[Music] we are right at 7 o'cl so I'll call tonight's city council meeting to order Ang jelene can we have a roll call please council member Erikson here council member husnik here council member Roberts here council member valento is absent and mayor ban here I'd like to invite everyone to rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance to of the United States of America and to the indiv andice council we have an agenda before you I will entertain a motion to approve or any changes make a motion to approve motion is there a second 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 this evening is open Forum open forum is any interested parties opportunity to address Council on any topic of your choosing and if you have if you um would like to speak in open forum tonight and have not signed up I will pause after I've gone through the list and if there's anyone else that would like to speak I would invite you to do so as I say your name please come to the the podium if you could state your name and address for the record and we'll go from there um John Waller welcome good evening mayor and Council uh my name is John Waller I live at 14010 Homestead Avenue in Hugo Minnesota 55038 and for uh full disclosure I'm the current manager from Washington County on the Rice Creek Watershed distri district and I'm not here to speak for the board of managers tonight but as a private individual citizen so as I annually come and talk to you over the years uh I generally give out the uh collections that have been made by the race Creek Watershed district and I have that tonight mayor if I could approach I'll hand it out please thank you thank you thanks John thank you you guys are redecorated um I'm uh here tonight to encourage you as cities to participate in uh watching how the money has spent and been spent collected by The Watershed and as you can see is uh in the column you can take a look at Forest lak's contribution it's about a million point2 uh alog together from Washington County that's the way way down from willery up to here and Forest Lake has contributed um $226,300 always what'd you get for it uh that's an important thing for you to look forward to I want to thank uh the Forest Lake staff who sent comments to the Watershed District earlier this year about uh the rule changes they were outstanding comments by the way they weren't the only ones there were uh comments from all three counties and from four cities Three Counties and not one uh and three different engineering firms uh they're involved so it's it's uh but Forest Lake had the best comments the begin with and I've had the pride of making sure it's in the record and uh numerous times and I even used it the other day in my interview down at Washington County with the Commissioners uh the issue about having extra uh rules that are seemingly unnecessary or duplication is a great problem at the Watershed districts and the cities as I've mentioned before have the opportunity because it is now a the Supreme Court decision of a couple years ago yeah the cities have to nominate their individuals that they want on the board to be this is my reappointment year I've uh served as a manager for 18 years now prior to that I had one tour on the advisory committee for six years and one for uh two years in the 70s I've been a member of the um Washington County governance study committee in 1998 which uh tried to get us down to the idea of having one permit one location so I I I encourage you to to work on that we're still working here at Rice Creek our rules aren't finished yet and we'll um we'll be uh working on those as we go forward I think there's a difference in the board attitude about it uh for philosophy about rules and uh put put more empowerment in the cities to uh be able to take care of your own problems locally and I would encourage you also to become the local unit of government for the Wetland Conservation act I know in the past many times people uh have uh haven't been enthusiastic about that but the days are gone when your engineering firms don't have uh whole special quality uhi individuals to handle those uh questions and to give you an idea the on Wednesday's board meeting we were asked to deny a permit application from a uh applicant and some of the reasons were given were the Wetland Conservation act and in that uh there's three portions in there is uh that you have to go through they want you to do it in the sequence and uh the first was is there some way you could not uh damage the wetlands at all no net loss in other words and the suggestions from The Watershed staff and were build it in Hugo if you're building things in your own town that's a little odd you know or could you put your retail on the second flooor or do you really need all those truck Bays to deliver the merchandise you wish to sell in this building or couldn't you just make it a different building size and it'll still fit the zoning rules but it wouldn't fit the clients needs that we're building the building that I think a lot of that um subjective judgments that those are can be uh best handled in the local level and as Hugo does I I they've taken over that Authority they're not the only ones by the way mountains view now has done it and so is Circle Pines and so we encourage you to do it more often I want to thank the council for the very gracious and kind letter that they wrote for my reappointment the last time I appreciate that very much and um if you have any questions of me or further interview I'm available and help you at any time and uh I see you have a Clear Lake Association here tonight and um uh I hope that uh those kinds of coordinations between the city and the uh the lakes and the district are uh expanded thank you very much for this opportunity thank you so much for being here uh next is Don th good evening well good evening mayor city council my name my name is Don Tyson I live at 20411 206 Drive Circle North so tonight on behalf of the more than 125 members of the Forest Lake pickleball Association some in fact many are here tonight behind me we want to thank you first for making the resurfacing investment at Fenway uh courts this past summer the Fenway Park ball fields pickleball courts kids play area the hockey arena they really are first class complex and a jewel for our community and as a retired Public Works director I know that investing in maintaining infrastructure is much cheaper in the long run than let it deteriorate to the point where you need to replace it a few weeks ago you may recall I emailed all of you about a big issue that was t for me personally that your public works department took care of but I know in the scheme of things that Public Works has to deal with it was a very small issue but I'll will tell you that the resurfacing project may seem like a small issue to people but it's these small issues that residents see and really make a difference especially when you consider all the items that you have to deal with the city council and May and a mayor those small issues they impact Us and how you handle it it either builds or destroys the trust and faith in the community on the big issues that you have to deal with but just as important taxpayer dollars were used on this project and we know there's problems with it and we're not seeing those addressed I would suggest that nobody here tonight would accept the work that's been done out there if it was done on your own property or your own home so taking action tonight to make this resurfacing project right is your way to tell the community that we're not going to accept poor workmanship in this city and we're going to be a first class community and yes more than just Forest Lake residents use this use these courts just like the ball fields just like other amenities in the city and from a past study you've completed you know that almost half of the sales tax this community is collected by non-residents that are visiting places like the pickle ball courts so we appreciate and we need your help to make these courts right so that any visitor or any Resident when they come in here and they see this sign in front of you that says Forest Lake as good as it sounds it really means that Forest Lake is as good as it sounds so thank you and I know there's some other members of the steering committee and that are going to speak tonight and we certainly stand ready to help you we want to be a partner in this solution and not not a a hindrance to it thank you thank you Cindy Layman welcome hi welcome mayor Bane and the rest of the council um my name is Cindy Layman I live at 8559 Northshore Trail in Forest Lake and as a property owner and of pickle ball player I'm here to speak on behalf of the repairs that were done on the courts at way unfortunately the outcome was not desirable last year many people as most of you knew showed up here and uh the city council voicing their concerns about the courts and their decline in the condition and the city council agreed that repairs did need to be made um preventing further decline on the courts which was great but um the came out did the work and within 2 days after the courts were reopened and redone and they were reopen to the public there was already bubbling and peeling on the courts and then that started to make these open places on the court that really I mean it almost was better before they repaired it um I happened to be there and the project manager showed up up and I asked him I said why is this bubbling did you open the courts up too soon or and he said well it's from the cement underneath and the water's coming up and that's what's making it bubble and I said well why didn't you put you know maybe couldn't you have put a sealer or coating down first and and he said well I contacted a company but they never got back to me so he just went ahead and did the work sounded like to me um and then um they did not want to repair the courts for quite a while because we as everyone knew had a lot of rain in the spring and well they finally came back I think it was the end of um August and repaired the courts uh none of the cracks were fixed at all and then where they filled in where these divots were it wasn't even level I said I could probably have done better than they did and then about 8:00 at night I had come back to look at the work that they had done and they showed up to paint well it was already getting dark and they had just a little paintbrush inside of this pop bottle that was cut off and they were painting this area and it just it does not look like good workmanship for sure and if this was something that was done in my home I would not accept it I would would not I would refuse to pay it um I don't know if the city has paid for this bill yet but I'm just hoping that we as a um pickle ball Community we can come behind you and support you and you know just hopefully that will you know make this company stand behind their workmanship so thank you very much thank you um mark salsman hello mayor city council members uh my name is Mark Salon I live at 21273 floral Bay Drive here in Forest Lake and I'm the new president of the Clear Lake Association I'm still in training from from Doug ramth he's he's doing a good job and uh I'm here to voice support for item K on the consent agenda regarding the uh invasive aquatic um species uh funding agreement between the Clear Lake Association in the city of Forest Lake uh Dave we worked with Dave Adams over the last several months and it's it's really a mere image of what was done with Forest Lake approximately a year ago and um again there's been good partnership