##VIDEO ID:QEtBMKytvZE## Patrick you all set all righty the time is 6:32 and with us this evening is City attorney Chris Hood Craig schy is Kim online okay Kim is there uh Ben Peters Bill Lois myself Michael Gary and Mike Roth uh and with roll call it is now time for open forum is anyone here to speak this evening for open forum we have one person for open Forum all right yeah thank thanks for the [Music] opportunity okay I'm Doug Sanders I'm a citizen here about a mile away um and I understand that that you folks have a copy of by do here and it's it's interesting we've got all all this so-called housing stock that's the new term I learned from the assessor Department um all this housing stock in the county and racio SP has got the designation AMA that stands for accredited Minnesota assessory and she is the full assessory with Bob Thompson and she came up with the data that I outlined here that there's uh 1850 homesteads now um well I'll go through this according to uh s SP 420 licens vacation reent licens ventos they're still trying to find the the others to license them 8,280 second homes seasonal of course and um totaling 10,550 housing units three three4 of our u u housing units are U that uh 8,000 second homes seasonal cabins um I I received this email from Linda that employees employees that come to this area are finding housing Linda points out that there's vacation home rentals being used and and uh our uh larger employer started back in about the year 20 20 Howard Head from confirmed the survey they did of employees that were leaving the county and finding by survey they'd never come back because there was no housing for them and they're not talking about vacation home R they're talking about a more stable situation um we have Linda Linda here that that uh could attest that that chamber members are looking for housing for their U employees and we uh we're fortunate that we've established in our small community in HRA with Jason har is here you know J Jason uh is still he has a popularity with Builders and developers back in duth where he came from and that's that's been a draw but Builders and developers up here uh prefer working with an HRA for all the logistics all all the subcontracting that's involved they prefer working with an a builder developer that's proven uh would rather work with an HRA than just come up here and start subcontracting with all their uh all the needs materials electrician plumbers so we we're fortunate that we have that um we need we need the further projects like the height project uh I spent a couple hours with Gary Gary lad Gary and Howard have rounded up dozens of local investors for this U Heist project that's that's on the agenda and and so we have got got some good things going in the county um we're building uh but but we need more of this housing for employees that's that's not going to have events jacked up by uh individual uh the owners of housing stock uh with that that's that's my uh presentation any questions okay thanks dou thank you thanks thank you all right is there anyone else here for open form this evening all right and with that we'll close open form next up is our um Regular update on City Hall and liquor store uh thank you again for having me here again my name is John haggenmiller I'm uh work for mof construction I'm the site superintendent for the city hall and Municipal liquor store just here to give you a quick update on the progress of the project um we're almost complete with the exterior walls we have a few small ones to do uh we're spray foaming the exterior walls and the parap pits at this time uh that should be going into possibly next week uh we're installing curbs and gutters and uh sidewalks at this time so hopefully in the next uh week we'll have the sidewalk back open get rid of the Jersey barriers and uh upcoming uh items will uh we're we're going to start interior framing soon probably late this week early part of next um we're starting water proofing on the exterior walls in the next few days and Roofing or we're going to start the roof carpentry of uh the perits starting next week and on 107 we're uh scheduled to start the roofing for the main roof and we're actually going to start Stone base at about the same time so that's just a quick update on where we're at for progress and it was nice to see the mayor stop by yesterday and got her to show the showed her the new floor or the polished floor y it's so we got our first grind on it we'll be finishing up in after we're done with drywall and painting and then we'll put the Polish to it so yeah that was fun to to see and walk around and um brought my cousin along so she had more fun than she anticipated for her day and but it was neat to get inside and and see you can actually you know see where everything's going to be yeah so it's fun thank you so if anyone wants to stop down please do just uh get your hard hat and a vest and we'll walk through the building thank you very much for your time and had a have a good evening than John than all right with that we'll move to the consent agenda when anyone like to make a motion on the consent agenda including the additions of the uh bills added bills were sent later yeah I would I would make that motion to add the bills to our consent agenda all right I'll second okay any further questions discussions anything on bills or meeting minutes all right uh all in favor of the consent agenda as amended uh roll call Craig hi Ben hi Bill hi Michael hi I all right with that the consent agenda is taken care of we'll move on next to the uh public hearing for the tax abatement this is resolution 2024-25 they're lovely definitions um that's the agreement there we go all right um have our policy we have our resolutions um there we go uh anyone have guess we don't really need to other than declare this a public hearing right we just have to take comments yeah so then that's that um anyone here to make comment excuse me for public hearing [Music] hi hi I'm Tim Kennedy I am one of the general partners of the gr Mar real estate or Cook County real estate uh fund uh developers of the heights project um you know we've been working on this for a long time um both the city the real estate