The grants are few and far between. Um we the money that we would be using to soft sell it would be the cash that we have on hand. So we'd probably want to hold that and make those payments with it. Um so we we'll come up with a financial strategy. >> Okay. >> So the grants for vehicles are very difficult to get. Um they they are out there, but they're very difficult to get. There's no way we would meet any of these time frames. um we'd be looking at spending more and the chances of getting them are very low, but they are out there. >> Yeah. I was just thinking if we applied, we wouldn't I realize we wouldn't have time to do it now, but maybe we get it in a year or two from now and we could put a big chunk of money down on it. That was my train of thought anyway. >> We can see if that's something we can do. I'm not positive that that's possible after a purchase has been agreed to. Okay, that's what I was wondering. >> Thanks, J. All right, this time we'll close the work session. All right. >> He's open. How you doing? >> Feel incredibly safe for some reason. >> Yep. Max. Yep. Okay. At this time, we'll call the March 23rd, 2026 uh council regular meeting to order. All rise if you can for the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America and to the stands, one nation, indivisible with all. Make a motion to adopt tonight's agenda as presented. Second. There is a supplemental bill list. Yep. >> Uh introduce that as item J on the consent. >> Okay. We have a motion. >> Second. >> Motion. Second. All in favor? I >> Okay. No county sheriffs. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh, in February, we responded to a total of 367 calls for service. We responded to eight assaults, three theft reports, and two damage to property calls. We made a total of 17 arrests, and 117 traffic stops were conducted on our city streets, which resulted in 14 traffic citations. Um, we had a few notable calls, one of which occurred on the 3rd of February, 26. Deputy Grover took a phone call fraud report. I know we talked about this last month. The reporting party advised that she had responded to a Facebook advertisement offering free puppies for seniors. The ad claimed to be posted by an individual in Carlton, Minnesota, who stated she was a licensed dog breeder. After selecting a puppy, the reporting party was told she needed to pay $200 for vaccinations and paperwork. The reporting party paid this amount using Apple gift cards, but after the payment, the seller demanded an additional $500 delivery fee along with $150 crate, promising partial reimbursement upon delivery. The reporting party refused this and asked for a money back, but was not given uh those funds were not returned, excuse me. The resident provided screenshots and photos for documentation for our deputy, and an online search did confirm that no such business existed. the situation was determined to be fraud and the investigation into this is still ongoing. So, like we had touched on last month. We're getting a lot of those phone call reports throughout our our daily rotations. On the 11th of February at 2:31 a.m., Deputy Johnson was conducting surveillance at our residence near Sims Road. A vehicle associated with the address left the property and was stopped for an equipment violation. Deputy Johnson approached the car and noted that it was occupied by three individuals. A records check revealed that the front passenger had an active warrant out of Anoka County for fraud. The passenger was advised of the warrant and told that they were under arrest. Passenger was arrested without incident and transported to jail and booked on that warrant. And then finally, on the 25th of February at 11:21 a.m., deputies responded to a reported burglary at a business on Sims Road Northeast. An employee discovered that the power to the store's signage, cash register, and camera system was cut and was off. The cash register had been left open the previous night showed no signs of tampering. While checking the property, the employee found that the rear door had been forcibly opened. Our staff observed damage to the door frame which indicated a tool had been used to pry that door open. Deputies observed damage um excuse me, no suspects were located inside after clearing it and no missing items were immediately identified. Uh the business camera systems had been off as I'd mentioned with the last recorded motion occurring the previous evening. So uh the deputies found surveillance surveillance footage from a neighboring property which showed an an unidentified individual walking around the business multiple times during the night. So uh deputies were unable to gain a physical description of the suspect and that result the result of this case is that it's inactive pending further suspect information. So, just as a passing note for anybody, if you see anything suspicious, especially as the weather warms up, please let us know. Call 911. Uh we'll send somebody out to take a look and see if we can find any of that evidence, that actionable intelligence that we can use to to forward these investigations. >> Any questions? Anything you'd like me to clarify or address? >> Any questions for the audience? We'll get right to it. Then I brought the stars of the show with me off to my right here. So, um, I told each and every one of them, I said, "Make sure that you have a 10-minute speech, you know, so that you can really dive into your, uh, dive into your history and and tell council and and everyone that's that's with us