##VIDEO ID:V-ZvBRvnoUU## e e e e e e e e e e call the meeting to order roll call Mayor Reese here council member o here council member Nelson here Davis here sches here O'Brien here Butterfield here osas here and ferly here nine here zero absent thank you stand for the Pledge of Allegiance IED Al to of the United States of America to the stands Nation indivisible andice for all proposed additions or deletions to the agenda Tom yeah at the end of uh the meeting I would like to have a small discussion on our chicken ordinance I've been getting calls about that here for the past six weeks so I'd like be able update the public little bit on that ordinance I would put it right before the community Pride okay looking for a motion to approve the agenda so moved second a motion and a second discussion roll call I just need one minute to get my computer to catch up to me please all right okay council member ask hi Nelson hi Davis hi sches hi beggerly hi Butterfield hi and O'Brien hi eight eyes zero nose you missed me you missed Julie oh I'm sorry I I don't know why you're not on my list oh I see why okay hold one moment while my computer catches up I was busy right up until the last minute council member osus hi eight eyes zero nose that passes now I'll push you a little more and ask you for the consent items or oh man it's gonna be a long night um but I'm ready Mr Mayor and council member for your uh approval tonight we have the city council meeting minutes of October 21st 2024 the charter commission minutes of October 30th 24 is a draft the Wilmer police commission meeting minutes of October 11 24 the police commission meeting minutes of October 18 24 the Wilber Municipal Utilities Commission meeting minutes of October 28 24 Parks and Recreation board meeting minutes of August 21st 24 the Planning Commission meeting minutes of October 23rd 24 as a draft the doy Township Fire agreement the diamond Edge Figure Skating club lawful gambling application another Diamond Edge figure skating lawful Club oops Figure Skating club lawful gambling application the consideration of the charter commission members and the accounts payable report from 10724 to 10324 and for your information tonight we have the monthly budget permit report from October 24 Justin um I'd like to pull item K from the consent agenda and would then move the remaining items for approval second discussion all right roll call C member Nelson I Davis I sches hi ferly hi osmus I Butterfield I O'Brien I and ask I eight eyes zero nose passes Justin item K yeah I'm as I was reviewing the charter commission members that we're supposed to be considering in the minutes from uh their meeting where the commission um nominated um for individuals for the Char commission is noticing that uh Mr Gary Gyer who I believe is related to Mr Luke guer is that accurate my understanding is that's a fatherson combination I'm kind of just curious where the nominations would come from from the charter commission the the concept of a of a son voting for nominating his father for the the charter commission strikes me as unusual and perhaps not the best practice I do note in the minutes that Mr Luke gerer was not at that meeting so it's quite possible that he would have recused himself from that entire process but I don't know where the nomination uh for Mr Gary guer came from I don't know if that's information staff has yes I believe I was at that meeting and uh commissioner Kelly Walch I believe was the one who who nominated Gary guer for the appointment since Luke guer is now no longer going to be on the commission okay and I did see that he was not being on the commission as well just the the concept of immediate family members you know having some conflicts there I'll move approval of that okay we got a motion in a second discussion roll call council member Davis hi sches hi beggerly hi osus hi Butterfield I Brian hi hos hi and Nelson hi eight eyes zero nose that passes next is the open form I have five individuals that are going to speak we will not take any action on what you're speaking about or address it but uh this is your time to speak so I'll start with Doug Fenster nothing okay Carmen clemenson good evening my name is car clemenson and I live at 3011 15th Avenue Northwest my concern um is regarding the road construction on that same street called The College Road and that is one of the reasons that I'm here today it's a very busy bus Street ASW enforcement knows and it's the artery to the college and because of that there's often bikers Walkers Runners plus vehicles and often times because of the curves it seems like some of those curves catch up to drivers and last year actually um somebody crashed into our Boulevard and rolled over and took out the the anten and you know I mean it was bad so so when I went to the meeting last week I asked if um they were planning to put on a bike trail alongside the road when they do the construction which is proposed I believe for next summer at least that's what I learned last week and that isn't necessarily in the plan now many of you know I worked in government for a long time 30 some years and I know we're always threading in government to look for cost Effectiveness efficiency and the best use of tax as well as which is primary for my concern here safety I walk that road probably three times a day some people may have seen me out there with my golden brola and I'm always ready to hit the ditch simply because people do get out of control and there's nowhere else for me to walk sometimes I do walk in the ditch so my main concerned though as a college students and people that use that as an aration colle and I would like you to take under consideration the idea that perhaps it might be a good idea to do that work sooner than later for safety sake thank you for letting me speak to this tonight I appreciate it thank you next uh Barbara Moreno okay uh Jim felt thank you Mr Mayor Jim phelp retired Chief of Police from the city of walart um I want to thank you for allowing me to speak tonight as you know I just retired as a chief of the police of the Walmer Police Department after 35 years I feel I can provide some information on two important items you're facing as you hopefully saw in your email from me last evening I outlined things in Greater detail at that time the first is the process of hiring a police chief including proposals you speak about tonight with prices ranging between 22 and $29,000 simply put that cost extravagant unneeded and a duplication of City resources and police commission duties the city is screen tester recommended many positions in the past without the expense and delay of an executive search for in my time as Chief I worked hard to be mindful of the budget that $29,000 can be used for far greater good within the police department or the city than a search firm I ask you to reflect on the service of War repas provided to the community if you're looking for an agency to continue down a similar path I urge you to focus on local candidates local meaning within the department in this region of Minnesota policing varies greatly from state to state and even the metro area to Wilmer look for the people that hold the same values are vested in the community and know the needs of this area the best the second item is the recent suggestions of eliminating vacant wmer PD officer positions to do so would be detrimental to the agency and service provided to Wilmer along with being dangerous for officers Wilmer seeing an increase in violent crimes and violence against its officers policing is a people business and officers are needed to do that job all are needed calling for defunding of the department for officers is disappointing disturbing and unsafe to paraphrase a past Chief you can have great Parks Trails amenities and new streets but if you don't feel safe it doesn't matter discussions focus on school resource officers being reassigned to patrol calls still happen in the schools and now Patrol officers handle those calls the school only reimbursed for about half of the school year before with the current shortage of officers Patrol is still short eliminating officer positions now would likely make SRO spots unobtainable in the future wmer PD deserves a lot of credit for doing far more with far less in conclusion I want to thank the city and Community for allowing me to serve here I appreciate the trust the department in the community has had in me with that I ask you to trust me once again please reject the executive recruitment firm bids please Focus locally for Police Chief candidates and please do not reduce wmer PD Staffing I do want to thank you for your time consideration and for all of you serving the city council I know you have a difficult job also please take those things into mind thank you thank you J next is Carol lmer thank you and I'm just uh a brief little piece of information regarding energy and solar in this community uh today we had a representative Missouri River uh Energy Services of which the place where we get our electricity here to bumer and came to speak to us about kind of the future and what's going on and talked about several things but the one that suck out with me is that the carbon free energy that is a mandate in this country in this state and uh that anyone that you would talk to Engineers people that know say that's really an impossibility and the way to get uh to get to that fact make people understand is every person in this country needs to talk to their elected officials no matter which side of the table they're on they need to talk to them and to look at that and be realistic and the cost of uh if you would look into what's happening in California we all know that's kind of held out there that the governor is saying we cannot raise our rates anymore finally it's catching up with them they pay 50 cents a kilowatt hour and they have solar so people that keep saying we need solar we need solar you need to investigate more into that and what the cost of that would be that's just pce I got so fired up about it that I know I'm not going to sleep well tonight that uh we need to do we need to talk about we need to get to our officials elected officials but we need to also talk to one another our neighbors and to really do some investigating into into it thank you very much Oh and before I leave I'm just say you probably all voted but everybody else don't forget to vote thank you all right next is a public hearing on an ordinance amending the electric rates for 2025 through 2027 call on Janelle Johnson thank you Mr Mayor and city council um in 2024 uh comprehensive rate study was completed by Missouri River Energy Services our power supplier and a joint Action Agency recommending the overall rate increase across all classes of customers which would be residential commercial and Industrial of a rate averaging 3% the rate adjustment recommendation provides for a 7% increase in purchase power costs that we are incurring the fixed cost of providing the service operations and maintenance expenses captures the capital for plan projects provides for the annual transfers to the city of 2.1 million 13 Mill million each year 2.13 and recovers a transfer amount for the city street lighting costs incurred by the utility So within this rate adjustment like I said it averages a 3% across all classes um in what we're asking for is in 2025 um I'm going to focus on the residential class that impacts the the bulk of the people we're asking for a 4.4% increase in 2020 six it would be 4.5% and in 2027 it would be a 4.6% increase and then again in 2027 we would be performing another rate study um to see exactly where we're at now with all that said our power supply costs have gone up 7% our transmission Revenue um has increased so it helps offset that and I believe that the utility has been very cognitive in its spending and it's budgeting um we don't just bump our budget each year every expense is looked at and actually analyzed um so we can keep our rates down for our customers so we can keep it affordable keep the lights on for the community all right any questions or motion uh mayor it's a public hearing so oh I'm sorry I didn't open I didn't even open it so I will open the hearing all right all right thank you Janelle anybody here