in my 15 or so years on Clear Lake um I've been learning a lot about all the different agencies in in the city of forest lake and uh really good partnership you know Forest Lake as good as it sounds I think Clear Lake is part of that uh Clear Lake is as good as it sounds as well and um we appreciate the the funding that we've done somewhat ad hoc with the city but I think putting this uh funding agreement in place uh really sets us up for future success I mean unfortunately we just got confirmation from the Minnesota DNR uh literally three three hours ago that we have Zebra muscles in Clear Lake um that a resident found a few days ago and they out today and confirmed that so you know we also just spent about $60,000 to to do a lake treatment for EUR Asian water mil foil this past summer which is about 3x what we normally spend for for weed control for eurasion water mill foil um so we we would appreciate the the council uh approving the agreement uh we you our members stand ready to contribute uh we have a record number of members at over I think 83% is that right Doug so you know we've actually had increased membership and uh which which is really encouraging and we've got a lot of support from um you know the majority of residents on Clear Lake so if there's any questions happy to take that other otherwise um I've already approved I think the agreement and look forward to the ongoing partnership thank you very good thanks for being here uh Eugene hell Eugene hell 10234 204 Street um I'm just going to say Well Spoken we've got a number of people here that are really interested in getting the courts um you know right the way it should be and ie I appreciate you listening to us um thank you for letting us our the council and and the maintenance to to get it resurfaced and that and I just hope that uh we can work something out and that you have a new person that's come on here I think as a park uh person and uh we're encouraged about that and uh that we can be part of that but thank you perfect thank you this the end of those that have signed up is there anyone else in the audience that would like to speak tonight that maybe didn't sign up all right we'll close open forum and bring the agenda back to council uh Council for your consideration tonight we have a consent agenda that is fairly lengthy uh for your consideration is consent agenda items 6A through 6t I will entertain a motion or any changes Madam mayor I make a motion that we would uh approve consent agenda uh 6A through 6t as entangle there's a a motion and a second from motion council member husnik a second from council member Erikson all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and our consent agenda is approved moving on to our regular agenda this it this evening our first item is 7A the Lakes area TV and first late cable commission 2025 budget I wasn't ready for that to go that fast the annual the annual Mr Peterson show you all are missing quite a show with Paul Peterson sure thank you I'll take that you know how to clear a room Paul that's I'm used to it I'm used to it hello May thank you for that praise we glad you're here um here for my annual can of just pause for just a second while we Gary will stay with me I'll be here oh that's right you're here for something else all right Flor is yours thank you I'm here for my annual just kind of share with what we're doing and before I get to the budget you guys got a summary of of what was kind of in it I just thought I would do a quick recap I know it starts like it says it's the evolution of cable access but it's not going to be that long not since the beginning of time and just to kind of go over what we do just so you you know are refresh what we doing the community cable access was built in the 80s mainly people didn't have TVs it was the only way to see City Council meetings you needed actual cable TV and since then it has just boomed internet made it huge now I get emails from people literally all over the world thanking me for Productions we do and praise for things we do so it's fun out in the community doing these things as part of the reach I made it as easy as possible we now have streaming apps on Apple TV Goku Fire TV so you can install our apps on any of your smart TVs everything's on our YouTube We Now live stream on our channel so even if you don't have cable you can watch us on the internet so there's there's you can see anything we do pretty much on any device you have and I work very hard to make that work that way and then uh there's always been the stigma of oh that looks like cable access I try very very hard to to fight that and I I put a lot of Pride and a lot of work into what we do and Equipment has gotten so high that right now I film with what's called Netflix approved cameras these are actual Hollywood cameras I get to use and so the quality I strive very hard to make it a level that's just above where you don't know this is cable access this just looks good as a result I just got nominated for an Emmy for I do a m car crash every two years this year we did it and I thought this seems pretty good so I'm going to submit this and I did and I got nominated my wife and I go to the Emmy next Saturday she got me a tux and I'll let you know and I actually reached out to the station that is filming it and they are sending me a live stream so you will be able to watch the emys on lakes area TV live or on our website you just go to Laker tv.com and you can watch me winning Emmy hopefully what is the category uh community service wow so I entered it for the M crash and and so we're up against production companies in the five state area so Iowa there's a k 11 person in there so seems kind of cool I'm I'm fairly excited about it this is amazing it's great um always proud of this goes back to when I first started I came in addressed the council then asked Mar one of the first things I was told what would you like me to do work more with the schools first thing I did is I went and introduced myself to Caldwell said let me build a studio he laughed but eventually call me back we did it I work with students constantly we have a ball last year I I was teaching a kid 3D animation another kid comes to me wants to learn how to make movies so I I just take them step by step the process of how to do it I work with students absolutely constantly the royalty called me two weeks ago said we're doing our royalty video will you help help us make this so I show up with them we plan it out we film it and I edit it for them so they all know teachers students that they can call me and we just kind of work with them I try to make them do as much as I can it doesn't always work that way a lot of time with me finishing projects at 3 o'clock in the morning but I I enjoy that too I enjoy when you know making stuff for them and seeing their faces when they see it inside the studio created a very high-end podast Studio works very well would love for Council to come in and just talk about what you're doing in government you know I always think it's cool to show why you make the decisions you do we get to stand here and see the decisions you make come and explain why this is your life experiences that got you to make that decision I think people like to know that so you know I have students that make them I have teachers that have podcasts we have a sports podcast so whatever people want to do I show them it and it's it's very simple and they absolutely love it um back to community and the schools and the partnership like now they've come to kind of count us like last year graduation we had 6,000 people watch it live you know and I had I got an email from a parent who just thanked me in like a three-page email that her dad got to see his grandkid graduate and he lived here but she said he'd had never been able to navigate to the bleachers sit in the bleachers and make it through the whole thing and by watching he said he felt like he was there because of the Productions we do so I love getting emails like that we just had our opening football game this year we had 9,000 live viewers that's the most live we've ever had unfortunately Force Lake had a power grid outage with 2 minutes left to go Force Lake was down by like three and marching down the field so it it didn't end well for me but one of my cameraman was smart enough to hit record and so we literally have the whole blackout of it and the kids in the stands start singing and dancing and they got all their phone lights on for 10 minutes until the power came back on so it was really cool so the next day I put the end up unfortunately we did not March the field and win so but that was our best viewer we just you know we average I mean we just did the football game this last weekend 3,000 people watch it live still that's just pretty good and so like I even have the coaches and the activities directors say you know we have to so much to do here I get home and I crack a beer and I watch your football game because that's that's just what I do and I love it so I enjoy doing all that the original reason for cable Access TV was government meetings I worked very hard to make this work anybody should be able to find any topic they want within a minute if you go to my website you pick the meeting you I have it categorized by years you can go to city council drop- down opens click on the meeting the agenda pops up on one side chapter markers on the other click where you want to go starts playing instantly I do the same thing on our YouTube channel so all the chapters are underneath the YouTube video at the top of the description you can actually download your agenda and jump to wherever you want on our YouTube channel as well so I just try to make it as easy as it is for people to learn what you guys are doing and to follow along and that being said I love going out in the community and filming cool things Blake put on a really cool thing with the street dance I had a ball going to film that and I feel that that's kind of an archive for the community to see the cool things we do in Forest Lake I absolutely love going out and filming those people ham it up for me when I walk in they don't know who I am they just see a camera and they run to me and they just do goofy stuff and I love that too so I I enjoy being a part of that and just meeting people wasn't something I I grew up total in introvert still am a little bit and I one of my favorite parts of my job is going out and meeting people learning cool stuff they do so thank you for that and that's just that's my little pitch wow so now the budget the the first page I had I summarized just kind of the main things but they're all kind of in here as well we are because cable access subscribers go down as streaming services go up our budget becomes tougher and tougher each year this year we will be last year we were under and we're going to break even because I went and did a lot of Productions out in the community as a production company to kind of make up for it this year we are going to be 7,500 in the red but this is an an audit year and the bid we have for our audit is 10,000 so without the audit we would be in the black but that's just kind of where we're at and I searched local companies not local companies and that was just the going rate for an audit for us so I I tried really hard to get past that but that's just what it is so and I do believe I I'm trying new sponsorship on opportunities so like say for the hockey season over the whole season we will have 30,000 viewers you know I've already got both boys and girls team to sign on for every game so if I I'm