some confusion yes are we already live one I just got us there' be good yep February 11 and allegiance to the flag United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible forgot to turn my mic on but that's okay um City administrator Johnson roll call Mayor hibbon here council member Brian here council member Glazer here council member rainville here interim City administrator consultant Bo engineer Shane Nelson Lieutenant Cole Banger here fire chief Miller here and assistant um Administrative Assistant that here has been taken all right perfect all right so talking about the agenda do we have a motion to approve the agenda as is or is there anything Mr Mayor can I just remind everybody to unmute their mics and make sure that they're speaking loudly loudly now I can use my outo windy day yes Mr Mayor member Brian I'd like to pull consent agenda d e and f and move them to 11 A B and C so the motion to move um item from the consent agenda de and F and move them to number 11 ab and C yeah ab and C okay any dis well is there a second on that motion well was just a comment but I can make a mo if no one else has any other uh amendments to the agenda I'll make a a motion to approve the agenda as amended a second okay so we got a second um we will do roll call vote um council member rainbow we're gonna start with you I counc Brian hi council member Glazer hi and I also so I okay so the agenda has been updated uh we can move into the um public forum did anybody sign up to speak tonight at all Lexi will you run back check just make sure we've got a wide uh very large audience today okay so we will move past the public forum portion moving into the consent agenda we only have AB andc to talk about any discussion on the consent agenda or do we want to make it motion to approve Mr Mayor May Brian make a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended May second second is there counc rainbow go ahead that's fine council member Glazer did what did she say I think she was just chiming in with a second the delay perfect sorry about that I missed that all right so round table vote we'll start with uh council member Brian HIC glazen hi council member rainville I and I'm also an i all right consent agenda is approved as amended and we will move right into engineering thank you Mr Mayor uh mayor and Council I am going to briefly uh go over the feasibility report for the proposed 2025 overlay project I'll just give everybody a second to get to the report I think we'll just kind of walk through it uh I think uh so on the first page it talks a little bit about the project areas and project locations that's labeled 46 of the packet if you turn to 47 there's actually a uh we start some graphics uh of the proposed project different page numbers yeah because he printed that off I I did okay so it starts on 55 and he's on 56 right now so as we look at the differents okay that's right so the the first uh project area is Krypton street so that's depicted uh with the kind of the pink highlight and then the uh yellow outline shows the property that's used in the gis info and then each property that would benefit from the uh Improvement has a circle with a number in it so on Krypton street we have identified eight benefiting properties uh if we turn the page we see lithium street and we see properties 9 through 18 on lithium street uh if we turn the page again we see 189th Lane uh and on that uh sheet we see benefiting properties 19 through 26 uh if we go to figure four that shows tiger Street and we see benefitting properties 27 through 39 and then finally uh on 194th Lane uh we see benefiting properties 40 through 52 uh so when we think of a benefiting property uh at least for the terms of this project uh we think of properties that have access to the improvements and that's where their primary access so in some cases there may be a property that above uh the road or uh is off the end but their primary driveway might be to another road and therefore in the past the city of nowland has not assessed those residents for the improvements uh so if we turn the page again uh just a quick uh overview so what this project involves is a binous overlay that's an inch and a half thick uh binous section over the existing Road surface uh we did take a look at the roads we made a a site visit and some of the roads uh need a little bit of patching before the overlay can be constructed uh so we also identifi that in the text uh the existing drainage system consists of uh basically a rural section so ditches and culverts that convey the storm water uh if you it's unlik uh a in contrast other drainage system May consist of curban gutter and and storm sewer we don't have any of that in this project area this they're all Sim use the same uh method of conveyance which is uh ditches and culverts so we're not aware of any drainage problems uh in any of these neighborhoods so there's no uh drainage improvements proposed uh simultaneous with the the improvements uh as I mentioned if we so now I'm on section five which is the beginning of the estimated cost portion uh so as I mentioned we have identified some patching that is necessary uh and we've estimated the cost of the patching to be 37,400 and that amount is proposed to be uh paid 100% by the City generally we don't assess for patching uh but it's it is something that we want to do before we construct the Improvement uh so then if we turn the page then we have our cost estimate for the overlay Improvement uh and the total estimated project cost for that overlay Improvement is 366,000 80 so again the total cost of the project would be the C would be that 36680 uh then you with you'd add in the patching of 37,400 just so everyone's clear on that what does that total end up anybody do that yet well 4 3480 43480 okay so uh our past policy and now then is to assess 50% of the cost of the overlay to the benefiting properties so again we're looking at that 366 uh 080 number so that means that 183,000 and $40 will be assessed to the benefiting properties again we've identified 52 benefiting properties uh so it's really quite simple math that works out to be $3,520 per unit so that would be the assessment per unit uh to each property that benefits from this would you repeat that one more 3520 per unit thank you it's on page 637 Sor fre no you're just say what highlighted yeah and then uh I understand that the uh city has uh budgeted for this amount roughly in its budget this year and that we wouldn't have to finance it the reason that's that's important is if we did have to finance it sometimes it results an additional project cost uh for example if you sell a million dollar Bond you might incur $40,000 of consultant fees to sell that Bond so that's always an important uh assumption to uh review with the the city council and staff ask a quick question real quick Natalie if I remember right from the budget we have 38,000 budgeted for roads so this puts us $23,000 235 short is that that is correct uh I was using information that Lori provided and I believe there was 80 or 990,000 in the budget for patching and also I just want to remind the council so so what we have here tonight or the information they're my estimates so these are not actual bid prices and what I attempt to do is uh estimate just enough to cover the project cost but I don't want to be I I don't want to be you know really high on my estimates uh but I also don't want to be the low bidder generally it's it's it's better that uh you know as we open bids and as we learn more for the cost to everybody's always happy to get a a decrease in their assessment amount uh they're usually not so happy to receive an increase in their assessment amount and so you know at this stage in the game uh since we are just talking about estimates uh I would uh advise the city that there's no need to worry too much about budgets as long as we're generally close to that budgeted amount uh so then if we turn the page we have a tenative project schedule uh so here we are tonight uh reviewing the feasibility report uh we can after we finish discussing the feasibility report there's a resolution uh approving the feasibility report and calling for the public Improvement hearing uh we assume that that will occur in March uh and assuming that the city council uh moves forward with the project and orders plans and specifications it takes us a little bit of time to to prepare those uh we be back in May uh to ask the city council to approve the plans and specification authorize ad for bid uh we generally also call for the assessment hearing at that time uh and then we open the bids uh after statutory bidding period uh which is usually about a month of time um so that would put the bid opening in early June of 2025 uh we generally would conduct the assessment here he in shortly thereafter uh and then assuming that the council wants to move forward the project and the city council could approve the bids and award the contract and work could begin uh Midsummer does this timeline make sense to you or are we late in the game as we as we stated in January yeah Mr Mayor that that is a great question so for a typical project uh this would be late in the game if it was a more involved uh uh similar to the road project that we did last year where there was uh a bunch of earthw work sworm sewer a larger project generally we want to identify those projects earlier in the year uh and we and we would have you kind of be at this stage of the game in maybe uh October November of the previous year so we can do it different but because this is an overlay project no major road construction our timing is going to work out fine is it decent time to bid in June yeah because this was is an overlay project uh my advice is that uh this timeline is acceptable uh generally the uh the paving contractors their schedules don't get completely full until later in the year and we never want to bid something when when schedules are completely full um and this is such a small project in comparison to what they do in a season uh that uh I would I would uh Envision that we would still get good bids uh if we bid it in June of this year it's still early enough if it was a major project with a bunch of earthw work and say it was a two or three million doll project uh I would not advise to bid that project in June there any other questions uh for Shane Mr Mayor uh council member Raina go ahead I have two one question then just one comment um to Shane who is doing the patching of the roads before the overlay is that City staff or is that the contractor that wins the the bid yeah uh council member rainville that's a a good question uh it could really could be either but my advice would be to just include it in the contract with the overlay contract that way uh you know more than likely they the contractor comes in there they kind of do all the work at one time they'll do the patching right before the construction of the overlay and it's the least amount of inconvenience to the residents we probably also get really good pricing that way all right thank you and then I just have a comment um I com I like the fact that you've combined individual locations together um as this ensures the cost burden is less as it's spread out over the 52 properties versus the 13 per location so thank you for that any other questions at all I will say I like that uh one we had a budget of 380 and looking at this we're under budget so that makes sense we're maximizing the amount we can do for the for the dollars we have available so I think it definitely makes sense I appreciate that appreciate the proposal here great Mr Mayor sir a question is a council familiar with the term benefit special benefit I am not familiar so you want to just go over that there's no danger here given the amount being assessed but they may want to know that makes for the top end in set yeah uh mayor and so so the uh there's a specific statute a statute 429 uh that allows for cities to assess benefit to uh benefiting properties for public improvements uh generally uh the two most common that we will have a now then will be uh roads and then Drainage Systems associated with roads uh and uh one important factor is there is what's called a benefit test which basically is is that the city cannot uh assess the property more than they benefit from the assessment and how that is measured is you know they take a a property uh let's say that property is worth 300,000 uh before the before the project well after the project if the assessment is 3,520 uh then that benefit test is you know this project should have at least increased the value of that property You by $3,520 uh so with this amount it is a lower amount um and uh you know there there there are options for uh the city determining or checking on that and that's usually by a property appraiser so there are a few firms uh that the city could use uh if there is any concern that the benefit wasn't going to be there generally with this this small of an amount we would not go through that okay so it's not part of the proposed project right now to do an assessment before and an after uh to do an appraisal correct yeah that is not that's not I guess a standard procedure but it's something available if there's any question of whether or not uh the properties would benefit by that amount so if the resident was charged 100% of it then there could be some concern but because it's 50% it's most likely that there's not a concern is what I mean that that is correct and for major road projects uh you know the assessments could be quite a bit higher especially because we have such large Parcels you know our Parcels are on average five acres so it's it results in a lot higher assessment than say if you go into Ramsey or or one of the abing cities with you know quarter acre lots sure um sure any other discussion so Mr Mayor if there's no other discussion on the feasibility report The Next Step would be to uh approve the resolution uh receiving the feasibility report and calling for the the public hearing the public Improvement hearing so the public Improvement hearing is when uh you invite all the residents in so all 52 Property Owners will receive notice uh and they come in we provide an overview of the project uh an estimate of the assessment amount and just one uh one thing I want to mention so uh this resolution that you have tonight assumes that uh the public Improvement hearing will be on March 11th uh which is our regular