##VIDEO ID:BX_ph4w6V-4## call Mayor Reese here council member o here Nelson here Davis here sches here Bly here Osmos here and Butterfield and to the repic for it stands one nation indivisible andice any additions deletions or approval motion for approval motion to approve the agenda second Mr Mayor I would like to add um just a clarification on the um agreement between the contractor and the uh homeowners on who's responsible for taking care of newly seated grass and stuff along newly new construction what's the agreement is it on the contractor is it on the homeowner just some clarification on that so that'd be information only I guess could add that as [Music] item I don't know item I I suppose okay that change any discussion roll call council member o i Nelson I Davis i sches i baggerly i osmus i and Butterfield I seven eyes zero nose and that passes consent items the police Civil Service Comm commission minutes of September 25th 24 approval of the Blue Line Arena second scoreboard consideration of a state one day state one day to 4 day temporary on sale liquor license permit for the Wilmer Fraternal Order of Eagles pheasants forever Minnesota habitat fund lawful gambling application and the accounts payable report from 10324 through 101624 and for your information the Wilmer Municipal Utilities financial report from August of 24 and the director's reports all right motion to approve the consent agenda second motion and a second any discussion on any item not roll call council member Nelson I Davis hi sches hi baggerly hi osus hi Butterfield I and O I seven eyes zero nose that passes nobody signed up for the form no all right thank you next is public hearing special assessment hearing for unpaid weed and grass mowing Renee city clerk council members Mr Mayor tonight I'm asking for a resolution certifying the amount of unpaid weed grass mowing removal charges for the county to be sent to the county auditor for collection for 2025 for stent to Municipal Code 99 chapter nine article three concerning the cutting of weeds or grass and in the case of non-compliance such work to be performed by the city or its agents the cost thereof can be certified as a special assessment against the property concerned and the city has the authority to certify as special assessments those costs not reimbursed notice of tonight's hearing has been sent to the below-listed property owners and Council should consider their objections if there are anyone here to speak on that and take appropriate action those are uh parcel number 95741 330 Jonathan aler parcel number 95820 0260 Guadalupe Flores parcel number 95820 11170 Caleb gross paral number 95636 Isaac Lopez and parcel number 9548 006 the state of Minnesota county auditor okay I'll open the public hearing anybody present wanting to speak in regards to the weed grass Ming right then I'll close the hearing need a motion to approve the special assessment for unpaid mooving charges so move second we got a motion in a second any discussion roll call council member Davis I sches hi baggerly hi osas hi Butterfield i o i and Nelson I seven eyes zero nose I passes second next is the special assessment hearing for unpaid fire alarm system charges it once again city clerk ber LaRon council members Mr Mayor tonight I'm asking for a resolution certifying the amount of unpaid firearm Al system charges for to be sent to the county auditor for collection in 2025 pursuant to the Wimer Municipal Code chapter 8 article 7 concerning the firearm system the cost thereof can be certified as a special assessment against the property concerned and the city has the authority to certify as special assessments those costs not reimbursed notice of tonight's hearing has been sent to the below listed property owner the council should consider their objections and take appropriate action that is parcel number 95 9131 1220 Wilmer leasing asso I don't know hsg Housing Association at Lakeland Drive that's it that's it just one all right I'll open the public hearing anybody here to speak to this unpaid fire alarm charges if not I'll close the hearing and look for a motion so move second got a motion in a second discussion Rick so was this a first time offense or was there multiple alarms different times now Frank do you know I guess I'm not real sure um I know that what we do is we charge for alarm malfunctions which means there's no reason for the alarms to go off um and then they're giving five days with a whole lot of grace period to get it fixed and then we void it um they either never provided the proper paperwork that it was fixed um or paid the $500 so I'm assuming um I believe it is um the apartments on Leland Drive and we have several alarms going off there per year so this one they just didn't take care of for some reason so are you allowed so many false alarms or uh not necessarily anything that's a malfunction um it's the same paperwork the same bill they have five business days to fix it and provide us with um proof that was fixed by a company this one they did not provide it to us after several attempts I guess okay any other questions otherwise roll call council member sches hi bager hi Osmos hi Butterfield hi OS hi Nelson hi and Davis I seven eyes zero nose that passes next it's a special assessment hearing for unpaid infectious tree removal charges city clerk for a again council members Mr Mayor I have I'm asking for resolution certifying the amount of unpaid infectious tree removal charges to the county auditor for collection in 2025 pursuant to Wilmer Municipal Code chapter 9 Article 4 concerning the removal of infectious trees and cost thereof can be certified as a special assessment against the property concerned and the city has the authority to certify as special assessments those costs not reimbursed notice of tonight's hearing has been sent to the below listed property owner the council should consider their objection and take appropriate action that part parcel being 95 00 6730 Efron and Cynthia Guerrero on Trot Avenue I'll open the public hearing anybody here to speak to this issue hearing none I'll close the public hearing and look for a motion second we got a second now are these on they're not on RightWay they're just an infectious Tree on private property that's correct okay right any questions roll call council member faggle hi osmus hi Butterfield hi OS I Nelson I Davis I and shoulders hi seven eyes zero nose that passes next is uh completion of clear Zone acquisition planned Eric Mr mayor council members thank you for your time this evening uh what you have before you is a clear Zone acquisition plan proposal clear Zone acquisition is a a little bit of a misnomer but it's kind of what the state requires us to call this we're not actually acquiring any land in this particular plan uh the clear zones are at the end of each Runway so you can think of it as the approach end or the departure end however you want to look at it but we have four of these clear zones one on each end of the S Runway and one on each end of the main Runway and if you think about how the airport Lies We have roads that impede those safe zones and so what the state of Minnesota is very um specific about how we need to to have control of those clear zones uh and and we have to show that we either own or have avigation easements on those properties unfortunately we can't own the road because the road RightWay is owned by mot or C candyi County in one instance and in one little spot if you look at that map there's a spot kind of on the northeast edge of the airport boundary and that's actually mind do right of way that was potentially going to be part of an Old Highway 12 relocation from years ago but because mot owns that right of way we we can't show that we own it so what we have to do is come up with this clear Zone acquisition plan that in this case shows that the only thing we don't have control over or ownership over are those Road RightWay sections and then we can request an exemption from mindat when it comes to our our grant writing process uh included in your packet was kind of a breakdown of a new uh pointing scale that mindat uses it's been out for a couple of years and uh you can see that if you don't have this clear Zone uh right or acquisition or clear Zone clearly owned it's a minus 10 right off the bat so we kind of start out in the hole and so this plan will allow us to ask for the exemption for those Road rideway areas and allow us to maintain good standing on on these Grant applications so it is a state uh funded program so this is 7030 The Proposal is for $10,000 the city portion would be $3,000 and with that I would stand for any questions out of out of curiosity this is a small piece that the state owns which was deemed as right away for the bypass is there more beyond that or for as far as clear Zone area no just or or SP stuff that they own right away yeah they do in fact if you drive on Highway 40 there's a piece of property now owned by the city of Wilmer that used to be a Phil kwam building site and you know where the buildings and the bins were and then just to the west of that there's a a wide swath that has trees on either side of it and is grass and actually that chunk is kind of the remnants of that easement or that RightWay area it's a north and south line that goes for oh about a mile or a mile and a half I'd have to look back at the gis and then if you look further down on the gis towards where the bypass is now the 23 bypass uh or where 23 starts out again um there's some uh areas that are owned there that kind of make a sale towards what would have intersected the roads so the state owns all of that yeah it's a it's just a stretch yep yep all right um I need a motion or if you have questions to approve uh Professional Services from Bolton and mink for this Zone clear Zone acquisition plan so moved second we got a motion and a second any discussion roll call council member osmus I Butterfield Hi O hi Nelson hi Davis Hi schz hi and ferly I seven eyes zero nose that motion passes thank you thank you thank you thank you for your time next is uh approve