left hey guys we're going to we're going to get going like to welcome everyone to the uh November 13 2023 regular meeting of the city council of East bethl Minnesota please rise to say the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you I'll make a motion to adopt tonight's agenda um under Bill list I'd like to add a supplemental payment summary of $105 and under the consent agenda I'd like to add item K scoreboard for East bethl Ice Arena okay the motion's been made anyone want second motion made and seconded all in favor say I I I opposed none [Applause] heard okay under item four presentations and public hearings our item a is the candidate interview for the city administrator position and uh if you you indulg me I just want to make a couple of opening comments um there's been a lot of speculation a lot of talk a lot of whatever uh just just so just to address the obvious question is what is the point of a change what's what's the reason what's the purpose and it's just that it's it's widely believed in corporate world government nonprofits fraternal organizations uh Faith communities just about any kind of organization you can think of that occasional change in Senior Management is a healthy thing for any organization whether it's business government or otherwise and Jack's been the city administrator of East bethl for 12 and a half years as it compared to his predecessor which was seven years and what it does is it brings a fresh perspective different person's experiences a fresh perspective to the job and if there is any over any baggage to overcome it kind of goes with the person and you start making fresh baggage you know for lack of a better way to say it as far as the attributes ATT attributes we were looking for I was looking for in particular that kind of d drove this process was Intelligence of course uh good character integrity and a breadth and depth of experience uh not just in government operations but in business ideal entrepreneurial so you know how businesses operate and this is a very diverse job you have to have a lot of different experience uh it's a broad kind of job it requires broad experience and also Municipal Andor County Andor State experience knowing how the different levels of government operate would be very useful as well uh I could get into a lot of reaction about some of the stuff that's been said not just because it's addressed at me or something but but what bugs me is when facts are confused with opinions and a famous Senator you all most of you are too young to remember him his name was P Patrick David moan he was a very liberal Democratic senator from New York State and he's famous for a lot of things but one thing was a quote that said you're entitled to your own opinions you're you're not entitled to your own facts facts as I think it was John Adams said are stubborn things they're either real or they're not and I just want to make it very very clear for the record before an acquaintance of mine recommended the person we're going to interview I had not so much as heard the person's name before let I ever met him had any relationship with him none of that stuff so those have been promoting that storyline we just making it up out of whole cloth just so you know and that's on the public record and I'll stand by that no problem so anyway that said I just wanted to give a brief introduction by way of reading a excerpt from the person's resume education four-year degree from bethl college in international relations political science minor and economic Masters in public administration with emphasis on governments governance and policy from Grand Canyon University professional experience city of East Ramsey elected council member representing the city at large was mayor protim that was for five years he was on the city council of Ramsey a fellow Anoka County uh City by the way this person is born and Brad NOA County resident Anoka County elected commissioner representing District 1 Anoka Ramsey now then and St Francis that's 2011 until present so 13 years the years are inclusive so 13 years as uh On The Board of Commissioners of Anoka County and the board chair this year the chairman of the board of the NOA County Commissioners chair of the finance committee the regional rail Authority and internal audit committee Vice chair of Transportation past member of the transportation Advisory Board lead commissioner on Highway 10 and Highway 47 project improvements successfully lobber lobbied federal and state for transportation investment dollars in inoka County implemented debt reduction strategies self-insurance strategies and cost-saving measures that led to tax cuts and reduced government spending and the person is an entrepreneur too they've had their own business for 23 years headquartered in inoka and that's a printer and distributor of campaign and Commercial signed products and coordinator of political advertising needs established and built company from the ground up provided print solutions for 300 plus us cents Senate us Congressional Governor State Senate State House races advised on numerous campaigns maintain a 40% market share in the Minnesota Marketplace so that's the person we're going to be talking to that's a little bit about their background the only other thing I wanted to read in for the anyone watching and for the record is I conducted phone interviews with two references one was a County Administrator in Minnesota the other was a county attorney and there were people who knew this you know references are always you know I don't know how many of you have ever called on references but I have never come across a bad reference I mean people people don't give you the names of people who are going to run them down you know but still these are these are people with some substance and uh in the case of the woman who was the County Administrator 33 years of working with Anoka County so knows the county extremely well and worked their way up all all the way up at a time that wasn't so easy for women uh the candidate is a principled individual with a reputation for integrity candidate has extensive practical that's 17 years experience as an elected representative at the municipal and County government levels this includes day-to-day experience working with staff at both levels to produce results with results which which best serve residents intelligent well educated and self-motivated to not only work toward established goals but also possesses a curiosity to learn more about all matters affecting outcomes especially the points of view of others that's really important in the job that Jack's filled for the past 12 and a half years and this person is being considered a fill it's great to be principal and and have your opinions thought out but if you can't hear other people you you're not very effective you have to be able to hear the other people and whether you agree or not at least respect them and and be able to work with people uh that's why I'm not up for as consideration for the city administrator I'm I'm a bit hard-headed but that's just my problem uh the count the candidate has county level hands-on experience working down an excessive debt burden to a manageable level when he came into the county uh Board of Commissioners Anoka County had a very high debt level uh a situation not analogous to ours we'll put it that way and it took a lot of work across a lot of years to work that down and get it under control but that's useful experience I think for our situation private sector experience including as a proprietor of his own business for the past 20 plus years that's important to understanding the business sector's needs and attracting the same kind of people to East bethl nothing I don't think it can replace experience owning your own business working in a business whatever uh with just studying about it you have to actually do it on a day-to-day basis to know what it's like both references emphasize that County staff would be able to work well with the candidate since they are well acquainted and have a mutual respect already uh business contacts of the state capital should prove useful the East Beth's concerns being heard including G Grant seeking Grant seeking input to transportation system design Etc and this comes from the business that he had doing campaigns for people at the state level he made a lot of contacts so then you then you have the ability to uh play form relationships with people and they might be able to help you out if they're still in power at the state level okay that's that's the little background there uh I think we're still a little early okay so maybe we should I don't think the person is here yet would you mind checking Jim check out there go outside wave your hands or something if not we can just move to the next thing on the agenda I I had suggested 7:15 so got done a little quicker than expected [Music] hav't seen anybody yet okay okay well that's the background and when they get here they get here um not because they're sitting four of the key people with the staff of East Beth who are sitting in the room right now but that is you know you can you can say a lot of good things about jacket on the 27th in the afternoon of the 27th of November we're having a u what what's the proper term for it an open house but honoring in in honor of Jack you know to recognize this kind contribution of the city but one thing that's very important to this person who's being considered was the quality of the staff that we have here in East bethl and for the key employees of the city are sitting right there and that's that's a tribute to that gentleman right there you can always tell good management by the quality of their staff and uh this person is enthusiastic about working with all of you guys he's he's watched videos and all that kind of stuff and seeing people conduct themselves and so he and maybe I I might have put in a good word or two for you too I don't know okay well while we're waiting for the person to show up we can either stand here staring at each other or we can do something on the agenda you want to deal with the delinquent utility public hearing or you why don't we move on with that and then we can resume this yeah we'll just knock it out in 5 minutes and then a person will be here who's who's intro I I'll go ahead with that the East bethl city code of ordinance chapter 74 section 74- 1226 provides for the collection of delinquent accounts through the property tax assessments this ordinance provides the opportunity for property owners that are delinquent in payments to the city for utility services to come before city council to State their objections this public hearing meets the requirement of the ordinance public hearing must be conducted before the final certification of delinquent Amounts is forwarded to the county for collection with property taxes Council set tonight November 13 2023 as the public hearing date for individuals wishing to object to the delinquent charges being collected through the assessment process all affected property owners were notified via US mail and were instructed to contact staff if they intend to speak before the city council no affected Property Owners contacted staff the final list of properties with delinquent charges must be provided to the county auditor no later than November the 30th 2023 staff requests that Council conduct a public hearing for delinquent utility charges for collection on the 2024 property taxes at the conclusion of the hearing if there is no evidence or statements that support the modification of the assessment list council's requested to approve resolution 2023 79 as a final certification for delinquent utility charges for collection with the 2024 property taxes okay so we'll open up the public hearing public hearing's open for anyone who would like to comment about the uh list of delinquent taxes do we we showing that on the screen or I don't know does anybody have any comments to make about the uh Delinquent Tax property tax issue I misspoke it's not delinquent property taxes it's allocated to the property taxes it's delinquent SE water sewer bills are all these residen is occupied at this time yes yes is there any sir if you want want to come up to the microphone if you would please thank you there is there any split between uh rental properties or any of them rental properties or are they all homeown homeowner Properties or don't we have that data they all appear to be homeown okay I'm stunned by that many properties being in inters this is this is very typical this list has remained almost unchanged for the past 10 years oh really yes I can remember back in the days when I used to have to get every paycheck in the bank right away but I don't know okay no other comments questions close the public hearing and entertain a motion to approve resolution 20 2379 I move resolution 20 2379 do we have a second second all those in favor say iOS too late none heard you want to take a take a look he's here i' like to introduce Mr Matt look chair of the Anoka County Board of Commissioners who's our candidate tonight yeah if you shake your hand friendly May nice to meet you so if you have any kind of opening statement you'd like to make please feel free sure thank you Mr Mayor and members of the council um for the record my name is Matt look I am uh I reside at 9036 Collins Drive Northwest and Ramsey I'd like to thank you all for the opportunity uh to interview for this position this evening by way of introduction I started my political career by finishing a four-year degree at bethl College um 30 some years ago in international relations political science and I also did a minor in economics and wasn't quite sure where where that would take me I had a professor that uh worked for um Henry K Kissinger under the Nixon Administration he had ties with the Central Intelligence agent and they were looking for candidates for a program and uh so I interviewed for that program and was uh moving right along in in uh being considered for that program until uh the Clinton Administration canceled funding for it so that pretty much end into its tracks and so my trajectory kind of changed at that point and um and