Good evening everyone. It is 6:38 and I call this regular meeting of the Victoria City Council to order. Please join us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> The first item on our agenda this evening is announcements. In announcements this evening, I want to begin by thanking all of our volunteers and those who participated in our volunteer appreciation night earlier this evening at the Lions Pavilion. Our volunteers play an invaluable role in making Victoria the special community it is. Whether serving on advisory committees, assisting with community events, supporting our parks and trails, helping with beautifification efforts, or contributing in countless other ways, volunteers give generously of their time, talents, and expertise to strengthen our community. Their commitment and willingness to serve makes a meaningful difference in the lives of our residents, and it helps us advance many of the goals, and initiatives that would not be possible without their support. On behalf of the city council and staff, we want to thank all of those volunteers. We're grateful for their service and we're proud to have such an engaged and caring community members. In other announcements, we'll be kicking off our 2027 budget discussion on Monday, June 22nd at 5 be at 5:00 pm during our city council workshop. Council will be reviewing and discussing preliminary 2027 budget and levy projections. On Wednesday, June 10th, will be our first classic car night event of the season from 5 to 8:00 PM right here in downtown Victoria. The event will include a concert in Bayfront Park by the Johnny Home Band, and we hope to see everyone there. As a reminder, city offices will be closed on Friday, June 19th in obser in observance of Junth. City offices will resume normal hours on Monday, June 22nd. We also would like to remind everyone that all meetings of the city council, including workshops, are open to the public and held in council chambers at city hall unless otherwise noted. We encourage anyone wanting to attend our council meetings or workshops in person to contact our city clerk in advance. That concludes the announcements for this evening. The next order of business is uh to adopt the final agenda. Council, can I get a motion to adopt the final agenda? >> Motion to adopt the final agenda. We have a motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. We'll move on to our next item, which is the open forum. This is the opportunity for anyone to address the council. On an item that is not on the agenda and not in an application form that will be coming to the council at a future date. We do have three individuals who have registered to speak in advance. First up is Mr. Carl Runk who would like to give us an update on construction progress in downtown West. Mr. run. Welcome. >> Hi, Mayor and members of the council. Um, Brian and Alyssa, do we have the slides here? Uh, so we were in front of you giving a construction update a few months ago, and we thought it'd be timely to give another update with where we're at right now with uh moving into uh the utilities. And joining me is Andrew McInness, by the way, uh the project manager on the construction side. Uh but when the the sales center uh which is also being built there uh opens in July prior to that, I'd love to invite you all um to come see that and and walk the uh progress with us. So I'll turn it over to Andrew. >> Welcome Mr. McInness. >> All right. Good a good evening. Uh as Carl said, Andrew McInness uh with SW Group, SW Builders project manager for Victoria Downtown West. Um, you can see here on our first slide, this is one of our newest renderings of Main Street with the retail kind of block city with with the parking lot as well. If you go to the next slide, um, so this was a photo that we showed in uh in February. This was taken in late November. Uh, we mobilized on site in middle of December. If you go to the next slide, you'll see a dramatic difference in scenery here. Um, you can kind of see there's Stiger Lake Lane. There's the off-ramp from five that's now been removed. This was taken just a little over a month ago. Uh today our mass grading is complete. Uh we've ran utilities from Stiger Lake Lane down to the west. You can kind of see that dark patch on the southeast corner. Um and then we're moving our way into the parking lot. All five retail buildings on the south side in our first phase are completed to grade um to date ready for vertical construction. We're just waiting for final design um for the civil drawings that we've incorporated minor changes for our retail buildings. We're supposed to get our retail uh permit drawings either today or tomorrow and we'll be submitting those. It's crucial for the development team to get these buildings active to help drive the development. Um so we're working hard with the city officials to push this through for permit processes. Um, if you go to the next slide, there's some granular photos. Uh, it's a little hard to see from here, but on the top left side, we're standing on Stiger Lake Lane looking westward. Uh, the Dairy Queen site is in the the far back side, but that's um, Main Street. There's two retail pads on either side. Um, the top right corner is continuing down Main Street to the parking lot. Uh, bottom left corner, you'll see the parking lot. And that big stack of soil there is for the underground storm retention system. And then the bottom right corner is just a final shot of the parking lot. If you go to the next slide, this is showing our revised phasing. We're really again focusing on the retail component with phase 1.1 and the bottom right continuing our utilities and uh infrastructure to the southwest phase 1.2 and then focusing on phase two um which is being driven by pre-sales. So, if you go to our next slide, speaking of pre-sales, this these are a few renderings capturing um the intent the design of the sales center and the purpose of building this temporary structure is to give buyers and potential clients tactile feel showing the level of finish that were constructed within the unit. Um, so just a couple shots of a gallery, movie theater going over the whole development, all the kitchen finishes, um, unique beam work, and then a studio for them to pick their finishes and selection packages within the units. You go to the next slide. This is taken earlier this morning. Um, we're trying to freshen up the exterior with landscaping. You can see the sales gallery in the top right corner. Um then cabinets got delivered late last week and then tiles being installed in the in the mock bathroom. So with that, open up to the council if you guys have any questions. >> Very good. Thank you, Mr. McInness. Any questions or comments from council this evening? All right, seeing none, thank you. We appreciate these updates. They're helpful for us. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Carl. >> All right, next up we have Mr. William Lutz, who'd like to speak regarding the Kelzer Pond city-owned outlot conservation buffer zone. Mr. Lutz, welcome. >> Good evening, mayor, council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I live on Kelszer Pond Drive. I've been a resident here since 1997 before Watermark was even developed. I'm here to talk about Kelzer Pond. Specifically, I want to talk about the conservation buffer zone that is city-owned land around 90% of that pond. And this is my request. I would like to ask for attention and specifically action by the city to enforce the prohibitions that are to stop adjacent property owners from cutting and mowing and damaging and now spraying chemicals in the city-owned buffer lot. It's been going on ever since that property was developed. It's city-owned property. Um, and it's not a new problem. And it seems to me and many other residents that all the although the city will put out letters that they will try some educational programs every year, the same people in the same location continue to cut, mow, spray, take down trees, and there are no consequences. No one's being required to replant. From what I understand, there have been no fines. There have been barely any visits or conversations with these people. We know the location. They are reported. I send videos. Um just this weekend, what what's the most