All right, no monitor. We good? Call the Shakopee City Council meeting for June 2nd, 2026 to order. If you could please take the roll. Council member Delani. >> Here. >> Council member Waden. >> Here. >> Council member Contreras. >> Here. >> Council member Laura. >> Here. >> Mayor Lehman. >> Here. >> Item number three, if you join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [clears throat] >> All right, let's do the pledge again. >> Item number Item number four, approval of the agenda. Are there any changes from staff? >> Uh sir, the only change staff has is a we're taking 5K off the consent agenda and you'll see that in the future. >> So it's off the agenda completely? >> Correct, yes sir. >> Okay. Mr. Wlady? >> I'll make a motion to approve the agenda as modified. >> Is there a second? Councillor Contreras? Discussion on the motion? Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Item number five, consent agenda changes to the consent from staff. >> Nothing other than a mention, sir. >> Council? Councillor Contreras? >> I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Mr. Delaney. Discussion? Mr. Reynolds, would you read the consent agenda, please? >> Yes, sir. These are the consent agenda items for Tuesday, June 2nd of 2026. 5A is a private act of activity revenue bond policy amendments. 5B is approval of an off-site gambling permit for Shakopee Dollars for Scholars for Rhythm on the Rails. 5C approves an extended construction hours for the Old Carriage Court Corridor Improvements projects. 5D is surplus property. 5E extends hours for constructions at the construction at the Shakopee gravel pit. 5F awards a contract for the Quarry Lake Erosion Restoration project. 5G awards a contract for the Boiling Springs Drainage Improvement project. 5H accepts a proposal from WSB for construction services for 2026 private development projects. 5A purchases a 2026 utility police interceptor for the police department. 5J authorizes submittal of a regional solicitation grant application for pedestrian improvements along 10th Avenue. 5L adopts a resolution of support for Scott County applications to the 2026 Metropolitan Council Regional Solicitation Program. And 5 5M is the approval of the May 19th, 2026 City Council minutes. >> Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Item number six, public comment. If you're here for an item that is not on our agenda, now would be the time that we'd love to hear your comments. Uh right up here, there's a microphone. That microphone does move. It seems kind of heavy and stuck to the table, but if you want to pull it close, then we can hear what you have to say. >> Okay, thank you very much, Mayor. My name is Jessica Carroll. I am a resident at 413 3rd Avenue East in Shakopee. I have lived here for 17 years. You may know me um as I was featured on Fox 9 News um about the issues going on with my neighbor, Juan Solis and Sarah Fox. Um this issue has been an ongoing and difficult situation with both the police and with these neighbors. First and foremost, um the police are not doing their job. We have a resident, Brian Tong Sanger, who's a resident of Shakopee, and he um was threatened with a deadly weapon, an axe, and police refused to do anything to aid his um threat. He had evidence of this, and it was ignored. My neighbor, Chuck, across the street, who is elderly and a vulnerable adult, was recently in March threatened with bodily injury by these people, and he was told that he was just to avoid them. I myself have been threatened multiple times by them, and I was told that I am to ignore or avoid their infractions. Specifically of recent, that they have video uh videotapes videotaping me in the public street, and I'm told that I'm to go way around that in order to avoid them being in in um violation. So, there's They are nuisance to the community. Um, they continuously make false police reports. Um, it's it's it's unbearable to live. Um, they have signs out in their front yard that are derogatory that they specifically told Fox 9 News that were directed at me um, in order to harass me and these signs are continuously allowed to be put up. Um, there's a school bus stop right outside my house um, that those children when they get off see these horrible signs that say don't let the crack don't feed the crack drugs. It's awful. It's embarrassing. Um, I can't sell my house due to the signs and the all the derogatory things that are said all over. Um, I am I am told or Brian was also told um, by the police that in order to uh, when he came over to help me with grabbing something he was told the solution to the threats that were made against him separate of the um, uh, a deadly weapon was that he should not be my friend. Um, these are not resolutions to their behavior. And I feel like it's an injustice that I have to live like this and the people around me have to live like this and everybody is just told to avoid them. They're they are not held accountable. There is selective and malicious enforcement. The same infractions or perceived infractions are treated very differently between them and me. Um, like for instance Juan approached me in front of my in front of an officer and no action was taken. Yet, I was arrested for an a perceived infraction. Um, police involve themselves in legal matters when there's hearings. They are not requested to be there, yet they show up. You make a case for the police hours and all these things like three police officers show up to each call every single time even though these are non-emergency calls. You have two captains showing up each time we have a court appearance that doesn't involve the police. They've involved themselves voluntarily without our request, which is an an interference in the judicial system. The judges seem to be very well knowledgeable about intricate details before court hearings even happen. So, it feels like there is some back door things being discussed that shouldn't be that create biases. Um, I know that I did not meet the statute of a harassment restraining order, yet one was placed against me and I was told that was common and um, that all judges do this regarding neighbor disputes. I have done everything I can not to be a burden on them and on society. I just wish them well and to go their other way, but it seems that their their mission every single day is to create um, discourse in my life and also in the obviously the people that live in Shakopee. They're not just hurting me, they're hurting many people. So, I think there needs to be something more done with the police, with these people, with um, and then again, um, there's a a temporary HRO that is holding our shared driveway. Now, I've lived there for 17 years. And if anybody knows anything about property, it's that at 15 years, no matter what, you've created an easement. If I've been using that driveway for 15 years, even if I didn't have an already um easement on the title of my property, then I automatically have a prescriptive easement or can file for prescriptive easement. Um I had on the title of my home an easement, which meant that when I bought that house, that was the understanding that I paid for that driveway and the use of that driveway. Now, ever since these people have moved in within the first week that I met them, they were taking over the driveway and dominating property. They then filed a lawsuit against me to take over my own personal property in front of my garage and wanted to park their construction equipment on my property. These people um have purchased property that they can't afford, and they knew ahead of time that this was a shared driveway, and if they can't share very well, then they shouldn't have bought it. So, they knowingly did this, and then they've been causing trouble the whole time. Um so, now they've been allowed to build a fence on this temporary HRO, where it splits our property down the property line, it which is up in uh April of 2027. And so, I was told in an email that this was done um this was ordered or required by a judge. I went to the I went to the courthouse. I talked to the administrator, and they said that there was no record of a judge issuing a judgment or um demanding that they have any sort of property put up. That's something that would have included me in that. >> What's a temporary HRO? >> A temporary harassment restraining order. So, it's just a 2-year restraining order. >> Mr. Wayne. >> I am a living about a block away from this and I find this absolutely offensive that the city can't do anything about it, that the police can't do anything about it. I have personally seen police officers over there for hours. >> Yes. >> Hours and signs and dancing around in a panda costume. Um I want to find out who issued the fence permit and under what authority and I'd like to have all the council see that the judge's order because that is a shared driveway. It should not be fenced off. Um this person has the right to use that driveway and I've seen trucks blocking it from the first time they moved in. Uh this is uh public nuisance public insult and I want to find some facts out about it cuz this is got to stop. I don't know why it takes 4 hours for two or three police officers over there and how this happens that we can't get anything taken care of on it cuz to me I don't want this in my neighborhood. >> I don't think we want it in any neighborhood. And yeah, the signs are pretty childish and tact >> They are. >> pretty childish for sure. >> uh >> tactful or tactless or whatever. >> staff can get back to us on how that fence permit was issued and uh why we can't do anything about it. That that's the facts I want to know. >> Is there Is there a recorded shared driveway easement on these two properties? I I know there's an easement between all two parcels, like there's a I think in my house it's a 5 and 10 and 5 and 10. Could be a 5 and 5, but whatever there's easements whenever you plot out a property, but then a drive a shared driveway easement over two properties on the property line going on both sides. Is that in the in the plat or where where where would that be and is it filed document? So I guess that's a factual question I'm looking for. Do you know if that's factual? >> There is a there is a easement derived from both properties. >> For a driveway? >> yep that the driveway is a shared for it says from 120 ft. Um from the the paved road 413 Avenue that that street. 