##VIDEO ID:hNxzykL3ffw## 7:30 on Monday October 7th and this is the Brainard city council meeting and I call the meeting to order Tony please call the role oday stun here Terry here sting line here Johnson here chz here bans here B here please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible Li andice for all item four is the approval of the agenda is there a motion to approve so moved motion by chz is our second uh second second by Terry any discussion on the agenda hearing none all in favor say I I I approve uh oppose same sign motion carries next up is the consent calendar I've had a couple of requests on the consent calendar um item e has been asked to be pulled off the letter of support for Northland arum is that correct Mr T yes sir item F the approval of the event street closure application by the brainer Elks has been asked to be removed indefinitely correct Mr Mayor I believe so yes okay it might come back and then item H the street closure for the YMCA family Monster Dash is there any objections to any of those three being removed and then items e and F will or I and H will follow immediately after the vote on the consent calendar move approval with changes thank you motion by Johnson second by was it just okay any discussion hearing none please call the role ode yes stunich yes Terry yes Stang line yes Johnson yes chesak yes Sans yes okay the consent calendar with uh changes has been uh approved next up then would be uh e the authorized letter of support for the Northland arum for the regional designation through the Greater Minnesota parks and trails commission Mr chz you asked to have this pulled off yes um reading through the information it's just very confusing the numbers that are in there about the city-owned property and and and 110 acres 120 Acres I have never seen those numbers before and I would just like to maybe uh have this come back at at our next meeting perhaps unless there is a deadline to get this in which I'm not aware of maybe staff could chime in if there is and and just to have a little bit more information along with this uh other than just a request for a letter of support to have more background as to what it is and then an explanation of what is in that actual memo that we're asking our administrators sign on the aran's behalf perf so it's the it's the geographical acreage split that's in the letter can any staff answer that question I'm not aware of any deadline uh I'll follow up with Trevor pnia but we can certainly confirm these numbers and uh bring back to council and I'm not aware of any deadline okay you understand Mr chik's question yes okay perfect any objections to that coming back in two weeks okay uh item F then the approval of the street closure will just come back if they decide that they're going to do something they they can come back to us and item and H uh Tiffy stangl you asked this to be pulled off yes uh because I'm an employee of the YMCA I have to abstain got it okay so we're looking for a motion to approve the event street closure for the YMCA family Monster Dash so Mo motion by moot motion by uh Jerry second by was it oday down here sure any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign and an extension okay and that appr that street closure event application has been approved item six is the council committee reports item 6A is the personal and finance committee chairman Gabe Johnson thank you Mr President we have nine items the first of which is a firefighter retirement and the motion is to accept with regret the resignation of firefighter Josh Smith effective December 31st 2024 we have a motion by uh Johnson second by stunich any discussion uh chairman Johnson Josh has been with the department for 22 years so he will be greatly missed been hopefully we can find a good replacement any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed thank you next motion is a resignation of a police officer and the motion is to accept the resignation of police officer Elizabeth gleon effective October 4th 2024 and further to authorize staff to begin the hiring process to backfill the position and ISO move second we have a motion by Johnson a second by any discussion any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed next up is a CSO and the motion is to reclassify Jude Gregerson to Community Service Officer effective October 1st 20124 and I so move second we have a motion by Johnson a second by stunich any discussion chairman Johnson Jude was our police intern that has a time limit on how many days you can work he's reached that limit so we're going to move him over to the CSO program thank you very much any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppos same sign motion carries please proceed okay next up is a resignation and the motion is to accept the resignation of recreation specialist Haley blank effective September 19th 2024 to approve the updated Recreation specialist job description as recommended by The Parks and Recreation board and to authorize staff to begin the hiring process to backfill the recreation specialist position and the interviews will include the incoming Public Works director and ISO move second we have a motion by Johnson a second by Terry any discussion chairman Johnson Haley resigned it went to the park board they looked at the job description made a made a few minor changes that's what's before us here that we're approving and then we just want staff to get this filled as soon as possible but we do want to wait until we have a public works director that can participate in that hiring process so they know it's someone they feel comfortable that they can work with thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed okay next up is informational regarding the transit operation specialist position and I forget this update Chris will you update this sure we had an unsuccessful um hiring process for our Transit operation specialist position and so staff is uh taking the time now to read vertise for that position it will take us a little bit when we did get Authority from the council for this position we had asked councel to hire a temporary employee while that position was vacant so that position that person will continue on while we redo that hiring process thank you for reup dating me thank you any comments or questions on the what we're doing with the transit operation specialist please proceed okay thank you Mr President next up is another retirement and the motion is to accept with regret the retirement of meter service worker Carl kesar effective December 12th 2024 second I have a motion by Johnson a second by Terry any discussion chairman Johnson okay so Carl's retiring we're not going to backfill the position immediately we're going to let uh the public utilities director Evans kind of assess what he wants or needs out of that position and they'll come back with a hiring position sometime in the future thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you next up is to authorized staff to be the hiring process for an apprentice line worker and the motion is to authorize the hiring process for an apprentice line worker instead of a journeyman line worker and further that we utilize an internal job posting to fill the vacancy and I so Move Motion by Johnson is there a second second second by stunich chairman John so an apprentice isn't as experienced as a journeyman but as an apprentice you can work your way up to become a journeyman and take the classes and get your hours in and we think that would be a a good thing to Institute that in our organization so we're going to do that thank you any further discussion yes Mr Evans y Mr chz um I forget the gentleman's name but he achieved that journeyman uh status uh uh at the public utilities I believe it was last year and it's a big deal uh they put a lot of time in a lot of studying and it's U it was a it was kind of a round of applause for that individual I I wish I could remember his name but somebody achieved that journeyman status at uh one of our meetings that was recognized last year so just thought i' mention that it's important thank you Chris know's the name Chris know's the name yes the individual was Ryan Miller thank you thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed the motion is to approve a flexible spending count Administration contract and the motion oh I didn't want to approve that it was 8% next up is the health insurance broker agreement and the motion authorized retaining North risk Partners as our health insurance broker for the 2025 Better Health Collective formerly sourcewell in the amount of $27,000 further to approve the attached 2025 service agreement between the city of Brainard and North risk partners and I so move second motion by Johnson second by Terry chairman Johnson this was a split vote in committee and I voted no and I'm going to continue to vote no because we're trying we got to find ways to save some money in the budget and I think this is one way we can save $27,000 the committee didn't agree with me so the recommendation is to approve even though I'll be voting no thank you very much any further discussion car Terry and I can just mention from uh my perspective uh there's quite a lot of work that goes into um open enrollment and that type of thing and I believe correct me if I'm wrong Chris it was also recommended that we relook at um what we're doing in terms of insurance and that would be a quite a lift as well this coming year if you were to do it yes um the last two years our utilization was quite high in fact um not last year but the year before we had the highest claim of the entire pool within our organization because of that we did not look these last two years at a possible RFP for looking other options for insurance carrier um when we talked at our employee Insurance committee meeting with Mr Olen our insurance broker he mentioned that maybe next year might be a better year for us especially since we are transitioning to Blue Cross maybe Health Partners might be a little bit hungry to look at us um and in the past he's been able to negotiate for us as well going back to what he does now I'm guessing it's probably a couple hundred hours of time between he and his assistant that help between get everything ready for um questions throughout the year um open enrollment and then employee Insurance committee meetings and things like that so he does help or they do help quite a bit um as far as that RFP process I helped sourcewell with their RFP process this year to transition from um uh Health Partners BlueCross I spent I can't tell you how many hours just looking at the proposals but you actually have to create them and then you have to figure out Apples to Apples and utilizing someone to help you decipher that information is extremely helpful um in the past also our broker has helped us get a reduction in premium when it was warranted and um we weren't at the high premium or the high utilization that we've had so I do support Rec or I do recommend that we continue to utilize this service okay thank you so that's the reason I'm voting yes is because I know Chris doesn't have the extra hundreds of hours of time to complete all of that work thank you any further discussion hearing none the motion is to approve Northwest partners for $27,000 all in favor say I I I oppose same sign I and the motion passes please proceed can't get two votes so cancel the first one I thought I moved you Mr Johnson no please proceed thank you Mr President next up is approved flexible spending account Administration contract the motion is to approve the attached agreement with wex Inc to provide our flexible spending account Administration effective January 1st 2025 subject to review and approval by our City attorney and ISO move second motion by Johnson second by tunic chairman Johnson thank you we have to have an administrator for this and we're changing wex will require a $500 onetime setup fee and their monthly fee per participant is $4.95 instead of $4 25 so it will be a slight increase in cost but but pretty negligible thank you any further discussion Kary I would just mention that as a County employee I do utilize wex as a user of it it seems to be a good program I have no interest in it whatsoever in terms of profiting or anything um so I had asked um council member Johnson about conflict of interest and was reassured that it's not so I can vote on this just wanted to be transparent thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed that's the end of report thank you next up is 6B safety and Public Works committee chairman Mike OD day thank you Mr President we had eight items tonight uh first item was a update on the trunk Highway 210 Lum Park