increasing the firefighter P retirement fire chief Frank Mr Mayor members of the council before you we ask your approval to adopt resolution to raise the firefighter pension level from $6,000 per year to $7,500 per year some of you may recall back back in 2019 I was directed by the council to review this every two years with the firefighters um which we have last year would have been 2023 would have been the year to review it we reviewed it um and the firefighters didn't feel that our fund was was strong enough at that point to ask for a raise um so they decided to wait until this year we reviewed it again this year and our fund grew quite a bit um and so we are approaching you to see if um get approval to raise it to $7,500 in your packet is the cost analysis for this um you'll see if we raise it to $7,500 per year of good service for each firefighter um our fund will still be at about 113% funded um and that's also a worst case scenario that if everybody that can retire retires January 2nd which is not going to happen obviously um so with that I stand for any questions questions Audrey um thank you um how do we compare to other communities other communities that are in the Paris system um we are on the top end there's about eight departments that are a little bit higher than us um several small small departments that are lower than us there's about 180 to 200 departments in the Paras system um out of the 780 departments or 740 departments in Minnesota so I don't know where the private ones are at I this compar to the Paras system I think that's why we were low back in 2019 why we asked for you to do this regularly that's correct we just want just wondered where we were now so thank you questions um Chief could you tell me a little bit about the process of the review sounds like it's something that uh other uh members of the fire department participated in and um and clearly clearly Pura participated in that uh review process as well but just talk to us about the process so basically um we request from perah um the cost analysis on certain dollar amounts um our relief Association board um decided which dollar amounts they wanted the analysis done on um that was completed this information was brought to the full fire department um to explain to them and ask what their opinions were and this is how we came up with this number okay so the full fire department would have been the one the made the recommendation for the 750 that's correct okay I'm sorry 7,500 yes thank you any other question Rick thanks Mr so the city doesn't pay this this comes from your profit Shar that is correct the the city um to best my knowledge over the last 30 plus years has never had to contribute in to the relief Association or the paund for the fire department they only would have to if the fund was depleted depleted down to about 75% so we have quite a ways to go before that would be a possibility by increasing this would this help recruit more fir I believe so recruit and retention both I think as older people get the more they're aware of retirement and this is a good bonus for the hard work that they do else does does the retirement payout is that based on years of service high5 it's based on years of service um you get vested at 40% after five years and then you gain 4% up to the 20year mark and then you're at 100% so under five years you get zero you have to be here for at least five years so this would encourage firefighters even more to stay on for 20 years yes more Yep anybody else no other questions I need a motion I make that motion to increase it second we got a motion and a second any further discussion roll call council member Butterfield I ask I no Nelson hi Davis Hi shes hi vly Hi and osus hi seven eyes zero nose thank you thank you Frank all right I'll call on our city administrator lesle Valiant to over the intern police chief yes good evening Council so Sergeant Mike Holm has accepted our offer to be become our interim police chief so we will be assigning the duties of police chief to officer home and for that duration and he will be um the recommend salary will be the annual salary of the police chief at step four of 11 15,6 68 for that duration and if at any time he wishes to step down which I hope he doesn't uh he certainly will be able to we will be we are working on onou also that the council will be seeing on November 4th in regards to uh keeping Sergeant Holmes at the ls during this time because it's an outof class working situation any questions I just want to say thank you for stepping up for this role all right well I need a motion so moved second got a motion and a second any discussion roll call council member o i Nelson hi Davis hi sches hi ferly hi osmus hi and Butterfield I seven eyes zero nose that passes thank you Leslie um next our human resource director Luan sitma in regards to health insurance rates and employer contributions thank you mayor and Council um before you this evening I have an I'm asking for a resolution to approve 2025 health insurance rates and employer contributions as presented um just an overview for you on this the city's 2025 health insurance rates increased by over 12% for both single and family coverage and according to the current Union contracts Union employees would face more than 133% increase over the employee 2024 health insurance coverage costs due to the 2025 to address this Council recommended supplementing the employer 2025 health insurance contribution from $611 39 to 65306 for single coverage and for family coverage going from $1,612 to 1,600 9445 so an additional $41.67 and $83.33 respectively for the single and family coverage additionally Council reaffirms the importance of all staff being included in that base pay schedule that you passed last year and was approved December 2023 this additional coverage will apply to all employees on the base pay schedule as of December 6 2024 and with that I will answer any questions questions Carl so there are two bargaining units yet that aren't part of the base pay scale that's correct and where are we at in terms of I know I can't go into details on negotiations but where are we at in that good question so we have met with both asme groups multiple times throughout the last 11 months or 12 months now would have been October we first started discussing with them and as well as all the other Union groups and just um have gone back and forth and not been able to come to a resolution on that so we're hoping that helping with health insurance too will help get us back to the discussion what what's the sticking point if or what what's the problem that I can't uh when's the last time that that you actually met sat down and talked with each other we met in I believe it was August and then we presented another they voted in September I believe and voted against the base pay schedule implementation at that point Justin um there's as council member shed there's two bargaining units you met with one of them in August right the other bargaining unit um have had several discussions with the Union reps from their that group and um just trying to figure out when they want to get together what is it that we can start talking about and have not heard back from them so when was the last time you met that one I believe was July okay um why December 6 just so we can get that base pay schedule passed before the end of the year so they would be able as of January 1 to receive the health insurance cost the six is pretty early on in December or is there a reason that it has to be the sixth just by the sixth would be nice so it's so it can be done by the end of the year it has to do with the council you only have one meeting after this December 6th and so all the agreements and everything have to be signed prior to coming to council so there's M us and M moas that are considered in all that also so there's a lot of work and legal work to get done in between is there any flexibility in extending that past the 6th why to offer them more time to come into compliance I don't know why we would need to we've been working on this for the last 11 months you do everything has been in place and nothing changes except their step increases how much time do you need to to present us with from when they would sign or when they would come to an agreement how much time do you need to prepare documents for us well we have to have the documents before that Wednesday before the council packet is due on the whatever date that is so December 10th would be acceptable earlier would be acceptable for yeah be no because the 10th no we wouldn't be able to get everything signed into us that's that's the Tuesday before wed that Wednesday when everything is supposed to be in the council packet on Wednesday the 11 I'm asking you how much time you need the 6th that's the Friday there's no flexibility in that no because that gives that would basically the ninth then Monday to get everything back okay thank you Carl so I understand the need for wanting to get this done and get everybody on board seems like we're bullying them a little bit with this and sign on or we won't give you this um I I don't know if I like that tactic we're just trying to follow council's direction from a year ago that you would that pass the base pay schedule trying to get everybody on and I agree and I I don't know like you can't say what the sticking point is I just feel that this maybe isn't I don't know if it's I say it just feels like we're bullying them that this is not the way to gain trust and Goodwill um I don't know that I can support this with this tactic Audrey I'm just seeking clarification so um it it feels like we haven't been at the table maybe as often as we should have with the deadlines coming and I realize we need to get this pay Equity taken care of um and the insurance kind of came jumped up at us and to do this um with this I'm just seeking clarification these are payments that are just going to be for 2025 right one year okay and so if we came to an agreement I mean we're giving them the deadline of December 6 okay and so that's a take it or leave it