##VIDEO ID:mV5Cae6i-QA## good evening and welcome to the regular city council meeting for the city of St Peter Minnesota it is Monday August 12th 2024 we are called to order at 7:01 p.m. would all please rise for the pledge I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all everyone should have received a copy of the agenda are there any revisions or corrections to the agenda hearing none is there a motion to approve the agenda as distributed so much mov D second all those in favor of approval say I I I any opposed the agenda is approved next up uh review of the minutes the minutes appear on pages 6 through n of the packet are there any revisions or corrections to the minutes hearing none is there a motion to approve the minutes as distributed so moved second all those in favor of approval say I I I any opposed the minutes are approved we have time set aside on our on our agenda for visitor comments is there any visitor who'd like to address the Council on any agenda item hearing none we also have time for General visitor comments is there any member of the audience who'd like to address the Council on any matter whatsoever hearing none we will move on to the approval of the consent agenda the consent agenda be runs uh on pages 10 through 32 and concludes with the resolution that is on page 33 of the packet I'm going to get to that right page uh the consent agenda includes the following purchases to Wagon water Technologies for a Rosemount triple Channel transmitter including probes and flow meters and installation at a cost of $ 31,35 one30 licenses uh to a temporary on sale liquor license to the Church of St Peter on September 15th to St Peter Lion's Club uh let's see that is September 7th through 8th a temporary Gambling License for the Church of St Peter also on September 15th and the St Peter Lions Club on October 22nd 2024 the following items listed within the memo in the packet uh will be declared Surplus those are Public Works items as well as the schedule of dispersements for July 17th 2024 through June J 6th that must be August 6 August 6th 2024 uh will be approved are there any revisions or corrections to any items on the consent agenda or any discussion hearing none is there a motion to approve the resolution with that date correction so moved second we have a motion and a second call the rooll please council member weisenfeld I counc member shrom I mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member Pettis I council member Ram I the resolution is approved we have no items of Unfinished Business tonight which is good news because we've got quite a lot of new business to get through uh the first item is to initiate the sale of 2024 go bonds and Shannon Sweeny we're it's great to have you here tonight thank you mayor uh good evening Shannon swey with David drown Associates in your packet was a fair amount of information discussing the issuance of $7,650 th000 of General obligation bonds to fund a variety of projects that included the Pine Street Klein Street and colon Street projects along with a variety of equipment purchases uh ultimately we find some efficiencies when we are able to time things and issue together you know ultimately you're paying your financial advisor to show up you know twice instead of four five times uh our bond Council Works a little bit more efficiently our credit rating is cheaper and uh at the end of the day there's some positive efficiencies that can be accomplished and save us in this instance probably 20 $330,000 so uh it's good to combine those things together when we can because ultimately it results in some savings and more money is going towards the actual streets and purchases of equipment so that's a good thing uh and so ultimately there's two components to this issue that involve Street and utility reconstruction and new construction along with the equipment purchases our debt service schedule looks a little bit weird when you look at it because ultimately we have a variety of terms on the equipment portions of the bond issue we have Improvement projects that we're financing over a 15year term and those are the street projects we have a fire truck over a 10year term Parks equipment over a 5-year term HVAC for the community center this facility over a 10-year term and then a significant electrical equipment component that we're financing over a 20-year term probably the most unique thing we're doing in the issue besides putting all this stuff together is financing electrical equipment in most instances when we're funding our electric utility we're not able to issue General obligation bonds uh we're issuing what's called an electric utility revenue Bond that carries a higher interest rate because it doesn't carry the General obligation Pledge of the city uh we do have statutory authority to issue a general obligation note for equipment however and the project that we're implementing meets that test associated with being called equipment so we can borrow a little bit more efficiently our disclosure requirements aren't as significant so we pay our attorney less our financial advisor less ultimately the interest rate is probably somewhere uh between a quarter and you know a half a percent lower in interest rate and so we achieved some savings that way and in recent legislation I'd say in the last 5 years they extended the duration of a an equipment certificate to up to a 20-year term it's important that we understand that part of it because this is larger than our normal equipment certificate and so it's a significant component of our debt but it's really funding something that's part of our enterprise system uh significant part of our enterprise system our electric utility because it exceeds 0.25% of our uh estimated market value as a city we're required to uh approve a resolution that's one of the two approvals that I'll ask you for on on this matter that is a preliminary approval that is a resolution that's published in the paper and it indicates that residents have the opportunity to submit a petition for referendum within 10 days follow following that publication it's a reverse referendum petition we don't typically see those une equipment certificates because we're usually buying stuff we really need including the repair of an electric substation that you know provides reliable electricity to our entire community and so ultimately we think uh it probably shouldn't get a petition because our only other alter alternative is more expensive and so uh understanding that is important as part of this process you know ultimately we're funding items on this list that are pretty important items and uh it's causing us to publish that notice as part of this process so uh when we get to the end of this happy to answer questions on that component as well uh as I mention we have a 20-year