Welcome to the Mountain City Council. It's Tuesday, March 10th at 6. Uh, can we rise for the pledge of allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we got our agenda. Do we have any amendments? >> No amendments. All right. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as written? >> Motion to approve the agenda. >> All right. >> Second. >> All right. Got a motion and a second. Any other discussion? >> All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. Those opposed. All right. That passes. All right. Number four, we got public comments. If you want to come up, give you three minutes to talk. Give us your name and address. Hey. >> Hello. Um, my name is Judy Carmine. I live at 3128 Priest Lane in Mound. Kathy is my neighbor. And I'm here tonight to invite you all to a workshop um put on by Braver Angels that'll be at the Gillespie Center um on April 29th. And I've got players here that I can pass out. Um and so I just wanted to give you a little bit of background. Last year my husband and I went on a camping trip. We were out for a year. We were through the whole country. We met people all over the country and my heart came back full of love for this country and love for its people. And then to get plugged back into the real world and see the depolar the political polarization going on um just made me sad. and I'm a member at uh Bethl Mound United Methodist Church and I talked to my pastor at the church and just said like what can I do and she said you know you don't have to solve these problems on your own that's what community is for and reach out to your community and find people who can help you and so that's how I found Braver Angels and I don't know if you've heard of it but it's a nonpartisan its mission is to bring people of different viewpoints together to find common ground and solve problems. It teaches you to disagree without contempt and um just helps people get stuff done without being so polarized. And I thought of the city council because I know a lot of different political opinions. I vote in this neighborhood and I know and from a citizens perspective it really feels like you all are getting stuff done and I appreciate that. Um so the workshop is again Gillespie Center April 29th um 6:30. It will help participants identify their inner polarizer and um how to be critical of others points of view without demonizing large swats of the population. I know it's going to be beneficial to me and I hope you would all find it beneficial as well. And so I have flyers here. um the city manager, um Jesse Dixon, I emailed him a digital version and I'd appreciate it if you take one, share some if you could even share it more broadly through your communication channels. I get your stuff on Facebook and I love seeing it and so on and I just want to thank you for your time and thank you for the service to the mound community. >> Thank you. Thanks. All right, give us your name and address. >> Hello, I'm Dan Zelmer, Surfside Bar and Grill, and I'm here tonight about the road closure. Uh, just trying to get a little bit more information. So, one of my things is out in front of Surfside, it looks like phase one and two and closing the northbound with it being you're able to get four lanes in there. So, I'm wondering why we don't let two-way traffic going there. I don't know where the water line falls, but I don't know with the width of the road why not where we're able to go. From what I understand is the water man is actually towards the middle of the road. So it's not right on the end or the curb where we could do that. >> So even in that case, so even say you went to the middle of the road, you still have two lane ability over there. I mean, um, commerce was four lanes before they restriped the last time around. >> Well, then you'd take away all your all the parking, too. >> The what? >> You take away all the parking as well. Well, I would rather not have parking and have access than than parking. >> Yeah, believe me, you're you're top of our list for less disruption, the better. We want you to succeed. I mean, we the council supports your your restaurant. Love eating there. Uh the main thing that we want to make sure is that you can obviously survive this as well as, you know, any other business in that area. So, we're working with uh our engineers and the it's it's us. It's our project obviously, city mound, but it's a you know, it's a county road, right? So, we have to work with the two of us together. But, I've talked to Jesse. I've talked to our engineers. I know I saw you at the open house the other day. Um the the less disruptive the better. If we don't need to block off a side of a part of the road for certain a certain period of time, we don't do it. Right. We all we all see these cones that are empty, you know, these these whole lanes of, you know, mile uh road construction in the summer and nothing's ever being done or you see 15 people sit standing there doing nothing. Right. I'm 100% supportive of of you and making sure that this is as the least disruptive. At the same point, we we have the pipe was what 1960s that we have to get done. We we have to do this. So there's going to be some disruption and we're sorry but that's it's going to have to happen >> and I understand that. I just want to make sure that we're making this as you know feasible for the businesses as possible that we've looked at every every alternative >> uh like I just said with the two-way and then um I'm concerned about water quality then for the every time you crack a fire hydrant or anything you go brown. So, I'm wondering what the water quality is going to be for the, you know, we're basically talking about five months here. >> So, every time they tap into, you know, a house or a business along there, is everybody going to end up having brown water? >> I I don't know that off hand. Um, you could stick around or you want to answer it now or do you want to stick around for water? We're having a water discussion tonight, too. So, >> so I had asked and they said it's drinkable, but nobody wants to drink. Yeah. >> You know, >> do you want to say something quick? >> If I may, Mr. Mayor, city engineer Brian Simmons. Uh, for portions of the project, the businesses and homes that are along that stretch will be on temporary water, which will be cleaned, tested, it would be new pipes. So, there will be some things that'll get stirred up when we make changes to the configuration, but hopefully that will minimize the number of times we make changes to the configuration until we're done. So it shouldn't be, you know, every day when we're digging a new hole or something, it won't be, you know, another round of stirring up sediment. >> So So it'll come from the rest of the pipes in the system, but it'll come up through a hydrant and then be connected into the the homes and the buildings >> and then >> I believe so. Yes. Ryan, in a perfect world, is there any chance that you you won't have to at one point block off the two-way traffic? >> There is no perfect world for that. >> No. Unfortunately, just where the water man is in that street, you know, we are doing this in in a what I would call a trenchless method, even though I know it might seem like a misnomer to you all because we're still having to dig up parts of the street. Uh, and so we're going to have to dig pits to get into the water man. We're going to have to dig pits to reconnect all of the businesses, buildings, and services. Uh but we won't be doing, you know, your typical open trench construction. So the trench list goes a lot faster than open trench construction. It's a little less impact in terms of footprint, but unfortunately based on where the water man is, we you know, there's only enough pavement left for the one lane. Trust me, if we could have left two, we would have done it. >> Yeah. >> You're talking about in front of Surfside, then there's >> Yeah. That whole the whole stretch where we're going to be southbound only for a short period of time. Yeah. >> So because that's 112 days is what I've calculated out. So that's four months that >> no each one of these phases is about uh 6 weeks. >> So there so the traffic control will be changing in in each phase. Some of them are the same, but there's a different traffic control for each phase, >> but I what I've got out of this letter here was 50 or 112 days for phase one and two. That's that's a long time. >> So Brian is right in front of his business is how long is it? 45 days or >> so. So, right right in front of his business, we're going to leave make sure that both even when we have oneway traffic, we're going to have both driveway entrances open >> at all times. What we'll be digging will be in between those. So, that's part of the the need for the, you know, the oneway and one lane, but we will keep both driveway entrances open at all times. >> Okay. The other thing that we're going to do, too, is um we're going to get those big orange signs. I don't know if this helps or not, but we're going to say surf side this way, ser, you know, we're going to try to help you guys out. We want you to succeed. So those barricades will be up on shoreline end by Walgreens then is that where it's going to be say no through traffic or where does where do those >> I I mean I I think if you want to have an in-depth discussion about exactly where the signs are we should do that with the traffic control plan in front of us because I don't actually know offhand but the the phases as they're laid out there give sort of the conceptual you know here's where we're going to run the oneway southbound traffic and then those changeable message signs call them CMS right no I those will those can be dynamic that we can program to say whatever they want, whatever we want. >> And they're movable, so we can put them where it makes the most sense, where we're making changes in terms of where things are closed and where things are not. So people know to go past the barricades to get to things like Surfside if that's how we've got it structured. >> The other thing we're going to do too is um I don't know if we can specify his exact restaurant, but we're going to say please support your you know, community restaurants in Mound. We have road construction. Please come out support local. We did a whole campaign uh well it's still it's ongoing but two years ago we did a support local campaign. You might have the stickers in your front front door but um we want you to succeed as well. We just this has to happen and we want the less uh disruption if possible. >> Yeah it's restaurant business is tough so 112 days on >> you know that gets gets a little difficult. So I just talked with um from Spirit of the Lakes. Mhm. >> So they still are up in the air about what what they're going to be doing where they can stage where the parade will actually be going. >> Is is commerce open then in front of Surfside that are both ways open during that or >> from what I understand is the board was going to vote on if they wanted to redirect it some other place. I offered them to start uh was it down by the parking ramp and then come down, you know, just use the main street, you know, and just do it downtown mount instead this this year. Um I know there was talked about on Bartlett doing something there. Um >> so you couldn't stage for the parade along Bartlet. I mean, you could stage, but you couldn't actually have people gathered there. >> You could stage all this whole line right here, this road, right in front of our uh city hall there. but then run where >> and then run to Bartlett or, you know, however they want to do it. >> So would would that stretch in front of me then be open during the parade for that weekend or >> I it depends on when it he's saying no. So it depends on when it falls. Exactly. >> Because that's going to be a cluster for the parade. I mean they're parked on both sides of the street all the way down. And >> do do you guys have an update on the parade yet or no? >> Okay. From what we understand is they're they're going to talk about on the board and see what they thought. >> I was just with Jess the other day. I should have asked her, but >> so the dates are firm then it'll be May that is going down to to I guess the weekend before Spirit of the Lights. >> I I don't know the exact dates off. So, in in the in the contract language, we're telling the contractor that stages three and four, which are essentially Bartlett to the south and west, need to be done by the middle of July, and then uh stages one and two, which are north of there, should begin around the same time. >> So, the the project on Shoreline, I didn't see any urgency when that was being done. It was like it was closed off, I think, from Speedway to Commerce, and nothing ever really happened out there. and it that project just seemed to drag on. I'm I'm hoping this moves as quickly as possible. Um >> I mean we're you should see the emails on on with the county commissioners and this in Henipin County. I mean part of it the county and I would suggest you to reach out to our commissioners as well and I will on your behalf. Um we can give