people we serve. For Tim Miller, please hold pause. Thank you. >> I'll make a motion to adopt today's agenda. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. All in favor? I >> presentation recognition and pinning ceremony of firefighter mayor, members of the council, citizens of East Bethl, thank you for being here. Uh thank you for allowing us this opportunity also to recognize two firefighters that are being pinned and graduating from probationary firefighter to uh to firefighter. Uh today we recognize uh Peter Boyham and Brandon Alfred for completing the rigorous 12-month probationary period. They have proven their skills, their grit, and their dedication to the city of East Bethl. Each of these uh two gentlemen in front of you completed over 140 hours of classroom and hands-on training uh in the fire academy as well as 40 hours of EMR or more for EMT training. Countless hours of studying and participating in study groups to pass the necessary tests. The city of East Bethl Fire Department also has a probationary book that we require of these candidates and it teaches them the way that East Bethl Fire Department operates and how we use our equipment and how we serve the public. I would like to congratulate you guys on completing that and being here. Good evening members of the council. Uh just a couple quick words um kind of to go over what we're doing here tonight. In a few moments, a family member or a mentor will step forward to pin a badge over your heart. To the casual observer, this is a polished piece of metal, a part of a uniform, but to those who wear it and the community we serve, it's a sacred symbol of lifealtering commitment. The badge is shaped like a shield for a reason. Historically, the shield was a warrior's primary tool of protection used to stand between a threat and those who cannot defend themselves. When you pin this badge on today, you are telling the citizens of East Bethl that you are now their shield. This badge carries three distinct weight. Three distinct weights. The weight of the past. You are wearing the reputation of every firefighter who has come before you in this department. Their sacrifices, their sweat, and their integrity are polished into that metal. do nothing to tarnish it. The way to the present. This badge identifies you as a professional. When you step off the rig at a scene, people will look to this badge for hope. It tells them that the help they prayed for has arrived. The weight of the future. By accepting this badge, you promise to be a guardian of the fire services traditions and a student of its future. You are now part of a lineage that never sleeps. As your family pins this badge today, remember that it is pinned over your heart because that is where the true strength of a firefighter lies. It is not in the gear or the trucks. It is the courage and the character of the person wearing that shield. Uh at this point, we'll have you guys stand at attention. And we'll have your family uh come forward and pin your badges on your chest. >> [applause] [applause] >> Now the oath of office >> I will citizens >> and firefighters >> with honor and integity >> with honor and >> that I will in all respects >> I All respects of the United States United States of Minnesota. >> [applause] [applause] >> I am going to take this moment um we have a full house tonight. If I can and this is no disrespect any citizens. I would like to invite all the East Bethl firefighters that came here to celebrate these gentlemen if we could just for a second. >> Come on in. [applause] [applause] >> [applause] >> And I know that we have a significant amount of family here. I would also like to thank them for sharing uh Peter and Brandon with us and allowing them to serve the community as we go forward. Thank you. [applause] [applause] All right. Moving on to the public forum. I would want to remind you when you come up to the mic, speak your uh name, address, and uh remind yourself that you have three minutes basically to speak so we can get through everybody. At that time, I'll entertain. And I think it's it's hard to read the writing, but should I make two well >> stowall? >> Stwell. [clears throat] >> I'm Channing Stoall. I live over on uh 227th Lane just off East Bethl. Um I've been before this board several times uh in my capacity. I've last four years I've served on the Anoka count county election integrity team and really tonight I'm more just a mailman uh distributing some details on the issue of uh marks of certification on our election equipment. Um I don't want to debate it. The real details are in the last four pages starting on 13. Uh I just wanted to circulate this document for you. Uh it was uh highlighted in Liz Collins more recent documentary uh Minnesota Mau. Um it happens that in April of 2027, I'm sorry, 2020, um the both the EAC, the election uh acceptance commission, uh notified ESS, the manufacturer of our equipment, uh that the equipment did not meet federal standards and that the marks of certification. The little stickers on the machines had to be removed and they were removed in April of 2027 and to our understanding they've never been replaced. Now, there's a lot of issues involved with it and I don't want to discuss them right now, but I did want to deliver this information to you. I think there will be more discussion to come over the next several months and I wanted you to be informed as to uh the details on the situation. I'll be glad to answer other questions now or later. But uh that my main point is just to inform you and present you with some details because I know it will be uh discussed a lot more in the press. Any questions? >> How do we fix it? How do we fix it? How do we make them back into compliance? >> How [clears throat] do we >> making them back into compliance? >> Um, we're looking at that right now. Um it's there's a lot of legal details and um I've we've got one member who spent over 1,200 hours looking into and researching this uh backwards and forwards and uh we're in discussions with the county and the secretary of state now. Um and there's no resolution yet. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. You're welcome, >> Mr. Lewis. >> I know, but I'll take her. >> Okay, [clears throat] >> mayor, council members, I'm Stacy Miller. I reside at 214437 Street. I stand before you tonight to formally express my desire to be appointed to Phil Council Councilman Timothy Miller. My husband Tim Tim Miller cared deeply about the community and took his responsibility as a councilman very seriously. He poured his heart, his time, his energy into serving this community. I had the privilege and the honor of standing side by side with him through every meeting and community event. Because of this, I understand the immense responsibility of the office, the challenges our city, our city faces, and the visions he had for the future. His passing has been a tremendous loss to our family and to this city. I am asking to replace him, but no one could ever replace him. But I would be honored to be considered for an appointment to fill the remainder of his term. My goal is my goal in stepping forward is not only to honor his memory, but to ensure the continuity [clears throat] for the