[0:04] Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation [0:12] under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all [0:20] council member Walder is listening online. It is with us in spirit and on screen. [0:27] Um item number two, citizens comments. Opportunity may address the council for [0:33] about issue not on the agenda. Doesn't have any. We'll move on to item number 3A, youth advisor commission update. [0:41] Mr. Snider, I believe we've got some guests to talk about what they're working on as well. Yes. So today we have uh youth [0:47] commission advisers. We have Olivia Schmidt, Feduma Muhammad, and Addison Johnson. There she is. um and they put [0:54] together a couple slides um kind of recap the year that they've had so far. Um their term is coming to an end at the [1:00] end of August and then the applications will open then. So I'll let them take it [1:06] away from here and they can give their presentation. Very welcome guys. Thank you for [1:32] Well, I'm Olivia. I'm Fedumo. I'm Anderson. We're part of the Lake Commission. [1:42] What went well? Meeting new people and being surrounded by other young individuals who have the [1:48] same aspirations as we do. We all had our own personal growth, expanding perspective and hearing viewpoints and [1:55] engaging in discussions within our community, the practice of a government like meeting, collaboration, skill [2:01] development, positive feedback and clear objections and also goals. [2:08] Um, as far as our like opportunities to grow, I feel like um we could use more [2:14] communication in the group. Um, because I feel like sometimes there's enough. [2:21] Um, and then we can also focus on smaller community actions rather than like a big major project. Um, I feel [2:30] like we could learn more about the policy and understand that as well as like gain a deep a deeper understanding [2:37] of like how they're made as well as like implemented. And then like Addison said, [2:42] we have a lot of like clear objectives and goals, but I feel like we don't [2:48] really see as much of the impact and results. And then lastly, I feel like we should work on organization with our [2:54] groups and uh try to stay focused on our [3:00] Uh so for future projects and hope the the rest of us have like a year for me [3:06] who've been here who has been here for three years so far or like for Olivia and Addison who have three years remaining I think. Uh so we hope to work [3:13] on projects such as helping little kids or like working with elementary age and like focusing on like what lea is and [3:18] how they can become the youth we are as we all grow like donations or volunteer [3:23] work like we did at Cubs with bagging groceries. Um, we are I was wondering like if we have any opportunities for [3:30] future projects we can work on like any tasks we could do with like the commission or lake council in general [3:35] and as many of us unfortunately wrap up our third to fourth year. We do hope to remain in the Lakeville community as we [3:41] like go into college or whatever future that holds whether jobs or volunteer like anything that we could stay within [3:48] the community and continue helping out. Yeah, I think that's it. Any comments or [3:54] feedback? questions. I have questions. [3:59] So, what was your I take it this last year you had a major project. Yeah, it [4:05] was our major project was going to be uh either our original plan was going [4:11] around to the local local like elementary schools or middle schools in Lakeville and kind of giving them like a [4:18] little like talk or presentation about like ways that they can get involved in the [4:25] community. And then that didn't work out because like of the school board and everything like that. So then we thought [4:31] we would do like a video, but then it was just the summer around so like it was just hard to get everyone together. [4:37] So like Yeah. Hopefully we don't work on it like this upcoming year [4:44] or do you have ideas for some of the smaller projects you mentioned? Um, no. [4:49] I I feel like we'll come up with more eventually, like especially once the school year comes around, once [4:55] everyone's together again. But, uh, I like volunteer work mostly, like getting [5:00] hands-on experience instead of like being in like touring or staying in like the Murian room. [5:06] So, if you think about um the conversations that you guys have had over the last, you know, several months, [5:11] are there pieces of the puzzle that are missing from like the city perspective that we should be focusing on for youth [5:17] just in general? You know, not specifically maybe school, but is there [5:22] something that as a council we should be thinking about? I wouldn't say like anything missing. I [5:27] think it's been like a great job, but maybe like more involved within the council like sitting on meetings or like [5:33] just seeing how that would go like more like a professional experience. I would say [5:40] you do realize you're welcome to any meetings because they're all public. So [5:46] any members of of your parents, you know, etc. So you're always welcome to [5:52] attend um any meeting. How many how many kids are going to [5:57] either term out or um three graduate you know how many I guess how [6:02] many me and Fasil I think is I thought it was one or two [6:07] well there's one that's graduating like this year it's me [6:13] like for up to you're still eligible to return one person is no long is graduating from [6:19] high school so are you guys [6:26] think about that because we do you know yeah that's always been a challenge is you know finding students who are interested [6:32] in in particular from making sure we have people from all the different kind of schools represented I think right now [6:40] we have east might be the only school or Apple Valley we don't have any do we [6:46] they don't have Apple or east yeah [6:51] north we have somebody from Rosemont. You're from Rose. Okay. [7:00] So, you know, he said Apple Valley, but as long as the district cover too, that [7:05] that helps. Um, were we short one person last year [7:11] not being able to recruit or did we fill all the spots that were available? Um, the bylaws say we could have up to [7:18] 11. Uh, we had nine this year. Um I would say and they would agree [7:24] attendance was an issue. Um there's I think I'd have to look at the attendance [7:29] sheet but I think of eight of our 14 meetings we had enough for a quorum um [7:35] throughout the year which was frustrating and that's kind of why they kind of hit those roadblocks with those that big project. Um, and then once [7:43] summer came along, what they that they intended to do was the a recruiting video um that we would put out as kind [7:50] of a recruitment tool. Um, but then with summer coming along, it was hard to get [7:55] communication and coordination um to get that done. So, we had two open spots um [8:04] by according to the bylaws, but and I wasn't there for the recruiting process last year, so I'm not sure how that [8:09] went. Okay. Yeah, I love if you probably want to come to either one of your first or second meetings also, would you just [8:15] make sure to send me one? Yep. So I can come and hear what you guys have to say. That's okay. [8:21] Yeah. Did the super new superintendent or [8:26] current the old superintendent did he ever attend one of your meetings this last year? [8:32] Yeah. Did you um explain to him some of the obstacles that you've been running into um if this year and the past years [8:41] um as far as communicating within the schools? Um we did I don't think he was very [8:47] helpful. I'm sorry to say that again. We did but I don't think he was very helpful with it. [8:52] like he just dismissed it like be asked for like questions or things you could like get help with and he said there's [8:57] nothing I can do [9:02] talk more about that and one of the things that I attended a [9:08] meeting or so um but I thought it was kind of a it was [9:13] a good conversation because you know as a youth a lot of your world is focused on your time in school but this [9:20] commission isn't necessarily a school focused commission. And so there is a [9:25] kind of this tricky balance of how do we come up with something that's impactful that's not necessarily school-based. Um [9:34] and and so I think some of your comments in one of your slides about the outcomes of leaving this position with a better [9:42] understanding of city government uh having some opportunities to be visible with some of the work that's going on uh [9:49] as a city. uh getting some uh of your voice heard on some of the issues that might be impactful to you. You know, we [9:56] talked about that park on Cedar, you know, and what elements are going in there and whatnot. So, I think that's [10:02] sort of the the hard part is finding the niche of a youth commission that's not [10:08] necessarily school district focus. I do think there's a lot of value in [10:14] having kids from different school districts communicate on a regular basis because each community is so different. 94 and [10:20] a62 even though you'll happen to live in the city like [10:29] I think one of the important things is when we do this next round of recruitment and when you do your hold the interviews I think you need to make [10:35] clear in the interviews the time expectation you know so um I make clear that or ask that they don't commit you [10:43] know it's one night a monthly you know sometimes I have an extra meeting or something I think that's important to [10:48] get out there because I do know it was frustrating for those that did attend times they couldn't keep lines. [10:55] Well, do we have a a time set before we go into those interviews? So, we can [11:00] say, can you commit to this time? We could do that in the bylaws. It says that it's a time set by the commission. [11:07] Um, and so we did that in our first meeting and they kept it the same as last year, which is 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, [11:14] the third Sunday of each month. Um, and then one thing as we kind of struggled [11:21] with numbers is I tried to create a midmon Zoom meeting just to kind of keep [11:26] them engaged and it was successful for the first couple and then as summer came along it attendance dropped a little [11:33] bit. So, um I don't even like [11:41] Well, I I I'm just grateful for three for being here to give us the update and I want to continue this conversation and [11:46] stay engaged with you, especially on, you know, a pretty nice summer night. So, thanks for that. [11:51] Yeah, of course. