[Music] pleasure to welcome you all than you foron a cold evening when there happens to be a little bit of a football game going on starting right now and so I know everyone is anxious to get right into it so let's do that and I would welcome uh mayor Alex Roberts to come down for I swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States support the Constitution United States the constition of the state of Minnesota and I will Faithfully discharge the duties of May City of to the best of my Jud andil best of my judg and ability so help me so help me conratulations [Applause] Hannah I Hannah do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support theti United States the constition of the state of Minnesota the constitution of the state of Minnesota and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties of the office of city council and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties of the office of City Council of the city of forest Blake Minnesota of the city of Forest Lake Minnesota to the best of my judgment and ability to the best of my judgment and ability so so Town congratulations [Applause] swear I Jeff lson do Solly swear that I will support theti of the United States that will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the state of Minnesota the constitution of the state of Minnesota and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties of the office of city council and I will Faithfully discharge the duties of City Council of the city of Forest Lake Minnesota for the city of Forest Lake Minnesota to the best of my judgment and ability to the best of my judgment and Mobility so help [Applause] we're just going to take a couple minutes and take some family pictures and then we'll get the meeting started right away I know that there's a big game tonight when I would like you just to stick around if you have time to do the acknowledgements of outgoing council members guess we have to we l come here come here everybody's welcome all right three two one guys I have another job Mara this we gotta get rid of this microphone Mara this is all right it is uh 706 so I call this uh meeting to an order uh Joan can we get a roll call council member Ericson is absent this evening council member Larson present council member valento here and mayor Roberts here uh if everyone would join us and uh for the pledge allegiance Al United States of America stand na indivisible liy and justice for all right uh is there a motion to approve tonight's agenda so moved second I'll second that all in favor I iOS I'd like to abstain for a certain agenda items on a consent agenda yeah so we'll approve that once we get to that very good yeah so I approve all right motion carries this might be a little clunky here for a while so it I it's gonna be I'll never be as good as as marad so smoth process but we'll get there uh so with that said I'd like to we're going to do an acknowledgement of uh our outgoing officials one of um former Mara mayor Mara Bane um so Mar if you would come up here I'll meet you up there [Applause] [Applause] I had some notes but ring it we don't have to put our on so on beh of the city for Lake we like to thank you for your dedicated service to City for 2007 2024 commitment and dedication is left a dirty Legacy with deepest appreciation gratitude for the resents elect officials staff for SL like to just add uh so as you know Mar came out in the scene when we need to save our Poli depart um and from there she she found a love for this community and brought us to the level to we at right now um You number of things you've done let us through pic anyone an organization it's not easy amazing job we are financially in the best situation City been years um you made the comment at the last meeting while making those hard decisions she made those hard decisions she set this Council up mve forward do great things not [Applause] I didn't prepare remarks for this evening and um if you watch our city council meeting when we passed our Levy I absolutely just blubbered my way to the bu remarks so I will save you all the Waterworks for this evening but just want to say I leave knowing that this council is in very good shape I'm very excited for the council that we have elected um Blake in his position as mayor we have a new city administrator who's going to help us do amazing things we have great staff we have great community support this community um trusted City and Trust it city is just a foundational piece that we were lacking and we are no longer there again I will save you the water words but thank you all for the honor of a life time I just um immensely M serve years on city council but not only that years be giving back different levels going back to Township airport commission commission and many other organizations like theion so he was not able to attend tonight um but we want to acknowledge that and I'm going to ask uh counc come I just want to service course like city council and the city as whole our community he served for years on for airport commission for the school board and several other positions and what I'm personally is just his historical perspective and knowledge of the city that he brought counil all us STA and I know um he was always an advocate for staff I think that would miss um and he was just sta I was new him he always came in he was just mine's relatively short being relatively new to I met Sam through the legion came very good friends and he's involved in a lot of the city functions and things like that he kind of mentored me a little bit to get started so I started my position as an Eda commissioner and also the Planning Commission I had question any always on Sam some education or guidance so I just to say thank you to him for all the support his guidance his friendship and again he's come to this C thank [Applause] you all right so we we do have a a light agenda uh tonight which actually works out well with with the big football game uh so next item is uh open Forum this opportunity for anyone to get up and speak uh uh State your address your name and uh anything you have on your mind this evening there anyone else that would like to speak this evening yes if you yes there's a cute am I abstaining then from that um I what I'm going to do is like so I don't have to say nothing all right we'll just give it a couple more minutes here or couple minute or two all right uh so I am going to make a motion to approve the consent agenda a and then G through Q is there a second a second answer all in favor I I opposed motion carries uh then I'll make another