[Music] good evening everyone tonight is Monday December 23rd 2024 it is 6:00 p.m. I would like to call to order the Columbus city council meeting for tonight our first order of business will be the Pledge of Allegiance please join us I pledge the allegiance to the flag of the United States of America Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liy and justice for all would someone like to make the motion to approve the agenda for meeting please I move to approve the agenda and a second this is Janet I second if there's no questions anywhere or online I will call for the vote Ron I sue I Janet I Rob I and Jesse I our next item is the uh consent agenda I'll move to approve the consent agenda as presented in the December 23rd 20 24 city council packet and the supplemental Bill list which was provided as a handout prior to the meeting is there a second for that Rob all second any questions anybody I'll call for the vote Ron I sue I Janet I Rob I and Jesse I letter C public open forum is there anyone who would like to speak at the public open Forum if you come up to the hot seat keep you very long I promise and pull your mic way up okay so we can hear the echo Steve Wagman 13530 zodiac street is that a little too long um I just came I wanted to thank you guys the board and the um administrator and any staff that was involved whatever for putting my name forward for the race Creek Watershed board um I really appreciate it and with your help I was reappointed for another three years so you're stuck with me for three more years but um I just wanted to say though that if anybody does have any questions or issues that I can help them with with the Watershed I'm happy to do so um anybody's welcome to call me at any time on any issue and I'm happy to help as best I can so that's all I had and have everybody have a merry Christmas thank you but Steve also I'll flip that around on you thank you for doing all the extra work that you have to do for that and for being smart enough to understand it I know it's terribly complicated and it is complicated I'll give you that but and very political and very very difficult so thank you for your time well thank you very much and congratulations by the way oh yeah what's that congratulations yes thank you all right thank you very much yep thank you thank you number two assistant City Administration administrator hiring recommendation oh I think that's me um you have a report that was uh passed out uh prior to the meeting and also was emailed to you today um I'm not going to read it it's pretty lengthy but I'll just give you some of the highlights and so as you might recall um in October we uh went through and interviewed our um our pool of candidates that we had gotten um the first time that we had posted this position and we came up with uh two people that we made offers to um and those offers fell through so we reposted the position uh that was done on November 15th and it closed on December 2nd we had uh for 46 applicants that had submitted completed applications along with resumés and cover letters and references excuse me to our recruitment website and of those there were six uh that were deemed to meet minimum qualifications we had a lot of people apply who clearly did not look at the job description and uh did not have most of what we were requiring um but there were six that that did or minimum qualifications however what we were really looking for was somebody who could really come in with a broad range of expertise and could really hit the ground running and so we um had two people that were not exactly that but close to that that we had uh extended interview invitations to and then during that time um one of the candidates from the first round U made it known that he was available able and would' still be interested in the position um if we were willing to consider him and since he was our first pick um we did uh add him to the pool and reinterviewed that that candidate as well one of the two candidates initially identified um contacted us before their interview to say that they had just accepted another position and so would not um was withdrawing their applications so on excuse me um what date was it December whatever date I put in this report 17th I think we rep we uh interviewed the two candidates and um came up with the same conclusion that we did with the first round which was that uh we had a top pick and that was uh Mr Aaron Berg who happens to be in the audience right now hi Ain um so Aon really has everything that we were looking for he is currently working in municipal government he's been there for 2 and a half years in East bethl first as a city planner and then as a community development director um however he's had several other positions that have afforded him the skill set that we're looking for and I listed all of those in my report but essentially um these jobs gave him a broad expertise within um management supervision HR it uh website development um policy setting and implementation and really all the things that that we we could be uh hoping for he accurately described himself as being the Swiss army knife that Columbus has been looking for and we couldn't agree more um that was a perfect description it's kind of like you know if we if we needed a skill he could he could find it and and implement it so we are um proposing that we make a offer to Mr Berg um I've outlined in this report where we would start him on the pay scale and what the other um benefits are and um I'll take any questions that people have otherwise um I'll make the motion I just wanted to S just chime in a little bit because going through the process of um being on the Personnel committee and interviewing and looking at resumés and there was a you know there was a lot of interest there was a lot of um resumés but nobody had the broad experience that Aaron has and he was our first choice in the first round um and when we interviewed him the second time I I just got the Feeling also like this is the right this is the right choice it's not even just all of the experience the broad experience which nobody else really had um so I really feel good about the decision and um I think we're really lucky to have you as an applicant have questions yeah thank you Janet so I was just in relation to the uh earn sick and safe time um not would we need to do that if we're already giving him the 5 days if we made it six days would that cover the earn sick and safe time you have to keep the earn sick and safe time as a separate pool okay so I think the amount that you give them is somewhat predicated on what your normal benefits are okay but this is this is what we have to give to everybody to meet State Statute so in relation to Vacation do we label that as PTO or do we label it as vacation time vacation it is okay cuz then if it was labeled as PTO we just could do that in L of earn sick and safe so those are that's all I had thank you any other questions nothing for me all right then hearing no other questions and I would U make the motion that on the recommend ation of the Personnel committee um I move to approve the hire of aronberg as the assistant City administrator for the city of Columbus um uh contingent on the uh acceptable what it background check background check thank you trying to think of the words and um and and is consistent with the terms that are outlined in the Personnel committee report of 1223 24 and this is suel second so we have a motion in the second any other questions anyone I'll call for the vote Ron I sue I Janet I Rob I and so just wanted to say I'm voting I for the idea of that Mr Berg would uh likely in turn in the future step into uh Jack's role not saying Jack you're going anywhere now but for the event that we had like Elizabeth leaving before and we're in a tizzy right where it's like oh crap we got to get someone hired right away at least Mr Berg if would be able to bridge that Gap right so that's actually in the job description that he would step in in the absence of the city administrator very good y yeah yep so that's why I'm voting yes and I'll vote Yes motion passes congratulations yes yeah and I will just say uh Mr Berg was was willing to come here so that he could be here if there was any questions but also he has a council meeting tonight too so we we uh really appreciate that you're here in person congratulations right all right Code Compliance report item number three I sorry I won't be able to see the screen but we could turn it oh that's okay just let me know when you're ready Cheryl I will say I really liked your uh form your design for your presentation yeah I was just going to say that kind of has a christmy look to it that's right yeah let me turn that screen for you I can see it from here sorry I thought it was on that one my apologies all right so um screen one with the compliance categories um just the percentages across departments uh clearly 81% is just general ordinance which is the vast majority of of the calls I receive kind of a broad category um but 37 for General ordinance five for zoning um which is typically surrounding C UPS iups uh two for building and two for Public Works uh next screen is there's four I receed 42 new cases six of which are still open um so third or 87% clearance rate the vast majority of those were were usually well within a week having said that um there were some that were over a year and those were mainly surrounding either legal issues or the cup issues uh monthly yearly for 2024 cases um as you can see most of the time these cases that were started in 2024 were finished uh within the same month um the ones that again were left open were they were they cups or they were cases where we needed to give this person time to um whether it be clean up or or get into voluntary compliance and these were only 2024 cases these were not previous cases um so 2024 cases uh kind of mirrors one of the first screens five for zoning cup iup uh five open five closed Jed Ence 37 open six closed um the Public Works building and the miscellaneous 2 all our closed so the one the one remaining open are the general ordinance ones uh next screen is closed cases 17 previously open cases were closed in addition to my 2024 closed cases some of the big ones that were resolved with superb uh this was a commercial business in a residential Zone um off of Apollo and pine uh all of the equipment and rolloffs have been moved from the property and the business has moved to schaer this is the one where the um letter was drafted uh by Bill and signed by the superb uh CEO uh I Street the exterior storage was cleaned up however the property owner may be bringing in additional items back to his lot um some monitoring is going to happen in that so there was a period of complete full compliance um I have heard although I have not receiv received of a complaint as of yet that some things were brought back uh another third another big one that I've been dealing with since 2023 was Dave's Contracting on Lake Drive uh long-standing issue between commercial Neighbors um I worked with Anoka County my cohort in Anoka County he did his thing and we I did mine in a joint effort and Dave's Contracting is now in full compliance with his cup uh the neighbor has been reached out and told that so he seems satisfied with that those some of those cases well all three of those cases were from 2023 so for an example Dave's Contracting it would be okay I'll see in a month there's been progress I'll see a month there's been progress pictures taken along the way so ongoing legal cases Rock communication is still non-compliant with their cup LCI Landscaping still non-compliant with their cup uh I don't know this as a fact um but I have heard that LCI may be moving their business completely out there is a for sale sign yes um I heard that I wasn't in the lobby when that occurred but that what LCI told Ellie so okay um yeah hopefully that gets resolved uh other kind of miscellaneous deals two separate animal bites microchipping orders sent uh one sent back one that was recent I have not got that back yet but the 3 weeks that we're given we not is not up yet two separate gas line gas pipeline issues were investigated and involved excavation with no locates one of which could have been fairly serious um and working with gas companies for that I tend to be their point of contact in the city they don't know who else to call uh monitoring Farm manal non- compliance with the pig issues next to the city park that issue is yeah different uh being resolved so he had I think there was I don't have my report in front of me 12 to 14 we're now down to six so it's actively being selling off to a year or two there that kind of thing and then DNR parking issues in the Zodiac Street area this has been also since 20123 I've been working with the DNR and residents in that area I thought everything was resolved uh however there may be um future issues with that from what I just learned uh some new items trainings and Equipment new aeds and tourniquets um were required and installed uh training was scheduled uh new first aid supplies existing supplies have greatly exceeded their expiration dates we have a large uh Gathering person or a kit behind there and a smaller one for City Hall in the hallway not in a office anymore and I followed up with Homeland Security in their meetings and then the last one is um additional duties assumed RightWay permit inspection duties uh for Public Works assisted Lori with elections assisted Mr Minister Davis with our remodel project getting bids from contractors have currently received two getting another one uh or at least another appointment on Thursday um I made contact with several local businesses taking water from hydrants assisted public works with dumping complaints assisted in both the cleanup and investigation of the matter and in regards to that um prepared a newsletter and website articles regarding codes and dumping of plates in that newsletter basic basically states where the quote unquote hotspots are for that and essentially stealing something from Homeland Security saying if you see something say something so you see a truck at 2: in the morning with a bunch of TVs and they come back down your street or