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for being here. Nice job, guys. Thank you. Any last question, please? No, I appreciate their dedication [12:00] that the time that they've been given. So, thank you. So, we will um I think once August turns [12:06] around, we will tailor we'll start working with the school districts on getting the public uh notices out. We [12:12] usually run those through at least the first week of school. Um and then we'll try to probably schedule interviews most likely at the [12:18] end of September, probably around your work session time frame. Yeah. [12:24] Great. Um thank you. All right, we'll move on to [12:29] item B, rail storage update. [12:34] Thank you. Yeah. Uh, being new, mayor, council members, uh, council member Walter. Uh, [12:41] we have, uh, Senate Jeff here today. Uh, I'm going to ask them to introduce themselves so at least know who they [12:47] are. I'm going to start with a presentation briefly and then I'm going to pass it along to them and they're [12:53] going to kind of give their presentation and then I'll just kind of close it up. Um but uh maybe Andrea if we would start [13:00] with you just an introduction please. Hi my name is Andrea and I'm the CEO of progressive railurn [13:09] I'm president of engineering company [13:16] and I'm Dan Smithdale vice president of compass rail services. All right thank you everyone. Um I'll [13:22] just briefly introduce the project uh and then we'll follow up with that. So [13:29] don't get to share. Oh, teams. [13:57] All right. So, we're here tonight here to talk about uh the Great Rail project. [14:09] Uh we'll talk about a few things. I'll talk about the project background and purpose. Uh I'll explain the funding [14:14] sources to date. Uh then pass it on to the team here and they'll give you an update, introduce themselves, and kind [14:20] of share their participation in this project. And then I'll close it up with just a brief project status and then [14:26] next steps. So, uh, we're here tonight to talk about the freight rail car storage. Uh, the [14:32] issues that we have is basically west of Dodd Boulevard, uh, those existing tracks are used for storage. Uh, and [14:40] with that comes some public safety concerns. We also have access limitations on uh, some of our roadways. [14:47] We also have driver delays when there's some transitions or switching extending all the way past County Road 60. Uh and [14:55] that's due in large part the lack of rail car storage within our city. Uh and then uh we also want to look at an [15:01] opportunity to sustain that market and then uh provide some long-term economic growth opportunities. [15:09] I'm going back here quick and then just going to give you a picture [15:18] screen. Okay. Um, with that, uh, I'm gonna ask Dan and you to come up and [15:24] I'll work on getting a presentation up here. Okay. [15:30] Well, I'm a new guy. So, I got elected. Last, you know, last in, first up. [15:38] So, um, really appreciate the opportunity to meet everybody and thank you, mayor, and the council members, um, [15:46] and especially the staff. They've been so supportive to our project from uh day one and uh really wouldn't have gotten [15:53] this far without their help. So, want to thank Justin and Zach and uh Tina, [15:59] please. [16:06] So [16:18] there we go. [16:24] And go to that title slide. That's number two program. [16:31] All [16:44] right. Yeah. So, um, again, uh, we're Compass Rail and, uh, just thought I we'll give [16:50] a little kind of overview of who we are and so that, uh, we can introduce ourselves to, uh, Lake View, uh, and [16:58] then talk a little bit about our part in the project and, uh, where kind of where we're at and next steps. So, uh, go [17:06] ahead, Zach. So, Compass Rail, we're a rail car services, rail car repair company. So, what we do is the safety [17:12] inspections of the rail cars when they're off the class one interchanges and on short lines like uh progressive [17:20] rail and uh and uh so what we do is a like a 28 point safety inspection. Make [17:26] sure the brakes are working, the wheels are the right thickness, and hand holds aren't broken. So, we do welding. We do [17:34] uh you know rail rail car repair right where the rail car sits generally. Uh we [17:40] are growing fast. We're we're in uh you know 26 locations from Washington State [17:45] down to Florida and uh and uh we are partnered with Progressive Rail, one of [17:51] our best clients. And uh we we operate at eight of their railroads. You may not know, but Progressive owns railroads all [17:58] across the country. Uh headquartered right here in Lakeland. So you only do the rail car, not the [18:06] rails themselves, right? No, right now. That's right. Right now, we're we have our eye on that [18:12] kind of service work going forward, but right now we we just we're focused on the rail cars themselves. [18:19] Um we also are we we have certain certifications which we are are um [18:25] getting um certified by the American Association of Railroads AR to to work [18:30] on tank cars. there's some special training and and things you have to do to work on the tank cars because of the [18:37] the potential for spills and things. So, we we are opening a shop to do valve [18:43] work um in a PGR warehouse in Bloomington, but you know, eventually [18:48] we'd like to move that work up back to build, but that's kind of down the road. [18:56] Go ahead and set. So, our our our portion, I guess I won't [19:02] I won't review all the history. You folks know it better than me, but we're we're we came into the project uh last [19:09] fall. Uh and um Andrea introduced us to the thought that um if you know, we had [19:16] been working together with Andrea uh about 6 months maybe at the time. And [19:21] she thought, you know, we were working together well, would we be interested in investing um and building our [19:27] relationship together? and and working with PGR to help help solve a a [19:33] solution. So we we immediately embraced the idea uh and and and started on a [19:40] search for the for the property. So, we um acquired acquired uh about 22 acres [19:49] of land in in the in the area and with the with the idea that it would be the site of the rail car storage facility [19:56] for for Lake View. And uh you know, it would be a foothold for us to then build [20:02] upon for future potentially um down the road an extra phase of a shop where we [20:08] could have a covered space to work on rail cars. um we could import customer [20:14] cars to PGR track because we're a nationwide company calling on car owners [20:19] and other railroads that would ship their cars to us or if there happened to be in the area we could service them for [20:25] them so we could attract you know maybe up to enough jobs in the future maybe up [20:32] to 100 people working on you know out of that location. So you would be doing it for the [20:38] nationwide client then right? So like for example, we're we're uh we're we're a Koch brother Ko [20:46] Industries Inc. Cert um approved vendor. So, we we'll be working out at the Flint [20:52] Hills refinery and there they sometimes it might be such where we could uh have [21:00] cars shipped to the PGR system and and we could do the repairs uh here and and [21:06] and not on their property cuz they they kind of have space spa just like we have [21:11] here. Space concerns. They can't store too many cars that aren't aren't working. They kind of have to keep them [21:17] moving in and out of the refinery. that that's one option. Or um potentially [21:22] working cars for other railroads like Union Pacific Railroad or or the CPKC [21:28] that have repaired. We could we could since the sites off the CPKC, we could [21:34] potentially have cars that need service that we could pull into [21:39] the uh you know or adjacent to the storage area and work those later. But that that would be down the road. This [21:45] initial phase is just really for storage, right? I guess my thought process was is [21:50] if you're nationwide, you must already have these centers built [21:56] or whatever that Well, no, no, ma'am. That's uh you know, that's kind of our goal is to get we are right now we're we're strictly [22:04] doing the what's called running repair agents. So, we have these 26 centers, but they're really field services. We [22:12] don't have fixed locations. We're working typically on the railroads sponsoring us uh like PGR. We're working [22:20] at out of a conx box and service trucks. So, we really don't have uh a place to [22:28] work inside. Our guys are outside every day. [22:34] Um so so again we would love to use the site as a as a place to build upon but [22:40] uh this first phase we're just focusing on the storage uh to kind of complete our mission with uh with bringing this [22:47] project together. Go ahead Sam. Um, so that Bruce has helped us, his [22:55] firm has helped us kind of come up with some preliminary thoughts and this is just kind of for conceptual that the [23:02] site that we acquired is just uh south of of the PGR offices on High View. It's [23:10] a just under 22 acres. And uh you know we we feel like uh Bruce is that we [23:16] could fit approximately 225 rail cars there in that sighting. Um [23:24] and uh I think PGR believes it will help them immensely too with their operation [23:30] of the railroad being more efficient and being very close to their Lakeville shop. Um, and