##VIDEO ID:v7Mzv49XRbM## got to be I'll call order the city council meeting for Monday September 16th 2024 everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay roll call Brian here Kevin kadada here Tim rudde here Cindy fur here and Scott palava here okay um first of all as we get going tonight appreciate everybody coming to the council meeting I assume we all came to cheer on our local Hometown hero right so if you stick around you'll uh we'll get that addressed but uh thanks for coming so on the agenda tonight it goes through 10 J additions deletions or corrections to the agenda move to approve the agenda is presented motion my councilman palava second thank my councel person Fe any further discussion all those in favor I oppostion carries approval of minutes consider approval of the minutes from the August 26th 2024 special meeting and the August 29th 2024 regular meeting any additions deletions or corrections to the minutes and will we approve the minutes motion my councilman kada second second my council person Fior any further discussion all those in favor I I motion carries there no public hear readings presentation of citizens petitions and comments comments limited to two minutes so if you're not on the agenda now is your opportunity to speak okay two items on the consent agenda consider approval to accept police officer Cody brotherton's letter of resignation and authorized staff to advertise the position consider approval to authorize staff to advertise for a part-time liquor store clerk at grade 1 Step 1 1638 an hour would anybody like either of those items appre for discussion move to approve the consent agenda motion by councilman palava second second by councilman kadada any further discussion all those in favor I oppos motion carries um with that uh um resignation we actually do already have three applicant for the uh to fill that police positions we expect to uh fill that pretty quickly um we're actually doing interviews tomorrow so hopefully next uh council meeting or two we'll have a have them replaced so it should be good shape 24-hour coverage and and a big shout out to our chief as you know in this town are pleased to do a really good job so thank you there is uh no old business tonight on to new business presentation of a West Central Sanitation Good Neighbor recycling program check to American Legion Post 586 for recycling 37.47860 American Legion Post 586 okay let's call uh the commander and the past Commander there's a couple of goodlook people from Lawnsdale area thank you appreciate it appreciate it he that's a great program I don't know if you if you have the sum totals of where we are today but it's been a lot of recycled material in our community has been I don't have the numbers with me today okay I don't know if you unless you recall Joel or anything but uh um it's uh a lot and you know obviously not only better best for the environment of course but just the whole fundraising thing and and all that kind of stuff so it's really a great program good program thank you of course we love our American Legion uh yeah mayor um just to follow up on that uh since um West Central Sanitation took over as our um huler in the second quarter of 2020 since then uh just under 600 pounds of materials been recycled 59849974 our our community I I do remember one story where uh it was really windy and there's cardboard going all over MC's uh parking lot and of course Al fitter is out there rallying the troops picking up everything and Public Works was there too so big shout out for you guys did a good job okay on to presentation of a life saving local her award to gr fitter we'll start with the police chief Jason schmidtz thank you mayor members of the council um my 23 years of being in this profession um never had this before so this is pretty extraordinary but anyways I'll give you a synopsis of kind of what happened um on August 12th around 3:41 in the afternoon the L police and fire department were dispatched to a vehicle fire with someone still in the vehicle at rail 19 Bar and Grill while responding First Responders learned the person was removed from the vehicle was unresponsive and the vehicle was still burning during our investigation we learned the following that an employee with rail 19 bar and gril was not feeling well went to his vehicle after some time other co-workers started smelling in order of smoke and walked outside to find a vehicle on fire with the employe employee sitting in the driver's seat unresponsive this is when cooworker Grant fitter showed great courage and bravery by entering the burning vehicle and removing the employee from the driver's seat saving his life and uh I was able to watch the squad video which kind of captured it all and it is uh unbelievable because when the officer got there which wasn't uh very long after the call came out um the vehicle was already you know inflamed inside so without his actions we' have been making a death notification so with that M Grant if you'd like to come up the comments in the paper but it was almost like an action movie Tom Cruz most of you know the family long father School gr involved in a lot of programs ofce Govern of things and so really we're very proud of you in recognition of your courageous and heroic lifesaving action during the vehicle fire on August 12th 2024 in Lonzo Minnesota Put Yourself In Harm's Way to save another human life the city of lonz and Community thank you for your braver on behal of the city of L I'm not sure if you want to say a few words or because if we let your dad talk it'll be like an hour and a half I think he did have to get his haut after you just shave it off get it over with oh boy all right good job there Grant okay on to consider approval of a letter of support to the Emergency Medical Services regulatory board for Northfield Hospital at clinics linger change request Brian Edwards Northville Hospital EMS Chief welcome I haven't seen you in a long time been a long time Mr thank you looks like you're aging pretty well I feel like some days feel like it most days thank you mayor thank you Council I didn't actually have a formal presentation Joel had asked me to be here if I could in case you have any questions regarding this so I don't know what you'd like for me to discuss or tell you if you've had an opportunity to read the um the letter I think we sent the language over correct yes absolutely do you have any updates with your program or anything or anything going on that's exciting or uh our first responder training is starting back up so we're going to be doing that I sent uh you got a copy of that email didn't you yeah I don't know if he's going to send anybody but I know Joe's going to send several people to the training so that's good yeah okay yeah the the letter of support is we're making an application uh change in licensure from full-time ALS to part-time ALS it's really difficult to find and hire paramedics these days it's a nationwide shortage it's a big problem we've been lucky so far that we manage to keep a paramedic or two or three on some shifts but we're trying to prepare for that day that that doesn't happen so that we we stay in state compliance so we don't intend to reduce our services or anything matter of fact we might be able to add additional unit hours which is good just might not have paramedic on all the trucks sure well again on behalf of the city we appreciate all your work over the many years that you've the city you've done a really good job so yeah we love coming over here and just staying we don't like being busy yeah there you go not trying to drum up business and thankfully we didn't have to didn't have to right right good all right thank you sir than thank you well I make a motion for approval of the letter of support of EMS regulatory board motion my councilman Paul second second my council person fa any further discussion all those in favor I I oppos motion carries consider approval of resolution 2024 d37 a resolution entering into mot agreement number 10593 before with the state of Minnesota Department of Transportation for snow and ice removal Mr thank you mayor and members of the council uh with Highway 19 being a state highway and kind of our our business district um we have contracted with or mot has contracted with us over the years to uh load and remove the snow from Highway 19 from uh First Avenue we'll say East uh West to uh Second Avenue West um and basically what this um constitutes is the windro that that minda creates they plow the the traffic lanes and leave everything there we come through and clean everything up uh it used to be an annual agreement that we had with mindat um a couple years back um they were audited and couldn't prove um justification or accountability on what they were were paying out so they um determined that uh it's about um or the the total agreement is uh $7,500 that the city would be uh reimbursed uh for the next I believe four years um I think it's just over $4,000 per Lane mile we have A3 Lane miles that um this agreement covers uh it would be uh entering into an agreement through June 30th of 29 again uh snow and ice remov on Highway 19 between First Avenue East and Second Avenue West um as I said the the total agreement is $756 17 uh we agree to uh request a lumpsum payment for the season no later than June 1st we're agreeing to indemnify the state except for um any actions caused by their negligence uh each part is agreeing to be responsible for their own actions and that shall not be responsible for the other parties um our statutory t limit every year um we choose to not wave the statutory tort limits um as stated in State Statute 466 uh we're agreeing that the city's books must remain available for a minimum of six years after the end of the agreement uh agreed to comply with the data Practices Act uh agreed the state can terminate the agreement at any time with or without cause with 30 days um written notice uh they can terminate the agreement due to insufficient funding uh and agreeing that the city is not able to terminate the agreement so once we enter into it uh we are committing to uh snow removal as I said for the the term of the contract um it's I mean the city's been removing this snow for this section of Highway 19 for decades so this is just a more or less quite frankly a housekeeping item uh the slow removal expectations in the business district are are High um So based on that regardless if we entered into an agreement with mot or not I would fully expect that we would be removing uh loading and and Hauling the snow regardless of if we got reimbursed by by mot uh as I said the the fiscal impact is the city will receive just over $7,500 over the term of the agreement uh Alternatives would be to not enter into the agreement and and as I just said there's no doubt that we'll be receiving phone calls and be removing the snow regardless includeed with my staff report uh resolution 202 24-37 and the proposed agreement with with minda uh unless there's any questions staff would recommend approval of resolution 2024-25 so Move Motion my councilman kada second my councilman wmer any further discussion all those in favor I opposed motion carries consider approval of an amendment to the agreement between the city of londsdale and width for the city hall/ library facility and future Master planning program Mr all right thank you mayor members of the council um over the last several Council meetings um Representatives was with Seth have been updating the Council on uh the plans and specs where we are and um going through the design and the the the comments from the the project file when it was constructed we were under the impression that the the HVAC system was a a zone system that's how it was bid but due to budget cuts when they constructed the building they needed to eliminate that um so it was either a one or a two Zone and then due to um complaints of just you know too hot too cold work environment they did um kind of add a aftermarket um zoned heating system uh based off of the proposed plan and the amount of changes that are being made on the interior that system would not work uh in addition to that um there are two rooftop units on the on the roof obviously um that are nearing their life expectancy so through discussions um with the Planning Group and the city council Uh Wood Seth was given direction to design a new HVAC system to account for the the um correct zone system uh that was not included as part of the original contract that the city or that we have currently with with width um we did uh meet virtually and reviewed the the scope of work um and they submitted a uh hourly not to exceed proposal of uh I think it was 61,63 uh and then also there was some some master planning work that was done in structural design for the future Library we weren't able to find the survey for for the property so we we had a surveyed and then um going through the planning process um at one point it was to bring the the Clin or I'm sorry the uh the library along and they needed to perform some some structural work more than than just you know a site plan how it fits the square footage what the interior layout would be um so it's proposed to amend the agreement um to the not to exceed amount of uh 13 $136,800 I guess if the council has any questions I'd certainly um be happy to answer them otherwise uh would recommend that the um contract Amendment uh between the city of lawdale and WTH for the city hall Library facili a future Master planning project be approved definitely going to need to hit the building and we need to do efficiently so and I move we approve the amendment motion by councilman Canada second second by councilman palava any further discussion all those in favor oos motion consider approval of resolution 2024 38 resolution approving the city hall remodel project plans and specifications and ordering advertisement for bids Dana liuk come on up sir thank you for coming good evening thank you Council mayor um WTH Architects Engineers have completed the construction documents at this time uh we've completed the documents and the specifications for the remodel of the city hall a clinic to the City Hall project and at this time we're prepared to release those drawings out to bid with an advertisement they posted tomorrow yeah be posted tomorrow in the paper uh the process is uh going forward it's a 3-we advertisement so project is advertised for 3 weeks uh then with a bid opening um I don't have the dates right in front of me I apologize but three weeks for for bidding and then bid opening uh and then upon the bid opening um for General Contractors will come back to the council then for approval to go ahead with construction so it opens three weeks from tonight what uh October 8th October 8th at 2 pm okay thank you it'll be tabulated and then presented to the council at the October 10th council meeting Joel do you remember in a couple of those um U design meetings or La the last couple I think we were going to have alternate on U some window windows to the South yep those were incorporated three windows on the south side of the uh existing building we coordinated the locations of those with hopefully the future penetrations for the library to be able to come through those areas