term on the overall issue but it's an uneven principal schedule for the reasons I previously mentioned we would have the first ability to prepay debt on February 1st of 2032 as it's presently structured meaning that we wouldn't allow any prepayments or we're not allowed to prepay any principal until that time ultimately if we shorten that prepayment provision and we start to see our interest rate creep a little bit not a lot but it does cost us more money and interest if we have a shorter duration between when we issue and when we prepay so it's a interesting Nuance of bonds but it's part of what we have to deal with and work around as we structure this this issue uh we are proposing to do this as a competitive sale process meaning an offering document is prepared it's called a an official statement it contains lots of information about the community including uh outstanding debt cash position uh future financings that are being considered all those sorts of things and that offering document is sent to a credit rating agency who we pay handsomely to give us a letter grade with regard to our credit rating for the city and so uh that credit rating while it's not a fun process uh by any stretch of the imagination ultimately and and it costs a lot of money and so so if we were able to avoid it I think Todd and I would both tell you that we would not do that if we didn't have to but at the end of the day it saves us probably closer to a half to 3/4 of a percent versus an unrated bond issue which on this amount of money , 650,000 is hundreds of thousands of dollars so it's well worth the process um what else can I tell you other than if you choose to initiate the sale tonight uh we would be looking to receive bids and award sale on September 23rd and then we'd have funds available on October 8th and we do have projects that have been in process that we've previously adopted reimbursement resolutions for that we're going to use a fair amount of these proceeds to replenish our cash because we've been spending some money to implement projects uh with the understanding that we have some efficiencies in doing all these together at once so I believe everything related to the street construction has a bid and so we have a pretty good feel for what those projects are going to cost and so happy to answer questions ultimately again there's two actions associated with this one is authorizing us to proceed with that competitive sale process and the second is a resolution that it's a it's a separate agenda item but it pertains to uh the equipment certificate portion of this or the equipment note and the publication of that notice so happy to answer your questions Council thank you any questions or do you have anything to add Todd I do not have anything to add okay I have a question will we be doing a 2024 equipment note over and above this also for other equipment that we purchased or have we done that already this year we have not done that this year that's part of this that is part of this y so there won't be another equipment thank you any additional questions yeah we had had some discussion about trying to do 2025 before year end if as you work your way through the budget process but that would be if you've identify items or expenditures for 2025 and the rationale for that is we have some other things things in process that would be impacted if we waited until 2025 to actually issue that equipment certificate and or if we had concerns about the marketplace deviating considerably from where it is today yeah but uh just so I don't surprise you if we're back here before the end of the year but you have to work your way through your budget process to decide if that's even going to come to fruition so so this includes the 2024 stuff we haven't determined 2025 stuff yet thank you and this is the transformer for the substation switch GE that's the biggest and fire truck fire truck Parks equipment uh HVAC for the community centers part of this equipment certificate which is on your agenda later this evening and we've been talking about this Transformer switch gear for many years years years and it's been ordered it's already in process you've approved bids we know exactly where we're at starting to inst the switch here goes in in September further questions or discussion hearing nothing further the resolution providing for the competitive negotiated sale of 7,650 th000 General obligation bonds series 2024a is on page 39 of the packet is there a motion to approve so move second uh we have a motion and a second call the RO please council member Shon I mayor Noel I council member Johnson hi council member Pettis I council member rant I council member weisenfeld I the resolution is approved uh do you have anything you'd like to add before we move on to the next resolution if you act on the next resolution you'll see it published in the newspaper next week mostely uh the res the next resolution uh is determining the necessity to issue a general obligation Capital note not to exceed $2,750,000 that appears on pages 40- 41 of the packet are there any questions on that one hearing none is there a motion to approve so so second we have a motion and a second call the role please mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member Pettis I council member ramp I council member weisenfeld I council member shr I the resolution is approved moving on to decertification of Tiff number 1-17 Jefferson Avenue thank you mayor uh ultimately uh a Redevelopment tax increment financing district has five years which tip that tip District 1-7 is has 5 years to incur its obligations and thereafter it can't take on any new debt or pay youo agreements or anything like that uh based on State Statute so so the district was created ultimately to promote some Redevelopment in that Jefferson Avenue us 169 intersection it helped us pay for some infrastructure that we installed in that area uh we assisted one local business in that area uh and ultimately we're be we paid off those obligations and we can't do anything else with that do and so ultimately it's time to benefit from the tax base by decertifying the district because it'll be part of our general tax base at that point we'll no longer be capturing tax increment there and we'll be returning some funds that we've already collected that we're not able to use and ultimately we'll receive some of those funds back as redistributed funds that will go into our general fund and so it's appropriate to uh say goodbye to Tiff district 1-17 and uh go go through the process that we requires a resolution requires a form submitted to the county both the resolution and the form go to the state of Minnesota so we make everybody happy that understands that we've made this go away so all right uh any questions for Shannon or anything to add