recent example? Over Memorial Day weekend in the same southeast corner, a resident is out there with a gas-powered weed whacker cutting all the way to the shore in an area that's the size of a small lawn. Now, then cutting a swath 8 ft wide and 50 ft high all the way up to their own property. It's city- owned land. It's not theirs. It's supposed to be protected. Just this last week, middle of the afternoon, another resident is out in that same area spraying chemicals of some sort across that whole path, wearing a respirator type mask that you'd wear for CO. So, we're not talking about putting fragrance out there. [snorts] It's troubling and curious why the city will not take steps with respect to these same individual property owners to enforce the rules. If if someone [snorts] were to come out here to Bayfront Park because they didn't like the trees and start whacking away at trees and cutting those down, or if someone went to the rec center, an adjacent land owner, and said, "I don't like the trees. I'm going to cut them down. on the ones that are on city property. I dare say the city would be all over them. They'd be calling the sheriff. There would be an investigation. There'd be either civil trespass or criminal trespass or some type of activity. But why doesn't this happen here? It's not a new problem, but there is nothing new going on. um it's not only damaging that buffer zone, but the purpose of that buffer zone is to protect the pond. We've got exploding growth of weeds in that pond. In these areas, you've got more runoff and now we've got a higher water table and both um Travis and Watershed have been out there because of extensive erosion along the shoreline there. And I guess my point is whatever the city's been doing so far, it's having no effect. The word gets out among the people who are doing this activity, the city's not going to do anything. Go ahead, do it. I do it. You do it. Go ahead. And it's been going on forever and ever. And something needs to change. Some type of enforcement needs to happen. I asked the question, who's to solve this? I've talked with both Travis, I've talked with Jen, I talked with Watershed. Watershed seems to point back here. Watershed says these are city-owned outlots. We have an agreement at the time of development with the city as to what's allowed and what's not allowed. Watershed says we have no leverage against the individual property owners. So, it's coming back to the city. Um, and when I speak with Travis and I speak with Jen with all respect and thanks for their work, I get the impression they need guidance from you. They need approval. They need guidance. They need the impremature that says it's time to take some enforcement actions. I don't speak for them. That's just the impression I got. But I think without guidance from all of you here on the council, this is not going to happen. Do we need an ordinance? Maybe. Five years ago in April, I sent an email to the council and to the people in planning with three examples from Minnesota cities of what type of ordinance would work. I don't know what's going on with it. Um, but I would say even without an ordinance, you've got basic trespass going on here. It's city property. You've got criminal damage to property. This is intentional. It's not by accident. and it's city- owned property. It's got restrictions on its use, but they're not being enforced. So, I leave you with this question. What's the next step from the city? When will it happen? Who will be the people who are going to champion this effort? Um, and in the meantime, what do we do? Uh we we do try and speak to the sheriff when this happens, but I get the impression they're feeling like they don't really know entirely what their role is, what to do. Um so I thank you all for the opportunity to speak and I hope I hope you'll understand. I will offer assistance to any extent that I can. I've been here since 97. I was here when the property was platted, when it was developed. There used to be signs there. There aren't any more, but I'm willing to help. So, I hope I can offer that. And thank you all. >> Thank you, Mr. Lutz. And next up, I have Miss Jessica Hagar, who would like to address the council this evening. Miss Hagar, welcome. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Good evening, Mayor, members of the city council. I'm Jessica Hagar, and I'm running for Carver County Sheriff. I wanted to take the opportunity to just to introduce myself to all of you and kind of let you know why I've made the decision to run for sheriff and then to also provide my contact information. So, one of the reasons I decided to run for sheriff, um there are five of us running is I recognize that there is some significant changes needed in the sheriff's office and one of the things that I really want to do is improve the relationships with the cities. It really should be a partnership between the cities and the sheriff's office when it comes to contract policing because truly um at any point any city could say that they want to start their own police department and there are things that the sheriff's office can't do but there are a lot of things that can be done that aren't being done to improve that relationship with the cities. The other thing is obviously looking at employee retention and hiring. um they're down um and not a definitive number but around 13 deputies. And so I mean one of the things that you guys are having to share a town deputy with the city of Carver and so um I I don't know that that would change but if they if we were up to full staff at the sheriff's office, would that change that that Victoria could go back to having a 24-hour car? Um there's from what I've told there's a minimum of seven deputies. That's the minimums that are required in the county. When you look at the fact that Chan Hassan has two of those and that leaves five to cover the rest of the county, that seems a little sparse on what we're doing to to make sure that our citizens are safe. Um, the other thing is I want to improve our school safety. And so many people seem to think like, oh, we need to put an officer in the school to make our schools safer. That's not the case. I started an SRO program from the ground up for the city of Hopkins with an extremely diverse amount of schools. Um that ranged from Blake, which was a private school. I had Uba Medical Academy, which is a Somali uh charter school. I had the public schools. I had I the schools I had run the gamut of everything you could think of as far as schools go. And I couldn't be there all the time, but there were other things we could do to improve that school safety. The other thing is is looking at officer wellness. It it goes beyond just doing a checkup from the neckup for our officers. Um there's so many other wellness aspects that that an officer needs. Um because there is a a a significant amount of stress on us, especially in in today in today's world, the amount of stress that's on officers. Um just the other day, a state trooper lieutenant committed suicide. We need to make sure that we're taking care of those officers who are here. Um but so the biggest thing is though, I just want to grow the partnerships. I want it to be that we are working for you because truly the sheriff's office in a lot of regards is you. We're your customer, right? You guys are paying the sheriff's office to cover your cities that you need and that you deserve. And so my contact information if any of you want to reach out to me um if you'd like to have a further conversation it's haggar h e g- r4 fo r sheriffgmail.com and do you guys have any questions for me at this time council any questions for Miss Hagar? >> Seeing none we wish you luck with your campaign. Thank you. And I would welcome any further conversation if with any of you if you would like to do so. >> Very good. