[Music] we are right at 7:00 so I'll call tonight's city council meeting to order and um Jolene could we have a roll call please Jolene I'm you just not roll for the record I will got it I'd like to invite everyone to rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance FL of the United States of America to the for stands na indivisible with and justice for all Council we have an agenda before you I will entertain a motion to approve or any changes also move I'll second we have a motion and a second all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and our agenda is approved our next item is open Forum open forum is any interested parties opportunity to address Council on any topic of your choosing and um M plats good evening I'm welcome um I'm myON Plotz I live at 6485 184 Street North I'm uh vice president of the Forest Lake athletic Association board and I'm here to talk about the proposed uh Parks Commission to remove the voting right from a member of the flaw board to serve on there end of school council um we find that very offensive we've spent many years supporting that field before the city could do it for probably 10 years we put all the bases out we chocked fields we drag fields we aligned them we did all that before the city got involved and now the Parks Commission is coming along and they would like us to serve on their board without a voting right AR we about voting rights in this country I mean it's pretty important if you want I should have some of you serve and then not be able to vote on what happens that would be terrible so to remove that from the people that have put all their sweat into tears into that to grow that facility what it is today now and then say h we'd like you to serve in the board but really can't vote on anything that's going to happen here that would be absolutely insane I mean we haven't had a city council rep on our for fla board we used to have one that attended pretty regular since Kelly Monson she was the last one right we serve thousands of kids in this community so I would think that the least we could have is one vote on a Park Board commission that's one of the major Premier parks in the city we bring in thousands of people to play softball football baseball um lacrosse and we should get no response or input onto what's going on and the vote on that I said I think that's just way out of line for the board to even because city council even be considering allowing the park board to P that pass that so I'm glad you're here and we will have more discussion on this topic as we consider this item um I wonder if there's been something Lost in Translation but we that's something we can talk more about when we get to that agenda item great thank you glad you're here thanks for the input is there anybody else that would like to speak as part of open Forum this evening all right um we will bring agenda back to council Council for your consideration tonight is our consent agenda and on our consent agenda this evening we have items 6 a through 6r I will entertain a motion or any changes to the consent agenda make a motion to approve consent agenda items a through R I'll second we have motion and a second all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose and consent agenda is approved our next item moving on to the regular agenda our next item is um consideration of Public Services 2023 Services review and Bev Matias is here this evening is anybody else presenting prior to Bev Bev welcome if you like to come to the podium thank you so much it's great to be back [Applause] okay so I'm here this evening to share some really good news and a lot of data from 2023 um recycling I'm sorry to interrupt we're having technical difficulties that were supposed to have been corrected today and they seem to be continuing so there just a moment here they're all up oh it they were they just flickered off yeah except for mine they they come and go and now mine is off let's see about this oh nothing did your monitor do anything no it kind of turned into a blue screen on our blue screen it's the same screen as what's on the side okay Gremlins here we got it oh okay well I'm going to go and print these for you guys we're they're in our packet I they are they packet that's true the the other ones in the packet they're up now that's right she actually it's a different one it's a different so should I go through this now or why don't yes why don't we have you go um we can follow along it's in our packet if you just want give us guidance on which slides you're speaking to um actually it's not in your packet oh um there was a I'm sorry the wrong one went in the packet this is the correct let's hold until we can get them printed then okay we just got the correct one this evening while I was going back and forth so um just a minute here and it's going to the printer connection it was I'm G to try one other thing real quick [Music] are your monitors on yes when Plan B fails go to plan C we've had a few plans this evening and I started it all transparency B do you just want to let me know when to progress the slides and I can do that for you sure I appreciate that thank you okay again um I'm here to present the 2023 reporting for recycling I've got some really fun news to share tonight um you can move to the next slide please and so I wanted to first let you know we've had some some nice shifts in terms of the types of recycling that people are doing you know in terms of size we're always trying to divert more and more of the material from trash to recycling and we're starting to see a nice shift there um I have the container counts um on you on your presentation there and the the really neat thing about this slide is that 79 households with the 96 gallons decreased their carts to either the 65 or the uh3 2 Gall so that was a really nice shift to see as we continue to you know to get closer to that zero waste goal for the state of Minnesota um this is really wonderful to see next slide I supp I could move this okay on this slide here um our tonnages tonnages have been something to really watch since the pandemic during the pandemic time we saw the tonnage rise significantly and um and since the pandemic a lot more folks have gone back to work people have gone back to schools um we're starting to you know we're starting to see some things normalized there um although we see the recycling tonnage decreasing that is normal we're seeing that in other cities we're seeing that most people are back now so I would expect that that number will hold pretty steady um from this point forward we still have some folks working at home and hybrid situations but I think for the majority of us we're all back in the office now so we'll keep an eye on the tages watch what's happening and um report back again next year then the next slide this is the best slide it's really good news you know when we first started um working with you folks and working with City staff on recycling education um some of some of the areas were as high as 30% contamination and so a lot of Education efforts um have happened over the last several years in 2021 our our audit that we did we had 18% contamination in that audit in 22 it went down to 10% and I'm so excited to tell you that in 2023 it was down to 6% um our recycling center our limit is 15% that's always the goal under 15% and that's set by the state um so to have a 6% to know how significant that is you're in the top three cities that I manage the contracts for Republic so um this is a really great news um slide here for all of you and kudos to staff for for helping educate the residents so um really great you can see in terms of the M material types we're collecting a lot of OCC what that is is cor old corrugated cardboard so we get a lot of cardboard in the recycling stream and also a lot of mixed paper um and then you can see the other percents um there listed so really great news to see a 6% it's rare that I see that the next one is how happy are the residents with the service um we have surveys if a resident calls in with a complaint or even a billing inquiry they may be surveyed um we're all measured in terms of our success at the business unit in house satisfied our customers How likely are they to refor to refer us to others so here's just a sampling of some of the comments from the surveys I'm really pleased to also to tell you that granted I get the escalations from the city and there are months that can go by and I've not heard an escalation so we are it means that we're taking care of things when there is an issue or problem we're taking care of it right away um um but it's been really quiet so knock on wood we're pleased the next slide in 20124 we've got some more planning to do there have been a lot of staff changes since the beginning of the year um but we' stayed up with a lot of of wonderful things here um next on our agenda will be the winter preparation we had a very mild winter last year which was very nice for us it was very kind um great for public works too I'm sure um but we do have some private roads that we have had some concerns with in the past we have um we also want to partner with Public Works to make sure that we're set up for winter should it be a real winter this year um being able to get down all the streets safely and service um is certainly very important um and then the next slide is um something new so we continue to elevate our customer experience we have our call center we have our local business unit myself and staff um but what we implemented here late in 2023 was artificial intelligence and a system so now we're able to to pull reports and understand very quickly if an agent is in need of coaching on any of these areas and mainly um demonstrating ownership yes customer I'm going to help you we will get this fixed or we will get this resolved and then the active listening having a real discussion with the resident acknowledging the stated issues yes I understand this is the problem let's take let's work together I'll get this taken care for you and then asking those meaningful questions the questions behind you know really digging in to find out what is the root cause here so the agent can take that back to the hauling the hauling um location so we can dispatch a truck make a phone call get things taken care of very quickly so this is something our coaches now are are looking at they're pulling active reports there are times um you know where if we've had a weather event they'll want to do audits to find out how are how are you handling those calls so this has really elevated our whole customer experience and um we're we've been pleased with this new program so far this software the next piece this just tells a little bit more about what we're really focusing on those calls we want to make sure that it's a good tone not you know this person was very crabby on the phone we want we want our residents to have a good experience also demonstrating empathy active listening those probing questions to really root cause and just get it done with a one call resolution I think that's what we all want any questions about 2023 or any potential concerns you have in 2024 any questions Council just for those that are watching