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[4:28] two good evening welcome to the December 17th 2024 city council meeting the

[4:34] meeting is hereby called to order members of the public May attend the city council meeting in person or may

[4:39] watch and listen remotely by viewing the meeting on Channel 8 WCTV and at the

[4:45] city's website at www.a.org WCTV public comment during the public

[4:52] forum and or public hearing portions of the meeting may be provided in person at the meeting in advance or by logging

[4:59] into the zoom call in raising your hand during the public hearing when your name is called in the meeting you will be

[5:04] seen and heard in our council chambers and the cable channel you will be asked to unmute and then you may begin your

[5:10] comment all public comments must include your full name and address second item on the agenda this evening is the Pledge

[5:17] of Allegiance I would ask everyone who is able to please stand and follow

[5:24] along I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[5:30] Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and

[5:37] justice for

[5:43] all thank you uh next item on the agenda this evening is the roll call let the record reflect that all members of the

[5:49] council are present this evening I'd also like to note that earlier this

[5:55] evening the council participated in a workshop and reviewed and discussed city

[6:00] ordinance 8155 crime-free drug-free training

[6:05] relating to rental dwelling licenses next item is to approve the

[6:11] agenda uh may I have a motion to approve the agenda as is or does anyone care to

[6:16] make any changes i' make a motion to approve as

[6:22] is uh very good I'd like to offer a friendly amendment to that uh motion uh

[6:28] the agenda does state that the council may meet um after the meeting at the mun

[6:35] the mun however is closed this evening and so I'd like to announce that the council will meet at mccormix this

[6:42] evening after the conclusion of the meeting so that is my friendly Amendment uh to this evening's agenda do you

[6:49] accept that uh I would accept that very good thank you is there a

[6:56] second second wonderful um uh so the motion has been first and seconded any

[7:02] further discussion Alex are you buying the first round

[7:09] no all right all those in favor say it should be you uh absolutely not all

[7:15] those in favor say I I I oppose motion passes all right next up this evening we

[7:21] have the public forum as a reminder for those members of the public in attendance tonight who are interested in

[7:27] speaking we ask that you state your name address indicate if you are representing a group and we also ask that you limit

[7:33] your comments to 3 minutes the item you wish to speak about is something that is on this evening's agenda for those that

[7:40] are in person we ask that you fill out a form at the back of the room um and uh

[7:46] hand that form to staff for those that are watching via Zoom please send a note via chat to staff and let them know

[7:52] which item you would like to speak about we also require that your camera is turned on when you speak we have a

[7:59] couple items um on in this evening's public forum the first item is a

[8:05] presentation of exceptional customer service award to mccormix pub and

[8:10] restaurant uh city manager thank you Madame mayor so tonight we have Sarah calbar with us uh she's representing the

[8:18] chamber I think uh president Pearson's is here too um but uh every so often it

[8:26] depends really up upon um their members but uh they award a local business for

[8:33] just providing really exceptional service and uh we're it's no by no

[8:38] coincidence the council's going to meet for drinks at McCormack great reputation in town so very worthy business and uh

[8:45] Miss Cal bear is going to speak a little bit more about them and and how they conduct their business and I think invite a member of mccormix up to the

[8:56] podium thank you city manager mayor council members ladies and gentlemen

[9:01] first and foremost happy holidays this is certainly the time of year that we all smile a little more and we're all a

[9:08] little warmer but that doesn't happen just at this time of year at mccormix at

[9:13] mccormix people are smiling a little brighter a little wider and the atmosphere is always warmer it's a place

[9:20] that if it's the first time you've been there the hundredth time you've been there or exhausted after a city council

[9:26] meeting you will be met with nothing but smiles and exit exeptional service Patty on behalf of business and estate

[9:33] advisers and the wisett West Metro chamber I'd like to present you the exceptional service award for the

[9:39] Fantastic work that your crew does yes

[9:50] please welcome congratulations feel free to say a few words yeah well thank you so much you guys I wasn't planning on

[9:56] speaking but um yeah it's such an honor honor and we're so you know blessed to

[10:02] be part of this community and it's easy to smile you know in this community so

[10:07] yeah thank you so much and thanks for your business tonight well thank you Patty I um I just

[10:14] would like to thank you your family your staff uh for making MC cormack such a

[10:21] special place to come and visit uh you've expanded over the years uh you've

[10:26] made improvements and and every time you've just brought it to a whole another level and so we thank you for

[10:32] that thank you for the great food the great atmosphere and for being such a wonderful part of wisett much you guys

[10:37] thank

[10:54] you thank you congratulations thank you thank you

[11:00] [Applause]

[11:08] right we still have one item under public forum and that is the presentation of the 2024 apwa Minnesota

[11:15] project of the year panaway on wetta Bay City Manager thank you madam mayor uh

[11:21] Public Works director city engineer Mike Kelly is going to introduce this exciting

[11:27] um public um award and and announcement thank you manager doll

[11:34] Madame mayor city council public it's great to be here oh

[11:39] nice um as you guys are aware in October uh the city applied or uh submitted an

[11:46] application for the public works project of the year with the Minnesota chapter of the American public works Association

[11:54] we were notified that we were lucky enough fortunate enough to win one of those projects the project was for our

[12:00] panaway project the structure the lakewalk and the docks um we accepted

[12:06] the project or at least went to the conference and accepted the award on the city's behalf Eric lmy and juk hail

[12:14] representatives of the Minnesota chapter are here they're doing a bit of a road show to uh present Awards to the public

[12:21] to the community and the council uh that made these Awards happen so with that I'll introduce Eric lmy and JW paale

[12:34] good evening mayor members of the council I'm a little put might was my picture up there while I was talking so I'll have to just get through that here

[12:40] on my own my name is jup hail I'm with WSB um I'm a senior director of

[12:45] Municipal Services there and I'm the current president of the Minnesota chapter of American Public Works

[12:50] Association uh I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to be here tonight for our road show as Mike calls

[12:57] it um it's an great opportunity for us to acknowledge a success of you and your team on this project uh and it's an

[13:04] important thing that we do at the chapter uh to accomplish that with with me is Eric lmy he's the chair of our

[13:10] Awards committee he's a principal engineer at stantech buting firm um before I turn over to him to talk about

[13:15] the award a bit more I just want to talk a little bit about the chapter we're 1100 members strong in the state of

[13:21] Minnesota representing public agency employees Consulting Engineers vendors

[13:27] contractors really the entire spect spectrum of Public Works and infrastructure uh Workforce that's out

[13:33] there we offer to our members educational opportunities which leads to

[13:38] certifications and career advancement we provide Forum in terms of conferences and other opportunities to Builder

[13:45] Network share um shared issues and solutions and build that strong

[13:50] relationship to support what we do for our communities um we also uh excuse me uh prepare sustainable

[13:58] Workforce for the public works Arena through student Chapters at the University of Minnesota and St Thomas

[14:05] University uh we have a young professionals Forum where our younger staff can connect with each other and

[14:10] build their own networks and be supportive of folks that are entering their careers and we have a number of

[14:15] initiatives for diversity equity and inclusion so we have a strong sustainable Workforce into the future

[14:21] the last thing I want to talk about for the chapter is what we're here for tonight and that's advocacy we like to be the voice of Public Works in the

[14:27] communities leg legislatur city councils um areas that can talk about the public works and the services we

[14:34] provide recognizing uh our greatness throughout the year in terms of project and Personnel is a very important part

[14:41] of that so once again thank you for allowing us to do that this is our first year with the road shows um for the for

[14:48] our winning projects and Personnel it's been very well received and probably see that going into the future with that

[14:53] I'll turn over to Eric talk a little bit about the award good evening mayor in Council um

[15:00] I'm just going to talk to you real briefly um our apwa Awards committee is made up of

[15:06] about a dozen volunteers within the apwa organization and our job is to really

[15:13] you know we solicit the the nominations which in this case uh Mike and and the

[15:18] team was um so we're thankful that they submitted we go through those evaluate

[15:25] and as you can imagine it's hard to compare one community's project to another and Personnel you know projects

[15:31] do another but often times you know um through the discussion there are certain

[15:37] projects that certainly rise to the top and uh the cities Pana on wisett Bay was

[15:43] one of those projects that stood out uh to our committee and was definitely worthy of an award and just to give a

[15:49] little context to the Council on what in order to be considered I'm just going to

[15:55] read this for you the the criteria that must be met it includes the use of innovative

[16:01] construction management techniques and the completion of the project on schedule um the M maintaining an

[16:08] excellent safety performance and safety program throughout construction evidence of strong

[16:13] community relations during the all project phases consideration given to the environment

[16:20] and sustainable design techniques unusual accomplishment given adverse

[16:26] conditions um provides future value to Public Works profession and the perception to the general public and

[16:33] additional considerations are always given to Value engineering uh Innovative project financing and multi- agency

[16:41] coordination and perception and uh you know this project you of itself you know

[16:46] I can clear you know stand here confidently and tell you that this one checked all those boxes and I see many

[16:52] of you smiling and nodding your heads and I'm sure you agree with that as well um know after the committee evaluated

[16:59] the proposals and reflected and commented on all the project of the Year contenders it was evident that this was

[17:06] the clear winter um and I know um as um

[17:12] as Jeff had reminded me throughout the before the meeting we're not going to bore you with the details of a project

[17:18] you know so well but I'm just going to give you from our perspective what the highlights were

[17:24] that really set this apart from others um you know the city set out with a

[17:30] vision to reconnect uh the community with its most you know arguably its most

[17:35] important asset um that being Lake menaka you know and that was certainly no small feat considering you had a

[17:41] railroad that had been there for over 150 years kind of um standing in the way of that

[17:47] Vision um this project um truly was

[17:52] transformational in reconnecting the community um that was by cut out from a

[17:59] large section of the lakefront you know it really stood out to us by that it focused on creating a safe and

[18:05] accessible Waterfront and prioritizing pedestrians over Vehicles which isn't something you see every day in urban

[18:12] Redevelopment projects um the first phase uh along Lake Street

[18:19] did more than just reconstruct um roadways and utilities the improvements were very intentional from what we saw

[18:27] by creating a public Realm and large Open Spaces that serve a diverse User Group the first phase also

[18:34] converted in the parking lot into that large Lakefront uh Plaza as well as a

[18:41] personal favorite of M of mine uh it extended and enhanced the Regional Trail