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Is there anyone else in the audience that would like to address the council on any item that is not on the agenda and not an application form that's coming to the council at a future date. Seeing no one, we'll move on to the next item on our agenda, which is the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda are routine, administrative, and do not require deliberation or are housekeeping items that are required by law. They're approved with one vote unless someone requests an item to be considered separately. Miss Hardy, does staff wish to pull any consent agenda items for separate discussion and vote this evening? >> None from staff. Madame Mayor, >> is there a member of the council seeking to pull an item for separate discussion and vote? Or a member of the audience this evening? All right. Seeing none, I will uh make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Moving on to the regular agenda. The first item this evening is item 6.1, which is a public hearing regarding the renewal of on sale intoxicating liquor and Sunday liquor license for blue agave tacos and tequila. Presenting on that item this evening is assistant city manager Alyssa Nelson. Miss Nelson, welcome. >> Thank you, mayor, council members. Happy to be here this evening. Um, as the agenda report stated, yes, we are here to host a public hearing for a liquor license renewal. Um, this probably looks familiar to you. We did host uh a number of liquor license renewals at our last meeting on May 11th. Um however, due to some um not necessarily push back, but some forms that we were missing from the state, uh we were waiting for Blue Agave's liquor license application to come through, which is being presented to you this evening. Um with any liquor license applications that come before the council, we are required to host a public hearing by city ordinance. So that is the reason that we're also doing a public hearing regarding this. Um and as just a reminder, although you just went through this, our liquor license are held annually. Um so when we approve agave, assuming that it passes all the rest of the application forms at the state of Minnesota after we approve this tonight, um it will run from July 1st to June 30th, uh 2027. >> Very good. Thank you, Miss Nel Miss Nelson. Um, this is a public hearing, so I will now open the public hearing. If there is anyone in the audience that wishes to speak to this item, please step to the podium. Anybody wishing to speak to this item can approach the podium. And last call on the public hearing. Seeing no one, I will now close the public hearing and open the floor for council discussion. Council, any questions, comments on this item this evening? >> Oh, pretty straightforward. >> All right. At that point, at this point, I'll uh entertain a motion. >> Motion to adopt the resolution approving a renewal of an on sale intoxicating liquor, and Sunday licenses for bluegave, tacos, and tequila from July 1st, 2026 to June 30th, 2027. >> Thank you, Council Member Refe. We have a motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. >> The next item on the agenda is the final plat and development agreement for the shores of Marsh Lake second edition residential development. Presenting on this item this evening is city planner Brian McCann. Mr. McCann, welcome. The floor is yours. >> Thank you, Mayor and Council members. I'll just jump right into it. So we have a final plat submittal and a development agreement for consideration by the city council this evening. Uh this slide here is just overarching our major subdivision or platting process. You are at the final step here where they get their uh final details of the development approved as well as the development agreement. So you may recall uh this is a residential development consisting of six single family lots. uh they are requesting that final plat and development agreement this evening but the location and existing conditions. Uh the property is part of a larger parcel here shown in the image on the left as well as a couple outlots and one uh undeveloped lot from the first phase of the shores of Marsh Lake residential development. The site is intersected uh by County Road 43. It's also in close proximity to Marsh Lake Road and Marsh Lake. Uh and then as I mentioned, we're talking about five new single family homes and then they're just doing a simple lot line adjustment for that sixth lot which was part of the first edition for the shores of Marsh Lake just to the east. So here is the final plat that was submitted. You can see they have four lots on the south side of the culdeac for Lakeside Drive and then two lots on the north side. They also have three outlots proposed. The first outlot here uh consists of some storm water area, some wetlands and some uh preservation open space areas. Then outlot C here is future rightway uh for the future County Road 43 project. And then outlot B here is open space which will be privately maintained by the local HOA out there. And then this is just to highlight all of the planned unit development regulations that were approved by the city council when they last saw this item at their meeting on April 13th. These are the deviations that were approved with that planned unit development matching um almost exactly what was approved for the shores of Marsh Lake uh first edition. So this will be one cohesive neighborhood out here. Then uh the city council also authorized submittal of a comprehensive plan amendment for this proposal to bring it into the 2021 to 2030 development decade. Right now it's in the 2031 to 2040 decade. So that required a minor amendment. It's still in review with our adjacent jurisdictions. So, we have to send out a notice to uh impacted jurisdictions such as the DNR, uh the county, places like that. They get 60 days to respond. So, we're still waiting to hear from them. That ends this Friday. So, after that, staff will submit the amendment to the Metropolitan Council for consideration. Until then, I do have a condition in the resolution for you this evening that we would need that approval before the final plaque could be uh fully issued. Then looking at landscaping and tree preservation, they are meeting all of our minimum requirements. They're exceeding the minimum 50% open space. They have at least three trees per single family lot. They also have boulevard trees placed every 45 ft and meeting our street tree standards. They also have buffer trees proposed for the north side adjacent to County Road 43 and Marsh Lake Road. And then they're only proposing 10% of the existing significant trees on this area. So they're in compliance with the tree preservation requirements. Then for streets, parking and pedestrian connections, they are proposing that culde-sac uh which is sized accordingly per our requirements which would allow parking on both sides of the street. Um they are also proposing a 20 foot wide emergency access connection to County Road 43 as directed by the fire chief. Uh, it has been preliminary reviewed with Carver County and the fire chief and they've both signed off on a grass pavement type of material which is basically concrete spacers where grass is allowed to grow up in between it and make it look more natural uh as opposed to just straight pavement for the full emergency access. And then for parking requirements, our code requires two enclosed spaces per home. We anticipate that to be met based on all of the other homes in this neighborhood. Then for park dedication, um I have a note here. We excluded one of the units since we already collected parkland dedication for that home that's getting the lot line adjustment from the first edition. So we're only calculating five new single family residences here. Uh the calculation comes out to be a little less than a quarter acre or about $24,500. There is a private park out in this neighborhood already, so we anticipate that fee in lie of land. Then for wetlands storm water management and utilities, it's subject to the MCWD's rules and regulations. Um they are working with MCWD currently and they are platting wetlands and buffers within outlots as required by our code. And then they're proposing to extend utilities from Lakeside Drive all the way to the future uh county road line here for their rightway with the future Marsh Lake Road, County Road 43 project. So with that, I have some suggested conditions of approval. They're the same as the ones that are included in your packet. I've highlighted the first two here since they're uh more atypical than our standard ones. The first one being that we need that approval from the Metropolitan Council for the comprehensive plan amendment. And then secondly, that we get uh written approval from Carver County. We've heard verbal approval from them, but we want to make sure we have that in writing before we fully approve that emergency access for the neighborhood. And then with that, I have two sample motions for you this evening. Staff can stand for questions and I have a representative of the application in the audience as well. Very good. Thank you, Mr. McCann. Okay. Council, any questions, comments on this final plat. All right. Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. >> Make a motion to adopt the resolution approving the final plat for the shores of Marsh Lake, second edition. We have a motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion carries. And we need the second motion as well. Correct. >> Correct. >> Um council, I will entertain a motion. >> Motion to approve the development agreement between the city of Victoria and Charles Cud Company. For the shores of Marsh Lake, second edition. >> Thank you, Council Member Roberts. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. We are moving on to item 6.3. This is to consider a proposed noise ordinance amendment. Presenting on that item this evening is our community and economic development director, Jen Brewington. Miss Brewington, whenever you are ready. Welcome. >> Good evening, mayor, members of the council. Tonight, we're going to be talking about a proposed noise ordinance amendment. So, just some background. City staff is currently evaluating potential amendments to chapter 12 article 2 noise of the Victoria City Code. The review is intended to improve clarity, make enforcement more consistent, and address concerns related to late night amplified outdoor music. The purpose of this ordinance update is to balance community events and business activities with the needs of nearby residents. The proposed changes are intended to protect public health and safety, reduce impact from late night amplified music, and create clear expectations for everyone. The goal is to support vibrant downtowns while maintaining a good quality of life for nearby residents as well. This proposal would establish a clear expectation that amplified outdoor music in the central business district ends at 10 p.m. Outdoor speakers, sound systems, and similar equipment would be included under this regulation. If a business, organization, property owner would like to have amplified music past that 10 p.m., they may apply for a temporary noise permit for city council consideration. It is important to note that this proposed focus, this proposed is focused on the CBD district and not intended to regulate any residential activities such as listening to music in a backyard. The temporary noise permit process provides flexibility for businesses, organizations, and community groups that would want to host special events after that 10 p.m. time frame. Rather than allowing extended hours automatically, each request is reviewed individually through a public process. This allows the city council to consider the details of the event, potential impacts on properties, any public feedback before making decision, and that way the public knows when the events are being held. The goal is to support community events in downtown and balancing uh the noise. To request amplified outdoor music beyond 10 p.m., an applicant must submit a temporary noise permit application at least 45 days before the event. The application includes basic event information such as location, dates, hours, descriptions of the event and any measures that may be taken to um reduce any noise impacted by their event. An application is also required per event and these requirements help ensure that the city has adequate time to review requests and to notify nearby property owners. Enforcement is simplified by establishing a clear 10pm cutoff for amplified outdoor music. And if music continues beyond that time without an approved permit, law enforcement may issue a citation. Violations remain in a misdemeanor under city code and citations may be issued to the property owner or manager depending on the circumstances. Many of our neighboring cities use a special event permit process to allow flexibility for special events that want to utilize amplified music past their time. Victoria Symphony Noise permit process does follow a similar approach. They also have cut off music or cut their music off at 10 p.m. like we're considering and their fees are comparable to ours. Ours are however determined by our fee schedule each year. And I have a sample motion for you to um review on the screen and I'm here for any questions. >> Very good. Thank you so much. Council questions. >> When would this go into effect? >> Like today. >> Correct. It goes into effect once we once when it's once it's approved. >> Um, as far as getting a temporary noise permit, is there a way to bundle so I can say I want to go every Thursday, Friday, Saturday to 11:00, pay $150 fee, and then cover myself for three months after the 45day window or not? >> Council member, no, not correct. would they would have to go to a public hearing for each individual event and pay a fee for each eventual event as well. >> Okay. >> Each event meaning in that case a Thursday night is one event. >> Correct. Mayor, members of the council, just clarification. Um I I just want to make sure that we're all clear on that. You can bundle if you know all of your events for let's say the month of July. An applicant could bundle everything uh in one application. However, the public hearing would be noticed for each individual event that's happening and a fee would be collected. So, if there are six events that are identified in the application, the public hearing would cover all six individual events and the applicant would be subject to paying a fee for each individual event. >> So, a fee for of $150 in that case for six events. >> $50. Mayor >> $50 for six events >> times time six00 >> $300 or whatever >> $50 per event. Yes. So >> okay >> they could do that at one bundle. >> They can submit one application but they would have to clearly identify in that application >> each event the time that each event. So all the requirements for that what we need to evaluate what council would need to evaluate each event would be they would have to provide all that information. So they don't have to have let's say they're having six six different events in the month of July. They don't need to submit six applications. >> Got it? one application, but all of the information for each event would be needed in order for you to evaluate that. And they would be subject to paying that fee. >> And and then is it one public hearing or six public hearings? >> You would hold one public hearing that covers all of the individual. So you would your notice would notice the dates and the times and all the relevant information for each of those events that were part of that application. >> And and again, this would only be needed if it's going to go after 10 p.m. >> Correct. Outdoors. Mayor, members of the council, it's very similar to what the VBA does for the classic car show. Lumps it as one public hearing, lists out the dates. >> Yeah. >> Very good. Thank you. >> I [clears throat] would say we may want to limit the amount of events that they can put on one application. Um, just from a standpoint of one, they're going to pay the same amount no matter what, right? It's $50 per event. But also, it gives us more power to say if someone's not abiding by, right? because abiding by, you know, if we say they have to be done by 11 and they're going till midnight, um we want that ability to we've already done, you know, three months, the whole summer, like I'd rather do a month at a time and be like, listen, if you can't, you know, abide by the 11:00 or whatever time they ask for, um we're not going to approve those permits anymore. more. So I I would like to um >> if possible to say like you can't do like a whole summer in one application. >> What which brings up the question about enforcement? What is the enforcement mechanism we have? And what are those? Um [clears throat] what are those Miss Hardy or Miss Brewington? Brewington or Miss Hardy. >> I can I can jump in. I'll jump in here. Mayor, members of the council. Yes. the