ing um Can somebody just give a recap on where we are with Contracting um I know we just did a renewal but can some just sure we are finishing up the first contract and that ends December 31st of 2024 the new contract goes into effect January 1st 2025 it's a five-year contract and um I'm sure that when we update the micro site um on for Lakes website um what we'll do then is is we'll work with City staff to be able to post the new contract if you wish and certainly we'll update the rates on the micro site and and anything that should change it's really pretty close to the same contract there were very few revisions I think also um hearing back from feedback on residents on the service and the annual rate increases as they go into effect I'm just to reminder we should do some additional um just education and social media of what the increase is and then also breaking out the Tipping fee as that's the portion that's outside of everyone's control and great idea helpful to um proactively in front of that um kind of just remind everybody that this is the contract what to expect with rate um you get that teed up for some social media outreach absolutely yeah I think that's a great idea and as soon as those tipping fees um as soon as the County's tipping fees are released we'll be able to start doing that okay anything else on this topic tonight Council all right thank you for being here well thank you so much okay our next item on on our agenda is the amended Parks and Recreation coordinator job job description and um authorization for ad vertising uh Christina mayor and Council we last talked about um how to fill the vacancy in the park and wreck supervisor position at the May 28th meeting we'd had some discussions at that meeting about creating a mid-management level position in public works um the St staff and I talked about this over the last couple months and we're coming back with you tonight for your consideration of a different proposal um we revised it the position to be a park and wreck coordinator position we do still feel really strongly that it should be in public public works so that all of the parks functions are within one Department rather than split across Public Works and Community Development um we heard some concerns last time about the cost of the mid-management position and we think we can make it work um at the same grade six as the previous position but again aligning it with public works so that um there can be some better synergies there so included in your uh packet tonight is a copy of that updated job description same grade level um so the fiscal impact we had had in the in the budget was that higher position if you choose to go this route it'll be a savings of about $30,000 that we'll get to um reduce the TW proposed 2025 budget by and with that I will answer any questions and I know that um director AB director Adams and uh director Whitman can help as well thank you Abby Council open it up any questions comments on the revisions that have been made any feedback or concerns I'm happy to see the adjustments that um adjustments made to this that you know kind of based on council's last round of feedback I'm happy to support this this evening um but also want us to have conversation if anything's needed should go ahead so I think I voiced concern uh the first time around on this and I I'm just Public Works we're told all the time is is overworked and underst staffed I understand we're adding another position here but I just I'm a little hesitant but if this is what staff is recommending strongly I'd like the opportunity to at least review it in another 6 months to 9 months to see if this is really the the model we want to move use going forward and um if we have that opportunity then I'm I'm willing to support this tonight but I I just we you know and maybe also would help once the a Parks Commission is is placed um their feedback on how they think it works has to be valuable uh been concerned without having that for this this long a time especially making a major decision like this without public feedback from folks like those so those are my hesitancies but I would support it if we can review it um within at least the year nine months are you open to getting through a first year I always think you have to get through the first round of everything first to really get a full cycle um I worry about doing something 6 months in we're still adjusting and there's a lot of get up to speed yeah unless there was some flags that were just something wasn't was a miss or wasn't working the way maybe staff thought it would I I a year is fine does that seem workable as plan to do a a re-evaluation within a year in yeah I think of a full cycle just through everything I mean there's the events in the summer through the winter time through contracts through through everything it's you're going to need a year to know if it works or not regardless of where you put it so I think three evaluate this time next year is probably you know a good thing um timeline if Council approves this this evening is the timeline to post it immediately and to start recuiting yes we post it tomorrow uh for three weeks and hopefully be doing interviews in September and getting somebody seated October november-ish that's good please sorry um I just wanted to Echo um council member Robert's concerns because as stated prior that I'm I I I like the compromise too um because I'm just worried that putting more work on Dave knowing that Public Works is already kind of strapped with the workers and the workload um and the concerns that have come from city council to Dave that I would be concerned that with where we want to see Parks going into the future um and with a new board coming on and all the policies we want to look at and anything new coming within Parks I'd be concerned that parks would kind of become get pushed under the rug um and I just don't want that for us so as long as we can remember to keep up to keep um Parks an important department within our infrastructure I think that's important and then again um coming back and looking at and just making sure that uh if we need changes then let's make those changes just because we don't want to see what happened going to be 2 years ago in a few months happen again so just making sure that it's working for everyone and um for staff in the community just just to add one comment I I think the former coordinator position it's it's going to be the same that's all they're going to f focus on is Parks and wreck it'll just be you have that support of public work so if you have a park submission that wants to know about a Parker we need to get something fixed at a Parker that you're going to have public works as that support it'll be a a quicker response time with maintenance and myself is is overlooking that sometime I think we're that got divided as we had Administration here in public works where sometimes you know things got lost um so I think this position is not going to change of what that person does it's that's that's what they're going to do as parks and Rick it's just they're going to have myself and Parks foreman and a whole Public Works staff have to support that so I I just yes it's going to be more work and it's going to be a learning curve and there's going to be some some pain there just to try to get it all figure out but I think honestly it fits in there better just of what parks does and you know what we need to do there so I think you're going to have support on all that even with Council agendas where you want to talk about Park development well you're going to have support on myself or parks for to know what it's going to take to maintain stuff and all that so yes it's going to going to be extra work for the next year or so to try to get this person on board it's going to take a full cycle but I I really think you're going to see that's going to work pretty well being in that department so yes I don't not the biggest fan of taking all the rest of the work on but I I think that's I think that's where it actually I think that's where it belongs and this person's that's what that's all they're going to do is Parks and wck they're not going to be doing maintenance or doing anything else it's just it's going to be supported by Public Works think it's important that this position isn't an island and I I think the last position there was just reporting directly to for a period of time reporting directly to the city administrator and kind of always being split between Community Development and Parks is um we saw some disadvantages of that and so being kind of in in part of the same everyone's kind of reporting up to the same structure I think there's some benefits but also again let's leave room for that to be adjusted as needed just like we would any other Staffing position if it's not working let's adjust it in the future but I I think the headliner here is let's get recruiting on this position um I I feel strongly that this position having in being in place is important as we're thinking about bringing that Parks Commission back online and um I know that there's a lot of um everyone's very anxious to do that and so I think this is step one any other points of points of feedback or questions ready for a motion if anyone's ready i' move that Council um approve the Parks and Recreation coordinator job description and authorize staff to advertise for applicants at grade six is there a second I'll second it we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and motion carries our next item this evening is the Parks and Recreation Commission ordinance and Abby thank you mayor Bay and members of the council in January of 2023 you adopted ordinance number 721 that had repealed and replaced the city code pertaining to the former Parks trails and lakes commission and at that time the ordinance outlined the roles and responsibilities of a new Parks and Recreation Commission as well as the two departments that we're managing um the park System since the adoption of the ordinance no commission has been appointed as the city is now um transitioning Parks into a division of Public Works um it is time to start looking at reinstating that commission um looking at the ordinance uh amendments were needed to remove references to Community Development out as I mentioned even I think probably in January of 2023 it's unconventional to be outlining staff duties and city ordinance um so we knew that amendment was necessary we came back to you earlier this year to discuss the ordinance to talk about any other potential changes that might be needed one of them at that time as uh was brought up earlier in the open Forum was the membership from the area school district and athletic association both parties that were contacted by City staff about their interest in serving in in these roles in discussions with the council the council had directed staff to look at adding in ad hoc positions that would be in the room a part of dialogue um be able to help inform the commission but allowing that commission to make decisions now that being said um the commission would be made up of voting members of the community and any voting member of the community could also serve on flaw