120 ft in. So it comes to just the point where it basically divides into both people's personal garage space. So it leaves enough room for that. Um movement. >> Is the property line and I guess we'll see this when when we get copies of the land plat or whatever. Um because there's got to be an easement along the property lines prior to the driveway easement. >> Um >> Usually it's a utility easement, drainage easement, some sort of easement. >> Yeah from what I understand that it's a it was developed in 1978 or 76. It was a ingress and egress. Um and it was uh 3 ft on my side, 4 ft on their side because that's the length of the drive or the width of the driveway. It's 7 ft. >> Okay and the the property line between the two properties is three ft Where is it exactly? >> So, my the property line would be 3 ft from onto my property line, and then >> The driveway is 3 ft onto or off from your property line and 7 ft on the other side? >> They have 4 ft on theirs, so it's a total of 7 ft. >> Okay. >> I believe the edge of the driveway is probably 3 ft from the house. Uh >> Yes. >> Both houses? >> No, there's much wider space on the other side. >> Okay, I haven't been there. I've I've driven by in my John's down to the post office and stuff, but Mr. Reynolds >> Uh Mr. Thompson, a question for you. This is an item that's been litigated and debated and litigated and our police officers have spent a lot of time on. Uh is this something that we should be getting in the middle of? >> Uh Mr. Reynolds, members of council I remember the I don't remember the details of all this, but I remember getting involved in I don't know if right now if this is just a >> pull the microphone closer, please? >> I don't know if this is just a private dispute between the two property owners or actually involves the city or not. >> The city has nothing to do with this. The city has nothing to do >> the permit, though. >> Yeah. It It sounds like it's a private dispute between the property owners over an easement. Uh I don't know if it's recorded or not. Um So, I I'd have to double-check on that, but I it seems like it's a private matter that I don't know right now involves the city. >> But, if we issued a permit for a fence on a on a shared driveway then it does come back on the city. >> We would We would want to check into that, yes. >> I would also ask that there be some oversight into the police and how they're handling this because it it is a very big difference in how they are handling it for one party versus the other. And um it's bec- they're a nuisance like again, they're a nuisance to the community. They're threatening people and the police are just telling well, go ahead and avoid them. That they're not easily avoidable. They they purposely will come up if you come even close even on my property and you're my friend or an associate, they will personally come up and threaten you. So, my boyfriend will not show up with his daughter to my house because they don't feel safe. And I don't think that that's anybody should be living like that. >> Well, and I think there's at least one case there where there's somebody from the neighborhood that was just walking down the sidewalk that got harassed also. >> Yeah, that was Chuck. That was a 71-year-old man that's currently in the hospital. >> Okay. Um just for clarification and Mr. Thompson, please uh it's my understanding that this body and individuals of this body we can't direct police officers on who to arrest, who not to arrest, involve ourselves in their active function. Um we set priorities. Po- you know, we want uh DWI enforcement. We want uh destruction and vandalism in our parks to be a a priority. We want, you know, school resource officers to be a priority. We set kind of priorities, but we don't we can't get actively involved in their policing function. Is that a correct statement? >> Yeah, yes, that's correct. The council is not in policy. The type of things you're talking about are operational in nature by the police department which is their discretion. >> [clears throat] >> So, if if a resident feels that the police department aren't doing their job properly what is the resident's recourse? >> They can file a complaint. >> Pardon me? >> They can file a complaint. >> With >> Uh they can file a complaint with the chief of police and then they can file a complaint with the state if they're not satisfied with that. >> Okay. But they they're complaining that there's an issue with our police force. So, is there a potential for having another jurisdiction come and investigate the complaint against their police officers? >> Yeah, yes, but if it's it's not unusual for the police to investigate complaints about their own officers. I mean, that's they have an internal affairs unit that does that. So, [snorts] most those types of complaints are handled internally. Occasionally, you might have to farm one out to a different law enforcement agency. >> [snorts] >> Um but I'm not hearing that here yet. >> So, >> [clears throat] >> so if I'm gathering this, the first steps is we want to see some facts, correct? We want to see like the actual I would assume that Well, >> we don't know none of these things. Was the driveway easement after the land was platted so that then we would have to allow it in our utility easement? So, that must have happened sometime in the '70s, [clears throat] I'm guessing. Um or was it with the land as it developed? We don't know these things. These are things we're going to have to check into. >> This is a private matter between two residents. The issue on the permit certainly is something I will look into, but um I think it's not a good idea for us to interject the city council into a dispute between private residents. >> I fear that Shakopee is becoming a laughing matter over this. It's it's something that is very much talked about in other communities. It's laughed about from Fox 9 News, what's all being done. And here you're trying to build Shakopee up into this wonderful community and you have this this hanging over your head that looks horrible. And people are I I have real estate agents come and going, "How is the city allowing this?" I have physicians and nurses and providers that I work with um or used to work with are absolutely flabbergasted over how this is allowed to have happened in the way that things have gone and they're so out of control. I myself am an ICU registered nurse. I Juan has I know um there is personal things where people in this room have lost loved ones. And I'm deeply sorry for their losses. I have seen Juan um try to blind people with lights so that while they're driving so they are they're distracted drivers and can get in an accident and nothing happens. I've seen him I've watched him do it to police officers as well where he has followed them, threatened them with high beam lights in their eyes and they laugh it off and I don't understand how this is a laughing matter. This is serious stuff and to me that that seems like an aggressive move from someone. Um I don't feel safe in this community. I don't feel like this the I don't feel like the police protects me. I don't feel like the police are here for anybody else but that um feels like for them cuz people are going, "How is it that I get threatened with a axe and the police say, 'No, we're not going to do anything about it. I'm sorry, just go home.'" >> The the police have arrested Mr. Salas and you on multiple occasions, both of you. >> Mr. Lara, did you have uh something? No, okay. Um I and I just want to say for the record that I do recall a conversation with counsel and Mr. Reynolds uh can't remember the date. It was maybe 2 years ago, somewhere along that what the a Supreme Court decision was made about signage and I know staff was involved in that because we redid our sign ordinance. Um where the Supreme Court made a ruling that cities can can manage signage based on zoning classification. So, example is res residential, the city can say the maximum size sign in single family can be you know, uh 3 ft by 4 ft and in industrial it can be this size and it was based on size and zoning classification, but we are not able to uh manage the content. And I remember Mr. Reynolds and I looking at each other going this is kind of crazy, but you know, it is what it is. And that and it's very tacky that the signs that your neighbors put down there is pretty childish, actually. Um but I don't know that under the Supreme Court ruling we can manage that or or control that. I I think we would get be opening ourselves up to a big old can of worms. Um and there again, that's something for Mr. Thompson to weigh in on because I don't know all the legal ramifications of that. >> Well, I have tried filing civil lawsuits against against them for these things and the judges turned it down saying that it is frivolous. So, nobody can help at this point and I'm stuck living next to these people who are destroying my property values, my job. I lost my job. I've been without a job now for almost a year. Um being an ICU nurse, I can't have these things on my record and I've never been I've been an honorable person. I've served in the army. Served my country. I've served my community. There's been people that have um, gotten in accidents close to my home and I have been a first responder. And I've never experienced this kind of level of anything. I've never been arrested. And so then I'm and here I'm getting going through this and I'm being arrested off of false allegations. The it doesn't take much. I am one person living alone against two people who make stuff up. And they can go off each other's stuff. And so or they collude together. So I'm battling that. And so I don't know. I live with integrity and I'm not here trying to um, drain the resources of Shock Fee. I have merely reached out to the police do