residents we we serve together. I am already I am [clears throat] ready to step into the role immediately with zero learning curve to continue the vital work he started and a strong dedicated voice for our neighbors. I know this is a significant decision for our council and I ask your trust, your vote to allow me to serve the community and its capacity. Thank you. might as well come up. Kevin, >> mayor, council members, city administrator look, community development director Johnson, and attorney Burgl and you folks. Over the course of the past few years, I became a good friend of Tim Mullers. We started working together on the city council, but then it evolved into something more we both like to play pool, so we tried to have a pool match every week in the middle of which we would quit and take a break so he have a cigarette [laughter] and so Stacy could play cribage with us and that's how we became close friends. Um, I'm aware that uh, well, first of all, Stacy's too modest to say this, but she's probably the smartest person in this room. She's extremely intelligent, and what she everything she said is true as far as how they worked as a team on preparation for city council meetings on all that. I've never known a tighter couple. I've been married to my wife, my lovely wife, for over 44 years, and we're not as tight as they are. So, I mean, it's it was remarkable. Best friends and counselors and all that. What we're what Stacy just asked you to do is customarily granted just on the face of it. It's considered the right thing to do. Uh, excuse me. I'm having my own moment. Uh, there's things that are right and things that are prudent. As she said, she doesn't have a learning curve. She can step right in. Uh, it's talking about finishing a fourmonth plus term, not running again or anything else. So on the basis of custom on the basis of the right thing to do on the basis of humanity you need to grant her request. Thank you. Thank you, Kevin. Uh, Hermanson. Good evening, uh, mayor and council members. We are Aaron and Michelle Hermanson. We are here tonight in support of the flex building, um, and the conditional use permit for a house of worship um, being renovation church to occupy that building. Uh we've been residents of East Bethl for nine years. Uh we love East Bethl. Uh we have raised expanded our family in East Bethl and it's been a blessing. Um but for the duration of those nine years, we've also been commuting to Blaine to go to church. And what we found at Renovation Church is something that it sounds like this room needs and that's hope um community connections and really deep Yeah. connections and joy. And so it would be such a privilege to not commute 20 minutes and to have a house worship here in our city. >> Yeah. Uh Michelle and I know um the value firsthand what uh this church and the impact the church has done in our in our lives or many lives and our famil family's lives. Um that we just love to bring that uh sense of community and joy to East Bethle. So, thank you for your time and your um consideration. >> All right. Thank you. [clears throat] >> Uh Gabriel Gabriel >> Hansen. >> Hi there. >> Gabriel Hansen, 4434 217th Avenue Northeast. Um some of you may remember me from my time on the planning commission several years ago. Um this may seem out of context. I'm also here in regards to the uh conditional use permit for Renovation Church. Um that being said, I mean, as we say the pledge of allegiance, you know, one nation under God and God we trust. Um I don't believe it's ever out of place. Um as uh they had just spoken about, um renovation church in Blaine was something that me and my wife had been looking for for a long time. um gone around since we were married looking at different churches, never feeling anywhere that felt like church. It felt like a building. You go in, you you worship, you listen to a message, you leave, and that's it. It's like a um a product you buy. But then uh we started to attend renovation. They they are so focused and intentional about community and building relationships amongst the church, not just being a building that you come to to worship and to uh do your you know good deeds. Um it is it is truly what a church should look like. And I believe um you know as we look around a room full of people, some who are grieving, Stacy, my condolences to you. Um we need this. We need a place that focuses not just on getting people in to a building, but on sending them out and creating the community here in East Bethl that we strive for, that you're working here for, but I believe that only a church like renovation can help build. Thank you. >> Thank you. Consent agenda. >> I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. And I'd like to pull item G, please. >> G. >> Yes. >> Anything else needed to be pulled? Somebody second it. Second. Have a motion and a second. Uh, all those in favor of the amended consent agenda? >> I I opposed. >> Item G. >> Item G. I it's for the wells um the backup generators for wells one and two. Can you tell me where wells one and two are? >> Good evening mayor and council. Uh wells one and two service the northern portion of the city. So 241st and 65 area whispering Aspen up in that part of the city. So, because if they were [clears throat] down here off of Viking, I would say, shouldn't the developer of Viking um preserve and capstone and Elivage contribute to the final monies that need to be used? Um so, why wouldn't the developers and the residents pay for that? Why would the rest of the city have to pay for out of like I have a well and a septic if mine goes out I can't come to the city and say hey all taxpayers come and help me pay give me $20,000 to refill my well redo my well redo my septic. So why can't the people just up there pay or the developer up there or whoever? Why is it going to be this $27,000 left um be put on the all of the taxpayers? >> So, wells three and four had generators put in with that project initially. So, those those have backup generation already. Uh this portion will be financed through these three grants that we applied for and were awarded. The rest of the money will come from our enterprise fund which is not general fund money. It's not the taxpayers of East Bethl. It's only the water users. So it's it's an enterprise fund that's paid for by >> So it is only the water. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. >> The whole city on water, not not the uh not people on sepic. >> Got it. All right. Thank you. Just because people were worried about hey, why am I paying for that? Okay. Thank you. With that, I'll approve item G of I'll make a motion to approve item G of the consent agenda. >> Second. Have a [clears throat] motion. Second. Any further discussion? >> None being heard. All those in favor? >> I. Motion passes. Seven. Uh, new new business. Planning Commission. >> All right. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Again, if I move away from the mic, just yell at me again. I got to drift away. Right. Um, so tonight we have four items uh or three items related to uh an an entity known as final approach. I'll go through them as as as reasonably quickly as I as I can, but they all are intertwined and um just preface all of this by saying um the text amendment is the first piece of this uh request from final approach. And if that's something that's generally positive to you, then the the next step of the um preliminary plat um their site plan and a conditional use permit um would would then be in order. Um and then thirdly would be the the aforementioned um place of worship within that flex building. So I'll just go through these um certainly are independent actions um but that's the the basis of all of them. So they they do go in order. Um so I mentioned uh final approach is requesting a zoning text amendment to section 47 of your highway commercial B3 zoning district which is appendix A of your code. Uh the proposed amendment would add business flex buildings as a conditional use uh within the B3 highway commercial district subject to tenant use limitations, prohibited uses, and the definition of a business flex building. So, um, this is the specific language you see on your screen. Certainly, this was in your packet. Um, but what they're looking to build is a multi-tenant building that would that would be able to house um permitted uh uses in your industrial zone and permitted uses in your B3 district as well as uh conditional uses in your industrial zone and conditional uses in your um B3 district. So the goal fundamentally is for employmentbased um investment and operations there. However, following more to a formbbased zoning where it's more important shouldn't say more important but it's important about how the building looks on the exterior. How does it fit into that neighborhood? Um and does it cause and and would it cause anything incompatible with noise, odors, um outside storage? So that's that's the the basis of what a flex building essentially uh is trying to accomplish. Um again that's just the language of it. Um but let's just see what the the in this case the applicant is um proposing a building and this is what that flex building would essentially look like. It's a 21,000 square foot building with potentially four four uh distinct entrances. But how they con configured the building internally um would probably be up to further discussion by the applicant and the tenants they could receive. Um so that's that is what a flex building is is generally all about. Um your current code does not have that capacity uh now. So that is why they're asking for that to be added. In effect, it's allowing the industrial zone within your B3 district only in this building. And on the screen, you have um where that zoning is. Again, that's B3 um as shown. Um that neighborhood already is a multi-dimensional or multi- different uses of of space. Again, the the proposed uses here um for that building and and how that text amendment would offer that, but you do have industrial uses nearby. You have a mixed use with the apartment complex and the remaining are are commercial. Um none of these operators in this district, even in the industrial zone, are heavy manufacturers, so to speak. I mean, these are all essentially light industrial and largely compatible um and how they function. Um the the same area is also zone I'm sorry from your land use planning um mixed use. So it's looking to find a a balance between commercial industrial potentially even different kinds of of commercial space. Um so that that's your your comp plan zoning. Um but a text amendment is important to understand also applies in not just in one space. It applies at all your B3 districts. Um and in in your city in in East Bethl um you have this area largely south of Viking, south of by the holiday or the Circle K and the Quick Trip. Um you have this space um further north um near Minnesota farms and then and then the land um I believe this is Sims on this scale. Um so you have a smattering of these parcels um across the city but in terms of um they're all within your commercial corridor which you have identified as roughly within a thousand feet 1500 feet of your 36 of your 65 corridor. Um, so that's that's kind of the the basis of that. Um, planning commission held a public hearing on July 28th, reviewed the proposed amendment, considered staff reports and exhibits, certainly received public testimony, and ultimately adopted a resolution of support which is in your packet PC uh 26-11 recommending approval. Um the amendment I just to reiterate a little bit the amendment would um maintain a conditional use permit for a building such as this. So a multi-tenant building could not just show up and a developer could not just show up and propose a building like this. You would still have a site plan review and the building itself operates and can only be placed by a conditional use permit. Um so you would always have another way to review you uh the applicant um before they could build a structure like this or how the site plan works or their potential tenant mix. Um the second piece of that is when a building were to go in, some of the applicants, as you'll hear tonight, must then receive an additional conditional use permit. In this case, a place of worship um under your B3 code. So, in a lot of ways, this does offer a lot of flexibility to the land owner um in your B3 district. However, I think it provides the city with a pretty um pretty strong capacity to review each each site on a case-byase basis. Again, with the goal of preventing noise, incompatibility, um and and um other things that may affect the neighborhood. Last thing I'd add is your B3 district um can already enable or permit um uses that may well exceed a neighborhood impact such compared to a building like this for example um a holiday a quick trip which is a B3 district certainly has a lot of traffic certainly has a lot of light certainly has a lot of noise whereas this flex building is intended to um be more employmentbased um and and not have that uh high commercial capacity. Um so again, the planning commission did make a recommendation for it. Uh certainly staff also believes that the proposed amendment is reasonable and provides a controlled zoning pathway for modern commercial employment oriented building. Um the amendment preserves a B3 zoning framework, maintains city review authority um throughout the process and includes limitations to prevent incompatible uses. Um so ultimately staff would also recommend um approval and in your packet there is um city ordinance and this is again done by ordinance um city ordinance 2026-02. Um and that language as I shown is embedded in this. The rest is you know a lot of legal ease. no offense our city attorney. But uh one thing I did want to note in this resolution is section four um is that this ordinance like all ordinances would ultimately have to be published for it to come into effect. We would withhold the publishing until um the related development um would uh potentially be fully approved which we'll talk about next. the development agreement signed the plat done um and once all those securityers are in place uh these would then be published. So, some a lot of cities do um approve a a development with a resoning, but if the resoning uh doesn't go through or isn't or isn't triggered um or I'm sorry, they'll approve a project with a building, a development um with a resoning, but if they