or the be a part of the school district um so tonight before is an ordinance uh 740 that codifies the direction provided by the council previously um you have options to move to approve ordinance 740 with or without modifications you can direct us to amend it and bring it back before you um staff would recommend that the council move to approve the ordinance as it's related to the um related to The Parks and Recreation Commission as presented and then approve the resolution that authorizes summary publication of ordinance 740 I'm certainly available if you have any questions for me thank you Abby um Council let's open it up questions comments I um so I know we've had some back and forth discussion on kind of role of so role of both flaw and role of the school district and um I just want to start by saying from the start of this process um the goal has always been to have a tight partnership there and to have um not just a a dotted line um I say dotted line we've we we recognize that we had um a a flaw representative from Council that would attend flaw meetings we also had a Fenway Park um Advisory board that would meet occasionally to talk about Fenway Park um and we also had a Park commission and over time um through discussions if I can just summarize it it felt very disjointed and so as we were reconsidering what the park commission should look like the goal was or the the conversation and motivation has always been can we just bring these things together rather than having these separate conversations about what's happening with the flaw advisory representative and what's happening with the Fenway Park Board which is not the full Park commission let's just bring everybody under the same roof and so that was the intent and um and then and and then as that was evolved we did get some Community feedback that said wait why are you taking two positions and you kind of removing two community members and giving them to the school district and the fla which is I I believe good feedback right we're we're essentially taking two community members and kind of taking them off the table and giving those to a designated position I believe we've also heard some feedback and staff please correct me if I'm wrong that maybe and maybe more on the school district part based on the feedback we just heard from flaw of they don't necessarily need to be at every single meeting and maybe don't need to be a voting member and so I think what we've tried to do is to find what is the right position to get everybody at the same table and in the right seat that's appropriate for the role um not to exclude not to not give voting rights not to not give a voice but to also practically recommend or recognize that there are going to be things that come in front of the park commission that either either of those bodies may or may not want to have a strong voice in and so if we've got it not right I I'm okay like let's get this right um but I just want to be clear on what the motivation has been is which is to have clear communication to um again get everybody at the same table with the same information rather than kind of this peacee relationship governance approach approach that we had previously um I guess with that with that I'm open to feedback on or thoughts on what should we do with the the um kind of the the two positions that are currently listed as advisory is ex official is that what the language that we're using correct ad hoc actually ad um I'm open to thoughts from Council on solving for this [Music] um oh god well I was going to say why would we do that I mean what what motivation or what what could possibly be better than to have them vote and rather than having them vote you know well I think so maybe Christina and Abby maybe we haven't thoroughly vetted um kind of the needs of what's what the needs are going to be for participation um with both the district and flaw because I I believe there's there why wouldn't we do that you know your question is why wouldn't they be a voting member there may be certain topics that or certain meetings that are not pertinent and um they may not wish to always have full participation like you would if you were you know at every single monthly par commission meeting there my recollection of our earlier conversations were also that um and again perhaps more towards the school district that it was hard to get folks to show up and so um one of the advantages of having them as non- voting members is they don't count against your Quorum quota so again they can still be there be part of the discussions but if for whatever reasons you know they have have challenges in either appointing people or getting people to show up it's not harming the Commission in that way would be one reason to go non voting and if you if I might add I think one of the comparable um commissions for the city is the Eda where you have membership from the County's CDA and our local Chamber of Commerce to agencies that we really rely on Partnerships with but that aren't necessarily voting members we already kind of have that model in place where our closest partners are at the table are a part of the dialogue um most often when it's you know relevant or most important um but leaving it up to the citizens to make the decisions so in previous commissions or with the parks trails and lakes commission I mean had either the school district or flaw had any sort of a voting position at all to inform no nor even this ex official role um or advisory role it was certainly invited me invited you know guests from time to time public meeting always welcome to um participate but not certainly not a formal seat at the table and so this was our again trying to come out of this we've got a you know a separate working group we've got a leaz on position trying to bring that together um was the motivation it's really not a takeaway in that respect from historical right practice right and to an earlier point if somebody from Forest Lake also served on fla they would absolutely have an opportunity to have a voice so there is a path to that end right the not a takeaway but also to um Mr Pott's point during open Forum um that Fenway Advisory Board in anticipation of the said Fenway Advisory board has not met right and we also have not been appointing a flaw um uh leaz on and we we did though that in anticipation of this move thinking that this move was right around the corner you know um again we've this has been delayed um and so there's um I mean that is fair criticism that we have not had that seat at the table but I I do have I I council member Roberts go ahead you okay so I I I think this is a positive we have an official seat at the table now they do the school district and and flaw um I don't know what the percentage is but I have to guess that out of all the decisions that the park board's making maybe only half of those are related to the school district or um what flaw has to do with it so I think it's important to have residents who are taxpayers in the community making that final decision on some of those things um to uh director Whitman's point we I've been on the Eda for a number of years we had two people that were non- voting and we valued their opinion and took that in just as much as staff or or even our own opinions so um I think it's great that they're involved I just I'm concerned about the voting part of it and they'll certainly have a seat at the table and all ears and eyes open um because we value those relationships I am um a little hesitant to move forward tonight though um just I um just based on the emotion and the the sentiment that was expressed during open Forum I think rather than just yes we heard you but we feel otherwise I would rather us table this tonight and have staff have a conversation with both entities just to clarify what is the intent and just make sure that it is agreeable and if it's not agreeable let's this isn't this isn't to create an ordinance that creates some level of conflict um and if we're not there yet let's take a time out table this tonight um and then bring it back once we've had a broader conversation with both parties would be my recommendation but I is can I is this the first feedback we've heard from flaw and or have we heard anything from the school district on this um no and to a fair point mayor beans uh we didn't necessarily reach out to them we had reached out to both parties numerous times to see about um finding an appointee or having one of their appointees fill out an application we've been you know soliciting commission applications for quite some time we haven't neither party has brought forward that um I understand the concerns that were brought up tonight I understand that we should take some opportunity to discuss with our partners the only other thing that I would just ask and it might be a legal question um both of these parties the school district and flaw we either give or receive money to as part of our operations of the Parks and Recreation Commission and so I don't know if um I defer to you mayor Bane if you want to ask legal council whether or not that would impact um the city's decision on having voting members from these organizations yeah go ahead thank you you're honor Council so um under the uh conflict of interest rules and laws of the state if you are going to financially benefit from some sort of a an agreement you obviously cannot vote on that agreement so depending upon what sorts of you know um things were coming before the park board the the very votes that they may want to vote on they may be precluded from voting due to a conflict of interest issue would under our new structure with them being being a recommending body to council and Council being the Contracting body can they vote to recommend a council or is that in and of itself a conflict uh so that would fall under the the gray area so it would be the lons v um uh what the Watershed case so there's there's the factors I would caution against it because it's still they do have a financial interest at the end of the day that they would be receiving on the contract so if somebody wanted to object potentially their could be an objection to the to the validity of the contract essentially I I still feel like it's worth a a follow-up conversation with both parties just to be clear on intent um I would move that we before I move because as soon as I move we're going to stop conversation is there other questions or conversation on this I would move that Council table um the consideration of uh ordinance 740 um until our next council meeting and direct staff to have conversation with both interested parties um just to clarify the nature of the ordinance is there a second I'll second have a motion in a second moves don't have or motions to table don't have discussion all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and motion carries our next item this evening is consideration of the predatory Offender Registration ordinance and Captain HRA good evening mayor and city council uh before you you have a packet uh which is a ordinance that restricts predatory offenders on where they can reside in our city um we are not the first to the table on this we are one of the last to the table there