and you guys due to fear the nuisance and inability to enjoy my home in a safe manner. Um, I technically have been told by police to just stay inside in my house and not leave. And I can't I have to do my yard work at night when they're sleeping because I can't I can't risk being around them. That is how bad it is. Like at 3:00 in the morning, at midnight, I have to be doing stuff. And then they call the police and then they say that I'm violating a harassment restraining order to which I'm not. And then they say that I'm out there trying to kill them. That's actually in a police report. >> Uh, Mr. Delaney, I got two questions. Would just splitting the driveway to solve the problem that way you're basically giving up you take your 3 ft and he takes his 4 ft and this would that >> That's not going to solve the problem. It they they are using that as a proxy just like they're using the police as a proxy. It has nothing to do with I believe it this is all due to they when they moved in they found out I was single and alone and they targeted me the same way they have done with the neighbor across the street Chuck who's single and alone that's elderly. So um the the I I shouldn't say anything without Chuck here but there've been some things that have been done against him by them too so I don't want to speak um to that but you had another question. >> My other question is so what is the crux of the problem between you and your neighbor if I may ask? I mean what's >> I think that they just they they are waging war on me and they enjoy they enjoy this. So Chuck Chuck was rushed off to the ambu- with the ambulance the other day he fell and I was checking on him and that was the first thing that he uh Chuck noticed is Juan was dancing and celebrating out in his driveway. So it and then he's been given you know he like he I said he's threatened Chuck too. So it's not just sorry not just me it's other people in the community. So um I think they're just a nuisance to the community is really what it is. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Have you sat down with our new chief of police? >> Um I know that she has attended our previous um hearings. I had a lot of um insecurities and reservations about the previous chief of police. Um I believe that he lied to the public about me in the statements made to Fox 9 News, which was that he tried mediation with us. That he tried joint meetings and that we refused. Never has he come forward to me to do any of those things, which to me is defamation. And that by a chief of police is very concerning. I I >> So the answer is no. You haven't sat down with the new chief of police. >> And so I was going to elaborate to say that when I see people moving in lateral ways, or excuse me, in the same chain of command, um a lot of people just being from the military, knowing that a lot of people adopt the same leadership skills that they were taught, and ethics and morals and values. And so I don't really know if I can trust the chief of police, to be honest. >> Well, I don't think it's fair to judge without actually sitting down talking to somebody first. Um just my opinion. Okay. Thank you for coming today. >> Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. >> Is there anybody else that would like to speak to the city council on the matter that is not on our agenda? Yes, sir. >> [clears throat] >> Hi. Um my name is Tom Madden. Um I live I live in Deephaven, and I wanted to thank you all for being here, and thank you for listening. Um I'm a small business owner, and I've had um I've had two stores, one in Minnetonka, a vape store, for 13 years, and one in Chanhassen for 5 years. And during In time, I've worked very closely with both cities regarding the age verification and new products and any other issues that have come up. Um also during that time we've had other communities like Chaska call us for uh police departments actually call us and help with uh with our products and we've always um done what we can to help the community. We started the business um to help people stop smoking and we've helped hundreds of hundreds of people stop smoking of all ages and it's and it's been really rewarding on that front. Um but we're we're transitioning um out of out of being a vape store and into cannabis and we've been working on that process for for 3 years now. And we've been working really hard and diligently across the street uh working on a on a on a build-out here. Um we're doing it ourselves at 491 Marshall. And it's been a long road to this point doing this. Uh we've navigated through the cannabis bill which is now law. We've done numerous regulations both you know in the city, the county, the state level and the federal level. Um when we're looking into licensing as a small business, we chose the micro business license out of the seven licenses that were available to us from the OCM. And when you compared the micro business license to the other choices, it was one that allowed us to have uh one uh dispensary and we do a very small grow along with some other things. The micro business license was described to us through the OCM process as um like a microbrewery. It was the concept. So micro business, microbrewery, you do a small little grow, you use that grow to to to sell to your customers. Yes. >> And just for clarification, OCM is Office of Cannabis Management at the State of Minnesota, correct? >> Thank you. Thank you. Yes. >> Is that accurate? >> That is 100% accurate. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um when you compare that to other licenses like the cultivation license which is a license we could never afford. The cultivation license requires you to make a non-refundable $70,000 payment just for the opportunity to possibly get the license. They only list the only uh the only the only um distributed 50 licenses of the cultivating license. And if you got that license, you're able to do a a really big grow, a 2-acre grow, which is something we could never even afford to build out. So, when you compare the micro to the cultivation, they're really just two different worlds. And if you think of it like Budweiser versus, you know, your neighborhood microbrewery, that's really what these two >> Well, and that cultivation license would require an agricultural setting, certain amount of acreage >> Two. >> and these types of things. So, that's not something you're going to see in the heart of downtown Shakopee. >> Right. Not even close. >> Not Not even close. Nowhere even near that. You're right. Two completely different worlds. So, we've been We've been built We've been um going down this road. We've been looking for currently looking for uh wholesale cannabis to buy once we go through approvals. And right now the price is four times the national price. And we estimated that at these prices we'd be out of business in 4 months. So, we first thought we'd wait for um prices to come to equilibrium. And if they came to under $2,000, we could break even at that point. But they haven't. And so, we're we're we've been looking at other opportunities. And one one opportunity we we thought of was to do a small grow in our 1,700 square foot facility over at 491 Marshall Street. And we spoke to our landlord, and we were going to use what's called grow tents. And grow tents are is a product we've sold for over three Well, actually, it is over 3 years now cuz it's June. 3 years at our vape stores. And the grow stores the grow tents are used for home use. And they claim to reduce 90% of the products ordered. And that's been the exact feedback of what we've received from our from our customers. So, I I currently have because this has taken us 3 years to do this to do this process, I currently have uh multiple loans against my house and my business. And um what I'm asking from the council is to work with me and consider um re-evaluating the ordinance dated December of 24, which requires if someone were to do a micro business grow, you must own a cultivation license at the same time. Basically, making the process null and void for us to do the micro brewery concept, which is what the license we thought we were buying from the state of Minnesota. Um to lose to lose your business and and your home due to foolish financial decisions is one thing, but to lose those things from a new city ordinance um in a new industry and overriding the benefits that you thought you were getting from your state license is a completely different completely different position to be in. So, I'm asking for the council's help and we'd love to work with you and find a hopefully find a solution where we can stay in business. >> Mr. Waitey. >> Mr. Madden, um is have you noticed from other cities' cannabis ordinances that that the uh micro business and the cultivation business are tied together? >> No, I have I'm not We're in Chanhassen, we're in Minnetonka. I um we have not No, our our Chanhassen landlord doesn't like to use our Minnetonka landlord is DSP filed all the requirements. I looked in Minnetonka, I did not see anything anything close to that. The only requirements they had were the ones that the state sets across. So, they have to be 1,000 ft from the school, 500 ft from a from a um from a park and or or a daycare. So, the same rules that the LCM set up, other cities are adopting those rules. This is the only city I've seen that have something like this. >> Mr. Whiting. >> Mr. Kursky, um if you may uh do you recall why we put those two together on that policy? >> This was actually drafted by uh Mr. Thompson's office uh based upon the the state guidelines and uh multiple other cities that uh Mr. Thompson's office represents. Uh Jim, I know you don't know off the top of your head. >> I would have to check with the attorney in our office who drafted this. He's the He's our expert >> Mr. Whiting, so and then >> Let me Let me >> clarify the conversation you just had with Counselor Whiting. So, the other two communities was it Chanhassen and Minnetonka? >> Yes. >> They do not combine micro and cultivate. >> I did I did not see that on on either of the cities' website and when I talked to