you their contact information if you want. Um the countyy's a whole different animal. We're the city. So, I get that. We're trying to work with hoping that you guys are protected. >> We're trying residents and business as much as possible. Kind of >> like I said, we're we we want you to be here and we don't want as much disruption as we can. If we can reduce it, we're going to try. >> Nothing's going to be perfect and I hope you understand that. But we're going to do our best. And I I can think speak for all of us that we're very support. I mean, I see you in there a couple times a month at your restaurant. We're very supportive even on council, you know, with, you know, having um you guys do things for, you know, our uh uh council uh what do they call it? Recognition event that we do. Um we want you to succeed, but this does have to happen and there's going to be some disruption. So, one other thing I I think we would everybody been happier if maybe this happened in April, May instead of the ramp and the park bring a ton of business into Mount May, >> Jubilee, the liquor store, everybody. That is it's going to hurt everybody. Just just not myself. >> If you could do it in the winter, we would do it, but you can't cuz you can't you got to do it in the summer. >> So >> So, >> all right. I'm just hoping that the city's standing up to the county and making it as best for us as possible. >> We will, but I would suggest you talking to them as well and the county and we're going to keep you just right. We're going to keep you updated along the way >> to make sure that you're informed with what we're doing. >> All right, >> Jesse, can you provide him with the contact information for those commissioners, the email addresses and stuff? >> I Yes, I can get that for you. And Brian, this is starting later because of load restrictions and we don't know when that's going to go off. Otherwise, Dan, it could start earlier. >> Usually May, what? Middle May. >> They're on right now. >> We know they're on right now, but when do they get off? >> They end. >> Uh I don't know the exact number of weeks, but we can't they obviously can't mobilize any iron in until those are done. >> Yeah. So >> So I I have a quick question. I was unable to attend a meeting. I was ill. But at the end of the day, just for everyone on the video and everything, and we've got the emergency services here right now, but we have a game plan on how I mean, we have a senior living center over there. We have um a lot of residents that require medical attention. Do we have a game plan for how the emergency services, both the police and the fire can get in and out of there during this time? >> It's still going to be Yeah. accessible. Okay. Yeah. We're not shutting down both sides, >> right? of that part. >> I'm just asking the question in general so that because I mean that's going to be a question you're going to get from >> um >> people that didn't attend the meeting. >> I mean Brian, we're following all the rules, right? You can't not let the fire truck get through, right? >> Unless it's an open pit, in which case, you know, we've already got a plan to get to the other side of it, >> right? Yeah. >> So Ridge View, the ambulance runs by us four times a day. So I don't, you know, if they've been taken into consideration and >> we coordinate with them. So if you live in say the Highland area over there and you have fire and emergency, they're going to have to go. >> No, go ahead. I'm just coming up so I I >> How are they? So if I live over there, how am I accessing my my house? So are you you still just go south to get in it and then you have to come back out and go south down to 44? >> So So there's going to be there's going to be a little bit of of having to drive around. There are some there are some detour routes. Um, a lot of this really good information is in the slides that are on the website from from the open house showing how all of the four different stages have sort of a three and four have have what I'll call an outside detour. So, we're we're going to get people sort of around that area and then there's kind of some internal detours. So, we're going to have to communicate exactly where the closures are and pretty I think you met Zach from Bolden Bank. it's going to be his job or whoever is working with him to let them know where the road exactly is closed so that when they get a 911 call and it's for an ambulance that Ridge View knows which way to go to get there. >> So, >> because this is pretty wellkept secret. I mean, nobody really knows what's going on here. I mean, >> well, we told you and we sent the letter to you, right? And you came to our meeting. >> I got a postcard the day of the meeting at um at Gillespie. So that's that's the only way that I and I I walked over and I kind of blindsided by seriously. So I guess I would have liked to see >> Well, this this is that was our first attempt at discussing this with the public. So this isn't happening for a few months, right? So it's what March, beginning of March. So that was our first attempt of letting the public know. The other thing we're going to put in our newsletter and um again you and others in the area we can talk more offline. >> Yeah. So well this is all long three minutes. So I appreciate you coming up. If you have more questions please reach out to me or council members or Jesse and uh and I don't know if >> we're we're we're partners in this. We're partners. >> Okay. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> All right. Thanks. >> Sorry about that guys. All right, number five. We got firefighters oath of office. Yeah, Chief Peterson. >> Welcome. >> Uh good evening, mayor, members of the council, staff. Uh fire chief Greg Peterson is my name. Uh tonight we're starting a uh a new tradition. Historically, we have uh when a firefighter completes their probationary period in their training, we would award them a helmet at one of our meetings. And so tonight, we're doing something a little bit more formal. This was a recommendation that came from one of our lieutenants and uh we thought it was a great idea. So, it's kind of a festive thing for us. Um, we have just a couple of slides that I'd like to show uh just to give you a sense for what these five probationary firefighters went through um at our holiday party and not and the majority of them are here tonight. We kind of gave them the rookie of the year award. We call them the six-pack and several of them, like I said, are here. not all of them, but um I want to give you a sense of how much time commitment this is for them in their first year. So, we put up some statistics at our at our uh Christmas holiday party and just talking about how much training they got to go through and actually the the slide Jesse on the the Excel slide really kind of paints a picture. So, these folks are required to complete firefighter one, uh, firefighter 2 and EMR training in their first 12 months of service. So, this group of folks here, um, off to school, 42 training sessions in the first year outside of our fire department. And then the other calendar, this just kind of gives you a sense of how much of a commitment it is for them. So the second calendar, which is kind of our general calendar, the other it's a different and and that goes along with our normal monthly meetings. So they have to attend these plus all that other training. And so we are here to recognize them. uh do a oath of office, a a badge pinning, and give them a certificate tonight. So, um we're going to do the oath of office with these folks. So, if you could pull that up. So, one of the uh uh Yeah. Right there. So, we're going to get them up. They're going to do a of using their right hand and I will start them off. >> I promise that I service all customers with response to their crisis with compassion, sincerity, concern, patience, kindness, and respect. I promise that I will at all times conduct myself in a manner that reflects positivity on the mountain fire department and the cities. Finally, I promise to follow the policies of the Mountain Fire Department. Uh the laws of our state and nation and the ordinances of cities the department services and that I will faithfully discharge my duties to the best of my abilities. Great job you guys. Um we will uh initiate the badge pinning and we'll start with firefighter Steve Crandell. By the way, we've invited family members to come and uh do the honors. Just keep in mind that the spouses put up with a lot their significant other spouses put up with a lot of uh time away during that first per first year of training. I think we can give Steve a hand, can't we? >> YEAH. >> All right. Second. Uh, Kennedy Wright. Good job. Third, Coley Ryahhead. Fourth, Tom Thomas Witty. I do. And last but not least, firefighter Eric Palmer. Go ahead and stick him. Uh, I'll just add a couple quick things and then close here. Um, when a firefighter comes on board, they they're all chomping at the bit to get on a fire truck. They're ready to go. They they they can't go until they're trained. So when they get to this point and they're authorized to jump on that first fire truck, it's a big deal. It really is. So just want to thank them all for their work and congratulations to the group. And I'd like to introduce our staff that's here tonight just quickly. Our assistant chief of EMS training is Matthew Jacubic. Matt, if you'd raise your hand. Uh, Captain Joey Blackstone back here. Uh, Lieutenant Michael Jobs, Lieutenant Shane Gardner. By the way, Shane was the one that came up with this idea, and that's a great idea, I think. And then Assistant Chief Andy Drilling. >> Any else? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Thank you. Thank you, council, for your time. Thank you all for your time. >> You guys are second to none. >> We all going to fit. >> I think we're all going down. >> We stay here. >> I think we're staying here. >> We'll have to go down. >> I'll go after you. >> Okay. Oops. >> Yeah, we're happy with facing me this way. Do you want it? >> Get out of the way. >> I don't need to be any power. >> Making sure you guys do it right. >> We'll put the mirror in the middle. We'll split three and two and then two and two. Actually, I think that's fine. Sure. let you stand here between Michelle and Starfire and then we might just have to be misbalanced. You just might have to join over here because we don't have room with the goal. >> Yep. >> Chief, do you want to be in this picture? >> Should be last time. >> That was like a gentle suggestion. You guys just want to look young. That's all it is. You want to look young. >> Can I move it just a little? It's fine. >> What's going to happen? >> All right. >> Yeah. Can you spin it just a little bit? Council member. Thank you. >> One, two, three. >> Perfect. Thank you. I just got >> fine. Let's do more. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next up, we got Orno Police Department with the February 2026 activity report. police versus fire. >> Good evening, Mayor Council. >> Uh are your February report? Uh everything we had 108 calls for service in the city of Mound. Um nothing trending too much. Uh we do see we've have we've seen an up and down through the last couple weeks with weather. Um some nights busy, some nights slow. It just depends on what the night's like. But right now, everybody's kind of going through um spring break, so we'll see some influx up and downs throughout the the week and stuff in a month. But other than that, we had nothing to really report that stood out. Just uh one thing SRO Schultz wanted me to relay was that last Friday, the 27th, there was uh stuff the bus for weekend, and they said that was pretty successful. Um, from what she reported to me, it was two buses were filled full of food per weekend. So, it's a good turnout. Um, everyone was happy about that. Uh, lastly, uh, just for your information, I'm sure everyone probably knows it, but last night, Orno City Council approved resignation for Chief Corey Fornia. Um, and it was approved. Uh, he is retiring as of June. So, uh, the process is been posted. Um, I don't know the timeline. Uh, chief will have a I believe there's a commission meeting tomorrow. So, he will if there's any questions on that, he will let you know the timeline. >> Had they been interviewing >> for chief? Not yet. It just we basically found out two weeks to go and then they post and then we start bringing in I think they got one more week on the candidates to get uh absent and everything. So, >> I saw the job posting. Is there like since he's not retiring till June, are they like going to try to like hire and then overlap like have him train in kind of the new >> I believe there is some, but we also have Deputy Chief WhitKi that will also help with the onboarding process for our new chief. >> Cool. Does council have any other questions? >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. All right. Next up, we got uh the state of the water presentation by Brian Welcome. >> Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. >> One moment. lightsaber. >> I was like, how is it? Maybe turn