We call a Shaki city council meeting December 16th, 2025 to order. The clerk could please take the role. Council member Delaney >> here. >> Council member Whiting >> here. >> Council member Contraras >> here. >> Council member Lara >> here. Mayor Layman here. Item number three, if join us in pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Item number four, approval of the agenda. Is there any changes to the agenda from staff? >> Nothing from staff, sir. >> From councel. >> Councelor Contrers. >> I'd like to make a motion to approve the agenda. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Okay, we have a motion second. Any discussion? >> Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. >> Item number five, consent agenda. Any changes to the consent agenda? M >> from staff, sir. >> Mr. Delaney, >> I'd like to pull 5 A and 5B. >> Any other changes? I uh >> uh 5P. >> I'm sorry, sir. I didn't hear that. >> Five. Paul. >> Paul. Got it. >> Mr. Whiting. >> Make a motion to adopt the consent agenda as modified. >> Is there a second? >> Second, >> Mr. Second by councelor Contrarist. Uh Mr. Reynolds, you want to read the consent agenda, please? >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of council. This these are the consent agenda items for Tuesday, December 16th of 2025. 5C is the 2025 miscellaneous gifts and donations. 5D is a renewal of the goal for gold skate school agreement. 5e is the outdoor athletic field use policy. 5F is the purchase of three marked utility police interceptors for the police department. 5G or 2025 budget amendments. 5H is the monthly financial report for November. 5 is the Scott County Public Health statewide health improvement partnership grant application. 5J is the Chevrolet First Responders Sponsorship Program donation. 5K is the Community Center and ICE Arena ADA report. 5L is the community center cleaning contract. 5M is the approval of the December 2nd, 2025 city council minutes. 5N approves the purchase of replacement light poles for downtown Shockby Street lighting district. 5 is a resolution establishing the 2026 regular meeting calendar for the city council and EDA. And 5Q is the final payment for general conditions for Krauss Anderson for Jackson Commons. >> Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. We do have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. Item number six, public comment. If you're here for an item that is not on the agenda, would like to now would be your opportune time to do so, step up to the table there with the microphone. Anybody here for an item not on our agenda that would like to address council? Seeing none, item number seven, business removed from consent agenda. Item 5A was removed by councelor Delaney. Mr. Delaney. Okay, let's take a 5A first. 5A is the economic development authority levy. I I would like to see that held flat. I I know we've gone through all kind of discussions on that. Um I understand the 50,000 that's being included. My concern is we purchased uh land with I think about $150,000 that again I I think the small injury repair shop should have been more of a public not a a kind of buy by the city. So I'm for me this our taxes should not have gone toward that. So I like to try to keep our budget flat for this. So that's >> okay Mr. Whiting. Well, the EDA is in the business of buying properties that are uh in this case uh run down, we'll say. Um it's different. The EDA levy is separate and is specifically for economic development purposes. So, with that, I make a motion to adopt resolution R 2025 TAC 143 approving the 2026 EDA levy. >> I'll second it, but I'd like for discussion. We have more discussion. Um >> motion is seconded by councelor Contrarus. First to speak would be the motion maker, then the second. Anything further? >> No. Go ahead, >> councelor Contrarus. >> Um, just clarification. Uh, Mr. Delaney, you said um, Commissioner Delaney. Well, no, Mr. Delaney, sorry. Um, you said land for 150,000. >> Um, the P is that we're talking about the property across the post office, correct? That was 75, not 150 >> plus the tear down and clean up. >> Well, we're not there yet, but >> understood. >> So, it's I mean, and again, that is what the EDA does. Um, so I don't I just don't agree with that. Um, in my personal view because um I and I and I want to give you a reason be the main idea, you know, is is whatever we do with that land, even if we were to clean it up or whatever and resell it or even make a parking lot, we will be making money back at some time and point. I don't see how sometimes you get stuck at, oh, we're spending money. Why aren't you looking up ahead and seeing where the profit will be? Yes, it'll take some time. You have to spend money to make money. And it just it just gets me sometimes that we're not looking up ahead for the future of what what else we can, you know, bring forward. >> Can I respond? >> There's no return on investment for buying that property. That should have been a public sale. I mean, can anybody in the state in the city now come and say, "Buy my property." That should have been a public sale with taxpayers funding on that. That made it private. We didn't look for a private public partnership. We basically said, "We're going to buy this land, tear it down, clean it up, and then there's no return on investment. You turn into a parking lot, there's no tax return on it. If you What else can you do with it?" >> Okay. >> Against downtown park. >> All right. There's there's absolutely nothing wrong with having different perspectives and different priorities. I I my priority for EDA is high-paying jobs and you know we're spending too much money on things that don't produce high paying jobs. But any rate, there's nothing wrong with differences. Mr. Lara, >> can I ask what those are? >> Pardon me. >> Can I ask what those are? Can you give a couple examples of what we're spending money on >> that doesn't go towards that? Well, we we had that discussion through the budget cycle and as you well know, I voted against it though what two maybe three times. So my me being opposed to this should not be a shock to you or anybody else. >> No, it's not. >> So I just I'm just curious like what the specifics are like what are if I'm not maybe I'm not seeing them like and not aware of like are we spending money on something that we shouldn't be and that I'm not aware of it that I maybe was not paying attention to. Um I was Mr. I was very surprised when we looked at the sale of the Deco and the amount of return received since that property uh was built. Um I think I my math it was like $300,000 even though the contract says 200,000 plus per year which should have been about a million uh reduction in that in that interfund loan. Um sometimes it takes longer than you expect and I get that. Um so it's it's not it's just different priorities, different visions and and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Matter of fact, uh differences like this make this country what it is and make it special and make it great. So nobody needs to walk away thinking that this is good, bad or indifferent. There are no bad ideas. There's no bad visions, no bad uh priorities. They're all important. And in our form of government, the majority rules, and that's always been the case. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. So >> I guess I just want to point out a positive that did come out of the EDA this year was the was the opening of GN and those highpaying jobs and then the future possibility of more of those coming to us. Also then on building on that all the um the ripple effect of them being here the um all the other jobs all the other economic money being spent in our city which is going to be fantastic. So, um there are positives that come out of the EDA and all the efforts that our staff put into, um entertaining, uh to get business here and people to have a spotlight on us. So, I think um we're just getting started with all of that and we're going to see more and more positive direction going. So, >> yeah, just so the record's clear, there was no taxpayer dollars going into GNN Resound moving to Shakape. >> No, but no, there was not. Um but um you know when we're talking about the uh the TAP 2022 dinner when we have entrepreneurs come together and we show the city that hey we're serious with and we hear at the comments too when they when at um at these ribbon cutings and they're like thank you for being a supportive city council that when when they say that it's just it it reinforces what we're doing is the right thing. So, so the brewers are paid to be here for that event, tap event, and then the same residents that are paying the brewers to be here have to pay an entrance fee. Uh, so the the taxpayers are paying twice. And yes, some of the fees come back and and make it a neutral costwise event. Um, sometimes hopefully, right? So, all right. Any other discussion? We do have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? I. >> Motion passes. >> Item 5B was removed. That was by Mr. Delaney. >> Go to 5B. >> 5B. >> Okay. Same reason. I cannot support the proposed levy increase. Um, I know residents have complained about their taxes and I know we had workshops and sessions, but they do complain and they do call and they do reach out. Um, I still believe that growth should pay for itself. I'm still trying to understand exactly why we've had substantial growth, but yet our we can't seem to hold our taxes kind of flat. And that's my my take on it. So, okay, >> Mr. way. I think we're the lowest taxed city of our comparison. Um we are growing. Uh we have needs uh inflation is uh hits the city as well. Um, so with that, I'd make a motion to adopt a resolution R 2025 TAC141 and R 20225 TAC142 approving the property tax levy collectible in 2026 to 2026 annual budget. >> Is there a second? >> Go ahead. >> Second by councelor Contrarus. Discussion >> lots of discussion. >> Mr. Lara, >> um, well, Mr. Delaney, Council Dellainy, I uh un unless they're reaching out to you directly, I I have I personally, and I I'll just speak for myself, have not received a phone call, an email, or a personal approach regarding our city's taxes in a negative way. >> Okay. either >> at during um night to unite. Every encounter I had, everyone was commenting on our parks, how much they love our city and everything that we're doing. They um they chose to move here for those reasons. So again, all that shows we're moving in the right direction. But I've and then also too, during our uh last council meeting, we had nobody in our audience come and approach us about