to speak to this come up to the give us your name and address uh jodell Marcus 1609 16th Avenue Northwest um our back road is the College Road and um I believe that's County Road 24 um in fact I know it is um they're talking you're talking about um assessing us and I know that this is a public hearing for the electric grates oh that's not what the okay that'll be the next that'll be next so anybody here to speak to the electric grates just if not comes to the council I'll close the hearing need a motion I'll make that motion we got a motion do we have a second it's the motion the motion is to adopt the ordinance amending electric Gres second we got a second discussion hearing none I'll call for a roll call council member fagly hi osmus hi Butterfield hi O'Brien hi OS hi Nelson hi Davis Hi and shes I eight eyes zero nose that passes next is a 2025 Improvement hearing we'll call on city engineer Jared vog good evening mayor council as indicated this is the public hearing for the 2025 2026 Improvement projects um previously a preliminary engineering report was presented to council and this is the public hearing portion where uh residents property owners have an opportunity to um ask questions regarding the Improvement just want to clarify that this is not an assessment hearing but rather it is a Improvement hearing where we'll discuss the improvements contemplated for the various streets and incorporated into that preliminary engineering report uh I do have a presentation that I'll run through which includes the information pertinent to the the projects that are that are being considered uh for the next two years um the report did include 2025 and 2026 years uh as Council may recall that as a result of um collaborating with utility companies to get their utilities moved in advance of construction projects um and that is a request and it's been successful and helped us complete project s on time uh during the last couple years so the presentation is split up into 2025 and 2026 Improvement areas um basically broken down by the type of construction that's being considered uh we have reconstruction areas overlay areas um and then the county projects that are identified for improvement in 2025 and then also some trail improvements uh I do have a map that I'll show that that explains these areas uh in additional detail and then lastly the report did include seal coating improvements uh but that is not a Improvement uh cost that is passed on to Property Owners so for the 2025 project areas uh just by way of a little explanation of what the colors all mean uh the light blue areas are identified as Mill and overlay the dark orange uh areas are are removal and overlay and as we move into the dark blue that's our reclaim and overlay project and I'll go through the differences between all of these as I get to that uh as part of the presentation the pink area is identified for Street and utility reconstruction uh red are path improvements that are contemplated and then the yellow are the crack fill and seal coat and finally the green are the county uh overlay improvements so we'll go into each of these areas in a little bit more detail but generally you'll see the um County Road 24 7th Street as a county Improvement uh over on the west side of town uh for some reclaim and overlay in the Valley Brook Estates and glacial Valley Estates area as you move to the South some Mill and over lay and reclaiming overlay in the Orton blad area uh the dark pink in the middle there is Fourth Street which is planned for Street and utility reconstruction the red line is along Lakeland Drive that is a proposed binous path contemplated for Lakeland uh and then on the right part of the screen in the dark blue area the Boulder Ridge and Wellshire areas for the reclaim and overlay this this slide is simply um an extension of the city because we couldn't fit it all on one map without it being completely illegible um but the light blue that is business 71 um project area as you move to the north uh that's Eagle Landings and Fairway Park Estates area and then finally uh over on the east side of tone just North of Highway 12 we have 20th Street which is for Street and utility reconstruction and then out um in the mwest technology campus Technology Drive and then finally As you move towards the Northeast part of town uh Transportation road and Arena Drive you'll note that there are some trail improvements also planned or proposed along Transportation road similarly for the 2026 project areas um again broken up by reconstruction overlay and Steel Coating improvements this map better illustrates those uh from a visual standpoint you can see up in the upper leftand corner uh the College View area then we also have identified Industrial Drive as a mill in overlay then 16th Street uh has been identified as a um Street and utility reconstruction and then the dark blue areas southside of town Portland Acres uh South East part of your map there we have Dana Heights Pleasant View uh Trot Avenue is planned for a millon overlay and then finally the yellow again are the seal code improvements contemplated for 2026 so project considerations and and one of the questions that we often get is how are roads determined whether or not they're going to be a Mill and overlay or reclaim an overlay or complete Street reconstruction um the answer to that is the utilities underneath them are evaluated for their condition um the areas planned for reconstruct have Clay and concrete pipe um to carry whether that be uh to car the sanitary sewer uh water me there are a variety of Ages of water me within city of Wilmer um some being as asbest cement or cast iron and those um materials are prone to Breaking uh the storm sewer we also evaluate the type of pipe material um that exists within the storm sewer a lot of what we find uh in older storm sewers is that the manholes are built out of um block and mortar versus pre-cast structures that we get today and then streets are pretty self-explanatory but uh with block cracking alligator cracking uh potholes and settlements that don't uh allow for a millon overlay or reclaim and overlay are the areas that we consider for um the Reconstruction areas so what's the difference between a reconstruction and a Mill and overlay ultimately in a reconstruction project utilities as well as the entire pavement surface and concrete curb and gutter are removed and replaced as part of as part of a reconstruction project uh overlays basically take into consideration the upper p layer um where that's removed but not the entire Street and then curban gutter is spot repaired as part of a Mill and overlay project um so doesn't remove everything in a Mill and overlay uh and just F repair with those types of projects Street widths is always a topic of conversation uh associated with with these types of improvements this is uh 20th Street and you can see that the existing Street width is 30 feet what's being proposed is 32 feet 32 feet is the city's standard um Street width to allow for two travel lanes and one um one lane of parking the pictures on the on the right you'll note that the existing Fourth Street width is 52 feet wide uh what's being proposed is 38 8 38 will allow for parking on both sides um but ultimately it reduces the overall pavement width overall project cost overall long-term maintenance associated with 52 foot Street versus a 38 similarly uh in the College View area the existing Street width is 40 feet uh what's being proposed is 38 and that will accommodate once again two two sides parking and and the two travel Lanes 16th Street is a mixture of Street widths currently the North End being 32 feet and width the South End being 40 uh what is being proposed is is 36 feet sidewalk and path locations uh I did mention earlier but Lakeland Drive a binous path is proposed along the east side of Lakeland drive from trunk Highway 12 to Civic Center Drive you can see currently there are some sections of sidewalk but we definitely have a gap in that Network and then um out in the Transportation road Civic Center area a binous trail is also being proposed along Transportation road sidewalk locations on Fourth Street currently Fourth Street has sidewalk on both sides and that is proposed to remain um with the improvements so after the Improvement is completed there will be sidewalk on both sides as it exists today um utility and drainage Improvement so what really happens when a when a road is reconstructed the from a sanitary sewer standpoint all the pipes underground will be brand new the manhole structures will be brand new and then services will be replaced from the um pipe to the property corners or to the property line um of the adjacent residents so or businesses so whatever Services exist they'll simply be replaced uh with PVC piping similarly with waterm water Ms will be replaced uh with PVC piping new hydrants new valves and then new water services will be extended to the rightaway as well uh the storm sewer will consist of new new pipes new manholes new catch basins that collect water from the new curban gutter so uh those are the improvements associated with a reconstruction project one of the improvements that I I did want to draw attention to uh is 16th Street Improvement uh the city has received um complaints concerns uh relative to storm water at the intersection of 16th and trot so we've identified a pond in the menasco Park area it's not the entire Tire Park area uh rather a portion of it and um that will that's that's the Improvement that's identified to take care of those flooding concerns and uh certainly should that project move forward uh there'll be just some additional discussion uh with the neighbors and uh menasco in that area uh this is just a map summarizing the 2025 overlay Improvement ments we've uh reviewed this previously but again shown um showing the overlay areas and again this is the east side of town um business 71 along the lake 2026 improve or overlay areas are identified there um College View the other areas um that we've discussed storm sewer uh in the 2025 Improvement area area uh we do have a segment of storm sewer along Eagle Ridge Drive and 19th Street uh that needs to be addressed simply uh providing some additional storm water infrastructure to help with some localized flooding areas uh in that in that area um there are some there's some settlements behind the curb things of that nature that that need to be addressed as part of that Improvement typically overlays don't include bunch of storm sewer work but this area definitely is in need of of some improvement and that's why it's identified here on the screen for you this evening um so this is basically just a drawing or a typical section of the difference between a Mill and overlay and a reclaiming overlay you can see on the top the mill and overlay um will basically consist of the removal of the upper 1 and a half to three inches of pavement that pavement will be removed and then uh replaced as part of the mill overlay project the reclaim and overlay uh consists of basically grinding up the existing binus and aggregate beneath it um shaping it compacting it and then putting a new bituminous surface over the top of it uh so Mill and overlay take a takes a smaller amount off the top the reclaiming overlay grinds it all up shape it in a new pavement surface over the top and that's entirely dependent on the existing condition of the uh stre stre surface estimated project costs associated with the improvements uh and I'll get into a breakdown of these but for 2025 the estimated cost associated with 20th Street is approximately 563,000 Fourth Street around 5.8 million um the Becker 19th uh east of Lakeland area there uh estimated at 3 3.2 million the next project 2503b is the Eagles Landing area um 2, 316,000 um 253c is Technology Drive approximately 569 th000 253d is the business 71 area uh 253e this is the county proposed improvements and then 254b is the Lakeland path and then finally the 20 2025 seal coating improvements LED there so for 2025 the breakdown of those projects ultimately consists of Street reconstruction being approximately 3.3 million storm sewer approximately 1 million sanitary a 1.2 uh water M 1.1 the overlay component largest component associated with the 2025 