[Music] all right we are right at 7 o'cl so I'll call tonight's city council meeting to order and Jolene could we have a roll call please council members Erikson here husnik here Roberts here council member valento is absent and mayor Bane here I'd like to invite everyone to rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Council we have an agenda before you I will entertain a motion to approve or any changes I move to approve was a motion I'll second and we have a second um just a quick note on the agenda this evening um we do not actually have any other than our consent agenda we do not have any action items on the agenda this evening so we will move from our consent agenda straight into what we typically call some Workshop sessions um and so just want to make that clear typically we have a couple of items that are requiring votes and that is just not the case this evening so um with that um we have a motion and a second to approve the agenda all those in favor say no by saying I I I I oppose motion carries and next is open Forum open forum is any interested parties opportunity to address Council on any topic of your choice and um we have a short list here um so as I call your name if you would approach the podium and um State start with your name and address for the record and Paul is it Whit me correct did I get that right you did all right welcome we're glad you're here hi my name is Paul wh mey address is 8791 18th Street Southeast I'm here to address the location of the machine that removes the weeds from the lake as it currently sits right now obstructing the access for watercraft and other use currently the machine is located at the intersection of Beach Drive Southeast and 19th Street Southeast um this access is in a neighborhood that is not easy to get to and is only really used by the residents in the neighborhood we all really care for neighborhood and the lake itself I understand that no one person owns the lake and we all have a right to use that we have used that launch and cared for it for many years I do have uh something that I would like to note as far as the expected use of that I'm speaking for about six others that weren't able to make it tonight on the 4th of July I did observe someone who lives on the lake their older children grabbed their dual Jet Ski trailer hooked it up to a four-wheeler and although it was raining suited up in their gear to hit the lake and went out there smiling and laughing and um once they got down there they weren't able to put their watercraft in and that was the end of that plan there and they're not the only ones um that is the only access that I use as a resident of eight years and a realtor of 5 years I've bought and sold properties in that specific neighborhood in which all of the clients hold an extend ensive amount of value on that specific launch area when they could have more property somewhere else they choose that place with less property due to that now they can no longer use that and I was told that there really isn't anywhere for that to live and that's where it's intended to reside I did find a few other locations that would be suitable um just moving forward with that I would like to just kind of quote what typically would be done if it wasn't public domain is an easement for prescription which is an easement created from an open adverse continuous use over a period of time which is specific by the state and government I know that's not applicable due to being public land but I would like you to consider the morality of why that exists moving forward with trying to find somewhere else to locate this machine so that we can all happily continue to use the neighborhood as we've come to expect um I do have other locations that I have found for this I know it used to reside in the canal going into the bay at the end of Woodland Drive Southeast my understanding is that the property has turned hands or something has happened there but there is a slip there at the end of that road which is Municipal owned land which would give you an egress to that Lakeshore now I understand that you need to have something that can withand heavy axle weight from the dump truck that needs to load so grass isn't necessarily going to be suitable for that and would cause a problem so we do have others that I have found as well the two best ones that I have found are at the end of Northeast 4th Avenue and Northeast 2 Avenue closer to the main launch they're just deadend streets with plenty of space to put down class five potentially a gate you can leave the machine there year round logistically it makes a lot of sense aesthetically Fourth Street would make the most sense um but either one doesn't obscure anybody's expected view or use if that was to sit there for a long extended period of time uh it you know as far as going with the invasive species and Aquatic things coming in from other Lakes it is it's kind of a pain to actually get back to this launch where it's located now it's a bit of a maze we don't have Lake jumpers coming back there it's really only people that either know of it from ice fishing there's no parking for any boats down there you can't launch a Bennington down there it's really just for people to put in their you know 18t fiberglass hole aluminum jet skis canoes kayaks basic things um that the neighbors have I know that I'd sold a property recently down the block where they held that really high on the things that they enjoyed and why they purchased that property when they were looking for more land they actually bought a boat I have yet to see them use so I imagine that they're probably a little upset about that and as a realtor you can see how when I purchased there that was a major thing for me too now the house was a big deal for me it's a little unique but it would have been nice to have easier access and more land um but I chose that because of that amazing access and the fact that I don't jump Lakes I've got a jet ski I'll go out for an hour and a half at a time it's not worth it for me to go winding through the neighborhood and take it to another lawn to launch that tie it off and all this other stuff when I used to be able to do everything in just a matter of minutes launch it Beach it put the trailer in my yard walk back get on enjoy that hour and a half clean the trailer off and everything of all the Aquatic things that are there go home rinse it off good to go um I know that I've seen numerous people in the neighborhood that didn't notice that it was there with the weather and the holidays going going down there with family and they just circle the block they drive by and plans canceled so they're they move on um so I'd like to speak for the people that weren't here which is at least six parties I have permission from and I could say there's probably at least 10 more that I could get permission from on behalf if you're curious about any of the information that I'd quoted tonight let me know and I'll just email that over to you um but I did Scout a few areas and I think that that Fourth Street is going to be the absolute best is it's got great Shoreline um it would do aesthetically no damage to the neighborhood there's great turnaround Street can handle a 16,000 lb dump truck put a you know some gravel down a gate you could even Park a dump truck with the loader and the Machine there year round I don't think anybody's going to B at that situation at all um but that that's really all I had to come in to say tonight and I'd really appreciate if we