Todd the only other comment that I'd make is that the council here has always been judicious in its use of these things and this worked as it was supposed to it is now at its end of life and this is how its life ends any further discussion hearing none the resolution approving the desertification of tax increment financing District number 1-17 of the city of St Peter appears on page 43 of the packet is there a motion to approve so moved second we have a motion and a second to call the role please council member Johnson I council member Pettis I council member Ram I council member weisenfeld I council member Shram I mayor Noel I the resolution is approved our next resolution calls for a public hearing on the creation of tax increment financing District number 1-27 within Municipal development District number one and the adoption of a tax increment financing plan relating here to thank you uh brm Holdings has expressed an interest in constructing a new mixed use building on the old library lot across from City Hall at 107 West NASA they're proposing to include 3,214 ft of commercial space on the ground level uh which they are able to do in a housing tax increment District as it's a vacant site it's not eligible for redevelopment uh because it's a housing District you're limited in how much space can be dedicated for commercial purposes which is 20% and it meets that threshold and ultimately they're intending to construct this facility but have requested tax increment assistance to assist with that process as we've discussed in the past uh the use of a housing tax Inc fin financing District means that they have to meet specific income restrictions and all but one time uh developers have selected the income restriction I reference in here which is 20% of the units need to Bea made available to tenants below 50% of median area income by family size the other alternative is 40% of the units are at 60% of median uh family or area median income sorry and that's by family size those are monitored for the duration of the subsidy and developers ultimately are submitting documentation to the city that they're Meeting those requirements this developer has requested 14 years of pay as you go assistance meaning if we create this tax increment District we're going to capture the new incremental increase in property taxes that would normally go to the city county and some to the school district and we're redirecting those that are ultimately captured by the County provided to the city for a specific public purpose that's identified in Statute in this instance it's for 90% of the funds collected have to be spent on the creation of housing that meets the income restrictions outlined in statute and so we say virtually all the funds have to be spent on housing and so uh and that's the proposal here ultimately the developer would be required to build the project pay their property tax taxes on time and INF full meet the income restrictions that we apply and if they do that we would reimburse a portion of that property tax they pay on an annual basis over a period of 14 years ultimately they're generally making the case that that subsidy allows them to designate those 20% of their units for folks at 50% of area immediate income uh for us to implement this a public hearing was required and the action that you'd be taking this evening would be calling that public hearing so that we can receive public comment on October 14th regarding the creation of the Tiff District following the public hearing that evening it's most likely that we'd present a development agreement to you that would outline those terms I've referenced in this document which is the reimbursement of property tax for a specific period of time this instance 14 years is the request U happy to answer your questions on the action to be taken again it's calling the hearing tonight you haven't obligated yourself at this point but you're certainly setting the wheels in motion to have an obligation presented so thank you questions for Shannon Carrie uh I just caught your comment about um this sort of mechanism allows the developer to meet the thresholds for the income requirements when there is a tip District um um it's been my understanding also that construction costs the way that they are are so high is that still a factor and why they would be um motivated to go after Tiff yeah it's twofold it's not only construction costs but it's interest rates on the financing that they're able to secure as well um in fact I've heard more complaining about interest rates lately they were starting they were starting to kind of get used to the construction costs and they've somewhat stabilized but the interest on the financing is problematic as well and where is that at for construction now it's been the discussions I've been involved in have been in that 7% range okay thank you that will vary based on who the developer is and where they are at and their process the amount of cash they have it's really based on the developer um and where they're at financially additional questions for discussion darl um since this is a parcel that's currently owned by the city um in essence we're not collecting any property tax on it now so we in essence if we were to do this Tiff District we would still collect about 10% of the property tax yeah you're you're close uh we will retain 10% and it's available for either other housing activity that qualifies you know that meets the income requirement or your administrative costs your your administrative cost won't be 10% so you'll probably accumulate a little cash and if we've monitored that in your other housing districts and when projects have needed some assistance on debt service or something that those funds are available uh I would also tell you that the underlying property once it's put into a tiff District by State Statute the Auditors required to identify that underlying value that they're carrying and we're not able to capture that as tax incr so I think there was I'd be speculating what the value was please don't yeah please don't please don't yeah so that value then gets registered against it and so it looks like a taxing ref financing District that was developed on an already taxable parcel yes so you the everybody benefits a little bit because that portion becomes par becomes tax it is not now correct correct y thank you and if I could the other thing that I mention is that this is very similar or substantially similar to the deals that you have done in the past related to the percentage share and the term additional discussion hearing nothing further the resolution calling for a public hearing on the creation of tax increment financing District number 1-27 within Municipal development District number one and the adoption of a tax increment financing plan relating there