improvements approximately 9 million uh the path projects that we reviewed approximately 730,000 and then finally the seal coat improvements of about 330,000 this is simply a further breakdown of the various project components Street reconstruction storm sewer sanitary sewer water mean um the overlay paths and seal coat I'm not going to read all those numbers for you but ultimately uh that is the breakdown based on the work type associated with the Improvement 2026 estimated project cost uh College View area approximately 7 million uh 16th Street 2.8 the mill and overlay or reclaim and overlay portions of long trat and Industrial Drive approximately 1.1 million and then the mill and overlay improvements that's the southern part the Portland Acres Prairie View Pleasant View Dana Heights areas that we reviewed on the map approximately 3.1 million and then a seal quote Improvement of approximately 2.3 or 235,000 another breakdown similar to the 2025 projects Street reconstruction being approximately 4.8 storm sewer 850,000 sanitary 1.8 water main 2.3 approximately and then the overlay component of 4.2 with the seal coat of 235 similarly uh project components Street reconstruction storm sewer sanitary watering overlay uh seal coat so funding sources associated with the Improvement uh include a variety of them consisting primarily of local state and utility funding associated with those breakdown of the funding sources for the 2025 improvements you can see the assessment amount contemplated there uh some state aid we do have a grant for that business 71 Improvement through the state of Minnesota Municipal Utilities Commission Wastewater um and then uh City's contribution and you can see the totals associated with those 2025 improvements at the bottom there similarly for 2026 funding sources listed there um and associated with all the assessments and the variety of funding sources so one of the questions that comes up a lot during an improvement hearing uh is what is this going to cost me so we've identified some ranges of the assessment rates um for the various types of improvement you can see there that street reconstruction and this is based on the adjusted front foot um of the property so um to help explain that in terms of what does that mean for residents if you know your Frontage along a street um you take that number multiply it by the street reconstruction uh range and then if there's sanitary sewer that comes off of the street similarly there's a range of $16 to $19 per foot each sanitary sewer service is estimated between $800 and $900 uh the water main reconstruction is estimated at 20 to $24 per foot along with the water services between 1,00 and 1100 the storm sewer approximately 13 to17 per foot the overlay um estimated between 3,300 to $6,800 depending on the size of the lot uh when it's Milling overlay or reclaiming overlay um the city has been assessing at a small medium and large lat size the small just by point of reference is 0 to 60.9 feet the medium is 61 to 99.9 feet and then the large lot classification is over 100 ft in these in the mill and overlay areas anticipated project schedule um preliminary engineering report was presented at the October 7th council meeting open house was held on October 23rd out at the Civic Center we're currently at the public hearing stage of the improvement process um providing projects continue to move forward and Council adopts a resolution and closed in the packet this evening that would allow the the plans and specifications and authorization for advertisement for bids to occur in February with a bid opening in March and construction um starting in April of 2025 uh I have a typo on that screen I believe no just a my copy um construction starting in May 20125 going through October of 2020 um five and then the assess hearing where the costs associated with the improvements or the assessments U would be held done in August of 2025 similarly for 2026 just a a year later um this is the public hearing and um follows the same schedule as of 2025 only a year later so with that mayoring Council this is a public hearing I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have for me this evening um otherwise we will also take them from the public thank you Jared I'll open the hearing and ask if there's anybody that wants to speak to this yes can I ask before you open it yeah are we going first no you go after okay yeah I would thought we would go after okay so anybody here to speak to this were you going to speak yeah you're up um so okay give us your name and address again jell Marcus 16091 16th Avenue Northwest all right um so our backyard is the county road 24 the College Road um we already pay assessments on our 16th Avenue street we're trying to figure out why in the hell we would be charged excuse my language um for the county road that doesn't make any sense it's never been charged before for County Roads um there's nothing wrong with that road there's nothing wrong with it go drive it there's nothing wrong with it I don't understand it um and a large part of that is owned by the college is the college going to be assessed probably not um is it a state aid Road you know I mean from what what it looked from if I understood it right we're going to be assess like $6,800 this is ridiculous we can't afford that I don't have Elon Musk or an uncle I mean um let's see um um farmers and that that live on County Roads how how do they get charged are they being charged at the same kind of rate I mean like I said we're already paying for one street now all of a sudden we never been before and I didn't know that there was um something in the paper we don't get the paper so I don't know why a letter couldn't have come out in addition to it being in the paper now we get a letter last week saying that we're going to be charged basically I mean that that it's going to happen I just I guess I want answers I'd like to know you had a lot of questions I have a lot of questions but can can you understand my frustration with it I mean a lot of us are retired and on limited incomes we can't all of a sudden come up with 6,800 bucks like I said my uncle is not Elon Musk we handle questions like hearing if the city engineer is able to address any it would be appropriate okay that's what I thought evening Council um I think I have a good list if I forget any please remind me um so yes that is a County Road uh the CYO County currently has that on their CIP her Capital Improvement plan for 2025 although it is a County Road the county does have a cost sharing participation policy uh where there are City costs associated with County Roads most recent County Road assessed uh to City of Wilmer residence was Wilmer Avenue uh just a couple short months ago so it is um not uncommon that County Roads due to costs associated um with their Improvement to the city uh based on a a cost participation policy um there um assessments on 16th I believe and the county road the city does have a corner lot assessment policy whereby um the full length of both sides is not assessed um I'm not familiar with the particular property but I certainly uh could could look at that and see what what that impact has on um that particular property um I got those two or the is the college being assessed um College being assessed I believe Robert might have to help me out I believe that um public entities are be are able to be assessed as part of a um roadway Improvement so short answer yes and then when you check on the corner lot can you also check on last time 16th Street was done so we're not having yeah absolutely past couple years uh we didn't have any problems with that last year yeah we ow one we did Grace okay let's uh let's stick to Farmers getting ass that was another question uh if the pro if the property is adjacent to the Improvement um and it and there's a City cost in it right um their assessments can be levied to the adjacent properties exterior of the city limits I'm not sure how works I have no idea um that's a con con's issue but um if the project if the property benefits from the Improvement adjacent within the city of Wilmer City Limits uh it's eligible for assessment did we get all your questions well I mean why is it just our houses on that are on that road why not the whole neighborhood you know what I mean we PID for our road our street already 16th Avenue and now we're supposed to pay for another road I can I can shed a little bit of light on that so as part of the city's assessment policy the adjacent Property Owners immediately adjacent to the roadways um are assessed and um there'll be additional opportunities to review the assessments um I know it's it's hard to keep focus on the actual improvements because assessments are an important part of this process um so there are are additional opportunities to discuss assessments but the policy of the city currently is that the properties immediately adjacent to the roadways being improved be assessed okay will well I think we're the council will okay okay after the public is done is there anybody else that wants to speak to the stre improvements Brian mlon I live at 3101 Eagle Ridge Drive West uh they did Eagle R Drive East a couple years ago and we heard that they was just assessed one flat fee per lot I saw a bunch of different Services per per square foot so if that's that's was the case doesn't that set of Precedence jar uh the east side of Eagle Ridge Drive was assessed on a per foot basis um what's being considered and what has been the the past practice in recent years is to assess based on the lot size um meaning the amount of Frontage in immediately adjacent to the street again small medium and large um through that range of um assess a mons however I believe that ego Ridge Drive if memory serves me was assessed based on the front footage entirely that is a different I should note that is a different type of project than what's being contemplated here as part of that Improvement all storm sewer and curbing Gutter and the entire roadway surface was replaced as part of that the Improvement being contemplated uh in 2025 is simply uh is less invasive I should say um not all the storm seers being replaced we reviewed that slide where a couple catch Bas will be replaced but uh not the entire Street as it was um on Eagle Ridge Drive East okay anybody else from the public good evening uh my name is Steve Barney I live at 909 orth Street Southwest um my question is uh when do we actually know what we're going to assess is there a timeline I mean said like so do we I mean what do I know what am I going to find out what I owe and you know how much I going to owe I owe two lots so I own my lot and I own the one at J Jason to me that go north um so I have two lots and I'm just wondering and that's why I came here tonight I just want to kind of know what I'm and when it's due and what going to be in August right I've heard you know I could do payments or you know assess your property taxes um I'm just kind of curious I think we all probably want to know sure Steve what it's going to cost me and you know I mean not has to be like exact dollar but ballpark maybe you know so that's just so mayor council um when the bids are received and I'm just going to go back to my slide here uh receiving bids in March of 2025 so once we have those bids in hand we can put together um the estimated uh again not exact but it'll be a lot closer than a range that I provided you this evening um what those assessment amounts will be and certainly we could um send those out as as soon as they are available but to answer the the ultimate question the final assessment amount will be presented prior to the August um 2025 assessment hearing so that's when the final notice will be mailed out there will be another public hearing um similar to this where it'll be focused entirely on the assessments um and residents will have an opportunity to address the council at that time so but chaired if you go back to the break breakdown of what the cost is that would be able to give them a ballpark absolutely they know their square footage front footage y sorry sorry yep if they know the front footage um they could figure it out from here for what um what's getting done on their Road absolutely right anybody else wishing