going out to pitch sponsorships with 302 commercials and stuff to local businesses I can guarantee you 30,000 viewers you know for the season that's pretty good for a small small company plus you're getting an Emmy awardwinning producer to make your commercial so so I have ways that I'm going to try and make up that money I I think I can do it but it's not going to come from sponsorships there was a lot of legislation last year I work with a lot of other stations St Paul Min and Minneapolis have gigantic cable stations millions and millions of dollars they are in legislation trying to to get some internet dollars right now we only get cable TV dollars you know it's it's the same agreement but the model as how it distributes has changed and cable Stations don't or cable companies don't want to do that so there's people fighting for it it may or may not happen it did not happen this year we were in a big Omni Bill we got the bill got thrown out so they they said it was a great start they're going to try again next year I don't know enough to know whether they're just telling me that or or if it actually has a chance we'll see so I will say midco Comcast Charter has very big people in there fighting against us so yeah is what it is so I love doing what I do I would love for you to approve this and let me keep doing what I do and I will keep trying to make it break even that's all I can tell you thank you Paul we um we love what you do as well um and you're you're just great at it so thank you one of the things that comes to mind as we're thinking about um kind of cable commission and what's coming up in this upcoming year is this a year when we um when is the expiration date of our joint Powers agreement 2028 2028 and that I kind of I kind of summarize in there a little bit not to cut you off I apologize but the commission agreed that we were going to overspend for the audit this year but we have quite a bit of surplus money so it's not going to hurt us to do the audit and this will probably all get renegotiated in 2028 so we were okay doing the audit to get us through this and we get closer to rewriting The Joint Powers then we will kind of figure that out yeah is I is I just think about you know building this as a sustainable base and if because of the structure if sponsorship opportunities are limited um I would just encourage us to keep looking for what does that other source of funding look like especially as we're going into um joint Powers agreement um updates we have a joint Powers agreement with Columbus on how we fund the fire department um that is a general fund supported dollar um supported activity um to me what you're doing is moved Beyond you know what's just cable access and what's currently thankfully still funded primarily by cable access but it's a general community service around just media awareness and you know media education and um the I would just hope that we find a whatever that funding source needs to be to make this long-term viable um because it's it's a it's just a gem in my opinion so I don't know what that is but I I have faith we will find something so yeah and and my current board chair says yes the sponsorships sound good but that's not a guaranteed sustainable thing correct grants aren aren't a guaranteed sustainable things challenging right right it's challenging I also as I think about Fading Into the sunset here um I have been a little bit of a stickler on this audit um it is a good decision to um or a good topic to re um you know to decide at some point what does that look like um you know future joint Powers agreement um change in responsibilities there could be some sort of structure that by by structure makes that audit requirement go away or also the entities at the table may also choose that that's not needed um I've been a little bit of the stickler of wanting the audit of just it's a little bit of Blanket Insurance in my opinion but um I that I do recognize it is some Financial stress and I I think it's open to conversation certainly as we're moving into what new structure might look like under a different joint powers in the future we're a little worried this time because Diane our board chair is retiring and she's just a financial Guru there's she found 10 faults in the audit and sent them to them and they were like oh thank you for catching this so I don't even know what to make of that she need some giant shoes to fill and so also kind of reason of like overall Financial you know who's doing what with the financials is I think some opportunity to re reevaluate that in the future but total side note for any of you that may be running per office going forward here so this year is the first year I'm going to have live local election results on on our Channel as well as on YouTube and I'm sending the links out to every restaurant and every bar in town so and I will be the one sitting there staring at the Secretary of State site so you guys don't have to and I update them so you can just go to Pizza Pub and have a beer and I they're pretty good at airing our games and our Sports as well so I know they will put that on the TV and you can just go have fun and just see how you're doing that's great that's excellent very good any questions as any other questions for Paul or topics to consider all right um looking for a motion to approve our 2025 budget as presented any also move approval of the 2025 cable commission budget as presented motion is there a second second we have a motion in a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose and motion carries thank you so much Paul please give us an update on those Emmys that's you can guarantee I will that's exciting very good thank you thanks for your time Paul all right our next item this evening is consideration of resolution 10142 2401 the Tiff transfer and um Kevin I mayor and City Council in front of you it's a resolution to approve a transfer of Tiff funds into the Capital Equipment fund uh the city annually completes uh Tiff reporting to the Minnesota uh Osa with the help of our consultant and this Tiff District number one Industrial Park was decertified in 2022 there's about $23,000 remaining in that fund and through working with those Consultants when this Tiff District was created there was land conveyed to the city that was assessed at a higher uh price than what the purchase was so there was a land write down which was the city's way of contributing to the Tiff District so with working with them and with the remaining funds of door we are recommending uh transferring the remaining balance into the capital Improvement fund which is a fund that was used to help fund uh this tip District upon creation so with that I would look for um recommendation to approve the resolution that's presented in your packet and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have thank you Kevin Council any questions for Kevin on this topic all right looking for a motion if anyone's ready I'd make a motion that we approve resolution 10-1 14-24 one the Tiff transfer as uh explained by Kevin motion is there a second second have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and our motion carries our next item this evening is 7c consideration of the Veterans Memorial design and approval Abby thank you mayor Bay and members of the council um as you're aware the Veterans Memorial committee has been working for a number of years to design and um eventually construct a memorial earlier this year the council committed to placing that Memorial in Lakeside Memorial Park um I've included it in your packet and then up on the screen kind of a timeline that I've been working with the committee on in trying to construct the memorial between fall of 2025 and 2026 to stay within some of the parameters of some their funding sources they are short about $275,000 for the $775,000 project um they KN they know they need to fund raise quite substantially before the spring and so they are going out to do some very targeted um marketing and Outreach and fundraising efforts in the community so tonight before you is the approval of the design of the monument um so then that way what the public continues to see we all know is going to be in essence what will be built um I'll run just a quick through the design but Gary Lee is here with also with um a short movie that uh display or kind of highlights the project for you me just a second here thank you've seen um this kind of design already in the Lakeside Memorial Park that show shows that kind of circular design with a monument structure in the middle this isn't really a new design but what is new to the council is that Center sculpture piece that is a bronze cast um two-sided tipped panel with eagles kind of flowing out of those tipped panels on the inside where we have two different um figures one facing a flag and then the other on the other side there's the eagle um of a female Soldier and a child uh that the other side is a male Soldier um coming out of the more torn Rubble um so tonight what really is being kind of asked of you is to approve this overall design concept to let the committee continue their fundraising efforts I also wrote into my staff report maybe what I'll do is keep it on this one while we chat a little bit more um while I also included my staff report this is a great opportunity for the council to give provide any feedback regarding ongoing fundraising efforts um the committee has been made aware that before we'd actually you know start working on taking the project over formally the city taking it over we would need some sort of agreement in place with the committee sorts of things addressing the donation the funding the who's managing the construction project who's doing long-term maintenance none of that's really been flushed out at all so I figured tonight might be a good opportunity to provide some preliminary Fe feedback uh to the committee and direction to staff but Gary Lee a Committee Member is here tonight um to talk to this as well as give further presentation I think what we'll do is have Paul show the video um which gives some of the history and some information then I'll follow that up can you put this back up you're awesome and just a quick note they have reached out to me to help them fund raise and so they may hire Lakes area TV production to help go out into the community and fund raise and this was kind of part of it [Music] so for over 15 years this community has shown its commitment to honor our veterans through the sale of Memorial pavers each one a testament to the service and sacrifice of those who came before us thanks to your continued support these efforts have paved the way for something even greater now we stand at the threshold of something truly special a tribute like no other here in this dedicated space we envision a memorial that speaks to the courage and strength of Our Heroes the central sculpture will be a focal point surrounded by a stunning arrangement of Sentinel Stones symbolizing the unwavering presence of those who have served as you take in the view from the West the memorial stands proudly a powerful reminder of those who have given so much each detail has been carefully considered from the placement of the Sentinels to the central sculpture itself designed to evoke deep emotion and reflection this is more than just a design it's a message a tribute that will endure for generations to come our hope is to complete this lasting Memorial by Memorial Day 2026 with your support with 67% of the funding already in place we return to the city council and to the public asking for the final approval