##VIDEO ID:DAkFGX0YrXM## all right good evening everyone it is 7:30 p.m. Monday January 6th 2025 and I would like to call the brard city council meeting to order we're going to do things a little bit differently for the first few minutes tonight take care of some procedural things so let's we're first going to administer the oath so I'm going to step up there there right stand raise your right hand so we got I'm going to be uh doing the oath of offes for four council members Tad Erikson from Ward one Jeff chzo from Ward three Mike OD day at large and Kevin stunich at large if the four of you could please stand and raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your name I Jeff chz stun do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States United States the Constitution of the state of Minnesota constitution of the state of Minnesota and that I will and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties that I will Faithfully discharge the the duties of the office of council member of the office council member office of council member of the city of brainer Minnesota of the city of Brainard Minnesota to the best of my judgment and ability to the best of my judgment and ability so help me God so help me God congratulations to all of [Applause] you Tony can you please call the role Erikson here bans here chz here Johnson here OD here stunich here B here please stand for the pledge ofat indivisible okay item number five on the agenda is to app a council member to fill the atlarge vacancy and if this individual is in the room we will follow that with the administer in the O of office just a just an administrative note we originally had seven applicants U Miss Shirley jger withdrew via email today at 11:03 a.m. so we have six and their names and these are in alphabetical order by last name Jeffrey B Kyle Christensen Wayne Erikson Emily lir Tiffany stanglin and Kevin joerger so before we get into voting I guess I would just open it up to any of the council members if they have comments or questions for any of the candidates and I'll just ask a sec a second time any questions for any of the candidates their application were in your packets okay with that we're going to go into voting so basically I'm going to accept nominations now from any council member for one of those six individuals or more I nominate Kevin jger Gabe Johnson second any other nominations I'll nominate Tiffany stuning I'll second so we have two nominations Kevin Jagger Tiffany stangl I'll ask the second time is there any is there a third nomination and for the final time is there a third nomination we have Tiffany stanglin and Kevin joerger okay with that with that the council members you have a pieces of paper in front of you I guess I would ask now for you to votee for one of those two people and pass those to me please Mr burrow are the um names of each of our uh ballots are they named yes sir okay so we do have six council members that are here uh the procedures that the council agreed upon at the last meeting is if it's a tie it'll take it will take four votes uh for the for this candidate to be nominated if it's a tie we'll go through a second iteration if it's a tie again we'll go to a third iteration on the fourth iteration if there is in this case there won't be because we would have three people but then the mayor would vote on the fourth iteration to break the tie that's why I understand is anybody have questions and also what you guys agreed to last time is that we would read off the names and the people who voted for them after each round any questions on that Antony if you can help me keep track of these councilman OD day votes for Kevin joerger councilman chzo votes for Kevin Jagger councilman Erikson votes for Kevin joerger councilman stunich votes for Tiffany stanglin councilman Johnson votes for Kevin joerger and councilman bevans votes for Kevin joerger Mr joerger is been nominated to fill the atlarge he has been voted to approve to get the out llarge city council member he is not here so we will administer the oath of office at a future date Mr yes sir is a motion in order to make that appointment yes I'll move that we appoint Mr joerger to the at large of vacant SE second Johnson motion by councilman chazak second by stun stunich any other any uh any questions any conversation okay I'll call for the vote all those in favor I I opposed same sign that motion carries Kevin jger is been is been voted in as the council member okay the next thing I'm going to do and then I'm going to turn it over to the next president but we do have to elect a new president of the council um same rules will apply um I will accept well let me just cover a couple things um so a council member cannot nominate themselves and a second is not required so at this time I will accept nominations for council president I nominate councilman oday Johnson I nominate Kelly Bev we have councilman oday and Council councilman uh beev is there any more nominations and I'll ask a second time any more nominations besides councilman o and council member bevans and third and final time any other nominations okay at this time uh council members please use your pieces of paper and vote for either councilman oday or councilman bevans for city council president and the same process will apply as we did for the atlarge vacancy councilman stunich votes for Kelly bevans councilman oday uh vote vot for Mike OD councilman chzo votes for Mike OD councilman Erikson V votes for Mike OD day councilman Johnson votes for Mike OD day and councilman bevans votes for Kelly bevans so Mike OD has four votes I would look for a motion to approve him as the president so move to approve got a motion by councilman chazak a second by Johnson any further discussion all those in favor say I I oppose same sign congratulations councilman day for being the council president at this time the meeting is yours my my my time in the moment my time in the light is over but I would certainly invite you to uh appoint or go through this process and elect a vice president at your leisure uh is that something that needs to be done immediately or yeah okay I would I would like to appoint oh you got to we vote on this well I would like to make a nomination I guess you guys make nominations and not me now I think anybody can nominate I think anybody can nominate Christian do you have anybody can nominate for the vice vice president correct same procedures I nominate Kelly b as vice president I would nominate Gabe Johnson Mike do you want to go through the process you want me to you can continue doing this part so for nominations for the vice president we have councilman be bevans and councilman Johnson is there any more nominations and I'll ask a second time any more nominations for B Vice president of the council and finally a third time any more nominations we have councilman bevans councilman Johnson for vice president if not please uh cast your votes and pass them my way please okay and I have six so this is for vice president of the city council councilman Erikson votes for Gabe Johnson councilman stunich votes for Kelly bevans councilman chzo votes for Gabe Johnson councilman OD day votes for Gabe Johnson councilman Johnson votes for Gabe Johnson and councilman bans votes for Kelly bevans so council member Johnson has four votes I would look for a motion to name him as the vice president go move second got a motion by chzo a second by Ericson any further discussion I call for the vote all those in favor say I I oppose same sign we have a president we have a vice president Mr President the meeting is yours you spot no we don't have to search b it's okay here you can have this okay it's loud in here thank you should be a wild group all right um if I screw up sorry it's my first day uh we'll start on number seven that'll be approval of the agenda don't Mo second motion by chazak second by bevans any discussion he none go to a vote all in favor I I I motion passes item number eight we have the consent calendar this is a notice to the public all matters listed are considered routine by the council and will be will all be enacted by one motion there will be no separate discussion on these items unless good cause is shown prior to the time the council votes on the motion to be adopted by roll call President OD day um have one minor change to the minutes uh the item we just went through that's reflected in the minute should indicate that we um read off each of the votes after they're uh at by each individual council member after they're called so that apparently got missed in the minutes other than that I would move to approve the consent calendar with that minor change we have a motion with that change do