um, we'll have to we'll [23:39] have to Bruce will have to design and or Zach and his team will design a a new [23:45] off kind of a switch off of the CPKC railroad and then onto the property. [23:55] So, we'll we'll uh hopefully uh, like I said, build build it out and and be [24:01] successful. and we'll be building our other businesses that we'll be able to add to add to it as we grow together [24:06] with PGR. So, [24:12] thank you. I got any questions or guess that I guess Zach has more to [24:17] I'll finish up and perhaps questions. I just wanted to give you a little bit of an overview. Dan did a great job of [24:23] trying to explain where we're at, but uh here's County Road 70 on the top of your screen running east and west. Uh and [24:29] then right in the middle of your screen is Kai View Avenue. Uh so you'll see just to the east of the yellow [24:34] highlighted piece is the airport and uh running kind of at a a south, you know, [24:40] from like 11:00 to a 5:00 there is the existing railroad. Uh so the rail cars [24:46] would be using that uh for service and then they would that we would the project that we're talking about would [24:52] build a spur to the west crossing High View Avenue and then kind of paralleling [24:57] that northern property line of the yellow highlighted box. So that's the property that we're talking about [25:02] specifically the properties north and adjacent of that are owned by the uh [25:08] London airport commission. So that gives us a little bit of perspective. Uh, as you may recall, uh, we've kind of been [25:15] looking in this general area for quite a few years, uh, to find a partner, uh, [25:20] with land to try to accommodate the storage and build this facility. And, [25:25] uh, really excited about, uh, working with Progressive Rail and Compass Rail here. And, um, so just wanted to give [25:32] you some perspective there as as to what the property looks like. [25:38] Just to finish a couple of things here. I'm used to working with three screens. [25:44] One screen is really hard. Um, from a funding sources, I wanted to [25:50] highlight a couple of things. Uh, the city has been successful uh in a couple of funding applications. Uh, we did [25:57] acquire federal funding in the amount of $750,000. Um, it was congressional directional [26:05] congressionally directed spending. uh that those dollars are primarily allocated to design. Uh there may be [26:11] some room to use it uh if we can't use that full a lotment. But the goal we do all our environmental work, our [26:18] preliminary design, our final design, things of that nature. Uh we are also uh that is a match by the way. So you'll [26:24] see on the bottom of your screen the local funding. That's the reason for the local funding is is we have a 20% match. [26:30] Uh then the state funding uh is um from dollars that was I think the 2023 [26:37] uh uh legislature and uh those will be used for the construction of the rail [26:43] tracks. Um under that we have an existing agreement uh with the housing [26:48] urban development for the federal grant and uh we're very close to coming to the council with a agreement with the state [26:54] to uh just finalize the terms of the $7 million there. Um [27:01] other than that um going to the next [27:10] uh project status is we have to acquire the property. Um Compass Rail has identified that they have acquired that [27:16] yellow piece that we saw on the screen. We're also working with uh the gas company that's between the railroad [27:22] tracks and Pi View Avenue uh to secure either an easement or the the uh land [27:28] and be title. Uh so working through that process once we have those parcels then [27:33] the next step would bring that into the city of Lakeville. Uh we propose to do that by annexation by ordinance. Uh [27:41] following that once the land then is in the city then we would have authority to establish land use and so there would be [27:47] an application to establish that. Um with that obviously uh we have public hearings for the city council and the [27:54] planning commission and then we also have agreements with uh progressive rail and then also compass rail as well for [28:01] they call it use agreements uh to we would own the tracks we would own the facility we would construct them but [28:07] then we would have a use agreement with progressive rail to um operate the uh [28:13] the treatments on those tracks. We own the rail but not [28:19] uh we would also have to own the land or get an easement. So that's part of those agreements that we have to work through [28:25] with compass rail. That's part of the process with the state. [28:32] Um and the next steps we talked about is uh [28:37] preliminary and final design, environmental documentation, securing the land and the easements. As you can [28:43] imagine, there's quite a bit of ongoing coordination with Federal Rails Administration and Mindot as well. And [28:49] then, uh, mayor, like you alluded to, working with Compass Rail and Progressive Rail on Atland Exchange [28:54] agreements and then also sales agreements, uh, use agreements. [28:59] Uh, and that's what we have today. Uh, the timing is really good because over the next few months, uh, you'll you'll [29:06] see this project brought before you in terms of kind of what we talked about as far those public hearings. So wanted to [29:12] have a chance to introduce uh the partners on this project and then uh we've talked about this quite a few [29:17] times but it's probably been a couple of years sort of a annual CIP meeting. So if you have any questions uh director is [29:24] here as well um uh and I want to make sure Council Walter can hear. Okay. But [29:30] uh if there's any questions for us be happy to answer or the group. [29:37] Um well, thank you to all people involved because this is clearly a very [29:42] complex process. Um and will continue to be until this is complete. Um a new [29:49] piece of this conversation that I guess I was not aware of is the expansion of [29:55] services potentially to service kind of an in-house repair shop. Um, and I think [30:02] some a number that's kind of elucidate is how many cars are currently on the rail that goes into the center of [30:10] Lakeville and how many stalls are in its new facility and can accommodate both [30:16] the cars that are stored in Lakeville in addition to the service cars that could [30:21] be standing. Th this this uh would just this first build out of of whatever we can get will [30:29] be dedicated to the storage first. So to answer your question, there's about 300 cars that go in three towns. [30:37] There's not many on there right now. Um the so on the map that is kind of [30:44] small that Dan had in his presentation and had these green tracks towards the top and then like towards the bottom [30:50] there's like more purple color tracks. So the green tracks would be the storage tracks specifically dedicated or in [30:56] exchange for what's going on. But that's what we would use and that holds 225. [31:02] Um and so we would utilize those for storage as we have storage. If we don't have storage cards, we would use them [31:08] for, you know, operation holding cards that are coming into our Lakeville facility. Um right now energy is down in [31:15] Northfield. So if we can get them this far, you know, this much closer, it's obviously much easier for business. Um, [31:20] if we can use them for some transloading, we'll do that. But it's therefore the storage. [31:29] Council member Lee, try I try to pull up a little bit bigger image here. So hopefully that's easier to see. [31:35] Yep. So those green ones are what holds the 225 card slots. And then on the [31:40] south side of that drawing where the purple tracks are and the red building, that's the future kind of building slash [31:49] tracks for compass rail that they would be able to work on inside as they you [31:55] know work through rail cars and and fix them whatever needs repaired on them. [32:01] How frequently do you have 225 car? Um it's definitely it's been a while. [32:08] It's hit or miss. Um, usually when they come, they come in typically like a unit tree, which is about 100 to 110 cars at [32:14] a time. So, you know, um, it's very rare that we have just like spotty cars like [32:20] this. And so, just it's it's the last time was maybe 2020, [32:26] 2021 where we had it filled up, I think, the whole way from three training. [32:36] So, how much closer are we? What's the timeline look like that we can get this [32:42] accomplished? Yeah, that's two years or that uh that's a great question. [32:48] I'm going to try to attempt to do it, but Tina will correct me if I'm wrong. Uh the next step is the annexation by [32:55] ordinance. Uh so, that is a public process. Uh we have to give 30 days new notice to folks. We are actually working [33:02] on that currently. uh as we were notified when they close on the property. So, um I would anticipate uh a [33:10] September um uh public hearing on that. [33:15] Once that is completed and it's in uh the city of Lakeville, then we would also do the land use applications that's [33:22] scheduled for October of this year. Um and then um then we would work [33:30] concurrently on agreements. So I would anticipate uh if everything goes smoothly would start design uh by the [33:37] end of this year. Um design I'm guessing might take 3 to 6 months. uh I have not [33:45] done rail road tracks so I'll look for some experts for that but for sure there's environmental analyses and [33:51] things like that but I think the goal if I could would suggest to have the um [33:56] design done by the end of next year and then potentially going out for bid if we could advance it we will um we have the [34:04] agreements in place for the most part with the federal government and we're very close with the state so uh we hope [34:09] that you see a lot of progressive activity over each following month. Yeah. And we can certainly give uh uh [34:17] Mr. Miller can give you updates as we go along. We can come back once we have some designs and some concepts. [34:23] No, I'd say um this is a project that I know I've been working on for the 10 [34:28] years I've been here and this is the closest we've come to a a solution. [34:33] I know. I like being in the light. So, um we're very very optimistic and [34:40] very grateful for the work we have for the partners over there. Um the next besides the annexation agreement that [34:46] you'll see will be an agreement um that exactly related to the use agreement which um talks about it's going to spell [34:53] out a lot of things. Um you know we have to own the track and the land. We're going to lease it back. There's going to [34:59] be agreements between three parties. Um there's going to be some agreements on [35:05] use of the existing rail. Um and we haven't drafted that agreement. We're working on comments. I know we owe you [35:10] comments back on that. So, um, so that's going to be the the next steps from from [35:16] perspective. Just to be clear, I want the council to [35:21] be clear, this will be owned by the city. That doesn't mean we're going to be [35:28] responsible for maintaining it. We'll have agreements with with our parties, but this technically will be a city [35:35] asset. What's the length of 25 years or something? 