##VIDEO ID:M9FZ80LdVs0## e e e e good evening at this time I call to order the special board meeting for the fwell public school school board here on November 18th 2024 uh Mr Wolf is acting clerk would you determine if we have a quum present Mr chair we do thank you would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for thank you all welcome to those in attendance and welcome to those watching online uh agenda item number two is approval of the agenda uh have a mo could we entertain a motion for approval of the agenda so mov thank you Mr ol and do we have a second second thank you Miss budo uh any discussion discussion discussion all those in favor of approval of the agenda signified by saying I I opposed the motion passes agenda item 2A uh consider accepting the bids for HVAC for Jefferson and McKinley could I have a could I have a motion please for accepting the bids for HVAC for Jefferson and McKinley no move thank you Dr oisha and Mr Wolf for the second and discussion uh Mr Veno if you want to call up uh Mr Smith and uh would the board like for Mr Smith to come up and explain some of the pieces around these two yes okay I believe so yes it's a reminder that this had this is not anything to do with reorganization this is just ongoing uh maintenance for uh the HVAC systems in our buildings yeah so just a quick overview of of what this project is it is the updating of our HVAC control systems I would be replacing four rooftop units at McKinley and adding a rooftop unit at McKinley um and replacing two rooftop units at Jefferson and these bids are the ones that that we approved I believe in the October meeting to go to go out to have bids approved and then came back and uh and opening them Etc I I should add that this um acceptance of the bids was approved by the finance committee this morning I believe uh some time ago was also approved by the facilities committee uh as well Dr R show Mr chair thank you um Mr Kane when was the last time that Jefferson's HVAC system was addressed oh my long before you were here long before yeah I don't even know if it might be original to be honest really yeah yeah it's a pretty old system okay thank you original I'm assuming since since when air conditioning was put into the building okay which correct might have been the 90s or whatever something like that I believe okay would that be same the same for McKinley I would yeah it's the same system I would say thank you yeah further discussion Mr chair Mr wison Mr bendy said it's has nothing to do with reorganization but there could be a link there if it's um there's been no vote on reorganization um what's the consensus of the group here that the alc will move to McKinley or is it going to move to middle school or or to the high school or stay there So eventually we're going to have to do something with mckenley um to do something with the HVAC and then you come in there at a later date for a remodel of the kitchen and the rest of the school to address the alc students it that doesn't seem to be the right procedure if you're going to do everything if the alc is going to definitely go to mckenley to me it should be remodeled temporarily depends on how the board votes on the reorganization uh it's just temporary of putting the um Early Childhood into the elementary schools and they can remodel totally mle the ventilation and the updates for the alc um you know what's you know what's wrong with that concept unless the you think that the board is going to move the alc someplace else you know to another building or to lease some space I don't know Mr Olson for my chair that uh the discussion obviously that Vote or that discussion uh will be discussion that vote won't happen until January and the bids we approved to have be sent out uh in October they're back now without any sort of consideration for reorganization so if classes stay there so I don't see um maybe I'm confused or whatever but yes something must be done to those buildings but I think the need is now in case nothing is done or whatever so I that's that's my viewpoint Viewpoint there uh I understand um your concern of now started doing the HVAC and then come in at a later date with construction remodeling or Etc there so my concern is that go in there are they going to be changing the HVAC to the meet the needs of the alc students and since we're uncertain if the alc students are going to be there yeah I'm assuming a lot but you guys take the vote or whatever happens with that so just have a crew and then leave then have another crew that's that's not very efficient I understand so um Mr Dr yeah um I just want to be clear here so if we would do this and for some re you know we have to we would have to go in later and uh for remodeling or whatever the code you're saying the codes could be changed maybe and so we'd have to actually do this all over again is that what what I hear you saying it sounds like it the you know we made have to reduce some of this what we've what we want to do now can I'll I'll try to clarify this just a little bit um the rooftop unit that we were adding at McKinley is for a science room possibly if we decide not to move uh the alc to McKinley that would be pulled out of our bid that science room is the only part of the HVAC that would have to be altered in any way if we moved a C to M what about the kitchen kitchen it would be that's part of a different remodel that's not in so this not this bid that's out of the Food Service no so Mr Smith if we approve this tonight um and it has that additional unit for this potential science room as you mentioned and the board passes on moving ALC to McKinley in January uh it's not too late then you would just pull this out we would we would pull that unit out not an issue okay right thank you I just want clarification Mr yeah what do you mean pull the unit out it's already there on the building or pull it out from the bid it's pull it out from the bid so you pull it so you pull it out from the bid so it wouldn't cost us anything extra correct correct okay any further discussion further discussion last call yeah I just want so in my mind right now it wouldn't cost us anything we wouldn't have to redo anything and as long as because you could pull it out from the bid not from you wouldn't be going in there and making all the uh changes on the rooftop we wouldn't have to do that over it's just pulling it out from the bid and you are able to do that then correct okay so that makes sense thank you and Mr