your in camera and they don't have the TVs anymore maybe give us a call so and that is it questions so I do have a question on originally we had said that most of your activity would be from complaints yes um but the are the cups are you proactive on those at all yes okay um per the last meeting we had Janet brought that up and we're starting to pull old cups which are I won't get into it but we're pulling them from different areas and looking into that okay yes thank you yep very nice job thank you anyone else yeah uh Rob uh Rock Communications where is that kind of sitting are they are they working to become compliant and know through through the campaign cycle there was quite a few complaints about that business yes sir and no they're not working whatsoever they become compliant okay yes so what are kind of our next steps then with them I think the step would be and Bill help me out here but the basically this The Next Step would be is I think we're done at this point okay it's it's we're finished we've given them every op absolutely every opportunity we've reached out several times last week I sent I believe it was two certified letters from one from me one from Ellie regarding this um so I I believe we're completely done with it uh Mr mayor council members we would work with the criminal prosecutor um in that case and um transition to a criminal matter can you um elaborate a little bit more on the LCI Landscaping I I wasn't aware that they were non-compliant with their cup yes ma'am um from my understand so they're in kind of the same situation as rock they bought a a residential home and it's a business um elanar would speak better to this but from my understanding there were septic issues that they non-c complied with my understanding is when they came to the lobby that was complied with but the other issues uh that she set forth on her end none of which were met um remodeling pull-up permits to remodel for a business to remodel a home into a business none of that was met by a certain date um we actually have extended that a couple of times uh when we extended it with the last certified letter last week or a week and a half ago I believe Ellie even gave him till the end of the year and that's when he came in and said I'm done with it I'm going to be selling so I'm not surprised no I mean we were kind of wondering if they were going to be able to make this work correct I got a question Sean yes sir West Freeway Drive yes sir and you de with that guy before I have and is there is he breaking any ordinance with all that Lumber there not not that I know of I have tried to find an ordinance or code where that could be rectified and I don't know if I can find one um I've reached up to him twice now once and I certainly can again because what the first time I reached out to him was in the spring when all that arrived out of nowhere the next time was after our last one in the summer but I have not reached out since um I certainly can well you had a pretty good report yes I did yep and he of course when I spoke with him in the spring he assured me was all leaving right um clearly it hasn't I just don't know what angle to play on that one as far as what code it would be more of a a voluntary compliance with compliance with my rapport with him you get any complaints from them I mean them neighbors no I I know I've had a few contact me well you know off the street not they didn't call me just run in they say do you know about this guy yes sir and no and and other than the lumber or the wood it's not Lumber I guess um I drive there frequently some days the yard looks again other than the wood some days yard looks really really good like it was when I closed the case per se some days the yard looks like it did before so there's this constant influx of things and then they go away and things they go away but that obviously would staying there and but no to answer your question I have not received any complaints from any neighbors well thank you I know it's a tough tough case tough guy yes sir on that one if I could elaborate on that too I'd often kind of wondered what happened there because now if now that the leaves are downright and it's winter you can see past the house and it's like everything's in the backyard now and I don't know if him and the guy on Iverson are in cahoots but I've seen the Iverson guy bring things there when you things that were on Iverson um to the point of Iverson just uh I seen him back into my neighbor's yard and there was a junk car in the backyard he hooked up to it and brought it to his house and put it in his backyard it's like what are we doing yes sir and I I heard a rumor about that I just couldn't prove it but yeah yeah proved it for me so it was like hey I'll tow it to the junkyard for you not not what happened right so I can certainly reach out to him again um last I know we were getting along just fine so hopefully that hasn't changed yeah it's Iverson's not nearly the case it was right but it's it's a trickle effects correct us so a question on that so I I mean clearly there were multiple complaints about the Iverson Street um property and and you worked miracles getting that all cleaned up is there anything do you have to wait for more complaints or is there is there an expectation that you I mean that you have to maintain what you work so hard to accomplish my understanding is one and I could be wrong but I I read it again my understanding is I need another fresh quote unquote fresh complaint now for this new one um for for anything really if a case gets closed it's closed and then the whole thing has to start from square one again it can't be a cont continuation once it gets signed off on uh and that goes to essentially legal not necessarily bill but you know you told me it was all good and from my understanding I now need a a new Fresh complaint regarding that and I have not received one is that true bill I mean it would seem that if it was a different problem that would be true but if it's the same problem and now it's just sort of backsliding into the same old same old why do we have to wait for it to become crazy like it was before we I mean then it's just that much more to try to clean up for him and for you Mr mayor council member I I think the circumstances would allow you to kind of keep a an eye on things okay um and the reason uh I say that is because the my understanding is we adopted some of those practices as policy and so policy doesn't have the force and effect of Law and so it's really it really says what our practice is our practice is a complaint driven system but given the years and the resources that went into getting that cleaned up I would be comfortable if we just had a regular monitoring action particularly um what council member Bush said if we believe that you know materials are being moved around the community I think we can take note of that and I'll I'll take a look at the uh the policy but I I think given that we didn't adopt those practices as ordinance I think that gives you a little more flexibility so if having said that then to give you a heads up the last time I was there um it was positive up until the last meeting and I won't quote him to spare the exclaves but he essentially said uh in a nutshell I have a gripe against the city I'm now going to be bringing more stuff in on purpose so we would run into the same uh questions that we ran into prior to his cleanup so it was a fairly exploitive Laden rant where which I drove away from so just to put it on your radar so just one other thing could you elaborate on the Zodiac and this DNR thing yes sir so with that um Elizabeth handed me the file on it there's two residents there one of which I only spoke to recently um that to back up that whole area being surrounded by Carlos Avery the complaints from the residents are parking blocking the street um not enough parking for Carlos Avery and trespassing issues on private property 90% of that from my understanding is not our purview DNR has land surrounding that and working with Bill and um the residents over the past year and a half essentially I thought it was settled I reached out to uh the person with the major gripe on it and said hey this is what it is I laid out what what Bill said and what the DNR attorney said and said here's the answer he wasn't happy with it but he said if that's the answer that's the answer I now received a complaint from a different resident mirroring uh Mr machi's U complaint I told him the same thing that I told Mr Machi with the attorneys and what they said and I said you know wish I could do something for you but I can't it's out of my head it's not the city it's the DNR um it's it's their issue and it is what it is and he did not like that he said I I'm not tick it you but he goes maybe I have to bring it to city council I said well if that's your choice that's fine um but you know it's it's it's a DNR easement issue it's not a city of Columbus easement issue so so how is that not our issue though being they parking on our city road that Road's not owned by the DNR it's owned by the city of Columbus the part where they're there the part that is the issue is the DNR parking pad not being big enough to hold more than two cars sure they want a bigger parking pad on DNR property from my understanding um and then the trespassing on private property would obviously be there whether it be the game boards of the Sheriff's Office okay yeah sure okay thank you Mr Mayor and Council I I have a recollection and maybe Jim can help me that there was some discussion with the DNR about adding spaces to that uh parking pad I don't know if there's sufficient room but that would certainly be one thing that we could follow up on I know there was um we did add space is the not sufficient enough at this point but given the given the area that we had to work with we basically widened one end of the road all the way down at the end of I think it's 165 um and there's a you know no parking over here and you can park here type of deal but it's picking up for two vehicles and so you did what you could we did what we said yes and cilman Bush I'm I'm starting to recollect cuz I have notes of all my conversations on the computer there was something with the easement there was something with I if I'm if I'm correct on this Mr Machi signed an easement agreement with the DNR not with the city of Columbus okay so that's where that kicks in along with the parking pad that's where that kicks in it wasn't an agreement if I remember right the city said nope if you want to guys want to sign an agreement great but I do have that per the emails and notes okay yeah few and and I asked to bring it up just to get it on record cuz a few of those neighbors have reached out to me it was something that when I first got on Council I think got brought forth um what what they said was they heard a lawnmower going nobody notified them next thing you know there's a trail getting cut through what they thought was their property okay when they were purchased the land there was nothing on their record of an easement being there nor on the existing homeowners I know there's a couple houses down there that are owned by the same resident they rent one out and then they live in the other and then I think there's the Machi like you said that's the whole end of the road right yes sir and and the the one you're talking about with the title I just heard from him maybe two weeks ago I can't remember the timeline but you know if he wants to have a sit down that's fine but that that would be and I'm not a title guy or a legal guy but would that be probably have to be listed on his title and if it's not listed on a title then he has to bring that up at the title company yeah yeah and some of the things that we're asked to do I it doesn't appear that it would fall under the city purview it's do with the DNR more of the DNR and them okay from my understanding thank you I just want to make sure I'm doing my due diligence on my end sir right so thank you Sean can you also elaborate on the Dave's Contracting on Lake Drive I have no recollection of what the problem was there I don't know that problem was never brought to the council per se it was a problem that has been been um attempted to be troubleshot for years and the business to the north of days Contracting which doesn't have a signage or anything you've passed it probably a million times never knew it was there it's a rolloff business again and um basically a junk type business the business to the north um and Dave's Contracting have been um in dispute over the cup for Dave's Contracting for years the cup was drafted in the early 90s I want to say 92 is but I I could be wrong in that early '90s for my recollection and it is very bag and very uh open to interpretation bringing an NOA in like I did they have a little bit more um scope in the junk type business so working with the existing cup which is vague and open to interpretation and very short quite frankly getting him to clean up that property to appease the northern neighbor um has been a process having said that I've brought it as far as I could as far as that cup limits me to um and it looks drastically different than it used to and the neighbor of the north seems satisfied with that uh as these junk type businesses and our yards go the chances of it slipping back right is high I think but as of right now as the last couple of months it's been fine it's dramatically different than it was and he's he is in accordance with his cop okay thank you can you where exactly is that I'm trying to picture it if you there is a there's a or do you know that if I I do know it's just I it's I can't remember if it's it's not the one that has all the garages it's no it's no no it's uh it's just north of sstone okay y okay and it's a little driveway that you wouldn't even notice um north of that is like a welding type shop but the it's he butts up to samstone oh gotcha okay that makes sense thank you never knew anything was there H I never knew anything was back there correct and you would back yeah still trying to figure out where that what are you talking about now it's just a driveway think of a driveway north of samstone um samstone if you're going