don't do the development, the resoning doesn't doesn't uh go into effect. So, one begets the other. So, with that, that's a lot. Um, and that is our recommendation to you all to adopt ordinance 2026-02. >> I have a suggestion. Can we take off the cannabis stuff off the list and if it means even if it means changing an or ordinance to limit the city of East Bethl to one cannabis place because we already have that. We don't need anymore. Um, and I've certainly deferred to the city attorney about how that could be. Um, I do know that the cannabis elements um and the limitations would be carried through to this building. This building would not be granted anything additional other than is already propo already limited by statute. Um, >> because cannabis is on its first list that says it's approved and I'm like no, >> it is it is an approved. it is approved in in your B3 district. So So I think what he's saying is that that that that this type of building could still have in it uses that already are already approved for that type of dis in that district. It doesn't mean that there going to be any more and the the number of cannabis retail operations and so forth is limited by the uh state statute to by population. So that this won't change that or add additional cannabis businesses, >> but that is already a permitted use within D3. >> But can we prevent any cannabis >> in these buildings >> uses in those buildings? Can we can we create an ordinance that says we can only have one in the city and which we kind of already have? Uh can we um >> we have an ordinance that says we can have two. >> Yeah. Uh I believe one of the conditions is a th00and foot radius. Uh is would this flex building be within the thousand foot radius? It remember the the flex building ordinance um if adopted would apply at all your B3 districts. So when an applicant would come in you could do that radius at that time. um if this were in effect and they built their building at a in a in a oper and I'm certainly deferring anyone here. So, and they they they came in and and wanted to go into one of these shops or one of these spaces. Um at that point, we'd have to do the analysis and say where are they and where are the current ones and is there a license available if I'm not mistaken. But if a church were in there, a cannabis place wouldn't be allowed, right? >> I whatever the statute or the ordinance would preclude it, right? >> You know, geographication. So, if if the council wanted to um suggest a further amendment to the prohibited uses, >> um >> I don't know how I if the council wanted to to further limit the uses of a flex building because this is the first time a flex building is going to be approved. If you wanted to, you know, manage it down to that, you you could do that. So you could [clears throat] say flex building is approved. But since it's a new thing, despite the fact that having met all the other regulations and all the other ordinances, a cannabis retail establishment could be in that B3 zone. You can say it can't be in a B in a flex building in B3 zone. >> Let's do that. >> It cannot be in a flex building. So, it would be we'd have to tweak the language on this a little bit, but if that's what the council wants, that can be done. >> I mean, that's my my opinion. It's up to you guys, but my opinion is stop as much of that as I can out here. >> I agree with what you're saying for sure on that with the flex buildings. I got a question too with the flex buildings. Now, are they do we have a distance that they're going to be off the main highway like a half a mile or whatever it is? >> No, there's only So it would only be applicable in your B3 district. Um so which which in your B3 district most of these are um within that within that range. >> The range. >> Yeah. >> Because I know a lot of them are, you know, concrete buildings and stuff like that where this is a steel frame building. And I'm just wondering, my opinion is that if uh we mix them in with these other buildings that are businesses [clears throat] that have spent millions of dollars building these buildings, how is that going to look to them or the residents? You know what I mean? It's like they're a nice looking building, the flex buildings. But >> well, this is one design um from this applicant uh for example. Um and in in reviewing it, they're in compliance with your city's um architectural standards. >> Okay. >> Um your your architectural standards don't stipulate concrete tip up building. It stipulates. >> So the front elevation would be >> the the top one and that would face 65. >> Right. Okay. >> So the sides could be steel. Well, the the applicant >> well the that is I mean certainly the applicant is is present and they could talk about the the materials but they're they are uh they they did bring um material samples to the planning commission and I believe they found those to be quite favorable. Um those are wood composite and uh the structural steel side um the gray areas were textured. It's not the traditional maybe that we all might know a pole building to be your >> I mean that's came a long ways. >> Yeah. I don't think that's again I'm not an architect. I mean that's a flavor thing, right? But I I think it it it certainly met the the intent of your the amount of glazing, the glass, the the eyebrows, the overhangs. Certainly it it it it's an attractive looking building. >> Um but your code does not stipulate concrete. >> Okay. >> That's all I got. >> Um for the sake of and to to council member 's comment and maybe what you folks might desire. Um there is a there is a time and question at least in terms of working with this applicant. Um uh if there was an amendment to the prohibited uses um under in your ordinance where it says prohibited uses. Um, I think we'd have to words smmith that a little bit, but would you be comfortable with passing in this ordinance with allowing staff to fill in that blank basically prohibiting uh cannabis related businesses? >> Yes. Yes. In fact, if it's resolution 202637, I was going to say that with the condition that >> that cannabis use be prohibited. >> Would this uh Mr. Bergland, is that okay from your standpoint if we do that or >> Yes. Okay. >> We would try to keep it simple and and straightforward. Um but if if you're comfortable with that, then what we have before you would be ordinance 2026-02 um with uh that change relating to prohibiting cannabis related businesses. >> So I have to say ordinance 202602 >> 2026-2. >> Oh, okay. All right. Right. I'll make a motion to approve ordinance 2026-02 with the condition that staff modifies prohibited use to include cannabis I businesses. >> Second. Have a motion and second. Any further discussion? >> None being heard. All those in favor? Motion passes. your next one there, Eric. >> Oh, I'm sorry, Mayor. I was waiting for you. Uh, yes. Uh, thank you again. Um, again, I talked about a lot of these things are interlacing, so I I'll I'll spare you all. the the planning commission uh three-hour marathon, but you'll see see some some similar maps. Um again, uh final approach development um have requested review of a preliminary plat final plat and conditional use permanent site plan review for um their plat entitled final