[18:47] um in addition you know going back to those adverse conditions this all happened during uh Global pandemic that

[18:55] all of us were facing how do we deliver projects in that challenging time but this team managed to keep everything on

[19:01] track and deliver that first phase successfully and just real briefly back to that uh um that trail par that I

[19:10] mentioned um that sidebar if I may the Dakota Regional Trail is uh my favorite

[19:15] Trail in all the Metro um my wife and I routinely come here we live in Eden

[19:21] Prairie we drive up excuse me drive up to wetta and and uh stop there prior to

[19:27] the project you know you know um previously was hard to really find and

[19:33] navigate and you know at times a bit clunky um but now the improvements make

[19:39] that such a more pleasurable experience for us to come from our community to yours enjoy you know the restaurants and

[19:47] shops after we get done with our biking trip so that's just enough about me and back to why I'm here but I just wanted

[19:52] to let you know from an outsider that's what I see this community also doing um

[19:58] the second phase you guys really double down on your efforts to reconnect the community with the water um you really

[20:05] focused on that Lake Front Walk and Community docks um the project you know

[20:11] some of that other criteria the project really focused on the environment and the sustainable design

[20:17] in its creation of the boardwalk um in additionally um we we

[20:26] recognize that you know this is a large capital expense that needs to be protected and it was very well thought

[20:32] out um and for those like myself and jup that have delivered public projects and

[20:38] have that have involved railroads understand there's unique challenges that arise in those certain

[20:45] conditions um but it was evident through your partnership and collaboration um

[20:51] wetta and BNSF were able to include train activated pedestrian gates which

[20:57] greatly improved safety to the new Lakeside amenities you created and it is our understanding at

[21:04] least um in you know in talking to Mike that partnership also allowed the contractor to carefully use parts of the

[21:10] railroad right away to construct and set parts of the boardwalk um the committee also

[21:17] acknowledged the extraordinary amount of public Outreach that you did in collaboration with business owners

[21:23] residents Conservatory members Boat Owners commercial operators

[21:29] and representatives of state and environmental permitting agencies throughout All Phases of the

[21:35] project and uh lastly we know that projects like this don't happen without

[21:41] great support from the community and you as its leaders and its project Partners

[21:47] um it was truly remarkable to see um all the success of you being able

[21:54] to communicate the city's vision for this $23 million Pro to other

[21:59] stakeholders and to create that attractive financing model from six different funding sources and remarkably

[22:06] $2 million coming in private funding I mean this project in and of itself

[22:12] really serves as a role model for future Public Works projects for what's possible for a well executed Community

[22:20] um minded driven planning process multi-agency coordination and coupled

[22:27] with creative engineering Construction Construction

[22:32] techniques um so with that on behalf of the Minnesota chapter of apwa I'm proud

[22:38] to present you with the project of the Year award in the structures category for the Pana and wi Bay um thank you

[22:47] again for allowing us to be here and congratulations on your award

[22:53] [Applause]

[23:00] thank you very much thank you thank

[23:17] you I don't know who's going to hang this up in whose office Mike I think you probably should put it in your office

[23:23] I'll take that I will yes okay on behalf of the entire team that did this thank

[23:29] you very much well my actually I wanted to thank you Mike I you have been an

[23:35] integral part of uh not only the city but as director of Public Works and our

[23:42] head engineer um instrumental in getting this project along with so many other

[23:47] staff members but uh welld deserved and thank you for seeing this through and

[23:53] getting us our first award I know we'll have many more to come I hope so all right thanks thank you

[23:59] [Applause]

[24:06] it's always a fun night when we get to congratulate people and then get Awards too I think so all right um do we have

[24:14] anybody on Zoom do we have any other public forum comments Madam mayor we do not okay then we'll keep moving on um

[24:22] next agenda item are for new agenda items it's an opportunity for members of

[24:28] the Council to suggest um an item for discussion at a later date does anybody

[24:34] have anything no okay then we'll move on to the consent agenda and this evening

[24:40] uh we have a few items I'll go ahead and read through those approval of the city council workshop and regular meeting

[24:46] minutes of December 3 2024 approval of the check register appr approval of

[24:51] Municipal licenses receipt of the police activity report receipt of the building activity

[24:57] report acceptance of w Zetta action plan report approval of the 2025 to 2034

[25:06] Capital Improvement plan approval of community room and cable TV studio use

[25:11] agreement with Lake minaka Conservation District for 2025 approval of the second reading of

[25:17] adoption of ordinance 844 amending city code section 506 507 603 and 604 for

[25:25] food pool and lodging adoption of resolution 59-22 approving joint and Cooperative

[25:32] agreement for purchasing of self-contained breathing apparatus for the fire department and

[25:39] lastly adoption of resolution 60-2244 amending the 2025 Fe schedule for

[25:44] special event and demolition permits uh members of the council do any of you

[25:50] have any questions of any of those items or wish to pull one for further discussion yes I would like to comment

[25:57] on it item G microphone your microphone I would like to comment on

[26:03] item G if possible and it can doesn't have to be the second but certainly why don't you go ahead so Capital

[26:10] Improvement plan um there's I guess two meetings throughout the year where we kind of go through the capital

[26:16] Improvement plan and it's $47 million and um we're approving it tonight it's a

[26:23] living document um it's something that we'll constantly read us and address but

[26:30] I do think that um maybe in the New Year we spend some time going through and

[26:35] really understanding the Tiff five and the Tiff six so that we know and we're maximizing those resources out of that

[26:42] those tiffs to be able to use them to the places that um you know might

[26:47] benefit other things like you know the the sidewalk and the parking lot at at

[26:53] uh clap Bridge Park it might help us further other um programs and and things

[26:59] that we're trying to do we don't have full funding for so I guess I would just like to see us as a council spend a

[27:05] little bit of time uh addressing that in the new year when we have the new mayor

[27:11] and get his opinion on it and we can um kind of really dig a little deeper and

[27:18] understand what's planned and what's really necessary and maybe with five

[27:23] Minds in the room or how many ever are there we can maybe um be a little more

[27:29] efficient with our City's dollars that's all I want to say yeah I appreciate that uh point of clarification are you

[27:37] looking to discuss Tiff or the capital Improvement plan or how to use Tiff for

[27:43] the capital Improvement plan yes all the above yeah okay um because some of the

[27:48] items you mentioned we can't use Tiff four I'm by State Statute there are some

[27:56] limitations but I don't think any of us other councils at least I don't

[28:02] understand where where the where the gray lines are because I'm sure there's some and maybe you know is there places

[28:10] in the community that could benefit from those Tiff funds can we make choices can you know I think we just need to have

[28:17] some trade-offs so um tip five and

[28:22] six so I think definitely going through the cips um in detail makes sense are do

[28:28] we have tip five and six committed Madam mayor we we we uh work

[28:34] with our Consultants on a tiff cash flow every year um that ultimately updates

[28:40] the amount of increment that's generated and it Compares it with the obligations

[28:46] that the each of the districts have so it changes but ultimately they're do they are more successful than we thought

[28:52] they were going to be so every year warrants a discussion it's been a couple

[28:57] since we we've had uh like a a specific Workshop dedicated to the current status so we talked uh internally today uh

[29:05] myself and Deputy city manager AER about incorporating that that process into this year's budget or 20 2026 in 2025

[29:15] the budget process and doing that um on an annual basis into the future okay now back to my question yeah

[29:24] um are tip five and six committed based on the projections that we received from

[29:30] our consultant yeah I guess I'm not sure what you mean by committed money

[29:36] spent are are are they completely uh are the obligations um uh

[29:45] take up all of the increment that's being generated that's what you're saying spent um we do have X we will

[29:53] have no there there is room and that that changes every year and um um there

[29:58] will we were really close on six exactly and that was just like a a year and a half ago yeah like we were right pushing

[30:06] it yeah okay but it's doing better than we had anticipated so okay it warrants like like you're mentioning in update um

[30:13] to to let you know where we're at and what are the possibilities fantastic so it sounds like staff is considering

[30:20] putting those conversations incorporating that into the budgetary discussion cycle yep and yeah just make

[30:28] sure there's enough time set aside Workshop or otherwise to sort of get dig

[30:33] in a little deeper this what I'm hoping for perfect we'll do

[30:39] that all right uh any other questions no uh SCBA Cooperative

[30:48] agreement uh will there be some applications for

[30:54] grants that go out is that the an item that typically will get either through

[31:01] the state or other mechanisms reimbursement for monies on

[31:08] protective equipment PPE for fire Madame mayor a deputy city manager Jagger can

[31:15] best respond to that yeah so we've actually applied for that Grant the last three or four years and have not been

[31:20] successful and unfortunately um the scbas need to be replaced this year so

[31:27] we won't be able to wait another Grant cycle um but that has been the plan and we've been actively applying for that I

[31:33] think three or four years in a row very good okay thank you uh seeing that there

[31:40] are no other questions may have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented so moved Madame mayor and

[31:47] second second further discussion all those in favor say I I I I oppose motion

[31:54] passes we will move on to new business and the first item under new

[31:59] business is to consider adoption of resolution 57224 certifying to the county auditor

[32:06] the final property tax levy for taxes payable 2025 and Adoption of resolution

[32:13] 58-22 approving the final 2025 budget city manager thank you Madame mayor

[32:19] Deputy city manager Jagger is going to walk us through this item this was presented at the last council meeting

[32:26] through the truth and Taxation hearing so this version might be a little bit more concise since this is the second

[32:32] time but feel free to answer questions uh as you have them very good thank you good evening good evening thank you

[32:39] Madame mayor and Council well like manager do mentioned um this is kind of the second presentation of this we went

[32:45] over it um at the last council meeting but um for the audience um I want to

[32:51] just make sure that we cover enough of what the council's voting on tonight um so the budget process starts um all the

[32:58] way back in June and at the staff level even earlier so it's a very long process of review going through to set the

[33:04] preliminary and then uh preliminary Levy and then whittling that down to your

[33:10] action tonight um which is to consider um that final property tax levy and final budget and um Capital Improvement

[33:17] plan which was just approved um at a high level overview our total Consolidated 2025 budget is proposed to

[33:24] be about $24 million about 38% % of that is the general fund about 37% for the

[33:31] liquor fund and 20% of that for utility funds on the revenue side of things um

[33:37] we're projecting revenues at about $22.5 million with 43% of that coming from

[33:44] charges for services things like planning charges every time you purchase items at Wine and Spirits or the bar and