towards Columbus right here's semstone if you take the first dirt track it's almost a two track right it's can't see the back from the P pine trees when you get back in there it opens up to a fairly large area with rolloffs and things like that it's just south of that COA car where he was going to build around that what south of that kak car k i k and I it goes K Andi and then it goes that welding shop and then oh okay which I don't think he's coming now [Music] yeah you can't see much from the road so it's just the neighbor that can see it correct and there were there were clear violations I mean this was not just a you know a a dispute right it was clear violations within the cup that were rectified well I've never seen that place I a quick question uh back to uh kylo Avery and all that was the first name on one of those complaintant Pete P I don't recall I don't remember the gentleman that called recently his name only reason I know Mr Machi because I've been dealing with it for a year and a half but the other guy that you talked to his name is Mike Mike okay then no I think I I think I know who I got a call from somebody on it too right around election time Pete lives between the two I gave him your number was there the the one house isn't occupied right now the one you called the rental place wasn't is there kind of some drug activity going on I do not know that that and that's that's why that that neighbor bought that house to make sure that nobody could move into it Teresa that bought that house correct okay all right it it was a a rental and it was like a drug house right so yeah yeah they bought the house to get rid of it I mean not to get rid of it but to keep keep an eye on what happened at the end of the mean there were alleg of right that's what attorneys say that's what it was yeah thank you and the police say yeah it's a drug host yep you both know anything else you'd like to add Sean no sir anybody else have more questions if not thank you thank you thank you thank you it's a tough job Poli Who would know uh on number four ordinance 2404 in ordinance amending chapter 4 licensing and Chapter 70 zoning regulations for the Columbus city code for cannabis management regulations Jack thank you Jesse the city of Columbus city council and the Planning Commission have been working on an ordinance to regulate the licensing and Zoning issues regarding the Cannabis legislation that was approved in 2023 the Planning Commission held a public hearing on December 8 18th 2024 to take comments on draft ordinance 24-4 and ordinance amending chapter 4 Licensing in chapter 7A zoning regulations for the Columbus city code for canas management regulations there is no comment from the public and the draft ordinance was unanimously recommended by the Planning Commission to be sent to city council for consideration at tonight's meeting staff is requesting that Council consider approval of ordinance 24- 04 approval of this ordinance will enable the city of Columbus to have initial regulations in place to address licensing and Zoning controls when the statutory requirements of this legislations are finally and fully implemented so I have a question if we adopt this tonight are we still able to easily since the state doesn't seem to really have things in order as they change things are we able to easily amend this Mr Mayor counsel um easily uh because it's zoning U it would have to go to plan I mean part of it zoning part of its licensing the zoning part would certainly have to go through the Planning Commission and and so that's an extra step but I think relatively easily I mean uh we're monitoring that activity uh there's a lot of discussion around it you know it's in the news so as those um as those rules may be tweaked at this session or in later sessions we can certainly come back with uh changes so I I think it makes sense I mean the moratorium is up next month I think it makes sense to put this in place knowing that you've covered 90 some per of the issues and that uh the 5 or 10% that aren't covered will be a result of changes to the law or the rules thank you I'm still hearing that there's going to be potential a lot of changes so I just I I still have a problem with putting an ordinance in place when it's such a moving Target especially because we're requiring that they get the license first and the state has said they're not going to be in any position to Grant any licenses probably until late summer early fall if even then so I don't there's no rush to do this um I also really Advocate that we stick I know I know we have said that uh retail has iups we've carved down on uh page whatever number 29 or 11 of 12 depending on what you're looking at which which types of businesses would be under an iup and which would be under cup but I know in Forest Lake they've they their ordinance states that every single cannabis business is going to be under an iup and I think that that makes sense for where we are in terms of of things being so fluid with this um so I would I would still Advocate that change to this ordinance whether you want to do it now or you want to just hold off on adopting it until there's some more work done on a state level but what I don't like is every time we change an ordinance it's another few thousand dollars to to change it it's it's a lot of it's a lot of time and effort on everybody's part and um everybody keeps saying that the likelihood we're going to get one of these is very small anyway so I just think let's cut our losses and just sit on it until we absolutely have to and give things time and then also you know we can talk more about iup versus cup I just I have a problem with the cup with where things are at right now um I would just like to chime in because I I agree with um bill that we you know we've worked on the ordinance everybody's in agreement of what it says we don't have any changes now and we could have that in effect in January when our moratorium expires and then I mean if there there's not going to be a license that's going to come through for at least 6 months I'm sure there's whatever changes are going to happen in the at the state level we could make adjustments in the ordinance you know during that time um I don't think it's we're not going to save any money we've already spent the money on what we have today and any changes are going to be extra anyway so in my opinion I think we should move forward and pass what we have we have something that's 90 some per covered and then um make any changes in the future that come up and which the iup might be one of us I'm not 100% against that and it kind of makes sense but yeah kind of your point to I feel like we put a lot of time into it right um having joint meetings and things like that and trying to Hash through this several meetings um and we put something forward and I believe we have to have something by January 1st right no we don't Mr May when did that change cuz this was a big push where we had to keep having these meetings to get this done before January 1st but that was when we thought the state was going to have their Lottery and award their licenses and now they're not okay M Mr mayor council the reason I'm advocating for finishing your work is because there's a lot that's not known and so the moratorium is your protection uh to have that space of time to adopt these regulations and and you spent a year on it and and you know resources and time and as your legal council to me it's better and and many cities are taking this approach to adopt what you have uh because it gives you the protections that you've debated and discussed and so most of the cities that we've been monitoring and using as kind of a model and I think Megan did a um a memo on that you know different cities that we've looked at um they're adopting this they're putting in place it's a protection it it it tells anybody who's going to come into your community that this is a regulated industry in this community so that's that's why I'm advocating for it but it's it's certainly a council decision okay and I agree with that I I agree with passing it tonight same so then can I make some suggested changes I mean they're they're not big changes well if they're typos they're not typos they're but I mean any kind of policy change I think would need it's not a policy change okay so on page 3 of 12 um I'm wondering whether or not we need to also require the the owner of the property you have the owner of the app the I'm sorry the information for the applicant and the information for the owner and I'm assuming it means the owner of the business not the necessarily so I'm thinking there can be an owner of a business there can also be an owner of the property and they may not be the same people so do we need to also add that we want the owner of the property if that's different than either the applicant or the business business U Mr Mayor and Council what we typically do with all applications is they're certainly on the zoning side now is this this is the licensing side but on the zoning side they have to consent to the use um but we don't typically put the business requirements on the owner of the property it's it's the the business is licensed that's the entity that we seek the information for so it what happens though how do you know whether or not they have the comp the owner of the properties compliance if you don't have their contact information it's my understanding that you would uh you have both the zoning requirement and the licensing requirement so under the zoning requirement you would have the consent of the owner all is it is it my understanding is correct that um every single um business has both a zoning approval and a licensing approval under this uh regulation okay and then the other uh question I have is under F of that same section it talks about a cannabis micro business or cannabis meso business with a retail operation and then it goes through talking about all the requirements that they need to do it seems that this is misplaced because if I were a micro business or meso business I would not be looking under the cannibal cannabis cannibal cannabis retail section for my instructions I know why it's there it's there because it's saying if they also have a retail portion they need to do this but it seems like this section would be better um positioned Under The Heading of the micro or the meso business so that people who are looking for those kinds of permits see it so where are you suggesting it goes CH well I'm assuming I didn't get very far I scanned this pretty quickly but um there's all of this is about retail most of this is about retail if I'm a business if I'm not if I'm not considering myself a retail business and I'm opening a meso or a micro business and I'm scanning the ordinances I wouldn't be looking under Canabis retail business license applications so I'm just thinking that if you're that type of business this may easily be missed because they wouldn't they wouldn't think to read it um and I didn't know if there was I was assuming that there was a section that dealt with each of the different types of um cannabis businesses maybe there's not but I think they I've read through this today to be prepared for this evening and my understanding is all those businesses were being treated as retail and so um I I that's how I read it but I have not read it as many times as Megan so I thought I saw some specific categories but I wonder if that was in the um like the design standard it was in the definition section definitions well I'm still concerned that that they may not see this so I don't know how to call it out differently but that is I'm concerned that that's not going to they're not going to see that and then the last um thing I have is on G um I think it would be clear if we just added um so I'm in the last sentence of it we're we're basically at saying that they need a detailed description of everything that they sell and the last word that's the last part says in other merchandise proposed I would say other merchandise whether cannabis related or not proposed for retail so I mean if they're selling vaping stuff I mean I I just think that it could be again easily misunderstood by people that they you know they're having a cannabis retail shop they're selling all these cannabis project and at the same time we're going to sell whatever right and I think we would want to know whether I know that that's the intent of it but I think just saying whether it's cannabis related or not makes it really clear whatever you're selling you need to tell us what it is so what would you add to that Jenna I I would just add the words um when it says and other merchandise I would say whether cannabis related or not proposed for retail sale and then I still would Advocate that we put everything under an iup I know that that's not a small change well right that would be a policy change and I think everybody agreed um and we voted that it would be an iup so that would have to be brought forward in a policy discussion Mr Mayor and Council I I think the change to G is is relatively minor and and it makes sense I think the change to F can be picked up in any housekeeping that's done after State Law changes just because I I haven't had time to figure out where it would go so rather than do that on the Fly I think we could do that I'm going to I'm going to note that it would be a housekeeping change okay um we also do housekeeping changes uh with ordinances uh from time to time and so that this is one I'll I'll note um so that would be my recommendation right so so Bill we' approve it as is tonight and then further down the road with that one change I think the change to G is is clear and it does so we're talking g under 3 of 12 right okay so I think with the change proposed by council member hegland I think we could adopt the ordinance tonight with that change to G with a note on the housekeeping change to F uh for the next round and uh then you'd have the ordinance adopted and ready to go so thank you you want me to I can make the motion go for it um I move to approve ordinance 24-4 and ordinance amending chapter 4 licensing and chapter 7A zoning regulations for the Columbus city code for cannabis management regulations