council meeting date so two things with that date one public Improvement hearings can take some time uh I would allocate at least an hour for it possibly up to two hours uh because if if 52 parties show up even if half of them show up and they want to speak that just takes some time to go through the process uh so so uh first on that point you know consider whether or not you want to do any regular meeting night or whether you'd want to hold a hold on on a special meeting night uh the other item I will be on vacation uh March 9th through 17th that's my uh children spring break so you're not here to answer any questions so I will not be here I could send somebody else from my office to uh answer questions but I will not personally be here if it if he choose to stick with that uh March 11th so I'd like ask the council if there's any concern with the March 11 date and if he Shane substitutes somebody else from The Firm but we have a current scheduled city council meeting that day what are your thoughts on that I have no issue with that date I I'm okay with that it proceeds now it could take a little additional time council member rainville go ahead so Mr Mayor emo is that was that was yes I I again I apologize um the only question I have is because it could take longer is there any possibility of starting the meeting an hour earlier rather than going with the second [Music] meeting personally I'd prefer not to start before six o'clock um I have enough time to get home grab my bag and get here I prefer not not to start earlier than 6 o' if thought all possible but if we needed to I I could make an exception what's Brian yeah I can make the Els work you we can just go a little longer otherwise you know seems like that's a consensus so let's just go with that okay all right so do we need to do a motion for this or can I suppose we need to Mr Mayor BR I'll make a motion to um approve the resolution 2025 receiving the feasibility report and calling for a public hearing on the Improvement for uh portions of Krypton Street lithium street 189th Lane 194th Lane and tiger streets and that would be scheduled for March 11th um at six o'clock okay perfect Mr Mayor I'll second that motion rainb that's council member Glazer second he is Johnny on the spot tonight all right so with that c rainbow we'll start the voting process Round Table we'll start with you say I M Brian hi M Grayson hi and myself I'm also on so motion approved thank you okay thank you Mr Mayor if there's nothing else for me tonight then I'll excuse myself okay thank you sir cires all right so the fire department update is the next update with is Chief Miller Miller whenever you're ready all right Mr mayor council members I'm here to give you the Jan anuary update it is it's very green um I'm here to give you the January update after a month on the job um we have 22 calls for service in uh the month of January six of them that are fire calls not um not any of those are structure fires but we count many different calls as fire calls um 15 Medicals and one Hazmat carbon monoxide alarm um highlights for the month of January we had a ISO review in November I was contacted by the by the um gentleman that U from ISO that conducted that survey for us um I was not part of that survey um but we did have a discussion around um what that looks like for this community um they do those about once every five to 10 years depending on how the community is growing um and I can speak to the iso survey in May of 2025 when it's publicly released right now they're still compiling some of our uh points um and other issues that they see with the community before they come out with a final um final service rating for the community um the community for for those that don't know ISO um is what they judge your uh Insurance uh rates for for either residential or for business and so um and the ratings go from 1 to 10 one being the best that you can possibly have to 10 being that you don't even have a fire department and so I suspect we're going to be somewhere in that 7 to n range um depending on what comes back from the organization itself so um well I'm assuming some things to learn and discuss at that point if it comes back that bad um absolutely I think uh yeah definitely I think there's uh to get below a seven we'd have to talk water suppli some other things that have been issues before in the community so but we'll definitely come back and talk about those once we once we have those once we have that report and it's um public um Public Safety priorities um in the first month I've identified several priorities based on our current staff our equipment our facilities I'm going through and trying to evaluate all of our Personnel our training um our equipment and our facilities I think there's some strategic planning to be done both immediate and long range in the future um I would like to look at a work session for the council um possibly in April even uh May April 29th or May 8th would be a great couple of dates for me depending on what works for you guys you could please take a look at your calendars and see if you're available can you propose the dates one more time yep Chief April 29th or May 8th and this would be a work session that is um strictly U to talk about uh fire protection within within the now then so be focused just on on the fire department I'm good either night C Marain bille do either of them dates work for you Lexi do we lose voice M Mary you're muted sorry about that was it May 8th or night 29 April or May 8th 8 okay I am available either either either gler same okay I'm open okay so was your preferred date to this April 29th to be a preferred date for me April 29th if you're good with that we can mark that down all right with that I'll stand for any questions of our monthly report oh no questions at all thank you for the update I appreciate your assessment um I know there's a lot to look at and so you've been a busy guy absolutely so um do you want me to talk about the resolution for the grant support or is that okay yes please I'll stand for that um so there is a resolution for a grant support for navigation that I have um brought forward um what this is is there's two cities within the the county St Francis and now then that are not connected electronically to County dispatch when I say electronically with mobile data computers um with that said we've been working with uh uh Miss BR Maddox from the No No County Fire Protection Council who has um secured um used mdc's mobile data computers from the City of Minneapolis through their Police Department um these mobile data computers are um almost brand new um a lot of them weren't even installed um they upgraded their equipment moved on to to a different technology but this is the technology that the county is currently using and will will be available to us um these computers are free of charge um which is an amazing thing for us because those the mobile data computers can be upwards of about 3500 to to $5,500 so really expensive piece of equipment that we can get for free um the the grant that we're asking um for myself to be named as as um being able to pursue that Grant along with uh Miss madx is um a grant for the communications piece of this the cellular um connection to this and so if we if we're successful in in securing this grant um we will be able to pay for or the grant will be able to pay for that cellular communication for um up to 10 devices um and so it's kind of a win-win situation it's not a matching Grant there's no funds to put out it's free money free equipment and with that I'll stand for any questions so I get the first question so these mobile dispatch do they go in every fir truck what do they go in they go in every every emergency vehicle that we have so it'll be um every firet truck and and the squad that we have and what what these do is they allow us to to um get our calls from from dispatch they'll automatically come up it it brings up a mapping um program right now currently our firefighters are mapping and finding their way to locations on a on their own cell phones and we want to eliminate that um we want to have uh equipment in there for them to use that actually maps and connects to the county so any updates that that come through um can come through electronically on the mobile data computers yes Chief Miller So when you say the grant would cover cellular for 10 devices what's what's the the duration of that coverage from a time stpoint one year yep so we're looking at a one-year grant that that then we'll have to build coverage in for those devices um into the budget so it allows us time to to fiscally plan for that do we know what that current currently would cost we're we're budgeting around 35 to $40 a month for each device depending on how many devices we connect so right now I believe we're we're going to look at six devices for sure that need to be connected but we're going excuse me we always want a plan for the future I'm going to say roughly if we estimate $3,000 would the cost that's what you're looking at for a cost for for next year yes we did six devices just some quick math here it's little less then but conceptually okay so you're looking for approval uh to basically run with the with the the Grant and be the Fiscal Agent to act on the city's behalf corre that's what the request is yes Mr Mayor C gr go ahe make a motion to uh make a to approve a resolution authorizing the application of the Grant and navigation for the city Mr House rainbow I would second that excellent all right we'll start with round table start with council member Glazer hi Council M Brian hi Council M rainbow hi and I'm also an i motion carries thank you Chief any other no no not not at all thank you all right so we move on to the fire or the correction sh Department whenever you're ready then get started sir all right good evening Mr Mayor members of the council City staff and citizens of now then following is the Sheriff's Office report for the month of January 2025 the Sheriff's Office responded to a 115 calls for service of those calls there were eight to the barnun facility Five Alarm calls 20 Medicals and nine animal calls here are the details on some of the barnun calls on the seventh the Sheriff's Office responded to a report of an assault between two juveniles one was transported to a hospital to be evaluated for injuries and another juvenile was arrested and transported to RJC L Lakes our Juvenile Facility uh on the 11th Sheriff's Office received another call of a resident assaulting and biting a sta staff member that juvenile was transported to the hospital on a medical hold and was cited for fifth degree assault also on the 11th we responded to a report of Resident assaulting a staff member uh one juvenile had punched the staff member in the face then started engaging in self harm that juvenile was also transported to the hospital on a medical hold and cited for fifth degree assault on the 13th the Sheriff's Office responded for a juvenile having a mental health crisis that juvenile was transported to the hosital hospital for evaluation on the 14th of January Sheriff's Office responded to a disorderly juvenile deputies arrived at the facility and mediated the situation they determined no crime had occurred on that call for service and no further intervention was necessary once the juvon gotten calmed down on the 17th a deputy responded to a phone call report for a dispute between two juveniles the deputy determined that the conduct in this case was mutual and no further action was needed by the Sheriff's Office on the 21st uh Deputy responded for two juvenile runaways at the facility one returned on their own and the other was located and returned by a deputy on the call for service once the juveniles were returned no further action was needed also on the 21st a deputy responded for another juvenile runaway having a mental health crisis this juvenile was also found and returned by the sheriff's office staff determined at the facility that the best outcome for the juvenile would be to go to the hospital for a mental health evaluation on the 27th a deputy responded for an assault report on this call a disorderly juvenile had assaulted a staff member causing minor injuries the juvenile had calmed down prior to the deputy's arrival and that juvenile was cited for fifth degree assault and remained at the facility on the 31st deputies and St Francis Police Department responded for report of juveniles actively assaulting staff and trying to flee the facility uh deputies arrived and arrested two juveniles and transported them to RJC Lakes for assault moving on to other noteworthy calls for service within now then on the 10th the Sheriff's Office responded to a personal injury vehicle crash in the 22600 Block in Norris Lake Road a single vehicle had gone off the road and struck a tree that vehicle ignited in Flames after the driver had gotten out the driver was evaluated by ambulance but declined to go to the hospital uh a road sign was damaged on this call and County Highway was notified to repair that sign on the 17th a deputy responded to the 6600 block of 190th Lane for a report of an assault the reporting party on that call stated a person that was known to them had a dispute over some dogs and struck them in the face however the reporting party would not cooperate or give any further information to the deputy on scene and ask the deputy to leave on the 17th in the 1 19100 block of burns Parkway a CSO responded to a dog at large complaint the owner of that dog was cited for that violation on the 21st in the 1 19700 block of iguana Street the Sheriff's Office responded to a business to check the welfare of a male staff at that business requested the male be removed due to his bizarre behavior excuse me the mail was ultimately transported the hospital via ambulance on an emergency medical hold on the 22nd a deputy responded to a business in the 19700 block of iguana Street for a trespassing report uh the staff at the business requested the deputy trespass mail due to his harassing behavior on the 23rd in the area of Viking Boulevard in Boss Street a deputy stopped a vehicle after recognizing the driver is having a canceled license that driver was arrested and transported to dril for driving with a license that canceled IPS on the 28th a c um excuse me Deputy responded to the 6600 block of 1090th Lane for report of a disorderly male throwing bricks through Windows when deputies arrived