motion here to table consent agenda items B through e uh for meeting on January 27th second I'll second all those in favor say I I I opposed motion carries all right uh so normal or regular agenda here is uh Council vacancy Jolene I think you're G to walk us through this thank you your honor give me just a moment here okay thank you um with the general election that occurred on November 5th 2024 and mayor Roberts coming into office this evening as our new mayor that leaves a vacancy on our city our city council um we're a statutory plan a city with a weak mayor model which means that we have a city council of five members um including the mayor so uh in order to fulfill that fifth council member we're going to ask the city council tonight move to declare a vacancy so that we can fill that seat under the law as it reads um we are not required to hold a special election because there's less than two years in mayor Roberts former um Council term so um the council is going to have a couple options to consider tonight after declaring a vacancy um there's a number of different ways that an appointment can be made to fill this vacancy um I've outlined a couple of them in the staff report typically those options include um appointing a candidate from the previous election with the highest number of vote totals or more commonly Sol soliciting applications from interested residents um that would followed by Council interviews of those residents and then an appointment by the Council of one person to fill that vacancy so I'd like to turn it over for Council for discussion but tonight I'm looking for two actions um a motion to formally declare a vacancy on the council and then um direction from Council on how to fill that vac and see so that staff can start to get to work on that all right well I think the the first part's uh easy easy thing so um I uh something I should make a motion for since my seat doesn't matter you could certainly can make a motion okay well I will I'm looking for a motion to uh vacate um the current seat of my my current City Council seat I'll make a motion declaring a council vacancy a second second all those in favor say I I I opposed motion carries then the fing of the vacancy I I don't know if Council has any thoughts on this uh how to how you'd like to to proceed on this as Jolene laid out a couple different options um I'm open to I think it'd be good to ask uh maybe open it up for application um after we get so many you know hold the application open for five days or however close the application process uh bring that before the council to pick however many people that we're going to interview possibly and go from there that sounds like a I'd prefer to um solicit for applicants and then do an interview as well I know the city has historically done that um right before I got on served on Council I know that's um what happened with Mara's seat when Paul Gerard came in so I know it's historical um it's um just what the city council has done historically and then I would be curious for how long if anyone knows like what a typical posting period is for either the city or just cities in general I haven't really looked into a typical posting period I was going to suggest that we keep it open we post a an application tomorrow and then um leave that open through the 20th which would be I'm sorry the 22nd I believe is um next Wednesday so that would give us about nine days of posting that'll give us time to advertise on our website put it out on Facebook spread the word and hopefully Garner some interest from residents and get some applications that would also give me time to gather those applications ensure that those applicants meet the residency requirements for them on to council for consideration so then perhaps at the 27th meeting Council can make a decision on narrowing down the applicants for an interview process that sounds good to me that's agreeable I I think just for transparency I think that is the best best way to do this uh we might have some great people out there that are interested uh in this in this position and so just to put that out there for that window that we talked about uh and then basically on the 27th we would come if we have more than three I that thought would be to have an interview of full Council three candidates uh and then at that point we would make a decision I think it's the February 10th meeting correct and then we would have that person Seated on that that evening so is that we need a motion for that then I don't think we need a motion for that that was clear enough Direction okay all right great all right the next item 8B City Attorney Services and Julene you're G to take that as well I will thank you um Amanda Johnson who has served our city well with uh work through her work with Leander Gillan Miller has has um decided to expand her Horizons and take on a new role at eer glamour um because of this we have the opp opportunity to either continue our services with lavander Gillan and Miller and transition um our City attorney to Corey land or we can um do go a different route and transition over to eberg and Lamers where we would continue with Amanda as our City attorney um Council knows Amanda has served the city incredibly well during her time with us especially in this last year so um i' just like to turn it over to Council in your packet there is the eberg lammer proposal in also the lavander Gill and Miller rate increase notice that was provided to us earlier in the year and their transition letter which outlines their plan should Council decide to stick with Leander Gillan and Miller I would like to note that eberg and Lamers has agreed to meet the rates proposed by lavander Gillan and Miller for this next year which is a consider a savings for the city council thoughts on this I'll go first Jeffy I'm the you're new um but I have enjoyed Amanda's service um for city council especially with us searching for a city administrator for the last year um I think the last year for me is the most notable just because of the the as most people know the search for City administrator was a difficult one um and and that with with all of that just Amanda was great in um navigating I think the city council and the city in general through all of that and just the open communication was super helpful um and I mean besides that the work has been great and I've truly enjoyed Amanda and I've heard no complaints so um so I would prefer to go with the eberg and Lamers proposal I'd have to Echo the same thing as Hannah said um in just my uh 10 years that I've had with the Eda and the