for the increase on the insurance for the whole year or if we were to and I I know we have a deadline for pay Equity too but there's is that something we could come back and revisit if they did agree to that we missed the deadline or is this a onetime I mean what you're proposing sounds like a onetime take all that would be up I think that would be up to a council decision you guys have the authority to move it beyond that in our we've when we've talked negotiation strategy so so when we come back to 2026 for health insurance the this increase goes away and we're back to what's in the contract and I know that we're up for negotiation for all of the yes next year so that would be a renewal year yep okay so we'd be in discussions with all four groups then at that point in time so J when's the deadline for the pay Equity um well 2023 is still the one that we're working on with this and then um I have to report again now in January 2025 it's in every twoe and to be in compliance um we we aren't in compliance in 2023 yet but they know that we're working on this and that this is something that we're trying to work through so they haven't dinged us yet at this point in time but then we have to report again in January so we'll see that comes out and the report in January is why we're pushing for the end of the year deadline no not necessarily trying to follow council's direction to to get a Citywide based pay schedule passed and that that means getting everybody on it so that's what we feel like we've been working on for the last year with all of our groups and just had some struggles sure I think if it's about following Council Direction I'll Echo a comment that I believe I heard from council member Nelson that I'm disappointed that that there hasn't been any movement in that negotiation for for months and it sounds like I you've been I would argue that point or push back on that point the those must might be just meeting dates it's not that we haven't had conversations con I mean over and over and over well and there was movement I mean so without going into negoti negotiation strategy and stuff we have had lots of discussions and good discussions just not when it gets to the vote we have not been able to get there so okay but the end of I'm sorry go ahead uh the end of the year doesn't sound like it's a deadline now right you have to report in January but if is there a dead a deadline you have to report in January is that January 31st is that January 15 15 15th so there's actually more time that we could give them to December 31st and you could bring those items to our first council meeting in January if Council wishes it's not the way that we wrote it up but that's that would be thank you audre is there a fine for us not meeting in 2025 there's supposed to be but there but they know we're working on it so they've been very lenient to pay so we didn't pay one in 2023 and we were allowed to have this time frame do that y Julie so if we approve this and then you'll go back um to those bargaining units they have all of November to um come back to the table is is there any reason we would need November and December um is there any other information that's going to come out that not not that we're aware of I mean you never know until you are meeting and negotiating so okay Carl so I've I've heard from a couple of the the um members that that haven't settled it or haven't approved this yet and get a little different story from them on one says you haven't met since August or uh April made several calls and have not had any luck getting a meeting and then the other I guess I don't know he said it was August um but it sounds to me like you haven't had an actual sit down face to face for several months um despite attempts to to get to the table and I don't do you see anything happening in the next month I know sorry rhetorical um I don't know I just I don't like tying this insurance and hurting those workers with this I guess I I I don't know what options we have but um trying to use this to force them to accept something that that they're not in agreement with yet I don't know if that's the right way to go but you know I don't know what our options are on on this is what without the help without the additional help how much is it going to cost cost each of those employees um the benefit information just went out and I don't have the numbers in front of me I don't know if anybody does but for our benefit open enrollment no excuse me just saying no to Z oh I have the num that's okay um so well if the 4167 for single and great add the 611 and 733 so 730 $73 38 plus the 4167 so was 105 I believe for a single and then three three a little over 300 I think per family so without the help from the extra contributions that you guys are considering Council want to so our next meeting is November 4th I think you're okay what if we don't want to want to do this until next [Music] meeting we have benefits open enrollment meetings this week so that's why we wanted to bring it to you now so that we could update everybody sometimes people are trying to make health health insurance decisions based on what other family members can get where they're working so we just felt like the sooner they had the information the better it would be for everybody but um that's up to you we would just go with what we have from our increase with for everybody then until you open enrollment closes November 15 yeah we have two weeks of open enrollment after that but then we'd have to make sure we got the information out to everybody again to make sure that they could make better a different decision if they wanted to I like to offer a motion to approve the 2025 health insurance rates and employer contributions the additional coverage will apply to all employees on the base pay scale by December 31st 2024 I'll second I'll second that okay we got a motion and a second I'd like the motion repeated um with what we were actually doing versus what's in front of us um my intent is to change the the deadline for employees to be on the base pay scale from December 6th what was presented to us to December 31st which would give staff the same amount of time to prepare the documents for the meeting as they previously requested but it's the meeting for January 6 giving our director time to to respond to the state by January 15th do that work for you course whatever you guys want yep okay over there I think the motion is fine but I just point out that I believe the council's first meeting in 2025 would be January 13th under the charter oh that's right than well we have a mo GNA say Julie I just want to speak to it I I don't know that another 30 days is going to make any difference other than maybe they can talk back and forth but um talk about it more but I think either they're going to go for it or they're not and whether they do that in 30 days or 60 days I don't know if that's going to make that much difference and then it just it belabors the whole Insurance um piece for when that can get enacted and put in place by January 1 I just I feel like it's cleaner if we stick with the December 6th um and like I said either they go for it or they don't and hopefully you guys will have conversations in November Audrey so the the insurance piece is new when did they find out about um what we're proposing for those who've settled and those who haven't so the the main cost the one that was 12% above 12% I sent those out to everybody to get ready for open enrollment last Thursday and then the packet would have come out on Friday and so without your approval we didn't present the information that this was a possibility until maybe tomorrow so this isn't I mean this is just getting out there right so if it does make a difference to them um it feels like somewhere a little more time would be a good thing to do um I'm not sure about the time frames with the if this is brand new to them the only still issue is that with open enrollment we only have we have that deadline of November 15th so the longer it takes to get that information and if people are making a decision one way or another based on how much it's going to cost them that could that could be prohibitive for someone I I just don't know there's no middle ground I mean I appreciate what he's proposing and but our our frustration with the timeline is there anything that would be better somewhere in the middle or that we have a special meeting or something you guys love special meetings don't you no we don't no we don't but this is this is critical and if if it keeps peace with our employees then I think that's our responsibility too that's right I mean you're trying to help them by offering an additional contribution so that's that's that whole piece of it too so could a compromise be December 16th well that's when the 16th of December is when we wanted to present the base pay scale to you for approval right to be enacted by January 1 yes or with the base pay scale they could have enacted it December 16th so anybody that's supposed to be getting a raise they'd get that um anytime between December 16th and January 1 as far as a step increase I know it's more work but you can you can make it effective December 16th if we did it I I mean you'd have to do it you know a special adjustment on payroll but I know that you can do that right you and you meet that night so in order for them to have voted and and adopted it and wanting it implemented that's why the date was a little bit before that so we could bring it to you on the 16th so probably the Friday before would be the latest I mean that's the 11th hour because you already have the packet and all that information put together but we could I know and we get updates to the packet almost every meeting so I know you're talking December 13th that's a so that that they'd have to make a decision by December 13th then we could vote on it on the 16th yeah I just was trying to find a compromise in the middle somewhere if that's what the council wishes I I I don't care we'll we'll try to do whatever whatever is possible just I'm not sure I understand the like the