can just kind of look at that morality of why the easement for prescription exists and consider you know moving the machine so that we can at least get your basic watercraft in um to enjoy the lake as we've come to expect over the many years that we've lived there thank you for the feedback we don't have this topic on our agenda this evening but we can have a quick brief discussion as part of Staff update sure that would be wonderful thank you rob simmers uh Rob simmers uh address 1819 9th Avenue Southeast um Paul kind of summed it up there um basically the only thing I have to add is the the size of the street going in for those dump trucks to go in there is it's there's just nothing there so um but Paul hit everything that I was going to hit as well so thank you yep uh is it Jacob panski Jacob Pinsky I'm at 1 1808 9th Avenue Southeast also uh same neighborhood we're all here for the same reasons um neighbor in the back is there too she's not going to speak but we're all here for the same reason um kind of upset about it so if we could make it a topic eventually and progress on the the situation that'd be great thank you thank you and Susan young welcome howdy my name is Susan young 9950 199th Street North um here in Forest Lake and the topic I wish to discuss is the sale of the property just off of Broadway um which is on your docket tonight um City Council in both policy and statements is the stewards of the residents dollars you you are our you're the folks that take care of the taxes we produce and and are the Growers of our community the property that you are selling this evening granted was purchased by the city for probably too much at a time when we were trying to improve Broadway Avenue a long time ago um but a couple years ago it was appraise for $130,000 plus or minus um you are selling that property tonight for $70,000 um I have an issue with that we do have as a city unfortunately a long history of buying high and selling low it's what Forest Lake is known for to many many developers um and they they do take advantage of that um I understand that um the the city and I'm I'm going to quote some things that we are trying to in improve the environment for business and to encourage businesses to come to our community and I understand that this um sale and at a almost half price is considered and was stated to to be um a a a benefit to a property own to to a business a local business I would argue that girton is not a local business it does have a national footprint um I would argue that and then and it was stated that um they've done a wonderful job there well it's not quite as nice as their ALK River facility it's better than their Stillwater facility um but that is something that yes they have improved that property I don't believe that benefiting them and providing them with um and I'm sorry that all that's coming to to mind is a donation uh a subsidy I believe was the term that was used earlier today um to improve the retail character of Broadway is a good use of public funds I know of two other at least two other local businesses owned by Forest Lake residents that would have appreciated a similar subsidy and did come to the council for assistance um I also have a philosophical challenge to you on how one is going to determine moving forward which companies in our community are to be subsidized and which are not um and I I think that there there would have been a better use finally I'm I'm very concerned because in the documents um and the sale documents that we have that were there it states that girton is committing to minimum improvements as depicted in the concept site plan and there are things in that concept site plan that are quite frankly substandard um to what we would expect of another business grandma taught me that you begin the way you mean to go on and what I have seen at that property right now is outside St storage that would not be allowed by any other business especially on Broadway which according to this very specific Broadway zoning is to be well-designed and attractive and um you may have a different definition Community Development staff may have a def defin different definition but I do not consider the piles of mulch on Broadway to be either attractive or well-designed um if that is the way that they mean to be going forward if prohibiting folks from using city property that is adjacent to theirs during our fourth of July Festival that is near and dear to every Forest Laker's heart um is a way that they mean to go on in our community um I would be deeply disappointed in your ratification of the proposed sale this evening thank you all thank you and just for clarification that item is not on our agenda this evening but but comments com nope comments noted thank you is there anybody else that would like to speak in open Forum this evening and sure please you could just start with your name and address at the at the podium Steven cren 919 Northshore Drive Forest Lake um my my parents have owned a property um real close to that boat launch everybody's been talking about since 1978 and they've been using it to put their boat in and out they haven't been able to do that this year they're 80 years old almost 80 years old they don't want to be messing around looking for another launch and then uh the cancellation of the forest like fireworks pretty disappointing we had people coming over from Florida uh I know people that were in town from California um a lot of people were looking forward to it uh I just guess I want to know why who made the decision um what we can do in the future to make sure that there's not a last minute cancellation and if there's going to be another display this year or if the money is just wasted or what's going on that's all I have thanks thank you anybody else for open Forum all right hearing then we'll bring agenda back to council Council for your consideration this evening is our consent agenda we have items 6A through 6K I'm happy to entertain a motion or any changes make a motion to approve the consent agenda items 6A through 6K there's a motion is there a second second Motion in a second all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and our consent agenda is approved again we do not have any action items on our agenda this evening so we are going to move into our discussion topics um this is a more informal um discussion of council anything that we talk about in this section um that requires official action will come back in a future city council meeting for an official vote um let's get started tonight with 7A which is the 2025 2026 Capital Improvement plan presentation and Kevin I believe you're walking us through this uh yes mayor and city council um I will be walking you through um the cap Improvement plan where we are focusing in on the years 205 2025 and 2026 so the original 10e capital plan was presented to city council at the June 24th uh city council meeting uh per request from city council at that point to bring back at a f future date uh this focusing in on the next two years of 2025 and 2026 so what we are looking at here is just those two years in the 10-year Capital plan so like I so in your packet is included the same reports that you would have saw with the 10-year Capital plan but just narrowed down to 2025 and 2026 this presentation this summarizing is just going to summarize the projects that are in that plan for 2025 if you have any questions on the 2026 projects those are included in your packet as well so really the issue before the