they determine the homeowner was responsible for the damage to his own property so no criminal charges were appropriate the fire department also responded this call for service for heavy smoke in the kitchen coming from the stove ultimately one male was transported to the hospital on a medical F at at that call um one note would be the plan for next week's council meeting if everyone's on board we'll do our meet the deputy night so I'll bring our two now then deputies so you can get to know them a little bit better and meet them um with that I'll stand for any questions so sounds like the 11th is going to be a busy night here go ahead I was just wondering is it possible to re since we we just talked about having public hearings that night we may want to reschedule that yeah I was going to ask we could either go earlier but if there's going to be that many people unless you see a problem with rescheduling with you and the sheriff I'm sure we could push you day bro that might be easier for them because otherwise we don't really know what time sure to start because we would start with the public hearing first I assume okay yeah then we probably want to push it so those guys have been sitting here for one to two hours yeah might not be the best use of time so I think right moving we can push that to April I'll make sure that they're both available in April and we everybody likes March 11th apparently and which is good sir just a quick question so it said here eight calls to Baron I'm reading this and it looks like there was 10 dispatches just to Baron um and maybe this goes to uh um City administrator Johnson but where are we at with the process I know that the last mayor was going to evaluate this is there been updates on Barone and where we're at with that status uh we have not that was on the goal list and it wasn't one of the top priorities it was not one of the top five it was not no Mr Ric can I just speak from the fire department I know that we're working we're working with the deputies and with o dispatch to Parks out um what calls that the fire department should respond to and needs to respond to so we're actively looking at that property is um how can we reduce our response to that property is there any differentiation When the Call Comes in do you know that you should or should not go it's a little tough because it depends on the information that the dispatch has receed and so that we we're going to work with uh no County dispatch to um look at how we can parcel out some of those some of that some of that information um to see if it's a a more urgent call versus non-emergent and the deputies are doing a really good job at helping us with that so yeah and on that same topic I'm working with our Patrol Division to schedule a meeting with barnon staff they have monthly staff training days so myself and someone from the patrol division is trying to find a date to go to one of these staff meetings and better train their staff on when they should or shouldn't call 911 and kind of what to expect from us and hopes that it will kind of reduce the call load at the facility seems like a very Dynamic situation over there I think that would be great if they could potentially get in front of when it's escalating I don't know that that might indicate more calls but maybe it could be safer I don't know just it's concerning with 10 calls out there to bar on is there any other questions for lieutenant Cole heing nuner thank you very much thank you all right so we have completed the sheriff's department we're moving on to Planning and Zoning did we have Cindy on for Planning and Zoning uh she just sent the memo um for this month so she pretty much put what she's in um doing for review and for the um development application for Leo East we did send in four public hearing notices that you all should have been getting a copy of in your emails um for the next Planning and Zoning meeting so she is in progress working on most things okay so looks like Peterson Acres am Edition um developer application for Leo States Construction for now then past and that looks like it I'm the major ones yeah there is one more for the um original hockey moms brownies brownies yeah that wants to come in and that was another one of the public hearing notices that was sent out that will be at the next Planning and Zoning meeting the next they want to attend the Planning and Zoning one yeah that'll be at the planning and zoning and then they'll make recommendation as to whether or not to move it forward to council okay right so no uh rcas on that one so we'll move on to the city administrator updates the monthly report well we've been uh working away at that top five priority list um all of the city code documents have been made into a Word document um they've been sent to platter Nash she is kind of working through the top issues of which ones she gets the most calls on and the which ones are the um most difficult to defend if we needed to um we're trying to determine the most costeffective way and efficient way to complete the project as far as going through the codes and determining which are the highest priority um sitting down and having some conversations as to whether or not we want to you know do a Band-Aid or do a full fix um so we did have one meeting on that we um suggested that we're going to try to do the full fix per ordinance to make it kind of a solid deal so that it is defendable in cour if we ever need to and uh kind of go from there and we'll be bringing them forth through Planning and Zoning at their recommendations and they'll come to city council you know just add one more piece on that as we say um it's also something that the staff can have and they will be able to explain it that was the other piece of this they said a lot of the things from Planning and Zoning they're not able to give to the staff because she has to explain it because there ties into this system so it's trying to have a an ordinance that is easily explainable everybody can understand it straightforward right because a lot of the things that we have right now is a if if this but if this or that depends where it is when it was built so she has to do a lot of research on a lot of these and if we can get something past that's defendable and solid we will save money with having her having to do so much research on each property um you have the February 21st 22nd for the newly elected officials education um both the mayor and Cil member Glazer are going to be attending that I had planned on attending it at um consultant Bo's uh recommendation however the league reached out and kind of said you're the only one registered that's not a elected official so um asked me to take some other trainings so I was going to go ahead and do that um there are some other things that they've recommended I haven't sorted through which ones might be the best ones that we can do within our budget um so we'll kind of look at those on Thursday Frank and I are also going to be attending an administrator's meeting at down in Anoka this is something apparently they used to do and um the admin the County Administrator has asked for it to be brought back up and let the cities kind of do some more Communications of what's going on and how do we proceed I believe cannabis this is probably going to be one of the big topics as well because nobody really knows how that's all going to work yet um and attorney rupe's office has started the review and we'll finish up the Personnel policy um making sure that we meet all the new federal and state guidelines um we do have the new Minnesota family leave that the reporting has now started um that goes into effect in January of 2026 um again we don't know what those costs are going to be um what we're doing now is just reporting what our wages are and the state will then tell us what portion the employee is going to pay and what portion the city employer is going to pay do we have a date when attorney rupe is going to finish this document he was hoping that it was going to be done by his um uh what do you call associate um hopefully within the next two weeks okay so we should have it for the March I'm hoping so for review March 11th it's going to be a busy day okay anything else Frank you have anything to unless you guys have any questions no I think that very good updates every Friday so we have a we've got a good pulse on what's going on um just provide some additional detail it looks like uh myself and Council M Glazer have some training coming up Mary Cil M Angel go ahead I I just want to thank Frank Natalie and all of the staff for everything that they've been doing um the work product that's come out of the office has been office phenomenal and and they've gotten things off the plate some of them we're going to talk about later and that uh they keep us moving and so I appreciate that thank you so I apprciate thank you good thank you for the nice comments to stuff I concur we'll move on to new business and the first one on new business is to uh review the purchasing policy um we got a request for uh Council action on this one it is a what about a 78 page document if I remember correctly yes sir it is so whether we want to do a motion we definitely need to do a discussion on this um I'll start with my my initial feedback um I provided a a template document to get this started um as I reviewed this last night um again the one I'm not comfortable with right now is the second one in line for the value of purchase of 100 to 4,999 I would like to separate that that line out and make it two separate lines so anything from 100 to 2,000 I think should flow through exactly have you as this is written and then you can just drop drop it down uh the the next one down is currently at 5,000 through 99,999 I would like to make that $21 to 99,999 so the city administrator is involved with any decision over $2,000 I read over the rest of the document and I didn't see any concern on that all these items have to be budgeted they have to be in the budgeted line um as said so I think it gives a good element of control but at the same time it empowers the staff to be able to make decisions right for for their areas so that was the one change I would recommend any other discussion Mr Mayor coun Glazer I I would request how often are we making expenditures let's say um from $2,000 to $10,000 how often is that well it definitely happened once already this year with well actually twice because we bought that pup trailer which I believe was a couple thousand dollars and then we have bought tires for the fire department and again that was a need those were 10 years past their we life um so that would be the fire department um it was the fire chief that asked me and I said do we have it in you know do we have it in the budget um I do know that he wants to ask for some separated lines um as tires are so expensive for the fire department and that's not anything that's ever been budgeted for other than the maintenance so he does want to have some line items um for those for as the years come um as far as expenditures so yes we do have to make some of those decisions so can maybe you can talk about I should I'm interrupting go ahead I'll follow I'll follow um maybe you can talk about what's happened in the past maybe that's part of what got us to this place um what had happened in the past with the previous administrator um if you didn't have 100% approval from counil it was very difficult to get anything done sometimes we missed out on some good deals of something that staff found um because we didn't have time enough to get approval for it um if it's a budgeted item and it's a normal cost or maintenance item it you know in my opinion it should be able to be spent if that's what it's there for if it's the maintenance if it is um the tires if it's a you know sidewalk cack I I know we've got a cver coming um potentially that I believe I just got the email for with the estimate on it that needs to be repaired it's failing that would come out of road road construction that one is going to be I'm guessing well over this amount and that will come to council um because that is going to be a greater amount even though it would be budgeted um but it is again one of those needs that we need to get done so sometimes it's a urgent need that we should get it done the guys had the fire truck apart they checked on the tires they realized it was 10 years past their wear and Chief came to me and said hey I need to order these tires so we went ahead and did that and now we have tires on the tanker truck that they're going to keep which will help with our ISO rating which will help hopefully keep uh residents Insurance prices down even though we don't have a well at least we've got another tanker full of water that we would have at least two tankers that can get to a house that's on fire Mr mayor council M please I I guess what I'd like to follow I in those dollar ranges I'd like to see some params of what what would be considered distressful so if it's if it's something that what that involves Public Safety um if it's something that involves my I'm sorry sorry thank you if it's if it's something that involves Public Safety if it's something that involves um you know the uh uh Public Works needing to get something done I guess I'd like some framework around what qualifies for staff to be able to to have that discretion and what doesn't so I I just don't want my you know maybe it's a knee-jerk a fear I don't want what residents may consider as frivolous items that maybe something that we could do without but because it's at the discretion of staff and I'm not sure if I'm being clear on this but I'd like some framework around what qualifies and what doesn't so I appreciate totally understand tires you know from a safety standpoint I'm in the same position I have have an issue with with a vehicle I go and I take care of it I I totally understand that um but so where would you recommend you add that to this and Mr Mayor could you give me an example of something that you would think maybe tires would be a good example because I think you brought that up it's a safety item and it falls under you know in this case it was a fire and it was a safety issue I was looking for what would not I guess I guess I guess what what you would consider a frivolous purpose or what would be outside of what we couldn't do I guess real quick and so anytime you you look and say hey we're going to decentralize something