are many municipalities around the metro area that already have this um when I started to develop this ordinance um I took a lot of takeaways from a lot of different municipalities that were similar in our size our Geographics everything else one thing that remains consistent is that prohibits distance from schools daycares um and any other um area where we feel that like a city park would be subject to that um the 1,200 foot rule that's in your packet that is a compromise from different municipalities some are less some are greater um so the way that this ordinance is lined out it is not egregious or is not lacking on any teeth on the way it's done so in front of you as well which are also copies is the Minnesota Department of no vacation act and I just want you to be aware of why it's very difficult for the police department in General on how we can release any information on a predatory offender um if someone is convicted of a certain crime against a person specifically a sexual offense and that person does not go to prison meaning they don't go a year and a day that means that they are unassigned a level which still requires them to register as a predatory offender however we cannot release any information on them so when you look at that when you look at a level one level two level three obviously level three is some way that we can have a community notification and tell everybody this is a crime they're committed of or convicted of but the unassigned the level ones and even some of the level twos are the ones that we cannot discuss we cannot give out information on this ordinance the way that it's written out is going to prohibit anyone trying to come into our city to reside on where they can be and the reason we want that is to keep the community safe keep our kids safe it allows us to have a better track on where these parties are residing in our city um the map that is also in your packet uh I created that and it is saved on the Bolton and M um site so if anyone has any further questions like if we're within 2 feet or 3 feet we can go on that site and I can measure that distances if anything new comes into the city any registered daycare centers anything like that we can update that map and answer any questions for that thank you Council let's open it up for um discussion or any consideration Captain you made a comment that it this ordinance gives us an opportunity to better track does it give us an opportunity to better track or does it give us better um kind of enforcement mechanisms once something's been known it gives us a better enforcement um mechanism for the fact that if somebody who is has to register as a predatory offender throughout the state they have to notify the Bureau for criminal apprehension they in turn notify the police department this is the intent on where this person is going to move into our community that gives us the Restriction to tell that party you are not allowed per city ordinance to reside within that distance of this park this daycare center so that's the notification the BCA notifies you that this is the registered address and you're able to then confirm you're within 12200 ft if should we approve the ordinance yes okay and then should that notification not happen and ordinary course of police work you become aware that there is an offender at that address are you then able to take action as well yes if that was the case that would be considered a non-compliant predatory offender through the state statute and that would all that would be a felony level the ordinance is a misdemeanor level this is strictly to help help us um basically navigate where somebody is able to reside within the city so if a predatory offender moved into um the city of force Lake didn't tell the BCA or register with the BCA they would then become non-compliant that is then a felony charge through the county level Council any concerns follow-up questions related to the ordinance this seems like a no-brainer to me it does I my only question is what don't answer this but why didn't we do this last year but it's um I think certainly something a tool that's needed and um and and certainly um support the the distance that has been selected Madam mayor I make a motion that we adopt ordinance 741 an ordinance and acting Force like city code in title uh 133 chapter 130 Section 1 3.13 restricting the locations of predatory offenders residents there's a motion is there a second second Mo motion a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose motion carries a point of point of order yes um so if you go to page 171 in your packet uh you'll see that there's actually two motions so just a quick clarification on why you're having two motions for this ordinance um moving forward we're going to be separating out a resolution that allows summary publication of an ordinance historically that had just been incorporated into whatever ordinance you passed you also just passed that we would be not publishing the entire ordinance but just a brief summary of that ordinance um now that we have Julene and she is really on top of it we're able to be a little bit more um uh detailed in how we're doing it and um and so we'll we have an separate resolution for that there may be situations and I'm not suggesting this as one of them but there may be situations where Council would decide we don't want this ordinance to be published in a summary you know summary fashion we want the entire ordinance published this is probably not one of those situations if it is I think at a staff level you we would have a conversation about maybe why we would suggest that and then you would not have this second motion but generally moving forward if it's an ordinance you can plan on having to pass two motions uh both Jolene and I are going to be trying to watch that so we make sure to catch catch it and have you guys do that each time okay so you're looking for motion number two there the motion I am I'm looking for motion number two please right the motion to approve resolution I I'll make that motion to approve resolution 08-12 d246 authorizing summary uh publication of ordinance 741 enacting section 13.13 restricting the location of predatory offenders residence second motion and a second any discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose motion carries thank you Captain thank you our next item this evening is consideration of um selection of a firm for our Public Works Space study needs and I believe Christina you're walking us through this may and councel um at the June 10th meeting you authorized the issuance of a request for proposals for the public works facility assessment or space needs study proposals were due July J 15th um and we received seven proposals by that deadline they ranged in cost from1 18,200 to $1 14,48 um director Adams and I reviewed all seven proposals uh based upon the criteria that were outlined in that RFP and we are recommending tonight that you would award um the contract to Wal they were not the lowest um proposal but we felt that for the extra $1,700 that they offered much more um many more Council meetings and stuff as you work through this um while the other um the top scoring one was ortal we couldn't justify double more than double the cost at this stage it's a very preliminary kind of boxes on sheets of paper kind of um approach uh you certainly may take a different approach once you get to hiring the actual architectural and design of the facility so um that's kind of how we landed where we did at not the cheapest um but also not the highest scoring one either we felt like those things balanced out so we're looking tonight for for you to authorize the mayor and clerk to enter into a contract with wal um after it's been reviewed by the City attorney be happy to answer any questions thank you Christina Council any questions you might have also seemed fairly straightforward nice to have a nice path forward ready for a motion if anyone's ready I'll make a motion to authorize the mayor and the clerk to enter into a contract with W for the public work space needs study after the City attorney reviews it motion is there a second second have a motion in a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose motion carries that is the end of our action agenda for this evening we are going to move into a discussion topic um and a workshop session on um cannabis um just to note that anything that we talk about in this meeting is um that requires official action is going to come back before Council for an official vote this is a more informal working session um if you have been following this topic um immediately after the um last round of legislative changes we did take some action as a council and it has been a a while since we have kind of reconsidered our next steps this is that next consideration of those next steps uh starting to shape what is cannabis going to look like here in Forest Lake um and again I would Vision that this to be part you know part one of a several step conversation on um us being prepared for um the Cannabis regulations have take effect so Amanda floor is yours thank you your honor Council just waiting for the presentation to load up we're hoping should we coming anyone's monitors anything popping uhuh well it's a good thing I printed paper I'll keep working on okay I'm going to grab my laptop remember I thank you it's acting like there's a short somewhere or somebody's got a switch they're just messing with you jene I think Ryan's got a switch okay he's awfully quiet down there it must be him let me turn yeah is it like the old school TVs okay so um just a um quick agenda overview for what I will be speaking about tonight we'll talk about the Cannabis legislation summary to date just a reminder of where we've been what happened in 2024 and then policy discussion so we'll be looking for some feedback from Council that staff can go back and uh bring forth some future ordinances and some other um things for for you so as a reminder in 2022 that was when we saw the first sort of legalization of THC related products in 2022 the legislature um legalized hemp derived cannaboids oh look we've got it you want me to use my clicker try see if that works from there yay we're here nice work um okay so that's where we were allowed um what was legalized was Edibles Beverages and like ointments um that stat those statutes those set of statutes did uh include a kind of smaller amount of THC per serving 5 milligrams um oh I got a sub again at my screen because that's no it's not moving okay um in the 2022 Edibles law um there was not life liing for these products and there really wasn't a a whole lot of robust sort of regulation for these products a lot of cities created their own licensing schemes a lot of cities enacted moratoriums um and there was a lot of confusion about what we just legalized a lot of people thought it was Cannabis it actually was not as I said it's these hemp hemp derived cannaboids uh the city of forest lake did Implement a one-year moratorium on these edible products these hemp derived products that was passed in 201 2022 and expired in 2023 um these are com some examples of what was allowed under that 2022 law I think you've seen