Good. Okay. Time being 7 o'clock, I call the Hastings City Council meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Welcome. and let the role reflect. We do have a quorum and a full council tonight. Approval of minutes. Council, I would accept a motion to approve the minutes from January 5th. >> So move. >> Council member Lifeel and a second by council member Pembo. Comments from the audience at this time. We would hear comments from the audience. Anyone wish to speak to the council at this time, please step forward to the podium. State your name and address. Anyone here to speak to the council? Okay. Anyone on Zoom? No one on Zoom. All right. Council members, items to be considered. Wait. Do we have the presentation first? >> No. >> Okay. Council items to be considered. Sorry. Um, council, I would accept a motion for the consent agenda. Council member House and a second by Council Member Verich. All in favor of the motion state by saying I. >> I opposed to that motion state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. Tonight under reports from city staff uh under public works we have a up project update for County Road 42. And for this item we have with us Dakota County along with John Caven from our public works. Welcome council members. Good evening. and then from that some of the interest areas of concern and feedback and then lastly talk about the uh joy powers agreement um uh that we'll need to to to address here sometime in the near future for for the project. So um so from the study kind of the what we saw as kind of the key needs from the community here uh for a project was one to address uh vehicle speeds um coming into and out of town here on on Ninger Road. Um you know there's a pretty well documented you know instances of um of of speeding. It's um you sim similar to what we see in other places but given you know the context here and you know some of the uses it's it is concerning and we want to we want to be able to address that also uh trails and then a pedestrian safety and crossings. One of the um something that we have you know for for Dakota County with our facilities in general is to have at a minimum um a multi-use trail somewhere between 8 and 10 feet in width um along our county highway facilities. Um, by and large it's not really the case here in Hastings. There's some challenges just as far as getting that into urban areas, but we want to correct that here. Um, given that we know too that there's a uh a definite use, you know, with access to the Mississippi River Greenway and then also just recreational cyclists as well. We want to be be able to have that um have that there for convenience and safety and recreation. Um and then uh attached to that trail, we're also looking at um improvements for pedestrian crossings um to and from that trail across Ninja Road here in Second Street. Um in addition to this um our our our mainten mainten maintenance needs for the highway um the timing just lines up so that we would be due for another um mill and overlay of of uh highway 42 here in the very near future. So that um coincides and that's also a good time to to consider and execute a lot of these improvements that we're thinking of. Um so to just kind of give a high level um overview the the extent of the project is from Lock Boulevard about a quarter mile outside of the city limits down to the Highway 61 bridge. Um again the we're we're looking at a a mill and overlay that full extent. It's not a full reconstruct of the roadway, but um it's just taking off and replacing that top two inches. There'll be a handful of places um given some of those improvements I'll be describing here later um that will require a little bit more intensive work where it will be a kind of a full construct of a roadway for certain sections um and then in other cases uh removals. So the um that that that's one part. Uh the the trail facility that we're looking at here would be on the south side of the roadway um from uh from Lock Boulevard down to River Street. And this would be a continuous facility where today there's a section with no trail. There's some older trail that we're going to replace and some sidewalk. So it's pretty inconsistent. And this will be a much more convenient um convenient trail. This would um again run from Lock Boulevard to River Street. Um and there'll be dedicated crossings um near Grove Street, Madison Street, uh Riverdale Drive, as well as Lock uh Boulevard at the end of the project area. Um in addition to this, we're going to be um looking at some safety improvements and crossing improvements near downtown. So there would be a new um crossing near uh near Eddie Street as well as excuse me, Spring Street. And then that crossing at Eddiewood would would remain as well. And we're looking at some traffic safety issues as well to correct um near near Ver V ver Vermillion right by the bridge. Um you'll notice that the you know with the trail ending at River Street um that's that unfortunately we're running into some pretty hard limitations there being with the grades, you know, to the dropping off to the north and pretty steep to the uh to the to the to the south. Um we're unable to construct trail given those constraints. Um what we would be doing with the Milan overlay is narrowing down the uh the roadway in this area. It's going to be about 10 and 1/2t travel lanes in the 30 mph zone. What that will allow for us to do is bring in that shoulder line, the fog line there to where there's going to be a 5 1/2 ft um shoulder. That's a pretty comfortable facility for bicyclists um to use that. So there there will be something that should be a pretty safe um and convenient um