uh with the exception that we discussed under Section 4-14 G to add at the end of that sentence uh whether cannabis related or not s roball second so we have a motion in a second any more questions or discussion I have a question real quick to Bill uh this agency of canab or whatever is the legislature going to deal with that again this year Mr Mayor and Council what I've been hearing and following is that yes uh what my concern is that some of these matters are in the courts the court could act before the legislature acts and that's why I'm advocating for an ordinance in place because you could have changes at the end of session but you could have the the courts um directing something with regard to these uh special license the the licenses the set aside licenses and so um that's why cities are adopting these and putting these into place in December and January in in the event that things you know by court order move more quickly so but I think everybody expects that there will be some action in this session but again we've had sessions where everything's a train wreck right I mean where nothing happens so so it's a little hard to predict but uh yeah that's that's my response thank you m all right we have a motion in the second I'll call for the vote Ron I sue I Janet nay Rob I Jesse I item number five Camping World temporary storage in music Camping World is requesting an inter use permit for their existing temporary outdoor display of retail Goods on the parcel located adjacent to and south of their existing facility at 140 25 West Freeway Drive the project narrative is exhibited in attachment one provides additional detail and explanation of the iup request approval of the iup would resolve exterior storage issues that have been ongoing with Camping World the Planning Commission reviewed the iup application at their December 18th 2024 meeting and unanimously recommended that this be sent to city council for consideration of approval in discussions regarding the I P for approval or consideration of approval city council may wish to ask add screening requirements to the condition of this request uh this was extensively discussed there are still maybe some certain issues out one of the things we discussed a little bit uh later after this was over was the fact that we may want to include some screening in this so that's something we could look at later or or look at to that Mr Mayor and Council I also noted in the conditions of approval there was a reference to landscaping and typically if there's any addition of landscaping or if you decide to add screening uh we would have a modest letter of credit we've always been consistent in in using that as a way to encourage compliance with that condition so um I'll leave it to you to discuss how much screening and Landscaping but um if if you have any uh please consider a let of credit so uh this is Rob I guess my concerns with it is they're asking for this well after the fact that they've been doing it right they've been storing trailers on that property for over a year currently right I'm not sure if the Excavating they did there I haven't had a chance to look into it was that all done under a permit cuz they brought in Phil they had a commercial Escavating company they're working on that lot and then couple weeks later it's full full of trailers and residents are wondering why they can have so many Campers at Camper World at the old Gander Mountain location they're out of compliance with the uh fire department uh Al Newman's talked to them at that location about having too many trailers and in the event there was a fire they wouldn't be able to help them um just kind of curious how they get away with that and then now they come to us later wanting this right is it cuz they're trying to come into compliance because of complaints or may can I provide some background mayor and Council we have probably spent 5 years on this um issue and I'm actually delighted that somebody in their organization said let's try and find a way to come into compliance so it's not perfect you don't want to encourage people to ask for forgiveness rather than permission uh but given the amount of time and resources that have gone into this uh when we talked with Ellen our both de and I um you know the typical way to do this is as they've done on the other side is to a join the property as as was in the report to basically buy and join the property to the main parcel have the cup cover both Parcels yeah but the interim use permit was a uh coste effective way to bring this property into compliance and somebody in that organization thought that was you know worthwhile and they spent some time and money to do that so I agree 100% that you know you don't you don't want to back into these things and and create a precedent where people can you know open shop and then look for approvals uh but you know from the compliance report tonight that that does happen um so I I think that it's probably the best of a a circumstance that we we've never really appreciated or liked as a city uh and it gets them you know into compliance legally but I also think that if if the council is of a mind to ask for some additional screening and Landscaping that would certainly be appropriate given the time and resources that that the city has put into this and I just wanted to I I was at the meeting as the liaison um at the Planning Commission um and I had read through it and I I understood and they talked about all the time that went into um trying to work out something to bring them into compliance and but it that never came up the fire thing Rob that you just brought up yeah and that and that's at a separate location so maybe it's I mean they're the same company right they're at two separate locations but the old Gander Mountain that that's been an issue and they they haven't uh taken the word from the fire chief I believe mayor Al brought it up at one of our meetings at the fireboard um so it's on the other can you bring the map up it's the other location so maybe maybe I shouldn't have brought up in relation to this but it's the same business two separate locations right I mean I was there today they they have trailers packed in the drive lane they have pontoons there I mean it's wait to me it's way out of compliance I shop there yeah they're good service but what's fair for one should be fair for the other right M mayor and Council I know that has been an issue and we've dealt with that as it's come up and um to the extent that they are blocking fire Lanes or or not following code then definitely there should be an enforcement action it should start with Shawn and working with the fire marshall I do know that at at times when those orders have been written or those conversations have been had there's been Improvement uh they are two separate applications but certainly in that they're similar ownership okay and that makes sense to have him take a look at that part but looking at the part that we are looking is just that little section down there so that's we're given them an iup because they're now adjoined to the one right above it which it's the same stuff that they have parked so it's just it's like it's just going over a little bit farther I don't see an issue I mean the other area already there it's just a little bit larger area that has the parked camper so to me it wasn't that big of a deal I mean there's already you know they added what 30% or something of space of the same thing so and there wasn't really any complaints I asked about complaints there wasn't any complaints about if that was an isore or anything there wasn't anything like that sure sure with the um the advantage in this case of the iup is that when and if that property is ever sold the iup doesn't run with the land if they if they they had uh gone through a purchase the cup does and so there is a a lever if you will if that property is sold um you know hopefully it would be purchased by Camping World and it would be joined the property would be joined but that it is not a permanent right okay so how do we how do we address the precedent that's being set for allowing only outdoor storage on a parcel of land I don't think we allow for that so that's I'm that's my concern I mean I think Camping World's a great business I mean I liked them when they were coats RV so I don't want to make life tough for them but I am worried that you've got this piece of property that isn't theirs that they're leasing that they're only using for outdoor storage and then how do you say no to anybody else who wants to do that Mr Mar and that's that's kind of where I'm going with it too right that was that was uh for several years that was our concern um there is a change in the law that allows zoning lot uh configuration now we haven't updated our ordinances to allow for zoning Lots that's much like when you at you join tax Parcels for tax purposes you can treat uh two distinct Parcels as one parcel for uh zoning purposes and so because they are because they have significant investment adjacent to this property we're using the development agreement to treat them as one for the purposes of zoning and that's stated in the recitals in the in the zoning in the development agreement I don't think the city would ever allow this on a standalone basis here you can treat it as one use uh through the development agreement and that's that was the device we came up with Dean and I kind of found a creative way where we could both agree that this could be treated as one use for the purpose of zoning and uh the development agreement and the iup is what connects those two Parcels so the development agreements being amended to include that language oh good that makes me feel a lot better about it um then the last thing is I do think we should put in something for landscaping and screening um I talked to the um fellow that was here during the the hearing and I I asked him if that would be you know a a burden and he said I expect it I expect you guys to require I mean I'm that doesn't surprise me and I would expect it so I would like to have that added as condition and the screening um from the council standpoint where would that screening be located along the front property line or well I don't think you can really do it over I mean it'd be great if they screened it from the freeway but that's not the parcel that we're talking about so I think it has to be there yep okay thank you verifying along the west boundary so like like Jan it's concerned right I'm bringing it up because we had Brown beagle in here who wanted to do those contractor shops and they've already started that and we've set precedents telling them we don't want outside storage we don't want it to be seen it needs to be enclosed Vehicles need to be inside and now we're going to put 100 campers more that are already there non-conforming right but Mr Mar Council this is a legal use in this District it's just the fact that they don't own the parcel if they own the parcel they can do this under a conditional use permit okay yep so that's the distinction but I think in the past I mean to to Rob's point it's been the number I mean their cup had a a maximum number that they exceeded and that was the non-compliance I don't know where they are right now but um it's I I I just want to make sure that we aren't opening ourselves up and it sounds like we're not if you're going to amend the developers agreement and then I think screening it gets us back to kind of the same rules that we have for everybody that's right Mr Mayor and councel the the view is that having a development agreement and an iup with conditions of approval gives us some enforcement capability where we've just been con joling for way too long so I got a question do we have any idea how many units they have on that property or how many they're supposed to kind of limit them is there well they have I mean I know when we were talking about Gan the gander site the former Gander site there was a maximum number that they could have and they exceeded that and I agree with you I mean I drove through there and you this not recently but I think that's what prompted Al to go and take a look at it like the fire lanes are blocked the drive lanes were blocked I mean if there was a fire there it would just be a disaster yeah there's hardly enough room for some someone to park to shop there yeah I'm driving I'm driving a Camry I can barely get through in between all those campers and boats that's a strange situation because you can go talk to one and say do you have this part no well would your other store have it I don't know what they have down there I'm not affiliated with them I mean it's just it's like black and white they both are camping world but yet they don't well they they operate I don't know how they operate their business but they operate under separate names this has a different um they they appli as Camping World but I forget what it's called River something yeah something River something RV yep I'm not sure if that has any distinction but I I I certainly think that we can communicate as a staff that um okay there was uh you got the IEP you got the development agreement we're going to have some additional landscaping and oh by the way we still have fire codes and you know other codes building codes that have to be met because they had both Fire and Building Code issues within that uh North building the one that's closer to the racetrack and in terms of the screening are we doing the 90% opacity rule or what what are we using as the I mean that's what we did for loves um within 5 years I think they had to have 90% opacity so I don't know if that's if that's what you guys had in mind but I I strongly suspect that if you don't Define it it will not be what we want no that's that's what we need and we need to establish is it going to be the vegetative screen as you're describing or is it going to be some other form of material I think it can be whatever they want it to be as long as it meets the criteria of screening out this from from View and I think if I'm remembering correctly with with loves which I think is similar in the sense you've got all these trucks lined up I think they had to they had to meet 90% opacity with a