I went into um Corporate America and I worked for 3M for a short stint and then I worked for a company by the name of mlan M West in heating ventilating and air conditioning and then went on to work for Modine manufacturing out of Wisconsin which is also a large HVAC company um the um the the companies worked for gave me kind of the incentive to to go out on my own start my own company so I started a printing company in the year 2000 it catered to political candidates uh um and my first uh customer was Rod Grahams Senator Rod grahams and since then I've had many many customers that I've worked with many of which are at the state legislature some are federal but uh that's afforded me an opportunity to uh Lobby uh extensively at the state particularly uh for County but um but city as well and uh and as I was working with these candidates I thought man what would possess somebody to run for city council I just didn't understand that and so I thought I would I would sign up I would try it and uh and I was elected to the Ramsey city council I served four years on the Ramsey city council and during that time uh I uh was a little frustrated with the county at that point and some of the things that were going on and so I I decided that I would run for the County Board I was elected for the to the County Board and I've been serving on the County Board now for 13 years so 17 years total as a public service and this year I've I've um as voted by my peers I was I'm voted chair of the board and I've served as Vice chair in the past before and so it's a interesting and um and fun Dynamic I've enjoyed working at the County uh very good people uh they are dedicated to serving uh the constituents and working hard to get that work done and so it's been a a great tour you might say at on the County board but after almost 20 years in public service you start kind of thinking what is post commissioner look like you know what does the work a post commissioner look look like and with some of my um background and the candidates I I've worked with I thought man lobbying has got to be on the top of the list and uh one of the reasons for that is I will give you a quick example on um many know that Highway 10 is a is a big project in inoka county and I started uh working on Highway 10 16 years ago to get funding for Highway 10 and um and many people said you know great need it no money good luck and we didn't accept that 16 years ago so we started fighting for for as whatever dollars we could and and trying trying to get that momentum uh just last year we secured the roughly $300 million that we need to complete that project and any of you who have driven on Highway 10 know that uh that construction is as well underway uh but I did have a member of uh menock come to me and say uh if you had told us 16 years ago that you'd have funding by now we would have laughed at you we would have laughed at you and so um that was just a testament I think of not only some of the work I've done but others as well um of the contacts that the County's had and getting some of this work done and I attribute a lot of that to um to some of the relationships established over 23 years um and so um I just want to say that um while I've been on the County Board I've served as a chair of the finance committee I've served as chair of the regional rail Authority I've served on many committees such as the transportation committee the building maintenance and construction committee it committee Public Safety Committee property records and Taxation to name a few and currently I serve on 17 boards and commissions so um all this is to say that I've had extensive private experience uh in Corporate America I've had extensive public experience and um and you know again that conversation kept coming back of what does uh post commissioner look like and so um I interviewed for an administrative position in the city of Ramsey and the one lacking thing I didn't have at that point was a um was a masters and so I decided in um late 200 uh um uh 21 to 22 to start a master's program uh from Grand Canyon University and I completed that program recently here 20-month program and I will tell you that um sometimes in school you you take classes you're like you ask the question well why in the world am I taking this thing um but in this program every single class I took uh was directly related to the work we were doing at the County Board in terms of governance in terms of policy and I I really enjoyed every bit of it although it was very timec consuming anyone who's who's taken Master's programs are very busy um but um I just want to I just want to say you know as it relates to the city of East bethle I believe that I possess the skills whether in finance or in lobbying uh to uh directly relate to some of the projects that you might be working on in the near future and that um the goal of which is to would be to help manage and Implement policy uh set forth by the policy makers yourselves and to continue the Legacy that uh Mr Davis has has had over these years here so again I appreciate the time uh to interview here this evening and uh I know it's a important decision for you to deliberate on and uh and i' certainly stand for any questions thank you Matt uh if we could I'd like the questions to focus on in three areas one is qualifications secondly your vision for what you would want to do if you were offer the job and the third being what questions you have from for us you know uh with with that said who would like to start with the questions I'll start uh right from top of the list uh how did you find out about this position I was informed by colleague that uh that this position was available or would become available and so uh there was a kind of a coordination of you know of with the mayor to to meet and to I never met the mayor before I never never consed working for East belal in the past and it was a good time to kind of learn and and chat a little bit so question oh after after being at the county level what do you see granted there's been what's gone on in my mind there's been a lot of stuff on social media and a lot of hearsay and a lot of whatever what do you think he's bethl can do to fix that I mean we've got a we've got a good staff there's nobody can nobody can knock that so we got a good core and like you know Kevin said earlier change is good and it's obvious you're not someone to sit on his hands and do absolutely nothing I I think you got a lot to offer so in terms of what would I think needs to happen in terms of responding to social media and that correct yeah I mean you know there's there's two ways of handling social media you can ignore it or you can you can um face it head on I I face things head on myself a lot of people think that that might be a wrong approach to things uh but for me it's a matter of setting record straight um I think in social media today at least uh maybe with the Advent of covid there's um this desire to retell narratives you know to to change histories and um and what whatever the truth is the truth is but whatever isn't the TR truth needs be addressed and so um I generally uh face it head on or I did as an elected official that's decisions you folks get to make but I think it's um important to to have a positive message to always be reminding folks of the good work that the city is doing the good projects that are underway um there will always be challenges uh and there will always be opportunities in those challenges and so identifying those and helping people you know a lot of constituents don't spend the time you folks spend you know on on topics and so they may not have all the information I often get calls uh from people saying you know just got one today why why are why is my property value going through the roof and I and so by simply explaining well your property value is it's Market driven and if you're if you're buying a house today you would probably fully understand that and so walking through that in a respectful way I think is um helps to instill you know faith in in this this governing body you know that they have would have faith in you and and understand that the work you're doing is is good and important and um and that they can trust that you're going to look out for them in the end how important do you think it is to have a good line of communication between yourself and the residents as a council member or as a as a city administrator well I think um I think residents are always going to call and always going to have question questions on various different things I think um I think answering honestly with them and and covering the information they want respectfully I think is important um if you if you try and hide things or try and you know um sugar coded or whatever the case is I think they'll find that out you know soon enough and so that's it becomes an Integrity issue at that point and uh you want to make sure that um you're telling them exactly sometimes the truth hurts you know uh but um but as long as you're being honest about it I think they can respect that thanks Matt there's different styles of management uh and administrator stuff um are you more of a micromanaging type guy or do you sit back and let your staff do their thing based on their qualifications I am not a micromanager um I I have always I've been heard many times at the county saying that we pay a professional job for for a professional outcome and so my expectation is with hiring professionals that we let the professionals do their work and um if they're not capable of doing the work that's that's a different scenario obviously but um but certainly we would encourage them to if they're not able to do their work get the training they need or the resources they need to get that done um and uh and and let them kind of come up with their creativity I know a lot of corporate America today gives uh people a certain amount of time to do whatever they want to do you know it doesn't have to necessarily be job related and the creativity that's being found in Corporate America today is off the charts um they thought people would screw around or you know waste time but in fact they they come up with different ways of thinking outside the box and and um and so in a certain way you know maybe a little different in in government but still letting people have that ability to think out outside the box come up with other ideas that maybe weren't thought of before I think is where the value comes in for their professionalism um and so I you know I I I would rather hire somebody that um takes 6 hours to do an 8 hour job than someone who takes 12 hours to do an 8 hour job so that's kind of my my approach to management Matt in my opinion our city is over ordinances and you being on the city council previously do you know ways that quick ways that we can get stuff done sometimes we have ordinances that we wanted to change that have just drug out and drug out in my opinion do you have different ideas so we can get that stuff moving I can certainly um commit to taking a good look at it I mean I'm not sure exactly the process of how everything works on you know in your in your system here um I do recall you know in the city of ramsy we would um you know you would literally shake your head sometimes at some of the things that are proposed um and um and some of the council members even a mayor at the time just would allog together scrap code you know and um and if if if you ever heard chalk you know fingers on chalk for staff that was it and um but but the you know the world never collapsed after that you know so there was always but there has to be a recognition of maybe we went too far on this or maybe we need to fine-tune this a little bit um and so um as long as there's a willingness to be objective about it um I think that the door is wide open as far as the policies you guys get to set and want to set um so long as it's within law right no good to know cuz to me it moves way too slow and just what I'm hearing from you sounds like you're not afraid to dig into stuff and that's what I'm looking for thank you if I could ask a a question uh just just as a fill in piece of information for those watching is Matt is currently the chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Anoka County but he'll be phasing into this job and out of that job over the course of the next couple of months and even you know we were able to work together on details pretty well I thought I similar kind of you know kind of you can always work things out if you're willing to look at both sides you know come to a a reasonable agreement but but Matt's working for 60% of the city Administrator salary in this interim period and it's not accumulating for later but 60% of that salary as a as a accommodation accommodation to us basically that they're this transition period so he can he can't give 100% to the job here but he's probably be going to be given more than 60% of it and as he phases out on the other job so I I I mention that for a reason that is that indicates a deal making ability that I respect and I think we'll be very helpful in working with staff and working with developers and Town even government officials and stuff that's that's how you really get things done is having a cability to do that kind of stuff and that's on Matt more than me so um my my question is a real simple one given what you know now and you know you're going to learn a lot more in the next couple of months but given what you know now and based on all your background is what would be your primary goal if you were city of min administrator for the next year or two what what do you what is top of mind for you going into this well I think that's multifaceted Mr Mayor um I think first and foremost I want to come in I want to learn your culture I want to get to know your staff I want to make sure that the transition is smooth and um and not shocking to anyone uh but then um certainly I want to get to know the the business community and the interests that are out there and um and I'm sure all that will happen or organically that will take some time to do um and um and then I want to look at some of the you know challenges that that you have