Mr Smith will you explain that this work probably won't be done until next summer anyway correct the the work actually on the roof itself it's this coming summer yeah this coming summer yes correct so it's not like they're going to start cutting holes in the roof next week that's not how so I hope I hope not that I don't need that all right anything else we have a motion for approval of the accepting the bids for the HVAC for Jefferson and McKinley all in favor of the motion signify by saying I I I opposed no motion passes 51 agenda item number three consider adoption of resolution excuse me 25-10 to approve designation and and appointment of recount official so could I have a motion for adoption of resolution 2510 to approve approved designation and appointment of recount official please so move thank you Mr Wolf and do we have a second second thank you Miss budo uh before we begin the discussion I have a statement to read here as an introductory to our discussion here um and it is as follows follow following the board's certification of the election results of the general election for school board members held on November 5 20124 the school district clerk received a timely request for a recount this election was for three board members for terms of four years to begin of January 2025 the recount request was made by the candidate that received the fourth highest number of votes in the election or stated differently the candidate with the most votes from among the candidates who were not elected the election results show that 17 votes separate the elected candidate with the fewest votes the third highest vote getter and the candidate with the most votes from among the candidates who were not elected the fourth highest vote getter this margin is within the 1/ half of 1% difference for a publicly funded recount under the circumstances given the request the district must proceed with a recount to admin to administer the recount the law authorizes for the designation of a recount official to conduct the recount on behalf excuse me on behalf of the district Denise Anderson elections director of Rice County has agreed to act as the recount official for the district's recount given Miss Anderson's position as the election director for Rice County and her familiarity with the recount procedures the proposed resolution is to approve the appointment of Denise Anderson as a as recount official and proceed with the recount pursuant to applicable state law Ms Anderson has already facilitated an initial notice of the recount to the candidates and upon resolution from the board of affirming her designation as recount official Miss Anderson would provide the official notice to the candidates and proceed with the recount in accordance with state law also wish to indicate that in consultation with uh the district attorney uh this is the recommendation from the district attorney to appoint uh Miss Anderson as the um recount official so with that statement being read uh discussion Mr chair Mr Wolf question for you uh in there it stated uh publicly funded recount I'm wondering if Mr benty can tell us is that publicly funded recount does do those funds come from the school district do they come from some County do they come from are you know Rice County do they come from the state where do those publicly funded funds come from the the district is required to do the recount so it would be it would at this point it would come from District funds and is that something that comes out of the general fund or are we able to Levy that back to our community right now it's a general fund expense um we have a call into mde to see if we are allowed to Levy that expense back to the taxpayers or not and do you have an estimated expense by by the numbers that the county gave us and they these are rough numbers um with the the time and the uh hourly wage and the number of people that will be involved we're estimating roughly right around $3,000 to $3500 per day of recount okay thank you and and some document that we saw could be anywhere from one day to two and a half days one day to two and a half days is what we saw yes thank you thank you Mr chair you're welcome discussion Mr chair I have a resolution or or Amendment on on the uh on the motion um have M have Dr Moore read that because I had some eye injection so a little fuzzy around the edges so have her do the amendment that you're okay Amendment well she'll read it I'm making the amendment okay thank you yeah okay go ahead Dr Moore okay sorry resolution as per councel to ensure a free and fair election I hereby request that the board not designate and appoint Denise Anderson as the person to cond conduct the recount for the district Denise Anderson is a defendant in an unresolved lawsuit against R count County regarding a past election since Anderson has repeatedly stated that she cannot answer any questions due to the fact that this lawsuit is still unresolved this makes her ineligible to conduct this recount also since Rice County is part of this lawsuit Rice County officials should not be eligible as well I request that another County conduct the recount with an experienced unbiased election judge submitted by Richard Olsen thank you sir and I'm just going to add that was Minnesota court case number 66- cv-22 d222 thank you Dr Moore so I will take that first paragraph as your Amendment uh from there and then we'll get into the discussion afterwards so with that amendment to uh the board not amendment is the request that the board not designate and appoint Denise Anderson as the person to conduct the recount for the district and to conduct the recount with an experienced unbiased election judge is there a second to that Amendment second thank you Dr Moore and now discussion Mr chair Mr and Mr uh benty the document that you read earlier was it not stated somewhere in there that it was recommended by Council that we engage our local election official that is correct is okay thank you I don't know if it's said that I'm scanning that I thought it was stated somewhere if it didn't state that is correct our our attorneys have have selected uh Denise Anderson as the person that should be doing the recount on our behalf okay thank you Mr benty is there anything from this amendment that you have from discussion or anything you would like that you see here um I I would just say that you know we're in we're in one of those areas where a lot of us don't understand how recounts work um it's the