##VIDEO ID:8Pq0W-eDnlc## and we are now back in our regular meeting so I think there's a a lady out there that can come back in so thank you thank you thank you thank you Justin all right so we're gonna start with our Park dedication and replacement budget discussion yes um Madame mayor and members of the council so I guess I'm probably more a conduit always on this one I probably any detailed questions will be for Gary and uh David as uh you can see there was multiple people that um put this together um as far as the uh probably talk about the park dedication first and then at the end we'll talk about the uh the page that's in there for the tree replacement fund the uh main item that you'll see and it's it's uh briefly discussed in the memo is the uh well multiple things I obviously you can see the uh the park dedication fund the trend on page three over the years it's sort of bounced around the last you know several years as far as we get some money and we do some projects or whatever um the 2025 you can see would be a decent you know shift downward in the fund balance based on doing a potential large scale project obviously there's the the grant that's associated with that or the grant that's been applied for um that we're waiting to hear from I guess in a month or two here so um I guess yeah this would be incorporated into the budget but I think it would be one of those where decisions obviously would be made subsequently based on how that Grant came in I assume that would be something that would be a a determination um I don't know maybe if I just want you open it up to council for questions that's you know there's some other projects that you know in there too of smaller scope but the uh obviously the ly Park one is is the biggest one that's in there for Capital Improvements right so thank you Brian um I'm going to make a few comments first of all um the I had asked staff um I think I talked to Nick or did I talk to you either Nick or you regarding this grant because I've been wanting to do a splash pad for many many years and I'm so I asked Nick and so recently so this is really cute this is really really cute so recently um I got this letter and it's from Camden and Harvey um and they write Dear Miss whan we are Camden and Harvey Bergman we live in Minnetrista we are thinking it would be smart to add a public pool to our town uh here are some reasons it would be good for kids to get exercise instead of watching TV all day a pool would be good for kids to make new friends a public pool would um be need um would create jobs for local teenagers and would you consider this idea Miss whan thank you Harvey a have a good day sincerely Harvey and and Camden it's really cute but it's kind of on that same vein and they're from um um huness Crest and so I thought you know this is really on that same vein of a splash pad I know Public Works might not be so excited about it you can't speak Carrie so my question to staff was well if if we get a grant do we have to use it only for a um playground could we expand and say it's a playground Splash Pad area and use it for that and so that was the question if we and then the other thing I was thinking is as I was talking to Gary he said that huness Crest HOA they paid for improvements on the trail all the way from um County um Highway 7 all the way to the cot a rail trail and I thought you know maybe we could approach them and ask them to help fund this if that's because it's primarily for their neighborhood maybe they would be willing to partner with us on this if we get a grant and and you know there might be other organizations that might be willing to partner so that was my idea I would say leave this number in there for now but I'm just kind of sewing the seed and idea we don't have to make a decision right now so that was my my Spiel for that the other thing that Gary had U made a suggestion on and I thought it was actually a good idea that we should maybe consider for future years is actually incorporating Trail improvements right into our road uh Road improvements so when we do a road project in a certain area and there's a trail just automatically just include that in with the project and then it's just part of the assessments and and all of that so and then it doesn't come out of our Park dedication fund which is as you can see um being depleted rather rapidly and we would still be able to get uh Trails done I thought that was a really good idea so if if you're kind of on board with that we could consider that and then the other thing I talked to him about is replacing the roofs on at um the French no wait um Heatherwood Glenn Park what is it called perennial perennial Park and then also at uh Lyon Park and again get leave it in here for now but let's get some dollars find out what it would cost and if we can put it off for a year whatever if maybe not I mean we'll see but get some dollars for that so those are my comments of any big developments that are coming down the PIP just thinking of sources of revenue no yeah that's that's the other problem we're trying to I've been putting in a good word for the the 50 acres over there but right I haven't that yeah that Hunter pass as we refer to it I mean that's what we as staff been waiting for because that would complete the park dedication would certainly complete what we need to have done with ly Park so we've kind of been hoping that that would come in and we could finish that Park so I've been pitching it several developers okay I'll keep working on it okay so um I think I think we're good for now because we can always change this isn't part of the levy that we do so we can change we can change the park uh Park budget if I if I can Madam mayor just on the on your pool philosophy there couple things you consider is you're talking um you know extra people now to for lifeguards and stuff like that you know because You' have to have lifeguards to the pool if you put a pool in I'm saying you have to test it we not no no perfect no splash see we like we like you we like you better because you like the splash pad better right if you do a splash pad do not make it a recycle system just make it a complete drain away I know it's wasting water we could look at maybe even resourcing that water to the holding pond that's there if it's allowable I would not we're not certain how that would work work but at least you know reuse that water then to the irrigation system there at the park um but if you are going to consider a splash pad do not make it a recycle okay it would raise the cost significantly well that you'd have and then you have to test the water