Development Group uh and a lot of others uh but we're trying to get this uh finalized uh you know tonight we're here to ask for support for thex tax abatement uh that a critical element of our financial uh package to put this project together for this 36 un Department building um you know I don't want to go into the details you know you guys know well enough about uh you know the process and tax abatement how it works uh but you know just to let the public know that tax abatement is a tool that that cities and Counties have to utilize in working with the developers that are trying to put other projects that are valuable in a community that just may not be able to quite make it without the assistance and cooperation that uh tax abatement offers um we all know that uh housing is an important uh you know item you know you know we're seeing the development of the Gunflint view uh you know project uh it's exciting to see you that progressing uh we think that we're going to have uh a similar project uh that's going to offer 36 units uh you know to uh uh provide additional needs that uh have been identified um we' work been working on this project for over two years uh at this point and this this week we're actually advertising uh bids for a general contractor those bids will be opened in mid October uh we're well on our way to getting this thing uh going and seeing construction uh started in the spring with the occupancy by uh by mid Midsummer next year um you know we're excited about it U but you know we we need we need this uh tax abatement uh to help uh with putting the financial package together uh you know ERS the city and Cy's uh Financial Consultant uh and advisers uh has recommended the use of tax abatement uh for this project uh they've recommended a 15-year term uh with the uh condition that there's a look back provision that uh suggests that if the uh project is successful beyond our expectations that there's an ability to uh to cut uh that 15-year period back and modify U the terms of that agreement uh you know yesterday the County Commissioners approved the similar resolution to what the city is looking at that uh tonight and um they approved that and we're excited that they did that because it fills in you know one of the two last pieces with the financial package uh that that we need tonight we're asking for the city's support and cooperation uh in approving this resolution that would use tax abatements and put us on a path for development uh um we're excited about it so um I thank you for all the support that you've offered through this process uh you know there's so many things that have to go into a big project like this and without the cooperation with the city um we wouldn't be here today but uh you know your assistance with the storm water your assistance with the uh variance uh request uh were really important uh you know we get past this hurdle of the abatement and you know we're on our way to uh looking at construction starting uh next spring so thanks yeah thanks Tim thank you Tim anyone else excuse me would anyone else like to speak this evening something different additional to add I'm hearing support but I don't need to speak [Music] okay good even good evening um my name is Chris obrien I'm a The District 4 commissioner for the housing Redevelopment Authority um I'm also a limited partner investor in the uh in the Heights project but um here overall um you know I'm very concerned about the housing situation in Cook County and anxious to see any measures go forward which help to address that uh the heights housing project is a vital Initiative for both the city and the county aimed at addressing the need for more affordable housing while promoting sustainable Community Development so offering the tax evat for this project provides several benefits to the city its residents and the overall economy of the of the county um you know we're all familiar with the fact that for decades we've had a housing shortage limited options for families seniors and workers so the housing the tax abatement policy helps to address um the affordability option by making by reducing cost for developers making it feasible for them to afford to offer housing units for at affordable rates and that obviously crucial going forward um we need housing for workers in the county the city the heights would help to ensure that housing options for workers and vital sectors such as healthc care education tourism and local businesses um offering a tax abatement signals that gramar is committed to support supporting development that benefits the community by [Music] um by U I'm sorry last last my place by reducing the tax burden on the heights the city can incentivize developers and investors to continue investing in local projectss fostering a positive environment for future housing and Commercial development over time that's that'll increase the tax space and bring in more revenue for the for the city um I think that tax evat can help you know this and other future developers allocate more resources to environmentally Sustainable Building practices that's a particular interest of mine on the housing Redevelopment Authority is to address the challenge of how of the additional upfront cost for uh to to capture long-term Savings in in housing projects going forward um an an abatement provides the developer with um a break that allows them to afford more energy efficient designs renewable energy systems like this project and um aligning with the city's environmental stewardship and long-term sustainability finally the tax abatement is a proactive measure that will address the need for affordable housing support local economic growth and Foster a thriving and sustainable Community by by easing the financial burden on developers gramar can take a significant step toward ensuring the Cook County remains a place where all people can live work and prosper the Strategic investment in our community's future will deliver lasting returns in terms of social environmental and economic benefits that's that's than thanks for your time thank you anyone else care to speak this evening [Music] my name is Jerry Grant and I am a uh member of the Cook County real estate fund