and the remaining $200 $50,000 needed to bring this Vision to life together we will create a space that forever honors those who have given us so much we are so close let's finish this Mission together and first of all we have to thank Paul for this professional I think he's going for another Emy award sure W very very well done we we have a whole plan laid out for a big video fundraising effort IID and I just you know we've we everybody is kind of aware of this and we were here about a year ago I think in in November it be a year and talked about this s similar thing and at that time there was a centerpiece that was a tree with eagles on it and and there was some push back on that that was kind of a negative thing depressing thing it wasn't uh what we wanted so so anyway from there and and I'll have to give Mark fman a lot of credit for his design team and and he and his ideas and Ron Miller on the committee that that uh has has put together these ideas and come up with a concept that I think would be really really impressive for Forest Lake and I we see it as being a destination where where community members other members from you know the grandpa and grandma and stuff uh will come and it'll be a picture place that they can uh come and and appreciate and and so it we look at it as kind of a another asset for Forest Lake that will will bring um the residents as well as Outsiders but just just to back up a little bit 15 years ago um there's a guy by the name of L eward and he had a coffee group that they would get together and I don't know if it's every morning or if it was once a week but anyway they would keep talking about and most of them were veterans and they would they would constantly kind of bring the idea to that we don't do much in Forest Lake to honor our veterans you know yeah we got VFW yeah we got the American Legion but those are kind of private clubs so to speak and the general residents don't really uh have an opportunity to honor the veterans and so from there um they formed an official committee that that was part of the the city doing and a partnership with the city to to form the Veterans Memorial committee and um this kind of started things in 2008 and the film showed the the beginning of it with the pavers down at Lakeside Park and U and as that evolved uh there was was another design that was done similar to about that same time that had water feature to it and so on and uh as the committee changed and new committee members came it it showed that it was more and more less practical for having a water uh feature in Forest Lake because it gets cold and it freezes and then it doesn't work and and and the idea of the of the water was that the kids would come it' be kind of a splash pad and it would be something for the kids to appreciate the memorial but that that that changed now our our new uh design um is is um and I'm I'm going to um to to read a little bit here because I I'll mess it up if I don't so the the center of it and that's the part that was changed you know the the raising of the pavers around the outside is the same as what we looked at before the Sentinels are the same which each branch of service would have their their emblem on the outside ring and then the pavers the normal pavement pavers would be so that there' be walkways all around it so so people could could go all around it but the the center presentation has a a specific meaning and and the viewing area is comprised of raised platforms where the memorial pavers Orient around a central Fine Arts sculpture six abstract Sentinels EDG and I said that um and lean lean toward the centry sculptural each with a circular military service emblem they represent the central raised Podium is inscribed with the following words War ravages the world around around it yet the spirit of service love and freedom endures and that's where the soldier on one side and the it would be a depressed looking um wall behind him so that he's in war um and and uh saluting and such and then on the other side is a a lady dressed as a military lady with a child representing the family and and so those words are designed to kind of uh explain that that this is a memorial to people and families that are affected by becoming a veteran so um from there we need money right Abby so so that this and we'd like to have your approval with this concept so that we can go forward with the with the money um we're looking for local contributions um trying to figure out um who we would would uh address it with and and the other thing I should tell you is that that with this brochure and and the illustrations that we have um we spent time at the um arts in the park and got very very favorable comments to this concept from the public the other thing that has been done is uh visited 40 businesses within the city and showing what was being done again uh literally zero um criticisms negative comments or whatever there's very large support by the business community and the resident Community um of the design and so on unfortunately the it costs a lot that I mean if I was going to say something that kind of tightens you up a little bit is the cost of things these days but the what what's in your packet are estimates you know they're not bids specifically um so some of the things may may come in lower depending upon business climate at the time that the bids are let so we're hoping for that but but the other thing that we are doing is we are going to go to the legislature one more time and and ask for $250,000 more to contribute toward this project and of course we won't know that until after the legislature uh next spring ab's got all the other answers thank you Gary and Paul Abby anything else for Council before we open it up for Council consideration I don't have anything additional to add but I will note that there Outreach efforts have recently brought in um $7,000 from private individuals and Foundations so they are going out and actively trying to solicit um funding sources throughout the community and um maybe this was in your packet and I missed it when is the next planned update to council or what is the next um Council Council action that's needed sure so tonight before you would be to approve the design between now um and March they'd do these targeted fundraising efforts and we would start to to talk about a formalized agreement with the committee and whomever would be responsible for having this partnership in the long term so between now and March this will be coming back before the uh the council the committee has been advised that without having the funds to do the work the council might not be um all that encouraging to enter into a formal agreement for the official acceptance of the memorial thank you Abby kind of essentially when they have the money hopefully by the spring so that we can kick that project off in the fall very good Council let's open it up for any questions or comments that you may have before we consider motion on tonight's agenda item I do like the design a lot better than what they had before um that that was i' heard those comments that you talked about and U and this is a lot better I think so I I like that design other comments yeah I would I would agree it's to much not so ominous um and more welcoming I think to the park so I hats off to go back to drawing board on that and and coming back with a a really nice design yeah I would agree um I would agree with that comment about the fundraising um is there a nonprofit element to this at all that to receive donations um uh the city is the Fiscal Agent and so anybody could would be able I believe would be able to write off the donations as part of their tax I'm not a tax professional so I shouldn't have even said could write it off but um we can provide them with a a exempt status letter from the city yes wasn't think about so much from a um right off standpoint but it's so much as there's some companies certainly around the area that maybe have a matching program corporately for their employee donations so I just but those company matches typically have to go to a 501c3 so I don't know if there's a a nonprofit a 501c3 that's associated with this effort at all from a fundrais standpoint our committee is not um it's not because we're we're a part of the city as far as the committee is concerned so so whatever whatever the tax implication for contributing or donating to the city would would be will prevail I believe now I suppose it's something that if if it was necessary um I don't know if the committee as as it is now could could do that but it's a possibility that we could do that and become this in expensive to become 50 501c3 so so it could be done one of the things that is happening in that fundraising is in the Lions and Mason have one project going right now that that has a dinner on the 26th of October at the Mason that U we're trying we're raising money together the Masons and the Lions uh in order to get matching funds so the L the Masons will be able to get matching funds from their Master organization also so whatever we and that's we're doing it together but we're doing it in the Mason's name because then they can they can ask for matching money so so those kind of things we're hoping will Mater yeah I um applaud the change in design um and I'm really excited about what I've seen on the screen and I there's nothing like a video to tell the story and so I just think having that video put together just really helps to um paint a very clear picture of what what the goal is and to um increase some enthusiasm so kudos for getting this far I'm I'm happy to support the design today um and I would would just plant some seeds that um if funding does become problematic um it might be nice to see a phased approach where maybe there is an element that is a future phase it would be um you know knowing that we together have received some State funding to make a foundation of the project um happen there's some time frames around that I believe um it'd be nice to at least see a a portion of the project move forward and then if there were a centerpiece or something that had to happen in a secondary effort um it might be wise given the timelines to be thinking about that but um I also appreciate the there's nothing like a full finished project to gather support and so um I think the effort of let's go after a full finished project is well placed and maybe let's have a solid plan B in our pocket if needed um any other questions or points of feedback Abby did you need anything more specific for SS generally the council's favorable to the design and supportive of them moving forward at those efforts and that's really what we were seeking tonight so yeah we'll continue to work with the committee to kind of help keep them on track for a fall Well Spring construction specifications bid for fall 2025 construction starting do you need an action tonight or is the feedback sufficient I think that this is sufficient enough if the council would like to make a formal motion to approve the design I mean does it help you if we approve the design as a memorial like a it's a event that allows some I think it's nice to be able to say the city council approves of this concept yeah I um so I would motion that Council um approve the Veterans Memorial design um as outlined tonight is there a second second second motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I I oppose motion carries excellent thank you for being here our next item this evening is um belt Park improvements and Dave good evening mayor and Council uh coming here tonight in September uh city