Minnetrista City Council — Transcript

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Police Department Records Management System (RMS) Replacement

Mound Fire Budget Discrepancies and Contract Renegotiation

ADA Assessment for City Facilities

Recreational Vehicle (ATV/UTV) Ordinance Revision

Votes (4)

New Police Department Records Management System (RMS)

No formal vote taken; item presented for information and discussion.

Discussion centered on the necessity of replacing the current outdated RMS, which suffered a week-long outage and is no longer being developed by its parent company. The consortium model was highlighted for cost-sharing and information exchange. GTEL Advisors is guiding the complex process, which involves data migration and new business processes. Budgetary estimates for individual cities range from $120,000 to $900,000 over three years. The importance of selecting a vendor with specific Minnesota and Henepin County integration experience was stressed. The current system is being moved to local hosting to mitigate immediate risks and costs. Minatrista has allocated $125,000 for 2027.

Mound Fire Budget Discussion

No formal vote taken; staff directed to draft a letter to Mound Fire Department requesting renegotiation of the contract by January 3rd, 2027, and requesting detailed justification for new admin charges and budget changes.

Council members expressed shock and concern over a sudden, poorly justified increase in administrative fees from the Mound Fire Department, from a historical $20,000 to $155,000. This increase came late in the budget cycle and was not transparently itemized, despite also seeing cuts in other fire department budget lines like capital outlay and duty crew. Minatrista views this as unacceptable 'business behavior' and seeks to formally challenge it. The discussion highlighted the lack of Minatrista's voice in the Mound budget process and the need to renegotiate their contract for 2028.

ADA Assessment Update

No formal vote taken; staff directed to obtain a revised proposal from Krauss Anderson for ADA assessment for City Hall and the Police Department only, and to bring the contract back for approval at a regular meeting.

The council reviewed options for an ADA needs assessment, noting Krauss Anderson's more favorable proposal. While an internal 2018 checklist exists, it may not cover current Minnesota accessibility laws. The assessment is viewed as a risk management tool to develop a capital improvement plan and access grants. The council decided to narrow the scope of the Krauss Anderson proposal to focus specifically on ADA compliance for City Hall and the Police Department facilities, excluding garages, and directed staff to bring back a revised proposal and contract for formal approval, with a plan for phased implementation.

Recreational Vehicle Ordinance

No formal vote taken; staff directed to draft an ordinance amendment for the September 9th meeting based on: 220 feet from a primary structure of any neighboring parcel, a 2-hour continuous use limit, and a de minimis exception (15 minutes within 60 minutes) for parcels 1 acre or less.

The council debated changes to the ATV/UTV ordinance, specifically the operating distance from neighboring properties and continuous use limits. A compromise was reached to change the operating distance from 300 feet from a property line to 220 feet from a primary structure of a neighboring parcel to accommodate narrower lots. The 2-hour continuous use limit remains, with a new 'de minimis' exception (15 minutes within 60 minutes) for parcels 1 acre or less, recognizing short utility-based usage (e.g., plowing, dock access) separate from recreational riding. The goal is to balance resident use with neighbor quietude, acknowledging the challenge of enforcement for such specific distances.

Notable Quotes (15)

Our current RMS is old and the user technology is much the same today as when it was introduced. In addition, we want to make the change before the parent company of our RMS uh decides that it's end of life.

Chief [0h8m52s]
New Police Department Records Management System (RMS)

It's a very complicated process because it's not just about lifting and shifting the data. It's about introducing a whole new system with all new business processes, connections to Henipin County, all of the different things that the state that the police department has to connect to.

Mr. Jeff Goststein [0h12m17s]
New Police Department Records Management System (RMS)

On the very very low side, you were looking at about 110 or 120,000 from the least expensive vendor. Um that's not necessarily the one that the group would select, but just to give you an idea. And the most expensive vendor of the three was um for three year that was a three-year roughly cost about 120,000 for the low side and then it was a um about 900,000 on the high side.

Mr. Jeff Goststein [0h15m30s]
New Police Department Records Management System (RMS)

You do get a quantity discount and the hosting is a lot less expensive the more people you have on one shared system because you can have one set of infrastructure for a set number of people.

Mr. Jeff Goststein [0h18m38s]
New Police Department Records Management System (RMS)

Even if you got the cheapest product that can't accomplish that, then you're in way worse shape and you're going to end up buying it twice cuz you're going to fail this.

