Okay, we'll call the Shaki city council meeting to order for October 21, 2025. If staff could take the role, please. >> Council member Delaney >> here. >> Council member Whiting >> here. >> Council member Contras. Council member Laura >> here. >> Mayor Layman >> here. Item number three, if you join us for the 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. [clears throat] >> Item number four would be approval of agenda. Any changes to agenda? Mr. Reynolds, >> nothing from staff, sir. >> Councel, Mr. Whiting, >> I'll make a motion to approve the agenda as presented. >> I'll second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? >> Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. Item number five is our consent agenda. Any changes to the consent agenda from staff? >> No, sir. >> Council, >> I'd like to pull >> Mr. Delaney >> like to pull 5B and 5D. >> B is in boy. Yes. >> And what was >> I'm sorry. What was the second one, counselor? >> Oh, 5D as in Delta. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other changes from councel? >> Mr. Whiting, >> I'll make the motion to uh accept the consent agenda as modified. >> Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by Mr. Delaney. Mr. uh Reynolds, would you please read the consent agenda? >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of council, these are the consent agenda items for Tuesday, October 21st of 2025. 5A is our debt policy. 5C is the Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperatives Operation Roundup Grant application. 5E is the surplus fire department heavy heavy rescue truck and purchase EMS rescue truck with equipment. 5F is the city administer administrator market rate pay adjustment. 5G approves parking restrictions on Weston Court, Greenwood Court, and Windsor Drive North. 5H approves consent to improvements agreements with Excel Energy for the Maris Mary'stown Road Corridor improvements. 5 or the 202526 snow removal locations for the sidewalks and trails. 5J is amendment to our media relations policy. 5K approves a special event permit and a temporary liquor license for the Shockby Chamber of Commerce holiday fest event. 5L is a modification of home occupancies to allow dog boarding and daycare. 5M is an ordinance amending title 11, chapter 117 residential licensing requirements for short-term rental units. 5N is approval of the October 7th, 2025 city council minutes. 5 approves an encroachment agreement for the Palamino Trail Monument sign. 5P approves the prom promotion of Corey Murray to the position of fire captain. 5Q is the Walmart Foundation Spark Good Local Grants Program application and award. And 5R is the Minnesota Humanity Center Museum's exhibits and collections grant application. >> Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. We do have a motion and second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. Item number six be public comment. If you're here for an item not on the agenda, now would be the time to step forward. Love to hear your comments. There's anybody here that would like to speak to the council on an item not on the agenda. Seeing none, item number seven, business removed from consent agenda. We had 5B removed by council member Delaney. Mr. >> Sure. Yours, sir. >> Sure. Thank you. I most of the capital improvement plan I do agree with. Um, but there are some items I still have a concern with. Uh, one I if you look on uh PR 24-002 or I might be the wrong one. I'm sorry. Uh, yeah. 2020. Yeah. 24- Z002 for we're doing a million dollars worth of signs. And I'm still concerned about that cost. It might be 25002. I'm sorry. on page 22 of the capital improvement plan. >> Well, I didn't bring my plan with me. I brought the uh staff memo that has most of it in there, too. So, >> what what page 22? >> Page 22. >> Mr. Wing. >> So, what we're looking at here is the monument signs for the park development and the uh uh cultural corridor. So, these are the signs that would make up uh along the riverfront that we're using uh to to talk about our our culture and our city of Shakipi. And the expense on these, if I remember right, Mr. Kursky, aren't these interactive of some sort or were we talking about that at one point? And are these the ones we were talking about that are interactive? mayor and council. I would not say there's any we removed anything that would have to be repaired from an interactive standpoint, but these are the ones that >> were designed in partnership with the state and the Scott County Historical Society where for instance there's glass you can see what was there before and reinvision the area. If you remember that has a $750,000 matching grant from the um special congressional set aside. So, while it's 1.5,750,000 of that's coming from the federal government and that has not been bid out yet, um we've been waiting for to get a schedule on the riverfront so we don't put signs and then have to move them >> right before the riverbank stabilization. So, we'll do that first and then we'll go into >> in some of the areas. Yes. But, um I think there's some other areas that we closer to Memorial Park that we could probably do the signage now. >> Okay. Sure. So the when I'm said interactive, they're old signs. So like lined up so you can pictures so you can see what was here then. Yes. >> And then it talks about the history along the riverfront. Um I think it's great for uh historic tourism, but uh that's what we're talking about. >> Okay. I'm just looking for lower cost alternatives. I know now with technology people have their phones Q&R code pop up video of what Shack used to look like in that area. Just >> so mayor and council um similar to what the landing's done. So they have fixed signage now in front of the homes with a QR code that gives you either a view inside the house or the history. These have that same capability, but they would still for people that didn't bring their phone or just want to read something. It would have both. And it'll be in both uh English and Dakota. If you're remember the um Shaki Minatawakan Sue community had all of their staff work on this with us. So um it'll all tie together. >> Thank you. [snorts] Any other comments, Mr. Whiting? >> Yeah, so um I understand a concern there's u almost threequarters of this being covered by uh previously awarded uh grant. So with that, I'll make a motion to accept the 2026 20 to 2030 capital improvement plan. >> There second. >> I'll second >> discussion. >> Was that all you want? Is that all you wanted to discuss? >> That's the only item I have. Okay. I also just want to make sure we >> What are your thoughts on Sorry. >> My uh I've never been in support and I've been very vocal about it. It's way too much money for signs in a flood plane. Yeah. 750,000 is coming from the state which has got a $6 billion deficit and [clears throat] that means we're matching six 750. So it's not half a million. It's >> it's actually coming from the federal government. Mr. >> Mayor, well they got you they've got a bigger deficit. >> It's not the flood plane. >> But any at any rate, if it's not the flood plane, it it floods regardless. So, um, yeah, there there's there's got to be a better, cheaper alternative. And, uh, actually, I'm kind of concerned about the whole capital imp improvement plan because there's a [clears throat] certainly a lot of uncertainties out there. There's clawbacks from the feds. The state's in a mess >> and uh, yeah, I know it's a plan. 26 is not a plan. It's going into the budget. So, >> it it's going into the budget, Mr. Mayor, but as as as you know, all these projects have to individually come before council uh be presented and council has to approve each one of these. They're in the budget. That does not mean that they go forward. Council has the final say. Uh and frankly, with the signage, uh you know, they could come back lower. It could come back more expensive and council could say, you know, that's not something we're wanting to or you could say, "Hey, great. It's come in lower." And and we can accept that. But this is just the plan. It does move in for budgetary purposes in 2026, but it that does not mean that this is the end all beall. Council still has to approve every one of the things that are in the plan. >> Mhm. >> So another question I have is if we did do these projects, say with the Schroer House 7 1.7 million, [clears throat] do we then budget for future replacement of these signs? future replacement and repair and upkeep of the Schroer house. >> It would be figured into our rents and yes, that would be part of and and yes, we would have to put money away to ultimately keep up and uh uh make sure that the buildings are serviceable and manageable and and that's all part of the expense. Absolutely. >> Did you have something, Mr. Reinhardt? >> Um I was just mayor and council. I was pretty much going to echo what Bill said. So, we'll um anything that goes through the park development, we'll actually plan into the park asset fund, which is the internal service fund that would go to replace these. So, that would be we be planning to um I guess replace this in the in the future. Yeah. >> Okay. So, we have a dilemma since we councelor Contrarus is not here tonight that uh we this could come down to a tie. Um >> a motion to table >> to our next meeting. Is is there a second to the motion? >> Okay. Motion to table. >> Motion to table. Non- discussible. All in favor say I. I. >> Opposed. Motion passes. The item has been tabled. >> Item uh removed from consent 5D removed by councelor Delaney. Mr. Delaney. >> Sure. Thanks. Thank you. So 5D, my only question is if you look under funding on the 5D page 344, it has building fund and I'm just trying to understand how how that's come out of building fund or if that's just a mistake in the listing. Mayor and council, I can answer that question. Uh so the 2024 pavement management project also included reconstructing the back public works parking lot, the concrete pavement that's back there. So that comes out of the building fund. So even though it was a building part project, it was uh all done together as one pavement project for efficiencies >> and we separated out that portion of the project and paid [clears throat] for it from the building fund. >> Mayor, that's correct. >> Appropriate. >> Cool. Thank you. >> Any other questions, Mr. Delaney? >> No, that was it. Just looking for explanation. >> Thank you. All right. >> You want to motion it? >> Yep. I'll make a motion to pass uh adopt resolution R2025-120 accepting work on the mil 20 2024 mill and overlay and bitmin pavement rehabilitation project CF-24-011-CIF-24-12 CIF-24-013 PA-24-01 PA-24-3 and BA-24.005 005 and authorizing final payment in the amount of $42,77051. >> Is there a second to the motion? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second by Mr. Whiting. Discussion on the motion. >> On the motion, seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. Item 8A is an assessment hearing on delinquent refuge bills and from Dick Sanitation. Mr. Whiting, >> make a motion to open a public hearing. >> Is there a second to the motion? >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. >> Motion passes. >> Public hearing is now open. >> Uh good evening, mayor and council members. Uh as U just mentioned tonight we have a public hearing on delinquent refuge bills. Uh this the city's [clears throat] designated garbage hauler is DSI. Uh this process we go through once a year uh which allows us to certify any unpaid charges to the property owners uh property taxes. Uh per previous council actions in our agreement with DSI uh city council has authorized uh the collection of delinquent garbage accounts uh in the city's designate designated organized collection area. Uh reference to the city ordinance is on the slide. Um but per city ordinance, the charges are the responsibility of the property owner. Uh as a result, uh it's eliminated the need uh for the service provider to stop services uh which ensures there's no interruption in service uh which could uh lead to the illegal dumping of trash. Uh DSI provided the city with a list of delinquent garbage assessments that covered uh delinquent accounts that were greater than 60 days as of August 31st. Uh a couple years ago, we did make some changes to the process um based on city council and and feedback from uh property owners. uh DSI sends the collection letters and notices uh as well as collects the payments uh until the city is required to provide that final assessment listing to the county uh which has created a more uh simpler and streamlined process uh and reduced uh confusion on the customer side where uh they're just paying DSI up until that point um that it goes to the county um which I think has uh significantly reduced uh staff time involved with the process as well. I do have two slides on here. So this first one shows the original assessments list that was uh provided to council um back on September 16th. So this was at the time uh the public hearing was set. Uh in comparison to the previous year's uh assessments uh both in number of properties and dollar amounts or lower um about 138 accounts less. And here's the updated assessment list um as of last um last Tuesday, last Wednesday. Um our updated list contains 134 properties totaling $23,76846. Um which um in comparison to uh last year last year at this time there's 179 at 31,160. Um so DSI DSI was able to collect about 178 payments from um when the public hearing was set. So I think they've done a a good job trying to collect as many of these payments as possible. So, [snorts] following approval of the delinquent assessments, uh, property owners will receive an additional courtesy letter, uh, informing them of their assessment. Uh, they'll have up until November 21st to pay the, uh, assessment interest free. Uh, payments, uh, will be collected by DSI up till that point. And then following that, that'll um, bear an interest rate of 6% um, plus a $25 admin service charge um, on each of the on each of the accounts. uh that admin service charge basically covers the the city's cost of uh assessing these delinquent accounts. Um and then um after that November 21st date, we'll provide the list to the county and that'll go on uh property taxes for next year. Uh it is staff's recommendation to certify the delinquent assessment role. Um and then the remaining steps is just to um take public input um and then following public input um adopt the resolution to certify on the 2026 property taxes. Um I have not received any written um appeals um and I don't so no written appeals or any anybody who wanted to appeal their assessment. >> Questions of staff? I have one question. Um 6% interest rate. Is that applied from the period of the November 21st until property taxes go out in April? >> Yeah. So it'll go from today. So, if you certify the assessments today, it'll acrew back to the date the assessment is certified, which is today. So, they'll have um on next year's taxes, they'll pay that what is about a month and two months worth of interest plus a full year of interest on their property taxes for next year. >> I guess I'm I'm I'm confused. >> So, there'll be the interest for this year. So the 6% from October, today's date, October 21st through the end of the year plus the full year of interest next year. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And unlike uh >> because tax statement coming in in April of next year, is is >> is this not going to be on that tax statement? >> It'll be on that tax statement. So why would if they pay their taxes including the assessments in April or May before when they're due, why would they >> why would they pay a whole year? >> Um I mean that's how all all the assessments that we have work. So I it's no different than how how any any >> assessments be at the >> Okay, Mr. Thompson. >> Uh Mr. Mr. Mayo, the statute for special assessments requires that. >> State statute requires that for special assessments. [clears throat] Thank you for the clarification. [snorts] >> There you go. >> Okay. >> It's why you're here, right? >> It's why he gets paid the big bucks. Okay. This is a public hearing. Any other questions of staff? This is a public hearing. If if you're here to speak on this matter, now would be your time to come forward. Want to make sure we cover our bases. So we'll second opportunity if you're here for the special assessment on delinquent garbage bills. Now would be the time to step forward >> members. [clears throat] [laughter] I actually I don't think I saw any that I recognize. So that's a good thing. And the numbers are coming down. So it's the last call. If you're here for the public hearing on the delinquent garbage assessment hearing, now would be your time to come forward. >> Mr. Whiting, >> I'll make a motion to close the public hearing. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Motion by Mr. Whiting, seconded by Mr. Delaney. Discussion on the motion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion passes. Public hearing is closed. What's the wishes of council? >> Mr. Lara, >> make a motion to adopt resolution R2025-118, certifying assessments for delinquent refuge bills. >> Is there a second on the second? >> Mr. Whiting seconds the motion. Is there discussion on the motion? discussion. Uh my comment would be that if we look over the past four or five years that you showed staff memo, it looks like they're consistently going down in uh in dollar amount uh and numbers with 20 23 being an exception. Um that's a good uh good sign, good direction. Hopefully we can keep that going. And uh thanks to our hauler, Dick, DSI, and staff for their efforts on this. All right. Anything else? All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. 8B would be a assessment hearing on delinquent police alarms and mowing services. >> Mr. Lara, >> I make a motion to open the public hearing. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Mr. Whiting seconds the motion. Discussion on the motion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. >> Motion passes. Public hearing is now open. >> Uh good evening again, mayor and council members. So the second public hearing tonight is on unpaid bills for city services. Uh I did provide a list with the council packets. Um that included uh four false alarms and one lawn mowing charge. Um those amounts were,330. Uh we did receive two additional payments at the end of last week. So that revised amount is for three parcels and a total of $780. Um this this process again again is uh a process we go through once a year to certify unpaid charges to the property owner's property taxes uh as allowed by Minnesota statute uh 429. Um then um similar to the last last public hearing, following approval of the delinquent assessments, uh a $25 administrative service charge will be added to these accounts. Uh the admin charge covers our our costs associated with assessing these delinquent accounts. Uh property owners will have until November 21st to pay uh interest free. Uh following that, the assessments will bear an interest rate of 6%. Uh we will provide a second letter not notifying the property owners of their assessment. Um and then following tonight's public hearing, um staff is recommending approval of these uh of this assessment rule. Um so remaining actions tonight would take um comments during the public hearing and then council consideration of resolution 2025 1117 uh which would certify the unpaid false alarms and mowing bills for collection with payable 2026 property taxes and uh staff has not received any uh written objections. >> Thank you. questions of staff. Question I had was I didn't really let look into it, but [clears throat] are the false alarms commercial properties or industrial? Um uh one is residential and I think the other is uh commercial property. I I apologize. I don't know the answer on the other one, but for sure the first one or one of them is uh residential. >> Okay. Does does do we not have a policy that your a residential property is is allowed to have like one or two or something? >> Yeah, but it's it's consistent across all all the property types. So, you have um in a calendar year in a calendar year you get the um the first two calls there's no charge of the third um on the third call you would receive your your charge of >> um >> okay >> $90 I believe $120 $120. >> Okay. which is cheap considering you're mobilizing all that equipment. All right. Uh any other questions, staff? Okay. It is a public hearing. If you're here for the public hearing for delinquent false alarms and mowing charges, now would be your opportunity to step forward and address the city council. And we'll do a second call. If there's anybody here that would like to address the council on the public hearing matter for the certifying assessments for delinquent police false alarms and mowing bills, now would be your opportunity to step forward. >> Well, I'm seeing none. >> I'll make a motion to close the public hearing. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by Mr. Whiting. Any discussion on the motion? >> Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Public hearing is closed. wishes a council. Mr. Whitey, >> make a motion to adopt resolution R 2025 TAC 117 ordering the certification of unpaid police false alarms and mowing bills for payable 2026 property taxes. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by Mr. Delaney. Discussion on the motion. Discussion seeing none. All in favor say I. I opposed. Motion passes. >> All right. It takes us to item 9A, FEMA staffing for adequate fire and emergency response grant award. Chief Simon will be presenting. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. While uh Chief Simon is getting his uh PowerPoint up. >> Okay. >> Uh as as you you are aware, we have tried to get a safer grant on multiple occasions over the last five or six years. Uh and we were um very happy to receive word earlier this year that we had received a safer grant which will now allow us the opportunity to move forward with the middle tier of our staffing uh study that was put forward uh to council about a year and a half to two years ago. Uh this makes it incredibly uh [clears throat] fortunate for us in that uh you know we're not asking the taxpayers for $2.6 $6 million for something that we were going to have to eventually get to anyway. Uh, as you know, the city is continuing to grow and fire response uh calls are continuing to increase. And, you know, this allows us the opportunity to move forward and not have large tax increases, but spread it over time, which is uh exactly what we are uh seeking to do. So, with that being said, Chief Simon, if uh you could kick it off. >> Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm honored to present this very important opportunity for our community, the safer grant, and to explain why accepting this award represents a vital step forward for public safety in Shakpi. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to recognize and thank our grant coordinator, Andrea Herrell. She's here behind me. Uh for her outstanding work on this initiative. Want to stand? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. And to kick off this presentation, I'd like to share a short preview of a video that was produced by our award-winning communications department uh back in May. This really didn't have anything to do with the grant, but I get to showcase it tonight for you. So, uh they did an outstanding job capturing a behindthescenes look at the Shakape Fire Department. Uh so tonight we're going over our uh bailout uh ropes through our bailout prop and through a second story window uh whichever the firefighter prefers. We have a hardened hook and a fire retardant rope specifically meant for a last case or last ditch scenario. If we were in a building that was too hot for firefighters and we could not get out of a building any other way. We have rope in our pocket and we would attach this hook to a window sill or around a tool and put that into a window and we can repel out of a window uh to keep ourselves out of harm's way. It is absolutely a last ditch effort but it's better than the alternatives. So, a two vehicle accident. >> Our rescue truck gets there first, starts assessing number of patients, number of vehicles, if it's blocking. Our engine showed up second blocks for the the scene for the rescue. started working on uh ensuring we had no patience and then securing our vehicles, cleaning up fluids, and then assisting the tow truck drivers in clearing the scene as quickly as possible so we can get our city streets back to working order as fast as possible. We're here for every member of the community whether they speak English as their first language, second language, they don't know any English, so that can create um complications for us. But we today I used Google Translate to talk to a gentleman who spoke Spanish only. Um, and I was able to make sure that uh I could differentiate between him being cold or hurt. Um, and it's just one of those things that you don't realize you're going to need until until it's there. That video featured our new deputy chief, Justin Riley. Uh I think the video did a good uh job of depicting the number of firefighters that are needed even for a small training evolution or uh a small accident like what was shown there. Uh and that video in its entirety is available on the city's YouTube channel. [clears throat] Moving on to the grant. The safer grant is a federally funded program administered by FEMA to support fire departments in recruiting, hiring, and retaining firefighters. It's part of FEMA's broader mission to strengthen public safety and enhance emergency preparedness nationwide. The grant helps expand staffing levels by pro providing partial funding for salaries and benefits over a three-year period. The grant's goals are to ensure fire departments can respond quickly and safely, get closer to meeting national standards, and reduce risk to both the public and our personnel. Shakp has been awarded a safer grant to support the addition of 12 firefighter positions. This highly competitive grant award highlights both the critical need within our community and the strength of our application. The grant includes a cost sharing requirement which is 25% in years 1 and two and 65% in year three. And that chart shows what our contribution would be. When approved, this proposal would add three battalion chiefs, three captains, and six firefighters to the fire department. The addition of battalion chiefs is a direct response to the department's 2024 restructuring, which eliminated dual role positions that were not compliant with the Fair Labor Standards Act. As part of that transition, the 247 paid on call deputy chiefs and fire marshall positions were removed. While the fire chief and deputy chiefs continue to respond to large incidents when available, they are no longer on call around the clock. To address this operational gap, the proposal includes three battalion chiefs, ensuring continuous 247 coverage with one on duty at all times. In addition, we are proposing three captains, each assigned to lead an engine company at station 2 and supervise their respective crews. And finally, the addition of six firefighters, bringing the total to 12 and continuing to staff one time, one part-time firefighter per shift further strengthens our operational capacity and readiness. A little bit about what a battalion chief's role is. They provide leadership and operational oversight for multiple stations and fire companies. They serve as incident commanders during major emergencies, coordinate training, manage scheduling, and enforce policies. They act as a crit critical liaison between command staff and frontline crews. They ensure consistent communication and operational effectiveness for the department. This graphic shows a typical rank structure within a fire department, clarifying where the battalion chief role will fit into the overall organization. In some larger departments, district chiefs may be positioned between battal battalion and deputies. The roles that are crossed out in this graphic represent positions that we do not intend to produ pursue in the near future. that is uh in in addition to the district chief, the lieutenant and the driver engineer position. While some may view this graphic as the gold standard, uh they are not included in our current proposal. As Shakp grows, so does the demand for emergency services. Emergency calls are becoming more frequent, often resulting in multiple calls at one time. This grant helps us get ahead of the curve by ensuring we have the personnel needed to respond effectively. The benefits of this grant go beyond staffing. It helps enhance service quality and prevent future gaps in emergency coverage. With increased staffing, we'll be better equipped to meet the rising demand for emergency medical services, which make up the majority of our calls. With more firefighters on duty and expanded coverage from two fire stations, we can reach emergencies more quickly when every second matters. Adequate staffing ensures our crews can operate safely and efficiently, especially during complex or multiple incidents. Faster, wellcoordinated responses, especially for medical emergencies, can dramatically improve survival outcomes. and quicker fire suppression efforts help limit damage to homes and businesses, protecting both lives and property. This is a highly competitive federal grant awarded to departments that demonstrate the urgent need and the capacity to effectively implement additional staffing. Securing this funding is a rare opportunity and one that positions Shakipi to proactively strengthen public safety for years to come. I highly recommend that we accept this award and I'm high uh happy to answer any questions or provide any details >> questions of staff. Mr. Lara, >> um Chief Simon, how many uh how's the renewal process work? Are we because we are being awarded it now? Are we going to be kind of at the top um when we go for renewal or do we start the whole process over again and they don't care whether you got it or not? Again, >> clarify renewal of what? >> The safer grant. So, >> another grant you mean? >> So, when it expires in 3 years, um, year four, do we go back and get an ask for another one? >> We could apply for additional grant that that would be a council of discretion. Uh, there isn't an automatic renewal. And I believe part of the the reason for the partial match, so 25% in years 1 and two and 65% in year three, is so that by year four we're positioned to budget for those >> to not have to apply again and already have it budgeted out. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> If you do apply and you do receive a grant, that's a [clears throat] bonus. >> Yep. >> Questions on this side? Okay. Um, no, >> no. It's just weird how they lost they put the heavy and the 65% on year three. >> But yeah, it works. Yeah. >> Chief, the question I had was under the rank structure where you crossed out driver engineer, are we now crossraining to have um multiple drivers? I know it takes a lot to figure out how to work all the controls on the truck when you got hoses hooked up to it. I look at it, it fascinates me. Um, so I assume we're crossraining in them roles. >> That's correct. They are cross-trained. Uh, most departments would consider that to be a promotion to a driver engineer. We currently don't. We just cross trainin firefighters to do that. >> Okay. And then the other question I had might be for administrative or finance. Um, but we're we're talking about accepting this grant, so I'm assuming we don't have the funds in hand. Um, are we planning to make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves with all the uncertainties at the federal level if they decide to put a halt on these and play their games that they're playing that we don't find ourselves in a pickle? Who's best to answer that question? >> Well, we first of all, we're more than capable of uh handling any budgetary I mean, Shaki is not a poor community. Um we have in our uh um rainy day fund which the actual name of is >> um unassigned fund balance. >> Our unassigned fund balance uh it's actually at our 50% level which is at the top of our uh current policy. So we can we can absorb that if necessary. And frankly, that's what the rainy day fund is for is for those things where we're not we can't plan for and that includes sometimes if there's issues at the federal or state level and and funds aren't available, we have something there that we can then fund it for or with. So uh I'm not concerned with that. Uh we are more than capable of of finding that uh funding if necessary. >> Yeah, Mayor Layman and council members just add to it too. um ideal situation we would have known about the grant before we adopted the preliminary >> le been able to build it within our budget. Um I think part of our thought process is we've applied to this grant a couple of times and we didn't receive it. >> Uh so this is kind of a a happy surprise. Um so within that um resolution, we're asking to set aside uh 550,000 or 500,000 of our fund balance at year end um in order to be able to fund this first year um which we believe we'll have a have available just based on kind of where we're at with the >> the first year is 335 >> 3358. >> Yeah. And I I think it'll be a little bit more. I have the dollar amount in the resolution. I apologize. I don't have it right in front of me. So I I think uh I think it's 500,000 that we have set aside. So that would include um the 25% cost share and then it would also include the equipping. So the equipment and the uniforms, things like that that aren't covered by the grants. So that >> Right. Okay. And if we had to if we had to we am I hearing you right, Mr. Reynolds? We'd be able to swing to 2.6. Granted, that wouldn't all happen at once. It would probably be two two three years, right? >> Yeah. And essentially what we will do is we've got that money set aside for the first year as as Mr. Reinhardt has pointed out. Uh and then we'll incorporate into our budgets the next two years and then the full amount in the budget for uh the fourth year. So it gives us a great opportunity to ramp things up slowly to lessen the impact >> and we should know maybe the federal government be done playing its games at that point. >> Mhm. >> Okay. >> I've got no comment on the federal government. >> Right. Mr. Delaney. Are there any other challenges as far as getting additional staffing in to fill these positions that we have to meet? >> I'm sorry, can you repeat the question? >> Are there any other challenges to getting staffing in to meet this uh I guess to hire people in? Any requirements there or >> uh Mayor Council, we have uh a great internal staff and I think that we'll get a good number of promotions and uh full-time firefighters from the part-time firefighter rank. Uh, I believe that we'll have some external hires. Um, it wouldn't be the full 12 positions. I'm projecting about five to seven. >> Okay, cool. Thank you. >> And and to be very upfront, firefighters are a hot commodity >> and a part of the reason that we're making the transition is because times have changed. And the the part-time firefighter model is the best model period from my perspective as administrator. uh because frankly it's effective if you have enough people and it's also uh very nice to the taxpayer. Those days are over uh and multiple communities throughout the state and the nation are going through the exact same thing that as most of our neighbors have by the way already. >> Thank you. >> Is uh Andrea Harrell up for a question or two? First, thanks for all the efforts that you do on writing grants for us. We really do appreciate that. It's always behind the scenes, but we see it here and it's good to put the uh paperwork to the face. So, thanks for all you do. Um your thoughts on actually accepting this with the turmoil that's going on. >> Mayor, council members. Um so, my thought process on this is that they wouldn't have sent out an award if they were not serious about funding it. First of all, um second of all, with the current shutdown happening, um we did receive an email um this evening about 5:30 letting us know that there is an extension on accepting the award until next month. Um generally, they give 30 days from the day of uh the award notification and so they are they're serious about making sure that these awards can be accepted by um sending out that that notification. um because currently the the FEMA's website um to go and accept the award is down because of the shutdown, but they are they're working on that. Um so they from my my point of view, they are serious about funding this and I don't foresee it being clawed back. >> Thank you. Any other questions for >> They all thank you for your efforts. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Questions of council, questions of staff, Mr. Whiting, Mr. Delaney, >> I'll make a motion. Uh do you have a question? I also make a motion, but >> Oh, okay. Uh, I I'll make a motion to adopt resolution R 2025 TAC 112 accepting FEMA's staffing for adequate fire and emergency response or safer grant award approving the 2026 budget amendments detailed under the budget impact section of the auth and authorizing the city administrator to execute the necessary contracts and agreements applicable to accept this award. >> Second. >> Second. >> Delaney. Discussion on the motion. Discussion on the motion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion passes. And thank you, Chief Simon, for your presentation. >> Thank you. >> Item 9B, presentation by Roer Router Walton on possible workforce housing development. Mr. Kursky will lead us off. Send in the fire whenever you need assistance. >> There we go. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, Ruda Walton, you'll see, has been doing projects in the Twin Cities for quite a long time. They're currently uh working on a number of affordable housing projects. They're here tonight just to get some feedback as part of this project. Um, they would get an allocation from um the state for bonding authority and we would act as a conduit for those bonds. Um, so that's what they're asking for as part of this presentation tonight. That would come before you, I believe. um at the November council meeting and then those awards I believe are made um by the state early next year. We did this similarly on another project, a senior housing project on 4th where we acted as the uh conduit debt authority. [laughter] So come on up. Uh we're going to go through this presentation and uh the representative from Rud Walton will be happy to answer questions as we go. >> And just a warning, you might have to pull up microphone close. They're sometimes hard to pick up voices. >> Got it. [clears throat] >> Thanks, Mayor and Council. Thanks, Michael. Uh, my name is Jared Aman. I'm representative of RER Walton Development. As Michael alluded to, RER Walton is based out of the Twin Cities. Uh, we've been a housing developer for 20 plus years. Uh, Mike will flip through some of our uh, summary high levels, but Nick Walton is our founder. We've developed about uh 50 projects over that 20 year span totaling 5,000 units mostly in the Twin Cities. Um historically our principal started in the single family home construction world and it's kind of developed into student housing and now we're kind of anywhere from affordable housing to market rate housing but mostly all in the rental apartment world. So, um, we're excited to be in front of you this evening to discuss a potential opportunity in the city of Shakapei. As Michael noted, we would structure this as a workforce housing project. Um, but I'll go into more more detail on that. Um, so what I'd like to do is kind of do a high level of the site and kind of the current iteration of it, which we believe kind of meets the current zoning, and then we would go into kind of the the project financing and then discuss some similarities with other projects in your community and then open up for questions. But what I wanted to touch on, as Mike Michael mentioned, is kind of why we're here today to introduce ourselves. Um this would be our first project in Shakipi. And then two um the intent or vision when if there's support for the project we would come back in November um in hopes to get a bond resolution and then we'd go to the state um those applications are due at the end of December and then you notify pretty quickly um in early dis in early January if you get that funding. It's a lottery system. So, um, you kind of put your application in, your hat in the ring, and you kind of it's kind of a random poll. So, the state based on the the fiscal budget is allowing a certain amount of bonds per year just based on the population. Um, and then they allocate them. So, we would propose going into the 2026 bond pool essentially. I'm projecting um, we would apply for $17 million worth of bonds. Once again, you guys would just be the conduit of that. The state's al the ultimate allocator of that. So, it doesn't affect your guys' bonding capacity at the city level. >> Let me stop you there for a second. And conduit bonds have we have no liability in that. Is that correct, Mr. Reinhardt? >> Correct. >> Okay, continue. >> And I [clears throat] guess typically with that, it hasn't been discussed yet, but on past applications, the city would also get a fee associated with that. Yeah, but we do we do have it as part of our fee schedule. So, we would receive a fee for that as well as application fee. >> So, we also work with Michael and his staff Kyle on just kind of the concept of the site and they've been really great to work with. Um, but it's believed under our current concept, we would meet the underlining kind of zoning ordinance under B1, I believe, but then coincide with an R3 R4 like zoning requirements. So the makeup of the site is a 12 acre parcel and then we would have to come back and ask for a subdivision application or plat. Um the parcel currently is a 12 acre parcel. The northern half there's a concrete construction business that operates out of there. So, we have a purchase agreement in place with him um that we would buy basically the southern twothirds of the site or roughly seven acres um and then build um a potential apartment project. That apartment project as proposed today, again, this is conceptual um nothing formal drawn. Would be a roughly fourstory building, 180 units, and then a makeup of one, twos, and threes bedrooms. Under this scenario, to meet the required um parking requirements, we'd have one level of underground parking and then the remaining surface parking for a total of 360 units or 60 stalls, I'm sorry. Um we we are aware of the current soil conditions here. There's a lot of bedrock known in the community, so we're we're cognizant of that um and doing soil borings here in the next month or so. But the intent is to keep it under 45 feet which I believe is the max zoning height um in this under this zoning. So a typical fourstory building would be about 40 feet if um roughly 40 41 ft. So we have a little bit of wiggle room for our surface underground parking level um depending on where Bedrock is, but we're cognizant of it. And then these are just conceptual elevations that our architect came up with KW Wilson architect who we've done probably 90% of our projects with. They're a prominent um housing architect in in the Twin Cities. This is just an example of like the architectural intent of this project to try to match your guys' architectural requirements. you guys have pretty um high standard architectural requirements um compared to other communities which is great. Um but just to be cognizant of your guys' balcony requirements, the articulation on you know I think it's every like 30 feet on the bumpouts and then you guys have like some other um building material and and glassing requirements. So stuff that we're taking under a consition under condition, but would also intend to apply with. So from here, Michael, what I've provided are just um I believe examples of projects in our in our portfolio andor what our our architect C Wilson has developed. So, this is a project of ours in um Bloomington, a similar project, but just an example of of a finished product of the inside amenities and exterior facade. If you just want to like slowly, this