perfect those were included as an alternate and then in work room 131 we were going to switch that door but I mean Minor Detail but we're going to take another door and have it a left swing and open against that wall um we're hoping to use one of the existing doors that were there yeah that's that provider room that's being reduced in half and it had that window there with that kind of that funky wall don't remember the top I can you can do with that in staff okay I can address that one yep sure with Joel y okay that's all I other questions no be you interesting to see where the bids come in that this is a winter Pro you know potentially winter project how much cheaper it could be versus trying to bit it in for summertime uh we're seeing reductions in bids right now a lot of contractors are looking for work um I I truly believe if this is Bid in Spring it' be 15 to 20% more absolutely with that I move we approve the plans and specs and advertise for bids Mo my councilman K second my counil pava any further discussion all those in favor I oppos motion carries thank you sir consider approval of resolution 2024-the the execution and delivery of a lease purchase agreement and approving and authorizing execution of related documents Paul Donna that's a name from the past welcome sir still got the same Barber don't you it's uh thank you very much Mr Mayor members of the council good to be here um we're tonight's resolution gets another duck in the rad to essentially provide the financing for your your city hall project uh in your packet is an executive summary that we put together I'm going to go through and highlight a couple items and then certainly answer any of the questions that you have so the resolution would essentially um uh provide for um the financing documents in place for at least purchase financing um they're called certificates of participation it's just a fancy word that is in the Minnesota statutes that it's allow that allows for this type of financing essentially what we're doing is with the financing documents you are uh ground subleasing the land and the improvements of the city hall facility to the bond investors over a period in this case of of the lease purchase financing of 20 years um and in return um you'll be making rental payments or lease payments that are equal to exactly what we sell those certificates of portation for out on the public market um and then at the end of the term of the lease purchase for a nominal fee of $1 you buy the property back and it is it is yours um into the future um you in during the entire process because it's a sublease you own fee title to the property uh but this is a uh lease purchase financing allows you uh to build uh build a facility make improvements acquire the land uh make modifications into the future if you need to um and it's a very straightforward typical financing that cities use in Minnesota to finance public buildings um very straightforward I'll go through the executive summary a little bit um on some of the other highlights but before I do any um questions on just the concept of the lease purchase financing that you you'd be entering into okay um so in the ex I summary there's a few uh paragraphs that I'd like to just highlight um there's a section called security typically the bonds that you issue are backed by the city's General obligation full faith and credit to Levy property taxes at an unlimited rate or amount if needed with a lease purchase financing to qualify as a lease um we do not provide for the general obligation pledge um to to those Bond holders instead uh you you make a pledge essentially to annually appropriate that lease payment on an annual basis in your in your annual budget um because that's not backed up with a full service Levy for 20 years um Bond holders will perceive a little bit more risk than they would with your typical Street project because of that annual appropriation um but because it's an essential asset of the community uh that risk is typically mitigated down to maybe uh maybe 15 basis points or 20 basis points over the life of the bond issue so very minimal risk for an essential asset so that's the first item I wanted to highlight that's different than your typical financing and that's the annual appropriation Clause um the next one on the second page there is the credit rating uh currently your general obligation bonds are rated double A minus by standard and pores which is a very good rating again because of that annual appropriation Clause um the credit rating agency will typically Notch that rating off of your general obligation Baseline rating and they'll Notch it lower uh with an essential asset it's typically only a half Notch so instead of a double A minus it'll be in the high a category probably an A3 or an A2 if it was less essential uh like we see for ice arenas which some people might view that as essential in Minnesota but unfortunately Bond holders don't and so typically you'll see a two or three Notch off of that but because of the essential asset here you'll still we'll still get a a credit rating in the high a category which will bod well for our interest rates uh that will'll eventually lock in um those are the two main items I wanted to focus on that are different than your typical financing that you're used to for the street projects that you've been doing over the years any questions with those um two items or anything else in the executive summary and then I'll I'll move on to the numbers and the timing as well okay so timing wise um you'll get bids back on the 8th they'll be presented on October 10th what we're looking to do is then um uh go in the market and price the bonds shortly after you get those hard bids and finalize your costs so right now we've put together estimates B based on projections but we still have time to fine-tune those costs uh based on those bids that come in so that'll be the timing and you'll have the bond proceeds if that moves forward as planned uh at at the end of the month essentially so you'll have that money in your uh in your treasury to provide for the improvements on the last two pages then we show the sources and uses of the financing and we've structured it we had to structure it with two different series of bonds one is tax exempt and one is taxable and the taxable is related to essentially we are reimbursing ourselves for a prior payment and that was the acquisition of that land that you made some time ago um so those those bonds will be taxable and that's per Federal statutes and then the tax exempt portion is to provide for all the improvements and so the total estimated um right now we're basing the total borrowing off of a project fund requirement for the acquisition and the improvements of a little over $3.1 million and so once we factor in um uh the financing costs that are involved as well as we'll need to um provide for a Debt Service Reserve fund uh again to mitigate that annual proration Clause that Reserve fund will be in place for the term of the financing it'll be earning interest at the trustee at your direction and and one and you'll be using those interest earnings on an annual basis to help make those payments and then at the time that the bonds are about to be paid off you'll cash in that Reserve and use it towards your last payment so it's it's money that has to be set aside but it's working for you and given where the market is today uh you should be able to reinvest it at what your borrowing cost is and so it'll be a break even say is it prepayment penal May so good good question Mr Mayor uh we are um estimating that a A prepayment or refinancing option after year eight um I'm sorry um right here it say in in our executive summary it says in 2034 which would be year 10 uh we are going to try and push that to probably closer to year eight to allow for um an early option to repay and refinance like you've done in the past it it is most likely you'll you'll refinance these again before the term is up and reduce your interest future interest cost because of that prepayment feature that you'll have in there so good question and then on the last page it shows how the the repayment structure is set and you'll notice that the taxable certificates the 2024b um I'm sorry the two yeah 2024b we start amortizing those right away and we try to amortize those as quickly as we can because they're taxable they're going to carry a higher interest rate compared to the tax exempts and then we fit the tax exempt portion and we wrap it around the taxable portion to come up with a level annual Debt Service which is on the very far rightand side so you can see that that far right hand column takes into account our debt service and our estimated interest earnings and combined between the tax bill and the tax exempt today we're estimating interest rate of about 4.17% and that would be fixed for the life of the bonds um I we timing wise we wanted to get these priced either before or after the general election in November um because it's just an unstable time typically um and so this time frame has us getting in the market before the general election closing before uh the end of the month in October and gen the the market has been really um getting better over the last month and a half uh so this this interest rate estimate is today it's probably just slightly little higher than what would be today but we still have a few more I was going ask you the FED Cuts I so that come right that's this week so uh we'll know so right now these interest rates have built in the Market's built in about a 25 basis point cut from the FED if it's any more than that we'll probably see an impact on interest rates um and so that's what's if if they don't do anything then you'll see these rates a little bit higher compared to what I talked about tonight so we'll know Wednesday and Thursday how the Market's going to react so any questions so tonight gives you the full Authority for us to move forward pull everything together we've been working with your bond attorneys at dorsy with the documents and getting this prepared um so with approval tonight you are locked in and ready to go except that uh once the bonds are priced of course that's the final action that you'll have nothing's obligated tonight it just provides you the groundwork for for everyone to pull the trigger uh when the timing's right so and these numbers right now right now are not to exceed until we get our bid numbers that's correct y are these numbers in the resolution are not to exceed number for the actual financing and in working with Joel We there's should be some some cushion there to to take care of any bids that come in maybe a little bit higher so any other questions do we have the option to only finance the renovation that was going to be my question too that that is an that certainly is an option yes so you I didn't catch what is the prepayment penalty say we just make the decision that we want to refinance in year two or that we want to just pay it off that's a great question I wasn't clear so with what when I when I talk about either an eight-year call feature or 10year call feature we are essentially um locked out for either 8 years or 10 years from being able to refinance and and save money at the same time um you would in year four and that would be at no penalty after after eight year eight or year 10 zero penalty right um we have run into cases where we've had to for whatever reason restructure an outstanding debt prior to that call date the 8ye or the 10 year um it if we have to do that we are we can it's just costly to do that so you've got the flexibility it's just costly depending on where the market is at that point uh because we'll have to pay the bond holders their interest that's due up to year eight or 10 exactly gotcha yep but conversely I think you touched on the the advantage of financing everything is a carrying cost will either be zero or potentially be higher pending the interest rates and then in addition to that the reserves I'm sure help our bond rating for other projects throughout the city and all those kind of things yeah yeah so the um I mean when I when we look at um with with that question one thing to certainly take into account is what are we borrowing the money for versus what can we use it for and or what can we have it invested for currently so I think that ways as well so for an all-in cost of 4.17% um I think you we can get a treasury bond for higher than that today exactly so I think from a purely economic perspective it's a lower cost of borrowing than what you can currently have that money invested in and if you really want to protect it you get long-term treasury you know if you're above the rate basically guaranteed you won't lose money right you know that's why I'm not too excited about burning up our reserves for the city plus you know you want to do other things you CU we take it we take that money out of reserves and that that money is tied up in investment or you know whatever it may be whatever types of different programs right so we're actually losing money with it not being right making money for us so right put it back in there yeah it makes all the sense but we still have to collect enough proper taxes to cover the payments so if if we were taking the lesser amount then we would have to essentially collect less right then you're right then you're losing 5% interest so you'd have to balance that out I mean it should be the Assumption to collect the property taxes I me that's what they're betting on right you know everybody right but yeah Joel you had talked at the budget meeting that we will have to basically have some equity into this that is not included in these numbers right now I'm Mr that that is included would not so on page four we have an equity contribution we're showing of two 243,000 that's essentially covering um that's essentially covering the first two payments or in the first interest payment and first principal interest payment on the bonds um and so that's what yeah there is an equity contribution by the city and that's what it'll go right into The Debt Service fund to make those payments got it okay any other questions anybody so again essentially what we're doing now tonight is just saying let's get the ducks in a row and then we'll make the final decision after we get the bids correct for pricing or how much to uh basically you're you're get you're given uh be okay to go ahead with the um the the financing as long as um where's my information here as long as one of the series isn't more than 1.45 million and the true interest cost doesn't exceed 4.7 5% and then the second insuance would be not to exceed 1.9 million um with a true interest cost that does not equal 5.75 right I guess so based off based off of past projects once the council approves this we're selling the bonds right well I guess so to the question that Cindy raised if we decide after we get the bids that we only want to issue bonds for the construction cost and not for the purchase of the building we still have that option after tonight tonight my recommendation would be to make that decision tonight we don't know numbers what it we don't know what the bid documents are going to come back showing we have no we don't know what the cost will be we