35 35. So yeah and that's a federal [35:42] requirement but it's our intent that it will be [35:49] owner and name only um expense operating everything will be done by progressive [35:54] and compass. Anything else from [36:01] I want as quickly as possible as well. I was throwing that out there construction is going to be the quick once they start [36:07] building and they can actually get all that track done probably [36:13] like it's going to be the fastest. I mean our hope is next year for sure [36:19] and it's very quick. Um so Zach you should time it so we hit it you know in the spring because it does the ground does [36:25] freeze in Minnesota. We can't build a track in the winter. And the contract, the design contract is [36:31] one that we have to own as well, but we will work obviously, we're going to be designing it to their specification. So, [36:37] um it'll be a contract that we hold, but we'll be working with them on that. Likewise, the construction contract will [36:44] be one that we hold. Um there'll be some reimbursement and but there might be some cash flow. Um you know, we don't [36:51] have seven million laying around. Um we'll have to work on that, but [36:59] You know, I just want to say and and to you know, the post neighbors who have been talking about this for 10 years. [37:04] One for your patience obviously and and also for progressive sticking with us for all these years and and for your [37:10] trying to get creative right now conversations with my predecessor and you and I trying to spinball and come up [37:16] with a solution to make this thing work and obviously the legislature stepping in and providing a lot of money and really helped get us to where we are [37:22] today. So, I'm grateful for that. But and the staff. I mean, this is when I got elected two years ago, I was like, [37:28] "Okay, in the next four years, we got to get this dang thing done because it'd be really embarrassing if we don't make any [37:33] progress." So, good job to everybody else. So, appreciate it. I don't want to use more rail ps, but [37:38] yes, I do. Very good. Thank you guys for being here and stay in touch with us. [37:45] Jeff, did you want to say something? It's a good question. First of all, I want to echo thanking everyone here because I know it's been a long process. [37:51] So appreciate everyone putting the time in on this and we're we're near the rail. So we're and we appreciate your [37:57] help and trying to figure out a plan. The only question I think Matt or Justin, you already kind of referred to [38:02] it, but there's some contractual things you got to still iron out and just about once this gets built then we'll then [38:08] that'll keep the cars down there then they won't be coming anymore. That's kind of a trade-off. [38:13] Yeah. I mean the tracks will still have to be used for operations just very limited like it is now. It's not [38:19] limited but um but yeah. And is there an end date to that? [38:24] 35 years. Oh, that's okay. 35 years is when it becomes an asset. 35 [38:31] years is when we own it and the requirements prerequisites from the state funding go away. So we still own [38:38] it still city. It's just that any kind of restrictions that are tied to the [38:44] state goes away. It's it's just plain city. The use agreement between Progressive Rail and the City of [38:49] Lake though is just going to not agree. There's going to be no expiration date. Gotcha. And then Dan, question for you. [38:56] So yes, sir. I like your idea about, you know, having that be a place for you guys to do some more work. Any idea like if this goes [39:02] off well as progressive and then you're working on that then any time frame on that would be your goal to be like 3 to [39:09] 5 years or Oh, absolutely. it it you know we're already making a commitment to the to Minneapolis for um what we call our [39:16] mobile repair crews that will work out of this warehouse. So hopefully while [39:21] we're doing design and construction we're getting more customers generated that are around the area more car owners [39:29] and uh and be able to attract more more business to Progressives so we can [39:34] fix more cars to you. Yeah. So right now we have about right now as we sit now we have 12 people [39:41] working. When we get our our crew with our warehouse our mobile recruit with [39:46] the val work we're going to have another 12. So there's 25 that could potentially all be reporting to Lakeville without [39:54] without uh any more than we have now. You know with this small shop if we go [39:59] to a me small shop with that's drawn there. There's kind of two scenarios. [40:05] There's a small shop and a larger shop. The small shop has 40 people uh kind of [40:11] dedicated to it. The larger shop, which would also include a paint shop and a [40:16] blast shop. So, we would basically take 10 cars and strip them down and and [40:22] reertify them. That would be a 100 people. [40:27] You guys will leave your name and address for Oh, sure. I had a quick question. Uh when you [40:32] mentioned tank cars, would you eventually be working on that? Would we have to have more like emergency fighter [40:40] services? I don't think these are any cars or in [40:45] the area. They be empties. You said there might be some No, there when we work on them, they [40:51] have to be and we have to do they come would they come via rail [40:58] then to your site? Right. The PGR would deliver. That's how they get there. Okay, [41:03] makes sense. Great. Thank you guys. [41:10] All right, move on to item C. Electric bike ordinance. Mr. AC [41:16] is ready to give us the download. [41:22] I got caught twice by scooters over the weekend. [41:27] I'm the hot topic lately. by I mean they just didn't look when they were crossing the street. [41:35] Uh mayor and city council, uh good evening. Um so obviously against the the hot topic of uh ebikes and uh a new [41:43] ordinance. Um as our ordinances currently sit, we have an ordinance [41:49] allowing bicycles on cities uh city trails and pathways. uh we have [41:54] restrictions regarding motorized vehicles on the trails and pathways but nothing in regards to uh I should say [42:01] the new phenomenon that's not uh ebikes and this is uh kind of been an effort to try to rectify um kind of a a gap within [42:09] our ordinances but also an opportunity for us to be able to put some new restrictions and rules in place uh [42:15] working with the police department to try to address some of the concerns that we've received uh over the past few [42:20] years um regarding speeds and other unsafe aspects. Um, Chief Alson, is [42:27] there anything I missed there? Uh, no. I don't think with FD, I'm sure there'll be some questions and I can [42:33] address those on a lot of things outside of, you know, [42:38] the ebikes as defined by statute are problematic. Scooters, uh, polarized [42:45] bikes, things like that. I can answer questions on those. Does that cover golf carts? I started getting calls, too. So [42:51] it's separate. Yeah. By ordinance, we can approve permits for people to [42:57] operate golf carts on bike paths with a medical diagnosis. There's a whole process to go through. I think we have [43:04] two in the city that are authorized to do that. And it has to be a specific [43:09] route as well. This can't be random drive around town. It has to be getting up from the residents to um retail area [43:16] for groceries or whatever. I think we only have two. Yeah. I I would say we do receive calls [43:22] regarding motorized dirt bikes and and those types of items and we've seen some videos that residents have sent in as [43:28] well. Um those are already permitted or I'm sorry restricted um prohibited is [43:35] what I tried to say. Uh so I think along with this there's going to need to be an additional component of education. Um, I [43:41] think there's there's aspects there regarding our trail signage, regarding some education pieces regarding this, [43:46] but as well as other existing ordinances that we're going to need to work on, uh, to try to make sure people understand [43:52] better what is and is not allowed on our trails. Yeah. I mean, I think it would be great if whatever changes we go through or [43:58] don't go through, the Q1 newsletter next year, it's a key. [44:08] So do um ebikes have horns? [44:13] They're not required um in the same way that a you know um a bike is some required val in that aspect. So and the [44:21] three different classifications you know some don't have pedals. So the third is really just you know a throttle control. [44:28] So so they are they are in a lot of respects different. I know this sounds really kind of crazy, but it seemed to [44:35] be more of a um it must have been learned behavior through education, but [44:42] when