Good evening and welcome to the Maple Plane City Council business meeting. It is August 3rd, 2026 at 7 p.m. and I'm calling the meeting to order. Please stand and join us if you are able for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> I'm looking for a motion to adopt this evening's agenda. >> So moved. >> Moved by Duca. >> Second. >> Second by Berk. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppos. Same sign. The eyes have it. Four to zero. First item of business this evening is visitors to be heard. Um before we do this, I'd like to read um the Maple Plane City Council public comment. Public comment is a courtesy extended to persons wishing to address the city council who would like to comment on something that is not part of a public hearing. The public is invited to express any concerns they may have which are relevant to the affairs, policies, or practices of the city of Maple Plane. Speakers may approach the podium one at a time to make remarks that shall be limited to three minutes. Should you wish to participate in public comment, please state your name and address before addressing the council. All remarks will be made from the podium and should be made to the council as a whole. Personal attacks are prohibited as are obscene, profane, and threatening language. Public comment is not a time for council discussion or response, but for hearing the speaker's concerns only. Questions to the council will be for clarification only. If necessary, a staff report on public comment subjects will be prepared for the city at the next city council business meeting. This evening, I have a few forms filled out for public comment. Um, the first one is Mr. Gabos. Please come forward and state your name and address. >> Hello, John Gabas. >> Gavas. >> Um, good evening, mayor and council members. I've been a customer of Collision Corner for more than 30 years. I frequent other businesses in Maple Plane as well. Over the past week or so, I've spent many hours reviewing city council meeting minutes, motions, a lawsuit, enforcement notices, statements by city council posted last week on Facebook. I appreciate the city's effort to explain the history of this matter. Collision Corner has served Maple Plane for more than 40 years. Businesses don't remain part of a small community for four decades unless they've earned the trust of their customers. I've had the opportunity to know Kurt personally. I've watched him work seven days a week for the last several years. I've watched him stay late so a customer can get their car back on the road. I've watched him loan vehicles to customers that had no other transportation. And I've watched him tell people, "Pay me when you can." That's just not a business. that's somebody serving a community. In your Facebook statement last week, you stated, "You're not required to pull an IUP or shut somebody down, that you have discretion." These comments caused me to look more closely at what ultimately resulted in the revocation of this IUP. I saw unresolved issues involving parking lot striping and directions, missing vehicle for sale signs, site maintenance, and an escrow account that had fallen $137.88 88 below its $3,000 threshold. And those compliance issues should absolutely be corrected. But I respectfully question whether those issues justify permanently taking away auto body work that Collision Corner has provided this community for more than 40 years. Collision Corner wasn't ordered to close that can still perform mechanical repairs and serve vehicles. But one thing it can no longer do is the auto body work that's the bread and butter for this business. So I ask, how does prohibiting auto body repair make Maple Plane a better community? How does it improve its public safety? And how does it improve the lives of the people that depend on this business? If the answer is that it doesn't, then perhaps we should reconsider this resolution. Until this past week, very few people were aware of this being an issue. That changed when Kurt's daughter, Lizzie, started a petition asking for community support. In just over a week, more than a thousand people have signed a petition asking you to reconsider this. You can also maybe see by the presence of the people in this room that this matters to the community. I know the settle agreement settlement agreement gave you authority to revoke the IUP. My question isn't whether you have that authority or whether you did or didn't follow the right process. My question is whether exercising that authority under these circumstances truly serves the people of Maple Plane. In the end, the measure of good government isn't simply whether it can enforce an agreement. It's whether the consequences of that enforcement are proportional and whether they leave the community stronger than it was before. I thank you for giving this additional consideration. [applause] Hi, my name is Lynette Actal. I live on 5535 Joyce Street in Maple Plane. And in my comments, I'm going to referring to Collision Corner as CC just to um make myself to shorten my talk. But honorable mayor and city council members, your decision over revoking the IUP for Collision Corner has made a direct and significant impact on my me, my husband, our residents of Maple Plane. And I know there's two sides to it and I want to know your side. I have so many questions that I'm going to present to you and I want to understand this thoroughly. I want to know who are and were the complaints where this all began. And I would like a list of each complaint and um a violation that was filed and what other violations were filed. There have been many violations that have been filed without a complaint and in the past two years including a date, the reason, the source and um the report that led to the violation, what is what is making these violations to keep recurring? I know one violation was stated on the ADA and um on Curts and I know it was talked about I watched your June 22nd minutes and the the um the handicap was not wide enough or I'm not sure what it was. It talked about the signage that was not um properly put in front of there. But if you drive up here in our discover center right here where we p parked, there's a handicap