would be like a typical community room where you have um kind of hangout areas, but also have a kitchenet. A lot of these place uh spaces would get rented out for gatherings or such, but just a kind of a feel for some of those. This is a this is a project of ours in Little Canada um in our portfolio. And then these are examples of K Wilson's that they've done in the past. But one second, >> I got a question. [clears throat] you showed in your example um the patios the the uh decks on and I've noticed a lot of the the lower u the workforce housing style apartments are going without the decks. So >> correct >> you're proposing to put decks on these. >> It comes at a cost. >> All right. >> I would say generally speaking most of our portfolio does not have them. >> It's because it hasn't been a requirement. >> Well a lot of times when I see these pictures it's not what ends up on the lot. So I want to see you for comparing apples. I I guess I have it in my budget. >> Okay. >> Here because it's a requirement and so we're not asking for variance. >> Okay. >> But our our most of our projects within our portfolio do not have them. >> Right. >> Because one they're not required and they're about 5,000 per deck. >> I'm just noticing that they've been turning up missing >> and the rents that we're achieving and other restrictions that we're we are adhered to don't I guess require it. we can we can achieve their rents and their desired homes without him. >> It's just a little amenity that I think goes little extra. >> Yep. >> Continue. >> It's a little project of ours up in Cambridge. Um I guess Yeah. Let's funnel through Michael if you would and then go back to the site plan because I forgot to kind of touch on the intended some of the intended uh site amenities. uh right here. Yeah. So, behind the building, again, the orientation here would potentially move, but we would include a large playground, um like a large patio with most of them we have, you know, gas grills, um eating areas, pergolas, and such. And then inside the building, you want flip to the next page. Sorry, Michael. Uh ne Yeah, this one. So then this would be like a typical community uh amenity area inside the building. So you'd come in, you'd have like a general gathering area. You'd have on-site office and leasing spaces. We typically have package rooms for these type of projects where you know the Amazons, the grocery deliveries have become quite popular. So we've implemented those on pretty much all of our projects. You'd have a nice fitness area and we showed a couple pictures of the community areas, too. So this would be a typical like makeup. And then we've also been if there's space, we've added what's called like work from home suites. You know, working from home have been pretty popular over COVID. So where there's space allowed, we've been adding little spaces. And probably the nature of the size of this project, we would um include those. And I wanted to touch on it because Michael and I have discussed it is we'd for sure have two elevators in this project. Um it's kind of a writer wall standard. If you're at 100 units or more, we've typically implemented two high-speed elevators, and it would be crucial for this building of this size. And then inside the units as Michael's gone through this, we've have your typical um you know kitchen package, dishwasher, fridge, microwave um range, but we've also included in-unit laundry which is becoming a a pretty um popular amenity for for projects of of this nature and larger twos and threebedroom units. So, um, with that, I wanted to touch on the rents and then I have a little summary of some of your local market comps. So, as I mentioned, part of what we would be applying for in bonds, um, you would also get tax credits from the state and it's just a part of our financing structure to make the math work on financing a project of this nature. we would be agreeing to restricting the rents that we can charge and the incomes that individuals can make to live here. So that's the tradeoff. The individual tenants for these units and the rents of so they would be required to pay 100% of this. Um so as proposed today these are max rents for Scott County for 2025. Those change annually by the federal government HUD every April. So they would change based on federal statistics, HUD statistics for Scott County and kind of Twin Cities wide. But the rents within the the monthly contract column, those are basically the max rents that we can charge and we believe we could achieve. So 1,430 for a onebedroom, 1,700 for a two, and$,960 for a three. >> You have four onebedrooms listed for 685. What is that? >> Yes, sir. So part of the tax credit um allocation would come from MHFA, Minnesota Housing. They're the suballocator of the tax credits. part of their funding require you to have uh 3% of the units at 30% AMI. So we would be required in in taking the tax credits you'd have to have third 3% of the overall units 180 units at 30%. So we'd have four of 180 units at at um 30% AMI. The rest are at 60% AMI. Good question. Good catch. >> You say the term MTSP. What does that stand for? >> Sorry. It's uh it's a AMI area median income is is easier. That's the verbiage we go by. >> That's what I was thinking. I didn't know what that one was. >> Yeah. And I have a summary. So then I tried to just pick I was just curious for my education and then I thought it would be helpful. I put a uh the yellow triangles are other communities kind of close by. I put together like a table just as comparison. So our project is on the left and those rents that we just talked about and then some other communities in your area. The three farthest to the left are newer market rate projects. And then the three on the right are market rate projects, but they're they're older. Um, so as you can see, the newer unrestricted market rate rents on a one-bedroom are, you know, 1513,538,550. So slightly above ours. And then on the two bedrooms, there's a little bit bigger of a difference. 1,700 to 19 two 2100 2200 1900. Um but then you know what we're proposing is is above you know the older stock of market rate projects. So we'd have a brand new building with you know all the amenities that um kind of today's apartment projects have homes have um but slightly higher rents. So, what we're trying to achieve is kind of a workforce housing project product for those that can't afford those newer market rate projects, but in turn to get the financing to make sense, um, we're restricted to slightly lower rents. And on this slide, this shows those max rents on the right side. Um, and then the incomes of those individuals on the left. So, one person that's looking for a onebedroom for, you know, $1,400 could only make $55,000 in 2025. and then two people if you're renting a onebedroom or a twobedroom and then Michael and I discussions just kind of at a high level again this is conceptual with kind of a financial model today knowing we wouldn't close for a while but a high level of what we're talking about as far as uh a financing stack and and uses. So [snorts] it's a big project. It's an expensive project. Um, unfortunately, it's kind of what we're seeing in the market. Land's expensive, construction's really expensive. Um, financing's expensive. So, and then I think the last last slide I have is um just a a general schedule. Um, so as we kind of touched on, we have a purchase agreement in place. We're here tonight to just talk over us as, you know, introducing us as developer. the concept of this project and then what we looking for feedback to enhance our proposal but hopefully garner some support in hopes to come back in a month and then we'd have a formal bond resolution um that would give us the ability to apply to the state in December usually those are due basically at the end of the year um we do try to do before Christmas with all things um and then they announce pretty quickly um it's within it's basically I think it's like the second Tuesday um in January. And then with the statute in Minnesota, they make you close within 180 days of getting an allocation which is really quick like nationally. Um so you kind of have to have your ducks in a row, but you have 180 days which essentially give you to the middle of July to close. Um so then our hope would be to adhere to the underlining code. So, all we'd have to come back for is a subdivision, you know, in the spring and then um come in for building permit and then close, you know, June, July would be kind of a time frame of a a a project of this nature. So, that's kind of a highle summary of the project. Happy to try to answer any questions that you guys might have. >> All right, let's uh let's let's go ahead and ask questions. We'll just start go down the list. Mr. Laney, you go first. I got um basically two questions. First, as this project goes in, are you going to reach out to the I guess housing nearby just to let let them know that this go is going in and that in case they have questions or concerns about the height or anything of that nature? That seems to be where we get kind of stumble over as apartments kind of pop in. >> I guess my comment and Michael might have a different one is we would typically do neighborhood meetings um for a project of this nature. We mo we usually wouldn't do it until we know if we got financing or not to see if it's >> project. So like naturally in my head it would probably be after January but before we'd come in for like a formal application or we typically do a neighborhood meeting to try to get feedback how we can enhance it. What things would they like to see? What things could we do differently? >> Cool. >> So >> second question. So, is the is it income limited or is is the rent just based on the income? So, anybody can rent there and they're just they're >> Nope. Both. There's there's rent restrictions to what we can charge and we can't go over that on an annual basis. So, the on the right the 1490 the 1788 like we could we could not charge more than that in 2025. >> Okay. >> That changes every year. >> Could go up, could go down. >> It's based on income. But it's based on income. And then the incomes are the same. Like no, no one could make more than 55,000 for this year. Now that might change slightly. 56,000 next year. All comes out typically in April of every year. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Whiting. You mentioned that the elevation, [clears throat] the town homes, it's on a it's on a hillside or it's >> it's on the bottom of a hill, right? >> Uh so there's some town homes above it. Would that I think he said 44 feet. Uh would that block the the town homes view that have built along the side of that hill? >> Good question. And we I actually talked about this today with my team. So I believe in the ground floor elevation of the current site on the bottom is like 760 on the on the country road 69 side and then towards the back half of where like our building is like 770 >> and then up top where the town homes are it's about 8 800 to 805. So it's about 40 45 feet from the low point of kind of where our drive lane would be to the top. So it'd be roughly the top of the building would be right at where their their floor is. >> Me looking at your roof either way. >> Yeah. Okay. >> But mayor and council there is that conservation area. So they will not be touching that. That's where all those trees are. >> Yeah. Big buffer. But yeah, >> that's all I have. >> Councelor Lara, [clears throat] >> you had uh mentioned that um about the uh balconies, the decks, and that they're 5,000 a piece >> roughly. So, we're looking at about almost $900,000. What did What was in your project? What would you normally have added instead of like because you said your other projects normally do not include? >> It's just a window. >> What was not included in this that would normally be What what was not included? >> Well, because did you [music] and are you absorbing that $900,000 cost and leaving it like your normal projects or did you take something out? Did you put like less units? Did you take out an amenity? >> No, it's just a really expensive project. >> Okay. We we are achieving in our other communities the max rents without balconies. So, we feel confident based on market conditions and market demand, we wouldn't need to build balconies to achieve these rents, but we're not shortcutting any finishes within this building or our build other buildings to kind of make up for it. I guess >> if that Yep, that makes sense. >> Yeah. And I think the requirement is like 75% of the units need balconies. >> So, >> there's a great view there, too. You want that? There's a there's at least one that I comes to my mind that uh councelor Delaney and I went through not too long ago in shock beer. I think it was 55 and older and instead of they had a centralized like outdoor area, barbecue, these types of things. Um so each project kind of does its own little >> uh way of doing it, I guess. Although you can't barbecue on the balcony. Um questions that I have. First one is uh how many units would be ADA compatible? >> Oh, great question. >> Yeah, you had the little wheelchair in a lot of the pictures. >> It would be That's a great question. It's it's a state statute of ADA code. It's either three or 5% of units and then I know MHFA has their own requirements on top of that. >> Okay. If if staff or you could get that to us. >> Yeah. Yeah, for sure. >> That can come email or something. It' just be nice to know. I guess I would my comment would be we would 100% you know commit to that and be compliant with that but I can get you that the number of specific units. >> Okay. And then the second question I had was >> 180 is a a pretty high density would be the highest density not density but the amount for one structure of this type in the city. Um, I don't know if there's any wiggle room to scale it back just a little bit. And the other comment and push back that I'm expecting from the neighborhood, um, is there I know there's trees and I know there's a bluff and there's a lot of natural buffering. um you know with a playground closer to and kids. We were all kids at one time and we all know how we'd like to get in trouble sometimes. >> Any fencing included in this project? >> We typically have fencing around our playgrounds and I would kind of vision maybe a dog run here too um as pets are pretty popular. But we have fencing around all our playgrounds. Um, and that we kind of liked the idea of kind of tucking it back away from the busy street too and the cars behind. Um, >> so we definitely have, but we could also maybe even enhance that further and put, you know, privacy or um, fencing on the southwest corner, you know, um, on that corner of the building to maybe keep it even more >> I can see back there. I can see fencing