that switch. Uhoh. >> Okay. I believe this is is this the fifth time we've done this or the fourth? Uh, I know four with this is our fourth. >> Okay. >> Since I've been mayor, >> that checks out. I can only find four previous state of the water presentations. So, >> um, Brian Simmons, consulting city engineer here tonight to give everyone an update that we have dubbed the state of the water. Uh, we've been doing this since we started our water treatment journey. uh that culminated with or I should say was incepted with the notification in 2021 that we had manganesees in the source water and we needed to do something about it. So, we're going to talk a little bit about what we know about the water. I've got some test reports for you. Spoiler, not a lot's changed. Uh our solutions, the project updates, where we're at with funding, which I think is probably the most exciting thing we like to talk about. and then what comes next. The chart here on the right just shows some of the last couple years worth of sampling. Um I I added the the two new sampling sites that Ryan picked this year on Tuxedo and Shoreline just to make sure that we are sampling all across the city. Uh but Mound is served by the two wells currently. Obviously we're working on another one. Uh we don't have any other water treatment other than um some fluoride injection. some things that we do to make the water, you know, up to standard. But for the most part, the water that comes out of the ground is pretty good, or at least we thought it was pretty good until they told us there was manganesees in it. Uh, in 2020, the Department of Health began applying the EPA's health-based guidelines. You've heard that health-based limit from me a lot. That is unfortunately the difference between a primary contaminant and a secondary contaminant. The health-based guidelines mean that we're pretty sure the manganese is unsafe. And because of that, there is a usually a range. And I just want to make sure we call out that.3 milligrams per liter for infants and 1.0 millg per liter for adults. Uh and because it's right in front of us there and us in the face, those test values do show uh you know water coming out of the ground coming out of our pipes that is higher than that.3 milligrams per liter. Uh, and you can see some of the test results have bounced around a little bit like the Bartlett one spiked way up in 25 and then back down again to this about the same amount in 26 as it was in 24. Uh, but where I was going with this is that the composition of the water coming out of the ground really hasn't changed and the composition of the water that is being distributed around our system hasn't significantly changed either. So if we needed any evidence or backup to prove that, you know, this good fight that we have been fighting is worthwhile, this is it right here. The manganese still exists and it's still at a level at which um we believe it to be unsafe for consumption over time. We also have high iron that comes out of the ground. uh that's more considered a nuisance, but that contributes to a lot of conversations we have in this room about discoloration and that can lead to real problems like ruining clothes. Uh you know, destroying pipes and homes. Uh you know, we get pictures of dirty water. I know you all have received them. I have too, right? But that's that's not great. And so, we're going to talk about the fact that we're going to solve both of those problems together with a water treatment plant. Uh guidance for residents. I think there's a lot. Is there more information on this on the website now? Yeah, there's you have a whole treasure trove of things on the website is like thumbs up. Uh we want to make sure we remind everyone that water softening can remove manganesees if your softener is operating correctly. Uh unfortunately that's not a municipally sized solution, but we want to just make sure we take this opportunity to remind everybody that that happens. We also encourage you if you are going to rely on that to test the water in your home, preferably before and after your water softener if you have the ability to do it, but just to confirm that the water that is coming out of your tap after it's been softened does meet those limits. Um, also a statement we've added to this, manganesees is poorly absorbed through the skin. We've had questions in the past about bathing and showering with the water and if that would give you exposure to manganesees and the answer to that is a little bit but not as much as consuming it. Uh there is a whole uh Minnesota Department of Health there's like a manganesees toolkit now that we have borrowed a lot of information from um B obviously based on the the problem in Minnesota because we are not the only ones that draw water from the same aquifer. Um they have a lot of information out there. We're trying to make sure that we are bringing the most pertinent information to mound residents. Um that's also why we've listed a handful of the the local testing laboratories that RMBB Environmental is in Bloomington. I'm sorry. Tri city William Lloyd is in Bloomington. I I think Mayor Hold, is that where you had your water tested? >> Bloomington. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That one's very accessible, open lots of hours. It's on the back side of the Bloomington water treatment plant. So I hear most often that people are going there. >> Yeah. >> So our mission for Mound, we want to remove the remove the manganesees and then while we're at it, because it's the same process, we're going to remove the iron and other contaminants with a filter. Uh we want to responsibly use taxpayers dollars. We want to steward those dollars and save money spent on inhome water solutions and we want to protect and preserve the infrastructure both public and private. This is this is not a a short-term fix that we are exploring here. This is a long-term solution. Um I know we're probably feeling a little bit like to get to the solution is becoming a long-term solution as well. But this was always going to be, you know, at least a multi-year journey. Um, and definitely the story of when we've gotten funding from where and how, you know, tells the story of how long we've been asking for help with this. >> Um, I'll just say real quick because we we don't go in depth in it anymore, but the study that we performed back in 20 when we first started this process sort of lays out the history of how we got to the single water treatment plant. We did consider a couple of options. Um, also it is the fact that we are building a single water treatment plant in Sorbbo Park is why we're having to build the infrastructure improvements that we just talked about u that going to result in those road closures because we have to have larger diameter transmission water manes to get the water where it needs to be in the city when we're no longer just pulling it from the ground and putting it in the water towers. Um, phase phase two is is just about to get started. Phase one has already been underway. Uh, we've been working on the design of the treatment plant. Um, all of that design will be paid for by one of the 10.3, well, one of the appropriations we've gotten that is $10.3 million from the Minnesota legislature. Obviously, you all have had to front some of that because we have to get to uh a bid project. So, we have actual bid items to start getting reimbursed. But, I have some good news that we've been able to start applying for those reimbursements. So, in 2025, we designed and bid the two phases of trunk water manes. We completed construction on the first phase near the Chateau water tower. We began filing for reimbursements under that that first $10.3 million uh legislative package. We cleared the potential plant site of hurdles, the natural and cultural resources. Um that's sort of a short sentence to describe a long process we've gone through to clear the EPA from having u certain involvement with our design processes and exactly how much oversight they were going to have based on the the monies we've gotten from the federal government. Uh that was looking somewhat restrictive for a while and we've now navigated that. We went through the process of changing some language once upon a time to release that 10.3 a little sooner as well. Um and then we've we you all have continued evaluating the financial impact on what it would look like to pay for part of or the rest of the funding gap with Ellers and Associates as part of this whole journey. Uh just recently we were given another just a hair over a million dollars 1.092 I guess uh in a federal appropriation. This looks a lot like the uh last time it was just a little under a million dollars. It was like 960,000 I believe. Um, but now that we know how to handle that, we've been through that process with the EPA, we're going to make sure that that million dollars is targeted. And when I say our use of that is targeted, we're going to make sure that we communicate back to them exactly what things we are going to use that money for. And it's probably going to look like a lot of the treatment equipment, pumps, things like that that are high dollar items in the plant that we can procure and draw the lines directly to those for the EPA so that we don't get caught in another review process that we have already navigated with the previous million dollars we got from the federal government. >> So, one one could say we're getting better at this, right? We're learning. >> Uh, and then the phase two improvements. Um, we're sort of lumping a couple of things together here, but a new well, the new transmission lines, new service lines, gate valves, and hydrants. We're wrapping up the plant design. I've got a couple of peaks into what that looks like here in the next couple of slides. We continue our advocacy at the state and federal level. Um, I don't know if this is an opportunity for anybody else to chime in. I know there are a lot of people in this room that have spent a lot of time at places like the state capital telling our story. >> We're going tomorrow. >> Going tomorrow again. Yep. Are we taking the mountains bars again? >> I don't think we're doing that this time, but >> Okay. >> Tomorrow is not for um is not for testifying this time. This is >> we're not >> I mean, >> we are advocating the the people down there. Yes. >> I I I I know that you you all have been tireless in that. So So thank you for the partnership. You to be commended for how hard you've pushed for this community. It's the reason that we are getting more money. Yeah. >> Uh and then working with the city's municipal adviser again with Ellers to explore what it looks like if we are going to foot that bill for the remainder that hasn't been funded. I I know that that's still a pretty looming large number. Uh this is a peak at the current design of where the treatment plant is going. Um you all are welcome to ask some questions if you are interested in this. Otherwise, this is just sort of for show tonight. Um, I did not bring the whole engineering crew, so if you want to get into detailed questions about why things are where, I might have to defer those, but I've got a pretty idea what's going on here. We're we're situating the plant on the high spot on the piece of property. We're trying to use some of the natural screening that's there, even though we're going to be up in the air a little bit. Uh, hopefully we're going to be able to leave a lot of those trees. I know there's been a fair amount of clearing there already to start work. So that probably, you know, right now with those trees gone and no leaves yet, right now it's probably about as bad as it's ever going to look. And then we are also going to be doing some landscaping and some screening as part of the construction of the plant. Um, you all will probably see that come back in front of you in the form of a conditional use permit in the next couple of weeks. And that cup application will include some of those details because that's an appropriate time to talk about how are we protecting the neighborhood. But obviously you have input at any stage in the process and we work with Jesse and Leila and Ryan on that a lot. We would be remiss if we didn't show off a rendering. A lot of these are just Lego pieces that get moved around. I know it's kind of a box. >> I know it doesn't look exciting, but it makes water clean, which makes me excited. >> No windows. >> Don't worry. The pieces that are purple and red, too, are only that color because of the type of piping that they are. That they won't actually be that color. Yeah, >> we've also made some selections here on some of the brick colors and textures. So, trying to make it look like as nice of a box as we can. >> Project funding to date, we talked about that $10.3 million. We've now gotten a total of almost $2 million in federal appropriations. Um, I know that's had a couple of different names, earmarks, congressionally directed spending, but essentially, uh, it's been money that was focused towards us by our federal legislators, and then funneled through the EPA, sort of as a a means with which