parking there and the handicap parking sign is upside down um against the wall there. It's not even properly here. And I'm thinking here is your your office and you're not even compliance with that. Um and I think um in the June 22nd council meeting, it was asked, "Are you holding the business to the same standard?" and it was very quiet and then it said it was stated we're only dealing with CC but it makes me wonder on having holding this standard with CC and it's not being held here and I wondered how many times has west Henipin been called to check on CC for violations. I know they have been called and um what is the motivation behind that to always um have them check? That was at the beginning of the I I think of when all the violations or your um were dealing with Kurt. And then um the cars for sale sign. You refused to allow a sign to be placed on the fence stating that the cars were sale. I can't understand why reasonable compromise was not reached. You keep referring to the phrase settle the settlement agreement. You can make accommodations to this settlement. You do not have I do not believe you have to hold to it. You can try and cooperate with one another and put have them be able to put up a sign for sale instead of having to put it in every car. And then I made a call to the city because I was very concerned about this action that was taken and how um it affected our being able to use Kurt's service. One thing that I um talked to Jacob about was the escrow. Jacob's paid $75 an hour. And um so I want to know what is the total cost charged for writing up the violations. Then there's the fine that's given. I don't know if your attorney fee charge. >> So I'll need you to finish please. >> What? >> Your three minutes is up. So please wrap up your comments. >> All right. So I'm going to just tell you this. There is multiple questions here. And my question is in in with my conversation with Jacob, um I want to know what the underlying purpose is for the future that you have for Kurt Croll and CC and I am here to ask you to reinstate the IUP. You can I I researched it and they said you can resend this and you can grant this IU and even the CUP to them and that but these questions I want to know who I can submit these to because I do want them answered and because you are my council you're representing me how could I give these who would accept these questions to answer these >> as stated earlier they have been heard and received and staff will follow up either at a council meeting our next council meeting are with you after. It is your contact information on here. Correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you, Miss EDL. [applause] Next is Miss Sutherland. Judy Sutherland, 4865 Main Street East. Um, a while ago I was approached and asked if our museum knew that there was funds in the um, pull tabs. So, we have three pull tabs in town and the city gets 10 or 15% I'm assuming off the top. Um, and I didn't know about it. So I came up and talked to our administrator and he read and read and read and read and looked at me and said, "Well, you do qualify. You're a 501c3." So I said, "What do I do now?" He gave me the form, which I had filled out in a minute. And I brought two bills with it for painting and electricity and handed it in. And then the next council meeting it was said that we need to revise or upgrade or change our rules. And the administrator kept saying well they did qualify. Two or three times he said we did qualify. So he has to revise them. And then I came to another council meeting and it was said that we have one 501c3 which would be our museum that have applied. That to me was a red flag that you've maybe had this program for two years give or take is what I'm hearing. Um but maybe we were the first ones to apply and it's almost like someone found out about it. My personal opinion that is just me saying that nobody else. I felt like well now somebody found out we we've got to make sure we keep it for the firetruck. So I am here to say I will just call it day one. I applied on day one qualified. Day two, three, four, five, you changed and upgraded your rules. If I had applied 2, three, four, five, I knew we wouldn't qualify. We qualified on day one before you changed or upgraded your rules. I still think we qualify, plain and simple. And I'm hoping that the resolution 202672703 maybe gets pulled from your agenda to be re-evaluated because I think you need to go back and think about how we did apply on day one. My opinion I called it day one. So anyway, thank you very much. Thank you, Mrs. Sutherland. [applause] Next is Mr. Brandt. >> Hi, and thank you for letting me speak to you, city council, and uh connected members. Um my name is Lyall Brance. I'm a 30-year resident of Maple Plane and I'm also a longtime customer of Collision Corner. Um, I totally believe in Kurt's business ethics. Uh, he stands by all and makes good for every customer that he's had to my knowledge. Um, I viewed the charges and I believe these are somewhat trivial to say the least. Uh it seems there's a bit of a a witch hunt going on trying to find anything that he has done wrong, no matter how small it may be. So I'd ask the city council to moderate this and turn your attention to bigger issues that face our fair city. Um collision corner is nowhere making the top 10 problems that our city is currently facing. So, I request the moderation and an improved uh relationship between the city and Collision Corner. And thank you for granting me this time. >> Thank you, Mr. Brand. [applause] Next is Miss Maha >> Mayan. >> Mayan, sorry, my apologies. >> I am Ruth Maym. I live at 1455 Park View Road in Maple Plane. Um, and I just want to bring up the water issues that we've been having in Maple Lane. Um, I just have a couple questions for the council to maybe consider going forward. Um, first of all, I want to know what exactly was in the water that was contaminated and why did we not get a full like toxic panel because we couldn't bathe, we couldn't drink, we couldn't use the water for a period of time. the council put out a notice that that was going to take four days to find the testing and then all of a sudden it was clean to drink right