combination of landscaping and whatever else within five years well that seems very reasonable given the presedent so if when the motion is made if we could include that I got a question bill either you would know or the mayor would know how did they get that strip up on the North End there I mean it all of a sudden it just started putting things in there when did that come into we had a very similar conversation and they were using it uh on a handshake and we had enforcement actions and threats of enforcement action and finally they purchased the land and joined it to the the main parcel and we suggest that they do the same with the South parcel but it's separately owned it's in separate ownership and so they can't force those owners to sell them the land I mean honestly if if you if you really do not want to go in this direction then then you turn down all of this and then we're going after them to remove trailers from that property and so this is I mean that's certainly a direction uh that you could go in um but uh that's this this is one Al alternative that we finally uh arrived at to bring them into compliance to have some conditions of approval to have a little bit of teeth in the in the conversation and somewhere somebody in the organization said we've got to find a way to make this right so so when did that occur you think you're uh I don't know when did they come in Jack uh four or five months ago with that top part no no oh no that that's years ago that's uh maybe 10 years ago but you remember that I I wonder if they acquired it when that place went foreclosure that's attached to that little strip there cuz there's is that is that the one with the few buildings on it uh Mr mayor council I think it was the prior owner um this this I think it was if my memory serves it was the prior owner coats RV um Mark Pon right they they were parking in the mud so to speak and we uh brought we wrote letters and we brought them in and we had conversations and ultimately they bought the strip of land joined it to the main parcel put gravel down class 5 m keep the trailers out of the mud well Bill I'm in favor of doing the iup mhm for a couple of reasons it's our third largest taxpayer in Columbus and it would be ridiculous to have them pull those trailers out of there and and they're good business or I think they're as good as anything my only other question is should you put that fence on the highway for your your screening or should you put it back at the edge of their trailers because it's just a big wetland in front that they can never use for anything and I think that's less irritating than seeing a new fence right up along the highway Mr Mayor I think the proposal was to screen the the Westerly boundary of the property is that am I understanding that yep so far but I'm saying what would look uglier have a big old fence right along the road or have the look across the meadow and then see the fence if no one wants to see the RVs anybody have a idea on that I'm not following you it doesn't necessarily have to be a fence it could be you know Landscaping that that pine trees you know that that screens it so it doesn't have to be a fence or it could be a combination of off fence but I the reason I said the Westerly side is because that's the parcel that's in question it's not it's not what's up against the the freeway I mean that's the parcel that this iup is is applying to correct yes that's correct whole Square so I I I didn't think we actually could like reopen their cup and say oh and by the way now you need to put a fence along the freeway Mr Mayor in Council it also looks just eyeballing the aerial like they did add some landscaping materials with the original construction where M Jack is moving the cursor yeah those were all great big old box Elders or something that died and then they put in a bunch of uh Christmas trees Blue Spruce and whatever so if they could do that on the on the southern south of that that that would that would do it for me okay but the question is I believe that's all Wetland are you allowed to plant trees in Wetland anybody you could plant trees in Wetlands but they would have to be those that are adapted to those wet soils and high water tables they probably would not be evergreen trees do some Tamarac yeah yeah and I'm I'm not fully sure if that is wetland cuz I know they reworked that whole lot I think it was uh it was a big Excavating as true if you go to the information that was submitted in the previous drawings and was submitted to the Planning Commission and sent to you early this afternoon I think those in this area right right here are classified as Wetlands okay yeah they're not terribly wet to look at but when you go through the classifications like you said there was a tractor buried out there this year yeah well and if you want to I don't know if you want to create any flexibility but you could add language to the extent feasible kind of working with staff to come up with a decent plan because it it would actually be nice if they this just me speaking dressed up some of the entrance area on the on the the east side as well where the driveway is a few you know few plantings like they have on the on the north but that's that's really up to you how how extensive you want to go with this condition it just seemed appropriate given that some improvements went in on the North when approvals were granted um to get some Landscaping if you don't get them now you probably won't get them yeah yeah especially dealing with camper world they're not real quick to respond you know good evening Council can you hear hear me H yeah uh Grant duach from Excel Engineering here uh apologies we couldn't make the meeting tonight but I am a consultant uh who prepared the iup Sidle here on behalf of Camping World and in conversations with Camping World I think that it would be acceptable to implement appropriate Landscaping on on the West Side along the entrance and and that uh the West Side to to buffer some of those some of those uh inventory units on on display well that's our answer very good who wants to make the motion I can uh I move to approve the temporary storage interim use permit for JA coats Properties LLC DBA as Camping World as outlined in the iup application agreement and findings of fact and recommended by the city council city of Columbus Planning Commission uh with the exception of adding uh Landscaping on the Westerly portion of the property property I would I would um I'd like to suggest that you amend that to say Landscaping to provide screening at 90% opacity so moved I'll second that any other questions anyone I'll call for the vote Ron I sue I Janet I Rob n and Jesse I Mr Mayor just a note for the record then I will um update the development agreement to incorporate the conditions including the one that was just adopted thank you you're welcome on to number six the 2025 fee schedule thank you Council good night thank you each year the City reviews the current fee schedule and considers changes for the following Le's charges for permits billable Services rentals and other non-levy cost the following is a summary with the recommendations for fee schedules for 25 the summary includes the items listed in your packet and we'll be glad to go over those with you uh at the conclusion of that Council will be requested to consider approval of the proposed 2025 fee schedule with changes exhibited in attachment one and approved policy 2501 regulating use of the city of Columbus public facilities which is included in attachment three in your packet so Jack what were the biggest increases everything I see here 731 to 780 230 bucks to 240 180 to 185 they seem pretty minimal yeah the increases on the utility rates were based on anticipated flows plus adding another portion of our Public Works chart charges to the water and sewer cost another 122% so we want to incrementally add this over the years so it'll be easier to absorb but to finally get to the point where we can recover all those City costs and involve the labor and Personnel charges for the maintenance of these facilities a lot of the rest of the charges are just small adjustments to bring this into compliance where every charge ends in a five or a zero it's much easier to do that in most cases it's only a couple dollars there was discussion last time about the um cost for the rental of the community center those were not changed CH but there was a policy that we did find that was introduced to Council in 2022 that uh seems to address most of those concerns I would encourage you to take a look at that to make sure that's addressing the needs that you felt were necessary I got a question here on the park fees I can't remember but why why did we may make the uh tournament fees from 400 to 500 and it just says to cover increased expenses that was a recommendation of the board that we discussed because those fees hadn't been changed in quite a while there are a few more cost in there and that's what we thought it would take to cover those and uh still keep us even less than what Forest Lake was charging for use of their fields so Jack I had asked um for there to be clarification of what is maintenance and what is repair is that that was not essentially addressed in this I felt that should be covered by a workshop uh item to go into that that's one that's going to require further detail and examination what we were hoping to do is get this at least passed for tonight this is one thing that can be amended at any time during the year the only cost for the amendment for this is it's an ordinance change that will require the advertisement of a public hearing but on the maintenance and repair I felt that the time limit was too short to address it in the time frame we had between our last meeting and this one and that this would be included on the next Workshop meeting for further discussion then I think the other question I have had was [Music] um I know that um when we split fees with residents versus non-residents that that's kind of useless because they just have they just have a resident make the application so why don't we just have one fee period we could certainly do that I mean I I've rented plenty of picnic shelters is in my day and nowhere have I ever been asked whether I'm a resident of wherever I've wherever I've rented it whether it's been you know in Rapids or in Minneapolis or wherever so it seems to me that and maybe that's something that has to go back to the parkboard but I would just say if we're going to charge a rental fee we should just charge a rental fee well that would simplify it want to well and I think it covers you know what rental fees are supposed to help cover which is the cost of maintaining the park and potentially paying for the electricity that gets used so and then I think the other question that I had and this is probably more a question for safe built is when they now you know they have they have their fees for these different inspections but if they don't if they aren't coming on site and they're doing their inspections via photos I don't think we should be asking residents to pay the full fee for the inspection I mean I know that with my septic system it was all done by photo how do they do that they take a picture and they send it to Safe built with a drone or no just with their phone oh you're talking like inside the tank or what for I'm talking about the entire everything I mean the the the con the deconstruction of the existing tank the new tanks putting in the mound and the different layers that they have to show they did that all by a photo huh yeah wow yeah that that shouldn't be acceptable in my opinion talking with the uh sewer companies they actually have to come out and physically look at the soil borings I know they did it on mine 20 years ago well I mean they they look at the so the soil borings get done by the designer and then they get redone and they did come out and do that in person but when they're installing the system what I was told was well if they work with a contractor and they know the contractor does a pretty good job then they they're willing to just do photos to kind of speed things along which is fine I mean I I'm not I'm not questioning that they can't do their work that way I'm just saying that if you've got I don't know $300 or whatever they charge because that's part of the fee that you know or part of the cost of having somebody drive out to your place and look around and then get back in their car and drive to the next place you don't have any of that expense with a photo so sure sure to me it seems like there should be some concession made if they're if they're willing to do inspections that way for for the for the land owner I know that photos in my past experience have been used for certain type of roof inspections ice and water which is kind of acceptable uh but uh you know you told me about this other and I found that just a little unusual and actually I got I got complaints from two sewer companies in the city here where they did work and it was under when it was still mspec mpec just said take a picture and send me a picture I'll come and inspect it later and the contractor was concerned that if they just took a picture and then their work was denied that that was a legal issue like they didn't actually come look at it they told me to do this but it was just a phone conversation they were worried what if the next inspector shows up and says well I didn't say that because you're not going to get that same guy all the time with a service you know I get it in the case of like an ice and water or an air and Vapor Barrier on a house where that's kind of common practice being in construction for 20 plus years I've never heard of that on a sew sewer system now like I said before for I thought that was highly unusual and a lot of the roof stuff too is some of these companies or even with even building officials that are employed by the city are limited as to what they can get up on a ladder to look at so the photos make sense in that situation but I'm not so sure about the sewer well I mean they have one person that does their sewer inspections and they he does it not just for this area but I mean for a huge area so I'm sure that's