it it can give the appearance that it's might not be controlled but anything that is purchased there's an invoice there's a process that goes through and employees can be held accountable for this exact thing so if they have something that's frivolous we're reviewing the invoices and I'm asking that question so it's not like it's an uncontrolled system but I do understand what you're saying is is there another box that could be added on here on this Matrix to say AG if it's for Public Safety it's not an issue if it's for RO but I don't know I don't have a good example of what wouldn't be in that case um right there's another example um one of the plows the Hydraulics locked up when they were plowing just as they were finishing up correct so they sent the truck to the shop because this was something they could not fix you know that is sent I'm you know I would hope that I wouldn't have to call to ask for permission for them to be able to do that absolutely but then again like today I spent $150 on that speaker over there so that we could hopefully get rid of the echo um and that is certainly under that well sort of I guess underneath there um it is over the 100 but I mean what are the and usually if I'm making a larger purchase I would update you in the uh Friday updates and we can certainly add some things to this but I would rather say not what's included but what wouldn't be included and and I'm really looking for a process more than anything else that is repeatable no matter who's in this position that we can look at and that's the way I was viewing it what the dollar mons that could be open for discussion what the specific items was if there was something could be open for discussion but I'm really looking at the process so I want to empower s staff to make good decisions and and be able to make decisions like just no no different than you said that hydraulic cylinder that went out with $6,000 now you would inform me hey that this went out we're taking it for you need that you you don't have an option we don't have we don't have the ability to have a council meeting to approve it it was needed so it went forward with that but um this would set up that parameter to allow them to make decisions but we still have a count on it so I I don't believe we we're going to lose any accountability no and we can make any changes that you'd want to tonight I would ask Council though please let's um get this approved with amendments because this is something that we were called out on last year on our audit and our audit is starting next month um I have a list of about 57 things that I need to do there's about 210 on that list for the audit um and I really like to not get called out on the it again this year for not having a is this one one of the 50 this is one that I need to provide yes so so we can make any adjustments you'd like to tonight but I would love to just have something on the books but I would like it to be something that's G to not have to be redone let's leave this so this this would be good for the you know the next staff to come in and just be able to pick right up and not have any issues moving forward if that's possible tonight please C Brian did you have any I'm just trying to figure out how to word it I mean there may have been issues last year but in previous times if the Hydraulics went out we fixed it we didn't even have to wait for Council if we needed new tires we fixed it so there may have been some exceptions but that certainly has not been the rule um I think one thing to try to again I can't exactly phrase it but I think it's a matter of oh well we know the it's January we know the money's in the budget so let's just go ahead and get it and and it and may or may have been something that we did or could have figured out a different way to get around it but then November December comes out and then then we don't have the money in the budget for something that we do really need and how do we kind of accommodate for that because it's challenging when I'm when I'm looking at the budget and it's like well we went we may have went over here but we didn't go over there so let's you know there's um in so that instead of just taking from One Fund and move it to the other when we could have done something else with money in that that for example the the fire department if there were something that would have been really needed because they had some extra sitting in that account to figure that out so I I don't know how to word that but that's kind of where I where I look at um and and if you know if it's implied or written down or whatever to just go just because the money is in the budget doesn't necessarily mean we get it right um and I not need to be spent is what you're saying or may not need to be spent I can give you one one thing we can take a look at and as I do a budget I do it in the quarterly buckets so I'm predicting or estimating when that item may need to be purchase so if it's in q1 I can purchase it in q1 if it's in Q2 and I'm trying to pull it forward and I have to go ask can I pull this forward and purchas this because it's budgeted throughout the process in the finance system so that's a method we could look at and say but if it's not needed you don't go buy things that are not needed so we do not want there's nothing in this policy that would say going to go frivolously spent at all that's not the intent of it it's trying to set up a council member rainville you have any comments on this thank you Mr Mayor um no I I like your change of the 10449 to the 2001 I understand council member of glaz's concerns um I I have faith in our staff that they aren't going to be purchasing things willy-nilly I've not seen that from them um they have all been good stewards of the taxpayers dollars um even though we are in the end accountable and maybe just a if something comes up a quick email out to staff or to councel to say this has occurred this is going to be an exp expenditure um you know if we can hold off to a council meeting if not it's going to just occur um but but again I I'm comfortable with Natalie making those decisions I've not seen her um abing the process at all and I truly appreciate that staff has put this together we've been asking for something like this for years and since the last meeting we had we now have this in front of us which is lightning speed in my book so thank you thank you um a couple more comments um that could help resolve what you're looking for one we could budget by quarter that might not be the best way the one thing we could do um and so if you look at the third column down which currently says 5,999 it says Finance in the city administrator invol you could drop that same bucket in to the one below that so basically you're saving anything over $100 has the city administrator signing off on it to say yes this would meet the intent this meets the budget and finances invol that might be a control measure to help fix that on what your concern was and Mr Mayor could you do me a favor could you could you clarify for me how you're changing the the yes the dollar buckets can we project it up on the screen I suppose we can um so what I did is that the second column which currently said $100 through 44999 yes I changed that $4,999 to $2,000 and then if you look at the next column down you would take that 5,000 and cross it off and make it 2,000 and basically with the comment I just recommended we financing the city administrators involved if we move that down uh to the $100 to two basically at that point you can combine those no you can't because there's quotes needed for the one and not the other so that's one additional control measure finance and the city administrator again the goal is no different than any other workplace you Empower your employees you allow them to make decisions within within the framework if it's not budgeted they they can't spend it so it has to be budgeted for that category go ahead case like tires we're probably not getting Quotes no and that's what I was just going to bring up to Mr Mayor is like if we're going to do $2500 or you know the the plow not going up or down they just brought it to the shop it didn't go to quotes to get fixed so I would say that going to go quote out seven sets of tires for it so so my my edit to this wouldn't be correct then because what it does is it changes the values on what needs two written quotes it does so maybe you leave the dollar mounts like they were and you just move finance and the city administrator on the far right block you move that up I think therefore you're involved and you're the level of accountability increase at the end of the day if the fire chiefs needs tires and he can come talk to you to say yes we need tires then you could buy tires and it wouldn't be a concern now the invoices are still there for us to review uh no different than they are right now and they are open for any city council member to come in and review if you would like to um so you're aware of that yeah I believe they're still sitting out on the table right now in case anybody wanted to see um and I would kind of point out too really anything over a couple hundred dolls uh um Joe the fire chief um Lexi or anybody who needed to spend any money is usually coming and then I'm including anything that's not a normal expenditure in the Friday updates so that you should be able to expect the invoices to be paid and I we are also looking forward to the um claims being paid twice a month so at the the next council meeting that we called as our extra meeting um Lexi will have checks available or a claims report just like this month or you know this meeting so we'll be doing half on each yeah so instead of trying to do it all at once she's keeping it all up to date okay so I would have to amend my motion that I went to change this thing I have to leave the dollar amounts Alone um on the the second block right hand column it would be finance and City administ would have to be moved over there uh to take it up to that $4,999 so dollar amounts would stay the same so I have to clarify that any other discussion or points that would make this different or better and I was thinking about how how can we add add to this we still have a challenge with there because so we spent so there was a problem with Sentry Link that we had to fix a box that was over $5,000 yeah that was an invoice because we wrecked it yeah no I understand but I'm it wasn't something we were buying this is something we were assessed and build so that's the difference on it now if you're buying something right we didn't spend it we were buil for it we were buil and it wasn't worth it to us to make an insurance claim on that yeah that was an unfortunate accident trying to make sure we got everything covered yeah is there anything else you see on there Dan that would be a good example not on this one um but I just I said I understand things come up they need to be fixed and repaired I'm just going I would hate to you know if hate to run out of run out of budget at the end of the year to go oh that's right and where we could come up with some end of the year stuff because we have um because of because we were controlling our funds so that we knew that the something in public works need some tool or whatever really could be replaced and then look we'd have the money to do that that can benefit the guys or um you know or chief Miller can stock up on metal school supplies at the end of the year just like Joe bought exra s's hand because that money was there so just well yeah he bought the that was in 2023 right and we did buy it um but then it was there so we didn't spend it in 2024 so in essence it probably saved the city money because of the the cost increase per year but yeah right but we had to but but in the end we had to take some of that Public Works money and move it somewhere else or will be as I'm oh no we're putting it back into the fund balance right it go or to yeah or into one of the other funds but it is yes and that was the majority of the under budgeting this year that was under F that we haven't got to talk about yet Sorry by moving the accountability of the city administrator up a box there together with I I believe it's partially addressed but so if I look at council member Ryan's concern is okay yep you got a pot of Fund in January oh I need to go out and buy everything some people and and I've seen this concept I've not seen our city do this but I've seen people say oh I got money I got to go spend it that's not the concept this is supposed to apply to your normal purchasing process yes there is budgeted money but if you don't need it you wouldn't go spend it this is on a need to spend basis to keep your your city and your supplies you got emphasis on need it it is on need so maybe we write that in the policy that this is on a a needed as needed basis it's not to go out and stock all the coffers by any means I think it's implied in the policy but I don't know it's specifically written like that council member Brian Mr mayor council member Glazer go ahead to what you just said I think it's important that it be in writing instead of just in Pride I think it lays out pretty nice but it it is not written specifically so what kind of verbiage are we recommending here and then we could get this added in and um and approve well the goal is to get it approved if the council is ready to approve it but so it's to purchase as needed not be purchasing in advance just going to drop would we want to put it under the purpose as one of the last items it's I think absolutely that there would be a perfect spot to put it and it might be a bolded uh bullet comment so it's purchased as needed to maintain um maintain the city not to stockpile not the stockpile um because the budget is available something to that effect the budgeted funds are available Mr Mayor go ahead I'm going to address this question to to Mr Bo first is it statute 4 71345 where um that defines what can what public funds can or cannot be spent on where okay I don't know what honestly I don't have it's on the top line of the purchasing policy so it's not reconcile conf I don't know the answer and Mr Glazer or Mr Mayor I can address some of that as well that statute I believe is the one that tells us what we can and can't spend the money time frame you were looking for the specific items yeah so councilor Glazer was asking that question is does that cover the I'll say the purchasing all of the items