to manage it. We tell a similar story with the $10.3 million that has come to us through the PFA that was given to us directly from the Minnesota legislature. and then they get the public facilities authority involved as a way to manage the responsible spending of that money. We still have a $29 million funding gap between the monies that we've been given and the end result of the entire solution. So, we continue to apply for those direct appropriations both at the federal level and at the Minnesota state level. Uh we have now been in the IUP PPPL the project priority list and the intended use plan since 2021. Um actually I think that's on a following slide. I'll talk about that in a second how our score has kind of gone up and down a little bit. Uh but there is a parallel track that we are tracking that hopefully will see us start to get ranked a lot higher there. The emerging contaminants program is what I'm referring to. Um, the Department of Health uh has recommended that there's $18 million set aside for this at the state level. Unfortunately, not all for us. I'd love that. That'd be great. Uh, but they're telling the state that that has to be shared, but this is directed towards that exact concept um that I remember sharing sort of in the council chambers. in 21. It was the weirdness in the the theater at the high school when we first broached this topic. But u the fact that the Minnesota Department of Health was really a partner with us in this with the way that they mandated the notifications. They told us we had to warn our residents about drinking the water and the levels of manganesees without a clear solution. So here we are 6 years later finally starting to see the inklings that they have acknowledged that they helped create that problem and they are starting to set aside money. This is not fully fleshed out yet. This is not a program that we can just directly apply to as of today, but we are tracking this and we are intending to be in that bucket when that $18 million becomes available. >> You see, and right in the bottom there, it says there's 19 unfunded projects to the tune of 194 million. We're for sure in that number. >> Great. Uh just talking about the IUP and the PPL, you can see where our rank has gone from 22. Uh you could see the dive from 25 down in 26. Uh, and and if you ask me what the heck happened there, Brian, I would tell you that there are a whole bunch of projects that are now in that IUPPL list that have been ranked higher than us because of a little thing called lead service lines, which I know you we are actually also now in that list in a higher position in a different place for the lead service lines. Uh but the reason for the asterisk means that our project has become fundable via part B one which means that we are eligible for the lowinterest loans as another financing vehicle outside of just the monies that are given to us. Any questions about that? I see some questioning looks clarity. Okay, I'll move on. >> I'll ask later. >> Now is your time. >> No, I'm good. So, our next steps, we're going to continue this phase 2 water main project. I meant what I said when I said we're partnering with Surfside and the community. Um, I wish that water man was in a different place. Those types of projects are inconvenient until they're done. And so, we we are sort of doing our best to try to stage construction around things, but it's going to have to be a dialogue. We're all going to have to be a little flexible. You know, I'm already feeling like I need to swing over there maybe tonight and get some to-go food after the council meeting kind of thing, you know, but I I loved walking by the signs coming into the building tonight. The support local. >> That's great. That's great. So, we'll have to I'll have to be mindful of that. Hopefully, you'll see a whole boat in the main crew over there eating lunch every day or something. >> There you go. >> Um on April 28th at the meeting, there will be an update from Ellers on the utility rate study and the water treatment plant financial projections based on our cost estimates. Do you all want to say more about that? >> I would just add that um a thank you to our finance committee for setting aside some so far many mornings and a couple more to come leading up to that to sort of I would say vet some of this but also just um just to take the time. I mean uh anytime we can get that outside input and you guys help us sort of prepare for the meetings that's it's extremely helpful. So, thank you for that. >> Yeah. >> And then in tonight's consent agenda, uh, which is following presentations, there is a, uh, a consent item that approves an application to PFA for those eligible lowinterest loans. Uh, approving this consent agenda item does not oblige us to borrow any money. It does not lock us into anything. We are just trying to cover our administrative butts and make sure we have the boxes checked so that were we to want to do that in the 26 calendar year, we would be able to because we have to have the council on record as having supported that and approved it >> directed us to pursue that. So that's really the meat and potatoes of what that agenda item is. And if you have more questions about that or you want to talk more about that, I'm happy to. Uh and then again with our new and improved website, lots of information there at uh the water treatment plant page. That is the end of the formal presentation. Is there any questions, things you would like me to talk more about? >> Does council have any questions for Brian? >> I do not. >> I I'd like you to just mention on camera because I've had a lot of questions about this. >> Absolutely. just because we're we're going to be finishing this part of the I guess the project if we don't get any more money or if we don't go forward with any further um water treatment it still is helping our water can you address that because we've got a lot of questions on that. >> Sure. So when we first dove into this uh I you know at at the time it was Mr. Hston. But the conversation was, well, here's this series of projects and and we understood that we could not communicate to any of these legislative bodies that, well, we want to pursue a series of projects. So, we took everything and we made one big snowball, right? And when you hear me talk about the $42 million water treatment solution, it includes a number of specific activities. when the money started to come back to us in in you know leaps and bounds we get 10.3 we get one million we get another million we went back to slicing this up and so all of the things that we have built so far improve water quality around mound they improve the circulation you know when we get to the point where we have a new well even if for some reason and and the way that we have staged these activities are it's going to end up being the treatment plant mostly last right also treatment plant most expensive so all of these other the piping improvements, uh if if we get to the point where the new well is in the ground, but for some reason we don't build the water treatment plant, all of those things are not wasted. Those are things that benefit us as a city. If for some reason you all called me up and said stop today, the stuff that has been installed or we are in progress, still improves the quality of the water system in mound, improves the quality of the water, just doesn't fully remove the manganesees. >> Great. >> Does that answer your question? ities. >> Well, I hope that this listeners understand it. >> Always happy to go on record with that. I know we've had that conversation before, but that's that's gerine to this. >> Thank you. >> So, to council member Mcini's point that it's like includes this the shoreline project from last year that was brought up earlier tonight. >> Right. Phase one of >> I'm sorry. You said shoreline. You mean shoreline drive. >> Shoreline drive. >> Thank you. >> Not just Shoreline. >> I should I should know better. >> Shoreline drive. >> You knew what you meant. Absolutely. Yep. Those were those were water main improvements. So, new pipe, not 60s, right? So, longer longer design life, newer, better materials, larger diameter, all of those things give us better quality of service in the city. Sorry for the misunderstanding. >> And will that new quality be happening in just portions of mound, you know, near the water treatment facility, or will it enhance all of mound? So when you look back every time we've answered the question why are our water rates so high and we explore where we have been to be fair I'm not asking that question but I know others have come to the podium to ask it uh that is improvements we have done elsewhere that are similar to that um what you're seeing now and part of why we're in the county road is that we always paired water main improvements with road construction we're not in charge of the county roads so we do still have some aging pipes left under the county roads. That's why we have some of these, you know, trenchless pipe bursting and lining and those types of tools in our box to make sure that we can lengthen the usable life of those water manes. But these are mains that we would not have had a reason to touch, you know, unless they started to fail or the county said, "Hey, we're going to dig that up. Would you like to do something with the water man?" It's not something we were going to be able to tackle on our own because we're not interested in paying to rebuild the county road for them. So we have done this in a lot of places elsewhere and we still have sort of this liability under the county roads that now is being addressed. >> Thank you. >> So one thing that we want to focus on too is what what can residents do right now? Um let me say that in a second, but when if we vote on this this year, say in the summer, how fast is this thing turned on the water treatment plant? I think the right answer to that is you're probably still close to 24 months. >> Okay. >> This is this is significant construction. >> Yep. >> Um it's at least a year and a half on the treatment plant by itself. >> All right. So, we're talking 2028. Uh best case scenario. Um if we vote on it soon, um water softener. Um, you know, again, it's it's sat on the Minnesota Department of uh health that it does remove me or some of it, right? Um, the caveat to that is make sure that you have salt. Make sure that your water softener works, >> your your resin is not depleted, >> right? Make sure everything's working. Um, I just actually I think I've said this a few times, but I put in a reverse osmosis deal in my in my kitchen in the sink. So, that's where we drink, right? Because I got sick of all the bottled water. Um, I put it in there. Uh, my guy, he he wrote on my wall, right? He put a little sticker. He said, "You replace January of 25 or start or started at January 25." He says, "Uh, call me in two years." Right? puts his phone number on there. The other day we're we're playing with their water and it just doesn't want to come out. I'm like, "What's happening?" So, I called him. I said, "What's the deal?" And he's like, "Oh, I probably got to look at the filters and you know, whatever." And there's like three of them, you know, I don't know how to do them, right? But, and then he said something about recharging. So, I was thinking, "Oh, you know, maybe he's got to do something with the tank and make it work better." So, he he fixed it. I was working from home. They came back and they had this garbage, you know, bag filled with the three filters and they were disgusting. I mean, they were black. It was horrific. >> Yeah. >> And he's like, "These usually last, you know, two years." And of course, he does a lot of work around mount. But, um, I guess my point with that is again, if you're not keeping these things up, you're not, you know, you got to be careful, right? So, the other thing is make sure you're testing, too. So, if you're going to drink the water, there's a reason why we sent the letter in 2021. First of all, the Department of Health said we had to. >> Yes. >> But also, it's a good thing that, you know, people know not to do it. Um, plus we've been saying this for years and newsletters and open meetings and whatnot. So, if you're going to drink your water, make sure you're testing it. Um, other than that, I mean, if you want to drink your water, that's your it's your deal. But, um, that was that was uh kind of interesting because this is my first year with that thing. So, usually it lasts two years. It only lasts one. And just so you know, that does already go through my water softener. And last year in the same time that he came out and fixed it because there's something going on. It was like it was like leaking all night, you know, into the the >> deal that Yeah. that comes out the other side of it. And I was like, you know, what's going on? Because it was like all the time generating. So if I didn't see that, then I didn't I wouldn't know there's a problem. So again, even if you got all those right things set up, make sure you're still either testing your water or, you know, make making sure you're feeling good. Look at the Department of Health website. Uh you're going to have to do that for at least a couple more years until we get this thing, uh squared away. Um the other thing, uh just for for money purposes, um we're looking at uh you know, there's about 30 million and and that's a rough number. We don't, you know, we haven't bid this out yet, but that's what we're kind of guessing. Um, we were told by, um, really our senator, um, that they were not they're not going to give you the whole thing. Bottom line, they're not going to give you $30 million. You know, I testified a couple years ago, we got the 10. That was already hard enough to get that. And I testified for 30, 32, whatever it was. Um so what we did is on the direction of her and then of course talking to um our representative Myers as well and then of course staff and everything too. Um we we moved it down to 15 million. So we're asking for 15. They basically said if you don't have the other chunk on the line. Our thing was yes we've spent $80 million for the last how many years? 