council approved the ex uh amended uh Grant from the DNR for belts Park uh that extended it to December 31st of 2025 uh we're in a position now where where staff is looking for for some direction what what to do with that extension uh came with about four viable options uh what What's what the city could do um the first one would be uh just do nothing in return the grant uh just for reference the grant is $300,000 for people don't remember um we could have approve the existing plan that was approved last year uh rebid it and and construct construct that and then two new options um that were developed uh this year option one would just would be to put the ADA Compliant pedestrian facilities that would be required to as part of this Grant and then option two would be these same pedestrian facilities but adding a parking lot inside of belts uh these three options were all attached or all in the the packet uh including uh like a spreadsheet breakdown of estimated costs um including including what the grant would be just for reference uh a playground itself just to do that playground is approximately $500,000 so if you're looking at what the city share is if you were just to do the playground you would be getting more for by keeping that Grant and getting those pedestrian facilities so I know most of you have seen that playground and upper belts with the plywood and the the parts that are falling off it um it's kind of why staff was not recommending last year's option uh we'd be adding a brand new playground structure on the lower level of belts but doing nothing with the upper structure so we have a brand new playground but and one that's 20 years old on the top that's falling apart I don't think that's a very wise use of um City dollars on top of that then you're adding a whole another playground structure so at some point you're going to have to add that in the capital which is another $500,000 somewhere in the CIP but then 20 years from now you'll have an extra playground at this part that will have to get replaced so you're adding that annual or not annual every 20 years you'll have an extra ground that you'll have to maintain uh the shared parking lot or the the parking lot presented in an option to um we've been working with St Peters for a shared parking lot agreement there was some confusion when the proposal came back from St Peters um I think um administrator H it was unfavorable and it may have directed uh Amanda not to pursue it any longer and public work staff was under impression that where that was going to get reviewed so that last Council unit that's kind of where we were that that leg was um it was quite unfavorable on a few sections uh there's always room for negotiation in those and some back and forth but um staff feels that if you can get that public parking into your public park and not have to enter in a shared shared uh use agreement that's more favorable um and the location of where that parking lot is will now be centralized to where the playground would be the entrances to the new pickleball and basketball courts which also leaves room for a future Pavilion which leave a future skating rink all these in in these this centralized area where this parking lot would be um that's really all I have of of options just looking for uh Council Direction the as you as I noted in my memo um the October 28th uh meeting would be favorable to approve a playground prices for playground structures go up November 1st and it's at least a 10% increase so that's about I'd say $50,000 hit you would take after November 1st options one and two also need to get a full plans and specs and storm water designed it would be less storm water than the option from last year but that hasn't been looked at there's an estimate of of dollars to do that but it will still have to get designed and approved by the Watershed so the timing of everything ordering the playground equipment getting the plans and specs and getting it bit up next spring to have everything completed and it paid for by December 31st of next year um I know it's been asked that we should wait for a a Parks Commission to have this but we're running we're running out of time and if we don't get a commission seat until next year I Fe it'll be too late to get this playground equipment imp plans and specs put into place really just looking for Council discussion Council Direction I'm here to answer any questions and and find a solution thank you excuse me thank you Dave Council opened it up could you say more about your comments around the Watershed district and the effect of the parking lot so when we we did option last year we had to create a storm water facility on the back side of the new playground um we're just creating more impervious when you disturb more than 5,000 square ft you're going to have to do some type of storm water control just even without the parking lot in there we we'll we'll reach that 5,000 by doing all the sidewalk along Southshore Drive and the The Pedestrian facilities with Within the park it'll trigger that storm water requirement so for either option one two or last year's will require some storm water where we looking at these figures um where will that go or would any idea where we be putting that that'll that'll be part of that design where we we we can figure out where it's going to be the least disturbance for for future expansion I mean the last year's one was behind the playground where it wouldn't have been in the way I think there'll be some options on the back sides of the parking lot or maybe closer to Southshore Drive it's going to depend on where the drainage goes and and where where we can grab that run off okay I know in having recent conversations with um water shed District least the comfort Lake Forest like one I mean there is some I'm I'm don't hold me to them to this but I mean there's been some interest on their part to want to partner on some of this stuff and so I'd say let's see what kind of Grants they might have available in addition to expectations and requirements let's see if they've got some money to put at this project yeah I know they were interested in that that corner of sou Shore and 11th as well to do some kind of an educational you know storm water feature that would have some signage in there that would explain you know how the water's filtered and and all that if you could use it as a education educational you know feature I think there would be some assistance there m I think you should provide some I guess more distinctive Direction on that just because this is why right so regardless of the improvements uh Dave just outlined the project would be required to build a BMP to treat that new impervious area right to meet storm water rules and requirements anything over and beyond that is what the Watershed district is going to want to participate in and if you're looking to expand those bmps that will will take up more buildable area in this park if you had future plans for something else maybe some of the money that they could participate would go towards uh signage Sur some of the bmps that would be required so there's two different routes you could kind of go with that do you want to go over and Beyond uh storm water treatment and take up more space or are you looking more at that educational component of that so thatd probably give a better clear direction for Dave to C go back with the Watershed District hey you know we're going to we know we have to meet the permit requirements would you guys be interested in partnering with some uh uh education signage on those you know because there will be bmps that already constructed to treat them impervious reconstructed area yeah I guess I mean I'd like to preserve as much of the park as possible to for future so yeah I mean that as you just laid it out makes sense ask for that support to provide education I would agree preserve as much of the footprint for recreation and yeah um go ahead CC M Roberts what can you spound a little bit on the unfavorable feedback on the from the St Peters and where that agreement went and it sound like at one point we were you know maybe plowing a sidewalk and maybe there was some movement but now we're proposing putting a parking lot in must have must not be very favorable I mean real unfavorable I guess I I don't want to get into the weeds too much just because it's I don't want to open negotiate or talk about it you know at a council meeting but it in comparison to the agreement that we have with stellos in the golf course it's a a lot more unfavorable to the city and with that we have use of the entire tiger parking lot uh year round this one is 30 spaces at times when the the church is not being used um the rent is quite higher than what we are paying Stellas and then just maintenance ass of snow removal and and stuff of the of the city that we have an option to build our own parking lot that would accommodate these 30 Park spots it just may be wise to get ourselves out of a shared parking agreement I don't think we'd be having the conversation if it was a commercial building it's it's just a convenience of that this is a a church and they use the playground and we've just historically use that parking lot but we have the ability now to when we redo this park to add public parking facilities within the park and I think the future us would be happy that we put this parking lot in here instead of NE a contract every 3 years of cost and maintenance and and and that going forward this certainly would be the only Park in town with a parking lot my opinion it makes sense to I understand that but if we want to step into this a little bit is there an option to push you know try to negotiate something short term and you know if we're looking at spending these Park dollars and we're going to spend the whole Year's budget and one I just the parking lot obvious is big piece of this thing and um you know we've had this it's worked for 40 years or 50 years to be partners with with the the church they use it um so with me not having the details of this feedback on this agreement I I can't make a decision tonight to be honest with you so a couple of points and and and In fairness the to everyone involved it's essentially been a first draft that's shared right and so is there is there how much room is there to move on it um that that's un unknown um it was um and I I only no high very high level but there were a couple varas of concern one was one was annual cost and then you've got this compounding effective annual cost and then there was some other um Provisions just related to um um liability so it wasn't just a cost there were some other um parts of that agreement that would also need to be um um worked through and again fairness we might be able to get there I I think where um just in my conversations with Christina her her feeling was rather than having this ongoing you know dollars out for parking and also we H we are doing a substantial redesign if this were any other building or any other project in the city we would require you know contained parking and um so I can see some wisdom in that I also though have some angst over gosh why use space and dollars for parking if we can have an agreement that is potentially going to work out [Music] um what's challenging about this is the timeline and piecing out this project uh between you know a decision on the parking lot and then the decision on other components that are also you know lying on the these Grant dollars um I um so that's it it that's the the challenging you know time frame that we're under um Dave is there an option of of