City Council - Regular Meeting

special. You call to order the regular meeting of the Albertley City Council for Monday, March 23, 2026. Clerk, please call the roll. All right. Councilor Christensen, here, Councilor Baker. Councilor Herman, Councilor Olson, Councilor Van Beek Councilor Anderson sent Mayor Murray. Here, would you please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Welcome to everybody tonight. We're glad you're here, whether you're in person or online, uh, our next item, uh, is C ceremonial or uh ceremonial items, we do not have any tonight. Public forum, anybody on the list tonight? OK. Nobody for the public forum, so we'll move along to item 5, the consent and approval of agenda. Item A is the approval of minutes of the March 9, 2026 regular Council meeting. Item B is the approval of the minutes of the March 9, 2026 work session. Item C is license and permits. Item D is a resolution authorizing the application to the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority, drinking water, state revolving fund for lead service line replacement project grant funding, city job number 2606. Council move to approve, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Baker is our 2nd. I'll second, Your Honor, second by Councilor Hermann. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion signified by saying aye, I oppose a motion carries. Item 6, petitions, requests and communications. Tonight we have the nation of Patriots tour tour 2026 presentation. Glenville Legion writers, Scott Kalberg and Larry Larson. Come on up.

you won't have one of these if you like. Thanks, Scott. Thank you. And hope you follow the here. Thank you, Scott. Thank you. Thank you All right, well, welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having us So we are representing uh post 264, uh, the Glenville American Legion, and we're with the American Legion writers, and we've got some exciting news to make sure that we share with the , the city of Albert Lee and and the people that live here in the area We signed up this year, uh, to be the host of the Nation of Patriots. It's a national thing and we got chosen out of the whole nation. We got chosen to host the start of the nation of Patriot Ride and also the homecoming in September. We were pretty excited about getting chosen for that. It's a big deal. It is to us for sure, but, uh, and we're, we're, we're the first, um, American Legion that's ever been chosen to host the beginning and also we're the first ones ever in Minnesota to ever host the beginning of the ride. So it's kind of a first two ways. Yeah, it's, it's a big honor for us because we believe in this nation in the nation of patriots. As you can see on the poster, uh, in on May 15th, we have a, a welcome party down at the Glenville Legion for everybody that's coming from out of town or everybodyber Lea, Glenville, anybody, we're having a party that night and the ceremony actually starts 6, 16th, Saturday morning at Bergdale Harley. So we've included Glenville and Albert Lee. We wanted to do that for sure, because this is for everybody in the area, and uh,

but everybody's welcome to come and join. We want to get as many people there as we can to witness everything and uh it's really a cool thing and uh we'd love to have as many people as we could line the streets when we ride out of town because uh the ride takes off and we go down to Mason City on our first lake. And uh so that, that's kind of what that's all about, right? And the, the we're doing, we are doing fundraising for the nation of Patriots, um, everywhere that this flag goes, um, the money is donated and it goes 100% to veterans and veterans' families. and uh it's 100, what is a 1007, well, 17th year anniversary, 115 days. The same flag is carried on motorcycle everywhere, uh, including Hawaii and Alaska. Yeah, but that's the one thing I really like about Nation Patriots. They don't take any money off the top. There is no operating expenses, nothing, 100% goes to veterans and their families in need. It's that's why we think it's a great organization. Uh, we've been involved in it for quite a few years with the ride coming through town. Uh, you know, we've been lucky to have it come through town and be part of it. Uh, we just got the have the host of it this year, which is an awesome, really awesome. Uh, and we've involved the the conventure Viss Bureau. They've set up some things for us. So, um, actually we've got a QR code that people that are visiting Albert Lee, will be able to clash on that and it's gonna give them hotels, restaurants, uh, points of interest in Albert Lee, um, things that are going on during that weekend and ourber release, so we want, we want, we're gonna have people that they're already booking and Mr. Van Beek knows this, they're already booking hotels, um, from , we've got people from Virginia , um, it's, it's all over the whole United States that will