to speak from the public Council how are we doing uh my name is Justin uh Paul I'm at 7014 Street Southwest uh two questions I have uh a for the bidding process are we doing a open bid process a blind breing process how does that work as far as like how much information are going to be given to to us from the biders are we going to see all that information in public as well uh second question would be um I believe on Fourth Street we're talking about narrowing the street a little bit and I didn't understand is there going to be a wider Boulevard or are we moving the um everything correspondingly into towards the middle of the road so it'll be same amount of Boulevard and our sidewalk will be further out um and and it didn't really have a good answer on either of those I guess when I was at the open house so I just wanted to kind of get some clarification on both those thank mayor councilor relative to the bidding process uh it is an entirely public process so after the plans and specifications are prepared they'll be brought back before you uh to a council meeting for approval and authorization to advertise that advertising process is public the advertisements published in the uh West Central Tribune and on a variety of other bidding sites that contractors use to locate bids um so that they can submit their prices once the bids are received uh they will be tabulated and brought back to council uh for consideration to award the contract at that point um once a contract is awarded then the contractor is authorized to proceed with the improvements so it is a public process um and will see the plans and the bids uh before um before anything happens with construction in terms of the street width impacts um since these projects are part of the preliminary engineering report ultimately what that means is the final construction plans have not been prepared uh pending Council authorization um generally speaking what uh what's envisioned for that corridor is that the the corridor would be so it's 52 feet wide currently generally um there would be additional Boulevard and additional Green Space um between the curb and the sidewalk as well as between the sidewalk and the RightWay um we haven't gone through the final design all the grades are going to have to be reviewed for that to determine where the sidewalk is located generally um but trying to maintain a a reasonable Boulevard width so that we have adequate space for snow storage um while not having a a excessively wide Boulevard that people need to cross over the sidewalk to continue to maintain uh will be considered as part of that design so short answer is I don't have exact um measurements for anybody this evening but generally speaking we're going to maintain a uh reasonable Boulevard for uh snow storage sidewalk and then the will be additional Green Space um that compared to what it is today significant all right anybody else from the public yes Carol car 133 sorry to say that before and I didn't come for this but I do have a concern of why that needs to be narrowed and he said because of the cost there no removal and all that but why is that why could that be or why it hasn't been shared with people that live along there I just think by the time they get done with that the assessments that they're going to have is going to choke a lot of people what it's going to cost and so I'm just looking out for our community and I don't know how many years ago that was working with the bike um forget what the name of the committee was but was mid Minnesota and that type of thing because that fourth is kind of like an artery from downtown to could be out Uptown that could there something be done with that it make that a bike trail down the middle of the road again I'm just looking to think outside the box if there's something else that we be done so this so the citizens around there don't have to pay the atrous assessments thank you thanks car anybody else from the public otherwise I'm going to close the hearing I'll close the hearing and bring it up to the council well Julie was first okay um yes my name is you have to come up to the give your name and address um my name is Heidi Syler and I live at 1210 Southwest 4 Street um just wondering about um there's a school on the um it's on Fourth Street and Wilmer Avenue it's right across from us I'm wondering if they're going to be assessed part of the charges for all of this um also with narrowing the street on Fourth Street it's going to make um garbage pickup and snow plowing more difficult um the school that is across from us they use our street as parking for um during the school year and also we have a drain on the corner of Fourth Street in Wilmer Avenue that hasn't worked right since um since the street was replaced this summer oh just wondering about that mayor council relative to the question regarding the school assessment yes school will be assessed as part of that um believe a comment was made about garbage pickup and snowplowing more difficult um although the street will be uh reduced in width it still accommodates parking on both sides um and the through lanes and it will actually reduce the amount of snow that's being placed um on the edges of the road given the fact that it's a smaller surfaced area surface area and then um the drain that's not working we'll look we'll look into that Julie okay just I'll get you I'll get the question for you first um so a number of people have referenced the open house on the 23rd what was your turnout uh we had 19 people show up okay anything um come out of that that impacted any thing or no was knowledge for them information like what you just those that those that attended ask similar questions to those that are being asked this evening and they're okay they're answered yep okay good um then I just have a couple of other just comments then um as far as the cost of the people on Fourth Street um if the if the um road is narrower the assessments are going to be less because it's less asold that um has to get put on there if it was if it stayed at the 52 the assessments would be more um so that's that's a point to um clarify and then also um I just I'm I'm glad that you're able to have sidewalks on both sides because when we were dealing with East Second Street um they had to make a the decision had to be made what side of the street the sidewalk was going to go on that was a big decision and I'm I'm happy for you guys that um you will still have a sidewalk on both sides um I think that's it I got two small little questions here first one was we have Min West being on uh for spe Improvement they requested the other year to be pushed back year for budgeting purposes so I actually called up Jo Joanna with the mwest campuses out there she was wondering if we could at least get them out an estimate as soon as we could so she can go over to auding department to get this budget in for their business budget yeah to speak directly to that question uh Joanna actually contacted me today and I'm meeting with her on Wednesday and the second one is we had discussion about the grass seating in the policy we're currently using we're using like a Minnesota gr Highway gr grass seating is there any way we can get that change because I think the past three years we've had numerous complaints of the grass growing so is there any way we could upgrade to better seed quality when we're bidding to sell the grass seed that is specified for all reconstruction projects is a residential turf grass seed it is not a Mot ditch mix grass seed uh the the problem uh or the frustration that we run into quite frequently um based on Resident feedback is that um grass seed doesn't immediately um it takes a little while to establish right and um typically until it's thick and full weeds also show up as part of that uh the contracts do require that the contractor maintain uh the seed until it is 70% established um at which point it becomes a homeowners responsibility those areas where homeowners apply additional water um and additional care to the seed are the areas that typically we have the least amount of complaints about because they fill in the fastest but I just wanted to clarify there is no ditch seed mix that's placed on residential Lawns it is a resid Turf um mix thank you right I got Mike Rick and Justin Mike two questions for you you talked about reconstruction storm water and S have you been working with Municipal Utilities I remember years back when that was not the case we had some issues there we did some work maybe more than once that we needed not to do more than once so I'm just asking do we have yeah plans with Municipal Utilities yeah that's a that's a good question um as part of the the city's 10e CI Street CIP process um City staff collaborated with Municipal utility staff on that entire um entire document there were some areas of concern relative to Waterman that were incorporated into the Press and we prioritize projects collaboratively to identify which years um they were scheduled for for improvement uh in addition uh during the design process they they a project partner involved from the beginning all the way to the end uh so that's a really long answer to say yes second question is we talked about working on a uh County Road I know that the county has a number of ways that they help pay for assessments are they paying are they doing that same thing on that particular piece of road using all those assessment so the county road improvements contemplated for 2025 will be similar to the Improvement of Wilmer Avenue um I do know that there are City costs associated with them impr with those improvements I do not know what the funding sources that the county utilizes uh to to fund their their County Road Improvement program rck thanks Mr Mayor so on a street like Fourth Street where you narrow it property owners are on the gain six or seven feet on the bo so when they receive that who writes the new legal description forum and who updates their abstract uh there will be no red uction in the RightWay it's simply a reduction in the street wids so there will be no updated abstracts no updated legal descriptions for any of those properties they'll have to maintain there will be additional Grasso yes and then um on Lakeland Drive is there a grant for the path have we looked into that yeah so currently uh we are pursuing two grant opportunities for that path um one is called active trans ation one's called Transportation Alternatives uh notices of uh letters of Interest have been submitted for those applications so those are underway so we want to receive that before we do the project don't we before it's constructed at least hear back do hear back whether or not the city is successful for the Improvement typically those those Grant applications require some uh estimates and drawings and things of that nature but certainly um if we receive the feedback that um it's a favorable project for the grant um the grant solicitation then yes I would recommend that any Grant funds that we can utilize to offset the cost similar to the business 71 grant that we receed for that Improvement uh be explored and utilized but if we don't get it in 2025 look at 2026 then uh whatever the council wants to do yes we'll continue to pursue grants as as long as as long as they're available and as long as Council wants to uh continue to pursue them without doing the Improvement y thank you Mr Mayor um I want to talk about assessments at an improvement hearing which I think you know this just a little Annoying maybe for you but um I appreciate that I know we've talked before about getting that information about what folks are going to be assessed out as soon as possible you know um in letters so I think the last few years we've had some people who have been frustrated um I think everyone's always going to be a little frustrated about getting assess but we can minimize that I think by getting that information out sooner so there's not a surprise so want to encourage you to do that again uh couple other things about the letter one uh I've received uh this letter recently from my own Street and found it to be confusing so if there's a way to to maybe streamline that process a little bit uh I think that could be helpful be happy to talk about what I saw