the cities >> So, they don't combine them, but you want us to combine them. >> No, no, you you you combined them. I want them to be separate. >> Cultivation and >> So, I want the cultivation like the Budweiser and the micro business to have their own have their own businesses cuz right now Shakopee combines them, forcing me to apply for a license which I probably won't get at 70,000 and your point to do a grow that I would never have in the city. So, Shakopee requires you if you have a micro business license and you want to do a small grow, you have to also own the cultivation license, which is something someone who wants a micro business license like myself could never never um never get and never afford and never have a use for. >> Well, typically a micro business wouldn't need a cultivation because they're not cultivating and they're buying from somebody else in bulk like you stated. >> No, no, the uh the uh the micro business license allows you like a micro brewery allows you to uh grow 5,000 have a own a 5,000 square foot space and grow in that space. But, you have to be within an hour maximum of an hour from your your uh from your dispensary. So, my idea would be Minnetonka would be the dispensary. I'd I'd have um 10 tenths. That's all I need is just 10 tenths in my Shakopee space. And then once the prices got to where I could um run a break even at $2,000, then I'd I'd make this one, you know, another dispensary. But, right now I can't even open up the door in my Minnetonka cuz the price is $4,000 a pound. And at that price the the uh >> the other question The um so, a micro business is a complicated license because it's very diverse. Um a micro business has endorsements and the endorsements tell you what you can and can't do for your cannabis business. So, if you have a micro business alone with no endorsements, you can't do anything. If you have a micro business license with a retail endorsement, you can sell retail cannabis. If you have a micro business with a um cultivator endorsement, you can grow a limited supply of cannabis within your establishment. So, it's not a requirement necessarily that um you switch license classes in this case. Um this gentleman in his business, we've talked a little bit and they started on the retail pathway um with a retail endorsement for their micro business, which is allowed in the B1 zoning district, which is um where this business is located. Um however, you the use has to conform to the zoning. So, for example, retail cannabis is allowed there, but um cultivation is not. So, he could start a micro business with a retail endorsement, but he can't start a micro business with a cultivator endorsement. >> So, just a kind of comparable, we have Merlin mer liquor. >> Mhm. >> They don't brew on site. They retail sale. >> Then and the micro business does allow you to open, so you can open a different location for cultivation and a different location for retail. So, it could be conceivable under the same micro business to have a retail location at site A, a cultivation location at site B. >> And the distance between the two? >> I don't know the specifics the specific requirement there. Um but they would the use has to the license type has to be allowed. >> Okay. And the other thing I was going to say is I know that the this legislative session they brought some of this back and redid some stuff, but I didn't follow it closely. >> I followed it very closely. It um it all benefits the national people and and and really suffocates the small business people. So, what it did it if you're a national holder like the medical people, it gave them more freedoms and it made it much more difficult for us to even get the doors open. >> Okay. Any questions of council? Thank you for stopping by. We appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else here that would like to address the city Council on a matter that is not on the agenda. Seeing none, we'll move to item seven, business removed from consent. There was none. Item eight, recess for Economic Development Authority. Motion would be in order. Council Council Lara >> motion to adjourn to the Economic Development Authority meeting. >> Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by Council Contreras. Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? We're recessed for Economic Development Authority. >> I'd like to call to order the Tuesday, June 2nd meeting of the Shakopee Economic Development Authority. Please make note of the roll. Uh item two is an approval of the agenda. Uh Commissioner Contreras. >> Make a a motion to approve the agenda. >> We have a second? >> Second. >> We have a second by Commissioner Lara. Uh all those in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. Next item is our consent business with the approval of the EDA meeting minutes. Uh >> Make that motion. >> We have a motion on the floor. >> Second. >> Seconded by Delaney. Uh discussion discussion discussion. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Uh motion passed unanimously. Uh last item is our reports. Uh the EDA bill list. Is there any questions on the EDA bill list? >> No questions for me. >> All right. No questions. So, the next item would be item five, adjourned to June 16th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. Commissioner Contreras. >> Thank you. I'll make a motion to adjourn to June 16th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. >> We have a motion on the floor. Is there a second? >> Seconded by Commissioner Lara. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> We are stand adjourned. Reconvening the Shakopee City Council, we'll take up item 10A, 2025 annual comprehensive financial report audit presentation and review by Abdo? Did I pronounce that right? Yeah, Abdo. Yep. >> Uh good evening, Mayor and council members. Uh again tonight we have our 2025 audit review. Uh Bonnie Schwieger, who is a partner with Abdo, will uh do that presentation. Uh I did just want to make a couple of comments before that presentation. Uh this is the seventh audit that I have been through with the city of Shakopee. Feels like just yesterday. Uh every year has had its own challenge and unique circumstances, whether it's large uh construction projects or building projects, uh changes in staff, new grants like the COVID funds and the safer grant, uh changes in laws and accounting standards, but I think collectively the city has done a great job, um really navigating and uh managing those changes. And I think the results can uh be seen with our clean audit opinion and and our financial strength. I feel very confident that um in the procedure policies and procedures that we have in place when we talk about uh collecting payments, how we pay our bills, banking and investments, uh tracking equipment, budgeting, and planning for the future. Uh we've done a good job making sure we have the proper controls in place and maintaining documentation uh that substantiates that we are following those policies and best practices. Uh the audit does cover a full year, so that means um every day for a full 365 days systems have to be in place and functioning. Uh as an example, there's no going back once a project's completed to fix a a mistake in the bidding process. So, uh making sure we're always following processes uh is is is really essential. Uh I'm also really confident in staff. The department heads uh and their employees have been really great to work with. Uh I know we've pushed departments at times to uh continue to provide documentation in more detail when we're making payments uh as an example, but they've all been very receptive to um to any request and always willing to track things down. Uh I'm very thankful of uh my finance staff, which is Melissa, Kim, and Becky, and the work that they do. Um Specifically, I want to highlight Melissa Schlingman, who's our accounting manager. Uh she's put a lot of effort in preparing for the audit and preparing the financial report. So definitely wanted to highlight her and give her credit. But with that I'll turn it over to Ms. Schlaeger. >> Thank you very much Mr. Reinhardt. I'm going to start by going over our audit opinion letters and then we'll touch on the general fund and we'll go over the rest of the funds and the financial information and then we'll finish it with some key performance indicators, some comparison data that we have for the city compared to some other other cities. If you have any questions as I'm going through this, please feel free to stop me and I'll also take questions at the end. We do have three different opinion letters within our financial statements this year. And the first letter is the independent audit report that is required by state statute, required by your bondholders and we do have a clean or an unmodified opinion, meaning that we were able to obtain all of our audit evidence and we did not run into any significant challenges during the audit. We also issue a audit opinion over Minnesota legal compliance where we look at your bidding process, how you make your payments, how you run your council meetings and and a variety of other state statutes that you have to comply with and no issues there. So a good good clean letter there. And then we also issued a single audit report this year and this was the first time that we had to go through a single audit for the last few years. I think it's maybe it's been since the COVID funding all came in that we've had to do this additional single audit on top of our regular audit procedures and that was due to some of the federal funding that you received reaching over a certain threshold and we didn't have any issues there. So that single audit focuses more on compliance and also very heavily on internal controls, making sure that everything was done correctly for the projects that were being funded with the federal federal funding. >> Okay, before you continue, council members, if you have a question as we go, raise your hand, we'll ask them as we go. It's really hard to back up and or or hold all your questions. So, we'll just we'll just raise your hands if you as we go. Continue