twice a day every day so even on weekends so now youd have more staff time coming in just to run testing and stuff like that so just a lot easier to make it and use it and drain the water away I say unfortunately it waste out of water but in the long run you're probably going toting money ahead well and I don't know if you can put timers on it so goes on at a certain time and off I'm assuming yeah yeah it would all be it would all be that you know it would be set up that way so You' have a certain amount of time and stuff so okay okay so again it we can look into that but but I think also we'd have to find out if we get a grant from henpen County we'd have to find out if since I think we just applied for um a playground that we'd have to check and see if if we incorporated a splash pad if that would qualify so those are some things we'll check on so all right next okay then yeah I guess some just to go to page 23 of the packet quick the big item that I think Gary and this was in the August um CIP equipment plan was um the aerial lift truck for tree trimming removal right Yi as far as the up to 75,000 there so that you can see we have about 350,000 in the fund right now um so that would be the the big potential purchase in 2025 if city council is is good with that or we'd be looking for a used truck we wouldn't need a brand new one we'd look for a good used um one um something similar to what um not so much like a tree company uses the big big ones but we would just need something more on the scale of um what you see like the smaller Excel truck or the um extreme Medias that type you know with the smaller lift buckets that can get us up you about 30t just to do tree triming right now we don't have any capability of doing it and there's a lot of areas that we would love to have that possibility to do where I'm I'm fine with it I'm just curious where Lotus is one we love to go through Lotus and trim up a lot of that um uh North arm was another area that we struggled with thank God they came through and we worked on to deal with the um cont treor that was doing uh the power line through there so we kind of gave them some permission to take care and they took a lot of trees down and stuff there but there's a numerous areas where it's overgrown a lot the island um tuxedo and that stuff really need to get that trim back and it's just it's very tough to do with without having that piece of equipment uh P only reaches about 15 16 feet if that yeah so and if you're tall I know because we have a Pula we can't reach that high anyhow um all right so I think we're fine with that okay all right and then are we gonna kind of do a quick overview of the total budget yeah one thing if we could just sneak this in is um we're looking at adopting our our final levy on the second we thought we'd maybe throw a slide up kind of showing what was approved in September to see if there's anything um anybody wants to maybe look at and and see moved around if that's the case what we would do is we would schedule a work session on the second before so just uh and I can give the update or Brian or it's not really an update but our our prelim Levy was 99.4% uh .44 oh that was which one you're looking at Bas 9.4 yeah 9.44 so um which you know I think we've gotten some information from surrounding communities I'd say we're right in the middle there's some that are much higher than us and some that are like Mound I think is at six 6% so our net impact is is probably right around 6.75 you know um for existing residents with the growth factor so we're RA in that mix um I'm not sure if there's anything anybody wants to look at in particular um otherwise you know what you'll see is is what you what you have here at the at the December 2nd meeting you know what would be good I think so I think what we don't want is we don't want spikes and then down and then spikes and then down it'd be better if you had a more level you know what I'm saying so every year you had eight nine seven somewhere in that range kind of thing versus nine and then all of a sudden 13 or whatever um so I don't know if you can put together a a potential or a possibility um because what I was thinking is if we could cut out maybe rather than increasing the CIP I think we're um we're leving about 150,000 right now for CIP 200 150 for this year for this year what I'm rather than increasing it just do another 150 for next year so that would bring the levy down to about 8.75 something like around there um which to me is just nice because we're showing our residents that we're trying to really be careful about how we're spending their money we'd be right in there with most of the Cities I don't some of them are a little lower some of them are a lot higher but you know it would also be showing that we're that we have the preliminary and now we're we really pinching pennies and going down just a little bit that's just one idea but I would like to see what 26 would look like or 27 because if we went down to 8.75 but then then in 26 we had to go up to 11 we will if do the fire so that's that's what I'd like to kind of see what where are we at then that must be nice to keep I mean we've been I know trying for years I think to get the the Cal equipment yeah I think I know it's just an idea I don't really want to have it go down either because it's cash but um you know at what point do we stop increasing the CIP too I mean that's that's the other question but and I know the fire we're talking fire partnership potentially and that's if that comes in we're probably going to see a a bump there um and then I don't think we have any other huge expenses in 26 but in 26 you know we're looking at I mean it won't hit until 27 but the if we do a major Street reconstruction project or construction project that would that would be a 27 hit but we talk about it in 26 from a Personnel standpoint um 27 is the contract year so depending on what the Market's doing for like police and Public Works um we might you know s that be for 28 that would they would actually hit in 27 27 yep so 26 maybe a little bit of of pressure there with the fire partnership um not much with Personnel I don't think I think that's pretty pretty level but then 27 you might see a Personnel hit right the only probably context I'd want to give a little few look at like you know there data is out there on the state you know website you Department of Revenue and henan County and stuff but our Levy over the years has been less than Mound and oros and stuff so we're almost increasing a little bit to try to I mean there's Market pressures this Mark and last year we increased