course I just lost my just a quick question on that so to to be able to retain these Grant dollars by would we receive those by just doing the parking lot or do we need to I mean the the playground or do we need to include the parking lot piece of this we need to do the parking lot or the playground and The Pedestrian facilities so you could do any one of those three options so I think you know if we're concerned about losing those dollars maybe that's kind of that medium in between where we're going to use those dollars add additional amount to the to the park but then slow this parking lot piece of it down until we really know what the full build Parks coming someday I mean we we don't know that we've talked about $1.7 million we've talked about now you know 700 or whatever I mean it just seems like it unless there's some economies of scale on the building of everything that makes more sense to do both I it just seems like that would be a good happy medium where we're investing in the Parks updating this horrible playground situation and still maybe short-term maybe we end up doing the parking lot at some point but shortterm more conversation with the church to see what a couple years might look like if we get a lot of snow I can guarantee you what happens at the St Peters they pile a bunch of snow up on that north side there which is right up against bels Park well then the kids park there and they slide down those Hills from the top all the way to the bottom and then back up again so you're going to you're going to have people parking in there no matter what I don't know how you going he'd even stop it unless you had a bunch of signs in there you know uh it doesn't it didn't happen last year here so much because we didn't get any snow but I've seen some piles of snow there were 10 ft taller cuz they push the whole parking lot into that area and um so then it becomes a a skating ground or at least a sliding ground for the kids there so um there's going to be some other issues and and no matter what there what you do it parking to some degree though that's just a function of where an organization chooses to put their snow piles I mean I remember playing King of the Hill on the grocery store parking lot because they pile their snow up and I mean it's just what kids do I I understand that but it's still it still brings into question the parking issue well certainly here's my push back and why I'm actually advocating for option to it's $150,000 more to us to have a parking lot which we should have anyway um I mean we can certainly go with option one I guess as I'm looking at this because the the real time line is around the parking or excuse me the the playground equip and we could negotiate and see if we can come up to a resolution but we're still in either way we're still going to be dealing with porta potties and everything is orientated towards the center of the parking lot or the park where the parking lot is suggested to be so if we don't go that route the toilets are still over there people are still parking out in the parking lot it's just it's really I don't know pretty funky in my mind so you're leaning towards option too I am I council member husnik also brought out good point about the snow and it it's the winter too right so we have a skating rink there in the winter and right now people park on the grass and it turns into mud and it's just hard to get to or people are parking at the church parking lot and then walking down the hill and over to the rink this I'm not arguing there's anything wrong with option two I'm just saying no matter if option 2 is there or not that's what's going to be happening in the win time I was just BR no matter what there's it'd be City would be able to have a lot there for people to use that that skating rink right and to council member Eric Ericson's point right now there's porta potties but that can be up Pavillion sometime it's still option one and two have that area where the Pavilion from last year's approved plan could still go on that same spot with water and sewer and and bathroom it's just we have so many other needs I don't know if we should throw se you know $500,000 into a pavilion with with full you know full facilities which also brings up another issue of there's going to be weekend overtime and maintenance and and all that stuff right now and you know so that's another another whole another discussion for a Parks Commission to decide do we want full service bathrooms at these Parks or do we just want portable enclosures with you know a a pavilion this one's unique cuz it's set up for for that ice rink so you have that warming house in the future maybe there won't be a rink here and it'll be somewhere else or maybe there'll be a the new design will have a full size rink with you know a massive warming house I guess that part I don't know but centralizing that parking lot and doing your pedestrian facility still leave that whole lower level the part completely empty and developable can can you put up on the screen um the visual which I think helps this conversation a little bit so I came into tonight's discussion also um supporting option two with some angst um I I share council member Robert's concern on gosh why are we putting parking next to parking and do we do we need to do that and when I I voed this in a in a staff meeting last week and um staff you very wisely said look we have a unique opportunity with this park we're adding we're continuing to add amenities to this park and we have a unique opportunity to kind of come into line with what we would require of any other facility in the city and and I agree with that that is a true statement the other thing that I just continue to come back to is the current alignment of all of the facilities that Central parking space is Central and is aligned with the walkway to a potential new playground which would be funded under option two the re um modeled courts that are currently going to be they're in process right now and are going to be positioned with access to the the centralized parking place um and so there's just a lot of design elements that start to move together that yes it seems like now might be a nice time to kind of move ahead with a centralized independent parking facility um that is kind of centered toward all of the parking is centered towards the amenities of the park um at not a terribly High incremental cost given it's kind of the time we're doing the project so that coupled with again just some concerns over the first draft of the agreement and and just we know that you know over the life shared parking Agreements are always there apt to change and so um you know we've had times where you know the Stella's agreement was kind of hanging in limbo and were we going to come to agreement or not um this kind of pulls that off the table and um I think longterm is is a good option what uh what was the dollar Mountain Kevin or who could share what we've spent what is the the court project cost total cost that we agreed on it was $450,000 with a contingency of 10% so won't be over 500 if it won't be over 500 mean so I know that increments kind of small but I mean we're talking about over a million dollars that we invest in this park in two years that's substantial um I think the other advantage of holding out from the parking lot um we don't know what the build out we talk about not having a commission we not had a Parks Commission for two years now um it gives us a little bit more options to what that Park looked like looks like when it's fully built out by not having the parking lot there I'm not saying it shouldn't be there but um and also stepping into this instead of I know 150 on a Million Dollar Plus job is not that much or it doesn't seem that much more but it's still $150,000 so would you say option one I just want are you comfortable with option one and that's what I'm saying with again not knowing not having the details of the push back on on from or the or the what what the church is requiring um and allowing for additional time to maybe get a commission seated to to figure out the full buildout of this park we're still doing um new ada8 compliant uh playgrounds we can still get that Grant from the DNR again just seems like a a happy medium um is is op is the add-on option for option to a potential for a future project that we I was trying to do math yeah sorry is adding on option two the new features of option two that aren't in option one essentially the parking lot can that be a future phase so I was just trying to do the math and see if that square footage would trigger another storm water is that equal 5,000 I think you're going to probably spend $50,000 to tear out what you put in then to put it back in again plus your added cost 10 years from now or 5 years from now what black top prices are so you're putting in a 10-ft trail but then you're going to have to rip it all back out to pitch it so it'll drain and then add in a 60 by 117 oh yeah that'll probably trigger it 60 by 107 so You' have another storm water BMP that you'd have to put in so you'd have to do it twice well we're talking about this right now because because of the deadline surrounding the playground equipment right and that's happening the other way right right so when do we like when do we need to make a decision between option one and option two as it relates specifically to the parking lot for plans and specs we probably well we'd have to talk with the Watershed first and see how quick that review was we'd ALS we also have to give the final plan to the DNR who has to get Federal approval to sign off lot for the entire if we change from last year's approved plan if we go with option two we have to get approval from the grant to say yes you can change this option one of the caveat can we do that early December so could we give legal a month to work with church the church and to see what the shed parking agreement might look like we just have to cross our fingers that the review process only takes a couple weeks and versus 30 days or 60 days so they need to approve the parking lot or just the parking equipment the whole plan needs to be our agreement with the um the DNR and the state or the federal government needs to be amended because we removed the Pavilion from the project so that's the true Amendment they need the final site plan of what we are going to do in the project the initial the initial Grant said the city was going to spend $700,000 to get $300,000 and removing of the Pavilion is not only removing that Pavilion but saying hey the city doesn't want to spend the 700 to get the 300 that part that part was approved that yes you can remove the Pavilion but we haven't given them an updated site plan to show that The Pedestrian facilities are still there and whether if you have a 10-ft trail going through or that parking lot we don't get any credit for spending money on the courts that wasn't part of the grant they they eliminated that part out they they added new features but didn't take care of any of the old features they didn't touch the old playground or the courts and courts They just added a pavilion and a brand new park and just left the old playground in the courts as part of the the parks commission's plan so we're doing it in the correct order now we're we're doing the courts we're going to we'd like to redo that playground and work our way down the hill and at some point add a pavilion and add that but really the question is is should we put that parking lot in now at $150,000 or put in a trail and at some point in time later if we decide to do it spend