when we were on trails in um Canada, they they always used their [44:49] horns. So, you always knew somebody was coming up behind you. Um [44:56] so, I don't know if that's something we can require. and then educate people to use them [45:04] because I think the nothing stops your heart more than having somebody come up [45:11] behind you and you have no clue and then they're zipping into the grass or whatever else. And I don't know what the [45:18] rules are on if they're allowed to even use the grass. No, that's in our existing ordinance as [45:23] well and it is included in here as well. that um they're not allowed to essentially go off trail to create their [45:30] own passing zones. Um the other component that I think is going to be important for us to do some [45:35] more education on is speed. Um as it stands right now, there are speed limits to our trails and there are segments of [45:42] our trails that we are looking to in decrease even further. Juno Trail is a great example of that with the Lake Mary [45:48] Greenway Trail. There's design work that's being done there now to try to implement changes that can slow speeds. [45:55] Um but some of these elikes as they are now go 28 miles per hour. Um [46:00] that's crazy. Yeah. So the the ordinance as it stands now would restrict speeds on our trails [46:06] across the board to 15 and that's for all trail users. So that's ebikes as well as uh bicycles. Um, but I would say [46:12] it is one of the things I mean I I ride bike as well and it's one of those things, you know, if you're riding in Minneapolis or other areas where there [46:18] are very busy trails, people are generally good about, you know, doing the on your left, you know, passing in a [46:25] sense. Um, and that doesn't always carry through, I would say. So, I think there are points where maybe you're accustomed [46:31] to riding on a trail that is empty. Um, and you now hit an area where it's busy. [46:37] And I think sometimes people forget. So, that's again right back to education. So what um where's the 15 [46:45] where other cities are? Yeah. So we did uh so 15 we were pulling [46:52] from uh Minnesota Department of Natural Resources but it is consistent with where a lot of other communities are at. [46:59] Uh and this has been uh like I said the hot topic for a lot of the other uh cities. A lot of park and recck [47:04] departments are also doing the same process. So, and would this u have an impact on [47:11] scooters or is that a completely another subject of conversation? So, we we had this conversation um but [47:19] it's different. Uh so, motorized foot scooters are clearly defined in statute. You have to be at least these are the [47:25] stand up you'll see um have to be at least 12 to operate. If you're between [47:30] 12 and I think it's 17, you have to have a helmet on. We see them all over town. Um, and they abide by the same assume [47:38] you're at least 12 and have the safety equipment. It's treated like a bicycle. So, uh, side of the roadway, no [47:45] sidewalks. Technically, by ordinance, they're not allowed on a bike path because it's a vehicle. It's a motorized vehicle. Now, [47:52] you think of uh like Dod Boulevard by statute, they could be going down the shoulder of Dod Boulevard, but not on [47:58] the bike path. Maybe that's where some discretion would come. If would we rather have a 14-year-old on a bike [48:06] path, you know? So, from an enforcement standpoint, there are those things for us to sort out, but they are they are [48:13] totally different than anybody by statute with their own set of rules. Is there any in the department any kind of [48:19] like um proactive encouragement for good behavior reminders? Um especially with [48:27] not wearing a helmet on the survey and we've done just helmets in general over [48:33] the years with the com those things to [48:41] grow on that for sure. I think one of the challenges has just been the number of new types of devices out there. U [48:49] kind of been this gradual transgression from ebikes into anything else with an [48:54] electric uh motor that travels really really fast. I think there's lack of awareness and education to parents of [49:00] what their kids are riding and able to legally ride. But we've had that's the tragic encounters with scooters in town [49:06] and they are dangerous to go fast. Owners aren't looking for them all the time. That's exactly true. And what I [49:12] I've also heard from feedback is seems like because of the increase in [49:18] ebike use, small dirt bikes, uh mini bikes that are gas powered are on the trails now too [49:25] because they say, well, just because it's gas versus heat. Um so I'm seeing increase on that building. [49:33] And we've received videos from residents all over the the city um with exactly [49:38] this. Um so I think that's where education um you know needs to be travel [49:44] because those are already constructed they are prohibited and I I don't know that parents are aware of that at this [49:50] point. Yeah. If people do see those we encourage them to call 911. [49:55] Yeah. We do we know if there's any like [50:02] educational is there a company that has a ebike class or because I'm just [50:08] thinking I mean driver training you know that that's a long process with a lot of [50:14] oversight yet you're here's a bike that hasn't throttled that'll go 28 miles an [50:20] hour you know downhill probably a little faster and I've seen you know on the [50:25] trails it's one thing you know I just of the speed but I've seen them on streets too. You know, people that keep driving [50:32] down the street like in the middle of the street. Is there do you know if there's any kind of resources for education and training on how to ride [50:39] these, what their capabilities are, how to avoid getting killed? Yeah. So, I can share uh a recreation [50:45] staff uh recreation manager actually met with our new bike shop, the one just down the road here, and uh did have a [50:52] conversation regarding um bike repair, bike use, ebikes, standard bikes. So I think there are some things there that [50:58] we are looking at through the rec department um that I think would be great especially if you're just turning age to you know get one of these. So [51:05] yeah we are working on some things there. That'd be awesome to ask Education. [51:11] Oh eBay aren't licensed. [51:18] Will there be any discrepancies with the age requirement for adjacent cities? [51:26] That's actually not um that's managed by the state so statute. I see because I I [51:32] mean I see a lot of folks that are under 15. So [51:39] it's already against an educational parents then too to not [51:47] buy it back till their 15th birthday or whatever. [51:52] So they're always looking for something to buy their kids. So [51:58] hopefully they don't do it too soon. [52:04] Do you think signage on the trails with speed on this really good? [52:10] I think most people are just guessing they're going to use their best or not. But there's nothing posted right now for [52:18] speed. I'm not sure if ebikes have an odometer on them. [52:23] I guess yeah. So [52:29] there are some enforcement challenges this can do. I mean it's not like running radar on squad, right? But if [52:35] instead of 15 if you're doing 28 that visibly we can make that way the [52:42] ordinance code there's safe and reasonable speeds too. So if you're weaving in and out of [52:48] people, we can that kind of not going to force our way out of all of this, but it [52:54] has to be a component so we have uncertainty. A lot of it is education, especially just the awareness of what's [53:00] legal and what's not. I think it's just a lot of confusion. So speech writer can't pick up [53:07] sometimes that's a challenge to people. That's true. Yeah. Do we have [53:14] community service officers that'll be writing their own ebikes to be able to start um [53:22] having a presence for people to realize somebody monitoring them, you know, to [53:29] start to change habits. I don't know if it's even, you know, maybe it's a temporary year-long solution or [53:36] something, but um because we can put up all the signs in [53:42] the world and it's not going to matter if they figure [53:48] we don't have ebikes right now and we looking at that as a reformer 26 [53:54] uh but we do have ways to get outs a little bit. So we know some of our frequently used areas or where feed [54:02] could be an issue. I think they're for us enforcement as we can out there [54:07] education and presence. [54:14] Are there signs that are simple for um bike etiquette put on the trails? [54:21] Yeah. So that and this is where I would the timing of the this I think is good because these are the questions that [54:26] we've been post opposing to um our consultant down here by trail um because it's the first trail where we're really [54:33] trying to pay attention to speed. Um so there are some design features that help to naturally slow down speed but signage [54:40] is another component of that and uh sometimes painted speed limits on the [54:45] rail you know multiirect as opposed to um posted signs are more effective. So, [54:51] those are all components we're looking at. I will say we're sitting at almost 150 mi of trails in Lakeville. You know, [54:57] it's 120 miles of paved trails. It's going to be a daunting task in some [55:02] respects to sign everything. So, there is going to just need to be a component of education as well. Um, so I think [55:08] there are hot spots, areas we know that are an issue. We planted antlers um as [55:13] um so I think the goal is going to be to hit some of those bigger the areas where it's more commonly an issue. [55:21] trail head. Yep. Trail signage. Yep. And we've made sure as well that what's been written [55:27] here also works with uh the Dakota County Greenways as well. Um the goal being we can implement the same [55:32] obviously ordinance in in both scenarios. Um we didn't want something that was being competing with Dakota [55:37] County. Now that we're build those