Planning Commission and working with her and on the boards and different things in the city administrator search um brought a lot to the table for us um The Firm that she's going to I have experience with through my past uh employment and stuff like that and I think they bring a lot uh to the table they have a lot of experienced attorneys in different fields so I think it'd be a a win-win for the city so I'd highly recommend going with Eber Lamers in man as well yeah I I would Echo all that as well I mean clearly in this last year here with the city administrator search she has really stepped up I honestly don't know where we would be without her through this whole process and uh my experience with with Amanda Johnson is that she really has the best interest of the city this isn't about a paycheck I me she really cares about the city just as much as anyone else up here so uh I would recommend that we do uh go with Amanda to her new firm and um can I get a motion on that I'd make a motion out we uh continue with uh Amanda Johnson and joining the Eber lers firm second I'll second all in favor I I opposed motion carries thank [Laughter] you all right uh next item is 2025 liaison appointments um we have a number of appointments that are uh connected to our boards and commissions typically a uh each of us council members are paired up with one of the boards of commissions and so I've made some recommendations but first uh before that uh we do also um need to appoint the acting mayor uh the acting mayor uh is in place in the times when I'm not able to be here and so I am recommending that we go with council member vento for acting mayor all one motion you can do it in one motion you can do it in two separate whatever your preference is okay so let's do it all one motion so and then the following I have uh for commission lays on members U airport commission would be myself Eda would be Leif Ericson and myself cable commission uh Comm Hannah valento fireboard Jeff Anderson and myself Larson I'm sorry uh uh Park Parks Board uh Hannah valento Planning Commission Jeff Larson Watershed District LEF Ericson and School Board Hannah valento so some of these are little grouped up or have more responsibilities than we will hopefully once we get someone seated and we'll reshuffle the deck a little bit but at this point I am making a motion to recommend the following to these commissions as leaon got any second I'll second all in favor I opposed motion carries right so last two items here we have a couple of uh donations um I am going to make a motion that we accept with gratitude resolution 0113 2503 uh accepting donations for the 2024 bridge lighting and with that I want to just mention I'll uh notice the people that actually donated to that uh Jesse Johnson State Farm Insurance Mara and Jason Bane Leif and Chelsea Erikson Awan AO Olson sew service gone companies Security State Bank of marine Forest Lake Ford Wendy Richley the Lions Club of Forest Lake Johnson and Turner Turner legal Lakes floral gifting Garden Robert's Family Funeral Home Fred's Wholesale Tire and Twin City DOC do I have a second I'll second it sir all those in favor say I I opposed motion carries uh we have one last donation um so I am making a motion to accept with the Gratitude uh resolution 01 13254 accepting donation from Community Helping Hand for shop with the cop for 2024 is there a second I'll second those in favor I I I opposed motion carries right so we are going through this pretty quickly so let's we can get out of here on time we might make it by the second quarter um uh so just staff updates uh Jolene really quick this evening just wanted to confirm Mark stots will be starting with us on February 18th we I very excited for him to come on board um we're starting to prepare and get him ready so that he can jump in with both feet on the 18th um additionally City Hall is going to be closed on Monday January 20th it's Martin Luther King day so that means that our Council Workshop will be held on Tuesday the 21st so make note of that all right great thanks uh Dave I just have 152 updates uh the biggest update I have is most people probably know Lakeside uh uh launch has been barricaded off we're trying to let four-wheelers and utvs through but we're just trying to let it freeze up we have pretty much an event every weekend starting not this weekend but the next for the next like five weekends so we want to make sure that after we knock down that ice Eve that it freezes solid so if you get calls and complaints we're doing it you know more for the events that are coming up versus trying to let people on there's multiple other accesses that people can find but that's going to be the main access for all these events so that that is the reason behind it and why we're trying to let that firm up and let all our events go off so that's just my only update thanks for getting on that on a timely matter that was that was great Peterson uh no updates Ryan you think mayor Roberts city council no updates tonight you and Amanda anything from you and we'll just start Jeff do you have anything to to mention on I just like to say I I'm thankful for my community and and uh Council for giving me a chance and I hope to look forward to doing good things here and working with everybody so thank you um I'll just Echo what jefff said and um and I I look forward to the new city council I think it'll be interesting and hopefully fun let's just think of it as being optimistic um especially with Mark STS coming on um and I'm going to have to keep remembering how you say his last name he said it's STS like dots um and um and so yeah I'm just optimistic for the new year for the new city council and I think it'll be really good yeah I would just Echo the same uh this is a great opportunity we don't take this lightly uh I I'm really excited for the next two years uh and what we can do as I mentioned earlier uh Mara really did put us in a good position to make and do really great things and so the those hard decisions that that she really wanted us to do and we were in agreement most cases is going to pay us well going forward so uh I'd like to thank her for that I'm excited for the future uh I would like to thank everyone that came earlier uh my family and friends I'm supposed to I need to say hi to my parents that are watching from Florida so thanks Mom and Dad for for watching from afar uh and commissioner Miran thank you for attending this evening appreciate it there is nothing else I would make a motion to adjourn I'll move sir second I'll second favor I motion meeting a jour [Music]