our about our tax levy. Nobody. I've not heard one peep and so I I'm just I would love to hear them approach me about it because I would like to be able to answer them too. >> Um so that's just my comment. I personally have not been approached negatively about it. I >> any go ahead. >> I have been approached both positively and negatively. I same thing people move here for the amenities. I've got that feedback also. I got the feedback. Can do can do can do can do can do can do can do can do can do can do can do you know what about the high tax like what about it like is there a specific area that they're concerned about? So when they approach about tax understand the feedback is always we'll tell them look at the full tax that they get the roster from even the city to county to >> wait I'm sorry go back I'm sorry start start over again >> usually the feedback that I' when I've mentioned this before I said well tell them that we are I do agree we are one of the lowest taxed and I do bring that up and I say look at your full taxes that you're paying look at your comparison from your city to county to the school so you can get it kind of breaking out. um they do respond and say, "Well, again, I'm when they talk to us, we're the face of that tax increase." They just look at across the board and say, "My taxes to go up from the city." And they'll say how much they went up. And you can still say, "Okay, well, it's it's going to be a cup of coffee comparison." But again, for some people, a cup of coffee is is maybe the cost of a prescription. You know, some people on a fixed income, a fixed budget, and when you do raise those taxes, they do see that hit. So, Okay, we do have a motion and a second. >> I I I want to add council >> contrus. >> Thank you. Um >> I think I and I'm going to go back to your own words when you were talking to us in in a review. You mentioned something that you know we we've been here enough time to do good. you had said to to try to do what is best for our community and I don't know it just I feel that and again you know what the mayor said we all have the right to have a different point of view and and and it's fine the end of the day we'll walk out we'll be happy but the idea is that I just feel the not voting yes I don't understand it I mean I I I see your reasoning but it's not to me it's not enough to say no to it. Um, you know, I've been I've been thinking and it's like I feel like it's contradictive, I guess, is the word, right? Because we are supposed to be here to support our staff, support our police, you know, all of our employees, fire, and when I, you know, when we talk about the annual budget, remember we have their their their salaries on there and they're not being paid above average. They're at medium. They're like just at average. So that to me is like when you say we don't want taxes to go up. So what are we going to start cutting? The next step is to start cutting what people. And our city is growing. There's no way on earth we're going to cut anybody. It's opposite. We're growing. We need more people to help us get the city to continue running at where we're at. It's just And then the other thing Yeah. before you go um and come at me. It's like be sitting here, we have benefits and we have tons of responsibilities and benefits. And what bothers me and I'll say it because I've been wanting to get this off my chest. The benefits are like all the the the the great option um photo ops and things that we do. I've noticed that we're out we're we're out out in the city taking, you know, pictures and like ribbon cutting of all these great places. Oh yes, a new park, a new this, a new that. But how many times you saying no to this, you're not actually supporting it. So it bothers me that you're out there and yet you're like, "Yeah, I'm here to support, but guess what? This these actions, your actions talk more than you just, you know, >> so >> sorry, I'm frustrated right now." You know, >> really frustrated. frustration. >> We're not I've heard various points of view, various priorities. We're not going to spend all night going back and forth. >> My comments will be pretty simple and straightforward. So, you know, I meet with the the state, the Met Council, our lobbyist group, MLC, U County, all these other entities. Um, it's the first time that you really see every branch of government, the federal government, the state government, Met Council, county government, city government, township, schools, every single one of them agrees 100% that housing affordability is a problem. And it's really hard to sit in these meetings with a straight face when every single entity at the table is making houses less affordable. Households are all paying more. Yes, ours is smaller than all these other layers of government, but this is the direct way of increasing somebody's house payment taxing, property tax increases, whether it's us or county or whoever. And it's unfortunate that, you know, I I was hoping and through the budget process, we had these discussions, so I'm not going to get into the whole thing again of ways that we could adapt to, you know, I and I know a tax cut probably wasn't in the cards this year. There's a lot of difficulties out there um that we can't control state and federal funding and and policy differences at that level. But, you know, it really comes comes down about priorities. And the priority for me is trying my very best to make sure that the people that we serve, which are the property taxpayers and voters, um that we do our very best to have as minimal impact on them as possible. Um it's critical that growth pays for itself and we're going to be going into a future of you know a pretty substantial tiff district that is not going to pay for itself for services and it's things like that that we and on top of that as I've raised through the process this year multiple times not our control but I'm very concerned about where we're headed. unknowing where, you know, this disagreements between state and federal and funding shifts and funding freezes and all these other things and how they affect us and and I I just want to be very cautious because ultimately I don't I don't want my heart is in the h houses. I don't want people to get hurt by our actions. So, it is what it is. Um still respect everything that we do. We are a great community. We've got a lot of great things going for us over many other communities that are struggling greater than us. Uh we count count our blessings. Absolutely. So with that uh being said, we do have a motion and a second. Let's uh call it for a vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> I. >> Motion passes three to two. All right. 5P. I took off the lever level three charger installation in Corey Lake Park. The reason I took this off here is is I'm not against having a electric charger in Corey Lake, but I think the extent of our involvement is to say yes, we give you permission to put it in our park. Um, this shouldn't be our expense. It's it doesn't serve all park users. It only served those that have electric vehicles and all the profits from the sale of electricity go to Excel, I believe it is, is who's going to be supplying this charger. So, for me, I I'm willing to give them permission to put one in our park. I'm not willing to pay for part of it. So, that's my only my only deal. Mr. Mr. Krisky, do you have something you'd like to say? >> No, I was just waiting in case if we have questions. >> Let's see. U >> Where's the Where's the recommendation? >> Yeah, that's what I'm looking forward to. >> I'll try it. >> Mr. Whiting, >> I'll make a motion to uh >> second page. First >> is on the second page. >> Yeah, I know. Make a motion to approve the contract with Charge Point in the amount of $49,872 for the purchase and installation by Hunt Electric for a level three charger to be installed in Quarry Lake Park uh parking lot using the Sourcewell purchasing contract for services and appropriate discounts. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Seconded by councelor Lara. Discussion. Mr. This is the proceeds. You know, you you a lot of these grants that it's a grant program with Excel Energy and they do have a portion of our uh city uh Excel does as opposed to Shakabby Public Utilities. There is a matching or at least a portion of this that we're going to be uh funding. Um this helps activate the park. It helps the community back there, the the industrial community have the opportunity to charge their vehicles near their work and uh maybe they charge it, they come back later uh at break time and uh so it's getting used. I understand uh there just not enough chargers where they need to be for electric cars. So that's why that's my comments. >> Very good. Any other discussion? >> I'll say statistically most people charge their cars at home. Um, I think it's good PR, but other than that, having other residents fund discharges for the park, I >> and that's out of the EDA budget. >> It's actually it's coming from park reserve reserve. Okay, >> that was changed. >> Um, will the will the electricity used be paid for or is it donated? >> It didn't say in the packet. >> Mayor and council is charged to the customer. >> Okay. So Excel's putting $125,000 in. The original estimate was 75,000. Through using Source Well and Hunt Electric, we're able to cut it down to less than 50,000. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Any other questions of staff? Very good. We do have a motion and a second was councelor Lara. Correct. >> Yes. >> Okay. All in favor say I. I. >> Opposed? I. Motion passes. Okay. 8A is a public hearing for a 2026 full depth pavement reconstruction project on 12th Avenue. Uh motion to open the public hearing would be in order. Councelor Lara >> make a motion to open the public hearing. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by councelor Contrarus. Discussion. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. >> Public hearing is now open. >> Thank you. Mayor and Council, I'm here before you tonight to hold the first public hearing for the 2026 full depth pavement reconstruction project. This project is located along 12th Avenue from a point 300 ft east of County Road 83, which is known as Canterbury Road to Valley Park Drive, as you can see on the image on the screen. Uh existing roadway on uh 12th Avenue, it's a a wide 44 foot wide urban roadway. It's uh known as a collector roadway. It serves the industrial business park in the area. Um there is an 8-ft pedestrian trail along the south side of the roadway that the city constructed 5 years ago. Uh the curb and gutter is in fair condition. There are some uh deficiencies in the curb that need to be replaced. Uh 12th Avenue was originally constructed in 1985 as a asphalt roadway. The city has done some minor maintenance over the years including a mill and overlay and chip seal and crack seals uh in the past uh 15 years or so. Uh along the roadway, Spuck owns a 12-in water man that runs in the boulevard in the south side of the road, and there's some sanitary sewer located along the road as well. Uh the existing drainage system includes storm sewer, catch basins along the roadway, and a curb and gutter system. Uh the proposed project includes a full depth pavement reclamation, which uh basically includes grinding up the existing asphalt into the aggregate base to create a new roadway section. uh that top surface of the aggre aggregate would be stripped off and paved a new asphalt base section. If there's any subgrade areas that are deficient, those would be corrected with the project. That would be identified after the asphalt is removed. Uh that deficient curbon gutter would be replaced where there's cracks or settlements that are holding water. That would be replaced with new curb gutter, but the entire roadway will not be replaced. The entire curb section. Um, with this project, we'll be looking to convert the um, lanes of travel from a four-lane roadway, meaning two lanes in each direction, to a three-lane roadway, which would include one lane of travel and then a continuous center to center left turn lane. And the reason being for that is the city uh prepared a traffic study back in 2019 that looked at the traffic volumes along the roadway and also the accident history. Uh, there are a lot of driveways serving the industrial park in this area and those driveways aren't aligned in most cases. There's a lot of offset driveways. So, not having a continuous left turn lane creates conflicts between those turning points. So, creating a left turn lane will allow vehicles to safely merge into that center lane and be able to turn off into their driveway and in a protected movement rather than turning left from the through lane where you have opposing traffic. Um, with that conversion as well be we'll be fixing that funky um intersection at Valley Park Drive on the east end of 12th Avenue. If you're familiar with the area, essentially 12th Avenue, both lanes turn left north into Valley Park Drive. It um we've noticed that there's a a high accident history along that roadway, which is why we did uh the traffic study back in 2019, specifically at that intersection. So, with that, we'll be converting it to one eastbound left turn lane, and the southern through lane will just be maintained as a through lane. Then the southbound approach would be converted to a stop controlled intersection. So, if you're on 12th Avenue, you'll still able to make that left turn movement um without a stop. But if you're coming from the north on Valley Park, you'll actually stop before you make that movement left or right onto 12th Avenue. Um that was identified previously in a study um and the city supports that. We were just waiting for the reconstruction at 12th Avenue to allow us to make those changes. Um there's a sanitary sewer that will be uh replaced in 80oot section where we identified that there's a settlement in the service. So, this allows us the opportunity to fix that while we're reconstructing the roadway. And we'll be replacing some of the storm sewer catch basins that don't meet the city standards. Um, which reconstructing the roadway affords that us that affords us that opportunity. And Spuck does not have any water main improvements that will be constructed with this project. Uh, restoration there. Like I said, there's a lot of driveways along the corridor. Uh, for commercial properties that have puminous driveways, they'll be replaced with puminous driveways. If there's a concrete driveway, if we need to touch that, we'll be replacing it in kind with concrete as well. And then we'll be reeding the boulevard area either with sod if there's irrigation systems or with hydro seed uh if there's no irrigation. Uh the proposed cost of the project is $2.181 million. Of that, the street improvement cost is just over $2 million. Um, consistent with the city's special assessment policy, about $600,000 of that would be specially assessed to benefiting property owners. The majority of our project costs are in the street improvement cost. There's some small storm sewer uh costs like we talked about with the drainage improvements and the small sanitary sewer improvements as well. Uh, consistent with the city's special assessment policy and Minnesota state statutes chapter 429 for special assessments for local improvements. Um, this project does include funding that would be specially assessed to the benefiting property owners based on the city's special assessment policy. The actual cost of the street improvements would be used to determine the final assessment amounts. So that would be done after construction is completed. 30% of those street accessible costs would be used to determine the total assessable amount. So essentially 70% of the street costs are paid by city property taxes. 30% are especially assessed to the benefiting property owners. Um, consistent with our special assessment policy, we are proposing to assess the properties on a cost per acre basis. That means if you have a 20 acre property, you'd be multiplying our assessment rate by the total um size of your property as opposed to if you had a 1acre property, you'd get less of a benefit from that roadway. And I'll show you on a map uh essentially what that means. And then again, the final amounts will be considered at a second public hearing upon completion of the project where we can calculate the final project costs which would be done um in the fall of 2026. Our preliminary assessment rate which was uh based on the feasibility report that we completed and brought previously to the city council is $7,16743 per acre. Uh here on the screen is the assessment map. The properties shown in red are those that are accessible. You see there are three properties that kind of have a half triangle where it's a light red and a dark red color. Those properties have frontage along two public streets. So they're known as corner lots. So with this assessment, they would be getting a half assessment. So essentially, if they're a 20 acre property, they would be assessed for 10 of those acres of their property. And when the city would come back and reconstruct the adjacent public street, they would be assessed again for that half assessment. And that's consistent with our special assessment property. There are two properties shown in white. One is a one owned by by Centerpoint Energy and another is a city property. Those are included in the assessable cost and would be assessed. Um, however, they just aren't commercial property, so they're just shown slightly different, but they are part of the total assessment amounts. So, next steps in the schedule of project. Uh, last week, Thursday, the city hosted a neighborhood meeting in this room. We invited all the property owners to come ask questions and learn more about the project. Prior to this public hearing, we had eight property owners in attendance of that meeting. Uh, most most questions related to how construction would be completed, if the roadway would be open during the project, and that answer is yes. We're still working on figuring out how we'd stage construction, whether we build it the north half at a time or the south half or the middle and then the outside. We'll be working through that process as we go through the design. Um, but we assured the property owners that 12th Avenue would be open to their businesses during construction. Um, there were no questions specifically about the assessment amounts. Uh, mainly questions regarding what the the city's position was between the four to three and conversion and what the benefits were that staff was able to address. Um most residents and property owners supported the project and they were happy that the roadway was getting reconstructed. Uh so moving forward on the schedule tonight we'll hold the public hearing. Um after the public hearing if council wishes to proceed with the project they can authorize the project in order preparation of the plans and specifications. I just want to note that does require a four-fifth vote in order to proceed since this is a special assessment project. Um then we would begin design as a staff and we would bring back the project in January to council to approve plans and specs and authorized bidding. We would bid the project in early spring and council can award that contract in March so we can begin construction right away in May and hopefully substantially complete in August. Um, and then we would bring back those costs to be declared by the city council in October and hold that second public hearing, which is the special assessment hearing, and then certify the assessments to be paid with the 2027 property taxes. So, with that, I will stand for questions. Um, and if there are none, then the city council can hold a public hearing. >> Questions of staff? >> Oh, just one question. >> Mr. Delaney, >> it has a question. >> Um, yeah. On page 163, it has included in the resolution is new funding language that would allow the city to reimburse project costs that would allow the city to to reimburse project costs for future bond proceeds. Just uh two questions on that. How long is the repayment period? And um that's actually my only question for that. >> Thank you, Councelor Delaney. And and if Nate wants to chime in in a little bit, he can. But essentially the city has been including that language in our resolutions which provides us flexibility in the future if we do bond for future projects. We can include these costs in those bond proceeds. So it provides the city flexibility as we finance these projects in the future. Um and secondly uh we would look these assessments based on the evaluation of them would be 10-year assessments. >> Cool. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any other questions of staff? >> I just um so this stretch of we're all familiar with this stretch of road. Um, does everyone know what large business is down at the end of this road? Like I'm talking like at the very end. It's FedEx. >> FedEx. >> And those trucks every day back and forth, back and forth. I just I don't know. I just personally I just feel a little bit for the businesses that are getting assessed for this project. Um, when there's a larger or other businesses down the road that are using this road mainly and they're contributing to the wear and tear of it. Maybe it's just that's just my concern. But maybe it's that's just the cost of being on that road. I don't know. That's just my thought. I'm like, man, this this road is probably heavily worn because of those some of those those vehicles going back and forth and then we're assessing how many 10 businesses are going to get assessed for this. >> Uh there's there's more than 10. And I can grab that exact number for you after this. I have >> Mr. Lauri, your question is they're really getting a benefit off this road yet. They're not part of the paying the assessment for the improvements on the road. they benefit from >> and I and I and I get it like you know when their end of the road's going to get um redone at some point there you know they'll be assessed for it but I don't know I feel like I don't I don't know how the pro clearly this is how the process works but you know it's just uh yeah does that make sense >> it does make a lot of sense a lot of sense actually >> it does >> however just and please correct me if I'm wrong staff uh under the 429 and the and the assessment policy um some of that is state driven and some of that is is built on the city's assessment policy which goes back a long time. >> Uh along with the percentages of what the uh properties pay and what the general taxpayers pay >> um which goes same for a residential street in front of councelor Whiting's house or for this street. So >> right >> um >> I had that thought. Um, one comment if I if I can jump in there. Uh, the section of 12th Avenue that we're doing now is older, I believe, than the the section going towards FedEx and and the the ones they'll get theirs. >> Yeah, >> they'll get theirs. >> I guess I have just one more thing. Um, so speaking of those businesses down on the other side of Valley Park Road, were they notified that this project will be occurring because it's going to affect their access to this road, too? Do you know how far those notices went? >> Uh, thank you, Councelor Laura. They have not been notified about the project yet. We've only notified the direct property owners that would be specially assessed, but the city does notify all area businesses when we do approve an improvement project and we'll be reaching out to those property owners either this winter, early spring ahead of construction. >> Sure. That's the only thing I wanted to make sure because we've hear about that too sometimes. until uh this body by four fifths decides we're going to move forward with this project. They certainly don't want to get ahead of themselves and talk to each other. >> True. I >> I I actually have a couple of questions that weren't very clear in the packet. Um >> so we're going to go from a four lane to a three lane and the center lane is a turn lane, left turn lane. Is that going to go the full length? >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for the question. So essentially we'll be transitioning into the pavement striping just um east of County Roadard 83. If you can think of where the gas station is and where Culver's is essentially right where that median stops is where the pavement striping will begin its transition to go to that threelane section. And the threelane section will then carry all the way to Valley Park Drive and it'll stop. If you can imagine east of Valley Park Drive, there's no pavement markings on I think it's Gateway um if I have that roadway name right. Sorry. Uh so essentially that will be the extent of where that threelane conversion will be and you are correct it's a left turn lane that's continuous down the center for both directions. >> And then my second question the businesses to the east of uh of this project. Do they have a secondary access point to those properties uh east of Valley Park Drive? They do not. 11th Avenue, 12th Avenue, and Gateway is essentially a looped road that only connects to Valley Park and then 12th on the south side. So, Valley Park will not be under construction during this project. Um, where the northern access road connects to it, but on the south side, 12th Avenue will obviously be reconstructed to to the intersection. If that if that answers your question, >> I'm not sure. Did it answer my question? >> Well, they can get out Valley Park. >> They can get out Valley Park without using 12th Avenue. >> That's correct, Mr. Mayor. >> Okay. Thank you. That's the clarification. Any other questions of staff? Okay. This is a public hearing. If you would like to comment on this um proposal, now would be the time. Love to hear your comments. Anybody in the audience that would like to make comment? This is a public public hearing for road improvement project on 12th Avenue. If you'd like to comment now, now would be the time to do so. And last call. I'm seeing none. Wishes a council. Mr. Mr. Delaney >> like to make a motion to close the public hearing. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> A motion to second. Discussion on the motion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. >> Public hearing is closed. What's the wishes of councel? >> Councelor Contrarus. like to make a motion to adopt resolution R2025-140 ordering improvements and preparation the plans and spec um specifications for the 2025 full depth pavement reconstruction project CIF-26-001 >> I'll second that with the friendly amendment I think she said 25 is 26 full >> yes I probably did for 2026 full death pavement rec reconstruction project that >> all right the motion maker and the second are on the same page yes >> okay council on the same page? >> Yep. >> Okay, very good. Um, we have a motion and second. Discussion on the motion. Discussion. Um, just another comment that comes to mind. Um, when you said you're well, two things. One, we're going to go out and find out true bids. So, this will be coming back. If they come way out of line, council at that point can make further decisions. Um, second question, you talked about grinding up the existing pavement, utilizing it in the subbase. um and where there's deficiencies, they'll be corrected. Um how deep does that subbase then with that process? >> Yeah, Mr. Mayor, thank you. That's a great question. So, essentially, we'd go about 15 in deep with grinding up the existing pavement with the underlying base. Um if we need to subgrade below that, we would go 2 ft below that 15 ft. So if we find that after we've stripped off the gravel that we don't need, if it's soft soils, then we would go excavate an additional two feet below that and replace it with sand. >> Okay? Otherwise, we're going to we're getting what was the >> be it'd be total 10 inches of aggregate with 5 in of asphalt on top. But essentially, when we grind it up, we're grinding that whole 15inch depth to create a cohesive asphalt surface and then or aggregate surface and then removing 5 in of aggregate and replacing that with asphalt. >> So we're getting a good 15 in of good base. That's correct. >> Okay. All right. Anything else? All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> 9A general business recreation program plan. Whenever you are ready. This is uh CAPRPA accreditation focuses aligning department policies with industry standards, national industry standards and uh Kelsey. Whenever you're ready, go for it. >> Good evening, mayor and members of the council. Um tonight we have before you a couple items, but the first one is our recreation program plan. So you've heard a lot about CAPRPA over the last year. Um so I just thought I'd give you a quick snapshot view of where we are at in the process. So our self assessment which is the largest port largest portion that we have to do as a staff is due on January 15th. Um the CAPRAO review committee will then review our self assessment and we will have an on-site visit between March and August of 2025. Um, I was hoping to have the actual date of the visit for you guys tonight, but we have not heard back yet from CAPRPA. Um, CAPRPA consists of 154 standards that outline the best practices within the parks and recreation industry. And as we are nearing completion of this self assessment, we currently meet 151 of the 154 for a 98 completion rate. Um, and just for benchmarking, only 90% is required for our initial accreditation. And the three that we don't meet, we barely don't meet. So, I think we could probably meet them when we go to reacredititate 5 years. Um, so what the recreation program is is really placing strategy and structure behind why we program and how we program. Um it really focuses on taking this master planning document that we have and operationaliz operationalizing it um to a 2 to threeyear document that we will then um update every two to three years. What we have before you tonight we are viewing as a three-year document but we plan to review annually just to make sure that it's still where we want it to be. So, I have two staff members here with me tonight, Sherry D'vorak and Rachel Bland, and they were really key in making this come to life and putting it together. So, I'm going to turn the floor over to Rachel and let her give you a little bit of background of the recreation program plan. >> Good evening, uh, Mr. Mayor and City Council. I'm Rachel and I'm going to hear talk to you today about oper operationalizing the master plan. Um so like Kelsey said, the master plan is a long range planning document um that was developed in 2019. Um and in it we established uh seven major themes that was based heavily on community feedback. Um the master plan did seven months of engagement with our community with specialized focus groups to get this feedback to create these themes. So we have riverfront connection, public private partnerships, new and innovative facilities, premium athletics, natural areas, trails and connections, and then park accessibility and programming. Now, these themes are great, but they're very broad. Um, and so reading through the 271 pages of the master plan for staff to make daily decisions is uh hard and not really feasible into day-to-day operations. So we had to ask ourselves, how do we leverage these themes to ensure that our program and service delivery aligns with these community priorities that the master plan establishes? Um so staff developed a system um to really plug the PRT master plan into um our days. Um, we translated the these these big picture themes into some clear guiding questions um, which are fully outlined in the recreation program plan page 7 to 12. Um, and that we can use