##VIDEO ID:GVxKixycMC4## we're good all right it is Monday December 16th at 7:30 and I call the meeting of the Brer city council to order Tony please call stunich here Terry here stingl here Johnson here chesak here oday here bans here B here please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pled Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God God indivisible liy and justice for all all right we are underway item four is the approval of the agenda Mr B question Mr yes I'd like to uh pull bills off consent and then add an item I believe uh under new business uh just called the abolish abolishing the Public Works uh Public Utilities Commission okay we've got a request by chz discussion of I should say that proceed discussion so we will put that on as nine new business e the bills will be immediately following the approval of the cons thank you any other questions or discussions uh just sent you an email of a few minutes ago regarding the specific bills so that should be on your inbox for everybody copied Nick okay do we need to do that right now I sent it already you should all have okay well it's an email it's public it's okay is there a motion to approve the agenda as amended so Move Motion by day is there a second second second by T was my motion I apologize no apologies okay so we have a motion in a second any discussion none favor say I I same sign the agenda is approved as amended item five is a consent calendar we've got suggest to remove approval of the bill is there any other comments hearing none is there a motion to approve the amended consent count second discussion n Tony call the RO stunich yes Terry yes Stang line yes Johnson yes chz yes ode yes bans yes the consent calendar is adopted as amended the new item 5.1 is approval of the bills Mr chz yeah um yeah the the bills I'm specifically referring to are legal fees and my question is by approving the bills tonight maybe this would be for Connie based on an email that public Works had receed or Public Utilities had received this past week um regarding some legal fees that I understand they're required to pay half of the legal services and a couple of those are related to uh Legal Services through research abolishing the Public Utilities Commission and if we approve these bills does the utilities have an opportunity then to say uh we refuse to pay for that particular legal service or at least half of it so I'm I'm lary of uh I I not against paying the bills of Legal Services were performed I I I understand that's a requirement we have to pay them but my question is if we approve this particular legal services in the bills um are we then telling the Public Utilities Commission that they are required to pay half of for those specific items that were sent to them last week and and part of those were as I sent you this three or four items are in your email specific to abolishing the public works or Public Utilities Commission so that's my question for staff perhaps before I vote on approving anybody what up Joe Joe langle yeah Mr President Council the approval of any bill doesn't matter what it is is sep and distinct from how the city uh accounts for the cost internally you know if if that's up to Connie and how whatever policies you guys have in terms of who pays for how that's divied up between the different costs between the different departments two two separate issues does that answer your question Mr CH okay so no because I'm asking the question if if I vote to approve the legal services that are in our bills cuz there's one total there there's no itemization and in those bills includes abolishing the Public Utilities Commission and and some SE a number of hours attributed to that which are then shared with the Public Utilities Commission um and I believe it's a 50 shares so my question is if we approve these bills these legal services are we then telling the Utilities Commission that they are stuck paying for half of these services do they they have do they have any say in on these particular items that's my question I believe Mr answer that but I can let answer it again I would say that that you are you're authorizing the payment of the bill but how we split it up it can be changed internally however we decide it needs to be split can I make a separate motion regarding that Mr bevans you absolutely can okay I would move that we then not have the Utility Commission share the services that are identified in the statement that they received this past week week or last week I should say so that's your motion yes have a motion do not split the bill on that item with oops is there a second a second we have a second any discussion yeah I okay well Jeff made the motion he can go first if you want but I think I understand what he well it it if if by approving these they have no say as far as how I I understand this works and what we we um we're essentially saying to them hey you got to pay for your uh half of the Rope you the cost of half your rope we're going to hang you with I mean it's it's just ridiculous I I I don't know how anybody can look at that as being they know they as far as I know they know nothing about this research uh and of course I move that down further to have a discussion about that and um it it we we ask our our Utility Commission members to serve in good faith and to do their job and now they're giv bills that they have no knowledge of no request for nothing and so I would just say that in this in the course of uh the several hundred dollars this would cost just to be uh on principle alone they should have the right to say we refuse to pay for this by us approving this uh and the bills they have no say that's where I'm at thank you D I'm I'm going to vote no I uh I agree with the sentiment that if we're conducting legal research on getting rid of the commission they shouldn't have to pay for it but I don't think that's a council action I think we're approving to pay the bill how it gets paid is figured out by staff if the commission if we we're only approving this bill to be paid right no this motion is that's why I'm voting against it like if we approve the bills as presented we're just approving they be paid we're not telling you which funds to use which where to get the money we're just saying that in the name of the city of Brainard these bills shall be paid and we routinely do that every meeting and I think this is no different and I think we're making a mountain out of a mole hill here possibly so I will be voting no thank you any further discussion so this is not a motion to approve the bills it's just a motion to not a por half of this bill public any other comments questions all in favor say I I same sign I the motion fails now we're looking for motion to approve the bills motion to approve the bills motion to approve the bills is there a second second second by Johnson motion by chesk any discussion on paying the bills all in favor uh this would be a calendar item so let's do a roll call stunich yes Terry yes Stang line yes Johnson yes chazak no oday yes bans yes and the bills will be paid this month absolutely fantastic let's move on to presentations item number six item number 6A is the center annual presentation please have uh your representatives come on up state your name and address cuz we're as seen on TV dozens of good evening I'm Kathy Tusa um 14075 Firewood Drive bter I'm currently the president of the board of the center so I thank you for the opportunity to come and talk to you about the center our Center is truly a community organization with members and volunteers from all walks of life which make it a living organiz ation was something for everyone I've heard of other senior organizations that are failing they're becoming a monthly coffee or they're disbanding alog together we are an activity center for example here are some of the activities over the past year January we did a collaboration with other nonprofits for a let's play afternoon putting together seniors and children which was a lot of fun some of us don't have have grandchildren here other people's children are easier to play with anyway February is our plant sale we start our seeds at the center and uh that's a collaboration with the wildbird store and um bird seed store and School District 181 uh we are allowed to use their um Greenhouse out of the old high school Farm March we had a booth at the home show and Expo at C Arena April are senior singers entertained weekly at senior nursing homes senior residences in may we have our three-day plant three-day plant sale benefiting everybody June music in the park starts uh weekly our director does raises the funds and does the booking for that July is the senior's picnic where we name senior Volunteers Of The Year those folks are nominated by other nonprofits uh August we had a booth at the Viking festival at the fairgrounds September was ageless expo at Forest View again organized by our director October we participated in the Chile Cook Off November we had a barbecue dinner open to the public we had tickets for 300 two seatings first one completely sold out and so far in December we've had our annual Christmas party and our visit with you today so I thank you for your support and I hope that you realize our organization's value in the community and we'll continue that support and here's Dean thank you Kathy deian Barry 18610 Smith Road Brainard Minnesota proud to be the director of the center located at 803 Kingwood Street on the north side of Brainard thank you for the opportunity to come and share with you um thank you for allowing us to have the RFP um we do fabulous things over at 803 Kingwood Street if you have not been over for a tour I encourage you to do so Thursday mornings is a prime time you can have a fresh doughnut and uh check us out and see what happens within our walls lots of things happened beyond our walls as well Kathy shared some of them with you um we're busy we're active we're fulfilling um people have this conception um you should read the book this chair rocks it's about the misconceptions of society about the aging and it happens here at home as well come and see us we're not sitting in a chair rocking we're making that chair rock we're doing things we're we're carving we're starting in 2025 we're starting the centers continuing education we will continue to educate to learn to share it might be how to make yogurt in your instant pot or it could be how to learn tatting which is almost a lost art um we will share what we know we're having a community ed carving class on Saturdays so if you're working and you cannot come during the week we're doing some things on Saturdays as well so we have lots of ideas in the works to move us forward we hope that you come and participate or at least come in and check us out and see what's happening do you have any questions for us tonight any questions of Dean or Kathy I don't have a question I just have a comment a comment is appropriate sure very good uh deian you're a force to be reckoned with you do amazing things in the community and I um value very much your participation in the age friendly communities I know that's not the right name but um age friendly brainer I think is the current yeah yeah so I get to work with you on that continuing going forward even though I won't be