pedestrian bridge grant funding and the motion coming out of committee was to recommend that the council reinstates the city's utilization of the CRP grant for the trunk Highway 210 Lum Park pedestrian bridge project until fiscal year 2026 and I will move second we have a motion by OD day a second by standing line any discussion chairman oday yeah so if you remember I think it was the last meeting or the one before we uh we're basically running out of time to you to use the money the 1.3 million in this grant towards the uh massive pedestrian bridge uh project that we're we're working towards we just haven't had any other grants um mot reached out they swapped some projects around and found a way to extend that for a year so we may be revisiting this in in another year hopefully not hopefully we can secure more uh grant funding between now and then but this gives us another year to keep trying thank you any further discussion Mr bevans Mr chz um I guess I would U just like to weigh in on the word that Mr oday used as massive pedestrian bridge project I would just say that it's a massive expensive project thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you uh next item was um authorization for applications for the active transportation and transportation Alternatives grants uh motion coming out of committee was to authorize staff to apply for the act of transportation and transportation alternative Grant programs for trunk Highway 210 l park pedestrian bridge project and I so move we have a motion by OD is there second second by Stang line any discussion chairman OD these are a couple grants that we've applied for I think both the last couple years and since we're back in the running with this 1.3 million in Grants uh we're just going to apply again hopefully we can keep adding thank you any further discussion Tiffany Stang line um there have been some changes to the TA or the at Jesse I can't keep them straight but one of them that makes us better candidates for the the project so hopefully we'll get the money this time thank you any further discussion Mr B yeah Mr tesk like Tiffany I get confused between the at and the TA but um one of these has a 20% match so just caution the council it's 20% of whatever so it it's it's it's this project is a lot of money and we're struggling as it is so matches are hard to sometimes come up with thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you next item was uh approval of the sale of a Transit bus number 114 and motion coming out of committee was to recommend that the council authorize the sale of bus 114 contingent on mot's authorization and I so move second we have a motion by OD day a second by chesak any discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I oppose same size Mo sign motion carries please proceed thank you uh item number four was uh approval of updated cost for the Rosewood alley sewer replacement and motion coming out of committee they wrote that on the wrong one motion coming out of committee was to recommend approval of the updated sewer main replacement proposal in the amount of $59,500 and I so move uh there's yeah there's a second we have a motion by O Let's get a second second there was second by chz go ahead Mr or um yeah this is there was a it was a 6in pipe I believe in the original um quote we wanted an 8 in pipe in there so the difference from our original quote is $2,470 uh but this gets us our 8 in pipe that we need thank you Mr Tes yeah there is uh that's also includes this goes to the Public Utilities Commission that was going to be a second motion because we made two motions I'll bring that the second motion was for the uh utility fees yep I I'll bring it up next okay sorry about that go ahead all right any other comments on the updated sewer main replacement proposal hearing none all in favor say I I I motion all opposed same sign motion carries please proceed there was a second motion on that item to bring back the fees discussion in two weeks uh I believe to safety and public works yeah or you want to the council safety and Public Works the safety and Public Works um discussing these uh increased fees and to see if we want to change anything about those so I so move second we have a motion by o a second by chz any discussion yes Mr B Mr chz um so our fees are um based we set for uh collection and uh water were um based on what we saw coming up for expenses and because this is an unforeseen expense we can always look at these fees to adjust to accommodate the additional costs not only for this sewer project but additional $116,000 they had for a couple of other in uh sanitary sewer Lin that were collapsed in the same neighborhood so it's things they start add things start to add up in cost and we we didn't project the cost in our fee structure when we approved it last year so that's what I was hoping was asking staff to come back with suggestions for fee increases to cover these costs thank you Mr chz any other discussion on the fee review hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you uh item number five was Direction on a sidewalk on Northwest Third Street in Jack Jackson Street uh motion coming out of committee was uh to ask staff to come back with a official plan including uh constructing the sidewalk between the two buildings and requirement to connect to the roundabout and I so move mo may o is there second second second my chz any discussion uh M chairman yeah my neighbor to love uh Coalition requested um basically approval that they could connect the their buildings existing building and the next building that they're building um problem was it goes over the public right of way so it technically should be built to Specs um and that's why we want the official plan to come forward before we approve this and it's supposedly they want to pay for that uh with some of their grant funding for the initial installation of that sidewalk thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you item number six was uh approval of a final layout order feasability report and uh SE Amendment request for the trunk Highway 371b and Willow Street roundabout project so we have a few different uh motions coming out of this one first one was approval of the layout as attached and I so move second motion by o day second by stanglin any discussion any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed next uh was a resolution and this resolution I move uh to adopt the attached and ordering the trunk Highway 371b Willow Street roundabout project and I so move second motion by oday second by stangl any discussion I refer to Jesse I would refer to Jesse with any questions on this resolution sure any questions of staff on this resolution hearing none Tony please call the role ode yes stunich yes Terry yes stting line yes Johnson yep chesak yes bans yes that resolution is adopted please proceed third motion was to approve the SE Amendment as presented and to amend the agreement with minda to to share in the cost of the amendment as presented and I move second we have a motion by OD day a second by chz any discussion any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you item number seven was uh consideration of code code violations for Paradigm Auto and uh in discussion the motion was to technically the motion was to table this but I think the proper terminology would be motion was to push this off until next meeting so that the uh owner of Paradigm can show up and speak their side and we move perfect motion by day is there a second second second by either by by Stang line any discussion on waiting a couple weeks on this one Mr OD day I did oppose this I suggested that we come back with a little bit of extra um an extra option we can still do the extra option it's just going to take another meeting but I was suggesting that we offer a land swap so this indiv indvidual can continue their business in a proper location um with currently owned city property but we can still discuss that in two weeks so I'll vote Yes right now thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries please proceed thank you next was just uh Direction on active Code Enforcement cases we had two cases uh 608 9th Street North that was for a uh tree that needs to be cut down uh and 1812 Oak Street this is for garbage junk and debris uh staff recommended uh obtaining a search warrant and abing the tree at 608 9th Street North and staff recommended obtaining a search warrant and evading the garbage JK debris at 1812 Oak Street and I so move second motion by o day second by chz any discussion on either of these two properties hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign that motion carries please proceed and of report thank you uh next up is unfinished business item 7 7A is accepting the resignation of Jeff Grunwald from the grinwald from the Planning Commission is there a move to accept that so moved motion by stunich second by chz any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion carries 7B is accepting the resignation of Jennifer soda from the library board is there moved to approve so moved motion by Terry is there a second second second by chesik any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion carries item 7 C is accept the resignation of Tad Johnson from the Public Utilities Commission um is there a move to approve no moved motion by chz is there a second second second by Stang line any discussion yes yep who said yes I did Mr ches thank you uh yeah I appreciate Tad's uh offerings and uh input at the meetings he's done a very good job and it's always good to hear what he has to say he's very uh very smart individual thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I I oppose same sign I that motion passes item D is the call for applicants 7D Mr Mayor please yes the following positions on commissions and boards are available you can check those out on a city's website we have the charter commission two terms expiring 2020 2025 and 2026 or two terms expiring 2026 as well Transportation advisory committee two terms expiring 2026 we also have the Economic Development Authority one term expire spiring 2026 and as you just heard we also have a BPU commission space and a library board space available as well thank you Mr Mayor and can I ask a question about these appointments you absolutely can okay so I see there's two V vacancies on the charter commission is that correct that's correct oh there's four there's four four okay so that means a quorum is two of the charter commission based on what our attorney said about the uh um parking Commission I think so okay and then and then of course Transit there's two vacancies there no so quum would make three with five members is that correct Transit as seven there's two vacancies do the quum make three correct can you give us a report or some sort of legal definition instead of I really I don't agree with you on that I'd like to see if attorney come back if I can make a motion to that you can't right now but I'll tell you what after call for applicants will let you make that motion thank you okay okay anything else Mr chz nope that's on all right and as council president I've got uh one term on the parking commission and I suggest you get your application in right now if you want to be on that expired till 2026 and one term to expire in 2028 I don't know how many people on the parking commission I know there was only one guy on the tree commission and he did a a bang up job thank you sir what's the Forum all right and we also have one term to expire on the Planning Commission um Mr chz yes um we heard from our attorney at the last meeting that there was two members available to serve on the parking commission which only had three members serving which there were five standing members that voted on that commission uh he he made the uh opinion was that three members uh two two vacancies makes three members uh two serving two would be a quorum and I and I I think we need more of a legal lawful definition and report back on that instead of just the uh uh based on what he said I do not agree that's to my point we have two members three members on the charter commission apparently are able to serve that means the Quorum would be two based on what he said additionally with the transit committee um that's a standing committee we have two vacancies that means a quorum would then be three with five members serving so your motion is to direct staff to bring back a little bit more more of AAL language or whatever attorney general opinion let's see if there's a second that's my motion got it so you understand Jeff's second all right so we have a motion by chz this is just a direction to staff correct we'd like to see a little