between the project and the existing households isn't practical because the project's going to be 40 44 ft 45 ft. >> Yeah, it's a steep hill. >> Mr. uh Kursky, what was the height of the Henderson? Do you recall? Was that 45? >> It was close to the maximum. I think it was 44. >> Okay. And then the finance sources and uses page. Couple questions there. So I'm assuming sources is the revenue side and uses is the cost side. >> Yeah, uses at the top are kind of the total project costs and then I kind of just summarize them in some of the buckets and then the sources would be that the sources to pay for it. >> Okay. So when I look at these sources at the very bottom I see deferred developer fee 4.6 million. What is that? >> Yeah. So, up top as a as a good question. As a use, um, and it's a it's basically a calculation with MHFA. Um, it's a percentage of total project cost. We have a developer fee as a use, $6 million, but we have to defer a large majority of it to basically balance the budget. So, we wouldn't get paid 4.6 six of the six. It basically is just a future payment if the property operates. Well, basically repay ourselves back. So through the construction of closing building the project, we would only collect 1.4 million roughly 1.3 million. >> Okay. And then uh you talked about 17 million in conduitent bonds and they're not I'm not seeing that under sources. >> Good question. Um the 17 million would be within the 32 million first mortgage. >> Okay. So >> it's a little complicated. >> First mortgage would be bought down by 17. >> No, you basically use the bonds to to finance the project. um tax exempt bonds are utilized as a long-term mortgage tool on the project. Um the $17 million bonding allows us to then generate the $25 million in tax credit equity, but the 17 million bond stays in the project as kind of as a within the first mortgage source. >> Okay. And then the last question, there seemed to be a question on whether these conduent bonds would would have any liability to the city or not. And you were kind of hitting one way and staff was hitting another. So I guess I'd need pretty good clarity on that question. >> There there is no liability at all. the their issue that the state has the bonds up here, the allocation they if they get picked in the pool, that allocation needs someone to act as a conduit because his state does not issue those bonds. So that we've done this >> they issue them through other municipalities. >> Yes. >> Got it. >> Mr. Delaney, >> one last question. So as this goes in, will this become part of a MVTA bus route or something or how how does that happen? >> Is this transit related development? >> Is it now? Council member, >> I don't think it is now, but is it planned to be or is it going to be looked at? >> I I don't think we're at that point, Mayor and Council. I mean, this is basically out of numbers in front of you, and the lottery is literally a lottery. So, they won't know until January whether this is really going to move forward. So, they've fronted kind of all their numbers and design costs now um to see whether they can make the project work. So, so I I I guess for council the next question maybe if you want to ask let's try to stick to the actual site plan and any comments that you would like to give this gentleman on your con thoughts on the concept plan um might be helpful to him. Mr. White. >> No, I mentioned the the balconies and I like that because uh the view of that area is great. And the other thing about putting it in this spot is we've for many years we've talked about the mall, [laughter] the old mall, you know, and and you know, more bodies and more people could definitely create a retail uh >> recreate our retail space up there, I guess. >> Yeah. So, uh it's kind of dead now, but it could happen. So, I know we're going to have some concerns with the neighbors. Um that's just because I know the neighbors. Um, but that that's part of the project. So, we'll get there when we get there. But I think it's a great spot. Same great spot. My concern again would just be the neighbors. Make sure you just get buy in and community meeting. That seems to be again where we seem to stumble every time something pops in. >> Black see the picture seems dark to me with so much black. >> Yeah. >> Building facade color schemes, you know, is up for any feedback. So this is a first blush based on other projects that we've built in some of those schemes. So could totally lighten it up >> to whatever kind of this city wants to see or meld with other you know communities within the city for sure. That's that's an easy change. >> And the biggest concern after councelor Whiting me mentioned it the residents on the bluff are going to be looking at the roof. So how do we address the sight of that on the roof? So it's not an eyesore to the folks that are already there. >> Yep. Mayor and council. So these typically have um >> they don't have rooftop units cuz the actual mechanical systems are in the units. You'll see they have vents on them outside. So >> the magic packs. Yeah. >> Magic packs. So basically they'll just be a roof. It'll be a either gravel or >> gravel or or membrane roof. >> And it'll have a parapit wall on Are you suggesting more of a decorative roof design? >> I don't know. Certainly not a building. >> I mean, I think mayor and council that was one of the reasons why in discussions it's kind of angled so that there it's not one massive roof. It's a pretty narrow building. >> Sure. >> And it won't impede their view of the lovely storage area across. >> You got to look past >> County Road 69. You can look past [laughter] >> the junkyard. Look past that. >> All right. Anything else from council? any other feedback you're looking for? >> I appreciate you guys' time very much um and feedback today. Excited to see where this project goes. >> All right, >> luck. >> Thank you guys. Appreciate it. >> Thanks for stopping by tonight. >> This one is stranger. >> 9C comprehensive plan amendment for Richland Court. >> Did something wrong. Saman Council, this is a comprehensive um plan amendment to regu property from suburban residential to suburban edge residential. Uh city of Shakipi is proposing this amendment uh the 2040 comprehensive plan. The subject property is located on County Highway 78 east of Townline Road. Um the applicant has an approved plat called Richland Court that consists of eight single family residential lots on 4.38 acres with two outlets. The net acreage per city code standard is 2.34 acres with the density of 3.42 units an acre consistent with the suburban residential guiding. However, the Met Council determined this project was not consistent with their density formula, which does not exclude public rightway, which results in a density of 2.67 units an acre, which is below the suburban residential guiding uh regulations. So, for this development to be approved for issuance of a sewer permit, the Met Council has required it to be regued to suburban edge residential, which has a density requirement of 0.1 to three units per acre. So this is the site. If you remember, there was a lot of controversy from the neighborhood that this was too dense. So the developer went from I think started at 12 and went down to um >> eight units here. So it's currently guided that dark green. It would now match the existing surrounding in that yellow. And this is the plat that's already been approved. So these out lots here um one is a wetland and one is a area they're preserving for uh some trees. This is actually the blue area is where the homes actually will be built. The yellow again is that outlot area and these are the plat areas. So the issue was the Met Council does not necessarily count the roadway in their calculation where city code does. We will be bringing back a code amendment so that our code will now match the Met Council's code so we don't have this issue in the future. So we uh ask for approve resolution R25113 reguiding the property from suburban residential to suburban edge residential. >> Question of staff. >> This has been here a couple times, right? >> Yes. Yeah. [laughter] Deja vu. >> I'll tell you what my problem is with it. >> The Met Council and its original design when it was created under the Minnesota Land Planning Act. They were supposed to be taking our information and our um densities and using them for a for the purpose of calculating what their future capacity needs are for sewer capacities and things like this. And somehow it's morphed into them telling us what our densities need to be, which is absolutely unacceptable. This body is an elected body to make these decisions on what our densities are, not the Met Council. They need to get back to their original charter and uh for us to make a code amendment saying we're going to match the Met Council's calculated densities. No, we should be making a code amendment telling the Met Council that's not their role. At any rate, >> so mayor and council, so this project's currently on hold because of that council won't give them their sewer permit without this change. >> Go ahead. >> It's it's been a long it's getting getting cold out there. I'd like to get this project rolling. So with that, I'd adopt a resolution R 2025.13 approving and reu the reguiding of property from suburban residential to suburban edge residential. Is there a second? Second, >> Mr. Delaney discussion on the motion. I have no problem with the motion. Actually, I have a problem with the Met Council. Uh, any other discussion? >> Let's just move this project. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion passes. >> Good. >> Thank you. >> Anybody up for a short break before we head into 10A? >> Sure. >> Mr. May I'll make a motion for a 10-minute recess. Is there >> a second? >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion passes. 10-minute recess. Green from uh recess. Item number 10A, ED EDA 2026 budget discussion. >> Uh good evening, mayor and council. Uh on September 16th, city council uh approved the 2026 preliminary EDA property tax levy of 550,000. Uh at that meeting, city council requested uh a workshop for staff to provide further information on the 2026 uh EDA budget. Uh I thought it might be helpful to touch base on the primary roles and uh powers that are provided to economic development authorities uh in Minnesota. Uh those powers include the ability to levy for property taxes, uh the ability to issue bonds, uh purchase and sell uh property for development and redevelopment, uh promote business and recruit new business, uh ability to provide loans to businesses and nonprofits, uh tax increment financing and other financing mechanisms and marketing and promotional efforts on behalf of the city. Um, so I thought it would be helpful too to provide some comparisons of examples of what uh other EDAs are doing. Uh, so here are our comparable and surrounding city 2025 EDA. So the same listing that we use for our pure comparison in our um our comparison of city services chart that we put together. Uh, of the eight cities with EDA levies in the comparison, uh, there are four uh, levies larger than the shock v EDA and four that have levels below the shock shock v EDA. So, uh, those leveies range from 231,000 to 1.5 million. Uh, examples, um, here are based on website information if available. Um, kind of a pat ourselves on the our back here because we have all our budget information on our website. Uh, not all cities do, so it's what, um, what I what I was able to get from from their website. Uh, but here's uh, Blaine's EDA operating budget. Uh, their EDA operating levy um is 1 million. uh they do uh directly allocate personnel uh which include an economic development specialist uh 30% of a community development specialist and then 15% of a planning uh admin assistant. Uh they do also budget for expenses related to uh the 3M open uh which is a a large annual professional uh golf tournament hosted in in Blaine. Uh additionally they budget um a line item for uh general fund admin fees of 449,800. Um, I did reach out to Bland and just ask for more detail on that. Um, and uh, what they had told me is the general fund admin fee is based on a set percentage of specific department budgets, mostly finance, administration, and community development. Uh, it's a relatively small percentage. Uh, but we've justified it uh, as the EDA is a unique taxing authority that would require professional assistance if not for the city. So, kind of similar to what we kind of added this year for the general fund transfer. Uh so just a couple of other items I wanted to call out. Um bottom of the page shows their ending fund balance of 4.27 million. Uh and then separate from their operating uh budget shown on the slide, they do have a capital budget as well within their EDA uh which uh has an additional 150,000 capital levy uh which they dedicate towards capital investments and uh strategic development. uh the Burnsville EDA um levy of 1.5 million and an operating budget of 422,000. Um so uh it appears that they're building up their fund balance. They're levying more than what they have for uh budgeted expenses. Uh I didn't find a breakdown of specifics related to the operating expenses. Um but unlike the city's general fund where you typically adopt a balanced budget since an EDA is set up um as its own fund um there's not really any issu any issues with accumulating funds over time uh for economic development purposes uh specific excuse me specifically if the EDA is being used for a larger project or or property uh acquisition um it may make some sense. So Burnsville has uh anticipated a fund balance in 2025 of 3.9 million. Uh and then you can see if you look back at their 2022 actual, they had a larger land acquisition and demo expense. So kind of gives you an idea what they use that for. Uh Rapids EDA um levy of 725,000. Uh they are budgeting 258,000 in staffing costs which includes a percentage of the city manager, community development director, planners, housing program uh coordinator, and a sustainability planner. Uh at the end of 2024, they had a a fund balance uh of 7.4 million. Um and their 2025 included a transfer of 3 million to a a separate fund. Uh which um I'm guessing, but it's likely for a larger development project. So that just kind of gives you maybe an idea of what what some of the other EDAs are using their levy and budget for. Um so I did have uh these budget slides in the EDA uh budget meeting that we had. Um but just to kind of go over them um relatively briefly. Um of course the EDA is um as we talked about is limited to a percentage of estimated market value of the city. Um so that's their levy cap. Uh for 2026 it would be a little over 1.5 million. Um so our uh levy proposed is much lower. Um and again the EDA uh levy slightly differs from the general fund levy