enforcement piece. Um, so we have spoken with our our deputies and then our code enforcement office Travis is also here today. So I'll look to Jen and Travis to jump in as well as needed. So, um the language that is being proposed is simply to prohibit outdoor amplified music after 10 p.m. And so, um, the this would give the ability, um, for our code enforcement officer or any deputy that observes any or hears any music, um, or receives complaints of music that is outdoor and outdoors and amplified to go in and say, we're essentially this is not allowed. You got to shut it down. Uh, the penalty for doing that is a citation. And so that citation holds uh is a misdemeanor. Um and so it would be um in the deputy's uh purview to issue that citation. >> Is there is there anything in this in this ordinance that allows us to even though uh they may have permits that stretch into the future, is there anything in this that allows us to claw those back should they? Um Mr. Mr. V, do you want to take that one? >> Sure. >> Yeah. Mayor and council sort of inherent in licensing or permitting. Permitting is a kind of licensing. Inherent in that is the ability to revoke or terminate uh permits you've already granted for non-compliance. Um I don't think we have language explicitly saying that in this provision, but that's just a general principle of permitting. You would want to though give any party that has the permit notice that you're going to consider doing that and the opportunity to come here and say why you shouldn't do that. But yes is the answer. The short answer is yes. You could revoke a permit for a clear violation. >> Okay. Very good. Thank you. Other questions, comments? Council member Roberts. >> We we don't have any limit on how many they can do right now. Yeah, Miss Hardy, >> mayor, members of the the council, Council Member Roberts, right now, the way it's written, it would be open to council's discretion. Um, in the staff report, it's noted and and so if um I I don't have the have it up in front of me, but essentially um it would allow council um to approve approve with conditions or deny. So, it gives you flexibility. Um, so if somebody um is applying for the entire summer, um you could prove it outright and go through a revocation process as our city attorney just noted. um as an option or you could um it would be within your ability uh to say we're going to see how this goes and we're going to um only you've applied for six, we're going to do three um and have them come back. So if they said July through September or whatever, we could just say, "Okay, we're approving July and then but we're holding your application the rest of it August through September until you know the end of July or whatever so that you have enough time to know. >> You could certainly do that. Council member Roberts, Mayor, members of the council." >> Yeah. Um Mayor, >> yes, >> if I can on that point, um I agree with what um your manager said. Um, so it it's impractical to write every administrative detail into an ordinance like this. You can appreciate I mean all these questions you've asked are great. You know, how many events can be included in a given permit? Is there separate fee for each? Is there a separate hearing for each? These are all great questions. Some of that has to be left to the staff to administer. But your, you know, clearly what they want to do is your will. They want to do what the council wants to see done. So, as an example of that, I think I heard that you'd like to see the staff limit on the front end the number of events that can be applied for. You don't want somebody to be able to apply for 15 events from July until December. And I think staff can implement that. Um, but I I think it would be better to implement that on the front end. It's going to be a little uncomfortable if the staff has said, "Sure, you can apply for eight events and then that comes before you and you only want to grant three events, right?" I mean, that's just awkward for everybody. So I think that feedback you're giving right now that you want to limit uh that um is is quite helpful. So but and that is my encouragement to staff is to hear that and let's limit the number that can be applied for based on what sounds like council consensus about that >> and I think it's helpful for the applicant too because then they're not spending money on something that we're not going to >> and advertising for it or whatever. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so how I guess you know a little concern about our businesses currently though, right? So we're putting this into potentially policy today. Um, so how does this work for you know we you know these businesses >> generally before today, right? We're having concerts when they wanted to. Um, so how does I guess like we I I want us to be sensitive to that because it obviously we want our businesses to thrive and that's a you know good for attracting people in downtown. So um how do we you know go about you know with the 45 was it 45 days I think right window that how do we go about making sure they're allowed to have their concerts still >> miss Bington please. >> Yeah council member Roberts um thank you for that question. Well, as of now, the way everything is written, they are still supposed to play till 10. So, those rules are in place right now, and our deputies are aware of that. Um, I might have to look to legal on that. If we could change that 45 days to let us review those quicker, but we might have to have a discussion on what that looks like for the next couple months coming here. Um, but I did talk to one of our business owners that is looking to have events and they did submit an application today for the rest of the summer. um because they knew this 45day was coming up. But I'm not quite sure if Bob has any comments on that. If we could change that. >> Yeah. Mayor and Council, I have to confess I don't know what the 45 days is. Remind me of what >> it's for permit review for the application. So that's kind of just our way of building in some time to make sure we've got enough time to do our process and the public hearing notices as well >> because you have to public hearing. >> Yeah. So, mayor and council, I mean, on on those points, staff will laugh when they hear me say this, but I mean, I I would always prefer that a code provision build in plenty of time for staff and council to process these things with the understanding that you would want your staff to bring these as forward as fast as is reasonably possible. >> And I I think that's the goal of staff. I mean, obviously 45 days doesn't mean they have to wait for 45 days to decide. That just means we have 45 days. So if I'm understanding the 45 So staff can always bring that forward as soon as it's uh convenient. And then the other thing I would just say is to to give a little bit of comfort uh to uh uh bars in town that may have events lined up. Uh I mean I presume that staff's recommendation to you will be if there's evidence that they have literally contracted with somebody to do something that we would you know give careful consideration to that where people have already made an investment in those things. Now, are they entitled to it because of that? No. But I'm sure that you're going to want to give fair consideration to folks that have made some plans already for a given date. >> And in fairness again, right, like they can have the concert from 7 to 10, right? We're just saying, you know, past 10, they can't they need this permit. So, they they're still able to have the concert with whoever they contract with. It's just right now until they have their application approved, they're not supposed to go. Beyond 10. >> It down 10. >> Yeah. Miss Hardy, please. >> Thank you, mayor, members of the council. Just another point of clarification. This only is regulating outdoor music. >> That was the question I had. So, if it's indoor with doors open, is that indoor or outdoor? >> I'm going to I would say that that's indoor. >> Yeah. >> That would be my interpretation. the band is indoor or whoever's >> and then the other and then that would kick in other provisions in your noise ordinance 50 ft from the >> the property measuring >> so on and so forth. >> Yeah. Just to clarify, I didn't know