on the council um so thank you for all that you're doing my neighbor Curley comes and plays cards um at least a couple times a week and I know he appreciates it very much so thank you yeah for a lot of people were their social outlet were the place they play cards were the place you know some people um sitting at home especially since covid if you're an aging person that's an easy option and and taking those steps out the door that's not easy and encouraging people to do that to to encourage them member or not um we have a lot of people who come on a regular basis who are not members um come and check us out see what happens and you'll find a not only fun groups to enjoy but a support system and it may not seem like that um the pool table is it the billiards table is next to my office and um it's hard to get guys to join things if you're a guy you're probably well aware of that but um we have 8 to 10 guys who play pool on a regular basis and yeah they come they have a great time they tease each other they're they're cracking a lot of jokes but I'll tell you what 2 Days Later they're all back there because they're each other's support system as well they didn't know each other before they just had a passion when they used to play pool and so they found that they enjoy that again and they found a group of guys that they can share that time with and it's a great support system because sometimes as you know no matter what your status or time of life sometimes life is not easy and this time of year we have lots of holiday decorations we look pretty festive but you don't know what's going on in that person beyond that festive home so Mr bans I'm sorry hang on Jeff I don't know that she's done okay I'm sorry I'm done I'm good all right just so i' make sure Mr chz yeah um Dean if I bring my um real cards down there um can I pick up a game of uh cribbage for a nickel point buck a game uh you can play cribbage Mondays at 1 you probably want to be there at 12:30 okay we'll do our best okay anything else anybody else I tatting with shuttles or needles um I am not a tatter I can't tell you that I'm assuming a shuttle but we'll see what shakes out of the woodwork as we move forward but yeah that's amazing completely a lost start I that's awesome you might can you maybe can teach May has com okay we can't use lingo that I don't know what the heck is tatting it's a lace making technique it um oh no it's it's amazing it's a little tiny shuttle about that long it's thick and thin and somehow the thread which is like string goes through there and you move it back and forth we had one lady who made these beautiful little snowflakes and sold them for 75 that's a lot of work for 75 cent yeah yeah but uh it's wonderful thank you very much thank you very much next up is item 6B the Northland arber arum annual presentation come on up state your name and address and thanks for coming thanks for having me Trevor Pia 623 Willow Street Brainard Minnesota about three blocks from here okay so I first want to start by thanking everybody for the letter of support for regional designation it's something we've been working a very long and hard it's like it's not an easy process to get State funding for nonprofit organizations you have to have uh Municipal ownership of your land and you have to have City support county Support um support from other nonprofits so thank you for writing that letter for me I seriously appreciate it um as far as the Northland Arboretum so my background is in Recreation economy sustainable tourism um I work on creating part and playgrounds and places for people to play that are not only Community assets but also places for uh cities to create sustainable tourism so the last town I was in we built um you know it was bike parks uh playgrounds uh anything to create a regional or national draw to save our city through a measure our 1% sales taex so I'm well versed in Recreation economics and that's why they hired me to the Northland Arboretum so I'll just tell you a little bit about what's going on at the Arboretum right now and what we've pulled off since I started um when I started there we had about a 40 $420,000 operating budget we're up about $150,000 to $570,000 last year um it's just it's amazing what we've been able to do the community's really rallied around our projects and I'll talk a little bit about those as well I want to talk about visitation um as we as we seek to become a premier Recreation destination we need to know who's coming where they're coming so we use um some placer.ai data to determine where people are coming from most of our visitors are from the city of Brainard um I know where they get their gas before they come I know where they eat when they're done um we just have the benefit of having these data sets through economic development now so it's nice to see that we're actually serving our constituents the people that are helping to pay our bills and we're we're representing them we also did a survey we got about 550 quantitative and 700 thematic qualitative results and time and time again it was more stuff to do we want more stuff for kids we want more stuff for families we want more path-based Recreation we want better infrastructure and so that what the that's what this Regional designation allows us to do is proc apply for and procure funding for infrastructure development they don't buy you trucks or tractors they don't pay the bills it's not operational funding it's infrastructure funding but you have to have a master plan in place which are about $50,000 um so I have the honor of building ours um but so it's one of these things where it's a master plan for the organization moving forward so they can be sustainable and create Revenue that frankly sustains our operations um so we're working on trying to pull together this Regional designation so we can build paveed road so we can have a three season ski shall so we can have a rental center so we can become a more sustainable organization but trust me when you start pulling the titles and deeds for the land to start looking at the land ownership the hounds come people the Wolves start knocking on your door I'm getting letters all the time people want to buy this land that we've preserved for 50 years and and we have no intent of selling to any developers so um the funding that you've provided over the years has helped us sustain this operation maintain this Central Park between Brainard and Baxter right at the heart of croing County and we want to keep serving our constituents through Recreation development I'll talk about the couple projects that we worked on this year so we have all the infrastructure installed for our inclusive nature playscape we have Ada parking we also were able to get an ADA loop around it all grades to like zero grades so there's no rise or run um people of all Mobility um levels can utilize the playscape but they can also utilize our raised garden beds so we through Grant funds this year we were able to get about $111,000 for raised garden beds for the Master Gardener program they've never been able to offer their program to people with disabilities or Mobility impairments before and so we're proud to be able to do that this coming year last year we donated 2500 lb of fresh produce to croing County residents experiencing food insecurity and it's not just in brainer it goes all across the the county and the logistics for that are incredible um since 2020 the Master Gardeners have donated 9,000 pounds of fresh produce to people uh in croing County experiencing food insecurity I just built a massive lighted sledding hill we're going to open that January 1st so if you get off work 5:00 you need somewhere to take the kids and that's not as steep as the sedding hill behind my house um you know a nice gentle sedding Hill for Kids 4 to 8 after the Sertoma takes down the light displays which is also a really cool um program we also have Geo navigation um through this um accrediting body that handles Arboretum certification Botanical Garden certification and it does Rich backend storytelling so uh come check that out spring 2025 it's a really cool program that we launched an initiative that we actually worked with the Dutch government the people from plant soon to pull that one off um and a donor funded it lastly um besides the updated navigation all the other things that we've been doing around the arbored with irrigation and uh visitor enjoyment and trying to get more information from people we are building one of the biggest bike parks in the entire Midwest um we found out the incremental development isn't uh well the people that are coming out to your organ organization already notice incremental development but if you build small things they're the only people that notice so we're building one of the biggest bike parks in the entire region um quite possibly the biggest in the state of Minnesota uh if you haven't been out to look at the diagram I'd encourage you to come look at the the site with me Mike tree company donated $15,000 worth the labor to the site in the bottom left corner you can see the design element this is the aesthetic that we sent off to the number one bike park designer in the world Rock Solid Trails they flew out here and we just absolutely impressed with what we were able to turn which was seriously a landfill there were so many tires there was so much junk um and we ruined Mike's equipment but he donated is time to clear this because he sees the vision of becoming not just a regional draw but a national draw and so we're we're trying to create an economy in the middle middle of croing County that draws people and um that's the direction of our organization right now there's also a tot track in there for kids on Striders we also have 1.6 miles of adaptive Trails through pollinator habitat that will be opening up to Adaptive cycling this spring cool you got any questions any comments any questions of Trevor yeah how does adaptive cycling work if you explain that yeah so adaptive cycling is more about the surfacing material um and the slope and gradient of the trail so people like me or like my mom on her trike three- wheel trike she'd be able to easily navigate this eight foot wide Crush gravel path um with ease you know so uh we're also looking at State recommendations for the best um best practices for the uh inclusion of type one electric assist bikes for people with Mobility impairments so the the Adaptive Trails actually go through $40,000 pollinator um project it's a prairie restoration project that we just completed this year so it should be really ugly this year but next year it should be pretty beautiful thank you you're welcome you uh Cara um no questions Trevor but I want to thank you for all of your work at the ARB you've done amazing things since you've been there it's been an honor to serve as the council liaison on your board so thank you for that and Oliver and I will be out there just as regularly as we are now so thank you thank you I appreciate it chairman Johnson has a question Trevor no question just I think what you're doing out at the arbor edum since you came on is is amazing it's really cool to see what you're doing over there and you know hitting small wins but then also having a big Grand Vision for a big win and just getting things done