council tonight is um this if you have any questions on these projects in the next two years in 25 and 26 and do you have any changes or suggestions that you want to see with these projects before we bring uh the preliminary 2025 budget to Council in August so these next slides just summarize the different uh projects that are going to be happening Broken Out by Department with the project number listed next Swit so you can hopefully easily find those in your packet if you have want to look at specific details related to those projects uh so this the airport has one project slated for 2025 for 555,000 uh just reminder the council that this is 95% um re bir from the state um regarding that project uh one of the priorities that city council identified this year for a 2025 budget was some median Landscaping work there's 375,000 put into 2025 um relating to that and the golf course also has one project uh for t- boox refurbishing for 880,000 next fire we have four Capital uh purchases related to the fire department in 2025 uh totaling just under just over $250,000 related to various uh equipment needs and vehicles that um are due for replacement uh next Park and Recreation has two MERS that are uh due for replacement as well in 2025 totaling 143,000 parks and trails and improvements as relates to parks whether that be um Trail improvements playground equipment and just park improvements in general there are four different Park um improvements on the docker schedule for 2025 totaling over just over 1.5 million um one thing to note here the Lakeside Memorial Park the Veterans Memorial is estimated to have about 250,000 in 2025 with some costs also in 2026 uh this city did receive State uh bonding uh for that so that is included in this funding the city council also approved $100,000 contribution to this project as well uh next police has six vehicles and or equipment that are due for replacement in 2025 totaling just over $300,000 public works again has uh six items again uh due for replacement um some machinery and some trucks due for replacement tot totaling 765,000 and then lastly we have some um Replacements due in our Enterprise funds water and sewer water has three projects totaling 645,000 uh sewer has some uh sewer lining projects that will cost 530,000 and then we also have one piece of Machinery that will be purchased a skill loer for 93,000 with funding split between the three uh utility funds water sewer and surface water management lastly uh one of the larger items is our streets projects um there are six uh listed for 2025 uh totaling just about 9.7 million with the big one being the NorthShore Trail maintenance project being $5.9 million uh schedule for construction in 2025 um so the purpose of that was just to give you a high level here the projects for 2025 really start to discussion focusing in on that year um if you have any questions on these projects uh staff and myself are happy to answer those all the details on these projects are also including your packet where you can go look to get more details on what's being purchased why is being purchase or why these uh projects need to be completed so with that I open it up to uh for any discussion and questions thank you Kevin Council questions thoughts um specific to 2025 I'll just say I really appreciate the way you put this information together for us tonight and just narrowing it down um and all the detail that is in that new software I found incredibly helpful so thank you for that Kevin and team yeah I agree it's helpful to see um kind of this level of detail I in our last meeting for those who are kind of watching this evening we kind of saw the broader picture of the full 10 years um and now as we're kind of closing in on 2025 budget time it's kind of an opportunity to look in the more near term um I have more my discussion items are my or thoughts to share are more on the 2026 looking a little further extended out um I don't really have anything on 2025 um I look at the list and these are projects that we have the the larger ones at least have had a fair amount of discussion but certainly happy to hear any other thoughts Council may have um so just as long as we're on this this slide here and and maybe it was in the packet and I likely missed it but the Highway 97 uh project that 1.6 that's our portion the city's portion of that to the state correct that's that's our portion of the project and that is uh we are using uh MSA funds to pay for our portion of the project project um and then if you can back up to some Park uh things namely the the tea boxes at uh at Castlewood um you know as I mentioned at the last meeting we're looking at spending about well just sh a million dollars out in Castlewood for the next four years uh I think the the public might be a little surprised to hear that a million dollars uh at a municipal golf course I know it's a lot of his theid maintenance and that I I'd like to see that pushed until we have a new contract with a new potentially new user or the next one which I believe that contract ends in 25 is that is that correct I'd just like to see a deeper dive on that as to what the the public really wants out of that amenity um and by just putting 80,000 at it you know I I or maybe we like we did a a tour of the Public Works facility maybe we go out there and take a look at that it just uh we're looking to spend a lot of money out there the next couple years and that's just a bit concerning and contrary to my previous comments on there's a number of items on here that have been well vetted that topic of deferred maintenance at Castlewood has been a topic that we have just kind of as a large Banner we have said we know there's deferred maintenance so to your point on breaking that into further pieces and kind of discussing timing of that investment and what that looks like I think that is prudent so I would agree I'm not concerned so much on 880,000 in this next year of some T boox refurbishing but to your large your point on the larger items um so certainly worth some larger investment I would also when we're talking about castle what I think we also have to point out that our um restrictions for that property are quite limited right and so anytime we're talking about Castlewood we kind of end up in this conversation of is it worth it um I suspect Council will find that that property is going to continue to be a municipal golf course and if it's going to be a municipal golf course it should be a you know it should be a good one and a well-maintained one and so but um how we get there is certainly something we should be talking about so just stand on that topic for a second looking out to 26 where that is being proposed was it to upgrade the irrigation facility or um elements I'd really be curious Dave I know you mentioned at our last meeting that there's a fair amount of Patchwork that's happening on a regular basis as we get to that deeper conversation if there's any way to kind of get an understanding of what is the cost of not doing something you know because I'm sure there's some number that's attached to that that would be helpful as we try to make that decision um specific because we're on this topic and so specific to um T tbox refurbishing if we have a placeholder in budget um is that a particular project we would bring back through through Parks as we kind of think about what that looks like I'm trying to just get to what is the kind of the definition that we need to have tonight or as we walk into budget season um