and um later um the other thing I just wanted to say is if you could say a little bit about the payment options or another maybe that'd be someone else on staff saying a little bit about the payment options I think the folks that are in the room now and and also if that would be included in the letter letting them know deadlines letting them know about what options they have for deferring some of those costs sure so in terms of and I'm G to rely on my teammates a little bit here too but uh in terms of the assessments uh the last couple years the assessment term has been 15 years so the assessment has spread out over the course of 15 years Property Owners do have the opportunity to pay the entire assessment before any interest is accured or pay a portion of the assessment uh before interest is added and I believe that opportunity extends after the first year um the second year for assessments payable um regardless of when that is paid the entire Year's assessment or the entire Year's interest will be added to the total um amount of the assessment in terms of deadlines or timelines uh typically by November 1st um assessment payments need to be received by the city so that they do not go on a property owners's tax statement after November 1st um they'll be added to the following Year's property tax statement so hopefully that was um answered your questions but we do have some time um now and we will get those assessments out um estimates out and I will collaborate with you on the language yeah no thank you for that thank you for kind of just saying that again publicly I think you know again the more information we can share with residents the better Audrey thank you mayor Reese um I have two different questions um we're getting ready to do these but I know we have other years not been able to do all the streets that we were planning on based off from costs Etc and I'm just wondering about the time frame where if we might delay a project for next year when would people know that the project might be delayed sure so pending council's Direction um we could certainly send out notices to the residents to let them know that um if there is a project that we've reviewed that was scheduled for 2025 tonight um that it is being delayed so that's not a problem the total that we're looking the estimate um 16 milion 878 what did we do this year I've forgotten what our total projects were I believe it was for 11 somewhere in that neighborhood okay 11 to 12 I was just trying to be realistic with whether we're going to be able to do all of these or not so oh and that's a great question and and I appreciate you bring that out because the projects I identified in that report for 25 and 26 were based on that 10year CIP that was provided to council okay then my second question if it's okay um back to Fourth Street um the I I understand what you're talking about with narrowing and we had to take an awful lot of trees down on several of the streets that we worked on did this year and so I'm just curious if that can be involved in how you're moving the street where the trees are right now and where the sidewalk will be versus having to remove trees to maintain a a certain width yeah so as part of the design project or design process um the existing Tree locations will be identified and um we will attempt to save as many trees as possible uh we do review it with the um with the the city's arborist and make sure that any disease trees are included as part of the Improvement to be removed so that it's not a a burden on the property owner later um but trees are definitely something that I reviewed multiple times throughout the design process of physically walking up and down looking at what's happening what we find uh a lot is that trees come down for a variety of reasons three um are probably the top one is uh they're diseased or sick uh number two is they are damaging the concrete curbing gutter or the concrete sidewalk and number three is uh when the utility service line that goes to each individual house or business was installed uh a tree was planted next to it and so in order place that uh service the tree needs come down for safety issues so those are the top three reasons but aside from that we try to avoid uh any tree R possible the same with the Fourth Street I believe that that is a street that was kind of looked at as a safe Street to ride bike on and I know we have some others candy ohigh I think has a designated Lane 15th Street I think does too I'm not quite sure of all of them but I know we're looking at that also and I'm just curious whether that is something that'll be taken into consideration with that design too yeah absolutely so the city's bike and um ped plan is currently being updated in addition there's the Safe Streets for all uh component uh that is undergoing or underway and a variety of comments have been received about that so certainly uh we will evaluate incorporate the findings of those two exercises bike and ped plan the ss4a uh report incorporate that into any project design thank you anything else Vicki so earlier the lady made the comment about a bike path on College Road is that something she would need to go to the county for to request since it's a county project that would certainly be an option um I do have it in my notes here and I was going to talk to the County engineer about that um as we continue to to further explore the um the county road projects that are planned for 2025 okay thank you y Jared I got a question on Fourth Street that's such a wide rightaway that that's original plat of City yeah I believe when I reviewed that plat I I can't remember the dates now but it I want to say it was 192 something 1930 yeah there's going to be extensive Boulevard there going to be like an additional 14 ft roughly on both sides seven seven seven seven to eight y yeah seven yeah for ft in all yeah okay well Council looking for a motion to adopt the resolution ordering the 2025 Street and other improvements direct staff to prepare final plans and specifications so moved second got a motion and a second discussion roll call council member osmus hi Butterfield hi O'Brien hi OS hi Nelson hi Davis Hi sches Hi and fagly hi eight eyes zero nose that passes than Council next I'll call on our city cour berene Larson for certification unpaid U ility charges coun members tonight I have for you um according to section 16-17 the city of Wilmer code states that such unpaid utility bills represent a lean on the real property receiving Utility Services the Municipal Utilities Commission has offered the owner the right and request to request an appearance before the commission to make objections to payments after holding that meeting the Wilmer Municipal Utilities commission adopted resolution number 39 on October 15 24 requesting that the Wilmer that that myself as a city clerk certifi the unpaid utility charges as a lean on the real property tonight I'm asking the council to adopt the resolution for the unpaid utility charges totaling $ 46,4 3759 and to direct staff to certify that to the county auditor for collection along with their other taxes for 2025 approve second got a motion to approve and second discussion roll call council member council member Butterfield hi O'Brien I OS hi Nelson hi Davis hi sches hi baggerly hi and osmus I eight eyes zero nose that pass es now we need Jared is it me Jared we need the uh cter Road 5 Trot Avenue Wilmer Avenue signal Wars yeah good evening mayor council um in your packet this evening is a memo prepared uh as part of the evaluation of signal warrants for County Road along County Road 5 at Wilmer Avenue in Trot um this was the result of an agreement two years ago approximately those intersections were reevaluated for the potential of a signal um at the time they did not meet signal warrants and so it was agreed that two years later they would be further evaluated uh to determine if the warrants were met at that time uh the discussion surrounding that was the development of the FedEx site so um recently as recently as September 24th uh traffic counts were obtained in those locations um and in order to determine whether or not a signal system is installed at an intersection there are N9 primary warrants that are evaluated I'll run through them just by way of reference I know it was in your packet um but it talks about eight hour volumes 4our volumes uh peak hour volumes pedestrian volumes whether or not the intersection is near school crossing coordinated signal system ultimately what that means are there other signals uh in the vicinity of the corridor that need to be coordinated with that intersection crash experience um evaluation of the road Network and then the intersection whether or not it's near grade crossing so the three warrants that we or the four warrants excuse me that we're focused on were warrants one two three and seven which are The 8 Hour vehicle volume the peak hour volume the 4our volume and then the crash experience so as a result of the data that was collected and I'm not going to go through every chart in there um I'll I'll leave that for any questions that you might have but there is a significant amount of data that shows the traffic volumes along County Road 5 and at those intersections the ultimate finding as a result of the warrants analysis is that a signal system is not warranted at either of those intersections uh similarly or similar to the analysis that was conducted uh a couple years ago so with that I'd be happy to answer any questions that Council might have questions where's the crash data what chart is that on were there any crashes I was just curious sure um that is page two of the memo warrant seven on that table that says signal warrants so K and trot um there were for Warrant number seven it requires eight there are zero at CA 5 and Wilmer Avenue again the warrant requires eight and there were four thank you you're welcome any other questions we don't have to take any action just informing us thank you I think we'll take a five minute break can I ask one more question sure when do when should we be doing this again or we we agreed to do this as part of that transaction so is there anything the council should be doing about future with development out there or do we just wait so I guess what I would recommend is that um staff continue to monitor this and as we see any additional development proposals in that vicinity um that those intersections provided there's a significant enough volume um resulting from any development um that the warrant analysis be conducted at that time so continue to Monitor and then as developments come in um evaluate them at that time thank you thank you take a five minute break e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e this is the police chief executive recruiter selection and I'll call on our city administrator lesle we going to we have a letter that was received for the public hearing on the street Improvement so we're going to read that in at this time and then we'll go on to the police chief okay letters dated November 4th 2024 dear Wilmer City Council Members my name is Mandy mcgilvery and I live on the 700 block of 7th Street Southwest in Wilmer I am fully supportive of the road construction in our town but today I would like to express my concern 7th Street is on the list of roads to possibly be worked on this summer and as I drive through town I notice other roads that are in far worse shape than seven th Street and they did not make the list yes 7th Street is a main road and highly used but it is also not in major need of repair I have a salon in my home and road construction in front of my house and business would make it very difficult for clients to come and go especially those who have disabilities if the overlay is done will the street and sidewalk be accessible for my clients to easily and safely come and go that is my biggest concern over this proposal thank you for your time Mandy mcgil right thank you now I'll call on Leslie is somebody going to answer those questions Jared do you w to sorry about that sure thanks mayor council so sth street is planned as a uh Mill and overlay project it's one of those County Roads that we talked about previously um as part of that Improvement I know that the county does do