alternative for trail here. Um a little bit more on um speed control and what we what we want to propose doing here. Um we're going to we're going to have um at at those areas with the with the crossings. So, um, near Madison, near near Grove, um, in Riverdale, we're going to be bringing in the curb um to, uh, basically to narrow up the roadway. Given um, you know, the the the kind of the the width of the roadway today, that's part of what compels people to kind of go at a higher speed whether they're coming in or out. Um, it's kind of a, you know, I think we've all done it. We're a little bit on autopilot and we kind of just drive to the design of the road. What we're um looking to do here is is is to have, you know, have it narrowed up at that at those points. Um there's a handful of other places as well where we're going to be bringing in the curb as well. Um at Madison and Monroe Streets, there is um westbound there is the uh bypass lane on the on the outer part. I can't speak for the decisions made back in the '9s, but generally in a in a in a in an urban setting, that's not really a good um design. And there's other instances too near the uh hospital entrance as well where we have that bypass. Um we're going to be removing that bringing in the curb. We're also going to be removing the right turn lane at Madison Street as well and bringing in the curb there. So there's going to be a noticeable feel of a of a more narrow roadway here. Uh Madison Street, we're going to again remove that. There's a very low volume of turns there. um at uh Monroe and Riverdale, the concern is that we're those turn lanes, even though it's um narrow, it might be more needed for safety just to have have vehicles slowing down and coming out um coming out of the main roadway. Um couple of other things just to note here as well. The storm sewer um in this area, it's not we're not doing a too much work in there, but given some of those changes to the curb, we're going to need to uh adjust some catch basins. There's a couple places where we'll need some new pipe. And then with the additional um runoff that would come with this project, we're going to be um looking to build a build a an infiltration pond roughly across the street from the um from the hospital to provide some treatment and infiltration of of storm runoff on site here um rather than putting it into uh you know sending it towards uh uh Rebecca Lake or or elsewhere here. And then lastly, um there are some replacement of uh there's a handful of components in the hydrant system that uh the city staff has identified as requiring replacement. We'll work that into this project as well where it will be easier to to access um once we're in process. Um so to get get into the uh public involvement, like I said, there's been ongoing discussions um got a lot of feedback from neighbors um on on on this project area. Uh the big thing was of course just recently the December 3rd open house uh at the YMCA. We did share a preliminary layout um of uh of the design and we had a pretty good um we had a pretty good attendance. We had 50 sign pe people sign in. Um there I think there was a handful more beyond that. So it was a pretty pretty good turnout and also very positive with respect to um you know interest in the project but also feedback as far as things to address um still as we as we move ahead. Um kind of some of the big things um one was kind of carried out carried forward from the uh the study. We we did see you know definite support for the improved trail um and then uh and then the crossings and the the the design of those there was definite support there. Um, one thing that kind of came up as a concern here for um, as we got in which as we unveiled our our kind of first pass of the design here was the a concern given um, the removal of those bypass lanes that's under a run of about I think 12 or 13 houses and uh, a number of the neighbors showed up. The concern was that you know pulling in and out of the driveway especially when you're backing in could be more difficult um, without that bypass for them. So, um, as far as going down the the list of, um, interest or, uh, concerns to address, we're still working on that. There's a a couple of possibilities to help, um, to help offset that change. One may be to look at widening, um, the aprons here, cuz in this stretch, we'd be reconstructing most, if not all those aprons. And providing a wider apron may allow for them to to to back in a little bit more easily if they have a if they have a trailer or boat or something. So, um that's that's in process. Um another thing we learned was with with the uh with the um pedestrian improvements as well and those crossings, they wanted to see there's a lot of interest in having lighting at the uh at these crossings and we're looking at um um you know, we're looking at working that into the plan here. Um as far as adding that and and justifying it shouldn't be too too difficult. There was the also an interest in um traffic controls at the uh at these crossings as well. Uh namely the um namely there's you know pedestrian activated uh a number of different pedestrian activated um traffic controls that we use elsewhere in the county and are are broadly used. Um we're going to evaluate the um the suitability I guess for those given you know the conditions out there. Dakota County, we have a we do have a process as far as evaluating those and in making sure it's the right situation with respect to safety, volumes, speeds, and visibility. And uh we um you know, we work, you know, we've been working with uh John and uh you know, keeping you know, you know, let you know, keeping him involved in that process