how we Yep. >> I mean, we just need to bring back some acoustic music from 10 to, you know, midnight, right? I mean, then all would be sold, >> which is a really nice way for the rest of us to unwind anyway, >> right? Yes. Exactly. propo >> and mayor and council just la last I'm talking more than I should but um I mean clearly this is one of those examples of why you have a hard job which is that you're trying to balance some important interests here of businesses that matter to you and and residents that matter to you that are are being bothered by noise. Uh and I I think you are by having this conversation and having it so nicely, you're sending a message right to folks that this is a concern for the city and for the city council. And so if people can help accommodate that um then this just isn't a problem, right? So there is a message being sent to everybody here I think right now that this is an issue that's come to your attention. So >> and I'm sorry >> and I do want to say you know thanks to the staff for your hard work on this ordinance and you know we we really do want to strike the right balance and we want to thread this needle very carefully to make sure that everybody's rights are being protected here. So yeah council member >> just a couple follow-ups. So you said this citation would be a misdemeanor, right? So what would like I'm assuming there's a fine with that, right? Or or or is it like what do we know what that >> Yeah. So mayor and counsel I I'm going to I'm not a prosecutor so I'm going to get the the full expanse of what can happen with I mean a misdemeanor is a is a is a criminal offense. Um and so there are the potential for jail time and there's potential for an extended uh amount of a significant amount of money to be awarded. you know, ultimately a judge decides that. Uh, and judges are not going to typically drop the hammer on the first offense. So, uh, but yeah, I mean, it's the potential that you would identify a manager who's responsible for this and they could actually, you know, theoretically serve jail time. That is a possibility with a misdemeanor. >> I'm assuming it escalates a little bit the more it happens. >> For sure. A judge that hears about this the third time is going to be less uh happy about it. For sure. And I think back to our conversation of I don't know the last meeting, right? like we can kind of keep a book on this so that when it comes to liquor renewal like time like we can use that at our like right like I mean if they're not going by our our ordinances then like that can be kind of held against them in >> way mayor council just as I said with the permit itself the temporary noise permit that you know misbehavior could be held against that permit or even be used to revoke it the same is true with the liquor license itself so I mean all all of the rules of a liquor lency are brought to bear when you decide on issuing new licenses including noise related things. >> Very good. Anything else? Council member Roberts. So I guess my only question would be do we want to put a limit on this or do we want to just say right like if they bring a full [clears throat] summer which it sounds like we already have one you know that at that time we'll only maybe do or I guess what other people's opinions on that are >> I I think for me it's it's it's subjective right so you know can you have 20 events in a summer and if you've got acoustic music going till 11:00 that's very different than if you've got you know an an electric guitar and somebody beating pretty hard on that and a set of drums. So I think there's that for me it makes it really uncomfortable to limit the number. Um, I think, um, I know we've had good conversations with some of our business owners and encouraged them to consider those things and and be respectful of the neighbors and and you know, I I guess I would heir on the side of um, human interest and say I I don't know that we would limit it because we do have the opportunity to, you know, to revoke permitting if it's egregious and and those kinds of things. So, that would be my opinion. Other council members thoughts? I don't want to limit it and I just want to make sure that I mean it's going to be a pain for the businesses that have to do this. So I want to make sure it's as streamlined and as easy as possible. Hence why I was saying let's make sure they can bundle them to a point. I think a monthly bundle is kind of maybe the right way to go with it. Um I'm just also a little bit concerned about okay we have 45 days to approve it. What does that mean for concerts that are going on Friday and Saturday this week or the Friday and Saturday next week? I mean, that's >> they have to stop by 10. >> They're five, you know, in five days they have to get this approved or else they have to be done by 10:00. I don't know if that's necessarily fair either. So, those would be my two biggest concerns with it at this stage. Um, I would say, you know, let's not put a limit on it and then if we look down the road and we need to put a limit on it, then we cross that bridge when we have to. >> Yeah. >> Member R. >> Yeah. And I'm I guess I I don't know if we know enough right now to put a limit on it up front, but I do I think Attorney Vos mentioned we can we can cross that bridge. I hate to say when we get there, but kind of keep an eye on that. The one thing I and Council Member Patterson just brought this up. I do this weekend events, next weekend events. It's a little bit unfair in my opinion. Is there a way to do like 30 days? >> Yeah. >> And this goes into effect. >> Yeah. >> The only thing I would say is is it's >> or is it 10:00? >> We're in Right. like we're actually just enforcing something that's already on the right. like they're supposed to be done at 10:00 the way it is, right? So, we're just not giving out permits yet because we just made this. But >> so, right, they didn't have the ability >> to do the 45 days before this weekend. But >> if without what we're doing tonight, they aren't supposed to do it past 10:00. So, I mean, and that's part of the problem why we're doing this is because they're not following the rules that we have in place already. So, Miss Hardy, Miss Hardy, please. >> Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. Just another point of clarification. So, part of that 45day review process also builds in time for us to do the public notice. So, if they're going to be making a request for a temporary noise permit, that does require a public hearing and we have to properly notice that. So with that public hearing, we need to um get the information, collect the information. We need to send that or mail that to properties within 350 ft of where that noise is going to occur, we need to post it in our official paper and then we need to hold the public hearing. And so if this gets approved today, um in order for that to happen, the soonest that we could um hold a public hearing legally would be on July 13th. So what that would mean is that um what that would mean is that the music, the outdoor amplified music between now and that time would need to be done at 10 p.m. It could move indoors. >> Um >> it could go acoustic. It could sure it could go acoustic. Um and then just another piece um part just another point of clarification is that our current ordinance ordinance is a little clunky and difficult to enforce because music isn't outright prohibited at 10 p.m. the volume needs to decrease. And so the way that we measure and determine if there's a violation is also um difficult for us to do. And so this streamlines the process, makes it clear, makes it easy for us to enforce um and make sure that both the businesses and the residents understand what those expectations are. But it also provides an opportunity to balance all the things that you've talked about today. Balance the needs of both the businesses and the quality of life um of the nearby residents by allowing there to be a public transparent process on the impact of what that request for music beyond 10 p.m. is. >> And that's that's a great point. It's the awareness and the transparency of it really because I mean I think it was measured in decibb. Is that correct? >> That is correct. >> Which is not easy to do because some's measurement may be different