the middle that you're trying to find like my intent with the motion is to give them uh a sense of Goodwill plenty of time for them to make it decision pushing that back to the end of the year I'm hearing that part of the reason that we want to we don't want to table this and we want to make a decision to do this tonight is because our employees also need to know what what is what the reality is is they as they choose their coverage for the coming year so they need to vote tonight that would be beneficial to employees giving them extra time would be beneficial to them I'm not sure what the 16th how that helps I was just looking if you were saying the 30th or 31st or to January if you wanted to give them a little more time that was a compromise on your on your motion personally I don't think it makes any difference if it's 30 days or 60 days either they're going to go for it or they aren't so then it's just a matter of um convenience for staff and bookkeeping and trying to keep things in line with a time frame of the Open Enrollment and enacting um into the pay payroll and there's a lot of yearend payroll stuff Tom thank you Mr Mayor just to not to interject here um but the first payroll in December would be the first 2025 health insurance deduction which would be December 12th so the that would take effect on that day for employees that's the first time they'd see these premium increases okay I say we call the vote on the extension proposal R call council member Nelson no Davis no scheldes no beerly no osmus no Butterfield no o hi got to support your motion one eye six nose all right okay I still see them as kind of two separate issues we need to get the one settled and we need to deal with health insurance so that it's equitable to our employees that's why I was suggesting somewhere you know to do that and so I guess the question that we have to decide is are we putting them together as a choice do this and you get this or don't do this and you don't get this um that's part of the I mean it's a it's it's a lot of money it's a lot of money to the city and I know that we were working hard to turn try to make it Equitable for them because of the large increase but I'm struggling with the time frames and the um concern that we get them get back together and and share information and do what we need to do to to try to get both sides um together Julie okay I think we have to make a decision so that people people can decide what they're going to do with their health insurance either stay with the cities or go with their uh if their spouse has a a plan so um and we have to be and we have to come in compliance at some point so um I'll make a motion to approve the 225 health insurance rates and employer contributions as presented second can we have a motion and a second discussion Carl I would like to make an amendment to that um that we as a as a sign of good faith to the employees that we add all bargaining units to that with the hope that that brings them to the table to make [Music] them amendable to accepting the the uh step by the base P giving them this helping them with this helps them with the base pay so that we we give these this additional help to all of the bargaining units not just those that have accepted it already Julie I can appreciate that and and but I can also look at they've been working on this for 11 months and they're not coming to an agreement so I don't know how giving them this giving them um a good faith action changes their thinking on coming in compliance yeah it's hard to hard to say when we don't know what the sticking points are is you know is it right money or is it verbiage or is it you know I don't know what it is but and they can't we we can't know um I'm just hoping that this might help do I have a second on Carl's Amendment do I have a second on Carl's Amendment hearing thatone it fails all right so we're back to as presented Justin I'm just looking for a little clarification maybe from our City attorney uh all of this is related to Union negotiations is this a matter that we could move into closed session at the current time or do we have to give prior notice to that um you're in a regular meeting I believe you do have authority to uh close the meeting under under the open meeting law to discuss labor negotiations Labor Relations strategy um I might suggest uh if we do that coming back to this at the end of the meeting I feel like that may be beneficial to us I I would agree does that mean we should vote to table it right now or what do we need to do right now there's a motion and second we have a motion in a second we probably need to table it uh yeah I think that's right um I I would I think the motion would need to be a motion to uh postpone discussion until the end of the agenda so moved second I was going to say as a maker the motion do I have to do that no okay okay we got a motion and we got a second any further discussion roll call council member Davis hi sches hi baggerly hi osmus hi Butterfield Hi O hi and Nelson hi seven eyes zero nose motion carries all right so we'll go on to agricultural land exemption of special assessments City cler for just need one second just needed a note um sorry about that Mr Mayor and Council I am asking for a resolution to approve the agriculture land exemptions for special assessments it's our policy as of the city to Temporary exempt from assessments certain lands currently used for agricultural purposes each year contact is made with the listed land owners to ascertain their desire to place the land in agricultural use for the 2025 crop year attached is a resolution listing the property owners who have made application for agricultural land exemptions and have met the criteria contain contained in the city's comprehensive assessment policy and they are for Jennifer and James Larson jnc Enterprises and I believe that's it there's just two okay need a motion to approve so moved second got a motion and it's been seconded Audrey um I'm just looking for clarification where that first property is I looked up the street address and then I looked up the parcel number and I looked up the section and I can't get there on GIS and I just wondered if somebody can tell me where that is Radio St his address is on the west side of that road but it's out by Valley I was trying to think if if that was correct where that land is yes that is correct that's where it is okay okay I got a motion and a second any further discussion roll call council member ferly hi osus hi Butterfield hi OS hi Nelson hi Davis Hi and sches hi seven eyes zero nose next is an ordinance amending electric rates Bernie you want to lead us through that too at the November 4th 2024 meeting we asked for a public hearing to be set so that the U Municipal Utilities could have the rates adjusted and to call for a public hearing on that rate adjustment we were unable to meet the 10day publication notice for that public hearing and are asking for that public hearing to be reset for I'm sorry at the October the last meeting the October 7th meeting you set the meeting date for today's evening and we were unable to meet that 10-day publication notice so we're asking for that public hearing to be reset for November 4th at or about 6:30 p.m. so moved okay on motion a second any discussion roll call council member osmus hi Butterfield hi OS hi Nelson hi Davis Hi scheldes hi and fager Le hi seven eyes zero nose that passes all right um next is a comprehensive plan city council update from Christopher good evening Mr Mayor members of council today marks a very um exciting day for the city and especially the um Department of planning and development and today is the unveiling of our draft land use plan our future land use plan from our comprehensive plan as you know the city of Wilmer is in the process of updating the comprehensive plan the plan will help the city maintain its character enhance the experience for our residents and support Economic Development the current con comprehensive plan was adopted in [Music] 2009 So today we're going to go over some of the survey results um as well as the land use do a land use overview the land use categories we'll review and then um we'll talk about the future land use um plan as well so I always start all of our talks about the comprehensive plan with just doing a reset and really explaining what a comprehensive plan is and a comprehensive plan is it provides strategic guidance for future growth and development and it establish a 20-year vision for the city of Wilmer um it will do three things it is or four things it'll establish and guide City policies and decisions combin City plans into one document provides the basis for zoning and land use decisions and provide basis for Capital Improvement plans as well so if you can remember we had a survey we launched in Late July of this year and it closed um September 30th of this year we offer four surveys pertaining to the comprehensive plan so that's Economic Development housing Recreation land use um and land use one that isn't listed here it was part of our Safe Streets for all program or plan it was the mobility survey the mobility survey will feed into two plans it'll feed into the mobility chapter of the comprehensive plan as well as The Pedestrian Trail plan that parks and wck is leading now and you heard about the results from the mobility um survey back in October well October 7th so just two weeks ago so a few things to highlight uh throughout the four surveys we received around 700 responses and we had 1,400 open-ended comments this is really huge because that is your qualitative um survey results it's the way that we can read those comments and interpret things as well and working with other communities 1400 open ended comments that's a big deal and part of it was thanks to our focus group as well who told us to go to Facebook and utilize Facebook to kind of gather those coms you know and that has been a great engagement part for us so I want to go through some of the demographics for our survey participants the greatest participation we saw between 25 years of age to 64 