and decision here as we as we go ahead here in the next couple months on that. Um and then as we heard before, concern on vehicle speeds and measures to address, there's general support there. And then one of the bigger things um that came out of the uh came out of the open house was concerned as far as um loss of trees near the cemetery. So there is a uh there is and I should maybe go back um to just just note on the um on on the improvements here. There's going to be a stretch of roadway from I'd say just to the east of four first street to just past the uh main hospital entrance where we'll be going to a three-lane design for the roadway. Um what we'll have is basically the two travel lanes on the outside of the interior lane would be um uh would be a painted median that would have left turn lanes at First Street uh Benedicting Senior Home and then the hospital main entrance. um that was understood as I mean that that was seen as you know just as fine as far as the turn volumes we saw and then also in in discussion with the um the hospital that they wanted to see a turn lane if that bypass lane was going away. So that was something we u we wanted to wanted to be able to address. Um, so I apologize for not noting that earlier, but what that um what that requires in this area is a widening of the roadway about 9 to 12 ft um and bringing out that curb on on the north side. We can't really move that curb in on the on the south side. Um again, what that what that requires would be would be the removal of those trees. There's about 20 mature hackberry trees there that would have to have to come out. Um with the remaining um the remaining boulevard, it would be an option to um replant smaller trees um in in in that uh in that boulevard. Um looking at something in the range of four to 6 in um trees um to to replace. Um and that's generally safer as well too for for a boulevard and being that close to the roadway. Um, so one thing just talking through alternatives just with uh staff and uh and and city staff um and the designer was um the potential to um the potential to reduce that um shoulder on the north side from by about 4 feet. And I have just a few few uh sketchups here of basically the road roadway design. And um what we have here again, we have that middle left turn lane. We have the two travel lanes in the shoulder. Um what the current design shows is about a 4 1/2 ft um distance from the center of the tree. And the the trees themselves are about 15 to 18 in um in diameter. Um getting that close, you know, the would would require removal of the trees. they they would get damaged or likely likely die just from from the construction here. Um bringing in you know you know changing that and I I'll note this is the 30 mph zone here. um bringing in the tra the westbound lane um taking off 4 ft of the uh of the shoulder that leaves us with a 12t travel lane including the gutter that would um provide about um provide about 8 and 1/2 or so feet of of clearance from the trees. Um and then 45 mph zone um kind of a similar story where we out out there we we would require 12t lanes. So, it's a little bit um a little bit wider of a facility. If we brought in the shoulder um we brought in the shoulder here, we would have about 11 ft or so of of space. Um given, you know, G um we have had some conversations with the cemetery there as far as the prospect here. um they're you know as a board they're be they're going to be meeting here in the near future to kind of give some thoughts on um on what that would mean for the um for the cemetery what they uh how they would feel about that and any prospect for replanting here. Um so uh moving ahead here uh joint powers agreement um with with a you know with a project like this you know we will we'll typically enter in with in into a joint powers agreement with the city. What this does is kind of sets kind of our rules for um you know through construction and maintenance and the rightway process as well which we aim to begin here in the near future. Um this is where we apply this the county's cost share policies to the project. Um kind of a handful of these are entirely on the city. So the mill and overlay the full full the full um extent of that there would be 100% on on the county. Um there's a handful of uh traffic safety and operation operational um improvements that would be on on the county. The replacement and modernization would um would be 85% county 15% city. A handful of things that would fall under this would be the trail construction um the left turn lane, the removal of the bypasses, um and then and then some of the the adjustments to the sewer as well. Um looking ahead uh kind of the what um as far as post construction storm sewer maintenance is a is a 20% city share trail preservation and any repairs there are 100% county but the um but the city is is is responsible just for snow and ice clearance of of the trail. Um, and then to touch back on the uh the kind of the aesthetics and potential questions with trees, um, it it it would be about a 5050 cost share between uh the city and county on on the um on the planting of the trees. That's not a very big number. We're talking, you know, 20 25 trees um the uh and that would be up up there policy is up to 3% of the total construction cost, but we're not approaching that. So, where we are right now with the the current um estimate for the project, the anticipated city contribution would be something approaching 3 $320,000 in in 2027. So, and then just uh to kind of map out the next year or so, um we'll be looking at um you know getting approval to execute a joint powers agreement in the near future. Um John, myself