bit more basis for the for the decision second by Johnson any discussion okay I just want to ask Mr Lango you understand exactly what Jeff's question is all right thank you any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign thank thank you next up is item 7e to adopt a resolution dissolving the parking commission uh Mr kic this is this is your agenda item this one's kind of a softball I I think I don't know we struggled with the tree commission for nearly a year youd like to add to the parking commission yeah just wanted to uh this is a followup from the last meeting staff recommends adopting the attached resolution acknowledging and applauding the accomplishments of the parking commission and dissolving the commission until a time at which the city council deems it necessary to reestablish it okay any questions of Staff hearing none would anybody Like to Move Motion to approve the recommendation of Staff second we have a motion by chz a second by o day any discussion on the motion hearing none Tony please call the role OD day yes stunich yep Terry yes sting line yes Johnson yep chz yes bans uh you know no I've always been a real real proponent of having as many commissions as possible meeting as long and as often as possible I might veto it now he is stuffed up isn't he all right that that resolution is adopted uh next up is item 7f which is a direction to staff to provide information regarding the Brainard Lakes Regional Airport Mr chz you asked uh you sent an email on this and I hope y'all read Mr chik's email any comments you'd like to make before I turn it over to Nick none whatsoever all right Mr BRS our city administrator yeah as you mentioned thank you Mr President this was this agenda item was forwarded by councilman chzo uh I won't read you the email you can read the email the recommended motion out of this email is a motion to request three three parts of this request the approximate time and Associated expenses from each department to obtain an average cost of Briner taxpayers for the work that city employees perform for the brard Lakes Regional Airport number two request Council minutes where Direction was given to staff to perform HR services for airport employees and three to request a copy of the it shared services agreement with the airport and Associated dollar amounts and hours to do the work since the agreement was initiated and I'll turn it over to councilman chzo if you have anything to add let's look for a motion first so youall understand what we're doing is we just getting a little more information on the rest of the stuff that we do at the airport and what it costs us so we're looking for a motion to give this direction to staff so Move Motion by chz second by Johnson now any discussion on the motion uh car Terry council member chesak would you consider doing um putting this work in place after budget time is wrapped up because there's a lot of work going on right now to figure out the L and the everything we've got with that so could we pause it until that's done good luck you're suggesting January then yes sir I don't know there's no time there's no time on this motion it's it's I I asked if it could come back in a month if it can't it can't if I think what whatever staff can come up with I think it's important to have the information I appreciate your U thoughts there on on this council member Terry but uh if staff can't do it within a reasonable amount of time um whenever they can you know thank you so to carat T's point if it takes them longer it takes them longer Nick you okay with that answer yes sir like answer give you a kind of a shoot for 30 days and we will shoot for 30 days and thank you councilman us a report within 30 days I will I will okay is that fair is that fair Jeff okay chairman or day yeah I I think I agree with Jeff you know hopefully we can get this done but I do think that this has something directly to do with our budget as well so if we do have this information it helps us to budget it shows us what we're already contributing to the airport in a way I think so appreciate that any further discussion hearing none this is the direction to staff to at least give a report back within 30 days on these three items all in favor say I I I oppose same sign that motion carries next up is item eight new business 8A is considering a variance request for 1306 Chicago Avenue uh duplex Mr cranck anything you'd like to add to what's in our packet yes thank you Mr President uh so the variance requests are to adjust the property line to split the two pids into two equal Parcels in order to construct a duplex a variance is required as a proposed Parcels would exceed the lot maximum Frontage of 60 ft and would be under the minimum lot size requirement of 5,000 square ft the proposed building would also require variance from the front yard setback to maintain the rear yard setback uh practical difficulty was related to where the driveway had to be placed off Chicago Avenue because it's a corner lot uh the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval with staff conditions uh those conditions were contingent upon a property maintenance and party wall agreement provided by the applicant and submitted to the City attorney for his review and comment legal review fees incurred by the city are to be paid by the developer number two staff approves final elevation dyons consistent with Section 5154 General billing development and design standards prior to issuance of the building permit and I can answer any questions any questions of staff on the um requested variance hearing none we're looking for a motion to either approve or deny with uh with or without the following conditions Mr President I'll move to approve with staff's recommended conditions thank you we have a motion by uh Stang line a second by OD day any discussion on the variance chairman Johnson I I support it wholeheartedly this lot is in my neighborhood it's been vacant and mowed sporadically over the last 10 years or so it's been listed for probably 10 years so it's nice to see a developer pick it up and try to put a couple units of housing on it thank you any further discuss chairman or um Mr Mayor yeah I just wanted to note that this is an interesting uh solution to a housing problem that also includes includes garages so I just want to note that thank thank you any further comments hearing none uh all in favor of approving the variance request with the following with those two included conditions say I I I oppose same sign that variance request uh is accepted item 8B direct uh staff on an ordinance pertaining to crypto Mining and similar uses uh this is Mr cranck Mr cranck thank you Mr President uh so the Planning Commission had has this item listed on their yearly itinerary work list and may be working on a crypto mining ordinance after completing a design standards ordinance uh that will be staff's recommendation recommendation after completion of the design standards uh potential crypto mining ordinance would provide a list of requirements in the zoning codes allowed use section uh also potentially making crypto mining a conditional use permit or an interm use permit and then determining which zoning districts it would be allowed in uh so with that staff did provide a couple options to the city council option one would be to direct staff to immediately begin working on a crypto mining ordinance to present to the Planning Commission option two would be to direct staff to work on a crypto mining ordinance after completion of the design standards ordinance um I'm anticipating design standards probably finishing up around sometime in November thank you any questions of Staff okay this did come up at the Eda meeting two members uh myself and Mr oday thought that you know we should encouraged working on this because it might become an issue either in the future for a third crypto Miner or maybe if either of our two existing crypto miners want to expand so at this point they were both able to come in without either of these uh restrictions so we thought we should encourage at least from the 's perspective this as soon as we can um we're looking for a motion S I would move to approve option two two option two design standards first y after the design standards is there a second second second by okay we have a motion by chz a second by Johnson on option two which is direct staff to work on a crypto mining ordinance after completion of the design standards ordinance probably see something by the end of the year would guess Planning Commission would it might be January when city council would see it all right just see have some idea any questions comments hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign I okay motion carries uh next up is C just discussion on Just for crypto Mr cranic thank you Mr President so I was asked to put this on the agenda to clarify uh the Zoning determinations for G for crypto I know there has been some questions from city council uh so staff included four prior projects that were not required to consolidate parcels and were treated as one property in regards to use and set back I know that was one of the questions on on Just for crypto uh those projects included Harrison Elementary the High School St Francis and First Lutheran I can answer a little bit more but I did provide that in the report uh staff is not requiring just for crypto to consolidate but did draft a letter explaining that the parcels could not be sold separately and continue to operate as is uh outdoor storage is permitted in the general industrial district and crypto mining was interpreted to be manufacturing which is also permitted in the general industrial district uh just for crypto is well within the uh allowed outdoor storage area per section 51533 of the zoning code which is outdoor storage uh the difference between just for crypto and vcv is vcv was proposing a 1,700 1,760 ft building at 1918 TC Drive uh which would have only allowed for a 6,160 ft of outdoor storage based on the the one or 3.5 to1 ratio uh they were proposing approximately 17,800 ft of storage area so in this case outdoor storage became the principal use and required the interim use permit that was ultimately denied by city council uh so with that kind of a discussion an update and I can certainly answer any questions from city council any questions of uh chairman Johnson yeah just a comment I really appreciate you putting this be together and providing the clarification on what's different between the properties I I really appreciate that y I agree with that it did seem sort of strange that we were requiring at the time it was vcv and now it's block metrics to to require the interim use permit when they were originally proposing outdoor storage only and yet not for just for crypto so thank you any other qu I don't think there's a motion necessary on this but any any other questions as to what Mr kick just went through okay one quick question yeah Mr O day we had any complaints on noise in this particular property I have not from from my office I know the TCS have may be mentioned hearing it um but no complaints that have been sent to our office thank you any other comments or questions we will move on then to item 8D the first reading of proposed ordinance 1574 Mr krck you're still up you're still on the hot seat thank you Mr President so at the September 16th city council meeting the council directed staff to draft an amended fee schedule ordinance as presented at that time uh just kind of a a quick rundown of what some of those changes are building permit fees are increasing for residential set fees um anywhere from about $10 to $30 depending on the type of uh inspection yearly food trucks are being reduced from 300 to $50 plus a $75 uh yearly inspection by the fire department and then fire fees are being added to the fee schedule which were not previously in there and then most fire fees have increased by $25 their set fees um so staff recommendation is conduct the first reading of proposed ordinance 1574 and dispense with the actual reading uh note a vote to dispense with the actual reading of the ordinance must be unanimous and then a potential second motion could be um calling for a public hearing a public hearing is not required for every ordinance that city council passes through um however city council could set a public hearing for November 4th and conduct the second reading if there's no public hearing it would be conduct uh the second reading would be conducted October 21st so with that I can answer any questions thank you Mr kic any questions of Staff chairman Johnson thank you uh James when this first came to Personnel in finance I asked about the fire fees and I see