Ada improvements typically at intersections uh which will mean there will be some pedestrian Interruption I'm not sure exactly um where the resident that submitted the letter lives exactly but as with all projects um we will work with the county to maintain um as much pedestrian access as possible and quite honestly when there's um special circumstances with property owners or residents um whether that be deliveries of whatever they're getting um typically it's it's medication we collaborate with them given it's a business um certainly they would they would be on our our list to reach out to and I'll certainly share that information with the County engineer as well thank you Jared thank you good evening council tonight we uh are presenting to you the police chief executive recruiter selection we have met with the police commission on Friday and then this morning and discussed this uh we have received eight uh proposals four of them meet the requirements that we were looking for and that is to have recommendations of police chief that they have hired in the past here in Minnesota and their selection and their requirements also so we have Baker Tilly which is um at the total cost of $ 26950 with an alternative of a web-based community survey survey option of $1,850 so a total of 28,800 the GMP Consultants started at 175 and then they have a cost up to 2,000 for advertising up to $2,000 for direct mailings and $225 per candidate background checks so ranging right around 215 plus then the background checks depending on how many candidates you want to have background checks of the government Professional Services GPS came in at 225 and that is total they don't have any additional costs after that MGT is 21,500 and they have a recruitment expense of $1,500 and advertising up to $2,000 and they have within their 2153 visits anything over that it's a $195 an hour and also I including travel on that too so theirs then would total up to about $25,000 with their additional Recruitment and advertising expenses through this uh we like I said we did meet with the police commission and they have recommended that if the city is not going to if the council wants to go with a recruiter their recruiter recommendation is Baker Tilly I'll stand for any questions Vicki did the commission have any other recommendations like as far as hiring locally or their recommendation was that it would be out that it would be open for applications if that's what you're asking because there's a difference so I want to make clear that if you're talking internally that it would be staff would be doing the the um hiring process but we will have to hire somebody to do background checks and we'll have to have somebody do personal interviews because we cannot have our Police Department being interviewing internal candidates and external candidates that's not that so we would have to have an external investigator for doing personal interview type sort of questions and that kind of expense I don't know about yet um you do have in front of you a company called Gleason who does background checks and I believe they do have interviews personal interviews on that too and it's $2,550 per candidate so if you had 10 candidates that's 12 ,850 or 750 and then uh advertising could be up to 22 to $3,000 because of um no matter where we advertise even LinkedIn there's a charge for LinkedIn and the length of time also of advertising is longer and because we would want to advertise this at least a month I'd say three weeks to a month typically um we've advertised for about two weeks Tom I know before about a month ago and Jim phelt still here he brought up uh it was state police commission could also put this out on the website or something like that the chief Association and the Le so that might be that might be another option you know with what the retired uh chief police phel brought up tonight uh he thinks it might be a little bit better you know doing this inhouse I I had concerns prior to that prior to this about doing it inhouse and since this process started I've had a few phone calls that they wanted done in house you know we're that we're just not doing here but for our human resource department to and look to be looking for this I think we could maybe save a little bit money and uh I think they still could do just of a candidate as this but again we also have local staffing companies employment agencies in town that have the same background checks these guys have so we reached out to them and seeing how much they may charge maybe even a little bit less than what these people are doing you know and if we can say and then put some of uh the tax money back into local businesses to do the background checks and versus somebody from out of town I think it's one win for the whole town Justin did you receive any bids from local firms or no member Butterfield M suggested you know there are companies they they express no interest in working with us on this we didn't we did not receive any local okay proposals Audrey I'm just curious if I to comment that that um council member Butterfield the background checks that are done for this is are different aren't they then just uh if you were hiring we would still be doing very similar background checks but we'd also be doing some personal interviews and that too because you want to get a idea of character and that too so there's personal interviews that are done so it's not the same as as as just a a normal no I mean this is this is unique this is very important and so I'm just curious about the differences between hiring this level of opposition versus um other I'm just curious so if you look on the proposal from uh Lisa here and uh page four this is what they would do with a comprehensive background check there's seven items that are included and it's the national civil criminal Financial searches employment verifications to make sure that their that what they tell us on their application is true and correct along with their academic and degree confirmation news and media and data searches so your social media types searches also professional reference interviews and those are five interviews that they would do with professional um references that the that are supplied by the candidates uh supervisors co-workers and such it also so and then that they provide us with a written transcription on all that professional application verification and then the pece officer status and National Academy Tom uh just back follow up on council member OS on the background checks I know we talked about there was one of them on there that wasn't doing sex offender background checks on but they could have we would need to verify that because it could be just in their background check yeah that they do they just might not have listed it but I know the our local ones you know I don't know you know if they knew about this being put out the boat or not but I know our local ones have the same type of profile that Baker Tilly has they can P or make it to their clients needs on their background check they can go all the way up to an FBI background check on on the local ones they they pay a yearly fee for this program and they can do the exact same thing Baker till is doing all these you know it all depends on what what uh their clients need so I don't know if uh any of the local ones move all for bidding process or not it was advertised in the paper it was advertised locally viicky um I Feel Like Chief felt told us in his email that he has six there are six officers here that fulfill the requirements set forth and I trust his judgment if he feels like we have off officers here that can be the chief of police why can't we just look at them we are an equal opportunity employer so we should not typically we have not just hired from internally and I think that it looks better if you look at accepting applications outside Chief felt also did say retired Chief Feld also did say external too and we have had some external candidates wanting to apply and if you just go internally then so then you could be set in yourself up for a problem Julie I do agree with retired Felts comments though about um the scope of where we're going um I would highly recommend that we do stay within the state or surrounding States because that element of knowing Minnesota law being familiar with Minnesota laws of procedures is really important yes we haven't discussed this scope because that at this time that wasn't part of the pro process right if you hire a a recruiting firm then that's when we discussed the scope and that's what we have said in the past that the scope would be Midwestern focused state of Minnesota and your peral States there's no it's not a national scope that we're going to be looking at that doesn't mean you wouldn't get them because somebody searches these things so they might do it anyway Mike it's extremely important that we bring somebody on board that knows Wilmer not some stranger from another state we we've got some great people right here and for us to overlook them it' be a major mistake think I don't think we're overlooking them everybody is able to apply there's no overlooking anybody so we I don't want that to be even thought of because through the application process everybody has the same equal opportunity I can just think back to all the different Chiefs that we've hired that's not the policy we did that's not the way we hired I can't answer that yeah I have no I don't think we're living in the same realm that we were back then either like I say I just think it's a huge mistake not to use the people we have here who are very very intense of what's going on here and it's a very very intense time right now and we need to do something bring in the right people Carl oh I'm sorry Justin um I'm just trying to bring it back a little bit to the question at hand um regarding um firms and if we were to decline the all the firms and go internally there's still a cost to that there is you ballpark that for us 15 to $177,000 okay talk to me a little bit about like what staff would be leading that then well our HR department would be leading it and right now um in November we do have a shortage of Staff also because there's people that are out and there are vacations coming up and things like that so um so we probably would not get really started on this until probably late November and we would also want to follow some of the processes that we've been uh looking at which is that Community survey get that kind of information out we'd also want to survey the department itself because we need to understand understand what the department is looking for also and I think that's important and um so there's still work to be done on that even on our end so we're a month behind if we would choose that route well we have to we have to work on getting everything put in place no matter what right you know so we either have to work with a recruiter to do that work and they could get started and probably get it out in two weeks or so we have staff that are um key staff that are out for a bit and then also more staff that November is not a great time imagine December is not great either well November there's a lot of people that want to take off and hunting season and everything else like that so it's more difficult time we're g to be a little bit delayed already if we were to go internally I'm assuming that a a firm brings a little bit more manpower than the city staff would have available even when they are in the office working on other things as well so can you kind of estimate like an internal option runs us how many months behind oh I don't think it's months I think it's weeks I think two to three weeks behind Okay yeah so it's about a $10,000 difference in two three weeks and with that also you know the baker Tilly option and I believe the GM m p um to or MGT they also do um a pre questionnaire and everything so when they get people that submit their applications and they're already doing prequestions with them and walking through the process already with them too okay and I think my last question then is based on what the information you've brought us and the information you gathered since we met last any reason that you would disagree with the police commission um and recommend uh a