trails, [55:51] I'm just I'm glad we're talking about it because as I said, this is something I call [55:56] for sure. I think in particular I think it's mostly people who are concerned for the safety of kids who probably [56:03] should pay a little bit more attention to their survey. [56:20] Did I do a presentation? I believe [56:32] members of the council um put a brief memo together and just a [56:37] comparison chart. I did not um prepare to pull that up, but hopefully you guys can see it on your devices. Um, but my [56:45] understanding is just wanted to have a little bit of an overview of where we're at with short-term rentals and have some [56:51] discussion about any changes that we might want to make to the ordinance. So, just to get us all on the same page, [56:58] City of Lakeville does allow short-term rentals or Airbnbs, um, if you, you [57:04] know, understand it better that way. Um, with approval of an administrative permit, then there's some specific [57:09] requirements in the ordinance. Um when I checked our files, we have a couple that [57:15] actually have administrative department. So I'm assuming that this is happening [57:20] um without our knowledge. It's very difficult to track. Um, but the ordinance defines in every residential [57:27] district by administrative permit that the renting of rooms within an owner [57:33] occupied dwelling not to not to more than two individuals who are each [57:39] unrelated to the principal family as an accessory use provided that the property [57:45] owner shall not enter into a rental agreement with more than two individuals within a 30-day period. And there shall [57:51] be at least one off streetet parking stall provided for each rental occupant of the property in addition to the [57:58] parking stalls that are already required for that residence. So again, this ordinance, this language is listed in [58:05] the zoning code for all of our residential districts. So if you can picture the zoning code, you've got your [58:10] permitted uses, conditional uses, interimm uses, and administrative uses. So this is listed in each of those [58:16] districts. So it's not a separate ordinance unto itself. [58:21] Um, based on this language, it has been interpreted that only rooms can be [58:26] rented, so a bedroom, not the whole home, and that the owner must reside in [58:32] the home at the same time as the renter. And that has been interpreted based on [58:37] the requirement that it's an owner occupied dwelling. And what an owner occupied dwelling basically means, it's [58:44] a homestead. You know, somebody is renting the home that they're currently living in. So I think that [58:51] interpretation could be read both ways. Meaning the renting of the room is [58:56] occurring in a home that somebody owns and lives in. I don't know if it necessarily says that owner has to also [59:05] be in the home at the time of the rental, but that is how it has historically been interpreted. [59:11] Um we did provide a table um eight different communities around our area um [59:18] that have either require a license or a CUP or registration form of some kind um [59:26] along with a fee and then what their ordinances kind of spell out in the [59:31] manner of the number of guests that are allowed, how they handle parking, the amount of the home, whether it's the [59:36] entire house that be could be rented or just one room and then any other additional um information just to give [59:43] you a a background and then we have copies of all of these ordinances as well. So, a couple of the things that I [59:51] thought might help get the conversation started. Some of the recommendations that we as [59:56] staff have is to create an actual definition of a short-term rental. We don't even list that as one of our uses [1:00:03] in our definition section. So, that's something that needs to be done. We should consider, I think, creating a [1:00:09] separate ordinance section for short-term rentals rather than just varying it in each residential district. [1:00:15] It's just easier for um our residents to find. Review the residential zoning [1:00:20] districts that you want to allow short-term rentals. I mean, it's even allowed in medium and high and state. And I don't it just seems odd. Um, but I [1:00:29] guess you know if you want to use your apartment as an Airbnb, you know, in very urban areas, you know, that [1:00:36] happens, but we should at least have that conversation. Clarify if renting of [1:00:41] the whole house is supported by you or do you want to keep it in just a room? [1:00:47] And then other considerations, make sure we're handling off streetet parking appropriately. Um, do we want to require [1:00:53] a license or registration? Um, that's going to take some education. And then, [1:00:58] do we want to put a limit on the number of short-term rentals that we even allow in the community? A couple of cities are doing that. Again, a hard thing to [1:01:05] track. I just ask you clarification. If you were to rent your house and [1:01:12] you're saying that you need to have two on the street and we have November, [1:01:18] March or November to March, no off streetet parking. But you see I'm trying to figure out [1:01:26] where is the off street at let's just say a residential house. [1:01:31] So we have to have a wider driveway or some kind of parking you know parking [1:01:37] pad off of their driveway to accommodate so that we're not having you know any [1:01:43] customer who is an Airbnb visitor parking on the street over. [1:01:48] So, not all homes and driveways would be able to accommodate the garage. [1:01:54] The garage style. Yes. Okay. And then the one thing with all of this [1:02:01] that we didn't do when we created a rental registration ordinance is to clarify in that ordinance that that is [1:02:08] in effect whenever you have a rental 30 days or more. that should be fixed regardless because then what the [1:02:15] short-term rental is is that day one to day 29. [1:02:21] So once you get to 30, that's when you're into, you know, a longer term rental and you should or rental and you [1:02:28] should be then complying with the rental registration. So that is a big reg. [1:02:34] So what was the issue with the one that came up? It wasn't that just long-term anyway. [1:02:42] I think it ultimately that one last summer I think it ultimately turned into that because they were doing repeated [1:02:50] one after another that um I think it turned into and I think they do now have [1:02:57] a brand new registration. Okay. I mean I think a couple of things to [1:03:02] think about from my perspective. One is I don't necessarily tell you about it's one room in a whole [1:03:08] house. I think the parking component is really [1:03:14] important. Um this year more than others, it seems [1:03:20] like more complaints are coming about street parking in the summer. And so [1:03:25] I don't want to say but maybe we need to have the conversation about overnight parking year round [1:03:32] which could be controversial but I'm just saying that it continues to be an issue and I think if we have to increase [1:03:38] rental it'll definitely become an issue. So having that part component was is important [1:03:43] and certainly at a minimum they have the same requirements for rental [1:03:48] registration that we have for long term I think um you know I'd like to maybe have a [1:03:56] little bit more speed of that and then finally we just got to think and I don't know what the right answer is you know I [1:04:02] don't I don't foresee us becoming a community that has a lot of this [1:04:09] where we're becoming a vacation spot. Maybe not. I don't know. There's people on the lake out or something. But I I [1:04:16] get concerned about these communities that are running into affordability for home ownership because they have so many [1:04:22] short-term rentals. Um certainly neighbors of South Minneapolis are experiencing that. Um so I don't know if [1:04:29] that's on our horizon, but I just wanted to talk about that because I don't want to get down the road where we're [1:04:35] expectation. [1:04:41] I uh it's interesting that you mention it because I and I couldn't quite articulate the thought in my in my mind. [1:04:47] I started thinking it's like well okay if I'm done with my house are out and [1:04:53] you know I'm going to give away to somebody else but I'm going to maintain ownership of [1:04:59] this house and rent it to people as a BBO. [1:05:04] um you know what does that do to my housing market? [1:05:10] What does that do to the availability of a potential house for for somebody else? I just thought it was interesting [1:05:17] the same thing. Um I think the parking is is incredibly important and I when I [1:05:22] think of short-term rental I you know the long-term rental we have the rental registration it's 30 plus days. When I [1:05:30] think of short-term rental I'm not thinking of one to 29 days. I think and [1:05:35] I'm thinking of a week during the summer, you know, when we're we're coming with our kids to uh to hang out [1:05:43] with our family. So, I think a more, you know, a few days to a few to a couple [1:05:50] weeks is probably what we're dealing most with um with a short-term rental. [1:05:56] And, you know, there's just different flavors of people that do them. you know, my siblings just a few of them met [1:06:04] up and did a VRBO taken a trip and quiet as church mics and then you get, you [1:06:11] know, you have somebody else that just is looking for a place to party for a week. Um, that that's a whole different [1:06:19] thing. And so for me, I'm not I'm not opposed to people being able to put this [1:06:26] out and be responsible landlords whether they're present or not. Um as opposed to [1:06:32] putting a burden on on our neighbors and our police department for the places [1:06:37] that hey, I'm I just want to go find a place to party for. Yeah. I yeah [1:06:43] I think finding the right balance between uh protecting property rights if [1:06:49] somebody owns something to rent it out but