we have a second motion by chazak second by Erikson any more discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor oh this is a roll call sorry I already screwed up Erikson yes bans yes chesak yes Johnson yes stunk yes OD day yes that motion passes all right moving on number nine we have unfinished business 9A we have to declare a vacancy on the Public Utilities Commission I believe this would be administrator BRS as I understand this is just a procedural issue to declare a vacancy this is for commissioner Ericson's vacancy and once it's declared it has to stand for I believe 2 weeks before a position a person can be named okay I just be just maybe just a motion to declare a vacancy in Public Utilities Commission uh declare a vacancy on the Utilities Commission second Johnson motion by chz second by Johnson any discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor I I motion passes oh all against same sign that's two all right motion passes item 9B we we have a call for applicants and first is it do you go first I do you go first thank you president OD day uh if you're at home waiting to find out nominations those will be made next meeting we will wait until we have a full Council for those so if you're sitting waiting to see if you're going to get nominated we will get to you at the next meeting uh the following positions are available with our commissions and Boards the airport commission one term expiring 2027 Charter commission two terms expiring 2025 two terms expiring 2026 three terms expiring 2028 housing Redevelopment Authority one term expiring 2029 parks and wreck one term expiring 2029 Public Utilities Commission one from expiring 29 as well as one now expiring in 26 Transportation advisory committee four terms expiring 2026 we also have the Economic Development Authority one term expiring 2026 and as council president I have one vacancy on the Planning Commission expiring 2027 all right moving on to 9C we have consideration of the technology director job description and authorizing staff to conduct an internal job posting process I believe the presenter on this one is Human Resources Director Chris Schubert good evening so on December 19th the city council approved the creation of a single integrated City it Department staff has prepared a technology director job description to oversee the new integrated technology department staff requests that the council approve the attached job description that was in your packet and authorize staff to conduct an internal job posting process to fill the position as soon as possible um staff is planning to provide a recommendation for the new technology director at your January 21st meeting and to help expedite that process one of the items that will be requested is that any applicant for this position provide their Staffing vision for the new Department including an organizational chart and J draft job descriptions for any recommended positions have a question yeah Mr chazza yeah um you know you read through there and I think in the beginning it says and I'm paraphrasing here but is is this position going to be um required to perform the tasks of those he's supervisor or the department head to U anybody had he'll be uh overseeing so typically a director oversees those duties um if necessary they can provide backup typically we want to have cross training um so we are we're trying to help that as much as possible so short answer is yes Jeff do they know every single Nuance probably not but they should be able to help if there's an issue will there be some ongoing training for this individual to learn those uh job uh uh responsibilities that they're overseeing yes okay thank you any more questions Jeff NOP thank you does anybody else have any questions for staff no more questions for staff I'd move to approve the job description as presented have a motion second and a second motion by chazak second by bans any more disc discussion hearing none let's go to a vote all in favor I all against same sign motion passes moving on let's go to new business 10 a we have a resignation to accept resignation of Street Maintenance 3 Glenn Holst and this is again Human Resources Director Chris Schubert so Mr Hol submitted his retirement notice um a couple weeks ago and his last working day will be Friday January 10th the recommended action is to accept with regret the retirement of Street Maintenance 3 Glenn Holst effective January 10th to approve an updated maintenance 3 Street and Sewer division job description is presented and to authorize staff to begin an internal hiring process to backfill the the maintenance 3 position all right um I think we can do this in one motion so we have second all right so the motion is to accept with regret the retirement of Street Maintenance 3 Glenn Hol effective January 10th 2025 and also approve the updated maintenance 3 Street and Sewer division job description as presented and also authorized staff to begin an internal hiring process to backfill the maintenance 3 position we have a motion by chazak second or motion by bans second by chazak any more discussion yeah I just want to thank Mr Holtz years of service many many years of service familywise too all right any more discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor I I against same sign motion passes next we have accepting another resignation this is for uh CSO bayth Dominic BFF again this is uh Human Resources Director Chris Schubert as presenter thank you sure CSO Dominic balea recently submitted his resignation that'll be effective January 13th staff recommends that the council accept accept Mr Bay's resignation and to authorized staff to backfield a position so move Johnson second motion by Johnson second by chz any more discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor I against same sign moot motion passes 10c we have another resignation this one is for Michelle Mendoza again uh Human Resources Director Chris Schubert Michelle Mendoza our police records management Tech submitted her resignation effective January 2nd staff recommends that the council accept Miss Mendoza's resignation and authorized staff to begin the hiring back process to back fi the position so move Johnson second motion by Johnson second by chesak any more discussion he none go to a vote all in favor I motion passes next we have a hiring for CSO Joshua Winslow again this is uh Chris Schubert Human Resources Director we received 10 applications for the community service officer position we interviewed five candidates and offered the position to Joshua Winslow who will start with us on January 14th at 2131 per hour staff recommends to ratify that hiring so Mo we have a motion by chazak second second by Ericson any more discussion I have some Mr Johnson thank you is this Joshua Winslow backfilling the Dominic bayi position or are we going to be hiring another CSO soon we would be hiring another CSO so okay thank you any more discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor I against same sign motion passes and next we have another ratification of hiring for Brian siero for journeyman electrician position uh Human Resources Director Chris Schubert we receive three applications for the journeyman electrician position staff interviewed two of those candidates and made an offer to Brian s Mr s will start with us on January 6th and at step three of the 2025 Journeyman Electrician wage grid which is 4010 per hour thank you anybody have questions looking for a motion move to approve H motion by chzo second by Johnson any more discussion he none go to a vote all in favor I I same sign motion passes one we have uhou for extending the time frame allowing the ibw employees to work at the hydro facility this one again is Human Resources Director Chris Schubert so both our United still workers and ibw public utility Union Representatives have agreed to extend the memorandum of understanding allowing ibw public utility employees to temporarily perform the work at the hydro facilities in 203 excuse me 2023 we had negotiated an mou with a December 31st 2024 expiration date which matched the 2022 through 2024 United Steel worker contract staff has negotiated another extension so theou will expire on April 1st that will give us more time to finalize an updated Union contract a copy of the um signed mou is in your packet from both unions staff is recommending that um to approve thatou between the city the United Steel Workers and ibw and that will expire on April 1st further to authorize the signature of the city administrator on theou so move Johnson second all right we have a motion by Johnson second by stunich motion is to approve theou between the city of Brainard usw local number 9230 unit 9 