to is on page 46 of the packet is there a motion to approve so moved second we have a motion and a second to call the rooll please council member Pettis I council member ramp I council member weisenfeld I council member shrom I mayor Noel I council member Johnson I the resolution is approved thanks so much for being here tonight thanks Shannon thanks Shannon all right we are going to move on to to our next item which is North Industrial Park Subdivision number four preliminary plat Veterinary pharmaceutical Solutions building Edition and Ben is here to talk to us about that uh thank you mayor Noel members of the council um the next two agenda items typically we are doing subdivisions but these two will actually be uh partial combinations so just a little different twist so I'll go through the first one starting on page 48 of your packet um back in 2002 the city develop the North Industrial Park um a few years later the city coll collaborated with the Development Corporation and they erected a 10,000 squ foot building this was a SPEC Building hoping to entice um new business or business expansion up in the in the business park and then shortly after UM Vet RX decided to move there and uh um that was a a great move and then V uh vet RX which now is become VPS or Veterinary pharmaceutical Solutions um is looking to expand their business is is growing and they're needing an additional 8,300 Square ft um this was stemmed from the soderland family and the soderland Village Drug um the if you go on page 49 you'll see that the property valuation and um proposed employment will both increase a million dollar for valuation and about 10 new jobs which is exciting um due to the proposed addition the applicant is requesting that the North Industrial Park Subdivision number four uh be combined tract a and tract B which is the old RLS number 55 so combining these tracks will um allow for no encroachments everything will be contained on one lot this is zoned i1 and all the requirements of the i1 district will be met um there is Road and sidewalk sewer water storm and electric all available to the site currently uh the Planning Commission did look at this on August 1st and recommended approval uh after holding a public hearing um as far as fiscal impact there was talk about potential Tiff for this project they have elected not to take that assistance so with that once the new addition is constructed on lot one um the city the school district and the county will each each Reed their portion um it's estimated to be around $60,000 a year which is a $30,000 increase so with that the attachments show where the project is and essentially it's just taking out that line between tract a and Tra B allowing for um both the building and the parking lot to expand further to the South so in this case and along with the next agenda item these are will be there was a preliminary plat resolution and a final plat resolution um so with that would be the Planning Commission and staff's recommendation to approve both those plats thank you very much uh is there are there any questions or discussion anybody on the Planning Commission have anything to add all right the the resolution on page 53 is the North Industrial Park Subdivision number four preliminary plat for VPS Sol VPS uh building addition is there a motion to approve so moov second we have a motion and a second to call the rooll please council member Ram I council member weisenfeld I council member shrom I mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member Pettis I the resolution is approved anything to discuss or anything you want to add before we move on to the final plat no all right the North Industrial Park Subdivision number four final plat for veterinary pharmaceutical Solutions building addition is on page page 55 of the packet is there a motion to approve so move second we have a motion and a second to call the role please council member weisenfeld I council member shrom hi mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member pennis I council member Ram I the resolution is approved our next resolution um is the preliminary plat registered land survey number 82 track combination for uh 1503 Winona Street and TD if you could maybe go to page 60 to show the the visual there um so uh this one two years ago um the owners of 1125 Lloyd Lane actually subdivided their property um into two Parcels or two tracks with the RLS uh 67t wide residential lot is what they formed and then they also kept a 25 foot wide buffer strip you'll see those uh Greenery or bushes or screening trees going up and down right there um that was just to create a little bit of space between the the neighbors so with that um there's been some difficulty in selling that residential lot due to the narrow lot width um if just for reference um along Winona Street a lot of the Lots range from 90 to 110 ft wide and easily accommodate a a three stall garage um so with that um um recently there was a um interested buyer that was found and a purchase agreement that was established and with that one of the conditions was that basically this parcel revert to back to a 92t wide lot so um essentially taking the old RLS and adopting the new RLS 82 which reestablishes back that that wider lot so the Planning Commission uh did look at this um back on August 1st after a public hearing um and did recommend approval this is part of the R1 single family district and everything is met um we have accessible Road and sidewalk sewer water electric um and the fiscal impact would be is if this does turn into a new home next year after it's constructed that home would probably estimate about $5,750 worth of of property taxes that would be divvied up between the school the city and the and the county so um attached you'll see the both the preliminary and the final plat again with the proposed resolutions as well so I've hady answering any questions sure any questions for Ben hearing no questions or discussions the pre the preliminary plat is a resolution approving the preliminary plat is on page 63 through 64 of the packet is there a motion to approve sov second we have a motion and a second call the rooll please council member shrom I mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member Pettis I council member ramp I council member weisenfeld I the resolution is approved if there are no questions or discussion about the final plat uh that that resolution appears on pages 66 through 67 of the packet is there a motion to approve so moved second we have a motion and a second call the RO please mayor Noel I council member Johnson I hi council member Pettis hi council member ramp I council member weisenfeld I council member shrom I resolution is approved uh next up the 2024 housing study acceptance all right thank you mayor Noel and members of the