the chief's gone again tonight he's he's working but uh do we did we get clarification be a confirmation that yes all of our fire service unorganized territory oklah everybody is paying the exact same fee schedule that the citizens brander paying that is my understanding yes that was your understanding then have we gotten and I confirmed chief we did get confirmation thank you thank you any further questions of Staff Mr Mayor yeah I just had a question about the food truck item um it's a big reduction I didn't know we were having an issue with food trucks getting them or not getting them so what what was the rationale behind this we did we've had some reach out to us and um you know some may want to be here for a weekend or a couple days um so or maybe two weekends and and uh to be consistent around with what other communities are doing um staff is recommending reducing it we did have some food trucks that ended up not attending because of the fees okay but so but we have an an event fee that they can pay correct we already have we have a one day $50 fee that they could pay if it was just a one day thing okay I just thought it was it was it's just a significant amount to decrease a fee um and I didn't I was not aware that we were having any type of issue getting food trucks thank you Mr Mayor any further questions of staff okay so first up is we're looking for a motion for hold the first reading of proposed ordinance 1574 and dispense with the actual reading so Move Motion by stunich is there a second second second by Terry any discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign I'll call that motion passing unanimously anybody wish to include a public hearing on the 4th or hold the second reading on the 21st of October you think we should have a public hearing I'm hearing nothing so we'll look that there's no motion needed and we'll stick to the schedule of the 21st without a public hearing Mr bevans oh Mr tzk um I'd like to reconsider what you just said because um we're talking about charging people more money um without any opportunity oh I get this that's why I asked yeah I think we should have a public hearing because okay so we have a motion by chz well I'll make a motion then yeah let's get on with it Jeff that's why I asked if there was a motion okay we have a motion by chz a second by OD day to hold the second reading on the 4th of November with a public hearing any discussion or comments hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion carries it was easy next up is item e ordinance 1575 burning restrictions Mr KRA thank you Mr President so the current burning regulations are not codified in city code and can therefore not be easily enforced if a resident does not comply it's just a PDF file that's on our City website uh the language drafted in this ordinance was taken directly from the recreational fire regulations PDF found on that City website uh staff is recommending a slight change um from this one to the next one uh pertaining to the uh potential misdemeanor for it taking the same language that we have in our camp camping ordinance replacing what's there right now so the camping Ordinance one which staff is recommending this one would be any violation of this section is deemed a misdemeanor as defined by Minnesota State Statute currently a crime for which a sentence of not more than 90 days or a fine of not more than $11,000 or both may be imposed um the current one says that it has to have a court appearance and and based on discussions with with Chief Davis that's something that shouldn't be in there uh so with that staff is to recommend you to conduct the first reading of proposed ordinance 1575 and dispense with the actual reading with that small change in there and then uh city council again can decide whether or not to hold a public hearing on that one as a potential second motion thank you Mr granic let's start with any questions to staff on the proposed burning regulations hearing none we'll look for a motion to conduct the first reading of proposed ordinance 1575 dispense motion by chz is there and dispense with the actual reading is there a second second second by stting line any discussion on the ordinance hearing none all in favor say I I all opposed same sign motion carries unanimously now we go to the option part and that's do we hold the second reading on the 21st without a public hearing or the fourth with a public hearing I prefer public hearings I move that we hold we have a motion by Johnson to hold it on the fourth with the public hearing and a second by Terry any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign that motion carries next up is item 8f the first reading and public hearing of proposed ordinance 1576 the annexation of 15106 Riverside Drive Mr kic anything you'd like to add to what's in the packet thank you Mr President so Bruce coonfield has submitted a petition for annexation to bring his parcel into the city limits Mr coonfield has been connected to city sewer and water and per Council Direction he must Annex into the city limits in order to stay connected uh so with that staff's recommending to conduct the first reading dispense with the actal reading of proposed ordinance 1576 and then after that would be to conduct a public hearing and I can answer any questions thank you any questions of staff on the annexation at 1576 uh I'm sorry of proposed ordinance 1576 the annexation at Riverside Drive the only one I have is don't we normally hold the public hearing at the second reading we could it it just has to a public hearing has to be um held and I wanted to make sure that we met the 30-day window okay we're going to hold it tonight since I'm sure it was announced it was right on any other comments on the on the proposed ordinance hearing none we'll look for a motion to conduct the first reading and dispense with the actual reading of proposed ordinance 1576 motion by stunich is there a second second second by Terry a quiet second but a second second it's all right any discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same sign and that motion passes unanimously it is 8:20 and I will open the public hearing on proposed ordinance 1576 if youve got something you'd like the council to know please come forward state your name and address and let us know what you think of proposed ordinance 1576 if you're online if you hit star three you'll not you'll notify us uh that you're wishing to speak and then when it comes your turn star 6 will unmute you and I will ask a second time if there's anybody online or in the audience that wishes to speak on this and I'll ask a final time and I will close the public hearing on proposed ordinance 1576 and we're done with this for two weeks then right Mr KCK next up is um discussion of franchise fees I I I'm sorry Jesse I'm so happy that we get you tell us about what uh we need to know about franchise fees thank you Mr President so so at the uh June 26 capital budget Workshop uh staff presented some information regarding franchise fees and the possibility of implementing uh franchise fees as an alternative to construction funding uh such as the levy bonding or special assessments uh Council requested some additional information so staff was able to collect some information uh from Centerpoint and put some information in uh the attached PowerPoint for the council uh in the interest of time for this meeting staff recorded a presentation going through the PowerPoint in full detail with the link in the agenda uh staff would just like to highlight some of the high level points in the presentation um currently the city funds construction through a combination of Levy bonding and special assessments not counting utility funds um there are challenges with our special current special assessment policy such as how to address like mixed use corridors or regular shaped Lots uh but even more so the challenge of significantly increased uh cost of construction uh so this hits both City and Property Owners hard as bonding and special assessments uh are pretty expensive including interest uh it's burdensome and it can be pretty difficult to budget for uh many cities have actually started moving to utilizing a franchise feed model as a replacement for special assessments uh for funding for their construction projects it's actually less costly and burdensome uh as an option for the city and for those that are living on the projects uh overall all users do pay the franchise fees rather than those just on the construction project however this uh addresses folks that utilize the infr structure every day that don't necessarily pay special assessments uh or levies such as like renters or nonprofits uh so staff included an example scenario showing a potential proposed franchise fee rate structure uh and what the difference would be for a typical residential property which would be significantly lower under the franchise fee model um but if the council would like to explore the franchise fee model further uh staff would recommend that next steps include some public engagement uh in beginning of the preparation of a policy uh and staff can answer questions the council may have on this at this time thank you Mr Dean any questions of Staff chairman Johnson no questions but a comment I was I was out of town all weekend so I haven't had an opportunity to view the presentation yet so I just hope we don't take action on anything tonight because I wouldn't I haven't watched it I don't know what it says but that's all I have to say Thank you Mr bans uh Mr chz then Mr Mayor oh okay um how does this work with our um our budget what what what what changes would we see if we implemented the franchise fee it's entirely up to the council and how they want to structure it so in the model that I'm presenting uh I'm recommending a a replacement of using franchise fees rather than the city using bonding uh as a major source of our construction funding special assessments uh from the property owner standpoint and then the construction fund 401 or the permanent Improvement Levy fund uh so those three sources of construction funding uh franchise fees replacing those three sources so lowering to the levy for obviously The Debt Service uh L lowering to the levy for the permanent Improvement Levy and then obviously no longer using special assessments to the folks that are on the construction projects and utilizing the funds that are raised through the franchise fees to pay for construction may I continue you you have the floor Mr TZ okay so if we were to um say initiate this program um what time frame would be required to collect enough fees to do our project scheduled for next year or would we be putting this NE our next projects off another year to obtain the required uh funds to do a project that we typically do of any any year we we're doing a street project so in the rate structure that I put together here in just the the proposed one that I have here it's going to generate roughly about $2 million a year um so that at least that's what we're projecting here it really becomes up to the council how they want to structure this things like if there's a look back period uh that can take time into the transition period uh how soon the council wants to implement it if that means starting year one we want to get rid of special assessments you know we can find a way to do that uh if that means you know continuing to bond for certain things we can craft this policy in in the way that the council wants to do it but um that's you know we just need to know that that direction from the council uh however you wanted to see that done uh so there's a lot of different ways to attack this it's just obviously it's going to take time to build that fund but we have other tools in the toolbox uh to address things both shortterm and long term okay and then tell me exactly what utilities uh would people be paying a franchise fee for if is that debatable by the council I'm proposing electric and gas okay so if somebody has both okay that and people do have both correct yes sir okay they would pay one on each okay thank you thanks Mr chz any further comments or questions I I think don't don't we have this on cable now correct and that pays for putting this on the on the air pretty much except for the $700,000 that we gave to the cable TV board that our attorney says we can't get back um I I mean I I think this is worth exploring I think it should go to p&l and I'd like to see a motion to direct St have to move forward at least to explore this I mean that's what that committee is for so mve motion BYOD day to move it to direct staff to move forward to at least get it to PNF second second by motion by OD day second by Johnson