these pictures before the most popular item to come out of 2022 is the THC beverages in 2023 we fully legalized um adult use cannabis so this is the actual marijuana product um we created a new office the office of cannabis management um and we limited the city's ability to regulate cannabis products we reduced or removed criminal penalties related to cannabis marijuana is no longer a schedule one drug in the state it is importantly a schedule one drug still federally um and we also created two types of license holders for these future cannabis licenses your standard uh license holder and then a social Equity applicant um and there was also a lot of Grant programs and financial assistance for those social Equity applicants these are examples of some products that were allowed under the 2023 law so you'll notice um the picture on the right that is your actual like flower products or the plant itself and then the products on the left are the um Edibles um from cannabis you'll notice that the products on the right really don't look that different from the hemp derived products that were past the year before so right now this is the running list of the licensed es excuse me the businesses that the office of cannabis management will be licensing starting in 2025 January of 2025 uh initially it was just cannabis related businesses this year they did add the hemp derived THC businesses those will be licensed through the office of cannabis management as well so let's talk about the hemp derived products for a minute because there's there is some sort of universal confusion around these it's important to understand that from the um very beginning they're different hemp derived is a is legal right it's a legal product cannabis is not federally illegal product and so from that sort of initial Top Line stems a lot of the reasons why they're treated differently at the state level for example you cannot transport cannabis products across the state across the straight line so if you're going to sell cannabis products here you need to grow it here manufacture it here process it here um that not true for the hemp dve that can you know transport uh via Interstate Commerce um in addition um to that many um financial institutions do not accept uh payment for cannabis related products so it's primarily a cash only business that is not true with the hemp derived because they don't have that Federal restriction um and so just all kinds of you start to think about all the ways that it's going to infiltrate um I think it's important to keep in mind that that although from a casual consumer perspective there probably isn't a big difference between grabbing a pack of hemp derived derived gummies and grabbing a pack of cannabis derived gummies there is from a regulation perspective um in addition and I think this is another thing to keep in mind is that right now liquor stores are able to sell THC beverages uh with their liquor license so if they have an off sale liquor license they can sell that they don't need to get an additional license and it appears as though they will not need to get an additional license their liquor license will cover that because it is listed as a permitted product in State Statute uh likewise for on sale liquor so consumption in a bar or a restaurant they have a a little more you know Hoops to jump through but it's very similar in that if they have an onale liquor license they've registered with the office of cannabis management they are able to sell those products as well uh for consumption on site it is not immediately clear if ocm the office of cannabis management is going to require uh liquor excuse me bars and restaurants to get some sort of additional license um or if they are just going to like the off sale liquor say if you have an onsale liquor you're allowed to sell these THC beverages that has become a bit confusing because I I think um cities that have been um more aggressive in their moratoriums or more aggressive in their restrictions maybe did not understand that they did not have the legal authority to prevent liquor stores from selling THC Beverages and I think some of them argue that they still do have that Authority but the more recent guidance is we don't if if they have a if we're willing to give them a liquor license because you know we do the liquor licenses if we're willing to give them a liquor license and we're willing to allow a liquor store in that zoning District then by right they are allowed to sell THC beverages um likewise uh there's a little more um ability to regulate around bars and restaurants but it appears as though it's sort of Shifting that same way as the offsale liquor stares I just bring that up because I think there is some confusion in in the community around why am I seeing these or I thought these weren't legal or I thought they weren't allowed here some of that so the THC beverage aor store can sell but they cannot sell a THC gummy correct so it's all just whatever the vehic it's based on what the vehicle of consumption is correct they would need to get a separate approval to be able to sell the THC gummy confusing correct but if if they have a tobacco license as well then can they no so the tobacco license um is not for whatever reason they didn't put language into the tobacco statutes to allow that as a permitted substance so that goes completely through the office of cannabis management um so to date um as I mentioned you did have a THC ordinance that expired in 2023 that was intentional the council you know elected to not renew that and focused instead on the Cannabis there is a current interim ordinance prohibiting cannabis businesses from opening in the city that's any cannabis business so that's retail that's manufacturing that's cultivating that's everything um and then we also have an ordinance on the books that prohibits the use of cannabis in public places technically the law does prohibit uh cannabis use in public but the way that the law was written was poor and so in order to be enforcable we need to draft an ordinance um to enforce it okay so what happened this summer at the legislature um this summer they instituted um some caps for the licenses that can be issued the number of licenses that can be issued by July 1st of 2026 the office of cannabis management was supposed to do a sort of Statewide um saturation study and figure out what the supply and demand was going to look like for cannabis it was supposed to be fairly involved they did not do that um instead they put a couple surveys up where they asked people where they bought their drugs and overwhelmingly the response was my drug dealer I'm not making this up so um so then they just sort of threw some numbers at the wall and that's where they got these uh caps from and those are Statewide caps these are Statewide caps so in the state um by July of 2026 there can be a Max of 50 cultivator licenses so those are the people who are growing cannabis uh 24 manufacturing licenses 125 retailers and uh 100 meso businesses if you remember the meso business is sort of the farm to table concept but for cannabis so you'd be growing it on site processing it on site selling it on site and then hypothetically somebody could consume it on site sort of like a tap room and th this is um requires legislative action to change well those numbers or is this an administrative I mean the no this is legislation this is in the statute but these are what they're allowing through 2026 now it gets a little more complicated because what they also did this year is they changed the statute to say that at least half of every type of license must go to a social Equity applicant so let's take that first one the Cannabis cultivator licenses for 50 uh if they only have 10 social Equity applicants that apply and get a license they can only issue 10 licenses to non-social equity applicants so in any event it will never be the amount of a stand of standard applicant licenses will never exceed the amount of social Equity applicant licenses does that make sense I mean I not does that make sense did are you tracking what I'm saying understand what you're saying okay all right um okay social Equity applicants so uh initially they had a point scoring system I believe I told you all about their point scoring system where if you had a uh if you were convicted of a cannabis related drug crime you got extra points if a family member was convicted of a crime they got extra points if you lived in an area that had been um uh had a greater um disenfranchisement by the by drug enforcement you got points there was a lot of various ways to get points and then this scoring system essentially the higher number of points the greater likelihood you became a social Equity applicant they did away with that system um and now they're just having a minimum qualification standard so if you sort of check enough of the boxes you're considered a social Equity applicant those minimum standards are basically the exact same scoring um items that they had they're just now they don't have a number value attached to them and it's just if you can check a couple boxes um they do have a lottery system in place in the event that they have more applicants than licenses um I'm not sure if this is where I talk y here we go perfect so let's talk about what sort of already happened in this Arena as well in 2024 before they announced that they were going to allow something called a pre-approval license a pre-approval license is only eligible to a social Equity applicant and basically what it does is it allows a social social Equity applicant to provide proof that they qualify as a social Equity applicant to ocm ocm will look through that and confirm that they do in fact qualify to be a social Equity applicant they need to then provide all of the other items that are required to get a license you know depending upon which license they're looking for and then ocm will issue them something called a pre-approval and what that does is that allows that social Equity applicant to go to Banks to get financing to come to cities to get um you know any approvals that a city may have for these types of businesses um you know to to go to a landlord and show that they want to lease a space etc etc it's essentially um the ability for the the social Equity applicants to show that they really can get this business going um so the um lenses needed to apply that period ended today um what I what we know is there was sort of a an even like pre- preapproval thing because the social Equity applicants were struggling with how to apply to show that they were a social Equity applicant so they had to back up even like another half a step um it sounds like it's a bit of a mess um and so it's not really clear what that's going to look like or how quickly they would be issuing these pre-approval letters um so any questions about that okay okay so the pre-approval does not allow them to open a business importantly it just basically means that once licenses go online in January 2025 they'll be able to get that license it'll just convert to a license and they should be able to open the business there was also some confusion this summer around uh a cannabis cultivator license so that's the