one way to help manage the workload and be able to sign off on things and not make people wait I'm not I'm not waiting in on whether they should or shouldn't do that CU that's not my that's not my area of expertise I'm just weighing in on those fees are expensive so if part of the reason you're charging the fee is to cover travel time and there's no travel time then people shouldn't have to pay that yeah I I don't agree with the fee though to your point like you're paying quite a bit for that permit as is Right mhm I don't know and I had mine down here the same time as yours I he did come out a lot of times but I don't know maybe it just depends on what contractor you have or maybe how difficult it is or how close they're trying to do things but I see your point too I agree that they're not coming out and just looking at pictures that's my point I mean you know there's other if there's other uh fees here where they are willing to sign off um using photos that's fine but then I just think there should be some adjustment to the you know you you pay an escrow and maybe there should be a refund on the escrow or something to make up for the difference or there should be a separate fee quoted that if you know inspection is done virtually then you know they take off a half hour travel time or something I don't know it's hard to determine how much is what well I'm sure that they I mean they they figure out their their fee schedule some way I mean we just we just adopt what they tell us it's going to cost right so I mean they figure it out some way that makes a cost flow for them so I'm sure that travel time is part of it yeah and Bill correct me if I'm wrong if we adopted this fee schedule but there was a reduction in the fees would we still have to have a public hearing to amend that cost uh no you do not okay so if you want to go ahead and approve this we'll follow up with safe belt to see if there's a potential reduction in those fees for their using photos we'll be more than happy to do that and report back to [Music] council well the other negative of that would be so he says well I can't send me a photo and and I'm charging you the full price or he says I'll be out in a month to take a look at it I'm so busy then the poor guy get stuck with your project half done and I'm and again I'm not waiting in on whether they should or shouldn't use photos I'm just saying that if they do I think there should be a different fee for that kind of inspection yeah not give them opportunity to not yeah I don't I mean again I I don't know if you can see what you need to see that way but I'm assuming they're the professionals they should be able to to tell that but either that or we need an explanation on how they arrive at that fees even with the photos if that's standard or we need some more clarification on why they're charging that photo versus on-site inspection yeah it'd be interesting to know I'm just thinking how often do they do that how many photo inspections do they make versus you know trip charges and so on I I don't know I I just I mean I know I asked I asked the person that was installing it it's like how come how come there hasn't been any inspector he goes oh we just send them pictures they're okay with that we we do business with them all the time so they know that we're going to do it right and I'm I'm assuming that they did do it right but then I'm thinking heck that doesn't seem right if I'm paying all this money for these and what are they charg for the inspection I don't remember you'd have to look at the fee schedule and part of it kind of makes me wonder too talking with our inspectors they're actually 1099 subcontractors of that company so they could be billing mpck or whoever it is for a trip charge and maybe MPC doesn't even know that that's how they do it or safe built yeah yeah I get the two confused one and the same right safe built they're yeah new name yeah I don't know I mean that's that is true because the person who does the septic is runs his own business and they just subcontract with him so it's not like he's an employee of theirs he is not well Jack can you feel comfortable talking to him about it absolutely just get us some answers then we can pass this but then find out what the correction should be if there's any way to wiggle do we need to pass it the way it is right now I would recomend that we pass it because then we have the schedule going forward starting at the first of the year and it's the new schedule and again we can make amendments to this at any time and is what my reflection of what the interpretation was if there's a reduction in the fee we do not have to have the public hearing we can just publish it and do that but at least we can get an explanation on why they're charging that with the photo versus the on-site inspection okay that makes sense so I'll make the motion to approve the 2020 by fee schedule as presented in the December 23rd 2024 city council packet is there a second this is sui second any other questions or discussion I'll call for the vote I stepped out a minute ago did you resolve that did you resolve that yeah we're we're going we we're saying that we can pass it the way it is and make the adjustment once Jack finds the answer I sue i d i Rob I and Jesse I do we need a separate motion for the policy or can we take up the policy later I think we need a separate motion for the policy can we take it up later since I haven't read it yes if any unless any somebody else has and they're comfortable with it we can take that up at the next meeting if you'd like we can table that till the next meeting all right so hearing that there's no action on the policy and we'll discuss that at the next meeting y item number seven the 2025 meeting calendar that's on page 68 starts on P it's fine no I'm just kidding yeah okay you've been waiting all night to do that I know works good for your schedule yep perfect perfect for your yeah item number C7 annually the city of Columbus sets and approves the meeting calendars for the council Planning Commission Eda and the park board once approved the calendar is posted in the forest lake times and on the City bolon Board in City Hall opposite the South entrance door to council chambers meetings at the Sunrise River wmo Rice Creek and Creek water management districts Forest Lake fireboard and cable commissioner set by their owners respected Boards of directors the calendar of meetings is exhibit in attachment one and staff recommends city council approval the schedule so like like this week we made that change after the fact we're stilla able to make changes after the fact of approving this correctly come see November 24th right that's the day before Thanksgiving there might be yeah people that would like to see it earlier I I do it here but I don't know about the rest of the council we would just have if we want to make a change we just have to publish it in the forest lake times again there's a change in the calendar are Tuesdays still the preferred date for our Workshop preferred day for our Workshop we've moved that around a number of times we used to have it before our meeting you know and I I think I couldn't do Mondays before but I won't be involved now y so Rob you had was one day better for you yeah so the the Tuesday still works fine um for me I was able to move some things around with my other position to accommodate so okay I just wanted to throw that out there cuz I know that that was one that we shuffled around a couple times it's usually Tuesdays for me it's the second and third Tuesdays that I have a conflict but I think we made it so the first and it's the first to use the correct yeah y so thanks for that consideration [Music] Sue any other questions anyone I'll make the motion to approve the 2025 city of Columbus meeting calendar as presented in item C7 on December 23rd 2024 at the city council in the city council meeting packet is there a second Rob all second any other questions I'll call the vote Ron I sue I caned I Rob I and Jesse I number eight Companion Animal Control contract page 71 in our packet [Applause] [Applause] in cooperation with the Companion Animal Control agreement the city currently impounds animals under contract with Northwoods Humane Society due to Staffing challenges and inadequate building space for housing impound animals Northwoods Humane Society has determined they are no longer able to provide animal impound Service as of midyear 2025 as the use of the Northwoods Humane Society impound service was an inter solution the companion animal impound service agreement would become effective January 1st instead of the current renewal date on May 2025 the final version of the agreement is designed to save municipalities impound cost Companion Animal Care is requesting the city of Columbus approve the agreement exhibited in attachment one by January 1st 2025 so Animal Control services in the city can continue as normal once the Companion Animal Center is complete in May 2025 this contract will remain in effect and there'll be no need for an additional or modified contract uh the contract was reviewed by the City attorney and one small change was requested that was agreed to by Companion Animal Care sent you earlier today one of the questions on the previous ones was some issues or some items regarding the fact that Otter Tail Animal Control was listed as a is a uh contractor in this they were not and also reference to Washington County that was removed the um issues that I believe that were brought brought up by council member heglin were taken care of by the elimination of that uh there was also some question as to whether we actually had a contract with Northwoods humane services Humane Society and apparently we do not so this is kind of a one way to get us back on the right track to be contracting with essentially Companion Animal Care so my question and I posee this to Jack is we never had a contract with Northwoods Humane Society a separate impound contract I don't know why that got dropped but it did this one um we would continue to use them from January to May when they're new facility so what do we do to cover ourselves between now in may you mean with Northwoods yeah well I'm I'm assuming that that's still what they're who they're going to use I mean you say in your in your memo here that they don't have they don't have room in and stuff but that's that's where she has brought animals but we don't have one any way of recouping costs with them and we don't have a contract with them and I feel like you know this will set us in a good place going forward beginning in May but it leaves us kind of hanging between January and May and that's a very legitimate question and one that we didn't address in this this was only addressed for the uh Companion Animal Care side uh we could bring this up to Brit to see what we could do in those regards uh regarding your question about how do we recover cost we've kind of changed tactic and strategies on this by requiring that any animal that's released uh were to be noticed so we can actually build that person uh to date we've only had one opportunity to do this and that person has been notified uh they have not responded to our request for Billings so one of our questions would be in this situation what do we do we sent them three notices in the registered letter uh the recommendation that we had previously discussed was to make certain that before any animal was released they had to contact us and show proof that they had paid so that we wouldn't be buil for the charge but we do have one currently that we have build uh like I said we've buil them send them three notices they've not responded we sent them a registered letter and it's my understanding our really only option for collecting that is to uh turn this over to a collection agency can you can you assess it to their property taxes uh not without an ordinance change but if we had an ordinance change you could we'd have to look we'd have to research that I mean I'm just thinking it's not a property issue yeah per se well I don't know there's some parts of law where they do say animals are your property yeah depends on what what what side you're arguing but I I would rather not go down the criminal route just because that costs money and it's hardly ever effective and you sit there and wait for months and months and months for court dates and it's just the you know the best Solutions are when they have to pay you to get their dog back you know and so we could maybe talk to the next you know not not this interim solution but the longer term solution companion Companion Animal Care we could talk to them about do you do that with cities you know can we have a fee that that they collect when they recover their dog well I think that's what they're saying with this new facility right is they have control over that the the reason we're in the position we are now is that they're not in control of it and my concern is that said in I don't remember if it's in this agreement or in the um in the uh comp Companion Animal Care agreement there's a 5day um holding period by law and then they can take the animal and I think I think the way Brit does it is she works with rescues to try to rehome the animal if the animals you know um reable so if you're sitting here trying to collect your fee it's going to take more than 5 days if you're sending registered letters and stuff so how do how do I I it just feels like that we need to talk to her about what we're doing in the interim just so we're on the same page cuz that we shouldn't have gone on as long as we did not having that figured out I think none of us knew that it wasn't figured out kind kind of to your point about the fee thing so we had a new neighbor move into our neighborhood neighbor's dog whether it was heat or whatever it wandered off but it made it to this new neighbor's house well the new neighbor didn't know so they called Animal Control meanwhile our neighbor saw animal control and stopped them on the road and they did charge them a fee to give the dog back to them I think it was like $50 cash is what they had to give them so if they're taking payment how does that all you know cuz we're already paying them to provide the