are hoping that was fa in these numbers not to exceed and not to exceed it's no different than a street project you don't you know change orders all that kind of stuff right if we if the bid numbers com in lower and we don't use that money back it just stays in that fund and then at the end of the either the eight or 10 years or the 20 years whatever we take it for it's just paid off earlier so so we will adjust these numbers based on your bid bid numbers that come in and um and so long as we don't exceed essentially how the resolution is you've given authority to issue those bonds so long as we don't exceed those numbers we we will certainly make the adjustments to reflect so if we're going to reduce them because of favorable bids this you'll borrow less if the bids come in higher you'll these will be adjusted higher up to the max got it based on that resolution but if we were going to break them out we probably we already know what the the purchase price is where that that's a that number is a hard fast number so and that would be the one that we would be uh financing internally you know potenti well that that that not my point that would be the one so really there that that that number is the number it is so I mean if we were going to make that decision we'd be able to make that decision tonight we don't have to wait because that would that would make sense to if if we were going to go that route to not um do bonds on that because that's going to be more expensive because that's the taxable ones so we we'd want we if we were going to go that rout we'd have to do that tonight the other one up in the air correct I guess that that's a great Point could be because everything is being set in motion all the documents are being drafted to to be ready to move when you get the bids so if you're if you're going to remove a piece of this project it's best done tonight rather than rather than later yeah yeah that that' be the best way to go about it I guess in my mind I'm kind of I I I would lean towards bonding for the construction costs and take out the purchase I understand the concept of we can put the money in the bank and we can earn interest on it but I'm worried about the market where it's going um I personally don't trust it at this point so I don't know if we're going to get that return um you know and that's a risk and I understand that by saying that I'm agreeing that I'm not willing to take that risk we've already purchased it we can replenish those those accounts I believe through the increased tax base that we have coming in the future so that in my mind is a is a a better play for the taxpayer because like Cindy said you know we have to collect the taxes to cover the debt service so if we have less Debt Service that's less tax we have to collect down the road that's that's where I I think my my heads at at this at this time I mean well yeah we whatever you guys think generally like in business you would not burn your cash right oh I understand yeah I totally understand because if we if we do if we burn through that cash then that ultimately could affect our bond rating too correct because what we have what we have in liquid is important part of our bond rating uh reserves and your liquidity certainly is a is a a major significant factor in your credit evaluation yeah yes yeah so if we took the 1.8 hit took that out of reserves how how significant of credit how would it affected ball part I'm not hold you to it I I wouldn't be able to answer that at this point but what does that represent out of your total general what is our Reserve to uh I would say in reserve we have 10 million Okay so 18% 20% that's but that's that's today right cuz this money is already out correct yeah so the 10 million is the 10 million we have today not 10 million less the money already so I mean we'd be talking close to 12 if that money was going to be coming out some of that's dedicated though it's not all pure correct I was going to say that's that service accounts we talked about having fund balance pre payment of that's B essentially three businesses right water sewer liquor okay um so it's not just that it's all just oh yeah free money I know it's not commitments yeah absolutely it's it's dedicated funds yeah I understand it's dedicated funds and I do agree that we want to put that money back I just think the extend expanded tax base that we have coming in the future is the way we should put that money back rather than borrow to put that money back because essentially what it comes down to is the money that we spent from those funds has already been taken from the taxpayers so if we borrow now well yes and no I mean for example if you take it from the water and sewer that's dedicated money for future improvements right but it's already been but but it's all we we have one Revenue stream well two liquor store yeah but it's it's all it's money that people have given us through fees through through purchases through taxes already right so we borrow now and then we have to tax for The Debt Service essentially we're kind of taxing again that's that's the way I kind of see it um so I I get it I understand you know there's the potential to make money on the investments in my mind again I think you know it's not even so much the money I mean we certainly can do what you're saying I think either way really works we might be arguing over something that's maybe irrelevant yeah um I've always just been in business all these years is Cash is key you don't want to bring cash and helps the bonding and all that kind of stuff but no if if you feel we want to spend the reserves and and the future councils will recoup the money that's I I mean I think we have spent the money from reserves already so we're not asking we're not asking for more no right my point is it's not costing you anything right you know that's that's all yeah and I mean you you know I think that's down the road yes we replenish it and you know we okay I I don't personally I don't feel like we have to put that money back tomorrow okay I don't I that's that's my my my take on this I don't think we have to put that money back tomorrow what do we know what the rate of return is on ask that money that's in there that would be in uh we have a few CDs but most of our um Investments are in the 4M fund um and those rates are 5.16 to 5.18 that's my point make at least a percent it's a percent so a percent on 1.8 million yeah you're you're covering all your interest right right like I it just that's you know what how I have always felt in business but either way will this be set up like from our reserves will it be set up like um we did when we did the liquor store you know we borrow from the sewer fund we replenish that with the liquor from the liquor fund and we charge interest on that is that how this loan is going to be set up or how this repayment will be set up into our own reserves uh what I'm here now is we're not going to replenish it right I'm saying if what was you know if we bonded for it correct it would be it would be um proportionate to to the the amount of dollars uh from each fund correct yeah I mean a% you know that's yeah and could Poss could possibly be more or or you know we don't I guess we don't know the the fluid of the actual interest rate of the note I don't want to I don't want to push you know push this out any you know further but could we do we know what what we'd be looking at if they were split if we if we just did the one that's that's in here that's um I don't I didn't my point is we have to decide tonight if you want more maybe the council wants more resource um uh well nothing's going to happen uh Finance right I can no if if you don't decide tonight um we'll try our best to keep at that schedule but um and depending on when your next meeting is but I I think based on the discussion there seems to be indecision and there's questions you know maybe if we did add a little more staff research then maybe it could answer Brian's question or Cindy or Scott or you know and just make sure I mean this is a lot of money and we want to make sure we're making the correct decision so I I don't think we should rush into it tonight I think you know weeks we can our next meeting would be the 26 26 yeah so it's it's 10 days right I think we should take the time and do it right make sure we get make sure everybody's comfortable so there's no I thought this or you know you didn't get that and obviously staff and Pa get all the information that anybody requests so so with that timeline I mean because then we're looking at the 8th of October you know the 10th I mean that's I know it might be a little bit later than that or or or how how quickly does this move we we will work under your timeline um it may be you know the closing may be delayed a couple weeks well my even the bids can be held for you know 30 days or whatever just that's a great question because you're right we shouldn't yeah we shouldn't rush this if if we're not comfortable you know we should take the time and make sure we do it right and there's there's lots of great points for every aspect right I hate to burden you with any more work or anything no the work's done I just I didn't have it with I've got it's broken out um so that's that's information we can provide you easily get it to next pack and we'll address it on the uh unless you have a concern Joel no I was just so all we're looking at is just um I think basically we're weighing for the one not to receive the the tax exempt bonds correct the taxable were the reimbursement yeah so essentially getting rid of those yeah right so the question is if you know if we burn up the reserves or if we bond for that's really the question so maybe you can analyze those costs and but I do think you should factor in the city uh Bond rating impacts if if you can kind of figure that out um you know and those kind of things saying we're you know we're just in doing this would drop us to a high a right right so if you burn your reserves I think well is that that's currently with the with the money already spent out of reserves or was that no no so your your base rating will will likely not change it's the rating will F will the lower rating is attributed to the type of financing not not the change so regardless of whether it's both or just one that's that that impacts the same that's correct correct because we're not pledging the Full Faith and yeah taxing the city we have the Appropriations clause in there right right he I think if you don't mind you know running some numbers for us and get it back in the packet to make C I guess the good thing is we'll have the bids at that point too well no well we wouldn't not know the eth 20 and a half month ahead well does the 26th even work P it's gonna go out on Friday what if you did and the 10th is is too late or what you did October 10th the same same as you same meeting right the same meeting because I theoretically you could you could run the risk not that it's likely but if the bids were rejected for some reason um you know for some reason way high that you didn't accept them then you know so I guess that's my question I mean ideally you'd like to have the bids complete or approved but I don't know if that works on a timeline for findan well I think we set the timeline is just right right M I think if we're going to hold off on this we should see what the bid is because that's a great point we should just make sure the bids are in fact less than so then so then we're out till the October 28th council meeting 10th no because we're going to have to have all work done so we're going to have to know what the bid is and then draft the paay documents yeah we'll need more time and is that problematic not not on our end you're just we're just it's if you can wait that long yeah the only thing what we'll want to do is price after the election so we're probably not pricing until mid to late November and closing in December that wouldn't create any issue with the actual project as far as things getting done just I be Cas on it yeah yeah as long as you've got be reimbursing you may not have the proceeds to make your first contractor payment you can cash flow that internally that's can we have how a third how many days is it that we can reimburse ourselves uh we've got 90 days 90 yeah yeah yeah I mean get our questions answered and we should we should entertain a motion in the table and just to what date we wanted right tap to 28th and to be sure that would saying is at the next meeting correct that would be the the next meeting after October 10th we rescheduled it because of Halloween we rescheduled yeah Monday so unless I mean do any any ramifications to that be just the interest rate potentially right that would really be the only thing that's the only thing that's really that fluid in the whole thing right yeah how much we want to borrow I'll make the motion okay motion by councilman worin second second by Council F to table uh resolution 202 24-39 until the October 28th city council meeting probably doesn't make a difference but I won't be able to be here at that meeting so hopefully I how come I just yet okay oh I've got I've yeah I've got another board meeting that night I think you explained it really I think we it's just our decision now yeah it'll it'll be laid out as to what the difference is between the two you'll have bids it'll be based on the bid numbers and right nothing else would be different would it be possible to see that at our next meeting and not make the decision until the bids are in you know to to weigh out the differences in in pricing the not to exceed number yeah I mean we can just we can't do anything till the 28th anyway I suppose so I just sometime will wait yeah okay any further discussion or is there second second second okay any further discussion all those in favor I I opposed thank you thank you good discussion city council consider approval of resolution 202 24-40 a resolution accepting a $2,000 donation from the TR Lake sportsman's club to purchase Wildlife fter suppression equipment Mr all right thank you mayor members of the council uh anytime that a donation is made to the city it has to be uh accepted by the city council um first a statute 46504 um cities of the fourth class may receive and accept gifts and donations for the ENT benefit of the city um we need to um accept the res or excuse me the donation um accepting the donation and agreeing to use the donation um for the intended purpose of the donation which is to to purchase wildlandfire suppression equipment because there may be donations made to the city that the council may not want to use the money for for example um so that's why it's stun by resolution accep in the dollar amount and what the um proposed expense is is uh what that is so uh by accepting by approving the resolution the council is accepting the donation and agreeing to use it to purchase Wildland fire suppression equipment pretty straightforward so unless there's any questions staff would recommend approval of uh I guess this becomes resolution 2024 d39 I'll make a motion to accept the donation and with a thank you from dry L SP Club Cava myada any further discussion well we're going to run out of room on these fire trucks with all this fire suppression