is really exciting to see so thank you for your work than you Mr Johnson anybody else thank thank you thank you appreciate it all right and our third presentation is uh item 6C brainer Community Action annual presentation please state your name and address and let us let us know what you're here for all right Bill SRI 13814 Crooked Lake Road dearwood and uh hubard radio and Brainard Elks so there we go and on the board of directors for Brainard Community Action for a number of years our Focus remains on creating opportunities for Brainard residents to build lasting memories and to uh create that deep connection right here in our own neighborhoods our community events are at the heart of what we do and of course Flapjack Festival Touch a Truck the St Patrick's Day Parade are just a few of the things the annual tree lighting ceremony that we had here uh right outside of City Hall are just a few of the things earlier this year we had uh movies and concerts in the park and uh the first annual I know it's dangerous to say that but we're pretty confident there's going to be a second police and firefighter softball tournament was a blast so uh some of the most exciting things that have come along this year include the formation of our downtown neighborhood association and uh some of uh our other groups this joins our existing neighborhood associations the north Brainard the East bank and Southeast Brainard we're eager to expect stand on this uh uh neighborhood association uh program into either West Brainard or Northeast Brainard here uh depending upon Community interest and uh if we can find the leadership in those areas to uh drive that would be really helpful um our community empowerment fund has been a massive success and we've been able to do some pretty awesome things with that and uh contribute to some uh some real great great programs that are uh startup programs that uh needed a little help a little boost to do so it's uh it's great to have the ability to be a good Steward of that money and to make sure that it is being used uh to the best of its ability in the community um some of the returning events that we're looking forward to again Flapjack festival and touch a truck will be back St Patrick's Day Parade we're looking forward to that again because it also means spring um and again movies in the park should be back we're looking forward to the softball uh tournament between our police and fire once again and concerts in the park all of those things coming back and uh becoming Traditions here in the Brainard area uh any questions about what Community Action is up to Chairman Johnson did you notice your gingerbread man's head fell off what in the world happened to that I know it was the wind Davido uh 602 North 9th Street uh we had an unfortunate incident involving Mother Nature believing that the cookies were in fact so delicious that she wanted to take a bite out of one and unfortunately uh we found that gluing the head back on was an Endeavor that involved uh three days of trying to remove glue from one May's hands uh however the cookies will be back uh next year and they've been a huge hit so we're super excited to see where that can go in the future thank you and hopefully it will be repaired before uh next year then any other questions or comments for Community Action thank you thank you and thank you all of you for your support all right we will move on to seven Council committee reports 7A is personel and finance committee chairman Gabe Johnson thank you Mr President we have seven items eight items oh my gosh the first of which is ratify the hiring of Kayla huther to for recreation specialist and the motion is to ratify the hiring of Kayla huther effective December 30th 2024 further that she be placed on step two of the recreation specialist wage Grid at $322 per hour and IO move second we have a motion by Johnson a second by stunich any discussion chairman Johnson we're really excited to have Kayla on board and we're uh we're we're expecting that she'll be around for a long time helping coordinate all of our recreational activities in the city thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign that motion car please proceed next up is a promotion of Tony Gage and the motion is to approve the promotion of Tony Gage to the administrative assistant position effective December 17th at step two $288 per hour and I so move we have a motion by Johnson second a second by Terry any discussion chairman Johnson this is the position that we added a little bit of responsibility I think involving elections and whatnot uh to the job position and we posted internally and dony applied and we uh we thought she was good enough to do it good job Tony thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed next up is some new paid on call Firefighters and the motion is to ratify the hiring of Jason Dan Isaiah Mez jic Patrick Nelson and Nathan CT has paid on call Firefighters effective January 1 2025 further that they be paid at the trainy firefighter rate which is $15 per hour and ISO move Mo motion by Johnson second by stunich chairman Johnson you may be surprised to learn this but this only gets us to 39 paid on call Firefighters I thought it got us to about 43 but we're we're only at 39 so we're under that 40 Target that we we like to have still thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed okay next up is a resolution setting the wages for the city administrator department heads and non Union supervisors and the motion is to adopt the attached wage wage resolution setting the 2526 wages for the city administrator department heads applicable Municipal Municipal utility division managers and non-union supervisors and ISO move second motion by Johnson second by Terry any discussion chairman Johnson this includes the same wage adjustments we have negotiated with all the unions who have settled contracts in 2526 it does not include the uh new municip ipal utility department head Union because they we haven't started negotiating wages with them yet thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose resol sir oh thank you Tony please call the stun yes Terry yes stingl yes Johnson yes chesak yes ode yes bans yes that resolution is adopted please proceed okay next up is to adopt another resolution this time allowing for a one-time election to contribute to par defined contribution plan for appointed public utility Commissioners and the motion is to recommend adopting the attached resolution as required by perah for the one-time election period allowing the public utilities commissioner to contribute to the defined contribution plan and ISO move second motion by Johnson second by stun any discussion chairman Johnson there was a change of law this last year that it's not just elected officials but now appointed government officials can elect into Pera so we had a commissioner who wanted to and we're going to pass this onetime resolution that now the Commissioners are eligible for perah thank you any further discussion Mr bans Mr tzk um is that just paid appointed people then I assume I don't think you can get a pension on don't have a salary yeah so it's very limited okay thank you any further discussion hearing none Tony please call the rooll stun yes Terry sting line yes Johnson chz OD Evans yes that resolution is is adopted please proceed okay the next one is authorized staff to advertise for the Statewide affordable housing aid funds and the motion is to authorize staff to advertise for proposals for available Saha funds with the January 24th submitt deadline and ISO move second we have a motion by Johnson a second by Terry chairman Johnson this was part of that $8 billion Surplus that disappeared all the money but we got like 100,000 land we get another 100,000 this coming year and you might remember that we we awarded uh habitat a good chunk of it this last year and we're hoping to get some more proposals for Housing Solutions in our city for next year thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed okay next up is a shared service agreement with the Eda and the motion is to approve the 2025 shared service agreement with the Eda in the amount of $17,000 and ISO move we have a motion by Johnson a second by stunich chairman Johnson so City staff you know tracks the amount of time they spend doing Eda specific business and they and they said $177,000 is about what the amount was in 24 and they expect it to be about the same in 25 so this seems like a fair number thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you Mr President this is our last sulur update ever and we had talked about it last meeting and was brought back this meeting and looking for what we should do and the recommended action is what we're going to do and the motion is to amend the silur budget per attachment we have a motion by Johnson is there a second second by Terry any discussion chairman Johnson the attachment further explains that we what the amendments are going to take some of the money that has hasn't been spent yet or maybe not even committed yet and use the the federal dollars to just pay on paper for some of the equipment we already bought this year but while keeping those other projects on the books that will just be paid for out of the capital fund when that time comes so just kind of swapping the money there but everything's going to happen and it's not costing anything more thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed report thank you we will move on to 7B safety and Public Works committee chairman Mike OD day thank you Mr President we just had five items tonight uh first item was a wording a proposal for asht tree removal uh motion coming out of committee was to recommend awarding the proposal to tanion Tree Service LLC in the amount of $8,500 I so Move Motion by OD a second by Stang line any discussion chairman oday so we received 45 ,000 of uh grant money from the Minnesota DNR uh to remove some of the the bigger ash trees and replace some of those trees with other species with the ashb coming through town um this is the lowest bid that we got out of the three bids um and it's going to remove about 14 of those bigger ash trees that our staff isn't equipped to remove and then the rest of that 45,000 should go towards replacing trees thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you uh item number two was uh handful of resolutions actually uh this is for the grant applications three of them having to do with the Lum Park pedestrian bridge and one having to do with the Oak Street reconstruction and a recommendation coming out of committee was to adopt the attached resolution supporting the grant applications as presented and ISO move second we have a motion by OD day a second by chz um does these have to be done separately I think they they do have to be done separately um since their resolutions Jesse do they have to be done separately think so Mr langle anybody okay we're going to do each one at a time so the first one the first carbon reduction first one is the carbon Reduction Program or CRP in the amount of $1 million okay second we have a motion on that one by o day second by chz any discussion on the million dollar this is for the Lum Park pedestrian bridge I'll just mention this is one of the two Federal um Grant applications