and then kind of te up for Council what might happen next related to kind of scoping on what a project might look like as far as when you need to decide if you need to do the T boxes or not that decision could be made midd of December I mean you would do those plans until that following year so there wouldn't be any pre-planning in this year to to make that decision they're not going anywhere so they'll they'll be there when whenever they and is it all T boxes that is that what's currently scoped two specific ones that are um I think it's number I think it's number four and number eight I might be backers I can't remember how that winds around but there's one that's in rough shape and it Slants really bad um and there's one that's kind of around water that needs to kind of it's a thinking so um it's it's a recommendation from from foresome golf who runs the course you know so it's they're able to play on excuse me what's there now it's just would be an improvement to the course is is what that would be the the irrigation would be a a maintenance item or something that needs to get fixed at some point in time if we want to keep running the irrigation system up there so it's two kind of one's an improvement one's a a maintenance y good so mayor I just have to give my little Spiel again though as we talk about timing and when you need to decide cuz I really don't want you to have to push all of these decisions till December and particularly for 25 if there's things that you don't think you want to do and you want to push it back to 26 give us that direction because otherwise staff will spend the time getting those things ready and and just to make sure that they're spending their time where you want them to I would ask you to try and think about some of those tough decisions um sooner rather than later as Kevin mentioned you'll see this again in August you'll obviously see it again before final adoption in December um but I just want to kind of put that reminder out there that the you know the direction that you can give us will help us with work plan and doing things sooner so specific to that question um is other further thoughts on T boxes in 2025 would we okay with that and it's the bigger irrigation is the the larger conversation yeah okay yeah I I I guess you know we've got some big numbers on Parks here and we still don't have a park Commission in place so yep spending any of this money without having that Insight from the public is is concerning to me and so um you know we're moving forward with belts on a redoing the the tennis courts and basketball and do some improvements on the on the warming house that's fine but it's it's just time to get some some people in place to to get their input yeah piggy back in on that I mean I know a couple of the projects in here I think it was at Bay View Park is about 450,000 for playground equipment replacement and in the detail I talked about how you know it's at the end of its useful life right it's like a 20 year and we're at year 24 does the fact that it's at end of as useful life I mean dictate that it has to be done or is it just falling apart I mean I don't remember that being the case are those sorts of projects to council member Robert's Point as far as getting a u you know public more public input as far far as you know where to focus our energy I mean do we feel like we have that information is that how these were identified or we can you speak to that a little bit I mean every year that goes on past probably 20 years it just keeps falling apart it starts rusting the coding comes off and all that so I mean it's it's probably a a safety thing and a Aesthetics thing too if you drive by and your park grd at the intersection 111 15th is a rusted you know part that that doesn't look good either right and it's also a safety concern you don't want to have a park open with Rusty swings and you know bolts falling off and all that so I mean I'd say between that 25 25 is probably still pushing it but 30 year for sure you're going to have a pretty rough looking playground at 30 years yeah for sure so what I hear you're saying is that some of that Park equipment that's beyond its useful life is at that point of deterioration there's some that are even under 20 years that are it's passed its useful life just by the usage of it like the a good example is probably Fenway Park that gets used quite a bit just because of the tournaments and all that and if you go up close to it it's it's beyond I mean it's it's all faded out the bolts are falling off there's rust of pieces everywhere so it's it's not we're just picking a year and going with it I mean it's it's a pretty educated and well well Pro it's kind of used with other cities and the you know the parks departments most places that's kind of just like with a plow truck or a pickup truck you have a lot of data that knows when it's going to fall apart you want to try to catch it before it falls apart otherwise then you're shutting a park down and then it's why is a park down while it's it's failed so well you maybe could you get another year out of where we have it slated possibly but also we don't want it to get to that point where it's it's it's beyond its useful life and then then we're playing catchup with not just this one but now we've stacked stacked more of them just like with you know vehicles or anything as soon as you skip one year then you just start stacking it and then instead of making one decision now you're making a decision on two of them so it's what we try to do is lay it out so you're not having to make big expenses all at once to try to space at all to try to keep that line constant versus you know Peaks and values on that budget yeah the problem with that stuff it never goes down in value it keeps going up and up and good if we can keep up with it somehow and just like belts you know that the uh slide that it's obsolete so I mean you get to a point where they just quit making replacement parts too you know so that one's just a little over 20 years old and you can't buy parts for it anymore what was my my next question what we're putting in and this replacement is it I mean is it kind of similar or is it like is it ADA Compliant or what what are we looking at so that budget would include you know a like playground structure but then it leaves room for either hard surfacing for ADA compliance you know like uh like the lak side the rubber the rubber coating um we're trying to get away from rubber mulch and I don't think wood mulch is really the answer either because that's a maintenance nightmare every two to three years replacing it so um that number is trying to tie in a new playground with new servicing you know to give you another 20 to 25 years of a playground thanks Dave other comments on 2025 it just uh so these numbers um contemplate uh a levy increase that we I think there was a conversation about to the council what we were comfortable with this with the additional is that in the ballpark where we where we kind of gave the direction to or is it yes um council member Roberts um the short answer is yes we are staying within that direction you gave us previously following I don't recall the exact percentage off hand but what it was presented and approved in the 10-year Capital plan uh we are following those um guidelines and what you uh provided staff earlier with that so um all the all these projects are do have a funding source tied to it which you can see um in in the project details and fall and Fallin that