60. You know we've already spent a lot of money. No, that's not going to work. You got to put it up, you know, now. So, we we pulled out the 30. We said we're going to go for 15. So, that leaves us 15 short, right? So, if we even get this 15, we're going tomorrow to the capital. We're going to talk to some people. I've already sent uh personal cards to uh some of the um the uh like chairs and stuff that are on the um both committees for the capital investment committee. I would suggest everybody else do that too. emails, calls, you know, got letters from residents, you know, whatever you want to do. Um, we're going to try to get that other 15. If it if it doesn't work, we're coming up with a game plan of if we don't get 15, so we have to do all 30 and then if we get 15. And I know there's some other um grants and other things that we're, you know, we're planning for everything. We just got the the 15 or the sorry, the 1 >> Yeah. uh for the you know from from the federal and we just applied I think Jesse just did this what last week um so we're we're applying for more there too. So, um, I think the the timid nature of what we were asking for before was, you know, if we talked openly too much about it, then they wouldn't give us enough money, right? I don't think anybody watches these things, but hypothetically. Um, so that's that's the news. At the end of the day, if we approve this water treatment plant, we're going to be on the hook at least for half of it. Um, if not more if we don't get money. So, um, and then to that nature, I know you already said this, but, uh, the finance committee, we've been kind of crunching the numbers with, uh, Ellers and they are looking at all different scenarios of do, you know, do we help do franchise fees? Do we do it through a little bit of through the levy, um, through utility rates, you know, we're and we're kind of, you know, spitballing all these things and seeing what we think residents would be able to, you know, work with. Um, and then we're going to try to fine-tune that over the next uh, well, two weeks here or no, month. And then we're going to bring it back to the council and see what you all think and see if we have a somewhat of a game plan. And then really right about that time or right after that, month or two from now, we'll know if we got this money or not. So, a lot of lot of action in the spring here in early summer. And if we do or don't or whatever, I still want to be prepared that we're all going to have to take a hard vote. I don't think it's that hard because I've seen some of the the the the numbers even on the the worst side. Um I think you guys are going to be impressed with them, but it's still $30 million, right? If we have to do that. So, um either way, I think we need to take a vote. We need to say we're going to put this in front of the council and whatever the numbers are, are we going to do this or not? And if we're not, then we just need to move on and we we have a paid for new service lines and, you know, whatever, a new well and whatever. But that's, you know, that's a band-aid. You know, let's fix the problem, right? So anyway, that's all I really had unless you guys have anything else. >> Can you just remind the listeners when we're going to next hear if we get more money? >> Uh, well, it's it's through the bonding bill. Um, from what I understand, because this is a shorter session this this term is, uh, end of April, early May, >> I believe that they have a little bit of leeway into May if there's a special session, but that's at the latest would be miday. >> Yeah. Versus like last year, remember, we had to wait till like end of May >> and then sometimes it's like it falls into June if they don't agree. And um, this year, I guess, is a little shorter. So, I mean, pretty quick. So, we're again, we're spending all day at the capital tomorrow. um a bunch of us >> if it's helpful. >> Yeah, you're going >> if it's helpful too that the topic of the emerging contaminants grant I don't I don't want that to be sort of one more thing we're waiting for. >> It's not fully inked yet, but all indications are that there will be sort of a clawback that where if we pony up some money, right, we figure out a way to finance whatever the gap is ourselves. Yeah, we can pay ourselves back out of that if and or when we get money. And I assume that's more of a when than an if, right? But um that's that's one that you know they're not going to say too bad so sad you already built some stuff. >> And that's that's as of handful of years ago when we first started doing all this that was our all like our thought in the back of our head that if we kind of start looking at this behind the scenes and seeing how we could afford we could never afford it because that was just back then it was just it was it was crazy. I think as we've gotten closer now and of course some of this money, I think that you know it it looks a little bit more reasonable. So, all right. Is that it? >> All right. Well, thank you. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you. >> All right. Number shut the light up. >> Number six, consent agenda. Um, does anybody want to talk about any of those? >> All right, hearing none. Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Do you want to go through? >> Oh, sorry. Yeah. Someone want to go through them all? >> I can do that. >> Uh, consent agenda items um A through H, minutes from the February 24th city council regular meeting. B. Minutes from the February 17th council and planning joint meeting. C. Approve payment of claims. D. Tour D to Tonka public gathering permit. E. Extension for preliminary plat approval and submittal of final plat for Fernlane town homes of mound. F. Gathering permit public gathering permit for 2026 annual fishing contest. G. Pay request number one in the amount of $61,692.89 to Minger Construction for phase 2 water treatment improvement project uh project 25-12 and H application to public facilities authority for drinking water revolving fund loan. >> Okay. Does anybody want to talk about any of those? >> All right. Hearing none. Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Motion to approve. >> And can I get a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Council member Heric. >> I. >> Council member Mcanini. >> I. >> Council member Pew. >> I. >> Council member Costellano. >> I. >> Mayor Hold. >> I. All right. All that's approved. Uh, number seven, we do not have any public hearings. Number eight, we don't have any old bill business. Number nine, uh, A, we got finance department update and delegation of authority to issue checks. >> Council members, uh, Lindsay is working at the other building, which is a testament to how busy the finance department is. >> Oh, look. Perfect timing. >> So, >> did you just text her to come over? >> I did. >> Nice. Her ears are burning. Like, >> perfect timing. I think >> it's a good encapsulation of how busy Lindsay is. >> Yeah. Yeah. Is it snowing outside? >> No, it's not. >> What? >> It was snowing. >> Is it really a snowing right now? >> Well, that's just not going to do. >> It's March. >> Can you do something about that? >> All right. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> All right. Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm Lindsay Erdman, the finance director, and I'm here to present an update on the finance department after my first 30 days here. >> Yeah, I got it. >> Okay. So, tonight I'll provide a short introduction about my role and the department structure for context as we discuss the department's responsibilities and goals. I'll in conclude with a recommendation that will enable some process improvement efficiencies. All right. So, I've been the finance dire in the finance director role for about 30 days, like I said, and this position has many responsibilities from managing day-to-day accounting activities to annual budgeting. And the finance director has historically operated as an accountant, often working 60 to 70 hours a week to complete their responsibilities. And I'm really excited to shift this role from doing day-to-day activities to more strategic focused leadership position. Um, and to answer council member Mcadini's question, I have identified some opportunities to bring efficiencies to the department and subsequently to the city. Um, such as realigning existing resources and implementing technology solutions to streamline processes. So, the department has had one FTE, the senior accounting tech, supporting day-to-day operations for many years. This position has also had to work more than 40 hours a week, often requiring overtime uh to complete necessary functions. And together, the senior accounting tech and the previous finance director were working very hard um despite the adversity given like that magnitude of the workload and some software limitations. Uh in 2026, the city council added the code enforcement administrative position. Uh the city was able to then reorganize and moved an admin position, the finance tech, to our department. Three positions are the minimum uh number of needed positions in a finance department to ensure good internal controls through segregation of duties. However, the additional resources are needed if the city wants to move the department from task oriented accounting uh to strategic driven finance. The department is exploring the opportunity to bring on a part-time accounting tech to create capacity for me to focus on initiatives and projects that meet the city's council strategic goals. The goal would also be to transition some of the ellers's consulting responsibilities to this role. All right, I want to provide some more context about the breadth and depth of work the department does. There are more than 10 different function functional areas uh that we directly or significantly support like harbor wine and spirits and public works. So we are responsible for the bi-weekly payment of payroll and benefits for the 70 employees at the city. This accounts for about 25% of the payroll tax time. The department processes hundreds of invoices each month. This is primarily a manual and paper process and due to staffing turnover, the city is behind on processing invoices. And once we are caught up, I'm really eager to implement some process improvements here. Utility billing um is handled by the finance tech and accounts for at least 50% of their time. This is another area where system integration and automation uh could create financial and operational efficiencies. Uh Harbor Wine and Spirits is one of the department's largest customers. Finance completes all APR payroll and benefits and financial reporting processes requiring significant resources on our end. Accounts receivable covers all the ways in which the city receives income or takes in money uh from paying for a dock slip uh to receiving our taxes from Henipin County. The city utilizes many different vendors and software systems across its different business lines to bring in these dollars. However, on the back end, this creates a really heavy lift for staff to complete reconciliation against many different software payment systems. So next I'll go over the primary functions of my role which is you know to manage the city's money. So first is the annual budget and audit processes which take a significant amount of time where additional resources could be targeted to increase transparency and communication with the public um and yourselves. The city is also responsible for financial reporting to other government entities and to the council through quarterly reports. Debt investments have not traditionally been an area of focus for the finance director at the city. This is an area of growth for us and I'm really looking forward to developing a more robust investment strategy to increase our revenues there. Um lastly, uh we support departments with their purchasing and risk management needs. And so the previous finance director covered nearly all of these functional areas. and the long-term strategy is to focus on highlevel tasks that truly impact uh the