and others um are just kind of working through a couple of last open issues with um with a couple terms. Um we're looking to complete design by maybe fall of this year and um also begin easement acquisition here in the near in the next couple weeks. We have kind of a longer process for that that assumes kind of just longer um you know condemnation hearings and you know things that we want to avoid for the most part. So, and that would put us in the position um if we can finalize those easements by the start of 2027 to advertise for construction in February of 2027. And we look for this to be a you know one season um project. Um we'll have more information once we have a contractor on as far as kind of how um how we go about the project as far as we know where we're working on first. We want to give them some latitude there. So, but uh once we do understand it, we'll be communicating here with the city on that. Um and then we have a lot of communication ourselves with the county as far as getting word out with um with construction schedules. So, that's all I have. That was quite a bit, but um I'm happy to go back over anything or stand for questions, >> your honor. >> Yes, >> thank you. I do have a few questions. Um, I think some of them will probably get answered later down the line, but um, kind of listening to all of that information kind of through a fire hose, right? Trying to figure out what it's what it's going to look like. Couple questions being so a new trail from Lock down to river. Which side of the street is that trail running on? >> That will be on the south side. >> On the south side. So, the hospital side. >> Hospital side. That is correct. >> Okay. So currently there's a trail that stops at Pleasant and then I think it becomes sidewalk if I remember at the hospital property and then it runs sidewalk. So one of my questions would be from in regards to who's responsible for the snow clearing because I understand how the sidewalk process works. The owner of the property facing the sidewalks clears it. So, I'm imagining that the hospital is responsible currently for clearing the snow as it goes down the road past First Street. Then it would become the homeowner's responsibility for clearing those sidewalks. So, now we're going to add a stretch of trail instead of a sidewalk and the city's going to be responsible for clearing the snow from that. >> Correct. uh comm council member life the um that the the uh that's typically the kind of the process that we have for trail maintenance again the the rest of the maintenance is is on the county but snow clearing and with this being an 8 to 10 foot facility this is something you know we we size it to at least that so that you know it's um it is plowable so that is um that's one consideration but that that's correct so we'd be again removing the the trail existing trail that's there removing the um the sidewalk down to River Street. Um and and correct my understanding, you know, from John is that, you know, today that's the uh that is the the responsibility of the property owners here, >> right? And then the sidewalk stops on the south side at River and jumps over to the north side. >> Correct. >> So, we got a lot of movement there. So, I'm curious as to why where did the information come from that suggested we need this trail during that through that section instead of the existing sidewalk? I mean, what what's the benefit at this point? Because if people are coming in on the is that the greenway trail, if they're coming in from Spring Lake Park coming down Lock Boulevard on the trail, right? They come into Hastings, those who know where they're going and want to go off into the city streets do so. But the majority of that traffic, I would imagine, then travels down through the lock and dam from up top. So I I guess I'm just not sure what we're doing by creating this little segment of trail from Pleasant to River. >> What's the purpose? So, uh, to, um, to kind of take a broad view, kind of the county's county's kind of approach and philosophy as far as these trails is that for the most part, our our highways are generally too too high um, speed, too high volume for to have tra, you know, bicycles on, you know, on on the roadway on the shoulder. So our aim is to at a minimum have trail facilities on one side of the the roadway here. Um we had you know we had looked at earlier in the feasibility study you know do we look at the look at the north side um between um between kind of constraints at the cemetery um and then some of the disruptions with all the driveways on the north side. There's a few great issues over there too. Um we we opted to have that on, you know, to to look focus on the the south side as the preferred side. Um the as far as access, yeah, it it you know, the as far as kind of accessibility, it it does if you're staying on the Mississippi River Greenway, yeah, it does necess necessitate a cross back and we're bringing that again, we're bringing that in. So it's kind of a tight short crossing. Um but as far as broader needs um you know for for for the community you have you know people you know all the the majority of the population at least on the south side it was going to be a little bit easier to access there um you know both for getting to the greenway but also um without assuming where where people are coming to and from. >> Yeah. So I I think this is something that new information for us. We've been talking about the trails and the county and what's happening with, you know, I know we were talking about something safer at Riverdale. How do we get people across the street over to the trail and then back across the street over to the