range thanks Kevin were you going to kind of walk through 2026 as well tonight or are we holding that for another discussion I was not I don't have it specifically laid out like this for 2025 all the 2026 details are in your packet which I can sure uh te it up for for Council if you would like just to give you a high level overview for what we're looking at pointing out some of the major ones um otherwise if there's any specific questions we can sure answer those as well just what would you like I think it'd be helpful to at least there's a couple of large items coming in 2026 that are kind of they're newer there's certain projects um we have had on the capital Improvement plan for a long time and so now as they're coming up it's a little bit of an easier discussion there's a couple things in 2026 that are newer and I think still pretty early in scoping so I think it'd be good to get at least a first level or next level round of conversation on those so you want to talk about the boat launch and the shoreline St we just I think those might be the ele land Med I don't mean to leave out you know but I I mean so I know I appreciate you know we're we're getting new information on potential projects and feedback from Eda and feedback from Council and and very at the I think we're at the early stages of scoping as I just look at 2026 something that makes me squirm and have some heartburn is the amount that is estimated for that boat launch and the amount that's that and also the timing on specifically the shoreline at Lakeside Memorial Park um it's a large number I are we proposing the shoreline is at 1. $1 million uh right now for the shoreline is 1.4 million and just note too right now the funding sources are estimating that half of that would be coming from outside sources whether those are grants or donations with half of that then being funded from the city as how is currently slated into 2026 same with the bolt launch the total cost being 500,000 250 that would be outside grants donations and then 250,000 from the city is where we currently have it estimated as and as a placeholder to as council do did identify these as a priority that you would like to discuss some more or less as a placeholder so we don't lose sight of these items and um that we keep those conversations going um not only this year but for sure next year if it's something that uh the city council wants to continue to move forward with yeah just knowing those dollars especially as it relates to the short line also comes from the park budget just knowing our current playground equipment situation and the conversation that we just had related to some of that that equipment that has been on our list for a very long time and it is beyond its useful life I'm just struggling with the timing and the prioritization of the shoreline um in the very near term I it's just something that stands out um I'm I'm not sure that that is our next best move in the next three years but again I'm that's just my opinion after looking at it and also just kind of seeing what's happened on deferred maintenance overall on Parks um that was just my initial reaction I I would tend to agree other that you know stabilization issue I I think that addressing that adding more amenities to it I don't more lower axis I don't I don't know how that you know if how you justify that with the other part concerns the boat launch just also just struck me as half a million for that boat launch is it just struck me as a lot it was far more expensive than what I was expecting um I don't know what goes into that boat launch um and what's all what is all entailed but if there is a way for us to find a smaller footprint um it just be good to know more of what's in what's entailed in that um also both of these projects are attached to external funding that we haven't started on and so I think we get ourselves quickly into a chicken and eggy that if we're asking for external funding we need to have some level of detail of what we're looking for and so Council kind of having that defined before we're going out to ask for those funds I think is going to be important to securing them which then kind of prompts this conversation on what's our appeti that would have to be the deciding factor really because that's you know right we're not talking about a half million dollars for just the city so what what kind of funding can we expect there Kevin do you know DNR if I would defer to Abby or daveon to answer those questions if I might just be able to timee in at least with the um the shoreline um the boat launch for sure the DNR we actually have a meeting this week to start conversations with them about um Rehabilitation of the boat launch we talk about the useful life of our playground equipment we're nearing the end of the useful life of the infrastructure that was created that downtown launch we'll need to do something to rehabilitate it if it's not going to be relocated we don't know what that looks like because the last study was what could we do about moving the launch so we studied that and so we do need to do a little more leg work I I acknowledge that that $500,000 amount is high I hope it's High um but I am confident that we can definitely seek partnership with the DNR and something there um Shoreline study because of the erosion I think uh we definitely have a greater than not chance of working with our Watershed District Partners potentially the DNR and even maybe through um potential bonding sources to capture some of the funding to be able to stabilize that Shoreline um whether or not there's additional improvements at the time I think it's going to be looking at okay for you know for this $100 we get this if for this $100 25 we get this and um but to the point that I think Kevin's tried to make is is there 26 projects if they're not in there we're not doing them and so they're just the idea of putting them in there to try to start thinking about that for us to be able to have those conversations and investigate further those costs is really important now because if you remove them I'm not likely going to go and continue conversations with those partners I don't think you would remove them but maybe you would move them back is what you're saying that it shouldn't Leap Frog over some of the other projects or maybe the shoreline needs to be spread out over multiple years or some way of breaking it down is that what you're I mean yeah I I think maybe my struggle is the they've recently become known and has and has had some energy behind it but also a lot of the um Park improvements have been on a much longer time a much slower bake and so so it's the leap frogging it feels like it's kind of Leap Frog to the top of the list that I just want us to pause and just affirm that is that the right move or is it more you know playground equipment based and some of these other Shoreline items wait I appreciate that the boat launch we don't have a lot of time just because of the nature of the renewal with the DNR and that that may not be able to move um but I don't know if the the time frame would be for the shoreline if that would maybe make sense to talk back you know three four years um mayor city council if I may uh just to note with these two projects the shoreline and the bolt launch no other Park projects or playground equipment got pushed back because of these two items these two items were just strictly ads into the park kind of 10-year plan from last year based on uh the priority discussion that we had earlier