financial health of the city. So the department's goal is to provide exceptional customer service to achieve operational excellence over the next 12 months. Uh and to do this, we will manage to the financial management plan to ensure budgeting and spending are aligned with uh the city's goals. We'll also implement additional internal controls like segregation of duties, ensuring role clarity and that staff are properly trained, evaluating policies and procedures for risk mitigation amongst other opportunities. We will also increase communication and transparency with the council and public through quarterly reporting and creating opportunities to provide input throughout the budget process. Uh in addition to evaluating our financial um policies, excuse me, um processes, um we'll evaluate those for continuous improvement um to ensure resources are most efficiently used. And then we'll look at our policies uh for adherence to best practices and state law and starting with the procurement policy. It is that is as it is one of the city council's goals to uh update. And then lastly, the finance department will be a resource for public works and fire as they navigate their respective projects. So tonight, I'm seeking the city council's support to help the finance department reach its goals and objectives. Before you is resolution 26-22, which delegates authority to the city manager to pay certain claims. The delegation of of authority will enable the department to implement process changes that best utilize available resources to run an efficient accounts payable process. The current process requires that council approve all payments before they are made. This means that invoices would need to be processed immediately upon receipt to account for the twoe council process which is just not realistic for us given other competing priorities in the department. Additionally, the delegation of authority will allow the finance department to pay invoices within the legal time constraints of the net 35 days. And lastly, the delegation of authority is a critical to catching up on past two in past due invoices which have been delayed due to staffing turnover. The city council will continue to receive the check register at council meetings to provide accountability and oversight of the process. So, thank you for considering uh this resolution to help the department reach its goal of providing operational excellence um op providing exceptional customer service to achieve operational excellence. Thank you. >> Right. Council have any questions? >> Quick question. >> Yes. Thank you for kind of telling us and quantifying the amount of time I know our past financial director and you are having to put towards keeping us financially healthy. And can you clarify? Are you looking to add another employee that's accounting? It looked like an accounting position. >> Yeah. Thank you, uh, member Mcaney and members of the council. So currently in the interim between um finance director Iverson departing and um director Erdman starting we hired Ellers to help us in that transition. Um you know I can't stress enough how much work Noah was doing. Um I think you know especially towards the end he was putting in 80our weeks but I think quite regularly Noah worked 60 to 70our weeks because of the shortage of staffing in our department. Um, and there is just no way to make up for someone who used to put in that much time without ourselves putting in that much time. And I don't think that's an expectation that we want to have of any of our staff. You know, obviously there are the weeks where you put in 45 or 50 hours because you can't help it. You have a council meeting and then you work a full week and you just eat some of that time. Um, but to do that consistently every week, it's just not feasible. Um, and it's not my expectation of my staff. I want our staff to have work life balance and I want them to come enjoying work every day. And I I can't do that when I'm asking someone to do 60 to 70 hours of week of work a week. Um, and the finance department isn't like other departments where we can say some of these things just don't have to get done, right? Um, everything that happens in the finance department has to be done. And what Noah was doing was a lot of that day-to-day accounting. He was an accountant by trade. Um, and he was excellent at it. He was a really, really excellent accountant. Um, and so I think he leaned on those skills and he put in a lot of time doing that. And so, um, this presentation really isn't about asking for that extra staff. Um, as you know, I think we have the resources to do that. Right now, we're using that funds, those funds to pay for Ellers. That's significantly more expensive than adding a part-time accountant. Um, and so we plan to move forward with that because we do have the overruns. Um we've had a lot of staffing transition so there's extra funds to do that. Um today is really um about another mechanism to help make things move more smoothly which is that delegation of payment authority that's very common in city manager forms of government. What it realistically does for you day-to-day is changes nothing. You will still see in the packet all of those checks that come from the finance department and are written. Um but but we also are doing some things where we have to pay them. Not every claim can wait for the city council. Um everything related to payroll. So medical and dental um our checks for our employees. Um our parah payments for employees. A lot of those are a payments that get paid no matter what. Um but we include them in the check register so that you're aware of the spending that's happening. So, this really transitions kind of all that spending to that so that we can be on a little bit better cycle of spending um so that we can not be waiting for council meetings um and that vendors aren't waiting for payment from the city. Um Scott can add into this. He has probably never been paid on time um because we end up uh consistently behind in invoicing. >> Get paid eventually. >> He gets paid eventually. >> Um good. >> Yeah. But we we we physically cannot pay vendors on time the current way that we're set up. >> And is there a limit that or are you just asking for full autonomy to make those payments? >> Yeah, Council Member Mcanini, we're asking for full autonomy. You'll still have the ability to review the payments that are made and all payments will be made within the budget. We're not spending outside of the budget or outside of the procurement policy. So, both of those internal controls will still be followed. um what you just won't have is that check register. So we we literally do not cut checks until the day after a council meeting and send them. And so when we have things like our Christmas break where we don't have a council meeting for 6 weeks, it's impossible for us to pay anyone. And so and some things are getting paid anyways because they must be paid. Um the state requires that cities pay claims within 35 days. Our current setup does not allow us to do that and vendors can charge us interest for every day that we are late. We're very lucky that most of our vendors are very forgiving. Um but we we open ourselves to a certain amount of risk when we can't pay things on time. >> Well, Lindsay, welcome and thank you for discovering this that's going to help you >> and it sounds like a lot of our vendors. It'll help. >> Yes, absolutely. And it's really great, you know, for that relationship maintenance and building as well, especially with the liquor store. >> The liquor store especially is the one who gets hit hard by this. >> Does council have any other questions? >> Um, maybe just to clarify, I don't know if it's really a question, but the slide that had, you know, it kind of showed where you were going to be able to kind of, you know, focus on higher level stuff that would better benefit the city's financials, like looking at debts and investments. And I think in our previous uh finance committee meeting, you had mentioned that it was like you'd be wanting to focus on like grant opportunities and stuff like that as well. >> Absolutely. Um having that increased capacity for me means you know being able to like look at those grant opportunities and partnering with the other department heads to evaluate them like you know against current programming or possible like new programming at um the city. But right now, I just don't have capacity to do that because of all the those day-to-day accounting activities that require a significant amount of time. >> Okay. And I think you had mentioned there was like a pretty I mean solid opportunity that we could stand to to gain a lot more in in interest income with your eyes on it. >> Yes. Um right now we are budgeting about for about $20,000 in interest income annually, at least in 2026. And based off of the actuals from last year, it was much more than that. Um so I think you know some partnership with um you know Ellers in that front is you know are investing our accounts um that we could be looking at increased revenues. >> Okay. I think like with since this is all or would be all new to all of us too. I don't know if we want to like recap that like quarterly or something or just see how if you could give us like it could be part of the city manager update too, but >> you know just how it's going. >> Yeah, >> because it's a change for like our structure kind of thing. >> Absolutely. And that would be included in those quarterly finance um updates because it would go through expenses and revenue. So that would we would at that time at least you know from the previous quarter what our revenues were. Since you've started, Lindsay, are you incorporating a new I I don't know, program on your computers to simplify a lot of this to help you time-wise? >> I would love to do that. We we use a lot of different softwares and programs to run like each business line and like how we take in money for like for example for like utility billing. Right now, I think I've identified like four different ways we can take in payments through different companies. So, I'd love to find a way that makes sense, you know, to really streamline that. Um, so that is my goal because I love technology and like using tools to do our jobs uh more efficiently. Did you want to add something? >> Yeah, >> I think I'll just add on two things. You know, one quarterly reporting I think has happened just in a in the consent agenda or with um your packets. It hasn't been a presentation. So, Director Erdman will bring that back and that will be a new addition every quarter. you'll get a state of the budget so that you have a little bit better sense of how that's progressing. I know that member Pew asked at one of my very first meetings like this register of checks kind of means nothing to me like what is this how does this mean in terms of where we are from our financial spending and so most cities do that have that quarterly report that's presented by the city manager and I think um or by the finance director and I think what you'll start to see is more of Lindsay um moving forward as we go through the budget process the audit process and those quarterly reports so that you have more information on financial reporting Um, and I will say on the software side of things, I think we are likely to come with a budget request for 2027. We spend a lot of time using a program that is built in Microsoft Access, which if that means anything to anyone, it is a program that Microsoft no longer supports. Um, and in defense of our finance team, I think that they have worked with a really terrible software because it's been really affordable. And that has been a sacrifice that was made by staff here to be really budget conscious and really thoughtful about how much taxpayers pay in in any given function of this organization. Um, but I think that's one where we could save a huge amount of time and make processing things a lot less confusing for our staff and for residents. And so, um, we'll have more of those conversations as we work into the budget season. Um, but there's a lot of efficiencies to be gained and and a lot more transparency and communication that we can output to you um with some better software. So, that's a a big goal for the finance department. >> Well, and that's been kind of a common problem throughout city hall with a lot of kind of archaic systems that we've been using. So, I'm sure within your budget talks, that's a huge timesaver. So, >> yes. >> Um, and I'm sure you've worked in programs that are just you're having to go backwards, I'm sure, >> in in many cases to to get to get the results you're you're you're wanting. So, >> you know, I appreciate you're looking at all this for the efficiencies. It's going to help all of us >> and and mound in general. >> Well, thank you. I am too. >> Any other questions? >> You I think you have one there. >> I got a few. >> All right. >> Um I'm curious. Does the city have a short-term investment policy in place or are you following Gazsby or Fazby on >> That is a great question that I will uh take a peek at. >> I'm a little