away. Um I have just questions about that. Um also I'd like to know how do we make sure that our house water is safe? We had to flush the water that was contaminated through our house and run the water for a certain period of time. But how do we know that we did that long enough and that we didn't contaminate all of our pipes for us to further drink the water? Um, do we all need to have a home filter system now? I mean, what what contaminants were we flushing through our pipes? And if we have to do this flushing, who's going to pay for our water bills that we've flushed all this water through our pipes and refilled our hot water tanks and we're going to have additional expenses for heating our new water tanks and the water in the tanks and who's going to pay for that? And who's going to pay to make sure that our water is actually safe? Is there a kit that we can get from the city that we can test our water individually? What are the solutions for the water issue? Um, that's my concerns. >> Thank you, Miss Mayan. [applause] You want to speak to that or all right in our agenda and it has been our practice that this session is limited to 15 um minutes. I do still have more people to speak. Is it the consensus of council that we can continue with public comment? >> Yes. >> And if we do this once, that will need to be our practice then going forward. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Uh we will continue. And again, I apologize if I'm saying names wrong. Um Miss McCabe, hello and welcome all the Thank you for having me. I [clears throat] am just up here in support of Kurt. I've known him for 37 years. I also had a small business, not in Maple Plane, but in Minneapolis. And so I very much know what it's like to run a small business. We had between 20 25 and 35 employees. Now, he has supported many families over the years through employment. So getting rid of and and dogging him, I kind of don't understand it. I mean, you all seem a little apathetic, which is sort of surprising considering he's run a successful business all these years and employed people and also gone above and beyond, as we've all said, [clears throat] of his job. He's met me places. He came in at midnight once so I could get keys. There's all kinds of things that are nice to have a small business and a small and a person in the community that cares about the community. So to me, it just seems I I wonder like who's behind this? Why is this? He's tried to work on changing and you know, you're worried about how it looks, but have you driven through Maple Plane? I mean, there's a lot uglier places. I mean, that white closet >> [applause] >> That is not okay. If we're going to continue with public comment, we will remain with decorum. >> Okay. Um, but you know, drive through the town. Like I said, I've never seen anything uglier than that white, but y'all seem to be going after Kurt. I kind of can't figure out why you're spending this time and why you'd want to get rid of a successful business because it's an auto shop. I mean, kind of ridiculous. I think you need to look through and figure out what you're really trying to do here. It's certainly not employing people and it's certainly not helping the community. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss McCabe. [applause] [applause] >> Mr. Cole, I haven't been in here. I haven't heard what you've said. >> Please state your name and address. >> John Cole. >> Thank you, Mr. Cole. I'm >> a fourth generation Maple Plane, Bud Streets, named after my greatgrandparents. I've been in this school since ' 65. I can't understand why this closed little community of yours. In ' 65, I could hear in every school room what was said by Principal Gilbert. Why are you so quiet? Why don't you want everyone to hear and know what you're doing? That's a first question. I think you need to answer it. I think the last person said it real clearly. What's your agenda? What do you advocate? Cleaner businesses. I don't understand it. It's over my head. I can't comprehend what you're doing. I'm shivering. And I'm shaking. I'm so disgusted that we're here in this point in this time saying he can't have a business after 40 years because of what? He doesn't have the right paint or the right sign or the right number of cars or trucks. I would really like to know what your agenda is. What do you advocate? Please tell everyone in this community because there has to be law in order. You can't treat one different than the other. When are you going to shut down spikes because there's too many cars and trucks on Saturdays and Sundays when everybody's busy? Is that against what you want for Maple Plane to look like? A thriving business helpful to all their community? Next question. What have you done to help this town? Explain it to us, please. What have you done to help this town? You live out in Three Oaks. That's what I understand. I grew up there for four for 20 years. I raised a family there. The water pressure sucks. The water and the whole flooding is is terrible. I understand you guys actually think we should let the government from Minneapolis tell us what to put out there. You can't handle the watershed. You cannot keep the water pressure. You're going to have to have a multi-million dollar water tower added. I know this is off subject, but it it's you. You're the subject. This is why everybody's here and disgusted. It's you. Prove me wrong. Tell me your agenda. What do you guys want to accomplish? I'm done. >> Thank you, Mr. F. [applause] [applause] >> That is the end of our visitors to be heard this evening. So, we will move on to the consent agenda. >> Tonight on our consent agenda are letters A through D. Um, first is city council workshop meeting minutes from June 22nd, city council business meeting minutes from June 22nd. July 13th, city council workshop meeting minutes, and a resolution 202672701 establishing an absentee ballot board for 2026. Looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> So moved. >> Moved by Duca. >> Second. >> Second by Berk. Any further discussion or questions hearing? None. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. The eyes have it. Four to zero. Next item of business this evening is accounts payable. And I will turn that over to staff. And we're on page 16 in the packet. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um this month's the city bills total $257,494.32. Our AC bills were $30,121.97. Um the 2024 street project bills were 1782 and we are making bond payments in the amount of $225,39725. Any questions for staff regarding the accounts payable this month? >> I do. >> Council member Duca. >> Uh, Jacob, there's a let people finish. Um, there's a there's a bill on line 10142290311, a USI consulting group actuarial bill for $2,600. What was that for? Council member Duca and council. Um this was formerly known as Hildy, the auditing firm that um does the audit for the fire relief. >> So is that being charged then to the fire relief? >> That will be charged um back to the split for Maple Plane Independence. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions regarding accounts payable? >> Okay. Hearing none. Uh looking for a motion to approve accounts payable for city bills, AC bills, the 2024 street project bills, and the bond payments. >> I'll make that motion. >> Move by. >> Second. >> Second by Duca. Any further discussion or questions? >> Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. All right, the eyes have it four to zero. Next item of business this evening is our staff reports and we will start with our fire department report and that is written in our packet. Did anyone have anything verbal from chief? Okay, so his is written. Uh next we'll move on to West Henipin public safety and we have Chief Dose here in person this evening. >> Thank you honorable mayor and members of the council. So, included in your packet is the June 2026 monthly activity report for West Henipin public safety. I don't feel like there's anything necessarily remarkable in there to talk about, but I would like to uh call attention to something that actually occurred in July that wouldn't be included in this report, but very proud and excited to talk about our first annual cops and bobbers event that we held on July 8th uh out on Lake Independence. It was fantastic. We had 13 local kids from Maple Plane and Independence that came out fishing with us. Um had a great time. The weather actually cooperated. We were worried about it a little bit in the morning with some rain, but a good overcast day was great for fishing. We ran out of bait, which was lesson learned number one. Uh, but it was still a fantastic morning of connecting with local youth uh with the help of some local guides and residents. I would like to publicly state some thanks for the event. Uh, we held the event out at Vinland. Uh, very appreciative of Vinland giving us the opportunity to utilize their space. It was key in being able to make this happen. We're very appreciative of them. Iron Exchange catered a wonderful and delicious lunch for all who attended. Uh the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Foundation really got this event going with a $2,000 grant award to West Henipin Public Safety and that was really key um in bringing the finances around to be able to pull off the event. So, we're thankful for that. Lake Independence Citizens Association for doing some advertising for us. The DNR was a fantastic partner, but uh three citizens, Tim Adelman, John Flackey, and Dale Ortlip, donated their time and their boats and their energy and their resources to the event and helped us bring the kids out along with Officer Ben Raskin on his pontoons. We had four Boers and it was really just a fantastic morning of fishing. Good lessons learned. Um mostly everybody caught fish. Uh but, uh everybody certainly left there with smiles and we were happy about that and it's definitely something that we will continue to do well into the future. So, a good first event um that we'll certainly be able to build on in future years. >> Thank you, Chief, to you and your staff for being willing to try something new and to give of time and energy to do that and to everyone that contributed because as you mentioned, it takes a lot of people to pull off something like that and it was a great day and look forward to next year. >> And just one last reminder, tomorrow's night to unite. There's three, well, four parties in the city of Maple Plane, Oak Street, Main Street, Howard Avenue, and Haven Homes. Uh, so we're looking forward to that and having a great night connecting with residents. >> Okay. Thank you. Any questions for Chief D. Rose on the public safety report. >> Um, next we will hear from our city engineer, Mr. Bowman. >> Thank you, mayor, members of the council. Matt Bowman, assistant city engineer. Go with that >> promotion. >> Live's been busy. There's not a lot on the the list here, but we're we're working on some pretty big things. As you're aware that the re downtown reconstruction project is fully underway now um for a few days there we thought the road was in better shape than when we started but it's a little rougher at the moment. Uh industrial street the water man is fully installed and so the next steps are you'll see milling this week and then concrete curb uh this week and next week and then we should be getting the new pavement there shortly. Um been involved with various development projects. The big one uh reviewing the 5370 highway 12 town home project right now. I think that's coming again later this week being discussed more too. Uh later tonight we'll talk about the lead service line replacement project uh award for that inventory is still ongoing. So if anybody has not completed their inhome inventory that can be done at any time just give us a call. Um and then helping a little bit with the monumentation signage project. Um some of the incidents of the month with the water system assisting there. And then we're still working on the water meters project with Madina between the the borders there. Try to make some more progress on that yet this year. >> Any other questions for me? >> Thank you, Mr. Bowman. Um, public works. Um, their report is attached. Um, anything from staff on that one? Okay. So, public works is in writing in our packets and then from our city planner, Mr. Kus. Thank you, honorable mayor and councel. Uh, in the month of