this year so just just note that nothing got moved out of 26 because these two got added in just wanted to make that note and also this is the season when we have a lot of appetite um there isn't a question of do we kick anything down the down the what cans do we kick down the road like we're going to have to move some things out um because we we know going into this budget that there's way more front loaded as far as needs than what we're able to do so it's more of which ones do we prioritize to the top so it's chall and and I would if if there's been with the staff we've already have some meetings set up with some of these Partners at least explore that and maybe it is a 27 but we still have a better idea of what that funding might look like I would also put it I jumped us straight into this to these topics on 2026 were there other things for 2026 that we should also um have some additional conversation on otherwise suspect Christina and Kevin our future conversations are going to be very 2025 focused is that kind of what we would expect one more long range one that we'll have when we unveil the new financial management plan perfect later this month but then after that we will focus heavily on 25 and that is um our next meeting this month coming July 23rd very good okay any other items for 2026 all right any other points of feedback overall on the capital plan okay as Christina mentioned um Ellers will be here to present full updated 10e plan um at our next meeting this month and then we'll move into more specific discussions um on the 2025 budget so very good Kevin Christina anything else you need from us no thank you all right Kevin thanks for reporting this additional detail together very helpful all right um next topic is the discussion of oneway streets and Dave good evening mayor and Council uh so recently the city received a a petition from a neighborhood who wanted to turn Uh current current two-way street into a oneway street um so staff was spending some time looking into all the different um things that would me to be done including refuges uh Emergency Services Public Works for uh street sweeping snow plowing all that stuff the things that would change if it went to a one way and as we kind of got further further down that step we thought maybe it was a better better way to start with city council to to see uh your appetite for number one even wanting to entertain um petitions are turning two-way roads into oneway roads and if so um if you want staff to develop some type of a policy or something that we can um evaluate a a petition on to uh to decide kind of like a streetlight request you know do they hit these parameters before we even bring them to council can they get administratively declin before they come here or does everyone come to council think things like that so I guess for tonight for discussion would be you know do we want to does the city as a whole want to entertain requests for oneway streets and it's kind of like Street like requests because if you get one request you probably get other ones once they figure out r one ways are a possibility so it's if we do want to entertain them it' be good to get a policy or some type of uh procedure that we do to to um review these petitions and go and go from there and then be able to present them to for discussion that that way so guess what I'm looking for tonight is some discussion with Council that to see what what your preference is and how you'd like to go with that so tonight we're not going to discuss that petition I don't want to use that an example just more or less as a whole what what we'd like to do Dave as we talk about as we get into this first um is there are there reasons why today we we don't do one way like what is the city's position of the default or is it more of it's just the been the tradition and we haven't had a strong is there a staff preference for two-way or is there is staff is there not a is there not a preference I I think for unless you have two one ways back to back like where you have a a split pair or you have a situation where there's the next block up is a one way going back it's difficult for for public works for sure just because you're having to circle around an entire block or you're going to have to go the wrong way on a one way to say plow snow or to sweep streets um Emergency Services um it can be a an issue but I think if there's an emergency they're just going to go the wrong way on a oneway street um there's a learning curve too I mean um it it kind of depends on placement too if you have two ways and just one one way in the middle of two two ways then it's kind of confusing you don't know how to get yourself back out of there or you might have to drive a long ways to get back to where you started um there's a lot of lot of things that go into it and and that's just kind of why why we're here and um asking that question I Ryan probably has some engineering comments on that as well I just want to bring up a couple other couple items to think about so when we did reach out to the garbage service they are going to require the garbage containers be placed on one side of the street so say if you live on this side but they want to go that way everyone has to take their garbage across the street and set it on somebody else's driveway area or along that so that might create some push back or difficulty especially in the winter months uh and the other thing is let's say your three or four houses in in or the one way starts but you don't want to go all the way around and you're just going to go whatever is shortest for you that's you know what traditionally will happen you know easiest pathway for a resident so then it might come to some enforcement issues how will you enforce it then you would have a few extra signage to be installed in these areas too so a little more maintenance but and what's being proposed is I'm assuming for existing streets right so this isn't a strategy to be able to reduce our street footprint size I think in some communities that's when they are used and that this is that's not the case here right like they already meet our our standards at the time it's just that it's an existing street that residents want to become one way is that what am I understanding correct um some of them are like this petition in in specific is uh an older Cabin Road rate so it's not it's probably not a full 28 ft back to back so it is it is smaller to that point where right I understand that it's a it's a small role but you it still acts as one so and then and that the other question too is petition right if you have a petition is it just the people that are affected on that one way or is it uh do they have to get people from more connecting roads that are in favor of this because that one way is going to cut off other forms of traffic just to Ryan's point now you're going to kind of if people use this one road to get out now they can't go that way and go all the way around so it could it could create more traffic on another Street if everybody has to go out the one way or something so you have to consider that too yeah so sounded like a great idea just to review it and bring it to council but then like I said we started going through all the all the things and I didn't I don't know if it's if we want to start entertaining them because there is a lot of you know smaller Lake roads around the lake and the old part of the city that I could see wanting to do the same thing and then then we're here discussing or