Union and the IBD IBEW Local Number 31 Union representing public utility employees that allows ibw BPU employees to assist at the Hydro Dam facility as needed to April 1st 2025 further to authorize the signature of the city administrator on saidou uh any more discussion hearing none let's go to a vote all in favor I I against same sign motion passes next we have sure I'm on are we on G here Yep this is a consideration of approval of the revised employee policy manual again this is Human Resources Director Chris Schubert so there were several employment law changes approved during the 2024 Minnesota legislative session staff has reviewed and modified our employee policy manual to incorporate those changes as well as some um policy changes that the council has enacted this past year some of the changes include the new earn sick and safe time that language was recommended by the league of Minnesota cities and it also impacted our family and medical leave policy there is new changes for the pregnancy and parental leave as well as political activity we have clarified that the work group will be formed when hiring the public utilities director since we now only have one department head in our Public Utilities Department clarified that floating holidays that new hire will receive one paon hire um references to Municipal utility managers was changed to division managers and again this change was approved by the council previously it just needed to be incorporated clarified that in order to be eligible for back pay employees must be currently employed with the city at the time of backpay distribution added that when a change of reporting officer occurs the supervisor needs to complete applicable performance reviews before their last working day some minor updates to the technology policy section and then also updated our 2025 health insurance plans with that staff is recommending um that we approve the employee policy manual as presented thank you does anybody have any questions for staff Mr Johnson yeah I'm not comfortable voting on this tonight we didn't the Redlin version was not included in the packet so I haven't had opportunity to read that I've read the new language what it is but I haven't compared it to the old language so I think we should put this off for two weeks and have the personel and finance committee look at the redline version so we actually know what words it is we're actually changing in the employee policy manual but that's just my opinion is that a motion I'll make a motion and put this out for two weeks I'll second it we have a motion and a second to move this out for two weeks and send it to PNF is Mr chz well I had a question about that I can ask it at the next meeting um but is this a motion to table or I mean is there any motion to not take action tonight and go on to the next item you want to include that it goes to PNF yeah okay is that okay that's up to you you're the president y it's in the motion now all right uh any more discussion hearing none let's go to a vote all in favor I against same sign motion passes next we have is a resolution uh adopting a resolution to receive feasibility report uh call for a public hearing on Improvement and request for contract Amendment for Bolton and mink for improvement 2316 South brainer resurfacing uh looks like the presenter listed is Public Works director Mike abigor but it looks like Jesse Dean our city engineer is also available whoever yeah y Mr thank you Mr President uh thank you Mr President so uh attached to your uh packet is the feasibility uh report that uh Bolton B is now prepared for the South prer resurfacing project uh so Bolton M staff is here to be able to answer questions as well as staff um also attached to the packet is a contract Amendment request uh we are including an additional uh replacement of 10 hydrants within the project area uh which was not included in the original scope of work for Bolton and mink uh so to accommodate the additional hours for the design and construction Administration for that uh they're requesting a contract Amendment uh for roughly about $32,000 if I remember correctly um so that is also included in your packet uh staff is recommending uh two actions with this item uh first is uh adoption of the attached resolution that uh Council received the feasibility report and call for a public hearing on the Improvement uh to be held at the first council meeting in February which would be February 3rd at 7:30 uh and then the second item would be to approve the contract Amendment with Bolton and mink uh in the amount of $32,365 uh without having to shut off the main okay then one other thing in the agenda request it has you still listed as Public Works director must have been a typo okay just that that changed as of January 1 correct yes sir okay thank you any more questions of Staff Mr Johnson uh what is the total contract cost with Bolton and M like how much is this 32,000 as a percentage of the contract so the original contract was for 68,4 I can quick add this together so this is essentially a 50% contract increase 10 new hyd hydrants and the other Engineers weren't allowed to bid on that just added it later I'm sorry no that answers my question thank you any more questions of staff not then we're looking for a motion we can two-part motion two-part motion first part is adoption of the resolution receiving the attached feasibility report and calling for the public hearing on the on the proposed Improvement to be held February 3rd at 7:30 p.m. and the second part we can do one at a time if you want that's fine second part is approval of the contract Amendment request by uh Bolton and mink in the amount of $32,365 second second by Ericson any discussion on that hearing none we'll go to a vote all in favor Mr resolution oh man this is tough that's three gig up done that's three strikes you started off over for two yes beans bans yes chesak yes Johnson yes stonic yes OD yes looking for another move to approve the pay increase for the uh Bolton make second motion by chazak second by Ericson any more discussion hearing none we'll go to a vote all in favor I against same sign I motion passes five to one all right moving on we have uh another resolution for improvement 2113 for Beach o the beach Oakridge reconstruction project and ordering a feasibility report looks like again we'll have uh Mr Dean and Mr Habor thank you Mr President uh so attached is a resolution that uh orders the preparation of feasibility report for the beach and oakd reconstruction project so this would be Beach from oakd to Oak Street and oakd from Beach to 28th Street and can answer questions anybody have any questions is this a um M Mr chz um I this full depth Reclamation water sewer full reconstruction is what was currently included in the scope uh we'll be doing more as part of the feasibility report uh that we'll present to the council So when you say full it's that means we're we're not just Milling overlay and we're taking care of everything we're doing yes sir we we are planning on replacement of utilities uh as we uh develop that feasibility report we'll get some more information from there okay thank you yes sir so questions move to adopt second we have a motion to adopt and a second by motion by Ericson second by chzo any more discussion hearing none let's go to a vote or this this is a resolution again catch I caught that one St Ericson yes bans yes chesak yes Johnson yes stun yes OD yes that resolution passes next we have another resolution for improvement 1712 wri Street South tth reconstruction project for ordering a feasibility report and this is just really interesting stuff tonight one after another again this is uh Public Works director Mike abigor and city engineer Jesse Dean thank you Mr President um so very similar to the last item uh staff is recommending adoption of the attached resolution that orders the preparation of feasability report uh for the Reconstruction project for right Street between 6th and 13th streets as well as South 10th between Industrial Park Road and wri Street uh and this would be for uh what's planned as a reconstruction project and staff can answer questions on this as well does anybody have any questions for staff real quick um Mr Chaz yeah when when was the last time this road was actually fully improved uh I I was on it U actually New Year's Eve and uh it is pretty bad so I'm glad we're doing it it's been a few decades but I'd have to get more information that'll be included the Fe had a lot of like Patchwork and stuff over the years so right it's had some patchwor uh BPU has done some uh repairs to hydrants and stuff so there's been some cutouts for that as well thank you anybody else have questions