approach east bethl edition located uh east of Ulysi Street, west of Highway 65. The proposal ultimately includes approximately 21,600 foot multi-tenant business flex building. Now again, you've approved the the philosophy of the text amendment. Um together parking, loading areas, internal circulation, water, sewer extensions, grading, storm water facilities, etc. Again, the property is zone B3 um have a commercial mixeduse under the comprehensive plan and located within the city's um metropolitan urban service area. Planning commission did review this application um uh the submitted plans, reports, engineering exhibits, public testimony. It's July 28th meeting and recommended adoption of the proposed plan um in their resolution PC26-12. Um and this is the uh proposed site. You see the um the building that I showed the elevations of would sit in in in this location just east of Ulissi Street. The developer would be required to extend Ulissi Street down here um south of the two apartment complexes. Um an appropriate culdeac. There are util water and sewer utilities that would have to be extended south from uh Ulisses and 185th. These would be their expense. Um the site uh has adequate parking. Um they have adequate storm water facilities located south of the parking lot. There's also some uh storm water facilities uh just adjacent to the culde-sac. Um city engineers reviewed these uh the submission from a plat appropriateness and um and ability to achieve all the city's rules. Um certainly there'll always be some tweaks and adjustments, but um found that to be favorable. Um from a traffic impact standpoint, the applicant did bring a traffic analysis um it was reviewed by by the city and there were no anticipated level of service impacts um at 183rd um by um Holiday and its interface with Highway 65. Um the remaining sites to the west will remain in an outlot. A um certainly the developer uh has uh uh thoughts to um do some building uh in the high ground or the non-wetland areas potentially here and then over on the western side of the site. Um most of outlot A is encumbered by wetlands. There is a a county drainage ditch that lies to the south. Um u but as far as the site conditions go, the the primary goal is this upper right hand corner um is uh positive. Um ultimately if this were approved um preparation and development agreement addressing the extension of utilities from Ulysi Street, water and sewer extensions, drainage and storm water um elements would have to be dealt with. financial securities, inspection costs, what have you. Um, we would bring that development agreement back to you for final approval once that were uh ultimately negotiated and and set up. But again, all of those costs largely remain with the developer. Um, uh, the the parking uh, let's see if I too many of the same maps. I'm sorry. Uh, see if I can zoom in here. We talked about the CUP um and their building and what they may or may not use and no cannabis operations. Um but there they did uh have adequate parking. of 194 stalls is on the field. Um and that can be probably reduced to some extent to based on um any any final design. We want to make sure there is traffic circulation for um fire trucks. The fire chief has reviewed this and I believe they've come into agreement with the engineer on the turning radiuses. Um uh their final landscaping, lighting, signage, trash screening, and rooftop equipment screening and building elevations all are in compliance with the city's uh requirements, full cutoff lighting, uh landscaping, what have you. Um the applicant did accommodate um some endangered plants in this area here. So they did shift some of these things to the west um for the storm water. So, and there will need to be an easement provided to the city from this property owner, which uh will be the applicant's uh responsibility to secure um because this curve just nicks this corner a little bit. Um but I believe they've addressed that and but ultimately that'll be need to be conveyed to the city an appropriate roadway easement. Um the city the the resolution ultimately if you consider that would require additional traffic analysis or corrective improvements if future tenants or operational changes created congestion queuing or unsafe unsafe uh turning movements or emergency access problems. Um and any future building expansion or you know meaningful changes there would have to come back to the city potentially for site plan review or an amended uh conditional use permit. Um the site does show a a place for potential future expansion. At this point there'll just be uh sod or grass um some landscaping uh what have you but something to I think that's in their vision. Um, so I mentioned the planning commission did uh approve this uh uh preliminary plat and final plat um and uh the site plan and the conditional use permit for that flex building. Um staff I think also has uh support of this for their preliminary plat final plat. It provides an acceptable subdivision framework that the proposed business flex building can easily satisfy uh the requirements of the conditional use permit standards and the site provides adequate physical framework for development. So, if you uh think this is of of value or if you have certainly have questions, um uh staff would recommend adoption of resolution 2026-37 um approving the preliminary plat final plat conditional use permit and site plan substitute the findings and conditions contained in that resolution. So, >> okay. My question is, [clears throat] >> is the traffic going to be coming down from Jackson or to from Viking? Where where are they going to turn in to get into there? Are they they're not coming off at 65 to get in there? Right. >> Uh, council member Urkl, no, they don't have any permits from Mandot. I suspect they'd love to have them, but it's probably highly unlikely that Bindat would grant um an access, but they're going to largely come in from 187th by the Holiday or Circle K, whatever they're now. Um and then south on Ulyses down to the Culdeac. >> Okay. Do they have access to Viking, too? I mean, can they come off of Viking up there too somewhere or is it just going to be 187? >> It's 100. It's Well, I think they can connect. >> Yes, there's access for biking. >> I can't see it very good from here, >> but I would argue most of it's going to come from Highway 65. >> You can goes north, curves to the west, turns into 189th, and you can either access Jackson right from there or turn to the north and go up to Viking. >> Yeah, they're definitely going to need a traffic analysis because if there's going to be con considerable more traffic that because that's where the theater is, that's where Holiday is and then a lot more traffic. They might need to extend that turn lane or something. Um yes, mayor and council, they they did provide a traffic analysis. Um and their level the city operates on a level of service uh capacity basically looking to not trigger a level of service um level D A being the best and E or something worse than that uh being and that really relates to queuing time. Um and and that queuing time is not effect anticipated to be affected at at the closest point of connection to uh the state trunk highway. But