some of these guiding questions to consistently deliver program or consistently apply them to program ideas, proposals, and also evaluations um, after our services have been delivered. So, just as an example for theme three here, um that's new and innovative facilities. So, when I think of this theme, I immediately think of like, well, what facilities would I want to develop? But that's not necessarily a day-to-day decision that I get to make. Um, so the focus here would be to keep Shakabe park system fresh and relevant and inclusive by adapting to changing recreation trends and adapt activating all parts of our city. So, some questions that staff can ask when they're developing a summer camp program or a new aquatics program is, does it test a new recreation trend or activity that appeals to current and future users? Does it activate underused spaces um by helping bring activity to the east side or other lower traffic parks and facilities? And does it respond to community feedback? Does it reflect what residents have asked for through surveys, input sessions, or participant feedback? So this is just one example of some of these guiding questions that every theme that the U master plan identifies and how we can apply it to um our day-to-day decision- making. Um so the biggest um thing here is that we want to use this framework to develop our program um so that they reflect our community priorities. Um, our objectives here would be to translate the master plan vision into specific program objectives. Um, enhance our existing programs. So, if we're really established and beloved program like our summer camps, how can we integrate these themes um for our participants to um have these really uh specialized experiences? Um, we want to make sure our programs reflect the findings from the master plan and the engagement that um we did. And then we want citywide and accessible distribution of programming. Um so making sure that everyone has a fabulous experience here in Chaki. Um so our main goal here is just for program and services to directly reflect what residents asked for because the themes are woven into daily decision-m not just our long range plan planning. So with that, I'll pass it over to Sherry. Good evening, Mr. Mr. Mayor and members of the council, um I'm here tonight to talk about two other areas of our uh recreation program plan, and that's our program life cycle and our C core program areas. First, I want to summarize what our uh program life cycle is. Our um staff worked on a step-by-step procedure that will tell us how to manage our programs and services that we offer. The life cycle intends to establish a consistent repeatable process for planning and developing and delivering and evaluating both new and existing programs or services. The life cycle ensures all programs are justified, outcome driven, and aligned with community needs and the shock parks and recreation departmental goals. It also requires staff to follow key steps every time a program is offered, promoting accountability and continuous improvement. This is our program life cycle. As you see, it's eight various steps um that we follow. The life cycle process essentially answers the why, the how, the where, who, and when of what we do and offer. New programs and refresh programs are developed in response to demonstrated community needs, resident feedback, and priorities outlined in the parks, trails, and recreation master plan. Each program includes a budget justification and financial analysis to ensure responsible use of public resources and long-term sustainability before approval. Once um the new program um concept is developed, it will undergo a review by management and department leadership to confirm alignment with the city goals, service priorities, and equality standards prior to implementation. Once that program gets the go-ahad, it's formally scheduled, promoted using city communication standards, and delivered with documented oversight to ensure efficient operations. Programs are then evaluated throughout their program life. Their span of the the their schedule of activities are evaluated using participation data data, resident surveys, and outcome tracking to access effectiveness, satisfaction, and a return on our investment. Once the program is complete, regular reviews determine whether the program should be growing, maintained, refreshed, or retired, ensuring city resources are continually aligned with the community needs and city goals. This uh next slide talks about our core program areas and the objectives. the um park master plan that Rachel was referring to um developed these seven core program areas and then we have some examples of those services and programs that fall underneath those specific areas. The each core program has specific objectives that we try and follow when we uh do the programs. To summarize these objectives, the sports core program encourages lifelong physical activity. It develops fundamental movement and sports skills and promotes teamwork and confidence. Our special events and programming, we try to provide fun and inclusive and safe recreational experiences that build social connections. Our active older adults, we try to support healthy aging by promoting wellness and lifelong learning and social connection. all while doing these programs that we offer um for the various uh seasons. Our diverse aquatic program area delivers safe, highquality aquatic programs that build water safety and swimming schools, I'm sorry, swimming skills. Um, our fitness and wellness wellness provide physical and mental health by providing accessible facilities, diverse fitness opportunities, and programs that support strength, mobility, social connectiveness, and lifelong healthy habits. Community programs, events, and facilities increase community engagement and a sense of belonging. And lastly, our ice arena provides equitable access to ice facilities and programs that promote active lifestyles and skill development. Along with these core program areas and objectives, staff also will be develop developing smart goals annually that will help us achieve um these objectives under each core. And like I said, they will be uh reviewed and new smart goals uh planned for each year. And that will be our road map to our future offerings. So that was a brief overview of a much longer document, but we wanted to make sure that we called out the new elements and new practices that we will be putting into place. So tonight, we are seeking approval of the 2026 through 2029 recreation program plan. And with that, I'm happy to stand for any questions. >> Thank you for your presentation. Questions of staff. Councelor Lara, I have a few. Um, this is going back to the first presentation. Uh, you had mentioned on theme three, uh, new innovative facilities, um, response to community feedback. I was, uh, I'm curious like what feedback have you heard? Are are there any underutilized spaces um that people have been bringing awareness to saying, "Hey, I wish you guys would offer programs out on this end of town or um are were there any facilities that maybe you guys realized like, hey, we really aren't using this is to its potential. This is what we're going to do to fix it." Um some things that we have talked about internally um is as Shakape grows most of our recreation offerings are towards >> the west side thinking of directions here the west side of town so I think we really want to try and do what we can to expand our program offerings towards the east side of town. Um there isn't any like structured community survey that we have done specifically. Um, a couple things that come to my mind are some we have quite a few meeting rooms at the community center. So, really looking at making sure we're activating those spaces and utilizing them to their potential. Um, I know Rachel mentioned our summer camp. You know, making sure that we're exposing our summer camp counselors to all the different things that our parks and recreation system has to offer. So, I wouldn't say there's anything concrete. Um, but that would be a goal is to continue to get feedback and making sure we're meeting those goals. >> Sure. And then on the same line of feedback, um, has have you guys heard any feedback in terms of programs that you guys have been offering that you've noticed have been gaining popularity or um, how are you guys responding to um, maybe higher in demand programs? >> So, the one that immediately comes to mind is our summer camp program. Um again I started in 2024 but we almost doubled in size our summer camp program from 2024 to 2025. Um and even then we were at our max capacity. So summer camp is one. There's just a high demand there. Um it's a lot of fun. We do a lot of fun things with kids. So I think they're really enjoying their time. So then parents want to come back or they recommend it to their neighbors. That's one that immediately comes to mind. The other one that comes to mind is swimming lessons. Again, it's another program that fills up almost, you know, within the day that we open registration. Um, even in the summertime when we have Sand Venture open. >> Yeah, definitely. I can speak to personally about the summer camps that uh because there's really only one of two options in town. You're either going to the Y or you're going to the parks and wreck. And we chose parks and wreck. And we'll be back again. Uh, thank you. Those are the questions I had. >> Any other questions of staff? I was going to say your 55 and up also has a a good demand there my understanding. >> So questions that I have is is when you showed a slide of the cores I didn't see our youth activities included you know like our youth soccer our youth baseball all these youth programs that we have with outside associations. Um, so the youth programs that we run in-house would be included in that special events and programming. And then when we're talking about the relationships that we have with our sports associations, I would put that more into facilities with the exception of the ice arena, the youth hockey association. That would be in the ice arena core program area. >> Okay. And then the CAPRA um what does it cost for us to to go through their program? >> We paid a registration fee and I do not remember the >> the dollar amount >> the number off the top of my head but I can get it to you. >> Okay. And then so so there's a cost to do this from them to be accredited by CAPRPA a and I'm asking okay so what is the benefit for that cost and then do we pay this cost yearly? >> I do not believe we pay it yearly. So, when you receive