for staff Mr Johnson well this feasibility report give us uh options on how we can remove all those UPS trailers from 10th Street no maybe no sir okay thank you I think we have an ordinance for that all right do we have any other questions for staff so we're looking for a motion um to adopt the attached resolution ordering the feasibility report for improvement 1712 right Street South 10th 10th Street uh reconstru ruction project so moved second motion by stunich second by chzo and this is a resolution unless we have any more discussion go ahead and call the rooll Erikson yes bans yes chesak yes Johnson yes stun OD yes that motion passes next we have directr on active Code Enforcement cases here and this will be community development director James kranck thank you Mr President uh so staff is bringing one property before the council for review tonight and is looking for direction from the council as how to proceed uh 823 Willow Street has a substantial amount of junk and debris um in the backyard as well as on a trailer uh staff has abated this property once before so they did receive an instant $300 citation uh and staff is recommending obtaining a search warrant and abating the property thank you does anybody have any questions for staff on this what's the address again on this 823 Willow Street um we're also um seeking um a court injunction on an illegal rental in that property as well all right I would move to follow staff's recommendation on this second motion by chzo second by Johnson do you have any more discussion none let's go to a vote all in favor I against same sign motion passes trying to find which one we're on here L now we're on 10 L this one is a variance for 303 J Street Northeast uh considering a variance from fence height requirement again this is community development director James kranck thank you Mr President uh so this property has a long history regarding the fence uh the fence was placed on the property line along J Street without a permit in the fall of 2022 uh a 4-ft fence would have been allowed in that location but the property owners constructed a 6-ft fence uh staff attempted to work with the owners for approximately a year as they were uh in contact with us uh final letter was then sent and staff proceeded with a citation process as they did not uh comply with the um with the letter that was sent uh staff would not have recommended a variance at this location um that further out to where the property line is there is no practical difficulty unique to the site uh this fall the property owners move the fence back without a permit but is still not placed uh properly for a 6-ft fence uh the property owners now applied for a variance for the fence location due to the existing sidewalk that is on the site uh staff believes that the existing sidewalk does constitute a practical difficulty uh the location has nothing to do with economic considerations uh which is part of the requirements of variances uh when viewing the location the fence does not abut uh to another property or extend to the alley so there's no impact in neighboring Properties or the public RightWay and the design of the the fence is consistent uh with the neighborhood as well uh the Planning Commission motioned to approve the request but it failed um at from a two to three vote uh consensus reason for not recommending approval is the fact that they did not want to work with the city to figure out a solution the fence could have been designed to extend from the facade uh where it's located right now and then angle back uh to essentially conform with the code uh as a Planning Commission uh motion failed and an alternative recommendation was not given given staff does recommend approval of the variance request as presented for the reasons outlined earlier as well as in the findings of fact uh just one note uh if approved staff um will bring a request by the property owners to remove some or all the nuisance assessment fees uh this was heard last October when we did go through this and there are nuisance assessments totaling 4,950 again this would be council's consideration and with that I can answer any questions thank you Mr kic does anybody have any questions for staff no questions for staff I have one question so would you say James at this point that they are working with the city even though in the past they didn't NE they have been working with the city for the past couple of months to get the variance request in um and you know if granted the variance then would would allow the fence to remain in place thank you Mr Mayor yeah what is the status of the uh nuisance items on the property I've not checked since um after Christmas here but that that uh those items were cleaned up as well as of Before Christmas as of Before Christmas okay any other questions staff is looking for direction uh recommen recommendation from staff is uh to approve the variance request as presented ises anyone anyone have a motion so move Johnson second motion by Johnson second by chzo does anybody have any more discussion I will say it it's been a lot of Staff time that's been put into this over the last couple years um but the goal is always to get people to work with the city and at this point they are working with the city um it's a fence that we're talking about so it would be nice to move on from this one go forward any other discussion heing none go to a vote all in favor I against same sign motion passes it's a long list I got to scroll to the bottom every time so we have next we have a proposed ordinance it's a first reading ordinance 1578 lot standards and building design standards again this is community development director James cranic thank you Mr President so at the June 20th Planning Commission meeting the commission directed staff to begin reviewing the General Building Development and design standards are district lot standards and considering mixed use development in the commercial Corridor District uh the new code pass in 2022 had many beneficial elements but a few standards uh as recommended as recommended by staff uh should beang changed uh staff has worked with the uh code for the past couple of years and understands the strength and weaknesses uh purpose of this review is to further ease a burden of development while creating stronger language uh to ensure new construction conforms with the neighborhood as you as you recall we went to a form based code and that's one of the the aspects of that uh staff included highlights of the proposed ordinance in the memo one of the biggest changes is allowing uh potentially allowing mixed use development in the commercial Corridor District uh so the commercial Cor district is along Washington Street um essentially from the river the bridge there to uh Fifth Avenue Northeast right in that Cub Food area um so with that uh if Council were to approve that um right now residential is not allowed within this district there are a few non-conformities in there but allowing mixed use development would give developers options and may help incentivize uh revitalization in this District uh since housing does have a better return on investment uh this was initially talked about at the Ed as a potential way to redevelop this area and was recommended by the Eda for the Planning Commission to take a look at this um however allowing residential units in this area uh may affect collection of future sack and whack charges as the central business district incentive policy forgives sack and whack charges along Washington Street um it could amount to considerable more forgiveness um from a commercial property moving to say a two to three-story residential mixed use apartment building um so something to consider there uh staff does recommend potentially two motions the first to conduct the first reading of proposed orance 1578 and dispense with the actual reading a vote to dispense with the actual reading of the ordinance must be unanimous and then staff did provide options uh for the city council option one could be direct staff to bring proposed ordinance 1578 to the January 21st city council meeting to conduct the second reading and consider the ordinance option two would be to direct staff to bring the proposed ordinance 1578 to the Utilities Commission meeting on January 28th for recommendation uh based on the sack and whack charges and then conduct the second reading at the Fe February 3rd city council meeting or third option um would be to have the city council review and if approved then bring it to the Public Utilities Commission um so I'd be looking um for two motions potentially and I can certainly answer any questions does anybody have any questions for staff Mr Johnson yeah I have a question why would