that. Thank you. >> wonderful. Thank you. Okay, so I'll start with a general fund here and the the first chart is an overview of your general fund reserves over the last 4 years compared to your next year's budget. And the city's policy is to maintain 35 to 50% of your general fund reserves compared to that next year's budget. And you can see here how that um the policy has compared to the actual results. For fiscal year 25, you were at about 54% of your next year's budget. And this is looking at the unassigned balance. You do also have some categories of fund balance where you've set aside some reserves for uh future spending and specific specific things that you want to spend on uh like public safety and then also some balances committed for building permits. And then next we can see a few reasons for that increase in fund balance. This is a look at your general fund budget compared to where you actually ended up. Your revenues were significantly over budget as they have been for the last few years. The city budgets very conservatively for things like building permits and investment earnings and those areas that were significantly over your revenue budget. You can see that your expenses came in fairly close to what you had budgeted and were slightly under your final budget. And then overall, you were able to increase your fund balance about 2.2 million and that's after some significant transfers to other capital reserves. I'm going to show you a few different charts that look at some historical trends for general fund revenues first and then we'll also look at the spending side. And this is the a chart for the last 3 years general fund revenues major categories. You can see what you're bringing in from the property taxes, permit revenues, intergovernmental, which is mostly state and the county grants in the general fund here. And then charges for services and then that other category includes your interest earnings and then other miscellaneous contributions or refunds. And then next is a look on the spending side. You can see what your major departments are for the last 3 years within the general fund budget. And the general fund is really focusing on those operating costs. So what are those day-to-day costs of the city? And then you can see here how those trends have looked for each of those operating departments. And then a little bit of a different focus next on your special revenue funds. Separate from your general fund, you have the special revenue funds that account for mostly restricted resources. You can see the economic development authority there with the largest balance and then down you have a few smaller funds. And I'll point out that the available cash balance within these funds is much lower than the overall reserves. A lot of what makes up especially the economic development authority are receivable balances, loans, leases, that sort of thing. And so not readily available cash, but things that have been invested in other areas. And then next is a look at your capital project funds. And so separate from your general fund and those special revenue funds, you have different reserve balances for capital activity. The main capital fund is your capital improvement fund which did decrease from the prior year due to some ongoing capital investments. and then you have a number of TIF districts, which have paid for some very specific tax increment activity and will be funded with the future increment collections. And then here's a graph that illustrates the capital project funds by type. It's helpful to think about we have a total amount of cash, but is it restricted where we can't really touch it except for very specific purposes? Is it the Is it assigned for more general spending? And then that unassigned category are those TIF districts. You can see those negative balances. And then also we have the internal service funds, where you have departments and funds contributing to these specific pots of money that are set aside for these different purposes here, and then you can see what those cash balances are, and also the investment in the capital and the and the unassigned net position. And again, you'll notice a variance between the available cash balances within these funds and the total net position or reserves set aside as most of the balances are or at least half over half are invested in capital activity and other other investments. And then a quick look at your debt service funds. The debt service it's helpful to look at your principal and interest requirements and see when you have have a drop in your debt service requirements. 2033 you have a little bit of drop off and then also 2037 you have some significant debt that's going to mature. This just includes debt that is issued through December 31st, 2025. And so it doesn't include anything that is expected to be issued in 2026 or the future. And then I'm going to show you a few different charts for the utility funds. First the sewer fund, and here we have a little bit of a different focus where these funds are intended to support themselves. You really want what comes into the sewer fund from charges to support the sewer operating costs. The first chart on top there shows you the operating receipts uh compared to those operating costs. You can see there's been a nice gap between between those two allowing that cash balance to increase. On the bottom chart is a look at the cash balances over the last 4 years. And the line that is going across those cash balances is looking at 6 months of operating cost plus 10% of your depreciation. Depreciation is just another way of thinking of how fast are our assets um needing to be repaired. And so that 10% goal that's built in there gives you an idea of what that annual cost of repair might be. And that's all based on historical cost, which can vary greatly from future cost, of course, but it gives you some idea of a minimum target balance. And then here's a similar look for your storm drainage fund. You can see on that top chart the operating receipts did go down a little bit this year due to a little bit of a decrease in some of the um collections from the uh connection fees. And then you can see the operating costs increase a little bit due to some additional repair and maintenance. Still a very sufficient cash balance as shown on the bottom. And then we just talked about a lot of different funds. This is a chart that puts everything together and looks at the total cash balance within the city. Fairly consistent cash balance with where you were last year. And then I'm going to go through a few different uh key performance indicators, another way to say some comparison data. And what we have here is some information that we've taken from two different sources. Um the tax rate we've obtained from the League of Minnesota cities and the taxes per capita and some of the other per capita information is from the Minnesota Office of the State Auditor. The League of Minnesota cities data is a little bit more up-to-date. Uh the taxes per capita and some of the other per capita is a little bit more behind from the Minnesota Office of the State Auditor. This is looking at your tax rate and then also your taxes per capita. This does include um lodging taxes, franchise taxes, tax increment financing, everything that would go under that taxes, not just those things included in your levy. In class two cities, as we have noted, there are it's a very wide population range, 20,000 to 100,000. And then we also have this tax rate mix, which is an illustration of a resident's property bill and the different rates that they would see show up on their property um statement, property tax statement. So, you can see there the special tax rate, which includes any of like the smaller uh special districts, school, county, and then the city. And then we also have included just a comparison of the class two cities' average tax rate there. And then here's a look at your debt per capita. And then also the debt service expenditures compared to your total expenditures. That second chart there is illustrating how much of your total budget is committed to debt service, committed to those financing costs versus your operating or capital costs. >> Why no 24 numbers? >> This is the information from the Minnesota Office of the State Auditor and we are 2 years behind with that information. >> They are not >> They are, yeah. >> Right. It takes them a little bit to go through all of the Minnesota reports and and release it, so. >> Yes. And then last is a look at the current expenditures per capita and then capital expenditures per capita. All cities are a little bit different in their objectives and goals and priorities. It's not very easy to compare these. It's just more of an interesting interesting look at what other cities are doing compared to your budget. >> Is the expenditures per capita, is that general budgeted items or does that include capital projects? >> The current expenditures are going to include really mostly the general budgeted items plus any operating costs that are mainly coming out of your like special revenue funds like the EDA. The capital ones are going to focus only on the capital. Mhm. And this is all non-utility on these two charts. No sewer or storm. >> I have Do you have question? I have one other question. Enterprise funds. Um did they change the name of them to utility funds? >> Yes, they do mean um there's actually it goes proprietary funds can cover enterprise funds plus other funds and then there's enterprise funds which can cover utility funds plus other types of funds. And so um utility funds equal enterprise funds. Yes. >> Mr. Whiting? >> I want to go back to 12. Uh and this might be a question for staff. I'm just curious what uh on the debt service, what what is rolling off for 2037? >> Community center. >> Community center. >> Community center, right? >> Okay. >> Yeah, if you look at the the final final maturity date on my right hand side, it'll it'll show you which of those bonds and when they mature. >> The 2016 A is the community center uh bonds. >> Mhm. Okay, thanks. >> Any other questions? >> No. >> Okay. Are you Is that the end of your presentation? >> I am at the end of my presentation. So >> Any questions? I'm seeing none. You must have done a great job. >> Just just a comment from me. Just a congratulations to our city staff and uh maintaining uh uh good audit here, you know, unmodified I guess is the term I'm looking for, but uh uh great work again. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Do we need any action? >> Information. >> Information only. >> All right. >> All right, that'll take us to item 11A, legislative update on elections. City Clerk will be presenting. The floor is yours when you're ready, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor and City Council. Um this legislative update um will be looking especially at elections and um within that especially absentee voting. So, there are many election changes um that have occurred as a result of the 2026 legislative session. Um many of them were more minor process changes or uh modifications to clarify existing election law and just clean some things up. But a major one was HF 4240, which is a omnibus election bill. So it had a lot in it. It was a major focus for us and a lot of cities and counties because it modified absentee voting in a pretty significant way. Just to go through some of these changes in 4240. I picked out three of them. Some of them are more significant than others, but one is the deadline for the local body to perform final canvassing has been increased by 14 days. What that means is we probably won't have to spot call a special meeting in order to accept the election results for the final canvassing. The other change is for the early voting process. This is kind of a confusing area of elections because if you vote before election day, it is early voting. It's also absentee voting and the terms have been thrown around interchangeably for a while. But 4240 is looking at making a distinct process for early voting. To the average voter, it will appear very similar to direct balloting. And the state is still working on the manual for early voting. So that hasn't come out yet, but we're keeping our eyes peeled. >> What was that last piece? They're still working on what piece? >> On the manual. >> Okay. >> The Secretary of State's office is still building the manual for it. For the purposes of keeping it clear, when I say direct balloting for the rest of the presentation, I am referring to early voting as well. They're very similar, same time frames. Um So, when I say direct balloting, I'm also referring to this early voting. And finally, the big uh item on here is that cities may choose to administer um 46 days of absentee voting or 18 days of absentee voting, which is commonly called direct balloting. Um should a city choose to do that, uh the first 20 days of absentee would be essentially administered by the county, be returned to the county, and the city would continue to administer direct balloting for the 18 days. >> Would the county's portion, if that was to happen, be direct balloting also? Or do they get to choose? >> Um the city would be doing the direct balloting. It'd be exclusive for us. So, Shakopee voters would be coming here for direct balloting. >> Right. But, if they wanted to come 25 days prior and they they would go to the county's location, and they would have to direct ballot at the county location. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Um it wouldn't it would be Yes. Yes. Um to go into just a little bit of background about absentee, in 2014, the Secretary of State opened absentee voting to all qualified voters. So, previously previous to that, you needed a reason for absentee voting. Um from 2014 onward, it was open to everybody. And then in 2020, Scott County delegated absentee um to the cities. So, um Shakopee, Prior Lake, Savage all opened polling locations for the 46-day period. Um as a part of that though, the county did retain mail-in voting and you have cover voting. And they maintained their own absentee polling location. So um people if it is a Shakopee voter and they day 30 they want to go uh vote, they could go to the county location as well. >> Why does it say absentee on the blue and direct on the green? >> Because the first 28-day period is commonly referred to as the absentee period. It's a little bit confusing cuz the whole thing is an absentee period. >> So I guess is the absentee voting period direct balloting or not? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> What what's the difference? I mean are they holding the ballots or are they running counting them? >> Yep, and I'm getting to that uh the distinction here. So the whole period is 46 days, direct balloting starts at day 18. So some of the differences between the two um if you go to an absentee polling location in the first 28 days of absentee, what you'll do is you'll fill out an application for absentee. You'll receive a ballot in an envelope. You'll complete your ballot, put it in an envelope. And then the city will take it and will see put it in secure storage and will hold on to that ballot until it's time to open and count the vote. Um it becomes time to count that vote 18 days before the election. Um so these common methods are in person, mail-in, and mail-in. Direct balloting is different because it starts 18 days before the election, so in that later timeline. And with that you would show up, complete your application get your ballot, complete your ballot, and put it right into the tabulator. So, it would be voted right at that moment. >> 18 days before. >> Right. I guess I'm looking at the absentee side where I think I heard you say you're you go in, you receive it, you take it home, you fill it out, and and then you turn it back in, and then it's held. >> Yes. >> So, it's not it's not direct balloting. >> Correct. >> Yep. It's its own process. They're two distinct processes. >> And you said the city would be holding that, but I thought I read that the county would be doing the first portion of that. >> That's what we're getting to. >> Yeah, that's that's the >> All right. >> Continuing down this path, that's what it would come to, yes. >> So, this is kind of an overview of how it has been done. >> Yes, sir. Yep. >> Okay, hold your questions. >> [laughter] >> That's what I learned. >> So, we talked a little bit about absentee as a process. Um now we want to look at what the trends have been with absentee. So, looking at the 2024 general election, um and and perhaps thank you to my team as well as the county for giving me some of this data and information so we could take a look at this. Um for the general election in 2024, there were 23,484 voters. Total absentee voters for Shakopee, 9,233, which is just under 40% of the voting of the votes. Um the bottom two numbers are based on who came here to city hall, our absentee location, to vote. So, in the first 28 days, uh we received 1,000 and 76 votes, which is about 4.6% of the total vote. Then in direct balloting, when that started, this is the 18-day period, we received a little under 5,000, which is 21% of the overall vote. So again, these are These bottom two numbers are people that came and used our absentee voting location. Other people did go to the county location and vote cast absentee votes um that were included in our numbers as a total, but not in these bottom two numbers you see here. If you look at the primary, which has substantially fewer voters that came and cast votes, the 2,171 people voted for the 2024 primary election. 294 total absentee and the first 28-day period we saw 34 voters come in, which is 1.6%. And then in direct balloting, we saw about 4%, 92 voters came in. So the primary election see substantially less voters, and so these numbers are lower, but it does mean in the first 28 days of the city operating a um the absentee polling location, 34 people came in to vote. Looking at this from kind of a cost-effectiveness standpoint, um voting's very important. It's It's critical to everything we do and the world around us, um but I know there are um financial realities too with these things. So what I did was I took the 2024 numbers and applied them to our anticipated 2026 cost. So what we're looking at is the first 28 days of absentee, what our projected costs are going to be using the numbers from 2024. So, the cost for the primary election for that 28-day period for us as a city to run absentee is about $9,240. If we're running with four judges, if we take that and apply it to 34 votes, it costs about $271 per vote. Now, this is dependent on the number of judges. If we had less, which I would want no more than or excuse me, no less than three, um that goes down to about 200 per vote. This doesn't include staff time, it doesn't include staff overtime, or any sort of facility fees. This is purely election judge uh salaries and costs. If we apply the same thing to the general election, um it's about $11.10 per vote. >> [snorts] >> So, these are the structural changes should we move to 18 days of direct balloting. Um it's it's honestly pretty straightforward. The city would operate a direct balloting polling location here. So, 18 days before the election, people could come here and direct ballot and vote. If they wanted to vote earlier than that for that first 28-day period, they would go to um the county location, Scott County Public Works building, which is in Jordan, for them to vote in person there. So, implications for voters, um currently voters have a variety of ways they can participate in the election. They can vote on election day, they can vote absentee, and as a part of that, they can mail-in vote, they can in-person absentee vote, they can direct ballot, um and of course we go to healthcare facilities to assist with voting in those locations. Um should we go to 18-day, everyone will still have the ability, the same ways to vote. It's just there'll be a location change. So, if someone wants to vote before those 18 days, they want to vote absentee, they'll have to go to the Scott County Public Works Building to do that. Otherwise, they will if they want to wait until day 