there is a caveat in the resolution that says should things or conditions change that we can justifiably attribute to their uses that you would have the ability to go back and and address that. Um, which maybe goes back to my earlier point of or the earlier analysis that if I don't know if if it's a McDonald's here, um, I'm not saying it would go in or anything like that, but that would that would be far more traffic demand. That would be a permitted use, um, than this proposed use. Um, yes, they would probably have some improvements to make at 65, but in terms of it's uh traffic down Ulisses and at 81 185th or noise or light, it's probably a far more passive use. >> Not that I'm just thinking of Sundays with all the >> traffic coming south and then the church on Sundays and I'm like the holiday gets busy on Sundays. Well, we'll talk about that potentially at the next [clears throat] uh phase of this uh conversation. Yeah, you make a good point. >> Okay. >> I got a question too like Okay, you were saying the roads might have to be extended the sewer and water also. Is the developer paying for that? >> Yes, that is all at the expense of the developer. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Yeah. I'm sorry. Make a motion to approve resolution 2026-37 approving the plinary plat final plaque conditional use permit and site plan review subject to the findings and conditions contained in the proposed city council resolution. >> Second >> motion a second. Any further discussion? None being heard. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Unheard. Item three. >> So, Council Member Urkel, if I don't touch on church traffic, you know, you let me know. Again, the same same uh sites and and conditions we've talked about before. Um, final approach development has requested a conditional use permit to allow renovation church to occupy um approximately 15,000 square feet of this proposed 21,600 ft² business flex building. The main assembly area um is anticipated to accommodate up to 400 seats. Again, the property is zone B3 where a place of worship is allowed by conditional use permit. Um that site is again guided mixed use under the comprehensive plan. Planning commission held a public hearing and found the application to be favorable and adopted uh their resolution PC26-13 recommending approval of this proposal subject to subject to conditions. Um let's see. zoom in on this one because it's just the easiest. The principal issues uh in this case of a of a place of worship in this building are parking, traffic circulation, emergency access, and compatibility with other buildings, tenants or certainly the area. The city requires one parking space for every three seats of a of a place of worship. Thus, a 400 seat uh assembly area requires 134 parking spaces. The applicant certainly has enough parking capacity at the site at 195 spaces. However, at least when we were reviewing this plan originally, 34 spaces were shown um in the uh truck maneuvering area um which are uh just to the west of the these drive-in doors and the loading dock. the applicant has made some adjustments um uh to get rid of those directly. And the applicant uh or the the the renovation church would be the tenant would be required to if they needed to put in some temporary uh parking banding or or signage there if they wanted to use those sites. Um but it would not be permanently striped um so as to make sure that other tenants at this building could could use that. Um renovation church is proposing to use you know three quarters of the building. So how they all fit together will be the responsibility of the applicant. Again, the city's goal is a quality building, quality neighbor, um, and uh, how they interrelate uh, through the streets, and it's the owner's responsibility to make sure they all get along and work together, which I'm sure is always so easy. So anyway, um the proposed conditions in your in your resolution construction on of the entire business flex building. So they couldn't parse out a different section of the building or couldn't only build part of the building. They would have to build the entire complete building. um approval of final floor plans, uh occupant load calculations, parking calculations, fire lane delineations um would all have to be again reverified prior to the issuance of a building permit. Um this drawing does show um the the firetruck turning movements um and and the fire chief and the applicants engineer has sorted those things out appropriately. But we'll we will verify. Um the coordination of the church and tenant operations or parking and loading conflicts do not occur is important. Implementation of any additional traffic control measures required by the city including licensed law enforcement traffic control at the applicant's uh expense. Um, and what I mean by that is on a Sunday, um, if you do have a lot of traffic, um, that if they they the church or the owner or the the applicant, um, is trying to do some kind of site traffic management with an individual out there with cones or flags, they would not be allowed to do that in the public right away. if they want to do that in their in their parking lot, I I guess we have no objection to it. Um, but the part that would be outside of that and in the public right away if it were needed, um, they would have to engage with the sheriff's office and and pay for that independently. Um, compliance with all building, fire accessibility, utility, and occupancy requirements. Again, that's part of the building construction process. We don't know the final layouts inside the building yet. Um but that will relate to total occupancy. Um and the building official will sort that out. Um and ultimately city would review any separate outdoor event requests, temporary promotional signs or material changes to seating, parking, circulation or any operations. Um so um ultimately the planning commission again supported the proposal um in terms of its compatibility with the uh adjacent uses. Um you have a robust very busy area there but with the church um like most churches they operate on Sunday. So many of these sites won't be operating full capacity at that time. So you'll have a you'll have a a probably less of an impact on a Sunday versus like on a Tuesday morning for example. Um the applicant uh and their tenant renovation church does not expect to have significant uh daytime uses during the week. Maybe they'll have some classes or or or the like. Um maybe some minor office presence, but they're not proposing any major operations or or services during the week. Um they're proposing two services on Sunday if I remember 9 or 10:30 or maybe it was 10 or 11:30 I forget. It is in the report. Um so again the the they should fit in nicely to the building. They should fit in nicely to the area and uh staff would mirror the recommendation of the planning commission to approve resolution number 2026-38. Stand for any questions. >> Make a resolution to Make a motion to approve resolution number 2026-38 approving the conditional use permit subject to the findings and conditions contained in the resolution. >> Second. >> Motion a second. Any further discussion? None being heard. All those in favor? >> I opposed. >> Passes