that does require an 8020 match thank you any further questions hearing none Tony please call the role stunich yes Terry yes sting line yes Johnson chazak OD yes bans yes that resolution is adopted next up is the active Transportation $1 million for the lump Park bridge and I so move second motion by OD day second by chz any discussion hearing none Tony please call the rooll stun yes Terry Stingin yes Johnson chz OD Evans yes that resolution is adopted next up is the transportation Alternatives $800,000 Grant and ISO move second motion by OD day second by Stang line any discussion on that one this is just the other one that is a Federal grant requiring 8020 thank you any further discussion hearing none Tony please call the rooll stun yes Terry yes stingl yes Johnson chz OD yes Evans yes that resolution is adopted and finally on the Oak Street reconstruction the surface Transportation block grant program for 1.25 million is so move BYOD day second by stain line any discussion CH again a Federal grant requiring an 8020 per match thank you any further discussion hearing none Tony please call the role stun yes yes Terry yes sting line yes Johnson chesak OD day yes Sans yes that resolution is adopted please proceed moving on item number three we have a uh trans Transit Americans with Disabilities Act policy plan uh motion coming out of committee was to approve the updated Transit Ada policy and I so move second motion by OD second by chz any discussion chairman day this is something that we have to submit uh by the 18th we have to do this annually um this wasn't reviewed yet by the TAC committee but they will review it going into uh the early part of the Year here and we'll hear back if if there's any issues but more of a technicality to get it through thank you any further comments or discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you next was the uh Public Utilities Department rejection of bids for the Water Reclamation backwash building and the recommendation coming out of committee was to uh concur with the recommendation and decision of the commission authorizing the public utilities department to reject all bids for the Water Reclamation and backwash project and ISO move second motion by o second by chz any discussion chairman o so this is a a project that was budgeted about 6 and a half million I believe we had about 5 million come from State bonding correct it's an appropriation it was in the bonding Bill yes so the bids came back the lowest bid was 10.3 million so we're quite a bit short uh the commission wanted to reject all the bids and they were asked our staff was asked by Bolton and mink to uh ratify that commission vote um sure if we need to 100% or not but I think we all agree on it so um here we are making that vote perfect any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed thank you our final item was the approval of the 10-year Capital Improvement plan for 2025 through 2034 uh recommendation coming out of committee was to approve that 10-year Capital Improvement plan for those years as presented and I so move second we have a motion by OD a second by St line any discussion uh chairman OD say that the capital Improvement plan was presented back in June there's been some changes and our city engineer is here who has put this plan together just some additions to next year based on things that have happened this year um nothing major in my opinion um but any questions can be directed towards him thank you any further discussion Mr bevans Mr chz I guess I have a question for Mr Dean just so I'm clear um is that all right yeah yeah Jesse when you had discussed this in a committee did you have a u a concern or an interest in having something more specific spelled out I was a little unclear with that during committee uh more of a definitive action for looking for us for a direction on any of these or am I just uh misunderstanding what I thought I heard you say Alman chisar so the the one item I think I called out specifically was the uh project the Evergreen storm sewer alall repair project that we identified in 2025 and just making sure that Council was supportive of us including that and continuing with that as planned in 2025 or if the council would like to see that in a different year uh but than that plan has presented okay that's that's what I was my clarification thank you very much anything else Mr chz nope anything else by anybody else all in favor of approval of the plan say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed and a report thank you item 8 is unfinished business item 8 a is called for applicants I will turn it over to Mayor bedau thank you President bevans we have lots of available board and commission spaces because it's the end of the year and people have to renew so uh I will not be making any recommendations tonight in the interest of fairness for allowing people who did not know that some of these were coming up to get an opport opportunity to apply for them as well uh but the following boards and commissions have seats available airport commission one term Charter commission two terms expiring 2025 two terms expiring 2026 three terms expiring 2028 Housing and Redevelopment Authority one-term expiring 2029 Park and Recreation one-term expiring 2029 Public Utilities one-term expiring 2026 and one term expiring 2029 Transportation advisory committee four terms expiring 2026 as well as the Eda one term expiring 2026 thank you Mr Mayor and as council president I have one term on the Planning Commission opened expiring in 2027 next up is item 8B the final reading and public hearing for proposed ordinance 1577 the annexation of 15106 Riverside Drive Mr kic anything you'd like to add yes thank you Mr President uh so city council conducted the first reading on November 8 18th um as a reminder this is uh being redone as one of the property owners on a shared property was not notified it wasn't in the croing County GIS website um so that additional property has been notified along with all the originals uh so staff recommends that city council conduct the final reading dispense with the actual reading of proposed ordinance 1577 conduct the public hearing of proposed ordinance 1577 and approve proposed ordance 1577 thank you Mr Ki any questions of staff hearing none we'll go through the list the first item is uh looking for a motion to conduct the final reading and dispense with the actual reading of proposed ordinance 1577 which uh to avoid reading the actual ordinance requires a unanimous vote so moved motion by stting line Second by o day any discussion hearing none all in favor of the final reading say I I oppose same sign and that passes unanimously it is 8:17 and I will open the public hearing on proposed ordinance 1577 if you're in the audience and wish to speak on this ordinance please come forward state your name and address and let us know what you think if you're online star three will notify us that you wish to speak and then when it's your turn star 6 will unmute you I'll ask a second time if anybody wishes to speak on proposed ordinance 1577 and I will ask a final time if anybody wishes to speak on proposed ordinance 1577 and I will close the public hearing and I will look for a motion to approve proposed ordinance 1577 so Move Motion by o day is there a second second second by chz any discussion hearing none Tony please call the rooll St yes Terry yes stangl yes Johnson chz yes OD day yes that ordinance is adopted and next up is item 8 C a public hearing and adopting a resolution regarding a vacation of public rways uh this is Mike habar Public Works director anything you'd like to add to oh looks like it's going to be Jesse Dean on our city engineer anything you'd like to add to what's in the packet I just want to highlight so uh staff publicly noticed the uh public hearing for tonight for the two uh different ones uh staff is recommending holding the public hearings uh each individually uh we also sent out mailings out for all the affected Property Owners uh and then we also included adoption or recommending adoption of the two attached resolutions one for each of these so there's two different resolutions for each of them uh so staff is recommending addressing each separately thank you any questions of St Mr President Mr ches um did the city receive any concerns or anything from anybody related to these any objection in writing or I received several phone calls uh throughout and answered a handful of questions um I did not receive any negative feedback uh however I recommended that uh as I am not one to adopt these resolutions or make a recommend or make a decision on this I did recommend that they talk with their appropriate City Council Members thank you yes sir thank you any further questions of Staff okay hearing none so we'll take the we'll take the two items separately so we will take the first item rocker's commercial Edition fronted Road and we'll open the public hearing on that issue at 8:19 and ask if there's anybody in the audience who wishes to speak on that one step forward state your name and address and let us know come on up hi Ginger Almer I own Jack's house 300 Highway 25 South that is the front part of our property which I purchased 20 years ago um we moved our sign already it was very expensive they got the permits so hopefully they will vacate that thank you thank you Ginger anybody else in the audience who wishes to speak please come forward state your name and address again if you're online star3 notifies us that you wish to speak and I will ask a third and final time anybody online or in the audience who wishes to speak on this item and I will close the public hearing and we will look for a motion to adopt the attached resolution vacating that piece of property joh by Johnson second by OD day any discussion hearing none Tony please call the role stun yes Terry yes sting line yes Johnson ches yes o day yes yes that resolution is adopted next up is the Madison Heights Outlaw B and 10 foot walk second edition to Madison Heights Park I will open the public hearing at 8:21 and ask if there's anybody in the audience who wishes to speak on that vacational property please come forward state your name and address come on up thanks for coming um I'm Samantha L at 2029 Gren Avenue the smaller of the two walkways goes between my house and my neighbors um now I'm learning maybe I should have just called this guy behind me to ask my questions um but there was no phone number or anything on this thing this is a public hearing so there'll be no questions this is your time to State your opinion but you can call after 7:30 tomorrow okay before 4:30 and ask all the questions you want okay I mean I'm good with them vacating it I just need to know what that means so all right thanks for coming any any further public testimony on this vacation and I'll ask a third and final time if there's any testimony on this vacation and I will close the public hearing and look for a motion to adopt the attached resolution regarding this vacation so move Johnson second motion by Johnson second by Stang line any discussions hearing none Tony please call the role stunk yes Terry yes stingl yes Johnson chesak OD yes beans yes that resolution is adopted we will move on to item nine new business which is a uh a 9A is uh