July, we continue to work on a couple of projects that are going on in the city. Uh, one is just coordination of the downtown redevelopment project. Uh, we continue to coordinate with the developer, the city, um, and work on finalizing environmental uh, review issues. We do anticipate being awarded a approximately uh a little under $300,000 grant uh at Henipin Countyy's board meeting tomorrow which would go to help finalize the cleanup um for that site and then some of the mitigation measures that are required in order for that redevelopment to occur. So uh we'll we'll know more at uh 10 a.m. tomorrow, but we anticipate getting the the grant award. Uh the proposed town home development at 53705330 Highway 12 continues to progress. We uh that item is going to be heard before the planning commission on Thursday and um that's kind of an exciting new project with almost 100 new units that could potentially be added to the city um with that. And then um just a couple of other projects. 1741 Bud Bud Street. We did meet with the owners of that property. Again, they are contemplating moving forward with um similar proposal or concept to what they had proposed before in a two building uh multif family project that they um had had previously looked at and then put on hold. And so now they're back. Um thinking about uh trying to to move that project forward. Um and then just miscellaneous planning uh items throughout the city. We continue to have a lot of activity on a couple properties for sale in our downtown um that are asking questions and just inquiring about different types of land uses. So that be happy to answer any of the questions or >> any questions from Mr. Holdless. All right. Thank you for that update. Um next we'll hear from administration and finance and I know due to the date change um Abro isn't able to be here tonight. Does staff have anything to add to that one? I I don't know. >> Okay. All right. So, administration and finance is in the report as well. All right. Looking for a motion to receive all staff reports as submitted and verbally given this evening. >> I'll make that motion and I'll second it. >> Moved by Berak. Second by Duca. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. The eyes have it. Four to zero. We have no old business come before us this evening. So, we'll move on to new business. We will start with ordinance 2026-354 amending the cannabis ordinance. >> Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Um, this ordinance um is being updated because the state has changed the laws for cannabis. Um so it is reflecting those law changes. Um also um updating the language from um the medical cannabis combination is now going to be called a macro business combination license. Um so it's just updating terminology. Okay. Any questions regarding this? Okay. Looking for a motion to approve ordinance 2026-354 amending the cannabis ordinance. >> So moved. >> Moved by Duca. >> Second that motion. >> Second by Bureer. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. The eyes have it. [clears throat] four to zero. Next item of business this evening is resolution 2026-0727-02 [clears throat] payment of fire supplemental benefit mayor if I may. Um we have the summary publication for the ordinance. >> Oh sorry. >> Um if we could get council to approve that that would be appreciated. Okay. >> Looking for a motion to approve the summary publication. >> So moved. Moved by Duca, >> second >> second by Berk. Any discussion or questions? Hearing none, u please signify by saying I. If you're in favor, >> I >> I oppose. Same sign. All right. The eyes have it four to zero. Right. Now, the next item of business is resolution 2026-0727 um-02 and this is payment of the fire supplemental benefit. >> Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. this resolution uh because the fire relief is um working through their dissolution um and of their pension since we had the legislative changes. Um each person that is over the age of 50 gets a $1,000 supplemental benefit. Um it is my recommendation to the council that the city pay that $6,000. we will get reimbursement from the Minnesota Department of Revenue um in the spring. Um one of the reasons for recommending this is if we leave it to the fire relief, it just means they have to be uh an organization longer, which means they have to do another audit. So, this allows them to get closed out by the end of the year. >> Questions for staff? I know this has been ongoing and um great work together by the fire commission and the council, I mean the city staff. Uh so looking for a motion to approve resolution 2026-0727-02, payment of the fire supplemental benefit. >> I'll make that motion. >> Move our visel. >> I'll second it. >> Second by Duca. Any further discussion or questions? >> Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I post same sign. The eyes have it. Four to zero. Next item before us this evening is resolution 2026-0727-03 city policy for use of gambling funds. And I'll turn that over to administrator Schillinder. >> Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Um after previous workshop discussions in which we discussed um a policy um in how to use the gambling proceeds that the city gets. Um the council directed that we um use those funds for public safety. Um and that is this resolution is then setting that as our established policy. Questions for staff hearing? None. Looking for a motion to move resolution 2026-0727-03, the city policy for use of gambling funds. >> So moved. >> Moved by Duca. I'll second that. >> Second by Berack. Any further discussion or questions? >> Um, yes, >> council member Visel. I just want to um say that I want to acknowledge that I obviously I I have a shared commitment to public safety is a core responsibility of our local government as we have discussed earlier and I fully support continued investment in police, fire and EMS or I guess we don't EMS sorry and emergency prepare preparedness. I also appreciate the staff's work in bringing forward op options to manage lawful gambling contribution funds to a more structured and transparent way. However, I dis I respectfully will going to vote no on this because the resident trust and