in terms of um you know perhaps uh issues that are brought up or whatever the uh challenges may be that are currently on the table and how can we how can we work to solve those uh you know we whether it's County whether it's a city doesn't matter there's always challenges in every regard and so um how do we handle those things most efficiently and uh without blowing things up you know that's kind of that's kind of my one of my styles that I I don't really come in roll the pin or pull the pin and roll the grenade I want to make sure that we can get things done reasonably uh without creating enemies um in politics creating enemies is about the easiest thing that can ever happen um you could have friends one day and you vote against chickens and your enemies is the next or whatever the issue is and so um and then never forget it they never forget it so that chicken guy so uh so those are some of the challenges that you you want to make sure that everyone is heard and and you know that you're you're following up efficiently and and um giving out accurate information everything else so again it's a little bit of a 30,000 foot view yeah uh but um again it's it's a focus on being respectful and Innovative and uh making sure that the policies that you you guys set are are implemented you know um the one thing that um that I think is a challenge sometimes in politics today or in government today uh you hear about it in bureaucracies and things like that is there's a confusion between a policy maker and a policy implementer and um and you'll hear me say this you've heard me say this Mr Mayor you guys are paid the big bucks for the policy um and um and it's staff's responsibility to to implement what you guys are elected uh by the citizens and and want done for the city and so um is there advice along the way and kind of Co you know coaching and that sort of thing sure Naturally uh but um but that is kind of the job of staff is to is to implement that direction and um and I've literally had um uh staff tell me that uh that I'm a tourist when I was elected and I said what what do you mean by that well wait you out you know um and that's and that's troubling um and so uh from my perspective that it will be foremost in my mind is how am I how am I handling the policy implementation because that's a direction that you guys vote on up here that's M majority and that's what needs to be foremost in in the work we do so and I get the sense that we can count on you to uh also give us feedback when you don't agree with policy directions that have you considered this do you really want to do that it's got to be a a give and take because we are just passing through I mean you know Bob was on the city council 12 years ago you know but and then he was gone for quite a while and and so we are kind of tourists in a sense from the staff's point of view but um yeah with again with the feedback and the give and take then you wind up with the best results not if anybody gets autocratic about it they deserve the hook you know whether they're sitting here on the staff you know just just doesn't work you know got to be give and take yeah what else uh explain your understanding of the principles of Municipal budgeting and financial management can drill down a little bit on that question how would you come in to set up the budgets and handle expenses okay so um one of the one of the things that we've done uh in at the county in the uh prior years is there's always been this desire to take your last year's budget and add inflation to it in a essentially that's your current budget moving forward um this last year we did what was called a zerob base budget which we had went back and had staff identify every single dollar that they needed and why justify it and um and so that kind of reset things for us um you know there was I think it was an exercise where staff was able to determine what's really need and what's really fluff you know in these budgets and so that's you know when we're when we're kind of facing uh inflation times and when we're uh facing challenges with with whether or not you raise levies I mean that's a that's a big issue today uh for every single government out there um if you haven't turned over every single Rock to try and determine where your costs are going and how much expenses you have um it's kind of hard to then go to the taxpayer and say hey we need more Revenue at this point um you know in good faith I think there's a um looking at the budget and kind of determining where the expenses are and and um and are you really getting the return on investment you want from whatever the programs are that you're spending money on I think is a is an honest evaluation that needs to happen and um and and then from there you can decide if this budget is is where you want it to be or you know or do you want to add some things in there that are maybe don't fall in the need category but are in a want category and there's there's good wants that are out there um and um but we all know that the needs have to be handled first and so from that standpoint it's um you know I would I would spend a lot of time kind of looking at the budget and trying to determine what costs are versus um uh what is budgeted and and um you know at the end of the year how much uh how much is being spent of that budget versus uh maybe overspent or whatever the issue may be I know for the county sometimes we establish um uh you know salt a budget for salt you know that's a moving variable it depends on your uh the amount of snow and ice you're going to get in the year you know as to how much of that salt you're going to use um some years you're over some years you're under but um but that's it's those type of um kind of comparisons of budget line items to determine uh is this appropriate or is it not appropriate that answers your question how have you managed growth in your previous positions and what challenges did you face you're talking growth of government growth as in the city growing oh population population invest new businesses new new developments economic growth sure um in the city of Ramsey when I was there there was a project called the Town Center uh that some may have read about in the in the paper prior to prior to me coming there there was actually people that were um they got in a little bit of hot water for some of the projects that they were doing over there uh but this this project went into foreclosure uh there was about about 150 some Acres that were left out of a 300 some acre development and um and it was going to forfeiture when it goes into forfeiture the county owns it essentially on behalf of the state and they can dictate the outcomes the city had a master plan uh for that project and this master plan would essentially evaporate when it goes tax forfeiture and so the city decided we'd step in and and um and buy that property at that point we paid about 12 cents on the dollar at that point for this uh for this property um the goal of course was to control the outcome of this uh development we wanted to make sure that um that the city had control not the county in terms of how this was going to develop and and what it was going to sell for and that that project is still developing today um one the train as you know the Northstar train was going right by the um municipal center and one of the projects I worked on for the NOA County as chair of the regional rail Authority was to uh put a rail stop in at uh the Ramsey to Center and um and that rail stop cost us about uh $10 million somewhere in that neighborhood 10 to13 million I believe it ended up just over 10 and um and projects identified like the VA Center that came in uh there were housing projects that came in specifically identified that rail stop as the Catalyst or the reason why they came to that development and we saw uh $150 to $300 million worth of development happening because of that investment and so um answering the question of of how how do you expand how do you plan for development um there is there is development that can happen and there's development that is waiting to happen but kind of needs that incentive to happen and uh and then in this case um the return on investment is huge you know to make a small investment like that and everyone identify that as a catalyst is why they come am I into the Northstar train not necessarily I think it's a heavily underutilized asset however um if we can make an investment like that in in a town center and be the Catalyst to get that town center moving it was I think it was the right choice and it's proven out to be that but um we had we had challenges with the economy at that point um we're still having challenges with the economy today uh but what I will tell you is from a county standpoint um we have kept aside from this year this is anomaly uh but the last three years we kept our budgets flat and the reason why we did that is because we wanted to um set up AA County as a as a place to do business you know a place that businesses would call home I was speaking with one individual who owned a 3,00 00 squ foot facility in um henpen County and his buddy owned a 6,000 ft facility in Anoka County and they were in the furniture business or woodworking business um the building the 3,000 ft building in hopen County paid twice the taxes of what the 6,000 foot facility paid in in NOA County and so this is really just bottom line right for businesses to say where what am I going to call home and where am I going to move and what's going to make sense for me financially and so uh we wanted to set an NOA County up that way for development and um and as a result of that in NOA county is the second fastest growing county in the state of Minnesota um in part because of that now what does that mean for people well people that used to drive to Eden Prairie are now driving down the road you know to a job that they can apply to and and and uh work in in their own community so your quality of life is is enhanced tremendously because you're not spending an hour and a half and traffic you know one way or you know or both ways uh uh in for a day's work um but again it's trying to find those those areas that are you know that you you know will kind of tip the scale a little bit in your favor for development now some communities don't want to develop uh some some communities are adverse to development and that's um uh city of Dayton maybe is one of those examples where there were a lot of farmers that own farmland and they didn't want any development the unfortunate re reality is the cost of of doing government business that is roads and police and fire and and everything else keep going up and you have to you have to pay for that with taxes so either your residents are going to pay 100% of that or you have to get creative to try and find indust industrial or commercial to try and offset some of that and that's where the challenge kind of comes with and that's where you guys are charged with determining what that balance is going to be uh where it's going to be located where it makes sense um what I will tell you is with the work on Highway 10 businesses are lining up because they know that you know the the the the highway is going to be easy to navigate now one of the biggest complaints we got is I'm not going to move out there and have have trucks or employees sitting in traffic in a parking lot you know in the morning in the evening 65 is going to be the same story uh with these improvements that are coming by the way 65 we we set out um uh to find funding for that we applied the lessons on Highway 10 took two years to get the I mean hundred some million dollars we got in this last legislative session so those improvements that are going to be done that are going to be coming are going to radically change um the area here and uh and so controlling that change is really your decisions how that works you know and that change of course is economic development increasing your tax capacity and and um allowing you to to pay for whatever the costs are in government so good thank you yeah it's uh it's all about finding the leverage point the length of the leverage it's not the PSI it's so it's a leverage Point yeah any other questions for Matt what exper why you sple sorry why East bethl what attracts you did this position you know it's a really good question um I will I will tell you that um when I interviewed in the city of Ramsay it's a lot larger City uh lot more going on and there you know I was a little more apprehensive about that I think the size of East belal is is perfect um and um I think that it would afford me an opportunity to to Really develop within this position and um and I think some of the challenges you guys are facing I think I'm I'm well suited for uh whether um you know it's it's kind of revisiting some of the contracts of uh you know the mech Council or whatever the case may be it it's going to take some some um some maybe thinking outside of the box to get some of that work done and that's primarily what I've done at the county I'll give you an example that we um we had health health insurance was going up 15% every year 15% now for 2,000 employees that equates to about $ four to five million do every single year that you have to try and find in your budget and um and I started pushing against that saying we need to look at Self insurance we need to start controlling this and um and so we set out to do that and it was three years ago that we implemented Self Insurance we've had zero increase over the last 3 years the employees have not seen um any increases they've gotten the same benefit with zero increases and so thinking outside of that box and coming up with different ways of trying to handle a challenge that you have I think is is going to be um something that that uh would be more interesting for me on a city this size than a city of you know 30 40 50,000 so thank you I me you mentioned challenges that would that this East bethl has um do you know any of the challenges do are you familiar with any of them I am familiar with the um uh challenge with the um kind of the outgoing Council and the incoming Council and some of the decisions made with the me