item four. All right. Okay. Mayor and Council, I forget when we uh when we chatted about this. Um maybe it was a month and a half ago, two months ago where um the city council would potentially consider some amendments to your to your minor subdivision or administrative subdivision rules. And if you recall, it was about a simple lot split. And um your current ordinance uh basically prohibits a a simple lot split uh if it happens once, but um there is no look back period. If you did it once in 1942 or 1987 um then you couldn't do a simple lot split again. The challenge with that is we as staff and probably many owners don't have a deep history of that. And um so if they do have some lot splits they'd like to take care of, we've talked about doing a 10-year look back. 10 years being the thought that there's enough local local knowledge or history, county data might be up to speed about property trans property ownership changes um and that we can have a legitimate conversation about did it occur recently. The concern, however, is does it does it circumvent the subdivision ordinance um and uh so the planning commission talked about it and they did support the language shown on the screen and it's in your packet to allow a 10-year look back period. Um it does not um change the requirements of the lot size. It does not change requirements of the land use. It does not change um lot size requirements or frontage requirements um or wetland requirements. Really, all it does is give somebody a one-time ability to split their lot. If they wanted to do it before the end of the 10-year period, well, then they could go through a traditional subdivision process under chapter 66. Certainly, it's more expensive. Um but really that's that's what you're what you're what you're dealing doing in this case. Second half of their conversation um that you recall and you folks had was um cleaning up the and cleaning up the language that that sought to um or had a conflict in who gets to make the approval of the of the of the sub whom who subdivision. Um in this case uh the planning commission uh took this language up um where it's responsibility of staff to provide a staff report to make a recommendation to you but ultimately the decision falls and lies with the council. So that is the clarification that we've done. Um, and so those are the two things >> I have a question on lot splits and I didn't see it in here but that doesn't mean I may not have missed it. Is there any size limitations? I mean, I think it's for rural it's got to be two acres. But if you have 50 acres, can you split off a two if you split off and do a two acre? Um, do you have to wait 10 years to do another two acre or >> Yes, ma'am. >> on that 50 acres. >> Correct. >> Yeah. I mean, if they have 50 acres, could you make it so it has to be a minimum of a tenth of the size of their lot. I mean, I know this isn't something that's in an ordinance right now, but it's just something that's been going through my mind because I'm not liking to see all these little lots and then how is it a developer can come in and split up a lot a property into all these different things and but a person can only split it once. >> [laughter] >> I got you, Mayor Council. I think I'll take a stab at it, but I'll defer to the city attorney. But um in in our in this case, um if somebody has a 50 acre parcel and they wanted to split off two acres, you know, for it doesn't matter reason why, but let's just say it's for their child um or or their family, they they could do that. and that this is what the minor subdivision would facilitate. Um but once they do that, they can't do it again. Um need not on that remaining 48 acre parcel. Um you they could go through a subdivision process under chapter 66, which gets to maybe your second point of well what could a how can these developers do that? They're just basically platting it um at that point. And you're and this simple lot split really wouldn't apply. >> So I'll I'll just add to that. So So the concept of the simple lot split is to be a faster, less expensive opport uh alternative for an individual homeowner to do exactly what he just described, splitting off a lot so their son or daughter can build a home and they just that's all they want to do is split one lot. a developer who's going to plat the property. That's a much longer, more complicated, expensive process. And they're doing that for a reason because they're going to sell those lots. And so that's why they're developing many lots all at once. So this is the concept of a simple lot split is so that an individual property owner can do this, split their property without having to go through that same cost and expense. And I'll just add to that they can't they can't do it now with this modification. They wouldn't be able to do a second simple lot split for at least 10 years, but then after >> I know it used to be forever. So, >> Right. Right. That's that's the major change. >> Yeah. So, if a property owner 50 acres splits it in half, son or daughter gets the other half. The son or daughter can't split, right? >> 10 years. They got to wait. >> Okay. Got it. Okay. Great. >> I think right. I'm kidding. [laughter] >> [clears throat] >> I'll make a motion approving ordinance number 2026-03 amending the administrative subdivision regulations by establishing a 10-year look back period for admin administrative simple lot splits clarifying the review responsibilities of the zoning administrator and identifying the city council as the final approving authority. I'll second that. >> A motion and a second. Any further discussion? None being heard. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Unheard. Motion passes. See the administrator. [clears throat] Uh Mr. Mayor and Council >> before you here this evening is uh resolution number 2026-41 of the declaration of a vacancy of a city council seat [clears throat] and consideration of appointment to that seat. I just like to say Stacy on behalf of the city staff our deepest condolences to you and your family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Um, so in a situation such as this, uh, the council should pass a resolution, resolution number 2026-41, declaring a a vacant seat. And the goal should be to fill that seat um, as soon as possible. And there are many different options for uh, filling that seat, some of which I'm sure you'll be discussing here this evening. uh the council may appoint any individual who is eligible bear with me eligible uh for election to that office. Generally to be eligible a person must be a US citizen a resident of the city and at least 21 years old. The council is not obligated to appoint any candidate previously defeated in an election for the office. Matter of fact, Minnesota law is is somewhat silent on the appointment process and thus the city council can decide how it will go about determining persons uh the correct persons to appoint. Um the appointment should be noted is a temporary basis appointment and would need to be filled with an a permanent election in the future. And we have this was not a special election. it would not trigger a special election because we have elections coming up here in November. So, um we uh have a couple