then protecting their neighbors property rights as well. Yeah. And so the registration to me would have [1:06:56] to have teeth to say continue violation from something whenever your license. [1:07:05] Well, I'm wondering if the other part of the tooth in the mouth um would [1:07:12] be that we would actually collect the attacks on [1:07:17] um because that keeps them more accountable and it also tells us who's registered or not. [1:07:23] Um, so whatever they does BRBO or Airbnb pay [1:07:29] um the CVB tax like a hotel motel [1:07:36] they pay sales tax out of the state I don't think [1:07:41] I'd be curious to find that out if some communities do where it's they make it [1:07:46] on fire a lodging tax in here and so Roseville [1:07:51] has one well we have the lodge tax, but whether or not it applies to right exist. I'm just wondering if it [1:07:56] applies to this [1:08:02] cuz I don't know how you're going to keep them accountable on the 30 days, the multiple times otherwise, but if [1:08:09] they're having a reporting system, um, [1:08:14] you know, so anyway, do you see trying to say I'm [1:08:21] just trying to figure out system even and if it's taxed [1:08:28] um it might also be something that somebody might move away from to not [1:08:34] decide not to do it. So would be a deterrent or fee or however you want to call that [1:08:41] tax but it's really a tax. Well also it makes things more fair for [1:08:46] lodge and business owners in town because they're Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So process-wise is you [1:08:54] take our feedback, come up with an orance, and then we have I hear kind of a public conversation about that. [1:08:59] Probably come back and have a work session again for you all to review the draft and then take it from there, you [1:09:06] know, depending on your guidance and recommendations for community feedback. again, um, unless somebody is on those [1:09:15] sites regularly and searching in Lakeville to know, um, often times it'll [1:09:22] show up or the home shows up. And I'm not an Airbnb person, so I'm like probably the last one to give advice on [1:09:28] this. I was talking to our planning manager, Chris Jensen, and her understanding is, you know, show an area [1:09:35] where the home is located, not necessarily the exact address until the rent. So, it's really hard for staff to [1:09:41] do any kind of tracking to know how many there are. Yeah. I mean, that's why I think having [1:09:47] some teeth on the plates just like you do in any type of situation and you [1:09:53] know, code violation and so forth. But I did I talked to Airbnb I believe in Minnesota City's office and I'm just [1:10:01] getting signed up on their city portal and they can give us all the stats for everything related to our city. um you [1:10:09] can even put in um responsible hosting requirements for every single booking [1:10:15] for everything that happened within our city borders. So I think that's something to explore a little bit more. [1:10:20] or I don't know a ton about this plan, but the ref said, you know, their interest is in making [1:10:25] sure that people want to rent uh houses and so, you know, everything [1:10:31] from how the houses is maintained to the guests and making sure there's going on. [1:10:37] Um, so I don't know if uh VBO has something similar, but I think being on [1:10:43] the city portal for help. Let's connect when we figure that out. [1:10:49] Yeah. Okay, just I did look at our lodging tax code and it says [1:10:55] it's collected on the lodging at a hotel, motel, rooming house consider this tourist court or resort. [1:11:04] So I mean we might need to modify the ordinance if we want to make sure [1:11:13] and then we just notify them when we do the registration. [1:11:20] One one other thing that I was thinking too in education tip tonight, but is if [1:11:26] there's a packet or something if somebody's going to do this and they're going to come in and apply and what do [1:11:31] information packet about, you know, responsible posting our ordinances, our [1:11:38] expectations, and then somehow have them sign off on that just like we do with rental [1:11:44] registration. Yeah. just so you understand um you know what you're giving it to because I I [1:11:50] could see just a homeowner going why not uh why not just do this and you [1:11:58] you know got to understand well [1:12:03] without um people don't always look at our communications etc. [1:12:10] Is there like a process? The only way we're going to know is if somebody complains about whoever is [1:12:18] renting it, right? So, is there something that we can put in there for the first time warning? Um, meaning, you [1:12:27] know, you need to be registered, da da da da. Um, and I don't know if we need [1:12:32] to put it someplace or if that's just a police procedural thing or whatever. [1:12:38] Well, I wonder if the Airbnb or VBO has that as part of the like city engagement like when you sign up on their platform. [1:12:47] I don't know. That's hard to figure that out. No, but is there any other way to rent out your house besides using theations? [1:12:55] Yeah. Yeah. I mean I I'm not I mean I'm not [1:13:02] going to request to Facebook, [1:13:08] but I I but I think your suggestion of you know if we get a complaint on one and we figure out Yep. is this being [1:13:15] operated as a Airbnb or a BBO or may not realize we have this new ordinance. So [1:13:21] then we would send them all of that information and work with them to get them registered. You certainly are [1:13:27] first. Is there um you guys are textile? Yeah. [1:13:36] Is there a way to have um since our communications department's on Facebook [1:13:42] or whatever, is there any way to um have alerts come in if it shows up on [1:13:50] Facebook like face I don't know what Facebook if it would be at like a Facebook marketplace or is there a way [1:13:55] to get alerts like you could you know back in the day [1:14:00] I you know used to get Google alert if there was some news piece or whatever you know I You have a project search for [1:14:07] it. I have to go search. Okay. [1:14:13] Can I ask is there any other opinion other um the mayor said didn't have a [1:14:19] big opinion strong opinion whether it's a bedroom versus the whole home. Are [1:14:25] there other thoughts there? To me it seems like it's more common now for the [1:14:30] whole home. Yeah. It's kind of awkward just renting a bedroom from somebody. [1:14:36] Okay. Yeah. No, I would have [1:14:43] to do. Yeah. I mean, we're supposed to be a wedding Labor Day weekend in Can Falls. There's one hotel, but I went on Airbnb [1:14:49] and there's some apartment like rooms. They're there. I'm not trying to [1:14:54] preclude that. I think that can be a whole you're comfortable with that. [1:15:00] I would guess. Okay. There are a lot of the apartment building in this town that they're less [1:15:05] allowing. [1:15:13] Um, okay. I don't somebody renting their apartment [1:15:19] for a week or whatever. No, I don't either. I'm just saying I don't know how prevalent it is. [1:15:27] I'm sure that's in a lot of homeowner association guidelines could be right. [1:15:32] Yeah. So I guess that's part of our education saying this is the city ruled but you have to check if the HOA is not [1:15:38] set up. You know you're the wording that's being [1:15:44] used about who can rent up to two people with not the same just confusing as heck [1:15:51] to me. It is. It is. So, I I don't know if there's any way to make that cleaner as [1:15:57] far as a directive of how many people can rent. That is my intent. Um I I don't know how [1:16:05] old this ordinance is when this language was introduced, but I agree with you. It is confusing. And you ask myself or [1:16:13] Chris or Heather in our department and we might all interpret it a little bit different. So, I think that's where [1:16:19] developing a whole separate ordinance like we did the rental ad registration, pulling it out of each individual [1:16:25] district, making sure we're all comfortable with what districts this is added, have a clear definition and clear [1:16:31] terminology can fix a lot of confusion for property [1:16:36] owners. Yeah. I mean, I think they did this in like 2012, 13, 14. [1:16:46] And there were there were some like looking in the matrix that you sent I saw at least one [1:16:52] that said you know hey one per bedroom plus one you know and kids don't count right I [1:17:00] think that's a lot cleaner than trying to figure out well two people but you can't have the same name sometimes [1:17:06] college towns do that yeah because they don't want they don't want $6 [1:17:14] something just because because I I use this site for work, but pure space is about hosting events that aren't [1:17:22] necessarily something that you stay overnight, but you're using anything from a residential space to a business [1:17:29] to host something. Um, so might be something worth [1:17:36] looking at too with renting spaces in general. [1:17:49] Do you feel like you have? [1:17:55] All right. We want through. Is that okay if we just go right into the last game? [1:18:07] Yeah. meeting. [1:18:18] Thank you, Virginia Council. Um just a brief overview of our 2024 financial [1:18:24] components. Um that I saw we will like they mentioned at the last meeting we [1:18:30] filed for the extension with the um state auditor's office and with the GFOA [1:18:36] for our excellence award. So, um, and I learned, um, our finance committee meeting that there are a lot more [1:18:43] extension requests this year for for GFO awards. Um, I don't know if everybody's [1:18:49] going through ERP implementations and their staffing changes with lots of other auditors. It's not just our [1:18:54] staffing changes. Makes sense. Auditors had staffing changes, too. So, um, but there's a lot of people that [1:19:01] this they're not a loious customer anymore. Yeah. a couple of bills. So, um just wanted to [1:19:08] give you this high level like I mentioned. Um mainly looking at the general