hopefully be traveling here and staying here using our hotels and our food and and enjoying Albert Lee. So, so we're gonna ask for nice weather, of course, but if we, if, if we have some nice weather , I, I can guarantee you there's gonna be a lot of motorcycles out there that day. We're gonna have a big turnout, I'm sure of it. And, uh, so we're pretty excited. We've been working with the nation of Patriots, meetings with them, uh, getting suggestions of what we need to do, telling them what we are going to do. They're pretty impressed already with what we've done, the way we've set things up, so, uh, there'll be, there'll be a one hour ceremony out at out at Bergdale's, um, and it, it'll be quite extensive, uh, very patriotic and, and hopefully moving for people and uh we're looking forward to doing it. It's, we've been pretty, pretty excited for the last, well, since what, December ? Oh, yeah. That's when we found out, so yeah, that we even have a special uh guest speaker, I believe. I believe the mayor's gonna come and talk, so there you go. Thank you. I'd be happy to. Well, we, we appreciate it very much. It's our honor to have you. So, but we have a real nice program lined up, I think, I think everybody will really enjoy it. Come on out, take a look. We'll have plenty of parking for cars and stuff, etc. and then, uh, and the bike s too, of course, but uh we want everybody to be involved that wants to, or, or can, and it's a great like Larry said, it's a great patriotic thing. It really is. The emphasis on not just motorcycle people. um, we want the general public to come and, and just, you know, see what's going on. We're, we could be expecting maybe 300 motors. I don't know. We, we're, we're expecting to have the last time it came down from the Twin Cities, the Alber Lea, we had 150 bikes in a line. and we're I'm expecting probably

double that to go through Albert Lee and uh you kind of know the route we're probably getting to go straight down Bridge Street, correct? Coming down bridge down Broadway, and then we're going out South Shore Drive and go around through Glenville and then head down toward Mason City . So it'd really be fun to see people out on Bridge Street and in that area with, you know, just waving flags or whatever they want to do just to see, it'll it'll be pretty impressive , I think. People can come along in a car. You don't have to have a bike if you want to follow along in a cart, people are more than welcome to drive down there uh to Mason City and follow the ride down, this is for everybody , so. that's, I guess we just wanted to make you know, the city aware of what's going on. I know a lot of you know about it anyway, but, uh, and thanks to the convention bureau, they've been putting stuff out on their Facebook and stuff, uh, the more we get it out there, the better. And well, thank you for coming and presenting tonight and uh letting everybody know about it. Thank you for everything you're doing. Uh, this is a great way to continue to help our veterans and and families. So, uh, let's support it as a community. Let's get out there and uh do our part . So we appreciate it. Thank you . Thank you for having us. I appreciate it very much. Thanks. Thank you Your Honor I belong to the Herman Glenville Legion writers. Um, I'm a veteran, as you are well aware, and this is huge. I mean, we went through quite the process to get this. And Scott and Larry led the way with this, and it's, I mean, we went through the interviews, the, the whole thing , and came down and checked everything out, made sure we were, we had the stuff that we had and it's gonna be pretty big . because you did an awesome job. All right, with that, we'll move along to item 7, unfinished business. Item A is the ordinance 26-153 amending chapter 50, Article 2, Division 1, Section 50.0052. This is second reading, City manager. Thank you, Your Honor. The

amendment to this ordinance is related to conditional use permit. Currently these permits expire if construction does not begin within 12 months of approval. However, post-COVID challenges such as labor shortages, increased construction costs, and supply chain delays. and made it difficult for developers to start projects on time to address this, staff recommends the following permit extension beyond 12-month, uh, beyond the 12 month deadline, as long as the project remains unchanged from the original approved conditional use permit. Staff recommends final approval of this re. Concil approval of this reading Move to prove, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Baker. Is there a second? I'm second that you're. Second by Councilor Hermann. Uh, is this the one that needs 4/5 of the next one? Next one, OK. Any questions from the councilor ? Ming none, all in favor of the motion signified by saying aye, I proposed name. Motion carries. Item B is resolution approving the publication of summary of ordinates 26-153. City manager, thank you, Your Honor. Ordinance summaries may be published if they reasonably inform the public of the effect and tent of the ordinance. Summaries fulfill all legal requirements as if the entire summarized matter had been published and also directs the public on how to obtain a complete ordinance. This uh does require 4/5 approval. OK, we'll do a roll call vote then. Cos approve, Your Honor. Uh, motion by Councilor Christensen, seconded by Councilor Baker. All right, any further discussion? Clerk, please call the roll. Councilor Christensen, I Councilor Baker. Councilor Herman. Hi. Councilor Olson. Hi Olor Van Beek. I, Mayor Murray, a motion carries Item 8 is new business, and A is public hearing and resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the Minnesota