accreditation, we pay I want to say it was $150 to register, but I will get that number um to submit our application to be accredited. And then there is a cost um and we'll get that when we get our date to have them come out and evaluate us. And then once we're accredited, then we don't have to pay that any fees yearly until we reacredititate every 5 years. The benefit um a couple reasons. It makes sure that our department is relevant, that we're staying up on the most recent trends. Um, it could help with different funding options for grants and stuff like that. Um, and it just shows our citizens that, you know, we're being smart with our resources, we're being efficient with our resources, and we're listening to their wants and needs, I would say, is the biggest benefit of it. >> Okay. And then do you know if the program the CAPRPA program has any difference but between different parts of the country? I got to think that deep south has got to be a lot different than >> oh >> cold climate north, right? >> I would say when you think of just programs like summer camp, youth sports, um I think that those types of things are very common across the country. when you start looking at facilities like ice arenas and community centers, not every parks and recreation department has the facility infrastructure that we have. Um, another thing that I think is pretty consistent across the country is the is park access. Now, park access may look way different from Minnesota to Texas or that, but the standards are the same. So whether you're in Texas or you're in Minnesota, you have to meet all of the same standards. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Whiting. >> We tal you mentioned uh the initial audit, I guess we'll call it, and then every five years another audit. So that's just paying for the auditor to come in and look through the programs, look through all your your facilities and making sure you're keeping up to what your program says you're doing. Is that correct? >> That's correct. And for the initial accreditation, they actually come out to Shakape and they're going to do their walkth through with us on site. When you go to reacreditate, you can have the option to do that virtually. Um, in which case I think most organizations are doing and we would likely do is just do it virtually, but they do require that on-site visit for your initial accredit accreditation just to make sure you're meeting all the standards. Great. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> So, last comment would from me would be that uh I think if I heard you right, we're 98% there. >> We we're we meet 98% of the standards and we're about 95% there through the whole process. That self assessment is >> most grueling part >> which is pretty amazing. It considering this just you know we haven't been at this for a real long time. Um, so kudos to your staff and your departments and all of the people that join you for uh that says a lot to me. It really does. It says, you know what, we're we're almost already there and that's just dynamite to see that we are leading even without leading. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, that's good. >> All right. Any other questions of staff? Okay. wishes of councel councel Lara >> I will make a motion to adopt the recreation program >> is there a second >> you can have >> Is there a second >> second >> make all the noise >> second by Mr. Delaney. Discussion on the motion. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion passes. >> Thank you for the presentation >> and we'll hear back about the audit and how it goes, right? >> Yes. Once I have the date, I will share that with Mr. Reynolds and he can let all of you know. Um, I was really hoping to have it today. They made us pick a week in between every month between March and August. So, it could really be any time. So, we'll kind of wait and see. >> Good work. >> Very good. Item number 9B is an organizational restructure of park and wreck department. Who is going to be presenting this? You are. >> That is me again. >> All right. >> Um, good evening, mayor and council members. So my last thing for you tonight is a proposed staffing restructure of the parks and recreation department. Um specifically this would be at the management level of the department and the concept of this and the ideas and putting this together really came out of two things. Um it's capra to align with the best practices of CAPRPA. The other thing that we did is I believe it was at the beginning of the summer we did some like pulse checks for how our culture check or how our organization culture was. Um and what I heard when I was meeting with individual staff was they really enjoyed working for Shakape. They liked the things that we were doing but they felt a little stretched and overworked at times. Um, so I wanted to make sure that my initial gut reaction to that wasn't um just adding more and more staff and making sure that we're being as efficient as we can with our resources. Um, so I came up with this plan. Um, I have talked this through with all the staff that this could potentially affect and obviously our HR director Christy and Mr. Reynolds. Um, so our objectives of this is to really utilize our resources the most efficiently as we can and to provide support to our critical areas of operation. Um, so this is oh let me back up. The other thing that this would do it is it would standardize department role classifications within our department to align with other organizations. and what the National Parks and Recreation Association ideally would like to see within a structure. So we have the director, an assistant director, managers, supervisors, coordinators, and specialists. And they would be categorized in this order. And this kind of shows who reports to who and how that reporting structure goes. So this is our um current structure right now. So, I have myself and then I have a recreation program and service manager, a recreation facility manager, and a community outreach coordinator. And all the other full-time staff report up into those two managers. When everyone is there, this structure works okay. But the minute we have a staff out on vacation or on some type of leave, the pressure really is put on the other members of the staff. So, the major changes that I am proposing to the council tonight is to change the recreation program service manager to the assistant director of recreation. This would create a clear line of succession from myself designating more or less a second in command. Um, we would have our recreation facilities manager transition to our ice facilities manager. the community center and the ace arena are two large operations that require a lot of support and it's very different. Um so kind of separating that into two manager positions I think is essential to provide as much support to our staff as we can and really to the community. So which brings me to moving our community outreach coordinator to our community center manager. We would then have the aquatic supervisor transition to the aquatics manager, the recreation supervisor transition to the recreation program manager, and then what we would do is we would eliminate the third ice arena specialist position that is currently vacant because we would have more support from that ice facilities manager position. And then we would just fill in during the busy season of the ice arena with some part-time staff. What this does is make sure we have as much support as we need during the busy season, but then we're not paying for resources when we don't really need them. So, what that looks like when you actually look at it as a proposed organizational chart is this. Um, so we would essentially have four managers. Three would report directly to me as the parks and recreation director and then we would have assistant director of recreation and the program manager would report directly to her. The benefits of this is it creates standards classifications for all of our staff to align with other organizations, clarify decision-making authority and responsibility. This would meet our CAPRPA standards 1.4.2 and 1.6. uh full-time employees would now report to an exempt manager instead of a combination of managers and hourly supervisors, which just made it really hard when you have full-time staff reporting to an hourly supervisor, you know, and it's their day off and then we're paying overtime. So, this really streamlines it. The only staff that will supervise directly, full-time staff, will be a manager that is salaried. Um, and then this is another critical one I think that really supports our staff, supports our community is making sure that each major subdivision of our department has a respective manager. Um, and then we have a clearly defined succession plan. So the budget implications of this are actually in the positive. So for 2026, we will have a savings of approximately 51,000. And then for the max pay difference, we'll have a savings of about 22,000. So ultimately what we're doing is we're spreading out our resources, making it more efficient, and ultimately saving money. >> What's the What's the max pay? What's that mean? >> I'm going to let Nate speak to that. >> Of course. Um so so basically we're looking at 2026 budget. So you're when I'm going to start with the first column here. So when you're looking at what these positions would transition into, that would be the difference for 2026. However, because they're transitioning to different places on the pay scale, there's still an opportunity for them to increase in steps. So that would be the difference if you're looking at the max pay between the different positions versus what they're where they're currently at. >> So if you apply all of the steps and everything, then your 518 savings goes down to 22 savings. >> Correct. >> Is that for 26 or 27? that I mean that would be if you're if each of these positions were at the very top of where they land on the the pay scale if that makes sense. >> Does that make sense? Council >> Lara, I can try to explain again if you want to. Okay. Yeah. So so that the 2026 we have we they're known employees, right? They're we they're actual employees. So, if they when they move into these new positions, this is going to be their pay rates based on where they were budgeted for in 2026 versus where they're going to be at. Um, however, the as they go through step increases, um, they'll be at different pay rates throughout time. Uh, and this is just saying if they were at the max point of that pay grade, >> what the difference would be between