[33:51] grill um that's Revenue that comes into the city um 30% of that uh revenue is

[33:57] from property taxes and about 18% of that is utility related

[34:02] charges diving more into the general fund um Revenue budget uh we spend a lot

[34:07] of time on the general fund specifically since that's what most folks think of when they think of a city budget this is

[34:13] the fund that supports kind of core city services police fire Parks things like

[34:20] that um so the general fund Revenue budget is about $9.2 million with 70% of

[34:26] that Revenue coming from taxes is followed by 10% to charges for services and 8% from licenses and permits we are

[34:34] proposing a balanced budget so our general fund expenditures for next year are also at about $9.2 million the

[34:41] biggest part of that about 39% of that is for police services 23% for

[34:46] administration and general government 12% for our public works department 12

[34:51] for Parks and Recreation um 8% for Community Development Services five for for um the

[34:58] fire department and about 2% for Capital outlay overall this year's budget had

[35:04] three budget goals the first to invest in public safety personnel the second to implement strategic plan initiatives and

[35:11] the third to minimize the impact on residence and you'll see some of these come back and what are some of the

[35:17] budget drivers for this year but the main action item tonight is to consider that property tax levy um when you look

[35:24] at the 6.4 million needed for the general fund budget about 500,000 needed for City infrastructure streets and

[35:31] Equipment things like that um our total proposed property tax levy is about $6.9 million or about a

[35:38] 7.75% increase over 2024 and that redu that's actually a

[35:43] reduction of about $61,000 from the preliminary budget or about a 1%

[35:49] decrease um for folks at home you might be wondering why did the levy increase this year what's driving that increase

[35:56] um the first is investments in it and Technology that's tied to some of our strategic plan initiatives um we're

[36:02] increasing both there's increased costs and an expanded scope for our Managed IT services we're adding additional

[36:08] resources for cyber security and implementing a new phone system

[36:14] Citywide on uh the next budget driver was to invest in employee compensation

[36:20] not just in terms of cost of living adjustments but making Market increases in our Union contracts to pay our

[36:26] employees compare comp competitively with the market um and newly was to

[36:31] include a recruitment and retention incentive for our police officers um in the climate where it is now the

[36:37] competition for police officers is really high so we want to make sure that we retain the great officers that we

[36:42] have and when we have openings that we're attracting the best of the best and the last driver was adding some

[36:50] Public Safety employees so we're actually going to add another police officer starting in second quarter and

[36:55] we did increase hours for our Police Department record staff and community service officers to help provide

[37:02] additional summer support when folks look at their property tax statement um I do want to

[37:09] clarify too that when they look at their statement overall that includes all taxing jurisdictions but what the

[37:15] council can control is just the city portion of property taxes which is about 19% of our residents Total Property Tax

[37:23] Bill historically um the city's been very fiscally responsible ible and Levy

[37:28] increases that are either comparable or significantly below our peers this year

[37:34] we're slightly above average but historically we've been well below the average of our surrounding cities and

[37:41] because of that we've seen that we have a lower than average um tax rate so even

[37:46] though we'll have um a property tax increase next year and our tax rate will rate will increase slightly to 19.64%

[37:54] compared to many other communities around us and on the lake um we're still below average for our tax rate and what

[38:02] that means is that for the same value home you would pay less in taxes here than you would in one of these other

[38:08] communities so as an example for a million dooll house in y Zetta you would

[38:13] pay about $2,200 in city property taxes that same valued home in Shorewood would pay about

[38:19] $2,500 so trying to give a good value for public service and tracking that

[38:25] metric um thinking more about the impact on our residents um obviously it it

[38:30] varies depending on how much of person's individual home value changed from year to year but if someone's home value

[38:37] increased about 5% next year they would pay about $162 more in city taxes than they did in

[38:44] 2024 and if their values stayed about the same they'd pay about $47 more next year than they did this

[38:50] year so I'm happy to answer any questions but we'll be looking for two motions tonight the first to certify the

[38:56] property tax tax levy and the second to approve the budgets wonderful uh thank you Miss Jer uh questions of

[39:05] Staff anyone no I just one Alex those people

[39:11] that were paying close attention they might have noticed that the Consolidated budget of 24 million was about a million

[39:19] half dollars higher than the Consolidated Revenue just for the purposes of public can you maybe address

[39:25] that yeah absolutely I'm happy to um so included in many of our Enterprise budgets are also one-time Capital

[39:32] expenditures so you know we save up for those purchases over a number of years so it's it's okay that those revenues

[39:38] and expenditures in that one given year aren't the same thank you very

[39:44] good well um again as you demonstrated uh this is a long process

[39:51] this is not uh something that comes about lightly uh there are many many many meetings over six months to get to

[39:58] the point where we are today uh and there's been a lot of whittling down too from the preliminary

[40:05] which always gets everybody's attention when the county sends out their statements uh and this is a difference

[40:12] of approximately how many percentage points about 1% like 0.96% lower than

[40:18] the preliminary Levy okay and um yeah I mean we have uh as a council we have

[40:26] been working hard hard to push staff uh to um to invest in the places where it's

[40:33] necessary to invest um for a long time those Investments were not made um they

[40:40] we had to to pull back uh and so over the course of the last few years uh

[40:46] we've been committed to to making those Investments to our infrastructure um to

[40:52] our um to our employees as well

[40:58] uh and listening to the residents and what they said has been important uh

[41:04] which um we can all appreciate and have tremendous support for and that's for um

[41:10] our police um officers and in public safety so um all right as staff

[41:18] mentioned uh we do have two U motions that need to be made the first uh I'd be

[41:25] looking for a motion to adopt resolution 57224 certifying to the county auditor

[41:31] the final property tax levy for taxes payable in

[41:38] 2025 I'll make that motion Madam mayor thank you in a second second further discussion yeah I just like to make the

[41:45] observation there some people might look at our budget growth and say that you know it's tracking higher than inflation

[41:52] has but uh what people fail to recognize that we are a robust growing community

[41:58] and uh we care about things like Public Safety and so the money that we're investing is truly to make the the

[42:05] community the community the people want if we were just to raise uh taxes by uh

[42:10] inflation rates we would actually diminish the city I believe so I just want people to know that that we looked

[42:16] long and hard at these numbers and and they make sense thank you for that Alex anybody else yes Ken yeah um Madame

[42:24] mayor just uh to um emphasize that also um you know I think it's good to point

[42:30] out that our city is in a very strong financial position and and that's not by accident a AAA Bond rating is not normal

[42:37] for a city our size uh and our practice of funding ahead for projects is a

[42:44] little unusual also allows us not to bond and spend money on on on interest

[42:52] um and I also um add a similar thought to uh councilman imp plesic I mean we I

[42:59] think people in our community are used to a high quality of service and uh this

[43:04] allows us to continue uh our our um our dealing with uh not just the fact that

[43:12] um we have inflation but and that but and our population stay the same but we have a lot more people in town now and a

[43:18] lot more costs associated with that uh it allows us to uh retain I think the

[43:24] best talent around and um and uh also just to to point out um our

[43:31] budget does not include general fund money for future phases of panway um so we have had a lot of

[43:38] discussion about the budget and I think we've had even more discussion about moving ahead or we can be even more

[43:45] helpful to um city and staff about how how we manage manage the budget but I'm

[43:51] very supportive of of the resolution wonderful thank you all right uh so

[43:57] we've have a first and a second we've had additional discussion any all right all those in

[44:04] favor say I I oppose that motion passes uh and the next motion uh I would

[44:12] entertain is to adopt resolution 58-22 approving the final 2025

[44:20] budgets so move Madam mayor thank you and a second second further discussion

[44:27] all those in favor say I I opposed motion passes as well you know I just uh

[44:33] before we move on to the next item on the agenda I do want to uh emphasize one

[44:39] of the items that council member ton just mentioned with regard to uh the

[44:44] meetings and the discussions we've had over time uh and in this coming year um

[44:51] so starting may I believe is that when we're going to start the city will start

[44:57] new discussions look at me I was saying we um it's gonna be you even be as early as March Yeah March or April okay so

[45:04] we're the city is starting even earlier it's going to take a while to get used to that um so I

[45:12] encourage the community don't just wait till the statement comes out you have from March to

[45:19] about when when did those statements come come out September September labor

[45:25] yeah yeah they're based on the preliminary budget which is set in September come watch a workshop see how the sausage is made

[45:33] yeah and there are many many opportunities lovely all right uh we are

[45:40] still in new business and this is our second item for consideration that is uh

[45:46] to consider approval of the first reading of ordinance

[45:52] 845 to amend part five Municipal licenses and part nine zoning ordinance

[45:59] to regulate cannabis businesses and I must say we're so lucky I know my Roman

[46:05] numerals I would have been very confused all right city manager impressive we're

[46:11] GNA miss that about you I know I know just don't make them too long because then I get all right her flx um thank

[46:18] you Madame mayor uh our consultant planers wber is going to walk through this uh this is going to be somewhat of

[46:24] an abbreviated presentation because this item was tabled at the December 3rd meeting you can see the the date there

[46:32] um uh so we have some updates we're going to kind of recap the where we're

[46:37] at and the discussion that's needed um but hopefully we're we're ready to move forward with some kind of action tonight

[46:44] but with that I'd ask um Consultants wber to uh start the presentation uh

[46:49] thank you city manager and thank you city council uh and mayor so as a city

[46:56] manager doll stated um we're going to move to the buffers uh talk about a a

[47:03] few different ways to evaluate those buffers and then um evaluate three items

[47:09] that we uh discussed at the last council meeting so to begin with this is the

[47:14] buffer map that the Planning Commission uh seen at their meeting during their

[47:19] public hearing we're calling this the maximum allowed buffer distances because

[47:25] uh the this is the maximum distance that we can have a buffer from these various

[47:32] facilities that's listed in the legend essentially on the right schools we

[47:37] could buffer up to 1,000 ft and then there's a list of residential treatment facilities parks with youth amenities

[47:44] playgrounds and daycares that could be buffered up to 500 square ft and then

[47:50] the list of um commercial zones that allow retail are there of C2 C3 C4 c4a

[47:59] and c4b um since we removed the slide I would just point out that the Planning

[48:05] Commission recommended allowing retail cannabis retail businesses in the C2 C3

[48:12] and c3a so they did not recommend uh allowing the Cannabis retail businesses

[48:19] in the C4 c4a and c4b which is predominantly our downtown so we are talking about the