transparency are strengthened when our financial policies follow the direction we give in to include a clear accountability measures. In the July 13th workshop, staff had presented upon our direction from previous workshop a proposed lawful gambling contribution fund policy that addressed a long-standing gap. The city had no formal process for how these funds are prioritized, administered, monitored, or recovered. That proposed policy reserved at least 75% of the annual revenues for public safety, but also created a transparent, accountable, structured structure for any potential public benefit use. It includes it included reporting requirements, safeguards against misuse, and clear expectations for applicants. all tools designed to ensure public dollars are managed responsibly. Importantly, the proposed policy preserved full council discretion. It did not obligate the account city to grant awards war that backwards award grants. It simply provided a responsible framework so that the if the council chose to do so, it could be done with strong oversight. Tonight's resolution moves in a different direction. It dedicates all the funding of all lawful gambling proceeds to exclusively to public safety. And as the packet states, the city will not utilize these funds for community grant programs. This represents a significant departure from the balance accountability focus policy staff was originally directed to prepare. My concern is not with prioritizing public safety. It's already a pri foremost priority in our our city policy, our proposed policies. Sorry, my concern is with fiscal stewardship, governance consistency and maintaining resident trust. When the council directs staff to develop a comprehensive oversight driven policy and later chooses a narrow approach, it's important to clearly articulate why. Without that clarity, we risk confusion for our staff, applicants, and residents, and we lose the opportunity to implement safeguards that protect public funds. For this reasons and respect for the process and importance of transparent financial management, I'm going to vote no. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Memberel. Any other discussion? >> Council member Duca. >> I think it's important to remember that upwards of 55 to 60% of our budget, six out of every$10 dollars we spend are for police and fire. So, I don't understand the argument you're making, council person, that we're not being transparent. Our budget is very clear that a significant portion of that is there. This is just one funding source and the ability to say we're going to take those dollars coming from this process and make sure they get filtered into those that item. >> Thank you, Council Member Duca. Any other discussion? Um, I would just like to add that um I will be um voting in favor of this this evening and why is that the gambling money is a source of revenue that um it helps the entire budget which helps every resident in our city that pays taxes and I do not want to be in the business of setting a precedent and deciding which 501c's in our community. um being part of the chamber, we have multiple 501c's that are active in this city and I don't want to put our staff in the position of administering funds as we are um when this fund can benefit the entire city. Any further discussion regarding this? So we have a motion and a second. All those in favor please signify by saying I. >> I. >> I oppose. Same sign. >> Sign. The motion carries 3 to one. Next item of business before us this evening is another resolution. Resolution 2026 072704 awarding bid for the 2026 lead sew lead service line replacement project. And I will turn that over to staff. >> Thank you honorable mayor, members of the council. Matt Bowman, assistant city engineer. Um dare you to say that three times fast. These projects are a mouthful, but yeah. So on July, I think it was 8th, we held the bids for the 2026 lead service line replacement project for Maple Plane, and it is to replace 19 known leader galvanized water services from the main at the street up into where the service enters the house. Uh we had eight bids, which is a really good number. And Precision Utilities, they got them on Tro's was a low bid. They are have shown themselves to be a responsive responsive and responsible bidder. Um so we do are recommending award to them for the amount of $297,000 and if you compare that to the the high bid um was 470 just under $479,000. So it was pretty good range. Um we do have good good numbers there. Um and I'll just point out again that all the funds are covered by state grants. So we have to follow the grant polic procedures and policies. Um but otherwise the city isn't paying directly for any of the work. Thank you for that update. >> Sorry. Thank you for that update. Um questions for Mr. Bowman. All right. Hearing none. Looking for a resolution. Um a motion to approve resolution 2026 0727 awarding bid for the 2026 lead service line replacement project. >> I'll make that motion. >> Moved by Berack. >> I'll second that. Second by Duca. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. The eyes have it. Four to zero. Next item of business to come before us this evening is resolution 202672705 grandfathering the senior um sewer rate. And I will turn that over to staff. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. As we had previously discussed, um, prior to 2023, um, there was a senior discount for water and for sewer. When the 2023 code was adopted, that um discount for sewer uh was no longer in the the city code. Um, and rather than changing the rate because that would raise the seniors, the people that were on that program would their sewer rate would go up by $70. So rather than making that change, we would be grandfathering them in. So as they become ineligible, then they would lose that discount or they sold their home, um, they would lose that discount. Um, so this resolution is is making it official that we don't have to change those rates right now. We can >> Could we please stop talking in the chambers? We're having feedback from the mic and it's really hard to hear right now. >> Go ahead. >> So, this would be uh putting that um into a policy that those folks would be able to keep th that rate until they um are no longer eligible. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Scholinder. Um, questions for staff hearing none. Looking for a motion to approve resolution 202672705 grandfathering the senior sewer rate. >> I'll make that motion. >> Moved by Berak. >> I'll second that. >> Second by Duca. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. I >> oppose. Same sign. >> Sign. >> Eyes have it. Three to one. The motion carries. Next item of business to come before us this evening is council reports and other business. Do you want to kick us off, Council Member? >> Oh, give me one second, please. >> Okay. Because I have to write things down now. Okay. So, I want to say yes, July has been was I guess was a very uh interesting month. Uh but I want to I want to acknowledge that I don't I don't think they get acknowledged enough as our staff um for for their resilience in responding to these last week's cyber incident that affected our water system and not just ours but obviously mult multiple municipalities. So I want to send sincere thanks to Jimmy from it, Jacob, Kevin, David, Alex. I hope I didn't miss anybody. an exposed chief um for working tirelessly throughout many nights um to ensure that our water system remained operational and that the residents experienced minimal disruption if any that is I don't think there was any disruption but their coordination and their skill and calm under pressure were instrumental in helping keep this essential service running as we know water is a precious commodity so just keep that in mind but I also want to um state that this incident and also underscored the value of the corrective actions that would be put in place after the previous water event with the water running out of the tower. While that earlier issue was difficult for everyone involved in the city, it actually ultimately worked to our advantage in a roundabout way. Had we not undercover uncovered that alarm system deficiencies that we had in time at that time, our response to this recent incidents could have been more potentially disastrous. Instead, we had in instigated these updated protocols quickly with monitoring expectations and accountability measures that allow staff to react immediately and efficiently. So by doing we showed that by that we demonstrated that our corrective actions were not only appropriate but were also timely and delivered measurable real world impact when it mattered most. So because we could have had a far far worse situation if we did not have that solved already. Okay. Okay. And I also want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to attend the Lake of Minnesota cities that workshop in June. Seems so long ago. [laughter] It was invaluable chance to learn what is being done in other cities our size, what works, what doesn't, and what innovative approaches are emerging and what we can bring back to our city. Experiences like this helped me under my understanding and gave me a good broad understanding of good city governments, offer practical ideas that we can implement and strengthen our ability to serve residents effectively. Um, also I want to recognize Connie for her years of service to the city. Although we did not always agree or see eye to eye, we often learned from each other and we saw issues from different perspectives because of these conversations. Her dedication and willingness to engage deeply on challenging topics have left a meaningful impact imprint on me and on the work we do and I so respect her for it. So that's sums it up because I frankly there's not much to talk about for the waterershed at this point. So besides we're funding projects. Yay. >> Thank you council member Visel. >> Council member Back. >> Um well as meetings go it was kind of a lighter month. Um but with other things that went on that certainly was not a light month. Um I do want to touch base on the water concerns. Um one of the things that comes about is when there's an issue and there's a problem allows us to look at a solution. Yes, there are problems that have happened, but sometimes they also bring us to move forward to get a broader perspective of how we can better serve our community. Um, the IT incident that just recently happened, we're vulnerable everywhere. Every one of us are. And that really pointed us out that even the city is not immune to this. But I want to say thanks to all the staff for the dedication they did through these events and what they put forward to ensure that the safety of our residents is there. So that's where I'm going to leave that at. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Bure. Council member Duca. >> Well, July has been a challenging month for a number of reasons with the water issues that we've had. Thanks to staff for the diligent stepby-step processes we've gone through. Um challenging also in the sense of losing a council member. It's never nice losing a colleague and a friend. Um police commission this month. We began some very difficult discussions about our budget. As I said earlier in the meeting, about 50 to 60% of our budget right now, every dollar goes directly to those causes. So those are big pieces of our budget. They're big pieces of the work and the service that we provide to each of you as residents. We have one of the finest police and fire departments in the city, in the state. We have one of the finest chiefs anywhere. We'll work through these budgets. we'll get to a a solution. I will be joining the planning commission, Mark, on Thursday night um as the council rep and looking forward to the Equinox development off of Maine. Bringing in another development is only good for all of us. Finally, I'm going to end with the fire relief and I'm looking at Justin in the back of the room. Justin, I call you out because you have done an extraordinary job leading that fire relief association to get to a point where we will dissolve ourselves and take care of 20 some of the finest firefighters in the state has been a lot by your leadership. And I want to thank you personally for the efforts, the work you've done navigating step by step through a process that is not easy, has included legislative