One nation under God, indivisible, withliberty and justice for all. >> Well, welcome everyone. I'm getting usedto a packed house. When I used to come and watch thecouncil meetings, there was hardly anybody here. And ever since I started,there's been packed houses. Ellen, uh, Council Member Gro and I think it's ournew status. Yeah. Anyway, welcome and, uh, welcome to the peopleon TV land as well. Um, we're going to get started with item 2A, approval ofthe meeting minutes from February 10th, 2026. >> All in favor?>> Any opposed? All right. Item 2B, approval of the citycouncil work session on February 10th, 2026. All in favor?>> Let's get a motion. >> Oh, right. Is there a motion?>> I'll move it. >> Second.>> All in favor? >> I>> opposed. Okay, motion carries. Item three, theagenda. Um, does anyone have any changes or corrections to the agenda?I would like to add a amendment and that is a discussion about the safeand stable cities >> orI'm new to this. >> I think you're looking add uh I add itunder new business not >> under new under new business to bediscussed. >> Okay. So, council member Gola would liketo add something under new business. Um will does anyone want to second that >> point of order madam madam mayor?>> Yes. >> We theoretically have but you didn'trecognize a motion. We haven't had a second. So technically we could add itby acclamation and then move and second the amended version or we can adopt aspresented and then amend. Which do you prefer? Dave, which Dave>> um there was a motion. Um I didn't hear a second to that, although there wasn'treally an opportunity for council member Gola to to make her amendment. I wouldencourage the council to um if uh council member Ingstran is willing tojust simply withdraw his motion, she can finish her statement and then um therecan be consideration of whether to approve uh a separate motion fromcouncil member Garola to approve the agenda as amended uh according to her.Withdraw >> withdraw.>> Okay. Thank you. So, I would like to add under new business a motion to um forthe council to consider the safe and stable cities and joining as an ally.>> All right, we have a motion on the table. Is there a>> Can I jump in? Mayor, just to clarify, so I assume that's a motion to approvethe agenda with that amendment. >> Yes. Thank you.>> Thank you. >> Second.There's a second. >> Is there any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor? >> Okay. Um that will be moved tonew business item 8A. >> I want 8.>> No 8A. >> 8A.>> We don't have an AA. >> All right. Moving on. Item three, theagenda. Um, does anyone or sorry >> consent agenda?>> Yeah, the consent agenda. Does anyone have any changes to the consent agenda?>> Move to approve. >> All in favor?>> Any opposed? >> All right. Motion passes. All right. Item 5A. Um, we have uh ChiefHagar here today um to recognize the service of our city attorney prosecutor,Mr. Rob Olsen. Chief Haggar. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor, members of thecouncil. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to kind of gush on about myfriend Rob Olsen here. Um, after my words, I think there'll be a just shortrecognition and Rob will have a chance to say a few words, even if you don'twant to, Rob. Uh, >> can you come up?>> Yeah, he can stay there. Otherwise, he'll have to stand for a half an hourwhile I read. >> Uh, Rob made a huge impact on White BearLake and um his um influence extends far behind the courtroom. Uh, for 25 years,Rob has served this city's prosecu as this city's prosecutor. He has areputation for fairness, preparedness, and common sense decision-making, whichhas earned the respect of judges, attorneys, law enforcement officers allover the metro, as well as officers from this department and the community. Whatstands out most about Rob's career is not just the longevity of service, butthe quality of it. His worked his work protected this community and setstandards in the area of specifically traffic safety and family violence thatwill continue to guide those who follow him. Rob's leadership was particularlyevidenced during one of the most challenging periods of DWI enforcementwhen Minnesota faced wide widespread issues with the intoxilizer machinewhich officers use to determine the um what level of influence the officers areon excuse me the the offenders are on excuse me duringthat uncertain time Rob was instrumental in helping our department identifylawful practical workarounds so impaired drivers could still be held accountableHis expertise provided clarity when it was needed most. In fact, Rob'sdedication to traffic safety did not go unnoticed. In 2012, he was nominated byMothers Against Drunk Driving for um a prosecutor's award in recognition of hisDWI cases. Beyond former roles, Rob has been avalued sounding board for officers seeking advice on charging decisions andfor navigating sensitive legal questions, including matters involvingfirearm permit eligibility. Rob also ensured that the White Bear Lake uhcommunity of White Bear Lake would be well positioned for the future. Throughthoughtful mentoring and leadership, he helped build and support a strong legalteam to include Heather Mannins, who's here tonight, whose long-standingservice and dedication to White Bear Lake reflect Rob's commitment todeveloping excellent excellence in others. On a personal note, uh I've hadthe privilege of knowing Rob for many years. Through my time first in Lo Lakeswhere he was the city attorney there and then when I transferred here to WhiteBear Lake, he