uh so that it gets applied to all taxable properties within the city uh including properties that are part of the tax abatement or tiff plan. Uh they still will pay the EDA levy. Uh the EDA levy is also um separated uh from the city's um general property tax levy uh on the statement and the EDA levy uh specifically is designated for economic development activities. Uh so any funds that are unspent from year to year will be carried over and then um as you're aware the river river city center we um we budget for uh within the EDA fund as a separate um sub fund of the EDA. Uh for revenues um again staff uh was proposing the $50,000 increase in the levy to 550,000. Uh additional funding is provided through a contribution of half a percent of revenues from the Shakabe Public Utilities Commission. Um and then uh social district licenses and cup sales and then admissions to the uh the tap event. Uh for the medium value home uh for 2026 it'll equal out to about $21 which is about $2 more than uh previous year for property taxes. Uh on the expense side, um operating expenses again are for wages and benefits which include uh 50% of the economic or excuse me 100% of the economic development coordinator and then 50% of the planning development director uh legal services, planning services and professional services. Uh within professional services is the is the facade loan program, entrepreneurship programming, uh chamber of commerce, uh tap event and and marketing. uh staff um is proposing uh what new this year a $50,000 transfer to the city's general fund. Uh that would be for uh administrative support that they're receiving from general fund operations. I do have a slide on this next that I'll get into more detail. Um and then also a one-time um expense uh for the installation of the level three charger at Cory Lake uh which is a shared project with Excel Energy. Um so regarding the admin allocation um which was one of the things we um talked about for quite a bit last time we we had this budget come up um but uh mentioned previously it's similar to how how we handle sewer and storm utilities. Uh since those operations are funded by uh utility rate payers uh they should be paying for the admin support while the EDA um itself is is funded from a different group of uh taxpayers. Um so the idea is that they would be providing for the admin support that they received. So, a breakdown here just showing uh 2024 actual costs uh roughly equals out to about 1% of those admin costs um shown here which would include um the administration division including all the different departments within administration, finance, mayor and council. Um the cash balance of the EDA fund um this is as our last audit report. So this is as of December 31st, 2024. Uh it does show that we do have a small uh cash deficit in the fund of 340,000. Um this is from um April of 2023. Uh EDA approved an interfund loan with um TIFF district um number 18 for River City Center improvements. So we're able to spend the money out of that um out of the RCC fund in advance of receiving um tax increment from district 18. Uh so I have that high that's highlighted there as the advance to other funds. Um although it's not ideal to have a uh not have a cash balance, but it it it does put some constraints and challenges if there were to be a larger project or initiative that EDA wants to pursue. Um but with the with the repayment plan in place to replenish those funds um from future increments, I I think it's okay since we at least have a plan in place to get back um get back those funds and fund balances. [snorts] Um I'm not going to dig into too much detail here. Um, I know Mike will cover uh these items. Um, we kind of had to do a little bit of divide and conquer on the on the presentation. So, I think he'll cover those areas. Um, and then I just have one last slide just kind of some future considerations as we start looking at the 2027 budget and beyond. Um but uh number one um regarding the allocation of administration support uh the pros 50,000 probably is not really the full cost of admin support um that could truly be allocated to this fund. Um so uh the question would be for future budgets should we continue to go down this path and potentially increase that amount in the future. Um, and then, uh, similar to the Blaine example and what we saw with the other two examples of EDA's establishing and growing fund balance, uh, do we take a look at adding additional, uh, capital levy as a way to designate EDA funds for property acquisition or capital outlay? Um, as certainly have a having a designated levy or balance would would be helpful if there were to be future opportunities that arise um, for redevelopment purposes. So, [snorts] mayor and council, I thought it would be good to just give you an overview of what the EDA does beyond some of the things you hear about on a regular basis. So, this is a more in depth overview. So, we do business retention expansion in partnership with Shakabe Public Utilities. They've been a great partner. Greg Drent is here tonight. Uh we have uh since he's taken over, we respond together on company leads that come from the state. Work together on specific development projects. He's been integral working on the gravel pit. We also work together on marketing opportunities for recruitment of new businesses. Um staff responds to requests proposals from DED and from Greater MSP for corporate relocations. We work with Marc and other local brokers on available sites and buildings within the city and we work with a local company on a relocation to a larger space. So think about we don't get as many leads as we used to but we probably get one to two a month that require us to do a significant amount of work and typically we get them on Monday and the state needs them back by Friday. So we particularly work with Shakabe public utilities because water and electricity tend to be some of the bigger issues that companies are looking at and um Mr. John's been great to work with us on rates. The other thing that um Mr. Reinhardt mentioned is the social district. So we did work on that state legislation. We purchased and coordinated all the necessary signage, purchased the compostable cups, recruited businesses to participate, and then we coordinated with the city clerk and our permit coordinators on how they get implemented. So, all those cups are currently um for the first year are out. There's about 12 or 13,000 cups that are already out for uh the coming year. And then on business retention expansion, so Gian Resound completed renovation of the former Shutterfly building. This is their new North American headquarters. The grand opening is December 3rd. You should have all gotten an invitation for that. They will be moving staff from Bloomington, California, Arizona over the next year. They already um after our um dinner event, they announced that they were in Bloomington, I think, for 50 years. And I think they told us they never really spoke to anybody from the city of Bloomington. They spoken to us more in probably six months than they have in 50 years in Bloomington. they went back to their board and added an additional 120 employees to Shakape um just because they've been very impressed with the way they've been treated by the overall community, the way they've been engaged in the community. I met with Mike Redmond, the superintendent of schools. He's working with them to potentially get them engaged in the um um Shakipi High School program. So, the other big thing is they're going to drive thousands of hotel room nights, somewhere between the first year between 2 and 4,000 hotel room nights. That's because this is the North American headquarters. All of their suppliers and users will be flying in here and meeting at their training center here in Shakipi. So, it's a huge bump for us, including um they're working and having a major event here. As you know, they're owned by um their headquarters in Denmark, but bringing all of their corporate leaders from throughout the world uh to Shakipi hopefully in 27 or 28. So, the foundry created four years ago with four companies. Um one of the rules they have to sell a product or service nationally and they must be positioned for growth. We now have uh more than 40 companies from throughout the region including two Minnesota Cup winners. That's the statewide competition um where they start out with about 200 companies and it gets narrowed down uh to the final winners. So we actually have two of those winners in that group. So it's a pretty uh interesting thing. Here's a picture of one of our typical meetings uh where we have uh our consultant works with all these companies and then we typically have a speaker. This week we'll actually have to figure out how to reconfigure this room because I did meet with the new director of beta and they found that we are probably one of the top programs in the state. So they're bringing their board chair along with um some of their banks they work with um that fund other companies to come to our meetings to try and connect with some of these people. So we currently have a part we're the only city partner with them in the state. Provides the city with access to their events. Allows foundry members to present to beta. Allows beta founders to present to our larger foundry group for possible inclusion. We already have four beta companies that are now part of the foundry. This is one of our opportunities. So this is Christine Kemock. Some of you have met her along the way. She's a Shakipi resident. Uh lives over by the hospital. Uh runs a company called Written Hugs Design. They're in 800 stores uh nationwide and she presented to the beta group. Um there were about 300 people here and talked about Shakape and how we support our entrepreneurs. And then we've also worked with Live Nation and the Mystic Lake Amphitheater. Um we're working with the developer on an the actual development, but we're in the process right now working with Mr. Thompson and their attorneys in creating u an operational agreement for public services on a per ticket charge. Um they don't really do that very often, but I think early on we told them when this was getting developed that that was going to be one of the city's requirements that we didn't want to be in the business of getting bills and having to deal with that. We wanted to be able to get a check from the ticket sales. So this will be the second or third they've done nationwide. So fairly complicated agreement, but I think it's going to be uh a boon and will help the police department and this community. The gravel pit again uh we work very closely with ShakiP public utilities. They have this piece under contract for a future water treatment facility because a lot of their well fields are here and over in this area. Um they're working with the developer here. There's a existing well up here that is part of this project. that well will be be preserved and they will use this water treatment facility to put raw water so that the uh proposed lake always has water. Um we've worked with five potential developers on this development. We have one now that we'll be bringing forward uh once the environmental review is done at the end of this month. The developer anticipates starting soil correction in the spring of 2026. Um particularly with the commercial corner and um we'll be bringing back to the EDA contract for private development to the EDA and the city council uh within the next 60 days. That project now is half a billion dollars. So it's probably one of the largest um projects of its kind in the region. It's actually larger than the Ford site to put in perspective for you. So, this is the gravel pit. So, all of these areas that have been built up over time are all going to get recompacted. Um, the potential developers already acquired about 350,000 cubic yards that he's been able to get so it could be start lifts next year so they can get this site underway. And again, um, it's part of our development agreement. They're going to build this. It's kind of what you see is what you get. Um, so all of these individual buildings will be back to planning commission and the city council as they come in. So the three apartment buildings, the commercial area, they've already had a significant amount of interest in this area for um some medical users that are currently not in the market. [snorts] And then the Canterbury Park Mixed Use District. If you remember, this is kind of the concept drawing that we had. We have a partnership now with Canterbury. Uh we've retained Hunden partners to study that area for potential users and grow the entertainment. Working with Canterbury on a list of potential users. We actually introduced Canterbury to a hotel developer that is exploring two potential hotels at Canterbury that could meet our corporation's needs for meeting space in a higherend hotel. And they anticipate a decision in early 2026 to move ahead with that with construction in late 26 and early 27. That was one of the big issues with GN. They said if we're going to bring these room nights, we do not have a hotel at the level they wanted. This hotel developer has agreed to meet the requirements of GN. Um, and we're looking at potentially building this to the uh towards the track building next to um the big restaurant that's on the track side, the boardwalk. So, there would be some symbiotic relationship. that they'd be able to use that big room that's in the boardwalk for some community meetings. River [snorts] City Center, as Mr. Reinhardt mentioned, um we're in the process of creating two condominium units there, one for the residential portion and one for the retail commercial. It's been a slog because 25 years ago when that project got built, they never combined any of the properties. Some of it was still owned in the name of Mindot and other things. um the city attorney and the county um surveyor and the county's consultants have been working to clean up all the title work there so we can get a clean title which is required by the state in order to do a condominium. Um we work on the facility maintenance there. We do all the snow removal uh with a private contractor. Uh we respond to tenants issues and needs pretty much 24 hours a day. and we're looking forward as leases expire and retenning that with users that will add to the vitality of the downtown. You were all grateful enough to approve uh some new leases there with um groups like Yummy Bites who I think have been a great addition. Um they've generated a lot of activity down there and we're going to be looking for other tenants like that over the next two years. And then some of you asked about what our agreement is with the uh Chamber of Commerce. So two or three years ago that agreement was changed basically to um be a marketing partnership. So they basically promote extending our uh visitor stays and highlighting downtown by promoting downtown's uh unique offerings. So the highest marketing spend ever for tourism with a heavy focus on digital. They have um new marketing efforts they're working with us on. I'm not sure why this is moving all by itself. Um but They're going to be working with Huntton Partners and some of the information they found out to coordinate marketing to attract the best possible users for the community. So, downtown is marketed by them as a destination. We uh rank closely to the top travel regions in Scott County, including Valley Fair, Canterbury Park, and Mystic Lake Casino. So, downtown is a major destination that they're promoting. Here's a good idea. Rhythm on the Rails. When that started in 2017, the total attendance was 12,000 average 2900. 