deciding which ones should be which one shouldn't and what the parameters are and and all that so it in most cases is it normal for a city to have a policy to allow one ways is that is that common common in a city to have actually a policy for this as opposed to one-offs um we just we just approved one at Force Hills Preserve um that's a oneway brand new development was that how did that come about was there any discussion Council level about allowing that no I think that kept the road size down was able to shrink the the size of the road down for that one way I would say it's probably more common for New Roads not changing existing roads it just seems like in this I know you don't want to talk specifically about this one but these people know that neighborhood more than anyone and if you have a majority of a neighborhood signing a petition asking for that um I think that has some Credence there and you have to do what we've done explore maybe that the issues why it wouldn't work um but to have a a boilerplate blanket policy on something like this when there are so much uniqueness to these different neighborhoods just seems might be a little bit too much or Overkill do we have an ability to assess the costs so there is a you know signage needs to be changed striping needs to be if there is striping some of these are maybe old cabin roads there is no striping um I'm thinking of one in particular I think the neighborhood already probably treats it like a one way um is there an ability for us to assess some of those costs to make the change Amanda's nodding Amanda says yes I mean I think that's part of I think I I do think that if if we approve one in one neighborhood I think we can all probably think of three to five that are likely candidates of residents potentially wanting that um and if if that is what a majority of of residents on that street want I maybe we should entertain it but I also think that they should bear that cost of the signage and what that takes because there is it there is something about drivers are today in Forest Lake are not accustomed to one ways and so there you need some ample signage to make that change and to make that safe um and if we were to entertain I think the resident should also kind of pick up that costs or pick up that what that takes I I worry about the there is a point in time of a group of residents who at a point in time will think it's a good idea but that is also a very permanent decision um and the person who buys the house at the end of that one way you know gosh do we then entertain the the petition in the other direction and we want it to be two-way I don't know I know it's kind of like buying buying a house at the end of a end that is right in in your time here Dave or like in Ryan how many have we had any requests is this that's not already like a new development like again for S preserve have we had request for one ways did you I have not no I mean that's that's a long time so it may not be as big of issue as you think I understand the street light analogy like okay if one neighborhood gets a street light then that then wait a minute how'd you get that that just seems a look but this just seems like for having neighbors really want a one way I don't think I'd want a one way personally in this particular case I understand why they do but it does make it just just changes things so yeah other other perspectives on sounds like seems like you're maybe leaning towards allowing allowing it allowing it um you know maybe there is some just general guidelines about a petition being in place by a majority of the neighbors and some some of that so that you can't have two people make that change for 15 other people ums probably have a public hearing as a part of that if it's going to affect other neighbors and yeah you definitely would want to need to have a public hearing Case by case yeah a narrow road too like you just don't want this happening right like less than 24 feet wide or what's your minimum here I think there's I I think there's Christina you bring up a good point which is to I think we're all thinking of a couple of streets that are quite narrow the along many of them happen to be near the lake but there's probably potentially some that aren't aren't near the lake that are just old cabin roads that have you know that design no longer easily fits two-way traffic um but to your point then preventing you know a more modern design Street neighbors just for whatever reason wanting that to become a oneway um we should probably have some consideration of that I also think that part of part of that should be just the information back to Residents that this is what this means this is what it means for garbage pickup this is what it means for school bus stops or whatever that might look like like we should have some information back just so that they're making an informed decision not assuming that you know they're going to be able to keep their trash on whatever side of the street they want and whatever those other logistics might be yeah the garbage deal on it might be a deal breaker right there for people having to drag it across or have someone else's garbage on your side of the street they they might right or your your garbage across the street in a spot that isn't cleared right right snow right other I'm trying to give us to get us to a level of addition specificity other thoughts open to entertaining it I'm open to entertaining it I mean I think we're talking about a policy here you know which in the policy might be that it's a kind of a caseby casee situation but at least has to meet these minimum requirements of you know x width of Road and X number of percentage of uh the neighborhood being on board and Neighbors on a petition and there's you know cost Associated that a man is going to get the number on per per resident affected you know if they really want it here's what it's going to cost you is it help is that enough information for a draft of a policy yep okay any other points of feedback all right um let's move into um staff updates and then we'll move into our close sessions after staff updates um Jolene um just a little reminder early voting has started for the state primaries already we're starting to get into the thick of election season so um folks can vote Place their early votes out at the uh the Washington County service center and then starting on July 30th we'll start accepting Affidavit of candidacy for local seats here at the city very good thank you Kevin no further updates Christina no updates Amanda yes chor Council just a quick update on the um new search for uh City permanent City administrator I do have two Consultants so far that are interested and will be uh Pro providing proposals for your consideration on the 23rd I have phone calls um into to a few others and I have a call with one other person scheduled tomorrow so I'm optimistic that I'll have at least three uh proposals for your consideration on the 23rd potentially more fabulous thank you Dave no updates good Ryan no updates all right Chief Peterson yeah mayor and City Council Members good evening um I just want to uh give an update on the July 4th uh festivities they went uh very well I want to thank Public Works and fire and parks and all staff that assisted in organizing and planning uh the July 4th festivities uh and especially all the officers uh it's always every year all hands on deck and um I'll have some preliminary uh numbers for you in regards to um calls for service uh over the