Minnetrista City Council — Transcript
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Water Meter Reading Software Update
City Council and Mayor Pay Adjustment
Comprehensive Plan Task Force Formation
ATV Ordinance Discussion
Data Center Moratorium
Facility Needs Assessment Update
Votes (6)
Water Meter Reading Software Update
Discussion centered on the necessity of replacing the outdated FCS water meter reading software, which loses support by 2027. The proposed Itron Tmetra Advanced software offers AMI (continuous) and AMR (drive-by) capabilities. Staff highlighted initial implementation costs of $37,510, ongoing annual fees, and the higher cost of AMI-compatible meters. Concerns were raised about the cost impact on residents and the strategy for phasing in AMI, with a suggestion to offer AMI as an option for new builds or specific high-usage properties like HOAs.
City Council and Mayor Pay Adjustment
A staff memo presented data from the League of Minnesota Cities, showing the city's current mayor and council pay (Mayor $500, Council $400, plus $50 internet benefit) is below the average for comparable cities (Mayor $681, Council $508). The Mayor argued for an increase, citing the extensive time commitment and sacrifices made, suggesting it could also incentivize future candidates. A proposal for a $100 increase for both positions (Mayor to $600, Council to $500) received consensus.
Comprehensive Plan Task Force Meeting
The Community Development Director outlined the scope and commitment for the Comprehensive Plan Task Force, emphasizing the update due by the end of 2028. The task force is expected to meet monthly for approximately 1.5 years, typically an hour before the regular Planning Commission meetings on the fourth Monday of each month. Several applicants, including existing commissioners and residents, confirmed their availability and willingness to participate.
ATV Ordinance Discussion
Dissent: Council Member Lacy voiced strong opposition to maintaining restrictive aspects of the ordinance, calling it 'absurd'.
Council revisited the 2022 ATV ordinance, specifically the 300-foot setback rule from property lines, which was originally enacted due to complaints in rural areas regarding noise and dust. Council Member Lacy argued the rule was too restrictive for common 'diminimous' use, such as short trips to docks on lakefront properties, and was largely unenforced due to the city's complaint-based system. After debate, a compromise was reached to add an exception allowing ATV use for 'diminimous' purposes, defined as up to 20 minutes within a 1-hour period, for activities like accessing a dock.
Data Center Moratorium
The Mayor initiated a discussion on implementing a moratorium on data center applications. The primary motivation was to address public concerns and to allow the city time to develop comprehensive ordinances regarding the size, location, and other regulations for data centers, as there are currently no applications, providing a proactive window.
Facility Needs Assessment Update
Following a strategic planning session, staff presented an update on the facility needs assessment. Council agreed to narrow the scope by eliminating a study for the relatively new police department facility and limiting the City Hall scope to reconfigurations and ADA compliance rather than expansion. The focus shifted to Public Works facilities. A long-term financial strategy was discussed: timing major construction/upgrades for 2030/31 (when the police department bond matures) and initiating an incremental increase to the levy (e.g., $50,000 annually starting 2028) to pre-fund future bond payments. Immediate attention was directed towards assessing and planning for ADA compliance upgrades at City Hall.
Notable Quotes (16)
The current system that we have, I think it's called FCS, they there that is no longer going to be supported by the end of the year. There's a little grace period to implement into 2027.
So there's the option and I want to talk a little bit about that at the end is if you know we do proceed with this software update you know we will have 126 of these hertz that allow AMI systems AMI readings.
So considering that we have to raise our water significantly and then have more water for 500,000 versus we just replaced it. Get a chunk in the water meter. So until we get another chunk that needs to be replaced then increase change of the equipment at that point.
You can kind of if you want pick and choose cities that you want to take out of there, but you kind of see the average for uh the mayor is $681. We're at 500. Um and the average for uh city council members is 508 and we're at 400.
It's not just the time that we spend in meetings here or in committees, but it's also the prep time and it's also talking with residents and it's also going to events. But then in addition, it's the sacrifice that we made being gone from our families on evenings and you know not being able to be there for special events at times.
I don't think we have to give more charity than we already do. We're not asking you paid a lot of money, but um I I agree and concert with other towns the size. So when I look at and I'm going to you know I would take out like Alexandria and and a few that are more in that $12,000 12,000 population. So yeah, I think we could raise it a little bit.
Once every 10 years as you know we update our comprehensive plan. Um the next uh update uh due date would be the end of 2028.
What we're looking for from a commitment standpoint would be once a month generally for about an hour. Uh, what we try to do is do it an hour prior to our monthly planning commission meeting.
Recreational vehicles may not be operated within 300 ft of the property line of any parcel without the permission of the residents of the parcel unless they are being used conducting agricultural operations.
I don't think this is an issue of two stroke, four stroke, dirt bikes. I think it's an it's we've got something on the books that is is being violated every single day by multiple people all around the classroom and it's not enforced.
I think Ryan's offer is fabulous. I think that's a great idea that you can use it for whatever you want to say, 15 minutes or whatever to drive down to your dock.
I think it's absurd. Everyone's telling you this isn't an issue. We're keeping it This has been a trrista. ATVs are part of our life out here unless you live in Cove.
I want to just quickly talk about data center a moratorum on data centers. Is there, um, appetite for that? I think it would be really, really good. We don't have any applications in right now, but um, I I also know that there's a lot of people out there that are very concerned about this.
I think we can eliminate the police department um facility study because it was just built around 9. It's not even 20 years old.
What we do need to do is from public works. However, having said that, we don't need to or I think what we should do is plan on if we're going to do anything waiting uh wait until we could start like in 2030 or maybe 31 because then the police department bond falls off. So then we could replace it with the public works bond.
Why don't we why don't we ask our engineer um I know data architects and things like that what would it cost for them just to do the facilities um ADA compliant um report for this for this building.
Ordinances & Resolutions (4)
City's long-term development plan requiring an update by end of 2028.
Existing ordinance developed in 2022 governing recreational vehicle operation on private property.
Document to be drafted for a moratorium on data center applications.
Document to be drafted to adjust city council and mayor pay.