that we would purchase all so what public funds can or cannot be spent on is that budgetary funds uh and it goes beyond that your bonding funds you spend them um assessments is it's it's my understanding that somewhere in state in State Statute there their statutes that govern what public funds can and cannot be spent on within a city is that within that are those things defined in that statute or would I look someplace else for guessing it is but I five that specifically and maybe Lexi that's something you could look up council member rainbow go ahead so Mr Mayor thank you um 471 345 talks about Contracting and contracts over $175,000 um contracts between 25 and 175 so it's actually Contracting for for for Contracting for or something um it does not specify you can do it for ABC or D or you can't do it for EFG um it's more what how we have to handle larger contracts um one of the things I would say is that when we start I think this will be helpful for us when we start to do our 2026 budget um currently Natalie has staff working D is working with public works and Joe and collecting information so we can find out earlier what our needs are within Public Works she has Shelly working with the fire department and what are the needs for the fire department going to be so in 2026 having that information will help us it'll also help us in the remainder of this year knowing what we need and when we need it um we've not had that detail before so I applaud Natalie and her efforts to have staff work with those two departments to get us that information um there and the council member of glazer there is something somewhere and I don't have it in front of me um that does talk about what you can and cannot spend City funds on but it basically boils down to it must be a for a city function must be something associated with the city an employee can't go out and buy themselves a new uh electric bike you know it has to be a city it has to be spent for a city function um and I believe that information I'm sure there's a state statute but would also be in the league of Minnesota City handbook which I'd have to go online and look for right now not aware of any exceptions that'll be contrary to the law itself and I'd be glad to H through the rest of the statutes see if I in all of my ears I've never seen anything but that says but these don't apply the public funds CD and an example of something like that would be um buying the staff lunch just because now we a lot of times we have lunch together and we trade off buying it personally or the guys will cook it together as part of our you know if we're eating together you're kind of bonding together um but I would never use a city credit card to buy the city lunch anything like that you know if it was a working meeting we have the city has purchased lunch in a budgeting meeting or you know in a capital Improvement if it's a you know two or three hour sometimes those meetings go kind of long when you're trying to do it or we do it you know from 10: until 2 um when Lori is available to come in too but those are the only kinds of things I could think of that you would say is a frivolous that we I mean we would wouldn't do that so doing a working lunch and eating is not frous it's called working during lunch and they they can afford to pay or feed you if you're working during lunch it's the the give back um so to go back to what we had talked about is does this me your intent uh C Blazer um purchase it should be purchase items as needed to maintain the city it's not to stockpile uh because budget funds are available I think that statement wouldn't be inclusive or actually this might have been council member Brian that stated it we don't want yes you have a budget it's not go spend all your money in January that's never been the intent of this but if I were to compare this to um the last multiple places I've worked everybody has a delegation of authority purchasing some give you a credit card some say you can sign off on $220,000 invoices they have a policy that goes along with this I believe this policy would fit the um would fit the city and there's still accountability in the process due to everything that comes in gets invoiced so it's reviewed it's reviewed not only by these two um but I've been reviewing the invoices before they're paid so there's checks and balances in this process now if somebody was to purchase something and it wasn't being invoiced and reviewed I would be very very concern because then you could have something for Boost but because there's a check and balance system in here uh it works and and I'm very comfortable with this at this point but you have to be comfortable with it also so it's not just me it's everybody you get a claims list at every council meeting looks like about 200 it could be Services it could be physical items but these are items you can R hey what that doesn't look right and any other discussion uh Mr Mayor yeah under section three there's talk there's the last last two sentences there talking about transferring 10,000 between departments um this kind of kind of comes back to where where I'm in was that it might be I'd rather have a conversation about is why do we need to move this one to cover this or what are we making that up for or there was extra money in this funds fund at the end of the month at end of the year I'd rather look to instead of transferring necessarily transferring that here to get X I'd rather spend that on the um Department that it's in so I don't know I don't know how we you know Mr Mayor I can address that go ahead um in order to transfer from fund to fund we have to do the amended budget so whether it's $10,000 or $100,000 we would get a resolution from Finance consultant to move those funds um to my knowledge I don't believe other than at the end of the year have we ever done that in the well I've only been here for three years so maybe in the past they have um but since I've been here we've never done a budget adjustment until the end of the year if it was needed or if we receive funds like we did this year that we were not expecting this is any amount of 10,000 rer has to come to the council for approval and pretty much any thing would come to council for approval because it it's coming in the amended budget line so then that sent isn't really no we could probably take that one out this was just a standard right from the league of Minnesota I think you can take that one out because it's coming through on the amended budget right you can follow through because we aren't going to make those unless there's an amendment Mr Mayor good call on that one rainville go ahead so under number three the last sentences Council approval by motion is required for amounts over $10,000 so that is something we already have control over for council member Glazer's concern so the league of Minnesota City handbook chapter 22 specifies expenditures purchasing and contracts and it basically is it's got to be a public per purpose so again and you can't go buy a bike for yourself it has to be a a city function um but that is chapter 22 in this City's handbook for your future reference I did a quick look for statutes and I couldn't find any specifically that outlin purchasing so is that something that what cman rainbow just brought up that you recommend should go in here it's in the league of Minnesota cities um councilman rainville where did you find that again League of Minnesota City's what chapter 22 correct of the oh of the the hand of the handbook chapter 22 I would also like to State Mr Mayor is that the Auditors do go through all a much of this documentation if there's anything that they feel would be frivolous they will bring it up to council absolutely they they I mean I can't even tell you how many invoices I pull for them to look at and they check to make sure that it's been coded that it was approved um and any of you are welcome to come in during the week of audit and see exactly what it is that that they do so this is all about a process and with the process approved it's no different than any other business exactly you're approving a process to allow you to facilitate to run the city that's the whole goal of it nothing more it's I believe the checks and balances are in place so you guys have any more questions I want to ask before we before we do a motion so just for clarification Mr Mayor we're removing the second to last sentence the last two sentences of so council member Glazer uh number three it was the very last sentence Council approval by motion is required for amounts over 10,000 we're just removing that because we're doing that anyway in the amending the budget process now we had it in the consent agenda uh council member Brian said to pull that out so we'll talk more on that so any funds being shifted around or being brought to the council if anything it would say Council Council approves any fund adjustments but I don't know if that's has to be in writing here or not no I just crossed off actually the last two lines because I I will never transfer any money between funds or departments without amending the budget that's yes you took out the city administrator out I did because so that's the last three lines are gone right what Frank was just pointing out if you go to the budget adjustment for this year you'll see exactly what Lori did um and how she kind of moves stuff around a little bit no I understand that I'm just if something is in wording that's conflicting with what we're actually doing then we need to talk about it yeah and so we could just take all of that out I is there anything else that we need to remove or add I'm kind of waiting patiently to make sure that we've answered all questions what I don't want to do is rush to a vote but to have questions on the I personally have no more questions and and I I will I can even start a motion that uh I would like to approve the city of now then purchasing policy with the following updates um so block two right hand side we added finance and City administrator so anything basically over $100 is approved by the city administrator uh and finance um and then we added the the very bottom B comment one which is say purchase as needed to maintain the city uh it's not to stock file because the budget funds are available uh and putting that in bold is important and then the last one uh for the motion is number three we removed the last three sentences starting with the city administrator other than that my motion would be to approve and you have it right here um request Council action to approve the uh the budgeting the purchasing policy excuse me there a second mem raino go ahead did we lose you're muted again all I would second that motion with the changes that you just spoke to okay so we have a second we can do our roll call vote please start with council member Glazer I council member Brian I council member rville I and I'm also I all right so we uh We've approved the purchasing policy motion carries Mr Mayor for sir just as a followup Natalie did we ever figure out the credit card thing where is the city is getting credit cards now or are we still having individual cards there are individual cards under the city of under the city so the issue that we had in the past is should be no more I don't I'm not aware of Social Security social security number oh no we still have to provide them it's just the way it is with the credit cards they I we have to provide it and then um but it's underneath the city umbrella so the city is here and then just Department heads have them okay yeah how many credit cards do we have at this um the fire chief has one y I have one y Joe has one and the two captains in the fire department have one okay good know um but yeah with all of those they bring us the receipts they are well you've seen them if they come through they're all on there yeah I think we've got very good accountability in the process uh very pleased and this uh the help and power that's the goal and we've got a policy in place so that's great yes well thank you very much um we'll make those adjustments and yeah we're just gonna just need another minute here until council member Glazer comes back and then we will open up our next one all right so he's back with us so next one under number nine new business is approve the ordinance 20251 process and timeline to fill the city council bacony wants to start talking about this one all right so I I'll just list off the steps that are are listed under the RCA step one first option is to appoint someone to the seat and hold a special election in 2025 the cost will be approximately $10,000 since multiple elaborate elaborate steps or separate steps are needed to conduct a special election the administrative staff will be constrained from completing their day-to-day responsibilities according to the NOA County election special elections also have a lower voter turnout as shared with the city council at the last meeting typically at special elections between 5 and 15% of the registered voters this means the taxpayer cost will between1 19 and $58 per casted ballot so that's option one okay second option is to appoint someone to the seat and hold a special election at the general election in 2026 this is more fiscally friendly alternative to holding the election in 2025 with no additional cost to the city the appointed person would serve the remainder of the bacon term until the special election in 2026 is held okay so that's our two options uh proposed appointment process um well well we got some more steps to read here just to make sure everybody's tracking on this uh the goal of the appointed um proposed appointment process is to be open and transparent the process is the same regardless of which option above is chosen so the public is notified that there may be that there may apply that they may apply to be considered for appointment the candidate is asked to answer nine questions about becoming city council member on the application form and is asked to submit the completed application by the deadline during an open meeting the city council interviews all candidates more than once if necessary until the majority of the council members vote for one applicant to ensure that the appointment is made uh by a majority vote it says mayor hibben has agreed that he will not appoint a candidate unilaterally if the city C has not agreed by a majority vote up to three times okay so that's what's listed and then you go through the steps um I