and you're going to see a a hike part of that was the majority of it was between 35 and 44 year old um survey takers or respondents this to is actually taking a look at the 35 to 44 that that age range that responded to the survey you know the comprehensive plan is done uh with a 20-year Vision to it and so at the youngest the 25y old is going to be 45 years old and at the oldest um or the eldest it'll be 84 years old and so this this plan is actually and those respondents we're taking a look at their own future as well here in the city our race we did have a um an overwhelming response from White non-hispanic residents uh at 80 almost 82% uh Wilmer is about 60% white non-h hispanic uh we did have repres representation from other groups as well um and we did some targeted Outreach where those looked more so like roundtables and conversations that we did more qualitative survey Gathering um with both Somali as well as the current population next we'll go through the income and representation from all income brackets um 50 to 75k was one of the highest uh as well as 100 to 149 and we had quite a few people who prefer not to say the tenure in Wilmer so survey respondents that lived that responded the most lived here in Wilmer for 20 years or more that's I want to point that out because that's huge too so what we're seeing is that people who have a total commitment to the city who knows the city remember it not 10 years ago but 20 years ago and want to see the future of the city grow as well then we took a look and we asked them about where did they live before Wilmer and you can see that um most of our respondant live elsewhere in Minnesota and relocated to the city and they also lived um they always lived here and lived in a different state as well was the highest majority overwhelmingly uh percentage of our respondents work here in the city limits and then we wanted to kind of prioritize what exactly should we be looking at so the first thing that we got 74 4% of our respondents said attracting and retaining business and number two came enhancing entertainment opportunities at 57% number three was maintaining and improving public infrastructure so that's at 46% or 47% and then affordable housing um topped off the top four with 44% we then looked at other opportunities and gave categories we wanted to know do respondents want to see less same or more of some of these categories some of the things that uh residents or participants want to see more of is more single family house homes more singer housing more Innovation and Technology opportunities as well as more quality restaurants and bars we then took a look at we asked respondents to tell us exactly what are some of the things that what are some of your favorite places to visit throughout the city and there's a no um overwhelmingly we received Robin's Islands Robin Island and that was almost the topic for people who took the survey as well as um inperson conversations that we had outdoor recreation familyfriendly activities community and social aspects and dining and shopping were some of the favorite places to visit here in the city some of the least um favorite places to visit we created some of from the qualitative research that we got the responses we did a like a word pool if you will and of course the mall came up specifically the mall parking lot um downtown and so some of these key things it actually show showed me that um the least favorite places in Wilmer there's more Improvement to be done and we can zoom into that and so infrastructure and maintenance issues parking lots roads Building Maintenance safety concerns or the perception of safety uh lack of vitility as well as noise pollution and inconvenience now I am going to share with you all a map and give me just a second and I can hand that out to you I tried to print it on 11 by 17 but it didn't work so if you all don't mind to double up and share um [Applause] [Music] I know now I really try to print the small I couldn't get it I'm [Applause] sorry so in front of you is a future land use map this is a draft I'm happy to say that it is currently online as well and we'll look at it online but before I start I just want to give a brief overview of the future land use map it is um the future land use map visually represents the recommended land uses throughout the city of Wilmer guiding future land use decisions unlike the city zoning map that enforces designated land use uh the future land use map is not a zoning map which focuses on specific development requirements for individual Parcels instead it illustrates the collective aspirations and goals of residents business owners and stakeholders it portrays what the city of Wilmer could become in 20 years not necessarily what exists today the land use plan will guide decisions in decision making excuse me it will guide discussions and decisionmaking processes concerning development land and growth so here you're looking at land uses um yellow meaning residential you have some red for downtown uh you'll see that a deeper pink is more of a regional commercial you'll see purple is industrial and you'll see that green is Park spaces so those are land use categories the Zing itself kind of tells where on the map these can go and what how they can be built whereas developments the end result and what we see so land use are just the categories and where we'll like to see things being developed the zoning will kind of dictate exactly where and how that can be built and development as the end end result so we did a few things to establish we established categories in existing development patterns we explored development opportunities uh we Divine we defined a land a future land use plan and policy guidance and then next thing we're going to do is draft the land use element and future actions so with that let's talk about some of the land use categories that's in front of you today so existing land use uh future land use and Zoning we kind of went over this already existing land use is not represented fully on the map however online residents can and yourself can click on it to see just the layer of current or existing land uses and then click another link and I'll show you that today it will show you future land use so here you have a low density residential which are single family detach homes on very large Lots you have medium density which are areas of housing consisting of smaller Lots think of a single family home as well as Ro homes town homes and twin homes or duplexes high density residential think of those as your condominiums or complex or apartment buildings as well downtown usually it's going to be a generally mix of developments uh you're going to see um more dense or a special overlay for that neighborhood commercial think about when you go to your dentist's office an attorney or accountant those small smaller Office Buildings that service um residents around and then Regional commercial you want to think of large big box so south of Wilmer Avenue Walmart Target um other menars and Home Depot big box stores that attract smaller communities to come in and Shop those you'll have industrial uh such as the industrial park which would be zoned or the land use categor is all industrial so Logistics um different facilities as well as manufacturing and then you have technology District which is a land use category these are all where we work uh you want to think about areas that we incentivize for the creation um and innovation of Technology products such as men west campus campus institutional these are going to all of our governmental public buildings as well as schools um too parks and open space agriculture is represented on the existing land use map and then bacon as well so I'm going to go to the link and I'll like to show you a few things um on the map so by visiting Wilmer mn.gov scrolling down and on the left hand side there's a tab here for um the comprehensive plan and by clicking the land use map will take us to the tool that we are using where residents can zoom into our parcel and provide comments as well on the L use so I'm going to zoom in it looks like we have the future land use map is already up the first thing that I want to talk about is the highway 12 East coming West into um the city now we knew that this was something that was just said in passing before we started the comprehensive plan I think a lot of you all had the concern about what the city looks like as you enter um east to west U well surprisingly enough this came up almost every workshop and every um engagement that we had this out of the 17 engagements about what it looks like and feel coming east to west into down into our city and so here we on Highway 12 we identify majority of when you cross over the bridge at 71 that this is more of your Regional commercial right trucks this is your hotels restaurants um and as you come into the city it should Fizz out a bit and so what you're going to see some mix propos mix use development you're going to see neighborhood commercial here so that like or pink and then here we already know there's housing uh right on the other side of that but we have a lot of businesses too there are some spots for light industrial that's already happening and so we'll keep that but coming into the downtown area uh this is being proposed to be more of a mixed use uh development future developments so we can see some industrial we can see some housing it can be a mixture of all um as well the other thing that I want to share with you all is 19th Avenue uh we did take a look at 19th and the existing land use map um there's some things there that we did keep however uh we did want to really zoom in and make sure that this feels like neighborhood commercials since that's already existing in that area um and you have like some schools here as well well 19 and so we just wanted to really make sure we got that right and kept it more low residential as well now as I'm going through this I I know that I have to stress a few things uh the future land use map doesn't reone automatically reone anyone any one parcel uh it justes