adopting a resolution approving plans authorizing advertisement and authorizing and directing the use of the power of eminent domain on Improvement 2313 which is trunk Highway 371b Willow Street round about project let's see who is and this is Mike haor Mike anything you'd like to add to what's in our packet yes and again I'm just going to refer to Jesse as he's been working on this project night and day thank you Jesse Dean anything you'd like to add city engineer anything You' like to add to what's in the packet I'll just highlight so there's a there's two different resolutions in here uh one is to approve plans and authorize advertisement uh contingent on receiving mot approvals obviously it's on the trunk Highway uh we're working through that process uh we're pretty confident that uh we've been coordinating with mot throughout the process so we're we're wrapping that up uh the other part of it is getting approvals with some of the RightWay process we have to get to a certain point with our RightWay process before mind do with Federal money attached will allow us to go off for bids so there's some contingency that we have to do um before we're able to get menot approval to uh go out for bid uh so we are looking for an adoption of of that resolution to uh move this forward into that uh that section um however the other part of this is authorizing uh staff to uh potentially start moving the next steps on the eminent domain uh I just want to highlight this isn't intended to be um the aerial um process that some people associate with eminent domain this is really to keep the process moving so we can move towards Construction in 2025 while some folks have been very responsive and we've been having good conversations especially with who's also here if there's convers or questions of the uh design engineer uh their rightaway staff has been able to engage with a handful of people uh some folks also haven't been responsive without being able to exercise this power um some of these projects could stretch out for years uh without getting constructed so this is just being able to help us continue the process to be able to get this constructed on time um however it is not intended to uh utilize on the those folks that are uh being very Cooperative with us and being able to get uh settled agreements with uh it's really those folks that either are not responsive or we not able to come to an agreement with this helps us continue the process for it again so that way we can still plan for a spring advertisement and bidding uh with the intention of construction we're on a pretty tight timeline with construction um at this point even with this resolution and adopting adoption of this resolution with all the different timelines and requ requirements that go along with it um we're going to be pushing really close to maybe even a late spring adver advertisement award and letting uh which puts us really close to the timeline that we need for construction which which is going to be essentially putting the detour in right after school is let out uh which is very important obviously as you can imagine uh but also having the detour back off again uh in time for the county fair because we don't want the detour in place uh on the county road going by the county fair area as well so there's a lot of things that kind of factor into that and making sure that we're staying within that time frame to make sure that we can still get this constructed within this year uh to have that intersection ready to go before the 210 project in 2026 uh with that I can answer any questions the councilman have any questions of the engineer Mr chz uh yes uh Jesse um based on the information you shared on the uh let's call the folks that haven't been necessarily um responding um when do you foresee the first initiation of the eminent domain process uh starting I mean what's the earliest date you see that occurring based on the individuals you've been working or trying to get cooperation with it's likely we're going to probably initiate something in January uh for the folks that we have not um had good conversations with um you do you just notify them that this is going to happen if we can't don't hear from you I mean is that how it would work well we're going to continue to try and and reach out to those folks uh the rightaway staff has been trying to uh diligently reach out to a lot of those folks especially the ones that we do have contact information for um and then the ones that we have been talking to we're going to continue those conversations as well um but the ones that uh we haven't been able to get a hold of the one thing that we have to do is um the attorney is going to be working with uh setting up a court date um and then uh the other part of that would be I believe serving the paper uh of that court date is that correct so uh once we figure out what the court date is um sometimes it depends on what the court availability would be thank you yes sir any further questions of Staff thank you Mr Dean all right so we are back to looking for a motion to approve a resolution approving plans and specs uh and ordering advertisement for bids on this project so move Mo my Stang line is there a second none I'll second oh okay there we go I don't know if it it was stated correctly okay would you like to restate it um and authorizing advertisement and authorizing the direct use of the power of imminent domain no that'll be the second resolution oh you want two separate ones he said so okay it doesn't say it on there I know did you second I'll still second it you'll still second it all right any discussion on the first resolution hearing none Tony please call the role stun yes Terry yes stting line yes Johnson yes chz yes ode yes bevans yes that resolution is adopted and the second resolution looking for a motion to authorize and directing the use of power of eminent domain as necessary to acquire certain lands easements and other rights and interests so mov motion by Stang line is there second second by Johnson any discussion y here chairman Johnson uh I want to just thank staff for being proactive on the eminent domain like I we've experienced a number of projects over the year the Northwest Fourth Street the the the Water Project out to the airport there's been a lot of real reluctant homeowners that have put a lot of projects off and cost us a lot of money so I think still trying to be still trying to negotiate and reach out and just talk to people is the right thing to do but because of the deadlines and the costs of these project I think just starting the eminent domain is probably the right thing to do as a as a rule of thumb so thanks for doing that thank you chairman Johnson any further discussion hearing none Tony please call the role stunich yes Terry yes stanglin yes Johnson yes chesak yes yes bans yes that resolution is adopted next up is item 9 C the adoption of the budgets and Levy I think this should be Connie Connie hman anything You' like to add to what's in our packet so this item should be setting the resolution setting the levy for the city of Brainard and the HRA Levy um the final Levy for the city and the Brainard HRA need to be certified to the county by December 30th the final Levy can be lower but not higher than was set in September the preliminary Levy in September for the city was set at an 8% increase or 7,515 698 and the levy for the Brainard h was set at $173,900 38 of fund balance of which about 111,000 is utilizing the onetime public safety Aid and the remaining 113,114 Levy the 2025 Levy could be set at $ 66,9 184,185 are approximately a 36% increase over the 2024 Levy um at the December 2nd council meeting Council gave direction to staff to use a 2% increase in the levy by only utilizing the fund balance for the one-time Public Safety Aid and a recap was also attached staff used the 2% Levy increase in preparing for the budgets but did not fill in the city's Levy amount in the attach resolution basically the city can set the levy anywhere up to an 8% increase the amount in the resolution solution for the h brard h is the same as it was set in September and as a reminder the city council needs to set the final Levy in dollars and in the chart or in the agenda packet was listed there several increases and just the dollar amounts just to assist Council in setting the amount for the city's Levy to put in the resolution thank you finance director Hilman any questions of Staff Mr tzk um yeah at our last meeting uh we approved the public utilities budget and in that budget it was uh discussed with the two employees they fund it but yet not actually uh we have not actually uh as far as I know have a job description approved or a uh wage grid set for those that or those employees and one one of the things that uh as Mr bevans you and I know that this one of those positions is likely very likely to be shared uh with the city that the Utility Commission is hiring and U because of uh uh the shared uh employee in it uh I would suggest that we should increase our uh Levy to accommodate at least 50% of that employees uh uh wages and benefits which I think we could get a rough idea and based on the dollars we're working with here just to make make uh sure that we're sharing uh like we do legal services in much the same respect uh that we share the employee cost for that particular employee at least for starters the one because that's I think the first one I forget the actual technical term of that position but it's to be hired essentially as soon as possible so I'm not sure of a dollar amount if that's something you could uh any anybody on our staff be able to give a a a approximate dollar amount that we could work with on that yeah Chris do you understand the question I believe so um at this point we only have a proposed wage from the public utilities department we have not finalized a job description so we do not have an actual wage we still need to negotiate a wage with the union for that as well um what was proposed is that this position would be focused at the public utilities department basically for the entire year so um that is why we it was included in the public utilities department budget and then we were going to see how things went for the 2026 year there'll be more information presented on the um Thursday's meeting talking about this position and how that could work I'm not sure if that helps you Jeff but that's the best explanation I have at this point um yeah that's that's good uh is it possible then at the um Thursday meeting we could uh amend this if uh if we need to I think I think according to Connie we can although it's not on finance director himman can you answer they pass a resolution then you wouldn't pass a resolution and we would add it to the agenda which I think is too late to add it to the agenda anyway since it's been published already well if we don't uh if we um I guess on a hypothetical question if uh say the year rolls around we're sitting here in February and um somehow along the way uh we decide as a city council or staff recommends that we hire completely new position whatever that might be and it's a $65,000 or $85,000 a year position whatever it might be and uh if we needed to do that if for some reason we needed to do that could we possibly do that based on the levy