2024 32,000 uh 934 with an average of 5,489. So a pretty significant growth. It's become a landmark event in the region. This was a great picture they provided with us. Holiday Face 14 years in downtown. So it's one of the legacy events a downtown business in the chamber. Hundreds of businesses participate. They've had 70,000 people over uh the last few years. They filled the vendor marketplace and the food trucks. This is a newer event, three years in downtown. It's a downtown business-driven event with the chamber uh vendor marketplace and food trucks. It's called the Bach Party. It's a special beer that comes out. They've had over a thousand people in attendance. This is another new event, ALS on Homes, three years. Um, another downtown businessdriven event with the chamber vendor marketplace. They have live music and over a thousand attendees uh annually. Here's some information on top visitor household income. So, we're at 151,000 for 21% 100 to 150,000 uh again at 21%. So, we're attracting some higher income um families here and that's been borne out with the study uh that's being done by Canterbury. So their big uh change as a board member is working on careers. So in partnership with Southwest Metro Intermediate School District, Scott County, um the CDA, Dakota County Technical, and Inver Grove Heights Community College, they got 1.2 million. And here's what they're working on. Emergency medical, CNAs, pharmacy technicians, boiler licensing, and um Cisco cyber ops. So this has been a great program. um they're working specifically on training people to help a GN since they're adding all those jobs. They had not anticipating adding those 120 jobs. Um so they bring another company that has specific requirements. So they're going to be working with the chamber and all those partners on training new people for that facility. So the EDA chamber Canterbury downtown I think one of the things we're all working together uh with is to create a unique opportunity for visitors experience Shakabe to make Shakabe the entertainment destination with Valley Fair Canib Mystic Lake amphitheater special events we leverage these experiences to track potential company relocates or new companies to Shakape. I think one of the things that GN's been impressed with is some of the events that we've held and how well they've been engaged. We also are leveraging our schools and workforce as an attraction. I think having a great superintendent and um the programs that they're running at the high school um has really helped keep companies here and also track companies. And then we use the foundry as another anchor for founders to create a community they like nowhere else in Minnesota. That was another big piece for Jan. They like to see that we had entrepreneurs kind of working here in all different fields. So one of the things that we capitalize um heard for this before but making Shakape authentic being innovative um cooperation and our partnerships with partners like Shaki public utilities other things that we do that we didn't list here like the mural downtown that was an EDA project we worked getting a grant for part of that uh the laha money that comes from the state from the housing that goes to the CDA we manage that program so fairly busy um on top of all the projects you see coming forward that we're working on. Happy to answer question. >> All right, let's start out [clears throat] Mr. Lara. Um there was some questions raised um regarding confusion behind the uh transfer to the general fund and why that's necessary and um I I did have that concern as well. question as well, but now that it um I understand it, um the reason for it is if it comes from the EDA levy, businesses that are in a tiff district will pay into that versus if it just if we didn't do anything, it would come from um >> correct tiff tiff districts and abatements. So, churnney is in an abatement. So, they still pay the EDA levy. >> And if you want to elaborate more on that in case I missed something, but I know there was some confusion behind that. Well, I think it's important to understand that, you know, we really should allocate the expenses to the areas that uh are are or we should allocate [snorts] the the payment of the expenses to the areas that are actually generating the expenses and and therefore our property taxpayers aren't paying, you know, because if you think about it, property taxpayers have many different elements and we have one set that only pays for the general property tax. We have a larger set that pay pays for the EDA. And a lot of times those that are the larger of the subset of the of the uh taxpayers themselves are the ones that are actually benefiting for for benefiting from a lot of these programs. So in being transparent, we should tag that and you know these are the areas that are generating the expenses. Let's make sure that we're not hiding that if you will in our general fund. Let's put it where it belongs. >> A good example, council member and mayor would be um Churnney. So they don't pay any city tax, if you remember that abatement agreement, but they will pay for the EDA and they benefited from the EDA because we brought them here and worked with them. Same is true with Sam Club. Remember they had a cap on their taxes and then the city, we're not charging them tax on the $10 million in improvements. But again, they're another group that we've put a lot of effort and work into. And I think to Mr. Riner and Mr. Reynold's point, there's a lot of other people besides myself and John Sullivan that work on EDA items. So there's a lot of budgeting, for instance, that goes into River City Center. I meet with Mr. Reynolds every other week basically to go over projects and strategize. He's been very engaged on the Hunden partners project with Canterbury. So I think it's not just one and a half people working on it. It's a whole city. >> Thank you, >> Minister Delaney. Yeah. First, let me thank you for the synergy that you show with the utility company. you guys really work well together and helping make a lot of this happen as far as recruiting businesses and and uh development. My one question um also thank you for answering the question on the the $50,000. Um I asked that question I think last time I I get it. We're charging basically if you work with a company you can charge for one contract or another you can't charge for both. I understand that. Um my question is on this current budget there is a um electric charger going in at the lake which we're we're saying that's economic development. That's the piece I'm kind of stumbling over. >> So so mayor and councel we we have to have that in the budget. So she left but Andrea and I are working on a grant to the state of Minnesota and one of the requirements it has to be in the budget for them to fund. So they would basically replace that money with a state grant and then we already have the $125,000 committed or whatever it cost beyond that from XL Energy. So our goal is to get it in the budget so that we can get a grant for it. >> So this is more like a pass through or >> pardon me. >> So So it's not economic development or >> Well, it is economic development because I think Excel, you know, is not doing this for very many cities. And so they actually had a person sit out at Corey Lake and look at the people that were going there and they were shocked to see how many electric vehicles were out there and they identified that as a critical location. One because it's near their facility and they wouldn't have to bring in a lot of extra power into that area, but that $125,000 already pledged is to pay for all the switch gears, transformers, or whatever additional things they would need. Um, so we are one of a handful of cities in the entire state that they've decided to fund. The state at the same time has come out with a program to fund level three chargers. So Andre and I have talked you'll be seeing it on your next agenda where we're going to be applying for it. So that would pay 100% of the cost of the actual equipment. >> Can I jump on a question on that? So it's it's at Quarry Lake Park because it's in the Excel Electric District. >> Yes. >> And it's not in SP. So we can't take that and put it somewhere else. Correct. It h it's required for so they have a separate fund that their board established to pay for the installation cost of chargers. So there's a lot of back-end equipment that has to be in Excel's territory. They looked at a bunch of different sites and actually had a team of three or four people that spent a day in Shakipi and they actually chose that site which we kind of agree with because it's one of those sites if you're going to go ride your bike for a couple hours that'll fully charge your vehicle. So they agree to that. I'm still stumbling over that Mike. So, if we were going to put electric charger in somewhere else in the city, would that be economic development? Would that come out of our a different fund? >> You have to speak. >> I'm sorry. So, if we were going to put electric charger somewhere else in the city, would that come out of economic development or would it come out of another fund or >> So, mayor council depends on where it goes. So, this happens to Excel has a program basically set aside for out of their economic development fund to fund chargers in areas where they think it'll attract people and keep people there. They looked at all their territory in the city. They looked over past um along off where the ramps are. They were looking for an area people could pull off. They actually thought Cory Lake was a great thing and they based on their survey of actually having someone sit there, they were shocked to see the amount of electric vehicles because there's some correlation between people that ride their bikes tend to be healthier and kind of on the cutting edge of technology. >> I understand Emerson is looking at electric chargers as well for their building. Is there a possibility that this could be a partnership um instead of a grant? So again, Excel's got a grant only to cities that are in their territory to pay for Yeah. pay for one charger. >> So I think it'd be nice if somebody from Emerson could walk across the street and charge their car, >> but they already have it in their budget. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> So we're putting in the budget now. Our goal, again, the purchase of that would have to come back to you. We're putting in the budget. We're you didn't think it belonged in park development because I think the state would question how that related to a park. Um, but again, we're going to apply to the state for a grant for that. >> Our goal is to come back with that grant hopefully. Andrea has been good at getting us grants. So, >> charger. >> Okay. So, basically, no grant, no charger. Is that what we're saying? >> Yes. That's that's why it's in the budget that way because the statement of clear is it has to be in your budget to be able to get funded. >> But if we don't get the grant and there isn't a charter, there's still money that we're allocating in the budget that's not going to not get spent. >> It's not going to come out. Okay. Makes sense. Thank Thank you. >> You all right, man? >> So, I was back at these comparable surrounding EDA levies and I'm I'm looking at Chaza, um, Golden Valley. Well, I Grove Heights, Lakeville, Maplewood, Savage don't have one. I'm wondering what do they do? >> Yeah, >> Mayor Council, we we asked that question and they're funding it out of their general fund similar to what we did when I first came. you all were taking money out of the general fund and putting it kind of in the bank for downtown. So I think you put half a million dollars a year when I first came that came strictly out of the general fund. That's what those cities are doing. And it actually is noted that they're taking money out of their general fund and putting it in economic development. >> And that was one of the things that was one of the first things I keyed on when I got here because it's not being open and upfront with your taxpayers. uh we were doing it and we were kind of sliding it around and having funds and and we wanted to be very open and and and and make sure that people knew exactly what we were doing and and and they could track the the money. And so that was literally one of the first things I tackled when I got here my first year was to sure that we split that out. And so there wasn't any concern. People couldn't say, "Oh, you're using all this general fund money for project A with this corporation." It's like, "Well, no, we're not. We're using EDA funds." And it's frankly the cleaner and more open way of doing it. So, if I if I'm reading this right, my property tax is paying for the the general general levy, the EDA levy, and then when I pay my electric and water bill, a portion of that goes to the EDA. Mayor, that's correct. As part of our agreement we had with Shakil Public Utilities, there was a fund set aside specifically for projects that they would support for economic development. can't be used for staff overhead, whatever. It's strictly project related. So, if you remember, I think it was last year, the year before, we set aside $150,000 over at Canterbury to underground the lines, which are almost done um at the entrance to Canterbury. So, we're using a lot of that money and they for marketing because trying to get companies to come here. We have a million square ft of empty space right now that we need to fill because it's u the law of averages. They're going to start appealing their taxes. That's why it was good when we did the deal with um Sam's Club for that building because they were in the midst of appealing their taxes. They withdrew that. That building would have gone from 35 million to about 10 million. They left their 35 million and we still get all that taxes and we're only abated that 10 million they put into the building. So, out of all of the Well, let me start back up. If 1% of the