has become not only a respected colleague but a trustedfriend. His wisdom and perspective have been a source of guidance I have come toappreciate. So on behalf of the city of White Bear Lake, thank you for your 25years of exceptional service. We wish you and your large family who most arehere tonight great happiness and a well-earned retirement. Thank you. >> Thank you. I'll shake your hand. Okay, thank you. >> Well, I'll I'll keep my remarks brief.Uh, this was Dale's idea, not mine. Uh, Mayor Nickski, I learned that tonight.Members of the city council, some that I've known for quite a long time andothers that are are are newer. Uh, I want to thank you for the honor of justhaving me come here. Uh, and it has been 25 years. It's which,uh, has been a pretty long time to be honest. It has, and I've enjoyed it all.I in in attendance tonight is my wife Ginger over there, a gal that I marriedwhen I was 20 and she was 19 and we're still here.Uh, we have and we also have most of our four children and we have 12grandchildren. Uh, they all live within 25 miles or 20 miles of us. We live on alake up by Forest Lake. So, you wonder what I'll be doing in my retirement. Um,I've served as a city prosecutor since 2000. And there's been many fine peopleboth with the city and at the White Bear Lake Police Department. Uh, police chiefLynn Banks, I don't know how many of you remember her. She wasthe department was at a lowab when she came in and she really spruced things upand really did a great job. And then her handpicked successor Julie Swanson. NowI know it was the city council but Julie had put in a great time and thatcontinuity was wonderful. And then our current chief and my good friend DaleHagar. I knew Dale when he was a captain over in Lo Lakes and then next thing youknow he was over here and one of our captains from White Bear Lake became theLionyl Lakes police chief and we became the prosecutors over there. So thiswhole thing you know there's a lot of relationships.Um now our office we handle about 2,000 cases a year. So we have everything fromtraffic tickets to wonderful ordinance violations which are no fun. uh two uhthefts, bar fights, uh DWIs, and domestic violence relatedcrimes. So, you can see there's kind of a pecking order, and we appear in courtmany times each month to handle these cases.um GDO Law and the Weight Bear Lake PoliceDepartment, the ones that we're really concerned about and have put our most ofour attention to has been DWIS. We say traffic offenses, but DWIs and domesticviolence related cases. And the goal here in all this is to modify behavior.I used to say to people sometimes, I feel like I'm a glorified social workerbecause what I'm trying to do is get it through these people's heads that youyou got to change your behavior or you're going to have problems. And to behonest, for the most part, it's been successful. As far as DWI cases, thenumbers demonstrate success. We had a high of 383 DWIS in 2009.That's more than one per day, which uh it it used to be that way. And JeremyOrin was going to hit a hundred that year, but he broke his thumb in a littlekurfuffle with one of the guys he was arresting. You remember that, Matt? Iwould imagine. And uh but now we're down to about 150cases. So, and part of this is our society. you know, we've we got Ubernow, but the other thing is people have learned that go to White Bear Lake, goto have a meal, have a drink, but don't drive drunk or you're going to getarrested. And so it really has a deterrent effect. People know that.Don't get bombed in Whitebear and then get in your car and drive. Order theUber. It's a lot cheaper. Uh the other thing that we've domestic violencerelated cases, we have really put a lot into that and when we when I first didit, you know, you're just trying to get these people and convict them and thenwe started really looking at them and we found with all the cities that we didwork for and we got about a half dozen of them that about 80% of the cases hadmental health issues or chemical depend depend dependency issues, which shouldbe no shocker. You know, that's people get drunk and they start beating on eachother and people have mental health issues and then there's uh domesticviolence related issues. And so what we did was we kind of shifted the outcomewe looked at was not necessarily trying to put somebody in jail, but was to getthem help, force them to get help. I'm one of these guys. I went throughtreatment in 1986 and I didn't go because I wanted to. And so it doesn'talways have to be that you woke up one day and said, "I'm going to quitdrinking or whatever I'm using." Is sometimes you're forced to do that. Andso we learned that this was an opportunity when people had thesedomestic violence related cases. We got to force them into chemical assessmentsand then they got to comply with these. we got to have mental health evaluationsif it's appropriate. And Heather and I we we that was kind of a shocker. Wefound that 80% of the cases had this. And so I and we also work closely withNortheast Youth and Family Services. We used to work with Tubman. Northeast doesa wonderful job. And you're trying to get to the root cause of ab abusivebehavior and I believe this has led to positive change for many families. Um,now I'm just proud to report and that's really about all I have, but just thatwe built a really good team Heather Mannins 15 years ago was uh, youknow, she came and worked there and now she's taking over the team and she's gotthree attorneys under her that help with the