fund compared to budget, you [1:19:15] know, our revenues are roughly 1.1 million over our amended budget. So, [1:19:20] that's to be good. Um 250,000 of that was in just our interest income. And [1:19:26] then roughly 800,000 in licensing permits and charges for [1:19:31] services, which are all development related. Um, looking at the expenditures [1:19:37] of the general fund, it it appears public safety is over budget by 175,000, [1:19:43] but there they have revenues up in above roughly 107,000 to the good. So, it's a [1:19:50] pretty much almost a wash. Um, but we did have some unique instances happening [1:19:55] in 2024. Um, overtime was over budget and police by 75,000. A large chunk of [1:20:02] that was for the Birdsville incident. Um, so there's just some things out of our control. Building and equipment [1:20:08] maintenance for uh police as well. Those were about 50,000 [1:20:13] um over budget. So just some things we didn't anticipate. But um looking at it overall, so [1:20:20] changing the fund balance of roughly 900,000 to a good um which translates to [1:20:26] 2.4 4 million better than what we had budgeted um with the savings that we had [1:20:32] in the expenditures and the revenues above Paul mentioned. So we are looking at our fund balance but at the end of [1:20:38] the year um when we take out the restricted fund balance of 1.85 we are [1:20:44] at 49% of next year 2025 expenditures. Um that [1:20:50] 1.85 85 is what we held on to from that public safety aid money if you remember [1:20:55] we got in 2023. Um we did put part of it into the equipment fund and then we put we [1:21:01] restricted this other amount. So um and if you recall we als staff also [1:21:09] recommended that we um transfer this 1.85 in 2025 for the land purchase of [1:21:16] fire station 5. So that was built into the funding sources for that. [1:21:21] But it is unrestricted as of the end of 2024. So that's the the general fund in a [1:21:27] nutshell. Um and there's nothing really to speak of [1:21:33] with the the fund balance or the balance sheet sorry the uh net change in the [1:21:38] fund balance um prior year adjustment the 64,000 [1:21:43] there were some small um and you'll see it more when I talk about enterprise funds uh we had to restate some capital [1:21:50] asset rings so that's what that prior um of the 64,000 [1:21:57] you say wasn't paying attention the 300,000 in [1:22:03] in property tax. Was that delinquent or that just was lower than what we budgeted? That's just a lower than than budgeted. [1:22:09] So I'm collected, you know, because what we got outstanding in history this [1:22:14] year's property taxes plus del is more than that. Okay. [1:22:21] So um yeah, nothing really extraordinary on the balance sheet for the on the [1:22:26] general economy. So we go to the enterprise funds um [1:22:32] statement of revenues and expenditures changes in net position. I'll talk to utility funds first. Um 2024 revenues [1:22:41] about 1.5 million less than 2023. Um even though we had that dry spell in [1:22:47] 2024 in October, remember 2023 it was dry for a lot of the summer. Um but if [1:22:54] you come down the um the intergovernmental grants, we also in 2024 we had roughly almost a million [1:23:02] dollars less than in grants than we did in 2023. But um change in that position going all [1:23:08] the way to the bottom 2024 is roughly 1.3 million less than 2023's change in [1:23:14] funds. in seasonal things. Um the water the wetness of the summers and the [1:23:21] springs came into that in a big way. Um the large change in capital asset the [1:23:27] private period that 4 month at the bottom that is our we had to our capital [1:23:35] of meter inventories and how we treated in meters. So that was the new Gazby [1:23:42] that those particular funds. So, um just a note with the liquor fund, um net [1:23:51] profit really quite in line with 2023 coming in at 6.2 million. Um and then [1:23:58] going down all the way to the bottom, um the income and loss of transfers are right in line with 2023. [1:24:06] Um the transfers out, we transferred that 1.4 million roughly. Um the big [1:24:12] ones that you can announce in 2023, I'll just remind you is what these were. That 2.3 million transferred in that was the [1:24:18] tip 10. Um that was descertified. That money we put into the fund and then we [1:24:24] transferred out 1.2 million of it to the art center building purchase. [1:24:29] Um so there's some and then we had a large transfer out to um the equipment [1:24:35] funding in 2023. So there's just some um those pieces make it look a little odd [1:24:41] there, but it was a one time one time thing. So um all the funds are in good [1:24:46] shape. Uh they're strong. The debt service funds are totally [1:24:53] and are what we are required by state statute to have in them. Capital project funds are moving as they should. the [1:25:00] auditors um did not have any findings against us. And like I said, we're still um having them review the staffing [1:25:07] shortages and all these extensions. So, it's it's it's been a pile up for them [1:25:12] trying to get all these um financial statements reviewed and finalized. But um really hoping to bring it to council [1:25:20] for final approval at their second meeting of August. That's what the is [1:25:25] telling us. So, does anyone have any questions? [1:25:32] Did you have any? No, we talked with Julie a little bit about this [1:25:39] committee last week and we think that fell doing a very good job on keeping in compliance with the policies that we [1:25:46] have for debt management as well as uh operations and the we've talked with Gillian doing a little rhythm while [1:25:51] we're looking at the fund balances for the enterprise funds going forward. We [1:25:57] won't see any changes coming just to make sure we maintain financial strength so to keep the private where it's at [1:26:06] any questions and comments. [1:26:13] Uh I think we have any items for future discussion. [1:26:18] Um, so, um, I don't know if we want to do [1:26:26] this or not, but, um, couple complaints on [1:26:33] delivery drivers making U-turns and [1:26:39] Yeah. and um, backing into, [1:26:45] you know, driveways, etc. that weren't necessarily the directly that they delivered to. Um, so I don't know if [1:26:53] that's something we want to talk about in the future, if it's something [1:26:59] that we can um either look at certain areas of the city where it would be [1:27:05] problematic or if it would be a city-wide thing. and education to the [1:27:13] delivery companies, their employees with the such talking [1:27:18] package delivery and more like Door Dash delivery. Uh, no, I'm talking about packages. The the complaints I received were from the [1:27:27] bigger delivery companies all the [1:27:32] Are they doing it consistently at the same address? Yes. [1:27:41] That's why I was wondering instead of making it a city-wide thing if we could be looking at certain neighborhoods that [1:27:48] maybe are set up in such a way that is causing them to take these shortcuts. [1:27:54] Um cuz you know it's really I'm just worried about kids in the neighborhood. [1:28:01] Um I don't if not [1:28:06] you want to send you know the area that we might be able to fix too [1:28:13] late. Okay. [1:28:19] Any community or city administrative [1:28:28] somebody else going out? We had the uh Air Lake Airport invited commission meeting. It's a quarterly meeting. Um [1:28:36] just talked about upcoming events. We could talk about the gold out there [1:28:42] progress that and um other than that [1:28:48] wasn't wasn't [1:28:59] Um we did have a personnel committee meeting today uh this afternoon and [1:29:05] basically it was just going over some ordinances. [1:29:10] The first one was adding handles to the alcohol. [1:29:17] See um I hit the right things. These are all [1:29:23] employee type. policies. I'm sorry. Um so making sure [1:29:30] that um employees that [1:29:37] let's say drive like building inspectors, supervisors or whatever the proper title is are included in testing. [1:29:47] Um the other saying was making sure that employees when they're um be hired, we [1:29:55] know that they would be being tested and then uh [1:30:04] um suppose we can't hear you, Dan. Huh? [1:30:10] I was trying to remember the others. Um, one of them has to do with parenting [1:30:17] leave matching um, state [1:30:24] level. What else am I missing? Just I know I'm missing one more. They were all basically get an [1:30:30] inherently state statute. So don't leave um drug testing policy. [1:30:37] One was about our highway just a kind of a change in how we handle applic [1:30:45] are are drivers are they you know like other truck drivers who [1:30:50] said that federalally they're under CDL so they're still required to follow [1:31:01] sorry about that sorry it was only a couple hours ago and I still [1:31:08] Uh just one public safety decided for this uh related to your parking [1:31:16] comments uh recommended that session but consideration for [1:31:28] that conversation. Um and then from the fire relief uh [1:31:33] successful pan uh walked to breakfast about 2,30 [1:31:39] something plates were were sold and then [1:31:45] not everyone gets two or more but so we're guessing somewhere 3,000 blocks but [1:31:51] maybe pretty good. [1:31:57] Yeah. I love the 11 of the building. That was the main [1:32:05] topic of conversation. How do we get that to like 30 minutes or less [1:32:11] hours? Well, I mean most of it Well, the solution is in the future for solution [1:32:16] to be able to add more water. [1:32:26] You're you're not far off in not for the room, but for the power because there's a power consideration [1:32:32] for it. We can't add more irons to the current station, but we would need more power in the new station to have. [1:32:40] It was noted at the project meeting this morning. [1:32:47] You could you could actually use the fire truck if you really wanted to, but it won't be done on a new station. [1:32:53] upward. We renovate station one.