festivities and uh hours and those types of things that I know you're always interested in in hearing about so once again thank you to all the police uh personnel and All City staff who assisted very good thank you Chief Newman mayor and Council I only have one update uh happy to report that we did not have any uh fireworks related injuries or fires uh during the whole uh Fourth of July event very good thanks thank you Chief and Abby um you might have seen in your weekly updates we got the community corn feed coming up at end of August and you're going to continue to hear from you um we are in need of volunteers at least eight to serve and two um I think it's three-hour chunks so get a hold of myself or Dave or Don um to sign up think it's mandatory hours conso right we're all there if you're not if you're not out of town you're there please please reach out to us and let us know just because as a reminder we don't have existing staff that's always been running this so um getting that head count in advance and maybe even getting our own tutorial on how it goes might be helpful very good thank you Abby Dave we we um had a number of comments in public forum about the um weed um Harvester and where that is currently being storaged being stored you had given Council an update in kind of a previous council meeting um I just wanted to clarify our policy on vehicle access on those Lake points I know sometimes there's a difference between what policy is and what how neighborhoods traditionally use those but can you just clarify what our policy has been on vehicle access for those Lake points so typically well not typically the code says if it if it's not stated that it's for motorized vehicles then motorized vehicles cannot use that access so if it's not signed motor vehicle access allowed then it's not allowed so not allowed unless signed and it's not there is not typically motor vehicle allowed at that access is that right it is only allowed if it is signed saying it's allowed if there's no signage then there's no motor vehicle access okay and just to to touch back on Fourth and second Northeast um if you know where Beach Drive is the reason why that is a good spot is because it's right in between Lakes one and two if you had your Harvester parked all the way at Fourth Northeast to go and cut in second Lake would take you about an hour just to drive there and you would cut a load and drive an hour back you get a load a day so Woodland dry was a good spot in the previous life because say it was basically the same location where you could cut out of two lakes in one Central spot so I mean we've looked at other spots but like I mean they would be good spots he has a very good point but you would travel for you know on to cut two loads You' travel 8 hours you you'd burn 50 gallons of diesel fuel to cut two loads of weed so it's it's strategic where we're looking for spots and Beach Drive I mean it is a city own parcel it's not a RightWay it's actual City Land by the lake so it's we're well within our our means and I understand that this is what was always used for but it also it's not a public access either so um we can we can look and try to find other spots but I don't think we're going to find anything in that location that is number one deep enough and number two in that central location that'll allow us to keep cutting um so if as long as the expect expectation is to continue running the Harvester we have to have something in that that Sentry located spot or otherwise we're just wasting money by pretty much just driving that thing around the lake all day how many how many loads are you typically able to get in a day currently when you're when you're close to the Harvester you can get up to probably eight dump truck loads um if you're traveling like halfway across the lake you're probably down to like four it all depends and then as you get later in the year you'll get even more than that I mean our I think our highest day was 12 loads in one day just because it was that thick and you were that close to the conveyor so a lot of weeds right okay thank you Dave let's move on to council updates and council member Roberts I don't really have any updates just want to thank Public Works and public safety for for the handling everything this weekend it's always a big chore for them and we appreciate that and I know it was a really hard decision by by the city to to cancel the fireworks and you know I hope that we can get a date scheduled here soon and I I don't know I'm assuming that's the legion's decision to work with us on that because of the the funding right and so um not an easy decision and um hopefully we can come up with a A Plan B going forward on on a certain like that like other cities have made that switch relatively quickly and I know it's not easy to do but thanks for all your work you guys council member host uh no updates tonight thanks council member Ericson no additional updates just thank thanks to Public Works and and the police it was awesome weekend and U the street sweeper out there bright and early every morning just keeping the place looking great so appreciate that yeah I just Echo the comments and Echo the thanks the legion um does always does an amazing job every year and they're a great partner with us on a great event um so many thanks to them and all of their volunteers and then also our Public Works and our Public Safety officers for um a great safe event um I know the call on the fireworks is a challenging um call to make um I would say that we have between our team that was in the room and the legion team that was in the room to make that call we have the best people in the room to make that decision given the information that's known at the time it's always fun to Monday Morning Quarterback on what may or may not come through on a weather prediction um and what may also come through on alternatives for fireworks so challenging call to make but I would assure that we had the best people to make a very difficult decision so thank you for being there to make that difficult decision and look forward to a great fireworks night when we're able to get that safely scheduled so um Legion will be working with City staff and we'll get that announced as soon as we know so thanks to everyone for a great weekend uh we are going to move into a closed session on a couple of topics um we'll move into those closed sessions and then that will be the end of our planned agenda we will um then just come back into this room to adjourn and so with that I would move that we U move into a close session persu to Minnesota statute 13d 05 subdivision 3B and the attorney client privilege for discussion with the attorney representing the city in connection with threatened litigation in the matter of Forester versus the city of forest lake at L is there a second for a close session second we have a motion and a second all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and we're in close session could we announce both closed sessions before we go I'm sorry there's two closed sessions I'm sorry I will also subsequent to this first closed session I would move that we move into our second closed session which is presu to Minnesota statute 13 d05 subdivision 3B for a confidential attorney client discussion regarding threatened litigation by Northern Plains Aviation Etc second and second for close session all those in favor for the second close session signal by saying I I oppose and we also are clear for a second CLE close session [Music]