prosecution and she does a great joband so I just want to report to you that you're in great hands. Uh, White Bearwas the first city I ever had and it's the one that I always felt the closestto because you know you know most of the cops, you know, that the the peoplethere, you know, the people in city hall, whether it was Joe Emerson or youknew all these people and so I just wanted to thank you White Bear Lake forbeing so good to our firm and we really uh I just I'm just thank you that you'vetaken this moment to just uh honor me and it's those aren't the types ofthings I look for but I I thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Olsen, for your years ofservice to Wiper Lake. We really appreciate it. And don't forget yourbear to remember us by live in Forest Lakenow, but we got one of those big bears in front of our house. >> Thank you.All right. Um, item six, public hearings. We have nothing scheduled.Item seven, unfinished business. We have nothing scheduled. Item 8A, newbusiness. Uh, Miss Garola. >> So, I'll let people leave a minute>> if they want to take a minute. All right. So, we had a work sessionwhere we discussed the safe and stable cities coalition. Multiple cities hadjoined it. I uh think like everyone else contemplated way more after thatdiscussion looking at as things are evolving where we at then where whereare we at now my main what I just kept coming back to is how can I support ourresidents better and to me that comes with having more information and I thinkas an ally if we join as an ally we are saying hey we want to continue to getthese updates we want to continue to know what's going on it doesn'tnecessarily necessarily um tie us to every single thing that they're umsaying they want. In our work session, we had talked about, well, you join acoalition, you're maybe one vote out of many. But I believe that this wouldallow us to still stay informed and say, oh, this is something that might need aneed here that might meet our needs here. We should also be paying attentionand follow this because it's really hard right now to pay attention. And there'sa lot happening at the legislative at the legislative level and also just atour level. Um since that time I've talked to people who have come back fromdetainment um in other states um and have these are people who were going towork and were doing that because they thought all their papers everything wasin lined and they were still stopped and detained and sent out of the state. Andfor them now they've been out of work 2 months um because that's how long ittakes and then you're paying fees to get back. And again these are people whowere they weren't detained here in Whitebear. They were detained in youknow Minneapolis, St. Paul, other areas because they thought that there was norisk to them because everything for them they thought they were following all theor they were following all the legal um channels. And so it's hard to look atsomeone and say, "Okay, now you're behind a rent. Where do you go?" AndI've looked into mutual aid. Um I was talking to I've been seeing, you know,okay, where are funds? How how are other ways we can help people? This is where Ispending a lot of my free time helping families. Um and I think with those I wehave some mutual aid, but I don't know if that will be enough. Um and again togo join as an ally, every city is so different. Like I talked to one churchthis afternoon who's helping people but they're working with their city andtheir city as a social worker and they're a local city nearby. We don'thave that. So it applies to us differently. But I think joining as theally allows us to say okay how can we support these people in ways that makesense and also make sure that we are you know paying attention because it's a lotto keep track of. And also we have families who you know are still goingthrough these decisions. They still have loved ones in detainment and they don'tknow single moms with kids here who now are at a single family income. And Ithink a lot of what we talked about last time was, you know, on okay looking atlaws and those things. And I know those legislation pieces are coming, but a lotof what happens is there's there's not much capacity you can do. If you pullsomeone over, if you think they're reckless driving or that and they're umDepartment of Homeland Security, they can say I'm conducting officialbusiness. there is not much you can do. So my main thing is looking at then outin the community hearing what are needs, what are the supports and then how canwe in a capacity look at that and maybe um I don't know what that all will looklike at the city level too because again there's legislation coming down but Iwould like to join as an ally to stay involved in those conversations becauseI know we have residents who need more supports. Thank you, Council Member Gerlet.Other thoughts, Council Member. >> Oh, Angstrand. Sorry,>> Edber. >> Edberg, sorry. Thanks.