different a different group here other than Baker chly no okay Baker is a firm that we've used in the past and we have a good reputation with them and they do know they do know the city of Wilmer Carl I would uh argue that we have to be careful even with bakertilly that we've used in the past I mean look at what just happened with Municipal Utilities they had two people that they did all this searching for all the background stuff on offered in the job and then they pull out and said no I guess not sorry before we hired you Leslie same thing um the job was offered to somebody who then pulled out um if if memory am I correct on it yeah um that I think that's a strong argument not necessarily keep it internal but definitely to keep it local you're a lot less likely to have somebody use Wilmer as leverage for their current position is that and I think that's what we've seen happen recently so um I I I don't know if we need a search firm if we're going to keep it you know within the region um that would be my argument doesn't mean um I guess for me it's about the process and if I'm hearing correctly um the process that we're going to go through would be very much the same with a recruiter and maybe more extensive and more um even hopefully bringing someone up from within or from the local area but being open and transparent and working with our entire Police Department to replace and enhance the the the police department I think for me this is about um doing what's best for Wilmer and what's best for um making sure we get the right person here and I know um that um um a retired um went through this process to become the police chief and you know I think um I think it's just important and I'm still supportive of us using some assistance to help us get the best person in that spot and I think you know at the most we're may be talking a $110,000 difference than if we are doing it internally internally and we have not gone through and prepared brochures and all of the things that other communities have done to recruit someone even if we're doing it internally so I question how much money we would actually be saving um but I think I think Baker Tilly has done a good job for us in the past and um I'm very supportive of us staying the course and using their services to help us recruit um the best police chief that we can get for wmer I also want to point out that the number that I gave you the 15 to 17,000 that doesn't include staff time there's no dollar amount put to that staff time Tom uh I'd like to hear from our interim uh police chief if uh anywhere from two two weeks to six weeks or possibly eight weeks is going to put a damper on our police department at all you know if we have to take a little bit longer to get one hired hello everyone um I guess faster is better you know are getting things moving but um I still think there's transparency where all of us who have applied internally or who went and applied for the Wilmer Police Department originally that was open to all so I think there's something to say with you know the state patrol hires and promotes from within and there's all the applicants that are eligible so there is people um out there but I mean at time we're going to get by with what we can do here I guess the best way to say takes if it takes three months or four months I guess that's what it has to be Julie okay in Baker til's um proposal U they say that they do assessments do they utilize the assessment center um facility down in the cities or they do that with their own books and their own office or they send that out to the applicants they will send it out to the applicants and then who they how they evaluate that I couldn't tell you I I believe it's in house okay they on it's like a as in the past we also used an assessment center in the cities where they you go down and do in basket and testing yes I would just want to Echo um what council member Nelson said Baker Tilly um is very reputable and um and they do a good job I mean I confidence in their their abilities you Mr Mayor I am here's my experience I was just elected to the council and chief ly gets retired the city hired a new chief he wasn't from the area he lasted two years maybe Four City hired within four police Chiefs shman KF wles and we did the same thing with the fire department we hired from outside and he didn't last very long we looked for administrator we couldn't find one so the former mayor went and asked you to apply okay we didn't need a recruitment firm that mu is going through what uh Carl had said I'm we've got qualified people police officers now they're working here they've had background checks probably has to be checked again I'm a real estate appraiser I had to get fingerprinted and I have to have a background check every two years so isn't that difficult I'm I don't need a recruitment firm we can hire with them jie I don't think the background check's the issue I mean the the background check as far as we're just talking criminal background check I mean they're to pass it pretty sure more criminal I see well I see it more as um personality index assessments leadership style communication we need a communicator yeah and the other thing is and Miss bant touched on it is um what it's going to do to the staff um that we have uh at city offices and adding to their plate to take on this recruiting process Baker Tilly that's their job that's what they do um and I just feel like we should let our staff do their job yeah I would also like to say that I would having an outside recruiter also provides I would say to those that are applying that they are not being that there's any bias by any means it's an outside recruiter that's going to help make sure that the bias is not there to start with you're just gonna give us the names of the well they're going to also provide because they do provide you with information besides that they have come up with prior to giving you those names too and then they lead you on to who they want you to well I hope not that's what but I still feel that sorry I had I'll go Audrey Mike um just a concern about um C member Fager's comment about just hire internally I want to go back to the process again we're talking about the same process we're just talking about who's going to be responsible for the process so to say we're just going to hire internally we can't just do that I I mean that's a concern that I have that it's like a a slam we have good police officers that are going to apply for this position it should be open an open process and I think this will help us to hire will help us to get that process done the best and best candidate and she felt went through that process when he was when he was hired so I think there is there is um a reason to look at doing this correctly and not that is not saying we don't have officers internally that can do this it's simply allowing them to go through the process process to be the best person and for us to know we have the best person in that position Julie I was going to say pretty much the same thing is that the applicants that will come from within the department are obviously if you want to say going to have an edge but they are going to be able to speak very eloquently to the issues happening in the area they're going to come across very well in there in their interview because they have that inside knowledge and they possibly will rise to the top that's not to say that opening it up is that anybody's a shoe in because we don't want that either um but they I think it's important they go through the process just like gfel did Mike talking about what councilman Scher this said about the M utilities I went through that entire process I was in that committee it wasn't just two people we went through a lot of people we did a lot of personal interviews and we did a lot of video interviews what uh I I'm going to say a waste of time but I will say that a lot of time was wasted and a lot of money was spent and those people had no intention of taking that position none whatsoever how can we talk about that they're not from here you know why they didn't come because it was too far away or they wanted to work from their house or something like that and so where did we end up after all of this time in house that's where we need to end up here in house Justin it's a difficult climate to hire in right now I think for just about everyone this uh this position has some really unique um aspects to it um you know I think we can talk about what happened in the past I think we can talk about what happened other places whether that's related directly or indirectly to city government and at the end of the day like we can have these conversations about should it be internal or should it be external I it's not the question that we're supposed to be focusing on at the moment um I feel like the question before us is search firm I have no reason to to not take the the careful recommendation that our police commission is giving us um that seems to make all the sense in the world I'm hearing our inter room Chief uh Echo some of those uh the same things that the police commission is offering uh to us as a recommendation so I'll make the motion um to follow the recommendation of the police commissioner uh and obtain services with Baker Tilly for this search second Carl so this since the motion was made this maybe isn't related to the motion but the the the process that we've referred to what is the process of hiring so what would Baker Tilly do I mean are they just going to put it out there and find names for us and then we come back and decide amongst from those names this is who we'd like to interview this is who we want to pursue what what what happens if you go to their proposal it shows the timeline that they will come out they will be here they will be developing the profile and also talking and outreaching at that time and advertising and then they will also be talking in developing that profile they'll be able to talk to the department they'll be able to talk to outside stakeholders they'll be able to talk to you and and that to develop that profile just exactly what kind of community leader are we looking for in our police chief the police chief is a very outright Community leader and needs to be a great communicator he needs to be a builder of community besides he she needs to be a builder of community needs to be able to walk that fine line between the law and then also administrating the law and interpreting that and communicating to Residents that are unhappy with trying to uphold the law and how that all works he yes you know he has to deal with the staff he also has to deal with the public in communicating with them how one of their officers may have handled a call and why did they handle it that way so it's it's a difficult decision to do and I think that having this third party helps that so then they will develop that they will help us with the comprehensive background checks and the academic verifications and then they will also help with providing those applicants to us with a information like I said on their um their po their communication you'll see a video of those people their behaviors their workplace behaviors also in that appendex they do this TTI assessment and then they do this starting with this and then they also do it a second time before the final applicant Mr Scott uh thank you may members of the council um to the question about the actual process that would ensue if the motion were to pass I know that uh Leslie and staff have been working with our office on that and the first thing would be if the firm is retained to work out the actual nuts and bolts of that in collaboration and cooperation with the Civil Service Commission because this is an appointment that involves both the Civil Service Commission to evaluate candidates and uh City staff to make a recommendation uh of the candidates selected by the Civil Service Commission ultimately the council to make the appointment so it's got to be collaborative I know they've started out on that path already um so that would the the actual process would be developed with the search firm with the Civil Service Commission uh reported back to you before it to really begin so I just wanted you to be aware of that right we have a motion