equipment hang that's sry they're getting bigger every time we order one so those in favor I I oppos Carri okay consider approval of a labor agreement between the city of Londale and law enforcement labor Services representing patol officers local 369 Mr all right thank you mayor members of the council um because of the current state of law enforcement and due to the defund the police movement uh lack of respect for police officers over the last four years it's becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain police officers this isn't this is a nationwide problem created by a lack of leadership and support of law enforcement that has allowed this to happen uh it's not just a a Lonsdale situation every every city county state is dealing with this uh the current three-year agreement ends uh December 31st of this year uh and then due to the increased difficulty of attracting and retaining officers we entered into negotiations this spring um essentially to discuss and implement the wage increase effective July 1st of 24 which is not included in the current labor agreement and then to negotiate an approve an agreement effective July 1st 2025 uh based on the meetings held um with representation of the Union police officers myself and the chief of police um the proposed or the the um pay scale in your packet is what was approved um so 1124 the pay range ranged from $30 and22 to $413 um that equated to salaries of 62,000 18576 to 85342 40 uh we agreed to a pay scale uh 71 effective of $319 $35.98 as step one to $445 this pay scale this pay range is 74,0 69280 uh at Step 1 and at step 8 91,4 what that equated to as a percent increase was the officers received between a 7.08% increase and a 13.4% increase the average amongst all the officers was 10.63 it should be noted that no other City employee received a raise 71 uh once the July 1st pay scale was a to the parties negotiated the remaining terms or the the terms of the contract for 25 and 26 uh items that we discussed at the meetings uh holidays vacation wages training the term of the contract life insurance severance pay call back on call status uniforms training and Specialty pay officer in charge healthc care Savings Plan implementation shift differential and fitness for Duty based on the ne iations the following changes to the current agreement have been agreed to by those parties at the table holidays uh we add juneth to the holidays uh this was added once it became a Federal holiday we had a memorandum of understanding to account for that uh officers under the uh current and proposed contract will receive 12 holidays which is the same as as non-union vacation officers can carry carry over 60 hours of unused vacation into the following year any hours in excess of 60 will be paid out the first pay uh payroll in December the payout in December is new the hours didn't change non-union employees can carry over Max of 40 hours with no payout in excess of 40 it's a use it or lose it wages um obviously this is the the main negotiation of this contract and quite frankly every contract we've negotiated uh again based on meetings held between the union police officers myself and the chief of police uh the proposed pay scales in your packet are what we agreed to I talked about the 11 one pay uh or 1124 the pay range was $302 to 4103 for 1125 we're proposing a starting pay 3699 to 4707 that 3699 represents a 22.4% increase over 1124 um we felt it was important to uh increase that that step one so you'll see a much larger increase uh 22.4 like I said and then um at the top of the scale it's an increase of uh just under 15% wages uh step one would be just under 77,000 starting 76 93920 uh and at step eight would be 97,98 60 the pay increase dollar-wise from 1124 to 1125 that step one was a $144,000 pay increase uh step eight was $1,563 120 cents for 1126 the proposed starting pay is 3773 up to 4776 um I know the staff report shows 2% in 1.4 something that is uh across uh officers would see the cola officers would receive a cola and a step um that would equate to 5% so the base wage uh for the last year of the contract step one uh 78,79 40 to a top end of 9,348 then pay increases between the 1124 to 126 uh Step 1 15, 62080 uh and then step8 is an increase of just under 14,3 99840 um and then also included is the the chart um that shows the the same information kind of colorcoded where officers would would go and their placed on on the pay scale so when we began negotiations uh at the first meeting the union always presents their Benchmark communities um of who they are basing their negotiations uh again or on and then we do the same as well for the Benchmark communities that um we feel are representative uh what Chief schmidtz did at the beginning of um negotiations was go to the Post Board website and print off all of the or document all of the agencies that that were hiring there were we got two four six 8 10 12 14 14 agencies hiring at at the time I'm sure there was more but that's what was posted um and the and they range from from all over the place um Lawnsdale Montgomery lour um to Savage Apple Valley Brooklyn Park um so the average minimum pay for all of the communities um that were hiring at the time was $366 uh 71 we're at 3591 so when you when you break that out to community ities of less than 10,000 population uh that our minimum pay is $342 so on the starting Scale based off of negotiations at the time londsdale was already paying 5% above uh communities under 10,000 um what that equated to an an annual base wage was uh $3,421 60 more than the average community under1 ,000 population for the max pay scale uh it's essentially a wash uh we pay uh 36% more which equates to a little over $330 annually so what I take from this is on average for communities under 10,000 londsdale starts at a higher base pay and essentially average tops out at the average consistent with the market back on August 27th the chief did the same comparison of agencies that were hiring at the time uh they ranged from dundis down the street at less than 2,000 um to Rochester at over 125,000 population so the average minimum pay for all communities listed was $357 the average for communities less than 20,000 in population was 348 again londsdale has a higher starting pay um well quite frankly than all the communities um advertising I think we're five just a little over F almost 5.4% um above communities under 20,000 population that equated to $3,800 more starting and again on the Max uh virtually a wash 66% or a little over $600 again what that tells me is what was negotiated is consistent with the market now we talked at the previous meeting that for 25 it's budgeted for a comparable worth or compensation study um that is when it'll get into to the vacation and everything that in our um or the councils does desire of who they want Benchmark you know as we said earlier probably half of them are 5 to 7,000 population and the other communities are selected by the Council of maybe where a certain department or other city employees would go work for you know we have a lot of interaction um Public Works Law Enforcement Administration with Fabo and Northfield you know maybe that they're considered um one of the benchmarks or uh a different communi selected by by the council but that's when the council will have the opportunity to say all right consultant we want you to present us with a plan at Market 100% you know what we don't want to be stolen from we want to steal from so bring your recommendation back at 105% of average or benchmarks or higher whatever the council would would deem appropriate um I think that we we all agree that we want to steal from and not be stolen from uh in addition to the base wage officers receive overtime they receive holiday pay eight hours if they're not working the holiday well eight hours regardless of if they're working or not and time and a half for hours worked on holiday um when serving as a field training officer uh they'll receive uh 30 minutes of overtime for every 4H hour block of training uh base pay for training when accounted for in the 80 hours if it's over 86 hours you paid a time and a half uh provided for commute time for the officers for training and Rice County uh something new to the contract is a 3% pay increase above their base wage if the uh officer is actively training or assigned by the chief to to train employees so they've uh either they've invested in the training or we've invested in the training and since they would have more responsibility they would be paid 3% on top of their wage um for being an instructor uh I talked about the comparable worth and either W to be stolen from or steal from uh training uh we talked about the 3% the duration oh I'm sorry shift differential so officers working between six p.m. and 6: a.m. will receive an additional 50 cents an hour uh the duration proposed to be a two-year contract uh through negotiations it was requested um to increase the current uh $25,000 life insurance policy that the city provides to uh all employees to increase that to 50,000 um I did reach out to our insurance broker and and Citywide it's an additional cost of $1,500 per year so so pretty minimal I think it's $70 or $140 um a year per employee uh as far as the severance the current agreement states that Employees leaving in good standing essentially two week notice uh or due to death or disability um will receive after 10 years 50% of their acred and unused sick time up to 400 hours after 20 years would receive 100% of the accumulated and unused sick time up to 400 hours and then um what was negotiated is that the above amounts and years stay the same but at year 15 would be a 75% payout up to the max of $400 as far as call back there were there there were no changes um um another section new to the agreement that was negotiated is on call status um any officer required by the chief to be on call will be paid 50% of their uh hourly wage while on actively on call um the officer would be expected to respond within a f mile radius and then if the officer is called out would be paid at time and a half Joel could you explain what that is cuz I know there's been times where maybe an officer has maybe they've gone home or something due you know and spent some time at home because of the shift stuff is this something separate or different um this would be if we had a um an open shift okay you know someone called it sick and no one was able to to fill it you know there'd be an officer asked to be on call so basically um you know be uniformed or you you know basically ready to go and respond if if needed okay uh as far as uniforms uh we provide uh three pants three long sleeve shirts three short sleeve shirts a winter jacket a spring jacket um leather gear essentially um their duty belt and accessories uh rain coat um a hat with a badge that is being removed and um the officer is is uh going to be responsible for that uh name tag and collar brass um in the budget on the budget side I know we had earmarked for ballistic vests that that's not included in the contract that's just an employ that's just employment because we're mandated to do that correct yeah there's no mention about vests in the contract okay no no we provide those and and replace them okay uh annually the officers receive 900 $ towards a uniform allowance um they are allowed to carry $1,200 over um so if they wanted to buy something that was more expensive than $900 um well they'd only be able to carry 1,200 over um but that's an increase of of $200 and the AL uniform allowance is not just limited to uniforms uh correct um I don't know if it's happened but we have agreed to um be able to purchase um U Firearms with them thank okay as far as officer in charge that was not included in the the proposed agreement uh we were requested to include healthc care savings plans at the option of the officer um that's allowed per state statute and the Minnesota State Retirement Systems trust plan and documents this would be funded 100% by by the employ employ no contri no contributions made by the city so we do Health Savings Plan contributions support the employees that are non correct HSA we contribute to an HSA is that the same thing as this no healthcare Savings Plan okay no um we contribute uh 75% of the employees deductible correct so this would be above and beyond that okay and funded by by the officer okay uh Fitness for Duty and that was a a big thing that was negotiated into the contract a couple agreements ago and basically what's happening is is it's essentially being removed but yet um at Firearms qualifications the chief wanted to include language that um it not be in a controlled environment St at the range and shoot um so there's uh requirements in there there of running to sprinting so many yards um doing some push-ups shooting reassessing um you know running 30 40 more yards some more physical activity shooting um certainly doesn't replicate um being on duty but more than just standing at the range and and shooting uh we did get confirmation that um they're um agreeing to time cards being due at 9:00 a.m. uh since we began negotiations we implemented a electronic payroll system and it's set up that all time cards need to be submitted to payroll by by 9:00 a.m. uh it was confirmed that uh regardless of your years of service the 1015 or 20 uh the the sick time is capped at 400 hours and then I just went over the the fitness for Duty change as far as the fiscal impact over the term of the agreement um I'm estimating U just over $109,000 that's uh I guess my review of of the theb say that's a pretty detailed report I'll give you that that was you did a lot of research on to make sure that accurate information was yeah to like that offic wages are right in line um there's been some talk about turnover but most of our officers have been here a very long time Jason's been here since we have y yeah at least at least three officers have over uh 17 years experience right right and then I think two of them have six or seven right it's five or six or six or seven so that's that's pretty stable and like I say you I mentioned at the budget meeeting we do have uh police interviews tomorrow we have three candidates we've received three applications uh end of last week so we uh the chief reviewed them real quick got got interview scheduled and we're meeting at HR to interview them later this week or I guess Wednesday Wednesday right I scared for a second what yeah yeah Monday night general question for you what how does one move from step one to two to three uh well years of service um satisfactory performance review and passing Fitness for Duty okay I had asked for um and maybe Tammy wasn't in today um to see I wanted a list of the officers in their pay so I could look at compare that in this so I would see who is at what spot like um officer Todd has been here a long time officer Dave has been here a pretty long time I wondered where they fell in these steps one through eight um do you have I think it was at the budget packet the colored one the colored one yeah I can tell you that officer Brotherton is blue he would have the the least amount of years of service right and then I believe followed by Officer Thelen then Scher and then officers Franklin and and or uh