Council yes yeah familiar with that uh are you familiar with the sewer and water system yes yeah in terms of The Debt Service portion of it you're saying well all of it it's that's the the biggest thing that we why we have to develop is to keep tab try to keep tabs on that but that's only one portion of it the other portion is economic development and how to adequately fit that development into East Bethal culture sure yep that's a challenge you get to deal with but um but I you know I I think the infrastructure is there uh so you know finding out how that fits with your culture is going to be an important part because if if and when you get that development you can offset some of those costs um that that are there or the alternative is uh to try and approach the legislature and and identify ways to to try and mitigate some of those us I mean uh there's reports that were written that may not have been accurate uh as far as the rate of hookup and um and so those things you know you know uh 2020 Vision hindsight's 2020 uh I think you have an argument to go back to the legislature and say we need a little relief from this especially in light of the you know 17 billion you know Surplus that they have I think that there's there's definitely an argument there so how how you position that how do how you tell that story uh at the legislature I think is critical uh because that I I believe that falls unfairly on the constituents here in in East bethl and um and it's uh and quite honestly the state's going to capture those dollars as the hookups are happening uh they just need might need to Bear a little bit more of that responsibility than they are so that if if that's a direction of the council that'd be something I would I would certainly work on well if I get interject I think we talked a little bit about that because it is a big issue and uh that's something that impressed me about your background is I think we can probably do better not you know daining anything that's been done but I think we could do better at uh securing that's when I mentioned the grant seeking is to get debt re relief or remediation uh I do I do believe that we could do more in that regard and that your background would be helpful for that uh I also feel very strongly and I'm working on it independent of what I do is with the city of East bethl but I want to see the law changed in Minnesota so that four people sitting on a city council cannot put what was at the time 11,000 11,500 people into millions of dollars of debt without a referendum and under the law that was legal but I think it's completely immoral and I'm I'm I'm working on my own time to change that law and so you might be able to counsel me too just as far as pressure points and where to be effective and where to be ineffective um but that's that's just a law that needs to be changed it should be submitted to the residents not decided by four people who are then you know and did the deed and floated the bonds during their lame duck period before they got had to leave office it was that's that was what's so objectional about objectionable about it was the way it was done but anyway that was something in your background and your your knowledge base that I thought would be helpful for the city as well yeah Mr Mayor what I might say is this this legislature might not be the one to right to try and tackle that given the fact that they um allowed now um uh the EXT extension of uh of levies at least one time without voter approval yeah unfortunately that's um that's a tough one y but um but that doesn't mean you don't lay the groundw work and um and try and uh get people aware of it I um I was I was out ice fishing on Lake maax and I bought a uh one of those portable ice houses you know and um and all of a sudden we got a knock at the you know kind of outside or whatever and I was a DNR agent need to see your fishing licenses and I gave him my license and he says well where's your your fish house license I said I'm sorry my what and well you need a fish house license you know and gave me a ticket for it and I said um I said you're going to want to remember this day you know I was a little angry and uh and so I went and I lobbied down at the state legislature and I said I understand a fixed fish house but a portable I said you they don't have licenses for tents you know when you when you camp in in a state forest you know they really shouldn't have for this either and they to this day you do not have um portable Fish House licenses uh and so to your point M uh Mr Mayor yes sometimes we you can get in there and you can definitely impact uh change because there are people that that can come to your Aid and can you know can use that and and uh support your effort um but it it it really boils down to making somebody aware what's going on down there they may not even be aware of it yeah uh so educating folks do we have any more questions um what's your approach to managing personal issues such as hiring discipline and performance evaluations well um you know I think that there is an annual evaluation for every employee um in terms of hiring you'd want to depending on the position of course um you know uh we are actually in the process right now hiring an administrator at the county we're going out for professional help on that um but um you know making sure that their qualifications are going to meet the the requirement of the job and uh based on their experience and um and then kind of kind of managing that employee along the way and making sure that they're meeting the goals of that position um it's it's hard to hold somebody accountable if you're not giving them reviews along the way and and um and kind of evaluating the work product um so um you know I'm sorry did you say termination too yes uh hiring discipline oh hiring discipline and performance evaluations yeah the discipline part I it's it's not a an area anyone really likes uh or enjoys um and um and my My Philosophy is um uh you're going to see the light then you'll hear the horn and if you're still in the intersection it's going to get messy and uh and so I I like giving people fair warning you know that hey this is this is not working out or you know uh you're not meeting expectations and so you need to improve in these areas and so you give them ample opportunity and um and again it might boil down to resources and it might boil down to um education it might boil down to something something that that the organization can help them develop within and so I think there's an honest evaluation on that as well uh but if there's just a a um a lack of working out you know I think at that point then there there has to be a a change and that's not necessarily A what anyone enjoys at all um because we're talking people's lives at this point and um but hopefully it's you've come to that realization together that um that expectations are such that they're not being met and um and hopefully there's a kind of an amicable separation at that point um that would be the goal that'd be the goal to work towards but um but I like I say I like um I like I like making sure that everything is um everything that could be done has been done to try and improve that employee and get them to where they need to be to meet that uh to fulfill the requirements of the position um just along that line being clear what the expectations are is so critical for employee success and and if you know most of us have managed one person or another at some point in their life and and you your heart goes out to them because it sucks to fail yep I mean and and the employee is not cutting it knows it and it's so frustrating I and hopefully you can find something else that'll work out for them but uh yeah it's it's it's a mutual interest kind of thing nobody likes dealing with that it's just a heartbreaking thing well we're at 8:00 after 8:00 right now um can we can we wrap this part of it up uh just one more uh what experience do you have with working with the Union we do have an employee union that uh regularly negotiates every 3 years what experience do you have with unions at the county level we don't we don't negotiate with the unions uh we hire an attorney to do that for us um and um and that kind of takes and one of the reasons we do that is that generally speaking the non-union people get the same increase of the Union people do um uh you know that's just a fairness deal so um so from my standpoint I see a little conflict of interest on that that if I negotiate a large increase for the union then the non-unions get a large increase too um so it would really be a decision of the council here that um if you want to have a you know an attorney do that negotiation for you we use a Scott leac is his name uh baragi I believe he works for I don't know if you know the name or not but anyways um know the firm don't know the individual yeah he does all the um all the union negotiations for us he knows kind of the important part with this is that he knows what other unions are getting and what's kind of industrywide acceptable and um and then you know you're you're not really negotiating you know at a loss or at a gain at that point um and so uh we allow him to do that and then he brings forward the um the recommendation to the County Board in this case and um and we make you know we generally approve it at that point because we know it's been a a good negotiation both sides are you know when it comes to negotiations if you have a winner and a loser I'm I wouldn't say it was successful um if both if both sides are reasonably happy I think you've succeeded in your negotiation at that point so that would be my my goal is to make sure that both sides are reasonably happy right now uh Within inflation and I mean it's it's difficult especially with law enforcement and that um you guys know the the sheriff was here talking about some of those increases um it's it's getting it's getting difficult uh to negotiate some of those things but that's why these these type of professionals handle that they take kind of um staff's interest out of it and and negotiate at a kind of a arbitrary type of type of level so um I definitely believe in arms length negotiations in that situation definitely yeah vested interests and all that doesn't work so excuse me for interrupting but y um okay would anyone like to make a motion one way or to other I would make a motion that we table making a motion for any employment until the next meeting so that staff has time to do their proper background checks and we don't even have a uh um a package to uh employment package uh W wages Etc to know that we're offering well you got that earlier today that was in that pack it was the employee agreement yeah I work a full-time job that's why I was sent early in the day I work a full-time job I haven't had time to fully evaluate all that okay well I'm not in favor of what you've motioned but anybody anybody uh hot to Second it not me in which case it dies for a lack of a second I'm move that we go ahead with it I'll second that and uh it'll be subject to conditional upon there being a successful background check your ticket for the protocol portable house Ice House not withstanding yeah um okay motion's been made and seconded all just for the the record mayor I want to make sure that we have a clear what the motion is the motion is to appoint uh this applicant to the City ad administrator uh pursuant to the contract that's part of the package subject to a background check correct okay correct I just wanted to make sure that I understood that motion thank you for clearly stating that a little more eloquently than I did yeah that's well said thank you okay so that's the motion it's been made and seconded and the record can show that Mr Miller seconded it uh all those in favor say I have discussion what have discussion is there excuse me is there discussion can you riew what the offer is do you have it on I I don't have it on my laptop no I don't know why it wouldn't be uh well let me see I can pull it out here if there's a termination with termination without cause would be a six-month Severance same as Jack's contract this was based on Jack's employment agreement salary being offered is 146 621 and like I said until until such either February 22nd or until such time as met would be severed from the County employment he'll work at 60% of the normal salary it's 60% of 147 on a on a yeah on a gradual basis yeah and again it's not being accumulated or anything for later payment like with government shutdowns you know everybody go doesn't get paid but it's all accumulated and then they get paid and careers uh four weeks vacation and recognition of his extensive career already and then norm and then the same fringe benefits that the other employees get it's pretty have I left anything consequential out Eric you have correctly stated the salary the severance as well as the benefits those are the main uh employment compensation benefit terms and the vacation four starting at four weeks yeah that's what it says in the print yes okay you are correct does that answer uh your question Brian yeah does that do it for you okay okay so we've had our discussion is there any further discussion seeing none all those in favor of the motion say I I I I opposed none heard congratulations Mr luck thank you you will be the new city administrator East bethl Minnesota thank you Mr Mayor and Council thank you for the consideration this evening I look forward to joining the organization and contributing positively so well we look forward to it too and you and uh Jack can work out when you can come in and get started on uh too bad we can't do V mind mailed with you or something but we'll try to transfer as much knowledge as quickly as possible just watch out for his coffee yeah and we'll leave it to you gentlemen to work that out wonderful and uh just I'll be mentioning it later tonight but uh the 15th which is Wednesday we have the fall town hall meeting here from 6: until 9: in the senior center right next door so if you want to attend that that might be a good chance to meet residents and talk more with the staff individually and all that good stuff okay I'll put it in so