[48:26] maximum allowed distances but the two footnotes we have

[48:31] there is um you know how we're applying those distances so first Big Woods and

[48:38] Heritage Park are not included in the buffers because those do not have

[48:43] programming um aimed towards youth so it is specific in the state statute that

[48:50] the setac is from parks with youth amenities and then second uh in the case

[48:56] of the Retreat the uh buffer is measured from the building Edge not the property

[49:04] boundary um this is a blow up of Yetta Boulevard with those same buffers uh

[49:11] trying to show with that area photo of the buildings and and essentially which properties are available uh so those

[49:18] would be the former gas station or actually the the recently removed former

[49:23] gas station the dry cleaner and photography shop there at Central Avenue in wetta Boulevard it would be the

[49:30] Western half of Colonial Square and then on the south side of wetta Boulevard um

[49:37] the medical building the building that has Bank and US Bank uh on the West

[49:43] Side would be available a number of the buildings along the South Side wisett a Boulevard

[49:50] um kind of in the middle of that stretch are um within the buffer for the retreat

[49:56] so those would not be available and then you'd see uh where the McDonald's is the bpcast station and the dental business

[50:04] would be available and then was shown on the previous map uh there are three commercial businesses north of Highway

[50:11] 12 and east of Gleason Lake that were not shown at our last meeting uh there was

[50:18] discussion that the treatment center the retreat was um treated using treatment a

[50:25] lot here was treated different ly than the other uses uh so it was asked what would the

[50:31] map look like if for the retreat property we measured from the property

[50:37] boundary like the other uses and this is the map that's shown obviously it's

[50:43] larger I'm going to uh go to the next slide which is um the area photo so it

[50:50] reduces the number of of existing buildings that would be

[50:55] available for um a possible cannabis retail business and that would be again

[51:01] the removed gas station dry cleaner photography shop there at Central Avenue

[51:06] in Yetta Boulevard it would be only the very far western edge of Colonial Square

[51:14] and then Huntington bank and then Min the Lake minona Dental

[51:20] um that would be the the only existing buildings that would be available um

[51:28] along this portion of wetta Boulevard the three commercial businesses north of Highway 12 and east of gleon Road would

[51:35] be um would be available as well this was the buffer map that was included in

[51:42] the motion at our last meeting but uh failed because we did not get three

[51:47] positive votes at our last meeting we were also asked to evaluate bus stops which were

[51:55] an issue that the Planning Commission raised uh they did not um include that

[52:00] in their PC report and recommendation just uh that the city council is aware of it and consider it so the the mauve

[52:08] circles are the locations of the bus stops um internally our leadership team

[52:16] um including um the police department Community Development Administration um considered bus stops

[52:23] and and we're reluctant to include includ those as buffers for the bullet points that we've included here uh bus

[52:31] stop locations change over time as the student population change so those are the bus stops there today but there

[52:38] might not be uh those same locations in the future um there are also very few Homes

[52:45] located near the properties that are available for um the Cannabis

[52:52] businesses um it was difficult to determine if we had this buffer since

[52:58] the state statute doesn't specifically uh call out school bus stops what an appro buffer would be and

[53:06] then we did evaluate neighboring communities cannabis regulations and none of those communities include um a

[53:14] use that is not specifically listed in the state statute so we would be unique

[53:20] if we included bus stop locations in our buffer map

[53:26] a few other things that uh have come to light since our last meeting is the retreat did uh submit a comment letter

[53:33] expressing concern about a cannabis retail business located in Colonial Square would like to point out

[53:42] um whichever buffer map we choose uh with a 500 foot limitation on

[53:49] uses other than schools we wouldn't be able to completely remove all of

[53:55] colonial School Square we could reduce it but we couldn't completely remove it

[54:01] and then finally um there was a question about whether a temporary cannabis event

[54:07] was a business and therefore must uh observe the buffers uh we did get a

[54:13] response from the league of Minnesota City's legal team that uh an event is a

[54:18] business and the buffers would apply and that applies uh as the ordinance is

[54:25] written uh so we haven't proposed any changes from our last meeting because

[54:30] that was the message from the league of Minnesota city that it is a business and the buffers would apply to those

[54:36] temporary cannabis events so um you know we are asking for

[54:42] the approval of the first reading because we do have a moratorium that expires um at the end of the year and we

[54:49] want to get these regulations adopted as close to that expiration as possible so

[54:55] the proposed motion would be to approve the first reading of ordinance 845 and

[55:02] with that I would stand for any questions you may have okay very good thank you uh

[55:08] questions Council yeah yeah I do counc member

[55:14] perill okay so you just said let me make sure my you just said that uh if we

[55:20] Chang the buffers for the retreat to the lot line instead of the building we

[55:25] still could not completely eliminate Colonial Square is that because it the 500 ft doesn't extend all the way over

[55:33] or correct this map is the 500t buffer from the property line it eliminates a

[55:40] very large portion of Colonial Square but essentially the um three or four

[55:47] leas spaces on the west end of Colonia Square uh wouldn't wouldn't fall in that

[55:53] 500t buffer and neither would the existing Huntington Bank building okay

[55:59] so my second question is my understanding is that um we

[56:08] cannot legislate or Zone all of the

[56:15] um we can't buffer out everything even if even if there were places that we

[56:21] have to allow some certain amount of retail to be able to sell cannabis

[56:28] correct we cannot eliminate all properties with eliminate all properties so how do we I mean what percent is it

[56:35] or number of properties um I you know

[56:40] the city hasn't made a decision if we're going to be in that business or not so you

[56:45] know and whether we want to control that so to speak since we're you know I don't

[56:52] think any of us well at least I know I don't I wish we weren't dealing with this at all but

[56:59] [Music] um I think we need to make sure that we're complying with the law and how

[57:05] much that how much how many spaces we're allowing because it looks like there's like five or six you know and if we do

[57:14] the 500 radius from the building in Toad the lot line it might be six or seven

[57:21] right you're correct I I think there's a few more than that um mostly because of

[57:28] um in the case of here uh we have three or four spaces available in Colonial

[57:35] Square they currently are all occupied by the J Salon but in the past they've been uh multiple businesses there are

[57:43] actually two businesses in um the Lake

[57:48] minaka Dental Building so we are talking about uh spaces available for lease we

[57:55] not NE talking about buildings so um you know even though we have a limited

[58:01] amount of buildings we have more spaces in that and then if we were at the previous map like the space where uh the

[58:09] Bank is there's I believe at least another three businesses in that same

[58:16] building today so that one building could have four different spots available

[58:22] okay are we running the risk of making the boundaries to too tight according to the state I guess is my ultimate

[58:29] question we had that discussion with the city attorney previously and um I don't

[58:35] want to put words in his mouth but uh he didn't object but maybe the City attorney could state that himself if he

[58:45] wishes um mayor and council member you know the the statute doesn't set a

[58:50] percentage doesn't set a number um so this is really I think we need to on

[58:56] staff's expertise about what what's a good case that we could make uh with

[59:01] with the buffers and the zoning changes that if you are a cannabis business you

[59:06] have a license from the state um you have options of locating in y Zetta um

[59:13] so I think we could make a case with both Maps I think the case is easier

[59:18] with the map that was first presented but I think for the record I would say

[59:23] we could make a case with both Maps Adam mayor I agree they're both I think they're both compliant with state law

[59:33] okay further questions thank you uh Treatment Center inclusion in terms of

[59:41] uh creating a buffer from the treatment center is

[59:47] the is that similar to schools is that part of the state statute okay and but they don't

[59:55] differentiate between building versus property line correct

[1:00:02] and that's been a discussion point with the office of cannabis management and with the neighboring communities and

[1:00:09] associations that that uh uh support them that yes it's it's up to each

[1:00:15] community and looking at our neighboring communities um different communities have chosen different boundaries some

[1:00:22] have chosen the property some have chosen the footprint of the building so

[1:00:28] um our neighboring communities have taken that flexibility and kind of made their own choice on what to use for the

[1:00:38] boundary have we received any further information from The Operators of the

[1:00:44] treatment um facility who have been absolutely phenomenal um community

[1:00:50] members but I admittedly don't know you know how long is when a resident there for um are

[1:00:58] they able to leave the premises um without supervision during the course of

[1:01:04] that treatment all of those would play and I didn't think to ask that

[1:01:10] question um when the city manager and I met yesterday to review the items on the

[1:01:16] agenda but that would impact my um

[1:01:22] immediate leaning one way or the other Madame mayor I'm kind of guessing uh

[1:01:29] plard waer doesn't know either but uh to to that level of detail I'm not sure uh

[1:01:34] but I know just based off the narrative from the the president of the retreat that he was very concerned uh

[1:01:42] about um you know dispensary opening up within you know the neighboring property

[1:01:48] or in close proximity so I would guess that there's some that they have some

[1:01:53] flexible you know uh living arrangements where they could uh the residents would

[1:01:59] be in close proximity if a dispensary um would open up nearby if I could expand the the the

[1:02:07] letter doesn't State specifically the questions that you asked but they did state that um to date they've treated

[1:02:14] over 13 sorry 33,000 uh residents so um you know it

[1:02:22] quite a few in a relatively small building and then uh while they don't

[1:02:28] State whether um they're allowed as part of their treatment to leave the property

[1:02:34] they do state that a cannabis store right next door uh would lead to an

[1:02:39] increase in Temptation and a risk of relapse and that was for next the

[1:02:46] property directly adjacent to them so the Eastern edge of why is that a

[1:02:53] Boulevard they have uh they've they've cited the Colonial

[1:02:58] Square um their statement in their opening paragraph Was

[1:03:04] uh I'm writing to express my concerns regarding the potential placement of a cannabis store next door in Colonial

[1:03:12] Square so the letter was specific to Colonial Square okay but they didn't

[1:03:17] Express concerns about where the Holiday gas station is located which is also

[1:03:25] jent we have properties over there or across the street from the

[1:03:31] retreat their letter was specific col Colonial Square but you know there statements of um you know a cannabis uh

[1:03:40] store right next door presents those same problems but the property that they

[1:03:45] cited specifically was Colonial Square okay all right thank you any other

[1:03:54] questions all right uh seeing there are no questions from the council

[1:04:02] uh guess I'll bring it back to all of you and get your thoughts in the direction that uh you're