and investor and I do not know a lot about tax abatement is quite complicated my call Knowledge could be summed up in about five sentences but the most important one here tonight is that I understand that tax abatement is a way for Community governments to support support um Builders so that they can complete projects which would otherwise be financially Out Of Reach and also so that in housing projects when the units are completed that they will that it will help with affordability um and for that reason and because we all know that housing is needed here in Cook County I ask you to support this tax abatement request that we are making tonight thank you thank you is there anyone else who'd like to speak this evening all right and with that um like to make a motion for resolution 2024-25 going to close and am closing the public hearing for resolution 202 4-42 thanks Chris so we just close now you can do your thing now we can do our motion all right now I will make a motion to approve resolution 20 24-42 tax abatement second I'll second all right any further discussion any questions Craig yes oh no I don't have more questions okay we're voting I vote Yes okay thank you we're right on top of this Ben yes Bill yes Michael I yes I and with that it passes thank you all very much than everyone thank you very much um next up yeah is Arrowhead animal rescues our draft service agreement and um this is a discussion topic for this evening hopefully everyone's had a chance to look through this um see if there's any um thoughts changes edits to [Music] this at all just want to point out where this is at in the process thank you this is our draft we have not shared this version with a and so the purpose of having this draft at this stage in front of you now is just to talk a little bit about what the operation really might look like what sort of requirements we might want to have what our expectations are as a way to prepare for sitting down with them and talking about this draft and then preparing one that you could actually consider adopting we're not asking you to adopt this one how um if if Annie and I imagine it maybe comprehensively does it differ from maybe the original one that we had with them yeah um it's not significantly different than the original agreement I think there are some important ideas that are a little bit different and really the um it's that idea that I think is worth more talking about than the actual language in the contract that what is this facility and and what do we need to provide as a city and what is this going to provide and and uh so we're calling it an animal pound facility and we're saying in this contract that there are city ordinances and statutes that create some demand for this animal pound service we're also saying that a head animal rescue as an organization wants to provide additional Services as more of a shelter operation which is what they really do uh a fantastic job of bringing to the community so we're trying to make the language say that we have to do some of these things although as we've learned we don't have to have a building to do it there are other ways to get that job done but beyond that the law enforcement bringing an animal in that they might be taking possession of there are a lot of other needs in the community to provide animal shelter services that a is willing to to do uh there are some other things in here that are different and some of those are are recent uh edits that I think are probably I wouldn't keep in a next version but I think they're useful for conversation so um I'm going to just get to it here if you don't mind uh letter t under the scope of services says that they will operate and maintain a telephone number for company representatives to be contacted daily between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3: for the purpose of receiving animals there's a lot baked into that concept I don't know if a is willing to do that or if we need them to but uh I think people might consider a typical service of an animal shelter to be a place you can bring an animal and that's not really how we've done that in the past and I I don't think that's how we'll do it in the future either that the city is not going to bring animals here uh that we don't want the public to bring animals here we want law enforcement to bring animals here and we want a to bring animals here but really nobody else is going to have access to the facility I believe so there's some language in here that that will probably modify to clarify that but the language that's in here now opens the idea that we could potentially have a open facility or at least leaves the question open how do we want a to be contacted by the public how do we want those arrangements to be made so that's probably the next conversation we have with them is what did they see happening uh there's a lot of new language in here about um just uh I'd say updated legal language from the last version which was close to 14 years ago when it was written um I don't remember before um did they keep stats before I see that's in there which makes to um I don't believe there was any sort of regular reporting of Statistics to the city there was occasional conversations with the group uh they've had a few members that have really been there a very long time but they also have some turnover and some new vision and I think some of the people that were there in 2011 that were doing the reporting aren't there now and and uh so if we want that to happen I think we'll have to work with them to figure out an easy way to just keep those things coming in front of you so you can see what's going on I think they should any well most nonprofits have to anyways if they're out looking for money or they have to have stats and and know what they're doing Animals we served or yeah so for their benefit but I think the city and the county also really wants to have a good handle and we've asked for reports from the sheriff's office but those are so General we don't know what those calls were really about so it'd be nice to know that or how often um an animal does get brought in because of an owner's Health event or something that where they can't take care of a pet