thank you very much welcome to the city of East [Music] Beth yep I will leave you this evening then for the rest of your business a good evening thank you okay we dealt with the delinquent public utility public hearing and uh next item is item 4 C which is counting right in votes for elective offices and I believe that's why M Frost is here carer Frost our administrative coordinator and the person who actually runs East Beth right there yeah I know I just say that to embarrass her that's all but uh please um so as is in your packet this item was brought up at the end of September before but there wasn't an action taken on it um it's a resolution that um essentially kind of changes the way we count or I shouldn't say the way we count the way we tally right in votes for specifically for Municipal elections um right now if a candidate registers during their candidacy uh registration time they will be on the ballot so their name gets counted no matter what however if someone is not a registered candidate and they desire desire to be considered a candidate after candidacy filing has closed they would be considered a right in candidate what is essentially this resolution boils down to is if somebody wishes to be recognized as a right in candidate they would give me a a notice one week before the election so that I know to tally their names what this comes down to uh the day after the election all of the names that are written in get counted every Popeye Donald Duck and Darth Vader I have to count the day after the election um and what this would do is we would only have with this resolution we would only be counting the names of individuals who wish to be counted so for example we have our regular s regular candidacy filing period opens and closes you have your candidates for the Mayoral race you have your candidates for the city council race those would be listed regularly on the ballot somebody voting for them would just fill in the oval next to their name but if you have somebody who has decided after the fact a random random citizen Mr Peterson has decided that after candidacy filing has closed this person wants to run a wrin campaign they would just give me a written notice 7 days in advance that they wish to have their right in votes counted if we have another random person M Johnson who her name gets written in but she's decided that she wants know part of it even though several residents have written her name in then I don't have to count those names I don't have to spend the time the next morning counting those because she has no interest in it why hasn't that been done before that's the way it's done at the state and at the county but this just this causes our Pol or our way of doing things to fall in line with how they do it at the state and County levels makes sense to me I have one question what happens to the right in votes that aren't requested in advance to be counted what happens they will still be counted I mean it's still counted as we won't have the tally readily you know it's not something that we will do just by default I don't I don't follow um so you got a bunch of Popeyes and mini mes and whatever okay and they didn't request to be counted as Wren so what happens to them uh it I mean it it counts as a vote on there but it doesn't but just as a bundle of a group of writings it's a group of Wrens group WR miscellaneous I I don't know how to clarify that the best way well I think you did yeah a little slow but I think I figured out fine I mean like I like I said I'm the staff person I'll count him if you want me to but I just want you to know count the Donald Ducks the Darth Vaders and the pop my only concern is with the stuff that we've gone through with elections the past several Cycles Cycles not in East bethl necessarily but in the larger picture I'm just naturally skeptical of anything that allows anybody with Mal intentions to divert votes or count them a different way I'm just you know I'm a little cynical I admit it so that's just where I'm coming from that's my problem my cross to bear but uh I move to uh pass resolution 2023 67 resolution for counting writing votes for elected officials office second that discussion that's option one correct correct yeah correct yeah thank you for the clarification okay motion made and seconded although those in favor say I I I opposed none hurt thank you Carri sorry to keep you here so late thank you item 4 d public hearing partial vacation of drainage and utility easement Oak Meadow Estates 4455 224th Avenue Northeast thank you Mr Mayor members of the council in uh the uh urgence of uh expedients tonight because I have a laundry list coming at the end of the meeting I'll make this one relatively quick on April 15th of 1998 and on February 13th of 2023 and March 27th of 2023 property owners in the Oak Meadow Estates requested and were granted partial easements on vacations near their property the property owners at 4455 to 24th Avenue Northeast in the Oak Meadows Estates have the same easement on their property in are requesting a partial easement vacation I'm going to spare you all the details that happened in 1975 and 1978 and let you know that um just like the previous two that you've heard and the third one that was heard in 1998 um that the city engineer and the Public Works director have reviewed the proposed vacation request and have no concerns or objections I am requesting that you hold a public hearing and consider the approval to to vacate a portion of the drainage and utility easement located at 4455 224th Avenue Northeast with the conditions set forth in attached resolution 202376150 does anybody have anything to say about this if not we'll close the public hearing and we have uh a resolution 2022766918 [Music] of drainage and utility easement at 4455 to 24th Avenue Northeast Second anybody second okay Mr D Ro seconds it discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I I opposed none heard only six more to go you guys in the neighborhood I'm sure the dominoes will keep falling oh yeah is there a way that we can is there a way we can do all these at once we can replat it for the whole neighborhood if you'd like we can ask our engineer to replat the neighborhood that would be at our expense as they come in one at a time that's at the expense of the requestor or the applicant okay but yes there is a way okay we'll suffer through it okay the item five on the agenda is the public forum and we have uh in order that they're on the list here uh I believe it's Ricky Snider am I saying that correctly oh is she gone just wait she says she no longer wishes to speak oh okay uh then the only other person on the list is Brian banson hi Brian Mr mayor council members um Brian banson 22337 Quincy frankly I was surprised that I mean the way I understand it Matt look is going to resign from the enoka County Board MH yeah okay yes yeah and in uh the the the thing related to late February is he's on the board a national board of I what it's something Insurance related or something but he represents the county on this national board and they're having a meeting in Washington on February 21st or something and so to complete his work before he hands it off he wants to attend that meeting and that's why it's that date before he can part company with them and and like I said in the interim he's working for 60% salary just as a you know give and take with the city of East bethl so I had forwarded to me by someone in East bethl an opinion that was written by the Attorney General's office on an inquiry from the inoka county sheriff about whether he could serve on serve on the inoka County Board and still take the the uh the administrator's job here and granted I only I only spent one semester at William Mitchell Eric I decided that I was probably better off set to be a carpenter than I was to be an attorney but I you may be more skilled than I as a result I know one thing I probably sleep better at night um I'm not sure how to take about you continue no it's not and it's it's not a question of guilt it's a question of I used to get some pretty good exercise but then I be then I went into management side of it um which brings up the fact that something may be well number one I I was a little disappointed that number one I didn't really get that coming out of it I I you inferred it Kevin you didn't it wasn't okay well I apologize for not being clear um we're getting a 15.4% levy increase from the I know County yeah I know 15 point 44 and the levy from the city is not nearly anything like that I think we're down in 2% yeah well we could all live in Blain that's going to be 19% this year uh I'd rather to go back to law school yeah just to clarify something uh Matt did inquire of the Attorney General's office about exactly that question could I serve cuz origin he was thinking he could do both and I I just told him I said well that's not going to be of interest to the people of East bethl in my opinion that you that's that's going to be divided loyalty all kinds of issues but he did request that opinion from the Attorney General's office and he got it two or three weeks ago that it was there was nothing in the law that precludes him from doing it but practically speaking like I'm talking about it may be a hard sell at either the county or the municipal level and I I told him unequivocally I said I'm we wouldn't be interested well thank you an interim fine but thank you for that because yeah just because something is legal doesn't mean it should be done does not mean it's right well to to in and in my opinion yeah and Matt had a very impressive interview yeah in my opinion why it might be legal to have used this as a hiring process where to me it's obvious and I think anybody that is watching and listening that the deal was this was a done deal when he came in here tonight you have implied that just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right so well appreciate you expressing your opinion that's why we have the public forum absolutely and just so everybody knows every step of the way I was working with our City attorney Eric Larson to make sure that everything was legal and I was aware that it and my original intent was to advertise it and all this kind of stuff the typical way and then I happen to run into Matt and I said well I can't I I I said it before the I said I met someone and I said I honestly can't imagine finding anyone better suited for this job I literally could not imagine a scenario in which I could find someone better suited so U I wasn't joking around so if it was if it was acceptable if he was acceptable to my colleagues then one somebody on on a Facebook page people I I would I would avoid Facebook like a hot poker but people keep my wife's on it and everybody keeps sending me stuff but oh why don't we hire a professional like he mentioned they're doing at the county level the estimate for hiring a professional consulting firm to find a city administrator in the salary range we're talking about would have cost us $35 to $45,000 you know that that's a considerable amount of money that is a lot of money yeah it is a lot of money and it's and I and it was they weren't joking it wasn't you know nut bying the sky numbers I heard similar 30 to 40 from other people so it's like well gee if we're our likelihood is like one in 20 one in 30 of finding anyone equal or better and we're going to save all that money too I mean you know if it doesn't work out there you can go back and advertise and go through all the oops and all that stuff if it doesn't work out Kevin it's on you absolutely that's that's the good news on you know who to blame well that's Fine's because because this was a you were running a oneman gang on this deal if you're telling the truth no one else knew who it was until that packet came out and it didn't come out my understanding is it didn't come out until today this morning yeah I came I was up here early this morning having Carrie scan it and all that and it's because there was enough BS frankly out there that I didn't want to provide any more material for people to make up nonsense about so and and the simple fact is Brian it doesn't take a village to hire a public administrator a city administrator it takes a city council and they and they're informed and they're elected they're accountable to the people and yeah you can all put it on me I took the lead on it I I admit it and I was very impressed when I met the person and I'm really not that easily impressed meeting people people but I said wow this really is a a well prepared person for this and I'm I'm pretty much aware of all the things we're dealing with from the water and sewer and our indebtedness and all this other stuff uh with the transportation issues and all that and I just said wow this is pretty pretty darn good fit you know and plus the person ability ability to work with other people that was key too so yeah but you're right you're right you can just point your finger right at me I mean you all know that I spent one partial and two full terms right there and I understand I'm sorry I missed that I I missed wait I sered one I served one partial term okay like Bob is serving right now and then I then I I served two fouryear terms so I have you mean on the city coun on the city council okay so I have been involved in the vetting of hiring employes at the time we had a city clerk y it was not a city administrator but I understand that you know how the how the entire process yeah goes we would vet with two people for the initial because we if we had 10 fine that's fine I get it yeah and this was a a call on my part and I admit it I'm admitting it I'm not denying it I'm admitting it to go back where I was before I was in Ed we would have two people we would have two we would have two people cut the list down to three mhm and then those three would be interviewed by the entire Council yeah so I mean it has been done before where Y where it has been people have been hired without having to do that you pointed at him Reas one of the reasons he's on the city council is because he's the only one of us with experience hiring that gentleman over there he was here when Doug got thrown out a