apprehensive about assigning Ellers as our guidance for investments. Um, I think there's a lot of opportunities and I would definitely have to recuse myself on some of these issues, but there's a lot of, um, I used to work with the short-term investment group at Wells Fargo years ago, and there are a lot of opportunities for the city to pick up income safely in accordance with the guidelines that are also imply I guess there's some that are implied also from the state at this, you know, at the state level. So, there's a lot of regulations around those investments. >> Yeah. Basically what we do right now is we put in a money market. >> Yeah. >> Interesting. >> Pretty basic, >> right? >> Yeah. >> So eventually the goal is to have Yeah. a more robust investment >> policy. That's >> the the comment >> the comment that you said, you know, that we budgeted 20,000 or whatever. We made a lot of money last year on interest, >> but we didn't want to say that, oh, we're we're going to make that same amount because interest rates are coming down, right? So, but yeah, I mean, we're doing a money. It's it's pretty basic. So, >> and it depends on the amount of assets and so on. >> Got to be careful with how we're investing it too, >> right? You know, I mean, public money, there's all kinds of stuff in there, rules and rigs around all that, but yeah, I was just curious if we had anything any guidance other than we're going to rely on Ellers. >> Yeah. Mayor, members of the council, we do have an investment policy currently. We'll likely update that as we consider um a more aggressive event investment strategy. >> Careful with that word. >> Yeah. I think our investment strategy has been extremely passive where we have just thrown it in a money market and for the past few years that's been a great strategy for the city's money for to some extent because it's really safe and money markets are doing quite well. Um we you know we've met with both form who currently manages the city's money as well as Ellers. Um, and we like Ellers because they're also doing a lot of our other ways that we are bringing in income. Um, which is like our tiff districts and bonding. They handle both of those for the city. And so, um, Ellers in that meeting sort of discussed how much, you know, additional support that they could give us because they would be monitoring for some of the overspending that could happen and would cause the city money. Um, so they're quite versed in the the governmental side of that. you know, we're open to looking at other solutions if that is what the council would prefer for us to do. Um, but at a certain point the arbitrage that comes from investing money. So that is like the rules and regulations around how much income you can make on money that you have been loaned, right? So that's when we talk about investing the city's money, often we're talking about investing bonds that we've purchased at a low rate. Um, so we can make minor amounts of investments on that and then we can also make investments on the cash on hand that we have. Um, and so Ellers can manage both of those things for us, which is why it appealed to us because they will be watching to ensure that we follow those guidelines strictly and it doesn't require any more from us from staff. Um, and Ellers is also really um, you know, I I don't remember what they said that their sort of official title is that requires them to really be looking out for our best interest rather than the best interest of a product. Um, >> yeah. So, um, you know, I think that that is a strategy that many cities use is to use Ellers to invest and because they are who is also helping us take in money through like TIFF and bonds, um, it appeals to us because it would be pretty straightforward and simple. Um, again, when I say aggressive, that's really not the best word. Um, I think it's more aggressive than we are right now. Um, because we're we're right now have a very passive investing strategy. Um, but we also don't want the city to lose out on the opportunity to make money. And I think that's um, part of what we can assess in future conversations and by giving Lindsay a little bit more capacity is to sus out all the avenues in which we could potentially, you know, make more with the dollars that we have. >> I have a question. Um, so within our investments, when that kicks back some, as you said, we've had some good luck in the money market, does that go towards uh bonding and paying off? Where does that go when we make >> interesting? >> Yeah, great question, Council Member Mcanini. So, we budget for that interest income in the general fund budget that we put. So that is part of how we determine the tax levy is we're budgeting for a particular amount of money whether that's $20,000 or $100,000. We utilize that to develop the final levy amount number. So that's not, you know, necessarily extra money that we, you know, suddenly have flush at the end of the year. We we make some informed decisions on estimating what we think that might be and use that to offset the tax levy. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Yeah. >> What was our last uh what was the amount that you can spend? >> Is is that relate to this? >> Is there like an amount you can spend without >> Oh, in the pre-approval >> that would be in the procurement policy. >> That's a different deal. Okay. >> Yeah. Mayor Holt, these stack on each other. So, for example, before a check has come to you and a count a department head has made a purchase, it needs to be in line with our procurement policy. So that number is quite low and and council member Heric and council member Mcinany brought that up at the last um goal setting how how quite low that is. So for example, if you want to make a purchase that's $12,000, you need to have two bids to do that before you could do before you could make that purchase. We verify that internally um to ensure that you know if we're going to buy a vehicle or make a large purchase two bids have been done for that so that we can ensure that we're making the most you know either the bid that's giving us the most things or it's the most cost effective at that point it gets you know invoiced and right now that invoice is coming to you and waiting for that council me meeting to be paid. Um, so there are some things like that that are the purchasing side of things where we're purchasing an object. Things like Scott Lansman's, you know, services that money has effectively been spent. We utilize his services and we owe him money. Um, and that is the vast majority of what is coming to the council is stuff that we've already received that service and a claimant is expecting to be paid. We just delay their payment in our current process. And so that's what we want to do is, you know, I don't think any of you would disagree that Scott should be paid for the services he renders for the city. Um, and what we're doing is just trying to speed up how quickly that happens. >> So the only reservation I have on this personally is I know over the last five years that there's been a couple times where we have not paid someone because of something. And if I dropped my brain, and I might be wrong on this, but um like the remember the trees behind the sign. I think there was an issue with those. >> Yeah, the Christmas tree. >> Remember that? And then uh the grass out on commons, >> we're like don't pay them until they fix that. Right. So, that's the only things I don't know if you have a rebuttal to that, but >> well, I would add um that anything that's part of like a larger public works project is still going to go through the normal channels for pay requests because those require council approval. So, a lot of times that's at least in my experience so far, that's been the issues that we've had is when you've noticed a portion of a large project that is lagging behind or something or something that needs to be fixed. So, that would still happen the same way. Um I guess on another side if it's a contractor that's working with public works or the city. I mean hopefully we're verifying all that work beforehand. So I would expect that if it was work that the council was already addressing to that point that it would have been more related to a project that was requiring your approval anyway. But um you know I don't know what if you want to add anything. So you can just write out a >> million dollar check with and then we'll sign off after. >> No. Um so the procurement policy would still prevent that. Okay. Um >> so what's that number then? >> That has not changed. So we so we're I think it's maybe a hundred before the council needs to be involved, but it might be less than that. >> Um legally there's still limits on big quote requirements, but >> it was a lot less than that. Well, as uh Leila was just saying, I think it is quite a bit less. Yeah. >> The financial policy. It's on the website. >> Yeah. >> I just want to make sure that first of all, we all know what we're talking about, but also if anybody's watching this later. >> Yeah. I think what Jesse, manager Dixon is working to get to, mayor, members of the council, is that, you know, you see those bid pay requests or those payment requests from Bolton and Bank for those very large sums of money that will still come to you for your formal approval. What we're talking about are the day-to-day expenses. Um I've been doing, you know, uh former uh finance director Iverson's jobs and for the past few months and so I approved those check registers prior to coming to you and I don't think you know when we're talking about many many checks, right? We're often talking about less than $100,000 at any given time. So these are >> total you mean >> total in you know in any one set of invoices. So, you know, this isn't we're not talking about millions of dollars that are getting paid, you know, week over week. We're talking about a couple hundred,000. Much of it, which is liquor store payment. So, a huge portion of this is things that beer, alcohol, and THC that we're purchasing for the liquor store, and those vendors want to be paid on time. >> Sure. >> Yeah. Here's the Got it. So up to $100,000 is what we can write a check for right now and then bring to you over $100,000 does need a council resolution. >> Okay. I was I was thinking the 25. So that's that's where you need the two quotes bids. >> Anything over $5,000 needs two written quotes or an RFP. >> Okay. Well, I'm assuming like with the liquor store, and I think this is kind of a concern that you're bringing up, and I could be wrong, so correct me if I am. Um, if a bill is submitted to the liquor store, it wouldn't just come to Lindsay to be paid, right? It >> the liquor store would need to have a control in place that said, "Yes, I did receive 500 cases of Bud Light." >> Yeah. The bill. >> Yeah. >> I mean, that's what we're assume. >> I just don't want to give a blank check. >> I understand. I I >> no offense to you guys, but you know, just write it off and >> Well, and I don't know that they would take that responsibility either. You know, they want to make sure >> Well, I just think we need to explain what we're talking about here. >> Mayor, members of the council, I think that one thing that was maybe lacking from this presentation is like the journey of an invoice. Um, and so I'm happy to walk us through the journey of an invoice slightly. So, first I will say on the on the HWS side, the Harbor Wine and Spirit side, Ron physically inventories every piece of item that comes into him. I watch him. He physically stands in the cold. I have done this on a day in January. It was miserable. Counting out the beer. He receives an invoice and then he holds that invoice at Harbor Wine and Spirits. >> He typically holds that invoice for a handful of days until it comes up to city hall and is added to the stack of invoices that needs to be paid. I think it's very important to say that any purchase made by the city needs to have one of two things. It either needs to have the invoice when it's less than $5,000, which is all it needs, or over $5,000 with our current policy, it will need to have those two written quotes or the RFP. This is really important for the audit because when the audit comes, which we do an audit every single year, ABDO, our auditors, can pull any purchase. They can pick any invoice out of a hat and tell us, "We want to see the items that come to it that are in alignment with your purchasing policy." So, if they pick an item, an expense that's $10,000, they're going to say, "Provide us with the invoice and provide us with um the two written quotes or the RFP." If we do not do that, it will be a finding on the audit. The auditors will find that. And so, because that is random, we have no idea what they will ever pick. We have to do that for every purchase. And so, with Harbor and Spirits, obviously, that is physical product and inventory that is in the store. the invoice comes to us and it often has to wait in the line and because of the way that we do this, we're quite behind. I would say right now we're playing claims from January still it's March. Um it has to wait