I believe on step seven look at my cop so in 25 next year it it is a to fit on an eight step pay scale and not having to count for longevity which contracts are going that way now right everyone wants to get to the top quicker but then when you get to the top it's coal and that's it so with longevity after say three years after you max out it's 3% plus and then you know three more years after that it's another 3% plus Cola um but we've I what we've been able to do for Union and nonunion is just take two three or four steps off the bottom and put them on on the top end and then next you know we talked about this comptable worth up coming I mean then it'll you kind of analyze things then and things can be reset or whatever whatever the future Council wants to do it would that would that require renegotiating then I mean I'm I'm assuming that the union would be open to that you would say if we well I mean they were on 71 yeah yeah I mean because I I look at the number and I I did do some digging you know I looked at the ls um site and looked at several different cities and just to kind of see you know and and I know it's more than just wages I know we we've had this conversation before but um you know where we're at at the the 25 numbers gets us comparable for everybody who's renegotiating for new numbers as well so we're looking at our 25 numbers versus their 24 numbers so yeah we're getting in line but we're still I still feel like we're a little bit behind and I don't know if that's because of the negotiation schedule on it but that's what I'm seeing I mean if we you know and and the Wild Card one here too of course is always Elco New Market because they're nonunion so their numbers are a little harder to to come by um I think we pay a dollar for all less than them that's it okay compared to Elco yeah like I I haven't seen their numbers I don't know I just I know that they're not Union like you said I think we're what four months from the compan study right then you can you know do a deep dive into it and basically you know if you think we're underpaid you know we certainly can raise it I'm sure the union is not going to object to a pay increase yeah yeah well and I don't know I I guess I don't know the process to say okay Union you know yes you have this contract now for two years but we did this comparable wor study and we want to talk about wages again um I don't know the process to do that I don't I mean I don't know the Hoops that we have to jump Kevin said that a little bit in just but it is true I mean if you feel that you want to give the police more money I'm sure nobody's saying no to more money everyone wants to make more right right right yeah well yeah but I mean I think the biggest thing with this pay scale is we need to be competitive um I feel we are there and I think we'll attract officers that want to be in a small town or or I should say under 5,000 um or not I mean that is up to the officer whether they have a maybe a more risk in a Minneapolis compared to here you know it's where they're going to feel comfortable with and that's what we're going to get and you know I think and obviously we have a great police force and we've done a lot of things including building a new facility for them I mean that all helps too for the morale and all those kind of things remember I remember when I got on the council police force was I remember reading what they were getting paid and like we were we were in the low teens or mid teens at that time right it was you know it was was quite you know bothersome we we've come a long time in in a few years and I me equipment facilities and everything else we've invested a lot in our but I I think really it boils down to if you have a comparable study you have the justification you got in black and white and then if you feel you want to raise them you certainly got bar there got the justification to raise it you know yeah I mean you know part of me wants to say well why don't we just wait then till because if it's going to be q1 um I still think you want to prove the unit contract right so you have something but there you know because otherwise if we end up having to do something after if you know they'd be operating out of contract at the current rate and then we end up giving a they end up getting a pay increase then we have to back pay retro it yeah I mean and and and frankly I'm okay with that but I mean obviously you guys make the final decision but this agreement is agreed to mhm yeah right and they have you know like I said you know these were the only employees that got an increase 71 you know that's not typical to get one in mid the year um was there ever any talk because I I've heard this from the county about a sergeant position within within our force is that something that has to be discussed through this negotiation process is this something that we can bring up and say hey we wan to have a sergeant within within our our Force at any time um yeah that would be the direction of the council be establishing a new position and okay I you know job description and you know advertise it whether it's open or promotion yeah because I I bring it up because I know the county attorney's brought it up I've had conversations with him and he's said you know you guys are at the point now where you really should have a sergeant in your Force um you know you're there's enough going on this the community is the size of of where it is now and you know it's it's too much to have just a chief and just officers you really need to have that that level of assistance within there so I I think that's something that we really need to take a look at is having that that next level the hierarchy in place um you know it there's there's I know there's been talk of of additional training for different positions like SWAT and then there was some some talk about some uh I believe drug training um you know these are all things that I think I've heard Rumblings about I don't know how it it it falls within the contract negotiation but I you know I mean these are the things I'm hearing when I'm talking to people around town and you know it it all comes back to this you know it's it's not just wages and I think I've been trying to say that all along right um well I think and I think we want to lece to you best equipped whether that's equipment or training type things absolutely we want them outfit it as best we can and if that's promoting training options or what the like I think we I think we should be on board with that yeah I mean I and I guess I don't know what the next step is to do that if that's something that you know we should put on an agenda to say hey let's discuss this I don't know um I think we need to have that probably sooner rather than later um yeah I guess I'm deviating a little bit from this but I think it's a conversation that needs to be had in my mind I guess my recommendation would be would be to ask the chief of police what what what his thoughts are I mean obviously again you guys are the ultimate decision makers but you know um yeah I've heard SWAT and this and that too but I mean you know that would be activities outside of our agency yeah but we'd be reimbursed if our if our seems like every time we assist another agency or go BM guys we're comp claim total in squad cars that's just that's just been the experience right and then our residents suffer you want a comment no as far as for a Sergeant's position that is something that I will be exploring next year um but you know just this this year now it's been trying to get the full staff sure yeah when you say next you mean 25 yes 25 um and with the Sergeant's position uh they are not part of the Union oh okay they would be separate okay so is there it's a supervisory role yes I I I asked because I noticed when I looked at some of the the other contracts on the L lels website they had separate contracts for Sergeants yes they do have a separate contract for Sergeants okay but not it's not part of the patrol officer contract okay so they'd still be Union it' just be a separate contract yes it would okay and what about those other items like uh SWAT and SP eru uh don't quote me but I think to be part of the eru unit is roughly 15,000 a year that's that's our contribution to it that's what we'd have to pay to put in officer into eru so and outside training cost yeah outside a training down and besides that if there is a call out um because we are part of uh rice and Dakota County if there's a call out we don't get re reimbursed by an outside agency so if we have to go help say Farmington Farmington Police Department doesn't reimburse the officer wages for that call out same thing is if they have to come to lawdale we don't pay the wages of the whole eru team that comes to onale for a critical incident so okay but it is um there's some funding involved and then two I mean there's training you know and you know with the smaller department now you take an officer you know that has training now you got to take them off the road or it's extra yeah or even if there's a call out you know and sometimes you can't make it because if he's the only one working um you know the leave your post here to go too is higher priority than going to uh SWAT call out so I know we've seen that just when we request a canine uh for you know drug or whatever there's been you know can we get a can we get a dog here they can't even get a dog to town you know from the county because they don't they're they're not available I mean there's there's always logistical problems and they have to schedule that um so that there's PE you know they they try to have coverage there's always a a can9 on on duty but they can't even D from the sheriff from the sheriff's department yeah and that's you know obviously much what would the cost be to get a k9 here we had one at one time several years back we did uh the cost um that I wouldn't know what the cost I don't mean to put you on on the spot for that either no what the exact I know there are some donations that you know can be had to help with some of that cost sure um but then too it's outfitting the squad for a k9 um that Squad typically goes home with the officer so you're basically taking one Squad out which goes with that can9 officer so does that mean we have to purchase another squad car um and then training I know the training for K9 Handler you know besides uh is it monthly I mean to get started I think they have to go to school for four to six weeks just K9 school just how to how to work with the dog yeah and it has to be certified if it doesn't get certified it can't work so and then you've got an officer on for 40 hours a week of of aund well whatever you know how many hours 160 hours or whatever it is for the weeker and there's times they can be called out yeah but that that's that's if it all works out yeah yeah and I'm just you know thinking long term you know how do we make our Force more attractive again you know I I beat the drum over and over again it's not all about money you know there's there's a lot of things you know I mean I know Cindy has pointed it all before as well that it's not all about wages but it is yeah good ification yes it's not all about wages but um you know I mean the call out about the fact that the police are the only ones that don't have dependent coverage they never asked for it and I know and I know you you've explained that um but you know I mean it's just these are the things that okay well what can we do you know we've had a position for over a year and now we're yeah yeah it's great that we're getting applicants I'm I'm happy about that but that position was open for a year we didn't have any applicants for a year so you know what what out of the box things can we do to get people to to consider lzo well I think we did did we have some applicants but they they weren't viable yes we have okay that some of the other uh items that other agencies are offering is uh signing bonuses sign on bonuses you know $5,000 half after six months the remainder after year one um College tuition reimbursement MH I think those are the the main ones yeah and these are all things entry these are all things that we can do outside of the contract right I mean we can offer a signing bonus right outside of the the contract I suppose you could I my recommendation would be to put it in the contract but oh yeah and I'm just asking you know I don't I don't never been through a Union contract nego more attractive how do how do we do that you yeah that's and cost effectively of course yeah that's that's that's what I'm I'm I'm looking at what what do we do no and that's extreme Chu I mean it's just not Lille that's having a hiring issue yep no I completely across the state across the country and you know i' you know we even have or cities at at full staff maybe say 25 well they're going above and above and beyond that and they are actually hiring 28 so they have three extra officers or four extra officers in case someone leaves someone already there for that place but so you know but then you run the risk of people saying well I'm not getting enough hours or I'm not getting shifts well they're still getting their 40 hours it's a full-time officer they're still working they just have they just put add um three to four more officers to their their staff just in case they have one or two officers leave they're still operating that full staff sure they they have they have the finances to cover right that that staing yeah I mean we the three extra officers at 75 $80,000 well do the math that's unloaded cost and say that's his wage yeah that's unloading anyway after you start paying benefits and everything on top of it there's 300 Grand thank you chief mean to put you on the spotlight but I appreciate I appreciate the answers um yeah you know and I I think absolutely the the police force needs to be in the comparable wor study um you know if we're going to do it we got to do it across the board um you know it's it's a Hot Topic so you know we got to make sure we get it right and you know we lost one so now we're filling two positions just to get to full staff um and if we do have the conversation about a sergeant you know frankly from my experience meeting you know most of the most of the officers uh there's a lot of them who'd be in the running for that position I mean I've said it before and I'll continue to say it you know londsdale is the poster child of community policing if you want to see how it's done right come to lawdale you know I mean our guys do it and if we're going to have a sergeant I it'd be hard to to not promote from within from what we've got I mean our our police are amazing so not to get too far off subject but would we be you know we're in interviewing we have three potential candidates say for example one of them because I know that they're currently employed if they only want wanted part-time I know we haven't budget for it would we have the appetite to bring them on as a part-time officer know given that you know if we have you know now we've got work comp issues or whatever else is that is if somebody was available as part-time is that worthwhile I know we haven't had that position for a while um yeah currently one of the uh um applicants that is applying is