council uh previous housing Studies have proven to be invaluable to the city um these Studies have served to guide the city council as they've determined the acceptable Municipal role in residential development so back in 2005 was there was a study done uh 2012 there was a study done and then an update in 2014 that addressed more of the affordable housing um we do like to see or the uh housing experts like to see or they advise every two to five years um having an update so um we did review this at a previous workshop and this 2024 housing study will serve as the basis for housing decisions funding opportunities and uh work with the 2026 comprehensive planning process um it'll also provide home builders developers Banks and investors solid information to entice them to look at St Peter when they're uh looking at two either redeveloped or do development projects um once this is adopted the final draft will go on the city's website we'll also distribute it to the the school district the county and other partners that are interested in housing um there is an executive summary that's attached um and everybody was provided with the the full study I just going to go over a few of the highlights here in bullet points um that the housing study came up with so over the last 5 years the city's averaged nearly 58 new con construction housing units per year so this would be both rental and owner occupied over the past 10 years there were thir 321 multif family residential units constructed there is currently a limited supply of vacant residential lots we've been talking about that over the last couple years much of the expected growth through 2028 will be um in the older age range age ranges the estimated median household income for renter households was 39,000 compared to 999,000 for homeowners and then 40% of renters were applying 30% or more of their income to housing costs rental occupancy rates remain very high in all independent rental segments um the study should really look at promoting 180 to 220 more rental units over the next 5 years um the city should look look at expanding 60 to 90 senior housing units um also promote various home ownership opportunities and price ranges and continue to work with owner occupied and Rental rehab programs like the mvac program that we'll look to do hopefully over the next year so again um probably look at doing this study again in a couple years but for now we're just looking at accepting this this document um putting it on our website and giving that to all the people that are interested in housing this was budgeted for25 ,000 it came $3,000 under um and I guess that would be staff's recommendation to accept this housing study uh as you mentioned we did have a discussion about it at a previous Workshop but happy to have have further discussion or questions for Ben Ben the the one thing that I'd like to bring up um that was brought to our attention was going through the housing study um St Peter actually looked looked at as kind of a benchmark for other cities to kind of Blossom to be when it comes to housing so that's kind of a Kudos and a pad on our back so it's kind of nice to hear from somebody who does housing studies not only in the state of Minnesota but in neighboring states so yep Carrie so the legislature State Legislature not in this last session but the session before approved quite a bit of money for Housing Programs how does the housing study Aid in our ability to access some of those funds for projects here well anytime with whether it's Parks plan or Transportation plan or housing uh data and numbers and plans anytime we have that ready to go that helps us just have a leg up on any type of funding that could be available so often times the funders are looking for this information from a credible Source that's well documented and this is the kind of stuff that does that thank you I would piggyback a little bit on what uh council member ramp said about uh the city uh uh the council certainly has housing as a high priority and has had the entire time I've been on the council um but it's good to have sort of an outside Source coming in and looking at things we've made a lot of progress like of the I don't know how many housing units we you said we've added in the last 10 years of rental housing a lot of that has been actually in the last three years um and so it feels like boy we've done a lot we can probably pump the brakes on that but you know uh things like at the uh as they pointed out we probably need more rental housing things like that are interesting to hear nice to have an outside perspective so um I'm sure we will refer to this report a lot as Ben mentioned this is something also that we share with developers and often times they or their Bankers are looking for an outside source of information about statistically where are things at and so this is a great tool for them as they consider investing in your community and so that value alone is worth the cost of this yeah Dustin I think it's also worth noting something that came out the housing that we're currently seeing right now and the projects we're going into actually combat the numbers of houses that were built in the late 1990s and we've seen nowhere near those numbers in over 20 years yeah well if there is no further commentary or discussion the resolution accepting the 2024 St Peter housing study update is on page 87 of the packet is there a motion to approve so moved second we have a motion and a second to call the rooll please council member Johnson I council member Pettis hi council member ramp I council member weisenfeld I council member shrom I mayor Noel I the resolution is approved thank you thank you Ben next up City assistance for rockbend Folk Festival mayor members the information is included in your packet and it's this great time of year when we hear from our friends at Rock Bend um for the event that they look to do which will come up um with your approval in just a few short weeks it's always a Fant fantastic event and the folks have been putting it on now for over 30 years I believe this will be year 33 if I remember properly you'll see documentation including your packet not only from staff but from the rock Bend organizers which is a group of volunteers many of whom reside in St Peter and put this magical thing all together U there's a resolution including your packet on page 92 or 93 related to what we will provide to assist them assist them and what they provide and so certainly you've read that and seen this before but I wanted to illustrate just a couple of major things that go on as a part of this um first of all they're required to have insurance for utilization of the park um that is substantially similar to what you require from all folks that are using public rights of way or public facilities