any discussion on the motion oh I'm sorry no this is a better time yeah okay M mayor B yeah this is one of the very few things that I'm very passionately anti I am not a fan of franchise fees um it's taxation without representation it can be adjusted in ways that I don't think are appropriate uh for people who are actually paying their taxes and now granted you could sway me with more information on it specifically as to what we're looking at but in all the research that I've done on it is something that I strongly oppose because I don't think that it allows for the correct communication to the public when we just all of a sudden start increasing your fees on things thank you Mr R so the motion is to just move just direct staff to continue this presentation with PNF at the next meeting in two weeks any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion carries next up is item H which is presentations to the council uh this is our administrator Mr Nick bral what would you like us to know that's not in our packet or that we need to know thank you Mr President I just want to preface this by saying that we have not been inundated with requests to present before Council but we did have a couple backtack uh it just prompted me to start thinking about this a little bit so basically I'm asking for Council Direction on potentially establishing a protocol for groups who wish to present before the council this can be anything that the city council can can think of some criteria for the we could include criteria for the presentation um benefit to the city at large what would that benefit be approval or disapproval do you want that to be administrative approval do you want that to be Council approval we have also submitted as part of the packet a sample of maybe a very simple one-page form where if there's a group that wanted to present they could put the date that they're making the request um Council date requested for the presentation the name of their organization are they seeking any funding from the city and what knowledge you would like the council to gain from your present ation so I'm just looking from some for some direction from Council and and perhaps we make no changes whatsoever but if you want to establish any type of a protocol for groups that wish to present before Council that we could replicate and then if there is a protocol do you want that to be approved at the administrative level with staff or do you want those to come before full Council for approval Mr stuning do we want to put on our form a time frame like we do for public form like 3 to 5 minutes or 5 to seven or so they're not here for 4 hours that's an excellent point thank you you understand the issue Tiffany you've got a comment a question yeah I I I would prefer it be you know how much time are you going to need and I want to make sure they have the option of being flexible about what date they want to present so that you know if Nick is looking at an agenda that's going to be just jam-packed but they aren't Dead set on that being the date that they you know can if they if they want to be flexible about it that that is not uh Mr r i a question for administrator bo bo is this something for you to look over or for the whole Council to vote on when when somebody feels could go either way okay so I I think that I agree with these are the the right questions um I think it should just go to our administrator who sets the agenda and our administrator can make the decision on whether it's appropriate for a presentation that's set aside from public forum or suggest that they go on at the time of public forum I think we can trust our administrator to make that decision chairman uh Johnson yeah thanks I pulled up the rules of procedure in decorum and you know it says matters for Council well no what matters for Council action shall be submitted by members of the council and residents in writing so residents can submit things for the agenda then under subdivision two says an agenda of business for each regular special council meeting shall be established by the city administrator so what mik o day said is technically correct but Nick's here asking like what what do we want as a counil he's looking for a little Direction on what we should be doing and you know looking at the three options of the our neighbors around us I kind of like what Crowing County does and I think presentations should be purposeful to what we're doing here as the city of Brainard correct or you can go to public forum anybody go to public forum but if it's if it's not related to the city of Brainard business I don't know if it requires a presentation and Nick should make that decision yeah Nick shall make that decision yeah okay Mr Mayor yeah I I feel the same way we have public forum for a reason people AR can come they can speak we're pretty liberal about the time frame sometimes too liberal with the time frame Kelly in terms of how long you can speak however I think it's well it's not my want of course it is always always have something you want but I think it we should be welcoming for people to come and and speak in public forum is the correct place to do that we also are as council members should be willing to go to presentations as well they don't necessarily have to be done here people can hold presentations that we can we can go to as well but just as a a grand scheme of things I think less present presentations during the council meeting is probably an appropriate action any other comments ask you to repeat that last thing you said there less presentations less presentations is probably appropriate at the council meetings I agree do you feel you're getting any any uh Direction Mr administrator I have all the direction that I need perfect and any last call for questions or comments or concerns on presentations I guess I'd just like to I mean we're here as as servants to the people and if there's somebody out there that thinks that we really do need to know something I want them to have that option to get on the agenda and present us knowledge I I agree it should be something that vaguely has to do with the city of Brainard in some way um but I guess I would prefer a more liberal interpret ation of purposeful to the city of brainer I don't care what's going on in North Dakota but if there's something in our community that people want us to know about car Terry I agree with council member Stingin perfect Mr stun I think we've given our city administrator the direction he needs I don't know I think we leave it at that perfect Mr Beans Mr chess this has been fun this is my first time by the way yeah okay but it's going to count as two I know I counted as three and I'll be done um if we have a public forum and anytime if uh say goes I agree if it if it if it goes a little long any council member can ask that it go longer and have a vote on it so talking about presentation somebody wants to speak up public forum it's they're going over 3 four five minutes and I need more time Council can ask to extend it I think it's probably more the opposite problem not that we want to know more that we're getting we're I I understand that yeah I'm just making some presentations aren't always applicable to the city of Brainard or its business and so you're I mean it's going to be walking a fine line and I I think our administrator is certainly well within his right to ask for some direction on this so got it yeah well I'm sure it's perfectly clear until the first person gets told no I'm sorry that doesn't really fit and then we'll have to deal got be okay any any last comments okay thank you and and thank you Mr administrator next up speaking of next up is the public forum time allocated for Citizens oh and is was there something that the chief needed no there was a a side comment happening over here I apologize okay thank you uh time allocated for citizens to bring matters not on the agenda to the attention of the council we' like to keep have keep it to about 3 minutes it's 8:36 I'll open the public forum if you're in the audience please come forward to the microphone state your name and address and let us know what's important to you uh this evening that we're not currently discussing or if you're online star three will let us know that you wish to speak we've got a bug problem going here a box elder bug and star six will un mute you want to speak yeah maybe the maybe the Box elderbug wants to speak so the public forum is open let us know what's on your mind we'll ask a second time if anybody would like to speak at public forum and we'll ask a third and final time and then we will close the public forum and we'll move on to staff reports we'll start uh my right Mr sharer welcome to your second council meeting and uh members of the council sorry to the fire chief for taking his spot uh just a couple quick updates that I wanted the council to know we did hear back from Minnesota housing or Minnesota housing made the decision on the two applications that we had in for the workforce housing development program uh the unfortunate news is that neither projects did get any funding zero funding from that state program uh that again for your memory is 805 Laurel and Outlaw F over in brainer Oaks uh so we're disappointed the developers both developers are disappointed We are continuing to work with both of them to see what other options are available to keep those developments hopefully moving in the right direction but for right now uh that is a bit of a setback for both Outlaw F and uh for 805 Laurel thank you Mr Sharp chair we'll go on to the police chief anything nothing to add thank you fire chief Holmes you look like you've been working we don't even have a microphone for you but you can borrow one if you've got anything this ought to be good just one quick thing a reminder of our open house on Thursday uh October 10th from 5: to 7: thank you thank you fire chief anything from the IT department GIS Department Mr strong maybe just a quick introduction of our uh extra cable broadcaster person over here his name is Matt Hill he's taking over for Brent from CLC so he'll be run Park Board and Planning Commission a few of those kind of meetings as soon as he uh learns the ropes thank you and Welcome Matt uh Connie Helman our finance director nothing to report Jesse Dean our city engineer Public Works director for now thank you Mr President so a couple updates uh the Laurel Street Bri Bridge rehab work is complete and the bridge was reopened as scheduled last Friday uh just in time for the Fire Department open house um after after reaching out to the DVD BC they will not be hosting a Spooktacular event downtown this year uh requiring street closures but rather simple storeo store trick-or-treating uh and then finally uh the next few weeks will be a furious Dash with construction projects continuing over the next couple weeks uh we have a handful of streets needing pavement markings left uh the bridge rehab uh wrapping up uh O Street outfall starting today the parks projects continuing uh it's just been a busy stretch and it's going to just continue for a few more weeks yet thank you Mr danan Mr kic back again thank you Mr President so just a couple things from the Eda at the last Eda meeting uh the Eda did approve a marketing strategy for brainer properties specifically in our industrial areas which include potential for a dollar and acre incentives that the business meet certain criteria this will be brought to the next city council meeting for uh city council review also the Eda reviewed preliminary concept plans for both Trailside Park uh potential for residential development in there and then also concept plans for redevelopment of the city hall parking lot and then last but not least just wanted to thank everybody that uh was able to as a business uh come to touch a truck and have their trucks there the fire department and police department had stuff as well uh fire department uh did the jaws of life and took down a vehicle so the kids are pretty happy about that and Flapjack Festival was a success and a lot of fun relays so just wanted to give everybody a thanks thank you Mr cranck anything from the attorney's office nothing here thank you thank you how about Chris Schubert from the HR department nothing in addition to my report Chris Evans from Public Utilities thank you Mr President just a couple updates from when I submitted my report we had a couple outages on Riverside Drive and the cause is still under investigation and we are doing some testing on some of the devices to hopefully find the cause and correct the issue so again that was outages since Friday in that area and I guess just the second point is that two of our line workers have