it just gives guidance to what future development could look like there um so in the event that someone has a single family home home it is now neighborhood um commercial that is still a single family home and is to be treated as such so it it does not do away with uh your Z how things are zone now and then we go straight into um the industrial part of it the other item is I want to share with you is south of Wilmer Avenue um you can see this is the bulk of um here I'll just zoom in right here what you see is neighborhood commercial here so think of this being you and myself and living here in Wilmer and traveling to these locations and think of some of our friends that come in from U Kirk Hoven or um Spicer or New London they're probably going to visit here um south of Wilmer Avenue to go to some of our Big B stores and so you'll see that Walmart and Target and some of our um rest um grocery stores as well are more mixed use leaning towards that Regional um commercial as well and the last thing that I'll show you is very north east of the map we have the Civic Center um this is kind of a no-brainer to the focus group and members that worked on um this including our Parks and Rec director that the Civic uh Center could easily be zoned um the land use category probably should be Park and not just institutional so we have a lot of recreational activity there we actually have the trails that run through there as well and and part of that is to make certain that that area is set up for Success especially when you're coming to um future grant opportunities as well so I will go back to the PowerPoint okay and so we are going to explore some of development opportunities such as the rail Park we know that is happening uh Community entrance was a huge call out downtown being a h call out as well Regional commercial industrial park and housing throughout the city so our future land use plan um it identifies kind of where we could be and again this is within 20 years and I have some numbers that I'll like to go over uh so low density residential existing there's about 1,800 units future we could easily do 19900 units um future households that's 2.5 persons a household um we can increase it to about 5,000 I'm really interested in the future population um for this so we're looking total if we think about 20 years from now and it'll be 2045 or 2044 we're looking to gain about 16,000 residents so one way to do that our existing boundaries is to become uh to take a look at our land use and make sure that we can promote housing throughout so existing I'm going to go over some acres for you um and some of the percentages of land because I think that is important is not represented on this chart however uh for low density residential about 23% of our land is designated for low density residential if using the future land use map as it is um we would increase that by 26% so we'll go from 23 to 26% medium density right now is about 4% of our existing land and we would increase that by double so that'll be 8% of the total land uh high density right now there isn't a land use category um for high density and so we would Implement that and go to 3% of our total land and just to point out just a few more things uh the industrial park if we use the future land use map as presented today uh currently it is at 8% for industrial and that will go up to 177% um I'm happy to share all these numbers with you at a later date as well as a formal analysis of our survey results uh with that you can scan this QR code and people who are watching um audience who's watching tonight can scan this it'll take you to our comprehensive uh web page and you can make comments on the interactive land use map uh with that I will stand for any of your questions Audrey um I'm curious about the urban growth boundary yes it's a square box I was um expecting us maybe to be looking at um being more North some North or different directions and so I'm just curious yeah great question uh the urban growth area is in boundary is kind of reserved by the county for the city and this will kind of say where exactly we could expand where city services are uh on the map it does dick dickpick a square however it's a lot larger than that and the shapes are um kind of is different than a square um did want to just show that just to highlight the area though um but that is not a true representation of the urban growth boundary you're welcome questions Vicki I just want to say good work on all this I know you worked really hard getting all the surveys and stuff did a good job thank you I appreciate that I didn't do it by myself though it was with Chris Frank City staff as well uh Chris Frank is our city planner as well as majority of all of the Department of planning and development and City staff so and to you all that came to all of our um workshops and make sure that you participate and spread the word so thank you J I just want to say like the interactive map is is just fun uh I've been playing around with it and zoning out is talked about other things yeah a you should all take a look at it and the the comment feature is even even better excited to tell you just random things no nice work thank you we'll take your comments there as well as if you want to email planning Wilmer mn.gov Audrey I know I've asked for this and you've given it to me but when we look at City boundaries currently right now it's not on this map is it or is the the colors that are represent inclusive of the city owned land the so I'm hearing two things the boundaries are represented by all of the colored um the multicolored lots that is the city boundary um Parcels that are oned by the city are not highlighted on that on this map however um in a future map I can I provided you that but I I can provide that in a you answer my question okay thanks but on the interactive map you can highlight and see all this video in Parcels yes you can that is a layer that is a layer yes should have zoned out stop listening go on your computer I'm too busy looking at the paper stop talking play anything else otherwise this is strictly for information yes this is strictly information the next thing that will happen will release more of a like a formal um analysis of our survey results provide a visioning statement as well uh and then we'll come back probably in November or December with a draft document all right okay thank you Christopher thank you at this time Council oh one more thing um oh I'm sorry did you want to no go ahead uh if you will give us just a second we want to give you an update on um sweet living and from last year so here with this just a second so I'll let you hold those up first what I can't hear you does the staff have like a bet about giving council members like a comically large hand up the Christopher just won is there a pool somewhere you won so tonight we'd like to offer an update on the sweet living and their rental license so uh during so this update is on the issue that came to council a few times over the last year or so involving the rental housing license for multi family units owned by sweet living this update is not for the entire sweet living portfolio and this is no way generalization of opening open inspections and complaints and inquiries but um this the city staff has worked diligently with administrating its rental housing license ordinance and has been in regular communication with sweet living Representatives throughout this process sweet living has completed the relicensing process for all units for which it sought license and the city has reissued ued all its licenses based on the recent relicensing inspections of sweet living properties City staff acknowledges there is no outstanding building or fire code violations in any of these properties sweet living has been responsive to the city notices and requirements and has made considerable improvements to its properties this is an important issue of the city because sweet living comprises a significant percentage of the affordable rental housing units in the cities and there therefore a significant resource of the for the city's employers and its Workforce relicensing process was challenging and not with e either party would have expected or preferred but the process has been completed and the city and sweet living have used the experience to make improvements on both sides including the city use of computer software which makes the licensing process more efficient sweet living improvements in management and ability to Pro promptly respond to the city's concerns and sweet living and the city have each work to establish a productive working relationship thank you just want to provide that update for you so now we can move on all right all right thank you um next is uh Finance update from Finance director Tom alens good evening Mr Mayor members of the council just a brief up update uh from the finance department we are through the third quarter so in closing your packet you'll have some um budgetary information so 75% would be our would be our Target right now you can see our revenues are are just shy I do want to point out a couple things we do only receive property tax payments twice a year and then our LGA twice a year so that's the reason for it's um a little bit less than 75% but there's nothing to worry about there uh as far as the Departments go um there are a couple that are a little higher but there are some expenses that are expensed throughout the year and those expenses have been and payments have been made uh for the general government we're right at 74 and a. half% So Right On Target the police and fire Public Safety is also right there coming in just a hair under budget and then the Public Works engineering Transit and storm water is also coming in a little under budget but we are expecting some more um uh payments to be made for our Engineering Services throughout the year and then our Leisure Services towards the bottom is also a little under budget right now but um we're tracking uh pretty well right now on the wastewater treatment plant uh that is going to be the revenues are also just