window and they hired Jack so people forget when Jack came in there wasn't a bunch of interviews and applications and whatnot he was brought up from public works now let's get the records straight here I understand that okay people on the internet and the so-called no are saying Jack was brought up from his position as an ad assistant City administrator he was the public works supervisor if I'm not mistaken Doug cell left Dave shaft was brought in he screwed things up pretty quick so Jack was brought up because of his past experience so this hoopla of oh all these applications and this and that was denied that's crap and you know what when Kevin says he wasn't acquainted with this gentleman and I still hear that or that I was put on there because I'm his neighbor he asked me to do this after Mr Mr Harrington resigned he got appointed he knew that I had experience up here not because we're neighbors or you knew somebody it's because of the experience Brian and I wish people would you know if you want to make crap up that's fine but make make make it fact don't make it this fiction first off don't say you when you're talking to me about stuff being fabricated I don't belong to any internet sites other than and one that's a strictly a twin cam Gearhead site and a fishing site to me social media is going to be the downfall of this country okay when you started this conversation you insinuated that he was an acquaintance of Matt look so no I didn't no I right now we're in the public form no I didn't okay I are there any more facts that people want to talk about if not not maybe we could put this to a close I've had I've had my say okay well we do appreciate you being here Brian and expressing your opinions your thoughts thank you excuse me nothing to be excused for we're human beings uh with that I guess we'll close the public forum seeing as how there's no one else left on the list so we can move on move on to item six on the agenda is a consent agenda and uh make a motion to approve the consent agenda I want to p and we can pull item k for discussion since it was just added and Jack can give us a briefing on it want to pull item d uh did you say d Bob huh did you say d d d David okay D I want to pull a I have some [Applause] questions any other polls from you guys I've got my own nope okay well I also want to pull item C item e and item I and Brian you're pulling K right correct so we're going to approve the consent agenda the rest of the consent agenda correct so you need a motion to approve the sure I'm sure by the end of my term I'll have figured out how to do this but without asking you but I wouldn't keep my hopes up you're you're on the right path so you seek a motion to approve the consent agenda Brian made that I made that was there a second second second Bob D Ro second it all those in favor I iose None okay item a Jim what do you got St Jack I got page 19 on the fire department I just got a question on Ben uden $968 for meetings that was a conference for fire chief officials that they go to annually he goes to annually one of the persons from the fire department he went up there to the L and that's what that was for so that probably involves accommodations and all that stuff correct okay then on page page 20 under the fire department small tools and minor equipment hos alert I haven't seen that before $1,784 that's for the emergency notifications on these vehicles for the optic cams they'll be putting on so that's what those are so that's the purchase them is that that's correct okay okay then uh page 21 under recycling operations I guess don't really understand that cedar East bethl Lions they got $1,200 and then 419 1,200 and another 419 what what's that about $1,200 is what we pay the L Club annually because they actually operate the center during the week they come down there they help sort the cardboard the glass the containers they have their volunteers that do it the $400 is what we also paid the lines Club to they subcontract that out to the east Bethal Bandits that's for running the recycle Saturdays okay why is it twice it's it's annual I'd have to look and see but it's probably just it's the 419 is a monthly payment so they may not have had that two 1200s right the it was okay all right that's what I was just trying to figure out cuz it's like now when we recycle stuff do we get anything back from that by recycling the stuff or no we we get some back but all this is paid from our recycle Grant this isn't paid from any City general fund levies we get this from the $668,000 score Grant we get from the county all these cost are paid from that Grant okay thank you that's all I got on that one okay what I've got is uh planning Planning and Zoning what do I going to make a motion on no I'm still continuing on okay sorry about that easy easy Big Boy under Planning and Zoning ssts LLC 10,850 that is the first half payment for that traffic study that we have to pay 50% UPF front for solutions to yep okay good thank you and the other one is on payroll I know I've asked this question before and I can pretty well guess that the HR in the middle is uh HSA is health savings account but what is msrs HSA H CSP stand for please that's a municipal State retirement system and health savings account and hcsp is healthare sa healthare sa plan okay with that I move that we approve item a second motion made in second it all in favor say I I opposed none heard uh I pulled item C CU I noted I noticed that the correction including my acknowledgement on behalf of the residents of east bethl of Troy lashinsky for his extreme amount of work over the years to make sure that the firemen had good pension system uh were back in the notes where they should have been the last time we looked at them but something else came up and maybe it was in the last version but now it says October 10th notes instead of October 9th so it should be October whatever the date of the meeting was well according to the packet and according to the video it was October 9th that's correct so it should so they need they don't need to resubmit them but no we we correct the date to October 9th we can make that correction so anyway all right with that correction uh I move that we approve item C second motion made in second it all approved say I I I posos None heard Bob you pulled item d uh Planning Commission reappointments Glen Terry sir blah blah blah Tanner belany anyway they got reappointed to the commission and I had some reservations that I'd like to discuss with staff at another time I guess for right now i' I'd be okay with saying those two appointments are fine but there's a couple things that I think need to be addressed and I don't think this is the proper form to do it you a meable that eron you and Jack yeah if it's just the comments of one your just comments we can certainly go over those what's that we can certainly meet with you to go over those well I I think some of it's got to be the way the way it's done it's got to be restructured and it's got to get away from the me me me like I don't like I don't like this and that because people are not on those commissions to say what they like it's it's supposed to be representative of all the people and I think some of these meetings if if you are the chair then you get the facts out and then you move on down the road Road you don't keep beating it over and over and over and over and I think that's why some of these meetings go on so long is you hit the same points but you're hitting them over and over and over and over and I think those need to be separated out and say okay we've got the point we know the information we need now let's move on and whoever sits in the chair position and I I've been on a couple different commissions where and that's exactly what we did you deal with the fact and and it cannot be a personal and it may be hard but it can't be taken personally and you know we sit up here we got to make some decisions but it's not based necessarily on what we like but it's based on the facts that are coming before us and I think it really kind of troubles people when someone comes up to the Planning Commission and all their hearing is well I don't like that or I don't like structure this way and I don't like structures that way well that's fine that you don't like that but I think you should either keep it to yourself or just don't say anything because I think it does a disj Justice to the residents and I I think I'm not in charge of the Planning Commission so it's not my situation there you know it takes on for the city council you are the Lis on so yeah but not the supervisor that's eron's over the planning if he could talk to them or if they watch this meeting that'd be great and you know that being said I I you know Tanner's on there Tanner's got a lot of knowledge he really does you got a lot of history and one thing that people got to realize when Commissioners are gone you lose all that knowledge so now you bring in new people that know absolutely nothing and you can wind up with a worst situation but it was kind of like when may was talking you know if you tweak it here or tweak it there I think it'd be just fine that being said I'll approve the appointments well I I just I didn't appreciate it very much on February 27th 2023 when three members of the Planning Commission showed up here and two of them spoke to us over something as simple as and and they were seemed outraged and they Tanner himself said it was ridiculous what we were proposing what what we were proposing was that a word that's used often in our city code resident actually be defined I just happen to look in the definitions and nowhere in the city code did it Define the word resident you have to be a resident to be on the city council you have to be a resident to be on the commissions or authorities all we were doing was using the state approved definition for the term resident and these people act like we murdered their dog I mean it's like it was ridiculous and in fact I'll turn his words back on him that's what he said to us I thought his behavior was ridiculous I wasn't I didn't enjoy it forget about enjoying it I didn't respect it one bit and for that reason I was I was not inclined to agree with Bob but I've come around because I've had a lot of people give me Second Chances in life when I misbehave so I guess I'm inclined to do the same with others but uh I I honestly my personal opinion is that uh such a person who clearly was the chair at the time and led the contingent that showed up here and gave us a dressing down as if we were doing something wrong does in my opinion does not deserve to be the chairman anymore and I would hope that the Planning Commission would have Sharon Johnson be the chairman henceforth that's my personal opinion with that um I'll move to uh approve or to Second your motion I guess would be I agree with what Kevin said though too just the way that was handled I would definitely be in favor of Sharon Johnson as the chairman yeah that's my opinion and it's up to the Planning Commission they approve their own chairman but uh I would at least listen to what the city council is saying anyway any further discussion of the matter if not motions made and seconded to approve the appointment or reappointment of Tanner balony and Glen Terry to the Planning Commission all those in favor say I I I opposed none heard state election funds agreement it's pretty simple question what is the basis for allocation of these funds because it says 67,000 and change goes to the county out of which we're supposed to get 1,163 our population at about 12,300 is about 3.24% of the County population of 370,000 so if it's if it's it's not based on population because that way it would be 3.24% of the 67,000 instead it's 1.73% almost half so M Frost will are turning will clarify things for us what is the basis for the I believe it's based on the percentage of registered voters percentage of registered voters okay well that would be different than the total population thank you yep and that's my only question okay thank you okay so with that with that clear explanation I move the way approve item e on the consent agenda second motion made in second it all in favor say I I opposed none heard I pulled item I just because I was the pain in the neck that wanted to look at the uh alternative amortization for the Metropolitan Council uh Reserve capacity loan and it's good that we did that we we looked at a different amortization schedule just like with a mortgage you look at a 15-year mortgage can we afford it we look at a 25e mortgage whatever you know lower payments but accumulates more interest you know and it's good that we did that quick analysis but based on Mike's uh considered opinion and I value his opinion a great deal um we're just going to go with the 10e ization and that way it's it's uh consistent the least interest acral and it's only $100,000 difference per year anyway so but I'm I'm glad we went through the through the exercise Mike but I I just defer to your opinion on it so with that that's just explanation with that I move that we approve item I second I just made seconded I just got one question on it for discussion um Jack back are we locked into this or say can in 5 years can we change we can if if conditions change we can renegotiate or we can pay it off okay all right thank you okay uh all those in favor I I opposed none heard Mr mongle the floor is yours for the Ice Arena scoreboard I just pulled this so Jack can give a a brief uh introduction to it and tell us what it's all about in the memo that I sent out earlier today it's an issue we've had with the scoreboard that scoreboard was installed in 1996 it's a solid state electronic unit it operates in a very harsh and unforgiving environment of extreme temperatures humidity and condensation issues and as a result this thing is uh had issues that are Beyond repair it happened a year earlier than we had budgeted for replacement and uh we've had lots of complaints with parents to solve the problem temporarily Nate has gone in there with our crews we've rotated the scoreboard so it's visible from The Players Bench and the coach's side from the West End but it's not