than somebody else's or whatever. But I I guess on the discussion, Chad, your point on the upfront, I'm okay with that being take it as is and trying this, you know, with the new uh ordinance, enforceable ordinance. I'm not I'm not sure how we address the this weekend, next weekend type stuff um completely for some of the near-term events. >> Yeah. But if the if we're not really changing anything, we're just >> I don't know. I go back. >> We're changing the enforcability. [clears throat] >> Changing the enforcability, but not the time. >> We're actually allowing for them to have an opportunity to go past 10:00 legally. >> Yeah. >> Kind of helping them out in some ways. >> Yeah. True. Um, >> real quick, mayor, members of council, um, on that 45day piece, we could change that to 30 days because that is what our special event or sorry, our temporary event permit is >> temporary liquor >> liquor like temporary liquor license. Um, I I like going down to 30 days. I think the I mean I think we can get our work done in 30 days and I think that doesn't feel quite so like such a big hurdle for businesses. So I do like that 30-day >> is how long is the notice for uh public hearing? Like how long do we have to do that before >> what's our Miss Hardy? What's our requirement? >> I'm going to look at Alyssa. I think you can probably answer this better than I >> Nelson please. Council members, um, great question. So, for our paper, uh, we typically require for a public hearing notice about 10 days before the public hearing. So, we still have we have that deadline to meet our paper comes out on the Thursday. So, if our Monday meeting, we have to go to the Thursday, 10 days before Thursday. Um, so roughly maybe 20 days, two weeks, a little more than that. That's just rough math. It really depends on what the calendar looks like, but >> that's fine. >> All right, council. Any questions? Other comments? >> Just one kind of clarification. >> Member Patterson >> for the public hearing. That's city council, not planning commission, right? >> Yeah, mayor and council, that's correct. >> Okay, thank you. >> I'm just trying to come up with other ways where it might be faster. >> All right. Council, any other questions, comments? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. Motion to adopt ordinance 474MC amending chapter 12 environment article 12-2 noise section 12-21. Sorry, that uh noises prohibited. >> We have a motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Um council, there are no more items on our regular agenda this evening. So, we're moving on to reports and emerging issues. And attorneys, you're up first. Anything from you this evening? >> Well, Mayor and Council, I don't usually um drag you back into the back room and tell you all about the legal stuff going on. It's been busy. Uh, I did want to just highlight one thing though that came up in public forum tonight. We're entering the campaign season, political season. Uh, I just want to acknowledge I talked to staff a little bit about your policy historically on allowing campaign statements at public forum. Uh, uh, my understanding is you've allowed that and many many cities do that. I I think just the only advice I would give is that there are plenty of cities that just say our public forum is not a place for campaigning at all. We don't want anyone's statements. Of course, that would be permissible in my view, but you know, clearly picking and choosing is not okay. You don't get to pick the folks that come and and if the policy is going to be to allow people, I would encourage you to sort of uh put some put some reasonable limits on the amount of time because things can get a little, you know, if you have five people waiting to talk about their campaign, it can get uh take a lot of your time away from you. So, >> very good >> advice taken. Thank you, Attorney Vos. Miss Hardy, anything from you this evening? >> Thank you, mayor, members of the council. I think Alyssa Nelson is going to share a little bit with um council and everybody watching this evening about our new artwork. >> Oh, very good. Miss Nelson, please. >> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Dana. Um yes, we have new artwork in council chambers. Um for those in the audience, as well as those that are watching from home, um if you're not familiar, we do have a rotating uh art gallery at city hall council chambers. It is in partnership with Deb Zeller, a Victoria resident and also owner of Zeer Studios out of Hopkins. Um we are graciously um thankfully um brought variety of different art from Deler uh from Z Deb's. Oh my goodness. Deb's um rotating artwork um at our gallery. Um and people are able to come visit city hall uh during our open hours to come look at the artwork. >> Very good. Thank you. We have some beautiful summer and beach scenes up. So, if you want to take a little stroll through the art here in at uh city hall, please feel free to do so. Thank you. Um now we're up to reports and emerging issues from council members. Um Miss Hardy, I do have uh something for you in reports and emerging issues um relative to our open forum this evening. um our our buffer zone and um issues around the outlots and that sort of thing is something that um is has been a a perennial problem, but I know we haven't we have done some things. Can you can you help remind council kind of the path we've gone down on this topic? >> Certainly, mayor, members of the council, um excellent question and um first of all, and Mr. Lutz is still in the audience [clears throat] here this evening, so I just want to thank him personally for his engagement on this issue. you've been very um instrumental in helping us um with our outreach and our uh neighborhood engagement on on this on this issue. So, thank you um for your passion, your dedication on that. Um over the past several years and and as he stated and you um many of you know that this is has been an on ongoing issue. So, we do agree on that. And over the past several years, staff have investigated um different concerns both raised by um him and others in the neighborhood. Um we've worked with the watershed district. We do send out um a letter annually. Every spring I believe that goes out just reminding the neighborhood about what those um what the buffer is, what those requirements are. This year we um stepped up our our game and um with the encouragement um of Mr. Lutz and uh held a neighborhood meeting um for the Council Pon neighborhood to address specifically these issues. So to educate people about what those um buffer requirements are, why they are important and um our city staff are out there along with the watershed district. And so, um, I think they we had pretty decent turnout and, um, and we look forward to doing that again in the the future. Um, so we will continue to be committed to sending out those those letters. Um, and um, we're continuing to evaluate um, how to um, be more effective in that education and enforcement, especially as um, there is neighborhood turnover. Um we do continue to respond to and investigate every um every complaint that comes forward. We are complaint based. So we do have our code enforcement officer Travis who is the lead on that. Our deputies also cover um for us when those complaints come in outside of our regular business hours such as on the weekends. And so all of that has um has uh been followed up on in some way, shape or form. Um there has been enforcement done in the past. So for example, fire pits and different um things landscaping that have been done. Those things have been removed. We do follow up on on those things. There also have been uh situations where we have allowed uh some maintenance work to happen in our outlot but outside of the buffer area. And so there have been historically property owners who have um gained permission from the city or the wershed to start to do that work in those outlots. And so one of the things that we are currently working with our GIS staff on is an interactive map to show where active permits are happening not only in this area but we would extend that to other outlots um and buffer zones throughout the community. So, that is something that um came from this process and this engagement and something that we're actively working on. >> Very