trail again when they go down to through the dyke? Um, I would like to just go on the record that I'm not fully understanding or in agreement with the idea of making a dedicated bike trail where we already have sidewalk to move our pedestrian traffic. U so I and especially since I I get the safety feature, but we're going to stop that at river. So once you get to river, the trail's done anyway. Now what do I do? So I not trying to be argumentative at all. I appreciate all of um the projects that we can do together with the county. This however would be one section of that that I'm I'm more concerned about the road and the configuration of getting from the north to the south from the south back to the north. All of that I'd like to just go on the record that I don't understand or support the trail from Mississippi from Pleasant to River on the south side of the the road. All it's doing to me is creating something more that the city will have to plow and take care of when right now we've already got somebody plowing and taking care of that. So I council members feel free to give your two cents, but I'm just not really tracking where where this is one a safety feature for the public and two what's what's the benefit if we're going to stop it anyway at River. So thank you. I appreciate your presentation. >> Thank you. >> Thank you council member Lyel. Council member Pembo, >> Joe, in the uh early part of your presentation, you talked about a holding uh pond facility. Where is that going to be located? >> Okay, I I can I can um go back to the map here. So, this approximately is if I go mouse over here, it it's across roughly across from the main building um of the hospital. So, and I think I'm I'm right about there. So, so not far from the main entrance, but on the north side. So, and we're uh for that we would need to acquire um some some permanent easement on um onto the a property for that. So, um, as far as, you know, grading it, as far as grading and capacity, we're going to need to go down a a few feet, um, to to provide the basically the amount of, um, capacity we need for, you know, for a for, you know, a heavier rain event here. But, um, yeah, it would require some permanent easement there. >> Okay. Secondly, um as the roadway shifts between the two cemeteries and you move uh to the north side and those 20ome trees are removed, um my question is at the main entrance of Lakeside, um that's a pretty tight turn as it is and if you're going to move five feet closer to that entrance to make that right-hand turn to get in. Have now Lakeside's buying off on that and they're saying that's okay. >> Um they they didn't uh Council Member Pebble the um they didn't raise any concern with me. I I met with one of the board members one or two weeks ago just to um just to go over you know some of the changes there um with the access. Um there wasn't as far as um you know turning in if it's a if it's a right turn. there is that um there is that median that it's not a raised median. So if you needed to swing >> out a little bit, there's still that ability. So the you know, again, the roadway will be a little wider there. So there is that um possibility. Um I will um I could it's something I could bring back up with the cemetery. I would I would try and make that contact again and make sure that they fully understand, not just one or two of the members that you talk to, but the whole board understands what what would transpire under that situation. And then secondly, tied to that as the fence that's in place there at Lakeside, that's hollowed ground immediately north of there. There are graves right at that fence line and having the curb at 5t from that fence line. Is that what you were saying? >> Um let me go back here. The um what we saw here the uh we indicated >> 4.7 to >> so about four and a half from the center of the tree. Um I think there's another five six feet back from there. So there's I would say yeah from from that aspect we're um we think we're safe with respect to not not disturbing anything on that side of the fence. We are >> and you're and you said you were planning on looking at trees in that area again to help uh maybe stabilize the situation if something got out of control there. >> Right. Right. We um there's alternatives. I don't we wouldn't look at anything again to that be to the size of the hackberries out there just cuz that you know having a tree that size close but um something that's more closer to ornamental trees that might get to a you know 20 ft in height um could be could be feasible here and we um there's a few options with respect to species there and we'll um have the city's involvement when we look into that. I I'm just concerned that the the fence along there is is part of the oldest piece of fence in that property and it's it comes from the 1910s and the 1920s. So, it's like irreplaceable pieces of fence, too. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member PML, Council Member Hul. >> Thank you, honor. Thank you so much for your presentation, Joe. I really much appreciate your work on this. Um, with that being said, I do see that there's a little bit of a discrepancy that I heard between on here. I see that there's 20 mature trees, but I heard you say 25. So, how many trees exactly will be removed? >> I counted um just this afternoon to make sure cuz I I was throwing around 20. Um it is 23 trees. >> Okay. >> So, 23 trees. Exactly. Okay. >> Y >> Thank you. And is uh the you said the reason uh for uh smaller trees of replanting smaller trees as an option was the only option. Is that correct? um when it's this close into the this close to to the to uh to the to the curb I mean this close to a travel lane that would really be um really the only safe option to go. There's no um even at 30 miles that's a very dangerous thing to strike um that's not going to go anywhere a tree the size of the hackberry. So the current situation as we see it is there's quite a bit of risk to that. And then um when will you have more preliminary maps and visuals available for the new changes that have been made as well? >> Yes. Yes. Um so where I as as far as Yeah, we we can update some vis visuals. Um what we shared at um at the open house in December. Um we're basically though that's basically where we are right now. >> Perfect. Um, so we as far if you know if things change um you know if there's any um if there's any changes to the to the trailer or whatnot, we can we can we can do that. But if you um and we have those available, I can share those with John, but they're also on the county website. Um those I would say are basically more or less 100% still valid. >> Okay, perfect. I just wanted to double check on that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member House, Council Member Veruch. Thank you, your honor. Thank you, Joe, for this presentation. I was um and thank you to the county for for this partnership and for being willing to help us to think through this and to listen to input. I was at that public forum which I know quite a few of us up here were and in this room as well and um that was there was a lot of public input. Um there were a lot of really engaged neighbors like you said in your presentation. There were more than 50 folks there. So, I'm happy to hear about some of the things that we're discussing tonight. Specifically, um the calming of the speeding, um the idea for the larger aprons for homeowners over there. I'm really saddened by the tree loss. I talked about that a lot with homeowners that night, hearing uh Council Member Hemble talk about that, the historical nature of this older cemetery. Um I'm glad to hear that the county is open to discussing that with the city in terms of what gets planted there. I know that that was a concern to some of the homeowners as well just given that there were so many people there that night. Is there an opportunity or would it make sense to possibly hold another public forum as we go through that process or are we kind of at the public engagement part? We've gathered everything that we've gotten and and to stick to the timeline that's not necessarily a possibility. So, I I I would I would say, you know, from the county viewpoint, we may, you know, we're we're we're still willing to to hear some some input. Of course, we're going to wait um to to hear back from the cemetery as well as far as their perspective, their their preferences in this situation. Um I would in you know going back and seeing the the written notes and everyone's summaries. Yeah, it was um you know there there there's maybe a third what had to do with the trees and there was concerns there and you know some people like you know absolutely not but or somewhere you know well if you're going to do it let's let's plant two for everyone that we cut down something like that. So, it um I my my sense is that there's there's not a great deal more to learn, but um there's probably still a little bit more conversation to have. Um the one thing that we didn't um I think come out strongly enough I I don't know if I if the tree issue was unexpected for my part, but um is the the the uh fa you know factor of safety here. Again, if we're bringing that closer in, um that only makes the makes it a little more of a risk now. >> Sure. So, >> mayor, may I ask another question? Thank you. Thank you for that. Um, certainly understand that. Like I said, I'm grateful for the partnership with the county and that as we work together to to on this project. >> If there were quite a few, like I said, there were quite a few homeowners with really strong opinions that night. Is it possible that as we go through this process that they can have a contact person or somebody on the project that they can reach out to and and be okay? I know that the city really strives to do that on all of our projects that we do here in Hastings. And that seems to work really, really well for a lot of our neighbors and for a lot of our city staff. And so the more that we could help to answer questions and ease people's minds as we do this work, I think would be really positive. >> Council Vir, um we we we are doing I think more you more a lot of a lot on an individual basis, but there's a few kind of like group issues too. again the you know where we're removing that bypass and we're going to be addressing that here in the near future. But then also the the other big outcome from that meeting too is looking at um some of those potential traffic controls and you know I I explained kind of the process that we'd be looking at here as far as evaluating those and see where those are are a good fit here. So I' I've been in contact with you know had some dialogue with residents in that area um and expect to do so as we go go ahead with that process. But um but yeah, on a couple of fronts we've have been and again we've been again in discussion with a few other entities there including the hospital. >> Appreciate that. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, Council Member Veriche. Council Mayor Lawrence. >> Thank you, your honor. Uh Joe, great presentation. Thank you. I just want to say thanks the county for all you guys have done for our um trail system and stuff. Going back to uh Council Member Lifeeld's um talking about the river and then I was just looking at your presentation how you talk about from river to downtown you're going to try to do the um the shoulders. >> So wider shoulders >> but if you ever come down Second Street there aren't any shoulders and I don't know where you're going to get them because on one side you have a hill on the other side you have a steep hill that goes down to Lake Rebecca. So again I just want to kind of reiterate what um Council Member Life is saying. I don't see the point of bringing in that part, especially because the countyy's already bringing in the money to redo the um the hill, the Mississippi trail down the hill, cuz that hill now is a heck of a hill. Let me tell you, it's crazy. And I appreciate the county willing to re regrade all that. Um, and I just I don't understand if they're going to put the money to redo all that and then put money into doing another trail and now we're all getting to the same spot even, you know, just two cents that I wanted to put in there because like I said, there's no I don't know where you're going to get a shoulder on Second Street from River to to the bridge at all. It's just there's no room there. So, just my two cents. >> Thank you, Council Member Leel. Council member >> Le follow up council member Lawrence to that. >> Oh, sorry. No, a follow-up question to to the point of the shoulder or the the road access. Is there like a rule for tra like speed that allow you to put it on the road instead of instead of the trail? Is there I I because I'm thinking if that's the case, why don't we widen the road over by Bailey from Lock over through Pleasant and do this on the road on the north side instead. Do you know what I'm saying? So instead of having traffic at lock, go stay north, cross over at Riverdale, would it be possible to add to the north side and keep that trail on the north side instead of crossing over and back. Does that make sense? So instead of taking yard from the houses on the north, enlarge the road to the south, putting the trail on the north side. Anyone following me? I've got crayons if you need >> see what I'm saying. Nope. So the cemetery, but I'm still talking about if the the width. So how 8 feet. How many feet do you need to do this? >> Um a minimum of 8 ft. a minimum of eight. So that same eight feet is already on the south side where the trail runs to Pleasant, >> right? So chop off that trail, move the road to that section, adding the trail to the north side. Just an idea. What >> house? More houses. Yeah, more driveways. More houses. Agreed. Um but it sounds like they're all getting bigger aprons, too. So, might be a benefit. Just a thought. I And it stops the traffic from moving back and forth is what I'm thinking. And it's a valid It's a valid thought. Thanks. >> Thank you, Council Member Leel. >> Dan. >> On the tree removal, my understanding is it is entirely because of the construction of the project. I really struggle to understand how replacing the trees would be considered as a aesthetic enhancement to the project and a different cost share formula than the construction. >> Thank you Dan. >> So historically we've we've considered that as as aesthetic. it's not a you know a functional piece as say the kind of that 8515 um or even the 100 to zero V county share um is so we um it typically falls under for that reason since it's not a it's not a functional thing um for the with respect to cost here um just thinking of another recent project I mean where I was looking through the costs um you know a smaller tree you know kind of a per unit cost there would the was it in the in the $600 range for for a tree. So if we're looking at 30 trees, I don't want to do math here on the spot, but I think that's $18,000. So it' be a 50/50 cost share here would be would be would be $9,000 thereabouts if you knowing 30 trees, but that's what we we'd be looking at in round numbers. But it's yeah, again, since it's not a functional thing, that's kind of the the break point as far as how we apply our policies. >> Followup. >> Thank you, >> Dan. >> Can this road be functionally built without removing 23 mature trees? >> Um, as far as the as far as the lanes themselves and kind of what what's needed for moving moving traffic. Yes. um a handful of reasons to to not to to you know to consider um you know to consider um kind of in the other kind of kind of in the opposite direction here is um one you know there is a a safety function for that for for the um shoulder having having at least some shoulder for um you know moving traffic off to the side or emergency vehicles where there is that need. um you know if we bring in bring it in we we're down to about bring the curb in we're down to about 18 in. So that that that that functionality as well. The other thing too is with the um with that shoulder the five and a half ft um that that is still a consistent bikable um facility that some people may still choose to use and that would at least in this section which is about 22 or 2,300 ft that would be that would be lost. So that's um that would be the trade-off if we're to look to uh keeping keeping the curb in on the north side. Any other com discussion? Council, I think you can see our concern. you know, um we're the ones that hear these comments from these residents and you know, to Council Member Pemble's, you know, comments, that cemetery is part of this community, and we don't want to lose the aesthetic look and the um the history of it. Everybody loves our trees. If there's a way that could you go back and really crunch and try to figure it out how to save it because we're the ones that are going to listen hear this from the residents and we have to have a decent comment and a respectable comment to tell them back other