we bring it to the Public Utilities Commission I mean I understand why we would inform them what we're doing you know if they don't watch the meetings or whatever but why would we bring it to them when they're City charges they're not utility charges they're just City fees yep they are City fees so that's you know kind of option one it would not have to be brought um to the Public Utilities Commission certainly when this was originally reviewed um the sack and whack charges that did go to the Public Utilities Commission meeting they made the recommendation to councel um this may be a significant change if an apartment uh mixed use Development Department complex did go in there from what the original Central business district and policy was approved at so just for consideration of councel and that's why I had provided options and their recommendation on the sack and whack in the central business district was no recommendation right there was no recommendation um there was some some some consensus that they you know had some concerns with it and wanted to potentially talk about in the future but at the meeting there there wasn't a formal um motion made okay yeah so they just wanted to complaint I'm in favor of option one but I got a question uh Mr chazak so if we move forward with approving the ordinance uh first reading and uh it passes eventually exactly what happens in this area with sack and whack are we waving them across the board is that what this is doing it is okay so then maybe I could ask U um when it comes to sack and whack uh who is control of those dollars the city council um first collects the fees and County maybe be able to answer this as well but I believe city council or the city first collects the fees and then city council has to approve distribution to the Public Utilities Commission and at the December 20 or excuse me at the last January 2025 meeting Council voted to send the the water accessibility charges to BPU on an annual basis okay and then um I don't know if who can answer this but when we have U these potential revenues that we're just waving uh maybe uh I don't know if Mr Evans being he's been in the business a long time um when we do that and we're decreasing the revenues we have to work with with our our water lines and our sewer lines um how can that affect us uh is there a positive to that that you can think of or is there General they losing money to to work with down the line somewhere is that not true that we're kind of giving up the U you know we're we're saving a a business or potential residential use does it matter to the public utilities what the use is or and then in in that same in the same vein uh if we're not collecting these fees where does the money come from to do projects maybe Mr Evans you want to take a poke I'll take I'll take a stab of that you quite a few questions there I would say uh I guess I would start that as a utility department the use or what's done on the property is neither here nor there that we would just be concerned I guess with uh usage flows uh gallons per minute th those type uh issues as far as to see what the impact would be to a system uh and then I guess as far as if those charges are not collected or distributed that just means that when a uh project or a section of the system that's impacted by a project later on uh that that would just be funded directly through uh bonds or cash on hand uh in the absence of a another source of funding does that answer your question Mr chesak I think so so then if we're not collecting sack and whack would it be fair to say that eventually uh we're bonding for projects including those uh dollars that we otherwise could use sack and whack on and who's paying for that be taxpayers would that be a first statement or rate payers one or the other con's nodding yes I mean yes that would be if we have to issue bonds that paid for by the rate payers okay Mr chair I disag Mr Johnson do I still have the oh sorry I thought you were done no no I'm not still have the floor yes thank you so um so we we went through this before and you know we're we're I think it's a feel-good thing we're doing oh great we can save this person or that business a few you know a couple thousand here and is that really going to keep a business um uh operating is it going to keep them is it going to prevent them from being successful if we do this because we continually give away the money through these uh what do we call this a uh sack and whack uh waiver and and we're not collecting the fees and we say well well this this is a oversized here and we it's all the things in between though everything comes down to who's winding up paying for it in the end and uh and we feel good about oh we gave that business a little break is it really that much to uh give that little break and then in the end over the course of a few years we've given all this away then who's making it up it's our fees uh our rate payers and everything like that and if that's the way you want to do business and and and we're just patting ourselves on the back all the time the Eda is that what we're doing thinking it's all a great thing to help business succeed I don't look at it that way because somebody's got to pay the bills that's all I got thank you Mr chazak Mr Johnson thank you Mr President there appears to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what our sack and whack charges in the city of brainer are we have laws in place of collecting this money and the laws also state where the money shall be spent and the money isn't spent replacing pipes the money isn't spent fixing what we have the our sack and whack funds per our own laws can only be used expanding the system so when we're waving them downtown when we're waving them on Washington Street when the city engineering department has assured us that the infrastructure in place will not be need to be upgraded for the foreseeable future when we collect those fees all we're doing is charging businesses downtown to later expand the pipes further past the edge of town that is what our laws say we cannot fix pipes with sack and whack funds we can only expand the system so when you're waving the fees yes when we expand the system beyond the stretches of town that is going to come from rate payers or something but when we're fixing the pipes for downtown we're fixing the pipes on Washington Street we can't use sack and whack dollars that's only right payer dollars so just to answer that question thank you Mr Johnson anybody else have any comments questions Mr Mr chz yeah well when we talk about exp uh expanding or fixing I I am talking about expanding so if something comes in and we have to expand a portion of the uh sanitary sewer line or water lines to accommodate something that unex that we we would hope to have uh something something comes in that's say say uh a large project that we we didn't see coming and now we got an expansion and now we got to pay for it sure I understand the you know your point on the law that you can't repair and all that but that's not what this money would go for that what I'm talking about is simply something new something that needs Improvement that's uh that's perhaps something unexpected that we'd want in the city and and then again where does the money come from if we're waving s we can save the money from sack and whack we've done it for years we're we put it in the coffers and it sits there until it's needed and so we just keep waving it here waving it there and then when we really need it we don't have it that's what I'm talking about is that incorrect the way I'm understanding that you can't replace a pipe with sack and whack funds okay so the the way I see this this is this is an incentive for development for redevelopment this is something that was brought up at the Eda this was this is something that was an idea to be pushed forward through the the rebuild of Highway 210 I see this as something temporary I don't see this as something staying in in place as as our you know as our way to do business forever but I do see this as as being something valuable right now in a time that we do want to speed up Redevelopment on 210 um I I support it I totally understand Mr chok's concern I think Mr Johnson did a good job explaining why it's not exactly maybe what you're picturing um but I'm going to support this motion I don't know if there's any more questions comments concerns from the council um move to move to approve well we don't have a motion we're actually looking for uh first to conduct the reading conduct the first reading of proposed ordinance 1578 and dispense with the actual reading would be the first motion we're looking for so moved motion by Erikson second Johnson