18, they'll be able to come here to City Hall and they'll be able to vote here. Other things to consider, um as we discuss this, the City of Shakopee will save approximately $21,000 in 2016 by switching to 18-day absentee. Um and that's really just based on election judge um hourly rates. It does not include staff time, overtime, as well as um some of the training for the absentee judges. And that would be for both elections over 2026. So, it's likely this number would be reasonably higher. Um and the absentee voting is it is technical. There are a lot of moving parts. There's a lot of things to keep in mind and it is very sensitive. Neighboring cities of Prior Lake and Savage, we believe will be um headed this way. Actually, Prior Lake is headed this way. They've committed, so they will be um going to 18-day voting and Savage is believed to be headed that way. So, what this would do is all the cities would be operating in in manner and consistently. So, if someone in Scott County would like to vote in that 28-day period, they'll all go to the same location for that, or they can do mail-in voting. And it goes without saying, I think, that the low utilization in the first 18 days may suggest that it's better as a consolidated location for voting as opposed to um having it dispersed. Should the City Council agree with this recommendation to go to 18 days, um the city will submit formal notice to Scott County. We'll do that through a form the Secretary of State is building. And then the city uh internally will adjust our timelines and will begin producing material to make sure that we can facilitate this information to voters to avoid any confusion about uh where they can vote and how they can vote. It is a very important element. >> And I have given the County Administrator heads-up that much like Savage and Prior Lake, we would probably also be uh opting for not doing the full 40 some days. 48 days or so. >> Questions? >> Just um >> Mr. Lara. >> So, this is information only. When um would we give our decision to uh move to the 18-day ballot or 18-day direct balloting? >> Well, you can you can tell us right now. >> We're we're we're we're going to kind of poll in the room. See what the consensus is. So, if we have questions, let's let's give them out to Mr. Delaney. >> Just a point of clarification. So, the general election and the primary election, you're treating them both the same, pretty much. The 18-day would be 28-day would be the county, and then 18-day would be the city picking that up. >> Correct. Yes. >> Thank you. >> So, if we go to page 319, which is your slide of structural changes, there you go. It It shows direct ballot balloting City of Shakopee starting July 24th to November 3rd. >> Oh, yes. I apologize. There's a typo there. That is July 24th for the August election. >> For the primary. >> Sorry, yes, the primary. >> Okay. Because I was looking at that going that's way more than 18 days. That's 90 days. >> No, you said direct >> What? >> before that kind of confused me, too, with the cuz it's the primary portion and you got it out to November 3rd, but we all know the primary is on August 11th. >> Right. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yeah, apologies. >> Okay. Um Mr. Whiting, >> how many blocks is it from City Hall to the county courthouse? I I don't think it's a big deal for Shakopee as it might be for >> location is going to be their public works building. >> Oh, that's a little farther out. >> Because it's not it's My understanding is it's more centralized. >> It is more centralized, yeah. >> Yeah. >> centralized for all of the county and all of the cities that want to opt into that. >> That changes it a little bit in my opinion. >> Because then you have Prior Lake that could utilize it, and they would be like the same distance as Shakopee people using it. Um yeah, there's going to be some outliers like Jordan, but they may decide to not do it. Population's less. >> Well, the county currently does Jordan. Only Savage, Shakopee, and Prior Lake were told by the county that we would do this in 2020, I believe it was. And we've been trying to find a solution to that since 2020. >> Did you say it was $271 per vote? >> Per vote. >> Correct. >> Uh it's like $22,000. Right? I think it was $22,000, roughly. >> Yes. >> I don't have a problem with 18 days of direct balloting at City Hall. And if if you have an absentee voter or somebody overseas or whatever the case might be, um they can use the county process. That seems reasonable to me. >> Mhm. Is there still a mail-in process? >> There is, yes. That's coordinated through the county. >> Okay. Yeah, I don't have an issue with that. >> Neither do I. I'm I'm fine with it. >> I'm good. >> Down here. >> There you go. >> Good. >> All right. Well, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Liaison reports. Mr. >> start over here. >> Mr. Lara? >> Yep. All right. Um on the 27th, uh we had the CDA Land Trust um homes over in the Grain Addition uh ribbon cutting. Uh so three homes, two of which are moving ready, um are now up and running. Um got a chance to look at them and they're um great homes. They look solid. They look They built great. And um there's opportunity for equity for those homeowners as well with the unfinished basements and the opportunity to add a um bathroom and a bedroom, I believe I saw down there. So, um pretty nice. Um good use of that land. And then uh that evening, we had the Miracle Field ribbon cutting with the Shakopee Lions. Um great evening for that. >> That's all I got. >> Thank you, sir. >> Miss Council Member Contreras? >> Uh thank you, Mayor. Pretty much the same thing. I did attend the uh ribbon cutting to the um Scott County Community Land Trust. Um great addition to the community. Um on the 20 um and also the Lions um the Shakopee Lions Miracle Field. Um just beautiful to see that all our kids with um disabilities or adults with disabilities can be out there and enjoy their time. And then on the 29th, I did have the opportunity to go to Open Door Health Center. Um and that it is a a federally qualified health center organization. And their mission is to be a partner in improving the health of all community members. Um they envision a future where everyone has what they need to live a healthy life, which is um dental, medical, and behavioral behavioral health. So, that that's another great addition to our community. >> And that's at the Marshall Road >> Yes. >> transit station? >> Correct. >> Anything else? >> That's it. >> Council White? >> Yeah, thank you. On the same day as the ribbon cutting, which I attended as a Lion. Didn't get to join you guys, but I was represent the Lions out there for the Miracle Field, and that was a great great thing for our city. On the same day, we had the MVTA board meeting. Um not a lot on the agenda, but we did uh have some discussion on our fleet replacement. And it was between you know, it has a lot to do with the connect, but it's the smaller van type buses can be used for anything. Um but we determined we were going to go with six Ford EV vans uh to you know, reduce our carbon footprint and be one of the leading uh definitely the probably the leading one in the state. I got to check those details uh for EVs for transit. So, it was between another one of the uh the Yugoslavian Karsten buses, three gas Ford Transit buses, and one EV Ford, but we went with six EV Ford vans. Um actually cheaper and uh uh comes with one charger uh to go with some of our other chargers, but uh so we're trying to uh be greener. >> Fuel costs are a little less? >> Well, >> gas costs? >> gas costs are [laughter] you still uh with that one from Yugoslavia, you still had to get the diesel to keep the heaters running, but uh otherwise uh um we feel good about that. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Mr. Whiting. Mr. Delaney. >> Okay, big thing is 169 Coalition is officially wrapped up. I think everybody got emails. I think I I spammed everybody last night, so hopefully you did get those emails. Um special thanks to uh Andy. I hope I'm saying his name right, Hingevald from Scott County. He got our historical documents submitted on USB to Historical Society. Website is paid up. SRF has submitted their final invoice and Scott County will take the next step of redistributing dues and mailing checks to the designated members. Uh let's see what else. SPU. SPU got a $43,000 grant from Met Council. Um this is for rebates for like resident rebates for residents for energy efficient equipment, so please go to the website, take advantage of that. Not a lot of people do and money kind of sits there. Um example is your Energy Star appliances and other qualifying upgrades. Uh Miracle Field ribbon cutting was there also with the the mayor and other council members. Land Grant housing, they're also. Um Miracle Field I think is is really awesome. That's uh gives everybody a chance to participate. Um for Memorial Day, spent the morning out at Fort Snelling. They had a service out there. Um also connecting with other veterans and about their loved ones or families and the time in service. It's always an honor speaking to other veterans out there. I specifically um World War II veteran who served in the General Patton. He was he was out there again, so we got a chance to talk. And um gunny sergeant hopefully he's a he's a Marine. Hopefully he'll make master by the next time we see him next year, so. That's it. >> Very good. My report uh May May 25th, I was asked to speak at the Memorial Day Shakopee Memorial Day services. Honor uh to do that. Kind of a day of reflection every year for me, so it was uh Good service. It was actually pretty cool that they did something different this year where they recognized Shakopee resident uh senior graduating seniors that were entering the the military branch different branches, so that was a kind of kind of a new twist. Um we had quite a bit from Shakopee that are actually joining the military, so. 27th, we did I attended the County Land Trust Housing ribbon cutting, Miracle Field. Um the the Miracle Field, it was very very powerful to see so