we're going to approve uh at say 2% and not having budgeted for that position that's a hypothetical question is that something the council can do Connie the council could hire the position and we'd be either using fund balance or we would find savings within our budget if we had if we knew at that time so you might take from somewhere else that we've approved and put it towards a new employee if we were able to yes right okay and all there's always fund balance correct it would be an unbudgeted expense okay thank you it's all I have Mr B thank you any other questions of Staff car Terry Connie does this include the $1,000 for the rard airport yes it does the levy the approp 2025 appropriation for the airport is set at $1,000 at this point if I have a question for Council Members can I ask that at this point or no I think so yes uh I would just like to ask the council members um any who would like to respond I would welcome any responses what the um purpose is behind the $1,000 um Levy or allocation to the Brainard airport I'd like to hear from each person on that purpose of only $1,000 anybody wish to respond Mr bevans oh Mr chz I have expressed my uh purpose several times could you repeat it Mr chz please I've expressed it several times so that's a no I've expressed my purpose several times thank you thank you anybody else car you have the floor I will not be approving this um Levy incre there's no motion no I know I'm just telling you what what's going to happen if this goes forward to approve um without the increased airport allocation I will not be um voting in favor of the levy increase okay any other questions of Staff hearing none I'm going to turn it over to Chairman Johnson our personal finance chair who spent hours helping the finance department work on this to make the motion give it a shot it's little unfortunate to learn that I lost Cara's vote but we'll see if we can still get this I will make a motion to set the city Levy at $ 7,981 160 and the HRA at what was approved on the preliminary and I so move second we have a motion by Johnson a second by OD day um any comments on the motion yep okay we'll start with chairman Johnson and then we'll move to Mr chz so this is the 2% increase cuz it's you know it's to avoid the Peaks and valleys as staff said but they only say that in years when when we can keep taxes low but last year we had an 8% increase we put two on top of that we're still looking at like 10% over two years last year was a substantial tax increase two might still be too high but I know people are feeling both ways so I think two is kind of a compromise right in the middle it still gives us over almost $120,000 of unallocated fund balance basically so that in case we do hire an IT person or have a change of heart on on the airport or anything like that so I think this I think this is the the fair Middle Ground to go so I I hope you all support a 2% Levy increase what was that amount in increased fund balance cuz Connie said we're going to be using 350 we'll be with this one right she said we'll be using 3 we'll using 350 safety public dollar which is technically fund Balan it's sitting there but that's money that has to be spent on Public Safety so we're just using that but if we set the levy $120,000 higher than we need next year that's essentially putting it in fund balance thank you Mr chz he answer my question thank you y any other comments on the motion uh Tiffany singl I share council member Terry's concerns about the airport um I do believe that the funding them with only $1,000 is undermining the good work that is done and the value that we get as a city out of the airport but I'm not willing to throw our entire Levy and our budget um onto that or up into the air for it um I will take my half a loaf of bread on this one okay chief tonic I'm the L on to the airport and I really struggle with this I think $1,00 is peanuts so I'll be voting no to support Tiffany or Tiff not Tiffany to support Carri whatever my name is I just have to support the airport as as I'm out there and a staff and the people I appreciate that thank you any further qu um chairman o day yeah I I'm going to support this motion I think $1,000 is it a bit of a statement yeah it's a bit of a statement um but is it is it an author of of good faith to stay in that conversation yeah that's that's pretty much what it is it's it's $1,000 to still be part of it do we have to be part of it from what I've learned we don't and I've also learned that our airport has A a very high fund balance that's been contributed to far more than what we've needed to for I don't know how many years so as we as we learn more about this and and move further into the future and have these conversations if the county is willing to have them I think there's plenty of options for the airport to get funding and maybe we'll come back to the table at one point when we figure out that that's what it is but right now I think this is our best option thank you any further comments on the motion hearing none any objections to calling roll call hearing none Tony please call the motion is uh 7 mil 98,6 which is a 2% increase stunich no Terry no stanglin yes Johnson yes chesak yes ode yes bans no that motion passes we will move on to item 9 C adopting the 2025 budgets chairman Johnson I'd uh move to adopt the budgets as presented without adjustments and I so move second we have a motion by Johnson a second by chz any discussion any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion carries next up is item nine new business D determining the selection process for the 2025 2026 city council president and the seat the vacant seat that we will have January 1st on the city council uh this was submitted by Nick BRS yeah but Jeff can you can you bring us up to speed on on this agenda item sure I I've given a lot of thought to the process that we've used in the past uh and uh and I know it's been done differently over the course of years I guess it I guess it depends on who's at this table um the one thing I I really appreciate is a a secret vote which we're all fully aware of how to do that um uh I think uh some of you may recall that uh in the case of an appointment to the uh Council it was uh Mr Ted Ericson that uh you took a Seeker vote and the ballot was uh never identified publicly and uh my request several months later you guys all came came back and fixed that but the reason I i' like a secret ballot is um kind of I guess uh it's a personal thing because uh I I'm I'm in the dark and and it's a it's a I think it's a better way for somebody in my position to have a ballot and then it's just read and because I think at the last one we raised our hands and if we're doing a vote verbal vote others can be influenced and typically it's a roll call vote which at that point whoever is the uh third in line can make the decision or not and it's just seems like a simple process you just have a like a posted note you have your initial name on it and then uh we put your initial of the person you're voting for for council president you hand it down to our administrator and he reads them alloud and we'd count them and move on and then if it's a single round he would just announce each council member vote it and it's done it's very simple I think you some of you have done that before and that's all I'm requesting is that we just follow a simple process it gets kind of wordy I know but I want to thank Nick for I submitted something and it was much wordier and he did a wonderful job of assisting me with uh uh refining it so I appreciate that Nick so that's uh just looking for a a kind of a formal process identified and perhaps it could be something we continue doing in the future and maybe apply it to the rules of deorum if you will thank you any questions of councilman chz regarding what he's presented mayor vau yeah so and Jee I'm sorry that you can't see this but what we're what I'm reading on the screen is that what what you're proposing after Nick's adjustment to your long drawn out process I appreciate that that was someone who's longwinded yes okay thank you any other comments I I have one and and Jeff won't be surprised because I've already told him about this the only thing I don't like about this proposal is that each round of baling is secret and I don't have any problem putting it on paper but the only round of Bal thing that is announced would be the final one and I think they should all be read yeah that was the only that's the only that's the only difference I think you should and I understand Jeff wed to put it on paper but I would think after each round the balloting and who voted for whom should be announced and that's not up there and not Jeff no surprise right that I telling you this no fully aware that so I will not support this as it is because I think it should be I mean the nice thing about the raising hands is everybody can see except for Jeff and I I'm 100% understanding of of wanting to put a paper ballot together okay hearing no yeah I have a question um would we be this is it so in in the writing M it seems like this is just for these two and not somehow binding on any future actions that the council may take Beyond those two is that the case or Jeff did you mean this to be the policy moving forward yeah and I I know if Nick intentionally I asked that this be maybe proposed to be included in the rules of deorum if we pass this or if there's another place or just a separate policy but I thought this would be something we could just continue using as a council regardless of who's sitting here that but I'm glad you asked that was my thought I it's like why do we go through this if it's just going to be a oneandone perhaps is my you know but comment Mr Mr BRS has a comment uh thank you Mr chazak yeah I don't see any issue if the council wanted this to be incorporated into the rules of decorum to address election of a new council president when appropriate um I I wouldn't have any problem with that if we just incorporate that in the rules of deor if that's what the council would desire hearing no further comments we're looking for a motion yeah Mr Beans I would move that we um proceed with this adopting this as a policy to be included in our rules of theorum and then I would also defer to your request to have each round of balloting uh um identified so when the U vote is called it's announced as to whom it was that voted which way so that'd be changing that one item in that excellent I appreciate that I think that's that's more this also applies to electing uh or appointing people the open Council seat is there a second I'll second that all right we've got a motion by Jessica a second by Johnson chairman Johnson uh yeah I really support this I I appreciate you bringing it Forward Jeff I think having it written down on paper what the rules are so we're just all doing the same process every time and we all know what to expect is is good so thanks for bringing this forward thank you any further comments or questions or concerns hearing none all in favor say I I I oppos same sign motion carries we move on to item nine new business this is e and this is the extra item that Mr chz asked to have yes a discussion of Mr chz I'm going to turn it over to you to explain what you're looking for so if if we looked at these