even more than $150,000 to put that in you want to do it part of this grant project where you'll see those savings and or do you want to do it later on and have to sit here and talk through it again about should we do this parking lot or shouldn't we do this parking lot it it seems like we have at least consensus on option one um of the base the yes we should move for forward at the base project the question is do we add in the additional parking um is that where we are Council yeah what did you yeah it seems like it and the risk of not including option two at this point and not moving forward with the parking lot the portion of option two at this point is that there is if we wanted to do it in the future it's a more expensive project correct you would have to remove your Trail yeah then add back your parking lot plus trigger storm water again you wouldn't have to go through the grant process and get approvals through that you just have to internally I really wish that when we get that initial proposal there would an action taken on it but that's water under the bridge I mean if we go with option one when you say the initial proposal which one from the church oh if we go with option one then we got to go down that road y it's a bad choice it's a bad choice mayor Bane yes um I've been kind of giving Amanda some updates about this discussion yes specifically prating to the shared parking agreement with the church and she does state that it's a very aggressive ask that the church is coming in with um compared to where we are now um she would like to bring this forward of the development team meeting again on Wednesday with staff to discuss it a little bit further um the edict that she was working under was to not move forward on it whatsoever yeah so that's where it's SAT but um The Challenge right now is that it's not just the the church at St Pete's that's involved in this it's the higher Arch dicese as well and that's where the the more restrictive asks are coming in from the church so so with that option is she is there a suggestion that perhaps we table this this evening and bring back for next council meeting is that seems like that may be wise but legal right now suggests that it would be better for the city to pay more up front and to have the parking built in for a private lot than to be going back and forth with um this parking access agreement in perpetuity yeah I'm not and I'm not suggesting long term this could be a shortterm with the church and then build but I mean I'm going to take a stab at a motion this evening and [Music] um this is a tough this is a tough one so um no offense if there's a lot of disagreement I I'm going to I'm going to move that Council move ahead with option two and is there a second second there's a motion in a second discussion what what the time frame if we do I think the first her first response that Jing that you read from Amanda was to bring this back to development and Wednesday so what is the timeline problem if we do that and this comes this is tabled and it comes back up the other thing is we have we're absent a council member who is our Park liaison person um that's not here to help make the decision this is not a minor decision dollarwise and I know we've drug this thing on and on and on um but that a lot has to do with not having a Parks Commission for the last two years is there a is there a cost if we hold decision for two weeks until we can get consensus from the development team meeting and um In fairness to Amanda she was told to sit on this that she was told to take no action um the other thing too I mean we've had close sessions of other agreements I'd like to know the details of this I mean I mean being asked I know some of you have the details being asked to make a decision only of high level like and without the details of this agreement that they're proposing or what their new proposal is it's that I don't could we um David are we are we missing anything for are we missing out on anything if we were to table us for two weeks so if I'm hearing Council correctly you are all in favor of the playground being up on the the top and going forward with that so on the 28th I could bring that back for approval with an actual cost and also come back with seeking approval for option one or option two and then approving plans and specs at that point in time we're sending it to the grant so the the we could move this to the 28th because I have to come back anyway to get approval for the playground and get a hard number on that and that may that number is an estimate so the playground comes down and makes the parking lot more appetizing or playground goes up and makes it less appetizing and I would then give staff the talk with a legal at development team meeting I still think either way that 20th would be a hard stop for either option one or two so we know no Direction because I don't know how long it'll take the federal government to review I don't want to wait 60 days and all of a sudden now it's January and then then we have to rush plans and specs and try to get storm water figured out and then I'm there in July asking you to amend the contract for the fifth time to extend it another three months to do this so they're being very um accommodating to us the DNR they want us to spend this money so but I think at some point they may lose some patience say we'll give it to somebody else who wants to spend this money so we have to just be kind of cautious of that as well that they they've kind of let us drag this out but we can all make a decision on the 28th that would be fantastic and we can get something going I just to be clarified we want to spend this money this grant money we just do want to do it right and not rushed I would agree with that additional clarification I resend the motion um does anyone want to any other discussion before we table does anyone want I move that we table this conversation till October 28th is there a second second motion second from council member husnik all in favor of tbling signal by saying I I oppose and it's tabled thank you all um next we're going to move to our final action item of the evening which is consideration of resolution 10142 2402 two accepting donation from Grand Casino and I move that Council approve with gratitude is there a second second Motion in a second any discussion hearing none all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and motion carries all right we're going to move into a workshop topic this evening um this is a more informal working session of council anything that we talk about in this session that requires a vote will come forward on a future agenda and with that we're going to move into a discussion on your B club and Abby mayor B uh members of the council in 2011 the Eda issued an RFP for a marina to be located in Lakeside Memorial Park a year later the park former Park Board entered into a a lease agreement with your boat club that was a 10-year lease agreement for them to operate a 24 slip Marina 12 of the slips would be rental slips and then there'd be slips available for their own Fleet um in 22 we opted to H enter into a new agreement just carrying on those terms so that 10-year agreement kind of kicked it out a couple years we're up against uh the time again unfortunately where the lease Agreements are expired um I asked your boat club they are interested in continuing a partnership with the city of forest lake in Lakeside Memorial Park they did show some provide some data for us um I do want to correct for the record they included in my staff report was that they had 14 slip rentals they actually um only have 12 they are not in violation of their lease but some data for you 35% of their slips are rented out to Forest Lake mailing residents or residents with a mailing address 21% to the Forest Lake Area um the General Rental so what the general public may not be aware of is that they can rent a boat from your boat club they don't have to be a member they can rent one of their rental fleets but um 62% of their rentals were outs not from Forest Lake and 133% were from out of state so they are actually bringing people into the Forest Lake area that are not from the Forest Lake area and then within um their membership rental category about almost 70% of them are from the metro area outside the Forest Lake area so they really are drawing people from the region to Forest Lake they additionally provided me with some more detail with their 23 um total reservations to 24 total reservations in 23 they had just about 900 reservations in 24 that went up to almost 1,400 or 1350 so their their presence is increasing they did let me know that if you kind of took that as a five people per boat trip out that that would probably be about 7,000 visitors just this last year to the Forest Lake area so they're really trying to show that they're an asset to the Forest Lake um community and from an economic development perspective I would say that that still continues to ring true so tonight um the direction was really to see whether or not we wanted to move forward with a uh renewed lease something longer shorter um given the fact that again it was cited tonight we don't have a park Commission in place um staff would not recommend that we enter into a new 10-year agreement um there's a couple reasons for that one we would like to be able to negotiate these with with commission input also your boat club is um has discussed with staff that they would like the consideration for potential expansion the Lakeshore um Shoreline Improvement plan also talks about consolidating the voting facilities down there and any sort of expansion or consolidation would require an environmental assessment worksheet from the DNR so knowing that there's opportunities and that both the city and your boat club would like to explore we you know staff really feels that entering into a new lease is appropriate but maybe something in a little bit of a shorter term three years um to give us some time to kind of work through some of those nuances not only get some new staff in get new Commissions in but then really sit down and work through um what would be the goal from both bodies of about trying to either expand the facilities consolidate the facilities improve the operations offerings those sorts of things in that threeyear time period so tonight for you is just discussion providing us with direction to see if whether or not you want to move forward with a lease if so a shorter one a longer one but again it'd be my recommendation that we'd look at maybe that three-year timeline with no substantial changes maybe just looking at um rate changes uh based on um market trends and that sort of thing thank you Abby uh let's just open it up feedback for be based on the topic so those are some impressive numbers I was on the Eda when we started this back then and that was the goal so I'm glad to hear those numbers uh and short term to not combine both um if we were to add some additional doc slips would that trigger DNR study so we're maxed out right now before the marina is entirely maxed out um without needing to do any change would require an eaw and what does that consist of cost wise um um I haven't looked into it just because the timeline right now knowing that this lease is up for consideration for their Springtime operations and we certainly could look into that they haven't provided us with any sort of a proposal I don't imagine though that we would be through that process between the combination of um so we also the city issued them a conditional use permit on the property in the you know