various positions that are spent on EDA, um, is that dollar amount then backed out of the general levy for them wages of them individuals? >> Correct. If if if it wasn't in the EDA, it would be on the general fund levy. >> Right. So if 50% of your time goes to the EDA, then when we look at the general levy payroll for your position, it should only show us 50% of that. >> Correct. >> Okay. And then what does the EDA uh and chamber main street and all these other events do for other businesses? West End Mall, Marshall, 17th Avenue, uh, well, Marsh, all of Marshall and Verling, uh, South Bridge. I mean, we have a lot of business nodes, if you will. >> So, so mayor and council, a good example is, um, somebody came to Rhythm on the Rails um, and said, "Hey, you guys don't have any car washes." And there was a site in Southbridge. The company that had bought that decided not to do Minnesota and backed out. So there was a fully approved site for a car wash in Southbridge with a company that owned it that was never going to build a car wash. We said if you don't change anything on the plans except for the name of the car wash, we will expedite that permit through. So they now have a permit and they because they had get mech council approval, shakabe public utilities approval. That's only because the guy came here for a thing. He doesn't live anywhere near here. He was here for an event and he said, "I drove around. You don't have any car washes." So, we're working on a number of projects in Southbridge that you'll see over the next few months that are because staff has been working with some companies that have always wanted to be here. There's a demo permit. The Best Buy is going to start coming down tomorrow only because we worked with those companies uh to come here. I think one of the things I learned in another city I was in, you never know who's coming to your community that might be interested in either moving their company here, starting their company here, doing something in your community that didn't even know where Shakip is. I think the benefit we have now with the amphitheater and some other projects, people are now going, geez, you got a lot going on in Shakape. I think council member Lau and council member Delaney came to the Scott County workshop for realtors and I think they realized we are heads and shoulders above any other community in Scott County about what's going on and we had real estate brokers there. I think we're shocked to see everything going on here. >> How did the tap event turn out? >> I think we had 526 paid admissions. Um, we had 121 people at the dinner. I think the if you separate out admissions from the event, I think we lost $10,000 on the event. But the benefit, and I was going to bring it, but I couldn't figure out how to get it to work here, is the radio station we partnered with. I said, "Look, you know, we only have a limited amount of money. This is a community event." Their morning team were unpaid doing promotions about Shakipi. You know people they were talking for three and four minutes about how great Chakapi was, how OG Zaz had moved here that boardwalks here. I mean you cannot buy that kind of promotion. And I think the other benefit is we since we track ticket sales by location because you have to buy a ticket. We had people here from London. Now you're going to say why were people from London here in Shakabe? Because they went to the Renaissance Festival and were looking for other things to do. And it goes back to you never know who's coming to your community. We had I think four different people from four different states here. Those people come and see what's going on and they might go, you know, let's look at Chakapi. I think the big benefit and Greg can back me up on this, but I think getting GN to agree to bring 120 more jobs because they went to that dinner and the way we've treated them, it was a cheap dinner. I mean, um, companies would people would die to get 120 more jobs today. >> Well, and that's the key point. We need to be utilizing our business subsidy policy for the well-paying jobs. Mr. Lara, >> aren't they looking to expand as well again? >> They're remodeling. >> So, they've remodeled mayor and council. They remodeled the existing building. And I think they're, what's the word? over the hill about how well the community is treating them and how they said, you know, if we needed 400 people, could you get us 400 more people? And I think they heard from everybody on the call the answer was yes. So, I think that they're looking at California and Arizona, they had planned moving some of those people here. I think we'll hear they're either going to figure out how to expand that building or look at another building. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I mean, it's pretty exciting that that company, which is that they made this their North American headquarters. I mean, if you had said to me five years ago, who's GN? I would have gone, yeah. Because they were buried in Bloomington in a building that we had a hard time finding. I think the fact that they're right on 169 now and they're going to put their sign up, it's going to change this community. >> Well, yeah. Some of those folks aren't going to want to make the move. And there's your job o local job opportunities >> for and as you mayor you said goodday paying jobs >> right >> anybody else thank you >> thank you for all your support and thank you to Greg I couldn't ask for a better partner he's just been amazing and thanks to the board there they've been great to work with particularly we've had a lot of complicated companies that they spent a lot of time on and I think GN and Shutterfly was a big power user and I think originally the thought was they were going to be okay. I think given the growth they're having they're going to be a very good power user and I can't echo that enough. Shockby Public Utilities has been an excellent partner. Uh and I can't say enough for Greg and what he's done for the organization. Uh and we really have a great relationship and are looking forward to continuing to support jointly projects in Chaki. Do we give a uh special electric pricing to entice these big users to come here? >> Yeah. Um we we current Yeah, currently we do not have a rate structure for that, but we do if a large user um I've talked to our board about if a large user is going to come in that we would probably have something. We just haven't had that one. We've had several discussions with uh anywhere from data centers to different people like that. Um we give them our that our wholesale or what our costs are going to be on retail side of things and we just said you know if we get down to it we can you know figure out something on that side of things but currently we don't have a special rate for that. Um I think our rates are attractive and um some of our demand costs are are very competitive on on the demand side of things and um so we we just look at that and we'll look at each project individually. So, >> so I'm trying to figure out how this benefits the average household electric user >> um as as far as the the EDA and and >> well, if you have a lot of high users come in, does that harm or or benefit >> summer? Uh obviously, anytime we get a large user in, it it benefits us as a whole. our our power cost. If if we can have good load factor um and buying electricity day and night, it it helps the overall cost of our electricity and then we pass those wholesale cost on. So if if we have high load factor, our actual wholesale costs do go down and then our our wholesale costs go down. That means we pass that on. So we have a we have a budgeted amount that we have for our wholesale power cost and as that goes up or down or our load factor is better. It could could see a decrease in that and then we pass that on. So we have a fixed amount that we do charge um through we spread that throughout the year um and then depending on how that price comes in is we we adjust that. get large customers come in and we buy more energy at night. That does definitely control our cost and and help that drive down that cost for everybody else. >> Okay. >> As well as additional kilowatt hours we sell. I mean it is spread out. Our whole operation is spread out on based on on sales. So the more sales we got um the the more attractive we can be on our prices going forward. So >> Okay. >> If I can add mayor. So we've talked to way too many data centers over the past year. I think we're kind of lucky that we didn't get some of the big ones you've been seeing, but now we're seeing more boutique ones that would fit into an existing building. And so they have a completely different load because they're kind of the next generation. And I think to Greg's point, it's going to help from a power standpoint because they're way more efficient. >> Well, they don't have a whole lot of employees. So you don't get, you know, >> that that's kind of one of the things. We have limited land, so we've kind of told one of them, if you want to come here, go into an ex. We got a million empty square feet. not going to go build another building for you to go into. >> Yeah, I would tell you we've been very close and we've been finalists on a couple projects and I think some of the federal funding cutbacks have has had it so that some projects are not getting built like they were, but I can tell you we were very close on a couple of them. I've been um had some good good dialogues with people in Colorado and other states that were really close to getting projects done. Um and it was just a matter of funding and and finalizing that data. And so it's been fun. It's been a fun project to work on. um not just data centers but other big projects um that that we call and I think we've been very responsive and that's been the fun part of working with the city and making sure that that we have open dialogue and we actually reach out to them unlike other communities. I was on one call uh with a company from from Colorado and they're like why is it so hard for our other people to get us information like you guys get us information and I'm like we'll just land here then and we'll be good and and so it's just a matter of continually doing that. We stay on top of that and we make sure we have the staffing needs and uh and answer questions quickly and the permitting process and and how we land people is pretty streamlined here. So >> I'm more pro jobs, high-paying jobs than I am great big building sucking a lot of energy with very few employees. >> Yep. Yep. We we would agree with that. >> Thank you. >> Y thank you. >> Anybody else? Okay. Um 11 leazison reports. Mr. Mr. Lara, >> I do not have any today. >> Mr. Wayne, >> uh, tomorrow is my liaison. >> Okay, where to start? So, with Shak Public Utilities, we are working through I think we have three more pills um out of basically 99% complete installation for AMI. Working through three appeals for three different families. So, that's um going happening currently. Uh 169, we have a meeting in November and we'll kind of discuss things then. I don't have anything new for69 at the present time. Um, I did attend the FastTrack. Um, that was incredible. I thought it was awesome. It's kind of like a Shark Tank for Scott County. It was pretty cool projects. I was ready to go buy one of them. Um, something for the Beatles. Um, I I was ready to buy something from Lowe's for that one. So, that was a good good thing there. Um, fall cleanup always a great event. Uh, thank you public works for all you do for that. That was really it was a pack and stack getting through there. Um it most people came through pretty quick that day was a lot of we actually left a little early so city probably is all cleaned up by now. Um let's see what else. Uh one more thing uh Canterbury is very busy. We uh went there for past week it oh my goodness it was just packed out by a lot of people. Um, awesome. Great seeing that site. Seeing people coming through Canterbury, different restaurants, 30 minute plus wait was it was ease with our uh our sip and stroll. Pretty much go and grab a drink and sit outside. It was gorgeous weather. So, thank you for the sip and stroll coming to the city. And that's all I have. Uh, >> very good, Mr. Reynolds. >> Nothing for me, sir. >> Only thing I have is uh October 14th, I attended a Jackson Township board meeting. I apologize on behalf of the city for their not being invited to the opening of the uh Jackson Commons Park. >> Well, to be clear, they they were invited to the meeting. They could not make the meeting. Um we should have previously had checked with them to see their availability, which we did not do, but they they were invited, just to be clear. >> Yeah. Well, I was told differently and uh communications are always critical. So, um city bill list, any questions? >> None for me. >> No, none here. >> Okay. 11B news and announcements. Mr. Lara, >> fall yard waste at Dakota Prairie Composting is offering free yard waste drop off from October 1st through the 31st. Drop your yard waste at 12386 Chestnut Boulevard. Chaki residents must show ID Monday through Thursday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and closed on Sunday. >> Thank you, sir. Mr. Whiting. >> Spooky family fun. That's Saturday, October 25th, 2025 from 400 p.m. to 700 p.m. at Huber Park. So, join us uh on our annual spooky family fun events which includes games, booths, prizes, animals, food trucks, and candy. No registration is required for this event and we'll see you there. >> And it is free. >> Free event, >> Mr. Delaney. >> Okay. Jacko'Lantern 5K pumpkin run. Join us Saturday, October 25th at 9:00 a.m. for the Jacko'Lantern 5K and pumpkin run. Lace up your shoes, wear your favorite costume, and enjoy a festival fall morning full of fun, fitness, and Halloween spirit. The race starts and finishes at the Shackley Community Center. Is that also a walk? I I can't run. I'm sorry. [laughter] Walk. Can you >> I will be there. I'll walk. >> You know, your walk, our walk could be a younger person's run. >> Run. Yes. [laughter] >> Perception. Uh, Spooky Swim. Dive into some Halloween fun at the spooky swim on Tuesday, October 28th from 5 to 8:00 p.m. at the Shakpi Community Center. Enjoy festive Halloween themed swim with lights, music, and fun for the whole family. Bring a swimsuit. You will get wet. All right. Very good. And don't forget, always go to the Shock P and Wreck website. There's all kinds of other great good stuff going on there, too. So, >> item number 12. Any other business? Other business? Wishes of councel? >> I make a motion we adjourn to Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 at 7 p.m. >> Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by Mr. Lara. Discussion. Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion passes. We adjourn.