second by Johnson any more discussion on that hearing none go to a vote all in favor I against same sign motion passes all right and then going with the options I did hear from Mr Johnson option one would be what he would be looking for uh I'd move option one second motion by Johnson second by bevans any more discussion on that none go to a vote all in favor I against same sign I motion passes all right moving along figure out what letter we're on and N all right this is a discussion of the future of the city hall Annex Building and this one is for City administrator Nick BRS thank you Mr President uh staff just wanted to bring this before Council for hopefully some discussion and some direction on what the council is thinking for the future of the Annex Building um by way of a brief history Region 5 had previously considered a long-term lease agreement in 2022 that did not come to fruition no one is currently occupying the annex uh relative to maintenance of the building a new roof was installed in 2020 but the annex is in uh significant need of HVAC updates and repairs new or refurbished Windows elevator repair and various cosmetic updates Council has allocated $60,000 in the capital plan that has been rolling over in the budget uh at the April 4th 2024 meeting the Eda recommended approval to enter into a brokerage agreement with camp for sale or lease of the annex uh subsequently on the May 6th 24 meeting the city council unanimously authorized the Eda to enter into a brokerage agreement with them for the sale or lease of the annex um just wanted to bring this before Council now staff is receiving receiving um renewed interest from potential buyers and would like to get a sense from the Council of your vision for the future of the building just a couple other comments I do believe and staff believes this I think we've got the right pieces in place we do anticipate future growth for Brainard and additional office space uh if that growth occurs may be limited uh furthermore if city council continues with efforts to integrate across various functional areas within the City there may be significant benefit to retaining the annex for office space making Necessary repairs to an existing building that we already own would be significantly more cost effective than new construction if however Council desires to sell the annex staff will obviously work with potential buyers and present to council when appropriate however if Council does uh wish to retain the annex for future office base Etc staff recommends making the necessary repairs soon as the building is deteriorating more quickly without the HVAC repairs so just discussion some direction um as we see it as staff sees it there's a couple things that the council could do here they could direct staff to continue to work with Camp real estate and development to aggressively pursue selling the annex or number two council could decide to retain ownership of the anex and direct staff to provide cost estimates and timelines for needed improvements with that I would just open it up for any discussion or direction from Council does anybody have any questions for staff um yeah I do Shaz so Nick um I mean this has been talked about for 20 years maybe and uh quite a while anyway and uh um when we talk about direction that your staff is looking for um I'm assuming that um does that play a role in going into close session and talking about our item regarding the U proposal that we received yes sir we do have some more information that we'll talk about in close session um and then what I'm I guess what I'm asking is it would this discussion we're having here not be allowed in close session based on does it not tie together with the proposal I talked to our attorneys and B basically having a discussion whether or not we should keep or sell the annex would not um be prudent in close session that's an open session topic okay uh if if Council does want to sell it we can discuss some of the particulars in close session okay and then I guess I is there any uh vision for uh connecting the two buildings uh over the alley over here or is that something that has never been as far as you know talked about I think there's been some history I think some folks here have more history than I do I think that's been discussed I certainly in my vision for the city of Brainard have have an interest in in consolidating more of the functional activities on this campus here and so I see some benefit and um but I guess more importantly as I've talked with department heads and department head meetings I will ask sometimes rhetorically you know if we have six more staff in the city do we have office space for them right now and it would be pretty challenging so I'm just trying to I'm not Clairvoyant I don't have a crystal ball but I just want to make sure that that Council has all the information they need to to make a good decision for the future of the annex well I know we had a facilities uh uh uh committee put together I think in 2016 and uh I was on that I believe it was 16 and um one of the things that was discussed at that time was uh connecting with some sort of walkway uh between the two over the alley and if I'm not mistaken it was determined that that wasn't going going that wouldn't be able to be achieved for some very ious reason I I to but I could be mistaken on that maybe somebody else there would be some record of that so I don't know that kind of prevented the uh the idea at that time anyways of uh uh connecting the two facilities now could that is there something more that that that I I don't remember exactly but I my memory is telling me that that was something that was discussed and it was either going to be over cost prohibitive or something to that effect so I I I just wanted to throw that out there Kelly you may remember uh uh Gabe you were around then perhaps uh just seeing if you guys remember any of that but uh I can't speak to that I'm not sure what was discussed sure Mr Johnson I can't I can try to answer part of that Jeff if you'd like yeah when we I I remember when we did the facility study when we did the actual facility repairs here at City Hall we didn't do anything over at the annex but our HVAC system here at City Hall was built to the capacity to tie in and heat and cool the annex if and when we ever do that okay I do remember looking at the walkway between the second and third floors I think the the prohibitive thing there was how do we find ADA compliance when that hallway is midway between a floor we don't have an elevator stop there we'd have to find Space to install a lift or something like that I think that was that was where that never really moved forward but the conversations were definitely had and the HVAC definitely has the capacity to handle both buildings yeah and I I may be incorrect but I believe we have designs somewhere that basic designs that were created at at that same point because I remember seeing documentation showing that and showing that tie-in including the walkway so somewhere we have from the last handful of years we have that anybody else have any questions for staff comments I'll just give my opinion I'm I'm open to anything with the annex whether it's keeping it City and using it for office space or open to hearing out offers I don't think I mean it's just been sitting there for a long time um sounds like we still have some questions about whether or not we want to invest in that ourselves so I think based on what offers are if there's other offers out there the one that we might hear about later um if it's the right offer everything is for sale maybe not the rest of City Hall but there is a vacant building attached to City Hall that if somebody could use it more immediately with less cost of the city um but I think we need more details about about what we're uh willing to put into that building before we really make a decision on that unless somebody wants to put a motion um but we can always just continue this conversation later on um well it I guess if uh if we're interested in the possibility of using it for our own purposes uh we don't have any kind of uh specific dollars that have been identified to do what we'd want to do with it is that correct we I don't think it's that amount pardon me Mr BRS yeah yeah go ahead I think of council would uh we have not sta we haven't done the staff work to put together numbers on what it would cost to get it up to code if you will and we don't want to put that effort in unless Council wants us to put that effort in um so we don't have the exact numbers so I in my mind anyways the we can talk more in close session a little bit about this but um the big decision is do we want to sell it and we can talk about