of different options for appointment. You can literally appoint anyone you want. You can um wait to appoint someone uh once an election happens um so that if they won the election rather than taking office January 1, they can take office immediately. Um you can Um u essentially the important thing here is twofold. To declare the vacancy, but then secondly to have a discussion as far as what you would like to do for an appointment process. Well, I don't think we should wait till November [clears throat] to find out who the biggest vote getter is because that leaves that seat vacant much too long. I think uh I haven't heard anybody else with interest in filling the seat other than Miss Mrs. Miller. I so I think we should give this uh some serious consideration. She knows a lot of people. She uh she has been to almost every social public event that council has been to. Um, I know she's going through a a difficult experience right now, but she she is demonstrating strength and professionalism and dedication and commitment to our community already and to residents already. She's got u a unique understanding of the responsibilities. She knows the issues. So, she's coming in familiar. She doesn't have to research. She doesn't have to go to training. Um Tim Miller cared deeply about this community. He he cared about the residents more than uh anybody that's been up here that I could see. He researched and um I believe Mrs. Miller should be considered not just because he she is his wife, but because of who she is, what she brings to the table. I know they didn't agree on everything, which also makes her a great um candidate for this. She understands the community. She understands the importance of the job, the residents, working with others, thoughtful decisions. She's a business owner. Um and I think this position deserves somebody who will show up, listen, work hard, and put the community first. And I believe Miss Miller has that those qualities. And I don't think it should really be about her being his wife. I think it should be because she is capable, committed, brilliant, and willing to serve. >> Okay, we got a resolved uh resolution we got to vote on first. >> Oh, whoops. I'll make a motion to declare a vacancy resolution 2026-41. >> Second. >> Okay, we got a motion second. Any further discussion? >> Yeah, I'd like to say something. It's like Tim Miller. I consider him a great friend. I've only known him for like three and a half years, but the guy, he had a heart of gold. He cared about the residents of this city. cared about the businesses. The guy was just me and him hit it off really well. We met with a lot of residents together. We worked out a lot of issues and he was dedicated to this city big time. Fantastic guy. I mean, it's just it's hard for me to even sit here and he's not here because he just had a big influence on my heart big time. So definitely at the public forum tonight hearing from Stacy and from Kevin. I agree with what Suzanne says too. I believe we could appoint Stacy to fill Tim's seat until the end of his term and I believe she'd do a fantastic job. She's a smart gal and she can be a bully. So can I. But she's fantastic. So, I'm hoping the council would consider this because Tim was a great guy and he left us way too soon. Thank you. >> Any further discussion? I have a motion and a second. All those in favor? >> I opposed. None heard. >> Thank you. Now, we need a I want to make a motion now to fill the vacancy and appoint Stacy Miller to Tim Miller's seat for the rest of his term. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Well, uh, this puts me in a terrible position no matter what happens here tonight. Either way, I lose. So, being by state statue, if it turns out to be a tie, I got to put the deciding vote. So, with all due respect to Stacy and family and that, I will not follow through with that motion. So that motion fails. >> Sad. It's really sad. >> Yeah. So >> awful. >> I'm making a motion. >> Really sad >> to uh >> Well, point of order, Mr. Mayor. That motion was made and so a vote actually does have to made on that motion. >> All those in favor? >> I >> I >> opposed. Hi. >> So, with that said, I'm going to make a motion for uh put Dino Perfetti in >> to that council seat. >> U motion and a second. All in favor? >> I opposed. Hi. >> Hi. >> Uh, with me being the pointer appointment guy here, I'm going to appoint uh Dino Facetti >> as to fill that vacancy till the end of the year. >> Staff report. >> Mr. Mayor, if we can, we'll do an oath of office. Then >> you want to do it now or later? >> We should do it now. Okay, do it now. >> Mr. Pervetti, do you want to stand up here and raise your right hand? >> Pervetti >> do hereby solemnly swearby swear >> that I support the Constitution of the United States. >> I support the Constitution of the United States >> the Constitution of the State of Minnesota. >> I will faithfully, >> justly, and impartially >> discharge the duties of council member for the city of East County, >> county, >> city of East County, >> state of Minnesota, >> to the best of my knowledge and ability. >> Thank you, Dino. [applause] Okay, moving forward. staff report. >> Uh Mr. Mayor, uh in the interest of the time this evening, I just have one note and that would be that tomorrow is the primary election for everybody. So if you haven't voted yet, some have voted early. Uh we've had some people coming in and a steady flow. But if you haven't voted yet, tomorrow's an important vote. So please do make time. We'll be set up in the senior center over here. We'll process people through um quickly and efficiently. And please do set that time aside. Signs will be out identifying polling locations. And uh it's your civic duty. >> It's at the fire station. And where else? >> Um our saviors. >> Our saviors. Okay. >> Okay. Council reports. Uh I rode around with the fire chief for a night to unite on uh last Thursday and uh we had four different parties on the south side of the city and they were absolutely wonderful. A lot of great people that invited us in and thanked us for being there. So uh it it's it's a really great way to get out and meet the residents. I always look forward to [snorts] to uh 198. That's all I have. >> I did the seniors night to unite. I was um grateful for those who came and a little disappointed in the commission members that did not come. But other than that, the city staff, the um other people who came, I totally we totally appreciate it. We had good food and it was very interesting. I know. I'd like to apologize for not being there because I did plan on being there, but my appointments took a lot longer than I expected. I wanted to make it there though. That's all I got. >> Yeah, I attended the senior one and I made eight of the 12. It was hard to make all 12, but >> spent about five minutes at each one. It's a lot of distance, a lot of miles, but it it it was a fun time enjoying the people and getting their inputs and everything and thanking them for doing it. It's it's a great time meeting all these people that put these together every year. So, with that, I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Make motion tojourn. >> Second. >> Second. All those in favor? >> I I