including Parks we do anticipate that there's a cost to provide this assistance but it's well worth it when we consider the number of people that generally come to St Peter and spend dollars and participate in activities within your community um we had you know no longer have a police Reserve so we don't provide security overnight for equipment and other things and so they're responsible for providing that and they are always at least from my perspective and I think from probably the recreation director's perspective and the police chief's perspective and um the Public Works director's perspective are always great to work with and if we have problems or concerns or challenges we work together to address those and so they're always great about porta potties and handicap porta potties and access to the park and all of those kind of things so um these are great people to work with with a wonderful event in town as is your practice and is required um there's a resolution within your packet that meets some of the hard nuts and bolts um criteria from your ordinance um but also provide some assistance or or shows what assistance we're going to provide for them as they that as they put on this um activity happy to answer any questions that you might have um but again I think this is the 33rd Year rock B Folk Festival so how cool um for them and for us and and for theity any questions for Todd or any discussion hearing nothing the resolution authorizing City assistance for rock and F folk festal appears on pages 92 through 93 of the packet is there a motion to approve so move second we have a motion in two seconds I think uh call the r please council member Pettis I council member Ram I council member weisenfeld I council member shrom I mayor Noel I council member Johnson I the resolution is approved um let's see second to last item of new business community community center Chiller bid award remember John is here and we'll have him come on up if you have any specific questions I'll do kind of a quick introduction and he and his team um put together the process for this and the bids and RFP for this system um and so John I'll let you take it away and fill in or if anybody has questions I'm I'm happy to provide and John can speak to and I'll let him speak to the need and then I'll talk about the numbers a little bit if that's okay absolutely and and I am coming to this process a little behind the eight ball as well because it was uh started prior to my arrival here but working with my staff uh specifically the maintenance staff and Todd on this uh it sounds like this is long overdue um we are starting to see some of the wear and tear on the chiller which is affecting the efficiency of this building um and being noticed I know that it was uh originally planned for last year but due to the dire need of the library uh um equipment that was prioritized and so it was shifted to this year I really think the only thing that was a brief setback on that was the originally budgeted amount never changed based on the essentially two years now that we have hence why we're coming um with the higher numbers from the bid process so um with that in mind it is certainly something that is needed at this point I know that Eric our facility maintenance lead is is very anxious to do this and again primarily for the efficiencies that it will allow this building to operate under so with that I would welcome any questions that any members of the council have any questions or anything to add may members you had two bids on this one from gos who did the work for your library last year and schwickert's techa America um and so you can see those bids included in the packet these bids include five years parts and labor warranty and as John indicated um you can't really make this building go well um during the summer without this equipment two major challenges that you see one of which is the ability to get repairs done because of the availability of parts and then as is mentioned in the memo the refrigerant that is used is no longer manufactured allowed for use and so our ability to get enough of that to make this we have a a substantial failure in system or loss of ref refrigerant would mean that the system wouldn't go and then we'd be in a Scurry and an emergency to try and make something go here um I know this is a tough one due to the nature of the estimate and the bids that we're at but it is something that you need to continue to have in place this hopefully puts us in a position so that by the time you get to next summer you're in good shape and you'll be in good shape for another 20 plus years B um I I agree that we definitely do need it um I think in the future we do need to refresh those estimates when we're budgeting um because we're almost 50% over what we had in the budget and that's that's a huge difference um and for for estimates to change over the course of two years MH I that's a big jump in two years I mean there's a lot of stuff that I buy you know two years years ago 3 years ago four years ago and I know things have gone up but for something to increase in price 50% over the course of two years seems like a pretty big jump um but it's something we need it is what it is um so but I in the future we need to definitely look at maybe refreshing those if we're going to kick the can down the road so that way we can have a little bit better estimate going forward concern was more so just how far off we are on our estimate I in my time on Council we haven't had any item that we've purchased that has been nearly this far off so yeah if I may I think one of the challenges that was this was was the timing of the my predecessor's departure being in the budget season um the moving of everything I'm not justifying anything but I think that process may have expedited this and maybe some things um with Todd's desk being filled up with so many other things as well as my team my current teams without a director I think there were a lot of challenges again certainly not making excuses on that I think that just had a lot of that the timing was a very challenging process I think for everybody involved and then as as was previously mentioned I think construction pieces went up I do know in my time here talking with my staff they were in anticipating an an increase of what uh what was budgeted and I would agree fully that in the the future that it would be the plan to to go out and revisit it if something is pushed out versus simply rolling forward a number so as far as my process goes that will be absolutely included Carrie well I wonder if this is what Todd you're going to say I just my recollection is we did the swap for equipment because there was a pressing need and I just the way that I look at it regardless of how this shook out and those costs would have been higher than