good. Thank you, Miss Hardy. Was very helpful. All right, council. Anything else from council in reports and emerging issues this evening? >> Council member Patterson. >> Um yeah, I just I wanted to thank Mr. Lutz for coming. I think this is an issue that there's a lot of homeowners that jump onto city-owned property and start doing things to enhance their own yards, backyards, and everything else. And I know there's not a lot of teeth behind what we can do to try to stop them. I don't know if there's a huge legal or insurance risk that we have, but I do think it's something that's I'm seeing more and more of it, and it's something that today is probably not the time for the discussion, but I think it's something that we need to have a dig a little deeper into and explore more and come up with ways to enforce it better. >> Very good. >> That'd be my two cents on it. >> Thank you, Council Member Patterson. >> All right, >> mayor. >> Yes, M. >> Members of council, sorry, I should add um I do want to acknowledge that we are the email that Mr. Lutz also uh noted that he had sent to city staff several years ago. He did send that to us again. Um so I am in receipt of that and we've reviewed that. Um I would note to council member Patterson's um point as you all know we are undertaking a very comprehensive deep dive of our code of all municipal and um city municipal and zoning code. And so this is certainly language that it's very timely that this got resent and I think there's some really good suggestions um that might give some of that meat um to uh some our our enforcement that's currently missing. And so staff briefly had a conversation this afternoon on um some potential language that he shared with us this a this afternoon that could be um incorporated into those f future revisions that we're working on. >> Very good. Great. Thank you. All right, council. Anything else from council this evening? Council member. Yes, please. >> Uh just with everything going on in the neighborhoods, fiber and that season is picking up uh pretty quickly. I've heard a lot of comments around that and um some of the comments I'm hearing are how long can these flags be in our yard and all these things. So um I don't know if our city manager has any comment on that in general or anybody else, but I guess my continue to reach out to us. I'll say that to the residents. Um have patience because we're I'm one of them that uh has this happen. So just any comments you can share on the record about the timing of these things would be great. >> Hardy, please. >> Thank you, mayor, members of the council. Um, excellent question and yes, there's a a lot happening and um and Travis who just stepped out but is the lead here and then Jen and Alyssa also in the room are um very much involved in this process. So uh feel free to jump in um as well. But uh there is a an extensive review process and as you you know um being that these are utility companies and they're working within the rightway there's not a lot of wiggle room for the city to deny their permit. So um that said we are very closely monitoring the work that they're doing. Um we recognize that the rightway is um is congested and we recognize uh as we talked a little bit about last year um our city attorney had pointed out to us all that we're kind of in unchartered territories with the interest in the number of um fiber companies that are wanting to install fiber in the in the ground in Victoria. So that is presenting a a challenge for us and we're continuing to work through that. Um so what we've been trying to do is um coordinate those activities and make sure that we have responsive teams um and that they and that we are holding them accountable to what they um what the permit requires them. So we are counting on our residents to be our eyes and ears. And so if something feels like it's taking too long or if something is not restored to your liking, we need to hear about that. We go out and look at that. We request that the company's project field superintendent go out and do that as well. And we have weekly meetings with all the project team um that there's field supervisors who are are doing active work in the community uh reviewing each and every one of those complaints. We also have um escalated customer service lines that we have a specific um line that if we think things are not getting done um timely or if they're not getting done to our satisfaction that we have an escalated complaint process. Um and both of those things in combination have continued to work um work very well. Once crews are out there, there once there can be a delay from the time that a the flags go into your yards to the time that a crew is there. And we recognize and understand you're trying to take care of your lawns and you're mowing over these flags. So, they're trying to be um respectful of that um and get there as quickly as possible. Um but there can be a delay from the time it's a completely different crew um that goes out and puts those flags until the work actually happens. Once the work occurs um they are doing that restoration work as quickly as possible and they're trying to get um get done as quickly as possible but also make sure that they're doing the restoration work that they're supposed to be doing. >> Hopefully that helps and answers the question. >> It does. Thank you very much. Appreciate the clarification. Thank you. We have Midco, right? And I don't Is Metronet still doing service right now? I mean, I know there's service in here, but are they I don't know if they've finished expanding uh and the But do we know like are these two companies if both of them are still working are supposed to be done this summer or is this going to go into next year or >> council member mayor members of the council? Yes. Um I I would say the majority of the work that you as a growing community there will continue to be now that these fiber companies are here though as thing as we grow the companies will um continue to extend their services in those growth areas. However, the majority of what we're experiencing last summer and some of us are now experiencing this summer will dissipate immensely um as we kind of build out the city. There may be other companies who might want to come in and um we may have to go through that process again. But the we expect that the major disruption that people experienced last summer and this summer with multi multiple companies coming into your yard repeatedly will largely not happen after this summer. I think that's accurate. I'm looking at Jen and Alyssa. So >> we're getting some headnots. Miss Nelson, you have something to add to that? >> Not too much. Mayor, council members, um, Miss Hardy, you did a great update on that. Um, the one thing I do want to note is Midco also has a cable franchise with the city of Victoria. So, they are also required to meet I believe it's 80% um of the entire city of Victoria boundaries and continue to grow with us as Miss Hardy noted. Um, so that is a difference between Metronet and Midco. Um, so as Metronet gets to choose where they go in the city of Victoria at their discretion, Midco is required to build out the city 80%. So we may see a little bit more of MidCo's expansion than Metronet. However, Metroet does have the ability to go 0 to 100 um within our boundaries. >> I'm assuming they work with new developments to go at a time when is most convenient there than waiting till sod is put in and redigging a lawn. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And then while the residents I realize that this is very very frustrating and it's very disruptive to your lawns. I beg your patience and I ask very kindly to treat our staff and the workers with respect. We have had some not so nice comments and we understand the frustration, but these are real people who really want to do the best for you. So please treat them with respect. All right, last call for anything else from council this evening. All right. There are no more items to come before the body this evening. So I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Move to adjurnn. >> We have a motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second by council member Roberts. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. We stand adjourned.