>> Um, either mayor or city manager, what's theupdate that we have on the cost of joining as an ally if we uh choose toaffiliate in that way? what what are the other from your perspective as best youknow and understand it what are the uh obligations and commitments that wemake. >> Uh thank you mayor council memberEdberg. Um joining as an ally does not cost the city anything. Um joining as afull member cost I I think it would be about $2,000 with the amount of citiesthat are part of it but $2,000 to $5,000. Um I have just an FAQ here soI'd read this for the group. Ally membership does not require a financialcommitment. Cities receive core messaging and can be contacted forsupport and advocacy. Uh allies share information and participate in advocacyat their discretion. So it's really an ally is really just staying informed. Umdoesn't mean that uh you know the mayor or myself wouldwould be part of press conferences or anything like that. Um whereas a fullmembership may include that. And there uh there are 21 cities thatare full members. There's one city that is an ally member. >> Council member West.Um yeah I so umI think it's important when we were when we were meeting forthe work session one of the things that I was thinking about is the strength ofcoalitions and what we can accomplish together versus what we can accomplishalone as an individual city. Um, and I'm agreeing with council member Gerolaabout how can we best meet meet the needs of the city and knowing what othercities are doing is kind of um I think a very important thing to do. Being partof um something that is trying to makethings better both for our city, our communities um and even larger. Um Imean this is about also how can we help to support um some ofthe other pieces like the rule of law and constitution as well. Um that ispart of it as well as kind of the financial piece. I think it's reallyimportant. We all make an oath to the constitution when we are elected. I'vemade other oaths. I have family members who have made oaths. I think it's veryimportant that we focus on the Constitution and that we're allfollowing it. Um, and I think this is a bit of a step towards that to just say,"Yep, um, we do support the Constitution. We support ourcommunities, both our internal here, city of White Bear Lake, all of themembers of our communities, no matter what their backgrounds are, what thecolor of their skin is, and then also our surrounding communities. So, I wouldsupport the allyship. >> Thank you, Council Member West. >> Council member Walsh.>> Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I I appreciate you bringing this forward. Iapp I appreciate your leadership. I think there's a there's a desire to dosomething. I I'm going to oppose it. Um, I I thinksure allyship, sure. Uh, uh, get together with other cities, go to thelegislature. Essentially, what this is going to be, they had the group alreadyhad a press conference. They're just asking for money. They're asking formoney from the legislature um to allocate in some some way undefined. andthey don't have a defined amount because it's difficult to come up with, youknow, coming up with a number of like what's the right number, what who's beenharmed, how have they been harmed. It's it's really nebulous. Um, and maybethat'll take form as the session goes on. I guess my point is I of all thethings to go to the legislature and ask for money for, I wouldn't put this at ahigh a high level. I just don't have it as a top priority. Um, there's otherthings that we could bind with other cities and ask for um that'd be moreimportant to me. And so I think that the it's winding down thankfully. Um theactivity is winding down and um I don't think we need to be part of thecoalition. I I again I appreciate your effort. Um and I'm I'm glad it's you'reasking for allyship and not expenditure of city funds because I think that'sjust going to go to lobbyists who are going to, you know, run around thecapital and try and get money for the for the for the coalition. Um so I'm ano. And I'll just add in to um alsoappreciate your transparency in that and everyone sharing their way of thinking.I think that's something that we're good at up here and that the former councilwas good at. I think where I where I don't know what's headed. Like I said,I've been in touch with a lot of mutual aid and those, but they're kind oftapping out. Like people can only do so many funds to help other people who arejust were doing just fine. A lot of people didn't rely on any supports fromthe government who are in now are looking at themselves saying, "Well, Idon't fall into any of these categories and I'm really behind because I, youknow, was detained for this amount of time or I have been home for this amountof time because I've been fearful." And so I'm more I maybe the mutual aids willbe enough to get through but to me the allyship allows us to still follow andsay okay if it's not that you know what are our options with funds that we dohave whether it's ones you know we already have if it's LAA or if it'sothers or if they pass more higher so it keeps us informed but that's my my take.Yeah, and I I've done a lot of looking into it and um it's not just aboutmoney. Um you know, it would be nice um to get some money to help our businessesthat have suffered for no fault of their own, but um the the coalition is also intrying to ensure that this doesn't happen again. that goingforward um here's some parameters in our city things they're looking at trying toum get policies on is u masking um I think we can all agree that having masspeople with large guns and tactical gear roaming in our city is not somethingthat's very welcoming um I know we've had calls on that they were in people'sbackyards um and I think that's something that Ireally don't want to see in this city as a mayor Um, so you know, I'd like ourchildren and adults and people in the city to feel comfortable walking around.So that's the policy that they're thinking of putting forth. Um, they'realso thinking of having a pushing a policy that's um, they have to have aname and a badge number visible like