it because of um you know staffing needs and um pay and so me I think we're a better place in some of these other cities yes we may be doing you know nine or 12 versus someone might have been six or nine but that's CU they're Baseline already was higher and we're growing faster than a lot of these are at least at the I'm not saying that it's I understand why we're doing this I'm just saying it's I'm just it's just a suggestion yeah I think I mean in my mind 10 is a good Baseline for all the stuff that's going on it's unfortunate you know I think a lot of people are used to that five or lower you know there was years and years of that um but because of just a lot of the stuff that's going on and you know really tackling roads and you know W you know water's a little different but um you know and Personnel you know there's been some changes there so you know I think that's what you're going to see you know I think if we kind of strive for that Baseline um and then we can kind of move up or down from there you know couple percentage points depending on what you guys want to do yeah I mean I think we leave it and then if we want to hold it for next year at the 200,000 then that'll be easier in case we need the extra money for equipment and we will I mean yeah I know the original think statements got mailed out there online for the TNT I've had I think one person with a couple general questions in an email but no one's really said too much so far just as far as just giving feedback I might come this year chop for your property probably Kevin G have to have a talk with Kevin I went down my home value my home value went up but not just this year last year too I had a huge jump had like but but but primarily hoping County um the city wasn't so bad so anyhow um comments yeah I think that's reasonable I just want to make sure we don't you know cut into our Reserve you know because it's right kind of on the edge there so fun balance right yeah it's I think yeah to Brian's point is some some of these other cities that are similar in size have the same have a larger Levy so they're yeah they're 6% is are 9% and because yeah because we kind of went backwards a little bit when we were following the tax rates and um well once we get up you know 6% will be enough you know not quite like motanka I was talking to the motanka manager and they're hiring like 12 police officers and you know where are they getting 12 officers we just want one we just want one yeah standards but they can do all that with a 5% Levy increase because they have a $50 million Levy so know we're not there yet yeah but um but yeah so I think I mean it's a good it's a good Baseline I think that's what what the expectation should be moving forward unless there's some some changes in the markets Claudia any no you're good okay so then a question if this stays do we need to have a work session do we need to bring it up at a work session on December 2nd no okay they wouldn't need to As Long As council is good and you know the fee scheduled the budgets will all be there but most I mean almost all those things are not have been talked about the utility rates and stuff so okay um as long as there's no other questions or comments for we haven't finished oh what's well we okay can we go back to the parks just for one sec sure can we add a basketball court in Woodland Cove since we took away the ball field because of our water treatment plan maybe at the new park add more money in the park over by the pickleball courts can look at we we could probably there's room it depends on when or or how much and what size what I don't basketball basketball I don't I don't asking for nine years to get one in there and since we took the ballparks those people might be happy if there's a basketball hoop for their kids you know I've actually seen a pickle ball court that's doubled as a basketball court that's the Gan ler oh well our courts double everything doubles up our basketball courts have pickle ball striping and our tennis courts have pickle ball we double everything up so we can separate because there's a lot of people who specifically want the pickall use all time so a separate basketball cart we can look at that and there should be an area we assume that we can throw one in there look for something in there I'm sure there's space Oh there's space yeah yeah system matter of cost and so okay it won't be $300,000 I let's hope not all right okay um all right anything else okay so next is our um glasby Center funding request discussion I'll give that to Jasper I think we're actually going to do the commitment to I'm sorry recognition policy I'm next you're next um commitment to service recognition policy I had a couple um thank you madam mayor members of council um what what kind of spurred this discussion was a couple different things we have a a long-term employee retiring soon and I think that I had a couple council members ask me well what can we do you know to celebrate this long-term person uh I'm looking at Paul uh you know and they commitment to their service here in minat Trista so I I reached out to to Sarah and and asked her if she had some policies that are legal and that have been adopted in other cities so that that was kind of the template that you see here um so there's four major sections in this purpose and intent it kind of describes where in State Statute we're allowed to do this so um that's in there this is a lot of you know objectives are to increase morale and employee Mo motivation encourage loyalty and long-term retention of employees and to celebrate the accomplishment in service of retiring employees um so that's the basic intent of this right and we do some things already um that should be written down in policy you know like when there's a a funeral or we send flowers you know stuff like that it's it's good to get that in policy so that we can expend funds on those so there's three basic sections in here so service anniversary Awards um so there's uh the first section in here every five years um uh a certificate should be presented to somebody who has their 5-year anniversary um at city council so they'll make them show up here and and you know the mayor and city council can can thank them for their their services they would get um a suitable gift card for this purpose uh of $100 so every five years they'd get a $100 gift card you know it's not much I might not want to show off yeah you know so it's just something to to show our gratitude and then yes they will come to the the city council meeting so we wouldn't do anything retroactively this would if this is adopted you know we