visible from the bleacher side so there's an issue that this does need to be replaced if we're going to replace it this year we actually need to go ahead and place that order now because it's going to take some time in January for it to come in and get any use out of it and try to mitigate some of the concerns of the parents of the St Francis utake Association and the high school team this would be a benefit to them and we do have the funds to do that and uh we won't be endangering our cushion that we have for our emergency repair funds we can accumulate these funds with the payments that we get from Ice rentals through the end of the year we should be back up around our $100,000 minimum that we need to keep in there for emergency repairs so we're hoping to have this installed in January that's correct okay all right I'm sure Nate you'll give us a update on it as to when it comes in and when it's solv one other thing about this too is that in our conversations with the Youth Hockey Association on this being a project for next year we discuss ways to increase their advertising Revenue to help pay this back these scoreboards will have the capacity to have ads placed on them uh also too we talked about some other fundraisers and we may even have to look at the potential for examining our ice rate charges again too for the next year so uh we are going to be in okay Financial shape if we do this but uh we'll have to look at some M other sources of revenue to help us get this fund replenished faster that it that it that way we have a resolution or something to do I had some questions but we got to get to that part we we just you just need to authorize we we can approve this just for the minutes so if you approve us purchasing the scoreboard with that then it'll be okay well I'll make the motion that we approve it can we get a second second discussion Bob yeah uh couple questions how the heck can a locker room clock cost $725 are these things digital or what I mean is is there some explanation they gave you for that uh good evening mayor and council members the the locker room clock would correspond with the main clock it would be back in the back room so that the team can tell when it's the period intermission period's over that's not included in what we're buying that we that's not that was an option that's was one of the things ah had on there but that's not included what we're purchasing yeah I don't know why it's that much money either it's a digital clock clock's a clock yeah it's it's because it's synced with the main clock over the rink so the teams will know how much time they have left to come back on the ice but we're not that's not included with what we're proposing electronic team names of setup 4 9715 that's another option that we're not including with this one that would be on top of this price well don't doesn't that come with a control board where you can type in and then it'll put the stuff up on the the team names are that you you'd have to spend another $10,000 to get those team names at it so the one we're that we're proposing does not have that the one we're proposing is from a Electronics um and the uh only the thing that's crossed out on that is number three so the rest of that material would or items would be on there okay what's canvas floor artwork so on the bottom of the uh scoreboard and in the picture there you can kind of see it um underneath the uh scoreboard is a big panel and we could have that be whatever we want it could be um the city logo it could be the it could be it could be uh if somebody wanted to sponsor the rink it could be their logo up there to create some more fun like a sandill [Laughter] cray okay I was looking at still a pretty good price H okay so the so the number we're talking about is is the net net number the net number from Aim is [Applause] okay we we have been working with the utake association we have a great relationship with them and doing some fundraisers they've contributed some funds over the past two years to some improvements in the arena and we want to continue working with them on that for future improvements when I went over this I had just one question you gave a very uh good explanation of how we wound up owning an ice arena a couple of months ago my question is very simple why why are we still in the business of owning an ice arena we're a government not a business you know and that just that just perplexes Me Maybe I need retraining or something I think the short answer to that is no business wants to get in the business that's kind of what I thought the answer would be yeah well well what how do I say thought sound of mean what benefits what benefit the East be kids have for skating when you've got St Francis the high school and whoever come in there and they pretty much dominate their rank so when when do East bethl kids get time out there or do they or put another way have we ever considered opening it for public skating off times we have and we have periods during the week Unfortunately they don't correspond with the prime last time rent end up with one person skating well you know when you have the skating that's open from 3:00 to 5: on Wednesday afternoon you're not going to attract too many people but we can't afford to give the prime ice time away because we need that Revenue to run the arena to answer your question Bob we have the outdoor rink which is available for skating all the time indoors as long as we're going to run it and cash flow it we're going to have to sell that Prime ice time to the high school or the Hockey Association I've had Parents ask me saying well why are we paying for this and my kids can't even use it well and and again These funds are generated from user fees they're not tax dollars at least for the operation of it now that covers some of the depreciation but not all of it but it does cover the operational cost of the Arena well did it cover when um Mr strandon came in and secured the walls because they had some crumbling problems in the new Zamboni and new fla we cover that or St Francis no that all user fees and all covered from user fees so the hockey families in the high school are paying for it basically all right got to ask and like M said we got a grant for the zambon has Grant okay special Zamboni Grant um any further discussion all those in favor of approving the expenditure to get a new scoreboard for the is Serena say I I I opposed none heard thank you than state that brings us down to new business variance application reconsideration see you Carrie see you Mike thanks a lot for your time thanks for coming in you too Nate thank you as promised Mr Mayor members of the council here's the law you're still stuck here sorry yeah that's all right not a problem uh you are familiar with uh the variance request for the property in Oak Grove uh at the October 9th 2023 council meeting a Planning Commission recommendation to deny the variance request was approved unanimously by the city council however the applicant immediately requested a decision be made in order for him to apply for a variance for a front lot line reduction for one access point uh It ultimately is the council's decision however counc 's wishes were to send it back to the Planning Commission for a recommendation on whether the variance request should the applicant should be allowed to reapply on the October 24th 2023 Planning Commission meeting a discussion for the reconsideration request and a unanimous recommendation that the city council deny the applicants request to allow for a reapplication for a front lot line reduction for a period of one year beginning October 9th 2023 the date of the first denial that is the planning commission's recommendation I'm requesting that the city council consider that recommendation and direct staff on how to inform the applicant of the council's final reconsideration decision well my decision is kind of the same as it was the first time around and after listening to the residents and the gentleman himself saying that he he couldn't say if he was going to split it off into two after there was one entrance but there was two properties and he couldn't say whether he was going to not do that or not and I guess after listening to the concern of the residents in East bethl I don't see any benefit so do you you want to make a motion I move that we deny it second motion is made by Mr D Roan seconded by Mr Smith that we deny the request for reconsideration of the variants any further discussion I just want to say that I think the residents spoke loud and clear in what they wanted and this doesn't benefit East bethl at all so that's the reason from why I say a deny and the Planning Commission considered the matter very thoroughly so and I I commend them for doing that well they thanked us for sending it down to them yeah that's cool that's what they're there for see it's not all whining on our part all right uh motion made and seconded discussion all those in favor say I I I opposed none heard item 7 A2 use variance request 1311 229 fa Northeast right Mr Berg that is me again Mr Mayor uh at the September 11th 2023 city council meeting the potential expansion of a legal non-conforming business was presented to the city council who gave a positive informal recommendation for staff to work with the property owner to seek formal approval of the business expansion um the item was brought in front of the Planning Commission on October 24th 2023 where a public hearing was held there was discussion of the request and a made a facts of findings regarding the request along with a recommendation of approval from of a variance a use variance by the Planning Commission the findings of fact have been identified there in items one two and three for your review uh the city council should review the request consider the planning commission's formal recommendation and approve the variance the use variance with conditions presented in resolution 20 23- 72 and I can answer any questions based on that quick summary well we have covered this previously in good detail so make a motion to approve the variance with conditions as presented in resolution 20237 to so that would be a approval of that resolution do you have a second second second motion made seconded any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I opposed none heard item 7 A3 preliminary plat strandin [Music] Farm thank you just the center yeah I've got to get this set here so we can uh have all the facts for this one this one's going to take me a little longer no summary here but you did hear the concept plan uh back in July uh 25th 2023 for a 21 lot rural residential subdivision known as strandin Farm uh that was presented to the Planning Commission uh after a public hearing was held uh the Planning Commission made recommendations and the developer made revisions presented in the original concept plan to the city council on August 14th for some feedback on October 10th of 2023 the developer submitted an application for a preliminary plat of the strandin farm subdivision the plat consists of 20 buildable single family rural residential lots on 73.9 Acres of the proposed Lots one lot meets the minimum 2 acre uh standard the rest of the lots are above the 2 acre minimum the average lot size in the proposed plat is 3.27 Acres therefore all Lots meet city code requirements uh Street access again just in summary is uh off of Luan drive or Anoka County Highway 74 by the creation of a new extension of 219th I will scroll through here to find an image uh as uh uh Luan drive or Highway 74 is in enoka County Highway the enoka County highway department was sent the preliminary plat for a review a comment letter was received on October 19th of 2023 and is attached for review any and all comments from the enoka County highway department engineer will need to be satisfactorily addressed by the developer prior to the release or filing of a final plat the public works department for the city of East bethl reviewed the plat and are in support of the subdivision as proposed with the recommendation of removal of the gravel called to sack on 219 the existing one and make it a full connection to the platted New Road uh the city engineer submitted comments on November 7th of 2023 and are included as attachment for again just like the county the developer will need to satisfact address any comments prior to filing of a final plat from the city engineer the fire department comments regarding culdesac radius identified in the concept plan have been satisfactory addressed the building department still has no comment in the preliminary plat stage as there's no uh proposed Homes at this point the Parks Commission reviewed the concept plan in August 8th and uh will review it again um at the November 14th meeting which is tomorrow night uh my assumption is from the previous concept plan the standard City uh cash in Li of land will be the um determination but we'll find that out for sure tomorrow but that must be taken care of prior to final plat and October 24th the Planning Commission held a public hearing where two residents spoke they were immediate Neighbors on 219th and expressed concerns related to the road connection water runoff soil testing and the creation of a potential burm after a review of the preliminary plat the Planning Commission by a 4 to zero recommendation 4 to zero vote recommended to the city council approval of the preliminary plat Council should review this request consider the count the planning commission's formal recommendation and approve the preliminary plat of strandin farm as presented with the conditions in resolution 20237 the developer is here if there are any questions make a motion to approve the plary plat of stratland farm as presented with conditions identified resolution is that 20 23- 72 or three two I think it's three yeah I think it's 32 Aaron let me scroll let me find my resolution here in the packet here the staff information is wrong it should be 2023 73 okay I yep make a correction to my motion then 20 23- 73 okay great so we have a motion second motion seconded by Mr D Ro any further discussion all those in favor say I I opposed No Agenda item 7 A4 preliminary plat classic