teens and so we'd have to go back and we'd have to amend that so there's a number of different entitlements that would probably take a number of months to get through I can look at costs for it to see we go a little bit further um so your uh so if it's and it's longer term to to combine that going to take some time short term if we can increase that visitor count up and more people downtown and it didn't require much other than adding a couple more you know some more footage and some slips the current uh layout of that dock just seems like it' be good to you know good to explore sure one thing um they did let me know is we um the permissions that the city has given us 12 they can lease 12 long-term slip spaces they're at a reduced rate for Forest Lake residents they or a standard market rate for non-residents they have not actually been filling their full slip space all 12 um so there is maybe an opportunity to increase more rental boat space either for their members or General Rentals to increase those visitors but that would then be going back to some of those original approval documents not changing the total number number of boats but the type of products offered could be an option for increasing some of that does that make sense it does it just seems a little you know talking with the owners out Tims and Marina they got a waiting list out there so it's just surprising that there's available slips downtown I wouldn't doubt that that's just because of the lease rate that we locked in at it's a um I haven't looked at Market rates but I think that it's a very low rate and they might not be the might not be an incentive to necessarily fill those Le spaces um there's a so my inclination coming into this was yes absolutely we should we should renew my thought process was renew for a shorter term just because not because in the not because I S I would suggest that we are parting ways in the near term but more so just letting us work through what our long-term doc needs are work through their long-term plan and come up with an agreement you know kind of along the lines of where council member Roberts is going um but we're not so I I think we should express interest in building a long-term plan and let's look at a short-term lease renewal to kind of be that bridge document to get us there um I it seems I would I would hate for us not to move ahead and also start to enter into some of those longer term discussions we just not in the place this minute to do that yeah I'm I'm agreeable to that yeah me too shorter sure does is the council kind of favorable with maybe that three-year term we saw what we kind of did with two years we had some staffing changes the commission changes I just don't know with where we're sitting at this point that we'd get a whole lot of movement in 25 but that would then give us still some time to get those negotiations I would be fine with a threeyear if there was something written in there that if both parties agreed to amend that at a shorter time um we could we could do that i' like to give them some stability right and so maybe that longer term gives them some stability but also exactly what council member Robert suggested an option to um revisit sooner and then also us as a city to have that motivation and Comm commitment that we are Staffing that and um giving that the attention to move ahead sooner great well I think they'll be excited to hear this as well and um that just kind of helps us keep moving forward with seeing what we might be able to do there any anything else on this topic all right um we do have a closed session this evening um but before we move into that closed session let's do um staff and Council updates and um we'll start with Jolene uh just a quick reminder that we're currently accepting applications for some 2025 Council not not Council excuse me commission vacancies um we will have two terms expiring on the airport Commission in 2025 and three terms expiring on the Eda so if folks are interested please visit our website and um apply and any questions can be directed to me I'm happy to answer them thank you Julene Abby um the only update that I have is that we did receive CDA notice of just housing tax credits that would be used within the city um that is for medis Investments to purchase Westridge town homes that's on 12th Street North essentially they're looking at a substantial Rehabilitation of that project is already um to still continue to provide affordable rents within the community I don't um plan on sending any comments I just felt like the city was in would be in support of a rehabilitation project to preserve that affordable housing stock so just wanted to give you that update thank you Abby Dave uh just one update KY young our new parks and recck coordinator started today so uh Abby's happy that uh she's offloading some some work on on him and he uh he's full of ambition and is ready to change the world so um we wish him wish him luck and uh it's a another one of those thankless jobs he's going to get a lot of stuff done but also um wondering why he's not doing a lot so it's but he's uh he's raring to go and uh we should see some good things coming out up Parks it's nice to have somebody there full-time now uh to concentrate on um Parks and Recreation perfect Dave do we still have active conversations going on with the contractor for the pickle ball court or what is current status on that at this point we do not um the part that was left out of the conversations was the bubbling happened but the pickle Ballers were on their hands and knees picking the bubbles off so it's it is true it's off gassing of the the concrete um and were told don't pick the bubbles but as soon as Public Works was there they were picking the bubbles off of there so it's it's it's not really a work worksmanship I mean it's just concrete will off gas and and that will happen um a lot of the moisture just coming out of the concrete as far as the hairline cracks that was mentioned and and said when we did this Overcoat that they were going to come right back through um so I don't know where that got misconstrued but it was it's definitely got Overcoat it wasn't a full rehab full rehab was 60 or $70,000 and the the council opted to go with the the cheaper of the just the Overcoat right but that that those cracks were going to come right through right right can I just just a followup question so these depressions I was out there the depressions that were fixed how does that happen from just pulling up not I'm not following that doesn't make sense that that that's something we could have them look if if it's not level if there's still depressions in there but that Overcoat the layer that when they pull the bubbles off they they created void so the epoxy cover was off so it did make holes in there so if they weren't filled all the way back full that's that's something we can have them come out and try to to level off as far as the worksmanship that's that's part of that off gasing and you know it would have been different if he would have went and picked them all off but that's not the case and then is there uh so that's been fully paid I'm assuming that that and is was there any retainage in that contract or anything no it's just strictly a maintenance project so it's I mean the contractor will will come back but when you have a patch like that you're never going to color match exactly the same you're you can't you're you're taking an epoxy a colored epoxy and then trying to match it with a paint color and same contractor that did that is doing the belts project correct correct yep given they've got an active project in the city and I I'd hope they'd try to find some resolution or some solution that gets to a more satisfactory result for the users next construction me we can go out there the contract and I can go out to the pick a ball cour and and take a look at at the depressions I mean there's if it's leveling that needs to be done I'm sure he's not going to have a problem leveling them I think that's worth looking at but the the patches aren't going to always they're not going to match up even if they it'll be it'll be a different color it's just it's just fair he ran into a project where he just did a complete track and a bunch of kids ran through it and now they have a $100,000 track with Footprints in it that they patch together but your patches are the footprints so it's I mean you run into it but it's you're never going to get it back to ex unless you recot the whole entire thing those those will remain to be clear Trust not in Forest Lake right not in Forest Lake in a city unnamed City yes okay and then um I received an email uh Sunday I believe some sometime over the weekend um related to from Clear Lake Lake Association related to Beaver Dam issues and um I have not had an opportunity to respond to that Dave you and I can connect on what we might be able to do or what if that's a handoff with Watershed District again I'm a little flat footed on this topic at least wanted to acknowledge it yep so it's in Rice Creek and it's holding back Clear Lake but the beaver dam is in Columbus and so it's out of out of our city and and I don't really know how they're going to get to it it's out in the middle of nowhere o so I know Rice Creek was going to go and look at it and they know where it's at I just I almost might have to wait till winter and freeze up to try to get out there and bust it out then but it's just in a bad spot and so have you had recent conversations with them are they are they on it or I just talked to John Waller before the the meeting and in Rice Creek is aware and they were going to talk to the DNR as well um to try to get at least get Trappers out there to to stop the beavers and then figure out how to take the damn down after that I think you don't want to take the damn down before you get rid of the Beavers because you got to use the dam to attract them into to getting trapped so kind of Step One is eradicating and step two is getting rid of the dam okay all right anything else for Dave Chief Peterson no updates all right Chief Newman no updates Kevin excuse me mayor city council I've been working on getting the documents ready for the budget open house that will be held on November 12th before the regularly scheduled city council meeting I will also be working on getting the online survey um response up for that online uh budget openhouse tely planning to have that start and open on October 21st and go through October 30th therefore give me give residents enough time to respond we would post this on our Facebook page a couple times to push it put in our newsletter to get the word out there that it's available um we'll send I will send an update when it's out there and then it'll also give me enough time to get all the results and then have that ready for our discussion on the 12th as well thank you Kevin excuse me what was the time it was the 12 but there was a time uh right now we're looking at from 5:30 to 7 o'clock thank you Ryan mayor State Council no updates unless you have any questions thank you Ryan all right sir Council updates council member Ericson no updates tonight council member husnik no updates council member Roberts evening and nothing this evening from me either um with that we are going to move into a Clos session I move that Council move into close session persu to Minnesota statute 13 d03 for labor negotiation strategy is there a second second there's a motion and a second from council member husnik all those in favor signal by saying I I oppose and we're in close session thanks everyone [Music]