a little bit lagged coming in because the Municipal Utilities does the billing and collection for us and then they remit those payments to the city uh so that is for our year-to dat budget and now for the on the investment side of things enclosed is your investment activity for the third quarter you'll see we did decrease our portfolio I would say the largest portion of that is going to be our construction uh We've cashed in some money from our 4M fund to make our payment applications for our construction projects uh it's going to be for the 2023 and the 2024 projects both of them the following would just be our our cash and Investment Portfolio that we currently have after the third quarter uh you'll see the par value and the market value do do fluctuate the market value would obviously fluctuate with the market and the the two key drivers to cause those numbers to fluctuate is going to be the interest rate environment that we're in as well as the uh time to maturity but at the end when they are all matured they will mature at the par value and then the next piece is the historical interest and dividends per quarter so you'll just see this is a 10-year look back you'll see the increase obviously the interest rate environment that we are in right now has has changed significantly over the last 10 years so you'll see the interest and dividends received have increased substantially and then the last piece in your packet if the uh dividends and interest received just by our institution breaking it down by which company or where we earned the dividends and interest that's just a quick quick overview of the third quarter and now the second piece would be an update to our 2025 budget in our tax levy on September 3rd the mayor's budget was presented to council with a net result of a total tax levy of 11,329 since then staff has received recommendations and um also from Council as well as our department heads and we have been able to reduce the overall Levy uh by $167,600 that we were made aware of and then just to point out a a couple departments Planning Development decreased by 25,000 the human resources and cultural diversity both around 25 to 26,000 the fire department did decrease uh about 3,500 same with public works at 7,000 the library that was a recommendation uh based on the work session we had was to go back to the 2024 funding instead of the 5% increase for the 2025 so that resulted in a decrease of $23,660 th000 decrease uh from the director there and then lastly was the community center uh that is $118,800 in a reduction for the 2025 budget uh coming across many different line items there uh so I guess now would be the time uh to provide any final input but if there are no other questions comments or concerns this is the levy and the the budget that I plan on bringing to you all in December for the truth and Taxation hearing if you have any questions I'll stand any questions Justin um one of the last meeting two meetings ago um the police department presented a request for us to um to approve a full-time Community Service Officer with the understanding that that would reduce uh licensed officers by one basically switching out a licensed officer with a Community Service Officer we were led to believe that would have payroll implications I might defer to admin for that it would only have salary payroll implications it will not do anything with the benefits so the benefits do not decrease on bit because it's a full-time position so they'd have full benefits like everybody else there's no adjustment in the Department's budget it's not that much to make that adjustment okay jie um did you say 18,000 for the community center correct 18850 was that the result of having to cut a part-time person it came across I know that was a significant piece was the temporary or part-time salary line item I came across ultimately from small tools General supplies office supplies overtime as well as the temporary part-time staff lines there wasn't any place else that the park and wreck could reduce staff other than the limited staff that's available at the community CER uh we did know that you can't answer that I guess we did meet with the director U Parks Rec director and he had met with his staff and administration as well and this is the number that they brought forward that they he was comfortable with um the community center there was no cut to for salaries in that under the that I can recall under the Community Center it came from other line items it was my understanding that it was going to come out of um some of the part-time staff that that's not what happened okay Audrey thank you I'm still confused with the police department so I don't understand why going from four officers to three officers because still you have a full-time CSO so as far as benefits that's not going to change anything no I understand this so he agreed to go to one less officer but he's got a full-time CSO and that isn't that substantial in reduction of Sal I know the difference between the two but I thought with putting a CSO on he was willing to go down one recruitment but that's still an off not to cso but to go from but that's still a full-time position he's really not reducing his full-time positions that's not what I that's not what I understood a CSL officer but he also thought he could reduce his recruits it would still be he still would have four open positions just counted as four open positions one would be filled by a CSO officer and three would be officers so he's not reducing staff reductions at all that's not what I I thought he was going to go to two recruiting two with a false CSO no and not having anyone in the schools no And as far as the SRO we have no idea where that's at yet that'll be a discussion later jul I would still think budget wise the salary for a CSO is going to be significantly different than a full-time police officer but when you take it and I get the benefit it's not fine it's not significant to change the dollar amount it's not going to drop it by so that it's a 1% decrease in the tax levy it's not even going to drop the levy by probably less than a quarter of a percent if not even that is not going to be significant to show any reduction in the tax levy okay but just okay but just the the thing we were just talking about with the community center we're we're dealing with an $18,000 difference that they had to cut if that resulted in the in a part-time person which was my understanding but that would definitely be the salary between a CSO and and a licensed police officer that $118,000 and that really impacts a whole another department um but I I still think without an answer to the school resource officers in the school at least for 2025 um I don't see that changing um that we could still drop one position um to balance the budget better question um just speaking to council member osas this point like the fire department you're reporting a $3500 decrease I'd like to see that number for the police department right like clearly that's going to be a couple thousand dollars it'd be nice to see that um as for school resource officers we don't know anything what's no no the school well not make a decision on that yet they have to figure out their finances and it would if anything it wouldn't start till fall of 2025 so if that's the case then we still have to have in the budget enough money for the fall of 2025 and what conversations have happened between City staff and school leadership right now that's exactly what the conversation has been that they are looking into their finances that has not gone anywhere other than that right now longer they could have take a look into their finan it's only been a week it's been a week yeah we've had and then they had mea last week so that's been that was our budget Workshop meeting that's been been a while since that is there any kind of timeline for it let me ask a different is there a timeline for it that's up to the school Bill said he would get that to me when he they had the information with the with the finance people be good if they I don't think they're going to make it because they their budget process won't start until next year of 2020 because their budget ends June 30th of 2025 so their budget process probably starts February or March okay okay Audrey I'd still like to see fine tuning on the police department and I agree with jul Julie the reduction should be in there somewhere and with the SRO the minutes reflected that they weren't going to do anything but if we go back to the sro's then the school's going to pay us to do that and so that should be covering our cost but it doesn't cover 100% well I still think there could be a reduction because that was income we had from years past and we probably lost a couple hundred thousand by not by keeping that on and not getting the revenue right but I still think the change that we agreed to with the SRO office there there should be some reduction there I do I mean I agree with the others there's 2,300 73500 we asked everyone to do that and I think the police department needs to reflect that also Tom now with the police department I know uh police chief F doesn't he anymore but I thought we were talking about lowering by two brand new police cars yes we're only gonna buy two that's is that sh is that showing on no that's the capital Improvement side of the budget this is the general Levy side of the budget two different processes so to clarify um I'll I can go in and and do the dollar amount difference in the salaries from the CSO licens officer to the CSO is that council's wishes just that adjustment or would you like to see something else I guess I'm looking for direction for do you know what's in there for sro's right now EXC CS differ service well there are two different questions so I agree with what you're suggesting to do that but do we know what's in the budget for SRO nothing nothing there's nothing in the contract last the 2024 budget we um we did cut our anticipated Revenue in half in hopes to resolve the the contract since then um it was it was not did not not move forward so we