Department of Employment and Economic Development, DDE. City manager Thank you as we, uh, uh, before we open the hearing, uh, I will give a staff report and then I also have Cindy, uh Betiistti here with uh Semek and Megan Bok, our city planner here , uh, to answer any questions that the council has about the application. The resolution approves the submission of a small city's development program, SCDP grant for the purpose of rehabilitating local housing stock. City of Albert Lee partnered with Southeast Minnesota Community Action Council SEMCAC, on a grant application that targets the areas of fountain, Clark, Water, and Williams Street. Funds are granted to local units of government, which in turn lend the funds uh. which in turn lends the funds to benefit those of low to moderate income levels. Final uh grant request is $431,250 and is uh due to uh Minnesota Deed uh by April 15, 2026. Is there any other further questions, uh, Cindy Viti, uh, Vitzy, and Megan Bokerer able to answer them. All right, we'll open the public hearing with the staff report, uh, city manager, you're going to introduce our guest if you'd like to speak , yes. As she came all this way, thank you. Good evening. Um, and thanks for having me. Um, there are a few things I know Megan went through it all earlier with you, but I do have to publicly mention some things to meet deed's requirements, so what we're applying for is a single family purpose application to deed small cities, and it's for owner-occupied rehab in the target areas that were described , um, we have, it's a 30 month if it's funded

it's a 30 month program. So in the 1st 15 months, we would be working in Tart A. If there's still money available, then we have to ask for permission once we've exhausted targeted Area A to move into target Area B, so there's never a guarantee we'll get to Target B, but um it can happen, so, um, just so people are aware of that , um, we will probably be finding out sometime, I would say late summer, if it's approved or not, once we submit the application. so this is the full application that we're submitting, um, income eligibility is based at the time we take the application , so right now we're still looking at 2025 income limits, um, hopefully April, May HUD will adjust them and then we'll readjust where we're at. um, income-wise, um. so you have to be an owner, occupy the home um, the usual be current with mortgage payments, um, property taxes, you know, those type of things, and then, of course, meet the household income guidelines. Um, let's see if I'm not forgetting anything. Uh The term of the loan is set up, gonna be set up for 7 years, so what'll happen within that 7-year period, if you get the full loan amount, which is 25,000, not the full 25,000 will go towards rehab, unfortunately, because we do have to cover the title cost for title work, and then the lead risk assessment if the home was built before '78, we have to have that completed, and then if there is lead present, then we got to pay for a clearance at the end, besides recording fees of the documents to get recorded , so those costs will come out of the loan amount of 25,000, we try partnering where we can with the reg with Minnesota Housing's

rehab loan because 25,000 doesn't go very far nowadays, unfortunately, um, so if they do get a loan 7 years is the term. If somebody were to move or sell . their home, change ownership of it in that 1st 2 years, they would have to pay back the full loan amount to the city of Albert Lee. After that, in years 3 through 7, 20% of the loan amount is forgiven every year until the end of 7 years when it's completely forgiven if they still live and own the home. Um, and then if loans do get paid back to the city. if it's within one fiscal year, more than 35,000, then it's considered program income and it has to be borrowed back out for the same reason and the same guidelines, if it's less than 35,000 in one fiscal year, then it can be borrowed, it's considered local funds and can be borrowed out for any of deeds , um, objectives of trying to do whether it's owner rehab still, if you wanna put it towards something commercial or rental, you can do that too, and that's up to the city. so I think that is the main things I needed to discuss. Is there any questions? Any questions from the council Your Honor, Consor Christensen. Uh, who does the administration of this? Are you, it sounds like you maybe are taking the applications? We do it all, yeah . We do it all. The city will process the payments to the contractors, yeah, so when the contractors are done or request a payment, the inspections are completed, then we would send in the disbursement request to the city. City process it, submits it to deed, and then Deed sends the money to the city, um, so yeah, it's kind of that process that way, yep. So otherwise we'll be doing it from the beginning to end inspections, everything. Baker I just want to say thank you. Oh, you're welcome. It's greatly appreciated, and I think everybody on the on the council. I can't speak for everybody, but I'm going anyway. I think they