what we originally budgeted and the need for the swap was necessary based on the like how we were prioritizing we would have purchased the chiller earlier but we ended up swapping based on need and what was that equipment again that we swapped with was it Chiller for the library for the library that's right yeah if I can can do you want to come up to the microphone so they can get you just taking you back to last year when we did the swap out um The Chiller for the library came in almost half of what we thought it was going to be so that's why we left the bid at 275 we thought we were in the range because those held so thank you that was my reflection as well as liary that's another reason when we talk through the budget process it's like well the chiller for the library was at 90 and we had 150 in there so we felt confident that the 275 would probably hold and I think that's valuable to share because on the surface if you just look at the dollar bill amount we had and the bids were accepting it doesn't look very favorable on our I I agree but that that's one of the reasons when we talk through the equipment certificate and the numbers that we were putting in last year for the budget that's one of the reasons why we left it for sure ultimately the estimates that you hear are are my office as a responsibility to make sure that they're on target I would also like to mention and I I think this is not unimportant this was in intended to be funded through Debt Service so not that the estimate mattered or didn't matter but it mattered substantially less because this was going to be funded through an equipment certificate which from a cash P perspective ends up being kind of a zero net and so we did not go through the effort or the cost to reestimate this project based on the data that we had seen with the old uh with the library um children so car what how long did the pre how how long has this Chiller that we have currently lasted and what is the life expectancy of a new Chiller so um this one has been in place since the building was built so it has not been replaced since that time so it's more than 20 years old okay and in fact it was operational prior to occupancy of the building because it was utilized while some of the construction was going on drying out sheetrock all of those kind of things as you can imagine and so it's been in place more than 20 years and we'll see a similar if not better life expectancy with this um I think what you see the challenge and we wouldn't be looking to do a new one if parts were continued to be readily available and there hadn't been the change and the EPA rules related to refrigerant those are two significant factors that move us forward if parts were available if that refrigerant was readily available we'd fix and fix until we just couldn't fix anymore but we are at that point now one more question um just like a lot of things the lead time is far away so says 30 weeks y um and so that brings us to marchish and so how does how does that work kind bringing one in taking one out and that all is supposed to work before gets warm so the so the estimated construction timeline is 30 days or less okay and so one hopes that it all works as planned sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't but that does give us a little bit of wiggle room here to make that go um and we feel confident in the ability both both of these contractors have good track records um gogs when they did the work on the library that worked within the timeline that was predicted as we took bids for this we asked them to provide that those timelines and um so at least from my perspective we believe that they can be um that they're just not made up that they're within the realm of reasonableness as they provided bids for the project can I add to that real quick um I will also add that staff has been in touch with both of these vendors to kind of discuss that very question and we both feel very confident that that well there is lead time that we will be ready for next summer thank you thanks everybody hearing uh no further discussion uh the resolution awarding the 2024 Community Center Chiller replacement project is on page 96 of the packet is there a motion to approve sove second we have a motion and a second to call the roll please council member Ram I council member weisenfeld I council member shrom I mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member Pettis I the resolution is approved thank you very much thank you all right our final item of new business tonight is uh some a resolution approving new licenses mayor mer you'll see information included within your packet and a resolution not quite to page 100 it's really the last resolution um within well second to the last resolution within your packet and so you'll see for Chuck day doing business as a flame bar for their on sale Sunday sale and offsale license um the reason for the dates being not an entire year is as you know um those license start and stop at the end of June the beginning July so people purchase them on a on a pra basis depending on what to change over screen this relates to the sale of the flame tobacco um this location might be familiar to to you um but this is for United fuels Midwest um which is generally the um what we might consider the BP station which has a sale as well and then the show license as they have um music and other activities going on at the flame bar um all of these are new licenses because they are new applicants as you know according to your policy renewals go on your consent agenda new licenses come for an action item and so this resolution represents that action item and for folks at home who don't have the memo in front of them all these folks because they're new they go through a background investigation process there's nothing Madam May that um would bring us cause to pause um with providing these licenses any questions or discussion all right the resolution approving new licenses on on page 98 of the packet is there a motion to approve so moved second we have a motion and a second call the rooll please council member weisenfeld I CC member shrom I mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member Pettis I council member ramp I the resolution is approved uh moving on to reports and I kind of lied we actually have new business at the end of the agenda but it's interrupted by reports uh report from the mayor I'd only like to thank everybody uh on the fair board who participated and all the additional volunteers for making the nicholet county fair uh go it's a lot of work a lot of of people working really hard and uh a great event for our community so uh that is all I wanted to mention we have time for Council Members who'd like to make reports Carrie Johnson I was just going to report on the Coalition of Greater