uh I sent an email um uh it it's the uh abolishment of the Public Utilities Commission and um the the reason I asked to have discussion on this because this was new to me and um maybe some of you know about this but it was I believe uh billing occurred on excuse me October 1st was the first round here in which they uh legal uh our legal um um firm had uh researched this on a couple of occasions and um uh I'm not really sure what that means or the purpose of it it seems like kind of a big thing I would appreciate it as if it also seems outside the normal operation of what city hall should be doing with without the council knowing about it and if uh something like this uh I would I would be grateful if uh there's an interest in researching this type of uh uh procedure or whatever whatever you want to call it that we've been we we perhaps are asked to give direction on it before we're spending money on legal services and uh the other item I want to address is it looks as if there was some sort of uh research done and there's some results which I would like to see and I I think the council should be privy to that as well whether it's private data or legal private data I'm not sure I guess that would be up to our administrator and our uh attorney to determine that it doesn't seem like it would be but um so I I'd just be prepared to uh unless somebody else had something to say I'd be prepared to make a motion that we uh I guess maybe in the future that if something like this which appears to be outside the norm that we be asked about it before it's researched and then uh also that my motion I would make a motion that we all receive the results of This research okay I think I heard that if in the future if with issues such as this that it comes to council first and that we receive the results of the question posed to our attorney my state that relatively yeah all right that's a motion is there a second second second by Johnson any discussion on the motion chairman Johnson or wait let me ask if Mr chesk the maker has okay yeah I I just want to I I completely understand that the the ask are legal for uh questions and that happens all the time okay that there's no question in my mind that I'm not suggesting any way that staff gets approval to come to us before they ever contact Joe with a question that's not what I'm suggesting just so everybody's clear this does seem to be highly unusual and I don't know if it has anything to do with integration I'm on the integration work group I know nothing about this it does appear to be that way but I don't know for sure so that's all the reason why I'm asking for the results thank you chairman Johnson so I I seconded and I absolutely support the sentiment right like we should Joel or rat was is the City council's attorney not staff's attorney so they should be conducting city council business and this was a surprise to me too but I don't know if setting policy on things such as this is is clear enough for me to understand it so like I think we should continue to have this conversation and get something in black and white written on paper so we know exactly what it is we're talking about and set in in policy I support the sentiment I can't support this motion because I'm just not clear enough for me okay allow me to amend my motion I I got I'd love you to okay uh I would just change my motion to just say that uh I would just like the results of This research at this time and maybe uh and then and then perhaps continue discussion of this type of uh yeah legal excellent chairman Johnson you're all right with that I like that okay so the motion and the second have rescinded and restated that they're looking for the results of that communicate regarding Public Utilities Commission any further chairman John would this be my second time or is this like a new motion it's like a brand new motion okay you know I I I also do think this is a conversation worthy of having yeah I've talked to a former commissioner Who Shall Not Be Named who thinks the commission should be dissolved he he resigned off the commission he doesn't see what power they have anymore they don't hire the employees he just doesn't see a point of it so I do think there is a conversation to be had there on what is the point what are the powers what how are we moving forward so I do think talking to the attorneys is good but I do think the council needs to be informed so I do support this motion thank you Tiffany sang I will just um Echo really everything that council member Johnson has said I I didn't I didn't like the first version but I like the second version a lot more I think that we we should have those results I a and I think it's a conversation to have um I don't want to be preventing staff from brainstorming throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks and that sometimes will involve sending an email to our legal council so I don't want to be over overly prohibitive on that or micromanaging on that but yes I would like to see um the results of that and um that will give us some information to have a a further discussion about the puc thank you any further comment hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries anything else Mr chz no thank you all right we will move on to item 10 the public forum time allocated for citizens to bring matters not on the agenda to the attention of the council we like to have you keep it to about 3 minutes if we can so uh not a question and answer but tell us what's on your mind I will open the public forum at 8:55 please come forward state your name and address and let us know what's on your mind excuse me my name is Tom prusac I live at 2117 cresu Lane for the past 33 years in Brainard and I'd like to thank the council for the refresher on Civics it's been about a decade since I've been here um I I actually came to speak to the issue of the vacation of the property but when I heard we were going to separate the two I didn't realize we were talking about the one on Highway 25 and Gren I thought you were talking about the vacation of property on Craft View and Gren so and I so my two senses I support the vacation of the property that is about um three Lots North of me uh with one exception and that's that that property should remain public unless it is dated to the people that are contiguous to the land that is being vacated that's my two cents thank you thank you anybody else in the audience or online would wishing to speak at the public come on up state your name and address and let us know what's on your mind on on items that we haven't discussed yeah my name is Sean Spade I live at 1108 Oak Street just moved there recently um got helped with Habitat for Humanity for an accessible home um great stuff that they're doing there couple things that I have issues with kind of like City and navigation for people who were handicapped though are main the ice and snow that never gets taken care of by the residents or business owners or even do um mainly Bridges they're always snow covered impassible by anybody in a wheelchair um any other sidewalks impassible by wheelchairs if there's more than what we've gotten recently um no one in this city takes care of it unless it's complaint-based correct um but what does that mean for someone in a wheelchair do they have to call ahead of time and complain their whole way to their destination or are they going to be able to access something like anybody else um I feel that if there's a way we can model after bigger cities where people get fines for not cleaning up their areas for people to access I don't see why that would be an issue considering people use these sidewalks every day um brainer is a city that has pedestrian Pathways bter not so much and that's the reason why I picked brainer for building a Habitat for Humanity house um Baxter they just they don't have very many walkways it's all roadways um it would be nice to see the walkways we do have passable for people who are using medical trikes to get around town bikes to get around town um just any mobile Transportation um my daughter is in a power chair and things are that's going to be her forever home this is the reason kind of I bought a house for her to live in Forever um and it's about the only accessible house that can be affordable um and I would just like to see something when she becomes independent to be able to use these Pathways without rest rtion or without having to call ahead of time and wait 3 to five business days for people to get their stuff done or wait until they get a fine because someone complained and complained and complained and finally it's getting taken care of I feel like there should be a way to make sure people can get around town without complaining their way to a place um my also other thing would be I would like to see more accessible playgrounds there's nothing that's public that's accessible I worked with the school district district and quite frankly got Stern with him about the lack of accessibility and seeing my daughter always staring at other kids on the playground wanting to play but she didn't have anything to play with other kids she finally got a swing this year which is nice um I would like to see that more with the city um I know we have the miracle play Playfield and that's great I love it she loves playing baseball with everyone else there and it's a great accessible part of of a park but it would be nice to see the splash pads too that's an amazing thing but like more swings for kids who are in wheelchairs more I don't know kid Pathways with accessible countertops where they can play on little music stuff or whatever like they have at Gillette children's um there's all kinds of simple things to include people with disabilities and one of whom that would help everyone is accessible Pathways that are already there and that's all I have to say thank you thank you your your name was Sean Sean Spade Sean swing by City Hall at your convenience during the day and Mr kic there will give you the rules on sidewalks so then because there are some there are yep okay CU I I was I called and I was informed that it was all complaint based so which I mean what you need to know that there are rules okay okay all they they they are we don't have a sidewalk patol yeah I I know and I figure you know as much as we have um patrols for parking and downtown and this and that it wouldn't be I mean much for a city our size to do something like that I feel I mean thank you Sean I've called the city three times on Kelly for not shovel on his sidewalk yeah that's mean he's mean all right anybody else wishes to come forward on during um the public forum if you're online star3 lets us know that you wish to speak and I will ask a third time to come forward for public forum and I will close the public forum and I will move on to staff reports we'll turn off to my right to the HRA Mr sharpener yes thank you Mr President uh just a quick update tonight on uh developments over at the Thrifty White former Thrifty White site 805 Laurel uh you may have noticed that there is fencing up around there they are currently doing some asbest abatement to that property uh with the end goal there to to do the demolition there I believe it's scheduled for this week we're just seeing how much abatement is needed before they get uh