in front of us you ready to vote roll call Cil member O'Brien no OS I Nelson I Davis no toldes no dly no osmus hi and Butterfield no three eyes five nose I'm just wondering especially after what attorney Scott was saying about the collaborative nature of this process with the police commission not off to a great start what what options uh what options do we have is that going back to another conversation with the police commission now like uh I think there'll probably be a little regrouping with uh staff in our office on how to uh take the next steps nothing changes about the authorities that I mentioned about the Civil Service commission's role and evaluating candidates I think there's some questions about just how to begin the search and Forst and things like that but I can't probably uh predict where all those conversations will land but they will happen rrey I'm just um I'm curious since um it was shared with us that we're staff-wise um do will we just need to wait until we have staff available to assign this responsibility too or how are we going to what staff are going to work on this with it'll fall on Administration and HR okay so we'll just have to regroup here see what we got so will you bring back to us then a proposal for what your plans are to do this um perhaps similar to to you know what the proposals that we received or how is it going to work I'm not sure yet I can't answer that I'll be working with our legal to work out that process because we do have the police commission to um weigh in also but the the police commission are three three people yes and they are just they're they're members they're not staff they're not available for but we'll have to we'll have to set up a process through our HR and everything to start collecting applications so we have to don't we have to put something together to put out there for an application like a like a proposal we'll work on Advertising and such too it depend what what would the council like to see would you like to see a brochure like like Baker Tilly puts together because we certainly can do that um we can Al so then that would be sent out it would be part of getting um it would be an attachment I would say to the league of Minnesota cities along with the police Chiefs also Association it would be um in LinkedIn like we have advertised in the past and we would just you know we typically have not been advertising in paper because paper is quite expensive but we would adverti in Lincoln and um the league we could also advertise in the Wisconsin league league of cities uh South Dakota North Dakota leue of cities their police chief associations also but if you would like a brochure developed we certainly can do that I would say we will we have a outline already of a um web-based Community survey that we could put out there and we also have um sit down with with the stakeholders you would you know have a discussion with you see what that looks like I would like to see the r sh yeah and the solicitation through the police Chiefs Association and Associates ay no I think I I was going to agree with you I know um I sent you an example that the city of sartel did and I think it's very important for us to have a professional um uh brochure along with that and to make sure that we are are um posting it in the appropriate appropriate place places Julie so we're still going to have to Outsource um some of the parts of the procedure yeah correct um do we one of the things that Baker Tilly was going to offer was the um uh doing a survey of the staff of the police department um would that still happen yes we could do we still could do that then we come up because they would they would submit it online we can have them submit it via email or paper because we can get it out to staff okay I would propose I would propose that they would be sent out by mail to staff and that they would submit back the paper copy because and then also we could do that with businesses too and it would be look different than what the employee one would look like I just want to make sure that we that we are still able to have the same procedures to get the best Advocate or the city we certainly will try we'll put that together for you but you're going to have to give us a little time to put it together so is this something we will review at our next council meeting I hope so we will be working on it to get that all to you or at least be prepared for what next steps are or even if you're not quite ready yes to go yep okay right so why don't we just interview the five people that we have is it yeah when we know we have outside candidates we have outside candidates yes just seems like we have five really good candidates right here in our city that we're overlooking I can't tell you who the candidates are Justin can I just push back a little bit council member O'Brien this second time you've said that we're overlooking candidates that we hope are applying like how are we overlooking them I'm just saying the five candidates that we have here the way we've done it in the past is we hired from within with an with a full opportunity the the process that brought you felt to us included outside candidates that's one before that no after that before that no that's not how many years ago was that I guess it's irrelevant my point is like that's a dangerous message to get out to the public that we're overlooking officers that we deeply appreciate and respect we want them to apply I think everyone at the table is said we want the best candidate if that's the internal candidate great we're not overlooking anyone however you want to see it but I'm just saying you've got five people sitting there in the department right now we could interview and hire one of them right and that might be exactly what happens I certainly hope so does staff have a clear picture of where we're going we have no honestly I don't we have a we have a we have a concept but we were not we haven't sat down and like I said we are short staffed right now and so we're going to have to a couple of us are going to have to pick it up a little bit differently and and find out just where we're at with a few things and and laid out we have not we have not laid out the process for we have a process that we do right now for any other director but the police chief is a different process there's a few different steps that should be inserted in the process like I said this is a candidate that you want to have somebody be able to communicate with have a be able to communicate to a lot of diverse people bes sides have some clear understanding of being a community Builder also because they should be able to be out in any organization at any point in time they're going to be stopped on the street because they are our probably our most forward Public Employee they're really probably our most visible Public Employee that we have besides the city admin no Audrey um I am concerned about um us respecting the law and the the protocols for um with that I'm reminded of when we have hired others um we had someone who gave us um questions and made sure we didn't ask inappropriate questions and I'm really concerned about us right now um that we need help to make sure we don't go down that path robt mayor council what I just say is that I know staff is working with our labor and employment attorneys in our office they will continue to advise to uh help the city obviously the council has made a policy choice on whether to engage an outside firm or not but uh our role doesn't change now we will help your staff and we will help the council and the Civil Service Commission fulfill their responsibilities and uh do so in compliance with the law you come back to us within the next two weeks try you'll know if we can thank you police chief to chickens Tom yeah it's been six seven weeks I've been contacted by a few people on the Southeast side about some chickens I brought it up to City Hall's attention about this a couple times and before last city council meeting I brought it up to the city again and council member Nelson fill me in a little bit that yeah this does need to be taken care of but we're going on six seven weeks that we got people with chickens but the city's not doing anything so I wasn't the realm when the chicken or got put on place but I remember it was Big T of town for a while I'm just wondering what our ordinance really does say how we take care of it if there's a complaint how does this go through because uh I've been told a couple times that this would be handled this taken care of yet six seven weeks later I'm still receiving phone calls that there's still chickens up chickens aren't alone Wilmer yeah I know that I just want to know what our policy is what our ordinance is how long it takes from the first complaint to removal because I filled it in a few times and the last time was right before the city council meeting two weeks ago and as of Friday I did get another complaint and I know uh there's a teacher that was going to call in I don't know if she called back into the City and there's up in it's just uh for a few chickens over there it's taken up a lot of my time when I've reported to the city on it so I don't know how what the policy is on how long it takes to get rid of the chickens or or they get to keep them or what Mr um council member Butterfield members of the council Mr Mayor um to answer your question we do have an ordinance where chickens um are prohibited in all zoning districts in the city um as far as the timeline for the complaint that was filed and we are taking a look at that that is code enforcement and it lives in planning and development so we'll get back to you um on that this I heard that for number of weeks we are seven weeks in six seven weeks into this so when a complaint comes in it's going to be a week before the city actually does is there anything with the ordinance it wouldn't be so I'm not sure I've never received the complaint and we haven't received it in our department we can look into it again and I'll promise to work with you um to resolve the matter but we have not received a formal complaint from you no I passed it over to City Administration both the number of times I talked brought it up I brought it up to Leslie and I was reassured I would not get any more phone calls okay we can't promise we can't guarantee that you wouldn't receive any said well said that they would be on it the next day and now now you're saying it's a week when I'm saying it's one day now it's a week it's been going on for seven weeks I just want Clarity on how this is going to get handled in the future um the department of Planning and Development will be in touch with you this week right thank you Community Pride anything y Julie well now that Halloween is done onto some other holidays we're coming up on celebrate the light of the world out at Robins Island and they are starting to set up um they do have some businesses helping them if you would like to volunteer um go to their website celebrate the light of the world um they've got some uh where you can contact them and then also they're going to need volunteers to ring the bells out there so uh that'd be another great opportunity to uh to give back to the community out at a great event thank you Julie anybody else just wanted to say that the the shooting and the bypass was a truly terrifying event for our community I think and uh want to thank law enforcement for for your role uh was that like day three where you were officially the interim Chief but thank you to you and your department uh for protecting the community as y all always do all right we are going to go in closed session pursuant to Minnesota statute 13d 05 sub3 C to develop or consider offers or counter offers for the city's purchase or sale of real property Andor to determine the asking price for real property to be sold by the city legal basis for closing the meeting this portion of the regular meeting of the city council will be closed pursuant to Minnesota statute 13d 05 subdivision 3C following real property will be discussed separately enclosed session parcel Redwood County parcel ID 88-106 D 2130 I need a motion to close the meeting so move second a motion a second roll call council member o hi Nelson hi Davis I buis I [Music] Bly e e