Growers and um so technically the statute does allow a social Equity applicant only to with a pre-approval to open and start growing cannabis before January of 2025 but they must meet any local rules so if you're a city that has restrictions in place they have to conform to that um and they must meet all of the current requirements for a medical cannabis cultivator and here's where from a practical perspective it's almost impossible the medical cultivator uh requirements right now in State Statute are robust very robust and so if what we have observed is that the social e Equity applicants are needing all of these kind of extra help to be able to uh get a license it seems highly unlikely that then they would be able to navigate The Fairly complicated um web of rules for the medical cannabis that that's how it's structured right now it's anybody's guess what's going to happen between now and January 1st this is in statute though so the problem for ocm is I'm not sure how they're going to be able to uh water down some of these requirements to get these cultivators going and as I mentioned this is important because we can't sell it if we can't grow it so if you're looking to become a retailer there's nothing for you to grow until there's or excuse me there's nothing for you to sell until something's been grown and processed and prepared um and my understanding is the growing cycle for the plants is four months I'm concerned about how much I know about cannabis at this point in my life um okay so they also put caps on these pre-approval licenses so they weren't giving out very many of these as you can see um yeah these are just the Caps that they put on these pre-approvals one of the things that the um original um statute allowed was a municipal cannabis location so a city could open up a cannabis store similar to like a municipal liquor store although it's different um because uh we would be in the business of selling something that is a cash only business and you know does has a lot of issues around getting insurance and all kinds of of things I think initially cities thought it could be potentially something to either keep other cannabis businesses out cu they could limit to you know one business and they'd be the business um or it was potentially looked at as maybe an easier money maker I do not think it's an easier money maker based on just the complicated web of rules and restrictions and and how it is how it works um and secondarily uh you cannot use it as a license minimum so if the city wanted to cap the number of cannabis retailers in the city and we also wanted to have a municipal liquor store Municipal cannabis store our municipal canab cannabis store would not count against the cap so let's talk about the local controls and powers that either existed before 2024 or were um beefed up in 2024 we lost a little bit in 2024 so we won't talk about that um okay so um we get to SL have to certify an application what that means is um an application you know processes through ocm to start a cannabis business they will send the city a copy of that to confirm and we would confirm that it conforms with our zoning code with our you know any sort of restrictions that we would have um we are also able to check and make sure that the location meets State and fire code and that they've paid all property taxes so we yes the property taxes is actually a helpful thing is this a requirement we need to do this or is this something we can opt in to do if we choose this is a we have to we have 30 days to certify it or it's sort of deemed automatically approved at the city level um so we do have to do something uh silence means we've accepted it but um we have the option of being a little bit more robust in how we check the business to make sure that it's conforming with like I said State Fire codes State Building Code fire code um up to- date on taxes you know those kinds of things this really I mean beyond the tax check this also just gives us an ability to Leap Frog ahead any zoning or building code issues right and it allows us to know that this business is coming right so now we we know where they're coming from which I think will be helpful um from a a public safety perspective because this is a cash only business and so we have some some security and some safety concerns that it would be good for the police to know um ocm has created an expedited complaint process for local governments so we sort of have a bat line that we get to send our complaints directly to them and they have seven days to respond to a complaint and they have 30 days to come out and perform the necessary inspections well maybe I bump something can you click it to the next slide yeah perfect um okay registration so registration is half required half optional and by that I mean we are we are required to register all of the retail businesses so that's going to be your straight retailers and your meso business or your micro business that's um growing it and then selling it where they grow it uh we must register all of the retail businesses we can choose to limit the number of retail businesses if we want to the the minimum that we are allowed to to allow within the city is one per 12,500 residents we are under 25,000 residents so we would need to require at least one retail location in uh in the city um we're allowed to charge a fee it's 500 about 500 bucks for the initial fee and $1,000 for renewal fees but there's some there's some caveats to that we do have the ability to designate the county as the governing body the governing entity that would register these businesses if the city chooses to do that we may not limit the number of retail shops that we get so our ability to limit is only if we're also willing to register we are not required to register non retail shops so those are going to be your cultivators your manufacturers things like that but um we can it appears we can if we want to what's the purpose of registering I don't know because there because we're already getting the initial application and we're having to certify that because we get that even if we aren't registering we still get the step above you still get the Step Above This is another you know this is I I'm not entirely sure what this does other than here's where here's why it matters for us I think this is what I I'm yes compliance checks okay if we decide that we want to take on the registration that means that we also have to be responsible for the compliance checks and the compliance checks are two different types one is just your standard um age verification compliance checks like we do with liquor and tobacco right where the where the um police send in an underaged um person to see if they can buy products illegally the other compliance checks are an annual compliance check where same thing the PD would need to go in and they would need to confirm that they have the correct systems for identifying people because the systems for iding in these shops is dramatically different than the systems for identification in a liquor store um it it's just dramatically different um so com making sure that they're complying with that system making sure that they're complying with all of the security systems that are required in the statute you need to have some double door situations and and vestibules and where your product is located is is more much more complicated and they also need to do product compliance meaning that they need to make sure that all of the product on the shelves is labeled appropriately and it's legal to be sold because there are limitations on the amount of THC per serving right so what I'm saying is it's complicated very complicated um and it's not necessarily something that um we would have the necessarily the resources to be able to train up um officers to be to know what they're looking for so from that perspective uh I think it's probably worth at least looking at what would it look like if we had the county takeover registration because if we were doing the compliance check we don't have the enforcement we don't we aren't the enforcing body for those violations right they're not our regulations well correct and yes and so so yes in that we would provide that information to ocm but ult and we can sort of temporarily suspend somebody's license but only for 30 days ocm then would be the The Entity that would take over they would decide if they agreed and then they would do an investigation and then decide if this person actually loses their license or if they actually have a violation it's messy so I so the county if we go with the county we cannot limit the number of them but can we still limit where they're located away from Parks and schools and all that yes okay yes so you can absolutely limit location without limiting number if you if you go to the county um okay so so that's the registration it this is one of the the systems that is absolutely still being worked out by ocm uh but based on some of the new information that came out this year I think initially cities wanted to keep that registration and unless you're a city that really wants to limit your number um there seems to be it's there it might be beneficial to sort of Punt that up to the county level the other thing to keep in mind is with the maximum number of licenses that the whole state gets for these different types of businesses the the likelihood that five of them are popping up anywhere is zero okay I guess I already talked about these compliance checks reason restrictions um so yes we can adopt an ordinance that um places reasonable restrictions on time place and manner of operating the Cannabis business so we can um put it that they actually have the distance that you're allowed to put it from schools and parks in the statute I don't know why they did that but so we can put it a th000 feet from schools 500 feet from a park and we can also only permit it in certain zoning districts and then another thing that we could do is if we wanted to limit their hours soop if you wanted to say they had to close by a certain time again I would go back to the reason that you might want to consider that is because this is a cash business and so from a uh burglary robbery perspective these are vulnerable businesses so that's an that's where we landed at the end of of the legislative session in 2024 a week ago the uh ocm did put out two weeks ago now maybe um did put out the um first sort of round of rules so we have the statute the statute said make the rules for how this program is going to work they put out their first round of of rules the local uh portion was one page and it had no information that was different from the statute or new information so um so we'll wait and see what else they come up with so the first uh policy question that I have for Council for tonight is around do you want to limit the number of retail locations and if you recall the retail locations include the meso business the micro business and just the straight retail shop but if we want to designate to the county is question one even valid nope okay right we start I wasn't sure which one you needed because if you needed to limit then you can't you know so it's chicken egg which one and the total Statewide