commercial park fifth edition thanks again Mr Mayor members of the council in November of 2019 TNG land Incorporated filed a final plat for the solder commercial park fourth edition which included a 20 acre outlot for future development in January of 2020 CN D properties North LLC purchased the outlaw property cnd's North LLC has submitted a preliminary plot known as the classic commercial park fifth edition application to divide that existing Outlaw into three individual Parcels the plat consists of two commercial parcels and an additional outlot staff have reviewed the submission along with the solder commercial park fourth edition plat details and offer the following comments a commercial site plan must be reviewed and approved prior to the issuance of any building permits uh requiring submitt of plans include but are not limited to grading drainage architectural Landscaping lighting storm water and utility plans basically all the requirements of a commercial job site utilities will be this these Lots will be served by Municipal sewer and water all fees associated with Municipal services are required to be paid prior to the issuance of any building permits Park dedication cash in Li of land will be collected prior to the issuance of any building permits required Park fees will reflect the most current fee schedule at the time the building permit is issued based on the um plat that was filed uh in 2019 um the Planning Commission on October 4th of 2023 held a public hearing and recommend approval of the preliminary plat for classic commercial park fifth edition the city council should review the preliminary plat request consider the planning commission's formal recommendation and approve the preliminary plot as presented in resolution 20 23- 74 one quick question when the park fees are calculated is that based on the property being marked to Market current it's based on the raw land value right now now yep Mar the Mark Prior to uh yeah 2019 correct yes the current fee schedule yeah okay I'll make a motion to approve the preliminary plat resolution 2023 d74 second that motion made and seconded do we have any further discussion if not all those in favor of approving resolution number 22374 say I I I opposed none heard Aaron again I won't bore you all with all of those great details all over again uh because this was a pre-planted Outlaw and all of the other conditions have been met uh and the requirement of all those other items prior to any building permits we're going to go ahead and offer up the uh final plat as well there are no changes between the preliminary plat and the final plat um so the Planning Commission also reviewed the final plat on October 24th and made a recommendation to approve the final plat for classic commercial park fifth edition city council should review the final plat request consider the planning commission's formal recommendation and approve the final plat as presented in resolution 20237 I'll make a motion to approve fin plat resolution further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I opposed none heard so what are you going to do with the rest of your evening ER well I'll sit out the rest of this there's only a few minutes yeah you're going to gut it out yeah okay see the next item on the agenda is 8 G1 Sunrise River Water Management organization joint Powers agreement Amendment and I'll take the short version on these These are items that we've discussed several times in the past uh on the first one the amended joint Powers agreement the city of hamlake approved the sunrise River Water Management organization amended jpa agreement at their October 2nd 2023 meeting this concludes a year of discussions with Ham Lake regarding their consideration to leave the wmo and finalizes their decisions remain as a member the Amendments proposed to the jpa are mainly referencing conditions and requirements to State statutes which govern the operation of the wmo these type of changes ensure that the jpa is not static and stays current with legislative changes the main procedural amendments were to determine the number of member votes required to approve the annual srwo budget and the fact that one city council member from each municipality will be required to be appointed to the board with this staff recommends approval of Rec of resolution [Music] 2023-the resolution 2023 d80 I'll second it so motions made in second and any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I opposed none heard and uh glad you guys got that done whoever did the heavy water lifting on that one glad to glad to see it worked out and the sunrise River budget is that an action item that's an action item too that's to approve the 2024 Sunrise River Water Management organization budget which is presented as attachment one in your packet staff recommend city council consider approval of the sunrise River wmo draft 2024 budget as exhibit in attachment one see where is's attachment one here 16 it's like middle of the page 163 yeah 163 and four oops okay so it's long attachment one [Laughter] correct holy smokes and that budget proposed for 2024 is $ 47,1 186 and the three-year average of the previous budgets in this were $4,190 so there was a little increase in cost there is a cap on those now currently at 50,00 000 also under the new formula for approving budgets that were in the jpa uh it only takes a majority votes to approve it if the budget increases by no more than 10% so I'd make a motion to approve the proposed budget for the sunrise River watershed management organization for 2024 uh the total budget 47,1 186 with East Beth's portion of it being 13,4 56 second I a couple questions motion made and seconded until we have a discussion Bob yeah how are these percentages figured out on the top uh lywood 47% a Bethel 30 Columbus 19 and Ham Lake 4% is that on water that it's a ratio the old formula was a ratio of acres in the Watershed to market value the new ratio that was discussed was public Waters and public lands is a ratio to acres in the Watershed but what we decideed to do is market value really has no influence on this we'll just take an average of What the last 5 years were this will be the percentage of assigned to each one to cover those operating cost of this Bud nonoperating cost nonoperating cost y so that pration method seemed good to you guys huh yes yeah that it'll be a more consistent yeah method that way as well because um don't have to do all the calculations every year that you pretty much know where we're going to fall okay any further discussion hearing none all those in favor of approving the budget i i i i opposed none heard so that brings us down to staff reports and Council reports I remembered it this time here I have nothing I nothing to add from the staff level Council report um Mr Smith and I had a very exciting time touring the sewage treatment plant and water plant for East bethl uh with a member of the staff of the Metropolitan Council and Ned and uh of course the staff working for the Met council at the sewage treatment plant it was informative we're glad we did it and I recommend it to you other chaps who want to in the coming year so and it gives us a good idea of how on top of his game Mr Ashford is because he's pretty sure he is a very sharp young man uh also wanted to mention that uh Wednesday night 6: to 9 is the fall town hall meeting being held in the Senior Center next door and uh invite everybody to come to that oh and also Jim and I and Tim Miller attended the grand opening or Ribbon cutting for Nexus psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility over on 189th and we wish them well anything else I have two updates uh attend the sunrise River wo meeting uh a couple items uh some good news on where they asked for additional monies for iring out the jpa agreements for the attorneys they came in under budget on that a total of $439 so East bethl would be getting $19.75 back and that the question was do we want to have a check back or do we want to have it as a credit against next year's budget payment or they there is some a little bit more work to do with the bylaws very little that that monies could be applied towards that we we also owe an additional $323 which I would recommend we apply that credit to that payment have them send us an invoice and us pay that amount and we're all squared up okay your recommendation sounds reasonable to me yep y uh there was there will be a boundary change between the sunrise River and Creek Water District uh some very small changes right around Lake um uh Board of Water and Soil resources is noticing that or publicly noticing the boundary change on November 3rd and November 10th in local newspapers anyone can request a hearing by Bowser before November 30th if no public hearing is requested Bowser will make a decision on the boundary change within 30 days so that that announcement um October 26 I attended the Highway 65 Coalition meeting and lots of notes on that let's see so uh addressing the Highway 65 update plans as far as Bunker Lake South to Highway 10 uh Section 1 81st to Highway 10 uh they are doing a funding request for preliminary engineering uh there's still a lot to work a lot of work to do on that this is very early stages they did have some plans in place but they need to rework some of that preliminary stuff apparently uh section 2 which is 93rd Avenue to 117th that's the section that will be starting first uh they figure that they'll have uh plans and specs ready to be bid out for and I believe uh completion no specs spit out by late 2025 early 26 so that a bid can be released by that time to start bidding and then after that work would commence on that relatively soon uh section three it's essentially uh Bunker Lake Boulevard uh they are starting to develop a concept plan for that with some sort of great separated intersection let's see the mill overlay will start out here in 65 Spring 2024 18 miles um the can already see that uh a lot of work is being done with uh uh switch lanes bypass Lanes um and they will also be replacing the Box Culver Culvert south of Viking um that they hope to do that yet this fall um before they start the over relay in the spring so that's all I got thank you well we had a little action on Lake last weekend neighborhood uh was actually a strong arm robberry was off a elm somebody walked up to a door showed a gun there was five participants uh they had a laptop some other stuff out of the house and then they had gotten another home I haven't got the actual police report I just talked to the people that got robbed so it's moving up here I don't think we've had anything like that happen the whole time I've been here where wise don't keep your car openers in your vehicles they break the window take your garage door opener out and then they grab your insurance card so that they have the address and then they just come back when they want so if you keep your garage door open on your vehicle you might want to think twice uh lake is still looking good still got the dock out I we have to get out one these days but these are looking good lake is down it's probably down a couple feet it's looking pretty sad so we're hoping for lot of snow lot of snow so I got you know like Kevin said town hall meeting on Thursday night 6 o' you know there's some way we could do that and hook up with n and have people bring some kind of a food item throw it in a bag and donate it to nce I don't know if that's allowable or not well I can throw it out it's Prett late that's do we know did we ever did did we did you ever find out what's the story with the uh East bethl bulletin cuz I checked by mailbox it still wasn't there today it was an issue with the mailing list when we switched the printers that they didn't either they misplaced it and we had to resend that to them so uh that was the issue with the leness of the delivery of the newsletter okay do we think we're going to get it in time to advertise your event of the 27th your recognition event of the 27th what recognition event would you open a can of worms or no no surprise you haven't been told about this by now no I just mentioned it earlier in the meeting I was concentrating on something else probably I think Jack was out of the room at that time yeah I I was just making it up anyway never mind Jack conversation well and you got anything else I can step on yeah I'm good I got one thing I remember during negotiations with next I believe that they had said that once they're ready to operate or whatever that they have a monthly meeting I don't know if you guys remember that I do and they said that they'd like or we have an option for one of the council people to go to that and attend to that can we check on that to see how that schedule will be and then we can either vote on whoever we want there or we can take turns off we going switch off yeah or we we can't expect you to take the San Hill Crane and Nexus really got to adjust my schedule for San Hill crane keeps getting in the way I know but yeah if you could do that I'd appreciate it thank you that's all I got uh Jim and I spent some time with Chief SOS uh last week going over the complete budget from top to bottom the whole goal was to identify the the true wants the true needs and get a better understanding of how their budget operated how they were spending money and long-term goal of getting the guys actually more money per hour uh so we'll be working on that you know in the near future uh got a great understanding of a lot of the things on their budget we didn't understand or I didn't understand personally um and they're going to be adjusting the budget to make it more clear or clearer for us to understand for future you know observation we're still going to probably do adjusting before we had have it by December 11th MH so we'll keep did you repeat that I couldn't hear that I'm sorry December 11th we have to have actual budget numbers so that we'll probably be looking at that fire department we'll bring it back and let you guys know what we come up with okay so is is Mike included in that process yes yeah okay yeah that's it that being said I when we adjourn second motion made and seconded to adjourn all those