service so are they double charging well it's I it would be I think I think it would be unusual that they would charge the person rather than the city but they called it a drop fee you know like like Kev your car told right trip fee or a drop fee like we won't release it until you give us this did did they actually take the animal to an impound facility or did they not they they stopped them stopped them on the road and they do have a flat charge for going out to do the service I think that's what $95 and mileage so they they do have a fee for that but that gets charged to the city not not to the person that owns the dog Char for that and I know we're not dealing with that person no more but it was whoever they were driving like an amb old ambulance that was converted so this wasn't not this recent one this was two years ago okay anyway I I I think we need to talk to them about the interim how we deal with his interim because it's not it's not just a few weeks or even a month it's five months if they if they open on time to your point Janet I just want to be clear it wasn't companion it was whoever we had under contract previously I just want to see it kind of be more clear right well yeah and I think and if they're double dipping I think in his case it was different with with them because they own their own impound facility and he ran his as a nonprofit sure so it was it was a whole different uh business model um so I'm not I'm not certain that that would have been um unacceptable in his business model but it wouldn't work for for how Brit's running things now and I think one of the things that we discussed or had a brief conversation on before is the issue with Northwoods Humane Society is there a 501c3 and they didn't want to get up in charging anything too because it might affect some of their nonprofit status but they're going to be out of the picture here in five months 6 months so uh we can certainly either develop this as a separate policy uh that might be one of the first task of the new assistant City administrator yep put it on that Workshop agenda and and have that brought before us as a separate item or we can either table this agreement until we have incorporate in that the means of collection for the animals they pick [Music] up well it seems like City and this Companion Animal Care which is who we also have the agreement with for the you know going around and picking up the dogs and responding to to whereas you would have to have a separate agreement with with Northwood Humane Society because that's that's where it all fell apart because Brit didn't that was she wasn't GNA she wasn't going to write that into her contract she was just going to name them as the impound and then we had to have a separate impound agreement with them so so we need to get that sorted out it's a long time and and you know again this is if they open up on time which how often does that happen so I guess my question is do we want to approve this impound contract which would be essentially with Brit going forward and then have a separate agreement for a means of collection I would say no I would say let's not approve this because this isn't taking effect until May anyway and let's get that use that as a lever to get the other things sorted out which we you know otherwise what's otherwise it doesn't she doesn't have any reason to come to the table yeah I agree that makes sense as long as it's not going into effect yet so what do you need a motion to table this you don't need to take any action if the council's consensus is to hold it over it'll just be held over I agree city engineer good evening mayor and councel I was just going to report that Mr B did send a letter to the property owner on the south end of Hornsby regarding the direction and discussion uh at the last council meeting regarding that drainage easement so I think that was his last official act but he did get that taken care of so uh that was just the one item I had thank you oh well thank you and we like how nice and short you [Laughter] are City attorney how short are you oh I can beat that okay no further report all right uh mayor and Council Ron well I can't beat it so I got a couple of things tonight uh uh one real quick I had somebody approach me maybe we talk later when Jack has more time but anybody heard any anybody ever complain about no street lights on Crossroads and like oh yeah yeah yeah so they they caught you too that that was they must have went around on the pancake breakfast and nabbed us well so I brought it up and I was going to bring that up on mine too so I don't know if you want to I kind of tipped off Jim and uh Jack that this was a question and you were going to look into the process like what do we need to do what we need to do is have the residents petition for a street light and then upon that petition in city council could make a direction to install one it's on a Conexus pole even though that's on a County Road we just need to inform the county we do not have to get their permission well when you say petition what does that mean they have to go around and get a bunch of signatures how many signatures or does it just need to be one person that's up to the city council that's the rule that they need to establish I mean we could get three or four I would actually do it by petition if you can't get enough if you think it's you can even act unilaterally on that one of the things we might want to consider too is looking into a program of doing some Street lights at some of these problematic intersections that really need a street light there to enable people to see them better in the night uh I know of a couple just since I've been here that I think would be prime candidates set up as program to do that over a number of years or even one year uh generally the cost on these is going to be between $1,500 to $2,000 if there's a Transformer there and probably $3,500 to $4,000 if there's no transfer no Transformer so my recommendation on this would be to establish a policy by which we want to do it and if we want to do it as a city program then you don't really need the petition you can say here's the ones we want to do but then you'd want to contact all the residents around there because sometimes the residents don't want one because of the light problems the light pollution problems that they think that may be generated from that but this is going to be totally a city council decision on how you want to do that so what's kind of the backstory on it why are they it's it's at this intersection of uh Broadway and no Crossways in the and like it kind of dips down oh where it drops down there yeah there was in fact coming up the following Monday after that uh after that pancake breakfast there was a um mail truck that took a nose dive into the ditch okay yeah not because it was dark not a county issue huh no because it's a Conexus pole this Conexus has permission to use that pole in their rideway it's good to inform the county what we're doing but the county does not have to approve that no but do all the lights down Lake Drive those are ours not the counties if there are any I don't know uh if if they were we'd be getting a bill from Conexus for the power the electrical use on there and I'm not aware of any electrical these were charged for street lights I do see that uh like Kettle River and Broadway we pay for those lights yes I think yeah I think where lights have gone on polls get a bill right that's correct now the ones on Lake Drive may be private lights that were installed by individual Property Owners I don't know I know the county a couple years ago got some safety money where they actually did some lights in East bethl and Lynwood uh but that was for specifically for Viking Boulevard that they got the safety grant money to do that but generally if they're our lights we'll get a bill for them if they're not our lights and I'm going to say they're probably private privately owned but that may be something we might want to consider there's several intersections that you go through here at night that are very difficult to see and maybe it is something want consider a city program I think that's fine I mean when you say they need to PTI there's no policy let's just say there's no policy for this there's no process defined so we're just making up that they have to petition because there isn't right now there isn't any so I like the idea of doing it as a city program because that you know that kind of sets a process in place and you know if you're doing just a specific thing I would think maybe a petition may be the way to go but even with that you can say this is a safety issue and we're going to install street light again though I think part of that process would be notifying the neighbors and getting their input well and when when I you know my point about the petition is if you know somebody wants to petition to have the road paved it's really clear how many signs how many signatures they need to have out of the number of property owners so I if I told them you need to go get a petition it's like well how many I don't who oh far how far I don't know I don't want to put any words in the mayor's mom but's probably saying why don't we put this off till next year well that's why I said I think it's I I'm I'm satisfied with saying let's do this as a city program because I think you're right there are other there are other areas that are probably in need of this as well and previously where I was this is the way they addressed some of these intersections city streets with County Roads where it was an apparent safety issue they developed a program and I think they in all like about 30 street lights over a 5year period mhm are we done with that topic now well are you are you okay with that as an answer sure okay me too we'll look at that next year right mayor you I also would like to uh note that uh in my travels I stopped at the new Washington County Environmental Center today and I don't know how we can maybe talk to Lori getting it out there that uh they take everything that the Blaine takes in other words it's a shorter trip they take everything and probably more it's such a new facility you pull in there we're welcome because we're 7 count or whatever counties to take but uh it's a pretty close it's knocks about 13 miles off of my trip down to plane where is it it's right next to the library it's really the address is 6065 Headwaters Parkway it's on east side of uh 61 by the library or where they got that compost B just south of the compost yard yeah but it's it's a really nice facility I think it cost 10 million or whatever uh the next thing I'd like to talk about is I ran at a funeral I ran two people approached me John and Kim thck uh ther Beck's uh property over here turkey things and this is kudos to our staff uh they were up here this summer I think Jack talking about some their land or turkey farm or whatever and uh they had nothing but uh praise to say about the staff they said the two ladies or whoever helped them went out of their way to so it was a it was a great I don't know these two people I know of them but I but I thought those were good Kudos there and uh the second thing uh since I probably will never get the mic again tonight uh I would also like to thank councilman Sue Wagman for time and effort to make our city run more efficiently and a better place to live Sue spent a lot of time in the past four years assisting on many projects from the Fall Fest to being on a Personnel committee I say the Personnel committee because of the reorganization that was done by you Council woman Janet heglin and our city administrator Jack Davis the hiring and reorganization consumed a lot of time while working a full-time job that's a lot of personal time to uh to devote to the city it's been great sitting next to you Sue and I'll miss you when you leave thank you for your services thank you the second thing I'd like to also thank mayor prer for his service to the city of Columbus 10 years on the Planning Commission and six years as the city mayor you led the city through the covid times and I cannot remember you a meeting you missed I know your phone was always open to the public and if it be a business or a citizen you also have your own projects and business business going on but it appeared that the city was first and you would drop that and run to the city your knowledge of the city's history will be missed but we know where you live so thank you mayor for your service and the time you've given the the city of Columbus thank you R and that's it okay oh no you miss oh I could I'm not done yet up two minutes I did have a two-page exit speech but I shortened it up a little bit and but my first one is um first of all to thank Jesse for your six years of service as mayor but I forgot about the 10 years on Planning Commission um you and your family have shown a real commitment to the service to this community and I appreciate your guidance and Leadership over the years so thank you plus all the things that Ron said cuz those were good too um but for myself myself I um just want to say that it's been a privilege to serve the residents of Columbus I made a commitment four years ago to continue the positive economic development of Columbus to support personal property rights and to ensure conservative financial management in my decision making and the residents voted meem and I and and I feel like I made good on those commitments um looking back on the four years A lot has happened there was a lot of business activity moratoriums um but the most important of all was replacing our city administrator um I really feel lucky that I was able to be part of that process um along with all of the other staff members that we replaced so even though it was a lot of work on the Personnel committee it was worth it and I feel like we really did a good job and staffed it well and and um especially with our latest decision on our um assistant a city administrator I just feel like we're it's complete and it was a good night to have that done so I I feel good walking away and knowing that you know everybody's in good hands staff-wise um but also the council and the council has been great to work with I feel like um