many community members and businesses and people come together to make that happen from the Lions, the youth uh baseball association, all these different entities came came together to make that happen and it's just it it's just really cool to see that happen in our community. Uh it's going to I'm sure it's going to be highly used. May 28th was the Intergovernmental Working Group with Scott County, Prior Lake, City of Shakopee, and Mdewakanton. Um This agenda was one thing only, it was meeting the new Met Council chair. Uh we basically went around the table and shared you know, what different communities uh interaction with the Met Council is. Rest assured, myself and our staff uh shared with the Met Council what our concerns are. Uh I pointed out that as a planning organization they don't have a metro-wide transportation plan. Um and that's something that Shakopee has been working on for decades with river crossing capacity. The river is a It's a great asset, but it's a barrier, especially when you're moving large volumes of traffic. Um and how sometimes they like to tell this body and many other bodies what what your vision is, regardless of whether it's your vision or not. And that's not what their role, their original intent under the Minnesota Land Planning Act was. They were supposed to be the oversight to use all of our information from all of the counties and seven metro area counties and cities within and townships to to to see what future growth looks like so they could plan sewer capacity, water capacity, uh major transit routes, um roads, roads, uh not just bike trails. Um so it was a really I thought it was a good, well-received discussion. Uh Mr. Reynolds, uh city engineer, was in attendance. Sure Mr. Mr. Kursky, but uh we filled in for you. >> Can't do it all. >> Tried to. Um that's all that I have. Mr. Reynolds, do you have anything to add? >> No, sir. >> Okay. City bill list. >> No questions from me. >> Good over here? News and announcements. Looks like there's enough to go around for everybody. >> All right, I can start. >> You want to start down here? >> Yep. Uh SandVenture season is opening um for the season on June 5th. Come out and enjoy some fun in the sun at Summer Adventure this summer. >> Annual Picnic with Police. Save the date for the annual Picnic with Police from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 8th at Huber Park. So, it is a location change. Join Shakopee Police and other community leaders for a free picnic dinner, games, activity, and a night of family-friendly fun. No registration is necessary. >> Rhythm on the Rails begins with the first concert of the season, Wednesday, June 17th 6:00 to 9:00. Rhythm on the Rails is a free 6-week outdoor concert series that take place on Wednesday nights in June and July. The event is held on Lewis Street between 1st Avenue and the railroad tracks in downtown Shakopee. Join us, have a great time cuz I know I will. >> Do we know what the first band is? >> Uh >> I have to >> I don't. >> I have to keep that >> Cash, what's you call it, is having a free thing in Huber Park. That's always a good one, too. So, look that one up, too. There's always good things happening down there also in the summer. >> All right, the Lion's Park parking lot improvements. Lion's Park parking lot will undergo improvements during the summer of 2026. Construction will begin on Monday, June 1st, so yesterday, I guess. And will continue throughout the summer. The project includes expanding parking capacity, resurfacing the Sand Venture parking lot, and reconstructing the parking lot adjacent to the splash pad. During each phase of the construction, parking will be available in other parking lots that are not under active construction. Access throughout the park will be maintained at all times. >> Let me just back up for a second. Under the first Rhythm on the Rail is uh Martin Zeller's Neil Diamond tribute Forever in Blue Jeans. >> That draws a lot of people in. >> June 17th, Wednesday. >> Yep. >> Okay. Eagle Creek Boulevard seal coating. Weather permitting on June 8th and 9th, Eagle Creek Boulevard between Marshall Road and Canterbury Road will be seal coated. During this roadway maintenance, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Access to business, home, driveways, and side streets remain open outside of short temporary restrictions. A work zone speed limit will be posted for the safety of workers, residents, businesses, and traveling public. Motorists are encouraged to plan ahead, use caution when traveling through the work zone, and consider alternate routes whenever possible to help reduce congestion and delays. That is it. >> Very good. Thank you, folks. Any other business? Mr. Lara? >> Yeah, I just wanted to um just make mention a concern of mine in regards to um the agenda item number six, the public comment section. Um I just have concerns that when we allow them to go over um a 3-minute mark, the meeting could turn into something that gets hijacked and it just gets off of off the rails. Um I feel like with the three when they're reminded of a 3-minute mark, it lets them get their point out and then let's us continue on our meeting, especially when it's something that we can't act on anyways. So, that's just my concern. Um I'm not sure if there's a reminder or something we can do, but I just get worried. This is it's not the first time it's happened where they just kind of go off on the rails on there. >> Where where did we get the 3-minute mark from? >> It's right here. It says Individuals may address the City Council on any item that's not on the regular agenda. Speakers are requested to come to the center table, state their name, address for the clerk's record, and limit their remarks to 3 minutes. >> Yeah, yeah, there's there's uh there's a lot of leeway there, especially since the courts have already ruled that you can't violate somebody's freedom of speech without without being reasonable and 3 minutes is not reasonable, so >> I It's the judgement of the mayor, but I think it's could be much more of a problem if we cut people off, too. >> Yeah, but I mean there's some fine >> Sometimes when they just ramble and ramble. >> And there's sometimes when we will cut them off if they're being disrespectful to the staff or any member of council. Absolutely. >> and and that's been in there forever. Uh the reason that's in place is to especially when you have multiple people that are looking to talk that everybody has the opportunity to talk and and the council still to get their business done. Um there's no restrictions on free street speech because we we are informing them already of what they are allowed to do and that is to hopefully get them to concise their comments and then be able to give them to council and if council wants to act on them they then refer it to staff for later action, bring it in front of the council for for action, but uh uh just to be clear there's no free speech issues on that. >> And there's a uh good example would be a public hearing when you have people do have the right to speak, but you have 40 people that want to speak and if you give them each 3 minutes, 40 * 3 2 hours. Um Now, that's pretty reasonable, right? >> And the chair has >> long because it's going to take 2 hours? >> The mayor as the chair has the ability to you know, manipulate that time based upon what's happening in >> I have four and five against. >> Yeah, I mean if you if you had 30 people in here, then the mayor would probably look at that and say, "Okay, we can't spend 25 minutes on this. We have to move on." >> Right. Yep. I have one other business item. Uh Oh, go ahead. >> On the basically along the same lines public comment we have a just want to say we have a a wonderful city staff and our police department is phenomenal. Um I know we listened to some comments tonight, but they have an incredibly hard job and they do it very well. Um, they continuously score high when we do surveys with the community. I just wanted to point that out, so. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Delaini. My My uh other business item is the last meeting where we had a gentleman ask about the state flag and I said we would have a quick discussion on that. Obviously, no decisions are going to be made here tonight. So, I'm just going to go right down the line. Old flag, new flag, or both? >> That is a very >> Not discussion. >> Oh, not discussion. >> Pick Pick one. >> If I had my choice, um, I would go with the old flag just because it looks better. Um, but I know the state's gone with >> No discussion. Old, new, or both? >> Absolutely the new flag because the old one is the racist rag and you can look up the poem. >> Okay. >> You didn't say neither. >> Old flag or ne- or both? Old, new, or both? >> Did you read the poem? >> Old, new, or both? >> New. >> Old, new, or both? >> I like the new one. But I don't like the old one either. >> [laughter] >> There was some There was some political rant that it looks like the Somali flag and it doesn't have the >> is old, new, or both? >> It's It's racist. >> And we've got answers from everybody, but Counselor Contreras, she doesn't like neither of them. Um, >> I don't. >> and I obviously don't want to have the state take any kind of state funding away for not flying the new flag. I don't like the process they used. I think it cut a lot of people out. Um, I would be the defiant one and say both and I would push back and say they need to put a process together that includes everybody to come up with something that everybody's happy with, which they did not do. Um and that's my three cents. >> But I'll read the poem. >> I I read the poem and you know, there's a lot of truth in that flag. So, truth is always a good thing. Mr. Lara. >> I'd like to make a motion to adjourn to June 16th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. >> The red man going off into the sunset. >> to the motion? >> Second. >> Discussion. All in favor, say aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed, we adjourn. >> The red man going off into the sunset. It's a right-wing conspiracy that looks like