some particulars or do we have an interest in keeping it and if we have an interest in keeping it then staff could put together some staff work to to to put together some numbers and some timelines on one question if I me we could still go uh talk about the proposal in close session and then uh at another date talk about more detail about what you're speaking of right now that'd be totally fine right yes sir okay Mr bans I I think that there's probably a an option one and a half here and that's to direct staff to get some more answers as to what it's possible first of all that we could use it for because it makes sense to me that what we already have certainly would be less expensive than buy than buying or building some another building somewhere else M and it's right next door I mean it's theoretically as Mr Johnson thought connect right so I'm sure there's some issues ADA compliance heating and HVAC and that sort of stuff but I I I think before we before we we need to get some more information and I think staff coming back I think the option here or the best course of action is to direct staff to come back with answers as far as what we could use it for what we might need it for and what it might cost to upgrade it is that a motion it is second we have a motion I don't know if I'm going to repeat the motion but is everybody clear on the motion except you beside the point um so yeah just as a point of discussion so sorry we had a motion by Bon second by stunich correct yep um I think what we're comparing here is whe when we expand because inevitably we probably will need more space is it going to into that into that building a different building or an an expansion off of this building we have room to do that too but until we know numbers in comparison of the two I think it would probably be cheaper to keep the one that we have um it's hard to make a decision without that so I think this is this motion is right on um with what we need any more discussion you're none let's go to a vote all in favor I again same sign motion passes right you wanted to gav I almost GED saw it I'll get it later um doesn't work on the mayor I've tried it's impossible 100 we have a resolution calling a public hearing on a property tax abatement for certain property in the city of Brainard and this is a community development director James crit thank you Mr President uh so the developer Country Manor initially applied for tax abatement assistance in January of 2022 with a revised request submitted in the fall of 2023 the request in 2023 had been recommended by the Eda and granted by city council as a 45% of the city share of taxes related to the project for 10 years uh the developer's most recent request for assistance is for 65% of the city's share of annual tax abatement revenues for 1.2 million for up to 20 years uh this was reviewed at the uh last Eda meeting as well and there was a recommendation by the Eda um essentially for that uh a little bit different because of of some of the Staggering of what that 65% would look like over the years uh but uh with that the purpose of this agenda request is not to review the abatement request but to consider a resolution to authorize and direct staff to publish a notice in the dispatch setting a public hearing before the city council on Monday February 3rd for the abatement request a new memo will be prepared for the February 3rd city council meeting that will reflect a blended tax structure um that was recommended by the Eda an updated estimated tax bill value from the county and the city's payable 2025 tax capacity rate and with that staff recommends approval of the attached resolution thank you does anybody have any questions of Staff questions of staff and we're looking for a motion move what's your motion huh move to approve yes move to approve all right do we have a second second motion by chzo second by Johnson to approve any more discussion he none go to a vote all in favor resolution oh again that's why you look at me have we ever had this many resolutions in a meeting this that means go over here okay look at stun from now yes bans yes chz yes Johnson yes stunich yes OD yes that resolution passes all right next we have something informational not a resolution hopefully not a resolution this is uh city city issuing conduit debt uh this is for finance director Connie Hillman yes thank you take it away the city has been requested to issue $50 million of conduit debt for the Country Manor Country Manor project the city has issued conduit debt in the past but it has been several years a memo from the city's Bond Council was included in the packet and it detailed the legal background on how the city is able to issue conduit debt for the project as well as the impact to the city the council will call for the public hearing at the February 3rd meeting to be held on March 3rd at which time the council would adopt a resolution issuing the conduit debt so tonight this item is informational however overall discussion on the issuance of conduit debt should be held if the council's opposed country matter needs to know to find an alternative municipality to serve as the issuer $50 million of conduit debt is needed to make the project go as mentioned in the agenda request and in the memo with issuing conduit debt there is no impact there's no obligation for the city to repay the debt there's no impact on the city's credit rating no the debt does not count towards the city's debt limit all expenditures associated with issuing the conduit debt will be paid for by the borrower and the city can charge an administrative fee however the current fee that's in the city's debt policy is too high and could result in the tax exempt bonds becoming taxable so staff will work with Bond Council and bring a proposal for an administrative fee at the next council meeting the issue with issuing conduit debt um does count towards the city's annual $10 million Bank qualified bonds that the city can issue so if the city would issue debt later on in the year it could result in a higher interest rate however it is not common for the city and the conduit debt borrower to enter into agreement where the conduit debt borrower compensates the city for the additional interest rate so really the the issue is the bank qualified debt but yet we can work around that as well so the recommended action is General discussion on the issuance of the $50 million of conduit debt for the country manner project and any questions that Council may have in regard regards to issuing conduit debt anybody have any questions for staff Mr Johnson So when you say the $10 million annual limit does that mean we just would be at risk if we issue debt in 2025 we can take out this $50 million conduit debt this year and as long as we don't take out debt till 2026 we're off we're good correct do we have plans in our Capital Improvement plan or anything to issue debt in 2025 yes we do okay well yeah yeah then I'd like more information coming back so then that would be where we would enter into agreement and the Bor the conduit debt borrower would repay the city every year of the debt of the issue the difference between what we would have paid for an interest rate on Bank qualified versus what we are actually issuing the debt for K could you like are you going to be able to calculate how much money that is we with our bond counil yes we would be able to okay because I'd like to see that number while I I wish country man nothing but uccess in our community is serving elderly folks a lot of businesses fail and just dissolve and disappear so I do believe it was addressed in the memo that the difference in the interest rate is usually about 1 to 1.25% yeah well that was in the mimal but I just don't know how much debt we're going to issue this year like how much money we're talking I'd like to see that right and we don't know at this point we were estimating about $5 million okay thank you any more questions yeah Mr Chaz so I this might not be exactly about issuing the conduit debt but what is the total amount then is it 50 million that the uh Country Manor would be able to access is that what I'm understanding they're basically issuing bonds for $50 million to make this project go and and um is this something that is kind of been brought forth that's new new to the city or has this been kind of in the works all along I do believe it's been when country man are built in St Joseph they issued St city of St Joseph issued the conduit debt so when they just kind of wrapped it up here and that's why we're proposing it now if this is something Council does not want to do we have the in our policy has said that we can issue the conduit debt we have done it in the past that's