tonight. Um, how excited you are to be here and all those things." So, but but seriously, um, we'll just call everybody up one at a time. and I told them it's a little bit more fun, a little bit more organic and dynamic if we can come up and I, you know, um, introduce yourselves and say something about about why you enjoy working for the city. So, we're doing it new this year. We're going to start junior deputy first. So, Deputy Kurchin, come on up. >> All right. Good evening. My name is Deputy Kurchin. I've been with the uh the sheriff's office for about two years now. I started off as a cso back in early 2024 and then moved into a deputy position uh last May. So, we're coming up on a year here on patrol. I did my first five or six months over in Oak Grove and then uh most recently now in East Bethl since December of last year. Um prior to being being with the sheriff's office, I was uh in the Minnesota Army National Guard for six years. I worked as a a supply specialist. Um, grew up right down the road in Ramsey, so pretty familiar with the area. Yeah, I've been enjoying my time here in East Bethl. >> Deputy Tyler Borgus. >> Greetings, council. My name is Tyler Borguson. Uh, I've been with the sheriff's office for five years now. Uh my first year I worked at the jail. So this will be start of my fourth year on patrol. I've been the East Bethl Power Car. This will be my third year now um as the East Bethl Power Car. Um and I've enjoy working for the city. I enjoy working for the citizens. Um it's a good good group of people up here and I like talking with them and engaging with the clientele. And something interesting about me would be my wife and I's retirement plan is to sell everything that we own and then buy a yacht and then sail the Caribbean for the rest of our lives. >> Deputy Matt Madson. >> Yes, I am Deputy Matt Madson. Uh I've been with Anoka County for uh 12 years now since 2014. I was in the jail for the first three. Uh got promoted to patrol in 2017. Um spent the bulk of my time here in East Bethl. Uh four four years I was on Knights and the last two years now I'll be on the East Power Shift. I am a member of the marine unit with our office and a field training officer. Um, little fun fact about me is I am a born and raised East Bethl resident. So, I have a lot of ties to this community and uh my wife is also a member of our lovely fire department. So, God bless you guys. Thank you, >> Deputy Jordan O'Brien. Good evening. Uh Jordan Moaten, been with the sheriff's office for 18 years. Uh deputy. Um this is my seventh year working east. Um working the day shift currently and um I'm also a field training officer and a member of our marine unit. So that's been allowing me some unique uh skills and working on uh ice diving has been my my newest thing. So the last two months I've done three ice dives anywhere from two feet of ice to just a couple inches. It's been a fun experience center comes to senior mayor council. Obviously I'm the old guy of the crew. Um been sheriff's office 23 years now. I got six years prior plus nine year nine years army national guard. um done variety of things from field training to explore advisor to investigations to what else course transport whatnot. Um I got fun fact is that I've been copying longer than Ryan has been alive. So they like rub that in but yet it's all good. So but I grew I grew up in Ham Lake. So, I'm been around the area for a long time and I'll continue until I retire. So, >> thank you. >> So, there you have it. We're missing uh we're missing two other deputies, Isaac Thompson and investigator Derek Lean. they unfortunately couldn't be here tonight. But as you can see, we we have a a great group of staff members that have a a ton of experience in many different areas that uh definitely make my job as the liaison and as a patrol lieutenant very easy. Um these guys care what they do. Um everything that they do out on patrol is done with the utmost care and respect and it's always a pleasure to to get everybody in the same room and at least um you know get them in front of you folks so that you can put a name to a face. So, um, there's two others right off to my right here. You might notice, you might notice them or recognize them. Sheriff Brad Wise and Chief Deputy Bill Jacobson, big supporters obviously of of our operations up here. And, uh, I will turn the mic over to him. >> Mayor, Council Brad Weise, I'm in my fourth year at Anoka County Sheriff's Office after serving 27 years with the city of Rapids. 31 in law enforcement. I'm willing to bet every single one of these guys got into law enforcement because they really didn't want to do public speaking. But thank you gentlemen for being willing uh to engage because it's important to have that relationship with the community, right? Is that the whole purpose behind this is so the citizens can have a chance to see what the deputies are like. Um I'm very proud and honored to work for the sheriff's office. It's a great group of people that I get to work with. I'd like to say that the morale in our office is good, which means that we deliver great service to the citizens of East Bethl. I can assure you as somebody worked for a city police department before is that you get a lot of bang for your buck out here. Um, we have committed young men that want to serve. They want to do great work when they're responding to calls for service. They enjoy doing track and traffic enforcement to make sure that the roads are safe, that we do as much as we can to prevent crashes