would just start moving forward so somebody like Brian wouldn't be able to come and collect a bunch of gift cards no one get one you don't get multiple gift cards but that's the the service anniversary award um section there's a just so oh okay never mind go ahead I was this next one yeah so the retirement recognition um so this is saying that if you retire from the city you know per parah um guidelines so you can't just say you're retiring and then go get a job somewhere else you have to actually retire well but so here was my thing yeah um let's just say somebody is um okay this isn't the case because I know Craig is going to step into um Paul's shoes but let's just say we hired a police chief and he she is 50 years old and you know that they can retire at 55 and that police chief then decides to retire at 55 they've only been here five years so I think we should have some kind of a time frame I don't think it's fair for somebody that's been here 5 years to receive the same recognition of somebody like Paul that's been here how many 30 be 31 yeah 31 years so I'm just saying we should have so the recognition I think should be if they're here it's for retire and retire it's some sort of number of years maybe greater than 10 years more than 10 years employ yeah I think I mean don't I think it's you know is that okay I think it is I mean you can have a tiered system too I've seen that where you know years 10 years is a good amount of time just if they've been 10 years or more and then they retire then we we do this is that Claudia five years I 10 25 years old 31 is a lot more than 10 yeah I know I think it should really be exponentially that's a big deal so do you want to make it more than 10 I do well well I think the gift for 25 years plus should be more than a 10 year 10 big deal 10 years 20 31 that's huge 25 and up I think should be sub okay I mean we could do I know it's legal but so it could be two- tiered then yes so if they've been here 10 years or more or 10 years to 25 24 if you will they get 300 if it's more than that they get 500 something like that would that be okay yeah that sounds good okay see I'm seeing some nods for that so I see Sarah taking some notes as well I think it's I think it's probably allowed I see I see a slight nod slight nod slight nod and then um for a retire uh this would allow us to spend up to $500 for the cost of refreshment venue cost light snacks at the reception so anticipate like with with Paul's uh retirement we could we could you know contribute to that up to $500 um there'll be uh presentation at city council you know certificate that that would be presented at that that time um if an employee chooses not to participate they don't get like they don't get any of the money or anything like that that's just just clear and it is for per retirement is the definition by perah okay so you have to retire per perah standards uh the fourth section other recognition programs um so this is where that those flowers memorials other hospitalization gifts um not to exceed $100 can you get nice flowers for $100 yeah yeah yeah but here's here's my take on this I think I think memorials yeah one rose that's nice but so here's all right so here's my take on this you know for hospitalizations oh my gosh we could be going bankrupt if we did that so I would say send a card if you're in the hospital a card is great okay but I think memorials but I think we need to specify what memorials okay and I don't I think if it's a sitting council member um or a sitting council member spouse or um a planning commissioner sitting planning commissioner Etc maybe or their spouse or staff or a spouse or maybe immediate family of Staff or council members I think you have to kind of limit it because if now all of a sudden you say what about planning commissioner's mother-in-law died you know you have to kind of have some par parameters around this so um it does just say City employee coun you want to expand it well I'm thinking what if um what if Jasper's mother dies sorry hopefully she doesn't but I mean wouldn't we want to send flowers I mean no no a little context we we have in the past you know so yeah I'm saying spouse and God forbid child but I don't know that immediate family member okay immediate yeah okay and it frankly it doesn't happen that often we're talking maybe three to three we also have to know I mean so a lot of times we don't a lot not everyone's gonna share you know if their mother-in-law dies or something so there there's that aspect too know sitting seated council members and spouses or children and employees and spouses and children okay that's fine yeah all right no just one other thing okay not because I hold this position but I was also thinking what about past mayors I I know that's really weird but no I mean I'm thinking you're just gonna stay mayor forever so we won't have no I'm thinking um Jen Olen um Cheryl fiser um who else is that I know Paul Pond um some there's a few other not many but a few other wonderful I just think and I know I know Cheryl fiser served for like 15 years and I don't know if um Wally clevinger is even living I don't know um but if we know of a passing of a past mayor especially like Jen she didn't serve very long as mayor but she served for like 30 years in the Senate you know so I just think it's a show of respect and um I I'm not going to die very soon hopefully but you never know so um if we could add that so all right thank you yeah and you guys you all see this on you know the claims so we can get some real- time feedback you know but I think we have pretty clear Direction all right um the next section is for the um to recognize the the service of the city staff so this is kind of for the employee recognition program that we generally have in like December uh and that will will not exceed $1,000 the other piece to this is um we've had some of our partners like Kennedy and Graven and WSB and a2s donate funds directly to the city like they're they're sitting in our coffers right now this allows us to expend them on that employee recognition so um I don't know right now we our our our event that we have right now I don't know how many people have RVP but Gary's Public Works guys don't hop on the computer that often to respond so but um we generally have that annually so that's what that that section is for I don't know if we want to discuss that at all you know we used to have this was oh probably um more than 20 years ago maybe 20 years ago anyhow we used to actually have a um employee recognition and you might remember and I think we actually gave we actually designated an