[1:04:09] looking to take this Madam mayor yes please it's my favorite

[1:04:16] topic uh so I'll start by saying I really hate the fact that we even have to be dealing with this I think that was

[1:04:23] a a very misguided State legislation but here we are we have to uh and as I

[1:04:28] stated at our last meeting you know we had series of buffer zones in our map uh

[1:04:34] all of which were consistent with the 500 yard or whatever the number was from the property line except when it came to

[1:04:41] the retreat which to me was crazy because if there's one spot in a city we would want to maximize the buffer that

[1:04:48] would be it and uh and therefore I brought up the whole property line issue and and since then since that meeting uh

[1:04:55] the retreat sent us the letter you've made reference to it but I would like to read two paragraphs out of this page and

[1:05:01] a half letter to put it in the record for people to hear it says uh in one

[1:05:06] part here the journey to recovery is fraught with challenges and exposure to the very substances that these

[1:05:13] individuals are striving to avoid can significantly hinder their progress the

[1:05:18] presence of a cannabis store right next door to the retreat will certainly lead to increased Temptation and risk of

[1:05:25] relapse ultimately jeopardizing the health and safety of those we serve and

[1:05:31] then another paragraph the the pl pleading here I respectfully request that you consider an alternative

[1:05:38] location for this cannabis retail shop that is further removed from the retreat

[1:05:43] by doing so we can continue to offer a safe and supportive environment for

[1:05:48] those seeking to rebuild their lives free for mood altering substance use and

[1:05:54] anecdotally I have a group that I attend every Saturday morning and U two Saturdays ago at the end of our general

[1:06:01] meeting is uh a man who normally is talkative he could tell was something

[1:06:07] bothering him and uh and this has nothing to do with our legislation or anything but he admitted that he was

[1:06:14] struggling deeply with cannabis and it was a problem for the family for him personally and that I know it's

[1:06:20] anecdotal but this is real this thing that the state is forcing on is real and it is a problem

[1:06:27] so I see no reason why we shouldn't expand the buffer to be the maximum that it is for this particular situation with

[1:06:34] regard to bus stops I think we could be opening ourselves up there because it does move around a bit but in my case

[1:06:40] I'd like to see buffer zones for that I don't think that would pass the council here but my personal opinion is we ought

[1:06:45] to implement bus buffer zones for bus stops too and if you looked at the if you pull that up then the map that had

[1:06:51] the little I think you called it mauve uh bullets there um PE you know kids get off those buses

[1:06:59] and if they get off and they're looking at a cannabis store right where they're where they are I think that's a problem I understand that these things can move

[1:07:06] around but we're talking about our kids we're talking about safety so I would actually prefer to see buffers for those

[1:07:13] as well but at a minimum I think we need to increase the buffer to the maximum allowed for the retreat and then we're

[1:07:20] not pushing the limit the state has said that we can do this they've G given us specific guidelines so I don't see that

[1:07:26] we'd be in any trouble here with the state so uh what I would like to see is that the motion include the maximum

[1:07:32] buffer zone that we can apply thank you thank you uh who would like to speak

[1:07:38] next anybody sure um well I think as we think about

[1:07:44] this it's uh good to kind of just take a step back and just acknowledge that this

[1:07:50] is going to be a New Journey for the state of Minnesota and for our community here um um and you'd have to say it's

[1:07:58] it's gotten off to something less than a smooth start at the state level with the issues they've had with the lottery um

[1:08:05] and I think if you look closely at the minutes of the last Planning Commission meeting there was a lot of question

[1:08:11] about about this um I think the point of all that is that um there's still a lot

[1:08:18] of uncertainty I think in most people's mind uh this is a issue that's new to

[1:08:24] all of us uh and because of that it warrants uh us to be very cautious in

[1:08:29] moving ahead um we can always I think adjust buffers and issues later right um

[1:08:39] and the other thing I'd say is uh it doesn't from my perspective and people I've who brought this up to me or maybe

[1:08:46] I brought the topic up in the community there doesn't seem to be an overwhelming support for anything other

[1:08:54] than a this be careful as we move ahead with this issue uh The Retreat letter to

[1:09:01] me is something that is Meaningful and again warrants a very cautious

[1:09:07] approach um the bus stops and maybe just um the bus stop

[1:09:14] map uh that was just Public Public Schools so there's other private school

[1:09:22] bus stops in the community I believe that are aren't here I guess that said

[1:09:27] my opinion about bus stops are that um it's an ongoing moving Target I think

[1:09:33] it'd be very timec consuming and difficult to really uh find a practical

[1:09:38] way to um create buffers around bus stops um so I would be supportive of

[1:09:46] this ordinance if we uh if we incorporated the the alternative more

[1:09:53] conservative uh buffer map that would was presented okay council member since I'm

[1:10:01] in line here um I think cautious and tread lightly

[1:10:06] are two words that uh come to my mind um I'm not really worried about the bus

[1:10:12] stops I think it's a moving Target I also think that it's up to the Cannabis stores to keep anyone under 21 out so

[1:10:19] it's kind of like liquor tempting too but and I just think it would be really really hard to legislate so I'm not as

[1:10:26] worried about that but um I am worried about the retreat and I do want to honor their request to not allow the um to to

[1:10:36] try and help them as much as we can by making the buffer as broad as we possibly

[1:10:41] can thank you Molly thank you mayor

[1:10:49] um I've given this one a lot of thought since the last meeting and um I

[1:10:54] expressed a little less caution than my other

[1:11:00] colleagues up here last week and um the letter from John Curtis was very

[1:11:07] impactful to me it's someone that I respect very much so and I've been a

[1:11:15] donor to The Retreat for the last decade maybe even 12 years so um John Curtis is

[1:11:22] an incredible director and president of the retreat so that's something that I

[1:11:29] thought long and hard about and I also similar to um council member senson I'm

[1:11:36] looking at this as this is a Baseline and let's just move along as people get

[1:11:43] more comfortable so with that said I would vote in favor of

[1:11:51] the buffer from the property line at the rich treat I agree with um the last two

[1:12:01] colleagues of mine that have spoken about the bus stops not really something

[1:12:06] I feel like is a priority so I just wanted to say that I'm comfortable moving at the

[1:12:11] pace that you guys are more comfortable moving at so um I plan to vote in favor

[1:12:19] of this and just to reiterate okay with the bigger buffers at the retreat

[1:12:25] not okay not into the bus

[1:12:30] stops okay um you mentioned property the buffer measured from the property line

[1:12:38] versus the building okay cuz that's what we that was a sticking point for me last time I felt there was already a natural

[1:12:46] buffer around the um around the retreat with the Big Woods um this is also

[1:12:54] anecdote to but I I do believe that the the guests at The

[1:13:00] Retreat do leave the property and you know frequent luns and that kind of

[1:13:06] thing so um yeah that letter from John Curtis I found to be um very respectful

[1:13:14] and just a way to you know give us his perspective and that of the the

[1:13:21] residents um of the retreat and like you had said earlier mayor they're incredible community members so um that

[1:13:29] really made me think okay well let's just move at a pace that everyone's a little more comfortable with since this

[1:13:36] is evolving and I realize that levels of

[1:13:42] people's Comfort is varying sure so thank you

[1:13:48] yeah uh I think it's

[1:13:53] uh I do appreciate um and the letter from The Retreat and I think it's very

[1:13:59] impactful as well um they have been very good neighbors have been for many years

[1:14:04] uh but I think the pr the Practical reality is whether there's a cannabis

[1:14:11] store directly adjacent to the Big Woods or if there's one across the

[1:14:19] street um it's still there and there are

[1:14:25] people that go there for treatment um and I mean this with the the greatest deal of respect that um because I've

[1:14:32] known people who have gone there for treatment for alcohol addiction and yet we have um we have establishments that

[1:14:40] serve alcohol right next door and so you know I want to take that letter with

[1:14:47] although also the Practical realities of we're not going to be able to protect

[1:14:53] everybody from from every situation at all times um so uh I agree that there

[1:15:02] should be a buffer I think what is proposed here is too aggressive um and

[1:15:09] uh while I just feel at some point when we

[1:15:14] only have but a handful of possible spaces uh we're not really in keeping

[1:15:24] with the spirit of the intent of don't put too many buffers in different

[1:15:30] locations we are a small community and I think part of it again is the

[1:15:37] challenge that the legislators have had um in addressing all the different

[1:15:44] issues so with all that said I'm not supportive of what's in front of

[1:15:49] us my other question would be given the state doesn't have their ducks in a

[1:15:56] row and I don't think in the next two weeks they will have ironed out all of

[1:16:01] these issues uh do we have an opportunity to

[1:16:07] extend our moratorium that is set to and December 31st since we still

[1:16:16] have I'm I thought I was asking the City

[1:16:22] attorney um Madame mayor you know I um I wasn't asked to look at that before the meeting so it's not completely fresh in

[1:16:29] my mind um I know that the moratorium expires as written at the end of the year or can last as long as is

[1:16:36] authorized under state law so there may be an ability to extend the moratorium

[1:16:42] um my thought on that though and I'd look to the city manager and staff too for their thoughts but I'm not sure um

[1:16:50] in order to adopt a moratorium uh immediately it would have to be an emergency see moratorium at the next

[1:16:56] meeting where we have to make a unanimous uh finding which is to say we

[1:17:01] need a unanimous vote of all five of you that there is a pressing emergency to have this moratorium take effect

[1:17:07] immediately that can be a challenge um so if we don't have that then it's two readings for moratorium and by then

[1:17:13] we're probably we probably have a consensus around this but so we could look at that

[1:17:19] Madam mayor I'm not sure that uh just fundamentally the state statute would authorize us to extend it even if it did

[1:17:26] we would have probably a a timing issue in adopting it right

[1:17:31] away no I understand I just I also am a little concerned with um the

[1:17:39] notion of

[1:17:45] changing I mean ordinances are not easy things as we know I'm preaching to the choir right I mean we're not going to be

[1:17:52] changing things every couple months and like oh we really don't like this and we're going to change it back and you know Madam mayor I think one point of

[1:17:59] clarification for for as we talk about this really when you're talking about

[1:18:05] the buffers at least the two alternative maps that staff has shared tonight it

[1:18:10] doesn't change anything in the ordinance the only difference is how the buffer is measured for the retreat and so I one of

[1:18:19] the points of clarifications I would like before we vote on this is um you know how do we make it clear to staff

[1:18:24] which map you want staff to use um I've got some thoughts on that but in terms