it's been a good I mean everybody has been respectful and given opinions and um it was just I don't it was a good experience I mean it was a good learning experience for me super a lot of learning um but I I really feel like the council was everybody on the council was good to work with so that is and I wish you all the best know they never do those at funerals either they never clap no they never clap you don't go to the right funerals all right and Janet they clap at the ones you go to I don't know that would be kind of sad like are they clapping because the person's gone or that's who it is yay um so I will just say Sue it was a pleasure working with you um both on the council and on the Personnel committee and on the Fall Fest um you always delivered on what said you were going to and I always appreciated that I always knew that if you stepped up and said You' do it you would do it and take care of it and um so it was I and like you I feel like we made some real progress with the Personnel committee um initiatives that we've done I think we've done a nice job of setting some things in place for the future for the city too and Jesse what can I say boy we've been on here for six years I've been your Deputy dog for that long and uh I I really um you know I have always said that I I can only have a boss that I respect and I have a lot of respect for you so thank you thank you for all you've done my turn good um only two items I have actually got touched on under uh Sean's report but um what kind of spun out of it as I'm sitting here thinking that West Freeway Drive property I think most of those trees that he brought in were ash trees and I have concern that possibly they were diseased ash trees right is that why they were harvested um we have a big issue there along running as's Boulevard all those ash trees have died off due to disease if you look back into that swamp a lot more dead um wondering kind of in the future do we look at a at a policy on this um you know it's it's kind of far-fetched but it's an issue with what we got going on with the Oak Wilt we got a lot of ashbo issues going on here in Columbus but it's something as we move into the new Administration uh with with Ron taking over as mayor that possibly we can talk about and look into um and then also it was another topic on there um was the uh 167th in zodiac I was approached that's that DNR property um I think a lot of those neighbors are going to want to be meeting with uron um as they're they're likely going to be bringing something pretty heavy for forward uh about that that easement and how it was done and gone about um lots of trespassing issues people walking through private residences with shotguns families are home home uh you know husband or wife might not be there that the kids there and now they see a guy in blaze orange standing in their backyard few hundred yards from their house right um how how we're going to go about that um but definitely parking issues on that road um that that's there's big concerns about blocking of driveways um I did drive over there during hunting season to take a Peak at what it looked like uh lots lots of vehicles um which do we can we minimize can they put a parking lot can they shut it down all together I think those are things that are going to be brought forward uh by the and it's not just one or two it's it's likely the whole Road that's kind of enraged about it so increase traffic speeding all all those things so and uh thank you to Sue and Jesse for your time spent here um I'm guessing you're not going anywhere you'll be around so we'll see you but that's all I have do you have more Personnel Janet or is I don't think there's any no m Planning Commission anything more nope Park Board Parks board report and board member appointment R is that you no I'll I'll I'll take this one Andrea Ms was appointed to the city of Columbus Park Board in 2019 Miss msine has served on the parks board for 5 years and has been an active participant in the activities and work of the board Miss massina has sent in an application or a request for reappointment heart board terms are for three years and Mrs M terms expires on December 31st 2024 as I stated previously she has requested reappointment to the board and this is put to your uh option for that request to be honored staff recommends that she be reappointed yeah you want to make a motion go ahead oh make a motion I move that we approve the reappointment of Andrea massina to the the city of Columbus Park Board effective January 1 2025 I'll second that motion any more discussion all the vote Ron I sue I Janet I Rabbi Jesse I Jim Public Works uh Mr Mayor and councel just want to thank you guys for another good year um seems like they just keep clicking um I want to thank Sue and Jesse for their thankless service um I don't think people realize how much work it is to be on a city council um you guys have figured it out you and you've done a great job and I I appreciate working for you so that's all I have thank you thank you ja I've got two things one of's kind of boring one of's kind of exciting the boring thing is that we have two of our council members who will be going off the Council December 31st there also two of our check signers our current policy is we have three check signers to sign all the bill list and checks and uh I would like to request that Council appoint two more members or even reduce that down to one uh so we need those really before the next meeting before because we need to get the check sign before the meeting so with that uh currently Ron is a check signer so we need Sue and and Jesse are if you want to keep three we'd have to appoint two if we if we can we can just do it with two or if you wanted to I could be one of the check signers since unlike Elizabeth I do not code or do anything with the billing so in some cases the city administrator is accept accepted as a check signer so it's entirely up to you but we need do need a minimum of two or three the other thing that is related to that and I want to bring up at one of our first work meetings is going to electronic check signing the system we have here is kind of a carryover from the township and it's somewhat archaic and it's difficult to manage sometimes we may not have but three city council members here and we may not be able to get all the checks signed and it's difficult to manage that and sometimes pay the bills on time without having to run all you down and cause you inconvenience too so that's one thing that we'll be bringing up so at this time though I would like to ask that uh you appoint one or two more check signers for the 2025 list of those people who are authorized to sign checks for the city what's the what's the uh rationale for three rather than two there that's just been the past practice just go with three three that are left or if we went with two we would have Braun you're still here and Jack and then we wouldn't have to I mean I I don't know what is the benefit of having three versus two is it another set of eyes I know well I I'm assuming at one time it was a set of eyes back when we were a Township and I'm sure this is just a transfer and a carry over from Township policies Mr mayor council I spoke with Jack at the last meeting this really is something that dates back to town board days where there's a lot fewer staff they were much more Hands-On and and the checks just went down the the Das as they still do uh most cities do not do this so that that's a larger discussion but you know I think you could appoint you know two would be sufficient three would be fine if you want to you know name the remaining council members just to get you through the new year but I I I do think that it makes sense I've been at many many Council meetings and I think you're maybe the only ones that do that okay signning exercise so uh I was just going to say do I can't remember when I got on the sign them do we had to go to the bank or yes yeah you'll have to go to the bank and get on the signature list you're already on it yeah but I'm just saying that and and we can change it as quick as possible and do you have to have three signatures now you can't just have two is that correct I mean on the checks you have to have three signatures now the bank would require that so you'd have to make that change at the bank as well that's correct oh so we should appoint three for now until we change that well two as long as you make the appointment we take that to the bank and show them that's the official policy of the city could be changed to two why don't we just leave it all three and if Janet's willing I'm willing all three of us that are remaining could be on it and then the first of the year we'll go to electronic so is that what you alluding alluding to like a doy sign type of deal so it isn't say that again Rob would it be like a doc you sign type of deal is that what you were alluding to electon what it would be is you would approve once you approve the bill list that approves the checks we don't cut the checks until after you approve the building so there's no sign so since it's electronically and electronically signed it's just a matter of takes just a few minutes to do that yep sure so the signature thing is only until we get that in place yes correct I I the only thing that I would say Rob is that right now there's three of us that have to sign the check so if you're not here not the check doesn't get signed sure so if that's a concern of yours whether you're going to be here to sign him in a timely manner then I would say let let Jack be one of the other the third signature since he's always here I'm usually here you're here are you saying if if in relation to if I'm on Zoom is that what you're getting out yeah or just you know you're traveling or whatever I mean I I I know that that's a problem when we don't get all the things signed for you as it is right now and I I don't care I mean I don't really I'm not dying to be a check signer but I'm just saying that and it's only going to be for a short period of time I think cuz we're all going to be in favor of doing it in a faster more efficient way and and and neither am I I'm hoping we can get to this electronic means and that takes all that all view y so and it still solves the same does the same thing and they're still control so how I mean maybe for for uh Rob's sake I mean are you're thinking that might happen the next month or two because then it's a really short period of time you know if you're here or you're not and whether that's going to be a problem I can make that happen within a month okay then it's probably not an issue mhm at least I don't know I don't know what your travel schedule is yeah I don't either sometimes there could be a strike in Wisconsin tomorrow so what do we need a motion or consensus or no you need a motion so we need a motion to designate who check signers two new ones I'm sorry two new ones y two new check signers for 2025 and I'm already on there one is Ron hanra and the other is Jack Davis no well we have to Ron is already on yep so we're we're assigning two more uh so it be Jack and Janet okay and he's already on for 202 or or it could B it and R doesn't matter I mean one of us can do it I just think Jack you're an easy one because you're always here so well if we need two why even just put jack on it me and Jack will because you need three right now could it be Jack and our new assistant City administrator so in the event that Jack's not here he can sign he doesn't start for two weeks I think given the this is just a transition I would keep it with the council members and and Jack but I don't think you want to have a majority staff and and he won't start till January the 13th anyway so sure yeah because because the control that that Jack has described is you're approving the electronic checks when that occurs so that's the control here here you're doing it you're you're approving it by sign up M all right so let me re take that all back and start over Okay for 2025 the check signers will be Jack Davis Ron hanra and Janet hegland and hopefully it'll only be for a month if they go bad Janet you pick it up no which bank do you have to go cuz when I did this for Sunrise I had to actually go to the bank yep you'll have to go to Wells Fargo in Forest Lake mhm Y and so I can contact our customer relations manager um and we can even set up appointments um I know with Ron and Jesse um when they had to go in and sign uh we were able to set up appointments so you're not standing there waiting MH all right so you move that I'll second any other questions or discussions I'll call for the vote Ron I sue I Janet I robney and Jesse I and now for the good part and obviously I'm the last person that gets to do the congratulatory message to the the departing council member and the departing mayor but I've got something to give your service for four years has been great for the city um privileged to have served for you with one year I wish it could be more but thank you for all you've done this is a little momento from the council to you thank you Jesse your service for 10 years on the Planning Commission and for your six years as mayor has been great for the city and I appreciate working under you and I wish it been for more than one thank you very much thank you thank you well thank you well I will say one more thing I know everybody wants to to go but and Jack when Elizabeth said she was changing career paths we were pretty holy smokes so anyway then you came along and you fit right in with the city and you brought your expertise and your commitment so in the spirit of the holiday thank you yeah and I would love to stay and work some more it's really been a pleasure thank you well and you know that goes to all the staff here and all the city council members this is a great place to work and we've got a great group and we'll continue to move forward there we go thank you very much announcements and reminders city council meeting January 8th at 6 p.m. be here be square um need a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn I'll second that I'll call for the vote r i Sue I Janet robbi and Jesse I our meeting is adjourned Merry Christmas everyone and happy New Year [Music]