joined a large contingent from Minnesota heading to Florida for round two as part of mutual thank you and our administrator BRS I just want to mention that we did uh we did conduct finished up interviews for the public works director uh I'll be making a decision this week and then I'll hand it over to Chris to start um having conversations with that candidate but had three good interviews so looking forward to getting somebody in place soon thank you Mr administrator next up is The Honorable mayor P Chris you said there were outages on Riverside today my power flickered and it deleted the project I was working on on my computer so tisk tisk Brer T thank ti ti also just to clarify I the sidebar that happened over here was Jeff had said did someone Smell Smoke and I said the fire chief has arrived so that's what I interrupted your meeting for I apologize um and then just super fast clarification about the Spooktacular the the event is still happening in terms of the kids coming down and having candy I don't want people to get confused on that downtown Briner will be booming with children in costumes uh and there will be candy being had uh we're just not closing the streets so and then this Saturday Great Pumpkin festival or great the Great Pumpkin is it Festival okay I don't want I don't want to say it wrong Great Pumpkin Festival uh 1: to 4:00 p.m. at Memorial Park it uh was over there last year we moved from Gregory park over to Memorial Park last year and we had a lot of great feedback from parents uh the nice thing about hosting it in a softball field is there's a fence all the way around it and so when the little ones take off they are corralled back into the area so we'll be there uh it is a park uh a park Department event and so uh we'll be there for that and then I will be there running the microphone for the races and whatnot so we'll get those hippity hoties out we'll get the pumpkin rolling and whatnot and uh a lot of fun last year so uh shout out to Shan midow as well from streets and the rest of the crew that is going to be stepping up to help out with that I believe Tony you going to be doing it again no no Tony you were in you were a vital part of last year's operation I'm not going who will move the hay bales anyways uh but just a shout out to our staff for being able to help with that um it's a great event in again Memorial Park uh this Saturday 1:4 p.m. I kind of got the implication you were insinuating we should fence in council chambers to keep the children I will just say this it we thought maybe it wasn't a great idea and all we heard from parents was it's nice having a fence because the people can't run and maybe maybe just maybe with presentations that's a good idea as well right here at the council thank you Council committee reports Mr chz can you lead us off um yes um I was thinking maybe if they had pumpkin flavored P Flapjacks that would be an idea it's just a thought you know I've never done it right anyways um I I was U curious about uh maybe if our administrator or Public Utilities Direct could chime in on the um issue with it and how that's moving along um I'm not really sure if that is exactly a Personnel issue or operations I I guess in my mind that's Up For Debate and I and I'm a little concerned and I wonder if that would be appropriate at this time to get a little feedback on maybe give him two weeks well I I don't know what's going on I I mean I know I don't know if they're ready to give a report we can ask but just an update perhaps all right he Mr Mr BRS can give us an update yeah I appreciate that so yes I am working just to be frank I'm working under the premise that uh the way we're organized job titles chain of command is an administrative function um and I have directed it they are going to be giving me a draft or chart that shows administrative integration of City Hall and BPU this Wednesday that's your question um an organizational chart yes it doesn't is this mean anything to do with the it with public utilities and our our our department that Sean strong takes care of combining or yes both both administratively combining and that's not operations with it I would argue that it's administrative okay um I to have that on our next agenda then for a council discussion sure yeah anything else Mr chz nope thank you you have any saying line uh well it it's been a busy time I some of you have been at uh oh sorry Jeff I'm jumping out in front of you um so I want to thank Sean and Tony for cooking and feeding us yeah some of you forgot to mention that didn't you I had to go back on my calendar the Employee Appreciation event I always have to kind of roll myself home after eating there um I also wanted to mention uh a because we were talking about presentations there was a fabulous presentation put on by the relationship safety Alliance sorry it didn't seem to work for other folks but on the intersection of substance use disorder and domestic violence um and that was a great uh learning experience that I know that um there some folks in the community were able to attend uh I was disappointed that I was the only city council member to end up with whipped cream up my nose at the flapjack Festival nobody else partook in the pancake eating contest we all know how to eat our pancak we do them differently here in Brainard we use a spoon and a knife and a fork I prefer maple syrup myself uh and I wanted to also because just in case she doesn't but the tall cop says stop presentation was great and I've shared some of the goodie bag handouts that I got with some other people um the telling candy from uh like drugs handout was very interesting um and then uh kind of just to make everybody aware coats for kids is happening before our next meeting that's going to be on the 19th so for those of you who aren't familiar this is the 38th annual coats for kids coat drive and um so the distribution day will be October 19th from 9: to 3: at the mall is partnership uh between hubard broadcasting Crystal cleaners and this year the Y has taken over kinship Partners uh role and so we will get a somewhere between 1,000 and 1200 coats out in into the community to keep kids warm if you're interested in volunteering let me know if you have kids who need to stay warm you can just come thank you chal day yeah thank you Tiffany I want to second that the uh Employee Appreciation event was awesome it's always it's always good when Sean's cooking every time he cooks he's bringing something new to the table and it's always great um it's good to see everybody we we get to see department heads and everybody that's in here and sometimes we get to see maybe the fire department or some of the cops out there well some of us get to see the cops more than others probably but um you know we we don't always get to know every employee in the town that we're trying to help lead so it's good to see everybody there and just get to know everybody even if just a few of you each year um wish we could do it more but I also uh had a great time at the flapjack festival and Touch a Truck uh it was put on great it was well attended I I witnessed Tiffany make the mistake that I made years ago with the pancake contest so I did not participate um but was able to go to a new store that came into downtown and even purchased some boots um I didn't bring them maybe I'll bring them when it gets a little colder but I'm looking forward to Saturday's Great Pumpkin Festival because I learned a new word just now from mayor bedau that there will be hippity hoties there and I want to see what that is so I should probably confirm that we have hippity hoppies I know where they are if anyone that's an actual thing okay that's all thank you Mr stunich I really enjoyed petting the fire trucks it was so long ago that I did that it just was so nice that's all I have thank you car Terry nothing to add Mr Johnson a couple things I too was at the uh flap Jack festival and I want to give a tip of the cap to uh Jackson Johnson Joe Johnson and Carter Johnson who won the flapjack relay so Flapjack Champions and it's nights like tonight where I kind of miss two-time City administrator Jim three oh I'm going to extend the opportunity for administrator broal if he wants to take it but Jim theen used to sing people happy birthday during the council meeting if it was their birthday and tonight our honorable mayor BAU is celebrating his 14th 29th birthday if you want to take the opportunity go ahead if not that's perfectly fine are you going to join me no I'll say no ear earlier I said that I was very strongly against franchise fees the the Happy Birthday song is the worst song and history of songs and I'll I'll finish up by saying I think Gabe knows where the hippity hops are I think he's been on them confusing hippity hops I also had a power outage today just for a minute but it was it was really quick um I I did uh notice at 7:00 when the chainsaw started that our street and Sewer Department was out clearing dead trees off the boulevard right outside my bedroom window a couple of days AO go and I actually want to give them a shout out seven is early but they did a great job they took down two massive Dead 5 foot in diameter silver Maples on the neighbors Boulevard in about a day and a half and that counts cleaning up and everything I mean these things were monster they had been around since The Flintstones lived in Brainard so they did a great job so if they if it all goes that smooth that whole operation there'll be no need for the resurrection of the tree committee so Mr B yeah Mr chess for mayor ble this is your birthday song it is a very long hey got it all right much better I think you've been hanging on with Gabe too long and aity hops that's the end of the council committee reports let's look for a motion to adjourn motion by stunich second by somebody down on SP andw all in favor say I I oppose safe side we are adjourned --------- ##VIDEO ID:b7Fc1Wjmr60## all right we'll call the order safety and Public Works it's October 7th 2024 730 sorry 6:45 PM council chambers we have eight items tonight first of which is a update on the trunk Highway 210 Lum Park pedestrian bridge grant funding this one is uh Public Works director Jesse Dean thank you Mr chair uh so after the council direction to inform mot that the city would not be able to utilize the CRP Grant funds in the timeline that was given uh staff was informed about a week later that District staff had received new information uh that there was clarification on another option to utilize the funds a little bit later uh requiring funds to be encumbered by the end of fiscal year 2026 rather than 2025 uh in addition staff has provided some information on another funding source uh that could be an option if the council wishes to explore uh the transportation revolving Loan Fund could be used to fund the local side of the project uh for what we're unable to find from grants or the DNR uh the loan could be spread out over as long as 30 years at an interest rate below Market um this is something that staff can present more information on if we choose to move things forward uh staff is recommending that Council reinstate the city's utilization of the CRP grant for the Highway 210 Lum Park pedestrian bridge project until fiscal year 2026 thank you so basically an extension for another year where we can continue to look for other sources of funding where where we thought we didn't have that time good news um but this doesn't you're not trying to lock into any other specific funding like the uh revolving Loan Fund you're just opening us up to utilizing the grant that we already received correct yes sir for another year okay wh which one um which item in there had a 20% local match that you referenced that's the next item sir say again that's the next item sir I'm sorry I get confused again so but it's related related to the same same project yep okay that's where I got confused um well I'm I'm good with extending it like doesn't doesn't lock us up in any way of commitment or anything as long as we with the extension no sir I mean we're we we're still awarded the same grant that we were um essentially three weeks ago we're just able to now utilize it with the the additional year so from the atp's perspective they flopped some projects it's the region s swtc urbanized extended area second solicitation results project and I knew what that was at the time um I guess I would say that that there were some that it was a unanimous vote to do the this from the area transportation partnership there were some concerns expressed about what if we don't get the money again but if we don't get the money again then it goes back and the HB can spend it on something else so um I think