[1:18:30] of the ordinance itself and the buffers uh they are the maximum that the state

[1:18:36] allows in terms of feet the variable is are they measured from the building or

[1:18:41] are they measured from the property line and as consultant planner pointed out uh

[1:18:46] for both Maps everything but the retreat we're measuring from the property line

[1:18:52] but in that one case because we have some discretion and communities all around the Metro are doing it differently and to give more options

[1:18:59] staff was feel feeling and based on the direction of council and commission too that at the retreat we would measure

[1:19:05] from the building rather than the property line so that's really the only variable on the table and it that

[1:19:11] wouldn't require a uh an ordinance amendment to change that it could be a

[1:19:17] direction of council um to just change the staff's interpretation of that

[1:19:22] particular map so right now just to to get a clarification from the council 500

[1:19:28] ft correct 500 from the property line I was getting to that in just a minute but

[1:19:34] it's 500 ft right from The Retreat now the other question is from the building or from

[1:19:41] the property line what property line property line property line property line well I I'm fine with property line

[1:19:49] but I just want to reiterate to you that it was my understanding that these

[1:19:55] buffers are something that can be changed without having to re Madam yes

[1:20:00] madame mayor and council member absolutely um I think the mayor's point which I concur with is it's more challenging to change the ordinance than

[1:20:07] it is to adopt a motion uh on on anything else because it requires two

[1:20:13] readings so we have two Council meetings we need a majority of council voting for

[1:20:18] it um so yes um Council six months from now a year from now when we're further

[1:20:25] down the road with this program uh could change the buffers um we can't go any

[1:20:31] greater than than the the feet uh because that's right out of the statute unless the legislature changes those

[1:20:37] things and I also want just as we're on that and still discussing Madam mayor if you don't mind uh one more follow-up

[1:20:43] question for the City attorney is it's not just that one buffer at The Retreat

[1:20:49] that can be tweaked it could be you know say the daycare ones or

[1:20:56] something like that those can be tweaked as well without having to change the entire ordinance

[1:21:03] um Madame mayor and council member on that if we are tweaking the feet that

[1:21:08] the feet from these uh these uses that uh the statute allows us to create

[1:21:15] buffers around we would need to revisit the ordinance the the the ordinance as

[1:21:20] it's written right now and if you want to reference it I can give you the the part but we essentially take the the

[1:21:26] maximum number of feet that the statute allows local municipalities to to use in

[1:21:31] creating buffers we can always go less but that would require us to amend the

[1:21:37] ordinance right and so the I guess as you contemplate this tonight as staff we

[1:21:43] would encourage you to adopt this ordinance because it would create a baseline in the community rather than

[1:21:48] having nothing um the other alternative as the mayor points out is looking at a moratorium which we we hadn't done

[1:21:55] before tonight and I'm not sure we could okay sorry to take up so much time

[1:22:01] um were there any other variables that we need a clarification for staff on you

[1:22:08] know Madam mayor I I the only thing I would say and I again I would look to staff to to get uh thoughts on this too

[1:22:14] but the proposed motion is to approve the first reading of this ordinance I would just add on at the end you know

[1:22:19] using the map that measures all buffers from the property line which is the the more conservative map that I heard there

[1:22:26] was consensus on or the original one that U at least for the retreat measures

[1:22:32] from the building okay very good Madame mayor I just add that I I don't know any

[1:22:39] change in the uh legislation that would allow us to extend the moratorium um we we'll double check but

[1:22:46] we don't think we have a choice and as the City attorney had mentioned we can always come back whether it's an

[1:22:52] ordinance or a council action if it's a policy change the council's going to need to approve it with the the buffers

[1:22:58] or anything else related to um these regulations no that thank you for the

[1:23:04] clarification I just want to make sure that we were exploring all avenues

[1:23:09] if if we weren't going to walk away it it looks like we are with something in place but okay all right well um City

[1:23:20] attorney I might need some assistance with a proposed motion to

[1:23:25] approve the first reading of ordinance 845 amending part five Municipal

[1:23:30] licenses and part nine zoning ordinances of the city of wetta city code to

[1:23:36] regulate cannabis businesses in the appended uh the

[1:23:41] amendment to this I would just add a a line that and to use the map that

[1:23:48] measures all buffers from the property line which would be inclusive of the retreat there you go does that work Eric

[1:23:55] is that clear from the property line is the key word there rather than two because it's a did I say two I don't

[1:24:01] know I just want to clarify this from the measured from the property line measured from the property line all right would someone care to make that

[1:24:08] motion Madam mayor I'd like to make that motion thank you is there a second I would second that motion right

[1:24:16] everybody's really clear on Direction understanding okay perfect um

[1:24:23] further discussion all those in favor say I I I opposed nay

[1:24:29] motion passes we are good we'll have the second reading at the January meeting correct

[1:24:35] January 7th all right very good our last item under new business is to consider

[1:24:41] approval of lease agreement with the Nordic experience for a sauna at wetta

[1:24:47] beach C man thank you Madame mayor our parks and environment planner keer is going to walk us through this

[1:24:52] presentation thank you manager doll Madame mayor and counsel so we have a little bit of a

[1:24:58] more unique request here as the last item here but as you mentioned I'll be going over a quick presentation of uh

[1:25:06] proposed lease agreement with the Nordic experience for a sauna at WIA Beach so

[1:25:12] I'll go briefly over just some general information on the sauna itself um and some information on the location the

[1:25:18] proposed lease and the parks and trails board discussion uh so starting first with

[1:25:24] some sauna information oh I also note that we have representatives from the Nordic experience here uh in attendance

[1:25:30] as well if there's any questions or anything specific to the business um so

[1:25:36] essentially they're proposing to put a sauna down at wetta beach during the winter months uh this sauna would

[1:25:42] operate daily from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. uh the sauna itself is around 200

[1:25:48] square ft it's located essentially on a trailer for easy Mobility um but

[1:25:53] essentially people can sign up for sauna sessions that'll last 60 to 75 minutes

[1:25:59] the location at the wetta beach um is on purpose uh because we can utilize the

[1:26:05] lake itself to do a cold plunge during those uh sauna sessions each user would sign a

[1:26:13] liability form um and we put some images here on the right as a general idea of

[1:26:18] what that sauna would look like the exact sauna uh that would be down at the beach is still currently under

[1:26:24] construction but that'd be a good representation of what it would look like down at the

[1:26:31] beach so the exact location itself on this map here the location in red is the

[1:26:37] proposed least area we did put some space into the lake just to note that U

[1:26:43] folks would be potentially going into the lake in the blue area just North uh

[1:26:49] North on that map is where folks would uh would park to access the the SAA in

[1:26:55] the beach parking lot and this is just an image here of

[1:27:01] that proposed location at the beach uh it's essentially where that picnic table

[1:27:06] is uh the exact location we would uh essentially work out with staff here to make sure it doesn't damage anything or

[1:27:14] or get in the way of anything and I also note that we are still with this location still keeping access to um the

[1:27:21] lake itself during the winter months uh essentially where that ramp is on that aerial image uh at wetta beach for

[1:27:28] people to access the lake too if if

[1:27:33] needed the proposed lease itself um the essentially it's for a one season term

[1:27:41] so it' go from January to May 1 we have some flexibility to reduce or extend those dates probably mainly dependent on

[1:27:47] on weather um and really the goal here is to have this one year or one season

[1:27:54] term to allow staff in the parks and trails board to to evaluate how it went

[1:27:59] after the first year uh determine if it should continue in future years or make any needed

[1:28:06] changes we are proposing a 5% net revenue share with this business this is

[1:28:13] essentially the same template that we use for the wani business down at the beach as well um in close proximity uh

[1:28:20] just different seasons you could say for those two companies uh and just also as a note the approval of the lease is

[1:28:27] contingent on the hmond county water Patrol special event permit uh because they will be utilizing the lake to a

[1:28:34] certain extent uh but their County approval is contingent on City's approval so it's kind of chicken and egg

[1:28:39] there uh but we will essentially work to ensure that uh they get that approval as

[1:28:47] well so just some notes on the consideration in the Strategic plan

[1:28:52] there's probably two uh priorities note in there that would fit this diversify Revenue at this point it's it's hard to

[1:29:00] predict or determine uh exactly how much money or cier we would get from

[1:29:06] this uh proposed lease they did the the lease the lease e put in some general

[1:29:13] estimated numbers there based on uh what their predicted SAA sessions would be

[1:29:20] and that would be around $1,200 to $2,700 per month increasingly more so as

[1:29:25] the um they get more popularity and more folks sign up for the sessions uh sustained Community

[1:29:32] character and safety in this one it notes that visible activity scaled to the neighborhoods and this is also kind

[1:29:38] of a discussion point with the par and trails board but this is a low impact um addition to the to the beach area

[1:29:45] especially during the winter months when there's not much activity um down there at all it obviously gets increasingly

[1:29:52] more activity during the warmer months so moving on to the parks and trails board discussion the Nordic

[1:29:59] experience came to the parks and trails board and presented this proposal and discussed it with them um and these are

[1:30:05] some of the talking points or discussion points ultimately the parks and trails board recommended approval of the sauna

[1:30:12] in the lease uh unanimously at that meeting so some of the discussion points

[1:30:18] that they noted here was that um one of their big priority priorities is is

[1:30:24] activating the wetta parks as much as they can um and one even more so during

[1:30:30] the winter months that is a reason why we expanded the agreement with wi Isetta

[1:30:35] Community Ed a couple years ago to include winter events and they think this would just add to that experience

[1:30:42] as well and I think was a community yet is actually looking at doing some sauna events during the winter so depending on

[1:30:48] decision tonight we'd certainly put them in contact with them um they like the fact that it's

[1:30:54] only for one season again gives us the opportunity to make any changes or kind of re-evaluate um the use during the

[1:31:04] springtime like I noted they like the low impact use it doesn't use any City Utilities or anything like that uh

[1:31:11] easily moved if if needed as well and then just that final note that it

[1:31:16] provides some additional Revenue that could be utilized in the the park system

[1:31:24] so recommendations next steps like I said the parks and trails board at their November 20th meeting recommended

[1:31:31] approval unanimously so next steps if the uh agreement is uh approved by city council

[1:31:39] we would work with the the Nordic experience to finalize that agreement and make sure that they have the hen

[1:31:45] County Water patrols approval as well and then we would work with them to um