just asking for part-time he currently Works full-time with another agency um which isn't such a huge issue when you do have someone that's working full-time that's staying in the field being active in law enforcement instead of working you know couple shifts a month um so yeah it would be my recommendation that if you know depending on how the interviews go if he just wants parttime um to bring them on parttime take what we can get right what's that take what we can get right well you know it could be a great you know could be could be a good fit that could lead to a full-time position or well overtime costs well yeah it'll help reduce overtime costs and um you know too you have the possibility of one of the applicants not working out so now we're now we're down short enough or well at least we have a part-timer to help you know cover some of those open ships possibly so wait and see what tomorrows yep Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday okay the table tomorrow I'm setting everybody's just GNA show up at a different day yes all right any other questions or thank you all right thank you thank you Chief well uh given that discussion I'm willing to make a motion to approve the labor agreement between the city of lawdale and law enforcement labor Services represent pres in the Law Officers want my Council palava second and my Council M kadada any further discussion yeah I just want to make sure that we I absolutely need to have this in the comparable wor study because you know um you're right we need to have an agreement in place um so it's important but I think you know definitely next year we we absolutely need to think about these these wages because we're just getting to where they're at for 2024 all the new contracts when they come out we're going to be back down where we started so we need to definitely keep keep this on the radar and can't wait till 26 so I just want to put that out there okay any further discussion all those in favor I I opposed motion carries well thank you uh Joel and Jason city council that was a good discussion and uh always working to better the community consider approval of a code submitted by Peak Heating and Cooling in the amount of we had our uh seasonal uh inspection done uh staff was told that the rooftop units needed to be replaced because they were rusting causing air loss and then Parts in refrigerant were becoming difficult to to find uh because of that urgency um staff did go out and obtain quotes for to to replace the the rooftop units on the the liquor store uh we received bids from uh Keith pumper plumbing and heating Peak Heating and Cooling and and better air um we also reached out to some uh contractors in lawdale um but they said that they did not do this type of of work um in in reviewing the quotes helping uh the liquor store manager there were some uh stuff listed on others some some stuff listed on some not on others so I reached out to the ones that didn't have it listed and said hey I need comparable quotes so you know I need a price for these ther stats that was one I think U hail guard was was another on the units uh so that that company um did submit a uh updated bid and then said that he uh that they worked on the pric in a little bit more like well that's not what I asked for um I just wanted what the additional cost for the rtu or I'm sorry the the hail guards and the the ther or the stats excuse me um so with that said it is stat recommendation to take the second low bid because that is an original bid and was the low bid um Peak Heating and Cooling I think the difference was $300 or or something like that I I just don't think that otherwise I should have called the other guys and said hey sh sharper your pencil I just don't think that that's right submit your bid and that's the bid m um for let's see 2024 uh we did budget $50,000 for Capital outlay uh so far year to date just under 14 has been spent uh the vast majority 13,000 was our the up the new cameras for our security system and I think we had what was it two printers or something like that um in the last month or so so that leaves a balance of $36,000 so there is funding available this year to to make these improvements um could could we hold out and and Limp them along AB absolutely but we all know what's going to happen it's going to be January 15th and they're going to go out and then we're going to be shut down because we're going to have no uh heating system at at the liquor store and they'll be on Galactic back order yeah right uh so so with that said it is St recommendation in addition um PE and cooling is our um I guess vendor or contractor that does provide um our biannual maintenance inspections and we've been with them for at least 15 years when when we call they answer they're prompt they do good work so that be staff's recommendation to improve the quote submitted by Peak Heating and Cooling in the amount of 26106 do we know what their timeline is to do this work uh well they said their quote expires on 104 so yeah ready to go let's see I we could follow up with them on that but um I would follow up with the liquor store manager tomorrow and say give give him a call and get it get him mored and get the work done I don't think it's said out May when yeah just due to the volatility and pricing it's only good for a couple more weeks approve unless you have questions well I was just going to say these are the original units from when we built the building correct that's what that's what we yeah so they're reaching end of life anyway s um yeah so they're maybe a couple years short but efficiency is going to go downhill if You' got air leaks and and uh intrusion of you know atmosphere this came up at the the liquor store board meeting um this month and and you know the nette does a great job she she said okay they told me this but I'm going to get a second opinion to make sure that they're not just trying to sell me something so she did her homework so if she says we need to replace them I think I'm going to take her at her word because she did do her homework on this so yes yeah with that I move we approve the quote from Peak Heating and Cooling of 2616 for the two rooftop units at lale lier and I will second it motion my coun person F second my councilman Wen any further discussion all those in favor I oos motion carries on to Department reports Mr dornfeld thank you mayor members of the council um I recently spoke with one of our Farmers for hauling biosolids which will'll resume here um as soon is the Harvest um I also have talked to Chief Schmidt about hopefully getting back on schedule with their Farm just north of town um currently the plan is and we're trending towards fall hauling only so that is good news um the guys have done a great job um this past couple weeks it's been um getting a lot of patching done in the Northeast um kind of went Hog Wild when we got the mill but um they really stepped up and and did a good job today we were in our annual safety training um we helped Lynette out with some problems she was having with her door at the liquor store um brought margarit some dumpsters helped her with some tables and unboxing of things um for the library move in I'm planning on getting an ad running the paper to get fire hydrant flushed in October um it's going to be tree trimming and Ash tree cutting down season in the very near future got a couple guys going to some continuing education classes in the next couple weeks um the casassa 4 project punch list is dwindling down I have a couple things I need to review tomorrow um and hopefully they're done we can check them off the list and some good news we have the cameras installed both at the compost site and sta Park just waiting on some SIM cards to come in the mail so we can click them in and we will be live that's all I got for you guys um Joe you'd mention the tree trimming I had uh uh somebody call me about uh some of the trees are overhanging stop signs in some neighborhoods and I have kind of a they gave me a list of them uh where the you can't literally you can't see the stop sign until you are on it because the trees are covering them okay um if I send that over to you you want to take a look at that and yeah absolutely um I know in the past we it's kind of a touchy subject depending on the homeowner um we have a right to have a 30ft triangle I believe okay the site but um we've always in the past done our due diligence and notified the property owner let them know this is why we're cutting them tree okay um all right but I will definitely um take a look at that okay address them all I'll get that sent over but yeah just you know if you're not familiar with the neighborhood you roll through that it is what it is so all right thank you thank you sir thank you thank you Mr Mayor members of the council um we had our preconstruction meeting for the trail project which are the two segments Ash Street and the new Trail on 8th Avenue just south of Kissa 4 the contractor plans to start uh September 20th Friday with reclaiming the the um Trail on Ash Street and then the scheduled completion date is October 4th so that will be starting up um and we will um be in the loop as you know it construction schedules might change but um the intent is to have those complete by October 4th um and then the booster station rehab project um is still still in the submitt and review phase um but we're hoping that will start in October that has a end of the year completion um and then just working on find closing out some projects from last year and this year and working with staff on any needs they have that's it thank you thank you for all your work Mr eron uh met with a new PR school superintendent in cities and had a conversation kind of about um the future needs what the school district's looking at um a lot of the things that went over tonight uh comp compensation study we had a employee meeting with our insurance broker to review the plans for next year uh as a city engineer said um got one right of entry and working on finalizing obtaining the easements for the trail project several times PD interviews Wednesday the Public Works meeting next week uh CVN um is on Friday uh we got a meeting scheduled with the land owner uh discuss the county road 2 and Highway 19 roundabout not so much that but specifically drainage uh we'll be advertising our part-time liquor store clerk uh first round of applications are due the 27th and then uh we'll work with Paul Donna on financing thank you sir Mr Cory uh thank you Mr mayor and council members uh the Rice County election team and myself met with the villages uh to schedule the general election healthc care voting uh date on Wednesday October 9th from 10 until 11th uh so uh that date has been set and um We're working directly with the uh facility director on site um to make sure that um the process goes very smoothly um tomorrow just a heads up the Eda lunch and learn uh for uh uh focusing on retirement and succession planning uh hosted by Mike Chapman from fransen bank is here at City Hall at noon and we have 11 participants signed up for it great yeah good it's a nice program they have doing that so thank you for all your work uh Library meets Wednesday they're back open hey opened up today so the library's back everybody go visit the library y so I'm excited to see it myself on Wednesday good um liquor star was pretty much covered by uh heating and air conditioning issues so uh Ed on Thursday thank you thank you sir thanks for your work councilman kadada um Parks has not met this month of Planning and Zoning will be meeting September 30th for a site plan review of advanced exhaust Solutions nice thank you sir thank you for your work C person f um as Brian said Eda is this week so that you about all have problem councila um I just wanted to add uh on Cory's note about the uh lunch and learn tomorrow you know just that that uh succession planning and and retirement planning that goes all the way back to uh the business retention and expansion program back from 2020 MH uh so we're still actually you know we're still implementing you know reviewing that information at the Eda level when uh uh when we when we need subject or whatever that's a great resource to be able to go back and and pull that stuff from so and uh I 11 signups that's still pretty good absolutely good good thank you thank you for your work um councilman could out to touch on a little bit but um it's really exciting as as some of you probably know and some don't that um couple months ago we sold the last two lots of our business park and the closing is is emminent and I think uh submittals are are coming to City Hall but it um you know the two buildings are going to be $40 million um that whole industrial park I think the build up we're estimating at 60 to 70 million U once construction is is completed which you know as we talked before the tax impacts are just incredible for a town our size and and um you know hopefully we can uh move forward to accomplish a lot of the things we talked about tonight and and um the other thing too is uh you know maybe you've been on Main Street lately but there's a couple of multiple businesses that are open there's a couple of uh grand openings upcoming here shortly that uh Shannon the chamber director sent out and then uh it's really great to see our downtown uh come to life and pretty exciting and and uh a lot of good things happening in londsdale um but I guess just in summing up I want to thank all the council members we've had good discussion and you know we don't always agree on everything but at least we you know talk about it and work through it and and come to decisions I just want to thank you all for for your work tonight and that's about all I have toour motion my councilman pava second second my council person F any further discussion all those in favor most carious withm to J --------- ##VIDEO ID:Luhp12-ZSGY## 16 okay I'll call order the special city council meeting for Monday September 16th 2024 everyone please rise for pled of Allegiance FL of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay roll call uh Brian wersan here Kevin kadada here Tim Rood here Cindy fur here and Scott palava here okay one item on tonight's agenda is the city's budget is there any additions deletions or corrections to the agenda I move we approve the agenda as presented motion by council person favor second second by councilman Cava any further discussion all those in favor I I opposed motion carries there are no minutes no public hearings presentation of citizens petitions and comments comments limited to two minutes yeah you should can speak if you like oh couple minutes okay this won't take long uh your honor Steve churny 1509 Connecticut Drive South East I just want to give a report back at the last council meeting I volunteered to do some research regarding BR bringing medical uh I'm not advocating that it goes to the clinic but just bringing medical we have plenty of other Open Spaces in fact this might make make a good medical building someday so I've been in the health industry for 18 years at you all know I've uh I have interest from uh two doctorate degree levels of uh physical therapy and a certified dietitian uh just wanted to report back to you all that uh