this is this is a win for us yeah they're working with us is that is that a motion no I had made a motion I will make the motion uh that we reinstate the city's utilization of the CRP grant for the trunk Highway 210 Lum Park pedestrian bridge project until fiscal year 2026 the end of it just says until okay you want the end of Jesse second yes second got a motion in a second any more discussion you're none go to vote all in favor I I motion passes item number two we have uh applications for active transportation and transportation Alternatives grants again this is uh Public Works director Jesse Dean go ahead thank you Mr chair so follow up to the last item this solicitation period is opening this fall for the active transportation and transportation alternative Grant programs uh we have applied for both programs for the pedestrian bridge project in previous years uh without having received an award we are hopeful that with the CRP grant that the possibility is higher to receive an award on one of these programs uh so staff is requesting authorization to apply for both the active transportation and transportation Alternatives Grant programs for the Highway 210 Lum Park pedestrian bridge project uh and to Alderman chik's uh question the transportation Alternatives grant program is the one that has the 20% match uh the alternative active Transportation grant program does not have a uh Grant match requirement thank you um Jesse do you want to talk about some of the changes okay maybe you weren't at that meeting so um they are change because it used to really favor kind of the last connections and Trail project and they're trying to open it up so that it'll do they'll be able to fund more projects like this one correct so you're saying it would have been more likely in the old the old way they were doing it to be the last part of the trail now we have a bigger extension that they're trying to do between Crosby and braer that this would be more likely to be funded more likely to be funded in the new system great so hey things are looking great lots of and so you ask for a grant there's no idea what you're you don't commit to a dollar amount they just say well we'll give you this much if they are going to award one um there's there's a maximum on the active Transportation the at Grant of a million dollars okay and a maximum on the TA Grant because neither Jesse nor Tiffany Nam these things they are this confusing um maximum Award of 800,000 and that's where the 20% match comes in sure on that one okay all right do we have a motion I will move that uh we authorize staff to apply for both the active transportation and the transportation alternative grant program for the uh trunk Highway 210 Lum Park pedestrian bridge project I second that I got a comment go ahead reminds me of many years ago the uh city um staff along with the mayor uh asked for a grant from the federal government to a court study of the Mississippi River to F find a new location for a bridge and uh one of the questions in there is there any public um opposition to this and since then we've changed this policy that public opposition there was nobody aware of it they rewarded a million dollars actually 800,000 with a 200 20% match they didn't get any response from any local other government entities they said they had it it was this is what happens when I think now we're doing a much better job of getting these things approved before we apply for them so that's my comment thank you any more discussion none go to a vote all in favor I motion passes item number three we have approval of the sale of Transit bus 114 again Public Works director Jesse Dean thank you Mr chair so staff received a new bus this last August and we have prepared bus 114 one of our few remaining diesel buses uh for disposal uh we are finishing the process ESS to get authorization with mot to sell the bus so staff is recommending Council authorize the S of bus 114 contingent on mot's authorization so moved second motion and a second pretty straightforward any any discussion yeah I have a related item um we got a new bus as mentioned and uh it's got windows that open for the passengers which is wonderful on a nice fall day when the sun's beaten in and it's cool air and you don't have to have the air conditioner on so whoever whoever ordered buses prior to this one um failed to have Windows that open which is a benefit to the Riders so great point of interest thank you any more discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor I motion passes it number four we have uh updated cost for Rosewood alley sewer replacement again Public Works director Jesse Dean thank you Mr chair so staff is bringing the Rosewood Quint La block of sewer replacement back for consideration to the council in the previous discussion staff reported that we would intend to replace the main with 8 in minimum size uh in reviewing the proposal is showing a replacement of in kind or 6 in uh so attached is an updated proposal showing a total cost of $59,500 or an increase of roughly $2,500 over the original proposal uh in addition BPU staff has requested to extend the water main down the alley as part of that project uh so that cost is also included in the proposal uh so should this block of sewer be approved approved uh staff would have the Utilities Commission reviewed as a proposal for the water main work uh the other reason that staff is bringing this back is to bring another item to the council's attention uh before receiving this updated proposal we encountered two separate sewer main collapses uh just a couple blocks away from this location requiring emergency repairs uh those repairs cost over $166,000 which was not expected uh so that totals three emergency repairs on the sewer system this year uh so staff wanted the council to be aware of this expense before for authorizing this block of sewer replacement uh staff is recommending approval of the updated sewer main replacement proposal in the amount of $59,500 and then that would probably take effect as of the effective data as the resolution moving forward um but our fee our fees aren't we don't have any plan on adjusting those until next year right that was the direction from the council was to do the two yearly increases for the first two years and then review the rates after that uh based on the fiveyear study that was done by the consultant but we're not locked into that right that is the direction that the the staff has from the council currently so if the council would like to do a different direction we would look for that direction from the council okay I have a I would make a motion if you're okay go ahead you okay I'd move to approve this uh uh item that staff's recommending for the additional costs and then of course the water andwer or the water going to the public utilities for approval Public Utilities Commission I'll second that one motion and a second any more discussion uh my point of discussion would be those the water M portion of this would come out of the public utilities funds from their fees correct okay yes sir all right any more discussion yeah I have a related item when you're done with this do you want to speak on it now or do you want to I was going to make another motion when we're done with this related okay so no more discussion let's go to a vote all in favor I I motion passes I'd like to have us have a a brief discussion and uh well perhaps right now but uh talk about U maybe staff bringing back our fees for uh sanitary sewer just to look at that to see if we can put something together maybe uh have the council decide if we want to have staff come back with that I prepare to make a motion now revisit that in a couple weeks yeah maybe bring it back if possible yeah okay with that you want you want a mo motion to that effect a a committee I'd move that we have uh U come back to um council with a motion to have staff look at uh another fee adjustment for sanitary sewer to cover this unexpected cost I'll second that motion and a second uh any more discussion Jeff I think when you were talking about you didn't have a specific date or you did have a specific dat come back if it's feasible to come back at our next meeting with if it's if it's Fe I just want to make sure that staff have enough time to if if not I would hope by the first meeting in November okay okay all right uh we have a motion in a second any more to discussion heing none go to a vote all in favor I motion passes one second here I messed them all up got to write that down all right so next item number five we have Direction on sidewalk on Northwest Third Street and Jackson Street again this is Public Works director Jesse Dean thank you Mr chair so staff has re received a request to install a sidewalk between the two buildings by my neighbor to love on Northwest Third Street in Jackson Street to allow residents to travel from building to building without having to travel within the street uh the sidewalk would have to cross Jackson Street RightWay uh for any sidewalk that crosses public RightWay staff recommends that it be treated as public sidewalk and thus be required to be placed within the RightWay and tie into the existing Trail at the roundabout uh the current walkable bikable plan does not show sidewalk on these blocks of Northwest Third Street or Jackson Street if side sidewalk were to be installed there as public sidewalk it would become City infrastructure and thus the city's responsibility long term um based on the walkable bikable plan staff recommends to deny the sidewalk installation on Northwest Third Street in Jackson Street thank you so I think you already stated this was not on the original plan um I don't know if this person is uh requesting this and the fact that they would pay for the installation of the sidewalk they would okay yes sir that was their intent is there is potentially available funds in their Grant so they would like to install the sidewalk between the two buildings my intent is one it should be as public sidewalk So within the public RightWay and two it should connect uh thus all the way to the roundabout as well okay that would be my recommendation okay so they they're willing to do that what you just what you just suggested it if if it was allowed that' be my recommendation to be the requirement were they were they proposing to do something different than what you're recommending their initial request was just between the two buildings that's what I and I had mentioned to them my recommendation would be to also tie into the roundabout for connectivity Tiffany um Jesse when was that W wable walkable bikable plan developed 2013 14 so thank you Jeff quite a while ago before this was put in place and before anybody was walking back there right fair to say Jesse is still looking for the exact date but a long time ago will suffice he's still looking it was I'm looking on the map but doesn't look like there's a date on the map itself it was probably 13 14 in that neighborhood I was on the committee okay it might have been nine 10 years ago minimum okay anything else um I did have on on something else I met with Vicky Kenny um today actually and um she's not particularly you know set on whether it's going to be a concrete skinny sidewalk or a pavement side I I think she'd be open to if we want it to go to the round about and connect there I think that would be um doable and I also can't help but think about that stretch of 13th as I was driving from having coffee with her to home where we can't put aide sidewalk thank you railroad but people walk there and you can see it and it's ugly and I don't want to have that in this area too and I think that's what we would be inviting if we don't put something intentionally there for people to walk on okay I think we counter to that we we did already approve a full plan and then we we approved another plan that was changed we went through quite a few plans actually in in the approval of this whole project and now we're asking for another change I'm not against the sidewalk but it does bring up a point where it goes across the public right of way and so I that's the only problem I think if if they want to put in a sidewalk on private property that they own I think they should be free to do that um but with the walkable bikable map the way that it is which is even if it's old or new or whatever it might be it is what it is we have a trail that goes right by there but we were never really in plans for having a sidewalk on that street so I I'm hesitant to just put in a sidewalk we every time we put in a sidewalk that's one thing that we have to maintain going forward so I like the fact that they're willing to pay for the initial sidewalk installation