number of retail businesses was um I believe it's 25 125 but only if they can find half 75 social Equity social Equity there's also the meso businesses yeah meso and micro businesses have caps too and I think one is 100 and they might both be 100 again I don't see them reaching their maximums because that would would mean that that many of social Equity applicants IE so I guess uh Chief Peterson how do you can you how would we how would this work I mean we have more staff right or how would this work for your department to try to regulate these things go do inspections everything that they're asking in so when Amanda presented this to us a few months ago um my head was spinning and I had those same questions and I think there's a lot of um answers that we don't know yet on how this is going to work um so it's really difficult for me to answer that question um until we really see it and understand it um you know when you look at compliance checks do we do those yes um it would be very interesting to try to figure out what is what and the product and is it the correct product is it not or what's the cons you know the potency and all those types of things so there's just a lot of questions out there and unfortunately we're not getting getting a ton of you know we're getting some and Amanda it is amazing how much how knowledgeable you are on this and honestly I was listening to her the first time now I'm catching a little bit more yeah getting it um but yeah it's it's going to be interesting for any law enforcement agency to enforce this follow so then follow it am thanks Amanda if if we do this is it a certain we give it to the county for a year and then have the opportunity to take it back or F or what's that look like uh your honor Council uh that's a great question and unclear um it would mean that the county would have to be agreeable to give it back to us one thing I apologize one thing that I did not include in here was money so uh there's a 10% tax on all cannabis products and the uh sort of local regulation regulator is going to get 10% of that um and the rest of it is going into the general fund 10% of 10% 10% of 10% so um so that would be going if we are not doing the registration then that money goes to the county because they'd be doing the compliance checks well I got to believe that the Count's going to have to staff up because they've got other communities that they're going to be serving and so I mean is there our path where we could just contract them to take on that piece of it because they're already going to have the expertise and the Staffing to do it um and obviously for a fee but I mean I I guess to question number one I would like to maintain some control at the local level on the number of retail licenses well we're talking about 125 that's the 18-month window yeah I mean I'm thinking more five years down the road and I would love for the city to maintain that control if there's a path where the county can do some of that compliance check yeah I I I'm struggling a little bit on wanting to limit the number of LIC um we don't do that for tobacco and alcohol today and I just keep and and there's a lot we don't know with this product but I just keep thinking about you know 5 years down the road it's going to be you know everyday course of business and are we because we don't do that we let the market do the regulation of number of licenses um that said we also have some control over those licenses that we don't have here um it be nice to know if we had options to change that and there's also going to be a just a a market limiter just based on the number of Statewide licenses in the near- term um that I'm I'm not I I'm just I'm not seeing a a strong reason for us to limit the licenses um what I'm this question about designating the county um I'm I'm concerned about us having having the compliance require us having the compliance um responsibility um that that product knowledge it's it's it's a little bit like regulating Pharmaceuticals like the the formulary changes all the time um and there there's a there's a yes there might be some Revenue that comes from the licensing but you've also talking about building an expertise that we don't have today and of our investments in staff and education I'm just not sure this topic is what we want to make that investment in so if the Count's doing that already um I I don't know if I'm I just I'm not sure we what what we um kind of what that cost benefit is of us doing that Christina I I know that you had a conversation with the county were they would they be interested in Contracting or was it they wanted at all if they were going to do that you know they're still very early on in their conversations too but I would guess they're not going to do it for you any cheaper than they're doing it for any other city so it's essentially going to be the same would be my guess I don't know that they I mean I've never known the county to give one city a break over another so we can call it Contracting but your fee will probably be what they would get under statute would be my guess so the fee being 10% of the 10% correct oh yeah so then the only upset is that we still maintain some control over how many about the registration control over the registration sort of but we don't really have a it's a paperwork there there is no CR criteria we we we know that we will know they exist but there really isn't any sort of uh underwriting that we get to do or any sort of vetting that's well is it the number yeah it's the number right I mean only one 12 yeah yeah if you're going to control the locations that's gonna kind of determine how many is gonna be out there too depending on how tight we want to get that yeah I think I think there's plenty of opportunity to control it based on that based on Parks and and business you know commercial areas and that and then just the overall just a cost to get into this business it's cash and so it's not like everyone who has this dream of opening this it's going to be tough to entry to get is going to be tough to get into this and so I I think the market controls itself at that point and it's not going to be this crazy number I wouldn't suspect right MH yeah I agree so I'm hearing that do you want um a little more information around possible hybrid options with the county or you or no county is a or that that yes go ahead and give the county the the brain damage of the inspections maybe maybe is an up up maybe maybe the first question though is the do we want to limit the number of licenses cuz if we don't want to limit the number of licenses then the question with the county becomes a little bit easier but do if we want to limit the licenses then the County's not an option right it it would be nice you know it'd be you know this is five people's opinions it'd be nice somehow to get this out publicly so that the residents can speak to what they would prefer do they want to limit on those I mean that just cuz I may or may not it's really what What the residents want and I don't know how you get the education out to get that feedback that that's the hard part is the complication right the res you know resident feedback on it I think is going to be around more around personal feelings of the legislation getting to this level of nuance for regulation I I think it's going to be hard to get feedback staff's recommendation is you give it to the county I I'm it makes sense I mean it' be nice to know if you knew I'm sure the state has has done some kind of run numbers where they know what maybe that 10% of 10% could be like dollarwise what that but that would be the other if it would be we could find out if the County's willing to take it for five years with the opportunity to bring it back if if we find out that it is a potential Revenue general or even uh neutral uh and maybe I could if I could kind of maybe rephrase this too so the county has sent out an example I think um potential contract or something like that at a high level or resolution or something I want to say they maybe modeled it off of hennipen County if I'm remembering maybe what we need tonight is just to know if you want us to PS go down that path you'll see the language maybe that will provide some clarity know where we might need to negotiate um is that helpful to kind of reframe Amanda's question that way is is you know do we want to even go down that path and then maybe there are those details that need to be worked out that so restate that again please um in instead of you know do you want the to just turn it over to the county it's more do you want staff to start pursuing that to see what it looks like and we you know you're going to have to approve some type of agreement with the county before that would happen um I think if the answer is a no you for sure want to have it here then we don't spend our time doing that but if there's interest and it's the details of what that relationship is then maybe that's the direction that we need for tonight to know the next step that's that's the road I'd like to go because if we give to them I think the chances of them giving it back to us they know if it's a revenue generator is slim to none but if we maintain control and contract with them for the price of admission you know at least then we retain control and maybe at some point we would like you know just take it on but it just gives us the chance to yeah see it I think also I mean there's very few contracts that are are relationships that don't won't change over time and so I think it's the I find it hard to I'm surprised by multiple things on this this topic but it seems unusual that this is a decision that once we've made it's just indefinite and there's no ever not ever a coming back period right usually you know we find it's a three-year agreement or a five-year agreement um not something that's just be a longer notice provision than what you're used to you know like it might be an 18 month notice that you'd have to tell them you're you know taking it back from Staffing perspective that kind of thing yeah that's how use most I mean almost everything we work with on the county is right it's some sort of election Services right like they're Contracting with us for a number of years um let's I I think that's maybe the one of the questions that would help us is is this a forever decision or is this a decision that is 3 years 5 years what does that time frame look like yeah okay I I I feel like um I feel like we have enough direction for this in to be able to bring something back for another discussion and kind of see what the parameters of the Box are with some sort of a relationship with the county whatever that might look like Amanda do you have any sense of other uh cities that your firm represents what direction they're going in yet so um several of our cities are uh definitely wanting to be more restrictive and they want to limit the number and so they are keeping it because of that I'm not sure that everybody understands the depth of these compliance checks um that was language that was not picked up until more recently uh it was in there but to be fair there's a lot in there and so I understand why it was overlooked uh I would guess that cities are going to