all appreciate what you're doing . We've done a few of these already for the city of Albert Lee, and we've always had really good luck. So yeah, this is just a different area of town that we haven't been in yet, so yeah. so if you know of anybody that got a survey, tell them to get it in because that's what we build our waiting list off of. so we go through the order that they come in, Your Honor. Oler Baker, could you kind of explain where um area A is just so I have the map. OK. It is, what is this? Northwest of Main Street? OK water OK. So if you want to see it, I do have extra copies of it, yeah . Your Honor Councilor Hermann, there are several people in the back row that were here for this. And I didn't know exactly where to direct them for the application fees or application process, so I just told him to come back tomorrow and working hours and see Daphne, maybe she could send him in the right direction. Yeah, if they do have a survey and are in these target areas, they fill that out, then they can get on our list, yeah, yeah. And I did talk to somebody about , they were back here at the forum back here. Yeah, yeah. And I don't know what the bad rough if they're gonna be able to wait that long, so we're gonna talk tomorrow, um, about another program. All right, good. Any additional questions? Your Honor Councilor Christensen a comment. I, I concur with what , uh, Baker said, and I just want to say this kind of collaboration and working together to get that grants only but also working with SEMCAC, uh , it just excites me about all the things that we're doing and working together. Thank you. You're welcome. Glad to do it Appreciate it. Thank you. All right then, for the first

time, would anyone else like to speak regarding this resolution? For the 2nd time, would anyone like to speak? For the 3rd time, would anyone like to speak? We'll close a public hearing I would entertain a resolution The move, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Christensen. Is there a second? Is 2nd by Councilor Van Beek. Any further discussion by the council? Clerk, please call the roll Um, Councilor Baker. Hi. Councilor Herman. Councilor Olson? I Councilor Van Beek. Hi, Councilor Christensen, and Mayor Murray. Hi, motion carries. Item B is the approval of retail cannabis reg registration for Big Dream Organics LLC, Jerry and Angie Collins. City manager Thank you, Your Honor. After a thorough review, including criminal history, it is determined that the applicant is eligible. in determining the registration of one or indetermining the registration of one of the 4 available openings within the city of Albert Lee. The applicant has a history of managing and or owning a retail establishment. No known behaviors or actions that uh as to cause a denial or revocation of registration under Section 5.030 and Section 5.031, uh, location of doing business at 1039 Broadway Avenue South is appropriately zoned. Approval is contingent on the condition that in 30 days the front window vinyl is changed to meet state statute and local ordinances on signed content. Staff was recommending a 30 day period to correct as the owner is faced with zoning requirements between front window requirements and B2

district while transitioning from a low potency cannabis retail to a cannabis retail. Staff recommends approval Cos move. move to approve, Your Honor. Councilor Olson, is there a 2nd, 2nd, Your Honor, 2nd by Councilor Van Beek. Any further discussion by the council. As you are probably aware, I will be voting no on this resolution. as I have in the past, and uh I feel that's a very important thing for myself to do. So with that, clerk, please call the roll. All right, Counselor Herman. Yes . Councilor Olson? I Councilor Van Beek, I Councilor Christensen, I, Councilor Baker. and Mayor Murray. No, motion carries. Item C is the approval of the retail cannabis registration for Brenda Zamora, DBA affectionados LLC, City Manager Thank you, Your Honor. After thorough review, including criminal history, is determined that the applicant is eligible and determining the registration of one of the 4 available openings within the city of Albert Lee. The applicant has a history of managing and or owning a retail establishment, no known behaviors or actions that uh as to cause a denial or revocation of registration under Section 50, or excuse me, 5.030 and Section 5.031 Location of doing business at 2006 Main Street East as appropriately zoned, uh, approval requires that the time and beginning cannabis retail operations, all foods services cease at that location. Staff recommends approval Conor Move to approve, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Olson. Is there a second? I 2nd 2nd by