Minnesota cities conference that was in Late July and council member Pettis also attended um some of the topics at the conference related to um policy discussions on EMS um um and then also housing um among other topics it's also an opportunity for the coalition to um accomplish business so um setting the budget for the year um and it's also such a great networking opportunity and um for those at home the Coalition uh advocates for towns like St Peter um cities like St Peter who are in Greater Minnesota advocating for our unique needs in Greater Minnesota and so what was I think fun for me and likely council member Pettis um was there was an opportunity where we got to at do um different tables and talk about you know what do we want to see um our dues go towards what types of policy discussions um were of of um top of mind for cities so that that really sets the lens or the frame for the Coalition um as we go into the policy committees um which uh any any of our Council and council members across grer Minnesota who are part of the Coalition can participate in those policy committees and it's always um really great to do that so I encourage that when you see those opportunities to come up to participate and they have a meeting 15th oh the 15th of August in man oh yes and then there's a regional meeting August 15th and I don't know I think registration may still be open for that if you haven't registered and as a part of the new business I was elected to or elevated to first vice president congratulations over second vice president so clim thank you thanks for serving the Coalition and representing St Peter thank you any other council member reports then we will move on to City administrator reports Madame mayor I don't have any reports tonight but I do have a request to approve a resolution that's on the last page of your packet all right that resolution calls for a Clos session related to property at one scholarship way and 107 West NASA uh is there any discussion or would do we have a motion to the only thing I want to point out I think you said this um this is for two separate close sessions one for each property right and I do anticipate potentially coming back to take action on one of those properties so we will stay in this room we will sorry we'll kick everybody out we'll have the closed session then we'll return to open session to to take action that would be the point all right yes uh is there a any questions or discussion is there a motion to approve the resolution on page 99 calling for a closed session so moved second we have a motion and a second to call the role please council member shon hi mayor Noel I council member johnon hi council member Pettis hi council member ramp hi council member weisenfeld hi the resolution is approved we uh it is 7:59 p.m. and we are adjourned to we are adjourned from Open Session good evening this is a regular meeting of the St Peter city council we are returning to open session at 8:42 p.m. uh to consider p a purchase agreement and development agreement for Real Estate located located at 107 West NASA mayor members there's information on your desk um related to the potential purchase and development of 107 West Nassau um Ben is here to provide some information related to the discussions that you've had previously and where we think we are now so Ben if you wouldn't mind coming up and um we'll go through that if you have any questions we'll do our best to answer all right thanks Todd and mayor and members of the council um the lot we were talking about tonight is 107 West Nassau um across from the current city hall and police station um this was uh previously the Lumis building um it was also known as the old LI or the library um after going from the the Carnegie Library um it was then placed here at 107 NASA now referred to as the old library lot um after the tornado um the council has discussed um over the summer a couple times the uh potential interest in this lot um and what we're looking at is a three-story building that would house some commercial at ground level and 22 units of residential both at the ground level in Story 2 and then Story 3 um there would be parking on the North side um there would also be uh parking in the nearby area that we'd have agreements set up for so that we'd have a 1: one parking ratio of off street parking to units um this project does propose new sidewalks both along NASA and Front Street uh there would be trees that would go in those sidewalks also some planters with irrigation uh there' be a little bit of green space and an enclosed dumpster um the um there's two things that we're looking at tonight one is the purchase agreement and that would be for $50,000 um the other thing would be a development agreement and that kind of walks through the zoning um some of those things that SP site specific and building specific things that we talked about as far as design um the Green Space the dumpster the lighting um if this project developed we would also um acquire about $45,000 in building and utility uh fees and the $50,000 would go towards the purchase price would go towards um park parks so I guess with that I'd be happy to answer any questions any questions for Ben Carrie I just wanted to make a comment and refer back to our housing study um about the need for what was it been approximately 180 more units of multif family housing or apartment housing of this type um and so I think obviously 22 units isn't eat up a whole lot of that but we're we keep moving the needle toward um those goals and so being we want to be supportive of Housing and bikable walkable areas um to retail and um this is a good opportunity for u a lot that has been vacant up until recently when we had the plaza and some activity down there but um that we can uh also use the space for housing any additional questions or comments Dustin well thank you Ben for getting this done this is a piece of property that for 26 years has had nothing on it and we've collected nothing in tax revenue from it and we're now going to have potential for more housing in town and more business space all right the resolution before us enters into a purchase agreement and development agreement for property located at 107 West na NASA is there a motion to approve so moved second we have a motion and a second call the roll please mayor Noel I council member Johnson I council member Pettis I council member Ram I council member weisenfeld I council member shrom I the resolution is approved thanks Ben thanks for thank you all the work you've done on this um there is no more business before us tonight is there a motion to adjourn so move second all those in favor of adjournment say I I any opposed we are adjourned thanks everybody past week we've been short one person you've been messaging just shared it with you