still still trying with that effort and uh I'll give you periodic updates good appreciate it appreciate your efference hopefully they come to town yeah thanks thanks coun by okay anybody else okay there's nothing on the consent agenda on to Old business discuss the city's 2025 preliminary budget and property tax levy Mr all right thank you mayor and members of the council uh this is our seventh meeting pertaining to the city's uh preliminary 2025 uh budget and property tax levy uh at prior meetings we've discussed Levy options wage benefit information uh updating the capital Improvement plan which is proposed for 25 um water department Capital Improvements we're currently uh rehabbing the booster station um at the tunee of about half a million dollars which provides uh water pressure to the upper Northwest section of town that's a located at the JC Park um if that were to fail those residents um would not have any water so this is a pre preemptive project to um improve our water infrastructure so we don't have a catastrophic failure um at the booster station uh planning studies water tower sighting um main connections well and treatment plants as well um there are funds budgeted for a comparable worth or a compensation study um I've actually already received two proposals and plan on bringing that to the next council meeting um to get that started and implemented um as soon as possible we've went over our debt service um some of those funds have have uh fund balances uh which over the years we've talked about drawing those down because those are from uh prepayment of special assessments um so instead of having the the levy and then have a fund balance when that project is paid off um we have decided to you know whatever the project the fund balance out and then divide that over how many years are are remaining so we're not leving um as much but yet still balancing the project so then when that final payment is made that fund will have a um a zero fund balance which it should because uh besides the property tax levy it is people that are being assessed for these projects so those funds should go to offset um any City required contribution to make those Debt Service payments uh City Hall project financing we went through all departments and we we also reviewed the the short and long-term goals of each department which has been a carryover from the prior two years budgets uh we looked at four options for the the property tax levy um incre keeping the tax rate the same increasing it by three four and 5% the direction from the council was option three which was a 4% increase in the tax rate um for every 1% increase in the tax rate approximately $31,000 is is generated um I know you had I don't know what page it is now but you had the tax rates for the previous years and I believe were're substantially down from uh uh correct years ago yep so um you know every year we drop a year off on the on the back end and and add one here on on the upcoming year but uh since 20 2019 through 20 proposed 2025 uh the tax rate is propo is decreased almost 6 and a half% I think you know obviously the public needs to know that or hear that you know once we uh get our uh our uh budget finalized I mean not too many communities are cutting taxes 6 and a half% I mean it's pretty so as as part of my staff report I kind of just highlighted the main points of of each Department's proposed expenses for for the upcoming year uh since the last budget meeting um some items have changed we received um or it's been confirmed that um that we will receive small cities assistance program funding which is for Street Maintenance uh based off of information from the Department of Revenue we're looking at about $83,400 increase in health insurance costs to go with comparable plans um every year because of the uh uh Affordable Care Act um the deductible amount changes so I think our deductible is increasing from uh 2800 for the for one plan to 2900 uh 3,000 I believe 3,300 and then 5,000 to um 5500 uh those increased costs have been incorporated into um what is uh being reviewed tonight uh recently the pickle ball court project was the bids were rejected and the decision was made not to proceed with that so that uh freed up $245,000 because we had Incorporated that in the preliminary budget in the previous six meetings um looking to partner with some nonprofits and TCU to build a scoreboard or direct a scoreboard at at the JC Park um as far as the city hall remodel project um that thatb service was in addition to option three uh and speaking with Paul Donna and going over the the numbers for tonight um we it's recommended that we make an Equity contribution and um my recommendation is is the equity contribution or cash right that the city has to contribute um be pulled from reserves and then when this building is sold um replenish that because what we can get for this building is less than what our um required Equity contribution is okay otherwise you're bonding for money that you're going to have in six you know a year paying interest on it for 20 years good plan um so that does not need to be that 173 627 does not need to be included in the levy but for the 26 budget that that service will have to be accounted for um So based off of option three for the properties that we track um proposed tax increases of um $63 to $224 and those are obviously based off of value of homes I think they range from well it's in the packet right um a taxable market value of 238,900 um to over a half a million dollar in taxable value does the county have a an estimated valuation for the year up or down or don't know yet to tell um yeah it's we basically get it right at the end um but I've anticipated a 5% valuation increase increase correct um since you talk about the revenue a little bit um I I think we talked about this before about the municipal state aid and the population of 5,000 people when is is that analyzed every year every year yeah I I reached out I'm sorry Jo yeah I reached out to the um to M out about that this year and so the state demographer pulls those numbers every year and that's in the spring right Joel yeah and that's what we presented that past meeting yeah and basically there's a um a dispute period for a couple of months once we get the numbers that we can go back and say no we think you're wrong and try and prove it um yeah and unfortunately they told us this year they made a mistake the previous year and that's what screwed us up because mindat was even assuming that we were going to be above 5,000 when I reached out to them right um you know if we can get some houses built that will go up real quick right so yeah like I said it'll be uh 2026 when we qualify for municipal state aid great thank you you know in comparison Elco New Market 240 260,000 so it's a decent amount of well that's more than what we pay for or allocate for Street Maintenance you won't have to raise taxes next year then um I thought it was good it's bad when a joke Falls explain the joke and just no he didn't have to explain it um so so with that said um you know those are some some larger numbers that those expenses have been U taken out of of the budget so we do have uh a surplus um you know with the the compensation study um I'm already getting uh I've received well I've reviewed one quote I just got the other today so I haven't reviewed it but I plan on bringing that to the council here um and getting that at least started so then um as soon as possible after the first of the year um it'll be done and the council can can review that and determine where we actually stand um in comparison to to um communities that the council decides right my recommendation would be you know probably half you know five to 7,000 population and then the other half um you know well cities that that we that we obviously you guys want or the council wants to to use as comparables um a lot of the times they'll pick larger communities say a fair bone in Northfield we have quite a bit of Staff interaction with with those communities um you know or or other communities that um staff may um choose to work for or you know has the option to to work for and then the council have to decid we want to be at 100% of the market 105 110 90 whatever that dollar amount is um and then they will determine um make a recommendation on how to get their multiple options and pay scales and and things like that um but my my recommendation would be is once once that information is is obtained by the city it be implemented I don't think anything good could happen by getting the results and then waiting a year no i' agree with that as see what you got um so you would you would think I mean we we'd be able to do something effectively do something in the second quarter or how how long does it take to get all the data if they I would yeah I would say at the latest okay well long as you have for budgets you know m season and all that kind of stuff so so the council could choose a different option and and and reduce that Surplus Jo put question for you on in the comparable wor study does that cover all departments yep it'll be every single it'll evaluate every single position that we have say 18 how much is that Surplus did you say 222 uh 225 almost 226 so um you know you know based off the information between the last meeting and and tonight um you know the council could choose to go with a different option right save the tax money right correct um you could increase Street Maintenance you could use it to implement um all or a portion of uh the the compensation study um or I guess you know use it however else the council would would see fit if there was a I guess there's an assumption that we're going to that we're that we're going to be low we don't know that I mean people can talk but we might not may not be that far off on some for for for w for wages oh no I that's exactly right but I I think the point is you have the 226 Surplus now right I mean so it should be a combination of things correct yeah right I mean maybe you yeah definitely could be a combination of of all those options absolutely I I think if you have a surplus you may want to consider least cutting taxes one notch anyway yeah it's absolutely up to you guys what what what you guys feel comfortable with and what you think should should be done we're having another budget meeting before the uh this is the last budget meeting I mean we'll review the budget but it's going to um it needs to be approved at the next Council on the 26 I believe because I have to certify it to the county and Department of Revenue by U on or before September 30th so we I lost it R option three yeah which was in increase of 2739 I mean you could almost go to option one and still have 80 grand left over whatever my that'd be too much maybe based off of uh if the thought is to put it towards wages I mean I'm my guess is Citywide and it's none of the depart none of the positions that are even being talked about on social media um I bet will be 200,000 a year more right but I think that what comparable the study will be completed what the second quarter you said uh absolutely for sure by then the goal would be the first quarter right but my point is you know you'll have to have some analysis I mean you're not just going to throw the money out there right away and here here's 200 Grand let's just split it up my my point is you know I I don't think you should save a lot of surplus dedicated just for that yeah you don't have to it's your decision you guys have I think you should need some make a decision right but you said that the cost of the study is already budgeted uh for 25 yeah and that's built in okay Joe do we cut back on road repairs or anything for 25 that we're kind of on the brink of making it or not making it since I've taken over as director the budget that we have allocated for Street Maintenance in our 224 account um I've done whatever I can to keep it at the same level um the only thing that got adjusted was Area 3 was went from a Recon to a millon overlay so so um but as far as um cutting back it's I I can't it's been consistent um in the two and a half years that I've been director okay yeah so uh proposed Street Maintenance for next year um we're looking at and these are portions of fourth fifth Northwest I know the guys did a lot of patching on I'm sorry Northeast I know the guys did a lot of patching on Fourth Northeast this year um you know I think in our discussions that could be extended further north not all the way to Fig but right you know may patches where we had those deep sewer repairs my point is you could spend it all if you wanted to oh yeah absolutely it comes down the priorities yeah um you know we're looking at a portion of um I just think Industrial Drive right we got to be a little careful raising taxes when we got a surplus that's all I say well and oh yeah absolutely I'm not advocating keeping it all right with inflation where it's at too it's I mean it's a really hard thing to sell any tax increase period we've got ugly inflation right now we don't know what's going to happen especially within be an election year right I think if we have an opportunity to not raise taxes we need to absolutely take a long hard look at that well these options will raise taxes all of these options proposed will raise taxes well option one is no change right the result right than average it goes from decrease to increase I know what you're saying yeah I mean yes there's I mean people are going to see an increase whether we change the rate or not because of valuation well maybe why don't you explain then Joel this line says the results in a range of a tax decrease of $11 to an increase of 111 that's based on the H that you're following uh option one yeah it's a decrease for some right because they're value didn't go up maybe as I Brian you're probably saying it's a net push about is what you're yeah no no no I'm not saying we're we're decreasing the tax rate but we're not raising it either that's what I that's what I mean yeah I I I apologize if that came out unclearly but yeah I'm not saying let's take a look at decreasing a percent or 2% whatever but option one is no change the rate Remains the Same but the cash increases due to valuation increase yes the same situation we were looking at at the last budget right right um and maybe there's a number in between I mean you're 52 just going to ask is there a happy Med between one and two well it looks like there's a 52 is one and 54 is two maybe the number is 53 I don't know if you split that difference what is it that's about is that 170 or something I suppose what is that it's 380 390 and a half about 175 50 Grand topic for 200 right yeah we got to remember Count's coming after us too for a sales tax school boards I'm sure are going to be looking at increases so anything that we can do to stay out of people's pockets I think we should definitely keep that in mind I I I would agree with that actually if we can go down an option for sure right um so is there a certain well just you can you quickly correlate what um a tax rate of 5.3 z z is and I can do the ballpark I guess 5.3 yeah z z are you me 53. 