Mr. Jeff Goststein [0h26m11s]
New Police Department Records Management System (RMS)

So, we're sitting there virtually in shock because we're like, 'What? This means like a six for us because we're 27% of the budget. We're looking at this saying this is an additional I don't know what that is, but anyhow, X number of dollars.' We're like, 'That doesn't make any sense. How come it's been 20,000 all these years and now all of a sudden in the 11th hour you're telling us it's going to be increased from 20,000 to 155.'

Mayor Lisa Whan [0h32m16s]
Mound Fire Budget Discussion

This kind of activity is is not I would say almost unethical. Um I don't want to say they're I would I would say I'd carefully say it's it's not good um business behavior, put it that way.

Mayor Lisa Whan [0h37m47s]
Mound Fire Budget Discussion

I'd prefer if there's hours justification but it's really just a the way I understand it is just like a percentage allocation from each of their items that they think are related to the fire and based on the budget number of people just the couple other metrics that they're using to justify it.

Council Member Brian Govern [0h41m32s]
Mound Fire Budget Discussion

Krauss Anderson in their proposal has uh ADA with facility needs as well for that $10,215. Um so if it's just strictly an ADA, um there's a there's there's probably a conversation that could get that to be even a little bit lower.

Jasper Krugal [0h53m54s]
ADA Assessment Update

It is Minnesota Disability Law. They had people go out to different polling places to make sure is ADA accessible. So for elections for general, we weren't on this list. I don't know how these places are picked. Um but it could be a possibility of people coming to polling places to make sure we are in compliance.

Paula Bowman [0h57m24s]
ADA Assessment Update

Yeah, I think we should go ahead with it. And I like the idea of kind of chipping away at at these projects. It seems like we shouldn't have been grandfathered in and we should be proactive.

Council Member Peter Vickery [1h4m15s]
ADA Assessment Update

One of the, you know, kind of talking point distance changes is to change it from 300 feet from the, uh, property line to 200 feet from the, uh, primary structure. So that, uh, in the case in the example that was brought up at the last, uh, work session, that would allow for that um, resident that's maybe having some some difficulties operating a recreational vehicle on their property because of a of a neighbor um, maybe not not really wanting it. that would open up the majority of the of the property to being able to use those recreational vehicles.

Jasper Krugal [1h11m20s]
Recreational Vehicle Ordinance

The issue here is really not the ATV or the UTV, it's the noise and the right being disrespectful. It's not really the feet.

Council Member Claudia Lacy [1h14m50s]
Recreational Vehicle Ordinance

The state statute that defines recreational motor vehicle uh says any self-propelled vehicle used for recreational purposes. So plowing is not plowing and lawn mowing.

Police Chief Craig Squires [1h29m4s]
Recreational Vehicle Ordinance

I and I'll say it again, they don't want to aggravate these neighbors. that I'm they don't want them out there with cameras and videotapes, but 200 is a normal square number. I'm quite 300.

Mayor Lisa Whan [1h36m42s]
Recreational Vehicle Ordinance

Ordinances & Resolutions (14)

Police Department Records Management System (RMS)Other

The existing and planned system for police records management, undergoing replacement due to obsolescence and reliability issues.

Contract with GTEL AdvisorsContract

Agreement for expert guidance on selecting and implementing a new RMS for the police department consortium.

Mound Fire Department BudgetBudget

The annual financial plan for the Mound Fire Department, scrutinized for unexpected administrative fee increases and lack of transparency.

Mound Fire Department ContractContract

The agreement governing Minatrista's contribution to and relationship with the Mound Fire Department, slated for renegotiation.

ADA AssessmentPlan

A proposed study to identify accessibility needs and plan improvements for city facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Krauss Anderson ProposalProposal

A bid from Krauss Anderson for conducting an ADA assessment of city facilities.

CRBPS ProposalProposal

A bid from CRBPS (through WSB) for an ADA assessment, significantly higher than Krauss Anderson's.

ADA Checklist (2018)Other

An internal checklist previously created by city staff to survey ADA needs, now considered outdated and potentially incomplete.

Minnesota Accessibility LawsOrdinance

State-specific regulations related to accessibility, potentially more restrictive than federal ADA, that need to be considered in assessments.

Minnesota Building CodeOrdinance

Building regulations that tie to ADA and Minnesota accessibility laws.

Help America Vote Act (HAVA)Other

Federal legislation related to election administration, under which polling place accessibility is reviewed.

Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)Plan

The city's long-range plan for infrastructure and facility projects, where ADA improvements would be integrated.

Recreational Vehicle OrdinanceOrdinance

The city code governing the use of ATVs and UTVs on private property, undergoing revision.

State Statute (recreational motor vehicle)Other

Legal definition distinguishing recreational use from utility use of vehicles like UTVs.

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