want to open this up for discussion I know there's not been a motion but this has been um one of our most important pieces to uh to gain alignment on I'll call it that way um so I'll open it up for discussion at this point Mr mayor council member Glazer go ahead so an option one which would include a temporary appointment with a special election in 2025 the parameters for appointing someone to that temporary uh seat Council seat short term are spelled out but we have we have yet to see any type of um ordinance and process surrounding the special El I don't see that spelled out I see it's very clearly spelled out as to the process for the the appointment process but is there's nothing that um spells out a an ordinance or process specifically uh to hold a special election within the city of nelvin and it's my understanding that it's required that we have we have do we have to have an ordinance and I thought it started on page 101 am I missing is the ordinance that's what was written for this the one the ordinance is what tells us these are our options to do to hold a special election the steps to actually hold a special election would be we would still appoint someone between now in August and then in August we would have the ele however we would have to do all of the same steps that were laid out prior in Prior packets of the special election laid out by the county and the state so we would have to meet the same publication date times we'll still have to do the early voting we still have to hire our judges we and in this case I would use ones that were used at the past election because they don't have to do additional training um I would have to train two additional staff because they're not trained on being able to help people with that yet we would still have to do the public accuracy testing I mean we still have to do everything that a regular regular election does and those steps are all laid out by the state and the county I I understand that that these are things that have to be done but please understand that as I continue to talk to constituents the last one that I talked to when I explained that you know the estimate to conduct a special election is somewhere between eight and $10,000 their words were well we just need to bite the bullet okay so so you know I appreciate I I've I've heard this this information multiple times about you know County and state statistics involving special elections I've I've heard you know multiple times the cost I understand and I appreciate that this is going to take away from staff I've heard that multiple times please understand the constituents that I'm talking to want to have an election they they feel that this Council she seat should be a appointed by vote from the residents of now then the registered voters in now then so either way there's an appointment process that will take place and the question is is when is a special election that's really it because either way we have to have a special election either way we have to do the and now my goal is to do it by majority vote not not direct appointment so I'm gonna put my cards on the table Mr Mayor if I may sure I personally feel that we lose some transparency by appointing a seat when if if all the all the all the registered voters are now then need to understand what's at stake here and I don't think I'm going out on a limb here I'm making an assumption but I don't think every resident of now then heard your speech in at the first January meeting stating that residents should be prepared for a tax increase of 10% every year through the year 2029 and I'll back that up when the budget's uh ready in April and I'll I'll show you exactly being completely transparent so there's nothing no so so no I'm sure you'll have data at that point but I don't think all residents of now then have been privy to that information that they could be facing a 10% tax crease increase every year year Well 2025 through 2029 so and and that's you know why I'm standing so firm on this the need for us to have a special election and it not be an appointment process where this is the only process within the state within city government where if there's a tie vote amongst the the council the sitting C Council of four members or six members if it's a sever member Council and the mayor gets to decide if there's a two-way tie a two- two tie I realize that it says in here that that mayor himman has agreed that he will not appoint a candidate unilaterally if the city council cannot agree by a majority vote of up to three times so if we don't agree after the third time are we just going with a four member Council no then we would then you're going to appoint then we would point so either way my cards are my cards are on the table okay so either way yeah there's a um selection process how we want to do it I don't want to say a point I would use the term majority vote for the first three and then it would be a point but either way there's a special election so this the ordinance you ask F I think it's uh 101 through 104 and that was the ordinance that was written for this uh to cover that I I understand that there's there's parameters in here for a special election but more than likely I'm going to assume more than likely that that special election wouldn't be till 2026 and a lot can happen within two years with somebody that's that potentially is appointed by the mayor that's the process we have to talk about okay but both of these how can both of these say these items these options be on the same request for Council action because we have to vote one way or the other so that's that's what we're going to do we're we would vote yeah so you either select one or two on that and then it's the process for uh the the the majority vot forgive me if I'm not understanding no they're just laying out the options that's it Mr Mayor cc rville go ahead um I I'm opposed to a special election prior to 2026 as previously stated uh low voter turnout um and the cost to do the election and also the encumbrance on our staff in having to do it this council's been has made tremendous efforts to provide information regarding the vacancy and staff has developed a wellth thought out appointment process um as we've seen with the community surrounding us facing the same issue we are they're foregoing special elections basically for the reasons of cost staff time um and we are appointing a a nown resident um until the 2026 election um I don't know why now then would do something different than what is typically the norm um if the statute determines that if you can't agree then yes the mayor gets to appoint he has decided he will give us three chances to try to come to a decision um there isn't to to council member Glazer you're saying that people don't didn't know about the the mayor's 10% increase or or this unless we can call each individual resident there is no way possible to make sure everybody knows people residents have to take it upon themselves to educate themselves as to what the council is doing the committee or the comments I've had from residents have said that you are using a transparent and open process they are comfortable with an appointment and then an election in 26 that then would bring somebody in to fill the position they do not want to spend the extra money to have a special election in 2025 and so again I am opposed to a special election I believe we've had a transparent process and it is up to Residents to educate Ste staff has put things on the Facebook page and the you know the city website um and I may be wrong on Facebook but on the website that there's the opening um I think we've done our due diligence to to inform our residents but we can't it's like you can't you can lead a a horse to water but you can't make them drink you know we can provide them the information if they choose not to Avail themselves of it we can't do anything Mr Mayor Brian I too spoke to Residents so obviously you know different residents are talking to different people and some are saying we want to appoint some are saying a special election so therefore there's the contention um I would knowing regardless of whether we have the special election prior to the November 26th time frame or on the November 26th time frame it is considered a special election with that in mind someone would can be can be um appointed to fill that role until that special election I would consider that I would at least propose that if we could theoretically use the appointment process but after the third time if no one has been if the council can't agree on somebody that then we would go towards that special election at our earliest convenience to when from a time from from the time frame whether it be November 25 or February 26 that's when we would be able to get it scheduled in and and have it have it in place Mr Johnson you remember remember the dates I think August was the next time I think it's and then it's like every other month like every no there's two left so it'll be August and then it would be November then it would roll into 26 yep and then we would have to wait for what those special election dates were and I believe they're four it'll be one in February one in May August and then the general November it's not like November is our it's not like those two dates left are our only choices no but it is I completely understand that I'm just clarifying that we don't have to necessarily have an election if it doesn't work from a timing perspective that we can't do it in November of 25 then it could be done in February of 26 or whatever that date happens to be if we were ex if if that's agreeable to the rest of the council that if we can't find someone to um mutually agree on to fill that appointment process that then we can go go towards that special election that when it when we're able to have that but if that's not agreeable then so the way the way the request for Action is currently written is one we decide on the process of when we're doing the special election and then the second one is the the process to get there so what you're stating is if we can't agree so going to the second part if we can't agree and then three times then you want to go to a special election is that what I'm hearing I just want to make sure I'm clear I'm just trying to understand the RCA because whatever you just said I'm not that wasn't in here as I read it that we weren't picking that we weren't picking a specific date for a special election no is that am I understanding it differently I I think so okay CC member GL how were you understand on that was it written de maybe S Johnson you can clarify on this you rolled this you know what this is all completely up for discussion so if um council member Brian's proposal is acceptable we can certainly do it that way um the statute just States we need to be making forward progress to appoint someone or and to get this filled because we really don't want to have a four-person Council for nine months you really want to try to get somebody in here and all the the statute just stes we have to be making forward motion and I would say you know Frank you worked on most of that do you have any comments on this well also this long list of dates ends at August 12 starts relatively soon as compared to November so we can't let those dates Slide by us if you want 2025 you better start be able to start with that first step don't let that slip fire you'll automatically be in 2020 2026 another thing you guys are representatives of the public that's the way these systems right wrong uh are set up you're going to get lobed I mean I don't Envision a room here that's ghostly quiet there's no one in here I think the interested public is going to be in here and maybe before maybe after they're going to talk you know I like this candidate because I really think they've got that whatever um these people are also allowed to submit their own questions now obviously we can't take 10,000 questions but you'll have some of the questions from these people as sources so it's not like the door has been absolutely closed final Point you're going to know much much more about these applicants about these candidates then you'll ever know about the people who are running and I appre app shate that's the nature of the two systems run for election yeah you can learn about as much as you can here we've set it up so you can learn almost as much as you want to learn nine extra questions all kinds of uh additional questions on top of that so it's not like these folks are going to be unknown Council M rville you got a question yes um I I'm a was to we so so if we if we don't appoint um statute states that if we don't come to a conclusion mayor him and has decided has determined he would let us vote three times if we don't come to a conclusion after three times then State Statute says we allow that that the mayor gets the appointment I believe he'll be fair in um who is appointed based on all of this open process that we're going through um if we decide to just do a city a special election we're looking at possibly November before we have a fifth member and I don't think that is there in the for the residents they don't have full representation they don't have a full Council many things could be delayed um if we are a to to voted at times um I so I again I I I want to go with item two um which is appointing somebody to the seat go through the interview process that's been presented it's fair it's open it's transparent that we're not hiding anything we're we are asking residents to be involved the you know I I've probably spoken to I want to say 45 residents I I don't know how many council member Glazer has but and I I didn't stroke talium but it was many many residents that I spoke with and they just want to open and transparent process understanding that we do have guidelines that the state is dictating to us and how we handle this you know had we gone back to December nobody would have known anything and there would have been somebody in position which would not have been the right thing to do moving forward we're open we're transparent we have resident input for residents that are interested in being having input I think that the appointing process and a special election in 2026 is the best um thing for the residents and um I don't you know I I don't I don't know where we'd find 8 to $10,000 in the budget the next item up is a city administrator and look at the dollars there that we don't have currently budgeted