start to transition back over to the county and just the sheer realities of the market this is just not something where a store is popping up at every corner because to your point earlier they're so expensive to start um and there's just who knows what the actual demand is okay uh so next sort of policy piece of this framework that that we can build out is if you want an ordinance um with reasonable regulations so these are going to be hours of operation location zoning districts hold your thoughts for one second because it sort of ties out with the zoning so um we can have just sort of rules around these businesses right that's not a zoning ordinance it's just literally sort of a uh performance standards kind of type ordinance for these businesses but we can also do a zoning ordinance and in the zoning ordinance we can Zone them into specific districts so it would make sense for cultivators to be you know probably not near residential because we have oder issues right um same thing with manufacturing um you know retail obviously makes sense in business districts um but then we can also make these conditional uses and so by making them conditional uses versus permitted uses then they have to come before the city council to get a conditional use permit and I am recommending that you consider making these conditional uses because of odor and security so what we know about uh mature marijuana plants is they smell bad um and if you have them in an indoor facility and you are able to have odor mitigation um you can mitigate for that but that does not work if you are growing these Outdoors or if you are growing them in more of like a greenhouse uh situation then you definitely have more odor issues uh Cottage Grove one of their cities that that I work in they do have a I guess it' be a cannabis cultivator it's medic cannabis right now but it's completely indoors um and they had to spend a lot of money on their odor mitigation system to make sure that they weren't putting that kind of skunky smell out into the the neighborhood um and and so from for those types of businesses the cultivator the manufacturer I would recommend that they are conditional uses so that you have the ability to put some conditions around it to protect the neighbors from nuisance right smell secondarily um I would argue that the retail businesses these muzo businesses micro businesses should also be a conditional uses because of the security concerns because of the cash um and so then that allows the city to have a little bit more involvement and what is your security plan what you know what is what does that look like what's your what what are your cash drop offs delivery you know those types of things that just allows a little bit more um information for the police so that they are better um educated in the event of of a burglary or robbery um and then also to make sure that the business is being run correctly and you know and safely there are restrictions and rules in the statute for a security but they pulled back some of those this year and so they made it less detailed which I think then sort of opens the door for cities to be more detailed in a cup um so going back to the original question is is an ordinance that sort of establishes generic performance standards or hours of operation location um and then also just generally zoning these and or making them conditional uses in the zoning districts that you know they fit in what are your thoughts on those topics Cil thoughts conditional uses that kind of goes hand inand with restricting the number at first to find out what this is going to go because you could always change it but uh the conditional use thing is probably not a bad idea you can actually look into it and and uh see what you want to do about it you know maybe add some things yeah uh so some things make sense see what other cities are doing there too this is all brand new all brand new we're scratching at the surface here so um but I I do think that there' be nothing wrong with uh having some restrictions at first to see just where this thing is going to go you can always open it up MH so yes conditional uses do you need something more specific from us on the spe on the zoning or is I mean what you've said Mak makes sense around retail and Retail and agricultural for some of the growing operations um I can't imagine we would argue anything different Council I just that seems like it just makes sense like how does this fit into our current zoning plan yeah so then what will happen next is Staff hi Abby staff will um will work on coming back with you know what zoning districts it makes sense to have this as conditional uses and they will come back as conditional uses um and and and then I think then in terms of of this ordinance where it would be hours distances from schools Parks um I think that's good but I think it probably over lapping quite a bit with with what's already being created so we would look at maybe incorporating that in um potentially we could do uh these are conditional uses and these are just sort of standard conditions that are always required must be x amount of feet from schools and parks and hours of operation or something some of that can be addressed in a cup if that's okay with Council okay uh one thing that I wanted to comment on this and this is where I think uh the community is going to get a little confused if we if we are allowing uh liquor stores in the district by default the THC beverages will be in that District um because they can you know they can sell sell those and same thing with bars so I just think and same thing um eventually most likely like with the tobacco shops that have THC in the windows I'm sure people are confused if we said that we didn't want it in the downtown um it that would sort of be related to cannabis right that it's not really related to the hemp derived Edibles and so there can be some confusion on the part of the public around I thought this wasn't allowed here but there's a store that sells this stuff here and it's because it's not that stuff it's the legal hemp stuff so that's just a heads up for you guys if you're getting calls or complaints why there's a difference on that okay and then the municipal cannabis retail store we already have talked about this but I I'm assuming there really isn't appetite on the part of council to pursue a cannabis retail store if you're still on the fence what I've been told is that the initial investment is anywhere between 500,000 and a million dollars pass hard pass move on yes I figured that vot on that tonight yeah okay and then that's it so unless you have any other questions I think I have what I'm looking for from you guys perfect thank you thank you you for your time [Applause] let's move into um staff updates and we'll start with Jolene thank you mayor so tomorrow's a Statewide primary we um have all five of our polling locations ready to go according to our partners at the county um City Hall here the city center is a polling location so we'll see a little influx of Voters and foot traffic tomorrow during the day um tomorrow is also the last day of candidacy filing so I will be here till 5:00 p.m. which is what the statute requires of us to accept any affidavits of candidacy and then the withdrawal period for candidates will end on Thursday at 5:00 pm thank you Jolene Abby uh three more weeks of Arts in the park tomorrow night we have our second of the Year kids and family night um Sean and Ian okamoto are headlining act but we do have a special kids act 530 to 6:30 which is Trisha and the tunies a puppeteer with a large puppets so something we haven't had yet tonight but just want to let a council be aware of that thank you Abby Dave nothing to update tonight and chief Peterson yeah the only update is last Tuesday was night and night and it was a huge success I was down Lakeside uh or arts in the park um hundreds and hundreds of of kids and families stopped by um and uh it was great seeing everyone and I just want to thank all the police and fire and to uh Community engagement coordinator Julie Griffin who really spent a lot of time putting that together and organizing the event so another successful night night very good thank you chief chief Newman no updates unless you have questions thank you nope think we're good thank you Amanda uh you you've heard from me enough all right Christina no and Ryan uh mayor city council I'll just provide a couple updates the local Street Maintenance project progressing out to Ideal Avy wood off a Highway 97 that project's anticipated to be finished before the end of the month the double chip seal project is starting next week on 204 streets in Keats uh County sent out some information in regards to the Broadway maintenance project a postcard and email blast for sent out to subscribers uh talking about the new timeline of the project which is anticipated construction to start in Spring of 20125 there will be additional open houses and they've already engaged with the School District too so you you'll hear more about it just wanted you to know about it that a lot of business owners and residents in the area have already received that postcard so you're aware of that information that's out there very good thank you since we're on this side let's start with council member Ericson no updates tonight Council husnik actually I have three of them I um attended the school board meeting that took place on August 1st and a couple of noted things there they had they talked about I think there's five retirements coming up but also the donations uh from various people uh I wanted to almost $166,000 uh I think 10 grand of it was uh from uh Jee hollberg so that that worked great and then a new business there was a fairly lengthy um discussion about um uh the proposal to include all sixth grade students at for Lake Area Middle School and the consolidate the Forest Lake Elementary School and the Forest View Elementary School for the 25 and 2 six so those are the notable things there and then I also attended the U airport commission meeting and uh we just went uh through some things with Bolton and mink and some updates that we had for uh there and talked about where they going to mow and that kind of thing and just some things that are coming up so also um I um all of us did we attended the Eda meeting tonight so no sense uh going through that everybody was there so CC I attended the cable Commission meeting last week and we talked about the 2025 budget and um looking at some policies and then um just wanted to let Abby know that I do plan to attend the corn feed for the last day for arts in the park council member Roberts no update just a thanks to the police and fire department for last Tuesday we had a nice Gathering our neighborhood had captain hgraph and two uh fire department members out and it's just great Community exposure so thank you guys both excellent uh no update from from me um tonight other than I also will um be at the community cor feed so C me in all right that is the end of our planned agenda I will entertain a motion to adjourn so move second we have a motion and a second all those in favor sign by saying I I oppose and we're adjourned thank you every one [Music]