did not receive revenue for 2024 so we don't have expenses in the police department budget for next year for sros we it's not a line item salary the salary doesn't change whether there or or not correct and then there's also no no Revenue uh in the budget as well all right anything else Tom J I guess I'm still I've never been able to understand this and it's not from a lack of people trying to explain it to me but if I'm the only one then I'm the only one but I the police department has a whole bunch of officers there's a certain there's a certain amount of officers that serve the city four of which for a long time have been Community or school resource officers those four officers are no longer needed School hasn't wanted them for a while if they ever come back we're going to have income to offset that salary expense so we have all these officers four of which did this one thing don't need that anymore how have we not seen a reduction in the amount of officers that we need for the city if these four officers who did this one thing are no longer needed there and I can in the conversations that we've had we're not asking the police department I've never heard any of us suggest that you should Reduce by four but it seems to me reducing by one reducing by two seems perfectly reasonable when they're no longer needing that full complement of officers and if the school comes back and in the fall it sounds like we got plenty of time to say okay let's adjust let's increase that uh the amount of officers we're looking for we've got income to cover it if it would be that easy to hire a police officer that's the other thing it takes a good six months if not longer to get an officer in place and we're not hiring them anyway well we're in the process and right now we're four we're actually Four short right so that so what you're saying is the sro's if it's four we are running for short and I think we already have an Chief home can correct me but we do have two squads that are running a man or two short right now or a person so we are running short and and if they are needed but I'm not saying so the four that used to be doing for the school have now been assigned other places patrols yes right so we're still looking to hire more yes do we need to hire four more oh for sure we need to hire two more yeah I great let's hire two more let's hire three more but that's what I was trying to say at the beginning when we agreed to hire a full-time Community Service Officer I thought we were also agreeing to hire one last police offic we are a CSO officer in place of the police officer yes but there should be a reduction so there's only three that we're looking to hire three Patrol officers or three officers if we hire a Community Service Officer instead of four officers and the reduction in wages between a patrol officer to a CSO officer is I'm saying is not that significant but I guess it would it would there would be some reduction in the salary not benefits but salary I guess one other point to add in the history of the police department it has been historically I'd say under budgeted and and this is bringing it back more in line with what our true expenses are as we have longtime employees as we just Sai felt retired this last week um there's many hours of accumulated uh second vacation time that must be paid out so that also would be a payout on the police department this year we've seen at least four long time employees at the police department being paid out so those are also salaries that we'd have to so I would I would recommend not decreasing um I I'll do the difference in in the CSO and the license officer for certain um but the the line item for the salaries for the police department has been historically over budget and I believe we're kind of coming back in line to where we truly are with and then another thing this hopefully doesn't happen all the time but if there are any other settlements that may happen either uh with uh the police department we also have to um have had to pay those out so that does affect the Department's budget as well we don't need to take any action on that right information so next um November meeting when are we doing the final final budget uh December 2nd will be the truth and Taxation hearing okay so we need to know where the council wants to it so when are we going to get another copy of the line by line we could get you that this week if you would like to review that Goode right thank you Tom thank you next Carl I hope this is short uh this may be a question for Jared or Justin I'm not sure on the and the reason I'm asking is I was brought into a conversation ongoing conversation between somebody on Gorton Avenue and not the one that we have all heard from but a different one um who has sprinkler system that gets most of the new seat newly seated area but not all of it is it the homeowner's responsibility to water weed the new Boulevard the newly seated areas uh or in the contract does it say that the or in agreement with the contractor does it say that they will Reed or get it back to the way it was Prior yeah so good evening mayor council a good question uh the contract requires that the contractor reestablish Turf as part of the project now as we've noticed on all of the Reconstruction projects property owners that add a little extra TLC to that seed uh by watering mowing at appropriate height um have better products I think that was referenced uh perhaps in a discussion relative to Wi as one property owner's grass looks so much better than another property owners and that is a direct result of the of the care that they put into it but in terms of the contract the contract does require % establishment which is cons consistent with mindat so 70% isn't identical to sad but it is um at a point mindat uses to consider it full fully established so when they put the seed down then it doesn't rain for two months so nothing grows but weeds or is it up to the contractor to come by and water that so that it establishes or is that on the homeowner um short answer is contractor because they are ultimately tasked with the responsibility of establishing 70% coverage of turf so I I don't know that that has happened everywhere along Gorton Avenue for sure I can guarantee you it has not okay so what are what do we do how do we help homeowners here well um in spring because our seating dates are over contractor will have to come in again um and I I think I share the same sentiment the turf establishment is one of the most frustrating things on any project and it happens on every single one of them uh primarily and um we haven't found that Silver Bullet yet so and I agree 100% that homeowners can help themselves a lot by just general maintenance but yeah we everything associated with that but if if they can help out that'd be that'd be great it'll help establish their lawn but not not everybody has that right ability or desire so and it is ultimately the contractor is responsible that's what I wanted to get on record I guess okay thank you my street was done last year they sealed it I watered it I got 50% weeds 50% grass I went and got some weed beone sprayed the weeds killed theed weeds in it threw 25 lbs of seed on it and starting to look good and now it's it takes it takes some water and it takes some care I think Julie want well I was I was you lived on Sixth Street I'm familiar with Sixth Street um that that was terrible and I like you said that's the most frustrating part and did we go with a different seating company I mean because initially I think it was all weeds and then it had to get redone um did we go are we using a different company uh how can we make our homeowners happy relative to the seed companies um each project that we bid is a publicly bid project and each contractor uses different seaing subcontractors so unless we change our process we're not at Liberty to change the um seating subcontractors that we get so in terms of that um seed mix didn't change um same seed mix that was successfully used by one contractor was unsuccessfully used by another um I I really wish I had an answer here for you um I I will encourage you not to ever consider sad because that's a bigger mess when it doesn't grow so um we're going to continue to do our best [Music] and I'm open to suggestions to be honest with you because this is an issue with um every project and it's frustrating and when it gets to this level it's extremely frustrating for me because it should never get to this point so that's where I'm at so I I was curious if we should be changing our contract to do a withhold on the finishing or if it relates to a certain contractor um that we have tighter I know we went through and changed dirt and required stuff to be hauled in that was you know that type of thing um but it's there's a pattern here and it's not it's been going on for years and so is it something that we should be adding to our contracts that they have to have successful grass for two years and withhold money from them to get it to get it going so until the turf is accepted contractors not paid in full in addition we do have a two-year warranty period um that the contractors are required to um repair items that are unsatisfactory so those Provisions are in place I think it's the speed at which the turf gets established that's the concern primarily right for information yeah than thanks Council thank you all right any well any community right we will go to any Community Pride not do I need a you have it on your phone on your email the labor close session otherwise I can give it to you all the agenda item for this meeting is strategy for labor negotiations pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 13d 03 subdivision 1 I will now entertain a motion to close this portion of the meeting so moved second a motion a second discussion roll call council member o hi Nelson hi Davis hi sches hi begly hi osmus hi and Butterfield hi seven eyes zero nose that passes the city council will now go into a Clos session here in the city council chambers the time is6 8:26 and I lost my place e e e e e e e e for