just the whole deal would be nice to know and I appreciate the fact that there are is we need to clearly know what their process will be too like how long will you um hold an animal or what happens if it turns out there's any health issues or whatever we need to know um clearly what their their process is and so we've covered that in letter M under the scope of services where we're asking them to develop and keep current and provide to us procedures training manuals for daily facility operations for animal adoptions yeah we I think we tried to be very clear in this version of who does what when it comes to building maintenance too the day-to-day stuff is not done by the city it's done by the operator but it's the city's building and so any larger Building Maintenance would be our responsibility anytime they want to do something to the building they just have to set tell us and and make sure that we say it's okay uh and then we're paying for the kind of the oper building operation costs utilities um they ask us if they need snow clearing that that kind of stuff I expect there'll be some conversation with them about that as well well but I like that it's specific in this contract and I think the contract we bring to the city we'll try to keep it that specific so it's that's definitely something I've been hearing from them is they want clarity about who's going to do what there's been a little lack of that I think in the building construction that I appreciate everybody's patience to get through but there's no need for us to have to worry about that on an operations basis yeah so the improvements they do intend to make to the interior of the building to make it work as a holding does that just become part of the building or is that something if for whatever reason their contract ended then they would remove that like you put in dog kennel you know does that stay or well I think there's different levels of improvement some of which might be personal property that would go and some of which are permanent improvements that would stay say so for dog kennels for instance that stuff is pretty built in uh I don't know whether that'll be true for all of the types of facilities they use they may have crates that they're using for some things and and I expect that's going to change over time too as if they run into a um a need for more resources to to build the space out and we have to start with some version of it that's maybe not quite fully built out then there might be some more personal property that's being used for that that kind of eventually changes to permanent improvements or if they improve outside for runs and things in the outside yeah there's a fence on the property that's a permanent type Improvement so there there's Vision that goes along with this that that's the entire reason we're we the city are involved in this project is to provide this service and we don't we don't have the same vision about what that service is that a does they really have a much higher level of service that they're willing to provide and we're cooperating with them to do that and it's really the only reason we are building this building so even if for some reason this contract didn't continue or the there was some changes in the group um this model I think is what we'd be looking for is some local grp group that has the energy and the passion to do this to continue to operate the space I can't foresee us wanting to go a different direction operate it oursel or do something else with the property it's really all about what a wants to do with it right now okay getting back to your first piece around contact information so just on aside from that what is the agreement if is it just that let's say the Sheriff's Office does pick up a dog and needs to deliver it they just do it themselves or is it essential then that someone from there meets them at that time to get it checked in and whatever it's gone different ways uh I don't think that it's always that someone from a is there to meet them um but it's been a few years now since we've had a building so I think we can revisit that question and listen to a and how they want to do it that what the contract says is that they have to allow the city and county and law enforcement access to the space at any time and to do something like that like if an animal was was brought in I think typically what happens is they bring it in when they when they have it and then notify a and then a schedules providing Services as needed rather than is there to intake all right yeah so I guess I was think thinking you type what telephone number and contact time then I'm thinking well I guess if the sheriff can just bring the animal and drop it off whenever then that becomes less of an issue of when they're available yeah and and um it might be nice for us to have a guaranteed we call the answer number uh but I think if we just had a few contact numbers that would work I wouldn't want to limit it to between 10 and three for our purposes either no no so uh that I think that's more about the model of open to the public and I don't think that's where we're going with this okay anyone else have thoughts on this Craig did you have anything no okay what there's no um important feedback then bill and I will just schedule a sit down with the a folks and have some conversations about what do we need to do to get this language right and get you a final draft version to consider in the near future okay I would like to get that done as soon as possible just knowing how for them it's been kind of a rough ride it's been um yeah I think the basic framework looks pretty sound good you know might need some tuning here and there but I think there's a good frame to work with yeah it'd be good to get this part finished up and then they can keep doing their stuff and the rest of their building stuff's going okay right now as far as I know okay it is uh it's nice that it's a nice fall mhm yeah yes all right well we'll look then for that barely soon again a final on that one thanks you too appreciate it um um next up is us uh sharing for um Michael keeport and the county um wanted to bring to our Public's attention um they are updating the Count's hazardous