get some excavation equipment out there and then uh the developer continues to look for uh some help with closing that funding Gap uh we're still working with them we did uh meet with them in the blade board this past Friday uh just to discuss some Pathways to hopefully closing that funding Gap through the state housing tax credit program that's available um we're able to to chat with that board about that and had some good questions there so continued work happens there uh we're trying to get uh get some funding to to Shore that up thank you and from our Police Department yes thank you Mr President just one thing in tonight's Council packet under Council Communications there's a flyer in there for Christmas with the homeless this Thursday and I just wanted to share that I just learned that that um event has been cancelled so just wanted to share that if anyone was playing on tending and not aware thank you anything Mr strong from itg nothing tonight how about uh well Mr engineer no no Connie hman our finance director just merry Christmas happy New Year and uh farewell to council member Terry and council member St you're going to be missed thank you thank you Mike haor our Public Works director yes our transfer uh Division and thank you to the mayor that got them some tickets to call their customers and we are picking up some customers uh twice uh in the Christmas season here and we're going to the winter wonderland so mayor and everyone thank you for helping our constituents with that I really appreciate it thank you Mr cranic our community development director thank you Mr President a few items here so at the last Eda meeting country manner requested additional tax abatement from the city uh the Eda provides the recommendation so the most recent request is for assistance up to 65% of the city's share of annual tax abatement revenues for 1.2 million for up to 20 years uh the Eda reviewed the revised request at their December 5th meeting and recommended approval um a slight change from their request with 100% abatement in the first three years and then kind of averaging out to that 65% uh city council will most likely be considering this request at the February 3rd meeting we're looking at timing um with their PUD Amendment as well as um a request from from uh the Public Utilities Commission uh so with that uh the the Planning Commission will also be reviewing the crypto ordinance at this Wednesday's meeting so beginning um beginning review of it I'm not sure if there'll be a public hearing at the next meeting or the meeting after it depends on the amount of changes that they're looking at potentially making to it or recommending to the uh ordinance and then uh lastly I was asked by a commission member to update um the 2023 Saha funds that were awarded to Habitat uh so $888,000 of our $96,000 was awarded to Habitat uh for the affordable housing aid in 2024 uh $50,000 went to 1911 Pine Street uh there's a funding gap of 61,000 uh this property um did have a major utility issue with it uh so that that certainly helped move that project forward uh the house is now complete and somebody is living at the property uh 426b Street which was a blighted property um the Eda as well as the HRA teamed up to remove that um the the blighted and I guess it was a fire damaged home on there uh that has been conveyed to the uh to Habitat and they are planning on building on that property in 2025 here and then the last one was a vacant lot Northeast Brainard uh they asked for $188,000 purchase the lot and that lot has been purchased by habitat that's everything I have thank you Mr Lango from the attorney's office yeah just a quick note on your adjourning here if you want to adjourn to the Joint meeting of the city council on the pu instead of a workshop since it's technically not a workshop between the two call it a meeting instead of a workshop thank you did we close what's that did we close on Roberts yeah yes the Eternal yes I sent an email it Clos it's all yours all right yay HR Director Schubert and our Public Utilities director Evans thank you Mr President uh I have nothing to add thank you and City administrator BRS thank you Mr President just a couple comments I do also want to thank council members Terry and Stang line it's I've just been here a short time but it's been a pleasure getting to know both of you and uh I hope you guys aren't strangers and thank you for your service to the city of Brainard it's much appreciated um also Merry Christmas I think that's very valuable just a couple comment just a comment from earlier in our discussion all I want to say is thank you Council uh we heard you loud and clear I certainly encourage staff to be very creative and Innovative as we think about how we can better serve the citizens and our rate payers um but we absolutely uh also want to make sure we're communicating back to the Council on findings that we find out so I appreciate that Latitude we will certainly comply lastly um you'll see the new area on the agenda for Council Communications that is after adjournment we periodically get pieces of mail uh that we really don't know what else to do with so I I asked uh the council president and a couple members of staff and we just included this Council Communications that we will post um miscellaneous Communications to the city um obviously if there's any action required that will be further up on the agenda as appropriate but these are just for for your information so but again thank you for our two outgoing council members it's been a pleasure don't be strangers let's get coffee sometime thank you thank you uh next up is The Honorable mayor Dave bedau The Honorable indeed first of all tonight we learned that I I've been calling it Buffalo Hills my whole life but I'm now going to call Mike's neighborhood Madison Heights I like it I like it so we got that going for us don't don't encourage them uh secondly just want to Echo uh the sentiments about our fellow council members um this stuff is hard and it's a lot of work and I appreciate people that step up and do the work and uh it's been a it's been a pleasure honestly it's been great including tonight you always surprise me you always surprise me Tiffany uh and then lastly I'm just going to get a little bit more vocal about some of these developments in our area brainer is 100% supportive of developers moving into our area we want to get out of the way as Government we want to get out of the way but at the same time I'm going to start becoming more vocal about this it is time to move move we can't be sitting around on these properties for 5 years at a time we've got to be moving I know they're I know they're complicated situations but at some point it's time to start putting some money behind things and get things done so I'm glad to see that Thrifty is moving however let's get it done let's start getting these things done I'm tired of watching these processes take forever for us to continue to get things done I think that that is a great shining Beacon and I trust that it will be completed however I'm just going to say it out loud let's get going get it done thank you that's all I've got Merry Christmas thank you humble you next up is council member reports we'll start out we'll start on my right Mr tunic anything tonight Echo everybody merried Christmas and everything Echo to Tiffany and Carrie thank you very much thank you Terry Carrie Carrie Tera i' go by whatever doesn't mattera yeah thanks Chief I appreciate serving with you uh I just want to thank the staff you guys have been amazing to work with you're all completely dedicated to the success of the city of Brainard and I really um feel much better after my short service knowing uh who's behind um all of the great work the city is doing and I very much appreciate all of you so thank you thank you Gabe Johnson thank you uh Merry Christmas to everybody and I do want to just say you know it was a pleasure serving with both you Tiffany and you care I were served on the personnel and finance committee with both of you and you're both very smart thoughtful and really took your job seriously and I really appreciate it working with both thank you I will uh also say thank you to Cara and Tiffany and you will be missed and Merry Christmas to all Mike O day yeah I want to say the same thing thank you guys both for for stepping up and being a part of this whole thing it's not always fun I I'll take it from Dave Pritchett he he he uh made a statement on his way out he said it's not always fun but it's always interesting and that was a really good way to put it so um I want to say Merry Christmas to everybody uh Council and staff everybody else that's here um let's have a good winter Tiffany Stang line yeah well I mean we're all going to be back here on Thursday so you're not rid of us just quite yet um I did want to mention so region five had the um annual um awards ceremony and yeah I had to put my Teeters on to read this so the exceptional service provider uh was from brainer algra marketing uh Print and Mail Right on 210 there um they do a great job with the the printing for region five um the Minnesota Pollution Control agency was awarded the exceptional Regional partner award from Region 5 and then um outstanding business partners uh for the year beltech CNC Machining and simply rustic floral floral um were the two outstanding business partners for the year and that was that was fun and a good time and um I'm GNA hold my Merry Christmas because I'm going to see yall on Thursday thank you and Mr chesing thank you um I too want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas I I I think we're forgeting that on our agenda Thursday we don't have Council comments so that's why I think this is all going on here but I I I appreciate uh car your service and uh I especially want to thank Tiffany um I don't many of you probably don't know this but uh I'm I'm when I run against Tiffany um for for her seat um she was very gracious just as one example at the appreciation uh luncheon we had at the uh City Garage um um she literally went out of her way I'm her opponent you got to remember that and she helped me get everything I needed for food she was very gracious guided me around uh I really from the time I got there I was stumbling around at the door not even knowing where to go so she pulled up I was there very early writing our efficient Transit service that got me there very early and uh so I'm kind of not knowing where I'm at I've I've not spent much time there so she was very kind to help me I never thanked her for that and I wanted to do that here and uh it's uh kind of very unique to you know somebody's challenging you for your seat on the city council and she's going out of her way to help me which is very gracious and uh another thing uh she gave me a very nice uh congratulation phone call the night of the election so I do appreciate that I've never said that so but thank you both and uh I um look forward to seeing you Thursday thank you we are now looking for a motion to adjourn to the special council meeting of the city council and Public Utilities Commission on December 19th at 6m in council chambers we have a motion by chz a second by go ahead second stun all in favor say I I oppose same sign we are you're stepping on mine but that's a