but subsequent sidewalks years in the future F we placing that with taxpayer dollars has to be considered they're not getting cheaper was one block of sidewalk didn't we about what was it 70 or some kind of crazy number that you don't have to look it up but I'm I'm a little hesitant to do this right now I think we have for the plan that is approved I think we move forward with it maybe we revisit the idea of a sidewalk once it's done once it's caught up that's what I'd be more comfortable with can I ask Jesse is there any benefit for them or disadvantage for them to wait like Mike's suggesting maybe U to put a sidewalk in is there a is there is there a need to do it sooner than later for them that you're aware of I think you just timing with the construction I'm sure that they have other concrete sidewalks so the the fact that they probably have a similar flator Contra contractor on site doing similar work it be the benefit of that uh doing that work at that same time um but beyond that no I don't see necessarily unless there's restrictions with the Grant and they have to meet if they were going to do it they have to meet all the Ada accessibility features of the sidewalk and all that right yes sir public sidewalk must meet 88 no you know if if they're willing to pay for it I I have a hard time saying no but again this is what who pays for it in 15 20 years you know that's the but because we've changed our policy now with sidewalks um we could change our policy again between now and 15 or 20 years when this is the sun could explode between now and then too won't have to worry about it not likely but it could well according to some people we won't be here in eight years anyway so yeah um I i' I'd like to do this I I'd move that we um we approve the preliminary uh uh approval of this allowing them to pay for and put in as long as we come back with a plan and we see everything's up to what Jesse would approve according to Ada and uh any other uh items that our staff feels are necessary you know with uh thickness of concrete all the curb Cuts everything like that including the connection to the roundabout including the connection to the roundabout yeah all all staff's recommendations if we're going to move forward with this I'll second that so it sounds like you have a motion that's kind of putting action before and I think I agree with what you're saying but you're kind of putting action before we have the finalized plan well that's what I want to see come back right y so would you want to direct instead of instead of approve your motion was to approve this would you plar yeah just get it going so staff can look at whatever plans and come back and to direct staff to come back with an official plan would that be more yep okay thank you is that okay with your second that's a well Jesse so my understanding of the motion is Staff Direction to talk with my neighbor to love to get plans more official plans of that sidewalk plan the installation and return to the council with those plans correct okay including could we add to that motion costs um the intent that they're covering those costs yes y okay is that okay with you guys okay Motion in a second any more discussion he none go to a vote all in favor I I motion passes item number six we have final layout order feasibility report and SE Amendment requests to trunk Highway 371b Willow Street roundabout project again uh Public Works director Jesse Dean thank you Mr chair so included in this item are a few items uh so first is a final layout for Council consideration before finalizing the plans and beginning the formal assessment process uh so this is mainly the same as the last time the council saw this layout during the municipal consent meeting this last spring uh so second with the approval of the layout staff is recommending with the Reconstruction of the one block of Willow Street between sixth and seventh streets that the adjacent Property Owners be assessed for the improvements according to the special assessment policy uh similar to other reconstruction projects uh the first part of this process would be adoption of the attached resolution for the council to order the feasibility report uh staff would bring this back to an upcoming meeting for consideration uh finally with the last of the project scope coming into clear focus with the plans being further along SE is requesting an amendment to address the items that have been requested that are outside the current scope of their services uh staff has reviewed the request fully and agrees with the need for these items um mot has also committed to share in the cost for this amendment with the exception of the East leg extension as that is a local improvement with the pl nearing completion uh staff was able to compile a cost estimate breakdown for the council to review uh the breakdown is in the agenda item which includes the SE engineering cont contract and this amendment request the current project estimate the RightWay costs it also removes the cost for the grant as well as the assessments so of course much of this at this time is is still estimated and we have a lot of things that need to be finalized um but putting all that together the city's cost is estimated to be a total of 860,000 with about 407,000 coming from the state aid account uh and then the rest is split amongst the various utilities uh so this total amount covers both the construction of the roundabout Improvement but also the Reconstruction of the block of Willow Street from 6th to 7th so it's it's both together um staff has three recommendations overall so first approval of the attached layout uh second adoption of the resolution ordering the feasibility report and then finally approval of the SE Amendment as presented and to the amend and to amend the agreement with menot to share in the costs of the amendment as presented thank you guys have questions um Jesse if we weren't putting in this roundabout would we do that section between sixth and seventh it would be coming real close to do for reconstruction that pavement is in really poor shape and the utilities are pretty aged uh that was kind of left uh I guess I'll call it on an island uh in between the 6th Street uh Highway 371 reconstruction and when we did the uh South 7th Street improvements so that block of uh Willow Street was kind of left behind so that has been deteriorated for a little while now so the answer is yes we would be yes sir okay thank you I don't have anything else okay are we looking for direction here I do you want one motion or three um you can put it at all we actually need three because the second one's actually the resolution okay yeah but that's on the main yeah yes so do you want just one now or do you want three Mr chair I think we can probably get get by with going with staff recommendations and then do them in three motions at the other meeting that's fine yeah I will make the motion for all three for approval yes for staff's recommendations on all three second motion and a second any more discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor I motion passes efficiency that is right running out of time here we only got 20 minutes left so we got item number seven here um we're considering code violations for Paradigm Auto this one is uh community development director James cranic go ahead thank you Mr chair so the department received a complaint about Paradigm Auto this spring regarding the U-Haul's parking on the grass which is in violation of the city Cod uh staff did research pass information regarding the U-Haul business at Paradigm Auto and discovered that Mark osgard former city planner is part of a rezoning in 2016 St that the gravel parking will need to be paved and striped with a properly identified handicap space and the parking will need to be screened in addition he stated the outdoor uh rental sales area could accommodate no more than seven spaces for U-Hauls uh that information was provided in the in the uh packet uh staff has witnessed numer numerous times throughout the Summer where 20 plus U-Haul Vehicles were parked on the grass at the business uh staff has given Mr Schmid options on how to proceed he stated fencing and Paving are not in the budget for the U-Haul business uh also the code AS drafted is not really set up for a significant number of U Halls to be located in the Town Center District uh the Town Center District still allows for seven U-Hauls essentially that same percentage that was in the previous B4 District uh Mr Schmidt was unable to attend tonight's meeting on short notice as I was able to only call him uh today at noon uh but would like the ability to speak before a final decision is made he said he would be able to attend the next meeting uh so with that staff is looking for discussion and direction from City Council on how to proceed um the options are similar to what we've done in the past for other code and violations um you're certainly aware of what's required and so I'll answer any questions that the city council has thank you Mr granic so this has been going on since 2016 looks like 2016 possibly a little earlier for other vehicles parking on the grass but for the U-Hauls I believe was 2016 and as we got closer to the covid years we got lacks on our code enforcement and now it's kind of being opened back up again um but well known both parties this has been in violation for quite a while um I I feel for the business owner I I kind I think I get where they're coming from um but as I've heard in this room before there is a cost to doing business um but in just kind of brainstorming for this person what what comes to my mind is we have we have City property where this would work this this specific use I think would work probably somewhere in the industrial um industrial Zone that we own property in and I think a win-win for both parties would be doing a land a land Swap and have this um land go back have this land this chunk of that land go back to the city and allow them to operate this where it is where it is more allowed where they have more space and what they need so I just a suggestion a suggestion to go back to this in in a couple weeks and maybe have staff look into um any properties they think that we could offer a land swap you guys can chew on that I'm not sold on the idea of a land swap but you might get me there I am sold on the idea that he should be able to talk to us about it and so I move that we recommend tbling this until the next meeting second okay as a discussion you guys don't want those options because the way I see this is when we come back he's either got option one we start the citation process option two he complies option three would be we offer him an area where he could do this maybe the way that he wants to do this staff could come back with anything on those lines or we push this out even further you're discussing a table in motion yeah that's fair enough we'll be voting on it um it's a non- debatable okay well I'll be voting I I to further debate the non-debatable motion because the chair is going to let me get away with it I'm I'm open to any of those options or maybe he'll come up with a something completely different that'll be an amazing solution yeah as long as we're talking about it yeah I I I thought well we table it he'd come back that's what we can talk about it then yeah that's my point of waiting to our next meeting okay to to your point okay all in favor I I Against I motion passes item number eight we have Direction on active Code Enforcement cases again this is community development director James kic thank you Mr chair so staff is bringing two properties before the committee for review tonight uh the first one is 608 9th Street North uh there's a dead tree in the backyard uh very large and very hazardous we did we did give an extension to the homeowner but is still not been removed uh so staff is recommending obtaining a search warrant on that one and abating the property the second one is 1812 Oak Street this one's for junk and debris and garbage the property owner said he would remove it but has still not been addressed and they've received the third citation um we've also received complaints from the neighbor on this one so with that one staff is also recommending to obtain a search warrant and Abate the junken debris thank you we have a motion can can you remind me when the 9th Street North uh was first uh notified believe they were notified last year with a letter okay thank you that's all I needed I forgot I'll move to approve both staff recommendations to further search Warren second motion a second any more discussion hearing none go to a vote all in favor I motion passes we can adjourn to the council meeting