53. yeah oh you said 5.3 oh 53. yeah I was 5.3% yeah it's going the other direction yeah um Commander you look as good as ever budy that's what I mean I meant her Daryl thanks uh 50 said 53 well basically won you just split the difference between 142 and 240 is pretty close at that uh 52.9 43 gets you 173 525 right so I mean theoretically I suppose you could split the difference you know between the one and two the tax rate dollars I think that would make good sense yeah that leaves some for you know yeah the market rate study and Y and then if you have to pay more and if there's money left obviously you can do the stre whatever a priority so use a tax rate of 53 uh some of the I guess some of the big items proposed that have been talked about for for next year um depending on how the election goes we may need to have a special election so there's funds in there for that um Staffing levels at at City Hall continuing with mosquito control obviously we've got our financial reporting service contracts uh far as it migration to the cloud versus um purchase menu uh server here for City Hall uh Planning and Zoning is you kind of city code engineering would be General Highway 19 um anticipating that that roundabout project will will go next year the the project updates have been extremely far and and few between I don't think we've met since with the spring me that keeps canceling all the all the meetings I know we are meeting with the uh the property owner out there do you know if hand or maybe sh knows is the the major overlay is that still 2030 does anybody know uh right now it's 2030 correct okay and that's just a a guess you know it's supposed to be 27 I believe and it's about to 30 so 30 to 35 be old by how can people yes lighting up here you know uh We've accounted for police wages um based on the agreed to labor agreement um we need to purchase a a computer for evidence storage um civil and criminal attorneys um just other additional expenses from the the labor agreement um budgeting to set up uh a reserve to purchase a new Squad in in three years um capital outlay is budgeted for encrypted radios I know the chief did apply for a $64,000 armor Grant I believe it was um so we'll see in uh in October if um if um if we're awarded that or not and that was another change that we had we had it all budgeted to make that or we had it all budgeted to make that expense next year regardless and in speaking with the chief we don't have to purchase them until 26 so we basically taken that difference and split it over two years so that's that's the that's assuming we get the 64,000 Grant correct or um no my plan was to budget without receiving it because we have to make the purchase regard we get the grant or not so we need the funding okay but we have till 26 now is all you're saying correct y okay so we have more time than we thought we were going to we've been saving for the last three years right we were going to spend it all right next year but apparently we can go up to 26 so that that difference of whatever we need to make up as well probably close to 40,000 I got 195 on there so just splitting that over two years um public SA Aid I know that was brought up at the the last council meeting um we use those funds to pay for wages training uniforms we replaced a squad we used it for the 7124 pay increase um there's a little money left over um that we're proposing to offset the property tax levy for the police department in uh in 25 and those are all acceptable uses for that funding correct correct yes what we didn't want to do was allocate it to an annual ongoing expense and say hey we got to cover for a year right now you have that reoccurring yeah every year this was a one time it becomes unfunded yeah and this was a one time in 23 when we received it correct uh at the end of 20 was it three I think we got at the end of 22 in 22 so okay so let we talk about um wages and you know the the proposed wages package for Union and nonunion insurance has nothing to do with that correct I mean that's just basically that's say whatever if it's five and a half% for non-union and whatever 15% for Union insurance is on top of that that just gets absorbed by the city uh that is correct yep yep uh the city pays 100% of the employee deductible and HSA and as far as family coverage is the cost of one child under the age of 26 for family coverage okay and insurance it never ends yeah it's expensive you got to have it it's 8 10 15% every year right and when we do um the wage comparison study that'll be I mean is that somehow not just wage I mean it'll be insurance that's factored into the whole package becom a great yep yeah it'll be all um you know holidays vacation time wages um they even go so far as the uh assist with job descriptions yeah Insurance that's probably the grayest because everyone does it different um but I know I've anytime that the city's a benchmark Community I always provide our information I want them to provide it to us when when when I need it um um and I I for insurance I guess what I could say from what I've seen over the years is um the the city's policy is Rich on the HSA contribution um but lacking on the the family coverage does that look at Fringe Benefits too I know my my company just went through one of these they just did it literally two months ago and they look at industrywide comparable old stuff like I mean pet insurance came up all over the place you know in in my industry and that's kind of the thing they like oh you don't offer pet insurance you know 75% of your industry offers pet insurance you should offer pet insurance do they look at all that kind of stuff it's whatever um so once once the agreement's approved they'll come to the council and say what do you want us to look for okay so we can tell them we can tell them absolutely okay gotcha it's really too bad I mean liing Minnesota cities like you said if you supply them with what we pay I mean they could compile all that and no City would have to do a comparable worth study they could just download it and it' be there you know and that information I mean that's what I've we've used over the years to to base wages off of right have toally use that about the time four to 6,000 now it's 5 to 7,000 population y uh let's Eda is focusing on marketing um Library um our minimum required contribution uh for the Department of Education is 74,8 um I don't know what I'm on the top of my head but I think it's I w't say it's triple that but for some reason 180,000 sticks in my in my mind as far as what um a portion of the tax levy to to the library the only other funding that they receive is um if there's any donations from the book sale that the friends of the library do um user fees or um it's about what 28,000 from Rice County that that we get uh we talked about Deb service accounts earlier uh see parks and wreck you know we're looking at just general maintenance caping materials obviously with Emerald dashboard we'll be removing trees and having to replace those we're looking at topping off all the parks with fresh mulch uh and then obviously uh welcome signs and Main Street flowers Professional Services very similar to other community or not communities departments it service contracts um this is where we account for the the grinding and removal of the the brush pile at the compost site uh rentals botties for example uh Trails any repairs we're not looking at doing any uh major Trail reconstruction projects next year it would just be if there's something in housee that needs to be be uh touched up um during budget discussion staff has said that we can we can do this in house uh Capital Equipment or Capital outlay looking at replacing the teer to to JC Park um every year we add new benches and picnic tables to our inventory uh the scoreboard with TCU and um hopefully some other users of of the ballpark and then looking at remodeling the JC Park bathrooms in concession stand talked a little bit about water earlier um disc continue education safety training uh repairs and maintenances general water main braks um as we said before each water main brakes about $1,000 to have the repair made and Patch it uh engineering um Department of Health is requiring us to do our Wellhead protection so we're working on that um water tower sighting study that was um a recommendation out of our comp water plan and then dat any data link updates uh Debt Service principal interest would be uh any water improvements made on our uh Street uh reconstruction projects so water main and uh services uh sewer again continue education for staff to keep current with their um credits uh manhole ceiling general maintenance um the last couple years the guys have done a great job of uh Milling around manholes and leveling those out much better than what we had done in the past um so we've got funding for that those those on will Creek T out very nice actually my God yeah pretty nice too I notic the one by Joel's moms was the best so that's like didn't even know um you know Professional Services biosolids um Public Works director has talked about um the bugs that we purchased this year um are are starting to kick in and reduce the amount of or increase the amount of capacity that we have now um but over the years uh it's been $40,000 a year to haul biosolids from our wastewater treatment plant and apply them uh onto certain Farm fields in the area so hopefully that gets less and less um I don't think it ever goes away but um not totally hopefully it reduces it and at least the spring one I think we've talked about where that's that's the one that um we're trying to get in the farmers are trying to get in and are the bugs going to disrupt the like the ecosystem in that farmers field no there's no um the things that affect the farmers fields are the metal Metals contents in the biosolids and then there's got to be a list of 15 different nutrients that are in solid waste um and it's just really honing those in so that the farmer knows what to supplement their field with after we're out we still have contracts with some local farmers we do I I wouldn't say they're contracts um they're more handshakes handshakes yeah uh Debt Service would be the same uh or does we got it obviously um we out we do a third of the Town each year televising it and um um service contracts for wrapping up Professional Services uh doent subscriptions are our software service subscriptions um uh our skating system things like that um the meter reader gun that we have um is a service based uh fee replacing um the final Ras pump we've replaced two previously this will be the third one and finish that project up uh and then Debt Service a very small portion of our street Recons but uh dedicating that principle and interest proportionate to each project to to the Sewer fund uh liquor uh gross margins um obviously everyone knows that that's probably the the most important thing to watch that um we're covering our costs when we're bringing stuff in with I mean price changes it's every delivery prices are changing staff's got to go in and make sure that they update their costs and we're pricing it um accordingly so what do do you know off hand the average contribution from laws of liquor to City entities or donations or volunteer just roughly per year Well it it varies I mean this year was pushing um what 190 thou 180,000 um in Prior years it you know could be 50 to $100,000 yeah so that's you know it's taxpayer savings y it's a good good deal um and we are anticipating since that street in front of between macun and lale liquor a private road owned by the Association um there's been minimal U maintenance done to that over the years so just looking at the condition of it the association is going to have to do something here so we're looking at um building that up so when that time does come um we can we're ready to to participate and instead of having to to wait a year uh and then as of right now there is a proposed uh $25,000 transfer from from the parks um and that's accounted for as a revenue in the the park fund uh Road and Bridge we talked about the small cities assistance uh we went over the roads there portions of the roads Industrial Drive Southeast Birch Street that would be from 8th Avenue to 9th I don't think there's a bigger piece of asphalt than this mouse in that section anyway uh and then fourth and fifth North these portions of those manhole repair General crack filling General patching crosswalks um a big thing on the horizon that we've been dealing with the last couple years it's only going to get substantially more Emerald dashboard and I'll um either treat the trees which based off of our research and discussion has been just prolongs having to to take them down um or just removing them and replacing them proposing to buy a new paint striper um the one that we have as we talked about at past meetings was donated to the city many many years ago and um doesn't work and needs to be replaced and then the new plow truck that we have has um pre-treatment capabilities so I'm recommending that the site salt brine tank be purchased um so it can be stored in there and pumped in at the Public Works building that can be used on the uh Gator also did you say that it the brine could be put in the pump on the Gator Tank okay it's uh it's harder on the equipment but it is possible I if we had a if we had a winter like had two years ago where it was nonstop trying to keep Trails clear of ice and everything else you don't want to do it right every every time but definitely can make a difference so that's a review of the proposed 2025 budget most of the stuff's been talked about at prior meetings so this is kind of a a recap but did get direction on the uh tax rate so right yeah if you could analyze that and then uh we run the uh I think you said it was a 6.5 decrease since 2019 in the tax rate um so when we get the final number we go do it now but when we get yeah at just under 53 it's um reduced 99.36% so I'm guessing I'll be a little bit closer to % decrease since 2019 that's remarkable that's not many cities can say that um just in close I I do you know I talk about our Park system a lot but I don't think people appreciate how nice of the park system we have here that's been developed I know uh obviously you know we do but I don't know if the some of the new residents um seen you know everything from the fishing pier I mean I see kids go there with their parents fishing and canoeing and you know the ballparks and the soccer field I think that's one of our best amenities in our community and just want to give everybody a big shout out for uh for all your work on that but again like Joel mentioned this is our seventh budget Mee I just want to thank the the staff and and the council for all your efforts on on uh being cognizant of the expenditures in town and and all the good work you do on putting the budget together and of course staff and with Joel and Cory and Tammy and Joel and Jason and everybody um guys have done a really good job so well thank you this is definitely a a no thrills budget there's nothing OA About It by by any means right right to lower a little bit again tonight I mean it all helps helps the cause good okay anything else for this special budget meeting motion my councilman kadada second second my councilman any further discussion all those in favor I I opposed motion carries this meeting is adjourned