our police officers do so that people knowthat they're an actually an official uh, person that is representing the federalgovernment. Um they're also looking at policies to prevent agents fromtargeting schools and bus stops. Um so a lot of times um some ICE agents havebeen roaming around the bus stops and the schools kind of waiting for kids toget off the bus. It makes children feel really uncomfortable. It makes familiesfeel really uncomfortable. So they're trying to put forth policies for that aswell. Um they're also trying to put force policies um that are lawsprotecting people under the US constitution which everyone in our cityis protected under the constitution and uh under the fourth amendment and thefifth amendment and the 14th amendment. Um, so they're also trying to um putforth policies that ensure that those are followed because I I think thatevery we would all agree that everybody in our city needs to follow the laws ofthe constitution. And um unfortunately we're in an odd situationright now where the federal government isn't following that. And so we need totry to get some policies put in place to help us make sure that as a city we canmake sure that's happening going forward. So I I think the concern liesin the agencies. You know, we're trying to enforce immigration policies thathave impacted our city and its residents. So we're trying tothat's my take on that. want a motion.>> Does anyone else have anything else to say or do you have a motion?>> Since I'm the one who brought it up, I would create a motion that we join theSafe and Stable Cities Coalition as an ally.>> Is there a second? >> I second.>> All in favor? >> Oh, is there a discussion? Thank you.Any further discussion? Okay. All in favor?>> I >> I>> opposed. >> Okay. Motion carries. >> Uh, okay. So, just to follow up on that,uh, being that that that motion did uh was approved 3 to two, um, I will I willbe in touch with the coalition and and notify them that Wiper Lake is joiningas an ally. >> Thank you.>> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh, moving on. Item nine, uh,discussion. There's nothing scheduled. Item 10, communication from the citymanager. Miss Crawford, do you have anything?>> Thank you, mayor. I don't have anything, uh, today. I know there were a coupleevents that maybe you're going to share about, so I will let you do that.>> Okay. Yeah. Uh, the past week has been kind of busy and just wanted to sharesome of the things that, um, some of us have been doing. Um, Council MemberGerola and I attended the VFW walk for Veteran Suicide Prevention Week onSunday and it was well attended. I'd say there was 30 to 35 people there even ona very very cold, windy afternoon. Um, and I know they were very appreciativeof everyone being there and um, it was a great event. Um,Council Member Gorl and I also had the opportunity to tour uh, New Tracks andMerik to learn and hear about all the great things they're doing in ourcommunity. New Tracks is a a great um, asset to our community withtransportation. And um, so we got to hear all about them and learn more aboutsome of their new ideas. Um, I also joined uh Council Member Eggstrand andMiss Crawford and some city staff, Miss Tracy Shimick and Jason Lindall at theTwin Cities live event at Rudy's. Um, I don't know if you all heard about that,but it was very fun and very well attended and they really did a great jobin promoting White Bear Lake and our great city and all the fun things thereare to do. So, it was a busy, packed week and um I just thank everybody inthe community for all the things they put on.>> All right, >> on that on that note, I could add um Ilike this update thing. Uh I attended a meeting of the Ramsey County Dispatch uhpolicy committee, my first one on this new assignment. Uh fascinating. Umthey're well staffed. They they have a good staff. They get great data on theirbig issue is employees and turnover. Working in the 911 center is verydifficult. They a lot of burnout. They have 50% of the people don't make itthrough the first few years and they they they're either they're eithercounseledled out or they they quit themselves. So, a lot of work on keepingemployees and mental health and everything else. Uh and their theirstatistics are impressive. So, it was good.>> That is great. Thank you for sharing that.>> Does anybody else have any things they did fun this week?All right. All right. Moving on. Um, we will now have a closed session. Um, sothe city council the we are now going into close session pursuant to Minnesotastate stat statute section 13D.05 subdivision 3B which authorizes thecouncil to hold an attorney client privilege close session under certaincircumstances. Our attorneys from Kennedy and Grain are present to discussactive litigation between the city of White Bear Lake and White Bear Townshiprelated to a fire service contract dispute. The need for confidentiality indiscussing this matter with our attorneys outweighs the purpose of theopen meeting law because legal counsel intends to candidly discuss recentdevelopments and provide legal advice on how to proceed. Allowing thesediscussions to happen in an open session would jeopardize the city's legalposition. Therefore, I request a motion to go into close session pursuant toMinnesota State Statute Section 13D.05 subdivision 3B to discuss the abovedescribed matters. >> So moved.>> Second. >> All in favor? I.>> Any opposed? All right. I'm closing the session. Ifyou have something that needs to be signed, high school students, pleasecome on up.