employee of the year award and I think they got like $500 or something I okay um you know and so if this $1,000 and you have I mean if if you said 500 is an employee of the year recognition would that be something you'd want to consider why did the why did it stop last time because because of not having a policy what if the same person gets it every year who's voting on this I don't want anyone quitting cuz you know some people keep getting I don't I don't think you could get it the hardest part was I think it was associated with like a a merit pay program and I I would dissuade against people would apply and then you'd have to go above and beyond and then you'd have yeah I mean maybe if it's an employee of the year one person that's gone above and beyond or that's recognize that would be okay but maybe not a whole I think that was when it got shut down it's like 10 people are getting Merit pay at an extra 500 bucks a pie no we I wasn't going to say Merit pay yeah well and and if it's not a good idea that's fine I just I just don't know how you pick an employee there was like a criteria and it was like if you um made suggestions that save the city money or something like that I mean there was a a list of criteria and then the an employee would apply and then I think uh department heads maybe even or the council or whatever can't remember who actually decided do you remember drawing every year for them then hold up I mean it we have a small enough Workforce where that might you know happen but I would I would agree with with Brian's it's tough to do it's tough to implement and there's hard feelings but you know the Thousand we came to that at um it comes out to about $25 ahead which if you cater food in that's about what it costs you know and then um what we generally do is if if we need additional funds then the directors all pitch in Okay so that's kind of how that works um and then it just has a very clear statement that we can't use these funds for any purchase of alcohol oh darn it yeah so and that's that's it for this policy so we're looking for feedback on this if do include the now legal gummies and other sort of things I mean I we can put what I mean I don't think we would ever do that but we could put that in there if you'd like um if it's held at a facility or something then it's a cash bar yeah yeah yeah um maybe that's the statement if it's held out a facility other than non non intoxicating beverages are cash purchase there you go um yeah so we're looking for some feedback if we want to proceed with this we'd Bring It Forward on the um on the December 2nd meeting okay and then it would go into effect I'd like it to go into effect that meeting because we have our employee recognition um event coming up on the 12th and as I mentioned we have received donations from our some of our partners for that event so does that have to be spelled out in the policy that if we receive donations from is it I'm sorry the city May utilize additional Community donations okay there you go all right thank you all right so that's all I have I'll entertain any any questions I'm good we're good we gave you our feedback you've got it so we're good thank you very much bring back on the second yeah all right all right so next now now we're [Laughter] onp okay actually really nervous because this is um become something I'm I'm actually so very passionate about and I was going to not say what I'm about to say but I thought it still says in God we trust on our coins so I think it was actually a tremendous blessing that you all turned down my request last time I spoke because um I have spent the last few weeks really digging into this and um I've completely flipped um the switch on on how I'm going to go about my ask this time and I think it was also an incredible blessing to see all those numbers on the parks and trails the money we spend in the city on those things is mindboggling and um our senior center is a vital um asset to our community and we are the West honka Community that's kind of how I think we most of us think about this community but um what what Rhonda welcome Rhonda what uh we asked for was really table scraps and the time that I've spent really looking into this um I just pulled up 25 cities quickly that are close by that fully fund their senior centers um many of them are much smaller than minat Trista and they fully fund their community centers um we when I went into this when you all asked me to go on this board um I would assume you wanted me to do so to affect change and we've done that it's in fact it's the first time in many years we actually are not going into the um endowment actually balanced budget um but the responsibility really lies on I think the surrounding cities um right now Mound is I mean thank goodness we have a tremendous mayor and excellent counil the cities I'd give our city an a as far as how we're doing financially our neighbor our neighbor is not anywhere near that let's say a d and f they are really struggling in Mound they um are still coming up with $6,000 to give to the GL Center annually and they're there every week doing work what are we doing you know I looked at these Parks what we're spending how many people do you think went to the Gan lineer park today or we'll go to those parks for the next four months I'm saying about none very little no one's going to be playing pickleball or tennis in November December and January but 60 people went into the glesby center today and 60 people will go in tomorrow these are our constituents I know our parks and our playgrounds are important but how many do we have we have one Senior Center and 60 people 50 to 60 people go in there every day um we have a resp responsibility to them and so now um I think I mean when I when I thought about what I would ask for from you I think we need to give them $25,000 and I think that's nothing I think we should say thank you very much get Jasper how much does lour spend annually on their Community Center well so that they own and operate theirs and they have a budget of about $1.2 million and it's a community center it's a community center yeah well so is the glasby center look at the pictures it's a lot of people up there I granted it's there's not a swimming pool and there's not a playground but nevertheless it's it's there all year for people that need it um I I mean I think about um uh Chief I mean we have phone calls that come into Menat Trista Police Department for you know people falling in the middle of the night the glassby center offers Wheelchairs and walkers and shower chairs and all kinds of free things and Services I can't