Conor Van Beek. Any further discussion by the council? I will again be voting no. Clerk, please call the roll. Councilor Olson. I Oer Van Beek Councilor Christensen, I, Councilor Baker. Councilor Herman, and Mayor Murray. No, motion carries. Item D is a resolution authorizing fund transfer. City manager, thank you, Your Honor. As a result of the City Hall remodel project not moving forward. A transfer of $123,831.62 is required to settle the outstanding architectural expenses. Had the project moved forth funding from the general fund Water Fund sewer fund, building maintenance fund, and levy from the issuance debt would have covered the covered the amount, uh, the allocation is as follows 60% from the building maintenance fund, 20% from the water fund and 20% from the Sewer fund. Staff recommends approval. Council whom to approve, Your Honor? Motion by Councilor Baker. Is there a second? I'll second, Your Honor. Seconded by Councilor Christensen. Any further discussion by the Council? All in favor of the motion signified by saying aye, Bo's knee. motion carries Item E is a resolution accepting bid and awarding contract for the 2026 CIPP rehabilitation project. Job 2607. City manager, thank you, Your Honor. Engineering has reviewed the bids open Tuesday, March 17, 2026 for the 2026 CIPP rehabilitation project. It involves uh installing a cured in place pipeliner inside the existing sanitary sewer mains in the following locations, South Shore Drive, 791 ft at Stormwater Pond. Uh Court Lane from Vine Avenue to Lakeview Boulevard, Lakeshore Drive from Lakeview Boulevard to Lea Place. Engineering had

received 3 bids. Engineering is recommended a low bid of $1773,000529.72 for a municipal pipe and Tool Company, uh, LLC of Hudson, Iowa, the engineer's estimate was $264,255. The bid abstract is attached. Staff recommends approval. Con. move to approve, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Baker. Is there a second? A 2nd, Your Honor, seconded by Councilor Hermann. Any further discussion by the Council. All in favor of the motion signified by saying I's knee, motion carries. Item F is a resolution of proving the variance to permitted uses for 409 West Clark Street. City manager, thank you, Your Honor. The city of Albert Lee received a proposal for modular housing placements at 409 West Clark Street in um 2013, the area known as Clark and Water Street was rezoned from residential preservation to diversified Central District or DCD. with the hopes of stimulating higher density residential developments within walking distance of the downtown. The DCD does not permit single family residential use and as such, the proposed modular housing requires a variance as a permitted use. The Board of Appeals met on March 17th to conduct a public hearing to consider the va's application from the city of Albert Lee to allow a single family residence in the diversified Central District and recommends approval based on the findings of facts stated in the attached resolution. Staff recommends approval. Con, moved to approved , Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Baker. Is there a second? Oh, Seconded by Seconded Councilor Hermann. Any further discussion by the council? All in favor of the motion signified by saying I, I, I, nay , motion carries. Item G is a resolution approving or denying variance to side yard setback requirements for 9:15 Autumn Street. City Manager. Thank you, Your Honor. And again , when someone makes their

motion for the resolution, uh, please state whether it's a resolution to approve or deny the variants. The city of Albert Lee received a proposal for modular housing placement at 9:15 Autumn Street, the model, uh, pro, uh, the model proposed is a 1,128 square foot house with overall measurements of 32 by 40 plus an additional 16 ft for an attached garage. The property at 915 Out Street is 66 ft wide. That requires a 10% of the lot frontage on the side or 6, 10% of the um of the lot as a side yard setback for a total of 6.5 ft on each side. In order to accommodate the attached garage and modest space on each side. Uh, the applicant is proposed a reduced side setback of 5 ft, which requires a variance. That 5 ft setback is um does meet fire code. The Board of Appeals met on March 7th, 2026 to conduct a hearing to consider V various application from the city of Albert Lea for reduced side yard setback and did not come to a unanimous or majority decision. Council, move to approve, Your Honor Councilor Baker makes a motion. Is there a second? A 2nd. Seconded by Councilor Olson. Any further discussion by the council? Councilor Christensen, thank you , Your Honor. Uh, I'm going to vote, uh, in favor of this because the, the group, uh, what's the name, the appeals group was evenly split. Otherwise, I would like to honor their decision, but in this case , since they were evenly split uh, and we're still within code. Uh, I, I am going to support this. OK, thank you. Further discussion by the Council. Your Honor, Leser Baker, um, I just want to, um, say this is just another.