the >> where they're currently at the the positions. >> Y future. Yeah. In the future, >> Mr. Whiting, >> that's not including any kind of overtime we're talking It wasn't a lot of positions you said that were affected by overtime, was it? >> Yeah. That doesn't affect any overtime that will be hopefully minimized as much as possible. This is just straight salary dollars. >> State straight. Yeah. So, it would take away that potential. >> Okay. Any other questions of staff? Mr. Delaney, >> were these positions covered in I know we had that budget the uh pay kind of job early in the year. Were these are these covered under that or how >> I think he's asking about the pay equity and when we try to keep people in the middle of comparables >> that's yeah >> when we did that for the 26 budget was this department included in that >> in these new positions >> in these new positions um I when Nate and Christy graded them I believe it was that new pay structure that we were grading on is that correct I I mean I might answer that a little bit differently. So when we did the when we went through the the pay plan compensation study, the internal internal study, these were these new positions were not contemplated as part of that. So they would be based on um you know if we went back a slide. So the the 2026 amounts would be based on um you know what they were reflected whether current positions were reflected with that pay plan study. And now with these new positions, they'd be placed on to the new pay scale appropriately. So there's a couple of um there's a couple of positions that have had gone from um more of a staff role to a manager role. So they have been adjusted accordingly to where they'd be pointed on that new pay plan. >> So this, if I may, this might be adjusted again with another future pay study saying, "Oh, now they're a manager that you're not paying them enough." Um, no. So, we we've pointed those positions based on what is being proposed. >> Um, and that would be where the difference is coming in between what was >> the 2026 difference compared to what we had budgeted is because they're now um being adjusted. Their their points are being adjusted and they're falling a little bit differently on the new pay plan than when what we had projected them to fall based on what their role was before this proposed reorganization. So about a $30,000 difference in pay increases for those positions that go from a non-management position to a management position. >> That's where they fit in. >> Yeah. And there I I think um now I'm just kind of working off the top of my head, but I think there was probably two positions that were graded point graded up where one position was point graded down where that position would probably be frozen at its current pay rate. Um, but just to give you an idea, >> just >> I guess the way I'm understanding what all that was just said was we are not going to see any additional rate fixes that when these positions were created, they were created with what we had just done for this year. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Until the next time. >> I do have a question. >> Go ahead. >> Uh, community outreach coordinator going to community center manager. So, who's going to do community outreach? Now, >> I think the main community outreach, when I look at that, that is a position that only we and Chakapi have. No other park and recreation organization really has that because it's really done by the director. So, as far as community outreach, I think that now comes to me. >> Okay. So, we'll see you. Okay. >> All right. Cool. All right. >> So, if I look at the current organizational chart has 11, correct? And the proposed has 13. >> It is the same amount. >> I just counted the boxes. So >> So we currently have two ice arena specialists and well we had three. One is vacant. We are not back filling it. So we are actually essentially eliminating one FTE in this. >> Okay. Only one position active position is being eliminated. >> One. Yes. >> But they're being shifted around to be more focused. >> Yes. So now the ice arena will have a manager that's solely dedicated to that. And then during the busy season, we'll supplement with part-time seasonal work. And then in the summer when we don't really need that additional part-time, it'll just be supported by the full-time staff. I I guess I just want to hear nobody's losing their job with this reor. >> Correct. No one is losing their job. >> Okay. >> Okay. What's the wishes of council? >> Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to adopt the approve the organizational restructure of parks and wreck. >> Second. >> Okay. We have a motion by councelor Lara, seconded by councelor Contrarus. Is there discussion on the motion? Discussion on the motion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. >> Thank you all. >> Very good. Item 10, leazison administration. Which side did we start at last time? >> That's it's I'll go first. >> Go ahead. >> Okay. Uh let's see. Uh beginning of or after our council meeting, we had that later that week, we had the GN ribbon cutting um with much fanfare. Um, again, I'll say I'm very excited to see the ripple effects of them coming to our city. Uh, then later that the next day, there was a Cub Foods liquor store ribbon cutting. Uh, they just went under a major um remodel of that location. Uh, basically retrofitting it to their current Cub Foods current prototype. If you haven't been in there, it's uh really modern. And uh but the one message that um the Rodamachers who own that Cub Foods um the message that they conveyed was them doing that was their commitment to our community. Um which resonated a lot with me saying like people want to be here and they want to contribute to that. Um and then I had a schoolboard meeting last night. um last night was their truth they part of it was their truth and taxation um portion of it where they discussed their um le operating levy. Um nobody spoke in public comment in either portions of it. Um they ended up adopting a $50.9 million operating uh budget for the next school year. Um they are making $3 million in cuts. I will um go and find the uh part of the packet that shows what was cut and I can send that out if you guys want to see that. Um but $3 million in cuts were made this year or for next year. 500,000 they said will be made um the next following school year. Um let's see. they approved their um they renewed their lease for the district office for another three years with the right to renew for another three years after that. Uh they have the right to terminate at any point during those times. Um and what was interesting to hear when they discussed that is their the person that researched this for them um showed that that where they are is the best spot um for uh the best bang for their buck. And um one of the board members raised a con of should that area of the town, the mall specifically was to be sold um and redeveloped, where would they go? Are we thinking in the future in terms of where their future um district office would be? And um it sounds like there would be ideas for that in existing buildings already. So again, really confident or really nice to hear that they're already thinking of that should that happen. But right now they are staying put. Um other than that that was it. Very good. >> Thank you councelor Contrus. >> Thank you mayor. So again on December 3rd I attended the ribbon cutting for Jan. Amazing facility. Um on the 4th I attended the um Cub Liquor um ribbon cutting. And then Friday I had scale but was unable to attend that day. So that was it. >> Yeah. >> Very good. Thank you for waiting. Uh I was at the holiday party with the the city staff. You were all there. We were there. Many of you were there. Uh so uh caught you on that one. MVTA meeting is tomorrow, but uh you might have seen in the paper today it announced those route changes that I talked to you about probably a month or so ago. Um taking effect on some of our routes. It does affect Shocky, but actually um I think it's more improved service that will help people get to where they need and fill those buses a little better. >> That's all I have. >> Very good. Councelor Delaney. >> And the big one here is 169 Coalition is of course ceasing operations next year. I think the emails went out to all the different membership and uh they're looking for resolution emails coming back supporting that um the organization going away. So that'll happen. Everything has to be done by February. Then they have a kind of a I guess a send off and we're trying to get good guest speakers for that. So that's 169 correlation. Of course attended the GN ribbon cutting staff did a great job getting that organization into the city. Um definitely good ad, great facility, a lot of cool technology in the building. Um SP had their annual review where they gave out um honor some longtime employees, updated milestones from the year. Of course, Holiday Fest um hopefully people attended that tree lighting and all that good stuff. >> Uh Benedicting also had a Christmas fair um for great stocking stuffers there. >> Uh went to the city holiday breakfast, another great event. I think we gave out three awards to staff. Uh Jeremy from Park and Recre, Barb from Public Works, and of course, Alex from engineering. and a Christmas celebration. There was the Mala Yali Association Christmas Celebration over at the uh Middle School West. Uh they looked at 83 facilities and they chose that one uh the first time in Shakabe. Great Christmas celebration. Oh my goodness. Um I did send the school school board, actually the superintendent a note saying thank you for that. So >> the uh 169 coalition, a lot of good work over many years. It's unfortunate that we didn't get the 169 capacity issue tackled, but boy, that's a pretty big one. You know, that's going to take a lot of state and federal participation. And if anybody watches the basic news, that participation is not there right now. They're busy fighting each other on stupid stuff. So, um my calendar, let's see here. Third, I did attend the GN resound uh grand opening and it's it was pretty amazing of how fast they transformed that facility. It really was. Um and even, you know, what what was a warehouse space now partially office space. They did a really nice job um with the interior and I was surprised with all the high-tech stuff that they utilized. a great group of of people that that leadership in that company, too. So, I'm pretty excited about that. Um, I couldn't make the Cub Liquor at a conflict on that day for that meeting, but