behind the line of all the other invoicing. Um when something comes into city hall, again that can be anything from Cintas, which is the public works employees pants, towels, things like that, um to an actual significant purchase for those day-to-day expenses. cell phones, internet, cents, some of those things. They are within the purchasing policy amount. They're either something we have a contract for, have been through this purchasing policy before, and we are just paying those claims regularly. They don't need to go through this policy every single time if we're in a contract with them. So, think our printer, we have a contract for that and then we print paper. We pay that every month. You see that in the check register every month. new things, those higher expenses um are going to have adherence to this policy so that we can have a passing audit. >> Is that more clear? >> That's Yeah, that's good. >> Okay. >> Um and just so you guys know, I don't know if you guys >> you probably don't get calls, but every year I get a call from ABDO >> and I and they ask me, "Do you guys have any do I have any concerns about all the everybody at the city?" I don't You guys don't get those, do you? Um, and we have a call. I just had it just recently here. And, uh, you know, they ask me a bunch of question, like kind of a questionnaire, and then they say, um, do I have concerns? And we talk through it, and it's kind of, you know, ours, or at least my uh, responsibility to kind of make sure that there isn't some goofy stuff. Now, we've had some turnover in our kind of an important department, right? So, they know that obviously. and their annual um you know presentation that they come out you know once a year uh is going to be pushed back a little bit because a lot of turnover um but uh anyway so that's that's a little bit but again the only thing I'd say with that is you know it's a year later right like if something happened in July you know they don't come in until the spring but um I think for for me I think you've explained it better um so I appreciate that >> and Mayor Hull and members if I may also add We have a control in place where departments are reviewing those invoices too. So like they're not um to member Herrick's point, not coming straight to us. They sometimes do come straight to us and then we push them back to the departments for review. So they're getting that extra set of eyes. And then today I had one that came to me that was missing like a whole bunch of information. So I push it back because like we do need to have some basic information to be in line with uh state policies. Um so there are you know like different internal controls in place as well. And I totally understand your feelings. Um, and want everyone to feel good about this. >> Yeah, the number thing that's that was what was missing because I was expecting to see a number on here, but I'm glad you brought that up. So, cool. >> All right. Anybody else? >> I just say thank you for both of you guys, too, for wanting to improve like processes and everything and not just kind of status quo, you know? >> So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And back to your presentation. Good job. And yes, please bring us into the new century. All right. Well, we got a resolution here. 2622. Someone want to make that? >> Okay. >> I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution 26-22, delegating authority for paying certain claims to the city manager. I >> got a motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. >> I. Those opposed. >> All right, that passes. Thank you. >> Love these. Love these new sheets, too. >> Uh, let's see here. 10 announcements. None. 11. Wait, I have a different one. Sorry. 10 announcements. Uh, council member Pew, >> I don't really have anything. >> You don't have any? Okay. >> Yeah. >> Um, see you tomorrow. >> See you tomorrow at >> the capital. Um, council me. >> Uh, yeah. At our planning commission meeting last week, we started the discussion on what we talked about at our joint meeting. Several of the 2026 work plan items for city code consideration updates. And mostly we focused on uh the yard requirements for corner lots which you know in mound there are all kinds of unusual strange comingings and goings with everything. So uh we did identify several concerns and we'll continue the conversation once Sarah and Rita compile kind of the and present us with the information we requested from the planning commission. So that was a good conversation. Um, and then just a reminder that this Saturday, March 14th, is the 15th annual Northwest Tonka Lions Chili Bowl, which is a competition between the Lions and our Mound Fire Department. It's always a lot of fun. Doors open at 11:00 a.m. at the Gillespie Center, and tickets are available online or at the door. Um, advance ticket price is $10, and at the door it's $12. proceeds benefit the Northwest Tonka Alliance who as we all know does plenty to um help our community and Mount. Uh so it goes towards the Lions Club and the organizations that they support which in turn supports Mount. That's all I got. >> All right. Councelor um I don't have anything but thank you to everyone who is going down there tomorrow. I couldn't make it but thank you. Thank you. >> Good luck. right here. >> I don't really have anything, but please thank you for going to St. Paul. >> Yeah. Are you going to the police commission? >> I am not able to attend it. There's no way I can get there and get back out again. >> Okay. And you're not going either. >> In order to make it to St. Paul, it would be very difficult. >> All right. So, you're going to save a seat for me at St. Paul. So, I'll go to the police commission. >> Okay. >> And then I'll I'll have to miss the first speaker, but >> save me a seat. >> You know, I I attended the uh I'll wait for my turn because I have a comment. Oh, uh, well, on the police, uh, we've said this earlier, but our we got the official resignation. I don't know if we we say that last meeting. >> Um, so I'm interested to see what we talk about tomorrow with uh, you know, Mound has a big interest in this as we pay about half a bill. So, >> I saw the preliminary agenda, so >> yeah, >> I didn't have any questions on it, but >> Okay, >> seems pretty straightforward. >> All right, so we have that. Um, I want us to thank uh Ryan and public works and uh coordinating uh they they ripped up uh Beachwood. Um, of course I you live close and I live close and you live >> we got calls about it. Yep. >> It's called the Langden Loop, right? People walk around the the lake and you know we took some trees out there because that's where one of the pipes going to have to go. Some trees is understatement. Lots of trees. Um we used to call it the secret path, but anyway um >> sad looking. >> Yeah. But uh drive over there tomorrow. Um they put in kind of a walking path temporarily. >> Oh. >> So if you're doing the land and loop, you're back on. So thank you for coordinate that. Appreciate it. Um let's see what else I got here. Oh, uh there's going to be a mayor's forum. It's uh April 29th, 6:30 to 8 and um I have all the names. I don't know what cities they are. Uh Mayor Aers, Tonheim, that's uh Orno Wgi, I don't know where where that one's from. McKe Whan Minista meer I think he's Long Lake and Mayor Mullen which is Wisetta. There's a couple I don't know which cities there but um come on out for that. >> Where is it going to be? >> Um hold on. It's called the Northern Lake Minnitankka Mayor's Forum 6:30 to date at Plymouth City Hall in the council chambers. uh 3,400 Plymouth Boulevard, Plymouth, Minnesota 55447. So I confirmed that I'll be there. And then I mean that's a lot of mayors for an hour and a half. So I I need an hour and a half myself. So I don't know how else to talk. >> Is it going to be updating us on all the local neighboring towns or what's the purpose of it? >> Yeah, good question. Uh it says uh typically focus on city planning, development, infrastructure, environment, parks, recreation, public safety, highways, street projects, city government. >> Wow. >> Housing and any federal or state laws impacting your cities >> in an hour and a half. >> Yeah. With gate mayors or whatever. >> Um so yeah, come out >> see that. Um I think that's all I got. We have a fire meeting on Tuesday, right? >> As of right now. >> As of right now. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That's the partnership, right? >> I believe so. >> Okay. So, we'll see if that's still on. >> I would expect an email about that. >> Okay. Well, we might not. The pension thing is still looming. So, >> we'll we'll see if we're there or not, but uh that's all I got. Go ahead. I was just going to mention the police thing is I was at the stuff the bus and I was riding with uh Chief Corey for the better part of the day. So I'm I'm pretty caught up on what he was going to talk about. >> Good. Good. >> Um which was a really cool event. It was Yeah. When they when they stopped everything to call in the second bus, people were like, "What?" And I mean we were unloading that those two buses for like an hour and a half. It was crazy. >> Um you can testify. Mhm. >> Um I would the only thing I was going to mention was you mayor Holt will not be here in two weeks. Um we have been sort of forecasting our agendas and that meeting is as of right now uh void of business. Just curious if the council wants to still meet and I if something pops up of course we would still intend to to attempt to but this would be the moment in time where in the absence of the mayor if you wanted to take a week off we certainly could. >> What um what about what would change that in the meantime? like is there could there be consent agenda items that can't wait or >> as of so we had our uh agenda setting meeting yesterday and as of right now there isn't anything that can't wait. Um I guess I would just say that and certainly if you want to meet we'll just be happy to do it. Uh um but would get you off the hook for being >> Yeah. >> Well, they'll be just more rusty for next time. But I mean I don't want to meet just to meet but I mean >> if we had come up I don't know. Yeah I don't I'm not going to be here. So >> could we be flexible and if things come up we are heard the cats again or I mean >> do we have to formally announce >> we're two weeks out from it. So how do we know that something new might come up to be noticed by a certain date I bet? So, >> but by next Thursday, right? Or two weeks from Wednesday, >> right? Well, is that generally >> it would technically need three days, but these this is a regular meeting that um I would I guess maybe we could keep it on the on here until we cancel it. I mean, it's it's been noticed already as a as a meeting. That's >> how How do you You guys can just cancel it three days ahead of time without us canceling it. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Well, if you don't have any business, then >> so we'll wait till so till the normal um time when you would normally see a council uh agenda come out is when >> or if you know for sure you're going to cancel it, a little pre-notice for it is spring break. So, >> all right, >> we could make a quick decision to go somewhere >> as of the 24th. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Otherwise, have nothing. >> Where are you going? Do you have an update on the state of the city thing? I know we were looking at a date in April, but >> I still have it as the 23rd. >> I just haven't heard anything. So that's why I was Do we have everything under control for that? >> Yes. I think we're still pulling things together as a staff. I probably owe conference ac with some of what we've done, but um that's still the plan. So, >> um, as we're getting closer to April, maybe we'll want to start >> putting things out there. >> Do we want to do like a workshop before our April first April meeting so we kind of all on the same page with what we're going to present two weeks later? >> If we have our agenda kind of in place, it might be nice to just review it. >> Yeah. I won't >> I don't know if we need a meeting. But even if you could send it to us to review and then >> if we had questions, maybe we could call a quick workshop, but >> yeah, >> it seems like things are pretty organized. You're for you it's hard because you have to get up and speak. Oh, you're just such an old at this. >> I'm not a good speaker, but I'll do it. I never said I was good at speaking. >> You do a fine job. >> Yeah. Oh, well. Um, good. >> Yes. >> So, no workshop as of now, but we might might call one if we all feel like we need to talk before the next before the first April meeting. >> That's uh Kasano will be gone this so if you guys don't meet next two weeks from now, he'll be gone the one after. Um, and then well, the other four of us will be. >> All right. All right. If there's nothing else, I'll take a meeting to adjurnn or a motion to adjurnn. Sorry, told you I wasn't that good at >> Motion to adjurnn. >> All right. Uh, can I get a second? Any other discussion? All those in favor, please say I. I. I. All right. We're journ