[1:31:50] set up that sauna at wetta beach in the proper location with the hope of starting sessions in

[1:31:58] January so with that I'll bring it back to Madame mayor and Council for any questions thank you

[1:32:03] Nick uh questions of

[1:32:09] Staff yeah um I didn't see any mention of bathrooms and changing areas what's

[1:32:15] the plan there yeah so for bathrooms maybe I'll let them touch on the changing aspect of it um we looked at

[1:32:23] the potential to utilize the beach uh bathrooms themselves but they don't have

[1:32:28] Heating in those facilities um so most likely we would put a portable bathroom

[1:32:34] down there somewhere uh for the users that they could utilize okay

[1:32:42] and yes please go ahead if you could

[1:32:48] um just one sorry go ahead just a moment please um did you have other questions

[1:32:54] of Staff before we go to the those were my only two questions yeah very good if you could introduce yourself with your

[1:32:59] name and address please yes madame mayor and uh council members uh Joseph Reese and uh I live at 1259 um Dickinson in wi

[1:33:08] Zetta um we uh so um we are so just as far as running this operation um my wife

[1:33:15] and I and family just moved back from Costa Rica we have a a wellness Retreat Center there where we host weddings and

[1:33:22] U many different types of events private events that um so we have a lot of experience working with people bookings

[1:33:29] and things like that so um that would be something that we would be taking care of um yes and this is leaf he's the

[1:33:36] Builder and also experienced owner Leaf chernis uh 40 Northrup Avenue exceler or

[1:33:44] exceler sonas so pleasure to meet all of you um we're really excited about this experience and you know with the

[1:33:51] bathrooms um and the changing area we would have um portable bathrooms down there and then we're looking at an

[1:33:57] aspect of having this uh a changing area attached to the sonel that we're building right now um as the check-in

[1:34:03] area in the changing room so it'd be integrated into the um correct into the sauna y

[1:34:13] okay and in the just if you're questioning like how do people book so we're using um two different booking

[1:34:20] systems basically um one of them is class pack G and the other one is um

[1:34:25] what was the the the m and body mine and body so those are the largest across the

[1:34:31] country the number one number one and number two um Wellness Wellness services

[1:34:37] so basically people can sign up for one they can walk up or they can you know go

[1:34:42] walk up to the place which will have staff there you know during the operating hours from 7:30 to 9:00 and

[1:34:49] they can book online they can they buy five they can five pack they can do a 10

[1:34:55] pack or you can buy a seasonal pass like a ski ski pass um Nick my question for you if you

[1:35:03] could go back to the map of the proposed

[1:35:09] location so is that intended to be open

[1:35:15] water so Madame mayor if so yes essentially during those operating hours

[1:35:21] if there's ice in there they would certain kind of have a small section that they

[1:35:26] would cut out with of the ice to have it open water for people to go in and out

[1:35:32] of so I'm definitely not an expert in this Arena I can explain that yeah I

[1:35:38] because trust me I'm not going in open frozen water but my bigger concern if um

[1:35:46] you will indulge me we have the chili open in February and well last year we didn't uh

[1:35:53] because we had too much open water so I'm wondering logistically how are we planning are we planning on moving the

[1:36:01] trailer during the chili open I don't think you want your trailer there during the chili open as a word of

[1:36:07] advice um I don't think the sheriff's going to want open water with all those

[1:36:13] people coming and going Madam mayor and Council we actually um are a part of the Chile open

[1:36:20] this year so we'll have a SAA on the ice that has um um that provides a whole

[1:36:25] like a spear house if you would Fishel that we can access the lake with a um a catch in there so you can't go under the

[1:36:32] ice um I don't know that that I'm not we didn't do the chili open last year

[1:36:37] because it was canceled so I'm not sure what the um what the impact would be of having

[1:36:43] the sauna in that location now our hole that we would cut will be gated off and lit illuminated at night and um so we

[1:36:52] would have a a railing system around it with the gate that accesses which we would be we're

[1:36:58] working with the Hanahan County Water Patrol to manage that and how we get that approval with them and how to manage that moving forward wonderful

[1:37:05] thank you for proactively looking into that have we reached out to the chamber

[1:37:11] and discuss these plans and what's their feedback been yeah Madame mayor they

[1:37:16] actually just reached out today to talk about this um so we haven't had detailed discussions with them uh what I would

[1:37:22] say is that we would certainly work with the chamber and the Nordic experience to make it work between all parties uh

[1:37:28] during the chili open for sure did we look at other locations possibly for

[1:37:34] this uh for this experience I mean I know the

[1:37:39] the water experience is part of it but the first other location that

[1:37:46] might not be as impactful especially for a big Community event like the Chile open is over by the volleyball courts um

[1:37:54] but then I don't know how you access the water just saying logistically I think we

[1:37:59] may if this is a direction we want to move in we might have to explore some

[1:38:05] options and Logistics more than hey you're right on the edge of the

[1:38:12] water here you go and off we go yeah Madam that's a great Point um we can

[1:38:18] certainly work with them to see if that is the right location or if there's possibly other locations to make it less

[1:38:24] impactful um but we didn't necessarily talk about any other specific locations

[1:38:29] I would say that at this point I would uh I have one last question uh City

[1:38:36] attorney have you uh R viwed this been involved I mean we

[1:38:42] have different liability issues as we're dealing with here and so I want to make sure that if the council was in favor of

[1:38:50] this moving forward that you've had an opportunity to par through all of it and are comfortable with the language yes m

[1:38:57] madame mayor thank you I have I've talked with Nick about it in one of the main points that was my concern I just

[1:39:04] wanted to make sure we were good on was the liability piece because this is a potentially a high impact activity for

[1:39:11] individuals and um you know I think the agreement as it's written in then our conversations with the applicant or

[1:39:18] potential Lee here too is that you know they'll be fully insured the city will be fully indemed ified and there will be

[1:39:25] as part of the sign up and registering process uh liability waivers for

[1:39:30] participants okay so I think those would be the key things and then we have it built into any of our agreements if

[1:39:37] there's any damage I don't think there would be but I don't know um we get the

[1:39:44] city um can seek compensation for the repairs on the property side of on the

[1:39:50] property okay very good any oh yes um council member McDonald

[1:39:57] and then council member pish and sorry did do you have any questions too Ken

[1:40:03] um not so much questions just coms at the right time all right we'll start with council member McDonald thanks

[1:40:10] mayor um I think this is kind of a cool idea but I had questions about the bathrooms too so and also keep in mind

[1:40:19] too that if I went into a sauna in a public place I'd want somewhere to lock

[1:40:25] my coats and towels and phone or something so some changing room but

[1:40:31] something that locks as well and then my other question is who who maintains these bathrooms that

[1:40:38] will be there on site is that something we would have individual lockers set

[1:40:43] into um into that same changing room that's going to be attached to the back of the sauna and then also the um the

[1:40:51] bathrooms we would the portal bathrooms we would have just like a service just like a biffs or you know one of those um

[1:40:58] onsite bathrooms and they would service those What It's weekly depending on you know it could be actually more than that

[1:41:04] so just depending on usage it's such a pretty little spot too

[1:41:09] it is it's a great spot um just be really mindful of where you

[1:41:15] set a Biffy middle the Biffy we talked to Nick about would be out on the road

[1:41:20] you know by in the parking lot because the company you have to actually be within a certain amount of feet of the curbs they can pull up to service it

[1:41:28] yeah okay so there wouldn't be a Biffy on kind of far away but also not in the middle of the park so okay um but

[1:41:37] I'm I'm glad that parks in Trails was on board with this and um activating a park

[1:41:45] for winter I think is great so let's let's give it a give it a try for give it a world see what see what happens

[1:41:51] excellent thank you than you Molly Alex I don't know if we're in the discussion

[1:41:57] part or question part but I do have uh some questions uh we know the season that is going to be there if this gets

[1:42:04] approved but uh the daily hours of operation so uh i' I'd like to get a

[1:42:09] better sense of how is it going to work say between sessions when you don't have somebody right one after the other is

[1:42:15] there a security lock of some kind and then I assume that it also closes down at a certain point during the day and uh

[1:42:22] how's that security hand L you know somebody shows up and the morning the first uh appointment of the day how do

[1:42:28] they get in yeah so okay so it it's 90 the it's the 75 minute sessions and

[1:42:35] starts at 7:30 in the morning so that's like the sunrise session and there's going to be four sessions you know and

[1:42:41] they'll run every 90 minutes but the the the actual participant will be in have their in session for 75 minutes and then

[1:42:47] there's a time in the middle of the day that's that will be closed but like Le Leaf was saying around the water and

[1:42:54] it's the the the area that you see that's in red is probably a very small fraction where the actual plunge is you

[1:42:59] know it's it's not that big of an area and yeah so it's about 8 by eight and so

[1:43:05] as far as you know the Locking what was the question you had I'm thinking is you know you've got hours of operation right

[1:43:12] there was going to be an end time during the day uh after the end of that if somebody wanders over there let's say

[1:43:18] from maybe eming a little bit too much somewhere and wants to take a song just

[1:43:24] is it going to be locked up and yes it's it's locked up as just like your house would be and and who does that or is it

[1:43:30] automatic we have guides that us and um with some our employees we have a guided service that we provide down there okay

[1:43:37] and any other security feature there monitoring cameras or anything Yes actually that was another thought thing

[1:43:42] we were talking with Nick about is there is a camera on the beach in the beach area okay and so we were talking about

[1:43:48] putting that trailer in an area where the camera can capture that we also are going to put lights out and it's it's

[1:43:54] going to be well illuminated and things like that okay thank you so you'll have an attendant present yes it's a guided

[1:44:03] experience so there's so basically you show up 15 minutes before the session

[1:44:09] and you know the guide talks to you about you know the wellness aspect of it what your experience is going to be they

[1:44:14] they kind of take you and show you where the plunge is and then how the session works is you know you you follow your

[1:44:20] own body but it's you know typically a person who stays in for 10 to 15 minutes in the sauna and then they come out if

[1:44:26] they choose to do the plunge they would go directly to the plunge and that usually people stay in there for you know 30 seconds to two minutes and then

[1:44:33] you come out um and then there's you you hydrate you're in the you're in the the

[1:44:39] room it's in between there's a room built off of the actual sauna so you're hanging out you're relaxing you know

[1:44:45] you're hydrating with the electrolyte water or tea and then you can do it again so typical 75 minutes you could do