than we want a safe we want a safe road. We understand all that. But these these are um things that are that create our community. The beauty the beauty of our community. >> Any other discussion? Council, Council Member Veroff. >> Thank you, your honor. Joe, how you doing? You hanging in there? It's a lot. >> I know it's late on Tuesday night. Um, I just want to reiterate that given that it just feels to me that in the country and the world there's an enormous amount of divisiveness and whatnot and the fact that the city and the county are coming together to work on this project to hold a public forum to get input. I don't want that to be kind of lost in the details. I'm very grateful to the county for doing this. anytime that the county is willing to do cost sharing in terms of um improving our roadways in in improving safety concerns um you know all this work. We are grateful. Please don't think that we're looking at gift horse in the mouth. We just have a lot of questions and um we appreciate the opportunity to talk through this and to make sure that the residents and our neighbors concerns are being are being heard. As you've heard from all of us here, it's a cemetery. It's where people's loved ones are. It's their final resting place. We want to be as respectful as we possibly can. So, thank you for hearing that. And please take it in the in the way that it's that we >> every every project is like this. So, >> thank you. >> Trust me. So, there's once you get into the details, every there's really difficult things to face, but I appreciate the compliment. >> Thank you, Ron. >> Thank you. >> Any other discussion? Council. Okay. Thank you, Joe, for your um project and I we look forward to seeing what you come up with. >> Thank you, Mayor Passender. >> Thank you. >> All right. Under community development tonight, we have a resolution for a special use permit, lower potency hemps for Spiral Foods Co-op, 1250 South Frontage Road. And for this introduction, we will have an introduction by our community development director, John Hinsman. Welcome, John. >> Thank you, mayor. City Council members, as the mayor pointed out, we do have a resolution for special use permit for low potency hemp at Sparrow Food Co-op located at 1250 South Fern Road shown here. I think most people are familiar where it's located at at Westview Drive and South Furniture Road, Highway 55. The planning commission did review this and hold a public hearing at their last meeting on January 12th. There were no comments during the public portion of the meeting and we have not received any comments from any residents from mail notifications at this point. The planning commission did recommend approval of it uh with limited discussion. So, we're bringing that approval forward to you tonight with a special use permit. Please be advised that it does require six of seven council members for approval. So, Sparrow Foods Co-op is looking to sell low potency hemp edibles as a product line for uh other things they do in the grocery business. They are zoned correctly for it. They meet the setback requirements and the other requirements that we have under the uh zoning code and then they've also had a security plan that has been reviewed by our police department. So, I could stand for any questions that you may have on this tonight and Matt from Sparrow Foods is also present if you have any questions for him. Thank you. Thank you, John Council. Council member House, >> thank you. I'm excited to see more um utilization of hemp products within our town in a different capacity. I think this will be great um and innovative for Spiral Food Co-op. So, I'd like to make a motion to approve said resolution. >> Thank you, Council Member House with a second by Council Member Lifeel. Any discussion, council? Although, sorry. All those in favor of the motion state by saying I. >> I opposed to that motion state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. Thank you. >> Thank you, John. >> Any reports from council members? Any announcements? Okay, I do have a few. We are hosting a public house about 2026 neighborhood infrastructure improvements, Pleasant Drive and 4th Street West. The open house is from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 22nd at the YMCA. Hastings is excited about hosting the 20th anniversary of Hockey Day Minnesota continuing through Saturday, January 24th. Fans can expect a showcase of hockey talent along with entertainment, winter festivities in a vibrant hockey day village. Visit the Hockey Day website for tickets, merchandise, and volunteer opportunities. Recycle your old lights from the Hastings Holiday. At the Hastings Holiday, lights drop off at the 10th and N uh 92010th Street West at the public works facility billing. This goes on until January 31st. Intro to ice fishing at Lake Rebecca on Saturday, January February 7th. No license is needed under our DNR waiver for this event, but registration is required. Thank you for supporting from Car Carpenter Nature Center, Dirt Bullies Landscaping, VFW Post 1210, Striker Hudson Fleet Farm, and Hometown Ace Hardware. get the lead out and volunteer instruct instructors meetings coming ahead. Uh, Wednesday, January 21st, 6:00 p.m. parks and wreck commission. Monday, January 26, there is a 700 p.m. planning committee meeting and there is a 700 p.m. Planning Commission meeting. Monday, February 2nd, 700 p.m. city council. With that, I would stand for a motion to adjurnn. Council member Pemble. Council member Verichoff is second. No discussion with that motion. Uh all those in favor of the motion state by saying I. >> I oppose that motion state by saying nay. And that motion prevails.