um that are options for filling a city administrator so I I just think option two is is our best route and it is again the route that the cities that are surrounding us are using because it's fair to their residents thank you go ahead not every city is appointing someone other cities are having special elections including Isanti and there are councils in the state that have basically ran with four people on the council until the until the next election so it's possible to do that Mr Mayor it is stated that there is no penalty at this point if we don't appoint somebody so to what council member Bryant just said you know that there are other cities that have done this it's being done I've actually talked to other City elected officials and they said well right now we appoint but I would rather that individual has said I would rather go to a special ction so it's not that it one process is is expected to be used in every situation safe to say we're not gonna there isn't consensus on this inside or outside I agree so just say we end up with a 2 two that doesn't do any good um the stat States asked you it says that it should be filled the council by appointment again until election is held so that's what it states can you go with for the answer is yes there's no penalty on um what if we flip off these and just look at it and say talk about the process to interview to appoint again I said I would wave the first three times I truly believe we can come to a majority vote in that process I truly do and hold how we're going to do the special election take that off the table right now so we go through this process we go through we're gonna have to interview there's a timeline right here if you don't like the result of that say we go through it and I end up appointing somebody just say it's the worst case you're not happy with it then we have to go through and we have to do a special election either way we have to do a special election but it ends up being in 2025 in 20 instead of 2026 what's your thoughts on that Mr I would not want to put an appointment process in place that it and to have something in writing that allows that doesn't specifically specify we're going to have a special election whether it be in in ahead of time or we're waiting till November I would want really want to have that as part of the process um so that it's so that it's transparent and everybody knows what's going on and if I don't think that we're going to be able to pass anything if we go well let's go through the process we'll appoint somebody and then decide take that off do it the other way do it the other way and say okay so say we voted and we had three to one that we go through the process of uh option number one and we have a special election in August through November whatever date we can have it say we do that and then say that's on the table and then we go through the appointment process that is following exactly along the state statute line the appointment process is regardless that an appointment process gets done regardless of whether we have a special election in 25 or next year correct I understand that so but I haven't heard but but if we're not going but if there's Council um division regarding whether we're going to have a special election in November or be November of 201 or before that because I honestly as I understand it if we're going to have a special election in 26 that's for for a two-month term and then they have start a regular term in January at that point if we if if we're at that point what is the I don't see a ton of value in having a special election next November for just to have that extra two month term because honestly that to me is going to be way more confusing to Residents than doing it at an earlier time okay so let's go let's go back to this say I was to vote we're going to do a special election whether it's in August or November the soon as special election we can do we're gonna have the staff spend their time and do this then we go through the appointment process I think we've hashed on this enough um you've clearly stated your message and your position it's 22 we're not going anywhere so if I change it to say we'll do the special election at the soonest one we go through the appointment process that is laid out I'm still not going to appoint until we go through it three times we're hoping the majority votes if we can't find that then we do the appointment but the special election is still already scheduled at that point does that me sure intent that we would schedule a special election first and then have an then go through an appointment process yes yeah that's exactly what you want K are you on board with that so special election in 2025 2025 you can pick a date it would be August or November which if we can get in the August one if that's the only way it otherwise we're going to talk about this next month I don't want to talk about it so I'm going to shift and change and say this is about accounting to the process is it transparent yes it's transparent it's going to cost some money it doesn't totally make sense to me but okay let's go so would you like to make a motion I'll make a motion to have a special election for the open Council seat in November of 25 and then then use the the defined appointment process to to fill the vacancy uh on the council and and they will serve until the election in November of 2025 occurs can I make one adjustment to that what about the August date if August we can get in the August yeah that's fine you would like it as soon as possible correct okay so the soon as possible special election okay you like second I'll second that okay was the word appointment used in there I didn't hear it we will go follow the follow this process after the third time then we would do deployment okay so round T round t or roll call vote counc rainville nay nay C ran I council member laser I I an I motion carries we're good for this for this week on that one moving on to the next one um mayor do we have to approve the we have to approve the ordinance you're exactly correct Mr Mayor I'll make a motion to approve the ordinance providing for the appointment of members of or special elections to fill certain vacancies in elected offices at times other than the regular City general election within the city of nowland I will second the motion uh for the ordinance of 2025 roll call vote council member rainville i c Brian I C member viser I and I'm also an i motion carries thank you for tatting that okay now we are up to the last one which is Mr Mayor yes counc member rainbow go ahead all right so we now need to find the8 to $10,000 in the budget for this election so I'm not seeing eight to 10,000 where the money's coming from correct we don't have a budget for an election in 2025 so now we need as a council to find 8 to $10,000 in the 2025 budget to have a special election what are we not going to do that would typically cost us8 to $10,000 to pay for this election I would I I in looking at the budget I don't see8 to $10,000 of of play there we're projected that being minus 71,000 in 2025 already this would put us at minus 81,000 um how that's going to get handled we can take a look and make a proposal proposal uh worst case is it ends up getting bonded um but there's not funds available for it Mr Mayor I don't you can Bond understand I don't believe you can bond for that it's got to come out a general fund and so the council members that in that are interested in expending $8 to $10,000 for a special election I think need to come up to where they're going to find it come up with ideas or when they're where they're going to find it in the budget what won't we be doing because we have to pay for this special election anybody got an answer for that go ahead mayor members of the council budget's a big document things change over time it it's it's not a a diagram uh it's more a way to get there that means that there are some elements you're not going to need or you may need later you can take that money and use it you can re-budget it for the following year if that's appropriate in short and you may be in the same situation depending on your decision with respect to the city administrator there's a way to find the money we'll find the money we'll figure it out you I know I just don't have the answer because I'm not staring at the budget yeah we are in a deficit but we're going to move forward and we're gonna go to a special election all right let's move on to item C of for new business which is uh um consultant Bo has put together a request for Council action to um open the position for the city administrator would you like to talk on this Mr boes absolutely thank you very much mayor members of the council uh Natalie uh is indicated she would just ass soon leave as as we're talking about um thank you n my contract with you says that I am supposed to give you assistance in finding a city administrator I have done this before I have never done it 100% on my own there's always been some assistance sometimes a very great deal of assistance Sometimes some what left less um The Proposal I've got in front of you uh has actually got four different options option one is to conduct the Recruitment and selection process solely by ourselves I I know each of you have got expertise I know the mayor has got an extraordinary amount of uh interviewing and you all may have the similar sorts of things but I don't think any of us foring to the table is the absolute expertise on that process from the beginning to end consequently since this is one of your top priorities I wouldn't recommend it um you're saying this a top priority but we're not willing to invest anything to get some expertise into it to me it's they're they're contrary to one another second uh option would be to uh get a use a human resource firm um and have them just kind of slice off the portion uh of the search that makes them unique they have a variety of different kinds of tests uh which are supposed to yield information about candidates which we might not otherwise uh receive and I'm sure some of you have run into them but normally they are packag you could slice that portion of we could do all the work that's more the day in day out stuff and have them do the rest about $3,000 worth uh of work so there's a second option a third option is to have the firm do the entire package The Firm I've talked with largely because I've dealt with a number of these firms normally the costs are are 20 25 30 right in that neighborhood right now the last two I had done were 24 um except there is a guy in the business uh who I've grown to Oaks since I I've been in cities that that he's worked in um which can offer a lower price actually they're they're a nonprofit and they offer basically the same package the package you saw if you were able to read the proposal it's the same process the 24 25 29,000 view uh I found it every bit as comprehensive they might not be as pretty uh in what they're the way they propose things Etc but that's not more what we're buying we're buying confidence um I would recommend that we go for for the full option I appreciate that's 14,500 $100 now we have to find in addition to the 10 but these are your top priorities and your top priorities should be worth some work to try and make them possible not all of them are just going to lay out runny and say this is easy but there's one fourth option the fourth option is to make this an inside only in other words you've got Natalie the things I see are very positive uh suggest she's making a great deal of progress her communication is excellent with you guys Etc not selling her right now but I'm saying she strikes me as a person who would be a candidate in a group of finalists now you're deciding that arbitrarily quote unquote that she's the one person in the group of finalist may not be seen ter um on the other hand if you go through the entire process she's either going to sink or swm one or the other and you'd be able to find out in that fashion that was using her as the single candidate would be 35 what they basically do is they go to candidates who successfully were awarded City administrator jobs in the in the last few years P those stats for each of them and put her stance there and what what are we coming up with we coming up with a person who's right in that area is it no sorry she's got some more work to do in order to become a candidate um and that's yet a fourth option I still believe that given the height if you will the importance of this decision that you should pay the 14,500 and I know the guy but that's it um I can tell you having been a receiver a client he's very good he keeps you up to date uh he keeps your city council up to date you'll get weekly or bi-weekly reports on on there they stand what's going well so that's just that's my recommendation certain you've got question I actually don't have questions I read through all your documents and I thought it was very well written I can speak from experience that uh I do utilize recruiters when I am struggled to find uh people in this um this particular case it's their City administrators but as we learned when we went to that uh banquet for the for with the fellow I'll say fellow cities um there's multiple City administrator positions open um sorry iot mention because that's an important and other positions that are open so I like your recommendation um Natalie's done a fantastic job for us but if we look at spending $14,000 it opens it up it Compares Natalie if she decides to apply for it to others that are willing to to fit that position and we get a recommendation for our expert so I I personally am for $14,500 we spend it and we select a c administrator and just one more point regardless of what happens this is going TOA to go through that process the complete process and see what it's like will benefit her even if she's unsuccessful in this Mr Mayor go ahead Mr boes forgive me if I asked this question last week is this the same um recruiter that we used for the last search no I think that was that was David R Associates um at no the cost would indicate it was a different firm yeah yeah you're absolutely right about that it was not these guys it was more than more than you paid 24 it's probably one of the other two and I can't tell about hly because they've kind of gotten out of their business or are there things you don't see in that proposal that yeah this proposal I could I could be convinced but you got to