imagine that it doesn't save our Police Department a few phone calls by the things that they offer but nevertheless um $225,000 is 35% of our Levy it's not even half of a percent of our Levy I think this is a very reasonable amount I think this is vital it's our neighbor you know Mound is the Widow that threw in two coins we're sitting sitting here in this vibrant thriving City I think we can support this facility I think it's our duty in fact uh I'd be really ashamed of us if we don't so thank you for that extra time for saying no the first time because I'm much more convicted that this is something that we have a responsibility to support and uh we've got some very exciting things happening there I I think very you know I think in a in five years this could be fully have an endowment that fully funds this wonderful organization um right now we're at 2.5 million um we've got some big asks out there that might pan might they might come through but uh I I'm asking you to reconsider this think about it look at the look look at what page was that that listed what we spend on Parks I mean it it boggles my mind I feel like we're just caring for um one part of our community and we're completely turning our backs on another so um if I've forgotten anything Rhonda come on up to the podium and and add I would just add yeah yeah we do um we've just signed a a contract for $85,000 for someone to use the facility on a regular basis I mean that's impressive and um we did this I think because we've really updated the look of that building and the inside and the outside there's more to do because nothing has been done really in 25 years um I'd like to ask for $25,000 before this year ends because there's a great big board as you walk into the glesby center that shows people that gave 10 years ago 15 years ago 25 years ago I'd like Min Trista to be we should be on that board you yeah from how many on that board right we gave um over $460,000 I know so here's what we did just so you know we gave uh $34,000 for 10 years if you take that 340,000 and you add 3% of Interest over the past 10 years we actually gave the Gillespie Center about $460,000 over the past 10 years so it's it's not like a small trinket it's not like a small trinket at all but um I do have a few questions um one um have you asked the rotary and the Northwest lions for any funding yes and what have they said um well they said yes they how much are they giving Rond okay and the rotary I mean have you asked them no our rotary doesn't really oh the West honka community no the rotary no the rotary that might be another um Avenue for for some I don't believe our rotary has um so I can share a couple things with you sure um so one you're a 501c3 you're a private organization okay we have other 501c3 private organizations that are fabulous in our community I mean right in our city um that could potentially come and say the exact same thing that you're saying and I get it I don't disagree um we have a a fabulous golf course that's a 501c3 that offers very reasonable membership fees and social fees and uh people can go there and it's a fabulous organization they could come and say well if you're going to give the gpie center um you know 25,000 why can't you give us something the other thing is we have um we have a lot of other uh 501 c3s and or um very very good organizations in our community but that's besid the point because as much as we want to give to these organizations we have to be held to a higher standard we have to be held to a a legal standard and so we would have to turn to our legal councel to say what is it that we can actually um give to to an organization like we can't just give you money for rent we can't give you money for administration we can't give you money for for a lot of things for a free lunches or or whatever we can only give money for an actual service that's provided for seniors but that's number one Sarah you'd have to weigh in on that and maybe you can give us a brief synopsis of that well because we have to be legal Madame mayor members of the council um as the mayor is saying we have to make a public purpose expenditure and since we're a statutory City all those are laid out in statute somewhere there is a statute that says that a City May appropriate money to support the facilities programs and services of a public or private not for-profit Senior Citizen Center or youth center and it doesn't go into details about what that would entail um cities are also authorized to spend funds to operate programs of public Recreation recreational facilities and playgrounds and those can be done independently or with any nonprofit organizations I think those are kind of the two statutes that you're you know you would be bringing the donation under well that would be exactly what we're asking for and we've done it for 10 years legally um we can that time it wasn't but I'm sorry no never mind so I think we owe it to the community to do it again so when we did and excuse me if I may Madame mayor I run a 501c3 I wouldn't begin to um go to the city and ask for money it's it's a specific cause it's you know it's not a city responsibility caring for our seniors and for marginalized people in the community is our responsibility there's no comparison at golf course no comparison I'm just saying um so here's the other thing that we as elected officials have to look at U when this contract was signed back in the day which I wasn't on the council at the time um we I heard from residents they were outraged how dare you take my tax dollars and give them to a an organization um that was there was some there was um a lot of yes the seniors obviously really would like that and obviously they're totally on board with that or not all of them even but many of them yes you're correct and it is a good or um a good um organization I'm not saying that at all but we also have to answer to the other you know 70% of individ uals that live in our community that aren't seniors and that say well you know why why are you giving this much money to them with the park with the parks we're not using tax levy dollars we're using Park dedication funds that have come to us via developments so we're not levying for those dollars right now and we're hoping not to have to Levy for dollars for our Parks that's why we can spend what we're spending on Parks because I agree if we were spending you know $100,000 on Parks every year levying for that then why not include some funding for seniors I agree but right now we're not so now we'd have to go to our constituents and we'd have to say oh by the way we're leing another 