school districts you know to be clear the the board is not deciding tonight whether we have a recount we are having a recount um if the board is deciding who who will official be the official over it so if the board decides no to Denise Anderson um we still have to have a recount and it would follow on us to figure out who then we would hire to do that and have to work then with the county to release all of the ballots to that individual to to do the counting I'm sure there are uh time frames in place that we would have to fall within within as well and um there's no one in our offices that has really any experience or knowledge with this um which is why our Council has said you go with the election officials in your County uh those are the experts when it comes to elections so and it is also my understanding that each candidate is able to have someone in the room as the ballots are counted only my understanding is only Dr rashaw and Mr uh Olsen those are the only two being recounted right but they can designate someone to observe the recount process am I correct on that that's I thought I I'm not sure if they can designate they can they can themselves be there I'm not sure if they're allowed to designate someone or not I would have to check on that I thought it one time I read something it is with the uh Council that uh I can have a team yes and excuse me Mr Mr chair as a resolution stated as as per Council okay so this was um I know you talked with someone so okay I I I just wanted to bring that out that yeah there will be people in the room what you know observing the recount the process Etc like that so okay uh okay again we're uh discussing the amendment to the resolution uh to not appoint Denise Anderson as the person to conduct the recount for the district and have the uh recount official uh with an experienced unbiased election judge so any further discussion on the amendment to the resolution Mr chair I just want a free and fair election that's all I want thank you Mr chair Miss bud is Denise Anderson currently in charge of our County elections yes yes yes and the ballots um that were counted are with our County office that is correct yes so moving it to another County as was mentioned would mean transporting those ballots and a lot more probably um maybe more cost we don't know if that's cost that our district will have to incur but I'm concerned about that someone has to transport them we don't know who else is available um what other if it's steel County or Wasa County and if they're even willing and available has anyone checked with those counties to see if they are available Mr chair just I'd like to answer that I I'm going to say no right now because this this amendment to resolution just came forward this afternoon or today to me so we would not obviously we have not had time to check on any of that or whatever but I think since this is an amendment we wait to see the result of the amendment vote on the amendment to determine if if we need to reach out or if if that motion passes to reach out to other to whatever else we need to do that I do believe Dr Moore thank you uh yes I I just want to address uh M P's uh question uh we could have probably somebody come in from a different County you know we could keep the ballots here that's a possibility and have somebody from maybe steel County or whatever an election judge or an official and come in and that person would be in charge of the um of the recount so we could have somebody come in and not transport the ballots I don't think it's a good idea to transport ballots but I think we could have somebody possibly come in from another County and we would just have to remember they would have to agree to do it yes we don't just get to assign another County to do it they would have to agree to do it so it it might take a while to find a county that would agree to do it and then we would also be and and it's the board's decision but we would also then be on the hook for any and all transportation and mileage cost cost as well for those people to to come to farbo and to then go back uh home so for Mr chairman I guess I'm just looking at cost the district's already likely to to pay maybe 8 8,000 I don't know and and I am not diminishing the fact that anyone has a right to ask for a recount that is I applaud you for asking Richard I'm just concerned about spending more money and this is T on the taxpayers um to have another County do that I don't know what their additional costs may be they bring in their own people if they charge the same amount of money um Denise oversaw our entire Rice County elections and our state federal elections in Rice County um whether you trust her or not I mean I think the Commissioners trust her and she has been appointed by them and by our County officials so I am I'm inclined to not support this just due to the additional costs that may be incurred any other discussion on the amendment um I am concerned about the fact that Mi uh Miss Anderson has has I've been in meetings where she has refused to answer answer questions and uh also Foya requests sometimes have come through that um hasn't uh information has not always been provided in certain instances and the hence this is why this lawsuit is just keeping going and going and going so um I I am concerned about about um Denise Anderson and so I have to disagree with Miss Pedro last call for discussion and whatever happens here this will be referred back to my attorney anything else we're ready to vote on the amendment so a yes vote would be in favor of the amendment a no vote would be against the amendment as stated and Mr Wolf with this would you please do a roll call on this Miss buo no Miss Moore yes yes Mr Olson yes Mr Rasha no uh myself no Mr Bellingham no four to two Amendment fails two to four so we're back to the original resolution 2510 to approve designation and appointment of Denise Anderson as uh recount official is last or second or third call for discussion here anyone anyone hearing none we're ready to vote Mr Wolf we do a roll call once again please this resolution 25-10 as presented uh Miss bu hi Miss Moore no Mr Olson no Mr robishaw I uh myself I Mr Bellingham I motion motion passes 4 two uh with that we are done we have completed our uh agenda items so item number four adjournment uh motion to adjourn so move thank you Mr Wolf do we have a second second thank you Dr risho discussion discussion discussion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I