[1:44:52] that three times and that's the that is like the wellness aspect of it it's the contrast therapy between heat and cold

[1:45:00] I'm too checking for the I would say once you're in a room for for 15 minutes at 200 degrees the

[1:45:06] lake will look very different than you good point good point I like that yes uh

[1:45:12] Ken are we are we commenting sure okay so um these are all really good

[1:45:18] important points to understand my sense is um we can we can address all these in

[1:45:24] a way that's going to work I think it's a great idea um I think it gives people

[1:45:30] something to do in the winter it's kind of trendy it's a great I think it's a great ways that of thing um but I will

[1:45:37] say and fess up a bit um I have four Sons with families three of them have

[1:45:44] saas and C tubs yeah so it's it's been a bit of the family thing um but I'd also

[1:45:50] suggest if we do this that this city council including our new and outgoing mayor be the first ones here oh

[1:45:59] boy yes I agree with right that we'll create the event for you no problem oh

[1:46:04] boy okay well we're we're not approved

[1:46:10] yet uh but if it does get approved I I will muster up the courage to but it's

[1:46:17] not the Lake's not frozen yet right it's actually not too bad it's only about you know 36 degrees right right now see you

[1:46:23] be right you know we get that hole over okay Ken we'll chat after this okay yeah

[1:46:29] thanks for that thank you Council of course thank you um anything else I too

[1:46:35] think it's um a wonderful idea I think it's very creative I think there are a few Logistics to work out and um you

[1:46:43] know I I am if this is to move forward

[1:46:48] to make sure that you know we have good collaboration with the chamber it

[1:46:55] will be very important Madam mayor the chamber and our Public Safety officials and they've reviewed the plans and

[1:47:00] they'll continue to be in contact with them as as it moves forward to make sure that we didn't forget anything and that

[1:47:06] the public is kept safe absolutely okay yes smile and not only the chamber but a

[1:47:11] lot of people and use the ice in the winter you know and that's the best way

[1:47:16] to access the ice um from land so I would just not even be mindful

[1:47:25] of the chamber events but just residents who enjoy walking on the lake in the

[1:47:30] winter absolutely great one more thought yes please I was thinking if this goes into

[1:47:36] another year and you guys want to do this next year you might want to adjust your times and include November and

[1:47:42] December which is probably on your list maybe October I don't know but um I

[1:47:48] would think that maybe as we're getting close to Memorial day that we might want to I don't know if that's going to be a

[1:47:54] big business time for you or not but we're going to be running up against the Heat and kids on the beach and things

[1:48:01] like that that maybe we see how things go and maybe a May 15th deadline or end

[1:48:07] of lease is something to consider the following year but let's get some see

[1:48:13] how if there's complaints let's see if if there's if from people wanting to use the beach if it interferes at all the

[1:48:20] other thing is that uh getting the grass to grow on your trailer is going to be something that they're going to want to

[1:48:26] do but hopefully if you know it'll grow in June so yeah that's a a really good point is

[1:48:34] the end date needs to be carefully worked out uh we don't want to p a potty

[1:48:41] out by the beach you know when we can have people use the beach not to swim

[1:48:47] but people are could be out there in end of April so that's a good point right yeah okay

[1:48:53] uh you want to take us to our proposed

[1:49:00] motion all right so uh recommendation from staff is and motion would be to

[1:49:07] approve the lease agreement with the Nordic experience for a sauna at wetta

[1:49:14] beach so moved right second second further discussion yeah I'd like to

[1:49:20] weigh in on this a little bit um I love the idea so I'm I'm going to vote for it but having just spent a week in Finland

[1:49:28] in June I can tell you this is a big deal there and the ratio of saunas to

[1:49:35] people is like two people to a sauna actually less than that there's there's almost one sauna per adult in that

[1:49:42] country honest to God and um and the whole experience is in it you know we're

[1:49:48] a Nordic State basically we got a Nordic Heritage here so only kind of makes sense to me and you know Finland is has

[1:49:55] been ranked I think for years upon years as the happiest place on Earth the people there that might have something

[1:50:01] to do with their SAS and it is SAA right not sauna SAA right so very much in

[1:50:07] favor of this very good thank you all right all those in favor say I I I

[1:50:13] oppose motion passes thank you very much all right that concludes new business

[1:50:19] and uh takes us to the city manager's report thank you Madame mayor I only have one

[1:50:24] item on my report tonight and that is simply um to ackn acknowledge you and

[1:50:31] your last meeting uh in your service uh to this city on the city council and for

[1:50:37] the last four uh being the mayor uh you've served the city in this room for

[1:50:43] 10 years but have served the city beyond that uh prior to your service on the

[1:50:48] council uh Madame mayor you're the first female mayor in this town which means a a lot

[1:50:54] um so on just over overall on behalf of staff I know I speak for all of them uh

[1:51:01] we're grateful for your leadership you're articulate you're smart you

[1:51:06] support us tough love at times but we feel the love um compassionate you're

[1:51:12] not afraid to make tough decisions um for that we're going to truly miss you we're excited for you in your next stage

[1:51:18] of life um but uh we look forward to celebr in you tomorrow at uh In This

[1:51:25] Very Room from 5: to 7: the entire Community is welcome uh and we'll have a

[1:51:30] few more tricks up our sleeves but uh as this is your last meeting I want to make sure that you uh felt acknowledged and

[1:51:37] that we really appreciate your service and I know I speak not only on behalf of the organization but to to the entire

[1:51:45] Community as well and I think the uh a couple of the council members may want to say a few things

[1:51:50] too well thank you Jeff I'm guessing everyone will want to talk

[1:51:57] a little bit so I'll make it brief um mayor thank you it's

[1:52:03] been really great to get to know you as a person and um be able to admire your

[1:52:10] leadership and to learn from your expertise so I really appreciate it

[1:52:17] thank you thank you no prepared remarks but we've we've

[1:52:22] known each other for a number of years in various capacities and you know the mark of a good leader is the

[1:52:28] organization beneath them and um the council has got each one's got their own independent way of thinking and so on

[1:52:35] but I think Guetta is known as a very cial Cooperative Council um and that's

[1:52:41] no accident and uh so for the last number of years that you've been the mayor I think we have been that and a

[1:52:48] large part of that is due to you so we're going to miss you thank you

[1:52:53] I go uh sure um so mayor I haven't shared this with you but um you gained

[1:52:59] my respected admiration some time ago when I was at I attended a city council meeting didn't I didn't know the people

[1:53:06] well but there was an individual that really um challenged the competency of

[1:53:13] our staff and integrity of our process and and our people and he lit you up and

[1:53:20] you lit him up I mean he he you you responded clearly directly told him he

[1:53:26] was dead wrong um and uh I remember thinking good for you and I was very

[1:53:34] proud of uh you and our city and uh you hand that very admirably so um that's

[1:53:40] how I got to know you a bit the other thing I I think about is uh strong

[1:53:46] leaders gain respect of those they who work with and who they work for and

[1:53:51] their peers and their constituents and you certainly have gained that respect so um thank you for

[1:53:58] your time we wish you the best we're going to miss you and best of luck I remember that meeting and I

[1:54:05] remember you defended the staff because uh the staff was getting thrown under

[1:54:10] the bus and you said that's too far that's too far we're not doing that and

[1:54:16] um I was very appreciative of that and proud of you for that but here's my little prepared speech

[1:54:23] each so I like the way women lead they lead with compassion their whole heart

[1:54:30] with humility and without Pride they lead with intuition most importantly

[1:54:36] they lead with their extraordinary Minds I have been fortunate to be surrounded by women leaders in my life

[1:54:43] at home at work in service organizations and now in government women who are

[1:54:48] making the family sacrifices forging the new paths in charge ing ahead

[1:54:54] despite after all women leaders have to be smarter tougher and more agile to

[1:55:00] succeed in this world we all know that when it comes to

[1:55:06] our mayor she exemplifies this type of leadership she has led this town with

[1:55:11] these qualities we need more women leaders like

[1:55:16] Joanna uh these last two years I have watched her be incredibly gracious tough

[1:55:21] thought ful and wise and when I think about the graciousness it's like you

[1:55:28] have so many words to use in your repertoire of words and you're so

[1:55:33] incredibly complimentary and gracious to just anybody that comes to the podium

[1:55:39] and that is being honored or appreciative of our police and our fire

[1:55:45] it's really wonderful to watch it's aspirational for me and then

[1:55:50] so thank you mayor Mutan for your strength and leading the sacrifices you have made to be here and for the many

[1:55:58] accom accomplishments over the last years as mayor and council member enjoy your next chapter it has been a pleasure

[1:56:04] to work with you thank you wow um thank

[1:56:14] you I duh while you're Gathering your tears I'm going to stand and oh

[1:56:22] we can do

[1:56:28] that thank

[1:56:34] you it's been a tough couple of days I'm not going to lie um as the moments start

[1:56:40] to hit me and the um all I can say

[1:56:47] is every person who has sat at this Di has made me a better

[1:56:53] person um you've taught me you've supported me you've made me laugh made

[1:57:00] me angry sometimes now we're going to make you cry and now you're going to make me cry some more but

[1:57:07] um you know regardless I have been even on the days

[1:57:14] I didn't want to walk in here and I there was an issue I didn't want to deal with when I walked away at the end of

[1:57:20] our nights working together I was always a better person and I was

[1:57:27] always more energized and that was from because of all of you and so thank you

[1:57:33] thank you for sharing your knowledge with me your your incredible Spirits um

[1:57:39] and making me better version of myself after 10 years so thank you so much I

[1:57:45] will miss you all um immensely thank you thank you so all

[1:57:51] right we've got one more thing mam mayor yes sorry one more thing uh we had

[1:57:57] mentioned or you had mentioned very uh clearly about our um potential Gathering

[1:58:04] after this council meeting at mccormix if that is closed just for public knowledge we will be at the legion oh

[1:58:11] there you go we just want to make sure that we're covered our bases are covered because we always want to do things the

[1:58:16] right way don't we say the attorney all right perfect well the one

[1:58:22] very last thing for this evening my last meeting uh leading with all of you um

[1:58:28] would be to ask for a motion to a journ who would do the

[1:58:35] honors I'll do those honors uh motion to aurn Madame mayor thank you and a

[1:58:41] second second Madam mayor thank you further

[1:58:47] discussion all those in favor say I I I oppose motion passes we are returned I

[1:58:55] am

[1:59:21] quite for