25,000 to give to seniors so we didn't spend $150,000 on the Jean lanir park that's from Park dedication fees we get from like Woodland Cove when they come in and take the land pay so much into fees and that's what goes into the park fund specifically and it has to be used for Parks only yeah we can't use it for anything else well from what I understand from our attorney this is something we can support and um so where do so what we'd have to sure I'll come up here sorry so um thank you for the conversation I do want to I just add that um when I presented here a few months ago we when I started at the beginning of the year intentionally created a new vision and Mission which really is intentional to be open to all communities it is Bill Gillespie founded it as a senior center and for many years they ran it as a senior center and they um had a contract with a company called Senior Community Services we've intentionally went away from that and are trying to broaden it because what we're finding is that today's seniors want a place to bring their families and they want intergenerational um opportunities so we're trying to move our programming in that way right so I just wanted to add that because it's not just solely focused on seniors well it's seniors and you did a great and Rhonda you did a great presentation and made that clear so that thank you for that um I appreciate it yeah I have a question um why then do we have a representative um here at the gaspie center if we are not supporting it's it's really embarrassing well so for 10 years as we were contributing then part of the contract says that we had to have a representative and that's indefinite no no we could have stopped it any at any time um so we could have stopped it in 20202 2023 our last payment was in 22 21 21 so we could have stopped it we couldn't could have just said okay we're not going to have a representative now in 2022 um for the last two years we could have done that but um according to the agreement and according to the contract we were supposed to have a representative quite frankly there were a lot of things in the agreement that probably weren't done so and we're happy to readdress the enti agreement right we're not going to have an agreement I'll guarantee you that um but and and you weren't here Rhonda you weren't there but there are a lot of things that weren't done um for instance they had said that they will have $3 million in their endowment fund and the endow fund going forward would fund the glasby center and do you know where your endowment fund balance is today is that two and a half million so it's two and a half million it's close we're really growing I mean we have been bringing in this is why I'm on this board now I mean we're doing amazing things I would like to see the city support it and what am I doing there I mean you asked me to be there now I am all in um I'm not going to list the the many many donations I brought in in the last couple months uh but this is our responsibility it's I I feel passionately about that and again our neighbor needs help and this is our community and we have the means to do this so I will add personally I'm a minister resident and I live in Turtle Creek and I was surprised once I started working there how many of my neighbors came in and use the center I was shocked for whatever reason my perception going into it was it was more for underprivileged people I don't know that was probably wrong but I was shocked um not that Turtle Creek is a fluent but it's not underprivileged right so um and I don't I'm not arguing that I'm not saying that people don't use it and that it's not a good facility that's that's not the um issue at all because I think especially since you've come on board I think you've made some very very positive changes I I that's not it at all it's a matter of saying okay if we're going to contribute whether it's 10,000 or 25,000 um for 2025 well we're not going to do it in 2020 this year it's not even in the budget and we'd have to change our budget and at this point in the year I don't know that we can and for next year we've already set the levy we just discussed the levy at um just recently and we all decided okay we're going to keep it at the 9.44 so if we we can't increase the levy for next year so that money would have to come from somewhere so my question is if that's what you if that's what the council wants to do where do you want to cut what what do you want to cut in order to make that happen where could we cut it that would actually be our decision that would have to be a council decision um the we're not even balanced up for 24 if our rues are going to come in our building permits and we don't even know if we're going to come in at a deficit this year or whatever so it's not a great time in the process to be adding right to the budget but Council obviously has that direction and that's why I said I didn't dismiss it but I that's what I said it's for this year we can't do it and for 2026 budget we would have those discussions next year and if that's if that's the council's Direction they want to add something in for 2026 that would have to be part of those budget discussions I thought and I have now asked this multiple times um our attorney saying that this is something we can go outside of our budget because it's a senior center okay what did I how did I miss that uh if I may um it's it State Statute allows us to expend tax dollars on a your facility so that's we still have to budget for it um we still have to collect those Levy dollars and then we have to expend them to the facility so there's nothing saying that we have to do it it's our choice but we have the choice we do thank you but it would have to come out of the budget seems to me it's a good idea and and I'm not sure on the exact you know dollars but um it's not a huge amount you know relative to our over all budget and I'm just wondering if there's something that we could do in 2025 to at least get it going and then look at it seriously for 2026 seems like it's supporting an important constituency that I'll probably be a part of pretty soon same I'd like to take that I mean the chief might chief chief might start going there once he retire and Peter that's what I'm talking about is that discussion would have to happen in 2026 for 2025 for 2026 I get that but I'm thinking that's and if you want to do it in 25 we have to cut something right and maybe there are a few things that we could we should sit and talk about it I think this is that important so what would you recommend cutting I I just recommended cutting um our CIP by 50,000 and