and so on. Um, so for sure if you have any questions related to our law enforcement in the future, please ask me about them. The one topic though I did want to bring to you and speaking about um the sheriff's office. Actually, I got to backtrack. I got to Bill Jacobson is the chief deputy for the sheriff's office, too. He gets off the hook and gets to Sandler with his arms folded and stuff, but um he's the guy. He's the operations guy. And of course, uh Derek uh Lieutenant Peters is a phenomenal asset to the sheriff's office. I'm sure you like having him as your staff liaison. He's a great human being. He's going to be absent for a few months while you get some training, but it's only going to make him a better asset for both the sheriff's office and your community. So, um I mean, even as an outsider looking in, you're lucky to have him. Um so, that said, you live in a safe community. I know you know that. Our goal is to keep it that way. Our goal is also to make sure that we do our best to mind the budget. you have enormous responsibilities to your taxpayers to make sure they get the best bang for the buck they can. Um that uh comes up when it when it uh happens to um when we negotiate the contract. Please understand that I I get the position that you're in and contract negotiations are tough with um city administrator. Look squeezing nickels is what you're supposed to do. Uh, I always just say to the cities, the pinch point though is that I always have those cities that aren't contract cities that have their own police departments that ride me pretty good uh to make sure that they're not subsidizing law enforcement costs here. So, I just want you to know that I'm very mindful of the costs. Um, I get it and you're trying to keep your property tax levy as low as you can while providing the service that your citizens demand. They get that. Um, the only other thing I want to talk about is the jail. Of course, um, Mr. look is painfully aware of the history of the jail project. It's still sort of lingering out in the weeds. The sad thing is time equals money, which is bad. Um meaning the longer the delay in getting the shovel in the ground, the higher the cost is for this project. But I want you to know that we're not it's this building isn't an homage to anybody. It's a building that we need to do. Um the current structure is basically falling apart and m Mr. looked at the tour and frankly for any of you if you're interested in touring the jail um hit me up via email. I'd be happy to take you around um to look in the facility itself to see the pipes, to see the concrete, to see the uh rooms that we have um that it it needs to be replaced. It's going to be a major expense to our taxpayers. Nobody likes it. It doesn't really bring anything no added value to the community, but it we have to have a place for people who do bad stuff to be housed because that's the way we do things. We we pluck criminals like weeds and they need to be placed somewhere until they figure things out that they're not going to be criminals that harm our our communities any longer. Um so that said, we're in the middle of litigation. It's all going to be in the newspaper as issues pop up between the city of Anoka and Anoka County. I just want you to know nobody's a bad guy in this. Everybody literally is trying to do their best. It's just when you reach a point that you can't negotiate a settlement any longer that you need a referee. And basically that's what we're asking the courts to do is sort of referee a decision that makes sense. So it's not it's not hard feelings. Um the I know I appreciate what an NOA city council what their issues are as it relates to their town. I appreciate the the pressure that the county commissioners are under because it's not like I said an inexpensive building. Um at this point we just need the help of the bench to get us across the finish line. So, um, hang in there with us. U hopefully sooner rather than later, we'll get a shovel in the ground. It's been far too long. Um, we got to stop spending money by waiting. So, with that, I'll definitely stand for any questions if you have some for me. >> Well, I'd like to thank you. This is the safest I've ever felt at a council. I'll tell you that. >> Yeah. Look at these guys. Good-looking young men right there. Yeah. >> Yeah. No, thank you guys for what you do. >> Yep. keeping our residents safe is is priority one and we've got a good group of guys out there. We thank you for what you do. >> Thanks for saying so. Appreciate it. >> Thank you every one of you. Appreciate you. >> I appreciate all your service, military and police. Uh is there a location for that jail yet or is that what's being litigated? >> Yeah, the the issue is related to the um location for sure. The problem is you have to build a new jail without tearing down the old jail. So, you have to have the two two facilities functioning. It'd be great if you could just tear down one and then rebuild in the same spot or or more or less the same spot. But, um the county smartly many years ago acquired some property and they're able to make it work. Uh more or less there's a dispute over whether or not a road um whether or not a road can remain. it's fan beer and I I don't want to get too far in the weeds, but whether or not the new building will fit within the lot that's already owned and whether or not the road should be taken for the sake of the building and so on. So, they're they're tough issues. I'm sure you can see it, too. If if this was East Bethl that were in that position, you'd be asking some pretty tough questions, too. So, like I said, I get it. It's just that we got to reach a compromise somewhere soon. It's getting this is serious serious money for sure. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you all. Thank you. >> Thanks, council. I guess you're you're going to be doing the swearing in of a firefighter, too. Is that right? Is that what I'm catching? >> Good deal. >> Fire chief. >> Thanks again, >> Mayor, members of the council. Thank you for having me tonight. Uh for the monthly update, uh we had 50 calls for service uh through the month uh since last time we talked. Uh the majority of them uh were uh medical calls. Uh shortness of breath or breathing difficulty and abdominal pain were the majority of those. Uh we did have uh one mutual aid fire uh that was in now. Then um two of our members attended that with one of our tenders. Uh and according to one of our members, it was the most water that they had ever shuttled uh for a single operation over a few hours span. Uh so uh we also I am going to grab one uh call that came in over the weekend uh which would bring our total up to 51 uh which was a grass fire on Saturday. Um uh it was handled relatively quickly uh right around noon. uh fire departments that came and helped us uh was Rum River Fire District, uh Lynwood, Ham Lake, and Oak Grove. Uh and that brings me to my next point. Uh with the snow being gone as quickly as it came, um there's an increased fire danger. It's extremely dry out there, uh I don't see any significant precipitation until potentially this weekend sometime. Uh, so those that have uh purchased a permit, a burn permit through the DNR, I would encourage them to check the DNR's website and see if they're if we're in extreme danger or if there's a a ban on those per those permits even though they've been issued. Uh the uh the website does currently require a permit. Um, and that applies to large brush fires. Um, so your uh big limbs and that kind of deal. Uh 3x3 wreck fires can still be had as far as like a smaller uh bonfire or bonfire pit. Um one thing just make sure it's out. Make sure it's out before you leave that fire unattended so that it doesn't spread. Uh that has happened in the past. Um one other thing that happened in the last month um on the 1st of March uh we held the uh strategic planning meeting with the officer corps. Uh there were seven officers that attended that and from that uh four goals came out uh that we'll accomplish over the next two and then four years. Uh one was increased public outreach. Uh we're still putting the benchmarks together for each one of these. Uh but we want to be more out in the community. Uh more engaged with the senior center, all of that kind of stuff that we can. Um, we want to be able to improve the facilities that we have within our limits, making them more efficient and effective for our operations. Um, cleaning up uh old equipment that's no longer useful, um, and being able to maximize storage and usefulness of the stations we have. We're going to continue to uh pursue recruitment and retention. And then we also want to increase our uh, relationship with the city council. We want to be more present here. Uh we invite you all to be present at our fire departments. Uh which also leads us to the pinning ceremony that we're going to do tonight. Um but before we get to that, the one last thing that I do want to point out uh is that um ice conditions are unfavorable. So I would stay off of the ice uh for the time being until it's open water. Uh, with that I'll uh entertain any questions. All right. So, for the pinning ceremony, this is something that's fairly new uh with the city of East Bethl as far as I understand. Uh when I was pinned uh almost a year ago as the new fire chief, that was the first time that we had done that. Um we are continuing that. Uh we are going to um we're going to celebrate the accomplishments of all of our people um as best we can. Uh tonight we will be pinning uh two captains. Um Captain Chad Fish uh joined the East Bethl Fire Department in 2010 as a candidate with a desire to serve his community. A threetime Rookie of the Year award winner. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2023 and he was assigned to station two and has been the ranking line officer during the day shift. Uh Chad has shown dedication to the community and the department through his 16 years with the organization. Chad leads by example, never afraid to jump in and get a task completed. Chad has had quiet, selfless patience with a large number of candidates uh that have joined uh the department, mostly due to his experience as a field training officer as his full-time job. Chad has shown sound tactical decision-making on scenes and always uh projected an aura of calm. We recognize his accomplishments and dedication through the promotion of captain. Captain Jill King has held an interest in the fire service since her enrollment in the citizens academy at a neighboring city. She was onboarded as a candidate in 2017 and has been a great asset to the department since. Joe was promoted to the position of lieutenant uh in 2020 and was assigned to station three as the single line officer in charge of that station. Joe's passion in training which is reflected in her additional role as a department's training officer uh has continued to shine through. She coordinates all aspects of training uh for the department including scheduling monthly drills, candidate onboarding and