why I'm bringing it to council tonight to kind of have General discussion because if council is saying no we don't want to issue this conduit debt we need to let country Mana know right away but as far as the their plans uh country manner when they came to the city and and they want to put this project forward is this something that's been on the table right from the beginning or is this kind of new to to us being brought forth as it's something new they just kind of came up with I think it was part of their funding package but I don't think the city understood what their funding package was until recently when they're when they're funling their package up okay so this is something that was new brought back in I think December when we first started talking about it at the Eda they said they wanted to issue they have the city issue conduit debt so we were gathering information because this was something new for me as the finance director as well thank you thank you Mr chair thank you Mr chazak anybody else have questions I'm sure there'll be more when we revisit this on March or sorry February 3rd or March 3rd what am I read well February 3rd will call for the public hearing to be held on March 3rd okay so what I'm hearing is is that we are probably okay we don't get to Country Manor and raise any red flags at this point this is something that we look like not opposed at this time in general it sounds like we're open to it is what I'm feeling up here but to gab's point you you still wanted to get something back like maybe by our next meeting is that when I'm by February 3rd or March 3rd before we go to the public hearing I want to have the information in there'll be an agreement that we'll make with the conduit debt I don't think we'll have any numbers because we don't know how much debt we're actually issuing yet we don't know what our interest rate will be so we don't know the difference between the interest rates so it'll be an agreement that they have to make up the difference okay but we won't have like a rule of 10 right if it's going to be like 10,000 a year or 100,000 a year or a million a year I I don't think we'll can't get that close okay thank you I'd like this to go through PNF uh in February as soon as we can okay get whatever information that you need Mr chair if you are the chair yeah who knows okay and this is just informational so unless anybody else has any uh questions or comments we can move on all right moving on item number 11 we have public forum oh man I'm getting tired of this scrolling one second here you can just stay on top now what's that you can just stay on page three Now read it right off of that oh there it is that's what I'm looking for hard copy all right this is the time allocated for citizens to bring matters not on the agenda to Detention of the council and we'd like to to keep it to a few minutes so if anybody's here to speak at public forum we will open the public forum official don't scare me crazy uh public forum is now open I didn't see that coming if there's anybody in the audience that wishes to address the council please come forward there's anybody in the audience that wants to address the council please come forward if there's anybody online that would like to address the council please hit star three I just sounds right it Sean says that sounds right just hit all the buttons on your keyboard and one more time if there's anybody that wants to address the council and it looks like no now we will close the public forum you're two for two on gabbles that was pretty good all right I got to scroll to the bottom again one second it's getting gabble happy over here I might start hitting it more now we're we're going to move on to staff report courts let's start Tony Gage that's a new one curveball I like this different nothing from Tony uh Chief Holmes Chief Davis Sean strong nothing tonight Connie hman Finance director nothing to add M cavor Public Works director yes I have a couple things couple things uh just to announce oh we have a new Skid Steer in our uh public works department and talking with both the streets and the parks they're actually going to be sharing that and that was a big you know it was just a good discussion and both uh departments both divisions are going to be happy to share that skidsteer so that was a nice uh compromise and good teamwork my other announcement is just with our Transit uh Department we had it we did our survey or our numbers for uh 24 and the average uh ride uh per day is is one 154 ride uh Riders per day so I thought that was pretty amazing to uh just announce and that's all that I have thank you Mr chair thank you Mr Habor next James cranic Community Development yes thank you Mr President just one item here uh so the Planning Commission at their last meeting began discussions on data center regulations uh and we'll continue working on Crafting and ordinance at the next meeting uh there was no official public hearing at the last meeting but the commission heard testimony from interested parties uh before really digging in and working on the ordinance and that's everything I have thank you James next we have City attorney Joseph langel Joe sends his regrets uh Christian Shay for everybody uh nothing for me thank you Christian Chris Shubert nothing Dad Chris Evans all right and City administrator Nick BRS you guys thought I was going to forget didn't you just a couple comments I hope everybody had a good Christmas and a good New Year um we're very staff is very excited it's a new year I think our staff is stronger now than it was a year ago we got some great people and we're anticipating some fantastic things in 2025 I do want to thank outgoing president bevans for your uh mentorship and advice over the last 11 months it's been very helpful for me and I want to congratulate our returning and new council members uh congratulations I'm looking forward to serving with you all again in 2025 and also to President elect uh Mike OD day and vice president Gabe Johnson congratulations and looking forward to a great year thank you and I screwed up for the seven or eighth seventh or eighth time uh Eric sharpener we have you online anything to report tonight I heard something I think that was no say no stun can't hear you Eric little muffled he could read lips he's talking he's talking I think he's he says he's good all right moving on to council uh Chief stunich I have nothing Mr chzo uh yes I have one thing um as their last meeting uh Community uh our um I'm sorry um it's Mr Hab of course indicated that the city bus was going to do the tour of Lights at the arbor redom and it worked great on Thursday the 26th as I stand and I was on the bus on the 27 we packed him in there and we got over there and there's a sign electricity and water don't mix so they all the people got on the bus and they couldn't go through so it was unfortunate but I think people enjoyed the bus ride overall and it was a fun time regardless so it was very interesting that's it uh Mr Ericson uh good to be back nothing to add further Mr Johnson yeah I hope every everybody had a blessed uh Christmas holiday and spent some time with family and ate some good food I hope everybody has a happy New Year and just one more thing to add I received a phone call from a constituent today and they told me how great of a leader John Davis and Tim maholmes are and how the city is so blessed to have those two leaders leading two of our departments so I just wanted to pass that feedback along to you gentlemen Mr bevans nothing to add Mr Mayor I was going to say you skipped me you know what it's it's a new year you're struggling enough nothing to report how about that that's the best how about that how about that it's never happened in the history of the world breath of fresh air thank you for that there's a new Leaf turned over I'll just add I thank you for your confidence and allowing me to be your president of this Council um I'll do my best hopefully I'll do better next time on remembering difference between a resolution and a regular motion um we'll get the hang of it but um in the next couple weeks we'll send some emails out um setting up leadership positions asking about requests on uh which commissions you'd like to theas uh and hopefully in the next week or two we can nail all those down so um I'll chat with Tony and Mr broal and we'll set that up so thank you uh moving forward and unless anybody has anything more we're looking for a motion to adjourn to the closed session per Minnesota statute 13d .03 subdivision 3 C3 to consider offers for the sale of the annex no moved second motion Johnson second stunich uh all in favor I I all against same sign motion passes good job on the adjournment