another step we're taking forward with the housing issues that we we have and and as we go forward, it, it seems to me that we're kind of gaining a little bit of what we need to have. So this is, this is good news. I do have some other good news when I get to my reports too. Thank you , Your Honor. All right, we can hardly wait. All right, further discussion. hearing none, clerk, please call the roll. All right. Councilor Van Beek, I Councilor Christensen. Hi. Councilor Baker. Councilor Herman, Councilor Olson, I and Mayor Murray, a motion carries. Item 9 is the mayor and council reports and we'll start tonight with Ward 4, Councilor Olson. All right, those last two items that we just voted on were from a meeting that I was at, the Board of Zoning Appeals, uh, some good discussion on the one that 1 00, so it was, it was good to see a board that was very engaged and really looking at all different all different aspects, uh, also had an airport advisory meeting, kind of elected new officers, a couple quick updates. Our next meeting we should be getting looking more into into a new hanger that's, that will be building out there some, some repairs to a door and just a few more, few more things we'll be getting into the meat and bones of what's gonna go on out there for the next couple of years. So, other than that, that's it, Your Honor. All right . Word 5, Councilor Van Beek. Thank you, Your Honor. No, no award items to report at this time. Um, I will be with Mr. Baker tomorrow night at the HRA meeting. I'll let him discuss the happiness that he's gonna share with us. Um, I just want to thank the Glenvie Legion writers for all the work they did to put this together. I've been working with them since probably October, November in this whole process and uh it's

quite the honor to have this national event here on the 250th birthday of the greatest country in the world, so. but that'll pass. All right, thank you. Ward one, Councilor Christensen, thank you, Your Honor. Let's see, uh, last week or the week before we went to uh Capitol Hill, uh, City Dave, and uh met with some various legislators heard uh news from folks. It was for me the first time I had participated in such a thing, and it was, uh, educational, that's, that is certain, and I believe we made some good progress on gaining support for some of the initiatives that we were promoting as the city of Albert Lee. Uh, I believe it's Thursday of this week, the senior health fair at the YMCA, uh, now I'm seeing a knot in the back, which is good because I, I didn't have that date written down, but that's gonna be a, a, a great opportunity. Please feel free to stop out to the YA to meet all the different people, um, last week, the police department, together with Minnesota uh, aging pathways presented a seminar on preventing frauds and scams, and it was a really great presentation if you missed it and you want to watch it, it is available on the free age-friendly Freeborn County Facebook page, uh, Blue Zones Committee is meeting later this week and the budget committee is meeting next week. Thank you. All right, thank you. War 2. Councilor Baker, thank you, Your Honor. Um yeah, as, as Councilor Christensen had talked about the state capitol. We went, I was along with with Conor Christensen and Councilor Anderson and this city manager, Mr. Rigg um, and we did have, we did have a good time. I mean, we did, we did come up some some positive, um

discussions and uh correct me if I'm wrong, city manager, but it was my understanding that they didn't think that that zoning issue was going to pass. correct? I'm city manager. I'll report on that report, and so, and then we do have the Coalition of greater Coalition of Minnesota Cities, um, state legislation day coming up this Wednesday. I will be going, um, to that one also, um, I think. I think, uh, Brian Councilor Anderson. and me and and Counselor me We'll be going. Um, so, uh, I'm looking forward to that. I always have fun when I go up there, um, so now we have an HRA meeting tomorrow. So I'm gonna bring some bad news and I'll give you the good news. The bad news is that our soil boring tests, they've, they've failed in talking to the company that did it. I talked to the gen the senior um advisor, and he said that uh if we wanted to, they could go another 30 ft and one, I think it was boring #2 to see what was going on there to see if at some point we maybe be able to do something there, you know, and I know there's, there's some, some solutions to that. I also talked to um I've talked to some other people about that, and they, they say that there are some solutions to it, but it's going to be more money. Um, so that's continuing. uh, the city manager has given me some other um addresses, lots that the city has. The HRA has some, some lots that are possible, so I'm looking into all that. I'm going to send all the information to the people we're working with, uh, to have them look at that to

see if there's still a property that can be used for the uh duplex, but I also want to say that I do have another property that the HRA owns. It's um on gene. that would make a good property it'd be a good fit for just a single house, so we're going to also look at that . Um, so now I'll get to the good news. Tomorrow I had uh I had the tapestry project put on the agenda tomorrow, so we are going to vote on the $150,000 we talked about going toward that, and from what I can gather, um, it's probably going to pass because everybody was on board at the last meeting we had with that so that that's going to move forward. So that's the good news I was talking about. So, and with that, that's it. I don't have any um warn items, but I do wanna say, um, uh, my heart goes out to the Ryan Schoan family who uh he was a board member of the Port Authority, the leaderboard. Um, he passed away here this last week and a half, um, and I just, I just want to say that I really feel for him. I, I worked with uh Brian's dad for many years, O at Bill Olson, so I got to know the family. I got to know the family pretty good, so and it's just a sad, a sad day for the family, and I just want to say that I, my heart goes out to you. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you Ward 3, Councilor Herman, I have my first committee meeting tomorrow, Your Honor. All right, well, looking forward to it. We're looking for a big report next meeting. Yes, sir. Sounds good OK, um, uh, the 10th and 17th of March, I had a lead, a project update meetings, and then on the 12th, I was over to the American