add one thing or delete one thing or whatever you might get a fight on it I don't know so open it up for discussion if there's any on that I thought it was very well written it's all inclusive so I can speak from experience and I got multiple searches going on at work is um some positions are tough to fill um so I think and I also put them through an evaluation process similar to this where there's multiple tests that they have to take spending this money allows us to compare to an average because they've got data to support it to say this person will do above average in this category whatever the case is um so set the city up for success in the future um it allows for an open process three or four people we'll go through through and this is really to select our process than anything else that's what the resolution is for and in the an unfortunate circumstance appeared that it was that it was not uh um it did not work 23 months and we separate uh these guys will do the process over with the only charge would be uh mileage and stuff like that otherwise it's really uh two processes with paying for if you need them if it's 25 months so sorry it was 24 months is the guarantee rainville go ahead um I thank you Mr Mayor I prefer the final option um provided by Mr Bo um Mr Bo along with the council has observed Natalie perform admirably in her previous and current interm position and I have full confidence in Natalie and her ability to serve the Council in the residence of now then since November 21 when she joined us she's given the city 150% plus she's learned the difference between public and private budgeting and financing she's helped to hire and focus staff she's implemented procedural changes to organize the office successfully run elections which were brand new to her and saw to it that the residents of nown received services in a timely accurate professional and pleasant manner I believe she has excellent people people skills and she's per she's formed relationships with our constituents and our residents uh sta current staff respects both her work ethic and her abilities um by choosing Miss Johnson the city would not be exposed to the dollar dollar amounts listed in the RCA depending on what way we go um and the lack of productivity if staff has to be involved in anything because now we've now just thrown an election on them so now we're going to throw whatever they have to do to a system management company to do searches um and again I I'll state that I have full confidence in Miss Johnson and her ability to continue to serve the council and residents of now then in a manner which we've come to expect Council rainbow would you recommend spending the $3,500 for the for the assessment yes I would okay open for discussion C ran or Mr Mayor go ahead I would advocate for option three where we utilize the services of the professional recruiter um I think we need to do our due diligence yes Natalie is doing a good job um but I would like to be able to test the waters to see if there's somebody with um has the years the years of experience in uh running a city um has more has exper more experience with codes um zoning dealing dealing with with the things that that Natalie may not at this point have the experience of did you select which option in number three um that was the the 145 the 145 okay so the mic uh hum fall yes okay because that because you know like Mr Bo said if you know we have two years as stated on that's fantastic I didn't read that that it's a two-e guarantee love it usually I get a 90 day two years is great yeah that's on page it's page page to us the excuse me there's an asteris awesome so very open process Y El M Brian any discussion I was just curious I know Frank we talked about where where does the job description come into play in any of the four options that we have is that something that we need to do ahead of time yeah yeah that'll be one of the first things you do you've got a job description that you used before does that mean it's the job description you'll use again that's up to you guys when it comes right down to it but that drives the truck because that's the people you look for people who have that and that and that not that that so regardless of what option we do we still need to come up with a job description or weine your existing right yes I'm either you know we're going to use the existing or refine it so we have a job description so there's some document that we're working on every job SE starts with the job description yep yep double check anybody want to make a motion I'll make a motion so I'm gonna make a motion to uh uh for the request for Council action to fill the city council ad or the city administrator position uh for option three under Mike Pall using the $14,500 fee and with a two-year guarantee a second we have a second we'll go round table council member rainville round table I'm sorry roll call vote council member rainville n got an A council member Brian hi council member Glazer hi I and I am also I Mo motion carries okay um Council bran you wanted to bring up de andf and move them under and make them A and C what key points of discussion would you like I don't have them in my printed packet so I have to go online they should be they in your printed they are 25 four and five is perfect thank you what would you like to discuss on starting on page 25 I was just curious if instead of instead of discussing um whether or not we're going to wave a fee because part of part of my challenge would be if we wave a fee for one person that means you know I don't know I know the newsletter costs a lot of money to put together and but if if we I don't I don't necessarily want to set a precedent of waving an advertising fee but I am curious that since the the tractor pole is an interest is certainly a city event that maybe in lie of I don't have there's no date in here for the tractor poll but I'm assuming that they're looking at the spring newsletter so in Lou maybe it'd be worth having them write an article on the tractor pole because then more I would assume there's you know there's probably plenty of people and now then whove a never been to a tractor pool or don't know what tractor PS are and it plus it plus it has now then we can include some historical facts about the the the grounds um where the thres ring show is where the tractor pull would be and that might be a better option are you proposing that they can advertise but they write an article um in in lie of writing an article or in L of the advertisement just to have an article in the newsletter which could be advertising all in itself it really is more than anything so it's changing the type of advertising maybe from a picture and a a date saying come to the Tractor pole it's giving some historical uh or potentially some historical but talking more about the event itself and then that would be something you would support ccil member R go ahead so Mr Mayor to council member Bryant um the history of the city newsletter is nonprofits are not charged for their ads um that includes the seniors the Lions the festival um and it would include the the threshing show um we did in the fall newsletter have I think a two-page story on the threshing grounds and the history of them but I think it's a good idea to ask them as part of this ad to provide some more information specific to the Tractor polls um and depending on the date of them they typically have a spring one and then they have a fall one it with the threshing ground or threshing show um but if the spring one is um if if the date is relevant when we publish our spring newsletter um then that would that that could be in there but I I'm in favor of continuing with the tradition of um allowing nonprofit profs to to provide an article Andor an ad that's GL go ahead council member rainville can can you tell me what um are you what is the seven the $375 normally covered what are we charging people $375 for an app is it just to create the ad no so so the council member Glazer um ads are sold and you can get a quarter page half page full page a $375 $375 would be for a full page ad in the newsletter so if a business um Lakeside cabinets always does a full page ad they pay $375 for their ad because they're advertising a business a for-profit business um the now then seniors do usually a half page ad now then Lions do anywhere between a half and quarter page ad the uh Farmers Mark well Farmers Market is a city function um The Heritage Festival typically does a full page ad so the 375 would be what they would be charged had they be a a for-profit business business so as a nonprofit business they wouldn't have been charged for the for the ad so his historically what is the m what is the money used for that the that the city earns from advertisements in the newsletter to council member Glazer um the monies that are raised uh via the business advertising goes to help offset the cost of the newsletter um same as what we do um ads for the recycle center anything related to the recycling center we can offset those costs um via the score Grant it's just a way to make some setting all right any other discussion on this Mr Mayor yes sir and that's probably where the confusing part cames in because if because I don't recall lions or any other nonprofits coming in and asking for a waiver so if it's just our standard practice that a nonprofit gets an ad then they would get an ad and we don't have to worry about this we don't even have to vote on because they're already there that's my understanding okay yeah yeah Mr Mayor everybody good with that no vote yeah go ahead CC and and to council member Brian um I and you are correct we've just that's always been the pro policies the nonprofits um I don't know because this was the first time they've asked for this that staff brought it Forward um Lexi may be able to provide um more information as to why this is here but yeah technically we wouldn't have to um but it is good to know um because it did spur discussion of of how the newspaper is handled because we have new people on the council certain something I'll tell you that yeah I would move on to the next one receive and file what did she say I don't know Council R can you can you say that last sentence again I missed what you said I I I would just say that this can be a receive and file document we received it we reviewed it it gets filed receive and file go ahead thank M I did want to mention in the fee schedule for the newsletter it says that nonprofits have to write a letter to ask for Council permission so if that's something you want to go forward with just doing that I would recommend eventually changing that verb that's why we brought it Forward where do you SE in the fee schedule I'm just curious under the newsletter section yeah that's exactly where I'm looking at right now it says the reserves the authority to change or wave these for nonprofit organizations do it doesn't that's for baseball it doesn't say anything in the actual we as I may have misunderstood that then for reserve the authority we assume that that meant that you needed to give permission so I mean because we don't have any written documents saying that nonprofits automatically get a free ad which is why we had brought it Forward sure I understand that yeah but I'm just not seeing any it's specific in the fee schedule so I'm just if you can let them know yeah theirs will be free yep done G to move on please sir did you have cember y good right and sometimes I don't hear so I say we're moving on it's not to try to jump on anybody that's not my intent um so next one is request for Council action this is a resolution uh amending the 2024 budget um council member Brian did you want to bring up anything on this particular one um I'm just looking at the proposal and and I don't know if if it's something that we're gonna have to table now to for next for next month um because it appears that this was um at least in the budget that was proposed that there was that we're ending up using the $50,000 um Revenue bond to to um basically be added to the general fund and I know I know when we passed the the um acceptance of the St the revenue bond from St Francis that it was to that at the time um it was discussed that the council would be determining where that $50,000 would be spent and looking at the budget it appears that instead of using um Reserve fonds now we're actually putting $46,000 into that so I don't know if that conduit bond is if I mean from a break even perspective that's about the $50,000 where we wouldn't need to use the bond so I'm not exactly sure I just have more questions about how if if that's something that we would do if there's other ways around that and and I also understand that that there's more expense from emails that there's more expenses to be done so I don't know what the status of that is so I think right now unless I hear otherwise I'm going to make a motion to table this to next month does anybody have any clarification I know we had emails going around it made it better but we don't have Lori here to answer your your question specifically does anybody else have knowledge to speak of that better if not you want to make a motion to table it M okay I'll second the motion going around round table vote um the motion was to table until March council member rainville I council member Ryan hi council member Glazer hi I'm also on I motion carries moving on to the last one which is number c uh resolution authorizing Amendment to the 20124 budget that's what we just did quarter Financial wrong one next one was the the final one which was uh the RCA for 2024 fourth quarter financial report any discussion on this onec in of my previous question or the previous res the previous motion I believe that this fourth quarter um report would include the the proposed um budget changes so I think since we have questions about that I also need to make a motion to table the discussion about the fourth quarter financial report is there any negative effects if we table it at all not that I'm aware because we're going to pick it up in a couple weeks we can bring it up in um the end of February okay so motion I'll second the motion going round to um roll call vote council member Blazer I council member Brian I council member rainville I and I'm also I motion carries Mr Mayor if you have a motion please motion to adjourn motion to adjourn I second all right meeting is adjourned thank you very much have a great night