mitigation plan and this affects everyone in the entire County including within the city it affects um a variety of of natural events that might happen from bad storms and winds and blizzards to fires including our Harbor issues and they need public input and everyone then is welcome to directly provide that input into my keyboard port and his office and his uh title is the Cook County Emergency Management director um you can email into him at mike. Keyport co. cook. mn. us they do this every five years and of course we're hoping that we can um get involved in this a little bit more for the city around East Bay on that so just a public service here to let everyone know that that input is needed as they update this plan did anyone else have anything to comment on this all right um I guess that's it then on the regular agenda we're on to council and staff reports Craig okay I don't have anything either I've got uh I think maybe what we have a planning zoning next Wednesday right did you make it over to the open house I was sick oh join that club Wednesday and Thursday yeah my football team yeah it's been going around hi anything yeah I think we had a pretty successful roll out of the tree board up at the 4 building um to me anyhow it was it was a good turnout I mean a lot of people came in they asked a lot of good questions they used the displays and left feedback and I think it gave a good starting point for that too and how's the inventory going has anybody got an update how he's doing they were going to saw their staff a lot last week in town so but I haven't heard an update now just seem to see me sh I've not spoken to anyone same as Mike i' I've seen them out and about doing their thing but that's the extent my contact well they had the weather cooperating for all their efforts so I really appreciate um Shane and Patrick and Alyssa's efforts there to really get the word out too and Alyssa put together a really nice email to send out to all of our our list from our e newsletter and that was really nice so great effort and yeah and then with the what is that Ruby's what was there that night the farmers market Farmers Market that's what it was yeah that helped a lot too so yeah on a night that felt like middle of July not early fall okay um I have an update well and Mike can um kind of add to this as well in case I don't have this very well but um wanted to give everyone update on where we stand with our short stay rental ordinance yeah um so the county uh with Tim Nelson's retirement at the end of 2025 and their redoing how things are going over there to some extent Tim has decided he does not want to at this time take on um a joint agreement with the city for licensing um and so we have some options I know Mike's had several conversations with the County Administrator trying to work see if there were other options around this or if this is a matter of us waiting till some of that gets reset with Staffing and all their needs and maybe that's a snart approach to that I'm not sure I know we have just a couple one or two that you need to take action on and some notifications but um at this point we can talk if someone has some other ideas um we can put it back on the agenda formally but I just wanted give everyone an update of where that was at for right now so did you have anything more you wanted to add hopefully you all read that in last month's administrator update U but I just would add that I think Tim's concern is that they wouldn't have the existing resources to take on the workload of how many licenses they expect the city to generate and that in order to increase the resources they get stuck in between a whole number of positions and that doesn't that's not a good plan to think about trying to hire a half position so because they might be considering some sorts of reorganization next year with Tim's leaving it's a better time for us to think about is there other resources that we might need to borrow or buy from them is there some way that we can bring more to the table to make that a whole position is there something else that they decide they need so this just a better opportunity because of that conversation to figure out how to handle that additional Staffing need and I think they have a handful of questions that are similar like that with you know with the the parks and trails commission and the saw tooth Bluffs and and those sorts of positions that have all kind of been little half positions that people have absorbed into full positions uh that they've moved around a bit and so we'll keep talking to them about how to how to make it work and what I'm asking now is is okay well we wouldn't we wouldn't ask to do what we did but could we borrow 20 hours or 50 hours a year of time or just some kind of access to the expertise that they're developing and and we'll see how that goes and I wanted to bring this out at our meeting because we've spoken about this we've had a plan we had a timeline and I've I hear from the general public why isn't this happen happening we want this set up and so I wanted to make sure we had this brief conversation and I was unaware that that was considered only a part-time position so I didn't know that that was you know they were doing so that was a learning for me all right and then the only other thing just so we don't forget it's time to get um the Time Capsule ready for the new building so if anybody has some fun ideas of what groups are whoever we might want to bring in on that to make a contribution we can be putting our thinky caps on and by next meeting we should uh be sending something out or hello plan yeah ready to go they have the spot all set for us and so this yeah so um that is all that I have what about the state of the range well I'm join the sick Club oh no good yeah so rats yeah so sorry about that but it's okay cares I don't have anything okay my meeting's tomorrow for the library okay what have you got Mike you saw it all on the agenda and seems like it worked off pretty well so that's good all right good well with that then this meeting adjourns at 7:14 we all right thanks Chris thank good night everybody good night good night guys good night Craig you're not going to set a record