and I got to know so okay so um and not taking roads or CIP money so I guess the question is what's what are our priorities um and if you want to make if if the council wants this as a priority then we have to cut something else and I think right now we would have to actually get a feel for the community I can tell you I've got a feel for the community I I do too every day I do too and I've heard do not take my tax dollars that you know if I want to contribute to the glasby center I will contribute to them but I don't think you know so we're getting different messages that's fine um different people different you know different age groups but um what I think we need to do is have this as a discussion for 20 in 2025 for 26 unless you want to come up with a suggestion where we cut I I'm make a suggestion yes please when we get the final numbers of where we came in in 2024 so early 2025 if they're over then we could possibly make an early year donation if we have the extra money from the budget if the Investments came in higher and we got more money that way that might be a good time to do it I I i' have never been in the gy center full I thought it was for old people I I fully admit that I honestly I would have time to go in there even if I didn't think it was for that but fully understand that you want to give money to it I'm also the bo Lisa where if I want to donate to a charity I want my money to go there I don't want my tax dollars going there so with that in mind and since an is not here I think the best that is to wait till we get the finals from 2024 see where we came in with the building permits and the money and if there is extra money in the budget that was not allocated already that would be a good time to look at doing a early year donation if there is money I think besides that I'm sorry but I'm going to need more information there's because there's a lot of questions here that I would have that um aren't answered in in this um for instance um uh when we say that we can contribute to facilities does Minista want to contribute to a facility that's located in Mound that's one thing or do we want to just contribute to Services that's that's what I would recommend if we're going to contribute it has to be for services and not to the building because the building is not physically in Minnetrista the other thing is I would want to know what services do you offer and what is the cost of those Services what are you asking for so if you're asking for 12,000 what services are costing you 12,000 what are we what are we paying for we're paying for income tax preparation how much is that we're paying for you know those type of things I think we need to have a breakdown of that so that we know what we're contributing to and the other thing is I think we need to have a spreadsheet we need to have your financials so we can actually clearly see I mean it's that was part of the contract that was 10 years long and I think we got the financials a couple of times usually were're provided after a lot of times there'd be an extension on the 990 and I think we got a most years but it was definitely an ask it wasn't provided you know we'd want to see that and then we'd want to also see a more detailed you have your expenses of 330,000 we' again kind of break that down for us I think Claudia has all that we right she gets that every month at right because then at least we can go to our residents and we can say this is what we're paying for we're paying for this service this service and S this service and this is what they're providing for our seniors and these are their costs and that's why we're supporting it but right now I don't think we have enough information to do that um and we may hopefully by the be beginning of the year if we have a little excess then we can do that do we have to wait till the beginning of next year can we meet at the next meeting in December no we won't really know until we close the books after I see December 31st and that takes a little bit of time it's it kind of lines up with our 2024 Financial audit which we get done we'll have an unofficial we'll have an unofficial number in January because this is now 25 years old they've done nothing to I mean the boiler is but you did have an endowment for for CIP there was a 500,000 Endowment for CIP was there not I don't know what CIP is a capital Improvement plan I think there was right and so but we're trying to keep we're trying to not to touch that trying not to touch that we're trying to get but that's what I'm saying we have to go to our taxpayers and say oh but they need a new boiler but they have $500,000 in the bank that they could use we have to we have to know these things understand it but do you did you hear the part where most cities in this state are funding their senior centers there yes there we are not so I think we just say gee thank you for not taking very much of our money I think it's our responsibility and you drive through Mountain to get to the other side of Minista I mean 110 years ago that was Minista it is the West Tonka community and I mean I I these numbers I can get these numbers I can get every detailed number you want but I just would like to appeal to our common sense that we have lots of parks lots of trails this is one area where we are we are neglecting okay and we'll like I think we'll take a look at this and um bring it back probably in sometime in January February probably be first meeting in March potentially okay it it generally take about 60 days to close out all the funds get all the every receipt all that stuff so it's that's about the timing we'll know for sure what our Surplus or deficit we just want to be good Financial stewards and be able to give prepared or good information versus rushed information and I mean I can't see when another two three four months is going to how urgent it but I guess I could be persuaded and in the meantime staff can let you know what they want what what information they need got it thank you for listening okay all right thank you very much I appreciate your time thank you thanks Ronda back all right besides we have a new council member coming on board and who knows maybe that'll make make a big difference too one way or the other but um I think that's a good suggestion that Kathleen made so um with that I think we are done with our agenda our work session is there a motion to adjourn so moved is there a second second thank you Miss rkin and Mr vicory all those in favor signify with i i i all those oppose motion passes 40 we are adjourned until 7 o'clock at our regular meeting thank you it's a long day yes