uh Saturday we did do the the six the tree lighting downtown uh winter festival. That was a good time. >> Um there was some good participation with some of the the stationary floats and stuff, too. So, that was good to see. Um, what else did I have going? The 11th Scott County Mayors got together. I attended that. It was very informal. Ted Shed had a pizza. Um, you know, just basic discussions of what's going on and a lot of it was back to the housing issues, the state and some of these up. Uh, certainly nothing was solved there. Um, I think that's all I have. Been kind of multitasking a lot lately. Hopefully some of that will die down. That would be good. And uh, yeah, Mr. Reynolds, you got anything to add? >> I I do. Uh, Mr. Mayor, I have a couple things. First of all, as Councilman Delaney noted, we had three employees who were honored for awards at our annual employee breakfast. Uh and uh we had our city engineer, Alex Jordan, who received the administrator's leadership award, and he received the award after being nominated by several members of the engineering team. As Micah Hecman stated, Alex has a management style that embraces a positive atmosphere. He is approachable, which allows for meaningable meaningful and beneficial discussions on problem solutions. Uh, Alex was commended for his instinct, his instinct to redirect energy around challenges into problem solving and finding solutions as well as his ability to foster a sense of teamwork and open communication. Congratulations, Alex. Welld deserved. The manager of the year was our building maintenance manager, Jeremy Bins, who uh, as uh, Kelsey notes is the reason Sand Venture opened on time. Uh, and that's not an understatement. Uh, I relayed uh how I at the breakfast how I had went over there feeling nervous about where we were on the opening and I peaked my head and it was hotter than a Dickens and I peaked my head into the pool room and there's Jeremy just covered in sweat in the middle of this pit with a big wrench in his hands cranking away on something, you know, giving it his all. And I was just amazed. And I'm like, "Hey, do you need some water or something?" He's like, "No, I got it." He was like, you know, cranking away. Uh Jeremy uh as uh Kelsey noted, uh his determination, organization, and steady leadership ensured that every obstacle was handed efficiently efficiently and with a smile. Uh and that his charismatic personality makes him an approachable leader whose positivity is contagious. And last but not least, Barb Kramer uh received the employee of the year award. Uh, and she was nominated by our public works director, Bill Egan, for her dedication to excellent customer service and collaborative approach to work. If you need a class on estimate, excellent customer service, Barb could teach that. She is amazing. As Bill noted, Barb's communication skills are second to none. Her ability to listen actively and respond thoughtfully promotes trust and ensures that everyone feels heard and valued. So, congratulations to all of those individuals. That's just a slice of the incredible employees that we have in this organization and I am so excited to be able to be a part of their daily walk uh in service to uh the citizens and residents of Shakipi. On the on the other front uh as we all know, Chief Tate is getting ready to leave us. Uh, and I wanted to talk a little bit about the process. Uh, but more importantly, what I need you to agree upon, and I stressed the agreement piece, uh, is that I need two individuals from council who can serve uh, on the panels uh, as we look at uh, the next candidates. And so way the way it works with the commission is different than the way it works for any of our other employees. The commission will be conducting the interviews on January 6th. At the end of the day, they will deliver to me the top three candidates. Now, uh, under the rules, I could just bring you a candidate and say, "Here, here's who it is." That's probably not a very good idea. >> So, essentially, what I'd like to do is do it like we do. Do it like we do. Yeah, there you go. uh with other department heads uh which is essentially we have a couple members of council. We'll have two panels made up of uh some department heads, some middle managers and some others that have connection with the department itself. Uh and then you know we'll figure out after we interview those three that the commission have given us who we all think should be the next police chief. So, what I need from you is who those two people are going to be, >> and I can step aside if you guys want to slug it out >> right now. You want to write now, >> please? >> Okay. >> You want me to start with my recommendation? >> Okay, I'll start. Uh, my recommendation would be Mayor Layman and Council Member Whiting. >> Um, can we vote ourselves in? >> Sure. Um, I would do you yourself and myself or Jesse. Either one. >> I would like to also do, but also the mayor. >> Yeah. I uh I'm not sure what time what is the time commitment on that. You guys get all these ribbon cutting. You got a lot of time on your hand. I don't know how you guys do that. >> There there the commitment. We don't know when the actual date. uh it will be between the 20th and the 28th of January. What I would do is that once we have the individuals on the council that are going to serve, we can look at dates when you would be available >> because we will be available. >> You I just know my schedule and it I I don't make the ribbon cutings because I can't. >> Uh so I would say the mayor and council member Contrarus. I think you're in. I think you would want to be in um for our community >> if you're recusing if you're relinquishing. >> Absolutely. You know, I I've went through that process once before with uh >> Chief Hughes left and and you know, so I'm familiar with the process. Knock on wood. Obviously, I made a we made a very good recommendation to council with Chief Tate and hopefully we uh are very successful and make a very good recommendation again uh for the community and and for our staff and for our department. So, uh council at this point needs to decide who's going to be doing this with me, I guess. So, >> we got two votes. You got some votes. You got two votes. Would you change your >> I'll change mine to councelor Contrarus and Mayor Layman. There you go. >> Okay, >> I think we're ready. >> Are you good with that? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, Mr. Reynolds, myself, and councelor Contrarus will would love to participate. >> Thank you everyone. I appreciate it. And I'll be in touch with more information. >> Item 10A, news and announcements. And I don't know where we started last time. >> You did >> on the end. So, >> I did on the end. So, we'll do the two medals here. >> Oh, I did the answer. Okay. Well, let's see. I'll start with the 2026 picnic shelter reservations. Get them early. Reservations for the picnic shelter in 2026. Open January 2nd, 2026. So, reserve your space online at shakipmn.gov or visit the Shakape Parks and Recreation Office to compete complete your reservation in person. >> Thank you, Jay. Councelor Contra. >> Yep. Um Shakipi boarding uh commission recruiting. The city of Shakipi is seeking volunteers to serve on its boards and commissions. Two seats will be available on the planning commission/board of adjustment and appeals. One seat will be available on the Shakabe public utilities commission and one seat will be available on the police civic um civic um service commission. Sorry. To learn more about to learn more and apply, please visit ww.shakapmn.gov. Application deadline is Friday, uh, January 16, 2026. Gotta get that. >> Thank you, counselor. I'll take the last one. The city of Shock the City of Shakby City Hall holiday hours, uh, community center, city hall, ice arena will be closed December 24th and 25th and on January 1st of 2026. Pretty standard stuff. >> Okay. >> All right. Very good. Item 10B is a city bill list. Do we have any questions on the city bill list? >> No questions for me. >> None for me >> on this side. None other business. I have one. And that my only item for other business is that I would like to wish a very merry Christmas and a happy new year to every single resident and business in the city of Shakipi and all of our partners that we work with on a regular basis. I hope you have just a wonderful holiday season, Christmas season, and a happy new year. >> For sure. >> Well, I can second that, but I also have something. >> Go ahead. Um, a few months ago we talked about bringing that rightaway permit back to discuss. I still have concerns and some recommendations. We had unanimous consent among us to bring that back. I didn't hear any. >> Let's set a date for that. We can set that up. I'd like to talk about that right away. >> Let's set a date right now. >> Whiting. What is that? >> The rightway. You know, >> right away permits >> hitting the gas lines and the fiber optics getting into our rightway. So, let's not uh let's not pressure into January, but let's look at February or March and let's do we want is it something we can do in a regular meeting? Do we want a special meeting? >> Well, I think we can do it in a regular meeting. Uh Alex has and I have been discussing the issue for some time and Alex just met with another uh group that wants to come in and and use the right away as well. So, um I I think it can be done in a in a regular meeting. >> February sound good? 17th or the 3rd? >> Sure. >> Do you want to do February or March? >> February is fine, Alex, don't you think? >> Yep. >> One other question on that that when we had the fiber optic, did they h do they have to pay the the fee the uh franchise fee for something like that? >> No, there is no fiber optics do not pay a franchise fee. >> Is that because of federal rules or >> That's because of fed and state. I thought there was something on that. Yeah, >> they they pay the rightway permit fee >> but not a franchise. >> But not a franchise which is the user pays that, >> right? But I know we've had it in other like cable who the user would pay as well, but I think because of I remember because the federal and there was some trying to get the >> the fiber companies have great lobbyists. >> Yeah, >> there you go. >> They paid their franchise fees somewhere else. >> Yes, they're paying they're paying their fees. It's just not to us. Okay. Item number 12. >> I will make a motion to adjourn to January 6th, 2026 at 7 p.m. Is >> there a second? Seconded by councelor Contrarus. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. We are joured.