changes. And that doesn't come easy, folks. To go down to the legislature and get actual changes in state statute that adv that give an advantage to our city and to our firefighters. You need to be commended and thank you for your efforts. Um, and the we will wrap this up this year. We're not going to carry it over to another year and have additional expenses. We want to get our our men and women paid out for the work that they've done um in their retirements. They've earned it. They deserve it and we need to get it to them. >> Thank you, Council Member Duca. And I as well echo those thoughts. So, thank you. Um, it has been a different month. Lots of different things going on. Was able to attend the Minnesota Association of Small Cities meeting, um, annual meeting where there was elections and membership and legislative update. But one thing about this organization is it really advocates on behalf of all small cities. So, for a city our own size that OB often doesn't have lobbyists, um, is just a huge resource for us. was able to attend the annual conference with council member Vizo and administrator Schillinder and heard some great speakers. Um attended some great education sessions um when in particular community engagement and successful management of meetings and connecting council administration uh responding to misinformation. The keynotes keynotes this year were about um the power of dignity for life and leadership and choosing joy and I thought those were very pertinent um for all of us. was able to attend cops and bobbers and chief um hit that. But just again just the collaboration and people working together to do something like that and especially um to Chief D. Rose and his staff for leading that. Continue to be a part of the Minnesota Mayor's Association serve on Rotary where we've had various speakers and um a highlight this month is um we're a service organization and we were able to work with Haven Homes and build them a new veterans wall of honor. Um, so the veterans um, used to just have literally a paper chain like we made in preschool when we were counting down the days to Christmas or for someone special to come home and they now have a beautiful plaque and frames to honor those veterans who have given so much for all of us and just a neat collaboration between the city and Rotary and um, people working together to get things done. Um, Haven Homes continues to invite us and some of the staff to um, their picnic on the patio a couple times a month. always a joy to visit um with the residents and just engage with them. Was able to attend regional council mayors with um some of our neighboring mayors and our superintendent Fleshner. Uh really talked about things going on in school, birth rates, enrollment, cell phone policy, anonymous um reporting systems, and again just working together. Last week was the West Suburban Fire District quarterly meeting. Um it's always very informative. A lot of that information was in your packet tonight, but the department now has 71 members and they have duty crews serving and protecting um every resident and neighbor from from noon on Friday until Sunday at 6:00 a.m. So um when you call there is already staff there um sacrificing time away from their families to be there to serve and protect us. So grateful for that. Um, I have the honor of serving on the criminal justice coordinating committee and uh we meet quarterly and we met um in July and it was just really everything criminal just uh criminal justice but one of the biggest takeaways was the delinquency age change um which is now from 10 to 13 and that's in effect as of August 1st and um so lots going on. Something exciting this month that I've never gotten to do as an elected official before uh was to go to Alice McFersonson's birthday party and honor and celebrate her for her 100th birthday. Um Alice is just a legend. I mean, she's been in this community for forever. I remember as a kid when she'd walk around the neighborhood in her one piece snowmobile suit um and just volunteering at everything and doing everything and she was so grateful that she was in tears um when it was read and her family is really appreciative. So, thank you to the council and the city for honoring her in that way. Um, weekly meetings with um, administrator Schillinder and phone calls and emails that we all have. Yesterday was a a fun day to represent Maple Plane uh, at the Polo Classic um, which is a great fundraiser and was able to do the honorary ball throwin. Council member Duca, I serve on the police commission with him and you followed up with that. Um, our staff has been phenomenal and just being available. um Monday I think within a half an hour we had everyone in the water treatment plant. So just people really pulling together with the best interest um for the city and so often what um happens and what is being done is unseen and um but grateful for each of you and all that you do to make our team complete. Um it is a busy month. Uh really looking forward to national night out tomorrow night, Thursday night here in Maple Plane. Orno Communityat is well is hosting the color dash. On Monday, I'll be doing muffins with the mayor at Haven Homes. On August 17th, McGary McGarry's is hosting their charity golf event and all the money raised will go to support our first responders both at West Suburban and West Henipin public safety and they are looking for more golfers. So, if you're interested um you can reach out to James at the pub or let me know and I'll help you get in contact. And I just as well um want to acknowledge uh Council Member Connie Francis's resignation and um publicly thank her um for her four years of service. Um it is it is unsung and unseen and um I respect her decision and um serving as an elected requires a great deal of time in addition to managing um full-time jobs, families, and everything else and self-care. So, I respect and appreciate her and thank her for um her legacy here within the city and on the council. Any other business to come before us this evening? Hearing none. Looking for a motion to adjurnn. >> I'll make that motion and I'll second it. >> Moved by Berak, second by Duca. All in favor? >> Meetings adjourned at 801.