You got a cramp, too? >> You know what? I'm going to walk through I'm going to hit the mics. like to call the uh November 13, 2025 town hall meeting to order. >> Make a motion to adopt agenda. >> Second. >> Have a motion second. All in favor? I >> I >> Okay. Um, I'd like to say thanks to all the residents that have showed up and showed their commitment to the city for being here. That's great. And also, I'd like to thank staff for showing up. I like your commitment, too, along with our vendors and display people. It's great, Miss Peggy Scott, too. So, with that, uh, elected official, you got anything to say, Peg? Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. It's a pleasure to be here and um as you know, we're not in session right now, so everybody can, you know, breathe a big sigh of relief at this moment. But um um I kne I do know that the bonding committee was here today to hear about the um bonding project uh the bill that I have. I was unable to be here. I was coming back from out of town and came directly here getting back into town. But I hear it went well. um that um uh uh city administrator Matt Look made a nice presentation and um I think his display of of the the water that these kids are drinking is is made an impression. So, um just wanted to make myself available to any of the citizens out there and to you folks as well. Um that's best part of my job is helping constituents. So, if there's something that's on somebody's mind, please don't hesitate to to reach out. And um you know, it was a tough summer. Um we lost some colleagues and um so everybody's still just kind of getting settled back in, so to speak, from that. And um so, but the bonding tours are going on, which is good. And this year will be a bonding year. So, we're hoping to um have a very uh a bonding bill that really focuses on um infrastructure and and those sorts of things that that are definitely things that government should cover. So, um with that, thank you. And I can take questions from the council if you if you have any. >> All right. >> Any questions from the public? Hearing none. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you for coming. >> Thanks, buddy. >> Okay. At this time, we'll take uh any uh questions or speaking speak into the mic there. Sorry, I'm an Oak Grove resident here, so I'm a little out of my area. Um, my name is Nikki Cruz Dy and I am a member of of I guess the leader whatever of ISD15 community action and I have seen a need in our community um for to replace the blue food bags that were provided for weekend food assistance for people in our area who needed that little extra help. So, NACE lost federal funding for that backpack program this year and is no longer able to send those backpacks home with um our kids who are experiencing experiencing that need. So, like a week and a half ago, I decided it's time to do something. So, our community came together and uh we are running a pilot program at Cedar Creek that is going to be an ongoing food donation program um where we're going to just we're just going to fill that need. We're going to fill bags of food and we're going to send food home with kids um if their family is is needing it. This is also open to any of the community. If anybody in the community needs um food resources, you can contact me. My way to contact me is on our flyer and I'll have that ready for you and arrange pickup. Um, if you want to make any donations, um, they can be dropped off in the entryway of the Cedar Creek Elementary building. Um, again, hoping to expand it to all the elementary schools. Um, but we need more volunteers to make that happen. I'm just one person. So, um, keep that in mind for the future. But this is going to be an ongoing program hopefully maybe even covered into the summer. Um, does anyone have any questions about that? I have extra flyers if anybody wants to put it up at their business. Yeah, >> I see you have a list of items just for the public record. We got some of those >> uh things. We are collecting non-p perishable unexpired um things like canned fruit and veggies, canned meats, boxed meals, rice, potatoes, dry cereals or dry boxed milk, peanut butter and jelly, boxed pasta meals, and soup variet varieties. We're also collecting personal care items like toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, menstrual products, things like that that people need. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. I'd like you to to invite you to put a flyer out on a bulletin board out there. >> Okay, we'll do that. Thank you. >> Yeah. And uh can we get your information to Mr. Look and have it put on our website and if we can also make a posting on our Facebook page >> for sure. Yeah. Thank you. >> Well, thank you. Thank you for doing the work. >> Happy happy to be able to make a difference in the community. So >> good. Thank you very much. Anybody else want to come up and questions or voice opinion or I prepared some remarks. Don't worry, they're in 14 point types, so they're actually brief. Equal treatment under the law. It's a foundational principle of America and should be for our city of East Bethl, too. Goals are not always realized, but they should be pursued nonetheless. When three new members joined the city council in 2022 2023, we shared a vision of moving our city closer to that objective by reducing the corruption of favoritism shown to some residents at the expense of others. Consistent with this, the current city council has proposed to end the free ride the Mundle family business has had in occupying space in the Whispering Aspen Community Center as their business offices at no expense for the past 21 years, offering them the option of staying there at a modest rent of $300 a month, which includes their share of utilities. This is a reasonable approach and if rejected, eviction is a reasonable response by the city. The irony in this is that while the total value of reasonable rent and other expenses over those 21 years might have totaled at most $75,000, the much greater favoritism shown the same business as part of others was the $2 million spent running the forest main sewer line from Viking Boulevard to 241st Avenue, which enabled them to greatly increase the number of homes they could build and sell on the 20 or So acres they previously bought from the city versus what would have been possible if each home had to have a private septic system. It is true that the Mundle family has been in East Bethl for a long time, but equal treatment under the law means that that doesn't matter. It is not grounds for receiving preferential treatment, especially when that preferential treatment comes at the direct expense of other East Bethl residents. The municipal water sewer system approved by the East Bethl City Council in the fall of 2010 against the clearly stated wishes of the residents and only benefiting a handful of property owners along Highway 65, including the Mundles. Well, this next year cost East Bethl residents about $1.2 million. That's about 16% of the 2026 budget. And these costs continue until 2040. At present, East Bethl has about 4,900 property taxpaying properties. So regardless of a particular property's value, it is correct to say that 16% of the East Bethl portion of its property tax payable in 2026 represents its share of the subsidy paid for those few people who directly benefited in terms of their development businesses from the water sewer project. In my wife's in my case, as 30-year residences residents of East Bethl, this amounts to about $275 for our modest home. Doesn't really seem like equal treatment under the law, does it? The goal of ending such corruption remains a valid one. Final points. Has a personnel committee met since July 2025 to oversee six sigma or similar staff evaluations and especially to oversee any changes to personnel and/or administrators contract for 2026? If not, why not? This due diligence should have begun in begun in August at the latest. Administrator, look, didn't want you to be excluded. I called you on October 9th at 11:23 a.m. to get an update on a problem property in our neighborhood, and you returned my call at 5:37 p.m. that evening and said you would call me the next morning. This evening marks 35 days since that call, and have not heard a word from you. I recommend better responsiveness to East Bethl residents, including even those of us who can no longer be of use to you. Finally, I wonder how many people are watching this on YouTube or Midco at this moment. Given the turnout, I doubt it's an enormous number. For recent council meetings, the uh number on YouTube has been about 5 to 10 viewers. out of a city of about 12,300 people or so. Thomas Jefferson famously said, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." A coralary of that quote is, "People tend to get the government they deserve." Citizenship in a democratic republic like the US comes with an obligation to help preserve it and improve it. I encourage more East Bethl residents to pay attention to and get involved in how their city is run. Thank you for your time and thank you for your service to our community. >> Thank you, Mr. Lewis. Anybody else want to speak opinion? Anybody on council want to say anything? >> Well, I'll say something. Um, I was at a Anoka County Blaine airport meeting yesterday and there is a subcommittee that is organizing a festival for the airport and trying to engage community involvement. And guess what? We're looking for volunteers, too. So, I just thought I'd put that out there. Okay, nothing further. I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Make a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. All those in favor? >> I >> I again, thank you all. >> You could still go have some more cookies. Yes. >> Take some home.