Legion to celebrate the 104th birthday of Loopy Gasa, and Loopy was a World War II veteran , and I tell you what, if you sit down as I did and visited with him, you would not have guessed he was 104 years old. He was sharp as a tack, and uh he knew everything that was going on and carried on a great conversation and uh so I think we'll be going back for 105 next year. So congratulations to him. Uh, it was uh quite an honor just to sit and visit with him and and his family. Uh, and then on the 13th, uh, we had our Lea board meeting that had to be uh re uh due to quorum issues, we didn't, uh, couldn't meet when we were supposed to, so we had the meeting on Friday. Um, we are making an offer to an assistant director, and so we'll , we should be able to report on that at our next meeting. And then on, uh, also on the 13th Friday, uh went down to the fire station and met with a number of city employees and uh had a presentation by John Schipper. John is working on the Eddie Cochran weekend. And if you've been to the Eddie Cochran weekend, this promises to be uh quite an event. John has just gone all out, and he's got a lot of different things going on. We're going to have 4 days of festivities here and there'll be people coming in from all over the country, so get involved, invite your families, talk to people in the community. We've got to get out, support it, so we can keep building on this thing. Eddie Cochran could be one of the biggest events in all Southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, you know, a few years down the road here, and uh Mr. John Schipper is gonna try to do it this year. So thank him for all the work that he's been doing with this. And uh let's, let's get the word out and really show them what Albert Lee's all about. And then on the 16th, uh, I went out to Freeborn Mauer, and I helped with the interview of 6

young people who, uh, they give, do two trips every year or two youth go out to Washington DC and spend a week out there and uh it's quite an opportunity for them. Uh, the tough part for the three of us that were the judges and interviewing them as we had 6 really, really good candidates , and I would have sent probably all 6 of them, but we had to pick two, which we did, and, uh, thank Freeborn Co or uh, Freeborn Mauer for the opportunity to do that. Uh, it always, uh, is enjoyable when we meet with young people in our community, and there was also, I think, one from Glenville, one from Alden. Uh, so throughout the county and just see what they're capable of and what they're doing, and it just makes me feel real good about our future. So thank you for that. And then I attended with Councilor Olson, the Board of Appeals meeting, and I'd like to get to uh the various uh committee meetings that we have all year, uh, at least, uh, once or twice, and so I met with the Board of Appeals and listened to them go through their process and, and as Councilor Olson said , they had a very, very good discussion that night, and it was very interesting to listen to it and uh I presented them with some Albert Le uh pins and then had a, had a picture with them, and it was an enjoyable evening just learning a little bit more about another committee within our community and what they're doing. So, uh thank you for them for doing that and thank you to all the members of our different committees because they put in a lot of work, uh, on a lot of different things all year long. And with that, we'll move along to item 10, the city manager report. All right, thank you, Your Honor . Um, we are, I have been working on um some uh tI items, we should have a few resolutions coming before the Council as it relates to that, um, it's all good and um. the also the uh we did get some RFPs out for some of the city

lots as well as just offering some of the incentives for infill properties, uh, please uh look at our uh request for, uh, requests for quotes and requests for proposals page for more information. We also have it up on our social media, uh, link to that page, uh, but essentially what we're looking at here is trying to continue to provide infill, uh, for new housing So we have sent it out to uh a few developers that have had interest, uh, uh, one such property that was done almost about a year ago. That process started approximately a year ago with council and then talking to uh uh gentleman who has since built a property and it's now actually for sale. Uh, just went up on the market, I believe this weekend and uh it looks absolutely beautiful compared to what was there before and is going to, you know, open up new opportunities from homeownership That will definitely be at the um area median income level. The, uh, let's see, I've been working on an economic development plan Uh, basically, this is going to be kind of looking at, we have 3 different agencies that do. different things, we have the HRA that uh currently is really focused on housing, primarily more low to moderate income housing. We have economic development authority that we're finding needs to be actually a bit more defined and officially established, and we also have our Port Authority, which really focuses very heavily, according to state statute on like warehousing, industrial parks, things of that nature, as well as port activ ities So I'm kind of putting together a uh uh a general plan. I've, I've got it narrowed down to 9 pages. I'm hoping to get it whittled down a little bit more, but, uh, I'll have the city