coordinating with the noa county fire academy and comp uh compiling and organizing outside training opportunities for our department members. Jill also works with minfire whose purpose is to assist firefighters both physically and with mental health issues. Jill has gone above and beyond to pro improve the department and we recognize her well-deserved promotion to the rank of captain. I now invite Ben up here to explain the importance of the B- rolls. Good evening everybody. Um, like chief was just saying, just going to go over a brief description on kind of the uh reason we're here tonight and the sign significance of our uh our uh ranking insignia. Um, in the fire service, we carry our history on our callers. Long before the era of digital radios and high decibel sirens, the bugle was the primary tool of command. In the heat and roar of a blaze, the fire officer would use a brass speaking trumpet or a bugle to shout orders that could be heard over the crashing of timber and hiss of steam. The number of bugles on your badge and collar today represents the weight of your voice. One bugle for a lieutenant, two for captain, and more for all the chiefs. But this symbol is more than just a rank. It's a reminder that your words carry the power to protect or to peril. To wear the bugles is to accept the responsibility of being the calm voice in the middle of the storm. It signifies that you are the one who directs the line, ensures the safety of your crew, and leads them back home. Lead by example, stay safe, and congratulations to both of you on this achievement. >> At this time, we're going to have family, friend, or mentor who wants to pin them come forward. We're going to have you remove their current collar insignia and their badge. Your medicate. Just to let you guys know, I haven't practiced this. For those of you in the audience, this is a lot more difficult than it looks. >> As long as you all have your tetanus shots, we'll be okay. Color states are problematic. We'll get the bugles with the magnetic backs next time. He has his own bugles he has to put on. >> All right, family members. All right. If you guys want to have a seat again, we have one more thing we have to accomplish here. Chief's going to administer the oath to office. Captain would raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I state your name. Do you soundly swear >> that I will serve the citizens >> that I will serve the citizens >> I will serve the citizens >> and firefighters in East Bethl >> firefighters >> with honor and integrity >> with honor and integrity >> that I will in all respects >> that I will in all respect >> observe the provisions of the US >> observe the US State of Minnesota, >> the state of Minnesota >> and the city of New >> and the city code of respect >> that I will faithfully execute >> that I will faithfully execute >> the duties of the position assigned to me >> the duties of the position assigned to me >> to the best of my judgment and ability >> to the best of my judgment and ability. >> So help me. >> So help me. >> Congratulations Thank you for allowing us the time to do that and we will see you uh soon with more. >> All right. >> I love that you're doing that here now. That's amazing. >> That's great. >> We will have uh those that come off probation as they receive their badges will also have that. Um and any other promotions. >> I love it. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you all. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Public form. I don't believe anybody signed. Okay. Consent agenda. >> Mr. Mayor, we have one public hearing. >> Oh, that's right. Item C, public hearing on offsale liquor license, Crown Liquor, new owner. >> Mr. Mayor, staff recommends conducting a public hearing to receive comments on the offsale liquor license for SP stores LLC doing business as Crown Liquor. Once uh the public hearing is closed and there are no reasons to deny the license, staff forgans council approve the offsale liquor license for SP stores LLC DBA Crown Liquor located at 23733 Highway 65 Northeast, East Bethl, Minnesota 55005. >> Okay, at this time we'll open the public hearing for comment from public. Anybody >> going once? Seeing nobody is here to talk about, I'll close the public hearing and council discussion. Mr. Mayor, just for the record, the final approval of the license will be contingent on approval of state commissioner of public safety. Um, so this is one step to get that approved this evening. And then with that, state commissioner of public safety, they'll be on the road to Opening business. >> I'll make a motion to approve an offsale liquor license for SP stores LLC DVA Crown Liquor located at 23733 Highway 65 Northeast East Bethl, Minnesota. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. Any further discussion? None being heard. All those in favor? >> I >> I. >> Motion passes. Consent agenda. >> Make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> I'll second. And I'd like to pull item B and H. >> I want to pull A. >> Which one? Jim. >> A. A. >> A. Okay. All right. Have a motion, a second. Uh, right. All right. All those in favor of the amended agenda? >> I >> I >> item A. >> Hey, Matt. I'm just curious on page 24, these uh auto miscellaneous license fees. You got uh one up there on top, third one down, 54516. You got one. Same number 5.516. Same amounts. One says ice. Give me a second. Pull that up. This is important. As you can see, we have quite a few. There's actually three of them. Okay, there's three of them that are identical. >> Yeah, it's the same price. >> Well, it's not jumping out to me, so I'll have to get back to you on that one here hopefully before the end of meeting. >> Okay. Then on page 28, I'm just curious on the land form. Now, are we done with them guys now that we have a city planner with all these like almost $5,000. Are we completely done this from the last time? >> So, Mr. Mayor and Council, um Eric Johnson didn't start till halfway through the month. So, this would be for that half a month of work that that she was involved with. >> So, he does contact her periodically, but it's few and far between. So, we're largely done, although they are on contract if there's any sort of need. >> Okay. Thank you for that. And then I'll make a motion to approve item A. Second. >> Motion a second. Any further discussion? None being heard. All in favor? >> I. >> Motion passes. Item B. >> Item B is uh the minutes from the work meeting. And I'm just wondering if the issue was resolved that um the audio started like almost 2 minutes late and then the video um there was a minute or so missing. >> Yeah. So, as Carrie had indicated, there was about a minute missing of some um testimony that uh that our public works director was giving uh on a question. um we unfortunately when you know it's it's impossible to recreate that unless it's best memory type of scenario. So it wasn't critical information although we're thankful for Nate's comments. Um so it was kind of deemed as potentially lost and unreoverable. But whatever the issue was that caused that, it's not going to happen again or do we know what caused it or >> I can't promise that there's a lot of uh a lot of ghosts in the system here. So um yeah, I I cannot answer that question. It's uh we get surprised on a regular basis as to what the challenges are that we're dealing with. So, um, we're hoping to minimize what we can, but there's a little bit of a chewing gum and band-aid and, you know, type of system have going we have going on here. So would it be possible uh just on your computer that uh to get a voice voice recording program that so we have contingency plan after contingency plan that >> you know when we start the meeting you just hit start on that and that should record the audio in the room. >> Generally we do have that and I'm not I'm surprised why we don't. So nothing was started at that point but we can look into to a redundant type of scenario given some of the challenges we're having. >> Okay, with that, I'll make a motion to approve item B on the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? None being heard. All those in favor? >> I item H. >> Mr. If I can just just cut in real quick on that uh charge to 546. Those are solid waste abatement charges that we pay to an NOA County. >> So every year we have to pay a solid waste abatement. Um all businesses, entities pay that. We get some of that money back um which we use for our recycling center. Um here that's different but uh that is what that amount is. >> Thank you. >> All right. Item H. >> Item H is the Anoka County hazard mitigation plan. And I'm just curious if this is going to require us to um have additional policies or ordinances or anything like that in our book or if this is just all we need. >> Uh Mr. Man Council, I have the fire chief up here. He's our um emergency manager. Um, but my understanding is this is a uh just a necessary plan that's put together on an annual basis and uh you have to submit it and and essentially that's what this is that you're looking at. >> So this plan has already been submitted to FEMA and approved and vetted by the uh the federal government uh for uh the purpose of m mitigating hazards within ana county. Each city is then required to adopt it as and recognizing it as the mitigation plan for the county. That does not mean we don't have our own emergency operations plan, which I'm currently working through and hoping to have something for you by the end of April or at least a significant update on it. Um, so it doesn't change anything. It's just saying that we recognize that Anoka County has one. It's gone through the vetting process and that we're adopting it. >> Okay. I was wondering where the actual plan was. So, you're working on it. So, that's >> uh Anoka County's plan is on their website. I can uh get you all the link if you would like to take a look at it. Um our plan is on the share drive in a couple of different places. Um but I am working on updating our plan to ensure that it meets our needs as a city. >> Okay. I'll go look it up. If I can't find it, I'll ask for the link. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> With that, I'll make a motion to approve item H on the consent agenda. >> Second. It's a motion and second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> City administrator. >> Mr. Mayor, um we have before you here this evening amending uh the meeting date for the canvasing for the 2026 election results per Minnesota state statute. The city council and its role as the election canvasing board is required to canvas the municipal election results between the 3rd and 10th day following the election. at the December 22nd, 2025 uh council meeting. Uh the date for this canvasing was set for November 9th, 2026, the same day as our regularly scheduled council meeting. Um the 2026 general election will be held on November 3rd, and a no county uh election staff has indicated they will need ample time to complete their statistical entries and return the abstracts to the cities. So their first available date would be Tuesday, November 10th. uh 2026. And uh there's currently a parks meeting scheduled for that evening. And with a holiday closure on November 11th, staff is requesting a rescheduled canvasing board meeting to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 10th. So that'd be a special meeting for everyone here. Um and you would need to uh pass a resolution to that effect changing the previous previously scheduled date for the special meeting to canvas. the election results. Should be a short meeting, but it takes time out of your morning. I'll make a motion to approve resolution number 2026-16 amending um and setting the election canvasing board meeting date for the 2026 general election. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. Any further discussion? None being heard. All those in favor? >> I >> I item two. Sensitive computer here. Um Mr. Mr. Mayor and Council, before you hear this evening is the um the essentially the two submittals uh for legal services and uh per our work session direction this evening, we just ask for a uh motion to direct staff to uh proceed with the candidate of choice uh for future council consideration and approval in April of the new legal contract. I'll make a motion to go with Berglin Bombgard Gardner and Glazer. And in their contract, just make sure it's listed that Mark Berglin is going to be our attorney at our council meetings. >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> Being heard, all those in favor? I >> opposed. Unheard. staff report. >> Mr. Mayor, just a couple of items uh to update everybody on this evening in the consent agenda. Go back to it here. Um we approved this evening uh the street service improvement project accepting bids. Uh just want to give everyone a heads up that this is for the Cedarbrook edition. Uh we had a budget of $420,000 for this work. We had an engineers estimate of $350,000. Obviously, you want to budget for worst case scenario. Don't know what the cost of asphalt and and uh things of that nature is, but uh the engineer spit was $350,000. The bid came in at roughly $260,000. So, we got an incredible value um on this work. And Nate right now is kind of looking at, okay, if we we budgeted 420, what other project might need to be done critically uh and possibly able to get it done this year. So, want to let everybody know that one, we got phenomenal bids. Two, if it's still an awesome bidding market out there and we have some money left in the budget, we may want to uh um kind of advance a project that we didn't think we could afford before. So, that would be a choice of the council at that point. I wanted to give that uh update on that. The second thing is as some of you know that we uh applied for um uh Congress uh Congressman Emmer's community project request. They call it the community project request. We like to call it earmarks, but they don't like the term earmark. Uh but essentially it's federal dollars where you submit a a uh project in your community that you think will compete well with uh all the other projects that are submitted for dollars. And I want to just uh report to the council that I received notice on Friday that our project has been selected to go uh as one of their recommendations, which means that uh that will go into the ultimate bill. And if the bill is approved, we will then be awarded $3 million for this project. Keep in mind the water project, this is the Sims and 65 water project is a $10.5 million project. We have a $10.5 million bond request in at the state right now. We will be able to reduce that bond request by $3 million. So, a $7.5 million request that will not only position us better at the state level. Uh, but I think once the state learns through testimony that the federal government is supporting this project, that gives what the young kids like to call street credit to to our project. So, at any rate, uh, good news on that. Uh, $3 million is perhaps the largest grant the city may have ever gotten. Um, I'm not sure from a historical standpoint of all the other ones we've we've gotten, but it's an incredible investment in that corridor and the project. Um, and uh, and I've notified the school district, Karsten Anderson, their administrator. He's he's excited about that because he's hoping that that we can provide some solutions to the uh to the school with regards to their utility needs over there. So, good news on that and uh hopefully uh with state cooperation and incentive we'll be able to hopefully secure the other dollars and get this uh needed work done. So, aside from that uh that concludes my report unless there's any questions. >> Outstanding. Outstanding. >> Appreciate you doing that, Matt. >> That's great. >> Well, thanks to Congressman Ever. He's uh he's going to bat for us. council reports. I just want to say thank you to our sheriff's department for this evening and to meet the deputies and stuff that are serving our community. That's fantastic. And also I want to thank Chad Fish, Jill King at their new positions as captains of the fire department. We have a great fire department and they're uh great for the positions. That's it. >> Well said, Jim. my assignments exactly on that. >> I just want to remind everybody that the first Friday in April, there will be a fun senior dance over there. And um if you're over 55, come on by. >> I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Make a motion to adjurnn. >> I'll second. All in favor? >> Thank you everybody.