attorney review it, uh, as well because there is a lot of uh aspects to state statute and it's very um those different powers and agencies are very mixed, and so I think it'll really fall on the council moving forward to want to set very clear guidelines because ultimately these are all established by the council and so we will have to have some of those discussions about establishing the guidelines and what we'd like to see each agency to focus on. We will be having a resolution coming up in the next few in the next month or two for uh closure of the sales tax. We are approaching the final amount that we need from sales tax in order to fulfill the requirements for the um uh for the uh watershed, uh, for their original referendum. I did, um, attend and uh testify at a hearing a little or a little less than a week ago, uh, last Wednesday, uh, for the, uh, sale for the uh tax committee in the Senate, waited 90 minutes to speak 90 seconds, but it was, but the good news was is all I had to do was uh Senator Dornick and myself, we just introduced, we actually didn't even have to hardly say anything cause the chair already knew what we were doing front and back, and so that's a very good sign from the uh from the Senate committee that we didn't have a lot of questions or or really any debate or pushback or anything. Uh, but we did attend lobby day, uh, the Wednesday before on the 11th, and we will be attending uh this coming Wednesday, uh, which, uh, Councilor Herman, uh Councilor Baker, and Councilor Anderson will be carpooling up together, uh, so, um, unless somebody else has a a larger vehicle than my van or equal size, uh, I will be driving otherwise.

um, and then, uh, let's see. Last thing is internally we've had to make a few uh uh policy clarifications as it relates to travel. Uh, so I just got that approved and then, um, I just want to remind the council a little while ago I sent out some um information about uh the National League of Cities summit , that is in November, it's normally a great uh educational opportunity for both staff and elected officials. Um, and it will be in November, but it, it means that you'll be gone for about 4 to 5 days if you do attend the conference. So uh please look that over and let me know because um. I do know that when it does come to these conferences, the uh, uh , room reservations go very quick, uh, at that at that location, so, um, which will be in Nashville this year. So, um, please, uh, please let me know and we can get that set up. If, uh, if you do wish to attend . With that, Your Honor Was there anything else on the housing? that Councilor Baker was asking about the codes. Weren't you asking something about that with the housing codes? Oh, couple of um well, there's a a couple things. One is the, I, I believe you were uh. you had asked about the city lots and the HRA and that we do have the proposals out and the HRA can submit their proposal on any of the city lots. um as uh as they uh. as as anyone else, if you just, uh, wish to submit that. I know that there's a couple that you've been looking at, uh, for that and um I am now drawing a blank cause I thought that was the that was the item. I'll let OK, we'll settle up afterwards.

Thank you. Uh, item 11 is the approval of claims. A is a resolution of proving claims. One is a presentation of claims over 25,000. City manager. Thank you, Your Honor. We have $30,728.70 to home Service USA. This is water and sewer protection plans. February's payment. $33,987.15 to freeborn Mayer Electric Cooperative. Uh, this is electricity. It's wastewater treatment plant. $41,601.66 to Bolt and Mink Incorporated where we swear treatment phosphorus removal design. $48,623.44 to 10 boardd Ford for the 2026 Ford Interceptor Police Department. $99,196 to League of Minnesota City's Insurance. This is our worker's compensation insurance premium 2nd quarter. $123,749.45 to Mohawk lifts. This these are floor jack lifts, 177,000 $1.12 to in-built LLC. This is recreational facilities Project Arena refrigeration system. Console move to prove, Your Honor, also by Councilor Baker. Is there a second? All 2nd. Second by Councilor Christensen. Any further discussion? All in favor of the motion signified by saying aye, a pos na, motion carries. Item 12 is adjournment. Is there a motion? Councilor Christensen, so moved, Your Honor, motion. Is there a second? Seconded by Councilor Van Beek. All in favor of the motion signified by saying aye, Os meeting adjourned